BRIDGEPORT TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- One old bridge continues to cause a stir in a Mid-Michigan community.

Last week WNEM TV5 reported on a few small businesses in Bridgeport Township who said plans to refurbish the bridge could harm their livelihood.

Now other residents in town are weighing in on the project that some say could be a big taxpayer boondoggle.

“I was told it’s the oldest bridge in Michigan,” said Bridgeport Township businessman Fred Rohde.

Rhode, a longtime Bridgeport resident, said the steel bridge has been around since 1906.

The township plans on using more than $2 million in federal grant money from the Michigan Department of Transportation to remove the bridge, refurbish it, and replace it as a trail head for a rail trail.

The township said the bridge is leaning precariously, and if it falls into the river, it will cost the township $500,000 to remove it.

Under this plan the township saves money by only having to come up with $350,000. “So we had to weigh the situation,” said Bridgeport Township supervisor Patrick Gillis. “Do we invest in this, take the $2.3 million, or let it fall in the river and have to come up with half a million dollars to get it out of there.”

Since the story was first published Friday, TV5 has received several e-mails from residents asking why the money from MDOT was not being spent to fix local roadways.

“We were told that this money has to be spent on non-motorized trails,” said Gillis. “That’s their restriction, not ours.”

One longtime resident said the township could save a lot of money because she's talked to a salvager who's offered to take away the bridge for nothing.

"What I’m saying to the township is, ‘what's going on here?’” said resident Karen Dix. “If that's the true reason for you to do this, to dismantle this bridge to save taxpayer money, then let's do it the salvage way -- let's salvage this bridge."

But the township supervisor said the salvage idea is not a consideration, that the bridge is a historical monument and the MDOT grant plan is already a done deal.

Meanwhile, Fred Rohde sums up one of the reasons people have mixed feelings about the tax money involved in the project.

"It just seems like such an inopportune time because of the economy," Rohde’s said.

Township officials said they would eventually like to have the trail run all the way to Birch Run.