PHOTO BY JOHN FRYMAN / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
STREET DEPARTMENT … Bryan City Street Commissioner Tyson Engstrom (above) gave his annual street department report to council members at its regular meeting on Monday, February 2.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
Fire Chief Doug Pool presented his 2025 report, in which the department responded to 1,567 calls for service.
This represented an 11 percent decrease from 2024, when the department responded to 1,738 calls for service.
In 2025, the fire department’s call volume included:
•62 fire calls
•Three calls for overpressure, explosion, and overheating
•1,232 calls for rescue and emergency medical service
•28 calls for hazardous conditions (no fire)
•42 service calls
•129 good intent calls
•70 false alarm and false calls
•One special incident type call
The report also listed a total of 1,194 incidents in the City of Bryan, 173 in Pulaski Township, 119 in Center Township, 45 in Jefferson Township, 22 mutual aid given, and 14 at Hillside Country Living nursing home.
It was also reported that the fire department was dispatched twelve times for automatic aid and five times for mutual aid with neighboring departments.
The fire department also received help from neighboring departments nine times with automatic aid and four times with mutual aid.
Pool pointed out that the average time spent on an individual call in 2025 was 24 minutes. He also noted that the average monthly call volume was 131. The most calls were received in September (148), while the fewest were in April (107).
The fire chief mentioned that they responded to 23 residential fires and eight other structural fires last year. A vehicle fire was reported, along with 17 other outside fires. Sixty-two fires were reported in 2025.
The department’s dollar loss in property and contents totaled an estimated $1,313,050. Firefighters saved an estimated $3,900,000 in involved property last year. Four civilians suffered injuries from fire.
In fire prevention, the department conducted 86 fire inspections and hosted area school children who visited the fire department to learn about fire safety.
“It’s community service,” said Pool. “We’re trying to get out there and just tell people to understand the causes of fire and try to keep people safe.
“Along with that, we also did inspections that are required in schools, nursing homes, daycares, and group homes. There are others required by the state that either go along with or get the report later.”
Pool commented that the fire department had its fire training academy charter reviewed, which was a three-year process.
Last year, the fire training academy was reimbursed $35,000 through a grant from the Ohio BWC for Firefighter I training. The academy also received $41,840 in course fees paid by fire departments sending students, thus bringing the total to $76,840.
“We’re actually making a small profit out of that, and it’s not huge,” said Pool. “By the time we pay for materials—LP gas in particular—and our instructors, there is a small income for us to help cover our inside cost of administration on the program.”
Regarding fire apparatus, Pool said that Engine 23 was taken out of service and sold. He added that the current Rescue/Pump 25 vehicle (a 1986 GMC Summit) will be retired and sold after a 2025 Sutphen Rescue/Pump is placed in service. The new Rescue/Pump 25 was purchased for $1,040,700 in December 2025. The apparatus is currently being fitted for brackets, with completion expected in February.
Currently, the fire department has a total of 33 firefighters. This includes the fire chief, assistant fire chief, captain and chaplain, six career firefighters, and 23 part-time and paid on-call firefighters.
Street Commissioner Tyson Engstrom presented his annual street department report to council.
In his report, he presented the following facts for the street department:
•1,003.94 tons of salt were used at a cost of $56,077.59
•16,300 gallons of brine were used at $1,304.00
•2,392 gallons of emulsion Durapatcher at $6,027.30
•Removed 27 hazardous trees with the assistance of the city’s arborist
•Sewer crew cleaned and televised 3,713 feet (0.70 miles) of sanitary sewer in 2025
•Took in 371 tons of compost material (grass, leaves) and gave away 122 tons of composted materials
•Assisted in 55 burials and poured 28 bases at Fountain Grove Cemetery
Council removed from the agenda an ordinance approving the form of a corrected easement agreement for use and occupancy of specified city property for construction and operation of a solar generating facility.
Bryan Mayor Carrie Schlade told council members she got a call from Director of Utilities Derek Schultz, and it appeared that MEI of Bryan, LLC has not had proper time to review the easement and make sure they’re comfortable with it.
“Derek (Schultz) has asked me to pull this up until the next council meeting,” said Schlade. “The reason that you’re seeing it for a second time is twofold. The original ordinance prepared by the attorney said it was for Eitri Foundry, but it is supposed to be for MEI of Bryan, LLC. There is also some cement work in the area that is going to work for and wanted to make sure that it’s written in the contract, not just as an addendum, so the city isn’t held liable should their equipment break.”
Council approved the transfer of funds for the City of Bryan for the month ending February 28, 2026. This will include the following financial transfers:
-$1,300,000 from the one percent income tax fund to the general fund and $150,000 to the street fund
-$110,000 from the fire department fund to the P&F Building Debt Retirement Fund and $90,000 to the fire vehicle fund
-$500,000 from the one-half income tax fund to the Capital Improvements Fund
-$2,200,000 from the electric fund to the electric capital reserve
-$225,000 from the water fund to the water capital reserve
In other council business:
Passed a second reading on increasing the sewer rates for residential, commercial, and industrial use within the city
Authorized the mayor to approve a purchase order for a new dump truck with Selking International for the purchase of a 2027 International HV 507 SFA cab and chassis for the street department through the Ohio Department of Transportation Cooperative Purchasing Program. The cost of the truck is $107,654.84, thus waiving the competitive bidding process.
Authorized the mayor to approve a purchase order to GovConnection for the purchase of a server system for the police department through the Ohio Cooperative Purchasing Program. The cost for the server system is $80,013.15.
Authorized Police Chief Greg Ruskey to apply for a grant for the police department. The grant through Norfolk Southern Railroad is for a Safety First Grant.
Passed a resolution authorizing Clerk-Treasurer John Lehner to advertise bids for the concrete pavement replacement project known as WIL-US127-3.9 Bryan Recon. The project will involve full-length replacement of existing concrete pavement on North Main Street between Foster Street and Brunicardi Way.
Schlade commented that she is seeking an 80-20 funding agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation.
She also pointed out that the estimate for the project is $535,781, and the city wants to put it out for bids. If the bids come in around that number, she added, the city should only have to pay $107,000 of the total cost.
Schlade also thanked all the city departments for their efforts during the recent snowstorm.
“They really worked hard, worked long, and in very cold temperatures,” said Schlade. “That includes BMU staff who had to fix a water main break in minus 20-degree temperatures.
“So, I appreciate the work, the leadership, and everything that they did to make sure the city was so willing in very hard conditions.”