Together We Can Fix Our Roads

Four Years Of Research and Testing Of Our Roads
At our request, beginning in August 2018, the Road Commission of Oakland County spent four years assessing our roads and putting together a plan to address the problem they have become. They have taken core samples, done extensive surveying and inspections of our current roads to advise us on what is needed. Plain and simple, we have to rebuild our roads.

Another Overlay Will Not Solve Our Road Issues
The problems underneath our roads are simply too significant. We have done overlays since the roads were built 60 years ago - on roads that were built to last 25 years. Our curbs are mostly buried, and the potholes in our roads are evidence that any overlay would be placed on a deteriorated road. Put another way, an overlay will not solve the problem - it would be a band-aid over a wound that will not heal. The overlay might seem like a good “quick fix,” but it won’t last more than a few years. And if we did do a quick fix, we would have to form SADs and pay for it ourselves, which doesn’t seem like a good use of money.

The Research Is Conclusive.
For the last 40 years, volunteer road committees have asked various road engineers and experts for a solution to our roads. At this point, there aren’t a lot of options for our 60-year-old roads.

The only real solution is a complete rebuild of our roads — removing our crumbling roads all the way to the original roadbed and rebuilding the road from there. New gutters, new curbs, and new layers of new asphalt over compacted crushed stone will result in smooth roads with proper curbs and gutters to funnel water into the storm drains.

What’s the Solution?

The Process to Repair Our Roads
Special Assessment Districts (SAD)

Special Assessment Districts
To fund the rebuilding of our roads, we will need to form Special Assessment Districts (SADs) through which we agree to “tax” ourselves to pay for our roads. We will work with Bloomfield Township to form our SADs. A specific state statute - Public Act 188 - governs this process and allows us to work together as neighbors and solve our roads problem.  The statute and Township policies for SADs outline a straightforward process (see graphic below).

How it Works
Your share of the cost to rebuild our roads will appear as a special assessment on your winter tax bill. Each property can pay the special assessment over the course of 15 years, with interest at a municipal bond rate plus 1%. You will have the option to pay the full assessment for your property up front if you choose.

A Special Assessment District is Not Unique to the Village
Neighborhoods throughout Michigan have employed this straightforward solution to repair their roads. In Bloomfield Township, residents in almost 20 neighborhoods have formed Special Assessment Districts through the Township process. Here’s a recent article about a neighborhood that is using a Special Assessment District process to fix their roads.

The Oakland County Road Commission has divided the Village into 5 sections, each approximately 2-3 miles of road that can completed in one construction season. The sections were determined by the Road Commission for construction efficiency and to ensure that each section has ingress/egress to main roads, keeping heavy machinery off our other Village roads, especially the newly-built ones (see map below, or click HERE to download). We plan to do two sections in the first and second summer construction seasons, and finish the last section in the third.

 Season 1 – Pink and Blue sections
Season 2 – Gold and Yellow sections
Season 3 – Green section

Residents in each section will independently determine whether they want to repair their roads. For instance, if the Gold section residents decided that they wanted to keep their roads just as they are, this would not affect the opportunity of any other section of the Village to repair their roads. 

Additional details about the Special Assessment Districts (SADs) and the process of forming them:

  • Each colored section will be a separate SAD. The Road Commission will estimate the cost of rebuilding the roads in that section; the total cost of the project for the section will be divided pro rata among all the lots in that section.

  • Each colored section will go through the process in the graphic above to form its SAD. Bloomfield Township will prepare petitions that residents supporting the SAD in that section will sign. Only residents in the section can sign the petition for that section. We will need to obtain signatures from owners of 51% of the frontage in each SAD and 51% of the parcels in the SAD. There is no specified period defined in either the statute or Township policy during which signatures can be gathered, although the Roads Committee and teams of volunteers walking door-to-door to gather them may set goals for timing.

  • Once sufficient signatures are obtained, the petitions will be submitted to the Township for validation. There will be an opportunity to “cure” any issues with the signatures. If the required 51% support is validated, the Township public hearing process begins.

  • There will be two public hearings by the Township at which residents will have the opportunity to make public comments for the Township Board of Trustees to consider as the Trustees evaluate whether or not to approve the SAD.

  • Once the first Township public hearing is completed and the Board moves the project forward, the Road Commission will bid the project. If the winning bid comes in below the estimated cost included in the petition, the assessment will be based on the lower construction cost. If the bids come in more than 10% above the Road Commission’s estimate, an additional public hearing is required by statute. The Township Board may decide to require recirculation of the petition with the revised cost numbers.

  • Once the Township Board of Trustees gives its final approval of the SAD, construction can begin. The plan is for construction to begin in April or May of the relevant summer construction season and be completed by late November. There is no plan for construction on a section to carry over into the next spring - the road sections have been specifically designed such that construction can be completed in one season.

  • The Township will issue bonds to finance the construction; residents choosing to spread the special assessment over 15 years will be charged interest at the bond rate plus 1%.

  • The actual assessment to each parcel will be based on the winning bid for the project. If the final actual cost comes in lower than the contractor’s bid, the difference will be refunded to the then-current owner of the property at the end of the 15-year period.

  • If a special assessment district is approved by the Township Board of Trustees, all residents in that section will pay the assessment, not just the residents that signed the petition.

Next Steps

Small group sessions were held Aug-Oct 2022 and January-March 2023 to discuss the Roads project; these sessions provided a good opportunity for thoughtful dialogue. Limited in size and led by volunteer neighbors, the goal was to provide a brief outline of the process while allowing plenty of time for discussion and specific questions.

We received an estimated cost per household for roads located in the Pink section of the Village and the petitions from Bloomfield Township in late November 2022. Signatures of support were gathered in Spring 2023, and 53% of these residents said YES to new Village roads in their section! Click HERE to read the blog post on the Pink Section.

We received the estimate for the Blue section in March 2023 (click HERE for more information on the payment schedule (for BLUE section only), and 56% of these residents signed YES on the road petition for their section as well! Click HERE to read the blog post on the Blue section.

After inviting the Road Commission of Oakland County to discuss the details of how the roads will be rebuilt, they hosted Village residents for a roads project engineering & construction presentation and Q&A on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Click HERE to read a summary of that presentation.

The Road Commission conducted an open bidding process for the Pink and Blue sections in March 2024, and received five bids for each section. Ajax Paving was the low bidder for both sections and will be awarded the projects. Click HERE to read the blog post on results of the bidding process. The final public hearing by the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees will be held on April 24, 2024; the Trustees should give final approval of the SADs at that meeting. That means construction can begin in May 2024! Check out the blog post dated March 28, 2024 for details.

The Road Commission will continue to work on the estimates and plans for the Yellow and Gold sections, and finally the Green section. If all goes according to plan and SADs are approved, construction for Yellow and Gold would take place in 2025, and Green in 2026.

When you do see volunteers walking in our neighborhood soliciting signatures, please understand that those are neighbors trying to unify and solve our collective road problem - this is an opportunity for us to work as neighbors to solve our roads issue, treating each other with respect and understanding.

 

Our Situation Is Not Unique

Other Bloomfield Township neighborhoods have done exactly what we are proposing.

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