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The
Digest is back after a hiatus of a few months.
Many things have changed since the last Digest in November. We saw several outstanding officials and
employees retire at the end of 2016 along with the death of Commissioner Denny
Van Dam.
The
new cast is doing very well including our two new County Commissioners, Frank
Garcia representing Park Township and Kelly Kuiper representing the southern
half of Georgetown Township. It has been
a privilege to get to know each of them and their unique backgrounds that will
serve our County well.
My goal is to make this as regular as possible
this year, hopefully each week.
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I am excited to announce our Fourth Annual Forum. This year’s our theme Work Redefined: Space, Culture and Technology, focuses on the changing work
environment. Haworth is sponsoring our
keynote speaker: Mr. Rex Miller. Rex is an author, speaker and co-authored the
book Change Your Space Change Your Culture. Rex will be kicking off this year’s forum
with The Culture Advantage | Creating a Workplace that Leads to
Transformation and Growth. The world surprises
us weekly with new and novel challenges. Healthy and resilient cultures adapt
through innovation. The most innovative organizations approach culture by
design. Our afternoon lead speaker is
Mr. David Behen, Director of the Department of Technology, Management and
Budget and CIO for the State of Michigan.
David offers an insight into the technology priorities for the State and
their efforts to keep Michigan on the leading edge. Ms. Erin Frisch, Director for DHHS and Office
of Child Support along with Mr. Keegan Malone, Policy Analyst for the Office of
Child Support will co-present on the Alternative
Work Location Program. We’ll also
have vendors present who can provide current information on products and
services to meet your immediate needs. Finally, we’ll wrap up the day with Phil
Bertolini, CIO and Deputy County Executive for Oakland County, who is back by
popular demand, to bring technology in the public sector to a level you can
appreciate addressing the day-to-day challenges we all face. The registration site is open. I’ve provided the link for more information
and to register. I hope to see you
there.
Register here!
We were surprised recently to learn that Gail
Harrison, Executive Director of LEDA, will retire later this year. Gail has been the sparkplug that attracted
large regional support for an agency that has become best in form not only here
in West Michigan but as far away as California where Gail has been helping to
set up a similar organization.
We look forward to participating in Gail’s final
Summit on Race & Inclusion on May 23rd and wish her the very
best in retirement.
Founder of
Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance To Retire
Monday,
March 06, 2017 8:35 a.m. EST by Mary Ellen Murphy
Gail Harrison of Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance (photo
courtesy of Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance)
Lakeshore
Ethnic Diversity Alliance logo (courtesy of Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity
Alliance)
HOLLAND,
MI (WHTC) - The founder and Executive Director of the Lakeshore Ethnic
Diversity Alliance is retiring after being at the helm for over 20 years.
Gail
Harrison founded the organization in 1996 in response to a hate crime committed
in the Grand Haven area and since then the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance
Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance has been instrumental in advancing
racial equity through signature, research-based programs such as Calling All
Colors, the Summit on Race and Inclusion, Migrant Mentoring, Talking to Kids
about Race, and Racial Equity Institutes.
Harrison
is working close with the Board Of Directors to ensure that the transition will
be smooth for the organization and community. She will retire at the end of
July.
The
impact of their programs has been significant across the region including the
participation of nearly 8,500 middle and high school students in the Calling
All Colors program, over 30 community Spanish courses, and countless volunteers
engaged in the migrant mentoring program. The nonprofit has also been the
recipient of several W. K. Kellogg Foundation grants and has been recognized as
a nationwide model.
We are all proud of Keith’s accomplishment of being
named President of the Michigan Municipal Executives, the professional
association of professional public managers, city, county and township. Keith is the second assistant/deputy manager
and third county government official to serve in as president in the history of
the organization. The MME serves to
build professional expertise, advocate for the public management profession and
many other valuable functions for those who manager and administer our local
governments.
