Fulton County Ohio Media

A group of Swanton residents and business owners met in the banquet room of the Studio 101 Salon and Spa on Sunday, April 18, to discuss a strategy seeking to make changes on the Swanton Village Council as well as supporting legislative initiatives for economic development and transparency in government.  The event was organized and hosted by the Studio 101’s owner, Janet Ritter, after numerous appeals for assistance on these matters were made to the Council by Ms. Ritter and many others but were either ignored, dismissed, rejected or otherwise went unaddressed.

Ms. Ritter spoke first and explained her motivation for organizing the event and creating a Facebook page called “A Community Forum” for anyone interested in these efforts.  One of her suggestions to enact change would be to have candidates who have the best interest of the Village run for office this November.  Currently, four Council seats are up for re-election.  Those seats are held by Council President Craig Rose, Mike Rochelle, Kathy Kreuz and Anthony Stewart.  Rose, Rochelle and Kreuz all obtained those seats by running unopposed in the 2017 general election.  Mr. Stewart was appointed to his seat to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Councilman Paul Dyzak in 2020.

Mayor Neil Toeppe spoke next and explained the process for filing a petition with the Fulton County Board of Elections (FCBE) to appear on the November 2021 ballot.  According to the 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.  All petitions must be notarized and filed with the FCBE by 4:00 PM on August 4, 2021.

The Mayor also related some of his proposals to the Council that were turned down, such as the creation of an Economic Development Commission (EDC), the live streaming of all Village Council, Village Committee and Village Commission meetings and the increased cooperation with Swanton Local Schools with respect to the youth sports program.  He also explained how Council President Rose was able to change the Rules of Council beginning in 2021 to have the Mayor’s Report removed from meeting agendas and, by extension, Council meeting minutes and also have the Mayor removed from serving and providing input as an ex officio on Village Committees for Water and Sewer, Public Safety (Police & Fire) and Finance.  All meeting agenda items must now be approved by Mr. Rose.

There was a great deal of discussion among the attendees and before the meeting concluded, a committee was formed to work on three goals.  The first is to find four individuals willing to run for a seat on the Council and serve for the benefit of the Village of Swanton.  The second is to place a legislative initiative on the November ballot to form an all-volunteer Economic Development Commission to serve as an advisory board to the Council to bring more business and businesses into Swanton and expand the tax base and minimize the tax burden on Swanton residents.  The third is to place another legislative initiative on the November ballot to live-stream all Swanton Village meetings to allow the public-at-large to remotely attend the meetings or view the proceedings at a more convenient time in order to be more aware of the direction of the Village.

The next meeting is scheduled for May 2, 2021 at 1:00 PM at the 101 Salon and Spa located at 124 North Main Street in Swanton.  Everybody is welcomed and encouraged to attend.

Pictured:  Janet Buckenmeyer Ritter, Community Organizer

Not many of us can say we found our passion at the young age of five years old.  However, Swanton senior Brodie Stevens is convinced it happened to him when he first stepped onto a wrestling mat and began a journey that has taken him to mats all over the country and now, to college, at Ohio Northern University (ONU) in Ada to fuel his passion at the next level.

“Wrestling is the only sport I’ve done since about five.  The past fourteen years, actually, I’ve been wrestling,” said Brodie on the day he signed his National Letter of Intent to continue his education and his wrestling career at ONU.  It is that kind of devotion and focus to the sport that has paid and continues to pay dividends.  “He’s dedicated,” said his father, Wes.  “When other kids are still in bed at 6:00 in the morning, he’s in the garage lifting weights, four or five days a week during the season.”

Mr. Stevens also credited several coaches in the area for Brodies quick maturation and early successes, including Swanton Assistant Coach, Xavier Taylor.  “Wrestling is his life.  He does it year-round,” said Coach Taylor.  “He doesn’t take a whole lot of time off.  It’s his only sport.”

Brodie has benefited by wrestling for a Bulldog program that has had a long history of turning out champions at the top weight class and sending some of them to wrestle in college, including Coach Taylor.  “Wrestling in college is never an easy thing.  I did it and I found out It’s a full-time job,” explained the coach.  “You have to be committed.”

Brodie’s success has come in the 285-pound weight class where he qualified for the State Tournament the past two seasons.  Last year his lost his opportunity to compete at State when the complete shutdown of all Ohio high school sports due to COVID-19 concerns was ordered by Governor Mike DeWine just two hours before he was to leave for Columbus.

This year, fortunately, Brodie was able to compete the entire season and went on to win championships at the NWOAL Tournament, Sectional and District Tournaments and carried a 28-2 record into the State Tournament.  He won his first two matches and finished with a 4-1 record for third place. 

Brodie was also able to capture his 100^th career win this season, a challenging milestone to reach and a testament to his dedication, hard work and commitment, assets he will be bringing to the ONU Polar Bear program.

Pictured:  Brodie Stevens signs with ONU alongside his family.

Gabriel “Gabe” Meyer has signed a National Letter of Intent with Lourdes University in Sylvania, located just 25 miles from his hometown of Delta, to continue his education and wrestling career.  The close proximity of Lourdes was a major factor in his school of choice.

“The fact that they were close and a few other NWOAL guys signed there for wrestling.  I really wanted to be familiar with it,” said Gabe, explaining his decision.  “I can stay around family and I already know some of the guys on the team.” 

He also had the good fortune of competing for one of the best high school wrestling programs in the state of Ohio under the just-retired Coach Anthony Carrizales.  “He is a perfect example of a kid who has come up through our program and has made a life out of wrestling,” said Coach Carrizales.  “It’s an awesome thing to see these kids who you have known since they were five, six or seven years old take it to the next level and carry it into college and use all the lessons learned through Delta wrestling. 

The coach also commented on the many Delta students that have come out of the wrestling program and have performed in the classroom as well as on the mat to be able to make it to the next level.  “Wrestling in college isn’t just wrestling.  You’re a student-athlete and you have to be able to get it done in the classroom first.  It’s definitely something we’re proud of.”

Gabe began his wrestling career at Delta as a freshman competing in the 113-pound weight class and moved up a class each year before finishing his senior year at 138 pounds.  While wrestling for the Gray Wolves he plans to major in Digital Media and minor in Computer Science.

Macee Schang pitched a complete game and hit a home run to lead the Wauseon Lady Indians over the Archbold Lady Blue Streaks 8-5 in NWOAL Softball action.

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Wauseon Indians shut out Archbold Blue Streaks 5-0 behind Conner Penrod.

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Weighing in at not a lot of pounds on her not very tall 5’2” frame, Madalynn Peluso was told she would never have the ability to play her favorite sport, basketball, at the next level. Well, she may not be starting at the center position, but Madalynn proved all her naysayers wrong when she recently signed a National Letter of Intent to continue her basketball career and her education at Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) in Delaware, Ohio.  Her strong will and dedication overcame her less than towering stature as well as her detractors and she will soon be competing at the next level.

However, for Madalynn, it was a tough road to get to where she is today and it had nothing to do with her size.  Early in her junior year, Madalynn suffered a fractured elbow during basketball practice which sidelined her for the remainder of the season.  That following summer, she sustained a serious knee injury, requiring major surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation and recovery process which threatened not only her senior basketball season but also a chance at proving she was worthy of playing the sport in college.  To complicate matters, Madalynn’s family relocated from the Evergreen School District to the Swanton Local School District where she also had to prove herself to a new coaching staff and try to fit in with a whole new set of teammates and classmates.

“When we heard she was coming we were excited because obviously we had seen her play the three previous seasons at Evergreen and we knew she would fit in really well with us,” said Swanton Head Coach Eric Oakes.  “Then she went down with the leg injury during the summer and we wanted to make sure we got her healthy because we knew she could play at the next level somewhere so that was our whole goal coming in.  We didn’t know if we were going to have her back for any part of the season.  If we were able to, it was obviously going to help us but our main goal was to get her healthy and ready for next year.  They’re getting a good girl, a great student, works hard.  She did everything she had to do plus so much more to get ready.”

With a lot of hard work and determination Madalynn was able to return to the court in the latter part of the season.  Her ball handling skills and free throw shooting helped the Lady Bulldogs finish the season with a 16-9 record including capturing a DIII Sectional Championship with double-digit wins over NWOAL rivals Liberty Center and Archbold.

With her comeback complete Madalynn is now looking forward to playing basketball in college and is very happy with her choice of Ohio Wesleyan.  “I’m very excited,” she exclaimed.  “I visited there and I actually just fell in love with the campus.  That is kind of what sold it.  I’m going to study Health and Human Kinetics.  They have a very good program for it.”

Madalynn also said the coaching staff and the players were very welcoming and she knew it was the right place as soon as she was there.  It will be the second consecutive year she will be moving, attending a new school and playing with all different teammates but, Madalynn said her one year at Swanton was a great experience.

“I loved it.  I absolutely loved it,” she said.  “It was a great move.  There are great people over here, a great basketball program, great coaches, teachers, everything.”

