Geauga Public Health Board Discusses Budget, Catches up on Payments to Lake County and Ponders Costs and Benefits of Accreditation
Geauga Public Health (GPH) - May 28, 2025
Meeting Details: The GPH Board met in Regular Session at the Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite B334, Chardon, OH, on May 28, 2025. The meeting began at 6:30 pm. Mr. Litke reported that they would not have had a quorum at 5:00 pm, so they changed the time. He said this change was put on the website the day before. This meeting is in person with no virtual viewing or video. The Agenda is posted on the GPH Facebook page a few days prior to the meeting and then typically is posted on the GPH website. The Agenda can be found here.
Public Comment Policy: There is no separate written policy, but in practice “Citizens’ Remarks” are listed on the agenda and are permitted as detailed there.
Board Attendance:
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Dr. Ashley Jones, President
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Dr. Mark Hendrickson (absent)
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Melissa DeBoth
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Lynn Roman
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Christine Sutter (absent)
Staff Attendance:
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Dan Lark, Director of Environmental Health
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Adam Litke, Administrator
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Ron Graham, Lake and Geauga Health Commissioner
Others Present: One member of the public, a reporter from the Geauga Maple Leaf, and this LWVG Observer were present.
Call to Order: Called to order at 6:33 pm.
Opening of Meeting
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. A quorum was declared, as was a Certification of the Delivery of
Official notices of meeting.
Minutes -The Board approved the Minutes of the Regular Meeting held on April 16, 2025. Minutes, once posted, can be viewed here.
Health District Staff Reports
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Population Health Report - Mr. Litke commented briefly on this report. He said there have been no outbreaks, which he said is “all good.” Mrs. Roman asked about the Epidemiology section of the report. In the materials available with the Agenda, this part of the report said that there was an outbreak of COVID-19 at a long-term care facility: “The outbreak involved a total of 18 cases, 12 residents and 6 staff members.” The report also stated that “we saw an increase in fifth disease cases. Fifth disease is not a reportable condition; however, outbreaks are reportable and one daycare reported an outbreak.”
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Environmental Health Report - Mr. Lark gave the highlight regarding the excellent return on paperwork for the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) program. He said that 83% have returned the paperwork, which is in marked contrast to past performance (although he did not state past percentage figures).
Director’s Report - Mr. Litke reported on several items.
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Budget Commission - Mr. Litke said that they had their second hearing with the Budget Commission, and their budget was still not approved because of the lack of paperwork from the City of Chardon. Mr. Litke explained that a contract establishing the combined health district between the County and Chardon required that the city certify yearly that they are not receiving any funds and that this has never been done. Observer Note: The agreement was signed in 2002 by the President of HDAC, the Chardon City Manager, and the County Health Commissioner. It requires a report to be filed by June 1. The Budget Commission tabled the Geauga Public Health budget until the certification from Chardon was received. Mr. Litke said that he believes it is all worked out with the correct signatures. He also said that he doesn’t know when the Geauga Public Health budget will be approved by the Budget Commission. Dr. Jones asked if this would cause a problem and Mr. Litke said it would not. Observer Note: See LWVGeauga Observer Report for May 19, 2025 Budget Commission meeting for more information. Reviewer Note: On June 2, 2025, the Budget Commission voted unanimously to not approve the GPH Budget, citing concerns about 1) high cash balances in some funds without a clear plan from GPH to either return excess funds to Geauga taxpayers or find other uses for the money and 2) compliance issues uncovered in audits conducted by the State. No one from GPH opted to be present at this meeting. The Observer Report for this meeting will be available at www.lwvgeauga.org when published.
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Federal Grants - Mr. Litke said that, as everyone has read in the news, grants have been cut “left and right.” He specifically talked about federal funds that in the past were available if a county health department received accreditation. He said (and Mr. Graham agreed) that these funds will not be available going forward, which he said has raised the question of the usefulness of the accreditation given the money spent to receive it.
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Fund for Operation and Maintenance programs - Mr. Litke said that the Budget Commission wants GPH to establish a fund just for these fees. Observer Note: This was done later in the meeting. Also see the GPH website for additional O&M program information here and the LWVG Observer report for the GPH meeting on April 16, 2025.
Health Commissioner Report
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Accreditation - Mr. Graham also spoke about the value versus cost of the accreditation process. He said that they have “scrapped the outcomes section,” which would have been useful in determining how to evaluate if the accreditation process is helpful. He said he would put together a report on the process for the next meeting. He referred to the fact that federal funds as an incentive are gone, so “If the carrot is gone, we only have the stick.” Several Board Members spoke up that they also want to determine if this is the best course for the Board, especially given the cost to get the accreditation. Numbers were mentioned of $40,000 - $50,000, although it was not clear exactly what that covered.
