Members of the West Unity Village Council convened on Thursday, April 14 to address matters pertaining to the village. The first order of business, however, was to honor West Unity Girl Scout Colleen Bell for her and efforts and commitment that have led her to recently receive her Gold Award in Girl Scouts.
Bell has been an active participate in the Girl Scout program for over nine years and has used the leadership skills that she has learned through Girl Scouts to identify and raise awareness of a specific need within the village of West Unity. She has completed a minimum of 80 hours on her project, which combined organizational, leadership, and networking skills along with community service.
Colleen’s project selection was TMI: Teach, Mentor, Inspire, a program that Colleen developed a tutoring program for younger students in order to complete. She worked in collaboration with the West Unity Public Library and Hilltop Elementary School to establish the on-going tutoring program.
2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the Gold Award in Girl Scouts. The award is received by only approximately five percent of Girl Scouts. Members of Council commented that Colleen marks the first in a very long time from West Unity to earn the award.
Mayor Peggy Bernath thanked Colleen for her services and commitment to the community as she proclaimed the day in Colleen’s honor and awarded with a symbolic key to the village to commemorate the event.
Bernath also read a proclamation noting the importance of trees within the village and proclaiming April 22, 2016 as Arbor Day in the village.
In his report to council, Village Administrator Joshua Fritsch noted that:
•He and Fiscal Officer Kim Grime met with Brooks Insurance to renew the village’s insurance policy. They are looking to add Cyber Insurance to the policy due to upcoming changes in the laws regarding fraud. The cost of the addition of the Cyber Insurance is yet to be determined.
•He as well as village employees attended with the Young Tree Training that ODNR held in Edgerton.
•Big trash pickup will be held on May 9. Everyone is asked to have items out to the curb by 6:30 a.m. that day and should note that big trash pickup this spring will only be one day as opposed to the three or more days in the past.
•He and Kim Grime also attended the Local Government Conference.
•Todd Roth expects to have the storm sewer mapping project complete on or before August 31.
•An e-mail regarding assistance with an economic study had not yet been replied to as of the time of the meeting.
•AJ Door has been putting new doors on the west side of the building.
•He would like to have a Park Committee meeting soon. It was noted that a Memorandum of Understanding between the Village and the Little League is needed regarding the building recently acquired by the Little League as well as to keep both entities on the same page regarding assistance and responsibilities.
In legislative matters, Council approved:
•The second reading of an ordinance establishing the ranges and rates of pay of certain officers and employees of the village.
•The revised appropriations under emergency language.
•The second reading of a resolution adopting the village’s Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual.
The next meeting of the West Unity Village Council will be held on Thursday, May 12 at 7:30 PM.
Chelsie can be reached at
chelsie@thevillagereporter.com