Mackinac County Commissioners prepared for the coming year by re-electing Dawn Nelson as chair and Larry Leveille as vice chair (both seated). Standing behind them in this photograph taken before their meeting Monday, January 5, are (from left) commissioners Calvin McPhee, Mike Patrick, and Carl Frazier. A new meeting time was set and committee appointments and department liaisons assigned during the Mackinac County Board of Commissioners annual organizational meeting Monday, January 5. Commissioners re-elected Dawn Nelson as chair and Larry Levielle vice chair for the next two years.

Mrs. Nelson will seek legal advice on hiring an at-will employee to assist the board up to eight hours a week. The person would assist commissioners with research, including surveying other counties on various topics.

After a year of night meetings, commissioners moved their meeting time to 4 p.m., which is a more convenient time for them. The board has been meeting at 6 p.m. and will continue to meet at that time as a committee of the whole. Those meetings will be held in the commissioner room in the annex building next to the Court House.

The commission will continue to hold regular meetings on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.

The following liaison assign- ments with county departments were made: Animal control office, Calvin McPhee; animal shelter, Mike Patrick and Calvin McPhee; airport, Dawn Nelson; building and grounds, Carl Frazier; county clerk, Larry Leveille; emergency services coordinator, Calvin Mc - Phee; 911 coordinator, Larry Leveille; Equalization Department, Dawn Nelson; Michigan State University Extension, Mike Pat - rick; prosecutor's office, Carl Frazier; Register of Deeds office, Dawn Nelson; treasurer's office, Dawn Nelson; Road Commission, Carl Frazier; surveyor's office, Mike Patrick; Sheriff, Larry Leveille and Calvin McPhee; veterans office, Carl Frazier; Probate, District, and Circuit Courts, full board; Friend of the Court, Calvin McPhee; juvenile office, Mike Patrick, and custodian's office, Calvin McPhee.

Committee appointments are: Finance and Administration, full board; Community Action, Dawn Nelson and Larry Leveille; LMAS Health Department, Calvin Mc - Phee and Dawn Nelson; Septic Tank Approval, Mike Patrick and Carl Frazier; Hiawatha Behavioral Health, Mike Patrick and Dawn Nelson; UPCAP, Dawn Nelson; Upper Peninsula Agency on Aging, Mike Patrick; 511 Cor - rections/Tether committee, Larry Leveille and Calvin McPhee; 911 board, Larry Leveille and Calvin McPhee; Eastern U.P. Employment and Training, Carl Frazier and Dawn Nelson; HOME collaborative board, Calvin McPhee; Animal Shelter Committee, Calvin McPhee and Mike Patrick; Manistique Lakes Dam Com - mittee, Carl Frazier and Mike Patrick; Economic Development Corporation, full board; Mackinac Straits Hospital, Dawn Nelson; Tri- County Judicial board, Dawn Nelson and Calvin McPhee; E.U.P. Regional Planning and De - velopment, Mike Patrick and Dawn Nelson; Mackinac County Airport, Dawn Nelson and Calvin McPhee; Planning Commission, Calvin McPhee; Continuum Care, Calvin McPhee; E.U.P. Com - munity Dispute Resolution Center, Calvin McPhee.

The next regular meeting of the county board will be Thursday, January 8, at 4 p.m. on the third floor of the County Courthouse.