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Mackinac County commissioners approve appointments, bids and move to make animal shelter role full-time
Summary
At their March 27 meeting in St. Ignace, the Mackinac County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved two appointments, awarded bids for courthouse landscaping and an airport tank monitoring system, and converted an animal shelter part-time position to full-time; they also approved routine bills and two budget amendments.
ST. IGNACE, Mich. — The Mackinac County Board of Commissioners on March 27 approved a series of routine and operational measures, including two appointments, multiple procurement awards and a personnel change at the county animal shelter.
Chair Mike Patrick called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. and commissioners John Kling, Daryl Schroeder and Judy St. Louis-Scott were present (Austin Kimberling was absent). The board approved its agenda and minutes for the March 13 meeting by unanimous roll calls.
In staff reports, Emergency Management Director Mike Kasper warned of incoming bad weather with significant ice accumulation and advised residents to "plan travel accordingly and stay safe." Sheriff Ed Wilk reported a broken pipe at the county jail and said the best-case scenario would be if the pipe is located in the parking lot, which would make repairs easier. Other staff updates noted increases in property sales and passport applications, an April 17 Veterans Outreach event, work on a uniform land-division form by the Equalization Office, and health-insurance-committee activity by the E911 office.
Appointments and procurement actions were the meeting's substantive votes. The board unanimously appointed Bridgett Sorenson to the Brownfield Authority after receiving a letter of interest, and appointed Matt Dost to the Planning Commission. Commissioners also approved a $1,500 landscaping bid from Molly's Nest for courthouse grounds.
For airport infrastructure, the board reviewed two replacement bids for the airport's tank monitoring system and awarded the contract to Mercer Trust Performance for $18,980 rather than a higher $20,813.17 bid from Northern Pump Service; the motion passed 4-0.
During public comment, Animal Shelter Manager Donna DesJardins said she is scheduled for surgery on May 20 and urged the board to convert an open part-time shelter position to full-time to improve recruitment and retention. "A full-time position would give people more incentive to apply and the employee would potentially stay around longer," DesJardins said. The board voted unanimously to convert the post to full-time.
On finance matters, commissioners approved regular bills totaling $80,997.73 and additional bills totaling $40,232.87. They also approved budget amendments #2025-05 and #2025-06; all finance votes were unanimous.
Commissioners heard committee updates on the Big Manistique Lake Dam and a Planning Commission review of the capital improvement plan. Commissioner St. Louis-Scott relayed that Mackinac Island Mayor Margaret Doud requested increased funding for a seasonal officer; Chair Patrick said that request should be made during the fall budget process. The board scheduled a Committee of the Whole meeting for April 10 at 3 p.m. to discuss the Road Commission, Brownfield Authority and Animal Shelter.
The meeting concluded with routine communications — including the current revenue/expenditure report, an EUPISD proposed budget, the February Animal Shelter report and a banking report — and adjourned at 5:33 p.m.
What’s next: The board set a Committee of the Whole meeting for April 10; budget requests such as the seasonal officer funding from Mackinac Island were directed to the fall budget cycle.
