Geauga Park District Honors Recently Deceased Board Member Les LaGatta
Geauga Park District Board Regular Meeting – June 16, 2025
Meeting Details: The Geauga Park District (GPD) Board met on Monday, June 16, 2025, 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. This observer makes a request to GPD Executive Director John Oros (joros@geaugaparkdistrict.org) for the Board packet in advance of the meeting in order to better understand the substance of the matters on the Agenda.
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, Ray Guarino, Sally LaMarca and Frank Stein were present. Board Member Les LaGatta passed away on June 6, 2025.
Staff Attendance: John Oros, Executive Director, Dawn Sweeney, Fiscal Officer and Jessica Alpers, Administrative Assistant. Also in attendance were Matt McCue, Deputy Director, Lucas Beamer IT Manager, Sandy Ward, Marketing Director, Chief Naturalist Paul Piro, Chief Ranger Dennis Sloan, and Attorney Todd Hicks from the law firm of Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan.
Public Attendance: Members of Protect Geauga Parks and this observer were present, as well as reporters from the Geauga Maple Leaf and Chagrin Valley Times.
Pledge of Allegiance: Recited.
Approval of Agenda/Addendum Items: There were no items added to the Agenda. The Agenda was approved.
Minutes: Minutes from the May 19, 2025 meeting were approved and are posted online here.
Financial Report: Dawn Sweeney, Fiscal Officer, verbally reported these individual fund balances as of May 30, 2025:
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Ending balance as of 5/30/25 in the General Fund: $3,283,813
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Beginning balance as of 5/01/25 in the Land Improvement Fund: $2,077,713
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Ending balance as of 5/30/25 in the Land Improvement Fund: $3,672,704
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All Funds beginning balance on 5/1/25: $7,842,827
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All Funds ending balance on 5/30/25: $6,956,517
There were no questions and no discussion. Observer Note: $1,800,000 was transferred from the General Fund to the Land Improvement Fund.
Presentation of Payment Report for May 2025.
There were no questions and no discussion.
Observer Note: There is no approval or motion regarding the payment report as the payments have already occurred.
Old Business
Mr. McCue offered a planning update on construction projects. He said that the bridge replacement at the West Woods is getting started now. They have completed the grant funded work of reforestation at Veterans Legacy Woods. This was funded by a Great Lakes Restoration Grant. Work at Sunnybrook Preserve will also begin later in June on resurfacing, and the in-house crew are working on some trails. Various improvements at Big Creek Park were discussed. The camping lean-to is complete, and soon they will be getting started on the second treehouse. Tupelo Park work will be done later in the summer, and the in-house construction crew will be at Beartown Lakes in late July.
The following item was not discussed at the meeting but was on the list of planned department construction projects:
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Maple Highlands Trail (MHT) North Improvements with GPD Crew and I. Caticchio & Sons, Inc. (Original construction budget $50,000, current construction costs $19,609).
New Business
The following Resolutions were approved unanimously without any questions or comments from the Board:
Specifics of the Budget were not discussed. In the Board packet, the three levies that provide the bulk of the revenue for the Geauga Park District were listed as follows:
0.7 mill levy (first passed in 1986) will provide income of: $1,009,739
0.9 mill levy (first passed in 2000) will provide income of: $2,532,947
1.0 mill levy (first passed in 2013) will provide income of: $3,263,885
Property Taxes Total: $6,806,571
Other Income Sources:
Licenses, Permits, Fees $230,000
Earnings on Investments $166,515
Total General Fund anticipated 2026 Revenue: $7,248,086
Of note, the revenue figure does not include the anticipated carryover listed as $2,589,236.19.
Anticipated expenses for the General Fund for 2026 are listed as $7,379,741.08. In the breakdown of expenses, salaries are the principal components, with an “Other” charge attached to each type of salary. The largest salaries and Other charges were: Human Services Salaries ($1,152,042.13) and Human Services Other ($1,480,706.55). There was also an “Other Other” charge of $572,671.00.
Mr. Oros said that the Budget submitted shows need, as is required by the Budget Commission. Mr. Oros also stated that the Tax Budget Hearing will be August 18-19 and that they are now using the UAN (Uniform Accounting Network) system, as the Budget Commission had requested. Observer Note: The UAN system was created by the Ohio Auditor’s Office. See more information about UAN here. Reviewer Note: The Budget Commission has scheduled GPD’s Budget Hearing for August 19 at 9:45 am. It will take place in the Auditor’s Appraisal Conference Room at 231 Main Street. Virtual attendance is available via Microsoft Teams by emailing an invitation request to pmcmahan@gcauditor.com.
Mr. Oros read the resolution detailing Mr. LaGatta’s service, including service in the U.S. Army, serving as a member of the Cleveland Heights Police Department from 1967-1983 and serving as Chief of Police for the Village of Chagrin Falls from 1984. Observer Note: No end date was listed for his service as Chief of Police, but it appears he served until 1994 when James Brosius became the Police Chief.
Commissioner’s Time
Ms. Sandy Ward, Marketing Director, gave a presentation on the Geauga Park District website. Highlights were as follows:
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Geauga Public Parks uses Facebook, Instagram, X, Youtube and their website to provide content, as well as email notifications for those who have opted in.
Geauga Park District Website - Ms. Ward discussed the website and offered this information:
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Their new website debuted in 2017 and has recently been updated and improved with larger fonts, more pictures, more interactive features and a button at the bottom that can be used to provide the individual user more control on how information is displayed. Observer Note: You can find it at the bottom left hand side of the screen. There is a graphic of a person inside an orange circle. The website is also now mobile-optimized for use on cell phones and tablets.
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Using Google analytics they know that they have 71,900 active users and since January 1, 2025 they have had 64,050 engaged sessions (over 1 minute).
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The highest proportion of users is from Chardon (45%) where there are 30,000 engaged users. They also have users from out of county in Mentor and Painesville among other locations.
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Most people are using the website from mobile devices (68%), with 39% using a desktop computer.
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Observatory Park has the most engaged users.
Facebook
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Their Facebook page has 24,000 followers, with women (76%) and individuals aged 35-54 being the biggest users. The most viewed posts were about dragonflies, the high ropes courses, and the Earth Day plant giveaway
Instagram
X (formerly twitter)
Youtube
Mr. Oros praised the Marketing Department, especially thanking Ms. Ward. Ms. Ward gave out a “passport” that has maps, stickers and information on all 28 parks. She said they were available at Big Creek and West Woods.
Mr. Oros reviewed the following:
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Rangers helped with two fishing events: one for youth with special needs at Walter C Best and one at Beartown Lakes Reservation Reviewer Note: The event at Walter Best was coordinated by Rotary Clubs in Geauga and spearheaded by Commissioner Jim Dvorak who started the event several years ago. See Maple Leaf article.
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820 Fifth Graders from eleven schools finished their Nature Scopes program at the Rookery
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Summer camps have started
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Boat borrowing at Headwaters and High Ropes (at Claridon Woodlands) is underway
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Naturalists led 117 programs in May with 2,460 participants. The West Woods Nature Center welcomed 1,321 patrons in May.
Executive Session - At 9:03 am the Board held an Executive Session to consider the Purchase of Property
Return from Executive Session - The Board returned at 9:29 am. No action was taken.
Public Comment - Per Geauga Park District Policy, no public comment was permitted.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:31 am.
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, July 21, 2025 at 8:30 am.
See the GPD Website for Additional Information and Minutes.
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Carol Benton
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: June 19, 2025
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