Continental Village Council met in regular session on April 28, 2026 with Mayor Miller officiating. Members present were: Rau, Smith, LaRue, Armey, Sullivan, & Keck. Also present were Administrator Leis & Chief Weller & Parliamentarian Welch. Absent was Fiscal Officer Troyer. Visitors: Kay Brown, Ed Deible, Brittany Maag & Derrick McDougle. The meeting opened with the pledge of allegiance.
04/14/26 Minutes: Armey motioned to approve & Rau seconded. Six yeas, motion carried.
Then & Now PO Over $3000: Kurita for $15,000 – was approved in 2025 but the remaining amount on PO was cancelled at year due to not knowing the exact amount that would be the final payment. I didn’t want to keep too much encumbered. A motion to approve the PO was made by Smith and seconded by Dwayne. Six yeas, motion carried.
Building Permits: 5054 SR 634 – Zoning met on April 21st to approve the variance needed for the pole barn construction on this permit. Along with the pole barn, the resident also will be replacing roof, siding and windows on the house. A motion to approve the building permit was made by Armey and seconded by Keck. Six yeas, motion carried. A motion was made to approve the variance that was approved by the Zoning Committee for this permit was made by LaRue and seconded by Smith. Six yeas, motion carried.
200 N. 6th St. – 10×16 prefab shed (10 E, 69 S, 53 W) A motion to approve permit was made by Keck and seconded by LaRue. Six yeas, motion carried.
Water/Sewer Rates: Kay Brown, a resident of Continental raised questions about her current bill. Mayor Miller explained the reason the rates for water were increased the way they were. Factors that went into the decision came from a rate study done by RCAP in 2025 where they evaluate our metrics, the cost to operate, cost to produce, infrastructure upgrades & repairs. They also take into account any capital improvements the village needs. Once they put all the numbers together, RCAP recommends what the village needs to increase to operate in the positive and bring in enough money to cover expenses. As of 2025, Continental had a negative net revenue and they recommended the minimum being 6,000 gallons per month versus the 3,000 we adopted. A minimum bill for 3,000 gallons for in town residents would be $75.80 for both water & sewer together. While reviewing the ordinances for an out-of-town resident, we did discover a discrepancy on how the verbiage and cost to the resident. The way it was written, they were being billed three times the amount and nine times the gallons. They should only be charged three times the in-town rates; therefore, an amendment to the sewer rate ordinance is needed to correct this mistake. A motion to waive the need for three reads to pass legislation was made by Smith and seconded by Rau. Roll call: Rau – Yea; Smith – Yea; LaRue – Yea; Armey – Yea; Sullivan – Yea; Keck – Yea. Six yeas, motion carried. A motion to amend the sewer ordinance retroactively back to January 1, 2026 to reduce the minimum sewer gallons from 9000 to 3000 for outside the village was made by Smith and seconded by Keck. Roll call: Rau – Yea; Smith – Yea; LaRue – Yea; Armey – Yea; Sullivan – Yea; Keck – Yea. Six yeas, motion carried. On a final note, Councilman Sullivan reminded everyone that is we do not meet a certain level of self-sustaining finances, EPA can refuse any extra funding that we may need or even regionalization or state could take over
Paulding Putnam: A Memorandum of Understanding from Paulding Putnam that outlines how PPEC & the Village will work together to bring broadband fiber into the Village. A motion giving Mayor Miller the authority to sign the agreement was made by Keck and seconded by Smith. Six yeas, motion carried.
Police Dept Update: Weller ran off March numbers. He then expressed his gratitude for a $500.00 donation from American Legion. Weller said he’s been in contact with the trailer court management about lawns being kept up and they do have their own rules and regulation to take care of that situation and will be doing so. They have been very easy to work with and very receptive of any calls of concern.
Electric Aggregation Contract Renewal Update: Last week, Mayor Miller locked in at a rate of 9.99 to take effect this June.
ODOT Sidewalk Project: Surveying had been out and completed and they are onto the next phase. Mayor Miller did get to speak with Tim Eding and he was aware of the project. Sometime in the near future they will schedule a meeting to discuss further the connection between the school sidewalk meeting the ODOT sidewalk project.
Ohio Plan Renewal Application: This is the application for the Ohio Plan insurance renewal. Troyer will work with Dean Williamson, Randy Weller and Trevor Leis to make sure what we need covered will be covered and at the correct amounts but this is due back to them before the next meeting so she needs approval to make the necessary changes and the authority to sign and submit the application on behalf of the Village by May 9, 2026. A motion to authorize Troyer to do so was made by Armey and seconded by Rau. Six yeas, motion carried.
RITA Non-Filer/Subpoena Program: Mayor Miller informed Council that we need to let RITA k now by June 1st if the Village would like to participate in a letter campaign and the administrative subpoenas. A motion to go with the participation in the letter campaign only was made by Armey and seconded by Smith. Six yeas, motion carried.
ODOT Salt Contract: Admin Leis provided a Resolution authorizing the Village to participation in the ODOT Road Salt Contracts. A motion to waive the need for three reads to pass legislation was made by Armey and seconded by Kick. Roll call: Rau – Yea; Smith – Yea; LaRue – Yea; Armey – Yea; Sullivan – Yea; Keck – Yea. Six yeas, motion carried. A motion to pass the resolution was made by Rau and seconded by Sullivan. Roll call: Rau – Yea; Smith – Yea; LaRue – Yea; Armey – Yea; Sullivan – Yea; Keck – Yea. Six yeas, motion carried.
CCR: Leis provided a contract for JJC to create the CCR (Consumer Confidence Report) for this year. The contract is for $4,000. Smith made a motion to enter into contract with JJC and LaRue seconded. Six yeas, motion carried.
Dump Truck: Leis brought up the subject of bidding on a 2014 dump truck that is being put up for a sealed bid. After a brief discussion, it was decided to see if Leis could get eyes on the truck and then do some research on dump trucks for purchasing and bring back to council.
EMS Building: Admin Leis received a $15,000 quote from Technical Roofing to fix the EMS building’s roof from the leaking problems. In order to do so, the foundation would need to be fixed first. A quote from Forever Foundation was received in the amount of $60,000 for just the repair of the foundation. That did not include the removal or replacement of the concrete. A quote of $1500/sq ft was received from Schnipke’s. Leis estimates that the project in itself would at least be $100,000. Discussion took place if it would be better to put money into building a new EMS/Town Hall/Police building. In the last year, we have had many boiler issues, roofing and now foundation. A temporary fix would need to be done for the EMS roof leaks so Leis will get a quote for that. A motion was made by Armey for Leis to contact an architect to start looking into what would need done and possible cost associated with the tearing down and rebuilding of a new building. LaRue seconded the motion. Six yeas, motion carried.
Lighting Project: Infrastructure met with Todd Bidlack to discuss an upgrade to the fiberglass light poles located on Main St. Right now, they are looking at aluminum pole with 2 lights that stands taller than what we currently have.
Up Coming Dates: Garage Sales will be May 7-10th; Big Bubba train is confirmed to be stopping in Continental on June 6th between 11:45am-12:00pm & again on its way back through on July 15th; Clean Up days TBD
Lagoons: Leis informed council that he has been discharging the lagoons for two and half weeks due to compression problems. He has called Millers Contracting to come out and do some exploratory digging and they have found muskrat problems. A motion to permit Leis to authorize up to $25,000 to Miller’s Contracting to assess and fix the lagoon issues was made by Smith and seconded by Keck. Six yeas, motion carried.
With no other business for the good of the village, LaRue made a motion to adjourn and Keck seconded. Six yeas, motion carried.
Next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at 7:00PM.
