MDOT Project Update
Thanks to the passionate pleas of Bloomfield Township residents, elected officials from all levels of government, community leaders, and business leaders; the State of Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) heard our voice and decided to keep and improve the ramp access on Square Lake Road Business Loop by I-75! When given the option of complete removal of the ramps or moving the ramps into the wetlands to the west, the residents overwhelmingly responded that keeping access to ramps while minimizing negative impacts on the wetlands as much as possible was the desired outcome.
MDOT held a public meeting on February 27th and heard the community concerns and overwhelming opposition to removing the “Ramp B” access on Square Lake Road business loop. Knowing that funding was going to be the main obstacle, I organized a meeting on March 13th with MDOT executives to discuss funding options and next steps. Joining me in attendance were Treasurer Brian Kepes, Township Clerk Martin Brook, representatives from Police, Fire and Public Works Departments and Pat Watson, Superintendent, Bloomfield Hills Schools, Kevin Hrit, Outreach Director for Senator Gary Peters, Colleen Pobur, Michigan Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Haley Stevens, Michigan State Senator Jeremy Moss, and Donni Steele, Michigan State Representative for the 54th District. Happiness swept across the room when Lori Swanson from MDOT said, “Removal is off the table.”
Next, we discussed if the additional $3 - $5 million to extend the ramp could come from state or federal funding. It was determined that Senator Jeremy Moss would be the best choice to work on getting the funding through the state budget and Bloomfield Township would apply for federal grants through offices of Congresswoman Haley Stevens and Senator Gary Peters as well.
MDOT worked with their regional office to try and find the money needed to keep both ramps at Square Lake Road and I-75 BL and shift them to the west toward Opdyke Road to improve the merge/ weave distance on I-75 BL. A few weeks later I received the amazing news that MDOT finished their review, and they were able to directly fund the project with their current budget. This experience was a true example of how we are stronger together! I’m thankful to all of you who came together to protect access for Township residents and our surrounding communities. This is the second time our administration has worked with MDOT to revise plans on their roads to avoid negative impacts, including the cancellation of Woodward digital signage in 2021. I’m truly thankful to MDOT for hearing our concerns and committing to funding improvements.
The rebuilding of the ramps is part of a larger MDOT project that involves the reconstruction of I-75BL (Square Lake Road) from M-1 (Woodward Avenue) to I-75 in Bloomfield Township and the City of Pontiac. This includes the complete replacement of the pavement, rehabilitation of storm sewer, ramp improvements at the Opdyke Road interchange and other safety improvements. The Township will also be making improvements and repairs to the Township’s utilities in the area while the roadway is shut down. The project is scheduled to be constructed and completed in 2024.
New Waste Management Contract
We’ve worked to protect and expand our solid waste program by choosing our new waste hauler, Priority Waste. Our previous contract with Canadian based Green for Life (GFL) began 7 years ago when they absorbed the contracts of Rizzo. When looking at the history of solid waste contracts in Bloomfield Township, most companies are with us for less than 10 years due to competitive bidding and acquisitions. The current contract expires in July and we reached out to GFL to negotiate an extension. Unfortunately, GFL chose not to offer all services requested by the residents including multiple cart size options, dedicated customer service representatives, two waste drop-off days (electronic waste and hazardous waste), bundle discounts, and stable pricing.
Residents expect first-class service for the best price, so we put out a Requests for Proposal (RFP) and four bidders applied. The RFP set the standards of service guaranteeing current services continue. I was thrilled to see that we had two strong contenders and focused on vetting Michigan based Priority Waste and Canadian based GFL.
The idea of switching from our current provider was not taken lightly. But sometimes in order to maintain services that we as residents have come to expect, it means switching to a company that is willing and capable of providing the services. In addition to proposed service reductions and increased costs, GFL chose not to send any executives or decision makers from Canada to our meetings. Priority Waste, however, sent the CEO, CFO, VP of Operations, and other leadership to the negotiations providing a more efficient process and highlighting the difference of partnership between companies.
The sound business decision was to go with the better company, that offers more services, costs $5 million less, and is a Michigan based company: Priority Waste. We will be sending all homes some information about the new company. I believe that once we get past the initial transition in July that we will see improved service and a drastic reduction of the missed stops and damaged property reports that escalated over the last seven years.