No. 49
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
December 8 – 14, 2016
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
The next greatly anticipat-
ed Star Wars movie "Rogue
One" will hit Thursday Dec.
15 and tickets are already on
sale for the film to be shown
at the Phoenix Theatre in
Wayne.
See page 4.
The Man Who Shot Liberty
Valance is the current pro-
duction at Tipping Point
Theater in Northville and
will continue through Dec.
18.
See page 5.
Vol. 131, No. 49
Vol. 69, No. 49
Vol. 69, No. 49
Vol. 16, No. 49
Members of the Romulus
City Council and Planning
Commission put their heads
together last week to talk
about a vast tract of undevel-
oped landwith a lot of poten-
tial.
See page 3.
Vol. 131, No. 49
Vol. 69, No. 49
Vol. 69, No. 49
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The "All American
Holiday Decorating Contest"
is now under way in
Westland and will continue
until midnight on Saturday,
Dec. 24.
See page 4.
Canton police continue to
investigate two instances of
sexual assault against
women that took place last
week at a local fitness center
onHaggertyRoad.
See page 5.
Vol. 16, No. 49
State Rep. Lauren
Plawecki (D-Dearborn
Heights) who represents
Inkster took the official oath
of office from Michigan
Supreme Court Justice
BrianZahraNov. 24.
See page 4.
There are no plans to
replace Plymouth Township
Parks and Grants Director
Mike Mitchell who reported-
ly resigned last week after a
prolonged absence.
See page 2.
Jesse Marcotte has been
appointed to the Belleville
City Council to complete the
term of Kim Tindall. Tindall
resigned from the council to
take a jobwith the city.
See page 3.
During an informal discus-
sion at the meeting of members
of Plymouth Concerned Citizens
last week, newly-elected
Township Supervisor Kurt
Heise, Clerk Jerry Vorva and
Trustee Gary Heitman admitted
that their first few days in office
have been fraught with chal-
lenges left by their predecessors,
including nearly $1,100,000 in
funds that cannot be located.
Heise told the assembled
membership of his frustration
and that of the other officials
who had only been on the job for
six days at the time of the meet-
ing. He discussed some of the
specific problems that he,
Treasurer Mark Clinton and the
others had encountered. Heise
explained that the new officials
discovered an unusual number
of records and files missing. He
theorized that the records may
have been digitized but said the
new officials found many empty
file drawers and records
binders.
“All roads when looking for
data appear to come to a dead
end.”
The financial accounting
should have been easily accessi-
ble through a $219,275 account-
ing system approved by the
board of trustees in 2015. The
computer program, from BSA
Software of Bath, was purchased
to replace the aging 22-year old
financial management system at
the urging of defeated 20-year
TreasurerRonEdwards.
Edwards told the boardmem-
bers that the new system would
cover all financial aspects of
township operations such as
property taxes, special assess-
ments, utility invoicing, accounts
receivable and payable func-
tions and even dog licenses. The
new software accounting system
was to handle all financial
reporting and management with
the exception of payroll which
would be handled by ADP pay-
roll services, according to
Edwards.
Federal auditors from the
Department of Justice (DOJ) in
the 2015 audit summary of the
equitable sharing programin the
township found internal control
weaknesses and highlighted
Edwards' claim that a new soft-
ware system would provide
remedial accounting for the
drug forfeiture program.
Edwards said at the time it
would take nine months to get
the system installed and train
employees.
According to Heise, the new
BS&A Accounting System, tout-
ed by Edwards and former
Supervisor Shannon Price as
being the solution to complete
access to everything while the
two sought board approval for
the purchase, is not yet fully
functional and access for
employees is a problem. Most
employees are only able to com-
plete very limited tasks and are
not fully trained.
“It's been designed by the
prior administration in a way
that doesn't comport with the
way computer systems operate
See
Cash,
page 2
The death of well-known
and revered Northville
Township Trustee Marvin Gans
is being mourned throughout
the area.
A tireless advocate for recre-
ation and historic preservation,
Mr. Gans served more than two
decades on the Northville
Township Board of Trustees.
Mr. Gans retired from
Schoolcraft College where he
was an administrator.
A 49-year resident of the
township, Mr. Gans was re-
elected in November to his
sixth 4-year term on the board
of trustees. He had previously
served on the township plan-
ning commission for more than
30 years. Mr. Gans also served
on the township economic
development and land acquisi-
tion committees.
“Marv was very special to
this community,” saidTownship
Treasurer Margie Banner in a
prepared statement. “He devot-
ed much of his last 40 years to
public service for our township,
as planning commissioner and
trustee. He was more than that,
however. He spent years with
other volunteers fundraising
for parks and recreation to
improve amenities for the
youth of our township.”
A memorial service for Mr.
Gans is planned for 3 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10 at First
United Methodist Church, 777
East Eight Mile Road in
Northville.
Visitation will begin at 1:30
p.m. prior to the services.
All roads when looking
for data appear to
come to a dead end.
”
Living worship
Church presents annual
Living Nativity display
An annual Christmas tradition in
Canton Township will include a new
twist this year.
The Living Nativity, a 15-minute out-
door walking tour depicting the story of
Christmas will offer translation in
Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish, and
Albanian.
"This is a way members of our con-
gregation who are multi-lingual can
show some hospitality to others who
share their culture of origin. We'd love
for more people in our diverse commu-
nity to hear the Christmas story in their
native tongue," said Scott Petersen,
associate pastor at FriendshipChurch.
The lighted, outdoor walking path
passes through scenes of costumed
characters of shepherds, angels, wise
men, and the manger scene. Don
Fraser of Real Life Farm has provided
the sheep, goats, donkey and calf. This
year, for added realism, a camel named
Humphrey will join the cast from his
home in Grand Rapids. Scenes are
added and changed each year provid-
ing a new experience for people who
have attended in the past, Peterson
said.
There is no reservation or registra-
tion required. Guests can visit the
scene any time during the evening. For
those with mobility issues, a golf cart is
available to enjoy the tour.
The free event will take place from
4:30-8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18 on the
church grounds at 1240 North Beck
Road, one half mile south of Ford
Road.
Don Howard
Staff Writer
New board says $1.1 million missing
Humphrey the camel will join the cast of sheep, goats, donkey and calf, along with authen-
tically garbed humans for the annual Christmas nativity scene at Friendship Church.
Memorial service Saturday for long-time
Northville Township Trustee Marvin Gans
Marvin Gans
