Geauga Public Health (GPH) - Regular Meeting - January 17, 2024
Meeting Details: The GPH Board met in Regular Session at the Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite B303, Chardon, OH, on January 17, 2024 at 5 pm. Unlike most recent meetings, this meeting was not livestreamed by Geauga County ADP. Typically the Agenda is posted on their Facebook page a few days prior to the meeting.
Public Comment Policy: There is no separate written policy, but in practice, “Citizens’ Remarks” are included on the agenda and are permitted as detailed there.
Board Attendance: (as seated, from L to R).
Staff Attendance:
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Adam Litke - Administrator (end of table left)
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Daniel Lark - Environmental Health Director (end of table right)
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Ron Graham, Heath Commissioner for both Geauga and Lake County (seated at the end of the table right)
Legal Counsel: Not present
Others Present: Two members of the public and this observer.
Call to Order: Called to order at 5:00 pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. A quorum was declared and delivery of official notices of meeting was certified.
Minutes: The Board approved Minutes of the Regular Meeting on 12/20. Observer Note: Published minutes are up-to-date; the most recent minutes published are for the November 15, 2023 Regular Meeting. Board of Health Minutes
Health District Staff Reports (Observer Note: These reports are available with the agenda on the GPH Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GPHOHIO)
Population Health Report - Mr. Litke briefly mentioned items of note in the Population Health Report. These included Safe Communities and continuing vaccinations at the DDC clinic and other locations. A Board member asked what is meant by Immunization Recalls. Mr. Litke said these are reminders for people who scheduled an immunization but didn’t show up.
Environmental Health Report - Mr. Lark said February is the end of the licensing year for Food Service and his staff are busy completing those inspections. The new NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) inspection program is still ongoing in the first two communities (Chesterland and Chardon) where this program started. So far, none of the septic systems inspected have met all of the inspection parameters. The parameters are set by the EPA. The main goal for GPH is to make sure the owners have a service contract and their systems are being properly maintained. Mr. Lark’s team works on educating the owners. Dr. Rood asked what can be done to improve the passage rates for inspections. Mr. Lark said GPH hasn’t been doing these inspections or educating homeowners in proper maintenance since 2007. Now that they’re doing the inspections again, he believes they will see improvements. Dr. Rood asked if there are any benchmarks. Mr. Lark said that Lake County’s maximum passage rate is 60%, and their program has been in place for over 15 years. Mr. Litke said that only 91 out of 2,000 systems county-wide have been tested, so it’s possible the final passage rate may be higher than zero. Board members asked for more detailed statistics to be provided. Prior to the new program, only 8% were being tested. Of these, only 4% passed all of the benchmarks. Mr. Graham said that it’s hard to compare different locations because soil and other conditions vary. Mr. Lark said his colleagues in other counties get similar results. Dr. Rood asked when GPH will start testing the other types of septic systems. Mr. Lark said that should start later this year, and they don’t expect the same failure rates since these will be different types of systems. They anticipate another 30,000 - 35,000 systems in this other category.
There was also a brief discussion of a food safety hearing in Hambden for a farm to table restaurant (OSSO Farm Restaurant) that had food safety issues. Mr. Lark said the BP gas station at the corner of routes 44 and 87 that had a failed septic system has hired a contractor to fix the problem.
Administrator’s Report - Mr. Litke mentioned that the annual HDAC (Health District Advisory Committee) meeting will be held on March 13. Ms. Roman’s term is ending and notices will be going out soon to notify potential replacements. Someone will be appointed to this position at the HDAC meeting. Observer note: Ms. Roman did not state whether she would re-apply for her position on the Board. Mr. Litke would like to continue meeting quarterly with the HDAC.
Mr. Litke discussed the accident 1/2/24 on Route 87 that caused a spill of 4 to 5 gallons of wastewater from the East Palestine train derailment and also 200+ gallons of diesel fuel. Mr. Litke said in Lake County the Health Department would have been contacted if something like this occurred, but this did not happen in Geauga. He found out about the spill through the news reports, and he followed up by making phone calls and offering assistance. GPH made a Facebook post providing information. Mr. Litke said no other agencies put out press releases. Mr. Litke referred callers to a contact he had at the Ohio EPA.
New Positions for Environmental Health - Mr. Litke described the new positions that will require new hires to meet the expanding responsibilities with the new Operations and Maintenance (O&M) program; to become current with the House Bill 110 (HB110) program of inspections of semi-public sewage systems since those inspections fell behind over a number of years; and to complete ongoing food service inspections. The new positions include a half-time person to be shared with Lake County to supervise the O&M program, a full-time Sanitarian to handle day to day operations of O&M program, and an in-house promotion to Lead Sanitarian. The total cost including benefits will be $231,000. Currently GPH has a higher caseload that leaves the staff too busy to spend additional time on education with each household. Mr. Lark said the two staff that do food service inspections have a higher workload than is recommended for them to be effective at their jobs.
Mr. Litke handed out spreadsheets to the board members to show them the amount budgeted and spent on the Lake County contract for the last 9 months of 2023. He stated that GPH was under budget for the year, spending 99.51% of the budgeted amount. Mr. Litke said the county is receiving fewer complaints from the public, and nuisance complaints are being better addressed than in previous years.
