WESTON—Weston Village Council on November 2 set aside a roughly $1,000 bill for catch basin cleaning that no village official approved in writing, voted 5–1 to repave the Village Hall parking lot if it can be done this year, and renewed its insurance with the Public Entities Pool of Ohio, according to a recording of the meeting. Mayor Rick Easterwood also told council there will be no Santa Claus at the December tree lighting as far as he knows, and a first look at the Tree Commission’s tree care ordinance turned contentious.


No Santa This Year, Mayor Says


In his report, Easterwood said he had emailed council a couple of weeks earlier that “the Santa Claus that we had lined up canceled.”

“So I’m not 100% certain what we’re going to do, if we do anything,” he said. “We’re still lighting the tree. Tree will be here. Santa Claus will not be, as far as we know.” He said he would ask local churches about caroling.

Easterwood was cool to finding a replacement. “If somebody volunteers to be Santa, I don’t even know if I would even recommend that,” he said. Asked whether the village should look for volunteers, he said, “I’m not asking.” He added: “I would not turn down a volunteer, but I’m not physically putting ourselves in this situation again.”

“We might just turn on the lights,” Easterwood said. “I don’t really want the repercussions of anything. So it might be bad, but that’s the way I feel right now.”

Easterwood did not say who had been lined up or why they canceled. Council approved $75 per half hour for an appearance by Santa and Mrs. Claus on September 8, while Councilmember Ashley Patel was absent. At the October 5 meeting, a resident asked on the record how many council members Patel had approached about hiring her parents for the roles and how earlier Santas were chosen and paid, and Councilmember Brittney Klockowski pledged to look more closely at votes involving council members’ relatives (October 5 coverage). The tree lighting is set for December 5 at 6 p.m.


Tree Ordinance Stalls Amid Frustration


Council took up the Tree Commission’s tree care ordinance, which the village needs passed by December 6 to meet Tree City USA criteria. It did not get far.

Klockowski, who reports to council for the commission, said the village solicitor wants three readings, with the third at a special meeting, rather than emergency passage. Council had just voted to cancel its November and December committee meetings for the holidays. “We just canceled meetings for holidays,” she said. “I would be hollering hypocrites.”

Members then raised a string of problems with the draft. The definition of “tree lawn” runs to the property line rather than the right-of-way, which matters where lots extend to the center of the road. Some sections use different terms for the same area, and Fiscal Officer Stephanie Monts said it may conflict with the existing ordinance on right-of-way maintenance. One member asked how the commission planned to explain “in simple terms” to residents who have lived in their homes for decades that rules about trees in front of their houses, backed by “some pretty steep penalties,” are changing. Members also questioned which of several versions in the council folder was the final one.

Klockowski pushed back. She said the commission has been working on the ordinance since March and the solicitor’s review came back last month: “They’ve been working on it forever.” She said she had emailed the clerk to say which document should be submitted, and asked of the clerk, “How was she supposed to know which one was correct?” She noted that other committees do not write their own ordinances.

“There’s like 30 million questions that were just thrown at me,” Klockowski said. Another member said, “It came to us and there’s questions, so it needs to go back.” Council did not vote on the ordinance. Members were told to email their questions on the document, and the Tree Commission was meeting at 5:30 p.m. on November 10.

Easterwood said Dave DeWitt has agreed to become the commission’s third member. Separately, council voted 6–0 for a purchase order of up to $3,000 for Rowe to take down trees the commission recommended removing, plus stump grinding at about $150 a stump for two dead trees Administrator Harold Boggs will cut down at Old Schoolhouse Park and Mural Park.


Township Trustee’s Catch Basin Bill Sent to Committee


The longest discussion of the night was over a late bill from Cam-Tech, a local contractor, for cleaning and jetting two catch basins on Weston Road near Sand Ridge Road during the flooding after Easter. The work was requested by Weston Township Trustee Jacob Brown, who farms land both inside and outside the village limits. The Public Works Committee had asked the village solicitor and fiscal officer how to handle the bill because no village official had issued a purchase order.

Easterwood said that on Easter Sunday he agreed to have the catch basins vacuumed out, but Brown wanted the lines jetted some 1,250 feet to a ditch to drain his field. Easterwood said he told Brown the village could not justify that with “my whole town flooded,” and that Brown told him the field was his livelihood. The next day, Easterwood said, he received a message saying “Mother Nature flushed the main.” He assumed no work had been done until a late notice arrived about four months later. Village solicitor Paul Skaff believes the village is within its rights not to pay, Easterwood said.

