Welcome to the Schor Report. Sorry for skipping a week last week. I had a death in the family and didn't have time to find a guest blogger. This week, I will try to cover the action for the last two weeks.
The County Services committee then the full Board of Commissioner took up a resolution calling on Meijer stores to continue to have City Pulse and other free magazines available in their store lobbies. Meijer's corporate offices recently decided to discontinue this service, and the City Pulse is calling on them to reverse this decision. The discussion on the Board floor was two-fold: (1) is this county business, and (2) is it a good business decision for Meijer. Commissioner Randy Schafer argued that is up to Meijer to decide what to do with their own business, and what makes business sense and what doesn't. He argued that it isn't county business. Commissioner Dianne Holman agreed, saying that she likes getting the paper there, but up to Meijer to decide. Commissioner Vickers argued that the County in the past has told people to go online (apparently he was referring to the Fair Board) and this should be no different.
Commissioner Deb Nolan pointed out that the Ingham County Commission weighs in on community issues all the time. She pointed out that others have weighed in favorable to the opinions of the Pulse, including the Lansing City Council. She said that there are 3,000 City Pulse publications picked up at Meijer locations weekly and Meijer is an important avenue to get this information out to citizens. She also pointed out that this is county business because public notices and Land Bank notices and other governmental information is in the Pulse and needs to get to residents. Commissioner Rebecca Baher-Cook also pointed out that this resolution is county business because the county shares tax foreclosures and RFP's and other county business. This must be available in places where people get public information. The elderly and others may not be in places where the City Pulse and other free publications are located, but they do go to the grocery store. She argued that this is an important resolution because the County is letting Meijer know that this is a disservice to residents. Commissioner Todd Tennis pointed out that we are not mandating anything, but encouraging Meijer to continue to allow free periodicals at their places of business.
Commissioner Schafer said that the main distribution is in Lansing and East Lansing, and the Pulse doesn't reach large portion of the rest of the county so this is just an urban issue. I responded to that saying that Meijer is in Lansing and East Lansing where the population centers are, but is also in Mason. And, I added that the Leslie paper and Stockbridge paper and other papers are free to residents and could also be carried at Meijer for the out-county residents that shop there. I pointed out that this is county business because we are acting on behalf of our constituents. I re-iterated that this is not an ordinance or mandate, but that this this is county business because the information is important to our constituents and Meijer needs to know the views of the community. The final resolution passed on a 10 - 5 vote, with the 4 Republicans and Commissioner Holman voting no and one Commissioner absent.
We also passed a resolution updating the Ingham County 911 Service Plan. The resolution updated the service plan from 1987. In includes areas services, how they all work, technical considerations, public and private agencies services by the network, etc. We had to pull this and vote on it separately from the items on the consent agenda because of state law requirements.
The final action on the Board floor involved appointments. A motion was made to make appointments to the Fair Board. We had interviewed people in the County Services Committee, but had not made a decision. The Democratic Caucus Chair moved to appoint two individuals, but apparently this information did not make it to the Republican Caucus in time. Some objected to being left out of the deliberations and decisions. Others wanted different members recommended. A motion was made to refer this back to committee for a recommendation and that motion passed 11-4. I supported the motion to send the resolution back to committee. After working in the Legislature for Democrats in the minority, I know what it is like to be kept out of the deliberations. The minority party cannot pass legislation or set the agenda, but they should at least be able to be part of the deliberation. When working in the State Senate and State House, there were plenty of times that the Republicans shut us out completely and that was frustrating when the Democrats represent Michigan residents also. As such, I agreed that the Republicans should be part of the deliberation even if the final decision may or may not be changed.
In County Services, we also heard that the Hawk Island snow park is now open. It was opened for 20 hours of service two weeks ago (Saturday for 8 hours and Sunday for 8 hours) and last weekend it was open all weekend. They are making snow at night when it is cold. With the unseasonable warm weather, it is hard to keep the snow made and not melting, but our staff is working on it. We also had a brief discussion about the Road Commission, and Chair Holman said that there will be an item on the next agenda. She said that she expected the mandatory public hearings to happen in late March or early April and expected discussions to commence soon when the Controller starts to bring recommendations.
In the Human Services Committee, we had an excellent presentation from the Greater Lansing Food Bank. I can't list everything they said, but they are definitely doing greater work for our community. They estimate 71,540 people in Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties don't know where their next meal is coming from. 1.3 million pounds of food was distributed to the Ingham County Food Bank network pantries from 2010 to 2011. Beginning July 1, 2012, the Greater Lansing Food Bank and the Mid-Michigan Food Bank will become one food bank. This will create efficiencies in the system. We had a great discussion about how we can get the word out. The Food Bank people mentioned the Lansing State Journal editorial and said that many people responded to that. I also mentioned that we need to keep pushing out the 2-1-1 phone number. People can call this if they have extra food they want to donate, or for any other social safety net needs. This prevents every different agency from havinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif to market their own contact information. If you need to know if there are community services to fit your needs, call 2-1-1!
On the campaign front, things continue to be very busy. I have gained a few more endorsements in the last few weeks that I will roll out soon. Some big ones! And the first fundraiser of 2012 is set and ready to go. We have new Host Committee members being added every day. If you haven't already heard about it, block off March 14th from 5:30 to 7:30 and come join us at the home of Jim McClurken and Sergei Kvitko. All the details can be found on my website at .
Thanks for all the sympathy notes, and for all the well wishes for the commission stuff and the campaign!
Showing posts with label Hawk Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hawk Island. Show all posts
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Road Commission, Hawk Island Snow Boarding Hill, Zoo Director, Civil Rights, Domestic Partner Benefits
Another busy week this week. The road commission debate kicked up a notch. In County Services, we considered a resolution to remove Shirley Rodgers from the road Commission Board. There was a ton of discussion by committee members, after hearing lots of testimony from the public. Commissioner Grebner proposed an alternate resolution which stated that the Road Commission Board is dysfunctional. It said that the Road Commissioners do not trust the manager, the manager doesn't respect or take direction from the Road Commission, and the employees don't seem to trust either. The resolution attempted to wipe the slate clean by calling on all five Road Commissioners to resign so we can start over. If they did not resign, the resolution said that we would not re-appoint any of them.
I have not decided yet which way I want to go. I don't know if there is enough evidence to reach malfeasance or misfeasance to remove any of the Road Commissioners. I was asked after the meeting what I thought malfeasance was and I said I wasn't sure how to explain it. I then realized that I am not allowed to explain it because it is contained in an opinion from our attorney. This Tuesday, I am planning to make a motion to release that legal opinion so I can tell people what we believe malfeasance and misfeasance is. We are releasing two other legal opinions so I will attempt to add this one to the list.
I also firmly believe that it is time to abolish the Road Commission Board and bring the road commission in-house and make it a county department. Two other counties have done this, and Ingham needs to do it as well. The Legislature is working on bills that will allow for this, and I am hopeful that they will pass soon. I plan to introduce a resolution that will accomplish this once it the legislation passed and signed into law.
