(PHOTO BY BRENNA WHITE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
ODOT UPDATES … Commissioners hear updates on the most recent construction progress and more to come.
By: Brenna White
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Williams County Commissioners met for a regular session on May 29 in the Commissioner Session Room. The meeting began promptly at 9:00 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. All Board members were present: Terry Rummel, Scott Lirot, and Bart Westfall.
Approval of the minutes from the May 20 session began the meeting, with no agenda amendments made at this time.
Further on in the meeting, President Terry Rummel made a few last-minute adjustments to help move along the process for a necessary resolution.
After paying the bills, they moved forward to address the EMS Ohio Billing changes coming to Williams County. This involves the changing of in-person to third-party billing which is a practice widely used in surrounding counties.
Responsibilities have been delegated to Administrator Vond Hall to take charge of the progress of this process. He has most recently requested the EMS to expedite the processing of a purchase order to maintain project momentum.
Under old business, the Commissioners passed several resolutions.
-Appropriations for county departments, including a supplemental transfer of funds to the Williams County Engineer’s Office.
-Authorization of vehicle sharing from the Department of Aging for various events as needed.
-Approval of a contractual agreement between Williams County Job and Family Services and Williams County Common Pleas Court (Juvenile Division) to provide public preventive services to a children’s agency.
Additional topics included a review of the 2025 Workers’ Compensation charge backs across departments, a 2026 budget proposal from the Veteran Service Commission, and a request for pay from the Maumee Valley Planning Organization (MVPO) for a general administration fee.
The Commissioners also took a look at the North Annex proposal, delivered by Garmann Miller. With an added increase of $10,000, the project is looking to cost around $90,000.
A grant has been secured by officials to help pay for the majority of the cost. The Board accepted Miller’s proposal and hopes to see construction commencing soon.
A proposed increase to the county’s motor vehicle license tax was presented by County Engineer, Todd Roth. This involves a permissive tax that would add an additional $5 increase to any and all motor vehicle license plate costs. Recreational vehicles, trailers, buses, commercial vehicles, mopeds, etc. will all be included in the new tax.
The State of Ohio already assesses taxes for purchasing, while villages and townships alike often have a tax of their own already in place.
For those presently living in areas with the maximum allotted amount already taxed, the Williams County additional tax will have no effect. The amount of the fee will entirely be dependent on the location of community members’ addresses.
For example, municipalities already collecting would include Blakeslee, Bryan, Edgerton, Edon, Stryker, and Holiday City to name a few.
Many of these areas only charge a portion of the maximum tax of $20 allowed, with the exception of West Unity, which taxes in full.
There will be two public hearings held along with community notifications. Engineer Roth hopes to move the process along quickly in order to collect before the State fiscal year begins in early July. He hopes to have this motion passed before the end of June.
Roth reports around 50,000 vehicle registrations yearly for the county. The proposed tax would go towards the quality of the roads and the necessary maintenance needed.
He reports that their revenue has flatlined, as the gas tax and license plate fees are some of the few sources of funding from the County for the Engineer’s Office, and prices continue to increase further. “We will continue to pursue funding in any way that we can,” affirmed Roth.
“Our roads are great,” Rummel begins, contemplating the idea. “I’m curious to see the public pushback. Do you want nice roads – or cheaper license plate fees?” The Resolution concerning this proposed tax levy is Resolution 25-0245, pursuant to ORC 4504.24.
The annexation hearing involving the Mendoza case was presented at the May 29th meeting. Representing his clients, Attorney Ryan Thompson spoke to the Commissioner Board.
The annexation of Pulaski Township property, two singly-owned properties, will now be included in the City of Bryan. This will not affect any surrounding homes or any other properties in Pulaski Township.
Owners Jason and Winter Mendoza requested annexation in order to receive Bryan Municipal Utility access, including water and sewer.
An amendment was motioned to the agenda in order to pass a resolution involving this topic. The Commissioners approved the annex and signed said resolution promptly before the end of the meeting.
ODOT representatives, led by Pat McColley, informed the Board of the recent progress of roadwork around the County. Williams County resides in Maintenance District 2 of ODOT’s guidelines.
McColley took the time to thank the Adopt-a-Highway Groups in the county: Matsu Ohio Inc., Loving Memory of Samuel L. Sierra, Church of Christ in West Unity, Kamco Industries, and Alvordton-Millcreek TWP Fire Department, to name a few.
Updates to ODOT’s procedures include a new mowing performance offered. Transportation administrators will be in contact with each village to discuss their mowing needs along the state routes.
Plowing, salting, and spraying growth retardants will also be used as needed. McColley reminded the surrounding areas that ODOT sells salt brine to cities and villages at a very cheap cost, $0.07 a gallon, and encourages any municipality interested to become a part of their program.
Construction set for 2025 includes several resurfacing projects. This includes three projects to occur in July in various stages; US Route 6 (3 miles, between the Indiana line and Edgerton), State Route 49 (2.6 miles, between the Defiance County line and the north of Edgerton), and State Route 191 (2.5 miles, between US 6 and State Route 2/State Route 34).
A bridge replacement will be occurring at the Crossing Little Lick Creek Branch. Planned for the future is a pedestrian safety and connectivity project in Edgerton in the following year or 2027.
Maintenance projects include the upkeep of SR 2 and US 6/CR to stabilize the steep embankment to slow the watershed before the road becomes undermined. This is a safety project to fix any potential problems before they begin.
Two roundabouts are being proposed for Williams County, both placed on US 20 and SR 49. While planning is still underway and possible construction is not to begin until 2029, ODOT presented the information to the commissioners to discuss.
The reason behind the roundabouts is the amount of injuries and crashes involving the road as is. For the north part of the road, 9 total incidents were recorded most recently – 1 property crash, 1 fatality, and 7 injuries.
With the implementation of a roundabout, ODOT is confident this will effectively reduce the amount of crashes by a substantial amount. When crashes do occur at these intersections, they report less damage and far fewer injuries.
Discussion of an additional roundabout farther down the same road, more south, is also in progress. Construction, if approved, is not expected until almost 2030.
The meeting adjourned at 11:20 a.m. following the signing of approval of the Pulaski property annexation. Upcoming events noted on the agenda include a Coffee with Commissioners at Four Seasons, Holiday City, at 9:00 a.m.
Community members are welcome to join and get to know the commissioners and their county business on a more personal level.