Springfield board grapples with fire dispatch, park safety

In other action at the Thursday, June 12 meeting of the Springfield Township Board:

? Trustees gave conditional approval to the final site plan for Windstone Park II and final plat for Westwood Hills subdivision #2.
Windstone Park II, located off of Foster Road, will be an extension of an existing development across the border in Independence Township, with 11 single-family condominiums planned on 14 acres.
Westwood Hills, located off of Dixie Highway near Rattalee Lake Road, will have 112 single family homes when complete.
? The board passed second reading of a ‘Metro Act? ordinance, which follows state law in establishing a metropolitan authority to coordinate and collect fees from telecommunications providers wishing to install cable in public right-of-ways.
? The Springfield Township Fire Department will continue to use dispatching services from the village of Holly, at least for the short-term.
Effective July 1, the township will pay $510 a month for this service, up from the current $460.
Officials agree that the township will likely switch to Oakland County dispatching services when the county switches to an 800 MHz system. That will cost more than $7,000 for the township to upgrade their radio system, however, and it is uncertain when the county system will be in operation.
Clerk Nancy Strole said the issue will likely come back to the board agenda in the next couple months.
? Officials will seek quotes for the possible addition of two street lights at Shultz Park to help deter what Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Tucker called ‘a history of vandalism and arson.?
Tucker’s memo to the board said the lights would help the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department better see the problem area.
? Springfield Township will waive the normal consultant review fees for the coalition working to relocate the historic Ellis Barn.
Normally, the fees would total $4,560. Clerk Nancy Strole said the waiver will constitute ‘an additional donation? to the project.