Russell Township voters to decide two park district levies

Russell Township Citizens Park District asks for 0.25-mill, while Russell Township Park District asks for 0.5-mill

Russell Township voters will decide the fate of two separate park district levies in the Nov. 6 election.

The Russell Township Citizens Park District has placed a 0.25-mill, additional five-year levy on the ballot.

Meanwhile, the Russell Township Park District is asking voters to approve a 0.5-mill, five-year additional levy.

The purpose of both levies is parks and recreation, according to a ballot-issues list from the Geauga County Elections Board.

Russell Township’s Citizens Park District Board was created after being approved in a ballot issue by township voters in November 2017.

“Our purposes are to have our own park board and control our own destiny,” Russell Township Trustee James Mueller said in a September 2017 NewsHerald story. “Our original park system in Russell was set up under an older statute that required the probate judge to appoint the commissioners who are in charge of the park district for us.”

Mueller was referring to the Russell Township Park Commission, created in 1984, which consists of three commissioners separate from the countywide Geauga Park District, which has its own separate three-member board.

The current members of the Russell Township Park Commission were appointed by Geauga County Probate Court Judge Timothy Grendell. This panel often is referred to as the 1545 Park Board, named after the section of Ohio Revised Code that allows park board members to be appointed by a county probate judge.

In the Nov. 6 election, the Russell Township Citizens Park District’s 0.25mill levy, if approved, would generate $66,430 per year. It would cost a property owner $8.75 per $100,000 annually in property tax valuation, according to the Geauga County Auditor’s Office.

Roy Podojil, chairman of the Citizens Park District Board, said levy funds would be used for administrative fees, capital improvements and maintenance funds, and acquisition fees for the district. The board currently has no funds for operations, he said. It had received partial funds through a capital acquisitions levy which expired at the end of last year.

If the Citizens Park District levy fails, Podojil said the board “would probably continue to exist under the stewardship of township trustees, and serve at their pleasure.”

The Russell Township Citizens Park District Board is often referred to as the 511 Park Board, named after the section of Ohio Revised Code that allows trustees to appoint their own park board members.

Meanwhile, The Russell Township Park Commission’s levy would generate $132,860 a year and annually cost property owners $17.50 per $100,000 property tax valuation.

The purpose of both levies is parks and recreation, according to a ballot-issues list from the Geauga County Elections Board.

The News-Herald attempted to contact Scott Wayt, chairman of the Russell Township Park Commission, for further information on the levy. An email was sent to and received by an official in Geauga County Probate Court, who said the email was forwarded to Wayt.

However, Wayt still had not contacted The NewsHerald as of the evening of Oct. 26, the deadline for this story.

There are 4,490 registered voters in Russell Township eligible to decide both issues, according to the Geauga County Elections Board.