Fulton County Ohio Media

The Swanton Village Council held its first meeting of 2023 this past Monday on January 9^th.  All Council members that served in 2022 remain with Diane Westhoven and Dave Pilliod serving the final year of their four-year term and Derek Kania, Samantha Disbrow, Patrick Messenger and Mikey Disbrow each beginning their second year.  Having been elected in November of 2019, Neil Toeppe is serving the final year of his term as Mayor.  Also at the meeting, as part of the Village administration was Administrator Shannon Shulters and Finance Director Jason Vasko.

One of the first orders of business for the Council to begin the new year is to elect a President Pro Tempore of Council to serve in the absence of the mayor.  Councilwoman Westhoven, who served in that capacity in 2022, nominated Councilman Kania.  The nomination was seconded and Mr. Kania was elected unanimously. 

Establishing the 2023 Rules of Council came next.  As previously reported, the proposed changes to the committee structure and the agenda format would be to eliminate all committees but include all pertinent issues in every meeting agenda, regardless of what committee responsibility they would have fallen under.  The recommended starting time for a Council meeting would be 6:00 PM and the agenda would be followed without intermittent delays.  There would be no committee reports, no putting an issue on hold until that specific committee meets again in four weeks and motions for legislation could be made at any point.  “All the Council members attend the committee meetings anyway and they can offer input so, this would be no different,” said Mayor Toeppe.  These changes were also unanimously approved.

Council discussed issues with refuse service, currently being provided to the Village by Republic Services.  “We’ve had a number of complaints about Republic Services,” said Mr. Vasko explaining the reason for the discussion.  He and Ms. Shulters went on to inform the Council that they had discovered that the contract between the Village and Republic had, inadvertently, not been signed by either party, thereby rendering the contract null and void and giving the Village an opportunity to explore other vendors.  Ms. Shulters has reached out to other refuse collection vendors regarding pricing and other details and the Village may initiate a bidding process.  Also discussed was the possibility of including the refuse collection charge in with the utility payment instead of being charged directly by the vendor.

Regarding utility rates, Mr. Vasko reported to Council that per EPA regulations, utility rates must be studied periodically and adjusted accordingly and that time is drawing close.  He believes a rate increase will follow the study and, with a January 2023 increase previously approved, Mr. Vasko recommended the January increase be delayed until the study, which will begin next week, is completed. 

In personnel moves, a motion was approved for the hiring of Christian Renner as a full-time Patrolman with the Swanton Police Department at a rate of $19.67 per hour.  This offer is contingent upon the successful passing of a drug screening.  A motion was approved for the hiring of William Pouter as a full-time Paramedic with the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division at a rate of $19.57 per hour, effective immediately.  This offer is contingent upon the successful passing of a drug screening, physical, and background check.  A motion was approved for the hiring of Steve Sprague as a part-time Firefighter / EMT with the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division at a rate of $18.80 per hour, effective immediately.  This offer is contingent upon the successful passing of a drug screening, physical, and background check.

A motion was approved to accept the resignation of Alva Conger from the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division, effective February 3, 2023.  A motion was approved for the reclassification of Scott Brubaker from part-time to full-time employee at the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division, effective immediately.  A motion was approved to accept the reclassification of Brianna Morgan from full-time to part-time employee at the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division.

Notice that Cynthia Pawlaczyk was hired as the Administrative Assistant I / Utility Billing Clerk, effective Jan 9, 2023.  This position was filled under the authority of the Village Administrator. Mrs. Pawlaczyk was offered a rate of $16.00 per hour.

The next meeting will be January 23, 2023 at 6:00 PM in the Village Council Chambers at 219 Chestnut Street. It will be simultaneously live-streamed and recorded on the Village’s Facebook page.

Photo: Swanton Village Council President Pro Tempore Derek Kania