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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 2014.08.11 - 36828CHRISTINE LONG Chairperson KATHY CRAWFORD Vice Chairperson MARCIA GERSHENSON Minority Vice Chairperson August 11, 2014 Chairperson Long called the meeting of the General Government Committee to order at 9:33 a.m. in the Commissioners’ Committee Room A, County Service Center in Pontiac, Michigan. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT : Christine Long, Kathy Crawford, Marcia Gershenson, Jeff Matis, Bob Hoffman, Michael Spisz, Nancy Quarles. COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT WITH NOTICE: Bob Gosselin, Mattie Hatchett. OTHERS PRESENT : CLERK/REGISTER OF DEEDS Lisa Brown, Clerk Sheila Cummings, Deputy Clerk EXECUTIVE OFFICE Phil Bertolini, Deputy County Executive/CIO FISCAL SERVICES Ebru Adoglu-Jones, Supervisor HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES George Miller, Director HOMELAND SECURITY Sara Stoddard, Chief Emergency Manager INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Tammi Shepherd, IT Chief Janet Brinker, IT Supervisor OLHSA Ron Borngesser, CEO ROAD COMMISSION Dennis Kolar, Managing Director David Czerniakowski, Customer Svs. Director Craig Bryson, Public Information Officer BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Shelley Taub, District 12 Dave Woodward, District 19 Jim VerPloeg, Administrative Director Sheryl Mitchell, Sr. Analyst Tracy Stolzenfeld, Committee Coordinator PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chairperson Long led the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF THE PREVIOUS MINUTES Spisz moved approval of the minutes of July 7, 2014, as printed. Supported by Crawford. Motion carried on a voice vote. OAKLAND COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 1200 N. TELEGRAPH ROAD, BLDG 12E, PONTIAC, MI 48341-0475 Telephone (248) 858 -0100 FAX (248) 858-1572 GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE Bob Gosselin Jeff Matis Bob Hoffman Michael Spisz Mattie Hatchett Nancy Quarles GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE Page 2 August 11, 2014 Minutes APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Matis moved approval of the agenda as printed. Supported by Hoffman . Motion carried on a voice vote. PUBLIC COMMENT None. REGULAR AGENDA Ms. Brown requested to postpone her presentation until the arrival of Ms. Adoglu -Jones. There were no objections. 2. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES – HOMELAND SECURITY DIVISION – PERFORMANCE GRANT AGREEMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014 ACCEPTANCE The Homeland Security Division is requ esting acceptance of the FY 2014 Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) awarded by Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division. This is the 42nd year of this grant. The grant amount is $55,418 for the period of October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2014. The grant allows the completion of all of the emergency management functions that are require d by FEMA and State of Michigan . The funds support the emergency manager position currently held by Ted Quisenberry. Spisz moved to recommend approval of the attached suggested resolution. Supported by Crawford. Motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote with Hatchett and Gosselin absent. 4. MR #14147 - BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS – ANY NEW REVENUES FROM STATE ROAD TAXES SHOULD BE RESTRICTED TO EXPENDITURES ON STATE AND LOCAL ROADWAYS AND BRIDGES This resolution was introduced by Commissioner Taub and is directed to the Governor and Michigan Legislature members to encourage that any new road tax revenues be spent on construction and repairs to roadways and bridges. A lot of the taxes collected for roads is siphoned off to different services and not spent on the roads. New revenues could possibly come from budget savings or moving of monies to create additional dollars in the general fund. Rather than staying silent, this resolution sends a message that our roads and bridges need fixing . The poor condition of roads situation is not the Road Commission’s fault; it is the fault of the funding stream. Revision of the resolution title was suggested and other revisions were discussed . Hoffman moved to report to recommend approval of the attached suggested resolution. Supported by Spisz. Spisz moved to postpone action on the resolution until an amendment could be drafte d. Supported by Matis. Motion carried on a voice vote. GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE Page 3 August 11, 2014 Minutes 1. CLERK/REGISTER OF DEEDS – VITAL RECORD FEES REPORT Ms. Brown presented the report which states the first certified copy of a vital record costs $9.13 to produce. The fee for each additional c opy should read in the Agenda Summary that there is a loss of $4.13 after the first copy is made. The report was a collaborative effort . The following were used in calculating the cost to produce a certified copy: staff, equipment, security paper and in k. Most people do not request just one copy; multiple copies are usually needed of marriage, death and birth certificates. Obtaining more than one copy is encouraged because the fee for an additional copy is $5. If someone needs another copy at a later time, the $15 fee will be charged for the first copy. The production cost was obtained by calculating the total costs and dividing them by 111,000 copies issued in 2013. Commissioner Spisz requested a further cost breakdown used in the calculations. Ms. Adoglu-Jones commented that the actual Total General Service Expenditures of $821,000 is basically employee salaries and fringe benefits . As outlined in the report, c ertified copies are included in a budget of $1 million. The current fee for certified copies was set by the Board of Commissioners. This study was perfo rmed to address the question posed of what the cost is to produce a certified copy of a vital record. The Clerk/Register of Deeds will present their budget to the Finance Committee on Augus t 28. The money collected for providing certified copies is included on a budget line item. The Clerk/Register of Deeds has over 100 employees. A department is devoted strictly to vital records. One -half of the Clerk’s counter space is used to handle vital records. If someone purchases one copy, a profit is made from collecting the $15 fee from the actual cost of $9.13. However, if additional copies are requested, the department loses $4.13. The Clerk/Register of Deeds’ Miscellaneous Resolution #14049 to waive or reduce fees for citizens experiencing hardship who cannot afford to pay fees was recently passed by the Board. Spisz moved to receive and file the Clerk/Register of Deeds – Vital Record Fees Report. Supported by Quarles. Motion carried on a voice vote. 3 MR #14170 - BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS – SUPPORT FOR SENATE BILL 2432 – BANK ON STUDENTS EMERGENCY LOAN REFINANCING ACT The resolution, which was introduced by Commissioner Woodward , states support for Senate Bill 2432. Adoption of the bill would allow students to refinance student loans at interest rates as low as 3.86 percent. The American student loan debt has surpassed the credit card loan debt. The default rate on repayment of student loans is rising. The idea proposed is to tie th e student loan debt to the same low interest rate that the government uses to make loans to banks. This same rate, which is based on the market, should be applicable to students. Commissioner Matis added that the Senate Bill recently failed in a 56 to 38 vote. College costs are rising faster than inflation. Commissioner Crawford suggested going to the state level rather than the federal level for support. Other revisions to the resolution were discussed. Gershenson moved to report to recommend approval of the attached suggested resolution. Supported by Quarles. Spisz moved to postpone action on the resolution until more information c an be obtained and an amendment be prepared for the next meeting on August 25, 2014. Supported by Matis. Motion carried on a voice vote. GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE Page 4 August 11, 2014 Minutes 5. MR #14149 - BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS – CREATION OF AD HOC COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE POTENTIAL COST SAVINGS MEASURES FOR ROAD REPAIR AND CONSTRUCTION The resolution introduced by Commissioner Taub suggests the creation of an Ad Hoc Committee for Cost Savings Measures for Road Repair and Construction to study and report to the Board of Commissioners their recommendations on policy initiatives for coordinated action between county resources and the Road Commission . Spisz moved to report to recommend approval of the attached suggested resolution. Supported by Matis. Motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote with Hatchett and Gosselin absent. 6. MR #14148 - BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS – ENCOURAGE ROAD COMMISSION OF OAKLAND COUNTY TO ENACT A SEE CLICK FIX PROGRAM FOR REPORTING POTHOLES AND OTHER NON -EMERGENCY ROAD PROBLEMS The resolution was brought by Commissioner Taub to encourage the Oakland County Road Commission to consider incorporating a “SeeClickFix” program for citizens to report road problems using smart phone technology. A “SeeClickFix” smart phone tool would allow users to photograph and utilize location features to report problems on the road, such as potholes and other situations that are non-emergency. This service is currently used by other county road commissions. Mr. VerPloeg connected with Mr. Severson via telephone and brought up the website for the SeeClickFix presentation. Topics covered were how the tool works and how citizens can use it. The other half is tools for the counties and/or cities to manage information and to be able to report on it. Some municipalities utilize a 311 call center. Mobile device use has reached the maturation point. People are accessing local and county government from different places like looking up bus schedules at a bus stop, checking parking and locating potholes. Information can be pulled from the Internet and can also be added. Citizens can report light outages by real time and the public can see the information entered. Other examples given were bike rack and food truck locations that were determined by people inputting their opinions electronically . The commissioners asked questions about the cost. A rough estimate was given of a $50,000 fee for 500,000 person city or 1 million person county for the program. The app is free for the individual user. Mr. Kolar from the Road Commission spoke about how the Road Commission has been looking at lower cost options, particularly one from AT&T. Ms. Brinker from IT has been working on a competitive bid process and is assisting the Road Commission with this project. IT plans to put out an RFP by the end of the month. The project funds would be pulled from the IT budget and not from the Road Commission. This resolution specifically uses the “SeeClickFix” program and other programs are currently being investigated. The future Ad Hoc Committee that was previously discussed could possibly work with IT and the Road Commission to determine which program to use. A miscellaneous r esolution may not be needed for this project. Commissioner Spisz suggested that the advisory committee should report their status on a quarterly basis. Spisz moved to report to recommend approval of the attached suggested resolution. Supported by Hoffman. Spisz moved to postpone act ion until further information can be obtained. Supported by GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE Page 5 August 11, 2014 Minutes Hoffman. Motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote with Hatchett and Gosselin absent. COMMUNICATIONS A. Pleasant Ridge City Commission Meeting Agenda for July 8, 2014 B. Library Board April 29, 2014 Meeting Minutes C. Area Agency on Aging 1-B June 27, 2014 Meeting Minutes D. Area Agency on Aging 1-B Quarterly Update Quarles moved to receive and file the communications. Supported by Spisz. Motion carried on a voice v ote. OTHER BUSINESS/ADJOURNMENT There being no other business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned at 10:57 a.m. ______________________________ ________________________________ Tracy Stolzenfeld Jim VerPloeg Committee Coordina tor Administrative Director NOTE: The foregoing minutes are subject to Committee approval.