KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Residents, officials and other community members had the opportunity to hear successes and potential for improvement during the Kent County State of the County Address 2023.
The remarks were delivered by Council of Commissioners Chairman Stan Stek and County Administrator Al Vanderberg at an event in Place DeVos.
One of the main topics of focus during Thursday evening’s speech was public and school safety.
“Another major investment in school safety will address what has been identified as the most significant point of failure in school safety incidents, including school shootings, namely communications, made possible by more than $2.8 million and ARPA funding from Kent County. The Sheriff is implementing an 800 megahertz radio security system in every school facility in Kent County across 12 public and private school buildings that choose to participate,” Stek explained. “The system is the first of its kind in the state of Michigan and will allow schools to communicate critical factual information in real time to first responders. And it will also allow our dispatch centers to relay emergency notifications directly to schools , such as the need for building lockdowns or the threat of bad weather.
Stek explained that Kent County Sheriff’s Office would add six new school resource officers under contract and that this year the school board approved funding for 20 new correctional officers.
Kent County
On Thursday evening, county leaders also said a task force aimed at combating human trafficking identified 35 victims and arrested 9 suspects between January and September of this year.
Officials also discussed embedding social workers in the dispatch center to assess the need for emergency mental health help.
Regarding the ARPA funds, Kent County officials explained that they were invested in 30 projects in the departmentafter receiving more than 320 proposals on how it should be distributed.
Another important topic discussed was the Kent County Affordable Housing Loan Fund, which is set to launch soon.
It aims to encourage more affordable housing development in the region, reducing the cost of capital for nonprofit and for-profit housing developers.
Nonprofit lender FIF was chosen to administer the fund and is now accepting applications.
“The fund, which was funded by a $17.5 million Kent County ARPA investment, now stands at $58.3 million thanks to IFF’s commitment to raise matching funds amounting to $40.8 million,” County Administrator Al Vanderberg said.
Leaders say this will have a generational impact on families who need more housing than is currently on the market.
