2026 Clean Inspection Awards Announced
Geauga Public Health (GPH) Regular Meeting – April 15, 2026
Meeting Details: The GPH Board met in Regular Session at the Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite B167-168 (first floor), Chardon, OH, on April 15, 2026. The meeting began at 5:00 pm. This meeting was in person with no virtual viewing or video. The Agenda is posted on the GPH Facebook page a few days prior to the meeting and then typically is posted on the GPH website. The Agenda for this meeting can be found here. Observer Note: There was one item at the end of the Agenda that is not listed here and was not listed on the Agenda distributed at the meeting. It will be noted in the report.
Public Comment Policy: There is no separate written policy, but in practice “Citizens’ Remarks” are listed on the agenda and are permitted as detailed there.
Board Attendance:
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Dr. Mark Hendrickson, President
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Melissa DeBoth
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Daniel Green, Jr. (absent)
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Lynn Roman
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Christine Sutter, President Pro Tempore
Staff Attendance:
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Adam Litke, Administrator and Health Commissioner (absent)
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Dan Lark, Director of Environmental Health
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Cady Stromp, Environmental Health Specialist
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Paul Stromp, Sanitarian
Others Present: One member of the public, Geauga Maple Leaf reporter Allison Wilson, and this LWVG Observer were present.
Call to Order: Called to order at 5:00 pm.
Opening of Meeting - The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. A quorum was declared, as was a Certification of the Delivery of Official notices of meeting. The hearing was open to the public.
Minutes - The Board approved the Minutes from the Regular Meeting of March 18, 2026
Health District Staff Reports
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Population Health Report - Mr. Lark said there was nothing to add and Ms. Roman said that she liked the new format. Observer Note: All reports are included in the Agenda. From the report: “Vaccines for Children Clinics - Melissa Kimbrough hosted and supported 3 clinics through March, for a total of 113 vaccines provided to families this month.” Also, “Melissa Kimbrough, Diane Keep, along with Jessica Wakelee and Cady Stromp, participated in interviews for the new Epidemiologist and the new CMH nurse in early March. Three candidates for each role were interviewed….” Further in the report: “A new Epidemiologist, Nate Stadler, was hired and started on March 23 to fill the vacancy created when Heather DiCioccio was promoted to Director of Nursing.”
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Environmental Health Report - From the report: “Staff completed an annual review of the policies and procedures for the pool, camp, school, and food programs on 3/11. The sewage staff recently completed a total of 118 commercial septic system inspections for this reporting season and starting April 1st will conduct 536 inspections, which will include both onsite and discharging commercial systems. Sewage staff continue to stay busy conducting inspections. We also successfully concluded Groundwater Awareness Week. Supervisor Dan Sinclair delivered a community presentation focused on proper water well maintenance, with approximately 100 residents in attendance. The event was sponsored by Geauga Soil and Water and was well received by the community.”
Mr. Lark talked about a fuel oil tank on a property that ruptured. He said that the owner had called the EPA and that GPH is now working with EPA to have the neighboring wells tested. The property was a rental, so it is not known how long the condition existed. The tank and well have been drained.
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Finance Report - The report stated, “the Geauga 2023 and 2024 audits are currently underway and are expected to be completed by the end of April 2026. As of March 31, 2026, 25.00% of the fiscal year has been completed. Expenses are also below budget currently, due in part to the timing of invoice payments. We continue to work with the Geauga County Auditor’s Office to process outstanding payments to the Lake County Health District.” Ms. Roman asked about payments to the Lake County Health Department. Observer Note: Under the agreement with Lake County, termed the Cross Jurisdictional Agreement, GPH pays contract fees to Lake County for personnel. See more information here. Ms. Taylor said that there is $500,000 in outstanding payments to Lake County for 2025, and that next month they expect to pay Lake County for January, February and March, 2026. She said that the issue for 2025 was that the money had not been appropriated so she is working with the attorney to figure this out.
Old Business - No Old Business
New Business - Resolutions -
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Financial Reports, Resolution 26-04-06-01-01 - Approved
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Permission to Approve Appropriations for Increase/Decrease - Approved. Ms. Roman asked what increased or decreased, and Ms. Taylor said they moved money into and out of several accounts.
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Request for Legal Action Against Food Establishment Operators/Food Service Operators for Failure to Renew Food License and Operating Without a License - Withdrawn. It was stated that the restaurant, Iron Horse, had not paid certain fees but that payments were made that day.
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Resolution to Award the 2026 Clean Inspection Award to the Qualifying Food Services and Food Establishments - Approved. Environmental Health Supervisor Cady Stromp and Lead Sanitarian Paul Stromp shared the 2026 Clean Inspection Awards based on the criteria. Mrs. Stromp said that eleven establishments would be recognized. They both stressed that establishments self-nominate and are approved based on the stated criteria: all fees paid, no critical violations, and trained staff. A video of the awardees is available here. Those who are awarded receive a personalized letter, a statue and a window sticker.
There was a brief discussion about action taken at the April 2 Special Meeting to suspend the license of Hunan in Chagrin Falls. Observer Note: See LWVGeauga Observer report for April 2nd here. Ms. Stromp said that there has been a lot of communication between the owner and her attorney and the GPH. She said that all training must be complete and that they will be going into the restaurant to make sure that each person at each station understands what they are required to do. It was confirmed that they can practice making food during this time, but that no food can be sold until after the inspection. Mrs. Stromp said that the sign on the door does not give a re-opening date. Observer Note: A call by this Observer to the restaurant verified that they are now open. See information here.
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Permission to Accept the NEHA-FDA Retail Flexible Funding Model Track 1 Development Base Grant, $5,000, and Optional Add-On Grant, $3,500 - Approved. Observer Note See information here. Mr. Lark said that Lake County has received this grant since 2013 and it is based on National Retail Program standards. There are nine standards. The grant will help train GPH staff and he said it “gets our foot in the door.” He said that Lake County receives higher grant amounts.
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(Not on the Agenda) Approved. Legal action against Robert and Lindsay Russell. Mr. Lark said there was a disinfectant issue on their system, and it was not working. It was noted that water going out to the ditch is a public nuisance. Mr. Lark said they tried to have a meeting with the property owners and they ignored him. Mr. Lark also said the owners had originally said they would fix it, but they didn’t do anything.
There was discussion about putting inspections online on the website. Mrs. Stromp said that they will do a public announcement before this goes live on the website. She said, “We’re getting closer.”
Mr. Stromp emphasized that all the forms they use are state forms and that they work very hard with owners before getting to legal action.
Citizens’ Remarks - There were no remarks.
Executive Session – None
Next Regular Meeting: May 13, 2026, at 5:00 pm. Observer Note: This meeting was scheduled for this date, which is a week earlier than usual, at the March 18th meeting. All meetings are held at the Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite B 167-168, Chardon, OH.
Adjournment - Meeting adjourned at 5:37 pm
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Submission Date: April 19, 2026
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