Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
October 14, 2025
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman William Rofkar on Tuesday, October 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, Kevin Johnson, Kevin Gibbons, Lisa Murphy, Mary Jane Porozynski, John Gangway, William Baker, Dorthy Baker, Sharon Sanger, Craig McCoy, Flint Heidlebaugh, Chris Cellier, Dan Barlow, John Imke, Robert Troxel, Jean Hartline, Kim Schaffer, Joan Smith, Scott Hines, Kathy Heidlebaugh, Debi Barlow, Mike Antonyzyn, David Howell, Marty Auxter, Robert Carcione, Elliott Bassett, Toni DeLuca, Linda Fox, Ellin, Shevchuk, Craig Graham, Karl Oreskovich, Jack Madison, Joyce Raymond, Quintin Smith, Randy Reidmaier and Ann T. Rumpf.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the September 23, 2025 Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the Zoning Hearing meeting minutes from September 23, 2025. Diane Belden 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 $123,106.80. Which also included the payroll for the Vol. Fire Dept. and payment to the City of Port Clinton for the quarterly EMS in the amount of $42,187.50. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
Carol Ann Hill from the Ottawa County Board of Elections verified that there were a total of 762 valid signatures for the zoning referendum regarding the DeGraff Farm, and that it will appear on the May 2026 Primary Election Ballot for Catawba Island Township.
Received an email from Jannah Wilson regarding the 2026 PTIG Program for the Parks District of Ottawa County detailing information regarding project grant applications.
The Fraternal Order of Police sent an invitation for their Ottawa County Law Enforcement Memorial Dedication that will be held on October 16, 2025 at 5:00 pm at Friendship Park.
A letter of resignation was received from Rev. Chris Boyd. He will be leaving his position at the Catawba Island Vol. Fire Department either Oct. 27th or 28th of this year.
Matt Montowski made a motion to accept the resignation of Chris Boyd from the Vol. Fire Department effective October 28, 2025. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Request from David Wonnell from the Catawba Island Historical Society regarding a ceiling projection screen at the community hall. He stated that with the success they have been having with their speaker events, it is hard for the crowds to see the normal sized portable screens that they are currently using. He is asking the trustees look into something larger.
All trustees agreed that this would be something worth looking into. They will check into pricing and come back with ideas.
A township employee is requesting unpaid leave for medical reasons beginning October 17, 2025 for 2-4 weeks from date of surgery.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the unpaid medical leave for Christopher Scott effective October 17, 2025 for 2-4 weeks as requested. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Dorthy Baker submitted an email regarding TowerKing Zoning Issues and Trustees Actions. She stated that there was a certified letter received that was not read at the trustees meeting and she is asking why it was not included in the official record of the Catawba Island Trustee Meeting minutes. Fiscal Officer, Shelly Garica stated that she was given trustee Montowski’s certified letter dated February 13, 2025. This was from Cellusite LLC on behalf of TowerKing and that letter was read at the February 25, 2025 trustee meeting. Only the three trustees were sent this certified letter. Dorthy stated there was another certified letter dated January 2025 that was not read. Matt Montowski stated that the three trustees were sent this certified letter, but he was under the impression that it fell under client/attorney privilege as during this process they were in talks with the Ottawa County Prosecutors Office. He stated that although the letter was not read, the issue was discussed in detail at the January 14, 2025 trustee meeting where the attorneys for TowerKing were present along with Davia Kasper from the Ottawa County Prosecutors Office. He then gave the certified letter to Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia to read. Along with the reading of the letter, the adjacent property owners were named. The adjacent property owners were also sent certified letters and given 15 days to contest this project. No property owners contested the tower.
Dorthy Baker questioned why the January 2025 certified letter was not read at the time it was received, as all other mail and correspondence gets read. She asked if it was a deliberate decision to not read the letter. Matt Montowski stated that there was no deliberate decision, that it was inadvertently omitted. Lisa Murphy asked if the Fiscal Officer was given the letter. It was determined that the Fiscal Officer was not given the first certified letter. Diane Belden stated that this was an oversite.
Fiscal
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia provided the September 2025 financial reports and bank reconciliations. There were no questions or concerns.
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia reported that in the September 9, 2025 meeting minutes, it was inaccurately stated that the next trustee meeting would be on August 23, 2025 when it should have stated September 23, 2025. She is asking for a motion to go in and correct the minutes to reflect the correct date.
Matt Montowski made a motion to amend the September 9, 2025 meeting minutes to say the next meeting will be September 23, 2025 instead of August 23, 2025. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Shelly Garcia asked the trustees if they would like her to renew her Notary Certification that will expire in January 2026, as she does notarize township documents. She stated that she is required to do a background check which is $30 and a one-hour renewal course that is approximately $50.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia to renew her Notary Certificate and the township to reimburse up to $100 for this. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Maintenance
Supervisor Kevin Johnson stated that they received all the materials and will be starting the Chapel project this upcoming week.
Police
Chief Gangway stated that Officer Danklefsen completed his pistol instruction training last week.
He also stated that during the upgrade to the Motorola camera in the new cruiser, a speed test was completed on the township internet and it was found that the download speeds were half of what they should be. He stated that Omni Fiber was here and replaced the modem and a few other pieces of equipment.
William Baker asked the Chief about the Flock cameras and how they are working. Chief Gangway stated that there are permit delays and they haven’t been installed yet. He stated once they do get installed that they will still have the 60-day free trial to see if they want to continue the service.
Fire
Chief Gibbons gave the run totals for September. There were a total of 26 runs. 10 being for fire and 16 EMS.
Chief Gibbons stated that they did have a small celebration for Chris Boyd as he is leaving the department.
Engine 224 has a stop solenoid that is failing and the new part will be in this week and fixed at that time. Once fixed he would like to see if PIB can use the truck. The PIB truck is going out for repair and they don’t have mutual aid and they need something in the meantime to protect their area. All trustees agreed to this request.
Chief Gibbons stated that a few months ago they sent out 32 SCBA bottles for repair and 27 of them failed. He stated that it wouldn’t be wise for them to send more out due to the failure rate, and he would like to see about getting new packs and bottles. He stated that he is looking into 2 companies to see which would be the best option. He will come back to the trustees once he gathers additional information. He stated that the current SCBA bottles that they are using were purchased in 2003 and they have definitely served their purpose.
Parks
The fall walk went very well and was well attended. Dave Howell was thanked for his donation of the pumpkins. Dave said that Vicki Wheatley did a great job organizing everything.
New Business
Diane Belden stated that she took pictures of the new bike racks and send them to the Health Department so they could see where they were located.
Diane Belden stated they need to discuss the Vol. Fire Dept. Dependents Board. Since Bill Rofkar and Paul Ochs are no longer going to be serving after the first of the year, they need to find new members. She stated that she is willing to remain on the board and after the first of the year they can appoint another trustee, but they will need a recommendation from the fire department to replace Paul Ochs. Chief Kevin Gibbons stated that Marty Auxter is willing to serve on the board and they will take care of this at their next meeting.
Diane Belden gave the quarterly EMS report. There were a total of 177 EMS calls this quarter.
July had 64, August 61 and September 52. 24 of these were calls to the Miller Ferry. The average response time was 10 minutes and 22 seconds.
Matt Montowski gave the zoning report for September. There were 19 permits and 1 variance issued for a total of $2,188.72.
Lisa Murphy asked about the status of the Facebook page for Catawba Island Township. Matt Montowski stated that the State of Ohio made a new ruling that would allow us to post notices on our website along with another form of social media. However, in order to do this, the zoning text amendments would need to be changed first. This just took place at the last meeting on September 23, 2025 where a zoning hearing was held to change the township zoning resolution text amendment to allow for this. Matt stated that it will most likely be after the first of the year before a page will be up and running for township legal notices.
Lisa Murphy asked if the trustees read the letter dated 9/29/25 from the Auditors Office that she received anonymously in the mail. She then asked if it was read at the October 14, 2025 meeting. Given that this was the October 14, 2025 meeting, it was a bit confusing to the trustees. William Rofkar asked if she meant the letter from the Secretary of State regarding the results of an investigation into allegations of illegal meetings being held. She stated yes. The Fiscal Officer asked if it was the letter that everyone signed stating that they knew of no fraudulent activity regarding the handling of township meetings? She stated yes, that letter. Fiscal Officer said that yes, that letter was read back in June when the auditors informed the trustees of the complaint.
Dorthy Baker then stated that today was 10/14/25 so today would be the first meeting that occurred since the letter was sent out to the trustees. It was then verified that it was a different letter that was in question. This was a letter that was emailed to township elected officials regarding a possible violation of the Ohio Open Meetings Act. Fiscal Officer, Shelly Garcia then read the letter. It was regarding an audio recording from 2023 where it appeared two trustees engaged in a conversation and deliberations outside of an open meeting regarding matters concerning the public. The letter states that a Special Audit Task Force decided to refer this to their audit region for follow up. There was an independent public accounting firm assigned to complete the audit and they investigated the allegations. They had each trustee confirm in writing that they were unaware of any open meeting violations. The audit found no notation of possible open meeting violation. Nonetheless, the Auditor of States office highly recommended that the township elected officials work with their statutory legal counsel to provide additional training to all township officials on the requirements of Ohio’s open meeting law.
Lisa Murphy stated that she would like the transcript to be read and brought additional documents to the table. It was explained that the elected officials only received the letter from the Auditor of State and no other documents were included with that. Lisa stated that this is an open meeting and she will read the additional documents. William Rofkar stated that the only letter he received was that from the AOS, and screenshots from Facebook that someone sent to him. He stated that the State has found there to be no violation of the open meetings act. He stated that his position is that it has not been included with the information that was sent by the AOS and is not part of the record. He would like to consult with legal counsel to see if it is ok for something like this to be read. William stated that this was a private conversation that was recorded without his knowledge.
Scott Hines stated that he is looking for them to say that either it is not them on the recording and it should be made part of these minutes, or perhaps an apology, or even better a resignation from Matt and Bill. He stated that this has made the township an embarrassment.
William stated that this seems more of a campaign issue rather then a township business issue.
Jean Hartline asked that the Fiscal Officer re-read the part in the AOS letter that gives the details of the audit findings. The Fiscal Officer also read the letter that all trustees signed back in June after the complaint was filed with the Auditor of States Office stating that the trustees knew of no fraudulent activity regarding township meetings. Diane Belden stated that she signed the letter back in June 2024 thinking that it was regarding the fiscal audit, but once she realized that it was a letter stating that she agreed that there was no fraudulent activity with open meetings, she contacted the Auditors Office and withdrew her signature.
Flint Heidlebaugh stated that he reached out to the Auditor of States office and asked for clarification of the September 29, 2025 letter. He stated that he was sent a copy of the letter that was sent out to the elected officials of CIT. He stated a copy of the transcript was not included as the AOS did not attempt to verify the veracity of the document received and noted that if the facts alleged were true, they state training on open meetings would be appropriate. It was also noted that the email addresses for Trustee Belden and Fiscal Officer Garcia were incorrect meaning that they did not receive this letter and they will promptly re-send the letters to the appropriate email addresses.
A member of the audience asked who submitted the complaint to the Auditor? Diane Belden stated that her husband did.
Matt Montowski stated that he was confused because he has a letter written and signed by Diane Belden that was submitted to the Auditor of State regarding the audio recording. Diane stated that she sent that complaint to the auditor in July 2024, but didn’t send this most recent complaint. Matt and Bill both stated there is only one complaint. Diane stated that there were two complaints. She stated that she made one to the Auditors office last year (July 2024) regarding the audio recording but then “let it go”. She stated that the one that came recently was made by her husband.
Dan Barlow stated that he would like an apology. He stated that he dedicated his life to this community and didn’t think for a minute that the two trustees (Matt and Bill) think of him in the way they spoke about him in the recording. He was very upset about the way they spoke about the Police Dept., fireman and others, and said if they thought the job they did was that bad then they should have said get out. Dan said just admit that you said what you did and apologize.
Elliot Bassett stated that the least they can do is give Dan Barlow an apology as he given so much service to the community.
Randy Reidmaier stated that he would like to request an immediate resignation from Matt Montowski as Catawba Island Township Trustee. He stated that he can’t see how he can continue to represent the residents after this. Matt stated that he will not resign.
Randy also asked the trustees about holding individual meetings with the Fire Department all in the same day but at different times. William Rofkar stated that there was a time when the FD needed to talk to the trustees regarding the retrofit project and the trustees were concerned about meeting and talking about business so they decided to all meet with the Chief individually. Matt stated that it was informational purposes only and no decisions were made.
Randy read an excerpt from the open meetings act and also a Facebook post made by Diane Belden and stated that there are possible violations. William Rofkar stated that if he feels there is a violation, then he needs to file a complaint with the Auditor of State and let them investigate.
Randy also asked if the township conformed to the Ohio Ethics Law. He stated that all public employees are required to sign off. He also asked if the employees have a handbook. The Fiscal Officer stated that all employees are given an Employee Handbook and in that is a section designated to Ohio Ethics Law. Each employee is given a handbook and signs off that they have received it. William Rofkar stated that these types of things are all audited and looked at.
A resident in the audience asked the trustees if they have seen the verbiage of the recording transcript that has been circulated through the township? William Rofkar stated that he is not on social media and saw only four text pictures that someone sent him. The resident then asked if what you saw was an accurate depiction of the conversation that took place. William Rofkar stated again that this was a private conversation recorded without his knowledge.
Dave Howell stated that there is an election coming on November 4, 2025, let the people decide.
John Imke asked why now the recording from 2023 was transcribed and released to the public. Why is it an issue now and not in 2023 when the recording came out? Diane stated that it wasn’t made public until about a month ago by her husband. William Rofkar stated that you would need to ask the person who made this public why he decided to do it now and not when he first found out about it. Diane stated it is campaign season so people know who they are voting for. Is this who you want representing you, that’s why.
Matt Montowski made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 10:36 a.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday October 28, 2025 at 9:00 a.m.
___________________________ _____________________________
Willaim Rofkar, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer