Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
October 8, 2024
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Diane Belden on Tuesday, October 8, 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, Dorthy Baker, William Baker, Eric Schramm, Jack Madison, and Scott Hines.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the September 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 $148,669.22. This total included the quarterly EMS payment to the City of Port Clinton in the amount of $42,187.50 and payment to Pavement Technology in the amount of $13,074.00. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
An email was received from Columbia Gas regarding a project they will be starting on Catawba Island. They have attached a map of the location of the project, and Matt Montowski requested a copy of this be given to Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Johnson.
Update from ODOT regarding the SR 53 & SR163 milling project they are completing at that intersection. Milling and paving should be completed within 2-3 days.
An email was received from Janna Wilson regarding the 2025 Grant Application Process for Parks and Trails Improvement. A copy of the application was attached and Matt stated that he forwarded this to the Parks Board incase they wanted to participate in this grant program.
Permit application #24-147 received from the Ottawa Co. Engineers Office regarding property at 4445 Muggy Road. This permit is to install a sewer line at this address and the application has been approved by the county.
Ohio Deferred Compensation requested clarification regarding the payroll date that is to be on January 1, 2025 (which is a holiday). Fiscal Officer (Shelly Garcia) requested that at the first of the year, we change the township pay date from Wednesday to Friday effective January 3, 2025. This will allow the Fiscal Officer to have more than just one day to process payroll. As it stands, the pay period ends on Sunday and the pay date is Wednesday. This only allows the Fiscal Officer Monday to process and submit payroll. After brief discussion, all trustees agreed that changing to a Friday pay date would be beneficial. The Fiscal Officer will notify all employees of this change so they will have ample time to make any needed adjustments.
Maintenance
Per Supervisor Kevin Johnson the clean-up went very well and had a great turn out. William Rofkar stated that he will look into scheduling the 2025 spring/fall clean up.
The Maintenance Department will begin crack sealing on Rockledge this week. They may need to utilize the Police Dept. to help with traffic.
Repair of the ditch pump repair is being pushed out 2-3 weeks as they cannot get to it before this.
Fire
Eric Schramm gave the September EMS runs that total 26. There were 6 Fire and 20 EMS. Of the fire runs, 5 were false alarms.
Eric also presented the trustees with quotes to replace the fire department garage door openers and also quotes to repair or replace the garage doors that are water logged and damaged.
The quote to replace the door openers is $12,644.00. Which includes all hardware.
The quote to replace the garage door sections that are damaged (bottom sections only) including hardware is $12,744.00.
The quote to replace the entire garage door but not with full view panels, including hardware is $37,292.00.
The quote to replace the entire garage door with a full view widow panels (which is what is currently in place), including hardware is $43,600.
The trustees agreed that these doors are original to the building and are in need of replacement. The door openers will be needed in addition to whichever door quotes they decided to go with. The trustees agreed that “fixing” the doors would most likely be just a temporary fix and that a permanent solution would be a better option.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the JVS quote as presented for new openers in the amount of $12,644 and the quote from JVS as presented for the full view panel replacement doors of $43,600 for a total of $56,244.00. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Eric Schramm also presented a quote from Atlantic Emergency Solutions regarding the purchase of a new fire hose. This hose is larger in diameter then the old hose but weighs less and allows a higher out put of water. It will replace some of the hose that has failed testing. Also, the new fire truck (224) will be able to accommodate this new hose. The total quote for this hose is $32,360.00.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the purchase of a new fire department hose as quoted by Atlantic Emergency Solutions in the amount of $32,360.00. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Police
Chief Gangway stated that he had the battery back up for the phones and internet modems that service this building replaced.
Matt Montowski stated that a survey for a long-range transportation plan was received and asked that Chief Gangway respond to them regarding this. John stated that he completed this survey and most responses were in regards to seasonal residents and tourist traffic.
Parks
Jack Madison stated that the fall walk was well attended and it was a perfect day for the event.
Diane Belden asked if the Parks Board was working on an idea for the grant project as last year it seemed like it was done at the last minute. Jack Madison asked if the trustees had any grant suggestions.
New Business
Matt Montowski stated there were 12 zoning permits issued and 8 variances for a total of $1,805.60.
Matt also stated that the Ohio Township Association is offering training for the Zoning Boards and he would like to present this to the Zoning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals to see if anyone would like to attend. The township will cover the $30 registration fee for anyone wanting to attend.
William Rofkar stated that the VASU Communications contract that was approved at the last meeting for the repair and maintenance of the two tornado sirens had additional options that were not included in the original approval. There was cost of a man lift and labor that will need to be included in order to maintain the siren head itself. The cost of this is $1,290.00.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the quote from VASU Communications in the amount of $1,290.00 for the man lift and labor. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
William Rofkar has a bid from Ashcraft Tree Services in the amount of $1,825.00 for removal of a silver maple tree that is leaning towards SR53 by the ditch pump. Per Kevin, this tree has its roots exposed and needs to be removed before it falls. The quote includes removal and clean up.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the bid from Ashcraft Tree Service in the amount of $1,825.00. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
William Rofkar stated that he would like to move forward with the removal of the trailer located at 1510 NW Catawba Road, per ORC 505.86. The owner has been notified and they have not requested a hearing in the time allowed. The land owner’s son has made some contact, but then stopped responding and nothing has been done to remedy this issue. William stated that he has an estimate from C.L. Fox Contractors for the removal and clean up of this property. William would like to give the owners 30 days to reimburse the township for this cost as they stated they did not want a lien on the property. If they fail to reimburse, then a tax duplicate on the property will be required.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the quote to C. L. Contractors not to exceed $7,000 and give the home owner 30 to pay the township back. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Diane Belden gave the 3rd Quarter EMS report. There were 54 runs in July, 54 in August and 40 in September for a total of 148 for the quarter.
Diane Belden stated that HB47 now requires townships with over 5,000 residents to have AED units at their parks and other public locations. While CIT doesn’t have that many full-time residents, we do in the summer during tourist season and CIT is being proactive in having AED units at these locations.
Diane Belden presented a resolution that would allow the township to stop someone from opening a marijuana dispensary or selling marijuana on Catawba. With the new laws allowing the use of marijuana, Diane felt it would be good to pass this resolution to protect Catawba from having marijuana sales or a dispensary. William Rofkar stated that realistically this is a highly regulated industry and there are only a certain number of permits allowed and he feels it will not come to Catawba.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve the resolution preventing a marijuana dispensary and the sale of marijuana on Catawba. There was not a second to the motions. The motion was not carried.
Matt Montowski made a motion to adjourn the meeting. William Rofkar seconded the motion.
All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 10:10 a.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday October 22, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.
___________________________ _____________________________
Diane Belden, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer