No. 35
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
August 25 - 31, 2011
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
A serving city council mem-
ber has resigned after being
appointed as the new Wayne
personnel director/economic
development specialist.
See page 3.
Animal lovers and bingo
enthusiasts can join forces
during the upcoming Romulus
Pumpkin Festival when bingo
proceeds will help pay con-
struction costs at the facility.
See page 5.
Voters will have a field of 16
candidates, including all four
incumbents, from which to
choose members of the
Plymouth-Canton district
school board onNov. 8.
See page 2.
Only two candidates have
filed for the two expiring
terms on the Northville Public
Schools Board of Education,
making them sure winners in
theNov. 8 election.
See page 2.
Belleville voters will choose
a mayor, two members of city
council and two members of
the Van Buren Pubic Schools
Board of Education from a
field of 14 onNov. 8.
See page 5.
Vol. 126, No. 35
Vol. 64, No. 35
Vol. 64, No. 35
Vol. 11, No. 35
Vol. 11, No. 35
Vol. 126, No. 35
Vol. 64, No. 35
Vol. 64, No. 35
The goal of a public meet-
ing Aug. 31 is all about trans-
forming the community into a
place that supports and pro-
motes healthy lifestyle choices
and preventing kidney disease
and diabetes in African
Americans.
See page 3.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
Toarmina's Pizza delivered
the most votes on the City of
Westland website to win the
honor as best pizza in the city.
More than 1,899 people in total
voted.
See page 3.
The City of Wayne is already
the small car capitol of the world
for the Ford Motor Co. and it will
soon house what Ford officials call
the most advanced production
facility in the company.
The automaker will invest
another $123 million in the
Michigan Assembly Plant to allow
it to produce electric vehicles and
bolster its fuel efficient line. The
Michigan Assembly plant is where
the popular Ford Focus is now
produced; it will soon be the
launching point of the C-Max
Hybrid and C-Max Energy, a bat-
tery/electric vehicle.
“The Michigan Assembly Plant
will be the only facility in the
world where gas, hybrid and bat-
tery/electric vehicles will roll off
the same assembly line,” Jeff
D'Onofrio, a spokesman for Ford
Motor, told the Wayne City Council
members last week. He and other
officials were at the city council
meeting for a public hearing to
amend an Industrial Development
District (IDD) plan to allow for tax
breaks on the new investment and
give the automaker another year
to complete the work. The council
had previously approved an IDD
designation on the plant for $184
million.
“It's welcome news,” said
Wayne Mayor Al Haidous. “It
shows us a bright future.”
The automaker will keep the
2,000 employees at the plant. The
total investment means about $6
million in revenue; about $3 mil-
lion of that will go to the City of
Wayne.
The city went through tough
budget times when the automaker
closed the former Michigan Truck
Plant in order to transform it into
the Michigan Assembly Plant, con-
verting the line there to produce
smaller, more fuel efficient cars in
response to the higher demand for
that kind of vehicle.
The city is also paying Ford
Motor about $1.1 million over the
next six years to repay taxes over-
charged to the automaker. The
payments are about $184,000 and
are being paid through the
Downtown Development
Authority (DDA) budget.
Haidous said news of the addi-
tional investment and the special
nature of the plant are another in
a string of successes for both the
community andFordMotor.
“We're very proud of our rela-
tionship with Ford Motor Co. and
the UAW,” said Haidous. “It's been
an excellent partnership for 50
years.”
The investment in theMichigan
Assembly Plant should be com-
plete by 2012, according to Peter
McInerney, community develop-
ment director for the city.
Visitors can take a step back
in time during the popular
Village Faire in Canton
planned for this Sunday at
PreservationPark.
See page 5.
The Northville Public Schools
Board of Education ratified a two-
year contract with the Northville
Education Association (NEA) at a
special board meeting Aug. 17
after union members ratified the
contract at anAug. 15meeting.
The agreement, which covers
the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school
years, provides for wage and bene-
fit concessions including an overall
wage reduction of 4 percent. Three
percent of that will be “off sched-
ule” (the reduction does not carry
forward into the next contract) and
1 percent will be “on schedule.”
Teachers eligible for step raises
will receive a quarter-step
increase in each of the two years.
