Two decisions set for Tuesday, October 27 shaped the week in local government. The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners will vote on whether to join the state's review of the Silver Maple solar project after a two-hour work session on October 16, and the Grand Rapids City Commission is scheduled to adopt the noise ordinance amendment it published on October 6 for the Acrisure Amphitheater. Kent County bought a downtown office tower for court staff, East Grand Rapids decided whether to appeal the Gaslight Village ruling, and the county election commission reviewed a recall petition in Plainfield Township. This wrap-up covers October 16 to 22, with updates through October 24. Early voting runs through Sunday, November 1.
How we reported this: every item below was checked against a posted agenda, packet, set of minutes, court or regulatory docket, or official release, and each is linked where it is cited. Several bodies have not yet posted minutes for last week's meetings, so where a vote result rests on a news report rather than the record, we say so.
Ottawa County Board of Commissioners
The board held a work session on Silver Maple on Friday, October 16, from 9:02 to 11:13 a.m. at the Fillmore Street Campus in West Olive, with nine of eleven commissioners present. The proposed minutes record a presentation by County Administrator Patrick Waterman, Strategic Impact Director Paul Sachs and Corporate Counsel Doug Van Essen, a water-resources update from Water Resources Commissioner Joe Bush, and 16 public commenters: six from Zeeland Township, including Supervisor Kerri Bosma, three from Jamestown Township, and others from Holland, Grand Haven, Marne, Allendale and Blendon townships, plus a state Senate candidate and an attorney from Foster Swift. The minutes list names and hometowns but not what anyone said; the county's recording does.
The staff presentation, included in the October 27 packet, puts the RWE project at 200 megawatts across a 1,914-acre boundary, about 1,273 acres in Zeeland Township and 606 in Jamestown Township, with 1,124 acres to be fenced. It counts 56 non-participating parcels inside the footprint covering 525 acres and about 40 homes, and says the project would take up 10 percent of Zeeland Township's farmland and 5 percent of Jamestown's. Because the county has no zoning authority, it cannot adopt the local ordinance that would keep the review at the township level, so the decision rests with the Michigan Public Service Commission. The presentation names farmland preservation, housing and stormwater as the county's possible direct interests, and weighs the $50,000 RWE has already provided for intervention costs against public perception and the chance it would have to be repaid.
Tuesday's agenda carries three actions: item 8D (roll call) to authorize the administrator to file a petition to intervene "by the November 23, 2026, deadline"; item 8E (roll call) to develop the county's position and testimony and engage legal counsel, with the county's filing materials anticipated in January 2027; and item 8F (voice vote) to use the $50,000 from RWE Americas. A draft petition in the packet is dated October 30 and seeks "affected local unit" status in MPSC case U-22071.
The deadline in the motion does not match the regulator's. The MPSC's October 9 notice of hearing on the refiled application says petitions to intervene are due November 12, 2026, with a prehearing conference by video on Thursday, November 19 at 9 a.m. before Administrative Law Judge James Varchetti. The county's own staff presentation also gives November 12, and the agenda does not explain the later date. The docket is public, and readers can watch for the county's filing there.
The county's timeline, also in the packet, has RWE first filing on April 3, Zeeland Charter Township suing over the constitutionality of Public Act 233 on July 7, and RWE withdrawing and refiling its application September 18. The dispute between RWE and the Smallegan family over about 562 acres was heard by Ottawa County Circuit Judge Jon Hulsing on October 8; news outlets report he ruled for RWE on October 14. No written opinion is posted; the court file is case 2026-0000008922-CZ.
Next meeting: Tuesday, October 27, 9 a.m., Board Room, Administration Building, 12220 Fillmore St., West Olive, with a Zoom link and livestream on the meeting page.
Grand Rapids
Amphitheater noise ordinance. The official proceedings of the October 6 City Commission meeting show the step reported that week: on the consent agenda, with all six commissioners voting yes (Knight, Perdue, Ysasi, LaGrand, Belchak and Kilgore), the commission approved Resolution 96126 to publish an ordinance amending Section 9.66 of the city code and to consider it for adoption on October 27. The same minutes log four noise complaints against the amphitheater and a letter from an attorney about the proposed amendment.
The ordinance text rewrites the list of sounds exempt from the noise code. Two new entries cover the Convention/Arena Authority amphitheater: sound and vibration between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. would be exempt outright, and sound after 11 p.m. would be exempt only for performance delays caused by "unforeseeable, exigent circumstances" such as weather, with prior written approval from the city manager or a designee. On Tuesday's agenda the item sits under "Ordinances to be adopted" (item 6), so this is the final vote, not a hearing. The agenda also lists written communications on the subject: one in support, two in opposition, and one offering technical sound-mitigation proposals. The meeting is at 7 p.m. in the Commission Chambers, 9th floor, City Hall, 300 Monroe Ave. NW; public comment on agenda items comes first, three minutes each.
Michigan Street crossings. The $75,000 for pedestrian crossings at Grand and Houseman avenues was approved earlier than the news suggested. The Michigan Street Corridor Improvement Authority's September 16 minutes show a unanimous 5-0 vote (Dann, Swank, Benedict, Vos and Lamkin; King and Commissioner Knight absent) on an "Enhanced Pedestrian Crossings Funding Request" not to exceed $75,000, after a presentation by Kristin Bennett of the city. The board's October 21 agenda had no crossings item; it took up a strategic-planning facilitator, event funding and a community partnership grant match. FOX 17 reported October 16 that the flashing beacons should be in by Thanksgiving.
Early voting. The city clerk's early voting page lists four sites open to any registered city voter: St. Peter and Paul School, 1430 Quarry Ave. NW; GRPS University, 1400 Fuller Ave. NE; Ottawa Hills High School, 2055 Rosewood Ave. SE; and New Hope Baptist Church, 130 Delaware St. SW. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, the last day. Clerk staff can register voters on site.
GRPS board. The Kent County Clerk's candidate list for November 3 shows 16 names filed for five four-year seats on the Grand Rapids Public Schools board, one of whom has withdrawn, leaving 15 on the ballot. Erika VanDyke is the only candidate for a partial term ending December 31, 2028.
Kent County and East Grand Rapids
Court-staff building. The Kent County Board of Commissioners met Thursday, October 22 at 8:30 a.m. Its agenda listed a closed session "to consider the purchase or sale of real property" followed by a "potential resolution resulting from closed session," along with the 2026 apportionment report and a sheriff's traffic-enforcement grant. At 11:36 that morning the county announced the board had approved buying 300 Ottawa Ave. NW for $18.5 million, with about $15 million in renovations, from the Strategic Capital Fund. The 138,000-square-foot building will take about 250 employees from 82 Ionia Ave. NW, from the Prosecutor's Office, Friend of the Court, Circuit Court Probation and Network180, with a goal of moving by the end of 2027, after which the county plans to sell 82 Ionia by competitive bid. Budget amendments come to the board over the next month. Minutes with the vote tally are not yet posted.
East Grand Rapids and Gaslight Village. The city commission's October 19 agenda put the question plainly as item 12: file a notice of appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals, or direct counsel not to appeal, in the East Grand Rapids Responsible Development case. City Manager Shea Charles's memo in the packet lays out the record: on August 9, Kent County Circuit Judge George Quist found the October 6, 2025 protest petition valid and the commission's vote approving the Gaslight Investors concept plan null and void; on October 7, 2026 the court entered a final order; the city had until October 28 to appeal. The memo recommends an ordinance or policy defining how protest petitions work. The 2025 vote itself is in the October 6, 2025 minutes: motion 2025-0152-A carried 4-3, with Burdick, Schwartz, Wessely and Favale in favor and Groff-Blaszak, Hunter and Skaggs opposed, after a motion to take up the petition first failed 3-4. Minutes of October 19 are not posted; FOX 17 reports the commission voted unanimously not to appeal.
Plainfield Township recall. The Kent County Election Commission's October 20 agenda had one substantive item: review the recall petition language submitted against Trustee Robert Reminga. Minutes are not posted; FOX 17 reports the three-member commission voted 3-0 to reject the language as unclear and that the petitioners plan to appeal. The township's August 14 release records the earlier step: at a special meeting that day the board censured Reminga over public Facebook statements and called for his resignation, with Reminga the lone no vote, and adopted a mission statement and nine guiding principles. The release notes that state law gives a township board no power to remove an elected official; that belongs to voters through elections and recalls.
Kelloggsville bond. The county clerk's proposal list confirms a Kelloggsville Public Schools bond on the November 3 ballot: up to $38,180,000 for buildings, equipment, buses, technology and sites, with an estimated 2027 levy of 2.15 mills, which the ballot language describes as no net increase over the prior year, and an average of 3.03 mills over the life of the debt. The district's bond page lists an addition at West Kelloggsville Elementary, pickup and drop-off changes, new tennis courts, and roofs and paving.
Walker. FOX 17 reported October 15 that Police Chief Keith Mankel will retire November 1 after nearly 33 years; we found no release on the city's website.
Allegan County and Holland
The Allegan County Board of Commissioners met Thursday, October 22 at 9 a.m. at the County Services Building, 3283 122nd Ave. The agenda and packet include a consent item authorizing a public safety radio replacement, driven by new encryption rules, at a total project cost of up to $1.5 million through the local Kenwood dealer under state MiDEAL pricing; the 2026 tax levies, including the county's 5.1619-mill allocated levy; a new Americans with Disabilities Act policy; and the 2027 meeting dates. Minutes are not posted.
Holland City Council met Wednesday, October 21 at 6 p.m. The agenda included awarding the 7th Street Snowmelt Improvement Project to Visser Brothers for $436,411.80, the only bid received, to extend the downtown snowmelt system along the north side of 7th Street between River and College avenues within a $450,000 budget; consulting for the Holland Intermodal Port improvements; public hearings on four downtown assessment rolls; two brownfield plans and an amendment to a third; and a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone certificate for 100 W. 8th St. Minutes are not posted. The council's study session on Wednesday, October 28 at 6 p.m., in the second-floor training room at City Hall, 270 S. River Ave., will review the bike lane demonstration project, capital plans at Windmill Island Gardens and the long-term financial forecast; no votes are taken at study sessions.
Together West Michigan
We looked for Together West Michigan in the agendas, minutes and communications above and found no filings or appearances by the group this week.
Next meetings
- Ottawa County Board of Commissioners: Tuesday, October 27, 9 a.m., West Olive (Silver Maple items 8D to 8F).
- Grand Rapids City Commission: Tuesday, October 27, 7 p.m. (adoption vote on the Section 9.66 noise amendment).
- Holland City Council study session: Wednesday, October 28, 6 p.m.
- Kent County Board of Commissioners: Thursday, November 5, 8:30 a.m., Room 310, 300 Monroe Ave. NW.
- Allegan County Board of Commissioners: Thursday, November 12, 9 a.m.
- MPSC prehearing on Silver Maple (U-22071): Thursday, November 19, 9 a.m., by video.
Naming and corrections
We name people who speak in an official or representative capacity and describe private residents by place and standing. Residents' specific claims are reported as unverified, and a resident who wants to be credited by name can tell us. Corrections: mosaicwestmichigan@gmail.com.
