Mineral City council addresses zoning issues

Zoning violations continue to trouble the village of Mineral City, but council members and Zoning Inspector Sam Moore are determined to bring residents into compliance. At the Feb. 12 council meeting, Moore said he had contacted the county sheriff’s office to remove a camper parked near South High Extension and Linden Tree Road.

Moore said he called the sheriff because the camper had no license tags and had been impeding visibility for drivers for at least two weeks.

Council member Amanda Lake, a member of the zoning committee, said she spoke to a resident who was keeping a large number of chickens on their property. The village does have an ordinance prohibiting the keeping of farm animals in town.

Village Solicitor Cassidy Wahlie reported that there had not been much progress made in the court system regarding a resident with unlicensed junk cars on his property.

Moore, who also serves as fire chief, presented information on two pieces of equipment he would like to procure. One is a skid unit, a self-contained firefighting system that can be deployed to fight brush fires faster than having to take a fire truck.

Moore also requested a side-by-side with a windshield. The total cost for both, according to Moore, is around $40,000. Moore recommended using $10,000 recently granted to the fire department by Inc., the department’s fundraising arm, toward the purchase.

To fund the remaining amount, Moore suggested getting a short-term loan which can be paid off when the Sandy Township payment of $25,000 arrives. Council voted to approve the loan and the purchases.

Mayor Laurie Green administered the oath of office to Amanda Lake, Darla Daugherty and Rick Cain, all of whom were re-elected in November to four-year terms.

Council approved sending Fiscal Officer Becky Carpenter to the Local Governments Conference hosted by the Ohio Auditor of State in May.

Council voted to pass the following:

—An emergency resolution to contract with Fitzsimmons, Zimmerman and Rose for legal counsel at a rate of $80 meeting.

—A resolution to amend permanent appropriations and revenue for 2026 to reflect grants received from the Public Entities Pool and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

—An ordinance establishing permanent appropriations as follows: General Fund $268,867; Street Fund $61,168; State Highway Fund $22,146; Permissive Motor Vehicle Fund $17,484; and Fire Fund $139,113. Total appropriations for 2026 are $508,778.

Green requested an executive session to discuss employee compensation before adjourning. No action was taken following the session.

As a reminder, Mineral City council now meets only once per month on the second Thursday at 5 p.m. at Village Hall. All meetings are open to the public.