No. 05
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
February 1 – 7, 2018
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
Distinguished
Alumni Committee at Wayne
Memorial High School will
accept nominations for the
annual awarduntil Feb. 28.
See page 2.
The Northville Art House
will present POW! Juried
Comic Art Exhibition featur-
ing works of comic-inspired,
art throughFeb. 24.
See page 7.
Vol. 133, No. 05
Vol. 71, No. 05
Vol. 71, No. 05
Vol. 18, No. 05
The Annual 'Come Unity'
Soul Food Dinner will take
place in Romulus this year
beginning at 5 p.m. Feb. 6
and include a Black History
Monthprogram.
See page 3.
Vol. 133, No. 05
Vol. 71, No. 05
Vol. 71, No. 05
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Lee Bradford, a junior at
John Glenn High School in
Westland, will attend the
prestigious Congress of
Future Science and
Technology Leaders in
Lowell, MA. this summer.
See page 2.
Federal law enforcement
authorities have charged
Devin Rodriguez with the
attempted robbery and tak-
ing of hostages at Citizens
Bank branch in Canton last
Thursday.
See page 5.
Vol. 18, No. 05
State Rep. Jewell Jones
(D-Inkster) attended the
State of the State address
with his guest, Army
National Guard 2nd Lt.
George Croom, at the state
Capitol inLansing.
See page 3.
The Plymouth library
with host Sikh Mystique - an
afternoon with members of
the local Sikh community
planned from 2-4 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 11.
See page 6.
Members of the Belleville
Rotary Club are again host-
ing their renowned Italian
Dinner Buffet from 4:30-7:30
p.m. Fat Tuesday, Feb.13 at
theVanBurenEagles hall.
See page 7.
Reports of unfinished work,
concrete failures and shoddy
workmanship at McClumpha
Park in Plymouth Township
have led to unnecessary costs
and labor expenses over the
past year, according to Plymouth
Township Supervisor Kurt
Heise.
Last week, Township Park
Foreman Steve Rapson again
reported that park personnel
had discovered part of the con-
crete walkway at themain pavil-
ion had ruptured, up-heaving
walls which blocked doors from
opening. Rapson also reported
that concrete blocks in the
women's bathroom had shifted
due to the upheaval. According
to Rapson, cold weather this
winter has created a similar
problemwith the concrete at the
newer All Seasons Pavilion
located at the top of sledding
hill, adjacent to the ball dia-
mond.
Last summer, the Township
Board of Trustees approved a
$25,000 expenditure for outside
contractor Shaw Construction
Company
and
ASC
Communications to make
repairs and complete the new
building punch-list for the All
Seasons Pavilion. Unfinished
work included installing win-
dows, base moldings, fixing
entry doors, installing a refriger-
ator found in storage and repair-
ing the security system.
The pavilion project was a
hotly-contested issue prompting
severe criticism and unfavor-
able comments from residents
at board meetings prior to
approval by former township
officials three years ago.
In the months preceding and
during the construction, hun-
dreds of residents called for
greater accountability and more
public input into the use of
township funds. At the time, for-
mer township officials had pro-
posed a $350,000 amphitheater
and residents crowded township
hall board meetings demanding
the board prioritize public safe-
ty over the proposed recreation
projects and fund the under-
staffed fire department rather
thanbuild the pavilion.
Construction of the pavilion
began in the fall of 2014 after
approval of the bid to Acme,
Enterprises of Roseville, the
second-lowest bidder, by a 5-2
vote of the former board mem-
Don Howard
Staff Writer
See
Pavilion,
page 6
We need to show
the public what a
waste of money this was.
”
An attorney representing
Robert Boertje has filed an
appeal in Wayne County Circuit
Court seeking to reinstate recall
petitions against Wayne City
Councilman
Christopher
Sanders.
The petitions seeking the
recall of Sanders were declared
invalid and deficient under state
law by the Wayne County Clerk
Cathy M. Garrett on Jan. 10.
