PHOTO BY BRENNA WHITE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
BID AWARDS … Village Manager Jason Rockey updates the Montpelier Village Council on the bid awards for two upcoming projects.
By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Montpelier Village Council met on May 11, 2026, to conduct routine business and approve two project bids.
Mayor Steve Yagelski, Council President Chris Kannel, Melissa Ewers, Kevin Motter, Nathan Thompson, Don Schlosser, and Clerk Molly Collert were in attendance. Village Manager Jason Rockey and Deputy Manager Justin Houk were also present.
Two projects were awarded for upcoming Montpelier maintenance. The 2026 Asphalt Paving Program was officially awarded to M&M Asphalt, a local company based in Edon, Ohio. The bid was noted to be cheaper than their competitor by around $30,000.
The Main Street Water Line Service Project was awarded to Bryan Excavating, which was recommended by the Maumee Valley Planning Organization (MVPO).
“We don’t have a timeline yet for the project, but the deadline isn’t until the end of June, 2027,” Rockey said. “They’ve got about a year, a little over a year, to complete the project on the contractor’s schedule.”
A renewal for property and liability insurance was approved with the village’s Ohio Plan. The motion was for the third renewal of a three-year agreement, originally passed in 2024.
Rockey noted that their premium rate went up a considerable amount. “The cost of replacement has escalated so much in the last year,” he stated.
He explained that within the last year, the village made five large equipment purchases. Combined with the large claim from storm damage in the electrical department, the insurance renewal rate saw an increase.
Write-off lists for delinquent utility accounts were approved. This includes accounts that were owned by deceased residents and former residents that moved away.
Sue Kannel was approved to serve the remainder of Sharon Tarr’s Health Department Board term. She will represent Montpelier and her term will end in May 2027.
Rockey then gave an income tax report, which noted an increase of 2.55% from last April’s collections. Additionally, the collection was up 8% from the three-year average.
Rockey also noted that there were several personnel changes within the Montpelier Police Department, and they are fully staffed for the first time since 2023.
Officer Schlosser has requested to go on reserve until further notice. On May 5, Josh Karns, former officer of the West Unity Police Department, was hired for a full-time position.
Morgan Cox has returned to the Montpelier PD after resigning in 2022, and will be filling an SRO position at the Montpelier Schools.
“Officer Cox is going to move into that as soon as all her OP&F stuff clears,” Rockey said.
The Montpelier PD will have nine full-time officers on staff if all goes according to plan.
He also took time to clear up confusion regarding the widespread power outage in Montpelier the previous weekend. “It was First Energy, it was on the transmission system, not the Village of Montpelier’s system,” he said.
Rockey stated that a few weeks prior, several large users reported voltage issues, including the Montpelier School and large factories. Instances of high and low voltages were found after examining the meter usage.
After reaching out to FirstEnergy, the electric company stated that “it may be related to the solar field that came on on SR 15.”
“When that production was way up on bright, sunny days, they were getting over-voltage,” continued Rockey. “That should not be the case — and they recognize that.”
To combat the issue, the village switched over to their secondary feed. Typically, they run the feed coming from Fayette, Ohio, but after experiencing problems with FirstEnergy, they switched to their second line coming from Edon, Ohio.
“Because of the fluctuations coming from the east line, we switched it over to the west line,” he explained. “Then, that went out on Saturday.”
Residents in Edgerton, Edon, Williams Center, and surrounding areas experienced the same power outage.
Since Montpelier still had access to the east line, they switched back over to the first feed to combat the power outage.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:34 p.m. The next Montpelier Village Council meeting is scheduled for May 25, 2026, at 6 p.m.
