Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call the Jackson Board of Commissioners board meeting for May 19th, 2026 to order, please. At this time, I'd like all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and the invocation by Commissioner Vice Chairman Kennedy. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Heavenly Father, we come here tonight asking for your guidance for us to make wise decisions and help the betterment of this county. We ask you to reach out to all here, make sure they make it home safely, and also give everyone the ability to be thankful for what we have and not dwell on what we do not have.

Madam Clerk, could you call the roll?

Yes, Mr. Chair. Commissioner Behr.

Present.

Commissioner Walz. Here. Commissioner Kennedy.

Here.

Commissioner Duckham. Commissioner Pilecki. Here. Commissioner Willis. Commissioner Williams.

Present.

Commissioner Snell. Here. Chairman Shotwell.

Here.

We have a quorum. Thank you.

Entertain a motion for approval of the agenda? So moved. We have a motion in support. Any questions? Deletions or corrections? Seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Duly carried. Any communications or petitions, please deliver them to the clerk at this time. Seeing none, public comment guidelines? Each individual will state their name and have three minutes to address the board on subject matter that is pertinent to the items on the agenda. You may only address the board once under this public comment opportunity and may not yield your time to others. Board members will not debate nor answer questions at this time. Public comment for items on the agenda is open. No, no, you deliver it to the court, please.

So sorry.

You're OK. Just put it in front of the clerk. No, we can't pass it out. Nope. Sorry it's OK. Learning the rules.

Hi, my name is Pam Perlos, and I am here to speak on behalf of the animal shelter, the dog park, and particularly Lydia Sattler. I was previously an administrator for 17 years for Jackson Public Schools, and I'm currently a volunteer at the shelter weekly, and I do their media. um this photo of lydia on that sheet was her first week in jackson in 2018. shelter is a very busy place with hundreds of people that pass through our door every week and we have a shelter to be proud of there certainly is a great need in jackson and i've not seen anyone ever do it better than lydia i i would hate to see us lose her her salary is lower than Ingham County or Huron County or Cascades Humane Society. And to my surprise, she has not received a raise in the eight years that she's worked here at Jackson County. Lydia is not one to toot her horn or broadcast her accomplishments, but she is so good at what she does and Also to my astonishment that she has such great financial knowledge that she is able to run the shelter without taking money from the county and partners with community agencies and has added our animal control. It is a beautiful establishment to be proud of. I just would really, really hate to see us lose her as an employee. So I wanted to bring this exceptional person to your attention this evening. Thank you.

My name is Fred tracks for I live in summit township and I want to thank the Board of Commissioners for the work that you do and for the. availability of your agenda packet that I was able to download. and read and i want to commend the committees for saving money for i.t and telephone and other things that you're doing to save the county money and thank you very much

All right. Good evening, chair, commissioners, members of the public. My name is Madeline Slavsky. I serve as a field crops educator for Michigan State Extension right here in Jackson. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. Michigan State Extension is the outreach arm of Michigan State, and our mission is to bring research-based education directly to the community, helping residents, local businesses, local government thrive. I just want to bring to y'all's attention some events and programs that are of particular interest to Jackson County residents. Two of them are field days for farmers coming up. June 10th is a food grade grains field day, the first at least I'm aware of in the county hosted by Jeff Boyer near Napoleon. This day we're gonna have farmers and local grain processors and local bakers come together, learn about what it takes to grow food grade grains, so grains that can be eaten by humans. And so that will be a really nice educational day. June 18th is a field day hosted by the Conservation District and it's for regenerative ag. It's hosted by Greg Sanford near Tompkins. And I'll be there showing off a rainfall simulator which highlights how farming practices can help water quality. So those are two events coming up. In general, doesn't take, you don't have to farm to know that right now it's a really hard time to farm. And so what we do is focus programming on improving farm profitability. The way that I'm doing that here in Jackson County is helping local farmers host on-farm trials to put their practices to the test, make sure that they're getting all the bang for their buck for all the products that they're using and purchasing. I also send out regular email newsletters, and I can give information on how to sign up for those newsletters that give reports on all of the pests and crop scouting that I do in the county. to help Jackson County farmers make more informed decisions. Also available to all farmers, whether or not they are in Jackson County or not, and family members of farmers, is a nice program from Michigan State. It's the Farm Stress Program, free teletherapy. Farming is very stressful, and mental health is a huge problem in the farming community, and so just want to bring that to attention. But thank you for your continued support of Michigan State Extension and for the work you do on behalf of Jackson County residents like me. We look forward to continuing our partnership. That's it. Also, I have flyers if I can give them to you.

