By: Amy Wendy
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
Archbold Village Council met on Monday, June 19 at the Village Hall with all council members present.
Following a moment of silence, council approved council minutes of June 5, 2023, and bills & payroll in the amount of $436,585.61.
They then broke for executive session to discuss both Property ORC 121.22 (G)(2) and Employment ORC 121.22 (G)(1).
Upon returning from executive session, following a motion to suspend the rules, council approved Resolution 2023-25 formally appointing Aaron Alt as Assistant Village Administrator as recommended during the June 5 meeting.
At that time, a recommendation was presented to council where Administrator Donna Dettling had noted, “The selection team of Mayor Grime, Karla Ball, myself, and Kathy Rupp decided that Aaron Alt would be the best candidate for that position mostly due to his experience with human resource management, planning and zoning, economic development, and managing staff and projects.”
“He is also very familiar with the organization and the people not only in the community but also in the village.” Alt is currently the village’s Planning Director.
In other legislation, council also approved Resolution 2023-26 to petition the Fulton County Commissioners to construct and maintain ditch improvements to the Flat Run Watershed.
Village Engineer Dexter Krueger was on hand to elaborate. “Although the village has just a small portion of the entire Flat Run Watershed, we’re taking the initiative to petition the Fulton County Commissioners.”
Krueger also advised that he anticipates German Township Trustees will pass a similar resolution at their next meeting.
Petitioning the county to construct ditch maintenance and improvement to the watershed is just the first step. The Fulton County Engineering Department will then take a look to see what the project will entail.
Councilor Vaughn Bentz inquired whether or not assessments will eventually be charged back to owners whose property lies within the watershed.
Dettling said, “I think once we have more details and understand the process better, we will pull the utility committee together and actually have them go over – do a deep dive into – ‘what does this look like?’
“Then we’ll have a guesstimate of what we think those assessments will be and then make a recommendation on which way you want to go. Are we (the village) willing to pick it up or how are you going to handle it?”
Krueger added, “For an average homeowner within the village who owns just a residential lot, the fee probably would not amount to much. It’s going to most likely affect larger agricultural landowners outside of the village.” A little over half of the village lies within the Flat Run Watershed.
Council then approved Resolution 2023-27 accepting the renewal from Public Entity Pool of Ohio to provide property and liability insurance and authorizing the administrator and finance director to contract therefore.
It was noted that the finance committee reviewed the renewal information since the cost increase was 15.5 percent.
It was determined that the increase was “on trend” and due to multiple factors including inflation, the number of insured vehicles, and the value of larger equipment that was recently purchased by the village.
The council also reviewed minutes from the Utility Committee meeting on June 5, the Building & Grounds Committee meeting on June 5, and the Finance Committee meeting on June 14.
In reports, the 2020 Waste Water and Treatment Plant Improvement power point presentation was shared. Council also reviewed the Archbold Comprehensive Plan Implementation Table.
In correspondence, it was noted by Mayor Brad Grime that village was awarded a Trench Safety Grant Award from the Bureau of Workers Compensation in the amount of $8,536.
The previously scheduled council meeting for Monday, July 3, 2023, at 5:30 pm will be canceled. The next meeting will be held on Monday, July 17 at 5:30 pm.
Amy can be reached at amy@thevillagereporter.com