Pink Session News: Township Approves next step in Road Construction Process
Bloomfield Township Board Meeting
September 27, 2023
Dear Village residents,
Last night, the first public hearing for the Pink section SAD was held by the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees. A number of Village residents expressed their views regarding fixing the Pink section roads by forming an SAD. After hearing our residents speak and debating the issue, the Township Trustees unanimously approved moving the Pink section forward toward final approval! Thank you to all of the residents who attended the meeting and expressed their views on the SAD.
Over the next several months, the Road Commission will finalize the project plans and the bid packages for the Pink section. They anticipate the open bidding process for the Pink section will be conducted in early 2024. While this is later than we had expected, the Road Commission advised that asphalt prices for summer construction, a key element of the project cost, will be clearer to contractors in early 2024, and thus they expect to receive the most competitive bids with that timing.
Once the winning bid for the project is selected, the Township Board will hold its second public hearing, at which it will (hopefully) give final approval for the SAD. The Township Board has set the date for the second Pink section public hearing as April 8, 2024 (the same date as the Blue section second public hearing).
Impact on our Trees
Multiple residents speaking at last night's meeting expressed concerns about the impact of the Roads project on Village trees. While no one is enthusiastic about the idea that some of our street trees (in the right of way between the sidewalk and the street) will be removed during construction, removal of SOME (not all) street trees cannot be avoided if we are to fix our roads. A few key points:
Street trees are owned by the Road Commission, which owns the roads and the right of way.
Trees that are too close to the road are the ones that will be removed as part of the Roads project. Roots of such trees are too close to the road to allow removal of old curbs and laying of new curb and gutter. In some cases, the roots of these trees are causing heaving of existing roads and would create an issue with the new roads. Photos illustrating trees that would likely be removed were included in our 2023 Annual Meeting presentation on the Roads project and can be seen at this link.
The Road Commission estimates that 42 out of approximately 300 street trees will be removed in the Pink section and 50 out of approximately 220 will be removed in the Blue section. These are estimates - the Road Commission has not identified specific trees for removal.
The Road Commission has not completed estimates for the Yellow, Gold and Green sections, thus we do not have estimates for the number of trees to be removed in those sections.
The Village Board has established a Tree Committee to develop a plan for replacing trees removed during the Roads project. Brian Kott, past President of the Board, is leading this effort. The Committee will be investigating the availability of grant funding for new trees, and developing a program for tree replacements. The program will likely involve grants providing part of the cost of replacement trees, with residents funding the rest. Village residents interested in joining the Tree Committee can email me at villagemanager@bloomfieldvillage.net.
Trees that are in front yards (not in the right of way between the sidewalk and the road) are not owned by the Road Commission. If tree branches hanging low across the road are in the way of the road construction equipment, those branches will be trimmed back, but the trees cannot and will not be removed without permission of the homeowner.
I am thrilled that our Roads projects for both the Blue and Pink sections are moving forward toward summer 2024 construction! Each has a few more steps to go, but we are on our way to better roads in these areas of the Village!
We will continue to keep you updated as the Blue and Pink sections proceed through the remaining steps in the SAD process.
Cathy Weissenborn
Village Manager
248-594-8376