By Sheri Trusty, Seneca County Media Relations Coordinator
Over and over again, as Ohio has prepared for the upcoming April 8 total solar eclipse and the potential influx of visitors, Seneca County got it right. In the last year, Seneca County Commissioners Anthony Paradiso, Bill Frankart and Tyler Shuff provided support, encouragement and funding for eclipse projects across the county. The Emergency Management Agency, under the leadership of EMA Administrator John Spahr, spent the last year readying contingency plans for every possibility, and the Seneca Regional Chamber of Commerce, under the leadership of Bryce Riggs and Marissa Stephens, poured months of effort into developing events that are attracting thousands of people – and their wallets – to the county.
On April 5, Congressman Bob Latta visited Tiffin to recognize Chief Deputy Chuck Boyer of the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office for his efforts in securing the only FirstNet mobile cell tower provided for public safety use on April 8 in the state. FirstNet is an AT&T network which provides service for First Responder communications. Several local leaders joined Latta at the ceremony.
Many entities in the path of totality scrambled to obtain a mobile cell tower, but Boyer was the only one who was able to secure a tower. His efforts will heighten security and convenience for the county on April 8, when the influx of visitors may overload local cell towers.
“Chief Deputy Boyer was instrumental in securing us the only mobile cell tower provided by FirstNet in Ohio for our public safety use. It will help us gain priority access during any overload of the cell towers during Monday’s solar eclipse event,” said Seneca County Sheriff Fredrick Stevens. “If you have ever been at a large stadium event and tried to call someone or send a pic or a text and have it just drop or spin and not send, then you know the frustration we would have in public safety if we were unable to get a signal.”
Boyer’s efforts were commended by Latta, Stevens, Shuff and many locals during a ceremony on April 5.
“Many thanks to the AT&T people that made this happen: Sandi Lazette, Tony Constanzo and Molly Kocour-Boyle,” Stevens said. “Thank you to Congressman Latta for coming to talk to us about this and to Commissioner Shuff for representing the County Commissioners’ Office. Thank you to EMA Administrator John Spahr for keeping us on track with all the solar eclipse planning. City of Tiffin Administrator Nick Dutro and Chief of Police Dave Pauly came out as well. The Tiffin Police Department will be gaining the benefit of the mobile cell tower during Monday’s event as they are First Net customers also.”