[0:04] Russ Common County Board of Commissioners meeting September 9th,

[0:07] 2026 at 9:00 a.m. Please stand for the pledge.

[0:13] » I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:19] republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:25] justice for all.

[0:32] Roll call, please. >> Russo

[0:35] Mley >> here.

[0:37] » Wilson >> here.

[0:39] » Here. >> Spencer

[0:40] » here. >> Approval of the agenda.

[0:48] » Second.

[0:52] » Any discussion? Roll call, please.

[0:56] » Marley. Yes, >> Spencer.

[0:58] » Yes. >> Wolson.

[0:59] » Yes. >> Milbour.

[1:00] » Yes. >> Motion carried.

[1:03] » Approval of the consent agenda. The items in the consent agenda um are the

[1:09] meeting minutes from August 2026 board meeting and the budget and finance

[1:14] committee of the whole meeting. September 1st, 2026 special meeting

[1:18] boiler project class A's in the amount of 2,216,1731

[1:25] and claims and accounts in the amount of 399

[1:29] $399,380.70

[1:33] correspondence from Spectrum expansion of the broadband monthly department

[1:39] reports May through August 2026 sheriff activity report and August 2026 6 animal

[1:46] control and shelter stats administrator controller report and the clerk register

[1:51] of deeds update. Do I have a motion to accept the consent agenda?

[1:57] » Second. >> Roll call, please.

[2:02] » Wolson, >> yes.

[2:04] » Mley, >> yes.

[2:05] » Milbour, >> yes.

[2:06] » Spencer, >> yes. Motion carried.

[2:09] » Public comment for agenda items only. Is there any public comment for agenda

[2:13] items? Any

[2:18] visitors?

[2:23] Unfinished business strategic plan action update. Commissioner Mley, would

[2:28] you like to start? >> I think we'll be going over a lot of

[2:32] that in my report, but basically we're just finishing up right now in all the

[2:35] budget meetings with the department heads. Last but not least, hopefully

[2:39] today we'll finish up our board of commissioners budget, controllers

[2:43] budget, funds, and our drain commissioner. Those are the last ones we

[2:49] have to do. So, Commissioner Milbour,

[2:55] Commissioner Wolson. >> Okay.

[2:59] Review of comparable counties employee benefits.

[3:04] » So, we are short. five counties have not responded yet to the survey. So, we will

[3:10] have to um ask to table that and move that to the next. Okay. Um as soon as

[3:15] Noel has that data, she'll send it out to you well in advance so that you can

[3:19] see. But it is um comparison of the benefit types, vacation um just as was

[3:24] requested at the last meeting. So, that'll be in a spreadsheet format. So,

[3:28] » okay. Thank you.

[3:32] New business. Request for a budget amendment fund 207.

[3:38] The sheriff's department.

[3:53] » Good morning. >> Good morning.

[3:56] So, for the last uh 11 years or so, the sheriff has done a very good job of

[4:03] being intentional with our budget. Um, most of you know we were pretty

[4:07] short-handed for a while and we're not paying out uh all of our wages as

[4:12] budgeted. Um, every year that we have had excess, he has put into uh an

[4:18] account knowing that we would have major expenses coming up in the future for

[4:22] things that needed to be updated around the sheriff's office. Um, in the last

[4:26] couple of years, we've updated our records management system, our jail

[4:29] management system, our body cameras, and incar cameras, and have our new policy

[4:36] software. Um, recently we also uh had some upgrades with computers added to

[4:44] our vehicles. That was paid for by federal funds. Um, and in the next

[4:50] several years, we will be slowly working on updating all 800 megahertz radios to

[4:56] be compliant with state and federal uh requirements for encryption. That's

[5:00] going to be another costly thing that we have ahead of us. Um, for the 2027

[5:06] budget, Sheriff originally had uh $400,000

[5:11] budgeted to be moved uh out of that fund into our budget to pay for several

[5:16] different things. Uh, some of that was vehicles. Uh, we're in need of several

[5:20] patrol vehicles. uh when Sergeant Hand uh sort of oversees our fleet of

[5:26] vehicles, when he got looking at patrol vehicles, uh he located several that

[5:30] were available still in 2026 that we can purchase at the 2026 pricing, which

[5:36] saves us about $1,700 a patrol vehicle. So, what we are requesting is that we

[5:43] $200,000 of that $400,000 be moved into the 2026 budget instead of the 2027

[5:49] budget. So, we can purchase those patrol cars ahead, which will save us about

[5:53] $7,000 total instead of waiting till next year to buy those vehicles. That

[5:58] makes sense.

[6:03] » It's $200,000. that that will help pay for the vehicles

[6:07] and the outfitting of the vehicles, radios and radar and uh restraints and

[6:13] all those things that we have to put into the vehicles once we receive them.

[6:16] » And he budgeted at 400,000 for next year. And so

[6:22] essentially we would just be taking 200 of that early. So what we would then be

[6:27] requesting is 200,000 in next year's budget, 200,000 in this year's budget,

[6:31] and the 200,000 in this year's budget would be for those four patrol vehicles.

[6:40] » Yes. >> Yes.

[6:41] » Yast.

[6:44] » Yeah. Well, that's that's the thing. They gave us an estimate of what 2027

[6:50] would look like and and it's a lot cheaper this year, but they said that

[6:52] that was just an estimate and by the time 2027 comes around and we try it,

[6:57] you know how that goes. It could be even more. So,

[7:00] » Madam Chair, >> and they have these vehicles available

[7:03] right now. Um, well, not today, but they will be available

[7:08] before October, I think, is when is that when they said?

[7:12] » Yes. >> Yes. Yes.

[7:14] » Yes. How's that money move? >> Has it been collected yet?

[7:19] » Yep. So, they actually have a pretty healthy fund balance um close to $2

[7:25] million. So, it would simply be that the board would need to approve a budget

[7:30] amendment for $200,000, moving it from their fund balance to their vehicle line

[7:35] item. >> So, when it's collected, it returns back

[7:38] to the fund balance. >> Yep.

[7:40] » Okay. >> Any other questions? Any other

[7:44] questions? >> Save money. Thank you.

[7:48] » We're trying. >> Doing it.

[7:52] » So, Jody, this would just go on our next meeting through a motion.

[7:56] » Okay. >> Today's meeting or

[7:58] » next? >> Does you have to order these by when?

[8:03] » I think next meeting. Well, >> yeah. Oh, yeah. It doesn't I don't think

[8:08] we need an answer today. Like we we've got a little bit of time. you just

[8:11] notify them. >> They had the vehicles available and they

[8:14] said that they could hold them for us until we get a for sure answer. So, um,

[8:19] they just I think they had a few extra >> on the lot when they went and picked up

[8:24] the last ones and so this sales lady was like, "Hey, by the way, I know you guys

[8:29] cuz we had already told her that for next year we wanted to get more."

[8:34] » Okay. >> So, um, she was like, "Hey, just so you

[8:37] guys know, heads up." Right.

[8:42] » Thank you. >> Yep.

[8:50] » Okay.

[8:56] Next, we have the Brownfield Authority Lake View Apartments TIFF Plan. Um, our

[9:02] treasurer, Marcy Dinkert.

[9:13] Thank you. Um I have with me Dusty >> Cherinski.

[9:22] » Um he is the developer for Lake View Apartments in Denton Township. and he

[9:27] came to the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority back in June requesting

[9:32] capture through the Brownfield um housing tiff and the brownfield

[9:38] authority based on what was presented everything meant the guidelines of the

[9:42] housing tiff um project uh we approved that um through the brownfield

[9:48] redevelopment authority. It was recently in September 2nd concurred with the

[9:52] Denton Township Board of Trustees um to approve that project as well. Um this

[9:59] project will be located at 2456 Gladman Road and that is the old Sandbar for

[10:05] anyone who's familiar with Prudinville area and it will include a 10 unit

[10:12] housing development. Um, two of those one-bedroom units are going to be

[10:17] reserved for households at or below 60% of the AMI and eight units at or below

[10:24] 100% of the AMI. Um, the housing tiff allows for the developer to recapture

[10:30] infrastructure costs, um, demolition, um, remediation, any any costs like

[10:36] that. Um the what they the whole project is estimated to be just over $3 million.

[10:44] The tiff would capture an amount not to exceed 970,000.

[10:50] Um and that period of capture will be somewhere between 20 and 25 years. Um,

[10:58] we are asking that the county board of commissioners authorize a public hearing

[11:02] to be held on September 23rd at your next um, board of commissioners meeting.

[11:11] Any questions? And Dusty's here. He can explain any part of his project if you

[11:15] have specific questions for him. >> Madam Chair,

[11:18] » yes. >> Has parking been addressed with that

[11:22] project? Yes, we've um there isn't any exact guidelines for apartments in

[11:29] Denton Township, but I believe we're at the 1.5 per each unit. So, we have

[11:36] there's no set standard, but I I think we're trying to be at least one and a

[11:41] half spots per each uh unit that we have there. If there's

[11:45] go back and look, I can't remember the exact count we have, but we try to have

[11:49] at least that. That's why we reduced the units from 12 down to 10 actually also

[11:54] to allow for more parking and a bigger offset off of uh M18.

[12:00] » Yeah. Because if you rent a families, I mean,

[12:04] » yeah, that was a concern. >> You could assume they're going to have

[12:07] guests or maybe even a child that drives.

[12:10] » Correct.

[12:14] » Any other questions for Dusty? I understand the tiff and the importance

[12:18] of that for a developer. So, >> are you going to have rates available?

[12:24] See? >> Yes. Yep.

[12:26] » Curious about how that's going to shake up.

[12:29] » So, yeah. Um I probably can have exact numbers at the next meeting which what

[12:34] they'll be. >> Thank you.

[12:36] » These were just estimates. >> Yeah. Some of it in the in the

[12:39] documents. Yeah, I think so, too.

[12:46] where I saw that really the request is that we make allow you

[12:51] » public hearing. Yep. So that >> and we'll take care of this. The

[12:54] brownfield our consultant will take care of notifying newspaper publication um

[12:59] all of those items >> forward to it.

[13:04] » Thank you for investing in our county. >> Yes.

[13:07] » Thank you, Dusty.

[13:20] We have motions and resolutions. Whenever our clerk is ready,

[13:29] move to authorize the purchase of Power Edge R750 server from SAMA for a cost of

[13:34] $17,245.18 for the purpose of allowing identity

[13:38] based access to authenticated and accessed users as determined by Rosscom

[13:43] County Information Technology funds for cost to be allocated from the capital

[13:47] projects fund. >> So move second. Any discussion?

[13:56] Okay. Roll call, please. Spencer, >> yes.

[14:00] » Yes. >> Morley,

[14:02] » yes. >> Wolson,

[14:04] » yes. >> Motion carried.

[14:11] » I'll go by whatever.

[14:16] » Okay. Committee reports. Commissioner Wolson.

[14:22] still working with um Bakus Township on their

[14:27] recycling site. Um they had a drawing computer drawing of

[14:33] it and I think he's seeking bids now. Their next meeting is next Monday night

[14:40] and I'll attend that to see how that's going.

[14:48] Um, we had the agenda meeting. Um, department head budget proposals. Um, we

[14:56] met with the majority of the, um, department heads. I think there's only a

[15:01] couple left. Um, discussions with the engineers regarding the Hol Lake lake

[15:06] level project. I was not able to attend the airport meeting last Thursday um due

[15:13] to a funeral that I had to work. So I'm hoping that Commissioner Melbourne or

[15:18] someone can give me an update on what happened there.

[15:22] And that's all I have. >> This is my turn.

[15:26] » Big takeaway from the airport last Thursday was the fact that we have a 14

[15:30] hangers being built breaking ground in October. Zero match to the county. That

[15:35] was the big takeaway. Uh later that day I went to the veterans and the 56

[15:40] veterans attended the the bridgewalk and Bill Mountain was officially approved as

[15:46] our as our as our next person on the board. U the commission agent site this

[15:53] Wednesday attended that meeting. He signed a conflict of interest standard

[15:57] and there's fixing the sidewalk in front of the COA. We take away and Carolyn

[16:01] Rabdo yesterday was appointed as going to be the incoming president to

[16:05] represent uh the home lake board and also lady by the

[16:11] name of Carolyn Mitten is the representative for St. Helen

[16:16] conflict of interest was signed there by the by the district health.

[16:20] The big takeaway there was food born illnesses by doctor by the by the doctor

[16:26] attending and our new Taylor Irwin was our is our

[16:32] brand new director for the the facility.

[16:40] » Great. >> And also the last thing I

[16:44] the meeting in Nester Township. The next RTA meeting to rest common township

[16:48] associate meeting will be September 17th at 10 a.m. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[16:53] » Thank you, Commissioner Marley. >> Well, I as well on August 26, I after

[17:00] our meetings, I was unable to attend the spongy moth meeting and the health

[17:03] department meeting. Thank you, Mark, for giving us that update. um due to a

[17:09] personal issue. September 1st um we attended the special meeting for the

[17:14] boilers and the bid proposals. So really great job, you know, to Justin for

[17:19] putting out the information and being able to get that worked on. That's been

[17:21] in the works for a long time. So I hear a lot of great comments in the county

[17:25] building that that's getting moved forward. So September 4th, uh the

[17:30] controller um and our chair censor, we met with the CEO for Northern Lakes

[17:34] Community Mental Health. There are funding changes that are happening in

[17:38] our mental health world. Um, as far as with Medicaid going through um, stricter

[17:46] guidelines and trying to be, you know, qualified, that does impact their budget

[17:51] because 90% of Northern Lakes comes from Medicaid and

[17:56] very strict rules on how they can use that and who they can use that for. And

[18:01] so the other 10% is really with local funding. And so there might be a need to

[18:05] do some additional funding for a one-time piece to keep some of that

[18:09] going. Their biggest push right now is they really want to work on our

[18:12] legislators because mental health code is not matching up with how they fund

[18:18] and how they're doing what they do and how they organize each of the groups.

[18:22] John Roth, uh, Representative Roth did speak at their meeting recently, which

[18:26] is I give him a lot of credit because many times those representatives don't

[18:31] come to those kind of meetings. He is the head of appropriations for DHHS. So

[18:36] he is hearing loud and clear that the disparity in mental health around

[18:41] different counties is quite large and they want to work on that. I did ask

[18:48] they he said we have three months left before there could be a change in people

[18:51] in the House and the Senate. They're going to do everything they can. I said

[18:55] all right well your leadership has picked three top priorities to fix in

[18:59] the next three months. What are those? and that was not on the list. So, my

[19:04] thought that they're going to move much of that needle in the first three months

[19:07] is probably slim, but um at least he went on record to talk about it. So,

[19:13] um the other piece that we're really seeing when it comes to that and sharing

[19:19] is if by chance the county needs to give something one time that we need to have

[19:25] something in return. We hear quite readily that what we provide in the

[19:29] jail, we don't get anymore, but that comes out of those other pots that they

[19:34] can't use the other money for. So, I think having that conversation um next

[19:39] would be important to figure out what would we want if we would able if we

[19:43] were able to give them a little bit more at one time. That amount of money, what

[19:47] is it? 50s something thousand a year, Jody, is not changed for decades because

[19:53] even by state law, those have not been able to be increased for a while. So,

[19:57] there's just a lot of funding struggles going on in that way. So, um we'll we'll

[20:03] look through that. Um I also met with the sheriff's department. Thank you to

[20:08] them who helped me catch up on that budget review one-on-one. That was extra

[20:12] time on your behalf, so I appreciate it. the um also worked with emergency

[20:16] management, their budget review uh and our prosecuting attorney. So um kudos to

[20:23] that attorney's office. The backlog is gone. They've cleared through that. Even

[20:28] the two oldest cases, 23 and 2024, are done. Um and they've succeeded how many

[20:37] cases that they have done year to date than they did all of last year. So, they

[20:42] have really been working hard in that office to to get things going. So, I

[20:46] wanted to give them a shout out. On September 8th, the 911 Authority Board

[20:49] met um some updates on the tower project. I know just in general,

[20:54] sometimes people think those towers are about cell and that scares people and

[20:57] that's not what these towers are for. I just want people to know that those are

[21:01] really for our emergency management connectivity when things go on in the

[21:06] county. So, they're still working through that. Um the CAD project's about

[21:10] a third way through that work. A lot of back in on Eric's behalf to really think

[21:15] about kind of the the verbiage and how does the net how does all the how do

[21:20] they set that up going forward and then they come and switch it on over here.

