Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Transport Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents press Chippewa County commissioners to activate UPTA advisory committee, cite Neebish service concerns
Summary
Public commenters asked the Chippewa County Board of Commissioners to implement a long-required advisory committee for UPTA and urged the county to intervene when regional transit governance fails residents of Neebish Island.
Several residents used the public-comment period to press the board on regional transit governance and local service to Neebish Island.
Phyllis Street, president of the Navy Shire Island Improvement Association, read the interlocutory agreement language she said requires an advisory committee for UPTA and told commissioners that clause has never been implemented. "An advisory committee will be created, which will consist of members with technical skills relevant to all phases of public transportation... Its function will be to provide the governing board of directors with technical advice," Street read to the board, and she urged commissioners to populate that committee and consider regional partners, including the Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation, airport officials, the hospital, county road commission and tribal government.
Sarah Karazinsky, participating remotely, said she previously raised concerns in April about UPTA leadership and urged the commission to act if the UPTA board is not meeting its obligations. Karazinsky cited a March 17, 2020 commission action that removed a UPTA board member as precedent for county intervention: "I feel very strongly that a precedent has been set... that they also have the authority and responsibility to intervene and remove members when they are not following the guidelines under which UPTA was established," she said.
Board members acknowledged the comments. In later commissioner discussion, a member recounted the 2020 UPTA dysfunction and said the commission appoints board members to exercise judgment but should not direct appointed boards' daily decisions; reappointment decisions, the speaker said, are the appropriate forum for accountability.
Other public comments touched on opioid-settlement spending and community health concerns. One commenter questioned where settlement money has gone in previous cases and warned of mental-health impacts associated with higher THC levels in marijuana.
The board did not take immediate action on the advisory-committee request during the meeting beyond discussing the subject during commissioner reports; commissioners did approve opioid-settlement spending and asked administration and the steering committee to develop a spending plan.
