(PHOTO BY BRIANNA BALOGH / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
PROCLAMATION … Mayor Ed Kidston (center) honors first responder before presenting plaque to Chief Rodger Swank (left) and Lieutenant Jon Roberts.
By: Brianna Balogh
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
Held in the pioneer community center, the village council meeting began at 7pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting was then called to order by Mayor Ed Kidston and roll call was taken by Fiscal Officer Nikki Mittelstaedt.
The first order of business was to approve the agenda for the night’s meeting. Following was the approval of minutes from the previous meeting. Both items were approved by all members.
The financial report followed, being provided to the council in their packet. Mayor Kidston highlighted the rise in income tax revenue, up $12,579 from last year. The next item was a motion to approve paying the bills. Both motions were passed.
Lieutenant Jon Roberts represented the police department for the next agenda item, the police report which was provided. With no questions or comments, Fire Chief Rodger Swank followed with the fire report.
Swank started by informing the council of the recent CPR recertification performed by the department. Next report item was the recent training in Angola at Trine University.
Eleven members attended the training which focused on main street firefighting. Chief Swank used the downtown area as an example.
He closed out the fire report with a suggested resolution for the next meeting. Each local government is encouraged to adopt the provided standard which has been signed by the chief’s association, the EMA, and the sheriff.
Administrator Anthony Burnett followed. First item in the administrator report was a request on behalf of the Pioneer Supply Center who would like to use the public parking lot between the hardware and the chamber lot.
The parking lot is being requested for May 3rd for their Spring Showcase at the store from 10am to 5pm. A summary of vendors, activities, and a map was provided.
Burnett advised that the only issue would be insurance, which requires a certificate of insurance and a sign off for liability. The motion was approved as long as all required documents were provided.
Second item on the report was an update on the demolition project which has now been cleared by the historical office.
Currently Maumee Valley is waiting on grant agreements. No cost will be incurred by the village, the only cost might be a little bit of extra time, stated Mayor Kidston.
Burnett continued on to the next topic, solar funding. AMP had received some information from Washington D.C. that the funding was under administrative review, which should be completed by April 20th.
Two project updates followed. First was a brief update on the new fire truck which is still on track to arrive in late November. Second was the Cedars Street project. The water mains and storm lines have been installed with about 2/3 of both being used.
Also included in the Cedars Street project was a change order for a deduction of $2,040. The price reduction was due to the new 12” PVC water main not being needed.
Some of the savings were used for other items, like tie ins and a new fire hydrant. Council approved the cost reduction.
Following were updates on the Pioneer North substation contract, which was planned to be awarded tonight. Bids were acquired in February, but due to regulations, the bids cannot be over 20% of the engineer’s estimate.
The lowest bid came in at $3 million, which was about 25% over the estimate of $2.4 million. The project has been reevaluated, and the engineering estimate has increased to $2.9 million, allowing several bids to fall within the 20% cap.
Bids will be reopened March 28th. All members approved the motion to reject all bids in order to acquire new bids.
Following was an update to the upcoming splash pad, which is ready for groundbreaking. All materials have been purchased, even benches. Approximately $67,000 was collected in donations. Also donating all the concrete work was Pahl’s Ready Mix.
Final item in the administrator’s report was the application submitted for a CDBG grant for a 2026 project. This type of grant has been used in the past, examples of which are the rock lining the creek and a few other parking lots.
This funding would be used to repurchase and repurpose an empty lot for more parking near the T-ball diamond, resulting in about 27 additional spaces.
Fiscal Officer Nikki Mittelstaedt followed, kicking off with a donation approval for $15,000 from Cass Floyd to go towards the splash pad. Mayor Kidston commented that some community members probably remember Cass as the local piano instructor.
With the grant for $196,000 and donations almost no money was spent on the splash pad. Kidston added that a plaque would be installed at the splash thanking all the donors for making it possible, as well as a formal thank you letter. Council approved the splash pad donation.
Next was approval for Mittelstaedt to attend the 2025 Local Government Official training in Columbus. The cost for two days would be $250 in addition to the hotel stay $307.85 for two nights.
An update on the CDARS interest account, which earned $10,718.28. The account is renewed every 6 months at an interest rate of 3.85%. Current balance being $1,090,774.88.
Mittelstaedt followed with three brief updates to finish out the Fiscal report. First was an AMP BAN draw of $375,713.22 to go into the electric fund.
Next was a MARCs grant for Fire monthly radio charges of $1,260. Last was an update to the general fund for summer rec, which received $6,480 for summer baseball sign up.
