Ironwood Township residents ponder road millage

IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - About 10 residents attended a special Ironwood Township Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday to hear a presentation about a proposed road millage.

Randy Scott, an engineer with C2ae, made the presentation as a "neutral person."

"I have no vested interest in this, so I was asked to make the presentation," Scott said.

The purpose of the presentation was to discuss the need of road construction throughout Ironwood Township and the state of Michigan.

The board is proposing a 1 mill replacement on the Nov. 4 ballot to be used for road construction. The mill will replace the expired fire truck mill, if approved by voters.

A millage rate is the amount of tax per $1,000 of property value.

According to the board, the mill is expected to generate $79,000 in the first year and will last for four years, if approved. Also, the millage would only be used for road construction.

If residents decided to move in favor of the millage, their taxes will not increase. However, if the millage is voted down, taxes will decrease.

During Wednesday's presentation, Scott spoke about the struggle Michigan faces for road construction each year, especially after this past winter's deep frost level.

"It's been an interesting year for the state regarding road problems," Scott said. "Frost and frost heaving destroyed many local roads. Legislation is talking about road millages, because it's not just local roads being affected, but freeways, bridges and everything else. This is an appropriate time to discuss the appropriate issue."

Scott said Menominee and St. Ignace recently passed road millages to help alleviate road issues.

"Infrastructure is falling apart peninsula wide," he said.

According to a presentation from Local Roads Matter to Michigan, more than 50 percent of local roads are considered to be in "poor shape," and other 30 percent are in "fair condition."

"That means only 20 percent of the local roads in Michigan are in 'good condition,'" Scott said.

Because of the poor conditions, every $1 repair not made on a "fair" road today becomes a $6 to $14 repair when it's a "poor" road in a few years.

In order to fix the problem, according to Scott, the state needs more money. And according to Local Roads Matter to Michigan, reports since 2008 peg the fixes at $2 billion to $2.5 billion a year in additional funds.

Back in 2011, a statewide survey by the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association said 69 percent of residents wanted the Legislature to make fixing roads and bridges as "high priority."

Despite that survey, Michigan ranks last in the U.S. in per capita funding for roads.

At the local level, residents attending the meeting, questioned the funding in Ironwood Township. According to an email from Darren Pionk, an engineer with the Gogebic County Road Commission, to Scott, the commission pays 40 percent, plus engineering and permitting costs, for a project while the municipality pays 60 percent. Each year, the commission sets a cap, and it's a "first come, first serve basis," until the cap is reached for municipalities in the county, according to Scott.

The board said it tries to budget around $50,000 per year towards road construction, but cuts in funding, loses in logging sales and other factors make it difficult.

One resident commented the millage would be a "steady, less convoluted way of funding the roads."

Other residents worried the funding would not be spent on top-priority roads, but on those roads with the most complaints from residents.

The board dispelled the concern, by saying it had a five-year road plan it would follow, and would use the county's Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) system. The PASER system classifies roads throughout Gogebic County and uses a number and color-coding system to rate roads based on needs. The lower the number, the more dire the need for improvements.

As for the township's proposed millage, "it's something to get started," clerk Gayla Salmi said.

For more information on the millage, call the Ironwood Township offices at 906-932-5800.