The regular meeting of the Board of County Road Commissioners of the County of Calhoun was held Wednesday, October 18, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. in their office located at 13300 Fifteen Mile Road, Marshall, Michigan.

Present: Commissioner Chester E. Travis, Chairman
Commissioner David D. Veramay, Vice-Chairman
Commissioner Charles E. Monaweck, Member
Joanna Johnson, Assistant Managing Director
Kevin Henning, Finance Director
Pixie Coats, Human Resource Director
Angela Kline, Assistant County Highway Engineer
Also Present: Tom Frank, Albion Township Supervisor
Eugene Hamaker, Marshall Township Supervisor
Sharon Lindauer, Pennfield Township Supervisor
Joe Bramble, Convis Township Resident
Clarence Millard, Newton Township Resident
Gardy Berezonsky, Marengo Township Resident
Jim Russell, Calhoun County Road Commission
Steve Ball, Calhoun County Road Commission
Robert Volkmer, Calhoun County Road Commission
Hershel Stacy, Calhoun County Road Commission
Dave Fuller, Calhoun County Road Commission
Paul Adams, Calhoun County Road Commission

Chairman Chester Travis called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. There being no additions or corrections to the regular meeting minutes of October 4, 2006 they stand approved as printed and distributed.

COMMUNICATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS

Received a letter from Annette Chapman, Parks & Recreation Director regarding approved road names of Soaring Eagle Way and Running Deer Ridge, Leroy Township

Received a memo from Joanna Johnson, Assisting Managing Director regarding De-Icing bid

Received a memo from Joanna Johnson, Assistant Managing Director regarding the revised 2006 meeting schedule

NEW BUSINESS

Moved by Commissioner Veramay and supported by Commissioner Monaweck to approve the October 9, 2006 accounts payable for $258,642.12. Voice vote: Motion carried.

Moved by Commissioner Monaweck and supported by Commissioner Veramay to approve the October 9, 2006 payroll for $130,281.89. Voice vote: Motion carried.

Moved by Commissioner Monaweck and supported by Commissioner Veramay to approve the revised 2006 meeting schedule. Voice vote: Motion carried.

Moved by Commissioner Veramay and supported by Commissioner Monaweck to approve the Association of Southern Michigan Road Association Board of Directors Official Ballot for Election of Directors. Voice vote: Motion carried.

Moved by Commissioner Monaweck and supported by Commissioner Veramay to approve the Association of Southern Michigan Road Association Board of Directors Official Ballot for Election of Directors: Commissioners (2): Staff (3). Voice vote: Motion carried.

Moved by Commissioner Veramay and supported by Commissioner Monaweck to approve the De-Icing bid to Roadway Solutions. Voice vote: Motion carried.

Mr. Randolph commented on the de-icing bid. He stated that we have been de-icing for 10 years and in the past we have restricted the use to primary road because it is more expensive. Salt has increased 58% in price from the State contract. We are going to expand the use of our de-icing this year and take other steps to help with the increase in salt prices.

A motion was made by Commissioner Veramay and supported by Commissioner Monaweck to approve the signing of the petition from the Drain Commissioner. Voice vote: Motion carried.

MANAGING DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Mr. Randolph provided the Board with the following information:

Mr. Randolph stated that today is our Snow Plow Day and also our Employee Recognition Day. This gives our employees the opportunity to run their snow routes and check to see if their equipment is ready for winter.

· Patching
· Clean-up around the County

Mr. Randolph addressed the two documents he gave to the Board. One is a petition from the Drain Commissioner requesting a drain district in Emmett Township and the other is a memo requesting the purchase of property. Mr. Randolph said he will check get more information for the Board regarding the purchase of the property. Commissioner Veramay asked if Mr. Randolph would also check with the township to ensure they don’t have a problem with this purchase. Mr. Randolph said he would talk with the township regarding this issue.

Mr. Randolph commented on the fatal that occurred on 28 Mile Road. Whenever this happens, Mr. Randolph said he runs the crash data to make sure the road doesn’t have any problems. The majority of the crashes have alcohol and speed as a factor.

Mr. Randolph mentioned the article in the Better Roads magazine about safety and the importance of shoulders.

