Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) –January 5, 2023
Meeting Details: The Board of County Commissioners met in person at 9:30 am on January 5, 2023. This meeting was held on a Thursday due to the holiday on Monday. The meeting was held at the Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH. This meeting was in person only and there was no link to a recording.
Attendance: Commissioners Dvorak, Lennon and Spidalieri were present, as were Commissioner’s Clerk Christine Blair, County Administrator Gerard Morgan and Finance Director Adrian Gorton.
County Representatives: Maintenance Director Glen Vernick, Water Resources Director Steve Oluic, Joanne Santilli, Transit Director, and Elaine Malkamaki, Program Director for Community and Economic Development.
The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer led by Mr. Dvorak.
Minutes: No minutes were presented for review. Reviewer Comment: As of January 5, 2023, minutes are posted on the BOCC website through November 15, 2022.
Financial Report: Mr. Adrian Gorton reported that he approved the encumbrances to be considered by the Board of Commissioners - this was explained as a normal beginning of the year approval process with no specific figures approved. The Financials were approved which included travel for several departments, including probate and The County Engineer’s office. Observer Note: Typically there would be numerous approvals at this point in the meeting but because this was the first meeting of the year only the travel charges were submitted.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval to establish the gas mileage reimbursement at the current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rate of $0.655, to be effective January 1, 2023 for the departments under the direction of the Geauga County Board of Commissioners. There was a brief discussion about this rate, which is an increase of .03 from last year’s IRS approved rate.
The County Engineer’s Office received approval to undertake Projects using Force Account in certain cases for Year 2023. Observer Note: A “force account” is authorized under ORC section 5543.19. This allows the Engineer's office to use its own employees for projects and not go out to bid.
The Planning Commission received approval for the re-appointment of Caterina Cocca-Fulton to the Planning Commission Board for a three-year term, January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2025.
The Department of Development (Community & Economic) received approval to execute the Contract Agreement with Driverge Vehicle Innovations, LLC, for the Department on Aging Paratransit Van under CDBG Grant #B-F-21-1AZ-1 in the amount of $66,000.00.
The Maintenance Department received approval for the following:
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for waiver of the policy prohibiting the payment of late fees and finance charges and allow payment to Dominion East Ohio Gas and The Illuminating Company as invoices were received after the final financial session in 2022 and are due prior to the first financials in January 2023, in an amount not to exceed $1,000.00. It was explained by Mr. Vernick that this occurs every year since the payments cannot be authorized due to the start of a new year until after they are due, thus creating late fees. County agencies are normally not permitted to pay late fees and must seek authorization from the Commissioners whenever this occurs.
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for approval unpaid leave for a Senior Trades Mechanic (#1905) for up to thirty-five (35) hours not covered by accrued sick and vacation leave during the period December 22, 2022 through April 28, 2023.
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There was a long discussion about recent events caused by the cold weather during Dec. 24-25. It was reported by Mr. Vernick that the Recorder’s Office had flooding due to burst pipes. In addition two generators went down and portable generators had to be brought in because the generators were serving essential systems. One is used to back up the radio tower for Sheriff’s radios and the second is used for the Emergency Management Services building. The 911 system was not impacted as that is housed in the Safety Center with its own generator (which was not affected). Due to the crucial nature of these services the Commissioners asked what steps were being taken to get new generators (as these are decades old). Mr. Vernick stated that he was in the process of looking at generators that could be run with diesel or gas (in case a gas line should go down.)
The Department of Water Resources received approval for the following:
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to execute the service Contract Agreement with Five Star Fire Protection Services, Incorporated to perform all inspections, recharging, hydrostatic pressure testing and repairs including emergency and exit lighting for a period of one-year, effective January 5, 2023 in an amount not to exceed $3,000.00.
