By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Village of Montpelier convened for its regular meeting on Monday, June 23, at 6:00 p.m. at the Montpelier Police Department.
Following roll call, a moment of silence, and the Pledge of Allegiance, Council members approved the meeting agenda and previous meeting minutes.
Mayor Steve Yagelski, Council President Heather Freese, Clerk Molly Collert, Melissa Ewers, Kevin Motter, Chris Kannel, Nathan Thompson, and Don Schlosser were in attendance.
Council proceeded to review and approve the financial reports for May 2025. Kannel reported that the first Cruise-In of the month was a success, with 75 cars attending. He noted that this might be a record number of cars present and participating in the village’s annual cruise-in.
“Thanks, as always, to the village crew for getting the street all swept and cleaned up. Always looks great,” Kannel added.
He also mentioned that a 4×4 team from the Montpelier Police Department has volunteered to handle traffic and crowd control for the bi-monthly events. This allows the chamber to focus on helping the locals and keeping things in order.
The Montpelier Chamber of Commerce has a new home at 114 Broad Street, next to Cookies on Demand. Executive Director Kelly Herzog is keeping the same hours with hopes of opening doors in the following week.
Thompson shared an update for the Iron Horse River Trail. He noted that there are multiple cameras on site that help capture the amount of foot traffic each trail receives. “I’m amazed at the number of people that were on it,” he shared with the council.
In 2021, around 2,400 users were counted on the trail. Each year has gradually increased, and now, over 7,000 photos have been taken in the most recent months.
Many of those photos had multiple people in them, which would make it very difficult to count. The project updates are proving that the trail is being heavily utilized and is successful.
A purchase agreement between the Village of Montpelier and Walter N. and Doloris M. Bumb was approved. The agreement pertains to parcel 072-110-11008.00 Jonesville Street in the amount of $20,000.
This coincides with the old computer store next door, which was also recently purchased by the village. Jason Rockey, Village Administrator, will execute the purchase agreement and then close with the sellers.
This marks progress in Montpelier’s plan to install off-street parking for the west end of downtown.
An income tax report for the end of May was noted to be down by 12.08% from the average last three years.
Rockey announced that on June 4, a $4.48 million grant was given through the transportation alternative program to pave the village’s four-mile section of the Wabash Cannonball Trail.
“We’ve previously been awarded around $300,000 for construction design services,” he explained. The design survey is now set to begin, and he is planning for the crew to be on site in the next week.
The engineer’s estimate for this project concluded that the total cost would be around $5,228,000. Adding the two grants, this leaves Montpelier short $450,000 for the remaining costs of the project.
However, since the repaving is not set to begin until 2029, the council remains positive that the funding will be available by then.
Rockey continued to share that Montpelier is eligible for a $816,700 principal forgiveness loan through RCAP. This will be used for the East Main Street water line replacement.
The town has already been granted $500,000 from OPWC and is currently waiting to hear back on its CDBG application for an additional $500,000.
At this time, the project remains on track for construction in early 2026. Montpelier is currently looking at around $750,000 to pay out of pocket from the capital improvement funds.
He noted that the Chamber of Commerce has temporarily suspended the Hero Banner Program, as the village has run out of poles on the state routes through town. There are 120 banners in place, and they are looking for additional options to continue running the very successful program.
The council then moved to executive session to discuss personnel under ORC 121.22. No further actions were taken.