Tuesday, November 10th, 2015
St. Henry mayor plans to leave post
By Jesse Pollack
ST. HENRY - The village will soon have a new leader after council members at Monday night's meeting accepted mayor Jeff Mescher's resignation, effective Jan. 1.
"I have accepted a new position that requires my relocation outside of Ohio," Mescher said. "I will truly miss St. Henry, and I wish you all the best."
Council members expressed sadness at Mescher's announcement and wished him luck.
Once Mescher, who has been mayor since January 2008, resigns, council president Steve Koesters will serve as mayor until the next council election in 2017, village treasurer Ruth Miller said this morning.
"Koesters will then have to run for the remaining two years of that term," she told the newspaper.
Koesters' vacant council seat could be filled by a resident interested in becoming a council member, Miller added.
The council also further discussed the proposed emergency squad building.
"The current building has not served the squad's needs for a long time," assistant EMS chief Ryan Bollenbacher said.
About 33 percent of the squad's $900,000 goal has been raised through donations, Bollenbacher said.
"Just today, we received a $100,000 donation," he said.
The squad hopes to finance the project entirely through donations rather than public funds.
Area businesses, along with the VFW and American Legion of Coldwater, have donated generously since the squad first mailed out fliers one month ago, Bollenbacher said.
If the funding goal is reached, the EMS plans to construct a full-service building that will provide living and sleeping quarters for volunteers and house multiple vehicles.
"We want to build for the future. This is a necessity," Bollenbacher said.
The squad serves several communities over 120 square miles and must often cover for other villages such as Coldwater when its volunteers are unavailable, he noted.
"Nobody thinks about us until they need us," Bollenbacher said.
The council commended him for his work and expressed their hope for the drive's success.
Council members also,
• passed a motion to approve a $500 donation to the Wright State Lake University-Lake Campus Business Enterprise Center.
• had an executive session to discuss compensation for a village employee, but took no action.
