IRON RIVER—Iron County Road Commissioners reviewed a proposed summer schedule for road maintenance at their Feb. 9 regular meeting, deciding that temporary summer help would be the best solution for crack-filling and mowing.

Commissioners Ernie Schmidt and Dan Germic, who serve on the board’s employee relations committee, told the board that following a meeting with employees on Feb. 8, they were recommending implementing a split shift for the months of May and June.

Employees would split one-hour/four-day shifts, with half working Monday through Thursday, and half Tuesday through Friday.

Additionally, the committee recommended hiring eight to 10 temporary employees for six- to eight weeks. These employees would be responsible mainly for crack-filling, mowing and brushing.

The board recommended a rate of pay of $8.50 base; $10 for applicants a with commercial drivers license (CDL). The board approved advertising for these positions.

in other business:

--It’s a road project that’s been revisited several times over the past decade, and support to build the East Portal Road across the north portion of the county still has support, as commissioners heard.

Crystal Falls Township Supervisor Tom Lessandrini brought up the topic from an economic development view, saying that it would be a tremendous benefit to the county’s logging industry.

Basically, the road would connect U.S. 141 at its east end to Ponozzo Road, or possibly Gibbs City Road on the west. It would significantly cut the number of miles it takes to truck logs from the northern half of the county, where there is no east-west route between highway M-28 and U.S. 2.

“A lot of us feel it is vital to the logging industry,” Lessandrini told the board, particularly with the opening of the sawmill in Amasa. He said he was aware that one of the problems the Road Commission has with the project involves maintenance of the road once it’s built.

Germic said that was an issue. With the Road Commission strapped for money, and fewer employees doing road maintenance, it would be a long way to go to keep the road plowed in the winter and maintained year-round.

Commissioner Joe Sabol added that there was some opposition from residents around Perch and Cable Lakes who didn’t favor a major road near their homes and camps.

Road Commission Superintendent Doug Tomasoski said he had done some preliminary cost estimates on the project, and a ballpark figure he came with was about $10 million.

‘Everyone is in support of it,’ he said, but there needs to be funding sources researched. He said that perhaps the Economic Development Corporation could look into those sources.

ICRC Attorney Mark Tousignant advised the board that if the project was viewed with an eye toward economic development, information was needed about the economic and environmental impact it would have.

How much diesel fuel would be saved, how many jobs are involved in the logging industry in the county, he said, was an example of how the EDC could be helpful. Tomasoski said he would be willing to talk to Economic Developer Julie Melchiori to see what ideas she had.

--Tomasoski told the board he is hopeful a bid-letting for phases two and three of Bates-Amasa Road as well as West Sunset Lake Road would take place in April.

--The board approved applying for three credit cards with a $5,000 limit on each.

--The board approved transferring up to 30 percent of funds from the primary road fund to the local road fund.

--The board changed its meeting dates for the next two months. The March meeting will be held Thursday, March 4, at 4:30 p.m.; the April meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 6, at 8:30 a.m.

--In his monthly report, Tomasoski wrote that 931 tons of salt was used in January; 678 tons of sand on the state trunkline; 1,130 tons on the primary roads and 875 tons on the local roads; 192 hours of overtime were spent on the state trunkline, 17 hours on the primary roads and seven hours on local roads.