(PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
COUNCIL … Village Fiscal Officer Nikki Mittelstaedt discusses items listed on her report with council.
By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
The Pioneer Village Council held their meeting on Monday, February 10th. The meeting began at 6:58 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance before council moved to approve the following items.
The agenda for the current meeting, minutes from the previous meeting held on January 13th, financial reports for January 2025, and payment of the bills.
With no visitors wishing to speak, council moved on to hear the police report. Police Chief Tim Livengood informed council that the department received 35 calls for service throughout January. These numbers are lower but that is normal for the colder months, explained Livengood.
The chief next went over a previous meeting with the finance committee and the safety and code Committee.
He explained that around a year ago discussions took place regarding the replacing the department’s oldest patrol car.
Standard practice has always been to bring in new vehicles every two years on a rotation, in order to keep them all running and in safe condition.
This being the case, the chief asked council to approve the purchase of a new Dodge Durango Patrol Car from Terry Henricks.
He also explained that the finance committee was in support of this request. The vehicle being replaced is from 2016 and currently has over 90,000 miles on it.
Expectation for the new vehicle to be received is around September. Council moved to approve the request to purchase the vehicle at a cost of $55,733.88.
Fire Chief Rodger Swank spoke next and informed council that his department received 16 calls for service since the last meeting.
He also stated that changes were made to the Volunteer Fire Department Fund Board at the state level.
The process will now need to be completed online, and it will now have to be made up of two council members, two members from the department, and two members at large.
The mayor stated that it made the most sense to have B. Fiser and West on the board, to which council agreed.
The mayor also informed Chief Swank to reach out to Central and let them know that the deadline is now March 15th instead of March 1st.
Next, Administrator Anthony Burnett informed council of the winter project that had been taking place at the community center, fire hall and library. The lights were all being converted over to LED, which is now complete.
Also, the next substation bids will be coming out in the next several days and will lead up to the bid openings that will take place on February 28th.
Conversation then shifted over to the solar fields, with it being stated that the project is currently in a holding pattern due to the federal government putting a temporary pause on all grants, loans and other financial assistance programs, beginning on January 28th.
Council also discussed possible radar signs and the next large trash pickup, which is currently scheduled for April 25th from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. and on April 26th from 7:30 a.m. to noon.
It was then that Fiscal Officer Nikki Mittelstaedt addressed council and informed them that the 2022-2023 audit is complete and should be released to the public in the next week or two.
She also asked for council’s approval to attend the local Government Training in Columbus on March 27th and 28th, to which council agreed.
Mittelstaedt also informed council that 90% of the money, totaling $176,400.00, was received for the splash pad. Interest in the amount of $12,567.06 was also received for CDARS and was put into the electric fund.
Lastly, Mittelstaedt informed council that a donation was received for the K9 program, summer rec signups had begun and money from those signups was being placed into the General Summer Rec Fund, and changes were made to the SRO program.
These changes include the addition of Workers Compensation, life insurance and cell phone benefits.
The mayor also stated that the village pays for 60% of the costs associated with the School Resource Officer, with the school paying the other 40%.
Council then moved to approve Resolution 102-2025 to create the Capital Projects – Cedar Street Fund for receiving and disbursing funds related to the Cedar Street and East Dearborn Street improvement projects, and declaring an emergency.
Executive session was then entered into a 7:35 p.m., with council later returning at 8:05 p.m.
Following their return, council moved to pay out the HRA Reimbursement of $1,000 per past practice.
Council also moved to approve the resignation of Brad VanDeVoorde as Electrical Superintendent, effective February 26th, 2025. Council also moved to approve Kevin Mercer as the new Village of Pioneer Electrical Superintendent, effective February 26th, 2025.
The mayor then exited the meeting leaving Ben Fiser, Council President, to take over the meeting to discuss transactions related to the Kexon Drive Project. With this, council moved to approve the following items.
Ordinance 4-2025 to amend the appropriations for 2025 and to declare an emergency. Resolution 101-2025 providing for the transfer of funds from the general fund, water fund, and sanitary sewer fund to the capital projects fund, and declaring an emergency.
With no other items left to attend to, council moved to adjourn at 8:12 p.m.