Welcome to Auburn Township in Beautiful Geauga County Ohio

NOACA PROTESTERS BRAVE WINTRY CONDITIONS, TO PROTEST RATIFICATIONS, AND WARN OF DEFUNDING

Wednesday, January 27, 2026

With Shane Haijar of the County Engineer’s Office presenting seven of the seventeen agenda items in less than ten minutes and with no announced topic for discussion, the January 26 Geauga Commissioners’ Meeting, attracted former Commissioner Skip Claypool and several private citizens, to protest the actions of the Northeast Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA).

Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri had just commented on his perception that Commissioners Brakey and Dvorak had made momentous decisions about the make-up of the Geauga contingency of NOACA, having voted 2-1 on January 22 to eliminate him from his NOACA seat of 14 years and his perennial alternate, Claypool, from having a vote at the NOACA table. Spidalieri still seemed incredulous that his fellow Commissioners had never asked his opinion or involved him in any way before they, in effect, kicked him out of NOACA. How had the situation come to this, he asked, since they were all equal in speaking for Geauga constituents, a real team, he emphasized. He added that Lake and Medina Counties had not ratified the amendment. So why might Geauga County? To further complicate the situation, Spidalieri reported that out-of-town responsibilities had impeded him from taking any action earlier. Like him, “removed from any position of responsibility,” his constituents have also been silenced. “I’ve gotten hundreds of calls on this from the community.” A broad clap of applause communicated that there would be individuals speaking during the second public comment period scheduled immediately after Spidalieri’s remarks.

When Spidalieri attempted to vindicate his past appointed alternate, Claypool, as having more experience at NOACA than Commissioner Brakey in the last year, she chose not to comment “because of pending litigation,” referring to civil litigation filed in Geauga County Common Pleas Court under Judge Matthew Rambo slated to be heard January 28. Originally filed as Walter Claypool vs Carolyn Brakey, et al, 26M0000007, Claypool’s Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order, was denied on January 13, but under amendment the January 28^th hearing is for a Preliminary Injunction. In addition to Brakey, the other named defendants are James Dvorak and Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (% Grace Gallucci and Ryan Gembala).

Brakey did comment, however. “NOACA didn’t take you off this board. We just decided our makeup [as NOACA voters].” Her comment drew comment and laughter from the audience.

At that point the meeting moved on to public comment from nearly as many individuals as at the previous meeting. First to speak, Skip Claypool, addressed Spidalieri personally: “Ralph, I think you have cause for litigation. Two Commissioners cannot undermine the third.”

Tiffani Broadbent asked about a timeline for any ratification. “We hear things about two Commissioners acting independently of the third. I would urge you not to ratify.”

Commissioner Brakey urged that those commenting against NOACA ratification “explain why you don’t want ratification.”

Vicki Watson responded, ”We want to hear the reasons why you are making the decision eliminating Spidalieri and Claypool. . .I don’t know how much clearer we can be.”

Brakey explained, “This [NOACA amendment ] gives Geauga County more power within their own county. If Geauga wants different makeup, we don’t need five counties to ratify.”

Listening to Spidalieri’s accusation, “I was taken out,” and judgment that “having only two commissioners is a terrible precedent,” Brakey noted that “the majority gets what they want.”

Next to speak during the Public Comments segment, Carol Roberts of Munson urged Commissioners to still vote against NOACA Articles 4 and 9 and reminded Commissioner Brakey of campaign pledges of two years ago. “Commissioner Brakey, you said you wanted to serve the Geauga Community; serve the residents of Geauga by voting against NOACA.”

There were a few more comments, not necessarily NOACA opposition. John Cippitelo , also from Munson, said that based on limited information he had read about Geauga County’s $15 million dollar carryover, why will taxpayers only receive $1.7 million back? He complained about being a senior citizen on fixed income having to pay his property tax as well as a newly instituted five-year license on his “perfectly fine” septic tank.

