The Benzie County Road Commission is seeking $18 million for a new facility they say would allow them to better carry out their duties.
The commission maintains nearly 450 miles of local roads and 180 miles of primary roads in the county. They also contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation to maintain 77 highway miles — M-22, US-31 and 115.
Troy Hinds, manager of the commission, says that the current facility was built in the 1930s and was originally designed to fit vehicles around the size of a pickup truck.
“These equipment trucks just don’t really fit in this building anymore,” he said. “We’re spread out between four different barns, some equipment parked outside as well. And we’ve had to cut headers off the garage doors to be able to get our equipment in and out of here.”
The new facility would also include high flow water storage for local fire departments.
Hinds says that the department would still be able to carry on its work in the current facilities, but would likely still need upgrades down the line.
“There’s a lot of kind of unknowns if the millage were not passed,” he said. “I do know that the roads will still get maintained. We’ll still be out there doing what we gotta do. It’s cramped, we may have to bring in some engineers to try to figure out how to keep this building up and alive — but ideally, we’d be able to move forward.”
If approved by voters, Hinds says the facility would hopefully break ground by late 2025 and complete by 2027.
The proposal would levy .61 mill if passed, resulting in $61 annually for every $100,000 of a home’s taxable value.
Voters will have through Election Day on Nov. 5 to weigh in on the proposal. Absentee voting has already begun, while in-person early voting will begin by Oct. 26. More information on voting can be found with the Michigan Secretary of State.
For more on Northern Michigan funding proposals, check out our November election guide here.