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MACOMB TOWNSHIP — The Macomb Township Board of Trustees signed off on repairs to the parking lots and sidewalks at Macomb Corners Park at its May 27 meeting.
Approved at a cost of $239,250 against a budgeted cost of $250,000, Department of Public Works Director Kevin Johnson says the project will aim to preserve the life of the park’s pavement.
“The east and west parking lots will have the cracks filled to help keep water from collecting underneath the asphalt and causing further damage,” Johnson said via email. “The asphalt pathway around the park will be maintained as well, replacing sections of asphalt where the cracks are no longer able to be filled.”
Work on the project is expected to begin in October with the project going out to bid “sometime in the next few months.” Johnson says the DPW plans to coordinate with Parks and Recreation Department and the contractor to keep the project as minimal of an obstacle for parkgoers as possible. The work is expected to take a few weeks to complete once it gets started.
Priority postponement
For another meeting, the Macomb Township Board of Trustees opted to forego officially giving its consent to Priority Waste’s change of control request.
The company is seeking consent from municipalities for the change of control, as the Clinton Township-based waste hauler tries to transfer ownership to a $303-billion investment group, TPG.
“If Priority Waste is asking us to do an action, we want to look at the contract to make sure there is nothing else in the contract that we might want to ask them to amend,” Macomb Township Treasurer Leon Drolet said. “We’re looking at other provisions of the contract that we may feel benefit our residents, that we may be able to be able to work with Priority Waste to tweak the contract.”
There is still interest in the township to follow through with the current contract, which will have about a year remaining in September.
Priority Waste has been in headlines since summer 2024 after claimed issues with equipment, fulfilment of services and customer service. Macomb Township’s issues with Priority came to a head in June 2025 when the township issued a notice of default in light of a particularly bad drop in pickup performance. Township Supervisor Frank Viviano says performance has improved since then, but worries are growing following post-Memorial Day delays.
“I think nearly every day this week we’ve been given a notice from Priority Waste that some of the routes have remained incomplete, and I know it started on (Tuesday, May 26) because my own was incomplete,” Viviano said. “They haven’t caught up. Obviously, that generates some concern. We’re into the heavy yard waste season which seemed to be an Achilles Heel for them last year. I’m concerned that they’re starting down a path that looks a lot like last summer.”
At the time of the meeting, Viviano had not been in touch with other communities about Priority’s recent performance. Speaking on May 29, he said he would reach out to Priority early in the week of June 1 if service did not improve.
Technical difficulties
An issue with the township’s audio-visual system used to record meetings led to missing audio from the May 27 meeting.
A problem with a similar result occurred earlier in the month, resulting in a Planning Commission meeting being recorded without audio. Township officials say the relevant contractor has been called in to investigate the issue.
