[0:03] probably won't donate to nothing next
year.
[0:05] » Yeah, saw you were uh a little upset,
rightfully so.
[0:10] » I'm pretty sure I'm done.
>> Yeah, I would blame you.
[0:12] » I might be able to head to Fairberry
more often to other places and take the
[0:17] weight on Saturday someday.
>> Yeah, I don't blame you at all. It's a
[0:22] pretty thankless job. I already got one
of those. You don't need to know.
[0:27] » Are you ready?
>> Yeah.
[0:31] » Meeting will come to order. It's Montcom
County Board of Commissioners regular
[0:34] meeting for Monday, August 24th. We'll
begin with the pledge of allegiance,
[0:37] please. I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America and to
[0:43] the republic for which it stands. One
nation under God, indivisible, liberty
[0:51] for all. That's Chairman Peterson.
>> Pastor Dennis Ross from Neans Lake
[0:55] Church. Lead some in prayer, please.
>> Heavenly Father, we thank you for this
[0:59] county that seeks to begin a meeting
like this in prayer honoring you. Pray
[1:05] that in turn your favor would be upon
our board of commissioners and on our
[1:08] county that you would bless them with
wisdom far beyond their own that they
[1:12] would accomplish that which is most
pleasing to you, most beneficial to all
[1:15] here. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
>> Thank you.
[1:23] Roll call.
[1:26] » Alexander
>> Johnston
[1:30] » here.
>> Peterson.
[1:32] » Yes, ma'am.
>> Johnson
[1:33] » here.
>> Mahar
[1:35] » here.
>> Carr,
[1:36] » yes.
>> Murray
[1:37] » here.
And we have a quorum
[1:44] on tonight's agenda. I don't have any
changes. Does anyone else?
[1:48] » Mr. Chairman,
>> Commissioner Johnston,
[1:51] » have moved to approve today's meeting
agenda as presented.
[1:54] » It's been moved and supported to approve
the agenda for tonight's meeting as
[1:58] presented. Discussion
>> hearing no discussion. All those in
[2:03] favor say I.
>> I.
[2:04] » I.
>> Opposed.
[2:06] Motion carried. Everyone have a copy of
the meeting minutes of the last meeting,
[2:11] August 10th.
>> Mr. Chair,
[2:14] » Commissioner Johnston,
>> I'd move to approve our uh regular board
[2:18] minute minutes from August 10th, 2026 as
presented.
[2:23] » It's been moved and supported to approve
the minutes of the last meeting August
[2:26] 10th, 2026 as presented. Discussion.
If not, all those in favor say I. I.
[2:34] » Opposed?
Motion carried. Public comments.
[2:45] » In October of 2025,
House Bill 4706 passed.
[2:51] That was the state legislature that gave
out uh
[3:02] $42 million.
Uh plus some for the fiscal year
[3:09] 2026
to be uh shared to cities, villages, and
[3:14] townships. Payments are based on each
local unit share violent crime count as
[3:20] certified by state Michigan Department
of State Police for the calendar year
[3:25] 2022,
2023, 2024.
[3:30] And then it is the requirements and
restrictions of the use of this fund.
[3:35] And then it goes in 75% should be used
for law enforcement and 25% used for
[3:42] non-law enforcement related public
safety purposes.
[3:46] Well, then I went and looked up the
crime for the uh state of Michigan
[3:52] police and nowhere when they had the
category have like murder
[3:58] and assault. Nowhere was there anywhere
thing about any animal or any dog bites.
[4:04] Uh, it says here when I looked it up, is
dog bites considered a violent crime?
[4:10] No. Do bites and animal attacks are
typically handled under public health
[4:14] regulations. Local animal control
ordinance strictly
[4:20] civil
strict liability blah blah blah blah or
[4:24] specific nonviolent criminal
misdemeanor. So the dog bit lights and
[4:29] all that is not under the violent
portion of what the legislators passed.
[4:34] Now the legislators are doing elective
officials who represent a republic of
[4:39] Michigan Republican form of government
and he passed the money to you and you
[4:44] were supposed to appropriate it
properly. But you did you just did what
[4:48] you wanted to do. You gave it to the dog
house. And then
[4:53] I looked up and I found this today back
in uh couple years ago with the car
[5:00] talking about chair car stated that is
the board's millage and this is the
[5:06] sheriff's mill and the board does not
need the sheriff's permission to spread
[5:11] millet money. to see if the board can
direct the controllers to use those
[5:15] funds has there not been consistently
consistency on how the funds have been
[5:21] spent. Then commissioner Mar stated that
he thought this would be more to
[5:26] chairman car like has even been wanting
to share
[5:31] on the use of the funds. So then even
when you get the uh franchise
[5:40] voters the state of Montana voter
village car just get just do what I
[5:46] want. I just put it wherever I want. I
don't need the sheriff's approval. And
[5:51] so you disenfranchise not only Rick
Senator Rick Alman and Representative
[5:56] Pat Alman because they voted for this in
the first place. He also uh disappointed
[6:03] M say hey look we don't pay attention we
say we do what we want what we think is
[6:09] right even though it's outlined even the
department president put it out then
[6:19] » okay
>> I had to ask this question yeah with
[6:23] conscious pilot as I've asked you Mr.
car. Are you a king?
[6:31] » Any other public comments? Yes, sir.
