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No. 9
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
March 1 - 7, 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
Oakwood Healthcare, Inc.
and the Hospice of Michigan
officials teamed up for a rib-
bon-cutting for the Hospice
and Palliative Care Unit at
AnnapolisHospital.
See page 3.
Romulus Police Chief Bob
Dickerson came up with a cre-
ative solution for funding a K-9
patrol vehicle, without spend-
ing any money, a deal the
council
unanimously
approved.
See page 4.
The Plymouth Township
firefighters union has pro-
posed $23,015more in cuts and
concessions to the 2012 depart-
ment budget than proposed by
the board of trustees.
See page 5.
Free classes are being
offered in Northville to those
with a chronic condition/ill-
ness who wish to improve
their healthand feel better.
See page 4.
Heat Wave is the name
given to the 2nd Annual
Community Food Drive in the
community planned by the
Salvation Army and churches
in theBelleville area.
See page 2.
Vol. 127, No. 9
Vol. 65, No. 9
Vol. 65, No. 9
Vol. 12, No. 9
Vol. 12, No. 9
Vol. 127, No. 9
Vol. 65, No. 9
Vol. 65, No. 2
Mayor Hilliard Hampton
will present the State of the
City Address beginning at 6:30
p.m. March 8 at the Booker T.
Dozier Recreation Complex.
The event is open to the pub-
lic.
See page 2.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Westland Mayor Bill Wild
and his teamwill face the Red
Wing Alumni team in an exhi-
bition charity hockey game at 7
p.m. March 24 at the Mike
Modano IceArena.
See page 3.
Judge Richard Hammer on
Monday dismissed all charges
against
Wayne
resident
Christopher Sanders.
The City of Wayne filed the
original complaint against
Sanders last February. The com-
plaint went to the Michigan State
Police for investigation and subse-
quently to the Wayne County
Prosecutors office for action. The
charges, “signing an initiative
petition as the circulator when not
the circulator” were heard in
Hammer's Garden City courtroom
when Judge Laura Mack of the
Wayne court recused herself from
the case.
Wayne County Prosecutor
Carole Murray presented the evi-
dence for the prosecution in the
case after a jury had been select-
ed. After her arguments and wit-
nesses, including Wayne City
Clerk Matt Miller, who signed the
original complaint on behalf of
the city, Ruark made a motion to
have the case dismissed.
The judge agreed.
“I never got the opportunity to
present our case,”Ruark said.
The charges stemmed from ini-
tiative petitions Sanders circulat-
ed in Wayne last year seeking to
ensure that the fire department
maintained a minimum staffing
level in accordance with national
and federal standards. Sanders
said from the onset of the situa-
tion that he signed all the peti-
tions as the “circulator” because
those were the instructions given
to him by Miller in the city clerk's
office.
Sanders readily stipulated that
he had signed the line as the cir-
culator when some signatures on
the petitions were obtained by
someone other thanhimself.
“There was never any question
in my mind that I was doing any-
thing other than following the
instructions I was provided,”
Sanders said. “I was shocked that
thiswent this far.”
Ruark agreed.
“The city disgraced itself.
They've exposed themselves as
nothing more than politicians.
Not only was this a colossal waste
of the taxpayer's money, it was an
abuse of process on the part of the
city frombeginning to end.
“They disqualified over 300
names on Chris' petition because
the voter did not check “city” or
“township.” They ignored the
voice of the citizens of Wayne.
They ignored their first amend-
Canton
firefighters
responded to two alarms last
week, one accidental and the
other of a suspicious nature.
No injuries were reported in
either incident.
See page 5.
The city disgraced itself.
They've exposed themselves
as nothing more than politicians.
”
Charges against city activist dismissed
See
Charges,
page 2
Candle was ‘probable cause’ of downtown fire
Northville receives $250,000 clean-up grant
Christopher Sanders
A candle left burning in an
adjacent office has been deter-
mined as the probable cause of an
early morning fire last Friday in a
historic building onMain Street in
downtownPlymouth.
According to a report from City
Manager Paul Sincock's office, a
landscaper doing snow removal
on downtown sidewalks reported
the fire to the emergency dispatch
center just before 4 a.m. Friday.
He told the dispatcher that there
were flames visible through awin-
dow on the second floor of the
structure.
The building, located at 298 S.
Main St. houses Kilwin's
Chocolates and there are several
small offices located on the sec-
ond floor.
