[0:02] session of the executive committee of
the whole of the Midland County Board of
[0:05] Commissioners at September 8, 2026 at
9:00 am.
[0:09] » Jim, will you call the role, please?
>> Commissioner Snder
[0:12] » here.
>> Commissioner Bone
[0:14] » here.
>> Mr. Schuli
[0:16] » here.
>> Mr. Malt
[0:17] » here.
>> Commissioner Dorian
[0:19] » here.
>> Commissioner Smith
[0:20] » here.
>> And Chair Ping Gamro
[0:23] » here. All present.
>> Thank you. All right. is now is the time
[0:29] for public comment. Is there any public
comment?
[0:33] Public comment. Public comment. Okay.
So, we have a presentation today.
[0:37] » Yeah. Thanks. Thanks, Todd. Um, I'd like
to introduce Julia Darton. Darn Darn. I
[0:43] always miss that first. Um, who also go
mainly goes by Julie. Uh, she is our new
[0:50] uh regional director for this MSU
extension region. She is new to our
[0:55] region, but certainly not new new to
MSU. Um,
[0:58] » and she's here to give us an update on
some things happening in this area.
[1:03] » Awesome.
[1:06] » Good morning. Um, it's nice to see all
of you and nice to meet you. Um, and I'm
[1:10] sure I'll we'll get a chance to talk
more um because I hope to be in this job
[1:15] for a while. Um, I uh my name is Julie
Dartton as as Bridget said and I've
[1:20] worked for MSU Extension for 20 years.
Um, I was really young when I started.
[1:27] [laughter] Um, which you can only say
after you say I've worked here 20 years.
[1:30] Um, I started my career in Sageno County
uh, working as a food system or working
[1:36] as a community development educator. Um
and then Michigan State Extension went
[1:42] through some uh reorganization
um and we created some statewide teams
[1:46] and at that time I was part of a
leadership and and community engagement
[1:50] team as well as a food systems team. And
in that role my area of expertise was
[1:56] farmers markets. So if you'd asked me
you know a few years ago who the person
[2:00] I knew in Midland the best was I would
said well I know Emily Lions and she she
[2:05] runs the farmers market because that was
kind of my world. Um, and certainly, um,
[2:11] my role a as a district director began,
um, serving up north, uh, where I was
[2:18] asked during the pandemic if I could
help fill a hole on an interim basis.
[2:22] Um, and I worked with seven counties in
Northeast Michigan. So, essentially, um,
[2:28] name the counties because you may know,
uh, Crawford, Ocod, Alona, Ross, Common,
[2:34] Ogam, Aasco, and Arinac counties. Um, so
pretty much from Grling to H Hotton Lake
[2:41] and then to the lake shore, from
Harrisville uh to to Standish. And um
[2:48] that helped me learn the role and also
understand the ways in which we work
[2:52] with counties. And even though every
county is certainly very unique, there's
[2:56] a lot of things that counties have in
common. And I can carry that um that
[3:01] distinction very well in my role now
serving the five counties of MSU
[3:05] Extensions District 4. District nine,
excuse me. So, I brought I carry this
[3:11] map around with me because we talk in
counties and not a lot of people talk in
[3:15] counties. Um, but this yellow area is
our district 9. Um, and I know that's
[3:20] small as I hold it up, but that is
Midland obviously, Bay, Sagena,
[3:26] Shyawasi, and Jennese counties. Um, so
it's fewer counties, but it's more
[3:32] people obviously it's al also more
staff. Um, and certainly I'm working to
[3:37] get to know everyone who I work with uh
in this. I've been in my role since
[3:43] June. Um, but again, it is a return
home. I never moved up north. Um,
[3:49] and so I'm still living in Sagena. Um, I
provide leadership and administrative
[3:56] oversight for our county offices. I
supervise our support staff. Um, and
[4:01] here in Midland County, Brandy Martin is
our support staff person. Um, and then I
[4:08] will be working closely with all the
county governments as well. Um, and
[4:14] making sure that you have the
information that you need. Um, one of
[4:17] the things that we're constantly
battling against in MSU extension is
[4:21] that we do a lot of things and it's hard
for us to explain that succinctly. Um
[4:25] but we do have a new tagline and a new
communications sort of campaign that
[4:30] we're promoting which is whatever you
want to do extension does that because
[4:34] there's so many areas of people's lives
that we that we engage with and and um
[4:40] interact with. So just at the department
head meeting that I went to last week um
[4:46] uh your parks and recreation director
Patrick was talking about algolooms. We
[4:52] help educate the public on harmful
algolooms, what they are, how they are
[4:56] formed, what the science is behind them,
and what the response could be to that.
[5:01] And obviously, there's all different
kinds of responses based on all kinds of
[5:06] different value questions and things
like that. Um, also talked a little bit
[5:11] about some of the ways I can make better
connections with schools. Obviously, we
[5:15] have youth development programs through
4. um and talked a lot and and I'm still
[5:20] learning some of the people and the
players that um we can we can connect
[5:25] with. Um Bridget at that meeting asked
if anyone had time to fill in for her at
[5:31] a local community event um serving the
public sort of a brunch lunch. Um and I
[5:38] didn't have anything on my schedule. So
without really knowing what I was
[5:41] getting into, I raised my hand and I
said I could help. But it turned out to
[5:44] be a great um way for me to network and
meet folks here in Midland. It's called
[5:49] helping hands.
>> Community connect.
[5:52] » Community here at Trinity Lutheran and a
lot of our um human service agencies
[5:57] come together. The health departments
represented 211 United Way um many
[6:03] others.
Really it's an opportunity for members
[6:07] of the community who use those services
to come through and really learn about
[6:11] them. So, and I get asked to serve every
year and I wasn't feeling that great.
[6:15] So,
would be good over food. So, I really do
[6:20] appreciate Julie volunteering. I mean,
she did she raised her hand before I
[6:24] even said what it was. So, I appreciate
that.
[6:27] » Yeah. Um, that's sort of typical of me,
like jumping in and then finding out if
[6:32] there's water in the pool. Um, but that
serves me well sometimes because I got
[6:36] to meet a lot of great people when I was
doing that. Not only the people we were
[6:39] serving, but people I was serving with.
