Adam Martinez, Toledo City Council Member for District 2, agrees with Sam Melden, District 5, on Flock cameras and suggests a regular auditing option. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
TOLEDO – Following a fierce public hearing on Monday, Toledo City Council voted on Tuesday, June 23 to continue funding Flock Group, Inc.’s portable Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) and Real Time Crime Center (RTCC).
O-286-26 was passed with a two-thirds majority, but a few dissenters.
Vanice Williams, president of Toledo City Council and representative for District 4, speaks positively of Flock during a Toledo City Council meeting in Toledo City Council Chambers at 1 Government Center in Toledo on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
Four dissenters, Nick Komives (At-Large), Brittany Jones (At-Large), Theresa Gadus (District 3) and Erin Kramer (At-Large) stopped the initial ordinance, O-240-26, which needed a two-year renewal for the portable ALPR RTCC.
On Tuesday, the two-thirds majority was more attainable with a full Council present to pass another year renewed for the portable system, a part of the larger Flock Group, Inc. funding that the City of Toledo provides.
Adam Martinez (District 2) and Cerssandra McPherson (At-Large), who were absent on June 9, provided the “Yeas” necessary to pass the legislation, as all four continued their opposition to this particular Flock legislation.
Sam Melden, Toledo City Council Member District 5, speaks about Flock cameras. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
Representative comment
Before the vote, Sam Melden (District 5) said he would support the ordinance, although he said there were two issues he wanted to address.
“How do we resource police officers with the most tools to do their job?” he asked, and secondly, “How do we govern data that is public citizens’ information, our residents’ information, when it’s potentially used by private companies we do business?”
President of Council, Vanice Williams (District 4) said she was thankful for the public comment the day before, and that she was thankful for TPD putting away criminals.
“I’m very supportive of Flock,” Williams said. “We’ve had it for 20 years, and a comment was made, like, if you’re against Flock, throw your cell phone away. Right?” because cell phones can track and surveil individuals.
Vanice Williams, president of Toledo City Council and representative for District 4 said, “I’m very supportive of Flock.” (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
To clarify, Toledo has actually had license plate readers for decades, and most of those were mounted on cars, not positioned for surveillance. Toledo has only had a contract with the ALPR Flock system since 2022, and the technological jump between the old and new systems are vast. The differences are outlined in previous reporting by the Toledo Free Press.
Also in previous reporting, the accessibility of cell phone data, including positioning data, by the government was ruled to be a search, and required a signed warrant by a judge in the United States Supreme Court case Carpenter v. United States.
“I am all about giving police what they need to do to do good work,” Williams said.
Kramer said she supported TPD, but she also said she wanted to support residents.
“I worry about our state government, and I worry about our federal government,” Kramer said. “I have very real concerns about where this data goes, how we use this data.”
But ultimately Kramer said that she did not have reservations about TPD.
Martinez said he agreed with Melden, and wanted to give the police all the tools they needed. At the same time, Martinez suggested that the data from Flock could be audited on a regular basis.
George Sarantou, Toledo City Council Member At-Large, speaks on the benefits of Flock and said the cameras’ use should be closely monitored. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
George Sarantou (At-Large) was confident from the discourse he had with Assistant Police Chief Kevin Braun during the committee meeting, that the Flock data was controlled end-to-end by TPD, and so he did not have reservations on the safety of the data in question.
As reported during the committee meeting, the way the Flock Operating System (OS) works is unclear at present. Previously, open-sharing relationships through Flock have led to breaches in security, and allowing third party departments and agencies to have access to Flock data.
Generally, this information comes out after a leak, and since the representative from Flock said they had changed how sharing works, without access to see how permissions are given, it is unclear how sharing works.
It is true that local police departments choose who they share data with, but it is unclear if open sharing between departments is still ongoing. In the past, open sharing Flock data relationships between departments and agencies meant that if access was given to one department, the same access could be transferred without the specific municipality giving specific access.
This was the case previously, when Loveland, Colo. gave access to their Flock system to Border Patrol, and Border Patrol was then able to access Denver’s Flock cameras through an open sharing agreement they had with Loveland.
At present, it is unknown the extent TPD shares Flock ALPR data with other departments or entities, but the committee meeting made clear that TPD shares data nationally, something University of Toledo Police said they did not do for fear of misuse of the data.
“These cameras have done a lot of good, so I think we need to keep an eye on the situation and monitor very, very closely to make sure that they’re not being abused,” Sarantou said.
Theresa Gadus, Toledo City Council Member for District 3, asks questions of the Flock Group, Inc., representative Trevor Chandler, during a Public Safety &Criminal Justice Reform Committee meeting in Toledo City Council Chambers at 1 Government Center in Toledo on Monday, June 22, 2026. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
TOLEDO – Toledoans were given the opportunity for public comment on Flock Group, Inc.’s Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras, a surveillance network of interconnected ALPRs used to gather evidence, during a committee meeting on Monday, June 22.
The Toledo Police Department, prosecutors, and a representative from Flock and Toledo City Council were given over an hour to question the Flock system, composed of 114 cameras in Toledo.
On June 9, O-240-26 would have authorized $14,000 annually, for the next two years, for “portable” license plate reader cameras, in what is called a Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), licensed through Flock. That legislation failed to get the two thirds majority required to pass a sped up emergency legislation procedure, standard for most ordinances.
And two days after that ordinance failed, O-286-26 was drafted authorizing only one year of use of the portable license plate reader cameras instead of two years, but keeping the $14,000 annual price point. This legislation was the basis of discussion, hearing and review of the Flock system as a whole.
The main subject during the committee meeting was a discussion of the Flock Automated License Plate Reader camera system. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
Funding for Flock
Back in November 2025, Toledo City Council (TCC) unanimously authorized $282,000 annually, for the next three years, in a contract with Flock.
Both ordinances (240/286) outlined that these portable ALPRs were already part of the existing ALPR arsenal at the disposal of TPD, who would like to continue using them.
However, it seems their expense was separate from the larger $282,000 yearly sum council already released.
City Council seemed opposed only to the $14,000 renewed expense for portable ALPRs.
Directly after O-240-26, TCC authorized $100,000 for a side-by-side comparison of Flock’s rapid response drone vs. a competitor’s drone inO-241-26.
The vote was 6-4 for and against, which is a suitable vote for a regular legislation, with multiple readings before it is adopted. But when legislation is put up for an “emergency” vote, which will take effect immediately, two thirds vote is required for passage.
Kevin Braun, Assistant Toledo Police Chief, stressed the importance of the Flock Automated License Plate Reader system to the police department. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
Questions for TPD & Flock
Council Member Theresa Gadus, District 3, asked the first public question to Assistant Police Chief Kevin Braun: Who has accessed Toledo’s local Flock surveillance data in the past? Braun had no response.
Braun had just noted that he wanted to clear up “misinformation” about the Flock system, and said the TPD never used it for immigration enforcement, that TPD does not share information with other agencies that work in immigration enforcement, and offered to share success stories on how Flock had helped TPD solve numerous high profile cases in Toledo.
No one present cast doubt on the power or effectiveness of the Flock system, whether public relations official, police officer or an opposing activist.
“Flock has been the most useful technology that we, as a department, have had, in my opinion,” said Braun, who has been a TPD officer for 25 years. Braun said the clearance rate (solve rate) for homicide investigations over the past three years has been between 81 percent and 87 percent, compared to the national average of 61.4 percent clearance. While Flock may not be solely responsible for the success in those investigations, Braun said Flock is leveraged to a great degree.
Gadus explained her questioning of the Flock system: “Up until this vote, I voted to support you with Flock, but it is the questions that we have seen raised in the community, as more and more reports have come out, that concern me about how other people are using our data, so I appreciate that you brought up immigration.”
Citing aUniversity of Washington study, which showed access to Flock data was given to entities local law enforcement had not authorized, thousands of times, Gadus asked, “How often are we (Toledo) auditing who is looking at our information? How many times has Border Patrol, Homeland Security, maybe a police department that has 287(g) classification [immigration enforcement authorization on a state/local level], how often are they looking at our data?”
Trevor Chandler, the public relations director for Flock Group, Inc., sits with a GG Supreme Monogram Appia Calfskin Web Briefcase, made by Gucci (Est. Retail $1,980), next to his custom Flock Group, Inc., socks. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
At this point, Braun pivoted to Trevor Chandler, senior director of public affairs for Flock Group, Inc.
Chandler, who wore custom Flock-branded socks and carried a Gucci briefcase, flew in for the committee meeting from San Francisco in an effort to persuade Council and the public to renew the $14,000 worth of ALPRs.
Chandler told Gadus that all sharing had to be chosen by the department, which negated the reality of mutual sharing.
When TFP reached out to get further clarification, Chandler said, “These sharing agreements are solely with the local agency that agrees to share; they do not provide access to other communities that the local agency chooses to share with.”
As TFP wrote in an exposé on FLOCK cameras earlier this year, Denver, Colo. rejected the Flock system because a smaller suburb, Loveland, unwittingly gave access to the federal government for immigration enforcement use of Flock. This access violated state law, but through the access given to the federal government through Loveland PD, Denver’s whole Flock system was accessed by just one department compromising the entire system.
Flock’s new safeguards, Chandler said, answered this data vulnerability, including whether federal agencies could access local data.
Three steps would have to happen for a federal agency to access TPD’s data, according to Chandler:
1. TPD would have to opt-in to receiving sharing requests with any federal agency.
2. Then the federal agency must submit a request to have a mutual sharing relationship with the department.
3. From there, Chandler said TPD would have to approve the request.
He said these safeguards were put in place “to make sure that there are no inadvertent sharing relationships that would go against a community’s laws or values.”
Once the request to share data is approved, not all searches need to be approved by the department/agency.
Gadus asked about the change in the terms of service, which appeared to open up Flock to selling data.
Chandler said the terms changed the language to simplify the agreement, but that Flock did not change the spirit of the agreement and still prohibited the sale of Flock user data.
“Our terms and conditions still fully prohibit the selling of any data,” he said. “…the principle and legal sending that you own your data and Flock cannot and will not sell that data remains legally binding.”
Perpetual licensing of data was another concern for Gadus, who noted that this was a change from a previous agreement. Chandler said the perpetual licensing data was stripped of metadata, including what department the images came from, time, and location, and was purely used for machine learning to improve the Flock system.
Bagging of cameras was another concern presented by Gadus. These are situations in which cities put bags over Flock cameras after their contracts are terminated, because it is thought that they are still working without a contract with the city.
Chandler assured Gadus that, “sometimes cities choose to put a bag over them to alleviate additional community concerns while the cameras remain up in the process of them being taken down,” he said.
Gadus then referred to reproductive rights safety, noting a case in Texas, where a woman was searched for after it was suspected she’d had an abortion. Chandler chose to side step the question, instead referring to the rollout of queries that would disable certain communities’ Flock data from being searched, including immigration searches and reproductive rights searches.
However, in an interview with Forbes, when Flock CEO Garrett Langley was pushed for an answer on this issue about the search query in the Flock system, and that people have been prosecuted in other cases for “unlawful abortions,” Langley said, “Flock doesn’t write the laws.”
Gadus also asked about protesters being targeted in searches for exercising their first amendment rights, as documented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Chandler said searching for “protester” was prohibited with the new Flock safeguards, and explained that large gatherings present more opportunities for crime to happen.
Trevor Chandler, director of public relations for Flock Group, Inc., speaks during a Public Safety & Criminal Justice Reform Committee meeting in Toledo City Council Chambers at 1 Government Center in Toledo on Monday, June 22, 2026. Chandler provided support for the Toledo Police Department in trying to explain the complexities in the Flock Automated License Plate Reader system. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
“The question that I think you’re asking is more related to community trust in law enforcement,” he said. “These aren’t facial recognition. You can’t search for people in the license plate reader system, you can’t search for politically protected speech in the license plate reader system…That’s one of the ways that we provide additional guardrails to make sure that, to the extent we can, from an operating system angle, provide those protections internally.”
Vague searches, Gadus answered, can get around specific searches.
Chandler said, since 2025, searches must fall into the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), creating more transparency. The NIBRS was put out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and contains 52 specific classifications for crimes.
Since 2025, “you have to choose one of these pre-designated FBI NIBRS codes, and if it turns out that one of your officers is purposely mislabeling a search related to, say they put in a search for a missing person, and it turns out to not be the case…These transparency and accountability features allow you and your agency to hold that individual officer accountable so that even if they do leave the search term empty, they have stated that this is the reason they are searching it, and they can be held accountable to that reason,” he said.
In fall of last year, Brandon Upchurch was given $35,000 related to an inaccuracy by the Flock system. Gadus brought up this incident, and asked how effective the Flock camera system is.
“The success rate is above 95 percent, so we’re very proud of our success rate,” Chandler said, but also recommended officers visually confirm images and visual evidence as part of best practices. “You should not pull over someone just on a plate…Flock is an objective piece of intelligence that your officers can then use to make a decision on how to use it.”
Gadus asked about the crashworthiness of the poles on which Flock ALPR cameras are mounted, as they are near roadways.
CBS and NBC news teams in Maine and Colorado, respectively started asking this question earlier this year.
“We go through the full permitting process for installing all of our cameras, and we abide by all the rules and regulations for that permitting process to put these up,” Chandler said.
Gadus closed by asking whether Toledo’s cameras could be searched nationally through the national search feature.
One of the panelists, Lt. Jeffrey Thieman of the Forensic and Cybercrime section of the Intelligence and Forensics Bureau, said, “So, yes, we do have national search ‘on,’ but we do filter out all ‘immigration’ and ‘reproductive’ searches, so those filters are turned ‘on.’ We turned those ‘on’ once we saw that Flock had updated the system.”
The estimated time for when the Flock system was updated with the filters against reproductive and immigration searches was on June 1, months after Council passed O-095-26, prohibiting the use of city property to help immigration enforcement.
George Sarantou, Toledo City Council Member At-Large, asks Trevor Chandler, the director of public relations for Flock Group, Inc., questions. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
Other Council members
Council Members At-Large Mac Driscoll and George Sarantou followed with questions concerning TPD’s data. Driscoll asked how long the data was stored for, which was 30 days. Sarantou asked how data sharing works through Flock.
Braun said other police departments would have to request access to TPD’s data, and then TPD would have to grant access.
After access is granted between agencies/departments, searches done by outside agencies/departments are not individually reviewed unless audited.
Sarantou highlighted instances where the Flock system was used to help individuals with dementia, asking the officers if this was a common/realistic use of the system, which they corroborated.
Councilman Sarantou wanted to also confirm that the case involving 13-year-old Kei’Mani Latigue’s death utilized the Flock system, and Braun confirmed that it was.
Erin Kramer, council member At-Large, asked about how long the audit logs were stored, and Chandler said both agency and network audit logs were stored permanently, unless instructed otherwise by state or local governments.
Then Kramer asked about safeguards to prevent misuse of the system, which Chandler said, ultimately, “…it’s about trust between law enforcement, city councils, and the people that they serve.”
Calling Chandler, “Mr. Flock,” Theresa Morris, District 6, asked about sharing preferences between departments and agencies.
