Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
May 26, 2026
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Diane Belden on Tuesday, May 26th at 6:00 p.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, Jack Madison, Nancy Oreskovich, Jim Stouffer, Ann T. Rumpf, Randy Riedmaier, Craig McCoy, Flint Heidlebaugh, Jeff Frazier, Brad James, Craig Koerpel, Jean Hartline, Barb Osterling, Alison Perlaky, Frank Carchedi, DJ Litz, Michael Hablitzel, David Belden, and Will Moore.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve the May 12, 2026, Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. Chris Cellier 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 $62,910.92. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
Two approved permits (26-120 & 26-163) were received by Ottawa Co. Engineers Office for work being done within the township by Frontier and Columbia Gas.
Email was received regarding tall grass at 111 NW Catawba Road. Per the zoning inspector, this issue has already been resolved.
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia advised the trustees that they approve an extension of the Land Use Plan during the reorganizational meeting on January 13, 2026 to extend to June 30, 2026. They decided to extend until December 31, 2026.
Quintin Smith made a motion to extend our current Land Use Plan until December 31, 2026. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Shelly Garcia stated that Falcon Forge AI will be presenting our mandatory cybersecurity training on Thursday May 28, 2026 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. All employees and trustees of the township are required to attend.
Fiscal
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia requested the trustees approve an amendment to the permanent appropriations to include the $40,000 grant from the Parks District and a donation of $8,725.88 to the Police Department. Shelly Garcia has prepared the required paperwork to advise the Ottawa Co. Auditor of this amendment.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve the amended permanent appropriations as stated. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Maintenance
Diane Belden thanked the maintenance department for the wonderful work they did at the cemetery for the Memorial Day weekend.
Diane brought up the Kreimes Co. quote that was tabled from the last meeting. This was for asphalt paving of a 900 sq. ft. section at the Catawba Museum. There were members from the museum in the audience who gave reasoning why they would like to have this section paved.
A brief discussion took place and the trustees agreed to move forward with this request.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve the Kreimes Co. quote in the amount of $7,956.00 for the asphalt paving of a section of the Catawba Museum parking lot. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Police
Chief Gangway stated that he received a quote from Catawba Security for a license plate reader, recorder, and cameras for the compost facility in order to try to prevent dumping of material that is not allowed at this facility. Signs will also be place to notify the public as to what can and cannot be dropped off.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve quote #6366 in the amount of $5,299.70 to Catawba Security for license plate reader, recorder and cameras for the compost facility as presented. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Parks
Jack Madison stated that were able to walk and mark the trail and thanked the maintenance department for doing a great job in clearing it.
Jack also stated that they did not have enough board members for a quorum at the last meeting and he would like to look into getting a few additional members for the board. The trustees agreed.
Fire
Fire Chief Gibbons submitted a quote to the trustees for the purchase of new fire hose, as the hose testing they just had completed showed several hundred feet of hose failed this year. He would like to purchase additional hose to replace all that failed.
The trustees had questions regarding this request. Will Moore from the Fire Dept. was in the audience to address all the concerns, and trustees agreed that the purchase was needed.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve the quote from Atlantic Emergency Solutions in the amount of $12,255.00 for the purchase of new fire hose as presented. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
New Business
Quintin Smith stated that the township does not have job descriptions for some of the departments. He also stated that the township does not have a formal HR department, and said that these duties as well as other seem to be falling to the Fiscal Officer to handle.
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia stated that she is working on job descriptions for various township positions, and will send them to the trustees for their input when finished.
Quintin Smith gave a presentation regarding a project he has been working on for the past several months. The township has been given an opportunity to purchase the Bolte Property adjacent to Cedar Meadows Preserve. There is 9.73 acres that would expand green space, and he is looking into several grants that might help in acquiring this property.
The property owners have given the township an 18-month option to purchase the property. This would hold the property for 18-months and allow the township to apply for grants, get a formal appraisal, and compile the necessary information to see if this purchase is even a possibility. The property owners require a $5,000 retainer to hold the property for 18 months. The Friends of Ottawa Co. Parks have put forth $2,500 in earnest money towards this and the township to cover the additional $2,500.
Quintin stated there is a drainage issue at the Cemetery Road and Route 53 intersection that needs to be addressed. The current pipe size is too small and is not allowing the township pump to function properly. To fix this issues, the pipe needs to be upgraded and size increased, a rough estimate to correct this is $150,000 – $200,000. The Bolte property has a strong potential to solve the storm drainage problem in the center of Catawba Island by exploring a storm water retention marsh on this property to help slow water flow, trap sediment, and remove nutrients. He stated the H2Ohio funding may be available for the marsh and infrastructure improvements.
Much discussion took place after this presentation between the trustees and members of the audience. Many agreed that spending $5,000 (non-refundable) to give the township 18 months to do its due diligence to see if this would be a possibility is something that should be explored. Per the contract, if the trustees decided not purchase the property, they would need to pay back the earnest money that the Friends of Ottawa Col. Parks put forth.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve spending $2,500 ($5,000 if they decide not to purchase) to start the process in looking into the purchase of the Bolte property. Quintin Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Zoning Inspector Jean Hartline spoke to the audience to introduce herself and give a brief background of her qualifications.
Chris Cellier addressed the audience and stated that the future of property taxes is uncertain. He stated we don’t know what the township will be bringing in 2-3 years from now. He stressed the importance of watching the spending for the township. He stated what we had in revenue this year, last year, and the year before may not continue and agrees with the concept of getting money from other sources especially given the uncertain funding future for townships.
He stated his number one thing for this year and next year is figuring out what the priorities are, getting the facts, and then looking into getting the funding to fix them.
Chris Cellier made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Quintin Smith seconded the motion.
All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 8:01 p.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at 9:00 a.m.
___________________________ _____________________________
Diane Belden, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer