Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
May 12, 2026
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Diane Belden on Tuesday, May 12th at 9:00 a.m. in the conference room of the administration building.
In attendance were: Diane Belden, Shelly Garcia, Chris Cellier, Quintin Smith, John Gangway, Kevin Johnson, Dorthy Baker, William Baker, Lisa Murphy, Mary Jane Porozynski, Jack Madison, Nancy Oreskovich, Eric Schramm, Jim Stouffer, Kim Mulholland, Emily Cellier, Ann T. Rumpf, Randy Riedmaier, Judy Smithers, Gayle Richter, Craig McCoy, Flint Heidlebaugh and Greg Strayer.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Chris Cellier made a motion to approve the April 28, 2026, Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. Quintin Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve and pay the bills, including payroll, in the amount of $173,388.42. This includes payment of $52,738.00 to Hylant for the township’s annual property insurance and $46,000 to Atlantic Emergency Services for payment of the grant issued to the Fire Department for the Jaws of Life equipment. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
Letter from James Atkinson was read to express his appreciation for being named as an alternate to the Zoning Commission.
Notice from township receptionist, Mary Jane Porozynski, stating that she is having a medical procedure done on June 17, 2026 and requests to be off work for approximately 12 weeks. Diane Belden stated that between herself, Police Chief Gangway, and Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia that they would be able to provide coverage for the office while Mary Jane is off on medical leave. The other trustees agreed and granted her request.
Black Swamp sent a notice to Trustee Smith stating that each year they monitor all protected properties to ensure they are in compliance with the terms of the conservation easements. They stated they will be contacting them by phone/email to arrange an appointment time for this.
An email from Vicki Beal was received regarding property at 2221 N. Carriage Lane and the current state of the property. The lawn has not been mowed and it is about 8-10 inches long, and a large tree has fallen on the property making it very unsightly for the neighborhood. It was reported during the meeting that the day prior, the tree had been removed, but the grass is still very high. Members of the audience who live in Colony Club stated they would try to work to get this issue resolved. Diane Belden stated that she would look into this as well.
Fiscal
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia provided the April 2026 financial reports and bank reconciliations. There were no questions or concerns.
Shelly Garcia stated at the last meeting a motion was made to approve the Fremont Fence bid in the amount of $9,958.00 to remove the two tennis court fences so they can be resurfaced, and then replace the fences once the resurfacing has been complete. At that time, we had not received any other quotes. However, after the meeting on April 28th, Adkins Fence submitted their quote for the same work in the amount of $6,720.00.
Quintin Smith made a motion to rescind the previous motion for Fremont Fence and accept the Adkins Fence quote in the amount of $6,720.00 as this is a lower bid and a benefit to the township. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia stated that she has turned in all the required documents to Jannah at the Parks District for the tennis court grants and has submitted an invoice as requested. She stated that the $40,000 grant from the Parks District has already been received, and we are ready to begin the project.
Maintenance
Kevin Johnson submitted two quotes from The Kreimes Company. One was for asphalt sealing & striping behind the administration building and the other was for asphalt paving of the gravel parking area at the museum.
Discussion took place between Kevin and the trustees regarding both projects.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve The Kreimes Co. quote of $7,950.00 to seal and stripe the area behind the administration building. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion approved.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve The Kreimes Co. quote of $7,956.00, and there was no second. Motion denied. Diane stated that she would like to table this until next meeting.
FIRE
Eric Schramm gave the run totals for April. There were 9 total fire/EMS runs. 3 fire and 6 EMS
Eric stated they are testing the Fire Department hoses today.
He also stated that Engine 222 will be out on May 19, 2026 for the ICS auction that they do each year.
Police
Chief Gangway stated he is still having issues with the second Flock Camera that was to be installed on Sand Road. He continues to work on the issue.
Chief Gangway submitted a revised quote from Forerunner as there were questions regarding conflicting amounts between several quotes they submitted. At a previous meeting the trustees made a motion to accept a quote from Forerunner at one cost to the township, but then they submitted another quote for a different amount. Chief Gangway stated that he spoke to them and they have re-submitted a final quote in the amount of $4,211.38 as a one-time payment with $521.18 as a monthly charge.
Quintin Smith made a motion to rescind the previous motion that was made for Forerunner and the incorrect amounts, and accept Quote ID 32396-1600 from Forerunner as with the amounts provided. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Parks
Jack Madison stated that they will be walking and marking the new trail.
New Business
Quintin Smith stated that he is working on a proposed deal to look at purchasing the Bolte property. He stated that it will be on the agenda for the next meeting
Quintin Smith brought up the issue of the mulch site and stated that Catawba Island currently has six acres that is directly across the street from our main stormwater pump station. He is looking to reduce the size of the mulch site to around one acre, as the cost the township spends to grind all of this material increases each year.
In order to do this, they need to limit/prohibit dumping of compost materials that originate outside of the township. They are looking at various ways to accomplish this: signs, cameras, gates, key fobs and permits among other things.
Much discussion took place and the trustees agreed that a starting point might be to place a sign at the entrance prohibiting dumping of compost/materials that originate outside of the township.
Chris Cellier made a motion to prohibit such dumping as stated. Quintin Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Quintin gave an update on the EMS project that he is working on. He stated that he has met with the Fire Dept., Police Dept., PC EMS and 16 members from the community to hear their concerns.
He stated that he likes the idea of an ECHO Satellite Station. This will be a 24/7 manned EMS vehicle located on Catawba Island, but managed out of Port Clinton. They are hoping this would allow a responder to arrive in 4-5 minutes instead of the average of 9 minutes that they have now. Quintin stated that the group reacted very positively and he will continue to explore these options in order to have something in place when the contract renewal comes up at the end of 2027.
Chris Cellier started out by introducing the new zoning inspector, Jean Hartline. He thanked Jean for stepping up and filling this position. He stated she is extremely well qualified and will be a great asset to the township.
Chris also thanked Todd Bickley for being the interim zoning inspector for the township until Jean was hired. Chris stated that he would like to keep Todd on as a consultant in order to help Jean as needed.
Chris Cellier made a motion to approve Todd Bickley as a consultant for as long as Jean needs at the rate of $48/hour up to 20 hours per week. Quintin Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Chris Celliers spoke to the importance as a public official to listen to what the people are saying and he shared some thoughts about what he has observed during his campaigning and now as a trustee. He stated there were key issues that the public has stressed as issues they want the trustees to prioritize. Some of these issues are:
Land Use & Development, Emergency Services, Infrastructure, Traffic and Transparency.
He spoke in depth regarding these issues and stated that his goal is to try and move the ball on these issues instead of continuing to say they will look into the issues.
With that being said, Chris Cellier made a motion to authorize the zoning inspector to start the process of vetting professional firms to explore potential revisions to the Catawba Island Township Land Use Plan. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Chris Cellier also made a motion to formally commit to exploring the review of the township’s storm water drainage and capacity issues and authorizing the zoning inspector to vet potential civil engineering firms to assist the township in this effort. Chris stated we need professionals to come in and tell us what the problem is, if any, and what our options are. Quintin Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Diane Belden stated that the “Call to Duty Salute” is coming up and there are three emblems located in the cemetery with bar codes that you can scan and learn about veterans that are buried in our cemetery.
Flint Heidelbaugh stated that at the January 2026 re-organizational meeting, the trustees agreed to extend the Land Use Plan until June 30, 2026. He was asking if they needed to extend this again. Diane stated that she has that noted and they will take care of that issue before the deadline.
Chris Cellier made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Quintin Smith seconded the motion.
All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 11:20 a.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
___________________________ _____________________________
Diane Belden, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer