FR seeks assistant administrator

FORT RECOVERY — The village is seeking an assistant administrator.

Fort Recovery Village Council heard plans Monday from village administrator Randy Diller to begin advertising and taking applications for the new position.

Diller has worked for the village for just over three decades, overseeing various departments and day-to-day business of the village. He hopes to retire at the end of February 2026.

In order to prepare for his retirement, the village will be bringing on an assistant. Plans are for the job to serve as training for an individual, who would eventually become village administrator and take on Diller’s duties next year.

Diller said he will be advertising for the position this week and posting the job website Hometown Opportunity. Hopes are to hire an employee within the next few months, he said.

Relatedly, Diller noted street department superintendent Jerry Guggenbiller retires at the end of the month. 

Also Monday, council agreed to pay a $573,192.48 bill for water main work and steel ordered for the ongoing construction of a second water tower in Fort Recovery.

Plans call for a 250,000-gallon elevated tower on the north side of the village with an additional 2,600 feet of water lines to connect it to the village’s distribution system.

Diller pointed out underground work for the approximately $2.44 million project has been completed, with tank construction to begin soon. The tower is projected to be complete in July 2025.

In other business, council:

•OK’d a $31,264.48 payment to Shinn Brothers of Celina for completing safety improvements at the Center and Elm streets intersection for pedestrians. Originally an idea for Safe Routes to School grant funding, the project’s total cost will be split with Fort Recovery Local Schools.

•Paid $7,623 to PMG Consulting and Shoaf Consulting for ongoing work related to designs for water plant improvements. The project would involve transitioning the village’s water softening treatment to reverse osmosis membrane softening, potentially decreasing the village’s chemical costs by an estimated $210,000 annually.

•Was reminded the scoping meeting to kick off projects being funded through Ohio Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School grant is slated for Feb. 13. The village was approved for approximately $439,589 in infrastructure work through the program. (Fort Recovery Local Schools also received $18,000 for a non-infrastructure project.)