Park Holds First Ever “Wild Winter Nights” Event with 435 Guests
Geauga Park District Board Regular Meeting - February 18, 2025
Meeting Details: The Geauga Park District (GPD) Board met on Monday, February 18, 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, Frank Stein and Les LaGatta were present. Commissioner Ray Guarino was absent.
Staff Attendance: John Oros, Executive Director; Matt McCue, Deputy Director; Dawn Sweeney, Finance Director and Jessica Alpers, Administrative Assistant. Also in attendance were Chief Ranger Dennis Sloan, newly appointed Ranger Michael Thies, IT Manager Lucas Beamer, Chief Naturalist Paul Pira, newly hired Land Steward Rebecca Cantrell, and Marketing Manager Sandy Ward. Attorney Todd C. Hicks from the law firm of Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan was also present.
Public Attendance: Members of Protect Geauga Parks, a reporter from the Chagrin Valley Times and this observer were present. There was also a couple from Middlefield who sat next to this observer and said that they had come with the expectation that they could offer public comment.
Before the Meeting: Protect Geauga Parks member Dave Partington cautioned Board members about voting for a change in meeting minutes before speaking with legal counsel.
Pledge of Allegiance - Recited
Approval of Agenda/Addendum Items - There were no items added to the Agenda. The Agenda was approved.
Minutes: Minutes from the January 21, 2025 meeting were approved after a minor typo was corrected and are posted online here.
Financial Report: Dawn Sweeney, Finance Director, verbally reported these individual fund balances as of January 31, 2024:
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Beginning balance as of 1/01/25 in the General Fund: $4,238,852
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Ending balance as of 1/31/25 in the General Fund: $3,869,547
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Beginning balance as of 1/01/25 in the Land Improvement Fund: $1,352,935
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Ending balance as of 1/31/25 in the Land Improvement Fund: $1,323,934
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All Funds beginning balance on 1/01/25: $5,591,788
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All Funds ending balance on 1/31/25: $5,193,480
There were no questions and no discussion.
Presentation of Payment Report for January 2025. There were no questions and there was no discussion. Observer Note: There is no approval or motion regarding the payment report as the payments have already occurred.
Old Business - There was a Planning Update provided by Mr. McCue but before that update there were two introductions of new staff members:
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Chief Naturalist Paul Pira introduced newly hired Land Steward Rebecca Cantrell. Ms. Cantrell has experience with the Natural History Museum at their Mentor Marsh location and with the City of Mentor involving control of invasive species and deer management.
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Chief Ranger Dennis Sloan introduced new Ranger Michael Thies. Mr. Thies has experience as a School Resource Officer for Madison Schools and as an officer for University Hospital.
Projects reported on by Mr. McCue were as follows:
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ODOT Ridge Project - they expect to be able to move on this project after February 27, 2025.
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Sunnybrook - the 2025 RFP (Request for Proposals) received four responses. Mr. McCue said that it appeared that Cunningham Paving would be the lowest bidder.
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West Woods Nature Center - The Architect is working on expanding the area for nature exhibits.
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Other projects are waiting for better weather.
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Planning - They have worked with GIS (Geographic Information System) to allow volunteers to use the system to update information on tree reforestation efforts.
New Business
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Meeting Minutes Correction from February 20, 2024. Mr. Oros stated that the previous minutes were incorrect. He said that Mr. Stein actually made the motion to approve and Mr. Guarino seconded the motion to approve an Aggregate Stone award to Arms Trucking and that Mr. Bates had abstained from voting. He said that they had listened to the tape several times. This motion passed unanimously. Observer Note: The LWVGeauga Observer Report for February 20, 2024 does state that Mr. Bates abstained from the vote, although there is no information in the report as to which Board members offered the motion or seconded it. Mr. Bates is the owner and President of The Arms Group, and Arms Trucking is one of the companies in the group.
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Resolution 3-2025/Request of Funds from the ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation) and Designation of Projects for Ohio Parks Districts Roadwork Fund FY2026-2027 through OPRA (Ohio Parks and Recreation Association)
These are funds that will be used for stone and asphalt for Park roads. Mr. McCue said that these funds typically are around $54,000.
Commissioner’s Time
Mr. Oros reported on a new program that was very successful. Wild Winter Nights was held on Saturday, February 1st from 6-9 pm at Big Creek Park. There were 435 guests. Activities included a bonfire, a luminary trail, a naturalist led owl hike and many activities for children and families.
Mr. Oros provided 2024/2025 winter snowfall amounts: Chardon recorded 74.4 inches of snow to date. The parks maintenance group has been working to keep the parks open for visitors.
Mr. Oros said that there were 245 reservations for facilities.
He said that, at a recent Ohio Parks & Recreation Conference with 900 attendees, Geauga Park District received a third place award for their capital improvements at Troy Wetlands.
Mr. Oros said that Matt Kneitel, Land Steward, was a speaker at the Chagrin River Watershed January 2025 speakers series event on invasive plant species.
Mr. Oros thanked Kent State Geauga for providing a greenhouse for the trees they grow for their spring Tree Sale which will be on April 19, 2025.
Report on use of Facilities in December - Mr. Oros reported the following:
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2,069 visitors came to the West Woods Nature Center
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In January there were 96 naturalist-led programs that were attended by 2,083 patrons
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99 people rented snowshoes.
There were no comments from Board members.
Executive Session - Mr. Oros announced that there was no need for an Executive session.
Meeting adjourned at 8:55 am
Public Comment - Per Geauga Park District Policy, no public comment permitted.
Reviewer Comment: 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 – Tuesday March 25 at 8:30 am. Observer Note: This was a change from the regularly scheduled March 17 meeting. No reason was given for the change.
See the GPD Website for Additional Information and Minutes
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor and Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: February 19, 2025
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