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Ionia County commissioners, from left, Gordon Kelley, Terence Frewen, Jack Shattuck, Larry Tiejema, David Hodges and Scott Wirtz got their latest regular meeting over with in less than an hour on Tuesday. — Screenshot
IONIA — County commissioners held a relatively short and sweet meeting this week, handling their nine agenda items with only a few minutes of discussion for each and then adjourning within an hour.
In response to a comment from Commissioner Jack Shattuck, County Road Department Managing Director Linda Pigue indicated that law enforcement would be stepping up traffic patrols, especially in highway construction zones.
“I have been getting several comments and concerns about I-96 accidents and the level of fatalities,” said Commissioner Jack Shattuck. “The troubling thing is it’s not just fender-benders. They’re asking what we’re doing, if we’re doing anything different or more, stepping up road patrols, are the State Police getting more people out there or more signage to slow people down?”
Pigue told Shattuck “it has everybody’s attention,” but that there seemed to already be plenty of signs, and that the problem was actually careless drivers.
“I’ve talked to several people at MDOT, and they said they have never seen more signage on any construction in any place in the state,” she told commissioners. “We’ve got signs all over the place — all kinds of signs — we’ve just got people who are distracted and not paying attention. Yesterday I was driving and there was a car in the lane beside me. He went right through the red light. He never touched his brakes, just went right through. Fortunately, nobody was coming. You kind of shake your head and say, ‘What are these people looking at? What are they doing?’ Obviously, they’re not paying attention to their driving. And it was not an older person like me that could have somebody say, “Well, they’re old, they don’t know what they’re doing.’ No, this was a younger person.”
Pigue said she recently received an email from Lt. Jason Zylstra of the Michigan State Police indicating there would be increased patrols within the I-96 construction zone, concentrated between mile marker 67 in Ionia County and M-50/Alden Nash in Kent County.
“Motor carrier officers assigned across Michigan will be deployed to the area for increased traffic safety enforcement to deter unsafe driving behaviors by commercial motor vehicle drivers,” Zylstra’s email read. “Motor carrier officers will be on the lookout for driver behavior violations that cause vehicle crashes, such as speeding, following too closely, improper lane changes, reckless or careless driving, and texting/hand-held use of a phone while driving.”
“They have what’s called ‘The Ghost Car,’ it’s an unmarked vehicle and they’re basically watching for anyone using their cellphone,” Pigue added. “And if they see somebody using a cellphone, they grab the license plate number and call ahead to a car outside the construction zone who will pull them over and ticket them for distracted driving.”
Pigue said the state police were also looking into devices that would scan passing license plates on I-96 and automatically ticket any drivers exceeding the 45 MPH construction zone speed limit. However, she said those were not likely to be installed this year.
“They’re not experimental, but they’re not widely used at this moment,” Pigue told commissioners.
‘Hundreds’ of FOIA requests
County Administrator Chad Shaw told commissioners that Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests were “out of control again” and indicated he and his staff were investigating software that would make the process smoother for them.
“Hundreds and hundreds of FOIAs are coming in, we’ve had more than ever and it’s a lot of work,” Shaw said.
“If somebody requests something through FOIA and it’s on our website, can’t we just refer them to our website?” asked Commissioner Larry Tiejema.
“Yes, that is one of the options, but most of the time it’s not for something that’s on the website,” Shaw replied. “It could be details from this month’s food inspections, a lot of the sheriff’s ones are for (body camera) footage or details from investigations. It encapsulates anything we do in government. They could want to see the budget for a project, or they want to see the bids on it. Any operation we do here, the public has the right to FOIA the information on it.”
In other matters …
During its Sept. 23 meeting, the Ionia County Board of Commissioners also:
- With all members present, voted 7-0 in favor of a request from Road Department Managing Director Linda Pigue to engage low bidder Causie Contracting of Mason for $413,344. The company will repair concrete joints that are part of I-96.
- Voted 7-0 to approve the county’s substance use disorder (SUD) prevention agreement with the Mid-State Health Network, which will reimburse the county Health Department for $147,050 in costs related to SUD services provided.
- Voted 7-0 for Undersheriff Andrew Bucholtz’s request to accept $111,287 from the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning. The funds will cover the wages and benefits for one full-time “secondary road patrol” deputy, as well as their related mileage, automotive costs, equipment expenses and supplies.
- Voted 7-0 to approve purchasing four in-car video systems and a five-year warranty from Motorola Solutions for $40,800
- Voted 7-0 to approve Pigue’s request to purchase two trailer-mounted “Instalert 24” brand variable message signs from All Traffic Solutions of Chantilly, Va. for $17,601.11, an expense that will be reimbursed by MDOT. This item was added to the agenda during the meeting.
- Voted 7-0 to approve hiring Thomas Lawn Care of Ionia to maintain the landscaping at all three of the county’s carpool lots for $450 per week, or $150 per week each.
- Voted 7-0 in favor of Animal Control Officer Carly Quinn’s request to increase kitten adoption fees from $60 to $80.
- Voted 7-0 to accept a total of $160,000 in state grants on behalf of the 64A District Court Sobriety Court Program, which was awarded a $22,500 Veterans Court Grant, $100,500 from the Michigan Drug Court Grant Program and $37,000 from an Office of Highway Safety Planning grant.
- Voted 7-0 to reappoint Chris Bredice, Kamm Carpenter, Nathan Sprague and Gregg Yeomans to two year terms on the Construction Board of Appeals
- Voted 7-0 to appoint Kristine Parker as the Republican Party representative and Norrie Slater as the Democratic Party representative on the Ionia County Board of Canvassers.
