Mecosta County board weighs dam sale support, adjusts meeting times

Here are the top items discussed at the Mecosta County Board of Commissioners’ regular meeting, held at 9 a.m., June 4.

During the meeting, Consumers Energy Community Affairs Area Manager Patrick Tiedt addressed the board regarding a request for a resolution of support for the sale of Consumers Energy’s 13 hydroelectric dams in Michigan.

Tiedt said he appreciated the boards consideration of the resolution of support and provide copies of other letters of support received by Consumers.

“We worked with Confluence on a deal. It does include a 30-year power purchase agreement, and I think that that is important to note because Confluence, in the other dams that they’ve had, has never had a power purchase agreement,” Tiedt said. “And so this is a commitment to run those hydros, and of course, they would have to relicense in 2034 and have publicly said that it is their intent to relicense all 13 dams.” 

Several in attendance expressed their concerns about the sale of the dams, indicating their distrust of private equity firm ownership and concerns of accountability if the dams fail.

Tiedt said Confluence will be under the same requirements of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to maintain the recreational areas, and to maintain the dams safely.

“The projects (at) both Hardy and Rogers would have to be part of the plan going forward,” he said.

No action was taken by the board regarding a resolution of support.

During the meeting, a motion to change the first public comment portion of the meetings to pertain strictly to items on the agenda failed in a tie vote of 3-3. Commissioner Randy LaPrese was absent.

Some in attendance argued that the public comment at the beginning of the meeting was important in that community members often bring items of importance to the commissioners’ attention during those comments.

Commissioner Gary Lambrix agreed, saying, “I think there is a point there that some of the things that are introduced are not on the agenda, but it gives us something to think about during the course of the meeting.”

Commissioner Greg Adams, who suggested the change, said that he doesn’t think it is relevant whether the public gets to speak on non-agenda items at the beginning or end of the meeting, but what is relevant is that it is a business meeting and they have an agenda to follow, and to “not clog it up with non-agenda items does not limit the ability for free speech at the end.”

Also during the meeting, a motion to change the meeting time for the second meeting of the month from 4 p.m. to 9 a.m. was approved unanimously by the board.

Beginning with the July meetings, all board of commissioners’ meetings will begin at 9 a.m.

Board Chair Chris Zimmerman said that part of the rationale for moving the time is that staff is on the clock for the meetings, which sometime requires them to stay until 6 or 7 p.m. and it creates an inconvenience for them.

“We are not deriving the attendance by having the four o’clock meeting,” Lambrix added. “We were hoping to get a lot more participation from the community, but it’s not coming, so 9 a.m. makes more sense.”

During the meeting, J.D. Lindberg with Resource Recycling Systems presented an update on the Heartland Materials Management Plan.

The HMMP is a collaboration between eight counties, including Mecosta and Osceola counties, to implement a plan to meet the newly enacted state recycling requirements.

“The group got a late start, and so we’re kind of under the gun to move this along because there’s some very specific legislative requirements for review periods and submittal periods,” Lindberg said. “But we’re moving pretty quickly with deeper engagement with the counties in this month and next month, working to get a start on a draft plan.”

Next steps will include community engagement in each of the participating counties, review of the draft plan, with specific plans for each county, and approvals from the local level up to the state level.

County Administrator Mindy Taylor updated the board on the process for determining how the 2025 Marijuana Excise Tax funds will be distributed.

“I sent out requests to the department heads and have started receiving those requests,” Taylor said. “Once we get past those deadlines, we will need to (schedule) a meeting to start reviewing those.”

Lambrix asked if the funds would be opened up to local fire departments and townships.

Taylor said that would be determined following the review of internal needs for the funds.

She added that she should be getting a response from counsel as to plans to spend $10,000 on an engineering report on the Tonkin Drain project.

During the meeting, the board approved renewing the county’s contract with the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority for county insurance.

Commissioner Bill Routley said that the renewal is increasing by $14,297 over last year, mainly due to additional law enforcement officers added last summer.

Taylor noted that the county will receive a net asset distribution of $42,227 that is a refund they can use at their discretion.

“I believe that since 2008, the amount of net asset distributions has averaged just over $82,000 a year, so while the policy may look high, it has some tremendous benefits that most insurance companies don’t provide,” Routley said.

The board also approved an updated agreement with Saginaw County for juvenile detainee housing, which includes an increase of $100 for detainees with documented mental health issues requiring additional staffing.

Taylor said that the county already has a contract with Saginaw County regarding the placement of juvenile detainees and the only change in the contract is the additional fee for detainees with a history of mental illness or suicide attempts.

“They are asking that we sign this contract that has that additional piece to it,” she said. “We do not pay anything if we have no juveniles in the facility, but this does give us a spot, if needed.”

The board voted to deny a Freedom of Information Act appeal from Justin Meyers.

Taylor said the appeal is basically the same as a previous appeal where the individual is requesting access to information that requires an additional fee.

Equalization Director Shila Kiander said that the FOIA fee required for release of documents does not cover other fees pertaining to other statutes and the GIS fee for the information being requested is not covered by the FOIA fee. 

She said previously that the information requested is available on the county website but comes with an additional fee established in the enhanced access policy.

During the meeting, the board also approved the following:

• A request from the Commission on Aging to apply for a $10,000 Meeting Unmet Need Acceleration Gift Distribution grant;
• A request from the COA to participate in a fundraiser at Roben-Hood Airport on June 27 with two employees who will adjust their hours so there is no overtime pay;
• A bid from Douglas Inc. to replace eight windows and the county building at a cost of $10,645;
• A bid from ICS Money for a refurbished key control box for the jail at a cost of $7240;
• A bid from Berger Chevrolet for the purchase of a Chevy Equinox for the Building and Zoning Department at a cost of $28,000; and
• A request to discharge the mortgage of $6,160 for the property at 822 Mechanic Street.

The next board of commissioners’ meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m., June 18, at the Mecosta County Services Building, 14485 Northland Drive, Big Rapids. The meetings are also accessible via Zoom.

For more information, visit: mecostacounty.org or call 231-592-0783.