Playing a sport in college is a major challenge and when you add a challenging major you definitely have your work cut out for you.  Madelyn is also a member of the National Honor Society which means she will be just as prepared in the classroom as she will be on the court.

Pictured:  Maddie about to hit a critical foul shot in Swanton’s Sectional win over the Liberty Center Lady Tigers

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Dozens of Delta residents and Pike-Delta-York Local Schools faculty, administrators and staff members gathered in a cold and windy pouring rain in the parking lot of the Barn Restaurant this past Saturday afternoon to show their support for the upcoming 1% income tax levy to benefit the PDY Local Schools District.  Officially, the vote will be taken on May 4, 2021, but early voting is now available at the Fulton County Board of Elections on Fulton Street in Wauseon.

Helping to draw people to the rally was the Barn Restaurant which served take-out lunches for no profit.  A steady line of cars from Airport Highway rolled through the parking lot to show their support and take advantage of the meal deal.

This is the second attempt to pass the levy after going down to defeat 2309-1714 in November of 2020.  The PDY Board of Education has already approved a list of reductions if the levy fails again.  These include a reduction in force of 18 faculty and staff positions, program reductions including all extra-curricular activities and the high school Future Farmers of America (FFA) program and a reduction in transportation including the elimination of bussing to the high school.

The elimination of the FFA is especially concerning for participating students growing up in this agricultural community.  FFA is very important to me,” said Delta student Blake Hilton.  “If we didn’t have FFA I would not be going to Delta schools.”  Blake went on to say how much he enjoyed learning about animal husbandry, soil management and many other aspects of the agricultural industry.

In a town the size of Delta, many of the residents are deeply rooted in the local school system and the ancillary programs, school-related and others, that act as a bonding agent for the community.  “My husband (Mark) is a teacher and a coach.  He is a middle school football and wrestling coach and a special education teacher.  He was born and raised in Delta, graduated from Delta, went to college and came back.  We have two sons and two daughters in the program right now,” said resident Rachel Nagel relating her family’s close connection to the school.  “There is a tradition and a legacy being part of this community.  The only thing I try to impress upon people is our kids are representatives of this community.  When they go out and represent the school they wear “Delta” on their uniforms.”  Ms. Nagel also mentioned the Two-Year Kindergarten program which she described as “an opportunity like no other” being on the list of cancellations. 

A town hall event is being held on Tuesday, April 13^th at 7:00 p.m. in the Delta Middle School to have more discussions on the significance of the levy vote.  “School is more than just the 8-5 every day.  There are a lot of other activities that go hand-in-hand with producing a well-rounded student,” explained Dr. Ted Haselman, PDY Schools Superintendent.  “We’re in a position right now we need additional funding to continue those great experiences and activities for our students.”

The result of the vote will have a major impact not only on the Delta community but other communities and school systems in the area and the Northwest Ohio Athletic League (NWOAL) as well.  A coach from another NWOAL school commented on the possible affect on their team if the levy were to fail.  “It will be interesting to see how many kids we get from Delta,” said the coach.

Pictured: Some of the many supporters that braved the rainy weather at the Delta levy rally.

The Village of Delta was recently recognized for its efforts in helping rank the State of Ohio number one in new economic development projects in the country.  A corporate real estate economic development magazine, “Site Selection”, awarded Ohio its Governor’s Cup 2020 for topping its ranking for bringing in more new corporate facility projects per capita than any other state in the nation. 

So, congratulations to Delta, Swanton’s closest neighbor just a few miles west down Airport Highway.  And congratulations to Delta’s village administration, its village council and its residents for this achievement and the well-deserved honor that came with it.  The expansion at North Star BlueScope Steel is the centerpiece of the economic development effort but there are several more including the construction of the Nova Steel and Tube plant on County Road H, just east of SR 109.

Meanwhile, back here in Swanton, we have a village council that wants very little to do with economic development and growth, even as our local economy continues to get battered by a global pandemic.  We have a village council president, Craig Rose, who will no longer allow the issue of forming an Economic Development Commission (EDC) to be placed on the council meeting’s agenda despite Mayor Toeppe’s efforts keep having discussions on it.  We have another council member, Mike Rochelle, who strongly supports Mr. Rose’s stance on the issue and we have the other four council members who, by agreement or by their silence, keep the issue and chances for growth suppressed.

Economic development could include anything from small business enterprises to large corporations building a manufacturing facility or a distribution center.  But unless the Village of Swanton can put its story out there for potential businesses to see what it has to offer, it’s a tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear it.  An all-volunteer EDC serving as an advisory board to the council just might be able to help shine a light on our town but not unless the village council allows it.

