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No. 21
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
May 22 – 28, 2014
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
Wayne
Westland
Community Schools Board of
Education members selected
Michele Harmala as the final
candidate for the position of
superintendent of schools.
See page 4.
A
Host
Community
Agreement
with
the
Environmental Quality Co. is
already paying dividends for
Romulus where funds were
used for roof repairs to a city
building.
See page 2.
Central Middle School in
downtownPlymouthwill be on
the market with a price tag
right around $4million.
See page 5.
More than $35,000 in
improvements to the sound
system and security cameras
will take place at Northville
TownSquare this summer.
See page 5.
Improvements to Belleville
Road, funded by the
Downtown Development
Authority, are currently under
way and on schedule, accord-
ing to DDA Director Susan
Ireland.
See page 3.
Vol. 129, No. 21
Vol. 67, No. 21
Vol. 67, No. 21
Vol. 14, No. 21
Vol. 129, No. 21
Vol. 67, No. 21
Vol. 67, No. 21
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Westland City Council
members have approved the
purchase of seven garbage
hauling trucks and 28,000 trash
and recycling cans for the new
automated collection system.
See page 4.
Coffee with a Cop will take
place again from 10 a.m. until
noon this Saturday at
McDonald's on Ford Road in
CantonTownship.
See page 3.
Vol. 14, No. 21
Despite an unresolved lawsuit
and anAffidavit of Interest filed by
the City of Detroit, Plymouth
Township plans to sell the prison
farmland they purchased in a
Wayne County foreclosure sale at
2011 and team up with State
Rep.Kurt Heise, R. Plymouth, to
appropriate $5 million in state
funds to tear down the buildings in
a nearby prison site that once was
the Detroit House of Corrections
jail facility.
At the board meeting last week,
trustees voted to support House
Bill HB-5179 sponsored by Heise
and approved a resolution drafted
by Township Clerk Nancy
Conzelman, which read inpart:
“The $5 million appropriation
would provide the township with
themeans to tear down the former
state prison site and prepare the
usable area of the prison property
for economic development…”
The prison farmland is the 323
acre parcel located south of Five
Mile Road between Ridge and
Napier roads. The City of Detroit
lawsuit was filed in April 2013.
Detroit contends that following the
2006 sale of 133 acres on the east-
ern-most part of the 323-acre site
to Demco 54 LLC, a property
transfer affidavit was filed and a
property split approved that
should have indicated Detroit had
kept the remaining 190 acres. It
states that state law, and specifi-
cally the State Tax Commission,
forbid the foreclosure of property
ownedby a city.
In November, attorneys for the
City of Detroit were forced to with-
draw their request for a hearing in
Wayne County Circuit Court
regarding the lawsuit filed against
Plymouth Township and Wayne
County demanding the return of
the land. The withdrawal was
based on the relationship of
Plymouth Township with the law
firm Miller-Canfield, the same
firm chosen by the City of Detroit
officials to represent the munici-
pality in the city bankruptcy filing.
The purchase order contract was
drawn up by then Plymouth
Township Supervisor Steve Mann,
an attorney working for the Miller-
Canfield firm.
In his filing of affirmative
defenses, township attorney
Timothy Cronin stated in one
objection that civil action was
barred, “due to the fact that there
is another civil action between
some of the parties arising out of
the same transaction or occur-
rence.”
Heise is associated with the
same law firmas Cronin.
Last December, Heise intro-
duced House Bill 5179 that would
transfer the state-owned Detroit
House of Corrections jail facility
site (DeHoCo) in Plymouth
Township to the Michigan Land
BankAuthority for $1 dollar.
If approved, the bill would cre-
ate a $5 million state appropria-
tion to demolish the buildings and
according to Heise if there's any-
thing left over it will be used for
future private re-development as
determined by Plymouth
Township and the state.
Heise stressed that the proper-
ty he was discussing was not the
parcel involved in the legal dis-
pute with the City of Detroit, but
neighboring property. Heise said
the $5 million appropriation
would not include an environmen-
tal assessment or clean up of con-
tamination, which is said to be
prevalent at the site. Studies done
in 2004 confirmed that substantial
Whatever the weather, there
will be thunder throughout Van
Buren Township and Belleville
this Memorial Day when more
than 300 motorcycles travel
through the community.
This year marks the 10th
anniversary of Thunder Rolls in
Belleville, a special tribute organ-
ized to honor all veterans, espe-
cially those who have given their
lives to protect our nation, said
Mary Martinez of the Brown
Funeral Home which sponsors the
event. Martinez and Kathie
Steigerwald, also of the Brown
Funeral Home and Family Center,
are the organizers of the event.
The event is open to the public
and there is a $10 entry fee for
each rider.
