On August 8, 2022, Chief John P. Alexander, sadly left the Mechanicsburg Police Department after over 16 years of service with the Department with 8 years as our Chief.
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Village of Mechanicsburg, Mayor Gregory Kimball has appointed Lt. David C. Patrick, II as Chief of Police, the Village of Mechanicsburg Council confirmed Lt. Patrick as Chief on August 15, 2022, at a regularly scheduled council meeting. Chief Patrick has been with the Department for just over 6 years and has 10 years of law enforcement experience. Chief Patrick last role with the Department was as Administrative Lieutenant.  Chief Patrick is a graduate of the Clark State Community College Police Academy in 2012.  Chief Patrick served with the St. Paris Police Department after graduating the academy and in 2016 started serving the Village of Mechanicsburg. Chief Patrick is a graduated, magna cum laude, from Clark State Community College with a associates degree in criminal justice. Chief Patrick has also graduated, cum laude, from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. If you see Chief Patrick out in the community, please congratulate him.  

Please know that the Village of Mechanicsburg is providing full services to the Village.  We are working staggered shifts to ensure that our employees and their families remain safe.  The office is closed to the public and will have minimal hours to ensure that all business is taken care of on a regular basis.  If you need assistance, please call (937) 834-3187 and leave a message for the department that is appropriate for your need.   

The Village of Mechanicsburg is suspending disconnection of utility services, late fees and penalties for non-payment from March 23rd through April 25th. The temporary suspension should not be considered a reason to not pay your utility bill. Customers may use the night deposit box to pay utility bills. We have provided envelopes for your convenience.  After April 25th, delinquent utility accounts will be reviewed and the need for service disconnections will be determined by the office on a case by case basis to ensure that delinquent balances do not become so excessive that they cannot be brought current within a reasonable time. To initiate new service, the application can be found on the website here. Please drop application off along with copy of your driver’s license, $100 deposit and all necessary signatures and we will schedule your water to be turned on.   

Police, Fire and EMS services remain fully staffed at this time.  Please call 911 for any emergency as usual.  All other non-emergency calls may be made to (937) 834-3187 and appropriate extension.  Right now, we are supplied with PPE equipment but that could change at any time.  Please be kind to all our First Responders.   

Our Water/Wastewater and Street Maintenance department employees are continuing to work on limited schedules and are on call 24/7.   
There are many volunteers distributing food during this crisis.  Oasis of Mercy Food Pantry distributes food boxes on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays at St. Michael's Church, located at 40 Walnut St, open to anyone in need.  They will bring boxes out to your car.  On the 4th Thursday Mobile Food Truck is at St. Michael's with both dry good and fresh/frozen boxes available.  Mechanicsburg Schools is giving breakfast and lunch bags free to all students.  Please visit their website for details.  Church of Our Savior will have their Community Meal for carry out only on Wednesday March 25 from 5-6:30pm.  Check out Mechanicsburg Free Community Meal on their Facebook page for further details.  Food is also available at Mechanicsburg Ohio Blessing Box.  See their Facebook page for details.   

While our resources are limited, we may be able to help you find needed items.  During this time we all should be practicing kindness.  Please check in on your neighbors.  If you are going out for groceries, see if you can pick something up for them, drop off a puzzle, Facetime your friends to stay in touch.  Please practice social distancing, wash your hands, stay home if you are sick, and follow all the CDC recommendations until this is over.  

Links for information:   
http://www.champaignhd.com/
https://www.cdc.gov/
https://governor.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/governor/

The Village of Mechanicsburg’s new phone system is up and running.  The main number with access to all departments is 937-834-3187 with a menu option (below) for each extension. 

1. Utility Billing
2. Mayor
3. Administrator
4. Fiscal Clerk
5. Zoning
6. Fiscal Officer
7. Police
8. Fire

There will be a Special meeting Monday July 8th 6:30pm at the Municipal Building to pass Resolution 19-04 An Emergency Resolution authorizing Mayor Greg Kimball to prepare and submit an application to participate in the Ohio Public Works Commission State Capital Improvement and/or Local Transportation Improvement Programs and to execute contracts as required.

Also...Our phone system is out of order.  We apologize for the inconvenience.  Repair has been called.  Waiting on an update today (July 8th).

We want to thank you for visiting the first official Mechanicsburg Website. A lot of time, work and thought has gone into the creation of this website. We have endeavored to create a website that is user friendly, that will improve communication between the village government and residents, provide you with updates on village happenings and explain the processes, procedures and restrictions by which we must function, so you have a better understanding of who, what, why, and how we operate. There are many issues… Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, Finance, Water and sewer, Storm water, Safety, and Street. All of these are important and very fluid issues. I will periodically provide in this section discussions on these many issues.

Currently the major concern is the streets. This is not an issue unique to Mechanicsburg. A recent Urbana Citizen article stated that it could take 24 years for Urbana to address all of their street issues, and they are considering increasing their permissive tax the help subsidize their street fund. We could do the same, but we do not want to increase the financial burden on residents unless absolutely necessary. It is impractical and unrealistic to even think that in Mechanicsburg with 1644 residents and approximately 600 taxed properties, that enough money can be raised to address all of the issues So we must prioritize. We know we have street issues and that you want shiny, black, smooth avenues of transportation.

We sincerely thank you for approving the 5 mil Street Levy last fall. This levy will bring us about $90,000 per year. So far this year we have received only about $45,000 in revenue. The new additional State gas tax is estimated to bring us $37,000 per year in additional street revenue. We are very grateful for this however we ask that you consider the actual cost of repair and rebuilding. We can, and will cover some streets with a blacktop coating this year. But you must realize this is only a temporary fix.

We can continue to “Paint the Pig” but our primary issue is ground water and drainage, and these must be addressed first. If you build a house with an unstable foundation you are eventually going to have issues. The same applies to the streets. Our storm water drainage is not, and never has been, adequate. nor efficient. This last years’ rainfall has only exposed it even more. Unfortunately, storm water systems are payed for with street funds. We recently spent $30,000 to replace over 600 feet of 24” storm tile on East Sandusky, that had collapsed with a 10 ‘deep sink hole that threatened a resident’s foundation. In addition, we discovered a potential storm water culvert issue under Sandusky Street. And according to the State there might possibly be some “Historical” issues to deal with on this culvert. We are having this evaluated, as well as other storm drain failures system failures within the village. You know the water issues, with water in basements, sump pumps, springs and aging systems.

The primary funding avenue for streets, water, sewer and Storm water systems is the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC), and they work through a combination of Grants, Loans, and Matching (local) Funds. It is a complicated and competitive process. Each year in District 7, which we are in, there are about 50-60 applications for funding, with only about 25-30 getting approved. In addition, our county has an unwritten policy of sharing the “wealth” when it comes to OPWC funding by designating that certain years are reserved for villages, certain years for townships, certain years for cities and certain years for the county. Getting outside funding is a tough and competitive process at best and there is no guarantee.

We have obtained engineering cost estimates for different repair scenarios for several streets in town. As an example, the estimate for Race Street, from Church to Walnut (one block), with street reconstruction, storm tile, water lines, sewer lines, sidewalks, and curb and gutters is $700,000. We are trying to pare this down and do work in stages as money allows, with some temporary repairs, using OPWC funding to leverage your tax dollars. We are working to develop a plan, but it is slow and expensive. So Please bear with us. We want the same thing you do.

​Greg Kimball, Mayor