Grant Awarded for 5 Pointes Dispatch/Lockup

Almost , the group received notice recently of a grant award which would put up to $300,000 toward such a project.

Ad Hoc committee spokesman and Manager Pete Dame recently received notice of the grant award from the state, he told council.

The grant is through the state's Economic Vitality Incentive Program, or EVIP--known formerly as state revenue sharing. It will contribute $1 for every $2 the Pointes spend on the project up to $300,000. If officials in the Pointes spend $600,000, the cities will be able to take full advantage of the grant.

Each of the city council's must approve a resolution stating they wish to participate within 60 days, Dame told the council. Work on such a project cannot begin until after this is complete.

In a rough estimate, Dame told council he believes the use of the grant could be completed in about a year. Officials would have longer to take advantage of the funding if necessary, but Dame said a year would be the objective for establishing an authority to oversee the project, to put a request for bids out, award a bid and then begin the actual physical work, he said.

If approved by all of the councils, among the first steps would be finding an agreeable location and determining how much money each of the cities would be able to contribute.

News of the grant comes almost one year after the ad hoc committee found that such a project was not financially feasible at the time for the five cities regardless of how the cost was split between them. The recommendation of the ad hoc committee at the time was to aim for smaller consolidation among the dispatch center with the ultimate goal of a five city consolidation.

Since, . Meanwhile, the from Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Farms and Grosse Pointe Park for dispatch consolidation.

The however, after Dame received notice of another grant award related to performing .

The grant will pay for much of the study, which is likely to begin soon since the application was approved.