Board of County Commissioners - July 18, 2023
Meeting Details: The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met at 9:30 AM on July 18, 2023 at the County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH. BOCC meetings are in-person only and there are no recordings for the public. An agenda is available in advance via request to the Commissioners Clerk.
Public Comment Policy: Observer Comment: Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri announced at the end of the April 4, 2023 meeting that public comment would be permitted and that a more formal policy would be forthcoming. There was no formal policy introduced today.
Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a prayer was offered by Mr. Dvorak.
Attendance: Present were Commissioners James Dvorak, Timothy Lennon and Ralph Spidalieri; Commissioners’ Clerk Christine Blair, County Administrator Gerard Morgan, and Senior Financial Specialist Deborah Ashburn for Finance Manager Adrian Gorton, who was absent.
County Representatives: Ron Graham, Health Commissioner for Lake and Geauga Counties; Adam Litke, Geauga Public Health Administrator; Christine Lakomiak, Director, Mental Health and Recovery Services; Shane Hajjar, Engineer’s Department; Kathleen Miller, Water Resources, and Glen Vernick, Maintenance Director
Others Presenting to the Board: Todd Keserich, Asst. Vice President Client Services, Sedgwick
Others in Attendance: Carolyn Brakey, Geauga Public Health Board President; Linda Burhenne, Assistant County Administrator; Chris Alusheff, President, Health District Advisory Council and Claridon Township Zoning Inspector; members of the press from the Geauga Maple Leaf, Chagrin Valley Times, the Plain Dealer and Tom and Diane Jones, as well as several other members of the public.
Minutes: Approved minutes from May 23, 2023 and June 1, 2023. At publication, minutes were posted on the BOCC website through June 1, 2023. Reviewer Comment: Weekly LWVG Observer Reports for BOCC are available online through July 11, 2023 for information purposes but are not substitutes for approved BOCC Minutes.
Observer Note: At the prior meeting, it was noted that the public had difficulty hearing the discussions between Mr. Morgan, Mrs. Blair and the Commissioners. Microphones were present on the dais for this meeting but did not appear to work.
County Administrator Report: Mr. Morgan reported on the following actions taken by him pursuant to Authority granted to him by the Commissioners:
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Rescinded the offer that had been presented to Kristina Cunningham by the Dept on Aging for the position of recreational and education assistant. Ms. Cunningham declined the offer.
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Joined with Claridon Twp trustees in not requesting a hearing for a liquor license to be obtained from S & L Fuel at 12797 Mayfield Rd.
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Approved and executed a service contract with Gilmore Securities for installation and maintenance services for Fire and Burglar alarm services in the water section of Water Resources. This will be for 1 year, not to exceed $5,000.
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Approved and executed a service contract with Gilmore Securities for fire and burglar alarm services for the wastewater section of Water Resources. This will be for 1 year, not to exceed $5,000.
Financial Report: Ms. Ashburn presented the Financial Report, which was approved and included the following:
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Appropriation transfer to Sheriff’s Department for misc. refunds that were deposited into the General Fund.
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Appropriation transfer to Job and Family Services for continued contract services, phone services and foster care recruitment.
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Cash transfer from the General Fund to Public Assistance for 3rd Quarter share
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Travel for ADP, Common Pleas, Common Pleas Drug Court, Engineers Office, Public Defenders Office, Department of Water Resources
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Then and Now to Water Resources for ADP cyber extra hours (Then and Now indicates that the expense was before the appropriation).
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Voucher from Commissioners to Ravenwood Mental Health Center for 3rd quarter operations in the amount of $104,105.00.
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Voucher from Commissioners to Lake Geauga Recovery Centers for support of the jail treatment program in the amount of $46,358.00.
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Revenue certification for Common Pleas Court Technology Fund for salaries and other expenses.
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Supplemental appropriation to Dept. of Water Resources for debt payments for the Chagrin Falls Park water construction.
Discussion: Mr.Spidalieri questioned the debt payment to the Chagrin Falls Park water construction. He inquired as to the scope of the project. Kathleen Miller answered that this has been finished and that the State auditor advised to reclassify the debt in this way.
The County Engineer’s Office received approval for the following:
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To rescind the motion from July 6, 2023, that approved and executed change order #1 with Woodford Excavating for the replacement of the Washington St bridge in Auburn Township in the amount of $13,110.95 and to replace it with a revised and final increase in the contract to $16,605.35.
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The unit price contract with Ronyak Paving for the asphalt resurfacing of Brakemen Rd. in Hambden Township in the amount of $578,165.00.
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The unit price contract with Ronyak paving for the asphalt resurfacing of Mumford Rd. in Troy township in the amount of $467,785.00.
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The Robinson Road bridge replacement in Chardon township and the cover sheet of plans for the same.
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The unit price contract with the Aero-Mark Company for the application of polyester pavement markings to various roads for $274,776.00.
Discussion: Mr. Dvorak asked if the price had increased or gone down this year. Mr. Hajjar answered that it was down from last year but higher than 2021.
Geauga Public Health received approval for the Certificate of Need for the following:
Discussion: Mr. Lennon inquired about the budget breakdown. Mr. Litke said that there were lots of unknowns. Financials will look different going forward due to decrease in salaries and increase in contract services. Mr. Litke said that the budget is 3 million, depending on the O&M (Operation and Maintenance) program. Mr. Litke stated that this inspection program is required by the State, but is an unfunded mandate. Income from the For Sale inspection program is down since it is now optional. Mr. Litke stated that inspection fees generate the most revenue and that primary expenses are legal fees and contract expenses.
