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Safety Service Director Steve Wheeler presents 2025 annual report: building activity, grants and parks highlighted
Summary
Steve Wheeler presented the 2025 Safety Service Department annual report on Feb. 2 covering roughly $7.3 million in permit value, 81 zoning certificates, 1.6 million in grants for 2025, record pool attendance near 20,000, and planned 2026 projects including Pine Street reconstruction funded by OPWC.
Safety Service Director Steve Wheeler presented the department’s 2025 annual report to Orrville City Council on Feb. 2, reviewing building and zoning activity, code enforcement, refuse and recycling totals, parks and pool finances, tax abatement status, grant receipts and road project history, and outlining priority projects for 2026.
Wheeler said the department issued 81 zoning certificates in 2025 with a combined value of just over $7.3 million, including three new single-family homes valued at about $1.1 million and a duplex valued at $356,000. He reported 70 properties were in violation of property-maintenance rules during the year; the inspector made 149 visits, 75 letters were sent, and 69 violations were corrected and closed.
On refuse and recycling, Wheeler said the city’s base hauler Kimbell collected 6,700,000 pounds of refuse and 954,000 pounds of recyclables in 2025, producing a 14.1% recycling rate, slightly below 2024. He highlighted parks and pools as a strong year: pool receipts totaled $68,790 and attendance totaled just under 20,000, a record on the department’s attendance graph.
Wheeler also summarized grants and economic-development activity: the city received about $1,600,000 in grant funds in 2025, including roughly $1,300,000 for Heartland Trail Phase 3A from the Ohio Department of Transportation and $250,000 from the Ohio Capital Improvement Fund for the Depot Park stage; smaller grants for police and fire equipment were also listed. He noted the city currently has multiple enterprise zone agreements and community reinvestment arrangements (CRAs) active.
Looking to 2026, Wheeler said the Pine Street reconstruction project is scheduled and funded in part by the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC), street resurfacing is planned for several neighborhoods, sidewalk Phase 4 will continue and final design work is planned for Fire Station 2 renovations and an addition.
Council member Hanover asked when the Heartland Trail paving would be completed; Wheeler said crews expected to resume paving in early spring and expressed optimism the trail would be ready by summer. Wheeler closed by thanking staff and identified several department employees by name for their contributions in 2025.
The council recorded the report and noted the police department’s annual report would be presented at the Feb. 16 meeting.
