DRINKING WATER: NEW THREAT FROM NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE ENDNOTE: YES ON SCHOOL BONDS; NO ON SALES TAX INCREASE MAY 2015
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DOING TIME: WHO'S IN THE 1,600 OAKLAND COUNTY JAIL POPULATION BOOMERS: THE GROWING DRUG PROBLEM WITH AGING GENERATION J. MARCH: SNEAK PEEK AT POSSIBLE MENU FOR DETROIT TOWNHOUSE
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DOWNTOWN05.15
30
Nuclear waste storage on Great Lakes shorelines? The latest potential threat to drinking water safety could come from a nuclear waste disposal proposal near the shores of Lake Huron on the Canadian side of the waterway.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
20
The Michigan Freedom of Information Act, while certainly not perfect, has become part of the journalist’s toolbox in the effort to provide a complete picture for readers when reporting on the activities of the government, and the willingness of government officials to provide transparency is part of the equation.
DRINKING WATER: NEW THREAT FROM NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE ENDNOTE: YES ON SCHOOL BONDS; NO ON SALES TAX INCREASE MAY 2015
DOWNTOWNPUBLICATIONS.COM
INCOMING
22
Our readers' opinions on issues facing the Birmingham/Bloomfield communities or their reaction to content in past issues of Downtown.
CRIME LOCATOR
29
A recap of select categories of crime occurring in the past month in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills, presented in map format.
MUNICIPAL
105
City forms another parking committee; Emagine Theater with Ironwood Grille pass review; Triple Nickel opens; two more Birmingham bistros await okay; cutback on township treasurer position sparks opposition; Bloomfield cable contract renewed; plus more.
EDUCATION
136
Bloomfield Hills District varsity baseball coach and middle school gym teacher on leave after fleeing accident during schools hours and at the same time faces probation hearing from prior alcohol-related driving offense; Bloomfield Hills District grappling with racial bullying incident.
BUSINESS MATTERS
139
1701 Bespoke; Revive My Skin; Cafe Succo; Honet Dermatology and Honet Cosmetic; Woolly & Co.; The Griffin Claw Brewing Company; Transitions Legal.
DOING TIME: WHO'S IN THE 1,600 OAKLAND COUNTY JAIL POPULATION BOOMERS: THE GROWING DRUG PROBLEM WITH AGING GENERATION J. MARCH: SNEAK PEEK AT POSSIBLE MENU FOR DETROIT TOWNHOUSE
THE COVER The Townsend Hotel in downtown Birmingham, designed by Birmingham architect Victor Saroki & Associates, opened in 1988 and is considered a four-diamond, four-star luxury hotel. Downtown photo: G. Lynn Barnett.
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Birmingham
Movie Night
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555 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Suite 21U
43 Boomers’ drug challenge Baby Boomers, who grew up when recreational drug use was part of life, are creating new problems as the demographic groups begins to reach older age.
55 Oakland County Jail A look inside the Oakland County jail with its population of 1,600 inmates, men and some women, who are there for a variety of reasons.
133
Ashley Fleckenstein
AT THE TABLE
145
J. March offers an advance look at the possible menu for Jeremy Sasson’s new Townhouse restaurant scheduled to open in Detroit, following a pop-up dinner by Chefs Michael Barerra and Brennan Calnin recently held at Revolver in Hamtramck.
SOCIAL LIGHTS
150
Society reporter Sally Gerak provides the latest news from the society and non-profit circuit as she covers recent major events.
ENDNOTE
158
Our views on the May 5 state ballot proposal to raise the income tax from six to seven percent in a constitutional amendment; and the school bond proposal facing voters in the Birmingham district.
FACES
41 51 63 103 133
Tim Patrick Garrett Hohendorf Jeff Smokevitch Gary Kulak Ashley Fleckenstein
255 Lakewood
Bloomfield Hills
$2,390,000
Spectacular setting and home on Endicott Lake. New kitchen with stained walnut cabinets, large island, breakfast bar & quartz counters. All 4 BRs are suites with updated baths. Finished walk-out lower level includes 2nd kitchen. Three car garage, inground pool and picturesque views. Birmingham schools
3136 Morningview Terrace
Bloomfield Hills $1,299,900
Landmark Tudor in Bloomfield Village sitting on a beautiful half acre lot. Five bedrooms, 3.2 baths. Extensively remodeled and a recent addition. Cedar shake roof. Elevator. Finished basement. Birmingham schools.
844 Pilgrim
Birmingham
$1,100,000
Five bedroom brick colonial located on a great lot in the heart of Quarton Lake Estates. Expanded master suite includes big walk-in closet, bath with granite top double sink vanity and vaulted ceilings. Two car attached garage.
1170 Chesterfield
Birmingham
$2,149,900
Stunning newer build on a large 155x150 lot, just over a half acre in Quarton Lake Estates. Beautiful white kitchen with black granite, wood floors and a huge center island. Four bedrooms and 4 full baths up, finished basement. Three car side entry garage.
137 Dourdan
Bloomfield Hills
$1,199,000
Birmingham
$1,099,900
Home to be built. An executive development of million dollar plus homes. 5 br, 3.5 baths. 1st floor master. 3 car garage. Other lots available. Bloomfield schools.
384 Puritan
Quarton Lake Estates 1923 Tudor-renovated with modern amenities and stylish decor. Newer kitchen with granite counters, limestone and ss appliances. Four bedrooms up with updated baths and second floor laundry.
CHris Pero Associate Broker
248.797.0784 cgpero@yahoo.com
275 S. Old Woodward Downtown Birmingham
749 Henrietta
Birmingham
$1,099,900
602 Riverside
Birmingham
$699,900
174 Hillboro
Bloomfield Hills
$499,900
Just blocks from town, 2 story brick colonial custom built in 2003. Beautiful kitchen with large center island and granite counters opens to spacious FR. Two car detached garage. Finished basement includes a great bar, large rec room, 4th bedroom and a full bath.
Fabulous lot backing to woods. Private community in heart of Birmingham. Design your dream home. Lot price only
Expanded Westchester ranch in 2005 with a great open floor plan and a full basement. Updated kitchen with granite counters and center island. Three bedrooms, 2.1 baths. Two car attached garage. Birmingham schools.
660 Lakeside
Birmingham
$1,099,900
1844 W. Lincoln
Birmingham
$624,900
Wonderful home overlooking Quarton Lake. Five bedrooms, 3 full baths - all updated. Finished basement with large rec room. Two car rear entry garage. Lots of charm and character. A great home and lot - offers many options in one of Birmingham's best locations. Walk to town.
Four bedroom brick colonial on a 80 foot wide lot across from the Lincoln park and tennis courts. Wonderfully maintained and move in ready. Two car attached garage. First floor laundry. Finished basement.
1113 N Old Woodward #36 Birmingham
CHRis PeRO Associate Broker
248.797.0784 cgpero@yahoo.com
$229,900
Second floor condo in Woodward Place. Updated unit with granite counters in the white kitchen. Two bedrooms and two full baths. Wonderful common area grounds along Rouge River. Carport.
275 S. Old Woodward Downtown Birmingham
PUBLISHER David Hohendorf NEWS EDITOR Lisa Brody NEWS STAFF/CONTRIBUTORS Allison Batdorff | Rachel Bechard | Hillary Brody Kevin Elliott | Sally Gerak | Austen Hohendorf Sarah Kovan | J. Marsh | Kathleen Meisner | Bill Seklar PHOTOGRAPHY/CONTRIBUTORS Jean Lannen | Laurie Tennent Laurie Tennent Studio VIDEO PRODUCTION/CONTRIBUTOR Garrett Hohendorf Giant Slayer ADVERTISTING MANAGER Jill Cesarz ADVERTISING SALES Heather Marquis GRAPHICS/DESIGN G. Lynn Barnett WEBSITE/CONTRIBUTOR Chris Grammer OFFICE 124 W. Maple Birmingham MI 48009 248.792.6464 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 downtown Birmingham. For those not receiving a free mail copy, paid subscriptions are available for a $12 annual charge. To secure a paid subscription, go to our website (downtownpublications.com) and click on “subscriptions” in the top index and place your order online 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. The traditional “letters to the editor” in Downtown are published in our Incoming section and can include written letters or electronic communication. Opinions can be sent via e-mail to news@downtownpublications.com or mailed to Downtown Publications, 124 W. Maple Road, Birmingham MI 48009 WEBSITE downtownpublications.com
FACEBOOK facebook.com/downtownpublications TWITTER twitter.com/downtownpubs
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FROM THE PUBLISHER
F
ollowing Michigan lawmakers enactment of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, Act 442 of 1976, I was not a big fan.
An outgrowth of the Watergate scandal on the national level, the act at first seemed to slow the flow of information rather than increase access to public records which was the intent of the law when it went into effect in April of 1977. Where in the past local and state officials had generally been good about supplying documents requested by news organizations, the implementation of the FOIA, as the act is commonly known, seemed to delay the flow of information, and in some cases gave public officials a prescribed means of denying requests thanks to a list of exemptions allowed in the new law. At least that was my perception from a deadline business viewpoint, where previously a call to a local official produced whatever was generally needed to give the public a complete picture in a government-related story. The FOIA, for some officials, became more of a shield to withhold information, rather than encourage transparency.
sometimes into the thousands. The changes also provide that requesters can appeal administratively and initiate lawsuits if the fees seem excessive. Fines have also been increased for government officials who delay responses to FOIA requests for records, not uncommon in the past. And to bring the law into the modern age, electronic versions of records, if the technology exists, can now be requested. So on balance, the public's interest has benefitted from adoption of the FOIA nearly four decades ago. In the media world, the FOIA has become a routine part of the toolbox when attempting to supply information to the public, although generally readers remain unaware of what efforts go into bringing them the news. On occasion, the public gets an inside look at how the FOIA has helped shape the news. Probably the most noted use of the open records law in recent years was reliance on the FOIA by the Detroit Free Press to gain access to the text messages of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, which allowed everyone a front row seat as the scandal in the city's administration unfolded.
On the face of it, the FOIA was well intended. The act was designed, according to its own language, to prove “public access to certain public records of public bodies,” along with outlining response times government officials had to meet, fees that could be levied, duties of public officials charged with supplying documents, exemptions for specific classes of records, and penalties and a course of relief if a request has been denied.
As I look back on our news efforts in recent weeks and months, the FOIA has allowed us to bring a more complete story on a number of important issues in the area covered by our monthly newsmagazines. Among those efforts, we employed the FOIA to gain access to fees charged to Bloomfield Township by an investment advisory firm. In Commerce, the FOIA allowed us access to the list of candidates who applied for appointment to a township trustee appointment when officials suggested that final interviews would be conducted in a less than transparent fashion. And in recent weeks, use of the FOIA allowed us to bring a more complete picture about the situation surrounding a Bloomfield Hills varsity baseball coach/teacher who fled from the scene of a car accident during school hours, including police reports, e-mails between school officials and other records documenting his history of alcohol-related driving infractions.
The FOIA has been amended a number of times in the last nearly 40 years, sometimes for the better and sometimes not. And challenges to the law through the courts, for the most part by media organizations, have helped set precedent and expand the reach of the act over time.
What has been most heartening in our own experience in each of these incidents is the dramatic change in attitude on the part of local officials. In each instance, we found more of a willingness on the part of the government to treat the records as public documents, something that was lacking decades ago.
This year, effective July 1, further changes to the FOIA will take effect, thanks to the efforts of media organizations and the Michigan Press Association last year to have the legislature address some road blocks that existed with prior versions of the law. Although not perfect, the new changes lower the fees that can be charged for records – an impediment to the press and the general public in the past when records could run into the hundreds of dollars, and
Progress has definitely been made when it comes to public records, and for that we have the FOIA to thank.
But that was nearly 40 years ago and my take on the FOIA has changed considerably, as has the thinking of government officials who appear generally concerned about the appearance of transparency when it comes to supplying public documents when requested.
David Hohendorf Publisher DavidHohendorf@downtownpublications.com
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I enjoy reading your publication and often skim through the “Incoming” readers’ comments section with interest. I recently found myself rather perplexed by the absolutely visceral letters about the proposed change to West Maple Road. Why all the emotion for a fairly simple change in traffic flow? Some insist that drivers coming from the west will drive down Cranbrook with its 30 MPH limit, turn left on Lincoln with all of its stop signs and 25 MPH limit and then back up 25 MPH Southfield just to get around 35 MPH Maple that has two traffic signals. Can they be serious? I’m sorry but that is more than a bit of an overreaction. Some also liken it to the library proposal. That was turned down because of the tax increase it would have entailed. Maple will be repaved regardless of what the paint stripes on it look like. It certainly needs it and if worst comes to worst the paint lines can be sanded off and replaced with the current layout. Certainly nothing to get worked up over. I have to doubt that the proposed change will do much except string out the packs of traffic a bit longer and encourage them to travel at the posted speed rather than the current 45 MPH average that seems to be the norm in spite of the best efforts of the Birmingham police department. The current situation just encourages drivers to speed through Birmingham. If the quoted 12,000 cars per day is real, then how many can be local residents or those going to Birmingham to shop or visit other businesses? At best a third of those, the rest are just passing through as fast as they can. Sure the three churches will induce traffic issues when they ‘let out’. They do now. Any plan should account for this with lights and signs done in a rational manner. A 15-minute traffic surge once a week is hardly reason to throw the whole plan into the trash bin. Personally I’d like to see a turn lane on Maple. Right now as I sit in the left lane waiting to turn I find cars racing towards my rear bumper only to move over to the right lane at the last minute. They are in turn followed by another who does the same. Each vehicle has less time to see me and make the cut over
DOWNTOWN
because of the preceding vehicle that blocks their view of my car. It’s just a matter of time before my car is in the body shop and I’m in the hospital or worse. Accidents are common enough on Maple and it always involves someone turning from the left lane. A center turn lane would allow left turning vehicles to get out of the traffic flow so as not to impede it. Look at 14 Mile east of Southfield. It has the same three lane design as the Maple Road proposal, minus the bike lanes, and it flows just fine and the speeds are much closer to the posted limit. Also, who was polled in the many polls that are referred to? I have been living on the west side for 15 years and never had any one contact me for an opinion. But what does my opinion or that of any one else that lives in the area really matter? We have planners and traffic engineers that we pay to study, analyze and make educated decisions based on facts and experience for us. Do those who are getting upset about the proposed traffic changes suggest that we ignore what these professionals recommend and do what those who aren't familiar with the details and nuances of such things only feel is right? Would you go to a heart doctor for a bad heart, ignore what they say and then ask your 10 best friends for advice on what to do with your weak ticker? Calm down folks. We pay good money for professional services. Let’s let those who know traffic safety and flow do their job. It might just be a change for the better. Don Lawrence Birmingham
Leave W. Maple alone I have lived with my wife on Shirley Rd. for the last 32 years. I am aware of the overwhelming percentage of homeowners in opposition to any W. Maple Road street layout changes. I also want to go on record against any narrowing of W. Maple, installing any bike lane adjacent to a motor vehicle traffic lane, and removal of the critically needed traffic signal at Lake Park. Both my wife and I have driven safely in this neighborhood, turning to and from W. Maple onto Shirley Rd., Arlington St. and just about every street entering or exiting W. Maple from Cranbrook to Southfield without harm or occurrence. Although the traffic has increased 05.15
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Hunter Roberts Homes in desirable location Comfortable living on three levels Construction to be completed August 2015
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BIRMINGHAM $568,000
Hills of Lone Pine detached condo Solarium with pool Completely barrier-free home
Renovate or build your custom home Accent pond and rolling terrain Walk to Cranbrook community
Fabulous home on 1/2 acre Sophisticated finishes & craftsmanship Enough room to add on or build
442 S. Old Woodward Ave. Birmingham, MI 48009
Beautifully Designed Home Walk to Downtown Striking architecture combines with outstanding design & craftsmanship in this light-filled home close to downtown Birmingham. The entry level includes a modern eat-in gourmet kitchen with premium appliances and custom cabinetry that flows to relaxing family room with fireplace. An inviting dining room, sunroom and stunning living room with floor-to-ceiling windows creating light & airy spaces complete the first floor. The luxurious living spaces continue with a master retreat with fireplace, sitting room, custom closets and exquisite heated white marble bath. The upper level features two additional ensuite bedrooms with terraces. A finished lower level features workout room, full bath and great space for daily family life. A beautiful private patio is perfect for warm weather entertaining. 4-car heated garage. $1,999,000
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INCOMING Gift Certificates Available for Mother’s Day over the years, the traffic signals at Cranbrook, Lake Park and Southfield have been adjusted to allow adequate time for lanes to clear to enter or exit W. Maple. Proposing to narrow W. Maple to two lanes, with bike lanes adjacent, is potentially very dangerous. Planners must admit that bottlenecks will occur when residents try to enter W. Maple from any of the side streets at peak morning and evening hours, especially with the traffic light at Lake Park eliminated. Public bus transportation will cause further congestion at passenger stops. This domino of congestion will cause already burdened side streets to be used as "traffic relief" routes. This is especially true for Arlington and Shirley Rd. as drivers heading east on W. Maple turn south on Southfield. Even today drivers use these streets, (at way above posted speeds) to cut through to Lincoln, then to Southfield. Arlington and Shirley's extra width is like a expressway to non-resident drivers. My wife and I are bikers and share the belief with the five neighborhood majority of 92 percent that any type of biking on W. Maple adjacent to vehicle, bus, and trucks would be suicide. In today's litigious world it would not take long for this proposed change to prove costly for the city. Driving east or west on W. Maple today is as safe as any urban street that leads to a city in Michigan can be. Although drivers exceed the speed limit by a wide margin, removing the light at Lake Park would not slow traffic, and it would be very dangerous for homeowners exiting streets like Aspen and Linden or pedestrians trying to cross W. Maple, encouraged by narrower lanes. Without the Lake Park traffic signal, bikers, walkers, strollers, etc. would have to cross at intervals where the proposed traffic plan narrows for crossovers, albeit against faster traffic. I do not want the Lake Park light removed, W. Maple narrowed to two lanes, or bike lanes on W. Maple. It's not ironic that (a large percentage) of existing homeowners who are very current, educated, and very familiar with their areas roads and traffic patterns, would unanimously bond in the unanimous opinion and from experience, not statistics, would vote to leave W. Maple as it is. James P Ryan AIA Birmingham downtownpublications.com
J. March reviews From its first issue we have found Downtown an excellent publication. In the past we read the reports of Lisa Brody and Kevin Elliot from cover to cover. However, with the addition to your staff of "J. March" we now peruse Downtown back to front. We have never read such delightful, devastating, intense and witty reviews as March sets before us in his At The Table column. While we are eager to meet and talk with him about his background in writing and eating, we can assure March that we will never invite him to our home for dinner. Joseph Weiss, Marilyn Shapiro Bloomfield Hills
Regulating drones Thank you for your comprehensive article on drones (Downtown/April). No license to fly a drone should be granted unless the manufacturer, owner and operator all have proper liability insurance. Authorization from the local government for each flight should be required. I have read at least a dozen drone articles this year. Not one included the word “noise.” Should homeowners have to listen to a drone delivering a pizza to a neighbor? Every local jurisdiction should be considering legislation on drones. These “aircraft systems” must be very carefully regulated. They can and will crash, just as planes do. A one pound drone falling a hundred feet could easily kill a person. Richard Rosenbaum Bloomfield Hills
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Thanks for the always interesting perspective (From the Publisher/April). Just wanted to add you don't have to look as far as Walled Lake for the anti low income housing and racist public sentiment. How about in Birmingham about 25 years ago? Name withheld on request
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Photo correction In the April issue of Downtown, the food photo at Bistro 82 (page 145) was photographed by Jean Lannen. Also in the April issue, the Faces feature photo of Eliana Margherio (page 105) was photographed Jean Lannen. DOWNTOWN
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NEW DRINKING WATER THREAT NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE ON SHORES OF LAKE HURON? BY KEVIN ELLIOTT
lans by a Canadian power utility to bury nuclear waste along the eastern shore of Lake Huron has raised concerns about the possibility that radioactive materials could enter the Great Lakes and contaminate the world’s largest source of freshwater and the drinking supply for about 40 million people, including those in southeast Michigan and the majority of the residents in Oakland County. Located in Kincardine, Ontario, about 120 miles northeast of Detroit, the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is a 2,300-acre facility that serves as the world’s largest nuclear power station, housing a total of eight nuclear reactors. Bruce Power, a privately held Canadian company, holds a long-term lease with Ontario Power Generation, which is wholly-owned by the Ontario government to operate the plant. Radioactive nuclear waste produced at the station has been kept in aboveground storage buildings at the site’s Western Waste Management facility for more than four decades. Now, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is planning to construct a deep geological repository to store the waste about a half-mile from the shores of Lake Huron, about 40 miles across the lake to the Michigan shoreline, near Port Hope. Plans for the underground storage site include digging nearly a half-mile below the surface into layers of limestone and shale within the area known as the Bruce Peninsula. Low-level and intermediate-level radioactive wastes from the Bruce power plant and other nuclear reactors owned by Ontario Power Generation would be stored in the proposed repository for thousands of years. The plan is currently being reviewed by a joint review panel under the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. If approved, the facility would store up to 52 million gallons of low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste less than a half-mile from Lake Huron. Low-level waste consists of materials such as mop heads, rags, paper towel and protective clothing used in nuclear stations during routine operation and maintenance. Intermediate-level waste consists of reactor parts and equipment, resins, filters used to purify reactor water systems, and other components. Used nuclear fuel wouldn’t be stored or managed at the underground repository. While used reactor fuel from the Bruce station also is stored at the current site, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, which serves as a consultant to the proposed project, is seeking a separate site in Canada for a permanent repository for the used fuel from all of Canada’s nuclear reactors.
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Ontario Power Generation’s proposed underground repository is currently being considered by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which serves as that country’s regulator of nuclear facilities, and is responsible for licensing and overseeing nuclear projects. As part of the review process, an environmental assessment is being conducted by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, which oversees a joint review panel which took over 900 comments on the proposed facility. The comment period and record for the panel was closed in November of 2014 and the panel is expected to release its environmental evaluation report to the assessment agency by May 6. Ontario Power officials say the facility will go a long way toward safely storing nuclear waste for the foreseeable future, as it will be located in rock formations that have remained stable for more than 450 million years. Most of the low-level waste, they say, will decay in 300 years, while a small amount will be radioactive for more than 100,000 years. Officials with Ontario Power say geologists, engineers, hydrologists and others have studied the project for many years, and that studies show no significant adverse impact to the environment or public will occur. Despite assurances by the utility, at least 133 resolutions have been passed by communities in Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Indiana and Ontario opposing the proposed nuclear repository, with the vast majority opposing any permanent underground waste repository anywhere in the Great Lakes Basin. A resolution opposing the facility was passed by the Michigan Senate in 2014, and similar resolutions have been introduced in Congress. In Oakland County, the majority of residents receive drinking water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s (DWSD) system, while others not hooked into Detroit’s system are served by local municipal or individual wells. For Oakland County customers hooked into the system, water comes from two main sources. Customers north of 14 Mile Road receive their water from the utility’s Lake Huron Water Treatment Plant, near Port Huron, while those south of 14 Mile Road get water from the DWSD’s Springwells and Northeast treatment plants, which draw water through intakes at Belle Isle. However, in practical terms, all of the water for the Detroit system’s water processing plants starts in Lake Huron and then flows southward into the St. Clair River and then into Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River and eventually into Lake Erie to the south. Gregory Eno, a spokesman for the DWSD, said in April that he wasn’t aware of the proposed nuclear waste repository near Lake Huron. He said on April 20 that the department had no comment. In October 2014, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners approved articles of incorporation to create the Great Lakes Water Authority, which will operate and manage all
water and sewer lines in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties suburbs that are currently part of the DWSD. Deputy Oakland County Executive Robert J. Daddow will represent Oakland County on the authority’s board. Daddow said he was unable to comment on any matters involving the authority due to a federal court order. Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash said he is aware of the proposed repository. He opposed it more than four years ago as an Oakland County commissioner while working with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). “SEMCOG passed a resolution opposing it,” he said. “We have at least 20 percent of the world’s freshwater in the Great Lakes, and we can’t afford to have it leaking into it. If we are going to store this stuff, we have to store it so that it doesn’t have any potential to effect the Great Lakes.” While the opposition to the proposed facility has been strong, scientists with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) who reviewed Bruce Power’s plans for the deep geological repository concluded that the utility’s findings appeared to be accurate. In fact, additional studies have indicated that geological rock formations in the Great Lakes Basin could provide safe storage for all levels of radioactive waste. Meanwhile, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S. Department of Energy have yet to find a permanent disposal site for spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste in this country. Although nuclear regulators in Canada have not made a decision on the proposed facility, the proposed project on the shores of Lake Huron raise questions about the possibility of future plans for a similar facility in Michigan. “What we try to do at the DEQ is assess risk,” said DEQ spokesman Brad Wurfel, who said Ontario Power Generation asked the DEQ several years ago to review their plans for the proposed facility. “We recognize that there is some measure of risk in anything, and we look at what we can do to minimize risk. We felt upon our review, that the folks in Canada had
Would a similar facility be permitted near the Great Lakes in Michigan? Unlikely.
addressed the appropriate risk factors in the proposed construction.” So, would a similar facility be permitted near the Great Lakes in Michigan? Unlikely, according to Wurfel. “Do you know what we put in the ground around our shoreline? We have dozens of different deep injection wells around the state, so it’s not that we haven’t taken advantage of our wells, but not of this kind. I’m not sure we would permit something like that,” Wurfel said. “We have injection wells for hazardous waste all around the state, but that’s (nuclear) never been proposed.” In Romulus, hazardous waste was pumped into a well nearly a mile deep into the ground in 2006. State inspectors later discovered leaks in the well mechanism located above the ground, and closed the wells after about 10 months. However, the wells were again permitted by the DEQ and re-opened. “There are hazardous waste wells, like the one in Romulus,” Wurfel said. “That is some pretty bad stuff, and that’s in a formation that is never going to allow it to escape. Michigan has great geology for having the ability to use its formations.” Hal Fitch, office chief of the DEQ’s Oil, Gas and Minerals Division, who was one of the experts who reviewed Ontario Power’s plans for the DEQ, said the rock formations at Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula, where the storage facility is being proposed, have much the same geological formations as lower Michigan. “Their (environmental impact study) concluded that there wasn’t any significant risk of leakage or fluid movement or escape of any kind into ground water or surface water into Lake Huron,” he said. “And we didn’t find anything to dispute that.” Ontario Power Generation says it completed a four-year program of scientific investigations, analyses and studies to assess the ability of the proposed deep geologic repository to safely isolate and contain low and intermediate level waste. The results were compiled into an environmental impact study. According to Ontario Power Generation, studies of pore water extracted from about 2,231 feet, or more than 1,700 feet below the bottom of Lake Huron in the area, haven’t moved for more than a million years. The utility also said that much of the waste is already stored above ground on an interim basis, and that the repository would provide a safer location for the long term. The proposed project includes the construction of surface and underground facilities over five to seven years. The underground facilities include two shafts, several access tunnels and a number of emplacement rooms and support facilities, including ventilation and maintenance rooms. The underground facility would be constructed in limestone bedrock beneath the Bruce nuclear site. The overall underground arrangement would enable infrastructure to be kept in close proximity to the main shaft, while keeping waste placement areas away from the normally occupied and high traffic areas, according to Ontario Power Generation.
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On the surface, the facilities would include a waste package receiving building, main and ventilation shaft headframes, a compressor room, intake fans, heating fans, a hoist house and emergency generator. The facility would be about a half mile from the Lake Huron shoreline. The utility said in a statement that several different technologies were considered for the long-term management of the waste, but the repository was selected because it provides the highest margin of safety. Kevin Kamps, a Kalamazoo native now working as a national radioactive waste watchdog with Maryland-based Beyond Nuclear, said he fears the facility has a very real possibility of being constructed, despite the strong opposition against it. “We have been following it since about 2001, when the first rumors appeared. It was such a crazy proposal that we thought it would go away,” he said. “I’m afraid there’s a real danger that it will be built. The drinking water supply for 40 million people will be put at risk by this proposal. There is radioactive waste storage in Canada and the United States all along the shores. Never before has anyone proposed burying it where it will almost certainly leak into the lakes.” According to Kamps, low level and intermediate wastes contain many of the same radioactive materials as high-level wastes, but in lesser concentrations. The long-lasting materials, he said, include cesium-137, strontium-90; plutonium-239; iodine-129 and nickel-59, as well as hundreds of other radioactive materials present in the wastes. The Detroit water system currently tests for hundreds of potential contaminants each day, as well as secondary and unregulated contaminants that may enter a system. In terms of radioactive contaminants, the department tests for radium 226 and 228, as well as other radioactive materials. “You have water soluble, radioactive poisons– like cesium-137, like that from Fukushima and Chernobyl – that would flow with currents downstream,” Kamps said. “One of the radioactive poisons that has already leaked at the Bruce site, tritium, which is radioactive hydrogen. It’s not filterable on an industrial scale. They have had leaks on their site, and if that ever gets in the lakes, it will go into our water.” Ontario Power Generation states that tritium concentrations in the surface water within the site are higher than background monitoring stations, or those maintained by local municipalities for drinking water, but are “well within the standards.” Kamps in April met with Flint Congressman Dan Kildee to discuss the proposed facility. Kildee announced the same day that he planned to sponsor a bipartisan resolution to oppose the repository. “Permanently storing nuclear waste at a Canadian facility less than a mile from the Great Lakes is dangerous and an unnecessary risk we shouldn’t take,” said Kildee, whose district includes Flint, where a new water system, drawing from Lake Huron, is in the
works as a replacement for the Detroit system to which the city used to belong. A similar resolution was introduced in 2014 by former Michigan Senator Carl Levin. That resolution died in the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Meanwhile, in 2014, the Michigan Senate passed a resolution opposing the repository and urging Congress to do all it can to urge Canadian officials to find alternatives to the proposed facility. Dozens of municipalities in Michigan and the Great Lakes region have also passed resolutions opposing the project, including the municipalities of Windsor, Ontario; Duluth, Minnesota; Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Niagara Falls, New York; Clinton Township, Michigan; Toronto, Ontario; Rochester, New York; and Chicago, as well as many others. “Millions of people – both in the U.S. and Canada – depend on fresh water from the Great Lakes for drinking, fishing and tourism. Every year, the Great Lakes pump billions of dollars into the economy and support thousands of good paying jobs,” congressmen Kildee, Sander Levin, John Dingell and Gary Peters said in a letter to the joint review panel considering the proposed facility. “Lake Huron, which together with Lakes Superior, Erie, Michigan and Ontario constitute the largest group of
They have had leaks on their site, and if that ever gets in the lakes, it will go into our water.
freshwater lakes on earth, comprise 21 percent of the world’s surface freshwater. If the Great Lakes were to be contaminated with nuclear waste, it would cause significant damage to this vital natural resource.” In Macomb County, both the county’s Water Quality Board and Macomb County Board of Commissioners have passed resolutions opposing the construction of the proposed waste repository. The water quality board, which is a citizen’s advisory board appointed by the Macomb County Board of Commissioners to advocate for clean water, passed its resolution in 2008. “Michigan Act 204 of 1987, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Authority Act, MCL 333.26201 - 333.26226, set forth citing criteria for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste. Such criteria excludes any ‘located within 10 miles of Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, St. Mary’s River, Detroit River, St. Clair River or Lake. St. Clair,’’’ the Macomb County Board of Commissioners cited in its resolution. “and, whereas to protect water quality, other citing criteria of Act 204 excludes sites (1) located within a 500 year floodplain; (2) located over a sole source aquifer or (3) located where the hydrogeology beneath the site discharges groundwater to the land surface within 3,000 feet of the boundaries of the site.” Closer to the Port Huron intake where much of southeast Michigan receives its drinking water, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said he and other Canadians share many of the same concerns as those in the United States. “It’s pretty simple. Sarnia is the largest (Canadian) city on Lake Huron. We take our water very serious, like many others,” he said. “There was no process on this – when they were looking for locations for this, Kincardine put up their hand and said, ‘hey, choose us,’ and they did. “To build anything like this within a mile of Lake Huron is just foolish.” Requests for comment from officials in Kincardine weren’t returned. Bradley said while efforts to reduce radioactive risks on the Great Lakes have been successful in the past, such as previous plans by the utility to ship nuclear steam generators on the Great Lakes, a similar decision will likely require the intervention of the United States government. “I expect this thing is going to be approved, with a lot of restrictions, and that will take the political fight to the federal level,” he said. “The biggest thing is American opposition. I think that has a tremendous impact on the decision of the Canadian federal government.” Just across the Detroit River from downtown Detroit, the city of Windsor, Ontario, has opposed the proposed waste repository by resolution: “The city of Windsor, in order to protect the Great Lakes and its tributaries, urges that neither this proposed nuclear waste repository at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station nor any other underground nuclear waste repository be constructed in the Great Lakes Basin, in Canada, the United States, or any first nation property.”
