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NEWTON FALLS -- Village council by a 3-2 vote at a special meeting on Saturday approved Village Manager Pam Priddy proceeding with taking action to cancel the community center lease with Heritage Accord.
Council also by a 3-2 vote approved Priddy to retain special legal counsel if needed pertaining to Heritage Accord and the community center lease.
Voting in support of canceling the lease and special legal counsel were council members John Baryak, Gideon Fetterolf and Tesa Spletzer. Voting against the motion were council members Kevin Reufener and Julie Stimpert.
Reufener asked for an executive session before the vote to discuss the lease and related matters but did not receive enough votes from council to go into executive session.
"I personally don't agree with canceling the lease with Heritage Accord. There have been issues at the center. How was Heritage Accord supposed to get anything done with two years of COVID? People are saying they are not moving fast enough. Canceling the lease does not make any sense. … I feel there is something else brewing and I don't know what it is, but it's really starting to bug me," Reufener said.
He said he is concerned about a lawsuit resulting from the lease cancellation.
"I am tired of seeing money handed out for lawsuits because of poor decisions. I feel this is setting the village up for another lawsuit," Reufener said.
Stimpert asked why special legal counsel is needed when the village has Brad Bryan as law director. Bryan said council has the right to choose additional legal counsel.
Priddy said after the meeting that Bryan will be leaving as law director in September.
Mayor Ken Kline said the village could not maintain the center in prior years and that is why it was closed previously.
He said Heritage Accord made efforts to work on the building and hosted fundraisers to do needed work. Kline said he also is concerned there may be a lawsuit filed by Heritage Accord following council's action.
Baryak said Heritage Accord never had a plan to present to council on on what work they were doing despite the pandemic so he wanted to terminate the lease.
"I want the center to be used by the people. It belongs to the community. It is a USO building for everyone. It can be used for weddings and other events and by different groups such as ham radio operators. They wanted to use it for a dinner theater," Baryak said.
Fetterolf said since Heritage Accord has had the lease, there have been no improvements made at the building.
"They did not maintain what was there or fix anything. It was inspected and found by the building inspector and fire chief that it is not safe," he said.
INSPECTION DONE
Priddy said the inspection on June 30 found that the floor was unsafe and could give way and shingles were off the roof. She said she has notified the village's insurance carrier of the matter. She said Heritage Accord did not have insurance on the center.
"The building needs to be made stable. The village owns the building and needs to get it fixed," Priddy said.
She said plans are to secure the building with padlocks and possibly place fencing around it.
Before council acted on the two motions, several residents, both for and against canceling of the lease, addressed council. More than 20 people attended the meeting.
Resident Julie Lemon said she and others are hosting a fundraiser to help Heritage Accord deal with any issues.
Resident Matthew Meszaros, a local businessman, supported council's action to cancel the lease with the organization.
"This whole event is sickening. It is a shame," he said, noting the unsafe conditions.
Priddy said she was concerned that events, including an Easter egg hunt attended by many children, was held inside the center in early April, as well as events in November and December.
Resident Vonda Vencil said she has hosted fundraisers to help the center and was made aware of issues that needed addressed at the building.
"I am in favor of the city taking control of the center and getting it fixed up," she said.
INSURANCE MATTERS
Resident Steve Simpson of Heritage Accord said the organization obtained insurance in case someone got hurt and insurance on the items the organization had acquired and stored at the building.
He said the village previously closed the building in 2016 under a former administration.
Priddy, along with county building officials, local fire officials and village officials did an inspection June 30. She said she notified Heritage Accord members by email that she would be going into the center that day.
Simpson said Heritage Accord did not know there would be an inspection that day and the organization filed a police report after they mistakenly thought someone broke in.
David McKinstry of Heritage Accord said the roof and shingle damage caused by a storm this spring can be handled by the village's insurance. He said he had hoped Heritage Accord and the village could work together to seek funding for the center.
Priddy said the village is in the process of seeking $5 million in Appalachian Regional Commission funds for the center.
Last month, the Community Improvement Corporation by a 1-0-1 vote approved transferring the deed of the community center from the CIC to the village, with officials saying this will help in securing funding.
Kline said he abstained on the vote questioning the need for the transfer and if it was legal.