I wanna take this time as chairman to clarify public comment. You have to be speaking to an item that is appearing on the agenda before the second public comment. So we are stretching a little bit with what we just heard. I'm gonna let it go because we just started this new procedure and I'll make everyone aware of it. But as the Board of Commissioners has chosen, Subject matter must be pertinent to items on the agenda that we will be addressing under the business portion of our meeting. And there's a second opportunity for public comment at the end of the meeting for you to address us on any and all issues. So we will continue with public comment to address issues that are on the agenda. Any more public comment? Seeing none, we'll close public comment at this time. Special meetings of standing committees, there are none. Entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the April Board of Commissioners meeting. So moved.

Support.

I have a motion in support. Any questions or corrections? Seeing or hearing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Duly carried. We've arrived at the consent agenda. Entertain a motion. I have a motion. I heard a support. So we have a motion and support for the consent agenda. Any items for removal at this time? Commissioner Behr.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to pull item 10I, medical examiner.

That will move to become 13B. Any other items? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, could you post the vote or call the vote? Your choice.

It will be posted.

Thank you. Motion carried We've arrived at standing committees standing committee public safety and transportation chaired by vice chairman Cory Kennedy Commissioner Kennedy Thank You mr.

Chair our first item of business tonight are some appointments and The first is the Joint Airport Zoning Board. The first position of the one of two members from townships within 10 miles. We have a current member, Jack Koch. We do not have an applicant and we do not have a committee recommendation for that seat at this time, unless there are any commissioners that would like to put forth someone. So we'll re-advertise that and come back next month for that. The second seat on that is one member from county outside the 10-mile radius. The current member is Thomas Schaffner. He also reapplied, and he is the committee recommendation.

Any nominations from the floor? Hearing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Those opposed? Duly carried.

The next seats are for the Emergency Management Advisory Council. We have two citizens at large seats. The first is current member Jeff Kirkpatrick, who did not reapply. Sarah Gamache has applied and is the committee recommendation for the first seat.

All in favor?

Aye.

Those opposed? Duly carried. Commissioner Kennedy.

The second seat is currently held by Tim McEldowney. He has reapplied, and he is the committee recommendation.

All in favor of concurrence of Tim McEldowney?

Aye.

Those opposed? Duly carried.

Takes us to the Community Corrections Advisory Board. The public defender has not put forth anyone yet. We will reach out to them and have them come back with that next month. They did send? Can you please? We did get their recommendation. It's Angie Borders, who is the deputy for the public defender.

Motion to concur? We have a motion.

Support.

And support. All in favor?

Aye.

Those opposed? Duly carried. Commissioner Kennedy.

That takes us also for the Community Corrections Advisory Board, the Circuit Court Judge Proxy Designee, Mr. Jacob Stressman, has applied, and he has a committee recommendation.

All in favor of Jacob Stressman?

Aye.

Those opposed? Duly carried.

Thank you. It's all for our appointments. We'll now move to the item that was removed from the agenda. Oh, excuse me. Excuse me, that'll conclude business for public safety and transportation. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Kennedy. Standing Committee, General Government. Tonight, chaired by Vice Chairman of Standing Committee Government, Margie Walls, Commissioner Walls.

Today we have materials management planning committee, um, elected official of a city or village that is a vacant seat. We have no applicants committee. Um, we, so we have no recommendations. The member at large, uh, term expires 10 of 2029. It's vacant. Lori Fitzgibbons has applied committee recommended appointments. We have a second. Member at large, 10 of 2029. That is a vacant seat as well, and we did not choose any applicants for that seat.

