The Delta County Board approved several agenda items Tuesday, including Airport Manager Ashleigh Young's request to seek a consultant for developing a master plan for projects expected to start at the airport from 2026 to 2031. (Courtesy photo)

ESCANABA – The Delta County Board approved a 3.7% cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, increase for the county’s non-union employees Tuesday in a split vote.

The 3.7% for non-union employees was meant to be similar to the 3.75% increase for union employees.

“And so instead of waiting and doing another, maybe having to do another bigger jump next year, we felt that it was important to take these sort of incremental steps instead of these larger jumps,” Commissioner Christine Williams said Tuesday.

Commissioner Matthew Jensen noted how COLA increases have been handled in the past. “When we look back historically, you would have real small (increases) and then all of a sudden you’d have a really big spike and then you’d have small (spikes). This is to try to flatten that spike out, and it makes it easier to manage within the budget process,” Jensen said. “Now we can also plan ahead, unless there’s an unforeseen thing where the world falls tomorrow where there would need to be a really large increase. This would be able to give us a longer – over that duration – sustainable increase.”

While Commissioner Kelli van Ginhoven asked the board consider amending the motion to make the increase 3.75%, matching union employees, the board moved forward with the proposed 3.7%.

Commissioners John Malnar, Williams and Jensen voted for 3.7%, with van Ginhoven and Patrick Johnson opposed.

The board then went into closed session to discuss several items, including several union groups going into negotiations soon. No decisions were made in closed session, according to County Administrator Emily DeSalvo.

In other business, the board:

– Allowed non-profit, non-emergent medical flights to be exempt from Delta County Airport landing fees. The types of organizations that will be exempt from landing fees, which range from $30 to $240 depending on aircraft, are non-profit volunteer pilot organizations that provide free medical transportation, such as Wings of Mercy, Angel Flight, Mercy Medical Angels, Air Charity Network and more. Volunteers would supply their aircraft and volunteer their time and plane fuel to transport someone who requires non-emergent medical flights from the airport.

— Approved the motion to accept the Professional Employer Organization proposal submitted by human resources company DynamicHR. DynamicHR will provide such services as processing the county’s payroll, which entails paying out any liabilities tied to payroll; processing W2s at the end of the year and more. A designated employee from DynamicHR will be in constant contact with the county’s current payroll clerk to receive information. The insurance provider for the county’s employees will change from what is currently Blue Cross/Blue Shield to Cigna Healthcare. The county will enroll in DyanmicHR’s services during the next open enrollment period.

— Officially named Dr. Martin Cristanelli as Delta County’s new medical examiner, so he can be added to the Electronic Death Registry System for the county. Cristanelli’s term will be no more than four years. The new ME comes after the current ME, Dr. Cary Gottleib, retired. The county previously entered into an agreement with Dickinson County to share Cristanelli’s services.

— Accepted Airport Manager Ashleigh Young’s request for qualifications, or RFQ, to seek a consultant to assist in airport development projects, such as the Airport Master Plan, for projects to be initiated between 2026 and 2031. The RFQ will be posted on Michigan Department of Transportation’s and the Delta County Airport’s websites.