Transition plans keep developing

FORT RECOVERY — More plans to transition village leadership roles are in motion.

Following an executive session Monday, Fort Recovery Village Council hired Jennifer Schoonover as fiscal officer trainee. Schoonover, a Fort Recovery resident who has served as grant administrator and assistant fiscal officer since July 2020, has about 20 years of experience in government work. Her previous employment includes working at the park district and auditor's office in Miami County as well as at the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Schoonover will begin in the new role Oct. 1. She’ll begin training at that time to take over fiscal officer Roberta Staugler’s position after her retirement June 1. The village will also look to fill the assistant fiscal officer job.

Schoonover’s new position serves as the second job created this year to train employees intending to take over village management roles. Village council in April approved an amendment to the wage ordinance to create an assistant village administrator position.

Village administrator Randy Diller announced plans at that time to hire Aaron Rengers to fill the role beginning in May. 

Since then, Rengers has been taking on various village responsibilities, including leading efforts such as renovating Ambassador Pool and establishing a Community Reinvestment Area. Diller is tentatively set to retire at the end of February.

Also Monday, council was informed of plans to shift the village to a new website domain.

Police chief Jared Laux noted the village was recently approved to switch from fortrecovery.org to a website with a .gov address. That will also include changing village employees’ emails in order to match with the new address in the near future.

The switch serves as an effort to improve cybersecurity in the village. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Enrolled Act 96 on June 30, with the law to go into effect by the end of September. According to state cybersecurity office CyberOhio’s website, HEA 96 outlines new standards directing local governments to create a cybersecurity program that “safeguards their data, information technology, and information technology resources to ensure availability, confidentiality, and integrity.”

Council also heard Monday about a new speaker system installed in the downtown area.

Fort Recovery Merchants Association received a grant from Fort Recovery Community Foundation to install the new speakers, a roughly $17,000 investment, explained Diller. The village contributed less than $1,000 of its own funds to mount 18 speakers, which mainly run along the brick portion of Wayne Street near its intersection with Butler Street, onto street lights. Plans are to add two additional speakers soon.

The speakers can be controlled from a few spots in the village, including Krenning Park and Fort Recovery Morvilius Opera House.

Also Monday, council learned commercial pool service Buddenbaum & Moore of Noblesville is conducting a free assessment on Ambassador Pool, which closed for the season on Monday.

Rengers noted the pool has a leak resulting in the village losing about 340,000 gallons of water a month. Once the assessment is complete, the village will create a committee to determine next steps for pool renovations. (The village received a $450,000 grant in July 2024 from the state’s capital budget to go toward renovations.)

In other business, council members Lucas Knapke, Scott Pearson, Greg Schmitz, Al Post and Cliff Wendel, absent Erik Fiely:

•Canceled its regular meeting scheduled for Sept. 1 (Labor Day).

•Paid $1,324.75 to environmental consultant Eagon & Associates for ongoing work to find a viable site for a third well in the village.

•Approved adding $937 in unpaid water bills to respective property tax bills.

•Appointed Thomas Shaw to Fort Recovery Cemetery Board.