Commissioners hear from United Way

TIFFIN — Members of the Seneca County Board of Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday to hear an update from United Way of North Central Ohio, specifically regarding their newly added 211 program. Previously operating locally as Tiffin-Seneca United Way, the organization merged with United Way of North Central Ohio back in July 2024. Amber Wertman, CEO of the organization, shared a number of updates regarding the program, joined by board member David Stover. United Way's 211 program replaced the local program previously known as First Call For Help, and serves as a hotline for residents seeking information, in crisis, referrals, or other direct assistance. "Over the past year, we have received over 3000 calls from within Seneca County," noted Wertman. She continued, noting that housing & shelter as well as utility assistance are still a top priority, amongst rent assistance. "This year we saw a 4% rise in transportation requests," added Wertman. The full statistics for Seneca County can be viewed at 211counts.org and filtered by county. New business A number of supplemental appropriations were approved at Thursday's meeting, followed by a number of resolutions. County Administrator Barb Patterson explained the appropriations, saying the first is a transfer out of the general fund to their capital improvement fund for the counties bond loan with North Central Electric in the amount of $897,880.00 The second was another transfer out of the general fund to the Medicare fund in the amount of $1,706.00 for staff at the recorders office, noting a miscalculation in their Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) budget. The final appropriation, a transfer of $547.25 from the Electronic Monitoring Sheriff's Office fund, was simply an overage as the Sheriff's Office no longer handles the monitoring. "The courts took over that system a number of years ago and it's just been sitting," said Patterson. Passed legislation The resolutions passed at Thursday's meeting were read as follows: • A resolution authorizing fund transfers be made to the county capital projects fund (1215) in the amount of $897,880 • A resolution authorizing fund transfer be made to the general fund (0010) in the amount of $547.25. • A resolution approving the first amendment to contract for professional service between seneca county, ohio and seneca industrial and economic development corp. (dba tiffin-seneca economic partnership). Patterson noted the amendment essentially is a formal recognition of the name change from Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership to the Seneca County Collaborative. • A resolution entering a contractual agreement to provide building code enforcement for non-residential projects in the Village of New Riegel, Ohio. • A resolution accepting the first amendment to the lease with Gerald Smith and Dylan Smith dba GD Century Farms for leasing the county home farm on a cash rent per acre basis. • A resolution authorizing the Seneca County Board of Commissioners to enter into an agreement/contract with Potter Group, LLC for transportation services on behalf of the Seneca County Department of Job and Family Services. The next regularly scheduled Seneca County Board of Commissioners meeting is set to take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 4.