Pontiac Times

Township Supervisor Jack Curtis is all about the upside. His speech at the March 8 "State of the Community and Leadership Awards" breakfast – organized by the Oxford Chamber of Commerce and held at Independence Village  – was filled with good news, gratitude and optimism.

Looking back at 2022, Supervisor Curtis beamed with pride as he spoke about the following items:• The dynamic new township team members: Fire Chief Matthew Majestic, Assistant Fire Chief Randy Vesper, Oakland County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ric Meza and Oxford Twp. Parks and Rec. Director Phil Castonia.

• The 2,250 fire and medical calls handled by the dedicated members of the Oxford Fire Dept.

• The Oakland County Sheriff’s Oxford Twp. substation achieved the highest clearance rate (79.65 percent) of the county’s 12 substations. Of the 231 criminal cases handled by the substation last year, 184 were closed. The Oxford Township substation’s 2022 clearance rate represents a 5.21 percent increase over the 2021 rate.

• The 817 smoke alarms and 301 carbon monoxide alarms installed, free of charge, in Oxford homes through the OXFD’s “Safety Begins at Home” program. All the alarms were paid for with a grant from the Four County Community Foundation and donations from local businesses and service organizations.

• The new 4,000-square-foot farmers market pavilion in Seymour Lake Twp. Park that’s scheduled to open in May. A $100,000 grant from Oakland County Parks and Rec. helped fund this project.

• The township is planning to install 6,475 feet of 18-inch sanitary sewer pipe along the east side of M-24 from Gateway Dr. to Dunlap Rd. This extension will help increase economic development and job creation along the M-24 corridor. It will also help protect the environment and public health by allowing for the eventual connection of septic-system-dependent homes to the public sanitary sewer system.

• The township is currently installing a 2,500-foot water main along E. Drahner Rd. from M-24 to the Woods at Tullamore, just east of the Oxford Hills golf course. This section of pipe will allow the township to loop its water system in that area, which will increase its integrity and reliability.

• A committee is working to convert Oxford Township to a community with a single waste hauler. Instead of having numerous companies sending several trash and recycling trucks down our streets and roads on multiple days, we’re striving to have one company serving the township. It’s going to save people money, reduce the wear and tear on our roads and streets, and make neighborhoods quieter, safer places for kids and families.

• Oxford Township continues to advocate for a hospital at the state level. At the MDHHS Certificate of Need Commission meeting in January, the state agreed to form a Standard Advisory Committee to review the methodology used to determine hospital bed need and limited access (underserved) areas. Our population and the population around us continue to grow. Within a 10-mile radius of Oxford, there are almost 184,000 people. Our need for a hospital continues to grow. 

• In 2022, C.J. Carnacchio, the township’s communications and grants manager, secured over $677,000 in grants and donations for the township, the parks and rec. dept., the fire department and the Oakland County Sheriff’s substation.

• $374,696 in federal funding was earned through C.J.’s efforts to construct a safety path along N. Oxford and Ray roads. This path will not only serve as an evacuation route for OHS students and staff should the building ever be deemed unsafe, it will also give the community another shared-use path for walkers, runners, cyclists and mobility device users. Thank you, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, for helping us secure this critical funding.

• The township’s social media presence continues to grow. Our Facebook page, which is run by C.J., has more than 10,500 followers. All our posts are designed to inform, educate, entertain and portray Oxford in a positive light.

• This year, Oxford Twp. will build a brand-new pocket park on the township grounds at 300 Dunlap Rd. It will be named for Oxford icon Helen Smith and contain accessible play and exercise equipment, seating and a bicycle repair station. A $20,506 grant from the Four County Community Foundation along with $70,510 in donations from the community are funding the entire project.

• Oxford Twp. continues to work closely with the Village of Oxford, Oxford DDA, Oxford Community Schools and the Oxford Chamber of Commerce to improve our community.

Original source can be found here.