PHOTO BY BRENNA WHITE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
INSURANCE CHANGE … Bryan City Council President John Betts agrees that switching insurance providers from Medical Mutual to BORMA will positively affect city employees.
By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
brenna@thevillagereporter.com
Bryan City Council approved a wide range of financial, insurance and infrastructure-related measures during its Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, meeting. This included adjusting city annual appropriations, a new health insurance provider for city employees and increasing wages for Bryan police officers.
Wastewater Collection Improvements Project
Council approved an ordinance amending the city’s appropriations to reflect the full cost of the Bryan Wastewater Collection Improvements Project.
City Engineer Brian Wieland explained the project was awarded earlier this year through the Maumee Valley Planning Organization’s (MVPO) Critical Infrastructure Grant after the city’s budget was already created.
The improvements carry a total cost of $839,250, with a $470,000 grant covering approximately 56 percent of the project. The City of Bryan is responsible for the remaining $369,250.
Clerk-Treasurer John Lehner explained the appropriation was needed to ensure the city’s financial records accurately reflected the project’s total cost for auditing purposes, even though more than half of the funding will be provided through a grant.
“Our books have to reflect the whole cost of the project, even though the county will get their $470,000, and they’ll pay the contractor that $470,000,” Lehner explained.
“We need to appropriate the whole amount of the project, which is the $839,250.”
Wieland explained that the project will take place on the southeast side of town. “Butler, Maple, Cherry, Allen (streets) area.
“It’s in rear-yards and alleys, and again, this is a pipe-bursting project. We are replacing all of the sanitary sewer within the taps and the right-of-ways.” The project aims to reduce infiltration.
The contract deadline was said to be February 2027, but Wieland remained confident the project would be completed by the end of this year.
Council additionally approved a resolution supporting the MVPO’s recommendation to award the project contract to S&S Directional Boring Ltd.
Ohio Art Over-Billing Reimbursement
Two additional appropriations were also passed for the Ohio Art over-billing reimbursement. “This is the amount of money to accommodate the Ohio Art’s reimbursement of twelve months’ worth of the over-billing that we have been litigating now for close to three years,” Lehner added.
“We think we are very close to the end of that, and we are looking to appropriate the twelve months’ worth.” The reimbursement was split into separate installments of $32,486 and $15,596.
Rooftop Chiller Replacement
An emergency ordinance to waive competitive bidding requirements to replace the rooftop chiller at the Don North Municipal Building was approved.
Wieland explained the air-conditioning unit was around 30 years old and is original to the building. It has reached the end of its lifetime after years of wear, along with recent hailstorm damage.
While insurance is expected to cover a portion of the cost, it will not pay for the full replacement. “We’ll take what insurance money comes our way, but it’s not going to be nearly the cost of the replacement,” Lehner said.
The new rooftop unit is estimated to cost $379,000. Wieland stated the project is expected to take six to eight weeks for completion, with a full replacement in September or October 2026.
Police Wage Increase
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was entered with the City of Bryan’s Police Department regarding a wage increase for officers. “…a package was put together for the patrol, detective, and sergeants to increase their pay to once again stay competitive with the surrounding agencies as we have lost a couple of officers to two other agencies due to the pay difference,” said Police Chief Greg Ruskey.
The entry-level pay for patrol and entry police officers was increased from $23.40 to $25, which is nearly a 7 percent increase.
“The $25 kind of fits in the middle of the communities we were looking at,” explained Lehner, “and the $23.40 was lower than every community we looked at. That was the starting issue.”
The MOU reflects continued yearly increases to keep up with the market demand.
“The reason I’m in favor of this is because we are not only not competitive to get applicants, but we are losing applicants. To me, that seems like we are going in the wrong direction. This seems to make it go into the right direction,” stated Council President John Betts.
Health Insurance Change
A resolution authorizing the City of Bryan to join the Buckeye Ohio Risk Management Association (BORMA) Benefits Pool as its new employee health insurance provider was approved.
The change comes after the city’s current provider, Medical Mutual, proposed a 19.8 percent renewal increase for the upcoming coverage year.
The city had previously applied to BORMA a year ago, but its application was declined. This year, its offer was accepted.
“An argument can be made that an employer with 150 employees is too small to be self-insured, but we have managed for a long time,” said Lehner.
He explained that BORMA is commonly used by neighboring municipalities such as Napoleon, Defiance and Fayette.
“It’s a pretty radical change to go from self-insured to a pool concept,” continued Lehner. However, he explained that the employees will still receive the same networks and providers they are already used to.
The proposal BORMA offered was a little under a 1 percent net increase to their current plan rates.
John Lehner was selected as the BORMA representative to serve on the Board of Directors, with Trish Lyons as an alternate.
OPWC Grant Applications
Wieland returned with two resolutions to apply for Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) grants. One was an application to re-apply for the East Mulberry Waterline Street Replacement, which was denied last year due to too many applicants.
The second project is a sanitary sewer project that will be along West Hamilton to West South Street, and South Main to South Beech.
It will focus on the alleyways to “knock off” areas with clay soil experiencing infiltration.
Public Comments
During public comments, Bryan resident Steve Cox asked the Council questions regarding the recent chip-and-seal project completed on Huntington Drive.
He stated he saw a Bryan City-owned Johnson street sweeper completing work on the street. “I was under the impression that the roadwork was going to be done by (the) county, and not the city,” Cox said.
Mayor Carrie Schlade replied, “…The county doesn’t have a street sweeper. So it was either the Street Department of the City does the street sweeping for your street, or there is no street sweeping to be done.”
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m. The next Bryan City Council meeting is scheduled for Aug. 17, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.
