4/16/13 - Efforts to resume mining at a Brighton Township gravel pit have come to a standstill, while work to turn part of the property into a public park is ongoing. A 20-year agreement between the township and Sunset Sand & Gravel for the Jacoby Road property ended in 1997. The agreement specified that the site was to be restored and made ready to become a public park and a condominium development, but those conditions were never met. Last July, the township planning commission recommended that the board approve a site plan and fill permits from Clearwater Development LLC to resume mining on the site for the next 12 to 24 years. Residents spoke out against the proposal, calling for the township to develop the land as was originally intended. No action has been taken by the board to allow the new mining operation, and Township Supervisor Tom Murphy says Clearwater Development has not contacted anyone at the township for about two months. However, he says a court order has designated a portion of the property as park land. He says the township has surveyed the land and begun making plans with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments to turn the area into a park regardless of what happens in the rest of the property. Murphy says there is still no timetable for the creation of the park, which he says will likely come with a seven-figure price tag. (TD)
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