Merchants group set to be honored

It’s community awards time.

Fort Recovery Chamber of Commerce announced its annual award recipients Monday.

Mayor Dave Kaup noted during a Fort Recovery Village Council meeting Monday that the “Outstanding Community Service Award” will go to Fort Recovery Merchants Association.

The 2020 “Citizen of the Year” award will go to Mindy Bubp for leading the youth swim and soccer programs.

“Mindy put forth a great effort to ensure that the youth swim program would be able to compete during the pandemic in a safe manner,” a press release from the chamber said.

Other award recipients include:

•Hall of Fame –– Ron Boeckman

•Business of the Year –– Lifestyles Beauty Salon

•Residential Property –– TJ and Beth Westgerdes

•Most Improved Dwelling –– Bill and Bert Staugler

•Landscaping Improvement Award –– Neal Spencer

The chamber of commerce scholarship will be awarded to Fort Recovery High School Senior AJ Romer.

All 2020 award winners will be honored at the annual banquet March 14 at the Fort Recovery Elementary and Middle School auditeria. Attendance is limited, and tickets may be purchased from sponsor Fort Recovery Insurance Agency or by calling (419) 375-4041.

Attendees are required to follow coronavirus safety guidelines.

Village council met via Zoom on Monday to avoid hazardous road conditions.

Also at the meeting, council amended the wage ordinance to include a new position for Brandon Wyerick, who will begin March 1. Wyerick has spent about 14 years working for Fort Recovery Police Department. He will be taking over when the maintenance supervisor, Paul Rohrer, retires later this year.

Council also heard several project updates from village administrator Randy Diller.

Old street lights along Broadway Street will be removed next week, with reconstruction work to pick back up in the spring. Reconstruction on Elm Street is expected to begin March 1. Both streets are being reconstructed in hopes that Ohio Department of Transportation will reroute Ohio 49 along those streets instead of its current path through the downtown area.

The utility department will be updating its lime feed equipment for water treatment in the next few months as required by Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. It is also planning to upgrade its software used to read water meters from a distance. It’s outdated, Diller said, and won’t be supported much longer.

A sludge reducing bacteria program for village lagoons will be installed when conditions allow. It will help remove sludge caked at the bottom of the ponds. In a year, the program removes between 18 and 24 inches of sludge, Diller had explained in a meeting Feb. 1.

The village is also looking at getting a new circulating pump for the lagoons to cycle water through the ponds a couple times.

New lighting for Monument Park is also ready to be installed.