The Vandalia City Council met on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at 7:00 PM. The meeting included the swearing-in of three new public safety officers, a regional economic development presentation, approval of several resolutions and variances, and the tabling of an emergency bond ordinance for further budget discussions.
I mean it's like September. Excuse me. The September 5th, uh, 2023 City of Vandalia Council meeting is now called to order. We'll start with a moment of reflection, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Please stand for the pledge. Council, you've had an opportunity to review the council special meeting minutes of August 14th, the study session minutes of August 21st and the council meeting minutes of August 21st. Are there any comments or corrections? Being none, I stand approved. That brings us to communications, petitions, and awards. Um and we have the introduction and oath of office. I'll defer to Mr. Wendt. Thank you very much, Your Honor. I um I will take a moment. We're gonna swear in one firefighter paramedic inspector and two police officers this evening. And as you can tell, they their families, and much of the Department of Public Safety are here. And so first I'll just I'll introduce all three of them and then I'll go up and I'll do the individual uh swearing in uh with them and their families. So first I just asked that Colton Keener, go ahead and stand up. Uh Mr. Keener is a firefighter paramedic inspector, full-time on with the Vandalia Division of Fire. Um Mr. Keener wrote in his cover letter um that he wanted to become a firefighter paramedic inspector uh after his father passed away from a pulmonary embolism um in the back of an am his ambulance. And uh in his letter he wrote that it woke something up inside of me. And I knew that I wanted to do what I could to prevent the loss of someone else's loved one. And uh that was something that made me really look forward to meeting him and getting into his interview. Um Mr. Keener, of course, uh has been on with the division of fire since late last year. He's been at Englewood um for a period of time and was a youth specialist at Montgomery County Center for Adolescent Services. Um he's put some time in at both Edison State and Sinclair and uh is from Troy, and so we're glad to bring him aboard and we'll swear you in in a minute. Thank you. Uh next I have uh Kristen Sharon. Kristen, there you are. Um Kristen uh lives in Dayton, Ohio. Her professional experience uh goes into working as a treatment coordinator um for a bit of time at the Centerville Dental Center and the Dayton Dental Collaborative, and one of the things that really stood out immediately about her was her commitment and focus on customer service and patient care. And I think it's really easy for us to see those parallels in police work. Um she's also worked in security as well. Um she just got out of the Sinclair Police Academy and holds a bachelor's degree from Wright State in criminology and also an associates of business and criminal justice from Sinclair. And so look forward to swearing her in as well. Thank you, Kristen. Um finally we have Jack Alexander. Uh this is Jack, and uh Jack has a bachelor's of science degree. His grandfather was a Miami County uh was a captain with the Miami County Sheriff, and in his cover letter he wrote that he wanted to help people and be the shield for those who can't defend themselves, like his grandfather was. And so um as you get to know this uh young man who is a gunsmith, has his bachelor of science degree, has put himself through uh the academy and has held a lot of customer service positions relating to um being at Harbor Freight, being at Dunham's, um, and working at a few other places. Jack also is from Troy, lives in Troy, and uh look forward to bringing him on as well. So he's on his third day, and he just told me when he got in here that he's already seen a lot, and um I'm sure there will be a lot more. So Colton, I'll ask you to step up here. That I will support the Constitution of the Constitution. And we'll obey the laws of the United States. And of the State of Ohio, and of the state of Ohio. That I will in all respects.