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The resolution, which was adopted by the Windsor City Council in November 2013, goes on to cite the a 2012 Protocol Amending the Agreement Between Canada and the United States of America on Great Lakes Water Quality, where the governments of Canada and the United States acknowledged the importance of “anticipating, preventing and responding to threats to the waters of the Great Lakes.” “Placing a permanent nuclear waste burial facility so close to the Great Lakes is illadvised,” the council said. “The potential damage to the Great Lakes from any leak or breach of radioactivity far outweighs any suggested economic benefit that might be derived from burying radioactive nuclear waste at this site. The ecology of the Great Lakes, valuable beyond measure to the health and economic wellbeing of the entire region, should not be placed at risk by storing radioactive nuclear waste underground so close to the shoreline.” The Michigan League of Conservation Voters has also weighed in on the proposed repository, citing that it is “out of step” with responsible stewardship of the Great Lakes and will “pose a serious threat to the largest source of freshwater on the planet.” Noting the Great Lakes is a source for 1.5 million jobs and $62 million to the Great Lakes regional economy, the group stated in a letter to the joint review panel that “we cannot afford to place the wellbeing of the Great Lakes in jeopardy by storing nuclear waste.” “There are still too many unknowns about deep geological repositories to risk putting one so dangerously close to the Great Lakes. The type of repository that Ontario Power is proposing would be the first of its kind in Canada, and only the second of its kind in the United States,” the Michigan League of Conservation Voters said in a letter to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s Joint Review Panel. A repository built into water soluble limestone, as Ontario Power is proposing, is unusual and untested, and limited experience shows that repositories like these leak radioactive waste. “The sole repository that exists in the United States was constructed to hold only low level nuclear waste, not intermediate waste,which is what Ontario Power is suggesting occur at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station. After citizens living near that repository were told the possibility of off-site migration was “essentially non-existent,” radioactive waste was found two miles off-site ten years later. Allowing Ontario Power to store nuclear waste at the proposed site, which is a mere half-mile from the shore of Lake Huron, sets up the Great Lakes and the millions of people who depend on them, for an environmental disaster.” Low-level nuclear waste generated from nuclear generation sites in the United States, such as that produced at the DTE Energy’s Fermi 2 power plant in Newport, Michigan, is typically sent to one of two shallow-land burial sites, located in Texas and Utah. Other high levels of radioactive wastes are commonly stored at the site of the power station where it was produced, which is how Fermi 2 handles that waste because the United States currently
has no official storage location for such materials. In 2002, Yucca Mountain, located about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, in Nevada, was officially designated as the site to store the nation’s spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. At the time, U. S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, a Michigan native, recommended the site to President George W. Bush, who approved it. As allowed under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, then Governor Kenny Guinn of Nevada vetoed the decision, which was subsequently overturned by Congress. However, the Obama administration in 2011 terminated funding for the Yucca Mountain repository, leaving the United States without any long-term storage site for the disposal of spent reactor fuel and defense generated highlevel waste. Currently, the nation’s only deep geologic repository for nuclear waste is the U.S. Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The plant is used for the permanent disposal of specific waste that is a byproduct of the nation’s nuclear defense program. The site is used for disposal of transuranic waste, which consists of clothing, tools, rags, residues, debris, soil and other items contaminated with small amounts of plutonium and other man-made radioactive elements, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). In February 2014, two isolated accidents at the repository forced the site to be evacuated and temporarily closed. On February 5, a salt truck caught fire. Workers were evacuated and the underground portion of the federal nuclear waste plant was shut down. Six workers were treated for smoke inhalation. Nine days later, a second, unrelated event occurred when a continuous air monitor alarm was triggered during the night shift. Eleven employees were at the waste plant on the surface, and none underground at the time. According to the Department of Energy, the monitors measured airborne radioactivity close to the operating location where waste was being placed. Ventilation air at the site was pulled from the underground repository by huge
We cannot afford to place the wellbeing of the Great Lakes in jeopardy by storing nuclear waste.
fans on the surface. The exhaust consisted of unfiltered air. The following day, an aboveground exhaust air monitor at the plant site detected airborne radioactive contamination. About 140 employees at the site were kept indoors. It’s believed that a small amount of radioactivity went through the exhaust duct dampers, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Of particular interest to residents in southeast Michigan is the fact that the waste plant in Carlsbad utilizes deep salt formations, or salt mines, as the host medium to store the radioactive materials. The correlation is worthy of note, as the idea of storing hazardous waste in the salt mines of Detroit had been mulled in the 1950s, and at other times since then. In the 1980s, Michigan and other states were searching for new options of disposing hazardous waste. Proposals to use salt formations for waste disposal sparked interest of the Michigan salt management industry. The concept was not new. Salt mines were contemplated for nuclear waste disposal during the late 1950s, according to the National Academy of Sciences, which recommended radioactive wastes in slat formations. According to the energy department, “nothing about the waste plant events of February 2014 calls into question this National Academy recommendation.” The use of deep salt mines has also been used for radioactive and other hazardous waste in Lower Saxony, Germany, at the Asse II pit, a former salt mine. Radioactive waste was first placed in storage there during the late 1960s and 1970s. Over the course of five decades, an estimated 126,000 barrels of nuclear waste have been dumped in the salt mine. It is now feared that the mines, which are in a state of collapse, could allow radioactive contamination to leak into local drinking water. While German politicians have stated they would like to have the waste removed from the mines, German researchers say the task is nearly impossible. In Detroit, the simple announcement of use of local salt mines for storage prompted plummeting property values in the area near River Rouge, which has never recovered economically, according to proposed legislation introduced in 1997 in the Michigan House. Considering current and past proposals to use the Great Lakes Basin’s geological traits, as well as those below the city of Detroit that are similar to those already being used in this country for the storage of radioactive waste, the proposal for a Canadian repository in the region is alarming. “For the waste that exists, we have a nationwide consensus that we use quality, hard casts, that are safeguarded, which none of that is happening now. That would secure an interim period for waste in our midst. Then we should stop making this stuff. We are 70 years into this and we haven’t figured out what to do with the first cupfull,” said Kamps, with Beyond Nuclear, who added that many are worried that more harmful materials could be stored at the repository in the future. “That’s what is so incredible about this Canadian proposal. It’s Yucca Mountain here in the Great Lakes.”
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Tim Patrick loomfield Township resident Tim Patrick could be considered a bit of a thrill seeker. Among his hobbies are driving his 500 horsepower Chevy Nova down a quarter-mile racetrack at top speed, and piloting small aircraft. But it's sharing his personal prose with fellow writers that has been perhaps his biggest fear. "It was terrifying the first time I had to read in front of the group," said Patrick, co-founder of the Writers' Rendezvous workshop that has met at the Bloomfield Township Library for two decades. "I do stuff in an airplane that I could die from, but that isn't nearly as terrifying." Patrick has served as a writing coach to the Writer's Rendezvous since 1995. More than 50 different works have been published by members of the group, some which have gone on to win awards, such as the Pushcart Prize for small press. Others have signed book deals with major publishing houses, including an area author last year who signed a four-book deal for a six-figure deal with a major publishing company. Patrick, who works in advertising and sales, said many of the group's members work in other career fields. "The library decided they should set time aside for local writers, so that they had somewhere to get together and talk about writing, and that coincided with a time that myself and another person were looking for a group to join. That was in 1995," he said of the beginnings of the group. "We were the only two that went to the meeting. More people started reading about it, and we got a core group together. There was about five or six of us.
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None of us had ever been published. We were new to the craft, but always had the desire to be writers. "We needed someone to give a critical eye to our writing and help us be better story tellers." Equipped with a copy of Strunk and White's, The Elements of Style, members of the group were asked to bring in copies of their stories for those in attendance to read. They would then write down their thoughts and offer comments and talk about the stories. The writer, however, was not to be part of the conversation. That process is still used today. "It isn't for them to defend their work, it's to gain some insight," Patrick said. "We make notes and give them back to them for reference." Starting with nearly a half-dozen members, all of the original members subsequently ended up having their works published. "A number of them are kid's books," Patrick said. "Some are in anthologies in the library. Robynn Clairday (was a member), her first book contract was with Random House. She was part of the Sweet Valley High stories. Several other (authors) wrote under a pen name." "We get mixed reactions to the critiques, but if you think this group is tough, wait until you deal with an editor," he said. "Never ask family to critique your writing. They won't tell you the truth. I just wanted someone to tell me the truth... it keeps me grounded in writing." Story: Kevin Elliott
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WHEN THE HIGH HURTS THE RISING RATE OF DRUG ABUSE AMONG AGING BABY BOOMERS
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Arlene claims she wasn’t a typical teen of the ‘60s and ‘70s – mostly because in those days she was against doing drugs during the era of “Turn on, tune in, drop out,” the counterculture phrase about doing LSD popularized by Timothy Leary in 1966. Arlene, 58, is part of the baby boomer generation, that ubiquitous group of over 76 million American children born between 1945 and 1964. Now part of a large and aging demographic, baby boomers grew up in a time of abrupt and climactic social change, when the recreational use of drugs, in an effort to alter their state of consciousness, was a key part of their youth. hen the ‘80s hit, and boomers grew up, got “mature” and responsible jobs, had kids, began to take care of aging parents, and paid their bills. Most stopped getting high, and drinking became less Boone’s Farm and more cocktails or a glass of wine. But today, baby boomers are increasingly the demographic turning, or returning, to drugs in an effort to feel better, against the aches and pains of aging, as well as from depression, economic loss and the loss of parents and partners. According to government researchers, nationally, more than 5.7 million people over the age of 50 will need substance abuse treatment by 2020. Already, those treating substance abuse are seeing an increase in baby boomers with increased needs for drug-related health problems. “By the year 2020, the population of aging baby boomers will double,” said Scott Masi, outreach and referral specialist for Brighton Center for Recovery. “Over the age of 60, they have greater access to doctors, and they’re seeking more appointments on average. Eighty percent of all office visits to a doctor will result in a prescription being written. It could be for a statin, blood pressure pill, or a pain pill. The majority being written are for pain pills.” “I didn’t party a lot as a teen. I was really against drugs,” Arlene (not her real name) said. She said that as an adult, “I experimented with drugs a little – a couple of pain pills, coke now and then, maybe once a year at a party. And I drank socially. Not daily, maybe once a
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She said the turning point was “I was lucky to have lived an adult life drug free as a productive person, so I knew I could have a better life. I chose recovery, because I had nothing else, unless I wanted to live on the streets or in jail.” According to Nora D. Volkow MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the percentage of Americans 50 to 59-years-old who have reported having abused illicit or prescription drugs has more than doubled, from 2.7 percent to 6.2 percent between 2002 and 2009, the last year they have compiled that data. “Not coincidentally, by the end of that period, baby boomers had filled out that age cohort. Baby boomers’ histories of illicit drug use, and their relatively tolerant attitudes toward it, along with the fact that they now comprise nearly 30 percent of the nation’s population, have raised the stakes on understanding and responding effectively to drug abuse among older adults,” Volkow said. Arlene, who now lives in Commerce Township and once again holds an office job, is part of what is believed to be a huge potential mental health crisis. In 2010, six to eight million older Americans, or 14 percent to 20 percent of the senior population, had a substance abuse problem or mental disorder. As boomers age – known as the Silver Tsunami, because boomers do everything with force and numbers – experts project the number of adults 65 and older needing treatment from the mental health care system across the country to increase to 73 million by 2030. In Oakland County, Christina Nichols, manager of the Oakland County Mental Health Authority’s Office of Substance Use Services said 30 percent of adults first seeking substance use treatment through Oakland County’s public mental health system are 40 years and older. Determining drug or alcohol problems among older adults can be a particularly difficult problem for family and medical professionals. Who wants to ask Mom or Grandma if she swigs the bottle or pops too many pills? Often, alcohol and drug misuse and abuse is misinterpreted as
Baby boomers are increasingly the demographic turning, or returning, to drugs in an effort to feel better, against the aches and pains of aging, as well as from depression, economic loss and the loss of parents and partners. week, I drank with a bunch of friends.” Arlene, a single mother, was a professional office worker. “I always worked. I was able to buy a new home in West Bloomfield at 40,” she said. “My son got married a few years later, and suddenly I was alone. I was alone and ran into people I thought were my friends. They got me to try crack cocaine and heroin. “I was lonely and depressed. I never thought anyone could convince me to put a needle in my arm.” Yet, that is what happened to her. Seeking an escape from melancholy and her perception of feeling unloved, she said at the time she misread the intentions of the crowd she was with, thinking they were friends. At the time, she was still working full time, at a job she said was wonderful. After being against drugs, she was injected with heroin in her own living room, where the gang of friends would hang out because she was the one who had a house. “When you’re hanging out with people who don’t have your best interests at heart, things can go awry,” she recalled. “They convinced me it would make me feel great. After the first injection, I was basically hooked, because it feels like the answer to your depression. It was just like all of the problems disappeared, and you felt like Superwoman – like you had no problems. It was like this amazing feeling of calmness and well-being.” Initially, Arlene thought she could keep her heroin use recreational. “It was days before I tried it again. But then it was a fast spiral down. “It only took me 15 months to get to my bottom. My use would gradually increase until I was doing it twice daily, as well as crack cocaine, and not paying any of my bills, including my house payment. It was such a fast spiral down. It was like a hurricane. After a year, I lost my job, my house, and most of my possessions. In that short time, I lost everything, including my friends and others very close to me.”
memory loss or dementia associated with advancing age. Older boomers, even those who believe they have acquired a tolerance to recreational drugs from their youth, have a significantly reduced ability to metabolize different drugs, notably prescription pills. As the brain ages, it becomes increasingly sensitive to drugs and alcohol. “The longer you’re on pills, your body builds up a tolerance. You need more more and stronger doses,” said Brighton Center’s Masi. “The potency of the drugs will be more potent. Also, the older you get, physiologically, the blood flow to your organs changes and the metabolism slows, especially to the liver. It’s not flushing the toxins out. The half-life in your system is much longer as you get older.” As one expert said, if you have a trigger, and your youth was caught up in the ‘60s, you’re going to revert back. When taking drugs is how you once coped, it’s likely how you’ll try to cope once again. rug treatment programs are now dealing with a spike in boomers with drug and alcohol problems. While certain treatments are universal regardless of age, some treatment centers, addiction specialists and psychologists are finding they need to adapt and tailor their treatment for older addicted patients. Masi said for people over the age of 60, about 70 percent are on two or more medications; and over 50 percent are on four or more medicines, including prescription pain medications. “I think overall, from that era there was a more cultural acceptance of drug use, that post-Woodstock, Vietnam era,” said Elizabeth Bulat MD, Service Chief of Addiction Medicine, Henry Ford Maplegrove Center. “As they age, they are prescribed more antianxiety medications, like Ativan, Valium, and Xanax, and benzodiazepines. There has been more prescribing of these medications over the last 10 years. A lot of these people were placed on these medication for valid reasons, but lots of doctors don’t know they’re still on them. Now, as they age, there’s aches and pains too, so they’re getting pain medications, prescription opioids, like Vicodin
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and Oxycontin. This push to prescribe pain pills has become an epidemic. Alcohol has always been there for this age range. The combination of Vicodin, Oxycontin plus alcohol, it’s not good. “Then, for some patients, it goes from being a physiological dependence to a substance use dependence,” Bulat continued. “Some patients who cannot continue to get those prescription pain medications from doctors, transition to heroin. It’s a rising percentage, and it’s a reality.” asi said a large problem happens among doctors who don’t adequately check to see what patients are receiving from other doctors. “Many patients are doctor shopping,” he said. He said family members need to know just what family members are using, and possibly abusing. “Where we’ve seen the largest increase in use since 2007 is in prescription opiates, such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, which has subsequently caused a large spike in the use of heroin,” said Nichols. “The largest increase in services for the county has been for heroin and opiates. It’s been the biggest trend in the last five years. The average age is 26 to 39, with 36 percent of those seeking treatment in that age range falling into that category. But consistently, across the board, we see that everyone began with the misuse of prescription pills, opiate abuse, and then graduated to heroin. Individuals, as they get older, have a greater need for more medications,” which can lead to their potential misuse. She said the county does not have specific number for those over 65. “By the nature of the patients I take care of, I see a number of patients that are addicted,” said Dr. Jim Honet, a pain management physician with Pain Care Associates in Bloomfield Hills. Honet is not sure aging boomers are using pain medication more, “but certainly I am seeing a consistent number of patients. However, we’re able to catch more of them because of MAPS – Michigan Automated Prescription System. If you’re a patient and had a narcotic prescription, at the pharmacy, you have to show your ID. Then they
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toward the use itself of alcohol and drugs. He said scientists studying addiction also have found a difference among addiction to pain medication between men and women, as well as to alcohol, still the number one source of addiction among this age group. Among those 65 years and older, 2.36 percent of men and just under half a percent of women met the criteria for alcohol abuse according to the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Further, of those 60 and older, half of the men and 39 percent of women were daily drinkers, with 5.9 percent of men over 60 and 1 percent of women over 60 reporting binge drinking once a month or more. The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends that men and women 65 and older have no more than three drinks on any one day, and no more than seven drinks per week. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in 2010 binge drinking was reported by one of six U.S adults – 38 million people. While younger adults have much higher percentages, “older adults who binge drank reported engaging in this behavior more frequently than their younger counterparts – an average of of five to six times a month. They also reported consuming an average of about six drinks when they did, thereby increasing their risk of developing many health and social problems,” the CDC reported. Further, they reported that it accounts for more than 21,000 deaths among older adults a year, and costs the U.S. economy $223.5 billion a year in 2006 dollars. “Although data is scarce on illegal drug use or prescription medication misuse among the elderly, evidence suggests that misuse and abuse of prescription drugs by older adults is a growing problem,” Trevisan wrote, noting that up to 11 percent of older women misuse prescription drugs, and that non-medical use of drugs among adults older than 50 is expected to increase to 2.7 million by the year 2020.
The percentage of Americans 50 to 59-years-old who have reported having abused illicit or prescription drugs has more than doubled, from 2.7 to 6.2 percent between 2002 and 2009, the last year such data is available. take your information to put it in the state system. I can order MAPS on a patient, and it shows the person’s name, address, prescriber, which pharmacy it went to, how the patient paid for it. When you look at it, you can see if someone is getting multiple scripts. “You’re also able to identify the people who may have photocopied our prescription,” he continued. “I write tons of narcotics. There’s a problems with insurance coverage, and what they’re willing to cover, so people are turning to heroin. There a combination of things. It gives them a high and it’s cheap, and it’s a narcotic, so it relieves the pain. So people are using illicit narcotics because they can’t get the real stuff. Some people aren’t really addicts, they’re just trying to find pain relief in a way they can afford.” Masi said a large problem happens among doctors who don’t adequately check to see what patients are receiving from other doctors. “Many patients are doctor shopping,” he said. He said family members need to know just what their family members are using, and possibly abusing. “We at Brighton must go on MAPS,” Masi said. “It’s part of our protocol, part of our admissions process. There’s is some talk about legislation to require doctors to participate in MAPS, but it’s not there yet.” Bulat said for boomers, “alcohol is always there, and always will be, the number one addiction. Benzodiazepines are now number two.” Benzodiazepines are a form of tranquilizers or anti-anxiety medication, more familiarly known as Valium or Xanax. According to Louis A. Trevisan MD in Psychiatric Times, addiction specialists and organizations for the elderly anticipate a tidal wave of baby boomers who will need help fighting addictions, often from different substances and with different attitudes toward treatment than the generation before them. Because baby boomers experimented more with alcohol and illicit drugs than previous generations did, he notes boomers have a more lenient attitude
“There is growing evidence that (the) female sex is a major risk factor for problems associated with prescription drug abuse,” Trevisan continued. “Older women are more likely than men to consume benzodiazepines. This may be associated with recent divorce or widowhood, lower education level, lower income, poorer health status, depression, and/or anxiety.” “The social and physical changes that accompany aging may well increase vulnerability to drug-related problems,” National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Volkow said. “The loss of loved ones, juggling of multiple roles, and retirement or other alterations in employment and income may cause some older people to use illicit drugs as selfmedication for anxiety or depression, especially if they have a history of taking drugs to cope. Slowing metabolism can increase sensitivity to the effects of drugs. Furthermore, the effects of drugs of abuse in older adults may be influenced by age-related health conditions and medications – contingents that are more problematic when patients hide their drug abuse.” enry Ford Hospital has been treating alcohol and drug addiction in its varying forms for almost 100 years. In 1977, they opened Maplegrove Center on W. Maple in West Bloomfield to help with chemical dependency treatments associated with drugs, alcohol, gambling and other addiction issues, both for inpatient and outpatient care. Their website states, “We treat the whole person, not the addiction...we offer effective, appropriate care for every patient, whether you are unsure if you have an addictive disorder or if you have been struggling with one for many years.” Brighton Center for Recovery is another local location working with both inpatient and outpatient individuals needing addiction treatment. Founded in 1948 in Brighton, it was one of the first in America that was an actual addiction treatment hospital. Its founder, Harry Henderson, was helped in establishing Brighton from Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, making it a pioneer in the treatment of addictions. “It was open and actively treating
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soldiers returning home with serious drinking problems and suffering from post-traumatic stress from World War II,” their website relates. The adult inpatient psychiatric program at Havenwyck Hospital in Auburn Hills provides 24-hour skilled nursing care for those who exhibit serious psychiatric/substance abuse problems led by physicians in a safe, therapeutic environment. Havenwyck did not return calls relative to their programs for baby boomers. tonecrest Center on Gratiot in Detroit offers inpatient treatment programs for behavioral and mental health issues and substance abuse problems, and in addition to work with adolescents and adults, promotes their work with seniors. The center is a 104-bed acute psychiatric inpatient treatments center that not only helps individuals get sober, but maintain their freedom from chemical dependency. They recognize the impact depression, memory issues and psychiatric disorders contribute to addiction. The CDC notes that while depression affects millions of people, keeping them from living normal, happy lives, the highest risk group for depression are middle aged adults aged 45 to 65, especially women. “Substance abuse is common among people who are battling a depressive disorder,” states an article by Canyon Malibu, a treatment center for addictions. “Because alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, the use of this drug tends to trigger depression symptoms like lethargy, sadness, and hopelessness. However, many depressed individuals reach for drugs or alcohol as a way to lift their spirits or to numb painful thoughts. As a result, depression and substance abuse feed into each other, and one condition will often make the other worse. Depression can also suppress the immune system and weaken the body, making you more susceptible to physical ailments and chronic disease. Depression is all too often a gateway drug into drug and alcohol use.” Maplegrove’s Dr. Bulat said some patients need inpatient detoxification, and some are fine going through an outpatient protocol. “Some patients, if they’ve been on pain or anxiety medications, can taper off of them by working with their own physicians in an outpatient setting,” she said, sometimes by working with other medications. “A lot of the big issues with baby boomers, empty nesters, is it’s polysubstance, benzodiazepines and opiates. They’re coming in with both, and alcohol too. It’s a very, very tough detox and rehab, both physically and mentally,” Masi said. He said they are learning to treat them differently from their 18-25 year old heroin abusing population. “The 18-year-old has been through trauma; the 60-year old is dealing with depression. We have to identify different kinds of treatments and not put them into the same groups.” “Once someone has been identified with having a substance abuse problem, especially in this age group, it’s critical to maintain a recovery program to maintain their sobriety, as well as to manage their pain and anxiety, which can be tricky,” Bulat said. “Once someone has had 10 Vicodin a day, it’s hard to convince them to do PT.” She emphasized that pain management programs, physical therapy, antiinflammatories, exercise, and adjunct therapies are critical to not only maintain their sobriety and keep them off pain pills and opiates, but to improving their physical well being. “Some patients actually improve just coming off of the medications,” she said. Honet, the pain management physician, agrees. Once people have achieved their sobriety over their narcotic, alcohol, or opiate addiction, he said they can help them achieve their pain relief with a whole different tool box. And the tools are perfect for aging boomers. “We have a whole gamut of modalities available to them and to us,” Honet said. “There are injections (steroid and non-steroid), physical therapy, medicine, some narcotic, some not, psychology, and even surgery when appropriate.” Bulat said incorporating therapy, and giving patients all the tools to maintain their sobriety, coupled with the issues that got them there in the first place, is critical. “Maintaining their sobriety is key, but we also have to deal with all the medical consequences to long term addiction issues. Lots of people who come to Maplegrove haven’t seen a doctor in maybe 10 years. We’re helping them deal with the aftermath of the addiction, as well as coping with the divorce.” Arlene has been clean and sober from her abuse for several years, and while she says she still dreams about drugs, “it was such a hell, I will find any other answer and continue recovery.” Today, she has more aches and pains, a bad knee, an aging body, as well as a chronic battle with depression. “I go to a pain doctor, and am honest with him about my problem with opiates. That’s the way I stay clean,” she said. “I don’t want to hide my past because it’s what made me who I am today.”
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FACES Garrett Hohendorf ttending Cranbrook Schools as a “lifer”, filmmaker Garrett Hohendorf says he often felt like an underdog. That perspective, though, is what helped shape who he is today. “It gave me a good perspective. It gave me an edge,” said the 30-year-old, who currently lives in the West Village in Manhattan. Hohendorf grew up the son of an Oakland County publisher, and until high school when they moved to Birmingham, lived an hour away from Cranbrook in White Lake. “We were definitely comfortable, but not swimming in money like the perception of some Cranbrook kids. But that underdog mentality made me work harder there, and in college, as well.” After graduating Cranbrook, Hohendorf played Division 1 lacrosse at Villanova in Philadelphia. “After being told I was too small, and coming from the midwest, not east coast, it was back to that underdog mentality. I then brought that mentality to my career.” He believes lacrosse helped make him who he is today. “It instilled in me a work ethic that can only be taught through sports.” Hohendorf was an English major in college, with plans to go to film school for screenwriting. “But all my friends were moving to New York City (after college). I answered an ad on Craigslist for PBS to be a production assistant on a documentary on Saddam Hussein. It was pretty gruesome, looking at footage and transcribing.” But the experience turned him on to filmmaking, and when one of the producers introduced him to a producer at MTV, the rest was history. He spent the next five years in production at MTV. “I started as a PA, and when I left I was a co-executive producer. I rode up the ranks pretty quickly,” he recalls. He worked on various productions, including the show Made, “which is about underdogs,” he laughs. “My MTV career culminated in 2013 when I won an Emmy award for Made. We knew the show was ending, so it was a great way to go out.” After doing another pilot for MTV, he then worked in development outside MTV, coming up with ideas for new shows. “It's a freelance world, it's job-to-job, from three weeks to three months. It's about connections. You have to know people, and you have to have good relations,” Hohendorf said. “Everyone's vying for the same jobs.” After working in post-production on season one of The House of DVF, he's going back for season two, adding editor to his post-production title. “They want it to feel like a documentary about the company, but ultimately it's a competition.” He also recently worked on a controversial one-hour special for the TLC channel called My Husband's Not Gay. He's currently working on a reality show for the Oxygen network called Player Gets Played, to debut in the fall. While reality shows have been his niche, Hohendorf hopes it's not his niche forever. “I love documentaries, and I'd love to get back to them,” he said. “I'm also interested in scripted, but it's really a whole different world. I'm definitely happy with where I am right now.”
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he cell, designed to house four to five men, at times is filled with several more. They’re lying on cot mattresses that are placed against the steel cell bars at varying angles on the cement floor, huddled in their new uniforms, wrapped in generic blankets to ward off both the cold and the shock of finding themselves in this new home. A holding tank, these new prisoners will discover this cell is their home for the next couple of days, or up to two weeks, depending on how crowded the jail is. Welcome to the Oakland County Jail, located at 1201 N. Telegraph Road, adjacent to the county courthouse and Oakland County offices. Mayberry, this is not, and Oakland Sheriff Michael Bouchard and his staff of over 350 sworn correctional officers at the jail bear no resemblance to Andy Griffith. No mere simple lock up, the jail is a maximum security facility for both men and women, and has a general inmate population that houses approximately 1,600 inmates. There are two annexes, with dormitory-style accommodations for men and women prisoners, as well as some out on work release with a GPS tether. On April 1, the actual count at the Oakland County Jail was 1,300 men and 244 women. The intake area for processing new arrests, which includes holding tanks and observation cells, can accommodate up to 156 inmates in that area alone. The sheriff is bound by Michigan statute for the responsibility of operating the county jail, which comprises the care and custody of inmates. That includes providing them food and medical services; supplying them with jail clothing; maintaining a safe and secure environment; providing support programming, such as counseling, crisis intervention and adult education; and maintaining a program of inmate recreation, visitation and chaplaincy. But who comes to the Oakland County Jail? And how long can someone stay there? “Everyone who commits a crime in Oakland County, from the most heinous to the most insignificant, comes to the Oakland County Jail,” said Major Charles Snarey of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. “The felonies are adjudicated while they’re in the Oakland County Jail. The most insignificant end up (being tried) in district court. Felonies are tried in circuit court. If they’re convicted of a misdemeanor, they can serve 93 days maximum. “Felonies, it’s from the bottom to life,” Snarey continued. “Anything sentenced over a year goes to the prison system. Any sentence
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less than a year stays in the Oakland County Jail.” Traditionally, a jail was used to temporarily detain someone who was suspected or convicted of a crime, and used for short-term detention, usually for someone waiting to go to trial or for somebody who had been convicted of a low-level offense, who had been sentenced for a year or less. A prison facility, typically, holds convicts who have committed crimes the legal system considers especially serious with more long-term sentences. Today, counties operate county jails, and there are approximately 3,600 jails in the United States. Prisons are run by either state governments or the federal government, depending on the nature of the crime and where it was committed. Each state has a prison system. There are only about 100 federal prisons, detention centers and correctional institutions in the country. Snarey said, “Currently we have everything in the Oakland County Jail. There are murderers to suspended (drivers) licenses. Everything from top to bottom.” s of the end of March 2015, those who were inmates in the Oakland County Jail were made up of 60 percent who had committed felonies and 40 percent who had committed misdemeanors. The misdemeanors included suspended driver’s licenses, retail fraud, lesser personal crimes, simple assault, assault and battery, and drunk driving. “You would think there would be more misdemeanors, but we stopped accepting misdemeanors during (former) Sheriff Nichol’s time (who passed away in 1999), other than DUIs, domestics and child abuse, because we’re in a perpetual state of overcrowding,” Snarey said. If an individual has been arrested by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department, before they’ve been arraigned, they will find themselves in the jail. Others, arrested by local Oakland County police departments, stay in local municipal jails, if they have them, before their arraignment, said Captain Curtis Childs of the Sheriff’s Office Corrective Services Main Division. “But rest assured, once they’re arraigned, we’ll get them.” The intake area of the jail is where everyone, regardless of their pending charge, is processed. The individual first speaks to a booking clerk, and then is taken to get their mug shot photo and to be fingerprinted. After that, they proceed to a classification interview, which determines where they will eventually be housed. There are several
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issues that have to be taken into account, such as whether they have a violent past, are abusive, or have been in the system before and been a target of abuse. In addition, a problem many new prisoners have is significant health issues, both physical and mental – meaning it’s a problem that must be confronted and dealt with by jail personnel. Before a prisoner can proceed to the holding tank, much less to their more permanent housing, their health issues must be resolved. “The biggest problem is mental health. It’s out of control since so many institutions were closed several years ago,” Snarey said. Fully three-quarters of the state psychiatric institutions in the state of Michigan were closed down between 1987 and 2003. On top of that, community mental health agencies, which were designed to pick up most of those cases, have been hit with a continuing series of budget cuts. Snarey said that once the mentally ill comprised less than 10 percent of the jail population; today they make up more than 30 percent of that population. “You have a very poor population. Many of them lose their jobs, then they lose their health care. They then stop taking their medications and do stuff they shouldn’t do, and they end up here,” Childs said. “We get them back on their meds. Our program services staff does an amazing job determining what the mental health needs are. They do a tremendous job.” “We have a separate area for our mental health population, in the K Block,” said Lt. Dorothy Hall, Executive Lieutenant of the Corrective Services Division. “When they get stabilized back on their medications, they can be reintegrated back into the regular jail population. Generally, that’s very successfully done.” “That’s a credit to our deputies, to their training and to our program services,” Snarey said. “I’m extremely proud of my senior command, all of whom I promoted,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard. “The team, across the board, they do an amazing job with their professionalism, their work helping people. When I became sheriff, eight percent of the jail population was on psychotropic drugs. Now it’s north of 30 percent. We’ve become the de facto mental health dumping ground – the state and federal government have made so many cuts, so people are not being served. That is not our purpose, but we take the challenge on. But our principle purpose is to hold people pre-adjudication, and to incarcerate them post-adjudication.”
