Board Discusses Programs and Staffing Ahead of Department Budget Hearing
with the Board of County Commissioners
Geauga Soil & Water Conservation District Board Meeting - May 13, 2025
Meeting Details: The Geauga Soil & Water Conservation District (Geauga SWCD) met on May 13, 2025, 7:30 a.m., at the Geauga Admin Bldg, 12611 Ravenwood Dr #240, Chardon, OH
Board Attendance: Jeff Huntsberger, Board Chair, Robert Lausin, Vice Chair, Dee Belew, Fiscal Agent, Tracy Engle, Secretary, Mary Slingluff, Treasurer
Staff Attendance: Carmella Shale, District Director/Engineer, Gail Prunty, Education/Communications Specialist, Colleen Lair, Administrative Asst., Julie Parker, District Conservationist, USDA/NRCS (United States Department of Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Services).
Pledge of Allegiance recited
Agenda - Approval of May 13, 2025 Agenda
Minutes - April 8, 2025 Board Meeting minutes approved. Reviewer Note: Minutes are not available on line, but can be obtained through a request to the Administrative Assistant at CLair@Geauga.oh.gov
Open Public Discussion - None
Reviewer Note: Geauga SWCD does have a formal policy on public comment which is on their website and can be seen by clicking on the link under Board meetings.
Motions Approved -
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MOTION – Accept Treasurer’s Reports from previous month, including all deposits and transfers that occurred in April in addition to previous approved expenditures
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MOTION – Approve money transfer in the amount of $ 14,262.01 from Huntington Savings (Electronic/Stripe Payments through end of April 2025) to Huntington Checking
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MOTION – Approve payment for expenditures, purchase orders, vouchers and bills as presented including EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) payments and estimates and Sales Tax EFT payment of $906.10 less ¾% discount
Review and approve previous month’s mail, bank statements, payroll and minutes – sign/initial/date as applicable
Date Applicant paid Reason Method
4/29/2025 Brent Harris $250 Didn’t need a permit Stripe
5/13/2025 Christian Ball $61.38 Didn’t receive fish Check
5/13/2025 Kalie Herman $143.58 Did not pick up order Check
5/13/2025 Jeremiah Schell $57.65 Did not pick up order Check
SCHEDULED GUEST: JULIE PARKER, DISTRICT CONSERVATIONIST, USDA/NRCS
Updates-Two Forestry Management Plans have been done and were ready for the Board’s approval. They are working on more every day. Most plans that have been pre-approved are in Geauga County. Nothing has been pre-approved in Ashtabula County other than Forestry Plans. Ms. Parker reported that they still haven’t heard anything on the Inflation Reduction Act Funding. She said it is unclear as of this meeting if that money will be able to be accessed for the approvals of obligations. Ms. Parker is still waiting on that and has approved what she could. Five people got pre-approved for EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives) forestry. All were in Geauga County. She is still working on all the documents and getting signatures. There will be more next month.
Motion to approve Montville & Chardon Township Management Plans was approved.
May 29th - Horse Manure Program-15-16 people signed up. Information is available on the website here.
Ms. Parker reported that they are doing daily head counts by noon of how many people are working in the office. USDA/NRCS is trying to get everyone back in the office, including those who were full remote office employees for whom they are trying to find desks. Current staffing levels for the Geauga office are at two staff, including Ms. Parker. She said the Geauga office was supposed to get a new employee, but Ms. Parker reported that it didn’t happen. USDA/NRCS informed their Agency that they would let them know this week what their restructuring plan would be, but Ms. Parker reported that there was a court decision on Friday which might impact that restructuring.
Ms. Parker said that EQIP funds got the green light, and the Conservation Stewardship Program had two properties pre-approved for Geauga. Other programs are uncertain.
Observer Note: There was a long discussion about the restructuring plans and various court cases that are in process. Mention was made of the case before the Supreme Court which was argued on May 15, 2025 and which could determine whether and to what extent a District Court Judge can issue a nationwide injunction. See more information about this case here.
COLLEEN LAIR, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Final report for Fish Sale Results - Ms. Lair reported that this was the largest Fish Sale with 82 customers during the two hour sale. Ms. Lair reported that people love to bring their dogs and grandkids to the event. She said a few employees volunteer their time to the event to make dog treats, which are quite popular. The two most popular fish purchased were Minnows & Amurs, which brought in the biggest profit for the fish sale. The next sale will be in the fall.
MOTION – transfer Spring Sale net profits of $1599.61 to Education Fund - Approved
GAIL PRUNTY, EDUCATION/COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
MOTION TO AWARD – Forestry Camp Scholarship (2 applications)
An email thank you letter was received from the people who were approved for the Forest Management Tax Benefit Grant from last year.