The MME was originally founded as the Michigan City
Management Association (MCMA) sometime between 1927 and 1930. At that time, professional managers were
almost completely exclusive to city government and most had civil engineering
backgrounds as most city services related to water and sewer services, streets,
sidewalks, parks, etc. With the growth
of urban issues in cities and a huge amount of federal and some state
legislation relating to how government work is done, much more complexity
entered the local government management world and professional management began
to spread to county and township governments as well. In recognition of this, the MCMA formally
changed its name to the Michigan Local Government Management Association (MLGMA)
in 1999 and was known by that name until last year. The president at that time was Doug Thomas,
Alma City Manager, who had spent many years as Assistant City Manager of Grand
Haven. The Association conducted a
thorough rebranding effort and landed on Michigan Municipal Executives (MME) as
an exciting new brand to lead the profession into the future.
Ottawa has had three presidents of this organization (who
were president while serving within Ottawa County) that I am aware of and each
was president when the organization had a different name. Eric DeLong, then Spring Lake Village Manager
(now Deputy City Manager of Grand Rapids) was President of the MCMA in
1993. I was President of the MLGMA in 2010
and now Keith is President of MME at this current time in 2017.
A quick survey around the County shows that MME
members come from all quadrants:
Gordon Gallagher, Spring Lake Township Manager
Craig Bessinger, Ferrysburg City Manager
Chris Burns, Spring Lake Village Manager
Pat McGinnis, Grand Haven City Manager
Vester Davis, Jr. Grand Haven Assistant City Manager
Bill Cargo, Grand Haven Charter Township Manager
Steve Patrick, Coopersville City Manager
Jonathan Seyferth, Coopersville Assistant City Manager
Patrick Waterman, Hudsonville City Manager
Dan Carlton, Georgetown Charter Township Manager
Rod Weersing, Georgetown Charter Township Assistant
Manager
Tim Klunder, Zeeland City Manager
Ryan Cotton, Holland
City Manager
Ottawa County Parks recently
spearheaded a task force to fight the hemlock woolly adelgid, a pest that has
killed many of the hemlock trees on the East Coast and recently showed up in
Park Township and is beginning to spread throughout West Michigan. Left
unchecked, it will result in the loss of hemlocks throughout the state with
tremendous economic and water quality impacts. County Parks worked with
the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission (WMSRDC) to apply
for a $600,000 GLRI grant to fight the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) here in
West Michigan. This grant is critical to any chance we have of stopping
the spread of HWA in Michigan and currently appears to be on the federal
chopping block. More on this devastating
pest below:
Fighting the Spread of
Hemlock Wooly Adelgid: In 2016, hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) was determined to be established
in the Upper Midwest for the first time. This invasive forest pest has
devastated forests along the East Coast of the United States. Within
Michigan, there are an estimated 170 million hemlock trees that are at risk of
dying from this pest. However, the loss of hemlock within our forests is
just the beginning. Long-term studies from along the east coasts have
documented extensive negative effects caused by the loss of hemlock within
natural communities. These changes affect the ecology and economy of the
infested areas. For example, when hemlock trees are lost along
riparian areas, there is an increase in water temperature; decrease in
dissolved oxygen and an increase in the water’s pH. If this happens
within Michigan’s rivers and streams, it will significantly reduce the trout
fisheries, an important source of tourism revenue.
 Tom Camburn
On Monday the office is
cold. Call maintenance. On Tuesday the office is hot. Call maintenance. On
Wednesday, John says the office is hot and Jane says the office is cold. Call
maintenance. Surely it takes a special personality to successfully carry
out the role of Maintenance Technician at West Olive's Fillmore Complex,
serving hundreds of demanding customers. Meet Tom Camburn.
Similarly, a unique
demeanor is required to fill the role of Environmental Health Food Service
Specialist. Inspections are required to ensure that food service establishments
are adhering to safety standards designed to protect public health. As you
can imagine, not every food service employee is delighted to see an inspector
walk through the front door. Some inspectors, however, have just the finesse it
takes to balance educating and inspecting. Those who have this skill put their
customers running busy, past paced kitchens at ease. Meet Jessica Voglewede.
Voglewede and Camburn,
along with other Ottawa County employees are trained to present a friendly,
professional demeanor treating customers with integrity and respect. This
behavior is what earned both Camburn and Voglewede each Outstanding
Customer Service Awards from leaders in Ottawa County.
You can read the
nominations which earned each recipient an award plus learn more about them at miOttawa.org
"Tom daily
demonstrates the power of a cheerful smile, a positive outlook, dedication to
his craft and a sincere joy of working with the many customers he serves. Tom
Camburn truly exemplifies the Ottawa County Way,” said John Borgerding, Buildings
and Grounds Supervisor.
"Jessica always
maintains a patient and empathetic attitude and a high level of
professionalism. Jessica has been nominated approximately 20 times for this
award which further demonstrates how outstanding her customer service is,"
said Spencer Ballard, Environmental Health Team Supervisor.
Implemented in 2012, the
Customer Service initiative is one of the County’s Four C’s, along with
Communication, Cultural Intelligence and Creativity. Customers can
nominate an Ottawa County employee for an Outstanding Customer Service award at
miOttawa.org.
 Jessica Voglewede
Attendees: Al, Keith, Paul, Greg, Don,
Brett, Tom Bird and Jim
Road Commission member on
Planning Commission - discussion and plan to change Planning
Commission bylaws to make the Road Commission a full voting member instead of
an ad-hoc member and to add an additional member to get the Commission to nine
members.
Snow Fences - Don
passed on article from NACO that highlighted a program to keep corn rows up to
serve as snow fence along roads.
Road Commission/County
Combination - at a recent county planning commission there was discussion
about the status of combination options and the current sunset option that
expires in 2018. County will send the report to commissioners as we have
new members that would benefit from that information, and also provide an
update on the recommendations from that report. The group does not see
situations changing from the original report that did not recommend a
combination.
Bike Path on North Cedar Drive - Greg
asked for an update on Road Commission status on amount of road ROW and where
path might go. OCRC Board approved several path location deviation
requests from the Parks Department at the OCRC Board meeting on March 2.
Seasonal Load Restrictions - Paul
asked about seasonal load restrictions and statewide process for agricultural
approval for weight restrictions. OCRC is using the recommended standard
from and process that is used statewide. Brett and Paul will share that
information so a common understanding and education can be reached.
32nd Avenue - there
had been discussion about the County trying to arrange a meeting on 32nd Avenue
with MDOT, OCRC, City of Hudsonville, GVSU, and
townships about possible needs and issues relating to 32nd Avenue and 48th
Avenue interchange at I-196. More recently the request to have
this meeting was cancelled.
Utilities - Brett
discussed working with the townships to better coordinate road
construction projects with the utilities that have to be relocated to accommodate
road improvements. The primary focus is to provide incentives for the
utilities to efficiently coordinate the relocation of their
infrastructure. Townships are involved because of the franchise agreements
that the townships have with the utilities.
Leonard Street - improvements
planned in 2017 along Leonard Street from 148th Avenue to 130th
Avenue have been delayed for a year as Planning Department and OCRC is
applying for a TAP grant to add a four foot paved shoulder.
OCRC will commit 100% engineering/administration and 20% towards this TAP Grant
project, but the remaining 80% and/or other items of work
required above the normal paved shoulder will have to be found through
grants and other funding.
Reports -
Brett distributed and reviewed standard reports; Michigan Transportation
Fund which is beginning to show additional revenue from State funding
increases, winter and salt budgets show that pending weather they expect to
come in under budget, reviewed 2017 programming for primary roads, countywide
millage, local roads, local township, bridge, drainage and gravel roads.
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As regular readers of Al’s
Digest, most of you are probably aware that a business incubator operates out
of the Ottawa County Administrative Complex.
For those of you who frequent the halls of the complex out here on
Fillmore Street, maybe you have noticed the new temporary signs directing you
to incubator! This organization, formerly known as the Great Lakes Ag-Tech
Business Incubator, has just been rebranded as ACRE AgTech! What is ACRE?
AgTech Resources and Connections for Entrepreneurs. The board and staff
of ACRE AgTech are very excited about this new identity which better represents
our organization, its mission, and its services.
ACRE AgTech, which was originally
started in 2014 by the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners then spun-off as
its own non-profit corporation, will continue providing the same customized
start-up services to help clients overcome hurdles, connect with opportunities,
and access needed expertise in order to develop new ag-tech innovations into
viable business opportunities.
If you want to learn more about ACRE AgTech,
visit us at www.acreagtech.com or @ACREAgTech.
Or, better yet, stop in to Room 260 and say hello in person!
The
Ottawa County Agricultural Preservation Board is pleased to announce the results from its recently released Farms - Food - Forever
fundraising campaign. To-date, $26,125 has
been donated in support of farmland preservation in Ottawa County.
The
Board’s short-term goal is to raise a total of $36,000 in order to help
permanently preserve its second local farm. The more money that is
raised, however, will allow more local farming operations to be preserved.
The
PDR Program is funded through individual and corporate donations, as well as
contributions from foundations and federal
grant awards. Without these sources, the Program would not be able to continue
to preserve and protect local farmland.
If you would like
to make a tax-deductible donation to the Ottawa County Farmland Preservation
Fund, contributions can be made online at www.cfhz.org. The Fund is
managed by The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area.
What’s happening at Ottawa
Conservation District
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Bass
River Deer Creek Restoration Project (BRDC) held a free cover crops
workshop at Grand Ravines County Park lodge on December 13, 2016. Keynote
speakers were Youssef Darwich, Farm Manager for GVSU’s Sustainable Agriculture
Project, and Dean Baas, Sustainable Agriculture Educator for MSU Extension. Through
this grant, funds are available to provide cost share for planting cover crops
in the Bass River and Deer Creek watersheds.
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Michigan
Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) is working with several
farms to conduct MAEAP verifications and reverifications. This process can be conducted any time of
year, and winter is often more convenient for farmers. This free, confidential
program allows farmers to work with a MAEAP specialist to identify and manage
risks on the farm.
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West Michigan
Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (WMCISMA) wrapped up field
work for the year. During the 2016 season, this project provided invasive
species vegetation management services on 200 properties in Ottawa County. Winter
months are being used for records and reporting, securing grants for the future
work of this project, equipment maintenance, and preparing for the coming field
season.
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Critical
Dune Information and Education (CDIE) provided critical dunes information
and education for over 750 people in 2016. Now, events and workshops are being planned and scheduled for 2017.
Ottawa Conservation District provides interactive presentations for all ages that
explain the importance of plants and trees for stabilizing and preventing
erosion in the dunes.
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Hunting
Access Program (HAP) is continuing outreach to landowners in Ottawa County,
offering DNR-funded lease payments of up to $25 per acre to allow public
hunting on private land. When enrolling, landowners decide which types of
hunting they will permit on their land, and the option to limit access certain
days of the week or year. Landowners can increase income generated from their
properties while increasing public hunting opportunities in the county.
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Forestry
Assistance Program (FAP)’s Conservation District Forester makes site visits
year-round, and this winter is no exception. The forester, who serves Allegan,
Barry and Ottawa Conservation Districts, meets with landowners to offer
suggestions, resources and technical information about forests of any size. The
forester is also available to work with the landowner to develop a forest
management plan for the property. There is no charge for this service.
For more
information on any of these programs or services, contact Ottawa
Conservation District at (616) 842-5852 Ext. 5, or visit www.ottawacd.org.
Click here for the most recent update, for older updates click here.
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