Residents to be assessed for sidewalks around their properties
By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
LAKE ORION — The Lake Orion Village Council voted 5-0 on Monday to proceed with its new sidewalk replacement program, which will be paid for by village dollars and special assessments to affected property owners.
Council President Teresa Rutt and Council Member George Dandalides were absent from the meeting, with notice.
The vote to accept the preliminary cost estimates allows village administration to proceed to the competitive bid process and find a contractor to do the project. The village will also send out notices to affected property owners.
Nowak and Fraus Engineers provided the village with cost estimates for the sidewalk replacement program. For example, the cost estimate for Church Street sidewalk repairs from Broadway to Lapeer streets is $46,379, according to village documents. N. Slater Street from Jackson to Church streets is estimated at more than $36,000. Washington Street from Shadbolt to Jackson streets is estimated to cost more than $34,000. Florence Street from Flint Street to Blanche Sims Elementary is estimated at more than $54,000.
Hauxwell Drive from Flint Street to the dead end is the most expensive portion of the project, estimated at more than $328,000.
Village Manager Darwin McClary will prepare bid specifications and contract documents and proceed to competitively bid the sidewalk improvement project. McClary will present the bid results to the council with a final estimate of cost for the project and for each affected property at an upcoming meeting.
Council Member Michael Lamb, a civil engineer with a building contractor’s license, said the cost estimates equate to about $14.42 per square foot for four-inch thick sidewalk concrete and $15.42 for six-inch thick concrete for the street approaches.
“I think the estimate is suitably high to be close, I don’t think we’re going to get surprised (by bids) at that price,” Lamb said, adding the cost estimates look “pretty reasonable” except for Hauxwell Drive.
The sidewalk replacement program is divided into three districts. Homeowners and businesses in District 1 will have their sidewalks repaired this summer, with District 2 planned for 2026 and District 3 planned for 2027. Only sidewalk sections that need to be repaired will be replaced in each cycle, and then the village will go back to a district on a rotating basis to repair additional sidewalks as they deteriorate.
“It’s meant to be a perpetual program, so if it’s every three years then we kind of keep rotating through (each district),” President Pro-Tem Stan Ford said. “I think the first bout for people might be heavier but once we get through one cycle, the second cycle, etcetera, will have less impact. And we’ll be able to keep those sidewalk repairs going.”
And while village residents will be getting new sidewalks where they are needed, residents will also be billed for those improvements, or will have to pay for repairs directly.
According to a village timeline, village administration will submit the bid results to the council at the March 24 meeting. On April 28, the council will conduct a special assessment roll public hearing and adopt a resolution to proceed with project and is expected to award the contract for sidewalk improvements. On July 1, special assessments will be billed to residents with their taxes, which are due by Aug. 31.
Affected property owners will pay based on the square footage of sidewalks around their properties.
“Village Charter and the Village’s Code of Ordinances make property owners responsible for the maintenance, upkeep, repair, and replacement of defective sidewalks abutting their properties and for keeping snow and ice cleared from the walkways,” McClary said on Feb. 10.
For sidewalks that need to be replaced in front of residents’ homes or businesses downtown, there will be payment options. People can let the village identify the improvements, set up the work with a contractor and have the repairs made. Residents then have the option of paying the village the full amount directly, or overtime by having it put on their tax bills, said Lamb.
Residents can also opt out of the village program and have sidewalk repairs done themselves, but they will have to pull permits and have an inspection done on the work, Lamb said.
The village is responsible for cost of replacing or installing handicap ramps at street intersections and of initial installation of new sidewalk where it never previously existed for the purpose of connecting sidewalk segments to improve community walkability and to enhance pedestrian safety, according to village documents.
The districts will be completed annually on a rotating basis so that one district is inspected and improved each year, according to village documents.
District one includes 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.