Forest Village Council – June 11, 2026

Village of Forest Council met in regular session on June 11, 2026 at 7:00 PM in council chambers.

Mayor Hastings called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Attendance:

• Derek Hastings – present
• Mary Dickinson – present
• Loretta Perkins – absent
• Sarah Hankins – present
• Danielle Moore – present
• Valerie Mullholand – excused absence
• Joe Moore – present

Village Announcements: None

Approval of Agenda for June 11, 2026: D. Moore moved to approve agenda for 6/11/26 meeting. M. Dickinson seconded. Vote: 5 yeas, 0 nays. Agenda approved.

Approval/Corrections of Minutes: M. Dickinson moved to approve minutes from 5/28/26 council meeting. S. Hankins seconded. Vote: 5 yeas, 0 nays. Minutes approved.

Bills: D. Moore moved to approve the payment of bills. J. Moore seconded. Vote: 5 yeas, 0 nays. Payment of bills approved.

Citizens’ Comments and Guest Presentations: Daryl Flowers is running for Hardin County Commissioner and took the time to introduce himself.

Old Business:

Did not discuss Choice 1 Engineering fees. J. Rinehammer and Fiscal Officer B. Kromer will be obtaining some clarification of fees.

New Business: Tree Town Festival requested a list of road closures and parking restrictions for the festival. S. Hankins moved to approve the requests. M. Dickinson seconded. Vote: 5 yeas, 0 nays. Request approved.

Committee Reports

Mayor: Working with Solicitor T. Seeley on several projects.

Finance/Audit: Committee met on 6/11/26. Still waiting on update from OWDA. Fiscal Officer has been in communication with Wessler regarding this. J. Rinehammer and Fiscal Officer will be working on clarification from Choice 1 Engineering regarding fees.

Safety: Meeting scheduled for 6/22/26 @ 6pm

Police Chief: Statistics were given for the month of May 2026. The average over the limit speed was 17mph. Part- Time Officers worked 111 hours. Auxiliary donated 84.25 hours. The department received a 50% match grant from the State of Ohio for the purchase of new body armor. Discussion was held about Joe Moore returning to the Auxiliary. With the recommendation of Solicitor T. Seeley, Joe Moore is able, but would need to refrain from voting on any police department matters. No objections were given on Joe Moore as an Auxiliary Officer.

Fire Chief: None

Ambulance Board: Kate Parthemore reported the board met last night. They have updated the Chief position application and will be accepting applications thru the month of June. In May, out of 19 runs, they made 16. They continue to increase their responses. Kate advised they continue to have applications coming in on a monthly basis. She said the board will pay for schooling for EMS, but a contract does have to be signed. They are currently preparing and organizing for the Tree Town Festival. She reported they are having issues with their voicemail system. J. Rinehammer is to check into this. The board’s next meeting is July 14, 2026 @ 6:30pm at Township Hall and is open to the public.

Service: Committee met on 6/1/26 and discussed OWDA issues and rate study. The committee discussed post cards vs. the current style. J. Rinehammer is researching quotes for post cards. Continue to suggest online bills to residents to reduce cost. Neptune is giving us 10 fee meters to try out. There will be a small cost for the software. If we like the new meters, we will move forward with replacing any that need with the Neptune meters.

Administrator:

Water — Neptune accepted us for the pilot program, they will be sending us 10 meters, cellular reading devices, and pit lids at no cost, we will also receive software and training at no cost, this has a value of $6,375. Water Main break on East Daisy Street between Patterson and Gormley Street, the water is leaking from a valve which cannot be repaired, it is on a cast iron line, we will need to replace the valve and roughly 20 feet of the line, we have contracted with B.Hillz excavating to assist us so that we can reduce the time water would be shut off in the area. Replacing a valve at the water plant tomorrow morning, valve is for the iron tanks and has been leaking, this will be done in-house.

Sewer — Sewage pumps at the vac plant have been cleaned, we are finding items such as t-shirts and plastic bags in our pumps. Electrician has looked at our plant for the generator hookup and will be fixing the connection points next week. Had an EPA compliance review today, we will know more once the report is sent to us.

Streets — Continue to patch streets. We have identified a few trees in the village easements on South Mary Street that need immediate attention, All-Tree will be taking care of these trees. Storm drains have been mapped by Wessler Engineering.

Park — Seasonal worker has been mowing and weed-whacking at the park. Volleyball court has been serviced and nets have been put up. A stump was removed. Splash Pad paint was to be delivered Monday, spoke to the company we ordered from and they contacted the delivery company, also spoke to the delivery company and they assured me it will be here tomorrow before noon, Splash Pad has been prepped and is able to be painted in accordance to paint manufacture specs and will be painted tomorrow if weather allows. Received list from Tree Town Festival with items we will need to take care of, some items have already been taken care of, we will continue to work on the list.

Admin — Roof is scheduled to be repaired on 6/22/26 by All-American Roof Pros. Job and Family Youth Services reached out to us with someone wishing to work in the town, I will be signing the agreement tomorrow for the youth to work with the Village, Job and Family Youth Services covers all medical, comp and payroll for the youth that will be working with us, his primary duties will be mowing village property and cleaning up areas that need it.

Park Board: Update from 6/26/26 meeting was given. Next meeting scheduled for 6/22/26 @ 6:30pm at park. Beth advised that J. Rinehammer has been given a list of items to work on. The board did contact My Splash Pad and they do not have a continuous maintenance program. They complete individual items that are needed. The Park Board decided that the Splash Pad will not open until July 13, 2026. It has to be shut down for 2 weeks due to the leaks in the past at the festival. J. Rinehammer advised that they have checked items at the Splash Pad, and will not know if the issue is still present until the Splash Pad is running. He requested that the Splash Pad open as soon as possible. An emergency park board meeting was discussed to address the opening of the Splash Pad. Nothing was scheduled at this time.

Market Square: Flag Day event is Sunday July 14, 2026 @ 7pm.

CIC: VFW Auxiliary will be selling Veteran’s banners. Unsure of the cost at this time.

Business/Industrial Development: Meeting scheduled for 6/18/26 @ 5:30pm.

Zoning and Planning: Next meeting is scheduled for 6/22/26 @ 6:45pm.

Human Resources/Ethics: Need to schedule a meeting. Received handbook information from our insurance provider. Have sent current handbook to Solicitor for review.

Tree Commission: Pam Thames reported they have a list of trees and items that need to be taken down. The Tree Commission was reminded they need an updated tree code plan per ordinance.

Village Solicitor: Was attending via phone due to illness. T. Seeley advised that he has several open projects he is working on. The Fire Chief was given revision to current fire code ordinance and will be presented to Council soon.

Fiscal Officer: All trainings have been completed.

M. Dickinson moved to adjourn meeting. D. Moore seconded. Vote: 5 yeas, 0 nays, Meeting adjourned at 7:32pm.