By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
With close to $3.5 million in improvements being recommended to the city of Zeeland’s public safety building and Roosevelt Fire Station, city officials are floating the idea of a dedicated public safety millage as an option for paying for these projects.
Assistant City Manager Kevin Plockmeyer proposed the public safety levy at a June 15 City Council study session as part of an overall discussion on the city’s facility needs and how to approach paying for needed improvements to those facilities. He said that improvements to the public safety building and fire station are largely tied to future decisions on staffing and service model.
“We do see that if we are going down more towards a fulltime fire department or adding additional police staff, and if we need to make building improvements as part of that overall decision, we would see a dedicated public safety millage as an opportunity, as a funding source,” Plockmeyer said.
“That would require votes. That would require buy-in from the overall community, and we see that as definitely a possibility.”
The Grand Rapids-based architectural firm Tower Pinkster, which last year conducted an audit of the city’s facilities, has recommended $2,567,706 in improvements to the public safety building and $909,600 in upgrades to the Roosevelt Fire Station.
Recommended improvements to the public safety building included additions for vehicle garage space and workroom space, as well as interior renovations for both police and fire operations. The police-related improvements include office and locker room renovations, while fire-related improvements include office, locker room, day room, and decontamination improvements, Plockmeyer wrote in a memo to the council.
Meanwhile, the scope of recommended work at the Roosevelt Fire Station includes a decontamination area addition and interior renovations to locker rooms, break room, training room, and equipment storage, Plockmeyer wrote in his memo.
Tower Pinkster has submitted a recommended facility prioritization plan that “organizes future improvements into annual maintenance and repair needs, along with three larger series of work. This structure is intended to help Council distinguish between ongoing asset stewardship, near-term facility priorities, public safety and operationally driven improvements, and longer-term capital goals,” Plockmeyer wrote.
The public safety building, the fire station and the Felch Street cemetery have been grouped into Series 2 for purposes of the prioritization plan.
Plockmeyer said the recommendations for improvements are not a knock on how the city’s buildings have been maintained over the years.
“They are well-maintained, well-functioning spaces,” he said. “They’re just getting tired, some of them. The last round of improvements were done in 2008, the earliest ones in 1993. We’re approaching that 25-to-30-year mark on all of our facilities. If you have homes that are around that age, it’s amazing what breaks, all the time.”
City Hall and the Howard Miller Library and Community Center are considered a Series 1 group, or having the highest-priority for improvements to be done. Tower Pinkster has identified nearly $10.2 million in recommended improvements for the two facilities - $7,697,606 at the library and community center and $2,466,651 at City Hall. Plockmeyer is suggesting the city consider bonding for those improvements.
“We don’t have the cash reserves set aside. It’s going to take us several years to accumulate that much in cash reserves,” he said.
Recommended improvements at the library and community center include lower-level community room improvements, storage and corridor renovations, library renovations, workroom expansion, exterior and building envelope improvements, roof replacement, Kalwall skylight replacement, EIFS panel replacement, a new entrance canopy, and related sidewalk and parking modifications.
Meanwhile, Tower Pinkster recommended at City Hall interior renovations on each floor, window replacement, roof replacement, elevator replacement, and improvements to mechanical and technology systems.
In his memo, Plockmeyer wrote that the two projects should be looked at as a single coordinated package, “allowing the city to maximize operational efficiencies and ensure that improvements in one facility support the long-term functionality of the other.”
The library receives more than 100,000 visits annually.
“It is a cornerstone of this community. It’s an economic driver, a development driver for the downtown,” Plockmeyer said.
Councilman Andrew Bult said prioritizing improvements at the library makes sense.
“We are a frequent user of libraries in the area. I think we’ve fallen behind Georgetown and Holland. I’d love to see us get moving on the library (upgrades),” Bult said.
Tower Pinkster also recommended more than $6.88 million in improvements to the city’s maintenance facility and another $1.34 million for an addition to the public safety building to house the city’s emergency operations center.
“At this point, we see those as long-term improvements,” Plockmeyer said.
The maintenance facility upgrades would include expanded salt storage, expanded indoor-heated equipment storage, new cold storage, locker room renovations and mechanical improvements, Plockmeyer wrote in his memo.
Tower Pinkster also recommended the city set aside $200,000-$250,000 annually in its budget to cover maintenance costs.
“Annual maintenance and repair should be treated as a recurring asset stewardship obligation and incorporated into the city’s capital planning and annual budget discussions,” Plockmeyer wrote in his memo.
No decisions have been made on the recommendations.
