VÉâÇàç TwÅ|Ç|áàÜtàÉÜËá W|zxáà County o f Ot tawa Admin i s t ra to r ’ s O f f i c e 12220 F i l lmore S t ree t Wes t O l i ve , MI 49460 (616 ) 738 -4068 avanderberg @miot ta wa .org www.miot tawa .o rg

Alan G. Vanderberg, County Administrator December 16, 2011

FUNDS RAISED FOR CHARITY AT CHRISTMAS POTLUCK (John Scholtz)

The annual Christmas Potluck at the Ottawa County Fillmore Complex held today (December 16) included events to raise money for local charities. Each depart-ment was given a large jug to fill for a penny drive with prizes donated by local vendors for the department that collected the most pennies. But contest rules al-lowed competing departments to add silver coins and bills which subtract from the penny totals and a separate prize was also awarded for the department that raised the most money. It was a heated competition with departments employing various strategies for success. County Administrator Al Vanderberg and Board Chair Phil Kuyers raised the stakes half-way through the penny drive. Al pledged to cut off his moustache of over 25 years if a total of $1,000 could be raised and Phil offered to shave his head if the total exceeded $2,000.

The Parks and Recreation Department, host of this year’s potluck, was ready with a licensed cosmetologist and a barber chair. Ultimately, the desire of employees to cause their leaders to radically alter their appearance was more than enough incentive to drive up the fundraising with $2,709 raised for local charities. See pictures below of Al and Phil parting with their hair at the event. The money will be split between the Community Action House, Feeding America, Love Inc., Holland Rescue Mission, Harbor Humane Society and the Center for Women in Transition.

County Administrator’s Digest Page 2

Fun facts from the Christmas potluck:

Penny drive results:

• The Register of Deeds office had the highest penny total after subtracting silver and bills at 24,323. They actually collected 26,894 pennies. The Administrator’s Office combined with Corporation Counsel was sec-ond with 17,259. They collected 37,790 pennies (but had a lot of silver and bills counting against their total).

• The Sheriff’s Department raised the most money - $459.35. Planning and Performance Improvement was a close second with $$455.50

• A total of 131,205 pennies were collected in the penny drive weighing 844 pounds.

• The Christmas ornament contest was won by the Sheriff’s Department. Departments were asked to con-struct a Christmas ornament out of all natural items and employees voted to select the winner.

• County employees brought in a wide range of food items and supplies as part of a charity food walk which will be delivered to the Community Action House, Feeding America, Love Inc., Holland Rescue Mission, Harbor Humane Society and the Center for Women in Transition.

OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY ARTICLES

Commissioner Holtrop passed along two articles on Offshore Wind Energy that are well done and they are in-cluded in the Digest (click here).

TIM SMITH ASSUMES LEADERSHIP ROLE

Congratulations to OCCDA Executive Director Tim Smith on being selected to lead the Michigan Communi-cations Directors Association.

Tim Smith informed the OCCDA Board of Directors at their last meeting that he will be the president of the Michigan Communications Directors Association (MCDA) in 2012 and I will have a seat on the State 911 Com-mittee (SNC) representing the directors association. At the SNC meeting in Lansing this morning, I was elected vice chairman of the SNC for 2012. I will be working closely with SNC chairman Sheriff Dale Gribler (Van Bu-ren County) and State 911 Administrator Harriet Miller-Brown throughout 2012 on issues affecting 911 in Michigan.

County Administrator’s Digest Page 3

GRANT FUNDS FOR METH LAB CLEANUP RESTORED TO WEMET

Interim Holland City Manager Greg Robinson passed this good news information item along on December 1st. The elimination of grant funding has caused some stress within the WEMET organization the restoration solves a problem for now. Allegan County has been the meth capital of Michigan for years and might take second chair to Kalamazoo this year though they were close last I knew.

Lawmakers restore $12.5M in meth cleanup funds By JIM SALTER, Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) - The war on methamphetamine has gotten some support from Congress - millions of dollars to clean up the toxic waste generated by clandestine labs.

President Barack Obama signed a wide-ranging appropriations bill Friday that included the restoration of $12.5 million for meth lab cleanup.

"It's an awesome thing," said Tommy Farmer, state meth task force coordinator for Tennessee, the state that led the nation in the number of meth labs in 2010. "It keeps us in the fight so we can combat these things."

The measure restores funding lost in February, when federal meth lab cleanup money through the Community Oriented Policing Services program ran out, and was not renewed. The program provided $19.2 million for meth lab cleanup in 2010.

That was devastating for some areas of the country hit hard by meth. An Associated Press investigation in Au-gust found that without federal cleanup money, many local police and sheriff's departments were far less likely to seek out meth labs they couldn't afford to clean up.

The AP investigation found that the number of labs seized dropped sharply in states that relied heavily on fed-eral funding for cleanup: Down 32 percent through mid-year in Tennessee, 33 percent in Arkansas, 35 percent in Michigan and 62 percent in Alabama.

Experts in those states said it wasn't because meth use was on the decline. Without federal money, the burden for cleanup fell to the city or county where the meth lab was found, and in an era of dwindling local revenues, agencies simply couldn't afford the cleanup.

Police weren't turning a blind eye to meth, but stopped sending agents undercover, conducting door-to-door investigations and setting up stakeouts aimed at catching meth-makers, experts said.

"The words I used were they were less proactive," Farmer said.

Lawmakers from both parties lauded the restoration of the cleanup money.

U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, a St. Louis Democrat, said meth abuse "destroys communities, tearing families apart and devastating our environment-with every pound of meth producing five to six pounds of toxic waste."

He said he advocates a response to meth abuse that "leverages federal, state, and local resources to tackle all

County Administrator’s Digest Page 4

aspects of the problem, from research, education, and prevention to law enforcement, treatment and remedia-tion."

A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., said restoration of the meth cleanup money was a "positive" from the appropriations bill, even as DesJarlais opposed the spending measure overall.

"The congressman understands how serious of an issue meth production is in the state of Tennessee and remains committed to ensuring that law enforcement is provided with the necessary resources to safely and efficiently dispose of meth labs," said Robert Jameson, a spokesman for DesJarlais.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, noted that his state had 239 meth lab seizures in 2010. "For many cities and towns, clamping down on meth labs has been like playing Whack-a-Mole - as soon as one disappears, another one pops up," he said. "I'm glad that federal funding for meth lab cleanup has been restored - our communities can't afford to leave dangerous meth labs unattended to."

Cleaning up meth labs is expensive, even the small "shake-and-bake" labs that are little more than a 2-liter soda bottle filled with the toxic ingredients. Because meth is made using a volatile mix of ingredients such as battery acid, drain cleaner and ammonia, only crews with specialized training are allowed to handle the mate-rials found in labs. The waste and debris cannot be dumped in a regular landfill, only in specially approved waste sites.

As a result, typical cost of remediating a single lab is $2,500 to $5,000.

Some states, like Missouri and Kentucky, have developed their own lab cleanup programs, making them far less dependent upon federal money. Those states have placed containers in various locations and train local police on cleanup.

But many other states rely on the COPS money, which requires a federally approved crew to come in for the cleanup, usually from out of state, with the travel time driving up the cost.

Many states that previously relied on COPS funding are developing their own container systems, including Michigan and Tennessee, which began its program this summer. Arkansas also is looking at a container pro-gram.

Farmer said that while the $12.5 million falls short of the $19.2 million for last year, the improved efficiencies of container programs should allow for local police to again get aggressive with meth enforcement.

"We're going to be able to stretch that $12.5 million a lot further," he said.

OTTAWA COUNTY’S SIXTH ANNUAL WATER FORUM SURVEY RESULTS (Misty Cunningham)

On November 1, 2011 Ottawa County hosted its Sixth Annual Water Quality Forum with just over 80 people in attendance. The day presented a full agenda with thirteen information filled presentations. Each year, we ask participants to complete a survey and those results are in (click here). Thanks to all of the presenters and atten-

County Administrator’s Digest Page 5

dees the Forum was a success. We look forward to Ottawa County’s Seventh Annual Water Quality Forum in the fall of 2012.

1 of 6

Ottawa County's Sixth Annual Water Quality Forum

November 4, 2011

1. How satisfied were you with the content of the entire event?

 Response

Percent

Response

Count

Very Satisfied 51.3% 20

Somewhat Satisfied 48.7% 19

Somewhat Dissatisfied   0.0% 0

Very Dissatisfied   0.0% 0

  answered question 39

  skipped question 0

2 of 6

2. Please rank each presentation 1-5, with 1 being low and 5 being high.

  5 4 3 2 1 N/ARating

Average

Response

Count

Microbial Source Tracking and

Rapid Method Needs for

Recreational Water Quality

Monitoring (Vijayavel Kannappan)

33.3%

(13)38.5%

(15)

17.9%

(7)

7.7%

(3)

0.0%

(0)

2.6%

(1)4.00 39

Gulls at Great Lakes Beaches (Dr.

