A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
August 6, 2015
B
ELLEVILLE
- C
ANTON
- N
ORTHVILLE
Van Buren trustees OK 6.5 mill ballot request
‘Invasive Species’ now on stage at Tipping Point
ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS
Van Buren Public Schools (District) will receive sealed bids for:
VBPS RAWSONVILLE
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
CIVIL & PARKING LOT PROJECT
Bids must be delivered no later than 2:00 P.M. EST on August 12,
2015, at the Administration Building located at 555 West Columbia
Avenue, Belleville, Michigan 48111. All bids will be publicly opened
and read aloud at 2:05 p.m. Bids received after the above stipulated
date and time will not be opened, considered, or accepted.
Beginning Monday, July 31, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. bid documents can be
obtained by accessing the following email:
builder.net/public/publicLanding.aspx?QS=106319ae2750473fac6ef61
cb1d7215f
Please contact LaMerra Hobbs at
with any questions you may have with regard to retrieving the RFP
information.
All bidders are invited to attend a pre-bid meeting with the District on
August 4, 2015, starting at 12:00p.m. at the Administration Building
located at 555 West Columbia Avenue, Belleville, Michigan.
Prospective bidders must meet the following minimum standards in
order to submit a proposal:
• Must be an established Contractor in Michigan for a minimum of
fifteen (10) years
• Has successfully completed a minimum of 3 comparable school
parking lot upgrade projects each with contract values in excess of
100,000 within the last five (5) years.
• Must be technically and financially capable to execute a project of
size and complexity described in the Bid Documents
• Must be able to provide business and liability insurance, perform-
ance and payment bond for work required by the Bid Documents
All bids must be submitted on forms furnished by the District and
must be accompanied by a bidder’s bond or a certified or cashier’s
check payable to the District for the sum of not less than five percent
(5%) of the bid amount. All bids must be accompanied by a familial
disclosure statement. Bids received without a bidder’s bond, certified
or cashier’s check, and a familial disclosure statement WILL BE
REJECTED.
The District reserves the right to reject any or all bids, in whole or in
part, to waive any irregularities therein and accept that bid, which best
serves the District’s interest.
Publish: August 6, 2015
Van Buren Township voters
will see a request for a 6.5 mill
public safety tax on their Nov. 3
ballot.
Members of the Van Buren
Township Board of Trustees
approved placing the public safe-
ty millage question on the ballot
by a 6-1 vote last week. The mill-
age would be in effect for 7 years
and be levied Dec. 1, 2017 if
approvedby voters.
According to Township
Supervisor Linda Combs, the new
millage would cost the average
homeowner in the township about
$125 more annually, based on a
State Equalized Value of $50,000
on a $100,000 market value home.
The millage, an increase of 2.5
mills from the current millage
rate, would generate $6,478,215 at
a rate of $6.50 for every $1,000 of
taxable value on property in the
township. The current millage
expiresDec. 31, 2016.
The only no vote was cast by
board
member
Brenda
McClanahan who said the taxpay-
ers were not amenable to any tax
increase, proven by a recent sur-
vey completed by the Van Buren
Public Schools. She said based on
that survey, the school district
reduced a sinking fund renewal
request tohalf amill.
Clerk LeonWright was in favor
of the new millage noting that
future growth in the township
populations will require more
service and increased requests
for public safety services.
Wright said that the current
system of funding public safety
places an undue burden on the
township general fund.
Trustee Jeff Jahr said that the
township now provides a high
level of service. He said residents
now pick up the phone and
receive help immediately from
the public safety department.
“People feel safe in this com-
munity,” he said.”
Combs criticized the recent
comment of former Supervisor
Paul White who referred to the
proposed millage increase as
“bait and switch.” She said that
the township is facing a serious
liability without the approval of
the proposedmillage.
Treasurer Sharry Budd rein-
forced Combs' statements and
noted that the public safety budg-
et is now $7.7 million annually
and the current 4 mills brings in
only $3.4 mills toward that
expense. Budd said township
auditors have warned officials
that spending must come in line
with revenue.
