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City-Park Consolidation Study Contract Gains Approval
The City of Grosse Pointe council approved a contract Monday for a consulting firm to conduct the consolidation study related to combining Grosse Pointe Park and the City's public safety departments into one unit.
A study will be done in 2012 on whether a consolidation between the public safety departments from the City of Grosse Pointe and Grosse Pointe Park would be beneficial and feasible. The study is expected to take about six to eight months.
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The start of a study of consolidating Grosse Pointe Park and the City of Grosse Pointe Departments of Public Safety is drawing near as one of the councils approved the contract with a consulting firm Monday night.
The City of Grosse Pointe council unanimously approved the contract with the International City/County Management Association Center for Public Safety based out of Washington D.C.
The contract still needs the approval by Grosse Pointe Park council, which is slated to address it at its next meeting, City of Grosse Pointe Manager Pete Dame said Monday.
Dame told the council the firm was chosen because of the five who submitted bids for the contract, no others could match the amount of studies performed in relation to public safety departments.
The study will take four to six months to complete, Dame said. The goal is to have it completed by the end of the year, he said.
The study will cost approximately $22,250, of which 25 percent will be paid through a state Economic Vitality Incentive Program grant. The remaining balance will be shared equally between the Park and the City.
Dame pursued the funding for the study through the state after state revenue sharing was changed. The changes in part look for local municipalities to try to share operations with neighboring municipalities to achieve operational efficiencies as well as money savings.
The study does not involve the remaining three Grosse Pointes. The Farms specifically declined to participate as Mayor James Farquhar said he was more comfortable with working with the Grosse Pointe Public Safety Ad Hoc committee on such issues.
City officials and at least one city councilman have expressed that the ad hoc committee is moving too slowly and they wish to start looking into the option now rather than years down the road.
Councilman Chris Walsh said the potential consolidation is an important thing to study because in the long-term he'd rather be dealing with controlling the budget rather than repeatedly going to residents for a tax rate increase.
Dame said Monday the study will begin as soon as the Park council approves the contract.
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City of Grosse Pointe Park
15115 E Jefferson Ave, Grosse Pointe Park, MI -
City of Grosse Pointe
17147 Maumee Ave, Grosse Pointe, MI -
happy for em
10:24 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Good for the City and Park, I am sure the study will show some small savings if any to begin with, but the real savings comes in the long run. It will also make for a great department for those officers who really want to be public safety officers
Joseph Sucher
4:37 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
A bold, but very serious and thoughtful effort that should pay off in the long run. Congrats to Peter Dame and all others involved for taking the initiative. Any thoughts that the Pointes can exist forever as independent municipalities given today's financial realities are not based in reality. Five payroll systems, five accounting offices, five computer systems, five of just about everything no longer makes good sense. Even the governor is encouraging changes.
The Grosse Pointe Public Safety Ad Hoc committee, while initially a groundbreaking project, always seemed to be bogged down and unable to close the deal. Hopefully the pace of producing actionable items leading to real change has picked up.