Date for the County's Withdrawal from the Joint Portage-Geauga
Juvenile Detention Center Arrangement Extended
Board of County Commissioners - August 13, 2024
Meeting Details: The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met at 9:30 am on Tuesday, August 13, 2024 at the County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH. The meetings are in-person only, and there are no recordings for the public. An agenda is available in advance via request to the Commissioners’ Clerk and at the meeting. Observer Note: Discussion about items not on the agenda is included at the end of this report.
Public Comment Policy: Observer Comment: Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri announced at the end of the April 4, 2023 meeting that public comment would be permitted and that a more formal policy would be forthcoming. There was no formal policy introduced today, but public comment was permitted.
Attendance: Present were Commissioners Timothy Lennon and Ralph Spidalieri. Commissioner James Dvorak was not present. Also present were County Administrator Gerry Morgan, Assistant County Administrator Linda Burhenne, Finance Manager Adrian Gorton, and Commissioners' Clerk Christine Blair.
County Representatives: Matt Sieracki, Contract Coordinator; Glen Vernick, Director Maintenance Department, Elaine Malkamaki, Program Director for Community and Economic Development
Others in Attendance: Adam Litke, Administrator, Geauga Public Health; Carolyn Brakey, County Commissioner Candidate and Geauga Public Health Board member, Auditor Chuck Walder; Gina Hofstetter, Director Community and Economic Development, Nick Gorris, Director, Water Resources, Tom Jones, Diane Jones, other members of the public, the press and this LWVG observer.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a prayer was offered by Mr. Dvorak.
Minutes: No minutes were submitted for approval.. Observer Comment: Weekly LWVG Observer Reports for BOCC are available online through August 13, 2024, for informational purposes but are not substitutes for approved minutes. Approved BOCC Minutes are posted online here through May 21, 2024.
Administrator’s Report: Mr. Morgan reported on the following actions he took in accordance with Ohio law:
-
Approved transfer to payroll accounts (departments or other information not specified) in compliance with ARPA (American Rescue Plan) regulations.
-
Accepted a resignation of a part-time recreation and education assistant in the Office of Aging and approved a posting for a full time and a part-time recreation and education position.
Financial Report - Mr. Gordon received approval for the following:
Encumbrance for Community and Economic Development to ICP Geauga Lakes LLC in preparation for the final payment for demolition costs previously approved as part of a Grant.
Vouchers:
-
$25,305 from the Auditor’s office to Integrity Appraiser Services for work done in 2024
-
$148,352 from the Commissioners to Kenny Hoar Construction Co, Inc. for Airport Hangar # 2
-
$18,881 from the Commissioners to Destination Geauga for the 2nd quarter bed tax distribution. Mr. Gorton reported that they have received about $80,000 total this year.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval for the recommended changes to the 2025 Revenues in Fund 2027 for the Board of Developmental Disabilities in Property and Other Taxes and
in Fund 2029 for the Department of Job and Family Services in Property and Other Taxes, State
Reimbursement and Other for an overall net adjustment of $0.00. Mr. Gorton stated that there were some minor adjustments but that the total amounts were not changed.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval for a series of resolutions regarding a Grant from the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM). A separate handout was given out that stated that the Commissioners were pleased to announce they had received a $250,000 grant from the office of OBM. It was also announced that these funds would be used to upgrade and repave the twenty-year old Safety Center parking lot and that the county was currently seeking proposals for the engineering portion of the project.
Commissioners agreed to establish a new fund to the Strategic Community Investments Grant Fund to account for monies received, expended and distributed by the Board of County Commissioners in accordance with the requirements of the grant.
The Probate and Juvenile Court received approval to execute the Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) Subsidy Grant, Juvenile Court Funding Application Update for FY2025 and DYS Reclaim Grant in the amount of $397,418.77. There was no information provided on this Grant.
The Department of Community and Economic Development received approval for the following:
-
to advertise for bids for the Chagrin Falls Park Community Center – Roof Replacement Project under Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) #B-F-23-1AZ-1 to be held on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. Notice of this Bid Opening will be advertised on August 15, 2024, August 22, 2024 and on the county website.
-
to advertise for bids for the Maple Leaf Residences – Roof Replacement Project under Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) #B-F-23-1AZ-1 to be held on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 at 2:10 p.m. Notice of this Bid Opening will be advertised on August 15, 2024, August 22, 2024 and on the county website.
-
to advertise for bids for the Maple Leaf Residences – Window Replacement Project under Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) #B-F-23-1AZ-1 to be held on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 at 2:20 p.m. Notice of this Bid Opening will be advertised on August 15, 2024, August 22, 2024 and on the county website.
