Several streets in the 60 Acre Reserve residential community in Jackson will now be maintained by the municipality following the Jackson Township Council’s recent unanimous approval of a qualified private community services agreement.
60 Acre Reserve is off Brewers Bridge Road. There are 1,086 homes in the community and the homes are not age-restricted, according to its website.
The change in responsibility for the maintenance of streets in the development comes as a result of a settlement between the township and the 60 Acre Reserve Condominium Association. The deal ensures that a handful of seasonal road services will be provided to the housing development.
Following the council’s approval of the deal on July 10, the agreement will run until Dec. 31, 2017, after which an automatic one-year renewal will take place until the township or the condominium association gives notice that they will not renew the pact.
According to state law, all municipalities are required to “reimburse qualified private communities for certain services or to provide those services to the qualified private communities in the same fashion as the municipality provides those services on public roads and streets.”
As per the law and the agreement between the parties, Jackson will provide 60 Acre Reserve with snow- and ice-removal road services, the lighting of roads and streets, and the collection of leaves and recyclables.
If the township is unable to provide the services, state law requires that an annual reimbursement be paid to 60 Acre Reserve.
In the event that Jackson must reimburse the condominium association, the cost to taxpayers will not exceed what it would have been if the township had provided those services itself, according to the agreement.
The township’s snow-removal obligations, according to the agreement, will only include “through driving aisles” of the development, leaving parking lots, courts and curbside parking areas for the condominium association to handle.
The agreement states that Jackson will provide snow-removal services to 2.96 linear miles of roads in 60 Acre Reserve. Recognizing that 60 Acre Boulevard, Atrium Way and Nature Boulevard are used by the general public, the condominium association opted to dedicate those roads to the township.
As a result of that decision, 39 street lights along those dedicated roads will be Jackson’s responsibility to maintain, repair and replace any light poles, fixtures and bulbs, while costs associated with another 197 lights will be reimbursed by the township.
The remaining 75 fixtures in the community will be under the condominium association’s purview.
The township’s leaf and recyclable removal program will be extended to 60 Acre Reserve.
Contact Andrew Martins at [email protected].