By DEBRA HAIGHT
ST. JOSEPH – Last week’s Berrien County Board of Commissioners meeting featured a changing of the guard in the Friend of the Court office as well as action on a temporary traffic order, a purchasing policy change and honorary resolutions.
Friend of the Court Director Tom Watson reported earlier this year that he planned to retire in July and last week’s meeting was his last official meeting with the county board. County commissioners presented him with a resolution honoring him for his 21 years of service to the county, while also approving another resolution naming his successor.
The Friend of the Court office investigates and makes recommendations and reports to the court on a number of matters including custody, parenting time, amount of support and denials of parenting time. It is that office’s duty to enforce custody orders, parenting time orders and support orders entered by the court.
The Friend of the Court also works closely with the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office. It provides mediation as a way of settling disagreements over custody and parenting time as well.
The new Friend of the Court will be Lisa Jardine. She has been the deputy director in the office and was chosen from a field of candidates vying to succeed Watson. Her salary will be $82,347 when she starts her new duties Aug. 2.
“Her appointment completes the search process,” County Administrator Brian Dissette said. “We ran a
thorough and public search and found her to be the best candidate to take over for Mr. Watson.”
County Board Chairman Mac Elliott praised the appointment. “I’ve known Lisa for a number of years,” he said. “She captures the high level of knowledge and skill and marries that with a very impressive professional demeanor. She is the Friend of the Court to the public and I can’t think of a more able successor for Tom.”
Jardine thanks the board for naming her to the post. “I love my work and I love the mission of the Friend of the Court,” she said. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Tom and he has mentored me. Following him is overwhelmingly exciting and humbling. I hope to do half the job he did. I’m humbled and grateful.”
Watson said he has confidence that Jardine will do a good job. “I have the utmost confidence in her,” he said. “From my perspective, she will do a good job for Berrien County and will be able to carry on.”
“I’ve worked with her for over 10 years,” he added. “She’s an individual who is passionate and who is able to go ahead and understand what our business is all about and be very communicative with members of the public.”
Elliott also took time to praise Watson for his tenure with the county including his overseeing of new case management systems and the office’s transitioning from paper to electronic files. He noted that Watson came to the position from outside the court system and had worked previously in the financial industry.
Elliott said Watson has gained statewide recognition for his work in Berrien County and was a longtime member of the state Friend of the Court Board. “He is active in the community and his actions mirror the mission of Berrien County,” he said.
Watson spoke of the friendships he’s made and nurtured during his time at the county, mentioning in particular former Berrien County Trial Judge Paul Maloney who is now on the federal bench and the late Neal Nitz, a longtime Berrien County Commissioner.
“I’ve had nothing but unequivocal support from you on the board and the county administration,” he said. “The courts are beneficiary of that relationship and we’re blessed to have that working relationship. That relationship doesn’t exist elsewhere in the state.”
“The work we do is tough, but the new Friend of the Court will do an excellent job,” he added. “The county will continue to be very well served under her leadership.”
Others receiving accolades were a number of citizens and police officers as well as Nicki Britten who is leaving as the Berrien County Health Director to take a position with Spectrum Lakeland Health. Britten has been with the county since 2009 when she was hired as an epidemiologist. She has led the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year.
The county board honored Britten for her efforts and also approved a resolution allowing her to stay on temporarily to work with Berrien RESA and local school districts to restart school safely this fall. “She has been a true asset to Berrien County,” Elliott said.
Other presentations were made honoring the family of Dakota “Cody” Yergeau who drowned March 28, as well as citizens and deputies for acts of bravery. The Yergeau family donated the memorial funds they received-around $4,700-for the county to purchase a hand-held sonar device that can scan underwater areas to find drowning victims.
Citizens honored were Richard Vanerman who helped a deputy apprehend a suspect in May and Ricky Ferrell and Ashli McCarty who helped save a person who had fallen into a pit filled with freezing water in February.
Deputies honored were Michael Troup for performing the Heimlich maneuver on a nine year old student in New Buffalo in February and six deputies and a captain who helped remove firearms from alleged criminals. They were Capt. Randall Miller and Deputies Matthew Grimm, Benjamin Eberly, Jason Roe, Robert Plane, Preston Huddleston and Brandon Crosby.
The traffic order approved will lower the speed limit on the roads being used for detours from M-139 construction work south of St. Joseph. County Commissioner Jim Curran reported that 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.
Curran said the traffic order will lower the speed limit on sections of John Beers, Hollywood and Linco Roads from 55 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour. He said the sheriff’s department will evaluate the situation for the next week to see if further changes have to be made.
The purchasing policy change allows the county administrator to have the authority to spend up to $10,000 without getting prior county board approval. The policy was last updated when the limit was upped to $5,000.
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