BELLAIRE, Ohio — Bellaire Village Council held a special meeting Thursday morning that lasted approximately four minutes, convening solely to address the creation of a Water Distribution Coordinator/Backhoe Operator position.
You can watch the meeting filmed by River News here and follow River News on Facebook and online for more livestreams and updates on this developing story.
Council passed Ordinance 2613, which formally creates the position and establishes its salary. Mayor Robert Dodrill said he would follow up with River News with the exact salary figure.
Dodrill said the position was created out of urgency, explaining the village currently lacks someone certified for the role. He said a former employee who left for another opportunity has expressed willingness to return.
“He said he would come back if we would work through stuff,” Dodrill said, adding he plans to meet with the candidate Monday. “As long as he agrees with what was written up, we can move on.”
Council President Janet Richardson informed the public and press before the meeting began that the personnel matter was the only item council could address during the special session. No public questions were permitted.
Thursday’s brief meeting came one day after a standing-room-only special council meeting Wednesday that drew so many residents the overflow crowd spilled into the hallway. At that meeting, Dodrill — who had rescinded his resignation as mayor on Monday — addressed the village’s ongoing fiscal troubles.
The village’s former fiscal officer, Ginny Favede, resigned last week. The village is now working to hire a replacement while simultaneously transitioning away from its current Civitas fiscal software to the Uniform Accounting Network, or UAN, a statewide system used widely by Ohio villages and municipalities.
“Anybody from any village could come up and get into it and they can actually come up and sit in and start from scratch, no questions asked, and they can run it,” Dodrill said. “It’s a universal system.”
The State Auditor’s Office recently delivered a computer to the village, and a traveling clerk contracted through the auditor’s office is expected to arrive Friday to complete the setup and ensure village payroll can be processed without interruption.
Dodrill said the state auditor’s office has been closely involved throughout the process and praised the working relationship.
“They’ve been really, really good with us,” he said. “We’re just working hand-in-hand to get everything figured out.”
While Dodrill acknowledged there are ongoing financial issues under review, he said he remains limited in what he can publicly discuss while the audit is being completed by the State of Ohio.
“There’s still issues that I can’t speak about,” he said. He added that he is working for transparency and will keep the public updated as soon as he can.
The next regular council meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 23 at 6 p.m. at the village municipal building at which the public will have an opportunity to ask questions.
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