No. 27
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
July 6 – 12, 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
DowntownDays begins on
Thursday, July 13 and con-
cludes on Saturday, July 15
following the Cruisin' US-12
Cruise throughout the City of
Wayne.
See page 4.
The selected gardens of
the Northville Country
Garden Club tour this year
include gardens in private
homes in both the city and
township.
See page 5.
Vol. 132, No. 27
Vol. 70, No. 27
Vol. 70, No. 27
Vol. 17, No. 27
Local officials inRomulus
are not the only ones react-
ing positively to the
announcement that retailing
giant Amazon.com will be
coming to the city bringing
1,600 jobs.
See page 3.
Vol. 132, No. 27
Vol. 70, No. 27
Vol. 70, No. 27
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The Westland Farmers
and Artisans Market will
welcome children of all ages
during Kids Day from 3-7
p.m. July 20, alongwithmore
than 30 vendors and arti-
sans.
See page 3.
Continuing a tradition
than spans more than two
decades, Canton Township
residents
can
enjoy
Thursday Night Concerts in
the Heritage Park amphithe-
ater.
See page 2.
Vol. 17, No. 27
All charges have been
dropped against a 22-year-
old father accused of mis-
treatment in the death of his
8-month-old daughter in
Inkster.
See page 2.
Plymouth Sun & Snow in
Plymouth sponsored the
Kick Butt effort Sunday
morning when skateboard-
ers and longboarders helped
cleanupdowntown streets.
See page 5.
The traveling version of
the National Postal Museum
permanent exhibition, "Mail
Call" will remain on display
through Aug. 6 at Yankee Air
MuseuminBelleville.
See page 4.
It wasn't the usual teen party
last week when 160 high school
students celebrated at the
HellenicCenter inWestland.
The students, and their family
members, celebrated their suc-
cess as members of the Scholars
of John Glenn program. After
dinner and some congratulatory
remarks, each of them received
a check for $200, fulfilling a con-
tract made with the program,
their parents and a mentor of
their choice.
John Glenn High School psy-
chologist Louis Przybylski wel-
comed the crowd and explained
that this year more than 560 stu-
dents signed contracts and
joined the program.
“That is 25 percent of the stu-
dent body,” he told the crowd,
“which demonstrates a strong
commitment to work on their
grades.”
The program, started two
years ago by Glenn and Patty
Shaw, guarantees the student a
$200 check, no strings attached,
if they sign a contract agreeing to
choose a mentor, involve their
parents and improve their grade
point average by at least one-half
a point. This year, 146 students
achieved their goal, and were in
attendance to receive their
checks, a handshake and a hug
of congratulations from the
Shaws.
Przybylski noted that the pur-
pose of the programwas to teach
the students to give all they can
give toward their studies.
“I believe that ease is a
greater threat to progress than
hardship,” he noted, discussing
the difficulty the students faced
in the rigors of their studies. He
also stressed the importance of
the volunteermentors in the pro-
Judge
rules for
retirees
Water rate lawsuit against city dismissed
I believe that ease is a
greater threat to
progress than hardship.
”
See
Scholars,
page 3
Scholars earn while they learn
A class action lawsuit against
the City of Westland has been
dismissed by the Wayne County
Circuit Court Judge Craig
Strong.
The class action suit was filed
against the city in 2015 alleging
that approximately 27,000 cur-
rent water customers were
being charged excessively and
that the city was in violation of
the Headlee Amendment of the
MichiganConstitution.
The suit alleged that exces-
sive charges by the city were
being used to fund general oper-
ations and that the charges actu-
ally created a tax increase in
violation of the Headlee
Amendment. The lawsuit
requested a refund for the
approximately 27,000 current
water customers in the city and
requested that Westland be pro-
hibited by the court from any
future overcharges.
The original suit was filed by
two condominium associations,
Deerhurst and Woodview, but
the suit was later amended and
certified as a class action law-
suit including all Westland
water customers.
