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A
SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
P
AGE
2
May 1, 2014
I
NKSTER
- W
AYNE
- W
ESTLAND
Court refuses city plea to ‘stay’ water rates
Wayne council to discuss staffing cuts, new tax
The Court of Appeals has
denied the request from the City of
Inkster for a stay of the Jan. 23,
2014 order requiring the city to roll
back water rates and credit the
accounts of residents who have
overpaid.
According to Inkster attorney
Byron Nolen, who represented a
class of residents in the original
suit filed in Wayne County Circuit
Court, the denial of the stay means
the city will have to immediately
comply with the order of Judge
Robert L. Ziolkoski.
The judge ordered the city to
reduce the $14.64 per unit of water
charged residents between July 1,
2012 and June 30, 2013 to a rate of
$11.96 and credit residential water
bills for the amount of the over-
charge. That is a $2.68 per unit
rebate per unit nowdue residents.
Ziolowski also ruled that the
water rate of $15.30 effective July
1, 2013 through the current time is
unreasonable and “the city of
Inkster was being unjustly
enriched” by the rate. The judge
ruled that a rate of $12.89 was rea-
sonable for July 1, 2013 through
the current date and that residents
should be credited $2.41 per unit
for water over a 16-month period
going forward from the date of the
judgment.
Nolen said at the time of the
judgment that making these
adjustments and crediting the
water bills for the 8,000 water cus-
tomers in the city could prove
problematic. He cited the different
amounts of credits due residents
for differing periods of time. “I
don't understand how they can fig-
ure this out,” Nolen said at that
time.
The members of the Inkster
City Council voted 5-2 to appeal
the ruling of Ziolowski and city
attorneys requested the stay as
part of that appeal process. If the
stay had been granted, the city
could continue to collect at the
current rates until a final determi-
nation fromtheCourt of Appeals.
The denial of the stay will
require the city to immediately
comply with the judge's January
order.
Cuts in police and fire staffing, a
hike in the street lighting assessment
and a 2-mill tax levy for businesses
in the Downtown Development
Authority (DDA) district are among
the proposals to be discussed by
Wayne City Council members at
upcoming budget sessions.
The current proposed budget
includes about $16 million in expen-
ditures and only $15.3 million in rev-
enue. It was presented to the council
by members of the city administra-
tion staff and budget consultant
Vincent Pastue.
Cuts to spending that have been
proposed include the elimination of
12 full-time city employee jobs. The
police department will eliminate
one sergeant position and four
patrol officers through attrition,
according to Finance Director
James Ghedotte. As the largest of the
city departments, police and fire
would forego eight full-time posi-
tions. Five would come from the
police department and three from
the fire department. The fire depart-
ment has already made those reduc-
tions negotiating three early retire-
ments. The city will pay $44,000 to
buy seniority for the three firefight-
ers, allowing them to receive their
full retirement benefits.
Estimated savings, according to
the city, during the next fiscal year,
will be in excess of $450,000 for those
three employees.
In addition to the layoffs, the
council has closed 60 percent of the
Community Center, including the ice
arena and senior services.
A plan to make senior services
self-funding using grant funds has
been proposed and a proposal from
a private company to operate the
community center is also anticipat-
ed.
Also to be discussed is the
increase of the street lighting assess-
ment to pay the total cost of the out-
door lighting in the city. The city cur-
rently pays about $655,000 annually
in addition to the current city-wide
assessment.
A suggestion to levy a 2-mill spe-
cial assessment on those in the 1.9
square
mile
Downtown
Development Authority area will
also be presented to council mem-
bers. That could generate about
$350,000 annually, officials said, and
the money could be used to reim-
burse the general fund for expenses
in theDDAdistrict.
Budget sessions are scheduled
for 7 p.m. next Monday, May 5 and
Thursday, May 15 at the Wayne
Community Center, 4635 Howe
Road.
Garden workers needed Saturday
Murder suspect found incompetent
Work on the Community Garden in
Westland will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday,
May 3 and continueuntil noon.
Volunteers can come and go during the
work hours and are not committed to the
entire time, a spokesperson noted. No
gardening experience is needed and
those of all ages are welcome, she added.
Volunteers should bring drinking water,
wear close-toed shoes and bring along
shovels and rakes, if possible. She added
that the group is always short of wheel-
barrows, and a great deal of composting is
done during the first day.
To reach the garden, which is located
at the rear of the DTE Training and
Development site at 38156 Cherry Hill
Road, on the south side of Cherry Hill,
west of Newburgh Road. Drivers should
pull in at the DTE sign and then drive
through the parking lot to the small road
behind it. Drivers should follow that small
road all the way around to the garden.
RSVP to klong@gcfb.org or (734) 545-2758.
The 77-year-old Westland man who
allegedly shot and killed his 72-year-old wife
has been found incompetent to stand trial by
medical experts.
Marvin Jones suffered a stroke while in
the psychiatric unit at Detroit Receiving
Hospital where he was being evaluated by
psychiatrists formental competency. Medical
experts said that he was unresponsive while
being examined by a court appointed psychi-
atrist after the stroke and was irreversibly
mentally incompetent. Doctors said that his
condition is unlikely to improve.
The attorney from the Wayne County
Prosecutor's office agreed not to challenge
the psychiatric findings during a hearing in
18th District Court earlier this month. The
Wayne County Probate Court will now deter-
mine where Jones, who appeared in court in
a wheelchair, will be housed. Jones was
charged with first-degree murder in the
death of his wife of 57 years, Sandra Jones,
who was shot to death and found in her bed
by policeFeb. 20
Police sources said thewoman had proba-
bly been killed a day earlier.