Commission still looking into restrictions

Published 3:44 am Friday, June 20, 2008

By By NORMA LERNER / Niles Daily Star
CASSOPOLIS – Cass County Road commissioners on Thursday said they will continue investigations concerning reasonableness and fact fining pertaining to the restriction of truck traffic on Barron Lake Road despite Howard Township's 4 to 3 vote Tuesday night not to restrict truck traffic on the road.
Commissioner Louis Csokasy said when the findings are completed, he will take the information to the current board for its use and for future boards.
Engineer-Manager Joseph Bellina III noted Barron Lake Road is not the only primary road that has issues. Brownsville and Redfield roads were also mentioned.
Chairman Cliff Poehlman asked both committees, the organization and finance, to look into salary figures for the extra work office staff are doing since the recent retirement of Financial Director Lois Jacobson.
The board amended its truck policy that district foremen would be the only employees to take vehicles home for purposes related to the operation of the road commission. All other vehicles will be parked.
The amended motion means that district foremen will be the only individuals considered on call. All other vehicles will be parked and used in a motor pool. On call personnel will be limited to only four district foremen.
The vote was unanimous to amend the motion brought back to the floor by Trustee Robert Powers. It previously called for supervisors and other personnel to take home trucks for on-call duty. Powers said he met with Trustee LeRoy Krempec about truck usage and to save on vehicle costs.
In addition, Krempec said in part of his research, he looked for a record of emergency calls and found no records. He further checked with the sheriff's department and individuals who work for emergencies services to make a comparison before making the decision. It was agreed district foremen on call are to report what transpired during their on-call activities.