Mr. Randolph said that 92% of our roads are rated either fair or better. Based upon our road conditions it will take just under $32 million dollars to upgrade all primary roads to a 9 rating. It would take $46.3 million dollars for local roads to be brought up to a 9 rating. What this means to the Road Commission is that the county road funds from the Road Commission will be $32 million dollars for primary roads plus half the local road costs which is $23.1 million dollars. The Road Commission will need a total of $55 million dollars to bring all the primary and local roads up to a 9 rating.

Mr. Randolph presented the Board with a chart of the service requests received to date. Mr. Randolph noted that we track over 5,000 calls a year and out of those calls we received 600 thank you calls.

Mr. Randolph said that Ingham & Monroe County came to look at our cold patch mix. Mr. Randolph thought it is nice to have other Counties come to see how we do things.

Mr. Randolph noted that the Road Tour is set for October 26th.

COMMISSIONER’S COMMENTS

Commissioner Monaweck requested to reschedule the Parks meetings from November 15th to November 1st. It will give us an opportunity to question the budget that will be presented on the 6th of December. Commissioners noted there were no issues with the revised Park Schedule.

Commissioner Monaweck stated that the following comments in no way have anything to do with any certain groups of people, personality or anything else.

Commissioner Monaweck said that he has concern with the public perception of the Calhoun County Road Commission and the way that we do things and the way that we leave things. He commented that almost weekly in one area he is asked when is the Road Commission going to fix the guardrail over the creek in East Leroy. It was brought up in April by a couple of the Township Supervisors in the area. Commissioner Monaweck recalls that the commitment was to order the material and it would be in by June and fixed thereafter. Here we are four or five months later and it’s still not done. The public wonders if we are concerned about their safety. Commissioner Monaweck said that he thinks we are concerned about their safety. He doesn’t know how things like this get passed by. We receive enough mean-mouthing by the public as it is without sticking our foot in our mouths like that.

Commissioner Monaweck has a concern that he brought up last month and is now bringing it up again today. The cost of operations continue to increase, such as a 5% increase in salt cost and $100,000 less in our MTF funds. This isn’t going to get any better, especially if Michigan isn’t going to be getting more jobs. Yet we still need to continue to keep up the level of road maintenance for the motoring public to drive on. We want to have secure jobs, we want to have good wages and good benefits for our employees. Commissioner Monaweck suggested that there is going to come a day of reckoning when we aren’t going to be able to do all these things unless we try to perform our work better and do it right the first time. There will have to be some decisions made down the road and they will be uncomfortable decisions to make. When it comes to the way we handle our operations, like when we do a job and a month later we have to go back out and do it over and then a month later have to do it again. This is all money that is wasted. Commissioner Monaweck stated that he did not have all the answers. Commissioner Monaweck presented the Board with a picture of a large hole in East Leroy with a cone around it. He knew of at least three times when the Road Commission sent a truck out to empty asphalt into the hole and after a rain the hole is back and the asphalt is in the creek. This is money that is gone because we don’t do the job right the first time. Commissioner Monaweck said we need to sharpen up operations to prevent those kinds of things from happening. We built a Class A road, it was a nice job, and then the culvert wasn’t extended like it should have been. The culvert started eroding away even before the asphalt was cooled on the new road. Within 10 months it had eroded from within 10 inches of the new roadway. After the 10 months, we finally got the culvert repaired and today it’s in great shape. When the public sees this kind of operation, you know that whatever they say isn’t going to be to our benefit. Every time we need to keep going back on a job or project, it is just a waste of money. Commissioner Monaweck stated that he was not a road man but he knows there need to be some changes in our operations to stop this rework and these useless trips out to the jobs. Every time we go out, its man-hours, it’s fuel, it’s wear and tear on the equipment and it’s material that is all wasted.

Commissioner Monaweck stated that on another job we had to go back 4 times to gravel shoulders because the shoulders eroded away due to water. They eroded way back under the new road. We need to do a better job planning our work operations because this kind of wasted money is killing us. When the public sees these things, we open ourselves up to all kinds of criticism and it’s all self-inflicted. Commissioner Monaweck hopes that we will attempt to do a better job in the future.

