Awards and status updates given

By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
Each year local officials from both Oxford Township and Village come together to update the Chamber of Commerce with a snapshot of the State of the Community and to present Leadership Awards. The event was held virtually via Zoom last Wednesday morning, Feb. 17, with 50 participants joining the call.

Chamber President and Police Chief
Oxford Chamber of Commerce President and Oxford Police Chief Mike Solwold spoke first, highlighting the many services and accomplishments the chamber provided in the last year. The chamber sends out weekly newsletters to its members, prepares welcome bags for new village and township residents, hosts a virtual speaker series and organizes monthly virtual and in-person Coffee Connects, “which is an awesome way to connect with your local businesses and find out what’s going on in town.”
During the holidays, the Chamber coordinated (along with the Downtown Development Authority) the lighting of the Christmas tree in Centennial Park and the Larry Obrecht Bridge over M-24. “I’m hoping we can put our powers together and keep that lit throughout the year, so stay tuned.” They also created the “Sleigh the Day” event to promote downtown businesses during the holidays.
“Businesses are an important part of the community, so that makes them important to the Police Department,” Solwold said, switching to his police hat. “Without businesses we don’t have a town. When I think of a town, I think of a community. So what the community needs, the police are here to help.”
In 2020, the Police Department helped the schools get needed playground equipment for recess, hosted a massive bottle drive to help the Polly Ann Trail make improvements, performed drive-by parades for kids’ birthdays, delivered turkeys and gift cards to local charities, worked with Oxford-Addison Youth Assistance to deliver Santa boxes to local children, and raised money and gift cards for Shop With A Hero for families that were struggling during the holidays.

Village Manager
Oxford Village Manager Joe Madore noted that there will be some additional streetscape work leftover from the M-24 project this spring. Tree planters, seating and traffic calming devices should improve the atmosphere and make the downtown more pedestrian friendly. “The goal is to get people to come, stay, visit our shops and restaurants and enjoy themselves while they’re here,” he said.
The November election brought on two new village councilmembers, making it an all-women council. “They are so thoughtful, they bring a lot to the table, they discuss things amongst themselves and I think they’re going to be very productive. The first few months have shown they really are all-in on bringing what they can to the table and doing what they think is best for the village and the residents of the village.”
Madore said the village will continue working on water lines to meet the state’s Lead and Copper Rules over the next year or two. “Some of that will involve street repair as we replace mains underneath the street. Many of the projects will only be from the sidewalks into the homes, replacing the private sections of those water service leads.”

Township Supervisor
Oxford Township’s new supervisor, Jack Curtis, announced the continued rise in property values with a big number. “The total State Equalized Value for real residential property in the township and the village is now more than $1 billion. That’s a billion with a capital ‘B.’ That’s an eight percent increase from where we were just four years ago.” Approximately 150 sites have been approved for new residences in 2021.
In January, the township added another Oakland County Sheriff’s deputy to its substation. The community now has 15 deputies, two detectives, one school liaison officer, a sergeant and a lieutenant. In 2020, Oxford Township Substation had a clearance rate of approximately 75 percent. “That means three quarters of all criminal offenses last year were cleared or closed. That’s truly phenomenal, and one of the highest numbers in Oakland County,” said Curtis, who noted the county as a whole averaged about 50 percent.
He applauded Carport Structures Corporation (an Oxford Township-based business) and its owner, Joseph Suzore, for volunteering to construct, free of charge, a 16-space carport for the substation’s patrol vehicles. The structure has an estimated retail value of $70,000. “We greatly appreciate the generosity and community spirit.”
The carport will be built later this year as part of the township’s plan to expand the substation parking lot. The number of spaces will increase from 21 to 47 in order to accommodate more patrol vehicles, officers’ personal vehicles and visitor vehicles.
The township’s communications and grants manager, C.J. Carnacchio, has secured nearly $200,000 in grants and donations for both the township and local businesses since starting the position in November 2019. Carnacchio has yet another $433,000 worth of grant requests currently under consideration. These grants, if awarded, will be used to improve a water system on West Drahner Rd. and construct a safety path along Dunlap Rd. between W. Bayshore Drive and Market St.
The Road Commission for Oakland County plans to mill and resurface Seymour Lake Road later this year. The project will entail adding two inches of new asphalt from the Oxford Village line to Baldwin Rd.
Beaumont Hospital still has an approved Planned Unit Development with the Planning Commission. However, it has a fast-approaching sunset date. “With the upheaval in the healthcare industry last year, the fate of Oxford having a Beaumont hospital is still in the hands of Beaumont, but most of all the State of Michigan in approving the Certificate of Need.”

M-24 Project Manager
MDOT Construction Engineer Brian Travis, who managed the M-24 project, gave an overview of how the project went. “When I first learned that we were going to be managing the job last year, I was excited, but I was also very nervous,” Travis said. “Because not only are these (M-route) projects difficult, constructability-wise, but I was also nervous for all the impacts that the project would have on the community. We’re going right through Lake Orion, right through Oxford, detouring all the northbound traffic for the year and then Covid hit, so it really was the perfect storm.
“But when I showed up, and I started talking to you all at the township, the village, Lake Orion as well, my fears were put aside because you guys were really supportive of the project . . . Once construction started, we had a lot of great two-way communication.”
Travis said they will be back soon to finish streetscape and punch list work that wasn’t completed last year or needs touching up. “Our goal right now is to start in the last week of March, weather permitting of course. If it’s still snowing or something it could get moved to April.” Everything should be finished by June.

