More Bloomfield Township News: 'No Turn on Red' Signs Return, Lahser Project Funded

More highlights from Monday night's Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees meeting:

Lahser Road improvements get head start

Bloomfield Township will help the Road Commission of Oakland County (RCOC) get an early start on improvements to a long stretch of Lahser Road slated for 2015. Township officials agreed to budget $30,000 in tri-party funds for early engineering work on the stretch of road between 14 Mile and Maple roads. The entire project runs from 13 Mile Road and includes one mile in Beverly Hills, which has already agreed to fund this stage at the same level.

The county is planning to use federal funds for the project, but was looking for local matching funds to get some of the engineering work completed beforehand, said Wayne Domine, the township’s director of engineering and environmental services. The $30,000 is unbudgeted, but will be secured from the tri-party road funds that are available from the county when a project is identified.

Domine said any unused tri-party funds annually do remain available to the township under the program, but that the program itself is subject to review during the county’s budget process and could be subject to change in the future.

The measure passed unanimously. The engineering work will help classify the project as “shovel ready” for 2015 but there no firm date for construction has been determined.

‘No turn on red’ signs returning along Telegraph Road

The board approved installation of the "no turn on red" sign on westbound Quarton Road at Telegraph Road between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. The measure complies with the RCOC’s traffic order issued earlier this year and is a formality because the township has no jurisdiction over the roadway.

"It goes up anyway," Supervisor Dave Payne said when asked what could happen if the board voted 'no.'

“At one time there was a "no turn on red" sign and they took it down for awhile, but due to accident data they believe it’s appropriate to put it back up,” Payne explained.

“Personally, I think it will create more of a backlog of traffic at that intersection, particularly during rush hour, but the (RCOC) has the control.”

Township documents show that turns on solid red lights will also be prohibited on westbound Long Lake Road at Telegraph, eastbound Quarton Road at southbound Telegraph, northbound Lahser Road at Square Lake Road and eastbound Maple Road and Telegraph.

Township to complete Telegraph Gateway Sign project

The board unanimously approved a $61,476 bid to install the third and final sign as part of the North Telegraph Gateway Sign Project. The sign will be placed on the Telegraph Road median just south of Orchard Lake Road by J.W. Christmas and Associates, which also placed the existing signs at the Woodward Avenue median north of Square Lake Road and near the 14 Mile Road intersection with Telegraph.

Domine said that sign was removed by the township and is in storage while the reconstruction of Telegraph in that area is under way.

Hogan’s stock transferred

Members of the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees on Monday granted the transfer of stock in the Class C Liquor License and food permit for Hogan’s Restaurant from the former to current owner.

Restaurant Service Group LLC has owned and operated the establishment since the previous owner, Richard Bochenek, died in 2008. Township documents show his son, Richard Joseph Bochenek, petitioned the board to approve the matter strictly for business purposes and said no money is exchanging hands between he and three other owners, who are his siblings. He also said no changes to the day-to-day operations at the restaurant are planned.

Bloomfield Township Police Capt. Steve Cook said the department recommended approval after a thorough investigation that included individual background checks and record searches with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. They showed two liquor violations in 1979 that were later dismissed and citations operating a vehicle while under the influence that date back to the early 1980s.

Recent undercover operations to test compliance with liquor laws resulted in no violations, Cook said. 

The petitioners made improvements recommended by the fire department and neither the township’s building department nor county’s public health department noted outstanding issues with the restaurant, he added.