Final Budget Draft Presented to Board to be Voted on in December
Geauga Park District Board Regular Meeting – November 17, 2025
Meeting Details: The Geauga Park District (GPD) Board met on Monday, November 17, 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, John Ralph and Frank Stein. Commissioner Sally LaMarca was absent.
Staff Attendance: Dawn Sweeney, Fiscal Officer; Jessica Alpers, Administrative Assistant; and Matt McCue, Deputy Director. Also in attendance were Lucas Beamer, IT Manager; Sandy Ward, Marketing Director; Christine Cycyk, Human Resources Manager; Mike Rose, Park Ranger/Sergeant, and Attorney Todd Hicks from the law firm of Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan. John Oros, Executive Director was absent. Observer Note: Chief Ranger Dennis Sloan was absent. In conversation with the Ranger who was present, it was learned that Chief Ranger Sloan is no longer employed by Geauga Park District.
Public Attendance: Katie Davis, Erie Engineering and Construction Co.; Members of Protect Geauga Parks; Kate Jacobs, Chief Compliance Officer, Geauga County Auditor’s Office; Abby King, Juvenile Court Magistrate; a reporter from the Geauga Maple Leaf, and LWVG Observers Mary Heintzelman and Gail Roussey were present.
Deputy Director Matt McCue facilitated the meeting.
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 October 20, 2025 meeting were approved without question or comment and are posted online here.
Financial Report: Dawn Sweeney, Fiscal Officer, verbally reported these individual fund balances as of October 31, 2025:
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Ending balance as of 10/31/25 in the General Fund: $4,693,320
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Beginning balance as of 10/01/25 in the Land Improvement Fund: $3,264,498
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Ending balance as of 10/31/25 in the Land Improvement Fund: $3,197,505
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All Funds beginning balance on 10/1/25: $8,688,110
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All Funds ending balance on 10/31/25: $7,890,825
There were no questions and no discussion.
Presentation of Payment Report for October 2025.
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:
There were no questions or comments.
New Business
The following Resolutions were approved unanimously:
Resolution 19-2025/Public Entities Pool (PEP) Faithful Performance of Duty Coverage - This resolution allows GPD to "purchase and use ‘employee dishonesty and faithful performance of duty policy’ through PEP instead of individual surety bonds for officers, employees, and appointees who are otherwise required by law to acquire a bond before entering upon the discharge of duties.” Attorney Todd Hicks stated that this would enable purchase of a policy instead of a bond. The actual employees who would otherwise be required to post a bond were not listed.
Approval of 2026 Healthcare Rates for Geauga County Employees - It was stated that due to changes in the plan, the 2026 Geauga Park District employer contribution is estimated to decrease by $17,144.88 annually. Observer Note: In a conversation after the meeting with Ms. Cycyk, Human Resources Manager, it was learned that, although Geauga Park District has separated from the County, they are part of the Geauga County benefit plan, although they are billed separately. It was not stated during the meeting if employee contributions would be increasing or decreasing.
Final Budget Draft - It was stated by Mr. McCue that this will be voted on at the December meeting.
Observer Note: It was not noted whether the passage of the levy, which had an increase, will impact the Revenue listed. In the Board packet obtained by this Observer, the draft budget shows total revenue of $13,616,239.84, which is a decrease from 2025 estimated revenue of $15,897,998.20. Expenditures were listed as $10,959,539.33 (similar to 2025 estimated expenses of $10,077,702.07). Carryover is estimated as $3,271,700.51 (last year’s carryover estimate was $5,723,153.84).
Surplus Property - Several items were approved for scrap and one item will go to auction - a 2016 GMC Sierra 3500 Truck.
Commissioner’s Time - There were no presentations or questions or discussion from the Board.
Mr. McCue reviewed the October statistics as follows:
He first thanked Geauga voters for approving the levy that was on the ballot in November.
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The total number of programs for the month of October was 125, with 2,886 program participants.
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Holly Days was held at West Woods on November 7 and 8, 2025. There were over 40 vendors and 2,042 patrons attended.
Executive Session - Mr. McCue announced an Executive Session at 8:47 am regarding compensation and employment and potential land acquisition.
Return from Executive Session at 9:11 am with no action.
Public Comment - Per Geauga Park District practice, no public comment was permitted.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:12 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, December 15, 2025 at 8:30 am.
See the GPD Website for Additional Information and Minutes.
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: November 21, 2025
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