Downtown, crews will do some irrigation work, plant trees in the sidewalk planters that currently have orange barricades around them, and add other decorative features like bike racks, benches and trash receptacles.
They will install more permanent signs throughout the project. The entire roadway will be restriped with permanent marking and the detour route along Glaspie Street and N. Oxford Drive will be completely repaved.
“Come early June, I think the project will be looking really good,” Travis said. “The grass will be established, the pavement markings will look a lot better, the signs will be in, the trees, the streetscape. So, I think you guys will be pretty pleased with the end product and my hope is that in midsummer we’re out there on a patio having a meal and a drink, toasting to a job well done.”

Leadership Awards
Chamber Vice President Debbie Uren presented annual Leadership Awards to Victoria Connolly and Mike Phipps, “two outstanding owners of long-time established restaurants here in Oxford.”
Connolly is owner and chef of Victoria’s Delights at 12 S. Washington St. She will be celebrating 24 years of business in Oxford this August. She also offers cooking classes, wine tasting and wine diners, and has a catering service. “I am so proud to be part of the Oxford community,” Connolly said. “Even though I didn’t grow up here, I think of it as my home town.”
In 2020 she did a major remodel of her downtown historic building. “I put a big investment in the restaurant this year. Didn’t really know that Covid was going to happen, but I was aware of the road construction and thought it was time to give my little building a makeover. I just can’t wait for you to see how it turned out and I hope it can make Oxford proud.”
Mike Phipps is co-owner of the Oxford Tap at 36 S. Washington, along with Louie Conley. “The Oxford Tap is a great hometown bar and grill that brings so much to our community,” said Uren. “The owners are always involved in community events, whether it’s decorating a scarecrow for the Scarecrow Festival or setting up the town’s chili cook-off, or supporting organizations such as our chamber of commerce or the rotary club just to name a few. The Oxford Tap has hosted many of our chamber’s mixers over the years and have done fundraising for many sports and clubs in Oxford school district, along with fundraisers for the American Cancer Society and St. Jude’s Research Hospital.”
The Tap will be celebrating their 20th anniversary this coming November. “Thank you, it’s an honor to be a business owner in the community,” Phipps said. “It’s been a great 20 years. I believe that the worst is behind us. Thank you for continuing to support us we will continue to be there as much as we can for everything that goes on in Oxford.”
The chamber presented each of the recipients a plaque inscribed with a quote by General Douglas MacArthur: “A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intentions.”

Q&A
Audience members had a chance to submit questions to the local officials, which they answered after the speeches.
· QUESTION: The sign on the island north of the village in front of Woodchips has been hit or knocked down at least four times. What can be done to keep the sign from being hit again?
“I think it’s so new and so different and people turning southbound off of East Street is the biggest problem,” said Village Manager Madore. “Even though there is a sign there on East Street as you’re coming onto M-24, it says turn right only, I think people are just used to doing their old pattern.”
He wants to put some kind of reflective tape or casing around the poll to make the sign stick out. “I think something to make it more visible is warranted.”
Brian Travis, the project manager, said he would pass it on to MDOT traffic safety staff. Once or twice is not unusual, he said, “but four times in three months or so, that’s a lot. We’ll look into it, maybe it’s something we can do in the springtime.”

· QUESTION: Crossing the street using pedestrian walkways still seems dangerous. Will there be any flashing lights or something to make drivers aware that a crosswalk is being used by someone?
“There’s not going to be any flashing lights,” Travis answered. “There will be additional signage. There’s going to be some delineation right in the middle of the road. Between the two lanes there will be a flexible delineator that goes in. That’s going to help calm traffic down.” He added that the crosswalk markings will be more visible once they are repainted.
Madore said that since the project finished just before winter, when those delineators are usually removed for the season, people did not have time to get used to the new crossings. “If they came in in the spring, people would be more aware of them and then in the winter time they would be more prepared.”

· QUESTION: Marijuana businesses could possibly be permitted in the village. Is there any chance they could be put in the township instead of the village?
“Currently we have no ordinance, so it is not allowed,” answered Township Supervisor Curtis. He said there are several businesses interested in purchasing land in the township to build grow operations or adult use retail facilities. But, no one has brought it back to the board of trustees for reconsideration.
“They would have to petition the board to see what the board’s flavor is to revisit the adult use ordinance.” A majority of the seven-member board would have to vote to develop the ordinance.

Upcoming Chamber Events
Oxford Chamber’s executive director, Amy Desotell noted “the chamber is still holding our Coffee Connects by Zoom, and we would hope that you could join us in the comfort of your own home.” The morning Coffee Connect networking events are held the first Tuesday of each month. The next two will be March 2 and April 6. Folks can RSVP to admin@oxfordchamber.net.
March 10 will be a virtual Lunch and Learn on “Ins and Outs of PPP Grants” hosted by experts from API Consulting and Choice One Bank from 11:30 to 1p.m. Folks can register online at OxfordChamber.net. “It’s going to be a great way to navigate the resources that you need for the PPP and maybe answer a lot of questions you have,” Desotell said.
June 18 will be the Annual Golf Luncheon and registration will open soon. “If you don’t golf, you can still come out for the lunch portion and it’s a great way to network and meet a lot of people,” said Desotell.