Two weeks after a public hearing on the matter, the township has made an answer sheet available providing more details on the proposed public safety complex.
Several questions were asked of the board and the project management team from Plante & Moran CRESA at the hearing, prompting the answers, which were compiled by CRESA’s Dave Asker. Copies are available through the township clerk’s office.
‘Nobody has come out against the idea of a public safety complex, they’ve just wanted to get all the details,? said Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk.
The proposed complex (as previously profiled in The Review), would be centrally located next to Orion Oaks Elementary off of Joslyn Road, and would house the Orion Substation of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department, a central township fire station and the township’s Department of Public Works, all in separate buildings on property currently owned by the DPW.
The answer sheet indicates that the township has money available to pay for or borrow from five different accounts, which includes one from each department involved, along with the general fund and the capital improvement fund.
It reiterates that no millage or bond proposal is needed to fund the project, which is why it is not on a ballot.
The sheet explains that the DPW will no longer pay the township rent. But Dywasuk and Treasurer Alice Young said that the loss of the rental amount (about $45,000 per year) will not require an increase in taxes, as it can be absorbed from within.
The total cost of the project, which Asker indicated would be around $9 million (plus CRESA’s fee of up to $225,000), does not include potential renovations to the existing township hall, once space becomes available within the building.
A previous study estimated a cost of $6 million to complete the recommended renovations, but that is not part of the current project, according to the sheet.
Dywasuk said that the existing building’s renovation is still a ways away and that it would be done in ‘small pieces,? with no intention to increase taxes.
He said just moving the sheriff’s department out of the building would be a big help, as staff at the township has doubled since 1996.
‘The demand is coming from the department heads,? Dywasuk said. ‘You can’t expect people to work in cramped corners. We just don’t have the facilities.?