Townships Have Struggled With Road Work Bids
To the Editor:

Now that the political dust has fallen from the departure of our Engineer/Manager Craig Kelso from the Mackinac County Road Commission, I think a number of things need to be addressed. Firstly, in my 50-plus years of experience being employed by the Wayne County Road Commission and private consulting engineering firms downstate, I have seen both sides of the coin, and I know micro managing when I smell it. I have worked for and with a number of outstanding engineers over those years, and Mr. Kelso would be right near the top of the list. In his dealings with contractors, he was always professional, and they knew where they stood once they were awarded a contract.

Unfortunately, his dealings with township boards and local citizens weren't so easy. One of the major problems was accepting and understanding Mr. Kelso's proposals for a project that required township monies. "Estimated Quantities" being key words. All items of work in a project are identified by a unit price: a cubic yard of gravel, a ton of asphalt, a square yard of topsoil, etc. Measurements and volumes are then calculated and all of these numbers are then combined into what will be the Estimated Quantities for a project to determine the bid price. In the meantime, while all these numbers are being crunched, the cost of labor and materials will increase by next year's bid dates. So you see, Estimated Quantities will still be a crapshoot at best. And remember, Mr. Kelso had 10 other townships ragging at him for their projects.

If you harbor any doubt as to Mr. Kelso's managerial capabilities, you need only to look back 10 or so years and see what equipment we had then, and the equipment we have now. Union people should not be allowed to set managerial policies. What will we do when it is time to negotiate labor contracts?

Bernie Sorrels

Moran