VBT Board members irked about not being told of McBride delay

“Rush, rush, rush. Get me off the board. And then – nothing! We had the engineering done last year!”
Van Buren Township Trustee Sherry Frazier complained at the Sept. 5 township board meeting about the delay of work on McBride Avenue that was not announced to board members after a rush by the school board to remove her from its board because of a perceived conflict of interest with her township board seat.
“Why wasn’t the board told?” asked Trustee Reggie Miller. “I read it in the paper.”
She referred to the Independent report from a meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education where School Supt. Pete Kudlak announced that the work on McBride had been delayed until spring.
Matthew Best, deputy director of planning and economic development, tried to explain, adding he met with Wade-Trim earlier that day and they walked the area involved. He said they don’t want to rush and they want to get the work done right.
Best said additional engineering was needed to address water and sewer work and driveway approach replacement that will occur in conjunction with the road improvement. They also needed permits and funding commitment confirmation.
He said current plans call for going out for bids in January or February and probably starting work on McBride in June after school is out.
“That wasn’t the time frame we were given at all,” Trustee Frazier said. “They’ve already authorized the $90,000, so you’ve already got the money.” She said she saw the payment for the school district’s share on the school board’s accounts payable list.
Frazier said parents are complaining. They thought they would get relief from the McBride roadway and it’s still the same. She said her grandchild is going to McBride Middle School this year and so she is driving that roadway, as well.
“I don’t remember saying it would start in the fall,” said Supervisor Kevin McNamara, but he was corrected.
“Then, to read about it in the newspaper!” Trustee Miller continued. “We should have been told.”
Best said they were waiting for approval from Wayne County and then there was the school district’s timing and everybody’s timing.
“We would never mislead…” Best said.
Frazier said if Best or the director knew more engineering was needed and permits needed to be obtained from Wayne County the board should have been told.
Supervisor McNamara said now he remembered that they were told the project would start in October. He directed Best to give him an updated schedule.
“It said October,” Frazier said of the original schedule that was never updated for the board.
“I’ll be glad when Wade-Trim is gone,” said John Delaney later in the meeting under public comments. He said he remembers when Dave Nummer from Wade-Trim said the road had to be done before November because that’s when the asphalt batch plants close.
He said whenever Wade-Trim is involved there are delays.
Wade-Trim did the engineering on the McBride project last year, but the project did not move forward. This year, VBT changed engineers, but retained Wade-Trim for the McBride project because it had already done the engineering work.