VBT OKs Special Assessment District for residential road work

After almost two hours of a public hearing on setting the assessment roll for a Special Assessment District to improve Venetian, Jeanette, and Dewitt roads, the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the SAD’s roll and get moving on the project.
That was at the May 19 township meeting where about a dozen speakers from the 46 families disputed details of the project, but everyone wanted better roads. They agreed Venetian, Jeanette and Dewitt roads are horrible.
Each plot in the residential area is assessed 1/46th of the project, an estimated $570.80 a year for five years or $2,854 total.
The exact cost will be determined after the project goes out for bids and the work begins to see if there are any big problems that pop up.
The project was made possible by a 2014 Local Road Initiative Program grant with a capped amount of up to $750,000 from former Wayne County Executive Bob Ficano and has to be completed this construction season.
As part of the deal the county will reimburse 80% of the construction costs and the SAD provides the other 20% through annual collections over the five-year life of the SAD. The SAD covers administrative costs incurred. The township will “loan” the SAD the funds initially from its landfill fund to paid back with interest.
The interest will be 1% above the interest returns on the investment at the time of the transfer and will be repaid to the landfill fund, costing the township nothing, according to officials.
“People have to realize this is a one-time opportunity,” said Trustee Jeff Jahr. “… We don’t want to lose the opportunity to get the money from Wayne County.”
Supervisor Linda Combs agreed. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get the roads fixed… We won’t get a second bite at the apple given the financial situation of Wayne County.”
As part of the project the board also:
• Authorized the loan from the landfill fund to the Venetian, Jeanette, and Dewitt roads project;
• Approved a memorandum of understanding between the township and Walden Woods Homeowners Association for road rehabilitation funding, also under the Wayne County Local Roads Initiative Program. Walden Woods has the money on hand for the 20% so a SAD is not necessary;
• Approved a Resolution spelling out the contract with Wayne County for the Local Road Initiative Program for both Walden Woods and Venetian-Jeanette-Dewitt and authorized the supervisor and clerk to execute the agreement. Once the county has the contract it will process a payment to the township for $187,500 to help get engineering design services started; and
• Approved a contract with Wade Trim to perform engineering services for the Wayne County Local Roads Initiative Program for (1) the Venetian, Jeanette, and Dewitt Road Improvement District SAD (for $45,000) and (2) the Walden Woods Homeowners Association project (for $8,500).
In other business at the 2-hour-and-15-minute meeting on May 19 the board:
• Approved the contract with R.W. Mercer Company (the only bidder) to rebuild and upgrade the township hall fueling station, which includes a 10% contingency, not to exceed a total amount of $58,003. The plan is to upgrade security and in the 2016 fiscal year fobs will be issued to employees for fuel access at an additional cost of $2,000;
• Approved the first reading of an ordinance to rezone a half-acre parcel with a four-bedroom residence at 51257 W. Huron River Drive from C (Local Business) to R-1A (Single Family Residence) so new owner Dave Woodard can live in the home he purchased and improve it. The second and final reading will take place at an upcoming meeting. The home, which is next door to Rite Aid, has been unoccupied for a year;
• Approved the first reading of a new zoning ordinance to permit outdoor dining and table service in the C-1 (General Business) Zoning District. This new ordinance was brought forth because two businesses that expect to be setting up shop on the former Big Boy site – Starbucks and Qdoba Mexican Grill — wanted to have outdoor dining. The second and final reading will take place at an upcoming meeting;
• Approved a “clerical” revision to Resolution 2014-10 authorizing an Industrial Facilities Exemption for Costco Wholesale Corporation. Supervisor Combs said it was a housekeeping matter to correct a typo. But in a memo to the board Assessment Coordinator Linda Stevenson explained that on May 27, 2014 the township and Costco signed an agreement to have an escrow established for the Industrial Facilities Exemption application and the agreement to become effective once Costco closed on the purchase of the land and secured various county permits. Stevenson said the agreement has now been removed from escrow and submitted to the State Tax Commission for final approval. The State Tax Commission has requested that verbiage be added to the resolution that states specifically that after granting this certificate, the total SEV of IFTs, including this one, will not exceed 5% of an amount equal to the sum of the SEV of the ad valorem roll, plus the SEV of personal and real property thus exempted. The $44 million Costco project is to construct a 347,720-square-foot distribution center on Belleville Road, north of Van Born;
• Heard Fire Chief Dan Besson present a recently hired paid-on-call fire fighter Aaron Ladach, who had spent three years as a fire fighter in Romulus before moving to VBT. He now works as a dispatcher in Huron Township. Chief Besson also announced the hiring of Fire Fighter Steven Orloff who could not be present; and
• Heard Clerk Leon Wright describe what his office did at Belleville High School earlier in the day when they set up a “true-to-life” election with voting machines at the high school for the student council election. This is the fourth year he has done this. He reported seniors are not allowed to vote, but 788 students voted out of 1,309 in the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. His office also registered 26 students to vote in regular elections. He said youth voters were up 4% in the last election at the township and he is sure that if he goes into the high school and teaches them about voting, they will register and vote in the real elections.
Absent and excused from the May 19 township board meeting were Trustees Phil Hart and Brenda McClanahan.