Local Farming Couple Successfully Completes the
Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program
Geauga Soil & Water Conservation (GSWC) District Board Meeting - January 20, 2026
Meeting Details: The Geauga Soil & Water Conservation District (Geauga SWCD) met on January 20, 2026 at 7:30 am and at the Geauga County Office Building, 12611 Ravenwood Dr. #240, Chardon, OH. Observer Note: This meeting would normally have occurred on Tuesday January 13, 2026, but due to lack of quorum, the meeting was rescheduled to Thursday January 15, 2026. On Thursday, January 15, 2026, the county building was closed until 10:00 am due to inclement weather and because this is a public meeting, the meeting was rescheduled to January 20, 2026.
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: None.
Observer Note: Julie Parker, District Conservationist, United States Department of Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Services (USDA/NRCS) and Rebecca O’Neill, Program Specialist, Ohio Department of Agriculture - Division of Soil & Water Conservation (ODA-DSWC), were both originally on the agenda to give updates from their perspective agencies; however, both were unable to attend due to illness.
Open Board Meeting at 7:39 am. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Oath of Office Swearing In – Tracy Engle and Jeff Huntsberger for 3-year term starting 1/1/2026 through 12/31/2028
Fiscal Agent Dee Belew swore in Tracy Engle and Jeff Huntsberger for their positions on the board. Later in the meeting, the board of directors agreed on who would operate in what role for this fiscal year. Observer Note: The Oath of Office was originally scheduled to be given by Ohio State Representative Steve Demetriou; however, after the inclement weather reschedule, he was unable to attend. Dee Belew stepped in to swear in Mr. Engle and Mr. Huntsberger.
MOTION Approved for January 15, 2026 Board Meeting Agenda
MOTION Approved for December 9, 2025 Board Meeting Minutes
REORGANIZATION FOR 2026 via roll call
APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND MEMBERS
The board discussed roles and responsibilities, and each agreed they wanted to keep the roles they served in the past year. In summary: Jeff Huntsberger, Board Chair; Robert Lausin, Vice Chair; Tracy Engle, Secretary; Mary Slingluff, Treasurer; Dee Belew, Fiscal Agent
Committee Assignments:
Budget Committee: Ms. Shale, Mr. Lausin, Mr. Huntsberger
Policy Committee: Ms. Slingluff, Ms. Shale
Easement Committee: Mr. Engle, Ms. Shale, Mr. Huntsberger
Education Committee: Ms. Purdey, Ms. Belew, Ms. Slingluff
Nominating Committee: Ms. Belew, Ms. Shale, Linda Hunter, Bob Lawson
Legislation Committee: Ms Shale, Mr. Huntsberger
Record Committees: Mr. Lausin, Ms. Shale
OPEN PUBLIC DISCUSSION - None
MOTION Accepted Treasurer’s Reports from previous month (including all deposits and transfers that occurred in addition to previous approved expenditures) No additional comments.
MOTION via roll call – Accept and acknowledge the 2026 Special Fund Tax Budget (Appropriations and Revenue) as assigned by the Geauga County Board of Commissioners
Ms. Shale reported that this year’s budget is a little bit less than last year’s because the State match is less than last year. The State budget was described as one pot that is split up between 88 counties. Ms. Shale explained to the board that, if one county commissioners’ office gave one county more money, then that would change the amount that would come out of the State match, which would then impact all the other counties’ annual allotment. Ms. Shale advised the board that they had enough carryover to cover costs.
The approved Tax Budget Report Summary: Local Revenue $345,000, State Match $278,500, Other Revenue $27,870. Expenses total $631,270.
MOTION Approved via roll call – Acknowledge/approve Purchase Orders completed between board meetings as listed below:
a. SF Purchase Orders for 2026:
i. Contract Services (Blanket) $7,000
ii. Contract Services (ADP) $5,000
iii. Contract Services (EXPERT-IT) $3,100
iv. Contract Services (SHI) $1,800
v. Repairs $500
vi. Supplies $3,000
vii. Miscellaneous $2,000
viii. Travel $500
ix. Advertising/Printing $40
Ms. Shale noted that the purchase orders are almost the same as last year because they don’t have a lot of change
from year-to-year.
MOTION Approved via roll call - Approve the District Fund Budget/Allocations
They will need to replace their copier this year, estimated to cost around $10,000; Ms. Shale is still working on getting a firm price on that. They will also have to replace their laptops every 6 years to stay in compliance with county IT requirements. These expenses will be paid for out of the district fund. Software subscriptions (constant contact, form site, network solutions for their website) is estimated at $4,000. The Bee Hive software annual fee is $1,200. The board had previously approved up to $3,000 for the Bee Hive.
MOTION Approved for money transfer in the amount of $752.36 from Huntington Savings (Electronic/Stripe Payments through end of December 2025) to Huntington Checking
MOTION Approved for purchase of 3 Year Employee/Official Dishonesty Policy through OFSWCD - $894.00
This insurance policy is a policy that covers three years and was due last year; however, they did not get a bill for it last year so this will be year two of the three year policy.
MOTION Approved: Payment for expenditures, purchase orders, vouchers and bills as presented including EFT payments and estimates. Reviewed previous month mail, bank statements, payroll and minutes – sign/initial/date as applicable
Approved and acknowledge the following refunds issued:
12/6/2025 Brian Lee $80 Peppermint fee not required to build deck
SCHEDULED GUEST: JULIE PARKER, DISTRICT CONSERVATIONIST, USDA/NRCS
Ms. Parker was on the agenda for the meeting; however, could not attend due to illness. She did forward a written update to the board for them to review.
SCHEDULED GUEST: REBECCA O’NEILL, PROGRAM SPECIALIST, ODA-DSWC
Ms. O’Neill was on the agenda but was unable to attend due to illness. She sent out a packet to the Board already with information in it. The Partnership meeting is in February and two employees will be attending that.
GERARD LIGOTTI, DISTRICT TECHNICIAN
MOTION - Reviewed & approved the Forestry Pollution Prevention Plan (FP3) prepared by
Pioneer Knoll Lumber for property on Haskins Road Parcel 02-178900 in Bainbridge Township
Mr. Ligotti went over the Forestry Pollution Prevention Plan. He has been out to the site and advised that things looked fine. This is a 32 acre timber harvest, select cut, using a tracked skidder with grapple harvesting system. They will leave a little buffer zone on the property line. They are doing a select cut, using Pioneer Knoll Lumber Logging Company.
CARMELLA SHALE, DISTRICT DIRECTOR/ENGINEER
a. MOTION Approved 2026 renewal of Adobe Acrobat Pro Online for 7 users – NTE (not to exceed) $1,800
b. MOTION Approved 2026 renewal of Office 365 for 7 users – NTE $3,100
c. The Geauga SWCD Roster was reviewed and all board members agreed their information was correct
d. Review Ethics Law - Ethics Online Training for 2026 to be completed by staff and board Ms. Shale reminded the board to complete their ethics online training and send a copy of their certificate of completion.
e. Reminder: CPIM Annual Exemption for 2026 (or training if applicable to you) - Ms. Shale gave a link to complete the training, if needed.
f. MOTION - Policy Manual – Review/Discuss draft proposed changes for adoption
Ms. Shale had time at the end of 2025 when everyone was on vacation to go through their policies manual and update them. The following are policy updates:
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Public notice for regular, special, emergency meetings policy: took out “every department” as they only have one department. They post in the newspaper, post on their website and put flyers in their office. She took out Faxcimilie because they do not have one of those anymore.
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Public Records - Took out “every department” as they only have one department
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On the log they keep, they added date the request was received
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Computer Acceptance Policy: Updated to current ADP cyber security policy
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Sales Tax Reimbursement: They are exempt from sales tax. The county wants employees to take the credit card and use a sales-tax exemption certificate. They can now reimburse up to $500 in purchases and get sales tax reimbursed if employees don’t use the county credit card.
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Sales Tax Reimbursement: They are exempt from sales tax when they make a purchase on behalf of their office. The county wants employees to take the credit card and use a sales-tax exemption certificate. There are rare occasions that a purchase needs to be made and an employee doesn’t have the card, but they can now reimburse up to $500 purchases and get sales tax reimbursed if employees don’t use the county credit card. In the past, employees just had to ‘eat’ the sales tax because it wouldn’t be reimbursed. New law now allows for this sales tax reimbursement.
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During an HR meeting, it was recommended that the department add a welcome statement and department vision for new employees, which Ms. Shale did.
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Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): Made sure everything matched. Pregnancy is a big issue right now because historically pregnant individuals have been discriminated against in the workplace.
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Ethics e-course training and submit certificates of completion
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Ohio Victims of Crime Act - They have to allow employees to take leave to go to court if they or a family member is a victim.
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The Americans with Disabilities Act compliance statement was separated out.
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Anti Harassment/Anti Discrimination- non retaliation was added. Ms. Shale noted that she sent the policies to the Prosecutor for approval of the language and it was approved.
