GPH Officials Highlight Food Safety With Clean Inspection Awards
The Geauga County Board of Health is urging residents to be mindful of fuel oil tanks on their property following a spill at a private residence in Bainbridge Township.
The Geauga County Board of Health is urging residents to be mindful of fuel oil tanks on their property following a spill at a private residence in Bainbridge Township.
“We had a fuel oil tank in a neighborhood rupture and get into the well of a household up there,” Environmental Director Dan Lark said at the board’s April 15 meeting. “We’ve been working with the (Environmental Protection Agency) and they’ve been helping the homeowner to pump out the well, hopefully draw out the oil so it doesn’t get into the aquifer.”
Neighboring wells were recently sampled, but results had just come in a few hours before the meeting and had not yet been reviewed, Lark said.
He said it is his understanding the incident involved a residential fuel oil tank located in a garage. A filter on the container reportedly cracked, leading to a leak.
“No one’s really sure how long or how much leaked out of it,” he said.
The board encouraged residents to take preventative steps to extend the life of fuel oil tanks, including regular inspections by certified professionals, monitoring oil levels, keeping surrounding areas clean and well ventilated, checking for leaks, installing containment trays or electronic leak detection systems and monitoring for water accumulation.
In other business, the board recognized 11 establishments across the county with the 2026 Clean Inspection Award.
This year’s recipients were the Chagrin Roller Rink, Congin’s Pizza, St. Anselm School, St. Helen School, Western Reserve Catering, Chardon High School, Fitness Plus, T.C. Gurney Elementary School, Harsh Middlefield Food (Subway), Elements Fitness Studios and Burton Healthcare Center.
The award program originated in Lake County and has expanded into Geauga County in recent years, said Environmental Health Supervisor Cady Stromp and Lead Sanitarian Paul Stromp.
Establishments are self-nominated and must meet specific criteria, Cady said.
“If they don’t nominate themselves, we don’t pursue it,” Paul added. “This year, I think we only have about nine places in the video. There’s a lot more places that deserve it, they just didn’t self nominate.”
According to a board resolution, award recipients “…have shown through food safety knowledge and training, a clean inspection history, and operating according to state and local regulations that they have met the criteria for the award.”
To qualify, establishments must pay fees on time, have no foodborne illness violations, no critical violations, no more than one repeat violation, must be compliant with water and sewage requirements and have all of their certifications, among other standards, the Stromps said.
Winners receive a window sticker, a personalized trophy, a board of health resolution and a recognition letter, Cady said.
The board approved a resolution granting the awards.
The board also approved a motion to accept a $5,000 grant from the National Environmental Health Association and Food and Drug Administration, with an optional $3,500 supplement.
According to the meeting agenda, the grant “…will provide funding for staff to complete a self-assessment of all nine FDA Voluntary Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards and to also complete a comprehensive strategic improvement plan.”
The additional funding would allow staff to attend food safety trainings, workshops and conferences.
“The FDA has the National Retail Program Standards, where they try to get health departments all over the country to do things the same way, do inspections the same way, train the staff the same way, there’s a lot of moving parts to it,” Paul said. “It’s a voluntary thing, no health department in the country has to do it.”
He said Lake County has participated since 2013 and found the program helps strengthen and organize its food safety program while opening access to additional grant opportunities.
“There’s money out there we can apply for and this gets our foot in the door,” he said.
In further business, Health Commissioner Adam Litke confirmed in an April 20 text that South Russell Village-based restaurant Hunan by the Falls, which recently had its license suspended for two weeks, was able to re-open last Friday.
