Calhoun County Board of Commissioners Report

From the Thursday, March 21, 2024 Calhoun County Board of Commissioners Meeting

On the consent agenda for the March 21 meeting, Calhoun County Commissioners approved an employee’s service credit purchase through the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan (MERS), a lease agreement extension with the W.E. Upjohn Institute for office space in the County’s Albion building, and an application for the development of a Kalamazoo River Conservation Trail through the FY2025 Congressional Directed Spending Request program. To view the agenda or meeting recording, visit the Agendas page of the website.

In new business, the Board approved:

resolutions for the Road Department's local bridge program that would be eligible for 2027 federal funding
a Road Department bid award for sodium chloride (road ice melting salt)
a Road Department bid award for Hot Mix Asphalt pickup
a Parks Department grant application for the North Branch Boat Launch in Pennfield Township
a Parks Department grant application for Historic Bridge Park Access and Renovations
an update to Policy 239 related to claims against the county and administrative settlement authority to reflect changes to the County's processing accounts payable via EFT payments

A message from Calhoun County Administrator/Controller Kelli Scott

Road Department Recognition

At the Michigan County Road Association's (CRA) Highway Conference and Road Show this week, the Calhoun County Road Department received a 2023 Best Practices IMPRESS Award within the Collaboration category, for the recently completed Emmett Township Local Road Improvement Project. CCRD was recognized for partnering with Emmett Township to ensure responsible and effective prioritization of the much needed comprehensive local road improvement plan, and to help educate residents about the related millage request that was ultimately approved. CCRD was able to finished this very large scale project on time and within budget, and was committed to collaborating with the Township for ongoing communication and progress updates.

The bottom line is that nearly 75 miles, all of the local roads, in Emmett Township, were improved by the end of 2023 with $24 Million of investment by the taxpayers and the County. This significant project was made possible only through this collaboration, along with the financing capacity and strong credit rating of the County that we are able to offer to our Road Department. Independent County Road Commissions in Michigan are much more limited as to their ability to finance large capital projects such as this and generally rely on much smaller, phased projects using annual operating budgets.

Partnerships like this with the townships are the primary key to success in applying long-term fixes to the roads in our County instead of falling further behind with year-to-year reliance on inadequate state funding. A similar process of collaboration is ongoing with Newton Township after voters approved a new road millage this year.

FireKeepers 2024 Check Ceremony

Speaking of intergovernmental collaboration, the County is engaged in numerous efforts to support and maintain positive relationships with all levels of government.

The FireKeepers Local Revenue Sharing Board Net Win Distribution Ceremony on Thursday, March 14 was a great example of this. The County supports through an Administrative Services Agreement the local distribution of funds received annually from a portion of the FireKeepers Casino Hotel’s Net Win, saving administrative costs that would otherwise reduce the amount of these funds available to our local units of government such as schools, libraries, and the community college.

The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Tribe owns the casino and host the annual check ceremony to announce the revenue sharing payments to both the State of Michigan and the FireKeepers Local Revenue Sharing Board. The amount presented to the State was $20.5M. The amount presented to the FireKeepers Local Revenue Sharing Board (FLRSB), which will distribute the funds to local entities, was $6.2M. Pictured is FLRSB Chair Deb Belles from Emmett Township, this year’s FLRSB Board Chair, accepting the distribution from Frank Tecumseh, Chief Executive Officer at FireKeepers Casino Hotel. Read the FireKeepers press release.

The FLRSB will now commence with its distribution process, with the first step being an application process through mid-April for eligible local units of government claiming increased costs within 2023 attributable to the operations of the FireKeepers Casino Hotel or the Tribal Reservation in Athens. County Commissioner Derek King serves as the County’s representative on the FLRSB Board, and was reelected as this year’s Treasurer.

At its Organizational meeting on March 8, the Board also approved the rest of the 2024 officers, including Athens Township resident Greg Moore as Vice Chair and Battle Creek City Manager Rebecca Fleury as Secretary. Meeting dates, the timeline for distribution of this year’s funds, and more information about the FLRSB can be found at calhouncountymi.gov/flrsb.

A Calhoun County Veterans Affairs Committee meeting was held on Wednesday, March 13. Committee members reviewed the department's budget through February, as well as Veterans Relief Fund Applications. Ten Veterans Relief Fund applications were approved for $10,207.17.

A Calhoun County Board of Public Health meeting was held on Monday, March 18. Board members heard a financial update from Staff Accountant Ruth Reese, and Sanitarian Nick Iszler presented about the Public Health Department's Vector Program, which surveils ticks and mosquitos in Calhoun County.

The County Administrator/Controller and Board Chair hosted on March 15 a quarterly meeting with the managers and mayors from all four of our cities and the Village of Homer, to encourage ongoing intergovernmental collaboration and sharing of community happenings. At this meeting, the group heard updates about the newly formed Transportation Authority of Calhoun County (TACC) and its board’s plans to secure future assets, leadership and funding. Other key discussion items included the focus on increasing available housing across the County as well as general economic development projects.

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