Louis Mayett, right, of OHM provided a presentation to a joint meeting of the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners and the county’s Road Commission Thursday, on the conceptual design of the Emergency and Essential Operations Center project. (Photo Courtesy of Keweenaw County Sheriff Curt Pennala)

EAGLE RIVER — At a joint meeting of the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners and the Road Commission on Thursday, trustees and members of the public received an update on the Keweenaw County Emergency & Essential Operations Center project.

“Right now,” said Keweenaw County Sheriff Curt Pennala, “we’re coming up on the end of the $50,000 Rural Readiness grant that the county received.”

The grant originated in Aug. 2023, when the County Board approved a request from Julia Petersen, project manager of the Keweenaw Heartlands, the Nature Conservancy of Michigan to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) to apply for a Rural Readiness Grant through the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). TNC and the Keweenaw Community Foundation were the co-applicants. The intent was to fund studies for a proposed emergency response center located in Keweenaw County.

A two-phased project was proposed, which included applying this Rural Readiness Grant funding to Phase I of the project. Phase I focuses on the development of plans for a brick-and-mortar Keweenaw County Emergency Operations Center. This grant is for $50,000 with a $10,000 match being divided by TNC, the KCF, and the Sheriff’s Office.

In Jan. 2024, the county was awarded the $50,000 Rural Readiness Grant from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Office of Rural Prosperity.

The grant helped fund a contract with OHM Advisors. Louis Mayette, with OHM, presented at the Thursday meeting and explained the current conceptual design to both boards.

The design showed a multi-use building that would house Keweenaw County Search-and-Rescue; contain a large classroom for training and gathering of emergency services volunteers; permit multi-agency exercises and Emergency Operations Center activation in the event of a large-scale emergency event; and provide adequate and professional space for the Road Commission’s delivery of essential services.

Robin Menneguzzo, with the Keweenaw Community Foundation, and Petersen updated the boards on current funding opportunities available through state and federal governments.

Applications for two grants and requests for funding have already been submitted, and the team will learn of the outcomes of those applications in spring. They have plans to apply for additional grants.

Both Sheriff Curt Pennala and Road Commission Engineer Greg Kingstrom were present to brief the board on the current status of the project and the needs of both organizations.

Pennala said the Board has been addressing the county’s emergency services for several years, which includes some type of emergency operations center. The operations center is response to the increasing number of visitors to the county since the COVID-19 pandemic, when people sought safe places to social distancing. With the increase came increasing pressure on the county’s emergency services that prompted Pennala to organize the county’s search and rescue.

“In the past 3 years, calls for services in the County have increased by 30 percent,” said Pennala, “which has increased the demand for improved infrastructure, emergency response, and coordination.”

At the same time, the Road Commission’s primary building, built in 1916, faces significant deferred maintenance and structural decline.

Collaboration between the county and road commission on this building, Pennala said, offers an opportunity to cost-share while meeting several infrastructure and emergency operations needs within the county.