PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
THE PARK’S PATH FORWARD … Delta Recreation Council head Angela Riley addresses members of the Delta Village Council during their meeting Monday evening regarding the recreation council’s efforts in and plans for the park.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
Delta Village Council members, Delta Recreation Council head Angela Riley and residents in attendance at the council’s meeting on August 3, 2026, discussed at length ongoing efforts to manage, maintain and improve Delta Park.
DELTA PARK DISCUSSION
Riley launched the conversation with a lengthy update on the recreation council’s work on and plans for the park.
She said the nonprofit spent more than $100,000 on the park last year, including roughly $90,000 on the new pickleball courts and $25,000 on improved lighting.
She said the organization is looking into the possible installation of a pavilion or amphitheater this year, with a cost of up to $100,000, though she said they are hoping it will come in at between $60,000 and $70,000.
According to Riley, they stepped down from their involvement in the annual Delta Corn Festival due to cost concerns.
She said they donate $10,000 to the festival annually, to be reimbursed by the festival at the end of the year along with other funds raised at the event.
Last year, Riley said, the festival kept $9,400 that would normally have come back to the recreation council, and the recreation council is trying to avoid losing money on the event moving forward.
With the recreation council’s departure, it and the festival are now their own unconnected nonprofit entities.
Riley ended her comments with a tearful plea to the council to allow her to take over the defunct park manager position.
She said the request was borne out of her desire for overall direction of the park and concerns that no one was overseeing the 18-year-old “kids” who completed seasonal work there.
She offered to take the position at a pay rate of just $1 per month due to the challenges facing village finances.
Law Director Kevin Heban said they could not approve such a pay rate due to minimum wage laws, and further noted other requirements for certain employee benefits.
At Councilman Chad Johnson’s request, Heban agreed to research the minimum pay and benefit requirements for the position.
Village council members approved a trio of requests by the recreation council – to allow them to clean up, finish and make more uniform the Grange sign, to buy and place two additional benches memorializing Doug Eicher and Jerry Edwards, and to authorize the painting of a mural on a metal building between the high school and the park.
The recreation council initially sought to have two murals painted, the second on the back side of the concession stand, but Johnson, also a member of the park board, argued against it, saying it was a memorial building and also constructed of blocks, which would sustain damage over time from being painted.
Riley said the work will either be done by members of Soaring Arts Studio in Napoleon or one of a couple of other artists they have reached out to should it not work out with the studio.
Additionally, council members approved more donated work from North Star BlueScope Steel volunteers.
The volunteers will replace the pea gravel at the playground between the football field and the Delta Police Department.
North Star’s past work at the park, including construction of new baseball dugouts, drew questions from Riley.
She was concerned they were being given leeway to come up with their own projects for the park and complete them without any oversight. Johnson responded, saying North Star first approached the park board and selected their projects from the board’s list of priorities for the park.
Residents in attendance at the meeting raised their own concerns, largely focused around their desire to see the recreation council and the village work more closely with unified goals.
Chappell said he believed they have a good working relationship and that, while their opinions on the correct path to their goals may sometimes differ, he believed they shared the same overall vision for the park.
Another question raised by an attendee was for clarification regarding funding for the park.
It was clarified that the recreation council, as a nonprofit, received all its funding through donations, while the village’s park funds came from a special levy and a pending transfer of funds left over from the now-demolished pool.
Finance Director Joanne Clapp reported the $80,314.25 left over in the pool fund has not yet been transferred to the park fund, as the council approval on the matter was for her to request permission from the state to make the transfer. She said the state approval has not yet been received.
Councilman Tony Dawson shared his displeasure with the reemergence of alcohol use in the park.
While alcohol is not allowed in the park generally, alcohol is allowed to be served in a beer garden area during certain special events in the park like the Chicken Festival. Dawson said he was fully opposed to alcohol in the park at any time.
Chappell said his only involvement was to approve permits for alcohol sales as appropriate under current village regulations, and that such a change was up to council members, who would have to bring an item and vote to end the practice.
FINANCIAL UPDATES
Clapp reported the village’s general fund cash balance as of July 29 was -$273,507.62. That is up from the balance at the end of 2025, when it was at -$622,242 after adjustment following a more than $2.9 million transfer of misappropriated funds to the water fund.
Clapp reported the monthly appropriations, funds and revenue summaries will be posted to the village’s website after each month’s financials are completed and approved by council.
Clapp said she had a conference call with state auditors scheduled for the following day to set up the 2025 and 2026 audits, which will have to be completed by an independent agency due to the state auditor’s office being directly involved in village finances following the recent completion of 2023 and 2024 audits.
In continued discussion of potential options to increase village revenue, council members agreed to pursue the recommendation of Councilman Kyle Riley to negotiate the new lease for the village-owned property at 500 South Madison Street with monthly payments at 1 percent of the property’s appraised value. It had previously been leased at a cost of $1 per month since 2018.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS NEEDED
Council members discussed a variety of village boards in need of members. First to be mentioned was the Board of Zoning Appeals, which is in need of a new member after Chappell announced the resignation of Alison Babcock, effective that day.
The zoning board opening led to a conversation about a pair of other boards which had been created but not yet staffed.
According to Chappell, both the Community Reinvestment Act Housing Council and Tax Incentive Review Board were created by the council through an ordinance they passed in May 2023.
The housing council needs seven members, consisting of two people appointed by the mayor, two people appointed by the village council and one member appointed by the planning commission, who would then jointly appoint two more members from “residents/property owners” in the village.
Chappell said it is responsible for “annual inspections of properties receiving CRA exemptions and hearing appeals under the Ohio Revised Code.”
The review board needs eight members, consisting of the mayor or his designee, one member of the village council, the Fulton County auditor or their designee, the finance director, one person appointed by the Pike-Delta-York Local School District, one person appointed by the Four County Career Center, and two village residents.
Chappell said it is responsible for “annually reviewing compliance with CRA agreements for commercial and industrial property tax exemptions and making recommendations to the council on whether agreements should be continued, modified, or terminated.”
OTHER BUSINESS
Council members approved on final reading and on an emergency basis an application for annexation of a property owned by Leslie Haas.
Council members approved on final reading the creation of an executive assistant position to serve both the police chief and village administrator in order to codify and appropriately pay the existing police department executive assistant, who has already been performing both roles.
Council members approved on second reading the creation of a stormwater fund. Council members approved on second reading an ordinance authorizing the village to stop billing its own departments for municipal water usage.
Council members approved on second reading an agreement providing applicable staff access to the Regional Income Tax Agency tax authority portal.
Council members approved on second reading a resolution identifying as surplus and authorizing the sale of certain unneeded village property.
Council also approved the free use of Memorial Hall for meetings of Girl Scout Troop 133. Upon further discussion, they instructed Chappell that they opposed renting it out to commercial entities, preferring instead to only offer rental to nonprofits.
Chappell reported the issue of commercial trucks driving on residential streets had continued, with roughly 20 tickets issued in the prior 15 to 20 days.
He reiterated that delivery traffic to areas on those roads was allowed, but through traffic was not.
Chappell reported that, based on his contact with the Maumee Valley Planning Organization, demolition of the Bunting Bearings property will restart again sometime in the near future.
He said air quality test results have continued to show lead levels similar to before demolition began.
Chappell reported the police department received a $5,000 grant that would be used to help the department achieve a higher level of accreditation with the state.
Clapp reminded council members that all elected officials must complete sunshine law training once during each four-year term they serve.
The next regular meeting of the Delta Village Council will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 17 at 401 Main Street in Delta.