Chester Government Update
The Chester Township Board of Trustees meeting began at 6 p.m. June 30 with an executive session for a conference with legal counsel...
The Chester Township Board of Trustees meeting began at 6 p.m. June 30 with an executive session for a conference with legal counsel. Upon re-entering public session, a motion was made to sign and approve a separation agreement with Chester Assistant Fire Chief Karen Moleterno. The agreement called for the township to make various payments totaling $50,000, of which approximately half will be covered by the township’s insurance. In addition, the township agreed to prepare a proclamation recognizing Moleterno’s retirement and her 34 years of service to Chester Township.
After approving meeting minutes, the board approved the hiring of two part-time firefighter-paramedics, Joshua Puskar and Michael Gibson. Both experienced firefighters had previously worked for Chester Township, however, per Chester policy, will serve a one-year probation period.
The board and Mark Purchase then discussed Ohio House Bill 172, which allows for fireworks to be displayed on certain days and during restricted hours. Each trustee separately discussed the issue with both Fire Chief William Shaw and Police Chief Craig Young and at this time chose to not opt out, but instead monitor the use of fireworks in the township.
Then, Shane Hajjar, with the Geauga County Engineer’s Office, stated that the bids received for roadwork need to be rejected since all bids exceeded the engineer’s estimate by 10 percent and cannot by law be accepted. Increased costs of material and labor are leading other township’s to postpone this year’s roadwork. Working with Chester Road Superintendent John Onyshko, the engineer’s office reworked the estimates and believe the projects can still be completed in 2022. The board then passed a motion to put out for bid the 2022 reconstruction work of various township roads.
After approving various expenses for both the road and police departments, the board moved to re-advertise for the July 14 public hearing for Zoning Amendment Z-2022-1 dealing with rezoning of the property located at 8833 Mayfield Road from single family to commercial.
In new business, two resumes were received for the township administrator position and trustees discussed having a special meeting to interview the applicants. The board also discussed the vague public records requests that have recently been received and the need for the requestors to specify a topic being requested.
Trustees then passed a motion to increase the township administrator’s spending authority and approved the financial transactions. With no other discussions, the meeting was closed.
The board had a special meeting on July 7 to conduct interviews for the township administrator position. Trustees went into an executive session to conduct the interviews. Upon re-entering public session, a motion was made to extend an offer to Kelly Paulic, a Chester resident with over 30 years of experience in local government.
Submitted by Craig S. Richter, Chester Township Trustee