There was a brief discussion about one such nuisance complaint, Rustic Pines Mobile Home Park, which has a septic system that is not being maintained. Dr. Rood said it’s not a nuisance if people can get sick.
HB110 refunds - Observer Note: The HB110 refunds are described in detail in the March 2, 2023 GPH Observer Report. The refunds will start being sent out soon. Mr. Kostura’s firm is double checking all of the addresses and owners to make sure the checks will go to the right people.
Credit Card Policy - Mr. Litke provided the Board with a draft policy which he said is the same as the policy in Lake County. One change was made to give the Board the ability to provide feedback to Mr. Litke on expenditures if they disagree with those purchases. The GPH credit card is under Lake County, but it says GPH on the card. This is because GPH couldn’t get its own credit card (see public comment section for more information on this). Credit card bills will be paid in full monthly by Lake County. No major purchases are expected to be made with the credit card. The Board decided to table any approval of the policy until they had more time to review it.
Ms. Roman asked about the number of records requests. Mr. Litke said there were two to three additional requests in November and December. They were all requested by the same person.
Health Commissioner’s Report - Mr. Graham said he had nothing to add to the report unless the Board had any questions. Mr. Graham met with the Ohio Department of Health. They are trying to be competitive for grants. Observer Note: It is very difficult to understand Mr. Graham from the audience. Dr. Rood asked for more county-specific data for Geauga for things like cancer and other diseases. Dr. Rood also mentioned that smoking rates are going down but vaping rates are going up.
Committee Meetings - No Reports
Old Business
Geauga Public Health Rent Discussion - There was a discussion about an action that was taken at the January 8, 2024 Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting. The BOCC asked the County Prosecutor to request that the Ohio Attorney General rule on whether GPH is a combined health district since the county includes the City of Chardon (which could have its own health department). As a combined district, GPH would then have to pay rent to the county for their office space. Mr. Litke stated that GPH has been serving Chardon since before Chardon became a city in 2001, and Chardon has never had their own health department. GPH does not have a contract with Chardon. Ms. Roman said she thought a city had to have at least 50,000 residents to have their own health department.
Ms. Brakey was upset that the agenda for the BOCC meeting that was released prior to the meeting did not include the GPH rent issue. A revised agenda that included GPH was provided to people attending the meeting. Ms. Brakey said she has observed that the BOCC seem to do this when they have controversial topics to discuss. She said "I feel like this rent issue is like a zombie. And it feels like we put it to bed and then it keeps rearing its ugly head and we can't get rid of it." She said it is inappropriate for the BOCC to ask for the Attorney General’s opinion on this since GPH is not under the BOCC. Mr. Litke mentioned that the Attorney General wants all requests for opinions to come from a Prosecutor to avoid being overloaded with requests. The Geauga County Prosecutor may want to remain independent and not get involved in this issue. Someone asked whether HDAC could weigh in on this, but it was determined that this would be beyond the scope of the HDAC. Mr. Litke said GPH staff are concerned about losing a position if GPH has to pay $50,000 in rent annually. Currently it is unknown what the Prosecutor will do.
New Business
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6.01.01 Financial Reports, Resolution 24-01-06-01-01. Dr. Rood asked about Chart 1 showing revenues less expenses. Mr. Litke said there were fewer expenses because of the winding down of the FSOP (For Sale of Property) septic inspections which are no longer required. He gave kudos to Mr. Lark and his staff for doing a great job getting the new O&M program up and running.
The refunds from the HB110 program will decrease cash reserves by about $1 million (from $4.3 million to $3.3 million). Cash reserves will be needed to pay for new vehicles and computers. There was additional discussion about various expenses that occur with a lag time until revenue catches up, and the need to maintain cash reserves for unforeseen circumstances. The financial report was approved by roll call vote.
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The new Environmental Health positions were approved by roll call vote with Ms. Jones abstaining. The positions are a part time O&M Supervisor, a Lead Sanitarian to be promoted in-house, and a full-time Sanitarian. They will be paid for by existing programs.
Public Comments
One member of the public asked what can the public do about the rent controversy? She has sent letters expressing her opinion and has commented in person to the BOCC. Ms. Brakey said the BOCC was meeting the next day (January 18) at 9:30. Dr. Rood said it is abhorrent that GPH is facing this again, when the Board is doing everything they can to provide the community with the best services possible while keeping costs down. The Board and the public commenter had additional discussion about this topic.
This Observer asked two questions for clarification:
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What programs are funding the new positions? Mr. Litke said the positions will be funded by fees from the O&M program, the HB110 program, and food service inspections.
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Why is Geauga unable to get its own credit card? Mr. Litke said that Health Departments usually do not meet the buying threshold to get a credit card. GPH could get a credit card through the county, but this is difficult since the county would then be liable for GPH’s purchases. Mr. Litke has a credit card through Lake County that is the one that will now be used for GPH purchases. If Mr. Litke leaves, he does not think his credit card could continue to be used for GPH purchases.
Executive Session - The Board passed a motion by roll call vote to enter into Executive Session to discuss pending litigation. Mr. Litke said there would be no actions taken following the Executive Session, so this Observer left the meeting at this point. The Board entered executive session at 6:22.
Next Regular Meeting: February 28 at 5 pm. All meetings are held at the Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite B303, Chardon, OH.
More Information: Geauga Public Health
Observer: Nina Lalich
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Submission Date: 1/26/2024
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