“Every agency chooses the level to which they share,” Chandler said, and that each department and agency chooses whom they share their information with.
Morris wanted clarification on the audits of search logs, and Braun said there is a 12-month look-back process of pulling random searches.
“When you have the volume of searches that we have, that’s kind of the only way to do it,” Braun said, but he mentioned some new pattern-recognizing features in the Flock system that might flag searches for review by the agency.
The audit assistance tool flags items for the agency’s administrator to look at, according to Chandler.
“It doesn’t mean there’s been misuse, it doesn’t mean anything’s been done wrong, but it does say there’s been an atypical behavior, like the same license plate being searched a bunch of times, or a search being done outside of typical work hours.”
Chandler said, “There could be incredibly valid reasons for that,” like if there was a crime committed that day, but ultimately it puts the review power in the administrator’s hands.
Sarantou then asked how many searches were done across the whole Flock system within a year.
Chandler answered that it was billions of searches, and then Sarantou clarified that the known abuses of the Flock system numbered about two dozen per billions of searches a year.
Recalling an instance of a Rossford police officer abusing the earlier LEADS system, the license plate reader system before Flock, Sarantou talked about the consequences for that officer, who was fired and prosecuted.
“Internally we’ve tried to make it as crystal clear as possible that these tools are for law enforcement purposes only, and they’re only to be shared with other law enforcement agencies that have a legitimate use for that as well,” Braun said.
Rebecca Facey, the City of Toledo’s Chief Prosecutor, spoke on the vitality of the Flock Automated License Plate Reader system to solving crimes next to Maggie Koch, the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division of the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office. Facey said she, as a professional, is entrusted with vital private information, and she therefore extended the professional trust to the Toledo Police. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
Prosecutors
Chief Prosecutor for the City of Toledo, Rebecca Facey and Maggie Koch, the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division of the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office also appeared before Council.
“I was at the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys National AI and Data Summit two weeks ago in Washington, DC,” Facey said. “And the purpose of those conversations was, how do we balance the technology that none of us have created, but ultimately are responsible for in the criminal justice system.
“This is a tool that we use regularly in Toledo Municipal Court. I would say at this point, the majority of our hit-and-run traffic accidents are solved through Flock camera technology,” she said. “So, while this is highly personal information, while I recognize the privacy concerns, and myself don’t want to live in a surveillance state, I recognize that the folks and professionals who are in the positions to handle this material are held to a high standard that we have been all along.”
Koch more bluntly advocated on behalf of Flock.
“I’ve represented hundreds, if not thousands, of victims – men, women, and children alike in this county,” Koch said. “I hope that through my work I have made this community better each and every day, and that’s something that I now train the new attorneys in my office to do. But we cannot do that without evidence. There has to be evidence, and Flock cameras have assisted us since they have [been] put in place in the convictions of all levels of crime.”
Among her examples, Koch spoke about her own personal instance of a hit-and-run where the case was solved using Flock cameras.
Public response
For anyone familiar with local Toledo government, Richard Arnold attends just about every meeting possible, and didn’t have a whole lot to say either way on Flock, admitting that he thought the cameras were a good idea.
What Arnold cautioned the council about was to keep the fight civil, so there would not be a repeat of the fight over Flock cameras that happened in Lucas County’s government.
The Chair of the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Committee, John Hobbs III, District 1, appreciated the sentiment, and said he would try to keep all things civil.
Gwen Goldberry said we should not support the Flock surveillance system because trust in the police has been eroded. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
“I don’t think we should be in favor of Flock,” said the next speaker, Gwen Goldsberry, who recalled an incident from a number of weeks ago where a police officer told teenagers to “Enjoy poverty.”
Goldsberry’s main point was that the police could not be trusted, and the government should be investing in preventative measures to decrease crime instead of reactive measures.
Goldsberry noted that they are transgender, and admitted they have been worried about being tracked.
Reading a very long prepared statement Susan Kuehn of the Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition said:
“This technology is part of and feeds into the mass surveillance dragnet of U.S. citizens, created by Trump and implemented across this country, violating privacy rights, free speech rights under the First Amendment, and our Fourth Amendment protections that prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures without warrants, without probable cause.”
Kuehn talked about Flock’s use in reproductive health prosecution, immigration enforcements, Flock surveillance as a violation of constitutional rights and was cut off at the three-minute mark by Hobbs, as she was citing Ohio instances of Flock abuses (rather than Toledo-specific examples) and canceled contracts.
Fred Newstead spoke about how to reign in the power of the Flock system. “How do you stop the big boys from getting the information? And they’re the ones we’re most afraid of,” he said, referring to the federal government. “How do you stop them from coming after our trans friend over here,” he said motioning to Goldsberry. “At some point, all safeguards can be gone.”
Hobbs took the question literally, and asked Chandler what would happen if Flock were to be contacted by the federal government to get Toledo’s data. Chandler said Flock would default back to the city to make a ruling on the federal government’s request for Flock data.
Sean Nestor expressed a passionate dissent to the operation of the Flock Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) system. Nestor said the ALPRs were an affront to the fourth amendment of the constitution of the United States. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
“My name is Sean Nestor,” the next speaker began. “I am asking everybody on Toledo City Council to vote no on the renewal of this contract.”
*Disclosure: Nestor is the Board Chair for the Toledo Free Press, though he was not speaking in that capacity, but rather as a concerned citizen.
“I’ve heard and I’ve listened to everything that’s been presented today, but I want to remind you that, of course, if I’m a law enforcement officer, if I’m a prosecutor, and I’m only worried about local public safety, I’m going to say, give me all the tools I can all the time. I’m never going to exercise restraint,” he said, asking for the representatives to exercise restraint in favor of public safety.
“Sometimes tools and concentration of power in government can result in disastrous effects, and by the time you’ve allowed these powers to accumulate, they’re almost impossible to deescalate,” he said.
“You swore to uphold the Constitution,” Nestor told the representatives, and referenced the fourth amendment. “Is it reasonable that all of us…there is a database somewhere of where we’ve gone, even though we are not suspects in a crime.”
“Historically, up until technology changed things, that was something that you could not do.”
“I believe it’s helping people. I don’t doubt that. That’s not in dispute. The problem is, what are the long-term effects?” he said, and reminded the public contingent that Renée Good and Alex Pretti were killed by the government with no consequences.
“Is there any accountability for the law enforcement officers to track them down, label them domestic terrorists, and [shoot] them in the head?” he said. “There’s not, so I’m not comforted by local assurances or software companies [who] tell me, ‘No, no, we have privacy in place.’ I work in cybersecurity. I understand that company [Flock] is never going to admit to their flaws. They have them, and they will be abused.”
Nestor ended his comment by asking those in attendance to respect the fourth amendment.
Tom Pruss, Libertarian candidate for Ohio Secretary of State, said, “It’s a discussion on whether every resident of Toledo should be tracked, cataloged, and monitored, simply because technology now makes it able to do so.”
“Supporters of these systems will tell you that… ‘If you’ve done nothing wrong, we have nothing to fear,’” he said. “The argument is fundamentally backwards. The Constitution was not written to protect guilty people; it was written to protect innocent people from government power.”
“The question should be why government needs to collect and store information on movements of innocent people,” Pruss said, and warned of grave government overreach in the future. “Instead of the government proving guilty, the citizen finds himself trying to prove innocence. That is the exact opposite of the American legal tradition.”
Christina Rodriguez shared her concern over the government’s massive amount of data that could be used to target people.
Veterans for Peace activist Mike Ferner reiterated similar points about how protections conceded to the government are lost, and made a point that if anyone in the room was Pro-Palestine, that would be a crime in the United Kingdom (UK). Anyone who showed support for Palestine could be tracked and prosecuted if this were the UK.
