Fulton County Ohio Media

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With the sudden resignation of Delta Mayor Bob Gilbert and the subsequent appointment of Council President Frank Wilton to the Mayor’s position, Mr. Wilton’s Council seat became vacant and had to be filled.  The Village advertised to fill the vacancy and received three applications.  At the March 1^st Council meeting, an executive session was held to discuss the candidates and, ultimately, Frank Wilton was selected to serve the remainder of Mr. Wilton’s term which will expire on December 31, 2021.

According to Mayor Wilton, the selection will make it easier for the Council to quickly resume activities as normal because of Mr. Thomas’s recent experience, having served on Council as late as 2019.  Delta Law Director Kevin Heban swore in Mr. Thomas immediately after the vote was taken.

In Old Business, Ordinance 21-04, directing the Finance Director to transfer funds from Fund 208 (Fire Fund) to the General Fund was approved on its Third Reading.  Ordinance 21-05, authorizing the Village Administrator to dispose of certain real estate not needed for any municipal purpose passed on its Second Reading.

In New Business, Resolution 21-03, endorsing the Joint Solid Waste Management Plan update for the Solid Waste District of Defiance, Paulding and Williams Counties was approved on its First Reading.

The first floor of Memorial Hall is undergoing remodeling including the Council chambers.  The Mayor and all Council members will remain facing away from the South and West walls but are now situated on a raised platform.  The Law Director, Village Administrator and Fiscal Officer are now seated opposite from the Council.  A new wall has been placed on the North side of the room to decrease the overall size.

The next meeting will take place on Monday, march 15, 2021 at 5:30 PM in Memorial Hall.

The Swanton Village Council makes many decisions every year on how and what to spend tax payer money on as entrusted wards of the Village’s financial well-being.  Recently, two spending proposal issues have been discussed that makes me question if all those decisions are made in the best interest of the citizens of Swanton or if personal agendas cloud some of the thinking behind some of the choices.

A proposal was made to audit and update the Village’s Zoning Codes for an estimated price of $50,000.  Zoning Codes are necessary in that they play a large role in how the Village is managed and they need to be audited periodically to insure they are current, especially with advances in technology such as solar panels and wind mills becoming available for residents’ use on their property.  The Council voted unanimously to move ahead with this proposal.

The second proposal was to have was an organizational evaluation study by the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association (OFCA) of the Swanton Fire & Rescue Department (SFRD).  Councilwoman Kathy Kreuz asked Mayor Toeppe to address the issue during a Council meeting. “In looking at the fire service, the quality of the fire service employees, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics is excellent,” commented the Mayor. “The issue is, how do we look at ourselves going forward?  Do we have the right amount of equipment, the right amount of training, the right policies in place, do we have the proper configuration of equipment, all those sorts of things?  So, we asked the Fire Chiefs Association to take a look at the fire department’s policy operation and put together a plan or understanding of where we are and where we need to be going forward.”  Mayor Toeppe said the study was similar to the one conducted several years ago by the Ohio Police Chiefs Association on the Swanton Police Department to make sure it was structured properly to prepare for the future and the cost of the study would be $15,000.

This proposal has been tabled twice during meetings to this date and is meeting resistance mainly from two Council members, Mike Rochelle and Craig Rose.  Councilman Rochelle questioned what the study would look at with the possibility of the formation of a fire district that would include the fire departments of other municipalities. He said he was hesitant to spend $50,000 on a study with too many unknowns about the future status of local fire protection. “I’m a little hesitant. I think it’s a great idea to know and understand where we are at today but I think there are a lot of things going on that I don’t know if that money is well spent,” said Mr. Rochelle. When it was explained to Mr. Rochelle that the cost of the study was $15,000 and not $50,000, he responded that his opinion did not change based on the dollars. “I don’t care if it’s $15 or $150 or $150,000,” he countered. “Do we know what our fire department is going to look like in five or ten years? If we do, then it’s money well spent.”

Mr. Rochelle did not explain how to predict the future five or ten years out nor did he explain why knowing the SFRD’s insufficiencies in any area and working to correct those would not be beneficial.  What struck me as odd was that Mr. Rochelle said there were “too many unknowns” to justify spending money on a full top-to-bottom evaluation that would help identify many of those unknowns.

Councilman Rose questioned SFRD Chief Anthony Schaffer as to why he was not the one to recognize and implement all changes and he also minimized the significance of the study when he said, “Fifteen thousand dollars is a hard pill to swallow for a suggestion here or there.”  Chief Schaffer said the study went beyond the scope of his position.

I believe, if there is not enough funding for the Zoning Code update and the SFRD Organizational Study, the Council should prioritize the one that impacts the health and safety of the community and deals with life and death situations before one that does not demand real urgency.  If there is funding for both why keep resisting?  To me the answer is obvious.  The SFRD study was proposed by the Mayor and the Zoning Code update was not. 

