Construction activity up in 2018

Township building activity for 2017 finished strong, with figures up for both December and the year overall.

A report from chief building official Patty Wright indicates the township issued 15 building permits in December for construction valued at about $1.65 million, generating a little more than $17,000 in permit fees.

That’s up from December of 2016, when the township issued seven permits for construction valued at just under $1.3 million and collected about $10,000 in fees.

Altogether in 2017, the township issued 366 building permits for construction valued at about $59.7 million and generating fees of roughly $543,000. In 2016, 315 permits were issued for $34.4 million worth of construction, resulting in about $307,000 in permit fees.

Agricultural construction generated the largest share of building activity in 2017, with 163 permits issued for construction worth around $35.4 million.

Single family dwellings, at 21 permits for $8.4 million worth of construction, was the next largest sector in terms of construction value.

A total of eight permits for about $7.9 million worth of industrial construction were issued in 2017.

In her report, Wright noted both December and year-end figures exceeded the five-year average.