Meeting Details: The Board of County Commissioners met in person at 9:30 AM on March 14, 2023 at the 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 James Dvorak, Timothy Lennon, and Ralph Spidalieri were all present. Also present were Commissioner’s Clerk Christine Blair, County Administrator Gerard Morgan and Finance Director Adrian Gorton.
County Representatives: ShaneHajir, Engineer’s Department, Kathleen Miller, Water Resources,
Minutes - No Minutes were presented for approval. Reviewer Note: As of March 17, 2023, approved minutes are available on the BOCC website through December 29, 2022.
Administrator report - no report
Financials - Mr. Gorton reported on the following:
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Supplemental Appropriation from the Commissioners for a partial general fund carryover distribution in these areas: for 911 system; for Court technology for an office 365 subscription, and for the airport Hangar renovation (no figures were reported for these items).
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Cash transfers from the general fund to Court Technology for operations funding; from the general fund to Sheriff’s Department for local match for grant
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Travel requests approved from the Auditor, Emergency Services, Recorder's Office and Water Resources
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A then and now (covers already expended funds that were not yet approved) from Water Resources for year one for the 22% share for Village of Chagrin Falls for upgrades to their Wastewater Treatment Plant, and payment to the Ohio Treasurer’s Office for a permit for the Mcfarland Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Vouchers for the following: $56,843 from the Auditor’s office to Integrity Appraisal Services for the 2023 community re-evaluation of new and improved properties; $21,179.17 to City of Chardon for Police and prosecutor pre-trial release services, $131,753.05 from Water Resources to HDR Engineering for design work at the McFarland Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval to execute the Contract for Services between the Geauga County Board of Commissioners and Gila LLC d.b.a. Municipal Services Bureau (MSB) to provide Financial Transaction Devices (online payment acceptance solutions, including credit/debit card and E-check) for County expenses owed to County Officials/Offices and in accordance with Administrative Rule R.C. 301.28 for a period of five years, effective March 14, 2023.
Commissioners Office received approval to execute the 2023 Ohio Department of Agriculture Appointment for County Apiary Inspector form to be effective March 15, 2023 at an hourly rate of $13.00 per hour and a mileage reimbursement rate of $0.655.
The County Engineer’s Office received approval for the following:
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To accept and execute the Highway Easement between the Geauga County Board of Commissioners and Munson Township Trustees (Parcel #21-703260) for bridge improvements (Structure #BR-0004-13.060) on Auburn Road at the intersection of Sherman Road in Munson Township in the amount of $1.00.
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To accept and execute the Additional Highway Easement between the Geauga County Board of Commissioners and Alan Nowacki (Parcel #02-239620) for roadway improvements to the bridge (Structure #0191-00.810) on Haskins Road in Bainbridge Township in the amount of $645.00.
The Department of Water Resources received approval for the following:
This is the final payment. Mr. Dvorak asked if the plant is fully operational and Ms. Miller and Mr. Morgan answered that it was not. Only 41 households are connected and there has been a pause due to the weather. Ms. Miller that there will be a big influx once the weather is better; She said they need at least 60 to be fully operational, although Mr. Morgan indicated it could be fewer than that. Because it is not operational yet, they are hauling the raw waste products now to other treatment plants.
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To execute the service Contract Agreement with Mark Young General Contracting, LLC, to perform a Variety of Construction and / or Maintenance, including providing associated equipment (such as a crane), as needed at various locations within the department for a one-year period, effective March 14, 2023 in an amount not to exceed $30,000.00.
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To have the commissioners sign a Letter of support for 2024 for an Application process for funding through Congressman Joyce’s office for a grant for McFarland Wastewater Treatment Plant. Mr. Lennon said he was familiar with this and that each Commissioner should also advocate with Congressman Joyce’s office for this.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval to execute the following contracts with NV5 (technical engineering consultants):
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For the Geauga County Office Building to extend the completion date of the project from January 31, 2023 through June 30, 2023 and increase the contract in the amount of $35,000.00. It was stated that this was to implement requests by the Board of Elections
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To execute Contract Maintenance Form #1 increasing the Contract with NV5 for services related to the Renovations of Existing County Buildings and Construction of New County Buildings (Phase II), adding services related to information technology consulting including IT hardware, security, audio/visual and acoustics in the amount of $30,000.00.
Not on the Agenda -Mr. Morgan brought up a question of who the Commissioners would like for a Construction manager for the renovations of the Courthouse. He stated that they had completed their interviews and that he had spoken with each of the Commissioners individually. He was asking for a consensus of who the Commissioners would like to hire. Mr. Morgan recommended Infinity Construction Company and stated that the owner’s representative for the project, NV 5, also recommended them. Mr. Dvorak said he was more comfortable with Independence Construction. He thought they presented more detail. He also felt that the Infinity price seemed low; Mr. Lennon spoke up and said he was impressed with Infinity’s proposal and package. He said that all three were good but at the end of the day, the question is, “who are you comfortable working with?” After doing more research he stated that he believes Infinity would be best and he was impressed that they provided an estimate of 14 million. He stressed that the Commissioners have a finite amount of money for this project. He stated that he wants to continue to be realistic and he intends to insist on a hard cap on spending for the funds. He referred to the Agreement regarding how much money is required to be spent. (Observer Note: Commissioners settled a lawsuit with the City of Chardon and as a result of that settlement they agreed on a certain investment of funds by the Commissioners in the courthouse upgrade project.) Mr. Lennon continued that he believes Infinity would be a good choice. He then made a motion to start the process of negotiation with Infinity; Dvorak seconded (as he stated, in the spirit of compromise). Motion passed.
Approved - No session on March 28, 2023 due to a lack of quorum
Public Comment - Current BOCC President Spidalieri announced at the start of his term as President in January that there would be no public comment. He has occasionally permitted public comment, but not at this meeting. After the meeting was adjourned a woman asked to speak and stated that her calls and emails had not been answered so she had no alternative but to show up and try to speak. The Commissioners did not respond in the public portion of the meeting.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available on BOCC website
Next Meeting: Tuesday March 21, 2023 at 9:30 am
Observer: Gail Roussey
Observer Note: this report was generated from a published video of the meeting as this observer was not present in person.
Reviewer: Anne Ondrey
Submitted 3/17/2023
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