Zeeland Record
With close to $3.5 million in improvements being recommended to the city of Zeeland’s public safety building and Roosevelt Fire Station, city officials are floating the idea of a dedicated public safety millage as an option for paying for these projects.
Assistant City Manager Kevin Plockmeyer proposed the public safety levy at a June 15 City Council study session as part of an overall discussion on the city’s facility needs and how to approach paying for needed improvements to those facilities. He said that improvements to the public safety building and fire station are largely tied to future decisions on staffing and service model.
“We do see that if we are going down more towards a fulltime fire department or adding additional police staff, and if we need to make building improvements as part of that overall decision, we would see a dedicated public safety millage as an opportunity, as a funding source,” Plockmeyer said.
“That would require votes. That would require buy-in from the overall community, and we see that as definitely a possibility.”
The Grand Rapids-based architectural firm Tower Pinkster, which last year conducted an audit of the city’s facilities, has recommended $2,567,706 in improvements to the public safety building and $909,600 in upgrades to the Roosevelt Fire Station.
Recommended improvements to the public safety building included additions for vehicle garage space and workroom space, as well as interior renovations for both police and fire operations. The police-related improvements include office and locker room renovations, while fire-related improvements include office, locker room, day room, and decontamination improvements, Plockmeyer wrote in a memo to the council.
Meanwhile, the scope of recommended work at the Roosevelt Fire Station includes a decontamination area addition and interior renovations to locker rooms, break room, training room, and equipment storage, Plockmeyer wrote in his memo.
Tower Pinkster has submitted a recommended facility prioritization plan that “organizes future improvements into annual maintenance and repair needs, along with three larger series of work. This structure is intended to help Council distinguish between ongoing asset stewardship, near-term facility priorities, public safety and operationally driven improvements, and longer-term capital goals,” Plockmeyer wrote.
The public safety building, the fire station and the Felch Street cemetery have been grouped into Series 2 for purposes of the prioritization plan.
Plockmeyer said the recommendations for improvements are not a knock on how the city’s buildings have been maintained over the years.
“They are well-maintained, well-functioning spaces,” he said. “They’re just getting tired, some of them. The last round of improvements were done in 2008, the earliest ones in 1993. We’re approaching that 25-to-30-year mark on all of our facilities. If you have homes that are around that age, it’s amazing what breaks, all the time.”
City Hall and the Howard Miller Library and Community Center are considered a Series 1 group, or having the highest-priority for improvements to be done. Tower Pinkster has identified nearly $10.2 million in recommended improvements for the two facilities - $7,697,606 at the library and community center and $2,466,651 at City Hall. Plockmeyer is suggesting the city consider bonding for those improvements.
“We don’t have the cash reserves set aside. It’s going to take us several years to accumulate that much in cash reserves,” he said.
Recommended improvements at the library and community center include lower-level community room improvements, storage and corridor renovations, library renovations, workroom expansion, exterior and building envelope improvements, roof replacement, Kalwall skylight replacement, EIFS panel replacement, a new entrance canopy, and related sidewalk and parking modifications.
Meanwhile, Tower Pinkster recommended at City Hall interior renovations on each floor, window replacement, roof replacement, elevator replacement, and improvements to mechanical and technology systems.
In his memo, Plockmeyer wrote that the two projects should be looked at as a single coordinated package, “allowing the city to maximize operational efficiencies and ensure that improvements in one facility support the long-term functionality of the other.”
The library receives more than 100,000 visits annually.
“It is a cornerstone of this community. It’s an economic driver, a development driver for the downtown,” Plockmeyer said.
Councilman Andrew Bult said prioritizing improvements at the library makes sense.
“We are a frequent user of libraries in the area. I think we’ve fallen behind Georgetown and Holland. I’d love to see us get moving on the library (upgrades),” Bult said.
Tower Pinkster also recommended more than $6.88 million in improvements to the city’s maintenance facility and another $1.34 million for an addition to the public safety building to house the city’s emergency operations center.
“At this point, we see those as long-term improvements,” Plockmeyer said.
The maintenance facility upgrades would include expanded salt storage, expanded indoor-heated equipment storage, new cold storage, locker room renovations and mechanical improvements, Plockmeyer wrote in his memo.
Tower Pinkster also recommended the city set aside $200,000-$250,000 annually in its budget to cover maintenance costs.
“Annual maintenance and repair should be treated as a recurring asset stewardship obligation and incorporated into the city’s capital planning and annual budget discussions,” Plockmeyer wrote in his memo.
No decisions have been made on the recommendations.
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