Here are a few things happening in Bexley that (mostly) aren’t otherwise covered in this week’s Blast. Have a great weekend! – BK
Mayor-For-The-Day Merrick issues a proclamation declaring hot chocolate as the official drink of snow days.
This week, I was overjoyed to welcome 7-year-old Merrick D. as Mayor-for-the-Day. Mayor Merrick got a tour of the police station, issued the oath of office to the police chief, and visited with me at city hall, where we worked together on his proclamation before he led the pledge of allegiance at Tuesday’s council meeting and read his proclamation onto the record!
This week we held our annual holiday party thanking board and commission members and key partners for their support and help over the year.
This years’ “Maple Syrup Awards” – thanking individuals for notable contributions during the year – went to Nate Green, Sarah Gold, Andrew Rosenthal, Larry Helman, Bill Heyer, Lori Ann Feibel, and the Bexley Bloomers in attendance. The Mayor’s Appreciation Award was given to Susan Quintenz on the occasion of her stepping down as Tree and Public Gardens Commission chair after decades of leadership. And the Employee of the Year Award went to Natalie Vawter, for consistently going above and beyond in big and small ways, seen and unseen, day in and day out. A huge thanks to everyone who has given so much to our community this year!
Note the upcoming change to Fourth of July evening celebrations, which will be held on the evening of July 3rd in 2026.
As surrounding communities have steadily been coordinating their Independence Day evening celebrations, we’ve seen an uptick in unruly behavior at our event, leading Chief Lewis to recommend moving our evening celebrations to sync up with the majority of events throughout the region. After discussion at City Council, their consideration and passage of a resolution, and the vote by the Bexley Celebrations and Events Team to make the move, we will be moving forward with the date change for 2026 for the evening celebrations, with the John Barr 5K and the 4th of July Parade both occurring on the morning of July 4th as normal.
Spotlight on the Budget… solar at the Police Department.
With the 2026 Budget now adopted by council earlier this week, I wanted to provide one more Four Things budget highlight. In this budget ordinance, funding was provided for solar carports at the police department. The carports will provide sheltered parking, and a solar installation that will generate up to 50% of the police department’s electric needs with a payback period of around 11 years, after which point the install will provide free, clean electricity into the future.
