By Laura Mazur
Community Post
The Village of Minster has come upon a wise way to deal with the vandalism of the wise men.
A $500 reward is being offered for the discovery and apprehension of the individuals having caused the vandalism to the village nativity scene.

Over the Christmas holiday, vandals removed the wise man and attempted to remove the camel in the nativity scene, which has been displayed in the Minster Machine Centennial Park for a number of years. In the process of removal of the wise man and attempt to remove the camel, both of the statues received damage that is estimated to be in excess of $2,000.
Minster Council approved this amount for a reward after discussion of the vandalism during last Tuesday night's meeting.
“With something so costly, we should be allowed to put up a reward of conviction,” said councilman Tom Herkenhoff.
The reward money is the cost of the deductible that is also being paid to the insurance company for repair, if not replacement, of the statues. The wise man was found at St. Augustine Catholic Church the day after Christmas.
“This is ridiculous. We practically have to put a surveillance camera on Baby Jesus,” said Mayor Dennis Kitzmiller.
Council also swore in re-elected Herkenhoff and Kitzmiller, during the meeting, as well as former State Representative Derrick Seaver who won Dale Schmitmeyer's place in council in November's election.
Other business council attended to was the adoption of a resolution authorizing the village’s participation in the Ohio Department of Administrative Services Cooperative Purchasing Program for 2008. Through this contract, the village is able to buy vehicles and supplies.
A first reading was also taken of an ordinance approving a re-zoning request submitted by Western Ohio True Value Hardware. The hardware store wishes to change a 1.7 acre parcel from residential to commercial to coincide with its current zoning and the zoning of the property of the group home that is to be built behind the store.
Another first reading taken during the meeting was of an ordinance approving an annexation agreement with Jackson Township Trustees for approximately 4.288 acres of land owned by Juliana and Richard Weigandt. The couple wishes to tie in with the village's septic system, but this is not possible unless their property is annexed into the village.
In old business, in November, council authorized the purchase of a replacement generator for the Four Seasons Park well field. The current generator can operate the water treatment plant, but cannot also operate all of the wells to get water to the plant. A replacement generator will be able to operate all wells in the field, as well as the water treatment plant. As of Dec. 21, there was only one bid for the generator, which was from Buschur Electric for $46,275. This bid came in less than the cutoff amount of $50,000 council had agreed to pay for the generator. Buschur Electric was awarded this contract.
Under new business, council appointed Rick Schwartz as council president. Council members also appointed various board and commissions for the Village of Minster, including: Village Clerk John Stechschulte serving on the Minster Tree Commission, Shirley Shenk serving on the Minster Community Fund and Kitzmiller and Village Administrator Don Harrod serving on the Auglaize County Regional Planning Commission.
Kitzmiller, Seaver and Herkenhoff designated Harrod to attend the required public records training for them in the situation where they could not attend.
Council approved invoices in the amount of $104,724.57.
Highlights from the administrator's report included:
*Electrical crews continue to install street lights along Hanover Street. All of the street lights north of Fourth Street have been installed and activated.
*There was a small delay in getting the final block of lights activated as the two wooden poles off of Hanover Street on Seventh were discovered to be rotten at the base and had to be replaced prior to the lights on Hanover being activated. Now that the north end of Hanover Street is finished, last week, crews began the installation of the lights south of Fourth Street. Since the entire feed for this portion of the project is from Second Street, all of the lights between Second and Fourth will need to be installed before being activated.
*The hydrant, installed adjacent to well number six and close to the sledding hill, has been removed by the Public Works Department. Electrical crews still need to relocate the electrical panel and this will be done in the near future. The Village is unable to eliminate all of the potential hazards associated with well number six due to the Ohio EPA requirements that the actual well case extend a required distance above ground. As in the past, the village has tried to take precautions to make the sledding hill area as safe as possible.
Council entered into executive session to discuss the hiring of personnel, with no action taken. The next regular meeting of the Minster Village Council will be on Feb. 5, at 7 p.m. in council chambers.