New Technician Gerard Ligotti Has Flair for the Outdoors
Geauga Soil & Water Conservation (GSWC) District Board Meeting - December 9, 2025
Meeting Details: The Geauga Soil & Water Conservation District (Geauga SWCD) met on December 9, 2025 at 7:37 am at the Geauga County Office Building, 12611 Ravenwood Dr. #240, Chardon, OH.
Board Attendance: Jeff Huntsberger, Board Chair; Robert Lausin, Vice Chair; Tracy Engle, Secretary; Mary Slingluff, Treasurer; Dee Belew, Fiscal Agent.
Staff Attendance: Carmella Shale, District Director/Engineer; Gerard Ligotti, Technician; Colleen Lair, Administrative Assistant
Others in Attendance: Julie Parker, United States Department of Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Services (USDA/NRCS); Rebecca O’Neill, Program Specialist, Ohio Department of Agriculture - Division of Soil & Water Conservation (ODA-DSWC)
The meeting was opened at 7:37 am, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Open Board Meeting
MOTION Approved December 9, 2025 Board Meeting Agenda
MOTION Approved November 12, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes- with approved amendment adding two words.
OPEN PUBLIC DISCUSSION - None
MOTIONS APPROVED
-
Approve payment for expenditures, purchase orders, vouchers and bills as presented including EFT payments and November Sales Tax EFT Payment of 141.63 less 3⁄4% discount and estimated bills - No Comments
Review previous month’s mail, bank statements, payroll and minutes – sign/initial/date as applicable - No further discussion
SCHEDULED GUEST: JULIE PARKER, DISTRICT CONSERVATIONIST, USDA/NRCS
Updates: Ms. Parker’s department has returned from the 43 day Federal Government Shutdown. November 13, 2025 was their return day. The office’s primary focus has been on getting payments processed. Typically this time of year they do all their Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) payments from late October through mid-December. Due to the shutdown, the office is having to try and get eight weeks worth of workload done in three weeks. All payments have to be reviewed by a second reviewer, but there is only one reviewer for the whole State, so there is a backlog to get everything paid by the end-of-year, December 17th deadline. The National Program Deadline for CSP and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQUP) is set for January 17, 2026. USDA is no longer doing CSP renewals, and all those wanting to renew will have to complete a new application and go into that pool of new applicants for consideration. Ms. Parker advised that they were told there would be a new application form coming out soon that will be agency-wide for USDA and all programs. Finally, their office has conducted a couple site visits in Ashtabula, as they are interested in the EQUIP program for livestock and pasture type practices.
SCHEDULED GUEST: REBECCA O’NEILL, PROGRAM SPECIALIST, ODA-DSWC PROGRAM SPECIALIST
Update: Ms. O’Neill reports that this time of year is very task list oriented. She advised the board that ODA (Ohio Department of Agriculture) will continue to require Quarterly Reviews from the counties, which she acknowledged GSWC already does. This quarterly review is directly attached to the State Match of funds. Ms. O’Neill did also report that State Match reporting has been based on budget but may possibly change to actual money spent. There is a year in review with goals used at their supervisor school to showcase what districts have done. Agriculture and Abatement has had some shifts in employee coverage of areas. There should be an updated Memorandum of Understanding/Standard Operating Procedure (MOU/SOP) coming out soon on how to handle pollution complaints. There will be an opportunity for county offices to ask questions.
The Ohio Federation Soil Water Conservation District (Federation) has some award nominations open. The Board seemed interested in putting some employees in for awards.
CARMELLA SHALE, DIRECTOR/ENGINEER
Introduce and Welcome new Employee Gerard Ligotti Mr. Ligotti is starting his fourth week with GSWC. Observer Note: See further in the Agenda for more information about Mr. Ligotti.
MOTION Approved- Annual subscription renewal for Quickbooks for two companies/funds (Special and District) in the amount not to exceed $1,620.00. Ms. Shale explained this price is for two companies. They keep their funds separate so they don’t accidentally co-mingle money to help auditing. Director Shale said that means the cost for each company is $810.
MOTION Approved to Set Board meeting dates for 2026- Will keep meetings on the second Tuesdays at 7:30 am.
Gerard Ligotti, Technician
Mr. Ligotti, who is a new technician, introduced himself and provided the board with some background information on himself. He is from Colorado, with a degree in Geography and Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado. His background is in outdoor recreation, specifically working in backpacking/skiing/rock climbing with the University of Colorado. In 2021, he moved to Montana where he was a police officer for a year before transitioning to Montana Fish and Wildlife Parks on their access program as a liaison between hunters and land owners to negotiate access to private property. Of special interest, Mr. Ligotti hiked about 1,500 miles of the Appalachian Trail with his wife, who completed the entire trail. His goal for the future is to get his Masters Degree. Since starting with GSWC, he has completed a lot of training, went to a logging site and shadowed employees.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: For the purpose of discussing Employee Performance Evaluation and Compensation per ORC 121.22 G-1 Ms. Shale confirmed that there would be no further public business after the executive session; therefore, this observer left when the open portion of the meeting was adjourned at 8:02 am.
NEXT BOARD MEETING: Tuesday, January 13, 2026 @ 7:30am – Geauga County
Administrative Building: Geauga SWCD Office – 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite 240, Chardon,
OH 44024
More information available here.
Observer: Wendy Landry
Editor: Gail Roussey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: December 9, 2025
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