Elizabeth Wheeler Alm)

35.9%

(14)46.2%

(18)

7.7%

(3)

5.1%

(2)

2.6%

(1)

2.6%

(1)4.11 39

Update on Michigan GLRI Beach

Projects (Dr. Shannon Briggs)

30.8%

(12)35.9%

(14)

20.5%

(8)

5.1%

(2)

2.6%

(1)

5.1%

(2)3.92 39

Environmental Canine Service:

Lake Macatawa Scent tracking

project overview (Adeline Hambley,

Scott Reynolds)

61.5%

(24)

25.6%

(10)

5.1%

(2)

0.0%

(0)

2.6%

(1)

5.1%

(2)4.51 39

Stab Irrigation Wells: Do’s and

Don’ts (Joe Crigier)

2.6%

(1)

12.8%

(5)

25.6%

(10)

2.6%

(1)

10.3%

(4)46.2%

(18)2.90 39

Update on the Macatawa

Watershed (Mary Fales)

17.9%

(7)

23.1%

(9)

12.8%

(5)

0.0%

(0)

0.0%

(0)46.2%

(18)4.10 39

Wastewater Management and

Permitting Standards for the Food

Processing Industry (Jay Poll)

2.6%

(1)

7.7%

(3)

28.2%

(11)

2.6%

(1)

2.6%

(1)56.4%

(22)3.12 39

Pharmaceutical Collections: A

Prescription for Safe Kids and

Clean Water (James Carmody,

Dave Oostindie, Matt Allen)

12.8%

(5)

25.6%

(10)

5.1%

(2)

0.0%

(0)

2.6%

(1)53.8%

(21)4.00 39

Water Quality Management

Techniques (James Smalligan)

7.7%

(3)

25.6%

(10)

10.3%

(4)

0.0%

(0)

0.0%

(0)56.4%

(22)3.94 39

Communication and Social Media to

Get Your Message Heard (Shannon

Felgner)

17.9%

(7)

20.5%

(8)

5.1%

(2)

2.6%

(1)

2.6%

(1)51.3%

(20)4.00 39

A Water Quality Study of Lake

Macatawa: Sources of

sedimentation and microorganisms

(Travis Williams, Dr. Graham

Peaslee, Dr. Michael Pikaart)

48.7%

(19)

23.1%

(9)

10.3%

(4)

0.0%

(0)

2.6%

(1)

15.4%

(6)4.36 39

3 of 6

Multispectral Laser Imaging for

Microbial Source Tracking (Dr. Bin

Chen, Dr. Charles C. Tseng)

12.8%

(5)33.3%

(13)

10.3%

(4)

12.8%

(5)

2.6%

(1)

28.2%

(11)3.57 39

Invasive Species in the Great

Lakes (Dr. Daniel O’Keefe)

20.5%

(8)41.0%

(16)

5.1%

(2)

0.0%

(0)

2.6%

(1)

30.8%

(12)4.11 39

  answered question 39

  skipped question 0

3. Which presentation (see question 2) did you find most interesting and why?

 Response

Count

  28

  answered question 28

  skipped question 11

4. How do you plan to use the information presented?

 Response

Count

  25

  answered question 25

  skipped question 14

4 of 6

5. Have you attended previous Water Quality Forums? If so please mark all that apply.

 Response

Percent

Response

Count

2006 47.8% 11

2007 60.9% 14

2008 56.5% 13

2009 78.3% 18

2010 73.9% 17

  answered question 23

  skipped question 16

6. Would you attend this event again?

 Response

Percent

Response

Count

Yes 100.0% 39

No   0.0% 0

If no, why?

 2

  answered question 39

  skipped question 0

5 of 6

7. Should we continue the audience polling on water quality next year?

 Response

Percent

Response

Count

Yes 89.7% 35

No 10.3% 4

If no, why?

 5

  answered question 39

  skipped question 0

8. Do you have any presentation suggestions for 2012?

 Response

Count

  20

  answered question 20

  skipped question 19

9. Are there any pressing water quality issues not discussed today that you would like to

learn more about?

 Response

Count

  12

  answered question 12

  skipped question 27

6 of 6

10. Please list any other comments.

 Response

Count

  13

  answered question 13

  skipped question 26