One of the St. Joseph County Road Commission’s (SJCRC) leading staff recently received the top award in the state for a rural road engineer. At a regular SJCRC meeting Wednesday morning, board members learned that Assistant Director and Engineer Garrett Myland received the “Rural Engineer of the Year” award from the County Road Association of Michigan (CRA). An award also goes to the “Urban Engineer of the Year,” but for the “Rural” title, Myland won over engineers in similar positions all around the state.
Dave Allen
A decision on the abandonment of a section of Haybridge Road by the St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) has been delayed pending review by Florence Township officials. The section under consideration runs eastward from Sevison Road, and ends at a condemned bridge over the Fawn River. On the other side of the bridge, Haybridge Road continues past a connection with Block Road, and ends at Engle Road. That section would remain active if the abandonment goes through.
The St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) approved its 2021 Fiscal Year budget at a work session Wednesday. As passed, the 2021 budget includes a rough total of $12.5 million in projected revenues and $13.1 million in projected expenses. Commissioners and staff also recognized outgoing commissioner John Bippus for his 10 years of service.
The St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) reviewed a draft budget for next fiscal year at a regular meeting Wednesday evening. Managing Director John Lindsey presented the draft to commission members with the caveat that they review it thoroughly and offer revisions before the next time they meet for a work session on December 16. The working 2021 draft budget currently includes a rough total of $12.5 million in projected revenues and $13.1 million in projected expenses.
The St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) voted Wednesday to pay half the total amount to replace sprinklers damaged by road work equipment in White Pigeon Township earlier this year. Residents in the Wahbememe subdivision had sprinklers installed outside their own property lines and within the property of adjacent, county-owned throughfares when road work required use of a grader, which uses a long, narrow, horizontal blade to scrape roadbed surfaces level. After discussion, commissioners agreed to pay half the replacement costs and to warn that items placed in roadway property in the future could be subject to damage without compensation. Commissioners also approved health plans, received updates on road work, and conducted an annual evaluation for Managing Director John Lindsey.
White Pigeon Township Supervisor Don Gloy appeared at a St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) work session Wednesday to ask commissioners to consider compensating some of the township’s residents for recent damage that occurred during a subdivision paving project.
Watershed Voice recently spoke with Park Township Trustee Tom Springer, Dave Allen of Midwest Energy & Communications (MEC), and Three Rivers consultant Bob Sills about what it would take to solve St. Joseph County’s rural broadband problem.
St. Joseph County Road Commission staff have been conducting chip seal experiments in the southwest part of the county, the details of which were discussed at a commission work session Wednesday.