[0:09] [music]

[0:15] » Welcome everyone. I would like to call this Bay County Board of Commissioners

[0:18] meeting to be held on on Tuesday, August 18th, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. to order. Madam

[0:24] Clerk, roll call, please. >> Niemiec?

[0:26] » Here. >> Kek?

[0:28] » Here. >> Beeson?

[0:29] » Here. >> Rath?

[0:30] » Here. >> Docket?

[0:31] » Here. >> Kreet?

[0:32] » Here. >> Banaja?

[0:33] » Here. >> Thank you. Please rise for the

[0:35] invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. >> Heavenly Father, we come before you this

[0:39] afternoon thanking you for the guidance and understanding that you have given

[0:42] this Board of Commissioners. We ask again today for your help and direction

[0:47] so the Board may make the fair and proper decisions for all citizens of Bay

[0:51] County. Amen. >> Amen.

[0:53] » Amen. >> Pledge of Allegiance.

[0:54] » allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic

[0:59] for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[1:04] justice for all.

[1:12] » The minutes of 6/14/26.

[1:16] » Move to approve. >> Support.

[1:23] » Isn't there We have um

[1:26] Oh, amendment? >> Yeah, that's

[1:28] » That's part of the agenda. >> That's next.

[1:30] » Oh, yeah. >> That's next. We have her.

[1:32] » Okay. >> Yep.

[1:34] » Okay, any discussion? All in favor? Aye.

[1:37] Policy number two carries. Any agenda approval?

[1:44] I'd like to add two items to the agenda. Like to

[1:48] uh add under unfinished business a motion to approve the recommendation of

[1:51] outside counsel, Ted Seats, as discussed during the closed session

[1:55] held at the August 11th, 2026 meeting of the whole and to approve the recommended

[2:00] budget adjustment as well as Can I make them together or

[2:05] do they have to be separate? >> They're separate.

[2:07] » Separate. >> Okay, so that's the first one.

[2:09] » Support. >> Is there any discussion? Seeing none,

[2:11] all in favor? >> Aye.

[2:13] » Opposed seeing none, motion carries. >> Thank you. Second one

[2:16] » [clears throat] >> is

[2:18] Excuse me, to add a request for closed session by corporation counsel on behalf

[2:21] of personnel director pursuant to MCL 15.268

[2:25] subsection 1E to consult with attorney regarding litigation and our settlement

[2:29] strategies in the ongoing Gary Redjinski workers compensation matter.

[2:35] » Support. >> Any discussion? Seeing none, all in

[2:38] favor? >> Aye.

[2:39] » [clears throat] >> Opposed seeing none, motion carries.

[2:40] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[2:43] Any agenda approval? >> I make a motion to approve the agenda

[2:47] with the changes. >> Support.

[2:48] » Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor?

[2:51] » Aye. >> Opposed seeing none, motion carries.

[2:53] At this time, this is citizens input. Is there anyone who wishes to address

[2:57] this commission? Please come forward.

[3:01] Going once. Yes.

[3:05] You have 3 minutes, please. >> Okay. Hi.

[3:08] I'm Katie Berry. Um let me start cuz every time people

[3:14] people are worried I know that you guys can't respond to me.

[3:17] Um but I'm just here doing awareness for

[3:21] foster care in Bay County. Um

[3:25] Part of what I do is we have a contract with the state of Michigan. I do foster

[3:29] care recruitment. I do a training. I do support groups and fun events in Bay

[3:36] County and in 18 counties in Michigan. Um so me or my team goes and does that.

[3:43] Um so really just wanted to kind of ask all of

[3:47] you because you're the experts in you know in your area if you have um

[3:54] like any events that you can invite us to, if you know of any groups that we

[3:59] can speak of or speak in front of, rather. Um

[4:04] we have great new data in the state. Um we've worked with the University of

[4:08] Chicago to get new data in the state of Michigan on foster care. Um and so some

[4:15] of the things that we can tell with this data is where specifically our kids are

[4:20] coming into care, like what zip codes. Um what kinds of kids. Um and and we

[4:26] were tracking this, but we're better able to see in each county, in each area

[4:32] what kinds of kids we need to be prepared for it to be able to house and

[4:37] and potentially help them. So, if you can think of anything, um I do have I do

[4:44] have um information if you guys would like to grab something after. Um or if

[4:49] you can think of a way that we can partner. Um I've done a lot of these cuz

[4:53] we have 18 counties and it's a great way to meet people who are really experts in

[4:58] that their area. So, um I and I'll leave you with a couple facts

[5:04] cuz I look at data all day. Um and plan events. I think we have like

[5:09] close to 500 events for the year wrapping up in September for 18 counties

[5:14] in Michigan, but um if you didn't know, the state of Michigan has we hover

[5:20] around 10,000 kids in the foster care system at any given time. Um that number

[5:26] has been pretty stable and in Bay County, it's

[5:31] I think it's 100 and it was 118 kids who are currently in

[5:36] care as of like July. Um

[5:40] but as a state, we have these 10,000 kids in care and we only have a about

[5:46] 3,400 uh foster like licensed foster homes.

[5:51] So, huge need for good people. If you guys have any ideas, I will give you my

[5:57] contact information. Thanks.

[6:05] » Is there anyone else willing to address the commission?

[6:09] Going once, going twice. Public input is closed at this time.

[6:14] Petitions and communications. Presentations, representatives from Face

[6:19] Addiction Now, which is FAN, Recovery Pathways, Sacred Heart, and Peer 360

[6:24] have been invited to provide updates regarding their organization, programs,

[6:27] and services. Participation is subject to each organization's availability, and

[6:32] the agenda item does not confirm attendance by any specific organization.

[6:37] So, who would like to go first? Okay.

[6:40] Welcome, Lori.

