Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
March 10, 2026
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Diane Belden on Tuesday, March 10, at 9:00 a.m. in the conference room of the administration building.
In attendance were: Diane Belden, Shelly Garcia, Chris Cellier, John Gangway, Kevin Johnson, Dorthy Baker, William Baker, Lisa Murphy, Kevin Gibbons, Bart Erwin, Michelle Kokinda, Karen Wise, Maureen Peppard, Jeff Green, Sharon Sanger, Pat Horn, Dan Toris, Heidi O’Brien, Mary Mahoney, Dan Barlow, Cindy Gunderson, Matthew Hollis, Mark Messa, Linda Fox, Heidi Cloonan, Randy Cloonan, James Van Eerten, Jeff Sawicki, Kim Mulholland, Greg Strayer, David Belden, Emily Cellier, Ann Rumpf, Randy Riedmaier and Jack Madison.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Chris Cellier made a motion to approve the February 24, 2026 Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Chris Cellier made a motion to approve and pay the bills, including payroll, in the amount of $97,028.09. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
The family of Richard L. Winke sent a thank you note for the maintenance department to thank them for their time and thoughtfulness assisting with the burial of their family member.
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia reported that each year it is required that we verify all property owned by the township to our insurance carrier. This ensures that we have all items listed and valued correctly. Each department (Police, Fire and Maintenance) was given a listed of all items currently insured, and asked that they verify for accuracy. Once these all come back the list will be sent to the Ohio Plan (Hylant) for the yearly policy renewal.
Two permits (#26-042 & #26-052) were received by the Ottawa Co. Engineers Office to notify the township of work being done by Frontier on Cemetery Road and NE Catawba Road.
At the last meeting, the trustees received a liquor permit transfer request to transfer a C-2 permit from City Barbeque LLC to Catawba Moorings. This was tabled as there was not enough time to properly review the request as it had just come in that morning. Chris Cellier stated that he has since had a chance to review the request and also spoke to James Van Eerten on that matter and he would like to make a motion that this request be approved.
Chris Cellier made a motion to approve the liquor permit transfer as requested. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Diane Belden stated that we would be going a bit out of order as we have Dan Toris (County Engineer), Mark Messa from Regional Planning, James Van Eerten (County Prosecutor) and Matthew Hollis who would like to make a presentation.
Matthew Hollis began the presentation by giving background on what he is requesting. He stated that in 2023 he acquired about 70% of the property in the Rockledge subdivision. He stated that in speaking to the other property owners of Rockledge, that a concern of theirs is that there is no way to access their beach short of crossing Sand Road. Matt met with the county engineer at the time to find a way to help residents safely cross Sand Road. They looked at traffic speed reduction, crosswalks and traffic lights just to name a few. It was mentioned that a bridge over Sand Road may be the most feasible. Matt then presented his concept to the trustees last year, who were all hesitant with this request and deferred him to the county engineer. Matt then took this to the new county engineer, Dan Toris. Dan stated that he met with regional planning and the county prosecutor. They stated that they saw many potential issues in the bridge request. Liability issues and maintenance issues being two key points. They suggested perhaps a tunnel under the road may be a better solution. It would be a 5 ft x 7ft box culvert. Matt stated that he did the feasibility studies for underground utilities and found that it was doable. Dan Toris stated that this is no different than the tunnel at CIC and others throughout the county. Mark Messa and James Van Eerten also spoke on the issue and support the project.
Chris Cellier asked James Van Eerten if he had any concerns regarding liability on this project. James stated that this is on private property and is being privately funded by the Rockledge Association, and liability would not fall on the township. All plans will still need to be approved by the County Engineer.
There was discussion regarding road closure of Sand Road. Mark Messa suggested that this work be completed in the off season. Matt stated that one of the contractors he spoke with stated they may be able to close one lane at a time instead of closing the entire road, but did state that if road closure would be needed it would be minimal with the absolute worst-case scenario being one week.
Dorthy Baker asked how they will be getting through the rock. Matt stated that the contractors believe that hammering or trenching will be enough to get through it, and no blasting will be needed.
Another audience member asked if they have been in contact with the Army Corps of Engineers and ODNR. Matt stated that he has been in contact with both and was told there is no issue.
There was much public discussion regarding this matter as well as other township matters involving traffic speed and how to reduce it. It was explained that the speed limit is not determined by the township, and many road studies have to be done and this process takes years.
Matt asked the trustees if they would be in support of this project as he didn’t want to pay for the feasibility studies and begin to move forward if the trustees were not in favor of it. Chris Cellier stated that he would like more information regarding the road closure, but would be in support of this tunnel. Diane Belden stated that she too was in support of it as well.
Matt Hollis thanked the trustees and stated that he will continue moving forward with the tunnel project and work closely with the county engineer.
Fiscal
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia provided the February 2026 monthly reports and bank reconciliation to the trustees; there were no questions or concerns.
Maintenance
Supervisor Kevin Johnson stated that Heigel Park and the Launch Ramp are now open.
Kevin stated that he got two bids for the Basin Road paving. He submitted these bids to the trustees for them to look over. Diane stated they will bring this back up at the next meeting.
Kevin also submitted an estimate to replace the maintenance dept. backhoe. This estimate is for a John Deere backhoe in the amount of $150,968.65 minus a credit of $31,400 for trade-in of the townships current 2018 John Deere backhoe. Kevin stated that he was told he could get more if they list the old backhoe on Gov.deals.
Fire
Chief Gibbons stated there were a total of 22 runs in February. Six were fire and 16 EMS.
At the last trustees meeting when the bid for the SCBA gear for the Fire Dept. was approved, Chief Gibbons was asked by the trustees if he would go back to the Fire Fighters Association to see if they would be willing to put some of their own money towards the purchase of the SCBA gear. Chief Gibbons stated that he is waiting to hear back regarding this issue.
Police
Nothing to report.
Park
Nothing to report.
New Business
Diane Belden stated that the language of the Proposed Zoning Amendment for the Referendum Petition has been approved and will be on the May 5, 2026 ballot.
Lisa Murphy asked what the status was on the hiring of a new zoning inspector. Diane Belden stated that that Chris Cellier has completed interviews and they hope at the next meeting they will be able to meet and discuss this issue during an executive session.
An audience member asked about spring clean-up. Diane Belden stated that it will be on April 24th from 8:00-5:00, and April 25th from 8:00-12:00. The audience member asked if we looked at extending these hours. Kevin Johnson stated that typically the majority of the drop offs are done on Friday and by Saturday afternoon it slows way down.
Chris Cellier made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 10:07 a.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday March 24, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
___________________________ _____________________________
Diane Belden, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer