At Wednesday’s county executive committee meeting, committee members and staff discussed the next phases of reopening county facilities as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted statewide. 

“I think it’s time for us to enter into Phase 2 of our Preparedness and Response Plan, which includes reopening specific buildings and departments to the public,” County Administrator Theresa Doehring said, “I’d like to do that starting Monday, June 15, and we’ll adjust plans accordingly from that date.”

Face masks will be required inside the courthouse for members of the public “if they can medically tolerate that,” said Doehring. County employees will have their temperatures taken upon entry and will be required to wear masks in meeting rooms and other public spaces. 

Staff have worked out a security plan to coordinate public and employee entry and are evaluating whether to take temperatures for members of the public who are visiting county offices. There will be floor markings for social distancing purposes where appropriate, and room occupancy limits will be set at no more than 10 people at a time.

Doehring said, “through all of this, all of our departments have been fully functioning, even while closed to the public, but the option will now be available for folks to come into some of our buildings.” 

Non-essential meeting spaces at the Courthouse and Courts Building will remain suspended, while some staff will continue to work remotely, and only a few furloughed employees will see increased hours during this phase. 

Courts will open on a slightly different schedule based on the approval of the State Administrator’s Office.  County Attorney Referee Kevin Kane said, “we hope to be in Phase Two by Monday afternoon, once we get our administrative order in.” Under Phase Two, courts will still remain largely closed except for criminal trials that must occur in a courtroom. Social distancing measures will be in effect. 

If authorized, phased reopening would continue in 14-day increments. “In Phase Three we will be able to open more, and Phase Four would mean that the [pandemic] is over,” Kane said. The 14-day increments are based on authorization from the health department, which comes “if we’re under the percentage ratio of tests to positives,” according to Kane. 

“Thankfully we haven’t had any positives in the courthouse as of yet, so that’s a good thing,” Kane continued, saying that if authorized to do so, the courts would continue into Phase Three in late June. 

All Michigan courts are on this phased program, “and some were earlier. That’s what you’ve got to know. Some courts in some districts are in different phases because they had the testing,” Kane said. “This county just did not have the testing until later on.” 

Commissioner Kathy Pangle echoed Kane, saying, “we did all that free testing on [this past] Saturday and Sunday, so that can change, too, when all those test results start coming back.”

Regarding reopening procedures, Commissioner Dennis Allen said “next week is going to be a real trial and error for our employees. It’s going to be a work in progress.” 

County staff encourage people who plan to come to the courthouse to call ahead, and Doehring advises it is still the best option for people to conduct business remotely whenever possible. Doehring expects to issue a press release with information on what departments will be open for in person visits, and what departments will be taking appointments.

Discussing the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners’ own meetings, Allen said for the time being, the board would keep meeting on Zoom, but hoped to be back in the historic courthouse by July. Doehring said any changes to that format will depend on what the state authorizes regarding limits on the number of people that will be permitted in a room, but county staff will discuss options for streaming if the commissioners decide to meet in person.

Budget Audit to be Presented Next Week

Finance Director Angie Steinman reported there will be an audit presentation for the 2019-2020 FY budget at next Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners’ meeting. 

“I don’t have any information at all right now on what will be included in that, I haven’t received the draft yet, and this is very typical, it very often comes down to the last minute,” Steinman said, “but we will have a surplus in the general fund for the first time in quite a while, so it will be a good report this year.”

Dispatch Equipment Grant Approved

Allen reported an approved grant application that will fund the replacement of the county’s emergency dispatch system. 

“I learned in March that there was a grant available to replace our telephones,” Allen said. “Our current system is five years old. I was trying to get it replaced this year, but didn’t have the money for that, so this grant came up, and with [County Grant Writer James] Hissong’s help, we applied for it, and it was approved for the full amount for replacing all of our telephone equipment.” 

This includes equipment for five answering positions as well as computers and support equipment. 

The grant award totals $51,494, with the county providing a 5 percent match in the amount of $2,710.25. Allen explained that a line item for the equipment was not in this year’s capital requests due to a much higher earlier quote, but that he later was able to obtain a lower quote, and he would be able to use funds from the existing budget to meet the match figure. 

In addition, Allen reported he had “learned from our vendor that there is a big market for used dispatch equipment, and in the interim since we switched, I’ve been in contact with two companies, one in Battle Creek and one out in Colorado, that buy used equipment. I just have to gather up a list of what we have.” 

Commissioners and staff present at Wednesday’s meeting discussed procedures for properly disposing of used equipment. Doehring encouraged Allen to “post it on the [county] website. Reach out to some of those vendors that you think might be interested, I think we just need to make sure that we give others the opportunity and we get the best quote or bid possible. It could be a nice little bump for Dennis and his budget.”

Possible Dam Threat

Commissioner Kathy Pangle called attention to recent news coverage on the condition of Michigan’s state-regulated dams after the collapse of the Edenville dam inundated the City of Midland in May. Recent articles called attention to the Portage Plant Dam in Three Rivers, which sits on the Portage River at Hoffman Pond, and is directly upstream from parts of the First and Second Districts of Three Rivers. 

In her comments Wednesday, Pangle suggested “that maybe the City, the County, and the Conservation District can keep it on everybody’s radar before there’s a big disaster.” The Watershed Voice will be releasing follow-up coverage on the condition of the Portage Plant Dam and other dams near Three Rivers later this week.

Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.