The regular meeting of the Board of County Road Commissioners of the County of Calhoun was held Wednesday, March 15, 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
Dennis Randolph, Managing Director
Pixie Coats, Human Resource Director
Kevin Henning, Finance Director
Also Present: Tom Frank, Albion Township Supervisor
Steve Irons, Athens Township Supervisor
Larry Spoor, Burlington Township Supervisor
John Neterer, Leroy Township Supervisor
Eugene Hamaker, Marshall Township Supervisor
Robert Harrier, Burlington Township Trustee
Joseph Bramble, Convis Township Resident
Clarence Millard, Newton Township Resident
Gardy Berezonsky, Marengo Township Resident
Robert Rice, Newton Township Resident
Hershel Stacy, Calhoun County Road Commission
Jim Russell, Calhoun County Road Commission
Steve Ball, Calhoun County Road Commission
Robert Volkmer, 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 March 1, 2006 they stand approved as printed and distributed.

COMMUNICATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS

•  Received a Resolution from Marengo Township requesting that the Calhoun County Road Commission include the recommended road improvements to the 2006 Road Improvement Program

•  Received a Resolution from Emmett Township requesting that the Calhoun County Road Commission include the recommended road improvements to the 2006 Road Improvement Program

NEW BUSINESS

Moved by Commissioner Monaweck and supported by Commissioner Veramay to approve the March 10, 2006 accounts payable for $496,762.30 . Voice vote: Motion carried.

Moved by Commissioner Veramay and supported by Commissioner Monaweck to approve the March 1, 2006 payroll for $129,008.59. Voice vote: Motion carried.

Moved by Commissioner Monaweck and supported by Commissioner Veramay to approve the Resolution from Marengo Township requesting that the Calhoun County Road Commission include the recommended road improvements to the 2006 Road Improvement Program . Voice vote: Motion carried.

Moved by Commissioner Monaweck and supported by Commissioner Veramay to approve the Resolution from Emmett Township requesting that the Calhoun County Road Commission include the recommended road improvements to the 2006 Road Improvement Program . Voice vote: Motion carried.

MANAGING DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Mr. Randolph provided the Board with the following information:

•  Continue on maintenance

•  About 5 crews have been out with the tar and chip

•  Traffic Regulating crews are out

•  8 employees have been patching with cold patch

•  Crews are out doing ditching, drainage, and guardrail work

•  Boom Mower cleanup

•  Tree crews are going and trying to keep the list cleaned up as much as possible

•  The Pennfield Road plans are completed and will be going to Lansing for bid, but prior to this work we will have the water main project that will begin the 1 st of April

•  The Union City project is going to be starting up

•  Soil erosion inspections have been slow

•  Finalizing the Custer Road Bridge project- Not looking for bids until the end of the year

•  Working with Roadsoft. Entering data, checking data and actually using the system.

•  Working on a traffic problem at the Klaussen Center

•  Working with Marshall Township on a 5-year plan

•  Still waiting on a bid for the 21 Mile Road Bridge project over Rice Creek

•  Working with Kevin Henning on the salt supply. We have enough for at least a couple of storms. We may need to order more in November.

•  Continue to work on road repair in the County this week

•  Touching up the gravels

COMMISSIONER'S COMMENTS

Commissioner Monaweck asked if the County was doing work on K Drive South by the Elementary School. Mr. Randolph stated that the work is being done by the school district. We will be doing some work on the driveways but not much work with the rest of the project.

Commissioner Monaweck stated that he received his procedure on patching and is very pleased with it. He thought is was a good way to keep our employees informed as to how we expect patching to be done. It's a step in the right direction to getting everyone working the same and shooting for the same goal. I know change is hard for all of us and it will be hard for some employees to work to this standard but they can be politely encouraged to do it. When you increase quality and productivity you are money ahead. I commend the people that were involved with this and hope that down the road we will see some benefit from it.

