An agreement for snow removal on safety paths leading to Oxford Schools was secured by the township board Dec. 22, but some officials aren’t happy the school district refuses to contribute any funding.
Township officials voted 6-0 to award a one-year snow removal contract to the Ortonville-based Northern Pines Lawn & Lanscaping for $400 per push starting last week.
Each push includes the clearing of approximately 3.1 miles of safety paths along W. Drahner, Lakeville and N. Oxford roads and Pontiac St. The township’s decision to begin snow removal on these paths was prompted by numerous parent concerns over the unsafe conditions encountered by children using them to walk to school during the winter months.
Oxford Township Parks and Rec. was originally awarded the snow removal bid Dec. 8 for $58 per hour. However, the sudden and unexpected resignation of Park Superintendent Ed West forced the department to decline the job due to a manpower shortage.
Northern Pines was the only other company to submit a bid, but township officials were not eager to meet its original quote of $565 per push.
Some quick negotiations between officials and Jayme Junga, superintendent for Northern Pines Lawn & Landscaping, yielded the reduced price of $400 per push.
As part of its bid, Northern Pines stated it ‘will take full responsibility for any damage? that occurs as a result of its snow removal services and ‘will repair any damage in the spring at no charge to the Township of Oxford.?
To avoid damaging properties adjacent to the safety paths, Supervisor Bill Dunn suggested to Junga that his crew use its approximately five-foot-wide plow blade to clear a path down the middle of each safety path, which range in width from six to eight feet.
Despite Nothern Pines? reduced price, Dunn made it know he was not at all pleased by the Oxford school district’s refusal to contribute any funds toward safety path snow removal.
‘My frustration is we’re doing this for the schools and the schools aren’t bellying up,? Dunn said. ‘They don’t want to help for whatever reason they have and I think it’s a shame.?
‘It’s their business to get the kids (to school) safe,? the supervisor said. ‘They’re the ones that are cutting back, making kids walk up to ? of a mile to a mile. Why are we (the township) having all the responsibility for making it safe? It just doesn’t seem right.?
Trustee Doleen Behnke agreed.
‘Years ago, when you went to school, the second you left your home, it was the school’s responsibility to make sure you’d get to school. And when you left school, it was their responsibility until you walked through (your) door,? she said.
In a Nov. 15 letter to the township, Oxford Assistant Superintendent Ron Franey explained why the school school doesn’t wish to pay 50 percent of the snow removal cost as requested by Treasurer Joe Ferrari.
Franey stated the school district views safety paths as the sole responsibility of the township. ‘We do not see the taxpayers of the school district wanting to spend school district tax monies on bike paths around the township. Our monies would be better spent on school-related expenditures (books, pencils and teachers),? he wrote.
As for the liability associated with clearing the safety paths (i.e. slip and fall accidents or damage done to adjacent properties by a snow plow), the assistant superintendent wrote, ‘I don’t think the school district wants to get involved with those types of issues.?
‘Finally, I wouldn’t want to start a practice of requiring the district to pay 50 percent of all new maintenance issues that arise,? Franey wrote. ‘We did not ask the township to pay 50 percent of the cost of crossing guards when we added those last year. In other districts, the municipality or the police departments pay for all or half of the cost. In other words, I don’t think we should start precedence here.?