COUNTY NEWS UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT

1. JOSEPH – The Berrien County Board of Commissioners heads into August with efforts on tap in a number of areas. One item sure to be on the agenda at upcoming county board meetings is the continuing discussion what’s the best way to spend the nearly $30 million the county will be getting in federal COVID relief funds.

Commissioners will also be asked to approve decisions in other areas, ranging from the move of a county department to another location and deciding whether to bill insurance companies for administrative costs associated with COVID-19 vaccines.

County Administrator Brian Dissette reported on the first two matters at the county board’s most recent meeting on July 22. The county board did not meet last week due to it being a fifth Thursday, but will meet again this week on Aug. 5 in the County Administration Building.

The board meets at 10:30 a.m. with the meetings livestreamed and available to the public on the county’s YouTube channel. The Aug. 5 meeting will also feature a Committee of the Whole meeting earlier that morning.

Dissette said the Aug. 5 Committee of the Whole agenda will feature updates from the acting director of the Berrien County Health Department and the county medical examiner. The health department acting director will report on the department’s work with local school districts in developing “return to school” plans for the start of the 2021-22 year.

As for the discussions on how to spend the $29.7 million the county will get in relief funds from the federal government, Dissette and commissioners commented on a recent meeting of the Strategic Leadership Council which consists of local government and business leaders in the county.

They said that those attending the strategic leadership council meeting stressed the importance of following best practices as they look at how to spend the recovery funds they are getting. Leaders both at the local and county level are still unclear on everything the money can be spent on but want to work cooperatively.

For their part, county commissioners have already hired a consultant to help guide them through the strategic planning process as they prepare to make decisions on what they will spend the federal funds. That process is expected to last for several weeks.

Dissette also gave a brief overview of his plans to move the county’s equalization office into a county owned property on Church Street in St. Joseph. That building has been vacant since the Public Defender’s Office moved out earlier this year to a larger space on Renaissance Drive in the Edgewater area of St. Joseph.

Dissette noted that officials from both the equalization office and the Berrien County Trial Court were interested in the building and he believes the equalization building will be a better fit. Administration Committee Chairman Jim Curran said his committee toured the equalization office and agreed with Dissette’s assessment.

“Both (Trial Court Administrator) Carrie Smietanka-Haney and (Equalization Director) Warren Parrish put in proposals,” Dissette said. “I met with buildings and grounds and key staff to go over the proposals as to which made the most sense.”

“Both have needs but moving equalization to the Church Street building would have the lowest cost and the greatest return,” he added. “Their current space here in the basement is handicapped accessible but the accessibility isn’t the greatest.”

He noted that the equalization office’s current location is in space initially designed to be a lab for kitchen equipment when Kitchen-Aid owned the building. “It has an elevated floor which makes the office not the most comfortable in the winter and it’s even colder in the summer,” he said.

“I’m in no way saying that the courts don’t have space needs, but the equalization office needs outweigh the immediate needs of the courts,” he added.

The board’s tabling of a resolution to allow the health department resolution to bill people’s private health insurance for COVID-19 vaccine administrative costs did not come up at the July 22 meeting and is likely not to be raised again until October.

Commissioners said in mid-July that they were concerned that billing health insurance companies might discourage people from getting the vaccine. The matter will come up again when commissioners also address other health department administrative fee increases.

Commissioners did take additional action in connection with the construction being done on M-139 north of Berrien Springs this summer. The M-139 work involves replacing a culvert on the highway north of Rockey Weed Road and won’t be done until late September. The cost of the project is $1.8 million.

Commissioners first approved a lowering of the speed limit on sections of John Beers, Hollywood and Linco Roads from 55 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour.  Those three roads are the primary ones seeing the extra traffic from detour.

At the July 22 meeting, commissioners went further and approved the placement of a temporary four-way stop at the Linco/Hollywood intersection. Road department officials said that the number of accidents in that area have been reduced since the lowering of the speed limit and the placement of the four-way stop.

Commissioners also approved a new agreement between the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department and the Michigan Department of Transportation for increased patrols along the detour route. The area saw numerous accidents initially, but those have been reduced with the traffic control measures instituted.