On the heels of an announcement that
a proposed regional outlet mall would
not be coming to the community,
Romulus officials learned that another
big business is leaving town.
A123 Systems, LLC, a lithium-ion bat-
tery production firm with plants in
Romulus and Livonia, announced that it
would close the Romulus facility and
move to a new headquarters. The
Romulus plant employed about 200 peo-
ple.
“We've had some bad news recently,”
saidRomulusMayor LeroyBurcroff.
A123 Systems had announced an
intention to increase battery capacity as
recently as 2015, but the market demand
never justified that production, accord-
ing to company officials. The Romulus
plant, which has the capacity to produce
about four million batteries annually,
was only producing about one million
every year. The new facility will be con-
structed on a 32-acre site near the
Fountain Walk complex at I-96 and Novi
Road, and include the corporate head-
quarters, more laboratory space and a
battery assembly plant, according to a
company news release. Construction is
expected to begin this fall and be com-
pletednext year.
Burcroff said he followed upwith offi-
cials from Tanger Outlets, the most
recent developer attached to the pro-
posed outlet mall that had been planned
for a 35-acre site at Wick and Vining
roads, near I-94. Charles Worsham, sen-
ior vice president, construction and
development at Tanger Factory Outlet
Centers, Inc., told the mayor that the city
had done nothing wrong throughout the
last three years while the project was in
development.
“He said the retail market is cautious
right now,” Burcroff said. “There are a
lot of changes with online [purchasing].
The thing that really halted the project
was the lack of commitment from ten-
ants. They did not have a number that
they felt comfortable moving forward
with.”
He said, however, that he was
impressed with the support Romulus
showed for the project and their willing-
ness to work with permits and approvals
and the willingness the city showed in
accommodating their timeline.
The parcel is only 25 acres of about
1,000 acres of vacant land that city offi-
cials have primed for development since
the community visioning process in 2013.
Since then, the city has worked to
remove a flood plain designation from
the area, reducing the insurance and
construction costs for potential builders.
They received approval for a curb cut on
Vining Road, which is officially classi-
fied as a limited access highway, a
process that required extensive lobbying
with the Michigan Department of
Transportation as well as the Federal
Highway Commission and upgraded
nearby water mains and road signals,
and completed reconstruction work on
WickRoad.
Tim Keyes, economic development
director for the City of Romulus, said the
city has also solicited Requests for
Proposals to have a thirdparty conduct a
formal market evaluation on the 1,000-
acre parcel to determine its best use.
“The RFP will look at the entire
Vining Road Development District,” he
said. “We are reviewing the RFP submit-
tals now and hope to interview and
award in the next two - fourweeks.”
“We're not going to give up; we're
going to keep working our plan,”
Burcroff said. “There's still a lot of inter-
est in that area. We're going to stay vigi-
lant and keep working on other develop-
ment.”
A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
2
April 13, 2017
To subscribe to The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
B
ELLEVILLE
- R
OMULUS
New fire chief hired in
Van Buren Township
City plans to market site of cancelled mall
MINUTES OF REGULAR ROMULUS CITY COUNCIL MEETING
March 27, 2017
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:
Kathy Abdo, John Barden, Harry Crout, Celeste Roscoe, William Wadsworth.
Excused:
Linda Choate, Sylvia Makowski.
Administrative Officials in Attendance:
LeRoy D. Burcroff, Mayor
Ellen L. Craig-Bragg, Clerk
Stacy Paige, Treasurer
1.
Moved by
Crout,
seconded by
Roscoe
to accept the agenda as presented.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
17-084 2A.
Moved by
Wadsworth,
seconded by
Abdo
to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the
Romulus City Council held on March 13, 2017.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
17-085 2B.
Moved by
Abdo,
seconded by
Wadsworth
to approve the minutes of the special meeting of the
Romulus City Council, 7:00 p.m. study session, City Quarterly Investments - held on March 13, 2017.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
3. Petitioner:
None.
