SAFEbuilt, Master Gardeners, and controversial Clyde project on Seneca County Commissioners’ meeting agenda
By Sheri Trusty, Seneca County Media Relations Coordinator
The Seneca County Commissioners’ meeting was packed as representatives from SAFEbuilt building inspection services and nine Seneca County Masters Gardeners attended the July 11 Seneca County Commissioners’ meeting to provide updates. OSU Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator Pressley Buurma, who heads the Master Gardener program, also attended the meeting.
SAFEbuilt’s building officer for Seneca County, Robert Kurtz, said Tiffin and Fostoria have been the company’s current local focus.
“We’re very happy to be here and very excited to be a part of Seneca County,” Kurtz said.
Commissioner Bill Frankart expressed his appreciation on SAFEbuilt’s efficiency.
“We’ve heard great things about what’s going on,” Frankart said. “We appreciate you’re getting permits a little quicker than we’re used to.”
Seneca County Master Gardeners President Marsha Dandar and Publicity Chairperson Steve Detillion talked to the commissioners about the extensive work they do in the county educating the public and supporting horticultural initiatives. Detillion described the Master Gardener volunteers as a group of community members with a passion for horticulture and a desire to help others learn.
The Master Gardener impact in Seneca County is extensive. Dandar said that in 2023, the group presented two scholarships, sold over 1,000 plants at its popular annual plant sale, decorated flowerbeds for the Christmas lights display at the county fairgrounds, donated seed packets to a local food drive, donated excess produce from their gardens to local food pantries, took educational trips, and offered educational presentations at Tiffin-Seneca Public Library and the Seneca County Fair, among many other activities.
Community education is a strong emphasis in the Master Gardner program, and Detillion said the group has had more opportunities to educate the public since Buurma was hired about a year ago.
“Pressley has opened a lot of doors,” he said.
The group currently boasts 38 volunteers but is looking for more. For more information on the Seneca County Master Gardener program, call 419-447-9722 or visit http://mastergardener.osu.edu/.
City of Clyde Safety Service Director Paul Fiser attended the commissioners’ meeting to talk about the city’s water line project that involves installing 20” pipe from the Sandusky River in Old Fort to the Beaver Creek Reservoir in Adams Township. Local residents living along the project’s route voiced concerns at the meeting about Clyde’s plans to open dig, rather than bore, to install the pipe in front of their homes. Open digging will disrupt their front lawns and temporarily tear up their driveways.
Local resident Jim Rohlf, who lives along the project route on CR 34 in Seneca County, is angry that Clyde is not choosing to bore through his property to avoid damage.
“They are going to open dig through my blacktop driveway. When I asked them why not bore, they said they can’t afford it. If they can’t afford it, don’t do it,” Rohlf said. “Why not go across the street to the farmer’s field and pay the easement, like everyone else does?”
Rohlf asked who would be responsible if his blacktop driveway “goes bad”?
“You know it’s going to,” he said
Rohlf was equally angry about the lack of communication by the City of Clyde. Fiser told the commissioners that city officials have not yet contacted homeowners along the route to discuss the project. Rohlf said that, of homeowners affected by the project, there are “probably not five people who know about it.”
“There’s been no communication. I found out by accident that this project is going to happen,” Rohlf said.
City of Clyde Solicitor Zac Selvey was unemphatic toward the residents’ concerns, telling Rohlf that the city would not bore through a residential property “to keep your driveway nice.”
“The right-of-way is the right-of-way. It has different rules. I get it, you have a nice yard. I’m glad you have a nice yard. That’s not a part of your yard. That the right-of-way that the government is allowed to use to do stuff,” Selvey said.
Selvey said the City of Clyde is in “no position to talk to Seneca County residents and ask them what would keep them happy.”
The commissioners plan to hold further discussions on the project.
The Seneca County Commissioners honor the long, colorful history of Seneca County, which celebrates its 200th birthday in 2024.