Goodland’s Shaw Road undergoing rebuild

$1.7 million project expected to take up to four months

 

GOODLAND TWP. — Following numerous delays and broken promises to correct the problem, township residents and other motorists are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Construction work on the two-mile stretch of road that goes from Van Dyke to Brown City Rd. recently got underway.

The township has entered into an agreement to help with a portion of the costs of the overall $1.7 million project which also has federal funding as a major component.

While the entire length of the job had been inspected and engineered prior to a shovel going in to the ground, township resident Mike Bissett told the board there was an issue.

Speaking at last week’s meeting, he said, “We’ve (township) paid money and the construction company has had their engineers and inspectors out there and gave the go ahead to begin work, but I found an issue that to me, makes no sense.”

Bissett went on to explain, “everyone does this work and checking things out and I stop by and take a look and find a 50-year old tube that crosses the road that has the bottom of it rotted out. That has to be fixed or replaced. How can they do the road and not put in a new tube?”

The township board did not have any answers but pledged to make contact with the construction company to get information about the issue.

The board also voted to make Bissett the liaison between the Lapeer County Road Commission and the township board, given his background with road construction. They approved a motion to give him a $2,500 annual stipend.

During the duration of the construction, there is no through traffic on Shaw, only local residents who live on the road will have access.

In other township news, board members had a spirited discussion on how bills are paid regarding the improvements to the old one room school house.

Treasurer Louis Parsch told Supervisor Michael Eckardt, “we discussed this at meetings in March and April. They are supposed to get work they want to do approved first by the board, before doing anything, so we know costs. Instead, they just do whatever they want over there and turn in a bill and expect us to pay it right away. That’s not how it works. We have a procedure in place and they are not following it, and we aren’t either. Why not?”

Eckardt told Parsch he has been giving the bills directly to Dana Miller of the Lapeer County Land Bank and she has been taking care of the payments directly, keeping the township out of the process completely.

However, Miller informed the township there were some work items not listed on the work sheet that would not be covered and would be the responsibility of the township to pay.

The board also heard an update from their Ordinance Enforcement Officer regarding blight in the township.

At least five properties were identified as being a “5” on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the worst conditions.

“Blight is a real problem,” said Trustee Michael Puzzoli. “We need to be aggressive with these and let residents know we want it cleaned up.”

He suggested to the rest of the board when the time comes to look at the budget to begin putting funds in to a blight fund so they can cover court costs when they begin taking residents violating the blight ordinance to court.

Trustee Julie Dockham said the board needs to take a look at their blight ordinance and “put more teeth in to it” (fees and fines) to let residents know they are serious about addressing the issue.

The next regular township meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 24.