A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
7
May 24, 2018
P
LYMOUTH
City, township join in recreation effort
3 face charges in early-morning armed robbery
Plymouth Township Trustees
and
Plymouth
City
Commissioners have unani-
mously adopted a 72- page recre-
ation plan for the two communi-
ties.
Township board members
and city commissioners have
agreed to accept the 5-year plan
that includes cooperative efforts
to provide recreational services
for all residents. The new Joint
Recreation Plan is the product
of several months of planning
and
consultation
from
livingLAB, a professional design
firm.
“I think this joint plan is an
example of the new and
improved relationship between
the township and the city,” town-
ship Supervisor Kurt Heise said.
“For too many years, the town-
ship had blamed the city for a lot
of its problems - they used the
city as a scapegoat.”
The newplan, which includes
input from residents, includes
six goals and 29 objectives. One
of the six goals is “connectivity
and accessibility” to improve
pedestrian and bicycle safety
and mobility between local
schools, Hines Park and the I-
275 bike paths. The plan also
focuses on natural resources,
facilities andmaintenance and a
goal of having a park or green
spacewithin a 10-minutewalk of
all residents in both communi-
ties. That is a goal first launched
by The Trust for Pubic Land, the
National Recreation and Parks
Association, the Urban Land
Institute and supported by the
U.S. Conference ofMayors..
Following the approval of the
plan by both governing bodies, it
will be sent to the Michigan
Department
of
NaturalResources as an aid in
seeking state and federal grant
funding.
The plan as adopted does not
include any additional funding
from the budget of either the city
or township, officials said, but
marks a new environment of
cooperation between the two
communities.
Three Detroit men are facing
multiple criminal charges in the
armed robbery of a Plymouth
Township man in his driveway
earlier thismonth.
The three are all being held in
the Wayne County Jail, each on a
$1 million bond following their
respective arraignments in 35th
District Court May 3 before Judge
MikeGerou.
Timothy C. McGhee Jr., 19,
George L. Perdue Jr., 25, and
Kareem J. Gaskew Jr., 23, are
charged with one count each of
armed robbery, using a gun dur-
ing a felony and assaulting, resist-
ing or obstructing police. McGhee
is also charged with fleeing
police.
The victim, 55, told police that
he was taking his trash out at
about 3 a.m. May 2 when he was
accosted in the driveway of his
home located in the area of Beck
and North Territorial Road. He
said that two men, each wearing
a dark colored hooded sweat-
shirt, approached him in his
driveway. One of the men, he
said, was armed with a handgun
and ordered him to lie on the
ground and give up his wallet.
He told police he cooperated and
one of the men took his wallet
along with about $400 from his
pocket along with the watch he
waswearing.
He told police the two left the
scene in a dark-colored car
parked a few houses down the
street fromhis home.
As the car left the scene, the
victim called police and while
officers were at the scene taking
the report, a City of Plymouth
officer made a traffic stop of a
speeding black Dodge Charger
traveling south on Sheldon Road,
according to police reports. As
the officer left his patrol car and
approached the Charger on foot,
the driver drove off traveling east
on Ann Arbor Road and then
south on I-275. Police officers fol-
lowed the vehicle but lost sight of
the Charger south of Warren
Road, according to police reports.
CantonTownship officers later
discovered a black charged aban-
doned after it had crashed into a
tree and fence near an apartment
complex near Haggerty and
Palmer roads. Canton officers
discovered the wallet and identi-
fication of the robbery victim
from Plymouth in the vehicle,
according to police reports.
Police surmised from the scene
that the Charger had failed to
make a turn and crashed the
vehicle.
Canton police saw Gaskew
walking along Haggerty Road
and found both Perdue and
McGhee on the porch of the
apartment complex near the
crash site. All three were arrest-
edbyCanton officers.
The victim identified Perdue
and Gaskew, a former employee
of the victim. He said he had
firedGaskew several weeks earli-
er. McGhee was identified by the
Plymouth officer as the driver of
the Charger he had earlier
stopped.
No weapon was recovered at
the scene or from the vehicle,
according to police.
He said his letter was prompt-
ed by the repeatedly occurring
electric outages that adversely
impact thousands of electric cus-
tomers, often for extended peri-
ods of time. The PSC wants
answers from DTE as to how the
electric company prepared and
responded to the stormand if the
lack of system maintenance was
a factor in the outage and Detroit
death. Company officials have
until June 29 to file a safety and
incident report and the PSC staff
will have until Aug. 10 to review
the report and respond.
The PSC focuses on the legal
aspects and concerns that por-
tions of the DTE distribution sys-
tem are unable to provide reli-
able and safe service as required
by law during large storms and
weather events. DTE could likely
face penalties and fines if found
by the PSC to be out of compli-
ance with electric service safety
regulations.
In his critique of the PSC
order, Dempsey was critical of
the DTE justifications for the
numerous outages, including the
conditions of the Plymouth and
Plymouth Township substations.
He criticized the “enhanced tree
trimming” plan cited by DTE
which did not include the local
substation.
“Allowing these important
parts of its distribution system to
reach such a state was not a pru-
dent or best practice,” Dempsey
stated inhis comments.
Dempsey urged the commis-
sion to take action and asked
how regulatory policies have
contributed to such a lamentable
situation. He stated that the com-
mission's use of the single term
“aging” to describe the DTE dis-
tribution systemas “alarming.”
“To the extent the utilities
have failed 'to ensure such sys-
tems are safe, reliable, and
resilient long into the future,' the
commission should fashion poli-
cies that protect ratepayers from
systems that are unsafe, unreli-
able, and infirm. Transparency
and accountability for conditions
at the local level need major
enhancements,” he said.
Members of the public can
file comments on thePSC reports
until 5 p.m. Sept. 7 by mail to
Executive Secretary, Michigan
Public Service Commission, P.O.
box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909 or
by email to mpscedockets@
michigan.gov.
Letter
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