Karrie Abbitt resigned from her position as the manager and engineer of the Mackinac County Road Commission at a special meeting Wednesday, April 30.

The meeting had been called to review summer road projects, discuss staffing and hours, and make budget amendments. Mrs. Abbitt's resignation was not on the agenda, and her letter surprised commissioners. She has been in the position only seven months, starting October 1, 2007.

"I'm sorry to go, but I just feel I wouldn't be able to give 100%," she said, citing "personal reasons" as the basis for the resignation.

"I'm not sure what to say," Commissioner Lester Livermore said. "I'm kind of shocked."

According to her contract with the road commission, Mrs. Abbott must give written notice 90 days prior to the last day of work, but she is already on a three-month family leave through July. She offered to help the road commission

through its transition to another manager, and she will continue performing some engineering work with compensation for any hours worked. Commissioners told Mrs. Abbitt to turn in any hours she works from home.

Clerk Theresa McPherson will be responsible for correspondence and inquiries that come to the road commission office, and Bill Wagner, the commission's construction and maintenance foreman, will oversee projects and maintenance in the field.

Commissioners will consider how it will fill the engineer and manager position later this month.

During the meeting, commissioners gave Mr. Wagner permission to call back five full-time heavy equipment operators and one non-union seasonal laborer for spring projects.

Mr. Wagner said he has enough road work to bring some workers back from a seasonal layoff that started in March, and the work will keep them busy through July. Workers can start on the Mackinac County three-way match program projects, such as pavement preservation and gravel spreading, and those jobs should take them through July, when major projects will start on Swede Road in Cedarville and East Lake Road in Brevort Township.

The road commission has only $206,000 left in the surface maintenance budget for the rest of the year, so commissioners announced they will not mow grass on the shoulders of county roads this summer, to save money. A longer-than-average winter and unplanned snow removal expenses caused the road commission to dip deep into its $1.5 million maintenance budget for 2008. Commissioners warned they cannot take on any extra maintenance projects. The commission spent $300,000 more than the $1.5 million set aside for maintenance last year, Mrs. McPherson said.

Mark Spencer a trustee for Moran Township and a member of the township's Road Committee, complained about inefficient operations and suggested the commission direct workers to make better use of their time. He said he observed two workers in his township assigned to clean up sticks after a spring wind storm. Mr. Spencer saw brooms in the back of the truck and suggested perhaps the men could also have swept sand from intersections. The sand, left over from winter maintenance operations, is a slippery hazard to people on motorcycles, bicycle riders, and possibly motorists.

"Maybe they shouldn't be only out there picking up sticks," he suggested.

Commissioners will ask the Mackinac County Sheriff's Office if it can send jail inmates to clean up stone chips from Norma Emery's yard. The Brevort Township resident complained Wednesday that the loose chips from a chip and tar application to Charles Moran Road were plowed into her yard during the winter. The chips are so thick and heavy, she said, she cannot mow her lawn there, and she is not able to clean up the chips herself.

Commissioners said the complaint is common throughout the county, but the chips eventually go away. The road commission cannot afford to remove stone from people's yards all over the county, commissioners said.

"It's not my fault the chips are in my yard, so why should I be responsible for it?" Mrs. Emery asked. "All I can ask is that you follow up on it."

In response to such complaints, Commission Chair Frank Luepnitz proposed looking closer at the chip and tar operation to see if they can make it more efficient and less messy.

"I'm a little bit concerned because we have a lot of jobs coming up," Mr. Luepnitz said.

The road commission has no money to rent or purchase another machine, Commissioners Livermore and Paul Amacher noted, nor is there money to rent a vacuum machine to remove loose chips, so the commission took no action.