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LISBON -- Lisbon Fire Chief Mark Hall is urging village residents to sign up for WENS, the Columbiana County Wireless Emergency Alerts System to receive alerts via text messages, voice calls and emails in case of an emergency or severe weather.
"People need to be vigilant of what's going on," he said during a recent council meeting after there had been a tornado warning the previous weekend.
WENS is a free service provided by the Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency and 911. Besides letting citizens know when there's a severe thunderstorm warning or tornado warning for their area, the EMA can also use the system to notify affected residents of an emergency event.
Citizens can sign up designating a cell phone number, home phone number or email to receive alerts for the areas or communities designated, such as where a person lives or where they work. More than one area can be designated for the alerts.
To sign up, visit the EMA website at ccoema.org and click on WENS.
Hall also said residents should check the weather radar for more information on locations of storms. Council members asked about the siren and he noted he has to manually activate it at the fire station during a tornado warning. He said the only way a siren system would work would be if they had three towers and he estimated the cost would be a lot.
In swimming pool business, council hired another lifeguard and agreed to a free day for swimming at the Sadie Van Fossen Pool on Monday, Memorial Day. The pool opens for business Saturday, with a senior swim at 11 a.m. and the public hours from noon to 6:30 p.m.
Lisbon resident Joe Lawhorn, who organized the recent bike race known as Coal County Roubaix, presented council with a token of appreciation from the race and got the go-ahead to set next year's event on April 26, 2025. He said there were 87 participants with 14 states represented and a cyclist all the way from Seattle, Washington. He thanked council for allowing the event and said there was a lot of good feedback, though one participant said the course was too hilly.
Mayor Peter Wilson gave updates on the Grant Street bridge project, gave keychains created for the fire department by Kiana Howe to the chief to distribute, and asked council about hiring a company for the zoning code rewrite, with prices ranging from $50,000 to $75,000. He said he knows it's a lot of money, but if the village doesn't remedy the zoning situation, there will be more issues. He also asked if council was in favor of having a marijuana dispensary in the village, noting that would need added to the zoning. No action was taken.
Regarding streets, council agreed to spend $40,050 for catch basins and manholes along Lincoln Way, Lee and Jerome. There was also discussion about a drainage issue on Spruce Street and one resident complained about a tree on Spruce Street causing issues.
Another resident, Tracie Dixon, expressed concerns about the need for a pedestrian crossing with a light at Pritchard Avenue and East Lincoln Way, saying children cross there on the way to and from school and someone's going to get hurt.
In other matters, council agreed: to hire Alexus Greenlief as a part-time dispatcher and Steve Boyd as a part-time patrolman in the police department; to purchase various road signs, including speed limit signs for Thomas Road, for up to $2700, from Municipal Signs; to purchase weed killer from Grubb Brothers for 120 gallons at a cost of $2,402; to approve a resolution to accept the solid waste management plan for the Carroll, Columbiana and Harrison Joint Solid Waste Management District; to approve amended appropriations of $320,360 representing funds from the Ohio Public Works Commissioner and the American Rescue Plan Act; and authorized applying for an Ohio Water Supply Revolving Loan Account for the north end and state Route 45 water line extension project.
Council approved $1 easements with the Columbiana County Agricultural Society, Center Commerce Development LLC and Michael Hunt that were needed for the northeast pressure project to increase water pressure for customers in the northeast section of town.
The next council meeting will be 6:30 p.m. May 28 at village hall.