1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:06,160 the boardroom are streamed live and recorded in accordance with the county's 2 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:11,120 live stream and publishing recordings policy which can be viewed on the 3 00:00:08,639 --> 00:00:16,320 county's website. Your attendance constitutes your consent to audio, 4 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:21,520 visual streaming and/or recording and to permit the county to broadcast your 5 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:24,520 name, voice, image, contact to a broader audience. 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:33,040 Will the clerk please call the role? >> Mr. Van Beek. 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:36,000 » He is going to be here. Uh, tardy. He had an issue that come up this morning, 8 00:00:34,399 --> 00:00:38,239 but he uh got it handled. >> Okay. Commissioner Dia 9 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:39,600 » here. >> Commissioner Lovers 10 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:41,040 » here. >> Commissioner Boutman 11 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,680 » here. >> Commissioner Dugan 12 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:47,440 » here. >> This morning opening prayer will be held 13 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:52,520 by Commissioner Mark D. Young followed by the pledge of allegiance. Please 14 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,520 stand. 15 00:00:52,640 --> 00:01:01,120 » Pray. Well Lord and heavenly father, we thank you once again for another day and 16 00:00:58,559 --> 00:01:07,439 thank you for the the rain that we need once again. Uh just ask for your 17 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:13,680 continued blessing on our crops and as we near our harvest season. Yeah. Ask 18 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:20,479 Lord that you grant extra prayers and mercy to uh families of past employees 19 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:27,520 that have uh passed recently, especially the family of Sam Dystra and uh Chris 20 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:33,920 Jurgus. Raise them up to Lord and just guide us as we deliberate on issues for 21 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:41,200 the citizens of Alagan County today. Be with us all as we travel home. Keep us 22 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:41,200 safe. Guide us. Jesus name we pray. 23 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:51,200 I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic 24 00:01:48,399 --> 00:01:57,720 for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and 25 00:01:54,079 --> 00:01:57,720 justice for all. 26 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:11,520 » This morning we have no public hearings. So that brings us down to approval of 27 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:15,280 the minutes for August 13, 2026. Ensure you've all looked at those. Is there any 28 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:18,400 additions, corrections? If not, I'll take a motion. 29 00:02:17,599 --> 00:02:22,959 » Commissioner Lovers. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move we approve 30 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,720 the minutes of August 13, 2026. >> Is there a second? 31 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:30,400 » Second. >> Commissioner Dugan seconds. Motion and a 32 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:35,599 second to approve the August 13 minutes. Is there any discussion? 33 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:38,080 Seeing none, all those in favor of approval of those minutes, please say 34 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:42,720 yes. >> Yes. 35 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:46,400 » Opposed. Those minutes are approved. Next, it brings us down to public 36 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:50,800 participation. I see we have a pretty good uh crowd this morning. Um, who 37 00:02:49,599 --> 00:02:53,800 would like to go first for public participation? 38 00:02:54,239 --> 00:03:01,760 » Please step up to the podium and uh state your name and local of residence. 39 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:07,440 And you have five minutes. >> Good right here. That's uh if you would 40 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:12,560 um we can move that maybe a little bit closer to the mic so you can so because 41 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:17,319 we're we're live streaming as well and that way I can kind of be picked up your 42 00:03:14,319 --> 00:03:17,319 voice. 43 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:30,560 » So uh my name is Eric Bane. I'm at 3245 Lone Oak Drive in Wayland Township. And 44 00:03:28,239 --> 00:03:36,560 uh I am a concerned citizen and engineer. 45 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:41,200 Um we have Jennifer Antel um the mayor of Whan project manager at West Michigan 46 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:45,599 Trails and Katherine Getty the Barry County Commissioner for District 2 here 47 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:50,000 to help support me. Um we are here today to urge Aligan County's board of 48 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:54,319 commissioners to consider holding the easement for the yettobe constructed 49 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:59,200 trail system you should see shown in yellow on the board behind me. Um, the 50 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:02,959 plan trail spans a total distance of roughly four miles and would safely 51 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:07,599 connect multiple communities while promoting outdoor activities such as 52 00:04:04,879 --> 00:04:12,239 walking, running, and biking in an area of Alagan County that lacks access to 53 00:04:09,519 --> 00:04:16,320 non-motorized trails. This route has been carefully chosen to meet all of the 54 00:04:14,159 --> 00:04:20,720 following criteria. Um, they allow for dual use of the land 55 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:25,120 that is being occupied by the solar panel project for the next 30 years. uh 56 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:34,240 serve as a connection to the greater MDOT uh state of Michigan Grand Regional 57 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:37,680 Plan at 136th Avenue to its north here. Um serve as connection to the Greater 58 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:41,919 Yankee Springs Trail System to the southeast 59 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:46,960 would be here. Um and it cannot infringe upon Apex 60 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:51,520 Clean Energy Solar Farm project area. Cannot infringe upon existing power line 61 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:55,680 infrastructure or function. um and prioritizes land owner route 62 00:04:53,919 --> 00:05:00,560 preferences. Um there is so much going for this 63 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:04,160 project. Um we have a commitment from the farmers that own the land to realize 64 00:05:02,479 --> 00:05:07,639 the trail system represented by this signature sheet. 65 00:05:09,759 --> 00:05:16,720 a commitment from the power line easement holders 66 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:22,800 ITC and consumers to fully evaluate a non form or a formal non-interference 67 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:26,880 request. Uh we have condition S in the Wayland Township special land use permit 68 00:05:25,039 --> 00:05:31,120 approval that allows for the inclusion of a trail system within the solar farms 69 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:35,840 project site plan to be considered a minor change. 70 00:05:33,199 --> 00:05:40,639 A verbal commitment from Apex Energy to fund the construction of the trails 71 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:44,479 pending an internal study. A verbal commitment from Apex Clean Energy to 72 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:48,880 fund the trail maintenance pending an internal study. All we need is a 73 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:53,680 government unit to step up and own the easement for the trail. Algen County 74 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:59,039 Parks and Recreation Entity owns and maintains eight parks and 55 miles of 75 00:05:55,919 --> 00:06:03,919 pedestrian trails. Um, ranging in size from about 4 acres 76 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:08,960 all the way up to 320 acres. In our correspondence with Alagan County thus 77 00:06:05,759 --> 00:06:13,600 far, you have shared with us that the trail system aligns with all your key 78 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:17,280 objectives. Wayan Township ownership is not an option, and I would be happy to 79 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:21,919 explain why that is the case, but most importantly, the timeline. I know that 80 00:06:20,319 --> 00:06:25,360 projects of this size typically take decades to complete, often requiring 81 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:29,199 hundreds, if not thousands of conversations, public hearings, and 82 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:34,160 funding applications, but this project is not that. 83 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:39,039 Apex plans move at a break neck pace, starting construction in spring of 2027 84 00:06:36,319 --> 00:06:43,280 and finishing in late fall of 2028. There's a rare opportunity to secure a 85 00:06:41,199 --> 00:06:47,520 public asset at zero cost to the taxpayers and all we and we need to 86 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:53,039 seize it. You might ask yourself, how is this possible? The answer is simple. 87 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:57,919 Most of the construction obtain most of the construction costs required 88 00:06:55,919 --> 00:07:02,319 to obtain such a trail system come from its construction. Since Apex Clean 89 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:06,240 Energy will already be in the area with all the necessary equipment, personnel, 90 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:11,199 and materials, the trails become a relatively low additional cost for them. 91 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:14,319 All we are asking from you today is to consider holding the easement for the 92 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:17,560 trail. Thank you. >> Thank you. 93 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:27,360 Good morning. >> Good morning. Uh, as Eric said, my name 94 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:31,520 is Jennifer Antel. I am both the mayor of the city of Whan in Alagen County, 95 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:36,639 but today I'm representing West Michigan Trails. We're a nonprofit 96 00:07:33,759 --> 00:07:41,360 um in West Michigan covering 18 counties and we deal with all the non-motorized 97 00:07:39,039 --> 00:07:45,599 multi-use trails in West Michigan working to get them connected and making 98 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:51,680 a unified network. And um as Eric said, I we know we 99 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:56,960 understand this is very unusual to have this happening at such a a fast pace. 100 00:07:54,800 --> 00:08:03,759 And I use the example of the inner urban trail that we have been working on for 101 00:07:58,639 --> 00:08:08,879 21 years to connect um Kent County to Kazoo County on the western or excuse me 102 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:13,039 the eastern edge of Alagan County through Wayen Township and the old inner 103 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:16,800 urban railway. You know, we've been working on that for 21 years. We've 104 00:08:14,639 --> 00:08:21,840 spent through the municipalities, West Michigan Trails, $70,000 studying it, 105 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:25,360 doing pre-engineering, and we still don't have any trail built. I'm 106 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:29,840 optimistic in the next five years we will, but it usually is a very long 107 00:08:27,919 --> 00:08:33,519 process and can cost millions of dollars, you know, up to a million 108 00:08:31,039 --> 00:08:38,000 dollars a mile to build a trail. In Alagan County, we have a very unique 109 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:43,039 situation where someone else owns the property is willing to give the easement 110 00:08:40,719 --> 00:08:46,800 to build the trail. they will design it, they will build it, and they will even 111 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:53,120 pay for the maintenance of it for the next 30 years. Uh we just need somebody 112 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:57,440 to hold that lease um in order to do it. So, I urge you to to thoughtfully 113 00:08:55,200 --> 00:09:02,560 consider it. Um this is an opportunity that comes around literally once in a 114 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:07,279 millennium, and I understand it's a big ask. It's a lot in a short amount of 115 00:09:04,959 --> 00:09:11,839 time. uh but we just ask that you consider and maybe um enter into 116 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:16,839 conversation with us about how this could happen. Thank you so much for your 117 00:09:13,839 --> 00:09:16,839 time. 118 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:27,839 » My name is Klfeld. I'm a senior uh de development manager with Apex Clean 119 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:32,640 Energy working on the Blazing Star Solar Project. Uh I just want to clarify a few 120 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:36,720 items. Uh thus far the conversation from Apex's side has been around the idea of 121 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:41,279 a trail system in and around our proposed solar project. Apex does not 122 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:44,720 develop nor construct trails. We have committed to working with our 123 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:50,240 construction partner and if there are any areas that we can work together on 124 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:54,880 this trail idea. Uh to that end, we have not committed to funding a trail. We 125 00:09:52,399 --> 00:09:58,480 have have a community grant program. We have done things of this nature 126 00:09:56,399 --> 00:10:03,519 previously, but we have not committed to fully funding a trail because we do not 127 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:07,440 know what this trail is going to be. Is this an impervious surface? Is this a 128 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:10,720 gravel trail? There are many things we do not understand yet. To our 129 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:14,959 understanding, there's a letter of intent signed by the land owners, but 130 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:18,800 there is no trail easements currently signed by the land owners. We do not 131 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:23,920 hold trail easements inside of our solar ements. We legally do not have the 132 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:28,160 ability to construct a trail on their property under our agreement that allows 133 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:32,560 us to construct the solar facility. We have also not agreed to maintain the 134 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:36,480 trail. Specifically, we are not interested in maintaining a trail 135 00:10:34,399 --> 00:10:39,760 because we do not do trail maintenance. We do not have the expertise in 136 00:10:38,079 --> 00:10:44,160 maintaining the trail and without understanding what exactly the trail is, 137 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:48,800 we don't know what type of maintenance is required for a trail of that nature. 138 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:53,040 So again, we are happy to participate in this conversation. We are happy to be a 139 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:56,560 partner in this trail, but I just want to make that clear from Apex's 140 00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:59,800 standpoint. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. 141 00:11:00,959 --> 00:11:06,800 » Hello, my name is Karly Haka and I am the director of the Eversol 142 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:13,760 Environmental Education Center in Wayland. Um, and if you're not familiar 143 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:18,480 with Eversol, it is a 238 acre property that's actually owned by the Lancing 144 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:24,959 School District. It was donated um by the Olds family in the 60s and we've 145 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:29,680 been bringing students to um Wayland at the Eversol Center for over 50 years 146 00:11:27,279 --> 00:11:35,680 providing environmental education, stewardship, and outdoor recreation. and 147 00:11:32,079 --> 00:11:41,519 I'm here in support of the trail idea as well as potential partners. Um, I have 148 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:46,560 access to the students of the Lancing School District. We have over 6,000 149 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:52,240 students come every year for field trips. Um, they do overnights. We do 150 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:57,519 stewardship projects. So, we could support the force of maintaining the 151 00:11:54,320 --> 00:12:03,360 trail. Um, and then give students some real world job experience and 152 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:07,440 stewardship experience. Um the proposed bike path has an additional significant 153 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:14,079 benefit because it would potentially terminate at the Eversaw Center. Um 154 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:18,240 for these students, many of whom come from an urban environment, the journey 155 00:12:15,839 --> 00:12:22,079 to Eversol represents an opportunity to experience forests, wetlands, prairies, 156 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:25,760 waterways, and other natural environments that may not be readily 157 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:30,959 accessible in their everyday lives. A lot of times I have students come to me 158 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:35,200 from Lancing and it's their first time that they've ever taken a walk in the 159 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:39,839 woods. I had a conversation with the high school student the other day. Um 160 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:45,279 she said to me as I was explaining the different types of trees and their needs 161 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:49,120 on our hike. She said, "I didn't know there were other kinds of trees. I 162 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:54,959 thought a tree was just a tree." And she was in 10th grade. 163 00:12:51,279 --> 00:12:59,680 So this experience for these students is it can be lifechanging. We have students 164 00:12:57,839 --> 00:13:04,639 who come to the Eversol Center and then decide that they want to go into forest 165 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:10,240 management. Um, so I see this trail as an opportunity for an extension of the 166 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:16,160 outdoor classroom and also a bridge between rural communities and urban 167 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:19,680 communities and an intersection between those two communities and an 168 00:13:17,519 --> 00:13:25,279 understanding can happen in that experience. Um, 169 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:29,279 the path could become an extension of Eversol's outdoor classroom, and 170 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:34,399 students could use it to study ecology and biodiversity by observing changes in 171 00:13:31,519 --> 00:13:38,880 habitats along the route, wersheds, and water quality by investigating streams, 172 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:44,959 wetlands, drainage patterns, and runoff. Um, we're already working to explain 173 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:49,120 what the impacts of the human impact and farming around our property. um and 174 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:53,120 doing lots of ecological study and field study with those students, partnering 175 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:57,519 with other universities. Um geology and glacial history through 176 00:13:55,839 --> 00:14:02,000 obser observations of the rural landscape. We've taken students to the 177 00:13:59,279 --> 00:14:06,399 Yankee Springs area to show them what a kettle lake is and the glacial impacts 178 00:14:04,399 --> 00:14:10,639 of that and then they have a realworld experience that they look at a textbook 179 00:14:08,959 --> 00:14:17,440 and they can put it together from their hike. Um, it's also really important for 180 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:21,519 physical and mental wellness. Um, incorporating walking, biking, and 181 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:26,240 outdoor movement into educational experiences and experiences for the 182 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:29,600 community. Um, and like I said, environmental stewardship by observing, 183 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:34,000 documenting, and caring for the landscape surrounding the trail. Um, 184 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:37,279 Lansing School District already identifies Eversol as a place where 185 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:41,360 students engage in environmental education, outdoor recreation, and 186 00:14:38,959 --> 00:14:45,680 stewardship. Its mission is to empower people to connect with nature through 187 00:14:42,959 --> 00:14:49,279 those experiences. A community bike path connecting directly to the center would 188 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:54,000 strengthen that mission by creating another safe avenue for people to reach 189 00:14:51,279 --> 00:14:59,199 and experience the landscape. There is also an important equity argument. For 190 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:03,920 many Lancing students, access to large natural areas requires transportation. 191 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:07,120 Eversol exists specifically to help overcome that barrier by bringing 192 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:11,519 students to a place where they can experience nature through hands-on 193 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:16,399 learning. A safe pedestrian and bicycle connection would further expand access 194 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:20,880 to this unique educational resource. The value of that access goes beyond science 195 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:25,120 and education. Physical activity can reduce feelings of anxiety, improve 196 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:29,519 sleep, support brain health, and reduce the risk of depression. Creating safe 197 00:15:27,519 --> 00:15:33,040 places for young people to walk, bike, explore, and spend time outdoors 198 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:37,440 therefore supports both physical and health physical health and mental 199 00:15:34,959 --> 00:15:41,760 well-being. The proposed path could give students another way to experience what 200 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:45,920 Eversol already strives to provide. A chance to step away from the classroom, 201 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:50,160 move their bodies, connect with nature, challenge themselves, and experience a 202 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:53,759 sense of discovery. The strongest vision for this project is 203 00:15:52,079 --> 00:15:58,399 not just simply a bike path that happens to end at Eversaw. It is a connection 204 00:15:56,399 --> 00:16:02,160 between the local community, Lancing students, outdoor recreation, education, 205 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:06,079 and the natural landscape. Residents gain a safe place to walk and bike. 206 00:16:04,079 --> 00:16:10,959 Families gain a destination for outdoor recreation. Visitors gain another way to 207 00:16:08,639 --> 00:16:14,240 experience the area. And more than 6,000 Lancing students each year gain a 208 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:18,000 potential extension of their outdoor classroom. The path can serve as a 209 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:21,759 physical connection between two communities that might otherwise have 210 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:25,440 little interaction. The rural communities surrounding Eversaw and the 211 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:29,680 urban students traveling from Lancing to experience it. Building the path would 212 00:16:27,839 --> 00:16:33,680 therefore be an investment not only in transportation but in health, education, 213 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:37,600 environmental literacy, youth development, and community connection. 214 00:16:35,839 --> 00:16:42,880 When a community builds infrastructure that helps people move, learn, connect, 215 00:16:40,079 --> 00:16:48,759 and spend time outdoors, it is investing in the kind of community where people 216 00:16:44,399 --> 00:16:48,759 can thrive. Thank you. 217 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:57,519 » Anyone else? Public participation >> come out from behind. 218 00:16:54,800 --> 00:17:03,199 » Good morning. the giant poster. So, my name is Katherine Getty. I am a county 219 00:16:59,839 --> 00:17:08,079 commissioner from district 2 in uh Barry County. So, just across the county line, 220 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:12,640 um my district includes part of Yankee Springs um and village of Mville and 221 00:17:11,199 --> 00:17:19,199 part of Thorn Township. So, that northwest quadrant, a quickly growing um 222 00:17:16,559 --> 00:17:23,360 area in the state um coming um development pressure from Grand Rapids. 223 00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:29,919 So, we are seeing a lot of population growth in the area in Yankee Springs. 224 00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:36,799 We're working um on a trail project along M179. If you can imagine where the 225 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:43,200 McDonald's is um at Patterson and 179, we want to create a safe um pedestrian 226 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:48,160 non-motorized trail from that corner to the state park um where we have a lot of 227 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:55,039 visitors and it will allow access to our um business corridor. um in a lot of 228 00:17:51,919 --> 00:18:00,160 those residential areas. Um and when this opportunity when I heard about this 229 00:17:56,799 --> 00:18:04,000 opportunity um I I thought what a what a incredible um missing piece of the 230 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:10,320 puzzle that we didn't know we were looking for. Um just Kitty Corner to 231 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:16,240 McDonald's is where the trail head could possibly be for this project. So, um, a 232 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:23,039 great opportunity for us to partner, um, between Alligan and Barry, um, serve a a 233 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:30,240 real population center, um, provide access for Alligen County residents, um, 234 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:35,120 to another, um, whole system of of trails. Um, and then, um, just to talk 235 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:40,799 about trails for a minute, we we obviously we we're still working on what 236 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:45,679 this trail system could look like. Is it paved? how wide does it um you know 237 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:51,280 there's a lot of engineering and design that goes through but but for this 238 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:57,600 project um we we have an unprecedented in in my experience of working on trails 239 00:18:53,840 --> 00:19:03,120 for over 25 years we have um the farmers the property owners that where the solar 240 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:08,320 panels are going to be placed um I talked to Paul letting go last week he 241 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:12,320 is very in favor of this in fact he said he he came up with this idea he 242 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:17,440 suggested did trails as part of this solar project um from the beginning. 243 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:24,720 It's unique in that it's not publicly owned, right? So, we have um a number of 244 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:30,080 um property owners that have um leased their property for 30 years from this 245 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:35,360 solar project, but they also see that there's a potential for this great 246 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:40,240 community benefit um in our region. Um, we have lots of hiking trails in Yankee 247 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:46,880 Springs, but we have very little areas that are safe for people with any kind 248 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:54,559 of mobility device, um, strollers, anything, you know, that, um, where they 249 00:19:49,919 --> 00:19:58,320 need, um, a flat, um, solid surface of some kind. I'm not saying paved 250 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:03,760 necessarily, but some kind of surface like like the Cal Haven has been able to 251 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:10,240 develop um and is enjoyed by thousands and thousands of people. Uh so um 252 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:15,280 obviously we have some some things to work out. Our biggest obstacle right now 253 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:22,080 is to find a government entity that's willing to say we'll hold that easement. 254 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:27,840 we'll we'll be willing to to enter into these conversations to say what will 255 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:33,360 that look like? Um you obviously in Alagan County own public parks and 256 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:39,840 public spaces. So, you know, you have that um that experience that those you 257 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:44,400 know, insurance coverage. You know, I'm dealing with financial pressures in 258 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:50,159 Barry County as well. Um, I understand that we all need to keep that at the 259 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:53,280 forefront in our decision making, but we also need to think about what 260 00:20:51,440 --> 00:21:00,000 opportunities are there to make this a win-win situation where we um can take 261 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:07,919 advantage of something that we didn't even know was coming. Um, this is it is 262 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:14,880 fast-paced. Um, I applaud Eric Bane and his efforts um to really ambassador this 263 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:19,440 project, but all we need is really a commitment to say we'll enter. Let's 264 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:24,799 let's have some discussions. Let's see how we can make this a win-win without a 265 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:30,960 huge financial obligation on behalf of Alagan County. How can we work with 266 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:34,960 Apex, the property owners, Eversol Center, and some other partners? I mean, 267 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:39,919 West Michigan Trails has has been a great partner to help us figure this 268 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:44,960 out, but how can we work together to bring this resource um to Alagan County 269 00:21:42,799 --> 00:21:49,200 that that doesn't really have a lot of that kind of um access? So, thank you 270 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,760 for your time. >> Thank you. Thank you. 271 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:10,320 being hot live at 3381 2nd Street. This trail will go across one two sides of my 272 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:14,640 property. And I'm also going to speak on behalf of my brother that's deaf because 273 00:22:12,799 --> 00:22:20,080 I didn't know this meeting was coming up till last week. I could demand you have 274 00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:24,480 an interpreter here for him, but it's not possible. So, I'm going to speak 275 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:29,200 part on his behalf, too, because this trail goes around two sides of his 276 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:35,520 property. I just took a rough number of say 100 277 00:22:32,559 --> 00:22:42,480 people use this trail a week. If you take that times 52 weeks, that's 278 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:47,280 5,200 people that would be walking beside my property, 279 00:22:44,799 --> 00:22:52,720 beside his property, and everybody else's. 280 00:22:49,039 --> 00:22:59,120 5 years ups to 26,000. 10 years, 52,000. 281 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:08,720 20 years, 104,000. 30 30 years 156,000 people will have 282 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:13,679 walked possibly past my property. I'm concerned not about necessarily the 283 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:21,840 good people that use the trail. I'm concerned about the bottom quarter third 284 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:27,600 and those people are going to be ones that are looking to rob 285 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:32,880 possibly abduct kids along there. rapers, 286 00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:37,919 poachers, and possibly murderers. And the reason I'm bringing that up, my 287 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:44,640 brother that's deaf is physically handicapped also. His house has been 288 00:23:40,799 --> 00:23:49,400 robbed three times in the last 40 years. The last one was as soon as 2020. 289 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:56,880 I lived with him during first robbery. That's a hell of a feeling when you walk 290 00:23:55,120 --> 00:24:02,640 into your house and somebody's been in there stolen your stuff. 291 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:08,559 It's not a good feeling. And it comes back every time he's been robbed. 292 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:14,080 The second time they rob him, they come home, the dog's eyeball is hanging out 293 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:19,360 of its head. These people don't care what they do to your house, your 294 00:24:15,919 --> 00:24:25,039 property, nothing else. My house has been robbed once. 295 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:30,320 So, I've been a victim twice. He's been a victim three times. 296 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:36,720 I'm not thrilled about all these people passing by my property. They trespass on 297 00:24:33,679 --> 00:24:41,279 it and get hurt, I get sued. Pretty soon, the insurance company's going to 298 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:46,159 drop. They rob my house twice in two years, I could only make one claim 299 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:52,799 because they'll drop me. So, that means I eat the expense of replacing my stuff. 300 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:58,240 That's not fair to me or anybody else that lives on that trail. 301 00:24:55,919 --> 00:25:02,559 Not saying all these people are bad, but those kind of people are going to be out 302 00:25:00,159 --> 00:25:07,840 there and on the trail. And not one of these people here has said one thing 303 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:11,640 about approaching the property owners that are beside it. 304 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:19,600 Talk about insurance. Their answer is we'll put up a fence. 305 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:25,120 There's no money tree growing in my yard. I can't afford to put up a eight 306 00:25:22,559 --> 00:25:28,880 10 foot fence around my property because I'd have to go around all four sides. 307 00:25:27,679 --> 00:25:35,360 Otherwise, they're just going to walk around the corner. 308 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:40,799 So now I got to put up probably an expensive camera system. That's more 309 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:45,720 money out of my pocket. I'll have to pay it for my brother cuz he can't afford 310 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:45,720 it. 311 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:52,960 We're going to end up living in our homes in a cave because we're going to 312 00:25:49,279 --> 00:25:57,840 have to have our shades drawn, curtains pulled so that people aren't 313 00:25:55,679 --> 00:26:03,919 watching and looking into our houses to see what's in there. 314 00:26:01,039 --> 00:26:09,279 That doesn't please me at all. I don't care to be out in my yard having people 315 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:13,720 stare at me while they walk. I don't have any idea what their intentions are. 316 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:19,640 I can't even sit in my yard without them watching me. 317 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:25,039 My dogs going to be barking at these people. 318 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:29,919 Their dogs are loose while they're walking. They take a dump in my yard and 319 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:35,440 I got to put up no trespassing signs. They going to come clean it up? Maybe, 320 00:26:32,559 --> 00:26:40,720 maybe not. But if I leave tools out there, I'll bet they grow legs and 321 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:44,080 disappear. It's going to make it hard to sell my 322 00:26:42,159 --> 00:26:48,440 property. cuz I'm not going to live out there 323 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,440 forever. 324 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:57,840 So, let's say I get a realer. They drive in the driveway. Oh, didn't 325 00:26:55,039 --> 00:27:03,039 tell me there was a solar farm there. Why does these people have all these 326 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:07,039 cameras up? Is this a high crime area? No, there's a walking trail there. 327 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:10,640 » Anybody in their right mind? >> You're close to your fiveminute limit if 328 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:14,960 you wrap it up in 30 seconds, maybe. Please. 329 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:18,720 So, I'm just looking. It's all negative for the people that live there. I want 330 00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:24,640 to know if this easement's going to be paved. We can't even get our road 331 00:27:22,799 --> 00:27:27,279 kept up. And how are you going to make your 332 00:27:25,919 --> 00:27:34,480 decision? How's it going to be made public? How do I find out? Cuz I would 333 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:38,799 appreciate you turn this down because all it's doing is going to cost 334 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:41,600 me money and I'm scared to death of all those people that are going to be 335 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:46,320 walking by. And not one of these people have 336 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:49,559 addressed that. Thank you. 337 00:27:58,799 --> 00:28:05,760 » Good morning. >> My name is Benjamin Atski. Right now I'm 338 00:28:03,279 --> 00:28:10,720 living on the Jackson farm at 3480 Patterson which is right here. The 339 00:28:09,039 --> 00:28:16,399 original trail that was proposed by Apex, who didn't really know what they 340 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:20,320 were looking at, had their trail going right through the center of our 341 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:24,880 property, which luckily they decided not to do because we told them not to. 342 00:28:23,039 --> 00:28:29,840 But I appreciate that the gentleman from 343 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:34,960 Apex was here to say, you know, we don't approve of this. Well, they do approve 344 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:39,279 of it, but you know, but they did say that they want they 345 00:28:37,279 --> 00:28:44,240 they approve of the idea, and I think that's partially in support because they 346 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:50,240 have to butter up their popular solar panel farm here. Um, I wasn't sure if 347 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:55,240 the lady from the upper saw center knew that Jackson Lake is called Jackson. 348 00:28:55,840 --> 00:29:03,240 That's the reason you have it. I'm pretty sure 349 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,240 there 350 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:15,360 » you're welcome. There are plenty of trails in Barry 351 00:29:11,279 --> 00:29:20,159 County right next door for people to use non-motorized 352 00:29:17,279 --> 00:29:24,559 and for flat trails for wheelchairs and things. Those trails can be developed. 353 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:30,159 There's plenty of already off-roading trails through there that could be 354 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:34,000 developed. And just to support Jean's point, 355 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:39,600 » Benjamin, if you would just uh address the board of commissioners, not people. 356 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:44,080 » All right. To support Jean's point, I've been a paramedic for 25 years all across 357 00:29:42,559 --> 00:29:49,240 central Michigan from Detroit to Holland. And I can tell you that these 358 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,240 trails, 359 00:29:51,039 --> 00:29:59,679 they're highways for the homeless and the mentally ill to get from place to 360 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:03,120 place. They camp out there. When you're on the trails using the trails, it's 361 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:08,480 surrounded by trash, which is running up against Je's property and everybody 362 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:13,919 else's property. And just yesterday, I picked up a paranoid psychotic who had 363 00:30:11,039 --> 00:30:17,399 been camping out on the trails down by Martin. 364 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:26,000 And those are the people that we want walking Eugene's property 365 00:30:24,559 --> 00:30:31,360 or around these people. I don't even know these people. I don't want them to 366 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:35,440 have paranoid psychotics and homeless people and trash on their property. They 367 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:38,919 didn't move out here to the country to live around trash. 368 00:30:39,279 --> 00:30:47,799 Speaking of obviously that's all I have to say. Thank you. 369 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:55,000 Anyone else at this time would like to address the board of commissioners? 370 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,640 Morning. 371 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:22,399 » Good morning, commissioners. My name is Melissa Brower and I'm the chair of the 372 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:27,279 Alagan County Tourism Council. And I'd like to briefly share the experience 373 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:33,760 that we just had this year creating the Taste of Alagan County postcard program 374 00:31:30,399 --> 00:31:38,000 and kind of like how that went. So it was um you can see I'm passing out 375 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:44,720 flyers right now from April to the end of July. And at our last meeting last 376 00:31:41,039 --> 00:31:49,919 month, we had received 11 postcards. Two were dropped off at the county building 377 00:31:46,399 --> 00:31:53,840 and nine were mailed in. And some of the feedback that we got was super 378 00:31:51,919 --> 00:31:59,519 meaningful to the council with all the work and effort that we put into it that 379 00:31:57,039 --> 00:32:05,200 um I just a couple I want to share with you guys. I met a mother who said that 380 00:32:03,279 --> 00:32:10,080 taste of Alagen County postcard promotion really made an impact on her 381 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:14,000 and her son's relationship as he would call her and say, "Hey mom, you want to 382 00:32:11,679 --> 00:32:18,720 go to a restaurant?" And they would go and they would collect stamps. And so 383 00:32:15,679 --> 00:32:22,640 she just was thanking me and the council for doing this promotion that actually 384 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:27,919 improved her and her son's relationship during the summer. Another person who 385 00:32:25,519 --> 00:32:33,200 received a $25 gift card in the drawing that we had, she said that she had never 386 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:38,559 been to the restaurant, the one that she won the post the gift card for. And she 387 00:32:36,399 --> 00:32:42,559 was excited to go pick it up, try the food, and then visit an attraction in 388 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:47,440 the area which she had never been. So that was kind of a cool experience. 389 00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:52,000 And then also other participating restaurants were excited for the 390 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:59,360 opportunity to have visibility with the postcard promotion program. Also I 391 00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:02,960 wanted to talk about looking ahead. So next year the tourism council is 392 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:07,360 planning on doing another postcard promotion. We're going to do five uh 393 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:10,720 restaurants and five wineries and breweries. So that way there's drinks 394 00:33:08,799 --> 00:33:15,600 and food and people can pick which five they want to go to. Send it in. Same as 395 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:21,600 this year. But then looking forward into our five-year plan that we have um in 396 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:27,279 2028, we're looking at bringing in ice cream shops and coffee shops in Alagan 397 00:33:24,799 --> 00:33:33,840 County to just help get people moving around the county. Also, looking 398 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:37,440 forward, the tourism council has a 10 $10,000 budget and we would like to make 399 00:33:35,919 --> 00:33:42,960 sure that the council has clear oversight of how those funds are spent. 400 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:48,799 We want to inform we want to be informed of and have the opportunity to approve 401 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:52,799 any spending from our tourism budget. We would also like clarification regarding 402 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:57,120 the heritage trail which was originally started by the tourism council so there 403 00:33:55,679 --> 00:34:02,080 is clear understanding and responsibility and funding. Finally, we 404 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:07,600 would like to have a conversation about whether the tourism council is currently 405 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:11,839 housed in the best place within the county structure to accomplish our 406 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:15,040 mission. Uh we would like to strengthen the tourism council and work together to 407 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:19,119 promote Alagan County and its businesses. Alagen County has so much to 408 00:34:17,599 --> 00:34:22,399 offer and we believe there is a tremendous opportunity to bring more 409 00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:27,119 attention, visitors, and economic activity to our communities. We would 410 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:33,280 appreciate the opportunity to work with the commissioners to clarify our budget, 411 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:37,359 review our proposed bylaw changes, and discuss how we can best structure the 412 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:41,919 tourism council moving forward. And we'll be working on updating our bylaws, 413 00:34:39,919 --> 00:34:46,720 and we will be presenting that to you in the near future. So, thank you for your 414 00:34:43,919 --> 00:34:50,159 time and for support of tourism in Alen County. 415 00:34:47,599 --> 00:34:54,720 » Thank you. Anyone 416 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:58,560 else in the boardroom at this time that would like to address the board of 417 00:34:55,760 --> 00:35:04,960 commissioners? Seeing none, Mr. Sedor, is anyone online 418 00:35:01,359 --> 00:35:09,359 seeking recognition at this time? >> Not that seeking recognition, Mr. Chair. 419 00:35:07,839 --> 00:35:13,040 » Thank you, >> Mr. Chair. 420 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:18,079 » We'll post public participation. Um, next is additional agenda items. Oh, 421 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:24,480 excuse me, Mr. Administrator. >> Yes. I just want um just wonder if it 422 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:29,040 would be appropriate to just we had a lot of people talk just to provide the 423 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:35,280 the status so that there's no ongoing expectations or or whatnot regarding the 424 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:37,920 the topic of the trail. >> I don't understand your question. What 425 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:41,680 are you what is your out? >> Well, I just I I think there's a lot of 426 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:46,800 there could be presumption that there's an action forthcoming from the board and 427 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:48,960 uh I don't want to enter into the topic of discussion itself, but I do want to 428 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:52,640 clarify. >> Well, we are at additional agenda items 429 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:54,960 and I guess if nobody puts it on the agenda, it's not going to be taken up 430 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:57,760 today. >> And that's that's basically what I 431 00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:02,240 wanted to echo other than the fact that there was a response formally from the 432 00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:05,280 county that said we're not going to be taking it up at this time. So I just 433 00:36:03,839 --> 00:36:08,880 wanted to echo I just wanted to reiterate that and that unless there's a 434 00:36:07,119 --> 00:36:12,480 different direction from the board no further action should be expected. Thank 435 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:19,560 you Mr. P. >> Yeah I So 436 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:19,560 uh any additional agenda items? 437 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:27,839 Seeing none that brings us down to approval of the agenda as presented. 438 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:30,560 Is [clears throat] there a motion? Commissioner Benique. 439 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:34,800 » Thank you Mr. Chair. I make a motion to approve the agenda as presented. 440 00:36:33,119 --> 00:36:38,960 Have a motion by Commissioner Benvik to approve agenda. Second by Commissioner 441 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:44,480 Dugan. Any discussion? 442 00:36:42,079 --> 00:36:47,599 Seeing none, all those in favor of the agenda as presented, please say yes. 443 00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:53,240 » Yes. >> Opposed. 444 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,240 We have an agenda. 445 00:36:53,760 --> 00:37:01,119 Presentations this morning. We have an informal session by prosecute attorney 446 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:03,839 Mr. Far. Good morning. >> Good morning. 447 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:15,680 I am Michael Lar. I'm prosecutor. I live in Alligan 128 Hill Street in Alagan. 448 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:19,040 So, I've been a 30 35 year resident of the city of Alagan. 449 00:37:17,839 --> 00:37:22,720 I appreciate [clears throat] the time you guys take it to read the annual 450 00:37:21,119 --> 00:37:27,839 report. I assume you guys all received it. Did you all receive it? 451 00:37:25,359 --> 00:37:31,599 » Okay. Um, I would note that last year was 452 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:35,599 difficult to do an annual report because I was reporting on things that I didn't 453 00:37:33,359 --> 00:37:41,760 do. It was all the stuff that my predecessor had done because it was for 454 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:45,920 2024 and I started in 2025. This year I am uh pleased to present the annual 455 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:49,839 report and pleased to let you guys know what has been happening uh since I took 456 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:53,920 office. Um, 457 00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:57,760 it's interesting. I I wanted to share a story with you. I've shared it with 458 00:37:56,320 --> 00:38:02,000 Commissioner Dugan and Commissioner Lovers uh about an experience I had at 459 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:06,640 the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan just a week and a half ago, two 460 00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:11,280 weeks ago. I I was seated at a table with two prosecutors that were in 461 00:38:09,359 --> 00:38:15,200 counties that had five and six prosecuting attorneys. So, they were 462 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:20,640 smaller than us. And in listening to them over dinner, they uh were bemoning 463 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:24,480 their fate and how they had uh a situation with their commissioners where 464 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:28,720 they were having difficulty getting funding for anything. In fact, one of 465 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:33,839 them said that we can't get any payraises. We can't get any spec any 466 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:37,839 additional uh people and they cut the funding for our jail. And he went on to 467 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:42,560 say that they had given that same board of commissioners had given each inmate 468 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:49,040 in the county jail a tablet for them to use. uh all day long. And then one day 469 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:53,359 the internet went out for two hours and half the half of the inmates broke their 470 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:57,920 tablets and some of them actually tried to flush them down the toilets and 471 00:38:55,440 --> 00:39:03,680 within two weeks all the inmates had tablets again. So So they were they were 472 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:07,440 very distressed about their relationship with their board of commissioners. And I 473 00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:11,280 have to say before I do anything else that I appreciate that we have a board 474 00:39:09,599 --> 00:39:15,599 of commissioners that is pro law enforcement and and is concerned about 475 00:39:13,839 --> 00:39:19,440 the sheriff's department and the local police agencies and the prosecutor's 476 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:25,280 office. I do appreciate that. So I want to thank you for that just before we say 477 00:39:21,839 --> 00:39:29,680 anything else. And uh and I do feel that that as a board you guys have been very 478 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:35,359 supportive of law enforcement. When I started in January of 2025, I 479 00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:39,920 came into an office that had uh they had bought the Carpell system or or signed 480 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:44,720 on to it. I guess we got it free for certain number of years and we have to 481 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:50,160 start paying for it in 2027. But Carpell is a paperless system where 482 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:55,440 you don't have paper files. But when I got there, there was h they were doing 483 00:39:52,880 --> 00:40:01,680 half carpel and half paper. So they were maintaining both. And even when I got 484 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:05,680 there, uh, we were paying, uh, each of the legal secretaries, legal 485 00:40:03,599 --> 00:40:10,000 specialists, a time and a half for at least four hours a week, each one of 486 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:14,320 them, because they were so far behind on maintaining both the Carpel paperless 487 00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:19,280 system and the paper system they were using. And you'll see that in the in the 488 00:40:17,119 --> 00:40:22,960 report that I did, I we had pictures of the files that were laying everywhere. 489 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:26,960 And if you had OCD at all, those pictures would would make you drive you 490 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:31,119 crazy. and and they were driving me crazy because when when we first 491 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:34,480 started, if you needed a file, sometimes it would take 30 minutes for people to 492 00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:38,560 find the file. Then when you get the file, you you look at it and there's 493 00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:42,960 handwritten notes. And the handwritten notes are are supposed to be in uh 494 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:46,880 chronological order, but they weren't always in chronological order. There 495 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:52,240 might be things in the corner and not only that, some of the people uh their 496 00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:56,960 handwriting was illeible. So you really you picked up a file and you could you 497 00:40:53,839 --> 00:41:01,440 did not know what was going on and it was difficult to find. And then if you 498 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:06,240 look at the files themselves, they would have seven or eight different kind types 499 00:41:03,599 --> 00:41:09,760 of handwrite, which means that seven or eight different attorneys had touched 500 00:41:07,599 --> 00:41:15,040 that file. And every time someone has to take go to court with that file, they 501 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:19,760 would have to try to to discern from the filing of the paperwork what was going 502 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:24,400 on and where that case was, which was which made it very inefficient. So the 503 00:41:22,240 --> 00:41:27,119 first thing that we did is within six weeks of getting there, we said we're 504 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:32,160 going to go through the carpel paperless system completely pull off the bandage 505 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:37,040 and it's it's going to hurt for a while. I'm glad to say now that the carol 506 00:41:34,079 --> 00:41:41,119 system is working tremendously well and all the the paperwork all the paper that 507 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:45,040 was everywhere is all gone. Our offices are neat. All the notes are typewritten 508 00:41:43,359 --> 00:41:49,520 so you don't have any problem understanding what somebody else said. 509 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:55,200 So that that was one of the things that really improved our efficiency. The 510 00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:59,520 other thing is when we got there, um, we talked to the legal specialists and and 511 00:41:57,440 --> 00:42:02,880 the office and what they informed us of is that one of the big problems was 512 00:42:01,359 --> 00:42:06,880 there was not a receptionist. There was not a person to answer phones and so 513 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:11,599 every day each of the legal specialists would have to take turns and answering 514 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:17,760 the phones and they were already doing four hours of overtime each each week 515 00:42:14,319 --> 00:42:23,520 each of them. So we asked uh what we did is we gave up an APA one position. We 516 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:29,520 had a an open APA1 position when we started uh that had been unfilled, but 517 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:33,040 it was there for us to fill. And what had been happening is we used the money 518 00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:37,920 that was going to fund that APA1 position to fund the overtime for the 519 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:42,560 legal legal specialists. So that was what was going on at that time. We 520 00:42:40,240 --> 00:42:46,160 looked at the situation. We said, if we're going to do Carpel, what happens 521 00:42:44,319 --> 00:42:51,359 every time we get a piece of paper, we have to scan it. There was one scanner 522 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:55,280 in the office and the scanner was in the corner. So every time someone had to 523 00:42:53,520 --> 00:43:00,079 take the something that they had to scan, they had to get up off their desk, 524 00:42:56,960 --> 00:43:03,200 walk to the scanner, hopefully there would be no one else there. Hopefully 525 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:07,680 there wouldn't be a 400page document printing, scan it, get back to their 526 00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:12,319 desk, and then do whatever they're going to do. And that's multiplied by all 10 527 00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:17,599 legal, you know, eight legal assistants. So we 528 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:22,960 would took the u initiative and got small scanners for each station. So now 529 00:43:21,359 --> 00:43:27,839 the scan they get something at their desk they scan it right there. So again 530 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:32,160 it was it made things more efficient. And with the carpel system I'm pleased 531 00:43:29,839 --> 00:43:36,240 to say that when we got there when I got there there was about a year and a half 532 00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:42,400 to twoyear backlog of cases that were waiting around just sitting around. And 533 00:43:39,839 --> 00:43:46,560 now the backlog is gone. So we have cut the entire backlog and so and and that's 534 00:43:45,119 --> 00:43:51,680 important in that there's a couple things why that is important. The 535 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:56,560 backlog also caused problems with this the civil cases not just criminal cases 536 00:43:54,560 --> 00:44:00,560 because when there's a divorce case and there's a criminal case set at the same 537 00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:04,640 time because courts set lots of cases at the same time the criminal case always 538 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:08,960 takes precedence. So when I was in private practice, 539 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:12,560 divorce cases were taking two years to get to trial because there were so many 540 00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:17,119 criminal cases and your divorce case kept getting adjourned and adjourned and 541 00:44:14,240 --> 00:44:22,240 adjourned and adjourned. And now that is not happening. So the that not only have 542 00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:27,760 we resolved some of the criminal backlog, it's also resolving the civil 543 00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:33,040 case backlog. And in in the interior of the report, you'll 544 00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:38,000 see that we conducted I think 12 or 13 trials last year in circuit court. Uh in 545 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:42,640 the previous two years to when when I came in, there have been 36 criminal 546 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:47,760 trials and 24 criminal trials in the previous two years. Uh Chris Dulac gave 547 00:44:46,160 --> 00:44:53,839 keeps track of the you know how many trials there are. and he had informed me 548 00:44:49,839 --> 00:44:58,560 that historically there are 13 12 to 13 uh civil circuit court trials, criminal 549 00:44:55,920 --> 00:45:03,440 trials each year. We are back to that traditional you like the the number that 550 00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:07,760 normally happens. And I would also I wanted to point out that that that saves 551 00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:10,960 the county money. If you have 36 criminal trials, you have to call in 552 00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:15,440 juries, you have to pay the jurors, you have to pay the judges, the secretary, 553 00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:19,280 everyone involved with that. So, uh, I do want to to to 554 00:45:17,599 --> 00:45:23,680 and I guess part of it is for me to let you guys know that I'm serious about 555 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:27,520 cutting costs for the county and and and doing things that are reasonable. I'm 556 00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:32,319 not one of those guys who say, "I'm going to ask for new positions each year 557 00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:35,680 simply because that's the budget game that people play. We don't need a 558 00:45:33,839 --> 00:45:39,680 position. I'm not going to ask for it." And uh and I do appreciate last year 559 00:45:37,599 --> 00:45:43,760 that you guys gave us a a new investigator position because bodywn 560 00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:48,000 camera has been the bane of our existence because our our district court 561 00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:52,560 judges will not let a preliminary exam happen unless all the body warn camera 562 00:45:50,319 --> 00:45:58,079 has been turned over. And Commissioner Belman got to talk to Chris and uh 563 00:45:55,520 --> 00:46:02,880 and he explained to Commissioner Belman the problem that we have is in in a case 564 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:07,040 that has four or five attorneys or four or five police officers, they all have 565 00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:12,480 an hour or an hour and a half of bodywn camera and all of that has to be looked 566 00:46:09,599 --> 00:46:16,640 at and all the lean information which it protects individuals. You have to take 567 00:46:14,079 --> 00:46:20,000 that out and remove it. So, we were tremendously that that was the biggest 568 00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:24,800 problem that we had at trying to get caught up and by virtue of the fact that 569 00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:28,480 you guys approved that position, we are now we're not caught up yet, but we're 570 00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:32,319 closer to being caught up and the delay is a lot less. So, so that's part of why 571 00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:38,160 I'm saying that we we asked for things that I think are going to help us be 572 00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:41,920 more efficient and resolve cases. Now the other thing that I noticed that when 573 00:46:39,760 --> 00:46:46,760 we started is that 574 00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:46,760 we 575 00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:55,680 we had so many young attorneys. We had a lot of 576 00:46:52,319 --> 00:47:00,720 really young attorneys and when I came into the office we had let three people 577 00:46:58,319 --> 00:47:04,880 we didn't renew their contracts. So we brought in three people. We brought in 578 00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:10,880 the district court administrator Jessica who had phenomenal legal uh experience. 579 00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:16,160 We brought in John Blair who is the probate court registar. Both of them had 580 00:47:13,119 --> 00:47:21,040 been pre prosecutors previously and then I brought in Holly Verie who had 30 581 00:47:18,240 --> 00:47:26,880 years of experience uh in family law. So we brought in probably right at the 582 00:47:24,079 --> 00:47:31,200 start 50 or 60 years of experience. I had 31 years of experience at that time. 583 00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:35,440 And then ultimately we brought in Dan Norbeck who had used he used to be an 584 00:47:33,119 --> 00:47:40,960 Alagu County prosecutor. He was the district court magistrate and he's come 585 00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:46,640 back. So we have we have brought in um a lot of mature attorneys and in the in 586 00:47:43,599 --> 00:47:51,440 the attrition part of my report we have lost four attorneys and the four 587 00:47:49,359 --> 00:47:55,520 attorneys we lost one had five years of experience. The other three had about 588 00:47:54,160 --> 00:48:00,800 one to one and a half years of experience. So those four leaving was 589 00:47:58,160 --> 00:48:04,960 about 9 years of combined experience. Well, the people that we brought in 590 00:48:02,400 --> 00:48:09,839 would be Dan Norbec who had 15 to 20 years. Then we brought in Don uh Welkkey 591 00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:14,720 who is from Chicago and she has 25 plus years of experience. So we have replaced 592 00:48:12,079 --> 00:48:18,480 those people with with mature uh and experienced attorneys. And so what that 593 00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:24,079 has done in our office is created a really good mix of of young attorneys 594 00:48:21,359 --> 00:48:28,000 and experienced attorneys. And now we're using that mix to train the younger 595 00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:32,319 attorneys to become more and more proficient. So it's it's a really good 596 00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:36,880 system. It's a really good setup right now. I'm very pleased with it. Um I you 597 00:48:35,040 --> 00:48:41,119 know, one of the things I mentioned or I I thought about mentioning is that when 598 00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:45,920 we lose the younger attorneys, we've lost them bit typically to two two 599 00:48:44,079 --> 00:48:49,920 respects. They they get closer to home because a lot of them are from Grand 600 00:48:47,760 --> 00:48:54,640 Rapids and they get paid a little bit more. Now, I don't know how much that 601 00:48:51,599 --> 00:48:59,839 really has an impact on how they're paid because we've been able to get new 602 00:48:56,960 --> 00:49:03,839 attorneys in that are really good. So, I'm I'm not sure that that's a a great 603 00:49:01,839 --> 00:49:08,319 argument for raising the pay of the attorneys. Um, but it is one of the 604 00:49:06,240 --> 00:49:12,960 things that come up comes up when we lose someone is they say, "I'm getting 605 00:49:10,559 --> 00:49:19,599 paid a little more." Uh, what we've combed that with is we have a a really 606 00:49:16,880 --> 00:49:24,240 forwardthinking system of CarPel. We have a good office mix. We have really 607 00:49:21,839 --> 00:49:28,319 good uh attorneys. And so that I think that's been drawing people in. We just 608 00:49:25,839 --> 00:49:32,079 hired uh starting next week a young woman who was a brand new basically a 609 00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:36,960 brand new attorney and she's going to be put in charge of the district court. And 610 00:49:34,559 --> 00:49:43,359 uh so so our staffing is is really good. And so 611 00:49:41,119 --> 00:49:48,880 with that, I also want to tell you that um one of the things that we did to uh 612 00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:53,440 we immediately did was to create a docket assignment system for the 613 00:49:50,240 --> 00:49:56,559 attorneys. And that happened in 2025 right when we started. We said there's 614 00:49:55,280 --> 00:50:01,359 going to be two attorneys with Judge Ankovak, two attorneys assigned to Judge 615 00:49:59,119 --> 00:50:05,359 Jip, one attorney assigned to Judge Scotches, one attorney assigned to Judge 616 00:50:03,119 --> 00:50:10,480 Bernett, two attorneys assigned to Judge Clearwater in family court, one attorney 617 00:50:08,400 --> 00:50:14,880 who did preliminary exams, and one attorney who did pallet work and 618 00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:19,119 supervised the district court attorneys. Um, with that, what that did is it 619 00:50:17,359 --> 00:50:23,599 streamlined the functioning of our our office. No longer did seven or eight 620 00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:28,480 attorneys touch a file. when that file gets to someone, that's their file. When 621 00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:32,079 so if you get a circuit court case, that is your case forever and hour. So what 622 00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:37,359 was happening before is somebody would get a a circuit court pre-trial motion. 623 00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:41,760 They'd have to pick find the paper file, try to understand what was going on, had 624 00:50:39,839 --> 00:50:44,720 to read it, and then try to do a motion, and they wouldn't know. They wouldn't 625 00:50:43,119 --> 00:50:47,680 know the case. They wouldn't know what to do. They wouldn't know what 626 00:50:45,680 --> 00:50:52,319 appropriate resolution was. And they had limited discretion to to resolve it 627 00:50:49,680 --> 00:50:57,440 anyway. And now what is happening is the people that get those files, they know 628 00:50:54,400 --> 00:51:01,520 their cases. They know their cases. They they and defense attorneys know who to 629 00:50:59,520 --> 00:51:06,559 call to try to resolve things. And because they know their cases, they we 630 00:51:04,559 --> 00:51:11,520 are getting more appropriate resolutions on on criminal cases. Our plea bargains 631 00:51:09,440 --> 00:51:16,240 have actually gotten better for us in terms of of uh better resolutions. And 632 00:51:14,400 --> 00:51:19,520 when I say better, it means people that go to jail, they people that need to go 633 00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:22,880 to jail are going to jail. people that need to have these convictions on their 634 00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:28,559 record are getting convictions. But part of that is because we changed how we did 635 00:51:25,680 --> 00:51:34,079 the business of of taking on cases. So our our attorneys are are more involved 636 00:51:31,040 --> 00:51:38,400 in their own cases and they are able to get better resolutions because they know 637 00:51:36,319 --> 00:51:41,119 the case. So an attorney another defense attorney isn't going to say, "Oh, well, 638 00:51:39,839 --> 00:51:44,000 you have a weakness here and you have this and that and therefore you should 639 00:51:42,240 --> 00:51:47,200 give us a better deal." Our attorneys can say, "Nah, that's not true because 640 00:51:45,839 --> 00:51:52,079 look at this and this and this and this." So I've seen that uh over time 641 00:51:50,559 --> 00:51:56,640 our our resolutions are getting better and better and better and it's partly 642 00:51:54,079 --> 00:52:02,160 because we just changed the way we did business. It's not a huge management I'm 643 00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:07,119 not a management genius but it that part made a huge difference in how we resolve 644 00:52:04,160 --> 00:52:10,760 cases. So that part is is is running fabulously well. 645 00:52:22,240 --> 00:52:29,200 Oh, and I did want to mention that with Carpel, I think starting in 27, we we 646 00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:33,839 were signed on to Carpel before I got here. So, I mean, we agreed to do the 647 00:52:31,119 --> 00:52:38,400 Carpel system and we got it free for a number of years. Starting in 27, I think 648 00:52:35,520 --> 00:52:45,280 it's 15 or $17,000 a year. So, I want to make sure you guys knew that. Um, now I 649 00:52:41,839 --> 00:52:50,400 would say this as an offset to that, we have the Carpel system has allowed us to 650 00:52:47,839 --> 00:52:54,400 eliminate much of our paper supplies that we had to get before because every 651 00:52:52,559 --> 00:53:00,000 one of those cases had a pretty expensive uh paper folder that had five 652 00:52:58,240 --> 00:53:03,760 different sections and you had and each one of them cost a fair amount of money. 653 00:53:01,520 --> 00:53:09,200 And so we have cut down the number of expense maybe by about $10,000 just from 654 00:53:07,200 --> 00:53:14,559 not having to buy the paper files every every for every case. 655 00:53:12,160 --> 00:53:20,480 Um and interestingly Carpel does not have a 656 00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:24,319 probate u module. So our probate court is still on paper but that's because 657 00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:28,160 there's no alternative and Carpel says they're going to be working on a probate 658 00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:33,599 module but so far they have. So, we do have a tiny portion of our office that 659 00:53:30,480 --> 00:53:38,640 still has paper files. So, and what I've done there is made sure that they know 660 00:53:34,880 --> 00:53:43,960 how to write legitly because uh the the other uh paper files were pretty bad. 661 00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:43,960 So, these are better. 662 00:53:47,280 --> 00:53:54,000 Um the other thing that I thought I'd mention too is when we got when we when 663 00:53:51,680 --> 00:54:01,440 I was elected and before I came into office, we met with Mr. the door to talk 664 00:53:56,960 --> 00:54:06,640 about the office plans. And uh Jessica Wimi is my chief assistant and and I and 665 00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:12,319 Steve sat down and he showed us the the plans that had been initially approved. 666 00:54:08,960 --> 00:54:18,079 And those plans called for 21 attorney offices. And I was told that that that 667 00:54:15,680 --> 00:54:22,079 was the 10-year plan that that we wanted to have enough space for 10 21 attorneys 668 00:54:20,240 --> 00:54:28,319 at 10 years. Now, we have 11 attorneys right now. And uh and so when I saw that 669 00:54:26,319 --> 00:54:33,200 plan, all the attorneys were in a cubicle in cubicles, 16 attorneys on the 670 00:54:31,119 --> 00:54:37,680 first floor in cubicles that basically had a front desk, a desk, a credenza, 671 00:54:35,200 --> 00:54:44,000 and a chair and a door. They're very small offices. 672 00:54:39,520 --> 00:54:50,079 And I I did inform uh Mr. Sedora that I think that if we had 673 00:54:46,640 --> 00:54:54,480 more than 14 attorneys in 10 years, I would be disappointed because I thought 674 00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:57,599 that we could do better and not have to have because I asked him, I said, "Are 675 00:54:56,400 --> 00:55:01,040 are we going to double if we're going to double the attorney staff for 676 00:54:59,599 --> 00:55:04,160 prosecutors? Are we going to double the number of district courts and the number 677 00:55:02,800 --> 00:55:07,440 of circuit courts, the number of circuit court staff, the number of district 678 00:55:05,280 --> 00:55:12,400 court staff? Is that what we're going to double? we're going to have to build 679 00:55:08,800 --> 00:55:16,000 another building because 21 attorneys, prosecuting attorneys, what what would 680 00:55:13,760 --> 00:55:21,839 we do with them? They'd have to be doing cases. And so, so I asked Mr. Sedor to 681 00:55:19,599 --> 00:55:26,720 redesign that. And he came up with, I think, just an amazing design. I think 682 00:55:23,359 --> 00:55:30,240 our space is beautiful. Uh, and anybody who's been there, I know Commissioner 683 00:55:28,400 --> 00:55:33,839 Van Beink and Commissioner Belman have been there and Commissioner Dugan have 684 00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:35,359 seen it. It's it's a beautiful space. Yes. 685 00:55:34,160 --> 00:55:37,920 » Excuse me, Commissioner Lovers. I believe it was a comment or a question. 686 00:55:36,720 --> 00:55:42,319 Thank you, Mr. I'm sorry. >> Um, 687 00:55:39,520 --> 00:55:46,319 » given the addition of the extra circuit court, do you have any issues keeping up 688 00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:48,559 with the trials and the pre-trial and arraignments and everything with an 689 00:55:47,599 --> 00:55:51,920 extra courtroom? >> Yeah, if you remember, I came here and I 690 00:55:50,480 --> 00:55:57,440 complained about that saying we might need another spot if all three circuit 691 00:55:54,640 --> 00:56:02,559 courts are doing a full criminal docket. And so the circuit court has 692 00:55:59,599 --> 00:56:07,599 accommodated us and judge judge Baker is no longer having a full circuit court 693 00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:12,640 criminal docket. So her criminal cases are down to three or four a lot. So she 694 00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:15,680 was doing what she had and and then occasionally she'll have like a 695 00:56:14,079 --> 00:56:19,520 probation violation from one of her cases. So they have they have 696 00:56:17,440 --> 00:56:25,119 accommodated us and we did not need anybody else because her numbers were so 697 00:56:21,760 --> 00:56:29,119 low that we are able to uh work those in with the attorneys that are dealing with 698 00:56:26,799 --> 00:56:32,720 Judge Jip and Judge Kovac. So yeah, so that that resolved us up. 699 00:56:30,640 --> 00:56:38,559 » Thank you. And one of the so so with the the the 700 00:56:36,160 --> 00:56:44,000 terms of the 21 21 attorneys over 10 years our goal is to we hopefully have 701 00:56:41,599 --> 00:56:49,599 less than 13. We haven't we haven't asked for a new attorney for those 702 00:56:46,559 --> 00:56:53,680 unless conditionally the well Judge uh Baker but right now we are fully 703 00:56:51,520 --> 00:56:58,559 staffed. We're we're happy with the amount of staffing that we have for 704 00:56:55,040 --> 00:57:01,359 attorneys. So uh I don't see I don't see a need. We're not busting at the seams. 705 00:57:00,319 --> 00:57:05,520 We're not going to be saying, "Oh my gosh, we need two more attorneys next 706 00:57:03,280 --> 00:57:10,799 year." As long as things are consistent with what's happened. Now, this is not 707 00:57:08,720 --> 00:57:15,359 necessarily 2025, but this year, there's a big change coming. uh Commissioner Van 708 00:57:12,880 --> 00:57:22,880 Beek and and uh Administrator Sorrow were with me as we met with Holland uh 709 00:57:19,200 --> 00:57:26,720 the in Ottawa County and for 50 years Ottawa County has been doing Alligant 710 00:57:24,960 --> 00:57:32,000 County cases because there's three precincts in Holland City that are 711 00:57:28,720 --> 00:57:37,200 actually in Alagan County and for the last 50 years Ottawa County has been 712 00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:41,359 doing that. uh we met with them to try to to resolve things because we had a 713 00:57:39,520 --> 00:57:46,400 contract that was signed just before I came into office and within a year they 714 00:57:44,319 --> 00:57:50,319 had asked to re renegotiate that contract. It substantially raised the 715 00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:57,760 price that would pay for their services to do that. Uh, in addition, there was a 716 00:57:54,079 --> 00:58:01,920 a store owner in Holland that uh was in the Alag County section and somebody had 717 00:57:59,839 --> 00:58:07,040 walked out with $2,000 worth of Yeti coolers from their store and Ottawa 718 00:58:04,400 --> 00:58:10,880 County had had declined to prosecute that case even 719 00:58:08,799 --> 00:58:14,319 though that person was picked out of a lineup 720 00:58:12,480 --> 00:58:19,280 and but the guy who picked her her out of lineup said, "I'm only 40% sure." 721 00:58:17,040 --> 00:58:23,760 Now, there was also cameras that showed her car in Holland. So, so they 722 00:58:22,240 --> 00:58:29,280 complained to Ottawa, but then they complained to us because it's our 723 00:58:25,520 --> 00:58:34,000 jurisdiction. And uh so every before every year I have to go to Ottawa County 724 00:58:32,079 --> 00:58:39,680 and swear in all of their assistant prosecutors to work in Alagen County. So 725 00:58:37,440 --> 00:58:44,400 I assume that they have some obligation to me. [clears throat] So when we called 726 00:58:42,079 --> 00:58:49,280 them and said, "Hey, we want you to re recharge that. Don't don't dismiss that 727 00:58:47,599 --> 00:58:52,640 because we think it's a good case. And I was informed in no uncertain terms that 728 00:58:51,440 --> 00:58:56,720 they were not going to do that. If they wanted to do it, we'd have to do it 729 00:58:53,760 --> 00:59:00,720 ourselves. But we did. And the woman waved her preliminary exam, plead 730 00:58:58,319 --> 00:59:05,359 guilty. Now the store owner has restitution and the person that was with 731 00:59:03,359 --> 00:59:10,960 her has also got a a warrant out for his arrest. Uh and so I give you that as a 732 00:59:08,640 --> 00:59:15,520 background. Then we started meeting with uh the Ottawa County uh prosecutor and 733 00:59:13,760 --> 00:59:19,200 everyone in Ottawa County, the Holland city people. 734 00:59:17,599 --> 00:59:24,079 The long and short of it is they terminated the uh contract, gave us 735 00:59:22,000 --> 00:59:28,559 90-day notice, and as of October 1st of this year, we're going to be doing the 736 00:59:26,640 --> 00:59:32,559 Ottawa the Alligant County portion of Holland City. So, our office is going to 737 00:59:30,880 --> 00:59:36,480 take that over. And we don't know at this point how much that entails. Even 738 00:59:34,720 --> 00:59:41,119 though they send us bills, there's no way for us to know how many cases they 739 00:59:38,799 --> 00:59:45,680 have. We don't we don't know. So, right now, we're planning on trying to do it. 740 00:59:42,799 --> 00:59:49,599 See how what what the workflow is and and how much time it actually takes. 741 00:59:48,160 --> 00:59:54,240 Holland is a little different than us because our courts have pre-trials on 742 00:59:52,000 --> 00:59:59,520 for Judge Scout on one day, pre-trials for Judge uh Bernett on another day. So, 743 00:59:57,680 --> 01:00:04,079 we're structured. We have trials on this day. If you go to Ottawa County, it's 744 01:00:01,520 --> 01:00:07,359 it's chaotic. you could have a probable cause conference on Monday, Tuesday, was 745 01:00:05,599 --> 01:00:12,160 it Thursday or Friday in the morning, in the afternoon. So, we've asked we met 746 01:00:10,079 --> 01:00:17,119 with Judge uh Bunts, who's this their chief judge, and we asked him to if they 747 01:00:14,799 --> 01:00:19,359 could do that, and he said no. He said no. 748 01:00:17,839 --> 01:00:24,559 » Excuse me. Yeah, back back to those three precincts uh in in the city of 749 01:00:22,160 --> 01:00:28,640 Harlem, but within Alagen County, >> they they when I say they, the Ottawa 750 01:00:26,960 --> 01:00:33,200 County courts or prosecutor's office can't give you a an average number of 751 01:00:31,280 --> 01:00:36,880 cases that come from that area. >> They cannot we've asked. 752 01:00:35,680 --> 01:00:41,599 » Is that unusual? >> Yes. See, they they just started on 753 01:00:39,599 --> 01:00:45,920 Carpel, so I don't know what they were doing before, but whenever we try to get 754 01:00:43,280 --> 01:00:48,960 they send us bills. They sent us bills and we can try to to res, you know, but 755 01:00:48,319 --> 01:00:52,240 we don't know. >> I wonder what those were based on. 756 01:00:50,640 --> 01:00:55,440 » I don't I do not know. They had to have some kind of tracking, but if you ask 757 01:00:53,680 --> 01:00:58,880 them, can you pull you go to the district court and say, can you pull up 758 01:00:56,720 --> 01:01:03,359 all the Allen County Holland cases? And they say no. And so then we say, well, 759 01:01:00,960 --> 01:01:07,040 how are you going to do it now? And so they're they're changing the case 760 01:01:04,960 --> 01:01:11,680 numbers. They're going to change it. put AL or AC or something on that to to jud 761 01:01:10,000 --> 01:01:15,520 to say these are algen county cases because they haven't really cared about 762 01:01:14,079 --> 01:01:20,480 where they are as long as they're in the city of Holland. 763 01:01:17,440 --> 01:01:25,440 So, we also met with the the Holland detectives and Holland Police Department 764 01:01:22,240 --> 01:01:29,680 and the the the the police chief there, Matt Messer, has 765 01:01:27,680 --> 01:01:35,359 agreed to give us an office space there because we asked Ottawa County, can we 766 01:01:32,319 --> 01:01:39,920 have space, just a room in your building so that when we're there, we have some 767 01:01:36,880 --> 01:01:45,440 place to go and they said no. So Matt Messer has agreed to give us a room that 768 01:01:42,799 --> 01:01:50,240 in the in the police department. So we will have a place to print uh you know 769 01:01:48,160 --> 01:01:55,599 warrants and everything that we have. So that's coming. Um we don't know exactly 770 01:01:52,799 --> 01:01:59,520 if we're going to need uh a person up there or a half a person or spot. I 771 01:01:57,520 --> 01:02:04,079 don't know. We're it's too early to tell how much is really happening there. But 772 01:02:02,480 --> 01:02:09,680 I wanted you guys to be aware of that because we're we're going to be saving 773 01:02:06,000 --> 01:02:14,079 however much we spent on Ottawa County. But again, we don't really know if what 774 01:02:12,559 --> 01:02:20,799 we're spending on Ottawa County is a real number based on real cases or not. 775 01:02:17,280 --> 01:02:25,040 So, we'll find out as we go along. And then 776 01:02:22,559 --> 01:02:32,319 other than that, I think that's about it unless anybody has uh any questions for 777 01:02:28,880 --> 01:02:36,000 because I'd be glad to answer those. Commissioner Benique. Thank you. 778 01:02:33,920 --> 01:02:40,960 » Sure. Yeah, [clears throat] we were in that meeting and I I do didn't like how 779 01:02:38,799 --> 01:02:47,839 that we had no say or you didn't specifically on what was prosecuted. I 780 01:02:45,040 --> 01:02:51,359 didn't care for that. And so I know that the contract's been there a long time 781 01:02:49,119 --> 01:02:55,440 and I think it's it's probably a good it's probably good to kind of move away 782 01:02:52,799 --> 01:03:00,319 from that. I'm curious to see how we end up doing that because from our 783 01:02:56,960 --> 01:03:04,559 conversations, if I'm correct, we do a little bit more online than they do. 784 01:03:02,559 --> 01:03:08,000 Correct. So, we were kind of hoping they would switch up some of that, but we 785 01:03:06,799 --> 01:03:13,440 have to we're going to have to have someone there in person. That's correct. 786 01:03:10,960 --> 01:03:18,640 » Yes. They don't do as much Zoom as we do. The biggest issue that we had is on 787 01:03:15,839 --> 01:03:24,559 their warrants. They do weekend warrants and they have for years made the 788 01:03:21,839 --> 01:03:28,480 prosecutors show up at the Fillmore complex where the judges are, where the 789 01:03:26,960 --> 01:03:32,079 detectives are and the and the prosecutors were actually typing the 790 01:03:30,000 --> 01:03:36,160 warrants and we were afraid that they were going to make us do that because 791 01:03:33,920 --> 01:03:41,359 that would be a huge ask for us to have to drive to Filillmore to be there at 792 01:03:37,920 --> 01:03:48,079 8:00. And so when we talked to to Chief Judge Bunts, he agreed that we could do 793 01:03:44,640 --> 01:03:51,520 our warrants on Zoom and email them to the Ottawa or the Holland Police 794 01:03:49,839 --> 01:03:54,799 Department and Holland Police Department would swear the warrants out in front of 795 01:03:52,799 --> 01:04:00,000 the judge. So we dodge a bullet by not having to do that. They let us do that 796 01:03:56,480 --> 01:04:04,079 remotely. But in terms of uh pre-trials, uh even in Alligant, I mean, we're in 797 01:04:02,079 --> 01:04:07,119 the building and we do Zoom pre-trials because the judges like them better, but 798 01:04:05,760 --> 01:04:11,520 Ottawa County is not like that. So, we'll have to have a person there. The 799 01:04:08,799 --> 01:04:17,440 other thing I would say is that I um it may not be as bad as I had originally 800 01:04:13,680 --> 01:04:21,839 feared because Holland has a city uh a city prosecutor that works for 801 01:04:19,280 --> 01:04:27,119 Cunningham Dolman and they prosecute most of their uh tickets, most their 802 01:04:24,880 --> 01:04:30,240 drunk driving first offenses. A lot of the things are city ordinances and if 803 01:04:28,799 --> 01:04:34,799 the if the person is charged with a violation of city ordinance, the the 804 01:04:32,720 --> 01:04:38,799 Holland uh prosecutor takes care of that. So, a lot of the stuff like 805 01:04:36,559 --> 01:04:43,039 traffic tickets and things like that, I don't I think we're going to avoid. So, 806 01:04:40,640 --> 01:04:46,640 hopefully we won't have as much as I was worried about. 807 01:04:44,720 --> 01:04:51,520 » A followup, Commissioner Vindic. Thank you. Uh yeah, and so I'm curious to see 808 01:04:49,680 --> 01:04:55,119 kind of how that plays out and we don't know and we I've asked those questions 809 01:04:53,200 --> 01:05:00,079 as you asked, chair, uh you know, how many cases 810 01:04:58,079 --> 01:05:04,319 then that's hard to plan for. So I think we have to give you some latitude inside 811 01:05:01,839 --> 01:05:08,880 of that because we don't know exactly what we're going to have to do there and 812 01:05:06,240 --> 01:05:15,119 the timewise spent. But what I wanted to ask was beyond that is in your goals. So 813 01:05:11,839 --> 01:05:20,000 workforce stabilization and retention uh you know it talks about in here 814 01:05:17,200 --> 01:05:25,599 » um and you talked about as well the the uh experience that you've brought in the 815 01:05:23,200 --> 01:05:28,559 collaboration and trying to train new attorneys. Yeah. 816 01:05:26,559 --> 01:05:32,880 » Like Mr. would you just touch on what that what is that going to look like? 817 01:05:30,319 --> 01:05:36,799 like how are you going to is it just collaboration on cases like what are 818 01:05:34,960 --> 01:05:40,720 those newer attorneys how are they going to soak up some of that older attorney 819 01:05:38,960 --> 01:05:44,319 more you know some of that more experience they've had what are you how 820 01:05:42,240 --> 01:05:47,839 are you going to blend that so what we do is John Blair is our appellet 821 01:05:46,079 --> 01:05:52,079 attorney but he is also in charge of the district court attorneys so he's working 822 01:05:49,920 --> 01:05:55,839 with them on a weekly basis and talking about uh district court order is very 823 01:05:53,920 --> 01:06:02,319 fast-paced so there's a lot of things that have to happen quickly they've been 824 01:05:58,640 --> 01:06:07,119 working with uh Mr. Mr. Blair uh on like at uh pre for pre-trials and for 825 01:06:04,559 --> 01:06:12,559 settlement conferences for trial preparation, they have John as their 826 01:06:10,160 --> 01:06:17,039 first go-to, but if they develop relationships with other attorneys, we 827 01:06:15,039 --> 01:06:20,720 we encourage them to go to those attorneys as well. Dan Norbec is a very 828 01:06:19,200 --> 01:06:26,400 good resource because he's a district court magistrate. He was and so he helps 829 01:06:23,520 --> 01:06:30,880 occasionally. Also, the new attorneys, we have Nick Rad, who's a brand new 830 01:06:28,319 --> 01:06:34,960 attorney, and we have um a new attorney that's starting next week, and she's 831 01:06:32,960 --> 01:06:38,160 going to be in the district court. So, the newer attorneys typically are in 832 01:06:36,799 --> 01:06:43,119 district court until they get enough experience where they can move up. They 833 01:06:40,640 --> 01:06:46,799 all we also as they're once they get a little acclimated to district court then 834 01:06:45,119 --> 01:06:51,039 we start taking them and making them do preliminary exams which are felonies and 835 01:06:49,039 --> 01:06:56,319 you have to prove probable cause in the in district court but it's for higher 836 01:06:53,680 --> 01:07:00,400 charges and more serious charges. So we usually pair them with somebody and they 837 01:06:58,319 --> 01:07:05,119 will start doing the felony cases as well. So we have a collaborative we try 838 01:07:02,559 --> 01:07:09,280 to create a collaborative atmosphere where they can go to any attorney in in 839 01:07:07,200 --> 01:07:13,599 the office and say hey I need help. this is this is above my pay grade and I I 840 01:07:11,599 --> 01:07:16,960 don't understand it. And so far that that that's been working pretty well. 841 01:07:15,039 --> 01:07:21,359 We've had we've moved two of our attorneys that are in circuit court are 842 01:07:18,720 --> 01:07:25,359 still relatively young, but we have a lead attorney in each courtroom. So that 843 01:07:23,680 --> 01:07:30,559 lead attorney is in charge of the the the younger attorney and so they 844 01:07:28,400 --> 01:07:35,200 collaborate and work together. So that person initially like Katie Hora um 845 01:07:33,680 --> 01:07:39,599 Michael will go to Katie Hora and say hey I I've got this issue and so and 846 01:07:37,599 --> 01:07:43,599 then if Katie can't answer we have a lot of other people that will work. So it's 847 01:07:41,280 --> 01:07:47,920 a trying to create a collaborative uh atmosphere. 848 01:07:44,400 --> 01:07:53,119 » Good. So beyond that you've you've talked about Carpel and that was a kind 849 01:07:50,079 --> 01:07:57,599 of a big step like going to digital but you're two years in now. What do you see 850 01:07:55,520 --> 01:08:02,720 currently as what would you say your biggest hurdle is left in front of you 851 01:08:00,319 --> 01:08:07,839 going forward? I think that the the biggest hurdle is 852 01:08:04,559 --> 01:08:13,520 is going to be for a while. Um there's two. One is the the body worn camera 853 01:08:11,920 --> 01:08:16,799 that's getting more and more there's more and more body worn cameras and if 854 01:08:15,039 --> 01:08:21,839 there's six police officers it creates this huge amount of of backlog of bodywn 855 01:08:19,440 --> 01:08:26,880 camera. So I think if that's that's where we're we're we're trying to catch 856 01:08:23,679 --> 01:08:31,440 up. I'm afraid that summer's usually uh quieter. So, I'm worried that we're 857 01:08:29,520 --> 01:08:38,319 going to fall behind on body warn camera again. The other thing is is the market 858 01:08:35,839 --> 01:08:42,400 uh for attorneys. You know, right now uh in the last year and a half, if you're a 859 01:08:40,640 --> 01:08:45,920 prosecuting attorney and you want to go anywhere, there's people that are going 860 01:08:44,239 --> 01:08:49,279 to hire you. There are people that have four and five openings. We're very 861 01:08:47,920 --> 01:08:52,880 fortunate that we don't have any openings, but a lot of places are 862 01:08:51,279 --> 01:08:57,600 looking and they're poaching. You know, we Barry County took one of our 863 01:08:54,640 --> 01:09:01,679 attorneys that Aaron Burr the last time and and and he he was a great guy. We we 864 01:09:00,000 --> 01:09:05,759 had a party for him when he left and where there's no animosity, but there 865 01:09:03,679 --> 01:09:11,600 are a lot of openings for prosecuting attorneys. What I hope is happening is 866 01:09:08,719 --> 01:09:15,520 uh for the public defenders offices, they got cut last year. Part of the 867 01:09:13,600 --> 01:09:18,560 reason I think we had a hard time getting people is there was so much 868 01:09:16,880 --> 01:09:24,080 money being poured into public defenders offices that they were competing with us 869 01:09:21,359 --> 01:09:28,000 for the younger attorneys. And uh this last year our our office our public 870 01:09:26,319 --> 01:09:34,000 defenders office got cut a significant amount $250,000 I think. So and that's 871 01:09:31,279 --> 01:09:38,640 happened across the state. So I'm hoping that will ease the the shortage of 872 01:09:36,400 --> 01:09:42,400 prosecutors. So those those two things and I think uh the biggest thing is with 873 01:09:40,960 --> 01:09:46,799 anything if you're if you're dealing with 25 people is trying to keep 874 01:09:44,400 --> 01:09:50,239 everybody reasonably happy. I'm finding that that is a little more difficult 875 01:09:48,239 --> 01:09:54,640 than I thought it was. But I think that's that's always the that's always 876 01:09:52,159 --> 01:10:00,800 the task of making sure that your office is running away that people feel uh 877 01:09:57,520 --> 01:10:05,040 appreciated and uh that you appreciate their work. 878 01:10:02,239 --> 01:10:09,360 » Thank you. Uh Commissioner Lobers. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um go back to the 879 01:10:07,040 --> 01:10:13,199 Holland transition. Um do they give you any indication that you know you 880 01:10:11,600 --> 01:10:16,239 mentioned the case where you know you there was a case they didn't want to 881 01:10:14,800 --> 01:10:19,840 prosecute and they wouldn't let you. >> Yeah. 882 01:10:17,520 --> 01:10:24,800 » Would that be reciprocal? So once you guys take the reigns in all the Allen 883 01:10:22,560 --> 01:10:29,199 County cases, are they going to be quote unquote big brother and say we don't 884 01:10:26,960 --> 01:10:31,679 like what you did. We're going to now try to do something else or 885 01:10:31,120 --> 01:10:34,239 » they can't. >> They can't. Okay. I just didn't know how 886 01:10:33,199 --> 01:10:37,440 that was gonna >> technically it's our case. It it's 887 01:10:36,159 --> 01:10:40,719 always been our case even though they've been dealing with it. Okay, 888 01:10:38,480 --> 01:10:44,000 » which is why as Commissioner Van Beek said they they basically said, "We don't 889 01:10:42,880 --> 01:10:46,640 care if it's your case. We're going to do what we want. If you don't like it, 890 01:10:45,360 --> 01:10:52,400 you do it yourself." >> Now, I will say this, in times past, if 891 01:10:49,280 --> 01:10:55,360 we had a murder or CSC1 of a very serious case, Alligan would step in and 892 01:10:54,320 --> 01:10:58,800 take those. >> So, they didn't do everything 893 01:10:56,880 --> 01:11:03,440 completely, but we we would do some of those cases if they were very important. 894 01:11:00,880 --> 01:11:06,800 But uh but for the most part 95% of the cases were done by them. They don't have 895 01:11:05,360 --> 01:11:10,800 any authority to come in and say anything about what we do. 896 01:11:08,239 --> 01:11:15,120 » Okay. Just wanted to clarify how that relationship will then you know if 897 01:11:12,480 --> 01:11:17,040 that's complete autonomy of like >> yeah it's us. 898 01:11:15,920 --> 01:11:20,719 » It's just a good thing. >> And and before we had no say I mean if I 899 01:11:19,520 --> 01:11:25,040 asked them to do something they would like no they would tell me to pound sand 900 01:11:22,480 --> 01:11:31,360 and that would be it and we'd have to do it ourselves if we wanted it done. 901 01:11:27,679 --> 01:11:36,239 » So I'm I I think actually I I think that it's better for our Alagan County 902 01:11:33,199 --> 01:11:39,760 citizens to have have an Alagan County prosecutor be there. I just think it's 903 01:11:37,840 --> 01:11:44,480 better. So, I'm hap I'm happy with that 904 01:11:41,600 --> 01:11:49,199 actually. And I will say this, what we're planning on for the first quarter 905 01:11:46,480 --> 01:11:54,640 of take once we take it over, it's me and Jessica Winas are going to be the 906 01:11:51,679 --> 01:11:58,640 ones who do a lot of the Holland work because one, we can make decisions 907 01:11:56,800 --> 01:12:03,120 because she's their my chief assistant. So, there's something that's not going 908 01:12:00,000 --> 01:12:07,280 well, we change it. Um, and two, that'll give us a good idea of how many cases 909 01:12:04,719 --> 01:12:10,719 there really are. So, I I think we we'd have to wait a quarter even before we 910 01:12:09,199 --> 01:12:15,360 came back to you guys and gave you an idea of what's going on. 911 01:12:12,560 --> 01:12:20,000 » Thank you. >> Anything else for our prosecutor? 912 01:12:18,560 --> 01:12:22,560 Thank you very much for your report. >> Thank you for your time. And again, I 913 01:12:21,199 --> 01:12:26,880 would invite anyone that wants to come in and take a look at the office or see 914 01:12:24,480 --> 01:12:32,360 how we do things, uh, come on in. Uh, I would I would welcome that. 915 01:12:29,120 --> 01:12:32,360 » Thank you. 916 01:12:32,960 --> 01:12:39,920 Next on the agenda, uh, administrative reports. I know that, uh, administrator 917 01:12:37,280 --> 01:12:44,320 Saro did send that out yesterday, uh, an update to everyone. Um, is there 918 01:12:42,320 --> 01:12:47,199 anything you'd like to add to that at this time? 919 01:12:45,280 --> 01:12:53,679 » Uh, no, Mr. Chair. I guess I'd like to maybe just cover a little bit of a I 920 01:12:50,640 --> 01:12:58,560 guess outline for the U remainder here. if it pleases you and the board. Um I 921 01:12:56,159 --> 01:13:02,480 can address uh any questions that you may have on the update, but otherwise 922 01:13:00,239 --> 01:13:09,600 leave it, you know, submit it as in in writing. Um if there are no questions, I 923 01:13:05,760 --> 01:13:16,239 I'd suggest that uh uh perhaps we, you know, consider a break and go till about 924 01:13:13,040 --> 01:13:19,840 um 11 on the the budget. And then I do have a I would like a brief close 925 01:13:18,320 --> 01:13:24,400 session with the board for collective bargaining. And then just so the board's 926 01:13:21,840 --> 01:13:29,760 aware, myself and the chair have a a meeting scheduled as well as 927 01:13:26,239 --> 01:13:33,520 Commissioner Lovers for 11:30. So, and we got a lot to get done and so if it's 928 01:13:31,600 --> 01:13:38,920 okay with you, I'll yield the report to any questions at this time. 929 01:13:35,120 --> 01:13:38,920 » Commissioners, any questions? 930 01:13:39,120 --> 01:13:45,199 » This time I think we'll go through the consent items and then uh we'll take a 931 01:13:43,199 --> 01:13:49,199 10-minute break. We'll get the consent items done so when we come back we can 932 01:13:46,880 --> 01:13:55,760 jump right into the budget discussion. Commissioner Dugan. Move to approve the 933 01:13:51,440 --> 01:14:03,520 consent items as presented for 821, 828, and 94 of 26. 934 01:14:00,320 --> 01:14:06,640 » Mr. Commissioner Dugan uh makes a motion to approve the consent items. Uh is 935 01:14:05,440 --> 01:14:10,080 there a second? >> Second. 936 01:14:07,199 --> 01:14:13,760 » Commissioner D. Young seconds that. Any discussion? 937 01:14:12,400 --> 01:14:18,080 Seeing none, we have a motion by Commissioner Dugan, a second by 938 01:14:15,199 --> 01:14:20,560 Commissioner D. Young to approval of consent items. Will you please call the 939 01:14:19,920 --> 01:14:22,080 role? >> Commissioner Vani, 940 01:14:21,520 --> 01:14:23,440 » yes. >> Commissioner Dio, 941 01:14:23,040 --> 01:14:25,040 » yes. >> Commissioner Lovers, 942 01:14:24,640 --> 01:14:26,560 » yes. >> Commissioner Beltman, 943 01:14:26,159 --> 01:14:29,520 » yes. >> Commissioner Dub, 944 01:14:27,679 --> 01:14:36,239 » yes. >> Those claims are paid. Um, at this time, 945 01:14:34,159 --> 01:14:41,040 um, without objection, I'd like to take a break till 10:25. 946 01:14:38,560 --> 01:14:45,800 Is that all right with everyone? Stay journ till 10:25. Thank you. 947 01:25:59,360 --> 01:26:07,760 call the meeting back to order. Um, just to establish quorum. Uh, Madam Kirk, 948 01:26:04,639 --> 01:26:11,440 would you please call the role? >> Commissioner Dan Beek here. 949 01:26:09,760 --> 01:26:14,080 » Commissioner D Young here. Commissioner Lovers here. 950 01:26:12,400 --> 01:26:17,360 » Commissioner Belman here. Commissioner Dugan 951 01:26:14,719 --> 01:26:21,520 » present. Okay, we have a quorum. That brings us 952 01:26:19,679 --> 01:26:29,520 down [clears throat] on the agenda down to discussion items 2027 to 30 953 01:26:26,320 --> 01:26:34,719 2027 to 2031. That's so far in the future. I can't 954 01:26:30,719 --> 01:26:39,360 even hardly say it. 2031 budget uh discussion. Mr. Administrator, would you 955 01:26:37,120 --> 01:26:45,040 please uh kick this off? >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, well, as you 956 01:26:41,199 --> 01:26:50,960 may recall, we uh uh briefly started the budget discussion at our uh our last 957 01:26:47,679 --> 01:26:58,159 meeting and uh in the interest of time, the board was left with the uh memo and 958 01:26:54,239 --> 01:27:03,120 the original packet to review. Um I don't contact administration if any uh 959 01:27:01,440 --> 01:27:09,120 questions or additional information was needed. Uh to my knowledge to date, we 960 01:27:05,920 --> 01:27:14,880 have not uh not received any. And so, um, the first thing I just want to do, 961 01:27:12,159 --> 01:27:19,600 uh, again, in the interest of time and not necessarily trying to to read the 962 01:27:17,120 --> 01:27:25,199 memo to you, I want to start with, um, you know, are there any specific 963 01:27:22,159 --> 01:27:29,840 questions from within the the memo that you want to focus? Um, I had highlighted 964 01:27:28,400 --> 01:27:33,760 a couple of things at the last meeting to say would probably be the main source 965 01:27:31,679 --> 01:27:39,199 of topic. So, we talk about transportation and such. Uh those are 966 01:27:36,239 --> 01:27:43,199 some things I plan to try to make sure that we're on the same page with, but 967 01:27:41,440 --> 01:27:49,280 just kind of open it generally first. Is there anything specifically that you 968 01:27:44,719 --> 01:27:52,239 would like me to um walk through? >> Commissioners, 969 01:27:50,880 --> 01:27:58,000 Commissioner Dugan, >> uh one thing that uh I've been pondering 970 01:27:55,440 --> 01:28:02,960 as to transportation uh before we had a lot of contracts that 971 01:28:00,960 --> 01:28:08,880 uh different organizations within the county. of one of them being on point. 972 01:28:06,639 --> 01:28:17,360 Uh we're having that budget hearing for onpoint year this coming Tuesday and 973 01:28:12,800 --> 01:28:23,520 wanted to go and try to understand uh those contracts that they had to give 974 01:28:20,000 --> 01:28:28,560 up because of monetarial reasons. Can we get those restored to help bolster that 975 01:28:25,840 --> 01:28:32,080 transportation budget or is that something that we're not going to 976 01:28:30,000 --> 01:28:38,400 explore? Um when you say thank you when you say 977 01:28:35,520 --> 01:28:45,520 get those restored are help me understand the u those contracts that uh 978 01:28:41,920 --> 01:28:51,440 onpoint had with uh transportation to give transportation to people that were 979 01:28:47,679 --> 01:28:57,760 needed to get to their jobs or uh mental health appointments or just even from 980 01:28:54,000 --> 01:29:01,920 their homes to on point to uh attend their appointments. 981 01:28:59,120 --> 01:29:08,960 » Uh those were all eliminated. are those years back. Are those going to 982 01:29:05,520 --> 01:29:14,239 be pursued as extra context or a funding source or transportation to bolster that 983 01:29:12,639 --> 01:29:20,400 contract? >> Um well, I guess we maybe we can start 984 01:29:16,320 --> 01:29:25,360 with the the route as to um you know why why they were um 985 01:29:23,679 --> 01:29:30,000 discontinued and then and then I guess see what the appropriate uh funding 986 01:29:28,320 --> 01:29:34,560 would be for restoration. But Dan, do you want you want to provide that, you 987 01:29:31,679 --> 01:29:38,719 know, some perspective on what what happened there and then what 988 01:29:36,239 --> 01:29:41,440 how that fits into the current service levels? 989 01:29:40,320 --> 01:29:46,400 » Sure. [clears throat] If I'm correct in in what he's referring 990 01:29:43,600 --> 01:29:51,480 to is I'll be back. >> You're pretty low. I'll try to 991 01:29:48,320 --> 01:29:51,480 » Hold on. 992 01:29:53,760 --> 01:29:57,199 » Is that better? >> Yes. Yes. 993 01:29:56,080 --> 01:30:02,000 » Yes. >> Okay. So in reference to what I believe 994 01:29:59,600 --> 01:30:07,040 you're talking about is back in 2017 there were contracts for service with uh 995 01:30:04,800 --> 01:30:11,280 community mental health at the time now on point and that was to take eligible 996 01:30:09,840 --> 01:30:15,280 clients to and from you know appointments. The funding at the state 997 01:30:13,679 --> 01:30:20,480 level was my understanding at that time the funding at the state level did not 998 01:30:17,840 --> 01:30:24,880 flow into onpoint uh for the transportation the same way that it used 999 01:30:22,159 --> 01:30:28,400 to and so to my understanding I mean that's why the contracts went away. Now, 1000 01:30:26,719 --> 01:30:33,040 do we continue to transport those individuals? Uh, we do and there is some 1001 01:30:31,520 --> 01:30:37,440 reimbursement, but that reimbursement comes to Alagen County through the 1002 01:30:35,360 --> 01:30:41,440 Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and does not come directly from 1003 01:30:39,760 --> 01:30:46,960 OnPoint. So, we are actually still receiving funding for clients going to 1004 01:30:44,800 --> 01:30:53,719 and from eligible appointments with with OnPoint. Hopefully, that helps. 1005 01:30:50,320 --> 01:30:53,719 » Thank you, Dan. 1006 01:30:55,679 --> 01:31:02,320 Please uh Commissioner Lovers. >> Yeah, on the transportation note um the 1007 01:31:00,400 --> 01:31:07,520 some thoughts I had, you know, this recommendation on the budget packet has 1008 01:31:05,280 --> 01:31:14,800 numbers in there to maintain current levels at 100%. Um but the thought I had 1009 01:31:11,679 --> 01:31:19,520 is if we should consider and this may be a card for the horse but 1010 01:31:17,600 --> 01:31:24,880 funding you know if ridership is going to continue to go up over the years 1011 01:31:22,800 --> 01:31:31,280 funding a you know certain percentage above that 100%. to 1012 01:31:28,239 --> 01:31:35,840 to take it in account of 10% or whatever percentage you want to say you know for 1013 01:31:33,840 --> 01:31:40,239 next year and you know so we don't have run into this issue next year and then 1014 01:31:38,159 --> 01:31:44,560 the following you know if we're just this is where it is now well if we know 1015 01:31:41,920 --> 01:31:50,880 it's going to be here well you know we can't go 10 years ahead but just a 1016 01:31:47,840 --> 01:31:54,000 thought that I you know you know and I know that will change some of the 1017 01:31:52,159 --> 01:31:58,000 numbers that are here in this budget recommendation but that was just 1018 01:31:58,400 --> 01:32:04,159 Commissioner Van Beek. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, yeah, on that, 1019 01:32:01,280 --> 01:32:07,679 what what are is there a percentage we're kind of growing to Commissioner 1020 01:32:05,679 --> 01:32:12,560 Lover's point, like a year? Like, have you guys seen like rides? Is that 1021 01:32:10,639 --> 01:32:17,120 growing? Is it shrinking? Like, what is the what is beyond that? I know this may 1022 01:32:15,520 --> 01:32:21,199 be a little too much down in the weeds, but how many how many rides are we 1023 01:32:19,120 --> 01:32:25,920 declining? Like, do we not have enough transportation out there? But do we have 1024 01:32:24,320 --> 01:32:31,199 some of that off the top of your head? I know that's kind of 1025 01:32:28,159 --> 01:32:36,480 those numbers are maybe not instantly available, but 1026 01:32:33,600 --> 01:32:39,679 » uh in terms of what we provide, those are really those are 1027 01:32:38,239 --> 01:32:44,880 quite accessible. I think I have them here in the quarter 2 report as well, 1028 01:32:41,440 --> 01:32:52,239 but um but I don't recall. Dan, do we um provide like the uh demand that's unable 1029 01:32:48,719 --> 01:32:57,679 to be uh met in in there or you know rides just not able to be accommodated? 1030 01:32:55,840 --> 01:33:03,040 » Yes, all that information is tracked with the uh uh software app that we 1031 01:33:00,719 --> 01:33:07,760 have. it tracks all of that information and um I believe that if that's not in 1032 01:33:06,000 --> 01:33:13,199 that report that's something that we can easily provide. 1033 01:33:11,199 --> 01:33:18,920 » So Dan, have we seen like do you have a percentage of growth you've seen over 1034 01:33:15,760 --> 01:33:18,920 the years? 1035 01:33:19,600 --> 01:33:24,320 » The uh Yeah, I don't have that report right in front of me. Rob, maybe you 1036 01:33:22,880 --> 01:33:27,920 have that there. I think the specific percentages were were listed right in 1037 01:33:26,159 --> 01:33:31,840 there. um that was what she had put together was both the growth um that 1038 01:33:30,000 --> 01:33:36,120 we've seen to date as well as anticipated future growth. 1039 01:33:36,719 --> 01:33:45,360 » Um and I just want to be clear, are you talking about the uh second quarter 1040 01:33:42,960 --> 01:33:48,760 report or are you talking about the uh budget memo? 1041 01:33:48,800 --> 01:33:53,199 I >> think it'd be the budget memo. I believe 1042 01:33:50,800 --> 01:33:57,120 that's where the information should be included. 1043 01:33:54,320 --> 01:34:02,040 » All right. Yeah, I've got that up or I'm putting that up on the screen as well 1044 01:33:58,719 --> 01:34:02,040 here. Let's 1045 01:34:08,960 --> 01:34:12,280 share this. 1046 01:34:28,560 --> 01:34:32,920 Let me zoom that up. It's a little bit loud. 1047 01:34:38,320 --> 01:34:41,480 Thank you. 1048 01:34:43,280 --> 01:34:50,400 Okay. So at least from a a high level perspective, 1049 01:34:48,639 --> 01:34:57,040 this is the information provided in the budget 1050 01:34:52,080 --> 01:35:03,600 memo and then in your quarterly um you know service reports you you can see the 1051 01:35:01,600 --> 01:35:07,679 hours of service and stuff over time. But basically 1052 01:35:05,520 --> 01:35:14,080 uh I think in the second paragraph there in particular um 1053 01:35:11,280 --> 01:35:21,120 from our current level the the gap that we're we're seeing is um about roughly 1054 01:35:18,960 --> 01:35:25,840 420,000 that would actually bring us below our 1055 01:35:23,840 --> 01:35:32,239 our current which would result in about 4,000 1056 01:35:30,719 --> 01:35:40,719 uh service hours now to about 3,000 service 1057 01:35:37,600 --> 01:35:46,000 hours per month. So, um waiting to about a 30% 1058 01:35:42,719 --> 01:35:50,719 change um with the 1059 01:35:47,840 --> 01:35:57,040 highest area of impact being employment um related trips. Now, now having said 1060 01:35:55,199 --> 01:36:04,960 that, Dan, that's that's sort of the impact um 1061 01:36:00,320 --> 01:36:13,600 of from our current service level. I think within the um budget memo itself 1062 01:36:09,440 --> 01:36:18,800 though, some of the other questions being asked here are I think more the 1063 01:36:16,080 --> 01:36:24,400 trending over time. 1064 01:36:21,520 --> 01:36:30,719 And I guess from that report that should be in the quarterly. 1065 01:36:27,120 --> 01:36:35,440 » Yeah, let me see if I can find that. I'm I have seen that. So I'll look for that 1066 01:36:33,120 --> 01:36:39,760 here shortly. Good >> as you look for that. So my my thinking 1067 01:36:37,520 --> 01:36:46,560 is and Lake Town has asked this as well for increased uh transportation. Lake 1068 01:36:42,560 --> 01:36:51,119 Town is a ways from where ACT is. So if they call someone in Lake Town calls, 1069 01:36:48,239 --> 01:36:56,560 they're the farthest away of Alagen County where we are here. And so for 1070 01:36:54,560 --> 01:37:02,480 them, like timewise, it's a long time for them to get up there for those 1071 01:36:58,800 --> 01:37:07,679 rides. And so [clears throat] I am a proponent of transportation. Uh you as 1072 01:37:05,600 --> 01:37:10,719 I've talked with some people, they don't they would like that maybe to look a 1073 01:37:09,280 --> 01:37:13,920 little bit different. Do we have to do buses? Are there other things we could 1074 01:37:12,320 --> 01:37:18,080 do? Like are there different types of transportation we could offer? And I 1075 01:37:15,920 --> 01:37:22,400 know in our conversations previously, funding is becoming an issue. Well, how 1076 01:37:20,560 --> 01:37:27,600 much do we as commissioners want to push towards transportation? And then, you 1077 01:37:25,119 --> 01:37:32,080 know, what I'm trying to ascertain really is, is there the need? While I'm 1078 01:37:30,000 --> 01:37:35,520 hearing these people say it, do we see it with the calls and with the rides? 1079 01:37:33,840 --> 01:37:38,239 Like, are these are these growing to Commissioner Lover's point, 1080 01:37:36,880 --> 01:37:42,639 » are they growing? I mean, is this a place that we should say yes, we know 1081 01:37:39,840 --> 01:37:46,960 this is a cost, but [clears throat] how much is this helping the residents of 1082 01:37:44,400 --> 01:37:50,159 Alen County? And I do like the idea of trying to get maybe some corporate 1083 01:37:48,239 --> 01:37:55,199 sponsors which bringing outside dollars because at this point I mean we'd have 1084 01:37:52,239 --> 01:37:58,800 to look at something whether it be some type of millillage, you know, countywide 1085 01:37:56,960 --> 01:38:04,080 millage to try to support that to get extra dollars for more transportation, 1086 01:38:01,600 --> 01:38:08,159 but it's something that my townships have asked about, you know, increasing 1087 01:38:06,000 --> 01:38:14,159 and expanding. And I just want to make sure as we see we're seeing that need. I 1088 01:38:12,800 --> 01:38:18,000 don't want to expand something and all of a sudden we have this expanded group 1089 01:38:16,239 --> 01:38:21,760 and it's not being used. I also don't want to do that, right? So, you know, 1090 01:38:19,520 --> 01:38:26,560 maybe if we had a plan to expand, you know, each year or to look at different 1091 01:38:24,320 --> 01:38:31,119 options of of travel, you know, I know we have some 1092 01:38:28,480 --> 01:38:36,400 senior rides, right, that people donate their time. I think they get that they 1093 01:38:32,800 --> 01:38:42,080 get mileage for that, Mr. Mr. Right. >> So, we have some other options, but I 1094 01:38:38,960 --> 01:38:46,400 just think transportation needs to be continually looked at what we do. 1095 01:38:45,360 --> 01:38:50,000 » Commissioner lovers. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. So we have in our 1096 01:38:48,320 --> 01:38:56,159 my area and Craig's area we have inner urban um and a lot of my area is served 1097 01:38:54,000 --> 01:39:01,600 by inner urban and I don't know if we want to as a county rely on 1098 01:39:00,239 --> 01:39:07,760 trends they have because they are expanding but they rely on local primary 1099 01:39:04,560 --> 01:39:12,639 villages from each municipality to facilitate that and that grows all the 1100 01:39:10,320 --> 01:39:16,239 time and their ridership has grown just the same as our transportation has grown 1101 01:39:14,400 --> 01:39:21,520 but what is the current status of lake that I Remind me. Did they deny to put a 1102 01:39:18,560 --> 01:39:25,119 mil their millillage on their ballot? >> Yeah, they had at one point they were 1103 01:39:23,360 --> 01:39:29,679 funding some of it. They pulled that they pulled that back the right time. 1104 01:39:27,679 --> 01:39:34,000 » They [clears throat] they it was voted on or they never put it on the ballot. 1105 01:39:31,920 --> 01:39:39,920 » They had voted and had some funding for a short period of time to try it out, 1106 01:39:36,800 --> 01:39:44,239 but uh what happened with there was some of what the rides were being used for 1107 01:39:42,719 --> 01:39:48,960 were not what it was necessarily intended. Um there was more school bus 1108 01:39:47,040 --> 01:39:52,480 kids taking the inner urban for school started using school buses. They were 1109 01:39:50,560 --> 01:39:57,679 using the buses for some different reasons and so Lake Town had some 1110 01:39:55,280 --> 01:40:03,280 difficulty with that uh because what what they were being used for. But I 1111 01:40:00,320 --> 01:40:07,199 also don't want to everything gets abused at a time, right? 1112 01:40:05,360 --> 01:40:14,000 But I also don't want to pull way back because there was a few people not using 1113 01:40:09,840 --> 01:40:16,560 it what was intended for originally. Okay. 1114 01:40:15,119 --> 01:40:19,920 Yeah, on this. Yeah, >> administrator Sl. 1115 01:40:18,159 --> 01:40:28,320 » So, [clears throat] I pulled up in the quarterly reports that you receive um 1116 01:40:23,360 --> 01:40:33,280 under transportation. Um this starts to give you some of the the 1117 01:40:30,400 --> 01:40:38,719 the statistics here like the number of vehicle hours you can see for quarter 1 1118 01:40:35,600 --> 01:40:44,960 compared to quarter two. Uh the miles traveled um you can see was up. 1119 01:40:41,280 --> 01:40:52,360 Passenger trips was was up. Um, you know, new wrership was down a bit for 1120 01:40:47,679 --> 01:40:52,360 quarter two. Um, 1121 01:40:52,400 --> 01:41:00,400 trip denials. Um, that's the one. Dan, I guess I would need you to explain if 1122 01:40:58,320 --> 01:41:04,880 that maybe that one addresses their question in terms of when it says a trip 1123 01:41:02,320 --> 01:41:08,159 denial. Is that can you explain why that occurs? 1124 01:41:06,560 --> 01:41:12,880 » Yeah, [clears throat] that could be a variety of different things. Cap 1125 01:41:10,080 --> 01:41:16,560 capacity definitely is one impact there. Um, sometimes it has related to kind of 1126 01:41:15,119 --> 01:41:19,199 something you just spoke to, the school requests. If somebody's like, I, you 1127 01:41:18,400 --> 01:41:23,840 know, I need [clears throat] transportation for my child five days a 1128 01:41:21,119 --> 01:41:27,280 week, uh, those also tend to get denied unless it links up with something that's 1129 01:41:25,520 --> 01:41:30,960 already existing. [clears throat] The other thing that can also show up 1130 01:41:28,880 --> 01:41:35,199 because the way the system works is if you call um, the day you need to go, you 1131 01:41:33,520 --> 01:41:40,000 know, half hour, hour before you need to be picked up, those are also considered 1132 01:41:37,520 --> 01:41:43,920 denied because we require at least advanced notice the day before. So I 1133 01:41:42,159 --> 01:41:48,719 believe they can break that uh that detail down you know in more in depth 1134 01:41:46,320 --> 01:41:51,040 but all of that is what uh equals that trip. 1135 01:41:50,159 --> 01:41:57,119 » Commissioner Benique. >> Thank you Mr. Chair. So and there's also 1136 01:41:54,480 --> 01:42:03,119 correct me if I'm wrong if I called for a ride and it was just a ride to go to 1137 01:42:00,320 --> 01:42:08,320 wherever someone if Mark called for a ride and it was a medical uh to the 1138 01:42:06,239 --> 01:42:12,639 doctor appointment. there is some that trumps that kind of isn't there is there 1139 01:42:10,239 --> 01:42:17,280 like a distinction of my ride compared to some of the others is that correct 1140 01:42:14,960 --> 01:42:21,199 » if that information is shared yes I mean we do prioritize medical I would say 1141 01:42:19,679 --> 01:42:26,000 like the first priority would be diialysis people that are requesting 1142 01:42:23,119 --> 01:42:31,280 diialysis type transportation uh so yeah medical falls into that employment and 1143 01:42:28,560 --> 01:42:34,880 then um trips to the grocery store that's kind of the hierarchy of the 1144 01:42:32,880 --> 01:42:39,679 others prioritization system they use >> is that stuff typically um asked or 1145 01:42:38,080 --> 01:42:44,960 conveyed at the time that they call for a ride. I mean would they say I'm going 1146 01:42:42,639 --> 01:42:48,800 for dialysis? >> Yes. Often that I mean that usually they 1147 01:42:47,280 --> 01:42:53,440 come out with that information. Hey this is what I need. Uh but again we we can 1148 01:42:51,679 --> 01:42:56,721 ask that but they don't have to necessarily tell us but if somebody 1149 01:42:55,760 --> 01:43:00,400 gives us that information [clears throat] 1150 01:42:57,280 --> 01:43:04,639 provides that uh tend to again prioritize those and generally because 1151 01:43:02,880 --> 01:43:08,320 those are reoccurring type of trips that's the other thing that you know 1152 01:43:05,920 --> 01:43:10,159 becomes very evident. Yeah. So, >> okay. 1153 01:43:08,719 --> 01:43:13,679 » So, what I'm saying that's and that's a great thing. I I think we should 1154 01:43:11,679 --> 01:43:18,320 prioritize the medical aspect, but if you called for a ride the day before, 1155 01:43:16,320 --> 01:43:21,679 your ride is now, you know, you're not going to be able to go because of the 1156 01:43:19,760 --> 01:43:26,480 medical, and I understand that, but uh Danny, we looked at 1157 01:43:24,080 --> 01:43:31,360 well, other counties that mimic us sizewise, rural, like what are they what 1158 01:43:29,280 --> 01:43:36,480 are other people doing transportation wise? Are they using buses like we're 1159 01:43:33,600 --> 01:43:41,119 using? Are they using more individuals with cars like more of like an Uber type 1160 01:43:38,719 --> 01:43:45,040 feel? Uh what are what are other people doing? I guess because as we talk about 1161 01:43:43,040 --> 01:43:49,679 transportation, we talk about expanding it possibly. 1162 01:43:46,960 --> 01:43:52,800 Is is buses the only answer? Are there other avenues that other counties are 1163 01:43:51,440 --> 01:43:56,800 doing? >> Uh yeah, thanks for that question. So I 1164 01:43:55,119 --> 01:44:03,600 would say comparing other rural counties, what we have in place is very 1165 01:44:00,320 --> 01:44:08,320 typical. you know, in my 25 years of being involved in in this industry, 1166 01:44:05,679 --> 01:44:14,159 specifically our program, uh, what we have mimics that from a service delivery 1167 01:44:10,639 --> 01:44:18,480 standpoint. Um, in smaller concentrated areas like when you have like one major 1168 01:44:16,639 --> 01:44:23,040 city, you know, so you're communicating between two key points, you'll tend to 1169 01:44:20,880 --> 01:44:27,920 see more like what the inner urban has. inner urban, you know, has that demand 1170 01:44:24,880 --> 01:44:31,520 response and that allows the ability to just call get a ride, but you have to 1171 01:44:29,520 --> 01:44:35,760 have a certain number of volume to make that cost effective. So, in a rural 1172 01:44:34,080 --> 01:44:40,480 county our size, that's where that reservation system is is prevalent. As 1173 01:44:38,880 --> 01:44:45,199 far as are there other options out there, uh it's it's very few and far in 1174 01:44:42,800 --> 01:44:51,360 between, but some communities do have um like a a medical ride program where it's 1175 01:44:49,119 --> 01:44:55,920 it's kind of a hybrid between you have transit drivers that drive cars, but 1176 01:44:54,080 --> 01:45:01,600 then that person has to pay a premium for that ride. It is still less than 1177 01:44:58,880 --> 01:45:06,880 what say a taxi would be or an Uber, which we don't have in our county 1178 01:45:03,840 --> 01:45:10,560 anyways, but it does give that option. That is something that um you know I had 1179 01:45:09,040 --> 01:45:16,719 looked at even you know a few years back. Um the upside to that is much like 1180 01:45:14,880 --> 01:45:21,040 our current program the state and federal funds they reimburse on a 1181 01:45:18,719 --> 01:45:26,000 percentage of cost. So if your costs go up so does your revenue. They cover that 1182 01:45:23,679 --> 01:45:29,679 percentage of that operating cost. So if you did put some type of uh you personal 1183 01:45:28,159 --> 01:45:34,320 vehicle county owned but you put a vehicle where 1184 01:45:31,760 --> 01:45:38,639 you're taking a driver taking one person you could still look at what is actually 1185 01:45:36,000 --> 01:45:42,320 cost to provide that service and 50% of that will still be eligible for 1186 01:45:40,080 --> 01:45:46,000 reimbursement from state federal grants. So in the communities where they 1187 01:45:43,760 --> 01:45:49,280 implement that that has been successful but again it you do have to pay a 1188 01:45:48,000 --> 01:45:52,880 premium for that service and the passenger would have to pay more than 1189 01:45:50,719 --> 01:45:56,400 what if they get on the bus system. >> So what are you talking amount wise? 1190 01:45:54,800 --> 01:46:01,119 What do you think bid currently? What do they pay to ride the bus? 1191 01:45:58,400 --> 01:46:06,960 » Uh right now the uh so for average passenger it's $2 each way. And so in 1192 01:46:04,560 --> 01:46:11,360 this other model, what would it be like? >> Uh last, again, this is a couple years 1193 01:46:09,280 --> 01:46:16,400 back. Uh the communities that were doing that, they were looking at like a like a 1194 01:46:13,199 --> 01:46:20,880 $15 oneway trip. So it could be $30, but again, that often would be like a trip 1195 01:46:18,000 --> 01:46:23,880 to Kazoo, Grand Rapids, farther distances. 1196 01:46:26,560 --> 01:46:31,440 Commissioner Dugan and then Administrator Sorrow. 1197 01:46:29,119 --> 01:46:37,040 » Okay. Thank you. This is going to be quite a few questions. Uh the new 1198 01:46:34,719 --> 01:46:42,560 writers that are onboarded, it's been consistently the same as to 1199 01:46:40,000 --> 01:46:48,639 the data that were just shown. Was it the same increase or number of people 1200 01:46:45,119 --> 01:46:53,920 that are coming on board last year? And is that maintaining across where that is 1201 01:46:51,360 --> 01:46:57,440 the uh number of writers that is growing? 1202 01:46:55,360 --> 01:47:02,239 » Yes, we're seeing I think over a two-year period we saw 1203 01:46:59,199 --> 01:47:05,840 like 50% increase of wrership. I've talked about individual people signing 1204 01:47:03,920 --> 01:47:11,440 up for services. So that growth has been tremendous and again when this board 1205 01:47:08,719 --> 01:47:15,119 took action to add money to the budget uh that kind of opened those doors to 1206 01:47:13,119 --> 01:47:18,880 say look we're not going to refuse. So for the longest time we had the ability 1207 01:47:16,880 --> 01:47:23,600 to do that. We've now hit that threshold where it's like, well, we can't continue 1208 01:47:20,320 --> 01:47:28,159 to grow even though the demand is there. >> And a lot of that growth has been around 1209 01:47:25,840 --> 01:47:31,440 medical and employment. I think that's where probably the bigger concern is. 1210 01:47:30,080 --> 01:47:35,600 Got people that are depending on this service to get back and forth to work. 1211 01:47:33,600 --> 01:47:40,800 If we are forced to take that away, it it just leaves a little bit of a huge 1212 01:47:37,280 --> 01:47:47,280 cash. The second question is no shows. Is that fairly steady uh when bus shows 1213 01:47:45,280 --> 01:47:52,239 up and nobody comes out of the house or the business to get on? Uh has that been 1214 01:47:50,000 --> 01:47:56,880 steady from last year to this year too because it looked like it was fairly 1215 01:47:54,080 --> 01:48:01,360 steady in quarter one, quarter two? Yeah, I think there's actually been an 1216 01:47:58,480 --> 01:48:06,080 improvement in that area because uh we had some management changes with our 1217 01:48:02,960 --> 01:48:10,800 contractor and they've been taking a more proactive approach to enforce 1218 01:48:07,920 --> 01:48:15,760 people using the no policy and enforcing the policy more rigorously in regards to 1219 01:48:13,760 --> 01:48:21,360 make sure that if you don't show you're not reliable then lose your access for 1220 01:48:19,040 --> 01:48:28,400 30 days that has helped curb some of that. So, it's actually proved that. 1221 01:48:25,280 --> 01:48:32,639 » Thank you very much. Uh, let me go to administrator and his hand up for quite 1222 01:48:31,920 --> 01:48:35,840 some time. >> That's right. Well, thank you, Mr. 1223 01:48:33,840 --> 01:48:39,119 Chair. I just, you know, I guess as to the 1224 01:48:37,520 --> 01:48:45,560 as Commissioner Lever's original question, um I think right right now 1225 01:48:45,920 --> 01:48:54,159 giving a brief like I don't know that we're in the position to necessarily 1226 01:48:50,159 --> 01:49:00,320 commit to a certain level above a service level because um well because 1227 01:48:58,480 --> 01:49:05,040 of of this that I I want to walk through here which kind of combines 1228 01:49:02,800 --> 01:49:10,400 uh your question a little bit with Commissioner Jugan's previous question 1229 01:49:07,119 --> 01:49:14,400 of several meetings ago um that kind of brings all this together which is uh you 1230 01:49:13,040 --> 01:49:19,040 know I'm hearing the board say well this is important obviously we we we agree 1231 01:49:16,880 --> 01:49:24,000 this has been an important service so it just comes well how how do you sustain 1232 01:49:21,440 --> 01:49:31,119 uh you know this in the near term and you know ideally long term um I guess 1233 01:49:28,400 --> 01:49:37,040 for this particular year just to kind of cut to the chase on the paragraph we had 1234 01:49:33,440 --> 01:49:42,320 before uh while it gets tight, I I I believe we can 1235 01:49:39,360 --> 01:49:47,280 prioritize and budget that 420 into the general fund without 1236 01:49:45,280 --> 01:49:51,760 hopefully without trying to increase the actual um assessment or rate. Sure. 1237 01:49:50,400 --> 01:49:55,440 » And that's why I say, well, I don't know if we're ready yet to to kind of go much 1238 01:49:53,760 --> 01:49:58,080 beyond that, but taking it in baby steps, like I think we can probably at 1239 01:49:57,119 --> 01:50:03,840 least >> hold the line for 27 1240 01:50:00,639 --> 01:50:09,360 at the current service level. I think for 1241 01:50:06,880 --> 01:50:15,040 uh kind of ongoing in the near term, tying this back to Commissioner Dugan's 1242 01:50:11,440 --> 01:50:20,159 question, well, what about the tax limitation renewal strategy? 1243 01:50:18,480 --> 01:50:24,560 And I I think that has, you know, that was 1244 01:50:22,560 --> 01:50:31,280 one of the original purpose and intents when we put the 1245 01:50:27,760 --> 01:50:37,199 community survey out when we did the um tax limitation renewal question. That 1246 01:50:34,960 --> 01:50:39,920 was one of the things. One was uh you know looking at sheriff's department 1247 01:50:38,639 --> 01:50:43,840 services, one was looking at transportation and one was looking at 1248 01:50:41,679 --> 01:50:49,760 you know debt reduction. uh and I think one the other one might 1249 01:50:45,760 --> 01:50:54,239 have been medical care and we had uh you know asked what people were looking and 1250 01:50:51,520 --> 01:51:00,159 and they were definitely favorable to transportation. Um in turn the tax limit 1251 01:50:57,199 --> 01:51:06,880 renewal was you know renewed to its original 1965 state. Uh the challenge I 1252 01:51:04,800 --> 01:51:11,760 think of seeing right now is we've had discussion to say well do we just go to 1253 01:51:08,560 --> 01:51:16,639 that max? Well, I I would I would be very cautious about going to the maximum 1254 01:51:15,119 --> 01:51:21,679 because well, honestly because I lived in that 1255 01:51:18,080 --> 01:51:28,719 box for I think kind of way too long and as the roll back occurs and as revenue 1256 01:51:25,199 --> 01:51:33,119 may you know slow at times uh really put you in a back against the wall kind of 1257 01:51:30,480 --> 01:51:41,040 scenario. So if you look at the top of this chart, um you know why then when we 1258 01:51:37,440 --> 01:51:48,239 did the tax limitation renewal back to the 5 uh 7, 1259 01:51:45,280 --> 01:51:51,760 you know, it it allowed an additional 6.2 1260 01:51:49,840 --> 01:51:56,480 million, but that's also because it hadn't been 1261 01:51:53,679 --> 01:52:04,080 reset since 1965. Now, fast forward to today. 1262 01:51:59,520 --> 01:52:11,440 um for this. All right, I'll zoom things in the way here. So for 27, 1263 01:52:07,440 --> 01:52:17,760 even if we were to max that out and go straight up to the uh 1264 01:52:15,360 --> 01:52:22,480 » maximum, which has now been rolled back to 1265 01:52:20,159 --> 01:52:26,639 5.3237. So just think about I have to keep 1266 01:52:24,960 --> 01:52:32,719 moving this around. Think about from 2020 2021 that we got that max reset to 1267 01:52:30,960 --> 01:52:37,599 5.7. It it literally rolled back almost as 1268 01:52:34,800 --> 01:52:42,000 soon as it was passed. Like you can see it rolled back almost immediately to 1269 01:52:39,199 --> 01:52:46,320 5.6441. Just since 2021, 1270 01:52:44,400 --> 01:52:51,440 that maximum has now rolled back to 5.3237, 1271 01:52:49,199 --> 01:52:56,239 which at the moment, if we were to say, I'll just go ahead and max out our our 1272 01:52:53,599 --> 01:53:01,360 our millage rate, uh, it would only produce about a million and a half, but 1273 01:52:59,040 --> 01:53:04,360 then look ahead to 2028. 1274 01:53:04,480 --> 01:53:12,320 If we hold the line this year, we don't do any additional increase, that 1275 01:53:09,119 --> 01:53:18,159 capacity actually rolls back to even 1.1 million, which I think is starting to 1276 01:53:14,159 --> 01:53:25,440 get extremely close to, you know, if if we had I mean, I was prepared to say 1277 01:53:20,960 --> 01:53:30,320 like if we had to tap into that to keep transportation at its current level, I I 1278 01:53:27,440 --> 01:53:34,400 I think that that would be a a fair safe thing to do. But I think Commissioner 1279 01:53:32,639 --> 01:53:37,920 Dan, the broader question, I'm going to try to tie a few things here was like, 1280 01:53:35,760 --> 01:53:42,880 well, what about parks? What about And I would say until we get a history of 1281 01:53:39,760 --> 01:53:47,760 renewal, I don't I don't see it. I I don't see maxing out just the millage 1282 01:53:46,000 --> 01:53:52,080 rate. Now, I also don't want to take this as total doom and gloom because 1283 01:53:49,920 --> 01:53:57,280 keep in mind when we say like number of remaining bills, it doesn't mean revenue 1284 01:53:54,239 --> 01:54:03,840 is not going up, okay? It just means the amount that we have um that can be 1285 01:54:01,119 --> 01:54:08,880 levied above our current rate and our maximum and in between. 1286 01:54:06,719 --> 01:54:11,599 So while that's rolling back, I do want to be cautious to say, well, that 1287 01:54:10,159 --> 01:54:17,520 doesn't necessarily mean that revenue is rolling back. I mean, it may still be 1288 01:54:13,520 --> 01:54:24,320 going up by 3% 5%. But what does happen is once those numbers become the same, 1289 01:54:20,320 --> 01:54:29,599 once your maximum levy becomes your maximum limit, then you truly are 1290 01:54:27,360 --> 01:54:36,400 operating the county with essentially only a inflation allowable 1291 01:54:33,040 --> 01:54:42,400 budget. And that's where we lived for a very long time since 1965. 1292 01:54:40,719 --> 01:54:47,040 And that's why it was so much. So the last thing I kind of want to show on 1293 01:54:43,840 --> 01:54:52,080 this chart is even if and so here so here's the thing and and you know 1294 01:54:48,719 --> 01:54:58,639 hindsight 2020 whatever I mean in a perfect world maybe we would have done 1295 01:54:54,159 --> 01:55:03,280 the renewal this year on the ballot um and and it's not so it is what it is. I 1296 01:55:01,360 --> 01:55:06,880 think the next only practical time then would be the 28 election. I mean you 1297 01:55:05,360 --> 01:55:10,239 wouldn't want to have a special election on something like this. you wouldn't 1298 01:55:08,480 --> 01:55:15,280 want to just throw it on like a school election or something. So, when it comes 1299 01:55:12,639 --> 01:55:18,400 down to it, I think this is personally the world we're just sort of living in 1300 01:55:16,960 --> 01:55:24,159 for the next two years is kind of holding line as best we can on like 1301 01:55:20,400 --> 01:55:30,080 transportation and and uh those things. And then I think you go for the renewal 1302 01:55:26,239 --> 01:55:33,599 in 28 again with the focus of the questions you guys are asking is well do 1303 01:55:31,920 --> 01:55:38,880 you want us to build into county operations, you know, viable train? I 1304 01:55:37,280 --> 01:55:44,159 think there's room in that because if you were to get it reset, you know, that 1305 01:55:41,119 --> 01:55:49,840 would bring it back to like 4.8 million. Again, stressing with caution though 1306 01:55:46,880 --> 01:55:53,679 that at each renewal, the more frequent we do it, which some counties, I think 1307 01:55:52,000 --> 01:55:58,400 like Clinton for example, they do it every four like it just it's just 1308 01:55:55,920 --> 01:56:01,040 automatic. And that was our plan. Like when we put it out there, it was like, 1309 01:55:59,760 --> 01:56:06,080 yeah, we're not going to let it go back to where we didn't do it for 50 years. 1310 01:56:03,679 --> 01:56:10,080 Um, but you can see that even in comparison to 21, you know, that was 1311 01:56:08,480 --> 01:56:15,119 such a big gap because it was left out there so long. But you can see in 29, 1312 01:56:12,480 --> 01:56:18,960 even if we do go to the full limit back to 5.7, 1313 01:56:17,199 --> 01:56:24,159 um, which would probably almost immediately roll back to 564, 1314 01:56:21,679 --> 01:56:30,159 you know, you can see that it's uh well over a million less than the original 1315 01:56:27,599 --> 01:56:33,280 capacity. So again, are you going to fund 1316 01:56:31,760 --> 01:56:37,280 every additional service that citizens desire 1317 01:56:35,599 --> 01:56:41,440 just within the operating millillage? No, I don't I don't think that that 1318 01:56:38,960 --> 01:56:46,080 capacity is there. At some point, some things probably just do need a dedicated 1319 01:56:43,840 --> 01:56:51,920 millillage. Do I think that you could fund uh transportation 1320 01:56:49,040 --> 01:56:56,400 uh as we did the first time around? Yes. I I think there's room for that. Um, and 1321 01:56:54,960 --> 01:57:04,719 you know, we could probably have some discussion around like, you know, parks 1322 01:56:59,440 --> 01:57:08,639 at a reasonable level, you know. Um, but that's that's our analysis. Um, I guess 1323 01:57:07,199 --> 01:57:12,080 Commissioner Dugan, you know, I don't know. 1324 01:57:09,520 --> 01:57:16,880 » Uh, hopefully this gets to the question you previously asked. I didn't want to 1325 01:57:14,320 --> 01:57:22,080 bypass that. But uh our recommendation at this point looking for specifically 1326 01:57:18,960 --> 01:57:27,599 at transit is to build into the budget to maintain the 1327 01:57:24,159 --> 01:57:31,760 current service level. And um right now in discussions with Jennifer, I believe 1328 01:57:29,280 --> 01:57:37,360 that we can do that without altering the the millage rate for 27. Even for 28, I 1329 01:57:35,679 --> 01:57:42,719 don't even know that I can say that's true yet. But for 27, I believe that we 1330 01:57:40,560 --> 01:57:46,159 can do that. uh Commissioner Lobers first and then 1331 01:57:45,199 --> 01:57:51,119 Commissioner Dugan. >> Yeah, and I appreciate that, you know, 1332 01:57:48,239 --> 01:57:54,320 the intention of that discussion that I that got started here. Just I just want 1333 01:57:52,560 --> 01:57:58,159 to put that out there for, you know, as we look ahead, you know, what level of 1334 01:57:56,320 --> 01:58:02,960 service do we want to provide? If we know that's is a demand. Now, that 1335 01:58:00,080 --> 01:58:06,159 doesn't mean we can afford it, but if that demand is there, where do we 1336 01:58:04,960 --> 01:58:13,040 want to be? You know, what does that look like? And if we don't do that is to 1337 01:58:09,119 --> 01:58:18,719 your point Rob in the next two years are we talking about more denials um 1338 01:58:15,840 --> 01:58:24,000 changing the priority system of people called for ride 1339 01:58:20,800 --> 01:58:29,280 sorry we've changed the system you don't or raising rates 1340 01:58:26,560 --> 01:58:33,520 um you know all to be determined what does that look 1341 01:58:30,800 --> 01:58:38,880 like right I mean in the event that of those scenarios so I just wanted getting 1342 01:58:36,480 --> 01:58:41,119 out there as a discussion starter. So, thank you, 1343 01:58:39,280 --> 01:58:46,320 » Commissioner Dugan. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to take 1344 01:58:44,320 --> 01:58:55,679 the board down memory lane here a little bit of in our 2026 budget of we had a 1345 01:58:52,560 --> 01:59:02,119 debt plan. We were going to think about playing paying off our debt and that 1346 01:58:57,760 --> 01:59:02,119 would have given us a 1.298 1347 01:59:02,239 --> 01:59:12,320 million in interest. If we pay that off, is that interest 1348 01:59:09,520 --> 01:59:19,679 the accumulated amount that we can go and budget put into the budget other 1349 01:59:15,280 --> 01:59:26,080 places or is that a lump sum of what the remaining years were going to be? 1350 01:59:22,159 --> 01:59:33,599 Because in my analysis of this, if we have 1.29 29 after paying the debt off 1351 01:59:30,159 --> 01:59:41,199 that we don't have to pay in interest. Where can we go and massage the budget 1352 01:59:36,960 --> 01:59:46,560 with that money to maintain services and keep things rolling along uh 1353 01:59:44,960 --> 01:59:50,080 strategically stable? 1354 01:59:48,239 --> 01:59:52,880 » Well, I think it comes down to so so essentially what it comes down to is the 1355 01:59:51,360 --> 01:59:56,880 debt service payment. You know, the payment being in the the budget. So the 1356 01:59:55,119 --> 02:00:01,760 interest becomes, you know, certainly a a savings, but that's also part of the, 1357 01:59:59,440 --> 02:00:07,760 you know, the payment of course as well. >> Um, right now the debt service is still 1358 02:00:04,080 --> 02:00:14,639 built into the budget. Uh, we are, you know, on track to at at a minimum pay 1359 02:00:11,119 --> 02:00:20,080 the um pension bond, you know, off a little early. Uh what I guess the 1360 02:00:17,920 --> 02:00:24,639 caution point that I would see at this point is 1361 02:00:22,800 --> 02:00:30,719 understanding some of the other needs that we've you know discussed 1362 02:00:26,639 --> 02:00:36,480 particularly by way of capital. Um, I don't I don't necessarily see us being 1363 02:00:33,520 --> 02:00:43,520 able to fully take out the debt payment and just sort of reallocate 1364 02:00:38,800 --> 02:00:50,639 that to services because our capital as you know still starts from a roughly u 1365 02:00:48,320 --> 02:00:56,239 what is it Jen about 1.3 million kind of starting point. 1366 02:00:53,440 --> 02:00:59,679 » Yes, it starts at 1.3 for the revenue share. Is that your what you're 1367 02:00:57,679 --> 02:01:02,159 referring to? correct? Yeah. >> Yes. 1368 02:01:00,560 --> 02:01:06,480 » And then uh you know and then there's a percentage split up above that for it. 1369 02:01:04,719 --> 02:01:12,000 There's increased revenue sharing things of that nature. But my concern is 1370 02:01:09,599 --> 02:01:16,400 whether you look at it in terms of uh major infrastructure like you know 1371 02:01:14,480 --> 02:01:21,280 additional building needs or renovations or whether you look at it as the ongoing 1372 02:01:18,800 --> 02:01:26,800 capital for like vehicles and such. Either way, each year we've actually 1373 02:01:23,280 --> 02:01:30,560 been sort of taking from the um liability syncing fund in order to pay 1374 02:01:28,880 --> 02:01:36,400 for some of that capital. >> Uh just last year uh or going into this 1375 02:01:33,440 --> 02:01:42,639 year alone, I mean some of those axon uh cost as you saw were uh what John 1376 02:01:39,760 --> 02:01:48,880 like 500,000 over three years something. >> Yes. might have split it out, but you 1377 02:01:45,199 --> 02:01:53,040 know, and I don't I don't see body cameras, things like that going away 1378 02:01:50,560 --> 02:01:57,360 anytime soon. So, and I don't see the cost plummeting anytime soon. Um, so 1379 02:01:56,080 --> 02:02:03,360 that's where I would say I think you're on the right track in terms of Yes. I 1380 02:02:00,480 --> 02:02:10,159 think that the debt service payment can hopefully either be rerouted to your 1381 02:02:06,560 --> 02:02:15,840 other infrastructure projects or um other capital, but I don't see a large 1382 02:02:12,880 --> 02:02:21,920 amount that we could maintain those infrastructure capital needs 1383 02:02:19,280 --> 02:02:26,239 and also divert all of those dollars into services because once you put it 1384 02:02:24,239 --> 02:02:30,400 towards services, it's, you know, it's kind of gone. And and then that's kind 1385 02:02:28,159 --> 02:02:37,360 of been our strategy here is uh you know this year we are taking a very minimal 1386 02:02:34,400 --> 02:02:42,320 approach on like new positions. We trying to get our contracts you know 1387 02:02:40,239 --> 02:02:47,599 settled in advance that the message was definitely put out to employ groups like 1388 02:02:45,440 --> 02:02:52,000 you know obviously we'll negotiate we'll do everything but the reality is from a 1389 02:02:49,599 --> 02:02:56,320 money perspective I mean we're trying to prioritize those needs. take it while 1390 02:02:54,560 --> 02:03:00,639 you can because we have a lot of other needs. So, I've been trying to let 1391 02:02:58,719 --> 02:03:06,719 groups know like if this is not, you know, this is a very nice package that's 1392 02:03:03,679 --> 02:03:10,080 been presented. Um, but it is, you know, some of the things we've offered are 1393 02:03:08,239 --> 02:03:13,679 sort of one time because if we can't get agreement now, like we got to so that's 1394 02:03:11,760 --> 02:03:18,159 why I'm even saying like, well, I think we probably can get the transportation 1395 02:03:16,400 --> 02:03:22,320 thing into the budget and and some of those, but you know, again, dollars have 1396 02:03:20,000 --> 02:03:25,280 to go one way or the other. So, so I think right now if we can get the 1397 02:03:23,599 --> 02:03:29,280 contracts in place, we'll know for the most part what our personnel cost over 1398 02:03:27,040 --> 02:03:33,920 the next couple years will be, pay the debt portion off, use the debt service 1399 02:03:32,320 --> 02:03:39,280 to help balance out some of these infrastructure needs that we've been, 1400 02:03:36,080 --> 02:03:44,480 you know, kind of behind on, um, and then, um, you know, at this point, at 1401 02:03:41,679 --> 02:03:51,679 least prioritize transportation and work sparingly within that, um, 1402 02:03:49,440 --> 02:03:57,920 within at millage maximum and to me I would say 1403 02:03:55,440 --> 02:04:00,880 you know see what happens at the 28. I mean if you guys decide to put it out 1404 02:03:59,119 --> 02:04:06,480 there but my recommendation following the board's previous decisions was to uh 1405 02:04:04,320 --> 02:04:12,880 definitely not let too much time go by before renewal. And so if you can get 1406 02:04:08,880 --> 02:04:17,599 that tax limitation renewed in 28, um then I think you know you'll have 1407 02:04:15,679 --> 02:04:21,840 some more viable discussion for some of the increased service and parks. If it 1408 02:04:20,320 --> 02:04:26,080 doesn't get renewed, I think that's going to honestly push you into either a 1409 02:04:24,400 --> 02:04:31,119 what can we look at for dedicated millillage or frankly just say hey this 1410 02:04:28,400 --> 02:04:35,119 is we're just back to basic operations. So that's that's the picture. 1411 02:04:32,719 --> 02:04:39,599 » Yeah, I I think 2028 is our first opportunity to do that. Um, and I know 1412 02:04:38,080 --> 02:04:44,960 that's a ways out, but I think we can get there. Commissioner Dugan. 1413 02:04:41,280 --> 02:04:49,520 » Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. And to to broaden that discussion, 1414 02:04:47,920 --> 02:04:55,360 I would like to hear from administration. 1415 02:04:52,159 --> 02:05:03,360 If the proposal is is to put this tax limitation budget question on the 28 1416 02:04:59,679 --> 02:05:10,880 ballot, when does administration have to let what's the drop dead date as to the 1417 02:05:07,119 --> 02:05:14,639 commission acting to put this? If you need to have it within the next six 1418 02:05:12,719 --> 02:05:20,719 months, this is the course we're going to go ahead and do. put it in 1419 02:05:18,480 --> 02:05:26,960 sync that this board wants to have it done or if it's going to be within the 1420 02:05:22,960 --> 02:05:32,239 next 12 months of sometime towards the end of 27 that yep, we're putting it on. 1421 02:05:30,400 --> 02:05:39,520 This is where we're going so we can get to the public uh succinctly educated as 1422 02:05:35,840 --> 02:05:45,360 to what we're facing if we if it's not passed. Absolutely. 1423 02:05:42,320 --> 02:05:52,800 » So, I I guess I'd like to have that time frame uh pretty well in our uh 1424 02:05:49,360 --> 02:05:58,880 administrative report uh sometime as to when we need to absolutely act of to to 1425 02:05:57,360 --> 02:06:02,639 make sure that we don't trip our own selves up. 1426 02:06:00,800 --> 02:06:06,880 I I think we'll be able you know the nice thing in looking ahead at that is 1427 02:06:05,199 --> 02:06:12,400 uh the last time you know we had to do a significant amount of legal research and 1428 02:06:10,719 --> 02:06:18,960 FAQ and you know um really building that 1429 02:06:15,920 --> 02:06:24,239 information. Um luckily I still you know I've kind of maintained sort of a packet 1430 02:06:21,360 --> 02:06:27,440 for that. Um I think the biggest things that'll be so I think most of it's going 1431 02:06:26,000 --> 02:06:31,599 to be able to happen just with just within 28. Still the biggest question 1432 02:06:29,840 --> 02:06:38,239 will be you know do you want August or November of course and then um from 1433 02:06:35,440 --> 02:06:44,000 there just the board especially our our um newer members which not really new 1434 02:06:40,400 --> 02:06:50,000 anymore but kind of new new IST members um there is actually a committee that 1435 02:06:47,199 --> 02:06:54,880 has to be formed that has a predetermined 1436 02:06:52,400 --> 02:06:59,520 membership in terms of the representation. So you and and there's 1437 02:06:57,360 --> 02:07:03,280 different parties that choose different members. So the probate judge has a 1438 02:07:01,280 --> 02:07:08,400 certain appointment, the board makes certain appointments, but basically that 1439 02:07:05,760 --> 02:07:14,880 committee gets together and they actually have to make the recommendation 1440 02:07:10,239 --> 02:07:19,280 for the um tax limitation renewal. So that's the part I think it's a great 1441 02:07:16,400 --> 02:07:25,360 question that I would say at a minimum you know you want to probably do that um 1442 02:07:22,480 --> 02:07:29,840 you know a few months in advance of you know whatever u 1443 02:07:28,480 --> 02:07:32,960 uh ballot you'd want that on >> and that was 2020 was last thought 1444 02:07:32,239 --> 02:07:35,960 correct >> correct 1445 02:07:36,719 --> 02:07:40,560 be >> thank you m chair would it be 1446 02:07:38,320 --> 02:07:45,679 advantageous when we get closer into that to have some type of plan laid out 1447 02:07:43,679 --> 02:07:51,280 of over doing what the plan is to do with that because if we just want to 1448 02:07:47,599 --> 02:07:54,880 reset it, they're going to say why. Like is is there any and I don't know if that 1449 02:07:53,360 --> 02:07:58,800 is the right thing to do or not, but is there any discussion of laying out like 1450 02:07:56,960 --> 02:08:03,040 what these dollars would be allocated towards if you go ahead and renew this? 1451 02:08:01,119 --> 02:08:06,719 I I don't know how that goes. >> Well, I think the the best way would be 1452 02:08:04,800 --> 02:08:10,400 to, you know, again, we we we created a lot of information on that the last 1453 02:08:08,239 --> 02:08:14,639 time. I think the best thing would be to walk through that in terms of, you know, 1454 02:08:12,880 --> 02:08:18,880 okay, let's update this. What do we want? What one of the key things to keep 1455 02:08:16,480 --> 02:08:21,440 in mind though that that I think um it's kind of like the dispatch search charge 1456 02:08:20,320 --> 02:08:24,079 like sometimes you're doing a search charge and people are like, well, it's a 1457 02:08:22,639 --> 02:08:28,239 millage and it's like, well, that's not it's not a millillage. You're actually 1458 02:08:25,360 --> 02:08:33,119 setting a maximum of the search charge. Same thing in this case like in and 1459 02:08:30,719 --> 02:08:38,320 again other there are other counties that it doesn't automatically result in 1460 02:08:36,159 --> 02:08:42,320 a levy. That's the people that's the hardest thing I think for people and 1461 02:08:39,760 --> 02:08:47,840 it's a trust issue too. But so for example you could increase the maximum 1462 02:08:45,119 --> 02:08:51,520 and that's no additional which in many ways I mean again that's 1463 02:08:49,360 --> 02:08:54,880 our goal I would say do recommend you know people look at way they say oh it 1464 02:08:53,520 --> 02:08:57,760 was you know it's less taxes they're not at their limit. It's like, well, yeah, 1465 02:08:56,239 --> 02:09:01,040 because you know, like they're they're not at their limit. And that's so I 1466 02:08:59,199 --> 02:09:07,360 think that's where we want to stay is not necessarily like vote for this and 1467 02:09:05,199 --> 02:09:13,440 it's going to automatically pay for, you know, but but more like we're just 1468 02:09:10,159 --> 02:09:17,599 renewing what they originally set as our limit. You know, they're really putting 1469 02:09:14,880 --> 02:09:22,400 the limit in place. It's just basically keeping it instead beyond, you know, 1470 02:09:19,360 --> 02:09:26,639 with with the headly roll backs. But we did marry that with yes, this will 1471 02:09:24,719 --> 02:09:30,480 create some room and here's some needs identified. So what we did was we built 1472 02:09:28,800 --> 02:09:36,320 those questions into the community survey. We got those results and then 1473 02:09:33,440 --> 02:09:41,199 that translated into okay, if we do have some room in our limit, we'll add some 1474 02:09:38,480 --> 02:09:43,840 deputies do transportation. And so so yeah, there's a process that we can go 1475 02:09:42,560 --> 02:09:47,679 through. And like I said, the nice thing is we've got all the documentation now 1476 02:09:46,159 --> 02:09:51,199 that we used last time. And we we actually even had like a project website 1477 02:09:49,199 --> 02:09:54,320 that we still have that that kind of answered all these questions. So 1478 02:09:53,119 --> 02:09:58,239 » I just think a lot of people don't understand the heavy roll back aspect. A 1479 02:09:56,719 --> 02:10:02,639 lot of the voters don't understand what that is specifically. So 1480 02:10:00,719 --> 02:10:07,040 » but to your point, Commissioner Benique though, I would be a little hesitant to 1481 02:10:04,639 --> 02:10:12,719 just spell it out too specifically because I I don't want to tie our hands 1482 02:10:09,840 --> 02:10:18,560 that it has to be used just for those things because it's a it's a dynamic 1483 02:10:14,639 --> 02:10:25,119 thing. It changes it. constantly and and the priorities um may or may not change. 1484 02:10:22,800 --> 02:10:30,239 Um we could show some of the some of the deficits that we have and and here's the 1485 02:10:27,679 --> 02:10:36,000 need and here's why and here's what this will do, 1486 02:10:32,800 --> 02:10:39,920 but not not to I mean just that's just me talking not to lock it in that we're 1487 02:10:37,840 --> 02:10:44,159 going to specifically use it for this because it could limit what we what we 1488 02:10:42,239 --> 02:10:48,239 do in the future. Makes sense because if something else comes up then we we've 1489 02:10:46,239 --> 02:10:52,000 kind of pigeon our fold ourselves into that. So good point. 1490 02:10:50,880 --> 02:10:54,719 » Point of order. >> Yes. 1491 02:10:52,480 --> 02:10:58,560 » Uh you had mentioned before that we needed to sort of wrap this up by 11:00 1492 02:10:57,520 --> 02:11:04,560 to >> uh get into a close session. 1493 02:11:00,639 --> 02:11:07,920 » We we we we should. Um anything else? Any questions for administration that 1494 02:11:06,239 --> 02:11:12,480 they need to work on before we have our next meeting? I guess we can any 1495 02:11:10,719 --> 02:11:15,440 commissioners have something some homework. 1496 02:11:14,400 --> 02:11:20,079 Administrator Saro >> I would just ask to confirm and again 1497 02:11:17,280 --> 02:11:24,159 this isn't final but next so the plan is next budget next budget meeting would be 1498 02:11:22,079 --> 02:11:29,360 essentially the final in terms of saying yes we authorize this budget to be put 1499 02:11:26,239 --> 02:11:33,679 out for public review and scheduled a public hearing for October. That said 1500 02:11:32,000 --> 02:11:37,840 and I don't I don't really need a formal action here. I just want to make sure 1501 02:11:34,639 --> 02:11:42,719 we're on the same page. So, are you is there any concern with us presenting you 1502 02:11:40,320 --> 02:11:48,159 with a budget then that prioritizes and builds in um you know maintaining 1503 02:11:46,159 --> 02:11:54,719 transportation at at least its current level to make up this roughly 420,000 1504 02:11:52,320 --> 02:11:59,440 gap which in turn will also bring in an additional 400,000 in federal and state 1505 02:11:56,800 --> 02:12:04,560 fund. Is anybody concerned with us presenting you that budget to maintain 1506 02:12:02,079 --> 02:12:09,199 that service for 27? >> No. and looking around the room by head 1507 02:12:06,800 --> 02:12:13,599 nods. I think that's a good uh plan forward and that way it gets out there 1508 02:12:10,960 --> 02:12:16,239 and we can work with it from there. >> I think that was really the biggest 1509 02:12:14,960 --> 02:12:20,400 thing. I mean, of course, if there's other details stuff we can, you know, 1510 02:12:18,079 --> 02:12:24,639 talk about the next meeting, but uh that's helpful. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 1511 02:12:23,040 --> 02:12:30,400 » Okay, moving along on the agenda. Um we have 1512 02:12:27,360 --> 02:12:35,040 no action items, no planning items. It brings us down to public participation. 1513 02:12:32,800 --> 02:12:38,800 Um, is there anyone that would like to address the board of commissioners at 1514 02:12:36,320 --> 02:12:42,960 this time? Seeing none in the boardroom, Mr. Sedor, 1515 02:12:41,360 --> 02:12:46,639 is there anyone online seeking recognition? 1516 02:12:45,040 --> 02:12:50,079 » Not that's seeking recognition, Mr. Chair. 1517 02:12:47,840 --> 02:12:53,920 » Okay. Thank you. Uh, future agenda items. Uh, 1518 02:12:52,079 --> 02:13:00,239 Commissioner Lobers, we do the opening prayer. Um, we'll have our consent 1519 02:12:56,880 --> 02:13:04,320 items. Um action items will be the final budget and set the public hearing for 1520 02:13:02,159 --> 02:13:08,960 2027. Uh is there any requests for mileage at 1521 02:13:06,320 --> 02:13:14,360 this time? Seeing none boards and commission 1522 02:13:11,360 --> 02:13:14,360 reports. 1523 02:13:15,360 --> 02:13:22,239 Seeing none in the interest of time. Thank goodness. Um 1524 02:13:20,320 --> 02:13:25,719 any any discussions for round table amongst commissioners? 1525 02:13:26,159 --> 02:13:34,000 » Commissioner lovers >> um yesterday I had privilege of seeing 1526 02:13:31,119 --> 02:13:38,960 the I've been to it before but the uh G Lake Drive did the surgeon release at at 1527 02:13:36,960 --> 02:13:43,440 New Richmond County Park which is kind of neat to see. They do a little 1528 02:13:41,199 --> 02:13:48,239 ceremony with some music and you know the the ways of the tribe what they do 1529 02:13:46,239 --> 02:13:51,760 and and it was kind of neat if you ever get a chance another year to to to 1530 02:13:50,480 --> 02:13:56,719 witness it. It's kind of cool and they were 16 sturgeon like that. So anyway, 1531 02:13:55,280 --> 02:14:03,119 just wanted to mention that that it's kind of a neat opportunity to attend. 1532 02:14:00,400 --> 02:14:09,920 Thank you. Commissioner Dugan, >> I'd like to recognize Whitney Heirsman 1533 02:14:06,079 --> 02:14:16,320 uh as to her recognition nationally uh for the dedication that she has shown uh 1534 02:14:13,520 --> 02:14:23,599 providing our transportation and Dan's hiring for uh compliment him on looking 1535 02:14:19,840 --> 02:14:29,520 at uh finding real talent and u thanking her for uh bringing a lot of honor back 1536 02:14:26,800 --> 02:14:35,400 to Alo County. >> Good. Anything else for round table? 1537 02:14:36,560 --> 02:14:43,119 Seeing none, that takes us down to next on the agenda would be close session. 1538 02:14:42,079 --> 02:14:48,320 Commissioner Dugan. >> Move. I move at this time to go into 1539 02:14:45,440 --> 02:14:52,880 close session for the purpose of collective bargaining report by the 1540 02:14:51,520 --> 02:14:56,079 administrator. >> Moved by Commissioner Dugan to go into 1541 02:14:54,639 --> 02:15:00,880 that collective bargaining close session. Is there a second? 1542 02:14:58,239 --> 02:15:04,599 » Second. Commissioner Van Beek seconds that any discussion. 1543 02:15:05,040 --> 02:15:14,480 Seeing none, um before we vote on this, just so the listening audience knows, um 1544 02:15:12,800 --> 02:15:18,800 once we return back from our close session, we'll immediately adjourn. So 1545 02:15:16,639 --> 02:15:22,320 there'll be no other no um other business uh discussed at our meeting 1546 02:15:20,960 --> 02:15:26,239 today. So, we have a I have a motion by 1547 02:15:24,880 --> 02:15:30,800 Commissioner Dugan, a second by Commissioner Van Bele to go into close 1548 02:15:28,079 --> 02:15:35,520 session for collective bargaining. Um, any discussion? 1549 02:15:33,280 --> 02:15:41,599 Seeing none. All those in favor, please say yes. Opposed. 1550 02:15:38,960 --> 02:15:47,400 Okay. Turn to the back commission. I was done 1551 02:15:44,400 --> 02:15:47,400 in