College Corner begins to fill vacancies, faces additional resignations
Several vacant positions are on their way to being filled in College Corner after a July 11 Village Council meeting.
Editor's Note: This story was updated on July 16, 2024, to include news of two additional resignations submitted after the July 11 meeting. The headline has also been updated to reflect the additional resignations.
After a tense emergency meeting July 3 to address a series of resignations within College Corner, the village started to fill the vacancies during its regular meeting July 11. Mayor Molly Cason said at the meeting that she is also working to ensure that the village's water bills are paid this month.
After the meeting, though, more resignations followed, including an additional council member and the volunteer village administrator.
At last week's meeting, Cason and the other village council members present said the most immediate concern after fiscal officer Jennifer Woods resigned June 30 was to make sure water bills went out and were paid on time. College Corner manages the billing for both the Ohio village and West College Corner in Indiana, while the Indiana side takes care of the sewers. Cason promised a "smooth transition" for utilities as she and the council members worked to learn the billing system.
On July 11, Cason said she now has access to post water payments and deposit money in the village bank account. For residents who had gotten their bills in already, Cason said their payments would be deposited July 12.
Some West College Corner residents present at the meeting said they hadn't received their bills yet this month. Bills are due on July 19.
"There should be no effect on our side at this point as far as I know in regards to them getting posted late," Cason said. "... There have been a couple people that have not received their bill ... Most of these it seems that it's the Indiana side." Cason said she will get in touch with residents who haven't gotten their bills in the next week.
Volunteer village administrator Mike Sims, who has helped manage water bills for the village, was not present at the July 3 or July 11 meeting. Fiscal officer Woods is his daughter. Cason said he has been in touch with her throughout the past week, and the pair is meeting July 12.
"He has not resigned," Cason said during the July 11 meeting. "I'm just kind of not getting an answer on why he's willing to work on some things, and then some things I still get a little bit of pushback."
After the pair met on July 12, Cason told the Oxford Free Press that he officially handed in his letter of resignation. Sims did not respond to a request for comment.
Next week, Cason said the village will start to interview candidates who applied for maintenance worker and office assistant positions. Cason will not sit in on the open interviews, but council member Mike Ruther will.
Attorney Nick Ziepfel of Roetzel and Andress Law attended the July 11 meeting and is set to contract with the village for legal services. The previous village attorney resigned in May, and the village has been without legal aid since then. The council did not officially approve Ziepfel's contract at the July 11 meeting because council member Danyell Bolser requested an addendum requiring that Ziepfel or the village provide a 30-day notice if they want to terminate the contract.
According to Ziepfel's biography on Roetzel and Andress Law's website, he received his law degree from the University of Cincinnati. Ziepfel provides legal advice to local governments on records and public meeting laws, funding procedures, annexation and more. He currently serves as the city attorney for Trenton, Ohio, and is on multiple boards throughout southwest Ohio including the Greater Cincinnati Human Resources Association and the Hamilton Economic Development Corporation.
Since last week's meeting, when Cason announced that council member William Bake had resigned, Brian Toothman has also resigned from the village council. Member Wesley Cedar has been absent from the past two meetings. Two College Corner residents, Tom Caudill and Brandy Singleton, volunteered to join the council to fill the vacancies, and the members present voted 3-0 in favor of adding them. Caudill and Singleton will be sworn in at the start of the next meeting.
After the meeting, Cason told the Free Press that Ruther turned in his official resignation, too. Council will have to fill his seat at a future meeting.
Caudill has been a College Corner resident for 23 years and is a retired industrial maintenance technician. Singleton, a four-year College Corner resident, homeschools her children and sells artisan jewelry.
Also at the emergency meeting last week, a representative from West College Corner said engineering firm Jones Warner Consultants, Inc. (JWCI) would no longer contract with College Corner. Cason has since been in touch with JWCI and said the firm is back on board to continue working with the village.
JWCI is currently contracted with College Corner for $19,800 for engineering and professional services to complete upgrades to the village reservoir required by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
The next regularly scheduled College Corner village council meeting is at 7 p.m. Aug. 8.
