Waters Road residents pursuing special assessment district to pay for paving

“We’ve had a lot of problems with that road,” said Road Commissioner Ken Schwartz during a discussion of the situation Tuesday afternoon. “It’s a nasty road with swamp on both sides. There have been accidents, wash boarding and ruts.”

Roy Townsend, managing director of the Road Commission, said neighbors contacted the Road Commission about having the road paved, and if they can get 51 percent of the people on the road to sign a petition, the special assessment district process can begin.

A couple of years ago, Townsend said, the Road Commission obtained a federal safety grant to improve drainage and add 6 inches of gravel for Waters Road, and the project is scheduled to begin this month with a late summer completion date.

During an April public information meeting about the Waters Road project, there was also a discussion of a possible special assessment district for paving the road and the estimated costs of about $300,000 for the project.

Tuesday afternoon, Road Commissioners agreed to pay for $200,000 of the project, if the property owners would contribute $100,000, which works out to about $2,000, which could be paid in a lump sum or about $200 a year, plus interest, for 10 years.

In addition, the Road Commission unanimously approved about $214,000 in road work throughout the township, which will cost the township about $179,000 when matching funds are applied.

Included in the road work is two applications of dust control at a cost of about $93,800, as well as the addition of about 6,000 tons of limestone on Saline Waterworks Road from the end of the pavement to Dell Road at an estimated cost of $105,000, and ditch work on Zeeb Road from Textile Road to the bridge at a cost of $15,500.