Last week, the Berrien County board of commissioners discussed the fate of the Berrien County Road Commission during a third public hearing on the topic at the Administration Center in St. Joseph.

Earlier this year, commissioners began considering a proposal to takeover governance of the road commission in an effort to reconcile allegations of mismanagement, employee turnover and misappropriation of funds.

More than 50 people attended the Thursday night meeting and attendance was so high that some were forced to sit or stand in the hallway outside the meeting room.

Among those who addressed the commissioners were employees with the road commission, who largely felt their voices had not been heard. 

August Zielke, the chairman of the Berrien County Road Commission said he was proud of the work that his employees had accomplished. He touted keeping operation costs down and cited the commission’s preparedness demonstrated by the $2 million in a safety reserve account.

As to the allegations of micromanaging, Zielke called them misleading and emphasized the road commission’s value for teamwork. Zielke did not say directly state whether he disagreed or agreed with the proposal for takeover, but said he was happy with his team’s work. 

“Looking back at the past six years, there is nothing I regret or [would] change,” Zielke said. “Just remember that we are all here for the common cause and that is to serve people of Berrien County.”

Other road commissioners expressed concerns about the future of the operation in the wake of a takeover.

Lindie Delk, the road commission’s interim managing director said 2017 marked 100 years that the Berrien County Road Commission has served the county.

“Yet, this year has not felt like much of a celebration,” Delk said. “In the past months that the county has been looking at taking us over, a very solemn atmosphere has settled over the road commission.”

With an uncertain future ahead, Delk said the commission had difficulties finding a permanent managing director.   

Delk also said she worried what the takeover would mean for the future of the road commission. If the county were to take over, she questioned whether current employees would have jobs at the commission and how transparent the operation would be.

“The road commission was put in place to preserve transparency so that politics would not come into play,” Delk said.

As it stands now, the road commission is a semi-autonomous operation that functions separately from the county. The road commission is governed by a board of five road commissioners, who are put in place by county commissioners. Road commissioners serve six-year terms.

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.

Commissioners have hosted three public hearings on the topic to receive public feedback.

If Berrien County commissioners were to vote to absorb the road commission as a department by Oct. 1, the changes could take effect as soon as Dec. 31, 2018, according to Berrien County Administrator Bill Wolf.

John Castaday, a 30-year veteran of the road commission, was one of two employees who spoke. He said they would welcome a takeover.

“It seems like we have more experts at finding problems with each other and with policies, than we do solving them,” Castady said. “I believe a takeover from Berrien County would be a step in solving the issues that we had over the last five years.”

One other road commission employee also spoke in favor of the takeover and said he had witnessed the internal turmoil within the commission, including issues with upper management and problems with turnover.

“I think it would be a blessing if the county took it over,” he said.

After hearing from the public, Berrien County Administrator Bill Wolf presented a draft resolution to authorize transfer of powers from the road commission to the board. However, a number of questions were raised from commissioners and they requested the retrieval of road commission personnel policies and meeting with road commissioners to continue dialogue.

Jim Curran, the District 11 commissioner who serves Niles, said he felt the discussion would aid commissioners’ decisions.

“I think open dialogue like this is helpful,” Curran said. “This is what people refer to as transparency and it is all part of the process.”

The board of commissioners will meet again next week, where they are expected to discuss the issue further.