Fred Wachtel, P.E., P.S.
Retired Coshocton County Engineer

I was first elected in 1992 and was re-elected 8 more times before retiring 6 months into my 9th term.  I served on several CEAO committees throughout the years, was on the Board of Directors representing District 5 for a number of years, and served as president of the CEAO in 2021.

I represented Coshocton County on the OPWC District 14 Integrating Committee for 30+ years and was Chair of the committee for many years.  Our office also chaired the Local Advisory Committee and coordinated many multi-jurisdictional projects over the years.

Locally, I spearheaded the creation of the Coshocton County GIS in the late 1990’s and is still being managed by the County Engineer’s Office. 

We constructed a new County Engineer’s Office and Garage that allowed us to move the administrative staff out of the basement of the Courthouse so that we could be actively involved with the date-to-date road and bridge operations.

We actively pursued many funding sources to replace nine major bridges and dozens of 10 foot to 50+ foot single span bridges on the county and township road systems.

We also initiated the Three Rivers Peninsula Project in 2008 to begin acquiring properties at the confluence of the Tuscarawas and Walhonding Rivers where Muskingum River begins.  Willing sellers were paid for their properties, existing building razed, and the area turned into public green open space and access to the rivers.