So, um, I look forward to that. Um, I
[6:45] will be reporting on MSU Extension.
Obviously, you know, the staff that we
[6:49] have, some of the staff we have based
here. Tanner Dar is a um extension
[6:54] health educator. He delivers programs um
that help people connect with health in
[7:00] a different way. A lot of a lot of great
work is done uh in medical facilities
[7:06] and hospitals and doctor's offices, but
the education piece is sometimes
[7:10] missing. MSU extension is working to
fill that in. So Tanner teaches classes
[7:15] like um mindfulness. Um there's a number
of series he and a colleague have just
[7:20] rewritten the curriculum for mindfulness
for the state um which is helping people
[7:25] connect with how it engaging certain
tools and techniques can help them feel
[7:31] more calm can help them u move through
challenging situations. Um, and people
[7:37] can harness the resources that they have
in their own hands by, you know, doing
[7:43] deep breathing exercises, you know,
thinking deeply, asking themselves
[7:47] questions, checking in, and then that
can help them move through some of that.
[7:52] So, we teach that to a number of people,
youth up to older adults and and through
[7:58] across the lifespan. Um, and there's all
different kinds of ways that we engage
[8:01] mindfulness. So there's mindfulness with
walking, there's laughter and
[8:05] mindfulness, there's all kinds of
different ways that we engage that work.
[8:08] Um, Tanner also with a group of staff
across the state helps teach our Tai Chi
[8:14] program. Um, Tai Chi is something that
we've engaged as a way of getting people
[8:20] to do some physical activity that's very
low impact. Um, and it can strengthen
[8:24] their ability to prevent falls, um, to
stay stable on their feet. Um this is
[8:30] especially important for older adults.
We all know that um older adults are at
[8:35] more of a risk from harm if they fall.
And if we can prevent falls, we can
[8:40] really help people maintain their health
and and keep them in, you know, feeling
[8:44] productive and ready to face the
challenges of the world. Um, and we also
[8:49] know the cost if a fall does happen, if
they're in a rural area, the cost to
[8:54] transport them, the cost of
hospitalization, rehabilitation,
[8:58] the ability for them to maintain their
independence in their own home, whatever
[9:03] that may be, um, is really impacted if
there's a fall. So, that's what we're
[9:08] looking at on a statewide basis with our
Tai Chi programs. Um, Dave Wowski is
[9:13] based here. He's our sugarbeat
advancement educator. You know, Michigan
[9:17] State was 20 years ago or 25 years ago,
we were working handinhand with the
[9:23] sugar industry to keep that industry
profitable and present in Michigan. Um,
[9:28] you know, it's a billion-dollar industry
that almost went completely away. Um,
[9:33] and if there hadn't been a concerted
effort by co-op members, by farmers and
[9:38] researchers at Michigan State, um, you
know, we wouldn't have been able to
[9:42] tackle the issue and maintain that
business in our region. Um, and so we're
[9:47] right in the heart of the uh har at the
point of harvest. Um, they're obviously
[9:54] you'll start seeing those trucks on the
road. Um, but uh Dave and his uh his
[10:00] staff person Kyle, they're out helping
uh growers understand what's going on.
[10:05] They do field research um and field days
with with farmers um helping them
[10:11] understand pre pressure of um ever
evolving diseases and pests that impact
[10:17] the sugar industry. And the sugar
industry is just one of the crops that
[10:22] we support across the state of Michigan.
I don't know if you know this but
[10:26] Michigan has the second most diverse
agricultural profile of any state in the
[10:32] nation after California. And you can
understand California has a climate that
[10:36] supports citrus growing and avocados and
almonds, but Michigan being second in
[10:42] agricultural commodities means that
Michigan State University Extension has
[10:46] to have staff that know how to talk
about everything from Christmas trees to
[10:52] sugar beats to hogs and dairy
production. So every kind of
[10:56] agricultural production that happens in
the state, we have someone who can be
[11:00] working with and for um those growers
and helping them even when there's
[11:06] emerging new crops that we're growing.
So uh 10 years ago we were steering hard
[11:11] into hops. Um you know there's a very
small but but mighty group of chestnut
[11:16] growers in the United in Michigan. um
all of our fruit production on the west
[11:21] side of the state and even some of it
here benefits from the research that
[11:24] we're doing on our farms um with farmers
and also in in a bio research stations
[11:31] like the one that's in Frankenmuth um
and so in that respect we're really
[11:37] helping those growers meet the
challenges of the future um and even
[11:42] right now. So last week I got an
opportunity to go to a session regarding
[11:46] soil health at the Sagenov Valley
Research and Extension Center helping
[11:50] farmers understand that um cover crops
are one mechanism to reduce runoff of
[11:57] soil that's so important um but also to
you know help their soil be as
[12:04] nutritious and um rich as it is. Um, the
other fun fact about Michigan is we have
[12:10] one of the most diverse soil profiles of
any other state. Um, and then also in
[12:16] Midland County, we have Robin McGuire.
She works at the St. Andrews Center and
[12:20] she's a science educator who works with
the Children and Youth Institute. At the
[12:25] St. Andrews Center, we have a unique
opportunity to engage youth in really
[12:28] hands-on problem solving and
development. Um, there's a there's a
[12:33] group uh this summer that was part of an
underwater remote operated vehicle.
[12:38] Sorry, in my head I'm trying to
translate all the acronyms that I have.
[12:42] So, UA ROV's, but um, [laughter]
uh, those underwater remote operated
[12:47] vehicle teams designed vessels that
could, you know, dive. They tested them
[12:52] in these small, what you might call
kiddie pools that you could have in your
[12:56] backyard. And then they went to the
Triidge and they tried them in the
[12:59] river. Um, so we have lots of fun
evidence that, you know, hands-on kids
[13:05] are learning things. The St. Andrews
Center is one opportunity for us to
[13:09] engage youth in STEM and STEM related
growth and science. Um, and I just want
[13:15] to give you a snapshot of sort of that's
just the tip of the iceberg of what
[13:19] Robin's doing. There are also uh high
school students who are working directly
[13:24] with researchers based at St. Andrews on
all kinds of projects. um they produce
[13:29] um posters which is you know an it's a
correlary to their um to what their life
[13:35] might be like if they're a researcher
where they're producing um research
[13:40] posters and presenting their findings.
Um but they're engaged in all kinds of
[13:44] discovery and inquiry through that. Um
we're currently in the process of
[13:49] confirming that we have funding for our
4 program coordinator position. Uh DeHow
[13:54] is retired. Um and um we're really
thankful for the work that she did for
[13:59] many years and the support that she gave
to the program and we're hoping to find
[14:03] someone who can bring energy and new
life to that. Um we certainly have the
[14:09] most number of clubs, the most number of
adult volunteers, the most number of
[14:13] youth engaged of the five counties that
I serve here in Midland County. And
[14:19] we're very proud of that and we want to
see that grow. It's so funny to think of
[14:22] it's the largest program and there's
still growth potential for that. Um,
[14:26] also I was intrigued by the years of
service of Midland County 4 volunteers.
[14:32] And so I went through a process to try
to add up all of the years and months of
[14:36] service of Midland County volunteers. I
don't know if it will surprise you to
[14:40] learn that it's more than 2,700
years of service. Years, not months,
[14:48] years of service collected. among that
group of volunteers. It's a tremendous
[14:53] asset that is unrivaled.
Um, you know, when you have people
[14:57] who've volunteered for your program for
more than 40 years, you really want to
[15:01] meet that challenge and meet them. So,
as soon as we can confirm funding, and
[15:06] by the way, Midland County is the
proposal for the budget is a very
[15:11] helpful element of that and we're
seeking local funding to close the
[15:15] little gap that we have. Well, it's all
relative, right? if you don't have it.
[15:19] It's a big gap, but [laughter]
um which we don't. So, we're working on
[15:23] that. Um and I think that's probably my
time. So, if there's any questions for
[15:27] me, um I encourage you to reach out. I
was going to put together a
[15:31] presentation, but then I thought I could
just talk to you all and I could go on
[15:34] and on. So, I'm glad there is a time
limit. Um but if anyone has any
[15:38] questions for me, I'd be happy to answer
those.
[15:41] » I have one.
>> Sure. Do you have somebody on staff that
[15:44] will go out to a residential to a house
and if their lawn's not doing good, look
[15:49] look at their lawn and make suggestions
or not?
[15:52] » We don't have the capacity to send a
person there. However, we have lots of
[15:57] ways for that person to interface with
us. So, we have an online tool called
[16:01] Ask an Expert where people can upload
their own photos and describe their
[16:05] issue and they can check whether or not
they're willing to make their question
[16:10] and the answer to their question public
because it becomes part of a knowledge
[16:14] base that we have. So, it's called Ask
Extension. Um, ask extension and it's I
[16:20] think the easiest way to use our website
is really to use a search engine because
[16:24] we've tried to optimize it with
keywords. if you're on the page,
[16:27] sometimes it can be difficult to find
exactly where to go. We also have a lawn
[16:31] and garden hotline that's staffed
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings
[16:34] between 9 and 12. Um, and the number is
off the top of my head, I'm not going to
[16:42] be able to get it.
>> Send me that. I will send it.
[16:45] » Yeah, it' be great. Be great.
>> So, that lawn and garden hotline is
[16:48] staffed by extension master gardener
volunteers who've been specifically
[16:52] trained to help people with that
question and answer. they can talk to
[16:56] folks and find out what's going on. We
would always recommend that someone for
[17:01] a lawn or garden at their home do a soil
test because that can give you a really
[17:05] good snapshot of if there's deficits in
nutrition or maybe there's an
[17:10] overabundance of something that's
>> having an impact. So yeah,
[17:13] » thank you.
>> You're welcome.
[17:18] » Yes. Um, I just want to say thank you
for all of the work that you have done
[17:22] for so many years and I'm excited to
have your energy and and your knowledge
[17:27] base brought to um brought to our
region. We're very excited to have you.
[17:31] » Thank you. My job is not one that's much
envied among people in extension, but
[17:36] what I say is it's the best job because
I get to be a cheerleader and an
[17:40] advocate. Um, I wake up every day really
excited to do my job even on days when
[17:45] it's hard. Um
uh but um it is an exciting opportunity
[17:51] for me to talk about the good work that
our staff does. Um and obviously I'm
[17:55] passionate about it. So thank you so
much.
[17:58] » Any other questions for Julie? No.
>> Thank you very much for being here.
[18:02] » It was good.
>> I learned a lot this morning.
[18:06] [clears throat]
>> Uh
[18:08] things I did not know about MSU.
Uh all right. Other happenings around
[18:14] the county. um county service building
uh architects and are working on the
[18:20] redesign of Puddle Street entrance. Um
also have an engineering firm working on
[18:28] um the AC unit that we have to replace.
You might remember that we talked about
[18:34] this when we were talking about the
consumer's easements that they wanted
[18:37] out front um and that we would be happy
to place the AC building unit out there.
[18:44] Um
we uh finally got the bids um the city
[18:50] let the RFP for the concrete between our
two buildings. Um I think the approval
[18:56] for that goes through city council
next week, next Monday.
[19:02] » [clears throat]
>> We will be a once they start that
[19:06] project, uh, I'm hoping it doesn't take
super long.
[19:11] We won't have both ends of the building
tied up at one time. So, that's good
[19:16] news. Uh, I don't, this will happen
before anything out here happens. I
[19:21] don't know the timing of this yet. I
know, Jim, you're worried about
[19:23] election. I don't know yet um when that
will be. [clears throat] Um,
[19:29] our portion This is going to be just
about I think about $38,000 which is
[19:35] what we expected it to be. Um when we
bid it last year it was about $35,000.
[19:41] So
>> do we need to lean on anybody uh to make
[19:45] sure that that happens?
>> No, it's all
[19:47] » at the city.
>> Nope. Already done.
[19:49] » Okay.
>> Yeah. Thanks.