Bradley Nett, identifying himself as a Cuyahoga County resident, confided with the other NOACA protesters, “I hate NOACA, too!” He asserted that because “NOACA is being defunded,” Geauga will also lose funding for projects. Certainly this comment seemed to be the most unexpected and unverified comment of the meeting, although a July 30, 2025, press release from State Representative Mike Dovilla of Berea and a September 12, 2025, Cleveland Plain Dealer/cleveland.com article appeared to lend some credibility to upcoming efforts to regulate NOACA and other non-elected MPOs.

Dovilla, serving District 17, was outspoken. “Whether it is the personnel issues with their leader working from Chicago, the highway interchange policy, or their focus on Clean Air Plans and art murals instead of transportation planning, they [NOACA] seem to have lost sight of their core mission. . . Northeast Ohio still acts like Cleveland is going to disappear into the lake if the city doesn’t get a piece of every single project.”

Then Jeremy Pelzer followed up in September 2025, highlighting proposed legislation to be jointly sponsored by both Dovilla and Pickaway County’s Brian Stewart, both ranking members of the Ohio House of Representatives Finance Committee. Such proposed legislation, noted Dovilla, would seek to bring NOACA and other MPOs more in compliance with current federal executive orders.

Dovilla’s and Brenner’s biggest gripe has appeared to be with its CEO/ executive director for “simultaneously holding an out-of-state adjunct teaching job” at Northwestern University. In 2024 Gallucci’s NOACA contract netted her $254,000 annually, per the Pelzer article. Gallucci admitted in the same article that the one engineering class one day a year at Northwestern University netted her an additional $15,000. Gallucci’s CEO contract at NOACA extends through December 31, 2026.

In the meantime, Commissioner Dvorak has justified NOACA membership as a beneficial investment, citing a $29,000 grant for clean air or clean water after Geauga Water Services’ annual payment of $8657 and total annual county dues $39,000 that resulted in the receipt of $500,000 for road and bridge funding.

The NOACA debate remains a breaking story for Geauga County and for 2026 outcomes all over the state of Ohio. Stay tuned as we learn more.

NOACA SEAT RULE CHANGE DOMINATES JANUARY 22, 2026, GEAUGA COMMISSIONER MEETING

Friday, January 23, 2026

Recent changes in the bylaws of the Northeastern Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency have impacted the last several Geauga County Commissioner Meetings for just about the entire month of January. It is our understanding that members of NOACA received a packet of information about the end of November 2025 advising of a special NOACA meeting on January 9, 2026, to amend Article 4 and Article 9 of the NOACA by-laws. By this date, Geauga Commissioners Dvorak and Brakey had attended the meeting in question, but Commissioner Spidalieri had not. Historically, Spidalieri has not attended NOACA meetings because years ago he designated Walter Skip Claypool as his alternate. Although as an elected Commissioner (2014-2018), Claypool was entitled to attend NOACA as a voting member, his loss of office to current Commissioner James Dvorak has raised the question about Claypool’s eligibility to represent any of the current Commissioners.

On January 6, 2026, per a cleveland.com article written by Molly Walsh, Claypool filed litigation in the Geauga County Courtroom of Judge Matthew Rambo, against Dvorak and Brakey and NOACA, for communicating together so that bylaws amended at the January 9 special NOACA meeting would eliminate Claypool’s eligibility to be a NOACA alternate, in this case, for Spidalieri. Claypool, attended the January 9 meeting. Spidalieri, as has been typical for many years, did not attend that meeting.

At the January 22 Geauga Commissioners meeting, Claypool became the topic of interest, as 13 residents, including Claypool, signed in on a sheet at the back of the room to permit each of them to make a public comment that could impact the outcome of an item on the agenda. In this case the Agenda Item was #18, ratification of Resolution #26-008,”to Ratify an Amendment to Article IV, Section 4.2 to ehe Code of Regulations” of NOACA. Each of the 13 speakers spoke about the detrimental impact of NOACA upon Geauga County and several spoke about the importance of forming a Metropolitan Planning Organization (for example, NOACA) with an adjacent outlying county (for example, Lake County).

When it came time to take a vote on Agenda Item #18, about 50 minutes into the meeting, Commissioner Brakey noted that the designation of NOACA as an entity of :unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats” was “fair criticism.” As a result, she continued, the rule changes subject to approval in Agenda Item $18 brought “more pressure for elected officials to be making NOACA judgments.” At this point, Mr. Spidalieri became considerably more loquacious than he has been for a very long period of time, concluding, “As a commissioner, I should have the power to name my representative.” A few minutes later he added to Claypool and the 12 other commenters, “I left the house this morning in seventeen degrees. . .Thank you, the people in support of Skip [Claypool] for turning out.”

When the oral vote on ratification was taken, Spidalieri voted no, for 2-1 approval. The completion of the vote was followed by loud boos and shouts of “Shame on each one of you!” directed to Commissioners Dvorak and Brakey.

Before the agenda could move on to Agenda Item #19, Board Discussion, Spidalieri asked what the layout of the Geauga representatives at NOACA would now be and made a motion “to put Skip as my alternate.” In quick response, Commissioner Brakey verbalized that “no one currently has a seat,” shortly thereafter making the motion that she, Commissioner Dvorak, and Engineer Andy Haupt fill the three seats/votes assigned by NOACA to Geauga County.”

Without realizing that there had been no motion to give him a seat at NOACA, Spidalieri quipped, “I appoint Skip Claypool as my alternate to NOACA.” Having noted his understanding of the three Geauga County seats, he still insisted on his right to name Claypool to his nonexistent NOACA seat. The oral vote was again 2-1 with loud cries of disappointment from those gathered to speak on behalf of Claypool.

At last, the approved NOACA representatives provided the names of their alternates:
Commissioner Dvorak named Director of Water Services, Nicholas Gorris. Commissioner Brakey offered Spidalieri the alternate seat, which he hedged over and obviously declined, so that she will still need to name her elected or appointed alternate. Engineer Haupt named employee Traci Salkiewicz as his NOACA alternate.

A loud voice from the room, presumably a Claypool supporter, could be clearly calling out, “You mean we came here for nothing?”

The “big NOACA meeting” referenced by Commissioner Spidalieri was scheduled to occur today, Friday, January 23, 2026 with litigation still to be resolved. This seems like the latest breaking story.

FIRSTENERGY TO PROVIDE CUSTOMER REFUNDS OVER HB 6; WHEN YOU MIGHT SEE THE MONEY

January 23, 2026

Laura Hancock, cleveland.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio - FirstEnergy, which entered into a settlement last week with the state’s utility regulator over the controversial House Bill 6, may begin making $249 million in restitution to customers as soon as Feb. 1.

As part of the settlement, which the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio formally approved Jan. 7, three FirstEnergy utilities – Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co., Ohio Edison Co. and The Toledo Edison Co. – will provide the money in restitution to customers over three billing periods.

“For a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each month, the total credit received over those three months is expected to be approximately $65.61,” said Jennifer Young, manager of corporate communications for Akron-based FirstEnergy.

The credits are based on current electricity usage, even though House Bill 6 was passed in 2019.

On Monday, FirstEnergy submitted to PUCO a proposal with calculations for the credits. The proposal states the restitution will go into effect Feb. 1.

PUCO officials authorized the three FirstEnergy utilities to submit a final plan at least seven days prior to the issuing of the credits, said Matt Schilling, PUCO’s director of public affairs.

“I don’t expect any further PUCO action to effectuate this,” Schilling said, which means the proposal can go into effect Feb. 1 if FirstEnergy continues with the Feb. 1 date.

HB 6 was a controversial energy bill passed by the Ohio General Assembly in 2019. It provided approximately $1 billion in bailout funds through customer payments to FirstEnergy for its nuclear power plants along Lake Erie. The legislation also supported some Ohio and Indiana coal-fired power plants and weakened Ohio’s renewable energy standards.

In 2023 criminal trials, federal prosecutors proved that FirstEnergy provided over $60 million in payments to former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican. Householder, who was convicted in the scheme and is serving a 20-year sentence, used most of these funds for political operations and some personal expenses. He steered the bill through the legislature.

The scandal has been described as the largest corruption scheme in state history.

In addition to the $249 million in customer refunds, the settlement with PUCO requires FirstEnergy to offer additional customer support:

- $20 million for low-income customer programs

- $6.6 million refund (plus approximately $6.2 million interest) for improper charges

- $5 million to the Retail Energy Supply Association for corporate separation violations

The settlement ended PUCO’s investigation into FirstEnergy’s HB 6 involvement. The settlement acknowledges that PUCO found FirstEnergy companies violated Ohio law, PUCO regulations and PUCO orders.

The PUCO settlement is hardly the only financial penalty FirstEnergy has faced. Others include:

-A $3.9 million fine for withholding lobbying information from federal regulators

-A $20 million settlement with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to avoid prosecution on state law violations

-A $230 million deferred prosecution agreement with the federal government

NEWEST TRUSTEE REPORTS ON AUBURN IRREGULARITIES

Monday, January 19, 2026

Riley Davis, newly-elected Auburn Trustee, the majority vote getter in the November election, had several issues to report during his assigned time on Monday, January 19, 2026.

During comments regarding the January 5, 2026, minutes at the outset of the latest meeting,

Fiscal Officer Dan Matsko noted that his notes had ad inadvertently referred to John L Phillips as Fire Chief When the suggestion was made to rescind the reference to Fire Chief and then make a motion to appoint John L. Phillips as Fire Prevention Officer, Trustee Davis voted no against the yes votes of incumbents P. J. Cavanagh and Michael Troyan. As he explained later in the meeting, Trustee Davis had spent a lot of time researching current Ohio Revised Code. John Phillips, according to state definition, is legally a Fire Prevention Officer. Because there is no job evaluation, no job description, or physical examination on file for Phillips, Davis explained that trustees “voted for a fire chief that we’re not allowed. . . The most expensive position carries the lowest [job] requirements. . . The confusion jeopardizes the safety of Auburn residents [because of] the lack of a benchmark.” If there is not even a job description for Phillips on file, “there is no justification for improvement.” When Riley noted that he had not received any email communication from Phillips regarding the latter’s plans for his position, Phillips noted that he would be sending all his thoughts by email within a day.

Trustee Davis discovered in his mailbox information about a town hall repairs project. In fact, he discovered that he had been put in charge that project at 3pm on January 19, only several hours before the Monday night meeting. This was the same contract, addressed to Trustees Cavanagh and Troyan from the original contractor, that had come under active discussion on the night of January 5 before being turned down.

Included was a rough blueprint with indication of building permit costs. Davis emphasized that the drawing did not reflect any access for wheelchairs. Although communication noted a $4500 savings with the use of aluminum in rails, cast iron is still the better product. As a result of lack of progress concerning the contract from Caves thus far, the town hall repair project was tabled at the meeting.

Davis also questioned why the absence of both Nancy Dolesal and Jane Hardy on the same recent Friday was permitted to cause the closure of the Administration Building , Mr Troyan explained that Jane Hardy had a doctor’s appointment made a year in advance, and Nancy Dolesal was on a Friday vacation to aid the delivery of a grandchild. Mr. Davis thought that without even phone, Facebook, or Website communication about the closure of the building, residents would unknowingly call or come to the Administration Building for assistance that would not be forthcoming.

Mr. Troyan rationalized that such absences were rare. Mr. Davis explained that according to RC 505.051, it is the responsibility of the chairman of the Trustees [Mr. Troyan] that the Administration Building remain operational.

CAVANAGH REPORTS AT SECOND AUBURN TOWNSHIP PUBLIC MEETING FOR JANUARY, 2026

Monday, January 19, 2026

In spite of near zero temperatures, plenty of snow, and lots of wind, Auburn Trustees met to discuss accomplishments, confusion, conflicts, progress, stagnation. The meeting that began at 7 pm adjourned at 8:41 pm, the second consecutive January meeting extending the obligatory 30-45 minutes. The last two meetings have been meaty and have utilized welcome documentation. Longtime incumbent Patrick J. Cavanagh was able to talk off the cuff and to promote Auburn Township’s potential as a grant recipient,but he avoided demonstrating any research skills regarding Ohio Revised Code and Administrative Code.

He first reported on Auburn’s receipt of an O.P.W.C. grant for repair of Crackle Road and then, apparently with serendipity, had managed to discover that other “languishing” grants in Ohio had resulted in the return of unused finding back to the proverbial grant “pot of gold.” to encourage the filing of another grant application in April 2026 to seek financial assistance with Stafford Road. Selection of township grant recipients will occur after the competition closes in May 2026.

Then he chose to relate the experience that he and Administrative Assistant Lorraine Sevich undertook on Thursday, January 15, 2026, the day of the huge Geauga County blizzard. The purpose of the trek to to Geauga County ADP headquarters was to learn more about cemetery software that permits those interested in purchasing a vacant grave site in Auburn’s Shadyside Cemetery or researching the history of an occupant of a grave-site there to be able to utilize efficient programming to improve their knowledge of local genealogy.

Currently, the software program for the cemetery system is in the hands of one individual, without the benefit of any central map or other critical data, according to newly-elected trustee, Riley Davis, When Trustee Davis asked the whereabouts of the cemetery deed book, Cavanagh assured him that there would be an update, but he was not more specific. Moreover, another complication is that the sexton, who has no other function for Auburn Township.

Having researched the need for two re-roofs on Adam Hall due to roof-pitch problems and leakage, Cavanagh provided anecdotes about using his personal thermometer in Adam Hall to measure heat/heat loss in the attic. He also identified the Adam Hall roof as a priority for Auburn again, citing the need fo-engineering, clear back from the early days when Mr, Padigimas gave the building to the township.

There was a discussion in which Cavanagh conceded that, because he had not had internet at home until quite recently, he took his email at the Administration Building,. Although that email, which was overseen by Office Administrator Nancy Dolezal, was almost exclusively from the OPWC and the Geauga Engineer’s Office, he had not, until very recently, even had access to internet at home.

Finally Cavanagh talked about the township’s good experience with the Chagrin River Watershed Partners, an organization which charges $1,403.00 for annual membership. Cavanagh explained that the township during its many years of membership has received 2 CRWP grants.

FISCAL OFFICER MATSKO REPORTS FOR AUBURN TOWNSHIP

Monday, January 19, 2026

Fiscal Officer Matsko reported that there were 25 outstanding payments he made from January 6 through January 9, 2026, for a total of payment of $76,686.99.

In other comments, he made note of an anonymous letter from an Auburn Township resident opining why property taxes are difficult for senior citizens to pay. In addition, he related his all-day experiences at a January 13, 2026, workshop convened by Auditor Charles Walder to educate township auditors/fiscal officers about several pieces of legislation that will impact Ohio property tax payment starting in tax year 2026, a year from now. Mr. Matsko expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to learn more about the impacts of recent legislation on Ohio residents.

Finally, he presented a final accounting from American Legal Claim Services LLC regarding the refund payments issued as a result of a road levy error. As of December 15, 2025, 11.27 % of the original checks disbursed to rightful participants in the settlement were undeliverable and/or unclaimed. The original net distribution fund had amounted to $751,931.31.

HOW GEAUGA COUNTY DEALS WITH NOACA BECOMES BIG QUESTION AT JANUARY 13, 2026, COMMISSIONER MEETING

Thursday, January 15, 2026

The January 6, 2026, Geauga County Organizational Meeting highlighted the difficulties of being a county with small representation in Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency meetings. Geauga Commissioners have dealt with these problems for years, but the latest example highlighted the problem at the Friday morning, January 9, 2026, Special meeting on Superior Avenue in the City of Cleveland.

This writer learned that Commissioners Jim Dvorak and Carolyn Brakey took the initiative to be in attendance at the January 9 special meeting. So was former Commissioner and Chester Township Trustee, Walter “Skip” Claypool. This writer was not in attendance at the NOACA meeting but was aware of corroboration from County Administrator, Amy Bevan, in answer to a private inquiry. Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri was not one of the NOACA attendees on January 9.

The biggest source of information regarding the purpose and outcome of the Special January 9 NOACA meeting resulted from the testimonies of former Planning Commission members, now private Geauga County citizens, Gary Neola and the aforementioned Skip Claypool, during the public comment session. Both gentlemen were succinct and logical in their analyses of complications for Geauga County resulting from the January 9 meeting.

First to address the three Commissioners, Claypool detailed his NOACA attendance and the purpose of the January 9 meeting, voting on two proposed by-law changes regarding membership requirements. He explained the by-law changes to NOACA’s Article 4 and Article 9, claiming that Cuyahoga County should be held responsible for initiating these changes. Geauga County well-being has been negatively impacted, with Article 4 new rules being more devious than first thought because the appointee to a NOACA seat from Geauga County gets the right to name an appointee that does not necessarily express or exemplify the best interests of our county. Further, Article 9’s new language actually removes the firewall formerly guaranteed by the requirement that all five counties must ratify an amended by-law. Claypool then suggested that Geauga County not ratify the changes in an effort to get more acceptable action from NOACA’s chief influence, Cuyahoga County.

Russell resident Gary Neola took the time to refer to his activities as a former member of the Geauga Planning Commission. He reminded Geauga Commissioners of a letter from the Planning Commission outlining suggested procedure for Geauga County’s voluntary removal from NOACA to be able to join Lake County efforts to form a separate Municipal Planning Organization. His biggest objection to NOACA was its inability to make the best use of funds resulting from gasoline tax imposed upon Geauga County residents by the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The first official meeting of NOACA is scheduled for Friday, January 23, 2026, at NOACA headquarters on Superior Avenue in the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County.

COMMISSIONERS LISTEN TO POSSIBLE USES OF OPIOD SETTLEMENT FUNDS

January 14, 2026

Fiscal Manager Adrian Gorton, in his weekly discussion before the Geauga County Commissioners on January 13, 2026, noted that he has $100,000 from the Opiod Settlement to make available for community use.

In late 2025 Commissioner Dvorak informed attendees at a Commissioner meeting that Geauga County shares Region 12 of the OneOhio Recovery Foundation with Ashtabula, Lake, and Portage. Commissioner Dvorak is the current Chairman of the Region 12 Board.

As one of their first 2025 distributions of Region 12 Opiod Settlement funds, Geauga Commissioners voted to approve the purchase of a portable drug-testing machine for the Geauga Sheriff, Scott Hildenbrand, to help reduce the presence of illegal drug dealers within the community.

At the Tuesday, January 13, Commissioner meeting, Kristine Lakoniak discussed the possibility of assisting the Lake Geauga Recovery Center, whose board members have been motivated for over a year to purchase of a home to assist up to 12 residents. So far a purchase has been untenable because of lack of funds. Ms. Lakoniak suggested that financial assistance to the organization could be a beneficial use of Opiod funds. Ms. Lakoniak in further conversations with the Geauga Sheriff has discovered that the Safety Center is devoid of any furniture, particularly table and chairs.

Commissioner Carolyn Brakey noted the critical need of any interested party to file an application, upon which final financial awards will be granted.

COMPLETION OF McFARLAND WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT IMPROVEMENTS THOUGHT TO BE RUNNING AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

At the January 13, 2026, Geauga County Commissioners’ Meeting, Director of Water Resources, Nick Gorris, expressed a sense of relief as he was able to visualize the completion of the McFarland Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvement Project during the Fourth Quarter of 2026, instead of the originally scheduled completion in August, 2027.

Conceding that the McFarland Wastewater Improvement Project has “kept me awake at night,” Director Gorris actually sounded exhilarated that the project was running ahead of the original planned completion date of August 2027. “My fingers are crossed,” he shared enthusiastically, noting that the old wastewater plant needs to be run simultaneously with the improved section before the former can be turned off/and or dismantled.

Geauga County residents/taxpayers became more aware of this project when Director Gorris presented item [#21] one year ago on January 14, 2025, awarding the $30,842,000.00 bid to Shook Construction Company as “the lowest and best bid.”

