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No. 50
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
December 13 - 19, 2012
w w w . a s s o c i a t e d n e w s p a p e r s . n e t
The Wayne Westland Fire
Department will be the first in
Wayne County with a power
loading cot fastener system,
thanks to a donation from a
Wayne resident.
See page 4.
A Romulus resident is col-
lecting new and used movies,
DVD players and other video
entertainment to send to U.S.
military troops serving in the
MiddleEast.
See page 3.
The Village Potters Guild
and the Over the Grill Gang
Chefs' Club have joined forces
with the Plymouth Canton
Educational Park culinary
TeamandTheSalvationArmy.
See page 5.
The Green It Up Team at
Northville Amerman Element-
ary School has been honored
as one of 30 national finalists
in the fourth annual Siemens
We Can Change the World
Challenge.
See page 5.
The 17th annual Belleville
Area Museum Festival of
Holiday Trees will run
through Dec. 29 filling the
entiremuseumwith decorated
trees andwreaths.
See page 3.
Vol. 127, No. 50
Vol. 65, No. 50
Vol. 65, No. 50
Vol. 12, No. 50
Vol. 12, No. 50
Vol. 127, No. 50
Vol. 65, No. 50
Vol. 65, No. 50
Inkster Mayor Hilliard
Hampton will join15 Michigan
Presidential Electors in the
chambers of the Michigan
Senate in Lansing to cast the
electoral college votes.
See page 4.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Wally Triplett, a football
great who played for the
Detroit Lions and Penn State,
was the guest speaker recently
at a special presentation at the
WestlandLibrary.
See page 4.
Michcon and DTE Energy will
invest about $4 million in a
Romulus facility to bring an alter-
native fueling station to the area.
The companies will bring a nat-
ural gas fueling station to theWaste
Management Property on Inkster
Road in Romulus, in part to allow
WasteManagement to transform its
fleet of vehicles fromdiesel to natu-
ral gas.
“It will reduce their emissions
and improve the environment,”
said Rob Peterson, a spokesperson
from DTE energy. “It would also
reduce their cost of operation,
because natural gas is a cheaper
fuel.”
On a gasoline gallon equivalent,
natural gas goes for about $2.64 per
gallon, while diesel fuel is hovering
at about $4 a gallon. It has the same
BTU equivalent, so vehicles get
about the same mileage as they
would with traditional fuels. It
burns cleaner, being comprisedpri-
marily of carbon and hydrogen. It is
also domestically made. It is not
widely available for automotive
use, but Peterson said this project
could help change that. Other com-
panies-as well as the public-would
be able to use the facility. Peterson
said the public access would also
help subsidize the project andDTE
would promote the use of natural
gas as an alternative to trucking
companies in the area and the pub-
lic in general
“It's a chicken-and-egg situation.
The automotive companies say
they will build vehicles if there
were places to fuel,” he said. “On
the other hand, people say, we
would build stations if there were
vehicles to fuel. This makes an
opportunity tomake it accessible to
the public.”
Waste Management plans to
convert 25 trucks to natural gas
usage in 2013 and has plans to
phase in all 65 trucks in its fleet
over the next three years. They
have a capacity to run about 80
trucks out of theRomulus facility.
“I think it's a good idea,” said
Councilman William Wadsworth of
the project.
Canton Township Fire
Department Captain Gregory
Sprys-Tellner has been named
as Deputy Fire Chief with the
department, effectiveNov. 28.
See page 5.
The Christmas program at
NorthRidge Church in Plymouth
featured some extra drama last
Thursday night when the
Plymouth Township Fire
Department rescue squad was
summoned after three people
needed medical help during the
performance.
Approximately 3,000 people
were in attendance at the sold-
out performance, one of several
that week that featured a profes-
sional stage presentation with fly-
ing angels, falling snow and
indoor fireworks accompanied by
a full orchestra and a 400-mem-
ber choir. The event was billed as
“The 20th Anniversary of the
Glory of Christmas.”
Near the beginning of the pro-
gram, church staff members
called 911 for help for a member
of the choir and two audience
members who were suffering
fromrespiratory distress.
