By: Mario Gomez
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The German Township Trustees met on June 8, 2026, with all members in attendance. Bradley Short called the meeting to order with AJ Short, Jay Pursel and Fiscal Officer Jeff Coressel present.
Jeff Aeschliman, Bob Apger and Dean Genter were also in attendance to provide updates.
The meeting began with a PowerPoint presentation by Kyle Brodbeck, assistant fire chief and emergency medical services supervisor for the Archbold Fire Department.
The presentation dealt with the 150-year celebration and recognition of the Archbold Fire Department.
The forty-minute presentation contained facts and photographs pertaining to the history of the department, acknowledgment of the sacrifices that past and present members make with their participation in the department, the importance of recruitment and retention of members with many current members reaching retirement status, and the increasing demand on the department as the community continues to grow.
Brodbeck gave an update on the planned celebration taking place over the weekend of August 7-9 where a parade and open house are planned for August 8.
The open house will take place at the fire house after the parade. A party in the park will take place out at Woodland Park in the afternoon with food trucks and a concert taking place as well as fun and games for the kids.
Local artist Garrett Grime will take the stage first and a group from Toledo will entertain as well. Brodbeck stated there will be one more act for the evening and that it is a big name but gave no other information.
The drone show in the evening will conclude the festivities with a potential for a 14-18 minute show.
Sunday, August 9 plans are still in the planning stages but the Water Ball game will be included in the final day.
Trustees approved the minutes from the previous meeting with AJ Short making the motion to approve and Pursel seconding the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion to approve bills as presented also passed unanimously. Genter gave a zoning update to the trustees.
A discussion on storage containers was brought by Genter to the Trustees. The question of whether old cargo hold containers are allowed to be placed on property for storage was discussed. The discussion contained concerns on whether they are allowable.
Township charter does not specify between cargo holds and semi/tandem trailers stating that they ‘shall not be utilized as accessory structure for storage purposes.’
Initial thoughts by the trustees are to disallow any storage structure due to the possibility of structural breakdown.
Members will ask more questions within the community and look into neighboring townships to see how the issue was addressed before coming to a definite conclusion on the matter.
Aeschliman gave an update on maintenance to the trustees. Two polls were taken down by farm machinery on the corner of county road 24 and BC. The road had to be closed down while repairs were made.
A church in Burlington was in the process of repaving their parking lot beside the road and noticed the catch basin was in bad shape.
Instead of taking care of the basin, the church decided to contact the township to take care of the damage.
During repair, it was found that some tile had been damaged so they were replaced and repaired and the church was able to do the repaving there after. The tornado sirens were set off and were monitored for any issues.
Trustees questioned why the sirens remain in the area with the advancement of notification by cellular phone.
The high cost of repair and replacement of sirens are the main concern. Most townships are in favor of removal due to maintenance cost.
A tile was repaired on county road F and two vehicles, including a fire truck, were sent in for repairs and service.
Bradley Short brought a discussion to the members dealing with the purchase of new laptop computers.
Innova Tech Solutions of Archbold gave the trustees three bids for four new laptops. The first was a Lenovo laptop for $3,969.42, a Dell laptop for $4,269.92 and a Lenovo ThinkPad for $5,465.92.
The members would like to stay local but would be willing to look outside of the village if need be.
There was also talk about the possibility of installing a television on the meeting room wall to use for presentations and also to display meeting agenda or any other important information.
Dean Sauder, Sauder TV and Appliance, was to be approached for information and possible installation.
Pursel was involved in a meeting for the Township pancake breakfast that will be taking place at the Fulton County Fairgrounds on the weekend of the Threshers Reunion later this month.
AJ Short made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Pursel seconded and the motion passed.