The road commission resolution was tabled until the next county services meeting. While it is my preference to have a special committee set up to explore the allegations, my understanding is that County Services will continue to work on this and has scheduled a special meeting on November 29th at 6 pm for this purpose.
In other news, we passed a resolution allowing for scope changes to the Hawk Island Snow Boarding Hill project to allow for the addition of obstacles, rails and snow sculpted features and potentially a separate warming facility. These items would put the Hawk Island Boarding Hill on Michigan’s map as a destination. The Friends of Ingham County Parks, a non-profit 501c3 organization, will enter into an agreement with Urban Snowparks LLC to act as the fiduciary in regard to fundraising for any and all additions to the current project scope. Any of these additions will not cost the county a dime. They will be paid for by Urban Snowparks, who will do the fundraising and will keep a small percentage (somewhere around 17%) of the dollars as a fee. It is understood by all parties involved that no changes of a permanent nature will be undertaken until all funding is secured and notification has been provided to the Ingham County Parks and Recreation Commission. Additionally, it is understood that the Ingham County Board of Commissioners will not approve further funding for the construction of the Snow Board Hill. We also have no liability in this process. The resolution passed 5-1. Commissioner Vickers voted no because he said he doesn’t know how this fundraising group are presenting themselves to the public.
We also appointed Sherrie Graham as interim zoo director. We needed to do this to ensure we have a zoo director for re-accreditation. Potter Park Zoo society revenue stream increased 20% with Sherrie as leader, and she can do the business stuff for the zoo until a final decision has been made for a permanent zoo director. The Zoo Society is covering Sherrie’s expense until the current Zoo Director retires on Jan 18th. We talked about adding a salary figure into the resolution in both County Services and Finance committees, but are still negotiating that number.
Finally, we passed resolutions opposing two bills in the Legislature. We opposed HB 5039, which says that local units of government can't protect any citizens that aren't protected by the state Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act. One example of local protections is to prevent those discriminated against for sexual orientation. There are other examples of local protections, though...including East Lansing protecting students. I pointed out that this bill is anti-local control. The resolution passed 4-2, with Commissioners Vickers and Dragonetti voting against it.
We also voted to oppose HB 4770 and 4771. These bills prevent local units of government from providing domestic partner benefits for people that live with county employees. This passed on a 5-1 vote, with Commissioner Vickers opposing it.
This week, we will have the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday. It is also Veterans Day on Friday, and I wish to thank all those that have served in the military and defended our country. You have kept us safe and free, and I thank you!
Until next week...
Andy
I have not decided yet which way I want to go. I don't know if there is enough evidence to reach malfeasance or misfeasance to remove any of the Road Commissioners. I was asked after the meeting what I thought malfeasance was and I said I wasn't sure how to explain it. I then realized that I am not allowed to explain it because it is contained in an opinion from our attorney. This Tuesday, I am planning to make a motion to release that legal opinion so I can tell people what we believe malfeasance and misfeasance is. We are releasing two other legal opinions so I will attempt to add this one to the list.
I also firmly believe that it is time to abolish the Road Commission Board and bring the road commission in-house and make it a county department. Two other counties have done this, and Ingham needs to do it as well. The Legislature is working on bills that will allow for this, and I am hopeful that they will pass soon. I plan to introduce a resolution that will accomplish this once it the legislation passed and signed into law.
The road commission resolution was tabled until the next county services meeting. While it is my preference to have a special committee set up to explore the allegations, my understanding is that County Services will continue to work on this and has scheduled a special meeting on November 29th at 6 pm for this purpose.
In other news, we passed a resolution allowing for scope changes to the Hawk Island Snow Boarding Hill project to allow for the addition of obstacles, rails and snow sculpted features and potentially a separate warming facility. These items would put the Hawk Island Boarding Hill on Michigan’s map as a destination. The Friends of Ingham County Parks, a non-profit 501c3 organization, will enter into an agreement with Urban Snowparks LLC to act as the fiduciary in regard to fundraising for any and all additions to the current project scope. Any of these additions will not cost the county a dime. They will be paid for by Urban Snowparks, who will do the fundraising and will keep a small percentage (somewhere around 17%) of the dollars as a fee. It is understood by all parties involved that no changes of a permanent nature will be undertaken until all funding is secured and notification has been provided to the Ingham County Parks and Recreation Commission. Additionally, it is understood that the Ingham County Board of Commissioners will not approve further funding for the construction of the Snow Board Hill. We also have no liability in this process. The resolution passed 5-1. Commissioner Vickers voted no because he said he doesn’t know how this fundraising group are presenting themselves to the public.
We also appointed Sherrie Graham as interim zoo director. We needed to do this to ensure we have a zoo director for re-accreditation. Potter Park Zoo society revenue stream increased 20% with Sherrie as leader, and she can do the business stuff for the zoo until a final decision has been made for a permanent zoo director. The Zoo Society is covering Sherrie’s expense until the current Zoo Director retires on Jan 18th. We talked about adding a salary figure into the resolution in both County Services and Finance committees, but are still negotiating that number.
Finally, we passed resolutions opposing two bills in the Legislature. We opposed HB 5039, which says that local units of government can't protect any citizens that aren't protected by the state Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act. One example of local protections is to prevent those discriminated against for sexual orientation. There are other examples of local protections, though...including East Lansing protecting students. I pointed out that this bill is anti-local control. The resolution passed 4-2, with Commissioners Vickers and Dragonetti voting against it.
We also voted to oppose HB 4770 and 4771. These bills prevent local units of government from providing domestic partner benefits for people that live with county employees. This passed on a 5-1 vote, with Commissioner Vickers opposing it.
This week, we will have the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday. It is also Veterans Day on Friday, and I wish to thank all those that have served in the military and defended our country. You have kept us safe and free, and I thank you!
Until next week...
Andy
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
County to Maintain City of Lansing Parks, Hawk Island Tubing Hill, 911 Center, County Budget
After taking a week off, the Schor County blog is back.
In County Services and Finance, we finalized the resolution to take over maintenance of many of the City of Lansing Parks. The City has not been able to afford to mow or maintain several parks. They approached the County and asked us to maintain and mow the lawn. Our Parks Director gave an estimate on the amount that it will take to do this, and a contract was negotiated. Once all the issues that were raised by the County Commissioners were resolved, this was brought back to us for our consideration. All of the changes we requested were adopted, and the resolution passed both committees. We also added a provision that the City has until November 1 to sign the contract. We do not want to have this hanging out for a while, as was done with the dog park and zoo. One commissioner opposed this in County Services (Dragonetti) and one in Finance (Dougan). Both indicated that they thought that this would lead to the City expecting us to do more things for them. After changes were made, I was happy to vote for this as a good regional effort. Ingham County is very efficient and well run, and we can ensure that these parks are mowed and maintained. As such, we are stepping up by accepting the request of the City of Lansing.
