2025 Park District Budget Presented in Advance of Vote at December Meeting
Geauga Park District Board Regular Meeting - November 18, 2024
Meeting Details: The Geauga Park District (GPD) Board met on Monday, November 18, 2024 at 8:30 am at Big Creek Park Meyer Center, 9160 Robinson Rd, Chardon, OH 44024. This meeting was in-person only with no virtual attendance option.
Public Comment Policy: The Park District Board does not have a formal policy and in practice never permits public comment.
Board Attendance: Commissioners Howard Bates, Jolene Carnabuci, Ray Guarino, and Frank Stein were present. Commissioner Les LaGatta was absent. Observer Note: This is the fourth meeting in a row Commissioner Les LaGatta has been absent.
Staff Attendance: John Oros, Executive Director, Matt McCue, Deputy Director, Dawn Sweeney, Finance Director and Jessica Alpers, Administrative Assistant. Also in attendance were Chief Ranger Dennis Sloan, IT Manager Lucas Beamer, Park Biologist Paul Pira, and Marketing Manager Sandy Ward.
Public Attendance: Members of Protect Geauga Parks, reporters from Chagrin Valley Times and the Geauga Maple Leaf, and this Observer.
Approval of Agenda/Addendum Items - There were no items added to the Agenda. The Agenda was approved.
Minutes: Minutes from October 21, 2024 meeting were approved and are posted online here.
Financial Report: Dawn Sweeney, Finance Director, verbally reported these individual fund balances as of October 31, 2024:
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Beginning balance as of 10/1/24 in the General Fund: $5,501,816
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Ending balance as of 10/31/24 in the General Fund: $5,219,766
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Beginning balance as of 10/1/24 in the Land Improvement Fund: $1,834,043
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Ending balance as of 10/31/24 in the Land Improvement Fund: $1,769,022
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All Funds beginning balance on 10/1/24: $7,335,859
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All Funds ending balance on 10/31/24: $6,988,788
There were no questions and no discussion.
Presentation of Payment Report for October 2024. There was one question regarding an IT purchase which was answered by Mr. Beamer regarding a fee for detailed GPS location services. There were no other questions and there was no discussion. Observer Note: There is no approval or motion regarding the payment report as the payments have already occurred.
Old Business - Planning Update. Mr. McCue said they are wrapping up the restoration work at Veterans Legacy Woods. He said they would be planting in the spring and working on a boardwalk and trails in the restored area. He said that all other projects are mostly complete.
Mr. Oros said that he was able to walk the trail that leads from Affelder House to West Woods and that it turned out really well.
Mr. Bates asked about the Bridge at West Woods and why the contract was canceled. Mr. McCue said that not all utilities got moved which is why they had to cancel. He said they are submitting again to ODOT and will bid the whole project again in February. Mr. McCue said there is a window for the project from mid-May through mid-September to work in the stream.
New Business
2025 Printing and Mailing Services for Activity Guide/Contract Award - The Board agreed to accept the higher priced bid from Premier Printing Corporation of Warrensville Heights for its bid of $76,063.32. The lower bid of $63,543.70 was from KK Stevens Publishing Company of Astoria, Illinois. Mr. Oros read the memo from Marketing Coordinator Sandy Ward in which she said, “...due to the (KK Stevens Publishing) Company’s drastically reduced printing quality as demonstrated by submitted work samples, my recommendation is to instead work with Premier Printing Corporation.”
Mr. Oros noted that this Activity Guide goes to all households in the county. Ms. Ward said the newsletter goes out quarterly to a total of about 42,000 households, which includes 300 households who are in adjacent areas and who have requested the Guide. Ms. Carnabuci asked if there was a digital version, and Ms Ward said that there was a link on social media.
Veterans Legacy Woods Cuyahoga River Reforestation Bid Award - The Board approved this Award and had no questions. Mr. McCue reviewed the memo he had written about this award. The two companies were EnviroScience and Davey Resource Group. The review group included Kaylee Acres Eclov (Project Manager - Chagrin River Watershed Partners - CRWP), Meredith McKeon (Park Planner, GPD), and Paul Pira (Park Biologist, GPD). They ranked EnviroScience higher on their metric scale (4.43) as compared to Davey Tree (3.88). The metric scale used to evaluate proposals was based on approach/plan, qualifications of staff, similar project experience, deliverables, comprehensiveness of solution, and cost (lowest and best). Mr. McCue said that this project will be funded through grants from the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) and Great Lakes Restoration. He said the total budget is $199,000 but they can do some work in house as the grant match. The total award was for $149,860.
