MARQUETTE — There were several items of business on the agenda at the Marquette County Board meeting held Tuesday.

One presentation was given by Marquette County Equalization Director Jackie Lykins. She noted that the net increase in taxable value is about 5% this year.

“Two things: rate of inflation issued by the state of Michigan contributed heavily to it, and the increase of market value and those properties that go uncapped as a result of sales within the local (market) … and the market is still holding steady, so if it continues the way it’s going, you should have another significant increase next year,” she said.

For example, in 2021 the taxable value for Marquette Township was $276,378,413. In 2022 it is $288,032,209, a 4.22% increase. Wells Township was the only township to have a slight decrease.

“We’ve always had that problem with capped taxes and people holding on to their properties, but the prices did so well this last year that a lot of people are selling. So I mean, that uncaps them and there you go, it helps,” Commissioner Bill Nordeen said.

A motion was approved to establish the equalization valuations.

Inmate health care services at the Marquette County Jail were discussed. On May 9, the jail’s contract with current health care provider Wellpath will end. A bid for health care coverage was received from Advanced Correctional Healthcare.

“They (ACH) cover health care for 12 of the 15 Upper Peninsula counties right now. It looks like Wellpath is getting out of the business of dealing with small jails,” Undersheriff Dan Willey said.

Sheriff Greg Zyburt recommended proceeding with ACH. Its health care services would be 40 hours a week for a cost of $247,168.22 annually, plus electronic medical records at $19,372.28 per year for three years. A motion was passed to proceed with ACH’s services.

A consultant’s recommendation for the harbor master plan project was presented. In 2021, the county was awarded a Michigan Department of Natural Resources Waterways grant, a 50/50 match totaling $60,000 to develop a master plan for the Big Bay Harbor. The plan will include an assessment of the facility assets, community input on future development and preliminary engineering plans for recommended projects.

A request for qualifications and proposals was put out and five responses were received. The review committee recommended going with GEI Consultants at $57,818.

“I know this has been on the radar for a long time. A lot of people that use the marina have been requesting that work be done there, and this had gone back a few years. I’m glad we’re at the stage where we’re at right now,” Commissioner Johnny DePetro said.

The motion passed, with Commissioners Joe Derocha and Nordeen opposing it.

A Michigan auto insurance law resolution was up for consideration. This resolution would urge the Michigan Legislature to amend the Michigan No-Fault Auto Insurance Reform Act to address a sustainable reimbursement cap for services provided to auto accident victims and preserve the benefits to survivors who receive long-term care paid by the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association.

“We have some of the highest auto insurance, if not the highest … as opposed to other states. There was a lot of pressure to amend no-fault insurance, and I think rightfully so. However, it’s never that easy, and you end up with unintended consequences,” Nordeen said. “The way I understood it from our civil counsel, is that not only did they put a cap on the catastrophic fund, but they put caps on other things, too, like care that they’re getting. So there’s lesser things that we never, no one saw that coming. I think that it could probably be looked at, and maybe it’s not quite right. I don’t think you’re going to get them to reverse it, but you certainly could get them to maybe tweak it and fix it.”

All commissioners approved the resolution.

A funding request from the Friends of the Historical Thunder Bay Inn was discussed. The group was requesting $49,620 of Marquette County Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to help start a senior coffee/internet cafe in the Thunder Bay Inn. The cafe would also provide classes for seniors on various internet topics.

“This is a one-time shot. It’s not going to be 40-some thousand dollars every year to support it,” Commissioner Stephen Adamini said. “This would be a good thing that would help a lot of seniors.”

While Adamini supported the request, Derocha had concerns.

“My concern is that we’re taking ARPA funds in a private business,” Derocha said. “Our goal to this windfall of revenue the county has received was to spend this money as wisely as possible on countywide projects.”

Marquette County Civil Counsel staffer Wendy Marcotte clarified things, explaining that there is a specific statutory authority for county government to fund a public or private nonprofit for the benefit of senior citizens to assist them with services and activities. Since the request had been made by a nonprofit, the money would not go directly to the Thunder Bay Inn. The money would be paid to the nonprofit, and the nonprofit would be responsible for overseeing use of the funds.

“We’re spending $40,000 of our own money upgrading fiber optics, upgrading the power and keeping the place open,” Thunder Bay Inn owner Mark Bevins said. “We’re taking Big Bay’s culture and opening it up to train seniors to do something very important. Help their lives.”

Ultimately, a motion was made to have Marquette County civil counsel work with the Friends of the Thunder Bay Inn to address questions and concerns regarding this project, and put the original motion on a future meeting agenda.

The second-to-last item of business pertained to the Marquette County Conservation District, which has requested to put a millage on an upcoming ballot. The millage would seek $135,500 to staff its office with two full-time positions, cover employee health benefits and cover matching funds for grants.

“I would support this in a minute if we weren’t in the situation where prices are going up at a rate that we haven’t seen for the last 40 years,” Adamini said. “My fear is that, even though this is a good use of money, I think most people … are sick of paying more than $4 for gasoline when they fill up or get a little bit nervous when the price of hamburger gets around $8 a pound.

“I think it’s the season where if ever the public is going to say this is a good thing, but we can’t afford it now. If they waited until this inflation runs its course, you’re going to have a much easier time passing a millage.”

Ultimately no motion was made and it was recommended that the conservation district try the millage in the future.

The last item of business was a clean water and drinking water engineering request for bids put forth by the K.I. Sawyer International Airport.

In February, the airport was contacted by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy department about potential funding coming through the state of Michigan relating to clean water and drinking water infrastructure.

Working with EGLE, the airport developed a list of projects it felt necessary for funding.

Projects include elevated water tank improvements, water well house improvements, fire hydrant replacements, sludge storage tank refurbishing, sludge disposal, sewer main replacement and several other projects. These projects are estimated to cost $17 million.

The airport put out a request for quotations for a consulting firm to help the K.I. Sawyer water department develop a plan to submit to the state. It received three RFQs. Of the three, U.P. Engineers and Architects was deemed to be the most qualified for the job. Staff was looking for authorization to move forward to get UPEA on contract to help develop a plan to submit to the state.

The motion passed, with Derocha opposing it. He felt UPEA was not the right choice for the job, instead stating he would have chosen GEI Consultants as he felt it was more qualified.

Taylor Johnson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is tjohnson@miningjournal.net.