[21:24] They did complete their state audit and despite they had not had one in a very

[21:29] long time. It hit them at a time we're doing budget and everything else. Um,

[21:33] really the biggest thing was there was just some verbiage changes that needed

[21:37] to be added to our 911 plan and maybe some AP adjustments, a little bit more

[21:42] description on those, but there wasn't anything alarming that the state said,

[21:45] "Okay, you know, you're in trouble." So, that kudos to that group. Um, and then

[21:51] we got an update on the their 2027 budget that we had heard, but she shared

[21:55] that with their entire board and kind of gave them a heads up on what that's

[21:58] going to maybe look looking like going down the path. Um, same night Garish

[22:03] Township. Um, so I know we always celebrate some of our people here too.

[22:08] Um, thanks to you guys. But they celebrated Ralph Roland as the ACT Now

[22:15] Community Service Award. He's been around for a long time. Done a lot of

[22:18] things with Trunkor Treat and been a great volunteer. So they celebrated him.

[22:23] Higgins Lake Foundation actually provided a grant to them for the health

[22:26] of Higgins Lake that they're working through. they approved their L4029

[22:31] and um some concerns came up to me post meeting about our health department and

[22:38] that our district's septic codes are like ancient compared to our surrounding

[22:45] districts. So there was concerns on that maybe we should bring up to our health

[22:49] department on why are we not at the same level at surrounding counties. So I'll

[22:54] uh I'll check in on that. Other than that that's it. Okay, thank you.

[23:01] Any public comment?

[23:06] Board comment. Commissioner Wilson.

[23:10] » Yes. I'd like to remind everybody hazardous household waste is this

[23:15] Saturday 9 to1 at the county road commission.

[23:23] » Thank you, Commissioner Mley.

[23:29] I won't go into a lot of detail because I know we talked a little bit today, but

[23:32] I just I love when we get those department head reports. They are very

[23:37] very helpful. And uh just to give a few highlights because I think it's

[23:41] important for you guys to know that we do read them and we do take the time to

[23:44] look at the the work that's been done. I know our sheriff's report some of the

[23:48] highest mileage traffic stops and everything over the last three months

[23:51] down a little bit in August. maybe give you a little bit of a breather, but um

[23:56] they still go out there and keep going. Even though some of that volume in our

[24:00] community starts to subside, the other numbers are still up. Um animal control,

[24:05] same numbers, same kind of trend. Some of those statistics go down, but the

[24:10] work that they're doing responding to people and talking continues to be high.

[24:14] Um our controllers report, thank you. um that um the time that you know our chair

[24:20] and I spend on the department budgets have taken up quite a bit of time dayong

[24:25] meetings of going through those but you were still able to get through all the

[24:30] claims that are you know the comp claims o it issues um spongy moth work the the

[24:36] postcards airport stuff you still maintained all those so I just wanted to

[24:40] say thank you um clerk and register of deeds I don't know how you keep up

[24:44] during a um election and the training that's going on and some of the things

[24:48] that you've had to uncover to be better prepared for this next election. So, I

[24:54] even hear good things when I go to the township meetings that um they are

[24:57] pleased with that work. Thank you. Um I already talked about the prosecuting

[25:03] attorney and the work that they've done. So, that's it. Just thanks to our team.

[25:08] » Commissioner Milburn, >> at the VFW meeting last night, uh Bruce

[25:12] Olsson gave me some cool information. It says uh there's a BFG foundation and

[25:17] meta will bring Ray-B band Meta AI glasses to eligible veterans and active

[25:21] duty service members. Cool thing about this is that is supposed to help them

[25:25] navigate everyday life with greater independence. I've seen a commercial on

[25:28] this the other day on TV. So this is kind of exciting program. I'll keep

[25:32] everybody informed as rolls out and on on this Friday at 8:15 we have a 911

[25:38] 25th anniversary member ceremony. Our own Ben Low will be our invocation and

[25:44] benediction speaker. Thank you, Madam Chair.

[25:48] » All right. With no further comments, this meeting would be adjourned and our

[25:53] next meeting starts at 10 o'clock.

[25:59] » RTA is September 17th. >> September 17th.

[26:05] » Oh, yeah. Any

[26:34] Oh, answer. Thank you.

[26:37] » Russ County Board of Commissioners work session September 9th, 2026 at 10:00

[26:42] a.m. First, we have nominations for the 2026 person of the year. Discussion of

[26:48] the whole. Um, this is just kind of put on the radar so that you guys can start

[26:53] thinking about it. If everybody, if you do have somebody that you want to

[26:57] nominate, if you can bring them to the next um meeting,

[27:01] that would be great. >> Yeah. Okay.

[27:06] Yep. And then that way we can have further

[27:10] discussion of that and we're able to vote when we need to vote there. I

[27:15] believe it's in October if I'm not mistaken, isn't it?

[27:19] » So generally that's the deadline next week

[27:23] » to bring the who yeah who you if you want to nominate somebody.

[27:30] Okay. Um, MSU extension updates.

[27:36] Um,

[27:40] » nothing like being right on time.

[27:45] » Well, good morning everyone. Um, it's good to be here again and good to see

[27:48] all of you. Um, and other folks in Roscommen County. As you know, I'm Julie

[27:53] Darton. Um, and I'm the now the former district director for MSU Extension

[27:57] District 4 and the current district director for MSU Extensions District 9,

[28:02] which is uh, South. And I'm here to introduce Dorothy Mun who is taking on

[28:08] the role as the interim. And I will let her give you more of an introduction to

[28:13] herself. >> Hi everyone. Um, my name is Dorothy Mun.

[28:17] I am the district 4 um director, the interrum director and I've been with MSU

[28:22] extension for 31 years. I've spent 28 of those years in based in Ogam County um

[28:29] and I have served in a county position, supervisory position which covered 14

[28:34] counties and then most recently as a policy and risk management educator for

[28:39] the entire state with um MSU extension. So, I'm excited about serving these

[28:44] seven counties in District 4 and looking forward to working with you all.

[28:52] » Anybody have any questions or >> Thank you. I do.

[28:56] » Thank you. >> Sorry. Just a So, it's interim. So, how

[28:58] long is it interim? Is this something you're going to

[29:01] » look to stay in or is it just helping them fill out fill in till Okay.

[29:05] » No, I am looking to um to for the permanent position. The intent as I know

[29:10] it right now is to have it be a permanent position in May. So there'll

[29:14] be an interview process, but there's another vacancy in the south south part

[29:18] of the state that they need to fill first. So um so that process is

[29:22] anticipated to be made permanent in May. >> Welcome. Thank you.

[29:27] » Welcome. >> So Dorothy will be reaching out to folks

[29:30] about the the advisory committee. Um Kim is the design designated person from

[29:36] this board for that role. Um, and we're also, I'm sure, looking to recruit

[29:41] others if we want to have a a range of experiences, uh, in that in that role.

[29:47] Um, and I just want to say again, uh, how much it's great to be back and and

[29:52] thank you for all of your hard work. Um I've tried to give Dorothy a little bit

[29:55] of an update on some of the things we've shared about, you know, the future

[29:59] funding potential for 4 and other programs, but um she's we have very

[30:05] complimentary strengths in terms of Dorothy's very strategic and and I think

[30:10] that will serve this role very well. So >> thank you very much.

[30:16] » Thank you. >> Welcome to you.

[30:18] » Thank you for coming. >> Yep. Thanks, Julie, for all you've done

[30:21] for us as well.

[30:30] Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Our emergency director, Vanessa Verer.

[30:56] Good morning. >> Good morning.

[30:58] » Vanessa Varner, emergency management director, and next to me I have George

[31:03] Merceron from uh

[31:07] Ready Lab. We are presenting the community wildfire protection plan. You

[31:12] guys all should have received one of these amazing binders. Uh do has anybody

[31:19] need one or has everybody got theirs or had a chance to look over it? Okay. Uh

[31:22] the presentation that we're going to be going over was in the front left.

[31:25] Perfect. And then the resolution that we're asking you to approve was Yes.

[31:30] Right there. Good job, Kim. Look at you. You did your homework. All right. So,

[31:36] um, as you all know, I came to you, uh,

[31:41] about a year and a half ago asking for approval to apply for the community

[31:46] wildfire defense grant program. Uh, while we scored very high, we did not

[31:50] get approved for that. Uh the Michigan DNR ultimately ended up approving uh

[31:55] $50,000 in local uh well state funds uh for us to be able to hire uh Tom and

[32:03] George to uh complete our plan for us. Uh what we're presenting today is the

[32:08] final project or final product and for your approval. So

[32:15] if I can use this correctly, we'll be ready to go.

[32:21] Maybe

[32:28] I see it. Hey, there we go. All right. So,

[32:33] what we are asking you to adopt is the community wildfire protection plan. This

[32:38] is important to us because the uh wildfire risk has been identified as the

[32:45] number one hazard threat for Ross common county. Uh this is a a tenure framework

[32:52] uh that uh builds off of the 2016 plan that we had. And this 162page document

[33:00] can be summed up into uh identifying where the county is

[33:05] exposed to wildfire. uh evaluating uh what our fire departments and

[33:10] partners can do about it and then uh how we can uh proceed with different actions

[33:17] over the next 10 years. What we need you all to do is adopt this

[33:24] plan because our fire chiefs association that comprise the nine different fire

[33:29] departments in the county, they have already looked at it and said that they

[33:32] are in support of it. And then also the Michigan DNR that is considered our

[33:36] forestry partner uh for the county, they've also accepted it and adopted it.

[33:41] So you guys are the the next part of that.

[33:52] So adoption for the county doesn't make a financial commitment. It doesn't mean

[33:57] that we are asking taxpayers to do anything

[34:02] commit to anything at this point in time. What it simply is saying is that

[34:08] we agree that these act actions that we've identified are all things that

[34:13] would be a benefit to our county, to our residents, that they could ultimately

[34:18] reduce the risk of wildfires in the future if we participated in completing

[34:23] these activities. that if we proceed with completing all of these activities,

[34:31] ultimately the benefit would be that our risk would be reduced. It also allows

[34:36] for our fire departments, for our county uh agencies to be eligible for various

[34:43] different state, federal, and local grant opportunities. Uh the community

[34:48] wildfire defense grant that we had applied for to get this uh plan updated

[34:53] also has a different part that is for completing mitigation activities. That

[34:59] is an oper that is something that we could be eligible for uh is to complete

[35:02] those activities. Uh we can also use this plan and all of the data that's

[35:06] been collected and updated to uh to apply for other funding opportunities.

[35:12] our fire departments are allowed to use the data to apply for different um

[35:18] equipment grants. So, it's it's really a great tool for for various different

[35:23] opportunities there. Uh with that said, I'm going to pass it off to George to be

[35:29] able to give you some more information about the the heart of the plan and all

[35:33] the meat and potatoes. >> Absolutely. Good morning everybody. Um

[35:36] so want to talk a little bit about the methodology, how we got where we are

[35:40] today, uh the inputs to the plan and where it really started for us is

[35:44] understanding the data to really engage stakeholders and talk through some of

[35:48] the challenges that we saw in terms of uh exposure. And what I'll start off by

[35:53] saying is that the risk that we see in Roscom County around wildfires is is

[35:58] relatively low. when we look out west, it's really 10 to 15 times higher the

[36:03] risk that they're dealing with around wildfires. Um, however, when we look at

[36:07] the actual exposure properties, um, whether residential or commercial

[36:12] structures, 97.9% are in that wildland urban interface or

[36:17] wildland urban intermix. And so, while the probability is low, if there were a

[36:23] wildfire to take place, there's the potential for catastrophic loss. Okay.

[36:27] Um, so what does that mean for you all? Um, looking at those actual structures

[36:32] within that wildland urban interface amounts to $4.5 billion in value for the

[36:37] county. And so you think about those impacts during a disaster, even if it

[36:41] was in a pocket of the community. Um, the the the reality is that there would

[36:47] be likely some catastrophic impacts. Um, as we go into the next slides, um, I'll

[36:53] let you know that the concentration, and this is important for folks in the room

[36:57] because you can see your districts represented here. Um, the majority of

[37:01] the risk is concentrated around your lake communities. U, we know that

[37:05] communities want to live near the water and therefore we see a higher percentage

[37:08] of the population in those areas, which then presents a secondary risk in that,

[37:14] um, not only are those homes within that wildland urban interface, but they're

[37:17] also abudding against the lake. And so the ability to evacuate those areas and

[37:23] then also for fire apparatus to get into those areas are really impacted by the

[37:27] environment there. And so as we get into some of the actions and the

[37:31] recommendations in the plan, what you'll see is that um a lot of the risk

[37:35] reduction is tying in with uh community- based actions. There are some some

[37:39] recommendations around equipment purchases and such. Um, and I don't want

[37:43] to get too far ahead of myself, but there's a lot that can be do done

[37:46] through education of the community as well as the folks that are coming into

[37:50] your community uh for recreational purposes.

[37:54] Um, so the three lakes are the primary risk and then Lake Higgins is uh in

[38:00] Garish Township is the single largest concentration of risk. It's a little

[38:04] hard to see on the map, but if you notice there's some red areas that are

[38:07] highlighted. Those are the areas of particular concern where we see a lot of

[38:11] structures that are erected. Um so in terms of how we built the plan,

[38:17] we used the mixed methods approach. Um we used the data to inform our outreach,

[38:21] but we engaged the entire community. We started with the fire departments. We

[38:24] launched on a survey. We followed up with that followed that with uh key

[38:28] informant interviews to just make sure that the data what it was telling us

[38:32] aligned with what we were seeing in the community. And by far and large um the

[38:37] risk that's presented um was reflected through the fire departments, but more

[38:41] importantly there uh their ability to respond to fires was was addressed as

[38:46] well. And so um we looked at how their operational challenges related to

[38:51] equipment to access um to capacity to support wildfire response in terms of

[38:58] staffing. And so what you'll see in the plan is each of those kind of challenges

[39:02] or or issues that were ident identified by your fire departments are addressed

[39:06] there in the plan. Um we didn't just start stop with the fire departments. Um

[39:10] one of the requirements that we'll get to in the later slides. Um this this the

[39:15] federal requirements around this plan requires engagement from local all the

[39:19] way up to state. And so some additional partner agencies that we engaged include

[39:23] included the mission state university cooperative extension office uh

[39:28] department of natural resources. We met with some lake community associations.

[39:33] Um so all of those and even a private land owner to get some really good

[39:37] perspective of how that risk is distributed throughout the community and

[39:40] what that concentration looks like. Um I also want to applaud your emergency

[39:45] management department. um Vanessa and her team were able to connect us with a

[39:49] variety of stakeholders that really helped to provide some additional detail

[39:53] into the plan and so it was really helpful to have kind of that that full

[39:57] picture. And then the last piece of this um is the public review which um if you

[40:03] don't know we posted a video to the website for folks to get a full briefing

[40:08] on on the plan so that they understood that again while the probability for

[40:13] wildfires is low um there's a real exposure risk and there are some actions

[40:18] that the community can take to address those risks. So um we'll talk a little

[40:22] bit about that as we get into the next slides.

[40:26] Um, so how the community responded. First off, um, like I said, the draft

[40:30] was posted to the website along with a video. We had an open comment period. By

[40:35] and large, really good positive feedback from the community on the plan. Um, but

[40:40] ultimately we used that video as part of a national night out to really gauge the

[40:44] community, un have gauge their understanding of wildfire exposure. And

[40:49] so um they were able to take a look at the MAP product, understand where their

[40:54] residence was relative to the risk and then they were able to rank the actions

[40:59] that were listed in the plan. And so um while in the plan those items aren't

[41:04] ranked, uh the community has kind of put forward what their preference is for

[41:08] specific mitigation actions. Yeah, absolutely. So, uh, when, uh, Martin and

[41:13] I were out at National Night Out, we asked our residents as they came by and

[41:18] talked with us about, uh, what their thoughts were about wildfires and if

[41:23] they felt that they were prepared or if they felt that they were at risk of

[41:26] wildfires. And a lot of people said, "Well, maybe, you know, not really." Uh,

[41:30] and I said, you know, will you will you do me a favor and and put a sticker

[41:34] where your house is on here? And I said because 98% approximately of of the

[41:39] households are within this wild wildland urban interface. Like what does that

[41:44] mean? I said that if you know we did end up with a wildfire that that your your

[41:48] residents would be at risk because you know so you need to make sure that

[41:51] you're helping and working on some of these mitigation activities. And they're

[41:56] like nah, you know, I don't think I I don't think it is. And sure enough, I

[42:01] think one in the two place in the two times that we did this, only one

[42:07] resident had a house outside of that. So, I mean, yes, we see data, right? And

[42:13] it's always kind of one of those I want to actually see the data um proven, and

[42:19] it it truly it's there. Our our residents are within that. Uh, you know,

[42:25] I you guys know I like I like to test the the boundaries and the limits and

[42:29] and see if we're we're where we're at and and it was our people are within

[42:33] those ranges. Those those red lines, those orange spots, that's where our

[42:37] people are.

[42:41] » I'll just say that that dimension of things really informs the the approach

[42:46] that we have in the plan. So, it's really good timing to talk about um

[42:49] Oops, went backwards. Sorry about that.

[42:55] Um, in terms of the mitigation actions that are recommended in the plan, first

[42:59] off, starting with the fire department, understanding there are some real

[43:02] capacity gaps. You guys have a volunteer fire fire department base and their

[43:07] ability to recruit is is challenging. Um, this is a a primarily an an aging

[43:14] community. Um, there's not a lot of able-bodied folks to join the force. And

[43:19] so um when we look at some of the actions first and foremost focused on

[43:23] the capacity issues that exist here. Um beyond that um there was a lot of

[43:28] discussion around access to water supplies. Even with uh the fact that you

[43:32] guys do have large water bodies the ability to access those water bodies was

[43:36] challenging. And relative to that, the apparatus to get into those areas to

[43:40] access the water, to access the uh the structures that may be on fire, um also

[43:46] represented in the discussions across the board with stakeholders that we've

[43:49] discussed um this project with. Um what you'll notice is that the majority of

[43:55] actions are tied to fire adapted communities and this goes back to that

[43:59] community education piece in that a lot of the risk is really concentrated on

[44:04] private properties. And so um when we look at the fire adapted communities

[44:08] approach um is looking at things like defensible space and and home hardening

[44:13] and how do we pres protect residences because there's this assumption when we

[44:18] look out west of wildfires coming through as a wall of flame. But indeed

[44:22] the real risk is an ember that can fly miles away from the fire, land close to

[44:27] a home, um catch that vegetation on fire and the home becomes a flame. And so um

[44:33] beyond that um we are looking at firewise communities. You all did have

[44:37] some firewise communities in the past. Um some of those have all of them have

[44:42] gone away. And so you know through this plan we're looking at how do we bring

[44:46] those back online in the places that would benefit most from those. Um the

[44:51] other piece is you have both seasonal homeowners that don't live in the area

[44:56] and when they return into the area they may return after the fire risk has

[45:00] already gone away. And so how do we message homeowners to clean their

[45:04] properties while they're away in order to protect their homes and and otherwise

[45:08] protect the community? Um similar to that, you also have seasonal folks that

[45:13] are coming into the community for recreation purpose purposes. And there

[45:18] has been some communications campaigns that reach that community. Um, however,

[45:22] this is probably the largest source of community ignition of fires is is that

[45:27] recreational activity, whether it's ATVs or small campfires that aren't uh

[45:33] completely put out. Um, and so there is a strategy that um has been put in

[45:38] place, but um and then we get to funding, you'll find that a lot of these

[45:42] communication strategies are probably the lowest hanging fruit in terms of

[45:45] cost and impact. Um so we'll talk about that in a moment as well. Um, moving

[45:51] over to resilient landscapes. These are areas for partnership between the county

[45:55] and state uh DNR as well as the fire departments to look at fire lines around

[46:01] the community. I remember meeting with Richfield and their fire chief and and

[46:05] sheriff, one person running that whole shop and you mentioned the school that's

[46:11] there, Charles H School, right up against the forest line. Um and so we

[46:16] spoke about fire lines and how do we mitigate fires in that area and at one

[46:20] point there was a fire wise community there as well. And so when we look at

[46:24] fuel brakes, uh fuel reduction, prescribed fires, um these are all areas

[46:29] for coordination with our partners to really reduce that risk in the

[46:34] surrounding landscape. And then the last piece, this is uh a novel addition

[46:39] compared to the 2016 plan, which is really overlaying some governance on the

[46:43] document to make sure that we're reviewing the plan regularly if there's

[46:47] an incident to revisit that plan and make sure that the actions align with

[46:51] the evolving threat. Um at the same time, uh pursuing funding. And so what

[46:56] you'll find with this plan in terms of plan maintenance is that while the

[47:00] previous plan didn't really tie in with stakeholders or have strong timelines or

[47:05] funding tied to those individual actions and really a big reason why those that

[47:11] plan didn't um have the level of success that I think this plan will ultimately

[47:16] bring to the community um had to do with some of the tracking and governance

[47:19] mechanisms that we've built in here.

[47:24] Oh, >> I know it's

[47:26] » going the wrong way. It's counterintuitive. Um, so how the actions

[47:30] get funded, as Vanessa mentioned, there there's no funding obligation around

[47:33] this. Rather, there's funding opportunities. And so by completing this

[47:38] plan, you're eligible for funding source for funding through uh the US Forest

[47:43] Service, for example, through uh FEMA, through some additional programs, as

[47:48] well as through m Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which Vanessa spoke

[47:52] to. Um, honestly though, when we talk about the education of the community,

[47:57] when we talk about printing and mailing and having somebody at a community

[48:01] event, um, these are low cost. 5,000 to $15,000 is what we're estimating on some

[48:06] of these projects and actions uh to make a presence in the community and do

[48:11] exactly what we've done as Vanessa's done uh with the the night out with the

[48:15] community. Um, so this helps amplify the message and even go out to folks that

[48:20] may not be in the community year round. Um so the plan what you'll find is uh

[48:25] again with those larger actions there are there is some grant funding to

[48:28] support equipment purchases to help with some of the capacity issues. Uh

[48:32] ultimately in the plan all of those funding opportunities are tied back to

[48:36] the actions and there's a champion identified. So as we look at plan

[48:41] maintenance if I'm going okay um what we'll be looking at is an an annual

[48:46] review. So those stakeholders that are identified, we can ensure that there's

[48:50] there's progress and if there isn't, we can support to make sure that, you know,

[48:54] the support is provided around applying for grants or uh tracking progress

[48:58] around any of the efforts that are being identified. Um we're proposing a

[49:03] five-year update. 10 years is a long time and a lot changes in five years. I

[49:07] look at um you know, your one of your larger fires was in 2004 2005, the Boyce

[49:12] fire. And so if you have a situation like that within five years, we want to

[49:16] have the opportunity to update the plan before we get to that 10-year mark. Um

[49:21] ultimately those would trigger early revisions. If you find areas where

[49:26] additional action is needed or there needs some refinement, um this process

[49:30] allows you to get to that before you're 10 years out. And again, you know, you

[49:35] you you haven't seen the progress that you've otherwise expected. So all of

[49:39] this is different from the 2016 plan. And I'll tell you whether it's uh

[49:43] afteraction reports or or other plans, the accountability piece is really what

[49:48] drives this plan home is going to bring results to your community. Um so with

[49:53] that um you know put this request in front of the board. I'll turn it over to

[49:57] Vanessa and kind of close us out here. you know, as I always come to you guys

[50:04] and and present various different things, uh the big part with this is is

[50:10] truly going to be continuing to keep our stakeholders engaged. Uh the the issue

[50:17] that that we had with this past plan was that it became a paper weight on a

[50:23] shelf. Okay. Um I don't want to see that happen

[50:29] with this. Uh we have a lot of agencies that are interested that want to do

[50:38] this. Uh we've got some new people in different positions within fire

[50:42] departments that that want to be engaged that want to incite some some education

[50:49] and change within uh our community. So I think we're at a great spot. Um, I love

[50:56] the annual review part of this where I can bring this to you all and let you

[51:01] know where we're at with things. Uh, not just to my local planning team and say,

[51:05] "Hey, I've looked at this. This is where we're at." It will come before you guys.

[51:08] Uh, I also feel it's important to take this to our township. So whether I do a

[51:13] road show every year and say, "Hey guys, this is where we're at." or I do a

[51:17] mailing. I guess I it's something I can discuss with uh chairperson sensor and

[51:23] Jody and and let you guys know. Uh but you know, I think that it's important

[51:28] that we keep all of our stakeholders engaged in that process because, you

[51:32] know, having not having a countywide building department, uh a lot of the

[51:38] mitigation activities, uh some of the zoning regulations and stuff like that.

[51:43] I know that there are some areas where there's a requirement that a firewise

[51:50] assessment per se or education component be done before a building permits

[51:55] issued. Um you know some there's some places that have those sorts of

[51:59] ordinances. So that there's various different things that can be done to

[52:02] help create that more resilient educated community. Uh,

[52:07] and I'm not saying that that's something that has to be done, but it's just ways

[52:12] that we can assist our community. Uh, and again, this boils down to I just

[52:19] need you all to adopt the resolution so that we can uh proceed with this plan.

[52:25] Uh, I think that this is light years ahead of where we were at with our 2016

[52:31] version. uh the data that's been collected, the maps are

[52:38] uh old. In my opinion, there's

[52:45] I don't think that there's anything that isn't representative of our community in

[52:50] this. So, you guys have any questions for us?

[53:01] Obviously, I've been a little closer to this

[53:05] working with you on your board there. Um,

[53:10] one, your RTA group for presentations to go back because then you'll have all

[53:14] those township people hopefully. >> Good idea. Thank you.

[53:16] » Is a instead of sometimes the road shows are timeconuming, but you may have to go

[53:21] to some, but I think that group is a really great group because they listen

[53:25] to this part originally. So, that followup I think would be very, very

[53:29] helpful. Um, so part of this I'd like to say as well, it is definitely different

[53:35] than that 2016 one. I think the accountability, the followup, so it

[53:41] doesn't sit on a shelf. You hate to even if it was grant money, you hate to use

[53:45] that money and it just sits somewhere. But I also believe that I think this is

[53:51] important for our township and our fire departments. And if I'm not mistaken,

[53:55] some are more engaged than others. Um, I know there had to be an inventory, if

[54:00] I'm not mistaken, done, which you had been begging for for a while. Seems like

[54:05] this action got you that information. Is that a is that a correct statement? So,

[54:09] that's complete. Is it a true statement that maybe this

[54:13] is engaging them more to say we all all of our township fire departments are

[54:19] saying I'm on it and willing to engage because I think that's going to be the a

[54:24] big piece to make sure that they all want to do it. Yes, ma'am.

[54:27] » That true? >> Yes, ma'am.

[54:29] » Struggles on that right now or is it better?

[54:33] » Progress has been made. >> Progress has been made. Still work to be

[54:36] done. >> Yes, ma'am. To

[54:37] » help with them. >> Yeah,

[54:43] » that's those are just a few questions I had, but nice presentation. Thank you.

[55:03] homes and businesses. It's a lot

[55:07] » and all of the maps are GIS layers that we have as

[55:13] assets for the county.

[55:17] So this can go this resolution the next meeting. Next

[55:22] » regular meeting. >> Okay.

[55:23] » Yeah. >> Yep.

[55:26] » Everything has to be wrapped up with the grant and funding by the end of the

[55:30] month. So >> we're within the timelines.

[55:34] » Are we okay? >> Okay. Good.

[55:36] » Good. >> We'll make sure to have that. Thank you.

[55:40] Am I okay to excuse them? >> Absolutely.

[55:45] It's all good.

[55:53] » Next, we have the L4029

[55:58] tax rate request including winter 2026 from our equalization director, Jamie

[56:03] Hzerman.

[56:10] Thank you.

[56:17] for some exciting tax stuff. All right,

[56:26] good morning uh honorable members of the board of commission for us common

[56:30] county. As you know, I am Jamie Howerman, your equalization director.

[56:35] In front of you today is the state tax commission L429

[56:40] which is your tax rate request. This form has been updated since the

[56:46] summer levy occurred and now includes the winter.

[56:54] As you will recall from previous discussions on this reporting, it is

[56:58] very much so a statement of transparency.

[57:02] um all of the information on it is information that you've seen in the

[57:06] past. It's just now being presented in a format to order the um collection.

[57:12] So the first thing you'll note is the taxable value in the top right hand

[57:16] corner as we talked about in the summer. It is not the same taxable value number

[57:22] that you saw when you did county equalization in April. That number has

[57:28] been reduced by about $23 million to account for uh properties that we do not

[57:35] collect tax dollars on. Those include disabled veteran exemptions and senior

[57:41] pilt housing. From there, you'll see each of the

[57:47] columns along the top uh that represent each of the categories. uh column two

[57:54] being how the tax levy was generated. The vast major actually every single one

[58:01] of these um was generated via a property tax um I'm sorry a tax vote of the

[58:08] people and so therefore all of the funds that

[58:13] you're collecting were already vetted by and approved by the the local voters.

[58:19] The sec or that third column tells you the year in which those voters approved

[58:25] that collection. You'll note towards the bottom, the last four were approved in

[58:32] August of 2026 to be collected yet this year. Um, those are all funds that

[58:39] you've collected in the past. That next column shows you the original

[58:45] collected amount that the voters approved. The column after that, column

[58:50] five, shows you the Headley reduction for the fact that you cannot collect

[58:55] more dollars than the taxpayers approve. That's why millages get rolled back

[59:00] through that Headley amendment. Column six shows you the mill reduction

[59:06] fraction you're required to um follow through with for this year. Um note that

[59:12] the newest of the millages, those last four, do not have a reduction fraction.

[59:17] That's because the voters approved those dollars this year. Therefore, no

[59:21] reduction is necessary. Moving all the way over, column 11 is

[59:27] the recommended rate for collection. You'll note that in every one of those

[59:32] line items, it matches column 9, which is the maximum amount to be levied. It's

[59:37] very much so our recommendation to um to fulfill your budgeted commitments that

[59:43] you would levy the total um that is that is approved by the voters. That last

[59:50] column tells you the expiration dates of these each of those millages. Um as

[59:55] you'll note, there are no expirations for for the remainder of this year.

[59:59] However, there will be some that you will look at for next year.

[1:00:05] Um let's see this form was compiled under

[1:00:09] the provisions of Michigan compiled law 211.24E 24E which is truth in taxation.

[1:00:17] MCL 211.34 which is truth in county equalization

[1:00:23] and truth in assessing MCL 21134D which is that Headley amendment and MCL

[1:00:30] 211.37 aortionment. Do you have questions for me?

[1:00:40] » Does anybody have any questions? One of the followups that I could help

[1:00:46] you with, in May, we discussed um the uncertainty of the um price of

[1:00:52] consumable goods and how that may or may not impact your uh your inflation rate

[1:01:00] for 2027. Inflation rate for 27, as you know, very much so is on your minds as

[1:01:06] you're looking at budgeting. And so in that aspect I can tell you that in May

[1:01:10] when we discussed this um my opinion at that time was approximately a 3% to a

[1:01:17] 3.8% inflation rate multiplier.

[1:01:21] Um I also told you at that point that the price of gasoline at the pump if it

[1:01:27] fluctuated much this summer would indicate that higher amount versus the

[1:01:32] lower. That said, our consumers did see a

[1:01:35] little bit of an increase that was tax related um not not inflation related and

[1:01:41] as such ultimately what we saw is with just two months left to be collected in

[1:01:47] this cycle um I believe you'll be looking at a flat 3% potentially 3.1%

[1:01:54] inflation rate multiplier. Um, the next of their series comes out

[1:02:00] on uh September 16th, 8:30 in the morning. The US Bureau of Labor and

[1:02:06] Statistics. If that number is a a 233 or greater, I'm going to say you'll be at

[1:02:12] 3.1. Um, please reach out to me if you need to know that number um after that

[1:02:18] September 16th and I can get you that as solid. Um that said, that should give

[1:02:23] you enough for budgeting purposes um going forward at that 3 to 3.1% mark. Um

[1:02:30] did you have questions beyond that that I might help with?

[1:02:34] » Yes.

[1:02:42] » Correct. So, so ultimately our voters get to look at millage questions when

[1:02:48] they go to the polls and those millage questions will let them know whether

[1:02:52] this has been expired and it's something that they've already seen in the past or

[1:02:57] if it's a new millage to them. I can tell you in each of these cases, those

[1:03:02] were expired millages um that in order to continue those programs, our voters

[1:03:07] wanted those overwhelmingly actually and approved those millages. And that's why

[1:03:13] you're seeing those on there again. >> Correct.

[1:03:17] » Well, they're they're not subject to headly roll back because they're being

[1:03:21] collected the year that they were approved in. And so there's been no

[1:03:26] movement in those numbers is why there's no roll back.

[1:03:37] » There is. And that's why you'll actually see where um the road millillage for

[1:03:41] example um which is the county road maintenance program that's a countywide

[1:03:46] through our through our Roscom County road commission is a it was approved by

[1:03:52] the voters at a 4760. Uh that was not their original

[1:03:58] millillage when this when this election or when this this item first started.

[1:04:02] They were probably at a 0.5 um many years ago. So, so when they asked for a

[1:04:09] renewal, they're asking for a renewal of just what they were already reduced to

[1:04:14] through the Headley amendment. That said, some of our programs, as you know,

[1:04:19] cannot function on what they're being originally approved at um because of the

[1:04:23] changes in our world. Um changes in security, changes in technology, this

[1:04:28] type of thing, inflation. Um and in those cases, we're going back to the

[1:04:32] voters and we're not asking just for a straight renewal. We're asking for

[1:04:36] renewal and an increase back to that original millillage rate. And then you

[1:04:41] saw that in the 911 and in the um sheriff's department road patrol

[1:04:46] millages. Um that's not what you saw in the um in the uh county road maintenance

[1:04:51] or the veterans. In those cases, they were able to maintain on what they had.

[1:04:59] » Any other questions for me? >> Yes.

[1:05:06] I appreciate you. Okay, >> chair. Sorry, quick question, too. Um,

[1:05:11] so the townships have to send this similar form to you by the end of

[1:05:16] October. Does that change any of this or is that just for township collection?

[1:05:22] » So, so we we uh govern for for you for for your for your commission for for you

[1:05:27] as commissioners. My office governs for you the data collection piece of each of

[1:05:33] those local municipalities that you were talking about. And so each township, the

[1:05:38] village, uh let's see, there's uh Home Lake Ambulance Authority, there's some

[1:05:43] uh there's some schools, there's some uh libraries, uh th those types of of

[1:05:50] municipalities each report to us what they want to collect on their tax rate

[1:05:54] request form just like you're looking at. it doesn't impact what we do. The

[1:05:59] next piece of that that you see come out of my office will be in the in the month

[1:06:03] of October. We go into the aortionment process. That's where we take each of

[1:06:09] those 4029 tax rate requests, compile those together. You look at those in

[1:06:14] totality, and then you as a board of commissioners say, "Yes, these are

[1:06:18] approvable to be collected or no, they're not." And all of that done under

[1:06:22] the guise of of legal compliance. And I can tell you at this point we're headed

[1:06:26] towards um being legally compliant to do that. So I don't see an issue.

[1:06:30] » Thank you. >> You're welcome. The only other question

[1:06:33] you occasionally ask me about um involves some work that I do with your

[1:06:38] county clerk and that is whether or not there's elections in a current year that

[1:06:43] still want to be collected in that year. I can tell you that I did get with your

[1:06:48] county clerk, Michelle Stevenson, and she did let me know that there are no

[1:06:52] millages um that the voters are looking at at November that still want to be

[1:06:58] collected this year. Um there's one millillage question, I believe, that

[1:07:02] will be on our ballot involving H Hotton Lake Community Schools and it would be a

[1:07:07] 2027 collection item if it were approved. So,

[1:07:11] so for that, we won't be revisiting this. There are years where you'll see

[1:07:15] where we'll revisit the 4029 because we need to based on what we're looking at

[1:07:20] at November um questions. Okay. Well, with that then I

[1:07:27] respectfully request that the following motion be adopted at the September 23rd,

[1:07:33] 2026 regular meeting of the board of commission.

[1:07:38] A motion to levy the ad valorum tax rates for Ross Common County for 2026

[1:07:44] for the winter tax levy. E911 at 1 mil road patrol 1.5 mills

[1:07:53] senior services 9252 mills gypsy moth which is now spongy moth.2413

[1:08:02] 2413 mills animal shelter 3790 mills veterans

[1:08:12] 1588 mills road maintenance 4760 mills and emergency management

[1:08:21] 009 65 mills and I'd also ask that you would

[1:08:28] authorize chairperson m darling sensor and county clerk Michelle Stevenson to

[1:08:35] then sign your L4029 tax rate request.

[1:08:43] » All right. Thank you.

[1:08:54] » Okay. Next, we have the sale contract of the

[1:08:58] annex building to the Northern Michigan Children's Assessment Center, our

[1:09:02] administrator, controller. This is the initial draft of finally

[1:09:11] moving forward with the sale of the annex property next door to the Northern

[1:09:16] Michigan Children's Assessment Center. Um, this would be our draft is of a

[1:09:21] proposal to them. Um, it is a first draft because obviously I need board

[1:09:26] guidance and direction on um, where you would like to see this document go. We

[1:09:32] do obviously own the property outright. Um, the purchase price of the property

[1:09:38] is based on the average commercial value per square foot. Um, so that is I'll

[1:09:44] have to zoom back up to it again. $859,460.

[1:09:50] That building is roughly 14,000 square feet. Um we do currently have in about

[1:09:56] 1,400 square feet the emergency management operation center that

[1:10:01] operates um through this annex building as a part of this sale. Um we need to

[1:10:08] figure in what a leaseback option looks like. Um so basically a lease back in

[1:10:14] kind of the purchase price. That is really probably the biggest area

[1:10:20] that I think guidance is needed. Um, but I know that there will be questions,

[1:10:24] comments from you. So, I'm I'm here to get those. Um, their board meets at the

[1:10:30] end of September. So, if we could have that second draft available to them for

[1:10:35] them to review then, um, that would be great.

[1:10:41] » Yes. >> Originally, we thought we could sell

[1:10:46] this for This is

[1:10:51] sell it for a fair market value. I assume

[1:10:57] price

[1:11:00] offset by the rental. >> Yes.

[1:11:06] » There's 19,460 left. I assume that was for surveys and

[1:11:12] documentation and everything. >> Yes.

[1:11:15] » Um lease is for five years and unless it's for

[1:11:22] life lease after five years we could be stuck with

[1:11:26] paying a lease like 168,000. So that's something that we need to

[1:11:32] address as a board >> in my opinion.

[1:11:38] » Okay. >> Okay.

[1:11:40] the the the lease for five years at 168,000

[1:11:47] » just off is not only do we get use of the building but it offsets the purchase

[1:11:54] price

[1:11:57] but the lease agreement is only for five years.

[1:12:02] At the end of five years, someone could come along and say, "Hey, your lease is

[1:12:07] 168,000 a year, unless we have a life lease or a lease

[1:12:14] for the term of us using it for that purpose."

[1:12:20] » So, you'd like to see that you'd like to see adjustment to include that as a life

[1:12:25] lease or as the inind lease? >> Well,

[1:12:29] » I mean, I I think that's totally completely up to you. as long as

[1:12:32] emergency management wants to use the building.

[1:12:35] » Yeah. >> You know,

[1:12:36] » I like your verbage that you just

[1:12:42] » as long as Yeah. We still need the use of that

[1:12:48] » term. Yeah. T term of usage because I don't know.

[1:12:53] » Are we really concerned about once if emergency management decides it no

[1:12:58] longer needs that? Are we really concerned about keeping that portion of

[1:13:03] that, >> you know, tied up?

[1:13:05] » I mean, that's shortsighted for me to judge that far down the road, but I

[1:13:11] don't see that that place would provide any other value other than them having

[1:13:16] that as that command center and a separate entrance and that

[1:13:19] » I mean, there's a purpose for it being where it's at. So,

[1:13:22] » and and that was the whole intent of all this is being able to keep emergency

[1:13:26] management there >> through this process and and and once

[1:13:30] we've achieve that goal, should they decide they no longer need it, then I

[1:13:36] don't think we should tie somebody's hands with it.

[1:13:40] » I can absolutely make that adjustment, >> but I don't think we should be open to

[1:13:45] additional lease payments after five years,

[1:13:49] » right? I like that.

[1:13:53] » And Jody, if I'm not mistaken, like right now the county, we pay for phones,

[1:13:58] we pay for it, we pay for all of that, >> these building and grounds, all of that.

[1:14:05] » Yes. Y >> So when this goes through,

[1:14:09] they would be responsible for their portion. It would still fall under us.

[1:14:14] » Yes, that is correct. >> Okay. And if emergency management

[1:14:19] decides they don't need it, we need to wash our hands of the IT part.

[1:14:24] » That would be correct. >> My only other question is,

[1:14:31] are they going to pay us this in one lump sum and we're going to pay 168,000

[1:14:36] every year for five years or how that's going to work?

[1:14:40] » We're going to shake hands.

[1:14:47] You might want to explain that a little bit more because it sounds

[1:14:53] » it will be a paper payment and it will be payment on paper. So essentially what

[1:14:57] it would be is if you're going to have a license life lease for 859,

[1:15:06] whatever the total was 859460. So essentially the sale of the building

[1:15:11] for the sale price of 859460 is going to be

[1:15:18] » a wash >> a wash with the inkind. Uh

[1:15:22] » so we're going to pay the lease up front.

[1:15:24] » Correct. We're paying up front >> and then a check for 19,460

[1:15:29] will be issued to Roscom County >> hopefully. Yes.

[1:15:36] » Okay. >> Okay. I'm I'm lost. I'll just say it.

[1:15:40] Can you go? >> Well, so the actual and and so if we're

[1:15:43] going for and this would just be my kind of my question to the board as a whole.

[1:15:47] So, if we're going to take the 859460, which is the fair market value price,

[1:15:52] um, and are we going to ask then for a totality of for that total cost

[1:16:01] um, for fair market value in exchange instead of asking for the difference

[1:16:07] back, that will be lease of that property for emergency management

[1:16:13] um, for as long as Roscommen County is in need

[1:16:18] instead of asking for money. So, it would be an even trade at that point, I

[1:16:21] think, versus a 5-year lease with there's some money left over they have

[1:16:26] to cut us a check for. So, >> there's a 19,000

[1:16:30] » difference >> difference, but it costs money to have

[1:16:32] it surveyed. And

[1:16:37] » got it.

[1:16:42] Well, this really stems from we cannot say basically we're going to give this

[1:16:47] to you for a dollar. >> Correct.

[1:16:49] » That's not the way it's legally done. This is to show this is how much we

[1:16:53] contribute to your organization as an inind.

[1:16:58] This building now will be yours, but you're going to take care of all your

[1:17:04] your electric, your phone, you know, your IT. You're going to do that all on

[1:17:07] your own. we get to keep this portion and we'll deduct that amount from that

[1:17:12] bigger dollar basically because there's no money exchange. It's just this is how

[1:17:17] this works in order for you to be able to have that property.

[1:17:20] » Correct. >> Okay.

[1:17:23] » Got it. I do like the inclusion of the the text that

[1:17:27] » as long as we still need that. >> Is this a warranty deed or how is the

[1:17:31] deed >> that'll be the determination

[1:17:35] » of the attorneys? Yes. >> Odds are it will be a warranty deed.

[1:17:45] » I'm good. >> Okay.

[1:17:47] I would say that if there's anything else that comes up as you continue to

[1:17:53] look through this that you want seen, make sure you get that information to

[1:17:56] Jod ASAP so that

[1:18:01] when it comes time to deliver this, he's able to do so.

[1:18:22] Which >> Oh, just making sure that that we have

[1:18:25] the language correct that

[1:18:31] » long as we need that facility for emergency management. Yeah. Because

[1:18:34] that's what Rex had brought up too. >> Y yeah.

[1:18:38] » Okay. Any other questions or comments for Jody?

[1:18:43] » Okay.

[1:18:53] » Um, last but not least, we have the allocation of fund balance overage, our

[1:18:58] administrator controller. So, obviously, I'll just do the brief introduction of

[1:19:02] the document that I um had prepared for you, and then it'll be up to you guys to

[1:19:06] decide what you'd like to do. Um we currently have um our cash available of

[1:19:13] $66959.90 maybe a little bit more now just because

[1:19:17] of interest as it's acred um but at the time the document was prepared our fund

[1:19:22] balance overage from the general fund is 800,14715

[1:19:29] so we have a total funding pool available of 1,46110705

[1:19:38] five um for the board to determine where where that could potentially move

[1:19:45] forward per your policy. Um obviously the 6609590

[1:19:50] is already in fund 401 that is already cash in the bank in the capital um

[1:19:56] capital improvements fund capital projects fund. So there were several

[1:20:02] project proposals that have been brought forward. Um one of which

[1:20:09] two of which that have already been voted on and approved by this board. The

[1:20:13] server of replacement which was voted on that has that has already been approved

[1:20:20] um today at the earlier meeting. The other portion of this, the largest chunk

[1:20:26] is the boiler upgrade and replace replacement for the 56424

[1:20:33] and then along with that the building systems control of 37495.

[1:20:39] So those three items um the board has already chosen to allocate funding for

[1:20:45] that. Um there then remain um the BSNA cloud initial contract payment the

[1:20:53] aerial imagery which um I know you'll have questions on the HSA set aside

[1:21:01] which the discussion last meeting was looking at roughly 200,000 for a set

[1:21:07] aside for that um set aside of 50,000 for the child care fund balance buildup

[1:21:13] a sidewalk replacement project for the rest of the building. Um, which is

[1:21:20] probably roughly 3 fifths of the building. Um, estimated maybe 32,000 and

[1:21:26] then the final BSNA cloud payment in 2028 of 54,150.

[1:21:34] Um so those are all available options that have been

[1:21:39] proposed um through our department head meetings to bring to the board for

[1:21:44] consideration in future capital planning. Um not all of them would need

[1:21:50] to have decisions made today but that is um kind of the matrix that I put

[1:21:55] together for you to be able to use move around um to make those discussions and

[1:22:01] decisions. Madam Chair,

[1:22:05] » yes. >> Does this fully fund every employees

[1:22:11] HSA? >> Um, it would be for the 200,000 it would

[1:22:15] be slightly short. Um, probably about 12,500

[1:22:22] for 2028.

[1:22:26] 2027 27 >> 2027

[1:22:30] is being budgeted for full funding currently. So successfully so far.

[1:22:36] » Yes. >> This is for 2028.

[1:22:38] » Yes. >> Okay.

[1:22:39] » Yeah. You'd be locking it up in 2026 for 2028.

[1:22:46] » 200 slightly shy. >> The 200 is slightly shy. That was just

[1:22:49] the number that was thrown out at the last meeting. So I plugged that in.

[1:22:53] » But you think it might be more? Yes, it will be more.

[1:22:57] » Well, it depends on what insurance we wind up with.

[1:23:00] » No, because the HSA funding model will stay the same.

[1:23:08] » Yes.

[1:23:26] That's all the questions I have.

[1:23:30] » So Jody, the basically out of that. So we do we need to the 3224805.

[1:23:40] Do we still need to allocate that or is this all broken up? the that 800,000 is

[1:23:46] this all broken up? >> So the 32214805

[1:23:51] um would be I'll call that leftover from the projects that have been asked for.

[1:23:55] So that that's unallocated um and could be simply put towards your future

[1:24:00] » put towards the capital budget plan. Um, I think my biggest my biggest thought

[1:24:06] was what information um in order to make some final decisions, what information

[1:24:12] would the board still like to move that forward? Um, are there any

[1:24:18] of the I know in speaking with our treasurer um the bid for the BSNA cloud

[1:24:25] we actually have to send that initial payment in um by October 1st. So, that

[1:24:31] would be one um that we'd kind of need to know a yes or a no on by the

[1:24:35] September meeting. >> Okay.

[1:24:37] » September 23rd meeting >> um to move forward um so I can update

[1:24:43] but I can update this with the server replacements as well. But looking at

[1:24:46] those different projects that are out there um I'm going to guess Commissioner

[1:24:51] um Wolson would like a a final number for HSA what that actual number is. I

[1:24:57] don't care what the actual number is as long as it's fully funded,

[1:25:00] » right? So, which is easy enough. Um, but what other information might you need in

[1:25:07] order to make decisions? Um, and obviously not all of these require a

[1:25:12] decision immediately. >> So,

[1:25:16] Madam Chair, >> yes.

[1:25:18] » Can we look at that BSNA cloud because I do know that is pretty quick. We need to

[1:25:22] do it. We need to get that initial. >> We need a motion next.

[1:25:25] » We We do. So if I remember my notes because this the 248.90

[1:25:30] is the initial start I'll say a down payment got to get started.

[1:25:35] » Exactly. >> Yes.

[1:25:36] » I have notes that al in 2028 84,000

[1:25:42] once they've done completion in training another 54,000

[1:25:47] and an annual amount for say just having it is 84. Did I

[1:25:55] » Yes. >> Okay. So, we have budgeted in that

[1:25:57] 84,000 which will continue to be the annual amount. Um, the three departments

[1:26:02] that will be affected by that change and increase um which are the administrator

[1:26:09] controllers's office, the treasur's office and equalization. Um, we have

[1:26:13] budgeted in in our forecasted budgets for 28 and 29 that 84,000.

[1:26:18] » So, >> all right.

[1:26:20] » That's a maintenance fee is >> that will be a maintenance fee moving

[1:26:23] forward. Correct. Mhm. >> We picked this one.

[1:26:26] » Mhm. >> We're going to need to put the 24890 out

[1:26:29] of this capital. We we we need to select that as one of the ones that we

[1:26:33] » That is what we were asking for. Yes. >> And then where does that other 84,000

[1:26:38] and the completion have to go? Are those built in?

[1:26:41] » So the 84,000 is the 84,000 is built into um the 84,000 is built into the

[1:26:48] 2028 and 2029 budget. So those will be ongoing budget increases.

[1:26:52] » Okay. Um >> the 54 for completion and training. Is

[1:26:56] that going to need to come out of this budget or this bucket?

[1:27:01] » The 54,000. >> The 54,000. So the 54,000 could come out

[1:27:05] of this bucket. It's not due until 2028. >> Okay.

[1:27:09] » To me, it is something that if there was money set aside

[1:27:14] still in capital projects, it could be revisited at that budget time when we

[1:27:19] are doing that budgeting. If it can't be included in that, um, then there might

[1:27:24] be another bucket that it would need to come for the 2027. The only payment in

[1:27:28] 2027 is the 84,000. Nope. The only payment for 2027. Well,

[1:27:34] actually, we don't have a 2027 payment. The 2028 payment is the 84,000 plus the

[1:27:40] 54150. >> Okay. And those are we're one could

[1:27:46] possibly come out of this and the rest is being budgeted and 2829. That's what

[1:27:50] I thought. Okay. Just >> because that has to be in the budget

[1:27:53] from here on out, >> right?

[1:27:54] » From 2028 moving forward. That has to be in the budget.

[1:28:00] » So, when I add up cheaper, >> yes, it is.

[1:28:04] » Sorry. >> He said his tractor's cheaper.

[1:28:08] » So, the server replacement, boiler upgrade, and building systems controls.

[1:28:12] Those three we've already agreed on. When you add those up, is that I think

[1:28:15] they're a little over 700,000.

[1:28:21] Then you add that to our remaining unallocated.

[1:28:26] Are those the two were still Did I do that right?

[1:28:33] » So if I Hold on, let me play around a little bit.

[1:28:39] » I'm just trying to get an idea of the 322 that's remaining. that 322 14805 is

[1:28:46] just the difference between our total funding pool and the total capital

[1:28:50] request request. So we've only asked um >> four and the 113.

[1:28:54] » Yes. >> Okay, I'm following you now. Got it.

[1:28:58] » If we did it all, that would be >> what would be left.

[1:29:01] » That would be what was left in that capital improvement.

[1:29:05] » Okay. >> Yeah. Because we put 200,000

[1:29:10] roughly. She has 50,000 for the child care and basically the rest of it got

[1:29:15] dumped into capital improvements for future.

[1:29:26] » I don't think there's one thing on this list that doesn't need to be done. I

[1:29:30] mean, they're all incredibly I didn't hear any arguments that I said when we

[1:29:36] were going through each of the budgets in the request where I went, you really

[1:29:40] don't need that. There was none of that. I mean, I think they're important. I

[1:29:43] think it's a matter of we really need to prioritize. Do we want to use it all now

[1:29:48] and be left with 322 and hopefully grow that or do we want to put some of these

[1:29:53] into the second year of using capital? Is that a fair statement?

[1:29:58] » Yes. And on the sidewalk replacement, did we

[1:30:04] I know we talked about that grant. Were we able to fill out that information?

[1:30:09] » Yep. So, for our current sidewalk replacement project, we did fill um we

[1:30:13] did fill out and submit the $5,000 grant for that.

[1:30:17] » Okay. Um, we are also working on um submitting a cyber grant for um our

[1:30:26] changes to potentially district court and or the server replacement project.

[1:30:35] » I one more clarity question so I make sure I keep all my notes in the same

[1:30:39] spot. So the server replacement right now is a 110, but I think the quote that

[1:30:45] we got from it was 113645. Do we?

[1:30:48] » Yes. Because I did not have extra. >> Yeah, we'll have I'll have to make that

[1:30:52] adjustment on the sheet. When I put that together, I didn't have that final quote

[1:30:55] from >> Okay. Yep.

[1:30:58] » Um >> I mean there's not a huge difference,

[1:31:00] but >> And I like to be accurate.

[1:31:03] » And this is for OGA. >> Not that for us.

[1:31:07] » This is for us. Ogma thing isn't in here.

[1:31:10] » 107. So the server is 10724518.

[1:31:16] » I like less. >> That's what we approved today, I think,

[1:31:19] wasn't it? >> Mhm.

[1:31:20] » Yeah. And then the aerial imagery that is for

[1:31:25] equalization and I believe Jamie is still working on a quote.

[1:31:30] » Okay. >> For that. And before we pull any

[1:31:33] triggers, we'll have to have a better understanding of because that's

[1:31:39] just that that would be a yearly type thing. So, how does that look with all

[1:31:43] of our townships and everything if we chose

[1:31:47] » what is the purpose of that? >> Mus here. So the I think the purpose

[1:31:53] goes back to when somebody is doing the assessing of properties and not being

[1:31:59] able to walk on people's property to do those assessments. This imagery gives

[1:32:04] them a better look the assessors a better look from the sky basically

[1:32:09] versus being able to walk >> on our site now when measure buildings

[1:32:13] » not to that degree. >> Not to that

[1:32:16] uh not according to Jamie. It might be helpful.

[1:32:21] » Yeah. To put her on a future works >> in what those two views look and the

[1:32:25] information that they're required to get versus what we see. I I wouldn't know.

[1:32:30] Oh, that looks fine to me, but it may not be giving them

[1:32:34] information that they need >> in order to do those assessments.

[1:32:37] » And once she got the final um estimates, she was willing to come

[1:32:43] back in front of the board to go over all of that. But that estimate isn't in.

[1:32:48] It may be more of a zoom in type thing. >> It's like one inch.

[1:32:53] » Okay. >> Versus six or whatever it is. Yeah.

[1:32:57] » Measure measure by feet right now. >> Right. I would agree that we can maybe

[1:33:01] keep an eye on that one until we get a a out of piece, but

[1:33:06] » keep it included in this for right now. >> Exactly.

[1:33:10] » Something we'll probably need. We just need to figure out if it's going to be

[1:33:12] this year or next year. or what can we do

[1:33:14] » or what exactly it looks like and how it's going to be funded in the future

[1:33:18] » allocation. We're not approving the expenditure yet. Is that correct?

[1:33:22] » That's correct. >> I I'll go on record that I'm okay with

[1:33:26] each of these proposed projects and when do we need to select which ones

[1:33:33] so that we're all >> actually today it's just an approval of

[1:33:36] the allocation going into the capital improvement, the child care and the HSA

[1:33:42] funding. So I would Yes. So um at the September meeting essentially it would

[1:33:46] be just breaking it down into those buckets that you would instruct that

[1:33:51] this amount gets transferred to the um capital project fund that there is x

[1:33:58] amount for set aside um for the childcare fund fund balance and x amount

[1:34:05] set aside for HSA funding. And then for sure in the next meeting we do need to

[1:34:13] discuss to have the BSNA initial brought back for a motion because that would

[1:34:18] have to be signed right away in order to get on their docket.

[1:34:32] I'm good with the information. I mean, the extra little detail that we're going

[1:34:36] to need and clean that up, you know, but I think

[1:34:39] » those are some of the key things, especially the three we've already

[1:34:42] approved and try to see if we can get as much of this in as we can. Whittling

[1:34:49] down too low on that that fund makes me a little nervous because there's always

[1:34:53] things that creep up that we do not >> roofs. Yeah.

[1:34:57] » Yeah. Could be anything >> stuff. So, I want to be a little, in my

[1:35:01] opinion, a little bit more conservative. I'm not dwindling that down, but I don't

[1:35:05] really understand if we took it down all the way left 322

[1:35:10] in there. >> Where will that gain us next year? Like,

[1:35:14] where could we be next year in a fund balance? And that might help me.

[1:35:19] » Okay. >> Kind of figure out, do I want to go down

[1:35:21] that low if I think we can recoup it in another year or if we can't? And I don't

[1:35:25] even know if that's doable. I think once we I think once we get to

[1:35:32] the point where our 27 28 and 29 budgets

[1:35:39] » are more established. Um that information of where we'd be looking at

[1:35:45] that potential for fund balance >> right

[1:35:48] » will be increased or flat >> will be

[1:35:52] » a lot more apparent. >> Okay,

[1:35:56] » that helps me. I just not ready to say yeah spend it all now. Sorry mad

[1:36:01] » gives money. >> Yes.

[1:36:05] » I think we also need to be careful of committing to annual payments type

[1:36:11] things >> line. I mean you're potentially looking

[1:36:15] at more than $70,000 annually. >> I mean there things we need to keep an

[1:36:21] eye out for. >> I would 100% agree, Commissioner Wilson.

[1:36:25] Um, to me, capital projects and capital these funds should be for onetime needs

[1:36:32] that we need to get done, not longevity costs because we won't be able to

[1:36:35] sustain that. >> I agree.

[1:36:41] » Yep.

[1:36:44] » Marcy's itching SNA. She's got >> Yeah. Um, I just want to address

[1:36:50] something that Kim had said regarding, you know, dwindling down the fund to too

[1:36:55] much. I just wanted to say, keep in mind I am still the interest that the

[1:37:01] delinquent tax revolving fund is earning in Michigan class that gets transferred

[1:37:06] every month into capital improvement. And right now that's running an average

[1:37:10] of about $20,000 a month you're seeing going back into capital improvement. So

[1:37:16] it's not just generating based on your fund balance overage. It is earning some

[1:37:23] money every month based on that movement. So keep that in mind. It's not

[1:37:28] fully depleting itself. It's going to be replenished um if the interest rates

[1:37:33] stay where they're at. Um >> class is pretty I mean that's pretty

[1:37:37] conservative like a 3.2 like they stay a pretty conservative. So it's not like

[1:37:42] » percentage right. Okay. >> Yep. and they're still at like 3.8%

[1:37:48] per month. So, um, we're still doing quite well with that interest, but I

[1:37:53] just wanted to address that to keep that in mind.

[1:37:55] » Super. Thank you. >> Thank you.

[1:37:58] » Thank you. >> Okay,

[1:38:01] » Jody, do you have what you need? >> I do. Yes.

[1:38:04] » Okay. >> Just wanted to make sure. Does anybody

[1:38:08] else have any questions? Okay. If no questions then this meeting

[1:38:14] is adjourned and our late level meeting will start at

[1:38:22] 11 11

[1:38:25] uh 11:20. Yeah. Commissioner's lake level control

[1:38:29] structure meeting for September 9th at 11:20 a.m. Please stand for the pledge.

[1:38:38] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:38:44] republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[1:38:50] justice for all.

[1:38:58] » Roll call, please. Mil

[1:39:01] » here. >> Mley,

[1:39:03] » here. >> Russo

[1:39:06] Spencer >> here. Wolson

[1:39:07] » here.

[1:39:11] » Approval of the agenda. >> Chair.

[1:39:14] » Second. >> Any discussion?

[1:39:19] » Roll call, please. >> Marley,

[1:39:21] » yes. >> Spencer,

[1:39:22] » yes. Milurn, >> yes.

[1:39:24] » Wolson, >> yes.

[1:39:25] » Motion carried. >> Public comment for agenda items only. Is

[1:39:29] there any public comment for agenda items?

[1:39:33] Amanda.

[1:39:43] » Nope. Need it green.

[1:39:47] » Can you hear me now, Darlene? >> I can hear you.

[1:39:50] » Okay, just checking. Uh, it's a We're still uh repairing our

[1:39:57] properties after the flood. uh where I had a strip of grass a full length by

[1:40:03] about 4 foot that got eroded away and uh I'm trying to grow grass there. I'm not

[1:40:10] not do I grown really nice weeds but of course uh they'll uh they'll help

[1:40:15] stabilize my my soil there next to the seaw wall, the flood wall.

[1:40:21] Uh finally took down my cement blocks and

[1:40:26] put them down on the lot. Uh FEMA did come out the other day about a week ago.

[1:40:33] Uh looked around. I gave them bills for my cement blocks that I fortified my

[1:40:40] flood wall with. Uh we had a row of dock sections. Then we had a a row of

[1:40:45] sandbags. I was able to turn my slips into uh for my sandbags that I had

[1:40:50] ordered. Bought uh two pumps uh sump pumps. My cousin John brought me up

[1:40:58] stuff he had. Now we bought more hoses uh you know to fight the flooding. Uh a

[1:41:04] very nice gentleman come out survey the property. I gave him a a ledger of what

[1:41:10] I'd spent and the slips and uh I see I have a check in the mail or a check in

[1:41:15] the account now uh cover the cost. Uh others in the neighborhood are trying to

[1:41:25] put their places back together. I'm still running a fan and fan in the crawl

[1:41:30] space on the family cabin. I got dry mish coming out uh next week. Uh no, I

[1:41:37] think no, excuse me. I got dry mish coming Thursday for a crawl space

[1:41:42] inspection. And uh uh I had some duck work that got soaked and I did pull some

[1:41:48] of that down, but I haven't pulled it out yet. Uh

[1:41:54] so I'm going to have them and uh see what they're built. Uh

[1:41:59] crawling around in my narrow crawl space that something when you get older you

[1:42:05] don't like doing. But I see uh you're still banking water. Uh,

[1:42:12] we do have a a legal lake level for H Hotton Lake. Uh, I know your operations

[1:42:19] manual has been uh dubbed as a comic book, but

[1:42:27] nothing's nothing's going on here is actually funny. Uh, nothing's happening

[1:42:31] here is funny. Uh, how do we

[1:42:38] how do we address the flooding in Oakton Lake? If if we cover up,

[1:42:44] excuse me, how can we uh how can we address the

[1:42:50] flooding in H Hotton Lake? If we cover up all the flooding we've had in the

[1:42:55] past, if we cover up the drownings that we've had at H Hotton Lake that may be

[1:43:01] attributed to this water banking or these winddriven tides, I think we live

[1:43:06] on the deadliest inland lake in Michigan.

[1:43:11] We got to address these issues. We got we got tons of science. We got 40 years

[1:43:16] of lake level data. You can pull up averages. Our average springtime is

[1:43:22] almost a foot high. Uh if you this winter, if you're saying we have average

[1:43:27] snowfall, average snow pack, I can guarantee you there'll be flooding in

[1:43:32] the spring. If we have above average, we're going to have

[1:43:37] worse flooding. Uh you're banking water. Now,

[1:43:44] you need to realize that if winters are normal, we're going to have flooding.

[1:43:50] Thank you. >> Thank you.

[1:43:57] » Public comment for agenda items. Come on up.

[1:44:05] » Dave Bisby, I'm going to kick off where Craig left off.

[1:44:10] FEMA was there. FEMA took a lot of applications for damage.

[1:44:15] I would like to know if there's a way we can get a total from them on the cost

[1:44:20] for damage replacement, which is only a small

[1:44:24] portion of it because any property that isn't a permanent residence

[1:44:29] doesn't qualify. So, we have all sorts of neighbors with property

[1:44:35] that was severely damaged. that's coming out of their pocket

[1:44:41] because most people didn't have flood insurance

[1:44:45] because it wasn't a requirement. And all of this came about because of

[1:44:50] misjudgment of actions

[1:44:55] and not following proper protocol with results to the manual. You can say you

[1:45:02] opened the gates in January, bless your soul,

[1:45:06] but you were above winter level before you got there and you were never down to

[1:45:11] winter level. So all you did was exaggerate the damage by your actions.

[1:45:18] Please consider following the proper guidelines.

[1:45:23] The manual mentions that it's an 88 datam and for

[1:45:29] some reason everyone wants to be a dinosaur and go back to 29 datam because

[1:45:33] it looks better and they can hide things.

[1:45:37] Time to stop hiding. Time to be open

[1:45:42] and realize exactly what's going on. I've got all sorts of things I have to

[1:45:46] do. I have to raise my generac now because of the issues we had this year.

[1:45:54] That's ridiculous. You know, I had flooding all the way

[1:45:59] into my backyard towards the road. This isn't normal. This is man-made,

[1:46:05] most of it. Yeah, we did have a lot of snow. We had rain. We had winds, but we

[1:46:12] started out with almost a foot above where we should have been.

[1:46:16] And that foot is what caused most of the damage.

[1:46:20] So, please use your heads on this manual and this dam.

[1:46:26] And if you try to cut it off before you get to winter level, you're going to

[1:46:31] have ice ups in that channel because low trickle allows the ice to build up. So,

[1:46:36] don't let that happen before you're down to winter level just to save the

[1:46:40] process. Smart thing to do. I hope that you take

[1:46:44] my advice because man, there was a lot of people really

[1:46:50] received a lot of damage and they're not going to recover it.

[1:46:55] I have uh a little bit of time. I'd like to address a couple other things.

[1:47:02] Maybe they're not agenda items. I was exposed to a rabid bat.

[1:47:08] My whole family and the whole house had to get rabies shots.

[1:47:12] series of seven or four shots spaced out in days. You know, there's

[1:47:18] not one place in Roscommer County where you can get those bad infusions.

[1:47:23] Not one. I had to travel to Clare. I had to go to West Branch

[1:47:28] Clair and then West Branch. Our health and human services didn't even contact

[1:47:34] me even though they were notified because my son took the bat to Grand

[1:47:38] Rapids back with them and had the K County Health Department test it and

[1:47:43] they notified our people at Ross Common, but they never contacted me

[1:47:49] and told me I needed to get the shots. My son did.

[1:47:54] That's missing the target big time and getting back to my generator. The

[1:48:00] reason I have the generator is guess what? Roscom County's 83rd out of 83

[1:48:08] counties in reliable electricity. 83rd

[1:48:15] doesn't reflect well on the focus of business that this group is

[1:48:21] doing. Wasting too much time chasing their tails on the water issues

[1:48:27] that they didn't need to create.

[1:48:32] Thank you.

[1:48:36] Any other public comment for agenda items?

[1:48:44] Holton Lake the delegated authority update.

[1:48:51] Um over the weekend, as you know, we've had

[1:48:56] actually for a few weeks now, we've had that one gate open 25%.

[1:49:01] Our um after Labor Day, the target level is the

[1:49:06] legal um court-ordered summer level of the 1138.1.

[1:49:11] So, we will be drawing down to that. Um maintenance has been instructed to open.

[1:49:20] um the additional gate 100%. So, they were going to be out there later today

[1:49:25] working on that and getting that opened. Um

[1:49:35] let's see. In the last meeting, um we had a

[1:49:42] gentleman that had stated he had asked me a question and he was still waiting

[1:49:46] for a response. Um, and I had let everybody know that I

[1:49:51] was still waiting for a response from our engineers.

[1:49:55] So, the question was, have you asked the engineers to study or provide

[1:50:00] reassurances that widening the structure toward our homes is not going to eat

[1:50:06] away the front yards? There are eight waterfront lots on Fred Crooks and none

[1:50:12] on the culdesac side. If you do not intend to allow the public on the

[1:50:17] structure, why not eliminate the culde-sac parking on that side as it

[1:50:22] would no longer be needed and no risk of ruining people's property?

[1:50:27] When Rex was out to speak with the neighbor, he said, "You intended to come

[1:50:31] approximately 40 ft in this direction. If the opposing bank was to recede the

[1:50:36] same 40t, we could quite literally fish out our front door."

[1:50:41] So I sent that exact quote over to Prine and Newuhof and the first response I got

[1:50:49] is we are working we are working on a response for you. Their comments are not

[1:50:54] unreasonable. Anytime we open up a structure we have the potential for

[1:51:00] increasing the downstream flows. Eagle permits projects that open up bridges

[1:51:04] and outlet structures all the time. Even though it could increase the downstream

[1:51:08] velocities and sheer stresses for a given condition. In this case, a lot of

[1:51:14] other cases the difference in sheer stress and velocity for the different

[1:51:18] locations of the proposed structure are basically negligible. Moving the opening

[1:51:23] to the west could be better, but again the difference is negligible. Showing

[1:51:27] this is not always easy, but we will work on it.

[1:51:31] So, I did email um the findings to you guys and it said, "We're working to

[1:51:38] provide something that we can share with the residents. It is a good observation

[1:51:42] that the potential expansion of the dam gates to the east could create an

[1:51:47] increase in velocities and sheer stress on the shoreline. Anytime a structure is

[1:51:51] enlarged, we have the potential for increasing the downstream flow impacts.

[1:51:57] For this case, however, the downstream impacts on the shoreline is negligible.

[1:52:02] We have performed a 2D hydraulic modeling using HC-RA

[1:52:08] software for the proposed outlet gates open and worstcase 100-year event. This

[1:52:15] an this analysis simulates the water movement in detail showing the velocity

[1:52:21] vectors throughout the stream width. Specifically to address the concerns, we

[1:52:27] have prepared some figures showing profiles of the maximum velocities and

[1:52:31] sheer stresses along the right bank at both the top and bottom of the bank. Re

[1:52:37] results show that the difference is basically negligible. In addition, the

[1:52:42] magnitude of the shear stresses on the shoreline is not as severe as in the

[1:52:47] center of the channel and is not especially high due to the geometry of

[1:52:52] the Moskegan River both upstream and downstream of the outlet structure.

[1:52:57] Patched graphs show the velocities and sheer stresses are similar. The maximum

[1:53:02] velocity during a 100red-year event is8 FPS along the north and east shoreline

[1:53:09] and the maximum shear stress is 03 pounds per square foot. Please reach out

[1:53:15] with any questions. So you guys all receive those maps. I

[1:53:22] will make sure to get this information over to the gentleman who had initially

[1:53:28] asked the question and then if there's any questions we can reach back out to

[1:53:33] the engineers unless unless you guys have any initial

[1:53:39] questions.

[1:53:44] Okay. No, I think the river controls

[1:53:50] » um

[1:53:55] I also had reached out

[1:54:01] to the DNR um regarding the flats project. They call it the flats wildlife

[1:54:08] flooding control structure and pump facility improvements. This is not the

[1:54:14] same as our structure. This is the one right off of old 27. Um

[1:54:22] the progress of work. Um this was back at September.

[1:54:30] Oh, let's go back here. First one was back in August where the

[1:54:37] greenscape remobilization um was there Monday, July 20th to start

[1:54:43] construction on the south dyke. Silt fence will continue to be installed and

[1:54:48] anticipated to be completed that week. Sheep piling is being delivered to the

[1:54:53] site and anticipated to continue until the end of the week. Installation of the

[1:54:58] coffer dam is anticipated to start mid to end of the week of next week and take

[1:55:03] approximately two weeks. Wade trim has verified the benchmark for the south

[1:55:08] dyke. The beaver debris and the existing

[1:55:12] culvert below Westshore Drive has been removed by the Ross Common County Road

[1:55:16] Commission. All stop logs have been removed at the control structure. The

[1:55:22] water elevation in the flats has receded approximately 15 in.

[1:55:27] Um field rep will be on site next week and may have drone pictures that could

[1:55:31] be shared for MDNR social media outlets. Um the turnaround on the south dyke is a

[1:55:38] 12t wide and 16 foot long in addition to the top of the dyke.

[1:55:45] Um I received another update yesterday. Um

[1:55:51] clay material is being placed on the south deck approximately 2 to four weeks

[1:55:55] to be installed.

[1:55:59] Well to be installed next week and is anticipated to take 3 days. The X lift

[1:56:05] station has been removed. Remove existing control structure this week.

[1:56:09] Start installing the silt fence on Z dyke next week. salvage memorial rock to

[1:56:16] be reset following construction. A long reach ex excavator is anticipated to be

[1:56:22] on site to dredge out the canal between Holton Lake and Old 127. The dredging of

[1:56:28] the channel leading to the mouth of H Hotton Lake started today. This activity

[1:56:32] was permitted by Eagle as part of a larger project in the Roscommen County

[1:56:36] Road Commission. We are also partnering with the road commission to replace a

[1:56:41] culvert on Westshore Drive. they are providing the covert and we are doing

[1:56:46] the work. So that was the update on the flats

[1:56:52] and that is all I have for Holton Lake >> Lake St. Helen.

[1:56:57] » Madam Chair, >> yes

[1:56:59] » for commissioner's information, the object of the culvert change and

[1:57:05] clearing out the channel and digging it deeper is they're putting in pumps that

[1:57:10] have higher velocity. So, it's going to make water get to

[1:57:16] their pumps faster if when they want to fill it, but it also when they want to

[1:57:20] pull boards and empty it, it happens faster. So, the exchange between H

[1:57:25] Hotton Lake and the Flats will be in a faster

[1:57:30] mode once they're done. >> And we, so you know,

[1:57:33] » and we have no control over that. That is something that they control 100%.

[1:57:45] Um, Lake St. Helen, Commissioner Wilson. Uh, most of the

[1:57:51] boards are out at Lake St. Helen. Um, even though we haven't had a lot of

[1:57:56] rain. It's a little stubborn and going down. We're working on that and it's

[1:58:02] it's m finally making headway. Um, I sent an email out to Luke O'Brien from

[1:58:07] Spicers for an update on the structure. Haven't heard anything from him. So,

[1:58:15] that's all I have on St. Helen. >> Okay. Um, one quick thing to go back on

[1:58:21] H Hotton Lake. I was informed yesterday that the permitting process for the new

[1:58:26] structure, the initial part of just submitting for the permit um

[1:58:34] was initiated. So that process will take a little while.

[1:58:40] Um I have asked Prime and New Hoff um if they still anticipate the construction

[1:58:45] to take place next year. I have not heard back on that yet. When I do, I

[1:58:49] will make sure to let everybody know.

[1:58:54] Um, Higgins Lake. Um, the maintenance department went

[1:58:59] last week to fully open up gate one yesterday. They opened up gate two and

[1:59:06] of course the unrestricted spillway is open. We will continue to open up the

[1:59:10] spillways gradually until we ret until we achieve the legal summer level. Draw

[1:59:15] down for the winter level begins November 1st.

[1:59:19] I don't have anything other than that unless you do.

[1:59:23] » Not on Higgins. >> Okay.

[1:59:26] Any questions or comments for Higgins?

[1:59:31] Okay. Unfinished business. Lake operator discussion.

[1:59:42] Um I know that Commissioner Wilson took um the applicant, Mr. keys around each

[1:59:47] of the structured um when the job was offered

[1:59:52] um and that offer was 11,7

[1:59:58] » 117 >> okay for for the year after looking at

[2:00:03] the structure he was concerned especially about Holton Lake and I know

[2:00:07] that he came back with a counter offer I believe it was 155 was that correct

[2:00:12] » 155 and he wanted to be able to revisit it in two months

[2:00:17] Okay. So after hearing that um discussion that

[2:00:24] got me to where I requested the logs that are prior delegated authority Chase

[2:00:30] Shepkey and Lake operator that he turned into um those logs.

[2:00:36] I did email all of you that same information

[2:00:42] and kind of broke things down as far as

[2:00:49] what that looks like monetarywise.

[2:00:56] Um, I gave you a copy of the job description that the individual would

[2:01:01] be. I gave a copy of the 2026 wage and salary committee um report and the 2026

[2:01:09] wage scale. Um

[2:01:15] when I look at what was reported for 2025 2026

[2:01:23] and then I estimated out tried to a little bit. Um

[2:01:30] it looks roughly if he was to take over all three structures

[2:01:34] that he would only have about 13.4 four hours a month between depending and

[2:01:42] that's you know a lot has to depend upon how how often you're going out there and

[2:01:46] everything but I'm doing this on a monthly yearly type thing. Um

[2:01:52] at 155 at 125 hours per year is $125 an hour at 155 at 160 hours per year

[2:02:01] would be 96.88. um wage and salary reported that they

[2:02:08] should be making between $19.21 an hour up to 2250 per hour.

[2:02:15] Um the other

[2:02:19] I guess thing that I started kind of questioning was that I know Mr. Keys,

[2:02:26] according to Commissioner Wolson, was a little offset about H Hotton Lake

[2:02:30] because of the size of the boards that have to come in and out. That is not a

[2:02:36] oneperson job. According to maintenance and after talking with Chase as well,

[2:02:42] that is, if you're lucky, a twoperson job, but more like a three to four

[2:02:47] person job on home link due just to the Sears size. So then that

[2:02:54] gets the question of if Mr. Keys has to have somebody go help him, where does

[2:03:01] that liability fall if one of those guys get hurt?

[2:03:07] They're not a county employee. Mr. Keys is would be, but those others helping

[2:03:12] him would not be.

[2:03:17] So

[2:03:20] thoughts

[2:03:23] The biggest problem on Holton Lake is the system.

[2:03:31] » Our maintenance can continue to help. I did speak um with our controller and

[2:03:38] with Justin personally and I told him that this was not something that I was

[2:03:43] telling him he had to do. This was a question of whether

[2:03:47] they would be willing to do and they would be willing um to continue on if

[2:03:56] that is something that the board would like. They will keep track of hours.

[2:04:01] They will keep track of who goes to what structures and it would kind of continue

[2:04:05] as is from my understanding. If that's

[2:04:11] No, they would be they would be compensated.

[2:04:18] » Yes. >> They would b they're agreeing to take on

[2:04:23] the additional responsibilities within the the building and grounds department.

[2:04:30] » Yes, >> madam chair.

[2:04:31] » Yes.

[2:04:35] I'd like to more information how you would structure that because I wouldn't

[2:04:40] want to short our maintenance guys from doing their normal duties. Would this be

[2:04:45] like overtime type job? How would this work?

[2:04:51] » So that actually um when we did have the meeting with our director um in that

[2:04:56] conversation our our first question was really is this something that you even

[2:05:00] think that you could manage? Um, and if the answer was yes, then it would come

[2:05:05] to the board to kind of make that determination with the director on the

[2:05:09] best way to structure that because you will need to have you're going to have

[2:05:13] to have an organized method of contacting out to request those opening

[2:05:18] closings so that it can be planned into the day. Um

[2:05:24] obviously they're already on a weekly basis they already have somebody that

[2:05:28] site checks just for basic routine maintenance of county property. Um but

[2:05:32] there would have to be an organized approach to doing that. We do have 2.5

[2:05:36] people um during the day in our maintenance. So it would need to be um

[2:05:41] something that um two people

[2:05:45] or definitely H Hotton Lake possibly St. Allen would have to be able to leave the

[2:05:50] building and go for um they'd have to plan around it. Ideally, it would not be

[2:05:56] overtime. Um but there would be no guarantee on that depending on if there

[2:06:00] was an e situation or other projects going on.

[2:06:04] » Well, then that brings the question, are our employees willing to work overtime

[2:06:09] if needed?

[2:06:12] I >> guess we need a maintenance director to

[2:06:15] chime in a little bit. Not to put you on the spot, Justin, but

[2:06:23] » in other words, tell us how this would work for your department.

[2:06:28] » Well, the biggest thing is the coordination and all of it. Um, like we

[2:06:32] brought up in the meeting, we are out at the dams at least once a week to do our

[2:06:36] general inspections to take care of the grounds and um, so we're trying to work

[2:06:42] it in as far as when the measurements are done. And I don't we don't go out on

[2:06:48] our normal like every week it usually like a Tuesday we'd go out and do our

[2:06:54] our structure maintenance. Now I'm just waiting to hear from the commissioners

[2:06:59] is too far there's an adjustment needed. So I mean it could be on a Monday, it

[2:07:04] could be on a Friday. So if it's just one adjustment a week, it falls right

[2:07:09] into our plan. However, if there's other instances like yesterday, uh we had to

[2:07:15] go to the Higgins Lake Dam and the St. Helen Dam and the Holton Lake Dam. We

[2:07:20] were unable to fit the Holton Lake one into our schedule because that one takes

[2:07:25] not only the manpower but added time that didn't fall into what we already

[2:07:29] had going on in the maintenance program. As far as the wages are concerned, I

[2:07:34] know we had briefly talked about it. Um, so I guess there's need to be further

[2:07:39] discussion as far as that. Um, and as far as the overtime,

[2:07:44] it would be I guess obviously anything above and beyond. If

[2:07:50] it was an emergency call that we have to, you know, leave after hours, then

[2:07:57] that's what it's got to have to be. I think our maintenance proh program is

[2:08:01] pretty flexible in the fact that we're on call all the time anyway. So, we

[2:08:05] never know if we're going to get called into this structure or elsewhere. So,

[2:08:09] it's just another added thing to be on call for

[2:08:17] » questions.

[2:08:21] » Correct. >> You know, and it's one of those things

[2:08:24] like today I'm already short-handed. We have one guy out.

[2:08:29] » Um, typically we have three guys on all the time, two part-time guys, two

[2:08:33] full-time guys, you know. So, the part-time guys split their weeks. Um, so

[2:08:38] usually I have three people in the building all the time. Today we're down

[2:08:40] to two and you know, it might be one of those

[2:08:44] things where we might have to in the busy times put three full-time people on

[2:08:49] and then leave one part-time in limbo. Um, there has been times where we have

[2:08:54] gone out and then we get calls here. And so, if we could have the flexibility of

[2:08:59] leaving one behind, that's ideal. Um but like um Chairperson Sensor said,

[2:09:07] Holton Lake is the most extensive as far as making any adjustments to

[2:09:15] » Madame Chair. >> Yes.

[2:09:19] Perhaps we need to put something in place that's permanent,

[2:09:25] not just a temporary fix to our problem of operating the

[2:09:30] structures and doing it through the maintenance

[2:09:34] department may be the answer to making it a permanent thing. Be it more

[2:09:39] personnel or whatever. Um, it's only my suggestion

[2:09:45] » and I know we talked to about once the structures like Lake St. Helen gets

[2:09:51] under way and what that looks like, you know, for your final structure. H Hotton

[2:09:57] Lakes will become a whole lot easier. >> Lot easier.

[2:09:59] » Whole lot easier. >> But it's still going to require, you

[2:10:02] know, x number of hours to get there. >> Correct.

[2:10:04] » And it may be a oneperson job at that time. But if we set up something through

[2:10:10] the maintenance department, as long as the head of maintenance is willing to do

[2:10:14] so, um, we have a permanent solution in place.

[2:10:21] » And I believe that's how it used to be done. Correct, Jody?

[2:10:25] » Yes, that is. >> I mean,

[2:10:26] » that is exactly how it used to be done. >> We can we can put together how we're

[2:10:29] going to call when somebody goes out. I mean, we've already been Darlene and

[2:10:34] I've been talking in the future it would be look at the daily average the day

[2:10:38] before before we respond that type of thing. And um in most cases one day or

[2:10:45] so is not going to make a difference but I think if we could set something up

[2:10:51] through the maintenance um and of course I think their time is all billable. Is

[2:10:56] that not correct? Mhm. >> Um,

[2:11:01] that's really the answer because we've been dealing this

[2:11:06] back and forth for three years now.

[2:11:11] » And since we can't come to an agreement of, you know, hiring somebody at a set

[2:11:16] rate and perhaps this is the answer.

[2:11:22] That's

[2:11:29] I'm not getting a nod from our maintenance director yet.

[2:11:34] » It's an apprehensive nod. >> That's kind of where I was going to go

[2:11:38] too. I, you know, as I look through all the data that you

[2:11:42] put together, the option of going where we were going does not make sense.

[2:11:48] Especially when it is a maintenance type of role. they're not some high-end

[2:11:53] engineer that we've got to pay to to do X, Y, and Z. That just did not make

[2:11:57] sense to me. So, that secured that decision when I had first heard it. Um,

[2:12:03] I applaud that you would think about your department to help us get through

[2:12:06] this. Um, willing is one thing, capable is

[2:12:11] another, and I understand that staffing can be an issue. Mhm.

[2:12:15] » Um, do you feel if there was a process and a to follow that made it

[2:12:24] easier for your team? Do you currently have the team today that you think that

[2:12:29] can be manageable or does that make you nervous?

[2:12:32] » I know that's putting you on the spot, but I mean,

[2:12:34] » no, I mean I I believe we have the capabilities to do it.

[2:12:38] » Okay. Okay. >> The maintenance of it and the operation

[2:12:42] of how the gates work, we have the manpower to do it.

[2:12:45] » Okay. >> It's just we're leaving the maintenance

[2:12:49] department unstaffed for a certain amount of time that we have to go make

[2:12:53] the adjustments. So, you know, my only concern is if we're, you know, we have a

[2:12:58] gate that is stuck at the lake dam because of the way it's engineered, it's

[2:13:02] going to take us time. So, if I'm at Don't Lake Structure for two or three

[2:13:06] hours and then I have a rooftop unit go down here,

[2:13:09] » what perimeter? You know, where do I do I

[2:13:14] leave the gate? >> You know, we already know we have angry

[2:13:18] homeowners behind us. >> So, there's got to be a priority list of

[2:13:23] where maintenance, you know, lies. >> You feel that's doable?

[2:13:28] It is. But I also think in the busy times, we're going to have to talk about

[2:13:32] the manpower as far as possibly leaving a maintenance person here.

[2:13:38] » Going to have to have some flexibility also,

[2:13:40] » you know, because it's not just this building. We have the animal shelter. We

[2:13:43] have the annex building. We have um the airport, too.

[2:13:48] » We're working on that annex building. >> Yes. But we still have EOC.

[2:13:52] We have a room there. >> So, I mean, it's not just this building.

[2:13:56] And with this building, it's it's enough, you know, to keep two and a half

[2:14:00] guys busy all week long. Um, and we do have aging equipment, so it's always a

[2:14:06] concern even when we go home at night, >> right? So, it's going to have to be, you

[2:14:12] know, some fine talks of how we prioritize and and manpower for sure,

[2:14:18] » and how we fund that. I mean, when I looked at what this person countered,

[2:14:22] I'm okay to go and do what we tell you to do

[2:14:27] and to just log. It just does not seem from an accountability perspective.

[2:14:36] That's not even what commissioners do. Not that we do this for that, but

[2:14:39] there's a the accountability and the responsibility was far less for that

[2:14:44] wage personally. Not that the person couldn't do the job. I'm sure it was

[2:14:48] great, but that concerned me. >> And if we do, if we can come up with a

[2:14:53] solution that allows us to help your team and not burn them out, not cause

[2:14:58] problems because you can't be here to fix something else. I would I think

[2:15:02] that's a a good thing. >> Well, I think the only way it's going to

[2:15:04] work is if it makes sense for both sides.

[2:15:07] » Agreed. >> Both sides have had, you know, got to

[2:15:10] come to an agreement. It's got to make sense for

[2:15:12] » and if it doesn't everybody involved >> you know that we need to come up with

[2:15:15] another option but if if we can figure this out

[2:15:20] » to say yes it's doable or you go okay we tried it's not going to work go to plan

[2:15:25] B then we can reconvene we've done what we can do for a while as

[2:15:30] is unfortunately is a lot more work on the two of you I do know that so

[2:15:35] it making a decision and changing it right

[2:15:39] the second just to fill a gap and not be the right decision to me. I'd rather

[2:15:43] wait, figure it out. It's me and see if it works for you guys. And if it

[2:15:47] doesn't, then >> I mean, for the for the immediate time

[2:15:51] right now, we're we're going to do it. But if you know, moving forward,

[2:15:55] » it becomes >> got to be some clear line set.

[2:15:59] » Agreed, >> Madam Chair.

[2:16:00] » Yes. >> One consideration we need to take into

[2:16:03] account, was that in his job description?

[2:16:07] » It was not. So we definitely need his blessing to do it.

[2:16:12] » Yes. >> Yes.

[2:16:13] » Um the other thing just just two thought processes that kind of have come through

[2:16:18] my head. The first one is do you have any of the evening part-time janitorial

[2:16:25] staff that might be able to be flexible for maintenance hours if needed for

[2:16:29] coverage like during the summer because I know it's going to be the summer when

[2:16:32] it gets gets busy. There's one that could possibly

[2:16:38] » Okay. And then um this is kind of more for the for the board. So we have worked

[2:16:43] into the um budget for 2027 for maintenance to actually have like

[2:16:50] maintenance polo shirts, t-shirts to have some more uniform. Um, and

[2:16:54] honestly, this is a direct result of the uh friendly people that come out to see

[2:16:59] them when they are out there adjusting things at all three lake level control

[2:17:02] structures. Um, and just making sure that the vehicles are clearly marked

[2:17:06] would be something we'd have to >> We going to get them wet suits, too.

[2:17:10] » Yeah. Um, waiters. >> Waiters.

[2:17:13] » Might I suggest that I and Justin and Jod see what we can put together on

[2:17:18] this? I would like to be there as well.

[2:17:25] » Say our chair put all that detail together. I think the two of you kind of

[2:17:29] our late level committee working that out and presenting it back like is this

[2:17:33] doable and and

[2:17:38] I appreciate that you would be honest. >> Don't just say yes to try to be the good

[2:17:43] employee. You've got >> No, there's a lot that goes into that.

[2:17:46] I've already voiced I've already >> think that about you but I just want to

[2:17:49] make that on because that's easy to go man we'll try to do it we'll try to do

[2:17:52] it because >> work we need to be honest with each

[2:17:55] other and we need to come up with something different but I think

[2:17:58] exploring this I would support you guys working on an option and if it works

[2:18:03] then >> for a while

[2:18:05] » one of the other things that we talked about was the boards on H Hotton Lake

[2:18:10] are huge they are heavy and they fit very very tightly and the winch is

[2:18:16] broken. >> So that being said, if the structure

[2:18:22] isn't going to be slated for next year, those boards may be

[2:18:29] recreated to where it's easier for the maintenance

[2:18:35] department if they're still doing it, able to do it without

[2:18:43] having to use every in the arsenal to get them in and out.

[2:18:55] » Mhm. Well, it's it's only got to be fair for both sides.

[2:18:59] » Absolutely. >> I mean, because essentially we're still

[2:19:02] part of the county, but this is just adding more. Y

[2:19:09] » and maybe his employees aren't keen to this. I don't know.

[2:19:16] How do your employees feel about it? Do you know?

[2:19:18] » They're apprehensive about it. >> So, I'll just say for I mean I think

[2:19:23] we're at a point where we're okay with the two of you working with Jod and with

[2:19:28] Justin to say let's get more detail, figure it out. There is some

[2:19:32] apprehension. How do we work through that?

[2:19:35] » Just present it back. I mean, I don't think we can answer anymore until you

[2:19:38] guys sit down and >> have that conversation.

[2:19:41] » Correct. I'm good with that.

[2:19:44] » Okay. >> Thank you.

[2:19:46] » Thank you.

[2:19:50] » Okay. Um, new business sad lawsuits updates by

[2:19:57] our administrator controller. So, um, the board had just asked that

[2:20:03] for the handful of, um, ongoing lawsuits that the county has facing it in regards

[2:20:13] to lakes that I just give a a brief update to you of, you know, kind of just

[2:20:18] a back history. Um so I will start with

[2:20:24] um let's start with the lake level of H Hotton Lake because that's the only lake

[2:20:28] level of Holton Lake one that exists currently. Um we had this is actually a

[2:20:34] appeal um that was issued it's pending in the court of appeals in regards to

[2:20:39] the operations manual. Um, and that was filed on behalf of um, Bumgartner at all

[2:20:47] with a with a few others. Um, and I will add that all of these lawsuits have the

[2:20:53] same attorney, Phil Ellison, so I won't have to regurgitate who the who the

[2:20:58] representing attorney is. Um, but this is essentially pending the court of

[2:21:02] appeals opinion. They placed this in in 2025 after the operations to manual was

[2:21:08] approved by the circuit court. So that's appealing that based um on the thought

[2:21:13] process that this is actually a change in the a way to circumvent the change in

[2:21:16] the legal level. Um and we have no no action currently on the court of

[2:21:21] appeals. Um they just kind of hang out there until the court of appeals decides

[2:21:24] to put it on the docket. So we all just wait and watch this as we go. Um

[2:21:29] additionally we have um three suits still pending in regards to Higgins

[2:21:35] Lake. Um the first is Demer versus Ross Common County. That was filed in um

[2:21:41] September of 2025 and then in January filed with the Court

[2:21:46] of Appeals. Um this was actually originally filed after the creation of

[2:21:49] the Special Assessment District to actually appeal the creation of the

[2:21:54] district itself. Um again, this one's also pending in the Court of Appeals. We

[2:22:00] have um two more additional ones. Um, one is the HOPA at all versus Ross

[2:22:07] Common County. Um, again, this was actually a suit filed on the creation of

[2:22:11] the special assessment district. And kind of two of these kind of go

[2:22:16] together, I guess is the best way to say it. Um, this was also involves now the

[2:22:22] county's assessments for Higgins Lake. Um, it did go to the court of appeals.

