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Wellsville mayor disputes social media posts about lunches

WELLSVILLE — Social media posts regarding the village buying lunch for village employees is false, says Mayor Nancy Murray.

Her response to a recent Facebook post was delivered during Tuesday’s council meeting. A comment had circulated stating the village had been ordering lunch for village employees and had not been providing tips, a statement Murray said was absolutely incorrect.

She said that, along with the village money not being used for tips, the lunches are not for village employees, but rather for inmates from the Eastern Ohio Correction Center in Wintersville, who come to the village and perform landscaping and maintenance work. The only cost the village is assessed for the work is for lunch provided for the inmates, she said.

“First off, we don’t tip with village dollars,” Murray said. “Second off, it wasn’t for village workers. We contracted with Wintersville prison. The only thing we have to do is provide their lunches, and that’s exactly what we were doing. “So someone put on Facebook that we were ordering for the village workers, which is not true. It’s for the inmates from the Wintersville jail. They come in to do free work, cut grass, and all we have to do is provide their lunches.”

Murray’s statements followed those of Village Administrator Jerry Medley, who mentioned the work the prisoners have been doing in terms of cleaning up the village, including mowing grass and picking up tree limbs. Use of these workers is due to the street department being largely understaffed, he stated.

“Some days we had four or five last week, and it was great,” Medley said.

Also in his report, Medley said the department has had issues with fallen limbs, contruction barrels and cones in which children are out playing with at night, including riding dune buggies down alleys throughout the village.

“The police do a good part,” Medley said. “I don’t have a problem with you guys. You do a good job. It’s just you can’t keep up with these kids running all the time. I see them all the time driving dune buggies down the alleys wherever they get away with it.”

Medley said construction cones and barrels on 17th Street had to be replaced after they were run over by drivers, and that the road department will continue to add hot patch to the roads as an attempt to fill potholes in the village.

Lights at the intersection of Aten Avenue and Commerce Street have been replaced, Medley reported, along with lights on Chester, 10th, and Main streets, and the intersections of 12th and Riverside and at 19th and Danbury. One additional light on Ninth Street had not been finished as of meeting time, but had been checked.

This work was later reiterated by council member Pinky Gill when she gave her report for the Streets, Lights, Parking Committee.

Other works included handling drainage problems, taking pictures of Nevada Street regarding a trailer demolished and its following clean-up, and also discussing with two property owners handling weeds.

In a final note, Medley stated he has been working to have all boats removed from the Jim Kenney Marina. The village requested boats removed immediately as the village takes ownership of the property. Medley is requesting all boats still in the marina be removed by Aug. 31.

Along with that, Medley also is requesting boats parked along village streets be removed as it is a violation of a village ordinance. He said he planned to speak with two particular residents of this issue.

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