WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE
Minutes of June 19, 2007
(Commission Chambers, 2nd floor)
DRAFT
PRESENT: Wheelock, Thomas, Lemcool, Maxbauer, Fleis, Schmidt, Hooper, Underwood,
Inman.
ALSO PRESENT: D. Aloia, D. Bott, R. Filkins, L. Spencer, E. Cacciaglia, F. Keeslar, J. Pugh,
K. DeYoung, B. Rokos, R. Cooney, T. Schreiner, L. Coburn, J. Anderson, B. Ransom, and
others.
Meeting called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Chairman, Lemcool.
Approval of Minutes: MOVED by Thomas, seconded by Inman to approve the regular
minutes of May 15, 2007. APPROVED unanimously.
APPROVAL OF GRANT APPLICATIONS FOR GT BAND 2% FUNDS:
MOVED by Schmidt, seconded by Fleis to approve the Chairman to sign Letters of
Support to the groups identified for application for GT Band 2% funding. APPROVED
unanimously.
COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS:
Monthly Reports and Prison Commitment Rate. Provided for information. Any
questions contact Keenan next week.
Jail Snapshot Charts. Monthly totals provided for information. Chairman Wheelock
received a letter from the Circuit Court Judges expressing their concern with making changes to
these stats. Sheehan met with the judges and David Bennett on conference call and hopefully,
this issue has been taken care of with recommended changes not affecting the usefulness of the
statistics.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY/TELECOM:
Randy Filkins presented recommendation. MOVED by Inman, seconded by Schmidt to
award the bid for cellular services to the lowest bidder – Cellular One – as estimated for a
contract period of 18 months with an option to renew for an additional 18 months for the same or
better rates at the sole discretion of the county. Discussion included quality of service area and
cost of replacing equipment. Filkins indicated most of the equipment would require replacement
either way and DPW and GTSO tested equipment and did not notice any substantial difference in
coverage. Vote called for motion. APPROVED unanimously.
EQUALIZATION/GIS:
Ways & Means Committee
June 19, 2007, Page #2
Prepared by Christine Cramer
Request by Spencer for funding of the county GIS internet map application. A grant in
the amount of $5,887 was received from Rotary Charities and Spencer is requesting the other
$5,888. MOVED by Hooper, seconded by Thomas to approve funding for the GIS Internet map
application in the amount of $5,888. Additional discussion. Bott to work with Spencer to
determine where funding might be available in the budget or will make recommendation for the
funds to come out of contingency. APPROVED unanimously.
Aloia also expressed appreciation to Spencer and her department for their help with the Road
Commission map.
EMERGENCY PLANNING:
A presentation summarizing Emergency Planning for biological emergencies and general
emergency management given by Keeslar. GTCHD and Region 7 Homeland Security also
provide a great deal of information on their web sites.
COUNTY TREASURER:
Intergovernmental agreement for remittance of property taxes. An update of the
1994 agreement, changing remittance dates from the 1st and 15th, to the 15th and 31st was
presented by Rokos. MOVED by Wheelock, seconded by Thomas to approve
intergovernmental agreement for remittance of property taxes. APPROVED unanimously.
Rokos met with the townships on Friday and they are taking back to their respective boards.
CENTRAL DISPATCH/PARKS & RECREATION:
Jamel Anderson, Tim Schreiner and Bob Cooney presented request to approve agreement
with iPCS for lease of property @ Twin Lakes Park for a cell tower. This negotiation began over
a year ago and will lease property to iPCS to put up a 190 ft. cell tower to replace our 85 foot
tower. It will enhance our coverage in that area tremendously, they would own the tower and be
responsible for maintenance and road and parking area would be improved. The agreement is for
$700 per month initially for 5 years with a 12.5% increase for additional periods. Additional
discussion. MOVED by Thomas, seconded by Wheelock to approve agreement with iPCS to
lease property at Twin Lakes for a cell tower as identified. Public hearings have been held at
Long Lake Township, if any questions, anyone can pull the item from board consent agenda.
Vote called for motion on the floor. APPROVED unanimously.
Anderson also provided a brief update on 911 senate bills 410 and 411. They are working
hard to keep these separate from other bills and would appreciate your support. Anderson will
provide contact information for Walker, etc., by the end of this meeting.
REFERRALS:
Ways & Means Committee
June 19, 2007, Page #3
Prepared by Christine Cramer
County Clerk. Coburn identified request. We charge the least in the state for voter
registration information on disk and she would like to increase fees from $3 to $25 per disk.
MOVED by Inman, seconded by Hooper to approve increase to $25.00 per disk. Additional
discussion. Commissioner Fleis commented that this is an awful amount percentage increase. In
answer to additional questions, Coburn stated the next closest fee was by Antrim County @ $10.
She also indicated that they may get requests for about 20 this year and up to 100 next year being
an election year. ROLL CALL VOTE: Yes – 5, No – 4 (Fleis, Maxbauer, Thomas,
Wheelock) MOTION PASSES.
MTA – Message Points on House Bills 4780-88 (Inman). Larry wanted to update
commissioners for discussion regarding whether or not to take action. MOVED by Fleis,
seconded by Wheelock to send a resolution opposing HB 4780-88 to Representative Walker,
Senator Allen and Michigan Association of Counties. Additional discussion. APPROVED
unanimously.
