OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Ottawa County approved to spend almost $1 million to grow its Veterans Services Department further.
On Tuesday, the Board of Commissioners voted 9-2 to spend $981,740. The money to fund this upgrade is from American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds, created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The county plans to spend the money to move the department out of its current Holland location to the Filmore Complex in West Olive.
This newly created department plans to renovate a recently vacated space left by the Probate Court. The department also plans to hire more staff.
“It will give us a space that allows our veterans to, uh, have private conversations with veteran service officers about their claims and compensation; they'll give us an opportunity to have private conversations about afterlife care after a veteran passes away and how we can assist families through emergent funding,” Ottawa County Veteran Services Director Jason Schenkel said.
Last year, the board moved to have an in-house operation from an outside contracted veteran group that cost the county more than $60,000.
“We're asking for this initiative funding to get us through FY '27 with the intent that we would ask for a millage, then other grant funding if we can apply for it,” Schenkel said.
Board Vice Chairperson and Ottawa Impact Founder Sylvia Rhodea was the first to mention the need for this new department.
“I do appreciate also that your department is aware of the fact that there are veterans from around the county who haven't been accessing services partly because the city of Holland is not really on their radar. I think that location has been a barrier to a number of residents,” Rhodea said.
Ottawa County Veteran Services provides several programs and services to roughly 12,000 local veterans:
- Applying for available VA benefits
- Applying for VA service-connected and non-service-connected pensions
- Retrieving military service records
- Medical transportation
The county also provides a burial allowance of $300 for wartime veterans and their spouses with limited resources to pay for a funeral.
Commissioner Jacob Bonnema was a no-vote against moving ARPA funds to this overhaul.
“I want to see the money make it to the veterans. This seems to be investing in our own infrastructure and growing our government rather than our tax dollars making it to the veterans and their families,” Bonnema said.
One commissioner, who is a veteran, voted yes on the funding. Commissioner Chris Kleinjans took to social media to address his concerns as the department moves forward once he is out of office.
“They’re not considering what it will mean for a homeless vet without a car to get to rural West Olive to get services. Moving the office here also means that veterans will be further away from offices that they get referred to, which is part of their holistic model,” Kleinjans wrote.
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube
