PHOTO BY JOHN FRYMAN/ THE VILLAGE REPORTER
REVIEW … Montpelier Village Council members, Chris Kannel (right) and Melissa Ewers (middle), along with council clerk Molly Collert (left), go over the agenda in the council meeting on Monday, January 12. Kannel was later elected council president while Ewers was sworn in for another four-year council term.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
Montpelier Village Council met in regular session on Monday, January 12, highlighted by a presentation on the Wabash Cannonball Trail Project.
Prior to the meeting, Clerk of Council Molly Collert administered the oath of office to Heather Freese, Melissa Ewers, and Kevin Motter. Freese and Motter were both incumbents, while Freese was appointed by Mayor Steve Yagelski in December. All of them will be serving four-year terms through December 31, 2030.
The council heard a presentation from Tim Bock of Poggenmeyer Design Group regarding the Stage One design and timeline for the Wabash Cannonball Trail Project.
According to his presentation, construction for the Trail will begin January 31, 2029, with a completion date of June 30, 2029. It’s located between County Roads 13 and 17.
He told council members that the project is below the engineer’s estimated total cost of $5,080,850.00, which was prepared in 2023 and included many unknowns. The current estimated cost of the project is $4,034,063.00.
“We’re going to get $4.4 million dollars coming from ODOT for construction, so that’s really the number we’re trying to stay under,” commented Bock. “We’re trying to be conservative, so we’re going on with that number on the first submission.
Bock said that he didn’t know at the time the project was going to be funded either in its entirety or in different parts.
“This has been a drawn-out process as it took a while to get all of the appropriate reviews in and the federal requirements to make sure we have met all of those,” commented Bock.
Bock told the council the Stage One submission essentially lays out the line and grade that identifies the construction limit of the project, so they can proceed with the environmental review and right-of-way plans, if any are needed.
“With the right-of-way that will be involved, it will be mostly for grading,” Bock added.
“It’s where the railroad is occupying the space now. If you need to purchase that and there’s money left over, there is a potential that we could ask the state to fund the right-of-way acquisition, but I don’t know because it’s a ways off yet, but there is a potential for that.”
“We do anticipate some right-of-way needs at the west end of the project near County Road 13,” he said. “Once we get this submission in and it’s reviewed by ODOT, then it will start the clock on the next review, which is the preliminary right-of-way.”
The next project submission is the preliminary right-of-way, which is May 1, followed by Stage Two this summer, and again, that starts the clock on the environmental clearance and the right-of-way appraisal and acquisition, which the design group put in a year for it.
A resolution regarding the advancement of $153,500 from the Parks and Recreation Fund to the Wabash Cannonball Trail Fund was approved for the purpose of paying design engineering expenses.
The money will be repaid in full back into the Parks and Recreation Fund.
Council met with two Jefferson Township trustees, Austin Poynter and Brian Batterson, regarding the 2026 fire contract between Montpelier and Jefferson Township.
“Were not coming here today with any type of opposition; we’re coming here as friends and neighbors just wanting to get some clarification here with the current fire contract,” said Poynter.
Poynter told the council that Jefferson Township is currently covered by four different fire departments: Montpelier, Brady Township, City of Bryan, and Madison Township-Kunkle.
Jefferson Township has a $50,000 fire levy, which they currently pay to the City of Bryan ($12,000), Brady Township ($12,000), Madison Township-Kunkle ($2,400), and Montpelier ($50,000).
The township is forced to go into its general fund to pay the difference in the fire contracts.
“What we want you guys to look at is the formula and equation that you (Montpelier) use to come up with this number for our contract,” said Poynter.
“How long has it been put in place, and if it is something that has been looked at recently, which is kind of something that has been reused the same year after year. Even since 2020, there has been a $15,000 increase when it was around $35,000 per year.”
Poynter mentioned one option is to go to the township taxpayers and ask for a new fire levy and admits that it doesn’t always work.
“If we ask for a new fire levy and it fails, then we’re in trouble,” Poynter said. “So, we’re trying to look for some solutions here. Montpelier has a great fire department, and they do a great job with a good response time.
“We just want to see if that formula could be looked at to see if there’s an explanation why the cost is that much higher than everybody else’s. That’s been our concern for quite a while.
