By: Anna Wozniak
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
The Edon Village Council meeting for the month of August began on the 21st at 7 p.m.
Councilors David Loughborough, Brandon Thiel, Austin Thiel, Lee Lawrence, and Dan Ankney were present, with Mayor Duane Thiel presiding.
The minutes of the last meeting were approved as presented, and it was reported that an auxiliary employee has been hired part-time to help with set up operations, four tasers have been purchased for the police department, and the school wall has begun construction.
There has been a revamp of the tax database and administration is working on getting all financial reports in order.
The school demolition project is still ongoing, and it was reported that the Williams County Port Authority has plans of selling a home in Edon already.
With no new business to address, council then welcomed Jesse Brumbaugh and Kyle Brigle of the Williams County EMS Levy Committee.
They detailed how beneficial this levy would be to the municipalities of Williams County, expressing that this is one of the only counties in Ohio that has yet to fund their EMS services with a levy.
EMS was started in 1979 and has yet to see direct taxpayer funds. Historically, EMS supported itself through transfer profits from transfer requests.
This low amount of funding has resulted in a lack of ambulances for covering Williams County, creating high response times in many rural communities.
Not only will this levy ensure that response times to these communities will be halved, with lifesaving, time sensitive actions being able to be made twice as fast, it also will allow for all county residents to receive no bill after insurance.
Brumbaugh detailed how this levy will serve as county residents “paying” for EMS services, resulting in a “soft billing” process that will see no funds collected from county residents after insurance is invoiced.
Brumbaugh then urged council to spread the word of the benefits this levy will provide if adopted after the November election, as well as to submit any questions about it to his team so that everyone can be informed as to what this entails. This levy would remain in effect every year if it is accepted.
Tiffany McBride then addressed council, sharing that there was an open house for officials to see the newly purchased health department building.
Councilor Lawrence thanked the Police Department for their great participation in the Edon Days celebration before the Edon Village Council voted to adjourn.
Anna can be reached at anna@thevillagereporter.com