Pre-meeting release for 7/9 session

Commissioners to hold a work session on Seneca County Opportunity Center

[Tiffin, OH July 7, 2020] – The Seneca County Board of Commissioners is to meet at 8:30 a.m. Thursday for a work session, followed by a regular meeting at 10.
The sessions are both to be held digitally via Zoom.
The commissioners are encouraging residents to join them in the online meeting through the application Zoom, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. To maintain maximum accessibility, the meeting will be recorded, archived and streamed live through Zoom. Residents can join the meeting by computer or mobile device at the following link: https://zoom.us/j/92595230790.
Residents also can download the Zoom meeting app and join with meeting ID 925 9523 0790.
For those who would rather call in and listen to the audio of the meeting while it’s occurring, they can dial (646) 558-8656 and use the meeting ID.
The meeting also is to be streamed on Facebook Live on the Seneca County Commissioners page.
The main topic of the work session is to be an update on the Seneca County Opportunity Center. The department, which is located at 780 East CR 20, is an organization that works to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
In March, Opportunity Center Director Lewis Hurst joined the commissioners to celebrate Developmental Disabilities Month, and to give an annual update about the agency.
To learn more about the history of the organization, visit this link https://www.senecadd.org/history.
In other business, the commissioners are to discuss the Coronavirus Relief Fund budget.
Last week, County Administrator Stacy Wilson reported that she was working with County Auditor Julie Adkins on a budget after local governments across the state received funding to be used to help pay for COVID-19-related expenses. Governmental entities must establish a special fund to be able to use CARES Act funding for the reimbursement of county expenses related to the health crisis.
Seneca County received about $2 million through recently approved federal and state legislation, with about $930,000 going directly to county government. The other portion of the money is to be divvied up between the other political subdivisions within the county. All funds must be used for the reimbursement of previously unbudgeted expenses brought about by the health crisis.
Commissioner Mike Kerschner said last week that the county has already logged about $550,000 in expenses related to the pandemic that could be eligible to be reimbursed by the CARES Act funds.
A work session to further discuss CARES Act funding and budgetary concerns related to the pandemic is scheduled for 9 a.m. on July 16, but the commissioners will also continue the discussion during the meeting Thursday.
Elected officials and department heads from across the county have been invited to participate in next week’s work session.