By Jim Newell

Special to the Leader

The Oxford Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously during its meeting on July 12 to refuse accepting federal funding to help build a safety path along Ray Road from Oxford High School to Meijer.

The reason: the cost is just too high.

Oxford Township received $374,696 in federal funding for a proposed safety path on N. Oxford and Ray roads after U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin submitted the funding request during the federal government’s budget planning for the 2023 fiscal year.

However, if Oxford Township accepts the funding, the total cost of the project could skyrocket from an estimated $470,000 to more than $600,000. That’s because accepting federal funding carries with it a host of costly stipulations.

Treasurer Joe Ferrari, who is on the township’s safety path committee, said that while the township did receive federal funding it might be better if the township went another route.

Oxford Township Communications and Grants Manager C.J. Carnacchio submitted the funding request application to Slotkin in April 2022 and said the project is “shovel ready.”

“Unfortunately, if we go the federal route and use the federal money we’ll have to follow state and federal requirements, which increase costs, they are complicated and cumbersome,” Carnacchio said.

The township also already acquired the necessary easements for the project at no cost, but under state guidelines it would have to pay for those easements.

“The easements that we acquired for free, MDOT requires you to pay for those,” Carnacchio said.

The township would also have to pay “prevailing wages” for the project and increase the width of the safety path from eight feet to 10 feet, a federal requirement. Currently, Oxford Township safety paths are eight feet, Carnacchio said

MDOT would also have to redesign and bid out the project, resulting in a loss of local control for Oxford Township. MDOT bids usually come in higher than when local municipalities bid out projects, Carnacchio said.

The new projected cost for the safety path construction would be $608,000 to $670,000 – all without an increase in federal aid.

Now, the township will have its engineers, Sharpe Engineering, prepare bid documents and a Request for Proposal for the project and solicit bids from contractors. The board intends on selecting and approving a bid during its Aug. 9 meeting if it receives acceptable bids.

The township already had $210,000 set aside for the project and would likely fund the remaining costs through its general fund.

The proposed path would be a 5,100-linear-foot paved path for pedestrians along the west side of N. Oxford Road – from the point where an existing path ends near Oxford High School – to Ray Road. The path would continue on the south side of Ray Road from N. Oxford Road to M-24 and would comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“In the event that the Oxford High School building and/or grounds are deemed unsafe, the path would provide students and staff members with a safe, accessible, direct route to the Meijer store, which serves as the school district’s designated emergency meeting point,” Carnacchio said. “It would give the community another shared-use path that supports a variety of recreation and transportation opportunities for walkers, runners, cyclists and individuals who use mobility aids.”