He knows what needs done. Everyone does. Anyone with open eyes knows the village of Bellaire needs a lot of love.
The roads, the water and sewer pipes, the ever-shrinking tax base, and what’s the latest on all of the empty storefronts anyway? Those are the questions that Robert “Moose” Dodrill has fielded since he collected 269 unopposed votes on November 4th, but his first priority as the newest leader of the “Great American Town” doesn’t involve spending a single dollar.
Dodrill knows he needs the people first.
“I know I can’t do what I want to do all by myself, plain and simple, and I’ve said the same every time I’ve been asked,” said the man known as “Moose”. “We have to come together and stick together like we have in the past. But this time it has to be long-term and not just for a short time because people are fighting for one thing. We have to fight for the whole village right now.
“I’ve been involved with a lot of things in this valley, so I know that people will tell you they support you, but then when you need them, they’re nowhere to be found. I don’t want that right now,” he insisted. “We need people to buy in, and those people have to want to bring back the village of Bellaire. It’ll never be the same as it was when we were kids running around the town, but it sure can be better than what we have now.”
After serving as Shadyside’s mayor for 10 years, Ed Marling was write-in elected in Bellaire in 2021 and took he office in 2022 with a plethora of priorities. Marling, however, opted not to run for a second term and no one challenged Dodrill for the position.
“I ran for mayor because I want to help the town, and that would have been the case whether I was challenged or not,” Dodrill said. “My Dad always used to say back in the day that if you want to make a difference, you roll up your sleeves and you jump into it. So, I’m rolling up my sleeves and I’m jumping into it because I grew up in this town and I’ve watched what’s happened over the years.
“When I was a kid, Bellaire had everything you could ask for and we’ve all watched it decline,” he said. “There are a lot of towns in East Ohio that are struggling for the same reasons we are, and there’s no way to bring back what was once here because things have changed. The world has changed. Things are different. But I’m ready to do what I can do to help the village, and I’m going to ask the residents to join me.”
The One-Two Punch
The City of Bellaire peaked in population in the 1920s when more than 15,000 residents called the “Great American Town” their home, but that total has drastically dwindled ever since.
In fact, following the official count in 2000 by the U.S. Census Bureau, Bellaire was stripped of its “municipality status” with only 4,892 people. The 2023 estimate released by the federal agency states that just 3,763 remained, and Dodrill believes the number is a little lower today.
Why the astonishing withdrawal?
Along with the loss of manufacturing and coal mining jobs, the Bellaire Toll Bridge closed in 1991 after 65 years of service, and that shuttered the popular pathway between Benwood and the Belmont County community. And second, the ODOT’s bypass for Ohio Route 7 around Bellaire opened in the mid-1990s, and that meant thousands of potential customers were no longer driving past an abundance of Bellaire businesses every single day.
“When the Bellaire Bridge was closed, things changed in Bellaire, and nothing has been the same since the Ohio 7 bypass opened. Nothing, and we all know it,” Dodrill reported. “But we’ve known that for years and years now, and I don’t think we’ve really ever tried to figure out our next move. I think we’ve been shaking our heads this whole time instead.
“So, I think it’s time for us to figure out how to get people to come back to Bellaire,” he said. “We’ve lost a lot of businesses, and a lot of residents went with them, but we’re still here and we have to figure out how we can grow and move forward. That’s why the first step is to work with the people who are here today.”
That’s why, if there’s a Bellaire resident who doesn’t know “Moose”, it’s likely they will in the near future.
“I think it’s important to get out into the community so I can talk to everyone,” Dodrill said. “And we’re going to have a Town Hall meeting, and I hope everyone who lives in the village will come so we can have a conversation about working together on a lot of projects.
“And I want to talk with the kids in our schools so I can hear what they have to say. If we expect them to be our future, we have to ask them what they want,” he said. “And our business owners know what they need, and we have to meet with those folks, too.”
‘Moose’ Steps
Dodrill is well known across the Upper Ohio Valley for his talents behind the microphone, whether his performing the National Anthem at Wheeling’s Heritage Port or singing his favorite country songs in a local tavern.
He’s an American veteran, he appreciates people, he’s well aware he accomplishes nothing without working closely with the village’s constituents and Council members, and he knows it all comes with a price tag. One after another.
“We have to take steps as a village, and I’m going to need help with all of it,” Dodrill admitted. “The first step is to do what we can to get our roads in better shape and the current mayor (Ed Marling) is helping me get both feet on the ground so I can get a head start on things before I get in there.
“When it comes to the roads, it’s all about funding. We can’t do anything we can’t pay for, and that’s why I’m already looking for grants and other avenues where we might be able to find the funding. It takes money to do things, and people have to understand that. I’d fix them all if we could, and we have to address those structural things first because no one is going to want to live here or to do business here if they can count on those things.
“If our residents will get behind me and our new council, I believe we can make progress and build something for the future. That’s what I believe.”
