Board of County Commissioners - July 6, 2023
Meeting Details: The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met at 9:30 AM on July 6, 2023 (on Thursday due to the July 4th holiday) at the County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH. BOCC meetings are in-person only and there are no recordings for the public. An agenda is available in advance via request to the Commissioners Clerk.
Public Comment Policy: Observer Comment: Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri announced at the end of the April 4, 2023 meeting that public comment would be permitted and that a more formal policy would be forthcoming. There was no formal policy introduced today.
Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a prayer was offered by Mr. Dvorak.
Attendance: Present were Commissioners James Dvorak, Timothy Lennon and Ralph Spidalieri; Commissioners’ Clerk Christine Blair, County Administrator Gerard Morgan, and Senior Financial Specialist Deborah Ashburn for Finance Manager Adrian Gorton, who was absent.
County Representatives: Mr. Charles (Chuck) Walder, Auditor; Mr. Frank Antenucci, Chief Deputy Administrator of ADP; Shane Hajjar, Engineer’s Dept.; Kathleen Miller, Fiscal Specialist Water Resources; Linda Burhenne, Temporary Director Archives and Records, and Elaine Malkamaki, Program Director, Dept. of Community & Economic Development (CED).
Reviewer Comment: Following Executive Session (below), Mrs. Burhenne’s role with the County Records Center will end on July 8, as she has been hired as the Assistant County Administrator, effective July 9, 2023.
Others in Attendance: Carolyn Brakey, Geauga Public Health Board President; Adam Litke, Geauga Public Health Administrator; members of the press from the Geauga Maple Leaf and Chagrin Valley Times and Tom and Diane Jones, as well as several other members of the public.
County Administrator Report: Mr. Morgan reported on the following actions taken by him pursuant to Commissioner’s authorization:
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Supplemental to the Transit Dept. due to a shortage of $.30 in the hospitalization account.
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Approval of new hires in Job and Family Services (JFS) of A Social Worker I, Social Worker II and clerical specialist III (all replacement positions).
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Approval of Maintenance service contract with Garden Services DBA Continental Fire Service for maintenance on the Novak 1230 fire suppression system for 3 years, not to exceed $15,000.
Minutes - BOCC approved minutes for the meetings on May 9 and May 16, 2023.
Financial Report: Ms. Ashburn presented the Financial Report, which was approved and included the following:
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Supplemental for Board of Developmental Disabilities for contract services for maintenance projects.
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Appropriation for the Engineer’s office for highway equipment.
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Cash transfer to Metzenbaum for residential services fund for medicaid match.
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Travel approved for the Recorder's Office.
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Purchase Order from the Commissioners for payment to Lake Geauga Recovery for their jail program.
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Purchase Order for Emergency Services to Expert IT for 365 software.
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Vouchers
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$30, 251 from Board of DD to Micro Advantage for a camera system upgrade
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$59,612.23 from the Commissioners to McTigue & Columbo for legal service on behalf of the Board of Elections toward the mediated settlement with the County Commissioners
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$106,575 from the Commissioners to ThenDesign Architecture for Phase II. Observer Note: as this charge is for architectural designs, it is fair to conclude that Phase II in this instance refers to the Courthouse project although it was not specified.
ADP - The ADP Board requested the Commissioners approve and execute the State of Ohio Services Quotation with Spectrum Business under the terms of the State of Ohio, Master Services Agreement Spectrum Service Attachment #4, Fiber Internet Access for services to the County Office Building located at 12611 Ravenwood Drive for a term of sixty (60) months that includes a $250 installation fee and monthly service fees of $1100.00 for a total not to exceed amount of $66,250.00. APPROVED
This item had been tabled from last week’s meeting. Mr. Walder explained that they had received requests from three departments - the Commissioner’s office, the Fiscal Office and Job and Family Services. Each wanted to determine why there were long lag times when downloading reports using New World (the intranet for the County). It was determined that the issue was being caused because of using both Windstream and Spectrum (at various locations). Mr. Walder said the recommendation was to switch to Spectrum in the County Office building and use the balance of the Windstream contract for the Sheriff’s Department as either a redundancy (which is important due to 911 usage) or for 911.
Mr. Walder further said that they are taking this out of the ADP budget.
Mr. Spidalieri asked how long it would take to change over and Mr. Walder said that it would take a couple months after approval.
County Engineer’s Office received approval for the following:
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To execute Change Order #1, increasing the Contract with Woodford Excavating for the Replacement of the Washington Street Bridge (Structure #BR-0606-F-05.310-2023) in Auburn Township in the amount of $13,110.95.
It was stated that this project is going well and that they only had to shut down the road for 7-8 days.
