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BRISTOL -- After serving the township for 41 years, Trustee Ramon French will be retiring from public service at month's end.
French made the announcement at Tuesday's trustees meeting.
He said he enjoyed serving the community, but said it is time to step down and pass the baton to someone else to spend more time with his family and travel with his wife, Cheryl.
French said he dedicated his time to helping the community, and joked he probably helped set up a million Christmas lights over the years for the holiday display at the center.
"Public service, even at the smaller level, is never easy. It takes commitment and focus. When I ran again in 2021, I intended that to be my final four-year term. In the past few months, the opportunity to slow down and roll into retirement has looked more and more appealing," he said.
French thanked the community for its support over the years and for re-electing him each time he was on the ballot.
"I hope I have served all of you well these past four decades. Thank you for trusting me," French said.
Trustee Mark Webb said French helped him when he became a trustee.
"We appreciate all that you have done for the township. The service you have given is a long time," he said.
Trustee Jim Cicchillo said he has learned much working with French.
French said he is proud of working to get a new fire department building constructed, many roads paved and resurfaced over the years, getting a banquet hall at the township building, establishing a Bristol Historical Museum inside a former church, and getting a historic barbershop and doctor's office at the center.
Webb said he and Cicchillo will meet to discuss finding a replacement for French.
DEMOLITION
In other business, officials said the Bristol Inn building at the southwest corner of state Routes 45 and 88 will begin being demolished next week. Webb said asbestos will be removed first. After the work is done, the site will be filled with dirt and seeded.
Officials have approved the work to be done by Aster Oilfield Services of West Virginia at $22,000.
Trustees also decided to table until a future meeting getting a new sign in front of the Bristol Fire Department.
Cicchillo said two companies are being looked at for the sign. The previous sign was knocked over during a heavy windstorm.
Cicchillo said he wanted to see if the new sign can have more messages since the last sign had only five messages posted.
"I will see what can be done to program a new sign to have more messages and graphics," he said.
Also, several residents asked about the protection the township receives from the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office.
Residents asked trustees if crime has gone down since the sheriff has provided an additional 40 hours of coverage during a month. French said he will check on totals. The township pays $28,000 annually for 40 hours per month. The contract expires in February.