News Photo by Kayla Wikaryasz On Wednesday, Alpena County 911 Dispatcher Jonathan Sanchez is seen working at his dispatch terminal.

ALPENA — Alpena County has hired Nick Modrzynski as their full-time emergency manager (EM) in a 4 to 2 vote at a commissioners meeting on Tuesday.

Modrzynski is a former Alpena County commissioner and was employed at District Health No.4 before being released due to budget issues.

The hiring of a full-time EM, versus a part-time EM, has been a debated subject among commissioners for the last few months. Plans to share an EM with a second county have fallen through twice.

In July, The News reported that Alpena County was interested in splitting the EM position with Montmorency County before the county decided to hire Sarah Melching as their full-time EM. In September, The News reported that Alpena County was considering sharing an EM with Presque Isle, though Alpena County eventually changed directions themselves and hired their own EM.

Brenda Fournier, Alpena County commissioner, stated there is enough work to warrant a full-time position for the county’s EM.

“I believe there is enough to do, to cover the full-time position,” she said. “It’s going to help the county if we have another emergency like the ice storm. We will be prepared.”

Fournier explained that her and Commissioner John Kozlowski debated the issue of either hiring a full-time EM, or combining the role with another position.

“Having a full time director will help us more,” Fournier added.

In opposition, Kozlowski explained that he believes that the EM position should be part-time position, or combined with another.

“Based on what I’ve seen in the past, I just felt Alpena County could have managed with a part-time person,” he added. “Do I think it is a 40-hour-a-week job? No.”

Kozlowski explained that the previous EM was also the 911 director, and moving forward with separate full-time positions for both roles is a significant financial consideration for the county. He added that while researching how other counties organize the EM position, many have chosen to combine the role with another, like in Alcona County.

“It’s a position that can easily be combined like other counties are doing it,” Kozlowski said. “We are going to pay that person, maybe not double, but that is essentially what we are doing.”

Though Fournier said she believes that having a full-time EM will better prepare the county for future emergencies like the ice storm this past spring, Kozlowski said there was no way to prepare for an emergency like that.

“I do not think we would have been better prepared,” Kozlowski said. “No one could have imagined the severity of that storm.”

However, Kozlowski said that Alpena County is more prepared for future emergencies because of the lessons learned.

“I can tell you now, without a doubt, we will be more prepared for the next type of event like we had in March,” he added. “That is not because we had a dedicated full-time emergency manager.”

Alpena County Sheriff Erik Smith said that he is glad that Alpena County “went in that direction,” in hiring a full-time EM. Smith said that he is excited to work with Modrzynski.

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.