Gogebic County board again elects Lorenson to chair

By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

Bessemer - Members of the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners held their reorganizational meeting on Jan. 4 and took their annual oath of office from County Clerk Ramona Collins.

James Lorenson of District 4 also was elected as chairman, and James Byrns of District 3 was elected as vice-chairman. They are both from Ironwood, as are members Daniel Siirila (District 1) and Thomas Laabs (District 2).

Remaining members are Joseph Bonovetz of Bessemer (District 5), Robert Orlich of Wakefield (District 6), and George Peterson III of Watersmeet (District 7).

Their terms will end on Dec. 31, 2024.

Nicholas J. Jacobs also was appointed as parliamentarian.

At the suggestion of Siirila, commissioners briefly discussed the possibility of holding only one meeting per month instead of two, but decided to retain the twice-per-month schedule for now.

Bonovetz was concerned that a single monthly meeting might require some issues to be shelved for too long. "Then, we're calling special meetings and people can't make it because they've already made plans," he said.

Laabs was open to trying one meeting per month, while Peterson said that - whether the schedule includes one or two meetings - he prefers the current days and weeks in which meetings are held.

Orlich suggested taking a personal vote, but a motion already had been made to adopt the ongoing schedule.

Hence, Lorenson suggested continuing with the same twice-per-month schedule with the assurance that "we can change the meeting schedule at any time."

He also asked commissioners to inform him regarding which county committees on which they would like to serve.

In other news, Paul Putnam, the District 1 director of the Extension Office of Michigan State University provided a brief update on its local service, which included a Santa's Headquarters event last month in Watersmeet, wherein the "huge community-wide event" with multiple supporters resulted in families receiving groceries and household supplies and children receiving toys.

Among the extension's many other 4-H youth development programs is the Eat Smart Knapsnack Program, which resulted in more than 100 families receiving holiday food bags for use during the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.

Putnam also introduced Laurie Celeski, a community nutrition instructor now based in the Bessemer Extension Office.

Peterson commended Putnam and his staff for their good work.

Board members also:

-Voted to 1. Adopt a resolution for authorizing deposit and investment of county funds and approving county investment policy; 2. Adopt a resolution to designate County Treasurer Lisa Hewitt to deposit all public money, including tax money, in the Gogebic Federal Credit Union, Multi-Bank Securities, Incredible Bank, Gogebic Range Bank, or any Michigan financial institution; and 3. Authorize the establishment of an investment committee.

-Voted to acknowledge and file thank you letters received from the Gogebic County Deputy Sheriff's Association; the Gogebic County Treasurer's Office; and all other elected, appointed and hired employees of the county. The appreciation expressed was for the board's issuing of gift cards for use at a local supermarket.

-Voted to table appointing new members to the Gogebic County Fair Board until the board's personnel committee is able to review the applicants.

The board's first regular meeting of the month will be on Jan. 11 at 5 p.m. Just prior to it will be an ambulance committee meeting at 4:30 p.m.

The board's second regular meeting this month will be on Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. Just prior to it will be a meeting of the finance, budgeting and auditing committee at 4:30 p.m. and a public hearing on the county's recreation plan at 4:45 p.m.

Meetings are held in the district courtroom of the Gogebic County Courthouse in Bessemer. The public is welcome.