BERRIEN COUNTY COMMISSION 2021 UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT

It looks like 2021 is starting the same way 2020 ended, with the COVID-19 pandemic the main focus for governments and courts. Courthouses are still closed to the public and meetings for the most part are still virtual.

Court officials in both Berrien and Cass Counties have indicated that they plan to assess the situation in January and decide when they will be able to start back on their re-opening plans. The State Court Administrative Office has set out a four step plan to get courts around the state back to normal.

People can expect governmental meetings to be virtual for the most part in the next three months. The Michigan legislature passed and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill allowing local and county governments as well as local school boards to meet virtually through the end of March.

As has been the case since March, the Berrien County Board of Commissioners met virtually last week for their last meeting of 2020. COVID was again a major topic of discussion as commissioners and county officials looked back at how the pandemic has affected county operations.

County Administrator Brian Dissette and Financial Services Director Doug James said the county has spent nearly all of the $1.4 million received in federal CARES Act funds. They said only about $39,000 remains unspent.

The county used the federal dollars in a variety of areas, ranging from purchasing extra personal protective equipment and other equipment to testing, contact tracing and personnel costs.

They said that the federal government had initially said the money had to be spent by the end of the calendar year but has extended the deadline. They’re hoping that the state government will take similar action and extend the deadline for COVID related expenditures.

James said the county started some projects that will likely be completed and funded in 2021. Those include making audio visual technology improvements in the Administration Center’s county board room.

“We’ve been working tirelessly to get everything done by the end of the year, all the while dealing with multiple people being out for two weeks due to COVID,” Dissette said. “It looks like there will be allowances to push CARES Act spending into 2021 so we will be good. We also have projects cued up to do with the second CARES Act funding.”

He noted that the contact tracing expenditure was one of the items initially in the health department budget but transferred to the county’s budget. “It allowed us to spend down more of our dollars and give the health department room in their budget,” he said.

Commissioner Ezra Scott said he believes the county was fortunate to have the cash funds available to deal with the pandemic. “This is my own personal statement,” he said. “We were very fortunate enough to have the cash funds available to deal with the COVID crisis, now we’re waiting on getting reimbursed.”

“Other counties and municipalities were not as fortunate as Berrien County,” he added. “I want to thank financial people, the former treasurer Bret Witkowski and the former administrator Bill Wolf along with Doug James.”

“We were smart enough to make sure we controlled our spending and it paid off for us,” Scott said. “As a board, we should be eternally grateful we had the funding to go forward and then be reimbursed.”

Last week’s board meeting also featured approval of a number of annual resolutions including one supporting the partnership between the Berrien County Health Department and the United Way to extend the Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail north from Niles to Berrien Springs.

Commissioners also approved agreements with Andrews University for the Forensic Lab operation, with senior citizen centers in the county, the MSU Extension Service office and with the city of St. Joseph to submit a state grant application to fund coastal management projects.

Commissioners said farewell to two of their own. This was the last meeting for Bill Chickering and Chris Heugel. New commissioners taking office this week are Rayonte Bell and Julie Wuerfel.

Chickering noted that he’s been in public service for 28 years including 22 years on the St. Joseph Board of Education and six years on the county board. He thanked other commissioners and county officials who served as mentors to him as well as the hundreds of county employees who work to make the county a great place to live.

The county board’s next scheduled meeting is set for Thursday, Jan. 7 at 8:35 a.m. when commissioners hold their organizational meeting and elect officers and make committee appointments for the coming year.