The Polly Ann Trail will run a little longer thanks to the Orion Township Board of Trustees.
The board unanimously approved a contract at their meeting on Jan. 5 to extend the trail by three and a half miles starting at Joslyn and Heights.
The trail will get gravel and upgrades beginning there, and where it runs south along an old railroad corridor, then heads west to connect back with Joslyn.
The project would get started this April and be finished by late June or early July.
The township getting involved with the work is singular in that most of the 14-mile trail is maintained by the Polly Ann Trail Management Council (PATMC).
They oversee it for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), who own the trail.
A 12-mile portion of the trail, which snakes its way through Orion, Oxford and Addison townships, as well as the villages of Oxford and Leonard, was built in 2006.
It includes a pedestrian bridge over M-24 in the Village of Oxford.
‘I want the board to start thinking about the role that Orion is playing in the substantinal and dramatic financial support of the Polly Ann Trail as a whole in comparison to its other member communities,? said Township Supervisor Matthew Gibb said.
Gibb said that while Addison Township was recently rumored to approve only paying out $3,000 a year to the PATMC, they’re going forward with a horse trail of their own.
According to Gibb, the way the 3-mile project will be funded is similar to the previous project.
Matching funds from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will be procured through the Road Commission of Oakland County (RCOC).
The project, which is estimated to cost $332,800, will eventually go out to bid to a contractor.
A bid of $338,000 was received from LJ Construction, but not yet awarded, according to Kris Enlow of OHM, the township’s engineering consulting firm.
The township must match 30 percent of the total cost, or about $96,000, much of which will come from a Greenways Initiative Grant.
The rest of the money will come from the township, which has budgeted for the project.
But since Orion is heading it up, they will also be responsioble for the work.
‘Because this is a township-based project, not a Polly Ann-based project, we become responsible for overruns,? Gibb said. ‘There is some risk we’re undertaking. If there is a problem, it would fall on our shoulders to solve in some way.?
Treasurer Alice Young had other concerns.
‘I hope that the extension will not have the kind of gravel that was put on the northern Polly Ann. We had to practically remove it all,? Young said. ‘I hope it’s a good grade of gravel.?
Enlow said the gravel will be the same that was used on the Paint Creek Trail.
Another concern was what to do with the trail once it’s completed.
The township could pay to maintain it, or hand it over to the PATMC, which could potentially change the township’s financial arrangement with the group.
‘It’s a little bit of a tangled web that were into,? Gibb said.
Trustees JoAnn Van Tassel and John Steimel said they would like to spend time on the issue.
‘In a future meeting, I’d like to just focus on that issue separately,? Steimel said.
Young said she’s worked out some of the numbers and said the township’s costs will go up if they maintain it.
She echoed Gibb’s sentiment that other communities aren’t as dedicated to the trail as the township.
‘Orion’s got the short-end of the stick with Polly Ann all along. I really hate to see us get a further short end of the stick,? Young said