The morning kicked off with the Planning & Policy Committee meeting. The commissioners approved and voted to pass on to the Board of Commissioners the following:

• A 15-acre donation to Riley Trails
• A Grant Administration Agreement and easement for Idema Explorers Trail
• A dredging services contract for Ottawa Beach Marina

When it came to approving the revised version of the Risk Management Policy, Commissioner Sylvia Rhodea questioned whether the added wording would abdicate the Board’s authority to the Insurance Authority when it came “to defend, settle, and pay all claims.” It was agreed that County Administrator Patrick Waterman would rework the sentence to include something like “in accordance with the interlocal agreement and Memo of Understanding.”

• Susan Franklin, the Circuit and Probate Court Administrator, shared that Adoption Day is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. While the courts will be celebrating the day, unlike other years, there won’t be a ceremony. Families in the process of adopting have either asked for privacy or their adoptions are on a different time frame.

• Jennifer Brozowski, Director of Ottawa County Community Action Agency was encouraged that the federal government is working on reopening and was hopeful that some, if not all, of the staff of the office of community service would be reinstated in their roles.

• Annual reports were presented and can be found in the packet for the Facilities Department (pg. 53) and Human Resources (pg. 80).

Next up was the Finance & Administration Committee meeting. The commissioners approved and voted to pass on to the Board of Commissioners the following:

• The Statement of Review, Accounts Payable for October, and FY25 and FY26 Budget Adjustments
• A Development Staffing Grant for the Parks Foundation and two Emergency Solutions Grants
• Contracts for an Environmental Assessment Services, Substance Abuse Disorder Prevention, and Senior Resources
• A resolution approving the project plan and issuance of bonds for Hope College

There was discussion around a conservation easement. While the Board approved and passed on to the Board the current request in Chester Township, questions were raised about easements in general.

• Becky Huttenga, Contract Administrator for Department of Strategic Impact, explained that easements happen through a county-wide program under a county-wide ordinance. Every local township has the opportunity to opt in by resolution. In Ottawa County, all but Allendale, Holland, and Grand Haven Townships are opted in.

• Huttenga said that any farmer living in one of the participating townships can voluntarily apply to this program. If a farmer does apply, in order for the application to be eligible, the County needs approval from the Township. Then, if it makes sense with the program and the land is eligible, the Township gives approval for the parcel to be permanently preserved. If the Township doesn’t approve, the County does not move forward and does not execute the option to purchase.

• Commissioner Jacob Bonnema asked if a township denied approval, would a farmer be able to circumvent the township and go to the state. Huttenga said a farmer could not circumvent. The only other option would be for the farmer to donate the development rights entirely, either to the conservancy or the State of Michigan.

• Rhodea asked if the contracts are reviewed carefully, saying she’d recently heard of farmers having contracts come before them where there is a clause that allows the land to be used for something other than farming, such as solar or something else. The farmers are losing control over how they would like their land to be used.

• Huttenga responded that because the County is reliant on federal and state funding, the easement terms are quite restrictive, prescriptive, and defined. It would be highly unlikely for those clauses to appear. “We don’t want anything that isn’t a gotcha clause to appear to be a gotcha clause.”

• Rhodea wondered if there were changes to the agreements, would they likely be passed through legislation. Huttenga assured her that changes are extremely difficult and extremely rare once an agreement is closed. Changes would come from the federal government, and Huttenga would bring in Corporate Counsel if any changes were to give her pause.

The Ottawa Conservation District (OCD) Watershed Coordinator Ben Jordan and Watershed and Conservation Specialist Sarah Bowman gave a year-to-date update on their efforts in the Watershed Restoration Program.

• In May of 2024 the Board of Commissioners approved a five-year monitoring plan to include sampling Ottawa County’s 36 watersheds for E.coli concentrations, Nutrients, chlorides, sediment, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, stream levels, and other water chemistry metrics. The team also is gathering data on fish populations, aquatic bugs, habitats, culverts, agricultural tillage, and lake shoreline stability.

• Some of the areas being sampled include Pigeon River, Rush Creek, Bass River, Sand Creek, Deer Creek, Crockery Creek, Spring Lake Norris Creek, Lloyds and Potawatomi Bayous, and Lake Macatawa.

• The team gathers a five-week sampling by going out to a stream once a week for five or six weeks, collecting both wet weather samples and dry weather samples to test water quality. They installed monitoring data loggers in several streams to get dissolved oxygen (DO) fluctuations, water level fluctuations, as well as temperature to see if the cold-water trout streams are actually cold and the DO level is high enough to maintain fish populations.

• There were P51 biological surveys done in multiple watersheds which shocks the water and allows OCD to look for the presence of different species and determining population numbers.

• During the fall and winter, OCD will formulate the data collected so far into a digestible format to make available for the public. In the spring, the team will be back in the water for more testing.

Lastly, the commissioners discussed whether to approve a request for $300,000 over the next three years for the Good Samaritan Ministries’ program, Eviction Prevention Program (EVP). Erin Kamphuis, Interim Director at Good Samarian Ministries, shared that in 2022 the Board previously had awarded EVP $2,000,000 in ARPA funding.

The original $2M program was supposed to create a self-sustaining program, where EVP recipients would receive taxpayer money to avoid being evicted, and then they would pay back the money to Good Samaritan. Unfortunately, and somewhat predictably, the program failed miserably and received little payback. The EVP program failed.

Kamphuis asked for more funding to go toward paying landlords in Ottawa County to prevent them from evicting tenants, and explained the average cost from the first program was $1400 and kept people in their apartments for 3 months.

• Commissioner Joe Moss asked for further explanation of the numbers, and Kamphuis explained that the $1,400 comes from the total amount EVP has spent over the last three years divided by the number of people helped. The reported 99% success rate is based on someone staying housed for three months. No other data was provided, such as how many people stay in their apartments for 6, 12, or 18 months.

• Commissioner John Teeples asked why the follow up is only three months and whether EVP is really helping people or just delaying the inevitable.

• Kamphuis said her organization sees this as a temporary, one-time measure to push people through a difficulty, such as a job change or a setback due to an unexpected bill, such as for auto repair. She added that EVP provides screening on the front end to make sure the one-time boost is appropriate for maintaining longevity.

• Teeples countered that most landlords don’t find it cost effective to evict someone if they know they will get paid in three months.

• Commissioner Jordan Jorritsma threw out that there are stopgap loans for this purpose.

• Commissioner Allison Miedema agreed with Teeples. She said sometimes it’s better for funding to come from private donors, foundations, nonprofits, or the faith communities, rather than the government. Miedema added that the more we use tax dollars and expect the assistance to come out of everyone’s pocket, the more we don’t allow the free-market system to work. In some ways, problems are escalated by continuing to be funded through the government.

• Commissioner Jim Barry pointed out that the county is in unusual times with the housing market, and that he’d be prepared to support this.

• Rhodea asked for more data. She wondered, where are the tenants after three months? After eight months? Rhodea said that with such a large investment made to EVP, she’d like to know if the funding was merely a band-aid or did it really help these families and provide stability. Additionally, Rhodea thought it looked like each tenant would be given $3000, not $1400.

• Kamphuis explained the original EVP only paid rent in arrears. The new program will pay $3000 to each person, including rent due, and future rent.

• Teeples asked what would happen if a tenant didn’t have the money to cover the next rent? Would the tenant still receive $3000? Kamphuis wasn’t sure. Moss said that according to the documents, EVP still would pay the $3000.

• Rhodea asked if families with children are prioritized because then she would be more inclined to support the funding. Kamphuis said the process is a first come, first serve model. However, the more people in the household makes it easier to qualify.

• Moss wanted “to see more of an evidence-based approach to this entire ask.” He added that he didn’t support paying rent in arrears and then paying someone’s rent into the future.

• Commissioner Doug Zylstra said, “Band-aids are useful if you have an emergency situation. It does help you cure, right?”

• Rhodea closed the discussion saying that she didn’t think there were enough data points to make a good decision. She didn’t want to say yes just because it feels good to her heart, but because it’s also a wise financial investment based on data. She gave a few data points she would like to know: What was the family makeup in these situations? Were there children under the age of 18? Under the age of 10? What led to the situation? How long was the situation stabilized?

Ottawa County Board of Commissioners
Planning & Policy and Finance & Administration Committees
November 11, 2025

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