FISCAL OFFICER … New Fiscal Officer Holden Benfield is introduced at his first meeting while holding his position during the meeting held on Monday, March 13th. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER, STAFF)
By: Jacob Kessler
The Swanton Village Council held their meeting on Monday, March 13th. The meeting began at 6:00 p.m. with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
The finance report was discussed first with it being stated a traveling clerk has been coming in to help with financial items.
Holden Benfield, the new fiscal officer, started work on March 6th. This was his first council meeting while occupying his current position.
Benfield was born in Detroit, Michigan and moved to Northwest Ohio in 2005. He began college at the age of 13 and graduated from the University of Toledo with his bachelor’s in business administration, as well as his Masters in Accountancy in the Fall of 2021.
He has also spent the past eight years working and participating in Swanton’s events and is looking forward to serving the Village of Swanton.
Benfield has been working with the traveling clerk from UAN and is getting as much information he can from her.
He is also learning more about the job and is taking specific courses provided by UAN. Benfield also spoke about the 2024 Congressionally Directed Spending and how it can benefit the village.
Specific projects can be selected for this which will in turn provide funding for its completion.
Moving on to public safety, Lt. Kepling from the Swanton Fire Department spoke to council regarding handbook revisions the department has been working on.
The work taking place with the revisions has spanned over six months to a year. The goal is to help with retention, and in order to do so, research has been done as to what other departments similar to Swanton are offering.
Some of the changes requested include Kelly Days (which is a day off that is part of the firefighting shift and counts as additional time off), an increased uniform allowance that gives employees 20 cents per hour worked with a max of $600.00 a year, holiday pay that is not only 8 hours since employees work more than that in one day, the taking of personal time from 24 hours in a year to 72 hours in a year, and a layout of positions in the department that are currently used but not included.
Everyone then heard details of an incident that the Swanton Fire and Rescue Department worked on. On February 24th at 2:47 p.m. ALS 7, which is Swanton’s Advanced Life Support, was dispatched to a local residence for an unknown medical.
It was a complex incident from the time of dispatch due to a noted language barrier. Once on scene the crew realized that the call was in fact an obstetrical and that a delivery was imminent.
At 2:56 p.m. the crew helped the mother who gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
The meeting then moved on to discuss additional items from public service, water & sewer, and general interest.
The brush pickup from the February ice storm was completed. There was also talk of possibly placing an accessible brush bin for residents in the future during off weeks.
A sinkhole is located on Sanderson which is still under warranty. Contact was made with the company to come out and fix the issue.
The membrane project has begun and confined space training for employees was completed.
Village Administrator Shulters then stated that she cannot stress the need for a Tree Commission enough, especially with what happened in Toledo when a tree fell on a car. They are however continuing to struggle when it comes to finding volunteers.
Mayor Neil Toeppe then proceeded to give his report stating that he has continued to talk with residents as well as meet with the police and fire chiefs daily.
He also explained that he had met with a light industrial company regarding their needs and the types of location they would need to locate in Swanton.
The administrator’s report followed next with it being stated she had worked with the Fulton County Economic Development Corporation at the airport.
Numerous other items were discussed including printers for the lease buy out that came in, contact being made with numerous individuals and a planned annexation petition by Kent Murphy.
Administrator Shulters also stated that 46 banners have currently been sold for the veterans banners in town and that the adopt a bench program is down to having only one left.
The mayor then proceeded to issue a proclamation for Arbor Day, that will take place in Swanton on April 28th, 2023.
Recognitions were then given to the members of the Swanton Fire and Rescue Departments B Shift for the delivery of the baby in February.
Public comment took place next with Don Dutridge from the Swanton VFW speaking. He explained that he has been trying to get more parking for the past year and a half.
It had been said originally that the building across from them was going to be purchased along with the lot next to it.
The mayor explained that, around four to six weeks ago, the relator said the purchase did not go through due to the land contract attached to it.
The buildings are back on the market and some research will be done as to the engineering cost for a parking lot.
In the personnel report, council moved to allow Police Officer Mya Suarez to switch from full-time to part-time due to her upcoming deployment.
With no other business to attend to the meeting was adjourned at 6:52 p.m.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com
