By DEBRA HAIGHT
ST. JOSEPH – At their first meeting of July, Berrien County Commissioners celebrated the return to in-person
meetings and the one year work anniversary of Brian Dissette as the county administrator.
Commissioners had been meeting virtually since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March, 2020. The virtual meetings for the county board and other local governmental boards around the state had been authorized initially by an executive order by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and then by legislation and finally by a county declared state of emergency.
“I’m glad we are all here,” County Board Chairman Mac Elliott said. “We all know people who are no longer with us who we’ve lost in the last year and a half, some way before their time.”
Other commissioners also expressed their pleasure in being able to get back together in person at the County Administration Center in St. Joseph. “I’m very happy done with last Zoom meeting,” Vice Chairman Ezra Scott said. “I’m very happy see faces back in the conference room.”
Finance Committee Chairwoman Mamie Yarbrough agreed. “I looked over my information for the meeting and there was no Zoom info,” she said. “It came to me that I didn’t need Zoom since I was coming in person.”
The board is now going back to its regular schedule of having in person committee and board meetings at the administration center nearly every Thursday morning. Committee meetings are no longer being livestreamed, but the weekly county board meetings continue to be livestreamed on the county’s YouTube channel.
That regular schedule will be fully implemented July 22 when the committee on committees will be held at 8:35 a.m. that day followed by board committee meetings and then the county board meeting at 10:30 a.m.
Only one night meeting is on the schedule so far for coming months. County commissioners are scheduled to meet Aug. 19 at 6 p.m. in Chikaming Township. The focus of that meeting will a presentation on Red Arrow Highway improvements in that area including the addition of non-motorized trails and putting the highway on a road diet.
Last week’s meeting also featured the one year work anniversary for Dissette. County commissioners hired Dissette to succeed William Wolf last spring and Dissette’s first day on the job was July 1, 2020.
Commissioners initially signed a three-year contract with Dissette last year with an annual salary of $142,500 for the 2020-21 year. Last week, commissioners approved a two percent pay increase for him, making his new annual salary $145,350 effective July 1. Elliott announced that the annual evaluation for Dissette will take place in November and December.
Dissette began his public service career in Berrien County, serving an internship in the county’s economic development department after college in 2002 during the tenure of then County Administrator Mike Henry. He then was the city manager in Watervliet for four years before going to South Haven in 2006.
“It’s officially been one year and I want to thank the board,” Dissette said at last week’s meeting. “I have really enjoyed working here. There’s not been one day where I have been bored. The staff has been wonderful to work with, the year has really gone by quickly.”
He said highlights of the last year included working with the sheriff’s department on the jail improvement project as well as overseeing the revamp of the county’s IT mainframe. “Thank you all for giving me this opportunity,” he said. “I look forward to coming to work every day and working with you.”
Dissette singled out Administrative Assistant Annette Christie for special thanks. “For anyone in the room who hasn’t been watching the last year, the level of stress experienced by one person can’t be explained,” he said. “Annette has overseen the zoom meetings and handled all the committee and board meetings.”
Christie’s work load has been lessened some in recent weeks and months with the IT upgrades made to the board conference room in the administration center including the replacement of acoustical panels. Those upgrades now allow for meetings to be livestreamed with better audio and visual capabilities.
In other personnel news, commissioners appointed Deputy Health Officer Courtney Davis as the Interim Health Officer for the Berrien County Health Department. Current Health Officer Nikki Britten will be resigning July 9 to take a position with Spectrum Lakeland Health. She has been the face of the county’s pandemic response for much of the last year.
Davis’ appointment will be for six months or until a permanent replacement can be found.
“She has an excellent educational background, I think she’s going to do a great job,” Dissette said. “The state has recognized her as the interim officer and we should be in good shape as Nikki Britten transitions out of the department.”
Commissioners also approved the extension of the county’s contract with the Abonmarche engineering firm to offer management and technical assistance for the Berrien County Road Department. Abonmarche was hired after the county parted ways with road department manager Jason Latham earlier this year.
The Abonmarche contract was set to expire June 30 and has now been extended to the end of 2021. The firm is receiving $19,360 per month. The total contract is not to exceed $174,240.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.