PHOTO BY BRENNA WHITE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
LEGISLATIVE MATTERS … (Left to Right) Mayor Ed Kidston, Solicitor Tom Thompson, Administrator Anthony Burnett, Alan Fiser, Bryan Gendron, and Trever West discussed the passing of legislation.
By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Pioneer Village Council met for its regular meeting on Monday, October 13, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. After the Pledge of Allegiance and a call to order, members Ben Fiser, Joe Nickloy, Dean Frisbie, Alan Fiser, Bryan Gendron, and Trever West were present.
Mayor Ed Kidston, Solicitor Tom Thompson, Administrator Anthony Burnett, and Fiscal Officer Nicki Mittelstaedt were in attendance as well.
The agenda was passed with no corrections or additions. A correction to the meeting minutes of the August 11, 2025, meeting was presented, which included spelling and grammar errors. The September 8, 2025, meeting minutes were approved as well.
The September Financial Report was accepted, with Mayor Kidston commenting, “We are holding steady on our income tax. We are on track to finish ahead of next year.”
No Police Report was heard, as Chief Tim Livengood requested the night off to continue coaching the school’s football team. He is currently revamping the report process and will give the September and October reports at the next meeting.
Chief Rodger Swank delivered the Fire Department Report and noted five runs in September. A successful Fire Prevention week was held the week prior, ending with a Firemen’s Breakfast. “We continue to appreciate the community support,” he stated.
Administrator Burnett reminded the council that Trick-or-Treat is scheduled for October 31, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
A drawing will take place in the American Legion, and kids are asked to stop in to get a drawing for the raffle prize.
“The town crew has been busy with electrical system improvements,” Burnett continues, “street repairs, maintenance, and preparations for the winter season.” He stated that the Splash Pad was officially shut down on October 1, 2025.
Leaf collection was noted to start the week prior and will be conducted throughout the village on an as-needed basis.
A change order for the control building within the substation was presented. Due to the original crane service contract being submitted in 2022, the agreed-upon rates did not reflect the current rise in inflation.
Initially, the contract was for about $52,000, and an additional change order for $16,802 was requested by the construction company. This motion was accepted by the Council.
Burnett announced the completion of the Cedar Street process, with only a final inspection to come. Two change orders were presented to the council.
For the water and storm extension on Dearborn Street and the east side of Cedar Street, an amount of $31,850 was passed. Included in that amount, $3,050 was used to replace five handicapped sidewalk ramps and manhole castings.
A final change order was used to reconcile the final quantities versus the mid quantities.
This brought a deduction of $49,781.36. “We had some concrete, water lines, things like that come under quantity,” said Burnett.
A concluding motion was passed from the council to accept the final adjusted contract amount of $1,648,542.84. This was noted to come in under $19,000 of the original bid amount.
The fiscal report was then given by Mittelstaedt, who reviewed the upcoming amended appropriations for Ordinance 30-2025.
This was for the increased salary and benefits of a Summer Recreation employee alongside the Electrical Professional Service.
The Mayor went on to update the council on the progress of securing grants for the updating of South Maple, South Elm, and one block of Church Street.
He admitted after research and review, the streets would not score well with the Ohio Public Works public infrastructure grants. Instead, he is pursuing other grants within small government.
“We will see if we score well,” said Kidston. “I’ve been on the small government committee for over twenty years, and it looks like the score will work. If it does, it will actually be a lot better to deal with than the OPWC because we would be able to get $500,000 grants for each project.”
Council reports included comments from Ben Fiser and Dean Frisbie. Fiser updated the council on the recently held records commission meeting and noted a cybersecurity policy in the works.
Frisbie stated that he attended the EMS breakfast held in Bryan and was in contact with Jesse Brumbaugh in regard to the unused first responder truck.
He offered a solution to sell the truck, with a value of around $7,000, and use that money to replace the furnaces in the fire hall for the upcoming winter. The Council seemed interested in this idea and will look more into this in the future.
A series of ordinances and resolutions followed. An ordinance amending appropriations for 2025, for around $19,000, was approved.
An additional ordinance was passed for the authorization of the village’s participation in the Ohio Treasurer of State’s Ohio Market Access Program.
This authorizes the preparation and filing of an application for that program and the execution and delivery of a standby note purchase agreement in connection therewith, and other necessary and appropriate documents. This is a program that is renewed annually in October.
A resolution accepting the annexation of approximately 107.365 acres of land from Madison Township was also passed.
This is for the northern part of the village, including the Pioneer Church of the Nazarene, County Road S, four to five local properties, the new Action Precision building, and Kunkle Farms. It was noted that the village limits sign will be extended.
An executive session for property acquisition was held at 7:32 p.m. Open session returned at 8:12 p.m. An action to take possession of 101 Baubice Street was accepted, where the old Sooz Building resided.
A final executive session was then entered at 8:14 p.m. for ongoing litigation. Mayor Kidston excused himself from the session due to a conflict of interest.
No action was taken afterwards, and the meeting adjourned directly after.