[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.

September 8, 2026 Executive Committee of the Whole Meeting

Transcript