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Oakland County clerk warns lack of fire suppression risks historic records; commissioners ask for phased protection plan
Summary
County Clerk Lisa Brown told the Economic Development & Infrastructure Committee that large portions of the administration building lack fire suppression, placing irreplaceable vital and deed records at risk. Commissioners asked county staff to produce a phased, comprehensive plan and cost estimate for protecting records and staff safety.
County Clerk Lisa Brown told the Oakland County Economic Development & Infrastructure Committee that large parts of the administration building have no fire suppression and that her office stores legally required vital and deed records on site.
Brown said the county’s West Wing has sprinklers but the clerk’s offices and other areas do not. “We have no fire suppression besides the fire extinguishers that I bought for our break room,” she said, adding that the office has historic vitals, survey cards and other records that cannot be relocated without jeopardizing statutory retention requirements.
Brown described two technical alternatives to water sprinklers: gas-based systems, which use tanks and must be recharged after discharge, and high-pressure water-mist systems that combine water and nitrogen. She said a vendor’s site assessment indicated additional work could be required to raise pipe pressure and that the estimated cost to scan a subset of vital books was about $200,000; broader scanning and full protections could run substantially higher.
Commissioners pressed for a comprehensive approach rather than piecemeal fixes. Commissioner Gwen Markham urged staff to produce a multi‑phased plan with short-, medium- and long-term steps. County staff and several commissioners said the executive office and capital-planning staff are aware of the issue and are working on a capital-plan review that could include fire-safety upgrades across the campus.
The committee did not take a funding vote at the meeting but directed staff to assemble documentation, vendor quotes and a phased proposal for review during the county’s upcoming budget cycle. Commissioner Markham and others said they expect a deliverable outlining immediate protective steps and the costs and timeline for larger capital work.
Brown also reiterated operational shortfalls in her area, such as lack of a break room for staff and missing or incompatible fire-hose fittings in the building’s wall cabinets.
The committee asked staff to coordinate with the clerk to (a) identify immediate low-cost protections, (b) compile vendor assessments and quotes for sprinkler/gas/mist options and for high-resolution digitization of historic records, and (c) present a phased funding and implementation plan to the board during the next budget cycle.
