Berrien County Drain Commissioner George McManus has been able to reduce the drain commission’s expenditures since taking office.

McManus gave his yearly report to the Berrien County Board of Commissioners on Thursday, saying engineering and legal costs are down, in particular.

“My expenditures for engineering went down 67%, and my expenditures for legal went down 73%,” McManus said. “A lot of the legal costs were related to the Tanner Creek issue.”

Tanner Creek is a creek in Bridgman that empties into Lake Michigan at Weko Beach. The Berrien County Drain Commissioner’s office was caught in a lawsuit with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy for several years after it performed unpermitted flood mitigation work in the creek in 2021. The suit was settled after McManus took office.

McManus told commissioners the picture has been looking good for the drain commissioner’s office, but he does expect costs will go up this year due to some new projects.

“So I’m using attorneys a little bit more this year than I did last year, and engineers as well, but they won’t go back up to where they were. They’ll be lower than before.”

McManus also said he’s reduced staffing costs by about $25,000 a year thanks to a retirement and recently held an equipment sale, which brought in about $233,000. The money will be kept for future equipment purchases.

McManus noted the drain commissioner’s office is back in the good graces of EGLE by getting its soil erosion program into compliance with a recent audit. Board Chair Mac Elliott said it’s good to see that relationship restored.