In defense of the city charges,
Westland attorneys filed
motions to dismiss the lawsuit
arguing the rates charged by
Westland are reasonable and
appropriate. The judge agreed
with those arguments and deter-
mined that the Westland water
and sewerage rates are reason-
able user fees and are not taxes,
as the suit alleged, and do not
violate
the
Headlee
Amendment. He dismissed the
legal action last week.
The judge's opinion further
held that water and sewer rate
funds are not being improperly
transferred to the General Fund
to support services to the public
at large in Westland, the basis of
the legal argument of the plain-
tiffs in the case.
Westland defense attorneys
argued, “For nearly two
decades, rates have covered the
costs, updates and other
improvements to the Westland
water system. The process,
which has evolved over time, is
an acceptable process that
allows the city to prepare for a
disaster while properly main-
taining thewater system.”
“The City of Westland has,
from the beginning, held the
position that this lawsuit was
frivolous,” commented Mayor
WilliamWild. “This decision by
Judge Strong proves that the city
was right to oppose this lawsuit.
“We are happy with the out-
come and will continue to pro-
vide Westland residents with
services we hold to the highest
of standards.”
Similar lawsuits were filed
against multiple area munici-
palities including Dearborn,
Ferndale,
Royal
Oak,
Birmingham,
Bloomfield
Township and Taylor. The suit
against Taylor was also dis-
missedby the court lastmonth.
The City of Westland has,
from the beginning, held the position
that this lawsuit was frivolous.
”
Wayne County Circuit
Court Judge John A. Murphy
has granted retirees from the
City of Wayne a restraining
order and a preliminary
injunctionprohibiting the city
from cutting their health
insurance premiums.
City officials first cut the
retirees health care benefits
last year, reducing the
amount the city paid for
monthly health care premi-
ums. Union contracts with the
retirees included provisions
that promised the city would
pay 100 percent of the health
insurance costs for retirees
with 25 years seniority when
they retired. The city was
obligated by contract to pay
75 percent of the premiums if
the retiree had 20 years sen-
iority and 50 percent of the
premium if the retiree had 15
years seniority.
Wayne currently faces a
$1.2 million budget deficit
and officials have attempted
tomake budget cuts, targeting
the health care premiums.
City officials first reduced the
amount of the city portion of
insurance premium pay-
ments to 60 percent in an
effort to cut city costs.
Another proposal, set to go
into effect July 1, one day
prior to the judge's decision,
would have given each
retiree a stipend to purchase
insurance on their own in the
openmarket.
Retirees have attended
numerous city council meet-
ings protesting the cuts to
what they perceive were
guaranteed benefits. City
employees do not receive
Social Security but rather a
city pension and health pre-
miums.
Retiree
Association
President Tim Reynolds said
he felt the judge was fair in
listening to both sides of the
issue. “The judge did say that
he would not have issued the
injunction or the restraining
order if he did not feel we
would succeed on the merits
of our case,” Reynolds said.
See
Ruling,
page 6
Show time
Art In The Park begins tomorrow
When the 38th annual Art
In the Park festival officially
opens at 10 a.m. tomorrow,
there will be more than 400
artists filling the streets of
downtown Plymouth, along
with face painters, live chil-
dren's theater, face and body
painting, caricaturists and
musicians and entertainers.
“We've kept the traditional
things that the crowds seem to
really enjoy,” noted Art In The
Park President Raychel Rork,
“but we always try to add some
new and different things to
entertain and keep the event
fresh.”
Rork added that the best
advice she can offer anyone
visiting the event is, “Use the
shuttle.”
This year, the air condi-
tioned buses will travel to and
from the Burroughs building
parking lot on Plymouth Road
to Plymouth City Hall, right in
the center of the Art In The
Park activities.
“These buses are roomy,
they have lavatories, they are
air conditioned and they have
enough room to accommodate
strollers, wheelchairs and
even the largest art purchas-
es,” Rork said. “This is the best
way to see the show and really
enjoy it,”Rork said.
“There really is something
for everyone,” Rork said. “No
matter what your taste or what
your budget. We have great
items from $1 to thousands of
dollars. All of it is great,” she
said.
Raychel Rork
See
Art,
page 6
