Stanton Advances Smart Poles Downtown as Township Rejects Blight Program

The Stanton City Commission heard a pitch Tuesday evening for "smart" light poles that would rewire downtown with public Wi-Fi, emergency alert systems, enhanced LED lighting, and license plate tracking capabilities, while across Montcalm County, Montcalm Township's board joined the growing list of townships refusing to sign onto the county's blight elimination program.

Planning Commission Chairwoman Tammy Ferguson arranged the downtown presentation from Intellistreets, a Farmington Hills-based company that converts standard streetlights into networked, multi-functional infrastructure. The proposed poles can also integrate environmental sensors and EV charging stations, making them a centerpiece of the city's grant-funded downtown improvement effort. The license plate reading capability drew immediate scrutiny, raising questions about surveillance and privacy in the small Montcalm County seat.

The Intellistreets pitch follows a broader push in Stanton to modernize its downtown corridor through available grant funding. City Hall, located at 225 S. Camburn Street, has been active in recent months pursuing Michigan State Housing Development Authority resources, including a CDBG release request filed in February.

On the blight front, Montcalm Township's board voted against adopting the county's model blight enforcement ordinance, a template that has struggled to gain traction since Montcalm County commissioners began promoting it. Of the county's 20 townships, only Crystal Township has signed an agreement, leaving commissioners openly questioning whether the program can function with a single participant.

The county's own sheriff has described the ordinance template as "cumbersome and restrictive," a signal of how contested the enforcement framework has become. The blight debate traces back to early 2023, when Sheriff Williams announced his office would no longer enforce the existing county blight ordinance, citing the need for a new template to be developed in coordination with the Prosecutor's Office. Commissioners subsequently approved a part-time junk ordinance deputy position funded through the sheriff's law enforcement millage in the county's 2025-2026 budget.

With most townships still on the sidelines and Montcalm Township's no vote adding to the resistance, the county's blight enforcement ambitions remain largely theoretical. Meanwhile, the smart pole proposal in Stanton moves forward into grant planning, with the City Commission's reception of the Intellistreets presentation marking a formal step toward a decision on whether license plate readers and networked poles will become part of the city's streetscape.