Kent County Drain Commissioner Ken Yonker presented the Drain Commissioner annual report Nov. 20, telling the Board of Commissioners the office managed dozens of projects and spent "$15,000,000 a little over" during the year.

Yonker said the office handled 31 locally initiated drain projects and participated in about 100 inter-county drain projects (Kent County's share roughly $910,000 this year). He reported 52 drains on the assessment roll this year with a special-assessment total of roughly $1,182,488.

He described major items completed or underway: Emmons Lake Drain (Caledonia) where the county extended maintenance beyond 84th Street and installed large box culverts sized for a 25-year storm to keep roads passable and limit flooding; Rexford Lake (an inter-county district) where dredging and culvert replacement followed a winter flood that caused a fatal accident years earlier; and Nash Creek, where a private pond the district acquired will be dredged of an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 cubic yards of sediment to restore its role as a sediment trap.

Yonker said Napp's (Knapp's) Corner remains challenging: a pump installation and previous work have not fully solved flooding and water-quality issues, and a single, unqualified bid of about $6 million was rejected this month; he said the county plans to re-bid in January/February to attract contractors when construction cycles change.

On Tyler Creek, Yonker said the county secured a $65,000 DNR grant to study restoring the historic streambed to slow flows, improve habitat and reduce erosion. He described an asset-management plan to inventory drains and schedule work one year in advance for better budgeting.

Yonker raised a separate legal and operational issue around the Aided and Cascade dams: conflicting court orders, EGLE rules and FERC jurisdiction for hydroelectric operators complicate inspections and maintenance. "We will be in court with this," he told commissioners, and staff will return with recommendations as litigation and operating-agreement work progresses.

Commissioners asked about jurisdictional limits, funding sources (including ARPA for soft costs on some projects) and procurement constraints; Yonker said larger contractors often prioritize federally funded road work and travel distances, which affected bidding on Napp's Corner. He said some projects will require bonds and that the county is coordinating with townships, the road commission and neighboring counties.

The presentation concluded with a request for questions and a pledge to continue monitoring water quality and project outcomes as plantings and wetland restorations proceed.

Commissioners thanked Yonker for the work and asked staff to circulate the county's asset-management and testing results as projects progress.