West Bloomfield

WB hears specs on parking lot paving plan

By Eric Czarnik
C & G Staff Writer

WEST BLOOMFIELD — A sweeping program to repave Civic Center parking lots attracted concerns about timing and costs at a Jan. 26 West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees special meeting.

The project would eventually restore the pavement of the parking lots near Town Hall, the library, the Police Department and the Parks and Recreation area.

Jeffrey Huhta of Nowak and Fraus Engineers said the plans meet standards and codes, particularly with making ramps and pavement slopes compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Although design work has not been finalized, Huhta said the project should have a life expectancy of 20-30 years so long as the township carries out biannual maintenance.

“The biggest issue for us is making sure that the infrastructure under the pavement is in good repair,” he said. “Other projects can handle other issues as they might come up.”

Huhta said construction would begin by May 1, and the final phase, the boulevard entrance, would be finished by August. He said signage would guide motorists on how to navigate through the area.

Clerk Cathy Shaughnessy said the firm’s presentation shows that Civic Center’s condition is far worse than she thought, adding that the wetlands have made the site “a big bucket of oatmeal underneath us.”

But Shaughnessy said she couldn’t vote for construction to occur this spring and summer because it is the busiest time of the year, especially because the library is an election precinct site, and the state’s primary election is in August.

“We have hundreds upon hundreds of senior citizens who will be coming on this campus,” she said. “I’m very, very uncomfortable with putting our Civic Center campus under construction at a time when most of our residents will be coming to Township Hall, or many, many, many, many residents.”

Huhta said the township’s firm plans to finish up the design, take bids in March and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees in late March. But Township Supervisor Michele Economou Ureste added that the project might not even happen this year.

The project cost has been estimated conservatively at approximately $1.5 million, but a final estimate will not be ready until the design is confirmed, Huhta said.

Ureste wanted to know if the project could cut out around $200,000 in costs, but Huhta said the project is what the township needs, and Trustee Larry Brown warned against nickel-and-diming the project.

Brown said the money for the project was allocated from the 2009-10 budget and has nothing to do with money received from the public safety millage voters passed last November.

“This is not current money that we’re spending out of our budget,” he said. “If your driveway collapses, you need to fix it. If your roof leaks, you need to fix it.”

But Shaughnessy thought the board did not budget enough. “I cannot vote to rob another fund of any moneys for this project,” she said.

The board plans to discuss the issue further Feb. 6.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Eric Czarnik at eczarnik@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1058.