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Here are some phots from early in Evergreen’s 1-0 victory over Archbold in NWOAL baseball. Click on the link above to access the photos. They are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
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Swanton Middle School (SMS) seventh grader Andrew Koder is Atlanta bound after winning the finals of SMS’s fourth annual Amazing Shake competition held the in the SMS gymnasium in front of the entire student body this past Wednesday. The victory sends Andrew to Atlanta, Georgia, where he will compete in the National Amazing Shake competition sponsored by the Ron Clark Academy.
The competition is part of the Swanton Seven Initiative (SSI), a program that focuses on building soft skills in students, placing strong emphasis on manners, discipline, respect, and professional behavior. There were several rounds of the Amazing Shake competition that began with all seventh-grade students. The first round pared the number to 25, the second round to 10 and the final round to just three well deserving students.
Joining Andrew, who was representing the SSI House of Sapienta, in the finals this year were Jocelyn Villagomez of the House of Gratus and Morgan Nijakowski from the House of Dignitas. Each of the contestants were asked a series of questions by Master of Ceremonies Jordan Strack, Sports Director at WTOL Channel Eleven in Toledo. The students’ responses were then judged by eight area professional individuals. They were Sean McGee of the Swanton Rotary, Jessica Double of Worthington Industries, Linda Lee of McNeill Chevrolet, Nikki Walborn of the Anderson’s, Christine Heban of NorthStar BlueScope, Paige Johnson of the Fulton County Economic Development Corporation, Brandon Johnson of Team Johnson Limo and Chris Lake, Swanton Schools Superintendent.
Following the questioning, the judges retired to another room where the scores were tabulated. In what was believed to be the closest competition in the four-year history of the program, Andrew was named the winner by Mr. Strack.
“I’m shocked,” commented Andrew who is in his first year at SMS having previously attended St. Richards School in Swanton. He was also very gracious and appreciative in victory and very complimentary of his two final competitors, Jocelyn and Morgan. “I’m just so proud of him. He worked really hard for this,” said his mother, “We had faith in him the whole time.”
After the competition was over, SMS Principal Matt Smith announced that Worthington Industries would be covering Andrew’s plane fair to Atlanta for the national competition this summer. He will also be transported to the airport courtesy of Team Johnson Limo.
Click on the link above to access photos from the competition. Photos are in the jpeg format and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
This past Wednesday, a contingent of concerned parents met inside the pavilion at Memorial Park to discuss bringing back a modified version of the former Swanton Parks and Recreation Board that oversaw and directed the youth sports program in the Village. It is believed the Board was dissolved sometime around 2004 as a way to reduce taxes and youth sports activities were then placed under the management of the Swanton Local School District and the Swanton Board of Education (BOE).
Parents at the meeting, organized by Betsy Gardner and Gary Ventimiglia, expressed their belief that youth sports in Swanton would be better served being run by a separate and autonomous board and by a director whose only focus would be on the programs. Currently, the BOE hires a director to organize the various sports programs, which can be a daunting task for any one individual, but does not provide any funding or guidance beyond that. There have been four different directors in the past four years.
“I just want to be very clear that we are all of the opinion that our director and our sports directors, coaches and parents have been really working hard to make things go well within the confines of the system that we have,” said Mr. Ventimiglia. “We’re coming from a place that is trying to help and take away those constraints and allow our program to grow.”
Ms. Gardner stated that this responsibility has a relatively low priority for the BOE compared to running an entire school district. “We think that the school has done a good job of doing what they can with it but, our School Board is our Rec Board. Why is this under the school umbrella? It doesn’t have to be. We can have a Rec Board that cares more about the whole system,” she said. “That is the whole point. To get our Rec improved so our Middle School sports are improved so our High School sports are improved. We are Swanton Bulldogs and that’s what we care about. We want to raise that up.”
Ashley Stambaugh, who was in attendance, told the group that she and others in the room have already been in discussions with Swanton Superintendent Chris Lake and members of the BOE concerning this issue to bring this point. “They are supportive of this and have said, ‘We will help you in whatever way we can’ and we can always go back to them,” added Ms. Gardner.
Under the Swanton BOE, the Rec programs are self-funded. Therefore, the next step in this process, according to Ms. Gardner, is to establish a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization which will exempt the newly formed Rec Board from paying taxes. In conjunction with that, the group will be looking to create a board of five to seven members and hire a director. With the creation of a board, the group hopes to provide parents and coaches with a mechanism for addressing any and all relative issues. They also intend to fully support the board and duly compensate the new director to establish overall continuity going forward.
