Commissioners hear Ohio Dept. of Transportation, financial updates Thursday
*** Video recap at the bottom of the page!
[Tiffin, OH — July 8, 2021] – The Seneca County Board of Commissioners hosted its first in-person board meeting in more than a year on Thursday morning. While the session was hosted at the commissioners’ office, several people also joined the meeting on Facebook Live and Zoom. This hybrid option will continue to be offered to make county government action as transparent and accessible as possible.
During the session, the commissioners heard an update from several Ohio Department of Transportation District 2 leaders. Patrick McColley, District Deputy Director led off the report.
He said traffic had decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic leading to revenue decreases for the department and county engineers across the state.
McColley said in the past couple of years the number of injury accidents had fallen while fatalities have continued to increase. Pedestrian, intersection and motorcycle fatalities have increased by 29, 33 and 23 percent respectively, he said.
McColley introduced Phil Senn, ODOT Construction Engineer, who discussed state construction projects to occur in Seneca County in 2021. Those projects include:
• US 23 bridge replacement and resurfacing, a $4.3 million project
• US 224 and SR 53 intersection upgrade, a $1.4 million project
• SR 19 bridge rehabilitation, a $400,000 project
• SR 19 culvert replacements, a $1.1 million project
• SR 53 resurfacing, a $3 million project
• SR 67 pedestrian safety project, a $78,000 project
• SR 100 resurfacing (Crawford County line to Tiffin), a $3 million project
• SR 101 bridge and culvert replacements (northeast of Lowell), a $1.1 million project
To view the entire PowerPoint presentation, click here.
Also during the meeting, County Administrator Stacy Wilson updated the board on General Fund financials through June. In June, the county’s revenue was about $1.4 million with expenses at about $1.1 million. Through the first six months of the year, revenue and expenses were each at about $9.6 million.
In other news, Commissioner Tyler Shuff announced a program to support law enforcement by displaying blue lights across the county. The program will include the free delivery and installation of blue LED lights to county residents. Those interested in having a blue light delivered may email pr@senecacountyohio.gov with their name, address and preferred time for delivery.
In other business, the commissioners opened one bid for the CR 52 pavement resurfacing and widening project. The engineer’s estimate was $260,466. The bid was $281,893.50 from M&B Asphalt, of tiffin.
The board also received four documents in response to a request for proposals for the deposit of public money. Old Fort Bank. US Bank, 5th/3rd Bank and Huntington Bank submitted proposals.
In other action, the board held two executive sessions, one for personnel and another for collective bargaining. No immediate action followed the sessions.
In new business, all resolutions from the pre-meeting release were approved.