The parks included are:
5 acres or under:
Barb Dean, Bassett, Bluebell, Everett, Glen Eden, Hillsdale, Holly, Horsebrook, Jones, Lake, Kay North, Marscot H. Moore, Osborne, Regent, Reutter, Seventh, Stabler, Tammany, Walsh, Waldo, Caesar Donora, Greencroft, Parcel B, Hull Court, Wilson
Parks on the river trail:
Dietrich, Edmore, Dodge, Burchard-East, Burchard-West, Wentworth, Cherry Hill, Kalamazoo Plaza, Cooley, Scott Center, Crego, Trager, Elm, River Point, Maguire
We also passed a resolution adjusting the budget for the Hawk Island snow tubing hill. This was a project that was started about 6 years ago, and is now being finalized. Unfortunately, there were several expenses that have risen and need to be paid for. Although we got the dirt for free, we need to purchase the snow making machine and lifts. Also, the City of Lansing has a very expensive Soil Erosion Permit. Our staff had hoped that the City would reduce the price for the permit or allow us to have our own Drain Commissioner certify the soil erosion issues, but the City would not agree to that. Fortunately, our excellent Parks staff was able to find the dollars to pay for these final pieces. We unanimously approved transfers of $62,558. This will make the total budget of the project a maximum of $289,548 but could be $12,000 less if we are able to get a cheaper lift. We also expect the snow boarding portion to have equipment donated to reduce the cost. The transferred money comes from the Parks Capital Improvement fund and was previously budgeted, so there is no new general fund dollars to be used.
We once again had to consider the 911 consolidated center. If you are a faithful reader of this blog (and I know you are!), then you know that we combined the Lansing and East Lansing 911 centers and are about to break ground on a new center. Well, the bids for the new center were expected to come in a little higher than expected (about $800,000 higher). Staff went to work and revised the bid documents and we now expect the cost overrun to be about $200,000 higher. Staff asked for us to approve a $400,000, just in case the bids are higher than expected. I was not interested in approving double the amount needed, so I offered an amendment in County Services to allow a transfer of $200,000 and the ability of staff to approve up to another $200,000 if the Controller and Board Chair approve. I would have required staff to come back to the Board, but that could push back breaking ground into the winter and there are many more costs associated with building in the winter. I was comfortable with the Board chair and Controller reviewing anything over $200,000 and approving what may be necessary. My amendment passed in County Services, and was further amended in Finance to ensure that all Commissioners receive notice of anything over $200,000.
In Finance, we approved a resolution accepting a Child & Adolescent Health Center grant award from the Michigan Department of Community Health to continue funding Willow Health Center, Otto Health Center and the School Wellness Program at Gardner Middle School. The Health Department also proposed the addition of a new school-based health center at a high school in the Lansing School District, and the Michigan Department of Community Health awarded the grant for the maximum award period of five years. These awards will provide a total of $3.4 million over five years. One hundred thousand per year will support the continued operations of the School Wellness Program at Gardner Middle School; $175,000 per year will support the continued operations at Otto Community Health Center; $225,000 will support the continued operations at Willow Health Center, and $175,000 will start a new school-based health center and fund its operations at a Lansing School District High School. These awards will fund seven new positions, which are essential to the operations of these Health Centers. As a condition of these awards, the Health Department is required to establish a local community advisory committee. The advisory committee must be representative of the community and include a
broad range of stakeholders and school staff. One-third of the committee members must be parents of school-aged youth. The committee must approve certain policies related to the health center. In order to establish and maintain this required committee, the ICHD proposes to enter into an agreement with the School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan (SCHA-MI). SCHA-MI will provide support and assist in parent and youth engagement to the committee as required. The budgeted amount for this agreement will not exceed $25,000. Both County Services and Finance approved these unanimously, and in Finance we learned that if a school closes, the money can go to another school.
In Finance, we also went over our annual county audit, our general fund reserves, our Budget Stabilization Plan, and the upcoming budget deficit of $5.5 million. Our Controller will be coming up with recommended possibilities that she will present to us to consider to close the budget hole. Because this is already long enough, I will report on this in a future blog.
I hope everyone is staying cool! And don't forget to visit my Andy Schor for State Representative page at www.andyschor.com and to check out my facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/andyschor !
Andy
In County Services and Finance, we finalized the resolution to take over maintenance of many of the City of Lansing Parks. The City has not been able to afford to mow or maintain several parks. They approached the County and asked us to maintain and mow the lawn. Our Parks Director gave an estimate on the amount that it will take to do this, and a contract was negotiated. Once all the issues that were raised by the County Commissioners were resolved, this was brought back to us for our consideration. All of the changes we requested were adopted, and the resolution passed both committees. We also added a provision that the City has until November 1 to sign the contract. We do not want to have this hanging out for a while, as was done with the dog park and zoo. One commissioner opposed this in County Services (Dragonetti) and one in Finance (Dougan). Both indicated that they thought that this would lead to the City expecting us to do more things for them. After changes were made, I was happy to vote for this as a good regional effort. Ingham County is very efficient and well run, and we can ensure that these parks are mowed and maintained. As such, we are stepping up by accepting the request of the City of Lansing.
The parks included are:
5 acres or under:
Barb Dean, Bassett, Bluebell, Everett, Glen Eden, Hillsdale, Holly, Horsebrook, Jones, Lake, Kay North, Marscot H. Moore, Osborne, Regent, Reutter, Seventh, Stabler, Tammany, Walsh, Waldo, Caesar Donora, Greencroft, Parcel B, Hull Court, Wilson
Parks on the river trail:
Dietrich, Edmore, Dodge, Burchard-East, Burchard-West, Wentworth, Cherry Hill, Kalamazoo Plaza, Cooley, Scott Center, Crego, Trager, Elm, River Point, Maguire
We also passed a resolution adjusting the budget for the Hawk Island snow tubing hill. This was a project that was started about 6 years ago, and is now being finalized. Unfortunately, there were several expenses that have risen and need to be paid for. Although we got the dirt for free, we need to purchase the snow making machine and lifts. Also, the City of Lansing has a very expensive Soil Erosion Permit. Our staff had hoped that the City would reduce the price for the permit or allow us to have our own Drain Commissioner certify the soil erosion issues, but the City would not agree to that. Fortunately, our excellent Parks staff was able to find the dollars to pay for these final pieces. We unanimously approved transfers of $62,558. This will make the total budget of the project a maximum of $289,548 but could be $12,000 less if we are able to get a cheaper lift. We also expect the snow boarding portion to have equipment donated to reduce the cost. The transferred money comes from the Parks Capital Improvement fund and was previously budgeted, so there is no new general fund dollars to be used.
We once again had to consider the 911 consolidated center. If you are a faithful reader of this blog (and I know you are!), then you know that we combined the Lansing and East Lansing 911 centers and are about to break ground on a new center. Well, the bids for the new center were expected to come in a little higher than expected (about $800,000 higher). Staff went to work and revised the bid documents and we now expect the cost overrun to be about $200,000 higher. Staff asked for us to approve a $400,000, just in case the bids are higher than expected. I was not interested in approving double the amount needed, so I offered an amendment in County Services to allow a transfer of $200,000 and the ability of staff to approve up to another $200,000 if the Controller and Board Chair approve. I would have required staff to come back to the Board, but that could push back breaking ground into the winter and there are many more costs associated with building in the winter. I was comfortable with the Board chair and Controller reviewing anything over $200,000 and approving what may be necessary. My amendment passed in County Services, and was further amended in Finance to ensure that all Commissioners receive notice of anything over $200,000.
In Finance, we approved a resolution accepting a Child & Adolescent Health Center grant award from the Michigan Department of Community Health to continue funding Willow Health Center, Otto Health Center and the School Wellness Program at Gardner Middle School. The Health Department also proposed the addition of a new school-based health center at a high school in the Lansing School District, and the Michigan Department of Community Health awarded the grant for the maximum award period of five years. These awards will provide a total of $3.4 million over five years. One hundred thousand per year will support the continued operations of the School Wellness Program at Gardner Middle School; $175,000 per year will support the continued operations at Otto Community Health Center; $225,000 will support the continued operations at Willow Health Center, and $175,000 will start a new school-based health center and fund its operations at a Lansing School District High School. These awards will fund seven new positions, which are essential to the operations of these Health Centers. As a condition of these awards, the Health Department is required to establish a local community advisory committee. The advisory committee must be representative of the community and include a
broad range of stakeholders and school staff. One-third of the committee members must be parents of school-aged youth. The committee must approve certain policies related to the health center. In order to establish and maintain this required committee, the ICHD proposes to enter into an agreement with the School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan (SCHA-MI). SCHA-MI will provide support and assist in parent and youth engagement to the committee as required. The budgeted amount for this agreement will not exceed $25,000. Both County Services and Finance approved these unanimously, and in Finance we learned that if a school closes, the money can go to another school.
In Finance, we also went over our annual county audit, our general fund reserves, our Budget Stabilization Plan, and the upcoming budget deficit of $5.5 million. Our Controller will be coming up with recommended possibilities that she will present to us to consider to close the budget hole. Because this is already long enough, I will report on this in a future blog.
I hope everyone is staying cool! And don't forget to visit my Andy Schor for State Representative page at www.andyschor.com and to check out my facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/andyschor !
Andy
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Fill Dirt, Condolences
So sorry for the really late post!
This week, we had our full Board of Commissioners meeting. There was not much controversial on the agenda, and most of the things I reported on last week passed on our consent agenda.
We did have one late item added to our agenda. As you may remember, the county is creating a snow tubing hill at Hawk Island (funded years ago). We had a request from our parks department to allow for the purchase of some extra fill dirt for the hill construction. A company was doing another digging project and had excess fill dirt. They basically charged us the price to move the dirt from the project in Delta Twp to Hawk Island. The construction of the snow tubing hill requires a large amount of fill dirt - essentially doubling the size of the hill. The company will deliver between 15,000 and 20,000 cubic yards of fill dirt at a total cost not to exceed $30,000. The current going rate for fill dirt in the area is around $8 per cubic yard, undelivered. The $30,000 will basically cover the cost of transporting the dirt and comes to about $2 per cubic yard delivered. This money will come from the Parks budget. This was a great opportunity to save some money in the long term.
Otherwise, the Board meeting was non-controversial. Several people passed away recently, and they were recognized. In my district, Ann Spencer passed away. She was the Treasurer for the Old Everett Neighborhood Association and was a tremendous woman. She will be greatly missed in our community. I also indicated my condolences to Dalia Harris, who was the teacher of both my children at their day care. She lost her son, Anthony, in the tragic car crash involving the Holt students. Also lost in the car crash was Holly Bossenberry, niece of constituent and friend and CADL Board Member Marge Bossenberry. My heart goes out to all of these families.
Until next week...
This week, we had our full Board of Commissioners meeting. There was not much controversial on the agenda, and most of the things I reported on last week passed on our consent agenda.
We did have one late item added to our agenda. As you may remember, the county is creating a snow tubing hill at Hawk Island (funded years ago). We had a request from our parks department to allow for the purchase of some extra fill dirt for the hill construction. A company was doing another digging project and had excess fill dirt. They basically charged us the price to move the dirt from the project in Delta Twp to Hawk Island. The construction of the snow tubing hill requires a large amount of fill dirt - essentially doubling the size of the hill. The company will deliver between 15,000 and 20,000 cubic yards of fill dirt at a total cost not to exceed $30,000. The current going rate for fill dirt in the area is around $8 per cubic yard, undelivered. The $30,000 will basically cover the cost of transporting the dirt and comes to about $2 per cubic yard delivered. This money will come from the Parks budget. This was a great opportunity to save some money in the long term.
Otherwise, the Board meeting was non-controversial. Several people passed away recently, and they were recognized. In my district, Ann Spencer passed away. She was the Treasurer for the Old Everett Neighborhood Association and was a tremendous woman. She will be greatly missed in our community. I also indicated my condolences to Dalia Harris, who was the teacher of both my children at their day care. She lost her son, Anthony, in the tragic car crash involving the Holt students. Also lost in the car crash was Holly Bossenberry, niece of constituent and friend and CADL Board Member Marge Bossenberry. My heart goes out to all of these families.
Until next week...
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
LEAP, Police Services for Williamstown, Hawk Island Tubing Hill
In County Services and Finance, we considered funding for LEAP, Inc. (Lansing Economic Area Partnership), the regional private-public economic development organization for the greater Lansing area (Eaton, Clinton, Ingham counties). We considered a resolution for funding of $35,000 for the 2010 year. We have already approved funding of $15,000 for 2011 (the dues were reduced starting in 2011). Denyse Ferguson and Ray DeWinkle provided us with a presentation and wealth of information. LEAP has focus areas of business growth & development, strategic regional collaboration and place marketing for growth. They coordinate strategic regional growth efforts, conduct proactive business attractions, manage regionally coordinated and nationally connected entrepreneurial efforts, and proactively market the Greater Lansing Region as a destination for businesses and talent. We asked several questions, including asking for specifics on results and actual numbers to go with the concepts. The LEAP folks provided excellent information in the packets and in their responses. I was a little skeptical at first because I had not seen any specifics...but was much happier after hearing the presentation. They also talked about how they work with local municipalities and the State (MEDC) to use all available tools to attract the businesses to the region, and they assess the needs of the companies such as resources, grants, labor force, building and so on. This is in addition to their marketing and sales of the greater Lansing area. The resolution to pay the $35,000 for 2010 passed in County Services on a 4-2 vote and in Finance on a 3-2 vote.
In Finance, we spent significant time working out the details of how to give Williamstown Township money to assist them in transitioning to road patrol funded by their new assessment. As you may recall, the county ended funding for road patrol unless the rural townships agreed to pay into this service. All 13 put assessments or millages on their ballots, and the County Board reserved money in our budget to assist any township that passed the assessment/millage. Williamstown Township was the only township to do so, and we now have limited time to work out with them how to get them the transition money (until January 1st).
Commissioner Mark Grebner drafted a resolution which would give Williamstown $100,000 in 2011 for them to contract with the county, form their own township police department, contract with another township, or however they want to create police services. It also said that any new deputies hired have to be county deputies or former county deputies if available. We had lengthy discussion and passed several amendments to this resolution. First, we changed the amount to be allocated. We created a formula that allocates money based half on taxable value using 2010 numbers and half on the estimated 2009 population. Both of these are the most recent numbers that we have to use. I assume this will increase the allocation to about $130,000, but I don’t know the exact number. We next amended the resolution to require that the township has to contract with the Sheriff to get the incentive dollars. Four of us on the committee agreed with the Sheriff that the township should have to contract with the county for service rather than being able to contract with another municipality or create their own police force when using the dollars given to them by the county. Of couse, they can do whatever they want with the dollars that they collect from their own assessment. Our resolution is only for the transition/incentive dollars that we committed. We added to the resolution that the township must provide an adequate level of police service in order to receive the dollars (as determined by the sheriff). This will provide any attempt to only collect a small portion of the assessment, then use county dollars for police. Finally, we allowed the township to utilize the total allotment over two years if they want.
This resolution will be a model for other townships that may want to contract with the county for police services. Others townships could do so from their general fund balances (Commissioner Grebner says that they have healthy fund balances to do this), or other townships could go back to the ballot with a new assessment/millage proposal for their voters. We have $800,000 in total reserved for 2011, and are open to allocating that to any township that wants police services and is willing to put up the funds and request incentive/transition dollars from the County. We have heard that there is one other township interested at this point, but I won’t speculate until we receive an actual request.
In County Services, we also had a short discussion and vote on a resolution regarding the tubing hill at Hawk Island. As you may recall (as I have reported in the past), in 2007 the County was awarded a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE) for the construction of a snow tubing hill at Hawk Island County Park. One of the requirements of the grant is that the County utilizes a Prime Professional to complete various aspects of the project. As such, the Purchasing Department solicited proposals from professional firms qualified and experienced in engineering, architectural and/or surveying for the purpose of entering into a contract to provide surveying, permitting, and site design services for the construction of the hill in compliance with the grant. We had taken bids previously, but re-bid this year and received a bid from excellent Lansing company for a maximum disbursement of $6,650. This was a savings of about $3,000 after it was. County funds will be expended from the matching amount that was put aside for this grant and project.
As always, please feel free to email or call with questions! I have heard from several people, which tells me that my blog is being read. Yay!
Andy
In Finance, we spent significant time working out the details of how to give Williamstown Township money to assist them in transitioning to road patrol funded by their new assessment. As you may recall, the county ended funding for road patrol unless the rural townships agreed to pay into this service. All 13 put assessments or millages on their ballots, and the County Board reserved money in our budget to assist any township that passed the assessment/millage. Williamstown Township was the only township to do so, and we now have limited time to work out with them how to get them the transition money (until January 1st).
Commissioner Mark Grebner drafted a resolution which would give Williamstown $100,000 in 2011 for them to contract with the county, form their own township police department, contract with another township, or however they want to create police services. It also said that any new deputies hired have to be county deputies or former county deputies if available. We had lengthy discussion and passed several amendments to this resolution. First, we changed the amount to be allocated. We created a formula that allocates money based half on taxable value using 2010 numbers and half on the estimated 2009 population. Both of these are the most recent numbers that we have to use. I assume this will increase the allocation to about $130,000, but I don’t know the exact number. We next amended the resolution to require that the township has to contract with the Sheriff to get the incentive dollars. Four of us on the committee agreed with the Sheriff that the township should have to contract with the county for service rather than being able to contract with another municipality or create their own police force when using the dollars given to them by the county. Of couse, they can do whatever they want with the dollars that they collect from their own assessment. Our resolution is only for the transition/incentive dollars that we committed. We added to the resolution that the township must provide an adequate level of police service in order to receive the dollars (as determined by the sheriff). This will provide any attempt to only collect a small portion of the assessment, then use county dollars for police. Finally, we allowed the township to utilize the total allotment over two years if they want.
This resolution will be a model for other townships that may want to contract with the county for police services. Others townships could do so from their general fund balances (Commissioner Grebner says that they have healthy fund balances to do this), or other townships could go back to the ballot with a new assessment/millage proposal for their voters. We have $800,000 in total reserved for 2011, and are open to allocating that to any township that wants police services and is willing to put up the funds and request incentive/transition dollars from the County. We have heard that there is one other township interested at this point, but I won’t speculate until we receive an actual request.
In County Services, we also had a short discussion and vote on a resolution regarding the tubing hill at Hawk Island. As you may recall (as I have reported in the past), in 2007 the County was awarded a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE) for the construction of a snow tubing hill at Hawk Island County Park. One of the requirements of the grant is that the County utilizes a Prime Professional to complete various aspects of the project. As such, the Purchasing Department solicited proposals from professional firms qualified and experienced in engineering, architectural and/or surveying for the purpose of entering into a contract to provide surveying, permitting, and site design services for the construction of the hill in compliance with the grant. We had taken bids previously, but re-bid this year and received a bid from excellent Lansing company for a maximum disbursement of $6,650. This was a savings of about $3,000 after it was. County funds will be expended from the matching amount that was put aside for this grant and project.
As always, please feel free to email or call with questions! I have heard from several people, which tells me that my blog is being read. Yay!
Andy
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Deputy Sheriffs Added, Economic Development, Community Assessments, Fed Farm $, Hawk Island, Soldan Dog Park, and Campaign Update! (Whew...)
This week in County Services, we passed a resolution waiving the county’s hiring freeze so that we can fill several Deputy Sheriff positions. Several positions, two supervisory, have become vacant and need to be filled. There were some questions in committee about whether or not we should fill the positions because of the budget problems. I and others, though, argued that this is not the place to re-fight the road patrol issue. We have already taken affirmative action to end road patrol at the end of the year and the townships will be voting on whether or not they want to re-create those positions with local assessments. That being said, I believe that we should continue to provide the deputies that we committed to provide when we did our budget last year. We also need to have appropriate staff in the jails, and on the roads (at least until the end of the year).
We also once again looked at the federal bonds that were given to Ingham County to provide to local businesses. We allocated these a few months ago, but the Accident Fund returned their bonds because they were able to get other financing (which is good news for our economy!). Lansing Township (DDA) has a good share of the private bonds that we can make available for the phase 2 of the new Eastwood development (mixed-use parking garage and other things), and they have requested the balance of the bonds. They had not done anything with the original bonds until last week, though, when they actually went out to market with the bonds (i.e. sold them on the market). The EDC director was not comfortable giving more bonds if the township had not yet even gone to market with the other bonds. The EDC also was not comfortable going out for bid until Lansing Township produced the numbers that they needed (which they were not willing to do). Lansing Township has sent a letter to the Board asking for the balance of the dollars, and I expect that we will give it to them at the next meeting as they are the only entity to apply.
Speaking of economic development, we learned last week that our economic development director, Susan Pigg, will be leaving us on August 6th. So County Services had a good discussion about the process to replace her. We contract with MSU Extension and they will hire, but they will include us in the discussions. We are also discussing other potential possibilities when it comes to economic development. I think this is a good time to evaluate our program and see if there are ways to increasing its effectiveness. Commissioner Brian McGrain and I are working on some recommendations for the Board.
