The City of Findlay is urging residents to take measures to ensure their water and sewer bills are received and paid in a timely manner.

The city says, as of October 1st, the United States Postal Service implemented new service standards that increase time-in-transit by 1 or 2 days for certain first-class mail, meaning it may take up to 5 days to deliver some first-class mail.

The city says, these delays, along with the upcoming holiday rush may affect how soon residents receive mail, including the City of Findlay Water and Sewer bills.

It may also cause a delay in receiving payment of your bills.

To avoid delays in receiving billing statements and possible late fees, the city is urging people to consider enrolling in the many ways to receive and pay your bill.

The best way to ensure bills are received and payments are made in a timely manner is to:

1) Register with SmartBillCorp.com to receive your bills via email.
2) Complete an Autopay Agreement form to have payments drafted from your bank account on the due date.

The link to register to receive your bills via email and the fillable Autopay Agreement form, as well as more ways to receive and pay your bill, can be found in the Bill Pay section of the City of Findlay Water/Sewer Billing Office website at www.findlayohio.com and on the back of your Water/Sewer Billing statements.

As a reminder, payments can be dropped off in the lobby during normal business hours or placed in one of the two drop boxes at the City of Findlay Water/Sewer Billing Office located at 136 North Blanchard Street and or the one located at the City of Findlay Municipal Building at 318 Dorney Plaza.

People may contact the Water/Sewer Billing Office for assistance or with further questions at 419-424-7190.

A Hancock County Veteran was bestowed a big honor.

Roger Neff was recently inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

Nichole Coleman, executive director of the Hancock County Veterans Service Office in Findlay, nominated Roger for the honor.

Coleman tells WFIN that Roger’s infectious patriotism and positive attitude creates an atmosphere that brings people together for the common good.

As Coleman mentioned in the audio above, Roger makes meaningful connections everywhere he goes and has started and worked with a lot of local organizations over the years, including Toys for Tots.

Roger, who served in the Marine Corps, was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.

The 20 inductees will be honored for their accomplishments and achievements at the 30th annual Induction Ceremony in November for their post-military service.

This class of candidates represents 13 Ohio counties and five military branches.

( above pic courtesy of the Hancock County Veterans Service Office )

(ONN) – For the first time in state history, Ohio recorded more deaths than births last year, a development experts say was expedited by COVID-19.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that roughly 143,000 Ohioans died last year while about 129,000 were born, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health.

So far this year the state has had more than 107,000 deaths and more than 100,000 births.

In the 112 years since statewide record keeping began, deaths never previously surpassed births despite countless wars, economic downturns and disease.

The newspaper compiled the data with the Ohio History Connection.

Registration is underway for Camp FUN, a program designed for area youth who have been affected by addiction and/or overdose.

The camp, a community collaborative initiated by the Hancock County Opioid and Addictions Task Force, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 20 at the New Life Assembly of God, 3120 Norcrest St., Findlay.

There is no fee to attend the camp but limited spots are available.

Camp FUN (Friendship, Understanding and Nurturing) is open to youth between the ages of 9-12 and 13-17.

The purpose of the camp is to provide positive encouragement and support to impacted youth.

Activities will include arts and crafts, music, an obstacle course and other games.

Door prizes and lunch and snacks will be provided.

Parents or guardians can register their child online at: shorturl.at/bwHN7

The registration deadline is Nov. 15. There is no fee to attend the camp.

For more information on the camp contact Pastor Gregg Fox at Bluffton Trinity United Methodist Church, 419-306-0233, or at 419-424-1985 or adamhs@yourpathtohealth.org

Safety officials say the medication collection event held in Findlay last weekend went very well.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office says, with assistance from the Findlay Police Department and the University of Findlay Pharmacy students, they we were able to collect 225 pounds of old, unused medication.

The medication take back event was held at the Findlay Municipal Building south parking lot on Saturday.

People were able to simply drive up and drop off their old medications, and dispose of them in a way that’s safe for the environment and good for the community.

Many people flush their medications, leading to environmental concerns.

Others dispose of medications in the trash or leave them in their house where someone could find them and abuse them.

Both the Findlay Police Department and Hancock County Sheriff’s Office have medication collection boxes in their lobby where you can dispose of your old medications.

(above pic courtesy of the sheriff’s office)

(ONN) – “Test to Play” and “Mask to Stay” are the new, modified quarantine guidelines for students outlined by the Ohio Department of Health.

