Presque Isle County Drain Commissioner responds to criticisms

Presque Isle County drain commissioner Charles M. Lyon appeared before the board of commissioners Friday to respond to criticisms from members of the board concerning expenditures and assignments. He noted that when he was elected to the office he was not aware that there was no office space for his position in the county courthouse and there was no budget except for an annual salary of $1,045 and $100 for dues to the state association of drain commissioners. Lyon stated that state law requires the drain commissioner office be provided by the county with the equipment and supplies necessary to perform the work. He also said he was informed by the county clerk office that he could charge per diem and mileage for investigations or responses to other requests from county residents.

?SUDDENLY there were comments made at one of these meetings that the drain commissioner was running rampant and there was more per diem expense in one month than all of last year,? Lyon said. He explained that the expenses that had been submitted were actually for seven weeks and that more than half of them were previously approved by the board for completing four days of training. PIC has the lowest budget for the drain commissioner of the surrounding counties, according to Lyon. He also pointed out he received no documents of any kind from the previous drain commissioner.

Lyon presented an outline of 10 action items that he had submitted earlier in the year along with comments as to the current status of each item. He noted these items are normally included in the annual report but, in view of the recent complaints from the board, he asked that the information be part of the annual report when it becomes available in January. One of the items listed pertained to the lack of a public works commissioner. In this instance the drain commissioner assumes these duties as stipulated by Public Act 342 of 1939 as amended 1957. This person should develop and implement a storm water management plan for the community.

LYON NOTED that nothing in writing on this subject could be found at the courthouse and would need to be incorporated into the ?Rules of the Drain Commissioner? document mentioned earlier in his report. ?In addition, there are several dams located in the county that impound water or control lake levels. Some of these are court ordered levels. One dam is in very poor condition,? he stated. ?I did not run for this office to make a living. I did not plan to volunteer either,? he said. ?I want to play a vital role in protecting the natural resources of our county while allowing for well planned communities with growth and development. Isn?t that what you want? I did not foresee or intend to create such a controversy and get lots of ink. I regret that,? Lyon concluded. Commissioner Robert Schell questioned the need to get involved in issues that are supposed to be handled by other authorities such as the road commission or the Michigan DEQ.

?That?s where we differ. The new drain commissioner feels it is his responsibility to get in and regulate everything, storm water run-off from the highways, private property problems. He is over-reaching his responsibility. I don?t know if he has the authority to accept money from this organization he spoke about. If I were to take money from a private citizen to do something related to my duties as a county commissioner could that be considered a ?pay-off?? These are some of the issues I have with him,? Schell said after the meeting.

SCHELL NOTED that if some members of a property association

have a problem with drainage in their area, the first thing the drain commissioner should do is petition the property owners in the area to see if a majority of the people feel there is a problem and then form an assessment district, set up a budget, and report back to the commission. ?You don?t jump in and start working on the problem before you have completed the first steps. Setting up the assessment district establishes how much it is going to cost and who is going to pay for it,? Schell said. Schell also expressed concern over the expanding budget to establish the office and buy office equipment and supplies.

?Last year we had a budget of $1,145 for the drain commissioner and already we are more than three times that amount this year. The drain commissioner submitted an initial budget for next year of around $18,000, we said that was not acceptable so he came back with a budget of $12,000, that?s still about ten times the amount we have been paying in a county that doesn?t own any official drains,? Schell said.