Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
May 28, 2024
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Diane Belden on Tuesday, May 28, at 9:00 a.m. in the conference room of the administration building.
In attendance were: Diane Belden, William Rofkar, Matt Montowski, Shelly Garcia, Mary Jane Porozynski, John Gangway, Kevin Johnson, Jack Madison, Lisa Murphy, Laurie Manning, Travis Thompson, Dorthy Baker and William Baker
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the May 14, 2024, Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve and pay the bills, including the payroll, in the amount of $87,038.42. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
A proposal was received from Ashcraft Tree Service to clear the parking lot at Union Chapel for $185.00. All Trustees were in agreement to allow Ashcraft Tree Service to clear this area.
A notice of public hearing to be held on June 12, 2024 for an area variance requested by Joseph Mylnek for property located at 4121 N. Grove Dr. This request was sent to the trustees as that property is located next to a township owned property. Mr. Mylnek is requesting a variance to reduce the rear yard setback from 35’ to 25’ 4”.
The 2023 Ottawa County Annual Report was received from The Ottawa County Commissioners.
A request for use of the township hall and waiving of fees was received from township employee, Jakeb Aldrich. All trustees agreed to this request.
Maintenance
Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Johnson did not have anything new to report.
Diane Belden told Kevin that the maintenance department did a wonderful job on the Memorial Wall for the Holiday Weekend, and the cemetery looked beautiful.
Police
Chief Gangway stated the administration computers and software have been ordered and will be installed as soon as they arrive.
Chief Gangway requested the trustees approve the hiring of Alexander Finley as a full-time Police Officer at the starting wage of $26/hour (plus benefits) with a $2 increase after 6 months and another $2 increase after one year. He stated he would be able to start immediately and would like a probation period of six months.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve the hiring of Alexander Finley as presented by Chief Gangway. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Matt Montowski brought up fringe benefits for the Police Department. Chief Gangway had come up with a list of a few benefits that other departments offer that he would like to see implemented here for his department. Some of these included: Additional Holiday pay, bereavement leave, allowing new employees some time off during their first year, just to name a few.
William Rofkar stated that they need to be aware that we would need to provide for other employees, not just the police department.
A brief discussion took place and it was agreed to table the issue until it was more clear what exactly they wanted to approve.
Fire/EMS
The date for the chicken BBQ will be July 13, 2024
New Business
Laurie Manning and Travis Thompson from the Ohio Plan gave a presentation on the townships property and liability insurance. Previously, Laurie was asked about our current plan, and if our liability coverage was enough, along with other concerns regarding our property and liability insurance. Laurie presented the trustees with a package proposal updating some of the coverage that we currently have. Some of the issues discussed were replacement costs of police vehicles, increasing our liability limits from $5,000,000 to $6,000,000, adding the old Fire Station to replacement costs instead of actual cash value, among other topics.
The trustees talked about the many issues in the proposal, and agreed on some of these changes. They asked Laurie to find out what increase these changes might cause in our premium and then resubmit a new proposal so the trustees could review with the new changes.
Laurie stated that she will input the new changes and send the new proposal to us when it is ready.
Matt Montowski received a minor deviation for 820 Lost Lake Dr. requesting to allow a deck to be 21’5” from the rear property line. The HOA of the property has already approved the proposal.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the setback. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Matt Montowski stated that he spoke to Jake Market and they are working on new signage for the Miller Boat Line.
Diane Belden received a letter from the Health Director stating the Ottawa County Health Department was awarded national accreditation for Public Health.
Fiscal Officer, Shelly Garcia, advised the trustees that June 19, 2024 is a Holiday and is also a pay date for the township. With the banks being closed that day, we will need to do payroll the day after the holiday as it cannot be the day before as the bank requires 48 hours after payroll submission. The trustees agreed to a payroll date of June 20, 2024 instead of June 19, 2024.
Matt Montowski made a motion to adjourn the meeting. William Rofkar seconded the motion.
All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 10:33 a.m.
___________________________ _____________________________
Diane Belden, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer