From the Geauga County Maple Leaf

By Ann Wishart

July 13, 2021

After the Geauga Park District terminated its contract with the Geauga County Auditor’s Office June 28, the GPD Board of Commissioners addressed employee healthcare and information technology issues during their public meeting July 6.

The moment park commissioners voted to sever fiscal ties with the county, Auditor Chuck Walder could no longer pay for employees’ health insurance and the county could no longer provide IT services to the district.

As a result, employee emails have been down and the GPD posted the following message on their website:

“Important: If you applied for a permit before July 1 but did not receive confirmation that it was successfully received, please resend it as soon as possible to geaugaparkdistrict@gmail.com, as we have been unable to receive emails sent to our regular email addresses.

“Geauga Park District is experiencing a temporary phone, email and internet interruption due to unforeseen circumstances. For any program or reservation assistance, please call 440-226-4695 or 440-226-4636 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. or send an email to geaugaparkdistrict@gmail.com.”

The GPD board approved a “then-and-now” resolution Monday to pay Geauga County Commissioners $53,992 for coverage of district employees healthcare insurance, as presented by Executive Director John Oros, who said the coverage would continue through the County Employee Benefits Consortium of Ohio.

More information would be available at the July 16 CEBCO board of directors meeting, he said.

“There will not be a lapse in our coverage,” he said, adding the district is planning to set up as an independent group in the consortium.

A staff member said insurance bids are being sought from two other insurance agencies and quotes may come in this week.