Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
February 24, 2026
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Diane Belden on Tuesday, February 24, 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, Barb Osterling, Robert Garcia, Mike Antonyzyn, Ann Rumpf, Brian Washburn, Carl Feick, Scott Smith, Dan Barlow, DJ Litz, Randy Riedmaier and Jack Madison.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve the February 10, 2026 Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. Chris Cellier 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 $68,830.63. Quintin Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
Letter from Ottawa County-America 250 was received notifying the township that there will be three dedication ceremonies this year to honor the final resting places for those who answered the Call to Duty by serving in the armed services. They have chosen Catawba Island Cemetery for one of these ceremonies. It will be held on August 19, 2026 at 2:00 pm.
Ottawa Co. Engineers Office sent a notice from ODOT regarding possible grant funding for Township Safety Signs.
Notice from the Park District of Ottawa County notifying the trustees that they have been awarded a $20,000 grant for the Tennis Court Refinishing project at Heigel Park. The total project amount is $74,500 and the township would need to pay the remainder of $54,500 if this grant is accepted. Jack Madison from the CIT Parks Board stated that further discussion is needed with the Park District to possibly help close the gap.
The Ottawa County Engineer’s Office sent three approved permits to advise the trustees about upcoming projects in the township.
#26-010 for work being done at Rock Ledge Reserve
#26-031 for work being done by Frontier on Woodland Drive
#26-041 for work being done by Frontier on Balliette Drive
An application for a liquor permit transfer was received on behalf of Catawba Moorings Inc. They wish to transfer a C-2 permit from City Barbeque LLC in Columbus, OH as the Township’s quota is full. Catawba Moorings already has a C-1 permit allowing carry-out beer and this C-2 permit will allow them to sell carry-out wine. Trustees agreed to look into this further as this was just emailed to everyone today and they have not had a chance to look it over. It will be brought back up at the March 10, 2026 meeting for a decision.
Maintenance
Supervisor Kevin Johnson stated that they will soon start cemetery clean-up and then begin brush pick up.
Diane Belden brought up the topic of the new sign for the Administration Building and asked Kevin if he had any new information. Kevin stated that he was waiting to see what can and can’t be done as far as a digital/light up sign. If this was something the trustees would want to look into, it would need to go in front of the zoning boards and would need a change to the current zoning resolution. Kevin was also looking into regular, non-light up signs.
Police
Chief Gangway stated that he received an email from Ohio Edison that power to about 300 residents will be shut off on 2/25/26 from approximately 8:00 am – 2:00 pm for repair of electrical poles.
Chief Gangway stated that they have one Flock cameral installed so far, and are having difficulty getting the permit signed on the other. The agreement w/Flock was that we had a 60-day free trial. Chief Gangway wasn’t sure if the agreement started after both cameras were installed or if it started once the first one was. He will look into this further.
He is also still working on the Cyber-Security Policy and had been working with Travis from Hylant. This route was going to cost approximately $1,600 with possible partial reimbursement. But he was recently notified by the OTA that they came up with a free policy that townships can use, and that would keep the township legal. He is looking in to utilizing this free service.
Chief Gangway stated that he and Karl are continuing work on the phone system and have quotes from Forerunner, Amplex and Omni Fiber. He will come back to the trustees once he has a chance to look into them further.
He also stated that when they decided to do all the upgrades to the buildings, they forgot about the community hall. He got a quote from Karl at Seacom LLC to complete the upgrades to allow for internet service. The quote is for $1464.00 but didn’t include the phone and router.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve Seacom LLC to make the needed upgrades to the community hall, not to exceed $1,800. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Fire
Brian Washburn was here to represent the Fire Department. He stated that the Fire Dept. was awarded the 2026 Small County Volunteer Fire Department Grant in the amount of $46,000. This was a grant that was sent in for the acquisition of modern hydraulic rescue tools, (Jaws of Life).
Brian stated that the final inspection of the new fire engine is scheduled for March 16, 2026.
