OTTAWA — Twelve Putnam County mayors talked about their plans as they were sworns into office by Judge Keith Schierloh on Friday.
Walter Harper, who is serving his third term as Bellmore mayor talked about repaving work onOak Street east and Elm Street. “I like to be able to serve the residents and give them what they deserve,” Harper said.
Tom Burkhart, Cloverdale mayor, is serving his first term. He replaced Judd Spencer.
“I have been on council since 2008 and my goal is to keep the village moving forward,” Burkhart said.
James Smith, Fort Jennings mayor, is serving his fifth term and said he looks forward to continuing to improve the village.
“We have several projects we are working on including building Freedom Square, a military memorial next to Memorial Hall,” Smith said.
Another project is installing a handicap accessible sidewalk and working on a street light program and installing corporation signs.
Tony Wobler, Leipsic mayor, replaces Kevin Benton during his first time serving as mayor. He has served as a councilman for the past year.
“I want to provide leadership to the community and council and assure we can move forward with projects,” Wobler said.
The village is currently looking at upgrading sidewalks and getting a grant through the Ohio Department of Transportation for Safe Routes to School.
Kenneth Wright, Columbus Grove mayor, is serving his fourth term, and said it is enjoyable when seeing progress around the village.
“We are all on the council because we are interested in improving our community,” Wright said.
He said the village has done a lot of work cleaning up the community and demolishing structures that need to be taken down. He said there has been business and industrial growth in the community over the last 10 to 15 years.
Robert Heidenescher, Dupont mayor, is serving his 12th year. “I would like to make the village better than how I found it,” Heidenescher said.
Alan Derdeman, Kalida mayor, is serving his fifth term.
“We have a great community to work with. We have grant money to rebuild third and Main Street in Kalida and the main project for 2020 is to build our new town hall,” Derdeman said. He said the village has outgrown its current town hall and plans to bid the project out this summer and start construction next fall.
Charlie Schroeder, Glandorf mayor, is serving his first term and is replacing Gene Warnecke.
“We currently are installing a storm sewer heading east to Ottawa and extending a water line,” Schroeder said. A long-term project is to get a street that connects O-G road to US 24.
Michelle Climer, Gilboa mayor, is in her first term.
“It’s special to be the first female mayor of Gilboa. We need more women in politics to get a second idea on things,” Climer said.
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