VBT DDA approves plan to install seven outdoor sirens

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
At its Aug. 26 meeting, the Van Buren Township Downtown Development Authority unanimously approved paying up to $62,030 from its fund balance to fund two and possibly three outdoor emergency sirens in the DDA District and to pay for equipment for Dispatch to run the sirens.
With the help of $89,000 more in federal Community Development Block Grant funds, four more sirens could be placed in the CDBG Income Eligible Block areas, for a total of seven.
“We figured out a way to do the north end of the township with DDA and CDBG funds,” said DDA Executive Director Susan Ireland.
She said she got approval from CDBG that afternoon for the township to use its funds for 2014 for this purpose.
She said sirens for the north half of the township with DDA assistance is a place to start.
Jeffrey J. DuPilka, president of West Shore Services, Inc., of Allendale, worked with VBT Police Lt. Charles Bazzy to work out the installation of the sirens.
West Shore is the exclusive representative for Federal Warning Systems in Michigan. The proposed equipment matches the existing community warning equipment installed throughout Wayne County.
He said he was able to hold the price to match the grant equipment recently installed for Wayne County as part of the Hazard Mitigation Grant. He said the current cost is about $1,400 more per site, but he will hold the special price as long as the purchase is completed by Nov. 1.
A Federal Signal 2001 AC/DC siren with digital two-way status monitoring will cost $19,450 each to furnish, deliver and install.
In a four-page report to Lt. Bazzy, DuPilka said he has identified the following seven sites, three in the DDA District and four in the CDBG areas:
• Site 1: West side of Belleville Road just south of the drive to the Belleville Point Apartments;
• Site 2: Southwest corner of Haggerty and Independence;
• Site 3: Pumping station at 7563 Haggerty, southwest corner of Haggerty and Ecorse roads;
• Site 4: Northeast corner of Belleville Road and Ecorse Road;
• Site 5: Denton Road between Ecorse and Van Born roads, about 800’ south of the railroad tracks for AMTRAK;
• Site 6: North side of the North I-94 Service Drive, one mile east of Rawsonville Road; and
• Site 7: North side of Tyler Road adjacent to 5020 Tyler Road.
Also, the digital equipment to monitor and activate the system is $10,880, plus other costs that might be necessary.
Lt. Bazzy say some of the sites look odd, such as #6 in the EQ area and the furthest south, #1, that spills into the city of Belleville, along with Denton Road at the airport property #5. He said they were placed because of the DDA District lines and the CDBG census tracks that allow usage of the money for the sirens.
VBT Supervisor Linda Combs asked how many sirens would be required for the south end and Lt. Bazzy said six or seven.
“We spent five hours drawing circles and then we went out,” Lt. Bazzy said, speaking of the procedure he and DuPilka used to site the sirens. “Drawing circles was one thing, but until we physically go out they couldn’t be finalized.”
He said there will be $20 per month electric bills and $400-$600 replacement batteries every 4-5 years.
When asked if the DDA was responsible for that, Supervisor Combs said she believed the township would be responsible for maintenance.
“We spend $62,000 and that’s it?” asked DDA member Ron Blank and he was told that was right.
Lt. Bazzy said they need to get permission from Wayne County Roads for some locations, but the Ecorse/Haggerty location is township property.
He said he would recommend wooden poles that can be dug up and moved if necessary and he didn’t see any benefit for paying $4,000 more per pole for cement.
“A wooden pole is just fine. Basically a telephone pole,” Lt. Bazzy said, adding they will have to check with the FAA because the township is so close to the airport.
He said the plan is for eventually all systems in the county to be linked so all can be set off at once. He said that could be five years from now, or 500 years from now.
“Our dispatch will determine when to set them off, for severe weather reports, tornadoes. They will be watching weather reports,” Lt. Bazzy said.
John Delaney said from the audience that the poles in Brownstown and Sumpter are all wooden, but Canton has fiber poles and sirens that turn and talk.
Lt. Bazzy said it will take four to six hours to drop a pole in the ground and get it hooked up to dispatch, and about seven to ten days to have them all up and running.
In other business at the Aug. 26 meeting, the DDA:
• Rescinded the former job description for a DDA Coordinator, approved April 22, and approved a new job description for an Assistant DDA Executive Director and authorized advertising for the position. Although it is not a part of the description, the DDA expects to pay in the $48,000-$53,000 range, with salary based on experience. Ireland will sort through the preliminary candidates and march the finalists in front of the DDA board;
• Heard updates on sidewalks and the regional detention pond, that includes entering the pond from the north from the Westport area with a 48” to 54” pipe, at a total cost of about $1 million; and
• Went into executive session to consider the purchase of real property and to discuss pending litigation MTT Docket No. 451720.