PHOTO BY AMY WENDT / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
COMMUNITY SERVICE … Councilor Gary Dominique (left) shared that the Countryside Clovers 4-H group offered to clean, weed, and mulch the David K. Aeschliman Memorial at no cost to the village as a community service project.
By: Amy Wendt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
amy@thevillagereporter.com
Archbold Village Council met for its last regular meeting of 2024 on Monday, December 16 with councilors Gary Dominique, Von Bentz, Kevin Eicher, Aaron Babcock, Chad Kern, and Karla Ball at the table.
Mayor Brad Grime and Village Administrator Aaron Alt were also on hand on behalf of the village’s admin team.
First, addressing routine matters, the council approved minutes from the December 2 meeting and authorized the payment of bills and payroll totaling $1,357,422.64.
Regarding the larger-than-usual amount, Alt explained that as the year comes to a close, the village aims to clear as many 2024 expenses from the books as possible.
With no members of the public present to address the council, the group moved right onto legislative matters relating to the village’s budget.
Following a declaration of emergency, the council passed Ordinance 2024-59, which amended the 2024 appropriations. Alt clarified that the measure does not authorize any new or additional funds but simply reallocates existing budgeted amounts.
Looking to the new year, following a declaration of emergency, the council approved Ordinance 2024-60 which adopts the village’s 2025 Budget Appropriations. Alt offered insight into the final numbers for the upcoming year.
“Every department pretty much met with some sort of committee of council to review their budgets. We had a lot of great input from the departments, as well as council, so I really do appreciate that.”
“On the 5th, we met as a council with the finance committee to review all of the budgets collectively, and again, good discussion on those items.”
“So, as we go through this actual budget, you’ll see that for 2025, we are budgeting $18,511,061.50.
A couple notable things in this budget: One, it is down from last year. I don’t have the exact dollar of what it is from last year, however there are 27 pays the way that the calendar falls. January 2nd is a payday so that does go into account for a portion of the budget.”
The second key point Alt highlighted was the increase in the workers’ compensation line item in 2025. He explained that injuries sustained in 2019, 2020, and 2021 caused the village to lose its group rating with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC).
As a result, the expected premium of approximately $39,000 increased to nearly $98,000. To address this issue and work toward regaining the group rating, the village has budgeted approximately $250,000 for 2025.
“We’re enrolling in the BWC’s 15K Program which will help us get back into group rating quicker,” Alt explained. “We will absorb some of those costs as we’re going through.”
“The hope is we have a paperweight in there of about $150,000 that we will not even see a dollar spent. But in order to get our rating back in, Cathy and I both felt strongly that entering into the 15K Program with the BWC was the best things to do.”
“Otherwise, most budgets are business as usual,” Alt continued. “I’m pretty happy with the work that we did up to this point.”
The committee and board minutes before the council included budget reviews for both the finance committee and the parks & recreation department.
Appreciation was extended to councilors Dominique, Babcock, and Eicher of the building and grounds committee for their efforts, along with Alt and Parks & Recreation Director Jen Kidder, in identifying previously deferred maintenance needs within the parks to tackle in 2025.
The council also reviewed department reports for November 2024, which included APD’s Police Calls for Service, AFD’s Fire and EMS Calls for Service, and the Street Department’s Fleet and Labor Report.
Before closing for the evening, Dominique shared that Audrey Burkholder, a representative for the Countryside Clovers 4-H group, had reached out to inquire about a potential community service project for the group’s members.
The 4-H club expressed interest in cleaning, weeding, and mulching the David K. Aeschliman Memorial at no cost to the village. Both Mayor Grime and Alt agreed it was a great idea.
Archbold Village Council will reconvene for its first regular meeting of 2025 on Monday, January 6 in the Archbold Municipal Building.