(PHOTO BY AMY WENDT / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
WELL-DESERVED HONORS … At the recent village council meeting, Police Chief Leo Wixom presented awards to APD officers and an Archbold resident for their outstanding service. (L to R) Chief Leo Wixom, Amos Boysel (Citizen’s Commendation Award), Patrolman Aaron Young (Merit Award), Sergeant Bradley Merillat (Commendation and Merit Awards), Patrolman Isaac Brenneman (Merit Award), Patrolman Brice Meyer (Merit Award) and Assistant Chief Tera Rogers. Not pictured, Patrolman Adam Berg (Merit Award).
By: Amy Wendt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
amy@thevillagereporter.com
During the April 21 Archbold Village Council meeting, Police Chief Leo Wixom recognized officers from the Archbold Police Department and a local resident for their exemplary service during two incidents that occurred at the end of 2024.
The first situation occurred on October 23, when APD received a Flock camera alert on a stolen vehicle from Lima, Ohio.
Through his investigation, Patrolman Brice Meyer located the vehicle at a local residence and determined that the stolen plate had been placed on a different car.
Patrolman Meyer recalled seeing the actual stolen vehicle pass through the village earlier in the day and officers were able to obtain surveillance footage from a local gas station, which captured images of the suspects.
Through computer investigation, Patrolman Aaron Young assisted in identifying the suspects as residents of Paulding County. With help from Sergeant Bradley Merillat, the department was able to pursue charges against those involved.
Wixom presented Sergeant Merillat with a Commendation Award, while Patrolman Meyer and Patrolman Young each received a Merit Award for their contributions to the case.
The second occurrence took place on November 27, when a 911 call reported a burglary in progress at Terry Henricks Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram.
Patrolman Adam Berg responded and found all five suspects still inside the dealership. Two suspects attempted to flee, and Patrolman Berg successfully apprehended one. He then radioed a description of the fleeing vehicle, a black pickup truck, traveling northbound on Defiance Street.
Village resident Amos Boysel, who is also a deputy with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, heard the call on his radio while off-duty, and responded in his personal vehicle.
“I’m gonna give a lot of credit to him (Boysel) because they were northbound on Defiance Street and they actually turned down Short Buehrer Road and we wouldn’t have known they would have turned down that road if it wasn’t for him,” Chief Wixom shared.
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop in the county, and APD Sergeant Merillat responded as well. All five suspects in the vehicle were taken into custody, and six individuals from the Detroit area were identified as involved.
The investigation, completed by Patrolman Isaac Brenneman and Sergeant Merillat, resulted indictments against the individuals.
Sergeant Merillat, Patrolman Brenneman, and Patrolman Berg each received a Merit Award, while Amos Boysel was honored with a Citizen’s Commendation Award for his assistance during the incident.
“So again, I just wanted to recognize these guys in front of you. They work hard every day, and these are just two examples of extraordinary work that that Archbold Police Department’s doing,” Wixom added.
Before concluding, Chief Wixom also formally introduced to the council the department’s newest police officer, Nathan Keim.
Following Wixom’s presentation, the council approved the minutes from the April 7 meeting and authorized payment of $358,823.80 in bills and payroll before moving on to several legislative matters.
Council approved Resolution 2025-14 – providing for a statement of services which will be provided by the Village of Archbold to real estate for which a petition is filed for annexation to the Village of Archbold. The legislation is in regards to the voluntary annexation of a property totaling about 50 acres.
A companion item, Resolution 2025-15 – authorizing entering into an annexation agreement with German Township was also approved.
Village Administrator Aaron Alt added that upon annexation, the land will be zoned as “S-1” (special use), meaning any future development must go through the village for approval.
Council also approved:
-Resolution 2025-16: A Resolution Accepting the Bid from Gerken Paving, Contract 1-2025, Miscellaneous Street Resurfacing.
-Resolution 2025-17: A Resolution Accepting a Proposal from Strawser Construction Inc. To Install Fibermat Type B as Part of Contract 1-2025, Miscellaneous Street Resurfacing.
-Resolution 2025-18: Authorizing Participation in the ODOT Road Salt Contract Awarded in 2025.
-Resolution 2025-19: Accepting Change Order #4, FINAL For Archbold Municipal Building Project.
Also before the council were the first readings of Resolution 2025-20 – An Ordinance Providing for A Wastewater Rate Increase Effective with July 2025 usage, August 2025 Billing and Ordinance 2025-21 – Authorizing the Administrator to Enter into a Sanitary Sewer Service Agreement with Ridgeville Township Water & Sewer District.
Alt offered background information into the proposed legislation. “So, what this is doing is – it’s not essentially an increase, but we are amending – going through this legislation in here – it says all past pieces of legislation are hereby amended or basically void.”
“We removed our tiers. We talked about doing that back in October, November when we were first doing this. Going through – we’ll get to it in the next discussion – the Ridgeville Sanitary Sewer agreement and realizing that those tiers actually were very damaging to the financial outlook of the wastewater plant.”
“So, after looking at this and spending the last nearly six months trying to get things where they need to be, this is the step in that direction that identifies a special rate which would only be for those who are doing a pretreatment program along with BOD or in conjunction with.”
“So, the $1.77 per thousand gallons, that is well below the cost of treatment. But for our customers who are paying BOD, it takes that number where it needs to be essentially.”
“They’re paying 35 cents per thousand per pound on their BOD and then in turn, they might have a 100,000 pounds. So, it’s a $35,000 monthly bill that somebody – that one of these companies has seen on top of their sewage rate.”
“So, it takes that $1.77, brings it up where it needs to be for one company, and brings it up much more in alignment with other rates that people are paying in Archbold. So, this takes care of the issue of rates that were damaging, essentially to the wastewater plant.”
The next Archbold Village Council Meeting will be held on Monday, May 5, 2025, at 5:30 p.m.