No. 22
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
June 1 – 10, 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
Wayne Main Street, a
group dedicated to building
a revitalized and vibrant
downtown, is seeking com-
munity members interested
in serving on various com-
mittees.
See page 5.
The Northville Art House
will shine a spotlight on the
imagination, art, talent and
cultural diversity of artists
when the annual Arts and
Acts Festival takes place
June 16-18.
See page 2.
Vol. 132, No. 22
Vol. 70, No. 22
Vol. 70, No. 22
Vol. 17, No. 22
It was a rewarding day for
everyone involved last week
when members of the
Romulus Fire Department
paid a visit to the Beaumont
Health
Center
for
Exceptional Families.
See page 6.
Vol. 132, No. 22
Vol. 70, No. 22
Vol. 70, No. 22
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Westland residents now
have a quick, convenient
way to communicate directly
with city officials through a
custom-branded mobile
application.
See page 7.
The future for two local
teens got a little brighter last
week, thanks to the Canton
Lions Club when the group
awarded $2,000 scholarships
to local students.
See page 3.
Vol. 17, No. 22
Area youths have the
opportunity to learn from
sports 'legends' next month
during the 20th annual free
basketball camp for boys and
girls from9-16 years of age.
See page 5.
The annual "Flowers are
Forever" garden walk of the
Trailwood Garden Club in
Plymouth will take place
from noon until 8 p.m. June
27.
See page 3.
Ten Belleville High
School graduates are a little
closer to their chosen profes-
sions thanks to the members
of the Rotary Club of
Belleville who awarded
themscholarships.
See page 7.
Members of theWestlandCity
Council officially adopted a bal-
anced 2017-18 fiscal year budget
of $65,840,641. The budget
includes no increases in millage
rates and projects an unas-
signed budget surplus of more
than $5.7 million, which is
approximately 9 percent of gen-
eral fund expenditures, accord-
ing to the office of Mayor
WilliamR.Wild.
“While this is positive news,
the multi-year forecast present-
ed to city council also shows that
challenging financial times are
on the horizon,” Wild cautioned.
“Flat revenue streams paired
with continually rising costs,
especially for pensions and
healthcare, will require careful
attention and cost containment
in the coming years.”
Key expenditures in the 2017-
18 general fund budget include
the scheduled replacement of
ballistic vests for police officers,
extension of the employment of
four police officers under a fed-
eral COPS grant and three fire
fighters under a Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency (FEMA) SAFER grant,
continued parks and recreation
funding for refurbishment of the
city park and baseball facilities
and an update of the 5-year
parks and recreationplan.
To address its unfunded pen-
sion liability, council members
approved an additional $300,000
contribution into the MERS
pension plan for general
employees.
Also included in the 2017-18
budget is funding for capital
investments, totaling more than
$5 million, including replace-
ment of a fire department lad-
der truck and two rescue vehi-
cles, five new police cars, and
ball field fencing at Jaycee and
Voss parks, Senior Center roof
reconstruction, local road
paving projects, water main
improvements and sewer main
lining.
“My administration has
worked very closely with city
council in developing this year's
budget. We are continuing to
make fiscally responsible deci-
sions that improve quality of life
for residents and provide high
quality municipal services,
while remaining mindful of
legacy costs and other financial
challenges facing the city in the
not too distant future,” Wild
said.
Business owner Aaron Cole
is getting closer to opening a
trendy new mini-market and
restaurant in the Old Village
section of Plymouth.
When he does, he has a
special attraction for the
entire community.
In a marketing effort for his
new venture, The Honey Hole
Market, now under construc-
tion on Starkweather Street at
the former location of the Old
Village Market, he sought out
renowned Detroit graffiti
artist Sintex to paint a larger
than life mural on the south
side of the remodeled build-
ing. Sintex, the only name he
uses, was there last week with
a high lift, art supplies and
spray cans of paint--many,
many spray cans--some with
special tips. The artist said the
mural will incorporate charac-
terizations representative of
Plymouth and the name of the
newstore-HoneyHole.
The 35-year-old artist is a
graduate of the noted College
of Creative Studies in Detroit
and studied at the Pratt
Institute in New York. He is
already credited with creating
some of the famous street art
throughout theDetroit area.
