A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
April 30, 2015
C
ANTON
- N
ORTHVILLE
- P
LYMOUTH
Question of no-bid contracts raised by trustee
Library honors volunteers for hours of service
Students will exhibit art
New Plymouth Township
Supervisor Shannon Price, offi-
cially sworn into office for a sec-
ond time last week just prior to
his first official board meeting
Tuesday, has alreadymade some
changes in the township.
Following his taking of the
oath of office from Michigan
Supreme Court Justice Brian K.
Zahra during private ceremony,
Price chairedhis firstmeeting of
the Plymouth Township Board
of Trustees.
The only issue of contention
during the meeting was a
request from Treasurer Ron
Edwards for approval of a
$40,000 no-bid contract for fire-
works for the annual Fourth of
July picnic in the township.
Trustee Bob Doroshewitz
criticized Edwards' request say-
ing he felt there was a continued
practice of awarding contracts in
violation of the purchasing poli-
cies established in the township.
Doroshewitz and Edwards
worked together for several
years on the annual township
picnic until the two had a falling-
out regarding what Doroshewitz
claimed were missing records of
donations solicited by Edwards
and a lack of proper accounting
for the financing of the event.
The picnic is a township func-
tion but is funded by donations
solicited and collected by
Edwards, who also hosts a lavish
private party for “donors” as
part of the event.
“This will be the third no-bid
contract in three months,
Doroshewitz said.
“The snowmachine was a no-
bid contract, the financial sys-
tem was a no-bid contract and
now this will be another.” The
township board approved the
purchase of a snow cannon
Edwards requested for the new
park recreation area for about
$22,000 and also agreed to his
request for a $219,275 contract
for new financial computer soft-
ware without requesting bids,
which violates the purchasing
policy of the township that stipu-
lates bids are required for any
purchase in excess of $15,000.
Doroshewitz said he found it
absurd that the board members
would ignore the established
policy.
“This should not be permit-
ted, if we have a purchasing poli-
cy we should follow it and not
have a double standard and con-
tinue to put on the pretense that
we're following it.”
Edwards argued that officials
have the right to bring an item
before the full board claiming
boardmembers can approve the
purchase even if it does not fol-
low the establishedpolicy.
Board members approved
two motions, one for the award
of the contract to Zambelli
Fireworks Manufacturing Co. of
New Castle, PA, not to exceed
$40,000 and another to approve
the permit for the fireworks dis-
play, both by a 5-2 vote with
Doroshewitz and Trustee Chuck
Curmi casting the dissenting
votes.
Despite his vote in favor of
the purchase at the meeting,
Price reportedly changed his
mind late last week and has
made a decision to seek bids for
the fireworks next year, follow-
ing the township purchasing pol-
icy. He reportedly said he felt
the bids were necessary just to
ensure that the township was
getting the best deal possible for
the fireworks but that time con-
straints prevented bidding this
year.
At the meeting, Price made
some changes in the seating
arrangements at the board table,
moving the supervisor's seat
next to that of Edwards and seat-
ing the two often dissenting
trustees, Doroshewitz and
Curmi, next to each other at the
far right side of the table. He had
the podium relocated to the cen-
ter of the dais so that those who
spoke at meetings would now
face the boardmembers.
He also announced that a
camera would be installed
behind the board table so that
the speakers facing the board
would have their images cap-
tured on the video recordings of
the proceedings.
The numbers are in.
In 2014 alone, 121 volunteers
contributed more than 9,077
hours of service to the Canton
PublicLibrary.
Library staff celebrated their
contributions last week with a
luncheon - and awarded 31 com-
munity members the prestigious
President's Volunteer Service
Award. Most notably, longtime
Canton resident Carolyn Sumner
received
the
Lifetime
Achievement Award for her
unparalleled 4,000 hours of work
with the technical processing
department during the past two
decades.
Award recipients included:
Gold
For 500 ormorehours of service.
ShirleyReynolds
JudyRichardson
Silver
For 250 ormorehours of service.
DebbieCortellini
LindaLuke
IleneSaunders
KathyYoung
Bronze
For 100 ormorehours of service.
BarbBackes
JudyElliot
TammyFarley
DorothyHam
LisaKluka
DianeMiner
LorettaOlson
DanPetroskey
JoanPostell
Nancy Smith
Kathy Sonnanstine
JodyTrame
StanGoldberg
MaryWatts
For more information or to
become a library volunteer, visit
As part of the celebration student art
month in Northville, the Northville Art
House will feature the 16th annual juried
Student Fine Art Exhibit, featuring the
work ofmiddle andhigh school students.
This exhibit will open with a special
reception from6-9 p.m. tomorrow, May 1 at
the Northville Art House. The exhibit is a
collaboration with art educators to pro-
mote art appreciation among community
youth. This annual exhibit features an
array of exceptional two and three-dimen-
sional work from most talented Northville
students. The reception is open to the
public.
The exhibit will continue through May
16 during regular hours at the gallery,
noon until 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday
and from noon until 4 p.m. on Saturday.
For further information, call (248) 344-0497.
The Art House is located at 215W. Cady St.
and is a facility of the City of Northville.
Admission is free. Exhibits include Yellow
Salt Teapot by AuroraGross, at bottom left,
Primary by Renee Dempsey, center, and
Solitaire byUnaKoh, bottomright.
Plymouth High School and those who live
alongBeck.
Access is not affected for the other two
high schools in the Plymouth-Canton
Educational Park. More than 6,600 stu-
dents attend the three high schools, which
are on the same campus in Canton
Township. The Plymouth-Canton
Community Schools will be posting Beck
Roadupdates at
.
Drivers can detour around the con-
struction area by using Ann Arbor and
Warren roads for east-west driving, and
Canton Center, Sheldon Center and
Sheldon roads for north-southdriving.
The project includes storm sewer, cul-
vert, sidewalk ramp, guardrail and sign
work. Additionally, the project also
includes a new sidewalk along Joy Road
and will address flooding issues that have
affected the Beck-Ann Arbor Road inter-
section.
Paving
FROM PAGE 1
Don Howard
Staff Writer