[6:47] » I'm Lori Zilkhauskas, and I wear a number of hats in our community. And

[6:50] today, I am wearing my FAN hat, Face Addiction Now. It's an organization that

[6:54] Judge Harry Gill and I co-founded coming up on 9 years ago to help provide

[6:58] compassionate support for individuals and families who are struggling with

[7:02] addiction, like my family, whose our daughter Amanda now is 10 and 1/2 years

[7:06] in recovery. We just moved her from Detroit to Ypsilanti so she can start

[7:09] her master's degree in social work at U of M. So, go blue. Even the Spartan in

[7:13] me will say that today. Um I've also brought with me a couple of colleagues.

[7:18] » My name is Scott Garber, and I'm the Bay County Jail Diversion Program

[7:21] Coordinator for Face Addiction Now. >> Hi, I'm Taylor Shear. I'm the Public

[7:24] Health Education Coordinator for the tri-areas uh for Face Addiction Now.

[7:31] » We were one of the fortunate agencies to receive opioid settlement dollars last

[7:35] year, and we wanted to first of all say how grateful we are to those um those

[7:39] funds um for Executive Barshe and his team doing the work to get those funds

[7:44] and then for all of you to get those funds out into the community. We're

[7:47] excited that the Bay Area Community Foundation now has access to those

[7:51] because they're so good at at getting money where it belongs. So, we wanted to

[7:54] give you an update on how your money was spent and the good that it's done in our

[7:57] community. So, the two folks standing next to me are the people that we hired

[8:02] to do this work. One of our focuses was a jail diversion program. This isn't

[8:06] something that fan cooked up, although it happened very organically in our

[8:09] community. There's a national trend as you may have heard how we are

[8:13] intersecting with folks who struggle with addiction, especially with law

[8:17] enforcement. I'm a girl from Bay City from the '80s and you know, the the

[8:21] fried egg and the drugs are going to fry your brain

[8:25] it just never worked, right? And incarcerating people never worked to

[8:28] stop them from using either. So, we looked at other models that are working

[8:32] across the country and there is a big movement in jail diversion. We partnered

[8:36] with our Bay City PD, public safety, and also with the

[8:39] Sheriff's department and the other police agencies in Midland and Saginaw 8

[8:44] years ago to start a Hope Not Handcuffs program where people can walk in and ask

[8:47] for help. And instead of getting in trouble for a medical condition, they

[8:51] call us and we get you into treatment, which is much more effective. Then we

[8:54] started our quick response teams where a police officer goes out to make home

[8:59] visits to people who have overdosed or at risk of overdose. The police know

[9:03] where people are drinking and beating each other up. They know where there are

[9:06] drugs and we know how to help people. Those programs are in existence in

[9:10] existence in both of our law enforcement agencies. Our recent program, jail

[9:14] diversion program, there are multiple ways to intercede to help people and one

[9:18] of them is is when they are incarcerated and that's what Scott does. Scott works

[9:22] with the prosecutor, the judges, and the the lawyers in our community to help get

[9:27] people who are struggling with addiction that their primary reason for being in

[9:31] jail is because of addicted related things like possession or retail fraud.

[9:35] We do not help get people out of jail who have criminal sexual conduct or

[9:39] violent crimes. There's a screening process. Um but we do help people who if

[9:43] they got better wouldn't be in jail any longer. So, that's one of the focuses

[9:47] that jail diversion program. I will say that in another community in Macomb,

[9:51] they actually work with the police and the police don't arrest people. They

[9:55] bring in them into our program at that point. So, there are multiple ways to

[9:59] intersect. We'd love to get to that point because it saves you guys a lot of

[10:02] money when we stop arresting and incarcerating rating and housing people

[10:06] in the jail. It's it's very beneficial. In fact, SAMHSA says that for every

[10:10] dollar we spend helping people not use drugs, we save $7 in the criminal

[10:15] justice system and an additional $4 in health care. So, it is very economically

[10:20] sound. I have an MBA. I'm about people, but I'm also about pocket. So, um

[10:25] Scott's program has been very effective. It started organically when one of our

[10:28] folks from Hope Not Handcuffs got the handcuffs again. And he called Scott

[10:32] from jail and said, "Can you help me?" And Scott's like, "I don't think so. Now

[10:35] you're in jail." So, he said, "Just come to the court with me if you would." And

[10:38] Scott did that. And Scott showed up and Scott was willing to help get him into

[10:42] treatment again. And the judge asked Scott, "Can you get him to treatment?

[10:46] Will you take him to treatment?" And Scott said, "Yeah, I can do that." And

[10:49] that's how this program began with that one person and that one Judge Sharon who

[10:54] was willing to try that. And ever since then, this program built up speed

[10:59] because of course word of mouth is we can get treatment instead of

[11:01] incarceration. So, I want to share some of the data um because that's how we

[11:05] make our decisions. Um currently for fiscal year 26, which for us begins in

[11:10] October on October 1st, that's when we received this funding, there were 95

[11:14] individuals that we intersected with that were currently incarcerated.

[11:18] Actively complying with the program are 33 people right now who are in process

[11:23] out of jail and in process complying with the program. They're required to go

[11:27] to residential treatment. We try to keep them there for 90 days, that's rehab.

[11:31] Then they're required to go immediately to recovery housing. That's group

[11:35] supportive housing, not individual apartments, group supportive housing.

[11:39] They're required to do that, plus do everything else the court tells them.

[11:42] So, we've got 35% of those folks complying right now. We have 20 people,

[11:46] 21% of them, who have already successfully completed. They did

[11:50] everything that was required of them for months on end, and the court then sees

[11:54] them and sentences them generally to, "Okay, you did everything you needed

[11:59] to." We get them out of the court system, we get them better.

[12:03] Um just for uh reference, um 69% of those folks were male, 31% were female,

[12:09] and that's generally what we see with substance use disorder. The referrals

[12:13] that we get are from attorneys. 72% of our referrals come from their attorneys,

[12:17] and then 28% from come from law enforcement, MDOC, family, friends, or

[12:22] other agencies in our area. That's how we learn about people who need our help.

[12:27] So, our current placement, we have 28 people in the community with in our

[12:31] recovery homes. Um currently incarcerated and on our waitlist and in

[12:35] some process of Scott connecting with them and helping to get them to

[12:38] treatment, 49 people. So, half of our people are waiting. If we had more help,

[12:43] we could do this faster. Inpatient treatment, we've got two people, and

[12:47] then sober living, we've got 16 people. This program started organically, and we

[12:52] were funding it until we couldn't. And I will tell you, when we first started

[12:56] December of 2023 through April 2026, there were 293 people that had

[13:01] successfully completed that program. It astounded us that there was over a 70%

[13:06] success rate. We thought there'd maybe be a 30% that you'd get people in the

[13:09] car and they'd run. That is not what happened. People want

[13:13] to get well, and we have the process for doing that. So, we were very pleased

[13:18] with the program. We did just resubmit um to the Community Foundation. We're

[13:22] hoping to get another year, and I will ask at this point, I know we had talked

[13:26] about it before, if we could do a three-year grant instead of a one-year

[13:30] grant, that saves a lot of time, energy, and frustration in refilling out the

[13:35] papers, re-looking at the papers, the committee exploring it. And as you know

[13:39] with grant funding, having to do that every single year really slows down our

[13:43] progress. So, I would ask that you reconsider that grant length. And and

[13:48] for people that it would help, for agencies, I would I would recommend um

[13:52] re-re-looking at that. So, the program's been fantastic. Taylor is just a new

[13:56] hire, but she's not unfamiliar to Bay City. She worked for our Neighborhood

[13:59] Resource Center, McLaren Prevention Network for some time, and it's her role

[14:02] to go out and educate the community all sorts of different angles on that. Um

[14:06] and so, we're really pleased with the progress we made. When Harry and I

[14:10] started this, we were 100% volunteer organization. There was no staff, there

[14:14] was no money, and right now, thanks to MDHHS, we have an office that is getting

[14:19] painted and spruced up over on Wilder Road. We just got a new harm reduction

[14:23] van. We're able to serve more people. So, the more of that money that you get

[14:28] into our community, the more of an impact that we can make, and all of the

[14:32] other agencies will echo that. I know there's kind of a philosophy on let's

[14:36] keep it so the money sustainable. What I would require is that the impact is

[14:40] sustainable. And if we're holding on to money that could fund good programs now,

[14:45] you're leaving a year of where we can lose people. So, please consider that

[14:49] when you're looking at the amount that you're awarding as well. If there are

[14:53] good programs, I would say please please award the agencies that need that money.

[14:58] Do you have any questions for us? Yes.

[15:01] » So, we have the DARE program for kids. So, what's what's going on with kids

[15:04] right now? >> So, um when they did the data and the

[15:07] research, they found that the DARE program was ineffective in stopping kids

[15:11] from using drugs. We have a huge gap in our community with youth programs and

[15:16] youth support services. As you know from the overdose fatality review committee,

[15:20] there was a father who died who left behind three little kids and my question

[15:23] was how are we getting those children grief support services. Currently right

[15:27] now at FAN Central down in Macomb County they are doing a week-long training of

[15:31] how do we serve children. There is a huge need for serving children in our

[15:35] community one to help to help um them those who are struggling with substance

[15:39] use disorder. There's only two facilities in the state that will take

[15:42] 18-year-old under who are struggling with substance use disorder because of

[15:45] the risk. So it's hard to get them into treatment. We don't have enough

[15:49] treatment for that. And then grief support is a really essential thing and

[15:53] a lot of the kids it's their parents that are struggling. How do we support

[15:57] the kids at home when the parents are struggling either actively in the home

[16:01] or the kids are removed from foster care. Um

[16:04] uh the recently um uh person who left MDHHS the the state

[16:09] head of it um Elizabeth Hertel when she opened up Andy's Place was

[16:13] there for the groundbreaking and opening of that place she stated that the number

[16:16] one reason kids are removed from care is because of substance use reason. The

[16:22] number one reason that kids can't get back home is substance use reason and

[16:26] the number two is lack of housing. We have two crises in our community and

[16:31] we're not alone. There is a lack of housing in general specifically

[16:34] supportive housing that we know that works and there is a lack of services

[16:39] for children and we know that. Ask anybody in our community they can attest

[16:42] to that. So um Katie Ball is tasked with doing school programs. FAN also has um a

[16:48] school program that we run down in Macomb County so um Taylor will be

[16:51] coordinating that but we need to be actively consistently engaged in

[16:56] schools. It can't be a one and done boom we had a gym presentation.

[17:01] That cannot be the conversation. Um and the conversation we need to be having is

[17:04] about vaping. It's about cannabis use because cannabis is not the same from

[17:08] the 70s pink elephant paralyzer when I was growing up. [clears throat] It is

[17:11] not the same and it is causing THC psychosis and it is it is sparking um

[17:17] schizophrenia in young people. >> Mhm. That's a real thing. We have to

[17:21] have those conversations. Stimulants like Adderall, kids share that. We come

[17:26] in and do the presentation at at Delta College for the new police academy, and

[17:31] two semesters ago four guys in the police academy said we would just These

[17:34] guys are from here. We just found a handful of Adderall and

[17:38] get jacked up and go out and play football.

[17:40] Our high school football guys. This is common. I'll tell you when our daughter

[17:45] started shooting up heroin at 18 after she was at Delta College for a year, had

[17:50] went to Faith Lutheran and graduated from John Glenn, I did not know what was

[17:54] available. It is very different than the 70s and 80s in our community. And we

[18:00] can't be naive to that. So there's a lot more work to do with that. I appreciate

[18:03] you asking the question. It's a huge gap in our community and I hope that we find

[18:06] ways to step up to that. Any others?

[18:12] We thank you for your continued support. It's making a difference. Thank you.

[18:16] » Thank you, Lori. >> Thank you.

[18:22] » Is there anyone else here from Peer 360?

[18:30] » Hey everybody, my name is Joel Henseler. I'm a person in long-term recovery.