Fred Newstead spoke about government overreach once the Flock cameras were put in place, adding that we should be wary of the power of the federal government eventually using the surveillance system against marginalized individuals. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
Michael Haynes declared that we should not refuse this technology. “We’ll basically be blasted into the Stone Age, police-wise,” he said. “As far as being surveilled…I guess we should all give up our phones, Google, Facebook, Insta, all that tracks us every single day.
“Game players, how many people that just hit agree on the 30 pages of user agreement?” he said. “We’re all being tracked, it all gets sold; that is how every platform runs.”
Michael Haynes spoke in favor of Flock Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras, arguing that without the new surveillance equipment, the police would be in the “Stone Age,” and that phones, social media and apps all surveil people already. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
Haynes affirmed that the police should be held accountable with the logs and records, but also made the point that these ALPR cameras are in public spaces “where one has no reasonable expectation of privacy in the public on the same roads, intersections, and public areas that we all travel every day.”
“Flock cameras have become an essential tool in responding to some of the most urgent and heartbreaking situations we face,” he said. “Whether it’s a robbery, shooting, kidnapping, or a statewide or Flock cameras give law enforcement the ability to follow a vehicle’s path, not just locally, but across country, county, and state lines, and even nationwide. This is how modern policing works. It’s fast, it’s accurate, and it’s data driven.”
Belinda Covarrubias spoke of the prevalence of the cameras during her daily routine. (TFP photo by Stephen Zenner)
Belinda Covarrubias, walked those in the hearing through her day with her family and said that, before the day is done, her location and image is photographed more than 20 times.
“I’m not a criminal; my son is 11. He is not a suspect. We are a Toledo family, and we’re living a Toledo day,” she said. “Historically, surveillance has never fallen evenly across this country. It has always pressed hardest on Black and brown communities, immigrant families, and working people who have the least power and the most to lose.
“Real public safety. The type of safety that I believe in, must be equitable. It must protect everybody, or it is not safety. It is control that is directed at only some of us,” Covarrubias said, and reminded Toledo Council of their efforts to protect immigrants back in March with ordinances. “In Dayton, two hours away from here, with the same cameras, an audit found its data search for immigration more than 7,000 times. Dayton already had a written policy forbidding exactly what we’re hearing today. It stopped nothing. Dayton suspended that program and bagged all of those cameras. We do not want Toledo to be the next Dayton.”
Immigration lawyer, Rebecca Bundy spoke about how, under the Trump administration, protections for people are not being followed.
“The behavior is ongoing; to manage such surveillance in these times where it’s incapable of truly limiting its use is playing with fire,” she said.
Waterville City Council members (from left) Wayne Wagner, Mary Duncan, Nick Sargent, Mayor Tim Pedro, administrator Jon Gochenour, law director Austin Klapp, Scott Jahns and Todd Borowski listen as Rod Frey voices his concerns about asking voters to weigh in on increasing the term limits for mayor from two to three. (AWFP photo by Karen Gerhardinger)
WATERVILLE – When Waterville City Council members received their June 22 meeting packets on June 19 at 7 p.m., one agenda item took them by surprise: a proposed amendment that would allow voters to decide whether the number of terms the mayor can serve should be increased from two to three.
“This has been discussed off and on for some time, but not recently,” said Mayor Tim Pedro, who will complete his second four-year term at the end of 2027. “This is an opportunity to be consistent with our council seats and our mayor seats.”
The number of terms allowed for one person to serve consecutively on council was increased from two to three on January 1, 2018. The Charter Review Committee recommended that council put the matter on the ballot in November 2017, and voters approved it. While council at the time discussed whether to ask voters to look at increasing the mayor’s terms to three as well, then-mayor Lori Brodie, who was in her second term, opposed the change.
“It’s not a bad idea to have new leadership every eight years,” Brodie said during a July 2017 meeting.
Council members Todd Borowski, Rod Frey, Nick Sargent and Wayne Wagner referred to Brodie’s comments as they discussed Pedro’s proposed resolution. Frey gave a brief history of term limits, which weren’t put into the charter until 2012, when both the mayor’s and council’s limits were set at two terms. Both of those suggestions came out of a thorough review done by the Charter Review Committee, which typically meets every five years.
In 2017, former council member Chuck Larkins suggested asking voters whether council terms should be moved up to three – but no move was made to increase the mayor’s term at that time either, Frey said. The voters agreed and approved three, consecutive terms for council members.
The idea of increasing the mayor’s number of terms didn’t even get discussed during the 2023 review of the charter, said Council Member Scott Jahns, who served on the committee at the time.
In doing research on term limits in area communities, both Pedro and Council Member Mary Duncan found little uniformity in the number of terms – or even whether cities and villages even have those limits.
Duncan said she understands why extending term limits for council was important at the time, because many election years it’s a struggle to find enough candidates who are interested. And finding people to run for the highest office is even more difficult, she added.
“It is in the charter that we’re allowed to do this,” Duncan said of the ability for council to put the question to voters without a recommendation from the Charter Review Committee.
Putting it on the ballot wouldn’t cost the city, said Administrator Jon Gochenour, but Wagner said he spoke with an official from the Lucas County Board of Elections who stated that the cost would be unknown until the board knew how many other municipalities were adding ballot issues – which would split the cost. Wagner said he opposed putting the matter to voters until it was vetted by the Charter Review Committee first.
“It appears that at the 11th hour we’re trying to get a third term,” he said. “The charter shouldn’t be a popularity contest. I’ve talked to different administrators and they said this doesn’t pass the smell test. It looks bad. It puts city council in a tough spot. “
Pedro pushed back, telling Wagner that it’s an opportunity to be consistent.
“It’s not a popularity contest. We’re not smelling anything tonight. We’re being leaders and making tough decisions for the city of Waterville. It’s not the 11th hour. It’s an opportunity to talk about it like we are tonight. It’s disappointing that one would want to gaslight this thing with smell test, popularity, 11th hour. That’s not the case.”
While Wagner suggested making the change effective in 2028 – thus disqualifying Pedro from a third term – Frey weighed in with a concern about the optics.
“If we wanted to align these things and it was that big of a concern, I don’t understand why it wasn’t brought up in council [in 2023]. Why didn’t we do it with all of the other recommendations from the Charter Review Committee? It just doesn’t look right to me,” Frey said.
Pedro asked for a motion to accept the resolution and, seeing none, made his own. Without a second, the motion to put the matter on the ballot died. Pedro then withdrew the motion and made another motion to table the issue until the July 27 meeting. Again, no one voted.
Without the issue being put to voters this fall, Pedro is unable to run for re-election in November 2027.
During the meeting, council also:
-Congratulated three 2026 Anthony Wayne High School graduates, who were selected for Waterville Fire Association scholarships. Colleen Hildebrand is heading to Miami University to study biomedical engineering. At AWHS, Colleen was involved in swimming, track, Interact, Student Council and National Honor Society, as well as coaching at Fallen Timbers Family Recreation Club.
The Waterville Fire Association awarded scholarships to three Anthony Wayne High School students on June 22, including Abby Polesovsky, Colleen Hildebrand and (not pictured) Grant Hubley. (AWFP photo by Karen Gerhardinger)
Abby Polesovsky plans to major in nursing at the University of Kentucky, where she will twirl for the Wildcat Marching Band. She has been a majorette for the Marching Generals for the past four years.
Grant Hubley was named the recipient of the Carl Conrad and Family Award, but was unable to attend due to attending a leadership conference in Washington, DC. Grant has been involved in leadership through FCCLA since eighth grade and plans to study public service at Ohio University, said his mom, Leah Hubley.