Mr. Ventimiglia said this effort is in the early stages and it will take some time as it goes through the transition. Future discussions will need to involve the Village of Swanton which owns the properties used by the Rec’s baseball, softball and soccer programs. Councilwoman Samantha Disbrow was in attendance representing the Village.
Pictured: Swanton Parents Gary Ventimiglia and Betsy Gardner
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After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Swanton Lions held its annual Easter Egg Hunt at Memorial Park. With the late April date for Easter this year, the hope was for nice warm temperatures. No such luck. It was cold, windy, rainy and even snowy for a bit. However, it did not keep a large crowd of kids from two to ten years of age and their families from coming out and enjoying the food, activities and, of course the egg hunt itself.
Click on the link above to access 260 photos from the event. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website and the Swanton Lions Club.
Village Administrator Brad Peebles informed Council members at their April 4th meeting that an updated cost estimation for replacement of the Delta Community Pool had risen to $5.1 million from an earlier $4.5 million estimate. Mr. Peebles made a reference to this possibility during the Council’s final meeting of 2021.
“Unfortunately, the anticipated costs just continue to escalate. In large part it’s just because of the economic conditions we are currently in. Even if we wait, I don’t know if the costs are going to come down. All indications are the costs are elevated and they’re going to remain elevated,” he cautioned last December.
Mr. Peebles related cost information he received in a phone conversation with the engineering firm of Peterman Associates. “Their estimates have been updated based their conversations with a pool manufacturer. Based upon the amenities that we had discussed with Peterman and the fact that we are retaining the competition component of the pool, the current estimate for the building and the bathhouse and a pool is 5.1 million dollars,” he explained. “If we eliminate diving boards, if we eliminate the rock-climbing wall which was one of the amenities or features that we had tried to incorporate, we can also reduce the depth of the pool, we can reduce it to $4.5 million.”
Bond funding information for the pool project was also updated by Mr. Peebles. “When we had talked before, we were looking at bonds rates, interest rates of 3% for a 20-year term. Interest rates are going up. In today’s market, interest rate on a 20-year bond is 4.5% and there is no guarantee it’s going to stay there,” he said.
From there the discussion turned to the legislation and ballot language which would need to be submitted to and approved by the Fulton County Board of Elections by August 3, 2022 to be considered by the voters of Delta for the November election. According to Mr. Peebles, if the Village were to request a 20-year 4.5-million-dollar bond issue it would take 6.2 mils to support it. He also said the new pool would require an additional 1.0 mil for operating expenses on top of the 1.25 mil already in existence for pool maintenance.
The Village of Delta’s November 2022 ballot would include two pool funding issues totaling 7.2 mils which, according to Delta’s Financial Director Stephanie Mossing, would equate to approximately $265 per $100,000 of Village property value. Currently, one mil in Delta generates approximately $56,000 in annual tax revenue.
Another source of funding, the creation of a Park District, was mentioned by Mr. Peebles. “I do think the conversation with regards to a Park District needs to be had. In looking at those same numbers, if we were to apply a Park District to the same geographical boundary as the Pike-Delta-York School system, that levy goes to 1.72 mils,” he explained.
The Administrator went on to support his recommendation by informing the Council that less than 50% of all pool passes issued each year are to residents of the Village and numbers were similar for the use of the ball fields and other Community Park activities. “I’m not saying they shouldn’t be entitled to it but, others are using the park and the Village residents are, ultimately, paying the majority of the bills,” he stated.
The Park District would be its own taxing entity and be managed by a coalition of representatives from the different areas of the PDY School District.
Pictured: Delta Village Administrator Brad Peebles provides new pool details at December 2021 Council meeting.
After standing on the podium with an eighth-place finish in the Ohio Division III State Wrestling Tournament in Columbus this past March, Delta Panther senior Evan Perry has decided to continue his wrestling career and education this coming Fall at Lourdes University in Sylvania. Competing in the 157-pound weight class, Evan helped the Panthers finish as runners-up in the NWOAL Tournament, Sectional Tournament Champions, District Tournament Runners-Up and fourth place in the State DIII Tournament.
Evan’s performance on the mat this year was made even more remarkable by the fact he was coming off a broken wrist sustained during the football season as the team’s starting linebacker. “I’m very excited for him. He’s worked his butt off,” said his father, Jacob Perry. “He went into the season with high goals of getting down there to the state tournament, getting on the podium. He was feeling some pain from the wrist but he went down there and had a great finish to the season.”
