By Austin Rust-
The Manchester Village Council met for a regular meeting on Monday, Jan. 6 in the Manchester Community Building. At this meeting, Mayor C.L. “Skip” Wagner announced his resignation, and Councilwoman Teresa Blythe was sworn in as the new Mayor of Manchester.
After a call to order, the Pledge of Allegiance, roll call, and the disposition of minutes for the regular meeting held Dec. 3, the Council approved several items of new business, starting with five ordinances. These were: an ordinance to amend salaries and wages, an ordinance to approve, adopt, and enact the American Legal Publishing Ohio Basic Code, an ordinance to adopt Robert’s Rules of Order, an ordinance to increase appropriations
and revenues in the 2020 budget, and an ordinance to decrease funds in storm water debt. All ordinances were approved, and four resolutions followed. These were: a resolution employing the village solicitor, and resolutions to authorize agreements between the village of Manchester and Sprigg, Monroe, and Green Townships for fire protection. All resolutions were approved.
After these ordinances and resolutions had been approved, the next item of new business was the appointment of a Street Commissioner. It was decided that the current Street Commissioner, Earl “Buster” Ruark, would continue in his role. Mayor C.L. “Skip” Wagner then announced that this would be his last meeting of the Mayor of Manchester, and explained that after the vote to select a Council President, he would ask the Council to accept his resignation, effective immediately.
In an exclusive interview, Wagner told The People’s Defender: “An opportunity presented itself within the company I work for that will require me to relocate. I won’t be able to be Mayor after I relocate, and I’ll be relocating within the month. That, unfortunately, prompted my decision.”
With the permission of his colleagues on the Manchester Village Council, Wagner took time to speak on his experience as Mayor: “I have tried my best to do what’s best for the village. It’s been the honor of my life to serve my hometown in the capacities I had as Mayor, and it’s been the honor of my life to meet and spend time with some of the amazing citizens that we have in this town, who care so much about its future. It’s been an honor to have served under three mayors, with innumerable members of council, who – despite what anyone will ever say – serve without regard of self, and do so for the sake of the village. A high cost comes with that; I think a lot of people don’t ever get to see that. I know that everyone up here has worked very hard, diligently, on the things that needed to be worked on – in the order that they needed to be done,” he said.
Wagner did note that it was disappointing to him that in last November’s General Election, no one had put their name forward to run for Mayor of the village. He explained how he had come into the position from a seat on the Village Council with the resignation of former Mayor Robert Hilderbrand, due to health issues, and noted that his first inspiration to become involved in local government had been the failure of a village street light levy, which the public passed in his term.
Further, Wagner pointed out that the village of Manchester stills holds the state record among all other villages in Ohio for the longest time spent in fiscal emergency. The village last entered into a state of fiscal emergency Oct. 1, 1997, which ended on Oct. 16, 2018 – 21 years later.
“I don’t know that a lot of people truly understand what that meant,” said Wagner, “It was such a long slog, (but) as I pointed out in the last meeting, we (just) passed our third budget in the black. We cannot lose sight of that. If you look at what’s happened over the last three years – no, they might not have been your pet projects, but they were issues that needed to be taken care of. In the last three years, (we have received) over $13 million from IBI, with no added expense to village taxpayers; we’ve seen more infrastructure (work) in this village done in the last three years than in the last 20.”
“We have gotten our foundations right,” Wagner continued. “If you don’t have the foundations right, nothing else matters, (but) we have got our foundations right. There they are – three years in the black. We need to recognize how vital that has been for turning this town around, and how it will be so vital in keeping this town moving forward into the future. We cannot go back into a fiscal emergency – cannot. I implore my colleagues and the public tonight: don’t ever think about letting this body go back into the red again. It took too long to get where we’re at – if you go and look at other towns’ budgets, we’re (actually) doing a lot better than some of them are. There is a bright future for this town, but it’s only there if we work together. (We need to) understand what the government can do, and understand that the public has a role in that, too,” Wagner concluded.
With nary a dry eye in the house and after he had finished speaking, Mayor Wagner thanked each member of the Council, the village department heads, Steve Mack (IBI), Solicitor Tom Mayes, members of the public, and reporters present from The People’s Defender and The Manchester Signal.
The nomination window for the role of Council President was then opened, with Mayor Wagner presiding. Motions were made to nominate Council Members Christine Henderson, Teresa Blythe, and Lori McCartney to the role. Councilwoman Teresa Blythe accepted her nomination, while Council Members Henderson and McCartney declined. The nomination window was then closed, and the Council voted (4 to 2) to appoint Councilwoman Teresa Blythe to the role of Council President. Mayor Skip Wagner then asked the Council to accept his resignation, effective immediately. With some hesitation, and not before several Council Members had thanked him, Mayor Wagner’s resignation was accepted.
Immediately following Wagner’s resignation, Councilwoman Teresa Blythe was then sworn in by Solicitor Tom Mayes as the new Mayor of Manchester. The nomination window for the role of Council President was then reopened. Councilwoman Christine Henderson was nominated to the role. This nomination was accepted, and Councilwoman Christine Henderson was appointed Council President. In the next item of business, it was decided that village committee chairs and members should remain the same, with the exception that Councilwoman Irene Shively will now head the Finance Committee. The Council then established that its meetings this year will be held the first Monday of each month, or in the case of a holiday, the first Tuesday of each month.
Next, the application deadline for the vacant seat on Village Council was set at Jan. 31 by noon. Completed applications should be submitted to Village Clerk Kayla Bowman’s office.
The final item of new business was concerning the building rental fee waiver form for the Manchester Community Building. This item was tabled to the next meeting in February.
In her report, Mayor Teresa Blythe acknowledged that she had not been appointed to her new role by unanimous vote, but expressed optimism in looking forward. “I know it’s not a popular decision, apparently,” Blythe began, “but I’ll do my best. I speak my mind, but I try to be fair – I’ll listen. It’s established that there are some of us who do not get along, but we have to do what we have to do, and in this position, it’s not about personal beliefs – it’s about what’s best for the town. In this role, I’m going to have to go with what the council decides, whether I agree with it or not. I’m not going to say that I won’t give my opinion – that would be a lie – but I will be fair, I will listen. All I ask is that you give me a fair chance. I’m going to do what I think is right.”
In his report, Village Solicitor Tom Mayes gave a brief update on the land bank project, which aims to allow the village of Manchester to demolish several abandoned, unsafe buildings within its town limits. “It’s going to happen, but it’s just going to take a little longer,” said Mays.
In the Board of Public Affairs report, Steve Mack (IBI) explained that Phase 2 of the village’s sanitary and sewage system update was nearly complete, with a substantial completion date of Nov. 2019, and final completion set this month. Work is now in-progress on Phase 3 of the project, Mack explained, with substantial completion set for June, and final completion in July. Preliminary design work was done for upcoming Phase 4, but funding has not yet been secured.
In the Parks and Recreation Committee report, Councilwoman Christine Henderson announced that she had recently received word that the village had been granted a NatureWorks grant to the amount of roughly $26,700. Councilwoman Henderson explained that this grant will fund work to develop the area surrounding Manchester’s splash pad, finished last summer. Plans include a pavilion, park benches, picnic tables, trash receptacles, and other improvements, with the work expected to start in early spring. Councilwoman Henderson also announced that the Bike Park was nearly finished, and that a ribbon-cutting ceremony was to be held on Thursday, Jan. 9. In a final note, Henderson said that she had received an application for a new grant to enhance the docks and launch area of the riverfront park, which will be submitted by March 1.
In the Buildings and Street Committee report, Street Commissioner Ruark explained that he had recently noticed bricks falling from a nearly-collapsed old building on Washington Avenue, which connects US-52 and Front Street. At his advice, the Council voted to block access to this street until further notice due to safety concerns. Councilman Michael Phipps and others thanked Street Commissioner Ruark for putting up village-wide Christmas decorations last year, as well.
It was noted by Steve Mack (IBI) that a suggestion had been made at a past meeting to rename the Manchester Community Building after its anticipated remodel to honor a respected member of the community, such as Georgia Woolard, and this suggestion was noted by Council.
With no other business, the meeting was adjourned.
