Congratulations to Josh Brugger and Phil Kuyers on their election to the Chair and Vice-Chair positions at the County. Additionally, I want to thank my fellow commissioners who gave me consideration in helping to lead the county.
There continues to be much good work ahead of us as we seek to serve and work on behalf of the residents of Ottawa County.
Board Agenda: https://boards.miottawa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Orgmtg010226-3.pdf
Video of Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iH-BtB0Ezc
* Resolution passed 10-1 Adopting a One (1) Year Term for the Board Chairperson with an amendment – watch from minute 18:00 – 45:05
*Elect Chairperson – Minute 45:06-51:00
– Nominations were received for:
* Commissioner Brugger
* Commissioner Miedema
* Commissioner Zylstra
With 6 votes for Brugger, 4 for Miedema and 1 for Zylstra, our new Chair for 2026 is Josh Brugger.
* Elect ViceChairperson- Minute 55:49-58:43
– Nominations were received for:
* Commissioner Kuyers
* Commissioner Miedema
With 6 votes for Kuyers and 5 for Miedema, our new Vice Chair for 2026 is Phil Kuyers.
* Commissioner Zylstra made a motion and I seconded to add Board Rules and Committee assignments to today’s organizational meeting as has been the historical practice in Ottawa. This vote failed. Minute: 1:00:33-1:10:48
The Board had a good discussion on this item and I ended up voting against it for this year. I recognized that our Board wasn’t currently ready for those votes today but made known my hope going forward for future years was to have these items on the Organizational Meeting agenda.
* 2026 Meeting Times were explained and passed.
Minute: 1:11:40-1:25:00
While an amendment to add some extra meetings in didn’t pass, there was good discussion as a Board. I am hopeful that some Work Sessions will be added to the calendar at a later date to proactively work through important issues of the County
* Each of the Annual Org. Meeting Resolutions passed with a 11-0 vote. Minute 1:25:04-1:35:08
Establishing Depositories of Public Monies;
Resolution Regarding Investment of Surplus Funds;
Resolution Regarding Deposit of Drainage District Funds;
Resolution Regarding Deposit of Road Commission Funds;
Resolution Regarding Tax Credits for Certain Qualified Persons.
Commissioner Comments at end of meeting: Minute 1:39:32-1:47:11
I personally congratulated both Commissioner Brugger and Kuyers for becoming our new Chair and ViceChair. I additionally added that I would like to be strongly considered to either Chair the Planning and Policy Committee or Finance and Administration.
