Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
November 12, 2024
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Diane Belden on Tuesday, November 12, 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, Lisa Murphy, Mary Jane Porozynski, Dorthy Baker, William Baker, Kevin Gibbons, David Belden, Beth Benko, Ann Rumpf, Jack Madison, Dan Barlow and Scott Hines.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the October 22, 2024, Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented, and to also approve the October 25, 2024 Special Meeting minutes as presented. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Diane Belden wanted to clarify something that she stated at the October 22, 2024 trustee meeting when she spoke about the marijuana resolution. She misspoke and stated it was for medical marijuana, when actually it was for recreational marijuana. She wanted to make sure the clarification was correctly reflected in the meeting minutes.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve and pay the bills, including payroll, in the amount of $ 81,302.95. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
Chief John Gangway submitted a letter of resignation for Officer Alexander Finley. Alexander is resigning from the department effective October 28, 2024. Diane Belden made a motion to accept the resignation of Alexander Finley effective October 28, 2024. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Email received from Vicki Wheatly regarding the exercise trail at Heigle Park. She gave the trustees updates on the progress and will be meeting with a contractor on the quote that will be needed for the grant she is applying for.
Mike Libben from Ottawa SWCD sent an email to Matt Montowski regarding the Stormwater Notification from Ohio EPA. He is questioning if Catawba has received any notification from Ohio EPA about being added into the Municipal Stormwater Area? Matt stated that he has not and stated that the County Engineer is our permitting authority and they may be aware of this. Mike stated that he will be in contact with the Bowling Green EPA office and will advise once they know more.
A letter from James VanEerten was received regarding the Ottawa County Drug Task Force 2024 Funding. They are requesting funds for their annual contribution. This is something the trustees contribute to each year. The suggested contribution is based on population and this year the request from Catawba Island Township is $3,250.00. Matt Montowski made a motion to approve a contribution of $3,250.00 to the Ottawa County Drug Task Force. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion Carried.
Ottawa Co. Treasurer, Anthony Hatmaker submitted a letter to the trustees regarding the property tax increase. He stated that the PC City School District stands to gain an unvoted windfall of at least $4,900,000 at the expense of the property owners. They wanted to make the trustees aware of the significant unvoted tax increase the voters are facing unless something is done by the school district so that the trustees will be somewhat prepared when questioned by taxpayers. PC City Schools provided a response to the Ottawa County Treasurer and Ottawa County Auditor, Jennifer Widmer to explain their stance on the issue. This letter was put into public record. William Rofkar stated that he just received the copy of the response and hasn’t had a chance to go over it. He also stated that his trust is in the elected officials of the PC City School Board to do their jobs and he would refer any questions regarding this issue to the school board for answers.
A judgement entry was received from the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas regarding property at 4661 E. Woodland Dr. Port Clinton, OH 43452. This property was being used for short-term rentals, which is not permitted and is in violation of the CIT Zoning Resolution. CIT Zoning Inspector has issued notices of violation to the owner of the property and was eventually taken to court. The owner has agreed that he will no longer use the property for short-term rentals or advertise the property as such, and it was so ordered by Judge Bruce Winters.
The CIT Vol. Fire Department was sent a Certificate of Recognition from Senator JD Vance for 75 years of Service.
Maintenance
Supervisor Kevin Johnson stated that Fox Company will begin demo work on the trailer tomorrow.
The Kreimes Co. is finishing up the road work, and there may be a slight increase in cost as they will be patching a small section of Cemetery Road where a cut was made.
Police
Chief Gangway stated that he did not have anything for the board at this time.
Matt Montowski asked how the new officer was doing. Chief stated that he was doing very well, since he was a former part-time officer a few years ago he knew the area, software and procedures which made the transition go very smooth.
Fire
Chief Gibbons stated there were 20 Runs in October. 13 were EMS Calls and 7 for Fire. Of the 7 Fire, 6 were false alarms and one was for mutual aid.
JVS will be on-site in the next 1-2 weeks to fix the garage doors.
Chief Gibbons stated that he has the members selected for the Dependent Fund. They consist of two fire department members (John Gangway & Paul Ochs), two trustees (Diane Belden & William Rofkar) and one member of the public (Mike Benton). Diane stated that she will set up a meeting with the members prior to the next trustee meeting on November 26, 2024 at 8:45am.
Reps for the turn-out gear did not get quotes in on time for the meeting so he will have this for the trustees at the next meeting.
Parks
Jack Madison stated that he and Vicki are still working on the fitness path and he will go over this with the Parks Board at their meeting on Wednesday.
New Business
Matt Montowski stated that the Wreath’s Across America information on the township website that Diane Belden requested is ok to move forward with.
Matt Montowski received a request from John Davenport to put on a sports-fest for the Rotary at Heigel Park in late summer 2025. All trustees agreed that this was be a great event.
The Kreimes Co. submitted quotes for the repair of the tennis, basketball and shuffleboard courts at Heigel Park. Matt Montowski stated that he would like to look deeper into this project before making any type of decision of this size.
Matt Montowski gave the Zoning Report for October. There were 16 permits and 4 variances issued for a total of $2,210.24 collected.
William Rofkar stated that he has the clean-up dates set for 2025. They will be April 18 & 19 and September 24 & 25.
Diane Belden stated that the December meeting falls on Christmas Eve and wanted to make sure members were okay with having a meeting then. All said this was okay and it was also agreed to have the re-organizational meeting on that date also.
William Rofkar made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Matt Montowski seconded the motion.
All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 9:55 a.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday November 26, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.
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Diane Belden, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer