Downtown Newsmagazine | Birmingham/Bloomfield by Downtown Publications Inc.

CustomerECRWSSPostalEDDMPRSRTSTDU.S.POSTAGEPAIDROYALOAK,MI48068PERMIT#792 DOWNTOWNPUBLICATIONS.COM OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL 23-24 | METRO INTELLIGENCER 86-87 THE BATTLE TO CLEAN UP CONTAMINATED SITES IN STATE, COUNTY ENDNOTE: THE OAKLAND COUNTY MASS TRANSIT BALLOT ISSUE SEPTEMBER 2022

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Baldwin House parking scam; BSD director ongoing interviews; mass transit millage for Oakland; filings for school boards; senior service millage; charter change in Birmingham; tax for safety path program; sale of Townsend; search for new retail consultant; plus more.

A recap of select categories of crime occurring in the past month in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills, presented in map format.

DOWNTOWN09.22

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State officials estimate there are over 24,000 contamination sites in Michigan, including 900 sites in Oakland County — 37 sites which lie in the Birmingham-Bloomfield area. Unfortunately, the state is running out of funds to clean them all up.

CLEANING35UP TOXIC SITES IN MICHIGAN

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LOCATORCRIME

Like father, like son; one family legacy falls; the Maddock influence in the 11th congressional district; Dixon running mate and the loss of funding; competing GOP conventions; plus more.

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DOWNTOWN09.22 79COMMUNITYHOUSE CEO/President of The Community House, William Seklar, describes non-profit organizations which use The Community House. 86METROINTELLIGENCER Gigi Nichols provides readers with quick takes on what is happening in the world of food and drink in the metro area. 90ENDNOTE Downtown Newsmagazine offers its opinion on the mass transit millage that will now appear on the ballot this November, plus we offer our thoughts on the importance of residents being part of an informed electorate. FACES 28 Latresha and Marc Howland 46 Ali Hoxie 76 Karen Binno Akouri 83 Andrew Trunsky 46 ALI HOXIE COVER Design by Chris Grammer from original photo by Andrianocz | Dreamstime Photo by Laurie Tennent

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Publisher David Hohendorf News editor Lisa Brody News staff/CoNtributors Hillary Brody Anchill | Dana Casadei | Tracy Donohue Kevin Elliott | Stacy Gittleman | Austen Hohendorf Grace Lovins | Jennifer Lovy | Jeanine Matlow Gigi Nichols | Bill Seklar PhotograPhy/CoNtributors Laurie Tennent | Mackenzie O'Brien | Chris Ward Laurie Tennent Studio advertisiNg direCtor David Hohendorf advertisiNg sales Mark Grablowski graPhiCs/it MaNager Chris Grammer offiCe 124 W. Maple, Birmingham MI 48009 248.792.6464 DOWNTOWN NEWSMAGAZINE GOALS/MISSION The personnel at Downtown Newsmagazine bring a special commitment to the publishing effort, reinvesting in the local communities and working to make sure the Birmingham/Bloomfield area reaches its highest potential. Our mission dictates that we strive each month to provide a solid news and advertising product that local residents look forward to reading. Our goal is to build a community of informed citizens through the efforts of our passionate team. We are innovators producing products that go well beyond what others offer. DISTRIBUTION/SUBSCRIPTIONS Mailed monthly at no charge to most homes in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills. Additional free copies distributed at high foot-traffic locations in Birmingham/Bloomfield. For those not receiving a free mail copy, paid subscriptions are available. To secure a paid subscription, go to our website (downtownpublications.com) and click on “subscriptions” in the top index and place your order or scan the QR Code here. INCOMING/READER FEEDBACK We welcome feedback on both our publication and general issues of concern in the Birmingham/Bloomfield community. Opinions can be sent via e-mail to news@downtownpublications.com or mailed to Downtown Publications, 124 W. Maple Road, Birmingham MI 48009. If you are using the mail option, you must include a phone number for verification purposes. BIRMINGHAM | BLOOMFIELD CONFIDENTIALOAKLAND oaklandconfidential.com INTELLIGENCERMETRO metrointelligencer.com THREATENEDPLANET threatenedplanet.com NEWSMAGAZINEDOWNTOWN downtownpublications.com Dancing Fish in front of Quarton Lake waterfall. Sculpture by James Clover.

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Election season is kicking into high gear, and if you’re worried about our ability to preserve a livable climate, this is a time ripe with opportunities to make your voice heard. As members of Congress run for reelection – and as opponents campaign to unseat them –candidates make themselves more accessible in order to get in front of as many voters as possible. Town hall meetings, campaign events and online forums will be popping up throughout the country from now until November. More than ever, politicians are listening very attentively to their electorates’ concerns and making pledges to address them. Many issues are competing for their attention –inflation, high gas prices, gun violence, the war in Ukraine – but there are reasons why climate change is a critical issue in this election: It’s hot out there, and climate change – caused by heat-trapping emissions pushing temperatures higher – is increasing the severity and frequency of heat waves. Of all the weather-related deaths in the U.S. each year, heat is the biggest killer. Lake Michigan’s temperature was measured at 75.6 degrees on July 9, setting a 26 year record high and even Up North in Traverse City, the temperature stayed above 87 degrees for 11 days this summer. Wildfires no longer have a season; they happen year-round, fueled by climate changeinduced heat and drought. Besides millions of acres burned every year and billions of dollars in damage, smoke from these fires makes people sick and sends them to the hospital. Michigan is not immune: in mid-July a wildfire got within a mile of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Heavier rainfall, a result of warmer air holding and releasing more water, and changing weather patterns lead to more flooding that causes the kind of damage recently seen in metro Detroit neighborhoods. As more and more Americans connect the dots between extreme weather disasters and climate change, Congress has come under pressure to pass climate legislation. We find tremendous hope in the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” which is the long-hoped for version of the BuildBack-Better Act containing provisions for reducing carbon emissions 40 percent by Concerned2030.citizens here in Birmingham know that more will be needed in the next Congress to meet our commitment on emissions reductions. To make that happen, lawmakers need to get the message that climate action must be a priority. With the possibility that one or both chambers of Congress could flip in this election, bipartisanship will be the key to further progress on climate change. Advocates, therefore, must engage with lawmakers from both parties.This is where the people need to show up… literally. We need to show up at town hall events to share our concerns about climate change and ask what those seeking our vote plan to do about it. We need to show up at campaign events to tell incumbents and challengers that we’ll support those who prioritize climate change and back strong solutions. We need to show up, most importantly, at the polls in November, because whether or not you vote is public record, and politicians only care about the concerns of constituents who actually vote.Pushing the climate issue during election season doesn't simply affect who ultimately wins that election. In fact, many races are already considered “safe” for one party or another. Instead, it's about making sure that every candidate, from any party, understands this critical issue and will prioritize solutions if and when they are elected. By showing up now, we can lay the groundwork for ambitious climate action in the next Congress.

Detroit Metro North Chapter Madeleine Para Executive Director Citizens Climate Lobbby New granddaughter letter David Hohendorf's open letter to his new granddaughter (From The Publisher/July) was timely, superb in scope and praiseworthy. I will share this with our ten grandchildren.

INCOMING Climate critical 2022 issue

Jim BirminghamCallaghan Advice for granddaughter A friend forwarded to me your publisher's July column in which he gave advice for his new granddaughter. Very moving piece and something that I have passed on to others.

Tom Janson Troy

Dr. Annis CitizensBirminghamPrattClimate Lobby

DIXON WHITMER BISHOP BOLGER LEONARD BURTON

downtownpublications.com DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 23 OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL Oakland Confidential is a periodic column of political gossip/news, gathered both on and off-the-record by staff members at Downtown Newsmagazine. We welcome possible items for this column which can be emailed to: OaklndConfidential@DowntownPublications.com. All sources are kept strictly confidential. The gossip column can be viewed at OaklandConfidential.com where you can sign up to receive updates via email. MIA: Now that the dust has settled after the state primary election, there are two big questions circling around GOP cliques, with the primary one being, where is GOP gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon? The Norton Shores talk show host, who previously worked in her family’s manufacturing business, has seemingly gone on August vacation – not a good sign in a race where a segment of the Republican voters have not yet come around to supporting her, noted one Republican political consultant, because Dixon’s primary backers are former national education secretary Betsy DeVos and family, who worked against state legislators in the primary who are aligned with former President Donald Trump. “Their preferred candidate was Ryan Kelley or Garrett Soldano, and they haven’t come around to Dixon – but at the end of the day, they won’t support Gretchen Whitmer. Some may do a write-in protest vote. But Tudor Dixon can’t afford to lose any Republican voters.” Whitmer’s side is defining Dixon with ads using her own anti-abortion clips – and Republicans are getting concerned that she is not redefining herself. Some expect the next Democratic line of attack to make her out to be the one responsible for her father’s business going under. Word is The Republican Governors Association has made it known that they will not be putting money into the Dixon race — they have “better use for the money” because they don’t see this race as winnable.

“The point of a political party is to win elections and if the GOP does not straighten out quickly, they will never win a statewide election in Michigan after this,” said a Republican political consultant.

WHO’S ON SECOND: The next big “who dunnit” in election circles is who will be the Tudor Dixon choice for lieutenant governor? Names swirling include former state Senate Leader MikeBishop (R-Rochester), former Speakers of the House Jase Bolger (R-Kalamazoo), who told a top Republican he’s not interested, and Tom Leonard (R-DeWitt), who lost out to Matt DePerno for attorney general candidate. Those in the know doubt Bishop would take the job, both recognizing the writing on the wall running against a strong incumbent as well as “it’s hard to see Mike take a job that is a number two, that is titular.” “Why would he waste three months of his life,” asked another. But non-legislative names are also running rampant, including former Piston Vinnie Johnson, who said he’s definitely not in play, and ex-NBA player Willie Burton of Bloomfield Hills, who allegedly has voted Democratic, but now is switching sides. Big donors have made it clear they will not write checks if she chooses Burton. The decision will come down at the GOP state convention August 27 – and no matter who Dixon chooses, party delegates can reject the choice up to three times, with the fourth time, if there is not a consensus, being turned over to delegates, according to a Republican strategist. While it’s never happened before, he thinks it could this year. “You have the far right wing of the Republican party having outsize influence of what the Republican party will be in November. If they pick someone far, far right, it minimizes their success in the general election.”

“There’s no one I’ve talked to in the party who thinks we can win this

BACK IN OAKLAND: Hillsdale and Macomb are not alone when it comes to divisions in the Republican party. Take for instance the mid-August meeting of the 11th District Republicans to name delegates and alternates for the upcoming state convention at the end of August. When they gathered, observers said, a new, far-right contingent basically took over the meeting, withholding delegate/alternate status to many of what some called the “establishment Republicans,” which included some current and past public officials. We’re told that even Oakland GOP bigwig Rocky Raczkowski had to struggle to be recognized as an alternate. One observer laid the blame at the feet of Milford-based state Rep. Matt (Mad Dog) Maddock (husband of state party co-chair Meshawn Maddock), who this consultant said had solicited people to be present at the meeting in his ongoing effort to seem like an influential big shot in the party. But another Republican at the meeting dismissed Maddock as not having much influence at all. So the question is, what drew the radical right meeting attendees?

24 DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 09.22 MADDOCKLEVIN

SEEING DOUBLE: The “dys” in dysfunction in the GOP is particularly highlighted in Macomb and Hillsdale counties, where local conventions split in two, ending up with literally dueling meetings as fighting factions could not agree on who is in charge to represent themselves. In Macomb, combatting convention meetings were held in Warren and Shelby Township, where one was led by current county party Chairman Eric Castiglia and the other by former county party chairman Mark Forton. In Hillsdale, the executive committee of the Hillsdale County Republican Party tried to keep roughly 70 delegates they considered “disavowed” out of their county convention, including Senate Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) where they then set up an “alternate” convention in the parking lot. “What you’re seeing is the extreme party and the really extreme party, and anyone who’s a neverTrumper is gone from the party,” explained a Lansing-based political consultant.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: As Congressman Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Township) was in the final days of his unsuccessful campaign to rout fellow Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-Waterford) to become the Democratic standard bearer for Oakland County’s 11th congressional district, came an article by The New Yorker which focused on a few congressional staffers who “broke from a tradition of deference” and staged an unprecedented sit-in at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office, demanding action on climate change.

The article articulates that it has long been customary for aides to “not exist,” meaning to work to support their boss and not express their own opinions, in essence, toiling in the background. Saul “is one of several Democratic staffers who spend their free time organizing their progressive colleagues, through both formal channels (the Congressional Progressive Staff Association, the Climate Left Organizing Coalition) and less formal ones (happy hours, group chats),” the article says. Saul is also one of the organizers of Congressional Workers Union, which is working to unionize the small congressional offices in order secure better pay, safer working conditions and dignity on the jobs. Can it be a coincidence that working to unionize congressional workers in the last couple of years has been an urgent priority for Andy – one which he sponsored and was able to bring to a floor vote this May, with Democrats prevailing, 217-202. It’s unlikely to pass the Senate – but it did prompt Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to announce that minimum pay for staffers would be $45,000 as of September 1. Thanks, dad.

COMPETITIVE BATTLE: The battle lines are really heating up on the western side of the state as former Oakland County Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin shifts her sights and talents to Lansing and the new 7th district due to redistricting. Slotkin, a Democrat currently in her second term representing Rochester, Rochester Hills, Holly and other northern Oakland communities as well as Livingston and Ingham counties, is a former CIA operative who did three tours of duty in Iraq, followed by stints at the Pentagon and Department of Defense under former Presidents Bush and Obama. Her Republican opponent, state Sen. Tom Barrett (RCharlotte), is an Army veteran who served in Iraq, Kuwait, Guatanamo Bay and the DMZ. In 2021, he proudly earned the most conservative voting record in the state Senate. After Slotkin voted to approve tax subsidies which will make possible a new General Motors electric car battery plant in the district, Barrett voted against the deal five times –and they’re both using their votes to their own advantage. Barrett is calling Slotkin a “Queen of Corporate Welfare,” in emails, asserting that “incentives don’t work.” Slotkin, who since her first race has disavowed money from corporate PACs in fundraising, slapped back, stating, “While Slotkin was pressing to pass the CHIPS Act and keep manufacturing in Michigan, Barrett was voting against a new manufacturing plant and thousands of good-paying jobs in his own backyard,” noting the legislation will “support 5,000 good-paying auto jobs in mid-Michigan.” However, she did point out that the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity (AFP) PAC invested $71,000 into the race for Michigan’s 7th congressional district to aid Tom Barrett, part of six figures in new spending. As an FYI, in 2018, Barrett voted to allow PACs and dark money organizations to hide their donors from the government and public disclosure, part of anti-transparency bills around the country pushed by AFP.

The sit-in took place on July 14, a few weeks before Michigan’s August 2 primary and the Senate passed on August 8, by a 51-50 vote, the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes climate change action. The “leader of the pack” of congressional staffers, according to The New Yorker, was none other than Saul Levin, son of Andy – a legislative assistant for Rep. Cori Bush (DMissouri).

year,” said a top GOP honcho. “DePerno is bringing down the party and raising no money.”

TALE OF TWO DYNASTIES: Months ago Oakland Confidential previewed two GOP family dynasties which were being challenged in the August primary. One was the Long family from Commerce of which Oakland County Commissioner Christine Long (12th district) was being challenged by Monica Yatooma. The Long family has a decades-long history in the west Oakland Lakes area. Christines’s husband, Rob Long, had been a township trustee for a number of years and his father, Robert Long, was one of the formative township supervisors who helped bring Commerce into the modern era. Well, Christine survived her challenge, 5,484 votes to Yatooma’s 3,707 votes. Long raised just over $16,000 for the primary race, most of it in the form of a personal loan to her committee, after in the past only spending $1,000 or less on her campaign every couple of years. She spent about $11,000 to win another two-year term, having first won county office in 2002. Yatooma raised $53,000 ($16,000 was a personal loan) and spent just over $29,000 in her losing effort. Also in Long’s favor is the widely known family farm, orchard and cider mill operation – a destination for many local residents in the old and new county district. Not so lucky was Republican Eileen Kowall of White Lake in her bid to remain on the county board to represent the new 7th district. When districts were redrawn this year, Kowall was thrown into a contest with incumbent Republican Bob Hoffman, who pulled off the victory in the August primary. Kowall was at one time a state Representative and her husband, Mike Kowall, has been township supervisor, state Representative and the state Senator from the area. His brother, Rik Kowall, is currently the township supervisor. Eileen Kowall spent $16,000 on this race while Hoffman spent $30,000 after loaning his committee $20,000. Just for the record, we weren’t willing to bet on Long surviving but thought Kowall would make it. Infallible soothsayers we are not.

SLOTKINLONG

“It’s like two rats in a bag fighting. It shows chaos to voters, and it sucks all the oxygen in the air to go out and organize. If you’re fighting other Republicans in September instead of engaging voters – you’re losing.” He said he does not see any place in the future for moderate Republicans in the current GOP. “By the end of the decade, it’s possible the Republican Party will be the Whigs,” a mid-19th century political party that espoused traditional conservatism that collapsed without a strong party platform to campaign upon.

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“LC was constantly hearing me vent about the limited options. We wanted a concept that was not an afterthought; we wanted to make it a main-event product. Ultimately, Breadless emerged out of something we never anticipated. It found us. We wanted gluten-free low-carb options that taste good.” Their experience prepared them to become entrepreneurs. When they lived in New York City, she worked for some of the top marketing and advertising agencies and he was an investment banker on Wall Street. “LC is great at the marketing and storytelling side,” he said. “Marc has the finance and investing world,” she added.

“The challenge was to build something from scratch and there was no other concept we know of specializing in sandwiches made from leafy greens,” said Marc. “We had to figure it out from ground zero, building out the menu, learning how to recruit, train and retain staff and determining all operational procedures and supply chain.”

FACES

“It’s been extremely rewarding. Customers love it and it’s rewarding being able to provide gainful employment,” LC said. “As someone who is Detroit-born to be able to bring a healthy option to Detroit is so rewarding. People tell us, ‘Thank you for being there.’ This whole area deserves options that are good for them and tasty. The sandwiches are full of flavor and you don’t miss the bread.”

They are currently looking to expand in metro Detroit with an ultimate goal to bring Breadless to neighborhoods nationwide.

“We needed somebody who worked in the food industry to really bring it to life,” said LC. They had met Ryan Eli Salter in New York, who brought his culinary background to his roles as co-founder and chief product officer. Their quick-serve restaurant in Rivertown, where the couple also lives, has no bread or lettuce on the menu. Instead, savory sandwiches like Cloud 9 Pastrami and Chardy B with chicken feature premium ingredients wrapped in collard greens and Swiss chard. There are also options for vegetarians and vegans. Warm greens bowls are among the other selections. In addition to pick up and curbside service, local delivery is available through Uber Eats and DoorDash.

They originally tested the concept by partnering with local gyms whose patrons would leave notes asking where to get the tasty sandwiches. Pop-ups and catering followed. Recent catering gigs include the Detroit Lions and the Detroit Football Club.

LaTresha (LC) and Marc Howland Husband and wife LaTresha (LC) and Marc Howland found a way to make healthy food taste great with Breadless, a new sandwich shop – minus the bread. She is the chief communications officer and he is the CEO of the Detroit eatery co-founded by the couple, who met through a friend while in college and have been on a path to success ever since. LC credits Cranbrook Kingswood Schools for shaping her trajectory. “It was a phenomenal experience. I was from Detroit and had a unique opportunity to stay on campus,” she said. LC would go on to Boston University. Marc, who went to Brown University, grew up in Cleveland and the two bonded over being Midwesterners.Bothwouldgo to business school, with Marc earning an MBA from Harvard University and LC from the University of Michigan. Breadless would come from necessity. “It feels like a lifelong manifestation,” said Marc, who grew up eating fast food, with a single mom who had no time to cook. “My body didn’t respond well to bread or gluten and I couldn’t find an onthe-go option – aside from lettuce wraps instead of bread – that actually tasted good,” he said.

Story: Jeanine Matlow Photo: Laurie Tennent

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FIXING TOXIC SITES MICHIGANIN OAKLAND COUNTY, LOCAL COMMUNITIES HAVE THEIR SHARE OF CONTAMINATION BY STACY GITTLEMAN

In 2016, responding to complaints from residents, officials from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued an immediate cease-and-desist order for extreme mismanagement. Onsite, state environmental authorities found thousands of containers of toxic waste in a crumbling building where conditions were so bad it was feared the site would explode and emit poisonous gas into nearby residential areas. The state also discovered the owner, Gary Sayers, had been pouring gallons of chemical waste into onsite makeshift pits that went deep into the ground.

Environmentalists regarded this as a time when Michigan set the benchmark and was leading the country in stringent polluter pay laws.

"Now, stipulations have been narrowed, and in turn, created orphan sites because we cannot identify who is responsible for a specific contaminant release,” Mosher continued. “Under the current law, due care provisions are in place that protect the owner from recrimination if they disclose to the state that their property is contaminated, and the owner knowingly did not cause that contamination. It allows the state and the owner to create a baseline assessment of the property, submit a contamination report to EGLE, and that the property owner does not become liable. The owner of the property is responsible for protecting the public from being exposed. The owner does not necessarily have to clean the contaminants off the site, but there must be onsite mitigation and containment of the contaminant."

In 1995, Mosher said Michigan recodified several statutes to mirror the Natural Resource Environmental Protection Act. This legislation included underground storage tank regulations."Thatchanged ownership liability from a strict one where the owner and operator of a site were responsible for contamination to a causation-based liability scheme," Mosher explained. "This means that the party responsible for the activity causing the release of contaminants is the party who should pay for the response activities necessary to address the risks. Thirty years ago, you could say we cast a broader net of who was responsible for cleanup.

In 1998, during the administration of Governor John Engler, 63 percent of Michigan voters passed The Clean Michigan Initiative (CMI), a $675 million bond program intended to clean up and redevelop contaminated sites, protect and improve water quality, prevent pollution, and among other goals, clean up contaminated sediments in lakes, rivers, and streams.According to a March 2021 audit on the program's progress issued by the Michigan Office of the Auditor General, EGLE was authorized to use $570 million in bonds. As of September 2019, it had issued $532.4 million, expending $543.6 million since fiscal year 1999. To date, the state issued 17 CMI bonds to raise the $532.4 million for EGLE's programs and also issued $105 million of CMI bonds to fund projects within the State Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). In addition to being obligated to repay $637.4 million, the state also paid bondholders $294.6 million in interest. As it stands today, with all that has been spent, as of July

THE EPA COLLECTED A TOTAL OF 353,879 GALLONS OF CONTAMINATED GROUNDWATER FROM THE SITE AND HAULED IT OFF-SITE FOR TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL. THIS METHOD WAS NOT SUSTAINABLE LONG-TERM, AS IT IS BOTH COSTLY AND RESOURCE INTENSIVE. IN 2020, THE STATE LEGISLATURE APPROVED $600,000 IN DEMOLITION COSTS FOR THE SITE. THE EPA PASSED THE BUCK FOR LONG-TERM REMEDIATION TO THE STATE.

One morning in December 2019, drivers commuting along I-696 near Madison Heights began calling in reports that there was a strange green substance oozing onto the highway. It turns out that green ooze was carcinogenic hexavalent chromium. It was leaking from the site of Electro Plating Services, a factory that processed metals like tin, copper since 1967, and had been ratcheting up environmental violations since 1996 for the improper handling of industrial waste.

sites, and means that taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill for EGLE and the EPA to fund cleanups on the abandoned sites. With continued contamination sites continually being discovered, such as those contaminated with forever chemicals, or PFAS, this number is expected to keep going up.

The 1990s marked a shift in the way Michigan regulated polluters, according to Joshua Mosher, assistant director of EGLE's Remediation and Redevelopment Division, charged with the rehabilitation of contaminated properties in Michigan. Additionally, the division handles brownfield redevelopment and manages portions of the federal Superfund program, which is cleaning up 64 contaminated sites, including five sites in Oakland County.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was called in to intervene. Its Emergency Response Branch from March to December 2017 spent more than $1.5 million removing hazardous waste from the business. However, the EPA never placed the site on the National Priority List as a Superfund site. Sayers, in November 2019, was convicted of operating an unlicensed hazardous waste storage facility, sentenced to one year in federal prison, and ordered to repay $1.5 million in restitution for the EPA's cleanup costs.

Though Sayers was brought to justice, directly linking a polluter to a contaminated site, this has become the exception rather than the norm. Over the decades, Michigan's polluter pay laws, once regarded as the strictest in the nation, have eroded and instead were replaced with multi-million bonding measures in the 1980s and 1990s. According to state treasury reports, these funds have now gone dry.

From December 2019 to October 2020, the EPA collected a total of 353,879 gallons of contaminated groundwater from the site and hauled it off-site for treatment and disposal. While effective, this method was not sustainable long-term, as it is both costly and resource intensive. In 2020, the state legislature approved $600,000 in demolition costs for the site from the budget. The building was razed in the spring of 2022. However, the EPA passed the buck for long-term remediation to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), formerly the DEQ. But the site remains low on the agency's clean-up list due to limited budget and staff, and with evidence that the site is clean enough, meaning that any existing chemicals are not in danger of migrating off the site, and there is no imminent threat of contaminating drinking waterAlthoughsupplies.the case of Electro Plating Services is one of the most drastic examples of what can happen when a legacy industrial business goes awry, it is just the tip of a toxic iceberg. EGLE maintains that there are over 24,000 contamination sites in Michigan. From the defunct dry cleaner or gas station up the street where a corroding underground tank may be lurking to the remnants of the long-defunct industrial site on the fringes of town, contaminated areas can be found in every corner of our state. Of these sites – and the number keeps growing, as there are at least 14,000 sites in which there is no connection to a responsible party that can be identified – either it's unclear who caused the contamination or those responsible are no longer alive. These abandoned sites are considered “orphan”

In the early 1990s, Mosher said the state's Michigan Environmental Response Act mirrored a federal environmental regulation program that maintained that any property owner or operator who benefitted from that property was responsible for the contaminant management of that property.

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"We do this knowing that we have taken care of the most egregious risks. We make sure that the safety measures to contain the contaminants remain in place. Maybe, in the long term, when funding is available, the site can someday be

Jason Hayes, director of environmental policy with the conservative-leaning Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said it is time for the state to stop issuing bonds that cost taxpayers millions in interest. There are other funds the state can pull for site cleanup and agrees with the audit that the state cannot rely on costly bond issuances to clean up contaminated sites.

Agreeing with the assessment of the Michigan Auditor General, Hayes reiterates why the CMI was such a blunder.

Another prioritized site in this May 2022 report is the Franklin Village Plaza. Just up the street from the famed Franklin Cider Mill is a 90-year-old structure which houses a variety of small shops. Nearby is a lot where a Mobil gas station, dating back to the 1930s, once stood. On March 6, 2018, Franklin Village ordered a mandatory evacuation after toxic fumes were detected. MDEQ contracted a clean-up team to rip up the floor in a tailor's shop, uncovering a longabandoned tank half-filled with a toxic, cancer-causing solvent.In2021, EGLE spent $280,226 on cleanup and monitoring of the sites, and the agency plans to close out operations there in 2028. The shuttered Mobil station is under remedial investigation for a potentially leaking underground tank. Funds to this project were allocated at $164,670 in fiscal year 2021, and $322,347 in fiscal year 2022. EGLE expects to complete the project by 2025.

Village of Franklin Administrator Roger Fraser said when state inspectors came to the site, they discovered on the property an underground tank that at one time contained some toxic acidic chemical, but it was empty. There were also some petroleum-based contaminants from the Mobil station. The soil and groundwater around the site were also tested for contaminants and none were detected. This was reassuring news, Fraser said, as all residents in the village are on well water. After the cause of the fumes was deciphered, businesses at the shopping plaza were allowed to resume operations within days.

IN THE EARLY

By May of 2022, Madison Height's Electroplating Service was prioritized and made the list. The total allocations for that project for 2022 are set at $3,343,079, with project completion slated by Echoing2030.Epkey's observation of the lack of boots on the ground to expedite cleanup efforts, Mosher explained, "In southeast Michigan alone, we only have one office for four counties. In any year, project managers have around 400 sites that they must mitigate, and they are not getting the resources they need to address all the issues. We keep on top of the sites that need the most attention. But we have remediated many sites around the state that are in the winding down phase and will just require some routine monitoring to confirm that contamination is either removed or fully managed and contained."

"EGLE continues to monitor the air quality at the plaza building, and there's been no reoccurrence of any kind of fumes," said Fraser. "The groundwater that flows underneath the plaza and towards the Franklin River, which is a tributary to the Rouge River, also continues to be monitored. We accept EGLE's reports that there is no threat to either the wells or the air quality of any of the buildings downtown. So, we're functioning accordingly."

thoroughly cleaned, but honestly, we cannot bring a site to where it was before it was contaminated unless we have the right funding and resources."

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE

2020, the audit states that there were 14,539 identified prioritized sites on EGLE's Environmental Cleanup and Redevelopment Program. Of these sites, there are 274 priority sites where CMI funding will run out before cleanup will either be started or completed. They include 35 unfunded sites, 47 contaminated sites that have been placed on funding hold midway through a project cleanup, and 192 sites where CMI funding will be exhausted before a project's completion or during the monitoring phase of a completed project. About 15 sites in Oakland County fall into this category.

MIRRORED A FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION PROGRAM THAT MAINTAINED THAT ANY PROPERTY OWNER OR OPERATOR WHO BENEFITTED FROM THAT PROPERTY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTAMINANT MANAGEMENT. ENVIRONMENTALISTS REGARDED THIS AS A TIME WHEN MICHIGAN LEAD THE COUNTRY IN STRINGENT POLLUTER PAY LAWS.

Mosher said sites where contamination is contained but remains on site remain on the inventory list just so the state can keep track of the site in the future.

"The Mackinac Policy Center tends to push back on government spending," he said. "The CMI was a bad example on (how to fund environmental cleanup). Using bonds for such a project should never again come into consideration. Money should have been appropriated from the state budget, which 1990S, THE STATE'S MICHIGAN ACT

In May of 2022, EGLE's fiscal cleanup funding report was submitted to the state House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Natural Resources and EGLE and the state budget office. EGLE Senior Deputy Director Amy Epkey stated that there are now more than 16,000 sites where EGLE knows hazardous substances have been released, but with limited funds and personnel, the agency can only prioritize up to 400 sites at any given time. Additionally, there are more than 6,800 sites with underground storage tanks that have had more than 8,700 confirmed releases. Risks to human health and the environment from these releases continue to be monitored and evaluated and the risks remain unknown. According to the report, the state spent $53,615,643 on contaminated site cleanup efforts for fiscal year 2021, with $167,793,479 allocated for fiscal year 2022. The list includes 80 sites in Oakland County that range from landfills, automotive, appliance repair, and dry cleaning services, and the Oakland County International Airport in Waterford.

In Oakland County, as statewide, Mosher lamented that the biggest challenge EGLE faces lies not only in inadequate funding but having enough personnel and finding the right contractors to clean up and monitor each site. Many need years, and maybe a decade, of monitoring and testing after being placed into the state's contaminated site inventory.

Multiply cleanup sites like the case in Franklin Village by the thousands, and it is easy to understand why right now, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury, there is no more bonding authorization under the CMI. What's more is that the department of treasury also reported there is $136.8 million in principal still outstanding for paying back the bond by this October, with debt service running through fiscal year 2040. The CMI debt service is approximately $24 million annually in fiscal years 2023-2026, then drops to approximately $7 million annually in fiscal years 2027-2033 before dropping to approximately $3.5 million annually in fiscal years 2034-2040, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury.Intheir2021 report, the Office of the Auditor General recommended: "Once CMI bond proceeds are exhausted, EGLE should consider the total cost for issuing and paying general obligation bonds as it continues to seek future funding sources."Itadvised alternative funding, such as partnering with private investors, to minimize additional debt burdening Michigan taxpayers.

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THERE ARE ADDITIONAL FUNDS AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR SITE CLEANUP IN MICHIGAN, INCLUDING THE 1996 CLEANUP AND REDEVELOPMENT FUND WHICH USES 75 PERCENT OF THE STATE'S UNCLAIMED BOTTLE DEPOSIT REVENUE. FROM THIS REVENUE STREAM, THE FUND IN 2019 EARNED $43 MILLION, IN 2020 $32.2 MILLION, AND 2021 $81 MILLION WAS COLLECTED FOR CONTAMINATED SITE CLEANUP.

is what everybody in real life must do. For example, if you are a homeowner and you want to do a bunch of improvement projects while you are paying for your children's college education and you want to buy a new car, you are not going to be able to afford all these things at once. The state needed to prioritize. We agree with the state Auditor General, who found that for every dollar spent on the CMI bond, the state was paying almost 50 cents in interest and other fees. Had the state just appropriated the funds from the general budget, we could have saved $300 million. How many more of these sites could have been cleaned with that money? We just threw it away on Outsideinterest."ofthebonds, there are additional funds available to pay for site cleanup in Michigan. They include the 1996 Cleanup and Redevelopment Fund which uses 75 percent of the state's unclaimed bottle deposit revenues collected under the Michigan Bottle Deposit Law. From this revenue stream, the fund in 2019 earned $43 million, in 2020 $32.2 million, and 2021 $81 million was collected for contaminated site cleanup.

In 2021, EGLE Senior Deputy Director Amy Epkey said money from the bottle bill makes up about a third of the department's cleanupAdditionally,budget.the state in 2004 created the Refined Petroleum Fund as an addendum to the Federal Leaking Underground Storage Tank Corrective Action Fund. Money from this fund comes from fees of one cent per gallon which are imposed on sales of all refined petroleum products. This fund collects on average $60 million per year, and is used for petroleum spill cleanup operations. In addition, EGLE's Cleanup and Redevelopment Program receives over $32 million annually for petroleum-related cleanup activities.

According to a December 2021 U.S. Public Interest Research Group report on the nation's Superfund sites, of those 64 sites, 54 have reported that human exposure to contaminants has been contained, seven sites have insufficient data, and in three human exposure is not under control.Though mostly paid for by the federal government until funding lapsed in 1996, Michigan must match of Superfund site costs by 10 percent and cover all costs of the installed

Created in 1980 in response to releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment, there are currently 64 Superfund sites in Michigan, which ranks fifth in having the most Superfund sites out of all 50 states. An additional 20 sites were previously on the list and have been deleted because all necessary response actions have been completed. There were no additions or deletions in fiscal year 2020.

The most severely contaminated sites are placed on the National Priorities List under the federal Superfund program.

The Rose Township Cemetery Dump, a four-acre site where illegal industrial dumping in the late 1960s resulted in up to 5,000 waste barrels. The state treated tens of thousands of cubic yards of PCB-laden through incineration in 1992. The site's long-term remedy included fencing and excavation of around 250 drums and drum fragments and 10,000 cubic yards of contaminated soils. Construction of the remedy finished in 1989, and the state determined that the removal of the source of contamination had addressed soil and groundwater contamination. The EPA took the site off the national priority list in 1995.

In terms of leaking storage tanks, state records list about 900 sites in Oakland County, 37 of which are in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills. Some of those sites have been cleaned up, a few are listed as sites where the status has been undetermined, while the bulk of the sites call for some short-term remediation and monitoring by the state.

The Springfield Township Dump in Davisburg is a fouracre site where from 1966-1969 industries illegally dumped around 1,500 drums containing paint sludges, solvents, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), oils, and grease. There are 25 residences located within one mile of the site, with the nearest being about 800-feet from the site. The EPA categorized the area as a Superfund site in 1983. Groundwater extraction and treatment system began operation in 1994 after testing revealed that the groundwater aquifer beneath the site, in the path of several residential wells, is contaminated with both organic and inorganic contaminants. The Oakland County Health Department routinely samples a group of nearby residential wells as part of the monitoring for the site. Samples have shown low levels of site contaminants and the health department has restricted groundwater well installations on several properties around the site. Some residents have replaced their own wells as a result of the contamination, but none of the concentrations in residential wells have exceeded applicable criteria to date. Monitoring by the EPA continues through 2025.

remedy. According to EGLE reports, this costs state taxpayers $6 million annually. Since the beginning of the Superfund program, approximately $430 million in federal funding has been committed to Michigan Superfund sites through grants, matched with $44 million in state grants. In fiscal year 2019, more than $8.3 million in federal funds were spent on cleanup actions at six Superfund sites in Michigan with a state match amount of over $928,000. Southeast Michigan and metro Detroit has the most Superfund sites in the state of Michigan. Wayne County has the most, at 111, followed by 65 Superfund sites in Oakland County, and 18 in Macomb County. The most notable Oakland County Superfund sites include: Jones & Laughlin (J & L) Landfill, located in Rochester Hills, Michigan, is a 17-acre site one mile from the Clinton River. A large residential area exists just south of the site across Hamlin Road within 200 feet of the site. Placed on the Superfund National Priority list in 1994, the EPA capped the landfill in 1997 and the site is continually monitored for methane emissions. Though groundwater samplings from the mid- and late-1990s indicated elevated levels of benzene, aluminum, arsenic, iron, lead, and barium, it is located just three miles away from where 1,500 people at the time depended on well water. Hi-Mill Manufacturing is a 4.5-acre site in Highland Township surrounded by the Highland Recreation State Area and M-59. Beginning in 1945, the plant manufactured fabricated copper, aluminum, and brass tubing parts and fittings. Operations included cutting, machining, forming, shaping, and soldering raw tubing and fabricated tubing components. Trichloroethylene (TCE) was used in the degreasing process for many years. TCE is known to harm the immune and central nervous systems, kidney, liver, male reproductive organs, and the developing embryo/fetus. Hi-Hill until the mid-1980's deposited wastewater that contained residues of acids and heavy metals into unlined lagoons on the site from 1946 until the mid-1980s. In 1988, an underground TCE storage tank ruptured and contaminated the groundwater. Classified as a Superfund site in 1993, cleanup work commenced in 1995, and work, including cleanup, groundwater cleaning and monitoring, and completion of onsite work is set for 2025.

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Rogers continued: "PIRG supports legislation that focuses on finding the original polluter, and if that polluter cannot be found, we focus on bringing into existence legislation that preempts a situation where a polluter down the road in the future cannot be identified. We advocate for polluter pay legislation such as what will be found in the Inflation Reduction Act."

Several state senators in Lansing want to see a return of stringent polluter pay laws and have drafted legislation that has yet to receive a discussion on the House floor. In 2021, State Rep. Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor) introduced House Bill 4314, which would require polluters to restore land and water to standards good enough for residential land use or drinking water. Current law requires only that access be limited and Michigan has more than 3,000 sites with restrictions on use of contaminated land or groundwater. The bill was signed by 49 of 109 Michigan House members as co-sponsors. In 2019, state Senator Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) introduced similar legislation."InMichigan, the responsibility of the polluter has been reduced to containment and limiting human exposure," said Rabhi, speaking to Downtown Newsmagazine the day that Tribar reported that it had leaked 10,000 gallons of a five percent hexavalent-chromium plating solution into the Wixom sewer system. The wastewater passes through Wixom's sewage plant before discharging into Norton Creek, flowing to the Huron River upstream of where Ann Arbor draws most of its drinking water.

Rahbi said Ann Arbor is just one example of other communities that have seen their rivers, wetlands and aquifers contaminated by industrial polluters.

Sean McBrearty, legislative and policy director of Clean Water Action, said the CMI was a useful tool but was not large enough to match the ever-expanding list of contaminated sites in need of cleanup attention.

CLEANED

SITES

REMEDIATION

"We've had the case already of the 1,4 dioxane plume in the city of Ann Arbor running into our groundwater,” Rabhi said.

Beyond Oakland County, the most notorious Superfund site in Michigan is the Dow Chemical Plant located in Midland. The plant produced over 1,000 different organic and inorganic chemicals starting in the early 1900s. Direct discharge of these chemicals into the Tittabawassee River and downstream resulted in elevated dioxin levels for decades. Past waste disposal practices at the Midland Plant have resulted in on and off-site contamination that settled in some sediment and built up in some riverbanks and floodplain areas. Off-site contamination extends over 50 miles downstream through the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers and into the Saginaw Bay. Cleanup efforts by the EPA and EGLE are ongoing, and flood events, such as the one the region endured in 2021, are not helping. The Dow site is one of 800 Superfund sites around the nation at risk of repeated flooding.EGLE Deputy Director James Clift said that the Dow Chemical Plant site is the most acute example of what can go wrong when a contaminated site rests on a floodplain, and EGLE cannot pinpoint or predict which specific sites may next fall victim to the next downpour.

"In Michigan, we pay out more to businesses than we are taking in,” McBrearty said. “Clean Water Action has been pushing for revenue solutions that will make everyone pay their fair share (when it comes to polluters) so we can afford the government programs we need."

"And when you add in places contaminated with PFAS, that number is only going to grow," noted McBrearty. "EGLE right now is only equipped with the personnel to partially cleanup a few hundred sites a year. With the number of contaminated sites the state is finding, this model is just not sustainable."McBrearty said budget structuring right now leaves EGLE hamstrung in tackling contamination sites at an aggressive pace and points to taxing businesses and potential polluters as a possible remedy. He added that his organization advocates for an examination of business tax credits offered in the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) program.

An August 2020 analysis by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy reported that the refundable tax credit program offered corporations more than $14 billion in state tax incentives, money that McBrearty said, "These corporations don't need."

With the passage of the recent Inflation Reduction Act, there may be a replenishment of the Superfund coffers, according to Emily Rogers, on staff at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) as an advocate for the organization's Zero Out Toxics campaign. The act includes an oil excise tax as well as a chemical excise tax to fund Superfund toxic waste site cleanups nationwide and will reinstate one of several "polluter pay" taxes that was allowed to lapse in 1995, squeezing off funding to most Superfund projects. Rogers said that over the next 10 years, the reinstated “polluter pays taxes” will provide an estimated $14.5 billion in funding to shore up toxic waste cleanups.

THOSE

"One in six Americans live within three miles of a Superfund toxic waste site," said Rogers, who counts herself in that category from her home in Vermont. "The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act is significant because we shouldn't be holding people who didn't create that pollution liable for the cleanup of pollution, especially when we know that communities are bearing the health burden of being exposed to toxic chemicals at these sites.

"The Dow Chemical Plant rests directly on the Tittabawassee River and floodwaters can redistribute contaminants around the floodplain," explained Clift. "EGLE has monitored, mapped and remapped this site multiple times over its history. Other troublesome sites on floodplains include contamination along the Pine and Kalamazoo rivers, where floodwaters can disturb deposits of PCBs in the sediment of a riverbed."

A FEW ARE LISTED

“Under the current state law, the responsibility of the polluter is to limit the spread of contamination. Paying people who are on well water to hook up to city municipal water is one way to solve the problem, but what that means is that any contamination plume can be just written off to limit human exposure. Are we just supposed to live with the permanent contamination of an aquifer? To me, this is a huge problem and the reason why Ann Arbor is in the state we are in now, that we've had to close many wells. And now, as of today, there's a contaminant plume in the Huron River, where most in Ann Arbor, including those that switched from well to municipal water, get their water supply."

SOME

"We cannot live with contaminated sites. At some point we have to clean them up and bring the drinking water or the water back to drinking water standards wherever it is scientifically possible. It's just a matter of putting the resources in place and getting it done." TERMS OF LEAKING STORAGE TANKS, STATE RECORDS LIST ABOUT 900 SITES IN OAKLAND COUNTY, 37 OF WHICH ARE IN BIRMINGHAM, BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP AND BLOOMFIELD HILLS. OF SITES HAVE BEEN UP, AS WHERE THE STATUS HAS BEEN UNDETERMINED WHILE THE BULK OF THE SITES CALL FOR SOME SHORT-TERM AND MONITORING BY THE STATE.

FACES

“I became homesick for Michigan and moved back to Grand Rapids. No one really tells you that you need to travel the midwest to start a career in news.

Hoxie attended Grand Valley State University in Allendale before transferring to Columbia College Chicago to finish her degree in broadcast journalism with a minor in public relations. During her time in Chicago, she interned at the ABCaffiliate station ABC7-WLS, followed by positions at TV stations in Lima and Toledo, Ohio, and Kansas City, Missouri, before returning to her beloved home state five years ago.

Last year, Hoxie bought a house in Birmingham which she shares with her cat, Lola. She spends her time away from the news working on home projects, working out (“I lift weights during the day”), and reading fiction and “manifesting” books. She loves to spend time at her family cottage in Grand Haven and is grateful to live only a few hours away from her mom. Around town, favorite restaurants to frequent are Cafe ML in Bloomfield Township and Griffin Claw Brewing Company in Birmingham. As for the future, Hoxie is taking life one day at a time. “In the news industry, people tend to jump station to station. I love this community and would love to stay at Channel 7 – growing and improving on what I’m doing every day.”

Upon returning to her hometown, Hoxie worked outside the news industry before an opportunity arose for her in 2018 to work in a part-time, freelance role at WXYZ-TV Channel 7 in Detroit. When a full-time position became available working mornings and weekends, she was hired. Hoxie also does fill-in work for main news anchors on WXYZ-TV and their sister station, TV 20 Detroit.

The enthusiastic traffic anchor taps into her “bubbly energy” when she rises early to be ready for the morning show with Alicia Smith, Keenan Smith, and Kevin Jeanes, which starts at 4:30 a.m. “I love the people I work with – they were all so welcoming. Our team feels like family to me. Alicia is not only my mentor, she’s also like a big sister to me. The crew behind the scenes always challenges me to be better and we have fun.”While it’s difficult for Hoxie to have a social life when working on a morning show that necessitates she go to sleep around 6:00 p.m. to wake up at 2:00 a.m., she has a passion for the news and her work – and is grateful for her high energy level that helps her through the day. “I feel so lucky. It’s said, ‘do what you love’ and I do. My work is a big part of who I am.”

She added, “There’s a peace to settling in, loving your role, and enjoying life. I tend to be a workaholic but am working toward filling my cup outside of work. I just want to continue to grow and take every day in.”

Story: Tracy Donohue Photo: Laurie Tennent

Ali Hoxie Born and raised in Grand Rapids, WXYZ-TV traffic anchor, Ali Hoxie, was interested in two very different career paths and it was her mother who helped guide her toward the news industry instead of social work.

While I’m grateful that my career has taken me to so many places, I’m a Michigan girl and I love our beautiful state,” Hoxie explained.

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The committee charged with finding a new executive director for the Birmingham Shopping District (BSD), a position that has been vacant since early May, will likely present a recommended candidate to the full BSD board at their meeting in September.Nineteenpersons had applied by the June deadline for the position and a committee has been reviewing resumes in recent weeks, according to Jana Ecker, assistant city manger who was named as interim director until the position is filled. The BSD position became vacant on May 3, when Sean Kammer, then the executive director, resigned just shy of one year into his tenure with the city, citing problems with some members of the governing board of the business group. His resignation was effective immediately.

BSD director search nearing conclusion

“Mr. Oh is a member of a board and has not included the board in any of the things he has done – it's indicative of a mindset… he has no respect. That's a problem. His attitude here, they're indicative of a hostility that's very difficult to work with. I'm disturbed that his attitude is so hostile and hopelessly blocked.”

Candidates file for local school board seats

“The Triangle plan hasn't changed in the 2040 master plan. That was what we were trying to convey as inaccurate,” Markus said. “The master plan is a global process. The Triangle plan is a zoning plan. It was merely a repetition in the 2040 master plan. There is a Triangle plan that was adopted in 2008. That's when development standards were adopted. There has never been a Triangle District Redevelopment Plan, as noted in the petition.” Ecker noted that a redevelopment study between 2013-2015 was not about redevelopment, but only about how much parking was needed using TIF money. “It didn't change height standards or ordinances,” she emphasized. “Saying increases in height and zoning – that is not true. That is already allowed since 2007. He's putting his name as a board member to give it weight, and all of the information he's putting out is false. He continued to put it out there after being told multiple times it was false.” Oh complained he had to listened to “these inaccuracies that I am accused of… what is intent, and what was I representing.” As for putting his name on the petition, he said, “I was just giving it the perspective of a resident. If I didn't disclose it would build up distrust.”

By Lisa Brody

M ultiple candidates have filed for openings on the Bloomfield Hills Schools and Birmingham Public Schools boards of education for the November 8 general election. Candidates had until 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 26, to file with Oakland County Elections Division. In Birmingham, two of the seven seats will be open in November.

That assertion was repeated throughout the three-and-a-half hour meeting, as Oh challenged Markus, planning director Nicholas DuPuis, assistant city manager Jana Ecker, and the three-member ethics board themselves, stating over and over again that the city had an “overreach of their interpretation of official documents,” that he began the Change.org petition as “My name is Samuel Oh and I am a member of the Corridor Improvement Authority (Triangle District Development) Board,” as an effort towards full disclosure, and that the city had changed their Triangle District master plan in the 2040 master plan process, despite repeated clarifications that it had actually been approved in 2007 and was only reproduced in the 2040 master plan process.

downtownpublications.com DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 49

Official admonished by ethics board

The advisory opinion was sought by city manager Tom Markus, who noted that Oh is “a fairly new board member, and that while applicants have to sign they have read the city's ethics ordinance, they don't always understand it.” He noted the opinion came about after “some consternation between Oh and some city staff. He did not feel he was getting answers he felt he wanted.”

The Birmingham Ethics Board provided a preliminary advisory opinion against Samuel Oh, a member of the city's Triangle District Corridor Improvement Authority, on Tuesday, August 16, for misusing his title on a Change.org petition asking residents to sign for changes to the city's Triangle District Master Plan, along with disinformation,disseminatingnotablyafter city staff repeatedly provided him with the correct information.

Kimberly Whitman and Adrienne Young, both first elected in 2017 for a six-year term, have seats that are expiring. Whitman has filed to run for re-election, while Young has not. In addition to Whitman of Beverly Hills, running for an open six-year seat are Art Jack of Southfield; Samuel Oh of Birmingham; Bridget Schipper of Birmingham; Nicole Spencer of Beverly Hills; and Colleen Zammitt of Beverly Hills. In Bloomfield Hills, there are 10 candidates running for four open seats, with current trustees Howard Baron, Lisa Efros and Jennifer Matlow not running for re-election for a four-year term. Current trustee Paul Kolin, a former board president who was removed by his fellow board members in September 2021, following actions he independently took in his position to inform police of a list of parents posted to Facebook by another parent who are allegedly “anti-maskers,” has filed for another term. Also running for a four-year term are Jim Baker of Bloomfield Hills; Lindsay Baker of Franklin; Sandeep Chada of Bloomfield Hills; Tareq Falah of Bloomfield Hills; Nicholas Haugen of Bloomfield Hills; Meagan M. Hill of West Bloomfield; Harris Ng of Franklin; Carolyn Noble of Bloomfield Hills; and Lauren Wilson of Bloomfield Hills.

“There have been other situations when public officials have been frustrated with other public officials, but you have to get along. Words matter,” Robb said. “As a public official, you have an obligation to make sure that statements of fact are in fact, facts. People see you as an official and maybe you were mistaken on some things you put in your petition, but that can cause mistrust of city officials by the public.”“Despite his disagreement, he disseminated some false information,” board member John Schrot Jr. said. “I found it disturbing that Mr. Oh referred to the city as 'the other side' – we're supposed to be working for a common ground… disseminating of false information is even worse than the use of the title. It might have been innocent, but it was dangerous. And strongly converse to the code of ethics. City staff attempted to address this issue, and rightly so, filed the request for an advisory opinion.”

“If you're so concerned (about the purported master plan), why didn't you bring this up with your own board?” Robb asked. Oh said it was because he believed his interpretation is right. “You're very adamant about being right,” Fierro-Share noted. “Errors are made. Making a mistake isn't unethical. Where's it's an issue happens when we're not open to understanding.”Intheirdiscussions, board members noted that “even volunteers (to boards and commissions) are city officials.”

The committee reviewing applicants includes the chairpersons of four standing committees of the BSD, along with Ecker and the manager of human resources for the city.Ecker told the government board of the BSD on Thursday, August 4, that the committee charged with making a hiring recommendation was working to thin the applicant pool down to four contenders, then by mid-August to trim the number to two finalists who would then be asked to make a 15-minute presentation to the committee, which would also conduct a question-and-answer session, The assistant city manager told the BSD board that the goal was to be able to present a candidate and a recommendation to the governing board in September.

Shrot was assigned to write the draft advisory opinion.

By Lisa Brody

Ethics board member James Robb disagreed, noting Oh never stated he was a resident in his petition, “so how could it be a conflict?” Oh said, upon questioning from board member Sophie Fierro-Share, that even if he had known it was a violation of the ethics code, he would still have used it “because it's unethical not to.”

MUNICIPAL

BELFOR CEO buys Townsend Hotel

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By Lisa Brody

BELFOR USA Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Yellen of Bloomfield Hills has purchased the iconic Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. According to sources, once licenses are approved and transferred from an investor group led by managing partner David Sillman of Birmingham, the sale will be final. The Townsend will remain a hotel, located at 100 TownsendNumerousStreet.sources confirmed the purchase to Newsmagazine.DowntownYellendid not return calls and emails as to purchase price or whether staff will be retained, or if a hotel management operator will be brought in. The Townsend is a boutique hotel located in the heart of the walkable upscale community of Birmingham. Since opening in 1988, it has become renown for its exceptional service and amenities, including an award-winning upscale contemporary restaurant, Rugby Grille, a charming classic afternoon tea, and a variety of catering and wedding services, as well as luxe accommodations.AccordingtoBELFOR's website, “Yellen has built himself a robust reputation for his unconventional management style. As CEO of BELFOR Holdings, Inc. – a $2 billion entity which operates a number of companies including BELFOR Property Restoration, the global leader in damage restoration and recovery services – he carefully watches every penny spent yet doesn’t hesitate to hop on a private plane to visit a sick employee or customer. His rationale? BELFOR is his family.” According to Crain's Detroit Business, BELFOR was sold to a private equity firm in 2019. Yellen had purchased in 2011 the Tam-O-Shanter Country Club in West Bloomfield and he was featured in the Under Boss Show on CBS in 2011.

BSD board searching for retail consultant

The Birmingham Shopping District (BSD) Board of Directors on Thursday, August 4, voted to finalize and issue an updated request for proposals (RFP) as it begins a search for a new retail consultant to assist the city in filling vacant commercial space in the downtown area.

At its May meeting, the BSD board approved an extension of the CC Consulting pact but in June Ciura raised a number of objections with board members, among them that she had not been paid for all of her past work and that she objected to some of the terms of the new contract.Ciura claimed then that past payments from the city did not total $75,000, which is the annual ceiling outlined in the contract. As a result, assistant city manger Jana Ecker, who is the interim director of the BSD, had a member of the city manager's staff review past payments to CC Consulting and it was determined, she said, that the retail consulting firm had actually been paid more than the contract's annual cap had allowed. Ecker then determined that additional payments for past work would not be issued. Ciura disputed the city's findings and then informed the BSD board members that she did not agree with some of the terms of the newly written contract extension that the board had approved. Further, Ciura told board members that she did not think that the BSD governing board appreciated the work she had been doing the past few years. The complaints voiced by Ciura prompted city manager and BSD board member Tom Markus to note that the exchange at the meeting was indicative of the tense relationship that the city has had with CC Consulting in the past. Markus then suggested that the BSD board rescind the latest contract offer it had made to Ciura, which it voted unanimously to do. At its meeting this week, the BSD board approved that the city begin an immediate search for a new retail consultant, although it did allow that CC Consulting would be allowed to also submit a proposal.

An extension of the Ciura contract had been in the works for several months as the city conducted a legal review and adjustment of the past contract terms to more clearly indicate both the requirements that a third party consultant had to meet and the lines of authority and reporting that BSD members and the retail consultant had to follow.

By David Hohendorf

The BSD governing board in June had voted to rescind a one-year contract extension offer with Cindy Ciura of CC Consulting, who has worked with the city the last few years in finding retail firms to join the downtown business community.

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Currently, communities in the county can vote to not provide SMART service for their residents and visitors. Locally, Bloomfield Hills is an optout community, as is Rochester, Novi, and many northern Oakland communities.Thecurrent SMART millage, which was renewed in 2018 for four years, expires at the end of 2022. The millage rate is one mill, although with Headlee rollbacks, levies to residents have been less than the full one mill, so the new countywide millage would be a reduction for those residents who currently have SMART service.

By Lisa Brody

Oakland County has been piloting microtransit across the county, which is an on demand service via an app or by phone, which can take someone to their destination by a vehicle, similar to a car-ride service.

“Senior transit matters,” Woodward said. “Getting patients to health care and workers to jobs matter. It matters that people with disabilities and those without access to other transportation can get to the places they need and want to go. This proposal is an Oakland County solution to improve transit in the county for everyone.”

Markus said that during their meeting, Marzolf and Nichols confirmed they have been charging some of their senior residents $90 for a monthly parking pass in the Chester garage – $40 more than the city charges its monthly pass holders – and they are charging both full pay and low income residents that rate, while receiving the passes for free. They admitted they have been charging residents that charge for years, while never notifying the city of that practice, and never reimbursed the parking money to the city. Simultaneously, they provided employees and contractors with free parking in the structure with the free passes that the city had provided for residents.Markus said, “The city stated clearly that our position is that the 69 parking spaces included in the 1990 Parking Agreement were to be provided free of charge, for the exclusive use of Baldwin House tenants and their guests only, for the duration of the contract term. Mr. Nichols committed to stop charging monthly parking fees to the four low income qualified residents currently paying for the city parking spaces, but did not commit to cease charging all senior residents for the city parking, nor to stop providing free parking in the Chester structure to Baldwin House employees or independent health care providers.

New countywide mass transit millage

“The Parking Agreement clearly states that 'Commencing with the date that a certificate of occupancy is issued for the occupancy of the housing project known as Baldwin House, the city shall provide without charge sixty-nine (69) parking spaces in the Chester Street Parking Structure for the exclusive use of Baldwin House tenants and their guests,” Markus reported.

“This millage provides funding to replace the local millages for these operations out of the total millage,” Woodward said. “It also does funding for new service in the form of expanding new routes and increasing paratransit and microtransit in areas of the county where it does not currentlyParatransitexist.”provides services for seniors to assist them in getting to doctors' appointments, grocery stores, hair salons, and other needs.

In addition, the new millage would provide funding to replace all other local public transit millages, according to Oakland County. The proposed millage dedicates funding of no less than $2 million for the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA) for Orion Township, Oxford and Addison Township, $1 million for the Older Person’s Commission (OPC) Transportation for Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township, and $2 million for WOTA in Highland Township, Waterford Township and White Lake. The millage would also provide additional funding to expand public transportation services across the county. It is estimated that $66 million will be collected in the first year.

“There's been huge success where it's been deployed,” Woodward said. The goal is to expand it throughout the county.

Woodward said that as part of the federal Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, Michigan is slated to receive more than $300 million for public transportation. The caveat is that there is a requirement for a local match.“This provides funding for that,” he noted. “This is an Oakland County solution to improving transit all across the county. This moves the conversation from whether or not transit is available to how do we make transit better for everyone.”

He said the “third bucket” the countywide millage will assist with is with new capital – to replace fleet, allow for technology improvements with the fleet, and to make transit work better overall.

Markus has directed attorney Mary Kucharek to review the 1990 parking agreement and determine if there has been a breach of contract

By Lisa Brody

Markus reported that he and assistant city manager Jana Ecker had met with Tina Marzolf, COO of Baldwin House, and its attorney, Jim Nichols, on July 14, to discuss terms of the agreement between the city and Baldwin House, dated March 26, 1990, in which the city of Birmingham agreed to provide 69 parking spaces free of charge for the exclusive use of Baldwin House tenants and their guests. The parking agreement is for 30 years from date of occupancy, and was issued in 1994, with its term set to expire in 2024. However, it would expire earlier if “Baldwin House ceases to be a 'qualified low income housing project' as defined in section 42(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1988 or otherwise does not qualify under the existing state or federal low-income housing program; or a certain number of units designated for the elderly within Baldwin House are not occupied or available for occupancy by persons over 55 years of age or older.

he Oakland County Board of Commissioners approved placing a public transportation millage question on the November 8 ballot at their meeting on Wednesday, August 10, which, if approved, would replace the current SMART millage at a lower millage amount while providing transportation services for everyone in the county. County commission board chair Dave Woodward (D-Royal Oak) proudly noted the passage of the millage question was approved by the board in a bipartisan vote, 13-7, with Republican commissioners Mike Gingell (R-Lake Orion) and Karen Joliat (R-Clarkston) voting with all the Democrats.Ifapproved by voters, funding from an Oakland County public transportation millage will support current public transportation services in Oakland County, create and extend new routes to connect local communities and increase transportation service for seniors, veterans and people with disabilities. The millage would be levied at a maximum rate of .95 mills (95 cents per $1,000 in taxable property value) for 10 years beginning in 2022 and ending in 2031. There are no opt-out provisions in this millage proposal.

After receiving numerous complaints from residents and their families of Baldwin House in Birmingham regarding senior residents being charged – and overcharged – for parking in the Chester Street parking structure in violation of a 1994 agreement between the city and Baldwin House, Birmingham City Manager Tom Markus has directed city attorney Mary Kucharek to determine if the senior living facility has breached its contract, and if so, to pursue legal action. Baldwin House is a senior living facility located at 200 Chester Street, offering independent living, independent living with assistance, respite stays and hospice service. They have one and two-bedroom apartments. When developed in 1990, they had to offer “qualified low income housing” for a certain number of their units, per federal lawsuits.Inhis city manager's report included in the city commission packet for Monday, July 25, Markus wrote, “In 1990, the city and Baldwin House entered into an agreement that provided 69 parking spaces free of charge in the Chester structure for the exclusive use of Baldwin House tenants and their guests. Complaints were made that Baldwin House was not only charging residents directly for the use of these City provided parking spaces, but were charging residents almost double ($90) the rate that members of the public pay ($50) for monthly parking permits. In addition, complaints were also made indicating that Baldwin House was allowing employees and contract workers to use the parking spaces for free, which is not what the agreement provided for.”

Ms. Marzolf and Mr. Nichols argued that they were charging the tenants the parking fee as a way to distribute the free spaces.”

Baldwin House may face city lawsuit

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Local units of government that do not meet one or more of the minimum requirements must submit a corrective action plan detailing how and when the deficiencies will be resolved. Municipalities are given a year to fix the problem. Kraatz explained issues can cost a municipality like Bloomfield Township “hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.” If issues are not fixed, it could result in the State Tax Commission assumption of jurisdiction of the assessment roll.

Darrin Kraatz, Bloomfield Township assessor, reported to the board of trustees at their meeting on Monday, July 25, that after undergoing a rigorous review of Audit of Minimum Assessing Requirements (AMAR), the township had received a perfect score.

Menu items include salads such as their guacamole greens, kale or farmhouse caesar, garden cobb and super green goddess. Other menu items include warm bowls, from a fish taco bowl and chicken pesto parm bowl to a shroomami bowl and crispy rice bowl. They also incorporate local bowls to locations and patrons can make their own salads with favorite ingredients.

54 DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 09.22 by Baldwin House, and if so, if legal action is required.

“This is big news for us – we received a perfect score – both for Bloomfield Township and Sylvan Lake, because we do their assessing, as well,” he said.

“The city can seek a court order to force the Baldwin House to reimburse all parking fees charged to all Baldwin House residents from 1990 to date,” Markus said if there has been a breach of contract, noting he has requested Kucharek to secure historic, numeric and legal answers as to this issue “and I have directed the city attorney to pursue the necessary legal action to secure compliance with the intent, terms, and conditions of the various agreements related to Baldwin House.”

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AMAR is a requirement of the Michigan State Tax Commission, to determine substantial compliance with the requirements of the General Property Tax Act. Kraatz explained it was reworked in 2015 to analyze assessing, “and this was our year. It's a pretty extensive list. You either pass or you fail. They review to see if you are doing items correctly.”

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Sweetgreen was started on August 1, 2007, two months after three friends graduated from college in Washington D.C. “We started sweetgreen as three college students, Jonathan Neman, Nicolas Jammet and Nathaniel Ru, who were simply looking for a healthier way to eat,” they state on their website. “When we were in school, there were two choices: food that was slow, expensive and fresh – or fast, cheap and unhealthy. We saw an opportunity to create a business where quality was never sacrificed for Sweetgreen'sconvenience.”mission includes a commitment to becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2027 and make every effort towards sustainability. They work closely with food suppliers to help implement industry-leading strategies for carbon minimization. In addition, “We optimize our building materials from construction to furniture, investing in clean energy, and industrial equipment to make a minimal impact. Our restaurants are designed to contribute to a more sustainable future by embodying our values in a tangible way while broadening access to real food across the country.”

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Sweetgreen opened in Birmingham spot Sweetgreen, a popular fast casual salad restaurant originally out of Washington D.C., has opened a local location at 167 N. Old Woodward in downtown Birmingham.

“On any of these decks is there a fall protection scenario? I know the platforms are level with the sidewalk, but is there anywhere where you might fall off? The reason I ask is because OSHA is going to require 42-inch railing for any servers if that ledge is high,” Emerine stated. Clein, Williams and Boyce agreed to leave the maximum height of barriers at 42 inches following Emerine’s comment.

Five-story addition to old post office

“After a trying 2020, the Bloomfield Township Fire Department began to see a return to normal operations in 2021. The number of incidents began to climb back to those seen prior to the beginning of the pandemic. The number of EMS incidents increased as more people became more confident in seeking medical care at a hospital and not focusing on COVID. Unfortunately, 2021 still saw an elevated number of fires compared to the years prior to the pandemic. This can be attributed to more people still working from home and more residents completing building and remodeling projects during this time,” LeRoy said. There were 6,381 calls for service in 2021, a return to 2019 levels, when there were 6,449 calls for service. In 2020, there were only 5,812 calls for service for fire, EMS/rescue, hazardous conditions, false alarms and service calls.There are four fire stations in

Chairperson Scott Clein, reflecting on Boyce’s comments, stated that he is concerned that if changes similar to what Boyce is recommending are continuously added to the ordinance, every single review is going to be different. Clein noted his concern with the height of overhead weather protection is specifically related to outdoor dining decks on the street. Clein proposed adding a specification to that particular section of the ordinance to note it was specific to outdoor dining decks on the street, which all other board members agreed to. In addition to the measurements of overhead weather protection, Boyce expressed concern over the specified height of barriers which define outdoor dining spaces. “I think that 42 inches for a barrier is too high. Forty-two inches is the height of a bar. You won’t even be able to see over a barrier 42 inches high when you’re seated,” Boyce said.Both Clein and Dupuis explained that the existing height specification for barriers is currently 42 inches, and that 42 inches is what is required for platforms in the street. Boyce replied to Clein and Dupuis that the intention is not to encourage solid walls around outdoor dining platforms where you can’t see in or out. Boyce’s concerns also carried over to the indicated height requirements of windbreaks, which are currently required to not exceed 60 inches from the grade. The windbreak requirement, at fivefeet, is too tall, according to Boyce, and a more appropriate measure would be 42 inches. Replying to Boyce’s comments, alternate board member Jason Emerine, filling the spot of board member Bert Kosek during the meeting, asked about Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) height requirements for fall protection.

Board member Janelle Boyce was concerned over the specified measurements of overhead weather protection as well as barriers for outdoor dining facilities. Boyce reflected on a conversation she had with a local business owner who is facing issues with his awning height and fire code compliance.“Wecould, dependent on the storefront and the height of the glass or the situation that it’s up against, we could have occasions where it might make sense to give us a little bit of flexibility within the language to be able to deviate from the eight to 10 [foot height requirements] in the event that someone has a situation where eight to 10 feet doesn’t fit up with how they’ll have to provide the [dry fire] suppression,” Boyce stated.

Fire department call levels are back up

After further discussion, board members agreed to change the ordinance draft to state that temporary windbreaks cannot exceed 42 inches. Clein noted that “temporary” is included because windbreaks are considered an additional element. The board revisited the regulations surrounding the grandfathering of noncompliant outdoor dining facilities.

Outdoor dining rules still under discussion

By Grace Lovins

By Lisa Brody After a significant drop in calls for service in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bloomfield Township Fire Department saw an increase in the second half of 2021, returning to normal levels of calls, Chief John LeRoy told the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees as he submitted the department's 2021 annual report at their meeting on Monday, July 25.

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A proposed contemporary five-story extension to the historic Birmingham post office building will be heading to the city commission for final approvals after a unanimous recommended approval for its final site plan and design review from the city’s planning board on Wednesday, July 27. The five-story addition would be built on the back of the historic post office, which was first erected in 1929. It would replace the on street parking surface lot located on Maple and Bates streets. The addition would have first floor retail along its Maple frontage, two floors of office and two floors of residential.Theproposed addition will include renovations to the parking lot, loading bay area, and dumpster area, according to planning director Nick Dupuis, including mostly back-of-house operations. Since presenting preliminary site plans, the owner of the post office site, Surnow Companies, performed environmental investigations of the soil and updated investigations of the site.Kevin Biddison, Birmingham architect working on the project, made no additional comments to the presentation given to the planning board, other than he is very excited about the proposed addition and would be happy to answerChairpersonquestions.Scott Clein thanked Biddison for putting together and presenting a complete and well done set, and stated he appreciated the efforts regarding the information given to the board.

After the board’s July study session, Dupuis noted three additions to the ‘grandfathering’ section: A sunset date that requires outdoor dining facilities to become compliant after December 31, 2027; a non-conforming facility should be brought into compliance at the time of replacement, moving or renovation; and a facility that is destroyed must be brought to compliance when repaired, reconstructed or replaced. Multiple members of the board expressed their concerns over the section’s language, particularly in using the term ‘grandfathering’ as it reflects permanency, which is not the intention of the“I’mordinance.uncomfortable with the use of the term 'grandfathering.' That’s a zoning term of art that I don’t think applies here. I think the heading is something more like ‘limited continuation of outdoor dining facilities,’ but that’s really for the city attorney and [Dupuis] to discuss. You don’t want to create an expectation for applicants, their attorneys, or judges that we are creating a grandfathered situation which is a near-permanent right to continue,” said board member DanielClein,Share.Share and board member Bryan Williams felt that the discussion on outdoor dining should continue after the city attorney, Mary Kucharek, has reviewed the ordinance draft as well as formulation of the language for the ‘grandfathering’ section that the city commission would be comfortable with.

By Grace Lovins Birmingham Planning Board members continued to work on revisions to the city's outdoor dining ordinance with another study session on Wednesday, August 11, and while it marked their eleventh study session on the ordinance, concerns still remain amongst the board over ordinance language.Afterthe board’s previous study session on July 13, Birmingham Planning Director Nick Dupuis presented the most recent changes based on the board’s discussion. The changes included additional elements to be considered for an outdoor dining facility, such as valet parking and adjacent outdoor dining facilities; regulation on the material composition of the facility, fixtures and furnishings; and restrictions placed on the height of overhead weather protection, such as awnings and umbrellas.

With little concern and critique of the project, the planning board voted 70, with alternate board member Jason Emerine voting in place of board member Daniel Share, to recommend approval of the addition to the post office to the city commission with three stipulations, which are the applicant must provide revised glazing calculations and specification standards that show compliance with the zoning ordinance; planning board approval of a two-foot canopy projection into the W. Maple Road and Bates Road right-ofways; and the applicant must comply with the requests of all city departments.

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“Fire officer development accounted for over 2,200 hours of training in 2021, which is second to fire related training. This training is essential to prepare the future leaders of the fire department,” Matt DeRousse, assistant chief. “The Bloomfield Township Fire Department will experience a significant loss of leadership and experience in the next five years due to retirements, so it is imperative that officer development training continues to expand. Each year, at least one officer attends the Eastern Michigan University School of Fire Staff and Command. This managementoriented program consists of 350 hours of competency-based education spread over 10 months. The School of Fire Staff and Command targets those fire officers destined for senior leadership and prepares them with the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to manage their fire departments.”

60 DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 09.22

LeRoy said Bloomfield Township is part of Oakways, a mutual aid partnership with several other departments in Oakland County. “In Bloomfield Township, we truly have a mutual aid partnership – we give aid as much as we receive,” he said.

MUNICIPAL Bloomfield Township. All together in 2021, there were 88 fires in 2021; 3,495 EMS/rescue calls; 416 calls for hazardous conditions; 1,421 service calls; 488 calls for good intent; 434 false alarms; and 39 dispatch errors.

As for trends the department is beginning to see is a rise in lithium battery fires in houses, cars and garbage trucks from increases in electric vehicles. “The issue is these fires burn so hot, they use a lot of water resources,” he said.

“Telling the stories of our community and educational programming has always been an area of focus for me. Video production has evolved so much since I began my career. I’m excited about making Bloomfield Community Television a better resource for producing the kind of content today’s audience is looking for and helping connect residents to the abundant resources of our community. Right now, I’m most interested in mental health as an area of focus and highlighting the recruiting demand for police and firefighters,” LeZotte said.

Township hires new cable board director By Lisa Brody Carrie LeZotte has been hired as the new director of cable and community relations for Bloomfield Township. LeZotte is a producer and communications leader with public, educational and governmental (PEG) access channel experience, as well as programming work with Detroit Public TV and an award-winning campaign video for Detroit's Mayor Mike Duggan. The director of cable and community relations is responsible not only for producing TV programs and video, but also for all township community relations functions. These include managing and updating the township website; producing the eNewsletter; writing, editing and publishing the quarterly print newsletter; and handling township's social media platforms, including Bloomfield Township government's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, the Bloomfield Community Television Facebook account, and the Bloomfield Township Senior Center Facebook account. LeZotte will also oversee Bloomfield Community TV, which has a highly qualified production staff and a state-ofthe-art studio. Bloomfield Township, through Bloomfield Community Television, provides government and community access programming on Comcast cable channel 15 for residents of Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills. Under a contractual agreement with the Birmingham Area Cable Board, it provides municipal access and government access programming for Birmingham, Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms and Franklin. LeZotte said she started her early video production training at the Dearborn PEG station, and her career includes a decade managing video communications at Comerica Bank, supporting early childhood programming at Detroit Public TV, founding OIC Movies, a database of content in American Sign Language, and an award winning campaign video for Duggan. Her documentary film, Lean, Mean & Green, which tells the story of reimagined industrial cities, was recently awarded the 2022 UN Spirit Award in Poland at the Better Cities Film Festival.

LeRoy reported that in 2021, firefighters completed over 12,000 hours training, which he said is still below pre-pandemic levels.

There have also been a lot more cooking fires, he said, with people working from home and involved in projects, as well as “a huge increase in motor vehicle accidents, due to speed, distracted driving and a lack of courtesy,” LeRoy said.

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By Grace Lovins 220 Merrill Restaurant will be keeping its special land use permit –and therefore itss liquor license – after appearing before the Birmingham City Commission on Monday, July 25, for a requested compliance review. The city commission had approved a special land use permit for 220 Merrill at their meeting on May 9, with three stipulations set in place: all privately owned obstructions such as existing planter boxes and existing hanging planters proposed on the new fence on the east side of the existing patio had to be removed or relocated to private property; city standard tree grates must be installed over the two tree boxes along the adjacent right-of-way; and the applicant must appear before the commission again in July to review for compliance.Planning director Nick Dupuis stated that the stipulations on the special land use permit had been fulfilled over the course of the past few months. He did mention that he, along with various city departments, had visited the location and observed items that needed to be fixed, such as the location of portable signs, placement of a fire extinguisher on the outdoor patio, and fixing the overhang of umbrellas, which were all changes made to comply with city regulations.Dupuisadditionally noted that, while at the time of writing his report for the commission the tree grates had not yet been installed, he visited the restaurant the day of the commission meeting and the tree grates were in place, satisfying city standards and the stipulations surrounding the special land use permit.

to state and

64 DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 09.22 MUNICIPAL 220 Merrill passes land use review

Charter amendment to update procedures

Zaid Elia, owner of 220 Merrill, expressed his gratitude for the commission’s willingness to approve the special land use permit and trusting that the necessary changes be implemented to comply with city regulations.

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The current $6,000 threshold was last approved in 1987, and it requires that any contract for materials, tools, apparatus, equipment, goods and services in excess of $6,000 must have a RFP, be placed on the Michigan Intergovernmental Trade Network (MITN), competitive bidding, and commission review and approval. While that level may have been practical in the mid1980s, it no longer is, and city leaders are asking residents to raise that level to $75,000.According to an explanation of the request on the city's website, “The city attorney’s office conducted a survey of approximately 25 different communities throughout the state of Michigan to determine the threshold for approval of its legislative body. The $6,000 threshold determined more than 35 years ago is far different from $6,000 today. The proposed higher threshold is more relevant in today’s economy while also taking into account the infrequency of changes to the threshold amount. When looking at the total value of spending on purchase orders over the past 10 years, those that are below $75,000 make a up a very small percentage of the total purchase order value.” If approved by voters, the purchasing guidelines will be updated to state the dollar limit for purchases requiring no bids or quotes, purchases where quotes must be obtained, purchases that may still need commission approval, and purchasing limits that will require additional approvals from the city manager, city attorney and the finance director. subject to underwriting guidelines approval. This does not constitute an offer to lend. Not all applicants will qualify for all loan products offered. All loan programs, terms and interest subject federal high cost thresholds. all products available in all states. Other

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and

“I think as a team we’ve heard what everyone is saying and as a group, we listen and we learn and that’s how we make a community better. We’ve certainly listened and we will, have and will continue to improve our properties and 220 is obviously an important landmark in the city and we appreciate the belief and the confidence in us and faith to do these things,” Elia said. Mayor Therese Longe recused herself from comments and voting, claiming her husband’s business relations with the owner of the property.

The city of Birmingham is seeking voter approval on November 8 for a charter amendment to update procedures on handling of purchases andThecontracts.proposed charter amendment would raise the ceiling amount for contracts that are required to go through the request for proposal (RFP) process, competitive bidding, and go before the city commission for approval.

Not

All establishments with liquor licenses must comply with special land use permits to maintain their liquor licenses.Assistant city manager Jana Ecker added to Dupuis’ comments stating that the city has had repeated complaints about the restaurant in the past, so they will continue to keep an eye out for any issues.

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Supportive services provide rides, hours of dementia respite care, hot meals delivered, and safety checks. She said enrichment equals a social connection. “This fall we will have 45 offerings monthly,” she said. The fitness center “is an investment in healthy aging,” Tvaroha said. “It's proven to prevent disease, lower the risk of falls, improvement mental health and well being.”

Senior services millage renewal

“We are very fortunate to have a high-quality center but the related expenses were not known when the millage was first developed. Facilities costs are 34 percent of expenses and are equal to two-thirds of millage revenue,” Tvaroha said. “There is a common misconception that the millage covers all programs and services. It is important to recall that the millage equates to one half of a penny of each dollar paid by taxpayers and covers only 52 percent of operations.”Shesaid the remainder of earned income comes from grants, donations, scholarships, user fees and client copays. Residents of other communities who are interested in programming or other services pay a higher fee than residents.Thebreakdown of funding includes 52 percent, $1,010,000, from the millage; $227,000 from grants and donations, for 12 percent; $250,000 from earned income, 13 percent; the remainder unfunded, 23 percent, $449,108.“Thecurrent operations are not sustainable. According to SEMCOG, a 30 percent growth in 65-plus households is expected in Bloomfield Township by 2045,” Tvaroha said. “With a modest increase, it can help offset cost increases and services.”

After a contentious discussion between the two younger and the more mature board members over the value of spending to maintain the Bloomfield Township Senior Center at the board of trustees meeting on Monday, August 8, a proposal to renew and increase the senior services millage for the November 8 ballot was approved by a vote of 5-2. The proposal before voters will request a renewal of senior services millage of .2273 mills (reduced by required millage rollbacks), which is due to expire in 2024, and to increase the millage by a new .1027 mills, for a total millage rate of .33 mills, authorizing a levy of 33 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. Director of senior services Christine Tvaroha said approval will permit the township to finance continued staffing, equipping and operating of the senior center and providing of senior services, which include adult day care service, transportation service, nutrition service, management service and marketing and outreach services, including consultation projects, a fitness and aquatic center and senior programming.Themillage would be for 10 years. It is estimated that this proposal would result in the authorization to collect $1,673,000 in the first year if approved..

66 DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 09.22

By Lisa Brody

The pandemic caused financial difficulties, as the center was closed for a lengthy period of time, only reopening in recent months. The center, which is about 10 years old, is in need of maintenance, such as parking lot improvements.

“Just as any building, whether the parking lot or an office building, it needs maintenance,” said trustee Neal Barnett. “It's a real asset in the community, and many, many people

The first time a senior services millage was on the ballot, in 2004, it received 53 percent approval from residents; a 2014 renewal request was approved by 80 percent of voters. Prior to the COVID pandemic, the 24,000 square foot center had 70,000 visits annually, with active customers in their 50s through their 90s, she said. Tvaroha said the center has finally been able to return to full staffing.

In a presentation, Tvaroha said that 50 percent of the township's residents are 50 years of age or older; 44 percent of households have someone aged 65 or more. The center offers services and programming for those 50 years and older. “Demand for services will continue to grow as people prefer to age in place,” she said. “Our mission is to enrich lives with learning opportunities, to provide services that support well being and independence, and to build community.”

“If the millage is not increased, what will happen? Our reserves will be depleted by 2028. What then? Do we supplement from the general fund?” asked trustee Michael Schostak. “Now is not the time to request an increase. We are in a recession, yet next year everyone's property taxes will go up five percent. I think we have to prioritize our spending.”

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68 DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 09.22 use it. It took a hit during the pandemic. Many people who live here want to stay here. It's a service that says we value our seniors.” “It's the smallest millage we have, and we get a lot for that,” noted clerk Martin Brook. “If we let it go, it will severely affect the seniors in the community. It's defining who we are as a community and who we want to be. I think it's a good investment. I think the community gets good services from this“Iinvestment.”don'tthinkwe can turn our back on it,” said trustee Val Murray. “The senior center was really hit by the pandemic.”“Whether we're in a recession or not, if we're in a challenging time, it's even more important to have a place for people to come together,” said treasurer Brian Kepes, noting that senior services also provides transportation services. “It may be the only transportation a senior has.” “This is a difficult decision for me. We just know what is to come,” said trustee Stephanie Fakih. Supervisor Dani Walsh noted that it is because of cost savings that she always supports schools and the senior center, pointing out she has never had a child use the school, and only recently is eligible for the senior center, although her mother has benefited greatly from it Schostak reiterated that he wishes they could take it out of the budget instead of asking taxpayers to fund it.

Planners to consider parking requirement

Senior planner Brooks Cowan began the session with a presentation of the proposed amendment to the ordinance, which would ultimately allow the property owner, Doraid Markus, who filed the petition, to offer less on-site parking than what is currently required. However, the language used in the proposal raised concerns with the city's planning division, leading them to not support the amendment as written. Markus has struggled for years with the planning board and city commission over this property and repeated issues with zoning to allow him to access city parking.

Cowan noted that the current language appears to bypass the appeal process of the board of zoning appeals (BZA). Further, it was noted that the parking assessment district has actually timed out – it has been closed since 2009 – so that from a legal standpoint, Cowan said, it is a black-or-white issue and the property cannot be let into the PAD.

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Trustees voted to approve placing the proposal on the November ballot, voting 5-2, with Schostak and Fakih voting against.

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Following a request by the property owner of 479 S. Old Woodward in downtown Birmingham to add his property to the city's parking assessment district (PAD), the Birmingham Planning Board examined changing the current zoning ordinance for D4 properties in the parking assessment district at their meeting on Wednesday, July 27. A proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance would enable properties zoned as D4 in the downtown overlay zone to request a waiver of the zoning ordinance from the city commission. Currently, the property, located at 479 S. Old Woodward Avenue is the only D4 zoned property in the downtown overlay not included within the city’s PAD. Inclusion in the city parking district would mean a property owner would only have to provide on-site parking for residential uses.

“Given the history of the assessment district, the appearance of bypassing the BZA, and the lack of development standards or approval standards, the planning division recommends denial of the ordinance proposal,” Cowan said. Markus' attorney Stephen Estey presented reasoning behind the proposed amendment, stating that the property has the opportunity to lease the first floor to a furniture store, becoming the property’s anchor tenant. However, with the current parking requirements, the property would be short between 40-50 parking spaces. Estey and Markus noted that they are not trying to reopen the PAD in order to be included in it, but only trying to establish a way that would allow Markus to lease his property to a retail tenant without having to receive an appeal from the BZA for the parking spaces the property would desperately be lacking. Estey affirmed to the board that, after review from the city commission, an approved appeal from the BZA would be unlikely. Markus told the board that approval of this amendment would still require the property to gain a special land use permit and site plan and design review from the planning board and city commission. He assured them if either the board or commission has issues regarding parking during that application

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“Parking in the number one busiest deck in town [Peabody], I used to look at that report in the back of every city commission report … Pre-COVID, that deck [on Peabody] would get 85-90 percent, Pierce would be a little less, Park was the number two deck, Chester was the least used deck, and now I'd say it’s 75 percent of what it used to be,” Jeffares said. “I think going forward, even if we look at these reports, the big thing is you might have the same amount of office space but the number of people that do go in the office everyday now, in my opinion, has changed forever. So our old rules of thumb probably don’t work.”

Board members agreed that the proposed amendment is not yet ready for a public hearing, reflecting repeated concerns of the language used in the proposal, but the planning board said it is willing to dedicate the resources and time to conduct a study session for further review on the subject. Board member Stuart Jeffares noted that the rules previously put in place around parking may not be the best application in the special case of Markus’ property.

Ultimately, the planning board suggested to Estey and Markus that the language of the proposal needs to be revised and that the city attorney, Mary Kucharek, should be involved in the process to avoid any legal consequences of passing the amendment.Astudysession for the proposed amendment was scheduled for Wednesday, August 24, where the planning board will discuss the proposal and determine a date for a public hearing.

Birmingham Senior Planner Brooks Cowan noted in the planning board’s review of the site plan and design on June 8 that the one-story hospital was built back in the 1960’s. In apparent need of updates, the proposed veterinary building will allow for the hospital to have additional space and a secondCowanfloor.confirmed that, after the hospital’s meeting with the planning board, all requirements have been fulfilled on the applicant’s part, and they had submitted for a lot combination, another condition of approval. Currently, the clinic sits on four narrow land parcels on Woodward Avenue, but because the proposed reconstruction of the building does not expand into other land parcels, there are no real expected issues with the lot combination.Commissioner Brad Host questioned what the clinic was doing in order to ensure the residents of the neighboring community were satisfied with the new construction, specifically Robert Runko, Brownfield redevelopment authority board member and a neighbor bordering the south end of the animal hospital. Property owner and local developer Mike Bailey noted that the clinic is working closely with Runko to ensure the construction of a privacy fence between the clinic and Runko’s property. Bailey said he and Gasow Hospital owner Joseph Wilcox have worked with Runko on the size, material and location of the privacy fence.

Gasow veterinary to become two stories

The additional surrounding neighbors will also have a six-foot screen wall between their residential properties and Gasow after construction is complete. “We wanted to make sure that we’re good neighbors,” Bailey said. Bailey additionally noted that Gasow Hospital will be temporarily operating off of Maple Road in Troy, during construction.Commissioner Elaine McLain noted that Gasow’s ability to work with the neighboring community sets a great

70 DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 09.22 process, they would still be able to control what Markus is able to do with the Multipleproperty.board members expressed concerns over the legal standpoint of the amendment and its relation to the closed“I’mPAD.curious on an opinion from the city attorney related to the idea of essentially mimicking the benefits of someone in the assessment district for someone who’s not, using the same decks and, [the city attorney’s] opinion on it, whether there is any potential injury to those that are in [the PAD] already,” chairperson Scott Clein stated, echoing prior comments made by Jason Emerine regarding the legal stipulations.

By Grace Lovins Gasow Veterinary Hospital, located at 36877 Woodward Avenue, will be demolishing its one-story building to reconstruct a new two-story building after the Birmingham City Commission unanimously approved the hospital’s special land use permit and final site plan and design review on Monday, July 25.

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Olsztyn-Budry noted “the board of trustees approved allocating $200,000 for ADA compliance upgrades for fiscal year 2023 and $500,000 for future years. The total cost to bring both non-signalized and signalized ramps into compliance throughout the township is $5,015,523 (based on 2022 dollars) and includes engineering and contingencies. Assuming the township allocates $500,000 per year for the ADA Compliance program, it will take approximate 10 years to complete.”Inaddition, there are repair and maintenance costs each year, which are approximately eight percent of total annual expenses allocated.

Trustee Val Murray agreed. “It's a wonderful asset. It does connect us with everywhere.” “I think they make us a much stronger community,” said treasurer Brian Kepes. “I agree they're helpful for the community. We have to be discerning where we spend our money. I'm a little less supportive of safety paths – I was hoping we could roll this into roads, but with the ADA compliance issue, so I will support this, but I there are other things to prioritize,” said trustee Michael Schostak.

Adams and Haynes lot combination set By Grace Lovins

A proposed lot combination for 770 S. Adams and 1000 Haynes Street in Birmingham’s Triangle District was approved by the city commission on Monday, August 15, following a public hearing on the matter, in order to allow for construction on a new multi-story, mixed use building. The land parcels formerly housed a two-story office building as well as 1712 West Maple Road Birmingham, MI 48009 Level One Bank’s mortgage division has joined First Merchants Bank! Tim now

“I would just like to comment that this is a great template for cooperation for other businesses in the city or other landowners in the city who don’t seem to be able to come together and work in harmony and you are doing that and it’s a great example,” McLain said. Host echoed McLain’s comments, stating that it’s nice to see the veterinary clinic working so closely with theGasowneighbors.Veterinary Hospital’s special land use permit and final site plan and design review were unanimously approved by the commission in a 6-0 vote, with mayor pro-tem Pierre Boutros absent from the meeting.

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“I'm so glad the board so many years ago approved this. We live in a park-like setting in Bloomfield Township, but we have no parks. I'm very supportive of this millage renewal,” said clerk Martin Brook.

The last time the Jan Roncelli Safety Path master plan was updated was 2018, she said, and since then, no additional routes have been added. A total of 10.8 miles of safety path from the master plan remain to be constructed. The estimated cost (in 2022 dollars) is $15,832,000, and includes engineering and contingencies.Whatdoesneed to be done is ADA-compliance of existing paths, which was incorporated by trustees at their meeting on April 25. This plan identified the existing safety path ramps that do not comply with ADA requirements. Of the 1,180 existing ramps, 466 ramps do not comply with ADA requirements.

By Lisa Brody Bloomfield Township trustees unanimously approved ballot language to renew the Jan Roncelli Safety Path millage on the November 8 ballot, at their meeting on Monday, August 8, for a tax levy of .4511 mills for a period of five years. The first millage for the safety path program was first passed in 1998, explained director of engineering and environmental services Olivia Olsztyn-Budry. The original safety path master plan was developed in 1999, and updated in 2008 and 2018. She said the township's safety path network “provides residents walkable access to destinations such as schools, and shopping complexes within the township, and also connects to neighboring communities' safety path networks such as Auburn Hills, Birmingham, Franklin, Pontiac, Troy and West Bloomfield. The existing safety path throughout Bloomfield Township includes over 70 miles of safety path, 82,000 square feet of retaining walls, 25,000 feet of fencing, and approximately 1,180 ADA ramps at road intersections.”

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Safety path millage renewal on ballot

After the planning board reviewed the final site plan of the proposed building on May 11, the plan was approved on the condition that the applicant obtained a lot combination approval from the city commission.

Planner Brooks Cowen noted that all six of the requirements for a lot combination, under the combination of land parcels ordinance, had been satisfied with no concerns expressed by the planning board. The community impact study, which includes a transportation impact study, was vetted by the planning board and indicated the proposed lot combination as well as vehicular ingress and egress met the requirements of the ordinance.

Plans for the building presented during the planning board meeting on Wednesday, May 11, show the height will be between four and six stories – some areas will only be four stories, while others increase to six stories as a result of site conditions.

“We appreciate you and your partners opening this area that we’ve been trying very hard to develop and I think it’s a great start and I hope many more will come and follow you as we needed a jump start,” mayor pro-tem Pierre Boutros stated.Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the lot combination for the site, with commissioner Elaine McLain absent and mayor Therese Longe recusing herself from discussions citing her spouse’s business relations with the property owner.

Ortiz preschool set to open in Birmingham

74 DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 09.22 a Charter One Bank, which are both currently vacated. However the new development will extend into parking lots and streetscape elements along both Haynes and S. Adams. The owners of the property, FHS Birmingham LLC, plan to demolish the existing two buildings, combine the land parcels, and construct a new multi-story mixed use building complete with roughly 4,000 square feet of retail space and 157 residential units.

Commissioners Clinton Baller and Brad Host took the opportunity after a motion was made to express their support for the upcoming development. Baller noted that he believes this to be the biggest residential project ever in Birmingham, and Host shared that he feels the construction will jump start development in the area.

A new preschool called Ortiz Educare is coming to 1160 Grant Street in Birmingham after receiving unanimous special land use permit and final site plan and design review approval from the Birmingham City Commission on Monday, July 25. Ortiz Educare is proposed to offer preschool services to children between the ages of three and five, and only host 12-16 students at one time. The intended drop off time for the school will be at 9 a.m., with a staggered pick up offered at 12 p.m. or between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., with no services offered on weekends.

“I was a lead preschool teacher at Quarton Elementary and then the pandemic hit and I had two kids in college, so not working wasn't an option. I was fortunate enough to license our home and it’s been licensed for the last year-and-a-half. I’ve had an amazing small program and I have a waitlist and this opportunity came about and I’m thrilled to move forward and open Ortiz Educare in town,” Ortiz stated. Patrick Howe, attorney for Ortiz, affirmed that the drop off and pick up of students will not generate an influx of traffic in the parking lot of the plaza, and that the hours of the school are compatible with the other uses of the shopping center. While the application submitted lacked the final photometric plan and sign renderings, it was noted that these could be handled administratively with Howe later mentioning that the sign renderings were submitted the same day but prior to the start of the meeting, and photometric plans were submitted on Wednesday, July 27, for administrative approval. Plans for the preschool were met with little push-back or commentary from the commission. The commission approved the special land use permit and final site plan and design review in a unanimous 60 decision, with mayor pro-tem Pierre Boutros absent from the meeting. -

Amy Ortiz, a former teacher for Birmingham Public Schools (BPS), noted during the preschool’s review with the planning board on Wednesday, June 8, it has been her lifelong dream to open her own preschool in her hometown. When the pandemic first arose, Ortiz shifted from working in BPS to operating her own preschool out of her home.

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FACES

K aren Binno Akouri, founder and owner of drench dressings and marinades, never knew where her creative ideas might take her. The married mother of three lives in West Bloomfield and grew up in Bloomfield Hills. After attending Lahser High School, she earned an accounting degree from Wayne State University and became a CPA and a certified internal auditor. Akouri put her career on hold to raise her children, who are now grown. She said she officially launched her business five years ago that was inspired by them. “As the kids were growing up, I would try to feed them healthy food and I started paying attention to ingredients and labels,” she explained. “I couldn’t even pronounce some of them, especially salad dressings. To make a healthy salad and then put all these chemicals on it didn’t make sense.”

“One taste is all it takes,” said Akouri about her products that are free of most common allergens and contain no artificial colors or flavors or GMO oils like soybean or canola. Instead, they feature finer oils, such as olive and/or avocado oils.The dressings also work well as marinades, especially the Mediterranean Lemon, which can enhance chicken or salmon or a seven-layer Mediterranean dip Akouri makes with hummus, feta, parsley, cucumber, tomatoes, black olives and pine nuts.

So, the resourceful mom started making her own dressings that got lots of compliments from the teachers at her kids’ Bloomfield Hills schools: Marion, Brother Rice and St. Regis. “At first, I thought they were just being nice because I was bringing them food,” said Akouri. “But then they started asking for the recipes and if they could buy the dressings from me.”

Her efforts led to five dressings, such as Vegan Caesar, Mediterranean Lemon and Balsamic Fig Vinaigrette, that are locally made and sold in 25 states. Individual packets and larger sizes are available for food service.

“You can drizzle Mediterranean Lemon dressing on it or add it to a Greek pasta salad. You don’t need a lot. It’s so flavorful, a little goes a long way,” said Akouri, who was recently selected to apply for Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, a program that helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses. “It’s such an Shehonor.”encourages others to pursue their passions, but she knows there is no easy road to success.

Story: Jeanine Matlow Photo: Laurie Tennent

Karen Binno Akouri

Planted Detroit salads feature the dressings and drench is also partnering with Grand Rapids-based Revolution Farms for to-go salads that will soon be sold at MeijerNewstores.flavors in the works include Champagne Vinaigrette, Sesame Ginger, Lemon Tahini and Red Wine Pomegranate.

The current dressings can be found locally at Plum Market, Market Square, Papa Joe’s, Whole Foods, Westborn Market and Hollywood Market. They are also sold on her website and at the Farmington Farmers Market weekly and the Birmingham Farmers Market on occasion.

“It was really hard in the beginning. I did it the old-fashioned way with traditional grassroots cold-calling. I didn’t have the marketing and advertising dollars, so it was all word-of-mouth,” Akouri said. “I’m so grateful for that and it has been so rewarding to see the dressings on the shelves and think ‘I created this.’”

As she worked to perfect her recipes, a friend suggested she sell them. Her husband, on the other hand, said she should add this to the list of all the other things she wanted to do. But, Akouri said, he was right. “I always had so many ideas and inventions. His comment really did make me think I really need to follow through with this.”

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HOUSE TOUR 2022 –IT’S BACK – TICKETS (RESERVATIONS) ON SALE NOW

THE COMMUNITY HOUSE

Vision: BBCC is a member-driven organization that builds strong relationships with government, education, and community to create a prosperous business climate in Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township and Franklin.

Contact: Jana Ecker, Interim Executive Director, 248.530.1200, jecker@bhamgov.org

Birmingham Optimist Club: Purpose: To develop optimism as a philosophy of life; to promote an active interest in good government and civic affairs; to inspire respect for the law; to promote patriotism and work for international accord and friendship among all people; and to aid and encourage the development of youth, in the belief that the giving of oneself in service to others will advance the well-being of man, his community and world. The Birmingham Optimist Club is dedicated to serving the local community through various service and fundraising projects. Our club has been in service to our community for more than 50 years. We are part of Optimist International, an organization dedicated to working each day to make the future brighter by bringing out the best in children and in our communities for over 100 years. Optimist Club meets weekly. Most Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m. at The Community House, 380 Bates Street in Birmingham, and on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at Shield's Pizza in Troy.

Now in its 33rd year, The Community House’s House Tour is back after a two-year hiatus. Hose Tour will offer attendees a unique opportunity to view up to six of the most exceptional private homes in the area. This year’s event includes six extraordinary homes and one exquisite garden. This premiere event attracts a loyal audience of home enthusiasts from throughout metro Detroit. The tour features a wide array of architectural and interior design styles. More than just a great event, the House Tour will raise vital funds for The Community House programs and services for adults and children. Box lunches are available.Special thank you to Founding Presenting Sponsor, The Agency Hall & Hunter, and Supporting Sponsors, Gorman’s Home Furnishings, Trion Solutions, and Chief Financial Credit Union. And to our many very generous homeowners opening their homes and gardens! Reservations are limited. For ticket or lunch box reservations, please visit communityhouse.com or call 248.644.5832. Don't delay – this event usually sells out.

Bill Seklar

William D. Seklar is President & CEO of The Community House and The Community House Foundation in Birmingham.

Birmingham Bloomfield Newcomers Club: Purpose: The Birmingham Bloomfield Newcomers Club is celebrating its 75th (Diamond) Anniversary this year and are as excited as ever to welcome new members. Since 1947, the BBNC has served the community as a social club for women who are new to the Detroit metro area or who simply enjoy making new friends. The club got its start on September 25, 1947, when 67 women met for lunch at The Community House in Birmingham. They voted to organize as a club in January 1948. Popular events in the early days included fashion shows, lectures, Hawaiian-themed parties, and dances. Today, they play tennis, practice yoga, tour local historic sites, and try new restaurants together. They socialize over book clubs, mahjongg and other games, coffee get-togethers and happy hours. BBNC members actively volunteer in our communities. Several times a year the club participates in service events, such as collecting and donating school supplies to help local families. We have nearly 200 members from 40 countries and nearly every continent. And you don’t even have to be a resident of Birmingham or Bloomfield to join –many members live in nearby towns. Our first Welcome Coffee this fall will be at The Community House on September 6th from 10-11:30 a.m.. Contact: For more information, visit bbnewcomers.com or BBNC.Ambassador@gmail.com or BBNC.Membership@gmail.com.

At The Community House, there are scores of volunteer opportunities that await those that are interested. From reading to a child, answering phones, stuffing envelopes, tending to our summer gardens, or volunteering at a Community House function – as a nonprofit, charitable organization – helping hands are always needed – and immensely appreciated. For more information about volunteering at The Community House, call 248.644.5832 or viaSeparately,communityhouse.com.ifyouarelooking to meet friends, share ideas or be a part of something bigger – look no farther than the six highly respected nonprofit or supported groups that also call the historic Community House “home.” These impactful groups making a true difference in our community include: Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce: Mission: The Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce’s mission is to serve our six communities as their leading resource for advancing business interests and building relationships.

Contact: Phone: 248.646.3347

JUNIOR LEAGUE OF BIRMINGHAM:

“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.”

Contact: Tom Longhway, President, 248.568.5608, tomtlongh@aol.com Birmingham Shopping District: Mission: We strive to provide leadership in marketing, advertising, and promotion of the Birmingham Shopping District. We actively work to promote a district that is exciting, clean, safe, and pedestrian-friendly and ensure that the district continues to serve as a center for business, service, social and community activities. Located along Woodward Avenue, Michigan’s Main Street, Birmingham is centrally located within Oakland County and metro Detroit. Birmingham’s lively, pedestrian-friendly downtown offers one of the Midwest’s premier shopping districts. Comprised of nearly 300 retailers, downtown Birmingham offers a wonderfully diverse assortment of boutiques and national retailers, restaurants, gift shops, jewelers, salons, spas, art galleries, and antiques. Movie theaters and two beautiful parks complete the city center. Whether you live near or far, visiting downtown Birmingham has never been easier with information and resources provided by the Birmingham Shopping District (BSD). Browse the shopping, dining, and service directories on our website or download the Visitor Guide to find a user-friendly map.

– Elizabeth Andrew Sometime ago I read that “with busy lives, it can be hard to find time to volunteer. However, the benefits of volunteering are enormous to you, your family, and your community. The right match can help you reduce stress, find friends, connect with the community, learn new skills, and even advance your career. Giving to others can also help protect your mental and physical health.”

Mission: The Junior League of Birmingham is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. Above all else, our goal is to promote and perpetuate social change in the Birmingham area communities that will benefit most from it. By empowering women and providing valuable leadership training, we are giving local women the tools to get involved, put their talents to work, and positively impact the communities of Oakland County. As one of hundreds of Junior League chapters across the world, we are a member of the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI). Established in 1952, the Junior League of Birmingham, Michigan plays an integral part in the development, improvement, and support of the communities of Oakland County, Michigan. The Junior League of Birmingham will meet monthly at The Community House in Birmingham.

• To be the lead voice for the larger business community.

DOWNTOWN

• To promote programs and services that meet the needs of chamber members and potential members.

• To utilize/strengthen partnerships with schools, government, community organizations and the community at large.

Contact: E-mail: info@jlbham.org or Phone: 248.203.9841

• Achieve and maintain the organizational and fiscal stability of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber.

Contact: Joe Bauman, president, 248.644.1700 x 6135, joeb@bbcc.com

FAR THERAPEUTICS ARTS and RECREATION:

Purpose: FAR Therapeutic Arts and Recreation promotes understanding and provides education for children and adults with special needs through therapeutic opportunities in the arts, recreation and leisure that enrich its clients, their families, and the greater community. Programs include Camp FAR Out, which is a two-week inclusion creative arts camp for children ages 3-16. All groups, along with their counselors, rotate among fun-filled therapeutic activity sessions including music, art, recreation, and movement. To cap off all our wonderful activities, FAR will have a public performance on the last day for friends and family to enjoy. Beginning in Fall 2022, –FAR and The Community House in Birmingham plan to partner/collaborate on program(s) together to take place onsite at The Community House. Stay tuned!

• To maintain a positive business and community image.

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priorItemsLisaBrody@downtownpublications.com.toshouldbereceivedthreeweekstopublication. Bloomfield West Maple Road

New jeweler opens

Software company OneStream Software LLC, a corporate financial software company which allows users to “unify financial consolidation, planning, reporting and analysis through a single, extensible platform.” has opened its new headquarters in downtown Birmingham, at 191 Chester Street, in the former First Church of Christ Scientist building. The building, a Georgian limestone church first built in 1927, closed a few years ago, and was purchased by the late developer Jeffrey Surnow of The Surnow Group, whose sons completed the contemporary renovation with threestory glass and a lobby that extends to the property line. OneStream Software is inhabiting the entire 23,000 square foot building, which will serve as its corporate headquarters and “collaboration center” beyond its two Rochester offices. “We are excited to expand our Michigan roots with a new, cutting-edge facility designed with an intentional focus on sustainability while enabling collaboration and innovation across teams,” OneStream CFO Bill Koefoed said in a release. The company currently has 1,200 employees spread out over 20 countries. The new building will have space for about 150 employees, and is a state-of-the-art facility, employing 100 percent LED lighting, polished concrete flooring and numerous other “sustainable design elements” such as a heating/cooling system designed to consume up to 22 percent less energy than traditional systems, according to the release.

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The jewelry scene in downtown Birmingham continues to dazzle. Brilliant Earth, which bills itself as the global leader in ethically sourced fine jewelry, opened at 277 Pierce Street. The store, one of 14 nationwide, is open by appointment as well as virtually. The business was created in 2005 by founders Beth Gerstein and Eric Grossberg in San Francisco, where it is headquartered. Their mission is to cultivate a “more transparent, sustainable and compassionate jewelry industry. We believe in creating jewelry you can feel good in wearing, without ever compromising between quality and conscience,” Gerstein said on their website. Brilliant Earth is a certified and audited member of the Responsible Jewelry Council, the industry’s leading ethical standard. They use Beyond Conflict Free (TM) diamonds, which are selected for their ethical and environmentally responsible origins, and strive to use 100 percent recycled precious metals “to help diminish the negative impacts of metal mining.” Their ring boxes are crafted from wood sourced from certified forests. The Birmingham location offers engagement and wedding rings and fine jewelry in a modern setting. For shoppers health and safety, all staff wears masks and disinfects surfaces between visits.

BiRMinghaM 48009

Newcomers Club Anyone new to a community knows it can be difficult to meet new people or discover where to shop, find the right doctor or hair stylist. For 75 years, the Birmingham Bloomfield Newcomers Club has provided those services to neighbors coming into the community, as well as serving the community as a social club for women who are new to the area or who simply enjoy making new friends. “We have 200 members from 40 countries and nearly every continent, making us one of the most vibrant and diverse social groups around. You don’t have to be a resident of Birmingham or Bloomfield to join – many members live in Rochester,Troy, Royal Oak and other nearby towns,” said current club president Victoria Middleton.

Frank’s Shoes to reopen Beloved Frank’s Shoe Repair, which resided at 360 S. Old Woodward Avenue in downtown Birmingham for over 60 years until it closed to make way for the new RH building, is reopening in Bloomfield Township, at 43227 Woodward Avenue just north of Square Lake Road, in the Staples shopping plaza. Owner Frank Konjarevich Jr., who worked with the original Frank Kongarevich for the last 40 years, along with other family members, has applied for a sign from Bloomfield Township officials. Get that pile of shoes to be fixed ready – the new spot will likely be open this fall.

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The club got its start on September 25, 1947 when 67 women met for lunch at The Community House in Birmingham. Today, members socialize over book clubs, mahjongg and other games, international coffees and happy hours. “We play tennis, practice yoga, tour local historic sites, and try new restaurants together,” Middleton said. For more information about events, check out bbnewcomers.com or write to one of the volunteers at BBNC.Ambassador@gmail.com BBNC.Membership@gmail.com.or

Vintage store moving Vintage luxury shop Rotate Boutique has moved to 361 E. Maple Road in Birmingham from Bloomfield Township, adjacent to Lee’s Specialty. Rotate is a luxury consignment boutique owned by IndiaShepherd, a Detroit native with an eye for fashion and a mind for business. After more than 10 years as COO of Ace Investment Group, a property management company, Shepherd decided it was time to partner her love for business and fashion to create Rotate Boutique. She says her idea to create a luxury consignment boutique was birthed in the spring of 2018, when she tried selling her own items to consignment stores, yet found herself generally unhappy with her selling experience. Determined to bring excellence to the consignment experience and add a twist of new and sophisticated retail items, India has created a comfortable, luxurious shopping experience. “We curate authentic, gently worn luxury pieces from private collectors and auction houses, carrying items from brands Chanel, Fendi, Gucci, Hermes, Versace and many more,” Shepherd said. “All items are put through a multi-point, authenticationbrand-specificprocessbya trained team of luxury experts before they are accepted for consignment. We inspect all goods for appropriate brand markings, date codes, serial tags and hologram stickers. Everything passes through our strict authenticity tests before it is curated into daily sales.”

BUSINESS MATTERS

82 DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 09.22 Let theGentlemen MoversTake Care of Your Move! 248-674-3937 www.changingplacesmovers.com Lic #: L-21897 MANAGED REHABilitation Consultants, Inc. 39303 Country Club Drive, Suite A-50, Farmington Hills, MI www.managed-rehab.com | 877-614-6410 or 248-848-9120 Feeling Overwhelmed? Let us SIMPLIFY your LIFE. Career • Family • Aging Parents GERIATRIC MEDICAL CARE MANAGEMENT CONVENIENT ~ COST EFFECTIVE Serving all of Michigan Since 1991 • Senior Housing Placement • Aging in Place • Arrange Health Care and Community Services

No one can deny that the past few years have been tumultuous, especially when it comes to American politics. Birmingham native, Andrew Trunsky, has experienced this firsthand working in the journalism field covering the U.S. political scene.

He adds, “When I was in college, I never expected to be where I am now – politics and writing. I always liked telling stories and listening, but the introverted side of me always liked to listen more than talk – which is helpful in thisTrunskyfield.”offers this advice to aspiring journalists: “I’m saying this fully aware they’re hard for me to do – perseverance, practice, and persistence. I’ve had to invest a lot of time and hard work but it’s definitely worth it. The hours are irregular and odd, but it helps make journalism fun. It’s a field that is pretty competitive, but people are willing to give advice and help.”

Andrew Trunsky

FACES

Following graduation from Williams College in the spring of 2020, Trunsky accepted a position as a political reporter covering American politics and elections at The Daily Caller News Foundation. During this time, he worked remotely honing his interviewing skills, writing copy and meeting deadlines.

Trunsky noted that it was during this stepping stone work experience that his commitment to the journalism profession was solidified. “I liked talking to people, telling a story. It’s a cool field – an influential field with the opportunity for individualism – where you find the story and tell it through yourThisvoice.”past winter, Trunsky began working in the Washington, D.C. newsroom of The New York Times as an editorial assistant for Pulitzer Prizewinning columnist, Maureen Dowd. In this collaborative role, he said he works with Dowd and her editors to support her writing with administrative responsibilities such as research, fact-checking and scheduling interviews.

“It was great growing up in Birmingham – a ton of fun and good friends. I was lucky to attend Cranbrook. Both my parents worked full-time, so I grew up with the example of them as hard workers which instilled that in me,” Trunsky recalled. “It was also a formative experience being a swimmer at Cranbrook and Birmingham Athletic Club, where I had great coaches at both places.”After graduating from Cranbrook Schools, Trunsky attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he continued his swim career as an All-American swimmer and majored in political science. Prior to his junior year, he had the opportunity to work as a summer intern in the office of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “It’s been helpful to come from the Detroit area, Michigan, and the Midwest, where you’re exposed to diverse views. My college was more homogeneous,“ he said. “I feel this helps me approach people with an open mind, empathy and understanding.”

“It is incredible. I learn more in a week here than at any other point in my life. I’ve met incredible people – it’s often surreal to meet the writers I’ve read and admired…Maureen is such an accomplished writer and has such an original voice. I learn so much from her and the environment.”

At this point in his life and career, Trunsky is enjoying the present. “I’m just listening and learning as much as I can,” he said. Story: Tracy Donohue

It’sBack! Thursday, September 15, 2022 9:30am-3:30pm Tickets Available Now! $42 in advance / $49 day of tour Visit communityhouse.com or call 248.644.5832 for more information Six Private Homes and One Garden in Birmingham and Bloomfield Neighborhoods Door Prize Drawing at Each Home and Garden -Need not be present to win-Hosted by Presented by AN INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED LICENSEE OF UMRO REALTY CORP. Sponsored by To register, scan the QR Code 33rd ANNUAL

Bloomfield Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 71 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.645.6879. bloomfielddeli.com

Commonwealth: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 300 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. gocommonwealth.com248.792.9766. Dick O’Dow’s: Irish. Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 160 West Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.1135. dickodowspub.com Eddie Merlot’s: Steak & seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 37000 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.712.4095. eddiemerlots.com Einstein Bros. Bagels: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 4089 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.258.9939. einsteinbros.com

Forest: European. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 735 Forest Avenue, Birmingham 48009. forestbirmingham.com248.258.9400.

Griffin Claw Brewing Company: American. Lunch, Friday-Sunday, Dinner, TuesdaySunday. No Reservations. Liquor. 575 S. Eton Street, Birmingham. griffinclawbrewingcompany.com248.712.4050.

PLACES TO EAT The Birmingham/Bloomfield area is filled with discriminating diners and an array of dining establishments. Make sure the message for your restaurant reaches the right market in the right MarkGrablowski@downtownpublications.comContactpublication—Downtown.MarkGrablowskiforadvertisingrateinformation.O:248.792.6464Ext.601 downtownpublications.com DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe 85

IHOP: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2187 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301. 248.333.7522. Ihop.com

Honey Tree Grille: Greek/American. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, daily. No reservations. 3633 W. Maple Rd, Bloomfield, MI 48301. 248.203.9111. honeytreegrille.com

Bill’s: American. Breakfast, weekends, Lunch, Thursday & Friday, Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 39556 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.646.9000. billsbloomfieldhills.com

The Places To Eat for Downtown is a quick reference source to establishments offering a place for dining, either breakfast, lunch or dinner. The listings include nearly all dining establishments with seating in the Birmingham/Bloomfield area, and then some select restaurants outside the immediate area served by Downtown.

Flemings Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 323 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. flemingssteakhouse.com248.723.0134.

Bella Piatti: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 167 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.494.7110. bellapiattirestaurant.com

Casa Pernoi: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 310 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.940.0000. casapernoi.com Churchill’s Bistro & Cigar Bar: Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 116 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.4555. churchillscigarbar.com Cityscape Deli: Deli. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Beer. 877 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.540.7220. cityscapedeli.com

Greek Islands Coney Restaurant: Greek. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 221 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. greekislandsconey.com248.646.1222.

Birmingham Pub: American. Lunch, TuesdayFriday, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 555 S. Old Woodward Avenue, thebirminghampub.comBirmingham.

Birmingham/Bloomfield 220: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 220 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.2220. 220restaurant.com

Andiamo: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6676 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.865.9300. andiamoitalia.com

Elie’s Mediterranean Grill/Bar: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 263 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.2420. eliesgrill.com

Brooklyn Pizza: Pizza. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Liquor. No reservations. 111 Henrietta Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.6690. thebrooklynpizza.com Café ML: New American. Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 3607 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Township. 248.642.4000. cafeml.com

Hunter House Hamburgers: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 35075 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. hunterhousehamburgers.com248.646.7121.

Beyond Juicery + Eatery: Contemporary. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 270 W. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009; 221 Cole Street, Birmingham, 48009; 3645 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301; 4065 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301; 1987 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. beyondjuiceryeatery.com

5th Tavern: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2262 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.481.9607. 5thtavern.com

Birmingham Sushi Cafe: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 377 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.8880. birminghamsushi.com Bistro Joe’s Kitchen: Global. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Liquor. Reservations. 34244 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.0984. bistrojoeskitchen.com

Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 201 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.4369. hydeparkrestaurants.com

Beverly Hills Grill: American. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Liquor. No reservations. 31471 Southfield Road, Beverly Hills, 48025. 248.642.2355. beverlyhillsgrill.com

Joe Muer Seafood: Seafood. Dinner daily. Reservations. Liquor. 39475 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.792.9609. joemuer.com

Kaku Sushi and Poke’: Asian. Lunch, MondayFriday & Dinner daily. No reservations. 869 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.480.4785, and 126 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.885.8631. kakusushipoke.com

Embers Deli & Restaurant: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Tuesday-Sunday. Dinner, TuesdayFriday. No reservations. 3598 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.645.1033. embersdeli1.com

Kerby’s Koney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2160

Adachi: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner daily. Liquor. Reservations. 325 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham 48009. 248.540.5900. adachirestaurant.com

Beau’s: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 4108 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.626.2630. beausbloomfield.com

Hazel’s: Seafood. Lunch, Saturday & Sunday, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 1 Peabody Street, Birmingham. 248.671.1714. eatathazels.com

Luxe Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 525 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.6051. luxebarandgrill.com

Original Pancake House: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 33703 South Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.5775. oph-mi.com

MEX Mexican Bistro & Tequila Bar: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 6675 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.723.0800. mexrestaurants.com Nippon Sushi Bar: Japanese. Lunch, MondayFriday, Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2079 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. nipponsushibar.com248.481.9581.

Steve’s Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Breakfast and Lunch, Sunday. No reservations. 6646 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield, 48301. 248.932.0800. stevesdeli.com Streetside Seafood: Seafood. Dinner, daily. Liquor. 273 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. streetsideseafood.com248.645.9123. Sushi Hana: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 42656 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.333.3887. sushihanabloomfield.com

The Franklin Grill: American. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 32760 Franklin Road, Franklin, 48025. 248.865.6600. thefranklingrill.com

Mare Mediterranean: Seafood. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 115 Willits Street, Birmingham 48009. 248.940.5525. maremediterranean.com

Olga’s Kitchen: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2075 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.451.0500. olgas.com

Metro Intelligencer is a monthly column devoted to news stories, tidbits and gossip items about what's happening on the restaurant scene in the metro Detroit area. Metro Intelligencer is reported/created each month by Gigi Nichols who can be reached at GigiNichols@DowntownPublications.com with news items or tips, on or off the record. Eat your greens! sweetgreen has opened its first Michigan location in Birmingham – the 170th location for the restaurant brand. The new location at 167 North Old Woodward Avenue, will be followed by two additional Michigan restaurants in Ann Arbor on the University of Michigan campus, and in Troy, both slated to open this fall.

Touch of India: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 297 E. Maple Road,

New chef at Greektown’s Hollywood Casino

METRO INTELLIGENCER

Let’s do brunch Chef Max Goeke and the culinary team at Adam Merkel Restaurants have designed a new weekend brunch menu for Pinky’s Rooftop, which includes their popular Bloody Mary and Mimosa Bar, plus a full revamped food menu.

The Moose Preserve Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2395 S. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.7688. moosepreserve.com

Thai Street Kitchen: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. 42805 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, 48304. 248.499.6867. thaistreetkitchen.com

Qdoba: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Also 42967 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, 48304. 248.874.1876. qdoba.com Roadside B & G: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1727 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.7270. roadsidebandg.com Salvatore Scallopini: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 505 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. salsbirmingham.com248.644.8977.

“When we began to explore our expansion into the Midwest, we took notice of Michigan’s commitment to providing healthy options to its residents and wanted to be a part of that movement,” said sweetgreen Co-founder and Chief Concept Officer, Nicolas Jammet. “We have been meeting with local partners for over a year to ensure we enter this community in a way that is responsible and benefits the Michiganders who are lucky to call this area home. We couldn’t be more excited to be opening our doors.” sweetgreen sources only the highest quality ingredients, with fresh produce delivered each morning for its seasonal menus, which rotate five times throughout the year. Expect to see a number of locally sourced products, including goat cheese from Zingerman’s Creamery and sweet potatoes from Visser Farms. The 3,090 square foot space accommodates up to 34 indoor diners, with additional seating for 14 on its seasonal outdoor patio. 167 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham sweetgreen.com

The French Lady: French. Lunch, TuesdaySunday. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. 768 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.480. 0571. zefrenchlady.com

The Morrie: American. Brunch, Sunday, Dinner, Thursday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 260 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham 48009. 248.940.3260. themorrie.com

Shift Kitchen & Cocktails: Small plates. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 117 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009. shiftbirmingham.com248.792.2380.

Madam: American. Breakfast, Monday-Friday, Brunch, weekends. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner daily. Reservations. Liquor. 298 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.283.4200. daxtonhotel.com

Sidecar: American. Lunch and Dinner, daily. Liquor. 117 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009. sidecarsliderbar.com248.792.2380.

La Strada Italian Kitchen & Bar: Italian. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 243 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.480.0492. lastradaitaliankitchen.com Leo’s Coney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 154 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.9707. Also 6527 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.646.8568. leosconeyisland.com Little Daddy’s: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 39500 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.647.3400. littledaddys.com

Social Kitchen & Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Brunch, Saturday & Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 225 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. socialkitchenandbar.com248.594.4200. Stateside Deli & Restaurant Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 653 S. Adams Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.550.0455. statesidedeli.com

Sylvan Table: American. Brunch, weekends, Dinner daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1819 Inverness Street, Sylvan Lake, 48320. 248.369.3360. sylvantable.com Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro: American. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 55 S. Bates Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.731.7066. tallulahwine.com

The Rugby Grille: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 100 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.5999. rugbygrille.com Toast: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; Reservations. Liquor. 203 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.6278. eatattoast.com

N. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. kerbyskoneyisland.com248.333.1166. La Marsa: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner daily. Reservations. 43259 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.5800. lamarsacuisine.com

“Our new brunch menu was designed entirely with our guests in mind. Based on feedback between dishes they love, and others they wanted to see, Chef Max Goeke developed this one-of-a-kind menu that will delight all diners and become a staple in the metro Detroit brunch scene,” said Adam Merkel. A few of the delicious new items include: mushroom toast with butter herb mushrooms, sourdough and chive crème fresh; steak and eggs featuring a six ounce prime

Market North End: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 474 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.712.4953. marketnorthend.com

Hollywood Casino at Greektown has named Chef Petro Drakopoulous as its new executive chef. In his new post, Drakopoulous will helm all of the restaurant and culinary operations at Hollywood Casino at Greektown, including Prism steakhouse, Barstool Sportsbook, the newly reimagined Rock Bar, the Monroe Market food hall and all hotel banquets. Chef Petro joins the operation following two years as Executive Chef and Director of Food and Beverage at Detroit’s Atheneum Hotel. Chef Petro has recently revamped the menu at Prism steakhouse, including the introduction of entrée salads and the addition of more proteins for those that don’t eat red meat, as well as a renewed emphasis on modern, composed plates and authentic Greek flavors. “The culinary world is always changing and advancing, and we want to ensure we’re keeping up with the latest trends, but delicious flavors, beautiful plating and quality service never go out of style,” said Chef Petro. “We’re looking to combine the best of what’s been done at the property to date, and marry it with my personal touch for the ultimate culinary experience at Hollywood Casino at Greektown.” 555 E. Lafayette Avenue, Detroit HollywoodGreektown.com

The Gallery Restaurant: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & wine. 6683 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. galleryrestaurant2.com248.851.0313.

Planthropie: Vegan. Dessert and Cheese. Tuesday-Sunday. 135 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.839.5640. planthropie.com

Sy Thai Cafe: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, Monday and Wednesday-Sunday. No reservations. 315 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.9830. sythaibirmingham.com

Tomatoes Apizza: Pizza. Lunch & Dinner daily. Carryout. 34200 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham 48009. 248.258.0500. tomatoesapizza.com

Phoenicia: Middle Eastern. Lunch, MondayFriday; Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 588 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. phoeniciabirmingham.com248.644.3122.

New subterrain bar A new underground cocktail bar is coming to Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood. Located beneath Oak & Reel’s restaurant, The Upright is a cozy bar and lounge serving craft cocktails and small plates in an intimate and welcoming setting. Upon entering the bar, guests find themselves in a stylish and curious space, featuring timeless and eclectic design elements. The cocktail bar provides seating for about 30 patrons including small booths, tables and bar seating. A well-rounded cocktail menu from bar manager Jacob Feitler features classic sippers as well as Upright originals. The drink menu pairs well with a rotating menu of Italian finger foods from Chef/Owner Jared Gadbaw. Gadbaw, who opened Oak & Reel in the fall of 2020, is a graduate of the renowned French Culinary Institute. He earned an international reputation in the cuisine of Italy and in the provision of amazing seafood. He captured the two Michelin Star for Marea in New York City and maintained a two Michelin Star ranking for nine straight years. 2921 E. Grand Boulevard, Detroit TheUprightDetroit.com

Slice Pizza Kitchen: Pizza. Lunch and Dinner, daily. Liquor. 117 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009. slicepizzakitchen.com248.792.3475.

Townhouse: American. Brunch, weekends. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 180 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. eatattownhouse.com248.792.5241.

The Fly Trap: Diner. Breakfast & Lunch, Wednesday-Sunday. No reservations. 22950 Woodward Avenue, 48220. 248.399.5150. theflytrapferndale.com

Ronin: Japanese. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 326 W. 4th Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.546.0888. roninsushi.com

New sweet spot

Ale Mary’s: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 316 South Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.268.1917. alemarysbeer.com Anita’s Kitchen: Middle Eastern. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 22651 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.548.0680. anitaskitchen.com Assaggi Bistro: Italian. Dinner, WednesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 330 W. Nine Mile Road., Ferndale, 48220. 248.584.3499. assaggibistro.com

Toast, A Breakfast and Lunch Joint: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 23144 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.398.0444. eatattoast.com

Liquor. 410 S. Washington Avenue, Royal Oak, 48067. lilysseafood.com248.591.5459. Lockhart’s BBQ: Barbeque. Brunch, Sunday, Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 202 E. Third Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.584.4227. lockhartsbbq.com Mezcal: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 201 East 9 Mile Road Ferndale, 48220. 248.268.3915. mezcalferndale.com Pearl’s Deep Dive: Seafood. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor.100 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.268.2875. pearlsdeepdive.com Oak City Grille: American. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 212 W. 6th Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.556.0947. oakcitygrille.com

Prime + Proper opened in 2017 in the iconic Capital Park Loft building, Detroit. The restaurant is owned by Heirloom Hospitality, founded by Jeremy Sasson, whose portfolio also includes Townhouse Detroit, Townhouse Birmingham as well as CashOnly Supper Club. Detroit. Prime + Proper prides itself on providing a modern interpretation of the classic American Steakhouse. The menu, designed by executive chef partner Anthony DiRienzo, features a raw bar, caviar, salads, steaks, entrees, sides and more. Recently, DiRienzo added eight new dishes while maintaining guest favorites. New selections include: cured salmon toro with steel head roe, smoked yogurt, pickled lemon, dill and bagel crisp; bigeye tuna crudo with watermelon, Aleppo, avocado, black lime and cilantro; scallops with zucchini, tomato raisin, grilled squid and garlic vinaigrette; ora king salmon with mint beurre blanc, sugar snap pea, morels and watermelon radish; beef fat marble potatoes with buttermilk, vinaigrette, chervil and bottarga; and new caviar offerings featuring a trio of caviar; golden kaluga; and reserve white sturgeon. 1145 Griswold Street, Detroit primeandproperdetroit.com

Whistle Stop Diner: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; Liquor. No reservations. 501 S. Eton Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.566.3566. whistlestopdiners.com

The Morrie: American. Brunch, weekends, Dinner, Thursday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 511 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.216.1112. themorrie.com

Royal Oak/Ferndale

Royal Oak Brewery: American. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 215 E. 4th Street, Royal Oak, 48067. royaloakbrewery.com248.544.1141.

Lily’s Seafood: Seafood. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Otus Supply: American. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 345 E. 9 Mile Road, Ferndale, 48220. 248.291.6160. otussupply.com Pop’s for Italian: Italian. Brunch and Lunch, weekends, Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. 280 W. 9 Mile Road, Ferndale,48220. popsforitalian.com248.268.4806.

Bigalora: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 711 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.2442. bigalora.com

Como’s: Pizza. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 22812 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.677.4439. comosrestaurant.com

Zao Jun: Asian. Dinner and Lunch, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 6608 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. zaojunnewasian.com248.949.9999.

Howe’s Bayou: Cajun. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 22949 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.691.7145. howesbayouferndale.net

Inyo Restaurant Lounge: Asian Fusion. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 22871 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.543.9500. inyorestaurant.com

Vinsetta Garage: American. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 27799 Woodward Avenue, Berkley, 48072. vinsettagarage.com248.548.7711.

Three Cats Cafe: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 116 W 14 Mile Road, Clawson, 48017. threecatscafe.com248.900.2287.

Redcoat Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 31542 Woodward Avenue, Royal Oak, 48073. 248.549.0300. redcoat-tavern.com

Kruse & Muer on Woodward: American. Lunch, Monday-Saturday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 28028 Woodward Avenue, Royal Oak, 48067. kruseandmuerrestaurants.com248.965.2101.

Public House: American. Lunch & Brunch, weekends, Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 241 W. Nine Mile Road, Ferndale, 48220. publichouseferndale.com248.850.7420.

KouZina: Greek. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 121 N. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.629.6500. gokouzina.com

Sozai: Japanese.Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. 449 West 14 Mile Road, Clawson,48017. sozairestaurant.com248.677-3232.

Closures in Detroit’s Midtown

Tom’s Oyster Bar: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 318 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.541.1186. tomsoysterbar.com Trattoria Da Luigi: Italian. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 415 S, Washington Avenue, Royal Oak, 48067. trattoriadaluigi.business.site.com248.542.4444.

ribeye, two eggs and herb potatoes; and Pinky’s breakfast burger, which is topped with fried egg, and herb potatoes. Other tried and true favorites remain on the menu, including flaky buttermilk biscuits and gravy; old fashioned pancakes with chocolate chips or blueberries; and Pinky’s cinnamon French toast with berry compote and powdered sugar. All brunch items pair nicely with Pinky’s famous Bloody Mary and Mimosa Bar. The whimsical décor of Pinky’s Rooftop, complete with butterfly wings, big florals and over-the-top glam drinks, make it one of the most Instragrammable restaurants in metro Detroit. The 4,500-square-foot space seats 83 people inside. On the rooftop patio, there’s seating for 44, including a year-round, covered, heated dining space which seats 27. 100 S. Main Street, Rear Alley Entrance, Royal Oak pinkysroyaloak.com

Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.7881. thetouchofindia.com

Imperial: Mexican. Lunch and Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 22848 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.691.7145. imperialferndale.com

Later this fall, CB2, a home furnishing store owned by Crate & Barrel Holdings, will occupy the northeast corner of Old Woodward and Maple in downtown Birmingham. The space was formerly occupied by Panera Bread and Bakehouse46. Panera Bread shut down its Birmingham operation while Bakehouse46 has established their new digs just a short walk away at 250 W. Maple Road, in the former home of Adventures in Toys location. Bakehouse46 began as a collaboration between the Cupcake Station and Blake’s Farm. Currently, there are four store locations in Birmingham, Plymouth, Ann Arbor and Rochester. The bakery/eatery offers a variety of sweet treats, including Cupcake Station cupcakes and Blake’s goodies, such as its signature cider mill and gourmet donuts baked onsite daily, sweet apple cider, gourmet apples, and fudge as well as coffee, bagels, and sandwiches. Chelsea Smith, who serves as creative director for the operation, said that the new space is more than three times the size of their former store and has seating for 40 customers. Bakehouse46 is also working with the city of Birmingham to obtain permission to include a small outdoor patio. 250 W. Maple Road, Birmingham bakehouse46.com

Cafe Muse: French. Breakfast & Lunch, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 418 S. Washington Avenue, Royal Oak, 48067. cafemuseroyaloak.com248.544.4749.

Cork Wine Pub: American. Brunch, Sunday, Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 23810 Woodward Avenue, Pleasant Ridge, 48069. corkwinepub.org248.544.2675.

The Blue Nile: Ethiopian. Dinner, ThursdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 545 W. Nine Mile Road, Ferndale, 48220. 248.547.6699. bluenileferndale.com

Crispelli’s Bakery and Pizzeria: Italian. Lunch and Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 28939 Woodward Avenue, Berkley, 48072. 248.591.3300. crispellis.com

There are several notable changes in Midtown Detroit’s restaurant scene. The Peterboro, a casual Chinese American restaurant located in the historic Chinatown area of Midtown, has temporarily shut down its operation. The popular eatery opened in 2016, and is part of the Detroit Optimist Society, a hospitality group that operates Sugar House, Wright & Company, Grandma Bob’s, Honest John’s, Bad Luck Bar, and others. “During these trying restaurant times we will be using the next few months to reimagine the space and work on much needed upgrades,” owners announced in a press release. The owners also thanked everyone who has supported and loved The Peterboro for the past seven years, including its amazing staff. Although there is no word on when the eatery plans to reopen, the closure is temporary. In addition, two other popular Midtown restaurants, Cass Café and Harmony Garden Café, have permanently shuttered after serving the community for decades. Cass Café is owned by Chuck Roy and was known for its vegan/vegetarian menu and for supporting the local art community. For over 30 years, The Harmony Garden Café served up a menu that their website described as “Middle Eastern food with a twist.” On social media, the owners stated that “due to lack of labor and rising expenses, we will be permanently closing. Our last day of service to our community will be on July 25, 2022. We will miss all our wonderful guests. Keep your eyes on our social media for updates on what we will be doing next.”

One-Eyed Betty’s: American. Breakfast, weekends, Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 175 W. Troy Street, Ferndale, 48220. 248.808.6633. oneeyedbettys.com

Prime + Proper adds more to menu

Bigalora: Italian. Brunch, weekends, Lunch, Monday-Saturday, Dinner, daily. No Reservations. Liquor. 29110 Franklin Road, Southfield, 48034. 248.544.2442. bigalora.com

The Whitney: American. Tea Service, Saturday & Sunday, Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor.4421 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.5700. thewhitney.com Wright & Co.: American. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 1500 Woodward Avenue, Second Floor, Detroit, 48226. 313.962.7711. wrightdetroit.com

Taqueria Nuestra Familia: Mexican. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7620 Vernor Highway, Detroit, 48209. taquerianuestrafamilia.wordpress.com313.842.5668.

CK Diggs: American & Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2010 W. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.853.6600. ckdiggs.com

Prime + Proper: Steak House. Brunch, Weekends. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1145 Griswold St, Detroit, 48226. 313.636.3100. primeandproperdetroit.com

The Meeting House: American. Brunch, weekends, Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 301 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.759.4825. themeetinghouserochester.com

Cafe Sushi: Pan-Asian. Lunch, TuesdayFriday, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 1933 W. Maple Road, Troy, 48084. 248.280.1831. cafesushimi.com

88 09.22

Naked Burger: American. Lunch, TuesdaySunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6870 N Rochester Road, Rochester, 48306. nakedburgerdetroit.com248.759.4858.

Green Dot Stables: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2200 W. Lafayette, Detroit, 48216. 313.962.5588. greendotstables.com Joe Muer Seafood: Seafood. Lunch, MondayFriday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 400 Renaissance Center, Detroit, 48243. 313.567.6837. joemuer.com

Troy/Rochester

Orchid Café: Thai. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. 3303 Rochester Road., Troy, 48085. 248.524.1944. orchid-cafe.com P.F. Chang’s China Bistro: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Somerset Collection, 2801 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48084. 248.816.8000. pfchangs.com Recipes: American/Brunch. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 134 W. University Drive, Rochester, 48037. 248.659.8267. Also 2919 Crooks Road, Troy, 48084. recipesinc.com248.614.5390. RH House: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch and Dinner, daily. 2630 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. No reservations. Liquor. 2630 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.586.1000. rh.house.com Rochester Chop House: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 306 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.651.2266. kruseandmuerrestaurants.com Ruth’s Chris Steak House: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 755 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48084. 248.269.8424. ruthschris.com Sedona Taphouse: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 198 Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48083. 248.422.6167. sedonataphouse.co

NM Café: American. Lunch, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2705 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48084. neimanmarcus.com/restaurants248.816.3424.

Prism: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 555 E. Lafayette Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.309.2499. greektowncasino.com Red Smoke Barbeque: Barbeque. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Trappers Alley Shopping Center, 573 Monroe Ave., Detroit, 48226. 313.962.2100. Selden Standard: American. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 3921 Second Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.438.5055. seldenstandard.com

Vertical Detroit: Small Plates & Wine Bar. Dinner, Wednesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 1538 Centre Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.732.WINE. verticaldetroit.com Vivio’s Food & Spirits: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2460 Market Street, Detroit, 48207. 313.393.1711. viviosdetroit.net

DOWNTOWN NeWsmagaziNe

Ocean Prime: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2915 Coolidge Highway, Troy, 48084. 248.458.0500. ocean-prime.com

SheWolf Pastifico & Bar: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 438 Selden Street, Detroit 48201. 313.315.3992. shewolfdetroit.com Sinbad’s: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 100 St. Clair Street, Detroit, 48214. 313.822.8000. sindbads.com

O’Connor’s Irish Public House: Irish. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 324 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.608.2537. oconnorsrochester.com

Too Ra Loo: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 139 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.453.5291. tooraloorochester.com West Bloomfield/Southfield Bacco: Italian. Lunch, Tuesday-Friday, Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 29410 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, 48034. baccoristorante.com248.356.6600. Cornbread Restaurant & Bar: Southern. Lunch & Dinner, Thursday-Tuesday. Reservations. Liquor. 29508 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, 48034. 248.208.1680. cornbreadsoulfood.com

Pickles & Rye: Deli. Lunch, & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. 6724 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. picklesandryedeli.com248.737.3890.

Kona Grille: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 30 E. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48083. 248.619.9060. konagrill.com

Cliff Bell’s: American. Dinner, WednesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 2030 Park Avenue, Detroit, 48226. 313.961.2543. cliffbells.com Cuisine: French. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 670 Lothrop Road, Detroit, 48202. cuisinerestaurantdetroit.com313.872.5110. El Barzon: Mexican. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 3710 Junction Street, Detroit, 48210. elbarzonrestaurant.com313.894.2070.

Grand Castor: Latin American. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 2950 Rochester Road, Troy, 48083. 248.278.7777. grancastor.com

Kruse & Muer on Main: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 327 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.652.9400. kruseandmuerrestaurants.com

Mon Jin Lau: Nu Asian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1515 E. Maple Road, Troy, 48083. monjinlau.com248.689.2332. Morton’s, The Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 888 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48084. 248.404.9845. mortons.com

The Statler: French. Brunch, Sunday. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 313 Park Avenue, Detroit, 48226. 313.463.7111. statlerdetroit.com

Capital Grille: Steak & Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2800 West Big Beaver Road, Somerset Collection, Troy, 48084. 248.649.5300. thecapitalgrille.com

Oceania Inn: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Village of Rochester Hills, 3176 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48309. oceaniainnrochesterhills.com248.375.9200.

The Fiddler: Russian. Brunch, Sunday, Dinner, Thursday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 6676 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.851.8782. fiddlerrestaurant.com

Nonna Maria’s: Italian. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2080 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48323. 248.851.2500. nonamariasbistro.com

Prime29 Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 6545 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48322. prime29steakhouse.com248.737.7463.

West Oakland Gravity Bar & Grill: Mediterranean. Lunch, Monday – Friday, Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 340 N. Main Street, Milford, 48381. gravityrestaurant.com248.684.4223. Volare Ristorante: Italian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 48992 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393. ristorantevolare.com248.960.7771.

North Oakland Clarkston Union: American. Breakfast, Sunday, Lunch, Wednesday-Saturday, Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 54 S. Main Street, Clarkston, 48346. 248.620.6100. clarkstonunion.com Kruse's Deer Lake Inn: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7504 Dixie Highway, Clarkston, 48346. kruseandmuerrestaurants.com248.795.2077.

Bucharest Grill: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2684 E. Jefferson Avenue, Detroit, 48207. 313.965.3111. bucharestgrill.com

Fishbone’s Rhythm Kitchen Café: Cajun. Lunch and Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 400 Monroe Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.965.4600. fishbonesusa.com Giovanni’s Ristorante: Italian. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 330 S. Oakwood Boulevard, Detroit, 48217. 313.841.0122. giovannisrestaurante.com

Silver Spoon: Italian. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 6830 N. Rochester Road, Rochester, 48306. 248.652.4500. silverspoonristorante.com

Voyager: Seafood. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 600 Vester Street, Ferndale, 48220. 248.658.4999. voyagerferndale.com

Loccino Italian Grill and Bar: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 5600 Crooks Road, Troy, 48098. 248.813.0700. loccino.com

Johnny Noodle King: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2601 W. Fort Street, Detroit, 48216. 313.309.7946. johnnynoodleking.com Mario’s: Italian. Lunch, Saturday & Sunday, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 4222 2nd Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.1616. mariosdetroit.com

The Fed: American. Brunch, Sunday, Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 15 S. Main Street, Clarkston, 48346. 248.297.5833 thefedcommunity.com Via Bologna: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 7071 Dixie Highway, Clarkston. 48346. 248.620.8500. joebologna.com Union Woodshop: BBQ. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. No reservations. Liquor. 18 S. Main Street, Clarkston, 48346. 248.625.5660. unionwoodshop.com Detroit Barda: Argentinian. Dinner, Thursday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 4842 Grand River Avenue, Detroit, 48208. 313.952.5182. bardadetroit.com

Midtown Shangri-la: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 4710 Cass Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.974.7669. midtownshangril-la.com

Motor City Brewing Works: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 470 W. Canfield Street, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.2700. motorcitybeer.com

Redcoat Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 6745 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. redcoat-tavern.com248.865.0500. Shangri-La: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. Orchard Mall Shopping Center, 6407 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.626.8585. dineshangrila.com Sposita’s Ristorante: Italian. Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 33210 W. Fourteen Mile Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.538.8954. spositas-restorante.com Stage Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 6873 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.855.6622. stagedeli.com Yotsuba: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 7365 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48322. yotsuba-restaurant.com248.737.8282.

Oak & Reel: Italian Seafood. Dinner, ThursdayMonday. Reservations. Liquor. 2921 E. Grand Boulevard, Detroit, 48202. 313.270.9600. oakandreel.com

Slows Bar BQ: Barbeque. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2138 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, 48216. slowsbarbq.com/locations/corktown313.962.9828. Tap at MGM Grand: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 1777 Third Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.465.1234. mgmgranddetroit.com

The Block: American. Brunch, Weekends, Lunch & Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 3919 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.0892. theblockdet.com

Townhouse Detroit: American. Lunch, Thursday-Sunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 500 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 48226. 313.723.1000. townhousedetroit.com Smith & Co: American. Dinner, WednesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 644 Selden Street, Detroit, smithandcodetroit.com313.638.1695. Supergeil: Berlin Doner. Lunch, Friday-Sunday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 2442 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, 48216. supergeildetroit.com313.462.4133.

Mene Sushi: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, Thursday-Sunday. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 6239 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.538.7081. menesususi.com

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W hile most of us know there's an election in November to determine who will be governor of our great state of Michigan, and a lot of people know someone – or recognize a name of someone running for the state legislature –what many folks may not be aware of is there are several ballot proposals that they will be asked to decide. Some are statewide initiatives, and others are strictly for your municipality. In a participatory form of democracy as ours, it is your duty to become knowledgeable of the ballot issues – and then make sure you cast a ballot this November. Statewide, there is a ballot proposal to change the term limits requirement for state legislators and financial disclosure requirements for state executive and legislative officials. While Michigan currently has term limits for state representatives, for three two-year terms, and state senators, for two four-year terms, this proposal would change it to a maximum of 12 years in any one chamber, along with more financial transparency.

Since 1967, SMART, the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, has been the region's only public transportation provider. In Oakland County, residents in communities who opt in to participate pay a one-mill tax annually to SMART. The problem is, many communities opt out, including Bloomfield Hills, Rochester Hills and Novi, creating a patchwork approach to service for those seeking bus service.

The Michigan Legislative Vote to Suspend Legislators' Salary would allow the state legislature, by a two-thirds vote, to suspend a lawmaker's salary and expense allowance for unethical actions or excessive

In a post-pandemic world, some may wonder if it's necessary to pay for transit, with many working from home, more offices remaining empty, and shoppers using their laptops instead of their feet. Yet the need for connectivity remains. Over time, habits change, travel plans get altered but one constant unlikely to change is the human need and desire to associate with others, to age in place with dignity or to enjoy the celebrations and entertainment options.

Approving the Oakland County public transportation millage is a strong way to start.

And Oakland County residents will see a countywide transit millage, for .95 mills, to provide transportation services to all corners of the county.

Knowledge king on November ballot issues

While officials haven't revealed what those rides might cost, in many areas, notably outlying areas of the county, it might be more reasonable than an UberThereride.is also funding for maintenance and technology upgrades – which in today's rapidly changing world, is necessary.

A path to connectivity for county residents

In early August, Oakland County did something progressive – and potentially revolutionary for metro Detroit –when the county board of commissioners approved placing a public transportation millage question on the November 8 ballot. If approved by voters, funding from an Oakland County public transportation millage will support current public transportation services in Oakland County, create and extend new routes to connect local communities and increase transportation service for seniors, veterans and people with disabilities. The millage would be levied at a maximum rate of .95 mills (95 cents per $1,000 in taxable property value) for 10 years beginning in 2022 and ending in 2031 – a slight decline for those currently paying the SMART millage, which would no longer be assessed. There are no opt-out provisions in this millage proposal. In addition, the new millage would provides funding to replace all other local public transit millages, according to Oakland County. Besides providing full SMART bus transportation throughout the county, linking communities and offering service, replacing current millages for the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA) for Orion Township, Oxford and Addison Township; the Older Person’s Commission (OPC) Transportation for Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township; and for WOTA, in Highland Township, Waterford Township and White Lake. If approved, the millage will offer paratransit services for seniors to assist them in getting to doctors' appointments, grocery stores, hair salons, and other needs.

Locally,absence.residents in Birmingham are being asked to approve an amendment to the city's charter to raise the ceiling threshold amount for contracts to come before the city commission from $6,000 to $75,000, in keeping with many other municipalities.

The county has been piloting microtransit across the county, which is an on demand service via an app or by phone, which can take someone to their destination by a vehicle, similar to a car-ride service. The goal is to expand it throughout the county.

ENDNOTE

Bloomfield Township residents are being asked to approve a millage increase to renew and increase the senior services millage, for a total tax rate of .3300 mills, for 10 years. Fifty percent of the township's residents are 50 years of age or older; 44 percent of households have someone aged 65 or more. The center offers services and programming for those 50 years and Townshipolder.residents are also being asked to approve a renewal of the Jan Roncelli safety path millage, .4511 mills for a period of five years. The existing safety path includes over 70 miles of safety path, 82,000 square feet of retaining walls, 25,000 feet of fencing, and approximately 1,180 ADA ramps at road intersections.

Potential measures that look likely to appear on the ballot is one to enshrine the right to reproductive freedom, or the right to choose, in the state Constitution. Another is a voting policy amendment that would make changes to current voting policies, which were overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2018, to permit more drop boxes, nine days of early voting, and to allow for absentee voting for every election. Another amendment would require twothirds of the state legislature to vote to pass bills after a general election during even-number years, to prevent “lame duck” legislative sessions.

Learn what you like – or don't. Then vote.

T he journey towards regional transit has been a long, fraught one in metro Detroit. For decades, those in Oakland County have kept a strong line of demarcation between the city of Detroit and Wayne County at the 8 Mile Road line. While there have been efforts in the last decade to attempt to bridge them, including a Regional Transit Authority millage that attempted to connect Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties via rapid transit buses along main arteries such as Woodward, Gratiot and Michigan Avenue, it came about 18,000 votes shy of passing, primarily in Oakland and Macomb counties, where northern and more rural county voters felt they would be paying for something which would not include them. Those who have needed some kind of public transportation have been forced to rely on SMART buses, and the more affluent have turned to the gig economy in the form of Uber and Lyft. Because the reality is, not everyone drives, wants to drive, can drive and there remains a need and desire among a portion of the population for transit. In many of our communities, about half of the population is over 50, with projections of those over 65 who want to continue to live in their homes. The need for public transportation for seniors is a vital and necessary consideration, for those aging in place need help accessing doctor's appointments, groceries, visiting friends and relatives, and personal services. On the other edge of the coin, millennials and Gen Z –younger members of the communities and workers –seek areas with walkability, which are less dependent upon car mobility. We continually hear that to retain this vital demographic we need to provide reliable transit for them to get to jobs, entertainment, shopping and friends.

TUSHAR VAKHARIYA & ASSOCIATES AVA SHARRAK CATHY LOCHIRCO

Nathan Road Jorge Comuna2200BorgesLuis-210014 ANTOINERUE DE SAINTECRIVAIN-AVIATEUREXUPÉRY 29 JUIN 1900-31 JUILLET 1944 sir.com Birmingham | Northville | Grosse Pointe 248.644.7000