Working with owners' per-
mission in blighted areas and
downtown locations like the
Eastern Market, Campus
Martius, and the Grand River
Corridor, his art became
known for bringing popular
people to life. He has created
images of Rosa Parks and Joe
Lewis among other celebri-
ties. He said his specialties
are Native American faces, a
tribute to his African
American and Native
American lineage, and 3D
illustrations. Sintex said he
has been passionate about art
since his youth when he lived
close to a railroad yard, where
he perfectedhis painting skills
on the train cars.
One famous Detroit mural
painted by Sintex depicts vic-
tims of brutality including
Vincent Chin, a Chinese-
American man beaten to
death by two white men in
Highland Park in the 80s. His
mural also includes other
local victims like Malice
Green and Aiyana Jones
where he's added Chief Crazy
Horse to the scene.
He said comic book cartoon
characters always fascinated
him and paint was always his
passion.
“First, I lay down the sketch
and then I build up the foun-
dation with different con-
trasts.” Sintex explained. Last
week, only a corner portion of
the mural was complete while
the remainder of the building
wall contained the black out-
lined sketches of depictions to
come.
Sintex is quick to point out
that there is a huge difference
between art and vandalism.
He said he likes to work with
police departments and help
community youths.
He added that when his
work is finished, he hopes it
will be the talk of the
Plymouthart community.
Artist Sintex works on the huge building mural he is completing on the exterior wall of a new mar-
ket on Starkweather Street in Plymouth. Photo by Don Howard
My administration has worked
very closely with city council
in developing this year's budget.
”
Westland OKs $65.8 million budget
Artistic statement
Exterior building painting attracts attention
Romulus
project to
generate
1,600 jobs
A piece of land in Romulus
that has long held potential for a
regional development may see
some activity this year.
Members of the Romulus City
Council unanimously approved
a conditional rezoning for 85
acres of land south of Ecorse,
east of Vining Road, to allow for
the construction of a large-scale
regional processing and distri-
bution center.
Proposed by Kojaian Venoy
WickAcquisitions. LLC, the proj-
ect will feature a 865,000 square-
foot building, along with signifi-
cant road and traffic flow
improvements along Ecorse and
Vining roads.
“A lot of time has gone into it.
They have a good plan,” said
Mayor Leroy Burcroff. “I think
this'll be a marquis development
that not just Romulus will be
proud of, but our region.”
The property has been the
subject of discussion-and several
previous projects-throughout
the years, but this one could
break ground as soon as the end
of June.
“The city had envisioned a
major mixed-used development
in this area, including retail,
restaurant, entertainment, sin-
gle and multiple family housing,
lots of open space, corporate
offices and other types of servic-
es and maybe some research
and development type uses,”
said Planning Consultant Brad
Strader. In the past, projects
such as Metro World, a race-
track, outlet mall and several
types of residential develop-
ments had been proposed and
or approved.
“There were a lot of things
proposed, some were approved,
others were just ideas, but there
was no ground turned-nothing
happened,” saidStrader.
The new proposal, Project
Mercury, will bring between
1,600 and 2,500 jobs to the com-
munity, said Jonathon Stites,
project representative. He said
the project already has a tenant
willing to sign a 15-year lease
that would also include several
See
Romulus,
page 6
Members of the Plymouth
Township Board of Trustees
once again disagreed about the
proposed hiring of three new
firefighters, part of a plan initi-
ated by Township Supervisor
Kurt Heise aimed at reopening
Fire Station No 2. The plan
includes hiring three new fire-
fighters and augmenting staffing
at the station with two firefight-
ers from Northville Township,
in addition to the Plymouth
Township staff. Fire safety was a
key element in the political
campaigns of Heise and other
boardmembers last year.
At two previous township
study sessions, board members
questioned the long-term effi-
ciency of the plan and demand-
ed “sufficient information and
operational plan details” of
Heise's proposedmerger.
Fire Chief Dan Phillips has
maintained that it would take
six additional firefighters to
properly facilitate opening the
Don Howard
Staff Writer
Township plan may reopen fire station
See
PACT,
page 3
Don Howard
Staff Writer
