Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
Bessemer — The Gogebic County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday acted on appointments to the Gogebic County Transit and Gogebic County Road Commission boards.
David Pawlak, who has served as chairman of the GCT board since 2012, was reappointed to an at-large seat.
GCT Director Jim Mildren, in a letter to the county board, said Pawlak has been “an exceptional” transit board member.
The term of Leroy Kangas, of Ironwood Township, former Gogebic County Board member who retired at the end of 2016, will be filled by county board member Joe Bonovetz, of Bessemer. He was appointed by county board chairman George Peterson, of Watersmeet.
Both three-year terms take effect Feb. 1.
Mildren attended the meeting and praised Kangas for his nearly 20 years of service on the transit board. “He sure helped us out,” Mildren said.
The GCT has been operating for 36 years and the buses have traveled 4 million miles, hauling nearly 1 million passengers, Mildren said.
He said the new computerized dispatching system has been working out well for the GCT.
The GCT, with its offices in Ironwood, is governed by a five-member board. The county board appoints one county board member and one county resident to the transit board, while the other three positions are appointed after applications are received following a public notice.
The county board unanimously appointed Kevin Haustein, of Bessemer, to the road commission board, as recommended by the finance, auditing and budget committee.
The appointment means all five positions on the road commission board are now filled.
The county board also agreed to a letter of agreement extending the contract with the courthouse employees’ union through Sept. 30, coinciding with the switch to a different fiscal year for the county.
A committee on health insurance will be formed before the insurance renewal on Oct. 1 to review possible changes to the existing employees’ plan and options. The first meeting will be no later than July 15.