City Hall, Police Station and More: Committee Shares Facilities Recommendations for Ferndale

(Crystal A. Proxmire, Nov. 13, 2022)

Ferndale, MI – Time takes its toll on buildings, and technology and staffing needs change.  That’s why the City of Ferndale created a Facilities Task Force to evaluate the city’s assets and needs, and provide recommendations for moving forward which include a new city hall, public safety building, and more.

The committee, made up of residents with a variety of backgrounds including entrepreneurship, architecture, construction, and government, met regularly for over six months.  They toured each building to see the challenges firsthand. They discussed a variety of options.  And on Oct. 17, 2022 they presented their recommendations to council.

Donnie Johnson, a Ferndale resident who works for the City of Detroit and Chairperson of the Task Force, gave the presentation.

“We got to see a lot of the inner workings of city government in terms of infrastructure, buildings, vehicles – a lot of things that make government go we don’t often get to see, and we take for granted,” Johnson said.  “It’s one thing to see it in a report.  It’s another to see it with your own eyes.”

He said that many options were considered before coming up with the recommended plan. The plan is just a recommendation, and City Council may or may not move forward with the suggestions it contains.

In the cover letter of the report, the Task Force “agreed on these themes”:

-Ferndale’s public facilities are in disrepair.

-First responders deserve healthy buildings that comply with industry best practices.

-Residents deserve access to quality services and activities.

-City staff deserve an environment conducive to performing their best work on behalf of residents.

PHASE ONE

“Phase One priorities public safety,” Johnson said.  It calls for turning Fire Station Two – located on 9 Mile east of Hilton – into a consolidated police and fire building – giving both departments improved working conditions and freeing up the current police station for other potential development.

Fire Station One – located on Livernois – is also in need of expansion and renovation.  “In both instances firefighters are sleeping over fire truck bays,” Johnson said. As firefighters work long shifts, they use the station for eating, sleeping, and staying busy while waiting for fire and ambulance calls.  “We should not expect our firefighters to live in these conditions.  Those facilities are old. They are out of date. They are broken.”

Fire Station One’s expansion would require moving the current Ferndale Historical Society.  The Society is not a part of the city government, nor does the city own any of the historic items or records it contains.  Johnson said that the Society has about 3 years to find a new home if the recommendations are followed.

Phase One also addresses community center needs.  In September  Ferndale voted to end the contract with Ferndale Schools for renting the Kulick Community Center building, which was formerly Washington School. The center – named after former Mayor Gerry Kulick – has been closed for over a year due to repair issues including the heating system and the roof. “It would require a good deal of money, not to even bring it into a good state of repair, but to bring it to an operable state of repair,” he said.  “It does not make sense to invest millions into a building the city does not own.”

The Task Force recommended expanding the concession stand at Martin Road Park into a facility that could include “An indoor/outdoor recreation facility that includes public restrooms, athletic equipment rental area, multipurpose room, concession stand, staff office, and storage space.”  Additional community center space is addressed in Phase Two with the recommendation of moving City Hall.

Currently the Recreation Department is working out of rented office space at the co-working office space Incubizo.

Another consideration in Phase One is the SW Storage Yard – a space on the border with Royal Oak Township currently used for DPW storage.  The Task Force recommends a public/private partnership to improve the space and bring in revenue.  “It’s an industrial use.  It doesn’t belong in a neighborhood,” Johnson said.

PHASE TWO

Phase Two recommendations include moving City Hall to the top of the dot mixed use parking structure which was recently completed in the heart of the city’s Downtown.  The structure was built in a way that would allow for two stories to build on top of it.

“I know this may not be a popular recommendation,” Johnson said.  But the benefits he listed include the centralized location, the ability to have community center space there like meeting rooms and classrooms, and the fact that there are not other large parcels of land on which to build a new facility.  There is also already a relationship in place with the developer, making the process easier.

Johnson said of the current City Hall, “City Hall is in pretty bad shape when you look behind the walls,” referencing the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC.  He also said that it’s 7,000 sq feet smaller than it needs to be. The current property for the City Hall and Police Station could be sold.

Phase Two also includes a look at the Department of Public Works building. The property on E. Cambourne includes a salt barn that needs to be replaced. The Task Force recommends placing a new salt barn to a property on Wanda. They also recommend making improvements to the DPW building.

FUNDING

The Facilities Task Force considered financial implications of their recommendations, and looked at the long term costs of repairing vs. replacing.

“Ultimately our message was don’t through good money after bad,” Johnson said.  “We’ve reached the point where it doesn’t make sense to keep investing the way we’ve been investing… We need transformational investment.”

“The costs on this sheet are scary,” he added. “Capital investment is expensive, but this is what local government is here to do. This is what we’re called to do.”

The Task Force did acknowledge that the General Fund of the City would not be sufficient to cover the costs of the suggestions.

The report gives two funding options, with the Task Force recommending the second one.

The first is to issue bonds which raise money for specific purposes. Bond proposals must be voted on by the public, and each facility would require a separate vote. Sample ballot initiatives could be $25 million for public safety facility, $10 million for Fire 1 expansion, and $5 million for Martin Road Park facility on the Nov. 2024 election. And $18 million for the Community Center/City Hall on the Nov. 2026 election.

The second funding option is a Headlee Millage Override Renewal and City Charter Amendment. Initiative 1 requires renewing the 2015 voter-operating millage via a Headlee override. Initiative 2 requires voters to amend the Charter language limiting the City Charter operating millage to dedicate 5 mills for facilities and 15 mills for general operating services. If both initiatives are approved by a majority of voters, a dedicated budget for General Fund facility maintenance and capital improvements would increase by about 75%. With both proposals passing it would allocate 15 mils for the Operating Fund and 5 mils that would be restricted to Facilities.

NEXT STEPS

Ferndale City Council will review the suggestions and any actions taken would be at future council meetings.

Mayor Melanie Piana thanked the Task Force.  “I’m very proud of the work you’ve done here for the community on a topic that’s a complex one with no right path or answers,” she said. The report contained suggestions and no plans have been made or approved.

Members of the Facilities Task Force were Chris Best, Rachele Downs, Lynn Clark-Geiner, Donnie Johnson, Thomas Newman, Carla Pareja, David Strockis, Dale Vigliarolo, and Quinn Zeagler.

Read the report here.