Woodhull Township's Rolling Hills rezoning goes to county vote tonight

The rezoning that would clear the way for the Rolling Hills development in Woodhull Township reaches the Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners tonight. The agenda for the 5 p.m. meeting at the Surbeck Building, 201 N. Shiawassee St. in Corunna, asks commissioners to accept the county Planning Commission's recommendation to change the zoning map from R1B to PUD-2 under Ordinance No. 26-09-02.

Rolling Hills is the planned unit development proposed by E.T. Mackenzie Company. It has already been backed by the Woodhull Township planning commission, the township board and the county planning commission, and it is also moving as conditional rezoning request CPREZ26-001. A PUD designation lets a developer build to a site-specific plan approved by the local government rather than to the standard rules of a single zoning district. The agenda does not include the plan itself, so the number of homes, the acreage and the street layout are not in the packet.

A second map amendment on the same list would change land in Bennington Township from B-1, a business district, to A-2, agricultural, under Ordinance No. 26-09-03. The agenda does not say which parcel.

Commissioners are also scheduled to go into closed session to consult with legal counsel about trial and settlement strategy in Henderson v. Shiawassee County. The agenda gives no other detail about the case — not the claim, not the court, not the amount at issue. Closed sessions to discuss litigation strategy with an attorney are permitted under Michigan's Open Meetings Act; any settlement would have to be voted on in public.

On the spending side, the Economic and Physical Development Committee is recommending a quote from Mechanical Services, LLC for two new boilers and installation, not to exceed $64,115. The agenda does not identify which county building they serve. The same committee is recommending a housing rehabilitation mortgage discharge for Kathryn Kuechman of 315 E. Williams St. in Corunna.

The Finance and Administration Committee is recommending a three-year contract with ACM CPA's LLC for auditing services, with no dollar figure listed on the agenda. The county's 2025 audit came before the board in July, as The Current reported. The same committee wants to terminate the county's Pay It arrangement and authorize a Gov Pro contract, pending negotiations by the county administrator and county attorney — a switch in the vendor that handles county payments. Two assistant prosecutor positions, two sheriff road patrol deputies at no more than Step 1, and the probate court administrator post are all up for replacement approval.

Courts money makes up the largest block of dollars on the agenda. The Public Safety and Courts Committee is recommending a $86,890 Michigan Mental Health Court grant and a $135,822 Michigan Drug Court Grant Program contract, plus $25,000 from the county's opioid settlement funds to keep the 35th Circuit Court's Swift and Sure Sanctions Probation Program running in fiscal 2027. Commissioners are also asked to renew the jail's inmate communication contract with Combined Public Communications under "Option 2," including a $90,000 technology investment grant and commissions, and to renew the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan administrative services contract for the inmate health program for Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2027.

Two health items round out the list: a renewal with the Shiawassee Regional Educational Service District for hearing and vision screening, not to exceed $16,706, and a $103,084 grant agreement with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for environmental health services from Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2027.

What happens next: The board meets at 5 p.m. tonight in the Surbeck Building in Corunna, with two public comment periods, each limited to three minutes per speaker. Commissioners will also vote on the Aug. 12 minutes and on the month's bills; the agenda does not list a total for the bills. At the Aug. 12 meeting, commissioners voted 6-0 on every roll call and cleared $6.7 million in payables. The Current will report the votes on Rolling Hills and the contracts once the roll calls are recorded.