Macomb County board approves bond pledge, contracts, grants and training; all motions pass 13–0

The Macomb County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously (13–0) on Tuesday to approve a package of resolutions, budget amendments, contracts and intergovernmental agreements covering public works projects, grants and training programs. The board recorded separate motions on dozens of agenda items; the actions below summarize motions recorded during the meeting.

Key outcomes

- The board approved a resolution to pledge limited tax fund full faith and credit for refinancing Oakland‑Macomb Interceptor Drainage District (OMID) Michigan State Revolving Fund refunding bonds (resolution reference as presented to the board). County staff said the refinancing lowers principal and will save OMID ratepayers an estimated $260,000 across the local OMID membership.

- Multiple Public Works procurement and cost‑share items advanced. The board approved a Michigan‑made VBD 13 brush chipper purchase (about $48,000 net of trade), and awarded several road rehabilitation and subdivision reconstruction contracts and cost‑share agreements with Sterling Heights, Shelby Township, Clinton Township, Washington Township, Richmond and other local jurisdictions (contract totals and city/township cost shares were presented at the meeting; these items were approved as listed below).

- The board approved grant and budget items for community and public safety programs, including a $100,000 contract for Advancing Macomb (nonprofit capacity building), the county’s 2025 Annual Action Plan for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME program funding, and several subrecipient agreements for ADA sidewalk projects in Eastpointe and Shelby Township.

- The Records & Public Safety committee recommended several items and each was approved by the board: a lease of county property (Juvenile Justice Center) to the State of Michigan (monthly lease amount presented), a $75,000 opioid settlement transfer to Community Mental Health for Live Right youth recovery programs, a Cardinal Group behavioral health emergency partnership training contract ($141,792, paid from MCOLES training funds), and a $185,000 annual contract with the Macomb County Bar Association for continuing legal education (CLE) training for attorneys doing indigent defense (100% grant funded).

- The board approved a resolution affirming continued collection of the local $0.42 monthly 9‑1‑1 surcharge (the action implements a statutory requirement to submit an annual resolution to the State 9‑1‑1 office for the July 1, 2025–June 30, 2029 collection period).

- Other approved items included a $60,600 vehicle hardware refresh for Washington Township fire vehicles (100% reimbursed by Washington Township under the dispatch agreement), a $52,800 grant budget amendment from the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan for safe‑storage public education, a $91,797.50 contract for tele‑town‑hall services, school safety risk and vulnerability assessment agreements for New Haven and Richmond Community Schools, a $198,283 contract to complete manual indexing for the county’s property spine (Property Insight), and remonumentation grant adjustments reported by the Register of Deeds.

Votes at a glance (selected items)

- Agenda adoption — Motion by Commissioner Romano, supported by Commissioner Zinner; vote 13–0 (approved).

- Approval of April minutes — Motion by Commissioner Grant, supported by Commissioner Bueno; vote 13–0 (approved).

- Item 6: Receive and file public works presentation on sewer inspection program — Motion by Miss Miller; vote 13–0 (received and filed).

- Item 7a: Resolution to pledge limited tax fund full faith & credit for OMID SRF refunding bonds — Motion to refer/approve; vote 13–0 (approved to proceed).

- Item 7b: Purchase VBD 13 brush chipper (public works) — $48,000 (net of trade); vote 13–0 (approved; funded from drain maintenance fund).

- Item 7c: Contract — Advancing Macomb (contracted services) — $100,000; vote 13–0 (approved; second year of contract).

- Item 7d: 2025 Annual Action Plan (CDBG & HOME) — vote 13–0 (approved to forward).

- Items 7e–7f: Subrecipient agreements (Eastpointe sidewalk; Shelby Township ADA sidewalk) — vote 13–0 (approved to forward).

- Items 7g–7p: Multiple Public Works construction and cost‑share agreements (includes Proline Asphalt rehabilitation of 18 Mile Road $2,749,342.96; MDOT Fisher Lake Outlet $807,320; 2025 subdivision reconstruction program $3,644,774; and several local cost‑share agreements totaling multiple local projects) — votes 13–0 (approved as presented). Staff noted many of these are 50/50 cost shares under Act 51 rules or otherwise funded by local partners.

- Item 8 (public hearings and Macomb WorkZone items) — referred to full board; vote 13–0.

Records & Public Safety items (committee recommendations forwarded, approved 13–0)

- Intergovernmental lease with State of Michigan — Juvenile Justice Center lease (monthly amount presented: $56,485.73) — vote 13–0 (approved to forward).

- Budget amendment: Opioid settlement funds $75,000 to Community Mental Health for Live Right youth recovery programming — vote 13–0 (approved). Staff said about $8 million remains in opioid settlement funds (estimate provided during discussion) and that CMH programming will be part of a June presentation on the county’s opioid investments.

- Purchase: Cardinal Group behavioral emergency partnership training — $141,792 (MCOLES funds; no county general‑fund cost) — vote 13–0 (approved). The training covers mandated mental‑health‑crisis coursework for deputies.

- Contract: Macomb County Bar Association CLE training — $185,000 (grant funded) — vote 13–0 (approved). Commissioners discussed timing of the contract and payment for training for outside private attorneys who accept indigent defense appointments; staff explained the funding and statutory training requirements managed through the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission and PAAM.

- Resolution: Affirmation of continued collection of the local $0.42 monthly 9‑1‑1 surcharge (collection period July 1, 2025–June 30, 2029) — vote 13–0 (approved; submission to State 9‑1‑1 office required by statute).

- Purchase: Washington Township fire vehicle hardware refresh — $60,600 (100% reimbursed by Washington Township per dispatch agreement) — vote 13–0 (approved).

Prosecutor’s Office and communications

- Budget amendment: Prosecuting Attorney grant (PAAM) for safe‑storage public education — $52,800 (award from Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan; no county match) — vote 13–0 (approved). Staff said the program will fund marketing and outreach about safe firearm storage and coordination with local school districts and nonprofits.

- Contract: Combat Data Inc., tele‑town‑hall services — $91,797.50 (for up to five tele‑town‑hall events; funded from forfeiture/grant sources as structured by the prosecutor) — vote 13–0 (approved). Prosecutor’s staff said they will share metrics from last year’s events with the board.

- School safety risk and vulnerability assessments — agreements with Richmond Community Schools (up to $6,000) and New Haven Community Schools (up to $2,000), and a budget amendment recognizing $8,000 in revenue for the work — vote 13–0 (approved). Staff said these are follow‑up assessments for additional facilities.

Property Indexing and remonumentation

- Contract: Property Insight manual indexing and completion of the county’s property spine — $198,283 (to finish manual work on hard‑to‑index records) — vote 13–0 (approved). The county clerk explained the multi‑year project has combined more than 9.2 million records into a searchable property spine and that remaining manual work addresses older scanned records and difficult documents.

- Remonumentation grants and maintenance funding adjustments were approved as presented; the register of deeds said the county has moved to a maintenance phase after multi‑year remonumentation work — vote 13–0.

What commissioners said

Commissioners praised the Public Works sewer inspection demonstration and the county clerk’s property indexing progress; several commissioners asked for additional metrics and follow‑up on grant balances, vendor performance and timelines. Most items were routine committee referrals, contracts, and grant budget actions; no item was tabled or failed at the meeting.

Next steps

Approved referrals will advance to the full board where required; staff pledged follow‑up reporting on program metrics (sewer inspection savings, tele‑town‑hall metrics, and opioid settlement balances) and scheduled additional presentations in June and later months.