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A Wayne man was pronounced
dead at the scene of a traffic crash
Saturday night in Canton
Township.
According to reports from the
Canton Township Department of
Public Safety, officers responded to
a report of a traffic accident at
about 11:14 p.m. Saturday on west-
bound Michigan Avenue west of
HannanRoad.
Officers discovered the 41-year-
old Wayne man suffering from
injuries he received when he was
truck by a 1998 JeepCherokee driv-
en by a 28-year-old Westland
woman. Officers immediately
began administering first aid and
CPR to the injured man and were
aided by a registered nurse who
had stopped to assist at the scene.
Canton Fire Department respon-
ders arrived and also began emer-
gency procedures.
Despite their efforts, the man,
whose name has not yet been
released, was pronounced dead at
the scene.
The woman driving the Jeep
was transported to St. Mary
Hospital in Livonia as a precau-
tion, officers said.
The Canton Police Department
Accident Investigation Team is
investigating the accident.
Preliminary reports indicated that
alcohol may have been a factor in
the crash, which remains under
investigation.
A
SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
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April 11, 2013
C
ANTON
- W
AYNE
- W
ESTLAND
Mayor presents $57 million balanced budget
Resident petitions for changes to Wayne charter
Wayne resident killed by Westland driver in Canton
Emergency dispatch may merge
Missing man’s body is found
Westland Mayor William Wild
presented his 2013-14 budget to
members of the city council last
week.
The $57million two-year budget
is balanced, includes no deficit
spending and projects a $5 million
surplus.
No cutbacks in city services or
employee layoffs are included in
the budget which is based on a 4
percent reduction in property val-
ues which will reduce city revenue
by $394,964.
Wild told the members of the
council that the city was slowly
creeping up to the ideal 10 percent
fundbalancemark.
Other items included in the
budget include the reduced funds
from the Tax Increment Financing
Authority which will be used as a
mechanism to help fund the new
city hall, a fire station and road
and landscaping improvement
near Central City Parkway.
Revenue will also be reduced from
the Downtown Development
Authority which will be selling
bonds to fund the farmer's market
and improvements toTattanPark.
The city will also undertake
road improvements to Newburgh
fromWarren to Palmer, completion
of work on Hunter and work in the
Brookfield subdivision roads.
Wild said that the city will com-
plete the state mandates for
Economic Vitality Incentive
Program funds for $1.252 million
this year and again for the same
amount in the 2013-2014 fiscal year.
The budget includes a projected
increase in federal revenue shar-
ing which could be an additional
$773,000 for the city.
The budget includes an
increase in the sanitation levy.
Revenues from the 18th District
Court are projected to increase to
$4 million, from the current $3.3
million. Wild said the increase is
projected on more officers on the
road with the Police Service Aide
agreement.
Wild also projected revenue
from changes to the health care
and retirement programs of city
employees. He said employees are
contributing more to their health
care and retirement as are city
department directors. New hires
in the police and fire department
are contributing 5 percent to the
pension costs.
Modifications to the mutual
gains program will save more than
$100,000 by no longer paying
employees who have medical cov-
erage through another source a
cash payment for not taking bene-
fits fromthe city.
The budget also includes the
purchase of 20 new police patrol
cars and a replacement ambu-
lance.
The proposed dispatch merger
could save the city as much as
$100,000 if approved by both
Wayne andGardenCity.
A public hearing on the budget
will take place May 6 and council
members will discuss the plans
during a day-long budget session
planned for April 27.
Ron Roberts has some ideas
about making Wayne a more effi-
cient community.
He's translated those ideas into
three petitions he hopes to soon
circulate in the city seeking to
change the way Wayne is governed
and how some officials are elected.
Roberts’ petitions are in the
process of approval for the
November ballot. The first would
change the formof city government
to a strong mayor and cancel the
current city manager status. A sec-
ond petition would impose term
limits on any elected officials
allowing them to serve a cumula-
tive 16 years in public office and
the third petition would establish
six geographic voting precincts
which would each elect one city
council representative from specif-
ic boundaries.
The petition language was pre-
sented to a three-member election
commission in the city Monday.
City Clerk Matt Miller, City
Manager Robert English and the
city attorney reviewed the language
of the petitions Roberts is propos-
ing.
Ironically, should the petition
language have been accepted, it
will affect English, one of those
reviewing it.
Under a strong mayor form of
government, his job as city manag-
er couldbe abolished.
Additionally, language to extend
the term of the mayor to four years
has already been submitted by the
city and is expected to be on the
November ballot.
The exact language of the pro-
posals is:
VOTINGBYPRECINCT
“Shall Chapter 6, sections 6.1 -
plan of government, 6.2 - Election
of council, 6.3 - Election of Mayor,
and 6.4 of the Wayne City Charter
be amended to crate City Council
Representation by six (6) geograph-
ic wards, specifically the current
voting precincts; combining
precincts four (4) and five (5),
requiring residency as a condition
of representation for each, where-
by abolishing the current “at large”
council representation. Allowing
only the office of Mayor to be an “at
large” electedpoison?
TERMLIMITS
Shall the Wayne City Charter,
Chapter 6 be amended to provide
that effective January 1, 2014, all
elected officials of the City of
Wayne (Mayor and Council per-
sons) be prohibited from seeking
re-election if they have served a
cumulative of sixteen (16) years of
elective office between that of
Council and/orMayor retroactive to
all current elected officials?
STRONGMAYOR
Shall the Wayne City Charter,
Chapter 6, section 6.1 be amended
to abolish the Council/Manager
Form of Government that currently
exists, and adopt a Mayor/Council
formof government in its place?
A new combined dispatch opera-
tion currently under consideration
in Wayne, Garden City and Inkster
could save theCity ofWestlandnear-
ly $100,000 annually.
Westland City Council members
were informed of the plan last week
during a study session following
months-long discussions of merging
the combined dispatch services of
Wayne and Garden City with the
current Inkster andWestland opera-
tion.
The Wayne and Garden City dis-
patchers are housed in Wayne and
the Westland and Inkster operation
employs 15 dispatcher in Westland.
The Westland facility, according to
the proposal, has room for the nec-
essary increase in staffing.
The four communities purchased
an 800 megahertz digital communi-
cations system, along with Dearborn
Heights, using an intergovernmental
agreement recently. The agreement
covered the purchase, maintenance
and operation of the system.
Westland officials were the first
to discuss the proposed agreement,
which is expected to be in place by
July 1, in conjunction with the start
of themunicipalities fiscal years.
The intergovernmental agree-
ment will include provisions for
staffing, cost-sharing and capital
improvement or equipment deci-
sions. Each of the four cities police
and fire chief would be amember of
the newly formed joint dispatch
council.
Westland andWayne now share a
fire department under the direction
of one chief. Officials said that talks
are currently under way to add
GardenCity to that agreement.
The body of a missing Canton
Township man was discovered in a
marshy area ofWestlandApril 1.
A survey crew in the area off
Ford Road discovered the remains
of Matthew Morris, 36, who was
reportedmissing in January. Police
confirmed that identification found
with the corpse along with the
matching physical characteristics
indicate that the body, found in a
marshy area, is that ofMorris.
In January, Morris' vehicle was
found with a flat tire in the parking
lot of theEmagineCanton theater.