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Meeting was held at Geauga County Administration Building, 12811 Ravenwood Drive, Chardon, OH, on July 27, 2022 at 5 pm.  

Geauga County Automated Data Processing (ADP) provided a recording of the session https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1w0YTHt5jI&t=47s

Board members:

• Richard Piraino, President

• Jeffrey Cameron - Medical Director/Health Commissioner 

• Lynn Roman 

• Patricia Levan,  Absent

• Carolyn Brakey  

• Ashley Jones, Pro Tem  

• Staff in attendance included Adam Litke - Administrator

• Alta Wendell - Administration Director,  

• Carol Straniero - Population Health Director,  

• Daniel Lark, Interim Environmental Health Director - Absent

OPENING SESSION

• June 22, 2022 Minutes approved after amended to correct a few typos.

INFORMATION SESSION

Environmental Health Update (presented by A. Litke since D. Lark was not present:

• Environmental Health (EH) staff conducted 344 inspections of various types (wells, septic, etc.) from 6/16/22 through 7/18/22. There is a one year backlog of inspections.

• EH will be recommending new fees for inspections.

• They will need to have the new O&M (Operation and Maintenance) inspection program for septic systems up and running by January 2023.

• The board asked for more data regarding the number of inspections of various types that are still outstanding

Population Health Update (Carol Straniero)

• Covid numbers were presented, including 506 cases and 2 deaths between June 1 and July 14 in Geauga (avg 11.5 cases/day). C Brakey asked why they are no longer breaking out the numbers of vaccinated vs. not. This is done by the Ohio Department of Health and no explanation was available for the reason for the change.

• The first suspected case of Monkeypox was seen in Geauga. If confirmed, GPH will be doing contact tracing; case management (ie are they taking their 2 week course of medication). So far the disease is mostly transmitted by gay men and can be more serious if they have HIV. Monkeypox is mainly transmitted by body fluids. There is an experimental vaccine. In the previous week there were 4 cases, this week 18 cases (Observer Note:  It was not clarified if this was the number for all of Ohio). Ohio cases have been linked to travel. The disease is endemic to the Congo.

• Child Covid vaccines – the county vaccinated 264 children ages 5-17 (not sure of the time frame).

• Since the offices moved to the new building, they are waiting for all equipment to be moved before starting up the immunization clinics. Currently Lake County is doing them.  Clinics will be Wednesdays by appointment only, and  2 State nurses will help out. Adult clinics will be every other Friday for TB testing and Rabies treatment.

• The Amish community seems to like coming to the new building for well-child immunizations. The building is going to have a hitching post. GPH is getting a new employee to help with clinics. It was stated that the Amish community represents 30% of the population in Geauga (Observer Note:  This percentage appears to be inflated based on 2022 census data of total population figures)

Administration Division Update / Finance (Alta Wendell)

• A. Wendell’s report was distributed to the Board prior to the meeting. In the future A. Litke stated that these reports will be posted on the website so the public can access the day before the meeting. The finance report was approved.

• A clerical position was posted. Instead of the usual 100 applications, they only received 50. Five were contacted for interviews, only 2 responded. A. Litke said the perks for public employees are not as good as they used to be.

• A. Litke stated that the O&M program needs to be up and running to protect homeowners now that For Sale of Property (FSOP) inspections are ending. The auditor says that O&M fees can be charged on property tax bills. This will save GPH money doing the billing this way.

Administrator Update (Adam Litke)

• Adam distributed copies of Robert’s Rules of Order to Board members.

• Adam observed Drug Court (Judge Pachke)

• Adam attended a Saturday session with the Mental Health board and Lake Geauga Recovery Center and pastors from Lake and Geauga. Pastors often see people who have overdosed come to their churches, so Adam delivered 48 Narcan kits to the group; he could have used 200. Amish bishops felt they had problems accessing county services during the pandemic. A second meeting is scheduled for August 20.

• Adam stressed the importance of collaborating with other agencies to avoid duplicating effort and reinventing the wheel.

• There have been many large public records requests.

• Adam will provide a recommended fee structure for O&M to the Board at the August meeting.

• They discussed the possibility of a new levy, the last one was 20 years ago. They would need 2 levies, one to increase the homestead rollback (?) and one for the actual increase. L. Roman thinks they need a new levy.

• The new building doesn’t have enough cleaning staff and they have had difficulty hiring for these positions.

• IT staff under Frank Antenucci have been really helpful with the move to the new building.

• They are revamping the website and there will be a new logo in October.

• Adam will conduct some training sessions for the Board that the public will also be able to attend, they will be during regular Board meetings. Topics like Septic systems, wells, immunizations, rabies. This is to satisfy Ohio Revised Code (ORC) requirements for continuing education for the Board.

• Adam said one of the board members, Dr. Patricia Levan, told him she is planning to resign. There was a discussion about whether they need a medical person to replace her, per the ORC. The next HDAC meeting is scheduled for next March, so they may need to request an earlier meeting. The board thinks their members should be geographically and also diverse.

• They created a Bylaw committee to review the current bylaws annually. Committee meetings are open to the public. Two board members comprise the committees, the Bylaw committee members are C. Brakey and L. Roman

• They discussed the schools and covid guidelines for the fall. No action taken, at least two board members preferred that the board not release any guidelines, just provide a link to the CDC or ODH guidelines. Currently ODH is not planning a mask mandate for schools.

OLD BUSINESS

• No old business to discuss.

NEW BUSINESS

• Amendment to a contract with Lake County for two Lake County staff helping out in Geauga was held for discussion after the Executive Session

• Resolution 2022-8 to appoint Joelle Weiss as the Registrar was approved

• Supplemental appropriations for miscellaneous funds that might be short were approved.

PUBLIC COMMENT SECTION

Mr. Piraino outlined the process and policies for providing public comment. Those who wanted to speak were given 2 minutes each to provide their comment. The following comments were presented:

• A resident asked about the O&M program. A. Litke explained that it is a state mandated and unfunded program, meaning that it has to be paid for by local fees. It will require regular service and inspections of septic systems. Gerry Morgan (county administrator) will work with GPH on an education program for homeowners. There was a lengthy discussion of how contractors may charge high prices for inspections.

• Why does GPH have to pay rent? The health department is not a county agency, thus they have to pay rent to use the new building.

• Will there be a weapons check at the new building? GPH doesn’t have control over this

• A resident asked about conflicts of interest for two board members. Rich Piraino is a realtor, and Ashley Jones has family members (father and spouse) who are septic installers. Both voted to discontinue the Point of Sale septic inspections. The resident submitted to Rich Piraino a preservation letter requesting that he not delete any emails, facebook posts, etc. for 365 days. This resident also asked for a time study of how much time A. Litke spends on his work for Lake County vs. Geauga County. He responded that he spends 32 hours/week in Geauga. Dr. Cameron spends 2 hours/week as the Health Commissioner/Medical Director.

EXECUTIVE SESSION 

The Board adjourned at 7:06 PM for the Executive Committee to discuss pending litigation (no counsel was present). 

Reviewer Note:  It is unclear whether counsel participated by phone. It appears from the Ohio Sunshine Law manual that to discuss pending litigation the attorney should be present. “(3) Conferences with an attorney for the public body concerning disputes involving the public body that are the subject of pending or imminent court action;” ORC 121.22 https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-121.22)

MEETING RESUMED

The meeting resumed at 8:41. No actions were taken. C. Brakey had issues with the Lake County contract discussed earlier in the meeting and it was tabled for a special meeting. At the same special meeting they will discuss the pending litigation with their counsel.

Next meeting: Wednesday August 24, 2022 at 5 PM at Geauga County Administration Building, 12811 Ravenwood Drive, Claridon, OH

More Information: http://gphohio.org/

Minutes available when posted: http://gphohio.org/Board-of-Health/Board-of-Health-Minutes

Postings available here: https://www.facebook.com/GPHOHIO

Name of Observer :  Nina Lalich, submitted 8/28/2022

Edited by: Betsy Kubbins

Reviewed by:  Gail Roussey

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