October 13, 2026 Ottawa County Board of Commissioners Finance & Administration Committee

The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners Finance & Administration Committee met October 13, 2026, and advanced several contracts and purchases to the full board. It approved forwarding a five-year SurveyMonkey survey-platform contract, not to exceed $265,000, replacing Qualtrics; a continuation of Copytec’s copier service and maintenance contract at an estimated $140,000, with an RFP for a countywide managed printer fleet planned for 2028; and a fiscal year 2027 MSU Extension services agreement costing $297,847. The committee also advanced a contract for an assessment of the county’s environmental sustainability centers, including locations, services, facility needs and potential buildout costs. Officials described a roughly $100,000 phased effort, with about $60,000 set aside for possible site decommissioning. The motion passed with one member voting no. Four farmland development-rights purchase agreements were also advanced, including parcels of approximately 25 acres in Jamestown, 90 acres in Chester Township and 77.04 acres in Fulton Township; officials said grant funding, groundwater funds and landowner contributions would help support the purchases. The committee approved forwarding a three-year Sheriff’s Office cadet-pool expansion costing $58,658. Accounts payable passed, with a commissioner noting a $13,000 payment to Flock. A resident urged the committee to halt a proposed $3 million, 10-year Project Beacon surveillance contract pending transparency and an independent audit; that contract was not an action item at this meeting.

The committee also advanced a Community Mental Health transition support-services agreement covering human resources, fiscal services, IT, facilities and leases. Members identified an apparent error in the agreement’s effective-date language, and staff said it should be corrected; further support-service agreements may come before the committee. In discussion of the county’s contract-approval policy, members supported returning proposed revisions for consideration, including clarifying how multi-year cumulative contract values are counted and allowing pre-approval for contracts raising broader public-policy concerns. No policy revision was adopted at this meeting. The committee also approved the designated-assessor interlocal agreement and the annual apportionment report.