4. Chairperson’s Report:
Mayor Pro-Tem Barden congratulated the Romulus Boys Basketball Team on their District and Regional cham-
pionships and for reaching the “final four” status. Councilman Wadsworth announced the upcoming Animal
Shelter Bowl-A-Thon.
17-086 4A.
Moved by
Abdo,
seconded by
Crout
to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the
City of Romulus and AFSCME Council 25 Local 1917, as presented by legal counsel.
Motion Carried
Unanimously.
17-087 4B.
Moved by
Abdo,
seconded by
Crout
to grant a no-fee permit for the closing of Goddard Road from
the Historical Park to Wesleyan Church for the annual Good Friday Walk to be held on Friday, April 14, 2017
beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
17-088 4C.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Crout
to adopt a memorial resolution for the family of Martha
Lavey.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
17-089 4D.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Wadsworth
to adopt a memorial resolution for the family of
Theodore Romak.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
4.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Abdo
to accept the Chairperson’s Report. Motion Carried Unanimously.
5. Mayor’s Report:
Andy McKay, from the RAC, presented awards to the winners of the Mayor’s Fitness Challenge. Dennis
Davidson gave an overview of the upcoming events in the City of Romulus.
17-090 5.
Moved by
Crout,
seconded by
Abdo
to adopt a memorial resolution for the family of Mary Margaret
Slone.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
17-091 5A.
Moved by
Wadsworth,
seconded by
Roscoe
to concur with the administration and award Bid ITB
16/17-21 to the lowest qualified bidder, Fontana Construction, Inc., for a water main replacement program in the
Ecorse Estates Subdivision in an amount of $1,420,650.25.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
17-092 5B.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Crout
to concur with the administration and award Bid 16/17-23 to
the lowest qualified bidder, Fiore Enterprises, for a concrete contract to repair miscellaneous locations along
Fourth Street in the City of Romulus, in an amount not to exceed $111,327.95.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
5C.
Tim Keyes, Economic Development Director, gave an overview of the completed 2016 Economic
Development Projects and the proposed projects for next year.
17-093 5C (1).
Moved by
Abdo,
seconded by
Wadsworth
to concur with the administration and award RFP
16/17-03 to Digital Ally, Inc. in the amount of $116,419 for the acquisition of an integrated chest and dashboard
camera system for the City of Romulus Police Department and authorize the mayor and clerk to enter into the
Digital Ally, Vu-Vault End-User License Agreement.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
17-094 5C (2).
Moved by
Wadsworth,
seconded by
Abdo
to concur with the administration and authorize the
mayor and clerk to enter into a five (5) year Advanced Exchange Program (repair and maintenance for the equip-
ment and software) which would warranty the equipment without charge for year one and for an annual amount
of $6,300 for each of the remaining four (4) years of the contract.
Motion Carried Unanimously.
17-095 5C (3).
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Wadsworth
to concur with the administration and authorize
permission to continue to contract for the maintenance of the equipment contingent upon sufficient monies being
budgeted annually and until such time as the department no longer uses the equipment.
Motion Carried
Unanimously.
6A. Clerk’s Report
6B. Treasurer’s Report
7. Public Comment: None.
8. Unfinished Business
9. New Business
10. Communication:
Councilwoman Abdo announced that the Romulus High School National Honors Society is sponsoring a
fundraiser (Chad Tough) for pediatric cancer research on Sunday, April 30, 2017 at Romulus Lanes.
17-096 11.
Moved by
Roscoe,
seconded by
Crout
to pay Warrant 17-06 in the amount of $1,305,565.28.
Motion
Carried Unanimously.
12.
Moved by
Wadsworth,
seconded by
Roscoe
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 March 27, 2017.
