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Local News
Rockford Village Council meeting for this week
Council called to order by Mayor Searight on June 17, 2025 at 7:30 pm.
A moment of silence for the Finke family.
Let us pray. Dear God, we give you praise for the many things that you do for us daily. We give you thanks for the community that we live in and represent. Give us information that we need so we can make wise decisions and knowledge of what is the best for our community. We pray this in your Holy name. Amen.
Pledge of Allegiance
Those present: Marcas Heitkamp, Mark Heitkamp, Luke Stephenson, Mary Beougher, Shane Young and Chris Heitkamp
Also attending: Chief Stetler, Francis Schaffner, Robbie Peel, Erin -from the Daily Standard,
Motion Marcas. Second Mark to accept the agenda as orders of the day. Luke
called for the question. Marcas = y, Mark = y, Luke = y, Mary = y, Shane = y, Chris = y. Passed 6 yes.
Motion Marcas toaccept the minutes from the May 20, 2025 council meeting as presented. Second Chris. Mary called for the question. Marcas = y, Chris = y, Mary = y, Mark = y, Luke = y, Shane = y. Passed 6 yes.
Mayor’s Report and Correspondence:
Noted receipt of Mayors Court pay in and bank statement.
Summer is here and the warmer weather now is the standard. It’s great to see people out and about enjoying whatever they like to do outside. I want to thank the community for cleaning up and being responsive in most cases. There’s always going to be a need for improvement but working together we can make things happen with cooperation and thought. We as a village are continuing to work towards making this town look and perform better, as we look towards the future.
One is the Franklin Street project that has affected just about everyone in the village and outside as well. But if you look at progress and how well it looks now, we can see that it’s going to be a great addition to Rockford. I want to thank the residents for their patience during the disturbance, but in the end we’re all gaining a great improvement in the street, sidewalk, and appearance. Plus, we’ve been able to do other small sections of other streets that needed attention. Once done we’ll see many improvements. Just hang in there as we go through the construction phase. Thank you.
With that said, I’ve had a couple of issues concerning alleys and their passage. Just because an alley doesn’t have stone or has been closed for traffic, doesn’t mean you can put something there to block access of that alley. Access should be available for all utilities workers as there’s usually power or communication lines along side of the alley. Blocking of these alleys could result in delayed service in case of an outage. If unsure about your alley, stop up and ask Aaron about it. Second, we have people that think the alley is for parking at a residence. This is not the case, as this is an access for all residents living around that alley. We know there’s cases where you need it for a short time but be respectful of your neighbors and do the right thing and keep it open. Everyone will be grateful for it.
Finally, I’ve was approached by some people this past weekend about my involvement as Mayor with Community Days Event, and I want to make this clear. The Village of Rockford has no control over the Rockford Communities Days organization other than charging them for rental and them to provide us with the legal parts of having an event like this. They are a separate group that organizes and utilizes the park for their event and activities. We may look into helping facilitate a meeting between Community Days organization and the interested parties to help improve the event for all concerned parties. We will investigate it and let you know in the near future if this is a possibility.
Enjoy your summer and partake of the many options that you have to indulge in the good food and drinks we have to offer right here in Rockford.
Give more than you take and you’ll receive more than you gave.
God Bless you, Thank you.
Mayor Ron Searight
Upcoming Community information & events:
Friday – Sunday June 20-22 – Lavender / Sunflower Festival @
Schoolhouse Farms --- 5486 Ross Rd - Rockford
Sunday – June 22nd – Maker’s Market – Shanes Park – noon to 3 pm
Monday – June 23 – Friday – July 4th – Village Office will be closed.
Friday – June 27 - Tranquility of Rockford sponsoring a free lunch at Shanes Park – noon – 1 pm.
Tuesday – July 1st ---- Council meeting has been canceled.
Sunday – July 6th – Maker’s Market – Shanes Park – noon to 3 pm
Sunday – July 20th - Maker’s Market – Shanes Park – noon to 3 pm
Village Administrator’s Report – Aaron Temple
Franklin Street --- hoping to stay on schedule and finish up road striping by the end of next week. Reminder --- there will be NO PARKING on Franklin Street. This has been a safety concern for some time and it will now be corrected with the
finished street project. Also note --- A NEW STOP SIGN LOCATION – at Franklin and SOUTH ST. This will now be a 4 -way stop --- the police will begin monitoring the area to bring awareness.
