The Chippewa County Board of
Commissioners met for their Organizational meeting on
Present: Commissioners Ted Postula, Don Cooper,
Scott Shackleton, Richard Timmer, Bernard LaJoie and Chairman Earl Kay
Absent: Commissioner Jim Moore
Also Present: Don and Chris McLean, Frank Blissett,
Don Holt, Marvin Willis, Dirk Heckman, Will Karr and Diane Cork,
ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN
It was moved by Commissioner LaJoie,
supported by Commissioner Timmer, to nominate Ted Postula as Chippewa County
Board of Commissioners Vice-Chair.
Hearing no further nominations, it was moved by Commissioner Cooper,
supported by Commissioner Timmer, to close nominations and cast a unanimous
ballot for Ted Postula. On a voice
vote the motion carried and Ted Postula was elected as the Vice-Chair to the
Chippewa County Board of Commissioners.
It was moved by Commissioner LaJoie,
supported by Commissioner Postula, to acknowledge the correspondence received
in the Clerks Office and if necessary, forward to the appropriate
committee. On a voice vote, the
motion carried.
COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
Chairman Kay stated that the 2006
Committee appointments will remain the same unless objections were voiced. Hearing no objections, the appointments
are as follows:
Finance, Claims and Accounts
Richard Timmer*
Don
Cooper
Bernard
LaJoie
James Moore
Ted Postula
Earl Kay
(Ex-Officio)
Scott Shackleton (Ex-Officio)
Building and Grounds
Earl Kay*
Ted Postula
Richard Timmer
Personnel Bernard LaJoie*
Earl Kay
Ted
Postula
Equalization & Apportionment Jim
Moore*
Don Cooper
Scott Shackleton
Health and Social Services
Ted Postula*
Bernard LaJoie
James Moore
Legislative and Natural Resources
Richard Timmer*
Earl Kay
Scott Shackleton
Transportation
Ted
Postula*
Jim
Moore
Richard Timmer
Computer Committee
Don Cooper*
Earl
Kay
Bernard LaJoie
U.P.C.A.P. Delegate
Emergency Food & Shelter
National Board Program
Don Cooper
*Denotes Chairperson
On a voice vote, the motion carried.
MEETING SCHEDULE
It was moved by Commissioner
Shackelton, supported by Commissioner Timmer to adopt the following meeting
schedule:
2006 Regular Board Meetings
2006 Finance Meetings
On a voice vote, the motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Dirk Heckman, Chippewa County Road
Commission, gave a 2005 construction update. Discussion was held on fuel costs,
bridge repair and State contract.
Don McLean read the following
statement:
From the December HBH meeting and
last Thursdays Evening News we understand HBH is planning an expansion of
their Manistique office.
We are here tonight to explain our
opposition to their plans. To do
this we feel the need to correct a few myths that continue to be used by Top
HBH management and the HBH board members from Manistique for their own advantage.
First,
Next, there is no formal agreement
that HBH administrative offices must be located in Manistique. We searched the formal resolution you
passed when you joined HBH and the minutes of the meeting Mr. Harma claimed
established Manistique as the main office and we found nothing to support that
claim. Yet, we remember hearing Mr. Frenette of Manistique state that the
offices were located in Manistique so
We believe
When this board was first considering
a merger, one of the concerns we voiced was the difficulty of travel to
Manistique compared to travel to Petoskey.
Now, that cost of travel, overnight
lodging, meals and lost time has caused HBH to eliminate a number of client
services in Chippewa and Mackinac counties. Yet in spite of this, the top management
of HBH and the board leadership from Manistique are proceeding with plans to
expand the offices in Manistique.
Rising fuel costs are going to have
an increasing impact on budget. By
moving administration offices to a more geographically or population,
centralized, location there would be no need to add to the Manistique office. At the same time travel and other administration
costs would be reduced; allowing more money for client programs, treatment and
care.
To illustrate this, it was necessary
for one HBH manager from Manistique to spend 115 nights in Sault Ste. Marie
during the last fiscal year. I
would expect his meals were also provided those days.
Also, remember when the Chippewa
County mental health agency was having financial problems before they joined HBH; that a big reason for
those problems was that the board members were not properly monitoring the
administration.
Dont let that happen again
OLD BUSINESS: None
NEW BUSINESS: None
Having no further business, it was
moved by Commissioner Timmer, supported by Commissioner LaJoie, to
adjourn. On a voice vote, the
motion carried and the meeting did adjourn at
Respectfully submitted,
Diane S. Cork, Clerk
Earl Kay, Chairman