During the Finance & Administration Committee meeting, the proposal for a Director of Legal Affairs position drew the most discussion. Interim Corporate Counsel Ron Bultje and Doug Van Essen will be retiring, which will leave the County in need of legal support.

County Administrator Patrick Waterman recommended that the position of Corporation Counsel be outsourced to an outside attorney in order to de-politicize the role and avoid any conflict of interest with the rest of the organization. He added that there is no statute requiring Corporate Counsel to be in house.

In addition, Waterman proposed going back to the model of having an in-house, day-to-day legal advisor to provide contract review and legal advice and opinions, as well as to meet with residents regarding legal concerns of the County. The in-house attorney, which they would call the Director of Legal Affairs, also would coordinate the legal work with outside attorneys. As a salaried position, Waterman would expect the model to save the County money.

• Commissioner Sylvia Rhodea clarified that the Administrator and the Corporate Counsel report to the Board. The Administrator is not over the legal counsel; it’s more of a peer relationship. Waterman agreed, saying he wasn’t proposing that structure be changed.

• Commissioner John Teeples cautioned that Corporation Counsel can’t be in conflict with department heads. He said that for example, when Kallman Law Group sued the department of public health—

• Rhodea interjected—as a point of clarification—that the Kallman Law Group did not sue the Health Department. The Health Officer sued the County.

• Teeples adjusted his point to say that Corporate Counsel was representing the Board against its own department. He thought it was important to have an independent person available to the Board. If the commissioners don’t like or trust the legal opinion of the in-house attorney on a given issue, they would have the right to hire their own legal counsel at any time on any issue.

• Waterman said that for him the bottom line is that Corporation Counsel, in its traditional position, can’t be in-house counsel; it just doesn’t work.

• Commissioner Doug Zylstra referenced MCL 49.71 which gives the Board authority over Corporation Counsel. He said he understands that to mean authority is given over the attorney providing in-house counsel as the new Director of Legal Affairs would be, rather than over the attorney providing litigation counsel. Zylstra needed more clarification before he could support the proposal.

• Zylstra, Rhodea, and Teeples each commented that the suggested wage for the position was too low if the County expected to attract an appropriate background.

The motion to approve forwarding the proposal to the Board of Commissioners passed.

Those voting yes: Commissioners Phil Kuyers, Jim Barry, Jordan Jorritsma, Sylvia Rhodea, John Teeples, and Jacob Bonnema.

Those voting no: Commissioner Doug Zylstra.

March 10, 2026 Ottawa County Board of Commissioners Finance & Administration Committee meeting.

The discussion on the proposal for a Director of Legal Affairs position continued at the Planning & Policy Committee meeting. The motion to forward the proposal to the Board of Commissioners passed unanimously.

Also discussed at the meeting was the handling of the ratification of contracts. Waterman explained that commissioners have expressed wanting more opportunity to discuss contracts before a vote, especially contracts that are controversial.

Waterman suggested two options as a solution. The first option would be to include the list of contracts to be ratified as an agenda item on either the Finance & Administration Committee agenda or the Planning & Policy Committee agenda.

The second option would be to amend the contract policy to add more clarifying language so as to give the staff clear direction. Waterman pointed out that the policy currently requires pre-approval for all contracts that involve politically sensitive subjects such as a gender, gender identity, race, sexual identity or orientation, religious affiliation, or similar issues. However, he finds the language vague and subjective in nature.

• Commissioner Phil Kuyers suggested only allowing commissioners to request a contract be removed from the ratification list three or four days ahead of the meeting.

• Waterman suggested having the ratification of contracts on one of the committee agendas (the commissioners leaned toward Finance & Administration) and then allowing up until the Thursday before the Board of Commissioners’ packet goes out to request a contract be removed from the list.

• Teeples added that it will be incumbent on the commissioners who aren’t on that committee to review the contracts and voice their requests prior to the packet going out.

• As brought up at the previous Board of Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Jordan Jorritsma suggested adding that anything involving minors would require pre-approval.

• The discussion will continue at the next meeting of the Board of Commissioners.

Managing Director Brent Laughlin and Operations Superintendent Ken Hildebrandt of the Road Commission provided a winter update along with department statistics.

• The Road Commission maintains 1720 miles of county roads and 220 miles of state highways.

• Funding for the Road Commission comes from gas tax and registration fees. No funding is received from property tax.

• Roads are plowed by priority: first state truck lines, then locals and primaries, and then subdivisions. The department receives complaints when subdivisions aren’t plowed. Hildebrand explained that usually there’s a reprieve between storm events that allows the drivers to get caught up. That didn’t happen this winter, and they had to focus on the truck lines and primary and local roads.

• People ask why the subdivisions aren’t salted. The department allocates 20,000 tons of salt for all of Ottawa County. If subdivisions were included in the allocation, that amount would need to double. Also, there would be a negative impact on the environment, the catch basins would fill, and residents would complain about the salt and sand in their yards.

• Drivers use tablets and a GPS program to guide them through unfamiliar areas and assist fellow drivers on their routes.

• One plow truck costs $350,000. Putting that truck on the road with depreciation, insurance, and repairs costs about $135 per hour. Fuel is about $30 per hour and labor $70 per hour. Adding material such as salt, drives the cost up to about $400 per hour, depending on the application rate and the material. Since the beginning of the season, the department has spent $1.4 million on salt.

• From the end of December into January, the bulk of their workforce worked 28 days in a row trying to provide a safe environment. The department has accrued 13,000 hours in overtime.

• Mailbox and landscape damage are going to happen. Usually, it’s from the snow and ice being thrown. For the amount of miles that are driven, the damage done is very, very small. If you have experienced damage, call or stop by one of the four locations. The department will replace the mailbox and post or, for landscape damage, put down topsoil and seed.

• There has been concern over gravel roads. This time of year, frost gets into the ground, and there isn’t much that can be done. If the department were to try to grade the road, it would turn into muck. When the frost is completely out, the Road Commission will grade the gravel roads and “shape them up.” For more information, visit the website.

March 10, 2026 Ottawa County Board of Commissioners Planning & Policy Committee meeting.

The Appointment & Alignment Committee also met on this day and voted unanimously on the following appointments:

Vice Chair to the Appointment & Alignment Committee:
Josh Brugger

Community Action Agency Advisory Board Consumer Sector seat:
Britney Brown

A roll call was taken for the following:
Veterans Services Committee War Veteran seat,
• Mark Northrup received three votes from Commissioners Jim Barry, Josh Brugger and Jordan Jorritsma.
• Larry Jackson received one vote from Commissioner Doug Zylstra.
• Terry Sheffield received one vote from Commissioner Joe Moss.
With 3 votes, Mark Northrup was the recommendation to the Board of Commissioners.

Land Bank Authority Township Representative seat:
No candidate received three votes and therefore there will be no recommendation to the Board of Commissioners from the Committee.

Community Mental Health Board:
There are five appointments up for renewal or a new seat. The application period is closed, and interviews are scheduled for Thursday, March 12. The selected nominees will take their seats on April 1.

March 10, 2026 Ottawa County Board of Commissioners Appointment & Alignment Committee meeting.

Ottawa County Board of Commissioners
Finance & Administration, Planning & Policy, and Appointment & Alignment Committees
March 10, 2026

Ottawa County Administration Building
12220 Fillmore Street
West Olive, MI 49460