April 20 2026
The regular council meeting was called to order by Mayor Jay Branson. All members present.
MINUTES: Minutes from the April 6 2026 meeting read and approved.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Mayor Branson had an update on the veteran banners. He said he has been working with Toledo Edison and he is hoping to get them up before Memorial Day. An audit has been done on the poles along East, Damascus, East and West Maple Streets. He added if anyone wants a banner they can contact the Library. Mayor Branson said the banners will be up from May to November.
Mayor Branson told Council that the June Jubilee will be held June 6th and State Route 109 through downtown will be closed as it is for the Fall Festival.
Kris told Council she was approached by a representative from Perry Pro Tech regarding the copy machine. He told her that the company we worked with before doesn’t exist anymore and Xerox has taken over but they aren’t very responsive. Kris said the last invoice we paid for Xerox was $967.48 for the year. The rep from Perry gave her a quote for an annual fee of $540 and this covers 1,000 pages per month for the copy machine, Ashley’s two printers and Kris’ printer. However, Kris’ printer is State issued so nothing can be done to that one. Council asked Kris to contact Xerox about leaving the contract and what the cost would be.
Also, in attendance were Rachel VanSky and Conrad Beck from Hylant Administrative Services for the Ohio Plan insurance renewal. Conrad told Council the premium increased 3% this year and we added three trailers that were found to not be listed before. He added the more years we are with them the more credit we would receive each year. The cost of renewal is $21,297 with a credit of $911 for a total of $20,386. Councilwoman Bennett made a motion to renew, seconded by Councilman Smith. All members voted yes by roll call vote.
OLD BUSINESS: Mayor Branson told Council the Summer help job offer was extended to Evan Smigelski and he accepted and has started.
NEW BUSINESS:
UTILITIES: Mayor Branson told Council the sinkhole behind Professional Tax & Bookkeeping and Meyer Badenhop is getting worse. He added that Jake dug it up last year as a courtesy and couldn’t find a problem. Terry talked to Jay and he told her it’s private property and they would need to find someone to fix it. We are not sure who’s property it is Tax or Insurance. Jake said he has checked water and sewer lines and everything is okay, he said it seems to be something with their part of the storm sewer that is causing the problem but he isn’t sure from where.
STREETS AND SIDEWALKS: Brad had an update on the Vactor pump from the last meeting. He said a new pump is $38,757.22 with a 90-day warranty on parts only. The rebuilt pump is $22,950 with a 90-day part and labor warranty. Councilwoman Alexander made a motion to diagnose and rebuild the pump and replace the other items on the quote, seconded by Councilwoman Bennett. All members voted yes by roll call vote.
Brad told Council that he found four more Stop bars that need to be painted that were not included in the quote from the last meeting. He said these would be an additional $280. Council asked how many there are total. Brad said there are twelve and the cost would be $840 to do all twelve. Councilman Brown made a motion to do all twelve stop bars, seconded by Councilwoman Miller. All members voted yes by roll call vote.
SAFETY: Councilwoman Bennett questioned what can be done about people blowing their grass into the street from mowing. Mayor Branson told her we do not have an ordinance, there is something in the Ohio Revised Code but it won’t be enforced. He told her she would need to speak to Sheriff Ruskey to get it enforced or take it to Zoning to see what they say about enforcing if an Ordinance were passed.
PARK: Brad ordered portable restrooms for the park for ball season. He told Council the Handicap restroom is $150 and regular restroom is $110 every 28 days with a $70 delivery charge.
CEMETERY:
ZONING: Next meeting will be held May 18th.
FINANCE: Kris had information from Ashley for RITA. The non-filer/subpoena program we joined 2 years ago has expired and Council needs to decide if they want to do it for 2026-2027. Kris said in the 2024/2025 program 342 non-filing letters were mailed and 293 subpoenas with $38,207 that was or will be collected. Non-filer letters are free to send and subpoenas are $1. RITA has said there are 363 delinquent accounts, some of these will be taken care of with the letter but the ones that are not will be sent subpoenas, so the most this will cost is $363. Councilwoman Alexander made a motion to do both again, seconded by Councilman Brown. All members voted yes by roll call vote.
PAY BILLS: Councilwoman Alexander made a motion to pay the bills, seconded by Councilwoman Bennett. All members voted yes by voice vote.
GENERAL:
VISITOR COMMENTS:
ADJOURN: Meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.The next regular Council meeting will be held May 4, 2026.
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