Montcalm County commissioners approve mutual-aid agreement, homeland-security grant IGA, opiate settlement participation and budget adjustments

The Montcalm County Board of Commissioners on July 14 approved multiple administrative and fiscal items, including a Region 6 emergency-management mutual aid agreement, an intergovernmental agreement needed to receive a federal Homeland Security grant, a resolution to participate in a national opiate settlement and midyear budget adjustments.

Emergency Services Director Eric Smith described the Region 6 mutual aid agreement as a formalization of existing practices among neighboring counties. “It’s completely optional,” Smith said, adding that the agreement mainly adds documentation and a cost-recovery provision rather than changing day-to-day operations. The board voted to allow county emergency services to participate and to authorize signatures.

The board approved an intergovernmental agreement with the West Michigan Regional Medical Consortium tied to fiscal-year 2024 Homeland Security grant funding. County Controller Brenda said the regional fiduciary distributes about “probably between 18 and 20,000,” noting that the county itself may not directly receive funds but that county entities could benefit. The board approved the agreement to ensure the county and local agencies remain eligible for the grant funding.

Commissioners also adopted Resolution 2025-06, authorizing participation in partial settlements of the National Prescription Opiate Litigation. Brenda told the board the resolution commits the county to participation and that the county would “receive just a onetime payment.” At the meeting commissioners discussed a $135,000 payment associated with a particular manufacturer listed in the settlement documents.

Other approved items included fiscal-year 2025 budget adjustments and four warrant reports. The board approved four warrant reports totaling $1,754,780.77 and voted to accept the controller’s recommended midyear budget adjustments; officials noted most adjustments are net zero across funds, with two special-revenue funds using fund balance to record capital costs.

Routine consent-agenda items 8 through 10 were placed on file. The board moved and supported each item and carried each motion by voice vote; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the meeting minutes.

Several commissioners commented that formalizing the mutual aid agreement would make documentation simpler if the county later seeks reimbursement after a large event, but that signing does not obligate counties to provide assistance in every request. The board did not change county policy on any of these items beyond authorizing participation, signatures or routine appropriations.