ROCK CREEK — The Ashtabula County Board of Commissioners took their agenda meeting to the people of Morgan Township Tuesday evening.
Trustees and about a dozen residents came out for the meeting, which was held in the Morgan Hose Fire Hall. Prior to tackling the agenda, commissioners opened the meeting for public comments and questions.
Residents questioned commissioners about the wisdom of the county’s investment in the Lodge and Conference Center at Geneva-on-the-Lake. Trustee Virgil Martin encouraged the commissioners to “admit it’s a stupid mistake from the start,” “a boondoggle.”
While commissioners didn’t go that far in their assessment, they did acknowledge that the lodge will never pay for itself when the capital expense is taken into consideration.
“There is no way a 109-room facility will pay $1.5 million (annually) in debt service,” Commissioner Daniel Claypool said.
They defended spending money for improvements as necessary to protect the county’s investment and ensure that the facility will appeal to guests. Claypool noted that the management contract with Delaware North requires 6 percent of the lodge’s revenues be allocated for capital investment, and commissioners are adamant about making sure a portion of that money will be held for meeting major repair expenses.
“We have the lodge ... it wasn’t our doing,” Commissioner Joseph Moroski said. “We’re not going to let it run amuck. It’s the taxpayer’s dollars (commissioners are protecting).”
They also pointed out the economic benefits it and other development in that area, particularly the wineries and GaREAT complex in Harpersfield, have brought to the county.
Martin rumbled about the high percentage of land in Morgan Township that has come under protection by the Nature Conservancy (Morgan Swamp) and Cleveland Museum of Natural History (Grand River corridor). The land is removed from the tax base, shifting a greater burden on other property owners. Martin wanted to know if the commissioners could pass a resolution placing a moratorium on these transactions, but commissioners said they are private sales or gifts that fall outside their jurisdiction.
“We can’t tell a private citizen he can’t sell his land,” said Board President Peggy Carlo. Carlo said the Board of Revision members, who review property owners’ challenges to the county auditor’s valuation of their real estate, heard numerous complaints about this issue during their hearings this year.
Claypool pointed out some of the positive things that are occurring in the county, including the Ashtabula County Port Authority’s success in acquiring Plant C and saving the 850 jobs that depend upon the raw water it supplies to Ashtabula Township chemical plants. He said the authority is also investigating the financial feasibility of firing up the electrical generation part of the plant with biomass fuels. The county does not have any money invested in the plant; the manufacturers that use the water are paying for the facility and its maintenance, while a $3-million state grant is being used to remediate the site and plant.
The commissioner said the voters of Ashtabula County are dispelling the perception that residents place a low priority on education. He said the $500 million in new school construction, funded largely by the Ohio School Facilities Commission, is proof of the value voters place on education by passing the millage required for the local match.
Commissioners also voiced their opinion that voters are tired of being asked to come up with more money for government and want their leaders to find ways to collaborate and develop regional solutions. Moroski said voters are “taxed right out.”
“People are tired of tax increases, paying more for getting the same service they could get if we all collaborated,” Carlo said.
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