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ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS OF MICHIGAN PAGE 5 July 19, 2012
BELLEVILLE - R OMULUS
2 new fire fighters hired in Romulus
Two new full-time firefighters
have been sworn in and are on the
job inRomulus.
New probationary firefighters
Eric Beamish and Michael Fyfe
both have firefighting in their back-
grounds.
The new firefighters bring the
total full-time fire department
staffing to 15. Both positions were
made possible by a $1.3 million
Staffing for Adequate Fire and
Emergency Response (SAFER)
grant from FEMA, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
The grant provided wages and ben-
efits for two years.
Beamish was sworn in on April
12. ARiverviewnative, he attended
Schoolcraft College Fire Academy
right out of high school and
receivedhisEMS training.
For years, Beamish has heard
stories about firefighting from his
uncle, a senior captain with the
Livonia Fire Department, and he
knew from an early age that he
wanted to be a firefighter.
Beamish said he likes Romulus
for its diversity and hopes to have
an opportunity to continue “saving
lives and enjoying the best job in
theworld” for years to come.
Fyfe had been a paid-on-call
firefighter in Romulus before he
was sworn in as a full-time fire-
fighter onMay 23.
ARomulus native, Fyfe received
his firefighting and EMS training
through classes offered by the
department in 2001. He said the
best part of the job is getting to help
others.
Fyfe said he considers fellow
firefighters to be like family - espe-
cially Lt. John Thiede, who has
mentored him since he first joined
the department nearly 13 years ago.
As if being hired for his dream
job wasn't enough, Fyfe and
fiancée, Kerri, just celebrated the
birth of their baby girl, Reese, giv-
ing a baby sister to daughters,
Gabrielle and Samantha and broth-
ers, Logan andAvery.
Mayor Alan R. Lambert said it
was important to expand the fire
department and that he is happy to
have two new firefighters who
enjoy their careers.
“Public safety is obviously so
important in our community,”
Lambert said. “We have an out-
standing fire department. I'm
pleased we were able to hire two
firefighters that care somuch about
doing great work in our city and
that they were able to hit the
ground running.”
Fire Chief David Allison said
the new firefighters were go-getters
who like staying busy.
“With Eric, we have a new guy
that is very assertive and is very
interested in learning all of the
aspects of the department,” Allison
said. “In Mike, we have somebody
that has been groomed for this
position for a number of years. He's
well liked by everybody. We have a
couple great guys to move the
department forward to the next
generation.”
The chief credited the SAFER
grant funds for allowing the city to
hire both firefighters. He said he
appreciated assistance in the grant
process from both the Romulus
Firefighters Local 4126 and the
International Association of
Firefighters.
SAFER grants were created to
provide funding directly to fire
departments in order to help
increase the number of trained
front-line firefighters available in
communities. The goal of SAFER
is to enhance the departments' abil-
ities to comply with staffing,
response and operational standard
established by the NFPA and
OSHA.
Allison said he expects to
expand the department further
with additional paid-on-call fire-
fighters. He said adequate staffing
is not only important for the safety
of the residents and business peo-
ple, but also for the firefighters
themselves.
Romulus Mayor Alan R. Lambert (left) welcomes new firefighters Eric
Beamish and Michael Fyfe introduced by Fire Chief David Allison, at far
right. Federal grants provided the funding to add the new firefighters to
the current force. Photo by Roger Kadau.
Belleville mayor abstains
from vote on water hike
Parks concern city officials
Belleville residents will see a retroactive
increase on their next water bills.
Members of the city council approved a 5
percent increase in both the water and
sewer rates in the city retroactive to July 1.
The increase is a pass through of the
increase Belleville received from the City of
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department
which supplieswater to the community.
Rates will increase from $12.53 to $13.12
per 1,000 gallons of water used.
The increase is less than the city antici-
pated in light of increases to surrounding
communities and is based on prime usage
times byBelleville residents.
Mayor Kerreen Conley, director of Wayne
County Facilities Management Division,
abstained from the vote on the increase to
avoid any appearance of a conflict of inter-
est.
The county sewer system falls under her
employment responsibilities.
Officials in the City of Romulus are look-
ing into ways to take better care of the
parkswithin the city.
Closed because of budget cuts, many of
them have fallen into disrepair and neg-
lect, according to City Councilwoman Eva
Webb.
“It's a travesty; it's embarrassing,” she
said at a recentmeeting. “We have no place
for our children to go this summer. We've
absolutely nothing in this city as far as
recreation.”
The council addressed the parks issue
after councilman William Wadsworth
brought up the condition of Elmer Johnson
Park, which he recently walked through.
He found the doors to the public bathroom
kicked in and the sinks torn off inside.
Weeds were growing in the infield in the
baseball fields and had begun to poke
through the asphalt in the tennis courts
andbasketball courts.
“It really saddens me,” he said. “It was
one of the most beautiful pieces of proper-
ty in this town at one point.”
The city was forced to close its parks
when layoffs made it impossible for city
workers to properlymaintain them.
“We did it with the understanding that
we could secure the gates and people
would stay out,” said Councilman William
Crova. “That isn't the case.”
The vandalism is just one part of the
issue, said Wadsworth. In many places the
weeds had grown out of control, too.
“It's just not right,” said Wadsworth.
“We're telling people in town to cut their
weeds, but we don't even cut our own
weeds.”
He said Elmer Johnson Park was donat-
ed to the city by Elmer Johnson, he added,
and the city had an obligation to protect it.
Council President Leroy Burcroff
agreed. He said Mayor Alan Lambert and
the city administration have been looking
into options for maintaining the park and
requested an update on that process. He
said closing the parks was an unpopular
decision that had to be made because of
the difficult budget facing the city, but per-
haps there were ways to use volunteers or
othermethods to take better care of them.
“Nobody wanted to close any of the
parks anyway,” he said.
Hunters’ classes available
A Michigan Hunter Safety Class will
take place from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Saturday July 28 and Sunday July 29 at
VFWPost 9568 inRomulus.
Pre-registration for the two-day class is
required and will take place from 5-8 p.m.
July 19 or noon-3 p.m. July 21 at the VFW
Post. Class materials will be distributed at
the time of registration. If registration is
impossible during one of these two ses-
sions, students are urged to phone Kris
Matthew (734) 662-7852 or (734) 646-3763
the Romulus VFW Post (734) 941-3030) or
email: HVCA2010@aol.com
The VFW Post is located at 39270
Huron River Dr., between Hannan and
Northline roads inRomulus.
There is no charge for the class and stu-
dents can earn a Michigan Hunter Safety
Certificate, which is required for those
born after Jan. 1, 1960 to purchase a
Michigan hunting license or are planning
an out-of-state hunting trip.
Refreshments and lunchwill be served.