Fulton County Ohio Media

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The Swanton Village Council recently approved Resolution 2021-10, Supporting and joining the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce in strongly urging the United States Postal Service (USPS) to consider returning mail processing operations to its sorting facility in Toledo, Ohio. 

The Resolution read, in part, “Our residents and businesses rely on prompt mail for important everyday transactions like sending invoices, paying bills, receiving medications and shipping critical supplies.  Complaints of untimely mail delivery have persisted in Northwest Ohio since USPS transferred sorting operations from the Toledo processing facility to the Michigan Metroplex Facility in 2012.  In a survey of its member businesses conducted in 2020 by the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, more than 70 percent of responders indicated that delays in USPS mail delivery were negatively impacting them and their customers.”

A copy of the Resolution was sent by Mayor Neil Toeppe to the USPS addressed to Michael J. Gordon, Manager, Government Relations Correspondence.  A portion of the response is as follows:

“Dear Mayor Toeppe:  This responds to your recent correspondence, transmitting a copy of Resolution 2021-10 regarding the transfer of mail processing responsibilities for Northwest Ohio from the Michigan Metroplex Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) in Pontiac, Michigan, to a mail processing facility within the State of Ohio.

As you are aware, the U.S. Postal Service operates a nationwide network of mail processing and distribution centers that accept, sort, and dispatch the nation’s mail.  Moving, removing and repurposing mail processing equipment and operations or ‘operational mail moves’ is an ongoing Postal Service strategy dating back decades that allows for more efficient, timely delivery of mail and packages.

We contacted Operations officials at postal headquarters, who advised that there are no plans to transfer mail processing operations for Northwest Ohio from the Michigan Metroplex P&DC to another facility.  Moreover, there are currently no plans to further consolidate mail processing operations at the Toledo Processing and Distribution Facility.”

The letter went on to cite the combination of the pandemic, the national election and the holiday season as the major factor in causing the delays.  The letter ended with, “Since then, service levels have improved in most areas and we full anticipate improvements in service performance.  Thank you for writing.”

Pictured:  United States Post Office in Swanton

The Evergreen Lady Vikings entered their final league game against the Swanton Lady Bulldogs with an outside chance of capturing a share of the NWOAL Softball Championship, their first since 2013.  However, in addition to having to defeat a strong and talented Bulldog team, the Vikes were going to need a major upset of the league-leading Bryan Lady Golden Bears by a sub .500 Archbold team. 

Despite the long odds, everything fell into place last Friday afternoon as Bryan, undefeated in league play, dropped a 3-2 decision at Archbold and Evergreen battled from behind in beating Swanton 7-6 in thrilling, come-from-behind, extra-inning fashion.  The Lady Vikes certainly did not make it look easy as they found themselves down 5-1 as the Bulldogs offense came out swinging, the big hit being a two-run blast deep over the centerfield fence by Brie Williams.

In the bottom of the fourth, Evergreen loaded the bases with two out for senior catcher Kennedy Keller.  Keller worked the count to 3-2 then drilled a line drive into the gap in left centerfield, clearing the bases and pulling the Vikings within 5-4.  Not wanting to talk about herself, Keller explained what the clutch hit and the victory meant to her and her teammates.  “My team has been planning this since last year when we didn’t have a season.  This whole time when we were in quarantine, we had the one goal,” she said.  “Now that we’re league champs, we’re going for District champs.  We’re not done yet.”

Evergreen managed to tie the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning and went into the bottom of the seventh with a chance to win in regulation.  Swanton’s Taylor Forrest, pitching in relief, set down the first two batters then intentionally walked freshman phenom Macy Chamberlin, arguably the most dangerous hitter in the area.  The walk was followed by a ground ball out and the teams went to extra innings.

In the top of the eight inning, the Bulldogs took the lead when Rachel Waszak drove her fourth hit of the game up the middle, scoring Kailey Brownfield from second base to put Swanton up 6-5.  The Vikings came right back in the bottom half of the eight when Jocelyn Schuster singled and Skylee Raker doubled to put the winning run on second base.  Schuster then scored on a slow roller to tie the game while Raker was thrown out at the plate while trying to score right behind her. 

Evergreen was able to get another runner to second base and put in pinch runner Shelby Moore who the managed to proceed on to third, just 60 feet away from home.  After a failed bunt attempt, Brooklyn Richardson hit a short ground ball towards third base and Moore raced home for the score, the win and a share of the NWOAL title.

