By: Renea Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
renea@thevillagereporter.com
Fulton County Commissioners met in regular session on August 28, 2025, in Wauseon and moved through a full agenda that included routine approvals, budget adjustments, grant administration, a multi-defendant opioid settlement step, and several infrastructure items touching roads, drainage, utilities, and environmental compliance.
The board approved minutes from August 26 and adopted the day’s agenda, then acknowledged recent Dog Warden reports.
Commissioners also approved a modest budget change for Emergency Management, adding five hundred dollars to the EMA equipment line after a request from the deputy director outlined current year balances and needs.
The Maumee Valley Planning Organization submitted Draw Request Number Two for the county’s B X 24 1AX 1 program. Commissioners authorized the six-thousand-dollar general administration draw for submittal to the state’s Office of Community Development.
Commissioners further authorized Board President Jeff Rupp to execute Fulton County’s participation in the new round of National Opioids “Secondary Manufacturers” settlements, which cover eight additional defendants.
The participation documents specify that any resulting proceeds are restricted to opioid remediation uses and reiterate the state’s OneOhio framework that guides allocation. The administrator’s packet lists an October 8, 2025, sign-on deadline for subdivisions.
The board approved advertising for bids on Ditch 2152, Rod Short, with sealed bids due at the commissioner’s office by 9:30 a.m. on September 23, 2025, at which time they will be opened and read aloud.
The legal notice states the work includes cleaning, brush clearing, and bank stabilization on Brush Creek Branch 9 in German Township, with the engineer’s construction estimate listed at fifty-four thousand seven hundred ninety-nine dollars and sixty-eight cents. Plans became available on August 28 at the county engineer’s office.
Road work coordination advanced as well. Commissioners approved Cooperative Agreement 2025 70 with German Township to jointly pursue an OPWC grant for Road 24 between Roads D and E.
Under the agreement, Fulton County provides twenty-one-point-six percent of the local share from the Engineer’s Fund, while German Township provides seventy-eight-point-four percent from its Road District Fund. Both parties agreed to pay their shares as invoiced and named the county as the lead applicant.
Public Utilities items included two actions. First, commissioners declared certain wildlife at the landfill treatment lagoons a nuisance due to bank erosion and water quality risks and authorized controlled removal of geese, muskrats, groundhogs, and woodchucks on the secured site through December 2027, contingent on executed liability waivers by the approved individuals.
Second, after opening bids on August 21, the board awarded the 2026 scrap metal recycling and solid waste disposal contracts to Allied Waste Systems Inc., doing business as Republic Services of Bryan, as the lowest and best bidder.
Rates approved were three hundred fifty-five dollars and ninety-eight cents per load for a forty cubic yard open top scrap container, and eight hundred forty-nine dollars and fifty-nine cents per load for both compacted and open top forty cubic yard solid waste containers. Department recommendations accompanied the award.
Commissioners also approved the 2026 special assessment rates for the county sewer districts at Elmira, Burlington, Pettisville, and Pleasant View, authorizing the county auditor to place charges on the real estate tax billings or issue semiannual statements for tax-exempt users.
The public utilities director’s transmittal noted that the rates are set to meet projected operation and maintenance needs for each system.
Additional routine actions included purchase orders and travel requests, and scheduling an executive session at 9:15 a.m. under Ohio Revised Code 121.22 D 2 to conduct an audit exit conference.