PHOTO BY BRIANNA BALOGH | THE VILLAGE REPORTER
LEGISLATIVE ACTION … Council member Aimee Bell, Mayor Duane Thiel, and council members Lee Lawrence and Dan Ankney review the agenda during a swift January 19 session of the Edon Village Council.
By: Brianna Balogh
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Edon Village Council met on January 18. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. and began with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll call was then taken with members Jeff Pease, Aimee Bell, Lee Lawrence, Dan Ankney and Brian Shaffer in attendance. Council member David Loughborough was not present.
Also present were Mayor Duane Thiel, Village Administrator Chad Ordway, Fiscal Officer Heidi Bidwell, and Police Chief Tom Szymczak.
The first item of business was to approve the minutes from both the December 15 and January 1 meetings.
With no objections or discussion, Lawrence made the motion to approve and Ankney seconded. The motion was passed by all members.
The second item on the agenda was the presentation and approval of the financial report and bills. A copy had been provided to the council for review. Pease motioned to approve and Shaffer seconded. The motion was passed unanimously.
Moving on to communications and reports, Thiel noted the next meeting would need to be amended due to a required public hearing regarding a zoning change request.
The meeting will be held on February 23, with the public hearing starting at 6:00 p.m. and the council meeting to follow.
Fiscal Officer Bidwell also passed around information regarding an upcoming council seminar provided through the Ohio Municipal League and the cost would be covered by the council.
Administrator Ordway provided the information via email to the council. Bidwell noted that she believed the deadline to sign up was the end of the month.
Chief Szymczak presented the police report. The first update was that Unit Three is in service. Szymczak explained that the department swapped the equipment from Unit Two. He reported positive feedback.
The radar unit was sent in for repair at $250, instead of a refurbished unit costing around $695. An older radar unit was placed in Unit Two.
Szymczak commended the current FTO Officer, working through the program. Szymczak elaborated that integrating into a department can be challenging.
Lastly, he updated the council on an upcoming plan to join the Owens Technical College Training Consortium.
It would be an annual cost of between $500-$600 and would allow the department to complete CPT hours (Continued Professional Training), which can be done online or at the consortium.
Officers can also complete any training offered at the consortium if desired. He also explained, when asked if the cost was per officer by Bell, that the department received a reimbursement for CPT, which can be used. Szymczak concluded by noting the upcoming installation of new computers.
Committee reports followed with little activity. Ordway provided a zoning update explaining the request for rezoning.
Ordway stated the zoning commission had received a letter from land owners requesting two parcels to be reclassified as M2 industrial to coincide with the neighboring factory.
The zoning committee already approved the action, and once approved by the council, a public hearing is required.
It was scheduled earlier in the meeting for February 23. Ankney made the motion to approve with Lawrence seconding. All members approved.
Ordway closed out the communication with a brief Administrator’s report. The only update is the recent addition of Pioneer to the Energy District. Ordway explained that once a project is added, that locality is also added to the Energy District.
With no old business to discuss, the agenda moved into new business with two items. First was Resolution 01-2026 to approve and accept the Williams County Hazard Mitigation Plan.
The resolution was declared an emergency to allow it to go into immediate effect, following a motion to suspend the standard three-reading rule for immediate passage.
Lawrence motioned to suspend, with Ankney seconding. Pease motioned to pass the resolution with Bell seconding. Both motions passed unanimously.
Second was Resolution 02-2026 to approve a contract with Edon School Resource Officer. This resolution was also declared an emergency, with Lawrence again motioning to suspend the rules.
Shaffer seconded the motion. Bell motioned to approve the resolution seconded by Ankney. The resolution was passed by all members.
With no need for an executive session, Ankney made the motion to adjourn. Seconded by Pease and approved by all, the meeting adjourned at 6:43 p.m.
The next scheduled meeting will take place on February 23 after the public hearing starting at 6:00 p.m.