Basic HTML Version
No. 31
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
August 1 – 7, 2013
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 resident Ron
Roberts made a disconcerting
discovery during his door-to-
door campaign to secure the
signatures of registered voters
onpetitions.
See page 5.
Proposed amendments to
the Romulus City Charter are
designed to update the pur-
chasing process, streamline
the bidding process and, ulti-
mately, save the citymoney.
See page 4.
Several residents attended
the meeting of the Plymouth
Township Board of Trustees
last week to object to the pro-
posed plan to create a new
entrance to Hilltop Golf
Course.
See page 3.
The 5th Annual Buy
Michigan Now Festival will
return to the streets of down-
town Northville this weekend
hosted by the Buy Michigan
Nowcampaign.
See page 2.
The plan to use landfill gas
from Woodland Meadows
landfill to fire four electric tur-
bines to heat an office building
in Van Buren Township has
been cancelled by the develop-
er.
See page 2.
Vol. 128, No. 31
Vol. 66, No. 31
Vol. 66, No. 31
Vol. 13, No. 31
Vol. 128, No. 31
Vol. 66, No. 31
Vol. 66, No. 31
The investigation into a sus-
pected drive-by shooting in
Inkster that left four people
injured last Thursday night is
proceeding, according to
Inkster police reports.
See page 2.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
An elderly couple were
attacked in front of their home
by a knife-wielding man last
week and both were seriously
injured.
See page 5.
Firms interested in design-
ing the new $32millionmiddle
school planned for the
Plymouth-Canton District only
have a few more days to pre-
pare proposals.
See page 3.
Vol. 13, No. 31
While their school district may have been
dissolved, Inkster students will have class-
rooms to attend when they return from sum-
mer breakSept. 3.
The Wayne Regional Educational Service
Agency (RESA) acted quickly following the
decision of state officials to close the Inkster
schools to reconfigure the boundaries of four
neighboring districts to include Inkster stu-
dents.
When the Inkster district was unable to
secure financing necessary to reopen this fall
by close of business July 22, RESA scheduled a
public meeting to announce the new school
borders on July 25.
The Wayne Westland District will assume
the smallest area of the former Inkster Public
Schools district, and should see the increase of
about 65 students, according to Deputy
Superintendent for Educational Services Paul
Salah. Students on the north side and north of
Michigan Avenue and on the west side and
west of Middlebelt Roadwill nowbe part of the
Wayne Westland Community School District,
according to RESA, and will attend schools in
that district.
The Romulus Community School District
See
Schools,
page 7
Voters in Romulus will be asked
to reduce the field of candidates
during a Primary Election sched-
uled for next Tuesday, Aug. 6. Polls
will be open from 7 a.m. until 8
p.m.
There are currently four candi-
dates seeking the office of mayor in
the city. The two who receive the
highest number of votes Tuesday
will move on to the General
Election set forNov. 5.
Vying for the mayoral office are
current Mayor Pro-Tem LeRoy D.
Burcroff, Charles Miller, Craig A.
Plank and current Council woman
EvaWebb
The vacancy was created when
current Mayor Alan Lambert opted
not to seek re election following a
police investigation and search of
his home inMarch.
There are only two candidates
for the office of city clerk, incum-
bent Ellen Craig-Bragg and Ucal P.
Finley. Two candidates are seeking
the office of city treasurer,
Kathleen Lindroth and incumbent
StacyPaige.
Hoping for inclusion on the bal-
lot inNovember and election to the
Romulus City Council are
Kathleen Abdo, incumbent John
Barden, Bronson Bell, incumbent
Linda R. Choate, Harry Crout,
Dean A. Gilbert, Tony Heimberger,
Jacqueline M. Kaifesh, Sylvia J.
Makowski, Robert W. McLachlan,
James L. Napiorkowski, incum-
bent Celeste Roscoe, incumbent
William J. Wadsworth, Virginia
Williams andDaniel J.Wood.
The field of council candidates
will be reduced to 14with the those
receiving the highest total votes
moving on to theGeneral Election.
Residents will be asked to pres-
ent voter identification at the polls,
including a photo identification
such as a Michigan driver's license
or identification card.
Anyone who does not have an
acceptable form of identification
with themat the polls will be asked
to sign a brief affidavit. Those bal-
lots will be included in the totals
for the city.
For more information or clarifi-
cation, contact the city clerk's office
at (734) 942-7540.
The Inkster district reported
a deficit of nearly $16 million
which had been steadily increasing
during the past few years...