Noting the tax on the jail’s health system, “a great deal of money goes to mental health services. We’re not a mental health service provider. We have a great partnership with true mental health partners,” Bouchard continued. “But society has a much greater modality than winding up in jail.” Dale Cunningham, the sheriff’s office Chief Financial Officer, said that out of a $60.5 million budget attributed to corrections, $5.4 million is spent on health care for inmates. The largest expense for the sheriff’s office is staff, where $41 million is spent on salary and fringe benefits. “We use a private firm, Correct Care Solutions, that provides all of the doctors, nurses and all of the health care,” Cunningham said. “It’s still a substantial amount of money. But the private firm saves us a quite a bit of money. When we did it, it cost us $7.2 million a year.” orrect Care Solutions is a health care corporation based in Nashville which provides correctional healthcare to institutions across the country. It was created in 2003 and today employs 7,000 while caring for approximately 250,000 inmates in 37 states. They provide medical, dental, and behavioral health services for inmates, as well as adjudicating and paying for medical bills for some clients. They train their staff to properly deal with their patients, providing them with the tools to ensure they are successfully delivering effective health services. “Many labels are given to individuals we are entrusted to care for each day, but we prefer to focus on simply referring to them as our patients,” said Correct Care Solutions website. “We find our patients to be typically very appreciative of the care we provide, as often these patients have rarely had consistent healthcare prior to incarceration. Each day we ask ourselves, ‘What if this was my family member?’” “On a daily basis, about 100 need some kind of medical care out of 1,600 inmates,” said Cunningham. Once an inmate is processed through the medical area and the holding cells, inmates are assigned to a block area and a cell, and provided with a uniform. The color of a prisoner’s uniform is determined by their work and and level of threat to the rest of the prison population. Childs said that the color helps correctional staff identify inmates, determine who they are, where they should be, and their risk level in an instant. For example, orange uniform is a maximum risk inmate; an orange and white striped uniform indicates an inmate at super high risk.
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“Men and women’s colors are different,” Snarey said. “We must always keep the men and women separate. Also, child molesters and rapists start here. We have to separate them (from the general inmate population). He said that while societally, over the last 20 years or so, the women’s jail population has gone up, today it cycles up and down, with no definable reason to determine why one month, or one day, it will be higher than another’s. In each housing unit, there are various types of cells. The original jail was designed in a linear style, initially created to accommodate eight men or women, but now officials have added additional bunks to have 10 in each cell. Snarey said there are also some singles in each block unit. “Those in a single cell can’t get along with other inmates, or would be picked on by others,” said Childs. “We try to have the classification system done at intake done within 72 hours of coming in, especially if there’s mental health issues. We try to keep a perfect mix of blacks and whites and age groups, so there’s not a lot of predators. We try to make sure no one is preyed upon while they are here. You can’t always guarantee that. It’s not always perfect with this population, but they (classification) try.” “Our classification system is very thorough, and they do a very good job,” Snarey said. “It makes our job easier.” In the Annex, which opened in 1989, the housing is in a dormitory-style, utilizing pods, where individuals have their own individual beds in two-person rooms. There are group common areas to eat and watch TV. “They were originally designed for one person to a cell, but we obtained a variance from the Department of Corrections to get two per cell,” Snarey said. Across the street is the East Annex, housing 266 inmates on one side and 132 on the other side. The East Annex also is a dormitory housing setting. Corrections officials said it is a wide-open dorm setting that was originally designed for their work release inmates. Today, all work release inmates are “virtual” prisoners. “They’re all out on GPS tethers,” Snarey said. Those detained in the jail, whether awaiting trial or serving their sentence, can participate in a variety of activities during the day, or they can sit in the cell and do nothing. Many ask to participate on work and lifeskill programs. Hall oversees a variety of different programs, some of which they have been sentenced to, others they have petitioned to be put on, and some assigned to, including mental health and substance abuse programs.
“There are weekly Alcoholic Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, LESP, which teaches them life skills and how to reintegrate into society,” Hall said. J.A.W.S., a program that stands for Jail Alliance With Support, is designed for misdemeanor and non-assaultive felony male inmates who have co-occurring disorders, such as substance abuse and mental illness, with medium to low security level. The purpose is to continue offering supportive services and treatment to these inmates, and it is done in collaboration with the Oakland County Health Division/Office of Substance Abuse Services and Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority. “Hazel Park Adult Education comes in here and offers the GED, there are clergy that run different group church services and bible studies,” said Hall. “There are Protestant and Catholic services, and Jewish and Muslim representatives that run their programs.” “We also run recreation daily,” Snarey said. “In the warmer months, they’re taken out for an hour each time they’re offered. They’re offered time in the gym during colder months. It’s to burn energy. They’re taken in shifts.” ome inmates are assigned, and many request, work details. The cleaning detail cleans all of the buildings. Some prisoners do all of the laundry, which Chief Financial Officer Cunningham said is a significant savings to taxpayers. “About 10, 15 years ago, we used to send all of the laundry out to a private laundry,” he recalled. “I priced it out, and we put some commercial washers and dryers in and the inmates do the laundry. It gets bagged up and washed. It’s quite a savings to taxpayers. The machines have long been amortized.” The kitchen receives a lot of work duty, with inmates assisting Aramark, the food provider for the Oakland County Jail, in preparing all of the meals, and other inmates assisting by serving the food. “We’re totally satisfied with Aramark Services here,” Snarey said. Cunningham concurred. “They’ve had their issues, but for us, they do an outstanding job.” Between $1.7 million and $1.8 million is spent out of the sheriff’s office budget for food. “But we’re very proud of that, because out of that we serve 1.9 million meals,” Cunningham said. “That’s three meals a day for 1,600 inmates. The cost for those meals runs about 75 cents a day. I’m going to say it’s not the most delicious food. But it’s nutritional and it meets the caloric intake
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required, which is 2,600 calories a day for a stationary inmate, and 3,200 calories a day for a working inmate. “I always say, if you don’t like the food, don’t come back.” Those living in the Annex are inmates that the public may see working out in the community, Snarey said. “We have a dedicated group. Some work at the Oakland County Animal Shelter. They do everything. Some are assigned to veterinarians, others work cleaning cages.” Others on work release programs work at the Oakland County Central Garage, handling vehicle maintenance and learning life skills. Other crews go out to Oakland County Parks, where they perform maintenance and clean up duties. Whatever their job, each inmate on work release or work within the jail gets credit towards their service, corrections officials said. “Everyone gets Sheriff’s Good Time, by statute,” Childs said. “They get one day for every six days of service (sentence). Inmate workers get another day for every 12 days sentenced that they work. If they get kicked off the detail, they lose the good time.” “It’s an added incentive to keep them interested in doing the work,” Snarey explained. “The prison system pays them. This is a much better system. It keeps them motivated and it
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doesn’t cost the taxpayers anything. And the work gets done. “Our system can’t work without inmate workers, whether it’s in the kitchen, maintenance or at the parks,” Childs pointed out. “You get guys who come back who ask to be put on the details,” Snarey said. Metro Detroit area non-profits also frequently request inmate services for assistance at events. “If we can do it without incurring extra costs, and if officers are available, we do it whenever we can,” he said.
they can lose their Sheriff’s Good Time. They might have reports written up on them and the Sheriff approves them. It doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen.” Visitation of inmates is not like it’s seen on TV or “Orange is the New Black”. Visitors don’t get to see inmates in person at the Oakland County Jail, nor do they get to sit across from one another with a plexiglass screen between them. Rather, all visitation is via video monitors, where visitors are in the lobby of the main building, and inmates are in secure areas in their
ne program Bouchard noted had to be cut for budgetary reasons was a boot camp for non-violent offenders during recent years. “I cut 165 positions to help the county stay in budget during the downturn,” he said. “The program was so they wouldn’t reoffend. Do we have robust alternatives, like tethers and work cleaning highways. But with limited resources, I had to focus those resources.” But not every inmate is so motivated. “Those who choose not be on a detail can lay on their beds, watch TV, play board games and read books all day long,” Snarey said. “We have two librarians who go around and bring them books. Their idleness is their own choice. They don’t get time added on to their sentence, but
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cell blocks. “Everyone has two opportunities for visitors a week,” Snarey said. “They’re allowed up to 30 minutes a week.” Correction officials anticipate in the near future where visitors will be able to download a program where they can then visit through their home computer screens at pre-arranged times. “On any given day, we have 1,600 prisoners we have to keep away from the public, keep them safe, give them their meds, and get them to court on time,” Bouchard said. “There are two types of prisoners – one society is mad at, and the other they are afraid of. It’s one or the other. We’re mad at those who commit frauds and retail larcenies. But we have to focus on those we, as a society, budget-wise, we’re afraid of.”
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Jeff Smokevitch here are few things that have the ability to pit cities against each other more than sports and food, but such regionalism doesn't seem to bother fans of Jeff Smokevitch's Detroit-style pizza in Telluride, Colorado. "Everyone was against it. They said, 'don't call it Detroit-style.' They said it would have bad connotations," said Smokevitch, a Birmingham native and former Seaholm High School graduate. "I didn't listen to them. I put it on the menu, and it was a huge hit." "Smoke," as he is known to his friends, left Michigan shortly after graduating from the University of Michigan, where he played football on the 1997 National Championship-winning team. Now the former football standout is winning awards for his pizza making skills. As co-owner of Brown Dog Pizza in Telluride, his Detroit-style pizzas consistently sell faster than he can make them. The success has led to the opening of a second restaurant, dubbed Blue Pan Pizza, in Denver. "It's unknown out here and in a lot of parts of Michigan," Smokevitch said of the thick-crust, square pizza topped by a signature sauce placed above the cheese. "I've been doing it here for about five years, and it's really gaining momentum." Raised in Birmingham, Smokevitch said he was brought up on pizza from Jet's and Primo's, but he never considered it “Detroit" style. "I just called it square." After graduating from the University of Michigan, Smokevitch spent a few years in Colorado as a self-proclaimed ski bum. That is, until his parents demanded he get a job. Already bartending, working as a camp counselor and picking up hours at a pizzeria, he decided to go into business with a friend and go full time in the pizza business.
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After he and Dan Lynch, a die-hard Boston sports fan, opened Brown Dog Pizza, Smoke said he started slapping regular dough sizes to make a generic thick-crust pizza in a square pan. At the time, he was calling it a Sicilian pizza. "One night a customer asked to talk to me. He was really fired up," he said. "We were yelling at each other, and he told me we weren't making a Sicilian pizza." Young and cocky from his burgeoning pizza business, Smokevitch ended up making the customer leave during the argument. Eager to prove himself right, Smokevitch did some research and quickly realized the customer was correct. "I was doing it wrong, and calling it a Sicilian," he said. "I figured I better figure it out or start doing something else." The encounter served as a turning point for Smokevitch. He quickly enrolled in the International School of Pizza and began learning from renowned pizzaiolo and master instructor Tony Geminani. Under his tutelage, Smokevitch learned the origins of the food he was making and how to perfect it. The work paid off. In 2013, Brown Dog's pizza was judged as the World's Best Pizza in the American pan division with a first place finish at the International Pizza Expo. Today, Smokevitch said he's grateful to the stranger who set him straight on pizza. Although he has never seen him again, he hopes to one day thank him. "I was some stupid kid, yelling at an old guy," he said. "If I didn't have that, who knows what I'd be doing now." Story: Kevin Elliott
Photo: Telluride Daily Planet
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Market Share | By Dollars SKBK MarKetS More Homes Over $1.5 Million 25.75%
8.60%
7.78% 5.79% 3.65%
SKBK Sotheby’s International
Max Broock Birmingham
Hall & Hunter Birmingham
Higbie Maxon Agney
Cranbrook Realtors
2.89%
2.84%
2.70%
2.67%
2.50%
Max Broock Bloomfield
Shain Park Realtors
Berkshire HWWB
RE/MAX New Trend
CB Weir Manuel Birmingham
*Current Active Listings provided by Realcomp II Ltd. 8.1.14
SKBK SellS More Homes Over $1.5 Million 21.48%
13.70%
13.05% 10.68%
5.87%
5.37% 3.77%
SKBK Sotheby’s International
Max Broock Birmingham
Hall & Hunter Birmingham
CB Weir Manuel Birmingham
Max Broock Bloomfield
Shain Park Realtors
Berkshire HWWB
3.19%
Cranbrook Realtors
2.50%
Keller Williams Troy
1.90% RE/MAX New Trend
*Year to Date Sales provided by Realcomp II Ltd. 8.1.14
skbk.com
248.644.7000
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skbk.com
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Sotheby’s - Global Exposure The Sotheby’s International Realty® brand’s global media plan is designed to deliver more than 1 billion media impressions, solidifying our brand as the voice of luxury real estate. Our plan includes impactful, exclusive and first-to-market partnerships with an increased strategic focus on mobile and editorial content with some of the most preeminent media reaching all corners of the globe. Our goal is to present the properties represented by our worldwide network to a broad audience of potential buyers who value and seek the unique.
1 billion media impressions
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Sotheby’s - Global Exposure THE NEW YORK TIMES
Our 2015 advertising program with The
New York Times is a continuation of years prior and is structured to fetch nearly 300 million media impressions through branding and listing exposure elements, utilizing local ownership advertising opportunities and fixed positioning on various New York Times channels. This long-term plan features exclusivity and dominance in both print and digital marketing opportunities, designed to attract a diverse worldwide audience to more than and maximize our reach 40 million unique NYT monthly readers.
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Sotheby’s - Global Exposure THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Our continuous collaboration with
The Wall Street Journal offers an array of opportunities to showcase the homes represented by our network to the global audience that turns to this media icon for their daily source of insights into both micro and macro financial and economic landscapes. Designed to deliver 170 million impressions, this marketing strategy is comprised of a worldwide, multi-faceted program providing our brand with and dominance Wall Network exclusivity throughout The Street Journal’s Digital
websites.
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Sotheby’s - Global Exposure ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST Every day, Architectural Digest inspires millions of affluent home enthusiasts to redesign and refresh their lives through a multi-platform presence that includes print and digital connections. Our alignment with AD will deliver an anticipated 14 million media impressions and encompasses an integrated online partnership through a commanding presence on architecturaldigest.com. Recently redesigned and re-engineered, architecturaldigest.com ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST Ever y da Architectur
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attracts toonredesign average moretheir than consuming about 10 and refresh lives900,000 through a munique ulti-platf monthly m presencevisitors, that includes print and digital connections.
Our alignment with AD will deliver an anticipated 8 million media impressions and encompasses an pages per visit the environment to uniquely showcase the Recentl homes we integr ated and onlineispar tnerperfect ship through a commanding presence on architectur y redesigned and re-engineered, architecturaldigest.com attracts on a erage more than 900,000 unique represent. monthly visitor consuming about 10 pages per visit and is the perfect environment to uniquely showcase the homes we represent.
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Island Lake Frontage $6,865,000 Award Winning Home of the Year designed by Lou DesRosiers. Modern masterpiece exhibits an unparalleled level of architectural detail and design. This stunning Island Lake contemporary incorporates mixed use of materials such as warm woods, granite and glass creating a warm and interesting environment. The exterior blends effortlessly into its natural surroundings including special features such as tiered copper roof, heated driveway and spectacular lake views. Five bedrooms with 5.2 baths. 215025933
Ronni Keating
Equal Housing Opportunity
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Bloomfield Hills $1,549,000 Magnificence awaits at this grand French Country estate in sought after Bloomfield Hills that greets you with its elegant circular drive, and enamors you with its lush, landscaped two acres. Meticulous detail, refined finishes, quality craftsmanship and supreme materials like exotic woods, custom millwork and stone define the luxurious interior. Entertaining is divine in the formal living and formal dining rooms, and made seamless by the incredible gourmet kitchen that opens to both the breakfast and hearth rooms. Outdoor parties are as spectacular thanks to the convenient cabana house and kitchen. Highlights of this incomparable residence with walls of windows and tremendous rooms include a comfortable family room with built-in bookcases, spacious study, sumptuous 2000 square feet master retreat with a den, room-size closet and indulgent spa-like bath, all en-suite bedrooms, morning room with French doors to the pool area where you can lounge or swim in privacy and tranquility. 215028048
Bloomfield $769,000
Royal Oak $575,000
Nearly two acres of lush park-like grounds, a beautifully-appointed 4000 square foot ranch offers open flow for family living and entertaining. A circular drive welcomes you to the picturesque landscaped gardens. High ceilings, generous light, three fireplaces, dark stained hardwood floors + a spacious living room, formal dining room, kitchen with breakfast bar, great room with a double-height window wall, 19 foot ceiling, home office with sitting area, huge master bedroom, and second floor studio. A large screened porch and rear decks. Custom in-ground pool and fenced private yard. Five bedrooms with four baths. 215018428
This Nantucket style Colonial home has well over 2880 square feet of living space. This custom built Town Building Company has five bedrooms, with a possible sixth bedroom in the lower level and four full bathrooms. Finished third floor bedroom and sitting area, fully finished lower level with theater, full bar, workout room, full bath and play area. Maple hardwood floor throughout areas on the main level, granite kitchen with stainless appliances, large family, living and dining room, main floor office/study is also considered a bedroom with a full closet and bath. 215031199
Dan Gutfreund
skbk.com
248.644.7000
Equal Housing Opportunity
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Lake Angelus Frontage $2,850,000 Fabulous Lake Angelus Estate on 8+ acres. Custom built with over 10,000 square feet of living space. Spectacular views of pristine Lake Angelus from every room. Eleven foot ceilings, hardwood floors, custom cabinetry and custom granite throughout. Mature trees, orchard and gardens. One of four vintage boathouses with full plumbing and electrical (one bedroom apartment) a truly unique property reminiscent of the older estates on the East Coast. Five bedrooms with 4.2 baths. 215021818
Lake Angelus Frontage $1,499,900
Dryden $949,900
Beautiful custom built and designed Lake Angelus lakefront home built to entertain. Breathtaking views from all the floor to ceiling windows. Fabulous new gourmet kitchen, four fireplaces and vaulted ceilings throughout. Large master suite overlooking the lake. Expansive deck and gazebo. Walk-out lower level with professional walk up bar seats ten. Sauna and open air Gunite lounge pool with waterfall. Four bedrooms with 3.1 baths. 214092489
Stunning newer construction designed after "English Manor Home" in the Heart of the Metamora Hunt Area surrounded by 5.35 acres of tranquil forest. Custom built in 2002 masterpiece; mural painted walls by Gretchen Gill, 150 year old hardwood floors, marble, granite, limestone, copper, brass, Chef 's kitchen with Viking appliances. Stone and architectural landscaping and Anderson windows, natural gas heat. Walk through the front door and feel like you are home. Four bedrooms with 3.1 baths. 214111031
Lee Embrey
Equal Housing Opportunity
skbk.com
248.644.7000
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Bloomfield Hills $2,350,000 Magnificent Bloomfield Hills private wooded Estate located on almost two acres. This exquisite home features over 14,000 square feet of living space including indoor two lane bowling alley and swimming pool. This well designed soft contemporary is unparalleled in craftsman and designed appointments. Features include four large bedrooms, 5.1 baths, gourmet kitchen with premium cabinets, glass countertops, high end stainless steel appliances, a spectacular living room with grand marble fireplace, an unbelievable master suite with his/hers walk-in closets and sitting room overlooking indoor pool. Finished lower level with kitchen, exercise room, fireplace, sauna and great storage, professionally landscaped yard with treed deck overlooking a backyard paradise. 215025899
Bloomfield Hills $1,999,900
Bloomfield Hills $1,499,000
Newer construction in the well coveted private gated Bloomfield Hunt Club Estates community. Exquisite home features five bedroom suites, two half baths, grand foyer with large nook and butlers pantry, gourmet kitchen with premium cabinets, granite counters, high end stainless appliances, hardwood floors, large family room off kitchen with fireplace, extensive crown moldings and mill work, 10 foot ceilings, dual staircase, a luxurious master bath with his/her walk-in closet, finished walk-out lower level with full bath, bedroom, exercise room, surround sound, and large great room. Professionally landscaped with brick paver patio. 215021421
Magnificent David Force renovation on one of the most coveted streets in the City of Bloomfield Hills. This exquisite home features a gourmet kitchen with top of the line cabinets, stainless appliances, granite counters, hardwood floors, coffered ceilings, wainscoting and crown moldings throughout. First floor master suite with his and her closets, large two person walk-in shower and fireplace, three en-suites, three car plus garage, first floor laundry, fabulous mud room with built-in lockers, professionally landscaped with the circular drive. Walking distance to Cranbrook school. Four bedrooms with 4.2 baths. 215001938
John & Bridget Apap
skbk.com
248.644.7000
Equal Housing Opportunity
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Completed Summer 2015
Quarton Lake Views $3,599,000
Great Lakes Custom Builder presents a East Coast Traditional Custom Luxury Home designed by Alex Bogaearts with four bedrooms, 5.3 baths with stunning panoramic views of Quarton Lake. Cooks kitchen with gorgeous custom cabinetry, top of the line appliances marble/quartz surfaces. Two story grand foyer with barrel ceiling and magnificent staircase, warm hardwood flooring, handcrafted mill work, paneled library, generous rooms. Master suite with fireplace, spacious and luxurious master bath. Finished lower level with climate controlled wine room, full bar, powder room plus additional 5th bedroom with full bath. 215012434
Birmingham $1,489,000
Completed Summer 2015
Exquisite details and craftsmanship throughout! Another fine new construction by Great Lakes Custom Builder. Everything your buyer could want and ask for. Open generous floor plan with impeccable finishes and quality, beautifully appointed kitchen, luxurious master suite with spacious master bath, generous high end dual closets, additional three bedroom suites and second floor laundry. Command center, plenty of storage, hardwood flooring, extensive trim work. Details won't disappoint. Four bedrooms with 4.2 baths. 215033592
Birmingham $929,000 Gorgeous new construction by Great Lakes Custom Builder. Spectacular floor plan with beautifully appointed white kitchen opens to light filled great room and breakfast room. Grand foyer opens to formal dining room and library with French doors. Master suite with fireplace and built-ins, dual walk-in closets and a luxurious master bath with soaking tub and walk-in shower. Second floor laundry, generous closet spaces and hardwood flooring. Huge finished basement boasts additional living space and bar, full bath and bonus room with egress window and closet. Landscaping, patio and fenced yard. Four bedrooms with 4.1 baths. 215031260
Christine Drinkwater
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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Superior Township $1,995,000 Three acre private estate with attention to detail and a floor plan that is perfect for formal entertaining or daily family life. Home offers privacy and water frontage minutes away from Ann Arbor and the Metro Detroit area. A wall of windows grants access to one of two elevated patios and overlooks the beautiful water front setting. Solid Cherry floors, granite counters, custom cherry cabinets, Viking range in alcove, butlers pantry with wine refrigerator, walk-in pantry and stone fireplace accent this light filled part of the home. Spacious owners suite with custom built-in cabinetry and private bath, finished walk-out lower level with radiant heat, three bay heated garage, beautiful solarium office with stone flooring, three story floating staircase and third floor apartment. Five bedrooms with 5.1 baths. 215019937
Bloomfield Village $1,599,999
Independence Township $829,000
Just reduced almost $200,000. Totally remodeled home is spectacular. Large gourmet kitchen with premium appliances, including two dishwashers and many luxury amenities. Breakfast area and cozy hearth room with fireplace overlooking patio and backyard. Master suite has fireplace, large, bath and over-sized walk-in closet with island. Five suites with a sixth bedroom in the finished basement. Family room with loads of windows, formal living and dining rooms, private .65 acre fenced, professionally landscaped yard and cedar shake roof. Basement has second designer kitchen, work out room and recreation room. 215030732
Beautiful Bridge Valley soft contemporary with outstanding views and tons of privacy. Custom home is nestled deep within this fine neighborhood on a 1.5 acre wooded lot that overlooks water and offers privacy and natural beauty. Open floor plan. Spacious first floor office or den (easily converted to a fifth bedroom), two story grand entry and two story living room, formal dining room and large kitchen with counter and generous breakfast eating areas, outstanding walk-out lower level with family room, wet bar, full bath, sitting room (another 5th bedroom option), craft area and game room. Four bedrooms with five baths. 215029828
Bill Tracy
Christine Johnson
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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Haslett $4,800,000 This luxury Equestrian estate must be seen to appreciate. Over 200 rolling acres, newly built 11,000 square foot arena which offers indoor riding, lessons, boarding, 15 horse stalls and large enough for barrel racing. Outside stalls with protection and water as well. Property is completely fenced with riding jumps. A true horse lover's dream. Three story Colonial home sits overlooking the arena which was totally renovated in 2014 with seven bedrooms, six baths, plus a guest or au pair suite complete with granite kitchen. The in-ground pool compliments the beauty of this estate.
Donna Barlow
Equal Housing Opportunity
skbk.com
248.644.7000
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Delivering over 1 Billion impressions worldwide
Sotheby’s International Realty® 2015 MaRketIng Plan JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUG
SEPT
OCT
NOV
DEC
INTEGRATED PARTNERSHIPS NYTimes.com Gallery Unit NYTimes.com Great Homes Slideshow Sponsorship NYTimes.com Mobile Carousel Unit NYTimes.com Gateway Unit WSJ.com Exclusive Social Connect WSJ.com Exclusive Real Estate Sponsorship WSJ.com iPad Mansion Exclusive Sponsorship WSJ.com Custom Partner Video WSJDN.com Global Network Video MansionGlobal.com Lifestyle Search Ownership MansionGlobal.com Exclusive Video Ownership MansionGlobal.com Homepage Featured Properties MansionGlobal.com Mobile App Sponsorship MansionGlobal.com Cover Takeover FT Distinctive Living Co-branded print ads FT.com Distinctive Living Co-branded Banners FT.com Distinctive Living Sponsorship FT.com Distinctive Living Homepage Carousel FT.com Distinctive Living Email Promotion FT.com Property Display Units FT Property Print Promotion FT.com Property Enewsletter Content FT.com Property Editorial Articles FT.com Hompeage Roadblock FT.com Launch Listings Sponsorship Bloomberg.com Editorial Units & Articles Bloomberg.com Social Connect Bloomberg.com High Net & Luxury Consumer Individual Audience Targeting AD.com Blogvertorial Sponsorship AD.com e-Newsletter Sponsorship AD.com Exclusive Sponsorship of Celebrity Homes for Sale AD.com Exclusive Sponsorship of Estates for Sale AD.com Homepage Roadblock Dwell.com Custom Sponsored Posts Dwell.com #ModernMondays Twitter Inte gration Dwell.com Homepage Parallax Unit with Video Dwell.com Real Estate Partner Exclusivity SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING SEARCH ENGINE MAKETING Google Yahoo! Bing.com Yandex YouTube eGallery SIR Touch Galle ry INTERNATIONAL SIGNIFICANT SALES BRAND PUBLIC RELATIONS
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Delivering Over millionimpressions impressionsworldwide worldwide Delivering over800 1 Billion Sotheby’s International Realty® ®
Sotheby’s International Realty 2015Plan MaRketIng Plan 2014 MaRketIng JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUG
SEPT
OCT
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ONLINE PROPERTY ADVERTISING New York Times Wall Street Journal Mansion Global Dwell James Edition PropGo Luxury Financial Times MOBILE ADVERTISING New York Times Bloomberg Architectural Digest Mansion Global PropGoLuxury Tatler SOCIAL MEDIA Wall Street Journal Social Connect Bloomberg Social Connect Dwell Financial Times BRAND MARKETING New York Times Wall Street Journal Mansion Global Bloomberg Architectural Digest Dwell Financial Times Financial Times China James Edition PropGoLuxury PRINT PROPERTY ADVERTISING Wall Street Journal Sotheby’s Art & Home Sotheby’s Preferred Sotheby’s New York Auction Preview New York Times Home Section Robb Report Collection Robb Report Home & Style Country Life International New York Times INYT Wrap Luxury Properties Magazine Financial Times Globe & Mail Boston Magazine Ocean Home RESIDE Regional Spring Issue Bloomberg Markets The Sunday Times
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I NV E ST ME NT
YOUR HOME IS YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET FOR MORE REASONS THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. Historically, real estate has provided homeowners with their greatest return on investments, an appreciation in value that has been at times both short and long term. It is difficult to put a price on something of such significance, whether it is primary, secondary or vacation home. At the Sotheby’s International RealtyŽ brand, we firmly believe in the inherent value of home and helping our clients realize their investment goals by offering unrivalled accesss to qualified people and distinctive properties around the world.
415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009 | skbk.com
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ON ON ON
Repair: $92 Replacement: $761
ON
Heating w/Ductwork
Repair: $311 Replacement: $605
Dishwasher
Built-in Microwave
Repair: $127 Replacement: $515
Repair: $97 Replacement: $429
Ranges/ Ovens/ /Cooktops
Garbage Disposal
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For For more more inf information, ormation, please call 800 735 735 466 4663 3 or visit ahshome ahshome.com. .com. † As reported reported in the national national surv survey ey A S Study tudy o off Homeo Homeowners’ Appliance System Service e Experienc Experiences, es, Decision Analy Analyst st (20 (2011 3) and rreprinted wners’ Applianc e and Home S Sy ystem Servic eprinted ohibited. R ememberr, a with their written written permis permission. sion. Further rreproduction eproduction is e expressly xpressly pr prohibited. Remember, an AHS Home Protection rotection P Plan lan c covers overs the the repair repair or or replacement nA HS H ome P replacement e ssystem ystem or appliance. of many many system system and applianc appliance e br breakdowns, eakdowns, but not nec necessarily essarily the entir entire appliance. Please refer refer tto oy your our contract contract for for details. tions including rrepairs epairs or rreplacements eplacements of covered Home protection protection plans ar are e subject tto oe exclusions xclusions and limita limitations covered home system system components components and erms, rrates ates and c overage, please visit w appliances. appliances. For For more more inf information ormation or ques questions tions rre: e: c contract ontract tterms, coverage, www.ahshome.com ww.ahshome.com or call 1 800 7 735 35 4663. 4663. ©2014 ©201 4 American Home Shield C Corporation orporation and its lic licensed ensed subsidiaries. All rights rreserved. eserved.
131308
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Cass Lake Frontage $2,590,000 Step into Tuscany style and elegance on all-sports Cass Lake's prestigious Wards Point. This is a dream home for lake lovers wanting style and elegance yet extremely comfortable. Five bedroom home with two master suites including one on the first floor. Custom finishes throughout make this home stand out from the rest. Rosewood hardwood flooring creates warmth throughout. The two story living room with floor to ceiling windows brings in the lake view. The kitchen shines with stainless appliances and soap stone counters, large center island, wonderful breakfast nook overlooking lake. House equipped with state of the art Control4 Home Automation system. Three car heated garage. Brick paver lighted driveway leads to custom Mahogany garage doors and front entrance doors. Temperature controlled wine room in walk-out lower level. Wonderful location set back off lake for privacy. Award winning West Bloomfield Schools. 215015753 Presented by Michelle Yurich
Birmingham $1,679,000 Currently under construction at 850 Stanley is a 4715 square foot luxurious property with groundbreaking architecture and stunning interior design. Stanley Boulevard is just a short walk from Downtown. High quality, innovative architecture and a floor plan which is perfectly designed for contemporary living are the hallmarks of this property. The kitchen, dining and living space provides the togetherness of open plan living within clearly defined zones. Besides the impressive open living area the property features a three car attached garage, three further bedrooms, a designer Downsview kitchen including a Wolf range, double fridge freezers and a prep kitchen, homework center, outdoor loggia, mud room and Marvin windows. A similar quality property by the same design and build team is under completion and can be viewed by appointment. Presented by Courtney Monigold.
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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Bloomfield $2,189,000Â Set on tranquil Dryden Lane in Bloomfield Estates, but only five minutes from Downtown Birmingham, will lie a 5800 square foot luxury home on a secluded 1.5 acre lot. The property boasts a strong architectural exterior, while inside lies a light-filled, luxurious home with unrivaled architecture and designs. Layout includes a spectacular two-story open plan kitchen, dining and living area, a stunning first floor master suite, formal dining room, hearth room, private study, second floor guest suite, a further three bedrooms, laundry room, large mudroom and four car garage. Bloomfield Estates is an exclusive, tranquil area and has become one of the most desirable locations for luxury estate properties. A similar estate home is under completion and can be viewed by appointment. Presented by Courtney Monigold.Â
Birmingham $1,499,000 Gorgeous new construction home offers everything you're looking for in high end luxury living. This amazing home offers the finest craftsmanship, high end finishes and architectural details throughout this stately home. This spectacular home has 6459 square feet of finished living space, four beautiful bedroom suites and a third floor offering two more additional bedroom suites. You will live the lifestyle of your dreams with every modern amenity located in the Heart of Birmingham close to shopping, schools, walking, on a premier street. A gourmet custom kitchen, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors, crown molding all with impeccable quality and detail. Formal dining room, library and fabulous lower level with full kitchen and exceptional living space. Gorgeous and professionally landscaped yard. Everything you would expect and more from this "Magnificent Designer Home." 214123662 Presented by Sandra Treboldi
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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Island Lake Frontage $1,995,000 Build your custom home on this prime location offering 172 feet of shoreline with wonderful elevation that allows for a walk-out basement and dynamic views of Island Lake and Kirk in the Hills. This private wooded site is nestled among multi-million dollar custom homes. 215022155 Presented by Felicia Scappaticci
Reduced $400,000 Rochester $1,350,000 Seller Motivated! Unique 16 + acre property, in Rochester school district, five minutes from downtown Rochester. This spectacular property is ready to build/develop a private retreat and/or recreation area of your own design. A perfect time to see the newly cleared area of property that shows the boundless areas for home sites and views of pond, dam and creek running through the property during the fall months. The property has privacy as well, two ponds, Stoney Creek (bisects property), rolling hills, meadows, woods and borders Stoney Creek Park on two sides. Home on property is considered a tear down, but is livable. Wildlife and nature at its fullest! 215034016
Presented by Donna Barlow
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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Wolf Lake Frontage $1,499,000 Fabulous French Country Estate on 52 Acres on private all sports spring fed 20 acre lake over 35 feet deep. Views from every room with beautiful sunsets. Gourmet kitchen with top end appliances overlooking your own private lake and wildlife. Custom built with all high end appointments throughout. Extensive use of hardwoods throughout. Your own private self-contained retreat just 20 minutes north of Auburn Hills. Four car garage. Four bedrooms with 5.3 baths. 214033216 Presented by Lee Embrey
Bloomfield Hills $1,399,000 Wonderful Bloomfield Hills Landmark Estate located on over one acre by Cranbrook Educational Community. This exquisite home features a gourmet kitchen with premium cabinets, stainless steel appliances, granite counters, extensive crown molding and millwork, four large bedroom suites, master suite has three walk-in closets, second floor dual laundry, front and back staircases. Designer appointments throughout. Finished lower level with theatre room and great storage. A spectacular professionally landscaped private yard with stone patio, gas fireplace, stainless steel gas grill, pergola, bar and large stone fire pit and stone fountain. This lovely home offers an unparalleled craftsmanship and detail combined with great curb appeal. 215013986 Presented by John & Bridget Apap
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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Rochester Hills $1,395,000 Magnificent and Grand Estate located in gated Oak Pointe Subdivision, this home exudes superb master craftsmanship with customized updates on three levels of luxurious living space. Newly added brick pavers for outside entertaining. Open floor plan, kitchen exudes warmth and style with cozy hearth fireplace, granite, and opens to spectacular view of nature's best. Five fireplaces throughout, spectacular master suite with his and her walk-in closets, Jacuzzi, skylights. Finished lower level walk-out with fireplace, entertainers' bar, game room area, fitness area and extensive room for storage. Five bedrooms with 5.2 baths. 214048750
Presented by Susan Johnson
Gross Pointe Park $1,250,000 This home is one of only eight Wallace Frost designed masterpieces in Grosse Pointe. This stone construction has exquisite detail both inside and out. The newly updated gourmet kitchen by Blake and Company is over twenty feet long. Large bedrooms and a grand master suite, new master bath. One of the bedrooms has been converted into a walk-in butlers pantry. Working elevator. The third floor is over 1500 square feet and can be used as a rental or mother-in-law suite with two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and large living room. The outside is just as nice as the inside with lush gardens and nearly one acre of land. Eight bedrooms with 7.2 baths. 215022493
Presented by Greg Johnston
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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Brighton Lake Frontage $1,199,000 Beautiful Pine Creek Ridge Custom Lakefront home. This home boasts just over 5000 square feet with 109 feet of sandy frontage on Brighton Lake. Huge first floor master suite complete with large walk-in closet, marble bath with two granite sinks, fireplace and private balcony. Large mother-in-law suite on upper level that has fireplace/sitting area and private balcony as well. This home is simply beautiful with the most desirable lakefront lot on the main part of the lake. Large granite kitchen with center island, hearth room and breakfast area all that overlook lakeside of home. Huge first floor laundry room, butlers pantry, walk-in storage pantry. Nearly 3000 additional square feet in partially finished walk-out basement that just needs your finishing touches. Enjoy the lakefront lifestyle while still having the amazing features and amenities of living in Pine Creek Subdivision with the pool, tennis courts, beaches, walking/hiking trails and club house. Four bedrooms with 3.2 baths. 214115939 Presented by Renee Kerr
Bloomfield Hills $513,187 - $614,160 The newest City of Bloomfield Hills gated community offers these superb lots, a natural walk-out overlooking the pond and beautifully tree lot. A full set of plans for the exquisite home that could be built are available or bring your own plans. Different lots to choose from. Presented by Kathy Lyons
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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Beverly Hills Village $949,900 Stunning architecture is elegant and modern, with close to 6000 square feet of living space. Grand circular staircase greets you in the spacious foyer. Family room opens to a gorgeous kitchen with granite, stainless appliances, and wood floors. Library with built-ins, formal dining room with an awesome butlers pantry. Finished lower level with full kitchen. Four good sized bedrooms upstairs with three full baths, a front and rear staircase, three car side entry garage, professional manicured landscaping, two tiered stone patio off the kitchen, stamped concrete walkway, and half acre private lot. Birmingham schools. Presented by Kathy Manoogian
Bloomfield Hills $975,000
Bloomfield Hills $929,000
Exquisite 2014 total renovation on two acre wooded lot in Bloomfield Hills. Extensive use of wood, granite, limestone along with magnificent trim detail. Beautifully updated kitchen with Viking appliances and sunlit breakfast room. Lovely living room with French doors opening to paver patio and lush grounds. Second floor master suite with new closet, private balcony and state of the art master bath. Two new air conditioning units, furnaces, Pella windows. Finished lower level. Move right into this incredible home. Five bedrooms with 3.2 baths. 215006259 Presented by Heather Salesin
Exceptional home with open, airy living space spanning three expansive stories. High ceilings, generous light, Brazilian cherry floors, 2 double-sided fireplaces, 4.5 spa-like baths. Elegant formal living/dining room with granite and stainless chef ’s island kitchen. Master suite with a balcony, walk-in closet, his/hers vanities, a soaking tub and frameless glass shower is one of three upstairs bedrooms; two spacious bedroom suites in lower level with a media room, game room, storage and access to the outdoors. Landscaped, private backyard retreat with a paver patio and koi pond with a waterfall. 215031044 Presented by Dan Gutfreund
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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West Bloomfield $849,900 Stunning property with all amenities of resort living and access to all sports Pine Lake. This Contemporary Ranch house offers an amazing open floor plan. High ceilings, huge window, floor to ceiling offering you a panoramic view of the astonishing back yard from every window. Chef 's kitchen with two cooking areas beautiful wood and stainless steel cabinets, granite counters, a huge island, professional appliances and cozy breakfast area. Huge master suite with extra high ceilings, large spa like bathroom and two walk-in closets. The professional landscaped grounds are showcasing a beautiful salt water pool, Koi pond with waterfalls, hot tub and a very large gazebo with built-in Tuscan pizza oven and Argentinian grill. Amazing living space in the finished walk-out basement, home theater room, sauna. First floor laundry, great closet space and three car garage. Four bedrooms with 4.1 baths. 214056631 Presented by Silvia Stan
Oakland Township $679,900
Cass Lake Frontage $599,900
Totally renovated 2011. Two story foyer and great room, granite, hardwood, updated tile, carpeting, new deck and updated kitchen. First floor luxurious master suite with fireplace, dressing area and jetted tub. Exquisite landscaping, waterfall, pond with bridge and gazebo. Home sits on almost an acre and backs to The Hills of Oakland common area. Lower level includes workout area with mirrors, sauna and recreation room area. Three bedrooms upstairs, one full suite and the other two are a Jack-n-Jill layout. Four bedrooms with 4.1 baths. 215029055 Presented by Susan Johnson & Anne Morrell
All Sports Cass Lakefront with sandy bottom! Breathtaking panoramic sunset views. Large open floor plan, granite kitchen with large walk-in pantry. Dining room opens to great room with 10 foot ceilings, crown molding, and large door wall. Family room has a marble fireplace that leads to deck area. Second floor with vaulted ceilings and three sky lights. Master bedroom has two large closets and second bedroom has walk-in closet, both rooms lead to a balcony. Freshly painted and new carpet. Lots of storage. Four bedrooms with three baths. 215031973 Presented by Tania Marougi
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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Addison Township $425,000 Quality custom Contemporary split level walk-out, updated throughout overlooking woods on 5.34 acres. Six thermal skylights, vaulted ceilings, retreat feeling with artistic details throughout. Three fireplaces, including an open two story stone fireplace. Lower level features three door walls to exterior patio, wet bar with fountain features attached two plus car garage is currently used as a heated workshop. Detached five bay carport. Large pole barn with three stalls, has its own wood burner, electricity and water. Natural gas connected to the house in 2014. Four bedrooms with 3.1 baths. 215032223 Presented by Susan Lozano
Troy $325,000
Birmingham $259,000
Beautiful Colonial with open floor plan. Easy access to M-59, I-75, shopping malls and Beaumont Hospital. Troy schools. House has hardwood floors in foyer and most bedrooms, Fieldstone fireplace, cathedral ceiling, first floor laundry, formal dining room and living room. Master suite with jacuzzi tub, shower, walk-in closet, air conditioning and patio. Freshly paint exterior and interior. Brand new granite counter top throughout. Move in condition. Three bedrooms with 2.1 baths. 215033616 Presented by Rosa Lau
Well maintained brick Ranch with three bedrooms and two baths. Beautiful hardwood floors. Florida room with newer gas fireplace and hot tub. Stamped concrete patio and fenced back yard with two and half car garage. Birmingham schools. 215033476 Presented by Marty Brown
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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West Bloomfield $385,000 This builder's model home has been completely and beautifully remodeled in 2013. Four bedrooms, 2.5 baths. Great location in popular Birchwood Park Subdivision with award winning Walled Lake Schools. Some outstanding features include a two story great room with floor to ceiling windows and natural fireplace, spacious library, first floor half bath, formal living room and formal dining room, first floor laundry, beautiful hardwoods floors and crown moldings throughout and new roof. 215026995
Presented by Candice Cuyler
Bloomfield $350,000
Ferndale $349,000
Opportunity awaits in the highly desirable private golf community, The Heathers. Located in Lochmoor Village, is a lovely two bedroom, two bath en suite townhome, bright open and spacious throughout, this open floor plan is perfect for entertaining. Offering 1930 square feet with two car attached garage and full basement. With a community surround by golf, tennis, swim and dining this beautiful townhome an easy choice for your next move. 215029668
Style and luxury meets funky Ferndale in this gorgeous penthouse loft! Watch concerts from your balcony facing 9 mile, or walk to dinner downtown. This loft was completely renovated in December of 2014. It features brand new hardwood floors, European style cabinets, marble countertops, and stainless steel appliances. One covered, secure parking space included. The luxurious bathroom features a vessel sink, Italian vanity, and custom tile. Master bathroom includes dual vanity and tub/shower. Washer and dryer in the unit. Financing available. One bedroom with two baths. 215001703 Presented by Michelle Landry
Presented by Wendi Miller
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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Sterling Heights $214,900 Completely remodeled throughout with the finest materials and craftsmanship. All new kitchen, baths, flooring, windows, exterior siding, front door, garage door. Finished and ready to move in. Four bedrooms with a fifth in the basement (along with a half bath). Two full baths with heated marble flooring. Private fenced backyard. Play structure, washer and dryer are excluded. Wonderful family home. Four bedrooms with 2.1 baths. 215033543 Presented by Bill Tracy
West Bloomfield $209,000
Bloomfield Hills $196,900
Detached Condo in the Award Winning Walled Lake School District! Perfect location at the back of the subdivision with beautiful wooded and landscaped grounds complete with a common clubhouse and pool for your summer enjoyment. Very low traffic on this Cul-De-Sac in a private gated community where you can feel right at home. Eat-in kitchen with an open floor plan throughout. Walk-in closet and a ton of storage throughout and in the basement. Make this condo your own! Two bedrooms with two baths. 215032986
One of the few condos under $200,000 in the Heart of Bloomfield Hills. First floor condo with 2/3 bedrooms, third bedroom can be used as a library, two full baths, living room walks out to screened-in porch. Master suite with egress door to screen porch and updated bathroom with washer/dryer. Kitchen with breakfast nook. Two car garage. Huge storage space in basement can be converted into a living space. Work-out room in basement with lavatory. Newer roof. 215016888 Presented by Kim Fortin and Maggie Moglia
Presented by Lisa LaBelle
skbk.com Equal Housing Opportunity
248.644.7000
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near or far
A Full Service Relocation Department with Distinguished Connections Helping our clients navigate the world of real estate is what sets us apart. We are unmatched in our ability to connect buyers and sellers globally. As a primary real estate brokerage for Cartus Relocation, a global leader in the relocation industry, SKBK Sotheby's International Realty participates in servicing relocation buyers coming into our area and sellers moving out of the area every day.
This is our world. Because a home’s appeal extends far beyond what is near. EXPERIENCE A WORLD OF CONNECTIONS With 740 offices in 52 counties, we are all encompassing. From the enchanting beauty of France to the age-old country that is Thailand. Our locations may be abounding, but our unique-ness remains perfectly constant.
Susan Bailey susan.bailey@sothebysrealty.com f s s k 800.458.7356 ck m 1 1 814 415 S. Old8Woodward Ave. 8 8 e a oBirmingham, l d arB d i i Michigan gan Ma48009 m i h ag
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LIKE NO OTHER YOUR HOME COULD HAVE COUNTLESS VISITORS this month, without your ever needing to open the door. To showcase your home on sothebysrealty.com, is to gain additional exposure on over 16 highly regarded websites around the globe. From the online digital network that is wsj.com, to the international luxury resource jameslist.com, introduce your home to those near and those far. Because the more introductions, the more possibilities
This isis our our world. world. This With views like these, you need not look further. We appreciate the opportunity to impart the many reasons why SKBK Sotheby’s International Realty is like no other and hope that you will consider joining us in the pursuit of excellence to help carry on the ordinyary lives. vision p of artfully euniting extraortrdinary ht omes with extram
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Lara J. Forte Loan Officer NMLS # 1169665 T: 248-912-9031 C: 248-284-5178
John & Bridget Apap Fine Homes Specialists Cell 248.225.9858 japap@skbk.com
41820 Six Mile Road Northville MI 48168
LForte@mbmortgage.com
415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009
4383 Oak Grove Drive
659 Chesterfield Avenue
Bloomfield Hills | $2,399,000
Birmingham | $1,675,000
345 Martell Drive
6626 Country Club Lane
Bloomfield Hills | $1,449,000
West Bloomfield | $1,300,000
Call us for a Complimentary Market Analysis t
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328 Barden Road
3798 Darlington Road
526 Henrietta Street
Bloomfield Hills | $1,349,000
Bloomfield Hills | $1,499,000
Birmingham | $1,399,000
John & Bridget Apap Fine Homes Specialists Cell 248.225.9858 japap@skbk.com 415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009
229 Clifton Road
1685 Henrietta Street
Bloomfield Village | $849,900
Birmingham | $775,000
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1812 S Bates Street
Birmingham | $629,000
Birmingham | $624,900
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16907 Kirkshire Avenue
1786 Bates Street
Beverly Hills Village | $580,000
Birmingham | $979,000
Lynn Wiand Senior Mortgage Lender NMLS ID 39420
lwiand@talmerbank.com Office 248-244-4805 Cell 248.228.4805
2301 W. Big Beaver Rd, Suite 525 Troy, MI 48084
John & Bridget Apap Fine Homes Specialists Cell 248.225.9858 japap@skbk.com 415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009
Hunter Roberts Homes Extraordinary Homes
Winthrop
Winthrop
New Construction
New Construction
New Construction
Quarton Lake - $1,295,000 - 3,600 sf, 4 bedrooms 5.5 baths, finished lower level
Quarton Lake - $1,295,000 - 3,600 sf, 4 bedrooms 5.5 baths, finished lower level
Bloomfield Village - $1,599,000 - 4,200 sf, 4 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, 3 car garage, finished lower level
Indian Mound
N Glenhurst
Suffield
New Construction
New Construction Quarton Lake - $2,395,000 - 5,400 sf, 5 bedrooms, 6.5 baths, 3 car garage, finished lower level.
New Construction Bloomfield Village - $1,850,000 - 5,100 sf, 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 3 car garage, finished lower level
Quarton Lake - $2,495,000 - 5,800 sf, 5 bedrooms, 6.5 baths, 4 car garage, finished lower level, oversized lot
Covington Place
Call us for a Complimentary Market Analysis
1455 Quarton Road
3731 Darlington Road N
856 Foxhall Road
Birmingham | $649,900
Bloomfield Hills | $474,900
Bloomfield Hills | $394,900
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2470 Wildbrook Run
852 W Glengarry Circle
2600 Indian Mound
Bloomfield Hills | $354,900
Bloomfield Village | $1,200,000
Bloomfield Village | $799,900
Quarton Lake Frontage
Quarton Lake Views
Imagine owning your very own private, new construction, luxury resort, nestled on the only remaining lot in Quarton Lake with views of the waterfall, lake, park & river. Beyond the electric gated entrance with camera and alarm system, sits this exceptional private estate. Generous open floor plan. Stunning great room perfect for entertaining shares a dual sided fireplace with elegant study. Cooks kitchen with top of the line stainless steel appliances, rich exotic wood cabinetry, walk-in pantry and command center. Master suite features a fireplace and its own private patio, spacious spa like master bath with freestanding tub, walk-in shower and beautiful custom closet/dressing areas. Approximately 8000 sq ft of finished living space, walkout lower level with climate controlled wine room, full bar area and spa/sauna. Handcrafted mill work, impeccable materials and gorgeous architectural details throughout. Ready Fall 2015. 215012288
Great Lakes Custom Builder presents a spectacular East Coast Traditional Custom Luxury Home designed by Alex Bogaearts features four bedrooms, 5.3 baths with stunning panoramic views of Quarton Lake.This exceptional home features a warm and inviting cooks kitchen with gorgeous custom cabinetry, top of the line appliances marble/quartz surfaces throughout. This timeless and classically finished home features an impressive two story grand foyer with barrel ceiling and magnificent staircase, warm hardwood flooring throughout, handcrafted mill work, paneled library, generous rooms and fabulous floor plan for entertaining and living. Large master suite with fireplace, custom closets, spacious and luxurious master bath with exquisite finishes. Finished lower level with climate controlled wine room, full bar, powder room plus additional 5th bedroom with full bath. Ready Summer 2015. 215012434
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Birmingham $1,489,000 Exquisite Details and Craftsmanship 4433 Sq Ft, 4 BR, 4.2 BA 2 Car Attached Garage
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Birmingham $929,000 Gorgeous New Construction 2850 Sq Ft, 4 BR, 4.1 BA 2 Car Detached Garage
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Royal Oak $670,000 Stunning Craftsman 2 Story 3190 Sq Ft, 4 BR, 3.1 BA 2 Car Attached Garage
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Birmingham $329,000 Great location overlooking Pembroke Park 1600 Sq. Ft, 3 BR, 2 BA Detached Garage
Troy $489,000 Inviting and Spacious 3290 Sq Ft, 4 BR, 2.1 BA 2 Car Attached Garage
Marketing a home requires unique skills, knowledge and resources that SKBK Sotheby's International Realty offers its clients. I would welcome the opportunity to offer you a confidential marketing analysis.
Christine Drinkwater
Associate Broker
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248-318-4745 cdrinkwater@skbk.com
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty and Lorraine Yalman...a superb alliance! Choices. Whether you are thinking about selling your current home or beginning the search for your next move, you need to start with the right real estate partner. Please contact me for a confidential marketing consultation if you're considering selling, buying or simply evaluating your options.
FeATuRed LISTIng
119 drury | Bloomfield Village $479,000 4 BR, 2.1 BA, 2028 Sq Ft | Beautifully updated | Birmingham Schools LD
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Balfour | Bloomfield Hills List Price $1,149,000
Tilbury | Bloomfield Village List Price $565,000 T
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Alameda | Troy List Price $339,777
Lorraine Yalman Residential Specialist
415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009
Balfour | Oak Park Multiple Offers
248-425-7426 lyalman@skbk.com
FACES
Gary Kulak efore he was a well-known sculptor and head of the fine arts department at Cranbrook Schools, Birmingham resident Gary Kulak was just another fourth-grader growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1960s with few aspirations of becoming an artist. “In the fourth grade, I won a statewide poster contest in Pennsylvania. The contest allowed me to have a scholarship to take classes at Carnegie Mellon, but my parents thought it would be a waste of time because they couldn’t understand how I could make a living as an artist,” he said. “It wasn’t until my sophomore year at Clarion University that I started taking art electives. There was a visiting artist there who saw the work that I was doing and said ‘You should go to art school.’” It was then that Kulak, who has since had work featured in the Smithsonian and the Detroit Institute of Arts, decided to apply to the Cranbrook Academy of Art graduate program. In 1973, as a student at the Cranbrook, Kulak began working on his famous chair sculptures. “I started with the chairs as a gestalt,” he said. “As a student at Cranbrook Academy of Art, I lost my first true love in a tragic accident. I then became obsessed with the idea of creating presence through absence. The chair is a common object with 5,000 years’ history representing individual identity. Through the years, this symbol in my work evolves, representing each individual human spirit and the multitude of emotions felt at given points in time.” Kulak’s chairs, which can reach up to 30 feet, are primarily sculpted with steel and bronze. “This goes back to my father working at Bethlehem Steel,” he explained.
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“My art represents a distinct and intentional work ethic based on the discipline of sculpture with a focus on structure. Simple elegance, physical forces, spiritual energy and contemporary issues all play an important role. The chairs are usually reacting to some type of external force. If you were to look at the piece that I just installed in Knoxville for the Dogwood Art Festival, a 27-foot tall chair called Windswept, you would get this feeling that the wind is taking this chair and moving it.” Despite his belief that “at the core of the art discipline is freedom of expression,” Kulak said he maintains a balance between commissioned work and developmental work. “The commissioned work allows me the opportunity to develop new ideas and explore possibilities for cultural development and community interaction. For example, I created a piece for the Detroit Medical Center that is two circular white (pieces) benched with a yellow dome in the center. If you were to look at them from above, they would look like a sunny-side up egg. For me, playing with the idea of sunny-side up, which is an optimistic view of the direction of the city, it also gives individuals the opportunity to sit on the work of art and relax or compose their thoughts.” While Kulak’s work has been commercially and critically successful, both locally and across the country, he concluded, “Art is life and life is art. For the artist, there is no 'making it' in the art world. Art is about the process and the journey of exploring creativity and communication as a visual language.” Story: Sarah Kovan
Photo: Laurie Tennent
Joseph Philip Craig Residential Builders
TROY
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Jamie Cracchiolo
Email: jjc1973@comcast.net Mobile:(248)379-2001 OFFICE: (248) 641-8500
jpcraighomebuilders.com
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MUNICIPAL Treasurer pay cut, job change opposed By Lisa Brody
A proposal at the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees meeting Monday, April 13, by township supervisor Leo Savoie to reduce the treasurer’s salary and make it a parttime position following the 2016 election laid open a long simmering feud between the supervisor and treasurer Dan Devine, which at the meeting evolved into a barrage of personal insults from an audience packed with Devine supporters, forcing the supervisor to back off from his own plan. The animosity between the two elected officials possibly dates back to 2011 when Savoie was appointed, instead of Devine, as township supervisor, but also includes complaints from others in the township about the hours Devine puts in at the township offices and, in the last two years, concerns about how the treasurer has handled troubled retirement investment plans for the township and his failure to make sure the board of trustees understood the severity of problems with the plans. In a prepared statement, Savoie read, “Tonight I am proposing a new structure for the township. It may seem drastic to some, but it is in the best interest of township residents at heart. It is a change that will save our taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars over the coming years with absolutely no change in service. In addition, it will streamline our processes, clarify our structure, and confirm our high performance structure of our employees. As elected officials, everyone of us on this board have statutory duties clearly outlined by the state of Michigan. The treasurer’s statutory duties are: to collect real and personal property taxes; to keep an account of township receipts; to issue township checks; to deposit township revenues and to approve depositories and township funds; collect delinquent taxes; he has a duty to appoint a deputy.” Savoie noted that Devine, who has been Bloomfield Township treasurer since 1999, in his earlier years as treasurer, as well as previous treasurers, performed other duties as necessary. “All of the statutory responsibilities are carried out, fully and competently, by the finance department, the assistant treasurer and the treasurer’s staff,” Savoie continued. “The treasurer has chosen to remove downtownpublications.com
Triple Nickel opens in Birmingham nother new restaurant has joined the Birmingham culinary scene, with the Triple Nickel opening in early April, adjacent to the residences at Birmingham's iconic 555 Building. Triple Nickel (for 555), is the brainchild of Marc Blancke, owner of Sinbad's Restaurant and Marina in Detroit, in partnership with the owners of the 555 Building. True to Blancke's background, he said, “We've got a lot of fresh seafood, steaks, lamb chops, a Tomahawk pork chop, great burgers, six great salads, and lots of appetizers.” To start, the restaurant will be open daily for dinner only. “When we're ready, eventually, we'll be open for lunch as well,” he said. Originally approved by the Birmingham City Commission for a bistro license in February 2013, the restaurant grew and eventually was approved for an economic development liquor license. The restaurant is located at 555 S. Old Woodward at Bowers, and it extends back to Woodward. It goes up two stories, with two terraces, one overlooking Woodward, the other S. Old Woodward, each with patio seating, large screen TVs, and fireplaces. The main floor has large French doors which will open when weather permits. The restaurant, designed by Ron Rea of Ron & Roman, is intended to be casual and comfortable. So is the menu, Blancke said. “We're trying to price our menu so people can come more frequently,” with prices of entrees between $22 and $30, including a 12 oz. NY Strip steak for $29, and perch for $22. While some items are variations of his specialties at Sinbad's, most are new creations by Chef John Fleming, from the same purveyors they use at their other restaurant. “We brought over our 100 percent Sinbad's clam chowder,” he said. “We've had this recipe pushing 60 years.” New recipes include a calamari appetizer stuffed with crabcakes, a lean buffalo burger, scallops brought in daily from Foley's in Boston, served with a blood orange drizzle, and several salads, which are available in two sizes. Blancke said reservations are accepted.
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himself from day-to-day administration of these duties and he has not taken on any broader responsibilities that full-time employees have taken on.” He noted the assistant treasurer is highly qualified, with extensive qualifications, and the department has four full-time staff members. Other responsibilities Devine used to hold, such as negotiating union contracts and holding the township position as representative for Bloomfield Park, he no longer has, “and he has not replaced these with any other duties nor any other significant contribution back to Bloomfield Township. Instead, the treasurer has reduced his work schedule to a mere 15 or 20 hours a week, on average, while still accepting a full-time salary, plus all of the benefits due a full-time employee (including a car).”
Savoie said that once he began working in the township as supervisor in 2011, he noticed the irregular hours, which had been a source of contention for previous employees, such as former supervisor Dave Payne and former clerk Wilma Cotton. He said he began tracking Devine’s hours. “A full-time employee is one who works 40 or more hours a week,” he said. “The employees expect, and the residents demand, full-time employees performing full-time responsibilities.” Savoie said he felt Devine was taking advantage of the residents, accepting the “second highest salary in the township.” Effective November 20, 2016, “it should reflect the statutory duties of the treasurer’s office,” he said. The treasurer’s office would maintain current services to residents, while saving $125,000 a
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year to the township. Devine currently earns $137,000 a year, plus benefits, which Savoie said is equivalent to a $180,000 pay package. Devine, in response, said, “Mr. Savoie would like to treat me as less than a criminal in one of our lockups. This is nothing but a naked power grab by an emperor with no clothes. This is how a schoolyard bully acts if it doesn’t go your way. The AAA bond rating, that just didn’t happen since he was supervisor. This isn’t a 9-5 job. We’re here late nights. Fridays we’re closed, but I’m here on Fridays, Saturdays, whatever it takes to get the job done. Without my hard work, we wouldn’t have changed the defined benefit plan in 2005, eliminating legacy costs in the long haul. By cutting my job in half, it’s a pittance in comparison to these savings. I don’t know how Mr. Savoie could know where I am – my wife doesn’t see my for days on end. Cutting my job in half goes against the Charter Township Act. We have co-equal jobs – I collect the money, Mr. Savoie spends the money, Ms. Roncelli accounts for the money. You as residents are my bosses. You have the say.” Savoie did not recommend diminishing the responsibilities of the treasurer, just the hours required for the office, consistent with Section 42.9 of the Michigan Charter Act 359 which states: “The township board may, by resolution, upon the recommendation of the supervisor, or of the township superintendent if one shall be appointed, create such additional officers as may be necessary to administer the affairs of the township government, or may combine any administrative offices in any manner not inconsistent with state law, and prescribe the duties thereof. No creation of any additional administrative office or combination thereof shall abolish the offices of township clerk or township treasurer nor diminish any of the duties or responsibilities of those offices which are prescribed by state law.” During public comments, Devine’s wife, Mary Kay Devine, said, “He works a lot out of the home. He gets a lot of calls on his cell, and he never turns down a resident.” She also turned on former township supervisor Dave Payne, in attendance, who chose Savoie over Devine to succeed him by appointment of the board when he retired, verbally attacking the former supervisor in her comments, many of which were not relevant to the proceedings. Payne, who was township 105
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treasurer from 1995-1999, was asked by trustee Neal Barnett to provide some background on working with Devine. Payne, who retired from the township in 2011 after 41 years in various positions, said he began in 1970. “The treasurer is an enigma. Just doing the treasurer’s work doesn’t consume all of the time,” Payne said. “When (former supervisor and treasurer) Fred Korzon was treasurer, it was the days of a lot of growth. He got involved with building, zoning, ZBA. It’s been a very diversified position. If I had just done the treasurer’s job, I would have been bored.” As for the township’s AAA bond rating, which increased from a AA bond rating while Payne was supervisor, Payne said he couldn’t take the credit for it. “It was the board, the employees, the (union) contracts, the legacy costs, the defined benefits, all of those strategies, they were developed as a group,” he said. “The finance department played a huge part.” Payne recalled that the issue of Devine’s hours had come up behind closed doors while he was supervisor and Wilma Cotton was clerk. “I can’t deny it, when Wilma was clerk, she was extremely upset that Dan was not putting in the office hours and wanted me to force him. We had meetings with the three of us, and she wanted to take it to the board – but she never did.” Leslie Helwig, former township director of community relations, said, “Leo is a very hard working public official. Without exception, we were all so impressed when he began. He works long, long hours. He has an open door policy. Most township employees are grateful to have such a good job, and know they are supposed to show up and do a full day’s work. Then, when they see someone at the top, who makes a salary of two or sometimes three times theirs, put in fewer than half theirs, they get a
mixed message about ethical standards and accountability.” While several residents, many of whom told this reporter they had received calls or e-mails from Devine asking them to attend the meeting, spoke praising the AAA bond rating in the township, and holding Devine personally responsible for it, many castigated Savoie for what they saw as a “power grab” and demanded his hours and pay be cut. “Others can do what the treasurer does, but he did it while maintaining a AAA rating. Desk hours do not determine how much a person works,” said resident Susie Kern. Trustee Kepes said at the meeting, “Another way to look at the situation, if you look at a model, in the future it’s not about Dan Devine, who he is as a person, but what do we as a commission need in 2016 going forward. That’s what this is about. It’s not going to change our current treasurer. It’s about our next treasurer. Just like we are looking at having our own road department to see if we could do better.” Trustee Corinne Khederian said she was not prepared to make a decision that evening, but sought information on whether other communities had acted similarly, and other in-depth information. “I know if I were to come to my office for five, 10, 20 hours a week, it would not be acceptable to me, or to my employer,” she said. Clerk Jan Roncelli said she didn’t think this should have been a board topic. “I thought anything about a position should have been done in a study session. These are elected positions – we don’t report to each other, but to the public. We’re certainly not the first community to deal with this, and we won’t be the last,” she said, referring to West Bloomfield Township, which reduced the treasurer’s salary from $106,224 to $22,000 effective with the 2016 election. “Character assassination and
throwing board members under the bus is not what Bloomfield Township is all about,” said trustee Neal Barnett, who suggested efforts for everyone to get along, although he noted there have been concerns regarding Devine’s work, “and maybe they can be addressed in-house.” Trustee Dave Buckley left the trustee table, speaking passionately against Savoie and Payne during public comments. “Mr. Devine has attained the highest level of municipal treasurer. It will also change the balance, the checks and balance,” he said. “As for cost savings, this is a total ruse.” During motions, Buckley suggested dispensing with the issue, but it failed for lack of support, as did three motions by Khederian, two of which she sought to have a special board meeting with more information by Monday, April 20, or by April 30. Trustees were not available, and Roncelli said it would be impossible to get the information in time as she prepares for a May 5 election. Khederian said then she would bring it back up later in the summer. Barnett suggested it be at a study session. Savoie said he would not bring it up again. “I brought up what I felt appropriate to the board and the taxpayers, and it’s in their hands now,” he said. “It was one item in a whole slew I have as supervisor. I’m moving on to other responsibilities. It wasn’t personal. It’s just offensive to me that someone can work so little with the public’s tax dollars.”
