PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING COULD OPEN BY JANUARY
COVID-19 set construction back by about three months
The Macomb Township Fire Department andM acomb County Sheriff’s Office are hoping to ring in 2021 with a new, completed Joseph E. Koss Public Safety Building.
The new public safety building is being built near 23 Mile Road and Alma Drive, east of Romeo Plank Road in Macomb Township. It is on the same property as a township senior center and broadcast media center.
Macomb Township Fire Chief Robert Phillips said work is underway with numerous trade unions going at it.
“Currently the masons are finishing the brick on the exterior, the interior metal and block walls are under construction,” Phillips said. “The shingles are being installed, the HVAC system is being installed, the fire suppression system is being installed, the windows are going in, the electrical and plumbing is continuing, the concrete on the exterior is being poured and site work is continuing in order to get the front parking area finished and ready for concrete before the cold weather arrives.”
He stated the majority of the brick and block on the building is complete, and the majority of the concrete has been poured. He added trusses and sheeting are complete and the roof is anticipated to be done shortly.
“COVID has delayed the project approximately three months,” Phillips said. “We were originally scheduled to take occupancy of the building this month. It is now scheduled for mid-January 2021.”
Oil interceptors were installed in August and are operational. A payment issue is being worked out between the township attorney and Anderson, Eckstein and Westrick’s attorney.
“The building will have wifi access points through-
out that will allow fire and sheriff to utilize the technology provided by COMTEC as part of the contract that we have with them. The fire truck and sheriff cars all have mobile data terminals in them and the building will have access to that information on monitors located throughout the building,” Phillips said. “It has been built to eliminate cross-contamination by reducing the amount of toxins from vehicle exhaust and to keep contaminated clothing from entering the administrative portion of the building.”
The project originated a few years ago when the Macomb County Department of Roads notified the township of its plans to widen 23 Mile Road from Romeo Plank Road to North Avenue. With widening, the 1952 Macomb Township Fire Station One and the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office substation would have been right on the edge.
“I have been working on this since we found out in
December 2015 that 23 Mile Road was going to be widened and the previous station would be too close to the new road,” Phillips said.
In 2016 Phillips held discussions with James VanTifin, the township engineer, and then-planning director Patrick Meagher to determine utilities, septic fields, and other items. After ascertaining what was needed and would fit on the property, the next step was to obtain Macomb Township Board of Trustees approval to seek an architectural design service. The bid was awarded for the architectural design service in the fall of 2017 to Anderson, Eckstein and Westrick. Most of 2017 was spent doing design and budgetary numbers.
In September 2018, the township board awarded a construction contract for the building to Bernco Inc. of St. Clair Shores for $11.06 million.
The contract had a contingency of $875,000 built into it, and about an additional $300,000 was estimated to be needed for sales tax. About $700,000 was needed for costs such as furniture, lockers and other
items. Total cost for storm water detention for the new public safety building, the broadcast media center and the senior citizens building was approved by the board of trustees in May 2019 at approximately $700,000. In December 2018, the sheriff’s office substation was demolished, with the sheriff’s office temporarily operating out of the township’s broadcast media center. In the spring of 2019, construction on the site began.
“The sheriff’s portion of the building is still under construction and is not able to be used,” Phillips said.
However, Phillips said the sheriff garage portion of the new building, located at the back of the building on Alma Drive, is about 90 percent done and is being used to house materials arriving daily for the subcontractors.
In February 2020 a decommissioning ceremony was held for Fire Station One shortly before demolition began, with fire department personnel housed temporarily in a construction trailer. Phillips said that presently, there are nine full-time firefighters assigned to the former Station
One area, with three on each day working 24-hour shifts. He said there are also 15 auxiliary and paid on-call firefighters that are assigned to the former Station One area.
Phillips said the department of roads has agreed to delay the section of road widening that would affect the new building until the building is open.
“The only portion of the building in use is the apparatus bays that house the fire trucks,” Phillips said. “We moved into the bays in February 2020.”
The JosephE. Koss Public Safety Building is projected to be sufficient for community needs for about 50 years. The 37,000-squarefoot building will include five drive-through bays for the fire department, space for 14 sheriff’s office vehicles, offices for police and fire personnel, a shared break room, kitchen, exercise room, training room and conference room, locker rooms for both departments and firefighter dorms. Public access for the new building will be off of Alma Drive and the public parking lotwill be along 23 Mile Road.