Funding for Draw Down. Aloia reminded the Committee that the draw down has
begun at a rate of approximately 2” per day. So we may respond as quickly as possible to
emergency situations that may occur, Aloia is suggesting we earmark $4,000 for consulting and
$10,000 to test the structural stability of the steep slopes. Due to the immediate nature of these
events, Aloia will approve with concurrence of the Board Chairman, and Char of Physical
Resources with ratification of expenditures at the monthly Board meeting. This funding is
already in the budget and we will make sure that work being requested is not already covered in
existing contract. MOVED by Wheelock, seconded by Fleis to earmark funds and approve
emergency procedures if problems are identified during the draw down of the pond.
APPROVED unanimously.
Commissioner Lemcool noted there is a student out there documenting information regarding the
drawn down who will be preparing a report.
Regarding Petition for Contested Case Hearing (DEQ) received last Friday and dated 6-11-07
from Mr. Martel, Aloia handed out opinion by Schneider.
A potential filing of injunction may take place, but since the County was required to do this
(draw down) the injunction will probably be between DEQ and (5 or 6) property owners.
Aloia also handed out a list of questions from property owners. The County does not really have
a position as we are awaiting completion of feasibility study. Dennis has, however, formulated
answers indicating same.
Reminder that a walk through at the Boardman Dam with Don Tilton is scheduled for tomorrow,
Wednesday at 11:00 a.m..
Ways & Means Committee
June 19, 2007, Page #4
Prepared by Christine Cramer
ADMINISTRATION:
Mitchell Disclosure Letter. As part of due diligence in reviewing all agreements for
compliance to policy, the Mitchell remonumentation agreement was provided to Cooney for
review. The letter presented discloses Mitchell’s conflict for consideration at next week’s board
meeting. We are continuing to look at the entire remonumentation program which started in
1992 and still need to look at it’s process. This is the 7 day notice for contracts approved last
month.
Postage Machine for LaFranier. MOVED by Schmidt, seconded by Thomas to
approve entering into a 60-month lease with Pitney Bowes for a DM400 Series postage machine
for a cost of $136.00 per month for LaFranier. Discussion. APPROVED unanimously.
Professional Services – Bidding. Aloia provided an opinion from Bob Cooney, Deputy
Civil Counsel, for review regarding bidding for professional services. The items discussed at last
week’s L&A are appropriate but we believe the information can be rewritten to provide more
clarity. Language change will be presented next month for consideration.
Courthouse Security. Bott presented bid details and recommendation adding that the
Courts strongly preferred we stay with DK. Commissioner Maxbauer identified her concerns.
MOVED by Hooper, seconded by Wheelock to approve entering into a three-year contract with
DK Securities at a cost of $165,712.50 effective July 1, 2007, with a 1.3% increase per year
thereafter, as recommended. Additional discussion. Inman questioned local offices. Fleis
questions the value for citizens? Schmidt believes this is an appropriate level of security to
provide. ROLL CALL VOTE: Yes – 7, No – 2 (Fleis, Maxbauer) MOTION PASSES.
FINANCE:
General Fund May 2007 Trial Balance. Information/update provided by Bott.
Budget Adjustments. Bott identified adjustment of $40,000 (for Truancy program) that
we expected from the schools and did not receive. We are working with Mary Marois regarding
the truancy shortfall. MOVED by Thomas, seconded by Wheelock to approve the 2007 Budget
Adjustments presented by the Finance Director. APPROVED unanimously.
Appropriation Requests. MOVED by Inman, seconded by Thomas to approve
appropriation requests presented by the Finance Director. APPROVED unanimously.
Emergency Management Appropriation. Bott explained that more funds are necessary
to cover Emergency Management’s move from Central Dispatch to the Health Department than
originally transferred. Request is to increase the appropriations by $33,000 to cover the full cost
of transferring this function from the general fund to the health fund. Bott recommends $8,000
Ways & Means Committee
June 19, 2007, Page #5
Prepared by Christine Cramer
from Central Dispatch with balance of $25,000 from miscellaneous contingency fund.
Additional discussion. Anderson supports funding from Central Dispatch – Emergency
Management is now doing what the program needs to do. MOVED by Wheelock, seconded by
Maxbauer to approve Finance Director to appropriate funding not to exceed $33,000, to
Emergency Management. APPROVED unanimously.
Child Care Fund. Presented for information. The projected favorable budget is
$105,876 at this time, but can change at any time.
MERS Statement of Account Activity. Provided for information and discussion.
Overtime Analysis. Update provided for information and discussion. Corrections OT is
high but there are savings due to not replacing regular positions. Most of the cost is covered.
OTHER:
Anderson distributed Walker information.
Aloia reminded committee of Dillenbeck’s retirement at 10:30 and dam meeting at 11:00
tomorrow.
Solid Waste reminder for Friday distributed.
MAC Conference August 19-21. Advise Administration if you plan on attending.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There being no pubic comment, the meeting was adjourned at 7:38 p.m. by Chairman Lemcool.
_______________________________
Herb Lemcool, Chairman