Coroner Dr. West making early strides

TIFFIN—The Seneca County Board of Commissioners heard from the newly elected county coroner Dr. Zachary West at the regular board meeting Thursday. West gave an update on what he has done since taking office earlier this month. "Been incredibly busy since I took office," West said. Among the updates he shared about his new position, he said he has secured both office space in the RTA building and phone lines and email for the coroner's office staff. He also reported hiring two new interim "highly-qualified" case workers, acquiring ID badges for staff and establishing a call schedule for staff. He later said he had established the needed templates for chain-of-custody and call forms that didn't seem to exist during the terms of previous coroners. Since Jan. 6, West reported responding to seven coroner cases where it was necessary to investigate a cause of death and six other cases that were "non-coroner" cases, where he was able to ascertain it was a natural cause of death. West also said he enrolled the county in a state program to help offset the cost of toxicology reports when needed and also joined the Ohio State Coroner's Association to network with other Ohio coroners to allow for sharing of resources and information. Both Seneca County Administrator, Barb Patterson and Seneca County Auditor, Julie Adkins thanked West for his "stellar" communication and willingness to work so quickly to get associated with his new office. "Thanks for your commitment to the details," Commissioner Brent Busdecker told West. Commissioners then received an update from Chief Greg Lowe and 1st Lt. Jack King of Green Springs Fire and Rescue about an upcoming training, hosted at Commissioner Bill Frankart's farm. Lt. King told the board that he had organized a grain bin rescue training with the help of the other members of the Green Springs Fire Department. King reported that he hoped the training would increase camaraderie with other nearby fire departments, saying that they work together often, but only on calls, under dire circumstances. "We got some invites around and invited the whole county; EMS, Fire and mutual aid districts in Sandusky County," King said. He later thanked Chief Lowe and said he was grateful to work with him because Lowe has experience with lots of different agricultural incidents. Chief Lowe advised that he agreed it was useful training for firefighters and other first responders to have. "The grain bin rescue is something that is much needed for everybody," Lowe said. He later said he was excited to meet with other firefighters and get more training. Commissioner Anthony Paradiso said he was happy to see open communication across the county and was appreciative that county first responders were learning to cooperate across the area. Also at the meeting, Patterson thanked the Seneca County maintenance teams, who, during the recent cold weather, were making sure no problems arose with county buildings. She also said a copy of a new communications policy had been drafted and would be shared with the commissioners for review before passing a resolution to enact the new policy. The board then approved the following supplemental appropriations: $4,000.00 from the General Fund for travel. $1,200.00 from the General Special Projects Fund for contract services. A reversal of $27,261.50 from the General Fund for salaries. A reversal of $398.19 from the General Fund for Medicare. A reversal of $3,844.61 from the General Fund for PERS. The board also approved the following resolutions: Authorizing fund transfers be made to the Loan Repayment Fund. Appointing Jacob Elchert as a county prevention specialist to the Northwest Ohio Regional Prevention Council. Authorizing the extension of the 2024 contract with the Lucas County Board of Commissioners for the Lucas County coroner to perform certain necessary autopsies and toxicology reports. The next board of commissioners meeting is 10 a.m. Jan. 30 at 111 Madison St. in Tiffin.