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To execute the service Contract Agreement with Baker and Associates, Ltd. to perform Installation of GS9 IXOM Active Tank Mixer at both Bainbridge Water Tower and Services Center Water Tower for the department for a period of one-year, effective January 5, 2023 in an amount not to exceed $47,400.00.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval to close the Geauga County Offices, under the hiring authority of the Board of Commissioners, on Friday, November 24, 2023 in light of the Thanksgiving Holiday, as paid time off for regular scheduled employees up to eight hours (non-active work status time). Twenty-four-hour operations will continue to operate as normal. Further, those employees required to work on November 24, 2023 will be entitled to overtime pay in addition to their regular pay for actual hours worked.
Annual Organizational meeting: BOCC conducted its Annual Organizational meeting. Among the items approved were the following:
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Mr. Ralph Spidalieri will be the new President. (Observer Note: This position is on a rotating basis, as if the Vice President)
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Mr. James Dvorak will be the Vice President
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The Commissioner’s adopted a meeting schedule (not available in the hand-out for the meeting), but available through request to the clerk, Christine Blair.
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The Commissioner’s also set the place for meetings (12611 Ravenwood Dr, Room B303, Chardon, 470 Center Street,Chardon, and any alternate locations approved. They also granted approval for commissioners (even a “quorum” of 2 together) to attend various county and township meetings throughout the year.
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The Commissioners approved appointments to various boards between the three of them. In two cases they also authorized Mr. Gerard Morgan, to attend as an alternate if none of the three were available: ADP Board and Board of Revision.
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The Commissioners re-appointed all of the following:
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Gerard Morgan, County Commissioner
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Christine Blair, Clerk of Commissioners
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Director, Dept. on Aging - Jessica Boalt
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Director Community and Economic Development - Gina Hofstetter
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Chief Building Enforcement Official - DanSpada
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Director, Dept of Emergency Services - Roger Peterson
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Director Job and Family Services - Craig Swenson
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Director, Maintenance - Glan Vernick
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Director, Transportation - JoAnna Santilli
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Diretor, Water Resources - Steven Oluic
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Sanitary Engineer, Water Resources - Nicholas Gorris
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Dog Warden - Matt Granito
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The Commissioners approved delegation of powers (as permitted by ORC 305.30) to Gerard Morgan, County Administrator. It was explained that this will allow him to approve any service contract if it is under $10,000 a year.
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The Commissioners approved the appointment of Nicholas Gorris and Katie Taylor to serve as Prevailing Wage Coordinators for Geauga County.
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The Commissioners approved Credit card limits for directors and employees. There was a brief discussion on this, led by Mr. Lennon. No credit card will be approved if it would give the user any “perks”. Most credit cards are issued by Geauga Credit Union. If an employee uses his/her own credit card they can be reimbursed but not for any tax that was paid. As listed on a sheet available by request from Clerk Christine Blair, the majority of regular employees have a limit of $1,000 while departments and directors generally have limits of $1,500 - 2,000. The following were over these amounts:
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Job and Family Service - Geauga Credit Union Visa ($7,500), PNC Giant Eagle (1,000), Walmart Community Card ($3,000), Wright Express (WEX) Fleet - $5,000;
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Maintenance - those over $2,000 included Home Depot ($5,000), RikWareham ($5,000)
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Auditor’s Office/ADP - Geauga Credit Union ($5,000)
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Probate/Juvenile - Bank of America Mastercard - Timothy J. Grendell ($2,000), Kimberly Laurie ($4,000)
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Commissioner’s office- Visa $4,000
Executive Session - the Commissioners’ Office received approval to move into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing pending litigation.This session lasted until 10:53. The clerk further stated after they entered into executive session (in response to a question by a member of the press) that this session was for the purpose of discussing the ongoing mediation with ADP.
No action taken after the Executive Session.
Public Comment – none
Meeting adjourned.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available on BOCC website
Next Meeting: Tuesday, January 10th at 9:30 am
Name of Observer: Gail Roussey
Name of Reviewer: Shelly Lewis
Submitted 1/7/2023
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