By Sue Moore
Speeding on Portage Road between W and XY avenues was brought to the attention of the Schoolcraft Township board at its February meeting. The board authorized a resolution asking the Kalamazoo County Road Commission to look into the matter by asking the Michigan State Police police for a study of speed limits and enforcement.
“It is hard to get in and out of our driveway,” said a homeowner who lives at 15380 S. Barton Lake Drive, which opens onto Portage Road. “There is no signage to instruct drivers that this is a 55 mile per hour road, which is a problem.”
The state police will need to do a traffic study to see of any further speed limit should be imposed, according to Don Ulsh, township supervisor.
The board agreed to budget $145,000 toward local road improvements. Treasurer Teresa Scott was praised by the board for her work in preparing the budget, with Ulsh remarking that she’s tight with any of the expense items. “We appreciate her being so conservative as she keeps the rest of us in check,” he remarked.
Ryan LaPorte was enthusiastic about the potential for Swan Park, saying he is working on a partnership with the Schoolcraft Rocket Football board to use the north side of the property for football and perhaps a lacrosse organization. “We are getting good usage because of the concession stand, which takes our offering to the next level,” he said.
A long-standing disagreement between land owners on Kimble Lake was debated. The board ultimately decided it would no longer tolerate just writing tickets to neighbors who couldn’t settle their own disagreements. The code enforcement officer for the township has attempted to mediate the complaints. The many violations of zoning ordinances have not been agreed upon so the only recourse seemed to be to send the dispute to Kalamazoo County Circuit Court to settle the matter, Ulsh told property owners.