“We’re basically just pulling out of our general fund. We got some solutions to see if we can come up with anything that would help the situation, we’re in when it comes to not asking for a new levy. That’s our last option.”
Mayor Steve Yagelski responded to both trustees after he looked at the Jefferson Township map. He then pointed out that there is a municipality within their township, Holiday City, that doesn’t have a fire department.
“The way I looked at the township map is three-quarters of it is rural, where the one quarter with Holiday City is really not so much rural as the rest of it,” said Yagelski.
“You got industry in there, and you got a lot more coming and going on compared to the rest of the township.”
In other action, the council approved a resolution to apply for a water supply revolving loan application on behalf of the village for planning, design, and construction of the Main Street Lead Line Service Project.
Council approved the adoption of the 2025 Williams County Hazard Mitigation Plan for the village.
The plan outlines procedures identifying respective natural hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities.
It requires the village to have an approved plan as a prerequisite to receive post-disaster hazard mitigation grant program funds. It was developed by the Williams County Emergency Management Agency.
A resolution was passed for amended appropriations for the 2026 fiscal year. Council approved Sonit Services of Archbold, providing IT services for the village.
Fiscal officer Nikki Uribes gave the 2025 village income tax report. She said the income tax collected in the village was $2,303,269.06, which was down from the previous three-year average of $2,379,944.67. The village collected $260,304.32 income tax in December.
Yagelski appointed council member Chris Kannel to serve as council president for 2026.
The mayor also approved the following appointments for council members and residents serving on committees, commissions and boards for 2026.
Council Committees
Utility/Budget/Finance: Nathan Thompson, Kevin Motter, Melissa Ewers.
Personnel/Safety/Community Engagement: Chris Kannel, Heather Freese, Melissa Ewers.
Economic Development and Strategy: Nathan Thompson, Chris Kannel, Don Schlosser.
Boards and Commissions
Board of Appeals: Chris Kannel, Molly Collert, Becky Semer.
Design Review Board: Patrick Thorp, Chris Kannel, John Dye, Mark Smith, Chairman, open seat to be appointed.
Fire Dependents Board: Matt Smith, Tanner Sanders, Don Schlosser, Melissa Ewers, Jeff Wiles.
Police Dependents Board: Darrin Repp, Don Clum, Nathan Thompson, Kevin Motter.
Park Board: Angela Holland (C), Kyle Long (S). Angela Fritsch (C), Brent Saneholtz (S), Matt Reid (C). S-school appointed. C-Council appointed.
Planning/Zoning: Mayor Steve Yagelski, Kevin Motter, Patrick Thorp, Ric Eicher, Paul Ledyard, Mark Smith (Zoning Director), Molly Collert.
Records Committee: Molly Collert, Justin Houk, Robert Bohmer, Nikki Uribes, Patti Rockey.
Tree Commission: Dave Allman*, Carlton Gray, Tom Bidlack, Marvin Willibey*, Ric Eicher, Eugene McClaine, Mark Smith (Forrester). *-Denotes honorary member.
Tax Incentive Review Committee: Jason Rockey, Melissa Ewers, Justin Houk (alternate).
Fair Housing Board: Jim Rockey, Tom Bidlack, John Dye.
WEDCO Board: Jason Rockey, Richard Shatzer*, Justin Houk (alternate), one seat to be appointed.
Income Tax Review Board: Carol Erikson, Tammy Schuman, Misty Fritsch.
OMEA Alternate: Heather Freese.
Board of Health: Sharon Tarr.
Friends of the Park: Terry Humbarger (public representative), Kelly Hephner (public representative), Eric Smeltzer (public representative), Matt Reid (Park representative), Brett Saneholtz (park representative), Angela Hillard (park representative), Seth Miller (boys baseball representative), Travis Smith (girls softball representative), Nikki Uribes (treasurer) and Sandy Gordon (secretary ex-officio).
Active Transportation Board: Jason Rockey (administrator), Chris Kannel (council), Nathan Thompson (council), Angela Hillard (parks), Kevin Motter (veterans), Ryan Richmond, Mike Owen, Randy Miller (NORTA), Health Department, Estee Miller (MVPO), Tim Bock (Poggenmeyer Design Group) and Patti Rockey.