Accepts quote for chloride services

By Megan Kelley
Editor
mkelley@mihomepaper.com
INDEPENDENCE TWP. — At its meeting on April 15, the Independence Township Board of Trustees did not approve a budget amendment that would allocate another $50,000 toward maintenance of public gravel roads in the township. The $50,000 would have been added to the $50,000 already allocated by the township and therefore totaling $100,000 for the graveling of township roads.
The board did, however, accept a quote from the Road Commission of Oakland County for chloride services for township gravel roads in an amount not to exceed $66,655.
Last year, the board approved the additional $50,000. However, this year, questions were raised about the effectiveness of adding gravel to the roads, especially by Trustee Sam Moraco, who lives on a gravel road.
“I don’t see any value in it. I’ve lived out there for 18 years. They’ve graveled the road a couple times in 18 years. All it takes is one hard rain and you just washed away the $50,000 and it’s in the ditches in my yard,” Moraco said. “I’ve always said that the money – if you live on a dirt road and you can’t go outside for a good portion of the year because the dust is so bad and you’re trapped in your home – the money is better spent on calcium chloride than gravel.”
Trustee Terri Nallamothu noted that she had approached Oakland County regarding the transit millage to request some of that millage money go toward gravel road maintenance, adding that she felt the township was not benefiting from the millage in its current form.
According to Nallamothu, the county informed her that the money could not be used for anything besides the millage that was approved by voters.
Moraco also raised concerns about how it is decided which roads are worked on, adding that though his road received some gravel maintenance recently, there were likely other roads that needed it more.
Township Supervisor Chuck Phyle responded to this saying that he requested the county provide ratings for the township’s gravel roads so that the roads that needed the maintenance more could be selected.
“We do get to pick the roads that we want to do. What we’re constrained by is only by the dollars, right? So, $100,000 is only going to buy so much gravel. It’s going to go down the road so far. We are allowed to pick where we want to have that go though,” Phyle said.
Moraco went on to suggest that the best way to move forward would be to stick with the original $50,000 of gravel and strategically place it in targeted areas in the township to fix small areas rather than focus solely on a few specific roads.
“What I don’t see a value in is just doing a strip of road in the middle of nowhere every seven or 10 years for no reason,” Moraco said. “If we could take advantage of that tonnage and place it where we want to, to benefit the residents, then it’s kind of like we’re doing a patch because this isn’t paving, it could be gone tomorrow with a heavy rain.”
Clerk Cari Neubeck requested someone from the road commission come speak with the board about what the broader plan is when it comes to maintaining gravel roads.
Phyle indicated that he believed he could have someone from the road commission at the next meeting which was on May 6, after Clarkston News press time.