June 27, 2022
In this issue:
- Family Justice Center website
- Art Trust Awards
- The Ottawa Way newsletter
- And More
Greetings! Many residents have been asking where Ottawa County stands with the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) spending.
In March 2021, Congress passed a COVID-19 relief package called the ARPA. This Act includes billions in federal funding for state and local governments. This federal aid is intended to address economic impacts of the pandemic and ensure a strong recovery. Ottawa County will receive about $57 million.
Determined to utilize these one-time federal resources wisely, Ottawa County formed the ARPA Committee. Appointed by the Board of Commissioners, the Committee is comprised of 19 community members representing a cross-section of local public and private organizations. The Committee’s purpose is to guide how the $57 million in ARPA funds will be distributed.
ARPA Committee members have identified needs within their area of expertise and are assisting County officials with drafting funding options and priorities. To ensure projects funded by ARPA funds benefit all who live and work in Ottawa County, the Committee identified five categories, or buckets, of high-level priorities. They are County Initiatives, Broadband, Affordable Housing, Human-Service Needs and Business Stabilization. The County will begin accepting project applications for the first round of ARPA funding during the summer of 2022 based on the five priority areas of need that have been identified by the Committee. To further inform the funding process for subsequent rounds of ARPA funding, Ottawa County will also be asking for resident and business owner feedback through a survey that will be released later this summer.
As is its practice, the County is collaboratively working with local partners to create a process to ensure that we spend the ARPA funds in a way that most benefits the Ottawa County community.
John Shay
Ottawa County Administrator
Ottawa County broke ground on the new Family Justice Center with a ceremony on June 9. To keep residents updated, the County has launched a new Family Justice Center Progress Webpage. There, you can also read more about the project, the building and the need. The site will be updated regularly with new photos. The anticipated completion date of the new Family Justice Center is Spring 2024.
Architectural rendering of the Family Justice Center
The Ottawa Way newsletter began hitting mailboxes of County Residents on June 14. The publication was delivered to 112,694 households. If you missed your copy, view and electronic version here.
Ottawa County once again has local artwork on display at its Fillmore Complex. The exhibition can be seen during business hours at the Ottawa County Administration Building through August 23. The Art Trust, a collaboration with the Holland Area Arts Council, solicits entries from local artists. They are judged and the winners become a part of Ottawa County’s permanent collection. The art not selected for purchase by the County remains for sale.
The winners (in no particular order) are:
• Harminder Boprai of Grandville
• Diann Lemmen of Allendale
• Patricia Flynn of Holland
• Michelle Fuller of Zeeland
• Emily Kimball-Wells of Grand Rapids
• Catherine McClung of Spring Lake
• Sandy Meyer of Coopersville
• Nancy Schneider of Spring Lake
• Jeanne Spriensma of Allendale
For more details visit miOttawa.org/ArtTrust.
Michelle Fuller's "Rise Up Holland"
Your elections are a transparent, bi-partisan multi-step process run by trained professionals. Over the next several weeks, the Ottawa County Elections Team invites you to #StepIntoElections by learning more about the process that we use to choose our government!
Through the month of August you can follow our office through each step of the election cycle as we share information through email updates and on Facebook and Twitter.
October 27, 2022 | Live & Virtual | Pinnacle Center | Hudsonville
Registration Information Coming in September
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