Grand Traverse County approves $26M Project Alpha emergency operations campus

Grand Traverse County commissioners unanimously voted to advance Project Alpha, a LaFranier Road campus that will consolidate an emergency operations center and 911/Central Dispatch and add a large central operations building, and authorized the county chair to execute an AIA Document A133 agreement with Cunningham-Limp as construction manager at risk. Commissioners’ action follows two years of planning and moves the project from design into procurement and contracting.

Cost estimates reported by local outlets differ: UpNorthLive and county materials describe the campus as a $26 million project, while TraverseTicker reports Cunningham-Limp will provide updates on an estimated $27 million to $28.6 million expansion. The board did not set a final guaranteed maximum price at the meeting; project staff cited a March GMP milestone and said some site elements will be budgeted separately when designs are not finalized.

Designs for the campus specify a 13,500-square-foot combined emergency communications and operations center and a 38,000-square-foot central operations building for storage and operational space for multiple county departments, including facilities management, according to TraverseTicker. County materials say the campus will house the emergency operations center, 911/Central Dispatch and a centralized storage and operations building to support county departments from the LaFranier Road site.

Construction is planned to begin this spring with a target completion in 2027, and procurement activity has already ramped up. 9&10news reported that 400 subcontractor bid invitations were sent as part of preconstruction work. The board’s AIA A133 authorization establishes Cunningham-Limp’s role as construction manager at risk and allows subcontractor procurement to proceed.

County leaders flagged major cost items outside Cunningham-Limp’s scope. Technology infrastructure, networking, furniture and the computers and phones needed to operate the 911 center will be procured separately; the county’s 911 director told commissioners that “a building is of limited use without the computers and phones needed to handle calls.” Staff are developing equipment and provisioning cost estimates and will present those figures at a future meeting to avoid a finished facility without operational systems.

Networking and redundancy planning are already under way; county staff said redundant fiber connections are being planned and that fiber and networking work has a six- to eight-month lead time. Green infrastructure decisions were also addressed: commissioners previously voted in December to add solar panels to both buildings and to install an on-site well for irrigation and backup potable water. A proposed rain garden was discussed with green suppliers but will be budgeted separately because its design will not be finalized in time for the March GMP.

Project Alpha also prompted discussion of the county’s emergency notification vendor. Emergency Management Coordinator Gregg Bird detailed problems after an October upgrade to CodeRED by Crisis24, saying the county experienced “critical issues” including “numerous software glitches” and message failures and that “CodeRED personnel inadvertently overwrote our current database with outdated information from one year prior, resulting in loss of updated resident data.” TraverseTicker reported commissioners will consider a request to switch from CodeRED to HQE Systems.

Public reaction appeared on social media after the vote. An UpNorthLive post linking local coverage drew 17 reactions, 15 comments and 2 shares; commenter Brenda Strzynski wrote, “I personally think when any type of government local,State or Federal wants to spend our money the people should have a say in it.” Commissioner Andrews requested that building authority meeting minutes include detailed payment information, including amounts paid to each subcontractor, reflecting heightened interest in financial transparency as the county moves into the construction phase.