Huntington Woods, Berkley

Woods renews public safety dispatch contract with Berkley

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

HUNTINGTON WOODS/ BERKLEY — The 18-year public safety relationship between the two cities will continue for at least one more year.

At its Jan. 17 meeting, the Huntington Woods City Commission unanimously approved a new public safety dispatch and prisoner lockup agreement with Berkley that will result in nearly $40,000 in annual savings for the city. The $60,000 contract includes all 911 emergency calls, emergency medical services and arrestee housing for Huntington Woods Public Safety 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The new agreement will begin on July 1 and cover the 2012-13 fiscal year. However, according to City Manager Alex Allie, it will most likely continue beyond that period. The brief, two-page document states that the contract will automatically be renewed each year and increase by the same percentage as the consumer price index for the metro Detroit area, unless either city seeks to renegotiate the deal. In addition, in order to terminate the agreement, each party is required to submit a written notice at least one year in advance.

Berkley Public Safety has provided dispatch, EMS and prisoner lockup services for Huntington Woods since 1994. The current annual price of the contract is $99,314, but Woods officials had hoped to bring that amount down significantly this year. In July, former Ferndale interim City Manager Mark Wollenweber — who was Allie’s predecessor as city manager of Huntington Woods — made an offer to provide the same services to the city for only $60,000. Woods officials considered making the switch to Ferndale before Berkley agreed to lower its price.

Mayor Ron Gillham was happy to finalize the new agreement, which the City Commission had been discussing for the last few months.

“You always want to consider every available option with something like this,” he said. “Ferndale made us a good offer, but Berkley was able to match it, and we’re already familiar with their system because we’ve worked with them for such a long time. It’s not a perfect plan, but it’s good enough for right now.”

Woods Public Safety Director Steve Fairman stressed that the contract negotiations primarily came down to financial concerns, with Woods officials looking to save as much money as possible for the city.

“From my point of view, Berkley’s service has been good for us, so this new contract will continue to be business as usual,” he said. “Operationally, there would not have been any significant differences between the two cities (Berkley and Ferndale). This service will essentially be the same no matter where we get it from.”

Although Berkley will be receiving less revenue from Huntington Woods once July rolls around, Berkley officials were glad to be able to maintain their public safety partnership with the city.

“We’ve worked together for so long as neighbors, and we want to continue that great relationship,” said City Manager Jane Bais-DiSessa. “We are grateful that they decided to approve this contract and stay with us. We know that we provide a very good service to them, and I look forward to sharing other projects with them in the future.”

Mayor Phil O’Dwyer agreed. He pointed out that the two communities have many things in common and have long held strong ties.

“We’re trying to make sure that we preserve our close and trusting relationship with our neighbors,” he said. “We are shining examples of the type of regional collaboration that Gov. Snyder has been talking about so much for the past year. We share the (Berkley) School District, and we share so many other services that it was not worth disrupting that bond just so that we could make a few more dollars on our end.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jSelweski@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5004.