Grant agreement for high wire corridor is signed
The grant agreement for the high-wire corridor from Onaway to Rogers City was signed by members of the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners May 14, but not without some concerns expressed by a Rogers City businessman who doesn?t want to see a south bypass created in Rogers City on Airport Road. The $400,000 project would lift cable, electrical, and telephone wires between Onaway and Rogers City so Moran Iron Works (MIW) could ship large items out of the port at Calcite. MIW has pledged $40,000 to the project.
The route of the corridor, when the items arrive at the city limits of Rogers City, has come into question. Business owners at the intersection of M-68 and US-23 don?t want the corridor to go along Airport Road.
MIKE LYNCH of the Ford dealership appeared before the commissioners to say the grant agreement didn?t include comments from the public hearing of April 9 that M-68/US-23 was the preferred route. The resolution stated that the ?engineering and environmental study will consider the routes.?
?I thought we had a preferred route,? said Lynch. ?This (resolution) doesn?t have anything on what we requested.?
Commissioner Bob Schell told Lynch the grant application included a map with both routes highlighted. ?It?s up the engineering study to determine which would be the most economical, feasible…one to pursue,? said Schell. ?There has not been a final decision made on either route yet and there won?t be until the engineering study is done.? ?Then we?ll know what the cost difference is. They?ll do a cost study on both routes, but it?s really not our call.?
SCHELL SAID once the study is completed, the commissioners could look at the cost difference; if Airport Road is more cost effective then the business owners may want to consider paying the difference to have the corridor go through the M-68/US-23 intersection. ?I really would hate to jeopardize this project over arguing now which route we?re going to have, and we haven?t had an engineering study,? said Schell. Lynch believed the grant agreement should reflect what was said at the public hearing.
?I really was under the impression that was the preferred route (M-68/US-23) and that?s what we amended,? said Lynch. ?I don?t know if amending it would change what we sent in previously or not,? said chairman Allan Bruder. ?I don?t know if the board wanted to do an amendment to that.?
THE PROBLEM facing the board was the grant was before them to approve, and changes to the language would have to go back for approval, said Schell who wanted to make sure the funding was locked up. ?The route hasn?t been determined yet, and won?t be until the engineering study,? said Schell. ?We don?t know if they would accept the changes.? ?The grant agreement we are going to sign tonight doesn?t start anything other than the engineering studies,? said commissioner Don Field. ?We?ll have to find out what is the best route according to the engineers.?
Bruder didn?t believe, by signing the agreement, anything would be put in jeopardy. He said Airport Road would need to be improved, considering water bubbles up from it in the summer, and wires and poles may need to be moved at M-68/US-23.
LYNCH ASKED the commissioners to amend the minutes from the public hearing last month to include Tom Moran?s comments that Moran favored the M-68/US-23 route. ?I wouldn?t want to amend
Field said he had ?no doubt? the M-68/US-23 route would be cheaper. Lynch urged the board to listen to the tape from the April 9 meeting so Moran?s comments, as well as other statements, are included in the minutes.
?I just have a real feeling someone is pushing for Airport Road,? said Lynch. ?I feel it?s real important for the business community to not have a bypass in Rogers City.?