Interest rate comparisons were questioned, to which Mayor Kidston explained with a government account it is very restricted. 3.85% was a top tier rate. This was echoed by Burnett and council member Al Fiser as well.
Kidston followed with the mayor’s report which began with a presentation. Both Lt. Roberts and Chief Swank were asked to come up.
Mayor Kidston presented them with a plaque and proclaimed March 23rd through March 28th as First Responder Wellness week.
Kidston read from the certificate explaining first responders include firefighters, law enforcement, emergency medical services, 911 dispatch, correctional officers, as well as many others within the public safety sector.
First Responders risk their life and safety daily to protect and aid citizens. Tasked with handling dangerous and complicated situations that many of us would not. Responding to over 180 critical incidents over their career.
Often experiencing extreme stress which can lead to many medical issues, first responders are at 25% higher risk of developing PTSD. Wellness includes management of issues including sleep, nutrition, fatigue, anger management, PTSD and loss.
This proclamation was made to recognize the extreme sacrifice and integral role all first responders play in the community. Kidston presented the plaque and thanked both for their service.
Kidston then followed presenting for vote an ongoing community issue. Kidston started with the steps taken within the last 20 years to modernize and solidify the Pioneer Fire Department.
Examples of which are the $900,000 fire truck on order, enough water storage to provide 1500 gallons per minute for several hours, and an ISO rating of four, which is one of the best in the area. He also pointed out that it saves hundreds in property insurance.
The issue is the canceled contract with the neighboring townships and the increased cost that could place on the taxpayer if services continued.
Pioneer Village Council studied the true cost of providing fire and first responder services over 18 months. As explained by Kidston, the township trustees have rejected the proposed cost share program three times, which in turn meant they voted to cancel services.
The council agreed to limited lifesaving services for all code 4 automobile accidents and two-alarm structural fires outside of corporation limits.
The second option would be to continue services to those townships and increase the cost to village taxpayers, amount to be determined and voted on in November.
The vote was explained as yes to continue services to neighboring townships and increase taxes or no which would only offer limited services to neighboring townships.
Councilor Ben Fiser inquired about the potential levy, with Kidston responding that the fire department is one of few departments that do not generate revenue. As costs increase, those funds must come from the tax revenue somehow.
Councilor Trevor West followed by asking what areas this would include. He also brought up the importance of mutual aid, and how not providing mutual aid could hurt the Pioneer Fire Department. Chief Swank explained that an immediate call could still be made to the Pioneer Fire Department.
With several firefighters, current and retired, in the audience multiple people spoke up. Most of the concerns were focused on providing mutual aid and life saving measures.
Mutual aid was something that had been fostered for 25 years to get to where it is today, explained a former chief.
Members were also concerned that village residents may be left in an emergency situation outside of corporation limits and may have to wait for Williams County First Responders instead of Pioneer Fire Department responding.
Audience as well as council members were passionate about not only their viewpoint, but also the morale of the fire department, which is currently very low.
Personality clashes and politics were blamed for some of the disagreements regarding this issue by a few community members.
Kidston reiterated several times that this vote would be to increase taxes on citizens to subsidize townships that rejected the contract.
After a lot of back and forth between council members and the audience, the discussion started to get heated. Solicitor Tom Thompson brought focus back to the vote at hand. The vote was passed 4-2, members voted as follows: Frisbie – Yes, West – Yes, A. Fiser – No, Nickloy – No, Gendron – Yes, and B. Fiser – Yes.
A brief discussion regarding power supply for a business moving outside of town was introduced by West.
Mayor Kidston explained that the annexation was denied by the township trustees and Solicitor Thompson added a resident had also backed out from the agreement. The next step is to have a hearing before the commissioners.
Following was the approval for several ordinances as follows:
-06-2025 to amend ordinance number 34-2024 to set wages for 2025. This ordinance if passed would take effect March 11th. This ordinance was declared as an emergency.
-07-2025 to adopt revisions to the personnel policies and procedures manual for the Village of Pioneer.
-08-2025 to enact codified ordinance chapter 1307 titled “weeds, plant growth, and tall grass; nuisance”. This ordinance was declared as an emergency.
-09-2025 to repeal the existing section 521.15 of the codified ordinance and to enact codified ordinance section 521.5. Passing would prohibit grass clippings and foliage from being placed in certain public areas, also declared as an emergency.
All ordinances were suspended and passed. The meeting then went into the first of two executive sessions.
Upon return to open session, a motion was made to approve a former employee’s vacation payout of his remaining vacation time.
The mayor then left to allow for the second executive session. Returning to open session, the meeting was then adjourned at 8:50pm.
