Page 1 - The Eagle 05 24 12

No. 21
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST 75¢ May 24 - 30, 2012
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
A student from Wayne is
one of 24 undergraduate stu-
dents from across the country
to receive a summer research
fellowship from the American
Physiological Society.
See page 3.
Five new police officers
Matt Miracle, David Brooks,
Andrew Carriger, Sam
Flannery and Brian Perkins
have joined the Romulus
PoliceDepartment.
See page 4.
Republican incumbent
Richard Reaume will appar-
ently be unopposed in his bid
for reelection as Plymouth
Township Supervisor. Both
challengers have withdrawn
fromthe race.
See page 5.
In Northville Township,
four Republican candidates
will vie for the supervisor's
office including Christopher
Roosen, Edward F. Kriewall,
Karen Woodside and Robert
R. Nix.
See page 5.
The Belleville Area
Museum Civil War Sesquicen-
tennial Series continues with a
genealogy workshop given by
JanaSloanBroglin.
See page 4.
Vol. 127, No. 21
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Vol. 12, No. 21
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Vol. 127, No. 21
Vol. 65, No. 21
Vol. 65, No. 21
Seven people hope to
replace incumbent Chief
Judge Sylvia James on the
bench at the 22nd District
Court in Inkster.
See page 3.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Mayor Dave Bing will speak
to guests at a joint luncheon
with the Westland and Livonia
chambers of commerce on
Thursday, June 14.
See page 3.
Plymouth Township Firefighters do not have
to take the 7 percent pay cut proposed by the
township but their pay will be reduced by 5 per-
cent, an amount the union suggested, according
to the ruling of arbitrator A. Robert Stevenson.
Stevenson' ruling, the result of binding arbi-
tration between International Association of
Fire Fighters Local 1496 and Plymouth
Township when contract negotiations broke off,
is binding onbothparties.
The arbitrator's decision is 137 pages long
and gives the township the right to reorganize
the department, which is something officials
have been doing steadily while the arbitration
continued. Currently, there are only 15 union-
ized firefighters in the township, the other nine
were laid off as part of the township reorganiza-
tion. The township now relies on part-time and
on-call firefighters and an independent ambu-
lance service for some emergencymedical calls.
The township recently closed Fire Station 2 on
WilcoxRoad, reducing the usual fire staff to five
at two remaining stations.
Residents have been so opposed to themeas-
ures, 4,000 of them signed a petition seeking a
vote on a Special Assessment District to fund
the fire services, a move the township fought.
After four court appearances, the board of
trustees was forced to put the assessment ques-
tion on a ballot by court order. Officials then
increased the requested amount tenfold, insur-
ing defeat of themeasure.
The firefighters' contract has been an issue
for more than four years but the situation was
exacerbated, according to township officials,
when the city of Plymouth left the intergovern-
mental agreement for fire services which had
been inplace for several years.
Township officials claimed this change left a
$900,000 deficit in the fire budget, necessitating
the reorganization and wage cuts and going to
an on-call, volunteer department.
The firefighters will now be responsible for a
There is only one Democrat
among the seven candidates
seeking one of the part-time
four-year trustee seats in
CantonTownship.
See page 5.
See Decision, page 2
The township recently closed
Fire Station 2 on Wilcox Road,
reducing the usual fire staff
to five at two remaining stations.
”
Arbitrator allows on-call fire fighters
More than 11,000 players from
throughout Michigan, Ontario,
Ohio and Indiana will travel to
Canton Township this weekend
for the 30th Annual Canton Cup
Soccer Tournament.
A Memorial Day tradition, the
weekend tournament is hosted
by the Canton Soccer Club
tomorrow through Sunday on
more than 65 fields. The largest
tournament of its kind in the
state, the 2012 Canton Cup will
take place from 5-9 p.m. Friday,
from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. on
Saturday and from 7 a.m. until 7
p.m. Sunday. There will be 680
teams competing in the tourna-
ment which is sponsored this
year by Oakwood Health
Systems, Yankee Air Museum,
StateFarmandTravelingTeams.
“The Canton Soccer Club has
always been committed to
encouraging individual technical
excellence in a positive way,”
said Darryl Noel, 2012 Canton
Cup Soccer Tournament director.
“We strive to create an environ-
ment of growth for all players
that is fun, challenging but most
importantly rewarding for every-
one involved in the game.”
Preparations are still being
made by more than 200 volun-
teers and staff for the event
which is sanctioned by the
Michigan State Youth Soccer
Association and the United
States Youth Soccer Association.
More than 45,000 people are
expected to attend during the
weekend.
Five Canton venues will be
used to host the massive compe-
tition, including: 24 fields and
the event headquarters in
Independence Park, located at
Denton and CherryHill roads; 13
fields in Heritage Park, located
at Heritage Parkway and Canton
Center Road; six fields in Griffin
Park, located at Cherry Hill and
Sheldon roads; 17 fields in the
Plymouth-Canton Educational
Park High School, located at Joy
and N. Canton Center Road and
three fields in Flodin Park, locat-
ed on Saltz Road between Lilley
Road andSheldonRoad.
See Soccer, page 2
30th Canton Cup will draw 45,000
Residents protest proposed lighting assessment
Road work well under way in downtown Romulus
Canton Cup file photo
Wayne residents filled the com-
munity center last week for a pub-
lic hearing regarding a special tax
assessment being considered by
theWayneCityCouncil.
Wayne residents recently
received notices detailing the
amount their property would be
assessed annually to pay their por-
tion of the annual $638,000 bill for
street lights in the city.
Street lighting assessments are
a common practice in municipali-
ties, according to Wayne City
Manager BobEnglish. He said that
Westland and Garden City, and
several other communities have
been assessing residents for street
lighting costs for decades.
Various formulas had been sug-
gested for determining the amount
property owners would be
required to pay for lighting,
English said. Included in the for-
mulas were the type of area in
which the property is located,
whether it is residential, commer-
cial, streetscape, or business and
the frontage of the property near
the street lights. One plan assessed
residents an annual amount based
on the number of feet of property
they owned in the area of the
lights. Assessments and formulas
varied, some being reported at $30
annually while others were in the
hundreds of dollars. The assess-
ment is for a period of 10 years
and will increase by 3 percent
annually.
The city cannot currently seek a
millage from the voters for the
expense as they are at the highest
rate allowed by state law. The only
mechanism left to officials is the
special assessment which can be
The reconstruction of Goddard
Road from Huron River Drive at
Five Points to Romaine Street is
off to a fast start and Romulus offi-
cials are hopeful that the worst
section of major road in the city
will be revitalized sooner than
expected.
Northbound traffic is closed on
the stretch of roadway that is
under repair and detour signs are
in place, but southbound traffic is
flowing and access is available to
all businesses in the area.
“Our emphasis is to get this
project completed in a timely
manner with the least disruption
to businesses and residents while
providing a new roadway through-
out the corridor,” Mayor Alan R.
Lambert said.
The city is a partner on the road
project with the Michigan
Department of Transportation,
which hired contractors Angelo
Iafrate and Cadillac Asphalt to
performthe reconstruction.
Roberto Scappaticci, assistant
director of the Romulus
Department of Public Works, said
the contractors have impressive
track records of completing large
projects throughout Southeast
Michigan. Iafrate is removing the
concrete and preparing the sub
grade of the road and will replace
the curb and gutter, while Cadillac
will install asphalt paving.
City officials scheduled two
informational meetings to address
any concerns of business owners
and residents - the most recent on
May 9. Specialized signs were put
in place throughout the construc-
tion detour area, indicating local
businesses would be open during
See Roads, page 2
See Protest, page 2