Geauga Public Health District (GPH) – January 11, 2023
Meeting Details: The GPH Board met in Special Session at the Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite B303, Chardon, OH, on Jan 11, 2023 at 5 pm. The Agenda was available ahead of the meeting on the GPH website. Geauga County Automated Data Processing (ADP) live streamed this meeting and a recording is available on the ADP Youtube channel.
Board Attendance: (as seated, from L to R)
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Richard Piraino, President
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Dr. Ashley Jones, Pro Tem
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Lynn Roman
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Carolyn Brakey
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Dr. Mark Rood
Staff Attendance:
Carol Straniero, Nursing Director was absent
Daniel Lark, Environmental Health Director was absent.
Call to Order: called to order at 5:00pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Minutes: None presented for review.
Geauga Public Health District Levy
Dr. Rood feels it’s problematic to attempt a levy on the spring ballot, which has a February 1 deadline for submission, because it’s like a math problem that you can’t solve because you don’t have all the numbers. He said there are currently too many variables and they are unable to calculate how much millage is needed. Mr. Litke stated it may be more cost effective to aim for the November ballot, which will likely have more candidates and levies to share the expense among. Dr. Rood mentioned that Auditor Walder, who presented at the Jan 4, 2023 GPH meeting, had said it is important to be able to speak factually about a levy and Dr. Rood said this won’t be possible until after the February 1, 2023, filing deadline. All board members concurred and no action was taken.
Operations Planning: Agreement with Lake County General Health District (LGH)
Lynn Roman and Carolyn Brakey continue to meet weekly with Lake County Health Commissioner Ron Graham and have negotiated an extension of the staff sharing agreement where LGH provides Administrator and Environmental Health Director services to GPH in exchange for a fee. A draft addendum, prepared by GPH counsel, was shared with the Board. Specific terms were not disclosed.
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Dr. Rood inquired whether the early termination clause of the current agreement would supersede the addendum and allow either party to cancel the agreement.
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Mrs. Brakey agreed that language should be reviewed by their counsel.
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Mr. Litke said it is standard protocol for their agreements to be reviewed by the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office.
Operations Planning: Cooperative Agreements with Other Counties
Lynn Roman and Carolyn Brakey have also been exploring cooperative arrangements with other county public health districts for shared services to reduce costs. Ms. Roman said GPH has reached out to Portage, Trumbull, Summit and Ashtabula counties to see gauge interest.
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Met with Portage, and it was explained that the process of combining efforts would take at least a year due to all of the technicalities involved. At this point, Portage is not interested.
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Portage offered staffing assistance on an interim basis and Mr. Litke stated he would like to pursue that option as GPH is falling behind on environmental health work.
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Portage officials also recommended a different Ohio Board of Health contact who was thought to be more helpful than GPH’s current contact.
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Meeting with Trumbull next week.
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Summit declined and no response from Ashtabula.
Hiring An Administrator
Ms. Roman and Dr. Jones held initial interviews with three candidates and will meet with a fourth candidate tomorrow (1/12). Ms. Roman said they explained to candidates that the District might end up in a shared services collaborative agreement with another county. As a result, they explained to the candidates that it would be at least two to three weeks before they get back to them. It was felt that all candidates were qualified and the job posting is still active with 27 candidate applications. It was noted that depending on how the position might change regarding a shared services agreement, the job may have to be reposted.
Public comment
There was a question asking if the Board may be premature in posting the Administrator’s position and interviewing candidates as so much is unknown as well as being clear about what the District can afford. Ms. Roman and Dr. Jones explained that they were very candid with candidates about the fluidity of their current situation. However, Ms. Roman said not doing anything in terms of seeking a new candidate was not an option either. Dr. Rood said they had agreed to explore all paths.
Executive Session: The Board moved into Executive Session at 5:27 pm for the purpose of discussing the appointment, employment and compensation of employees. Dr. Jones stated no further action was expected. Dr. Cameron was invited to participate. After approximately 25 minutes, the Board re-entered regular session and then immediately adjourned.
Next meetings: January 18, 2023 at 5 pm (Special), and January 25, 2023 at 5 pm (Regular). All meetings at Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite B303, Chardon, OH.
More Information: http://gphohio.org/
Approved minutes are shared on the GPH website through Nov 21, 2022 (scroll to middle of page).
Social media postings available here: https://www.facebook.com/GPHOHIO
Observer: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Shelly Lewis
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