Dear editor,
(In response to, ‘Get out and attend Hadley Township Board meetings,? The Citizen, May 10, page 7)
Get out and attend all township meetings would be a more appropriate message to the residents of Hadley Township. These meetings are where issues and their potential resolutions are discussed. The input from residents is a valuable tool in assisting the respective commissions and boards in the decision-making process that provides the direction for our community.
At issue appears to be the paving of specific roads within the township. Brigham, Gregory, and Farmer’s Creek are roads that are candidates for paving, because these roads are roads that will complete a network of paved surfaces that complement our existing paved roads. Brigham will provide a paved road to Hadley Road from Green Corners. Gregory will provide a paved road to Hegel from Brigham. Farmer’s Creek will provide a paved road from Wynns Mill to Herd and onto Baldwin.
Our township has about 36 miles of gravel roads that we are obligated to financially maintain. As our community grows, the traffic increases accordingly. Hard surface roads enhance our community and help increase the safety of our roads for us and all who travel on our roads. Due to the high cost of transitioning to hard surface roads, the process is very slow.
Since 1990, we have spent about $1,703,000.00 on road paving projects. We have paved Herd, Wynns Mill, Zarieda, Woodland Drive, and two segments of Green Corners from Stewart to Brigham.
Today, we are being provided a number of choices for hard surfacing. Chip seal. Two inches of compressed asphalt. Three inches of compressed asphalt.
All choices require the same road foundation prior to the choice of final application. The beauty of this process is that in the future if a decision is made to change the road surface, the foundation is in place, dramatically reducing costs.
The Lapeer County Road Commission is assisting us with the process and direction as to choosing the materials that make up this foundation. One of the largest ingredients in the composition of the foundation is the existing gravel that presently lies on our roads. The more material we have to contribute to this foundation, the less the cost to us for the additional material to formulate the foundation. Hence, the need to take boring samples of the existing roads. It is only now that the winter frost is gone, that the road commission is able to proceed with acquiring the information necessary to establish material content and costs. This process began with the road commission in November of 2007.
It was mentioned that a survey was taken door to door of all those that live on Brigham and Gregory. Crucial financial information was not provided to the residents regarding this type of project. There will not be any additional costs to any resident living on a hard surfaced road. The assessments will not increase due to the hard surfacing of the roads. If there is any doubt regarding this info, ask any resident on Herd, Wynn’s Mill, Zarieda, Woodland Drive, or Green Corners if this is not a true statement. This also holds true for our paved primary roads; Hadley, Hegel, Pratt, and Baldwin. Also, not all residents were asked to participate in the survey. At the meeting I asked why my wife and I were not approached, who are joint owners of our properties on Gregory. I was told that they knew what my answer would be, so I was not included in the survey. So much for an accurate survey and obviously my wife does not count either.
In conclusion, the Hadley Township Board has made no decision regarding the specific paving of any road in our township. We are acquiring all the information necessary so that the Lapeer County Road Commission will be able to provide this community the costs associated with the continuation of transitioning gravel roads to pavement. On any secondary road within our township we incur all costs associated with any improvements or maintenance which is derived from our road budget. With this cost information we will then begin the process of determining where and how far we can proceed.
The special meeting that was held on April 22 (not Sunday, April 20) was posted April 16. The legal requirement for posting a special meeting is 18 hours prior to the meeting. The content of the meeting is also required by law. The notice specifically stated that the lawn maintenance provider will be decided upon and that we would review hard surface road construction. A copy of this notice is readily available for anyone to review.
There was a change in our board meeting schedule for the month of April. The change was requested due to spring break of the Lapeer Community Schools. My wife is a teacher at Hadley Elementary and we had specific plans for that week. The Hadley Township Board agreed to changing the date to April 15. This change was posted and published in the LA View (4-03-08) and in The Citizen (4-05-08). The last times that we changed board meeting schedules were Nov. 5, 2001 and Nov. 6, 2000 where Trustee Rick Brandt had scheduled hunting plans. Again the board agreed to these change requests. There were no other changes within the past four months in Hadley Township.
Please do make an attempt to attend any or all of your township meetings. You will find that they are informative, conducted within the legal requirements of the law, with compassion, respect, and with the interests of the township that we love and live in being our number one priority. A local government that is truly representative of grass roots government. You will not be shocked.
Bill Dutko, Hadley Township Supervisor