Commissioners Agree to Work Session on Community and Economic Development
Board of County Commissioners Meeting - July 21, 2026
Meeting Details: The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met in Regular Session on Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 9:30 am at the Geauga County Office Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH. BOCC Meetings can be live streamed through the Geauga ADP Youtube channel and can be accessed here by scrolling down and clicking on the section for YouTube videos. Recordings are available for the public. This meeting can be found here. Observer Note: The camera for the live stream and video was not positioned properly, so the video does not show the correct view of the meeting. As of this report’s publication date, the video has been viewed 271 times. Notations in the report refer to the minute notation on the video for a particular section. An agenda is available in advance via request to the Commissioners’ Clerk and at the meeting. Items discussed at the meeting but not on the agenda, if any, are addressed at the end of this report.
Public Comment Policy: Permitted as outlined in the BOCC’s Public Comment Policy that was adopted on January 28, 2025, revised on April 15, 2025, and again modified on September 30, 2025 and February 24, 2026.
Attendance: Present were Commissioners Carolyn Brakey, James Dvorak and Ralph Spidalieri. Also present were Commissioners’ Clerk Christine Blair, County Administrator Amy Bevan, and Finance Manager Adrian Gorton. Observer Note: It is not known if Deputy County Administrator Mark Jimison was in attendance.
County Representatives: Andy Haupt, County Engineer; Michelle Pemberton, Director, Veterans’ Service Commission; Bill Smith, vice president, Veterans’ Service Commission; Alyssa Steinhoff, Financial Administrator, Job and Family Services (JFS); Nick Gorris, Director, Water Resources; Matt Granito, Dog Warden; Joseph Rice, Communications /Media Specialist.
Others in Attendance: Observer Note: Only those who were seated in the one part of the conference room were visible. Others very likely attended. Parents of Connor Talty; Ronald Jonovich, Fire Chief, Montville Fire Department; Kimm Leininger, President & CEO, Geauga Growth Partnership (GGP); John Epprecht, Former Board Chair of GGP and owner of Great Lakes Cheese; Lee Imhof, a former board member of GGP; Carl Boyles, VP of Operations, GGP; Jessica Boalt, Director, Office on Aging; Gina Hofstetter, Director, Dept. of Community & Economic Development (CED); Adam Litke, Lake/Geauga Public Health Commissioner; Geauga Maple Leaf reporter Allison Wilson, Chagrin Valley Times reporter Anastasia Nicholas; other members of the public and this LWVG Observer (virtually)
4:41 Min. Pledge of Allegiance and Prayer (Commissioner Dvorak)
5:25 Min. Public Comment on Agenda Items
5:59 Min. The Commissioners’ Office received approval to execute Resolution #26-113 Recognizing and Commending Connor Talty for his courageous and life-saving actions, saving his grandmother. Connor was credited with saving his grandmother from drowning. He was sworn in as a member of the Montville Fire Department and given a Montville fire helmet. Photos were taken with the Commissioners, the Montville Fire Department and his parents.
Report from Administrator Amy Bevan - Ms. Bevan reported on the following actions she took:
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Approved a Supplemental Appropriation from the Commissioners in the building improvement fund projects account to accommodate an additional encumbrance.
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On July 15th for community and economic development, accepted and approved the Economic Development revolving loan fund semiannual report and the Housing revolving loan fund program income report for the period of January 1, 2026 through June 30, 2026 and further authorized the electronic submissions of these reports.
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Also on July 15th, concurred with the Thompson Township trustees in not requesting a hearing on the liquor license being requested by Kuhlne Motor Sports Park LLC for the Kuhlne Motor Sports Park located at 8233 Sidley Road, Thompson, Ohio.
11:15 Min. Minutes - Commissioners approved Minutes for February 24, and the work session from February 26, 2026. Observer Note: Weekly LWVG Observer Reports for the BOCC are available online through July 21, 2026 for informational purposes but are not substitutes for approved minutes. Approved BOCC Minutes are posted online here through December 30, 2025.
11:50 Min. Report of Financials - County Finance Manager Adrian Gorton received approval for the following:
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Appropriations transfer from the Commissioner's miscellaneous contingency account to special counsel general for an incumbrance increase.
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Then and now from the Commissioner's office to Millstone Management Group for the Prosecutor's office remodel projects costs that were not previously encumbered.
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Contract purchase order from Maintenance to Valley Ford truck for the purchase of a new Ford Ranger replacement vehicle. The old one will be auctioned.