Commissioner Travis stated that he went to Lansing last week to a legislative conference. The first thing that was done was to introduce a bill to the Legislature to do away with Road Commissions and turn them over to the County Board of Commissioners. The majority of the Legislators didn't think it was a good idea, but it was obvious that someone did. He also stated that the other bill that is close to being passed was to give the County the right to add 2 more Road Commissioners.

SUPERVISOR'S & PUBLIC OFFICIAL'S TIME

Mr. Frank asked if we have put a dollar cap on the townships for the 50 - 50 match program. Mr. Kevin Henning stated that we have limited the townships to $45,000 but will reassess the roadwork list for 2007. Mr. Frank also asked when the road list would be final. Mr. Henning stated that it should be final by the end of the month. Mr. Frank asked if the Road Commission was still going to have the free mile of gravel for the townships. Mr. Henning said that he thought this was still up for discussion.

Mr. Randolph stated that he and Mr. Henning were working on a cash flow plan. Mr. Randolph asked Mr. Henning to lay out a plan for some equipment replacement. The one thing that is in question is the brining. No other Road Commission does this and if something has to go, it may be the brining application.

Commissioner Monaweck asked Mr. Randolph with the coming of ethanol, bio-diesel fuels and hydrogen and with them not being considered a gasoline, how does that affect our revenues. Mr. Randolph said that we have a mixed feeling about that. We supported getting the ethanol plant in Albion because it is good for the County but it will also affect us. Mr. Randolph will find out more and follow up.

Commissioner Veramay stated that the legislators are going to have to do something about money for the roads because they drive on the same roads we do. They should know what the conditions of the roads are and they should take some action. We are paying more for a product and getting less money and the roads are suffering for it. Until someone comes up with an idea or changes this, it isn't going to get any better.

Mr. Frank said that if you are going to start paving in June then they should start firing the crew up and start with the 50-50 work first. Mr. Randolph stated we will prep the roads between now and June for paving.

Mr. Hamaker commented about a meeting he attended and that the 425 was discussed. They had given Dennis Randolph a lot of credit for helping to develop the 425 and how he was one of the lead individuals.

Mr. Randolph stated that last week the Governor announced her 80 million dollar plan to help with the jobs. They are going to be selling a bond and then pay the bond back with federal funds that come in for future years, regardless if we engage in the program or not. What will happen is that they will reduce our federal aid allocation and cut funds for both our rural and urban roads. We stand to lose a lot of federal aid if the Governor's plan goes through.

Mr. Spoor asked if anything was happening with the employment contracts. Commissioner Travis said that they are in the hands of the attorney right now. Mr. Spoor stated that Mr. Ball and Ms. Coats were at the last township meeting. He said that Mr. Ball was concerned about R Drive and he stated that many people are. He also wanted to thank Mr. Ball for correcting the minutes of the last meeting. Mr. Spoor asked Dennis if S Drive between 6 and 6 ½ Mile Road was complete. Mr. Randolph asked Mr. Henning if it was on the list for this year. Mr. Henning said that it was on the list, so it will be sealed this year.

Mr. Irons asked if there is any plan for the next three to five years of where this Road Commission would like to go. Commissioner Veramay stated that one way to solve this little problem is to get a five-year plan from each of the townships and have them tell us what their plans are. That is where it needs to start. Mr. Irons asked if this was ever brought to the townships. Commissioner Veramay said that it has been a policy ever since he was a Supervisor. Mr. Henning interjected and stated that a letter had gone out to the townships this year, along with the roadwork information to all the townships, asking for a five-year plan.

Mr. Randolph said he has sat here for the last 6 years listening to the County tell us that they don't have any money but we aren't allowed to say we don't have money. We have tried our best to work with what we have. Mr. Randolph said that we do have a plan. Our Roadsoft is a super asset management system. We have all our roads on it, their conditions, guardrails, and pavement markings. We are using Roadsoft as our guiding tool for planning. We know which roads we need to work on over the next five years and the only problem is not having the funds to do it.

