The Oceana Conservation District (OCD) presented their annual report at the County Board of Commissioners’ Sept. 11 meeting. Like many other annual reports recently presented to the board, the annual budget and subsequent requests for budget increases were the main topic of the presentation, given by District Manager Laura Ackerman. The requested increase is $8,000, which would bump the budgeted amount up to an overall $28,000 from the Board of Commissioners. Ackerman went on to describe where the increase would be applied and what that benefit would be to the overall community and the mission of the organization.
The Conservation District’s Household Hazardous Waste disposal program, specifically, would see a $2,000 increase to ensure that the program can continue to offer the services they currently provide, as well as cover expanded services, such as tire recycling and oil disposal. Ackerman says the increase would allow the OCD to, “go into the next year confident that, if someone brings in a giant trailer of waste, we don’t just say, ‘Sorry, we can’t take that.’ Because if they drive away, they’re probably just going to dump it.”
The remaining $6,000 of the budget increase would go towards general OCD programming, specifically educational programs such as “Knee-High Naturalists,” which offers programming geared towards pre-schoolers. Many of the programs offered by OCD rely primarily on revenue and donations, leaving the future of those specific programs uncertain. “Having a program that is 100% dependent on donations means that every year we are wondering if we are going to be able to do that [program].”
Another important aspect of the requested increase is to keep the attendee fees for programs as accessible as possible, particularly for children’s educational programs, with Ackerman expressing the purpose is to ensure that the “kids in our community can build a connection to this land, because if they love it, they’re going to want to build their lives here. They’re going to stay here and be a part of this community.”
This sentiment was echoed by OCD board member Mary Sheppard, who expressed her appreciation of “Knee-High Naturalists” as a mother of two, “I think this is an awesome program to involve the youth of this county in one of the best natural resources that this county offers, and there’s really no other programs like it in the tri-county area.”
Later, during Commissioners Reports, Commissioner Paul Erickson said of the OCD, “I really do appreciate what the service has done for us.” He particularly highlighted the importance of keeping back roads free of dumped trash and the accessibility for residents to safely and cleanly dispose of oil, especially when considering that the latter is no longer a service provided by the transfer station.
Further appeals regarding the Oceana County Council on Aging (OCCOA) and My Friends House adult day services were made during the meeting’s public comment. First was a client of My Friends House, Clair Sloan - whose wife, Mary Sloan, had expressed her dissatisfaction with the handling of the recent dismissal of Tami Smith, former manager of My Friends House, and the subsequent response from OCCOA at previous meetings. Clair shared his positive experiences of Smith and her management and discussed his worries about sharing his negative feelings of the dismissal while attending the program for fear of being fired as a client. This comes after family and caretakers of clients received a letter from OCCOA and My Friends House closing their open doors policy - as explained by Clair and later Mary - family and caretakers are no longer allowed within My Friends House, save for special events and occasions.
Following Clair’s comments, Mary further explained the My Friends House policy change, the occurrence of further field trip cancellations and her unease with the way the OCCOA’s budget is dispersed, as recorded in the organization’s 990 Income Tax forms, which are publicly available online.
Chairman Robert Walker spoke on behalf of the board in response to the public comment regarding OCCOA. “I understand your concerns, however, the Oceana County Council on Aging is a non-for-profit organization governed by its own board of directors that is not appointed by the Oceana County Board of Commissioners. While there is a dedicated millage to support the programs, the Board of Commissioners does not have oversight over the Council's operation. The millage they receive from Oceana County taxpayers is a millage that was voted on by the Oceana County taxpayers for the Oceana County Board of Commissioners.”
Upon Mary’s question of what she and other concerned parties should do, Walker advised that strength in numbers would be effective when approaching the OCCOA Board with their concerns in the future. Erickson also added that further researching “the numbers,” such as the 990 Income Tax records, would also be beneficial.