[6:37] I uh [clears throat] saw the article in
a paper a few days ago about the
[6:43] millillage and I uh saw there were
people con concerned about why it didn't
[6:50] pass and stuff like that and
my wife and I looked at that and I we
[6:57] voted against it and the reason was to
me and her and I think maybe some other
[7:04] It looked like you were saying we're not
going to give you the basic 45 if you
[7:08] don't give us the 0.25
and we kind of felt we were getting
[7:13] hijacked
by
[7:16] trying to say if we don't get it all you
don't get anything and we're not going
[7:21] to have anything. And I see now you're
going to go back to the uh 045.
[7:26] And I just I think had it been presented
as two separate things linked together
[7:34] in some way like a 045 and the 0.25
saying this is what we have now. We kind
[7:43] of really want to do this. These are
other things that we want to do and we
[7:47] would like to get the 0.25 for that. I
think I think it would have gone over
[7:52] better. And I see now since you're just
going for the uh the 045 I it may be too
[7:58] late. I don't know what the schedule is
for things. You might want to consider
[8:03] making a point45
and a 0.25. I keep forgetting the
[8:08] numbers. I'm sorry. And
try to explain to people that you know
[8:16] this is what you didn't approve because
we didn't approve what we did and this
[8:21] is what more we need. but put it in two
packages and and let it go from there.
[8:26] [clears throat]
Um and uh I I guess I can't remember was
[8:32] someone in her off controller tater's
office or Pam Shock said you know they
[8:37] were afraid senior citiz citizens
wouldn't understand that. Well, my
[8:43] wife's 80. I'll be 80 in October. And we
kind of understand what was going on.
[8:47] And I think enough people would
understand what you're trying to do that
[8:51] you could probably have a better chance
of asking them.
[8:54] » Okay.
>> And you know, I was going to tell you a
[8:57] very funny joke for 30 seconds that this
first made me think of little kid to ask
[9:02] his mom for something. She says, "I
don't have the money for it. Pray to
[9:06] Jesus." And he starts writing down this
pay and then this one. and he decides
[9:11] none of this is going to work for him
because he's kind of a little
[9:13] troublemaker. And finally, he looks up,
he grabs the statue of Jesus off the
[9:21] uh desk, puts it on the floor, puts the
trash basket over, and says, "Dear God,
[9:26] if you ever want to see your son again,"
[laughter]
[9:30] so I mean I and truly that was kind of
the first thing I thought of. And you
[9:35] know, I'm not I'm not trying to make fun
of anything, but I just thought there
[9:39] was there was some of that in the way
that last one was proposed. And I would
[9:44] just ask that you consider
splitting it like that.
[9:49] » Sir, could we get I know you filled out
a card, but could we get your name and
[9:53] address just for the record?
>> Cliff Pedor, 9455 River Road,
[9:57] Greenville, 4883.
>> Very good. Thank you. Any other public
[10:01] comments?
[10:06] If not, we've got a 405 agenda item, a
public hearing to discuss the 27
[10:13] proposed budget.
>> Mr. Chairman,
[10:16] » Vice Chairman Peterson,
>> I move to open a public hearing to hear
[10:19] the fiscal year 2027 proposed budget.
>> It's been moved and supported to open a
[10:26] public hearing to discuss the 2027
proposed budget.
[10:31] discussion
>> restart.
[10:36] » If there's no discussion, all those in
favor say I.
[10:39] » I.
>> Motion carried. We're in a we're now in
[10:43] a public hearing to discuss the 20
27 fiscal year budget. Is there anyone
[10:49] in the audience that has a comment or a
question related to the 27 budget?
[10:57] If not, I'll turn it over to the
controller for the high points of what
[11:01] we're approving tonight.
>> All right. So, firstly, there is a
[11:04] couple loose pages on your desk, pages
25 and 29 that I need to uh swap out
[11:10] with pages 25 and 29 that are in the in
the packet document.
[11:15] um there were mistakes on those pages
that
[11:19] I was trying to get ahead of something
and then that didn't end up happening
[11:24] for our court security staff out there.
Um the uh letter of agreement we had for
[11:30] the one full-time position out there had
expired at the end of last year. Um, so
[11:35] I was trying to cover our basis
and add him as a non-union to the scale
[11:41] so we would have something legitimized,
memorialized.
[11:46] But I got word from the union today that
they are willing to um
[11:52] do a new letter of agreement to keep
that position on under the terms of the
[11:58] contract in section 15.7 for temporary
employees. So those pages just need to
[12:03] be swapped out for each other. Okay.
>> Um doesn't didn't affect the budget
[12:08] numbers at all. Um
so basically I ended up with a surplus
[12:14] of about $13,000.
Um
[12:19] nothing changed as far as the numbers
from your last meeting.
[12:24] Um
I'm trying to think. We didn't hear any
[12:29] arguments at the last meeting, did we?
The October or the August 10th pretty
[12:34] much. So, it's pretty much rubber
stamped from that meeting. And the memo
[12:38] kind of goes into detail. It hits all
the high points within each
[12:42] I'm going to say fund as far as
expenditures and revenue. um what union
[12:48] contracts rates are going to be at the
first of the year and when they're in in
[12:51] expiration dates are some of the
classification and other items that we
[12:57] did approve or you approved. Um and then
it just kind of runs through each fund
[13:03] what I thought were the the bigger more
important funds as far as what the what
[13:07] the budget was approved at revenue and
expenditure.
[13:11] Um
but other than that the fee schedule is
[13:15] what you guys agreed to at the last
meeting. There are um salary wage and
[13:21] salary schedules in there now at the
back in the supplemental staffing
[13:25] control summary.
So everything is there as it has been
[13:30] for the past I don't know seven years.
Same document.
[13:38] » Anyone have any questions for the
controller?
[13:46] You want to leave the public hearing
open for a time and move on to the next
[13:51] item and come back to the
>> I think that's pretty standard to what
[13:55] we normally do.
>> One more chance. Yeah. Okay. We'll leave
[13:58] the public hearing open. We'll move on
to our 410 agenda item. We have uh
[14:03] William Hendrian from MSU Extension and
guests. It looks like welcome
[14:10] » staff. If it's okay, Cher Car, we could
just do it here and then
[14:14] » Okay,
>> we can maybe hear from staff.
[14:16] » Whatever works for you.
>> I appreciate that. And
[14:21] got to Steve and Vicki and Sheila and
Sunny and I'll let them introduce
[14:27] themselves to you, but I thought it'd be
nice, one of my favorite times every
[14:30] month is our staff meeting and I, you
know, we go through the normal business
[14:35] stuff like you all do, but then I get an
opportunity to hear what they're doing
[14:39] currently. some updates and then I get
an opportunity to ask questions and I
[14:43] always think that's a that would be a
great opportunity for you all to to kind
[14:48] of ease drop and hear what's going on.
So I thought we'd just do a touch of
[14:51] that mindful of the time today. But just
uh first of all we're very grateful for
[14:57] the continued support from the county
and from uh this body. We did program in
[15:03] 2025 in all four areas of our
disciplines agriculture and agra
[15:08] business health and nutrition children
and youth development and um I'll just
[15:14] say natural resources
whatever it's another community food and
[15:19] environment is the institute name but we
did that and you've got just a a couple
[15:24] samples of different things that we did
throughout the year in addition to some
[15:30] numbers
I just want to highlight two things and
[15:33] then I'll move on from there. But number
one, I put in a page about the master
[15:37] gardeners because they really do a lot
and they are overseen by Brent Crane
[15:41] who's the consumer horiculturalist
that's in our Ingram office, but they
[15:47] logged 6,684
volunteer hours, which is just
[15:50] outstanding. So, I just want to give a
shout out to all the extension master.
[15:54] That's [clears throat] number one.
Number two, just a little anecdotal
[15:57] story from one of our other educators,
Tom Guthrie, who's actually not in this
[16:03] county either, but he got a call from uh
someone who has horses in Howard City,
[16:11] and the horses were coming up lane. The
vets suspected that it might be
[16:16] something in the field. Tom drove all
the way up, and it's it's close to two
[16:20] hours, I think, from where he actually
is. any identified u
[16:25] I can't even say alysum is that close to
that Steve might know
[16:30] » I think it's
>> but anyway that was that was causing
[16:32] them to come up lame and and he had
noticed that the tops had been grazed
[16:37] off and they're able to get out there
and eradicate that but that's just an
[16:41] example of some of the other things that
happen all the time when I get a call
[16:45] send somebody out but with that I'
invite Sunday we didn't it was like
[16:50] church went to the back row [laughter]
>> and just say a couple things about
[16:55] what's going on currently in about maybe
and then we'll follow with that.
[17:00] » Hi everyone.
>> Hello.
[17:02] » I'm also going to speak on the blessings
pantry because Vicki's like you can do
[17:05] that. So [laughter]
I want to say thank you for allowing us
[17:07] to do the blessings pantry um since uh
November I want to say when we kind of
[17:13] started it. um Thanksgiving.
>> Gosh, yeah. Pre-Thanksgiving we had uh
[17:19] gosh, at least I would say four or 500
items that were kind of shared within
[17:24] the community. Um we delivered some to
those that could make it this way. Um we
[17:29] also had plenty of clubs kind of like uh
oh, what's the word? Like adopt almost a
[17:35] family. And so we had like some families
that had very specific needs and there
[17:39] were some clubs that that delivered
those specific needs to that family. So,
[17:43] I thought that was pretty cool. And
since then, we've had um I don't know,
[17:46] probably about two to three people a
week come in to either drop some food
[17:51] off or pick stuff up. It's also been
really fun to like some people will
[17:55] bring in like, "Oh, can I bring this
bike in?" And another person will walk
[17:57] by and be like, "Oh my gosh, I need this
bike for my kid. Like, go ahead, take
[18:00] it. Oh, I have another one at the
house." So, it's kind of like a non
[18:04] embarrassing way to kind of like barter
and trade without having that um
[18:08] embarrassing interaction. So, I thought
that was kind of cool as well. Um during
[18:12] fair we had a really great year. Uh the
weather was perfect and I think that
[18:16] kind of um made the the emotions and and
friendliness even better. Um we had a
[18:22] huge turnout. Uh we did a new thing this
year which is like a pee-wee program. Um
[18:27] so it kind of introduces younger kids
that can't join 4 yet or maybe younger
[18:31] siblings like gives them a little bit of
introduction to family um the the
[18:36] programming itself and also like how to
care for animals and the fun things that
[18:39] they learn along with 4. and we had
roughly 25 kids come to that. Um we did
[18:44] a special needs day there as well where
we had about 140 participants. Um and
[18:48] then our kids day was huge. We had about
600 participants for our kids day or
[18:52] that's how many turned in for the free
um ice cream at the end. Um but uh
[18:57] recently Yeah, exactly. So recently um
Mary Nightingale, she was our 4er of the
[19:02] year. She was presented an award from
Patman as well. So that's huge. Um he
[19:06] came all the way from Lancing just to
give it to her. So I thought that was
[19:08] even cooler. Um, and then also we have a
bake off coming up October 18th if
[19:13] anyone's interested in judging for that.
But, um, yeah, we have a lot of cool
[19:16] stuff going on and we are very
appreciative of you guys allowing us to
[19:20] continue.
[19:32] » Good afternoon. Thank you for having MSU
Extension and myself. I really
[19:36] appreciate it. Uh, my name is Steve
Whittington. Um, I work for Michigan
[19:39] State Extension. I'm a field crops
educator, extension educator, excuse me.
[19:45] And, uh, essentially what that means is,
um, I am a representative of MSU that
[19:49] works with local farmers and I try to be
a subject matter expert in all things
[19:54] agriculture related. So, um, I deal with
a lot of, uh, uh, farmers that bring me
[20:00] problems. I'm thankful that they bring
me problems uh, and I aim and and hope
[20:04] to help solve them. So, one of the
things that I wanted to mention, we just
[20:08] had this approximately two weeks ago,
was our very successful potato field
[20:13] day. I hope you've heard of the potato
field day. Um, I hope you've heard of
[20:17] the Montcom research facility um over
there near Entric. Um, and that's where
[20:22] we have it every year. And I wanted to
share with you a few insights on that
[20:25] potato field day um as well as a few
other of my programs that that I help
[20:30] manage right here in Mount Colm County
or in this region. Um so the potato
[20:34] field day brings the potato industry
together at the Montcom research center
[20:37] first Thursday of u of the year in
August. Um and we had 104 participants
[20:44] in that field day. Uh we have folks
attend from Michigan, Canada, uh even
[20:49] the Dakotas come over um uh each and
every year and uh centered around potato
[20:55] education. Um Montcom County is the
number one output producer of potatoes.
[21:00] So it's a pretty important commodity for
us.
[21:02] And uh there's a lot of problem sets
that go along with that. Deteriorating
[21:06] uh soil fertility and soil til. Potato
production is really rough on the soil.
[21:11] Um but uh as Americans, we love
potatoes. So we try to uh keep our
[21:15] production in motion. Um dealing with a
whole myriad of other issues like how to
[21:19] store potatoes properly. Um how to
maximize our storeability in terms of
[21:24] length of time. Um disease mitigation.
Um how to optimize our irrigation and
[21:29] natural resource usage. uh making our
producers able to use the natural
[21:33] resources that they have on their land
more efficiently. Um we addressed all
[21:38] those problem sets at the potato field
day on August 6th. Um and I little
[21:43] biased but I would say it's very
successful and I love putting together
[21:47] those types of programs for our farmers.
I think that u it's a very difficult
[21:52] time and continues to be a difficult
time to be a producer in the
[21:56] agricultural space in the United States.
So
[21:59] any resource, anything that I can add
value to the agriculture space of Mont
[22:05] County is a uh a big win for me, for
Bill, and for the the MSU extension uh
[22:11] in Mont County. Um I also do just
briefly um our restricted use pesticide
[22:16] review down there at the Montcom
Community College in Sydney. And I'm
[22:19] also working to put together um some uh
it's called a planning for profit
[22:25] workshop essentially addressing farm
profitability uh for the future at Mont
[22:29] Community College as well. Uh bringing
the community in and trying to get our
[22:34] younger generation in the reigns of
these farms or starting their own
[22:37] enterprises and endeavors. So um a lot
of really great things going on in the
[22:41] agricultural space. I could stand up
here for uh probably close to the whole
[22:45] hour and talk to you about it. I'd love
that. If you ever want to have me back,
[22:48] I'd love to do that. But if you have um
farmers in need or if you've got any
[22:52] other further questions about the
agriculture space here um please don't
[22:56] hesitate to reach out to me. I'm just
down there on the first floor in the MCM
[23:00] MSU extension office. And again, my name
is Steve Whittington and I appreciate
[23:04] your time here today.
>> Thank you, Steve.
[23:07] » Yes,
>> I just said thanks.
[23:09] » Yes.
[23:19] Well, hello everyone. Um, I'm Sheila
Heert. I'm a health educator with MSU
[23:23] Extension. So, we work with health from
for all ages from the little littles all
[23:28] the way to the top. And so, um, here in
Mount Kong County just recently um about
[23:32] two weeks ago, we were at a health fair.
We saw 224
[23:37] um families um and help them with
various health things regarding
[23:41] nutrition. Um, and then some work that I
specifically do works a little bit more
[23:46] with elderly populations. So, I teach
Taichi because we all know that as we
[23:51] age, balance, um, things like that could
become issues. So, we teach numerous
[23:56] programs around balance. We have a
matter of balance program, Tai Chi, um,
[24:01] as well as numerous other health
programs related to nutrition. We have
[24:06] diabetes programs, chronic pain,
self-management programs, chronic
[24:12] disease programs, um as well as sleep
because we all lots of lots of people
[24:16] struggle with sleep. So, sleep programs.
