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The massive spending bill approved by the U.S. House this week includes $1.4 million in funding for Macomb County law enforcement to consolidate some dispatch services and build a command center that would be activated during emergencies, such as a tornado or flood.
The money is part of a $410 billion spending bill stuffed with earmarks that was passed in the House and is expected to win final approval in the Senate next week. Macomb County's two lawmakers, Sander Levin and Candice Miller, secured a combined $3.8 million in special projects for the county.
Levin, a Royal Oak Democrat, and Miller, a Harrison Township Republican, joined together to insert three allocations into the bill to benefit Lake St. Clair, Macomb Community College and Macomb County's new business "incubator."
Miller also arranged funding for dredging of the lake and Clinton River.
Most of the appropriations were secured by Levin, including $500,000 for a Macomb County Emergency Operations Center and $900,000 for a consolidation of emergency dispatch services in Roseville, St. Clair Shores, Eastpointe and Harper Woods.
The emergency command center is envisioned as a 1,500-square-foot facility within an old county warehouse, located
adjacent to the Macomb County Jail in Mount Clemens.
The center would be manned by personnel from the sheriff's department, police departments, fire departments, EMS, hospitals and county department heads in times of disaster, such as a blizzard, tornado, flood, blackout or terrorist attack.
"We want a stand-alone facility that's ready to go, equipped with phones, computers, televisions, (police) radios and a generator," said Vicki Wolber, county emergency management coordinator. "From there, we would coordinate and direct the response to a disaster."
Wolber said the full price tag on the center is estimated at up to $850,000, with the remainder of the money possibly coming in the 2010 federal budget or from Department of Homeland Security grants.
Several southeast Michigan counties, plus the city of Detroit, already have such emergency centers.
The $900,000 for dispatch consolidation revives an idea that was raised by a 2007 study. But the concept of creating a single, south Macomb dispatch center is far from complete.
It's unclear whether officials in Harper Woods, which is located in Wayne County, are still willing to play a part. In addition, Clinton Township participated in the '07 study but later indicated little interest in following through, except for its fire department.
Roseville Fire Chief Ben Foronato said the consolidation of seven dispatch centers may not succeed unless fire departments and police departments are separated, due to differing protocols and technology.
Though more study is needed, the project could involve reconfiguration of the dispatch center in Roseville, the purchase of additional dispatch radios, improvements to the 911 phone system, and installation of additional computer terminals
"If these (four) communities are still interested, this would give us a big shot in the arm to pay for all the infrastructure," Foronato said.
The congressional bill, which provides funds for the current fiscal year, is unrelated to the proposed 2010 budget unveiled Thursday by President Obama. The $410 billion spending bill won House approval on a 245-178 vote, largely along party lines.
Miller was one of just 16 Republicans who supported the measure.
Among the other earmarks in the bill for Macomb County:
$385,000 for the county's upcoming business "incubator," located in Sterling Heights, which will aid high-tech, start-up companies as they seek to become established. The federal funds will help pay for renovations to the building, including possible construction of a laboratory and testing facilities.
$459,000 to finish dredging the lower portion of the Clinton River, from I-94 to Lake St. Clair, and $145,000 to dredge a portion of the Lake St. Clair shipping channel.
$167,000 to allow Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Warren to launch a "Diabetes Care and Support" program.
$191,000 to the Army Corps of Engineers to improve water quality in Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River. The Corps will use the money to write an "Implementation Plan," a project approved by Congress in 1999 to help combat — and keep accurate records of — pollution in the waters.
$142,500 to renovate and reopen the Fitzgerald Recreation Center in south Warren. The building would be operated as a senior center and community building, with youth and adult programs offered when the seniors are not using the facility.
$119,000 to help the Warren library system purchase books, audio-visual materials and computer software, with a special emphasis on improving children's literacy.
In a symbolic bow to the recession, House Democrats included in the spending measure a prohibition on a cost-of-living pay increase for members of Congress for the year.
Overall, the legislation would provide budget increases of roughly 8 percent for 12 Cabinet departments and federal agencies it covered, about $32 billion more than last year.
The bill is intended to allow smooth functioning of the government through the Sept. 30 end of this fiscal year.
After persuading lawmakers to keep earmarks off the economic stimulus bill, Obama made no such attempt on the first non-emergency spending measure of his presidency. The result was that lawmakers claimed billions in federal funds for pet projects — a total of 8,570 earmarks at a cost of $7.7 billion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense. Majority Democrats declined to provide a number of earmarks, but insisted the cost was far smaller, $3.8 billion, 5 percent less than a year ago.
Miller said she offers no apologies for providing earmarks that will benefit her district.
"I think the abuse of earmarks has given earmarks a very bad name," the congresswoman said. "They have to pass the smell test. And any person who requests one should have no difficulty standing up and defending it."
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