A special Memorial Day cere-
mony is preceded by the one hour
police escorted motorcycle ride
through parts of Van Buren
Township and then into Belleville.
Participants in the ride register
and line up for the ride starting at
11 a.m. in Wayne County
Community College Western
Campus front parking lot located
just north of the Haggerty
Road/Interstate 94 intersection, on
Haggerty Road in Belleville. The
actual address of the college is
9555 Haggerty, the women said in a
prepared release
All makes and models of motor-
cycles usually participate in the
event, and many of the riders are
veterans themselves, according to
Martinez. She said thatmany of the
riders proudly fly the American
Flag during the ride.
The event has become so popu-
lar that crowds assemble along the
route to wave flags and cheer the
riders on, she added.
Each year a special pin is
designed and given out to all riders
who have paid to ride. All entry fee
funds are used to benefit local vet-
erans and their families.
Bikersmake their way from the
college to the Belleville Veterans'
Memorial in Horizon Park, located
off Belleville Lake on High Street,
east of Main Street. The estimated
arrival time is between 2 and 2:30
p.m. Once all are assembled, the
memorial ceremony takes place,
the organizers added.
Again this year, honor guards
fromtheBellevilleVFWandPLAV
and honor guards from the Canton
Young Marines will participate in
the ceremony. The event includes
special songs and prayer and a
performance of Taps by a local vet-
eran. The memorial ceremony
itself usually continues for about
anhour.
The names of local veterans
who have diedduring the past year
will be announced during a bell-
ringing ceremony. Organizers said
that names are still be added to the
list. To add a name to the list of
deceased veterans, call (734) 697-
5090.
The organizers urged the public
to attend and support the event.
More information is available from
Martinez or Steigerwald at the
number above or email brown-
griefcenter@yahoo.com.
See
Land,
page 5
Former Inkster City
Councilman Michael Greene
was found guilty of unautho-
rized access to a computer
during a bench trial in Wayne
CountyCircuit Court.
See page 4.
Westland has signed a new, 5-
year contract with the Westland
PoliceOfficers Association.
The new agreement will
include no pay raise for officers
this year, a 2 percent raise in 2015
and 2016 and renegotiation of
wages in 2017 and 2018, if neces-
sary. The contract also included
reductions in benefits, allowances
and leave time for new hires into
the department.
Current employees in the police
department will contribute 5 per-
cent toward their pension and new
hires will contribute 3 percent
toward a less-expensive retirement
plan. New employees will also
receive a health care savings plan
for retirement health coverage.
Retirees will retain the same
coverage they had when working.
The new agreement changes the
age and seniority for retirement to
25 years of service to retire at a
minimum of 50 years of age.
Previously, officers could retire at
a younger age.
According to Mayor William
Wild, the new contract is a step in
the right direction for city finances.
The new agreement covers police
officers
and
dispatchers.
According to Wild, the new con-
tract reduces the cost for an officer
from $131,000 annually to $82,000
annually. Dispatchers cost to the
city annually will be reduced from
$101,000 to $74.000.
Wild said the negotiating team
from the city and the members of
the police union deserve praise for
their professionalism.
He said that this new contract
demonstrates to other city unions
like police lieutenants and ser-
geants and firefighters that
reforms are needed.
Residential developer Toll
Brothers will build 274 single-fam-
ily homes on 173 acres of land in
CantonTownship.
The new housing development
called Rosewood Place will con-
sist of detached condominium
homes located south of FordRoad,
between Ridge and Napier roads.
The site incorporates 58 acres of
open space and will feature a
lower tributary of the Rouge River
and a large wooded area in the
center of the development.
Members of the Canton
Township Board of Trustees
approved a special land use per-
mit last week for the project. Toll
Brothers will now be required to
have site plans and engineering
specifications approved by town-
ship officials. Officials said this
project, scheduled to begin con-
struction next spring, was the
largest single development pro-
posed in the township in more
than 10 years.
Home plans will vary from
2,800 to 4,000 square feet, accord-
ing to the developer, and are tenta-
tively estimated to be in the
$500,000 price range.
Trustees raised some questions
regarding traffic patterns in the
area, particularly considering the
Ford Road congestion east of the
proposed site and noted that a
traffic engineering study will be
required as part of the project.
Officials said that it is expected
most traffic to the development
would use Ridge Road or Napier,
rather than add to the Ford Road
congestion.
Township plans to sell disputed property
New 274 condominium project coming to Canton
Westland signs new contract with Police Officers Association
Memorial Day ‘Thunder’ rolls throughout area
The former DeHoCo property is reportedly for sale by Plymouth
Township despite a claim on the land by the City of Detroit..