Brandon Twp.-To passers-by it may appear to be just another asphalt parking lot’a common feature in any urban landscape. Yet for school officials, environmentalists and a handful of area residents, the new four-acre lot just south of the high school campus will represent a symbol of cooperation and diligence.
On Tuesday, by a 7-0 vote, the Brandon School Board OK’d a revised plan for an additional 500 space parking lot, part of a $73 million district-wide project that includes a new elementary school, a new activity complex and several renovations. The new lot is necessary, say school officials, for the new activities complex and current high school lot overcrowding.
‘We’re pleased with the outcome,? said Tom Miller, Brandon Schools superintendent. ‘It’s our goal to do whatever we can to maintain the integrity and sustainability of the creek. I’m happy that we could create a partnership and move forward with the project.?
Tuesday’s decision comes after the school board halted the project by a 5-2 vote at the April 9 meeting when environmental concerns regarding the parking lot were raised. Several individuals suggested that rainwater would be heated on the new lot and run off into the Kearsley Creek, possibly warming the water and harming trout that occupy the stream. In addition, the site includes some uncommon plants that would be destroyed by the construction of the lot.
The decision was followed by a meeting on April 18 with Miller, Jason Arnold, an engineer with Spalding Dedecker, Steve Montle, director of the Flint River Watershed Coalition, and Brent Nickola, a researcher with U of M Flint’s Center of Applied Environmental Research.
The new plan creates a system to channel warm rainwater created from parking lot asphalt, stores it in underground chambers for retention, then trickles the water into the soil where it will be cooled, prior to entering the stream as groundwater. The plan also calls for the start date to be shifted to May 15, allowing the recovery of a variety of plants that are currently growing on the site.
Trish Hennig, a local native plant nursery owner and advanced master gardener who will coordinate the plant rescue, estimates approximately eight to 10 individual species of native plants including solomon’s seal, trillium, hepatica and wild geranium will be the focus of the rescue project.
‘The outcome would be better if we had more time,? said Hennig.
‘Plants respond to temperatures, and the recent cool springtime has limited the growth of many of the native plants that currently thrive on the property. It would be a shame to see them die. It’s important to preserve and salvage what we can from the area.?
Most of the plants are rooted about 6 inches below the surface and will be relocated in a variety of areas around the school district. Hennig added that while saving the native plants is beneficial, the loss of the entire woodlot can be damaging to the ecosystem.
‘From birds to tree frogs, all wildlife depend on the forest to survive.?
The cost of the project is still uncertain, said Miller. However, funding for the project will be part of the bond extension, possibly supplemented by available grants. The project will be delayed for about two weeks, but will not impact the $204,000 cost deduction offered by the construction company awarded the bid.