We have a motion for Lori Fitzgibbons. Do I have a second? All in favor?

Aye.

Those opposed?

Duly carried. The Employee Retirement System Board Our current member is Danielle Paquette. Danielle has reapplied, and she is the committee recommendation.

This is a concurrence. All in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Duly carried. Marjorie?

Yep. The Upper Grand River Watershed Alliance public seat. New term expires May of 2028. Jeffrey Snyder is the current member, applicant. Jeffrey Snyder and Paul Rentschler. Jeffrey Snyder is the committee recommendation.

If I may speak to this, I attended this meeting, and I would ask that the committee at this time forgive Jeffrey Schneider and nominate Paul Rentschler, please, because the Drain Commissioner has asked Paul to serve on his behalf at this time due to other commitments at the same time.

I nominate Paul Rentschler.

I have a nomination for Paul Rentschler in support, so we're going to have a ballot. If we could please, Schneider and Rentschler, with the knowledge that Jeffrey Schneider is not interested in sitting at this time. Okay. So, Madam Clerk, could you call the roll?

Absolutely. Commissioner Walz.

Rentschler.

Commissioner Kennedy.

Rentschler.

Commissioner Pilecki.

Rentschler.

Commissioner Williams.

Rentschler.

Commissioner Snell.

Rentschler.

Commissioner Behr.

Paul Rentschler.

Chairman Shotwell.

Rentschler.

Rentschler passes.

I will forward that and let the committee know that Paul is going to be seating on that in a public seat. Thank you. Ms. Walls.

Continued on the Upper Grand River Watershed Alliance. We have a public seat. The new term expires May of 28. Current member is Shikha Singh. Shikha has reapplied and the committee recommendation is Shikha Singh.

Any nominations from the floor? Hearing none, all in favor of Shikha?

Aye.

Opposed? Duly carried. Commissioner Walz?

Another public seat to expire 5 of 2030 Kenny price is the current member Kenny price has applied and Kenny is also the committee recommended Appointment any nominations from the floor?

All in favor of Kenny price, please say aye aye those opposed duly carried Commissioner walls public seat expiring 5 of 2030

Current member is James Seitz. Applicant is James Seitz and Kurt Rudolph. Committee recommends James Seitz.

Any nominations from the floor? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Duly carried.

Commissioner Walz. Yes. Public seat expiring 5 of 2032. Current member is Christy Davis. She did not reapply. Also, Kurt Rudolph, and committee has recommended Kurt Rudolph.

Any nominations from the floor? Hearing none, all in favor of Kurt Rudolph, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Duly carried. Commissioner Walz.

Public seat expiring 5 of 2032. Current member is Todd Zeller. Todd Zeller has reapplied, and committee recommendation is Todd Zeller.

Any nominations from the floor? Hearing none, all in favor of Todd Zeller, please say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed? Duly carried. Commissioner Walz.

Okay, we have before us the Administrator-Controller Community Development Block Grant application.

Entertain a motion?

So moved.

We have a motion and support.

Questions?

Commissioner Behr.

Thank you, Chairman. I had made several requests at the committee meeting, and I'm pleased to see that many of the requested changes that I'd asked for have been incorporated. So thank you for that. I've got only a couple items that I think we still need to discuss. The first is the authorizing resolution. The cover letter says we want to complete this authorizing resolution at the study session, June 2, that's a Monday, at 8 a.m. Study session at 8 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, you're not going to get very many working, tax-paying citizens able to show up and make comments. They're going to be at work. And so... I've always said for years that final approval on things at study session is not something that I want to see happen. The cover letter states we're doing this so that these citizens can have input, but we're doing it at a time where very, very few citizens can have input. On the resolution itself, if you go to The sixth whereas. Whereas the commission and county affirm that the first public hearing was held on May 19th, 2026. Today is May 19th, 2026. We have not had a public hearing. There's no public hearing on our agenda. So I think that date needs to be changed. My goal here is to... Increase our odds of winning this grant. I'm not against this grant. I want this grant But having the wrong date for our public hearing does not Improve our ads our odds of winning this That document has already been corrected and given to the clerk for signature Couldn't hear you Deborah

That document has already been corrected and given to the clerk for signature upon approval. The new date, the corrected date is on there.