So, we offer a variety of programs
[24:21] around health. Um and most of my
programs are offered both online or in
[24:26] person so we can hopefully reach out to
more people. Um, we often offer our
[24:31] programs at libraries, um, some of the
libraries around here, um, so we can
[24:36] really meet people where they're at and
they can find our services and and be
[24:41] part of them.
>> Thanks, Sheila. Thank you.
[24:45] » And one more shout out, Shannon Stover
couldn't be here. Shannon is also with
[24:49] the Health Institute and she does a lot
of
[24:53] preservation uh, classes uh, which food
preservation classes which are really
[24:58] cool. mentor goes back to the heart in
the history of extension does a lot of
[25:03] work in Mome County. So I thought it'd
be nice to bring some of the folks to
[25:06] tell you and so you could hear what I
hear the variety program that we do. And
[25:10] with that, are there any questions for
anybody while we got here?
[25:18] » Good.
>> All right. Well, thank you for the time.
[25:21] » Very well. Well, thank you.
[25:29] » Up next is tonight cor tonight's
correspondence. Vice Chairman Peterson,
[25:34] please.
>> All righty. Um, first up on page 65
[25:40] is going to be an appeal of the FOYA
denial um, supplemental request one and
[25:46] two. Brenda, if you'd like to speak to
that at all.
[25:49] » All right. So, uh, the our attorney is
recommending a couple different motions
[25:54] and one of them is really long. So, so
the first motion that he's recommending
[26:00] related to the August 8th appeal is to
confirm that the county has granted the
[26:06] request to Mr. Mason's August 8th FOYA
appeal for the county to provide a
[26:10] response to his original foyer request
dated July 17th, his supplemental foyer
[26:15] request one dated July 20th, and his
supplemental request two dated August
[26:20] 1st by action of Mont County Sheriff's
Office.
[26:25] his foyer coordinator in the in the
sheriff's office foyer coordinator who
[26:29] provided a written foyer response letter
to Mr. Mason on August 13th and directed
[26:34] the county controller administrator
provide a written notice to Mr. Mason
[26:38] informing him of the board of
commissioners confirmation of the grant
[26:42] of his August 8th Foya appeal.
[26:47] So that's the first motion they want us
to make.
[26:50] » Do you want me to make that motion
before you read the next one?
[26:53] » Yeah, because the next one's super long.
I would I would make the motion uh that
[26:58] Brenda just read.
>> I'll hand I'll hand these off to you.
[27:04] » It's been moved and supported to help me
Brenda basically acknowledge the
[27:09] granting of the FOYA appeal from August
8th.
[27:14] » Correct.
[27:17] » Discussion.
I know we have the sheriff with us just
[27:21] under discussion. Does that seem
consistent with your
[27:24] » I guess I'm not sure what um
you know I guess I don't know what
[27:30] appeal does
>> I think it's just an acknowledgement
[27:36] » was in fact he asked you to
[27:42] » I got this 10 minutes before the meeting
started so
[27:47] » we
nothing glaring stands out with this
[27:52] being inconsistent with that action
though.
[27:59] » Well, we're all we're all kind of under
the gun with the lateness of receiving
[28:03] this. I guess we're going to proceed
assuming that the the attorney
[28:09] is uh advising us to the best uh
visibility or best what's best for us.
[28:18] And I think that's referenced in this
letter that they want us to send to Mr.
[28:23] Mason tonight.
>> Is there any other discussion on that
[28:27] first motion?
>> If not, all those in favor say I.
[28:31] » Opposed.
>> Motion carried.
[28:34] » All right. So, the next one is in
regards to Mr. Mason's August 13th
[28:38] appeal.
>> This one's long. Um, number one, request
[28:43] for relief. Number one and number two,
uphold the Monte County Sheriff's Office
[28:48] FOYA coordinator's denial of all of Mr.
Mason's request and his original foyer
[28:53] request dated July 17th, his
supplemental foyer request number one
[28:57] dated July 20th, and his supplemental
foyer request number two dated August
[29:02] 1st, including but not limited to the
denial of item number four in Mr.
[29:06] Mason's supplemental foyer request
number two dated August 1st, that Mr.
[29:11] Mr. Mason specifically challenged in his
August 13th FOYA appeal and deny Mr.
[29:16] Mason's request for the board to direct
to the Mont County Sheriff's Office FOYA
[29:20] coordinator to undertake a renewed
search of records responsive to item
[29:25] three of Mr. Mason's supplemental foyer
request number two dated August 1st and
[29:30] item three of Mr. Mason's original foyer
request dated July 17th based on the
[29:35] following findings of fact. Number one,
Bonham County Sheriff's Office denied
[29:41] all of Mr. Mason's request in his
original foyer request dated July 17th,
[29:45] his supplemental foyer request number
one dated July 20th, and his
[29:49] supplemental request number two dated
August 1st for various types of records
[29:54] related to operation the operation of
the Central Michigan Enforcement Team in
[29:59] Ionia County on August 4th, 5th of 2014
and July 26 and 27th of 2018. Number
[30:07] two, Montan County Sheriff's Office was
not involved in any operation of the
[30:11] cement. I'm going to call Central
Michigan Enforcement Team Cement from
[30:14] here on out in August 2014 or July 2018.
Number three, the county does not have
[30:21] any records related to any August 4th
and 5th, 2014 or July 26th, 27th, 2018
[30:28] operations conducted by CMAT in Ioni
County because Mont County Sheriff's
[30:32] Office was not involved in those
operations. Number four, accordingly,
[30:36] the MCOM County Sheriff's Office FOYA
coordinator provided a written foyer
[30:40] response letter to Mr. Mason on August
13th that denied all of his requests on
[30:45] the basis that responsive records did
not exist within the MCOM County
[30:49] Sheriff's Office. Number five, the MCOM
County Sheriff's Office FOIA coordinator
[30:54] enclosed redacted copies of the MCOM
County Sheriff's Office Law Enforcement
[30:58] schedule for August 2014 and July 2018
with the August 13th foyer response
[31:04] letter to show Mr. Mason that Mcom
County Sheriff's Office personnel were
[31:09] not involved in any SEMA operations in
the months of August 2014 or July 2018,
[31:15] including
the specific dates identified by Mr.
[31:19] Mason number six. Therefore, the MCOM
County Sheriff's Office foyer
[31:25] coordinator's denial of Mr. Mason's
requests, including but not limited to
[31:29] the denial of item number four of his
supplemental request, number two was
[31:35] proper and Mr. Mason's request for the
county to undertake a renewed search for
[31:39] item three of Mr. Mason's original
request and item three of Mr.
[31:44] Supplemental request number two should
be denied because the county was not
[31:48] involved with and accordingly does not
have any records related to the cement
[31:53] operations that are the subject of Mr.
Mason's requests as demonstrated in the
[31:58] redacted Montcom County Sheriff's Office
law enforcement schedules for August
[32:02] 2014 and July 2018 that was previously
provided to Mr. Mason
[32:13] » kind of the same thing. Sheriff, you
don't see anything there that's
[32:16] inconsistent with
>> So, we have a person and have had a
[32:20] person that's assigned to there are no
records which are kept of cement
[32:26] operations or anything agency.
[clears throat]
[32:32] » You know, I don't know. Is Mr. Mason
here? just have a conversation about
[32:39] we don't keep that stuff that's
>> a different
[32:43] whether or not they were involved in
this
[32:45] » I don't know
>> right
[32:47] » we don't have any record we don't keep
those records
[32:50] » yep that's what I believe the gist of
this is
[32:54] » just a long drawn out response
>> I'm not sure what you said
[33:00] » so we need a motion to accept that
recommendation as Well,
[33:04] » yeah.
>> So moved.
[33:07] » Support.
>> It's been moved and supported to accept
[33:10] the attorney's second recommendation
related to the foyer appeal of Mr. Paul
[33:15] Mason in Clinton or Lake Adessa,
Michigan.
[33:20] » Discussion.
[33:23] If there's no further discussion, all
those in favor say I.
[33:26] » I.
>> Opposed.
[33:29] » Motion carried.
>> That's all on that, right Brend?
[33:32] » So yeah. So, you have a copy of the
letter that I will be putting on our
[33:34] letterhead and emailing to Mr. Mason
tonight because it had to be done by the
[33:38] end of the day today.
>> Okay.
[33:40] » So, yeah, I'm done.
>> All right. Next up, page 69. Um, the
[33:45] Ottawa Juvenile Detention Center renewal
request. Uh, this is more of a this is
[33:51] what we're going to do, not a question
because I don't think there's too many
[33:55] options. Correct, Brenda?
>> Correct. Yeah,
[33:57] » it's official on state state state of
Michigan letterhead. So, um, if you look
[34:03] there, the daily bed rental rental will
be 340 a day and the rise uh, treatment
[34:09] programming will be 390 a day.
>> And those increases went from 290 and
[34:14] 340.
>> So, 50 bucks each.
[34:19] » Nice. And that's over how many how how
long is this contract for?
[34:23] » Three years.
>> Three years. Okay.
[34:27] So, uh, if nobody has anything on that,
I would move to, uh, allow for the
[34:34] appropriate signatures the Ottawa
Juvenile Detention Center renewal
[34:38] request
and accept it as presented.
[34:43] » Support.
>> It's been moved and supported.
[34:47] Discussion.
[34:50] If not, all those in favor say I.
>> I.
[34:53] » Opposed?
>> Motion carried.
[34:56] » Okay. Next page 78. Um, Fairplains
Township Junk and Rubbish Ordinance
[35:01] Agreement. Uh, we've done it seems like
one of the at least one of these at the
[35:05] last two or three meetings. So, if
nobody has anything on that, I would
[35:10] move to accept the Fairplane Township
junk and rubbish ordinance agreement and
[35:14] allow for the appropriate signatures.
Support.
[35:17] » It's been moved and supported.
Discussion.
[35:20] » Yeah, Mr. Chair.
>> Is this our sixth or seventh one we've
[35:23] had signed on? Now, do you know?
[35:32] Okay. Any other discussion?
>> If not, all those in favor say I.
[35:38] » I. I.
>> Opposed.
[35:40] » Motion carried.
