Minutes: November 9th, 2021

Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees

Meeting Minutes

November 9, 2021

The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Diane Belden on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. in the conference room of the administration building.

In attendance were: Diane Belden, Matt Montowski, William Rofkar, Karen Shaw, John Gangway,
Kevin Johnson, Ernie Wylie, Dan Barlow, Lawrene Montowski, Jack Madison, Michael Hablitzel, David Belden, Ann Rumpf, Randy Riedmaier, and Jack DeVore.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.

William Rofkar made a motion to approve the October 26, 2021 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 the last regular payroll and the third quarter CIVFD payroll, in the amount of $53,658.09. Total on the bills includes a payment of $7,558.74 to the Ottawa County Engineer’s Office for road striping, a payment of $3,742 to Republic Services for the fall clean up, and a payment of $1,718.85 to Fire Safety Services for annual air mask flow tests. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.

Correspondence

A letter from Tom Letterhos, CIVFD member, requesting use of the Community Hall on December 11 for a family gathering.

Trustees agreed Tom Letterhos can use the Community Hall as requested and waived the rental fee.

An email from Kevin Joyce, Ohio Project Manager of The Trust for Public Land, inquiring if the Trustees would be interested in considering acquiring a 9-acre waterfront parcel at 531 NE Catawba.

An email from Vicki Wheatley, Parks Board member, regarding upcoming Parks Board meetings and a tentative date of April 11 for scheduling a speaker on bird migration.

Fiscal

Fiscal Officer Karen Shaw presented the October financial reports and bank reconciliation. There were no questions or concerns.

Police

Police Chief John Gangway presented a quote for an in car camera from WatchGuard for $4,995. He said there will be an additional cost of around $500 for installation when the new car arrives.

Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the purchase of a police car camera for $4,995 from WatchGuard Video. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.

John Gangway said Rob Schraidt is resigning from the police department at the end of the month and will begin working for Port Clinton Police Department. John Gangway said he would like the Trustees to consider offering the current part time officer the full time officer position in the near future.


Zoning

Matt Montowski said the Catawba Island Club is requesting a minor deviation of the CIC Golf Course Planned Unit Development (PUD) for the vacant land behind the former Catawba Elementary School located at 3321 NW Catawba Road. He said Todd Bickley provided an opinion regarding the request which is to convert the vacant area into a pet exercise area for use by CIC members, guests, and PUD residents. The area was approved for “additional parking of up to 175 spaces as accessory use to existing CIC operations” and a parking layout or the number of spaces was not provided at the time of approval. Matt Montowski said that Todd Bickley believes that with a reduction of off-street parking spaces, it is necessary to hold a public hearing with notification to the adjoining property owners.

Trustees agreed to hold a public hearing at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 14, regarding the request. Trustees agreed the public hearing will be advertised and notification sent to adjoining property owners at no additional cost to CIC.

Matt Montowski said there were seventeen zoning permits issued in October, three variances, and two map amendments with a total of $2,732.76 collected in fees.

Maintenance

Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Johnson said mulch grinding needs to be done soon and they need at least two tires for the one ton.

Trustees agreed Kevin Johnson should get bids for grinding at the compost facility.

Kevin Johnson said he had to put “No Dog Waste” signs on the trash bins at the Community Hall because individuals are putting dog waste bags in the trash bins outside of the hall.

William Rofkar said the Community Hall roof needs replaced and they are working on getting quotes.

Trustees agreed to begin the process of advertising for a full time maintenance employee.

Trustees agreed to purchase and install a scoreboard for the shuffleboard courts at Heigel Park.

New Business

Jack Madison said the Parks Board talked with Jason Lewis of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge about the dual panel kiosk type signs located at the West Harbor Landing and at the Nehls Memorial Nature Preserve. He said the Parks Board would like Trustees to consider installing a similar sign for the Cedar Meadows Preserve, possibly near the edge of the parking lot behind the administration building. Jack Madison said if township maintenance personnel build the sign, he believes the total cost would be around $3,000. He said they have a quote for lumber but are waiting on a quote for the signage that would be installed on the structure.

Trustees agreed the kiosk sign is a good idea for the Cedar Meadows Preserve.

Matt Montowski made a motion to approve the payment of expenses for the Township Trustees
and Fiscal Officer to attend the 2022 Ohio Township Association Winter Conference in January. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.

Trustees agreed to respond to the email from Kevin Joyce and express interest in the 9-acre waterfront parcel located at 531 NE Catawba.

Fire

Diane Belden said CIVFD members responded to eight fire calls and fifteen EMS calls for a total of
23 runs for the month of October.

Diane Belden made a motion to approve Jason Waggoner to attend firefighter school through EHOVE for $575. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.

Matt Montowski said he would like to discuss the other fire department member requesting reimbursement for fire school he paid for up front.

Diane Belden said she spoke with the assistant fire chief and because the individual was not approved in advance and paid for training himself, the Fireman’s Association will reimburse his expense for the class.

Matt Montowski said the township always pays for volunteer firefighters training.

Karen Shaw said the individual signed up for the class and paid for it prior to being approved as a volunteer member of the department. She said Trustees later approved him as a member but no request was made or approved for him to take training. Karen Shaw said the fire department should be held accountable to inform new members that once approved the township will pay the vendor for the training as it is not our practice to reimburse individuals.

Matt Montowski said he called EHOVE and requested that they bill the township for the training.

Karen Shaw said the invoice for training was paid by the member and Matt Montowski should not have called EHOVE and requested an additional invoice. She said the Trustees have been presented a paid receipt and request for reimbursement.

Diane Belden said we have a lot of new members, many are taking training, and we need to make sure the proper procedures are being followed because this is not the first time this has happened. She said the fire chief should be held accountable for informing new members of the process.

Matt Montowski said he feels the decision should be made at a Trustee meeting and we should not ask the association to pay for training.

Diane Belden said the association has not paid for it yet so we can reimburse the member if that is what you want to do. Diane Belden said she remembers a time earlier in the year when the same thing happened and it was agreed that we should not reimburse individuals.

William Rofkar said he agrees the township should pay for the training but we should get a system because this has been sloppy.

John Gangway said the association pays for some training as well as various equipment and certain maintenance needs. He said there is some overlap in the items the association pays for and items the township pays and although he cannot speak for the association, he believes they would be happy to reimburse the member since he paid for it on his own.

Matt Montowski said all Karen Shaw had to do is change the name on the invoice and pay EHOVE.



Karen Shaw said the township did not receive an invoice from EHOVE and the township does not owe EHOVE any money. Karen Shaw said the Trustees have been given a paid receipt from August and a request for reimbursement to the individual.

Matt Montowski made a motion to pay EHOVE $575 for firefighter training for Martin Auxter. Matt Montowski said EHOVE will then reimburse the member for his payment. William Rofkar seconded the motion. Matt Montowski, aye; William Rofkar, aye; Diane Belden, opposed. Motion carried.

William Rofkar asked Diane Belden why she opposed.

Diane Belden said because she had a discussion with fire department personnel and they understood the issue and agreed they would reimburse the member and work toward a better process.

Matt Montowski made a motion to adjourn the meeting. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.



___________________________ _____________________________
Diane Belden, Chairman Karen Shaw, Fiscal Officer