Page 24 - Scene Magazine November 2023 47-11

Emmett Scene
BY DEB BELLES, Township Supervisor
selected Grainger-Hoffman to oversee construction of the watermain. For those who don’t know, the Grand Loop is the name given to the watermain extension from the City of Battle Creek water system to the Blue Oval site. This scope includes a watermain going east down Verona Road then south along 15 Mile Rd. The preexisting watermain along E. Michigan Avenue will be extended to that point thereby completing the loop. The Township was able to include a wa- ter line along 11 Mile Road connecting Verona to E. Michigan. The project team anticipates construction starting in the spring of 2024.
Now, we are also turning our attention to the sewer system along East Michigan Avenue. Infrastructure is also reaching capacity along that section and is already limiting economic growth. The Township is exploring possibilities and other con- siderations for a sewer main lateral line down East Michigan Avenue. This would open up capacity and commercial growth in that corridor.
The 61⁄2 Mile Road and 9 Mile Road highway bridges anticipate opening per- manently around the time this goes
to print.
As regular readers will note, the Town- ship has been working on a watermain loop. This project has been combined
into the broader Grand Loop scope. A loop shape provides redundancy to the system required by the State of Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). If one stretch along E. Michigan Avenue, for example, went down for repairs, the uses beyond could
The Township recognized Dale Geminder with a proclamation following his retirement from AccessVision. He provided 34 years of sound leadership. Congratulations, Dale!
Hello readers! I hope you are taking advantage of the joys of fall. This is the next installment of my quarterly column.
still be serviced from the other direction via the Verona and 11 Mile mainlines. This redundancy does not currently exist for our Michigan Avenue line, so those connected users will now have this added benefit. The Grand Loop should also in- crease water capacity along East Michigan for economic development opportunities as the land uses are currently maxing out the infrastructure.
approved by voters thanks in large part to the contribution from the Firekeepers Local Revenue Sharing Board. Voters approved 3.3987 mills in 2020. So far, the rate levied has ranged from 1.678 to 2.9972. With this upcoming winter tax bill, the Township will only need to levy 2.056 mills. The Firekeepers Local Rev- enue Sharing Board contribution covers the rest.
The Grand Loop project team
Emmett Township Autumn Update
Chip seal work has wrapped up as well as punch list items from the big three-year road project. I want to thank residents
for the support of this initiative. Overall, we successfully got all local roads in great shape for the future, with few major issues. The chip sealing will extend the useful life even further. We were able
to chip seal over 40% of our local road surface. Other local roads will be chip sealed in the coming years. Next year, we are targeting the Fruin and Shadowood subdivisions.
In other news, BE Provisioning is set to open soon at 530 Main Street. They recently received their certificate of occu- pancy. The former Jim Hazel site is being developed as a mini truck stop with a cou- ple pumps and two fast-food restaurants: a chicken place and donut shop.
On top of that, the Township has not needed to levy the full millage rate
Thanks for reading! Keep a sharp eye for my winter column.
I also continue meeting with Calhoun County and City of Battle Creek staff to coordinate efforts responding to the opioid impact on our community. Municipal- ities have received intervention funds from a recent settlement with companies involved in the opioid crisis.
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