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.
John Lindsey
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.
At a monthly work session this past Wednesday morning, St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) staff brought board members up to speed on the status of several pending projects, including a statewide “bridge bundling” project that will see a bridge replaced on Nottawa Road. Board members also addressed a few standard procedural items for the beginning of the new year, continuing a series of several such items addressed at a board meeting on January 6.
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.
A short stretch of Lutz Road heading south from Three Rivers may be up for reconstruction soon. Garrett Myland, Assistant Manager and Engineer for the St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC), said in a report Wednesday he is pursuing a longer-term project to have Lutz Road rebuilt in its entirety from Highway M-86 all the way to U.S.-12. Working toward that larger goal, Myland is seeking a handful of grants to help rebuild the road’s first two miles from M-86 south to Fairchild Road in 2021.
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.
Following an alignment of several funding sources recently, St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) staff said the Langley Covered bridge will receive an extensive overhaul in 2023 at a board meeting Tuesday. Funding from the state legislature and the Southwest Region Bridge Council of Michigan (SWBC) will fund a significant portion of the work. SJCRC will provide some of its own funds and Managing Director John Lindsey said he hopes the County Commission will close a remaining gap.
Following a public hearing Wednesday morning, members of the St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) voted to abandon a section of Union Street in Mottville Township.
At a light meeting of the St. Joseph County Road Commission’s board Wednesday evening, during which no action items occurred, Managing Director John Lindsey provided his usual, detailed update on the season’s road work, as well as potential upcoming projects.
St. Joseph County Road Commission Managing Director John Lindsey discussed possible fleet replacement options with commission board members at a work session Wednesday.
After a full season’s worth of construction, the St. Joseph County Road Commission (SJCRC) has opened a new traffic circle at the intersection of Farrand and Colon Roads just outside Colon.
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.