Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
September 24, 2024
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Diane Belden on Tuesday, September 24, at 9:00 a.m. in the conference room of the administration building.
In attendance were: Diane Belden, William Rofkar, Matt Montowski, Shelly Garcia, John Gangway, Kevin Johnson, Lisa Murphy, Mary Jane Porozynski, Kevin Gibbons, Michael Hablitzel, Dorthy Baker, William Baker, Ken Bogard and Dan Barlow.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the September 10, 2024, Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve and pay the bills, including payroll, in the amount of $ 37,429.67. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
Request received from Brian Washburn to waive the fees for use of the community hall on October 26, 2024 for a family event. Brian is a member of the CIVFD and also a member of the Parks Board. All trustees agreed to waive the fee.
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia notified the trustees that there is a Fiscal Officer Training course on October 10, 2024 in Perrysburg that she will be attending. Cost of the training is $100 which includes the all-day course registration, training materials and lunch. These hours will also go towards the required number of hours needed for elected township fiscal officers. Matt Montowski stated that the township will cover this expense and also milage.
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia received a request from Cheryl Oberst requesting the township buy back her two grave sites at a cost of $325/each. Another request was received from Darleen Patton to buy back her two grave sites, also at $325/each. Total for all would be $1,300.00.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the buy back of all four grave sites in the amount of $1,300.00 which is the cost at which they were originally purchased. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
A request was received from Eddie Hernandez asking permission for his cremains to be buried with his parents when the time comes. His parents own two grave sites and they are currently buried one in each site. He stated that he has three siblings and wanted to know if he needs to get permission from them to have his remains placed with one of his parents. After brief discussion by the trustees, it was decided to have each of the siblings submit a notarized statement to the township that they agree to allow their brother, Eddie, to be buried with one of their parents. He will also need to pay the open/close fee at time of burial.
Maintenance
Fall clean-up will be this weekend. Friday September 27th from 8-7 and Saturday September 28th from 8-2.
Fire
The 75th anniversary event that was held this past weekend had a great turn out.
Truck 225 had a heater core leak that has been repaired by Lakeland Auto.
One of the garage door cables on the fire department doors broke, and JVS came out to fix it. They are still waiting for a quote on the replacement door openers and the bottom panel.
They have acquired the old Berry’s Bagel building and they along with the Port Clinton Fire Dept. will be doing joint training in the building this coming week. They thank the owners for allowing them this opportunity.
The landscaping around the fire department could use some clean up (bushes need trimmed). The trustees agreed and asked that Kevin and his maintenance department look things over and see what they can do to clean things up around the building.
Police
A quote from Vasu Communications was submitted to the trustees regarding the weather sirens. Cleveland Communications has failed to respond to multiple calls regarding care and maintenance of these sirens, and the trustees were put into contact with Vasu Communications. The quote is to replace the 8 batteries and repair the sirens. The one on Muggy Rd. will need looked at and possibly repaired. The current quote is for $3,212.40 for the batteries and system check/repair. A second quote will come in the future for a maintenance contract.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the quote as presented (not to exceed $3,500.00) for battery replacement and diagnostic testing/repair for the two weather sirens. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
New Business
Matt Montowski stated that Sunday’s event at the Fire Station was well received. He thanked Kevin Gibbons and the Fire Department for putting on such a great event.
William Rofkar stated that he has been in touch with the son of the owner at 1510 NW Catawba regarding removal of the trailer. He stated that he received a quote for $5,600 from Fox to take care of this. He stated that the son is looking to shop around on this matter. William reminded him that this has been an on-going issue for quite some time and he has to have something in place by next meeting or we will continue to pursue with the removal. William stated that the law allows for some negotiations and we would be willing to work with him on this issue.
Diane Belden asked about Trick or Treat this year and all trustees agreed to keep it on October 31, 2024 from 5:30pm-7:30pm as it has been in the past.
Ken Bogard stated that he would like to see the meetings go back to having at least one meeting per month in the evening so that more people might be able to attend. The trustees stated that per documentation on meeting attendance, having the meeting at 9:00am as opposed to 6:00pm shows no real difference in numbers. Matt stated that communication between trustees and the public has not been restricted and that morning meetings are just as well attended as evening.
Mr. Bogard also brought up the concern of local businesses buying homes and using them to house their employees. Specifically, the home by his house has many Orchard employees living there and he hears loud music coming from the house at various hours, he stated the police have been called several times regarding the loud music. He also stated that he has noticed (as well as other neighbors) missing vegetables from their gardens/trees, and one neighbor missing money from her vehicle. He questioned if it was legal for these home owners to house their employees like this, and also the legality of these workers being here as they are coming from other countries. The trustees went into great detail on this issue with Mr. Bogard and stated that they cannot speak on any type of immigration issues, but that if he feels there is illegal activity going on, he should contact the police department.
He also voiced his concerns regarding the loss of green space on Catawba Island. He stated that wildlife is not as abundant as it once was. He stated that he heard the Don Rhodes property might be for sale, and he would like the trustees to look into purchasing this to preserve the green space. The trustees did not know if the property was for sale or not. Diane stated that she did research on the green space that Catawba currently has, and we currently have quite a bit with the Nehls property and other areas that are designated for green space.
Michael Hablitzel had a few questions regarding the difference between B&B’s and Airbnb’s.
He stated that during the course of this meeting he may have had his questions answered already and that he will get with Matt later for further explanation if needed.
Matt Montowski made a motion to adjourn the meeting. William Rofkar seconded the motion.
All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 9:51 a.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday October 8, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.
_______________ _____________________________
Diane Belden, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer