Rookery West Facilities Project Modified After All Bids Over Budget
Geauga Park District Board Regular Meeting - March 16, 2026
Meeting Details: The Geauga Park District (GPD) Board met on Monday, March 16, 2026, 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: Present were Commissioners Sally LaMarca, John Ralph, Frank Stein and Howard Bates. Commissioner Ray Guarino was absent.
Staff Attendance: John Oros, Executive Director; Matt McCue, Deputy Director and Jessica Alpers, Administrative Assistant. Also in attendance were Lucas Beamer, IT Manager; Christine Cycyk, Interim Fiscal Officer; Todd Hicks, Legal Counsel from the law firm of Thrasher, Dinsmore and Dolan, Sandy Ward, Marketing Coordinator; Paul Pira, Park Biologist; Mike Rose, Chief Park Ranger; Rebecca Cantrell, Land Steward and other unidentified staff members. Mr. Oros introduced and welcomed new Finance Director, Ron Leyde.
Public Attendance: Members of Protect Geauga Parks; Kate Jacob, Chief Compliance Officer, Geauga County Auditor’s Office and Candidate for Probate/Juvenile Judge; reporters from the Geauga Maple Leaf and Chagrin Valley Times, and LWVG Observer Mary Heintzelman were present.
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 February 17, 2026 meeting were approved without question or comment and are posted online here.
Financial Report: Mr. Oros verbally reported these individual fund balances as of February 28, 2025:
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Beginning balance as of 2/01/2026 in the General Fund: $4,063,583
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Ending balance as of 2/28/2026 in the General Fund: $4,949,199
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Beginning balance as of 2/01/2026 in the Land Improvement Fund: $3,025,841
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Ending balance as of 2/28/2026 in the Land Improvement Fund: $3,080,129
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All Funds beginning balance on 2/01/2026: $7,089,424
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All Funds ending balance on 2/28/2026: $8,029,328
There were no questions and no discussion.
Presentation of Payment Report for February: Mr. Oros remarked that the payment report is now auto generated and provides more detail. There were no 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 - None
New Business
The following were recommended by Mr. McCue and approved unanimously:
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Five bids were received for the Rookery-West Operations project. All five bids were over the $1,025,000 budget for the project. The recommendation was that, due to the ongoing need for a centralized maintenance facility that can support all operational requirements, the project should be rebid with slight modifications to the project scope and an increased project budget of $1,375,000. This will include the cost of extending utilities to the new facility and maintain a 10% contingency during construction.
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Three bids were received for the Big Creek Park - Deep Woods Restroom project. The recommendation was that they award the contract to Northeast Ohio Trenching Service Inc. as they represented that lowest and best bid of $308,400.00.
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Eight bids were received for the Mountain Run Station Asphalt Resurfacing project. The recommendation was to award to the low bidder, Phillips Paving LLC, with a bid of $185,443.00.
A search of Ohio Auditors Findings for Recovery Database returned no findings on these companies.
Surplus Property - The following items have been identified as surplus property:
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Office Cubicles (2) - Scrap
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Olympus Digital Cameras (2) - Scrap
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2009 Ex Mark Turf Tracer Mower - Trade
These were approved with no questions or discussion.
Commissioners’ Time - Mr. Oros presented the following:
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Ms. Cantrell gave a presentation on deer management in the parks. They set up cameras in 6 different parks to track the deer and shared the findings due to the activity.
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Chief Ranger Mike Rose completed the New Chiefs Mandated Training
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The 40th “Saps a Rising” at Swine Creek Reservation welcomed 1,200 visitors
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Westwoods Park welcomed 1,354 patrons last month
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The Park District held 103 programs with 2,583 patrons in February
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The 6th annual Geauga Gems Trekking Series saw 324 hikers complete requirements in 2025
Observer Note: More information on Park District events is available here.
Executive Session - Commissioners moved into Executive Session at 9:00 for the purpose of discussing the purchase of property. They returned at 9:22 with no action.
Public Comment - Per Geauga Park District practice, no public comment was permitted.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:24
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, April 20, 2026 at 8:30 am.
See the GPD Website for Additional Information and Minutes.
Observer: Mary Heintzelman
Editor: Carol Benton
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: March 23, 2026
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