subdivision announcing the closing,
which left more than 900 residents in
what many described as “injurious jeop-
ardy.”
The flyers, likely created by the union
firefighters, announced that there “is
now a maximum staffing level of five
firefighters to cover the entire town-
ship.”
Township officials and board mem-
bers defended the action as “right-siz-
ing” and “fire reform.”
Former Township Treasurer Ron
Edwards-who had long before usurped
control of the fire department--was
embroiled in a contract settlement dis-
pute and union arbitration with the fire-
fighters at the time. Edwards claimed
the layoffs were made necessary by a
financial hardship created by the City of
Plymouth's withdrawal from a long-
standing inter-local fire service agree-
ment. Township officials, led by
Edwards, claimed the termination of the
inter-local agreement resulted in a
reduction in revenues to the fire depart-
ment approaching $1million.
Many residents and firefighters
claimed that the layoffs were retribution
by Edwards for the support many fire-
fighters expressed for his opponent in a
political campaign.
As the layoffs and staffing reductions
became public, Reaume distributed a
newsletter to residents in which he stat-
ed, “The safety and security of everyone
in Plymouth Township is our highest
priority. You will continue to receive the
same high-level, round-the-clock fire
and paramedic service that you have
always received.” According to the
newsletter his reason for closing the
Lake Pointe stationwas, “themajority of
calls for medical assistance came from
the assisted living center,” a reference to
the 200-unit major senior residence
Independence Village, located on
NorthvilleRoadnearFiveMile.
In the aftermath of the 2012 layoffs,
Wendell broke Reaume's gag order and
publicly decried the lack of manpower
and described the broken-down, aged
equipment and worn out vehicles the
department was forced to utilize.
Wendell stated he could longer effec-
tively manage a fire department where
the workload had increased by 400 per-
cent while working with only 12 fire-
fighters. Later, under public pressure
from Wendel's disclosures, township
trustees approved the hiring of several
part-time, paid on-call firefighters to
work peak hours, many of whom have
now resigned and moved to other
departments towork full-time.
Heise who said he is determined to
rebuild the department as soon as possi-
ble was reluctant to provide a specific
timetable, stating his plans are depend-
ent on the support and approval of the
board members and working with exist-
ing funds.
“My first goal is the get the staff prop-
erly equipped andmake the department
fully operational,”Heise stressed.
“This fire department had been
deliberately downsized for years. It's
taken years to get into this position with
the old and broken down equipment,”
he added.
“We now have Station 2 back under
our control,” Heise said during an inter-
view last week, explaining that the town-
ship has fire apparatus now parked and
occupying the yet unmanned station.
For the past few months, during road
construction work for I-275 and Six Mile
Road, Northville Township Fire
Department rented space and assumed
occupancy at Station 2 with a special
occupancy agreement fostered between
former Northville Township Public
Safety Director John Werth and former
Plymouth Township Supervisor
ShannonPrice.
At the time of the initial fire depart-
ment layoff turmoil, Heise, a former
state representative, was acting as attor-
ney of counsel to Hemming, Polaczyk,
Cronin, Witthoff, and Bennett, the legal
firmrepresenting the township.
“We've inherited a legacy of an
understaffed, poorly-equipped depart-
ment. It doesn't get rebuilt overnight,”
Heise said.
A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
3
January 5, 2017
C
ANTON
- P
LYMOUTH
MINUTES OF REGULAR ROMULUS CITY COUNCIL MEETING
December 12, 2016
Romulus City Hall Council Chambers, 11111 Wayne Rd. Romulus, MI 48174
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Mayor Pro Tem John Barden.
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call
Present:
Kathleen Abdo, John Barden, Linda Choate, Harry Crout, Celeste Roscoe.
Excused:
Sylvia Makowski, William Wadsworth.
Administrative Officials in Attendance:
LeRoy D. Burcroff
Barb Fitzgerald, Deputy Clerk
Excused:
Ellen L. Craig-Bragg, Clerk; Stacy Paige, Treasurer
1.
Moved by
Crout,
seconded by
Abdo
to accept the agenda as presented.
Motion Carried Unanimously
.
16-499 2A.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Choate
to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the
Romulus City Council held on December 5, 2016.
Motion Carried Unanimously
.
16-500 2B.
Moved by
Abdo
, seconded by
Crout
to approve the minutes of the special meetings of the Romulus
City Council held on December 5, 2016: 6:30 p.m. closed session, Attorney Opinion; 7:00 p.m. closed session,
Pending Legal Matters.
Motion Carried Unanimously
.
3. Petitioner:
Robert McLachlan.
16-501 3A.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Crout
to adopt a local governing body resolution for charitable
gaming licenses for Robert McLachlan of 16268 Wild Fox Court to recognize JORY Children’s Foundation as a
charitable entity in the City of Romulus.
Motion Carried Unanimously
4. Chairperson’s Report:
4.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Choate
to accept the Chairperson’s Report.
Motion Carried Unanimously
.
5. Mayor’s Report:
Dennis Davidson spoke about the Wreaths Across America Project. There will be a Veteran’s Ceremony on
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. in the Romulus Memorial Cemetery – volunteers are needed to help place
wreaths on the veterans’ graves. Nominations for the Holiday Home Decorating contest are due by December 19,
2016 – call the Recreation Department at 734-941-8665.
16-502 5A1.
Moved by
Abdo,
seconded by
Choate
to adopt a memorial resolution for the family of Elsie
Russell.
Motion Carried Unanimously
.
16-503 5A2.
Moved by
Crout,
seconded by
Roscoe
to adopt a memorial resolution or the family of Bud
Hoffman.
Motion Carried Unanimously
.
16-504 5A.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Crout
to concur with the administration and authorize the mayor
and clerk to execute an addendum to the existing Single Hauler Waste Collection and Disposal Contract with
Waste Management for disposal of auto and truck tires.
Motion Carried Unanimously
.
6A. Clerk’s Report:
16-505 6A1.
Moved by
Choate,
seconded by
Crout
to approve demolition of the structures and removal of all
debris at the locations listed on Demolition List 16-01 as presented at the public hearing held on Monday,
December 12, 2016 at 6:30 pm:
1. 35953 Bibbins (Single-Family Residential Structure)
2. 16483 Taft (Single-Family Residential Structure & Garage)
3. 11325 Whitehorn (Single-Family Residential Structure)
Motion Carried Unanimously
.
16-506 6A2.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Abdo
to schedule a study session with Director of Financial
Services, Suzanne Moreno, on January 9, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss financial report for fiscal year ended June
30, 2016. The meeting will be held in the Romulus City Council Chambers
Motion Carried Unanimously
.
6B. Treasurer’s Report
7. Public Comment: None.
8. Unfinished Business
9. New Business
10. Communication:
On behalf of Helping Hands, Councilman Crout thanked the residents of Romulus for their generous donations
to Helping Hands.
16-507 11.
Moved by
Choate,
seconded by
Crout
to pay Warrant 16-23 in the amount of $2,927,069.24.
12.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Choate
to adjourn the regular meeting of the Romulus City Council.
Motion
Carried Unanimously
.
I, Ellen L. Craig-Bragg, Clerk for the City of Romulus, Michigan do hereby certify the foregoing to be a true
copy of the minutes of the regular meeting of the Romulus City Council held on December 12, 2016.
RM010517-0125 2.5 x 7.803
CITY OF ROMULUS
Notice of Public Hearing and Proposed Projects
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PROGRAM
FY 2017/2018
Pursuant to Federal guidelines, the City of Romulus is announcing its objectives and possible
uses for developing projects using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding and is
scheduling a Public Hearing on Monday,
Monday, January 23, 2017 at 7:00 pm
for the purpose of
receiving comments or suggestions regarding projects for the fiscal year 2017/2018 COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) Program. The CITY OF ROMULUS expects to
receive an ESTIMATED $151,807.
The primary objectives of the Federal HUD CDBG program are to assist low to moderate income
families directly or to provide benefits in areas where 51% of the residents are low to moderate
income, such as replacing the urban infrastructure of streets, preserving deteriorating housing,
improving recreational facilities and programs and assisting in meeting special needs of the elderly
and physically disabled.
Pending actual funding availability, the City proposes to carry out the following eligible activi-
ties with the respective estimated amounts.
