Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
January 14, 2025
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman William Rofkar on Tuesday, January 14, 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, Dorthy Baker, William Baker, Lisa Murphy, Scott Hines, Kevin Gibbons, Jacob Hailperin, Scott Hetrick, Thomas Catalano, Brian Gutman, Chris Goliver, Philip Enderle, John Davenport, Jack Madison, Donet Graves, David Belden and Davia Kasper.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve the December 24, 2024, Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve and pay the bills, including payroll, in the amount of $99,997.24. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carrie
Correspondence
TOPS sent a thank you card to the trustees along with a donation for allowing them use of the township hall for their weekly meetings.
Email from the US Census Bureau regarding the 2025 Boundary and Annexation Survey. It is an opportunity to review and update township information that the Census Bureau has on file.
Request from Jack Pekar to use the township hall for his yoga classes on an as need basis, Tuesday’s, and Thursday’s from 5pm-7pm. He requests waiving of the rental fee. The trustees agreed to allow this as long as there are no conflicts with other rentals and as long as his classes are free to the public.
Letter regarding contributions from the Friends of Ottawa County Parks. Gives information regarding new projects in the works and what the donations would support.
Email from the Ottawa Co. Engineers office regarding a notice from the Ohio Municipal League and proposed tariff revisions filed by AT&T and how it may affect townships. A brief discussion took place and the trustees decided that more information regarding this issue is needed as it may not even affect the township
Fiscal
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia provided the December 2024 financial reports and bank reconciliations. There were no questions or concerns.
Shelly Garcia requested the trustees allow the Fiscal Officer to create Blanket Certificates in 2025 not to exceed $15,000 at any one time assuming adequate appropriation amounts are available.
Matt Montowski made a motion to allow the Fiscal Officer to create the Blanket Certificates as requested. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Maintenance
Supervisor Kevin Johnson stated that he is working on getting bids for compost grinding. He will submit to the trustees once they come in.
The leaf-vac machine needs repaired and the cost of the parts total $3,225.00. The trustees agreed to allow the purchase of the needed parts to make these repairs.
A salt order is needed and Kevin Johnson will get with the fiscal officer to take care of this.
Police
Chief Gangway submitted a quote from Axon for a new police taser including handle, battery pack and holster in the amount of $1,588.05.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve the purchase of a new taser from Axon in the amount of $1,588.05 as presented. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Chief Gangway presented a quote from Cleveland Communications for seven new radios for the department as the current radios are old stock and out of production. The quote is for seven portable radios and all that is needed to put them in service and includes a two-year factory warranty. And additional three-year extended service warranty is listed on the quote, and with as much as the radios get used and the wear and tear they go through, the added warranty would be a good idea. The total for all of this would be $18,746.21.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve the Cleveland Communications quote for seven new radios, including the additional three-year extended warranty as presented in the amount of $18,746.21. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Chief Gangway stated that he would like to see the police department get a department membership to the Oak Harbor Conservation Club for training and practice purposes. Membership for all officers is $870 per year. All trustees agreed that this would be a great benefit to the department.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve the police department getting membership to the Oak Harbor Conservation Club in the amount of $870.00 for the year. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
FIRE
Chief Gibbons reported that the fire department responded to 10 calls in December. Three were fire calls (2 false alarms) and seven were EMS runs.
Diane Belden gave the 2024 yearly run totals for the Catawba Island Vol. Fire Department. The department responded to 277 runs. Of this, 81 were fire calls and 196 were EMS calls. 81 of the EMS calls were for lift assist.
Parks
Jack Madison brought up the sign at Cedar Medows Preserve. Matt Montowski stated that he spoke to Jerry Davenport about getting a new sign as the current one has woodpecker holes in it. Jerry stated that the current sign was old sandblasted urethane foam, and a new 1/4” thick aluminum/plastic laminate sign would cost $325. All trustees agreed that a new sign is needed. Matt stated that he will get with Jerry to get this accomplished.
New Business
Diane Belden stated that she has the quarterly and 2024 yearly EMS run totals for Port Clinton. For the fourth quarter of 2024, there were a total of 123 EMS runs and the average response time was 9 minutes and 4 seconds.
For the 2024 yearly total, there were 542 EMS runs with an average response time of 9 minutes and 20 seconds. The township is contracted with Port Clinton for a yearly total of 450 runs. This number represents an overage of 92 runs at $375/run for a total of $34,500.00 in overage costs.
Brian Gutman, the Fire Chief for Port Clinton, was in attendance and was able to speak to members of the audience and provide factual information to those who had questions regarding response times. He stated that when a call comes in to dispatch, that is when their response time begins. However, it takes dispatch approx. 90 seconds for them to process and relay the information to the fire department. Once the department gets the call, they have 90 seconds to leave the station. Some members of the audience had additional questions for Brian, and Brian was happy to answer all questions that were asked.
