BERRIEN COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

ST. JOSEPH – Changes to Berrien County Animal Control and the first county broadband grants to local townships are on the horizon for the Berrien County Board of Commissioners. Both issues are expected to come up at this week’s meeting at the Berrien County Administration Center on Thursday morning.

Two resolutions coming to the board this week will deal with broadband. County Board Vice-Chair and BC Bit Chairman Teri Freehling and Finance Committee Chair Mamie Yarbrough said the recommendation is that the county award grants to Bainbridge and Oronoko Townships for broadband expansion.

The county board agreed to set aside $6 million out the $30 million the county is getting in American Rescue Plan Act funds for broadband projects. Townships have been invited to apply to the county to get some of the county funds which they will then match with their own local funds.

The recommendation is to award $562,500 in county funds to Bainbridge Township with Bainbridge providing $187,500 from their own ARPA funds. Oronoko Township has pledged their entire $700,000 ARPA allocation to their broadband project and the county will put in another $700,000.

Both projects were deemed “shovel ready” by Freehling and Yarbrough. “It’s just a pleasure to know that it’s happening,” Yarbrough said. “The fact that it is will help other communities know they can do it. We will also be in very good condition when other grant funds come in.”

Freehling noted that the state has set aside $250 million to fund broadband projects and the federal government is sending between $1.3 and $1.5 billion to Michigan out of the infrastructure bill to Michigan.

Freehling said after the meeting that she is happy to see that Oronoko is one of the first two townships to get a county grant to expand broadband as her county commission district includes part of Oronoko.

“I’m thrilled to see one of my townships be a frontrunner in getting funding,” she said. “We’ve seen the community and township officials in Oronoko support the project and take it to heart. Oronoko Township has been very proactive in making it a prioritization. I had talked to the townships early on and they made broadband a priority.”

Freehling has been a pioneer of sorts in the county when it comes to broadband. “We’ve been at it since 2019 before the pandemic,” she said. In 2019 it was a matter of convincing people that it was not a luxury but a necessity. Never in our wildest dreams did we think we’d face what we did in the pandemic and what happened made the conversations easier.”

She’s glad to see county and local leaders working together to make the broadband expansion happen. “It’s wonderful to see the board of commissioners working together and local leaders seeing the same need,” she said. “It’s a good example of what good governance is about.”

County Commissioner and Administration Committee Chair Jim Curran reported last week on changes coming at the county’s Animal Control. The county board will be asked to approve a resolution this week to make changes.

If approved, the funded five animal control enforcement officers will now be under the supervision of the sheriff’s department with the remaining staff in the kennel be under the supervision of the animal shelter manager. He said the animal control director title will now be changed to the animal shelter manager with that position soon to be filled.

As for the enforcement officers, he said he and other county officials have been talking about the change for a while and believe it will be beneficial. He said the sheriff’s department can provide better guidance and equipment to them. Enforcement officers would still wear their current uniforms and not sheriff’s department uniforms, he noted.

Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey said that if his department has an opening, any of the animal control enforcement officers can apply. He noted that the enforcement officers will not go out on criminal complaints unless an animal is involved.

“With the enhanced training, these officers will have a better chance of getting into the sheriff’s department, Commissioner Dave Vollrath said.

Last week’s county board meeting also featured news and action on other fronts.

Berrien County Equalization Director Warren Parrish reported good news for the county in terms of economic growth. He said the county saw a 4.54 percent increase in taxable values in the county which he called a “big increase”. He said he estimated last fall that the increase would be just over two percent.

“From a revenue point of view, that’s excellent news,” he said. “It’s a significant jump from 2.96 percent last year. That’s a good increase in taxable value, it’s pretty much an ideal situation from an assessment perspective.”

The county board later approved the annual resolution detailing equalization values. The county totals reported included $10.446 billion in real property and $577.474 million for personal property. The combined total of real and personal property in county municipalities is $11.023 billion.

Commissioners also learned about what’s going on in the Berrien County Trial Court’s Family Division. Court and law enforcement officials are working together on a pre-arrest diversion program where referrals can be made in order to get counseling for youth and their families.

Commissioner Julie Wuerfel reported that the Juvenile Center can employ up to 45 people but currently has 17 openings. At the same time, the length of juveniles’ stay at the 16-bed center is going up with the number of weapons charges also increasing.