”
4 area districts take Inkster students
Romulus primary elections Tuesday for mayor, council
Plymouth Township residents
will pay $1.9 million for a new park
pavilion and amphitheater along
with improvements at Hilltop Golf
Course and Lake Pointe Soccer
Park.
After some contentious discus-
sion, and strong objections of resi-
dents, board members voted 4-3 to
approve the sale of $1.9 million in
10-year township bonds. The bonds
will help pay for $1.77 million in
additional expenses added to the
2013 capital improvement budget
during the regular township board
meeting last Tuesday. Officials said
at the meeting that they can obtain
$524,000 in government grants and
private and corporate donations
toward the projects.
The vote increased the township
capital projects budget from
$785,000 to $2.55 million. Bond
repayment will be from general
fund tax dollars over the next
decade.
Residents from the Woodlore
North Homeowners Association
were on hand to protest the pro-
posed plan. (See related story, page
3.)
The three dissenting board
members, Bob Doroshewitz, Chuck
Curmi and Mike Kelly, all objected
to the cost of the improvements and
questioned the scope of the proj-
ects.
Doroshewitz called the new
additions to a proposal discussed
last year a “bait and switch” on the
part of TreasurerRonEdwards and
SupervisorRichardReaume.
The master plan for the town-
ship includes a pavilion costing
about $80,000 to $100,000. The pro-
posal discussed last year increased
the cost to $350,000 and the plan
adopted includes $625,000 for the
structure.
Edwards said that the additional
costs included changes to the struc-
ture to make it an all-year facility.
“We wanted that to be an all-year
facility that Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts,
everybody coulduse,” he said.
Doroshewitz replied, “I'm not
sure who 'we' is, because it wasn't
the board and it wasn't the public.”
The new pavilion is planned for
a site near the baseball fields at
Township Park and would include
public restrooms and a full kitchen.
Federal grants are available to
fund part of the project, officials
said, including one for $100,000
administered by the state
Department of Natural Resources.
The approved project also includes
a $270,000 amphitheater to be built
near the ball fields, a parking lot
expansion, pathway improvements,
a footbridge across the pond and
playscape and sprayscape mainte-
nance. The soccer park will see
field drainage and parking lot
upgrades and an expansion to the
parking lot at Hilltop Golf Course is
planned, along with pathway
improvements and sprinkler sys-
temimprovements.
Trustee Kay Arnold, Clerk
Nancy Conzelman, Edwards and
Reaume cast the votes in favor of
the project.
Geoff Frampton learned a
great deal during his 37 years as
a Ford Motor Co. engineer. One
of those lessons was always try to
think out of the box.
Now part of the sales staff at
Don Massey Cadillac in
Plymouth, Frampton applied
those lessons in an effort to bring
people into the dealership last
Saturday using a little star power.
Frampton, during various
business trips for Ford, would
often travel to England, and on
one of those trips discovered that
an overseas friend, SteveGallant,
was a good friend of the former
Vice Chairman of General
MotorsBobLutz.
Frampton approachedMassey
General Sales Manager Brian
Caspersen and suggested they
invite Lutz to Plymouth when his
new book was released.
Casperson quickly agreed and
this past weekend, after months
of phone calls to England, one of
themost respected leaders in the
American automobile industry
set up shop to autograph his just
released book,
Icons and Idiots,
Straight Talk onLeadership
.
During his visit, Lutz talked
with numerous clients, cus-
tomers and employees at theAnn
Arbor Road dealership. During
his storied career, Lutz worked
for BMW, Ford, Chrysler, and
Exide.
Lutz, a Marine veteran and
pilot who served in Korea, is
more than familiar with this area
as he is involved with the effort
to save the historic Willow-Run
Bomber Plant and create a new
home for the Yankee Air
Museum.
Caspersen and visitors were
all smiles as Lutz talked about
his career experiences, helicop-
ters and his Czechoslovakian Jet
Fighter plane, while he signed
copies of his book.
"I think it's important for kids
growing up to know what hap-
pened inWorldWar II," Lutz said
of the effort to save the historic
plant.
Star power
Former GM Vice Chairman
signs new book in Plymouth
Township OKs $1.9 million bond sale for park improvements
Former Vice Chairman of General Motors Bob Lutz signs copies of
his new book at Don Massey Cadillac in Plymouth last Saturday.
Geoff Frampton, left, Brian Casperson and Bob Lutz admire one of
the new model vehicles at Don Massey Cadillac during Lutz' book
signing last Saturday.