East Liverpool mayor asks for input on housing problems
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EAST LIVERPOOL - Mayor Bobby Smith is asking council and community members for input, suggestions or advice on how to deal with the housing issues the city is dealing with at the Columbiana Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) locations in the city.
Smith said in addition to hygiene, bedbugs, roaches and/or mice infestations, the number of calls city services receives from three of those sites is extremely high, with the police receiving 935 calls to these locations and fire/EMS responding over 300 times.
Smith noted that out of Columbiana County, CMHA offers low income housing only in East Liverpool and Wellsville. He also said that he is not against this program, but he is against the enticement of bad landlords. He also said this isn't about "beating anybody up," he is just seeking a way to try to fix the problems at these locations.
Safety Service Director Bill Jones said the reason September's council meeting had to be held early was due to a deadline to accept a grant the city was being awarded and needed council approval. The city had a limited time to declare they want to accept the grant.
Jones also noted he is interviewing a candidate next week for a Class 3 Waste Water position.
Jones met with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and was notified of issues at the wastewater plant, issues he said they were addressing and for which the EPA has given them a timeline to complete them.
Jones said the supplies for the new roof on the city's car barn will be in within the next couple of weeks and HIssons will be doing the roof repair. He also announced Tim Clark, who had planned to retire will now be staying on as superintendent/utilities manager until next summer.
Fire Chief Antony Cumo said that the department received a $10,000 grant from Norfolk Southern for the purchase of Class A haz-mat suits.
Cumo also noted the recent injury to a firefighter while assisting on a township house fire and said that he was working with the township fire departments on ways to hopefully avoid something like that from happening again.
Cumo said that the fire department would start doing physicals on fire fighters this month, with physicals taking place in order of seniority, and they would also be receiving ultrasounds on vital organs that are susceptible to cancers from carcinogens associated with fire fighting.
Police Chief John Lane told council members the first of three new police cars arrived earlier in the day and council members were welcome to check it out and see the safety features it offered for the officers that would be driving the new cars. He noted the other two cars were expected to arrive soon.
In other business, council members unanimously approved six pieces of legislation.
The first ordinance authorizes the East Liverpool fire chief to accept a fiscal year 2025 State Homeland Security Program Grant (SHSP) which will be used to purchase a new pick-up truck for the fire department to use which will allow their current pick up to be assigned to the department's fire marshal to use in the conducting of investigations/inspections.
Council gave the Board of Control authorization to advertise for bids and enter into a contract with the lowest and best bidders for the Park Boulevard (between St. Clair and Parkway) resurfacing project.
Council members than voted to authorize William Cowan on behalf of the city to complete and file an application for the Columbiana County Flexible Opportunity Grant.
Ordinances to amend budget appropriations ordinance by adjusting appropriations and authorizing the city auditor to pay certain vendors who supplied goods or services to the city without the issuance or authorization of a purchase order.
The final ordinance approved by council authorizes the mayor to accept a Small City Award from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) in an amount not to exceed $1,114,396 to be used toward the St. Clair Avenue Rehabilitation Project.
The minutes from the previous four meetings were approved as presented.
The following council committees will meet in September; Licensing/Economic Development Committee will meet in a joint session with the Safety/Rules Committee on Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. and the Finance/Labor Committee will meet on Sept. 29 at 8:30 a.m. All committee meetings will take place in council chambers.
The East Liverpool City Council meets the first Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in council chambers at East Liverpool City Hall. The next regular meeting due to the Labor Day holiday is scheduled for Oct. 5.