No Discussions of Note in 10 Minute Board Meeting
Geauga Park District Board - August 19, 2024 Regular Meeting
The Geauga Park District (GPD) Board met on Monday, August 19, 2024 at 8:30 am at Big Creek Park Meyer Center, 9160 Robinson Rd, Chardon, OH 44024. This meeting was in-person only with no virtual attendance option.
Public Comment Policy: The Park District Board does not have a formal policy and in practice never permits public comment.
Board Attendance: Commissioners Howard Bates, Jolene Carnabuci, Ray Guarino, and Frank Stein were present. Commissioner Les LaGatta was absent.
Staff Attendance: John Oros, Executive Director; Dawn Sweeney, Finance Director; Matt McCue, Deputy Director, and Jessica Alpers, Administrative Assistant. Also in attendance were Dennis Sloan, Chief Ranger and new Ranger Robert York and Lucas Beamer, IT Manager.
Public Attendance: Members of Protect Geauga Parks, reporter from Chagrin Valley Times, and this Observer.
Approval of Agenda/Addendum Items - There were no items added to the Agenda. The Agenda was approved.
Minutes: Minutes from the July 15, 2024 meeting were approved and are posted online here.
Financial Report: Dawn Sweeney, Finance Director, verbally reported these individual fund balances as of July 31, 2024:
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Beginning balance as of 6/1/24 in the General Fund: $4,173,258
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Ending balance as of 6/30/24 in the General Fund: 5,515,423
Observer Note - Revenues were listed as $1,908,281 but there was no discussion of the nature of these revenues or why the ending balance was so much higher than the beginning balance.
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Beginning balance as of 6/1/24 in the Land Improvement Fund: $1,859,605
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Ending balance as of 6/30/24 in the Land Improvement Fund: 1,698,651
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All Funds beginning balance on 6/1/24: $6,032,863
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All Funds ending balance on 5/31/24: 7,214,074
There were no questions and no discussion.
Observer Note: There was also no announcement about this, but the Geauga Park District will appear before the Budget Commission on Tuesday, August 20, 2024.
Presentation of Payment Report for July, 2024. Mr. Bates asked about the charge for the excavator and Mr. Oros said it was used to excavate asphalt on trails. Ms. Carnabuci asked about the expense for the IT firewall and the IT director, Mr. Beamer, said they had to install five new firewalls in a reconfiguration that will now allow each location to have its own firewall and server.
Observer Note: There was no vote on this payment report as the payments have already occurred.
Old Business - Planning Update.
Planning Update: Mr. McCue reported on several items:
Mr.Oros said that he went out to Swine Creek to look at the improvements to trails out there. He commended the crew manager, Isaiah Shipman, for doing an excellent job.
Observer Note: There was no comment about the recent storm damage, storm outages or any plans for repairs. This Observer walked the trails at the Rookery in Newbury after the storm and estimated at least 20 - 30 trees down. Trails were cleared which would have necessitated work by in-house crews or hired crews.
New Business
Commissioner’s Time
Ranger Day - Ranger Neil Nemeth spoke at the event sponsored by Ranger Legacy, an independent 501(c)(3) which is meant to encourage new rangers.
New Ranger introduced - Robert York. Chief Sloan said that Ranger York had recently graduated from the Academy at Kent State. He is taking the place of Ranger Evan Smite who was hired at Chester Township. Chief Sloan said that Ranger York was a resident of Parkman Township.
Mr. Oros reported that 911 people reserved boats at Headwaters Park, and 279 people utilized the High Ropes Course at Claridon Woodlands. Mr. Oros said that these programs will end after Labor Day weekend.
In July there were a total of 112 programs with 2,445 participants in all programs.
Slides were shown from the following programs: moths and meteors, movie night, family campout, Elderberries, and full moon hike.
There were no comments from the Board members.
Executive Session - Mr. Oros said he had nothing to propose for Executive Session.
Public Comment - Per Geauga Park District Policy, no public comment permitted.
Reviewer Comment: Of note, this GPD Board meeting was again quite brief, lasting only 10 minutes. Without public discussion by the Board of Agenda items or the opportunity for members of the public to comment and ask questions, the ability of the public to fully understand the business of the Geauga Park District and its use of Geauga County taxpayer funding is hindered.
Next meeting – Monday, September 15 at 8:30 am.
Motion to adjourn was made and approved unanimously at 8:40 am.
See the GPD Website for Additional Information and Minutes
Observers: Gail Roussey
Editor/Reviewer: Carol Benton
Date Submitted: August 20, 2024
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