No.20
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
May 18 – 24, 2017
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
Two students at the
William D. Ford Career-
Technical Center were hon-
ored at the Michigan
Department of Education
2017 Breaking Traditions
Awards Ceremony recently.
See page 6.
Members
of
the
Northville Rotary Club are
teaming up with Friends of
the Rouge to assist in the
clean-up of the Rouge River
inHines Park this Saturday.
See page 4.
Vol. 132, No.20
Vol. 70, No.20
Vol. 70, No.20
Vol. 17, No.20
Students at Romulus
High School participated in
Youth Advocacy Day at the
State Capitol in Lansing to
support the Teen Health
Center at their school.
See page 5.
Vol. 132, No.20
Vol. 70, No.20
Vol. 70, No.20
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Mayor William R. Wild is
once again reaching out to
Westland businesses to part-
ner in the Wild About Youth
Works! Program.
See page 6.
Township Supervisor Pat
Williams inducted Holiday
Market owners John and
Lisa Pardington into the
Canton Hall of Fame last
week.
See page 3.
Vol. 17, No.20
Last week, Inkster
Department of Parks and
Recreation Manager Craig
Lewis unveiled the Inkster
High School Basketball Hall
of Fame banner at the
DozierRecreationCenter.
See page 7.
The Plymouth Historical
Museum is hosting a tomb-
stone dedication for Civil
War veteran Luther Lyon in
Riverside Cemetery this
Saturday.
See page 4.
The public is invited to
the annual polishing party
and bomber buffing at
Yankee Air Museum is
planned for 10 a.m. until 2
p.m. this Saturday at Willow
RunAirport.
See page 5.
Voters in Romulus will be
asked to go to the polls twice
this year to choose the mem-
bers of their city council.
Fifteen candidates met the
April 25 deadline to file their
nominating petitions with the
city clerk to serve one of the
seven expiring terms on the city
council. Mayor LeRoy Burcroff
will not face a challenger for
reelection and City Clerk Ellen
Craig-Bragg will also be unop-
posed in her bid for reelection.
Bothare four-year terms.
Charles Miller had filed to
challenge Burcroff as a write-in
candidate but requested his
name be withdrawn, according
to Bobbie Marcell of the city
clerk's office.
Treasurer Stacy Paige will
be challenged by UrsulaWester
for a four-year term.
Incumbent council members
Kathy Abdo, John Barden,
Harry Crout, Celeste Roscoe
and William Wadsworth all
filed nominating petitions and
completed their affidavits of
identity and statements of can-
didacy by the deadline.
Incumbent Sylvia Makowski
will seek reelection as a write-
in candidate.
Makowski had filed her peti-
tions and went to the clerk's
office to amend some informa-
tion on her affidavit, Martell
said. "Unbeknownst to her
when she did it caused Wayne
County to withdraw all of her
petitions with it. She tried to
get new petitions signed but
could only get 64 of the 100 sig-
natures needed in the 22 min-
utes she had to meet the 4 p.m.
deadline, "Martell explained.
Makowski will therefore be a
write-in candidate.
Long-serving Councilwoman
Linda Choate opted not to seek
reelection this year.
Also seeking election to the
council are Tomeka Boles,
Sandra Crout, Edward Martell,
JesseMcAnally, ParisMcCarthy,
Tina Talley, SharonWalker, Eva
Webb and Virginia Williams.
Webb formerly served on the
council prior to making a bid
for the mayoral seat. Sandra
Crout served on the Romulus
Community Schools Board of
Education. Voters will be asked
to reduce the field of 15 candi-
dates for city council to 14 dur-
ing a primary election sched-
uled for Aug. 8.
For the second time this
month, a major development
has been confirmed in
PlymouthTownship.
Last week, members of the
board of trustees approved a 12-
year, 50 percent tax abatement
for Oerlikon-Metco, a manufac-
turer of metal powder for 3-D
printers. The company is plan-
ning to invest $52 million in a
plant on Concept Five and cre-
ate 70 new jobs at the facility.
The 79,000 square foot plant
in Plymouth will be the second
facility for the company which
already has an operation in
Troy. Project manager Rick
Plautz told the board of trustees
that the company expects to
begin production at the new
plant next March. He said, too,
that this was a new venture for
the company and that these will
be new jobs. Plautz said that the
jobs would be filled within two
years.
The operation melts down
metals and converts them to
powder to be used in 3-D print-
ers.
In response to safety con-
cerns posed by trustees, Plautz
assured the officials that the
plant will have multiple safety
procedures in place to prevent
suchmishaps.
The approved tax abatement
could total $1.5 million during
the next 12 years for the compa-
ny, according to Township Clerk
Jerry Vorva. In addition to the
tax abatement from the town-
ship, Oerlikon-Metco was
awarded a state economic
development grant for $600,000
to help with the plant construc-
tion on a 10.3-acre site in the
MetroPlymouthBusiness Park.
The news follows the recently
revealed plans of Toll Brothers
Homes to invest more than $100
million in a luxury condomini-
umdevelopment on the grounds
at St. John's Golf Course. The
plans include a private, gated
community of townhomes at the
Five Mile and Sheldon Road
site. The 200-acre golf course
will be reduced from 27 holes to
18 to accommodate the housing
project.
In aFacebook post, Township
Supervisor Kurt Heise com-
mented, “Between this and the
Inn at St. John's, $152 million of
investment and hundreds of
jobs announced in Plymouth
Township - in one week. Not too
shabby.”
A group of 'angels' will
attend a buffet breakfast to
help two small children facing
some very large medical
issues.
The breakfast, set for 10
a.m. June 4 at the Summit on
the Park in Canton, will
include a DJ, live music,
clowns, a magician and face
painting for children, along
with a silent auction of more
than $5000 prizes donated by
local vendors and businesses,
a 50/50 raffle and bake sale.
There will also be photo
opportunities with two Disney
princesses.
The breakfast, organized by
Angels for Isabelle and Elliott,
will use all proceeds from the
event to help the Plymouth
family of two young children
with the extraordinary med-
ical bills they face. Isabelle, 2,
has already endured several
major surgeries to correct hip
dysplasia and corrective
orthopedic surgery which left
her in a full-body cast for five
months.
Isabelle'smedical problems
increased just before her sec-
ond birthday when during a
routine physical, doctors
found a large tumor on her
kidney. She was rushed to C.S.
Mott Children's Hospital in
Ann Arbor where the Wilms
tumor was excised by sur-
geons the next day. Doctors at
the hospital, however, discov-
ered evidence of stage four
cancerous nodules in her
lungs which necessitated radi-
ation therapy on Isabelle's
chest. The tiny girl is now
undergoing chemotherapy
which is scheduled to contin-
ue through September. She
was also diagnosed with Sotos
Syndrome, a rare generic dis-
order that results in an abnor-
mally large size in the first
years of life, delayed mental
and physical development,
seizures and coordination
issues.
Isabelle's medical condi-
tions have required her to
spend roughly ¾ of 2017 in a
hospital room hooked up to
IVs, receiving chemotherapy,
radiation therapy and weekly
blood transfusions.
While some of her medical
costs are covered by insur-
15 candidates vie for 7 council terms
A benefit breakfast for Isabelle and Elliott Mitchell of Plymouth is planned to help the family with
extensive and increasing medical expenses for their care.
The approved tax abatement could total $1.5 million
during the next 12 years for the company.
Township Clerk Jerry Vorva
”
Tax break lures $54 million project
Heavenly help
Angels for Isabelle and Elliott plan benefit
Mayor
praises
growth
See
Angels,
page 2
During his State of the City
Address last month, Mayor
William Wild told the assembled
crowd that the community “has
experienced tremendous econom-
ic growth. The city welcomed
more than 20 new businesses as
well as several large investments,”
he said.
Some of the most notable large
investments Wild mentioned
include the new JC Penney appli-
ance store and Sephora at the
Westland Shopping Center and
the re-purposing of the former
Fitness USA building into a power
center occupied by Art Van Pure
Sleep, T-Mobile and FedEx. The
city also saw a $15 million invest-
ment by Kroger at the Cherry Hill
location, a $4.2 million renovation
by Parkside Credit Union and a
$450,000 exterior renovation proj-
ect by ToddWenzel Buick/GMC.
The housing sector also experi-
enced major growth, Wild said,
with a $17 million investment by
Greenwood Villa, the second
phase of the Clyde Smith Farms
subdivision, a soon-to-be $25 mil-
lion Pulte residential subdivision
on Joy Road and a $16 million
Ciena Health skilled nursing facil-
ity on Newburgh at Ford Road.
Wild told the audience that the
former 5,600 square foot Max &
Erma's will soon be home to
Anna's House, a retro diner-style
restaurant that will specialize in
providing all natural, fresh and
unique dishes which meet the
dietary preferences of the commu-
nity. Anna's House is a premier
destination restaurant with loca-
tions on thewest side ofMichigan.
Another announcement con-
cerned the long-awaited redevel-
opment of the former Quo Vadis
site onWayneRoad. The property
will soon be home of a new, state-
of-the-art Community Financial
Credit Union financial facility.
The construction plans include
two additional out lots for future
development.
Wild also mentioned that
Garden City Hospital officials
have tentative plans to make a
major investment in Westland
later this year.
“As you can see, it's been a busy
year and the City of Westland is
continuing to grow in both the res-
idential and commercial sectors,”
commentedWild.
