Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees
Meeting Minutes
March 14, 2023
The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Matt Montowski on Tuesday, March 14, at 9:00 a.m. in the conference room
of the administration building.
In attendance were: Diane Belden, William Rofkar, Matt Montowski, Karen Shaw,
John Gangway, Kevin Johnson, Kevin Gibbons, Ernest Wylie, Dan Barlow, Jack Madison,
John Keefe, Robert Crawford, Michael O’Donnell, Ann O’Donnell, Claudia O’Donnell,
Mark Worley and David Howell.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
Diane Belden made a motion to approve the February 28, 2023 Board of Trustees regular meeting minutes as presented. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve and pay the bills, including the last payroll, in the amount of $39,585.13. The total includes a payment of $5,475 to ComDoc, Inc. for the new copier. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Correspondence
A letter from Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Johnson requesting use of the Community Hall on April 1, 2023 for a family function.
Trustees agreed Kevin Johnson can use the Community Hall as requested and waived the rental fee.
A letter from Vicki Wheatley requesting use of the Community Hall for the Parks Board spring and summer speaker events tentatively scheduled for April 12, May 3, June 14, July 12, and August 23.
Trustees agreed the township Parks Board can use the Community Hall as requested and waived the rental fee.
A letter from Jannah Wilson, Park District of Ottawa County, regarding the application submitted for the 2023 Parks and Trails Improvement Grant Program for a Storywalk Trail at Catawba Point Preserve that the project was not funded during the current round of grant funding.
An email from Jannah Wilson informing Trustees that she met with township safety service personnel to discuss the proposed Catawba Islander Trail and Greenway and various ways the trail could be designed to accommodate emergency responses and safety concerns.
A letter from the Ottawa Sandusky Seneca Solid Waste District regarding the OSS Joint Solid Waste Management District Solid Waste Management Plan Update Ratification.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve a resolution to adopt and approve the Solid Waste Management Plan for the Ottawa-Sandusky-Seneca Joint Solid Waste Management District as presented. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
A letter from Tyler Madeker, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, acknowledging receipt of the 2022 Compost Facility Annual Report and that the Ohio EPA found the report met the requirements of applicable rules.
A letter from Don Habegger and Molly O’Neill regarding the proposed Marsh’s Crossing Planned Unit Development. The homeowner’s adjacent to the proposed PUD ask that Trustees disapprove the application in consideration of the following: excess storm water, wetland status, density, traffic impact outside the PUD, and setbacks.
A letter from Mark Messa, Ottawa Regional Planning Commission, announcing the preliminary plat for Marsh’s Crossing will be considered on March 21 at 7:00 p.m.
The Ottawa County Municipal Court 2022 Annual Report.
A solicitation from The Ohio State University Extension regarding a Commercial Pesticide Applicator Class available for Municipal Governments.
Fiscal
Fiscal Officer Karen Shaw presented the February 2023 financial reports and bank reconciliation. There were no questions or concerns.
Karen Shaw said the township received the first half Real Estate Property Tax Settlement with a net distribution of $1,096,408.37.
Maintenance
Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Johnson said maintenance personnel are changing out the ditch pump located on State Route 53 to make repairs.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve a contract with Republic Services for the spring clean up to be held Friday and Saturday, April 28 and 29. Costs associated with the clean up include $75 for each container dropped on site and $254 per haul away of material with a disposal rate of $50 per ton for 40 yard containers and $245 per haul for the 30 yard containers. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Fire
Fire Chief Kevin Gibbons reported CIVFD members responded to four fire calls and sixteen EMS calls for a total of 20 calls responded to during the month of February.
Kevin Gibbons presented a quote to replace a couple valves for use on fire trucks.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the purchase of a couple valves from Atlantic Emergency Solutions at a cost not to exceed $4,850 including shipping. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
Zoning
Matt Montowski said there were five zoning permits issued in February and two variances for a total of $790.76 collected in fees.
Matt Montowski said the Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing regarding the proposed Marsh’s Crossing PUD at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 21.
New Business
Dave Howell asked if Trustees have received the Master Plan from the Park District of Ottawa County for the proposed five mile Catawba Islander Trail and Greenway or if a decision has been made to support the project.
Matt Montowski said the Trustees have not been presented with a Master Plan for the proposed trail.
William Rofkar said he does not have enough information to support the project.
John Keefe talked about required trailheads for the proposed Catawba Islander Trail and Greenway. He asked how residents would safely access the trailheads. He also expressed concern for safety with the increased traffic due to the trail.
Matt Montowski said the Park District of Ottawa County is focused on phase one and there is concern for the increased traffic down Porter Road and in the area of Miller Ferry parking. He said Trustees are keeping an eye out for more information.
Matt Montowski said Todd Bickley is working on bid documents for a project to improve the Veterans’ Memorial area in the cemetery along with consideration for a separate project to build a wall to display memorial plaques.
Diane Belden said she has seen the bid packet for the project to improve the Veterans’ Memorial area in the cemetery. She said we have received renovation plans with measurements and a drawing of what the area will look like so why are we not ready to bid the Veterans’ area project. Diane Belden said she feels the separate memorial wall project is still in the planning phase as far as location and size. She said since they are two separate projects we should move forward with the bid for the Veterans’ Memorial project now and keep investigating the memorial wall.
Matt Montowski said Todd Bickley has the information and we are moving forward by combining all the information together and looking at it with Regional Planning. He said as far as the memorial wall, we do have all the statistics and we were going to bid that out separately but after looking at everything it is so simple, just a 25 foot long by 6 foot high wall.
Diane Belden asked where the memorial wall will be located.
Matt Montowski said in the front of the cemetery along Cemetery Road.
William Rofkar said if both projects are bid together we will probably get a better price on both. He said it is not a complicated project and he thinks once approved it should go quite fast.
Diane Belden said our cemetery is the pride of this community and it is beautiful. She said she has investigated other cemeteries and the Veterans’ Memorial improvements are needed, but we are not ready for the memorial wall project. Diane Belden said we do not know if there is even a demand for a memorial wall and could end up with a large wall with mostly empty spaces.
Matt Montowski explained that one person came to the Trustees with the idea to be able to memorialize a loved one who is not actually interred in the cemetery. He said we do not even know if it feasible so we will get a price on it and then decide.
Karen Shaw said an alternative could be to allow more inscription on the columbarium niche plaques and use the columbarium for memorialization purposes because there are numerous single spaces available.
Diane Belden said she has not located other cemeteries that have a memorial wall because she wants to research the cost and demand. She said the Veterans’ Memorial is ready to bid now and we might not be ready to bid the Memorial Wall project for six months or a year.
William Rofkar said he is not sure what we are deciding on until we see it and he will not be sure until we receive the bids.
Diane Belden said she doesn’t understand how contractors will bid on the project if we do not have a final design and location.
Matt Montowski said that is the beauty of the Design Build.
William Rofkar made a motion to renew with Sedgwick for $1,790 for Sedgwick’s workers’ compensation third party administration services. Services for the annual contract period begin
July 1, 2023. The policy year group rating enrollment is January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024. Diane Belden seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.
William Rofkar made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Diane Belden seconded the motion.
All voted aye. The meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m.
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Matt Montowski, Chairman Karen Shaw, Fiscal Officer