[18:34] I love Scott. Scott's a good friend. He does amazing work.

[18:37] We brought I brought some printouts, some data of

[18:42] what we did with the money. I have quite a few. If you anybody wants to look at

[18:46] it afterwards, however, AI did make it. The data is legit,

[18:51] but AI created it. I know the data is legit because I put the data in at the

[18:56] end of every week for the last year.

[19:00] So instead of reading off of this, I'll just try and do it old school and read

[19:04] here. Um

[19:06] Again, I've been in recovery for 9 years. I've worked in recovery for about

[19:09] 7 and 1/2. All 7 and 1/2 have been with Pure 360 to some capacity. Um

[19:15] » [snorts] >> they received this money and he called

[19:17] me last year and asked if I wanted to be involved. I said I did and he

[19:23] he gave me three points that they kind of wanted to touch on. Those were

[19:26] recovery coaching and transportation, uh I built some community partnerships, do

[19:30] some outreach, and then do some harm reduction.

[19:34] He told me that and then said, "You can start working. Make that happen." Uh so,

[19:39] this is what I did. For recovery coach engagements, we had a

[19:42] target of 250 engagements for the year. Um

[19:48] Okay, first I started off I started going to I've been a coach for a while

[19:51] and the people I coach are justice-impacted. So,

[19:55] they're usually on probation, parole, they're involved with the courts, CPS in

[19:59] some capacity. These are the people I'm used to coaching.

[20:02] My executive director said, "Uh we're trying to reach the people

[20:06] that are in the gaps, the people that don't already have these services. So,

[20:09] try and reach these people." So, I went to recovery court a few times, called

[20:13] the pre-trial services, I reached out to people I'm used to, and then I tried to

[20:17] kind of think outside the box. So, I started going to food pantries,

[20:21] um Salvation Army, Dream Center,

[20:24] and I'd bring a table with me and a tablecloth and I'd set up flyers for our

[20:28] recover our services, other organizations' services, and I would

[20:32] just have conversations with everybody that came to the table. I'd bring a

[20:35] bunch of swag, give them chapsticks, Kleenex,

[20:38] um and that was it. And I had a lot. So,

[20:40] the target was 250, I actually had 3,299 engagements.

[20:46] Um when I read that, I was like, "That's a

[20:48] lot." But, I put down every single person that I had a conversation with,

[20:52] not just recovery, but any kind of service that I knew about that I could

[20:56] get the word out to them. Um

[20:59] and for transportation, I did 194 services in the last in the last year.

[21:05] Again, that's recovery support groups, recovery support meetings, um doctor's

[21:10] appointments, court appointment. I took people grocery shopping. Anybody that I

[21:13] met in the process of this work, if they needed a ride somewhere, I wrote it down

[21:17] that I gave somebody a ride. The second thing we did was community partnerships

[21:22] and outreach. I had I met with 19 different community

[21:27] partners. Our target was 60 referrals to outside organizations for things, and we

[21:33] had 274 confirmed referrals. I joined coalitions like Project Hope,

[21:40] the Prevention Coalition, and of course Recovery by the Bay

[21:44] planning meeting. We have a really big event coming up September 26th, Recovery

[21:48] by the Bay down at Wana Ona Park. We would love all the support that we can

[21:52] get. My part that I played in this was to get

[21:56] resource vendor tables there. And we currently have 38 different

[22:01] resource available coming.

[22:06] Yeah, so I had 19 19 engagements with community partners,

[22:11] but we have 38 of them coming to this event down at Wana Ona Park, so

[22:16] And then moving on to harm reduction. Harm reduction, we had a target of 150

[22:20] engagements. I had 679 engagements for harm reduction. It

[22:26] really started to take off. They spoke about it and decided that we

[22:31] kind of needed to rebrand our harm reduction operation, so we rebranded it

[22:35] into Streetlight. It's still Peer 360, however, it's a

[22:40] separate thing. I meet people where they're at. I meet

[22:43] them with compassion. I used to think harm reduction was

[22:47] let me get people to use substances safely until they're ready to get into

[22:52] treatment, and I've learned the job is just to meet people with compassion,

[22:56] meet meet them where they are. Maybe they don't want to stop using. It's not

[22:59] my job to get them to stop using. It's my job to keep them alive and safe.

[23:04] Um and while I've been doing that, it's really taken me back to when I used

[23:08] to use. And if somebody ever met me with some compassion, I think I would have

[23:12] entered recovery much earlier than what I did.

[23:17] I just don't think they expect people like it's one thing there's a lot of

[23:21] talk about enabling and this and that and it's not I've made I've met some I

[23:26] made some really cool impactful connections with people that I don't

[23:30] think they would have expected, right? It's the same thing day in and day out

[23:33] for them. They're just existing and someone comes along and here's some

[23:37] safer use supplies but here's also a wound care kit. Here's a medicine lock

[23:40] box. Here's a book bag. Here's a blanket. Here's a sleeping bag. Here's a

[23:44] bottle of water. I buy a gift cards. I'll take you to

[23:48] McDonald's and get you food. These kind of relationships are things

[23:52] that they're not used to. So, um this was by far my favorite part of

[23:57] the job was the harm reduction. I distributed 7,690

[24:02] supplies. Um that includes Narcan, medicine lock

[24:05] boxes, wound care kits, safer use supplies, hygiene kits. A lot of these

[24:09] things were made possible by the Wings Center, Sacred Heart, and the Prevention

[24:14] Network. Prevention Network was huge. She supplied me with lots of things.

[24:19] Uh I did go out and get lots of supplies on my own

[24:22] um just to be able to provide cuz some things weren't covered within the grant.

[24:26] And for the third thing, no challenges. Oh,

[24:31] no. We spent all the money. There was no challenges spending all the money.

[24:35] So, we don't have anything planned for that. We will be applying again through

[24:39] uh Bay Area Foundation to get some money.