The agreement also includes two
unpaid furlough days each school
year which equal about an addi-
tional 1 percent salary reduction
for the average teacher. For the
2011-12 school year, furlough days
are scheduled Jan. 12 and June 15,
when students are not present.
Under the contract, the more
than 400 members of the teachers'
union also will begin paying 20
percent of their health care premi-
ums effective immediately and,
starting in January, change from
their current health care plans to a
less expensive High-Deductible/
Health Savings Account Plan the
district will offer through Blue
Cross Blue Shield. The average
teacher will go from paying about
$350 a year for health care cover-
age to paying approximately $3,500
per year. The plan includes a
$1,250 annual deductible for indi-
vidual coverage and a $2,500 annu-
al deductible for family coverage,
with the district paying 80 percent
of the annual deductible - $1,000
and $2,000 respectively.
The agreement will result in
$6.46 million in cost reductions
during the next two years for the
district. School officials said the
district anticipates reinstating
about 26 of the 52.5 teaching posi-
tions eliminated inMay, which will
decrease projected average class
sizes for the 2011-12 school year.
“This agreement represents a
significant sacrifice on the part of
our teachers, which we recognize
and appreciate,” said Board of
Education President Joan
Wadsworth. “It will allow us to
reinstate about half of the teaching
The question of a 1-mill assess-
ment to fund the Plymouth
Township Fire Department appar-
ently will not appear on the Nov. 8
ballot, despite the collection of
about 3,500 signatures requesting
the vote.
During a crowded meeting that
often turned contentious Tuesday
evening, Timothy L. Cronin, the
township attorney, cited a town-
ship ordinance from 1951 regard-
ing language and requirements of
any special assessment or millage
increase and said there was no
way to get the issue on the
November ballot.
Township Supervisor Ray
Reaume indicated that officials
had not had time to examine the
petitions but cited several prob-
lemswith some of the signatures.
Members of the Citizens Action
Group of Plymouth, led by resident
Jennifer Mann, gathered the signa-
tures and were in attendance at
the meeting as were several resi-
dents and members of the town-
ship firefighters union.
Last week, Mann issued a state-
ment claiming thatmore than 3,500
petition signatures requesting that
the issue be placed on the ballot
had already been obtained and
submitted to township officials.
She said the group has received
overwhelming support from resi-
dents and local businesses who
disagree with the township board
plan to lay off half the current fire
department staff, close one of the
three township fire stations and
eliminate the Advanced Life
Support service nowoffered.
Don Howard, a 35-year resident
of the township, said that he felt
the board flatly rejected the effort
of citizens to be heard. “The agen-
da was to deny this effort at any
cost,” he said.
Howardhas a special interest in
the Advance Life Support service
now offered to township residents.
“I've had a quadruple bypass, I
have stints. My doctors say if I have
an incident, I may have 6 minutes
on the street,” he said. “Without
ALS, Iwon'tmake it.”
Howard said the contention
that a police officer as a first
responder could save his life was
ludicrous. “The police wouldn't be
able to start an IV or take the other
lifesavingmeasures I would need,”
he said. “This issue for me, and
others, is amatter of life anddeath.
We are talking about saving lives
here.”
Mann said that a poll of citizens
conducted by Mitchell Research
and Communication Inc. of
Lansing showed that 68 to 73 per-
cent of people in the township
would vote in favor of the tax
See
Firefighters,
page 2
The average teacher will go from paying
about $350 a year for health care coverage
to paying approximately $3,500 per year.
”
The automaker will keep the 2,000 employees
at the plant. The total investment means about
$6 million in revenue; about $3 million
of that will go to the City of Wayne.
”
Northville teachers agree to 4% wage cut
Ford Motor to invest $123 million in Wayne
Getting
it done
The City of Romulus was
again able to leverage addi-
tional funds for publ ic
improvements. The new
pavi l ion at Romulus
Historical Park will get an
addition $30,000 in funds
through the Wayne County
Parks millage. The millage
provided the initial $100,000
for the project in 2010. The
Romulus Downtown
Development Authority and
the city will mark the official
ribbon cutting and grand
opening of the pavilion at
11:30 a.m. Sept. 7. The pavil-
ion is located at 11147 Hunt
St. in Romulus.
See
Contract,
page 2
Plymouth Township board rejects millage petitions