Commissioner Veramay stated that he will agree with some of the things that Commissioner Monaweck said but by the nature of the material and the work that we do, mother nature play a big part in it. When new gravel is put on a road and we get a hard rain, we are going to get wash outs and so we need to go back and fix those areas. Mother nature can do a lot of damage to the roads and the work that we do on them. Commissioner Veramay thinks that the staff will do the best they can. The Supervisors that supervise the employees need to put the pressure on them to do things the right way. Commissioner Veramay stated that he has been around here awhile and sees many, many improvements, but also knows we have a ways to go. Commissioner Veramay said that he appreciates what the guys have done.

SUPERVISOR’S & PUBLIC OFFICIAL’S TIME

Mr. Hamaker asked Mr. Randolph if the list he received included all the roads that were going to be repaired. Mr. Randolph said yes, but is open to any changes they would like to see on the list.

Mrs. Lindauer noted that she would also like a list of the roads. She commented about a thank you she received from a resident and wanted to bring it to the Boards attention.

Mr. Frank asked where the roads are located in the county that have the lowest ratings to be fixed. Mr. Randolph said that he would give him the locations after the meeting.

CITIZEN’S TIME

Mr. Millard stated that he wanted to comment on Commissioner Monaweck remarks. Mr. Millard said that he has seen an improvement in the work that is being done. The Road Commission is now doing truck patching over the long stretches that have lots of potholes and he feels that has helped and holding up better. You are always going to have water running down the roads, but the curbs that are being put in help to keep the road from washing out. Mr. Millard commented that he was happy about the boom mower being out and clearing out the corners in his area.

Mr. Bramble said he has been around since 1988 and has seen one heck of an improvement over the years. Mr. Bramble stated that back then the Road Commission was very poor and very disorganized. He said that he sat in this very room and heard one commissioner say to the other commissioner; do we have any gravel to gravel the roads. Another commissioner said that we have a big pile over by the pit and also one in Albion. Then someone asked if we knew how much gravel we have? One of the commissioners said well… we have a big pile. Mr. Bramble commented that if you think the Road Commission is run badly now then you should have been around back then. Mr. Bramble asked if a driveway culvert is the responsibility of the homeowner. Mr. Randolph said that the homeowner purchases the culvert and it is their responsibility to maintain it.

Mr. Berezonsky asked if we could justify the cost of putting up the new deer signs. Mr. Randolph stated that we received a grant from 3M for the sheeting. We are going to be putting them up at the major entrances into the County.

Mr. Bramble stated that the old Road Commission never received any grants. He asked Mr. Randolph how many grants we received since he has been here. Mr. Randolph stated he thought it was approximately $45 million dollars. Mr. Bramble said that the grants would be a lot of money to replace with taxpayer money.

Mr. Russell commented about the remarks made by Commissioner Monaweck. Mr. Russell stated that Commissioner Monaweck had some very good points. Mr. Russell said we do need to follow up better on some of our work. Mr. Russell stated that he hasn’t worked for anyone that has done as much for this Road Commission as Chet Travis and Dave Veramay. Mr. Russell said there is just as much bad morale at the County Commission as there is here, maybe even more. We are learning new things and trying to find different ways of making things better. Mr. Russell said we are constantly changing because some things need to change and we need to work at that everyday. Mr. Russell feels that the Road Commission is getting a bad rap and thinks that we all need to work together and make the changes that need to be made to move ahead. Mr. Russell stated that he hates to go out on a sour note after having this Road Commission be his life for the past 38 years.

Commissioner Travis said he thought everyone does a pretty good job. You may have a few employees around the County that don’t really care, but you can’t control everyone.

Commissioner Monaweck stated that his main concern is the money constraints we are under. Commissioner Monaweck said that we have to be concerned with this because our expenses are going up and our revenues are going down. Commissioner Monaweck stated what has been brought to this Board is the lack of funds, increased cost of operations, and a Union Contract that will be coming up at the end of the year. Our employees feel justified in asking for improvements and that money has to come from somewhere. Sooner or later a time will come when tough decisions will have to be made.

The next regular meeting of the Calhoun County Road Commission Board is scheduled for Wednesday, November 1, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. There being no additional business before the Board, Chairman Travis adjourned the meeting at 10: 21 a.m.