Village council authorizes administration to begin sidewalk improvement prep work

By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
LAKE ORION — The Lake Orion Village Council approved two motions regarding the village’s sidewalk improvement program during its regular meeting on Jan. 27.
First, council adopted a sidewalk improvement program policy and authorized village administration to begin preparation work on the fiscal year 2025-26 improvement project and special assessment processes as outlined in a project schedule.
“(The program) is long overdue,” Village Manager Darwin McClary said. “We have to start doing a better job of maintaining our sidewalks, making our community walkable, but, most importantly, safe for our pedestrians.”
The roughly six-page policy states it establishes rules, regulations, procedures and specifications for construction, repair and replacement of public sidewalks within the village and the allocation of the costs of these improvements.
It also includes 13 sections relating to sidewalk locations, specifications, deterioration descriptions, conditions justifying sidewalk installation or replacement and more.
Four conditions justifying installation or replacement are listed. They include the sidewalk possessing temporary patches or ramping repairs, exhibiting differential elevations of half an inch or greater, being cracked or broken, and gaps in the sidewalk existing in areas that are heavily traveled by pedestrians or are deemed by the village to be in need of connection for community walk-ability and pedestrian safety purposes.
The policy also includes responsibilities of property owners.
“Our charter and ordinances require homeowners, property owners, to maintain their sidewalks,” Council President Teresa Rutt said. “So, we could, tomorrow, go out and just ticket everybody who has a sidewalk that is non-compliant with our ordinances and require you to fix it.”
Rutt added the village is taking on the project to make the cost to homeowners for necessary repairs more manageable. She also said participating in the improvement program should lower the cost for residents compared to if they made the improvements on their own.
The district one sidewalk schedule includes repairs to sidewalks on Church Street between Broadway and Lapeer Street on the south side of the road, to sidewalks on Hauxwell Street from Flint Street on both sides of the road all the way north, to sidewalks on North Slater Street from Jackson Street to Church Street on the east side of the road, to sidewalks on Washington Street from Shadbolt Street to Jackson Street on the east side of the road, and to sidewalks on Florence Street from Flint Street north into Blanche Sims Elementary School.
According to the schedule, an estimate will be submitted to the village clerk showing the number of square feet of sidewalk required to be built or rebuilt adjacent to each lot or parcel of land in February.
In March, administration will submit bid results to village council with costs estimates, with council conducting a public hearing, and adopting a resolution determining whether to proceed with the project in April. Council will also award the contract for sidewalk improvements that month. District one improvements are expected to be completed in July or August, according to the timeline.
The districts will be completed annually on a rotating basis so that one district is inspected and improved each year, according to village documents.
Village council also adopted a resolution setting a public needs hearing on Feb. 10 on proposed sidewalk improvements to district one of the improvement program. This motion also directed the village clerk to publish and mail a notice to affected property owners.
This hearing will allow village council to receive comments on the proposed improvements from impacted property owners. Council will then either adopt, reject or modify and adopt a resolution, according to the district one schedule. This resolution would determine public convenience or necessity requires any sidewalk to be considered for improvement, and direct the village manager to file an estimate showing the number of square feet of sidewalk required to be built or rebuilt adjacent to each lot or parcel of land with the village clerk.
The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 10.

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