Meeting Minutes: August 18, 2026
Council called to order by Mayor Ron Searight on August 18, 2026 at 7:30 pm.
Let us pray – Dear God, we thank you for all that you have given us and have provided to us. We ask that you bless this meeting as we discuss the village business. We ask all these things in your Holy Name, Amen.
Pledge of Allegiance
Those present: Marcas Heitkamp, Luke Stephenson, Mary Beougher, Chris Heitkamp. Mark Heitkamp and Shane Young – absent
Also attending: Chief Westgerdes, Patrolman Miller, Robbie Peel, Barry Helman, Erin from the Daily Standard and Ross Finke.
Motion Marcas. Second Luke to accept the agenda as orders of the day.
Mary called for the question. Marcas = y, Luke = y, Mary = y, Chris =y. Passed 4 yes.
Motion Mary. Second Marcas toaccept the minutes from the August 4, 2026 council meeting as presented. Luke called for the question. Mary = y, Marcas = y, Luke = y, Chris = y. Passed 4 yes.
Mayor’s Report and Correspondence:
Noted Mayor’s court pay in and bank statement.
Tomorrow will be the first day of school for Parkway, so with that in mind kids could be running around half sleepy, not paying attention to their surrounds and get into your path of traffic. Be on the lookout for them, as they can be anywhere, including along country roads as well. Remember those big yellow things we call school buses. They will be stopping at various locations, making you late. So please leave early and follow all state laws that protect them. They hold valuable individuals inside them, and they need to be protected.
After last meetings announcement about ODOT placing stop signs on St Rt’s 118 and 707 a lot has changed. First, we met with ODOT officials and not only talked to them about the placement of the stop signs, but the reasoning for them and the hazards of signs being on all four corners as well with the hill. ODOT officials went to the site and saw firsthand what obstacles there are and what could be done about it. The Village of Rockford really has no direct involvement in this issue, ODOT just advised me about the change, and I told them I could get the message out in the Mayor Report. But one correction needs to be made, the stop ahead signs on traffic side will have the LED lights flashing and not the stop sign itself. District 1 officials made this clear to me and that it should help alert oncoming drivers of the stop sign. With that said I must say that since the change from District 7 to District 1, communications have improved greatly along with ODOT’s involvement with the village.
With intersections being a topic, Market St. has two four-way stop intersection and one is not being utilized properly. Some people are running through it like it is just advising them to stop. This is compounded by the speed many traveling down Market St. as it is posted 25 MPH. But I have had many people living on Market St. say that they see cars doing much higher speeds then what is supposed to down this street. This is creating a dangerous situation as I recall a child on a bicycle being struck crossing Market St. just a year or so ago. That happened about a half a block away from that intersection. I am not saying that it is okay for a child to run out in traffic, but it is not okay for speeders either. Anyway, if caught I have requested the Police Dept. to issue a ticket for any traffic violation down Market St. and not a warning. This needs to stop before someone gets hurt seriously as all intersections need to for oncoming traffic, including four-way ones at all locations. The sad part of this is many of these violators are local drivers, and they know better. So, yes, it is a target area for police as they will be putting more emphasis on patrolling that area.
To finish, with the heavy rains that we experienced over the past week we saw fewer issues of flooded streets. The town guys work hard to make sure that is the case, but we need your help by not blowing grass into the street as it does clog our storm sewers. This causes the town to either Vac or rode these lines out, creating undue experience and labor. It also violates ordinance 09-15 which was passed back in 2015 to prevent these issues. If you accidentally get some in the street or near a storm sewer please remove it ASAP. But please do not blow it out on the street and leave it. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Enjoy the rest of your summer as it is ending soon.
Remember, “Give more than you take and you will receive more than you gave.”
God Bless you,
Mayor Ron Searight
Upcoming Community information & events:
Wednesday – August 19th – Parkway First day of School.
Sunday – August 30th – Shanes Park – Maker’s Market – 11 am – 2 pm
Local vendors, food trucks and music !
Saturday – September 12 – Mercer County Fairgrounds – Household hazardous waste day and steel drop off. 9 am – 1 pm. Mercer County residents only – no businesses.
Saturday – October 31st – Rocktoberfest, Trick or Treating and Costume Judging at the Fire Station – more information coming !
Village Administrator’s Report – Aaron Temple
Notice to residents – The Fire Department will be flushing hydrants on Sunday – September 13th at 9 am. Afterward, if your water seems a little discolored this would be the reason – let the water run a couple of minutes and it should clear up.
We greatly appreciate the Fire Department for doing this yearly flushing – Thank you !
Shanes park —- little houses — Was mentioned at the last meeting that the houses are in bad shape – was suggested they be removed and put something else in the place such as hopscotch and four square— All agreed to remove the little houses and replace with those games that have been suggested.
We are moving forward with Cargill in the purchase of a better salt product. Took over 30 hours to clean out brine tank — with that said we will wait for the new solar salt to be placed in the cleaned tank – which could take about 1 month.
HSI Solar — doing final price checks, scheduling a site visit and will get a delivery schedule for products and will soon begin the installation process.
Committee Reports:
Finance Committee: Marcas Heitkamp
Motion Marcas to pay bills as presented $ 22,442.73 . Second Luke. Mary called for the question. Marcas = y, Luke = y, Mary = y, Chris = y. Passed 4 yes.
Motion Marcas to accept Mayor’s court pay in $177. Second Luke. Chris called for the question. Marcas = y, Luke = y, Chris = y, Mary = y. Passed 4 yes.
Rules / Zoning Committee: Mary Beougher
Referred to Ross for explanation of process – the property owners of several tracts of land will be petitioning the Village to annex into the village limits for the development of a business park. We will need some signatures and then the Village will petition to the Commissioners, Township, Auditor and County Engineering to accept and approve the annexation. Once that is completed the Village will pass a resolution accepting the annexation.
Motion Mary to proceed with Chene Development Annexation process. Second Luke. Marcas called for the question. Mary = y, Luke = y, Marcas = y, Chris = y. Passed 4 yes.
Service Committee: Shane Young – absent
Safety / Housing / Buildings Committee: Mark Heitkamp – absent
Economic Development Committee: Luke Stephenson
The Village is happy that the annexation is moving forward and this will help in applying for some future grants.
Public Utilities Committee: Chris Heitkamp
Old Business:
New Business:
Meeting adjourned 7:43 pm.
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Mayor Fiscal officer
