2 sworn in Monday night
The St. Marys City Council swore in two men as a police officer and firefighter for the city of St. Marys on Monday.
Riley A. Gibson and Brandon L. Rethman were officially sworn in April 12 as members of the St. Marys Police Department and the St. Marys Fire Department respectively by Mayor Patrick McGowan. They took their oath at the City Office Council Chambers, officially dedicating themselves as civil servants to the city.
Now, Gibson was hired after the retirement of Sgt. Chris Green in order to fill up the gap in the position. Gibson is a local graduate, having gotten his diploma from Wapakoneta High School, along with graduating from the Grand Lake Law Enforcement Academy. He’s moving into this position from the Minster Police Department since he started working part time there since last September.
Gibson’s family was there to watch him up the oath and has since been welcomed with open arms by the police department.
Rethman, officially a firefighter, took a very similar oath to Gibson now that he is a member of the St. Marys Fire Department. Having graduated Versailles High School, along with gaining his Agricultural Mechanics degree from Owens Community College, he is living his dream of being a firefighter since joining the Osgood Fire Department, which he is leaving after having started working there in 2013.
Rethman has a variety of skills, such a as the title of emergency medical technician through Apollo, firefighter level two certification through Sinclair and has been trained in ice, grain bin and scuba rescue. A husband and father, he is planning on continuing his education while on duty.
Both Gibson and Rethman have sworn to protect and serve the Constitution of both the United States and Ohio, along with doing their doing their jobs to the best of their ability.
In other business, council:
• Discussed a notice of a public hearing that will be held April 26 at 6:15 p.m. in the council chambers. The hearing will focus on the rezoning of a 0.764 acre of land containing the southern 50 inches of lot no. 3 and the entirety of lot no. 6. It is located south of Freewalt Way.
• Ordinance 202110 was proposed to the council about a broken transformer at Spokeworks Substation, mostly regarding its removal and sale. The T&R Electric Supply will take the transformer at around April 29, buying the transformer for about $10,000. The proposal was passed by all members.
• Ordinances 2021-11 and 2021-12 focused on the issuance of bonds of $8,000 and $22,500 for the purpose of paying property owners for the 2020 street program. The proposals are being passed on for a second reading later on. • Resolution 202112 was proposed as an emergency resolution to transfer Lot 1 to Freewalt Way Subdivision. Another emergency resolution, Resolution 2021-13, involved amending Resolution 2021-07 for the repairs of various sidewalks and various with some changes in plans and specifications. Both resolutions were passed unanimously.
• A request for a Streets and Sidewalks Committee meeting was approved to occur at April 19 at 5:15 p.m.