Birmingham residents who have paid the city of Birmingham for water and sanitary sewage disposal services since June 30, 2013, have been included in an Oakland County Circuit County suit, Wolf v. City of
Birmingham, which challenges Birmingham's imposition of stormwater fees as a tax in excess of stormwater disposal charges imposed by Oakland County. The plaintiff, Lawrence Wolf of Birmingham, is a water and sanitary sewer customer who has paid stormwater charges imposed by the city. He contends the stormwater charges are not proper user fees, but taxes wrongfully imposed by the city of Birmingham to raise revenue in violation of the Michigan Headlee Amendment, and that he and others similarly charged have been harmed by the city's collection and retention of the stormwater charges. He is seeking a judgement from the court against Birmingham which would order and direct the city to refund all stormwater charges that he and all those participating in the suit are entitled to. In his suit, determined in January by Oakland Circuit Court Judge Leo Bowman that it could be certified as a class action lawsuit, Wolf contends that the stormwater charge, which is incorporated into the sanitary sewage disposal rates charged by the city, constitutes a tax not authorized by residents in violation of the Headlee Amendment, and that through the payment of these charges, the plaintiff and the class are paying the city's entire cost of stormwater disposal. He, individually and on behalf of the class, seeks a refund of all stormwater charges imposed or received by the city for the year prior to the 2014 filing of the suit and all such charges collected while the action is pending, or more than $2 million. The Headlee Tax Limitation Amendment, enacted by Michigan voters in 1978, limits the amount of tax money local governments can increase without a vote of the people. The city denies the plaintiff's claim, and contends they will prevail
DIA Inside|Out back in Birmingham
James L. Knight Foundation, 10 high-quality replicas of DIA masterpieces are displayed as public property art installations near the Baldwin Public Library; the Birmingham Historical Museum and Park; Booth Park; and Shain Park. Other featured locations include BoConcept (670 S. Old Woodward Ave.); Skin by Dr. Lori (353 S. Old Woodward Ave.); the Comerica Bank alley (188 N. Old Woodward Ave.);
Commonwealth Café (300 Hamilton Row); Giovanni Custom Tailor (588 N. Old Woodward Ave.); and Brooklyn Pizza (111 Henrietta St.). Birmingham previously participated in the Inside|Out program in 2010 and 2011. Highlights for this spring and summer's program include new images that better reflect the diversity of the museum’s collection and broad interests of the
communities. The high-profile program is expected to generate excitement and increase foot traffic in the downtown area. A location map will be available when the installation is complete. More information will be available at HYPERLINK "http://www.bhamgov.org/diainsideo ut"bhamgov.org/diainsideout and facebook.com/dia.insideout.
Images of beautiful art masterpieces will be recreated and displayed throughout key spots in Birmingham this spring and summer during the Detroit Institute of Art's (DIA) Inside|Out program from Thursday, April 9, through this July. Sponsored by the John S. and
Residents included in class action suit By Lisa Brody
in the lawsuit. Birmingham has not filed a counterclaim against the plaintiff or the class. City manager Joe Valentine said there are some charges to residents that are passed through from Oakland County, “and there is some other stuff,” in the charges. Wolf has prevailed in other municipalities where he owns properties and has filed similar class action lawsuits. In a suit against the city of Jackson, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in August 2013 that the city's stormwater “fee” is an illegal tax partly because a public vote was not taken and it violates the Headlee Amendment, according to the opinion. In the end of February 2015, the city of Ferndale settled a suit Wolf filed against it for $4.5 million, with roughly 13,000 residents receiving a refund for user fees they had paid between January 2008 and December 2014. The suit against Birmingham states, “Even after taking into account payments to the county for its obligations to stormwater disposal, the city has consistently experienced an operating profit in its sewer fund as a result of imposing sewer charges which generate revenue far exceeding the city's actual costs.” The lawsuit estimates in the period of July of 2012 to the end of June in 2013, the city's sewer fund had net cash “provided by operating activities of $2.8 million.” Birmingham's combined system flows to the Southeastern Oakland County Disposal System and the Evergreen Sewage Disposal System, both owned and maintained by Oakland County. The county charges municipalities a flat rate per month who contribute to the county system for disposal of stormwater overflow.
Jimmy John's okayed for Telegraph site By Lisa Brody
A Jimmy John's sandwich shop with a drive-thru was approved for a final site plan and special land use by the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees on Monday, April 13, for a former gas station site on Telegraph just north of Square Lake Road. The site, at 2481 Telegraph, had previously been approved in 2010 for a final site plan for a Sonic Restaurant with a drive thru, but the 108
GSTV leaving Birmingham for Detroit fter five years in downtown Birmingham, Gas Station TV (GSTV) announced it will relocate its headquarters from 255 S. Old Woodward to 1201 Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit by June. “Downtown Detroit has become a leading destination for innovative technology businesses. We are thrilled to fuel our network’s continued rapid growth out of this emerging community,” said David Leider, CEO of GSTV, in a statement. “Our all-new modern workspace in this thriving environment is exciting for our current team and will allow us to attract even more top talent.” GSTV will relocate all of its approximately 80 employees to its new headquarters in Detroit, Violeta Ivesaj, vice president of marketing, said. GSTV is the country's number one video network at gas stations, providing video monitors with programming content at gas pumps from ESPN, CNN Headline News and Buzz Today, Bloomberg TV, and AccuWeather. Founded in 2006, over 52 million monthly viewers now watch their programming while fueling their vehicles. The company has grown from a five station pilot, to over 3,000 gas stations in 45 states. GSTV is a Rockbridge Growth Equity company, part of Dan Gilbert's empire of companies, and the new headquarters will be located in the historic former Kresge building, a nine-story mid-rise building dating back to 1891. GSTV will occupy three floors, totaling approximately 15,000 square feet. Construction for new state-of-theart offices has begun, according to a release. The building is owned and managed by Bedrock Real Estate Services, another Gilbertaffiliated company.
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developer pulled out before construction began. Bloomfield Township Director of Planning, Building and Ordinance Patti Voelker said the site has been vacant a long time. “Jimmy John's is looking for outdoor seating and a drive-thru, as well as to extend operations to 10 p.m., past our ordinance closing time of 9 p.m., requiring a special land use approval from the township board,” Voelker said. “The site plan has been reviewed by all of the departments, and the zoning ordinances complies other than it has an irregular shaped lot, and a parking variance is sought. The drive-thru circulation lane recommend by the township traffic engineer is in the setback. They are also requesting outdoor dining in front of the restaurant.” Voelker explained the restaurant itself is small, just 1,500 square feet, and will have a small dining area inside, with the rest of the space being taken up by the kitchen and prep areas. “There is sufficient access with vehicles in the queue to accommodate passerby traffic (on Telegraph), with a dedicated right turn lane on Telegraph,” she told trustees. “I'm concerned about the overflow
onto Telegraph, especially to Square Lake, and into the office building to the south, especially in the summer when landscaping trucks could back up into Telegraph,” trustee Brian Kepes said. “I think the drive thru is squeezing a little too much into this site.” A representative for the applicant, from their engineering firm, said, “We have had extensive conversations with MDOT about the safety at this intersection. We have counted other nearby fast food restaurants, and there have never been more than seven (in line) at one time, including landscaping trucks. If it backs up, they park and go inside.” The drive-thru is designed to have room for up to nine vehicles. A member of the public asked if, since it is a former BP gas station, if there were any concerns about groundwater contamination or environmental problems at the site. The representative said that the owner of the site, since taking it over, “has done extensive remediation, and removed all of the storage tanks. They have been capped for future uses and we will continue remediation.” “Have you looked at this site without a drive-thru?” Kepes asked.
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“The owner has owned this site for several years. It is limited in space. We can only have 1,500 square feet. He would not do it without a drivethru,” the representative said. “We had a concern (with drivethrus and fast food restaurants) because they tend to eat in their cars,” supervisor Leo Savoie said. “I know the police said they would ticket people sitting in their cars.” Trustees unanimously approved Jimmy John's final site plan with variances. The special land use, approving the drive-thru, hours until 10 p.m., and a decorative fence, was approved 6-1, with Kepes voting against.
Part of Lahser to be reconstructed Bloomfield Township trustees unanimously approved a resolution to use the township's portion of Tri-Party road funds towards the reconstruction of Lahser Road between 13 Mile and Maple roads, at their meeting on Monday, March 23, to be performed this road construction season. Engineering and Environmental Service Director Wayne Domine explained to trustees that the portion of Lahser Road to be reconstructed is a federally-funded, locally-matched reconstruction project, with Oakland County, Bloomfield Township and Beverly Hills participating with TriParty funds. “It's budgeted for in our 2015-2016 budget in the road fund,” Domine said, with total cost for the township's portion at $83,764 out of an over $4 million budget. A memo provided to trustees stated that the township's local share will be paid out of the 2015 Tri-Party allocation of $135,354. Federal funds make up $2.6 million of the total budget. Beverly Hills has also approved their portion. “When can we get them to pave north of Maple? Are there conversations with Oakland County?” asked trustee Brian Kepes. “I can't answer that,” responded Domine. “It's federally funded, and it takes four to five years to get to the top of that. Funding is limited.” Clerk Jan Roncelli asked when the road work would begin, and Domine said he believed when school was out. “They have begun tree cutting in preparation, because you can't remove trees after April 1,” he said. 05.15
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MUNICIPAL Criteria set for new parking committee By Lisa Brody
Recognizing the necessity of moving quickly to find solutions to Birmingham's downtown parking shortage, Birmingham city commissioners unanimously approved the criteria necessary to create the Ad Hoc Parking Development Committee at their meeting on Monday, March 30. City engineer Paul O'Meara said that in addition to creating a committee of seven members, two of which would include commissioners, it is likely the city will need to hire an architect or land planning firm for assistance in dealing with the Pierce Street structure, N. Old Woodward and Bates Street expansion. Two weeks ago, O'Meara presented commissioners with the final report from the Ad Hoc Parking Study Commission, which determined there are significant parking shortages in both the downtown area and the Triangle District. Recommended solutions include building two extra floors of the Pierce Street structure, the only city garage which was designed and built to accommodate additional growth; building two public or public/private structures in the Triangle District; and on N.Old Woodward, at the surface lot known as parking lot number 5, adjacent to the Old Woodward structure, expanding Bates Street, building a mixed use building with first floor retail, adding parking over it, and extending parking. The next stage was to have a committee to determine the costs for the central business district, and the ability to move forward. O'Meara recommended the committee be comprised of two commissioners, a planning board member, a PSD member, a parks and recreation board member, advisory parking committee member and a resident. Commissioners objected to the involvement of a parks and recreation board member at this point, saying that someone with land planning, architecture, or financial planning background would be preferable. “I think this is all very well thought out. It looks like this committee will run past the election, and if you pick two commissioners, they might not be here after the election,” said commissioner Tom McDaniel. City manager Joe Valentine downtownpublications.com
Engineers retained for parking lot n order to provide the Birmingham Ad Hoc Parking Development Committee with more useful information on the city's parking lot number 5, the Birmingham City Commission unanimously approved a request by the city engineer to retain a firm to prepare a boundary and topographic survey. Previously, the city's Ad Hoc Parking Study Committee identified parking shortages arising in Birmingham, and two potential parking sites for expansion within the current parking system. One, the Pierce Street parking garage, has the potential to have two extra floors built on to it. The other, parking lot number 5, on Willits Street near Old Woodward, was seen as an area that could be expanded, with the possibility of more parking and perhaps development around it. Paul O'Meara, city engineer, told commissioners, “There is a strong potential that the city will be entertaining proposals from developers that could assist in redeveloping the property with several uses, both public and private. A necessary tool as a part of this exercise will be a detailed boundary survey.” O'Meara explained that a survey crew would locate and mark the actual corners of the property, to use as physical reference points on the site. It would also document all of the existing above ground and underground improvements. “Existing improvements documented are important in terms of understanding any current obstacles that need to be moved or relocated for development,” O'Meara said. A survey could also help understand how the slopes on the site could be accommodated and where the outside edges of a parking structure would need to be located, he said. Commissioners supported O'Meara's recommendations and voted 7-0 to authorize Nowak & Fraus Engineers to prepare a boundary and topographic survey for the parking lot for a cost of just under $13,000.
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disagreed. “This would be completed in the fall prior to the election. By identifying the issues, by the end of the summer, we'll have it under control,” he said. “What is the purpose of the parks and rec person?” commissioner Gordon Rinschler asked. “It's because of the Rouge River Trail, which the parks and recreation developed (and goes around lot 5),” Valentine said. “It would be better to have planners. Parks and rec people would be fine down the road,” Rinschler said. “The amount the parks and recreation people would be involved at this step is negligible. They'd be more involved, and necessary, at the next step. I'd rather have someone from the development community and familiar with the 2016 plan,” said commissioner Scott Moore. Commissioner Mark Nickita said he would prefer to have a second planning board member. Instead commissioners approved adding two residents, who are not regularly on boards, one with an emphasis in development and another with a background in finance.
Birmingham upset with county on TIF By Lisa Brody
Birmingham city commissioners, who had been waiting for Oakland County to finalize their guidelines on tax increment financing plans before adopting a development plan and tax increment financing plan (TIF) to create parking for Birmingham's Triangle District, were upset when they learned at their meeting on Monday, April 16, that Oakland County revised their policy and Birmingham's TIF does not currently meet the county criteria. Birmingham Planning Director Jana Ecker informed commissioners that Oakland County Board of Commissioners adopted new policy for review and potential participation in Downtown Development Authorities (DDA), Corridor Improvement Authorities (CIA) and Local Development Financing Authorities (LDFA), on March 25, and that they would review Birmingham's TIF under that new criteria. In order to facilitate necessary
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growth in the Triangle District, city officials have maintained that Birmingham needs two public or public/private parking structures, one in the northern area, likely by Maple and Woodward; and the other in the southern area. In the northern area of the district, there is a need for about 400 parking spaces; in the southern, about 700 spaces. The preliminary cost to acquire land, set up provisions for building two structures, and to build them over a period of about 25 years is $37.2 million. In order to help pay for adequate parking for the district, the city wants to create a TIF, which allows a city or other taxing authority to capture the increase in value of properties for the purpose of setting aside tax revenues for a major construction project. Ecker, in a memo to commissioners, wrote, “On March 26, 2015 the Oakland County Finance Committee passed a resolution recommending that the County Board of Commissioners exempt its taxes from capture by the Birmingham CIA at this time, and resolving that the county TIF Review Committee will study a proposal from Birmingham and determine later if it should recommend that the county negotiate a contract with Birmingham. The resolution further states that if the county determines later that it is advisable to opt in to the CIA under a contract, the county may revise its decision to exempt its taxes from capture. On April 2, 2015, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners adopted the resolution.” One of the issues is that Birmingham does not have any preexisting CIA, DDA or LDFA districts. “We approved the TIF for the Triangle District under the old guidelines (Oakland County established) and they're judging it under the new guidelines,” mayor Stuart Sherman said. “I am very disappointed because they are changing their guidelines midprocess, and we're waiting for Oakland County to make up their mind. We can still pursue it, but the county may or may not participate. They have been involved in the whole process, yet the first thing they said was, 'no, we're not approving it.' It's very disappointing.” 113
Two new bistros go to planning board
Toast approved for more outdoor seating By Lisa Brody
y a vote of 5-2, Birmingham city commissioners on Monday, April 13. approved a special land use permit and final site plan amendment allowing Toast Restaurant on Pierce Street to add a street deck for outdoor dining to its sidewalk dining area. For the second year in a row, Toast Restaurant, located at 203 Pierce Street in downtown Birmingham, which operates under a bistro ordinance permit, applied to amend its site plan to include additional outdoor seating on a platform that would take up two parking spaces on Pierce Street. In Toast's plan, the combined sidewalk and platform seating would provide the restaurant with 52 outdoor seats. In May 2014, commissioners took no action, deciding to wait until the city's Ad Hoc Study Parking Committee had finished its report. Birmingham Planning Director Jana Ecker told commissioners, “The deck proposed is 11 feet, 6 inches by 32 feet long, the extent of Toast's storefront. The committee's report shows there is a (parking) surplus right now, though it shows there will be a shortage in the downtown area.” Retailer Richard Astrein spoke to the commissioners. “Is there some clarification if you have some seating already on the sidewalk that that would exempt you from the street?” he asked. “There is nothing in the ordinance that would exempt one from the other,” Ecker responded. “That question has come up before, but they're not limited to that. There are several instances where they have both.” “I think there should be one or the other. While it's not perceived that there's a parking problem right now, once they're there, they're grandfathered in. Last summer, parking was a disaster in the city,” Astrein said. “We're fighting for every available parking spot. As a merchant, each spot can have a turnover of $35,000. Every time you take a spot out of there, it's a definite impact economically on the stores.” Ecker and the commissioners discussed how, when Pierce and Martin were rebuilt a few years ago, there were actually more parking spaces added because angled parking replaced parallel spots, despite there being three other restaurants on Pierce and Martin with outdoor platforms. In addition, both the Chester and Peabody lots are being worked on this summer, sequentially, causing the loss of up to 100 parking spots at a time. “When Jana says we don't have a parking problem, I can say from personal experience, we have a parking problem,” said commissioner Rackeline Hoff. “I cannot support taking out two parking spaces; I cannot support taking out one parking space.” “To counter Richard Astrein, there were over 20,000 people less here a month seven years ago (before I opened),” said Thomas Bloom, owner of Toast. “With the deck, we can do outdoor dining and much sexier dining, than otherwise. Every single bistro that has come before you has been approved for a deck. Some have year-round outdoor dining because they put up a curtain. We're good corporate citizens. It's hard to do well in Birmingham when it's six-below. We are asking to continue our success in Birmingham.” Commissioners approved the special land use permit and final site plan amendment, permitting Toast to add a deck in two parking spots on Pierce, by a vote of 5-2, with commissioners Hoff and George Dilgard voting against. The deck is projected to be ready by mid May.
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Two new bistro license applications were approved to move on to the planning commission at the Monday, April 13, Birmingham City Commission meeting. One bistro applicant was for La Strada Dolci E Caffe, a European coffee shop opening this summer at 243 E. Merrill Street; the other is proposed by the Hillstone Restaurant Group, a national restaurant group, for 189 W. Merrill Street, where Ken Kojaian Homes is currently. According to the current bistro ordinance for 2015, the city commission may consider additional applicants who applied by April 1, when the fall submissions did not move on, which was the case with two bistro applicants last fall.. Hillstone Restaurant Group, out of Beverly Hills, California, proposes a cozy restaurant overlooking Shain Park , “providing an opportunity for residents and visitors to enjoy this beauty in a setting which is relaxing yet active, would create an appealing transition point between the commercial core, areas of the core, and neighborhoods just beyond the park.” The as-yet-unnamed restaurant would feature a concise menu of American classics, emphasizing full service dining, such as sandwiches, burgers, fish, steaks, salads and ribs. It would be open for lunch and dinner, with a projected summer 2016 open. La Stada Dolci E Caffe plans on having a long white marble barista bar, old world breakfast pastries, specialty desserts and homemade gelato. They plan to offer light meal items such as classic Italian panini, fresh salads and personal pizzas made in their own pizza oven. “La Strada's menu offerings will give customers a complete and authentic European taste experience to savor and enjoy,” said restaurateur Zharko Palushaj in his proposal to the city. He told commissioners he was seeking a bistro license in order to be a European coffee shop. Palshaj is the proprietor of the Tre Monti Ristorante in Troy. Commissioners supported both bistro applicants, unanimously approving both to move on to the planning commission for full site plan and design review and special land use permit review within 90 days. Planners will then make
recommendations to the city commission where the final decision will be made on the two applications.
Drugstore drive-thru decision postponed Birmingham planning board members postponed a decision at their meeting on Wednesday, March 25, for an application for a special land use permit and final site plan permit that would allow Sav On Drugs on Woodward to add a drivethru pharmacy that would take cars through the alley in the rear of the store. In addition to concerns regarding a possible shortage of parking spaces and the reversal of traffic flow that the drive-thru would cause, board members have a long-term issue with unsightly shelving units in the front windows which can be seen from outside the store, which the store owner has not resolved despite repeated requests from the city. Birmingham Planner Matt Baka said the applicant originally was approved to construct more than 31,000 square foot store in 2007, and received a variance to expand the parking lot, and they are now requesting to add a drive-thru pharmacy on the south end of the store. He said the building would not change at all, but it would eliminate seven parking spots on the south side of the building, although they intend to add three parallel spots. “It will leave them three spots short of the requirement. They will need to go to the zoning board of appeals for a variance, or acquire three through a shared spaces agreement.,” Baka said. He also said the drive-thru would reverse the flow of traffic, requiring cars to enter off Ruffner, versus on Woodward, as they do now. “The other issue the applicant knows would come up is the shelving units stacked up in the front windows,” Baka said. “Now that they're coming back before us, they have the obligation to comply with our ordinance. I've talked to the architect about this. They were originally proposing some window graphics that would exceed the allowable sign coverages. The applicant wants to keep the shelving units for storage and display purposes in the store. I let them know something would have to be done to
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bring it in compliance with the ordinance.” Kevin Hart, architect for owner Bill Newman, said, “For the window coverings, we were looking at it as graphics, not relating to anything being sold in the store. We wanted to use historic images to soften the glare. As far as drugstores go, it's a pretty attractive building, I think.” “I, for one, am very concerned about a drive-thru at this site,” said chairman Scott Clein. “It's the use of the alley as your entrance to this drive-thru; it's the reconfiguration of the traffic flow to Woodward Avenue, regardless if we're talking about no improvements within the MDOT right of way, which is a state permit. It's a total traffic shift. Any motion going forward I would strongly recommend them talking to MDOT for approval for that functional change. “I, for one, cannot support a drivethru for a SLUP at this site, before we talk about windows,” Clein continued. “The precedent of using an alley for all of the loading, a drivethru, all the traffic, changing the direction, you've also got drivers trying to get into those front spots, gives me pause.” “I don't share those concerns,” said board member Bert Koschek. “I could tolerate it better if the traffic weren't reversed,” said board member Carroll DeWeese. “Overall, I'm not that excited. I don't want to see drive-thru here or at any of these sites,” said board member Janelle Whipple-Boyce. “I would be willing, if it allows for cleaning up of the windows. I would only be willing if it cleans up the window shelving units, not with screens or pictures.” DeWeese agreed. “But I want to see the option before I agree to the SLUP. It's all a package,” he said. “I want it all clear up front.” Board members then decided to postpone any further decisions until a late April planning board meeting.
Township water and sewer rates going up Whether coming in or going out, township residents will be paying more in the 2015-2016 fiscal year for water and sewer services, as the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees unanimously voted to increase sewer service charges by a dollar, and water service charges by an average of 17.64 percent per residence, at their meeting on Monday, March 23. Wayne Domine, engineering and downtownpublications.com
Bloomfield Park panel appointment ttorney Dennis Cowan was appointed to the Joint Development Council overseeing the former Bloomfield Park development at a meeting of the council on Thursday, April 9, where he joins Bloomfield Township Supervisor Leo Savoie and Pontiac Mayor Dierdra Waterman. Vacant and abandoned during construction in November 2008, Southfield-based real estate development company REDICO announced in 2014 they had acquired the foreclosure judgement and mortgage rights to the Bloomfield Park project, on 87-acres on Telegraph Road north of Square Lake. Savoie said they are planning to rename it the Villages of Bloomfield. Cowan is an attorney with the Bloomfield Hills law firm of Plunkett Cooney, where he is a member of the real estate/transactional and governmental affairs practice groups. Now that the council is complete, they will be equipped to accept and vote on development plans for the Villages of Bloomfield. The council was revived in October 2014 by Matt Gibb, Deputy Oakland County Executive for Economic Development and Community Affairs, when he came before the township board of trustees, announcing that a sale of the property was imminent, and requested they consider reviving the Bloomfield Park Development Council and appoint a township representative. Trustees unanimously voted to appoint supervisor Leo Savoie as the township representative to the three-member development council, with township clerk Jan Roncelli as alternate. Previously, treasurer Dan Devine had served as the township representative. REDICO will work with the council on their development plans. In order to proceed, a majority vote from the Joint Development Council is required to approve plans submitted for Villages of Bloomfield. A unanimous vote will be required to approve plans that change the original development agreement. At a presentation at Township Hall in Bloomfield Township on Thursday, April 16, Kevin Till, vice president of development for Redico, said preliminary redevelopment costs for residentail units, a theater, senior living center, and commercial space are estimated at $180 million. They are currently looking at beginning demolition in the winter of 2016, and hoping to have construction start by summer 2016. During its previous incarnation, the Bloomfield Park project property was annexed by Pontiac, and an agreement gave the city of Pontiac control over city services such as police, fire, water and sewer. Pontiac has jurisdiction over 78 acres of the project, while 5 acres of the project are in Bloomfield Township. Oversight and taxing jurisdiction are shared by the two municipalities.
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environment service director for Bloomfield Township, explained to trustees that “rates are going up by the number of users.” “Bloomfield Township currently purchases water from the Southeast Oakland County Water Authority (SOCWA) and sewage disposal services through the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner (OCWRC). Both of these agencies are wholesale customers of the former Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD), soon to be known as the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA). At the time the township budget was approved, the DWSD Water Board had not approved the water and sewer charges for services in their fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2015,” Domine wrote in a memo to trustees, explaining how costs were determined. “To determine the
township's charges, we first estimated the volume of water to be purchased based on the township's historic water volumes. Then, we add the water and sewer system's operating costs to the estimated water and sewer costs. The township's charges are then determined by dividing these costs by the estimated volume of water to be sold to the township's customers. Simply put, water and sewer charges are decided on several unknown variables such as the volumes for water and the sewer consumed by the township's customers.” He said for some reason, the entire region has seen a significant decrease in water consumption since 2008, with annual water volume dropping 12 percent in 2009, and remaining the same through 2012. In 2013, water volumes dropped another 13 percent, and volumes continued to
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decline in 2014. SOCWA predicts a continued decline in water usage for the township in 2015. Domine said, however, in July 2014, the Water Resources Commission changed the way they are billing communities of the Evergreen Farmington Sewage Disposal System, to which Bloomfield Township belongs. Rather than being billed quarterly, “the WRC's new methodology consists of billing monthly a 100 percent fixed charge based on the township's annual sewage flow contribution (approximately 15 percent) of the EFSDS's annual costs,” said Domine. In addition, new for 2015, SOCWA will begin charging the township a monthly fixed fee representing 10 percent of the township's cost of water purchases. This is to cover some of the operating costs that don't change with water usage, such as meter reading, fixing broken water mains and appointments, among other services. The increase to residents for water services was proposed as $5.20 per 1,000 gallons, plus a water debt charge of $14 per quarter, or $4.67 per month. The fixed rate per quarter charge on all water connections shall be $34, or $11.33 per month, which trustees unanimously approved, 6-0, with trustee Dave Buckley not in attendance. Domine said for residents connected to the township water system, the sewage disposal charge would be $6.84 per 1,000 gallons, plus a sewer debt charge of $9 per quarter, up 10 percent from $8 per quarter. The fixed rate per quarter charge on all sewer connections will be $38 a quarter, or $12.67 per month. “The average customer will see a 17.64 percent increase in their water and sewer bills,” Domine said, noting “This will be the last time we'll be dealing with Detroit Water and Sewerage. The regional authority is forming, and should be in effect by July.” Trustees voted 6-0 to approve the sewer rate increases.
Planners approve ASH housing plan By Lisa Brody
An application under the township's open space preservation ordinance option for a site plan for a portion of Academy of the Sacred Heart's land to be developed for single family homes was approved, 4-2, by the Bloomfield Township Planning Commission on Monday, April 6. 117
The request was scheduled to go to the township's board of trustees for approval on Monday, April 27, before the developer, Pinnacle Homes, can proceed with a final site plan. At that time, a lot split application from the school's property will also have to be considered. Pinnacle Homes, in conjunction with Academy of the Sacred Heart, came before the planning commission seeking to make a site plan application for the development of a 17-unit development for empty nesters to be called Legacy Hills under the open space preservation option of the township's zoning ordinance. According to a memo from Patti Voelker, director of planning, building and ordinances for Bloomfield Township, “The proposal includes a lot split request to subdivide the northerly portion of the existing school campus property from the remaining property to maintain the existing school structures and athletic fields, with a relocation of the tennis courts and school entrance drive. Upon receiving a recommendation from the planning commission, the township board shall determine whether the information provided is acceptable to allow the developer to submit a complete site plan for the Sacred Heart School, and a site plan and wetlands board application with required documentation for the proposed residential development under the open space preservation option regulations.” Voelker said the open space preservation option “allows a developer to make an application to be eligible to develop under this option. There are a series of eligibility requirements, specifically how the property could be developed under traditional methods and layouts versus by preserving natural features on the property, such as woodlands and wetlands.” The ordinance option, put in place by the township in 2002, is designed to provide the developers with criteria for preservation of wetlands and woodlands as a priority, such as clustering homes in order to create greater nature areas, Voelker explained. By permitting this, it allows for homes to be closer together than the township's normal ordinances permit, with less setbacks. “The township adopted the Open Space Preservation Option Ordinance in 2002 pursuant to Public Act 177 of 2001,” Voelker wrote in her memo to the commission. “Specifically, townships were mandated to offer an
open space preservation option within their zoning ordinance that results in a residential cluster development with at least 50 percent open space. The objectives of the open space preservation provisions are to cluster new homes on a portion of the land and then to surround the home sites with permanently preserved open space, without allowing more homes to be built than allowed under more traditional methods.” Neal Barnett, a member of the planning commission as well as a trustee, said he believes it may be one of the few times, if only time, the ordinance option has been requested. The school and developer had to present a parallel plan in addition to the one presented under the open space preservation option. Under the open space option, there would potentially be 17 sites; under the parallel plan, there would be 22 home sites, utilizing 66 percent of the property. The parallel plan would also result in the loss of more trees from the site, which may lose several hundred trees in the development process anyway. The township's wetlands consultant, Niswander Environmental, reviewed the two plans and noted the open space preservation plan impacts the natural features of woodlands and wetlands to the lesser degree than the parallel plan. More detailed information and review would be required as part of any further site plan application. Some who live in neighborhoods adjacent to Sacred Heart object to the subdividing of the property, and several spoke at the meeting. “We believe there was a flaw in the ordinance,” said resident Jeff Axt. “We are looking at filing an injunction” to stop the township. “My disappointment lies with the township attorney, who was advising the commission, and limiting the scope of our comments,” he said. He said he would prefer to see a park or nature preserve in the location, and offered to purchase the property from the school, recognizing they need the money, “but obviously, not as much as Howard” Fingeroot, managing partner of Pinnacle Homes. Commissioners had some reservations regarding the open space preservation ordinance, but determined to move it forward to the board of trustees by a vote of 4-2, with commissioner Lisa Senekar not in attendance. Tom Petinga, Richard Mintz, Tad Krear and Barnett supported the request, while Rich Atto and Jeff Salz were opposed.
