MUNICIPAL Discussions on I-75 noise abatement
No change to ballot despite complaint By Lisa Brody
By Lisa Brody
Bloomfield Township residents impacted by increased noise from the I75 reconstruction learned at the township board of trustees meeting on Monday, August 22, that the township is working with county, state and federal officials to deal with Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) in order to have them construct noise barriers. In July, a long planned reconstruction and widening of a threemile stretch of I-75 freeway in Bloomfield Township, Auburn Hills and Troy began. "The project, between South Boulevard and Coolidge Road, will fix the poor pavement condition and is the first segment of an overall plan to rebuild more than 17 miles of I-75 between South Boulevard and M-102 (8 Mile Road) in Oakland County," according to a news release from the Michigan Department of Transportation. The project, to cost $1 billion, is planned to be done in eight phases over 14 years, and will not be completed until 2030. At issue is increased noise over the years for adjacent neighborhoods and condominium developments in the I-75 corridor that have increased since MDOT recently cleared acres of mature trees – a project MDOT referred to as “vegetation clearing” – which residents contend provided a noise buffer to traffic. The Adams Woods condominium community submitted a resolution to the board for approval requesting a noise abatement wall to be built by MDOT, noting their “quality of life has been impacted.” Supervisor Leo Savoie said the board was not going to take up the resolution, nor one later submitted from The Heathers condominiums, “because this is actually a little more than just Adams Woods. There are actually seven separate neighborhoods impacted by the I-75 construction, totally 1,040 homes. There are also nine different condominium associations impacted, with 1,600 residential units, for a total of 2,638 residential units. The total residents impacted is roughly greater than 6,500 residents. Instead, I thought it would be best to look at it in its totality and its impact.” State house Rep. Mike McCready (R-Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield downtownpublications.com
espite an election complaint to the Michigan Secretary of State's office by a group from Bloomfield Township asking to have the results of the townhip August primary election nullified and to have the state put the Republican primary candidates back on the general election ballot, state officials said the November ballot was certified on Friday, September 9, and they are not empowered to have it changed. Township resident Bill McMaster, volunteer chairman of Taxpayers United Michigan Foundation, sent a letter to Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and Director of Election Chris Thomas, dated September 9, stating that he was filing a complaint and requesting action against Bloomfield Township supervisor Leo Savoie, clerk Jan Roncelli and trustee Brian Kepes, after Savoie submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to the clerk for all email addresses used in the distribution of a periodic township newsletter so that Savoie could use the list to send out campaign-related emails. In his complaint to the secretary of state's office, McMaster wrote, “Savoie said he had gotten approval of the township attorney, Bill Hampton, to use the list. That same attorney subsequently issued the opposite opinion saying that the email list could not be given to the citizen who submitted a FOIA. This flip flop on the legality issue supports the case for abuse of office through both the special access granted to Savoie and his use of the township attorney to evaluate his personal campaign actions.” While Savoie noted an in-kind expense of $40 for the FOIA, McMaster is claiming Savoie violated campaign finance law, and that the supervisor candidate he backed, David Thomas, only lost because of Savoie's use of the email. “Mr. Savoie won the election by 452 votes. He received 4,244 while his challenger received 3,792. If only 3 percent of the voters shifted, the outcome would have been different. It is reasonable to assume that a deceptive endorsement sent to 3,500 citizens was the deciding factor in Savoie’s narrow margin of victory,” McMaster wrote in his complaint. Because no Democrats had filed for any of the township offices, the Republicans selected by voters in the August primary vote automatically are elected to the positions following the November general election. Fred Woodhams, spokesperson for the Michigan Secretary of State office, said, “We did receive this, and are reviewing this as a campaign finance complaint. That is a very specific process. “However,” he emphasized, “We’re past the point of changing the ballot. The ballot was certified on Friday, September 9, and can no longer be changed. The secretary of state and director of elections have no authority to add or remove anyone to the ballot. They (ballots) have to be ready for local clerks by Saturday, September 24, when they have to go out for military and overseas voters, as well as available for absentee voters.” Woodhams said the campaign finance complaint would be investigated “in due course.”
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Hills, Birmingham) reported that he had been not only studying the issue, but had met with MDOT. “We've received a lot of complaints regarding the noise since the foliage was removed along I-75. It has taken me a while to find out why.” He reported on three separate noise studies with traffic noise measurements. “In 2014, we registered at 65 decibels (prior to the removal of the foliage). At 66 decibels, we could
go to the federal government (for funds), and I find that unusual,” he said, noting he had discussed the situation with congressman David Trott (R-Birmingham), who is interested in taking it up federally. He said he is also working with the state house and senate transportation committee chairs. “They don't consider the foliage a noise reducer, so they take it out, which is 30 to 40 years worth of foliate, which is Mother Nature's way of
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helping reduce noise, and they take it out because they don't want it to affect the computer model they have created. To my opinion, this lends bias to the decibel level. Forty years of Mother Nature creating a barrier, and when you take it out to meet your numbers for your model, and you have to take them out and you create this burden upon your residents.” Township engineer Wayne Domine explained that MDOT says it is the residents' problem to deal with noise from the highway because I-75 was initially built in the 1960s, and the neighborhoods were built after, most in the 1970s and 1980s. “It was built for a different kind of use,” he said. “MDOT said that is why it doesn't qualify for any noise barrier. We believe it is justified because it is a new freeway. They are moving the freeway – they are elevating the freeway in some areas.” The township will bring back resolutions at a future board meeting.
Bloomfield Hills receives road funds The city of Bloomfield Hills received a matching grant of $10,520 from the Oakland County Board of Commissioners for local road projects, and mayor Stuart Sherr said they will put it to good use towards the city's annual cracksealing, patching and minor road repair projects. On Wednesday, August 31, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a series of resolutions by board members to secure funds for local road projects for municipalities in Oakland County through the county's new Local Road Improvement Pilot Program. The program provides limited assistance to cities and villages in Oakland County for repairs and improvements on local roadways, and the municipalities must match the funding from the county. The county said a contingent for receiving the funding is that project should supplement, but not replace, existing road repair efforts. The board of commissioners allocated $1 million in matching funds to launch the program in 2016. The program supplements the tri-party road improvement program, which provides one-third share of of matching funds for repair of roads, along with the municipalities and the Road Commission of Oakland County (RCOC). Sherr said that the county 103