McDONALD — Village council is seeking applicants interested in filling an upcoming vacancy on council effective in January since no candidate filed for one of four openings in the November general election.

Letters of interest will be accepted at the village municipal building.

In the November election, Kerry Reckard and John Metzinger both won re-election to council and Brian Bosheff was elected as the third member to council. No one ran for the remaining seat.

Current members Chad Jones and Kyle Joynes chose not to seek re-election, with their terms ending Dec. 31.

Councilman Don Smith said council will have 50 days from Jan. 1 to fill the open seat or Mayor Ray Lewis will make the appointment. Officials said after applications are received, council will schedule interviews and a person should be selected by February.

WATER AND SEWER RATES

Village council also at the Thursday meeting gave final reading for increasing water and sewer rates for customers effective Dec. 1.

Smith, chairman of the finance and capital improvement committee, said the water rate will in crease from $7.50 to $9.75 per 1,000 gallons, and the sewer rate will increase from $6.90 to $9.32 per 1,000 gallons.

He said the village receives bills from the Niles water treatment plant and gets its water from the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District.

“We anticipate that these rates will not need to be changed for five years,” Smith said at a previous meeting, noting the new increases take into consideration cost-of-living increases, salaries, benefits and operating expenses such as maintaining waterlines.

Village Administrator Tom Domitrovich said the village has not seen a water rate increase since 2017 or a sewer rate increase since 2021.

He said many communities have increased every three years, with step increases in each year of the three years.

“We have been frugal enough to hold these increases off for some time,” Domitrovich said.

Officials said the funds will be used for maintenance and replacement costs at the wastewater and sewage treatment facility. Smith said the new rates will be reflected in the water and sewer first-quarter billings in April 2026.