By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Oxford Township substation is getting a new carport.
A donation from Carport Structures Corporation of Oxford to Oxford Township, the structure will cover 16 spaces reserved for patrol vehicles. The carport is valued at around $70,000.
“It shields vehicles from the rain and the snow and whatnot,” Oxford Township Communications and Grants Manager C.J. Carnacchio said. “It will keep the cars pretty protected and it will protect the officers from the elements while they’re loading and unloading their gear between shift changes.”
The idea for the carport came about when Carnacchio visited Carport Structures to write about the company for the township’s Facebook page in 2020.
“I do a series on the township’s Facebook page called ‘Made in Oxford’ where I visit different businesses, manufacturers … and promote the companies we have in the township,” Carnacchio said. “I went to Carport Structures to do this, and we started talking and they said they wanted to do something for the community. I knew we were going to be expanding our township substation parking lot so I told them about that and they sounded interested. They said they would like to donate a carport for that.”
The carport is the latest upgrade to the substation parking lot, which is located behind the Oxford Township offices on Dunlap Rd. The lot was expanded from 21 spaces to 47 back in May.
“The parking lot needed to be expanded to accommodate the future growth of the substation and the vehicles there,” Carnacchio said. “We’ve added more deputies and in the future, as the community grows, most likely deputies will be added… Basically we’re expanding the parking lot to make it large enough to meet existing and future needs.”
Work started on Monday, Sept. 13 and as of Sept. 16 concrete has been poured for the carport.