By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

VERSAILLES — The Versailles Village Council on Wednesday was bittersweet, as many members attended their last session.

Mayor Jeff Subler, who has been involved for 19 years, passed along his gavel to Mayor Elect Todd Dammeyer.

“Thank you to everybody, and peace out,” Mayor Subler said. “No, really thank you to every body, and I feel good about leaving at this time feeling it is all in good hands.”

Mayor Subler also presented a Certificate of Appreciation to council member Jeff Beasley for his dedication and service to the Village of Versailles. Beasley had been on the council since 2016 and will be pursuing other avenues after the new year.

“Thank you for being on council and all your hard work,” Mayor Subler said.

Dec. 22 was Village Administrator Mike Busse’s last working day with Versailles. he had been in the position for three years and says he “has enjoyed it very much”.

“I will miss working with each of you but its time to move on to the next stage of my life,” Busse said in a mass email.

He had first entered the public service sector 48 years ago with the Fort Loramie Fire Department, and he has been an active member in all the communities he has lived in ever since. He said the end of his career had seemed almost unattainable, but he has worked with some amazing people.

“I just wanted to take the time to thank each of you for being there for me and helping me along the path of life,” Busse said.

Assistant Village Administrator Kyle Francis has stepped up to fill the role Busse previously held during his time with the Village. Francis was also appointed to be the Village’s representative on the Darke County CIC Board and Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC), both effective Jan. 1, 2023.

In his report, Francis advised they are continuing to monitor and manage the ongoing tight water supply situation for the Village.

“Customer water consumption increased sharply last week,” Francis said. “This resulted in the Village having to haul approximately 208,000 gallons of bulk water from the City of Piqua Water Plant to our water plant to make up for a shortfall in production due to our wells not being keep up.”

The wells are not able to keep up due to the depleted aquifer. The Village is working to have constant contact with all of the larger water customers in addition to monitoring their AMI water meter usage information to look for any potential leaks on the customer side of each service that can be corrected. The aquifer is low due to usage and lack of rain to replenish the supply.

The Raw Water Project continues to make lea way for future correction of water issues. Shinn Bros., Inc began working last week Wednesday on locating utilities in advance of their pip installations on Phase II of the project. The Phase II portion is from the Village’s north corporation limit to the Reed Road well field site. Shinn Bros. plans on starting this week. The project is contracted to end in June of 2024.

Shinn Bros. has also began work on the construction of the new Ward Park Swimming Pool Filtration System Project. Both the pool and waterline projects will be the biggest projects within the 2024 fiscal year.

“They did get the foundation and floor in last week at the pool,” Francis said. “We are trying to get that building up and ready for the pool season.”

Francis said that they also need to make sure the waterline in complete and ready to go next year because the Village “needs the water from the wellfield to make sure there is a pool season next year”.

The next Versailles Council meeting will take place Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m., in EMS Building, 320 Baker Road, Versailles.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].