LOUDONVILLE — A new Loudonville Village Council member was selected at Monday night’s meeting to fill a vacancy left by Cathy Lance, who was appointed to serve as interim mayor.
The leadership shift came as a result of former Mayor Jason Van Sickle’s resignation, which prompted president pro tempore Lance to fill the mayor’s seat, leaving a vacant spot on council.
Council selected Corey Lemke, 38, to assume that seat after interviewing him and another interested candidate during executive session.
Two other candidates submitted interest to be interviewed for the spot but did not show up for the interview.
Councilman Matt Armstrong nominated Lemke, and council then unanimously approved the appointment.
Lance’s council term ends Dec. 31, 2029; however, Lemke may not necessarily fill the seat until the end of the term.
Lance will only serve as mayor until the day after the November general election, when the village will have elected a new mayor.
Typically government office appointments serve the rest of the term, which in the case of mayor would be until Dec. 31, 2027, but this change of power is different.
“Where the vacancy is caused by elevation to the office of mayor, the appointed council member serves only for the period the president pro tempore holds the office of mayor,” Village Solicitor Thom Gilman said. “So, until the next regular municipal election is held.”
However, Lance is considering running for mayor, and if she does, and is elected to the position, then the person appointed to fill her council seat would serve the end of her term.
Lemke’s background
Lemke grew up in Loudonville and graduated from Loudonville High School before moving away to pursue a career in nursing, and eventually healthcare administration.
He now works as an administrative nurse manager at Riverside Methodist Hospital’s trauma unit and surgical intensive care unit in Columbus.
He moved back to Loudonville two years ago to raise his three kids with his wife.
“Our desire to move back to Loudonville was for that sense of community,” he said.
This will be Lemke’s first time serving in a public office, and he said his nursing leadership experience gives him the skills to be a community leader.
“I’m eager to start and learn from the other council members,” he said.
Lemke has no immediate plans as a councilman besides listening to the community and his fellow council members.
Other business
American Legion Post 257 representatives Jeff Marotta and Don Riffel presented council with two checks: a $40,000 check for the new administrative building and a $13,580 for an “extra special” Independence Day fireworks show.
Lance thanked them, and also thanked village maintenance, water and sewer workers, fire department and police for their work in cleaning up downed trees from the wind over the weekend.
“There were a lot of friends and family, community members out helping one another with cleanup … So I just want to thank everybody in the community for helping each other out,” she said.
Council approved a resolution authorizing the village administrator to apply for the Clean Ohio Trails Fund grant to extend the bike path through Riverside Park to Main Street.
The project is estimated to cost $640,000, but it will not be completed without grant funding.
Council also approved Village Solicitor Thom Gilman drafting legislation to change the speed limit to 25 miles per hour on South Mount Vernon Avenue, from Northview Heights to Main Street.
“We’ve had several complaints on West Main Street about people’ traveling up that know to higher speed than was posted,” Councilman Brandon Biddinger said.
Council will vote on the speed limit change at a later meeting.
Council also approved Gilman drafting legislation to change the penalties for violating the trash/junk ordinance.
Violators will now be warned to clean up junk, then be served a $150 fine if the issue is not resolved, then another $150 fine and after that, violators will face a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge.
Each violation step allows the violator 10 days to resolve the issue before the next step is enforced.
Loudonville Police Capt. Sean Gorrell said violators are first issued a written warning, then given a loose, not consistent time period to remediate the issue before they are served a third-degree misdemeanor.
“The idea is, maybe with the fee structure, that people would pay to fine and realize that they actually have to clean this up, versus going straight to a court appearance where it’s up to the judge to determine if they have a low fine, the maximum penalty fine, jail time or whatever it is,” Biddinger said.