Board upholds FOIA fee for bridge engineering request; finance director briefs trustees on bridge revenues and major costs

The Grosse Ile Township Board on June 9 voted to uphold the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) coordinator's fee estimate of $119.08 for redacting and producing parts of a bridge-related engineering report, and also received a detailed briefing from the finance director on initial revenues, liabilities and expenditures for the newly acquired toll-bridge fund.

FOIA fee appeal: The board considered an appeal of a $119.08 fee charged to a requester for staff labor to redact an engineering report tied to the toll bridge. The FOIA coordinator said the estimate followed state guidance that labor for redaction be charged at the lowest-paid employee capable of performing the work; staff identified Derek (an employee with access under the NDA) as the relevant person and estimated two hours at $59.54 per hour. Trustees voted to uphold the fee by voice vote; the meeting record shows two trustees—Mark and Margaret—voted "nay" and the remaining trustees voted in favor, so the motion to uphold passed.

Toll-bridge finances and context: Finance Director Theresa McLaughlin provided a revenue-and-expenditure update through May 31, 2025, covering the two months since the township acquired the bridge. Key points she presented: - Total recorded revenue in the period: approximately $1,375,000 (this figure includes cash that still requires allocation between tag deposits, prepaid pass balances and recognized crossing revenue once reconciliations are complete). - Liabilities: tag-deposit accounts and prepaid pass balances transferred at closing remain liabilities until crossings occur or tags/passes are returned. - Insurance: the township paid roughly $439,701 initially for liability and property coverages; about $300,000 of that was a six‑month property premium and the township expects an additional premium payments later in the fiscal year. Theresa said total annual insurance expense for the bridge is expected to be about $739,000 for the year. - Operations: the finance director noted that operations include a mix of legacy prepaid pass money transferred at closing and new receipts; reconciling those sources requires additional reporting from the vendor (BridgePass/bridal pass company) before staff can finalize recognized revenue.

Nut graf: The two decisions together—upholding a modest FOIA fee and briefing the board on bridge finances—reflect the transition work involved in assimilating a purchased toll bridge into township operations: reconciling transferred funds and addressing public-record requests while the township builds its operational and disclosure processes.

Public-record, redaction and transparency issues: Board discussion balanced a requester's public-interest arguments and the cost/complexity of redaction: several trustees favored waiving the fee on public-interest grounds, but the majority supported the coordinator’s estimate, citing the statutory standard and the fact that sensitive material may need careful redaction. Board members said much bridge-related information will be posted online through an upcoming bridge commission and portal work; staff said engineering materials that are non-sensitive will be published when feasible, and sensitive portions will be redacted per law.

Quote: "If we vote no, then the gentleman would get the FOIA without the fee," the clerk explained during the discussion of consequences; a trustee who supported waiving the fee said, "I think we should waive the fee...the taxpayer deserves to know as much as possible."

Next steps and operational notes: Finance staff said they are continuing work to reconcile pass deposits and tag deposits and to streamline reporting; they also plan to consolidate some payment processing and to move to the township's financial dashboard system once audited numbers are available. Board members asked staff to publish clear explanations of how revenue, deposits and premiums are handled to improve public understanding.