Is this just a coincidence?  Not at all.  The rejection of the study fits into a well-documented pattern of resistance and obstructionism Mayor Toeppe has faced with his proposals from the Swanton Village Council since he took office some 14 months ago with the loudest voices almost exclusively belonging to Mr. Rose and Mr. Rochelle.  Virtually every Village-enhancing proposal put forth by the Mayor including economic development, easing the tax burden on residents, working on retaining qualified firefighters and police officers, creating more transparency in Village government and others has run into a wall of obstructionism built by Council members.  What is the reason for this and how does this help our town?  Does the Council have issues with the Mayor or the work he is trying to accomplish?

In the current standoff, ask yourself this question.  If you had to choose only one, would you have the Village spend $50,000 to make sure all the fences in Swanton did not exceed the allowable height and no one has a shed too large?  Or would you rather have them spend $15,000 to have the security of knowing the Swanton Fire and Rescue Department had the maximum capability to keep your house from burning to the ground or meeting your medical emergency needs.  Better yet, ask your Village Council members what is going on between them and Mayor Toeppe.  If you are not happy with the answer, ask again in November.

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The Archbold Blue Streaks let an eight-point lead with just over two minutes remaining in the game melt down to just one, but held on to defeat the top-seeded Cardinal Stritch Cardinals of the Toledo Area Athletic Conference (TAAC) 59-56 to win the DIII District Championship Saturday afternoon at Toledo Central Catholic High School.   The Streaks earned their shot at the title by beating the Ottawa Hills Green Bears, also out of the TAAC, 56-37 the previous Thursday night.

The contest between the two top seeds and champions of their respective leagues matched the build up and anticipation of a close hard-fought game.  There were several ties and seven lead changes with the largest never more than eight points.  Archbold reached that eight-points advantage with 5:20 left in the second quarter only to watch Stritch go on a 13-0 run to close out the first half with a 29-24 lead. 

The Streaks managed to narrow gap to one point halfway through the third quarter before the Cardinals moved it up to seven points, 42-35 late in the third. DJ Newman hit a three-pointer from the corner before the buzzer sounded and Alex Roth followed with a three of his own to start the fourth quarter and the Streaks were again, back within a point at 42-41.  Following a Cardinal turnover, Noah Gomez attacked the basket and laid one in off the glass to give Archbold a 43-42 lead.

The teams would exchange the lead two more times with Stritch going up 46-45 and the Streaks again at 47-46.  Archbold extended the margin to six points when Newman fed Ashton Kammeyer down low for an easy bank shot and still held that lead with 1:13 left in the game.

Cardinal Stritch began to foul, hoping the Blue Streaks would miss one-and-one opportunities which is exactly what happened, allowing the Cardinals to score twice and come within 56-54 with 25 seconds on the clock.   Another Stritch foul sent Austin Roth to the line where he converted one of two free throws for a 57-54 lead with 16 seconds left in the game.  The Cardinals were unable to get a good look for a game-tying three-point basket and settled for two which closed the gap to one with just 1.2 seconds left.  Newman was fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass and hit both foul shots for the 59-56 final.

“It feels great,” said an elated Alex Roth on heading to the Regional Tournament.   “Cardinal Stritch is a great team but we came out on top tonight.”  Roth also said the Streaks had to make adjustments early in the game given the height advantage Stritch had inside with 6’8” forward Ross Thompson and 6’4” forward Romel Hightower and also with the quickness of their guards.

The Blue Streaks are no stranger to success in the state tournament having won many playoff games under former coach Doug Krauss and continuing the tradition in recent years under Coach Joe Frank.  “I took over from a legend and my job was to try to continue the program.  And you can debate that back and forth whether that has happened or not,” explained Coach Frank.  “I just say it’s an honor to be able to coach this program.  To have the kids I get to coach every day is an absolute blessing and I count myself very fortunate.”

Frank also talked about how tight the game became in the closing seconds even though it appeared Archbold had a safe lead.  “Missing one-and-ones will do that.  They go down and score at the other end and it gets contagious,” he said.  “But thank goodness we stepped up and made a couple to get it back up to three and then got a big stop.  It was a dog fight and we have a bunch of kids that are pit bulls and said, ‘We’re not done today.’”

Once again, Archbold had a balanced scoresheet with Newman pouring in 17 points, Alex Roth with 12 and Noah Gomez, Ashton Roth and Kammeyer with 10 each.  Jhaiden Wilson and Hightower had 13 points each for Cardinal Stritch and Dwanye Morehead added 11.

The Blue Streaks will now take their 21-4 record to Elida High School face the Ottawa-Glandorf Titans on Wednesday night at 8:00 PM.

