PHOTO BY JOHN FRYMAN / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
INSURANCE RATES … City of Bryan Clerk-Treasurer John Lehner (above) discusses the employee annual premium rate for health insurance at the Bryan Board of Public Affairs meeting held on Monday, Aug. 10.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
The Bryan Board of Public Affairs met in regular session on Monday, Aug. 10. Board members present were Annette Schreiner, Karen Ford, Brian Davis, Jeremy Suffel, and Debra Beevers.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the board approved the meeting minutes of the July 27, 2026, meeting and the clerk-treasurer report.
The Board authorized Mayor Carrie Schlade to submit an application to participate in the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) State Capital Improvement and Local Transportation Improvement Program.
If approved, it will allow the City of Bryan to make capital improvements to the waterline in the 700-900 blocks of East Mulberry Street.
Director of Utilities Derek Schultz said the details of the project are still being worked out. The project is anticipated to cost $550,000.
Schultz added that the OPWC will provide about $275,000 in grant funding should the application go through.
A resolution authorizing the annual premium rate for employee health insurance was approved.
The annual employee premium rate which covers from Sept. 1, 2026, through Aug. 31, 2027, was increased by 0.74 percent to match the net increase in health insurance costs to the city.
Clerk-Treasurer John Lehner told the board that he, along with Mayor Carrie Schlade, and Tricia Lyons, had met several weeks ago with the city’s consultants for health care benefits.
Lehner commented that the consultants brought the city renewal quotes from Medical Mutual, who has been the city’s plan administrator for its self-insurance plan for years.
“We asked that our consultants go out and scour the market to see what our other options were for either self-insured like we’ve been, fully insured or we had them look at some pools that we could be eligible for,” Lehner said.
He said the city finally heard back from the Buckeye Ohio Risk Management Association (BORMA) which is made up of municipalities in Ohio.
Lehner has worked with them in the past in two other Northwest Ohio cities, Clyde and Defiance, where he was previously employed.
BORMA is a regional self-insurance pool, and benefits group helps local government entities, and political subdivisions handle health benefits, claims-paying methods, and risk management coverage.
It also offers a number of different plans varying in scale from the richest to the less rich.
“We chose the plan that most closely matches the current plan that we offer the employees, and it does have a nice group plan and still maintains a 90-10 split,” Lehner commented.
“It’s going to be a benefit for the employees and from the standpoint of they won’t even notice the difference in terms of just how they feel with their own healthcare.”
He added that Lyons has scheduled mandatory meetings with all city employees starting on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Ford made a motion to pass the employee annual premium rate for health insurance with Suffel seconding. The motion was approved.
The premium for single coverage is set at $100.35 per month, and for family coverage is set at $274.54 per month.
“It sounds great compared to what we tried to do in the past,” said Ford.
“In all of my years of experience going back to Laura Rode and having to negotiate with the individual, private insurance company and fight for the rates we were given.
“Some were really good and there were some that were shocking and that was business at the time. Being in a pool-type thing and whatever you can call it like this.
“Cities like Archbold, Napoleon, Sandusky, Bowling Green, this is really like a purchasing program which is through a co-op and no matter who was purchasing in that community of getting the best prices.
“This is a smart way to go and with your (Lehner) experience and push this through working for it. Thank you for all of your efforts and even for alerting us to this program.”
The board authorized the transfer and appropriation of insurance proceeds totaling $47,000 related to storm and hail damage at the power plant on March 26, 2026, to the 515 Electric Capital Fund.
The insurance proceeds will assist with the repair, replacement, and restoration of the power plant roof which was damaged by the hailstorm. Schultz has received a couple of quotes for the repairs on the roof.
Schultz also updated that repairs are underway to replace a filter at the water plant. He said things are going smoothly, and they plan to be back to normal operations.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:21 p.m. Next meeting will be Monday, Aug. 24, at 5 p.m.
