News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena County Commissioner Lyle Van Wormer studies material which will be discussed at Wednesday’s Alpena County Finance Committee meeting. He said he has been a commissioner for 10 years and retiring at the end of the year.

ALPENA — Lyle Van Wormer has had his hands in many important projects during the last 10 years serving as a Alpena County Commissioner. He is entering the last two weeks of his tenure on the board, as he is retiring at the end of the year.

Van Wormer was elected by the voters in District No. 4 in 2006 and has held on to the seat since. He has served as chairman on the board of commissioners and has been the chair of the finance committee for years.

Over the years his voice, reason and logic have been critical to helping the county overcome financial challenges and lead initiatives such as the drone and Ameresco projects. He also played a key roll in the sale of Alpena Regional Medical Center to MidMichigan Health.

VanWormer said he decided to retire for personal reasons and he will miss the day to day grind of being a commissioner. He said most of all he is going to miss the people he has worked with for so many years.

“I’m going to miss the people a lot,” VanWormer said. “I have worked with so many great people and that to me is going to be the thing I miss most. Not working side by side with them the way I have for so many years.”

As chair of finance, Van Wormer was called upon often to review line items and get recommendations on spending. He said during the most recent recession it was trying, but the county came out better than others. Moving forward he said the budget will continue to be challenging because of a lack of revenue and increasing retirement debt obligations.

“The budget is always tough, but if you set parameters, and use it as a guideline, it allows for things to go more smoothly,” Van Wormer said. “I’m happy to say we have not cut one service or had one layoff since I’ve been here. That’s huge.”

Van Wormer said there have been significant strides in making Montmorency-Alcona-Alpena landfill more profitable. He said the decision to purchase cannons which spray a mist of leachate has saved the landfill millions of dollars in hauling costs over the last several years. He said the landfill is solid financially now and it should remain so moving forward.

When the commissioners voted to hire Ameresco to install new high efficiency boilers and HVAC system, and to make make improvements to facilities to make them more energy efficient, they did so knowing there would be benefits. Van Wormer said besides getting aging equipment replaced, the cost savings are already beginning to add up and are large enough to cover the cost of the bond used to cover the cost of the project.

“The savings are there and we see them every month,” Van Wormer said. “It has been that way for several years and it has been a fantastic program.”

In January four new commissioners will be seated on the board, including Bill Peterson who will take Van Wormer’s place. He said he is confident they will do a good job, but urges them to take time to settle in and learn from the senior commissioners on the board.

“Absorb as much information as possible and ask a lot of questions,” Van Wormer said. “There is always a solution to any problem if you take the time to think it through, be creative and work together.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews. Read his blog, Upon Further Review … at www.thealpenanews.com.