Sumpter asks county for $6.5 million for bike/pedestrian trails

The Sumpter Township Board of Trustees voted 5-1 at its Feb. 8 meeting to apply to Wayne County for $6.5 million in grant funding for two bike/pedestrian trails for the township paid for through federal American Rescue Plan funds.
Trustee Peggy Morgan voted no.
In the board packet was an Oct. 7, 2022 memo from Hennessey Engineers stating it had performed a cursory field investigation on the 13.5 miles of the two corridors and estimated a cost of $6.5 million. The path pavement cross section is three inches of asphalt over an aggregate base. It is proposed to be ten feet wide with a two-foot clearance zone on each side.
One path would start in the City of Belleville and go south on Sumpter Road to Arkona Road, where it would turn east and extend into Crosswinds Marsh. The other path would be along Bemis Road from the Lower Huron Metropark on the east to Rawsonville Road on the west.
“The pedestrian path focuses on connectivity with adjacent communities and regional recreational areas,” John Hennessey wrote in his memo.
The idea for the pedestrian/bike path came from Trustee Don LaPorte, who said he presented it to the county and the county loved the idea. He said the county would build the path with the ARPA funds and the township would have to pay $150,000 as its share. The township also would have to maintain the path.
“We could back out at any time,” Trustee LaPorte said, adding he thinks it would be built in the county right of way, but the details are still to be determined.
Resident Corey Blue said he lived in a Missouri town where they built a path using eminent domain and the people were not happy.
“You’d better figure out the details,” Blue said. “A lot of people were irritated.”
“If there are issues, we could back out,” said Trustee/Deputy Supervisor Tim Rush, who was chairing the meeting in the absence of Supervisor Tim Bowman.
Blue said the path became a crime issue and the police had to patrol it.
“It’s conceptual,” Trustee LaPorte said. “The county wants us to approve the idea.”
Township attorney Rob Young said the resolution on the paths doesn’t commit the township to one thing. “It could be a great program or a terrible problem. No one knows for sure.”
In other business, the board:
• Unanimously approved posting, publishing, and hiring an employee for payroll/accounts payable, election specialist and clerk’s office assistant duties as of Jan. 26 at the current AFSCME rate of pay;
• Unanimously approved renewing the contract with Huron Township for dispatch and lockup services for five years, through June 30, 2027, with an increase of 2.5% per year, beginning May 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 at a cost of $196,070 that year;
• Unanimously approved participation in the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for Wayne County residents. This program provides assistance to households that are currently in arrears or facing disconnection of water services through Sept. 30, 2023;
• Unanimously approved leasing a replacement Copier/Hub from Toshiba for the monthly base lease price of $155.48 for a 63-month term lease;
• Unanimously approved setting up a hiring committee to review applications for a township administrator and recommend someone to the township board of trustees. On the committee are Supervisor Tim Bowman, Clerk Esther Hurst, Treasurer Vincent Warren, Director of Public Safety/Police Chief Eric Luke, and Trustee/Deputy Supervisor Rush as backup;
• Approved the attorney’s report, which included approval for Deputy Rush to sign a letter, in the absence of Supervisor Bowman, on Wayne County parks grants and to resubmit a 2019 resolution. Young said Sharon Pokerwinski would hand-carry it to the county the next day;
• Heard Fire Chief Rick Brown announce the department had 93 runs in January, four of which were fires. He also said there were 47 people at a four-day training session on active shooters held at the fire hall. The teachers were from Louisiana State University. Chief Brown said the training was about, “What could happen in the future”; and
• Heard resident Mary Ban ask if there had been any progress on the opening of the Belleville Area Museum, since Supervisor Bowman had said there was going to be a meeting with him, Van Buren Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara, and Belleville Mayor Kerreen Conley. Trustee/Deputy Rush said the meeting was for the three of them to put their heads together, but there has been no movement on it and it’s only been two weeks. Ban told of a program at Eastern Michigan University that has students working in museums for credit. Ban also said this is a bad year for roads and besides plowing the roads need gravel.
At the beginning of the workshop before the regular meeting, Finance Director Scott Holtz gave an overview of the budget. A public hearing is set for the Feb. 22 meeting.