OBJECTIVES:
A. Benefitting Low and Moderate Income (LMI) Persons
B. Benefitting Low and Moderate Income Limited Clientele (LMC) Persons
C. Addressing Slums and Blight or Low and Moderate Income Housing Benefit
D. Meeting a particularly urgent community development need
FY 2017/2018 Proposed Projects
ACTIVITY
Amount:
* Objectives Met:
Senior Services/Public Services - LMC - 05A
$ 22,771
A & B
Romulus Fire Station - LMA
35255 Goddard Rd
$113,855
C & D
General Administration - 21A (10%)
$ 15,181
A
Sub-Total
$151,181
Housing Rehabilitation LMH -from Program Income
$ 5,000
B & C
$156,181
The Public is invited to attend and comment during the first Public Hearing or to make written
comments on or before January 20, 2017. The City of Romulus will provide reasonable accom-
modations for those individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services. For further
information, contact the Economic Development Department, City of Romulus, 11111 Wayne Road,
Romulus, MI 48174, (734) 942-7545.
Publish: Thursday, January 5, 2017
RM010517-0124 2.5 x 5.899
Martin Luther King Day celebration set
Canton Township will once
again honor the memory and
legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. with a special tribute, “Canton
Celebrates Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.” Monday, Jan. 16 at The
Village Theater at Cherry Hill,
located at 50400 Cherry Hill
Road.
A punch and cookie reception
will begin at the Village Theater
at 6 p.m., followed by the main
programat 6:30 p.m. This annual
event is presented by the Canton
Commission for Culture, Arts,
andHeritage, members of theDr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Sub-
Committee, and Canton
Township.
The keynote address this year,
Be the Difference, will be pre-
sented by Plymouth-Canton
Community
Schools
Superintendent Monica L.
Merritt. Merritt, who hails from
Alexandria, VA, has extensive
experience as a teacher, princi-
pal and administrator and
resides in Plymouth Township
with her family. Monica is the
daughter of Carol and Herman
Boone, who received great atten-
tion and accolades for his time as
football coach of the TCWilliams
High School, as portrayed in the
Disney movie, “Remember the
Titans” (2000).
The program will also feature
music by the Workman
Elementary School Choir under
the direction of Keri L. Mueller,
additional music will be provid-
ed by the Interfaith Community
Outreach (ICO) Choir directed by
Inderjeet Talwar, along with a
presentation by spoken word
artist, KhadegaMohammed.
Tickets to the program are
available at the door at $2 per
person or $5 per family; exact
cash appreciated. The reception
is sponsored annually by Darian
and Ralynda Moore of Keller
WilliamsRealty of Plymouth.
For more information, call
(734) 394-5300 or visit
tonvillagetheater.org.
The Plymouth Township Fire
Department has two new life-saving vehi-
cle-extraction rescue tools commonly
known as Jaws-of Life. The new portable,
state of the art-battery operated pneumat-
ic tools received recently, valued at
$20,000, were funded by a grant sent from
Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation,
a 501 (c)(3) non-profit charity organization.
The funding was made possible by cus-
tomer donations to the more than 1000
stores ownedby theFlorida-based firm.
Plymouth Township Fire Captain Dan
Atkins created the grant request and Chief
Dan Phillips said he was elated by the
award. The new tools will replace a much
older set of Jaws purchased in 1998.
Phillips explained the units are self-con-
tained and free up the firefighters from
dragging hydraulic hoses with limited
reach. The equipment eliminates the risk
of lines being punctured by broken glass
or debris.
"This new equipment is already being
used on the job." Phillips said.
According to company information,
Firehouse Subs co-founders brothers
Chris and Robin Sorenson formed the
public safety foundation dedicated to
helping the life saving capabilities of pro-
fessional firefighters. They have donated
more than $23 million to thousands of
public safety organizations and first
responders with life-saving equipment,
scholarships, and prevention education
through the foundation. Chris Sorenson is
a former firefighter.
Don Howard
Staff Writer
Plymouth Township Fire Chief Dan Phillips (right) instructs Firefighter Guy Vallet (from
left), Captain Chuck Mann and Firefighter Jim Harrell on the features of the new tools.
Life savers
Grant funds new Jaws of Life
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Station
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