Geauga Soil & Water Conservation District
Annual Meeting to Take Place on October 6th
Geauga Soil & Water Conservation District (GSWCD) Board Meeting - September 8, 2026
Meeting Details: The Geauga Soil & Water Conservation District (GSWCD) met on September 8, 2026 at 7:30 am at the Geauga County Office Building, 12611 Ravenwood Dr. #240, Chardon, OH.
Board Attendance: Jeff Huntsberger, Board Chair; Dee Belew, Fiscal Agent; Mary Slingluff, Treasurer.
Not in attendance: Robert Lausin, Vice Chair; Tracy Engle, Secretary
Staff Attendance: Carmella Shale, District Director/Engineer; Gail Prunty, Education/Communications Specialist; Renee Bamberger, Technician
Scheduled Guests: Julie Parker, District Conservationist, United States Department of Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Services (USDA/NRCS); Rebecca O’Neill, Program Specialist, Ohio Department of Agriculture/Division of Soil & Water Conservation (ODA-DSWD), Camp Canopy Scholarship Recipient
Open Board Meeting -7:37 am
Pledge of Allegiance
MOTIONS Approved:
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Approval of September 8, 2026 Board Meeting Agenda
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Approval of August 11, 2026 Board Meeting Minutes
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Accept Treasurer’s Reports from previous month (including all deposits and transfers that occurred in addition to previously approved expenditures)
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Approve transfer in the amount of $5,506.22 from Huntington Savings (Electronic/Stripe Payments through end of August 2026) to Huntington Checking
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Approve payment for expenditures, purchase orders, vouchers and bills as presented including EFT payments, estimates and Sales Tax for August 2026
OPEN PUBLIC DISCUSSION-N/A
MAIL Reviewed, bank statements, payroll and minutes – signed/initialed/dated as applicable
Approved and acknowledged the following refunds issued:
8/14/2026 Philip Drotar $170.00 Paid Wrong Fee Amount; Refund via Stripe
8/24/2026 William Zerbe $80.00 Permit not required; Refund via Stripe
SCHEDULED GUEST: JULIE PARKER, DISTRICT CONSERVATIONIST, USDA/NRCS
Updates: USDA local offices have been notified via letters that all employees are staying where they are. No employees will be moved to other locations due to reorganizations that are going on with USDA nationwide. Ms. Parker has been working on contracts of people who are behind schedule. Payments and site visits are being completed for contracts that have been completed and approved. She advised that she is going to the Ohio Tree Farmer Event at Holden Arboretum that will be held on September 12.
SCHEDULED GUEST: REBECCA O’NEILL, PROGRAM SPECIALIST, ODA-DSWC PROGRAM SPECIALIST
Updates: ODA has been notified that audits around the state have been completed differently depending on who is doing the audit. A statewide auditor survey has been sent out, and results will be shared in November. Ms. O’Neill indicated that everyone is really working on the State Match Policy Review, which GSWCD spoke about last month and Ms. Shale discussed later in the meeting again. A survey has been sent out to all the Soil & Water Conservation Districts for local feedback before implementing a new State Match Policy. The Farm Science Review will be September 22-24.
SCHEDULED GUEST: Camp Canopy Scholarship Recipient presentation
This year’s Camp Canopy Scholarship recipient received this same scholarship last year as well. Reviewer Note: See the LWVG Observer Report on the August 12, 2025 GSWCD Meeting for details. This is her second year at the camp. She is a homeschooled student who is a sophomore in high school. She brought in a PowerPoint presentation and spoke with the board about different things that she studied and learned during her time in camp and shared photographs of activities. Some of the activities she highlighted were chainsaw & ax throwing classes, snowmobile engineering, wildlife management and dendrology (study of trees). She brought in a stick she got at camp to assist her in measuring trees. Two new classes offered this year that she highlighted were: Watershed for Lake Erie & Ecology Maple Syrup.
RENEE BAMBERGER, TECHNICIAN
ACKNOWLEDGE Ag Pollution Complaint – Timmons – Auburn Twp
On August 28, they received their third complaint about smell. Although they do not typically go out for smell complaints, they did because this complaint involved possible overapplication of fertilizer on fields as well as manure. Ms. Bamberger went out to the property with Ms. O’Neill from the ODA. Both agencies concluded that the proper amount of fertilizer was applied and that the setbacks were appropriate and over 100 feet from the ditch. No violations were noted. It was noted that four years ago there was a violation on the property, and the appropriate changes were made after that and now they are in compliance. Ms. O’Neill advised the property owners that they are documenting the good stuff they are doing as well. Observer Note: This observer asked what overapplication meant. Ms. Bamberger explained that it means that they have applied too much fertilizer (cow manure) which could pool and run off into ditches and pollute the water. Ms. Shale advised that it is a common practice to use cow manure as a fertilizer on fields. Farmers use manure because it's a natural product and sometimes cheaper. The board had a discussion that as land continues to be developed, these complaints come up and make it more challenging for farmers to farm their land.
ACKNOWLEDGE Timber Harvest Complaint – Heston – Thompson Twp
On August 18, a call came in regarding a possible forestry pollution complaint. A neighbor called complaining that a logging job had been completed and that the tops of the trees were thrown in the stream. The neighbor’s concern is that the debris in the stream will back up the water and flood their property. Ms. Bamberger said they are going out for an on-site inspection on September 15. She explained that the logging has been completed for two weeks, so there is no urgent need for them to go out there immediately. With the fair and another employee being on vacation, September 15 was the best date to go observe on-site.
GAIL PRUNTY, EDUCATION/COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
2026 Geauga Fair Booth Wrap-up: Ms. Prunty stated that the fair was very successful this year and they interacted with a lot of fair goers. She thanked the board and employees who helped man the booth.
CARMELLA SHALE, DIRECTOR/ENGINEER
MOTION Approved for 41 Complimentary Tickets for the Annual Meeting for the following: Board (5), Staff (7), Hay & Grain Winner (1), Speaker (1), Big Tree Contest (2), 2026 Rain Barrel Artists (5), Poster Contest Winners (14), Tree Sale Volunteers (5) & Volunteer Award (1)
MOTION Approved to dispose of broken and outdated Acer Monitors #020129 & #020130 at recycling center – SIGN Salvage form
MOTION Approved – Purchase of Ricoh Copier from Dex Imaging through Geauga County ADP for $8,800 (per quote attached) including pickup and disposal of outdated Xerox M1P15 Copier #20111. Monthly fee of $145.30 will be charged that includes maintenance, parts, all toner cartridges and supplies other than paper and staples for up to 1,800 black copies and 2,000 color copies per month. Overage will be charged at $0.0085 per black copy and $0.065 per color copy.
Ms. Shale explained that the last copier was purchased in 2018 and it has been having issues. They were advised that they will not be able to get it serviced anymore because parts are not available for this old model. The monthly maintenance contract will be slightly less than their current contract.
State Match Policy Discussion
Ms. Shale sent out packets to the board prior to the meeting with her comments for the board to review prior to the meeting. The board acknowledged that Ms. Shale did a lot of work on this survey form. Ms. Shale acknowledged that many of the decisions the state will make regarding state match funding will not directly affect this district; however, it will negatively impact smaller districts that do not have the resources Geauga does.
For example, she noted (the board approved via motion to her recommendations and concerns below):
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Background Section: They took out the background information on how they got to where they are. She feels that with the amount of development going on, it is important to remember history and where they came from and how they got to the decisions of the past to make decisions in the future and that this section should stay. The board agreed.
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Matchability Section: Ms. Shale advised that if a district was going to receive more than a 5% local budget increase, the Commission must be notified no later than March 15 on why this would be the case. She noted no objections to this rule as it will impact one pool of money all districts get their match dollars from. She did state that a 5% increase in a year could be reasonable if a district brings on a new employee or needs to purchase a large piece of equipment.
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Accountability Section: This is the section that Ms. Shale advised they could have the biggest issue with. In the annual plan of work, the district must identify the priorities of the Ohio Soil & Water Commission. She said if they identify these priorities really broadly, then this isn’t as much of an issue. However, the districts historically were formed out of a need for each area of the state to get the service that specific area needed from Soil & Water. For example, what a district in an urban area would need will be different than what a district in a rural area would need. The Ohio Revised Code has it written as a “locally lead” agency, and she believes that what the state wants done might be very different than what local entities might need. Ms. Shale has asked what the priorities are, and she has been informed that they do not know what the priorities are. She thinks it should be more broad and not specific. Mr. Huntsberger gave her a suggestion on how to word her response, which she took.
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Distribution Section: This section is not completed. Ms. Shale says this is one of the largest sections of the policies, and she has noted that if they want them to review the whole policy, they should give them the whole policy to review at one time because what might be in this section that they have not seen yet could impact their response to other sections.
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Financial Section: This section did not affect GSWCD; however, it could impact smaller districts. Currently, the policy allows districts to carry over as much as 200% in expected expenditures. This will be changed to use previous year expenditures for match. She advised that if a really small district needs to hire a staff member or make a big purchase, looking to the past will not help those small districts. Ms. Shale was adamant that they should be looking to the future, not the past expenditures.
2026 ANNUAL MEETING/ELECTION: October 6, 2026 – 5:30pm-6:30pm Voting/6:30pm Dinner and presentations – Veterans Legacy Woods
Only one position is up for election this year, and Bob Lausin is the only person who is running. Candidate information can be found here. The speaker for this dinner is the same speaker, Harvey Webster, who was very well received last year. This year’s topic will be on Bald Eagles. Dinner will be BBQ.
Observer Note: For dinner & eagle presentation reservations, go here. Per the website, “Anyone wishing to vote who cannot attend the Annual Dinner may do so by stopping by the Geauga SWCD office (12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite 240, Chardon, Ohio 44024) during business hours (7:00 am - 3:30 pm) or by making a request for an absentee voting ballot by calling 440-834-1122 or emailing e.malkamaki@geauga.oh.gov.
NEXT REGULAR BOARD MEETING: Tuesday, October 13, 2026 – Geauga County Administrative Building
Geauga SWCD Office – 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite 240, Chardon, OH 44024
Meeting Adjourned-8:52 am
Observer Note: In review of their website, the fall fish sale orders are currently being taken online here. Orders are due September 25 with fish pick up on October 2, 9 am-10:30 am. The Rain Barrel Auction can be viewed and bid on here.
More information available here.
Observer: Wendy Landry
Editor: Marla Zwinggi
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: September 21, 2026
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.