[19:50] » Super.
>> Yeah.
[19:52] » Um
jail update. We do have an increase in
[19:56] federal marshall inmates. Um, ours has
stayed about the same. Uh, so that is
[20:02] good for the bottom line. We do have a
jail boiler project that's going to go
[20:07] out for bid also. Um, these are things
that we want to make sure we do before
[20:11] the snowfl
[20:18] the reason partly we can have the more
uh federal inmates is because of the
[20:23] recovery pod. What what are some of the
thing are you familiar what goes on what
[20:29] are they doing in the recovery pod how
are they and how that works can you
[20:33] speak to that
>> yeah so they have um group counseling uh
[20:38] they have an exercise
class they have an art class they have
[20:43] school um they have a lot of different
opportunities to keep the folks that are
[20:50] participants in the recovery pod active
and also continuing their um their
[20:56] recovery process, which if someone's
been in counseling in group therapy um
[21:04] before they're incarcerated, they want
them to be able to continue that. If
[21:07] they haven't, then they want them to
participate. So, if they're willing um
[21:12] so that hopefully when they're done,
they will be able to still be willing to
[21:16] participate when they leave. Um that's
the goal is to keep them engaged. Our
[21:22] recovery coaches are in the in the house
recovery also.
[21:27] » I mean they visit there.
>> Yeah.
[21:28] » So then they they'll have use that those
rooms instead of the
[21:34] » the other in some of the other areas. Is
that what you're
[21:36] » Yeah. They're actually I mean the
they're not leaving the recovery pod.
[21:40] There are times when um they can leave.
They'll go outside. Um sheriff will take
[21:45] them outside, you know, maybe once a
week or a couple times a week. Um but
[21:50] most of the time all of the services are
coming to them.
[21:56] Okay.
Um also just want to let you know the
[22:00] dry cleaning property that was um left
in the possession of the treasurer as a
[22:07] foreclosed property that had a lot of
contamination cleanup that needed to
[22:12] happen. Um Kevin finalized that contract
with AKT Peerless and um they've started
[22:19] that remediation work. So hopefully that
will be done sooner than later. Um there
[22:24] is still a chance that the state of
Michigan will have more responsibility
[22:29] over that in the future, but I'm not
sure what that looks like yet.
[22:34] Um skipping over
to finance. If there's something that
[22:40] I'm missing those other areas, let me
know. But um just talking about finance.
[22:45] So you the 2027 budget will um be in
your office. before the end of the day.
[22:52] Um, really appreciate Tiffany's hard
work on that, the finance
[22:57] [clears throat] staff,
uh, input from Kevin on the facility
[23:02] stuff and Chris and IT and Christine
with HR
[23:07] positions. It It was very helpful. Um,
this year actually went pretty smoothly
[23:12] and I really appreciate that. We do have
the 2025 PAFER done and that was
[23:18] submitted last week. So, uh, those will
be sent out for, um, publication and
[23:24] printing this week. So, hopefully we'll
have those in the next few weeks to hand
[23:27] out to all of you. Um, we are planning a
county auction. So,
[23:33] we're going to do often we'll have an
auction in this parking lot, but since
[23:37] all of the old file storage and
furniture that's 30 plus years old is
[23:44] parked out at Pinerest, that is actually
where the auction will be on October
[23:49] 7th. So, um I'll have more information
for on that in the near future.
[23:56] » Will that will that be po uh posted on
the website? What things are listed?
[24:02] Will it be under your which would be
find where where would I direct people
[24:07] if they were interested in checking?
Where would they look?
[24:10] » Um, it'll probably be under on the
calendar on the homepage.
[24:15] » If you look on the calendar, Larry will
have it on there. It'll probably be on
[24:19] finance as well.
[24:25] » Thank you.
Uh, Foya, as you know, this continues to
[24:31] be on the rise. Um, this is something
that I think with really
[24:40] should require a conversation with your
legislators about this because it is
[24:45] really, in my opinion, getting out of
hand. Um,
[24:49] it there are and I'll give you some
examples. Majority of them are with the
[24:54] sheriff's office and primary requests
that that come in the work it's done and
[25:02] then they decide they don't want it are
um people actively running YouTube
[25:07] channels from across the country that
are looking for police footage, camera
[25:12] footage, car footage. Um it takes at
least for every hour of footage, it
[25:18] takes at least an hour of redacting.
um images and then they have to go back
[25:23] through and redact audio. Um it's at
least three hours of work for every hour
[25:29] of footage. So um you know in talking
with the sheriff I I think that he has
[25:36] put out some
comments uh with local legislators
[25:42] um his concern is this primarily that
these folks uh make these requests. They
[25:48] put in all the work. We put in the work.
Um Jessica has work on her end and then
[25:53] nothing gets done. I mean our recovery
financially on this is almost nothing.
[25:58] » Uh and you know the sheriff would say
that if it were it would make sense to
[26:05] him that you have to be involved somehow
in the request for you to make the
[26:09] request. Whether it was you were
actively involved in the incident. um
[26:18] that makes more sense. So, I'm not sure
what the answer is. I I really don't
[26:23] know. Um but it's to me it's it's
starting very much to mirror an unbonded
[26:32] mandate. The state of Michigan
legislature put this in play and it's
[26:36] costing us a significant amount of
money.
[26:38] You'll see in the 2027 recommended
budget that I've added a halftime person
[26:44] um to the board office reporting to Mark
and I uh under the leader lead of
[26:51] Jessica as far as training and the
sheriff um to help handle these things.
[26:59] I you know we're lucky maybe we won't
need it for very long. Uh but at this
[27:05] point in time it's become very quickly
uh but an hour by hour burden for law
[27:14] enforcement, the records clerks in the
sheriff's office and to Jessica. So
[27:20] these and these aren't normal I mean
these become the majority of the
[27:24] requests but these are the ones that
in my opinion don't make a whole lot of
[27:29] sense. So and I'm sure not everyone will
agree with that but that is you know our
[27:35] our goal. um in local government is to
make sure people are informed. And it,
[27:41] you know, it's not top secret. It's just
a lot of these things are really not
[27:46] necessary for people who aren't involved
in the case
[27:51] to necessarily happen.