>> Okay. Page 95. Um, the pay special
[35:45] assessment payoff. PK Cambridge Court LP
has paid off their pay special
[35:50] assessment loan early. Uh Mary Freeman
and Lean in Green Michigan LLC who
[35:55] administers the PACE program for our
area is requesting that Chairman Carr
[35:59] sign off on the discharge and release of
special assessment. Uh that is attached
[36:04] for your review. The clerk will need to
notoriize uh Chairman Carr's signature
[36:09] if we approve and it will have to be
released through the registered deeds
[36:14] office as well. Does anybody have
anything on that?
[36:21] Then I would move to authorize Chairman
Card to sign the discharge and release
[36:24] of special assessment for PK Cambridge
Court LP as presented. Support.
[36:30] » It's been moved and supported.
Discussion.
[36:37] » Hearing no discussion. All those in
favor say I.
[36:40] » I.
>> Opposed.
[36:41] » Motion carried.
>> Okay. Next on page 101, the materials
[36:45] management planning committee has
recommended the appointment of Charity
[36:48] Suite, manager of operations Isabella
Material Recovery Facility with a term
[36:53] to expire on December 31st, 2028.
Charity Charity is uh filling the
[36:59] vacancy due to Jake Borton retiring.
Does anybody have anything on that?
[37:05] Then I would move to approve the
appointment of Charity Suite to the
[37:08] materials management planning committee
with a term to expire 1231 2028.
[37:13] Support.
>> It's been moved and supported.
[37:16] Discussion.
[37:21] If not, all those in favor say I.
>> I.
[37:24] » Opposed the same.
>> Motion carried.
[37:28] » Okay. Next up, page 102. Uh, the Ioni
Mont Department of Health and Human
[37:32] Services has recommended the reappoint
of Brian Decracker for another
[37:35] three-year term to expire on October
31st, 2029.
[37:40] Does anybody have anything for that?
Hear nothing. Then I would move to
[37:46] approve the appointment of Brian
Decracker to the Ionia MCOM Department
[37:49] of Health and Human Services Board with
a term to expire on at 10:31 2029.
[37:55] Support.
>> It's been moved and supported.
[37:58] discussion.
[38:02] [snorts]
All those in favor say I.
[38:05] » I.
>> I.
[38:06] » Opposed.
>> Motion carried.
[38:08] » All right. Starting on page 103,
everyone's favorite warrant reports.
[38:13] First up, warrant report 08132026
in the amount of $1,59,39953.
[38:22] Secondly, warrant report 082026
or 082026
[38:30] the amount of $273,838.11.
[38:34] And finally, warrant report 08242026
in the amount of $499,371.86
[38:44] for a grand total of 1,832,69.50.
[38:50] » Correct. Perfect.
If no one has anything regarding the
[38:55] warrant reports, I would move to approve
and allow for the appropriate
[38:59] signatures.
Support.
[39:02] » It's been moved and supported to approve
the three warrant reports and obtain the
[39:05] appropriate signatures. The amount
totaling 1,832,6950.
[39:13] Discussion.
[39:18] If there's no discussion, all those in
favor say I.
[39:21] » I.
>> Opposed.
[39:23] » Motion carried.
>> Okay. And then the consent agenda items
[39:27] 10 through 20 uh includes a couple of
resolutions
[39:31] um from us. Uh the L4029
and some reports if anybody has anything
[39:39] on that. If not, I would move to place
items 10 through 20 of the consent
[39:46] agenda on file.
It's been moved and supported to place
[39:50] items 10 through 20 of the consent
agenda on file. Discussion.
[39:56] » If not, all those in favor say I.
>> I.
[39:59] » I.
>> Opposed?
[40:01] » Motion carried.
>> And finally, uh, for your information is
[40:04] just the Veterans Affair Advisory Board
minutes from July 9th. No resolutions
[40:08] from other counties. If no one has
anything else, that will be your board
[40:13] correspondence for Monday, August 24th.
Thank you, Vice Chairman Peterson.
[40:19] » Thank you.
[40:23] » Up next is committee reports. We don't
have anything after that is new
[40:27] business. Item one, clerk
correspondence.
[40:30] » Have none.
>> Okay. Item two, controller
[40:33] correspondence.
>> I have a couple things. Um, just wanted
[40:36] to point out that invitation from the
conservation district that I placed on
[40:40] everyone's desk. So, make sure you see
that. Um, I did get a response. I let
[40:45] Eagle know that we weren't interested in
having a
[40:49] test a monitoring site basically in
Crown Park and asked them if uh they
[40:55] could let us know do do we really h have
an old one there and could you rehab it
[41:01] if we do and um their response was that
they would research it to find out
[41:08] um and then asked if if we wanted how
did she word it? Um,
[41:14] one of our geologists could help inspect
the area if you'd like.
[41:21] Do you want them to come on and inspect
the area or just look at their records?
[41:25] I haven't responded yet.
[41:31] » I would say just check the records. Be
my opinion.
[41:33] » Search their paper records. Okay. I
>> mean, if there's anything out there that
[41:37] we can see, one of us can see it,
>> right? I don't think there's any reason
[41:41] to get them out there, but
>> concur with that or
[41:45] » just have them go through here.
>> Okay.
[41:47] » And then the other item I received on
that come in
[41:54] uh the 21st deputy that was last Friday,
correct? Um Fraternal Order of Police
[42:00] Union is respectfully requesting that we
open contract negotiations
[42:06] as their contract expires at the end of
this year. Um, so the members that are
[42:10] on that, Chris, Adam, and Pat,
I think there's some backups. I don't
[42:16] know who. Is it you and Matt? Maybe.