[2:22:26] The court of appeals essentially said um initially on the creation of the special

[2:22:31] assessment district, wait until they actually file an charge you an

[2:22:36] assessment fee. Um and the Supreme Court had been asked to reveal that. Um now we

[2:22:43] go back to um the court of appeals again as far as okay now there's been an

[2:22:49] assessment filed um but this is again still sitting in both the Supreme Court

[2:22:55] for the one and the court of appeals for the other. Um so again hanging out

[2:22:59] waiting on our court systems for clear answers on that. The final one um we

[2:23:04] actually have oral arguments on for October 15th. This is actually the

[2:23:08] Higgins Lake property owners um appeal of the actual assessment in our local

[2:23:13] circuit court. Um so Garish Township also will be appealing, but um we had

[2:23:21] agreed that Garish Township um could basically pend their filing until the

[2:23:28] decision on the HOPA1 comes into bound. Um, so depending on how this ruling goes

[2:23:34] in circuit court will depend on where Garish moves forward with theirs as

[2:23:37] well. So those are the four that we have.

[2:23:42] » Any questions? >> Madam Chair, just a quick one between

[2:23:45] those two the both the HOPA's they're both about the creation of it or is one

[2:23:51] the the amounts that were assessed because they're two different things,

[2:23:55] right? >> Yes. So, the one that is going to be

[2:23:59] October 15th in our circuit court is specific to the amounts, but the

[2:24:06] original the original suit in regards to the creation of a special assessment.

[2:24:11] When it went to the court of appeals, the court of appeals basically said,

[2:24:16] "You filed too early." Um, come back. >> They filed too early.

[2:24:22] » Yes. You filed too early. They haven't charged you anything. So there's nothing

[2:24:25] here for you to to appeal to. Um so obviously there's kind of a dual track

[2:24:30] now that's going. Obviously they have to start in circuit court because that's

[2:24:33] the answer. Um but it will pend into depending on that outcome could pend

[2:24:38] into court of appeals. Um, additionally with that one, there was a request um by

[2:24:44] Ellison to the Supreme Court that they look at how the Court of Appeals handled

[2:24:53] that ruling as well. And so that's also still out there in the wind.

[2:25:02] Helpful. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any qu other questions for

[2:25:06] Jody on those

[2:25:13] motions and resolutions? We have none. So, we are back to public comment.

[2:25:24] Come on up.

[2:25:34] Uh Craig Cartman, Holton Lake, my neighbor, Mr. Bisby, uh was talking

[2:25:41] about our infrastructure uh for H Hotton Lake. Uh

[2:25:48] I've been there a long time. I grew up on the lake. Uh

[2:25:54] there's consequences to these decisions we make. Uh

[2:25:58] we have a future out here. Uh we need to base the future on the data.

[2:26:05] We have potent one of the most studied lakes

[2:26:10] perhaps in the world. We got mounds of data. We have mounds of lake level data.

[2:26:16] Uh 40 years of uh uh dam operations and guidelines from USGS.

[2:26:25] We have a 100red-year flood elevation for H Hotton Lake. Uh

[2:26:31] uh we have previous reports from engineers,

[2:26:36] all of which seem to say uh make sure you manage the lake uh aggressively with

[2:26:42] with the with the levels we have, which means don't bank water. President

[2:26:48] Newuhof come up with the operations manual that banks water.

[2:26:53] Uh I don't know how we plan a future when

[2:26:59] we don't when we can't manage the water levels.

[2:27:04] Uh this is a eat fish eat fish. I grabbed

[2:27:09] it. It was down the hallway here. Uh our lakes are everything.

[2:27:15] Fish in H Hotton Lake. One report says uh 11 metals, seven pesticides, and

[2:27:21] three organics. Uh lots of toxins in our lake. Uh again,

[2:27:27] lots of data. Lakes heavily polluted. We have an improvement board public act. I

[2:27:34] think that one's 309. Did I get it right? 30. I always get them mixed up.

[2:27:39] 309. Uh the duties of a of a lake board, a Holton Lake improvement board. Uh

[2:27:46] number one is flooding. Number two is pollution. Uh we

[2:27:52] They don't address the flooding and pollution. You raise a lake level, you

[2:27:57] didn't address the flooding or the pollution. Our shorelines are

[2:28:01] surrounded. Our whole shoreline now is a is a flood wall. Uh shorelines clean our

[2:28:07] lakes. They clean the debris. I got stones in front of my house, so I

[2:28:12] get to clean the debris up. Last year I had 10 truckloads of debris or weed

[2:28:18] fragments and uh uh of course styrofoam and everything else that the people

[2:28:24] throw in the lake, beer cans. But for most of the flood walls, uh everybody

[2:28:29] just sheds their stuff on those that have a shoreline.

[2:28:35] I don't know if we can have a future at H Hotton Lake if you don't address the

[2:28:39] flooding in a responsible manner. I don't know if we have a future at H

[2:28:44] Hotton Lake if you can't address the pollution in our lake in a responsible

[2:28:50] manner. Uh Hotton Lake improvement board this past year I believe there were over

[2:28:56] a million dollars in pesticides uh to kill plants to kill animals. Uh uh some

[2:29:05] of these pesticides uh uh they're dangerous. Uh they're dangerous

[2:29:14] if you have a drop. They're dangerous if you have a million dollars worth. You

[2:29:19] put them out in the middle of the lake and with the wind driven tides, these

[2:29:23] plumes of pesticides, these plumes of lake treatments, uh, I know they end up

[2:29:30] in front of my house cuz it kills the weeds in by the end of my dock.

[2:29:38] We need to have a different future for H Hotton Lake openness. Tell us what

[2:29:43] you're doing, what chemicals you're doing. Uh,

[2:29:48] I just don't see where we're going anywhere. Thank you.

[2:29:53] » Thank you. Come on up, Dave.

[2:30:00] » I have some questions uh with respect to the

[2:30:05] operations manual. I believe the manual was mandated we use 88 datam

[2:30:12] not the dinosaur 29 but all the information that's posted

[2:30:17] on your website for the lake levels in 29 data that's against that's a

[2:30:22] violation of the court order on the operations man that's wrong we shouldn't

[2:30:28] go back and be dinosaurs we should be doing what is

[2:30:33] now the proper response and level and utilization of information we have.

[2:30:41] Another thing I'm gravely concerned about is

[2:30:45] all the studies and stuff that were done by primuhoff

[2:30:51] on the control structure said that as you multiply the number of

[2:30:57] gates each gate reduces the volume that it sends through it.

[2:31:04] Now, we're going to try to add two more gates,

[2:31:08] which is the way it's been presented and going,

[2:31:13] and we're not going to gain anything because downstream you can't move that

[2:31:17] water. So, the extra property issue and all

[2:31:23] that should be null and void. There's no reason for that. We have the scientific

[2:31:28] data. Brian New actually presented it. So, we really should use our heads a

[2:31:34] little bit more and do basically what the design of that manual was to

[2:31:41] perceive what the increase of material and water

[2:31:47] coming to the lake is going to be and be proactive because I think every one of

[2:31:53] you is aware you can do one inch a week

[2:31:59] that's all you can control and that doesn't get it when you have

[2:32:05] spring floods, fall floods, 3 in of rain. You get three inches of rain, you

[2:32:11] raise that lake level 6 in, it's a multiple factor because of the

[2:32:16] size of the drainage, the 200 square miles of drainage into there. Another

[2:32:21] thing talking about this DNR with the uh H Hotton Lake, Moskegan

[2:32:28] River marsh area, moving water into H Hotton Lake.

[2:32:33] Is that a coordinated event to the water control people, the structure that you

[2:32:40] people and uh people on the lake have knowledge of that we're trying to

[2:32:43] control the lake will level with? Because is if they drop that 15 in that

[2:32:48] water went into Holton Lake, we got to get it out of there.

[2:32:54] And how do you how long does it take to get 15 inches of water in that size of

[2:32:58] volume of that marsh out of there? Does it take a month?

[2:33:04] two months, one inch a week. People think about it. That's something that we

[2:33:10] really have to understand. And we don't have control of that channel. And if

[2:33:15] they're going to do something with that channel, that's on the the the state

[2:33:19] because that's state property. It's not property that people on the lake should

[2:33:25] have to pay for that improvement. Keep that in mind because that could be

[2:33:29] a real stinger if it came to be. So, I appreciate

[2:33:34] my ability to give you input and I hope you listen.

[2:33:38] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[2:33:42] Any other public comment?

[2:33:46] » Am

[2:33:54] you had mentioned the permit process started. Um I know you well supposedly

[2:33:59] plan to close it to the public. whatnot. Um, have you considered I mean I know

[2:34:04] St. Helen the fishing was an issue with doing the hydraulics. They don't want

[2:34:08] it. We have no representative from Lake Township, which is where the dam is

[2:34:14] that's even part of these discussions, which I think kind of a bummer, but

[2:34:18] that's a big recreational spot. There's a lot of boats that go through there, a

[2:34:22] lot of kayaks that portage there every day. This past weekend was extremely

[2:34:26] busy on that dam. Um the canoe race been going on for half a dozen years now. Uh

[2:34:33] have we thought about that? None of these you mentioned the permit process

[2:34:36] has started but no one has been shown the design to actually intend to well

[2:34:41] sort of encroach into our property without us even knowing what's going on.

[2:34:46] And I think the people not addressing that it's going to be more than you

[2:34:50] think. I mean those boats are just going to get drugged through our front yard.

[2:34:53] Those people aren't going to stop. Have you put when Chase was coming out and

[2:34:57] actively speaking, have you thought about a portage there? Is there going to

[2:35:01] be an actual dedicated portage for people? Tons of hunters go through in

[2:35:06] the winter when the dam's open. I mean, it's I live there, right? It's in my

[2:35:10] front yard for anybody who doesn't know that. And

[2:35:14] I watch this every day. So it's not I maybe valuable information, maybe not,

[2:35:19] but I see everything that goes on there. How much it gets used. It's not defense

[2:35:26] they put up now helps considerably, but when you try to shut it down completely,

[2:35:33] there's going to be a lot more people than you realize. I mean, can we make

[2:35:36] that public knowledge? maybe talk about it with somebody, especially since our

[2:35:41] township's not represented here in these discussions.

[2:35:44] Something to think about. I said it was a very quick discussion when they said,

[2:35:48] "We don't want this in St. Helen. We want to fish."

[2:35:52] If a person shows up and says this in Hotton Lake is are we just going to

[2:35:56] redisuss this whole thing? Doesn't sounds like their minds have already

[2:35:59] been made if the permits have already been applied for.

[2:36:03] Just something to think about. Appreciate it. And as far as the water

[2:36:08] shear, yeah, very little that dam in most times of the year, it is wide

[2:36:13] open and it doesn't do craft. For everybody that thinks it's going to wash

[2:36:17] out the lake or it's going to fail and we're not going to have one, that's not

[2:36:21] true. Most of the time it is wide open and your lakes still there. There's no

[2:36:25] issues. Um, the few times that you close it up like right now, okay, most of the

[2:36:30] gates, some have been rebuilt, the center logs have been replaced, Chase

[2:36:33] built some that over overlapped, etc., etc., But the two on the very ends do

[2:36:38] still function as a weird gate. So we're just an inch over right now over the 81.

[2:36:43] And there's a tiny bit of water flowing over them this morning. The rest of them

[2:36:47] are all higher for some reason or another and don't operate as a weird

[2:36:51] gate. But truth is, even with them all closed, you got about this much of a

[2:36:55] difference in water level from one side to the other. It's a very minimal what

[2:36:58] that dam does. So for everybody that thinks the lake's going to disappear,

[2:37:03] that's not real true. You know, it seems like hydraulics. I understand the ease

[2:37:07] of opening the boards, but it's this seems like a lot of expense and like I

[2:37:13] said, the plans just keep getting grander and grander and you're

[2:37:16] landlocked as it is. So, >> that's all just considerations.

[2:37:22] » Thank you. >> Yeah.

[2:37:25] » Any other public comment?

[2:37:30] Word comment. Commissioner Mley.

[2:37:34] Good. >> Commissioner Milbour, Commissioner

[2:37:37] Wolson, >> I'm good.

[2:37:39] » The one thing that I did want to mention um as far as with the DNR is when

[2:37:47] Commissioner Wolson and I sat down and we spoke with them um regarding the

[2:37:51] whole Reedsburg the flats things like that. Yes, there's an open communication

[2:37:56] that will be going. Um, one of the reasons that they held off on the flat

[2:38:01] projects was because of how high H Hotton Lake was for so long. Um, that's

[2:38:07] one of the things we asked for was their every two weeks they supposedly have an

[2:38:13] update to try to keep us um out at Reedsburg. I think they

[2:38:19] talked about the >> the levels at the

[2:38:23] » Yeah, the benchmark levels and things of that nature

[2:38:26] » and they actually went up the river looking for obstructions

[2:38:30] » and things of that. So, um, they did admit that in the spring their

[2:38:37] high-fi gauge was off and so therefore the benchmark that they were

[2:38:46] going off of wasn't. >> Mhm. So,

[2:38:50] » and also also concerning the if I might ch

[2:38:53] » Yeah. >> Concerning the flats, we were not

[2:38:56] notified they were draining the flats. >> No. And we're trying to keep an open

[2:39:02] line so that in the future we're notified when things like that happen

[2:39:06] because it drained into it own light when we were high. Plain and simple. Um

[2:39:12] so we're working on that. >> And as far as the permitting process,

[2:39:17] that's just the basically the initial permit saying that they're going to be

[2:39:22] submitting for a new structure. It doesn't say anything about what that

[2:39:26] structure is going to look like. The final design approval hasn't even been

[2:39:30] brought before the board yet. So, we're not that far. A permitting process is

[2:39:36] months before we'll get to the final. And there will be lots of

[2:39:41] communications, I'm sure, back and forth with the engineers just like there was

[2:39:45] every time Chase applied for a permit. Thank you, Madam Chair, for clarifying

[2:39:49] that because it did initially sound like the permit meant that. But if I

[2:39:55] understood from what I've heard, and I'm the newest one on this group to hear all

[2:39:58] of it, that permit has to be done before you even do the next type of permit.

[2:40:03] That's kind of that process that the DNR requires

[2:40:07] » for us to go through. So you have to basically apply and pay

[2:40:12] for like a joint permit to even start >> the process

[2:40:17] » the process and that's what that permit is is just starting the process. They're

[2:40:22] comfortable with where they are in their phase of stuff to come to the board and

[2:40:29] present to the board. Um we've talked about you know that property on the

[2:40:33] east. Um, we are doing that land swap with the DNR. That is going as planned.

[2:40:42] And the question was proposed, if we didn't want to use property on the east,

[2:40:50] could we take and move that over to the west? And would Eagle and DNR have any

[2:40:55] issues with that or would there be any foreseen issues?

[2:40:59] Um, they have taken a look at that. DNR both um DNR and Eagle both have

[2:41:05] responded back to the engineers that they do not foresee any issues. No

[2:41:09] wetlands would be impacted. So moving it to the west is and that's property that

[2:41:15] the county then will own. So then we can keep that in mind if we continue

[2:41:22] » want to keep that structure >> private

[2:41:27] because now that property we will own the county itself. It won't be on

[2:41:32] anybody else's. It'll be on theirs. >> Well, I'm glad that we're starting that

[2:41:39] DNR conversation more frequently. I think from what I've heard in the past,

[2:41:44] it's not been a connection and a and a discussion. Can't control them.

[2:41:49] Obviously, we don't run them, but knowing that they understand where we're

[2:41:54] at, the impacts of what they do impact our lakes, that at least that dialogue

[2:41:59] is better than where it used to be. >> So, thanks.

[2:42:05] » With no more board comment, this meeting would be adjourned.

Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting, Work Session, and LLCS Meeting for 9/9/2026

Agenda

Transcript