By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com

New Washington welcomed two new police officers to the fold Monday night, as Jeremy Schick and Krystal Kessler took the oath of office in front of Village Administrators and family members.

Solicitor John Berger administered the oath as Kessler and Schick officially assumed their new posts.

The search for new officers began around the first of the year, as new Chief Jeffrey Shook looked to augment the staff he had on hand. With the hirings becoming official, Shook took the opportunity to, “thank the mayor and council for allowing me to do some things with the police department.”

Shook reached back to his Plymouth connections to secure the services of the two newcomers, as they are part-timers in the Firelands village. They will assume part time duties in New Washington as well.

“Chief took over and said he needed some help,” Schick said of how the recruitment process was conducted. They both expressed excitement at starting work in a similarly-sized community to Plymouth.

Pattie Krebs reported year-to-date tax collection at $164,552; employee withholdings are remaining fairly steady with individual withholdings down somewhat on last year. On April 28 of this year, 80 letters were sent out to delinquent filers.

The Hatchery Festival committee from the American Legion informed council that preparations are going smoothly. The 501C3 was set up correctly, beer license acquired, bands organized, etc. Fireworks were also organized, this comes as somewhat of a surprise as there had been concerns of it being too late to secure those services. However, that turned out not to be the case and all appears well as we enter the home stretch leading to the June festival.

Norm Lucius reported that Chuck Kimmerline had finished his paving work around town last week. Brian Agin, of the Streets Committee, confirmed that Kimmerline completed, “a really good job.”

Discussion about what to do with the house on Scharf Street continued where it left off last meeting. The consensus of council is still that they would like to have it torn down. Mayor Lash commented that he had reached out to Cliff Alt for demolition services, but Alt asked for 30 days to decide.

The next council meeting will be at 7 p.m. May 28, not May 25 as that is Memorial Day.