The Waterville Fire Department had all vehicles out on June 22 as students in Safety City passed by on a school bus. The fire chief, Doug Meyer, is currently on administrative leave, but no reason was given by administration. (AWFP photo by Karen Gerhardinger)
-Heard Gochenour present the monthly report from the fire department. Fire ChiefDoug Meyer sat in the audience in civilian clothes, representing himself as a citizen, but did not speak. Both Gochenour and Meyer confirmed that Meyer has been on administrative leave since June 15, but no reason was given. Meyer has served as chief since January 2020.
-Held a second reading on an ordinance to rezone 7551 Dutch Rd. from Planned Business Park District to M-1, which is the current use by Duvall Woodworking. A third and final reading will be held on July 27.
-Heard that the Waterville Monclova Road construction has switched over to the east side, and will include milling, widening, storm sewers, curbs and cutters, as well as replacing nine concrete and seven asphalt driveway aprons affected by the construction. The southbound left-turn lane into the Waterville United Methodist Church has been closed off to avoid potential head-on collisions but a left turn can be made from the through traffic lane, Gochenour said. Construction is expected to be complete by Oct. 5.
-Listened to Leatra Harper of Bowling Green urge council to look into the hazards of gas-powered plants used in data centers, and to write the Ohio Power Siting Board to ask them not to approved such a plant in the city.
-Heard Leslie Harper of Whitehouse ask questions about notes and maps she received through a public records request, showing what looks like plans for a power plant on Neapolis Waterville Road land that is owned by the Toledo Lucas County Port Authority. Duncan said the notes are not from city officials and that the map Leslie showed is old. Wagner said the land has been prepared for other development, and Frey said that information is confirmed by marketing materials on the Port Authority’s website.
-Learned from TARTA representatives that Waterville had the highest usage of a shuttle to Walleye games in the 2024-25 season, and was nearly the highest when it came to use for Mud Hens games, when measuring usage by riders in Toledo, Sylvania, Maumee, Oregon and Waterville. TARTA recommends that the city ask Kroger for a rider pickup area in its parking lot.
-Learned that the city received an $85,000 Ohio Facilities Construction Commission grant to repave the parking lot and create an ADA-compliant access to Wakeman Hall.
-Heard Finance Director Tiffany Bachman provide a May update that includes a balance of $13 million, up $707,441 from April’s ending balance. Income tax collections increased 8.03 percent from May 2025 collections. June’s tax collections were up 5.7 percent over June 2025.
-Learned that 70 students are enrolled in this year’s Safety City program.
-Heard Police Chief Joe Valvano say that two drones were delivered and officers are going through training before seeking a pilot’s license. He also noted that a suspect has been identified in an incident involving fireworks that destroyed a mailbox on Mattatuck Way.
-Heard that the Waterville Police and Fire departments will host a bike rodeo and bike safety seminar on Saturday, June 27 from 10 a.m. to noon at Waterville United Methodist Church. The event will include bike safety skills, obstacle courses and other activities. E-bike riders are also welcome.
-Learned that the city and Anthony Wayne Area Rotary Club will be hosting the 20th and final Family Fun & Fishing Derby on Saturday Aug. 29 from 8 a.m. to noon at Waterworks Park, with new activities, fishing, prizes and food. Ages 6-14 are welcome to participate. to sign up visit waterville.org.
-Heard Duncan say that anyone with trees hanging over power lines should contact Toledo Edison and fill out a form to have the trees trimmed. With trees falling on power lines, the city has experienced power outages during windstorms.
-Learned that plans for the July 4 celebration are in place, with food trucks and free inflatables set up behind Waterville Primary School beginning at 5:30 p.m. and fireworks beginning at 9:45 p.m. Browning Masonic Community is hosting a community event with fireworks on Friday, June 26 from 5:30 to 10 p.m.
-Heard that artist Dean Davis will be signing the new Waterville mural on Mechanic Street between 2 and 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24.
-Approved a development agreement for Meijer to repay the city the estimated $295,000 cost to install a traffic signal at the east intersection of S.R. 64 and U.S. 24. The city will move forward with the design and put the project out to bid in early 2027. Meijer is also installing turn lanes on S.R. 64 prior to opening in May 2027.
Mia Hammond. (Photo courtesy of EPSON Tour and Legends Tour)
TOLEDO – The Greater Toledo Classic, which will be held July 17-19 at Highland Meadows, hosted their annual Media Day, highlighted by an appearance from defending champion Mia Hammond.
Hammond visited patients and their families at Ronald McDonald House of Northwest Ohio, one of the tournament’s beneficiaries; plus, she was on hand for media interviews and concluded the day with a youth clinic featuring four patients from Nationwide Children’s Hospital – Toledo and ProMedica Russell J. Ebeid Children’s Hospital.
Joining Hammond as sponsor exemptions in this year’s Greater Toledo Classic are Ohio State University graduate Kary Hollenbaugh and University of Illinois graduate Anna Ritter. The trio will compete alongside a field of 141 Epson Tour professionals.
“The sponsor exemptions represent an important opportunity to showcase exceptional talent while providing fans with compelling stories to follow throughout tournament week,” said Tournament Director, Judd Silverman. “We are excited to welcome Mia back as defending champion and to provide Kary and Anna the opportunity to compete in their home state of Ohio.”
Beneficiaries of the 2026 tournament include the Jamie Farr Scholarship Fund of the Greater Toledo Community Foundation, Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity: Women Build, Nationwide Children’s Hospital – Toledo, ProMedica Russell J. Ebeid Children’s Hospital, and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northwest Ohio.
Through the support of hundreds of volunteers and local businesses, the Greater Toledo Classic continues to make a meaningful impact throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. In 2025, the tournament distributed $337,000 to five northwest Ohio children’s charities and awarded college scholarships to five area high school seniors. Since its inception in 1984, Toledo Classic has raised over $14.6 million for more than 200 children’s charities.
TOLEDO — “I no longer believe the death penalty is a deterrent to murder.”
Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), in a news conference last week, declared that he no longer supports the state having a death penalty — despite, as a state senator, being one of the law’s original authors. Proof that, even with less than a year remaining in his final term as governor, DeWine still has the ability to influence moral and political discourse in the state.
“For the state to take a human life,” said DeWine, “there must be evidence that, in doing so, it will protect the public.”
DeWine argued that, equally as important, there must be evidence that someone will be deterred from committing a murder, knowing they could face the death penalty.
“The legislature can take this action, and I believe they should take this action,” said DeWine, calling for a ban on capital punishment. “But if the legislature does not want to make that decision,” he said lawmakers should “leave it up to a vote of the people of the state of Ohio.”
While the governor said “the moral justification” he had in supporting the death penalty “no longer exists,” not all of Ohio’s elected officials shared in his change of heart. State auditor and Republican candidate for attorney general, Keith Faber, made clear his disagreement with DeWine in a Facebook post.
“While I appreciate that Governor DeWine has come to his new position on the death penalty earnestly, I believe he’s wrong on this issue,” wrote Faber. “The current law has not been utilized. It should be. I’ll work with the General Assembly to identify constitutional methods of execution that can be implemented immediately.”
Faber is referring to the fact that, since DeWine took office in 2018, no executions have occurred in the state of Ohio. As Cleveland.com reported back in May, the governor “has maintained a moratorium” on executions, concerned that “pharmaceutical companies will retaliate” upon discovery of their product being utilized in an execution. While legislation to prevent that from happening has been proposed, it hasn’t been passed.
Ohio’s sitting attorney general, Andy Wilson, also differed from the governor — by whom he was appointed.
