NELSONVILLE, Ohio –– Nelsonville’s charter council returned to City Hall on Monday for its first meeting after a six week recess that began mid-July.
The session lasted five hours, beginning with a series of committee meetings; executive session began just before 11 p.m. and addressed the city government’s AI policy, renovations on the Nelsonville Public Square fountain, and more.
Artificial intelligence policy
During her report to council, City Manager Danette Miller addressed the city’s compliance with cybersecurity requirements created in Ohio’s HB 96, which became effective last September. Miller said the Public Entities Pool of Ohio identified 16 areas for improvement for compliance with both HB 96 and its own recommendations. Of those, Nelsonville has met 12.
Necessary provisions include obtaining .gov domain email addresses, attending the Ohio Municipal League’s seminar in Columbus in March, and that the city must adopt an AI policy.
Councilmembers later debated Ordinance 69-26, which outlines the proposed AI policy, following the ordinance’s first reading. The ordinance lists Claude, Chat GPT, and Microsoft Copilot as “AI tools approved for City business.” Use of xAI (Grok), Google Gemini, and Meta AI, meanwhile, are strictly forbidden. Following the passage of an AI policy, the city will then have to choose from the approved potential vendors.
The ordinance also addresses the status of AI-generated content under Ohio public records law. “Work products” and “substantive content” must be retained, while “chat sessions used solely as a drafting aid” are treated as informal notes and do not need to be retained as public records.
“I’d love to point out the irony of us passing an ordinance saying we don’t want a data center here, yet we’re so open to using AI,” council member Charlotte Beach said.
Council president Cameron Peck argued that the concerns that led the city to adopt a data center moratorium in January were different.
“One is to keep the earth clean around you, because there are giant wastelands where they can put these things, and one is to avail our office of the best technology humanly possible so we get the best result possible,” he said.
The council ultimately opted to send the AI ordinance back to its Utility Committee for review. In addition to proposing a policy, Ordinance 69-26 would declare an emergency, allowing an AI policy to be adopted on an expedited timeline after just one reading.
Fountain and infrastructure updates
Also during Miller’s city manager report, she informed the council that Nelsonville’s Public Square fountain, which began renovations in November 2025, will remain out of commission until spring.
The city announced last week that the fountain’s return would be delayed from Aug. 17 to Aug. 26, a timeline that remains accurate, Miller explained. Afterward, an epoxy coat will be applied and take three weeks to fully cure, Miller said. Waiting to operate the fountain until springtime will allow the water lines to remain dry as winter approaches, to avoid the risk of damage, he said.
Other updates covered in Miller’s report included Ohio Department of Transportation orders for repairs on SR 78 and SR 278, and a potential Ohio Public Works Commission grant to replace old bricks on Chestnut Street.
The council heard second readings of ordinances ordering the repair or removal of five structures declared public nuisances:
- 525 Patton St.
- 839 High St.
- 198 Myers St.
- 774 Chestnut St.
- 225 Crihfield Dr.
Polling location changes
Council vice president McCray Powell raised concerns about the Athens County Board of Elections’ decision earlier this month to move a polling place without hearing public feedback first. Powell suggested that the council call on the Board of Elections to reverse the decision. Before heading into executive session, the council moved to authorize the city law director to draft a statement on its behalf.
The county elections board voted Aug. 12 to move York Township and Nelsonville precincts 1–4 from Ohio Means Jobs Athens County (formerly the Athens County Community Cares Resource Center) at 10 West Washington St. to Nelsonville-York City Schools at 2 Buckeye Dr.
Committee reports
The Judiciary Committee, led by Powell, addressed several issues. Powell recommended that the city manager’s report be moved up in the agenda; the current agenda structure places this report after the reading of the ordinances, and this change would move it to the front end of the meeting alongside the auditor and treasurer’s reports. The committee moved to forward the measure to full council. A proposed salary increase for the city auditor position was also forwarded to full council.
The Utilities Committee opened its meeting by discussing an ordinance that would give landlords a 90-day deadline to install master water meters. The ordinance was ultimately forwarded to full council. In addition, the committee discussed setting a maximum for the amount that landlords would be allowed to collect for a water deposit.
The Finance Committee discussed the adjustment of the newly created Special Projects Manager position from hourly to a salaried position. The committee agreed to move forward the salary adjustment for the position — which was created to redelegate some of Miller’s responsibilities — to the full council. The proposed salary adjustment was addressed alongside several other staffing and pay scale-related amendments in a first reading of Ordinance 66-26.
Nelsonville’s charter City Council will hold its next regular meeting at Nelsonville City Hall on Monday, Sep. 14, at 7 p.m.
