Grant Sought for New Ellison Creek Woodland Property
Located in Chardon and Concord Townships
Geauga Park District Board Regular Meeting – August 18, 2025
Meeting Details: The Geauga Park District (GPD) Board met on Monday, August 18, 2025, 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. This observer makes a request to GPD Executive Director John Oros (joros@geaugaparkdistrict.org) for the Board packet in advance of the meeting in order to better understand the substance of the matters on the Agenda.
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, Ray Guarino, Sally LaMarca, John Ralph and Frank Stein were present.
Staff Attendance: John Oros, Executive Director; Dawn Sweeney, Fiscal Officer; Jessica Alpers, Administrative Assistant; Matt McCue, Deputy Director, and Head Naturalist John Kolar. Also in attendance were Lucas Beamer, IT Manager; Sandy Ward, Marketing Director; Chief Ranger Dennis Sloan and Attorney Todd Hicks from the law firm of Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan.
Public Attendance: Members of Protect Geauga Parks and this observer were present, as well as a reporter from the Chagrin Valley Times.
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 July 21, 2025 meeting were approved and are posted online here.
Financial Report: Dawn Sweeney, Fiscal Officer, verbally reported these individual fund balances as of July 31, 2025:
-
Ending balance as of 7/31/25 in the General Fund: $5,973,934
-
Beginning balance as of 7/01/25 in the Land Improvement Fund: $3,543,713
-
Ending balance as of 7/31/25 in the Land Improvement Fund: $3,470,089
-
All Funds beginning balance on 7/1/25: $6,816,419
-
All Funds ending balance on 7/31/25: $9,444,022
There were no questions and no discussion. Observer Note: There was an increase in Revenue in the General Fund of $3,334,736 which accounts for the increase in the General Fund and in All Funds. This was not explained during the meeting or in the Board packet. This Observer believes it is probably due to the levy payments that are paid in late July or August for the second half collection.
Presentation of Payment Report for July 2025.
There were no questions and no discussion.
Observer Note: There is no approval or motion regarding the payment report as the payments have already occurred.
Old Business
A Planning Update was offered by Deputy Director Matt McCue as follows:
-
The West Woods Bridge Drive has opened up to public access
-
Tupelo - asphalt is completed
-
Maple Trail improvements will take place in the next couple weeks. Asphalt repair was needed as it is 25 years old.
-
Sunnybrook Trails - They are finished with these.
-
Beartown Lakes - Starting work there.
Planning 2026 Capital Campaigns - will include work on the following:
-
Planning for the Hambden Hills Dam (formerly known as the Kittredge Property - See Geauga Maple Leaf article here)
-
Big Creek - Deep Woods restroom
-
West Woods trail work
-
Frohring Meadows - trail repairs
New Business
The following Resolutions were approved unanimously without any questions or comments from the Board:
-
2025 Revised Budget Resolution No. 15-205 - The revised revenue and appropriate resolution reflects the certification of $906,500 in additional revenue, which was a payment from the Wetlands Mitigation Fund and was certified by the Budget Commission.
-
Resolution Authorizing the Executive Director to submit an application for Clean Ohio Green Space Conservation Grant for the purchase and protection of the Ellison Creek Woodland Property. Observer Note: This property was discussed (without detail) at the prior Board meeting at the conclusion of the Executive Session in which Mr. Oros was given authority to pursue negotiations. See LWVGeauga report of July 21, 2025. At this meeting it was announced that this is a 59.83 acre property, which includes six acres of Category 3 wetlands and 2,000 linear feet of Ellison Creek, a direct tributary of the Grand River. It is located in Chardon Township and Concord Township. Observer Note: How much of the property is in Lake County versus Geauga County was not discussed. The cost to purchase the property and the amount of the grant were not provided.
Commissioner’s Time
Mr Oros introduced Chief Naturalist John Kolar who reviewed the Naturalist program. Highlights include the following:
-
Staff includes 11 naturalists, which he said was an award winning team. They serve the entire county as well as schools, senior centers and libraries ranging from kids to seniors.
-
Most programs are free to residents.
-
Last year they held 1,245 programs with 53,406 participants.
-
School programs - these are free for in-county schools. Out-of-county schools come to Geauga County and pay a small fee.
-
Nature Scopes Program, described as a one of a kind program, is funded by Foundation for Geauga Parks and gives each 5th grade student a pair of binoculars and has programming through the year utilizing the binoculars. All 5th graders in the county can participate, including homeschooled students.
-
Outreach is done to senior centers, libraries and nursing homes. There are six different programs offered.
-
Public programs include: Monarch tagging, Amphibians, Astronomy programs; accessible nature programs; Nature Journaling, and Hike with Santa and Elf. They have a 15 passenger van for trips (bird trips and historical trips). There are also virtual programs, which started with Covid but have continued.
-
Recreation - snow shoe rentals, Geocaching, canoe and kayak rentals, High Ropes (at Claridon Woodlands), Bird in Hand (at West Woods from October - April).
-
Special events include: Winter Solstice (West Woods), Saps a Rising, Greens for Giving, and the Geauga County Fair. There are movie nights, amphitheater programs, community art and a new program - Touch a Truck. They also started a few new programs - Space Race at Observatory Park (unique in the country), Wild Winter Nights at Big Creek, Paddlefest at Headwaters Park, and Salute to Summer at Veteran's Legacy Woods.
-
From 2014 - 2024, the number of programs has gone from 855 to 1,245; attendance has also increased from 34,000 to about 55,000.
Mr. Oros also mentioned the importance of volunteers. Mr. Kolar said they couldn’t do what they do without volunteers. He said there are a few hundred now, but they will be opening up the volunteer program.
There were no questions from the Board.
Mr. Oros reviewed the July statistics as follows:
-
Total programs - 100; Total Attendance - 1,907
-
Tuesday - National Night Out on the Square on August 5 at Chardon Square was very successful.
-
Monarch tagging - With the help of naturalists and the public, 275 monarchs were tagged and will be released at the Geauga County Fair.
Executive Session - Mr. Oros said there was no need for an Executive Session.
Public Comment - Per Geauga Park District practice, no public comment was permitted.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:04 am
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 – Monday, September 15, 2025 at 8:30 am.
See the GPD Website for Additional Information and Minutes.
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Sarah McGlone
Reviewer: Carol Benton
Date Submitted: August 26, 2025
The League of Women Voters of 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.