PHOTO BY BRENNA WHITE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION … The council deliberated over Zuver’s proposed same-day public participation sheet, but ultimately decided not to move forward with it.
By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Pioneer Village Council met on Monday, January 12, 2026, for a lengthy meeting that covered a wide array of hot topics within the town.
Budget cuts for the Pioneer Senior Center, a town’s family health struggle with ambulance wait time, and a tense exchange between the mayor and a council member are just a few examples to name.
In attendance were Mayor Ed Kidston, Brock Zuver, Joe Nickloy, Dean Frisbie, Alan Fiser, Bryan Gendron, and Trevor West.
The meeting opened with a prayer led by Pastor Craig. Council first approved the meeting agenda and held the election of a President Pro Tempore.
Bryan Gendron was unanimously approved as Council President with no other nominations. The minutes from the December 8, 2025, session and the December Financial Report were accepted, alongside the payment of bills.
Mayor Kidston noted that the income tax performed well without any raised rates. It was up 6.28% from their position last year. “That means we are growing pretty well,” he commented, “it’s twice the inflation rate.”
Several visitors addressed council, including Sarah Stubblefield and Commissioner Rummel with the Department of Aging, regarding the Pioneer Senior Center.
“At the end of the year, I needed to create a budget,” Stubblefield began, “I was not able to balance it. My revenue and expenses are not equal.
“I looked at all of my centers across Williams County, but here in Pioneer, particularly, my costs per head were high.”
Stubblefield continued to explain that the county is looking at “reimagining” how they are using the Pioneer Senior Center. She brought up plans of cutting the food budget and no longer serving lunches at the center, as well as occasionally placing Shania in different centers due to short-staffing issues.
“I don’t want to make a recommendation to the commissioners without first talking to the people of Pioneer,” Stubblefield said.
“I love the idea of community (support), and I’d like to come up with a plan that works for everybody.”
She stays committed to keeping the senior citizens of Pioneer involved with the transition period as she finalizes a long-term solution.
Rebecca Short, a newer member of the community, came to the council to discuss a life-threatening issue she had experienced within Pioneer on December 17, 2025.
Short’s husband has epilepsy and underwent a serious episode. While first responders and Pioneer Officers responded on scene quickly, there was little help they were trained to give him safely.
Short went on to explain that it took nearly 25 minutes for a county ambulance to arrive on scene.
Within that time, her husband’s muscles had liquefied, he required open heart surgery, and he may now lose a leg, never walking again.
“I’m here to ask what we can do to get my husband to the hospital. It just keeps getting worse, and it’s going to continue getting worse, and we love this community, and we love this house.”
Mayor Kidston said, “It’s a staffing issue. It’s always been a staffing issue. We do have a county ambulance in our building in town, but if there’s no staff to run the thing, then you have to wait like you did for Montpelier’s ambulance.” He estimated it is staffed 20% of the time.
The council, Short, and Commissioner Rummel discussed the event for quite some time, but staffing shortages remained the biggest problem.
Without a paramedic available for transport, the recently placed Medic 7 in Pioneer sits at the station a majority of the time.
Short reiterated that ambulance service is necessary at all times and asked how they can pay for a full-time worker to avoid situations like hers in the future.
The third and final visitor was Dana Clark with Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. She presented the council with legislation to approve a project through the Better Buildings NW Ohio “PACE” Program.
The project was filed for Action Precision under Eckley Enterprises. It provides 100% upfront financing for renewable energy projects, repaid over a long-term, fixed-rate assessment on the property’s tax bill.
Two ordinances and one resolution were approved by the council to move forward with the PACE program.
Police Chief Tim Livengood reported 32 calls, 3 arrests, and 4 warnings for the previous month.
He estimated a 2.30-second response time average between officers. Livengood also commented on short staffing amongst police officers. “We are short – we are in desperate need to seek additional officers, but that is not uncommon across the country.
“We are patiently awaiting officers to get through academies so we can bring them on board with us,” he said. Fire Chief Roger Swank reported four calls during the month of December.
Nickloy spoke about preconceived misconceptions with the mutual aid and fire-protection within Pioneer.
“I wanted to thank you, I had some misconceptions, and Chief Swank came up and talked to me for quite some time and set me straight on a lot of things.”
