By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Williams County Commissioners met on Thursday, October 2, 2025, at the Commissioners’ Session Room for their regular meeting.
Commissioner Vice President Scott Lirot and Bart Westfall were in attendance, with Commissioner President Rummel attending via Zoom call. Rummel did not contribute to motions.
The session began at 8:30 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call before moving into the day’s resolutions. The commissioners approved the minutes from the September 23, 2025, session. The payment of bills was also authorized.
Clerk Anne Retcher requested an amendment to the agenda to include a tile and ditch repair application under Luke Hendricks. Westfall moved to additionally include an executive session to discuss confidential matters.
Transfer appropriations were approved for the Auditor’s Office, Commissioner’s Office, and Engineer’s Office. A real estate purchase agreement was approved on behalf of the Williams County Airport for a new track, with costs not to exceed $350,000.
A permit to use county property was approved for the Bryan Area Foundation for the Festival of Trees. They also requested county maintenance to be on-site. Commissioners opted to refuse that portion and instead will attend the event themselves to see if maintenance is necessary for future events.
A FirstNET proposal was formally given by the IT department, which would take the 33 county vehicles and equip them with service software. 22 Sheriff vehicles and 11 EMS vehicles would be outfitted with the necessary cellular network. The commissioners asked if supplying all vehicles would be necessary, as there are rarely more than five in service at a time. They choose to update a small portion of vehicles instead and soft-launch the new program.
An executive session was held at 8:54 a.m. to discuss confidential matters. They returned to open session at 9:13 a.m. with no action.
A voluntary insurance update with Julie Oxender and Danyel Wortkoetter was held afterwards. The Commissioners reviewed the life insurance plan and later passed a motion that would allow each county department to pay for its own life insurance.
At 9:30 a.m., Street Vacation Hearing #1-2025 was held. This was filed by Center Township on behalf of Clifford Wineland, with the township having no objections to the vacation.
Located in Melburn, a portion of Walnut Street and a total of 1.82 acres will be relinquished to Wineland. “We’ve been out there to look at it, and it makes sense to approve it,” stated Lirot.
Wineland has already been maintaining the maintenance for several years, and owns the property North, South, and East of the road. The Commissioners approved the request.
A preliminary 2026 Park Board Budget discussion was held with Todd Roth. He noted that he will need to receive the full reimbursement grant from the Bible Park Project to be able to budget accordingly.
“It would give us a better picture of where we are – cash in hand,” Todd said. The reimbursement is estimated to be around $19,000.
The commissioners adjourned at 10:22 a.m. with no further business. The next Commissioner meeting will be held at the Alvortucky Bar, Alvordton, on October 7, 2025, at 9:00 a.m.