NILES TOWNSHIP — For the township, 2017 planted the seeds for several big projects that residents should see completed, or at least initiated, this year.

Among those projects is progress on the Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail, which was approved for a grant award by the state in 2017.

Ground breaking for construction and completion of the 1.2 miles of trail, which will traverse the Indiana-Michigan state line, is expected to occur this year.

The project was first recommended for funding from Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board in December 2016. In 2017, approval was granted allocating approximately $300,000 from state.

MDOT also vowed to contribute $500,299 for the project. The committed local match from Niles Township is expected to contribute $135,000.

In March, grant writer Marcy Hamilton and Suzannah Deneau, the project engineer from Wightman and Associates, discussed construction plans with township trustees. The trail is planned to include a 55-foot bridge, fishing platform/overlook, crosswalk markers and a picnic location. The trail will also be designed to meet the requirements of the American Disabilities Act.

“It is going to be a beautiful wooded scenic route,” said trustee Jim Ringler. 

Township trustees also started down the path of repairing a number of residential roads that were in poor shape.

Supervisor Jim Stover said a half-mile of paved road repair for Harrah Road residents was completed in the fall. The project cost about $176,000. Residents will be paying half the cost of the road repair, which was levied out in a 10-year special assessment district.

Brandywine Shores residents also got some answers to their dilapidated roads in 2017. In November, trustees voted 5-1 to approve road improvement plan, estimated to cost about $666,413. The township will cover about $333,207 of the cost, and Brandywine Shores residents will pay the rest in a 10-year special assessment district.

Stover predicted that construction for the project could begin in April or May of this year.

Also ahead, Ringler said he anticipates the township’s website being up and running soon. Plans are also in the works to purchase a new pumper tanker firetruck for the Niles Township Fire Department’s north side station. The truck would carry significantly more water than the current vehicle assigned to the job.

Additionally, in 2017, Niles Township saw several new businesses pop up including Harvest Café, Fishers Tips and Chips, Nilly Clothing, Bella’s Boutique and an expanded Dairy Queen.

Other notable items ahead for 2018:

• New voting machine tabulators were purchased, and will be used for the next gubernatorial election. There is a machine for each of the five precincts and one for the absentee county board. The machine costs were covered through a grant. The machines were last replaced about 10 years ago.

• The Sewer Asset Management grant for $1.1 million, which has been in use for the past three years to conduct an inspection and inventory on local sewer piping, is 90 percent complete. This year, officials will analyze the findings.

Some advice for residents:

“Constituents should be aware that the board is conservative on money,” Stover said. “Our door is open for anyone who has comments.”