Old Business
Mr. Lark said the fee is based on calculations for mileage, mailings, and staff time for multiple visits to a property. The homeowner would pay the $300 fee, and it applies only to those who are non-compliant. The state requires GPH to do inspections to ensure that there's no public health nuisance occurring on a person's property. Mr. Lark said the hope is the fee will motivate homeowners to comply with septic requirements as well as to cover GPH costs. Mr. Lark said they are working with the Prosecutor to set up a program to aid homeowners who need financial assistance to bring their systems into compliance. Observer Note: This program was approved at last month's meeting. See LWVGeauga report for April 16, 2025.
New Business - The Following Resolutions were approved:
Mr. Litke mentioned an expense to Lake County General Health District, which he said was for salaries and some legal expenses. The Accounts Payable report shows two payments to Lake County General Health for the reporting month of April: $105,367.90 on 4/23/25 and $175,331.37 on 5/07/25 and Miscellaneous Other to Lake County of $21,825. He said that the total paid is now $628,626.93 and this must include the 2025 payment authorized further in the Agenda and some other contract expenses. As of the end of March, contract payments totaled $17,494.77. Observer Note: The financial reports never show current month revenue and expenses, only the budgeted amount and year to date, so it is necessary to go back to the prior report to calculate the expense for that month. Mr. Litke said that in accordance with their contract they are required to pay the contract fees by the 10th of the month, but they have not been doing this because they wait to pay until after the Board meeting. He said they will be changing this, and may set up a new procedure whereby he will have Dr. Jones approve the payments.
Ms. Roman asked for a breakdown of the IT expenses, and Mr Litke said they were for Microsoft license fees. He also discussed the time keeping program they use for staff and said that ADP wants them to get away from that. He said that right now they have a separate server for this program.
Mr. Litke said that their Finance person had left and that another person was promoted internally to the position.
He said that this person had previously been working on grants.
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Establish a new Fund for Operation and Maintenance Fund, Resolution 25-05-06-01-02 - As stated above, this was in response to the request by the Budget Commission for a separate fund. Approved 2-0, with Dr Jones abstaining.
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Permission to Approve Appropriations for Increase/Decrease - Mr. Litke described this as a $2,000 increase for state mandated swimming pool inspections. Approved 3-0
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Resolution 2025-20: Then and Now Purchase Order to Lake County General Health District, Not to Exceed $324,236.71 Mr. Litke said that a Then and Now was required because the contract was not signed and in place. He said this covers January, February and March. Approved 3-0
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Resolution 2025-21: Then and Now Purchase Order to Geauga County Water Resources, Not to Exceed $1,930.00 - Approved 3-0
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Resolution 2025-22: Then and Now Purchase Order to Lake County General Health District, Not to Exceed $25,050.00. Mr. Lark and Mr. Litke said this was for water testing fees.
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Resolution 2025-23: Resolution Authorizing Payments for 2023 Septic Treatment System Permit Feeds, $4,249.00 Approved 2-0; Dr. Jones abstaining.
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Resolution 2025-24: Resolution Authorizing Payments for 2023 Pool Licensing Fees, $2,680.00 Approved 3-0
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Resolution 2025-25: Resolution Authorizing Payment for 2024 Cross Jurisdictional Agreement Costs, $298,546.77. Mr. Litke said this covers January and February 2024 and a little of July, August and October, 2024. Observer Note: The above statement was in response to this Observer’s question. There was no breakdown or other explanation. Mr. Litke said this was budgeted, and he has been working with the Prosecutor and Auditor as to how to properly pay for this. Observer Note: Mr. Litke said after the meeting that this situation was the result of incorrect entries made by the prior finance person.
Change in Board meeting Schedule - Mr. Litke discussed the issue concerning their scheduled 4th Wednesday Board meeting and that this would be impossible for Dr. Jones. It was decided that the meeting be set as a regular practice for the third Wednesday of the month since it is also on the 3rd Wednesday at various times of the year due to holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. All approved.
Citizens’ Remarks
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This observer asked some clarifying questions about the payments to Lake County and the answers are reflected in the report.
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Another resident stated that a company had come to work on her septic system and told her that they notify the Board of Health so she doesn’t have to worry about that. She asked if that was correct. Mr. Lark asked for the name of the company, since he said they like to thank the suppliers who comply with this notice requirement. Mr. Lark said that he meets quarterly with all the suppliers and that they are legally required to send the information. He said they have 35-40 registered suppliers.
This resident also suggested that Mr. Litke could speak with Representative Sarah Fowler Arthur as she seems to listen. Mr. Litke said he has done this already informally and also has spoken to Representative Steve Demetriou.
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This observer also asked about the immunization data for adults, and Mr. Litke explained that the GPH only does adult immunizations for residents who do not have health insurance. Eight adults received immunizations this month. Mr. Litke said this is usually from the Amish community as they do get the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine.
Motion to Adjourn at 7:33 pm
Next Regular Meeting: June 18, 2025 at 5:00 pm. All meetings are held at the Geauga County Administration Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite B 167-168, Chardon, OH.
More Information and Board minutes can be found here: Geauga Public Health
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Carol Benton
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Submission Date: May 29, 2025
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