OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Crockery Lake made headlines this past summer for an alleged alligator sighting. Then, late last year, it was in the news again when the county wrote a check to clean up the lake. Ottawa County is taking another look at Crockery Lake and the costs associated with the previously approved cleanup contract.
During the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, the funds set aside for the Crockery Lake restoration project were paused. By law, the county Board of Commissioners can contribute 25% of the cost of a lake improvement project.
"The board was told that the agreement required the county to give the money, $563,000, 100% of the estimated cost of lake restoration," said Board Chairperson John Teeples.
The county board voted 7-3 to ask a judge to review the previous contract and determine its legality. This discussion follows an opinion written by one of the county attorneys stating that the agreement with Chester Township is invalid.
"We can't have the county perform unlawfully, and we should not expose the county to potentially significant risk, liability and greater expense with an invalid contract," Teeples added.
Outgoing Commissioner Gretchen Cosby had explained to the board, “Just give it an opportunity.”
Commissioner Joe Moss still carried a similar sentiment on the Tuesday meeting by seeing this contract through to the end.
“I think trying to take this to court is a method by which you can try to nuke a decision by the previous board,” Moss said.
Teeples commented that, in his experience, the contract does not make sense for the county.
"Environmental projects seem to always exceed budgets and rarely, if ever, are completed within anticipated timeframes, and the cleanup standards are often a changing and moving target," the board chair said.
Teeples also noted that if the judge determines the contract is valid, he will honor it. "If the court tells us we have a contract, however bad I may think it is for everybody, it is what it is; we signed it," Teeples said.
Commissioner Allison Miedema emphasized the board's responsibility to serve the community.
"We are here to serve the people," Miedema remarked. "To me, that's all that I was doing for the last couple of years was trying to seek ways to help Chester Township. Chester is our smallest township. It is not a township that sits with millionaires and billionaires on their lakes to help fund them."
Also, on Tuesday, the board moved to accept the resignation of the Kallman Legal Group.
As reported last week, they turned in their resignation from their position as the county's legal counsel on Friday. The legal group will continue to assist during the transitional period until May. Late last year, the county prepaid nearly a quarter of a million dollars to the Kallman Legal Group — money earmarked as a credit toward hours worked. The board chair said the county would likely absorb $50,000 to $75,000.
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