Mich. State Police HQ code compliance falls into jurisdictional black hole

EAST LANSING — A 70-year-old building caught in the center of a state budget controversy has never been inspected to make sure it complies to state building codes, officials at Michigan State University, the city of East Lansing and the state of Michigan say.

The current Michigan State Police headquarters in East Lansing. (Photo by Todd A. Heywood/Michigan Messenger)

The Michigan State Police building is the center of a contentious partisan battle in the state capitol. Republicans say the building is in fine condition and should continue to be used to house police operations, while Democrats argue the aging structure on MSU’s campus is not adequate to meet those needs and support moving into a brand new $39-million building in downtown Lansing, leased to the state and built with the state police specifications.

But in the debate over the current headquarters building, one question has risen to the top. If the structure is in such horrible shape, who is responsible for inspecting it for code compliance? As Michigan Messenger has discovered, there are conflicting answers as to who is supposed to ensure the building is safe.

According to Kassie Kretzschmar, communications director for the Michigan Department of Management and Budget, that responsibility falls to local authorities and not the state.

But MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said the university has not conducted any code inspections on the property. In an email to Michigan Messenger, Denbow said the inspections were the state’s responsibility: “Jim Dunlap our police chief tells me it is the state’s responsibility ‘to determine if their facilities which are leased would be in compliance.’”

And Howard Ash, director of code compliance for the city of East Lansing, said his department does not have the authority to inspect the building.

“That building would be under the state’s authority,” Ash said.

The current Michigan State Police headquarters in East Lansing is 70 years old. (Photo by Todd A. Heywood/Michigan Messenger)

Earvin Polk, director of the state’s Bureau of Construction Codes, said his department can only inspect state-owned or leased buildings under two conditions: if there is construction or some one has complained that the building in question is unsafe.

“Of course I am concerned,” Polk said, “but no one has filed (a) complaint.”

He said the state police constructed an addition to the building last year using federal Homeland Security funding and that his department inspected only the new addition and did not venture into the remainder of the building.

The state police headquarters is in the middle of a battle over a controversial lease agreement. Former Gov. John Engler, a Republican, and current Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, approved the construction of a new downtown Lansing headquarters. Under that agreement, the state will spend about $45.2 million in the first 11 years of a 25-year lease for the $39 million building. The lease arrangement reached between Lansing developers Gary Granger and Joel Ferguson has come under assault by Republicans who claim the deal is “stinky” and is bad for the state.

Opponents say the state can make due with its current facility on Harrison Road, which the state pays only $1 a year to rent. But proponents of the new building argue the move is essential because the current headquarters is not adequate to maintain police operations.

Calls to State Sen. Cameron Brown, a Republican from Fawn River Township who introduced legislation earlier this year to defund the controversial lease, were not returned. But State Rep. Rick Jones, a Republican from Grand Ledge, who has been vocal on the issue, sent an email to Michigan Messenger while on vacation:

I’m very shocked if The Governor has indeed not properly maintained the buıldıng for the Michigan State Police Headquarters located on Harrison Road … And, as Michigan taxpayers have suggested, we should not lease a new buıldıng. Instead, we could relocate current Michigan State Police (MSP) staff to MSP’s current buildings located in the [state] secondary complex and the remaining staff at the current MSP Collins Road Building. Or, even better, we could sımply spend the $1 mıllıon and repair the existing MSP-HQ on Harrison Road, as noted by MSP Spokesperson, Shanon Akans, in her interview with the medıa.

Whether the headquarters meets code requirements became an issue last week after the Lansing State Journal published a story featuring a behind-the-scenes tour of the 70-year-old building. The story included photographs showing the decrepit conditions.

While Ash said he could not be sure how many code violations the building might actually have, he said the city of East Lansing would be concerned if it were any other privately owned building.

“We would still be concerned about it,” said Ash, noting that his department usually sends officers out to inspect property in question within 24 to 48 hours after receiving a complaint.

Ash’s department inspects all properties in the city, except those owned and operated by the state, using the International Property Maintenance Code. That code is the adopted standard for the state of Michigan.

According to the Lansing State Journal article:

A tour of the facility last week by the Lansing State Journal revealed a main building with signs of aging, crumbling mortar between many of the exterior bricks, ceiling damage caused by a roof leak in at least one stairwell and some office areas where roof leaks have caused small sections of drywall to bloat.

One unused exterior door to the main building’s basement is covered with faded, peeling paint and overgrown with weeds. A small room in the basement contains two large hot-water tanks, both about 70 years old, in a room with a mishmash of rusted pipes, crumbling duct tape and four walls of cracked, peeling paint.

Ash said that it may be difficult to determine how may code violations there may be at the state police headquarters by examining the Lansing State Journal article. However, a visit to the Lansing Code Compliance Office by Michigan Messenger seemed to indicate that there are problems worth examining at the headquarters, including out-of-control weeds, deteriorating stairs, doorways and plumbing, in addition to heating deficiencies.

“From what I saw in the article, it’s hard to know how many code violations there are,” Ash said.

Ash also noted that the peeling paint would be an issue.

“We would cite it because of friable lead,” said Ash, noting the age of the building and its deteriorating materials.

Code inspections are not the only inspections the current headquarters has skirted.

Adrian Rockscay, acting director of general industry safety and health division of the Michigan Occupational Health and Safety Administration, said the facility has not been inspected since 1996. During that inspection, Rockscay said, authorities cited the state police for not having an energy control procedure in place. That procedure, he said, would prevent electrocutions from equipment.

The State Senate voted earlier this month not to fund the lease, and the House is currently considering legislation which would not fund the lease.