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Dresscode - Wear appropriate attire
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Safety Issues - Follow the procedures in the appendix and report incidents to the supervisors
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Public Records - Took out “every department” as they only have one department
g. MOTION Approved - Update Continuity of Operations Plan – Remove S. Rowen and replace with G. Ligotti
h. MOTION - Credit Card Signatures to approve staff/supervisors as signers Board members each signed forms for the credit cards.
i. MOTION - Appointment of Credit Card Compliance Officer - Colleen Lair is the keeper of the card. She cannot use the card.
j. MOTION - Designation of official signers of vouchers/payroll for Geauga County Auditor - Authorization Form, Payroll Form, Certificate of Agent form - Ms. Shale and Mr. Huntsberger signed the forms and the board approved.
k. MOTION - Appointment of Sunshine Law Designee - Designated Colleen Lair
l. MOTION – Review 4th Quarter of 2025 Annual Plan of Work
The following is a summary of most of the work completed:
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Horse Manure Post Cards sent out and already receiving responses back. They did put a one page ad with the survey on it in the newspaper. They did this to help the Amish to be able to fill it out and mail it in. 160 responses have horses and a total of 600 responses have been received to date.
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Assist Planning Commission
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25 School Programs
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6 Planting Seed to Read
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Storm Sewer basins checks
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101 Plan Reviews
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592 Site Inspections with 15 violations
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Post construction storm water- no inspections done. Master list will be made in January
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12 News Releases & 4 Constant Contact Releases
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Completed Farm & Dairy Article
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Completed Gray Scale version of their fliers on the website to make them printable
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71 Facebook Posts reaching 4,884 people
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67 Technical Assistants
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Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (LAEPP) completed - Ms. Shale shared with the group a thank you card from Mrs. Hope. An article was printed in the paper about the Hopes’ participation in the program; it is available to read here. Ms. Shale said it takes two years to close on the program and this one went really well. She said that there are two farms interested in preserving their farms and applying for the LAEPP this year. It is a competitive program and they only accept one per year.
Observer Note: After the meeting was completed, this observer asked Ms. Shale for more information about the LAEPP. She provided several fliers and a booklet they have available to the public to learn more about the program. According to the website, “The Clean Ohio Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (LAEPP) provides funding to farmland owners for placing an agricultural easement on their property. Monies are issued for up to 75 percent of the appraised value of a farm’s development rights. A payment cap has been set at $2,000 per acre, with a maximum of $500,000 per farm. All easement transactions are recorded on the property deed and transfer with the land to successive owners. Funds from the purchase of these easements are invested in the local economy by the landowners who use them by expanding their farming operations, purchasing new equipment, reducing debt, adding conservation practices, planning for retirement, sending their children to college or for other purposes. When the state purchases a farmland easement, the proceeds are plowed into Ohio’s economy.” To learn more about the LAEPP and the application, visit their website here. The application deadline for this year is February 28, 2026.
m. MOTION Approved - 2026 Strategic Plan/Annual Plan of Work
The plan was sent to the board by Ms. Shale in advance to review prior to the meeting. Nothing has changed drastically. She highlighted a new Agriculture Pollution Abatement standard operating procedure is in the works. She said that there are only 13 stormwater basins left to look at. Their goal is to inspect them at least every 3 years. The theme for this year is “On the Road to Clean Water,” the Poster Contest will be “Soil Where it All Begins,” and the White Oak is the tree contest this year. Ms. Shale mentioned wanting to award Volunteer of the Year to a consistent volunteer that has been very helpful to the office. They are wanting to do a follow up Chainsaw class, but need a place where they can cut down 21 trees per day for the two day class. The first Chainsaw class they offered last year had a large turn out and if they all come to the follow up class, it will be a large class.
n. Complete the Conflict of Interest Form- Each Board Member was given a Conflict of Interest Form to review, sign and return.
o. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - 2025 Summary of credit card/supplier benefits received by District
Various suppliers give the office gifts with purchases. Employees can’t keep the gifts but they use them for giveaways at the Annual Meeting. Ms. Shale provided a summary of the gifts to the Board.
NEXT BOARD MEETING: Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Observer Note: After the meeting, a review of the Geauga Soil & Water Conservation District website showed that the Fish order form is available online, with pickup on May 8, 2026, 9:00-10:30 am. Additionally, the Annual Tree Sale order form is available online with tree pick up on April 16, 2026, 4:00-8:00 pm or April 17, 2026, 9:00 am-4:00 pm.
Meeting Adjourned - 9:03 am
More information available here.
Observer: Wendy Landry
Editor: Carol Benton
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: January 28, 2026
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