The Wintersville Village Council voted to approve three ordinances at its April meeting, including an emergency ordinance authorizing disposal of five surplus village vehicles and two amendments to the council’s rules of procedure.

The emergency ordinance authorizes the village administrator to dispose of a 1998 GMC bucket truck (VIN 1GDKC34JWF050738), a 2010 International S30 plow truck (VIN 1HTWAAR15J275076), a 2011 Toyota Camry (VIN 4T1BK3EK9BU617676), a 2011 Ford Crown Victoria (VIN 2FAHP71W26X153358), and a 2006 Ford Crown Victoria (VIN 2FAHP71W26X153358 as read in the meeting). The solicitor read the ordinance on the third and final reading before council approval.

Council also approved two housekeeping changes to the Rules of Council. Ordinance 2025-5 amends Rule 5 to require all standing committees to meet at least once per year. Ordinance 2025-6 amends Rule 6 to remove item No. 10, “transfers,” from the standard order of business for council meetings. Both of those ordinances were taken on their third readings and approved by vote.

Votes at the meeting were recorded as follows for the vehicle-disposal ordinance: Council members Merryman, Mattern, DeStefano (alternately recorded as Estefano in the transcript), Spence, and Damron voted in favor; the solicitor and mayor were present but not shown casting votes in the transcript excerpt. Council declared the vehicle-disposal ordinance an emergency, meaning it goes into effect immediately.

Why it matters: The vehicle-disposal ordinance removes aging fleet items from village inventory and allows the administrator to place them for sale or disposal. The rules changes codify minimum meeting expectations for standing committees and shorten the standard agenda by removing the transfers item.

Additional details: The solicitor read each VIN aloud during the meeting after a council member asked for clarification. Council members discussed the emergency declaration briefly and confirmed that declaring the ordinance an emergency allowed it to take effect immediately without suspending additional rules for the readings.

The council moved on after the votes to other business and reports.

(Ending) The council did not discuss specific sale dates or reserve prices for the surplus vehicles during the meeting; those implementation details are to be handled by the administrator under the authority granted in the ordinance.