Development upsets ASH neighbors By Lisa Brody
esidents adjacent to Academy of Sacred Heart on Kensington Road in Bloomfield Township are expressing concern and disapproval to Bloomfield Township and a developer regarding a proposal to split off 15 acres of wooded land that the school is selling off to developer Pinnacle Homes, which would like to create a 17-unit development for empty nesters to be called Legacy Hills. Sale of the land would reportedly allow the private school to bolster its endowment fund. Bloomfield Township Supervisor Leo Savoie said the township advised Pinnacle, which he said has the land under contract from Academy of Sacred Heart in order to develop one-story site condominiums that would potentially sell for around $800,000, to meet with neighborhood associations from around the school. Two meetings were hosted in the Bloomfield Township Auditorium by managing partner Howard Fingeroot, where he explained the proposed project and residents spoke of their concerns, including traffic, wetlands, the number of trees that would be removed, drainage and other concerns. Township Planning Director Patti Voelker said the developer would like to develop the land under the township's open space preservation option, which is part of the township's zoning ordinance. “It allows a developer to make an application to be eligible to develop under this option. There are a series of eligibility requirements, specifically how the property could be developed under traditional methods and layouts versus by preserving natural features on the property, such as woodlands and wetlands.” The process involves applying to be eligible under the open space preservation option and, if granted, the applicant must then submit a full site plan to the planning commission and board of trustees for approval, Voelker said. The purpose of the open space preservation option is to provide the developers with criteria to assure the preservation of wetlands and woodlands as a priority, such as clustering homes in order to create greater open land areas. Jeff Axt, who lives in one of the neighborhoods next to Sacred Heart, calls himself a vocal opponent to the proposed lot split and development, which he noted was first proposed by the school a couple of years ago. Axt said he and other neighbors have obtained 150 petition signatures from homeowners off Kensington, Squirrel and other streets opposing the lot split and this specific development, which would cut down approximately 400 trees on the split off property. “Our first objection is the development needs to follow local ordinances in the township,” he said. He and other neighbors have hired an attorney, Brad Knickerbocker of Howard & Howard, who has sent two letters “outlining the flaws of the development for not following the ordinances and laws in the township. The 15 acres are configured in the shape of a boot, only to maximize density. The ordinance speaks to that. It says (a development) must be a rectangle or a square. That's a major obstacle. They can't split it off so you can cram in more homes.” Savoie said, “Neighbors have talked about drainage, the number of trees that could be cut down, traffic, wetlands. What I have stressed is that Sacred Heart has private property rights and that has to be respected,” he said. “I want everyone's rights protected under our ordinances.” “Sacred Heart has published comments about how distraught they were about DTE coming in and cutting down 11 trees. Here, they'll clear cut 400 trees from 15 acres,” Axt said. “That doesn't sound consistent. If they say they have an endowment issue, I get that. If you care about the land and the community, there are other ways to do it. Make the parcel square, maybe cut only 100 trees. This development is more suited for Troy to make it efficient to build than to Bloomfield Township. This (land) has more natural features with different characteristics.” Voelker said that if the Pinnacle is approved at the planning commission meeting, the next step will be to submit a full site plan, which would then be reviewed by the planning commission and recommended on to the full board of trustees for final approval. If Pinnacle is not approved to develop under the open space preservation option, they can still submit for a lot split and to develop the property under the township's normal development standards.
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View of boathouse
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248.760.6026 LSchrenk@HallandHunter.com
CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 3755 Lahser Road | $3,200,000 5 Bedrooms 6 Full, 2 Half Baths 7,806 Square Feet MLS# 214101406
Exquisite country estate overlooking Bloomfield Hills Country Club features gated private yard with professional landscaping, lighting, pool, sports court and fire pit. Chef’s kitchen opens to family room and pool. Two-story foyer opens to great room with sweeping views of golf course. Retreat into the master suite with dual closet and marble bath with Euro shower and steam. Spacious 1st floor laundry and 2nd floor laundry for added convenience. Solid 9’ core doors throughout, family room with ceiling-to-floor stone fireplace and solid wood beams. Lower level offers abundant daylight windows, gym, steam bath and bar.
BIRMINGHAM 1480 Suffield Avenue | $1,200,000 4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 3 Half Baths 4,039 Square Feet MLS# 215036281
Quarton Lake Estates 2014 renovation, including kitchen with Carrara marble counters & stainless appliances opening to 2-story great room and blue stone patio. Finished basement with fireplace, daylight window, kitchen & half bath. Extra large private yard.
BIRMINGHAM 820 Hazelwood Street | $999,000 4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 2 Half Baths 3,400 Square Feet MLS# 215020678
Exquisite vintage home completely renovated with quality details throughout. Gourmet DeGuilio kitchen offers marble island, Miele appliances and leatherized granite counters. Master suite with fireplace. New studio garage apartment with kitchenette and full bath.
For more information, visit HallandHunter.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009
Lynn Baker & Deby Gannes 248.379.3000 CHRISTIE’S INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE
LBaker@HallandHunter.com
248.379.3003 DGannes@HallandHunter.com
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$1,225,000 | MLS# 215021446
$1,195,000 | MLS #214093656
$1,124,900 | MLS# 215020590
$999,000 | MLS# 215024130
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For more information, visit LynnandDeby.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009
Renee Lossia Acho REALTOR®
248.310.1414 Renee@ReneeAcho.com
Experience the Difference between an Agent and an Expert Birmingham’s Top Selling Agent for 2013 & 2014
BIRMINGHAM
BIRMINGHAM
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1073 Pleasant Street | $1,699,900
630 Stanley Boulevard | $1,499,000
3849 Glen Falls Drive | $1,099,000
4 Bedrooms 5 Full, 2 Half Baths 5,000 Square Feet MLS# 214113113
Stunning new build - ready 4 Bedrooms to add your own finishing 5 Full, 2 Half Baths touches. Magnificent details 5,167 Square Feet throughout. 1st floor master MLS# 215018640 is true retreat.
Elegant city living at its finest! Dramatic 2-story entrance with curved iron staircase. Magnificent master suite. 2 bedrooms & kitchen in LL.
4 Bedrooms 5 Full, 1 Half Baths 4,431 Square Feet MLS# 215034802
Remodeled home in Wabeek Lake sub. Top-of-the-line kitchen. Saltwater pool and covered grill. Finished lower level. 3-car garage.
- ALSO AVAILABLE FOR LEASE -
- VACANT LAND OR RESIDENTIAL -
BIRMINGHAM
CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS
BIRMINGHAM
824 S. Glenhurst Drive | $899,000
400 Dunston Road | $1,075,000
962 Humphrey Ave. | $559,000
4 Bedrooms 3 Full Baths 3,300 Square Feet MLS# 215020662
Completely renovated Cape Cod on 1/3 acre lot in popular sub. Gourmet kitchen opens to family & dining rooms. Stone patio overlooking private yard.
4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 1 Half Baths 6,929 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 215028241
Build new or renovate existing walkout home on this fabulous 1.5 acre lot in the Cranbrook neighborhood. Site could accommodate 10k+ sq. ft.
3 Bedrooms 2 Full, 2 Half Baths 2,000 Square Feet MLS# 214126576
Newer construction close to town. Cherry/granite kitchen opens to dining room & sun-filled family room. Finished lower level.
For more information, visit ReneeAcho.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009
Ginny Fisher Realtor
248.593.0518 GFisher@HallandHunter.com
- NEW PRICE -
BIRMINGHAM 734 S. Bates Street | $1,999,900 5 Bedrooms 6 Full, 1 Half Baths 4,913 Square Feet MLS# 215001343
French Manor home with dramatic elliptical staircase. 1st floor master. Beautifully detailed lower level. Lovely gated yard & paver patio.
CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 253 Marblehead Drive $980,000 or for lease at $3800/month 5 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 4,694 Square Feet MLS# 215022328
Acre+ setting in prestigious Rudgate sub minutes from Cranbrook. Oversized kitchen. Screened Florida room. Finished walkout lower level.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS 1772 Heron Ridge Drive | $1,699,000 4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 2 Half Baths 7,385 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 215005629
Private, gated enclave on gorgeous ravine setting with serene views. Finished walkout LL with possible 5th bedroom. 4-car garage.
BLOOMFIELD VILLAGE 1379 Dorstone | $1,050,000 4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 1 Half Baths 3,809 Square Feet MLS# 215012667
Beautifully renovated home on 3/4 acre garden setting. Island kitchen with marble. 1st floor master retreat with dual baths. Expansive patio.
- SALE PENDING -
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP 2562 Sequoia Ct. | $759,900 5 Bedrooms 4 Full, 2 Half Baths 3,848 Square Feet MLS# 214125231
Private setting deep in sub. Great room opens to patio with stone amphitheater-style seating. Expansive master suite. Finished lower level.
FRANKLIN VILLAGE 27065 Crestwood Drive | $719,900 3 Bedrooms 3 Full Baths 2,791 Square Feet MLS# 215022663
Renovate or build your dream home on 3+ private acres. River at far back, pond & barn. Existing home is solid mid-century modern.
For more information, visit GinnyFisherHomes.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009
442 South Old Woodward Avenue Birmingham, Michigan 48009
248.644.3500
Pam Gray
Amy Zimmer & Tiffany Glime
Realtor
248.469.6430 AZimmer@HallandHunter.com
248.842.4696
248.930.5656
PGray@HallandHunter.com
TGlime@HallandHunter.com
NEW PRICE
OAKLAND TOWNSHIP 2953 Baytree Court | $625,000 4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 1 Half Baths 4,266 Square Feet MLS# 215000939
Cul-de-sac .67 acre lot deep in The Hills of Oakland! Fantastic island kitchen opens to the light-filled family room. Luxurious master with spa bath. Massive finished daylight lower level includes a wet bar, wine room with kitchenette and full bath. 3-car garage.
SALE PENDING
TROY 2750 Red Fox Trail | $469,000 4 Bedrooms 2 Full, 1 Half Baths 2,978 Square Feet MLS# 215030868
Updated colonial on a very pretty 1/2 acre lot offers new baths, roof, furnace/AC, windows and doors. Gleaming hardwood floors throughout. Granite kitchen opens to family room with access to a generous brick paver patio with built-in fire pit.
BIRMINGHAM | $749,000 1331 Cedar Drive | 1331Cedar.epropertysites.com 4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 2 Half Baths 2,818 Square Feet MLS# 215011310
Turn-key newer construction with sophisticated modern influences blocks from downtown Birmingham. Great indoor and outdoor living spaces. Custom Berloni kitchen with large island. Finished lower level. Attached 3-car garage and gated drive.
For more information, visit HallandHunter.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009
MUNICIPAL Theaters, restaurant get planners’ nod After receiving a postponement from the Birmingham Planning Board in early March due to lack of sufficient information, Paul Glantz received unanimous approval from the board on Wednesday, March 25, for a special land use permit and final site plan review for Emagine Palladium and Ironwood Grille. Glantz, CEO of the Emagine Theaters, requested a transfer of a Class C liquor license from the former Buca di Beppo at 270 N. Old Woodward to Emagine Palladium Theatre and Ironwood Grill, located at 250 N. Old Woodward in the Palladium Building. Birmingham Planning Director Jana Ecker wrote in a memo to the board that the assignor of the license, The Palladium of Birmingham, LLC, the owner of the building, is assigning the license to CH Birmingham, LLC, also known as Emagine Palladium and Ironwood Grill Inside Emagine Palladium. It will be owned by the owner/operator of Emagine Royal Oak and Cloud Nine Theater Partners, owner of the Maple Theater in Bloomfield Township. Emagine owns and operates seven other movie theaters, with a total of 84 screens. Ironwood Grill is a casual restaurant in Plymouth which works in partnership with Emagine Royal Oak and Emagine Macomb. The theater seats will all be luxury recliners and luxury rockers. Compared to the former theaters, which were large auditoriums accommodating up to 2,200 patrons, the new theater will have five small theaters with 590 seats. Ironwood Grill is proposed to offer upscale casual dining with 198 seats, including 17 seats at the bar, an exhibition brick pizza oven kitchen and open air dining overlooking Hamilton above the theater marquis. The Plymouth location, owned by Landon Garrett, offers assorted appetizers, soups, salads, wraps, sandwiches, burgers, smokehouse entrees, pizza, draft beer and a full bar. Initially, Glantz wanted to offer a membership-only model for the theaters, which planning board members wanted more details on. At the recent meeting, Ecker said there was nothing in the ordinance that prohibits membership in the ordinance. “The only thing in the ordinance is nightclubs,” she said.
Glantz told board members, “I took the concerns expressed last time and the results from our focus groups, conducted by our marketing firm. We have resolved to take a slightly different tact on out membership approach. The research showed folks are concerned about finding a seat on Friday, Saturday night, or a Sunday afternoon, so we've modified the approach we're you can buy a seat license that will allow you to have preferential booking rights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and certain holidays, and then besides that, the venue will be open to the public.” Ecker said exterior details and signage was clarified, with a new fourth floor elevation for Hamilton Road. “Proposed metal panels act as a guard rail for folks sitting in the restaurant,” she said. “Glass nano doors can open (from the restaurant).” The marquis signage will utilize some of the previous signage, as it is integral to the building, she explained, with lighting behind and above to offer a halo effect. The theater will have a lobby on the first floor and a concierge, but it will be on a new fourth floor. Some board members asked Glantz if he will impose a two-drink maximum, as he does in certain other communities where he has theaters. “The drinks we serve are larger, so we believe one drink is enough, and that's the vast majority of our sales,” he responded. “But, because this is a combination theater/restaurant, I'm concerned we could get caught up in our shoelaces if we were to self-impose such a restriction.” Board member Stuart Jeffares agreed. “You can go to any number of places in town and get any number of drinks. If you drink, you're gonna miss the movie,” he said. Glantz said he intends to install low light surveillance cameras throughout the theaters and restaurant “because we take serving alcohol very seriously. We will have a good number of cameras, including inside the auditoriums. The intheater service is only until the feature begins.” “What you are doing is a vast improvement,” said board member Carroll DeWeese. Board members voted 6-0 to recommend approval of the special land use permit and final site plan, and it now moves on to the city commission for final approval.
Township approves new cable contract By Lisa Brody
15-year agreement with Comcast for cable services for Bloomfield Township through August 20, 2019 was approve by Bloomfield Township trustees on Monday, March 23. Comcast is awaiting federal approval of the acquisition of Time Warner Cable and in the meantime local municipalities which receive franchise and public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access fees have continued negotiations past their expired contract dates, with the fee amounts a part of the negotiations. Bloomfield Township Supervisor Leo Savoie said trustees discussed the proposed agreement in the closed session with township attorney Bill Hampton, and then agreed to sign the state mandated uniform agreement, which lowers the public access PEG fees the township has been receiving from three percent to two percent. Bloomfield Township's cable agreement with Comcast expired in October 2014, but was extended. “We knew it was coming. We had it in the budget,” Savoie said. As part of the agreement, Comcast will allow Bloomfield Township to use their I-NET fiber optic system for public safety communication purposes until August 2019, “which allows us to develop a new system, or determine if we're going to continue using theirs,” Savoie said. Township clerk Jan Roncelli said trustees objected to a part of Comcast's proposed agreement that wanted them to pay for using their cable system, which had been installed years ago. “We did not want to pay for something that was 15 to 20 years old, that was used,” Roncelli said. “It was included in all of our previous agreements with them. That cable connects all of our police, fire, 911 services. It's critical for our public safety. We're going to look at other options for us, whether we own it, rent it in the future, or who knows what kind of cable transmission we'll need. Right now, we have four years to study and determine what to do for our public safety.” A proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable will prompt Comcast to divest itself of its Michigan cable operations in a swap with Charter Communications, which will form a new company, GreatLand Connections. GreatLand, which will be comprised of 66 percent of Comcast shareholders and 33 percent of Charter Communications, will be run by Michael Willner, a 40-year executive of the cable industry who was put in that position in May 2014 by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Charter executives. Roncelli said Charter will have to honor the township's agreement with Comcast if the merger is approved. It's still up in the air as to whether there will be a merger, but many analysts say that it will be approved by both the FCC and the Justice Department. And that means that Oakland County residents who have had Comcast as their telecommunications provider will actually have Charter providing their service, via the new company, GreatLand. Local cable franchise organizations, which have contracts with cable providers, anticipate no change in service. “What will change on Day One – nothing,” said Michelle Gilbert, vice president of public relations for Comcast. “There will be service agreements in place between Comcast and GreatLand to ensure minimal disruptions to consumers.” The idea that cable television was a monopoly was actually put to an end by Michigan's legislature in 2007, when it passed Michigan PA 480, which states that any cable provider may deliver service to a community upon filing a form with a local community. No governmental agency monitors or sets rates, channel line-ups, programming, or service areas. Michigan PA 480 also provides specific penalties for failure to provide service. PA 480 provides for uniform video services for local franchises; ensures local control of the right-of-way; provides for fees from providers to local governments to provide for local programming, including public, educational and government (PEG) access channels. It also deals with renewals and extensions of franchise agreements, as well as penalties for violations.
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Ashley Fleckenstein ranbrook Kingswood graduate Ashley Fleckenstein left Bloomfield Hills after high school to attend Loyola University in Chicago, but it was during her sojourns after college that she began to realize her passion for learning about new cultures, and in turn, herself. "The world can be your teacher," said Fleckenstein, who has documented the years of her life overseas on her travel blog, www.ashleyabroad.com. "In the past few years, I've figured out a lot of who I am, and what I want." Born in Flint and raised in Bloomfield Hills, Fleckenstein had her first trip outside of the United States when she was 15 years old and traveled to Ecuador with a group of other teens. It was there she began immersing herself in the Spanish language. She would later earn a degree in Spanish, as well as advertising and public relations. It was after college, at 21, that she left to begin her life as an American ex-patriot in Paris, when she worked as an au pair. She then spent a year traveling the world and blogging about her adventures, including attending Carnivale in Venice, learning how to scuba dive in Thailand, skiing in Switzerland, motorcycling in Vietnam, and becoming a certified yoga teacher in India. Other destinations have included Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. Of all the locales, Fleckenstein said it was Paris that seems to stick with her the most. Then again, perhaps Fleckenstein was destined to live her own Moveable Feast, as she notes that she shares a birthday with Ernest Hemingway.
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"I learned so much there about food and pleasure," she said. "I learned to live with more pleasure in your life, and learned to savor life." In addition to her blog, Fleckenstein has freelanced for several online and print publications, including National Geographic's Intelligent Travel Blog, and answers.com, as a French category expert. Fleckenstein recently moved stateside, landing in Denver where she is trying her hand at a 9-5 job with sovrn Holdings. However, she's still able to find time for short trips abroad. "I still do the blog. I just did a fast trip to Jordan," she said. "Three of my best friends are bloggers, and we wanted to pitch the tourism thing there. We wanted to highlight that...we got a pretty good overview of the country." And, while some people may be apprehensive about traveling to some locations where they believe Americans may not be welcomed, Fleckenstein said she has been well-received in her travels, with the exception of being pick-pocketed once. "We do get some flack sometimes about our politics or cultural imperialism," she said. "Every time I travel, I come back with a more optimistic view on human nature." Despite her passion for travel abroad, Fleckenstein said she recently made it back to Bloomfield Hills, where she always makes a trip to the Franklin Cider Mill, downtown Birmingham, Ferndale and Detroit. "I try to get to Michigan a lot. I love Detroit," she said. Story: Kevin Elliott
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EDUCATION Jail time for coach who fled accident scene By Lisa Brody and Kevin Elliott
Michael Boyd, Bloomfield Hills Schools middle school gym teacher and former varsity baseball coach, has been sentenced to 90 days in jail following a probation violation hearing, his second, involving a 2013 alcohol-related driving incident that came to light after his arrest during school hours on Thursday, March 26, in Bloomfield Township, for leaving the scene of an auto accident, failure to report an accident, and failure to stop in an assured clear distance. Boyd appeared on Thursday, April 23, before Berkley 45A District Court Judge Jamie Wittenberg for violating terms of a two-year probation he was sentenced to in July of 2013. The 2013 sentence was issued after Boyd pled guilty to driving while visually impaired when he was stopped by Berkley police shortly after 2 a.m. on Saturday, March 23, 2013. Boyd was originally charged with High BAC, or operating a vehicle while impaired and having a blood alcohol level (BAC) of .17 or higher. He pled guilty on June 20, 2013 to the lesser charge of operating while visibly impaired, which means that because of alcohol or other drugs, his ability to operate a motor vehicle was visibly impaired. Michigan law sets a limit of .08 BAC if a person is driving a vehicle. Boyd's attorney on April 23 originally asked for the judge to postpone the parole violation hearing until after his May 5 hearing in 48th District Court, for which he is facing charges of leaving the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident. Wittenberg rejected the request and instead allowed for Thursday's hearing to proceed. Boyd pled no contest to the violation, which consisted of testing positive for alcohol and acquiring new criminal charges against him. His attorney noted that Boyd has attended outpatient treatment at Marygrove and meets with a therapist on a daily basis. He is also attending Alcoholics Anonymous on a daily basis, said his attorney, who asked that the judge suspend any jail time at sentencing. "My concern is the use of alcohol," Wittenberg said. "His previous incident was reduced to a civil infraction. From this standpoint, there have been three alcohol related incidents. Probation (department) recommends incarceration." Wittenberg sentenced Boyd to 90 days in the Oakland County Jail, with credit for one day served, and he could be released for 45 days to an impatient program to complete probation. Boyd, who was dressed in a gray suit and joined by his attorney and about five other people there to support him, was handcuffed in the courtroom and led away from the building by police officers to the Berkley Police Department. Under the original terms of his 2013 probation, Boyd was ordered to an outpatient treatment program; 100 hours of community service; attend a Mother's Against Drunk Driving Impact Program, attend two Alcoholic's Anonymous meetings per 136
week; abstain from the use of alcohol; not possess any alcohol; and stay out of any bars while on probation. Additionally, Boyd was ordered to submit to random alcohol/drug screens, and failure to submit a sample or test positive would result in a violation of his probation. Probation can also be violated by acquiring new criminal charges. Boyd was first caught violating his 2013 probation a year later, on Monday, March 3, 2014, when he tested positive for alcohol during a traffic accident in Walled Lake. A Walled Lake police officer was dispatched about 8:45 p.m. for the report of a pickup stuck in a snow bank inside a subdivision near Decker and Pontiac Trail. The officer said the truck was at least 10 feet into a snow bank and the driver was in the truck and talking on his cell phone. Boyd then told the officer he was supposed to meet his girlfriend, who lives nearby, and decided to go through the subdivision to see what was for sale. He said he tried to pull off the roadway, but went too far. Boyd initially denied drinking any alcohol at the time of the accident. "I approached the truck and asked again if he consumed any alcohol," the officer stated in his report. "He again denied. I could detect the odor of intoxicants and told him to be honest. I told him I am requesting he take a PBT. He just stared at me." A breathalyzer test determined Boyd had a BAC of .119 at the time of the accident. Boyd then advised the officer that he was on probation out of the Berkley District Court, and he was not supposed to be consuming alcohol. "Boyd pleaded for a break and not to have his vehicle towed so he could get to work in the morning," according to the police report. The officer impounded the vehicle, but issued Boyd a ticket for careless driving, a civil infraction. He was released to his girlfriend who arrived at the scene. The citation was later reduced further by Judge Brian MacKenzie of the 52-1 District Court in Novi. No police report mentioning the use of alcohol was in the court file at the court, and Downtown Publications filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Walled Lake Police Department for copies of the original report. MacKenzie, who lost re-election last November, at one time had a reputation for being tough on drunk drivers, but came under criticism in the last couple of years amidst allegations by the county prosecutor's office that he improperly handled disposition of some alcohol-related cases, along with other categories of offenses. Judge Wittenberg of the 45A District Court in Berkley found at a probation violation hearing on April 8, 2014 that Boyd violated his probation and ordered that he be fitted with an alcohol tether. The tether was ordered removed on May 20, 2014. Michigan law provides that violation of probation in alcohol related traffic violations can result in increased penalties, extension of a probation period and possible jail time. The law also provides that the third alcohol-related driving violation in a person's lifetime will be considered a felony. DOWNTOWN
Boyd's April 23 probation violation hearing in 45th District Court was prompted by his most recent violation of the 2013 court-ordered alcohol prohibition after criminal charges were filed against him on March 26 in Bloomfield Township where police said he fled the scene of an accident he caused when he crashed his pickup into a vehicle on Maple Road, just west of Franklin Road. Boyd was found by police about four hours after the accident while he was walking near Franklin and Ottawa streets. Officers said Boyd smelled strongly of alcohol. According to the accident investigation, three vehicles were stopped about 12:15 p.m. on westbound Maple Road for a vehicle that was turning left from Maple onto Indianwood Trail when one of the vehicles was struck from behind by Boyd's pickup truck, causing several vehicles to collide. Police determined Boyd fled the scene in his truck, driving west on Maple. One driver involved in the multiple car pile-up, in an e-mail to Downtown, said that Boyd, after he hit the first car, "veered off into the lawn to the right, then raced between the damaged cars to get away." Boyd initially told police he left one of the three middle schools at which he teaches about 11:15 a.m. and was driving near Maple and Telegraph when he began feeling ill. He told police he pulled his vehicle onto the first street off Maple, west of Telegraph, retrieved a pint of Crown Royal from the vehicle and began walking for a brief time before returning to the truck and discovered it stolen. Boyd initially claimed that he decided to attempt to find the missing truck himself instead of reporting it to police. In documents received through a Freedom of Information request, Boyd phoned another physical education teacher shortly after noon to ask him to cover his classes because his car had been stolen. He did not contact school administration, nor did he respond to calls or texts from administration all afternoon. A witness from a nearby residential area had called police to report suspicious activity involving Boyd in front of her home where he parked his damaged vehicle, then fled on foot. Police launched a search for Boyd after the accident, including the use of a tracking dog. When found, records indicate Boyd tested positive for alcohol about 5:15 p.m. with a BAC of .123 percent. According to the police report, “Michael was wearing a black track suit with white stripes. His hands were covered in dirt and his clothes were covered in dirt and brush. While speaking to Michael I detected a strong odor of intoxicants...Michael stated he is a Middle School physical education teacher. He travels between several schools throughout the day...Michael was driving in the area of Maple and Telegraph when he began feeling ill...Michael retrieved a pint of Crown Royal from his vehicle and began walking away from the vehicle.� Boyd later recanted his story after meeting with legal counsel at the police station. He then told 05.15
police, "I was driving my vehicle. I got into an accident. I left the scene." He was cited for leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report an accident and failure to stop in an assured, clear distance. Boyd was not cited for drunk driving. At the police station the night of the arrest and at his arraignment, Boyd was represented by Gerald Gleeson of the Miller Canfield law firm, but he also met and spoke to attorney Mark Bank while he was being held by Bloomfield Township police. Bank is vice president of the Bloomfield Hills Schools Board of Education and was notified via email by superintendent Rob Glass after a parent notified an administrator that Boyd had been seen at Maple and Franklin in handcuffs, and the administration contacted Bloomfield Township police. School officials, citing employee privacy considerations, at first refused to disclose whether Boyd's leave was paid or unpaid and who ultimately made the decision to place the coach/teacher on leave. Downtown was able to determine that Boyd began coaching the boys' varsity baseball team at Andover in 2010; 2015 would have been his sixth season as the varsity coach. According to Christine Barnett, assistant superintendent, human resources and labor relations for Bloomfield Hills Schools, who responded to a FOIA request regarding Boyd's leave of absence, Boyd was placed on unpaid leave on the afternoon of March 26, following the accident, and “I authorized the use of paid leave days as provided in the collected bargaining agreement beginning March 27.” The school district on Monday, April 13, near the end of the school day, posted the following statement on the district website: “On March 26, 2015, Bloomfield Hills Schools was notified of a possible car accident involving a school district employee, Michael Boyd, which was later confirmed by police. “Mr. Boyd is a physical education teacher in Bloomfield Hills Schools, assigned to all three middle schools. He has also previously served as the head coach for the varsity baseball team. “At this time, Mr. Boyd is on a personal leave, which was reviewed and approved by
administration, according to the collective bargaining agreement. Arrangements have been made for a substitute teacher for Mr. Boyd's gym classes and Frank DiVito will serve as the coach for the varsity baseball team for the 2015 season. “Additional details regarding the accident may be obtained by contacting Bloomfield Township Police.” Boyd is scheduled for a May 5 pre-trial hearing before 48th District Court Judge Marc Barron on the March 26 incident.
Juvenile charges sought in racial bullying incident By Lisa Brody
Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper has issued a petition to juvenile court requesting that two middle school boys who racially bullied another eighth grade Bloomfield Hills Middle School student on a school bus while on a field trip in March be charged, one with ethnic intimidation, the other with harassment. The incident occurred on March 13, during a field trip, when student Phoenix Williams, who is African American, videotaped the other students racially bullying him on the bus. Williams told WDIV-TV that he was frightened and felt trapped on the bus. The boys repeatedly called Williams the n-word, verbally harassed him and allegedly threatened him if he were to tell anyone. According to Bloomfield Hills Schools district spokesperson Shira Good, there were two parent chaperones on the bus. As it was a field trip, she said it was not a district bus. Good said that when the district was notified by the parents, they “took swift action, immediately contacting police.” Superintendent Rob Glass has said the two boys received suspensions. The district posted a statement on their website: “We take this situation very seriously. We will not tolerate this kind of behavior and have developed a plan of support for this young man to provide a safe environment for him. We are proud of this student for coming forward and notifying an adult. It takes courage and strength to stand up to incidents of bullying and we applaud him for taking that step. Because of his bravery, school and district
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administrators were able to act quickly, thoroughly investigating the situation and involving local police. Swift disciplinary action was taken, however the details of these actions cannot be discussed due to privacy laws. “Bloomfield Hills Schools is committed to continuing our work on healing racism and facilitating open dialogues surrounding this difficult subject. While we continue to build adult capacity through the Institute for Healing Racism and our own DAERR Partnership (Diversity, Academic Equity, and Race Relations), we are also focused on our work with students.” Good said the next DAERR meeting, which is open to the public, is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, April 28, at the Booth Center at 7273 Wing Lake Road at 6:30 p.m. Cooper said that in juvenile cases, the juvenile petition must go to the county he lives in, and in the case of the child where charges are being sought for ethnic intimidation, believed to be the instigator, “he lives in Wayne County, so it will be the province of the Wayne County Prosecutor. We have sent over the paperwork.” Good would only confirm his enrollment, and could not say legally why or how he attended Bloomfield Hills Schools. “We accept non-resident students through our tuition program, as children of employees, and through our many center/county programs,” she responded. However, students from outside the boundaries must maintain “satisfactory behavior,” the website states. This incident would qualify for dismissal, per the districts requirement, of “behavioral issues will result in termination of enrollment.” The charge of ethnic intimidation, Cooper said, requires physical contact or an actual threat. “In our county, it's the taunter,” she explained. The other student, an Oakland County resident, is being requested to be charged with harassment, “because it was words,” she said. Juvenile and family courts have their own discretion in cases, where they can dismiss, deny petitions, authorize them, proceed with the prosecutor's consent, and can order certain requirements. “That referee has a great deal of discretion,” Cooper said. “Everything is done to keep kids out of the system.”
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BUSINESS MATTERS
Men's custom clothing Max Schmidt and Tom Daguanno are scheduled to open 1701 Bespoke, a men’s custom clothing store, at 139 W. Maple Suite A, in downtown Birmingham. The friends, who have only been in the business for two years, already have a successful storefront at the Chrysler House, in Detroit. “My business partner Tom Daguanno has a background in design. We’ve known each other since third grade, so when he was getting married, I was his best man. When we talked about what he wanted to do for suits, he had the idea to do custom suits for him and all of his groomsmen. We couldn’t find any in our style or price range, so we partnered with a tailoring firm to design them ourselves, which is how 1701 was born,” explained Schmidt. “In 2013, we opened a pop-up by Campus Martius. Within 24 hours, we booked two weeks of appointments. We ended up keeping the pop-up open from October 22nd through December of that year. Then we moved into the Chrysler House.” As clothiers, Schmidt and Daguanno take around 20 of their clients’ measurements to create patterns for suits, overcoats, ties and shoes, and then help with the selection of fabrics. “Our target clientele are men ready to graduate from off-the-rack suits and want to become more discerning about how suits fit, and men who want to experience luxurious Italian fabrics,” said Schmidt. Two-piece suits start at $720, but average suits range from $1100 and $1500.
New knit store on Pierce This August, a new knitting shop will open at 147 Pierce Street, in downtown Birmingham in Barbara’s Paper Bag’s old space, to be called Woolly & Co. “Our motto is “create/connect/unwind” because we want a space where like-minded knitters can find unique yarns and make one-of-a-kind garments,” said owner Aviva Strasser. Strasser added that beginning knitters are also welcome because Woolly & Co will offer knitting classes in addition to yarn and knitting accessories. “We downtownpublications.com
will also be offering some select hand-made pieces.”
Specialty skincare opens Skincare therapist Kim Jones has opened Revive My Skin at 280 N. Old Woodward Suite LL3 in Birmingham. The office, open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., offers micro exfoliation, facials, teeth whitening, foot detoxing, and full body waxing. Jones, who brings with her over 10 years of experience in the skincare industry, said her philosophy is “Everyone deserves a second chance, why not your skin? Your body is a temple and if you can look younger without invasive surgeries or procedures at an affordable cost, why not? Take advantage and renew you.” She added that she is very excited to be located in Birmingham. “I opened in Birmingham because I come here to shop,” she explained. “The experience has always been warm and welcoming, so I decided to open here and eventually move here. This is not just a job for me. It’s not just about skincare. Skincare starts from within. It’s about a healthy lifestyle and overall wellness.”
