Plans are underway to try to move a public safety tower for the Oakland County CLEMIS program (Courts and Law Enforcement Management Information System) from a site at Orion Oaks Park on Baldwin Road back to the originally proposed site near Orion Township Hall on Joslyn Road.
The township board agreed to proceed with the process to convert park property at Civic Center Park by township hall for use as a site for the radio tower, which will allow police and fire to communicate with each other inside a building.
The board also agreed at the Feb. 22 meeting to amend the budget to include up to $10,000 for planning and engineering services.
These services would be required to do an environmental assessment and appraisal of four acres of property included in the township’s consent judgment with developer James Faycurry, which is being made into a park at Dutton and Squirrel Roads.
The township originally wanted to place the tower near township hall, but because federal grant money was used at Civic Center Park, the township is required to find replacement property equal to that which would be used for the tower site.
Blanchard said he believes the four acres of property at Dutton and Squirrel will work perfectly, but the Department of Natural Resources and the National Park Service must give their approval first.
?(CLEMIS) has spent quite a bit of money, and this tower is for the public safety of Orion Township,? Blanchard said.
Blanchard said the $10,000 for planning/engineering services would not be spent until a decision had been reached by the DNR.
Since CLEMIS already paid a $2,500 fee for the Orion Oaks site, the township has agreed to waive township review fees and only have them pay the $2,200 escrow fee to cover consultant reviews for the site on township property.
‘We’ll still negotiate with the county, and we’ll talk with Mr. Faycurry about paying for part of that cost,? he said, adding that the final cost could end up closer to $5,000 than $10,000.
After the township found out about the restriction on Civic Center Property, Oakland County looked for other sites in the township, finally settling on a spot in Orion Oaks Park. County commissioner Eric Wilson said using township property for the tower was always preferable.
‘We will continue to ask the county to help out,? Wilson said. ‘September is the cut off for losing those frequencies.?
Prior to the CLEMIS program, which is only being done currently in Oakland County and is strictly volunteer participation, police and fire units were unable to use their radios to communicate with each other inside a building. The towers will be used only for public safety radios, not cell phones.
‘There are 36 towers, and Orion Township is one of the last,? Wilson said. ‘I don’t want to be the black hole out here.?
Oakland Township and the Village of Lake Orion have already agreed to have their towers at the township and village halls.
Blanchard said the 250-foot tower will be surrounded by fencing, and added that at the township hall, the closest resident to the tower would be 1,500 feet, and at Orion Oaks they would be 500 feet.
‘I don’t want you to pay a dime if I can do it,? said Wilson. ‘But we have to move this along.?