Residents hear from council candidates
Infrastructure, growth and transparency were all hot topics
among the six candidates vying for a seat as a member of Waynesfield’s Village Council.
A meet and greet was held Sunday, when village residents had the opportunity to hear from those who want to be selected for
one of the four available seats on council.
One familiar face was Bill Motter. Motter had served on
council before, and had left due to his wife’s health.
He said he wants to bring the village closer together and that
one of his main concerns is infrastructure. Motter believes infrastructure is the key to getting businesses into town.
“The water supply has to be here, the electric has to be here,” Matter said, adding he wants the village to own their own natural gas.
“Natural gas has always been a big thing here, we need natural gas. When I was on council
before we worked real hard at it. The council that we have now made some major improvements,
but there is always room for more,” Motter said.
Motter thinks it is important for those on council to make themselves available outside of council meetings to hear citizen concerns
“What you don’t want to hear is I’ll look into that, and that’s all you hear,” Motter said.
Candidate Tim Walti, a life-long resident of Waynesfield, also wants to ensure resident voices are heard.
“One thing I would like to start is the town
hall meetings, not
just council meetings,” he said.
Another candidate, Deborah Ball, who grew up in Waynesfield and was a
school teacher for 30 years, wants to see more transparency.
“I would like to see transparency, I would like to see things thought through more, I would like to see a change for our village,” Ball said, noting that
change includes more activities.
“I would like to see new businesses here,
events going on, activities going on for our youth and for our
seniors, and for our families,” Ball said. Among her ideas is a community center to host some of these
events. “I want to see growth in Waynesfield.”
Ball sees opportunity in a nearby business park. She also wants to bring an indoor swimming pool to Waynesfield to attract visitors from surrounding communities and generate revenue for the village.
Candidate Jesslyn Winegardener has lived in the Waynesfield for about 30 years.
“I just want to get involved. I am just trying to do my part and
be a part of my community,” she said.
Incumbent Vicki Zimmerman is born
and raised in Waynesfield and is currently
serving her second council term. She recently retired as a mail carrier.
“The way I’ve always looked at it is, it’s not
about me, it’s about the village, everything that I’ve done and will continue to do,” Zimmerman said.
Some of council’s recent projects Zimmerman highlighted included a new park
shelter house and a new roof on the gazebo, restroom improvements and a walking path.
“I hope everybody goes and votes, and they vote for the betterment of the village,” Zimmerman said.
Incumbent Ronda
Knox owned a beauty
shop in Waynesfield for 53 years and has
been on the village council for 20 years.
“Right now I feel we have a very well-oiled group of people,” Knox said. “Somebody asked me why I always voted yes on things, and I said well I definitely will vote yes if it’s for the betterment of the community. We have done a lot of work on maintenance, getting some
old buildings torn down, getting rid of
junk cars. There’s more to be done, but you can’t do it all in one day,”
She also noted they have budget constraints and a lot of
projects depend on grant money, including repairs to streets and infrastructure.
“We have to have grants or we can’t do
anything; we just don’t have the income,” Knox said, adding the community has done well to
maintain its schools and fire department.
Village officials have used some recent federal grant
money to improve their HVAC at the city
building. Other recent project include improvements to park buildings.
“This has always been my home and I want this to be all it
can be for what we’ve got,” Knox said.
Candidate Scott Newland was not
present at the event.