[24:42] I'll read this last paragraph that's AI generated cuz it sounds pretty good. On

[24:47] behalf of Peer 360 Recovery Alliance, we want to thank the Bay County for

[24:50] trusting us with these opioid settlement dollars. The results show the need for

[24:53] recovery coaching, transportation, harm reduction, and hands-on referral support

[24:57] is significant. More importantly, these numbers represent people in our

[25:00] community who are met where they were, connect to support, and given another

[25:04] opportunity to move forward safely. We are grateful for the county's

[25:09] investment and proud of the foundation this grant showed us to build.

[25:13] » Any questions? >> Any questions, Bonnie?

[25:17] » Lori mentioned the office of fatality review and uh

[25:21] some sad stories, you know, she mentioned a

[25:24] father of three kids and what are the kids going to do now? A lot of young

[25:28] people. So, there's still people, you know, that's down. The the fatality rate

[25:31] is down, but it it's still there. So, we we need to keep up the work on it.

[25:36] » Yeah, I actually have been on a lot of those meetings as well. Um one thing I'm

[25:41] doing harm reduction work now a little bit in Saginaw and Midland County as

[25:45] well. One thing that we do differently here are the Narcan newspaper boxes. Um

[25:50] those are everywhere and they get used and that's not in every county and I

[25:54] think that plays a huge role in why people still get to stay alive, you

[25:59] know, because it's being used. So, yeah.

[26:03] » Thank you, guys. >> Thank you.

[26:05] » Thank you.

[26:08] » Is there anyone else from Recovery Pathways or

[26:13] um Sacred Heart?

[26:17] Seeing none, [snorts] we'll move on. >> Yes.

[26:24] » Well, thank you for letting me come. I appreciate it and thank you, Alex,

[26:28] whoever you are. I've never met you, but I appreciate this very much. So, um I

[26:32] just My name's Kim Dubay. I'm from Recovery Pathways. I'm the director over

[26:36] there. Been there since we started in 2009 on Midland Street. Everybody

[26:40] thought we were on a strange street to offer recovery and I said it's the first

[26:44] chance to make the right choice when you leave the door. We grew a little bigger

[26:48] and moved to Essexville and we grew a little bigger yet and came back

[26:51] downtown. That might look like a familiar building to a lot of you. So,

[26:55] we're close neighbor. It's interesting to hear everybody else that's spoken

[26:59] because I feel like we're all part of the same team, and we have a lot of

[27:02] overlap and shared resources and shared compassion with one another for the work

[27:06] that we do. The opiate settlement money that we got

[27:09] for us, we're downtown. We see people out those windows walk by every day.

[27:13] Homeless individuals, people struggling with substance use, all kinds of folks

[27:17] that just don't know where to go and need to walk in today and access help.

[27:22] So, what we said is let's break down those barriers. I can say next slide to

[27:26] whomever that would be. Or is that me? >> Click the arrow there somewhere.

[27:29] » Oh. You got it. >> Is it that one? There we go.

[27:32] Thank you. So, our idea was to eliminate barriers

[27:36] and improve access. So, if you walk into any doctor's office today, whether it's

[27:40] treatment or primary care, you have to get your insurance vetted. We have to

[27:44] see when do we have an appointment for you. It might be a couple of weeks. We

[27:47] might not take your insurance, and here's a boatload of paperwork to fill

[27:51] out. When you have substance use disorder and you're in withdrawal, those

[27:54] are barriers that make you leave and not come back. And when you leave, those

[27:59] risks, delayed care, disengagement, continued use, overdose, and death or

[28:04] emergency department visit are definitely likely in your future. So, a

[28:08] couple testimonials from people there. One person said, "I didn't think there

[28:11] was any hope, but I heard about you guys. I walked in, and I got taken care

[28:14] of that same day." And another person said, "I can't believe we have help

[28:18] here. They're giving me rides, and this is really working." So, it's nice to see

[28:21] some people say things are helping. But, what we wanted

[28:24] to do is improve the access. What do we do? When you talk about treatment,

[28:28] there's all different levels. Is it the right level of care for you? Should you

[28:32] be an outpatient? Should you be an inpatient? Should you be at detox,

[28:35] residential, supportive housing, etc.? And if you do need any of those, when

[28:40] can you get there, and how will you get there? So, what we did was use these

[28:44] funds to open the doors, provide staff to service anybody that walked in, do a

[28:49] brief assessment with them, decide what their needs were and working through

[28:52] with that with them together, offer them treatment that same day. If

[28:56] you needed to see the doctor, he was right over there. We would help you go

[28:59] see him right now. If you needed to see a recovery coach, they were in the other

[29:03] hallway. You could go over there and see them. If you were homeless and needed

[29:06] housing support, you could see one of my case managers right then. In a typical

[29:10] office setting, you can't just walk in and do that because you have to pass

[29:13] through those insurance hoops, those paperwork hoops. What we did was carve

[29:17] out time in the provider schedules that we could set aside for people to walk

[29:21] in. We thought, I wonder if anyone's going to come. It isn't like I

[29:25] advertised. 245 people walked through our doors

[29:30] asking for help that we were able to serve. 135 of those were opiate primary

[29:35] use disorder and that's what this grant funds were for. So, what did we do with

[29:38] the remainder? We still serve them. It was just on our dime.

[29:42] Your funds though went for caring for these individuals, for covering those

[29:46] office visits that wouldn't have been able to be covered, for covering the

[29:49] care from the case manager or the recovery coach that couldn't be accessed

[29:52] unless we did all the hoops, barriers, and paperwork.

[29:56] So, this is what this shows over the four quarters as far as the opiate

[29:59] individuals that we served. Primary after the opiates was alcohol,

[30:06] then methamphetamine, then cannabis and cocaine and some kratom use. Those are

[30:10] the other substances that people came through our doors that sought help for

[30:13] that we did help but not with these funds.

[30:16] Um, we did spend all of our money as well.

[30:19] Here's the program retention that we have. This is broken out by quarters.

