From the County Administrator

The dog days of summer are behind us and now we move into the busy fall season.  Schools and colleges are back in session and there are festivals and other seasonal events to look forward to in Lenawee County.  There are many things to do in Lenawee County and you can find most of them on the Visit Lenawee website; www.visitlenawee.com.   Visit Lenawee, under the direction of Executive Director Justin Gifford, promotes Lenawee County as a destination letting others know about all of the exciting activities going on in the county. 
 
Some activities going on are less exciting but no less important.  The State of Michigan has been testing water supply systems in Lenawee County and across the state for PFAS contamination.  This is a relatively recently identified contamination source and it has been found in several Michigan communities.  To date, no sites have been identified in Lenawee County.  You may find more information about PFAS testing and identified sites on the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality website at www.michigan.gov/deq and search for PFAS.

We are making good progress on our capital improvement projects and have started work on the main focus of Phase I, the old Jail and Sheriff’s Office.  Work on remediating hazardous materials has begun and demolition of the building at the corner of Winter and Maple Streets will start the middle of September.  The project is expected to be completed by next fall.  We will provide updates on the progress periodically in this newsletter. 
 
The demolition of the building at the southeast corner of Winter and Maumee Streets in downtown Adrian has been completed and the east wall of the building has been repaired to protect the adjacent building.  This was a property that came to the County by tax foreclosure and in a very deteriorated condition.  All of the material from the old building was removed, the hole has been filled and the site has been seeded.  The lot will now be available for redevelopment. 
 
On the financial front, the 2019 draft budget will be presented in detail at the September 11^th Personnel/Ways and Means Committee meeting.  The draft provides funding to continue all of the services that the County has delivered in the past and also funds the capital improvement projects that are currently underway.  The 2019 draft revenue is based on a millage rate of 5.40 mills, the same rate as was levied for 2018.  The County remains committed to using taxpayer funds in an efficient and effective manner. 

Please take a moment to read through our September newsletter  where you will find more information on these