Post-meeting Release, Sept. 26, 2024
Seneca County Commissioners pass resolution encouraging appeal of landfill expansion
By Sheri Trusty, Seneca County Media Relations Coordinator
During the Sept. 26 Seneca County Commissioners’ meeting, the commissioners passed a resolution to support and encourage the Seneca County Health District to appeal the Ohio EPA’s decision approving an expansion of the WIN Waste Innovations of Seneca County landfill.
“This resolution goes along with the City of Fostoria’s resolution. They also passed a resolution supporting an appeal,” said Seneca County Administrator Barb Patterson.
Greg Telecky of Kleinfelder, Inc. and Mircea Handru, the executive director of the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Seneca, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wyandot Counties, attended the commissioners’ meeting to provide an update on a proposed tri-county Regional Secure Behavioral Health Treatment Facility. If approved and constructed, the facility would house jail detainees from Seneca, Ottawa and Sandusky counties who require services related to moderate to severe mental health, suicide prevention or substance use detox.
The project is still in the feasibility research process, and no decisions have been made.
Andrea Smythe, a ditch maintenance technician with Seneca Conservation District, attended the meeting to seek approval for the 71 drainage structures on schedule for their six-year hearing. She also addressed the county ditch maintenance process for drainage structures placed into the department’s program. The process begins with ditch and tile inspections in the spring. Those inspections generate work orders with an estimated cost for maintenance services. The estimated cost determines the department’s budget for the following year and is submitted as a collection report to the Seneca County Engineer and the Seneca County Board of Commissioners for approval. Once the budget is approved, these costs are then collected as a special assessment seen on property tax statements after the new year. If an individual account for a drainage structure, ditch or tile already has the money in the account to cover the cost of maintenance following inspection, the maintenance can be performed right away. But if the cost of maintenance is greater than the actual balance, then it has to wait until after collections to be performed. Work orders are usually completed the year after they have been inspected, which is when the funds are available.
“If you don’t call into our office directly and communicate your drainage issues, I cannot provide any customer service to work with you and meet your needs for our county drainage structures. The public needs to understand the department performs the work after we have the money, so our department always works a year behind unless the funds are already there. We work within the standards of Ohio Revised Code, and there are processes in place for our department to follow.” Smythe said after the meeting.
During the commissioners’ reports, Commissioner Tyler Shuff said that he and Commissioner Anthony Paradiso attended the Primitive Village opening ceremony at the Tiffin-Seneca Heritage Festival. Paradiso, Shuff, Patterson and Commissioner Bill Frankart attended the Tiffin-Seneca Heritage Festival Parade on Sept. 21. Shuff expressed gratitude to Commissioner Frankart’s wife, Janet Frankart, for driving the truck for the commissioners.
Shuff said he also attended a Seneca County Land Bank meeting this week. He expressed gratitude to Fostoria Economic Development Corporation President, Renee Smith, for her work with the land bank.
“Renee does a fantastic job working with the land bank for the county,” he said.
In his commissioners’ report, Paradiso said he attended a Seneca County EMS meeting, which focused on establishing operational policies and procedures for the joint EMS collaboration.
“It’s all positive,” Paradiso said. “We’re going to continue to improve and deliver good services to the citizens of the county.”
Paradiso said he attended the ribbon cutting for Seneca Starvue Theatre. He learned that local restaurants suffered when the former theater closed temporarily while new, local investors remodeled the theater, keeping it alive for local residents and sustaining its influence on the local economy.
“The impact of a business closing became apparent,” Paradiso said.
During her administrator’s report, Patterson said she received a request from the Seneca County Dog Warden’s office for approval of a slight increase in fees. A public hearing will be scheduled to address the issue, per Ohio Revised Code. The request was made to address rising costs of care.