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Transitional Living Center Nearing Completion;

Ribbon Cutting Tentatively Scheduled for May 1

Geauga County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board (GC-MHRS) - February 18, 2026 

Meeting Details: GC-MHRS Board held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 6:00 pm at the Board offices located at 13244 Ravenna Road, Chardon, OH 44024. This meeting was in person only with no recording available. The agenda was available through a request to Office/Administrative Manager Teresa Slater by email at tslater@geauga.org and at the meeting.

Public Comment Policy: No formal policy but in practice, public comment is permitted at the end of the meeting.

Board Members Attending: Chair Steven Oluic, Vice Chair Kathy Johnson, Secretary Jimmy Lee Holden, Treasurer Reba Dykes; Board Members: Douglas Lundblad, Michael Petruziello, Mary Ruth Shumway and Pat Varanese.

Staff Members Attending: Executive Director Christine Lakomiak, Finance Director Jim Mausser,  Office/Administrative Manager Teresa Slater, and Clinical/Compliance Manager Michelle Maneage.

Others Attending:

• Agency representatives: Melanie Blasko (Lake Geauga Recovery Center-LGRC), Michelle Bertman (Catholic Charities), Andrea Gutsko (WomenSafe), Paul Bolino (Ravenwood Health), Mary Wayne-Peaspanen (Signature Health), Kristy Mowry (Red Tulip), Tia Lawerence (Torchlight), Shane McKelvey (Generations Behavioral Health) and Angela North (NAMI).

• Community Members: This LWV-Geauga Observer and a few others who did not sign in. 

• Press: None identified.

Call to Order, Roll Call, and Pledge of Allegiance - The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm.  Roll call and Pledge of Allegiance occurred as listed on the agenda. 

Minutes: Minutes from the January 28, 2026 Regular Meeting were approved. Observer note: The January 28, 2026 LWVG Observer Report omitted the Report of the January 28, 2026 Executive Session.  They are included in the Minutes and are restated here:

“The Board went into Executive Session at 6:55 PM. The Board came out of the Executive Session and returned to the Regular Session at 7:25 PM. Ms. Johnson moved to approve a 3% pay raise for Executive Director Christine Lakomiak retroactive to January 1 , 2026. Ms. Dykes seconded the motion. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES-6; NAYS-0; ABSTENTIONS-0. MOTION APPROVED.

Chairman Oluic reported that staff compensation will be discussed further at a later date.

Director Lakomiak will then present any recommendations to the Board.

Chairman’s Report - Dr. Oluic reported:

• There was a good meeting at the Transitional Living Center (TLC) today. Work is continuing on the kitchen. Plans are to have the ribbon cutting on May 1, 2026. Both wings of living space are pretty much complete. There are now 16 beds (up from 9). 

Executive Director’s Report - Director Lakomiak discussed the following:

Statewide updates

• The Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities (OACBHA) is still looking for a new Executive Director.  They are hoping to have someone hired by April or May to begin in June. GC-MHRS is a member and relies on this association for advocacy for mental health.

Local updates

• May 1 is the tentative date for the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the TLC.

• Request for Information (RFI) will be published March 2, 2026.  The GC-MHRS Board won’t know the State Budget until July or August.  The Board is required to provide contracts before they have the budget.  The RFI will not be open to new providers.  For SFY2027, GC-MHRS will contract with current providers only.  If a need becomes apparent mid-year, a Request for Proposals (RFP) can be offered at that time.

• Opiate Settlement Fund through the Commissioners’ Office has invited RFPs which are due February 27, 2026. 

• Efforts to promote the 988 crisis line have been ongoing. Director Lakomiak has been meeting with Township Trustees, most recently with Auburn and Huntsburg.  The responses have been positive.  They are moving ahead with having signs posted.  Some townships have even offered to pay for the signs and have their employees install them.  Director Lakomiak also met with John Oros, Executive Director of the Geauga Parks District (GPD). Per his request, the signs were modified to add the GPD logo. They will be installing 34 signs. 

• Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) is an hour-long training for Law Enforcement and First Responders which will be offered March 23-27. The training has been offered for many years and is well attended. They want to upgrade the “graduation” to promote the training and increase community awareness. GC-MHRS will be part of the planning.

• Suicide and Overdose Fatality Review: One suicide in January and one potential overdose fatality in February (pending the toxicology report). 

• QPR training (Question, Persuade and Refer) was recently offered by NAMI Geauga.  Nine gatekeepers (such as parents, teachers, first responders, clergy) completed the training. QPR teaches gatekeepers to recognize the signs of potential suicide and offers training in how to  connect with resources. Another QPR training will be offered on March 31st.

• Gun Safety Training was offered last week at the request of the Suicide Prevention Coalition. The Sheriff’s Department provided the training. Much good information was shared. 

Board Review Action Items  

Financial Reports - 

Mr. Mausser reported the January totals as follows:

• The Board SFY2026 (7/1/25-6/30/26) office budget is through January, and 54.6% of the budget has been expended.

• The county calendar year (1/1/26-12/31/26) Budget Performance Report shows just over $757,000 was expended through January.

• The Auditor's Fund Balance: the January Unencumbered Balance is just over $ 2.29 million.

• Voucher recap #715 January $757,537.71.   Mr. Mausser noted that the voucher was a little higher than normal because the county shuts down the last 2 weeks in December, which causes some payments to be paid in January. 

Old Business 

Staff pay and Benefits

Dr. Oluic stated that last year there was a request from Director Lakomiak to move money to a line item for staff pay and benefits. At that time, the topic was tabled. At the January 28, 2026 Executive Session, the topic was discussed at length. Dr. Oluic acknowledged that there is not 100% agreement among Board members. 

Dr. Oluic proposed:

Resolution to move $9,000 into the staff line account to allow the Executive Director to be in charge of  staff benefits and merit pay raises. 

While recognizing that people have varying opinions, Dr. Oluic said it is time to move forward.  He stated that much of the progress made by GC-MHRS aligns with Director Lakomiak’s tenure as the Executive Director. He remarked, “There is ample reason for merit pay raises and that is going to be overseen by the Executive Director.” 

Roll Call vote:

Ayes: 6 Nays: 2 (Holden and Petruziello) 

New Business 

• Dr. Oluic is starting to work on Director Lakomiak’s annual evaluation. He will be reaching out to the Board for input. 

• Acknowledgements:

  • Acknowledgment of 2026 Insurance Overview - The GC-MHRS Board has Director and Officer liability insurance. Mental Health Boards are required to have this coverage and annual notification of the coverage is procedural. The Director acknowledged that the insurance policy is $2 million for Board members. This is not a new requirement.  Discussion followed. Mr. Petruziello questioned why they are not bonded by the county.  He stated that since the funding for GC-MHRS comes from the county and the Board members are county appointees, why shouldn’t they be covered by the county.  Mr. Lundblad responded that not all Board members are appointed by the county; some are state-appointed. The coverage costs $5,385 per year. Director Lakomiak said she will look into it.

  • Acknowledgement of 120-Day Notice.  On March 2, 2026, GC-MHRS will be sending out the 120-day notices to providers for the last time.  In the future, the requirement for both providers and the Board will go to 60-day notice. Observer Note: This was discussed at the January 2026 meeting. It refers to the amount of time required for either party to give notice to cancel a contract. 

• Dr. Oluic reiterated that “We need to have a plan in case federal funding goes south (as demonstrated by recent turmoil).”  He added that “We need to recognize reality.”

Public Comments: Public comments were solicited. There were none. 

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 6:24 pm. 

Board Minutes: Available at https://www.geauga.org/board-minutes/

Next meeting:  The next meeting will be the Regular Meeting on March 18, 2026 at 6:00 pm. Meetings are held at the Board offices located at 13244 Ravenna Rd., Chardon, OH 44024. 

More Information: https://www.geauga.org/

Observer: Kathy Franz

Editor: Rooney Moy

Reviewer: Sarah McGlone

Date Submitted: February 20, 2026

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