Thank you for that. I appreciate that. I'll mark that off as done. Okay, this document still says that in the third whereas, that this is consistent with our 2021-2025 Region 2 Economic Development Strategy, or past 2025. Has our current Region 2 Economic Development District Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy been updated?

Yes.

That is the most current one available.

We have to go with the most current document when we're applying for this, Tony. So you have to use the previous document right now.

Okay, that's the current one. Thank you. Then if we go to the public hearing, the notice of public hearing. says this is going to be done at the study session. Sorry, I told you I don't like that. We are prohibiting our citizens from attending. Also, at the notice of public hearing on lines 8 and 9 in this document, They state that in the event of displacement, homeowners would be responsible for the arrangement and funding of temporary relocation if required to complete repairs. But then if we go to page 9 of our application, application under public hearing notice must include paragraph C, Our notice of public hearing must include plans to minimize displacement and provide benefits to displaced persons. So our notice of public hearing says if a citizen is displaced, that's at their expense, but our application for this grant says that we are to provide benefits to those displaced persons. Which is it? Are they on their own or are we going to follow our grant?

We're to minimize the impact on them. And if we can't do that, then the next clause is we would assist. So the idea is to minimize any and all burden put on the person who's having their home remodeled. Of course. Okay. But if it comes down to the need to not be in the property at the time of the remodel, then we're to work with them to minimize the impact of the cost on them. Of course.

That's understandable. We're going to minimize the impact.

That means we won't put them up in a Ritz-Carlton, but we will assist them with making sure they have a place to stay.

If that is our true intent...

That's what that sentence says. So that is our true intent.

Yeah, that is. That's why I read it in the first place. I read it before you did.

That's what it says.

So if our application and our intent is to provide benefits to displaced persons, then on our public notice, the sentence that homeowners will be responsible for arranging and funding of temporary relocation. So those two savings are in conflict.

That means, no, they're not.

Yes, they are.

No, they're not, sir. Yes, they are. Let me finish. If the person has to find a place to stay, that means they need to turn around and put in an expense voucher. They have to pay for it themselves to begin with and then get reimbursed. It's not something, we don't go and find them their apartment. We don't go and find them. And if they could stay at a relative's house, then they could do that. So our assistance is in the form of making sure that they're not having an undue burden put on them.

So our notice of public hearing says that the homeowners would be responsible for the cost Our application says we will provide benefits. You can't have both.

Yeah, you can. No, you can't. I just explained how.

No, you can't.

I just explained how. If I remove you from your house and you go stay at your daughter's, the expense would be just the travel time from your house to your daughter's. If I tell you that you can't, that you tell me that you can't stay there, that you need to find another place that's going to cost you more, I'm going to explain to you that I need you to turn in an expense receipt for that and reimbursement. That's how it's always been done. That's how it works. And that's what those sentences tell you to do.

That makes no sense, and my concern is that if the reviewers at the state level read this, compare these two pages the way I have, they're going to come up with a conclusion. These people don't know what they're doing, and this application will be rejected, just like the last one was rejected.

In 86 other counties and municipalities in the state of Michigan, that sentence has been corrected. So it's not that we're the only county applying for this or the only county to be doing this.

I'm not talking about other counties. I'm talking about our application and our notice to public hearing. They're in disagreement.

Please continue.

Okay. My final item... item that the the application must include a copy of our procurement policy and I still do not see our procurement policy attached I hope some administration attaches that before it goes out because currently it's not there So that's my input. So I'm asking the other commissioners, do you want to improve our odds of winning this grant, or do you want to gamble?

Any further commissioner comments? We have a motion in support to go forward with this. Madam Clerk, could you post the vote? It is posted.

Would you repeat the motion that we're voting on?

To approve the signing of the authorizing resolution for the community development block grant CDGB application allowing the county administrator to proceed with submission as well as approval for a public hearing to take place.

