FLUSHING — Village Council recently discussed possible locations for a proposed new building to store equipment and the need for additional road repairs and paving.

At a council meeting held Oct. 9, Councilman Dave Coe reported on the results of a Building and Grounds Committee meeting, saying the committee had looked at two village-owned properties as potential sites for a new building to house village equipment and supplies.

Coe said members decided the Pearl Street property was preferable since it was already fairly flat and that it would be fairly simple to remove the trees there.

Councilman Tom Bober said the other property under consideration had been the former Flushing school property but that he felt it should be kept and marketed as a business site due to its location on Ohio 149 near the Dollar General store that was built on the adjoining property that also used to be part of the school grounds.

Mayor Preston Eberhart pointed out that it might be difficult for a business to locate there since during the demolition of the school, debris had been pushed into the basements of the buildings.

“If you have a business that can come in and put in a slab and work off of that, you’re great, but if they have to dig down for a foundation, it’ll be hundreds of thousands of dollars just to excavate that,” Eberhart concluded.

Bober noted that as he understood it, the school demolition had been bid out so that all the debris was supposed to be hauled away and that he did not know why workers had been allowed to fill the basements with bricks.

After some further discussion, council voted to have the Pearl Street property surveyed to make sure the village could construct what they had in mind there.

Council has been looking to use $16,000 in available American Rescue Plan funds before the end of the year to pay for a portion of a new building to replace the old municipal building on High Street, which is displaying major structural failures, with the rest of the funding coming from the village’s gas and oil lease money.

Fiscal Officer Jeryl McGaffick said the village only needs to have the funds “encumbered” before the end of the year, so as long as officials get the plans approved and the building ordered the ARP money can be used.

Council also discussed needed work to fix Mill Road, Bank Street and Kirk Street after Village Administrator Kris Chini expressed concern that parts of those streets could be “lost” if something wasn’t done.

Bober bemoaned the fact that paving work done a few years ago that included Mill Road had largely washed away and had been “a waste of money.”

McGaffick said the village had about $45,000 in municipal license plate funds available from Belmont County, but that money cannot be used on dead end streets or alleys, which disqualified both Kirk and Bank streets from the use of that money. She later noted that the village had spent $38,000 of $86,000 allocated for street repairs this year, but there is an additional $20,000 available now over what was originally allocated.

Bober and Chini agreed to get quotes for the three streets with some different options as to the scope of the work needed.

Meanwhile, council discussed sending letters to property owners about “cluttered” and abandoned properties and what is allowed as far as unlicensed and junk vehicles in the village limits.

Council authorized Eberhart to contact Village Solicitor Gary Smith to draft ordinances giving the village a procedure to address dilapidated structures, unkempt properties and junk vehicles more effectively.

Chini expressed irritation with Bober for bringing a parked, unlicensed vehicle belonging to another village employee to the attention of Police Chief Paul Leek.

Council President Chuck Nucci and Eberhart, along with the rest of council, discussed the legality of a structure that was recently placed on Markatan Street, which Eberhart described as a “pre-built barn.” Nucci said it is being set up as if it is to be lived in, saying, “My question was, so you’re not allowed to put mobile homes in the village, but you’re allowed to bring a shed in on a truck, dump it off, put utilities in it, and live in it? One goes against the other.”

Eberhart said he would contact the person working on that property to see what his intentions are.

In his monthly report, Chini said village crews were able to read water meters again after four months of not being able to due to computer hardware and software issues. In response to a question from Councilman Eric McCort, Chini said they had already started replacing and repairing water and sewer lines throughout the village with the new backhoe that was purchased earlier this year. Chini said they had fixed six water breaks in the previous month.

Council approved of Chini’s suggestion that the closing time for Shuler Park be set at dusk rather than a specific time and authorized purchasing signage to that effect.

Flushing’s October meeting opened with a moment of silence honoring former Councilman Henry Williams, who died Sept. 14.

Flushing Village Council meets again at 6 p.m. this Thursday in the village offices on High Street.