McKinley Road Bridge replacement among topics at Sylvan Board meeting

About 30 people attended the Sylvan Township Board meeting on Tuesday night, March 4.

Among the topics discussed was the unanimous approval of a resolution to make improvements to the McKinley Road Bridge over the Mill Lake Drain, which are expected to take place during the summer, probably in July.

The total cost estimate for this project is $180,000, and the cost will be divided three ways. The Washtenaw County Road Commission (WCRC) will cover 50 percent of the total cost, or $90,000, with Sylvan and Lima townships each covering 25 percent of the construction costs, or $45,000 each.

Sylvan Township’s share will be covered by WCRC matching funds for 2013-2015. WCRC drainage matching funds for 2013-2015 total $34,467 at $11,489 per year. WCRC road matching funds for 2014-2015 total $10,533, or $5,266 per year for the $45,000 total.

In addition, First Lieutenant Joel Allen, Brighton post commander of the Michigan State Police (MSP) spoke about the Home Security Team initiative, which brings four to five more uniformed troopers, as well as a K9 unit to the Sylvan MSP post.

These troopers are specially trained in vehicle search, and are tasked with monitoring I-94 looking for drug couriers, who are active on the I-94 corridor between Chicago and Detroit.

Allen explained that because of budget cuts in recent years, MSP officers only respond to calls on I-94, and the Hometown Security Team initiative allows them to actually patrol the freeway.

Allen also stated that 151 citations were issued by the state troopers in Sylvan Township in 2013, but there were just about the same number of people who were let go with warning. He also said that there were 180 traffic crashes in the township in 2013, but only 15 of these were injury crashes.