“In the good old days, we had a committee that cared about the roads,” said Ingham County Commissioner Mark Grebner.
Grebner suggested at the Ingham County Services meeting Feb. 25 meeting that a permanent subcommittee be formed to take on road issues. He said he wants to make sure people who care about the roads were the ones being spoken to.
Grebner said he didn’t care about the roads, nor did he have any county maintained roads in his district, so he lacked the motivation to talk on the issues—while other commissioners may be more passionate and concerned. Grebner suggested three or four commissioners sit on the committee, and not to include him.
Commissioner Emily Stivers supported his proposal and wanted to be a part of it of a road subcommittee.
There are over 1,200 miles of roads within the county’s 550 square miles, according to the Ingham County Road Department. It is governed by the Board of Commissioners.
Chairperson Commissioner Crenshaw (left) listening and discussing the issue of roads at the County Services meeting.
Some of the department’s duties are snow and ice removal, pavement markings, pothole patching and the designing roads and bridges.
Grebner said the committee would ensure those duties are being met, and receive feedback from the community.
“It [roads] deserves a lot of one-on-one attention and it doesn’t get it,” he said.
When Vice-President Pro Tem Robin Naeyaert asked if that was what the County Services committee already does, Grebner agreed but said there still wasn’t as much focus.
After more clarification, Vice-Chairperson Commissioner Ryan Sebolt and Naeyaert said they were interested in being on the subcommittee.
After Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s campaign in 2018 to fix the roads in Michigan, the committee made it clear roads should become more of a priority.
The subcommittee was approved at the board of commissioners meeting in the Mason Courthouse on March 26.