Post-meeting release 2/14

Commissioners hear update on county EMS, approve TSEP contract

[Tiffin, OH Feb. 14, 2019] – The Seneca County Board of Commissioners heard an annual report on Seneca County EMS from Emergency Services Director Ken Majors Thursday morning.
Majors said Seneca County EMS had its 40th year of operation in 2018. He said volunteers power the department.
“I can’t say enough about the volunteers, without them, we can’t do this,” he said.
Majors said the organization works to support the Joint Ambulance Districts in the county. He said the full-time Echo paramedic unit supplements volunteers from the districts.
The department responded to 1,240 calls for service in 2018, with the Echo unit assisting on 826 of them. There were 694 patients taken to hospitals.
Majors said the organization received about $60,900 through four separate grants last year. They received $8,900 through a state EMS grant, $7,500 from Seneca Just for Kids for pediatric care kits, $4,500 for EMS tablets and $40,000 for Autopulse CPR equipment.
In the future, the organization is to upgrade its billing capabilities, using GovPayNet so residents can make payments online or through the phone with a credit or debit card.  The full EMS report is available here.
Commissioner Shayne Thomas thanked Majors and all volunteers for keeping the department running efficiently.
“We appreciate all the work of the EMS coordinators and volunteers,” he said. “It’s a point of civic pride to have the ambulance districts and volunteers. We appreciate it.”
In other business, the board approved a contract with Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership. The agreement, valid through 2021, clearly outlines the duties and responsibilities of the agency. It also spells out an increase in funding, which will be $89,000 annually.
Thomas said T-SEP will continue to provide the services it always has but will increase its focus on rural economic development projects.
In other action, the commissioners adopted a parking study by Gossman Group that was completed late last year. In January 2018, the commissioners agreed to contribute as much as $7,000 for the completion of the study, which also received funding from the city of Tiffin and local judges.
The plan includes research on several aspects of downtown parking. It also examines the feasibility of erecting a parking garage.
The city of Tiffin also adopted the plan. The adoption of the plan does not commit funding and does not ensure the implementation of all recommendations within it. It should, however, help the group when seeking grants. A press release is to be distributed next week with more information on the plan.
County Administrator Stacy Wilson gave an update on finances during her report. She said the balance of the county’s Budget Stabilization Fund is $375,000 and she also said there is $885,046.71 in a fund that was received as a one-time payment from the state to help counties transition as they stopped receiving Medicaid MCO Sales Tax money. She said sales tax revenue for this year through January is about $680,000, up slightly from the same time last year.
The commissioners also agreed to have no minimum bid price for an auction of the former Carnegie Library Building, 108 Jefferson St. The date for that auction has not yet been set, but it is expected to occur this spring.
During appropriations, the board approved all legislation from the pre-meeting release. The county received $250 for a 2010 Ford Crown Victoria about $3,400 for a 2011 Ford Crown Victoria.