Canton Township, Northville, Northville Township and Plymouth will all receive grant money as part of a $1.7 trillion-dollar omnibus spending package approved by the House of Representatives.
The omnibus spending package will fund the federal government through fiscal year 2023 and includes $16.4 million for 15 community funding projects and $25 million for Rep. Haley Stevens' CHIPPING IN Act, to help train the advanced semiconductor workforce of the future, according to a statement from Stevens' office.
The package also includes a significant increase in non-defense discretionary funding and will go toward supporting critical social programs that invest in American families, workers, and communities, Stevens' said. Included in this bill is a $21 billion dollar increase in veterans' health care which will help to implement the PACT Act for veterans suffering from Agent Orange exposure. It will also ensure coverage for the 40 million American children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP and create a nationwide free meal program so that children can get healthy, nutritious meals throughout the summer, she said.
“I am thrilled that after months of negotiations, Republicans and Democrats have passed a year-long spending bill instead of a continuing resolution. This has huge impacts for our veterans', children, and districts like mine that will benefit from major federal investments through community funding projects,” said Stevens' who represents the 11th House District.
“Additionally, my bill, the CHIPPING IN Act, a workforce development bill to help strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing will be fully funded. So many of the provisions that I fought for in the CHIPS and Science Act will now be funded at record levels with the passage of this omnibus bill. Funding these programs will help keep America competitive on the global stage and strengthen our domestic manufacturing capabilities.”
Among the local beneficiaries of Stevens'' funding projects is the Canton Ridge Road Park Phase 1 Design and Engineering Project.
The township had requested $1 million for the project which will include an adaptive and universally designed playground and surfacing, a sledding hill and warming hut, an environmental and education nature center, a pond with fishing pier, a woodland preserve area, an extensive trail system, native plantings, and stream restoration.
Ridge Road Park was described in the application process as a key resource in the community.
The repair of Northville Randolph Drain Serenity Point and Riverbank Stabilization Project was granted a $560,000 to repair a pair of deteriorated drainage structures that serve the cities of Northville and Novi.
The drains are severely undermined and have contributed to eroding the banks of the river and endangering the stability of Hutton Street, according to the application. In addition to stabilizing the drainage structures and river embankments, the Ford Field Master Plan calls for the development of a scenic viewing area in this location, overlooking the spillway of the Upper Mill Pond built by Henry Ford for the Ford Valve Plant, one of his first Village Industry Plants in the 1920s.
The stabilization of the drains and river embankments will address a safety hazard and an eyesore and will create a serene viewing point, benefiting the many visitors who are attracted to this popular, regional destination, the application noted.
The Plymouth/Northville/ Northville Township Mental Health Police Response Project was also granted the requested $135,359 for which project officials applied.
Funding will be a valuable use of taxpayer funds because this is a multi-jurisdictional project serving three communities, the application stated.
The funding will be utilized for sustainability and capacity building for two embedded behavioral health clinicians within the Northville Township, Northville and Plymouth police departments and Northville Youth Network to respond with police officers and assist people of all ages in mental health crises, as part of the project.
The behavioral health clinicians will be licensed, master's level professionals and will provide crisis intervention and stabilization, mental health and substance abuse assessment, coordination, and referral to treatment as well as community outreach.
In addition to immediate Mobile Crisis Co-Response, the clinicians will also have the capacity to provide immediate telehealth services to support officers in the field, when co-response is not feasible due to safety or geographical issues. Through the Northville Youth Network, the clinicians will be available to provide prevention and behavioral health support to children, adolescents and their families who have been referred to the juvenile diversion program by the police departments, according to the application for funding.
In addition, Schoolcraft College was granted $1,025,000 for the Manufacturing & Engineering Center Project Industry 4.0 Training program.
The application stated that the Schoolcraft College Industry 4.0 Training Initiative is imperative to keep the state competitive. As manufacturing plants, warehouses and supply chains become more fully automated, the technologies driving these changes increase the need for employees to be technically adept.
In data-rich industries of sensors, scanners, information and data, advancements have reduced downtime while increasing quality and productivity. The Schoolcraft College Industry 4.0 initiative will skill and upskill workers in transformative technology occupations by providing training and credentialed programs in such areas as mechatronics technicians, industrial engineering technicians, robotics technicians, and supply chain management production and logistics technicians, according to the application.
The Schoolcraft College proposal to add higher-level certifications through training on updated and technologically advanced equipment will lead to a critically needed right skilled and more robust labor force, applicants stated.
