OXFORD TWP. – It’s been a long, bumpy road, but the infrastructure issues that have plagued the Elk View Estates subdivision since the late 1990s will finally be resolved this year.

Last week, township officials voted 7-0 to award a project encompassing drainage and paving improvements to the Oxford-based SaraDan Construction for the amount of $275,210.

“I am happy with the contractor,” said township Supervisor Bill Dunn. “I’m also happy with the price. I was expecting a lot more.”

Elk View Estates is located on the east side of Baldwin Rd., south of Hummer Lake Rd.

The township received seven bids for the project, ranging from SaraDan’s $275,210, which was the lowest, to $376,701 from Spartan Paving, the highest.

Township Engineer Jim Sharpe recommended the board choose SaraDan.

“They’re a very good company to work with,” he said. “They’ve done very good work for us in the past.”

SaraDan did the site work for the township hall and has been consistently hired by the parks and rec. department for various projects.

Sharpe noted SaraDan also did work for the Tractor Supply Co. store on M-24 in Oxford and is currently working on the strip mall that’s under construction next door to it. This is where the new Leo’s Coney Island restaurant will be located.

The engineer noted SaraDan’s owners seem to be “very up-front, honest and good people.”

For many years, Elk View has been the focus of much controversy, a seemingly endless stream of tax dollars and many headaches for both its residents and township officials.

The subdivision has been plagued by storm water drainage problems that have routinely led to the flooding of some residents’ properties. In addition to that, Elk View’s main roads – Elkview and Bull Run – don’t legally exist because they were never dedicated as either public or private roads nor were they ever approved by the Road Commission for Oakland County.

Most everyone involved agrees it was the allegedly improper actions of Scott Constable, the developer who created Elk View Estates, that were primarily responsible for the current situation. Constable declared bankruptcy in 2005.

However, it’s also understood that errors made by both Oakland County and the township’s building department contributed to creating the long-standing mess.

Under the project awarded to SaraDan, the subdivision’s drainage problems will be resolved and its two roads will be brought up to public standards, so they can be accepted, owned and maintained by the road commission.

“A start date has not been established, but it will be completed during the summer of 2018,” Sharpe told this reporter.

Township officials previously agreed to pay at least 65 percent of the improvement costs. The remainder will be funded by Elk View property owners via a special assessment.

In terms of legal fees, the township has expended $455,078 on the Elk View situation since 2001, according to Clerk Curtis Wright.

Since November 2013, the township has spent $64,597 on engineering services – provided by the Oxford-based Sharpe Engineering – related to Elk View. That total doesn’t include fees paid over the years to the township’s previous engineering firms.