According to Sincock, 24 fire
fighters from the Plymouth and
Northville Fire stations respond-
ed to the scene and four pieces of
fire apparatus were involved. He
said that two units from Huron
Valley Ambulance and Plymouth
city and township police also
responded.
The fire was quickly extin-
guished, he said and the damage
to the buildingwasminor. He indi-
cated that most businesses in the
building would be able to reopen
as early as Friday afternoon. All
fire fighters and vehicles cleared
the area around 7 a.m. Sincock
said and Main Street was
reopened to earlymorning traffic.
"The response of the fire
department was extremely
impressive and critical to saving
such a great historical building in
out downtown," Sincock said. He
noted that fire service in the city is
now provided through a consoli-
dated intergovernmental agree-
ment with the City of Northville
Fire Department. He said that the
agreement, in effect since Jan. 1,
has firefighters assigned to a
recently reopened fire station in
downtown Plymouth as well as
fire staffing assigned to the down-
town Northville station. Sincock
said that all firefighters in the
Northville department are com-
munity volunteers who are paid
on-call responders.
There were no injuries report-
ed in the incident and the roads
closed by the emergency vehicles
were reopenedby 8 a.m.
Sincock said the fire damage
was initially estimated at $27,000.
Plymouth Township firefighters
have enlisted the support of
Congressman Thaddeus McCotter
in their efforts to fund their
department.
The firefighters have submitted
an application for a Staffing for
Adequate Fire and Emergency
Response Grants (SAFER) with
the federal authorities. According
to Township Supervisor Richard
Reaume, the grant application is
one in a series the township has
submitted for funding.
“We apply every year,” Reaume
said. He added that this year the
grant was sent in by the firefight-
ers themselves, two of whom he
said had been assisting Fire Chief
MarkWendel with the application.
“It's a highly competitive grant,”
Reaume said. “The last time there
were five times more applications
than they hadmoney available.”
That competition did not ham-
per the success of the township
last year, however, when it was
awarded a $188,000 two-year
SAFER grant. That funding was
rejected in a letter from Reaume
who told the administrating
agency that the township could not
comply with the grant condition of
no firefighter layoffs for two years.
Greg Mangan, treasurer of the
Plymouth Township Firefighters
Local 1496 is optimistic about the
chances of success with the grant
application, however.
“We've asked for a total of about
$1.1 or $1.2 million which will
bring us up to standards in
staffing,” he said. “This funding
would allow us to bring back three
firefighters who were laid off and
replace three through attrition for
a total of six added to our current
staff of 21,” he said.
The application actually
requests $580,635 for the first year
or $1,176,585 for the two-year peri-
od coveredby the grant.
The grant application states
that the Plymouth department is
currently not in compliance with
the provision of National Fire
Protection Agency Standards. “We
are also unable to meet OSHA
(Occupational Safety and Health
Administration) respiratory pro-
tection standards until a second
engine arrives on the scene,” the
application states.
The application details the
The city of Northville will get
nearly $250,000 to clean up a .45-
acre site at the western edge of
downtown, enabling developers to
turn a 1940s gasoline service sta-
tion, garage and drycleaners into
anAmerican grill restaurant.
The grant award was recently
announcedby state officials.
"I am thrilled this money is
going to help encourage additional
economic development and job
creation in the city of Northville,"
said Rep. Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth.
"This is a great achievement for
City Manager Patrick Sullivan, the
mayor and the Northville City
Council as they worked together
and with local business owners
Bill and Mark Evasic and the state
tomake this happen."
The Clean Michigan Initiative
Brownfield Redevelopment Grant
will be used to clean the soil and
install a barrier system under the
6,500 square foot building on the
site. Plans are in the works to ren-
ovate the building while maintain-
ing its unique and historical look.
It will be the site of a new restau-
rant called "The Garage."
Developers are investing about
$1.365million in the project.
"Like most of Southeastern
Michigan, we are struggling to
maintain our downtown and bring
jobs to our city. We are excited to
work with the state and private
developers to turn this former eye-
sore in downtown Northville into
an exciting restaurant which will
employ 22 people and enhance the
quality of life for our residents,"
Sullivan said.
This funding would allow us to bring back three
firefighters who were laid off and replace three through
attrition for a total of six added to our current staff of 21.
”
Plymouth firefighters apply for federal funds
See
Funds,
page 5