By ANDREA POTEET
Sunday Times Newspapers
ALLEN PARK – A recent council action will put the city in compliance with a state act and result in street improvements for pedestrians.
The city council voted Sept. 11 to allocate $62,507 to non-motorized road improvements after underreporting past such improvements, including the addition of handicapped-accessible ramps and sidewalk repairs for the past two years.
Michigan Public Act 51 requires that 1 percent of the funds it gives cities for major and local street funds be put back into non-motorized improvements including pedestrian crosswalks, crossing signs and signals and extended sidewalks.
City Engineer Doug Morton said the city has spent some of the money on those improvements in recent years, but cannot prove through accounting practices how much, or what funds the money came from.
“I’m certain that funds were spent on those activities,” he said. “But one of the requirements for Act 51 is that they be 1 percent of those funds at a minimum.”
Under the resolution passed Sept. 11, the city will amend past reports to show what projects have been completed and spend $62,507 over three years on projects including sidewalk striping on major roads and roads surrounding schools, starting next summer.
“When I put it together, I felt fairly comfortable that we could do it by next year,” Morton said.