By Martha Jacob –

Ripley Village Council met in regular session on Oct. 11 before a full council and wasted no time getting down to business  and  heard comments from local resident Judith Gray regarding a house next door to her and the sidewalk in front of it.
“About 10 years ago the village went through and replaced all the sidewalks according to an ordinance,” said Village Administrator Pete Renshaw, “people could pay for it or they could have it assessed on their taxes, which is normal. Apparently the house next door to Ms. Gray got skipped. It’s also been empty since 2006.”
Renshaw said that since that time it has remained empty and there is no one to contact who owns it because the house is now owned by Wells Fargo Bank, which is why the property sidewalk repair has not been taken care of.
Renshaw said he would look into what is necessary to get the sidewalk fixed, which could be repaired by spring next year. He added that he would be checking other properties with the same problem, and do them all at the same time.
Several other members of the community also attended the meeting to further discuss issues that needed to be taken care of in the village regarding old cars, rubbish and litter in the village. The group was told that things are getting done in the village; it will just take a while to get accomplished.
Ripley Mayor Tom Leonard told council that he was currently working with a grocery store owner out of Kentucky and was hopeful they will come into the Village of Ripley and build a grocery store which is desperately needed.
The Ripley 1st Stop Marathon station owner, Bobby Cantrell, has torn down the old service station and begun building a new facility which will include not only gas, but a small deli which will provide some groceries for the community.
“We anticipate the new 1st Stop opening its doors in January and we are all excited about it.” Renshaw said, “This new place will be exactly like the station in Aberdeen, about three times as big as the old one. We’ve relocated some electric service lines and made our city workers available to help when they can, to move the project along.”
In other business at the meeting, Wendi Van Buren, with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry taught a pruning class at the city building and some of the village’s department workers and members of the Ripley Tree Committee attended the class. The group traveled to the library to trim some trees.
During Renshaw’s report, he told council that most of the pipe had arrived, most of the easements have been signed and construction is ready to begin on the raw water main well project. It will begin behind the high school, travel through two other properties, and go down beside Pond Drive into the property where the village owns into the treatment plant.
“Unger Construction is doing the job and they will begin next week,” Renshaw said. “We anticipate the project taking a couple months, but because of where it is, it won’t affect any traffic.”
Renshaw announced to council that three old dilapidated houses had been demolished in the village in the past several weeks. The homeowners actually took care of the demolition.