A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
November 23, 2016
C
ANTON
- N
ORTHVILLE
Public input sought
on police evaluation
Goodfellow donations accepted
Northville wins finance award
Landfill warehouse destroyed
in 4-alarm fire on Sunday
A team of assessors from the
Commission on Accreditation for Law
Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) will
arrive next Monday, Nov. 28, to examine
all aspects of the Canton Police
Department policies and procedures,
management, operations, and support
services and will include public input in
the evaluation.
The assessors are tasked with review-
ing and gathering information to be taken
back to the commissioners, who will then
determine if the Canton Police
Department hasmet the standards neces-
sary to be awarded the highly-prized re-
accreditation for delivery of law enforce-
ment excellence.
Canton Police Department was origi-
nally awarded recognition in 2007, and
has maintained accreditation every three
years since then.
As part of the on-site assessment,
agency personnel and members of the
community are invited to offer comments
at a public information session at 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 29, in the township board
meeting room of the Canton
Administration Building, 1150 S. Canton
CenterRoad, inCanton.
If an individual cannot attend the pub-
lic information session but would like to
provide a comment, he/she may do so by
calling the assessors on the same day,
between the hours of 10 a.m. - noon, at
(734) 394-5409.
All comments in person or by phone
are limited to 10 minutes, and must
address the agency's ability to comply
with CALEA standards. A copy of the
CALEA standards can be obtained from
Canton Police Department CALEA
Program Manager, Lt. Craig Wilsher at
(734) 394-5420 or cwilsher@canton-
mi.org.
Persons wishing to offer written com-
ments about the Canton Police
Department ability to meet the standards
for re-accreditation may send them to:
CALEA, 13575 Heathcoat Blvd., Suite 320,
Gainsville, Virginia, 20155.
The team of assessors assigned to
Canton are experienced lawenforcement
practitioners fromsimilar, but out-of-state
agencies. In addition to accepting public
comments, the assessors will reviewwrit-
ten materials, interview individuals and
visit on- and off-site offices and locations
where compliance canbewitnessed.
Assessors this year include: Assistant
Chief Eric Kerns, Burlington, NC Police
Department (team leader) and Ofc. Brent
Grammel, Union Township, OH Police
Department.
For more information regarding the
Commission on Law Enforcement
Agencies Inc., visit
.
The Canton Goodfellows are teaming
up with Canton Leisure Services to help
make things brighter for needy families in
the Canton community during the upcom-
ing holiday season with the No Child
Without aChristmas campaign.
Donations of new and unwrapped toys
will be collected through Dec. 5, at the
Summit on the Park, located at 46000
Summit Parkway and the Canton
Administration Building, located at 1150
S. CantonCenterRoad.
Any individual or family that would
like to adopt a child or a family this
Christmas, should contact the Canton
Goodfellows at cantongoodfellows
@gmail.com. Cash donations and gift
cards are alsowelcome.
For more information, call (734) 394-
5360 or visit
They plan to go for five in a row.
For the fourth consecutive year,
Northville Township has earned a
Certificate of Achievement for Excellence
in Financial Reporting from the
Government FinanceOfficers Association.
The announcement of the award was
made by Township Clerk Sue Hillebrand
at a regular meeting of the board mem-
bers last month. She said that of 1,800 par-
ticipating communities in the state, only
67 have earned the award this year. “I
couldn't be prouder,” she said at the meet-
ing.
Assistant Township Manager Debra
Wilhelm presented a plaque to Finance
DirectorMarinaNeumaier andTreasurer
MarjorieBanner at themeeting.
Supervisor Robert Nix said the award
was a tribute to the financial workings of
the township, “Four years in a row. Let's
go for five.”
The award program is run by the
Government FinanceOfficers Association,
whosemission is to promote excellence in
state and local government financial man-
agement. To earn the award, a communi-
ty's reports are reviewed by a committee
that includes independent auditors, aca-
demics and finance professionals. Awards
are given to state and local governments
that demonstrate the “spirit of trans-
parency and full disclosure,” according to
the associationwebsite.
The Northville Fire Department pro-
videdmutual aid to SalemTownship and
five other area fire departments in
response to a four-alarm fire Sunday
afternoon at the Great Lakes Recycling
facility located near the Arbor Hills
Landfill.
Northville Fire Chief Steve Ott said
the first alarm came in about 4 p.m. and
his crews responded with one truck and
five firefighters to the outbuilding at
10833 Five Mile in Salem Township. The
facility, closed on Sundays, is one of six
operated by Great Lakes and processed
recycled paper, cardboard and plastics
according to information on thewebsite.
Heavy black smoke was seen coming
from the sheet metal structure when the
first call came in to the Salem Township
Fire Department in Washtenaw County,
Ott said.
Because there are no fire hydrants in
Salem Township, fire officials sought
permission to hook up to nearby
Northville Township fire hydrants
according to Northville Township
Director of Public Safety JohnWerth and
Fire Chief Brent Siegel, but did not
request mutual aid from the fire depart-
ment located on Six Mile Road. Ott said
they had to establish a tanker shuttle and
2000-gallon tanker trucks continuously
filled the fire engine pumpers working at
the scene.
In addition to Northville City Fire
Department, Salem Township, Lyon
Township, Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor
Township, Pittsfiled Township and
CantonTownship providedmutual aid at
the blaze.
Ott said he was not yet aware of any
probable cause and there were no
reported injuries.
Northville Township Supervisor
Robert Nix was at the scene of the fire.
The landfill was not affectedby the fire.
Photos by Northville Township Trustee Fred Shadko
Accidental meeting
Imagine the surprise of Donna Slemp last Thursday morning when after hearing
a loud noise she opened her front door to find a car about 7 feet from the entry-
way to her home. Slemp and her family have lived on Canton Center Road
between Joy and Ann Arbor for more than 23 years and have been wary of
speeding motorists for most of that time on their unpaved section of the roadway.
Slemp said that a lot of people fly down the road at excessive speed but this is
the first time she remembers a car actually going airborne. The motorist, who lost
control of the car and reportedly stepped on the gas rather than the brake, went
into the air, and destroyed the Slemp family mailbox before coming to rest in the
front yard, upside down. Slemp said the area is particularly dangerous as the
road is located between the high school, an elementary school and a middle
school. “We've asked the township for more signage or control of speeders,” she
said, “and the neighbors call the police all the time.” There were no injuries
reported in the accident.
