SB-0374, As Passed Senate, May 6, 2009
SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 374
A bill to provide for the recovery or replacement of durable
monuments defining the Michigan-Indiana state boundary line; to
create a commission; to provide for certain powers and duties of
certain state officers and agencies; and to repeal acts and parts
of acts.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"Michigan and Indiana state line monumentation act".
Sec. 3. As used in this act:
(a) "Commission" means the Indiana-Michigan boundary line
commission established in section 5.
(b) "Department" means the department of energy, labor, and
economic growth.
(c) "Monument" means a relatively permanent physical marker
that occupies the location of a milepost or intermediate alignment
control point of the Indiana-Michigan state line as originally
established by the federal survey of that line in 1827.
Sec. 5. (1) The Indiana-Michigan boundary line commission is
established within the department.
(2) The commission consists of 10 members, 5 from the state of
Indiana and 5 from this state, who shall be known as state line
commissioners. The 5 members from the state of Indiana shall be
appointed under the laws of the state of Indiana. The 5 members
from this state shall be appointed by the governor. Each member
appointed by the governor shall be a professional surveyor licensed
under article 20 of the occupational code, 1980 PA 299, MCL
339.2001 to 339.2014. The governor shall appoint 1 resident from
each of the following counties:
(a) Berrien.
(b) Cass.
(c) St. Joseph.
(d) Branch.
(e) Hillsdale.
(3) At the first meeting of the commission, the commission
shall elect from among its members a chairperson and other officers
as it considers necessary or appropriate. After the first meeting,
the commission shall meet at least quarterly, or more frequently at
the call of the chairperson or if requested by 6 or more members.
(4) A majority of the members of the commission appointed from
this state and a majority of the members of the commission
appointed from the state of Indiana, together, constitute a quorum
for the transaction of business at a meeting of the commission. A
quorum of the members present and serving are required for official
action of the commission.
(5) The business that the commission may perform shall be
conducted at a public meeting of the commission held in compliance
with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275.
(6) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or
retained by the commission in the performance of an official
function is subject to the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442,
MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
(7) The members of the commission appointed from this state
shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for
necessary travel and other expenses pursuant to the standard travel
regulations of the department of management and budget.
(8) The commission shall do all of the following:
(a) Administer a survey and remonumentation of the Indiana-
Michigan border.
(b) Recover or reestablish relatively permanent monuments at
the mileposts of the Indiana-Michigan state line as established in
the 1827 federal survey that defined that line. The commission also
shall recover or reestablish relatively permanent monuments at the
posts originally set at or near the shores of lakes and large
rivers of the Indiana-Michigan state line as established in the
1827 federal survey that defined that line, or witness corners for
set posts. The commission shall make periodic reviews of the
contractors' progress in performing the work described in this
subdivision and shall make a final review upon the installation of
each monument.
(c) Compile appropriate records and documents verifying the
location of the monuments, and furnish those records and documents
to the department.
(d) Resolve any controversies regarding the location of
monuments defining the Michigan-Indiana boundary.
Sec. 7. For each milepost or the posts originally set at or
near the shores of lakes or large rivers determined under this act,
a Michigan land recordation certificate that provides appropriate
references, and Michigan south zone state plane coordinates, shall
be filed with the appropriate county register of deeds and a copy
of those documents shall be submitted to the department.
Sec. 9. (1) The commission, in consultation with the
department, shall procure professional surveying services through
negotiated contracts for purposes of this act. The commission, in
consultation with the department, shall use a qualification-based
selection method for awarding contracts and shall award contracts
only to business entities incorporated or located in this state.
(2) As used in subsection (1), "qualification-based selection"
means a method of selecting professionals or firms to perform
contractual work as follows:
(a) The selection of professionals or firms who provide the
service shall be based first upon the qualifications of the
professionals or firms to perform the required work.
(b) After the qualified design professionals or firms have
been chosen by the commission, the department shall negotiate as to
the cost of services.
(c) If price negotiations cannot be satisfactorily completed
with the highest ranked professional or firm, these negotiations
cease and negotiations begin with the professional or firm that is
next most qualified to perform the required work, and so forth
until a professional or firm is selected to perform the services.
Sec. 11. Within 60 days after the completion of the duties of
the commission under this act, the commission shall submit a
written report to the secretary of the senate and the clerk of the
house of representatives. The report shall summarize the work
performed under this act and the activities of the commission.
Sec. 13. This act does not take effect unless the director of
the department certifies in writing to the secretary of the senate
and the speaker of the house of representatives that legislation
similar to this act has been enacted into law by the state of
Indiana and that the Indiana legislation does both of the
following:
(a) Enables the interstate cooperation necessary to effectuate
this act.
(b) Provides that the state of Indiana will share the
responsibilities and costs of determining the Michigan-Indiana
border in an equitable manner.
Sec. 15. This act is repealed effective January 1, 2015.