Resolution 7-2024 Then and Now Purchase Order Great Lakes Crushing - Mr. Oros said that the Purchase Order had closed before they paid the final payment for this project which was $27,759.96. Observer Note: This project started in 2023 for the Franklin Street connection to Holbrook Hollows Park in Bainbridge Township in the amount of $700,000.
2025 Final Budget Draft - Ms. Sweeney said that this Draft follows what was approved by the Budget Commission. It also accounts for the 2025 Capital Projects, which were not listed for the public but were contained in the Board packet. These are:
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The West Woods Bridge Replacement
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Big Creek Camping Improvements
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Sunnybrook Asphalt Improvements
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Big Creek - Tupelo Park Improvements (playground and shelter were discussed previously)
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Beartown Lakes - Playground and Site Improvements
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Frohring Meadows Wetlands and Boardwalk Improvements
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Maple Highlands Trail North Node
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Professional Services and Permits
The totals listed by Ms. Sweeney are marked with an asterisk (*) below: Observer Note: Ms Sweeney did not read all the information, but to make sense of it, the beginning balance and transfers in or out are listed as contained in the Board packet available by request from Director John Oros.
General Fund
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1/1/25 General Fund Beginning Balance $3,366,522.32
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2025 General Fund Revenue $7,158,503.00*
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2025 General Fund Expenses $6,872,702.07*
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Transfers out $200,000.00
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12/31/25 General Fund Balance $3,452,323.25*
Land Improvement (LI) Fund
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1/1/25 Beginning Balance (LI) $1,932,134.20
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2025 LI Revenue $536,821.00*
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Transfer in $200,000.00
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2025 LI Expenses $1,205,000.00*
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12/31/25 LI balance $1,463,955.20*
Mr. Bates noted that there was a decrease in Grounds and Facilities. Mr. McCue said that in past years they had several major equipment purchases, but there are no major purchases anticipated this year.
Mr. Oros noted that they will be voting on the budget at the December meeting.
Surplus Items - These were approved. They included education materials (Nature’s Neighborhoods exhibit) for donation, a Kubota Grading Bucket for trade-in, and numerous auction items, including a piano, a Projector screen and 250 linear feet of assorted reclaimed wormy Chestnut boards. Mr Guarino asked a question about what would happen if no one wanted the piano. Ms. Alpers said that no one wanted the piano that had been listed for auction last month. She first listed it for $100, and then went down to $25 but still no one wanted it.
Commissioner’s Time
Mr. Oros said that the West Woods Annual Holly Days seasonal market on November 1-2 was very successful. Mr. Oros thanked Special Events Coordinator Holly Sauder. He said there were 48 vendors, outside food trucks and 1,800 visitors.
In October there were a total of 121 naturalist-led programs, with 3,412 participants in all programs including 1,010 attending programs at Observatory Park. A group of 786 school children participated in the program of Nature Scopes at Observatory Park.
Mr. Oros also noted the new Tulip Trail, which has the second largest Tulip Tree in Ohio at 175’ tall and 181.2’ in circumference. This tree is located on the new Tulip Trail between Affelder House and West Woods.
Executive Session - A motion to adjourn to Executive Session for the purpose of discussing pending court action and public employee compensation was approved. The Park District Attorney, Todd Hicks, was not present.
Following the Executive Session, no action was taken.
Meeting adjourned at 9:35 am.
Public Comment - Per Geauga Park District Policy, no public comment permitted.
Reviewer Comment: Without public discussion by the Board of Agenda items or the opportunity for members of the public to comment and ask questions, the ability of the public to fully understand the business of the Geauga Park District and its use of Geauga County taxpayer funding is hindered.
Next meeting – Monday, December 16 at 8:30 am.
See the GPD Website for Additional Information and Minutes
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: November 20, 2024
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