After a long absence, Oxford Township decided to rejoin the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG).

Last week, the board of trustees voted 7-0 to do so and pay $2,238 in membership dues for a 12-month period.

“I’ve heard some pretty nice things about SEMCOG and what they can do for communities like us,” said Supervisor Bill Dunn.

Established in 1968, SEMCOG is a regional planning organization made up of local governments spread across seven counties – Oakland, Wayne, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, Monroe and St. Clair.

According to Amy Malmer, SEMCOG’s membership manager, there are currently 170 members including townships, villages, cities, counties, intermediate school districts and community colleges.

In this area, Addison, Orion, Oakland and Independence townships are members of SEMCOG along with the villages of Oxford and Lake Orion, plus the city of Clarkston.

SEMCOG provides technical, data and intergovernmental resources to its members.

Being a member of SEMCOG is a good way for a local government to “magnify your voice,” according to Malmer.

“Southeast Michigan is a large region with considerable clout, considerable complexity and a lot of opportunities,” she said. “SEMCOG members work together on behalf of the 4.7 million people who live in the seven counties to improve water quality, make the transportation system safer and more efficient, revitalize communities and spur economic development.”

SEMCOG is active in both Washington D.C. and Lansing.

“Together, the elected leaders of SEMCOG use their influence to impact important federal and state legislation and regulations,” Malmer said.

One of SEMCOG’s main responsibilities is developing and implementing regional plans.

“They provide some direction for the region by looking at past and current data and trends to help develop policies and actions for implementation,” explained SEMCOG Planner Tyler Klifman. “Over the past few years, we’ve completed a number of major regional plans including some on traffic safety, access for core services, bicycle and pedestrian travel, economic development and green infrastructure.”

Data analysis is a big part of SEMCOG’s mission.

“High quality data is the foundation of a lot of the work we do,” Klifman explained. “Much of that is already available on our website to anybody, but our members have access to the people behind the scenes who compile that data and are available to help conduct an analysis (of) any sort of project or any specific situation.”

Data is collected and analyzed on a variety of topics including the region’s parks, traffic crashes, commuting and residential construction.

“In 2016, Oxford Township issued 225 new residential building permits, making this one of the region’s hot spots for residential construction,” Klifman noted.

SEMCOG also offers assistance with parks and recreation planning including grant applications.

The township was a member of SEMCOG, but then dropped out a number of years ago.

Dunn explained why.

“We really didn’t pay much attention to SEMCOG. We didn’t get much use out of it,” he said. “That’s not SEMCOG’s problem. I believe it was Oxford Township’s problem. I know I didn’t go to the meetings and I don’t know who did. After a while, (we) just got tired of paying the (dues).”

But now “times have changed.”

“We’ve got a lot of things going on,” Dunn said. “I think (SEMCOG) can give us a lot of help whether it’s trying to get some money for bike paths or whatever.”

The township board appointed Treasurer Joe Ferrari to be its voting delegate in SEMCOG’s general assembly and Dunn to serve as alternate.

“That group meets three times a year. That’s kind of the minimum commitment that we like to see,” explained Malmer, who noted there are various task forces and networking opportunities for those seeking more involvement.