Matt Montowski stated that there were audience members here to speak on the Towerking zoning issues. Don Graves who represents Towerking stated that he was here to answer any questions the trustees may have. Davia Kasper who is the Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Township was also in attendance and gave a brief outline of what Towerking was proposing. She stated that Towerking is proposing to erect a telecommunications tower in Catawba Island Township. There is some question regarding zoning regulations and whether the project is subject to township zoning and to what extent. Davia gave useful information regarding type, size, location, and use of such tower. She stated that the current proposed location is zoned RA-Residential-Low Density.
Zoning Inspector, Todd Bickley was contacted by Towerking and contacted Davia Kasper for legal advice on this matter. She stated that generally speaking, a public utility is not subject to township zoning, however for a telecommunications tower if it is located in an area zoned Residential then it could be subject to township zoning regulations.
Don Graves, attorney for Towerking, stated that the township zoning resolution was adopted quite a while ago and in the interim the Ohio courts have determined that townships just can’t re-label an Agricultural District to Residential in order to circumvent the exemption from township zoning. He stated that as a telecommunications company they would be exempt from township zoning regulations. He stated that if they could have found a commercial area available they would have. This location is the least intrusive and most aesthetically acceptable location to provide coverage necessary for the carriers they are bringing forward.
Prior to continuing with the regular Board of Trustees Meeting, Chairman Rofkar asked to go into executive session to take care of these issues that came before the board. Matt Montowski stated that per ORC 121.22 (G3) he moves that the board enter in to executive session for legal matters. This motion was seconded by Diane Belden. A roll call was conducted:
William Rofkar- yes
Matt Montowski- yes
Diane Belden-yes
All voted aye. Motion to move into executive session was carried.
Upon completion of the executive session, a roll call was completed to come out of executive session:
William Rofkar- yes
Matt Montowski- yes
Diane Belden-yes
All voted aye. Motion to come out of executive session carried.
Davia Kasper said that they had a discussion in executive session and they have some options to explore for the TowerKing project. She stated that she would need to ask the court for a decision regarding the zoning issues that have come up, and would need a motion by the trustees in order to proceed in asking the court to decide on this matter. Bill Rofkar stated that he feels getting the courts opinion is the best route to take. Matt Montowski made a motion to authorize the prosecutor’s office to file an action with the court asking them for a decision on what this property is zoned. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Matt Montowski received an email from the County Engineers office regarding the Annual Bridge Inspection. He stated that the township has one bridge and that passed inspection with a 99.5% rating.
Matt also provided the 2024 year-end zoning report. There were a total of 148 permits issued, 37 variances and one zoning book sold. Total fees for the year totaled $23,113.22. There were 53 new homes built on Catawba last year.
Matt stated there is a hearing for the Island Pines Sub Division coming up on Jan. 22nd and they will then make a recommendation to the trustees.
A letter from Marsh’s Crossing PUD came in on Friday and will be addressed at the next trustee meeting on January 28, 2025.
Bill Rofkar stated that he received a letter from Firelands Health regarding the random drug and alcohol testing for our CDL drivers. He stated that they have worked well in providing this service to the township and he would like to continue with them. If the other trustees agreed, he would like to complete the form and return to them to continue allowing them to serve the township in this testing. The other trustees agreed to continue this service with Firelands Health.
Chris Goliver addressed the trustees with information he gathered regarding the on-going discussion of EMS services on Catawba Island. He stated that he has looked at the finances of what we are paying Port Clinton, and the services we are getting, and in his opinion, Catawba is getting a very good value. He also gave statistics of response times in a rural market and suburban area. He stated that Catawba Island is actually under the national average of response times for rural areas, but is slightly more when compared to a suburban area. He stated that he has looked, and cannot find anything that states if Catawba Island is considered a rural or suburban area. Discussion took place between Chris, the trustees, and other members of the public. Bill Rofkar stated that he feels the current system works, and works very well. He also stated that this does not mean that other options won’t be explored when the time comes. We have been evolving and will continue. The trustees also stated that in the summer when the number of residents increase, it may be worth looking into a sub-station on Catawba for additional coverage.
The trustees all agreed that Mr. Goliver provided useful information and thanked him for the time and effort he put into his presentation.
John Davenport gave his date for the Rotary Club family sports festival at Heigel Park. The date for this fund-raising event will be September 13, 2025 and will be an annual event. John stated that they would like to purchase the fabric netting that goes along the pickleball courts in appreciation for using Heigel Park for this event. He provided the trustees with a picture of what the netting would look like. He needs the trustees to approve the windbreak netting and choose the color. Matt Montowski stated, as a courtesy, he would like to talk to the Parks Board about this. All trustees agreed that this looks very nice and thanked John for this generous gesture.
Matt Montowski made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Diane Belden seconded the motion.
All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 11:06 a.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday January 28, 2025 at 9:00 a.m.
___________________________ _____________________________
Willaim Rofkar, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer