The Vandalia City Council met on Monday, May 4, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting began with a moment of reflection, the Pledge of Allegiance, and approval of prior meeting minutes. Key actions included the introduction of a new chief building official, proclamations for Bike Month, Professional Municipal Clerks Week, and Police Week, and the passage of three resolutions and one emergency ordinance. One public comment was heard, and council members made closing remarks.
All right, seven o'clock, so we'll begin the Monday, May 4th, 2026 City of Andalia Council meeting. We're gonna start with a moment of reflection, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Please stand for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation undervisible with liberty and justice for all. You've had an opportunity to review the counts council study session meeting minutes of February 17th along with the council meeting minutes. Are there any comments or correction for those? All right. Being none, they stand approved. Now brings us to communications petitions and awards. Uh the first item we have is an introduction. Uh turned over to Chief Althouse. Or Kurt Althouse. Mr. Althouse. We used to be a chief, not anymore. All right. I would ask Mr. Robert Martin to come to the podium and I'm going to introduce him. He has taken over our chief building official, effective May 1st, and will be filling the roles of Chris Mestrina, who retired back at the end of April. So for introduction purposes, Robert is a graduate of Wayne High School. He completed an electrical trades program at the Montgomery County JVS, which is now the Career Technology Center. He joined the city in May 2022 as an electrical and building inspector. Prior to that, he spent 18 years with Montgomery County serving as an inspection supervisor, and for the final two years as a county's chief building official. Robert and his wife Beth live in Union. They have one daughter, Ashley, who's attending Ball State University. So we're excited to have Robert step into the city's role of chief building official, look for his continued leadership in that role and appreciate the way he served the city the last couple years in the DS. So thank you so much for being here tonight. Thank you. You don't need to hear me, they can. But um it's a couple pairs of shoes to fill, but luckily I still got contacts and resources, so gonna step right in and appreciate the opportunity. All right. You're welcome and you're gonna do fine. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we have several proclamations tonight, and uh we're gonna start this evening with the proclamation for bicycle month. So if Mr. Reader can join me at the podium, these down. Well, first of all, I'd like to say thanks for everything you and your board does on the bicycle committee, you know, helping the city and uh the staff, you know, navigate some of the challenges that we've had with cycling over the years, and we really do appreciate that. Um I'm gonna read a couple of the points of the proclamation. It says, whereas the month of May 2026 has been proclaimed National Bike Month. And whereas the City of Andalia adopted a resolution in 1995 establishing a policy on designing, modifying, and maintaining public streets to facilitate the usage of bicycles. And whereas the City of Andalia is a bicycle-friendly community and wishes to encourage the use of bicycles as a means of transportation. Now, therefore, I, Richard Herbst, as the mayor of the City of Andalia, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as bicycle month in the City of Andalia. I'd like to thank you again for all your efforts. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right, thank you. You're welcome. All right, next we have a very important proclamation to do.