“If the residents say no, there
will have to be severe changes,”
Budd said.
The latest performances at the Village
Theater in Canton Township have earned
a resounding “Bravo” fromrespected stage
and screen actorHarryLennix.
“The Michigan Shakespeare Festival's
expansion to the Village Theater in Canton
is asmuch a sign of amandate as it is proof
of a mission,” said Lennix. “It is proof that
Shakespeare is forever our contemporary,
and that a fresh vision of his masterful
work can and will continue to sustain new
generations in the living theater. Bravo to
you, Michigan Shakespeare Festival! And
longmay you thrive.”
A noted Shakespearean, Lennix
famously starred as Aaron the Moor in
Julie Taymor's Titus. He currently appears
as Director Harold Cooper on the hit TV
series The Black List, and plays General
Swanwick in the upcoming Batman V.
Superman: Dawn of Justice. He is has just
finished filming H4, a modern adaptation
of Shakespeare's Henry IV, which the
Michigan Shakespeare Festival will per-
form this season, alongside A Midsummer
Night's Dream and Richard Brinsley
Sheridan's comedic romp, TheRivals.
“Not content to merely brush off classi-
cal plays and mount museum pieces,”
added Lennix, “Michigan Shakespeare
Festival confirms my long held belief that
the greatest classics need not be made rel-
evant to us, rather wemust make ourselves
relevant to them. The Canton expansion is
a manifest sign, yes, but the expansion is
alsometaphysical. It will broaden the souls
and thoughts of Michiganders and attract
all who love great theater from the region
and theworld.”
Through Aug. 16, the Michigan
Shakespeare Festival cast will perform
William Shakespeare's A Midsummer
Night's Dream and Henry IV, and Richard
Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals, at the
Village Theatre of Cherry Hill in Canton.
Encore Michigan calls these shows “top-
drawer”, “epic”, and “a thing of beauty.”
The Detroit Free Press calls the Michigan
Shakespeare
Festival “the
state's premier
place to expe-
r i e n c e
Shakespeare.”
Tickets and
more informa-
tion are avail-
able at www.
M i c h i g a n
Shakespeare
Festival.com
or by phone at
the Village Theatre box office, (734) 394-
5300.
Invasive Species, by Joseph
Zettelmaier, the Michigan play-
wright of It Came from Mars
(Thespie Award, Best Original
Script) and last season's holiday
hit, Ebenezer (Pulsar Award for
Best Original Script) is the latest
offering at Tipping Point Theater
inNorthville.
The story centers on Earl
Hobbs, a man who doesn't like
people. He likes fish and has
been fishing Michigan lakes all
his life. Alone with his secrets, he
continues this tradition in a little
private fishing hole by his house,
until one summer night he reels
in something that leaves him
speechless. He researches what
this mysterious creature in his
fish tank may be, catching the
attention of DNR Agent Eden
Selkirk. Will these two loners dis-
cover they have more in common
than just the fish, or will this mys-
terious aquatic menace threaten
her job and disrupt his fishing
hole forever?
“I think audiences can expect
to laugh more than a little and
also enjoy a story about two lone-
ly people who are searching for
something they just cannot find at
this time” said director Joey
Albright.
“Joe Zettelmaier has written
another great story that is well
worth watching and two people
who are well worth getting to
know,” he added.
Invasive Species will continue
through Aug. 23. The curtain rises
at 8 p.m. Thursdays through
Saturdays, with matinees at 3
p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on
Sunday. A special 3 p.m. matinee
performance has been added on
Wednesday, Aug. 12.
The theater is located at 361.
E. Cady St. in Northville. Tickets
are $29 to $32 for adults and $27
to $30 for students and senior citi-
zens and are available now by
calling the box office at (248) 347-
0003.
This activity is supported in
part by an award from the
Michigan Council for Arts and
Cultural Affairs and the National
Endowment for theArts.
Noted actor praises Shakespeare at Village Theater
Harry Lennix
