County faces higher insurance costs

TIFFIN — The Seneca County Board of Commissioners met Thursday for a brief regular meeting, approving several supplemental appropriations and noting an increase in county employee health insurance costs to $606,000.

Board President Tony Paradiso said insurance rates are rising statewide. The previous cap on increases was 13%, but that limit was recently raised to 18%.

“Seneca County saw about a 15% increase, half of the counties in the state saw a 10% increase, so we are definitely on the higher end,” Paradiso said.

Supplemental appropriations

County Administrator Barb Patterson reported requests for maintenance at the Crossway Facility, including $63,143 for male and female restroom work and $69,550 to repave and restripe the parking lot.

Paradiso asked if the request was new, and Patterson said it was not.

Additional appropriations included a transfer of $32,216.05 from the OneOhio Opioid Settlement Fund to the PIVOT and EMS funds.

Old business

Commissioner Brent Busdeker gave an update on county computer systems and efforts to meet state standards.

“A lot of county computers are still running Windows 10, which soon will stop receiving security updates unless a yearly fee is paid per computer of $65,” Busdeker said.

He added that it may be more cost-effective to replace outdated computers than to pay for continued updates.

Busdeker said upgrades are necessary for security and to comply with an amended House Bill 96, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed June 30. The law requires cybersecurity programs for all political subdivisions in Ohio, including local governments and school districts. It takes effect Sept. 30, 2025.

New business

Commissioners passed several resolutions, including:

• Transferring $21,477.37 from the OneOhio Opioid Fund to the PIVOT Fund

• Transferring $10,738.68 from the OneOhio Opioid Fund to the Ambulance Service Fund

• Signing a Release of Mortgage for Linda Emmons for work completed Oct. 3, 2000

• Authorizing Paradiso to apply for funding through the Ohio Public Works Commission’s State Capital Improvement and Local Transportation Improvement programs, Issue I Round 40

• Entering into Issue I Round 40 cooperative agreements with the Seneca County Township Board of Trustees

Public comment

John Bolte provided an update on behalf of Seneca Poultry LLC. He referred to a July public hearing by the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) and a subsequent seven-day public comment period.

“From that point forward, ODA has been gathering and responding to those comments, which included things not under ODA’s purview,” Bolte said.

He said ODA has worked with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio EPA and the state veterinarian to address issues outside its scope.

“That being said, as of yesterday ODA has compiled the last of the comments and has a 58 page summary expected to come out next Wednesday, September 10th,” Bolte said.

Bolte also said ODA acknowledged, “maybe we were too conservative in our estimation.” One change noted was a revision to the expected number of trucks operated by Seneca Poultry LLC.