Following exposure, direct contacts may remain in the classroom, if they wear a mask for 14 days.

If they start to show symptoms, they will isolate and get tested.

Students and staff can go back to normal after seven days if they don’t show symptoms and test negative after five-to-seven days.

For extracurricular activities, asymptomatic participants can continue as long as they wear a mask when it’s reasonably possible.

Contacts are asked to take a COVID test once they learn they were a contact and then test again sometime between days five and seven.

The University of Findlay’s annual Helping Hands Food Drive will be held on Wednesday, November 3rd.

Nonperishable foods and monetary donations will be collected to benefit those who need them most.

Donations will be collected on-campus at the Alumni Memorial Union through a “drive-up and drop-off” process from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Multiple drop-off locations are available including UF’s AMU building, Kroger on 6th St., both Findlay Walmarts, and Brinkman’s on Sandusky St.

The top-five requested items are:

Peanut butter
Canned soup
Canned fruit
Cereal
Bottled juice

All donations go to CHOPIN Hall and will benefit families in Findlay and Hancock County.

In 2020, CHOPIN Hall provided 338,700 meals to those in need.

Last year, the Helping Hands Food Drive far surpassed all goals and collected a record-breaking 165,735 pounds of food.

New this year, student organizations will be participating in a CAN-Struction competition where students will build sculptures out of nothing but non-perishable foods.

(pic courtesy of the University of Findlay)

The Main Street Deli Bar & Arcade held its grand opening over the weekend in downtown Findlay.

Main Street Deli expanded its operation and combined the current deli with a new bar and arcade right next door.

Bar Manager Ashley Rainbolt says they’ve already received a lot of good feedback.

As Ashley mentioned in the audio above, the bar and arcade is family-friendly but after 8 p.m. it is 21 and older.

Most of the games are free with the purchase of a drink, although you do have to pay to play the pinball games.

She says they have a lot of craft beer on tap, a great liquor selection and of course all the great food from the deli.

They built a walk-through so customers can easily get from the deli to the bar/arcade.

Get more on the new bar/arcade by clicking here and by watching the video below.

Main Street Deli is located at 513 South Main Street in Findlay, and the bar & arcade right next door.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association has released the pairings for the first round of the football playoffs.

The Findlay Trojans will host Miamisburg on Friday night at 7.

The Trojans finished the regular season with a record of 7-3 after a big win over Lima Senior Friday night.

Miamisburg is 6-4 on the season.

The first and second round games will be hosted by the better seeded team.

Neutral sites will be used beginning with the third round (regional semifinals).

See all the pairings for the first round by clicking here.

The City of Findlay is hiring a consulting firm to help with its strategic planning process.

Details are in the following news release from the city.

After a lengthy review and selection process, Planning NEXT, of Columbus, Ohio, has been selected to partner with the City of Findlay to complete a comprehensive, city-wide strategic planning process. The selected consultant will work with the City’s various demographics, business leaders, community members, economic development, local school districts, businesses and other community organizations to prepare a comprehensive strategic plan inclusive of the entire community with the outcomes focused on the City of Findlay’s direct responsibility. This process would also include a method for updating, maintaining, and evaluating the strategic plan.

“I am thrilled to engage Planning NEXT to move the City of Findlay’s strategic planning process forward. We had 10 firms that responded to our request for qualifications and narrowed them down to four extremely qualified firms. Planning NEXT was the unanimous pick of the group and that confirmed that they are the exact right partners. Planning NEXT brought the selection committee together and that is what I wanted the results of this process to be. A clear vision of what we all want our community to be 5, 10, 20 years down the road and how we as the City of Findlay government and staff can make it happen.” – Mayor Christina Muryn

“The process ahead is going to be extensive and like none our community has ever completed. The results will ultimately be what continue to make Findlay a community that is truly special. Planning NEXT has extensive experience not just identifying or completing projects but completing extensive outreach, problem solving, and overall planning for communities. That is what the committee was looking for and what we found in Planning NEXT.” – Committee Chair, Councilman Jeff Wobser

With the selection of Planning NEXT the Strategic Planning Committee will now move forward with finalizing a contract and project timeline. Watch for more information and how you can engage in this process in the coming weeks.

The Findlay City Council Strategic Planning Committee members are Mayor Christina Muryn, Auditor Jim Staschiak, and Council Members Jeff Wobser (Chair), Dennis Hellman, Joshua Palmer, Grant Russel, and Tom Shindledecker.