ARCHBOLD WEATHER

New Mayor Opens First Council Meeting By Recognizing Family


Brad Grime opened his first Village Council meeting as Archbold mayor by recognizing his family, and dedicating the meeting to a former mayor.

Grime said he was dedicating the meeting to “someone pretty special to me. I consider him my mentor. He got me involved in serving on council 20 years ago; maybe it’s been longer than that. Twenty-two years ago.

“Former mayor (the late) Bill Lovejoy… he was a big inspiration to me. He served as mayor for 20 years, and I’ve got a lot to thank him for.

“He was the one who got me going on this. He was a very important man in my life. He encouraged me to serve… I’ll never forget him.”

William E. “Bill” Lovejoy was mayor from 1972-1992. He served on council prior to being mayor.

Grime recognized his wife, Marsha, and family, telling her, “I hope this goes well for you.”

He also recognized village officials and council members, including Kevin Morton, councilman, who was reelected council president.

At the end of the meeting, Grime gave special recognition to former mayor Jeff Fryman.

Grime and Fryman joined council together in 1988. Fryman served on council for 18 years before becoming mayor in 2016.

Mark Hagans, village legal counsel, swore in Grime and Karla Ball, new council member, at the start of the meeting.

Water Bills

Donna Dettling, village administrator, said village water bills, which would normally be mailed out at the end of December, will be delayed until Jan. 13. The bills will be due 10 days later, on Jan. 23.

The delay is connected to the recent switchover of the water meter system to a new type that takes water meter readings twice a day.

Dettling said village workers want to make sure the new meter system works with the billing software the village uses before sending out bills.

There are only 56 meters in the village left to change over, she said.

PMI, the company doing the work, “was impressed with how well it (the changeover) went here,” Dettling said.

App

Dettling said the new water meter system sends out radio signals that “wake” the meters twice a day, at 1 pm and 1 am. Those meters send back hourly reports of water consumption to a computer server.

By using a cell phone application called “My Water Advisor,” water customers can monitor water usage via their cell phones.

“Does it get a 14-year-old daughter out of the shower quicker?” asked Vaughn Bentz, councilman.

Dettling said the My Water

Advisor app can be used to make sure a waterline has not broken. Large companies can keep an eye on their consumption.

She said the app will be rolled out to the general public soon.

Another possibility discussed at council was going to every-other-month water billing.

It would save on billing costs, she said.

Morton asked if the village needs the cash from water bills on a monthly basis to keep operations going, but Dettling said fund balances in the water and wastewater departments are doing well.

The next meeting is Monday, Jan 20, 5:30 pm.

Council members approved the 5:30 pm meeting start time.

Bentz had said it was difficult for him to make the 5:30 pm meetings, but he voted in favor of the 5:30 pm provision “begrudgingly,” he said.