Easterwood read council an email from Cam-Tech saying Brown requested the work and told the crew he had discussed it with the mayor and that the village would pay half while he covered the rest. According to the email, Brown asked Cam-Tech to keep the time and billing for the job separate from other work he had the company doing that day. Easterwood said Cam-Tech was in the area that day on township work.

Easterwood apologized for not telling the administrator afterward and said $1,000 is “probably pretty cheap” to settle a long-running friction with the township. Several council members said the work bypassed the village’s purchase order process, and one noted council has denied other projects for the same reason. One member said Brown “prioritized his field over our town,” and others pointed to earlier township invoices they said were not properly explained.

Council voted to pull the Cam-Tech bill from the bills, paid the rest, and sent the Cam-Tech bill to the Administrative Process Committee.


Village Hall Parking Lot


Council voted 5–1 to approve repaving the Village Hall parking lot, using a $16,300 quote from Morlock, if the work can be done in 2026, with Patel voting no. Monts said the money would be moved from street paving to capital outlay. Boggs said Morlock could not guarantee it would fit the job in this year, and he was to call the company the next day. The proposed 2027 budget sets aside $20,000 for the lot (October 19 coverage).


Insurance Renewed, Deductible Stays at $500


Rob Fawcett, the village’s agent for the Public Entities Pool of Ohio (PEP), reviewed the renewal. The village’s premium is $21,513 with $4 million in liability coverage, and Fawcett said the pool’s finances are strong and the market is softening. Raising deductibles to $1,000 would have saved about $1,400 a year. Several members preferred to keep the $500 deductible, pointing to an aging truck and other vehicles and a claim already pending this year, and council voted by roll call to keep it at $500. Council then voted to renew with PEP for 2027 at the same cost.

Fawcett also reminded council that PEP offers a $1,000 safety grant each year. Later in the meeting council voted to apply it to the reflective lettering on the new ambulance, which costs $4,050 in all.


Other Business


  • 2027 budget: The 2027 appropriation ordinance received its second reading without changes.
  • Payroll appropriation: Council suspended the rules and adopted Ordinance 2026-15, a supplemental appropriation adding to the current payroll line, as an emergency. Both roll calls were unanimous.
  • .gov grant: Monts reported that a federal grant to help local governments move to a .gov domain and improve cybersecurity has reopened, offering up to $9,500 with a 20% local match. OHM Advisors drafted an application, which council sent to the Administrative Process Committee.
  • Taylor Street: Easterwood said the final walkthrough of the Taylor Street project with Helms & Sons and OHM was set for November 3, and the project was tentatively about $19,000 under budget including two change orders.
  • Broadway and Oak stop sign: The Public Safety Committee reported drivers running the stop sign at Broadway and Oak Street. Council discussed a solar flashing stop sign, at $1,200 to $1,700, and asking the sheriff’s deputies for more enforcement, and left it with the committee.
  • EMS: Weston EMS has made 372 runs this year. The older ambulance, 914, is losing oil and will be checked once the new squad is in service. EMS will replace a cot mattress for the Weston Township Fire Department, and the committee shelved a Knox box program because the fire department would have to run it. Patel will share information with township trustees.
  • Solicitors: Code enforcement officer Ken Taylor said he checked on reports of door-to-door solicitors on October 27 and found a woman encouraging residents to vote. Officials said other door-to-door salespeople have worked the village without the permit the village’s Green River ordinance requires, which takes at least five days and a sheriff’s background check.
  • Public Works: Toledo Edison has yet to approve the work order for remaining streetlight work, and replacing the red village truck looks likely to cost about $75,000. The committee put a storm drain repair near the township fire hall on hold until it is needed.
  • Community Development: The committee will ask that no AI-generated content be submitted for the village newsletter, is checking whether the playground mulch barriers need longer stakes, and suggested a spring park day. It is also arranging the first payment for Jessica Ball’s mural.
  • Meetings canceled: Council voted, each time over one objection, to cancel the November and December meetings of the Public Works and Public Safety committees because of the holidays. The objecting member said the meetings give residents a place to raise complaints.
  • Citizens: Resident Shirley Moore reported children throwing playground swings over the top bar.


The village has not posted a recording of this meeting, and its minutes have not yet been approved. This account is based on an audio recording obtained by The Weston Common and the published agenda. The recording begins during the insurance presentation, so the roll call and earlier items are not included.

Sources: Audio recording of the Nov. 2 council meeting · Nov. 2 council agenda