A government of the people works best when the people are really part of it. That spirit is on full display in Presque Isle County, where, according to a report last week by News reporter Julie Riddle, a private logging company has partnered with the county Road Commission and the Michigan Department of Transportation to make roads safer. Clarence Hincka of Posen’s Hincka Logging has loaned his equipment to the county and state roads crews to clear overgrown roadside vegetation along parts of U.S-23 and M-65. Work that would have cost the government a month’s time at $4,000 a day is costing them a flat $12,000. And Hincka’s going to haul away timber at a greatly reduced price, donating chips to be used as fuel for the Hillman power plant. Hincka said he was he happy to do it, because he already had a good relationship with the county road commission. “‘Since you’s are good to me, I’ll be good to you’s,'” Hincka said he told the county. It’s important work, Eric Precord, transportation maintenance coordinator for MDOT’s north region, told Riddle. When the woods grow too close to the roadside, trees can block sunlight that helps salt melt ice, can endanger drivers who may inadvertently leave the roadway, and can hide deer from motorists until it’s too late. We’re glad to see the work getting done, and even more glad to see it happening for a bargain for the taxpayers. Good work to all involved, and we hope other governments in Northeast Michigan and beyond take notice. (THE ALPENA NEWS)