NELSONVILLE, Ohio – With a looming deadline to fill vacant seats on Nelsonville City Council and no applications from interested candidates, the city’s law director on Monday night offered a solution that could solve two problems at once.
Due to technical difficulties, only a portion of the regular council meeting was recorded.
Tony Dunfee and Justin Booth resigned from council last month, leaving two vacancies. As of Monday, March 10, one person has submitted a letter of interest to be appointed to fill those seats.
City Law Director Jonathan Robe suggested that council President Gregg Clement appoint Nguyen and Powell — who are suing the city in a controversy prompted by Nguyen’s resignation from council last year and her subsequent rescission of the resignation. The Ohio Supreme Court recently sent the case back to the Fourth District Court of Appeals.
“If council wanted to get rid of that lawsuit, you could just appoint those two members to council, and then that moots the whole case,” Robe said.
Under the city charter, the council had 30 days to fill the vacant seats. That deadline has passed, so now Clement has until Thursday, March 27 to appoint new members. Otherwise, the seats will remain vacant.
That would leave the body with only five members, the minimum number needed to pass legislation or to suspend the rules to pass emergency ordinances. If any members are absent — as Cory Taylor and Nancy Sonick were on Monday night — the council cannot act.
Although the council can function with five members, council member Opha Lawson said it shouldn’t have to.
“We can operate that way, but we shouldn’t have to operate that way,” Lawson said. “We kind of hoped that somebody would step up and at least come in to help out the city of Nelsonville, instead of just sitting back and complaining all the time.”
Ward maps for new government
The council also reignited discussion of drawing ward maps for the city, a subject that was tabled in January.
The Nelsonville Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee, which is overseeing government reorganization under Issue 23, asked the council to authorize the Ohio League of Women Voters to draw ward maps.
Robe said the league contacted him Monday and indicated they are excited to “hit the ground running” with the process.
Reid Courtney, the advisory committee’s chair, also outlined four things that must happen before the city transitions from a city charter to a statutory form of government.
First, the city must hold a special election, which Courtney said would allow residents to vote on “legal grey areas” of the city’s authority on the uncertain process of implementing Issue 23.
“On this big line of questions, Mr. Robe informed our commission on Thursday [March 6] that it might not be possible within the law for us to call a special election,” Courtney said. “He’s still having conversations with the board of elections about what is going on there.”
The second issue is finding a qualified individual to fill the role of city law director. Ohio Revised Code Sections 733.49 and 733.50 state the law director must be an elector of the city and a licensed attorney in Ohio.
The committee has not found anyone eligible to represent the city, Courtney said.
The third and fourth issues the committee discussed was harmonizing the city operations with the statutory government under the Ohio Revised Code, as well as the “December problem” — the gap between Election Day and the start of a newly elected officeholder’s term.
“Folks elected under statute … their terms do not begin until January,” Courtney said. “So that is a significant problem that we are going to have to figure out an answer for.”
Other business
Department updates were scarce, as Police Chief/Acting City Manager Devon Tolliver was absent.
Because it is located inside the Wayne National Forest, Nelsonville must follow state law, which prohibits outdoor fires from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in March, April, May, October and November. Nelsonville Division of Fire Chief Harry Barber suggested the council consider amending its burn laws to clarify what actions are allowed under seasonal burn bans.
Barber alleged that his predecessors let residents skirt the burn bans, which has led to confusion.
“Years ago … we had chiefs before me say that as long as somebody had hot dogs … they were good to go,” Barber said. But “if there’s a burn ban, we have dry conditions, people won’t be burning anything.”
Several ordinances were introduced at the meeting:
- Authorizing the city to enter into agreements with DLZ Ohio for professional design services; the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Water Supply Revolving Loan Account to fund wastewater collection and water system improvement projects; and Boyd Cat Power Systems for continued generator maintenance services.
- Transferring $161,188 from the Canal Street resurfacing fund to street levy fund, as well as appropriating interest earned by the city accounts into the general fund.
- Terminating the city’s group life insurance coverage.
- Amending the 2025 appropriations ordinance.
The council also adopted a resolution supporting state issue 2, which provides funding for the Ohio Public Works commission infrastructure program. The issue is on the May 6 primary ballot.
Nelsonville City Council meets every other Monday of each month, at Nelsonville City Council Chambers, 211 Lake Hope Drive. Its next regular meeting will be Monday, March 24, 2025, at 7 p.m. Meetings are livestreamed on YouTube. Find more at cityofnelsonville.com.
Disclosure: Robe completed and filed incorporation papers for Southeast Ohio Independent News, the nonprofit that publishes the Athens County Independent. He also has provided the Independent with legal advice.
Let us know what's happening in your neck of the woods!
Get in touch and share a story!
