Waiting on DTE for lighting construction schedule
By Joseph Goral
Staff Writer
jgoral@mihomepaper.com
OXFORD — A public parking lot on E. Burdick Street remains closed, even as summer events and traffic in downtown Oxford are in full swing with activities.
The problem: the village cannot open the parking to the public until DTE installs the lighting.
The Village of Oxford received an application from a subcontractor from DTE Power engineering for powerline work to the village’s public parking lot on E. Burdick Street, but still has not received a construction schedule for the lot’s lighting to be installed.
Work by the subcontractor would involve running power lines underneath Stanton Street, according to Oxford Village Manager Joe Madore.
From there, Madore said DTE crews set the lot’s light poles and connect them.
Madore told village council on April 9, that they could expect to wait around 45 days to hear when the project gets on DTE’s construction schedule. At that point, Madore said DTE may call to give the village a date when DTE would be at the parking lot to do the work.
It has been 83 days since then as of July 1. The lot was paved last fall.
Madore told the Oxford Leader in June that he asked DTE for an update within the last few weeks, but did not get a clear answer.
With the DDA’s Summer Nights events, including concerts in the park, Oxford DDA Executive Director Kelly Westbrook said people who want to park in the lot should be able to, but Oxford is not supposed to let people use the lot without lighting.
“It’s so frustrating,” Westbrook said.
Oxford’s next village council meeting is at 7 p.m. on July 9.