Media like formal media channels are
[27:56] different. Um
I mean
[28:01] they're they typically when they make a
request they follow through on it.
[28:06] That's that's not the issue.
>> There's no way to make people pay.
[28:13] » Yes, you can requ you you still but you
still have to do a majority of the work
[28:16] to figure out how much it's going to
cost. That's what the law says. And then
[28:21] you can require a 50% deposit.
>> Okay. So, we know this will take at
[28:26] least between six and eight hours. We're
going to charge you for six hours.
[28:32] Wait, can can you I didn't quite
couldn't quite hear what
[28:36] » you can't request. You can't put
together a You used to be a We used to
[28:40] be able to do that. Put together a time
projection of how much something would
[28:43] cost at the lowest rate
[clears throat and cough] of the person
[28:46] who could actually do it
>> do the work. Yes.
[28:48] » And now you can't put the get together
the estimate. You actually have to do
[28:52] the work
>> and then
[28:55] » then Well, so there so we do all the
upfront costs and then they can decide
[29:00] » for the most part
I see. So, we have the MAC conference
[29:04] coming up. That'll be a good place to
discuss that, won't it?
[29:07] » Yeah, absolutely.
>> Well, I think it's the discussion you
[29:09] can have the local legislators
>> that too.
[29:12] » It's it's it's too time consuming to
think that you're doing this for
[29:17] somebody that has nothing no relevance
to what they're asking for,
[29:20] » right?
>> But we find how other counties are doing
[29:24] it or if they're going [laughter] if
they're not or what's going on,
[29:28] » right?
>> We're just on top of it so much.
[29:33] There has to be a happy medium somewhere
and right now I don't think we're there.
[29:38] So,
um, okay.
[29:42] Anything else you want to say on that?
Did I cover it?
[29:47] Um, moving on to it.
So for um all of us who have email,
[29:55] you may get [clears throat] frustrated
at times that some of your legitimate
[29:59] email gets stuck in the Barracuda spam
filter because I'm not a fan of that
[30:03] spam filter. It's less than effective.
Um
[30:09] one of the projects uh on my goals with
it was to change that to another
[30:14] provider. So we [clears throat] are
move forward um with proof point and
[30:23] they've actually been uh gracious enough
to give us a sixmonth time frame to get
[30:30] everything ready and converted over and
tested out before we actually have to
[30:34] make that cut off I think in February
with uh from Barracuda and turn flip the
[30:40] switch and switch it over. So, we'll be
working on that behind the scenes, but
[30:44] I'm hoping that um the benefit will be
very positive for everybody in the
[30:48] future.
[30:53] » So, maybe with it and with this that's a
spam filter, but have we been uh I know
[30:58] for cyber security that'll be something
on Chris's plate, too. So, we have we
[31:02] had and I don't know if they're free to
say or not if we if I presume we there's
[31:08] been no successful attacks.
>> No, they're not. Miden County can they
[31:12] see that there's can they with the
different soft different things they do
[31:17] can they see yeah there's attempts out
there
[31:19] » well there's always fishing attempts I
mean you'll see that in your emails
[31:23] right everybody gets the emails that
pretend to be someone else they'll buy
[31:27] as a matter of fact I had an email from
two parks two park directors ago Kim Her
[31:34] um asking for a change for his direct
deposit and I forwarded it to Chris I
[31:39] said well they bought a really bad old
email list since he's not even here
[31:43] anymore.
>> Um, and he isn't in our pension, so he's
[31:48] not even getting a retirement check. So,
he's not getting any checks from us. So,
[31:52] nope, not changing your direct deposit
account. Um, but these are the kinds of
[31:56] things that we've done training and um
with employees and really good at
[32:02] spotting these things and sending them
on and uh that
[32:07] employees are really our first line of
defense. some of these things. So, the
[32:12] more they know and understand and the
better they're at, you know, questioning
[32:17] some things, then the safer we are. But
if there were a successful attack,
[32:22] Larry, you would know I would be
telling.
[32:29] Um, one of the things that, um, Julie
didn't mention, but, um, I'm going to,
[32:34] is, and, I think Larry, you might have
mentioned it at the end of last the
[32:39] meeting last week, the Sturgeon release
last Friday.
[32:45] » Um, if you're interested in that, uh,
there's another one on the 26 in the
[32:51] same area over at the Caldwell boat
launch area. So, um, if that's something
[32:56] that intrigues you and you missed it,
um, it'll be at 11:00 a.m. on the in the
[33:01] same spot.
>> So, I was going to mention later, but I
[33:04] can do it now. So, we did go to that.
Okay.
[33:06] » Uh, it was delightful. They were, um,
there probably were hund some maybe 150
[33:12] people. I don't know. It was a lot of
and before the school has they were out.
[33:17] So, all sorts of kids out there. It was
great time. had some booths out there to
[33:23] give other information. They did a great
job and the uh it was our grandkids were
[33:29] there that so we went there to do that
and um it was it was good about 125 fish
[33:35] I think they put out or so and uh it was
a good train they did great job training
[33:41] kids what's going on why they're doing
that had it was just they did a
[33:44] fantastic job so that's great
>> well done
[33:47] » so you want to see it again the 26th of
September
[33:53] um parks and wreck. Uh just so you know,
the
[33:58] I mean I haven't had to report what the
gate house receipts have been in a very
[34:02] long time at Sanford Lake Park, but it's
nice to be able to do that. Um right, as
[34:08] of the end of August, we were at almost
$127,000
[34:12] for gate gate uh income with folks
coming in and out of the park. So uh a
[34:18] lot of kudos to um Patrick and his team.
Um they do have interviews uh coming up
[34:24] at least
one or two more for um parks manager. Uh
[34:30] I've got my fingers crossed that that'll
be filled pretty soon.
[34:35] » Just shout out and I know oops I do a
lot of talk
[34:39] » about what a great job that Patrick has
been doing filling in and covering for
[34:44] that. So it has been he was doing his
job plus
[34:49] » doing a lot that this person will have
will be to help him. So
[34:53] » what a shout out for Patrick.
>> Yeah.
[34:55] » What was the uh in past years before the
dams broke? What was gate revenue? Do
[35:01] you know?
>> I don't have that off the top of my
[35:03] head. Mark, I could look it up. But it's
um also a little
[35:08] the fee to get in we did a little bit
differently because you could you know
[35:12] buy a voucher and it was less and
wouldn't quite be apples to apples. Um
[35:18] but we can I can look that up and figure
it out.
[35:20] » Just curious how the attendance was.
>> Yeah. I mean I hesitate to say out loud
[35:27] that maybe this was you know a lot more
curiosity and novelty because the lake
[35:32] is back that it's this high. I'm hoping
that it stays that way.
[35:36] » Yeah.
>> Um that it's not just the first year.
[35:39] Next year we'll be competing Wixom, I
think.
[35:43] » Or potentially. So, yeah. Janette, did
you have something, too?
[35:47] » Yeah. Um, so the parks manager position
has been quite challenging and we've had
[35:53] it advertised nationally and it was my
understanding we offered it to someone
[35:56] and then perhaps retracted that offer.
Um, and so, um, I just don't I'm trying
[36:04] to wrap my mind around what's going on
there. It's been months. Um,
[36:08] » it's difficult to employ people and find
good candidates.
[36:12] » How long has it been for the parks
manager position?
[36:16] » Well, John's been gone a year.
>> Yeah. So, Patrick's been doing the uh
[36:22] parks director
>> and the parks management position. Is
[36:27] there still a need for the parks
management management?
[36:31] » I would say definitely yes. Okay.
>> Because there are things that need to be
[36:37] more Patrick's primary.
>> What do you think the main obstacle is
[36:40] then?
>> I I I think it's been different each
[36:44] time.
>> Okay.
[36:45] » Um and I can't really talk publicly
about why the offer was withdrawn for
[36:50] the last person.
>> Okay.
[36:52] » So otherwise that would have been
handled by now, but So what takes what
[36:58] does take a while is starting the
process over
[37:02] » right
>> that always takes more time because then
[37:05] we have to advertise and
>> after we offer they have to go through
[37:09] » they have to go through certain things
for a hiring process
[37:12] » they have to do background check and
physical.
[37:14] » Thank you.
>> Okay.
[37:15] » Yeah. Thanks.
>> Um Eric
[37:20] » um backtracking to the FOYA issue.
>> Yes. Would it be appropriate for us to
[37:25] reach out to the gubatorial candidates
and let them know that this is an issue
[37:30] that's that's a burden to local
governments?
[37:35] » I don't think it would
>> see if they've got a response.
[37:37] » Yeah, I don't think it would hurt. I
think your legislators are the ones who
[37:41] are making the decision about it. So, I
think that that's where I would start.
[37:46] » Okay,
>> sounds good. Thank you.
[37:49] » State rep,
>> state rep, state senate. Thank you.
[37:55] » I think that's who the sheriff has
already reached out to as well.
[38:00] » Okay. Um just a reminder under trial
court administrator, if you don't have
[38:06] it on your calendars yet, on the 25th,
[cough]
[38:08] [clears throat]
um the 100redy year anniversary
[38:11] celebration over at the courthouse will
be from 2 to 5. Uh, I know the bar
[38:18] association is handling all of this and
I know Patrick was sending out
[38:22] invitations. So, um, if you haven't put
it on your calendar yet,
[38:26] » what was the date again?
>> It's on page
[38:29] » already on your calendar according to
Jessica.
[38:31] » All right. Sorry. [clears throat]
>> Everyone's already got it on [laughter]
[38:34] their calendar from me. Sorry.
>> On the 25th.
[38:38] » Thank you.
>> Yes.
[38:40] and um veterans affairs, we do have that
um as position advertised and we've
[38:46] gotten um several applications. So um
we'll as soon as we can find some dates
[38:51] to schedule interviews, we'll be doing
that. Um Elena, I'll be trying to get
[38:55] with you and check your calendar for
that process.
[39:00] » What happened to Bruce?
>> Bruce is here.
[39:03] » Bruce is still here.
>> Yep. Kevin is Kevin is retiring.
[39:06] » Okay.
Anything
[39:10] else?
[39:14] » Thank you very much, Bridget.
>> Mr. Smith.
[39:18] » Well, top of the morning to everyone.
Um, the
[39:23] executive committee uh summary this
morning is not much different than it
[39:28] has been. U number of contracts been
working with Haley to uh complete those.
[39:34] Um,
as you know, I'm I'm going to be out of
[39:38] pocket for a few weeks uh starting
tomorrow, but um we'll be available by
[39:44] phone hopefully at the end of the month,
beginning of the end of the month. But a
[39:48] couple of things have uh gone on. Uh
I've been working on well well one is uh
[39:54] the elections commission activity with
with uh clerks Thomas and uh there has
[40:01] been some continuing activity
challenging the election process
[40:05] specifically the recall process and uh I
don't think it's going to this is
[40:10] particular to one of the townships
regarding a solar uh issue solar panel
[40:16] issue uh it may be different as we get
towards the fall With the general
[40:21] elections coming up, we'll probably see
more. And I think Jim is uh happening
[40:28] called baptism by fire as it seems like.
Uh I was also involved with a probate
[40:34] court uh dealing with a
behavior issue for one of the residents
[40:41] out at the JCC. And it was an
interesting experiment uh and an
[40:46] interesting experience working with uh
the judge and uh she and I got along
[40:51] well and and we were successful in
removing a rather difficult
[40:57] resident and getting him back to his um
host county if you will was up in
[41:03] Gladin. Um
so regarding Fox versus uh Sageno County
[41:12] I think it's Sago the as you know that
is the u Raphael type uh issue regarding
[41:21] foreclosure of property in the county
and the historical foreclosure.
[41:26] Um there is a the lawsuit that we were
participants in involuntarily
[41:33] uh and but for which there has been a
settlement um identified in principle
[41:38] has been extended. The settlement
process has been extended and extended
[41:42] several times primarily due to the lack
of u persons making claims against the
[41:49] various counties who are defendants for
refund of their taxes.
