June 24, 2025 VOL LXXI No. 7

Zoning Board of Appeals & Board of Trustees Meeting

The Board of Trustees will meet immediately after the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, which will include a public hearing for a fence permit at 180 Barton Shore Drive.

Public comment may be submitted in writing to Barton Hills Village prior to the meeting, or in person during the meeting.

The public may attend in person or watch live on Zoom (view only!)

The Zoom meeting ID: 841 5787 7965 Passcode: 975884

The Board of Trustees agenda is posted on the website by Friday prior to the Monday meeting. Meeting minutes for all boards are also posted on the website.

Office Closed July 4th

On Monday, June 9, 2025, the Washtenaw County Road Commission (WCRC) issued an emergency closure of the Maple Road (Foster) Bridge over the Huron River, located between Huron River Drive and Country Club Road in Ann Arbor Township. The closure is due to a failure in the bridge’s post-tensioning system, specifically a broken steel cable, which must be repaired before the bridge can safely reopen.

WCRC was alerted to the issue on Sunday, June 8, 2025, when a boater observed a potential structural concern and reported it. The damaged steel cable is part of the post-tensioning system installed during a major rehabilitation project in 2003. Notably, a routine inspection conducted in May 2025 did not reveal any issues with the cable at that time.

The Maple Road (Foster) Bridge is a truss bridge that is nearly 150 years old. In 2022, WCRC completed additional improvements to the bridge, including cleaning, painting, and enhancements to the roadway approaches, such as drainage and guardrail upgrades. However, those improvements did not involve work on the post-tensioning system.

WCRC is actively collaborating with its bridge inspection and design consultant, as well as the contractor involved in the 2003 rehabilitation, to determine the next steps. The team is evaluating the potential scope of repairs, estimated costs, and a schedule to restore the bridge’s structural integrity.

At this time, there is no timeline for completing the repairs. WCRC’s Operations Department is aware of the designated detour route and will continue to monitor and maintain the unpaved local roads along the detour to address any surface concerns.

WCRC will provide updates as more information becomes available on the project page. We encourage residents to subscribe for email updates at this link https://www.wcroads.org/residents/subscribe-to-road-updates/

If you have any questions concerning this project, please contact Aaron Berkholz, Assistant Director of Engineering, at (734) 327- 6648 or berkholza@wcroads.org.

At the July 14^th meeting, the Trustees will vote on a draft Outdoor Watering Resolution. Introduced at the June 9^th Trustee meeting, the draft Resolution is intended to better ensure BHV’s ability to meet on-demand peak-hour user demands, as well as meet firefighters’ needs. Plus, as the reliable delivery of safe drinking water continues to grow in importance as a vital municipal service that cannot be taken for granted, it’s in all our best interests to participate in the conservation of our existing aquifer.

The draft Resolution would introduce what’s known as “even/odd” outdoor watering cycles. Residents with a street number address ending in an even number could irrigate their lawns on even-numbered dates, while residents with odd street number address could irrigate on odd-numbered dates. For example, a resident whose street number is “767” could water outdoors on dates such as July 15, 17, 19, etc.

To express opinions, homeowners are welcome to attend the July 14^th Trustee meeting, or contact Theresa McDevitt in the Village Office at 734-222-5209 / bhvclerk@bartonhillsvillage.org .

Pressure Reducing Valves: Many homes in the Village have a bell-shaped plumbing component called a Pressure Reducing Valve, which helps water pressure that is too high when it enters a residence. If your home has one, you’ll find it attached to the pipe that enters your home and goes into your softener or filtration system. Inside a PRV is a mesh strainer designed to capture particulates.

These before & after photos are of a filter from a Village home. After recently experiencing sub-optimal water pressure, the homeowner checked her filter. It was loaded with particulates. Even though the filter had been replaced just six months ago, and was cleaned thoroughly, it’s done a great job for the homeowner and needs to be replaced.

The Emerald Ash Borer wrought a 20-year devastation on millions of Michigan’s beautiful Ash Trees. Today, we’ve noticed baby Ash Trees popping everywhere in the Village. Thankfully, there are products available today that we can use to save these little trees.

To protect the babies on your property, experts recommend using a systemic insecticide like imidacloprid, applied as a soil drench or injection; or, injecting emamectin benzoate into the trunk, providing protection for several years.

Ash trees’ leaves are compound and composed of 5-11 leaflets. There’s only one other tree native to Michigan with similar leaf composition, and that’s the Boxelder which almost always has 3-5 leaflets. The first photo are leaves from a Green Ash, while the second photo are leaves from a White Ash.

Learn more by reading MSU’s Ash Tree ID flyer at https://www.canr.msu.edu/uploads/files/e2942.pdf, a treatment/protection flyer produced by a consortium of universities, the USDA, and US Forestry Service at https://dnr.maryland.gov/forests/documents/emeraldashborer_homeownersguide.pdf, and speak with your arborist or landscaper.

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