Madison Heights continues upgrading public safety facilities

MADISON HEIGHTS — Work is underway at the Madison Heights Police Department to overhaul its heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, and officials say it’s just the latest in a series of upgrades to the city’s police and fire stations.

The police station, located at 280 W. 13 Mile Road, was originally constructed in 1991, and its HVAC system dates back to that time. According to Sean Ballantine, director of the Madison Heights Department of Public Services, the aging system has been experiencing skyrocketing maintenance costs and downtime. The system wasn’t designed properly to manage the building’s heat needs, he said, which has resulted in its electric heating components running near constantly.

The bid to replace it came in significantly higher than the city anticipated, so the decision was made to split the project into two phases. At press time, the first phase was nearly complete, including the replacement of the station’s four rooftop air handlers, the air unit for its gun range, the security garage’s heating system, a full duct cleaning, and the integration of digital building controls on new and existing components.

The second phase will involve the installation of a boiler system and related piping, and the replacement of the failing electric zone reheat boxes with new hot water reheat boxes. Ballantine said this will greatly increase energy efficiency and overall comfort at the station.

The project is supported in part by $500,000 in state funding that was secured by state Rep. Mike McFall, D-Hazel Park, as part of the final state budget for fiscal year 2025.

“I want to give Rep. McFall some props,” said Mark Bliss, mayor pro tem of Madison Heights. “I’m very thankful for his commitment to improving the lives of the residents of our city. He’s very active with our council and administration, and he really listens.

“Investments that we’re able to make today are always going to be cheaper for the city in the long haul than having to pay for catastrophic repairs in the future if the work is deferred,” Bliss said. “There are times to defer, when we’re faced with our next recession as a city and won’t be able to modernize anything. But for now, taking advantage of grant dollars and making small but reasonably substantial investments into our buildings and infrastructure — particularly those around public safety — will make a huge difference 10, 20, 30 years from now. And it’s a huge benefit to our taxpayers when we get government grants, since that’s more of their money coming back to the city.”

Brent LeMerise, the police chief of Madison Heights, echoed the sentiment.

“We’re thankful that Rep. McFall was able to secure those funds to keep our building in the condition it operates,” LeMerise said.

Madison Heights City Manager Melissa Marsh noted that in recent years, the city of Madison Heights has been making a concerted effort to hire a more diverse workforce, including more women. To this end, there has been a “significant uptick in the amount of female police candidates applying,” Marsh said. And so, with cost savings from the renovation project at Civic Center Plaza, the city has updated and expanded the women’s locker room at the police station, representing no additional cost to taxpayers.

“This update aims to show new officers and recruits that their needs are prioritized, and that management values their contributions as essential team members,” Marsh said via email.

The police station underwent another major project in 2019 — costing just shy of $600,000 — when a new roof was installed. The project necessitated a loan from the city’s water and sewer fund to the general fund to pay for it at the time. Officials say the need was clear: the original roof also dated back to the building’s construction in 1991, and at the time the roof was eight years out of its 20-year warranty, requiring more maintenance and repairs.

“Besides keeping rain out of the building, the new roof has significantly improved (the station’s) insulation rating, which has resulted in greatly increased building comfort, and lower HVAC operating costs in the winter and summer months,” Ballantine said in an email.

“One of the interesting things about facilities and capital management is how quickly time goes by,” he added. “Our ‘new’ police station is 33 years old. Our ‘brand new’ fire station is 20 years old. The major renovations to our library happened 17 years ago. This makes long-term planning and budgeting essential, since the original components on these ‘new’ buildings are no longer new by any stretch of the imagination.”

Fire Station No. 1, located at 31313 Brush St., is beginning its own HVAC upgrade, with phase funding to replace units and controls, and a full engineering study planned to identify and alleviate other problems that should lead to improved comfort and operational costs.

The city is also seeking grant funding to replace Fire Station No. 1’s roof, which is a single-membrane system original to the building and out of warranty, showing signs of being near the end of its operational lifespan. The goal is to replace the system with a full built-up roof system that greatly enhances the building’s insulation, and that will last at least another 30 years.

In August 2023, city officials cut the ribbon on renovations at the other fire station, aptly named Fire Station No. 2 and located at 26339 John R Road. The $2.8 million project was part of the larger $14.2 million project that also downsized City Hall, renovated the library next door, and built the new Active Adult Center between them, all part of the Civic Center Plaza renovations.

The renovated Fire Station No. 2 features more space for fire apparatus, private showers and living quarters with accommodations for both male and female firefighters, and a new gym to keep personnel fit and healthy.

Mayor Roslyn Grafstein said safety remains a top priority for the City Council. She said that a long-term priority-based budgeting plan has allowed the city to tackle maintenance and infrastructure needs by using grants and partnerships to lower costs and offset expenses.

“Our dedication to fiscal responsibility and environmental awareness has enabled us to pursue projects that offer significant cost savings while reducing our carbon footprint,” she said via email. “As many other older cities also struggle with aging infrastructure, our proactive planning keeps us ahead of the curve, ensuring our city’s resilience and sustainability for the future.”