FOND FAREWELL … The December 18 Archbold Village Council meeting served as the last for Councilor Brad Short with six years of service and Councilor Kevin Morton with 24 years of service.
By: Amy Wendt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
amy@thevillagereporter.com
Archbold Village Council met on Monday, December 18, 2023, with Council members Brad Short, Kevin Morton, Kevin Eicher, Vaughn Bentz, Karla Ball, and Chad Kern present.
In addition to council, Mayor Brad Grime, Village Administrator Donna Dettling, and Assistant Village Administrator Aaron Alt were also in attendance.
The audience seating area of the Scout Cabin hosted many attendees who were present to show support to outgoing Councilors Brad Short and Kevin Morton while also welcoming the incoming Councilors Gary Dominique and Aaron Babcock.
Brad Short, who served with the Archbold Village Council for six years, was elected in November as German Township Trustee and will begin that term on January 1, 2024.
Mayor Brad Grime shared that he looks forward to ongoing collaboration with Short in his new capacity as trustee, highlighting the close working relationship between the two entities.
By Resolution 2023-65, Gary Dominique was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Short for the remainder of the term running from January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2025.
Council also extended its appreciation to Councilor Kevin Morton, who, after an impressive 24 years of dedicated service as a village council member, chose not to pursue re-election in November.
Morton shared a few words with the room, “…I don’t want my service to end. It’s time for other people to come in and do their thing.”
“But I – the passion to help Archbold win and whatever is still there…I don’t know what that’s going to be, but I do look forward to jumping in with both feet on something and continuing to help us do whatever we need to do.”
Newly elected Councilor Aaron Babcock will be taking the reins over for Morton on January 1.
In regular agenda items, council minutes from December 4, 2023, bills and payroll in the amount of $1,278,975.84, and the November 2023 financial reports were approved. Council then addressed a handful of primarily housekeeping legislative items.
Ordinance 2023-61 for the annual adoption of all Codified Ordinances retroactive to January 1, 2023, was approved following a declaration of emergency with VA Dettling noting that the measure must be passed yearly per legal council.
An ordinance to amend 2023 Appropriations (2023-62) was also considered by Council and upon a declaration of emergency, the measure was passed to balance and close out the 2023 budget.
Also in financial matters, Resolution 2023-63 pertaining to the annual transfer of money from the village’s General Fund to EMS Fund 103 was passed by council.
“This will be an annual transfer as well. That budget is usually around a million dollars and with $750,000 in accounting, I only had to move $148,000 for 2023,” elaborated Dettling.
Looking forward to the new year, council then adopted the 2024 Budget Appropriations contained in Ordinance 2023-64.
Mayor Brad Grime then took a moment to read a Proclamation Celebrating Andres O’Neil & Lowe’s (AOL) 100th Anniversary on December 19, 2023.
The proclamation states that the local business “serves personal and commercial clients from offices in Archbold, Bryan, and Wauseon,” and AOL “believes in strengthening the communities they serve through philanthropy, employment opportunities, and helping local businesses succeed.”
Councilor Kevin Morton, who is also co-owner of Andres O’Neil & Lowe was then presented a copy of the proclamation by Mayor Grime.
Finance Committee minutes from December 11, Park Board minutes from November 19, the APD Call Response Report from November 2023, and an article by Public Entities Pool of Ohio (PEP) “Ohio’s New Adult Marijuana Use Law” were also before council for review.
Wednesday, December 20 at 4:30 p.m. will see Archbold Village Council meeting jointly with the Archbold Board of Education in the High School Media Center to finalize the Fire Service Agreement for 2024-2029.
The next regular council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 2 at 5:30 p.m.