Swank explained that while Pioneer does go out on significantly more calls than they have to deal with personally, their inter-working relationship that grows with other departments comes back to help them when necessary. “Every time we get people coming to us. I got Alvordton, I got Montpelier, I got Waldron, Northwest, and they are all coming.
“I have five different departments coming to me. When you look at the numbers, it’s really just a multiplication factor.”
Administrator Anthony Burnett gave a report that first announced that they will be going through the process of lowering the speed limit on North State Street and County Road 15.
Due to the recent annexation, they will have ODOT conduct a speed study test that will potentially bring the speed limit down to 35 miles per hour. Burnett presented a series of motions. The council approved all as follows:
-Approving a retention contract with lawyer John Bentine for electric and utility legal advice.
-Approving an increase for utility deposit, changing the amount from $150 to $200.
-Approving Big Trash Pick-Up days for Friday, April 24, 2026 (7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) and Saturday, April 25, 2026 (7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.).
-Approving the Post Office to use the Community Center to hold a public hearing on Thursday, January 15, 2026, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. for no charge.
The hearing is for the purpose of discussing solutions for the Kunkle Post Office closure.
-Approving the purchase of large village lawnmowers for a bid of $16,420.
-Approving a drone show not to exceed $10,000 of village money for August 21, 2026, the first home North Central football game of the season.
-Approving a contract with the Pioneer Nazarene Church to run electrical services, not to exceed $10,000, at no cost. The contract requires the church to enter into an agreement that is satisfactory to the Administrator.
-Approving a liability insurance policy update at $70,956 for new buildings on village property.
-Approving a compensation “concessionaire” program for the concession stand during baseball season.
During the Mayor’s Report, Mayor Kidston confronted council member Dean Frisbie about a recent statement of his appearing in the Bryan Times: “Pioneer needs a lot of help – I hope we can get things turned around.”
Kidston then presented a comprehensive list of all things Pioneer is currently leading within the county. It included topics such as lowest utility costs, modern infrastructure, improved streets, ISO 4 Rating, tax breaks, and continuous village growth.
“Is that something you want to turn around?” he asked after each one. Frisbie responded “no” each time.
“If we don’t get things turned around a little bit in town here, as far as dealing with our neighbors, surrounding communities – we’re going downhill,” responded Frisbie.
The mayor continued, “In all of these things, streets, taxes, financial aiding, Pioneer is number one in everything. But you want to turn things around, so that’s what I’m questioning.”
“If we don’t start paying attention to our surrounding communities, I’m not saying give them everything, we might as well build a wall around Pioneer and a moat,” said Frisbie.
Frisbie mentioned people avoiding Pioneer to do business elsewhere, but Kidston said the village had 6% economic growth. They both agree that they should “stick up for their own residents.”
“I think, if we keep going the way we’re going, we might as well change the name of town to ‘Eddyville.’ People have just about had enough of this,” Frisbie said.
Mayor Kidston stated the importance of the council “looking out for the people in the Village of Pioneer.” He also reiterated that he does not take negative comments about the village lightly.
Frisbie clarified that he did not make the statement, saying anything bad about the town itself. He agreed that it was made in reference to the mayor. Frisbie then asked if the mayor knows who sent the letters out to Pioneer residents during the November election time.
This is in reference to a political letter sent to many people within the community against Frisbie and West running for Village Office.
“Of course I do,” replied Kidston. “It wasn’t just me – you think it was just me, but it wasn’t. You are assuming something you don’t know. I guarantee that it wasn’t just me.”
After the exchange, new councilman Zuver presented a same-day public participation sheet for the council to implement during meetings. Currently, community members who wish to speak have to request to be placed on the agenda at the Village Hall.
Zuver provided a list of rules and regulations for participation, but it was ultimately not moved forward with.
Council then moved into legislative matters. They first approved several ordinances that accepted bids for the Village of Pioneer’s 2026 solar infrastructure project.
A resolution to proceed with placing a 5-mill levy on the May 2026 ballot was not advanced, as no council members made a motion to bring it forward.
The second resolution authorized Mayor Kidston to serve as a delegate representing the Village of Pioneer as a member of the Board of Directors of the Ohio Municipal Electric Association, and a third adopted the Williams County Hazard Mitigation Plan.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:11 p.m.