Commissioner Travis said that the people could always get a petition and have a countywide or city gas tax.

Commissioner Monaweck stated that if there is interest in getting a countywide tax, you may have to go to your township property owners and then the townships collectively need to petition the Board of Commissioners of their wishes.

Commissioner Veramay stated that it used to be that the townships had to pay 100% of the cost to build a road plus a 15% administrative fee. We try to patch the holes in the roads. For three roads, back when gas was cheap, it still cost Clarence Township $500,000 to pave those roads. We need to sit down and brainstorm on which way we need to go in order to keep the maintenance up on these roads.

CITIZENS' TIME:

Mr. Berezonsky said that you could do a resolution to the townships or to the County. If they refused to put it on the ballot then you can get a petition from the people and it doesn't have to go through the County. Mr. Berezonsky said that what they need is to get Greg Purcell out of there. He doesn't have to be accountable to anyone and anything he brings before the County Board is always sugar coated. They don't discuss anything anymore; it's a rubber stamp board. It's just a joke down there.

Commissioner Veramay stated that Clarence Township is putting one mill on the ballot for roads this year. Ten years ago all the taxes they collected went to roads but now the biggest share of the tax money goes to the volunteer fire department and the first responder rescue units. They are asking for 1 mill for roads and when you levy that mill then they can only spend the money on the roads and it can't go for other things. You will be amazed at how much work you can get done with just one mill.

Mr. Rice said that he had two safety problems. When they put in all those left hand turn lanes at the intersections, they never brushed them back and they are a hazard. B Drive S and Beadle Lake Road is one of those intersections. The trees and brush are too close to the right of way. When the intersections were widened the field of view was narrowed. The other safety issue is when we have bad weather, the trucks don't get out to salt the roads before the school busses. I think that they should be salted by 5:00am so that it will be safe when the busses run at 6:30am.

Commissioner Travis asked when do our trucks get out in the morning? Mr. Stacy commented that we send them out as needed. The Sheriff or State Police Departments call if they feel the roads are unsafe. Commissioner Travis said that we couldn't get to all the roads at the same time. Mr. Adams said that if it snows at 6:00am, then we call in the crews and send them out at that time.

Commissioner Veramay said that maybe we should have the busses start at 8:00am so that the kids could get out of school at 3:30pm, like they did when he was a kid. When we have bad roads we have people that are on call. We have 1,500 miles of roads and we can't get to all of them at the same time. The Sheriff's Department calls and tells us that we have icy conditions then our Supervisors call in help to take care of the roads. We can't just have a policy that says we are going to start our people at 5:00am.

Mr. Henning stated we do call our employees in at 5:00am if the weather conditions warrant it. If we have a safety issue with the students, then that safety issue lies with the school district. They have the authority to have a 2-hour delay or to cancel school if they feel it's unsafe for the busses to run. The Road Commission has the power to assess our primary road system and to call people in as needed on an overtime basis to take care of the roads. If you have a problem with the kids being on a bus when the roads are icy, perhaps you may want to talk to the school district and ask them to have a 2-hour delay. We can't just have people waiting for the snow to come.

Commissioner Veramay said that he didn't know of any incidents in this county where we had an accident with a school bus because of bad weather. Commissioner Veramay asked Mr. Rice if he knew of any incidents of this happening. Mr. Rice didn't have an answer.

Mr. Bramble commented that we were going about this at the wrong angle. We need to start at the top and go down. The reason we don't have any money in this state is because of the little escapade over in the sand dunes. Poor management starts up there and filters right down to us.

Mr. Ball announced that the County Commission meeting is tomorrow night at 7:00pm at the County Building.

Mr. Millard stated that one way to get more money would be to get rid of the intermediate school district and the Battle Creek Library. There would be about 11½ mills we could spend on something important.

The next regular meeting of the Calhoun County Road Commission Board is scheduled for Wednesday, April 5, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. There being no additional business before the Board, Chairman Travis adjourned the meeting at 10:18 a.m.