Camp Canopy - The Board reviewed two applicants for scholarships to attend the camp and found to be very impressive. The Board had the option of awarding the full $500 to one recipient or splitting it. After reviewing the applications, they made a motion & approved an award to both applicants of $500 because both were considered “excellent.” The second scholarship will come out of their education fund. Applicant One was an 8th grade girl from Chardon who is very active in 4-H from, and is homeschooled. Applicant Two was a 9th grade boy from West Geauga High School who is an avid bird watcher. Both will come to the July board meeting to share their experiences.
CARMELLA SHALE, DISTRICT DIRECTOR/ENGINEER
Ms. Shale shared Budget Hearing documents that will be presented to County Commissioners at the budget hearing on May 29th at 1 pm. (The date of the hearing was moved from 5/20/25) Mr. Huntsberger and Ms. Shale will attend the hearing.
Technical & Education are the primary components of the job.
Technical:
It was reported that there was a slight increase in Inspections - 3,141 inspections (65% of their time). They completed 426 Plan Reviews.
Their Phase 2 Audit was done with a very good result. They have updated Regulations for Storm Sewers. They need help with the stormwater basin inspections. There are 425 Construction Sites on average in some stage of review (plan review, final paperwork or currently under construction). There are currently 507 Stormwater Basins which they need to inspect to make sure they are still there and functioning. They offer technical assistance to landowners (phone calls). Drainage calls are frequent. Agriculture is large because their H2Ohio component has really taken off this year. They had three land owners enrolled in the H2Ohio program and had to get the paperwork done.
Observer Note: Launched in 2019, H2Ohio is Governor Dewine’s comprehensive, data-driven approach to improving water quality over the long term. Ms. Shale said they also try to help people with problems like ponds and property information. This spring they offered a Realtor Program. When someone is going to purchase property, they can contact the office to get information on any land concerns.
Education Programs:
There were 31 programs for adults and 102 for youth. Ms. Shale said that Adult programs take a little more time to prepare. She noted that they have increased Public Information Communication with News Releases, Social Media, and their Website.
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Youth Programs: They have 102 youth programs, including 20 planting seeds programs. In one program, every kindergartener gets a book, “Right This Very Minute,” that shows where food comes from. She said this program gets bigger and better reviews every year and that they are already scheduling next year’s. This program is funded by the Tree & Fish Sale. Public schools, private homeschoolers and scouts participate in these programs.
Activities they have done: Ms. Shale mentioned the following programs:
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Farming for the Future (Finished up)
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Geauga, Ashtabula Cultivating & Understanding Soil Nutrient presented at the Geauga County Fair
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Home Builder’s Workshop
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Teacher Workshops
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Collaboration with the Health Department
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Provision of free water tests
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Pond workshop (will have one this year)
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New website & maintenance
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Purchase of tree seedlings for schools with a forestry grant
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Pilot project for maple producers (this is underway and once completed there will be a procedure for producers to follow to recycle the maple tubing)
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Grant for trail system after 3rd attempt
Ms. Shale also talked about the Hope Farm Easement Agreement which they have been working on and which should be ready to sign next month.
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Discussion of cancellation of AmeriCorp Service program NowCorps. Reviewer Note: AmeriCorps Funding was recently cut. See information here. There is one short-term position to fill. Ms. Shale discussed potentially hiring a summer intern for 3 months with the money that was set aside for the NOWCorps program. Ms. Shale said that they need a stormwater basin inspector and will use the $11,000 set aside for that position to hire a summer intern for $15-$17 an hour for 3 months. Alternatively, she said if they find a qualified individual who had lost their job they could hire this person part- time , instead of an intern, and the work could continue through the fall. This position will include sending letters out and doing reports. The person must be able to read plans. Ms. Shale said that they have reached out to Kent State for an internship and will also post the position on Indeed.
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Motion to Advertise - Approved
It was noted that they want applications by the end-of-month to make the hiring decision. See information here: Job Announcement Page
MOTION – Approve auto renewing Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Education Services Contract with clause to allow for pay rate change annually. Approved
Ms. Shale explained that “they renew this every year with a new hourly rate to cover Katie’s (Katie Nainiger, Conservation Education Coordinator) time for the year to be available as needed to provide any educational program for the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste District.” Ms.Shale said that the Solid Waste District is very pleased with this because they have someone to provide education and do not need to hire someone to do this. They have it set up to bill them $36.60 an hour, not to exceed 80 hours a month with a minimum of 20 hours. Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste District would like a renewable contract that either party could cancel and all that would change would be an updated annual hourly rate. This suggestion was approved.
Approved
Meeting Adjourned at 8:19 am.
NEXT BOARD MEETING: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
More information available here.
Observer: Wendy Landry
Editor: Gail Roussey
Reviewer: Rooney Moy
Date Submitted: May 24, 2025
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