Organic juice bar coming Cafe Succo, an organic juice bar, will open in Birmingham on May 23. “Cafe Succo started as an ‘aha’ moment between friends,” explained marketing director and owner of EPIC Marketing & PR Fallon Staropoli. She said the owners prefer to remain incognito. “The founders were enjoying time at a small organic coffee shop in Santa Monica, California. After finishing up, they ventured to a nearby juice spot for a quick cold pressed juice. The friends soon wondered, ‘Why not combine these two venues? A cafe and a cold pressed juice bar.’ This is the moment the concept for Cafe Succo was born. Rather than becoming a passing idea or future business to be put on the back burner, the team pooled their resources and expertise to bring Cafe Succo to Birmingham, Michigan.” The eatery, strategically located next to Lot Number 6, where the Birmingham Farmers Market is
located on Sundays from May through October, will serve acai bowls, organic pressed juices, and one, two, and three-day cleanses in addition to breakfast and lunch options, all prepared with ingredients that are “100 percent organic and locally sourced, unless unavailable.”
Dermatology practice Honet Dermatology and Honet Cosmetic opened at 36800 Woodward Avenue, Suite 110 in Bloomfield Hills on April 23. Dr. Linda Honet, who previously practiced in Birmingham, emphasizes the medical dermatology side in her practice, although she practices all aspects of dermatology. “I do full skin exams, for skin cancer, photo damage,” she said. “I also treat acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, and other skin conditions.” On the cosmetic side of her practice, she will be doing Botox and fillers, and is launching a unique silk peel that few other dermatologists offer. “I will also be combining microdermabrasion with treatments and offering other chemical peels.” In addition, Honet will be the only doctor in Michigan offering the Restorsea line of natural skin products, which uses salmon roe enzymes. “We welcome all ages, from babies to a mature patient population,” she said.
Bloomfield Township Best Buy, it could not offer Gardner-White’s full selection of products. In order to better serve its customers, the company said it will announce a new full line of stores in the near future. In the meantime, CEO Steve Tronstein said he encourages customers of the Bloomfield GardnerWhite to visit nearby locations in Waterford and Auburn Hills. He also said Bloomfield customers’ credit cards are valid for future purchases and their warranties will be honored.
Massage location sold Amy Liu took over as owner of Elements Therapeutic Massage, located at 755 E. Maple Road at Woodward, in Birmingham, adjacent to Kroger's, when it was sold earlier this year. Elements Therapeutic Massage is a franchise with over 200 locations nationwide. Liu said she wanted to become involved with the company because she believes in its approach of “pairing the right therapist to each individual client to top quality massage from our highly qualified massage therapists.”
Spin shop closed Real Ryder Revolution, an indoor cycling studio located at 555 S. Old Woodward, in Birmingham has closed.
Transitions legal moves
Furniture store leaving
Family law attorney and mediator Alisa Peskin-Shepherd and her law firm, Transitions Legal, has moved to 280 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Suite LL20 in Birmingham, from Bloomfield Hills. Peskin-Shephard has more than two decades of experience as a family, divorce and custody attorney, as well as a mediator and collaborative divorce practitioner. In April, she also became of counsel to Vezina Law at the same location, where she will provide counsel on matters related to family law and mediation. Vezina focuses on business, healthcare and employment law.
The Gardner-White store located at 2169 S. Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Township near Costco planned to close sometime in April. The company explained that, because the store was located within the
Business Matters for the Birmingham Bloomfield area are reported by Sarah Kovan. Send items for consideration to SarahKovan@downtownpublications.com. Items should be received three weeks prior to publication.
Brewing company award The Griffin Claw Brewing Company, a taproom located at 575 S. Eton Street, in Birmingham's Rail District, was awarded two medals from the 2015 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, which was held March 20th-22nd. Out of over 1,500 spirit entries, Griffin Claw won a silver medal for its Griffin Claw Potato Vodka and a bronze medal for its Griffin Claw Gin. Both are sold for $20 per 750 ml bottle inside the taproom.
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PLACES TO EAT 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. The complete Places To Eat is available at downtownpublications.com and in an optimized format for your smart phone (downtownpublications.com/mobile), where you can actually map out locations and automatically dial a restaurant from our Places To Eat.
Birmingham/Bloomfield 220: American. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 220 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.2220. 5th Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2262 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.481.9607. Andiamo: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6676 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.865.9300. Bagger Dave's Legendary Burger Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 6608 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.792.3579. Bangkok Thai Bistro: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 42805 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Township, 48304. 248.499.6867. Beau's: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 4108 W. Maple, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.626.2630. Bella Piatti: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 167 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.494.7110. Beyond Juice: Contemporary. Breakfast & Lunch daily; Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. 270 West Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.7078. Big Rock Chophouse: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 245 South Eton Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.7774. Bill's: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Daily. Reservations, lunch only. Liquor. 39556 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.646.9000. Birmingham Sushi Cafe: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 377 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.8880. Bistro Joe’s Kitchen: Global. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Sunday brunch. Liquor. Reservations. 34244 Woodward Ave., Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.0984. Bloomfield Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 71 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.645.6879. Brooklyn Pizza: Pizza. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 111 Henrietta Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.6690. Café ML: New American. Dinner, daily. Liquor. Call ahead. 3607 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Township. 248.642.4000. Cafe Via: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 310 East Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.8800. Cameron’s Steakhouse: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 115
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Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.723.1700. China Village: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 1655 Opdyke, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.758.1221. Churchill's Bistro & Cigar Bar: Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 116 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.4555. Cityscape Deli: Deli. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Beer. 877 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.540.7220. Commonwealth: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 300 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.9766. Cosi: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & wine. 101 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.203.9200. Dick O’Dow’s: Irish. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 160 West Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.1135. Eddie Merlot's: Steak & seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 37000 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.712.4095. Einstein Bros. Bagels: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 176 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.9888. Also 4089 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.258.9939. Elie’s Mediterranean Cuisine: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 263 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.2420. Embers Deli & Restaurant: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 3598 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.645.1033. Flemings Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 323 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.723.0134. Forest Grill: American. Lunch, MondayFriday; Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 735 Forest Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.9400. Fuddrucker’s: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No Reservations. Beer & wine. 42757 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.333.2400. Greek Island Coney Restaurant: Greek. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 221 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.1222. Griffin Claw Brewing Company: American. Dinner, Tuesday-Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday and Sunday. No Reservations. Liquor. 575 S. Eton Street, Birmingham. 248.712.4050. Hogan’s Restaurant: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6450 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.626.1800. Honey Tree Grille: Greek/American. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, daily. No reservations. 3633 W. Maple Rd, Bloomfield, MI 48301. 248.203.9111. Hunter House Hamburgers: American. Breakfast, Monday-Saturday; Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 35075 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.7121. Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 201 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.4369.
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Recipient of the 2014 A.C.F. Award of Excellence
SPRING WINE PROGRAM SCHEDULE Big Rock Chophouse is celebrating spring with the following special winemaker dinners and tasting tour: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 | 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Meyer Family Cellars Enjoy appetizers and a wine tasting tour with Matt Meyer from Meyer Family Cellars.
Executive Chef Matthew Fitchett, C.E.C.
Thursday, May 21, 2015 | 6:30 p.m. Venge Vineyards Join us for a five course wine dinner with Venge Vineyards wine selections. Featuring special guest and winemaker Kirk Venge from Venge Vineyards. Thursday, May 28, 2015 | 6:30 p.m. Adobe Road Winery Join us for a wine dinner with Adobe Road Winery wine selections. Featuring Kevin Buckler, winery owner and owner of the Aston Martin North American Racing Team.
Big Rock Chophouse Patio Now Open!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015 | 6:30 p.m. Plumpjack Winery Guests will enjoy an hors d ‘oeuvres reception followed by four courses matched perfectly with Plumpjack Winery selections. For more information or to make reservations, call 248.647.7774 or visit www.bigrockchophouse.com. 245 S. Eton St., Birmingham • 248.647.7774 bigrockchophouse.com
Executive Pastry Chef Eric Voigt
Tradition... MOVING FORWARD
34965 Woodward Ave Birmingham 248 644 5222 peabodysrestaurant.com 142
IHOP: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2187 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301. 248.333.7522. Kerby’s Koney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2160 N. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.333.1166. La Marsa: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner daily. Reservations. 43259 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.5800. 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. Little Daddy’s Parthenon: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 39500 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.647.3400. Luxe Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily; Late Night, 9 p.m.-closing. No reservations. Liquor. 525 N. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.6051. Mad Hatter Cafe: Tea Room. Brunch, Lunch & Dinner. No reservations. Liquor. 185 N. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.540.0000 Market North End: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 474 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.712.4953. MEX Mexican Bistro & Tequila Bar: Mexican. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Liquor. 6675 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.723.0800. Mitchell’s Fish Market: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 117 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.3663. Mountain King: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 469 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.2913. New Bangkok Thai Bistro: Thai. Breakfast, Monday-Thursday; Lunch, MondayFriday; Dinner, daily. No reservations. 183 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.2181. Nippon Sushi Bar: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2079 S. Telegraph, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.481.9581. Nosh & Rye: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 39495 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.646.7923. Olga’s Kitchen: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2075 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.451.0500. Original Pancake House: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 33703 South Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.5775. Panera Bread: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 100 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.203.7966. Also 2125 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.253.9877. Peabody’s: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 34965 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.5222. Phoenicia: Middle Eastern. Lunch, Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 588 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.3122. Pita Cafe: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 239 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.645.6999.
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Qdoba: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 795 East Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.988.8941. Also 42967 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, 48304. 248.874.1876 Roadside B & G: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 1727 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.7270. Rojo Mexican Bistro: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 250 Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.6200. Salvatore Scallopini: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 505 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.8977. Sanders: American. Lunch, daily. No reservations. 167 N. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.3215. Social Kitchen & Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, parties of 5 or more. Liquor. 225 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.4200. Stacked Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Delivery available. No reservations. 233 North Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.5300. Steve’s Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 6646 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield, 48301. 248.932.0800. Streetside Seafood: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily. Reservations, Lunch only. Liquor. 273 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.645.9123. Sushi Hana: Japanese. Lunch, MondayFriday; Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. 42656 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.333.3887. Sy Thai Cafe: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 315 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.9830. Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro: American. Dinner. Monday-Saturday. Sunday brunch. Reservations. Liquor. 55 S. Bates Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.731.7066. The Corner Bar: American. Dinner. Wednesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 100 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.2958. The Bird & The Bread: Brasserie. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 210 S. Old Woodard, Birmingham, 48009. 248.203.6600. The Franklin Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 32760 Franklin Rd, Franklin, 48025. 248.865.6600. The Gallery Restaurant: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & wine. 6683 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.851.0313. The Moose Preserve Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2395 S. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.7688. The Rugby Grille: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 100 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.5999. The Stand: Euro-American. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 34977 Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.220.4237. Toast: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 203 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.6278. Touch of India: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 297 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.7881. Townhouse: American. Brunch, Saturday, Sunday. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 180 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.5241.
05.15
Royal Oak/Ferndale Ale Mary's: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 316 South Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.268.1917 Anita’s Kitchen: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 22651 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220. 248.548.0680. Andiamo Restaurants: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 129 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.582.0999. Assaggi Bistro: Italian. Lunch, TuesdayFriday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 330 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220. 248.584.3499. Bigalora: Italian. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. No Reservations. Liquor. 711 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. Bistro 82: French. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 401 S. Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.542.0082. The Blue Nile: Ethiopian. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 545 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220. 248.547.6699. Bspot Burgers: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 310 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.268.1621. Cafe Muse: French. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 418 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.4749. Cork Wine Pub: American. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 23810 Woodward Ave., Pleasant Ridge, 48069. 248.544.2675. D’Amato’s: Italian. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 222 Sherman Dr., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.584.7400. The Fly Trap: Diner. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 22950 Woodward Ave., 48220. 248.399.5150. Howe’s Bayou: Cajun. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 22949 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220. 248.691.7145. Inn Season Cafe: Vegetarian. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. No reservations. 500 E. Fourth St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.547.7916. Inyo Restaurant Lounge: Asian Fusion. Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 22871 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220. 248.543.9500. KouZina: Greek. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 121 N. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.629.6500. Lily’s Seafood: Seafood. Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 410 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.591.5459. Local Kitchen and Bar: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 344 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220. 248.291.5650. Lockhart’s BBQ: Barbeque. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 202
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E. Third St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.584.4227. Oak City Grille: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 212 W. 6th St, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.556.0947. One-Eyed Betty: American. Weekend Breakfast. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 175 W. Troy St., Ferndale, 48220. 248.808.6633. Pronto!: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 608 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.7900. Public House: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 241 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220. 248.850.7420. Redcoat Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 31542 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak, 48073. 248.549.0300. Ronin: Japanese. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 326 W. 4th St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.546.0888. Royal Oak Brewery: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 215 E. 4th St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.1141. Toast, A Breakfast and Lunch Joint: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 23144 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220. 248.398.0444. Tom’s Oyster Bar: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 318 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.541.1186. Torino: American. Dinner, WednesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 201 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220. 248.247.1370. Town Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 116 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.7300/ Trattoria Da Luigi: Italian. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 415 S, Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.542.4444. Vinsetta Garage: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 27799 Woodward Ave., Berkley, 48072. 248.548.7711.
Not to b bee explained. exp explained. To be be exp experienced.
Troy/Rochester Brookshire: American. Breakfast, daily. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Liquor. Reservations. Liquor. Royal Park Hotel, 600 E. University Dr., Rochester, 48307. 248.453.8732. Bspot Burgers: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 176 N. Adams Rd, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.218.6001. Capital Grille: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2800 West Big Beaver Rd., Somerset Collection, Troy, 48084. 248.649.5300. Cafe Sushi: Pan-Asian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1933 W. Maple Rd, Troy, 48084. 248.280.1831. Ganbei Chinese Restaurant and Bar: Chinese. Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 227 S. Main St, Rochester, 48307. 248.266.6687. O’Connor’s Irish Public House: Irish. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 324 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.608.2537. Kona Grille: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 30 E. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48083. 248.619.9060. Kruse & Muer on Main: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 327 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.652.9400. Lakes: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 5500 Crooks Rd., Troy, 48098. 248.646.7900.
DOWNTOWN
Sunday11am - 2pm
sunday brunch
Village Coney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 653 S. Adams. Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.7964. Triple Nickel Restaurant and Bar: American. Dinner daily. Liquor. Reservations. 555 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham 48009. 248.480.4951. Whistle Stop Diner: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; No reservations. 501 S. Eton Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.566.3566.
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McCormick & Schmick’s: Steak & Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Somerset Collection, 2850 Coolidge Hwy, Troy, 48084. 248.637.6400. The Meeting House: American. Weekend Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 301 S. Main St, Rochester, 48307. 248.759.4825. Miguel’s Cantina: Mexican. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 870 S. Rochester Rd, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.453.5371. Mon Jin Lau: Asian. Lunch, MondayFriday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1515 E. Maple Rd, Troy, 48083. 248.689.2332. Morton’s, The Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 888 W. Big Beaver Rd, Troy, 48084. 248.404.9845. NM Café: American. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2705 W. Big Beaver Rd, Troy, 48084. 248.816.3424. Oceania Inn: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Village of Rochester Hills, 3176 Walton Blvd, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.375.9200. Ocean Prime: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2915 Coolidge Hwy., Troy, 48084. 248.458.0500. Orchid Café: Thai. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. 3303 Rochester Rd., Troy, 48085. 248.524.1944. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Somerset Collection, 2801 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48084. 248.816.8000. Rochester Chop House: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 306 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.651.2266. Ruth’s Chris Steak House: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 755 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48084. 248.269.8424. Silver Spoon: Italian. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 6830 N. Rochester Rd., Rochester, 48306. 248.652.4500. Steelhouse Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1129 E. Long Lake Rd., Troy, 48085. 248.817.2980. Tre Monti Ristorante: Italian. Lunch, Thursdays. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 1695 E. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48083. 248.680.1100.
West Bloomfield/Southfield Bacco: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 29410 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, 48034. 248.356.6600. Beans and Cornbread: Southern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 29508 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, 48034. 248.208.1680. Bigalora: Italian. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. No Reservations. Liquor. 29110 Franklin Road, Southfield, 48034. Maria’s Restaurant: Italian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2080 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48323. 248.851.2500. The Bombay Grille: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 29200 Orchard Lake Rd, Farmington Hills, 48334. 248.626.2982. The Fiddler: Russian. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Thursday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 6676 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.851.8782. The Lark: American. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 6430 Farmington Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.661.4466.
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Mene Sushi: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 6239 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.538.7081. Meriwether’s: Seafood. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 25485 Telegraph Rd, Southfield, 48034. 248.358.1310. Pickles & Rye: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 6724 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.737.3890. Prime29 Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6545 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield, 48322. 248.737.7463. Redcoat Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 6745 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.865.0500. Shangri-La: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Orchard Mall Shopping Center, 6407 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.626.8585. Sposita’s Ristorante: Italian. Friday Lunch. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 33210 W. Fourteen Mile Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248. 538.8954. Stage Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 6873 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.855.6622. Sweet Lorraine’s Café & Bar: American. Weekend Breakfast. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 29101 Greenfield Rd., Southfield, 48076. 248.559.5985. Yotsuba: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7365 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield, 48322. 248.737.8282.
West Oakland Gravity Bar & Grill: Mediterranean. Monday – Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday, Dinner. Reservations. Liquor. 340 N. Main Street, Milford, 48381. 248.684.4223. It's A Matter of Taste: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2323 Union Lake Road, Commerce, 48390. 248.360.4150. Pepino's Restaurant & Lounge: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday - Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 118 W. Walled Lake Drive, Walled Lake, 48390. 248.624.1033. The Root Restaurant & Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday - Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 340 Town Center Blvd., White Lake, 48390. 248.698.2400. Volare Ristorante: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 48992 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393. 248.960.7771.
North Oakland Clarkston Union: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 54 S. Main St., Clarkston, 48346. 248.620.6100. Holly Hotel: American. Afternoon Tea, Monday – Saturday, Brunch, Sunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 110 Battle Alley, Holly, 48442. 248.634.5208. Kruse's Deer Lake Inn: Seafood. Lunch & dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7504 Dixie Highway, Clarkston, 48346. 248.795.2077. Via Bologna: Italian. Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 7071 Dixie Highway, Clarkston. 48346. 248.620.8500. Union Woodshop: BBQ. Dinner, Monday – Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday – Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 18 S. Main St., Clarkston, 48346. 248.625.5660
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AT THE TABLE too much fanfare I will say this: Barrerra and Calnin did the impossible as I adored the lamb and as long as they prepare it, I will gladly eat it. Reluctant to ruin the miracle moment, I added the Riata and By J. March Pomegranite and soon decided that if loving lamb My guess is that if you’re reading this you’re either was wrong, I don’t wanna be right. Creamy yogurt, into food and metro Detroit dining or you’re waiting mint and cucumber sauce with sweet, acidic for the doctor. I’m going to speak to the former pomegranite (not only dead on in flavor, but the and talk a little about Revolver. added texture of the whole seed was amazing) If you haven’t heard of it, the easiest way to made for the best dish of the night tied only with explain it is space that hosts different chefs one through four. weekly for dinners consisting of four to five Finally – Vanilla Parsnip Pot du Creme-Dark courses. If you have heard of it (and perhaps even Chocolate Ganacha/Sea Salt/Hazelnut/Orange attended an event), then you know it’s much Gastrique. more than that. In explaining this last course, Barerra The first of its kind in Detroit, Revolver opened clearly had put some serious love and thought in September of 2013. Owners Peter Dalinowski into it. The highlight was on savory and sweet and Tunde Wey (Wey has since taken his Nigerian with the combination of parsnip and vanilla in BBQ Lagos to Nola) consider Revolver a table d’ the Pot Du Creme. How they incorporated the flahote (hosts table) rather than a pop-up. Originatvor is a mystery to me, but the parsnip was deing in France, this concept refers to guesthouses tectable yet not overpowering and did offer a nice where travelers would share meals with the proround savory flavor. Cooked perfectly, it was deliprietors and other patrons in a communal setting. cious. It was the addition of chocolate and hazelSounds quaint, huh? And for as much as Hamnut that threw me, lending bitterness that to me tramck sure isn’t France, Revolver pulls it off imwas not harmonious. It would be completely irreExecutive Chef Michael Barerra, Townhouse owner Jeremy Sasson, and Executive peccably. sponsible of me to not mention that Scott RutterChef Brennan Calnin. The space is small, simple, warm and easy. bush of Great Lakes Coffee provided what was easily was really, really good. Perfectly sliced bison, morels You arrive with no clue about the other 38 people in the best coffee I have had at any dinner, anywhere, (prepared in what may be the best way I’ve had the room and leave feeling like you just had dinner ever. Local love is good, but certainly easy when the them) somehow made to taste bright yet rich. with your family, sans crying baby and complaining product and people are of such quality. Creamy Yuzu Kewpie (think lemony gourmet mayonaunt (drunk uncle may make an appearance, but It’s difficult to say what made this dinner one of aise), puffed rice for texture and Recovery Park he’s of the jovial hugging variety). This is attributed the best and if it can be repeated. It speaks to the imwasabi greens that ensured I shall never be able to to the warmth exuded by staff and hosts that is real portance of every aspect of dining out. Good food return to the “common” arugula usually served with and not the hug-hug-kiss-kiss that commonly accommakes for a good dinner. Good service, the same. carpaccio. panies prix fixe dinners. Simply put, it’s their house, Pleasing atmosphere, gracious host, etc....ditto. All of Also – Sunchoke Gnocchi-Fennel Cream/Spring you’re an invited guest and they are happy to have those things come together and what started as eatPea/Sunchoke Chip/Steelhead Roe/Pea Tendril. you. ing out became an experience that was unforgetBarrerra and Calnin took gnocchi and sunchokes On this night, the featured chefs were Michael table. Isn’t that why we (the noble men and women and made a dish that tasted like spring. How that Barerra of Townhouse in Birmingham and Brennan of the restaurant industry) do this though? To provide was possible, I’ll never know. I honestly can’t speak Calnin of soon-to-open Townhouse in Detroit. Hoping that one experience that is the benchmark for all othto how the ingredients or preparation came together for a June start, the Detroit location will seat 300 ers? to make what I described as Unicorn Stew, but once people in a greenhouse-like structure giving the senI don’t know if Revolver would be the same withagain, I hope to see this on one of Townhouses’ sation of al-fresco dining year round. Owner Jeremy out Barrerra and Calnin or vice versa, but I do know menus (without the roe; overkill in my opinion). Sasson opened the first Townhouse in Birmingham in that the three together provided the best total dining 2011 and has recently brought on Barerra and Calnin And – Halibut en Papillote-Halibut//Saffron experience I have had in Michigan ever. Yes, ever. Butter/Moraccon Olive/Caper/Tomato/Purple Poas executive chefs. Both have had great success prior And though accolades don’t come easy from me, tato/Lemon/Thyme. to this, with Barerra at Streetside Seafood for several when they are earned I am happy to hand them out. This dish came out with the paper cut and the years and Calnin having opened the Mexican-inGo to Revolver. Go to Townhouse in Birmingham. Go smell of saffron butter pouring out which told me I spired Imperial in Royal Oak. I was anxious to see to Townhouse in Detroit. See for yourself. And if you didn’t even need to eat it to love it. Once again, great what would come of this duo and pretty certain that agree, for Pete’s sake, say something nice, would ya? ingredients in simple forms combining salt, acid and it would entail more than seafood tacos. Thankfully, I cream that allows for each ingredient to belt out a was correct. lyric before handing the mic over to the next. It didn’t Revolver, 9737 Joseph Campau, Hamtramck 48212. Here are all six courses as listed on the menu by even matter that my halibut was mostly raw in the 313.757.3093. Dinners are usually Friday and Saturthem and broken down by yours truly: middle, I ate the whole thing, stopping short of only days only with two seatings at 6 and 9 p.m. Visit their First – Red beet puree/Smoked Golden Beet/Lemon the paper which I seriously considered. website (revolverhamtramck.com) for upcoming Confit Turnip/Caramelized Carrot/Green Top Then – Smoked Lamb Shank/Cucumber chefs, menus and pricing. This is a BYOB establishChimichurri. Riata/Amba/Pomegranite Rellish/Pita. ment. Reservations are paid for at the time of bookThere are a couple things about this dish that Inspired by a recent trip to New York, this dish ing. Tips are not included in the price of dinner, but make it amazing. First, the product. Much of the prowas the one I saw on the menu that didn’t garner too are appreciated and well worth it. Townhouse (Birmduce used that night (all of it in the first dish) was much excitement. Partially because I despise lamb ingham), 180 Pierce Street, Birmingham 48009. lovingly grown by Michelle Lutz of Recovery Park in (don’t crucify me; I appreciate it, just never wish to Lunch and dinner, Monday – Friday, 11 a.m.- 2 a.m.; Detroit (look her up, she’s the epitome of what is eat it) and partially because it seemed a little borBreakfast, lunch and dinner, Saturday – Sunday, 9 good and right about food and Detroit). Second, the ing...like a deconstructed gyro. After hearing Calnon a.m. - 2 a.m. Reservations. Street and structure parkpreparation. As the Poster Child of Simplicity, I can’t describe the Cucumber Riata (think Tzatziki with ing. Townhouse (Detroit) is slated to open in late June say how excited I was that Barrerra and Calnin mint), I was excited about at least enjoying that. and is located at One Detroit Center, 500 Woodward chose to let the product do the talking and impleAvenue, Detroit. mented cooking methods that brought together what Long story short, all of the components came out Family Style and we were instructed to build our pita was perfection to start. And though I could use the (one of few complaints of the night as they were J. March has 25 years experience in the restaurant industry word simple, I find that this skill set is one most in southeast Michigan, including certification as a sommesuper dry). My non-lamb loving dining partner chefs are lacking. Less is more. Period. Lastly, incorlier. If you have short restaurant items for our Quick Bites dropped a Flintstone size lamb shank on my plate porating the greens for the chimchurri...good stuff. section, e-mail to QuickBites@downtownpublications.com.. and watched me (smirk and all) take a bite. Without Waste not, want not.
Sneak peek at Townhouse Detroit’s future offerings
Next – Carpaccio-Bison Tenderloin/Morel Escabeche/Yuzu Kewpie/Puffed Brown Rice/Wasabi greens. In a city full of charcuterie, carpaccio is a hard thing to find. I can only hope that either Barrerra or Calnin puts this on their menu full time because it
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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 publication—Downtown. Contact Jill Cesarz for advertising rate information. O: 248.792.6464 Ext. 600 C: 248.860.8414 JillCesarz@downtownpublications.com
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Detroit Angelina Italian Bistro: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 1565 Broadway St., Detroit, 48226. 313.962.1355. Antietam: French. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 1428 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, 48207. 313.782.4378. Bucharest Grill: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2040 Park Ave., Detroit, 48226. 313.965.3111. Cliff Bell’s: American. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 2030 Park Ave., Detroit, 48226. 313.961.2543. Coach Insignia: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 100 Renaissance Center, Detroit, 48243. 313.567.2622. Craft Work: American. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 8047 Agnes St., Detroit, 48214. 313.469.0976. Cuisine: French. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 670 Lothrop Rd., Detroit, 48202. 313.872.5110. The Detroit Seafood Market: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1435 Randolph St., Detroit, 48226. 313.962.4180. El Barzon: Mexican. Lunch, TuesdayFriday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 3710 Junction St., Detroit, 48210. 313.894.2070. Fishbone’s Rhythm Kitchen Café: Cajun. Breakfast, daily. Sunday Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 400 Monroe Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.965.4600. Giovanni’s Ristorante: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 330 S. Oakwood Blvd., Detroit, 48217. 313.841.0122. Green Dot Stables: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2200 W. Lafayette, Detroit, 48216. 313.962.5588. The Grille Midtown: Steak & Seafood. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 3919 Woodward Ave, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.0892. Jefferson House: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2 Washington Blvd., Detroit, 48226. 313.782.4318. Joe Muer Seafood: Seafood. Lunch, Monday- Friday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 400 Renaissance Center, Detroit, 48243. 313.567.6837. Johnny Noodle King: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2601 W. Fort St., Detroit, 48216. 313.309.7946. Maccabees at Midtown: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 5057 Woodward Ave., Detroit, 48202. 313.831.9311. Mario’s: Italian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 4222 2nd Ave., Detroit, 48201. 313.832.1616. Midtown Shangri-la: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 4710 Cass Ave., Detroit, 48201. 313.974.7669. Motor City Brewing Works: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 470 W. Canfield St., Detroit, 48201. 313.832.2700. 1917 American Bistro: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 19416 Livernois Ave., Detroit, 48221. 313.863.1917. Prism: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 555 E. Lafayette St, Detroit, 48226. 313.309.2499. Red Smoke Barbeque: Barbeque. Lunch
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& Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Trappers Alley Shopping Center, 573 Monroe Ave., Detroit, 48226. 313.962.2100. Roma Café: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 3401 Riopelle St., Detroit, 48207. 313.831.5940. Russell Street Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. 2465 Russell St, Detroit, 48207. 313.567.2900. Santorini Estiatorio: Greek. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 501 Monroe Ave, Detroit, 48226. 313.962.9366. Selden Standard: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 3921 Second Ave., Detroit, 48201. 313.438.5055. Sinbad’s: Seafood. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 100 St Clair St., Detroit, 48214. 313.822.8000. Slows Bar BQ: Barbeque. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2138 Michigan Ave, Detroit, 48216. 313.962.9828. Small Plates Detroit: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 1521 Broadway St., Detroit, 48226. 313.963.0702. St. CeCe’s Pub: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 1426 Bagley Ave., Detroit, 48216. 313.962.2121. Tap at MGM Grand: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 1777 Third Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.465.1234. Taqueria Nuestra Familia: Mexican. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7620 Vernor Hwy., Detroit, 48209. 313.842.5668. Tom’s Oyster Bar: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 519 East Jefferson Ave., Detroit, 48226. 313.964.4010. Top of the Pontch: American. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservation. Liquor. 2 Washington Blvd, Detroit, 48226. 313.782.4313. Traffic Jam & Snug: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 511 W. Canfield, Detroit, 48201. 313.831.9470. 24grille: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, 1114 Washington Blvd, Detroit, 48226. 313.964.3821. Union Street: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 4145 Woodward Ave, Detroit, 48201. 313.831.3965. Vince’s: Italian. Lunch, Tuesday-Friday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 1341 Springwells St., Detroit, 48209. 313.842.4857. Vivio’s Food & Spirits: American. Saturday Breakfast. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2460 Market St., Detroit, 48207. 313.393.1711. The Whitney: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & High Tea, Monday-Friday. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 4421 Woodward Ave, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.5700. Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria and Cucina: Italian. Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 1777 Third St, Detroit, 48226. 313.465.1646. Wolfgang Puck Steak: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1777 Third St, Detroit, 48226. 313.465.1411. Wright & Co.: American. Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 1500 Woodward Ave Second Floor, Detroit, 48226. 313.962.7711.