The Maintenance Department received approval for the following:
-
to approve and execute the service Contract Agreement with Young Investments, Incorporated d.b.a. Yohar Supply to perform door inspection, installation and maintenance services at various county locations for a three-year period, effective August 13, 2024 in an amount not to exceed $30,000.
-
to execute the Contract Agreement with Air Force One, Incorporated to provide HVAC Maintenance and On-Call Services for the Geauga County 2024-2027 County Office Building HVAC Maintenance Project in the amount of $109,211 ($19,333 for 2024-2025, $19,931 for 2025-2026, $20,547 for 2026-2027 and for service at the labor rates for 2024-2027 in a not to exceed amount of $50,000).
-
to award the Bid to Barbicas Construction Company, Incorporated for the Geauga County Parking Lot Repairs (Re-Bid) in the amount of $128,312 ($55,630 Patchwork, $56,182 Sealcoating, $16,500 Line-Striping) as they represented the lowest and best bid.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval for the following:
-
to execute the Temporary Easement on Parcel 4-T (PP No. 04-0707192), Kinsman Road, Burton, Project GEA-87-12.13 to enable ODOT to perform grading and to complete construction of the culvert. The temporary easement has a duration of 24 months, and the County will receive compensation of $300 from ODOT. The Commissioners’ Office also requests the Board approve and authorize the President of the Board to execute the W9 and Payee Information Form-DOT 01-Right of Way forms submitted by ODOT.
-
to recess until the Public Viewing at 2:00 p.m. for the Proposed Vacation of the Public Right of Way upon a portion of Tulip Lane (TR-0307) in Bainbridge Township.
Juvenile Detention Center -The commissioner's office received approval to extend the effective date on which the Geauga County Board of Commissioners will withdraw from the Joint Board of County Commissioners of Portage and Geauga Counties and the Joint Portage-Geauga Juvenile Detention and Rehabilitation Center District from August 15, 2024 to August 21, 2024. It was stated that the Prosecutor’s office is working on the paperwork for this to happen.
Observer Note: During the public portion of the meeting Diane Jones asked if the withdrawal was going to happen. Mr. Spidalieri stated that he believed it was going through, and he also said that he had a conversation with a Portage County official (the warden) and that Geauga should be getting a refund of the $220,000 clerical error within two weeks. It was not clear what would be happening regarding how much Geauga might receive for their investment in building the Center. See Observer Corps Report for May 21, 2024.
Not on the Agenda - thank you for storm related work by Departments
Mr. Spidalieri thanked departments for their efforts after the storm on Tuesday, August 6th. He thanked Glen Vernick, Maintenance Director for all his efforts and Chuck Walder, Auditor for computer related issues and Linda Burhenne for handling calls regarding the storm and outages. He said that it was amazing to see the goodness of those in the community. Mr. Spidalieri also mentioned all the companies that came from other states to help our community. Mr. Vernick said that a lot of departments came together, citing in particular ADP (Automatic Data Processing), the Engineer’s Office and DES (Department of Emergency Services). Mr. Vernick stated, “It makes you appreciate what you have.”
Observer Note: County offices were closed on Wednesday, August 8th due to having no power. There was no discussion of whether a generator was used to keep power on in part of the building. In a prior Observer Corps report, there was a discussion about the fact that the generator did not cover the HVAC system in the new County office building. See Geauga Public Health LWVGeauga Observer Corps report for September 27, 2023.
No Executive Session
Public Comment:
Diane Jones asked about the Juvenile Detention Center as noted above.
This Observer asked if arrangements had been made to have free admission for the Thursday morning session at the Geauga Fair at 10 am. This Observer reported on checking the Geauga Fair website which states that the admission for Thursday is $8 and in a call to the Geauga County Fair office it was reported that there used to be free admission on Thursday mornings a few years ago, but now the admission is $8 for the day. Mr. Spidalieri said someone would reach out to the Geauga Fair Board about this matter. He said to go to the main gate and ask for free admission to attend the Commissioner’s meeting..
Meeting adjourned at 10:04 am
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available here.
Next Regular Meeting of the BOCC: The meetings following this meeting will be August 20, 2024 at 9:30 am at the Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH. and on Thursday, August 29, 2024 at 10 am at the Geauga County Fair in Burton OH at the Junior Fair Building
Observer: Gail Roussey
Reviewer and Editor: Carol Benton
Date Submitted: 8/19/2024
The League of Women Voters Geauga is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. They do not support or oppose individual candidates or parties. Learn more about the LWVG at www.lwvgeauga.org.