PHOTO BY BRENNA WHITE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
EBERSOLE DITCH DISCUSSION … Williams County Engineer Todd Roth discusses the Ebersole Ditch petition with the commissioners.
By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Williams County Commissioners convened on Thursday, August 28, 2025, in the Commissioners’ Session Room to review financial appropriations, county projects, and departmental updates. Commissioner President Terry Rummel, Scott Lirot, and Bart Westfall were in attendance.
Beginning the session, the Commissioners held an executive session with Mike Kurivial to discuss matters to be kept confidential. At 8:30 a.m., they returned to their regular open session.
The minutes from the previous August 21, 2025, session were approved. Clerk Anne Retcher presented amendments to the agenda to include OSU Extension department updates along with the weekly Dog Warden report.
Transfer appropriations were approved for the commissioner’s office, EMS, Hillside Country Living, and the Victim’s Assistance Office. Additional credit card appropriations were set aside for both the Auditor’s Office and the Commissioner’s Office as well.
Lirot moved to set the tentative date for the Ebersole Ditch final hearing but rescinded his motion to gather more research.
A preliminary conversation was held with County Engineer Todd Roth regarding Ditch #744. It was noted that Rummel abstained from any conversation to avoid conflicts of interest.
Roth said that there were concerns and complaints of blockages occurring along the ditch, causing it to flood. He continued to explain that it is a natural floodplain and will likely flood regardless of any maintenance.
He noted that Brian Fritsch, Drainage Engineer, will review and inspect the land once more before any formal hearings. “The big difference is how it’s paid for. If you accept, either the commissioners will pay for it or the Waterbank will,” Roth stated.
“We are not going to do anything to the ditch; we’re not going to go into the ditch, widen it, or anything,” he explained. “It’s a floodplain – it’s going to flood. We need to at least assure that it’s flowing as well as it can, which means removing blockages.”
“Our intention is not to make more work, it’s not to offend anyone, or interfere with their money, it’s not to interfere with crops, it’s just to make sure a problem is taken care of,” Roth continued, “We don’t want to take property rights away — just make sure it’s draining properly.”
This topic will return to next week’s agenda, with a formal hearing date to be set soon.
Roth and Fritsch presented an updated budget for the Engineer’s office. This is for the purpose of better tracking expenditures and revenues in one joint account.
While this does raise the initial proposed budget by $186,000, it was noted that this figure was already appearing in and out of other accounts, like the A Fund.
This includes tile repairs, drainage issues, and other permanent maintenance expenses. This is to better track and account for the future 2026 Ditch Maintenance budget.
The Commissioners approved a resolution authorizing the change of the permanent maintenance rates of ditches.
A request to pay from the Maumee Valley Planning Organization (MVPO) was accepted for the CDBG Grant for the Northwest Township Parking Facilities project.
Permits to work were approved within the county and township rights-of-way limits: 11 for Charter Communications, and one for Toledo Edison.
Title sheets for the reconstruction project in Superior and St. Joseph Townships were additionally accepted, along with the reading of an RC-3 Certificate of Records Disposal.
Rummel stated that there are 30 boxes of records, some from 2012, that will be transferred to the County Record Office. These records have been microfilmed and will be accounted for online in their digital database.
In order to properly and legally destroy the paper copies, the County has to go through the official state process and provide documentation to show that they have successfully microfilmed the records. This is for the purpose of easy transportation and to better keep track of the older files.
Lirot raised the question of whether the Historical Center would be interested in the paper copies, so any shredding will be decided in the future.
At 10:00 a.m., an executive session was held with Kylee Towne, JFS Director, to discuss compensation. Afterwards, they adjourned to have a site visit at the Stryker Senior Center with the Department of Aging at 11:00 a.m.