Each year we spend more than a quarter million dollars out of the General Fund to maintain our local roads. Over the past few years the township has spent your general fund dollars on a process called 'slurry coating' which is a thin layer of asphalt and sand applied to an existing blacktop road. This process added nothing to the structure, but did add another four or five years to the life of the road.

Many subdivision roads within our township are well beyond the life expectancy of the 15 to 20 years that they were designed to last. We, as your local elected officials, want to spend your tax dollars in the most fiscally responsible manner. We want to get the most 'bang for our buck' so to speak.

Our Board discussed the need to improve our subdivision roads versus the limited township revenue and it was determined that we should attempt to financially assist any subdivision within our community with the application of blacktop overlay. The township would fund up to a maximum amount of 25% from the general fund. The township general fund budget of about $300,000.00 for annual road maintenance is merely a Band-Aid on a serious cut when we probably should be seeking urgent care.

To help you determine your approximate cost the Mt. Brighton Subdivision is used as an example. Mt. Brighton is about 30 years old and includes one and one/half miles of blacktop. The cost of blacktop overlay is estimated at $124,500.00 ($83,000.00 per mile). If the township were to finance the entire project and contribute $31,125.00 with the balance being divided equally between the 100 parcels. Each parcel would be assessed about $934.00, to be spread on the tax bills over a two-year period. No interest would be charged, unless it was necessary to sell bonds to finance the project.

In an effort to compare this cost with the construction of a new asphalt driveway, I called Scott Holmes of D & H Asphalt Co. He said that a residential blacktop drive, depending on the size, would run anywhere from $1,500.00 to $15,000.00 to install today. Two and one half inches of asphalt compacted to two inches runs about $1.00 to $1.50 a square foot.

The last thing that we want to do is force a project on our homeowners that they are not interested in. We are therefore making this offer through the township newsletter and have provided a petition within this newsletter should you or your neighbors be interested in working with the township to improve your existing subdivision roads. We will need no less than 51% of the homeowners (both husband and wife must sign if the property is owned by both) within any subdivision to sign this petition in order to begin the public hearing process. Any projects approved by the township board this year will be on an "as need" and then "first come first serve" basis.

The roadwork would be done through the Livingston County Road Commission under a bid that was accepted last February with Thompson McCully Paving Co. of Whitmore Lake. According to Assistant County Highway Engineer Jodie Tedesco, the project will consist of crushing or pulverizing the old road to 3/4" aggregate. The aggregate will then be shaped and compacted. Three inches of new asphalt will be then added to the top. There will be no shoulder or aggregate added to the side of the road. Note: $83,000 per mile is calculated for roads without curb and gutter. Pleasant Valley Village located off Culver Road just west of Pleasant Valley Road is a good example of a completed project.

Also included in the project will be memorial plantings for two Township employees who have recently passed away: Township Manager Jim Stornant (1985-1997) and Code Enforcement Officer John Esbrook (1995-1998). Donations for the plantings were received from McNamee, Porter & Seeley, The Strader Group and First Realty Brokers. Township residents or commercial businesses wishing to make a donation to the memorial-landscaping project should contact Township Manager Mike Archinal at (810) 227-5225.

Township residents, Irene McDonnell Cahill and Karleen Schafer, were primarily responsible for the grant application and project design. Their assistance is sincerely appreciated. This project was supported, in part, by a grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Forest Management Division and the USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry Program.

Fifty-one (51%) percent or more of the property owners who will benefit from such improvement, request the improvement by petitioning the Genoa Township Board for blacktop overlay. Further, it is understood that this project will be completed in accordance with Livingston County Road Commission standards. The Township will contribute up to a maximum of 25% of the entire cost of the project and the balance will be assessed to individual homeowners in two equal annual installments.

We, the undersigned, do consent to the allocation of the cost by special assessment to each benefited property for the improvement and for that cost to be spread equally against all property owners in the special assessment district to be formed.

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STATE OF MICHIGAN

County of Livingston

I, ________________, deposes and says that he/she circulated the foregoing petition, and that each signature is of an owner of property fronting upon one of the aforementioned streets in the Township of Genoa, Livingston County, Michigan.

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Signature of Circulator