We also learned that there is $400 million available from the Federal Farm and Ranch Land law. This money is being allocated and the Ingham Farmland and Open Space committee has submitted our top 10 farms, requesting $650,000 in matching funds from feds. If approved, the county would only pay $.38 on the dollar for every dollar we spend on the farms (which comes out of the millage). So this could help us capture federal dollars.
In the last County Blog I mentioned the community needs assessment. We passed that in Finance (and the Human Services Committee also passed it). The Health Department needs to do a risk assessment in order to apply for the $11 billion available to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC’s). That process will be started with the passage of this resolution and needs to happen quickly as the money will be applied for in November (and there needs to be a community needs assessment done before that). We are also looking to work with the hospitals (Sparrow and Ingham) and Community Mental Health, who also have to do community needs assessments.
We had an update on the snow tubing hill at Hawk Island. For those that don't remember, a few years ago we approved spending for a new snow tubing hill. We are pushing back the timeline once again, though, because we are still trying to get dirt for the project. We have relied on dirt from the city Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project, but some of it was contaminate and couldn't be use. And for all those who have complained that the county shouldn't be spending money on a snow tubing hill (note: the money was approved years ago!), an important point was made by the Parks staff - not only is there very little money from the county (because we receive matching funds), but this hill will be a revenue generator. People will rent tubes and pay admission to the park, so it will generate much more than the $75,000 that it will cost.
Finally, we have received a request from the Dog Park folks. As you may know, the Soldan Dog Park is the dog park that was created attached to Hawk Island (although the property is city property). While there are set rules for the users of the dog park, there have been problems with people not following those rules. The city doesn't have the personnel to staff it, and neither does the county. So the users are sort of on an honor system and are expected to follow the rules. This is not happening as much as it should be, though. I have heard from constituents who have said that they or their dogs have been attacked and bitten. The Dog Park Task Force has proposed to create an electronic gate at the entrance to the Dog Park on the north and south sides. In order to get in, someone would have to purchase a pas, which would cost $5 per day or $40 for an annual pass ($25 for students). The cost of the pass would cover the installation of the gate and the maintenance of the Dog Park (capital expenditures, fencing, improvements, etc). Also, people would have to sign a consent to follow the rules in order to get the pass. Finally, we would have a record of who is at the Dog Park and when they were there, so attacks can be investigated. I like the idea of the pass, but it seems that the cost is a bit steep. People would not have to pay the cost to get into Hawk Island if they entered the Dog Park from the north (and park in Ingham Regional's parking lot), but I am still looking for feedback from people about the pro's and con's of the electronic gate (costs vs. benefits). Thoughts?
On the campaign trail: I have once again completed knocking doors throughout the whole district, and will start once again! If you are interested in helping out with the campaign, please let me know. I have received tremendous response at doors and at the many events I have attended, and am greatly encouraged by the comments of the voters of southeast Lansing. They are judging me on my record, which is all I can ask, and ignoring all the negative stuff from my opponent! 12 more days until the campaign is over!
We also once again looked at the federal bonds that were given to Ingham County to provide to local businesses. We allocated these a few months ago, but the Accident Fund returned their bonds because they were able to get other financing (which is good news for our economy!). Lansing Township (DDA) has a good share of the private bonds that we can make available for the phase 2 of the new Eastwood development (mixed-use parking garage and other things), and they have requested the balance of the bonds. They had not done anything with the original bonds until last week, though, when they actually went out to market with the bonds (i.e. sold them on the market). The EDC director was not comfortable giving more bonds if the township had not yet even gone to market with the other bonds. The EDC also was not comfortable going out for bid until Lansing Township produced the numbers that they needed (which they were not willing to do). Lansing Township has sent a letter to the Board asking for the balance of the dollars, and I expect that we will give it to them at the next meeting as they are the only entity to apply.
Speaking of economic development, we learned last week that our economic development director, Susan Pigg, will be leaving us on August 6th. So County Services had a good discussion about the process to replace her. We contract with MSU Extension and they will hire, but they will include us in the discussions. We are also discussing other potential possibilities when it comes to economic development. I think this is a good time to evaluate our program and see if there are ways to increasing its effectiveness. Commissioner Brian McGrain and I are working on some recommendations for the Board.
We also learned that there is $400 million available from the Federal Farm and Ranch Land law. This money is being allocated and the Ingham Farmland and Open Space committee has submitted our top 10 farms, requesting $650,000 in matching funds from feds. If approved, the county would only pay $.38 on the dollar for every dollar we spend on the farms (which comes out of the millage). So this could help us capture federal dollars.
In the last County Blog I mentioned the community needs assessment. We passed that in Finance (and the Human Services Committee also passed it). The Health Department needs to do a risk assessment in order to apply for the $11 billion available to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC’s). That process will be started with the passage of this resolution and needs to happen quickly as the money will be applied for in November (and there needs to be a community needs assessment done before that). We are also looking to work with the hospitals (Sparrow and Ingham) and Community Mental Health, who also have to do community needs assessments.
We had an update on the snow tubing hill at Hawk Island. For those that don't remember, a few years ago we approved spending for a new snow tubing hill. We are pushing back the timeline once again, though, because we are still trying to get dirt for the project. We have relied on dirt from the city Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project, but some of it was contaminate and couldn't be use. And for all those who have complained that the county shouldn't be spending money on a snow tubing hill (note: the money was approved years ago!), an important point was made by the Parks staff - not only is there very little money from the county (because we receive matching funds), but this hill will be a revenue generator. People will rent tubes and pay admission to the park, so it will generate much more than the $75,000 that it will cost.
Finally, we have received a request from the Dog Park folks. As you may know, the Soldan Dog Park is the dog park that was created attached to Hawk Island (although the property is city property). While there are set rules for the users of the dog park, there have been problems with people not following those rules. The city doesn't have the personnel to staff it, and neither does the county. So the users are sort of on an honor system and are expected to follow the rules. This is not happening as much as it should be, though. I have heard from constituents who have said that they or their dogs have been attacked and bitten. The Dog Park Task Force has proposed to create an electronic gate at the entrance to the Dog Park on the north and south sides. In order to get in, someone would have to purchase a pas, which would cost $5 per day or $40 for an annual pass ($25 for students). The cost of the pass would cover the installation of the gate and the maintenance of the Dog Park (capital expenditures, fencing, improvements, etc). Also, people would have to sign a consent to follow the rules in order to get the pass. Finally, we would have a record of who is at the Dog Park and when they were there, so attacks can be investigated. I like the idea of the pass, but it seems that the cost is a bit steep. People would not have to pay the cost to get into Hawk Island if they entered the Dog Park from the north (and park in Ingham Regional's parking lot), but I am still looking for feedback from people about the pro's and con's of the electronic gate (costs vs. benefits). Thoughts?