Boertje, who submitted the peti-
tions to Garrett's office, was noti-
fied of the deficiencies and fail-
ure of the petitions to comply
with the mandatory language of
MCL 168 544 c (1) Jan. 5 when
Sanders' attorney John Pirich
filed an official challenge with
Garrett's office.
Boertje responded to that ini-
tial challenge but did not address
the actual deficiencies cited by
Pirich. Garrett then responded
that shewas “without authority to
issue a Call for Election due to
the petition not complying with
MCL168.544c (1).”
Boertje, represented by attor-
ney Scott R. Ruark, appealed that
decision on Jan. 18, requesting
that the decision be reversed.
Garrett responded that her office
did not have the authority to
revisit the determination citing a
state regulation which limited
her authority to 35 days following
the actual filing of the petitions.
In the latest appeal of the deci-
sion filed by Ruark, no reason for
the failure of the petitions to
include the correct language is
cited.
The petitions used by those
who collected signatures in sup-
port of a ballot question to recall
Sanders did not contain the
required language indicating
whether the “circulator is not a
Michigan resident” and that the
“circulator accepts Michigan
jurisdiction for purposes of litiga-
tion.”
In his initial seven-page filing
of the discrepancy with the elec-
tions commission on Sanders'
behalf, Pirich argued that the lan-
guage was mandatory and that
substantial compliance was not
anoption.
Boertje originally submitted
only a handwritten response to
the challenge which did not
address Pirich's arguments or the
claimed deficient language.
See
Recall,
page 2
I trust the judicial system.
I will certainly respect
whatever the final court decision may be.
”
Court appeal filed in Wayne recall attempt
Pavilion construction flaws prove costly
Official officials
Conference of Western Wayne swears in new leaders
Several local officials were
recently elected to new posts
with the Conference of
Western Wayne, an association
of 18 chief officials from local
municipalities.
The 2018 Executive
Committee will be led by
Romulus Mayor LeRoy
Burcroff who was selected as
chairman of the group. Vice
Chairman Robert Nix II is the
Northville
Township
Supervisor and Belleville
Mayor Kerreen Conley will
serve as secretary of the group.
Canton Township Supervisor
Pat Williams was selected at
treasurer and Chairman
Emeritus is Dearborn Mayor
JackO'Reilly.
Wayne County Circuit Court
Judge Melissa Cox adminis-
tered the oaths of office to the
new leaders last month during
an organizational meeting in
PlymouthTownship.
“I am truly grateful to serve
the 18 communities in western
Wayne County that make up
this organization,” Burcroff
said. “Our board has met
monthly for over three decades
to discuss issues such as state
and federal legislation, county
matters, transportation, public
safety, substance use preven-
tion and community and eco-
nomic development. Our
region is the most populated in
the county and we pride our-
selves on working together to
promotewesternWayne.”
The members of the confer-
ence meet to discuss issues of
mutual concern in their
respective communities. It is a
bipartisan group and members
work on mutual issues that
could improve the quality of
life for the nearly 700,000 resi-
dents of the area.
Members of the Conference
of Western Wayne include the
cities of Belleville, Dearborn,
Dearborn Heights, Garden
City,
Inkster,
Livonia,
Northville,
Plymouth,
Romulus, Wayne and Westland
and the townships of Canton,
Huron, Northville, Plymouth,
Redford, Sumpter and Van
Buren. The conference has
been working to help enhance
the area communities for more
than 38 years.
“All of our 700,000 residents
and 340 square miles are
impacted by the decisions and
laws that are made at the fed-
eral, state and county levels,”
Burcroff said. “It is vital that
we continue to collaborate in
order to create the best solu-
tions possible to the challenges
we face.”
Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly, left, Romulus Mayor LeRoy Burcroff, Northville Township Supervisor Robert Nix II, Canton Township
Supervisor Pat Williams and Belleville Mayor Kerreen Conley take their oaths of office from Wayne County Circuit Court Judge
Melissa Cox.