What I find perplexing is that the two strongest opponents to the EDC, Mr. Rose and Mr. Rochelle, are business men.  Mr. Rose sells commercial real estate.  You know, property such as land, buildings or other structures for tax-paying businesses to use.  Mr. Rochelle is a bank executive.  Banks make a profit from lending money to tax-paying businesses and people wanting to start a business.  You would assume that economic development would be right up their alley.  And maybe it is, but apparently not if that alley happens to be located in Swanton, Ohio.

Mayor Toeppe’s primary goal from the time he took office in January of 2020 is to expand the tax base of the village to maintain and even improve all village services without increasing the tax burden on the residents.  The best way to do that is to bring in new businesses and increase business for ones that are already here.  However, only the Swanton Village Council has the authority to make that happen and their actions and decisions on the economic from have been nothing short of counter-productive.

How long can Swanton sustain the current situation?  It may be difficult to say but in giving her presentation of the village’s Permanent Budget for 2021 to the council in March, Finance Director Jennifer Harkey said, “Overall, the financial health of the Village is stable.  However, as discussed previously, it will be a challenge to maintain the level of services provided by Governmental Funds as costs continue to rise at a faster rate than revenues increase.”

Where will the money come from when the financial health of the village is no longer “stable”?  Mr. Rose and Mr. Rochelle represent just two of the six votes on council, but their anti-business agendas receive little opposition from the other four voters.  It does not look like there will be any help soon coming from the rest of the council.  Fortunately, four council seats will be up for grabs in November, including the seats currently occupied by Mr. Rose and Mr. Rochelle.  My hope is that the names “Rose” and “Rochelle” do not appear on the ballot.  If they do, my remaining hope is the Swanton voters will cast their ballots accordingly.

Swanton does not need to be exactly like Delta and do what Delta has done economically but it needs to pay attention and learn from Delta’s example.  Swanton needs to be economically smarter and better than it is right now and that needs to start in the Village Council Chambers.

An article in the April 2021 edition of the Toledo Business Journal (TBJ) announced that the State of Ohio led the nation for new economic development in projects per capita for the second consecutive year.  The article stated, “Site Selection, a corporate real estate economic development magazine, ranked Ohio number one in its Governor’s Cup 2020 state economic and business attraction rankings for bringing more new corporate facility projects than any other state in the nation.  Ohio also ranked number two among the nation for total projects overall.”

Pictured in the article was an aerial view of an expansion construction project in progress at North Star BlueScope Steel’s mill in Delta.  “The Village of Delta received a plaque from the State of Ohio Jobs Ohio for our efforts and activities in economic development,” announced Delta Village Administrator Brad Peebles at the April 5^th Village Council meeting.  “One of the more significant projects in the state in 2020 was the North Star expansion with their extension of more than $500 million dollars was about the same as their initial investment 26 years ago at $500 million dollars.  It does play a significant role in the state’s being recognized in the top of (economic) development.”

 Ohio Governor Mike DeWine was quoted in the TBJ on the ranking.  “Ohio continues to attract new corporate facilities and businesses to invest here,” he said.  “In Ohio, we have a strong business community that will work along side new companies who are looking to invest and utilize our skilled workforce.”

In other Council business, Mr. Peebles, in his Administrator’s Report, informed the Council that his office continues to work through the USDA loan/grant program learning part of the new stipulations may be tied to Low to Moderate Income (LMI) Level status.  “We are learning with the 2020 census data yet to be released publicly that Delta will no longer be classified as an LMI community.  This may prohibit our being qualified to take advantage of the program,” the report states.

Morlock Paving submitted the lowest and winning bid for the Wood Street resurfacing project and a contract has been forwarded to the company.  Based on the pricing, the decision has been made to use asphalt instead of tar and chip to resurface the alley between Wood and Madison Streets parallel to Main Street.  Knowing the asphalt will have a longer life expectancy, draft legislation to prohibit vehicles greater than 6,000 pounds in the alley will be presented.

The Street Department has started cleaning and inspecting storm water catch basins throughout town.  This has not been a regular practice in the past it is hopeful this effort will reduce possible surface flooding in the event of a heavy rain event.  This will also allow the department to be proactive in basin repairs before they deteriorate to the point of replacement.

The next Council meeting will take place on Monday, April 19, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. in Memorial Hall.

Pictured:  Delta Mayor Frank Wilton with Economic Development Recognition Plaque