On the campaign trail: I have once again completed knocking doors throughout the whole district, and will start once again! If you are interested in helping out with the campaign, please let me know. I have received tremendous response at doors and at the many events I have attended, and am greatly encouraged by the comments of the voters of southeast Lansing. They are judging me on my record, which is all I can ask, and ignoring all the negative stuff from my opponent! 12 more days until the campaign is over!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Parks Fees, Well-Water Fees, RIP Calvin Lynch, and Campaign Update
This week was interesting for county business. First, the issues...
As I reported last week,we passed our fees resolution. This is the resolution where we set our fees for the year (2011). Most of them passed without objection. I once again raised the parks fee increase issue. The proposal was to raise the fee from $2 to $3 for a daily pass, and from $20 to $30 for a yearly pass. My argument was that we just increased the number of days that we charge from 2 days to 6 days, and we shouldn't raise the fees once again. It fell on deaf ears this time, though. Staff made the argument that the extra dollars are needed for the upcoming budget discussions. Arguments were also made that people can take the waiver if they don't want to pay the fee. While I agree that people can take the waiver, I still think they shouldn't have to. They should pay, as they want to, but should not see prices rise again so soon. I also argued that this isn't about the budget, as we haven't even started considering it yet, and I argued that the county went from collecting $100,000 to $200,000 when we went from 2 days to 6 days so we shouldn't need to raise yet another $80,000 from our parks visitors so soon. But, you win some and you lose some. This wasn't my day, and the parking fees for Hawk Island, Burchfield, Lake Lansing, and the Zoo will go up next year.
The only other fee which was challenged was the Point of Sale fee. A little background...homes with well water (and not on municipal water and sewer systems) are charged an inspection fee when the home is sold. This is to ensure that there is not leakage or contamination into the septic field that pollutes the environment. The price is usually rolled into the mortgage sale of the home. Some people (mostly realtors) opposed this policy when we created it about 5 or 6 years ago, and they continue to oppose the fees. The fee is at 100% of the cost of the program. An amendment was made to oppose the fee increase for this program, with the argument that this this fee shouldn't be increased because it increases the cost of home sales. Supporters of increasing the fee, though, said that increasing to 100% would result in the County general fund (and all citizens) subsidizing the inspection program for these few people that are selling their homes. I voted with the supporters of increasing the fee. I believe that those of us on municipal water/sewer pay lots for that service to protects the environment and public health, and those on well water should pay as well to ensure that the septic fields and environment are not polluted. This amendment failed and the fee increase passed.
You also may recall that a two weeks ago the county passed a resolution moving the community agency money to the Power of We. This was undone last night when the Board voted to reconsider the resolution. It was then sent back to committee, where we will have the discussion all over again at the committee and Board level. So stay tuned...
Finally, sad news. Two Saturdays ago, the County lost a leader. Former Commissioner and Board Chair Calvin Lynch passed away. He was only in his late 50's, but had severe cancer. I attended the funeral on Saturday and it was moving. The family and his fraternity did a wonderful job. Ingham County also passed a resolution to honor his memory, and that was presented to Calvin's lovely wife Cathy and beautiful daughter Danielle. We passed that resolution on Tuesday, and many memories were shared. Personally, I recall serving with Calvin. He was loud and obnoxious, but he was honest and very caring. I learned so much from him as leader of our Board. He did not mince words and said exactly what he thought...and provided strong leadership. I also remember he and his wife being very gracious to me and my wife when we were together at the Counties conference and many other times. The County has lost a dedicated servant, and I will miss him. Cathy and Danielle and the entire Lynch family are in my thoughts and prayers.
On the political front, you may have noticed (if you live in the Lansing area) that I have gone up with my lawn signs. Although the City doesn't allow political yard signs to go up until July 1, my opponent started putting his signs up two weeks ago. So I have responded in kind. After putting up a few signs in supporters yards, I have been inundated with requests for yard signs. I am getting them out as fast as I can (so if you requested one, I will be there shortly with the sign). I am overwhelmed with support from my district, and am very appreciative. My opponent has talked about no county issues and has attacked me every chance he could, and people are not responding well to that. I will continue to run on my record, and hope that people will support that when they go to the polls instead of the distortions of my opponent!
As I reported last week,we passed our fees resolution. This is the resolution where we set our fees for the year (2011). Most of them passed without objection. I once again raised the parks fee increase issue. The proposal was to raise the fee from $2 to $3 for a daily pass, and from $20 to $30 for a yearly pass. My argument was that we just increased the number of days that we charge from 2 days to 6 days, and we shouldn't raise the fees once again. It fell on deaf ears this time, though. Staff made the argument that the extra dollars are needed for the upcoming budget discussions. Arguments were also made that people can take the waiver if they don't want to pay the fee. While I agree that people can take the waiver, I still think they shouldn't have to. They should pay, as they want to, but should not see prices rise again so soon. I also argued that this isn't about the budget, as we haven't even started considering it yet, and I argued that the county went from collecting $100,000 to $200,000 when we went from 2 days to 6 days so we shouldn't need to raise yet another $80,000 from our parks visitors so soon. But, you win some and you lose some. This wasn't my day, and the parking fees for Hawk Island, Burchfield, Lake Lansing, and the Zoo will go up next year.
The only other fee which was challenged was the Point of Sale fee. A little background...homes with well water (and not on municipal water and sewer systems) are charged an inspection fee when the home is sold. This is to ensure that there is not leakage or contamination into the septic field that pollutes the environment. The price is usually rolled into the mortgage sale of the home. Some people (mostly realtors) opposed this policy when we created it about 5 or 6 years ago, and they continue to oppose the fees. The fee is at 100% of the cost of the program. An amendment was made to oppose the fee increase for this program, with the argument that this this fee shouldn't be increased because it increases the cost of home sales. Supporters of increasing the fee, though, said that increasing to 100% would result in the County general fund (and all citizens) subsidizing the inspection program for these few people that are selling their homes. I voted with the supporters of increasing the fee. I believe that those of us on municipal water/sewer pay lots for that service to protects the environment and public health, and those on well water should pay as well to ensure that the septic fields and environment are not polluted. This amendment failed and the fee increase passed.
You also may recall that a two weeks ago the county passed a resolution moving the community agency money to the Power of We. This was undone last night when the Board voted to reconsider the resolution. It was then sent back to committee, where we will have the discussion all over again at the committee and Board level. So stay tuned...
Finally, sad news. Two Saturdays ago, the County lost a leader. Former Commissioner and Board Chair Calvin Lynch passed away. He was only in his late 50's, but had severe cancer. I attended the funeral on Saturday and it was moving. The family and his fraternity did a wonderful job. Ingham County also passed a resolution to honor his memory, and that was presented to Calvin's lovely wife Cathy and beautiful daughter Danielle. We passed that resolution on Tuesday, and many memories were shared. Personally, I recall serving with Calvin. He was loud and obnoxious, but he was honest and very caring. I learned so much from him as leader of our Board. He did not mince words and said exactly what he thought...and provided strong leadership. I also remember he and his wife being very gracious to me and my wife when we were together at the Counties conference and many other times. The County has lost a dedicated servant, and I will miss him. Cathy and Danielle and the entire Lynch family are in my thoughts and prayers.
