Dexter Moves Forward with Mill Creek Park Construction

The Dexter Village Council on Monday unanimously approved a contract with Utica-based Cedroni Associates to complete construction on Phase 1 of Mill Creek Park and the Warrior Creek Stairway.

The council approved Cedroni’s contract bid at a cost not to exceed $1.267 million.

“I think we went through a thorough search for bids on this project, and now we’re poised to move forward,” said Paul Evanoff of JJR, an Ann Arbor-based engineering firm.

The multiphase Mill Creek Park project, which calls for a combination of urban park with recreational resources and natural areas, along with a boardwalk and amphitheater, will be paid for by a combination of grants and general fund monies. In 2009, the village received a $450,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Natural Trust Fund and a separate $45,000 grant from the MDNR’s Waterways Infrastructure Program for the project.

Village Manager Donna Dettling said the village is working out the permit process with the state and expects construction to begin in July.

“We’re having a preconstruction meeting after July 4, and then we will begin construction,” Evanoff said. “We have some incidental homework to do in the next three or four weeks, but we’re ready to move ahead.”

Richard Cedroni said the firm is eager to break ground in Dexter.

“It’s going to be a tight timeline. We had our reservations at first, but we’ve worked through them,” he said addressing concerns about the project.

Dettling said the village, along with JJR, has spent the past 44 months gathering public input, planning and designing Phase 1 of the project. The first phase will focus on downtown Dexter between the Dexter-Pinckney Road Bridge and Forest Lawn Cemetery.