Rep. Stevens Secures $17,807,600 in Federal Funding for Michigan’s 11th District
Livonia, Mi– Today, Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11) announced that she secured nearly 18 million dollars of federal funding for ten community projects across Michigan’s 11th District. These funding projects were signed into law by President Biden, as part of a bipartisan government funding package. Information about each project can be found below:
“I am thrilled to announce that so many community projects ranging from infrastructure, to funding for police departments to the construction of new public spaces for seniors and families to use in Michigan’s 11th District will now be fully funded,” said Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11). “My staff and I have been working for months with mayors, township supervisors, local and statewide elected officials from both parties to determine the greatest needs in our communities. Every community project that was identified and submitted to the House Appropriations Committee was funded. When we invest in our communities, they thrive, and this funding will impact countless lives throughout our District.”
Birmingham, Auburn Hills, and Bloomfield Police Departments Mental Health Co-Response Program
Funded Amount: $260,000
According to reported studies, it is estimated that 10% of all police calls for service in the United States involve a person living with a serious mental illness. These calls involve an individual in a mental health crisis in need of immediate professional help aimed at preventing harm or injury to the individual in crisis or others. Overwhelmingly, the police are the sole first responders sent to assist those in a mental health crisis in the community. This program seeks to build a partnership between Auburn Hills Police, Birmingham Police, Bloomfield Township Police, and the Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN, the community mental health authority in Oakland County). This federal funding will facilitate the hiring of two mental health clinicians who will be contracted by the three participating agencies from OCHN. It will also provide a vehicle and communication equipment for the clinician so that they can have flexibility to move about freely among the three communities, to respond to crisis situations and follow-up with families, the hospitals, and courts. Funding will also provide much needed Crisis Intervention Team training and Mental Health First Aid training to 100% of all sworn police officers in all three agencies (150 police officers).
Commerce Township Wastewater Treatment Plant Lystek System Project
Funded Amount: $2,000,000
The Commerce Township Wastewater Treatment Plant’s current biosolids (sludge) management system requires hauling and disposing of their dewatered sludge at a landfill costing Commerce Township over $350,000 a year. The Plant also provides service for White Lake Township, parts of Novi and Walled Lake, as well as other surrounding communities. The cost of landfill disposal has dramatically increased at each of the three hauling agreements since 2013. The current 2-year agreement expires in May of 2021. In the 2019 contract renewal, there was only one bidder and the rate increased 85% from the previous one-year agreement. The average annualized cost, between 2013 and 2019, is equivalent to 35% a year.
The Lystek Program provides a resource-recovery alternative to landfill disposal by producing a Class A biofertilizer from the dewatered sludge. The market-ready fertilizer product called LysteGro is a high solids liquid that will be stored in the existing tanks available at the Plant, to be sold and transported to customers utilizing the Lystek Product Management services. The program would eliminate hauling and landfill disposal costs starting in the first year of operation. By teaming up with Lystek System, this will allow more than 3,500 tons of Class B biosolids per year to be diverted from landfills and instead will be converted into a Class A fertilizer that can be used by local farmers.
Livonia Senior Center Improvements Project
Funded Amount: $3,000,000
With nearly 19,000 residents aged 65 or older, Livonia’s Senior Center is a hub of services and programs for one of southeast Michigan’s largest populations of seniors. The Livonia Senior Center Project is a renovation of the Jack E. Kirksey Recreation Center to accommodate a safer, more accessible, state-of-the-art Senior Center along with an expanded fitness center. The current Livonia Senior Center is a 60-year-old, retro-fitted church that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed is inadequate for the safety and health of Livonia’s seniors. Small spaces, inadequate HVAC and a lack of accessibility critically restrict the existing Senior Center. Building a new senior center, attached to the Kirksey Recreation Center, will expand Livonia seniors’ health and fitness opportunities while providing a safe and accessible new space for senior programming. This federal funding will provide for upgrades that allow increased access, larger class spaces, and for social distancing measures to continue after capacity limits are removed.
Michigan International Technology Center Improvement Project
Funded Amount: $2,000,000
The Michigan International Technology Center Improvement Project seeks funding for the engineering costs associated with the rebuilding of Five Mile Road, between Beck Rd. and Ridge Road. The Michigan International Technology Center (MITC) Redevelopment District is a Brownfield Authority created by Plymouth and Northville Townships and the State of Michigan Land Bank. Its goal is to bring jobs and economic development to the former Detroit House of Correction (DeHoCo) Prison sites along Five Mile Road from Napier to Beck, which is the boundary between Plymouth and Northville Townships. It will also clean up contaminated sites owned by the State of Michigan. This federal funding for the MITC Improvement Project will help to increase accessibility to the project area, facilitating economic growth for the whole community.
Milford Village Water System Improvements Project
Funded Amount: $2,000,000
The Village is seeking to bring new water sources online, including transforming their contingency well into their main production well. This project will entail approximately 3,400 feet of 12- or 16-inch transmission main from the new water well to the existing water treatment plant. This recommendation was made in their 2014 Water Reliability Study. The connection of the contingency well to the existing water treatment plant is needed to keep pace with Village demand.
Plymouth Cultural Center ADA Compliance Project
Funded Amount: $400,000
The Plymouth Cultural Center ADA Compliance Project will update the four main public restrooms in the City's recreation facility to achieve full ADA compliance. The Plymouth Cultural Center is the only voting location in the city, and it accommodates four precincts. The building hosts multiple senior citizen classes, events and health clinics. Increasingly, City of Plymouth boards and commissions and local civic organizations use the building's large room for their meetings to accommodate socially distant participants. In addition, the PCC, which is home to an ice arena, hosts hundreds of athletic events every year with thousands of players and spectators. Bringing the PCC restrooms up to full ADA compliance will require structural changes to the building and major plumbing work, since the current system is encased in a concrete slab. Interior walls, ceilings, fixtures, partitions and tile will need to be replaced as well. Bringing the restrooms to ADA compliance will allow our elderly visitors and persons with disabilities to use the facility without hindrance.
Troy Community Pavilion in Civic Center Campus Project
Funded Amount: $1,500,000
The City of Troy, Michigan, has listened to community members regarding the need for a public gathering space for its residents and business people. The city lacks a traditional downtown and has few large public gathering spaces – particularly outdoors. The need for a large outdoor space has been highlighted through the COVID-19 pandemic, as residents and organizations seek spaces to safely host events and meetings. The proposed large pavilion will satisfy this desire by creating a space in the Civic Center Campus, which will be a place to host community events through all of Michigan’s seasons. Events will include a Farmers Market, art showcase events, concerts, ice skating, and general community gathering opportunities.
911 Dispatch-Emergency Operations Center Project
Funded Amount: $250,000
The Waterford Dispatch Center has become a regional dispatch center, providing not only 911 police service for Waterford Township but also 911 fire and emergency medical services for surrounding jurisdictions. The dispatch center is also responsible for LEIN services of the 51st District Court and monitoring live video feeds throughout the Waterford Township civic center campus and some Waterford School District facilities. The realities of the pandemic have highlighted some challenges of the Emergency Operations Center. This federal funding will allow the Waterford Police Department to update their technology, access live video feed, and monitor threats on social media. When dispatchers are better informed, they are better equipped to direct first responders into high-risk situations and provide accurate information before arrival, which increases the safety of everyone.
White Lake Civic Center Road and Sidewalk Construction Project
Funded Amount: $1,600,000
The Township of White Lake is in the planning and engineering phase of developing a downtown/main street area, which is intended to serve as the heart of the Township. To that end, the Township’s plan includes construction of a new Township Civic Center, public safety buildings and related roadways, sidewalks and recreational pathways for the benefits of its residents and visitors. This project would include construction of the roads and sidewalks for the downtown area, including a new recreational trail for walking and cycling, which leads to a waterfront public park. Moreover, the project will improve traffic and pedestrian safety, as well as accessibility throughout the downtown area. Long-term, it will provide the opportunity for the Township to construct new municipal and public safety buildings which are desperately needed. Recent events left the Township’s 911 services inoperable due to a power failure as the current generator is undersized due to growth over the years at the Township offices.
Wixom and Novi Beck Road Business Corridor Improvement Project
Funded Amount: $4,797,600
The request for the Grand River Boulevard to 11 Mile Road Segment of the Beck Road Business Corridor Improvement Project will widen .7 mile of the key arterial Beck Road connecting to Interstate 96 from its current 3-lane configuration to 5 lanes from 11 Mile Road to Grand River Boulevard in the fast-growing City of Novi, Michigan. The project will also create 8-foot pedestrian/bicycle paths on either side of the roadway, providing alternative travel options. The project will improve safety and reduce congestion for the over 28,000 vehicles using the corridor daily to commute to work and for access to nearby hospitals, retail centers, offices, and schools and will also promote alternative transportation modes by creating 8-foot non-motorized paths on both sides of the road with ADA-compliant ramps.
The 2018 "Beck Road Three-Year Crash Analysis: 2015-17" has found that the crash frequency for Beck Road is 10 times the regional average and the overwhelming number of crashes are rear-end collisions. Widening Beck Road to 5 lanes will create a uniform traffic flow that will promote economic competitiveness by significantly increasing access and reducing commute times for the 340 employers along the Beck Road Business Corridor Improvement Project area dependent on Beck Road for access for their employees, customers, and freight traffic. There are over 20,000 manufacturing, healthcare, retail and service-industry jobs on and adjacent to the project area.
Note, the $4,797,600 in funding to widen sections of Beck Road is in addition to the $18 million dollars that Rep. Stevens secured in the INVEST Act to separate the railroad crossing in Wixom. These two federal investments total nearly $23 million dollars in new federal funding to make desperately needed fixes to the Beck Road Improvement Corridor.
Rep. Stevens submitted several Community Project Funding requests to the Appropriations Committee, FOUND HERE. Every funding request that the Congresswoman submitted was accepted by the Appropriations Committee.
The inclusion of this funding in the Appropriations Committee draft bill is the first step in the funding process. Rep. Stevens will continue to fight for this funding as the bill moves to the full Appropriations Committee, consideration on the House Floor, and negotiations with the Senate.