Outlines priorities for office

COAL GROVE — Andy Holmes started as acting mayor of Coal Grove on Monday and, at Thursday night’s meeting of council, he took the oath of office and officially became the village’s new mayor.

Holmes was elected in November and follows Gary Sherman in the position.

He comes to the top job after serving since 2017 on village council and has a background in engineered sales for Ferguson Industrial, a company with locations in Ashland, Kentucky, and Huntington and Charleston in West Virginia.

Holmes said working for the company was a “natural fit” for coming into the mayoral position.

“You want your sewage and water funds to operate at a margin to keep them sustainable,” he offered as an example of the financial skills he developed at Ferguson, and he said the understanding he gained on things such as plumbing would come in handy for infrastructure issues impacting the village.

“To sell the product, you have to have knowledge of it,” he said.

Holmes is a lifelong resident of the village and he notes that he and recently built a new home next to his family home place.

Holmes says he and his wife, Candi, have been together for 22 years and married for 18. They have two sons, a senior and a junior in Dawson-Bryant Local Schools, who are active in sports.

Holmes said it was his family who put him on the path to public office, recalling a decision he made in 2016 at age 36.

“I was worried about opportunities in this area,” he said. “And I made up my mind to move to a bigger city.

He said he told his sons of this decision, and they were not pleased.

“They flipped out,” Holmes recalled, stating he understood where they were coming from.

“I’ve lived here my whole life and there’s no better place to be,” he said.

He said he recalls lying in bed, thinking of what to do, a made a choice to run for council, in hopes of improving the community.

Holmes looks back on his time on council and, when asked to cite his biggest accomplishments, points to three things.

First is the village’s water line replacement project and his role in pursuing the grants to fund the effort.

“For years, residents, including myself, complained about dirty water,” he said.

He said he recalls going to council meetings and being told there was nothing that could be done.

But he said that, upon examining the problem, they learned that the water was clear when it left the plant and that the issue lied in the distribution and the old lines carrying it to homes.

Coal Grove received funds from the Ohio Department of Environmental Protection, which Holmes said was “the largest in Coal Grove’s history, in terms of principal forgiveness.”

Another project he points to, he calls a “team venture of the entire council,” in which they received a $90,000 grant to make Paul Porter Park more accessible for those with disabilities.

The park reopened from that work in 2020 with a new playground.

Holmes also points to the work in rebuilding the village’s police department.

That department made headlines in 2022 when chief Randy Lewis and all of its officers resigned, citing disagreements with the previous mayor.

Bill Murphy, who was serving as chief of the Proctorville Police Department, was appointed to serve as Coal Grove’s new chief and tasked with rebuilding the department.

Holmes he approached Lewis personally when Coal Grove was trying to recruit him.

“I knew he was the right fit for the job,” he said.

In preparation for the job as mayor, Holmes said he first met with the village administrator, the police chiefs and the heads of departments.

“It was to communicate with the assets we already have,” he said. “Every company is only as good as its people.”

Holmes said there are no large changes planned in daily operations for Coal Grove, but he wanted to meet with village employees.

“These are the people responsible for keeping things running,” he said.

As for priorities for his time as mayor, Holmes discussed both he short term and long term.

For the next six months, he said the biggest project will be the construction of a new village garage.

The previous garage was lost due to AEP easements and he said the company will pay for the new building.

“We’re taking bids for construction,” he said.

Another task will be the creation of large items pick ups in trash collection.

“For things like mattresses and recliners,” he said, noting these pick ups will rotate between neighborhoods.

But one of the biggest priorities for Holmes is something he said he campaigned on.

“To bring services to each individual in the village,” he said.

Holmes said the idea is that residents will be able to go online or to village hall and fill out work orders, for things like filling potholes, which would then be prioritized by the mayor.

“Every resident will have that ability to put a complaint into writing,” he said.

For the long term, Homes said he wants to develop land along the Ohio River.

“We have a gem of a waterfront,” he said, noting they have already asked for funding from the state’s capital budget, and that he has talked to Rep. Jason Stephens, Ohio’s speaker of the House and a Lawrence County resident, about this.

He also hopes to speak with McGinnis Inc., about the use of land under the bridge in the village that the company owns.

While this is privately-owned land, Holmes said he hopes talks could be productive.

He also said he would like to focus on beautification and clean efforts in Coal Grove.

“And beautification becomes contagious,” he said. “And we can take care of the blight.”

But, foremost, Holmes said his main goal for the village is better management of resources, and improving services, which he said way central to why he ran.

“And a little better management will go a long way,” he said. 

— Due to print deadlines, coverage of business from Thursday’s council meeting will appear in the next edition of The Tribune.