Lennon asked if salaries will go way down. Litke - contract services are 1.5 million, and salaries and fringes are going down significantly. Should be a savings of $350,000 to $600,000. O&M will have to increase staffing but revenue will also go up. Only doing NPDS systems this next year. 2025 will start the rest of the systems.
Collected levy amount will be $564,000. Real estate $75,000 in homestead rollback, the amount the state kicks back because GPH has a qualified levy.
Mr. Lennon also asked for more budget figures and stated that it would have been helpful to have this information prior to the meeting. He also wanted to know if the agreement with Lake Health would cause a savings or if it was break-even.
Mr. Litke said that there is a cost savings, but that they still need the levy.
Mr. Litke said that they had a case of Legionnaires Disease in the county requiring a significant investment of staff time over the weekend.
Lake County Health Commission Ron Graham said that the agreement allows for local (and not State) control.
Mr. Litke also talked about the cost of reimbursing business owners who were charged for inspections and received no inspections. Observer Comment: This issue was detailed in the Observer report for Geauga Public Health May 24, 2023.
The Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services received approval for the following:
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To approve and execute Resolution #23-126 Amended resolution Declaring it Necessary to Levy a Tax in Excess of the Ten Mill Limitation and to Provide for the Necessary Requirements of the County’s Community Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Service District at the Request of the Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services O.R.C. 5705.221 and .25
Ms. Lakomiak stated that the process had changed, necessitating this amendment, with two minor corrections.
The Maintenance Department received permission for the following:
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Permission to advertise for bids for safety center HVAC maintenance and on-call services. The bid opening will be held on August 30,2023 at 2 pm. Notice of bid opening will be advertised on August 3, 2023, August 10, 2023, and on the county website.
Department of Water Resources received approval as follows: Authorization for the President of the Board to execute the revised Accounting Authorization Form and Payroll Authorization Form.
The Commissioners office received approval to execute partial payment #29 to Donley’s Independence in the amount of $114,605.90 for the Geauga County office building.
After this observer asked which project this was, Mr. Morgan stated it was for the new county building. He also said that retainage (monies kept back until project completion) also will be paid soon.
Sedgwick - There was a presentation from Mr. Keserich, the representative of Sedgewick (a company that assists employers navigate Ohio’s worker’s compensation system) as to the update on the group retrospective rating plan for Workers Compensation. Severity and frequency of claims are down, resulting in a discounted rate for 2023. The board approved and authorized the president of the board to execute the 2024 Geauga County County Commissioners’ Association of Ohio Workers’ Compensation Group Retrospective rating plan agreement and the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Employer Statement of Group Retrospective Rating Program between the Geauga County Board of Commissioners and the CCAO Service Corporation. Observer Note: This is a group plan with 56 of Ohio counties participating.
Mr. Keserich said that due to the positive county history (especially lately), there have been refunds every year. Premiums have gone down also, driven by payroll and the rating of claims. He said that he recommends counties always look at other plans, such as Lake County’s self funded program, but that this plan has worked well for Geauga County.
Public Comment
Mr. Chris Alusheff asked if the BOCC would be presenting a formal policy on public comment as they had discussed and whether it would be on the Agenda as a formal policy. No comment from Commissioners. He also stated that there would be a HDAC (Health District Advisory Council) meeting on September 3rd and invited the Commissioners to attend.
Diane Jones asked about the paper that Ms. Blair was talking about with Mr. Spidalieri and was told that the week before the Amendment to the Interagency Transit Agreement was passed but not signed and she was passing it around for the Commissioners to sign.
Mr. Dvorak stated that he had a comment on Geauga Transit. He had heard from the Geauga Auditor’s Office that they had discovered that there was a $275,000 loan from the Commissioners to Geauga Transit from December 12, 2019. Mr. Dvorak stated that even though there had been a merger, he feels that the $205,000 should be returned to the county. He stated it was a lot of money and the Commissioners try to help every department but usually there is a reimbursement. He talked to Laketran and they said they didn’t really need the money, so he requested that it be returned.
Mr. Spidalieri asked if there was any indication that Laketran would cooperate with such a request and Mr. Morgan said that they would. Mr Spidalieri asked Mr. Morgan to please clarify this with Laktran.
Diane Jones stated that according to the Agreement, it says that Laketran will have no responsibility for any debts of Geauga Transit.
Mr. Morgan said the agreement is extended until September and that when the money is transferred to Laketran, they won’t include the $205,000.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 10:15 am
Following the adjournment all members of the press approached the commissioners and Mr. Morgan for comments about the indictment of Water Resources employee Mike Kurzinger. See May 9 Observer report. Mr. Kurzinger is on paid administrative leave following an investigation by the FBI and Secret Service about activities at Water Resources. The indictment was in Geauga County Court of Common Pleas. No federal indictments have been issued.
More Information and Posted Minutes: Available here
Next Meeting: Tuesday July 25, 2023 at 9:30 am
Observers: Gail Roussey and Mary Hentzelman
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Shelly Lewis
Date Submitted: 7/24/2023
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