Safety Village of Wayne County teaches important safety lessons to about 2,500 children ages 4 to 8 each year.
“It’s a great program,” said Jeff Plasterer, president of Wayne County’s commissioners. “I want to be supportive.”
Rich Cody, executive director of Safety Town, spoke with commissioners during their May 28 meeting about ways they could support the child-sized town at 700 N.W. 13th St., Richmond. Cody took over Safety Village four years ago after retiring from Richmond Power & Light.
The village is now filled except for one lot that has four potential partners to construct a miniature building on it. The village also is becoming more involved in other activities beyond the Kiwanis Safety Kamp, which will be a single-day camp with sessions July 19 and July 26. The village hosts a trick-or-treat event, a touch-a-truck event and Birth to Five’s Safety Village Grand Prix.
Next on Cody’s to-do list is landscaping. He showed commissioners a proposal from Rose City Nursery that he said will need to be pared down for implementation. That’s an opportunity for commissioners to lend their support and receive signage in the village.
With Commissioner Brad Dwenger unable to attend the meeting, no decision was made.
Commissioner Aaron Roberts called Safety Village “a hidden gem” and said he appreciates what the program does.
“Safety Village is one of our neat places in Wayne County and Richmond,” he said.
Courthouse plaza
Work continues creating the new plaza outside the courthouse’s east entrance.
As that progresses, commissioners must decide on the safety bollards and new lights that will be installed. Commissioners were presented with the selected lights that closely match those in downtown Richmond and with four bollard versions that are the same cost.
No decision was made about the bollard style. Plasterer noted that because the bollards are a security feature, it makes sense to select the most secure mounting option for them.
Streaming meetings
Beginning July 1, a new state law takes effect that requires government bodies to live-stream meetings and store the recordings.
Commissioners and the county’s IT department have been testing the streaming system during recent weeks as they work toward compliance. The system uses a Meeting Owl, a 360-degree video camera that puts whoever’s speaking onto the video feed. Craig Eason, the IT director, received permission to purchase a new Owl, with the possibility of adding a second to cover both meeting areas in the chambers.
Commissioners also were presented a list of county board, commission and committee meetings and will review, along with county attorney Ron Cross, which are required to comply with the new law.
A version of this article appeared in the June 4 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.