The Berrien County Board of Commissioners approved the consent calendar by roll call vote Thursday, including an added resolution ending in 0342. Commissioner Kern made the motion to approve the consent calendar; Commissioner Harrison seconded. The clerk conducted a roll call that resulted in approval of the listed consent items.

Finance committee members reported three procurement actions for the road department to support winter operations: a cold-patch pavement repair materials solicitation (two responsive bids were reported, one at $209,250 and another at about $212,555, compared with an expected cost of roughly $216,000); a steel scraper-blade procurement with a low responsive bid of $8,766 (projected budget $10,200); and a carbide scraper-blade solicitation where the low responsive bid was $17,880 against an estimated $16,800. Committee members said each low bid will be reviewed by the road department for specification compliance and, if acceptable, will be awarded.

The committee also reported three budgeted waivers: an information-systems upgrade to an ExaGrid backup storage system (budgeted $300,000; waiver amount $244,307), two used grapple/limb shears from Cook Equipment Company (budgeted $11,000; cost $11,000), and a tank-rental item from Great Lakes Chloride (budgeted $22,607; waiver $22,607). Committee members indicated all three waivers were accepted by the finance committee.

Administration listed items set for future board consideration: a Trail Court family-division grant award of $110,000 (resolution ending in 337); an animal-control grant of $5,000 from Best Friends Animal Society (resolution ending in 340); and an indigent-defense budget submission/grant award for the 2026 budget year totaling $5,440,958.43, with the county share listed as $577,910.43 (resolution ending in 341). Administration also noted a body-camera contract renewal with Axiom Enterprises and a property-use request from a Cars and Coffee event for courthouse grounds; those items will be scheduled on upcoming agendas.

Committee and staff speakers emphasized that committee approvals (bids and waivers) are contingent on the road department or purchasing staff verifying that the lowest responsive bids meet specifications. The board took no separate roll-call votes on the finance committee’s internal procurement reviews at the full meeting; those actions were reported out by committee chairs.

Ending: The board’s schedule includes a budget review session next Wednesday and a regular meeting the following day; the items described by administration will appear on future agendas for formal board action.