Otsego County Board of Commissioners 
5-27-25

Going backwards...

Consent agenda passed without drama or debate. 

No special presentations nor department head reports. 

The Budget & Finance committee report involved 4 items, two of which were without issues, accepting a block grant for money for small generators for businesses, and revising the lists of ORV permitted roads by township (apparently a process in the works for a long time). 

The Health Department of Northwest Michigan sought $25,000 from the Opioid fund to create a survey to assist in targeting opioid use in the county. Ms. Sortor suggested that the survey couldn't help, and surveys done in other counties should be good enough. The staff response was that rural counties differ significantly from urban counties, and knowledge is power. Mr. Mason suggested the $25,000 could be better spent interdicting drugs at the border, ignoring that the opioid fund came from companies like Walgreens and CVS due to overprescription of the drugs and a complete failure to monitor usage as legally required. The antipathy directed at HDNM by the so-called conservatives is inexplicable. The hospital cost of one overdose would cover a boat load of surveys. Commissioners Drzewiecki and Weaver supported the survey concept, which passed 5-3 (Dana Wingo was absent-excused).

The expenditure of $325,000 was approved for the Otsego Lake water level drain system, which was historically funded through a special assessment. Unfortunately, while the special assessment district remains in existence, the property tax rolls for that district haven't been updated properly, so the county won't be able to recoup the cost. Since the lake level management is required by court order, just blowing it off is not an option.

Sheila Simpson noted that HDNM is very well regarded nationally. Chair McVannel noted that Chief Demming's emergency management team is the envy of northern Michigan, and had recently used a drone to locate and rescue a 3 year old who was headed for a pond.

BTW, the 6 PM start time for the meeting did not appear to particularly affect attendance.