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The sixth-seeded Fayette Eagles fought their way into the DIV District Basketball finals with wins over the eighth-seeded Montpelier Locomotives and the fourth-seeded Ayersville Pilots but were unable to advance any further, losing 58-28 to the first-seeded Antwerp Archers.  The Eagles entered the game with a decided height disadvantage and had no answer for the Archers’ 6’7” Jagger Landers who dominated both the offensive and defensive boards.

Antwerp opened the game by scoring the first seven points before Fayette’s Tanner Wagner scored from behind the arc to put the Eagles on the board at the 4:40 mark.  Later in the quarter, a basket by Elijah Larma and another triple from Wagner would pull Fayette within two points at 10-8 with 2:25 remaining in the period, but they would never get any closer for the rest of the contest.  The Archers scored the last six points of the quarter and led 16-8 after one.

The Antwerp run continued into the second quarter, reaching 18 straight points to give the Archers a 20-point advantage at the halfway point of the second.  A Larma bucket inside would stop the streak but Antwerp was ahead 36-14 went the teams headed for the locker room at halftime.

The pace of the game slowed considerably in the second half as Antwerp began to shuffle multiple players from the bench into the game.  The Archers outscored the Eagles 22-14 in the second for the 30-point victory and moved on to face second-seeded Toledo Christian Eagles, a 37-36 overtime winner over Hicksville, for the District Championship.

Wagner led Fayette with 10 points in the game while Phillip Whiteside scored seven and Larma added five.  Landers topped all scorers with 23 points.  Austin Litchy and Landon Brewer had 11 points each and Owen Sheedy added seven for Antwerp.

Pictured:  Fayette’s Elijah Larma puts up a shot over the Antwerp defense.

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Responding to a resident’s inquiry regarding the raising of chickens within Village limits, the Public Service Committee (PSC) of the Swanton Village Council decided not to amend the current local ordinance that prohibits that practice.  Swanton Village Codified Ordinance 90.06 – FARM ANIMALS PROHIBITED, states “No person shall keep or harbor any horses, cows, steer, fowl or swine within the Village.”  Speaking for the Committee after a brief discussion, Councilman Dave Pilliod said he did not see any reason to amend the ordinance that was enacted several years ago.

Also discussed by the PSC were the upcoming Crestwood and Woodside Street Projects.  The updated quote for Crestwood is now at $736,000 which include the construction costs at $638,000 and engineering costs at $98,000.  The Village will be looking for loan and grant funding through the Ohio Public Works Commission Round 36 funding application.  The updated Woodside quote is $108,000 with construction costs at $97,900 and engineering costs at $10,100.  Money allocated in the Street Construction, Maintenance and Repair Fund can be used towards this project which is scheduled to begin sometime in 2021.  Village Administrator Rosanna Hoelzle acknowledged that the two projects will be “messy” and be an inconvenience for residents and motorists but will benefit all once completed.

The absence of policies and procedures for non-school related baseball tournaments at Memorial Park was brought up with the warm weather approaching.  Although there have been no issues with the tournaments in the past, it was decided to more formal process/procedure was needed to ensure all tournament organizers were aware of all regulations including insurance, fees and park maintenance.

The Public Safety Committee discussed the possibility of ordering an Organizational Study of the Swanton Fire & Rescue Division (SFRD) which has been proposed by Mayor Neil Toeppe and would be conducted by the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association (OFCA)  The study will review all facets to determine operational and administrative efficiencies, internal division and community communication effectiveness, personnel development, compliance with local, state and federal law and industry best practices.  It will also determine the current level of service and future response needs of the community.  All areas of review will include a focus on employee safety, safety of the public and risk management for the SFRD and the Village.  The cost of study is $15,000.  After a brief debate on the issue, it was decided to table it for now.

In New Business, two Emergency Ordinances and three Emergency Resolutions were approved. 

Ordinance 2021-XX, Authorizing the Village Administrator and/or the Mayor to apply for, accept, and enter into a Water Supply Revolving Loan Account (WSRLA) Agreement on behalf of the Village of Swanton for planning, design, and/or construction of Water Treatment Plant Membrane Softening Improvements and designating a dedicated repayment source for the loan.

Ordinance 2021-XX, Vacating an alley in the Village of Swanton.

Resolution 2021-XX, Authorizing the submission and support of an application to FEMA for the Assistance for Firefighters Grant for a vehicle exhaust system.

Resolution 2021-XX, Authorizing the submission and support of an application to the Division of State Fire Marshall for the Fire Department Equipment Grant for hoses and turnout gear.

Resolution 2021-XX, Authorizing the submission and support of an application to FEMA for the Assistance for Firefighters Regional Grant for two-way radios.

The Village is working on an “Open House” to inform residents of the upcoming Phase 2 Water Meter Project.  A virtual option will be recorded.

The next Village Council meeting will be March 8, 2021 at a time and location yet to be determined.