A DICKINSON COUNTY Road Commission employee fills potholes on Six Mile Lake Road. Felch Township and the DCRC plan to look at Six Mile Lake and Metropolitan roads in coming months toward deciding which to potentially work on in 2023. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo)

FELCH TOWNSHIP — The Felch Township Board has decided to re-direct $100,000 in federal COVID-19 recovery funds toward repairs on Metropolitan and Six Mile Lake roads.

In a special meeting earlier this month, the Felch board voted unanimously to shift the American Rescue Plan money Dickinson County had allocated for infrastructure use to the two deteriorated roads rather than resurfacing the parking area around the community center, which also houses the township offices and post office, said Bob Mattson, Felch Township supervisor.

The board June 6 had tabled approving the parking lot project after receiving only one bid, for $106,000, Mattson said.

But spring 2023 would be the earliest any significant work on the roads could be scheduled, given the planning and engineering involved, according to Mattson and a Dickinson County Road Commission official.

The DCRC already had finalized and budgeted its projects for the 2022 season, said James Harris, managing director. The commission annually meets with all the townships in the county in February to decide which projects will be placed out for bid that spring, he said.

The Felch Township Board also will have to determine before February 2023 which of the two roads should take priority, given that funding available — even with the additional $100,000 — will not be enough to address both projects, Harris said. Inflation has ballooned costs for road work, particularly anything oil-related such as fuel and asphalt, he explained.

Harris predicted Six Mile Lake Road actually would have to be done in three phases to manage the 2.75-mile paved section, which ends on the north side of the lake when it becomes a private dirt road.

His department did extensive asphalt patching on Six Mile Lake Road last week and early this week, and Harris took a look at both roads.

While his department will do more extensive surveying on Metropolitan and Six Mile Lake roads this summer, Harris said it could make more sense fiscally to focus on Six Mile Lake Road and patch the small section of Metropolitan Road targeted to be done, given the logistics involved in mobilizing for repairs.

Felch Township voters in March 2020 authorized a four-year, 1 mill levy — or $1 per $1,000 of taxable property value — intended to generate about $33,000 annually for township roads.

The township and the DCRC then had Metropolitan Road from M-69 west to Tower Road covered with new blacktop for $176,076, with the township and DCRC each paying half at $88,038, Mattson said.

Metropolitan Road took precedence then because it connects at both ends with M-69, making it a primary route, while Six Mile Lake Road has no outlet.

Township officials had wanted to see resurfacing on Metropolitan Road continue west to the Alex’s Place coffeehouse at W5051 Metropolitan Road, Mattson said.

Harris, however, said that 575-foot section of Metropolitan Road will require more than just repaving because of how it is situated.

He also estimated Six Mile Lake Road sees more traffic due to a rise in the number of residential properties along the road and in adjacent areas, as well as it being the connection to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ boat launch for the lake.

But Harris stressed the township board, not the DCRC, has the final say on which project it wants to pursue.