Millersburg council to consider Holmes County hazard mitigation plan

Millersburg officials kept one eye on the long-term hazard plan and the other on work residents can see every day, from downtown sidewalk repairs and crosswalk lighting fixes to the Wooster Road waterline project and striping on S. Clay Street. The May 11 council packet showed a village government trying to move visible improvements forward while also preparing for storms, flooding and other hazards.

Council was asked to approve Resolution 2026-12 for April 27 bills totaling $81,660.43 plus payroll of $79,592.44, and Resolution 2026-13 for May 11 bills totaling $79,007.76 plus payroll of $74,521.94. Those numbers reflected the routine machinery of village government: streets, payroll, utilities and the steady maintenance work that keeps Millersburg operating.

The biggest policy item was a second reading of Ordinance 2026-9 adopting the Holmes County 2026 Hazard Mitigation Plan. Holmes County Emergency Management Agency said the draft was open for public comment from March 6 through March 20, and described the strategies as a non-mandatory "wish list" of mitigation actions meant to reduce long-term risk, protect lives and property, and preserve eligibility for certain FEMA mitigation grants. The county’s hazard mitigation planning dates to 2007, when the plan was first approved by FEMA, and the document was updated and re-approved in 2014.

FEMA says communities with current mitigation plans remain eligible for certain non-emergency FEMA grants, a detail that gives the ordinance a practical financial dimension as well as a planning one. FEMA’s national status page says 77.7% of the U.S. population lives in communities with current mitigation plans, placing Holmes County’s update inside a broad federal framework that rewards advance planning.

The plan had already come before council on April 13, when Jason Troyer of Holmes County EMA presented the update and Ordinance 2026-9 received its first reading. By May 11, the legislation had advanced to a second reading, moving Millersburg one step closer to formally aligning village policy with the countywide plan.

Council still had a crowded list of unfinished business beyond the mitigation ordinance. The packet tracked updates on Old Airport Park lighting, new playground seating, Clay Street Park mulching, a phone system update, an EPA generator grant, a housing study, an indigent burial site dedication, smart traffic lights, downtown crosswalk and lighting safety fixes, DORA guideline changes, an alley vacation request, an employee leave donation policy, new village vehicle logos with reflective chevrons, and the Tree City Report. Council also expected an update from the 4th of July Committee and a new appointment to the DRB/P&Z.

The village had already proclaimed April 24 as Arbor Day, and the summer calendar was taking shape too, with the Summer Concert Series at the Millersburg Amphitheater set for the first Saturday of each month from June 6 through October 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. That combination of planning, maintenance and public programming showed a council working on both the visible face of Millersburg and the systems behind it.