After years of saving, planning and delaying, Oxford Township officials are finally ready to move into their spacious new home later this month.
The weekend of Aug. 18 is the tentative move in date for the township’s new administrative offices at 300 Dunlap Road, formerly Granger Road (see sidebar story). The plan is to be open for business on Monday, Aug. 21.
‘We’ll be putting signs there to let people know where to go,? said Trustee Charles Kniffen, chair of the township’s Building and Site Committee which oversaw the project. ‘It is going to be confusing because we’re also changing the road (name).?
Construction of the two-level, 14,000-square-foot building, just north of Seymour Lake Road, has come in well under budget.
A total of $2,238,502 was originally allowed for the project, which included everything from construction to furnishings.
‘Right now, we have (the total cost) down to $1,957,410,? Kniffen said. ‘It might actually come down more.?
Savings isn’t the only good news.
‘We’re actually ahead of schedule,? Kniffen said.
Originally, it was thought the project would be done around Sept. 15. But now, the Grand Blanc-based R.L White Construction and Development Corp. is tentatively planning to turn the new building over to the township on Aug. 15.
Cooperation among the workmen and good weather were the two main factors that led to the project’s completion a month early, according to Kniffen.
The 7,000-square-foot main floor of the new building contains offices for the supervisor, treasurer and clerk and building departments, small conference room, lunch room, kitchen area and storage space.
A long divided counter space shared by the clerk and treasurer’s department will allow the public direct and easy access to township staff and services.
While a majority of the building’s lower level is being left unfinished, three separate storage areas for the building, treasurer and clerk’s departments will be completed. An elevator and loading dock will aid moving things, such as files or voting equipment, to and from these lower storage areas.
As Phase II of the project, the rest of the lower level will be finished at some point in the future as money becomes available. It will be used to house the Oakland County Sheriff’s substation and maybe even Oxford Township Parks and Recreation, if the department wishes to move.
Trustee Doleen Behnke, who also serves on the Building and Site Committee, doesn’t foresee the township borrowing any money for Phase II or Phase III, which calls for constructing a 1,952-square-foot meeting room on the new building’s north side.
‘I think it would be smart for us to try and save the money,? she said. ‘Do it when we have the money. Just like we did all this.?
For now, the sheriff’s substation and parks department will stay where they are and the township will continue conducting all its meetings on the second floor of the Oxford Veterans Memorial Civic Center.
As for the future of the old township offices on W. Burdick St., Supervisor Bill Dunn said the board hasn’t made any plans for the 2,200-square-foot space.
‘Anything could happen to it,? he said. ‘We could sell it. We could lease it. Nothing’s been decided.?
If the township were to sell it, an appraisal would have to be conducted. But before the township spends any money on an appraisal, Dunn said the board must first decide the direction it wants to go.
Manager Joe Young said the village has not discussed the possibility of buying or leasing the township side of the muncipal complex. ‘We’re interested to see what the township’s interested in doing with it,? he said.
He noted that the DDA master plan calls for that entire area, presently occupied by the village and township offices and village police department, to become townhouses in the future.