ROSSFORD – City Council President Larry Oberdorf said he knew Josh Drouard was destined to be a fire
chief.
Oberdorf remembered when Drouard was young and visiting the Oberdorf house, if he heard a fire alarm,
he’d jump on his bike and follow the call.
Monday night, Drouard was sworn in as Rossford fire chief. He takes over for Jim Verbosky who resigned
from the post after 15 years in the wake of an incident in which he sent a text message of a sexual
nature to a female firefighter.
Mayor Neil MacKinnon III appointed Drouard to the post, and council approved that appointment unanimously
on Monday.
MacKinnon said that when he was faced with finding a new fire chief, Drouard, who has been assistant
chief since Verbosky took over the department, was his first choice.
Still MacKinnon said he reached out to other city officials, and public safety officials in the county.
They affirmed the mayor’s belief that Drouard was the man for the job.
Verbosky will remain with the department until the end of the week, assisting with the transition,
MacKinnon said. His last day is Friday.
Drouard is in charge of the department, MacKinnon reiterated.
Also sworn in Monday was Ryan Stautzenbach, a 14-year veteran of the department and a Toledo firefighter,
as assistant chief.
Drouard has been on the Rossford squad for 26 years. Until his promotion to chief he was a dispatcher
with Lucas County EMS.
In other action, council:
• Approved a partnership with the Ohio Department of Transportation to improve the signals and lanes at
the intersection of Ohio 795, Crossroads Parkway and Clark Drive.
Police Chief Glen Goss said the intersection has been the site of a number of serious accidents.
"It’s going to be a lot safer" after the project is completed, he said.
The state will pick up the entire tab for the job, City Administrator Ed Ciecka said. He did not have a
figure as to how much the intersection upgrade will cost.
• Approved the renewal of its contract with the Rossford Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bureau
promotes visits to the city. Last summer that included hosting a week-long Ohio Chautauqua in Veterans
Park.
The group is funded through a portion of the city’s 6-percent hotel and motel tax. The bureau receives
1.5 percent. That’s budgeted to be about $155,000 this year.
Ciecka noted that, in the previous years, the bureau has also received payments from the fund that had
built up in the period after the additional tax was collected and when the visitors bureau was created.
The bureau will now receive only its share of the tax.