Commissioners to Vote on $800,000 in Airport Funding at Next Meeting
Board of County Commissioners Meeting - April 1, 2025
Meeting Details: The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met in Regular Session on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 9:30 am for a meeting at the County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH. Meetings can also be live streamed through the Geauga ADP Youtube channel. Recordings are available for the public. The April 1, 2025 meeting recording can be found here. As of the date of publication this video has been viewed 37 times. Notations in the report refer to the minute notation on the first video for a particular section. An agenda is available in advance via request to the Commissioners’ Clerk and at the meeting. Items discussed at the meeting but not on the agenda, if any, are addressed at the end of this report.
Public Comment Policy: Permitted as outlined in the BOCC’s Public Comment Policy that was adopted on January 28, 2025.
Attendance: Present were Commissioners Ralph Spidalieri, James Dvorak and Carolyn Brakey. Also present were Commissioners Clerk Christine Blair, Acting County Administrator Linda Burhenne and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton.
County Representatives: Mathew Sieracki, Maintenance; Maintenance; Nick Gorris, Director, Water Resources; Charles Tkatch, Project Manager, Maintenance; Sheila Bevington, Clerk of Courts; Randy Taylor, Magistrate, Court of Common Pleas; Sheriff Hildenbrand; George Hess, President, Airport Authority.
Others in Attendance: Frank Antenucci, Chief Deputy Administrator, ADP (Automatic Data Processing); Skip Claypool, Housing Authority Board and Planning Board member; Patty Fulop, prior manager of the Geauga Airport; Glen Vernick, Director Maintenance; Various members of Airport Authority; John Kochy, Airwolf Aerospace; County residents Tom and Diane Jones, members of the public and press, and this LWVG Observer.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a prayer was offered by Mr. Dvorak.
Minutes: The minutes from the meeting and work session of March 18, 2025 were approved. Observer Note: Weekly LWVG Observer Reports for BOCC are available online through April 1, 2025 for informational purposes but are not substitutes for approved minutes. Approved BOCC Minutes are posted online here through March 18, 2025.
Administrator Report - Ms. Burhenne did not present a report.
00:50 Min - Financial Report: Mr. Gorton received approval for the following: Observer Note: Monetary figures are given when available.
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Supplemental from Treasurer’s Office General Fund in their Repair Services Account for replacement of 2 laptops
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Cash Transfer from Commissioner's Office to the Unemployment Rotary Fund
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Cash Transfer from Juvenile Court General Fund Contract Services Account to the Care and Custody Fund for reimbursement of a grant that paid a portion of a drug testing bill that should have been paid from General Fund
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Cash Transfer from General Fund to Community Development for 1st Quarter 2025 payroll funding and 2nd Quarter operation commitment less $15,000 advance that they had received
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Cash Transfer to Soil and Water for the 2025 local match funding request
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Travel
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Common Pleas Court
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County Engineer’s Office
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Public Defender's Office
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Then and Now from Common Pleas Court to Step Mobile LLC for kiosk license and support payment not previously encumbered from 2024
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Formal Contract Purchase Order from Job and Family Services to Preston Ford for a 2025 new replacement vehicle
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Vouchers
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$20,500.00 from ADP to Mike Kitchka Finishing Edge Inc. for a used replacement vehicle
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$805,884.64 from Commissioners’ Office to Infinity Construction for payment #18 on the courthouse expansion project
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$750,000.00 from Commissioners’ Office to Geauga County Agricultural Society for the construction of new poultry barn
Court of Common Pleas (New Leaf Program) received approval for the following:
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To execute Resolution #25-056 Requesting the County Auditor to Establish a New Fund called the OneOhio Foundation Fund for awarded grant funding and to properly account for salary, contract services, materials and supplies and other necessary items. Mr. Gorton stated that this is standard practice for setting up a new account.
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Request from the Common Pleas Court IT Department for a credit card application to the Geauga Credit Union for a VISA card with a credit line of $6,000.00 and three (3) cards that will be used for allowable expenses.
7:28 Min - The Maintenance Department received approval for the following:
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To execute the Contract Agreement with North Bay Construction Company for the Department of Emergency Services Generator Upgrade Project in the amount of $246,645.00. The Bid Bond submitted shall be held to serve as the Performance Bond for this project.
