Flint Twp residents divided on road repair prices

FLINT TWP., Mich. (WNEM) - Residents of Flint Township made their opinions known at a meeting Monday night over the price to fix the roads in their subdivision.

Estimates show it could cost each property owner nearly $9,000.

“If we don’t do something about them, they’re gonna turn into gravel. This is not a Disney movie. There’s no fairy godmother that’s going to come wave their magic wand and fix our roads for us,” said Flint Township homeowner Chris Johns.

The Flint Township Board of Trustees voted to approve a special assessment district to repair the roads inside the Flagstone Pointe community.

But the vote did not come without a nearly hour-long debate amongst homeowners.

“There was a petition came around people signed to saying, ‘Yeah, we’d like to get a new roads.’ That’s all it said. Now we just find out that that really isn’t a binding, a final vote. We didn’t know how much it was gonna cost. Now you’re throwing out I gotta pay $9,000 which doesn’t grow on trees where you’re retired. So, do we have to have a vote of the subdivision? I think we do,” said homeowner James Meszaros.

The debate centered around the portion that each resident would have to pay.

“As a result of the construction bid price that we received, the estimated cost...is $8,975 per parcel. So that is almost $1,400 per parcel more than what we originally anticipated,” said Michael R. Pifer, and engineer with Kraft Engineering & Surveying, Inc.

Pifer said during the meeting the cost for the project went up because the roads and drainage system were worse than expected.

“We had a lot of curb and gutter that had to be repaired because there were drainage issues and also some deterioration. And also, there’s like 60 catch basins that that are in need of repair also,” he said.

The total cost of the road repairs is estimated to be around $2.5 million. The Gensee County Road Commission would pay for $254,000, and 25 percent would be paid by the township.

Residents will have an option to either pay the full amount of the assessment 30 days after construction is completed or they can pay in installments over a 15-year period.

Work initially was expected to begin this month, but because of rain, it’s likely to begin in June.

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