Dear Editor,
Well, I don’t get it either.
I was ready to write an opinion about the finances and budget for the City of the Village of Clarkston. The budget plan for any community gives a sense of the health, priorities and what is planned for the future.
But, only two residents came to the public budget meeting last week, the draft meeting minutes show only one comment from the public and no comments from your elected council members. I guess this is not considered that important and an opinion piece in this paper would probably bore everyone.
That’s a pretty strong concession for an elected council member with regards to one of the most important issues in any government. I’m sure I will continue to make comments about our city’s financial condition but if no one wants to talk about the budget now, we can move on to other subjects. So instead of budget and finance, I decided to offer some opinions on last week’s Independence Township Planning Commission meeting.
I was at that meeting with what has been reported as over 100 people. I recognized many of my neighbors, some who live on Main Street, and many other concerned citizens.
We were all there to hear what Beaumont hospital and the Independence Township Planning Commission are proposing for the development at the northwest corner of I-75 and Main Street, just outside of the Village of Clarkston city limits.
Now this is how a public meeting should be.
Lots of people, lots of comments, feedback from the Beaumont representatives, courteous responses from the Planning Commission members, and overall an informative and well controlled meeting. This is what I thought government and public involvement was all about.
Beaumont is, in my opinion, a great hospital, has some great doctors, and as an asset to our community you probably couldn’t do much better.
But I do hope everyone realizes that along with all the other concerns expressed at this meeting, a major portion of the increased traffic that they are predicting for M-15, and the proposed widening at Clarkston Road, will be in the City of the Village of Clarkston, not Independence Township where the proposed hospital will be.
Something has to happen with the 2,100 cars they are planning to provide parking for and I doubt they will all go north or get on the expressway. Beaumont apparently doesn’t think so either since they have proposed a three stage plan to alter and increase the traffic on Main Street to at least Clarkston Road, if not further.
Anybody spent time on Main Street just north of Clarkston Road?
It is a race track from the stoplight north. It is an extension of the expressway exit ramp from I-75 south. The Clarkston Police, not the County Sheriffs employed by Independence Township, constantly perform traffic control on Main Street between Miller and Clarkston roads as gridlock already occurs on a regular basis. If you are walking or riding a bike, don’t even try to cross the street as neither the motorists nor pedestrians have a clue to who has the right of way.
This is also at the beginning of the recognized historic residential district in the City of the Village of Clarkston and we are very proud of it. Beaumont’s planners want to widen this street and add more traffic.
While we all like to refer to ourselves as from Clarkston, and we generally get along just fine, to the best of my knowledge no one is talking to anyone in the City of the Village of Clarkston.
Has anyone asked if it would be OK to widen our Main Street to four or more lanes, add a couple thousand more cars every hour, add noise, speeding, accidents? Who is going to pay for the added traffic control and the potential loss in property value? Clarkston certainly does not have the money to do it but apparently our opinion is not considered important.
Yes, I want Beaumont to be a neighbor and they have stated they want to be a good neighbor. Someone please tell me how any of this makes them a good neighbor to the Village of Clarkston, especially since no one is even talking like good neighbors do.
Of course, no one wants to talk about budget and finance either.
Cory Johnston
Clarkston