Thank you.

Motion passed. Commissioner Walz. Thank you very much. Standing Committee Human Services, chaired by Commissioner Earl Pileski. Commissioner Pileski.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have one appointment to make tonight to the Veterans Affairs Board. It's for a term expiring in March of 2030. It is currently held by James Ducey. We had three really excellent applicants, James Ducey, Carissa Barton, and Kenny Price. And James Ducey is the committee recommendation.

Any nominations from the floor?

Nominate Kenny Price.

Any other nominations from the floor? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, would you call the poll?

Of course. Commissioner Kennedy.

Kenny Price.

Commissioner Pileski.

Ducey.

Commissioner Williams.

Ducey.

Commissioner Snell.

Price.

Commissioner Behr.

Ducey.

Commissioner Walz.

Ducey.

Chairman Shotwell.

Ducey. Thank you to all the candidates. Commissioner Pulaski.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The next item is the item that was pulled from the consent agenda. It is a recommendation to appoint doctors Packris and Cho as deputy medical examiners as recommended by administration. The committee recommendation is to appoint those two doctors as deputy medical examiners and comes forward as a recommendation from committee.

We have a motion. Do we have support? We have a motion and support commissioners questions. Commissioner bear.

Well, the reason I voted for James Ducey for Veterans Affairs is because the man who heads up Veterans Affairs sent a letter to us asking us to approve James Ducey.

Commissioner Bear, you're out of order, sir. Commissioner Bear, you're out of order.

Are you tripping me again, or am I going to get to finish something?

No, sir, you're not going to get to finish. You're to talk about the medical examiner. That's what's motion in support at this time, sir.

If you would have waited two seconds, I would have been on the medical examiner.

No, sir, please continue with the medical examiner, please.

I will if you'll let me finish. When I see these things, I expect the department head to send us a letter of recommendation. I had requested that the medical examiner's office send us a letter of recommendation for these persons. Committees do that send us letters of recommendation and the absence of a letter of recommendation from the medical examiner I asked the lady that presented this the administrative assistant to Get us a recommendation letter It's not forthcoming so For that reason of no letter from the chief medical examiner, I'm gonna vote no and

Any other commissioner comments? Commissioner Kennedy.

Dr. Maino has requested this, has he not?

That's correct. This is an appointment request from Dr. Maino, the medical examiner, and Sarah would not be here with her name on this document if Dr. Maino did not approve this appointment.

Thank you.

Any further commissioner questions?

Madam Clerk, could you roll please? Post.

It is posted.

Thank you. Motion carries 6-1. Commissioner Pilecki.

That concludes the Human Services work tonight. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Board of Commissioners have no unfinished business at this time. We move to our new business, Item 15A, the Employee Retirement System 2025 Annual Actuarial Pension Plan, a motion to receive.

So moved.

Support. Support. Any questions? Seeing or hearing none, Madam Clerk. Motion carried. At this time, we've arrived at 15B, FOIA appeal. Looking for a motion.

Mr. Chair, if I have an order, I'll offer a motion to comply with the accounting attorney's recommendation.

We have a motion. Do I have support? Support. We have support. Questions or comments from commissioners? Commissioner Kennedy.

I just have one question. I see the reason for recommendation of denial, and it basically being because this is still going to trial. After that time, though, would this information be okay to give to the individual that's requested it after a conclusion to the trial?

Of course. Unless there's a legal exemption per statute, then yes, it would be available. Okay.

If I may?

Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you.

Thank you. Just as a point of clarification, it has already been to trial. We has already been found guilty. We are now in an appeals process. And so until that appeals process is finished, we can't turn everything over. If something goes wrong on our side in that appeals process and we have to retry this, we need to protect that stuff until the appeals process is completed.

Certainly understandable. But after that point, you wouldn't have an objection.

No. And in fact, just as a clarification, we've already invited this woman into our office to view it because she was barred from the courtroom for that period of time. We've invited her to come view them. I'm just loathe to turn them over to her.

Very good. Thank you.

Any other questions?

Commissioner Behr.

Well, this lady is not asking to have for you to turn over everything.

Correct.

She was asking only for the day in which she was barred from entering the courtroom.

Indeed.

I would like to know first question is why was she barred from entering the courtroom to oversee the murder trial against her sons of her son's murder?

I don't have a problem answering if nobody has a problem.

The judge has the authority to either A, close the courtroom if there's inappropriate testimony, or sometimes if there's minors that are testifying in sensitive information, the judge has the authority to close the courtroom. Additionally, if someone is acting out, I don't know the circumstances, Kelsey might be more familiar, but if somebody is not acting appropriately, or there's been threats on witnesses or something of that sort, the judge also has the authority to bar people from the courtroom for safety and security purposes.

Okay, you've offered several explanations of options the judge may have at his disposal, his or her disposal. My question still stands. What was the reason I don't need a list of all the possibilities. It was the latter.

She was wildly disruptive during the trial. The court gave her numerous opportunities to settle herself down and to make herself comply with court orders. And on day four of the trial, that was no longer sustainable. And she was impacting the ability of the trial to move forward. So at that point, the court barter from the courtroom did allow her to come back for closing arguments. If she wanted to, she chose not to.

Okay. And it appears from her perspective... that when you did give her the opportunity in your office to look at the video, she talks about how the wrong camera angle, the distance from the camera, the exhibits couldn't be recognized, the size of the screen that she was provided, she couldn't see anything on. Yeah, when your child's been murdered and you want to witness the trial of the suspect, I can see there's a lot of frustration. I hope in the future you are able to give this type of person better video, more access to the photographs that weren't even in the video view. I can see why this lady's upset. I would be.

If I may, the video that is in the courtroom is for court recording purposes. It's not a live stream. And it's secured on a wall similar to what ours are. It's not meant for public consumption. It's basically a court recording video to assist in doing transcripts of things of that nature. So that will not change. That complaint will not change. There's a camera at the back of the courtroom. that has an eye on the judge and the court recorder and security. And it is not a live stream unless the judge lets it be live streamed. And sometimes they'll do that for media purposes. But the complaint will not change because it's not meant to be a public recording. It's meant for recording purposes of transcripts.

So the court recorder then has... No need on this recording to see any of the photos, any of the exhibits, any of the evidence. The court recorder needs none of that on the recording?

She was not the court recorder.

That's not our answer, and you know it.

Go ahead.

Just to clarify, Mr. Chair, the motion on the floor is to uphold the denial, am I correct? Correct.

The motion is worded poorly. You're just asking me the motion is to comply with the county attorney's opinion, and the motion doesn't even state what the attorney's opinion is.

What's on my screen, Commissioner Behr, is comply with the county attorney's opinion by upholding the denial. Is that correct, Commissioner Williams? Yes. Thank you.

Okay. I'll vote to uphold this, but that is not what the motion is stated in your documents. I'll vote to uphold it because of you. I appreciate your input.

We've arrived at the second opportunity for public comment. Each individual will state their name, have three minutes to openly address the board. You may only address the board once under this public comment opportunity and may not yield your time to others. Board members will not debate or answer questions at this time.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Amador Ibarra. I live in Summit Township. I recently had the privilege of attending a roundtable discussion with Attorney General Dana Nessel right here in Jackson. During that discussion, I asked if her office had any guidance or advice for local municipalities and local law enforcement agencies regarding enrolling in the 287G ICE agreement and the potential for civil and fiscal liabilities. The Attorney General stated that when the Department of Homeland Security approached the Michigan State Police to enroll in the 287 agreement, a study was initiated to determine fiscal and civil liability and it was discovered that the potential risk for liability in partnership with ICE is highly is higher than unacceptable. The liability for partnering with ICE is higher than acceptable. This makes it clear to me that the cost to the taxpayers would be too high. AG Nestle further spoke about the difference between an administrative warrant and a judicial warrant, explaining that an administrative warrant does not provide the constitutional protections of due process that a judicial warrant does. With the potential for liability costs being astronomical and those costs being put on the Jackson County taxpayers, I am once again asking this body to initiate an independent study on fiscal and civil liability related to Jackson County being enrolled in the 287 ice agreement. I'm also asking that the Office of the Sheriff suspend any training or participation in the 287 ice agreement until the results of the study can be reviewed. With the extreme risk of the burden for liability being placed on Jackson County taxpayers, true stewardship of these tax dollars would be proactive measure to assess the potential for liability. Please pause any involvement with the 287 ice agreement and conduct an independent study for civil and fiscal liability. Thank you for your time.

Hi commissioners, my name is Jeannie Brown. I'm in Summit Township. I just came to talk about the solar panels on the Chandler jail. I have a couple questions about that. If they guarantee the amount of savings. What happens if they don't have those savings, especially if they break? Whose responsibility is it to fix it if it does break? Do we have to pay for it? What company is responsible for these solar panels? I have gone to many meetings about solar panels and even met with John Griffin, who told me that the solar farms in Battle Creek don't work anymore. And I think that only lasted three years. I think they were up three years before they all broke. One of my friends put solar panels on our house and they lasted about six months. The guy that came over to fix it told her that they shorted out and it could have started a fire. Solar panels have been around for 20 years. And if they were so great, everybody would have them. This is another instance of wasting taxpayer money. I also want to say, well, I heard that you put $2.6 million in these solar arrays for Chandler Jail, and what we're saving on energy isn't going to compare, and it's a 20-year contract. And from what I've seen and heard, these panels don't last that long. I know what Google says, 20 to 30 years. But that's all I wanted to say. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Nicholas Thurston. I live in Jackson, Michigan. I kind of want to give some feedback on current events and things that are going on in the district. As to Commissioner Behr's point, modernization of systems, it is important. There are relevant public benefits to doing that. Some of the things that other people have talked about, it depends on how you go about doing that. So, consumers energy, I saw some news articles that consumers energy is pursuing building a data center somewhere in Jackson County. and they've been in contact with the commissioners. I'm not sure how much of that's true or not. But a lot of the problems that we have right now, especially the social issues, the LGBT affirmative action, feminist extremism, immigration politics, race identity politics, things that are spilling over into your meetings regularly now, a lot of this is caused by consumer's energies, corporate activism, The pressure for solar panels, which is basically, it's more of an ideological goal than a physical, functional reality. I don't think they've been around only for 20 years. I think the commercial push definitely has been around. But usually they would target businesses mostly, but they try to force it through government to get people to buy into it, because most people don't want them. A lot of the solar panels, they don't hold up, you know, maybe five or 10 years if you're lucky. The data centers, I did a little bit of research, are basically just big computer labs. They don't create a lot of jobs. Most of the jobs are the initial construction of the building and supply chain management of purchasing all the parts to put the computers together. And you might have a couple security guards and maintenance workers. But they're big hogs of natural resources. A lot of people that are both conservative, maybe even some people are considered far right, are also people that are considered far left. It's the only thing that anybody really agrees on is that the data center thing is not popular. Politically, it could cause more hostility. You guys could have more meetings with maybe hundreds of people coming and screaming at you guys, which I would hate to see. I don't like people treating you guys that way. I know that you do make decisions that you believe are in the best interest of everybody. with the knowledge that you have. And I want to believe that you guys are at least trying to do the right thing. But do more research on the data centers thing. And also, I would just say no to Consumers Energy. They've been a bad partner. They have more money than God. They keep jacking up their prices. The greed there is out of control. And they seem to have no real respect for the community, the flesh and blood people that live in Jackson. And they're too focused on pursuing ideological goals that you can never actually... REACH. THEY JUST HAVE THIS INFINITE DEBT WHERE EVERYBODY'S FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS GET SILENCED AND HUSHED BECAUSE THEY DISAGREE WITH CONSUMERS. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU.

ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENT? ANY OTHER PUBLIC COMMENT? PUBLIC COMMENT IS NOW CLOSED. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS? ANY COMMISSIONER COMMENTS? Seeing none, entertain a motion to adjourn. We have a motion in support. All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, duly carried.