WEEKLY MEETING … Commissioners Bart Westfall, Terry Rummel, and Lew Hilkert meet regularly on Tuesday and Thursdays, with their agendas available on their website.
By: Anna Wozniak
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
anna@thevillagereporter.com
The Williams County Commissioners met on Tuesday and Thursday last week as usual, with Tuesday beginning with a 9:45 a.m. general session.
Commissioners Lew Hilkert and Bart Westfall then passed eight resolutions before signing the Dog Warden report through March 3, 2024, the February monthly inventory report, February’s financial report from the county auditor, a letter of support for a proposed Emergency Operations Center (EOC) project, a Maumee Valley request for pay, the minutes of their March 7, 2024 meeting and bills as presented.
At 10 a.m., Arica Alvarez from Maumee Valley Planning, who detailed how the state has flagged Williams County’s fair housing legislation as out of date.
The legislation was last updated in 1990. MVPO is working on modified fair housing resolutions so that all county municipalities will comply with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Equal Housing Opportunity requirements.
April is Fair Housing Month, and they have been hard at work traveling to conferences and spreading the word about fair housing requirements and tenant rights. This also helps the workers achieve their mandatory training hours.
At 10:30 a.m., they met with Sheriff Kochert, to update them on a taser purchase to replace ones purchased in 2011. Brand new ones are extremely expensive, so the sheriff has been looking for used options.
Grant funding and taser costs were then discussed before they entered recess before their 11:30 appointment.
Kevin Motter then addressed the commissioners, sharing that he was there on behalf of the Williams County Veterans Memorial.
Motter then detailed a plan to honor the area veterans once again by naming the viaduct over the Norfolk and Southern Railroad on the east side of Montpelier as the POW / MIA Memorial Viaduct, and the highway bridge crossing the St. Joe River near the Riverside Cemetery as the Gold and Blue Star Families Memorial Highway. The commissioners assured Motter that they would send their letters of support.
They then asked attending Montpelier Mayor Steven Yagelski if there was anything he would like to add, to which he responded that he thought the project “just fits. It’s not for Montpelier, it’s for everybody.”
They then adjourned the meeting, and opened Thursday at 9 a.m. They then approved five resolutions before signing the credit card appropriations for the Sheriff’s Office for April, the Dog Warden report through April 10, 2024, and January’s monthly Dog Warden report, travel requests, the minutes of their March 12, 2024 meeting, and the bills as presented by the county auditor.
At 9:30 a.m., they met with Clerk of Courts Kim Herman on the new happenings of driver testing, with the position for those testing not utilized enough for being a separate department.
Therefore, it is now the Clerk of Courts responsibility to coordinate driver testing, with the person taking on those responsibilities also sharing in clerical duties. This means that they now will have to fund the position, and already face a shortfall of around $6,000 a year.
This week’s resolutions: Resolution 24-0114: supplemental appropriations; Resolution 24-0115: renewal levy for the Williams County Public Library; Resolution 24-0116: approved the updates for the new Equal Housing Opportunity requirements ; Resolution 24-0117: approved a member to the Airport Authority Board; Resolution 24-0118: revised a date for advertising sealed bids; Resolution 24-0119: advertised sealed bids; Resolution 24-0120: rescinded resolution 24-0095; Resolution 24-0121: approved the effective date for a county employee’s health insurance; Resolution 24-0122: approved transfer requests; Resolution 24-0123: approved a JFS IV-E addenda; Resolution 24-0124: approved a technical service agreement; Resolution 24-0125: approved a customer service agreement; Resolution 24-0126: approved recording system upgrades and support.