RM0170 - 041317 2.5 x 9.701
CITY OF ROMULUS
PLANNING COMMISSION
NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING
Project Mercury (Kojaian Venoy Wick, Acquisitions, LLC)
Ecorse/Henry Ruff
Notice is hereby given that the City of Romulus will hold a public hearing at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday,
May 4, 2017 for the purpose of considering RZ-2017-003; Project Mercury, a proposed amendment
to the City of Romulus Zoning Map to conditionally rezone 84.7 acres of property from the current
designation of RC, Regional Center District to M-1, Light Industrial District.
The Planning Commission has set the public hearing to consider a request to conditionally rezone
portions of Parcel #80-038-99-0001-000, #80-038-99-0002-701, and #80-038-99-0004-703 from
RC, Regional Center District to M-1, Light Industrial District to allow for the development of an
857,000-sq. ft. warehouse/distribution/delivery building.
The public hearing will be held at the Romulus City Hall Council Chambers, 11111 Wayne Road,
Romulus MI 48174-1485.
All interested parties are encouraged to attend and will be given an opportunity to comment on said
request. Written comments may be submitted by Thursday, May 4, 2017 and should be addressed
to Carol Maise, City Planner, Economic Development Department, 11111 Wayne Road, Romulus,
MI 48174-1485.
Ellen Craig-Bragg, City Clerk
City of Romulus, Michigan
Publish: April 13, 2017
RM0169 - 041317 2.5 x 7.461
CITY OF ROMULUS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING
Wide Track Company
Northline Road
WEDNESDAY, May 3, 2017
Notice is hereby given that the City of Romulus will hold a public hearing at
7:00 p.m. on
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
at the Romulus City Hall, 11111 Wayne Road for the purpose of consid-
ering a variance request for BZA-2017-007, Wide Track Company as follows:
1.
Height Variance.
A variance from Section 8.04, Area, Height and Placement Requirements of the
Zoning Ordinance to allow 45-foot high building. The height limit in the M-1, Light Industrial
District is 35 feet. The applicant is proposing the construction of a 150,000-sq. ft. warehouse
building.
The subject property is located on Northline Road between Wahrman and Wayne (DP#80-080-99-
0027-000, #80-080-99-0028-000, and #80-080-99-0029-000).
Copies of the application are available for review at City Hall during regular business hours which
are 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. All interested parties are encouraged to attend and
will be given an opportunity to comment on said request. Written comments may be submitted and
should be addressed to Carol Maise, City Planner, Planning Department, 11111 Wayne Road,
Romulus, MI 48174-1485.
Ellen Craig-Bragg, City Clerk
City of Romulus, Michigan
Publish: April 13, 2017
RM0168 - 041317 2.5 x 6.644
AmyBrowhas returnedhome, in away.
Brow, 50, who began her career as a
paid on-call firefighterwith theVanBuren
Township Fire Department, has been
hired as the new fire chief in the town-
ship.
Brow, the assistant fire chief in the City
of Ann Arbor, will assume her new duties
in the township beginning April 24. Her
salary will be $78,000 annually, which is
less thanher current rate inAnnArbor.
The new chief has more than 25 years
experience in fire safety and has earned
both her bachelor and master's degrees.
She will replace former Fire Chief Dan
Bessonwho retired inFebruary.
Township officials received 10 applica-
tions for the chief'’s position andBrowwas
the unanimous choice of a selection com-
mittee comprising township Supervisor
Kevin McNamara, Treasurer Sharry
Budd, Clerk Leon Wright, Public Safety
Director Greg Laurain, Police Chief Jason
Wright, Besson and Human Resources
DirectorNicoleSumpter.
Brow is Blue Card certified, meaning
she is qualified to teach Blue Card
Command Training and, in fact, taught 13
of the township firefighters the Blue Card
system. Brow was the first woman in
Michigan to earn Executive Fire Officer
Certification. She also holds a Masters of
Business Administration in Public
Administration and a bachelor of science
degree in biochemistry/toxicology. She
also holds multiple professional certifica-
tions, is experienced in labor manage-
ment and negotiations and served as a
union president in Ann Arbor before her
promotion to assistant chief.
