Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
October 13, 2026
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Interim Chairman Chris Cellier on Tuesday, October 13th at 9:00 a.m. in the conference room of the administration building. Chris Cellier was filling in for Diane Belden who was unable to attend this meeting.
In attendance were: Shelly Garcia, Chris Cellier, Quintin Smith, Kevin Johnson, Dorthy Baker, William Baker, Kim Mulholland, Craig McCoy, Flint Heidlebaugh, Greg Strayer, Keith Fisher, Lisa Murphy, Michael Hablitzel, Ted Spidle, Helen Fagan, Frank Carchedi, Ann T. Rumpf, Jack Madison, Elliot Bassett, Kevin Latham, Carol Holden, and Randy Reidmaier.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve the September 22, 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 the September 29, 2026 special meeting minutes as presented. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve the October 2, 2026 special 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 $160,536.06. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried. This amount includes quarterly payroll for the Vol. Fire Department, $2,000 for the Bolte property appraisal, $19, 220 to Lake Erie Construction for the Basin Dr. guardrail and $42,602.33 to the City of Port Clinton for EMS services.
Correspondence
Permit 26-236 was received from the Ottawa Co. Engineers Office approving the work on Rock Ledge along Sand Road.
Email from Jeff Ziegler regarding work being done at substation located at 3666 NW Catawba Road. They wanted to know if they can drive along the grass at the park that is located there. Per Kevin, this is Park District property and they will need to contact Jannah Wilson for this request. The Fiscal Officer will forward her contact information to Mr. Ziegler.
Request from Susan Flaig for use of the Community Hall on May 6, 7 & 8th, 2027 for their annual Garden Club Plant Sale. She also requests the fees be waived as it is a fund raiser for the community. Trustees agreed to this request.
Connie Roop sent an email regarding the Heigle park shuffleboard courts. She has some questions regarding equipment for use. Park Board member Jack Madison was in the audience and stated that he will respond to her questions.
A letter was read from Elliott Bassett regarding the condition of the playground behind the Fire Station. He stated that it continues to deteriorate and is in need of attention. He stated some of the equipment is broken, damaged or simply showing age. He is asking the township to evaluate and determine what can be done to remedy this issue.
Per Kevin Johnson, this project was part of the Fire Department’s Women’s Auxiliary, and not necessarily part of the township. The trustees stated that it might be best to reach out to the Fire Department Association to see if they would be willing to help with this matter. Quintin Smith stated he would get with Chief Gibbons.
Fiscal
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia provided the September 2026 financial reports and bank reconciliations. There were no questions or concerns.
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia advised the trustees that the end of year pay date falls on January 1, 2027 (a Holiday) and requested the trustees approve to move the pay date to December 31, 2026. The trustees agreed to this change.
Maintenance
Kevin Johnson stated the maintenance department will start work on the Chapel Museum to finish the steeple project.
Kevin stated the fall clean up went very well and they had a lot of resident participation.
Police
Chief Gangway stated he spoke to Statewide Ford and was assured the new cruiser will be ready before the end of the year.
The new phone system is up and running, and Chief Gangway stated there were now 18 of the old phones that need disposed of. He stated they are over 20 years old and don’t have much value. It was decided that he will get with goodwill and see if they have use for them and if not, he will dispose of them at the next clean up.
Fire
Quintin Smith gave the run totals for September. There were 30 total runs (9 Fire and 21 EMS).
The open house at the Fire Dept. this past weekend went well and was well attended. Elliott Bassett stated it was great to see so much community support.
Quintin Smith brought up quotes for the Fire Department pagers. The original quote was for 28 pagers and the trustees asked Chief Gibbons to provide quotes for lesser amounts. They were given quotes for 25, 15, and 10 pagers. Chris Cellier asked the Fiscal Officer if this money would come out of the Fire Dept. levy or the general fund. Shelly Garcia stated it would be out of the fire levy. After a brief discussion, it was agreed to purchase 25 pagers for the department.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve quote #165000365 as presented in the amount of $20,133.00 for 25 pagers and chargers for the Fire Dept. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Quote #6599 from Catawba Security for additional smoke/heat detectors for the Fire Dept. was presented in the amount of $389.85.
Quintin Smith made a motion to approve quote #6599 in the amount of $389.85 as presented. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Parks
Jack Madison stated they had a great turn out for the Fall Walk last weekend and wanted to thank Howell Farms for supplying the pumpkins, gourds and cider.
Jack also stated that looking forward he would like the trustees to look into increasing the size of the parks board.
New Business
Quintin Smith gave an update on the Bolte property grant application. He stated that it was submitted last Friday and will take a week or two to see how they score.
Quintin stated that he and Chief Gangway continue to work with the Paramedic Foundation through the State of Ohio regarding EMS for Catawba Island. He stated they had a conference call with them last week, and they will be gathering information for a needs assessment and will be coming to the area November 2nd & 3rd to conduct interviews.
Quintin provided the trustees with a Nuisance Complaint & Corrective Action Protocol. In this, it listed zoning inspector Jean Hartline as the person who would be following these complaints and acting upon them. Chris Cellier stated that before approving this, he would like to have a conversation with Jean to get her thoughts. No action was taken on this at this time.
Quintin brought up John Braun Park drainage issues. Ted Spidle, who is on the board, was in the audience and gave a brief description of the issues at hand. They are looking to get a professionally installed drainage system at the park as it is not properly graded for drainage. They are looking at putting in underground tile 2-5 feet under three baseball fields and two soccer fields. He stated that last year they had 250 kids signed up to play and last spring they had to cancel several games due to the fields begin too wet.
It was agreed to ask the county to come in and do an assessment of the drainage issues. Once the assessment is done, the trustees will revisit the issue to see if there is anything the township can do to assist in getting this project completed.
Chris Cellier stated there is a major amendment request to the Nor Easter PUD that will be presented at a public hearing. It has already been to the Zoning Commission for their thoughts and now comes before the trustees. Chris stated that November 5th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. is the tentative date for this hearing. It will be advertised once the date is set.
Chris Cellier stated the trustees attended the MS4 meeting on September 30, 2026 regarding stormwater management. The Ottawa County Engineer’s Office is requesting that each township discuss and decide if they wish to participate with the county in the Ottawa County MS4 Permit Program. The trustees agreed to participate with the county in this program.
Chris Cellier made a motion to participate in the joint county permit related to the MS4 Stormwater Management Program. Quintin Smith seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Chris Cellier provided a Resolution Employing Township’s Attorneys on an Annual Basis for 2026. This will be to employ the law firm of Brosius, Johnson & Giggs as the townships legal counsel to represent the township on legal matters. After brief discussion, it was decided that the trustees would set aside $20,000 for the remainder of 2026 for these legal services.
Quintin Smith made a motion to appropriate $20,000 and accept resolution #26-1013 as presented. Chris Cellier seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
A roll call vote was completed:
Chris Cellier: aye
Quintin Smith: aye
Quintin Smith made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Chris Cellier seconded the motion.
All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 10:41 a.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
___________________________ _____________________________
Chris Cellier, Interim Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer