Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
September 9, 2025
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman William Rofkar on Tuesday, September 9th, at 9:00 a.m. in the conference room of the administration building.
In attendance were: Diane Belden, William Rofkar, Matt Montowski, Shelly Garcia, James VanEerten, Kevin Johnson, Lisa Murphy, John Gangway, Bryan Baugh, Jack Madison, William Baker, Dorthy Baker, Nancy Oreskovich, Scott Hines, James Atkinson, Barbara Osterling, Kathy Heidlebaugh, David Howell, Theresa Miller, Jean Hartline, Debra Pinkerton, Patricia Horn, Craig McCoy, Dan Barlow, Flint Heidlebaugh, Chuck Gaskey, Cindy Gunderson, Sharon Sanger, Nancy White, Morris White, Michael Hablitzel, Victoria McCoy, Kim Schaffer, Vicki Wheatley, Andy Rinehart, Reggie Langford, Thomas Domotorffy, Ray Petersen, Frank Carchedi, Linda Fox, Karl Oreskovich, Melinda Auxter, Robin DeGraff, Jerry Schuett, Carol Schuett, Nikolai Blumensaadt, Craig Graham, Suzy Wittenmyer, Robert Garcia, Jack Madison, Lenora Conley, Chris Cellier, Randy Riedmaier, Gino Monaco and Ann T. Rumpf.
Prior to the start of the regular trustees meeting, Chairman Rofkar introduced Ottawa County Prosecutor James VanEerten. Mr. VanEerten was in attendance to address the audience regarding clarification of the rezoning vote that took place at the August 26, 2025 Zoning Hearing for the DeGraff Farm. William Rofkar stated that at the last meeting he mistakenly gave incorrect information regarding the vote based on information he had at the time. The vote that was taken was one in favor, one denial and one recusal, it was announced at the meeting that the motion did not carry and the rezoning application failed and therefore, the property would remain zoned as is (Agricultural). However, Mr. VanEerten explained that pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 519.12 the Board of Trustees did not have a majority vote to deny the recommendation of the Zoning Commission. The law then dictates that the changes recommended by the Zoning Commission are, in fact, adopted.
Mr. VanEerten stated that ORC 519.12 is a difficult statue and is counterintuitive to traditional board voting rules. Traditionally, an affirmative majority vote is required to make any changes. This means that typically, for a change to be approved, it must be approved by a majority vote. Ohio Revised Code 519.12, which is the controlling law on rezoning requests, requires the exact opposite. Pursuant to this section, the Board of Trustees must have a majority vote to deny the recommendation of the Zoning Commission. In this case there was not a majority vote to deny the recommendation, therefore, the rezoning request is adopted and approved. Because one board member recused, one voted for denial and one voted against denial there was no majority.
Mr. VanEerten stated that that property will be rezoned at the expiration of 30 days, unless the Board of Trustees is presented with a valid referendum petition within the 30-day window.
Mr. VanEerten then opened the meeting up to the audience if they had any questions regarding the voting issues.
Deb Pinkerton asked about the legality of the trustees starting the meeting on August 26, 2025 at the administration building and then moving it to the community hall due to audience size. Mr. VanEerten stated that meetings are allowed to be moved due to overflow, as in this case, as long as there is some method of advising individuals who show up that it has been moved. William Rofkar stated that notices were posted on the door and the township secretary was at the office to advise anyone that came later that the meeting was moved and where.
Mr. VanEerten stated that he was asked about potential zoning moratoriums, or a development moratorium. He stated they are legal in very limited circumstances and have been used to slow development to allow for infrastructure to catch up. However, he stated that moratoriums must be very narrowly tailored, if not the township will be in a signification financial situation as they will be required to compensate the land owner for their inability to develop on their property. It must be a very defined problem and backed up empirical data. You must have the data to show there is an actual problem and a plan in place to address those issues along with a time frame. Moratoriums are intended to be temporary.
David Howell asked Mr. VanEerten if he had to go and find the correct answer regarding the rezoning voting mistake or was it readily available and should they (the trustees) have known the outcome of the votes at the rezoning hearing? Mr. VanEerten stated that he did have to go and find the answer as he did not know the answer off the top of his head as it had recently changed. Mr. Howell asked if it would be appropriate to say that the trustees and zoning boards would have had issue as well finding the correct answer. Mr. VanEerten said that would be a fair statement.
Mr. Howell stated that it looks like a mistake was made, it was corrected very quickly and the public was notified.
Randy Riedmaier stated that he understood that the members of the zoning boards were appointed by the trustees and found parts that said they are required to be given an oath before starting their duties, but also found parts stating that may not be true. He is wondering if our zoning boards are required to be given and oath of office. Mr. VanEerten stated that there is nothing in the ORC that states that zoning boards are required to be given an oath of office.
There was much discussion regarding water run-off issues on Catawba Island. Matt Montowski stated that the EPA is going to be looking at completing a study within the next 1-5 years on Catawba Island to look at such issues. Matt Montowski stated that any business or homeowner that has issues with run-off water needs to go to the County Engineers Office and file a ditch petition. Only the owner of the property can file a petition for their own property. Gino Monaco, a previous employee with Ottawa Co. Sanitary Engineers Office stated that the best thing property owners can do is document: take pictures of affected areas, call the Sanitary Engineers Office and ask what the rainfall was on that date at the waste water plant, and then submit all documentation to the County Engineer so you have record of how bad the problem was. If everyone that has issues does this, it allows them to gather data over time and then work on fixing the issue.
William Rofkar asked Mr. VanEerten what the process was for a referendum petition. Mr. VanEerten stated that the petition would be submitted to the Fiscal Officer and then taken to the Board of Elections. He stated it does require signatures from registered voters of Catawba Island Township and the signature must match what is on file at the Board of Elections.
Mr. VanEerten addressed the “Land Use Plan” for Catawba Island Township. He stated that the law states you must zone a township or political subdivision pursuant to a comprehensive plan. If you do not then you subject yourself to a constitutional challenge that will have significant legal ramifications, which would be that zoning gets thrown out entirely. It is called spot zoning. It will challenge the validity of the entire zoning book. That is a risk to trustees and townships. If the zoning gets thrown out entirely, then you must wait an entire year to get it back on the ballot. Trustees must make sure they are zoning pursuant to a comprehensive zoning plan and depend on the recommendations of their zoning boards.
William Rofkar stated there will be a five-minute break before starting the regular Board of Trustees Meeting.
William Rofkar brought the meeting back to order after a short break.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the August 26, 2025 Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve the August 26, 2025 Zoning Hearing meeting minutes as presented. William Rofkar seconded the motion. Diane Belden and William Rofkar voted aye, Matt Montowski abstained. Motion carried.
Matt Montowski made a motion to approve and pay the bills, including payroll, in the amount of $180,620.75. Which included payment to Statewide Ford for the new police cruiser in the amount of $62,397.00 and payment to Lake Erie Tree Service in the amount of $19,500.0, Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
A donation was made to the CIVFD from Phil & Deb Wierzba in memory of Michael Cooper.
Ohio Insurance Services Agency, Inc. notified the trustees of the 2026 benefit renewals for township employees.
Ottawa Regional Planning Commission submitted a final plat for the Rock Ledge proposed subdivision. This plat will be under consideration at the meeting to be held September 16, 2025.
Letter from H. Stafford Booker was received in support of the upcoming DeGraff zoning project in Catawba.
Letter from Helen Fagan received regarding the rezoning of Catawba Landings. She is asking trustees to vote No on this issue. Copies of her letter were forwarded to the Zoning Board members.
Letter from Thomas Domotorffy on behalf of Breakpoint Catawba Holdings, LLC regarding conduct of certain members of the township Board of Zoning Appeals. He states that two of the board members show clear and apparent bias based on letters the two board members wrote and submitted into record at the zoning hearing regarding the DeGraff property. He is requesting they both recuse themselves from the zoning meeting on September 10th regarding Catawba Landing Marina and any future meetings related to their requested variances to ensure that the process is truly fair and impartial.
Letter from Justin Bird on behalf of Catawba Island Resident, Bill Riat. Mr. Riat is requesting creation of an architectural review board, and would be willing to help pay for fees to help with this initiative.
Received a request from Elliott Bassett to use the township hall for a birthday party on Oct. 18th, and requesting fees be waived as he is a member of the Volunteer Fire Dept. All trustees agreed to this request.
Fiscal
Fiscal Officer Shelly Garcia provided the August 2025 financial reports and bank reconciliations. There were no questions or concerns.
The 2025 Fiscal Officer Training will be held October 9, 2025 in Perrysburg and the Fiscal Officer is asking permission from the trustees to pay for the registration for this training. All trustees agreed to pay the registration amount of $110 for the Fiscal Officer to attend.
Maintenance
Nothing to report.
Police
Chief Gangway submitted a quote from Stalker Radar (aka) Applied Concepts for a speed radar for the new patrol car #106. The cost for this is $2,104.00.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve the quote from Applied Concepts in the amount of $2,104.00 as presented. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Chief Gangway stated that they need to purchase more traffic cones for the department. He would pick them up to save shipping costs. He is asking for 30 cones not to exceed $500. All trustees agreed to this purchase.
The garage door opener in the old fire department is not working and JVS stated that it was not worth repairing, and it should be replaced. Trustees agreed to have the opener replaced.
Chief Gangway submitted quotes for updating the internet and cable for the township buildings. There are two quotes. The Seacom quote is for additional hardware, battery backups, wireless access points, racks, and overall system management once installation is complete by Forerunner. Quote for Seacom is $8,810.80.
The quote from Forerunner to upgrade the internet cable to CAT 6 in the administration building and Fire Dept. and associated terminations, and faceplates, along with replacing the existing CAT5 cable with optical fiber to connect the administration building with the maintenance dept. The quote for the administration building upgrades is $6,773.03 and the upgrades to the Fire Dept. is quoted at $6,366.01 for a total of $13,139.04 for Forerunner.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve the Forerunner quote as presented in the amount of $13,139.04. Matt Montowski seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Matt Montwoski made a motion to contract with Seacom to over see the project in the amount of $8,810.80 as presented. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Fire
Chief Gibbon stated there were a total of 25 runs in August. There were four fire runs and 21 EMS.
Paul Ochs retired from the CIVF after 37 years. The trustees asked Chief Gibbons if he could begin to notify the board when someone submits a resignation from the department.
New Business
Diane Belden stated that the EMS contract with Port Clinton ends in 2027 and she plans to meet with PC Chief Gutman after the first of the year to discuss the future of EMS here in Catawba.
Matt Montowski gave the zoning report for August. There were 10 permits and 4 variances issued for a total $1,718.02.
Matt Montowski stated that zoning inspector, Vicki Wheatley would like to attend an on-line class and would like the trustees to approve payment of $250 for the cost of this class. All trustees approved.
Matt Montwoski stated there are some important dates coming up for the board of zoning appeals. Matt stated they will be put on the township website.
The Catawba Island Township Trustees will hold a public hearing concerning a proposed zoning text amendment to the Catawba Island Zoning Resolution. The hearing will be at 11:00 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2025 at the Administration Building. The text amendment defines “changeable copy sign, electronic”, modifies multiple family dwelling buildings in the “C-1”, C-2”, “C-3” and “C-4” Districts, clarifies prohibited signs, and addresses the notice changes made to the ORC.
Matt Montowski stated that he has completed a TRQ (Township Request for Assistance) for review of ditch pump capacity and outlet for the ditch pump across from E. Gardner Road, at the entrance at NE Catawba Road and Rt. 53, to submit to the County Engineers Office. This will modernize the township current piping system.
Matt Montowski made a motion to accept the Township Request for Assistance from the Ottawa Co. Engineer’s Office as presented. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Scott Hines stated that he understood that the trustees cannot shut down private property rights, but then what is zoning? Isn’t that shutting down private property rights? Also, a clear majority of people do not want the development that is being proposed. Trustees are supposed to be a fiduciary and supposed to represent their constituents and they do not want it, yet you voted for it. That is why everyone is all stirred up about this issue.
Jack Madison stated that he thinks the trustees need to push harder for the County Engineers Office to deal with the pipe issues that the township is experiencing with the poor drainage on Rt. 53. The conditions are dangerous and the trustees need to be more proactive about this issue.
Matt Montowski stated that they have contacted ODOT and the day in question was a 100-year storm that no community would be able to prepare for.
Gino Monaco stated the best thing would be to set up a formal meeting with ODOT and the County Engineer’s so the public can hear directly from the experts on this issue. The general public isn’t going to like everything they hear, and unfortunately, the trustees are just the messengers repeating what they are being told.
David Howell stated that he is very concerned with all the large pieces of property being developed on Catawba Island. He is concerned as to where the wildlife will live.
Matt Montowski made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:49 a.m.
The next meeting will be Tuesday August 23, 2025 at 9:00 a.m.
*** Please note*** The minutes incorrectly state that the next meeting would be August 23, 2025 instead of September 23, 2025. This was corrected at the Board of Trustees Meeting held on October 14, 2025.
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Willaim Rofkar, Chairman Shelly Garcia, Fiscal Officer