[30:22] This is showing how many people came in with opiate use disorder, how many were

[30:26] able to engage in comprehensive services, meaning they stayed for the

[30:30] whole gamut of care, and the retention at 30 days. We have a fairly high

[30:34] retention rate of 82% means if you walked in and started care, you stayed

[30:38] with us and received the remainder of your services. And currently, I checked

[30:42] our numbers before we left, we're at 62 continued people, 62% continued care of

[30:48] those people that entered this path this way.

[30:52] Just for interest, I like data. That's I'm the director, I need the data to see

[30:57] what we're going to do and make sure that it's a productive program. So, uh

[31:00] industry standard for retention at 30 days is 55%. You can see ours is

[31:04] significantly increased from that. This just shows you also some age breakdown

[31:08] as well. Um 42, 38, 36, and 36 years old. Those

[31:13] are the average ages. So, if you think that substance use looks like an

[31:16] 18-year-old or a 60-year-old, it does, but this is the average of what came

[31:21] through. Um of the 113 of the 135 people that we served also had co-occurring

[31:27] mental health disorder, and that's also significant barrier. Sometimes when you

[31:32] want to access care, they'll say, "Your mental health is too severe, we can't

[31:34] help you. You have to get that figured out first." Or your physical health is

[31:38] too significant, get that figured out, come back later. We just opened the

[31:42] doors, opened the arms, and said, "Come in, we'll help you figure it out." Of

[31:46] the mental health diagnosis that we saw, these are ranked in the order anxiety,

[31:50] depression, PTSD, insomnia, and bipolar disorder. So, significant, 84% of

[31:55] individuals also suffer from mental health.

[31:59] I broke these out by quarters. This is boring.

[32:01] » [laughter] >> But there's the quarter each quarter

[32:04] telling you what those are. It gives you the average age and all of that stats if

[32:08] you really want to dive deep. This is an interesting statistic that I

[32:12] pulled. The average person stru- struggling with substance use disorder

[32:16] winds up going to the emergency room about three times a year because we

[32:19] don't have established primary care, we're not engaged in a mental health or

[32:22] substance use services, so we use the emergency room sort of as a stopgap. An

[32:26] average ER visit is about six grand. If you go to the ER three times a year for

[32:30] services that could have been done elsewhere, that's potential of 18,000.

[32:34] My client average in this program was $416.

[32:38] So, that's a significant savings when you enter into all of the care that we

[32:42] have. We have case management. We can help with supportive housing,

[32:45] transportation, all of those types of things. So, this is an example of what

[32:49] the savings could be per individual that's struggling with substance use if

[32:52] they knew where they could go and could access help the same day.

[32:56] So, the grant funding helped remove all these delays between the walk-in need

[33:00] and treatment access. You could walk in, you could get a clinical assessment, you

[33:03] could get your medical care that same day, and open doors to any comprehensive

[33:07] care that you may need. So, this was successful in my eyes in

[33:12] that we had 82% retention, that we were able to serve 135 people,

[33:17] and that 62% of them are still retained in treatment, that there could be a cost

[33:21] savings for that as well. We would appreciate continued funding

[33:26] and support for this because the system still exists with all the barriers,

[33:30] hoops, and paperwork, and everybody else that accesses care without this still

[33:33] has to go through those things. And that's a frustration, but not something

[33:37] I can solve in a short time. And so, we would love

[33:40] to continue to do that. However, we are excluded from the community foundation

[33:45] as it's a 501c3 and religious organization. We're a private for-profit

[33:49] agency, so I'm not eligible based on what I've seen so far to be able to

[33:53] access future funds. So, I'm letting you know cuz that was one of the questions

[33:57] that was asked. So, I do appreciate having the opportunity to have done

[34:00] this. I consider it successful. It's just as Joel was saying, it's about

[34:05] being compassionate, it's about being empathetic, it's about just listening

[34:08] and everybody is a human, and they just need to have help. So, we provided that,

[34:13] and I appreciate the use of these to do so. Thank you.

[34:16] » Thank you. Any questions from the board for Kimber?

[34:20] » So, >> I saw you mentioned cocaine and there

[34:22] was a large bust at Penn State University today. Like, I don't know, 14

[34:26] people that were bringing in from Philly.

[34:30] And I hadn't [clears throat] heard much about cocaine lately, but apparently

[34:32] it's still still out there. >> You know, like everybody's got a

[34:36] different use. Typically, when we do the statistics, alcohol is almost always the

[34:40] primary problem that people seek treatment for year after year.

[34:44] Um, but as far as will that kill you in a hurry? Not as much as a fentanyl

[34:48] overdose will or as cocaine in a heart attack can. Um, so it tends to be a

[34:53] little bit of a slower thing. And what we're finding too is that people have

[34:56] poly substance use. These days no one picks just one thing. Yeah, yeah.

[35:01] Fentanyl, I might do cocaine cuz at least I can find that. So there's

[35:05] different, you know, pockets and places and people and things about that use. So

[35:11] trends are always changing. >> Thank you.

[35:13] » Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else?

[35:16] Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you.

[35:22] » Anyone here from Sacred Heart?

[35:26] Seeing none.

[35:31] Motions in order to receive. >> So moved.

[35:34] » Support. >> All in favor?

[35:36] » Aye. >> Opposed, seeing none. Motion carries.

[35:41] The Bay County Department of Aging Advisory Committee.

[35:45] We have a letter of his resignation from District 4 appointed resident

[35:48] representative Kathy Sheriff Serafini whose term expires

[35:53] December 31st, 2026.

[35:56] » Move to receive. >> Go ahead.

[35:58] » Motion to receive. >> Support.

[35:59] » Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor?

[36:02] » Aye. >> Opposed, seeing none. Motion carries.

[36:05] And number two, appointment of Carrie Stroh Kirsch for the District 4

[36:09] appointed representative to the Bay County Department of Aging Advisory

[36:12] Committee for the unexpiring term ending December 31st, 2026.

