Holly Township residents disappointed in police services proposal

HOLLY TOWNSHIP, Michigan – A long-awaited police services proposal from the village of Holly has left several members of the Holly Township Public Safety Committee calling for a re-bid.

The initial request for proposal was made by the Holly Township Board of Trustees on behalf of the Holly Township Public Safety Committee in August, asking the village of Holly, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department, and both the Fenton and Grand Blanc police departments to provide to provide costs for “minimum services,” which would include 24/7 coverage 365 days per year for emergency and non-emergency calls, as well as any necessary law enforcement and investigative services resulting from those calls.

Additionally, the request asked each department to provide a cost for “full service,” to include 24/7 coverage 365 days per year for proactive crime prevention patrols, proactive crime management and problem management strategies, in addition to the items listed under “minimum services.”

While the township didn’t receive proposals from either Fenton or Grand Blanc, proposals were received from the village of Holly and the OCSD and were discussed at the Sept. 16 Holly Township Board of Trustees meeting.

The bid received from the OCSD priced additional police services to the proposed Special Assessment District at $117,672 per year. The cost is to include one patrol car to provide periodic patrols to the assessment district on all three shifts of the day, seven days per week, 365 days per year, and indicated an officer would respond to all non-emergency and emergency calls from either Springfield or Highland townships.

The village of Holly’s bid provided three options for consideration.

Option one of the bid specifies that the village of Holly will establish a cooperative/supporting role with the Michigan State Police Groveland team for basic police service to the special assessment district. Additionally, the village will respond to emergency or non-emergency situations at the request of the Michigan State Police. The bid specifies the cost for these services to be $107,114 for the fiscal year of 2009. The figure translates to approximately $217 per household.

Option two of the village bid prices full police service for the tentative special assessment district. The area stretches from the eastern boundaries of the village west to Fish Lake Road, and From Quick Road south to Ann Street. The proposed district would encompass the Pulte Development, as well as the township’s overlay district east of Fish Lake Road, and both Holly and Adelphian academies.

Services would provide all necessary first responder services to the special assessment district, including 24/7 times 365 day responses to all non-emergency and emergency calls, proactive crime prevention patrols, and investigative duties necessary to meet the needs of the residents in the proposed area. The village of Holly valued option two to be $297,969 per year, or when divided by the 490 residences in the district, an increase of $608.10 per household.

The village of Holly’s third option offers the same full service capabilities for the entire Holly Township and, according to the proposal, is valued at $506,290 per year. Additiionally, option three would require "start up costs" for the first year in the amount of $117,716, capital dollars to be used to acquire necessary vehicles, uniforms, safety equipment, weapons, and communication equipment.

After reading OCSD’s bid, member of the Holly Township Public Safety Committee Mark Diaz said it was unclear to him whether an OCSD patrol car would be designated to the special assessment district, or if other patrol cars would be pulled from other townships as needed.

Diaz turned his attention to the village of Holly’s bid.

“What we got in option number one which is the low end is not as a primary department but as a secondary department – which means we would have to wait for the Michigan State Police to say, ‘Hey, we can’t make it – so by all means go ahead and handle it village of Holly,’” he said.  “All I’m pointing out is that option number one only says they would be a secondary unit, not a primary unit – which puts us back in the position where we are right now which is we have to wait for the state police.”

Fellow Holly Township Public Safety Committee member Mike Gould agreed, adding that he felt the original bid specifications were very specific.

“We looked at the low option and the high option,” Gould said. “The only difference between the two was one was dealing with immediate responses for 911 because our concern was with cutbacks in staff – Michigan State Police can take as long at 18 to 23 minutes to roll.

“They’re really not giving us anything,” Gould said of the village proposal. “Other than possibly recouping a little money that they lost over a number of years when they basically came into the township and never got paid for it – but it’s really not what we asked for.”

“If the village cuts (its) costs in half, it would still be a win-win situation for everyone,” Diaz said. “If they don’t, the village keeps the entire burden of funding the village police department, and we raise our collective voices in Lansing.”

Lambert said he would be contacting the village of Holly to set up a meeting when Diaz and others can meet with officials and discuss other possible options.