On the political front, you may have noticed (if you live in the Lansing area) that I have gone up with my lawn signs. Although the City doesn't allow political yard signs to go up until July 1, my opponent started putting his signs up two weeks ago. So I have responded in kind. After putting up a few signs in supporters yards, I have been inundated with requests for yard signs. I am getting them out as fast as I can (so if you requested one, I will be there shortly with the sign). I am overwhelmed with support from my district, and am very appreciative. My opponent has talked about no county issues and has attacked me every chance he could, and people are not responding well to that. I will continue to run on my record, and hope that people will support that when they go to the polls instead of the distortions of my opponent!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
County Fair, Parks Fees, and Setting the Record Straight on My Votes!
County Services committee interviewed three very good candidates for our Fair Board. The County has had a fair for 155 years, and it is a great event for Ingham County families. Rural residents can utilize the fair for agricultural interests, animals, and 4-H activities. Urban residents can learn about agricultural parts of the county, and can have lots of fun with rides and other fun attractions. I have been to the Fair with my family and enjoy it, and look forward to it every year. We need to keep the Fair Board and Fair Director’s feet to the fire to not have deficits at the Fair, as we cannot afford to subsidize them with General Fund money. But we need to give them the tools to better raise money, including concerts and well-regulated and policed beer tents and other money-makers. And we need to pray for no rain during fair week!
We also considered a variety of county fees. We usually aim to recapture 100% of the cost to provide services so that the users of the service are paying rather than county taxpayers. This includes services like immunization record copying fees, public pool inspections, fees for tobacco sales retailers, and other inspections. One fee increase recommendation from our county staff that concerned me, though, was to increase parks fees for residents. Current parks fees for county residents (who also pay county taxes) are $2 daily and $20 annual. Our staff recommended increasing daily entrance fees to $3 and annual fees to $30.
I was able to prevent this fee increase when it was considered in the County Services committee. During debate, I indicated opposition to this county fee increase. In talking to constituents, the county service I hear more than anything other is Hawk Island County Park which is in my district. This park is a jewel in south Lansing and is used by people in the summer and winter. It is the one real get-away and quality of life asset that the County provides for my constituents. Up until this year, the county charged parking fees for parks only on weekends. Due to budget constraints, this was changed to being charged daily. That took effect on January 1st.
I raised the objection that we just added daily fees and I did not think it would be appropriate to raise these fees so quickly after making people pay daily. This is also a service that we can provide to our constituents, especially for those out of work who need to get out of the house. Increasing these fees at this time is simply wrong. After making this case in committee, I was able to garner the support of my colleagues. When these fees were separated out from the rest of the fees, they were turned down on a 1-5 vote.
Unfortunately, the Finance committee disagreed. Information from staff was presented saying that this would reduce our budget by about $80,000, and that there are plenty of ways to receive a waiver if people can't pay. While I understand these arguments, I responded saying that we haven't even started looking at our budget yet. When we went from charging 2 days per week to 6 days per week, we increased revenues from $97,000 per year to $200,000 per year. That means we doubled what we took in last year. It is too soon to once again increase that. And, I argued that these fees are not budgetary considerations. If we really want to maximize our budget, we would make fees $4 or $5 daily and make lots more money. But to me, parks fees are not about solidifying our budget - they are what we think the community members should pay. We will always put in money from the county general fund for parks as they are an important part of quality of life for our residents.
With the County Services and Finance Committees disagreeing, this will be decided on Tuesday at the Board level. I will let you know what happens on Wednesday or Thursday!
On the campaign front, everything continues to go well. I have been knocking doors and discussing issues with constituents. I am receiving tremendous support and encouragement. While my opponent continues to distort my record, I will continue to talk about the important issues for southeast Lansing residents at the County Commission!
(As a note...my opponent says I supported a pay raise for myself in bad budget times. The reality is that on November 27, 2007, I voted for a resolution that ELIMINATED the pay raise
for 2009 and reduced the pay raise for 2010. And in 2010, I have contributed the pay raise back to the county, which I did before I knew that I would have a primary. We asked for 3 furlough days for employees, and I believed I needed to give back to the general fund from my pay as well. My opponent either is purposely distorting my record, or truly doesn't understand how county government works.)
We also considered a variety of county fees. We usually aim to recapture 100% of the cost to provide services so that the users of the service are paying rather than county taxpayers. This includes services like immunization record copying fees, public pool inspections, fees for tobacco sales retailers, and other inspections. One fee increase recommendation from our county staff that concerned me, though, was to increase parks fees for residents. Current parks fees for county residents (who also pay county taxes) are $2 daily and $20 annual. Our staff recommended increasing daily entrance fees to $3 and annual fees to $30.
I was able to prevent this fee increase when it was considered in the County Services committee. During debate, I indicated opposition to this county fee increase. In talking to constituents, the county service I hear more than anything other is Hawk Island County Park which is in my district. This park is a jewel in south Lansing and is used by people in the summer and winter. It is the one real get-away and quality of life asset that the County provides for my constituents. Up until this year, the county charged parking fees for parks only on weekends. Due to budget constraints, this was changed to being charged daily. That took effect on January 1st.
I raised the objection that we just added daily fees and I did not think it would be appropriate to raise these fees so quickly after making people pay daily. This is also a service that we can provide to our constituents, especially for those out of work who need to get out of the house. Increasing these fees at this time is simply wrong. After making this case in committee, I was able to garner the support of my colleagues. When these fees were separated out from the rest of the fees, they were turned down on a 1-5 vote.
Unfortunately, the Finance committee disagreed. Information from staff was presented saying that this would reduce our budget by about $80,000, and that there are plenty of ways to receive a waiver if people can't pay. While I understand these arguments, I responded saying that we haven't even started looking at our budget yet. When we went from charging 2 days per week to 6 days per week, we increased revenues from $97,000 per year to $200,000 per year. That means we doubled what we took in last year. It is too soon to once again increase that. And, I argued that these fees are not budgetary considerations. If we really want to maximize our budget, we would make fees $4 or $5 daily and make lots more money. But to me, parks fees are not about solidifying our budget - they are what we think the community members should pay. We will always put in money from the county general fund for parks as they are an important part of quality of life for our residents.
With the County Services and Finance Committees disagreeing, this will be decided on Tuesday at the Board level. I will let you know what happens on Wednesday or Thursday!
On the campaign front, everything continues to go well. I have been knocking doors and discussing issues with constituents. I am receiving tremendous support and encouragement. While my opponent continues to distort my record, I will continue to talk about the important issues for southeast Lansing residents at the County Commission!
(As a note...my opponent says I supported a pay raise for myself in bad budget times. The reality is that on November 27, 2007, I voted for a resolution that ELIMINATED the pay raise
for 2009 and reduced the pay raise for 2010. And in 2010, I have contributed the pay raise back to the county, which I did before I knew that I would have a primary. We asked for 3 furlough days for employees, and I believed I needed to give back to the general fund from my pay as well. My opponent either is purposely distorting my record, or truly doesn't understand how county government works.)
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