Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
February 27, 2024
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Vice Chairman William Rofkar on Tuesday, February 27, at 9:00 a.m. in the conference room of the administration building.
In attendance were: William Rofkar, Matt Montowski, Mary Jane Porozynski, John Gangway,
Kevin Johnson, Dan Barlow, Dave Howell, Brad Schwan, Shelly Garcia, Lisa Murphy,
Dorothy Baker and William Baker
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the February 13, 2024, Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve and pay the bills, including the payroll, in the amount of $160,946.94. The total includes a payment of $29,250 to the City of Port Clinton for the 2023 EMS overage and a payment of $59,788 to Statewide Ford for the new police utility. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
A letter from Karen Shaw requesting Trustees reconsider their plan to acquire a township credit card with a $25,000 credit limit and issue to multiple users as history proves a $10,000 credit limit is more than adequate and multiple users lends to a more difficult accountability procedure.
The 2023 Annual Report from the Ottawa County Municipal Court.
A letter from the Port Clinton Rotary Club requesting a donation for the Port Clinton High School Scholarship Banquet.
A letter from Main Street Port Clinton requesting a donation.
An email from Sherri Roth regarding the appointment of Dave Howell to the Catawba Island Parks Board and expressing disappointed that she had not heard from Trustees regarding her application for the Parks Board.
Matt Montowski said he informed Sherri Roth that following the Trustees appointment, a letter thanking her for her interest in serving on the board was mailed out on February 5, but she had not yet received the letter.
Fiscal
Fiscal Officer Karen Shaw presented the January 2024 bank reconciliation. There were no questions or concerns.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve a Then and Now Purchase Order to the City of Port Clinton for the 2023 EMS overage in the amount of $29,250. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Maintenance
Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Johnson said maintenance personnel will begin clean up of the cemetery the first week of March and remove winter decorations.
Kevin Johnson said the drinking fountain in the administration building lobby and the one in Heigel Park need replaced. He presented two options that include water bottle filling stations.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the purchase of two new drinking fountains not to exceed $3,000. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Kevin Johnson requested a compactor for various township projects and a four wheel cart to haul the compactor.
Matt Montowski made a motion to purchase a soil compactor and cart not to exceed $3,000. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
William Rofkar said the Spring Cleanup dates are set for Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27, with Friday hours of operation from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Police
Police Chief John Gangway said the new police utility is in service and the decals have been removed from the 2017 police utility.
William Rofkar made a motion to list the surplus police vehicle on GovDeals. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Parks
Brad Schwan said the Catawba Island Parks Board speaker series held Monday, February 26, was well received as speakers from Shores and Islands and Magee Marsh spoke about the upcoming Solar Eclipse. He said 45 people were in attendance.
Matt Montowski said John Gangway also spoke about how the eclipse will affect us locally.
Brad Schwan said the Parks Board is revisiting the idea of a community garden and will present ideas and a cost analysis at a future Trustee meeting.
Brad Schwan agreed to follow up with Gerold Construction on the final work to be completed on the pickleball courts at Heigel Park.
New Business
William Rofkar said that he and Kevin Johnson met with representatives from Omni Fiber. He said they are installing a network in the township for fiber direct to home service to provide internet service and will ramp it up significantly in the next few months. William Rofkar said they will be installing the backbone for the fiber down the main roads and then the side roads and every neighborhood will have service. He said this phase will wrap up by Memorial Day, and then individual connections will need to be made when residents become subscribers. William Rofkar said they will be pulling lines and directing traffic but not closing roads.
Matt Montowski said Trustees will meet with the Ottawa County Engineers for the Annual Road Review on Tuesday, March 19, at 8:45 a.m. in the conference room of the administration building. He said representatives from Miller Ferry will also attend the meeting.
William Baker said he appreciates the signs placed near the recycling containers regarding the use of containers for trash is a crime and citing the Ohio Revised Code.
William Baker said the trails in the Cedar Meadow Nature Preserve are impassible due to water.
Matt Montowski said the Trustees are aware of the situation and agreed the trails are wet in the spring and fall but the area and trails are dry in the summer months. He said Trustees looked into making the trails passible but the Black Swamp Conservancy does not allow any disturbance to the natural setting as it is a nature preserve. Matt Montowski said the the vernal pond and surrounding forest is one of only a few of its kind.
Brad Schwan said the difference is Cedar Meadow is a nature preserve and not a park where you want to make everything people friendly. He said in a preserve you want to leave everything nature friendly.
William Baker said the North Point Preserve has trails that have been filled in with material making them passible.
Brad Schwan said that is because the North Point Preserve is owned and operated by Catawba Island Township while the governing body of the Cedar Meadow Nature Preserve is the Black Swamp Conservancy.
William Rofkar said the Black Swamp Conservancy contributed significantly when the property was purchased so the township owns the property but they have control over the preserve and conduct annual inspections. He said there is an approved mowing schedule the township follows.
William Baker asked if he should go to the Black Swamp Conservancy about removable invasive plants.
William Rofkar said anything done in the preserve has to be approved by the Black Swamp Conservancy.
Brad Schwan said discussion of invasive plants should begin with the Catawba Island Parks Board first and then if they wanted to move forward they would discuss with the Trustees and then with the Black Swamp Conservancy.
Matt Montowski made a motion to adjourn the meeting. William Rofkar seconded the motion.
All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 9:46 a.m.
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Diane Belden, Chairman Karen Shaw, Fiscal Officer