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To execute the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) Project #DGAA12 Grant Agreement Local Transportation Improvement Program for the Asphalt Resurfacing of Brakeman Road (CH-0022, Section A) project in Hambden Township and to award the Bid to Ronyak Paving, Inc., for the Asphalt Resurfacing of Brakeman Road (CH-0022, Section A) in Hambden Township in the amount of $578,165.00 as they represented the lowest and best bid. The Bid Bond submitted shall be held to serve as the Performance Bond for this project.
It was observed by Mr. Dvorak that the road was costing about $250,000 a mile since the area to be paved was about 2.5 miles. Mr. Hajjar agreed that this was the average price now.
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To execute the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) Project #DGAA20 Grant Agreement Local Transportation Improvement Program for the Asphalt Resurfacing of Mumford Road (CH-0024, Sections A-D) project in Troy Township and to award the Bid to Ronyak Paving, Incorporated for the Asphalt Resurfacing of Mumford Road (CH-0024, Sections A-D) in Troy Township in the amount of $467,785.00 as they represented the lowest and best bid. The Bid Bond submitted shall be held to serve as the Performance Bond for this project.
The Department of Development (Community & Economic) received approval to execute the Second Addendum to the Contract Agreement between the County of Geauga, WomenSafe, Inc., and Geauga Highway Company for the WomenSafe Paving Project increasing the amount of funds under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) #B-F-21-1AZ-1 from $35,100.00 to $41,200.00 and reducing the amount of Womensafe, Inc., from $11,190.00 to $5,090.00, still in the total project amount of $46,290.00. The First Addendum allowed for CDBG funds to be paid on the project in the amount of $30,000.00 on December 20, 2022. All other terms and conditions of the original agreement remain in full force and effect. One part of the project came in under bid, and it is permissible to fund other parts of projects that had been approved in order to utilize all of the Block Grant funds.
The Department of Development (Community & Economic) received approval to execute the First Addendum to the Contract Agreement between the County of Geauga, the DDC Clinic and A.J. Goulder Electric, Inc., for the DDC Clinic Generator Replacement Project increasing the amount of funds under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) #B-F-21-1AZ-1 from $55,100.00 to $61,200.00 and reducing the amount of the DDC Clinic from $10,065.00 to $3,965.00, still in the total project amount of $65,165.00. All other terms and conditions of the original agreement remain in full force and effect.
The Department of Water Resources received approval for the following:
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To execute Resolution #23-118 Approving American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Berkshire Heights Sewer Connection Increase for Certain Properties, for an additional expenditure for three parcels (#06-093550, #06-020700 and #06-022100) with an increase ranging from $6,000.00 up to $6,500.00 for a total increase of $18,750.00 for all three parcels. Kathleen Miller from Water Resources was not able to answer a question about how many of the properties would need additional funds, but promised to get the information to the Commissioners.
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To approve the revised job description for the current posted position of Assistant Water Supervisor (#2352) to be effective July 6, 2023 and to re-advertise for the current posted position of Assistant Water Supervisor (#2352) with the revised job description. This position will remain posted until filled.
It was noted that under the prior job description, they were unable to fill the vacancy; as a result, the description was amended allowing the license listed to be obtained within a certain period of time after hiring.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval to appoint Nicholas Gorris, Sanitary Engineer as alternate for Commissioner James W. Dvorak on the NOACA Water Quality Management Subcommittee.
Reviewer Note: Following Executive Session (below) Mr. Gorris was named Interim Director of Water Resources.
Update from Destination Geauga: Director Kathy Shimer gave an update on the work she has been doing for Destination Geauga. She said they now have 242 members (the highest level they have ever had). She discussed that there is an issue with her newsletters not being received since she changed from Mail Chimp to Campaign Monitor. Destination Geauga is looking for new office space and Mr. Dvorak said that he would inquire with Century 21.
Executive Session - Commissioners went into Executive Session at 10:01 am for the purpose of discussing the employment/appointment and compensation of a public employee in the Commissioners’ Office. They were joined by Linda Burhenne, Temporary Director of Archives and Records Dept. At 10:56 they resumed regular session and approved the following:
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Hiring of Linda Burhenne as Assistant County Administrator at a pay rate of $46.10/hour effective July 9th.
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Removal of Ms. Berhenne from her position as Temporary Director of Archives and Records on July 8th.
Executive Session: The Commissioners’ Office went into Executive Session at 11:02 am for the purpose of discussing the employment / appointment and compensation of a public employee in the Department of Water Resources. They were joined by Nicholas Gorris
At 11:39 Commissioners resume regular session and approved the following:
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Hiring of Nicholas Gorris as the interim Director of Water Resources with a pay increase of $1.00/hour
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Posting for position of Director, internally and externally
Public Comment: One clarifying question by this observer regarding the amount of the pay raise for Nicholas Gorris as it was difficult to hear the entire motion.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 11:45 am
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available here
Next Meeting:Tuesday July 11, 2023 at 9:30 am
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Shelly Lewis
Date Submitted: 7/7/2023
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