BARNESVILLE — Village Council members on Monday selected former councilmen to fill two vacant seats on the community’s governing board.

Council went behind closed doors for just under an hour during the Feb. 24 meeting in order to meet with five of the six men who had submitted letters of interest looking to fill the two vacancies left when Steve Hill and Brian Yarnall resigned after the conclusion of the Jan. 27 meeting.

After the executive session, Mayor Jake Hershberger expressed his gratitude for those who had stepped up and shown their willingness to serve their community.

Hershberger also said village leaders had consulted with Solicitor Richard Myser to make sure they executed the process correctly before requesting a nomination to fill the seat vacated by Steve Hill to finish a term that will end Dec. 31.

Councilwoman Robyn Misner nominated former councilman and longtime community stalwart Tim McKelvey. The motion was seconded by Councilman Les Tickhill before council President Tony Johnson joined Tickhill and Misner with “yes” votes.

Hershberger then asked for a nomination for the seat vacated by Brian Yarnall, also for a term ending Dec. 31, with Tickhill nominating former councilman Brad Hudson, who was not present but had submitted a letter of interest via email.

Misner seconded the nomination before all three council members present voted “yes.”

Councilman Terry McCort was absent from Monday’s meeting.

Both McKelvey and Hudson had served as council president during their previous time on council, while McKelvey had been chosen to fill a seat vacated by Hill when he resigned from his previous stint on council in November 2020.

Tickhill encouraged the four candidates who were not selected to fill the vacancies — Zach Leach, Mark Lucas, Brad English and Jonathan Flood — to run in the November election, noting that they would have to do so as Independent candidates since the deadline to file as a partisan candidate already passed.

The two seats that were filled Monday, along with the two currently held by Johnson and Tickhill, will be on the ballot on Nov. 4.

Myser announced that Hudson and McKelvey would be sworn in at the beginning of the next council meeting, which is scheduled to be held at 7 p.m. March 10 in the Municipal Building on Arch Street.

Meanwhile, Village Administrator Roger Deal announced that Feb. 13 marked the official start of construction on the long-awaited and much-debated Rails to Trails and Tunnel Project. He noted that some pedestrian detour signs had been posted since the rail tunnel under Main Street, which is one of the main focuses of the project, had been closed.

Deal also updated council on water levels at the village’s Slope Creek Reservoir.

“We’ve gone through one of the worst droughts in my history, and while we’ve been pumping exclusively from Slope Creek and using it to keep Reservoir No. 2 full as well, we were only down 7 feet at the worst and now as of today we’re only down about a foot and a half.”

Deal also informed council that the Belmont County Engineer’s Office had agreed to replace a blocked culvert in the vicinity of Slope Creek that had been reported to village officials by the Somerset Township Board of Trustees during a meeting last year.

Deal also asked that all decorations be removed from gravesites at all three village-operated cemeteries by March 15 as part of the annual spring cleanup and said that decorations not removed by that time will be disposed of by cemetery staff.

Deal also said he was very proud to announce that water department employee Pat Keiser had received his Ohio Water Supply Operator’s Certificate and had done so in the shortest possible time.

Fire Chief Tim Hall announced that the department will hold a spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 4-7 p.m. March 20 at the station.