Apr. 16—TRAVERSE CITY — The Grand Traverse County board is set to review financing options this morning for a major project on LaFranier Road that goes by the name "Project Alpha."

Estimated to cost between $11 million and $16 million, the proposed construction would combine the 911 Dispatch Center and Emergency Operations center in a new building on the county's LaFranier campus.

The project would also include a new communications tower, emergency generator and storage building for the facilities department, as well as improvements to parking and driveways. The total square footage is estimated at about 30,000 square feet.

Project Alpha is the outgrowth of a 10-year Facilities Master Plan presented earlier this year by architecture and engineering firm Tower Pinkster. This specific project encompasses only one part of that overall plan.

According to the official agenda, county board members will not vote to approve, modify or cancel Project Alpha at today's meeting. Rather, they will discuss two proposed financing options.

The first option is to use of available cash from three sources: the county's general fund, the 911 surcharge fund and other cash reserves currently invested in various ways.

The second option involves issuing 30-year bonds in the amount of $20 million. County administrators said, in a memo to the county board, that bond payments would be be charged to the general fund, dedicated millages and the 911 surcharge fund.

"The county can issue bonds in this amount and potentially a higher amount due to the county's very good bond rating, continued growth in revenue, and high debt capacity," the memo states.

Current debt service payment for the Hall of Justice ($585,000 annually) ends in 2025, and the annual $270,000 payment for the Health Services ends in 2033, the memo adds.

Board Vice Chairman Brad Jewett first proposed building the combined 911/EOC center at a March 6 meeting of the county commission. Following pushback from other commissioners, the board voted 8-1 to seek more information instead, which led to the Project Alpha document.

In other business this morning, the board will take action to define height restrictions around Cherry Capital Airport, also known as TVC. These restrictions will apply both to new construction and natural growth.

The Michigan Airport Zoning Act is a state law passed in 1950 that requires establishing and enforcing zoning regulations in areas that may affect flight operations within 20,000 horizontal feet of the nearest runway.

To comply with that in a period of rapid development, the county board will consider a motion to request the Michigan Aeronautics Commission to define the "airport hazard area" for Cherry Capital Airport.

Board members will also review the updated investment policy for the county treasurer's office based on input from investment consulting firm Robinson Capital.

Work on developing a new policy began in summer 2023 and aims to satisfy three main objectives: 1) Propose improvements to the current investment policy; 2) Create a cash flow projection process to help optimize earnings while maintaining security; 3) Help formulate a strategic investment plan.

Commissioners will also review a variety of other matters, ranging from budgeting and ARPA reimbursements to surplus equipment disposal and emergency vehicle equipment.

Today's meeting of the Grand Traverse County Commission will begin at 9 a.m. in the second floor commission chambers of the Governmental Center, 400 Boardman Ave., in downtown Traverse City. The full agenda packet for the meeting is available at https://grandtraversecounty.civicweb.net/document/244237/.