West Bloomfield safety path budget increased

March 03, 2010 - The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees has approved a revised budget for the community's 2010 safety path program, but has withheld approval on the proposed creation of a Citizens Pathway Review Committee.

The amended safety path program budget was approved by the township board during a Monday, March 1 meeting.

The 2010 safety path budget now totals $1.78 million and was amended in response to construction costs for six unfinished path segments scheduled to be constructed in 2009, along with the design and construction costs for the segments to begin construction this year.

Construction costs total $1.44 million, while design engineering will cost $127,500 and construction engineering will cost $172,594.

The original safety path budget for 2010 was $1.22 million. 

The township board decided Monday against the formation of a proposed Citizens Pathway Review Committee.

"In this economy, it wasn't the ideal time to create another board and level of bureaucracy," said Township Trustee Steve Kaplan.

The committee would have consisted of a representative of the township board, the Planning Commission, the Wetland Review Board, the Woodland Review Board and the Parks and Recreation Commission, along with two at-large members representing township residents.

The committee would have been responsible for reviewing and recommending pathway construction and major rehabilitation projects to the township board, along with developing and recommending pathway policies and standards.

Kaplan said each member would have been paid $50 for each meeting attended, the meetings would have been open to the public and would have required staff to record the meetings.

In 2004, township voters authorized a 0.20-mill, 15-year levy to pay for safety path projects. A mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of a property's taxable value, which is generally equal to half a property's market value. The owner of a property with a taxable value of $100,000 ($200,000 market value) pays an extra $20 annually in local property taxes to support the construction of safety paths.

Construction began in the spring of 2008 and is expected to run through the fall of 2011.

The segments on the 2010 construction list include Orchard Lake Road (west side, north of Walnut Lake Road), two areas along Maple Road (between Middlebelt and Inkster roads and between Halstead and Haggerty roads), Lone Pine Road (between Middlebelt and Inkster) and Middlebelt Road (between Walnut Lake Road and Maple Road).

Other segments slated for construction this year include Walnut Lake Road (north side, east of Halstead Road), Pontiac Trail (east of Halstead, west of Palias Le Duc) and Richardson Road (north side, east of Haggerty).

A complete map of the safety path construction plan is available on the township's website at www.wbtwp.com.