“Having personally handled several death penalty trials, I understand the value of the death penalty as an option for prosecutors and victims in very limited circumstances,” a statement from Wilson read. He said, in his experience, pursuing the death penalty is not a choice made “lightly” by prosecutors in the state. Wilson’s statement goes on to call the death penalty, “in a small percentage of cases,” the “only option” that can bring “a measure of justice and closure” to victims’ families.
Wilson’s statement continued, “I’m relieved that the governor didn’t use the power of commutation to undo the decisions of the prosecutors, juries and judges who are closest to the facts and evidence in these cases.”
He closed by saying that with the death penalty still law in Ohio, his office will continue to “uphold” it.
Wilson’s position received the endorsement of his predecessor, former Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who resigned back on June 6 to join Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Yost wrote: “I wondered how the new guy would react to his former boss’ public repentance on the death penalty. He stood his ground, and proved up again his prosecutor chops.”
In his remarks last Tuesday, DeWine, also a former prosecutor, prosecuted his case for the death penalty’s abolishment. He argued that the years-long gap between one’s sentencing and execution, if they even make it to that point, poses no immediate threat to perpetrators, and therefore, is a non-deterrent.
Additionally, while the governor acknowledged that the families of victims have varying views on capital punishment — from those who see it as a just consequence to others who find it an offense to the victim — a “universally held” feeling, he said, is that the long wait for someone to be executed drags out the pain of families.
One other pillar of the governor’s argument is the toll executions take on those tasked with carrying them out. Via his prepared remarks, the governor painted a picture of what it means to carry the weight of that feeling, quoting Gary Mohr, former director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (2011-18). DeWine read out Mohr’s recounting of an experience he had during the practice for an execution.
“On my first execution, I played (it was not play) the role of the condemned. As the process concluded, the team called for the medical staff to respond as I was experiencing extreme anxiety symptoms. Other team members in that role had similar experiences.”
The governor, as an alternative to the death penalty, said “our money and energies are much better spent” on keeping “repeat violent offenders out of society.”
While a number of high-profile Ohio Republicans publicly disagreed with DeWine, he did have a noteworthy supporter: U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno. In response to a question from the Statehouse News Bureau’s Sarah Donaldson, Moreno said: “I’m a believer that life begins at conception, all the way through natural death, so I’m, personally, not somebody who feels like the death penalty is something that humans should do. So, I support his moral point of view.” He added, “I believe it’s only up to God to end life, not humans.”
Advocates against the death penalty have also pointed to the potential for — and real-world examples of — wrongfully-convicted individuals dying for a crime they didn’t commit. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “Since the modern death penalty era began in 1973, at least 200 people have been exonerated from death row across the United States. At least 21 others who were likely innocent have already been executed.”
That same ACLU report found “official misconduct from police or prosecutors,” such as witness coercion, excluding key evidence, filing false reports, or allowing perjury, to be “the single most common factor in wrongful death penalty convictions” — a finding that was particularly true for Black death row exonerees. False testimony and eyewitness misidentification were cited by the ACLU as other common reasons for wrongful death penalty convictions.
So far, the governor’s push is unlikely to go anywhere in the Ohio General Assembly, at least according to House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima), who told the Statehouse News Bureau that while some House Republicans support ending executions, they’re not the majority. But with lawmakers out on break until November, any legislative effort would be forced to wait, regardless.
The 160,000-square-foot Meijer store on S. Pray Boulevard in Waterville is expected to open on Memorial Day 2027. Nearby, Buffalo Wild Wings plans to open a restaurant that same day. (AWFP photo by Karen Gerhardinger)
WATERVILLE – South Pray Boulevard is undergoing a change as Meijer continues construction of a 160,000-square-foot retail store and 3,600-square-foot gas station and convenience store on 25 acres. Plus, Buffalo Wild Wings is planning a 7,600-square-foot restaurant next to the O’Reilly Auto Parts. Both are expected to open by Memorial Day 2027, said Municipal Administrator Jon Gochenour, who was the guest speaker for the June Waterville Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
“It’s a significant investment in the city,” Gochenour said of Meijer, noting that the property value is estimated at $32 million, and that will provide tax revenue to both the city and Anthony Wayne Local Schools. In addition, Meijer expects to hire 300 to 350 employees, who will contribute income tax revenue to help pay for city services.
Waterville municipal administrator Jon Gochenour presented an update on city progress to the Waterville Area Chamber of Commerce during its June 16 meeting. (AWFP photo by Karen Gerhardinger)
Meijer is investing in significant roadway improvements as well, including a 600-foot eastbound right turn lane on the south side of S.R. 64; a 480-foot westbound right turn lane on the north side of S.R. 64 to access U.S. 24; and a traffic signal on the east side of the bypass that will allow traffic to flow more easily around the interchange and down to Waterville-Monclova Road.
Meijer has two outlots – one along S.R. 64 west of the gas station and one on the south end of the Meijer property – that have garnered a lot of interest.
With 30,000 people in the Anthony Wayne area, Gochenour said he’s heard particular interest from medical and retail sectors about available space.
Farnsworth Industrial Park is another area seeing significant growth. Kaufman Engineered Systems is set to finish its 52,000-square-foot addition to its 66,000-square-foot facility, adding 16 full-time jobs and $1 million in payroll.
The industrial park is also home to the main manufacturing facility for Surface Combustion, a 110-year-old company with 675 patents and 75 trademarks.
The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority recently completed a 48-acre expansion of Farnsworth Industrial Park, installing an 1,800-foot road, Big Lucas Drive, with a cul-de-sac, retention pond and all utilities. The shovel-ready site was made possible with a $1,182,760 Ohio Department of Development grant. The Port Authority is also looking at adding another 50 acres to create opportunities for manufacturing and industry.
“The Port Authority has had a lot of luck in redevelopment,” Gochenour said, pointing out the Overland Industrial Park in Toledo, which added 600 jobs. “This is a great opportunity for the city.”
When the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Canada and Detroit opens, it will spur more growth in northwest Ohio, especially in areas with easy access to highways – and that includes Waterville, Gochenour said. The city has other areas open for business, including the Riverbend Flex Industrial Park on Choctaw Drive, which has seven lots of 1 to 6.5 acres in size.
Improving the downtown area was one of the most-mentioned comments in a survey of residents when updating the city’s land use plan last year, and the city is working to do just that, Gochenour said. Using a $428,000 Ohio Department of Development grant, the city will remove the tanks and building from what was most recently a Sunoco gas station at Farnsworth and the Anthony Wayne Trail.
“We will remarket this for private economic development,” Gochenour said.
Across the AW Trail, the city is also using an $85,000 grant to pave the parking lot for Waterville Historical Society’s Wakeman Hall.
The downtown area will get a boost from a Downtown Redevelopment District designation, which will allow a portion of the increase in tax revenues generated from improved property values to be be reinvested in the area.
Waterville’s residential sector continues to grow as well, with three Waterville Landing subdivisions – Columbian Village, Farnsworth Village and Stonewood Village – containing 40 buildable lots. In 2025, 25 new homes were built in the city, adding a construction value of $9.9 million.
While the housing market sees its highs and lows, the allure of Anthony Wayne Local Schools‘ excellent reputation continues to draw people to the area to live, Gochenour said.
“In 2012, we were predominantly a bedroom community, with taxes coming primarily from residential. In 2025, the city received 76 percent of its taxes from non-residential development.”
Supporting residents takes funding from a strong business sector, and that growth is allowing the city to expand its services. The fire department now has nine full-time firefighter/paramedics and the police department is up to 13 full-time officers. This year, the city will add two public works employees.
