Groveland Twp.- The township board will consider three offers on about 197 acres of township property located north of Grange Hall Road, east of I-75 and west of Dixie Highway. A small section of the property is located on the southeast corner of Grange Hall and Worden roads.
The bids for the property come after the township board OK’d up to $20,000 for an appraisal earlier this year. The appraisal was returned earlier this month with the 40 acres south of Grange Hall Road estimated at $900,000 and the 151 acres on the north side valued at $1.9 million.
Bob DePalma, township supervisor, said with changes in zoning and improvements to the infrastructure surrounding the parcel, the value could exceed $10 million, according to the appraisal.
DePalma said that a test of the water aquifer under the property indicated about 500,000 gallons per day could be pumped from a well, more than enough to supply the proposed needs of business.
The three bids the township board will consider include:
? a bid for $170,000 for the 40 acres on the south side of Grange Hall Road
? a bid for $7 million interest-free for the entire parcel paid over a period of 20 years. The proposal includes a landfill project.
? a bid for a lease with an option to buy over 10, 20 or 30 years, for approximately $6 million. The deal also includes a $750,000 allowance to the township for the construction of a new firehouse. In addition, terms of the deal includes drinking water be brought to the site from the Detroit Water and Sewer Department and the development of a Special Assessment District for a wastewater plant. The development is called Stonehenge Pass, LLC and will be owned by area businessmen Barry Bass, Robert Gilling and Thomas Kenny.
‘The board has yet to review these proposals,? said DePalma. ‘We’d like to get the land back on the taxrolls and businesses on the property. The business will foster an increase in the taxbase for the township and jobs. It’s needless to say we need both with the currently poor economic conditions. While the board still has to decide, I think this is what we are looking for.?
DePalma said if the board approves going ahead with the project, a public hearing will be scheduled.
Nick Nichols, 63, who owns Oakhaven Farms and Grandma’s Ice Cream Parlor, 7515 Grange Hall Road, next to the township property, is pleased with the plans.
‘Hopefully there’s something in the plan to help keep the country feeling we have come to love, without a lot of glitz,? said Nichols. ‘But anything is better than a landfill or even an abandoned gravel pit. I’m sure that with the guidance and forward thinking of the township planning commission, we’ll have a great development for years to come.?
Nichols, who owns 33 acres with a half-mile of frontage along Dixie Highway and a quarter-mile frontage on Grange Hall Road, said he hopes the plan gets moving soon.
‘Hopefully this will enhance my property and help sell it. It’s been on the market for about three years, and no deal yet.?