Director Gorris emphasized the importance of Geauga County’s being able to receive a construction loan to be able to pay for the improvements at the McFarland plant. He noted how much more cost-prohibitive infrastructure improvements would be without state agencies to make finances available for entities like county boards of commissioners. In the case at hand,The Ohio EPA has made the borrowed funds available to Geauga County through the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund. Shook Construction Company receives its payments, called Partial Payment Requests, from the Ohio Water Development Authority, the administrator of the awarded loan fund.

Partial Payment Request #1 to Shook Construction for $3,110,816.00, consisting of $1,500,00.00 and $1,610,816.00 from the Ohio Water Development Authority Loan Fund, were authorized by Commissioners during the July 23, 2025, meeting.

Partial Payment Request #2 to Shook Construction for $349,970.00 came solely from the OWDA Loan Fund on August 28, 2025, as Agenda Item #14.

Partial Payment Request #3 to Shook Construction for $1,412,241.15 from the OWDA Loan Fund came September 16, 2025, as Agenda Item #11.

Partial Payment Request #4 to Shook Construction for $478,812.00 from the OWDA Loan Fund was approved on October 16, 2025.

Partial Payment Request #5 to Shook Construction for $2,881,179.36 from the OWDA Loan Fund was approved on November 25, 3025.

Partial Payment Request #6 to Shook Construction for $844,859.60 from the OWDA Fund was approved December 16, 2025.

With the payout of Partial Payment Request #6, Shook Construction Company has received $9,077,867.11 of its $30,842,000.00 contract.

WORKING OUT THE GEAUGA COUNTY ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

The updated agenda for the first Tuesday in 2026 started out smoothly and efficiently at 9:30 am. At 9:38 newly-elected County Engineer Andy Haupt was explaining force accounts in Agenda Item #5 when all went dark. The back-up generator started its operation restored tranquility and efficiency.

Since the first meeting in January is the traditional Geauga County Annual Organizational Meeting, that entire topic was discussed under Agenda Item #16, although much of the preparation for appointments was undertaken during the public work session of December 30, 2025, when Commissioner Brakey encouraged Ralph Spidalieri to become the primary Commissioner rep to the ADP Board. Although Ralph initially appeared to be acquiescent about such appointment, he also seemed tuned out, paying attention to his cell phones more than county assignments.

Those of us who watched the events as attendees or as observers of the live-stream witnessed what appeared to be a pout from Mr. Spidalieri, particularly when he thought he and he alone should be entitled to name the alternate of his choice alone to the NOACA Board.

There is a back-story connected with NOACA. For those who may be interested, the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency had its foundation in the City of Cleveland in 1968. Geauga County was one of the member counties right from the beginning. In addition, the Mayor of Cleveland and the Department of Urban Affairs took an active role initially. NOACA has continued to grow, with a current total of 46 votes. Officially, as a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), NOACA, with the recognition of the Ohio Governor’s Office, as a governing body composed of local elected officials, operators (like LakeTran) of major forms of transportation, as well as the Ohio Department of Transportation, has the power and responsibility for conducting transportation planning, and water and air quality for the five-county area of Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Medina, and Lorain, and the City of Cleveland and the areawide water quality management agency for populated areas carry the bulk of the votes. Geauga County has a maximum of three votes.

At today’s meeting, the NOACA board appointments were tabled. Geauga Commissioners have always been able to represent themselves at the monthly NOACA meeting at 1299 Superior Avenue in Cleveland or they have been able to name an alternate.

The first NOACA Meeting of 2026 has been scheduled for 10 a.m., Friday, January 9, 2026. for the purpose of altering one or more bi-laws regarding NOACA membership rules, including regulations about alternates. Consequently, the Geauga County designations regarding NOACA primary representatives and alternates was tabled during the January 6 meeting because of a question regarding Mr. Spidalieri’s currently-named alternate.

In past sessions Commissioner Spidalieri has been critical of overruns and waste on projects like the Courthouse Expansion Project, but has favored hangar and runway improvement projects undertaken by the Airport Authority in Middlefield. Today, however, during the discussion of the Annual Geauga County Organizational Meeting, he publicly opined that he is the victim of the other commissioners’ dislike, resulting in his often becoming the minority vote on an issue to be decided.