2026 OCD Board Director Elections
The Ottawa Conservation District is a local unit of government, directed by a minimum of 5 Board Directors. These directors help guide the work of the District and provide oversight over annual goals, financials, program directions, etc. Each Board Director serves a 4 year term once elected and all Ottawa County residents over the age of 18 are eligible to vote for OCD Board Directors. In March 2026, two director seats were up for re-election.
The Election concluded on March 10th, 2026. The final election results were as follows:
Kelly Goward: 1,290 Votes
Rivka Hodgkinson: 1,276 Votes
Matt Hehl: 202 Votes
Jeff Vredeveld: 194 Votes
Total ballots received: 1,543 (This is a new record high of ballots received for a Michigan Conservation District Board Election!)
Congratulations to incumbent Rivka Hodgkinson and welcome to the Board, Kelly Goward! The final election results will be certified by the State within the next week and Rivka and Kelly will be officially recognized as OCD Board Directors at our next Board Meeting on April 14, 2026.
We also want to thank Matt Hehl for his many years of service on the Ottawa Conservation District Board and for his dedication to farming regeneratively. Thank you to Jeff Vredeveld as well for his interest in participating on the Board.
Thank you for a great Annual Meeting!
Big thank you to Aldea Coffee for donating coffee and lavender lemonade and to Watermark Church for letting us utilize their space for the meeting!
Congratulations to the 2025 Conservation Partner & Producer of the Year awardees!
This year’s Conservation Producer of the Year awardee is Farmhaus Farms!
John Behrens and Megan Odegaard started with Farmhaus Cider Co. in 2015, making their cider in Hudsonville from leased apple trees on the fruit ridge. OCD staff first met John in 2023 after he and his wife, Megan, bought the 100 year old Moelker Orchard farm on Kenowa Avenue. Within 2024, he worked on necessary upgrades to become MAEAP verified.
In 2025, Farmhaus Farms is now enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program through NRCS, working to establish pollinator and wildlife habitat, improving forestlands on their property, planting trees, planting cover crops to suppress weeds, using orchard generated woody materials as mulch, and establishing windbreaks to reduce wind erosion.
OCD appreciates the journey they have been on to make their farm environmentally verified and continue to improve habitat alongside their orchards. (Not to mention they make some pretty amazing donuts and cider!).
Learn more about Farmhaus Farms & Farmhaus Cider Co. at www.farmhausfarms.com.
This year’s Conservation Partner of the Year awardee is Ottawa County Parks & Recreation. The Parks has been a great partner of the Ottawa Conservation District for many years!
– The West Michigan Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (WMCISMA) collaborates with them on invasive species management projects across the county parks system, sharing information on infestation locations and prioritization.
– OCD has also co-hosted workshops with them on topics such as native seed sowing, native garden landscaping, and woody invasive species management. They also allow us to use their facilities for free for these workshops, as well as events like our Native Plant Sale where they often buy extra plants from us to use in their restoration projects.
– Members of Ottawa CD sit on the natural resource advisory board for OCPR, and members of the natural resources team at OCPR are always available for input on OCD projects and programs.
– OCPR often shares our events on social media to help promote our programs and events.
– We also appreciate their efforts to protect Ottawa County’s groundwater with their new Connected County Parks Initiative which is helping to educate Ottawa County residents about the importance of transitioning their landscaping into native habitat to reduce irrigation use. This Initiative is going to be a great way to promote native plantings and we look forward to partnering with them and helping them promote it!
Learn more about the work Ottawa County Parks & Recreation does at www.miottawa.org/parks.