LIVINGSTON COUNTY — The Livingston County Board of Commissioners tackled a range of issues during its meeting Monday, April 28.
Commissioners approved resolutions on a variety of topics, including the 2026 budget, PFAS testing, the health department, inmate services at the Livingston County Jail and more.
Recordings of board meetings are available on YouTube under @LivingstonCountyGovMI. Meeting agendas are available at milivcounty.gov/boc/minutes-agendas.
Below is a roundup of some of the action taken by the board during Monday’s meeting, which included a total of 12 resolutions on the agenda.
The Livingston County Board of Commissioners listen during public comment on Monday, Jan. 27 in Howell.
Health department preparing for accreditation
The Livingston County Health Department is scheduled for a review of its accreditation on July 7, its first review in eight years. Normally health department accreditations are reviewed every three years, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, LCHD’s 2020 review was paused.
This will be the department’s first review since 2017, according to a letter to the board from LCHD Director Matt Bolang. Reviews are conducted by the Michigan Local Public Health Accreditation Program to ensure that local health departments are meeting the needs of their communities.
According to Bolang, the programs that will be evaluated this summer are powers and duties, food service, general communicable disease control, hearing, immunization, onsite wastewater treatment management, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, vision, women, infants and children and children’s special healthcare services.
In preparation for the accreditation review, a plan of organization for LCHD for 2025 was presented to the board was to approve Monday.
The plan is a 115-page document answering questions on the department’s operations and relationship with the county government. Also attached were resolutions like the appointment of Bolang as health officer, expenditure reports and information on grants and awards the department has received.
The resolution passed unanimously.
A contract for various inmate services at the Livingston County Jail was approved Monday, April 28.
Contract for jail inmate services extended, expanded
With the Livingston County Jail’s contract with Keefe Commissary Network set to expire on Aug. 31, a resolution was brought before the board to continue and expand services with the company.
According to its website, Keefe is the leading provider of automated commissary management services and technologies to American correctional facilities.
The new contract presented Monday is a five-year agreement starting Aug. 31, with an option for two one-year renewals as well.
Keefe’s proposal includes the current web-based inmate and commissary software, commissary on inmate kiosks and tablets, a lobby kiosk, five inmate vending machines, a debit card program with and a Securepak package program.
The company proposed adding five more inmate vending machines to “improve conditions in the jail.”
According to the resolution, all of these programs come at no cost to the county and actually generate a profit, because the inmates are paying the cost. The five vending machines brought in $17,108.62 in 2024. The new proposal gives the jail 39% commissions on commissary and 39% commissions on the Securepak package program.
The board passed the resolution unanimously.
Spencer J. Hardy Airport
Multiple resolutions related to the airport were passed Monday, dealing with a new building, a hanger lease and PFAS testing.
The first was authorizing an agreement with C&S Companies of Livonia to provide construction administration services for a new building to store snow removal equipment in the amount of $284,320.05.
The agreement includes site inspections and materials testing. Funds will come from grants, the Delinquent Tax Fund advance and airport retained earnings.
More: ‘Covered in ice’: Livingston approves funds, loan for important project at Spencer Airport
A second resolution concurred with the Livingston County Aeronautical Facilities Board to enter into a ground lease agreement with DCM Investments LLC of South Lyon. The company wants to construct a hanger for aircraft storage on Grand River Avenue, west of the hanger located at 3570 W. Grand River Ave.
According to Airport Manager Mark Johnson, the hanger will be about 80 feet by 70 feet and is expected to house two aircrafts. The lease will be for 20 years, with two five-year extensions. The resolution did not specify how much DCM will be paying for the lease, but did say that the lease will be adjusted annually for the consumer price index.
Two resolutions dealt with groundwater and PFAS testing at the airport. PFAS are a class of manmade chemicals with an extremely long lifespan, meaning they build up in the body and can lead to cancers and other health complications.
One resolution concurred with the Aeronautical Facilities Board to enter a grant agreement with the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for groundwater testing at the airport.
According to the resolution, PFAS became a concern after a 2017 accident involving a Cessna Citation, where the plane slid off the runway into some trees and caught fire. The Howell Area Fire Department used AFFF foam to extinguish the fire; the foam contains PFAS and other chemicals that EGLE wishes to measure.
More: Jet skids off runway; wings separate, catch fire
The grant is for $58,750, enough for quarterly groundwater testing for one year starting May 15 and ending Aug. 1, 2026.
Lastly, another resolution approved an agreement with TriTerra, an environmental consulting firm from Lansing, to perform the PFAS testing. TriTerra will conduct quarterly tests for a year and provide all necessary reporting to EGLE. The cost of the services will be fully covered by the grant.
2026 budget process and calendar approved
Commissioners voted to authorize the process of establishing the county’s 2026 budget, with the objectives of preserving services essential to the health, safety and welfare of resident and providing services that are consistent with the “fiscal parameters of the current and projected economic realities.”
The budget process will be done in stages, or “levels.” Pre-budget will include revenue forecasts, strategic planning sessions, budget work sessions, capital improvement plan updates, and updates to the cost allocation plans.
The Level One budget will include personnel costs, cost allocation charges, and internal service fund charges, which will be provided to all departments by the end of June.
During Level Two of the budget process, all other line-item budget requests will be prepared by departments and submitted to the county’s financial system. Level Two budgets are due Aug. 8, according to a calendar in Monday’s meeting packet.
In the Level Three budget, County Administrator Nathan Burd will will present a budget recommendation to the Finance and Asset Management Committee based on discussions, presentations and analysis of departmental requests. Burd’s presentation is scheduled for Oct. 14.
At Level Four, the FAM committee will make final decisions on the budget and recommend any changes if feels are necessary, currently scheduled for Nov. 10. Finally, at Level Five, the budget will be adopted. This is planned to occur Nov. 24.
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Updated emergency plan adopted
Commissioners unanimously approved the county’s updated Emergency Operations Plan for 2025-29 on Monday.
According to the resolution the EOP is updated, at a minimum, every four years. The plan is considered a living document and is updated as needed during the four-year timeframe.
The goal of the EOP is “to coordinate emergency response efforts to save lives, reduce injuries and preserve property,” the resolution reads. The plan outlines general concepts, policies, tasks and guidelines for all kinds of hazards.
Having an EOP is required for the county to get funding for or reimbursement of costs that are connected to disasters.
— Contact reporter Tess Ware at tware@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Livingston County Board votes on budget process, PFAS testing and more
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