The county Road Commission had all of its workers out on Sunday by 6 a.m. to start clearing roads after the first major snowstorm of the season hit.

Manager Herb Cradduck said with conditions fierce on Saturday evening and overnight, he had all hands on deck by 6 a.m. Sunday to begin clearing county roads. “We had every driver out on the road by 6 a.m. and we kept everyone on until about 4 p.m.,” he said.

Commission workers were helped by a change in the weather from cold, snowy and windy Saturday night to warm and rainy on Sunday.

At the Road Commission meeting Tuesday afternoon, chairman Lee A. Bowen said just about every road in the county was clear and ready for use by Sunday afternoon or evening. “There may have been a couple of subdivision side roads that weren’t completely clear, but for the most part our roads were ready to go by Monday morning,” he said.

Commission board members said they were pleased with the crews’ efforts. Vice-chairman John Popa noted that all of the county’s public schools were open Monday, while many schools in neighboring counties were closed.

“There is a real cost for most people when schools are closed because of the weather. If some people can’t get to work they lose a day’s pay, or if school is canceled, they have to stay home with the kids. There is a real impact,” he said.

Bowen said the public should know that while some neighboring county road commissions have reduced workforces due to a drop in state and federal funds, the Leelanau commission has a full complement of workers. “We did have some of the men off during the summer, but we have them back as seasonal workers for the winter,” he said.

Cradduck said he may be hiring another part-time seasonal employee so that both the Maple City and Suttons Bay garages have at least one back-up worker in case someone calls in sick.

In other business during its two-hour meeting, the commission:

• Held a public hearing on its proposed 2008 budget. Only one member of the public spoke about the proposed budget, former commission member Robert Roubal of Suttons Bay Township. Roubal questioned the commission’s preference for using tandem-axle trucks as the base for it snowplow fleet. Roubal, a retired Road Commission worker, said the commission should have more single-axle trucks for plowing in subdivisions and on smaller side roads.

Bowen said while he respects Roubal’s 30 years as a commission employee, times have changed. “We have more people living in the county than 30 years ago and we need to provide a certain level of service at a low cost,” he said. Using tandem-axle trucks helps keep plow drivers on the road longer. “They don’t have to keep coming back to the yard to fill up,” he said.

Roubal also said the commission should use less salt on county and state roads as that is an unnecessary expense. “When I was plowing, all you needed was a little sand at an intersection to provide some grit for traction,” he said.

Bowen said the Michigan Department of Transportation requires the Road Commission to use a high amount of salt on state roads. As to county roads, Bowen said crews don’t use the same mix of sand and salt.

No other public comment was received, and the Road Commission will adopt the proposed 2008 budget at its Dec. 18 meeting.

• Discussed the regional transportation and land use study known as “The Grand Vision” with Matt Skeels of Traverse City Transportation And Land Use Study (TC-TALUS) and Doug Christensen, a project manager with consultants Mead and Hunt. Skeels said the vision’s focus right now is on northern Grand Traverse County and Elmwood Township due to the nature of the federal transportation grant TC-TALUS received to fund the long-term study. He said U.S. Sen. Carl Levin is working with other members of Congress to see if the study area can be expanded to include adjacent counties.

Christensen said the next big component for public input will be a series of workshops in January and February that will help the consultants develop four alternative scenarios for a regular transportation plan. The public will get to “vote” on the four scenarios by going to www.thegrandvision.org once the alternatives are completed. A random sampling survey will also be done to help determine the preferred scenario. The voting will take place in April and May 2008, with the preferred scenario to be presented in June in a final public workshop.

The scenario planning workshop dates will also be posted on the website. Commission members said the problem isn’t coming up with a plan; it’s having the money to implement the plan.

Skeels said TC-TALUS will have about $2 million left after the study is done to pay for implementing the plan.