Commissioners Disagree on the Economic Growth Value of Geauga Airport
Board of County Commissioners Meeting - March 4, 2025
Meeting Details: The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met in Regular Session on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 9:30 am for a meeting at the County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH. Meetings can also be live streamed through the Geauga ADP Youtube channel. Recordings are available for the public. The March 4, 2025 meeting recording can be found here. As of the date of publication this video has been viewed 193 times. Notations in the report refer to the minute notation on the first video for a particular section. An agenda is available in advance via request to the Commissioners’ Clerk and at the meeting. Items discussed at the meeting but not on the agenda, if any, are addressed at the end of this report.
Public Comment Policy: Permitted as outlined in the BOCC’s Public Comment Policy that was adopted on January 28, 2025.
Attendance: Present were Commissioners Carolyn Brakey and James Dvorak. Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri appeared after the conclusion of the first Executive Session. Also present were Commissioners' Clerk Christine Blair, Acting County Administrator Linda Burhenne and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton.
County Representatives: Matt Sieracki, Contract Coordinator, Maintenance Department; Chuck Tkach, Project Manager, Elaine Malkamaki, Community Development; Kim Laurie, Court Administrator for the Geauga County Juvenile and Probate Court; Frank Antenucci, Chief Deputy Administrator, ADP; Nick Gorris, Director, Water Resources, and Kathleen Hostutler, Human Resources Manager, who appeared briefly for the second Executive Session.
Others in Attendance: Gina Hofstetter, Director, Community Development; County residents Tom and Diane Jones, members of the public and press, and this LWVG Observer.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a prayer was offered by Mr. Dvorak.
Minutes: Minutes were approved for February 20 and 27, 2025. Observer Note: Weekly LWVG Observer Reports for BOCC are available online through March 4, 2025 for informational purposes but are not substitutes for approved minutes. Approved BOCC Minutes are posted online here through February 11, 2025. Mrs. Brakey complemented Commissioners’ Clerk, Christine Blair, on getting minutes posted and up to date on the Commissioners’ website.
County Administrator’s report - no report
9:16 Min Financial Report: Mr. Gorton received approval for the following: Observer Note: Monetary figures are given when available.
Appropriations transfer to the Sheriff's Office for miscellaneous refunds, reimbursements and web checks that were deposited into the General Fund.
Cash transfer from the Sick and Vacation Accrual Fund to the General Fund to replace amounts paid by the General Fund for retirement payouts of sick and vacation time over the last few years from the Sheriff’s Office.
Then and Now
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from the Board of Developmental Disabilities to Fogle/Stenzel Architects, Inc., for design work needed for the addition of a staircase on House D on the Metzenbaum property.
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from the Commissioners’ office to Attorney Kimberly Baioni for appointed Counsel fees from 2023 that were not previously encumbered.
Travel encumbrances from the Common Pleas Court to attend the 2025 Ohio Court Reporters Association annual conference and the 2025 Ohio Digital Government Summit.
Purchase Order from Water Resources to Junction Auto sales for a 2024 GMC Terrain all-wheel drive SUV replacement vehicle which is replacing a 2019 Ford Fusion. Mr. Gorton said that they got an $11,000 trade-in allowance.
Vouchers
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$67,211.04 from the Sheriff to Motorola Solutions Incorporated for a 911 recording system
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$183,634.30 from the Sheriff's Office to Abiate Inc., for microwave tower upgrades including new antennas and wave guide systems for the towers
Revenue certifications:
The Probate / Juvenile Court received approval to execute the Ohio Department of Youth Services Subsidy Grant (RECLAIM) Amendment #1 for FY2025 funding for the FLIP (Family Life Intervention Program), Monitoring, Screening and Assessments and the addition of Prosocial Activities in the amount of $4,800.00 for a total grant amount for 2025 of $533,721.46. Ms. Laurie, Court Administrator, said this is something they do every year. She explained that they added a program and a few vendors.
14 Min. The Community and Economic Development Department received approval
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to advertise for Bids for the Chagrin Falls Park Community Center for a Roof Replacement to be held on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. Notice of this Bid Opening will be advertised on March 6, 2025, and on the County website.
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to advertise for Bids for the Maple Leaf Residences for Roof and Window Replacement to be held on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, at 2:10 p.m. Ms. Malkamaki said there would be work done at three residences. She also said that if the project costs more than anticipated that the owner would need to pay the difference and not the county. Notice of this Bid Opening will be advertised on March 6, 2025, and on the County website.
