Claridon Trustees Choose New Fiscal Officer

April 3, 2025 by Ann Wishart

Claridon Township Trustees unanimously chose local accountant Clint Hardman to fill the position of fiscal officer for the township at the March 17 meeting.

Hardman will replace Paula Hiectanan, who is retiring as of April 1, said Trustee Jonathan Tiber.

Her term expires in 2027, he said.

Trustees interviewed three candidates during an executive session at the beginning of the regular meeting.

“We want to make sure you understand the responsibilities of this role,” Tiber said following the board’s decision. “There are a lot of deadlines. Government funding is unlike any you have ever dealt with.”

Trustees make financial decisions on the recommendation of the fiscal officer, he said.

“I advise,” Hietanen said, adding she will be available to assist the new fiscal officer for three months.

“There’s a lot to learn,” she said.

Hardman, 33, is the Ohio tax accounting manager at Great Lakes Cheese in Troy Township, he said in a phone interview.

He graduated from West Geauga High School and went to the University of Toledo, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2014 and master’s degree in accounting in 2015.

Hardman worked as an accountant at PricewaterhouseCooper’s firm in Michigan, then transferred to the firm’s Cleveland office before taking the manager job at Great Lakes Cheese in 2021, he said.

He is currently participating in the Leadership Geauga Adult Signature Program class of 2025.

He and his wife, Jeana, who teaches at Munson Elementary School, live in Claridon Township with their children, Emily, 7, Tommy, 5, and Abby, 1, Hardman said.

Great Lakes Cheese is supportive of him serving as fiscal officer, he said.

“I think this will be a great learning opportunity,” Hardman said.

In other business, trustees approved a resolution to transfer $100,000 from the general fund to the roads and bridges fund.

Tiber said paving Tewksbury Lane will cost about $200,000, most of which will come from revenue received from gasoline taxes.

He also suggested the board sponsor one high school student to attend the Leadership Geauga Youth Institute program this summer at a cost of $300.

During a  follow-up phone call, Tiber said trustees are working on the details of absorbing Aquilla Village into the township, since residents of the Aquilla community voted in favor of the transition in November 2024.

The township will be responsible for expenses such as leaf pickup and electric bills for Aquilla, he said.

The village assessed its residents in the past for the cost of street lights, lights at the ballpark and the town hall, so the township may continue that process, Tiber said.

Leaf pickup, an annual project necessary so the ditches and culverts in the village don’t clog up and cause flooding, could also be assessed, he said, adding residents might see a slight increase in their taxes this year.

However, Aquilla’s property taxes, overall, are projected to decrease in 2027, though exact assessment figures are not available, yet, Tiber said.

“Expenses are going to go up this year and next fiscal year,” he said, adding the township is working with the county auditor’s office and real estate experts on the assessments.

“It takes research,” he said.

In addition, Aquilla Village owned about 60 vacant parcels in the community. Claridon inherited them in the transfer and trustees would like to put them up for sale, Tiber said.

However, most of the lots are tiny — some as small as 0.05 acres.

“They are only of value to the neighbors. The township has to figure out how to sell (the parcels) to them,” Tiber said, noting there are a variety of issues to be resolved.

“I really want Aquilla Village to thrive,” he said.