BERRIEN COUNTY ROAD COMMISSION HAS BEEN DISSOLVED

ST. JOSEPH – The Berrien County Road Commission has been dissolved after a vote last week by the Berrien County Board of Commissioners. The road commission’s powers and duties have now been transferred to a newly-created county road department.
County commissioners split 6-5 on the vote with commissioner Bill Chickering absent at last week’s county board meeting. The resolution approved directed County Administrator William Wolf to appoint an interim director, make necessary personnel moves to increase efficiencies and recommend a permanent director by the end of the year.
Wolf has already acted to appoint an interim director. Louis Csokasy had led the road commission as the managing director from October 2013 to May of this year. Csokasy claimed this spring that he was retiring but road commission board members said he left after making questionable decisions.
The county board has been debating the fate of the road commission off and on for nearly five years. An attempt four years ago to take over the road commission was tabled when county commissioners decided to leave things the way they were.
The internal turmoil at the road commission was cited by county officials as the reason for the takeover both then and now. Wolf noted in presentations to the county board this summer that the road commission has had three managing directors and three interim managing directors since 2011.
During that time, there have also been 15 changes to the road commission membership due to death, removals, resignations and appointments. The road commission governing board was made up of five citizens appointed by the county board.
County Commissioners’ move last week to dissolve the road commission came after the board held three public hearings in August and early September and met with road commission board members Sept. 19.
As for what the move means in practical terms, county officials reported that the powers, duties and functions of the Road Commission are transferred to and absorbed into Berrien County government as a new department.
With the move, the Berrien County Road Department assumes all pending contracts, work orders, funding agreements, and adopted plans that were previously approved by the Road Commission with no break in service.
Berrien County staff will be working with this new department and its employees through the transition period, as all employees and positions of the former Road Commission are transferred to the Road Department.
In addition to appointing Louis Csokasy as interim Road Department Director, Wolf appointed Don Geisler as Road Department Superintendent (interim), and Brian Berndt as Road Department Highway Engineer (interim).  They held similar positions at the road commission.
A salary schedule for all non-union employees will be established prior to December 31, 2017 and the collective bargaining agreement for the union employees is recognized.
All policies of the Road Commission are adopted by the Berrien County Board of Commissioners until such time as they are reviewed, amended and/or replaced by County policies. It is the intent of the Berrien County Board of Commissioners to approve the hiring of a Road Department Director by December 31, 2017.
Berrien County has also procured the services of an environmental consulting firm to complete Baseline Environmental Assessments for any appropriate properties. While this transition is underway, the website formally used by the Road Commission, bcroad.org, is under construction.
Residents wanting to place a service request for road maintenance issues should call (269) 925-1196 and follow the prompts or visit www.berriencounty.org and select the “contact us” option.
County officials noted that it is the Berrien County Board of Commissioners’ intent to assure a smooth transition of this department and to provide the best service for the residents of Berrien County while maximizing the efficiencies and opportunities offered by departmentalization.