While at Lourdes, Evan will be majoring in something in the medical field although he has yet to choose a specific discipline. In addition to its academics, he chose to attend Lourdes because it was close to home, he liked the atmosphere and he said it “just felt like the right place.”
Pictured: Evan Perry signs with Lourdes University Gray Wolves. Delta Wrestling Coach Mark Nagel and father Jacob Perry on his right and mother Tammy Taylor and Lourdes Wrestling Coach Dock Kelly III on his left.
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The Swanton Bulldogs twice overcame two-run deficits then hung on to defeat the Pettisville Blackbirds 9-8. The road victory gave the Bulldogs an early season 2-0 record. Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
The Swanton Village Council recently voted unanimously to approve the Village’s Live Stream Policy, after it was reviewed and modified by their solicitor Ken Murphree, of the Heban, Murphree and Lewandowski Law Firm. With that decision, the Council members are putting in place the most vital tool available designed to bring transparency and accountability to the Village of Swanton’s elected and appointed officials.
Soon, when the audio and visual recording equipment arrives and is installed, anyone with access to Facebook will have the opportunity to view the proceedings of the Swanton Village Council, Planning Commission, Tree Commission or any other special meeting or newly created commission. These proceedings can be watched in real time or at the convenience of the viewer, on a computer, tablet or phone and will have a 12-month expiration date.
We have all heard over the years from people who just become aware of an action taken by local government comments such as “I hadn’t heard that” or “When did that happen?” or, my favorite, “Nobody told me”. Even better, “Why didn’t somebody let me know?” While I do not expect those comments to disappear, I would hope to hear them less and less as the citizenry becomes more knowledgeable of the information resources available today. And there are a lot of them, well beyond actually attending a meeting in person.
I have to give a lot of credit to Village Administrator Rosanna Hoelzle who, in her five years on the job, has greatly improved and increased communication and access to information on what is going on in the Village with respect to how local government decisions are or will be impacting the lives of Swanton’s residents and business owners. She created a quarterly newsletter called the Village Voice, upgraded the Village’s Facebook page, enhanced the Village’s website by adding more information and making it more user friendly and often alerts residents to important and/or sudden events through internet postings. Ms. Hoelzle also consistently encourages anyone with questions to call the Village Offices at 419-826-9515 or email Village officials.
Other good sources of information include the local periodicals such as the Swanton Enterprise/Fulton County Expositor, the Toledo Blade and the Village Reporter. Local Facebook pages are another information source but are not the most reliable and should be verified before believing what is posted.
I must also include my Blog/Website, fultoncountymedia.com, as a supplemental source of information. The articles I write are based on facts as I know them. The editorials I write are my opinions on the facts as I understand them and what impact I believe they have on our community. But even with my blog, I encourage you to check further.
The point is this. If anyone wants to be informed about what the Swanton’s political leaders are doing for their constituents and if the administration is managing the day-to-day operations of the Village in a fiscally responsible manner, it takes a very small amount of effort on the part of the individual. When live streaming of the meetings begins, there will be virtually no reasonable excuse for anyone not to be informed of how they are being governed and how their tax dollars are being spent. Then, more than ever, being uninformed will be a choice.
In order to be in compliance with the Ohio EPA’s overhauled 1991 Lead and Copper Rule, which went into effect in December of 2021, the Village of Swanton will be working on a project to complete eight tasks to meet the new requirements before October 16, 2024. The goal of this project will be to provide the EPA with a map of where all potential lead water lines may be located within the Village. The tasks are as follows:
The cost of this mapping project is estimated to be $43,000 which will be funded with a grant from the State of Ohio. The actual mapping work will be done by an outside source.
According to Administrator Rosanna Hoelzle, the Village, which must comply with the new rule, has started the identifying process by eliminating homes built after the early 1980’s and referring to documents showing where other water lines would have been replaced during infrastructure projects. Ms. Hoelzle places the approximate number of potential LSL taps within the Village limits at 750, some of which are suspect due to a lack of record keeping from decades ago.
“Who covers replacement costs,” asked Councilman Derek Kania in the event a private property is found to have an LSL. “That’s a really great question,” responded Ms. Hoelzle. “That’s going to be a conversation the Council is going to have to have.” She added that an LSL that runs from the curb to the house is the responsibility of the property owner. Ms. Hoelzle also said that the City of Toledo is using some public funding to replace their LSLs.
Later in the March 28th Council meeting, an Emergency Resolution was approved to apply for the state grant to fully fund the Ohio EPA mandated mapping project.
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Great job by Ms. Dixon and the student cast and crew of Delta High School. Click on the link above to access photos from the show. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for no charge courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Fulton County Ohio Media 