The Orion Township Board of Trustees was unable to come to a decision on whether or not to move forward with parking and road improvements to Civic Center Park at their Feb. 18 meeting.
Civic Center Park is located next to Orion Township Hall on Joslyn Road.
With Orion Township Clerk Jill Bastian absent from the meeting, the board came to a 3-3 vote to receive Orion Township Parks and Recreation Director Rock Blanchard’s request to proceed with improvements at the park.
Blanchard said the board approved the creation of specifications and going out for bids on the project last October.
“The engineers have already done a lot of the designs,” he said. “We are close to going for bids.”
Blanchard said the township could apply for a Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) grant that would require the township to fund 50 percent of the total cost of the project. However, in order to be eligible for the grant, Blanchard said something like an amphitheater would have to be added to the plans for Civic Center Park.
Blanchard told the board that the estimated cost for Phase I and II of the project, which just includes parking and road improvements, was $631,000. He said $41,067 had already been expended in engineering costs.
Phase I includes the construction of a storm sewer, paving of a parking area and the northerly realigned portion of Joslyn Court. Phase II would be paving the remainder of Joslyn Court and improvements of a gate-controlled access and paved tapers at Waldon.
The deadline for the MDNR grant application is April 1, and Blanchard said the township would probably find out sometime in July if it had received the grant.
“My concern is we don’t commit to something at this point when we know there are revenue sharing issues coming soon,” said trustee Michael Gingell. “I think we should receive and file this until we have additional data from Lansing.”
Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk said waiting to receive information about revenue sharing cuts could go on for several months.
“Then the prudent thing to do would not be committed to spending early,” Gingell replied.
Blanchard said that it would take 30 days to be ready to go out for bids on the project, and then there would be more time spent waiting for bids to come back.
“The grant might not even exist (after revenue cuts),” Treasurer James Marleau said.
“Funds for the (MDNR) grant are constitutionally protected by the state,” said Blanchard, adding that money received from the grant must be used within three years.
“If we receive and file this, we could look at it again in 30-60 days,” Gingell said.
“But it will cost us considerably more, that’s the problem,” said Dywasuk.
The board will look at the matter again at a future board meeting when the clerk is available to participate in the discussion.