(PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
RETURNING FACE ON PARK BOARD … Doug Eicher has been approved by the Delta Village Council to fill an empty seat on the village’s Park Board. Prior to the board’s previous dissolution and reinstatement, Eicher sat on the board for about 20 years.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
The Delta Village Council continued discussion on the potential sale of the Delta Community Fire Station to York Township during its regular meeting Monday evening.
The proposed sale for $1 would see the township taking possession of the building, which they already lease from the village in order to operate the fire department.
It further stipulates that if the fire department were ever to relocate or cease operations, the building would be sold back to the village, again for $1.
York Township officials are interested in the purchase because it will allow them to apply for grant funding to make major improvements to the facility.
During Monday’s discussion, Mayor Allen Naiber reported the township would like the village to spend the money in its fire fund for maintenance of the property prior to their purchase.
According to Naiber and Law Director Kevin Heban, the roughly $120,000 in that fund is already restricted and may only be used for such maintenance. The council would only have to appropriate the funds.
After further discussion, Heban agreed to draw up a draft contract containing all of the agreed-upon details.
BASEBALL FIELD DRAGGING
The council continued another prior conversation on dragging of the baseball fields at the park. Exactly who is responsible for the dragging, where the liability falls, and what are the best practices regarding the fields led to varying opinions on the council.
Council member Chad Johnson, who sits on the Park Board, previously indicated that since the village provides the fields, it is their responsibility to keep it in a state appropriate for use throughout the playable season.
Discussion between council member Robert Shirer and Heban determined that, with regard to liability regarding injuries at the fields, there were three layers of protection: statute-based immunity for providing the services, the implementation of “hold harmless” agreements between the field users and the village and the village’s insurance policy should there be an incident that rises to a level which surpassed the prior two levels of protection.
Heban shared his desire for the council to support setting the requirement that users of the field may have to include the village as covered under their own insurance when holding events there.
He gave the example of a tournament including alcohol sales for an instance where that may be required, and a team from Sylvania coming to play a game on the fields as an example of when it may not.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
The council voted to approve on second reading a memorandum of understanding authorizing the participation of officers with the Delta Police Department in the Fulton County Special Response Team.
Police Chief Samuel Chappell said it was his plan to join the team, that he was able to take the prerequisite training at no cost to the village, and that he already had much of his own equipment necessary for participation.
He also pointed out its value in increasing communication with other departments and familiarizing his department with their procedures to assist with future incidents in which they work together.
In continuation of his efforts to take stock of the state of the department as its new chief, Chappell reported he had officers looking through old felony case files to locate cases not past the statute of limitations which had not been completed, with an eye to taking action on as many as possible.
He reported an uptick in stolen vehicles, with two stolen in the last month, due to people leaving cars running or leaving the keys inside. Both vehicles were recovered, one of them located in Perrysburg.
Chappell also reported a partnership between the department and Smith’s Twist T-Freez, in which officers had been provided several dozen coupons for a free ice cream cone to be distributed to youths in the village throughout the summer for being caught doing something safe.
OTHER BUSINESS
Frazer reported a special meeting would be held in the future regarding the village’s draft budget for 2025, a final version of which must be submitted by the end of the month.
Frazer reported that the old trash tags are no longer being accepted by Archbold Refuse Service as of March 1, and that he had considered changing the final date on which residents could trade in old tags, bringing it earlier than the stated April 5 deadline.
That date has not yet been changed, and Frazer said he would make notifications to the community through social media among other sources if he made that decision.
Frazer reported the village qualifies for the Vibrant Communities Program under Jobs Ohio for the first time due to having a population under 75,000 and a poverty rate at or above the state average.
The villages of Fayette and Lyons in Fulton County are also listed among the qualified communities. Among other requirements, projects used as the basis of funding applications must be “in an area where added inducement is needed to reduce risk and attract new investment” according to the program guidelines, which also indicate that funding “typically” does not exceed $1 million per project and “should not exceed” 50 percent of eligible costs.
The council approved on first reading a resolution in support of renewal of the state’s capital improvement program in an upcoming election, joining with the Strong Ohio Communities Coalition.
It was stated that the village has previously received funding under the program to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.
The council approved Naiber’s recommendation of Doug Eicher to fill the empty seat on the village’s Park Board.
Johnson, who sits on the board, said Eicher previously served on the board before it was eliminated then brought back, and that he had held the position for roughly two decades.
The council approved on an emergency basis an agreement with Jones & Henry for engineering services to conduct an evaluation of the village’s wastewater treatment plant at a cost of $37,000 to comply with a requirement from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The council approved on an emergency basis a consulting agreement with the Maumee Valley Planning Organization to assist with the village’s Community Development Block Grant for the cleanup of the Bunting Bearing property.
The next regular meeting of the Delta Village Council will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 17, 2025, at 401 Main Street in Delta.