The city is investing more on roads projects than ever this year, with $2.1 million toward widening Waterville-Monclova to three lanes for a continuous left-turn lane from Michigan Avenue to Pray Boulevard; filling in gaps in the shared use path system; and resurfacing Canal Road. The city will also replace 234 panels of sidewalk in the areas of Second, Fourth and Fifth streets. In all, the city received $1.7 million in grants for these improvements.
One of the most significant projects is costing the city $1 – taking over ownership of the Roche de Boeuf Interurban Bridge once the contractor, Kokosing, is finished with a partial demolition. Kokosing is expected to begin removing the spandrel walls, fill dirt and fallen debris in July, leaving the city with the piers and arches so that Save the Bridge Association (STBA), the city and other partners can work together to raise funds to install a pedestrian and bike patch over the arches.
“As they get into the partial demolition, it could collapse or something could go wrong,” Gochenour admitted. “If they’re working on it and they can’t save it… the city is not taking over a structurally unsound bridge.”
The purchase of the bridge includes the right-of-way in Wood County, providing access to S.R. 65 near Forst Road and the Bowling Green water plant that supplies water to the city. Owning that right-of-way will give the city more access to maintenance of the waterline that runs through that space.
“It’s not a bridge to nowhere,” Gochenour said, explaining that connecting Lucas and Wood counties will open up opportunities to work with a variety of partners and extend the Slippery Elm Trail from North Baltimore into Waterville. That in turn would connect cyclists and pedestrians to the Towpath Trail that is connected between Farnsworth and Providence metroparks.
The city already has a $557,625 grant to do the first phase of revitalization, installing a 12-foot wide bridge over S. River Road and an overlook on the river from the south pier and wing wall. The city also owns space on Anthony Wayne Trail, a small parking for the overlook is planned.
Once the bridge is stabilized, plans call for a prefabricated bridge system – like the one over the Anthony Wayne Trail by the Fallen Timbers Monument – that would put the load on the piers, not the arches.
“We could have a pedestrian path and recreational facility that is 25 miles long from Waterville to North Baltimore,” he said. “It will require a lot of cooperation from public and private partners and take several years to complete. Will it be easy? No. Will it take a lot of hard work? Yes. Is it impossible? Absolutely not. I think we can do this. It’s just amazing that we were able to be in this position to have a plan to rehabilitate this historic structure. In Waterville, anything is possible.”
Waterville and Whitehouse are hosting Independence Day celebrations befitting a 250th anniversary. Put on your red, white and blue, bring a lawn chair or blanket, and head to one of these area events.
June 26
Friday, June 26 from 5 to 10:30 p.m., Browning Masonic Community is hosting a Community Fest, featuring food, games, live music and fireworks. The event is free and held at 8883 Browning Dr. in Waterville. Enjoy walking tacos, hot dogs, hamburgers, an ice cream bar, lemonade station and Snowie Summers snow cone truck. Bring a towel to dry off after throwing water balloons or running through sprinklers. Silver Songbirds will perform a concert at 4:30 p.m. in Harmony Hall, followed by live music by John Pickle at 5 p.m. Fireworks will began around 9 p.m. Bring a lawn chair.
July 2
Whitehouse will celebrate its 162nd birthday and America’s 250th on Thursday, July 2 at Blue Creek Metropark and Whitehouse Village Hall.
Beginning at 5 p.m., the area next to village hall will be filled with a kid’s inflatable area – available at no cost thanks to a sponsorship by Whitehouse American Legion Post 384 and Cub Scout Pack 384. Eight food trucks will also open up for business at 5 p.m., including K&K Concessions, The Loaded Chicken, Naan Stop Kebap, Mr. Popper’s Kettle Corn, Outlaw Attitude BBQ, Snowy Station, Susie Lynne’s Lemonade and Uncle Louie’s Food Truck.
Live music by The 25’s will take place from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
The Whitehouse Historical Society will be set up to share information on local history, and the Anthony Wayne Free Press will be passing out free copies of the America 250th Commemorative Edition – a printed paper featuring articles on the Anthony Wayne area.
Fireworks begin at dusk, and the best viewing area is facing east over the quarry, off of Providence Street. Bring a blanket or lawn chair.
July 4
Waterville is hosting its biggest fireworks display ever on Saturday, July 4 at dusk, with viewing available from Prairie Trail Park, Waterville Primary School and many neighborhoods.
Sponsored by the City of Waterville, Waterville Cub Scouts Pack 101 and Susie Lynne’s Lemonade, an Independence Day celebration will begin at 5:30 p.m. behind Waterville Primary School, 457 Sycamore Lane. Enjoy live music and entertainment by Touch the Sky DJs, free inflatables from Air Extreme Ohio, and food trucks including Detroit Mini Donut, El Padrino Street Tacos, Hot Dogs 2 Go, Mr. Popper’s Premium Kettle Corn, Susie Lynne’s Lemonade and Wanna Make ‘er Loaded.
Dilworth Strong Real Estate and Property Management is providing free play all night long from Hoop Toledo, a mobile pop-a-shot gaming experience. Chick-fil-A will reward free food for a year to whoever gets the highest score in the month of July. The Waterville firework celebration festival is one of the participating locations.
Waterville United Methodist Church, 7115 Waterville-Monclova Rd., is hosting its Pop, Pop, Pop celebration from 7 to 10 p.m. with a cookout, popcorn, popsicles, games and a great view of the fireworks. The event is free and open to the public.
During the evening, the Anthony Wayne Free Press will be passing out free copies of the America 250th Commemorative Edition – a printed paper featuring articles on the Anthony Wayne area.
Doug Hinebaugh — better known as Dougie Fresh — is the photographer documenting what makes Toledo cool. In this episode, he sits down with host Michael Vanderpool to talk about getting sober, leaving Toledo and finding his way back, building a full-time freelance photography career out of COVID, and why “showing up” is the key to everything.
We get into his volunteer work with the Toledo Streets newspaper and the homeless community, what actually makes a good photo, his first solo gallery show “One City, Many Moments,” and Techledo — the free electronic music festival during Watershed Weekend.
If you’ve ever thought “nothing happens in this town,” this one’s for you.
Ohio Gas crews work on preparing lines for a mini roundabout that will be installed at Waterville Monclova and Monclova roads later this summer, following the construction of a roundabout at Monclova and Albon Roads – set to start on June 22. The delay will cause construction of the roundabout in front of the school to continue after school begins Aug. 17. (AWFP photo by Karen Gerhardinger)
Those were Monclova Township trustees’ decisions regarding four proposed zoning resolution amendments – including two relating to data centers – that landed on their desk for final approval on June 15.
After the trustees enacted a one-year moratorium on data centers in February, Zoning Administrator Eric Wagner began working on zoning resolution changes to send to the Lucas County Planning Commission, which reviewed them in April. Currently, if a data center developer wants to locate in the township, the zoning resolution requires applying for a conditional use permit, with the township Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) setting the conditions.
The first proposed change looks at how much flexibility the BZA would have in setting those conditions. The county approved the language and forwarded it to the township zoning commission, which made its own recommendations – including replacing the word “shall” with “may” when it comes to requiring conditions, including landscaping, screening, parking, hours of operation and lighting. Law director Dawn Sanderson said “may” would give the BZA more flexibility, while “shall” would limit what the BZA could do.
“It’s to add protection to the community, letting the BZA, in their hearings, create additional parameters,” she said. “When you put in ‘shall,’ then suddenly you have limited what the BZA can do. ‘May’ gives them expression on each case-by-case review.”
Resident Ed Ciecka prefers “shall,” saying that too much discretion could be given to the BZA on a big issue such as a data center. Resident Lyn Cox agreed that “may” weakens the section and that she would suggest “require” plus another sentence to describe where the BZA does have flexibility.
