The Alcona County Road Commission Board denied a request from Mikado Township Tuesday to defer payments for road project materials until the fall.

Mikado Township Supervisor Jesus Yruegas said he told the board the township wanted to make a down payment of roughly $11,000 during its next meeting in August and asked if the road commission could defer payments on the remaining amount until October. The township had invested its money in certificates of deposit for the projects and did not want to withdraw money before they matured.

According to the road commission, the township has been billed for $20,203.14 and has yet to be billed for another project involving Kahn Drive. The estimate for the project is $7,155.

Chair Richard Karsen and Vice Chair Alfred Scully approved a motion to deny the township's request by a 2-0 vote. Board member Harry Harvey was excused from the meeting.

Administrative Assistant Marlena MacNeill said the projects were material intensive and not labor intensive. The road commission could not defer the payments because the materials were purchased from outside vendors and its tight budget.

"When it's labor it's already in our budget. When we have to buy outside materials we have vendors to pay - that's outside our budget," she said. "In other years we have worked with townships and tried to spread out payments and may payment plans or defer payments until the next year to wait for their millages to come in because we had that latitude and now we don't."

MacNeill said Gustin Township recently made a similar request, which the board also denied for the same reasons.

In other business the board discussed concerns about pedestrian safety on a Bamfield Road bridge crossing the AuSable River. MacNeill said recently the road commission got a call with complaints on the topic and the road commission contacted Curtis Township Supervisor Warren Mervyn.

Mervyn contacted the Curtisville Civic Association which sent a letter to the road commission about the issue. The road commission could request a traffic control order from the Michigan State Police that would prohibit standing, stopping or parking on the bridge. The road commission intends to further discuss the matter with Mervyn before contacting the MSP, MacNeill said.

Patty Ramus can be reached via e-mail at pramus@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.