[36:17] » Move to receive applicant and confirm appointment.

[36:20] » Support. >> Motion has been made and supported. Is

[36:22] there any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor?

[36:25] » Aye. >> Opposed, seeing none. Motion carries.

[36:28] Reports >> and resolutions of the committees.

[36:30] Committee of the whole August 4th meeting was cancelled. The committee of

[36:33] the whole August 11th. Commissioner Creep.

[36:36] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um Item one, resolution number 2026-154.

[36:44] Health Department Food Locker's agreement 2026.

[36:47] I move this resolution. >> Support.

[36:50] » A motion has been made and supported. Is there any discussion?

[36:53] See none, all in favor. >> I.

[36:55] » I oppose, say none, motion carries. >> Item two, resolution 2026-155.

[37:02] Bay Alerts vendor service agreement with Rave Mobile Safety 2026.

[37:07] I move this resolution. >> Support.

[37:09] » Motion has been made and supported. Is there any discussion?

[37:12] See none, all in favor. >> I.

[37:14] » I oppose, motion carries. >> Item three, resolution number 2026-156.

[37:21] Agreement with Secure Removal Services LLC for body transport needs 2026.

[37:28] I move this resolution. >> Support.

[37:30] » A motion has been made and supported. Is there any discussion?

[37:33] See none, all in favor. >> I.

[37:35] » I oppose, say none, motion carries. >> Item four, resolution 2026-157.

[37:42] Agreements with multimedia advertising companies for outreach and promotion

[37:46] 2026. I move this resolution.

[37:50] » Support. >> A motion has been made and supported. Is

[37:52] there any discussion? See none, all in favor.

[37:55] » I. >> I oppose, say none, motion carries.

[37:57] » Item number [snorts] five, resolution 2026-158.

[38:02] Agreement with Datatrak policy management software 2026.

[38:06] I move this resolution. >> Support.

[38:08] » A motion has been made and supported. Is there any discussion? See none, all in

[38:11] favor. >> I.

[38:13] » I oppose, say none, motion carries. >> Item number six, resolution 2026-159.

[38:19] My Community Dental Centers agreement renewal 2026-

[38:26] 2027. I move this resolution. >> Support.

[38:29] » A motion has been made supported is there any discussion?

[38:32] See none all in favor. >> Aye.

[38:34] » Opposed. [clears throat] Motion carries. >> Item number seven, resolution number

[38:37] 2026-160 plan of organization 2026

[38:43] for the Health Department. I move this resolution.

[38:45] » Support. >> A motion has been made supported is

[38:47] there any discussion? See none all in favor.

[38:50] » Aye. >> Opposed seeing none motion carries.

[38:53] » Uh Item number eight, resolution 2026-161

[38:58] Williams Township, Kawkawlin Township, and Hampton Township site agreements

[39:03] 2027 Department on Aging. I move this

[39:07] resolution. >> Support.

[39:08] » A motion has been made supported is there any discussion?

[39:11] See none all in favor. >> Aye.

[39:13] » I oppose motion carries. >> Resolution number nine, resolution

[39:19] 2026-162 Bay County Department on Aging Advisory

[39:24] Committee term limits. I move this resolution.

[39:27] » Support. >> A motion has been made supported is

[39:30] there any discussion? See none all in favor.

[39:33] » Aye. >> Opposed seeing none motion carries.

[39:35] » Item number 10, resolution 2026-163

[39:41] release of RFP for exterior maintenance of the Bay County building.

[39:46] I move this resolution. >> Support.

[39:48] » A motion has been made supported is there any discussion?

[39:51] See none all in favor signify by saying aye.

[39:54] » Aye. >> Opposed seeing none motion carries.

[39:57] » Item number 11 resolution 2026-164

[40:02] budget adjustment and purchase of demo T mower for Bay County golf course. I

[40:08] move this resolution. >> Support.

[40:10] » A motion has been made supported is there any discussion?

[40:14] See none all in favor. >> Aye.

[40:16] » Opposed seeing none motion carries. >> Item number 12, resolution 2026-165.

[40:23] Annual review adjustment fund balance

[40:27] budget stabilization fiscal year ending December 31, 2025.

[40:33] I move this resolution. >> Support.

[40:35] » A motion has been made and supported. Is there any discussion?

[40:38] Seeing none, all in favor. >> Aye.

[40:41] » I oppose seeing none, motion carries. >> Item number 13, resolution 2026-166.

[40:48] Bid award RFP 2026-04

[40:53] for applicant tracking and onboarding solution to NeoGov.

[40:58] I move this resolution. >> Support.

[41:00] » A motion has been made and supported. Is there any discussion?

[41:03] Seeing none, all in favor. >> Aye.

[41:05] » I oppose seeing none, motion carries. >> Item number 14, resolution 2026-167.

[41:13] Multi-year agreement for Palo Alto Networks maintenance 2026.

[41:19] I move this resolution. >> Support.

[41:21] » A motion has been made and supported. Is there any discussion?

[41:24] Seeing none, all in favor. >> Aye.

[41:25] » I oppose seeing none, motion carries. >> Item 15, resolution 2026-168.

[41:32] Thomson Reuters Westlaw renewal agreement 2026 to 2029

[41:40] with corporation counsel. I move this resolution.

[41:43] » Support. >> A motion has been made and supported. Is

[41:45] there any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor.

[41:47] » Aye. >> I oppose seeing none, motion carries.

[41:50] » And lastly, item number 16, resolution 2026-169.

[41:56] Payables. I move this resolution. >> Support.

[41:59] » A motion has been made and supported. Is there any discussion?

[42:02] Seeing none, all in favor. >> Aye.

[42:04] » I oppose seeing none, motion carries. >> Thank you, Commissioner Creek.

[42:09] Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Biggs.

[42:12] » I move resolution number >> 2026-170,

[42:16] reports of the county executive. July 2026. Move that resolution.

[42:21] » Support. >> Motion has been made supported. Is there

[42:23] any discussion? See none. All in favor?

