OATH OF OFFICE … New Wauseon Fire Chief Phil Kessler was sworn in at the September 19, 2022 Wauseon City Council meeting. There to join him were his wife, Heather and three children Hayes, Harrison and Henley. In the background watching, are Keith Torbet and Tom McWatters. Following the oath, Mrs. Kessler put his new pin on him. He shook hands and was welcomed by Mayor Kathy Huner, who had given him the oath, and council members who were present for the meeting. (PHOTO BY REBECCA MILLER, STAFF)
By: Rebecca Miller
The Wauseon Council room was full for the September 19, 2022 Council meeting, as family and friends were present to watch Phil Kessler take his Oath of Office to step into the position of Wauseon Fire Chief.
Fire Chief Rick Sluder was also present and both were decked out in their dress uniforms. When the time came for the “changing of the guard”, Mayor Kathy Huner first read the entirety of the letter of resignation which had been given to her a few weeks ago by Chief Sluder.
He shared in the letter, how much he has loved living his dream in Wauseon, as the fire chief, that he has been a member of the department for thirty-two years, and that he will remain on as a member of the fire department.
Sluder will continue to live in Wauseon as he moves into the position of Chief Deputy State Fire Marshall for the State of Ohio.
He will be serving the 11.7 million Ohio residents of Ohio. Huner added that he has been active with the department since 1990 and was involved in fighting some devastating fires in the city.
He had been around in the department since he was a child and knew many firefighters over the years.
She thanked him for taking their city into the future by making them one of the first in Northwest Ohio who has a full-time 24-hour fire department.
She said they have become a template for other cities to move into that format. She asked to shake his hand, after which he shook hands with all the council members who were present.
At that point, Kessler asked his wife and children to come up for the Oath of Office. Mayor Huner swore him in and his wife pinned the new badge on him.
Their three children proudly stood in front of him as he was sworn in and pinned. Mayor Huner invited Sluder to come up for pictures and then the new Chief Kessler shook hands and accepted congratulatory welcomes from council.
In regular business for the evening, council approved:
- Minutes of August 17, 2022 regular meeting and September 15 Committee of the Whole meeting
- Payment of bills
- Resolution 2022-20 Authorizing the mayor to issue a request for qualifications for an engineer, with the suspension of the rules, making it effective in 30 days
- Resolution 21 Bridge Inspection Agreement, and declaring an emergency
- Resolution 22 authorizing the mayor to enter into a temporary storage yard agreement with American Transmission Systems, Inc., and declaring an emergency
- Third and final reading of Resolution 2022-18 adopting the City of Wauseon Local Government Manual
- Motion to accept the Mayor’s appointment of Lisa Vajen to the Park Board
- By no disapproval, the council agreed to allow a D51 Liquor Permit Reighard 8090 LLC:DBA El Jarro Mexican Grill 445 Airport Highway, Wauseon, Ohio
- Park Board recommendation to approve the six sculptures chosen by the donor to be placed along the bike trail at specified locations.
Chief Kessler gave his first report as chief, saying that everything went well at the Fulton County Fair, they are continuing to work on staffing for next year, and they have begun the transition from Deputy Chief Sluder to himself with great support from everyone. They also handled a small structure fire that morning.
Director of Public Service Keith Torbet reported that his department has been quite busy as work on Brunell St. continues, a few issues have been had in moving a pole that is in the middle of the road but that should be done asap, and paving will be done.
Water line installation is under way on Washington St. Unlimited big trash drop-off is scheduled for September 26- October 1 behind the ccity building.
Law Director Tom McWatters reported to council that the bike trails are now officially a part of the city as the Fulton County Commissioners approved it.
Council President Scott Stiriz gave a report for the Tree Commission saying that they met on September 12, 2022 and discussed Tree City USA which Wauseon will be hosting in spring of 2023.
They are planning to ask if they can change the date, due to available vendors. They have another meeting scheduled.
For Park Board, Councilor Harold Stickley spoke about the sculptures and presented the recommendation to accept them.
He added that personally he is hoping that they can put benches across from them in the future. He recommended putting slabs on north side for the sculptures and slabs on south side for the benches.
President Stiriz said that the pictures of the sculptures don’t do them justice.
Utility Committee was represented by Councilor Sarah Heising. She said that they held a pretty lengthy meeting on September 14, 2022, discussing the bids received for the five-year contract.
They narrowed it down to two choices; keep the current tag system and a bin system. The first one surprised them when they checked for prices as the tags are still $1.30 each.
They decided to seek public input using a google forum on the city’s Facebook page and 665 votes were submitted. There were 41% in favor of bins and 59% wanting to stay with current tag system.
She said that the committee needs to meet again and “it looks like” they will come to council with a recommendation to stay with the tag system, so there would be no change.
They also had “a pair of business partners come in and request assistance for their water bill.” They have plans to purchase a building that houses multiple businesses.
“In examining their water bill and comparing it to other buildings they felt like they are not being charged in line with what other businesses are paying,” she explained.
She reported that the committee is checking into it to see what the situation is and if everyone is paying the appropriate amount and that it is fair across the board.
A small reception was planned following the meeting for family and friends and council to spend some time with the new fire chief to celebrate his promotion.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:35.
Rebecca can be reached at rebecca@thevillagereporter.com
