Geauga Park District Board - April 17, 2023
Meeting: Monday, April 17, 2023 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 option.
Public Comment Policy: The Park District Board does not have a formal policy but in practice, does not permit public comment.
Board Attendance: Commissioners Howard Bates, Jolene Carnabuci, Ray Guarino, Les LaGatta and Frank Stein were present.
Staff Attendance: John Oros, Executive Director; Dawn Sweeney, Interim Finance Director; Matt McCue, Deputy Director; Jessica Alpers, Administrative Assistant and a Park Ranger. Todd Hicks, legal counsel from the firm of Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan was present as was Sandy Ward, PR Coordinator.
Minutes: Minutes from the March 20, 2023 meeting were approved without discussion and when available are posted online. Reviewer Note: Following an email communication with Mr. Oros, the board minutes are now posted online through March 20, 2023.
Agenda: Approved without discussion.
Financial Report: Dawn Sweeney, Interim Finance Director, verbally reported these individual fund balances:
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General Fund $4,042,536
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Land Improvement Fund $2,875,010
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Capital Reserve $89,159.70
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K9 Fund balance was stated to be $0.00
Mr. Bates inquired about an expenditure for tasers and asked who the Park District contracts with for rubbish removal. No information was shared about ongoing capital projects or grant applications.
Reviewer Comment: The Board Financial Packet, obtained through a FOIA request, included the above fund balances, revenue and expense activity by fund and a detail by category of March expenditures totaling $224,492.73. No fund activity details were shared nor was information provided about YTD balances relative to budget. Notably, when added together, Ms. Sweeney’s listed fund balances total $7,006,705.70, which represents a $7,070.30 difference from the $7,013,736 balance presented in the Board Financial Packet.
Old Business - none
New Business:
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Resolution to recognize Park Ranger Denise Weisbarth (retired) - A resolution was read by a park ranger to recognize Park Ranger Weisbarth, who was also the K-9 Officer for Spyder. It was Weisbarth who helped to establish the K-9 fund in 2016 to cover funds needed for Spyder. She served the Park District for over 20 years.
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Resolution to Close K-9 Fund - It was explained that there is no K-9 at present and no officers (after the retirement of Officer Weisbarth) expressed any interest in becoming a K-9 officer, so the fund would be disbanded.
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Resolution to appoint Dawn Sweeney as Fiscal Officer and Treasurer - Without any discussion, the board approved a resolution to appoint Dawn Sweeney as Fiscal Officer and Treasurer. She had been serving as interim for both roles.
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Resolution Regarding Surplus Property - This resolution was approved which will send several computers to scrap and three 2014 Ford Rangers to auction.
Observer Note: The Park District does not disclose any specifics about the time and place of auctions.
Commissioners’ Time
New Videos:
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Spring Awakening - This video was shot by Commissioner Jolene Carnabuci at the West Woods Amphibian awakening program in March. Naturalist John Kolar led the program where he explained that during the winter, frogs are like “frogcicles” - frozen until the weather warms. He also talked about the benefit of park protected vernal (spring) pools that dry up in the summer. Because they don’t have water all summer they are not home to large predators that would eat frogs and salamanders. This video is available on the Geauga Park District facebook page here.
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Solar Eclipse discussion - The eclipse will take place on April 8, 2024 and Astro-Nut Chris Mentrick presents this information as a video on the Geauga Park District facebook page here. He states that there won’t be another total eclipse for another 420 years and that Geauga County is one of the few spots in the country that will have the total solar eclipse. He said there will be a big viewing event at the Geauga County Fairgrounds.
Tree Planting - Veterans Legacy Woods - This weekend there will be a tree and plant giveaway for Earth Day. Oros commended the team and volunteers who installed deer guards around newly planted trees. Tree planting and the tree giveaway required a reservation through the Geauga Park District reservation website.
Veterans Legacy Woods Tribute Lodge is available for reservation now; all renovations are complete.
March Programs - Mr. Oros talked about several programs:
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There were 102 programs, with over 2,751 attending.
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The Saps Arising programs had 1,030 attending. The Park District presented a Maple Sugaring program to 133 school children.
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Naturalists presented a program at Metzenbaum regarding ways to present nature programs for people with disabilities.
Mr. LaGatta said that he was very impressed with the programs and thanked the park staff.
Executive Session - Mr. Oros stated that there was no need for an Executive Session.
Public Comment - none permitted.
Next meeting – Monday May 15th @ 8:30 am
the GPD Website for Additional Information and Minutes
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Lindsay Pollock
Reviewer: Shelly Lewis
Submitted 4-18-2023
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