Seneca County Commissioners hear ODOT update at weekly meeting
By Sheri Trusty, Seneca County Media Relations Coordinator
ODOT District 2 Deputy Director, Pat McColley, and other ODOT representatives gave an update on current and future projects during the June 6 Seneca County Commissioners’ meeting. ODOT staff gave timelines of current projects and talked about a revolutionary technology being utilized during the construction of an Ohio bridge. The project marks the first time the technology is being used on a bridge anywhere in the world.
BAMTEC manufactures tailor-made, prefabricated steel reinforcement “carpets” that allow bridge crews to quickly unroll the reinforcement during construction. The technology yields labor and time savings and creates a state-of-the-art product that is manufactured under controlled conditions utilizing AutoCAD software.
“It’s kind of neat we have the first bridge in the world to utilize this technology,” McColley said.
For more information on ODOT projects in Seneca County, visit https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/about-us/districts/district-2-bowling-green/, click on “Featured Projects,” and search Seneca County.
The Seneca County Commissioners had packed schedules that included many meetings and events. Seneca County Commissioner Bill Frankart attended the Foster Parent Appreciation Dinner hosted by Seneca County Job and Family Services on May 30, and the commissioner was also a guest on WTTF with Protective Services Administrator for Seneca County Job & Family Services, Jennifer Schumacher, and Adoption Supervisor Crystal Smith. The group was interviewed by WTTF Operations Manager Mike Roca.
“It’s awesome we have the folks who step up to take kids into their homes,” Frankart said. “I don’t know what we’d do if they weren’t willing to do that.”
Frankart also announced the release of the video “The Giant in the Backyard” created by the commissioners’ office. Frankart narrates the video, which helps viewers understand the scope of the size of the WIN Waste of Seneca County landfill, also known as Sunny Farms Landfill, and helps put in perspective the importance of Senate Bill 119, which would open the door for more local oversight of the landfill.
Frankart, who has a seat on the county’s Board of Revision, said offers for homeowners who requested reviews were mailed on May 31.
Frankart, along with commissioners Anthony Paradiso and Tyler Shuff, attended the Bascom Lions Club Memorial Parade on June 2, and Frankart and Shuff visited Kaubisch Memorial Public Library on June 5, when Ohio’s First Lady Fran DeWine was the special guest of a book reading event to celebrate Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library’s new local program partner, Friends of the Kaubisch Memorial Public Library.
All three commissioners attended an OSS Solid Waste District board meeting on June 5.
“We’re still advocating and working on bringing back resources from OSS to help the health department monitor the landfill,” Paradiso said.
Seneca County Administrator Barb Patterson said the county is still “working on a final punch list” for the new Bloomville EMS station.
During the meeting, Patterson opened bids for OPWC Issue 1 Round 38 and for Bettsville EMS building renovations. The commissioners approved four supplemental appropriations and passed four resolutions, including a resolution changing the date to accept sealed bids for the proposed addition of a virtual attorney visitation room to the Seneca County Jail. The new date to open sealed bids for the project is June 30 at 10 a.m.
The next Seneca County Commissioners’ meeting is June 13 at 10 a.m.