“We came in hoping to put up a lot of numbers early.  We didn’t do that.  The top of our lineup kind of struggled.  They (Swanton) have a good pitcher, two good pitchers, actually,” said Evergreen coach Matt Keller breaking down the game.  “We got a lot of help from the bottom of our lineup.  Kennedy came up and got us back in the game.  She came up big for us.  We got some timely hits and being able to tie it up in the sixth inning with some aggressive base running was huge.”

Obviously, the victory and the league title were a great way to end the regular season, especially for the four seniors Keller, Breanna Huffman, Lexie Thibodeaux and Riley Lumbrezer.  “We’ve come back in so many big games this year.  We won against Archbold with a walk-off.  I had no doubts. I knew our offense would do it,” said Huffman, the Vikings pitcher.  “I didn’t throw my best game and I got down on myself but honestly, I just relied on my defense.  I trust my defense.”

The Evergreen Lady Vikings will now take on the Delta Lady Panthers in the first game of the Sectional Tournament on Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. at home.

Pictured:  Shelby Moore scores the winning run in the bottom of the eight inning.

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A second meeting by a group of Swanton residents and business owners looking to bring positive changes to the Village’s local governing body, aka the Village Council, was held in the banquet room of the Studio 101 Salon and Spa on Sunday, May 2, 2021 to give progress reports on the three initiatives established at the first meeting two weeks before.

The first initiative was to find civic-minded candidates who would work in the best interest of the Swanton community to run for one of four available Council seats in the November election.  At the time of this meeting, five people have expressed interest in challenging the incumbents for the office.  They are Mikey Disbrow, Sam Disbrow, Brady Harlett, Derek Kania and Patrick Messenger.  As of today, Kania, who is a Master Sergeant serving in the 180^th Tactical Fighter Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard, is the only candidate to officially declare his intentions. 

The second initiative was to place legislation on the November ballot to create an all-volunteer Economic Development Commission (EDC) for the Village of Swanton.  The purpose of the EDC would be to provide input from all aspects of the Swanton business community and act as a resource for elected officials and staff to explore and consider new economic development ideas and changes to Village policies.  The goal of the EDC would be to bring in new businesses and help grow current businesses to expand the Village’s tax base to maintain and expand Village services without increasing taxes on Swanton residents.

The third initiative was to place legislation on the November ballot for the live-streaming of Council, Committee and Commission meetings for the Village of Swanton.  The legislation would be written to include the live-streaming as well as the publishing of the recordings and written minutes.  The goal of this legislation is to provide a flexible and convenient way for the wider community to access to the Village Government’s decision-making processes.  Increased community awareness of decision-making can promote confidence in the integrity and accountability of Swanton’s appointed and elected officials.

The process and rules of collecting signatures and the critical importance of accuracy on the petition was also discussed.  According to the Fulton County Board Elections (FCBE), a minimum of 50 valid signatures of Swanton registered voters would be required to run for a seat on the Village Council.  A minimum of 10% of the number of Swanton votes in the last gubernatorial election would be required to have a legislative initiative appear on the ballot.  Petitions must be notarized be being submitted to the FCBE.

Several of the attending business owners expressed frustration with the Village Council’s apparent anti-business decisions and directives and specifically questioned the motives of Council President Craig Rose, a commercial real estate agent with the Rose Group of Key Realty and Councilman Mike Rochelle, a bank executive with Key Bank which lists small businesses as part of its customer base.  No explanation or reasoning was offered.

The next meeting is scheduled to take place on May 23, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. at Benfield Wines located at 102 N. Main Street in Swanton.

A public hearing was held during the April 26^th Swanton Village Council meeting to allow representatives of Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse, located at 420 N. Hallet Ave. in Swanton, to give reasons why a recent increase of $3 to $590 to the storm water utility portion of its water bill should be adjusted to a lower rate. 

Village Administrator Rosanna Hoelzle cited a Village Codified Ordinance from 2006 that gives the Village the authority to charge a rate based on the amount of impervious area (structures, parking lots, roadways) calculated to be on the property “that contributes directly or indirectly to the storm water system of the Village.”  A survey of the Foertmeyer property found over 168,000 square feet of impervious area and the assumption was made that all the rainfall drained into the Village’s storm water system.  She explained that she, as Administrator, had the authority to offer a maximum 30% discount to the business which would reduce the charge to $412.  Ms. Hoelzle also explained that the $3 rate was a standard residential charge that had mistakenly been billed to several Swanton businesses for quite some time and that the Village would not be pursuing back payments. And she acknowledged that the property was unique in the Village and there could possibly be arguments made to further reduced the charge.  It was made clear to all in attendance that the storm water charge was completely separate from the water and sewer charges.

