Chikaming board discusses options for the gravel Cherry Beach Road

Areview of the potential conversion of Cherry Beach Road from gravel to chip and seal was discussed at the Chikaming Township Board of Trustees’ Thursday, May 11, meeting.

Chikaming Township Supervisor David Bunte said this was discussed for a number of years based on complaints the township receives on dust and traffic and public safety issues, such as when cars speed down the road and over its potholes. When the township’s road advisory committee found the money in the township’s road millage budget, Bunte said they decided it was time to “pull that trigger.”

Calling chipping and sealing the road a “happy medium,” Bunte said that paving the road would result in it being widened extensively and the removal of lot of foliage, which he didn’t find “acceptable.”

Berrien County Road Department Engineering Supervisor Kevin Stack said that the busyness of the road and connectivity, as they’re trying to connect all the side streets to Red Arrow’s nonmotorized path, also played a role in improving it.

The road would need to be widened if it was paved because

BY FRANCESCA SAGALA

there would need to be enough space for cars to go by each other side by side. Stack said there would have to be a clear zone of a minimum of 7 feet off the side of the road,

“Asphalt may sound good –but I’m pretty sure you’re not going to want to remove three dozen trees,” he said.

Instead, Stack said they could do a prime and double seal, which involves oil and two layers of chips. The road would be sprayed with a dust stop, which would be followed by the spraying of another layer of thicker oil, put a half inch stone down and then the spraying of another layer of oil and putting a quarter inch of stone down.

In addition to cars speeding down the road, Stack said that dirt being tracked on Red Arrow is also a safety concern.

Another option would be leaving the road gravel and adding gravel to it, with Stack saying that this will involve putting down three-quarter inch stone with a sandy mixture in it. He added that this will build a base, hold any car or large truck coming down the road better and the road department will be able to grade it better.

Noting that Stack said the issue isn’t “time sensitive yet,” Bunte said that the project can be removed from this year’s list of road projects until all the evaluations are done and they can really take a look at the environmental impact and what trees may or may not need to be removed.

Board members approved the re-submission of the Harbert Community Park Michigan Department of Natural Resources Spark grant application, with modifications. The township did three applications to the MDNR through ARPA funding for Spark grants in 2022 and the Harbert one, with a score of 77 out of 100 possible points, scored the highest. The township had committed 10% of the approximately $980,000 cost of the project, which includes expanding the walkways, putting in restroom facilities, installing two pickleball courts next to the dog park and other improvements.

Bunte will be working with Abonmarche, the landscape team and architect John Chipman on the modifications.

Upon recommendation from clerk and board member Paula Dudiak, board members came to the consensus that the cemetery ordinance that was put out there be kept for now as the township’s rules and regulations instead of being put into ordinance form. Dudiak said this would give them time to ensure the changes that have been made to the rules and regulations “are going to be good instead of having to just all of sudden be law.” They will be posted on the township’s website. Board members approved increasing the application fee for special land uses from $750 to $100 due to increased costs associated with items such as the mailings to the public on the two required public hearings on SLUs and the publication fee for the hearings in the newspaper. After being approved by the Planning Commission, board members approved the following items: a special land use permit application for an accessory dwelling unit and a special land use permit application for a multifamily in commercial district at 12312 Red Arrow Highway and the combination of two adjacent lots under the same property owner to make them more conforming.

Board members approved Dudiak and board member Bill Marske spearheading a committee of 10-12 volunteers that will determine the future of the Lakeside Park Honor Board.