Proposed Bridge Would Connect Paint Creek Trail with Cider Mill

A new bridge near the and better water flow at the mill race were highlights of Tuesday's Oakland Township Board of Trustees meeting.

The board voted  in favor of hiring Wade Trim, a civil engineering firm, to analyze and come up with possible solutions to get water flowing properly again.

Jason Kenyon of Wade Trim delivered a presentation at the meeting at , saying that the firm would examine possibilities for re-energizing the mill race by collecting data and evaluating the hydraulics and impact of the .

Residents living along the mill race, along with a few others, pushed the board to give Wade Trim its approval and stressed the importance of getting flow back in the mill race.

“We have confidence that his company has creative ideas to solve this,” Oakland Township resident Jan Olson said of Wade Trim.

Wade Trim will receive $7,500 from the township for its six- to eight-week study of the mill race. Wade Trim will present a variety of options, and Kenyon said he will have a better idea of the cost of the project at that time. If the board is satisfied with the findings and chooses to move forward with one of the solutions, the project will go out for bid.

New bridge, platform for Paint Creek Trail

Oakland Township Parks and Trails Planner Mindy Milos-Dale discussed a Paint Creek Trail connectivity project Tuesday night, showing attendees a plan that calls for a new bridge leading those traveling along the trail toward the . With the proposed 60-foot wide span bridge, which would connect from the Paint Creek Trail and across Paint Creek toward where the Cider Mill’s dumpster currently sits, trail users would no longer have to venture up Gallagher Road to access the cider mill.

Vault toilets and a drinking fountain are part of the proposal, as is a crosswalk in the cider mill's existing parking lot and a platform on Paint Creek for fishing and nature observation.

Milos-Dale said that interpretive and directional signs are also a necessity in the makeover. Milos-Dale noted that the Paint Creek Cider Mill bathrooms are usable for path goers now, but the building is not open as long as the trail. The new vault toilets would allow people using the Paint Creek Trail to use the bathroom the duration the trail is used,  6 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.

“I think it will be important for trailway users and for residents … it makes for a safer access between these facilities,” Milos-Dale said.

Board members voted unanimously to approve applying for the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant, committing to help fund the project if they receive the grant. The township’s match for the project would be 26 percent, or $87,700, said Milos-Dale, who noted that the funds would be split between the general fund millage and the 10-year trail millage. The grant would pay for nearly $250,000.

“This is definitely a big plus for safety and getting across the trail to access the cider mill … it is a definite improvement for the township and for the trail,” Trustee Kathrine Thomas said. “And it would be looked upon by any trail user that it is a nice stopping point halfway from Rochester to Lake Orion.”

Other meeting highlights:

• A salary, wage and meeting schedule was approved by the board.
• Clerk Judy Workings was absent from the meeting, so the board decided to hold off on approving recording equipment for meetings, something Workings has been researching.
• $27,000 for Constantine Inc. for a replacement of the roof at Township Hall was approved.
• A dust control contract with Road Maintenance Corp. was extended.
• The board voted in favor of using Tri-Party funds for application of limestone surfaces in the township as it has down in the past.