No. 35
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
August 27 – Sept. 2, 2015
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 shining example of vol-
unteer work and community
activism will be honored by
the Wayne Commission on
Aging Sept. 15.
See page 4.
Allegations that Plymouth
Township Treasurer Ron
Edwards withheld refund
payments due a commercial
taxpayer have been allayed
following a meeting last
Tuesday.
See page 2.
Northville Township resi-
dents will hear some expert
advice about their skyrocket-
ing water rates at a meeting
set for Sept. 14.
See page 3.
The Salvation Army will
continue to accept needed
donations of school supplies
this week at various loca-
tions in the area.
See page 5.
Vol. 130, No. 35
Vol. 68, No. 35
Vol. 68, No. 35
Vol. 15, No. 35
Hundreds of area resi-
dents are expected at the
annual Health and Wellness
Fair at the Romulus Senior
Center planned for Sept. 22.
See page 5.
Vol. 130, No. 35
Vol. 68, No. 35
Vol. 68, No. 35
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
It was Christmas in July
last month for several area
students when the Westland
Community Foundation
announced the winners of
$12,000 in scholarships.
See page 4.
Canton seniors represent-
ed their community well in
the 11th Annual Western
Wayne County Senior
Olympics by collecting 78 of
the 488medals awarded.
See page 3.
Vol. 15, No. 24
Middlebelt
Baptist
Church in Inkster is plan-
ning another clothing give-
away event from 9 a.m. until
2 p.m. onSaturday, Sept. 12.
See page 5.
Demolition of a long vacant
office building on Plymouth
Road began last Wednesday,
clearing the way for construc-
tion of a 93-unit luxury apart-
ment development to be called
Starkweather
Lofts
in
Plymouth.
The vacant 20,000-square-
foot Columbian Financial
Group office building at 333
Plymouth Road is being leveled
and the nearly 6-acre site pre-
pared for construction of the
first multi-family complex to be
built inPlymouth in a decade.
Plans call for 40 one-bed-
room loft apartments ranging
from 703 to 850 square feet and
53 two-bedroom units ranging
from 1,045 to 1,309 square feet.
Rents are expected to range
from $1,500 per month to $2,800
permonth.
Starkweather Lofts -- a part-
nership between DevMar
Development LLC, Burton-
Katzman LLC, and F5
Investments -- is a $21.1 million
loft apartment development
that targets young professionals,
empty-nesters and young cou-
ples by offering high quality
new construction with high-end
amenities such as 10-foot ceil-
ings, granite countertops, stain-
less steel appliances, in-unit
washers and dryers, balconies
or patios, a community lounge,
community park and pavilion
with fire-pits and grilling sta-
tions, the developer said.
The recyclable materials
from the site such as metal and
concrete won't go to landfills,
but to a recycling plant, a
spokesperson said.
Located on the north side of
Plymouth Road east of North
Holbrook Street, the former
office building had been used
by the fire department for train-
ing exercises during the winter.
The new the complex will con-
sist of two four-story apartment
buildings and green space is an
integral part of the develop-
ment which calls for preserva-
tion of many large existing
trees, planting new trees and
construction of walking paths
that link Old Village through
Caster Park, explained Mark
DeMaria, principal for DevMar
Development.
“Starkweather Lofts offer
just the right combination of
elements - solid urban loft
design, upscale amenities, near-
by parks and trails and a viable
downtown with great restau-
rants and shops all within walk-
ing distance,” saidDeMaria.
“Demand for luxury apart-
ment living is high right now in
Plymouth and around the coun-
try,” said DeMaria. “Young pro-
fessionals and empty-nesters
are looking for alternatives to
the older apartment structures
in Plymouth. They want new
construction with high-end fea-
tures,” he said.
DevMar Development was
founded by Mark DeMaria in
2012. DeMaria, chosen by
Crain's Detroit Business as one
of its 40 Under 40, has 18 years
experience in development and
construction. His work has
earned numerous awards,
including two Excellence in
Design “M Awards” from the
Masonry Institute of Michigan
for the residential/multi-family
projects he developed in Royal
Oak andAnnArbor.
There are some changes
planned for senior services in
Plymouth.
The Council on Aging,
Plymouth Township, the City of
Plymouth, and the Plymouth
Township Seniors Club have
agreed to a plan that will
improve and expand programs
for seniors throughout the
Plymouth community. Under
the proposed plan, the Council
on Aging offices will be moved
to Plymouth Township Hall,
senior transportation dispatch
to Friendship Station, and will
add
programming
at
FriendshipStation.
“This is an exciting opportu-
nity for our community to
improve the quality of life for
all of our seniors, and begin to
fully utilize the Friendship
Station,” said Plymouth
Township Supervisor Shannon
Price. “This is just the begin-
ning of reaching our goal to
meet the needs of our seniors.”
Although the Council on
Aging offices will be moving to
the township, there will still be
programming in the Cultural
Center, and seniors in both the
city and township will be pro-
vided transportation if needed.
Currently about 70 percent of
the passengers on the senior
buses reside in the city and 30
percent in the township, offi-
cials said.
“We have been pleased to
assist the Council on Aging in
the past and are thrilled to join
in efforts to expand their efforts
to help our seniors,” added City
Mayor
Dan
Dwyer.
“Maintaining and improving
the quality of life in our commu-
nity has always been a priority,
and this planmeets that goal.”
“We are so lucky to have two
great communities that put
such a focus on senior servic-
es,” said Bobbie Pummill,
director for the Council on
Aging. “By expanding services
The City of Plymouth and
the townships of Plymouth,
Northville and Canton are
ranked among the safest com-
munities inMichigan according
to the 2015 Safest Cities in
MichiganReport
The SafeWise Report
revealed the 50 safest commu-
nities in Michigan last week
using the most recent FBI
crime data from 2013 to analyze
and rank communities which
all have a minimum population
of 5,000 people.
“Nearly half of these cities
are making their second
appearance on our list and 46
of them reported zero murders
in 2013,” Rebecca Edwards,
SafeWise security analyst, said.
“In a world full of violent head-
lines, it's encouraging to see
that these Michigan neighbors
really know how to look out for
one another.”
“To identify the 50 safest
cities in Michigan, we started
by looking at cities with a popu-
lation of more than 5,000 resi-
dents in 2013, as well as those
that did not make a complete
crime report to the FBI. From
there, we analyzed the most
recent FBI Crime Report
Statistics from 2013 for each
city, including both property
crime (arson, burglary, motor
vehicle theft, larceny-theft) and
violent crime (robbery, murder,
aggravated assault, rape),” she
said. “Then, tomake everything
equitable, we calculated the
chance of these crimes occur-
ring out of 1,000 people in each
city,” she added.
The City of Plymouth
was
ranked number 24 of 50.
Analysts said: “Ranked one of
the best suburbs in Michigan to
raise a family, Plymouth is
home to young families, good
schools, and an excellent safety
record. One way the Plymouth
Police Department looks after
its residents is by offering busi-
ness and residential security
surveys through their Crime
Prevention Bureau. These dili-
gent efforts helped limit violent
crime to just 14 incidents in
2013, according toFBI data.”
Population: 8,949
Violent Crimes per 1,000:
1.56
Property Crimes per 1,000:
9.94
Plymouth Township
was the
median community at number
25 on the 50 Safest Cities List.
Analysts said: “A community-
oriented policing philosophy
helped Plymouth Township
earn a spot on our list for the
first time this year. Officers are
assigned to specific neighbor-
hoods to get to know the resi-
dents and become a regular fix-
ture of the community.
Partnerships between law
enforcement and residents,
schools, and businesses help
township police curb crime and
quickly address community
problems.”
Population: 27,076
Violent Crimes per 1,000:
0.66
Property Crimes per 1,000:
10.93
Northville Township
was rated
number 35 of the 50 safest com-
munities. The analysts said in
their report, “Northville police
establish community trust and
partnerships through the acces-
sibility of the Bicycle Patrol
unit. And you might want to get
stopped by these police officers.
TheBicycle Patrol rewards safe
behavior by handing out free
ice cream vouchers to citizens
caught wearing helmets when
out on their ownbikes.”
Population: 28,734
Violent Crimes per 1,000:
0.62
Property Crimes per 1,000:
12.66
Canton Township
was ranked
at number 45 on the list.
Analysts said, “Positive rela-
tionships with the community
helped Canton Township police
See
Seniors,
page 2
See
Safest,
page 3
We are so lucky to have
two great communities that
put such a focus on senior services.
”
City, township to combine senior services
$21 million development breaks ground
Artist rendering
In another recent survey, two of the safest cities were also rated as the
"snobbiest."
While Northville came in first, Plymouth took third-place in a rating by
thewebsitewww.roadsnacks.net.
Road Snacks previously put together lists ranking the Most Redneck,
Most Boring, Worst Places to Find Love and many others. The purpose,
according to the site, is "to create bite-sized snacks of sharable informa-
tion about places and cities across the country."
In determining that Northville in the snobbiest community in the state,
followed by Plymouth, six criteria were analyzed explained Chris Kolmar
who authored the list. He ranked 61 communities using the median
home price, median household income, percentage of the population
with a college degree, private schools per capita, theaters per capita and
art galleries per capita.
Kolmar did say, however, "These aren't bad places to live, so don't get
that idea,"
Safest also ‘snobbiest’
Local communities named among safest
