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Wayne County committee clears energy, PACE and disaster recovery items; $70M CDBG disaster allocation to be planned
Summary
Wayne County commissioners voted June 11 to approve an economic development committee report that advances a pilot EV-charging station, affirms continued use of PACE financing for commercial energy upgrades, and authorizes planning to access a roughly $70 million CDBG disaster recovery allocation.
The Wayne County Commission on June 11 approved the committee on economic development report that included a pilot for electric-vehicle charging stations, a PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) program update and a framework to access roughly $70,000,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster recovery funds tied to severe storms in August 2023.
During committee discussion, Erin Kelly, director of sustainability and innovation, said the first EV charging stations “will be placed at the county field engineering permits office” as the county aligns fleet electrification with departments, chiefly the Department of Public Services. Kelly and the sustainability office described the work as a first step to diversify the county fleet and said they are coordinating across county departments to determine further station locations and which vehicles will transition to electric.
Betsy Palazzolo, Wayne County community development director, told commissioners the CDBG disaster recovery plan before the commission is a framework, not a final project list. Palazzolo said the allocation will allow the county to access approximately $70,000,000 and that staff will conduct planning exercises, additional analysis and outreach to identify projects that fit federal regulatory requirements. The program requires that most funding be tied to recovery from specific flood impacts and that at least 70% of benefits go to low- and moderate-income persons or areas; Palazzolo said up to 15% of funds may be used for mitigation activities.
The commission also discussed the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program, a financing tool for commercial building energy improvements the county helped adopt about a decade ago. An economic development official said state statute amendments removed some previously required energy-saving guarantees for new construction and that new-construction projects now must exceed Michigan’s energy code. County staff and a representative from Lean & Green Michigan described Wayne County as a leading user of PACE financing among Michigan counties, producing cleaner commercial buildings across the county.
Separately, commissioners were notified that the public informational meeting on Wayne Disposal, Inc.’s hazardous-waste licensing application has been rescheduled to June 26 pursuant to Public Act 267 of 1976. County staff said they would coordinate with the Department of Public Services and corporate counsel to provide representatives at that meeting.
The commission approved the economic development report as moved by Commissioner Anderson and supported by Commissioner Wilson. The committee discussion produced direction for staff to publish collated public comments and submissions from jurisdictions and service providers and to return recommended projects and a finalized action plan for commission approval when details are determined.
Items approved in the committee report were adopted by the full commission; the economic development motion passed by voice vote with no recorded roll-call opposition in the transcript.
