Paving and Roof Repairs Planned in Coming Months
An extensive paving project will begin at the intersection of Main and Chestnut streets on May 11, and bids for a new roof on the Barnesville Depot will be opened April 8.
Barnesville Village Council heard details of the paving plan from Village Administrator Roger Deal during its March 23 meeting. Deal said he had attended a March 16 pre-construction meeting in New Philadelphia with officials from the Ohio Department of Transportation, where he learned more about how the project will proceed.
“And plans are for Shelly and Sands to begin in Barnesville. … They will begin at our main intersection. In fact, they’re going to start on the east side of the intersection and I think, through that meeting, we’ve got a shot of them going clean through the intersection, which is what I hope and pray for,” he said.
According to Deal, paving of State Route 147/Main Street through much of the village will begin on the east side of the intersection with State Route 800/Chestnut Street. He said ODOT and its contractor will begin making repairs along the planned route on May 11 before actual paving begins. When all is said and done, he said the village’s only remaining responsibility will be to repaint the parking spaces on the downtown sections of Main Street.
From Chestnut Street, the project will continue east through the village and continue on through Bethesda to the intersection with State Route 149, which is located just west of the Belmont village corporation limit. Additional work within the village of Belmont will include the widening of the intersection of State Routes 147/149 and South Bridge Street, which lies at the main entrance to that community.
The work is expected to be conducted throughout the summer months with all construction within Barnesville to be complete prior to the Pumpkin Festival in late September.
“So that’s good news,” he added. “I think it’ll turn out to be a nice project.”
Deal also announced that bids for replacement of the Barnesville Depot roof will be opened at 10 a.m. April 8.
On Feb. 23, council had heard from Bruce Yarnall of the Depot Committee, who said efforts to address the roof issues began two years ago. He noted that Mayor Jake Hershberger had contacted Ohio Sen. Brian Chavez, R-Marietta, and secured $75,000 in state funding for the project. Experts with the state and with construction firms had since recommended that the proper way to repair the depot roof is to lift and relay the tile, which was manufactured in 1916 or 1917, rather than to replace it with different material. He noted that the existing tiles could last up to 200 years as long as they are not broken.
“The state money is only good until September of this year, so now we’re down to we need to bid it out again,” Yarnall said in February, adding that the Depot Committee would commit $20,000 to the roof work, along with $5,000 from the Belmont County Tourism Council in the form of a GAP grant. With the $75,000 from the state, that amounts to $100,000, or perhaps a little less than half the cost of the project.
A month later, Deal said the project has been advertised for bids and that the community already has received some interest, particularly from five specific contractors who were contacted about potentially performing the work. Both Deal and Yarnall have stressed that the actual work should take only a few weeks to complete once a contract is awarded, allowing the village to use the state funding before it expires.
Meanwhile, council voted to allow Boardwalk Pipelines to survey two village-owned parcels near the Slope Creek Reservoir. The company hopes to install a pipeline in that area. Deal said the plan calls for the construction to occur within the reservoir’s watershed, but both he and Hershberger emphasized that this initial step only allows the company to complete a survey to facilitate presentation of a proposed plan and that the village has not committed to allowing the use of its property for this effort.
Council also approved a transaction that will allow the Fire Department to purchase a new metal building to house its ATV and its boat on a trailer for about $11,000. The building will be added to the site of the current firehouse. As part of the deal, the fire department will sell its existing shed to the Barnesville Park District for $5,000 – a value recommended by Fiscal Officer Jeannie Hannahs, based on its age and condition – to be placed at the West End Ballfields.
Deal also informed council that the village issued its Consumer Confidence Report regarding the quality of the drinking water it provides. He said this is required annually by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and that copies are hand-delivered to many of the apartments in town. The report is available on the village website at barnesvilleohio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/ccreport.pdf under the Water & Sewer Department tab.
In addition, Deal said the village was able to begin selling bulk water to Infinity Natural Resources, which acquired the local assets of natural gas and oil producer Antero Resources Corp. Antero had a water purchase agreement with the village prior to the sale to Infinity, and Infinity was able to acquire and work with the village under that same agreement.
Infinity can now withdraw water from the Slope Creek Reservoir for its drilling and fracking operations in the region. Deal said sales had already begun to occur and, in answer to a question from Councilman Mark Lucas, he confirmed that the reservoir can only be drawn down by 3 feet before sales must be halted and the reservoir permitted to recover by at least 1 foot.
Deal also reported that Belmont County GIG, which is installing fiber infrastructure to support high-speed internet service across the county, had experienced a slip during its work along Railroad Street. He noted, though, that the company quickly repaired the problem.
Finally, Brian Yarnall, a resident and former council member, asked whether there has been any recent interest in purchasing the village-owned Bohandy Building at the southeast corner of Main and Chestnut streets. The village previously invested more than $100,000 in repairs to the large commercial structure and was involved in an effort to sell it to private developers that resulted in a controversial dispute between potential buyers.
Deal said he had not been approached by any potential buyers in recent weeks. Hershberger added that he had heard one of the previously interested parties might be interested in buying the building now, but he acknowledged that he did not hear that directly from that individual.
Deal also handed out information regarding a survey being conducted by the Belmont County Emergency Management Agency regarding its Hazard Mitigation Plan. The public can find and participate in the survey online at https://forms.office.com/r/AmAMA4YxAs.
A Water & Sewer Committee meeting to discuss a planned rate study is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, in Council Chambers. The next regular meeting of Barnesville Village Council is set for 7 p.m. Monday, April 6, also in Council Chambers.
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