Brian was also here to address the SCBA bids that the trustees opened at the previous meeting. A letter from Chief Gibbons was previously received with his recommendation on which of the two bids he would like to go with. He stated that his recommendation would be for Fire Safety Services as they were $41,581 less than the Howell Rescue Systems bid, but only if purchased by 2/25/26. Much discussion took place between the trustees, the audience and the representative from the fire dept. Some of the discussion focused around the fact that this price was only good if purchased by 2/25/26 and some of the trustees were not comfortable having to make a decision so quick. Quintin Smith also questioned why they couldn’t just get perhaps 16 SCBA units instead of the 23 the fire department was requesting. Quintin also questioned why the fire department wasn’t open to using some of their funds from the Fire Department Association to help out with the cost of this equipment. The total cost with the discount from Fire Safety Servies would be $261,286.00.
Diane Belden stated that she would like Chief Gibbons to go back to the volunteer fire association to see if they would be willing to chip in on the cost of this equipment.
Chris Cellier stated that Resolution #2025-1209 has already been approved by the trustees to put this out to bid, and it contained all of the requirements that the bids must contain. It also gave the scope of procurement of 23 SCBA’s. The two bids submitted followed the bid requirements. He stated that he wasn’t sure why there was hesitation to move forward, and the questions that are now being asked perhaps should have been asked before we got to this point.
Chris stated that even if we make a decision on what bid to accept today, it doesn’t necessarily mean we are deciding what funds the money will come out of.
Scott Smith from Howell Rescue System (the other bidder) stated that the Fire Safety Services bid was a very good bid and gave a brief run down of why they were asking for the number of units they were. He stated this was a good price and very justifiable.
Chris Cellier made a motion to approve the bid submitted by Fire Safety Services, as it was the lowest and best bid, in the amount of $261,286.00 as presented in the bid packet. Quintin Smith Seconded the motion.
Fiscal Officer, Shelly Garcia, called for a roll call vote on this matter.
Diane Belden aye
Chris Smith aye
Quintin Smith aye
All voted aye. Motion carried.
New Business
Quintin Smith stated that he is still working on the projector for the community hall. He stated that in looking into this issue, he found so much with the community hall that is in need of repair. He stated the roof, floors and walls all have water damage. His thought is that there is too much that needs done to try to get it all in working order. He feels there may be a better option. He stated he will still get a projector for the speaker series event coming up.
Quintin Smith had the fiscal officer read a letter that he prepared regarding his request for the township to purchase an iPad for his use so he would not have to use his personal iPad for township business. He is also requesting the township purchase AI Software (Gemini for Government) for his use. The estimated cost of the iPad was $799. After trustee discussion, it was decided to allow purchase of the iPad, but to hold off on the AI Software at this time.
Chris Cellier made a motion to approve the purchase of one Apple iPad (13-inch) in the amount of $799 and also a Rugged Protection Case for $45. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Diane Belden stated that since we were approving a trustee to have a township owned electronic device, we now need to have a “Policy on Provision, Use & Security of Township Issued Electronic Devices to Elected Officials”. Diane consulted County Prosecutor James Van Eerten and came up with such a policy.
Diane Belden made a motion to put the policy she presented into effect. Quintin Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Carl Feick, representing Marshes Crossing PUD, requested a minor modification on two duplexes that are currently under construction. Interim Zoning Inspector, Todd Bickley, was on hand to give an explanation on what the issue was and why the need for the minor modification. The issue was that the garages were put on the south side and not the north as was originally approved. The township Zoning Resolution on PUD’s allow trustees to approve minor deviations as long as they were due to an unforeseen issue at the time of approval, and at the recommendation of the zoning inspector.
Chris Cellier made a motion to approve the modification requested by Marshes Crossing PUD to allow the garages to face south rather than north on units #13, 14, 15 & 16. Quintin Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
At this time Chris Cellier stated that he would like to make a motion to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing the zoning inspector position and applications. Diane Belden seconded the motion.
Fiscal Officer asked for a roll call vote:
Diane Belden aye
Chris Cellier aye
Quintin Smith aye
All voted aye. Motion to go into executive session carried.
The trustees came out of executive session.
Diane Belden made a motion to come out of executive session. Quintin Smith seconded the motion.
Fiscal Officer asked for a roll call vote:
Diane Belden aye
Chris Cellier aye
Quintin Smith aye
All voted aye. Motion to come out of executive session carried.
There was no further discussion.
Chris Cellier made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday March 10, 2026 at 9:00 a.m.
___________________________ _____________________________
Diane Belden, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer