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ST. JOSEPH — County leaders are starting the discussion on how a 2024 settlement with American Electric Power on the valuation of the Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman will affect the county in coming years.

      Berrien County Administrator Brian Dissette addressed the issue at Thursday’s County Board of Commissioners meeting after highlighting a news article this week concerning budget cuts being made by Bridgman schools. The Bridgman school district as well as Berrien County are among the entities affected by the AEP property valuation.

      “We’re talking about it in the finance and administration committees,” Dissette said. “We want to make sure the board is aware of the situation … we have four years to work on this.”

      “What cannot happen is to get to the end of the four years and say we have to figure it out then,” he added. “We need to spend the next four years crafting solutions at the local level and in the legislature about property values.”

      According to published reports, the area entities including Bridgman and the county reached an agreement with AEP about the valuation of the Cook Nuclear Plant after AEP had appealed the plant’s 2022 property valuation with the Michigan Tax Tribunal.

The agreement lowered the 2024 assessed value for the plant to what it had been originally in 2022. The value will stay the same through 2027 and then increase five percent annually through 2030.

Dissette didn’t give specifics about how the Cook plant valuation will affect the county, but has talked in the past about the loss of property tax revenue due to the AEP settlement. Bridgman was among those hardest hit and officials have said they are losing $1.2 million in revenue this year and are making cuts because of that.

Berrien County Commissioner Sharon Tyler, who represents Niles on the county board, mentioned the Cook property valuation in her report. She said she had attended the Greater Niles Area Senior Center board meeting recently and members were concerned about a possible loss in revenue for the county’s senior centers.

In departmental reports, commissioners heard updates about the Silver Beach County Park playground project and the Lakeview Trail project as well as news from Berrien County Sheriff Chuck Heit.

County Parks Director Jill Adams said the new playground equipment should be ready for the public before Memorial Day. The total project cost $1.25 million with $850,000 coming from a Michigan Spark grant and the rest from local grants and donations.

The Silver Beach playground project recently received a place making award from Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber of Commerce which was presented at Thursday’s meeting.

Community Development Director Dan Fette updated the board on the Lakeview Trail which runs along Lake Michigan from St. Joseph to Benton Harbor. When completed, there will be 10 miles of new trails with over 20 miles of multi-use interconnected trails involving Harbor Shores, Whirlpool property and the M-63 corridor.

Heit reported on changes in car seat laws that go into effect April 2. Infants to two-year-olds must be in a rear facing seat, two to five year olds can be in a forward facing seat, children ages five to eight can be in a booster seat and those under age 13 can be in a rear seat.

He also said the sheriff’s office continue to get fraud complaints. Residents have told his office that they receive calls that use his name and say that the person owes money and can pay with bitcoins. He said those calls are fraudulent with his office never calling people to demand money.