PHOTO BY BRENNA WHITE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
BUDGET OUTLOOK … Williams County Engineers Todd Roth and Cody Frey discuss the sewer department budget projection for the next several years.
By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Williams County Commissioners convened for their regular meeting to address the November 13, 2025, agenda and the possibility of raising 2026 sewer rates within the county.
The meeting began at 10:00 a.m., directly after a meeting with Williams County EMS with the City of Bryan. Commissioners Terry Rummel, Scott Lirot, and Bart Westfall were in attendance.
To start, the board approved the minutes from the November 4, 2025, session. The agenda was amended to include an executive session on employee compensation. Commissioners then moved to old business to authorize the payment of bills.
Supplemental appropriation transfers were approved on behalf of the Auditor’s Office, Board of Elections, Clerk of Courts Legal Division, the Commissioners’ Office, the Department of Aging, the Engineer’s Office, Job and Family Services (JFS), and the Recorder’s Office.
An agreement was officially approved with Siebenaler Construction for Project 8-2025: the North Annex renovation. On October 30, 2025, an agreement was entered into at a cost not to exceed $1,339,950.
Commissioners additionally approved the advertisement of sealed bids for Project 9-2025, which involves the upcoming County Road 11 bridge deck replacement. Official bids will be accepted until December 2, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.
An addendum to a JFS contract was approved. The Northwest Ohio Community Action Committee (NOCAC) contract required an extension of its financial case management services.
The cost will not exceed $10,000 per year. The addendum extends the term limit from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026.
“This is a program NOCAC does for us… they make them (applicants) go through classes that are supposed to change their behavior,” explained Rummel. “It’s training classes that are for people in the system.”
The first change order for Project 7-2025, pavement markings, had been received by the Board. The initial contract price was noted to decrease by $1,270.
A support letter from Tonie Long of the ADAMhs Board was received on behalf of the Northwest Ohio Board Collaborative.
This involves the Adult Mobile Crisis Service Pilot Program they are currently trying to raise funding for. An annual 2025 update for Asset Retirement Obligation Due Diligence was signed by the Commissioners as well.
An additional project change request was received by Equivant, the new software company that Williams County is switching to.
For an additional payment of $54,000, the company required supplemental funds to convert the necessary data into the correct files.
While the previous software company was supposed to convert the files as needed, they failed to do so.
“The short answer is – the company that we had didn’t do what they were supposed to do, and now we have to pay this additional amount to continue,” says Administrator Vond Hall.
“We need to sue the original company,” stated Rummel. “It’s just another 50k worth of a waste of taxpayer dollars. These people just did not perform.”
A discussion was held for three topics on the Thursday agenda, which included a complaint received via email from Jenn Culberston involving JFS.
An update on the renewal contract for Dog Warden Duties under the Humane Society was tabled until the following week.
A conversation regarding the return of the bond for the Ebersole Ditch Petition was held, though the board moved to table the discussion until more information was available. After reviewing the total of county expenses made during the petition, the Commissioners will make their final decision.
At 10:30 a.m., Todd Roth and Cody Frey from the Williams County Engineering Department joined the meeting to discuss sewer rates within the county.
“If we’re going to have an increase, we have to move on it,” said Rummel. “It really is a tough decision; it comes down to how much money you want to have available,” Roth explained.
Frey continued to explain their financial forecast and how they are expected to remain in the red until 2027. Roth expressed that he does not want to increase the engineering debt load. “We want to maintain this carryover that we have right now,” he added.
Westfall had concerns about the possibility of having another “Hickory Hills” situation in the future. “All of a sudden, we might have to dip into our carryover, cover $600,000. How do we hedge for that in the future?
“So, the talk has been raising the rates now, so down the road, we aren’t writing you a check for $600,000 to prepare a faulty sewer line,” continued Westfall. “Fairly assessing everyone across the board, we don’t know what is going to be next in the barrel.”
The commissioners expressed interest in potentially raising rates to keep up with current inflation. They noted the last raise was in 2021, which raised the sewer price from $45 to $50, and has not increased since.
“In my ten years, it has gone (up) five bucks,” said Rummel. “Then I look at where our expenses have gone – I mean payroll, the cost of health insurance, and everything else. If we don’t raise a little bit, we’re going to come back and want $10.”
Lirot explained that an additional $5 increase would reflect less than a 1.5% increase since 2021. “We would be doing less than a 1.5% increase in all reality,” he said.
“A $5 increase would amount to around $100,000 of additional funds for the engineering sewer department.
“Well, and I struggle a little bit with this thought process because we just gave back half a million dollars for the tax relief, and now we are tapping back into people’s pocketbooks that we already feel are struggling,” Rummel stated.
“I also am fearful for the future. It’d be easy to kick it down the road and let the next group deal with it. We’ve done everything we could to keep it from increasing,” commented Roth. “Pursued money as much as we could.”
After much discussion, Roth affirmed that he is comfortable with what the rates are currently at and does not expect a raise to be necessary for several years.
The commissioners heeded his decision and opted to table the discussion for a year. They will address a potential raise once again in September 2026.
At 11:01 a.m., the board moved into executive session to discuss employee compensation. No action was taken during this time, and the open session adjourned directly afterwards.
A monthly financial meeting was held at Hillside County Living later in the afternoon.