Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
A Walbridge Road improvement project that has been in the works for the past couple years highlighted Wednesday’s village council meeting in Walbridge.
Mayor Ed Kolanko, who received a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission, previously got an engineering estimate for the improvement project, which includes Walbridge Road between Luckey and East Broadway, for $303,000.
Two bids were then secured for the work with one from Bowers Asphalt coming in at $194,808, which was significantly lower than the estimate.
“That’s pretty awesome for all of our communities, really,” Kolanko said.
The project includes parts of Walbridge and Lake Township, although Walbridge is the lead on the project. At Wednesday’s meeting, Walbridge’s portion of the engineering estimate for the project – approximately $82,000 – was approved. The township portion is roughly around $112,000, and Kolanko will now be in touch with Lake Township to let them know that Walbridge’s portion has been approved.
“We’re going to get a much-needed road done,” Kolanko said.
Kolanko also noted that with the bid coming in lower than expected, it could help with some other area projects.
McCrum excelling, Bushey hired
At the previous council meeting, Dominic McCrum was hired as a full-time police officer. Police chief Ken Campbell noted on Wednesday that McCrum has been doing a great job and would already be on solo shifts the next day.
“He’s really accelerated through the program,” Campbell said.
Building off that, Kolanko and Campbell recommended the hiring of Daniel Bushey as a full-time officer at the rate of $22.17 per hour. That was approved by council, and Bushey was sworn in toward the end of the meeting on Wednesday.
Gray getting settled in
Walbridge’s new code enforcement officer, Paul Gray, started his duties March 31.
Gray is working to keep the village in compliance with local ordinances related to property maintenance and zoning. He came to Walbridge from the Village of Bradner, where he worked in the same capacity.
If citizens have any questions or concerns about code enforcement, they can find answers online at www.walbridgeohio.org/zoning.
Gray can be reached at 567-436-9019 or by email at pgray@walbridgeohio.org. Please allow time for a response as he is working two days per week.
“I think he’s going to work out well,” Kolanko said.
Body cameras
Council adopted two ordinances and one resolution during the old business portion, including body cameras for the police force.
The lone resolution authorized participation in the ODOT road salt contracts awarded in 2025.
The first ordinance authorized entering into a master service agreement with Lexipol for law enforcement limited command structure policy manual, daily training bulletins and law enforcement accreditation workbench basic for 12 months.
The other ordinance authorized the village administrator to enter into a contract with a provision for a four-year lease of body cameras with unlimited use of advanced redaction service, which was passed via emergency following a second reading.
“We have some great new hires, and I think we want to make sure we have the right equipment for these individuals as they come on board,” Kolanko said while encouraging the emergency passage.
Another ordinance had its second reading, which was for certifying the collection of assessments to the Wood County auditor for nuisance abatement and placing those on the tax duplicate under provisions in the Ohio Revised Code.
Administrator’s report
Village administrator Todd Robson updated council on area projects as the village gets ready for spring and summer. He said they’ve sold their street sweeper, which should be picked up shortly, and they are working on getting some of their other antiquated equipment sold, too, including an old leaf vacuum.
Robson said they are prepped and ready to go for the annual April 21 start of the town brush pickup. People should also expect to see some activity from his team with high-up tree trimming with the bucket truck.
Playground equipment
Playground equipment installation at Railway Park will be a bit delayed due to the weather. The originally anticipated mid-April install will likely now be early May, and there was talk of a likely ribbon-cutting ceremony once that does happen.
Library’s birthday
The Walbridge library is celebrating its 38th birthday on April 14, and Kolanko noted that it’s also the 150th year of the Wood County District Public Library.
“It’s kind of a joint effort, but there will be a birthday card signing and some activities and cake and stuff over at the local (Walbridge) branch from about 1 to 6 p.m.,” Kolanko noted of the April 14 event. “I would definitely encourage (everyone) to get that on your calendar and at least pay a visit. That's a very, very good thing for our community.”
Councilwoman Sue Hart-Douglas also noted that someone reminded her that the library used to be up at Great Eastern in the little annex quite a while ago. She was thankful for its current location.
“That was the best thing that we could have done was donate the property next to that library to expand it because it's well-used and everybody's very happy with it,” she said. “It’s really a gem in Walbridge.”
Other business
Council approved renewal of the village’s CDAR six-month CD investment at State Bank. The rate – 3.8 percent – was ideal according to Kolanko, and he recommended rolling their current one that was scheduled to expire on April 17 into another six-month CD.
Daniel Lowe was approved for hire as a seasonal maintenance worker at a pay rate of $14.86 per hour.
Council went into executive session with no action taken.
Next meeting
The next and final village council meeting for the month of April will be on the 16th at 6:30 p.m.
