BOTKINS — Over the last year the village of Botkins continued to invest in infrastructure, parks, and managed growth.

“This recipe has been tremendously successful at ensuring that our community continues to thrive, despite tough national economic conditions,” said Randy Purdy, village administrator.

His report continues:

The village’s sidewalk project continued last year with the installation and replacement of curbs, walks, and approaches on South Mill Street and West Walnut Street. Installing and maintaining sidewalks ensures safe walking paths for residents and is especially important as students travel to and from school, practices, and extracurricular activities. The village’s sidewalk program will continue in 2023 on Roth Street.

A much-needed re-surfacing of South Mill Street and Maurer Street accompanied the concrete projects last year. Paving wasn’t limited to roads, with the parking lot at the Botkins Fire Department being resurfaced and a gravel lot at the Botkins Branch Library being converted into an asphalt lot. A continued focus on road maintenance will see Roth Street resurfaced in 2023, in addition to the State of Ohio’s planned resurfacing of State Route 219 throughout Botkins.

An exciting year at the Botkins Community Park saw the installation of new fencing around the tennis court, basketball court, and the creation of a dog park. The fencing project marks the culmination of the replacement of the basketball court, and the establishment of the Botkins Dog Park. These projects have been spearheaded by the Botkins Joint Recreation Board, whose commitment has led to numerous projects recently to improve the Botkins Community Park. Grant funding awarded last year will allow the Village to pave the parking lot at the Park this summer!

Big changes were afoot at the Botkins Police Department with the retirement of Chief Wayne T. Glass after 33 years of service to the village of Botkins. The Village thanks Chief Glass for his service and is happy to have him continue that service as Fire Chief and as an auxiliary officer. Chief Mark Jordan was sworn in by the Mayor in April and has been a part of the Botkins Police Department team for over 10 years. The Botkins Police Department was also able to utilize forfeited funds from a recent drug bust to purchase a new police cruiser in 2022, the new cruiser will be in service this February.

Growth was once again on the agenda for the Village in 2022, with the highly anticipated completion and grand opening of the new Botkins branch of First National Bank in New Bremen. The new location provides residents with a picturesque view and expanded services including multiple drive through windows. We are grateful to see the bank expand in our community and are especially excited to see the Botkins community theme used in the new facility.

The highly anticipated grand opening of FarmGrounds Coffee brough tons of energy to the Village, giving residents the opportunity to enjoy fresh brewed coffee and tasty pastry treats! Pilates for Life’s renovation and opening of a new studio in the village has transformed both bodies and buildings, we were excited, if not a bit sore, to see the new studio opened last year. Continuing the health kick, May PT has broken ground on their new facility at the Botkins Industrial Park, with the new location to be up and running this year!

The coming year will be a busy in the village of Botkins, with road maintenance projects on Roth Street and State Route 219, a new parking lot for the Botkins Community Park, and continued smart growth initiatives on the docket for both residential and industrial growth!

The state of the Village remains strong. We are #BotkinsProud.