[42:26] » Aye. >> Opposed? See none. Motion carries.

[42:29] » Resolution number 2026-171. Big County TV sponsorship agreement

[42:35] renewal, 2026-2029.

[42:39] Finance space. >> City TV.

[42:41] » I move that resolution. >> Support.

[42:42] » Motion has been made supported. Is there any discussion? See none. All in favor?

[42:46] » Aye. >> Opposed? See none. Motion carries.

[42:50] » Resolution number 2026-172. Travel request to attend Michigan

[42:55] Guardianship Association fall 2026 conference. Department of Aging. Move

[43:01] that resolution. >> Support.

[43:03] » Motion has been made supported. Is there any discussion?

[43:06] See none. All in favor? >> Aye.

[43:08] » Opposed? See none. Motion carries.

[43:11] Thank you, Commissioner Biggeck. >> Yep.

[43:13] » Reports of the county officials. Seems like Mr. Barcia is not here today.

[43:18] » No, he's excused. >> Okay, thank you. Any commissioners'

[43:20] comments on unfinished business?

[43:25] » Motion to approve the recommendation of outside counsel Ted Seats as discussed

[43:30] during the closed session held at the August 11, 2026 Committee of the Whole

[43:33] meeting and to approve the recommended budget adjustment.

[43:39] » Support. >> Motion has been made supported. All in

[43:41] favor? >> Aye.

[43:42] » Opposed? See none. Motion carries. Uh new business. Any new business?

[43:47] Public input. This is the second time for public input. Anyone wish to address

[43:51] the commission? Going once. Going twice. Public input is

[43:56] closed. Miscellaneous. I think Nick's got some

[44:00] video on some projects that we have working on.

[44:07] Yes, go ahead, Kristen. >> So, obviously, this is the

[44:09] » pool, almost all of the cement is done. They're reinforcing that wall and that

[44:14] is where the plumbing is going to head into the basement.

[44:18] They're starting to do some gutter work. They're starting to put the mechanical

[44:21] stuff. This is the basement. Um, in that's filtration, sand filters and

[44:26] things of that nature. Uh, the basement's all cleaned up and

[44:30] ready to go and we are moving along. Yet this fall you'll see the concrete

[44:36] decking poured, the pavilion up. Obviously the gutters done in the pool.

[44:41] And then they'll be um

[44:43] And then as it turns into winter they'll take a small break and then they'll

[44:46] continue in the spring for an opening in June 20 of 27.

[44:51] So that's sort of the schedule. This is the animal services.

[44:55] It is cruising along as well. They're putting the EIFS on the outside.

[45:00] They're already starting some finishing work on the inside, some drywall and

[45:03] things of that nature. Windows are in, most of the windows are in, door frames

[45:08] are in. We're going to be sealed up here pretty

[45:11] soon. Uh, roof

[45:14] The roof is either done or going to be done this week and

[45:19] um And it's certain it's starting to look

[45:21] really good. All the interior masonry is done.

[45:25] Um So

[45:28] It looks different every single day. They are working so quickly.

[45:38] This is sort of a picture of the lobby. >> It's going to be a nice looking

[45:41] building. >> It is. It's

[45:43] a great building.

[45:51] » Is that retention pond to the south going to

[45:55] just be kind of empty most of the time or is that going to have

[45:58] » I hope it'll be empty most of the time but it will

[46:01] » Just a divot most of the time, then? >> I'm hoping so. Obviously, it's there

[46:04] because it's required, you know, by code and um

[46:08] I'm hoping it's something most of the time, you know.

[46:11] » It's kind of wonky. Yeah. >> I I mean, it's required every, you know,

[46:14] in all these projects. It's a requirement and

[46:18] um but

[46:23] » Mhm. >> Any questions for Kristen?

[46:25] » Mhm. >> Thank you, Kristen. Thank you, Nick.

[46:28] » Thank you. >> Are there any announcements?

[46:33] » I have one. Senior Olympics are coming up. Sign up is fast approaching. It's in

[46:38] October. Got some schmear and bid euchre and

[46:42] regular euchre and Mexican chain dominoes and shuffleboard

[46:47] and I wish I could do more, but I'm I'm busy

[46:51] that week.

[46:54] » Thank you. We got a couple appointments coming up

[46:56] in October. We have a Bay County Department of Human Services one

[47:00] three-year expiring, Jill Schmidt, and Land Bank Authority one City of Bay City

[47:04] representative three-year term expiring, as Thurston.

[47:08] Uh closed session. Amber, is there any need for closed session?

[47:10] » Yes, sir. Yes, Mr. Chair, I would request motion to go into closed session

[47:13] pursuant to MCL 15.2681E to consult with council regarding

[47:18] litigation and or settlement strategies in the ongoing Gary Rujeski worker's

[47:22] compensation matter. Required to attend in addition to the board members is

[47:27] Tiffany Jerry, our personnel director, Scott Kruskie, our finance officer, Alex

[47:31] Poirier, board advisor, Lindy Arsenault, board coordinator, myself as council,

[47:36] and obviously our clerk. Katie's not here.

[47:40] » Yeah. >> So moved.

[47:42] » Support. >> Support.

[47:43] » Roll call. >> Seger?

[47:47] » Absent. >> Beeson?

[47:49] » Yes. >> Brent?

[47:50] » Yes. >> Docket?

[47:51] » Yes. >> Kreet?

[47:52] » Yes. >> Nemec?

[47:53] » Yes. >> Panagiotis?

[47:54] » Yes. >> Um I'd like to make a motion to follow

[47:57] the recommendation of outside counsel regarding ongoing Gary Rojewski workers

[48:03] compensation matter. >> Support.

[48:06] » For any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor?

[48:09] » Aye. >> Motion now motion carries.

[48:14] Motion to adjourn. >> Support.

[48:16] » All in favor? >> Aye.

[48:17] » Meeting adjourned. >> All right.

Bay County Board of Commissioners Meeting (8/18/26)

Transcript