ESCANABA — The Delta County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday not to hire Former Delta Conservation District CEO Rory Mattson as a county employee but to use him as a consultant for processing soil and erosion permits in a move that appeared to confuse many in the public and even some on the commission.

The confusion initially stemmed from the agenda item itself, which suggested the commission was voting to hire Mattson as a part-time county employee to manage soil erosion permits until County Building and Zoning Administrator Jack Smith could complete the necessary training to manage the permits himself. Commissioner John Malnar, who sits on the county’s personnel committee, said the issue should have died for lack of a second at the committee level and he was unsure why the issue was being brought before the board of commissioners.

“I don’t see no need at all to put another person on the county payroll and pay them. So the motion should have died right there as soon as I did not second that motion. I don’t know why it’s back on here,” he said.

While there was no argument about the lack of a second, Commission Board Chair Dave Moyle noted this was not the first time an issue had been brought to the commission without support from an advisory committee.

“We have previous precedent of a split committee having a contentious issue brought to the board the very next day. So this isn’t the first time that rodeo happened — maybe for you at personnel, but it happened at finance,” he said.

There was also a significant amount of disagreement as to whether a hire was necessary at all or whether Mattson could be hired by the board.

Generally speaking, despite the number of times Mattson’s name was mentioned during the discussion, the board itself is not authorized to hire county staff. That role is reserved for County Administrator Ashleigh Young, who was hired by the board but manages day-to-day staff and staffing issues. Young clarified that the question before the commissioners was not whether to hire Mattson, but whether to create a new part-time position that the county could fill.

It did, however, seem to be assumed that Young would hire Mattson for the role. Because the commissioners serve as Young’s bosses, it would not be a stretch to think she’d follow their direction.

Malnar argued there was no reason to hire anyone. He said the Delta County Road Commission — which has temporarily been managing soil erosion and sedimentation permits — had the job under control until Smith could complete training in the next few weeks.

The other commissioners said the road commission wanted to stop being responsible for the permits as soon as possible. Commissioner Steve Viau, who said he spoke with Delta County Road Commission Manager Jody Norman Monday, said Norman currently had eight permits under review, wanted to end the road commission’s responsibility for permits by March 31, and felt whoever took over the permits should have a mentor.

“Then we got onto the issue of Mr. Mattson, and (Norman) — I have permission to speak about what we talked about — and he said ‘(Mattson is) a go-getter,’ ‘he’s been a valuable resource for the road commission for many years,’ ‘great friend of the board,’ ‘knowledgeable and helped the board for many years.’ This is not me speaking, this is the manager and people on his board,” said Viau.

Commissioner Bob Barron, who sits on the personnel committee with Malnar, proposed a compromise early in the discussion. He made a motion to continue with Mattson as a consultant — a path the commission had already started down by putting out a request for qualifications, responded to by Mattson. Smith and Mattson would jointly inspect sites needing a permit and the permits would be signed by Smith after his training was completed.

“This gets this started right now. We have to make the transition sometime. This is a great time to start it,” said Barron.

While the process does create a delay for landowners seeking permits, Barron said it gets around a requirement that the signer be an employee of the county. It also allows the county to bypass the posting process required for the county to hire an employee.

Viau, however, argued for Mattson’s hire outright, saying it might not be proper to send out a county employee who is not yet certified and a contractor not able to sign the documents to review permits.

“He’s credible to me right now. I have no issue. … I have a history of one year with him. All this back stuff? It may be credible. It sounds horrible, some of it and that, but until we get more information, but how many commissioners — I mean, what if what we’re doing is wrong? How do we know what we’re doing is right? Issuing permits without someone who has the qualifications to issue permits?” said Viau.

When it came to a vote, keeping Mattson on as a consultant to work with Smith until Smith was able to sign permits was approved in a 3-2 split vote of the board, with Viau and Malnar dissenting.

Shortly after the vote, Young noted that the rates for Mattson’s work as a contractor were not fully-finalized. The commission will need to approve the rates at a future meeting.