Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
The Walbridge village council held its annual organizational meeting, followed by the regular council meeting, at the town’s municipal building on Jan. 7.
The meeting was held in front of a packed audience to support the two newly elected council members, Joel Mass and Kristen Angelo, as well as returning council members who are starting new terms — Sue Hart-Douglas and Ron Liwo.
Additionally, council member Thomas Urbina was tabbed as the new president, taking over for last year’s president, Liwo. Urbina was originally appointed to council in 2023, and he has spent a little over two years in office.
“I'm excited,” Urbina said. “I think our former council president, Ron, did a fantastic job. But there are a couple things I would like to implement communicatively to council.”
Those two things are implementing a weekly email to council and regularly attending the Friday administrative meetings.
“That’s where I'm going to start communication, making sure I have a good relationship with each member,” he said.
Prior to Urbina’s election, Judge Joel M. Kuhlman of the Wood County Common Pleas Court was present to officially swear in Mass, Angelo, Hart-Douglas, and Liwo along with new village police chief Chris Mullins, who was appointed at last month’s final meeting.
Council members also chose their committees, which include: buildings and lands; budget and finance; parks, recreation and community events; personnel and human resources; safety and criminal justice; and streets.
Police restructuring
With Mullins taking over as chief, one of his goals was to restructure some things within the department. One of those items was to create two sergeant positions with separate duties.
“We have a new chief, and we have a new direction,” mayor Ed Kolanko said. “We have a lot of new energy, and we have a lot of guidance. So far, the first of the year is going phenomenally well.”
With that, Kolanko said that the goal with the two separate positions was to have one serve on the operational side and the other serve in an administrative role. He said there is quite a workload, and Mullins presented a “fantastic direction” for the department.
Current sergeant Bob Miller will serve on the administrative side, and Kolanko asked council to support the promotion of officer Dominic McCrum to serve the other sergeant role on the operational side, which was approved at the meeting. McCrum was in attendance.
Surprise visit, Dodge Charger
In other police business, Kolanko applauded the department and Sergeant Miller after a surprise visit and inspection of the department’s implementation of the LEADS program, which is a database where they can search for background and history of individuals. The department has annual training for it, and Kolanko said the review of the staff’s compliance and implementation went “swimmingly well.”
Kolanko also saw approval of a request to sell an obsolete Dodge Charger that formerly served as a police vehicle. It hadn’t been used for over a year, and they found a buyer for $1,000. The vehicle is in the process of having all police-related materials removed and stripped from it.
“I think that is a fantastic price for us to get for that vehicle, and we do have two new ones coming in so we need to make some room,” Kolanko said.
Culvert project update
Kolanko reported that the Wood County Engineer’s Office has reversed course and rescinded its offer to pay for the full construction cost on the Walbridge Road project that was estimated for a June 2026 completion date. He said he is trying to work through a solution with the engineer’s office.
Administrator’s report
Village administrator Todd Robson reported that the salt barn is now finished.
“We were close the last meeting, and it is now completely finished,” he said. “It looks nice. We have a hundred tons of fresh salt in there. It all looks good with plenty of room, so that turned out nicely.”
He also said his department is doing a lot of preventative maintenance of some equipment such as the leaf machine and brush chipper.
Regular business
One highlight of the business portion of the meeting included the emergency passing of an ordinance providing compensation of personnel for the village, specifically the mayor’s court clerk and the magistrate, as well as solving a per hour discrepancy with the sergeant step one position.
Another ordinance saw its first reading, which authorizes the administrator to enter into a consortium with Owens Community College to provide law enforcement and professional development training in 2026. The cost is $600 this year.
“We pay one flat rate to Owens Community College, and it allows our officers to go there and do various training throughout the year,” Kolanko said. “It’s a one-time fee, and they can do all sorts of training through Owens Community College.”
Another first reading of an ordinance begins the process for adopting a state-mandated cyber security program. Kolanko said he is working with his staff to make sure the village is compliant and part of that is adopting an ordinance indicating their plans.
Next meeting
Council is slated to meet next on Jan. 21 at 6:30 p.m.
