Road Board Agrees To Provide Estimates
Townships Want To See Details of Work
By Karen Gould

Townships now will receive detailed estimates from the Mackinac County Road Commission once projects are approved at the township level. The decision was prompted after more than a year of complaints by township officials that estimates lacked specific information, did not outline the work that would be performed, and made it difficult to address residents' questions about planned road improvement projects.

The decision was reached by the road commission following a special meeting with township representatives Tuesday, June 26.

"I know people in the past haven't been happy," said commissioner Paul Amacher of the estimate report currently offered by the commission.

"It's too vague," said Hudson Township Supervisor Al Garavaglia.

Now, when townships are considering road work, they will receive a preliminary estimate that can be used for discussion purposes, said commissioner Lester Livermore. If a township decides to move forward with the project, a more detailed engineering estimate will be prepared by the road commission and given to the township board.

The reasoning behind the twostep process is to avoid overloading the road commission with time-consuming, detailed estimate requests that are for information purposes only. The road commission receives approximately 100 requests a year, said Mr. Livermore, and if a detailed estimate were required for each one of them, the commission would need additional engineering staff.

The new estimate form was introduced at the meeting by Mr. Garavaglia and received support by all township representatives in attendance. Mr. Garavaglia offered several options at the meeting.

The detailed estimate includes the amount of aggregate base and grade to be used on the project, the width of the pavement, and the pavement depth. Also included in the estimate are costs for clearing, excavation work planned in cubic yards, the amount of aggregate that will be used and aggregate base conditioning, type of road shoulder, and slope restoration work.

"This is the one I see as very helpful for us," said Mr. Garavaglia. "It just would simplify it for everybody. It spells it all out. It tells you right there just what is going to happen."

Mr. Garavaglia advised those in attendance that the detailed estimate is just that, and unforeseen circumstances can arise once a road project is underway.

"An estimate is an estimate," he said. "If you run into a problem, you have a problem. Maybe you need an [unplanned] culvert."

Mike Patrick, Clark Township road committee member and county commissioner, said the lack of a detailed estimate has been a problem and the new form would help with road inspections, which the road committee performs before invoices are paid.

Road Commission Chairman Frank Luepnitz said he would like to see the size of culverts added to the estimate details.

Township supervisors also requested better communication and expressed concerns over some projects not being completed each year. They asked for a time frame for road projects, as some contracts have been signed by the townships and the road commission, and then the work has not been done.

"All of us would like to know within a month when you're going to be there," said Dave Craig to the commission. Mr. Craig is a Brevort Township road committee member.

The commission signs road agreements that will allow crews to keep working until cold weather prohibits projects, Mr. Livermore explained.

"There's always going to be probably one project, at least, that doesn't get completed in the fall because of that," he said. "We'd be foolish to not sign enough work to keep us through a nice, easy fall. I would say in any given year, one project probably will not get started."

During a regular road commission meeting that followed, commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the new estimating system.

Township supervisors attending included John Kronemeyer from Marquette, Dale Nelson from St. Ignace, Al Garavaglia from Hudson, Cleo Smith from Garfield, and Jim Durm from Moran. From Clark Township were supervisor Linda Hudson and township road committee members Frank Harness and Mike Patrick. Township assessor Dick Oliver represented Portage Township. From Brevort Township, road committee members attending were Dave Craig and Rosemary Irwin. Joe Schlund attended from Bois Blanc Township. Two townships, Hendricks and Newton, did not have representation at the meeting.