“All saying they were not feel-
ing well at the same time was not
unusual,” said Pastor Wayne
Kurtycz, NorthRidge marketing
manager who oversees the per-
formances. Kurtycz said this was
the sixth consecutive perform-
ance on this 20th anniversary and
he expected attendance will
reacha total of 25,000.
Four ambulances were dis-
patched to the scene, two from
PlymouthTownship and two from
Huron Valley Ambulance. One of
the audience members who was
experiencing difficulty breathing
was transported to an area hospi-
tal. The other twowere treated by
EMTs and left the church on their
own.
Some witnesses speculated
that a smoke machine used dur-
ing the performance may have
been the cause of the problems
which appeared, witnesses said,
to be similar to asthma attacks.
“When we have special effects
the church is very cautious and
the area is well ventilated. There
is always someone who's getting
sick when you deal with such a
large number of people at one
time,” Kurtycz said. Witnesses
said the EMTs were overheard
suggesting that the smoke
machine be turned off for the
remainder of the performance.
The show continued without
interruption during the emer-
gency event.
For the last two years, the
Plymouth Ice Festival has taken
heat, much to the dismay of Sam
Walton, the promoter andmanag-
er of the event.
This year, the “heat” began
even earlier during a meeting of
the Plymouth City Commission
last week and in
some unflat-
tering reports
about
the
financial sta-
tus of the
event, all of
which puzzles
the profes-
sional event
producer.
Walton said
he really does-
n't understand
why the exag-
gerated reports were given any
credence, much less publicity
about an event dedicated to
improving both the business cli-
mate and the reputation of the
city.
“All past bills for all ice festi-
vals have been paid in full,”
Walton said, discounting pub-
lished remarks claiming that the
future of the event was in ques-
tiondue tounpaid fees to the city.
“I take my role seriously, and I
want to make everybody proud,”
Walton said about the event dur-
ing the commission meeting
where permits for the three-day
event, scheduled for Jan. 18-20,
were on the agenda. This year,
for the first time in the 31-year
history of the festival, it will be a
privately run, for-profit venture,
and the former city Ice Festival
Committee eliminated. The
event will be produced by
Signature Professional Group,
Walton's company, as it has been
for the past three years. The per-
mits were approved by the city
commission.
Walton said
the change in
status was nec-
essary to pro-
vide funding for
the kinds of
entertainment
and attractions
needed to draw
crowds of thou-
sands to down-
town streets in
January. This
year he is plan-
ning to add features like an ice-
skating rink, a larger snowboard-
ing area and cross country skiing
along with many more activities
and features, he said.
“There was a day when being
a nonprofit allowed a group or
event to obtain public funding,
public (governmental support,
federal funding, public grants,
foundation contributions), but
those days are behind us in
regards to this event,” Walton
said. “Most other event events in
downtown Plymouth operate as a
private venture, it was a unani-
mous board decision to dissolve
and adapt with the times. The
event can also achieve additional
operating efficiency by being
under the umbrella of the other
events I own and operate versus
being a stand-alone non-profit,”
he said.
Earlier concerns reported
about the financial condition and
obligations of the festival were,
Walton said, both misleading and
inaccurate.
The accounting for the non-
profit needs to be closed by the
end of 2012 to dissolve the 501c3
status, Walton explained. “The
accounting needs to be closed by
the end of this year to the IRS. I
am not anticipating any issues
with filing nor any penalty fees,”
he added, despite the concerns
voiced by commissioners at the
meeting. He agreed at the meet-
ing that if there were any such
fees, hewouldpay them.
Walton said that the change in
operational status would be an
internal company structure and
that the public would not see any
difference in the operation of the
event, except to make it more
attractive. He added that the
event will still include many vol-
unteers as it has in the past.
See
Ice,
page 2
Where else but Plymouth
can the city and the
businesses roll out
the red carpet for 100,000
visitors to downtown
in the middle
of January?
”
The automotive companies
say they will build vehicles
if there were places to fuel.
”
$4 million alternative fuel station planned
Plans for annual ice festival heat up
Smoke machine suspected in church illnesses
NorthRidge Church in Plymouth