This is the ninth article in a series about the townships of Fayette County.
At the Nov. 5 general election, Marion Township will have one township trustee and the township fiscal officer to elect.
Marion Township is one of 10 townships in Fayette County that is located in the eastern section of the county and contains part of the village of New Holland.
According to the 2010 US Census Bureau, out of the 29,030 population in Fayette County there were 766 living in Marion Township.
The current Marion Township trustees are Chris Cottrill, Cody Kirkpatrick and Jeffrey Alan Speakman. The terms of Cottrill and Kirkpatrick expire on Dec. 31 of 2021. Speakman’s term expires Dec. 31 of this year. The fiscal officer, Kathy Brown, has a term expiring on March 31 of next year.
“As the township trustee you are the managing members of the township,” said Kirkpatrick. “The township trustees’ jobs are to manage the township using taxpayer and government funded moneys to keep the township operable and up-to-date.”
According to Kirkpatrick, Marion Township has three cemeteries. Those cemeteries are small and in the middle of fields. The mowing of these cemeteries is contracted out to a company.
“They don’t justify the cost of owning all the equipment to mow because of the size of the cemeteries—they’re just tiny ones,” he said.
There are 27 miles of road within Marion that the trustees are responsible for maintaining, according to Kirkpatrick.
While the trustees handle snow removal for these roads, they do have a part-time employee who handles the road ditch mowing.
The paving of roads typically occurs for one road at a time to meet monetary limitations. The most recent road that was paved in the township was Lotterman Road.
“There’s always roads that need attention,” said Kirkpatrick. “We’ll pave a road a year just about as long as they need paving.”
The trustees are also involved in local emergency services. Currently, Speakman sits on the BPM Joint Fire Department’s Board while Kirkpatrick is the president of the Pic-A-Fay Joint Fire Department’s Board. Cottrill sits on the EMA board.
“What we do is we take different roles as those times come and we switch the boards up. That way you’ve got different board members at different times at those agencies,” explained Kirkpatrick.
Both Brown and Speakman are running uncontested for reelection in November.
For more information please visit www.ohiogenealogyexpress.com. For specific information on what the board of township trustees are responsible for, please visit codes.ohio.gov/orc/5 to look over the Ohio Revised Code section 5.
Reach Jennifer Woods at 740-313-0355.
