It appears having young children could soon no longer be an obstacle to attending Oxford Village Council meetings – or so officials hope.

Last week, officials discussed a previous recommendation by Councilwoman Kate Logan whereby the village would make free, on-site childcare available to the public during council meetings as a way to help increase participation and interest in local government.

“We want people in this (council) chamber,” Logan said. “We want people (to be) part of this process. We want to be transparent. That is our priority. We will look at any program to make that possible.”

Village President Joe Frost noted free childcare is available at parent teacher organization (PTO) meetings and “they’ve got a huge turnout because you can take your kids with you.”

Plus, Frost said it’s “not a bad idea” to get young children accustomed to coming to the village hall once a month because “you’re starting to plant the seeds for local participation (in) that next generation.”

Nothing has been approved, but council is looking at having the childcare provided by either The Goddard School of Oxford, a private business, or the Oxford Early Learning Center, which is operated by Oxford Community Schools.

Logan estimated it would cost approximately $50 per meeting, assuming a pay rate of $12-per-hour each for two adults to spend two hours supervising the kids.

She considers that to be a “minuscule amount of money” compared to the “invaluable” service of giving parents “the ability to participate in the public process.”

As far as funding goes, she said council members previously discussed voluntarily donating a portion of the pay they receive for serving on the board.

Per the village charter, council members are paid $15 for every council meeting they attend. The charter also states that a councilperson’s total pay cannot exceed $500 per year, with the exception of the village president, who is paid an additional $200 annually.

“I will gladly donate my council stipend to (funding childcare),” Frost said.

Logan noted she heard a “rumor” that the only reason she proposed this was so that she and Frost, the only council members who have young children, could get “free childcare.”

“I wasn’t even going to address it because it’s so ludicrous, but I think it’s going to be kind of fun to debunk it,” she said.

Logan went on to explain that she and Frost don’t need childcare services as evidenced by the fact that “we’re at these meetings” already and “our children aren’t.”

“We’re very fortunate. We have spouses or partners that are at home with our children so that we can be here,” she said.

Offering free childcare at council meetings is about helping people who don’t have the “support services or the support system that we have at home,” Logan said.

She added that she and Frost are not the only residents who have “procreated.”

“We actually have a lot of young children in the village,” she said.

Logan indicated she “would look at any and all programs that we could make available to our residents if there was a barrier for them to be here (at council meetings).”

“If we had to look at options for transportation, I would do that,” she said. “If we had to look at options because we had citizens who had elderly parents living with them and needed adult daycare, I would do that.”

“I don’t want to hear any more rumors and I don’t want to hear any false narrative being put out there that this is (in) any way, shape or form a program so that my children can come run around outside the chamber and eat pizza while I sit in here,” Logan added.