05.15
“Protect “Pr rotect Y You Your o r Health” ou Heal lth” t
Women’s Wo men’s Power Powe r Par P Partners’ ar rtners’ Cl Club ub
Financial F inancial Health Heal lth George Clark Wealth Director of Wealth Management an a PNC Bank
Women’s Women’s Luncheon L uncheon Wednesday, We dnesda ay, M Ma May ay 20, 2015 201 11:30a am-1:30pm m 11:30am-1:30pm Join other top business women pr professionals ofessionals areas and hear 5 expert panelists anelists discuss ar reas ea of eas health to secur " " help you " " t miss this unique opportunity and learn the key Protect elements that will help you Pr otect Your Your Health! He ! " " ! ! dir rectory e of all luncheon attendees. directory
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Physical Phys ical Health Heal lth Dr. Hallie Armstrong, ND Na atur turo opath Beaumont Health Systems
Sleep S leep Health Heal lth
$25 per person
Register at www.tchserves.org Co-Presenting Sponsors
Dr. Barbar ra Fisher founder and Managi Managing Director United Psychological Ser rvi v ces vi
Relationship Relationship Health Heal lth t
Contributing Sponsors
David St tan anislaw Founder and Principal St tanislaw Consulting, LLC
In Kind Sponsor
Nutrition Nutriti on Health Heal lth Lina Dagher, RDN Registered Dietician, Nutritionist Vasileff Medical Group
—Moder rator— James Cristbrook Co-Founder Shain Park Park Realtors
Teach T each Connect Help
380 South Bates, Birmingham, MI 48009, 248.644.5832
M
asterpiece on Sodon Lake
epresenting a masterpiece of design and construction, this lakefront custom 5 bedroom, 5 full and 2 half bath contemporary home was designed by Olav Hammarstrom, associate of renowed architect Eero Saarinen. Enjoy breathtaking views from walls of glass. Terrazzo flfloors and a newer Euro kitchen with dishwashers and large SubZero. Granite floors in kitchen and dining room. Dual master marble baths with steam shower. Updates throughout, including a new roof in 2013 and 3 newer furnaces and air conditioning. New stone walkways, brick paver patio and 2 screened porches. Rolling lawn to your beach and dock. Freshly painted, move-in condition. Bloomfield Hills schools. Very special! $1,249,000
R
Michael P Perrotta errotta 248.672.0494 248. 672.0494 MPerrotta@HallandHunter.com MP errotta@HallandHunter.com
442 S S.. O Old ld W Woodward oodward A Ave. ve. Birmingham, Birmingham, MI 48009
THE COMMUNITY HOUSE TCH: The Art of Listening “The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention.” Rachel Naomi Remen Given the rapid advances in technology over the last decade, many experts and business leaders today believe that 21st century technology is the culprit for making all of us poor listeners, while at the same time others would argue that “listening is a skill that has never been a default part of human nature.” Both sides make a great point. Perhaps it is a combination of both. Perhaps it’s something more. Since joining the team at The Community House, I have had the privilege of becoming acquainted or reacquainted with so many old and new friends of TCH. Everyone that I have met has been so kind and welcoming. It’s truly been an honor. Through Bill Seklar this process, I have discovered a yearning for people to share their thoughts about TCH, the community, their lives and their interests. As leader of The Community House, my job is to listen. Too often, in today’s fast moving society, we are in such a hurry that we rarely allow time to talk to one another – or more importantly to really listen to one another. One could argue that businesses that fail to grasp or to master the art of listening will not become successful, or worse, will not remain successful. I tend to agree. In the spirit of really listening, I have recently announced the creation of the TCH President’s Advisory Council (PAC). The mission of the President’s Advisory Council (PAC) is to advise and give counsel to the TCH President on a wide range of issues. Issues important to the community, feedback related to TCH’s programs and services, topics important to local businesses and hardworking merchants, and most importantly, issues, program and services important to our guests. In short, it is an opportunity for me, and for the entire TCH team to listen, to really listen to TCH friends (old and new), cherished supporters, key stakeholders and others. A second, yet equally important goal of TCH’s new President’s Advisory Council will be to offer guidance and advice to TCH’s President on the needs of millennials; the next generation of young men and young women living, working and volunteering in our community and in the surrounding region. Under the leadership of PAC Co-Chairs Jeff Imerman and Jackie McIntosh, special emphasis will be given by PAC to foster philanthropy in young adults; to encourage third-party fundraising and support for TCH youth programs and services; and to inspire and promote leadership and community service amongst our nation’s next most important generation. A real call to action – a real call to listen. For more information about the new TCH President’s Advisory Council please visit our website at tchserves.org or call TCH at 248.644.5832. Around the House: • Mother’s Day Brunch is back at TCH! Sunday, May 10th: 1 p.m. seating. Enjoy an extraordinary brunch with Mom in TCH’s beautiful, traditional setting, featuring the delights of our in-house Chefs. Adults, $39; Children 12 and under, $15. • NEW! In coordination with the 52nd Annual Birmingham Village Fair hosted by the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber – TCH will join in on the fun by opening our beautiful outdoor Van Dusen Terrace for a series of outdoor familyfriendly BBQ’s on Thursday, May 28th through May 31st. Baby back ribs, chicken tenders, corn on the cob, cash bar and much, much more. Ten percent discount for fairgoers that show their fair wristbands. For specific BBQ hours, please check TCH’s website at tchserves.org. For more information about the Annual Birmingham Village Fair, visit tchserves.org • NEW! Don’t forget Dad! Father’s Day Brunch at TCH! Sunday, June 21st: 1 p.m. seating. Enjoy an extraordinary brunch with Dad in TCH’s beautiful, traditional setting, featuring the delights of our in-house Chefs. Adults, $39; Children 12 and under, $15.
promises and keeping everything you value Safe. Sound. Secure.® Learn how you can save by insuring your life, home and auto with Auto-Owners Insurance.
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William Seklar is President, The Community House. downtownpublications.com
We believe . . . in delivering on
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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK DSO Classical Roots Celebration
Sally Gerak
Here is the update on the recent social scene. Many more photos from each event appear online each week at downtownpublications.com where readers can sign up for an e-mail notice when the latest social scene column is posted. Past columns and photos are also archived at the website for Downtown.
DSO Classical Roots Gala In 1978, a year after the powerful miniseries “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” aired on TV, the DSO launched the Classical Roots concerts to increase awareness of classical music contributions by African Americans. Fifteen years ago, a black tie social was added to the Saturday night concert. The recent soiree raised, according to event co-chair Jason Tinsley, a new record – $250,000. That may well be because it honored beloved judge Damon Keith and violinist Joe Striplin, who, in 1972, was the first African American member of the DSO. The 330 Gala guests ($500, $175 tickets) cocktailed and dined on the stroll before the concert, which was relished by an audience of 1,700. At intermission, Tinsley, his co-chair Ellen Hill Zeringue, his colleague at sponsor J.P. Morgan Chase Tosha Tabron, and DSO board chair Phillip Fisher took turns thanking the supporters and saluting the honorees, both of whom got standing ovations. Keith’s followed his declaration to the audience, “You are Detroit…and we are walking in high cotton.” Following the concert which Thomas Wilkins conducted, Gala guests were joined by more than 50 Young Friends ticket holders ($75) for the desserts and dancing afterglow. Humble Design The Beauty Within Nearly 150 supporters ($100 ticket) of Humble Design sipped, snacked on savory bites from Plum Market, socialized, shopped and sampled products and services in the beauty aisles of Neiman Marcus. But most will remember emcee Chuck Bennett’s spirited introduction of client Angela Boyce and Boyce’s remarks. The mother of five, who lived with them in a van for two years, reacted to a video showing the HD volunteers furnishing a home for a recently homeless family and said, “I cry tears of joy every time I see that…I’ve met some phenomenal people…Humble Design changed my life…and gave my kids hope.” She added that she wants to give that hope forward to others. HD co-founder Treger Strasberg also announced an upcoming first for the organization that has furnished 475 homes since it was founded and can brag than only one percent of its clients return to shelters. Save the date for country singer Frankie Ballard’s concert Sept. 19 at the Fillmore. FAR Conservatory Sing Out 4 Kids Karla Sherry and Dale Hollandsworth chaired the third annual karaoke night to benefit FAR. It attracted 150 ($95, $125 tickets) to the Sky Box at the Royal 150
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Humble Design The Beauty Within
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1. Treger Strasgerg (left), Roz Jacobson and Amie Stern of Birmingham 2. Victoria Vanderport (left) of Macomb and Kristen Suhy of Birmingham with Loren Weiner of Bloomfield 3. Liz Modell (left) of Bloomfield with Angela Boyce of Detroit 4. Kelly Nagle (left) of Bloomfield, Cathy Nagle of Royal Oak and Julie Nagle of Clawson 5. Kathy Kalabat (left) and Susan Ivanovic of Bloomfield 6. Kristen Armstrong (left) and Carrie Weiner with Sheriff Mike Bouchard and daughter Mikayla Bouchard of Birmingham 7. Rob Strasberg (left) of Birmingham, Stacey Kives of Beverly Hills 8. Katherine Baldini (left) of Beverly Hills, Lynn Sirich, Elyse Germack and Chrissy Krempel of Birmingham 9. Lindsey Barile (left) of Farmington Hills and Renee Janovsky of Grosse Pointe with Brooke Fisher of Birmingham. 10. Dr. Luisa DiLorenzo (left) of Birmingham, Thea Collins of Bloomfield
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Oak Emagine Theatre for dinner, drinks and lots of entertainment. Eleven talents, including performing artist Steve Acho, former Miss Michigan Lindsey Tycholiz, Café Cortina’s Lucky Adrian Tonon and Fox 2’s Roop Raj, who emceed with grand flair, were in the spotlight. Thanks also to Kroger’s sponsorship, the event raised more than $40,000 for the arts and recreation programs FAR provides the special needs community. DAR Piety Hill Anniversary The Piety Hill Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution celebrated its 80th Anniversary at a luncheon at the Townsend. Over 100 DAR members attended, including state officers and regents from other chapters. In addition to Alexander Macomb Chapter member Janet Calabrese’s speech about Revolutionary War heroine Elizabeth Burgin, highlights included award presentations. The Piety Hill chapter recognized Kyle McGrath, former Bloomfield Hills International Academy teacher now at Milford High School, as American History Teacher of the year for teaching his students the importance of the U. S. Constitution. Nonagenarian Catherine LePine received the chapter’s Community Service Award for being a literacy volunteer for the past 14 years. There was also a salute to past Piety Hill Regents in attendance Christina Burns, Diane Schrift, Nancy Reed, Ruby Weidner, Barbara Balow, Ginny Bennett, Arlene Robertson and current Regent Christine Richman. TCH Gala/Pillars of Vibrancy Reception Since it was founded in 1923 to serve as the village gathering place, The Community House has performed its mission sans one dime of tax monies. Thus, fundraisers like the fourth annual TCH Gala, which attracted 230 ($250 ticket) on March 14, are vital. Unlike the first three soirees, which honored familyowned business owners Dave Trott, Linda Orlans and Stephen Polk, the 2015 event saluted Dr. Herman Gray, executive vice president of Detroit Medical Center and former CEO of DMC Children’s hospital. Both his acceptance remarks and those of keynote speaker DTE’s Faye Alexander Nelson, had underlying themes of community. The dinner and program followed a VIP reception for 125 hosted by All Seasons of Birmingham. The evening followed by four weeks a special reception for nine other event honorees – the Pillars of Vibrancy. These are Julie Dawson, Robert Dempster and (in memoriam) David Page for Culture; Carol & John Aubrey, Dan Serlin and Tim Anderson for Wellness and Michael Melfi, Patricia Mooradian and James Suhay for Education. They were also downtownpublications.com
FAR Conservatory Sing Out 4 Kids
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1. Karla Sherry (left) of Bloomfield, Dominick & Cindy Schiano of Franklin 2. Michael Brennan (left) of Birmingham, Gordon Cox of Bloomfield 3. Catherine Barnes (left) of Rochester Hills, Sally West of Bloomfield, Diana Ayres of Farmington Hills
DAR Piety Hill 80th Anniversary
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1. Christine Richman (left) of Bloomfield, Kyle McGrath of Milford 2. Christine Richman (left) of Bloomfield, Katherine Lepine (center) of Keego Harbor, Nancy Reed of W. Bloomfield 3. Virginia Bennett of Bloomfield 4. Kathleen Ripley Leo (left) of Northville, Janet Ashley of Bloomfield 5. Pat Lundy (left) of Troy & Teresse Krause of Bloomfield 6. Gina LaCroix (left) of Holly, Arlene Robertson of Bloomfield & Suzanne Frost of Rochester Hills
Brother Rice Irish Nite
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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK saluted in one of the Gala’s most notable moments - Kevin and James Cristbrook’s musical parady to the tune of “Popular” from “Wicked”. Thanks to lead sponsor the Bank of Birmingham, the event raised more than $200,000.
TCH Gala & Pillars of Vibrancy Reception
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1. Robert Dempster (left) of Bloomfield and Julie Dawson of Birmingham, Dr. Herman Gray of W.Bloomfield 2. Jim Suhay (left) of Birmingham and Patricia Mooradian, Camille Jayne of Bloomfield 3. Tim Anderson (left) of Huntington Woods, Carol Aubrey of Birmingham and Dan Serlin of Farmington Hills 4. Pierre Boutrous (center) of Birmingham, Nidal Daher (left) and Bill Seklar of Bloomfield 5. Keith (left) & Carol Dreyer of Birmingham, Jackie & Neil Sefferman of Bloomfield 6. Shirley Mann Gray (left) of W. Bloomfield, Caroline Rooney Dempster of Bloomfield 7. Cassie Vasileff and husband Dr. Bill Vasileff of Birmingham 8. Stephen & Bobbi Polk of Bloomfield 9. Michael Melfi of Birmingham 10. Linda Orlans and husband Gerry Padilla of Birmingham
Variety’s SHINE benefit for FAR & SCAMP
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1. Ruthie Seltzer of Birmingham, Surab Deb of Clawson 2. Mallory Shaevsky, Missy, Larry & Mason of W. Bloomfield, Mark and Lois Shaevsky of Bloomfield 3. Linda McIntosh (left) and Annabelle Murphy 4. Felicia Palazzolo-Shaw (left) and Grace Burtka 5. Allison King (left) and Alex Bai 6. Gabby Shuert (left) and Sarah Sandelands 7. Chandra Madafferi (left) and Kathleen Worden
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Brother Rice Irish Nite Gwen and Doug North and Jeanine and Joe Lunghamer ‘81 were the honorary chairs of the 38th annual auction fundraiser. Attendance (525) matched last year’s record crowd and 150 of them were benefactors ($150-ticket). The school spirit seemed palpable as more Rice alums are now parents of alums and current students. Before wending their way to the gym for the strolling dinner catered by Ann Marie and Tom Violante’s Holiday Market, they socialized big time and bid $82,800 in the silent auction. Many also participated in the cash and wine raffles which raised $29,275. After pep talks and thank yous by president John Birney ’76, and principal Br. Michael Segvich, Christopher Aslanian conducted the live auction of 20 lots. It raised $59,300, including the top dollar item – alum Dan Allor’s donation of his private jet to take 8 people on a weekend getaway. It sold for $6,100. Then pledges to fund a new school bus brought in another $40,500. In all, thanks to generous sponsors headed by Lori and Van Conway of Conway MacKenzie, the event added a record $348,500-plus to the $7-million the Irish Nite has raised since it was founded. Variety’s SHINE for FAR/SCAMP Ruthie Seltzer chaired Variety, The Children’s Charity’s Sunday afternoon fashion show that attracted 160 ($35, $100-tickets) to the Somerset South Rotunda to applaud the 22 young models from the special needs communities served by FAR, SCAMP and Variety. Sarah Sandelands and Alex Bai kicked off the show by singing Kid Rock’s song “Care.” It’s refrain - “…I can’t change the world…The least I can do is care” – resonated with the crowd. Then the show that Somerset’s Linda McIntosh coordinated began with commentary by Vicki Howard. All the models had been prettied up (hair, nails, make-up) by the crew at Felicia’s Salon earlier in the day and wore apparel they had selected from Somerset shops and which they get to keep permanently. Each young model and his/her community mentor escort got resounding applause. Proceeds will support FAR and SCAMP’s summer programs. Variety’s signature event A Star is Born - on Friday, May 1, at the Royal Oak Emagine center will induct Monica Gayle, Huel Perkins, Mary Kramer and Paul W. Smith into the Michigan Celebrity Hall of Fame which is housed there. For tickets, call (248)-258-5511. 05.15
$919,000
1351 CEDAR BEND, BLOOMFIELD HILLS $1,075,000
“Exceptional in-town Birmingham home with sophisticated and beautiful finishes. Hardwood floors, custom trim work and recessed lights throughout, gourmet kitchen, luxurious master suite with fireplace. Additional 2nd floor bedrooms are all suites. Finished daylight basement with tall ceilings.”
Truly distinctive residence that is perfectly located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, on an elevated, treed lot with a fantastic view. Chefs kitchen and luxuriously appointed master suite. Unsurpassed quality & craftsmanship. Beautifully finished lower level, in-ground pool and very private rear yard.
558 W. LINCOLN, BIRMINGHAM
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6790 ORINOCO CIRCLE, BLOOMFIELD HILLS $229,000 SOLD IN 2 DAYS - 0VER ASKING
4074 OVERLEA LANE, BLOOMFIELD HILLS SOLD IN 2 DAYS - 0VER ASKING
CH RI STIAN
$469,000
810 ROBINHOOD CT., BLOOMFIELD HILLS SOLD IN 5 DAYS
GR OT H E
cgrothe@gmail.com | www.CHRISTIANGROTHE.com | 248.971.0080
275 S. OLD WOODWARD, DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM
$269,000
SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK Detroit Country Day School Centennial Gala
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1. Joann Gordon (left) and Don ’88 & Tracy Nystrom of Bloomfield 2. Cheri & Don Bailey of Bloomfield 3. Ken & Kimberly Whipple of Bloomfield 4. Debbie & Glen Shilling of Bloomfield 5. Una Jackman of Bloomfield & Jay Alix of W. Bloomfield 6. Darlene & David Jackson of Birmingham 7. Don (left) & Pam Kegley of Bloomfield, Congressman Dave & Kappy Trott of Birmingham 8. Alex (left) & Lilly Epstein Stotland ’96 of Birmingham, Lena Epstein ’99 and Eric Medved of Commerce 9. Carolyn & Bob Fascetti of Bloomfield 10. Chris Perkins (left) and Stephanie Gordon ’10 of Denver, CO, Grace Hamilton and Steven Gordon ‘13 of Ann Arbor, Rachel Gordon ‘’06 and Matt Vivas of Chicago, IL
Bloomfield Hills Schools Foundation Celebration
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1. Justice Richard Bernstein (center) of Birmingham with Dr. Steve (left) & Shelley Taub and Paul & Sue Nine of Bloomfield 2. BHSF president David & Amy Fink of W. Bloomfield 3. Larry Walsh (left) & Bonnie Jobe of Bloomfield with BHS superintendent Dr. Rob Glass & Cynthia Eschenburg of Birmingham 4. Anne Marie & John Veneroni of Bloomfield 5. Paul (center) & Cynthia von Oeyen of Bloomfield and Tina Kistiuk of Shelby Twp. 6. James & Cathie Badalamenti of Birmingham 7. Ryan Quinn (left) of W. Bloomfield and Marnie Diem of Bloomfield
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Detroit Country Day School’s Centennial “I wish I could have gone to Detroit Country Day,” alumnae dad Jay Alix proclaimed to the 1,200 DCDS boosters ($500-VIP, $275, $100-Afterglow) gathered in the Plaza at the Henry Ford Museum for the school’s Centennial Gala. They had come from near and far to celebrate the school founded in 1914 by Alden Shaw in his mother’s Detroit home. The atmosphere was joyous as they socialized big time and dined on the stroll before the program. It featured, in addition to Alix, remarks by co-chair Don Nystrom, board chair Ken Whipple, and current and past headmasters Glen Shilling and Jerry Hansen. Community spirit and visions for the future were highlighted but the big takeaway was to hear Alix, much honored globally for his financial acumen, praise the financial wisdom of Hansen and Shilling’s decisions to launch big building programs during down economic times. “Building when costs were low saved DCDS millions of dollars,” he noted. The two headmasters were then surprised to learn that the Athletic Complex and the Field House were being dedicated to and named for them. Alix also made a big deal of how DCDS, whose original Latin motto advocates academics and athletics, has long since added two more “As” - Arts and Altruism. Following the program, guests of all ages, energized by the dance music of Fifty Amp Fuse, packed the dance floor until midnight. Bloomfield Hills Schools Foundation Celebration More than 200 supporters of Bloomfield Hills Schools ($125-ticket) flocked to Pine Lake Country Club for the foundation’s inaugural fundraiser celebrating the district’s nearly 7,000 students. During the cocktail hour, people socialized, bought raffle tickets and checked out the large silent auction. The Jills choral group provided a pre-program serenade and foundation president David Fink gave keynote speaker Justice Richard Bernstein a glowing introduction. “I owe everything (I have accomplished) to the Bloomfield Hills Schools,” declared the Michigan Supreme Court judge, who has been blind since birth. Bernstein’s effusive praise of the district’s teachers included specific mention of his speech teacher Mark Moneyman, as well as now retired Lou Ruggierollo and Bruce Kezlerian. After dinner, auctioneer Gary Mach elicited $14,000 for 13 donated packages. Thanks also to proceeds from a raffle, a huge silent auction and generous sponsors, the event raised more than $75,000 to fund innovative academic and enrichment programs. Patriot Week’s Patrick Henry Awards The Community House ballroom was decked out in red, white and blue for Patriot 05.15
Week Inc.’s second annual awards event. Jack Andrews chaired the old fashion, patriotic event that attracted more than 220 ($50ticket). They gave standing ovations to many: host Judge Michael Warren’s welcome – the preamble to the Declaration of Independence – and his human interest remarks about Patrick Henry; Leah Warren’s stirring delivery of Henry’s revolutionary “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” March 23, 1775 speech; Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” with historical notes convincingly delivered by Lincoln re-enactor Fred Prieb; Robert Kachadourian’s presentation of a fallen hero’s war medals to the PW organization; the Men of Grace singers. They also applauded three honorees who each received a Patriot of the Year “Henry”: Public servant L. Brooks Patterson, Organization American House Senior Living Centers’ Rob Gillette; and serviceman Col. Philip Sheridan. Bloomfield Cable will be showing the entire program. Patriot Week is September 11 to 17, the anniversary dates of the terrorist attacks and the date our founding fathers signed the Constitution. It was established in 2009 by Judge Warren and his then 10-year-old daughter Leah to renew the American spirit by examining the principles, men, documents and flags that make America the greatest nation in history. It is observed in schools across Michigan and several other states. For more information, go to www.PatriotWeek.com. Academy of the Sacred Heart Benefit When ASH board president Dan Carroll concluded his welcome to the nearly 250 annual benefit auction guests ($175 & up tickets) gathered at the Royal Park Hotel, he concluded, “There is no upper limit on bidding.” The school boosters paid attention. Texas auctioneer Scott Swenson sold the 12 live auction lots for a not too shabby $80,000. This included the $12,000 that each of two people paid for a summer party for eight donated by Susie and Tom Betrus, event honorary cochairs with Mollie and Joe Schwartz. But those were not the top bids. That honor went to an ASH dad who paid an astounding $17,500 to go with the Red Wings on the team plane to an away game. Then, before additional pledges were solicited, Sr. Bridget Bearss and Agostino Visocchi gave examples of “The ASH Difference”. This included: Visocchi’s video; an anecdote of the Moose Preserve waitress who was amazed that an ASH field hockey team member returned to the restaurant to give her a tip because the team had been short of cash when they ate there the preceding day; the story of 2014 alum Amy Lynn Kamsickas’ miraculous recovery from a terrible car accident thanks, perhaps, to the prayers of the ASH worldwide downtownpublications.com
Patrick Henry Awards
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1. Event chair Jack & Becky Andrews of Bloomfield 2. Judge Michael & Leah Warren of Beverly Hills 3. Cari (left) & Rob Gillette of Beverly Hills, their daughter Susie Lindsey of Bloomfield 4. Kimberly & Col. Philip Sheridan of Grosse Pointe 5. Tim Pollard (center) with Greg & Christa Schwartz of Bloomfield 6. Jim & Barbara Suhay of Birmingham 7. Mary Anne Noonan (left) of Birmingham and Mary Noonan of Bloomfield 8. Lily Warren (left) and Shannon Richey of Beverly Hills
Academy of the Sacred Heart Annual Benefit
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1. Susie (left) & Tom Betrus with ASH parents Chris & Julie Draper of Bloomfield 2. Joe (left) & Molly Schwartz with Maria & Dave Duey of Bloomfield 3. Board member Mary Jo & Chip Dawson of Bloomfield 4. Bill Wentworth (left), his daughter Chantal & Chris Mullin of Bloomfield 5. Chad (left) & Megan Martin and Christine & Mike Lope of Bloomfield 6. Brenda & Rick Walawender of Bloomfield 7. Bob & Tina Byerlein of Bloomfield 8. John & Susan Markley Knight of Bloomfield 9. Ron Myers of Birmingham, student volunteers Lisa Kamsickas (left) of Bingham Farms and Sarah Panone of Troy 10. Sister Bridget Bearss (left) of Bloomfield, Denise Bull of Rochester Hills, Alexis Krot and Dave Salamas of Hamtramck
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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK community. Pledges quickly topped $50,000. Adding the silent auction take of more than $23,500, the generous sponsors’ contributions and the holiday soiree, the annual two-part benefit raised nearly $250,000.
Beyond Basics Come Together For Children
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Beyond Basics’ Come Together for Children The champagne was bubbly at the benefactor pre-party but it had nothing to do with the biggest smiles there. They were on the faces of the two young student authors who were signing and selling copies of the books they wrote and published in the BB publishing center. The reception was a splendid way to begin a fundraiser for reading and literacy enrichment programs co-founded by Pam Good and Dr. Joanne Wagerson which is now in one Pontiac and six Detroit schools. The annual event attracted 250 to the Detroit Golf Club. Before dinner guests relished passed hors d’oeuvres while they bid $8,035 in the silent auction and bought card-raffle tickets ($4,400). The post dinner program honored Volunteer of the Year David Underdown and Literacy Chair Awardees Noman and Karen Pesslar, and Vicki and Bob Liggett, who received artistically-decorated chairs – BB’s traditional gift to its stellar supporters. A video spotlighting the successes of the program paved the way for auctioneer Charles Wickins to get $54,925 for the 11 live auction lots and $7,000 more in outright gifts. The annual soiree raised $207,880 for the non-profit that is changing lives for schoolchildren. The next gathering of BB supporters is a luncheon Thursday, May 14, at the Detroit Athletic Club. It will honor Florine Mark, Maggie Allesee, Heidi Brandewie, Linzie Venegas-Rimanelli and Kym Worthy. Plans include the awards, luncheon, a pick your prize raffle and valet parking. For tickets ($100, $150-benefactor), call Johanna Zwally at (248) 408-1735. For more information about Beyond Basics, go to beyondbasics.org.
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1. Pam Good (left) of Birmingham, Kathleen & George McCann of Plymouth 2. Chris (left) & Roxanne Perry of Bloomfield, Tom Saeli of Birmingham 3. Kim Koval (left) and Bob Koval of Troy, Bobbi Polk of Bloomfield 4. Chris McLogan (left) and Liz Luckenback of Birmingham, Ira & Brenda Jaffe of Farmington Hills 5. Jim (left) & Lisa Milton Aldrich and Susan & Paul Anderson of Bloomfield 6. Cathy Howe (left) of Beverly Hills, Molly Saeli of Birmingham 7. Steve (left) & Renee Read and Stephen Polk of Bloomfield
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Project 1’s Whose Your Bartender
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1. Chuck White (left) and Katie Mangin of Birmingham and Jen Ballerin of Bloomfield 2. Mark Daley (left) of Rochester Hills, Brad Welles (aka Cowboy) of Beverly Hills, Jerry Hall of Birmingham, Trak Heine of Bloomfield 3. Rob Strasberg of Birmingham 4. Jen Michaud of Northville and Kelley Kennedy of Birmingham with Sarah Balmer of Rochester Hills, Tina Stuligross of Orion Twp, Honorable Karen McDonald of Birmingham, Jackie Senske of Royal Oak 5. Karla Kish (left) and Amy Ordona of Birmingham with Erica Matina of Oakland
Project 1’s Whose Your Bartender Laura Becekman, Jerry Hall and Kirsten Mumma chaired the annual fundraiser which Mitch Black hosts at his Dick O’Dow’s Pub for the all volunteer non-profit which helps one person or one cause at a time. It attracted about 300 revelers ($10 each) for serious socializing and sipping suds served up by community bartenders. They were working not only for Project 1, but also their own pet non-profit. At the end of the evening Ryan Lafontaine and Terri Macksoud, working for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, had raised the most money. Second placers were Kelley Kennedy and Jen Michaud pouring for AIM at Melanoma. In third place were Stacey Kives and Rob Strasberg working for Humble Design. Optik Birmingham’s Joe Ales gave all the winners a pair of Ray Ban Sun Glasses. The event proceeds ($26,902) were shared with Project 1 and the good guy bartenders’ 12 non-profits. Mosaic: The Auction for Roeper Roeper School boosters celebrated Detroit at the annual auction fundraiser which attracted 210 of them to the Detroit Athletic Club. Auction items included the always popular creations of the students, plus more hedonistic choices like the VIP dinner at Selden Standard, the Detroit Free Press Restaurant of the Year. The evening of dining and bidding concluded with a dance party energized by StarTrax. The annual event netted more than $105,000 for tuition assistance and faculty professional development. Send ideas for this column to Sally Gerak, 28 Barbour Lane, Bloomfield Hills, 48304; call 248.646.6390 or email samgerak@aol.com.
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ENDNOTE
Sales tax increase should be rejected ichigan lawmakers failed last year to pass a bill to adequately fund the state’s crumbling roads and decided to forego their duty and slap together a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution that voters will decide on May 5. In simple terms, the proposal would authorize the state’s sales tax, now at six percent, to be as high as seven percent, and increase the state use tax from six to seven percent, along with a host of other revenue increases to be paid by state residents. For a variety of reasons, we are urging our readers to vote NO on what is known as Proposal 15-1 on the ballot. As some background on this proposal, Michigan roads, which everyone concedes are in terrible shape, rely for the most part on state general fund monies allocated each year. This ballot proposal would now shift all road funding in the state to the state sales tax and any wholesale taxes on fuel. At the same time, the proposal would eliminate the sales tax at the pump, which prior to now has been allocated to education and local government revenue sharing. To replace these funds, education and local revenue sharing would be shifted to sales tax revenues, along with the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit for lower income residents, which was cut severely when the current administration doled out tax cuts to the business community in the governor’s last term. The sales tax at the pump would be replaced with a substantially increased wholesale tax on fuel. In addition to authorizing a state sales tax as high as seven percent and raising the use tax to
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seven percent, there are several other revenue increases, including the elimination of the annual decreases in vehicle registration costs tied to vehicle depreciation, increased registration fees for electric and recreational vehicles, continued application of the state sales tax on marine fuel and fuel for industrial vehicles. Our first objection to this proposal has to do with the historical precedent set in the state of Michigan many decades ago of dictating earmarked funding for special issues through the use of constitutional amendments. Rather than deciding how to fund the government based on existing revenues balanced against prioritized actual needs, Michigan is one of the few states in the country that constitutionally binds the legislature on how to spend state revenues, which means if circumstances change in future years, there is nothing lawmakers can do to address a shifting landscape. Further, by adding even more restrictions to the Michigan Constitution, voters are forced to come back to the ballot to make any changes in the future. So thanks to the failure of leadership in Lansing to address the roads issue through legislation, voters are now facing a complicated ballot proposal, at a cost of $10 million for the election, which will change the constitution and activate 10 pieces of legislation tie-barred to this ballot issue that have already been approved. Our second major objection is that we find the ballot language for the proposal to be a bit dishonest. Specifically, the ballot states that it would “eliminate sales and use taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, allow an increase in the sales tax rate, dedicate revenue for school aid and revise eligible school aid uses.” While the elimination of
the sales tax on gas at the pump sounds nice, the ballot doesn’t acknowledge that the tax on gas at the wholesale level will be increased considerably higher. By most estimates, the wholesale tax increase will be passed on to consumers at a minimum of a 10-cent per gallon increase in the cost of gasoline at today’s price of a gallon. Voters should also realize that while the proposed tax hike would generate about $2 billion per year in additional revenue, there would be little overall impact to money made available for road funds in the early going. In fact, a Michigan House fiscal analysis of the proposal estimates only $367.8 million for distribution to state and local road agencies through the Michigan Transportation Fund in fiscal year 2015-16, with an additional $865.3 million used to pay down the State Trunkline Fund debt. About $763.6 million would be distributed to road agencies in 2016-17, and $1.3 billion in 2017-18. All of this would also free up at least $300 million dollars from current road funding, which would be returned to the state’s general fund, not often mentioned by the folks in Lansing. And then there is our objection to the politics that played into how this proposal was written so that the special interests in the state would get behind this constitutional change because they will all receive a substantial bump in annual funds if passed. Lastly, we reject the faulty logic by some supporters of this constitutional sales tax increase that this is the best proposal we can expect out of state lawmakers. Voters should reject it and tell state leaders to go back and address the issue of roads through legislation, not a constitutional change.
Support Birmingham Schools bond issue irmingham Public Schools are asking residents to approve a $66 million bond proposition on Tuesday, May 5, designed to provide funds to the district for building and site upgrades, technology improvements, instructional upgrades, and safety and security improvements, asserting that by putting the bond on the May ballot, they will be able to provide for needed building repairs, offer regular technology updates and other advancements without increasing the tax rates currently paid for an existing bond issue. That is accurate, although it must be pointed out that without a new bond proposal, taxes would actually decline for residents effective July 1 of this year by .83 mills under an earlier bond proposal the district is paying off. Currently, the district levies 3.9 mills on a 20-year bond from
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2003, which they intend to retire early and replace with this one due to low interest rates. However, district leaders counter that if this ballot proposal fails, they will reintroduce a similar proposition in the future, and it will then actually be a tax increase. The $66 million bond proposal is primarily a building and technology improvement bond, with a small percentage of money earmarked for safety and other items, some of which we recognize as vital, such as making sure each building will have new secured entry vestibules created with A/V controlled access. District officials have provided a detailed spending plan for each of the school facilities which is available on the district website (birmingham.k12.mi.us) for voter review. In general, we think that the building needs
listed by the district are legitimate. Long gone are the days when school districts could afford to make building maintenance and improvements out of the general fund monies, given the costs of education and the heavy load of legacy retirement costs. So it is hard to argue against addressing roof leaks, parking lot improvements and the like. Like others, however, we may be less than thrilled with a few items like heavy expenses for high school dugouts and scoreboards, but we think overall school officials have whittled down a $100 million wish list to mostly essentials for this bond issue. The Birmingham district has historically been one of the top performing districts in the state and facilities and technology are certainly part of the equation in continuing to provide a quality education. So we urge district voters to say YES on the May 5 bond proposal.
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