NELSONVILLE, Ohio — Nelsonville’s charter-based city council held a special meeting Monday, Nov. 2, to review several ordinances that were tabled at a marathon session the previous week, including an ordinance that would create a commission to make recommendations for amendments to the city’s charter.
The council held a second reading of Ordinance 88-26, which will establish a Nelsonville City Charter Review Commission — one of several commissions proposed by Special Projects Manager Erica Padgett, who assumed the newly created position in September.
If adopted, Ordinance 88-26 would create a five-person commission tasked with submitting findings and recommendations for potential amendments to the city’s charter over the course of three months.
The council members debated details of the ordinance concerning the timeline for the commission’s creation of recommendations.
“I assume the commission, once put together, would meet once a month,” council member Gregg Clement said, referencing the three-month timeline established in Section 6 of the ordinance. “It will most definitely take more than three meetings to review the charter.”
Council member McCray Powell proposed removing Section 8 of Ordinance 88-26, which states “The Commission shall disband after submitting its recommendations to Council.” Powell pointed out that this provision could prevent the council from sending recommendations back to council for further review before adopting them, if necessary.
The charter council ultimately moved to refer the ordinance to the Nelsonville Planning and Development Committee for further review, along with ordinances 89-26 and 90-26, which would establish a Nelsonville Health and Human Services Commission and a Nelsonville Tourism Board, respectively.
Ordinance 54-26, which charter council President Cameron Peck said was placed on the agenda as a result of a transcription error, was tabled at the meeting’s start.
Ordinance 54-26 would institute fees to cover costs associated with producing and making redactions to public records requests. The council tabled it for legal review at its Sept. 28 session. Powell said the ordinance remains under review.
The council adopted Ordinance 91-26 that corrected a typo in a previous ordinance, which mistakenly stated that $32,000 would be appropriated as compensation for the city’s law director. The correct amount is $120,000. Council member Nic Joseph-Saul stressed that the ordinance would not change the actual amount appropriated.
Ordinance 104-26 approved a collective bargaining agreement between the city and various city employees represented by Ohio Council 8 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, and AFSCME Local 2845. The council adopted the ordinance on first reading under suspension of the rules.
The council also adopted Ordinance 108-26, which makes appropriations to pay for repairs on a city vehicle that was damaged over the summer, on first reading under suspension of the rules; as well as Ordinance 109-26, which makes appropriations to compensate AT&T for the city’s telephone services.
The statutory council’s next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at The Lodge at Hocking College, 15770 SR 691, Nelsonville. It meets the first and third Mondays of the month.
The charter-based council meets every other Monday of each month, at Nelsonville City Council Chambers, 211 Lake Hope Drive, Nelsonville. Its next regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23.
