Infrastructure maintenance was the topic of the night Monday in Jerome Township.
At the board of trustees meeting, officials discussed the state of the township roads.
“We have some areas that need some serious work,” township trustee Ron Rhodes said.
Rhodes said he and Scott Hudson with American Pavement have driven through the township to identify roads and streets that need work this summer.
“He is getting a list together,” Rhodes said. He added, “there are a couple of places I’ve seen since then.”
The trustees stressed that in the past, township officials have waited too late in the season to get on Hudson’s schedule.
“That’s why we are trying to get to it as soon as possible,” Rhodes said.
He added that as the weather changes, more roads could be added to the list.
“You know how it is, a road can look fine and then you get a rain, and it freezes and thaws and you see other problems,” Rhodes said.
The trustees also addressed future winter needs. Rhodes said there is one maintenance crew member and himself, who have certification to drive the townships snowplow. He said he learned of a township resident that also has certification. The trustees voted to hire him on an as-needed basis to help with future snow plowing.
Rhodes told fiscal officer Robert Caldwell to order 300 tons of salt for next year from the state.
“I haven’t looked at it, but I know we have gone through close to 300 tons,” Rhodes said.
Township resident Barry Adler also wanted to talk about township roads.
“Traffic continues to be a concern,” Adler said. “The recent traffic studies from Glacier Pointe and the FedEx Hub proposal indicate just how dire the situation is with existing sub grade intersections and the impact that approved and pending projects will have on public safety.”
He asked the trustees to “take a more proactive role to require the needed upgrades prior to allowing for development to move forward to ensure that adequate roadway infrastructure is completed before development can move forward to better protect the public welfare and safety.”
He said excessive traffic also brings excessive noise and fumes, that are “detrimental to the public health and welfare.”
“We need guidelines and definitions that will allow for objective means of measuring these parameters to determine what is excessive and detrimental to public welfare,” Adler said.
Alder also stressed some other concerns.
“I am concerned about communications with township residents,” Adler said.
He said the township’s new website is not complete and does not have the latest copies of minutes and other township information.
“A number of residents, including myself, have been experiencing uncharacteristic delays in getting audio files and any other meeting minutes from the past two BZA (Board of Zoning Appeals) meetings,” Adler said, asking who was responsible for compliance with public records requests since Caldwell recently resigned from that position.