Road Commission To Build Shed for $497,300
By Amy Polk

Jarmco Construction of Saginaw will build the new Mackinac County Road Commission salt and sand shed at the East District garage in Marquette Township this summer at a cost of $497,300, pending state approval.

Commissioners accepted bids for the project from nine contractors during a Tuesday, April 1, meeting and selected Jarmco as the low bidder. First National Bank of St. Ignace was picked to finance the project on a 15-year mortgage, with a 4.25 interest rate on the loan. The bank submitted the lowest rate of the banks that bid on the project.

The project still needs state approval before moving forward, Road Commission Manager Karrie Abbitt said, since the shed is a joint project between the Michigan Department of Transportation and the road commission, which will share use of the shed.

Also during the meeting, Commission Chair Frank Luepnitz asked Mrs. Abbitt to make a list of priority work and instructions to cover the three months she will be gone on family leave starting this week. Mr. Luepnitz and Commissioner Paul Amacher said they would like to see more conservative travel by employees, and more efficient use of their time, noting the high gas prices and budget cuts. Both men complained of multiple trips workers are taking between the garages and auto parts stores. Clerk Theresa McPherson confirmed, however, the multiple bills turned in reflects the number of orders placed in a day, rather than number of trips taken to the parts store. Mrs. McPherson found that 99% of the parts orders placed are delivered to the East District garage by an employee of an auto parts store who lives nearby.

Arepresentative of the road commission will attend a Tuesday, April 29, meeting in Cedarville on designating M-134 a Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Scenic Heritage Route. The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m., and Clark Township trustees will meet MDOT officials to talk about the designation and how to apply for it. A Scenic Heritage Route designation will position the highway for more funding opportunities, and inclusion on promotional maps and materials.

Road Contracts Signed for Work in Brevort, Marquette, Newton, and Portage townships

Newton Township will get $10,000 in spray emulsion and chip pavement preservation work and $20,000 of additional gravel on Simmons Woods Road, following commission approval of the township's plan to spend its three-way match program money. Through the match program, all Mackinac County townships receive $20,000 from Mackinac County and the road commission for contributing $10,000 of township money for gravel and general road repairs.

Commissioners signed a $186,500 contract for work on Sandtown Road in Garfield Township, where 1.2 miles of the road west of M-117 will be paved. With township and road commission approval, the project now awaits state approval before it can move forward.

Mrs. Abbitt anticipates the work can be completed in the 2008 road construction season.

Commissioners agreed to install stop signs at future intersections created by a new road in Curtis, once the road is built. The new North Curtis Road being plotted by Portage Township will be between H-33 and Straw Road. The township needs a right-of-way from a property owner along the proposed route, and the owner wants assurance that stop signs will be placed on the road to help regulate traffic there.

Mrs. Abbitt will write a letter to Portage Township expressing the road commission's promise to install traffic signs upon accepting the new road into the Mackinac County Road Commission system. Portage Township will build the road with township funds, but the road commission will maintain it as a county road once it is finished.

Commissioners signed contracts for projects on Hog Island Road in Hudson Township, Krause Road in Portage Township, Black Point Road between Brevort and Moran townships, and Simmons Road in Marquette Township. The contracts now need approval from the state Transportation Committee Review Board before local work can begin.

Union Negotiations To Start; Policies To Preserve Pay Scale; East Garage Temporary Foreman Posted

Road commission contract negotiations with its unionized workers will begin in May, and commissioners set a tentative date of May 19 to start discussion. Commissioner Lester Livermore and Mrs. Abbitt will negotiate a new employment contract on behalf of the road commission. Mr. Livermore said he expects negotiations will include better defining crew leader positions and pay, and giving temporary assignments to those with the most experience first.

The first meeting will also include setting negotiation ground rules, making proposals, and setting subsequent meetings, but "for the most part," Mr. Livermore said, "it's really going to be about pay, and I think with all the layoffs, they know where we are."

Eight seasonal employees were laid off March 28, as reported in The St. Ignace News March 20.

Commissioners will post the acting East District foreman job in response to a grievance filed by Union Chapter Chair Howard Hood. Commissioners last month named seasonal worker Terry Cece the temporary acting foreman to work in place of Dale Williams for six weeks, while he is on sick leave. Mr. Cece had been working as the East District Garage crew leader. Mr. Hood contended that the acting foreman's job should have been posted to give the full-time workers an opportunity to apply for the job before seasonal workers. As crew leader of the East District crew, Mr. Cece was considered by commissioners as the next logical choice for the acting foreman's position, but the commission's contract with the union requires such positions to be posted, commissioners learned. Mr. Livermore said Tuesday he feels the commission's actions were appropriate, but the contract language is vague enough that the road commission could lose if the issue went to arbitration.

"In my experience, when we go to arbitration with gray areas in the contract, we lose," Mr. Livermore said.

Mr. Cece will remain in the position in the meantime, while applications are accepted, Mrs. Abbitt said.

Commissioners adopted a policy to pay seasonal heavy equipment operators (HEOs) who return next winter the same wage they earned before they were laid off March 28.

The road commission's contract with the workers now states that seasonal workers must work the winter and summer to retain their current rate of pay, but with no plans to bring the seasonal workers back this summer, they risked losing their current hourly rate.

The road commission's seasonal HEOs are typically laid off each spring and then called back for the summer construction season, giving them two seasons of work.

In light of the budget-induced layoff, commissioners will now make an exception to the contract and keep the rate the same, regardless of the operators working one or two seasons.