A REGULAR MEETING of the Board of Chippewa County Road Commissioners was duly held in their offices located at 3949 S. Mackinac Trail, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on February 6, 2008.

 

The meeting was called to order at 8:00 a.m.

 

Chairman MacDonald lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

PRESENT:  Chairman MacDonald, Commissioners Holt and Carr, Manager Heckman, Clerk McDowell, Foreman Erickson, Foreman McConkey, Foreman McConkey, Foreman Pesola, Chief Mechanic Sibbald.

 

ABSENT:  Office Mgr. Decker and Union President Hopper

 

MOTION by Commissioner Holt SECONDED by Commissioner Carr that the Payroll in the amount of $127,220.87 and Vouchers in the amount of $273,422.94 be approved and authorized for payment from the County Road Fund subject to audit.

 

MOTION CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE.

 

MOTION by Commissioner Holt SECONDED by Commissioner Carr that the minutes from the Special Meeting held on January 18, 2008 and Regular Meeting held on January 24, 2008.

 

MOTION CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE.

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS   

 

Jesse Knoll indicated roads are in good condition.

 

Supervisor Myerscough indicated meeting has been scheduled with BIA regarding funding for 1 ½ Mile Road on Sugar Island.

 

County Commissioner LaJoie indicated his displeasure with the purchasing of a county vehicle outside the county when we have three dealerships locally.  He stated he has had several calls from the area business stating their discontent.  He inquired as to why Sadler Motors was not given the opportunity to get the same vehicle we purchased from Newberry Motors from another agency.

 

 

 

Chairman MacDonald indicated Newberry Motors quoted a 2008 Suburban with a much higher sticker price than Sadler Motors who quoted a 2007 GMC Yukon.  He indicated the difference was approximately $3,000.00 so he felt because of the substantial difference it was better to purchase the vehicle from Newberry Motors.

 

Chairman MacDonald stated that some of the local dealerships can’t provide us with a vehicle with the carrying capacity we need.     

 

County Commissioner Kay indicated they have purchased vehicles from Soo Motors and O’Connors and have received good service and also received some very competitive bids from all dealerships.

 

County Commissioner Kay indicated he also received calls from all the area dealerships with one of their main concerns being that it was a requirement the vehicle quoting was on their lot.

 

Commissioner Kay stated if there are certain specifications you wish your vehicle to fall into you should have written specifications.

 

Manager Heckman stated the reason for asking to have the vehicle, that the dealership quoted, be on their lot was to allow an even playing field for everyone.

 

Commissioner Kay inquired as to if the Road Commission has a written purchasing policy.

 

Chairman MacDonald indicated we did not, but agreed it would be a good idea to develop one.

 

Chairman MacDonald stated he didn’t disagree in principal that we should try and purchase things locally and indicated we try and do that whenever possible, but when there is a substantial difference in prices he feels it’s in the best interest of the residents of Chippewa County to purchase outside the county.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manager Heckman indicated they did go back to Sadlers and allow them an opportunity to better the discount on the vehicle they were quoting, but were told that was their lowest price.

 

County Commissioner Moore stated what a great job was done by the employees out of the Rudyard garage during the last storm.

 

Chairman MacDonald stated we also received compliments from the Michigan State Police in working together during the recent storm to close roads.

 

Manager Heckman thanked all employees for their extra efforts in working through the recent storm.

 

Foreman McConkey, Erickson and Pesola indicated they are all busy with winter operations.

 

Manager Heckman presented Contractual Service Agreement between the CCRC and the Michigan State Police for seasonal weight enforcement on County Roads discussed and tabled from the January 24, 2008 meeting. 

 

Manager Heckman indicated he discussed with Lt. Bloss to what the availability of officers would be when they are requested.  Though he could not guarantee 100% they would be able to respond immediately, he indicated most of the time they will be able to respond on a case by case bases and even have a scheduled patrol during our seasonal weight restrictions.

 

Manager Heckman indicated the cooperative agreement with the Sheriff Dept to have one of their officers trained will take sometime to get into place and will not happen before our seasonal weight restrictions take place.

 

Commissioner Holt inquired about the training.

 

Manager Heckman indicated there is a training day scheduled for February 13, 2008 at the Otsego County Road Commission, but is his understanding that this is an annual refresher course and not the actual training classes which would entail around a week of training before you could become certified.

 

Manager Heckman therefore recommended we enter into the joint agreement with the Michigan State Police for spring time  weight enforcement.

 

MOTION by Commissioner Holt SECONDED by Commissioner Carr to enter into the Contractual Service Agreement with the Michigan State Police and to authorize Manager Heckman to sign.

 

MOTION CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE.

 

Manager Heckman presented Township Road Agreements with Dafter Township for work on Kinross Road and 11 Mile Road.

 

 

(1)               Work on approximately 2.0 Miles on Kinross Road from 12 Mile Road to 10 Mile Road, to consist of clearing, ditching, culvert replacement, sand subbase and gravel surfacing.  Township share is estimated to be $105,595.00.

 

(2)               Work on 11 Mile Road from Forrest Road to Kinross Road approximately 1.0 miles with work to consist of clearing, ditching, culvert replacement, sand subbase and gravel surfacing.  Total township share is estimated to be $52,798.00.

 

Manager Heckman indicated the township understands these projects would be scheduled in the 2009 construction season.

 

MOTION by Commissioner Holt SECONDED by Commissioner Carr to approve Township Road Agreements with Dafter Township for work on Kinross Road and 11 Mile Road as presented.

 

MOTION CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE.

 

Chairman MacDonald presented Official Ballot to cast vote for representatives to serve on the CRAM Board of Directors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOTION by Commissioner MacDonald SECONDED by Commissioner Carr to cast vote for Donald M. Holt for Upper, Jack Deming for Northern, John M. Hunt for Southern and John H. Daly III for Urban and that Donald M. Holt be the CCRC voting representative for the annual CRAM Meeting.

 

MOTION CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE.

 

Discussion on the possibility of rescheduling the regular meeting of March 6, 2008 due to conflict with CRAM Annual Meeting.

 

After a brief discussion it was determined that Chairman

MacDonald and Commissioner Carr would not be attending the CRAM Meeting so there would be no need to reschedule the regular meeting.

 

Manager Heckman reviewed bids taken on 2-1-09 for 8 new portable lift systems.  Bids received were as follows:

 

Gray Manufacturing Company, Inc.           $90,108.00

 

Lynn Auto Parts                            $66,392.00

 

Chief Mechanic Sibbald indicated he did a lot of research on lift systems and wrote specifications to meet the needs he felt would best work in the shop.

 

He indicated there would be one unit of four for the grease rack and one unit of four for the mechanic shop, which are self contained and portable units.

 

Chairman MacDonald asked what the differences in the two products bid to produce the differences in prices.

 

Chief Mechanic Sibbald indicated he didn’t look at all the structural differences, but indicated the units bid by Gray Manufacturing Company are portable, where the units bid by Lynn Auto are electric and required the use of external power supply requiring new wiring in shop and the use of extension cords.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manager Heckman indicated he has not had a lot of opportunity to compare information on each lift systems, but was leaning toward low bid which meet specifications.

 

Chairman MacDonald request postponing award until next meeting to allow for future review.

 

Chief Mechanic Sibbald stated if we go to an electric unit we might as well go back to a stationary hoist system.

 

Manager Heckman reviewed bids received on 2-1-08 for 3 ton hot patcher.  Bids were as followed:

 

Spalding, Mfg, Inc.                    $12,260.00

Falcon Road Maintenance Equip          $13,850.00

Falcon Road Maintenance Equip

2 Ton Unit                             $ 9,995.00

 

MOTION by Commissioner Holt SECONDED by Commissioner Carr to award the 3 ton hot patcher to Spalding, Mfg. in the amount of $12,260.00.

 

MOTION CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE.

 

Manager Heckman stated there were 4 applications received for the position of mechanic, 3 of which we had interviewed approximately 3 months ago.  The new applicant didn’t meet the standards set to make it to the interview process.

 

Manager Heckman indicated the interview committee recommends the hiring of Donnell Avery to fill the position of mechanic.

 

Chairman MacDonald indicated the three candidates from, which the interview committee made their selection from were applicants from the last time around with this one being a different individual. 

 

MOTION by Commissioner Holt SECONDED by Commissioner Carr to accept the interview committees recommendation to hire Donnell Avery to fill the position of mechanic.

 

MOTION CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE.

 

 

MANAGERS REPORT

 

  • Review of status report from Mackinac Environmental regarding closing out the Strongs garage site.
  • Trout Lake is still an active site and is not eligible for funding under the current program, but anticipates it will become eligible for funding in the future.

 

Commissioner MacDonald stated how important it is that these garages even though they are not currently used are being properly maintained for insurance purposes.

 

  • Auditors will be in February 25, 2008 to begin our 2007 financial review.
  • Update on informal notification from Conservation District that the DEQ is withdrawing funding for stream crossing improvements through Clean Michigan Initiative for three different locations in Raber Twp because of active litigation we are currently involved in.
  • MTA Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 14th at the Kinross Twp Hall.
  • Update on the purchasing of new county maps.
  • Truck bids are due in February 12, 2008.
  • Thanked everyone again for the great cooperation between the Sheriff Dept and 911 Emergency Services in getting through the recent storm.   

 

Foreman Pesola stated what a great job the night crews did during the recent storm.  He indicated the job of keeping the roads open in a storm is difficult enough, but in the dark it becomes an even greater task.

 

There being no further business to come before the Board it was MOVED by Commissioner Holt SECONDED by Commissioner Carr that the meeting be adjourned at 9:11 a.m.

 

MOTION CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE.

 

 

 

__________________________      __________________________

Christine A. McDowell           Louis N. MacDonald

Secretary for the Board         Chairman