Speaking for the property, which was purchased approximately one year ago from Schmidt Brothers Inc. was Mark Foertmeyer, owner of the Greenhouse.  He thanked the Council for the opportunity to speak and said they were happy to be part of the Swanton community.  “I want you to know that we’re not trying to get back to $3.00.  That’s a pretty good deal but I don’t think that’s a fair deal for the community,” said Mr. Foertmeyer in his opening remarks.  “I’m just hoping we can discuss some of the uniqueness of the property.  Some of the reasons we feel the assessment is high and hopefully, we can come up with a mutually agreeable amount we all can live with and move forward.

Mr. Foertmeyer said, based on a recent conversation with a surveyor, that water from his west side parking lot does drain into the Village’s system but most of the rest drains back towards the east, towards a drainage culvert and the fall of the land pitches away from the highest point which is Hallet Ave.  “Schmidt Brothers put a lot of drainage into that property,” he said.  “If you understood the system that is in place, all of the water that comes off those greenhouses drains into field tiles and drains back to the drainage ditch that we have and then that takes the water away so it’s not actually entering into the storm sewers here at all.  And I think that’s one thing that really needs to be assessed.”

According to Mr. Foertmeyer, the method the Village used to calculate the impervious area was basically using measurements taken from a Google Maps photo of the property and not an actual survey to determine the flow of the water.  “I think if we can come up with a number that is accurate then we will have a fair assessment,” he said.  “If we can take the time to find a correct number, I think we can certainly move together and do what we need to do to finance the sewer system.”

The Council agreed there should be more research on the matter and no decision was rendered.  Foertmeyer and Sons did pay two full months of the new rate but future payments have been put on hold until the situation is resolved.

Pictured:  Mark Foertmeyer, owner of Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse

On Tuesday, May 4, 2021, registered voters living in the Pike-Delta-York School District will have the opportunity to cast a ballot in favor of or against a Five-Year 1.0% Income Tax Levy to maintain the current financial solvency of the District.  The possible need for this legislation was initially foreseen back in May of 2017 by Matt Feasel, District Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer. 

Helping to fuel this necessity was the industrial and residential tax abatements awarded by the Village of Delta which significantly reduced a major revenue stream for the school.  Compounding the problem was the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the subsequent and sudden and substantial reduction of state funding.  It left the District officials and the PDY Board of Education (BOE) scrambling to find a way to keep the schools open.  A daunting task in itself and all on the heels of devising and managing a remote learning program to educate the District’s students while keeping them and the staff safe and healthy.

The tough decisions that must be made are driven by numbers, numbers which are hard, cold and unsympathetic to the impact and consequences they ultimately have on the students, the teachers and the community at large.  Also tied to these numbers are names, names of people and programs which will be eliminated if the levy fails. 

Here it can become very personal.  Here is when you see your neighbor, a teacher at the school, put a For Sale sign in front of their house.  Here is when your cousin or brother who drives a school bus makes an appointment with the unemployment office.  Here is when your sister is open enrolling her children in Swanton or Evergreen or Wauseon schools because they want to play sports, or march in the band or perform in the musical.

At the March 10, 2021 BOE meeting, a recommended reduction in force, reduction in programs and reduction in transportation was approved by all board members.  The names of 10 teachers were listed, along with three aides, two bus drivers, one secretary, one network technician and the athletic director.  Programs eliminated were all extra-curricular activities, the District Gifted, two-year kindergarten, high school Future Farmers of America and all field trips.  These minutes can be found on the PDY School District’s website under District/Board of Education/Board Minutes/Regular Meeting 3/10/21.

One name that was not mentioned in BOE minutes but will essentially, if not officially, be gone is the one with the longest tenure in the District, “Panthers”.  With no athletics and no band along with other school clubs there will be little need for a nickname.  “Panther Pride” could become a memory.  We have all experienced the void left when these activities were suddenly stopped by the State of Ohio in the Spring of 2020 to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 virus.  Can you imagine what that will feel like if that void were to last several years?

It may take a few signs in front yards around town that say “Go Vikings” or “Proud Graduate of Wauseon High School” or “Bulldog Pride” before the stark reality of a failed levy sets in.  Of course, an increase in taxes is something nobody ever wants.  This levy will take some money out of the pockets of hard-working District residents.  The bigger question is how much more will it cost every resident if the levy fails?

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