Clare County BOC 2/3/10, Part 1
By Mary Kindig
Review Correspondent
While Wednesday’s regular meeting of the Clare County Board of Commissioners had relatively few items on the agenda, the Committee of the Whole meeting that followed was filled with discussion items. Commissioners use the Committee of the Whole work session to determine if topics should be forwarded to the next regular meeting agenda for action.
Several members of the Clare County Planning Commission came before the Board during the Committee of the Whole to seek input as to the direction the Board wished the Planning Commission to take. The County’s Master Plan was recently updated by the Planning Commission, and there was reported dissention amongst Planning Commission members as to whether they should be on hiatus until the next update (after the 2010 Census data comes in) or if there are projects they should be working on in the interim.
Planning Commission Chair Scott Gursky, Vice Chair Jerry Burger, and members Dick Snyder, Jerry Bridges and Rod Williams all spoke in favor of working on a County capital improvement plan and on other projects in relation to broadband and building closer relationships with the townships and the Board of Commissioners. Members who opposed continuing and expanding the current work of the Planning Commission were not present for the discussion.
“We’ve got to become not only more interactive with the township governments,” Burger said, addressing the Board, “we’ve got to become more interactive with you folks, too.” Commissioners agreed, but cautioned the Planning Commission against appearing as if they wanted to force zoning on townships that were not interested.
Gursky assured the Board that that was not their intent. “We can’t pass anything and enforce it on the townships but, on the same turn-around, the townships can pass their stuff but it’s not enforceable until they come to us. Which it sounds like they haven’t done in a long time. So we need to help them, to protect them, to work with them…to create a relationship,” Gursky commented.
“I don’t see why we don’t just leave your by-laws as you have them, and just call your meetings as you need them,” Chair Karen Lipovsky remarked. In the end, most Commissioners voiced support for improved communication between the Planning Commission, the townships and the Board, and agreed that proactive, business-friendly planning was important to the future growth of the County.
Jerry Burger, also Director of the Clare County Enterprise Community, stayed to continue the ongoing discussion as to whether the EC will be allowed to occupy space in the County Building after the current agreement expires on March 31st. Burger announced to the Board that he would be stepping down as EC Director as of that date, and that the EC’s long-term objective would be to move to its own facility.
For a more complete report of that discussion — and of other matters that were discussed during Wednesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting — see next week’s Review for details.
During their regular meeting, Commissioners voted to:
* approve the purchase of an expanded computer backup system for the County, after a presentation by Information Technologist Jim Neff.
* approve the expenditures for the month of December 2009 in the amount of $1,230,294.98 with the General Fund expenditures totaling $768,731.80.
* approve four Sheriff’s Department budget adjustments, to account for changes in grant monies.
* approve the contract with the Census Bureau to allow for space donation of 15 hours per week through the end of April to answer questions by the public.
* concur with a resolution from the Isabella County Board of Commissioners objecting to the Municipal Employees Retirement System’s (MERS) new policy which raised the funded level requirements for MERS fixed benefit members.
* concur with a resolution from the Isabella County Board of Commissioners supporting the findings and recommendations in the Legislative Commission on Statutory Mandates reports.
* contact Michigan Association of Counties (MAC) and State legislators regarding the detrimental effects that pending healthcare bills would have on Michigan counties, by a vote of 6-1, with Commissioner Jack Kleinhardt dissenting.
* approve replacement of carpeting in water-damaged County offices, not to exceed $9,500, to be submitted to the USDA as part of the roof repair project.
* accept a DLAG grant for $147,000 to fund energy saving projects among a four-county consortium, of which Clare County is a member.
