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Politics & Government

Fenton, Genesee County Road Commission Working on Coordinating Road Projects

County is working on intergovernmental agreement to allow Fenton to oversee the work on both, saving each party money.

Having the city of Fenton oversee its own estimated $1.25 million North LeRoy Street resurfacing project in 2012, and the Genesee County Road Commission's total reconstruction of part of Fenton Road, would save both some money.

Because of the road commission's busy 2012 construction schedule, Fenton could be the supervisor and coordinate both 2012 construction projects, said city Director of Public Works Daniel Czarnecki.

It would help cut both construction engineering and administration costs, Czarnecki said. In addition, there's a chance to save money on larger quantities of pavement, concrete, piping, etc. Coordinating the two projects would allow for one contractor doing the work, working in one direction on the entire project instead of possibly two contractors, working in two locations on the roadway at once.

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Fenton's project has $750,000 in federal funding and $500,000 in its own capital improvement program. On the other hand, the work on Fenton Road — from the city limits to Butcher Road — has state and not federal funding. But money for both is being funneled through the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), so both road projects must follow MDOT specifications, he said.

Where the two projects will meet, there's an elevated curve in Fenton Road at the point it meets LeRoy Street. The city has been working with the road commission to solve this issue, Czarnecki said.

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In addition, Councilman Tim Faricy asked the length of the paving projects. Czarnecki said Fenton is paving less than a mile, but with five lanes to pave, the amount is almost five miles. The county road commission's project involves two lanes of road reconstruction, not just resurfacing like Fenton will be doing. Thus, the road commission's budget is $1.5 million more.

The county is working on an intergovernmental agreement for it and Fenton. Issues include the expectations of both parties, payment agreements, construction staking, how to resolve issues, how to handle engineering issues and changes in the project, traffic and construction, etc. They need to have a good plan of action on how to take care of issues and conflicts for the county road commission's portion of the project, Czarnecki said. He's not concerned about this in the city of Fenton, since it has a plan of action already. He believes his role will be helping get the right information to the county, so it can make decisions.

In addition, the road commission would have an inspector watching its portion of the construction.

The state will let bids for the work in February 2012, he said. A meeting with the state could take place in October, for MDOT to look over the project plans. Then the county and city will have through early December to make any changes MDOT requires, he said. They expect construction to begin in April/May 2012, with it completing in September 2012.

The intergovermental agreement with the county will go to city council for its consideration.

Councilman Ben Smith said he appreciates Czarnecki's work. The intergovernmental agreement should go to Fenton's city attorney for review, Smith said. In addition, when the county's portion of the road work is done, residents in Fenton Township shouldn't be calling the city of Fenton for a resolution if there is water drainage into someone's basement, for example.

Czarnecki replied the county and city want to make sure the projects are kept separate, and have people understand they are trying to work together.

In other road construction news, Czarnecki said the work on North Road and Adelaide Street is done as far as paving goes. The time line was to have it finished by the end of August, so it's early. In addition to paving, it included new water main.

There might be a small amount of extra charges for additional curb and sidewalk that were replaced, he said. These areas were in bad condition, so Fenton had them replaced during the construction.

The contractor still needs to do clean up, and the final walk-through of the project will be next week, Czarnecki said.

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