A controversial resolution was tabled at the Alger County Commission meeting on Monday, Nov. 13, after it was revealed to have a previously unknown sister resolution that would greatly increase the county’s power and position on public health emergencies.
Resolution #2023-18 titled “Resolutions Establishing Limitations to State and/or Local Government Emergency Measures Emanating from the LMAS County Health Department Regarding a Pandemic” was automatically tabled and moved to the agenda for the next meeting after the two commissioners on the Resolutions Subcommittee were split on their support of the resolution. D. Michael Nettleton was against and Mick Rondeau was in support.
The resolution, citing hardships and constitutional concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, only “strongly recommends” that the LMAS Health Department would let emergency measures expire after 28 days and that LMAS not uphold or support any vaccine mandates or passports, mask mandates or mandatory testing of asymptomatic individuals. While expressing the opinion of the current county commission, the resolution by itself has no legally binding responsibilities for Alger County.
However, Rondeau admitted to the board that this resolution had a sister resolution. Resolution #2023-18 is directly based on a Livingston County resolution that empowered the county commission to create a separate “Health Advisory Committee”, which required Livingston’s local health department to work with the Health Advisory Committee, funded the committee for up to $10,000 for record searching and Freedom of Information Act costs and to review pandemic and epidemic concerns as its primary focus.
The sister resolution was not included in the pre-meeting packet for the public or for other commissioners. Commission Chair Dean Seaberg said he received the sister resolution on Monday afternoon. As of deadline for this week’s The Munising Beacon, the only place to find the sister resolution was through Livingston County’s website and through the meeting minutes of Roscommon County, which also reviewed the resolutions. Rondeau said that the commission needed to approve this resolution first before the second would be relevant.
With the revelation of a second resolution in tow, Seaberg and Commissioner Kelly Livermore both expressed concern about the impact of the resolution and for procedures regarding resolutions reaching the county commission. All resolutions are reviewed by Alger County Prosecutor Rob Steinhoff to assess any legal risks or complications through proposed resolutions. Steinhoff said that while the current resolution has no legal standing, he would not have supported the resolution that had an unattached sister resolution.
Public opinion on the resolution was also evenly split, with the public in attendance speaking out against the resolution, but written and emailed opinions from locals mostly in support.
The county commission also had a presentation from Neil Pokela about reviewing ADA compliance and accessibility concerns across the county, authorized a public hearing for a new county recreation plan for December 11 and supported a new account for the county financials to help with payouts from retiring employees.
The next county commission meeting is Monday, Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. in the basement conference room of the Alger County Courthouse.
