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LISBON -- Village council chose Jeff DeCort as its replacement for the seat left vacant by former Councilman Ryan Berg.
DeCort said Tuesday he grew up in Salem and is a 30-year Lisbon resident, who had a business that for many years kept him busy in the evenings and on weekends. Although he still works full time, DeCort said he was able to get involved in service to the community as a member of the Lisbon Landmark Foundation board starting about three years ago.
He will fill the seat left by Berg, who resigned suddenly at the meeting earlier in June. The appointment is for about six months, when Berg's term was to have expired.
DeCort was a unanimous choice by the remaining council members after they emerged from an executive session to discuss the appointment. Council had met on Monday in executive session to interview four of the people who expressed an interest in the position, giving each about 15 minutes to make their pitch. Besides DeCort, council received letters of interest from Melissa Hiner, Tammy Roberts and John (Jack) Williams. Brian Dickson also expressed interest but was determined to be ineligible for council but a possible candidate for an appointment to the board of zoning appeals.
DeCort will have a chance to work with the other five council members on some of the many items tabled during Tuesday's meeting:
-- Council discussed the chickens in the village issue with law director Alec Beech, noting that if it is a criminal law reaffirmed by council in 2020, there is no grandfathering anyone in who has chickens in the village. However, village resident Jessica Brandon talked about ordinances limiting chickens in Jefferson County that work. Brandon said Steubenville and Wintersville allow residents to have up to six chickens. When chickens are kept penned, without a rooster and on a properly sized lot, Brandon indicated they are not problems. She offered to bring more information to the next council meeting.
-- Council is discussing new banners for the light poles around town. Councilwoman Linda Donnalley showed the others a mock up she had made that would include photos of a veteran on each one. There were concerns that there are only 55 poles in town and families may want to recognize more than 55 veterans. Other suggestions brought up included recognition of famous residents or "Home of the Blue Devils." Donnalley, who serves on the parks committee, and Councilman Jerry Cox, who is on the streets committee, agreed to further talk about the project and come back to council another night.
-- Council will have one additional reading on the new cemetery pricing ordinance after having the second reading on Tuesday.
-- Council did pass emergency ordinances approving the agreements with the Ohio Department of Transportation for state route maintenance in the village, as well as snow and ice removal.
-- Council also passed the annual exclusion of Salem for determining Local Government Funds as the county's biggest city and the new alternate formula.
-- Council approved the purchase of a 2021 Ford Interceptor cruiser at this year's cost of $45,235. Police Chief Mike Abraham said he wanted to lock in this year's prices before they increase with the anticipation of a new state bid pricing as early as the end of the week.
-- Council approved the hiring of a full-time employee who would be shared between the Board of Public Affairs water department and the street department. Fiscal Officer Tracey Wonner said the cost of the insurance for the position would be divided 50-50 between the two departments, while the payment of wages would be determined by the amount of hours the employee spent working for each department each week.
djohnson@mojonews.com