>> I'm not sure who the who the I'd have to
[42:20] look it up. When do you want to do that?
You want to me to respond and say, "Give
[42:27] me some dates in September. Give me some
dates in October. When do you want to
[42:30] start
soon?"
[42:34] » Anytime there may, I guess.
>> Yeah. I mean, I can make anything work,
[42:38] I guess. I'd say get give us some
options on their first availability and
[42:43] we can go from there.
>> Okay. All right. All right. We'll reach
[42:46] back out to them then. That's all I
>> All right. Item three is chair or board
[42:52] correspondence. I don't have anything.
Anyone else on the board? Any
[42:55] correspondence?
[43:00] Old business is next. And we don't have
anything. Public comments.
[43:06] Did you want to close the public hearing
first?
[43:08] » Oh jeez. Yes. Uh, we've got a public
hearing that's still open. Is there
[43:13] anyone in the audience that
uh has any comments or questions related
[43:19] to the 2027
proposed budget?
[43:25] » I would move to close the public hearing
on the fiscal year 2027 proposed budget.
[43:30] » Support. It's been moved and supported
to close the public hearing related to
[43:34] the 2027 proposed budget. Discussion.
If not, all those in favor say I.
[43:42] » I.
>> Opposed.
[43:45] Motion carried. Mr.
>> Chairman.
[43:47] » Vice Chairman Pearson.
>> I would move to approve the uh fiscal
[43:52] year 2027 proposed budget resolution
2025 25-08
[43:58] as it is presented by the controller.
support.
[44:01] » It's been moved and supported to approve
resolution 2025-08
[44:07] as presented by the controller adopting
the 2027 proposed budget. Discussion.
[44:16] » If not, all those in favor say I.
>> I.
[44:19] » Opposed.
Motion carried. Now public comments. I'm
[44:24] sorry.
[44:27] [clears throat]
>> Good afternoon. My name is Jeff Hines
[44:31] and I'm a candidate for county
commissioner representing Greenbuilt
[44:34] District. I'm uh not running simply to
win an election. I understand the odds
[44:39] against me may be especially hard given
the evidence that I've obtained
[44:43] concerning the 2024 election. Some
members on this board have seen that
[44:48] evidence. Some have refused to look at
it when given the opportunity. For the
[44:53] past three years, I've done what I
believe needs to be done. Shine a light
[44:56] on the flaws within our system. question
those in positions of power and expose
[45:00] what I believe are conflicts of
interest, hypocrisy, and the influence
[45:04] of money and power in local government.
Last year, the vice chair became a very
[45:08] public adversary of mine, and I make no
secret of the fact that I've been
[45:12] intentional about calling attention to
what I believe is his hypocrisy,
[45:15] dishonesty, and interference on his
part. I believe his own actions and
[45:19] communications raise serious questions
about his conduct and accountability and
[45:23] quite frankly disqualify him from
serving on this board. Consider this. An
[45:27] individual with significant influence
allegedly convinced a fire department
[45:31] with which he is a board member of to
withdraw its support for a donation
[45:34] drive. Even though that department stood
to benefit from that very event. Was
[45:39] that personal retaliation? Was it a
conflict of interest? Those are
[45:42] questions I have asked and proved to be
just that. They have criticized my post
[45:47] and my methods. Yet serious concerns
about the conduct of people in positions
[45:50] of authority continue to be ignored.
People are concerned more about a radio
[45:54] guy's tactics of exposing the corruption
than those who are actually corrupt.
[46:02] If we're going to hold one person
accountable for their words and actions,
[46:06] let's make sure we hold all of those
accountable, even elected officials.
[46:11] Those who make me uh qualified are you
guys with your mouths. The way you guys
[46:17] act, the way you guys speak. That's what
makes me and my mouth qualified to sit
[46:21] up there.
And to the voters, I'm here at 4 p.m.
[46:25] after just picking up my daughters. You
guys need to look into changing that.
[46:28] I've been told local corruption is a
major concern, and this is where you
[46:32] should come speak to these folks faces,
not trolling comments on social media.
[46:36] I've raised serious questions about the
conduct of the chairman and the vice
[46:39] chair through video, documented
evidence, filing complaints, and the
[46:42] Peterson files. Yet, where is the public
outrage? Where are the people willing to
[46:46] show up, ask questions, and demand
answers and resignations?
[46:49] monhomevibe.com/personv.
This is how abuse of a power takes hold.
[46:54] Not simply because power is in the face
of everybody or oversteps, but because
[46:59] too many people choose to look the other
way for their own benefit, making them
[47:02] corrupt by default. If you want
accountability in government, you cannot
[47:06] expect someone else to do all the
fighting for you. It's getting
[47:10] exhausting on my part, quite honestly.
At some point, the public has to show up
[47:15] and demand it. Hopefully, they'll do it
at the polls.
[47:19] Thank you. Any other public comments,
[47:24] » Mr. Chairman?
>> Vice Chairman Peterson.
[47:26] » Move to adjurnn.
>> Been moved and supported to adjurnn. All
[47:30] those in favor say I.
>> I.
[47:32] » Opposed. Mayjourn.