Road Commission Upholds Choice To Cut Crew Leaders
By Amy Polk

The Mackinac County Road Commission, meeting Monday, May 14, upheld an earlier decision to eliminate two crew leader positions, and maintained it did not violate its contract with employees. All three commissioners voted May 14 to affirm their April 3 actions.

The decision reduced the pay of two employees, Bonnie Tallman, who was crew leader of the East District Garage, and Gary Derusha, former crew leader of the West District Garage. They will remain heavy equipment operators but will no longer receive the extra $1 per hour wage they received for being crew leaders. Their pay has been reduced by $2,080 a year, resulting in a $4,160 savings to the Road Commission.

At the May 14 meeting, Sue Cameron of the American Federation of State and County Municipal Employees filed a grievance on behalf of the employees, questioning whether it was the road commission's right to eliminate the positions and reduce the employees' wages.

It was the only issue discussed at the meeting, and commissioners barred the public at her request, citing "pending litigation" as their reason for doing so. The Open Meetings Act does not allow closing meetings to hear grievances, and pending litigation is a lawsuit that already has been filed, not threatened. So far, neither the union nor the employees have pending litigation against the Road Commission. A grievance hearing must be considered in open session, according to a February 14, 1978, Attorney General opinion. The road commission's attorney, however, advised the board it could close the meeting for a grievance hearing.

At the commission's Tuesday, May 15, regular meeting, commissioners heard more than one hour of complaints and requests about Mackinac County roads, continued an argument over work commissioned at the Crystal and Brevort Lake roads intersection, signed road work agreements for Hudson and St. Ignace townships, hired Gene Brow and Sons to crush and furnish gravel, reinforced a disparagement clause for road commission employees, and bought a Peterbilt plow truck for $111,545. The tandem axle truck will replace a plow truck that was wrecked in March, said Road Commission Manager Craig Kelso, and its cost will be covered by insurance. Mr. Kelso is getting bids on the cost of fitting the truck with a winter maintenance package that includes a plow, scraper, and other equipment. Peterbilt estimates it will arrive by the end of June.

Mr. Kelso reported that Mackinac County Road Commission is entitled to $6,500 in damages from Bacco Construction of Iron Mountain, but no more, according to a recent court decision. He said Bacco caused approximately $12,800 in road surface damage to Mackinac Trail when it completed work on the snowmobile and multiple use bridge over I-75, north of M-134.

After Clerk Theresa McPherson read aloud the minutes of the Tuesday, May 1, meeting, Commissioner Lester Livermore asked they be amended to include a statement that Chairman Frank Luepnitz ordered the state's budget problems, legislators are examining every cost-cutting measure they can, but upon closer examination, the two representatives did not find any financial gain in the township consolidation bill, he said.

Property assessments by townships would have been affected by the bill.

County control over assessing duties would not increase tax revenue, Mrs. Hudson said, because local assessors already follow state guidelines. If a township undercharges, the county equalization department notes this and orders the municipality to increase tax collection.

Another objection to the proposal was raised by Moran Township Supervisor Jim Durm. Since the consolidation bill would not affect village or city governments, eliminating township powers would lead to unequal representation, he said.

In a letter to Mr. McDowell and State Senator Jason Allen, Mr. Durm wrote, "The Moran Township Board of Trustees would like to convey our disapproval of proposed reforms that would deny our township residents the same rights of representation enjoyed by residents of cities within Michigan."

Mr. Condino originally hoped to reduce state expenditures by reducing revenue sharing aid to local municipalities. Some townships receive both statutory revenue sharing and constitutional revenue sharing.

Many townships, including Moran and Clark, no longer receive statutory revenue sharing aid, said their supervisors.

The state has reduced revenue sharing for townships from $90 million to $20 million since the 2001- 2002 fiscal year, MTA reported.