It has been a bumpy ride for members of the Berrien County Road Commission and changes to the board could be ahead.

On Thursday, members of the Berrien County board of commissioners discussed five options for potentially restructuring the governance of the road commission.

Berrien County Administrator Bill Wolf included an assessment of each of the five options, which include:

• Maintaining a five-member appointed board

• Restructuring the board to three to four appointed members

• Electing a three to five board

• Establishing a formal agreement for collaboration between the road commission
and county

• Transferring operations of the road commission appointed board to the county

The discussion stems from a number of issues that are not unfamiliar to the board of commissioners.

In 2012, claims from road commission employees of mismanagement followed by 2013 vacancies, including managing director, initiated a discussion not unlike the one that took place Thursday. In response to the 2013 issues, Berrien County commissioners appointed new members to fill the vacancies and thought this would fix the issues, said Jim Curran, the District 11 county commissioner.

Wolf said utilizing the same approach would be “unjustifiably optimistic.”

Managing Director Louis Csokasy, who has served the road commission since 2013, retired May 26. There are now two other vacancies on the road commission board, including a managing and engineering director.

In a study presented to commissioners on July 20, Wolf cited internal road commission instability and mismanagement factors that have culminated into issues similar to the problems that arose in 2013. 

“It is the failure of some members of the road commission board to follow their own policies,” Wolf said. “Thereby creating an impossible environment for a managing director to effectively do the job, that ultimately has led to the current instability.”

Another factor Wolf discussed was the number of positions that changed hands, including three different managing directors and interim directors between 2011 and 2017.

Despite the negatives, Wolf said earlier changes to the board were not a total loss and a number of improvements in technology, long-term planning, maintenance, finance and equipment investment have been made.

He also credited the managing director’s role in 2013 for having aided these positive improvements in that time span.

The Berrien County road commission has traditionally been led by a five-member board that operates autonomously of Berrien County commissioners. The road commissioners’ responsibilities include management of 1,482 county roads, more than 100 bridges spanning 20 feet or more, and hundreds of cross culverts and ditches, Wolf said.

After Csokasy’s retirement, the former accounting specialist at the road commission was voted interim manager.

Per Public Act 238, which went into effect in 2012, power can be transferred from road commissioners to the board. Several other counties already utilize this model, a fact that Wolf mentioned in his study.

If the county were to dissolve the road commission, it could potentially take over or departmentalize the structure.

In the takeover scenario, the appointed road commissioners would be replaced with the county board. This way, the road commission would still be somewhat separate with its own staff and finances. This option could also include having a managing director report to the county through the administrator.

If commissioners go the route of departmentalization, the road commission would be “nestled” into the county, becoming the Road Department, and would operate per existing county policies and procedures.

Curran said he was “leaning” toward support of absorbing the road commission as a department. While he said his mind was not totally made up, Curran said he could potentially see such operations as being more efficient.

However, Curran said he wanted to first invite the Berrien County road commission to defend their position and provide feedback.

Wolf said he thought it feasible for the board of commissioners to transfer road commission responsibilities. Based upon the history of the issue, Wolf advised commissioners to consider the importance of their decision.

“I also hope this discussion will have strongly suggested to you that, if you fail to act in a significant way to remedy the situation, the result is predictable,” Wolf said.

Berrien County commissioners will further discuss options on Aug. 10. Prior to any final decisions, two public hearings will take place. Hearing dates have yet to be announced.

If Berrien County Commissioners voted to absorb the road commission as a department by Oct. 1, the changes could take effect as soon as Dec. 31, 2018, Wolf said.