Lodi Township Presses on With Special Assessment Districts to Improve Area Roadways

A special meeting will be held at Lodi Township Hall Sept. 10 as township trustees seek to finalize plans to create a special assessment district that will provide for repairs and improvements to Robert Lane, a residential cul-de-sac off of Ellsworth Road.

The board set the initiative into motion in early August at its last regular meeting and held the first of two special meetings concerning the issue on Aug. 27, as legally required.

A special assessment district can be petitioned for when more than 50 percent of homeowners on a particular road in the township consider repairs necessary and agree to fund the cost of completing them, according to Supervisor Jan Godek.

Meeting minutes composed by Clerk Christina Smith following the initial August discussions cite the timeframe for the Robert Lane special assessment district payment process as 10 years and said residents have already raised preliminary funds.

“They are prepared with the necessary requirements per the statute and have a deposit of $45,000 ($6,000 to an escrow account and $39,000 towards the project).”

The township currently has four special assessment districts, according to Smith, including one providing for ongoing work on Waters Road.

As previously reported by The Post, Lodi officials conducted an online survey earlier this year to gauge residents’ feelings concerning how to fund repairs to degrading conditions on township roadways. The choice was either by levying a property tax, with up to 3 mills without a vote from residents or up to 5 mills with one, or by creating the special assessment districts.

Township estimates suggest improving a mile of gravel road carries a price tag of $200,000. The figure doubles to $400,000 for the same size stretch of paved roadway.

The meeting concerning Robert Lane will take place Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. The next regular meeting of the board of trustees will convene Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. Both will be held at Lodi Township Hall, 3755 Pleasant Lake Rd.

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