http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=3571
Keweenaw board approves spending for communications center
Money will help pay for wiring in building
By KURT HAUGLIE, DMG Writer
EAGLE RIVER — A joint Keweenaw/Houghton County emergency command communications center is moving closer to completion as a result of action taken Wednesday by the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners.
Commissioners unanimously approved spending a maximum of $1,500 for communications equipment wiring at the center on Hecla Street in Laurium.
Jack Dueweke, emergency services coordinator for Houghton and Keweenaw counties, said the building in which the center is located was purchased after the voters of Houghton approved the establishment of a 911 telephone system in 1998. After the Michigan State Police took over that function at its Regional Dispatch Center in Negaunee, much of the communications equipment in the Laurium building remained.
“It’s got more telephone lines than you’ll ever use,” Dueweke said.
About $20,000 has been spent on the center, Dueweke said, and it has telephone and radio equipment as well as access for laptop computers.
Having a central communications will greatly help with coordination of emergency personnel in the event of a major disaster, especially one that affects both counties, Dueweke said.
“I think it’s a good location for both counties,” he said. “The benefit to both counties if there’s a disaster would be immeasurable.”
The communications center does not replace each county’s 911 system, Dueweke said, but it will augment them in the event of a disaster.
The board also approved the recently completed Keweenaw Trail Executive Summary of the Keweenaw Trail Committee, which consists of Eagle Harbor, Grant and Houghton townships and the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region.
The executive summary is a plan for establishing a non-motorized recreational trail system to run from the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Grant Township to the boundary with Houghton County.
Commissioner Don Keith said because Keweenaw County voters defeated a proposal to set a millage to establish a trail system, the plan from the Keweenaw Trail Committee is a good idea.
“I was disappointed (with the millage vote) but the people spoke,” Keith said. “This is too important an issue to let it die.”
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com
Keweenaw board approves spending for communications center
Money will help pay for wiring in building
By KURT HAUGLIE, DMG Writer
EAGLE RIVER — A joint Keweenaw/Houghton County emergency command communications center is moving closer to completion as a result of action taken Wednesday by the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners.
Commissioners unanimously approved spending a maximum of $1,500 for communications equipment wiring at the center on Hecla Street in Laurium.
Jack Dueweke, emergency services coordinator for Houghton and Keweenaw counties, said the building in which the center is located was purchased after the voters of Houghton approved the establishment of a 911 telephone system in 1998. After the Michigan State Police took over that function at its Regional Dispatch Center in Negaunee, much of the communications equipment in the Laurium building remained.
“It’s got more telephone lines than you’ll ever use,” Dueweke said.
About $20,000 has been spent on the center, Dueweke said, and it has telephone and radio equipment as well as access for laptop computers.
Having a central communications will greatly help with coordination of emergency personnel in the event of a major disaster, especially one that affects both counties, Dueweke said.
“I think it’s a good location for both counties,” he said. “The benefit to both counties if there’s a disaster would be immeasurable.”
The communications center does not replace each county’s 911 system, Dueweke said, but it will augment them in the event of a disaster.
The board also approved the recently completed Keweenaw Trail Executive Summary of the Keweenaw Trail Committee, which consists of Eagle Harbor, Grant and Houghton townships and the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region.
The executive summary is a plan for establishing a non-motorized recreational trail system to run from the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Grant Township to the boundary with Houghton County.
Commissioner Don Keith said because Keweenaw County voters defeated a proposal to set a millage to establish a trail system, the plan from the Keweenaw Trail Committee is a good idea.
“I was disappointed (with the millage vote) but the people spoke,” Keith said. “This is too important an issue to let it die.”
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com
