After lengthy discussions during both of the November Board of Commissioners meetings – and after Newkirk made adjustments to his proposal as requested – the Board was still not willing to back the restructuring unanimously. Commissioners Don David and Jack Kleinhardt cast the dissenting votes.

Commissioner David commented, “Tracy, I will support you. You’re obviously going to get this job, and I will support you any way I can…However, having said that, I do think that going to $55,000 a year in that short a time is unfair to all the rest of the employees in the building, plus the fact that you get your old job back if you want it back. I know six months is quite a long time, and Bill will be the one to evaluate you and we’ll have to take his word for it. I guess I’d like to see a smaller salary at least the first year – not $55,000.”

When asked how he reached his proposed salary figures, Newkirk replied, “If you go out to the market right now, the market is very shallow, the pool is very shallow…and most of the things that are happening out there are ending up paying a lot more than you’re paying me for the exact same work.” Newkirk continued, “In all honesty, a year from right now, assuming certain things that are scheduled to happen do happen, it would be my sense that, in fairness to Tracy, 55 [thousand dollars a year] is probably not adequate relative to the workload and the comparable salaries that are out there.”

Commissioner Kleinhardt remarked, “We don’t know, without doing a search, what we would have gotten and what it would cost. Am I confident that Tracy can do the job? Yes. Am I concerned that maybe we’re coming across looking a little bit like the good old boys’ system is alive and well in Clare County? Yes. I personally think maybe we should look and get a search.”

The result of Commissioners voting to implement Newkirk’s revised proposal beginning in January, is that Newkirk would retain the Controller title and would earn $12,000 less during the six month trial/interim period, and Byard would be promoted to the position of Administrator/Coordinator and earn $6,500 more. At the end of six months, Byard and the Board will decide if the changes will be permanent. At that time, Newkirk proposed to cut his weekly average work from three to two and a half days, and to give Byard a raise to a salary of $55,000 a year. If Commissioners follow all his recommendations, Newkirk cited a savings of $7,250 for 2010.

In discussing the County’s current budget status, Newkirk stated that, even though the County is recovering slightly, he is “still targeting 9.6 [million dollars in expenditures for the 2010 fiscal year].” Newkirk commented, “The County is structurally better, not financially better, and that’s a huge difference. Financially, we’ve got to maintain a flat line. Structurally, the pieces that needed to be in place to make a structural change in how we did business are there. We’ve just got to hold the line.” He told the Board, “You’ve done the things you needed to do to fix the problem we had. Now it’s a matter of letting those fixes stand.”

Newkirk also reported to the Board that he was unable to reach Municipal Employees Retirement System to order valuations and obtain data required to give a two percent raise to County retirees. Commissioners voted to send the matter to the full Board, pending Newkirk getting the necessary information, by a vote of 5-1. Commissioner Jordon Lockmiller cast the dissenting vote. Commissioner Lynn Grim was excused from the meeting earlier and was not present for the vote.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the Board:

* voted unanimously to approve a decrease in the Senior Services budget by $22,079 due to a projected drop in revenues and expenditures.

* approved a Basic Conduit Internet Access contract in conjunction with other contracts for the fiber project.

* approved a Network Lease Agreement between the County and Clare-Gladwin Network Consortium.

* approved a renewal of the Sheriff Department’s contract for inmate healthcare services.

* received a report from Newkirk that repairs to the County Building would be more extensive than originally thought. It was discovered that moisture damage in the Probate Court, District Court and District Court jury room was due to windows that had been walled-in and never properly sealed after the marble windowsills had been removed. Newkirk estimated the cost of the repairs and painting the offices that were water damaged due to a leaking roof would be “probably under $4,000.”

During the Committee of the Whole work session that followed the regular Board meeting, Commissioners:

* voted to send the appointment of Jerry Bridges to the Planning Commission to the full Board.

* requested that Newkirk investigate references and call Consumers Energy regarding the proposal of Paul Dixon to work on behalf of the County to find utility rebates/refunds, and to schedule a presentation by Mr. Dixon if responses are positive.

* voted to send the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Notice of Amendment to the full board to approve signing.

* voted to send the Great Western Retirement Services agreement renewal before the full Board.

* were informed that the Administrative Staff position was filled by Kathleen Howard-Kennedy.

* declined to sign the agreements Enterprise Community Director Jerry Burger requested, pending review and possible adjustments suggested by the County’s attorneys.

* voted to concur with the City of Clare’s actions regarding Robotic Welded Parts request for an Industrial Development District and a Plant Rehabilitation District.

* voted to send the Letters of Understanding to the full Board, allowing all County employees, regardless of which union unit they belong to, to donate accrued sick time to an employee undergoing chemotherapy.

* voted to send the proposed 2010 Statutory Finance Committee and Board of Commissioners meeting dates before the full Board. If adopted, meeting dates would remain the same as the current schedules.