Oxford Township officials voted 5-2 to authorize the Road Commission for Oakland County to utilize the engineering firm of Spalding DeDecker Associates, Inc. for the paving design of Ray Road between M-24 and N. Oxford Road.
‘It’s important to us because Oxford High School’s right there. A lot of young folks travel that road,? said Treasurer Joe Ferrari. ‘It’s just a safety factor for the whole community. That road is heavily travelled.?
The total cost for the design work is $98,513 of which the township’s share would be $32,838 using its annual Tri-Party funding allocation.
Tri-Party funded projects are paid for using a mix of township monies and funds from the road commission and Oakland County.
Rowe, Inc., the township’s engineering firm submitted a bid of $30,335 for the paving design, however, the road commission ‘will only accept road design work from its three approved engineering firms,? of which Spalding DeDecker Associates, Inc. is one, according to Ferrari.
‘The reason why the RCOC takes this position is that they have had experiences in the past with other non-approved engineering firms where the RCOC has had to pretty much re-design the entire project, which defeats the purpose of having an engineering firm do the work,? Ferrari wrote in a memo to the township board.
Supervisor Bill Dunn said he voted ‘no? due to the design work’s ‘excessive cost? in the face of a cheaper alternative.
‘Shame on the road commission for making us use an engineer that costs three times more,? Dunn said. ‘What a huge waste of tax money. Rowe is just as qualified to do this work and they cost about a third. I guess the road commission has money to burn.?
Ferrari estimated paving this stretch of Ray Road (which actually extends from N. Oxford Road to the Meijer) could cost approximately $800,000 to $1 million.
He said the ‘rule of thumb? is that a project’s design cost is usually about 10 percent of the construction cost.
Getting the design work done now could get the construction project going sooner, the treasurer said.
‘Designs that are ready to go are given higher priority (by the road commission),? Ferrari said. Particularly, those done by the RCOC’s preferred engineers.
Right now, based on his discussions with road commission officials, it could be another two to four years ‘before (the project) even gets on their radar,? according to Ferrari.
‘We’re hoping it can be moved up even quicker.?
‘In terms of their priority list, they’ve got other roads ahead of us, but they understand the importance of this,? Ferrari explained.
Currently, paving Ray Road is part of the commission’s ?20-year plan.?
‘I think it will move higher up on their plan once the design’s done and on the shelf,? the treasurer said.
The actual paving will also ‘depend on the finances at their end.?
‘I’m hoping, let’s say at the end of this year, they do all their budgets and find out they’ve got an extra $800,000 that they can just, boom, pump it into Ray Road and it’s done,? Ferrari explained. ‘That’s what I think makes this project so viable, it’s not a big $6 million project. It’s not like your going to repave I-75 or something.?
‘I’m hoping they can bump it up on their list because it’s such a little project in terms of their total funding.?