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To execute the Agreement for Professional Design Services with Tec Incorporated to provide professional design and contract administration services related to replacing the existing condenser unit and upgrading chiller components as required to comply with current building codes and EPA regulations at the West Geauga Senior Center for the period April 1, 2025 through February 28, 2026 in an amount not to exceed $19,500.00. Ms. Brakey inquired as to the total cost. Mr. Tkatch stated that the estimate is $150,000.
The Department of Water Resources received approval to execute the service Contract Agreement with PerkinElmer U.S. LLC to perform preventative maintenance and repairs as needed, for the Department for a one-year period, effective April 1, 2025, in an amount not to exceed $12,000.00.
The Commissioners’ Office received approval for the following:
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To authorize the President of the Board to execute Change Order #5, increasing the Contract with Infinity Construction Company, Incorporated for the Geauga County Courthouse Expansion, GMP Phase #2 for the Fire Alarm Custom Audio Messaging System in the amount of $7,701.00. Ms. Brakey asked if there was a plan in place to implement the messaging system. Ms. Burhenne stated that they are working on that.
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For the rehire and appointment of Dan Spada to the position of Chief Building Official (#1101) to be effective April 7, 2025, at the rate of $53.14 per hour (Grade E17, Step 10).
14:18 Min - The Statutory Group opened its meeting at 9:45 am. The group consists of the Commissioners, Sheriff Hildenbrand, Clerk of Courts and Randy Taylor, Magistrate, Court of Common Pleas. Judge Timothy Grendell, a member of the Statutory Group, was not in attendance. The purpose of the meeting was to review and approve plans, drawings, representations, bills of material, specifications of work and estimates of the cost thereof in detail and aggregate for the proposed Geauga County Safety Center Visitation Room Alterations. Charles Tkatch from the Maintenance Department presented the plans. The project would reconfigure the existing visitation room with underutilized video monitors to two separate areas. The new visitation room would be smaller and the remaining area would be for jail operations. The total cost estimate would be $150,700.00. Sheriff Hildenbrand stated that some of the estimates seemed high and he hopes the bid will come in much lower. He also stated that the additional rooms will be used by mental health professionals to meet with those with addiction and mental health problems. The plans were unanimously approved. Ms. Burhenne stated that the plans will not be available to the public. The Statutory Group meeting closed at 9:59 am.
29:42 Min - Discussion with members from The Airport Authority:
Mr. Hess from the Airport Authority spoke to the Commissioners about the request that occurred in December for airport funding. He would like to resurrect the request of $1.33 million. They are applying for federal funding for an additional $586,000. In order to apply for the federal funding, they will need to have the T Hanger project bid out, and they cannot do that until that project is approved by the Commissioners. Discussion followed about the lack of documentation that has been presented to the Commissioners. In regards to the T Hanger project, Ms. Brakey stated, “I have not received any documentation for this entire project.” Mr. Hess stated that he had provided any and all documentation requested to the Commissioners. Ms. Blair stated that she had not seen “actual schematics and the breakdown of the actual T Hanger Project.” Ms. Blair also pointed out that Mr. Spidalieri and Mr. Dvorak met with the airport authority individuals at the airport but it wasn't “done openly.” Ms. Brakey also said that she would like to see financial projections on the new T hanger as the financials on the existing hanger show a yearly loss. Mr. Hess responded that the hanger will “produce millions of dollars” in the long term. Ms. Brakey asked for those figures.
Mr. Kochy, President and Owner of Airwolf Aerospace, spoke at length on the airport’s benefits to the people of Geauga County and stated, “you said you got people struggling to pay their property taxes. What in the world does that have to do with improving the airport?” Reviewer note: For more information on Airwolf Aerospace see here.
Mr. Dvorak made a motion for a resolution to be voted on next week. The motion will be to approve $800,000 for the new T Hanger. The motion was approved with Ms. Brakey voting against.
1:06:15 Min - Executive Session: Commissioners moved into executive session to discuss the purchase of property. They returned with no action.
1:06:50 Min - Public Comment
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Various members of the public and airport authority expressed their support for the approval of funds for the airport.
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A reporter from the Chagrin Valley Times questioned Mr. Spidalieri about his email.
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Mr. Dvorak suggested that the new County Administrator attend an upcoming meeting of the Geauga County Township Association with Ms. Burhenne.
Meeting adjourned 10:59 am.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available here.
Next Regular Meeting of the BOCC: The next BOCC meeting is on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 at 9:30 am at the County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH.
Observer: Mary Heintzelman
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Carol Benton
Date Submitted: 4/7/2025
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