“It’s not clear at all,” said Trustee Debbie Stevens-Laux, getting agreement from Trustees Chuck Hoecherl and Barbara Lang, who proposed tabling the issue and having it get further review.
A section defining auxiliary electric generators was also tabled. The recommended language states that these generators can only use natural gas or propane, and that use of other fuels must be approved by the BZA. Units must be in a free-standing enclosure for noise protection. And portable units are only allowed for emergency purposes. Such generators – if for commercial, industrial or multifamily units – would be allowed 300 feet or more from the nearest lot line of adjacent residential areas, and 20 feet if for residential use.
Resident Risa Sindel pointed out that the language doesn’t regulate how many are allowed, and that a data center could have hundreds of generators 300 feet from a home. She also noted that the language about the decibel levels coming from those generators is weak. Wagner said the site plan review process would allow the township to limit the number of generators.
Other residents spoke about the public health impacts of the noise and emissions from multiple generators. Lang said the verbiage should define what constitutes an emergency that would permit a generator, and referred to time when Brandywine used portable generators to run their sprinklers for an extended period. Hoecherl also recommended looking at outlining how many generators should be permitted based on the size of the facility. And Stevens-Laux said commercial and residential generators should not be lumped into the same code.
The trustees asked Wagner to seek more information and return with suggestions.
A third proposed change, meant to limit the types of business in the Maumee Monclova Toledo JEDZ to those that would generate income tax, was tabled as well in order to better define what number of employees would be required. The purpose of the JEDZ is to generate income, but automated businesses like self-storage or car washes with kiosks do not meet that goal.
“We have colleagues that have figured this out,” said Administrator Mike Hampton. “We’ll do some homework.”
The fourth component of the public hearing focused on how to best notify residents of Zoning Commission meetings. A change in state law now allows the township flexibility to not use a newspaper, which Sindel pointed out limits the information to only those who have a subscription. She encouraged trustees to use their website and Facebook, and resident John Langevin said including the meeting notices on the MyMonclova app would reach more residents. Trustees agreed that these methods of getting the word out to residents would work best, except when it comes to public notices for Ohio Public Works Commission projects. To get reimbursed, Hampton said he would need an affidavit, and that’s not available by posting online.
Trustees approved of the language for the zoning notifications, but tabled the other three.
During the meeting, the trustees also:
-Discussed taking a second look at becoming a limited home rule government. In Nov. 2024, the issue was put to voters, but it didn’t pass. Becoming limited home rule would allow the township to retain control over zoning and expand its ability to handle nuisances – such as noise, junk cars and tall grass – more effectively, Hampton said. The trustees agreed and asked Hampton to come up with a plan to move forward. Getting it on the ballot in November would require board approval in July.
-Heard that roundabout construction for Albon and Monclova Road is expected to begin on Monday, June 22, which is much later than the mid-May date originally planned. This is due to delays in getting utility poles moved. Hampton said the project is expected to last 45 days, during which time a detour will be posted. This will delay the start on the Monclova and Waterville-Monclova road mini roundabout until early August, and Hampton is in discussions with the county, post office and schools about the impact of construction. The first day of school is Aug. 17. With the delay for the two projects, Hampton said plans to install a roundabout at Albon and U.S. 20A are in jeopardy of being delayed until next year.
Justin Zwyer and firefighter/EMT Cody Griss apply water to a house fire during the recent Safety Township program for incoming kindergarteners. (AWFP photo by Karen Gerhardinger)
-Approved the 2027 budget as presented by Fiscal Officer Gavin Pike. The budget is due June 30 and reflects collections of just under $15 million and proposed expenditures of $17.5 million – although not all of the items in the budget will be purchased in 2027, Pike noted. Projects and purchases in the budget include approximately $1.7 million for Strayer Road resurfacing; $100,000 to repave the maintenance facility parking lot; $240,000 for 911 dispatching; $900,000 for the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office; $1.2 million for garbage collection; and $115,000 for refurbishing the tennis courts. Also included in the budget are funds for another full-time administrative aide, a full-time maintenance worker, and full-time firefighter/EMTs. As it did last year, the budget also contains $2 million for land acquisition, but no properties have yet been identified specifically, Pike said.
-Learned that the fire department handled 193 incidents in May.
-Heard Cox ask trustees to share their position on data centers. Hoecherl said he’s publicly shared that he’s not in favor of a hyperscale data center but doesn’t want to put the township in a position of being litigated into bankruptcy for just opposing any proposed project. Lang echoed her previous statements that she will not state an opinion, as that would show bias and therefore require her to recuse herself from a vote.
Noah Sauber tees off from Hole 6 as teammate Sean O’Donnell watches. (Courtesy photo)
PERRYSBURG – There was a golf outing on June 8 unlike any other. Oh, the object was still to get the little white ball in the cup, but the reason for being on the links was a first: to raise funds to allow people who’ve lost a loved one to get the counseling they want and need.
The Monarch Grief Center hosted its inaugural Monarch Open Golf Outing that day at Belmont Country Club in Perrysburg. After a noon lunch, the scramble event teed off at 1 p.m. with 52 golfers in 13 foursomes.
Monarch Grief Center is a nonprofit providing professional, compassionate grief support to those who need, as it says on its website, “a place to turn so they feel less alone in their grief journey.”
Amy Rowe and Tim Polakowski, Monarch’s co-founders and grief counselors, enjoy the scene from a golf cart as 52 golfers took to the links in a scramble start. (Courtesy photo)
Few want to admit they need help because “it’s kind of a taboo subject,” said Amy Rowe, cofounder and grief counselor, about seeking grief counseling. She said there are those who can get by in their own time and move on, but for the ones who are struggling, the center is available to them.
Monarch accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and other forms of major insurance, but realizes that not all have insurance and that others may have high deductibles. One of Monarch’s founding principles, Rowe said, is that the center doesn’t want finances to be a burden. “Our mission is to provide support to those who are grieving.”
To that end, Monarch has hosted three Sunset Soirees in the fall which, through patrons’ tickets and sponsorships, raised money for the center’s Monarch Fund. That fund provides copay and deductible assistance for patients with insurance and a sliding fee scale for private-pay clients, as well as the center’s support groups and community events.
Tim Polakowski, Monarch Grief Center co-founder, executive director, and grief counselor, welcomes golfers with Beth Wong, Monarch’s development coordinator and a grief counselor. (Courtesy photo)
To add to the Monarch Fund through a new and different source, the grief center came up with the golf outing.
Why golf?
“I wanted to take something fun that people enjoy doing for the joy of it and make it an opportunity to support [our] mission,” said Beth Wong, the center’s development coordinator, the outing’s originator and point person, and a grief counselor. “As a first-year outing, we are very pleased with the number of golfers, sponsors, and donors who have committed to the event.”
Wong added, “As a counselor and development coordinator, I know the importance and impact of the precious work we do and the need to support it.”
The first-ever event raised $25,000 for the fund.
“We had a great time that was made better by the good cause we were supporting,” golfer Noah Sauber said. “We know Monarch directly helps so many in Northwest Ohio.”
Monarch Grief Center marked its three-year anniversary this past February. Rowe and fellow cofounder Tim Polakowski, the center’s executive director and a grief counselor, called upon their experiences as social workers at a local hospice to develop Monarch.
Monarch provides specialized support groups based on the nature of the death, the deceased’s age or stage of passing, and led by licensed professionals.
Monarch Grief Center is at 314 Louisiana Ave., Perrysburg, and can be reached at 567-331-8601, at monarchgriefcenter.org, Facebook and Instagram (@monarchgriefcenter).