[41:55] And um now uh there has been a um
fairness hearing scheduled on the
[42:02] proposed settlement for January 22nd of
next year. And uh with luck, I say that
[42:09] um sincerely, with luck, the court will
approve the settlement and we can get
[42:13] this behind us for this part of that
litigation.
[42:18] Um, and there it's uncertain whether
that will happen because of the lack of
[42:23] participation
and the I'm sure that the plaintiff's
[42:27] lawyers are very unhappy because they
the more participation the better
[42:32] they're going to do in terms of their
own settlement. But [clears throat] um
[42:36] whether that is going to be resulting in
a approval or not remains to be seen.
[42:41] I'm hopeful that it will.
>> And the other uh
[42:45] » before you go on if I could um Do
[clears throat] we've put some we've
[42:50] held some money in reserves for that,
haven't we, Bridget? Of with that case
[42:55] of in case that was what the um
from with taxes or from the forfeited m
[43:04] uh parcels that we kept some money back
and thinking expecting this might come
[43:10] through. Uh forward thinking great job
and then but that won't be able to be
[43:16] you. We will have to leave that in
reserve till this is settled.
[43:19] » I re I mean not that it's that much
money in Midland. Bridget may have a
[43:23] comment about that. But I recommend
caution in that regard only because uh
[43:28] as I was just about to mention there was
recently an unpublished decision by the
[43:33] Michigan Court of Appeals in case called
Sheffield versus Chipoa County Treasurer
[43:38] at all. And there they uh court said
well all well and good that you have
[43:46] done all these things but these
plaintiffs have uh filed a claim um
[43:51] based on court in Michigan and con
United States constitutional claim for a
[43:57] violation of the takings clause and
those have not yet been adjudicated or
[44:01] litigated. So that that court left open
the door for other people to file a
[44:07] lawsuit based upon the constitutional
provisions regarding an unlawful taking
[44:13] and Michigan tort. I don't know what the
tort claim would be exactly but so this
[44:18] has not quite gone away yet. It's very
it's close and I want to say it's done
[44:22] but it isn't quite done yet.
And that's about it for my
[44:31] » All right. Thank you, Bill.
Commissioners, uh, updates on boards and
[44:36] commissions. Let's start with Larry.
>> Um, so last week uh went to the, uh,
[44:44] Founders Grove, uh, ribbon cutting
ribbon cutting ceremony that they held
[44:48] on last Thursday. That's the new charter
school that's just starting. Their first
[44:54] day of classes, I think, are going to be
tomorrow. That was a well attended
[44:58] event. Uh they've got around
at least 116 fully enrolled and over 200
[45:06] have applied. So there's great
excitement there. I talked to some of
[45:11] the people, one of the board members.
It's the classical education is the
[45:18] approach they're taking. They're going
to start teaching Greek and Latin in
[45:22] fourth grade. Uh it's going to be
phonics based, cursive, no screen time
[45:27] except for a statemandated test. And I
know there's even the public school,
[45:31] they're realizing the some of the
consequences of screen time. So they're
[45:36] uh they're just right on top of things.
Uh if people don't know, that's it's at
[45:41] the [clears throat]
uh it's on the corner there of
[45:43] Washington and Weer Road is where the
school is. I went to the MCTOA meeting
[45:50] on Thursday. Uh they had ITC there and I
think that's Interstate Transit
[45:57] Corporation or something like that. And
there's a new power line that's going to
[46:01] be coming from Letingtonish
uh to to Coleman and across I don't know
[46:07] all the the total route. Well, there's
going to in October there's going to be
[46:10] some public um meetings about that.
people in the in the areas that are
[46:17] touched by it, they're going to be
getting particular letters if there's
[46:22] properties could be potentially uh
touched by this or being in the area.
[46:27] So, we will be having some things going
on in Lon County with that and that's
[46:33] they're at the early stages. So, it's
going to be quite a few years probably
[46:38] long that process takes. Um, if you go
to the ITC website, there'll be a spot
[46:43] to be able to find that. So that was
interesting. Second thing they had uh
[46:48] was a lady and I didn't I I failed to
bring her card so I didn't remember what
[46:53] the name of the organization but they
were going over some of the sex
[46:56] trafficking in Michigan. Unfortunately
we are Michigan is in uh she'd said like
[47:02] in the top 10 of the states.
Unfortunately not a number you want to
[47:06] be in the top of amount of sex
trafficking. It's terrible. Uh and so
[47:10] they had a nonprofit and if we ever want
to have uh her to come here to just let
[47:17] people know about it and she's they've
gone to different things. So that was
[47:21] very interesting
an unpleasant topic that has to that's
[47:26] occurring but uh they had done that u
Kim the heistler the chairman there has
[47:35] done a great job trying to get some
different speakers in and uh talking
[47:39] about some of the programs going on. So
um went to that. So that was a good just
[47:45] a great time uh meeting and did the lake
sturgeon thing as we talked about. So
[47:52] that's all I had. Thanks.
>> Thanks Larry Kim.
[47:55] » Um pretty pretty quiet. Enjoyed the
church walk with Commissioner Smith. Uh
[48:00] music with Commissioner Dorian on
Saturday night. Plan on attending
[48:05] Midland Township board meeting this
Wednesday tomorrow. And uh tomorrow I
[48:11] start my 22nd police academy. So one
more after that and then I'm done.
[48:19] » Eric, I have done the report. Mr.
Chairman,
[48:22] » thank you.
>> Um yeah, so I was able to attend the uh
[48:28] the substance use disorder oversight
policy board um which is possibly the
[48:35] longest acronym in the world. Um uh that
was on uh I believe Thursday the 13th.
[48:46] Um and then uh or August 13th. And then
after that I was able to go um to the
[48:52] Community Mental Health of Central
Michigan uh board of directors meeting
[48:56] in uh Reed City uh which was August
25th. Um so I was able to find Reed
[49:04] City. It's a long ways away. Um um it
was quite the drive. We got done with
[49:12] our meeting at like 9:45 at night and
then they were like um just watch out.