Phase 2 of the Subdivision infrastructure will begin late summer / early fall. We will begin working on laying out the lots and marketing.
Durapatch --- need to finish up on Market Street and will be working on more streets through the summer. We have been a little behind because of water / ww issues.
We’ve been working on our ‘to do’ list at the park along with help from our Friends of the Park group. Thank you !
Still working on demo on First Street property and pursuing information on the house on Pearl St house.
Committee Reports:
Finance Committee: Shane Young -
Motion Shane to pay the bills as presented 06/03/2025 - $116,453.27 and
06/10/2025 - $25,235.09. Second Luke. Marcas called for the question. Shane = y, Luke = y, Marcas = y, Mark = y, Mary = y, Chris =y. Passed 6 yes.
Motion Shane to accept Mayors Court pay in $879. Second Luke. Marcas called for the question. Shane = y, Luke = y, Marcas = y, Mark = y, Mary =y, Chris = y. Passed 6 yes.
Motion Shane to approve the monthly financial reports. Second Luke. Marcas called for the question. Shane = y, Luke = y, Marcas = y, Mark = y, Mary – y, Chris = y. Passed 6 yes.
Cash Summary by Fund, Appropriations report, Revenue Report,
Budget vs Actual activity report, Bank statement, comparison report for the water, sewer, and income tax.
Motion Shane to approve supplemental appropriations to date. Second Luke. Mark called for the question. Shane = y, Luke = y, Mark = y, Marcas = y, Mary =y, Chris = y. Passed 6 yes.
Motion Shane to approve additional purchase orders. Second Luke. Marcas called for the question. Shane = y, Luke = y, Marcas = y, Mark = y, Mary = y, Chris = y. Passed 6 yes.
Motion Shane to suspend the rules and pass the following Ordinance 01-25 as an emergency to due the requirement of information certification to the State by July 1st. Second Chris. Mary called for the question. Shane = y, Chris = y, Mary = y, Marcas = y, Mark = y, Luke = y. Passed 6 yes.
ORDINANCE 01-25
AN ORDINANCE TO LEVY A $5.00 MUNICIPAL MOTOR VEHICLE LICENSE TAX AS AUTHORIZED BY SECTION 4504.173 OF THE OHIO REVISED CODE.
Motion Shane. Second Luke. Marcas called for the question. Shane = y, Luke = y, Marcas = y, Mark = y, Mary = y, Chris = y. Passed 6 yes.
ORDINANCE 03-25
AN ORDINANCE LEVYING ASSESSMENTS FOR UNPAID PROPERTY MAINTENANCE FEES AND DELINQUENT UTILITY BILLS, AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
1st reading – 06/17/2025
RESOLUTION 04-25
A RESOLUTION OPPOSING HOUSE BILL 335 AND URGING THE OHIO GENERAL ASSEMBY TO REJECT LEGISLATION THAT ELIMINATES INSIDE MILLAGE AND TRANSFERS LOCAL BUDGETARY AUTHORITY TO COUTY BUDGET COMMISSIONS.
Motion Shane. Second Marcas. Mark called for the question. Shane = y, Marcas = y, Mark = y, Luke = y, Mary = y, Chris = y. Passed 6 yes.
Mayor Searight has also reached out to Representative King but has not received a response to date.
Budget Hearing – Schedule July 15th at 7:15 pm
Budget to County Auditor by July 20th
Rules Committee: Mark Heitkamp
ORDINANCE 02-25
AN ORDINANCE CONTROLLING UNCONTROLLED PARKING OF VEHICLES, ESTABLISHING PENALITIES, REPEALING INCONSISTENT LEGISLATION, AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
1st reading - 06/17/2025
Service Committee: Mary Beougher
Park looks so nice !
Safety Committee: Chris Heitkamp
Several concerns have been brought up regarding golf carts – will be looking into addressing and answering in the coming weeks.
Economic Development Committee: Marcas Heitkamp – Council President
Public Utilities Committee: Luke Stephenson
Visitor to address Council:
Old Business:
New Business:
Are you interested in serving the Rockford Community? If so, there will be 4 council seats on the ballot this November. All candidates need to file petitions by 4 pm on August 6th.
Meeting adjourned at 7:47 pm
