ORWELL – Orwell Village Council voted to accept several grants during a Tuesday, April 21, meeting to purchase equipment that will boost services for village residents.
Village Manager Sean Ratican said during the first three months of his full-time tenure, the village has been awarded somewhere in the neighborhood of $220,000 in state and federal grant funds.
“We’ve had a really good first quarter in securing state and federal funding to alleviate the financial responsibility on the taxpayers,” he said.
The largest grant comes from the Ohio EPA in the amount of $150,000, which the village will be using to purchase a new backhoe to jumpstart a recycling program. Ratican said the village’s existing backhoe is heavily corroded and badly in need of replacement.
When established, the village recycling program will use the backhoe, which can also be tasked for work with other departments. Recyclables will be regularly taken to the recycling center in Lake County for processing, according to Ratican.
Freeing up $150,000 in village funds will allow for the replacement of two dump trucks, which are also badly corroded and have failing bodies and frames, according to Ratican.
One was secured through the GovDeals website – a 10-year-old vehicle from Manhattan with only 27,000 miles on it for $19,000. The village is also looking to purchase another from Middlefield that is a year or two older, according to Ratican.
The village also voted to accept an Ohio EPA Well abandonment grant in the amount of $46,255.
The village waterworks is currently drawing on only two well and must expand to four to be in compliance with state regulations, according to Ratican. R.E. Burrows Drilling was contracted to test several decommissioned wells and restored two of them.
The village will be seeking permission from Ohio EPA to put in a new well adjacent to an existing one with a failing pump casing that draws too much sand and silt to be usable, according to Ratican, who said Burrows was concerned the casing is too compromised to be replaced.
The third grant is for just under $10,000, with a $10,000 local match, from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division for equipment to fight grassfires, according to Shane Gregory, interim fire chief.
In legislation:
• Approving ODOT consent legislation for chip seal and fog coat on Maple Street (State Route 45) within the village.
• Approving the purchase of the 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500HD for the public services department in an amount not to exceed $41,625.04.
• Approving the purchase of a 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD for the fire department in an amount not to exceed $51,402.15.
• Approving the purchase of a 2026 Chevrolet Equinox EV for the village in an amount not to exceed $31,054.02.
• Approving the purchase of a UTV for the public services department in an amount not to exceed $15,000 to access off-road wells.
• Approving participation in the 20256 ODOT road salt purchasing contracts.
• Approving a construction change order in the amount of $401,970 for the road department storage building due to increased building square footage.
• Approving the creation of a community development position to assist with grant applications.
• Approving amended appropriations.
• Approving the purchase of a 2026 Ford Police Interceptor Utility.
• Appointing Clerk of Council/Finance Director/Tax Administrator Kimberly McKinley to attend Certified Public Records Training.
In administrative remarks:
Council approved a measure allocating $25,000 for the purchase of a used van, truck or SUV for utilities workers to use during water main breaks. Ratican said this equipment must be kept separate from what’s used for the sanitary sewer system and the department doesn’t have a usable vehicle for the task.
Councilman Dave Hartz said South Central Ambulance District has an ambulance it’s replacing and offered to see if he could arrange for the village top purchase it rather than putting it up for auction.
The recent resignation of a full-time police officer can be offset for the time being, as Dave Rowland, Grand Valley Local Schools’ resource officer, can cover shifts during the summer, according to Ratican.
Officers with the police department also opted to move to three-day workweeks, made up of 13-hour shifts. Officers will rotate days and nights every month, according to Ratican.