[49:18] There's been like three people hitting
deer on right by here. Anyway, so it was
[49:22] a fun like hour and a half drive home.
Um but um but it was um but it was uh
[49:29] very interesting. Um we had some uh good
discussion about um tailoring uh
[49:36] substance use treatment uh to different
communities and different communities
[49:41] needs. Um you know some some communities
are are really struggling with alcohol
[49:46] use, some communities are really
struggling with um like with things more
[49:51] like meth or heroin and that kind of
stuff. And so and and using different
[49:56] communities, cultures, um
and and and cultural like identities to
[50:03] to kind of fight different different
parts of of addiction. It was a really
[50:07] good discussion. Um as opposed to being
like this is the addiction treatment
[50:11] plan, this is what we're doing and this
is what we're doing for every county in
[50:15] Michigan. um but more breaking it up for
and tailoring it to individual
[50:19] communities and counties which I found
um to be super interesting and has been
[50:23] found to be super effective. Um so yeah,
that is all I have to report.
[50:27] » Thank you.
>> Um so things have been pretty quiet for
[50:32] me too. I appreciate Larry's update on
the MCTOA. I wasn't able to attend that
[50:36] and they have um fairly new leadership
so they have some really good topics
[50:41] there. So they've it's been u beneficial
um to attend. Uh I went so I talked
[50:47] about parks a little bit. Um of course
would love to have parks manager. Um
[50:54] Patrick is a great director and we're um
so thankful for him. He is also getting
[50:59] baptized by fire because he's never been
here when the lake has been um here. So
[51:05] um it's quite a new experience. Um, I
think it's great that Samford is
[51:10] bringing in so much um for the parks
again. And I I don't know if you're
[51:16] aware, but um you know there's a lot the
the whole lake is different. So there's
[51:21] just different structure, different
people were hang where they hang out.
[51:25] And we have a park called uh River
Trails. It's up in Edenville and it's
[51:30] it's near the dam on the river. you um
weren't able to boat to it before and
[51:35] now you're able to boat to it and it's
quite nice and sandy and a park area and
[51:40] so um some people have been hanging out
up there because the other sandy areas
[51:46] have trees and weeds and items of that
nature. So, and um he was able to let us
[51:52] know that him and I don't know if you
know, but like the parks and the road
[51:56] commission um they're fairly close um in
proximity and so they do um things
[52:03] together and they work really well
together. So, um they've been able to
[52:07] collaborate and open up communication so
to do things and to save the county
[52:12] money on things um like chainsaw
training for um the road commission's
[52:17] doing it. they can share that expense
with parks and they just have a really
[52:21] good partnership and not all counties
have that. So just very thankful that um
[52:26] we have that here in Midland County and
that's all that I have.
[52:29] » Thank you Mark.
>> I have nothing.
[52:34] » No comment from me. So commissioner
comments. Let's start back up with Larry
[52:40] again. Thanks for Julie for coming
today. that was I know there was some
[52:44] emails of some of the stuff at MSU and
my goodness the the breadth of the kinds
[52:49] of things that they do. It's amazing.
So, um I'm glad we could have you come
[52:54] and speak to us about what's going on.
So, thank you for doing that.
[53:00] That's all. Thanks,
>> Kim.
[53:04] I'm just looking forward to settling
down now that the holidays passed and uh
[53:09] getting back to normal, per se. Um We'll
be out of state uh just putting
[53:17] committee chairs on notice end of the
month for a week spent with family. So
[53:23] I'll give you more details
offline.
[53:30] » All right, Eric.
>> Uh glad to hear or sorry to hear that
[53:37] Commissioner Smith's adventures into
Oyola County [laughter]
[53:42] uh were so challenging, but I I know
what you're talking about, having driven
[53:47] that route many, many a times in the
past, and I might recommend that you
[53:52] knock off knock off your bucket list
going to Paris,
[53:58] which is it would take you five minutes
to to take that exit and drive to Paris.
[54:11] » Nice.
That is all I have. [laughter]
[54:15] » Thank you.
>> Um I would just like to also say um
[54:21] thank you to Julie for coming in and
doing a presentation today. Um I found
[54:25] it to be uh very very helpful and
encouraging. Um
[54:30] » um I also wanted to say that
[clears throat]
[54:33] there is um so much information
available online. I just yesterday was I
[54:41] can't I couldn't figure out what was
going on with all of my tomatoes in my
[54:45] garden and and I posted a picture of
them and people are like, "Oh yeah, this
[54:50] is blossom rot. Here's a link to to MSU
Extension and they has like a whole
[54:55] article about it. Apparently my soil is
deficient in calcium." So, who knew? Um
[55:00] and so you can find you can find out all
sorts of fun things from them. Um, so
[55:06] yeah, that's all I have to report. Thank
you,
[55:09] » Janette. [clears throat]
>> I would just like to say thank you to
[55:11] Julie, too. I learned a lot and it's uh
vital to have MSU Extension and it's
[55:18] great that we have it in the community.
Um, so this is a banner year just on a
[55:23] personal note for my husband and I 50 60
so we're birthdays so we're traveling
[55:27] quite a bit as well and so thanks for um
I usually plan work like my stuff around
[55:34] work but um sometimes you got to have a
little vacation in there on the meeting
[55:40] so I'm going to do that. All right,
>> thanks Mark. I have no comment
[55:46] » besides welcome to the team and it was a
great presentation.
[55:50] » I agree with Mark. Thank you very much
for being here today, Julie. And as
[55:54] always, thanks to Bridget, Jessica,
Tiffany for running the show and being
[55:59] in charge and keeping us going and
making all the good decisions while
[56:04] while nobody else is there to help. So,
thank you very much.
[56:10] Any other business for the order? to the
order.
[56:13] » Move to adjourn.
>> What?
[56:16] » Okay.
>> I
[56:19] » Oh, I thought you were going to say
something, Eric. I apologize. Meeting is
[56:22] adjourned until Tuesday, September 16th,
2026 at 10 a.m. to meet in a regular
[56:27] board.
Thanks for the committee.