The Maintenance Department received approval for the following:
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to execute Contract Maintenance Form #1, increasing the Agreement for Professional Design Services with CT Consultants, Inc. / Verdantas Architecture, Inc., for the Geauga County Courthouse Annex Building Basement Remodel for additional architectural and mechanical services related to the scope of the project in the amount of $5,560.00 for a new, not to exceed, amount of $41,650.00.
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to execute Contract Maintenance Form #1, increasing the service Contract Agreement with Gable Elevator, Inc., for additional services and repairs on elevators, as needed in the amount of $35,000.00 for a new, not to exceed, amount of $50,000.00. Mr. Sieracki said that this would include the Courthouse and some other needed repairs.
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to execute Contract Maintenance Form #1, increasing the service Contract Agreement with Countywide Replacement Windows, Inc., for additional window projects as needed in the amount of $20,000.00 for a new, not to exceed, amount of $50,000.00. Mr. Sieracki noted that this involves a replacement window project in the bell tower at the Fairgrounds. He said it is a challenging location which will require both scaffolding and possibly a lift.
The Department of Water Resources received approval to execute the service Contract Agreement with Bill Conti Plumbing, LLC, to perform plumbing services, as needed at various locations within the Department for a one-year period, effective March 4, 2025, in an amount not to exceed $2,500.00. Mr. Gorris said that this agreement is for services to test backflow devices.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval to execute the Request for Partial Payment #17 for Infinity Construction Company, Inc., for the Geauga County Courthouse Expansion, GMP Phase #1 and Phase #2 Expenses in the amount of $799,702.55. Mrs. Brakey asked who was looking out for the Geauga taxpayers. Ms. Burhenne said that the owner’s representative, NV5, is their liaison and attends meetings with Infinity. She also said that Maintenance Director Glen Vernick attends a weekly meeting and that Mr. Dvorak also sometimes attends these meetings. Mrs. Brakey indicated that she was interested in attending these meetings which are on Thursdays at 2:30 pm with a walk through at 1 pm on Thursdays.
23.30 Min. Executive Session: The Commissioners’ Office went into Executive Session for the purpose of considering the purchase of property for public purposes, if premature disclosure of information would give an unfair competitive or bargaining advantage to a person whose personal, private interest is adverse to the general public interest, pursuant to O.R.C. 121.22 (G)(2). Observer Note: Ms. Burhenne could be heard saying that she would “walk over and see if Commissioner Spidalieri can join us,” indicating that he was somewhere in the building.
53:55 Min. Return from Executive Session at 10:18 am
Ms. Burhenne listed two actions that were approved unanimously:
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Commissioners’ office received approval to authorize the president of the board to finalize negotiations for the purchase of a property being considered for expansion of County Services.
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Commissioners’ office received approval to authorize Commissioner Spidalieri and the County Administrator to begin negotiations on a potential property being considered for expansion of County Services. The Commissioners’ Office is requesting the Board move into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing the employment and compensation of a public employee, pursuant to O.R.C. 121.22 (G)(1).
Observer Note: There was no discussion on these two resolutions but it appears that there are two different parcels under consideration. The potential purpose of these parcels was not addressed.
55 Min. Executive Session - Commissioners went into another Executive Session to discuss compensation of a public employee. The Commissioners were joined by Ms. Burhenne and Ms. Hostutler, Human Resource Manager.
1:13:11 Min. Return from Executive Session at 10:38 am. - No Action
Board Discussion – Courthouse Change Orders – 1 for Electrical, Data and Cabinetry and 1 for an Alarm System
Ms. Burhenne said in regard to the $$7,700 change order for an alarm system, she had previously brought a request from the Sheriff asking for a change order for a silent alarm system at the courthouse for $200,000; then the Sheriff went back and took a second look and chose a less expensive option and that's what this $7,700 change order addresses. She said that instead of the original proposed system, it will be a system similar to what the maintenance department is installing in this building (the new county office building) where they will have pre-recorded messages selected by a deputy at the desk to alert the building in the case of any type of emergency.
Mrs. Brakey said she was fine with this one, but had a harder time with the change order of $50,000
for data drops and other equipment. She said that she didn’t think she understood this and Mr. Antenucci was asked to comment. He said these were things requested by the Court Technology IT Department.
It was decided that a representative from NV5 should come and explain these proposed changes and that they should “respectfully” ask Court Technology and other court personnel to also attend the next meeting to talk about these requests.
Ms. Blair interjected that although they are looking at change orders # 16 and # 17, there have actually only been four change orders approved for the project.