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Vouchers
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$46,358 from the Commissioners to Lake Geauga Recovery Centers for the 2026 jail treatment program expenses.
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$39,52.85 from the Recorder to Fiddler Technologies for equipment and software for the SP94 scan project, making documents from 1980 to the present available online.
12:58 Min. The Commissioners’ Office received approval for an increase for the Engagement Agreement with Squire Patton Boggs, LLP for outside legal counsel related to bonds, filing tax documents and additional assistance for matters relating to TIF’s (Tax Increment Financing) in the amount of $2,000.00, for a new not to exceed amount of $10,550.00, without prior approval from the Board. There were no comments and no discussion about this increase.
13:42 Min. The County Engineer’s Office received approval for the following:
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to acknowledge receipt of the Certificate of Estimated Property Tax Revenue from the County Auditor’s Office, dated May 22, 2026, regarding the renewal of two and five tenths (2.5) mills Road and Bridge Levy.
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to execute Resolution #26-115 Declaring it Necessary to Levy a Tax in excess of the Ten Mill Limitation as authorized by Sections 5705.03, 5705.19, and 5705.25 of the Ohio Revised Code for renewal of two and five tenths (2.5) mills levy for general construction, reconstruction, resurfacing and repair of streets, roads and bridges in Geauga County.
Engineer Haupt spoke briefly about the levy and the importance of maintaining Geauga County’s roads and bridges. Commissioner Dvorak asked when the levy started and Mr. Haupt said it passed in 1986 and that it allowed them the funding to hire engineers in-house and allowed them to invest in infrastructure.
He said that 27-30% of their operating budget comes from the levy. He said that this money also gave them the funds to match Federal and State grants. For the Bundysburg Bridge, they received $2 million in grants for a county investment of $150,000 - 200,000. He continued that the levy has allowed them to be proactive so that they haven’t had to replace roadbeds.
Mrs. Brakey had asked whether the levy was qualified and Mr. Haupt said that it was. She said that with a qualified levy they also get funds from the State.
20:27 Min. Veteran’s Service Commission presented information on the establishment of the Geauga County Veterans in Public Service Recognition Program and received approval to execute a letter to Geauga County Elected Officials and Department Directors about Continuing the Mission through Public Service and the Veterans Service Recognition Campaign.
Ms. Bevan said that the Commissioners want to do more to recognize veterans. She said they had the Military Signing Day in the Spring and want to have another event in the fall around Veteran’s Day.
Ms. Pemberton said that this program will recognize and honor employees of the County who are also veterans. She said that they will make sure that veterans know their potential benefits and possibly some veterans will qualify for and use veterans medical benefits, thereby benefiting the county financially. There will be posters of the veterans displayed. From the discussion, it appears the posters will have baby pictures of the veterans.
23:53 Min. The Department of Job and Family Services received approval to execute Resolution #26-116 Assigning Authority to Craig Swenson, Executive Director of Geauga County Job and Family Services, to Act as the Geauga County Board of County Commissioners’ designee for approving Inter-county Adjustments of Allocated Funds, for the period July 21, 2026 through June 30, 2031.
Ms. Steinhoff, Fiscal Administrator, explained that these inter-county adjustments allow Geauga County to trade with other counties within certain funds to ensure that funds are not sent back that could be used by another county. She said that they have conducted these transfers with 15 other counties around the state. She said that the aim was to end up net zero, but in the last five years Geauga County has been on the plus side in an amount equal to $8,000.
28:27 Min. The Department of Water Resources received approval to advertise for Bids for Sludge/Biosolids/Filter Bed Sand Disposal, to be held on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, at 2:00 pm. Notice of this Bid Opening will be advertised on July 23, 2026, July 30, 2026, and on the county website.
29:30 Min. Geauga Growth Partnership (GGP) presented a proposal to the Board called Partnership for Prosperity: Building Geauga County’s Economic Development Operating System and discussed a grant with the Cleveland Foundation and the return on investment for Geauga County.
Ms. Leininger, President and CEO of GGP, read a prepared statement (available on the video). She said (in part): “For the past 16 years, Geauga Growth Partnership has had the privilege of serving as Geauga County's designated local economic development organization...Through that work, one thing has become increasingly clear. We have many organizations doing excellent work, but often we're working independently and in silos rather than through one coordinated system. The opportunity before us is not to create another organization or another program, but to bring us together to create a coordinated economic economic development operating system that aligns our county, our shared efforts, our vision, and our goals into one common vision for Geauga County. A key part of this vision is the creation of a Geauga County Economic Development Council co-led by the county and GGP that brings together public and private partners to align priorities, coordinate investments, and provide shared accountability for economic development outcomes. That's why we're here today.” She said that to compete in today’s economic development opportunities, “Communities are no longer competing simply because they have available or attractive tax structures. They compete because they're organized and they're ready. They have coordinated leadership, strong business relationships, prepared development sites, workforce strategies, and the ability to move quickly when opportunities arise.”
She outlined their priorities as helping businesses that are already here and then encouraging economic growth that respects the values of Geauga County, including the rural character of the county. She said, “Preserving farmland, open space, and rural character is not in conflict with economic development. In fact, they really are complimentary. A strong economy provides a tax base necessary to preserve the very things our residents care about. So the question is not whether Geauga County should grow. I believe the question is how do we grow? Do we simply react to opportunities as they arise or do we intentionally guide economic development in a way that reflects our values and protects our future?”
She then addressed the question as to why Geauga County was included in a grant proposal to the Cleveland Foundation. “Over the past several months, GGP has had productive conversations with two commissioners, the county administrator and the assistant county administrator about exploring. No decisions were made about this partnership around economic development. Those conversations were encouraging and there was a genuine interest in continuing the discussion. At the same time, the Cleveland Foundation announced their grant opportunity with a submission deadline that could not wait for the conversations to be complete. So, we had two choices. We could wait, miss the opportunity and potentially lose a catalytic philanthropic investment or we could submit the proposal that accurately reflected where the discussion stood. So, we chose to go with the second option. Please know that that proposal does not commit the commissioners or the county to any type of funding. It simply identifies a partnership with Geauga County as the preferred implementation partner in this model making it clear that GGP intends to move forward because this initiative is one of our highest strategic priorities. The proposal was never intended to speak on behalf of the commissioners. It was intended to preserve the opportunity while allowing our conversations to continue.”
Mrs. Brakey made clear that she did meet with GGP but did not meet at the same time with another commissioner.
Ms. Leininger said that the Cleveland Foundation was interested in funding for “three years a large portion of creating this council. So that would include the creation of an economic development and strategic partnership role at GGP having a co-led economic development council with the county and with GGP so that we could start pulling together all of the additional resources in the county.”
Mrs. Brakey asked about the “monetary ask” and Ms. Leininger said, “for the first year if the Cleveland Foundation approves the grant funding it would be $25,000 from the commissioners; for year two it would be $50,000 and then year three would be $75,000. Then we would evaluate at that point.”
John Epprecht, former Board Chair of GGP. echoed Ms. Leininger’s comments in calling for investment that helps businesses thrive in the county and provide a place for Geauga young people to stay and work.
Mr. Dvorak said “I think with a council with this structure there'll be more communication and less silos...”
Mrs. Brakey said, “I think as commissioners, we need to have a different discussion about what we want to accomplish as far as community economic development in this county...Can we do that with our current CD (Community Development)? I don't think so. So then what's the solution? Do we grow within? Do we utilize GGP? Is there a combination thereof? How do we fill in those gaps so that we can accomplish what we want...They're a lot of opportunities we're not capturing right now as a county and so what's the best way to go about those? I think that's a conversation that we need to have in parallel to this or perhaps we can really make a decision about where GGP fits in this puzzle in my mind.”
Mr. Spidalieri said, “I don't agree with the fact that our community and economic development can't do a good job. I think that we may have failed on our side of not giving them the resources of what they need to have the right amount of people and the right amount of direction to be able to complete that and possibly work with, you know, GGP and other organizations that look to grow community economic development.” He also cited concerns with a nonprofit not being subject to the same requirements on public disclosures and an additional concern about oversight. Ms. Leininger apologized for not bringing Mr. Spidalieri into the conversation sooner.
Mr. Spidalieri returned to the idea that there was an application to the Cleveland Foundation “with our name on it” and he “had no knowledge” of having GGP putting the County name on any application.
Mr. Spidalieri also said ,“We have not invested in our Community and Economic Development sufficiently.”
Mrs. Brakey suggested having a work session to discuss what they want with economic development.
Mr. Spidalieri also said that another commissioner is going to enter on January 1st and he wanted to get his understanding. Observer Note: Steve Oluic won the Republican primary for Commissioner and will be running unopposed in November.
Ms. Bevan asked about the work session. Mr. Spidalieri said he wanted to understand what GGP was suggesting. He agreed that there was a need for a key person to help with inquiries from businesses.
Mr. Dvorak said he was open to the work session, but stressed that he hadn’t known beforehand about the Cleveland Foundation grant.
Ms. Bevan asked about dates and Mrs. Brakey said, “sooner rather than later.”
Mr. Spidalieri said that he wanted GGP to come and talk about the benefits to the county.
Ms. Leininger said she had provided some of that but she felt that they needed to determine what this joint Council would look like and what reporting mechanism should be in place.
Ms. Bevan said she would look for a date and coordinate with GGP. Observer Note: There was further discussion on this topic later in the meeting.
1:00:51 Min. The Commissioners’ Office received approval for the following: Observer Note: There was no discussion on the first two items.
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to change the Organizational Chart to reduce the Part-time Communications / Media Specialist (#1331-1) position from two to one position, to be effective July 21, 2026. Approved Unanimously
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to establish the gas mileage reimbursement to the revised Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rate of 76 cents, that became effective July 1, 2026, per IRS Bulletin 2026-29, for the departments under the direction of the Geauga County Board of Commissioners. Approved Unanimously
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to amend and clarify the motion from July 14, 2026, to read: select and approve the proposal for Opioid Settlement Funds, Grant Cycle 1 from Lake Geauga Recovery Centers in the amount of $50,000.00 for assistance with the purchase of a Recovery House, this will include the remaining funds of $23,000.00, plus an additional allocation of $27,000.00 in Opioid Settlement Funds to fulfill the requested amount, pending financial processing.
Ms. Blair explained that this was just verifying what was agreed upon at the last session. Mrs. Brakey said that the above item and future items should be on the agenda before the meeting so that all can be prepared to make a decision. Observer Note: See LWVGeauga report for July 14, 2026 for more details.
Approved with Mrs. Brakey voting no.
Board Discussion – Discuss possibility of Levy Suppression
Ms. Bevan said she wanted to learn the Commissioners’ thoughts on potentially suppressing a levy. Observer Note: In such a process the Commissioners vote to suppress, or not collect, on a specific levy, with the expectation that they will fund the work covered by the levy.
Mr. Spidalieri said that the General Fund has been healthy and he would like to reduce tax dollars.
Mrs. Brakey said she agreed but wanted to know, with qualified levies, what they would lose in State funding.
Mr. Dvorak agreed that they should look at all levies.
Mrs. Brakey again asked for the work session on economic development and said that she would prefer a work session just within the county. Mr. Spidalieri said that, “this is in motion” so he wanted to be able to question them. He also wanted to know why it was on the Agenda and Ms. Bevan said, “It was a proposal.”
Mr. Spialidalieri said he thought there was more involved with other conversations, and he said, “I think they should be at the table.”
Mrs. Brakey said, “I didn’t give them permission to apply for the grant.”
Mr. Spidalieri said, “That is a concern.”
Mr. Dvorak said he didn’t have any knowledge of it until he printed out the proposal 4 days prior.
Ms. Bevan said that she would like consensus on this.
Mr. Spidalieri said since no commissioners agreed to this, “I will not support it.” He also thought that the incoming Commissioner would not support this type of behavior.
Ms. Bevan said they could go back to address the basics of providing Community and Economic Development a basic vision of what the Commissioners expect.
Mrs. Brakey said she would suggest having the Director of CED come with a menu of options.
Mr. Dvorak agreed that a meeting with the county’s CED should come first. Mr. Spidalieri said he would support that.
Ms. Bevan said this would be a public meeting so Geauga Growth Partnership could be in the public.
1:17:19 Min. Public Comment
A man from South Russell talked about Liberty Camp Geauga and urged everyone to attend the session on Friday. He talked about NOACA (Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency) and said that they withdrew support for the bike path in South Russell Village. Observer Note: According to the Chagrin Valley Times, they recommended that it be postponed until 2029.
Anastasia Nichols, Chagrin Valley Times reported, asked Mr. Spidalieri why he changed his mind about funding the Lake Geauga Recovery House. Mr. Spidalieri said he had a chance to speak with the Sheriff and learned that these houses are a key piece for recovery.
Matt Granito, brought a dog (Socks) who was there from Lake County. They are having an air conditioning issue so Geauga took some of their dogs. He also introduced a new deputy, who he said is doing great. Ms. Bevan thanked him for doing a great job with reaching out to Lake County. Another person in the public made a comment in support of Mr. Granito.
1:26:00 Min. Adjournment at approximately 10:58 am.
Next Meeting: The next Regular meeting will be Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 9:30 am at the Geauga County Office Building, 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Room B303, Chardon, OH.
Observer: Gail Roussey
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Carol Benton
Date Submitted: July 27, 2026
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