Lake Township cool to road costs

10/20/2004

Lake Township trustees gave a cool reception last night to the idea of sharing the costs of resurfacing Drouillard Road with the village of Walbridge.

"Drouillard is not in that bad a shape," Melanie Bowen-Horton, chairman of the trustees, said. "We have roads that are a whole lot worse."

Village officials asked the township in a letter to help pay the local share for repaving about two miles of Drouillard. The road connects the village with Lake Township's Friendship Park and has a paved bike path on each side.

The village wants to apply for state money for the work and hopes a partnership with the township would improve its chances for approval.

Drouillard has not been a priority for trustees. The road is not included in their five-year plan for resurfacing projects, Ms. Bowen-Horton said. Road Supervisor Dan McLargin said Walbridge Road between East Broadway and Luckey Road is in much worse condition.

Also holding back trustees is whether any portion of Drouillard lies within the township. Land along the west side of the road recently was annexed to the village, but trustees said it was unclear if annexation took in any part of the road.

Trustees agreed to reply to the village asking for additional information before they decide what to do.

In other business, Rachel Walsh asked trustees to improve enforcement of speed limits on State Rt. 795 in front of an old school in Millbury, which now has a pre-school program that includes special needs children.

"My whole problem is cars are not slowing down at all," she said. She has two 4-year-old twin boys at the school. There are no flashing warning lights designating a school zone because the building is no longer a grade school. But painting on the road still marks the school zone.

Police chief Mark Hummer said he will step up enforcement with warnings and start issuing traffic tickets.