The Commissioners approved Change Order # 17 unanimously but did not take action on Change Order # 16 pending more information.
121:50 Min. Airport Discussion
Mrs. Brakey said that “before we move into public comment I just wanted to talk about the airport a little bit. I had the opportunity to sit down with some representatives of the airport. I asked them for some documents, some of which they've provided . . . the more I've looked into this, my conclusion is that giving this $1.33 million to the airport to fund the new hangar and some other projects to me seems like an irresponsible use of taxpayer money”. Mrs. Brakey outlined her objections as follows:
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The Airport, according to their contract, has “the responsibility to maintain the airport and hangars”. She said that this is not the responsibility of the Commissioners.
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If Mr. Lennon was correct last year in stating that the Airport has a wait list for a hangar (which has been described as 32 applicants), then there should be higher rental rates.
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Having the County pay for upgrades when the Airport keeps all revenue doesn’t make financial sense.
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The looming deadline for a grant application in which the airport gets $500,000 but the County pays $1.33 Million doesn’t make sense. In her opinion rushing into giving 1.33 million when the Grant is only for $500,000 is not prudent.
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The reference to “economic development” as the reason for the investment in the Airport is abstract and when Mrs. Brakey tried to flush this out there were no solid answers.
Public Comment: A man from South Russell Village asked “when's the airport problem going to get resolved?” He said, in his opinion, it has to get resolved fairly soon or they are going to lose all that money (from the FAA grant). He then asked Ms. Burhenne how often she is in touch with the prosecutor’s office to get an answer. She stated that she sends them emails regularly. He then asked “how regularly?” and she answered, “about once a week.” The individual continued to ask questions and then asked Mrs. Brakey if she had ever flown into an airport privately and put her own gas in her own airplane.
Mrs. Brakey responded, “I am not at that tax bracket”. The questioner continued, “I'm not either anymore but that airport is a very important part of Geauga County, and it should be maintained correctly and the people that run it are doing a damn good job.”
Anastasia Nicholas from the Chagrin Valley Times asked Mr. Spidalieri about the appeal to Economic Development and whether he could explain what he meant by that with past comments about the airport and the economic impact of the airport.
Mr. Spidalier said that, in his opinion, the County had failed the Airport by not investing more in the past and that they are now playing catch up. He said that he has witnessed a lot of business clients coming into the airport for meetings. He then spoke about Middlefield and his view that there is ongoing construction of “...either the second or third largest single story structure in the United States.” Observer Note: This structure was not explained further.
He added that “A lot of those who own aircrafts live in this County and instead of them trying to
drive down to Lake or Ashtabula or Portage County, they're right in their own home county and spending their money in our County.” Mr. Spidalieri also praised the lighting project that they just completed at the Airport as well as the parallel taxiway. He said that getting a longer runway (4,000 ft) would really improve usage at the Airport.
He said that “I don't have skin in the game in a sense I don't have a hanger there. I don't buy my fuel there.”
Mrs. Brakey said that “when I met with the airport board, I asked them how often do you have CEOs coming in this airport and they're like never – we're a hobby.”
Mr. Spidalieri objected to that and said that “I can tell you that I know three companies that have executives from other branches of their businesses that do come to that airport if not weekly, possibly bi-weekly”.
Mrs. Brakey said that “if an airplane from another county flies into Geauga they pay a $7 flying fee, if
there's somebody there to collect the money. That's the revenue and then hopefully they buy their fuel there so, like to me, those are like tangible benefits that I can see. . . this Economic Development, like to me, these arguments that I've heard are just not persuasive.”
There was then a discussion of whether the airport could expand into more territory to build a longer runway, but Mrs. Brakey concluded that they didn’t own the property for the expansion and that there was no 5-year plan or no plans at all for that right now.
Mrs. Brakey said that, “We shouldn't be subsidizing somebody's hobby and this idea of welfare for airplane owners is absolutely absurd to me. . . we've got people in our County that are struggling to pay their property taxes.”
1:50:50 Min. Ms. Diane Jones asked Mr. Spidalieri a question about his interest in the Geauga airport, given that he owns his own helicopter. She pointed to records that showed the helicopter at the Geauga Airport.
Mr. Spidalieri responded that he does not use a hangar at the Geauga Airport and never had a hangar at the Geauga Airport. After a follow up question, Mr. Spidalieri said that he has a hangar at his home.
Meeting adjourned at about 11:15.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available here.
Next Regular Meeting of the BOCC: The next BOCC meeting is on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 9:30 am at the County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH.
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Carol Benton
Date Submitted: 3/7/2025
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