Barry County Surveyor Brian Reynolds and Property Appraiser Rosemary Anger updated the county commission on the progress of the remonumentation of Michigan section corners Tuesday.

Section corners are on a ½ mile grid; Barry County has some 5,000 total markers with remonumentation estimated to be between 75-85 percent complete, Reynolds said.

 

The massive undertaking of remonumentation of the entire state was made law in 1990 and got underway in 1993. A revision of the plan in 2014 required an update of the plan. Reynolds and Anger will develop the new plan, removing section markers that no longer serve any useful purpose, some dating back to the 1850’s. “We’ll select corners to omit, that will be the biggest change in the plan,” Reynolds said.

 

Due in March of 2020, they hope to bring the new plan to the county board later this year.

Funding for the program comes from the $4 fee on deeds from the Register of Deeds office that goes into a special fund at the state and then apportioned back to the counties based on size. “More size, more money,” Reynolds said.

 

Rural areas generally do better than urban areas, and Barry County always gets back more money than they put it. Funding depends on the Real Estate market, when housing drops, so does the revenue stream, he said.

 

The $4 fee is scheduled to drop to $2 in 2023, and there will likely be pressure to extend it, probably for another 10 years.  When Barry County completes its remonumentation it will shift to a maintenance plan with reduced funding, with the excess going to other counties, Reynolds said.

 

Also Tuesday, Commissioners approved recommendations from last week’s committee of the whole meeting to buy new furniture for the county probation department for $6,600; accept a grant from the state to provide education and communication on Michigan’s medical marijuana act, accept a bid from Drug & Lab Disposal to hold Household Hazardous Waste collections and a resolution of intent to apply for transportation grants for Barry County Transit.

 

 

(left)The Barry County map shows the enormity of the task of replacing monuments on section corners. Each small square dot requires a monument.