One of the much-loved K-9 dogs with the Leelanau County Sheriff’s Office needs to retire to civilian life. Keno, a German Shephard, trained and patrolled with his handler, Deputy Jordan Strope, for about 17 months. But Strope left the county to work elsewhere, and a new handler could not be found.
Undersheriff James Kiessel said that the county tried to find someone else within the sheriff ’s office who could replace Strope as a K-9 handler, but no one was interested due to “the large time and effort commitment.” Nor could they find another police department elsewhere in Michigan that could take him.
Fortunately, Keno still found a new home. Sun Dog Kennels in Traverse City boarded the police dog while his handler was absent or vacationing. The kennel’s owner, Allison Merrill, offered to buy Keno from the county for $8,000 for personal and business use.
Kiessel said this was the best way to recoup the costs of putting Keno through K-9 program training. The county board of commissioners formally allowed the sheriff’s office to sell Keno to Merrill at their Jan. 21 regular session.
Kiessel said the sheriff’s office bought Keno to help with patrol and community outreach. They purchased Keno with five weeks of handler training for $17,000 in September 2023. They also upgraded a vehicle to carry another K-9 unit and bought equipment like kennels, leashes, leads, and bowls for another $12,000, for a combined cost of $29,000.
Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Borkovich has previously commented on the challenges that his office has faced with attracting and retaining staff, citing relatively low pay and high costs of living in the county. Keno’s handler, Strope, is leaving because he accepted a new job at a department in Macomb County.
Later at the same meeting, county board Chairman Steve Yoder said that Leelanau County’s Housing Action Committee (HAC) will be “in limbo” until the county’s next administrator, Jim Dyer, starts May 31 and evaluates it. Despite that, Vice Chairman Ty Wessell’s appointment to the HAC was renewed.
Other commissioners were appointed to committees, including Yoder replacing Wessell on the 911 advisory committee. Yoder was also appointed to the planning commission. Commissioner Will Bunek was appointed to the building safety committee and Networks Northwest committees, as well as the Northwest Regional Airport Authority, where he was previously a citizen appointee.
Commissioner Alan Campbell was appointed to the Leland Dam Authority, the Northern Michigan Counties Association, and the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. He was also appointed to the parks and recreation commission alongside Commissioner Mark Walter.
Walter was also appointed to the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department boards and the Juvenile Justice Detention Center committee. Commissioner Rick Robbins was appointed to community corrections and the Leelanau County Family Coordinating Council.
Commissioner Gwenne Allgaier kept her previous appointments as well as joined as county representative on the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan board.
Also at the Jan. 21 regular session, the county board of commissioners: - Appointed 86th District Court Deputy Court Administrator Michael Slancik as non-attorney magistrate, filling a position left vacant with Magistrate Norene Kastys’s Jan. 24 retirement.
- Amended the County Veteran Service Fund grant to reflect an “over” amount of $52,745. The initial $50,000 grant could not be deposited, but this will allow Leelanau County to receive the initial advancement and give greater exposure to the services of the office.
- Approved a Leelanau Conservation District work order for water quality monitoring in an amount not to exceed $5,000. Commissioner Will Bunek voted “no” on this, objecting because the field work would be completed by the Leelanau Conservancy with conservation district supervision, but the motion was still approved with a 6-1 vote.
- Approved an agreement with MCSA Group Inc. for the development and submittal of a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant application for a proposed Veronica Valley Park lower pond trail, in an amount not to exceed $6,500. If approved, the grant will provide a 50% match for a $100,000 project. This was also approved by a 6-1 vote with Bunek opposed.
- Approved a $5,902 change order for work at the Leland Dam pedestrian bridge. Interim Administrator Richard Lewis said this may be used to build a gate at an exit on the southwest side of the dam to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. However, Lewis said that Falling Waters Lodge owns this property and may construct an ADAcompliant ramp, in which case, this change order will be deleted. Again, this was approved by a 6-1 vote with Bunek opposed.
- Approved the purchase of a new truck for the facilities and maintenance department in the amount of $54,172, plus the purchase and installation of the plow undercarriage assembly from GTR Equipment in an amount not to exceed $2,500.
- Confirmed that the newly elected county drain commissioner, Tim O’Non, can set up his office in the soil conservation district area of the government center at no additional cost to the county. Initially, Lewis recommended an approximate $20,000 office buildout for O’Non in the planning and community development/information technology area.
