PASER Training

Dave Hodges (Public Works Director) & I will be attending a PASER training session in West Branch on Monday, March 30th. Dave & I previously attended a Road Soft Software training session. The PASER training will enable us to rate the Village roads & incorporate these ratings into the Road Soft software to develop an efficient maintenance/construction plan for years to come.

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What is the PASER system all about?
The Pavement Surface and Evaluation Rating (PASER) system was developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Transportation Information Center to be used as the State of Wisconsin’s standard road rating system. PASER is a “windshield” road rating system that uses a 1 to 10 rating scale, with a value of 10 representing a new road and a value of 1 representing a failed road. Condition ratings are assigned by monitoring the type and amount of visual defects along a road segment while driving the segment. The PASER system interprets these observations into a condition rating.

The State of Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council requested that the information gathered in the federal aid road surveys be reported using the following categories:

· Roads with PASER ratings of 8 - 10 require Routine Maintenance. Routine maintenance is the day-to-day maintenance activities that are scheduled, such as street sweeping, drainage clearing, shoulder gravel grading, and sealing cracks to prevent standing water and water penetration.

· Roads with PASER ratings of 5 - 7 require Capital Preventive Maintenance. Capital preventive maintenance is a planned set of cost effective treatments to an existing roadway system and its appurtenances that preserves, retards future deterioration and maintains or improves the functional condition of the system without significantly increasing structural capacity. The purpose of capital preventive maintenance fixes is to protect the pavement structures, slow the rate of pavement deterioration and/or correct pavement surface deficiencies. Surface treatments are targeted at pavement surface defects primarily caused by the environment and by pavement material deficiencies.

Roads with PASER ratings of 1- 4 require Structural Improvements. This category includes work identified as rehabilitation and reconstruction which address the structural integrity of a road.

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Tom Gromek
Village Manager

MML - Place Matters

The Michigan Municipal League is working with local officials in the State to put communities at the center of Michigan's economic turn around. Place matters with the new economy. Knowledge-based workers are choosing where to live first, then finding a job.

What Does Local Government Mean to You?

Taken from the mml.org.....interesting video interviewing people on the streets in different Michigan communities.

What Does Local Government Mean to You?

Can you answer these questions: "Who is your mayor?" "Who is your city manager?" "What form of government do you have?" Click here for a video to see how other people responded.

2008 Audit

Julie & Ruth from Rehmann Robson started conducting our 2008 Audit today. They will be set up in Village Hall all week.


Tom Gromek
Village Manager

MML Capital Conference

Village Trustee Dawn Dodge, Village Trustee Jerry Cousineau, and I will be attending the Michigan Municipal League (MML) Capital Conference in Lansing this Tuesday & Wednesday. Each of us is attending a pre-conference session in addition to the regular conference line-up. We are looking forward to learning new information & practices, being updated on the state government proceedings,
and networking with our peers from around the state. The goal of every conference attended by a Village Trustee or myself is to take some things away that will help us do our jobs better & benefit Roscommon.


Tom Gromek
Village Manager

Winterfest 2009

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The Higgins Lake - Roscommon Chamber proudly presents Winterfest 2009. Click on the above images for detailed information on all the events taking place. I will be playing broomball on Saturday, representing the Roscommon Rotary Club!

Tom Gromek

Village Manager

Thanks to Jessica Roush

Thanks to Jessica Roush for the portrait you see to the right of this post on my blog. The same photo you see will also appear in my monthly newspaper article. Jessica was great to work with, and I encourage anybody looking for any photography needs to stop into Roush Photography. The business is located next to Pioneer Pharmacy on 5th street in downtown Roscommon.


Tom Gromek
Village Manager

Thanks to North Central Area Credit Union

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I would like to thank North Central Area Credit Union for its generous donation of $1,584 to our Flowers in the Village Committee. It is a tremendous boost for the community!

"Employees of North Central Area Credit Union donate $1,584 to Roscommon's Flowers in the Village project. Pictured are Kelly Barton, Roscommon branch manager, and employees from NCACU with Village Manager Tom Gromek, Village Clerk Kathy Murphy (accepting check from Barton) and Barb Stauffer, who was instrumental in starting the flower fund many years ago. NCACU employees wear jeans and casual credit union shirts every Friday and pay $2. The money is collected for the year with a community or charity event in mind. At the end of the year, the credit union matches what the branch has raised, and the employees choose where to donate their money."

(Courtesy of the Houghton Lake Resorter - February 5, 2009)

Sad News

Kathy Butler, wife of Village council member Mike Butler, passed away late last week. The arrangements are....

Visitation at Walsh Funeral Home: Monday, Feb. 2nd, 1pm - 9pm

Funeral Mass at St. Michael's Church: Tuesday, Feb. 3rd, 11am (Visitation at 10am at Church)

Please pray for Mike & his family.


Tom Gromek
Village Manager

All Village Residents Urged to Let Water Run

Village Residents and Businesses: “Let the water run”

Roscommon Village residents and businesses are being asked to leave their faucets open to keep village water lines from freezing.
The depth of ground frost and a recent prolonged spell of sub-zero temperatures make it necessary to keep water running day and night until further notice.
All village water customers should let a pencil-sized stream of water run continuously in their homes and businesses. Water bills will be adjusted so customers will not be charged for additional water use.
For more information contact Village Hall at (989) 275-5743


Tom Gromek
Village Manager