Westend: March 2014

PLACES TO EAT: OUR GUIDE TO NEARLY 100 LAKES AREA RESTAURANTS MARCH 2014

WESTENDMONTHLY.COM

WESTEND C O M M E R C E • WA L L E D L A K E • W O LV E R I N E L A K E • U N I O N L A K E

MISSING STATE CLEAN-UP FUNDS TAX AT PUMP GETS DIVERTED FROM LEAKING UNDERGROUND FUEL TANKS ASSESSMENTS: LITTLE HELP FOR COMMUNITIES IN RISING NUMBERS ZERO-TOLERANCE: SCHOOLS RETHINK 'GET TOUGH' POLICIES ECRWSS Postal Customer PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ROYAL OAK, MI 48068 PERMIT #792

Time to start planning for your spring move.

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Oakland County's Lakefront Specialist

Jennifer Wrobleski 248-854-3100 Office: 248-360-2900 jwrobleski@kw.com

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WEST BLOOMFIELD

Beautiful Cape Cod on Green Lake. Enjoy the serene setting of this large lakefront lot with plenty of privacy. Look for 2 firepits and special seating areas as you make your way to the lake. Bright entryway, hardwood floors t/o, & original features. Kitchen w/ island, farmhouse sink, glass front cabinets. Natural stone fireplace in family room, formal dining room, library/office, large bedrooms upstairs. Loads of character and 95 ft of frontage. $399,900.

LE SA

NG DI N PE

2,770 sf, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath on a private home site with a wooded view. Kitchen includes hardwood, upgraded cabinets, granite, island with overhang for bar stools and stainless steel appliances. Bathrooms include upgraded cabinets and granite. Hardwood in foyer, kitchen and dining. Walk out basement with 9' basement walls and rough plumbing for a future bathroom. Central air, humidifier, ceramic tile bathrooms, and much more... Close to club house. Award winning Walled Lake schools. $371,000.

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WESTEND03.14

Slow recovery on local budgets

Searching for tolerance Leaking storage tanks

While home sales prices and property assessments have been increasing, local municipal budgets will not be seeing a windfall anytime soon.

Schools are now taking a look at zero-tolerance policies of past years when it comes to student punishment.

You pay extra at the pump to address underground fuel tank leakage problems but the money often gets diverted.

9 CRIME LOCATOR

PLACES TO EAT: OUR GUIDE TO NEARLY 100 LAKES AREA RESTAURANTS MARCH 2014

WESTENDMONTHLY.COM

WESTEND

A recap of select categories of crime occurring in the past month in Commerce, Walled Lake, Wolverine Lake and the Union Lake area, presented in map format.

C O M M E R C E โ ข WA L L E D L A K E โ ข W O LV E R I N E L A K E โ ข U N I O N L A K E

31 MUNICIPAL Walled Lake conditional zoning; good outlook on Commerce Towne Place; trails panel conflict of interest; Walled Lake sidewalks; Commerce library plan; district judge loses fight and docket control; triparty road projects; city DDA signs lease; plus more

41 BUSINESS MATTERS MISSING STATE CLEAN-UP FUNDS

Shogun Japanese and Chinese Bistro; Your Salon; Advanced Laser Pain Relieve Center; Epic Pizza Garden

TAX AT PUMP GETS DIVERTED FROM LEAKING UNDERGROUND FUEL TANKS

42 ENDNOTE

ASSESSMENTS: LITTLE HELP FOR COMMUNITIES IN RISING NUMBERS ZERO-TOLERANCE: SCHOOLS RETHINK 'GET TOUGH' POLICIES ECRWSS Postal Customer

Avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest; Walled Lake Schools moving in right direction.

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ROYAL OAK, MI 48068 PERMIT #792

THE COVER

FACES

The water reservoir tower in West Bloomfield near the Commerce border in Union Lake.

Westend photo: Rachel Bechard

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FROM THE PUBLISHER

A

s news coverage by reporters at Westend continues on a daily basis, either for our monthly print edition of the newsmagazine or the ongoing updates to our website, it’s interesting to watch the machinations of government unfold against the backdrop of international news each evening about burgeoning attempts at democracy in a number of aspiring nations around the world.

We are fortunate in these times to have had the major battles fought hundreds of years ago to establish the representative democracy as we know it today.

I distinguish our form of democracy as representative from what might be referred to as participatory democracy.

Our system of self governance entails electing leaders on a periodic basis to hopefully represent the views of the majority at a national, state, county and local level, as opposed to making collective group decisions in the “town square” – so to speak. From the standpoint of sheer size of population, a pure form of participatory democracy is no longer possible.

Throughout history, and in more recent times, we have seen attempts at participatory democracy, such as the start and development of the women’s movement and the peace movements in the 1960’s and 1970’s – all efforts that eventually grew into larger national movements which influenced the public agenda of our representative democracy.

The most recent example of an attempt at participatory democracy would be the Occupy Wall Street movement in the fall of 2011 with a two-month dramatic camp-in/sleep-in protest in the Wall Street financial district of New York City, which eventually spread to other cities across the country.

Social and economic equality concerns were at the center of the Occupy movement, where New York City’s Zuccotti Park protesters on a daily basis attempted to set an agenda through classic participatory democracy.

Although the Occupy movement moved out of the headlines two years later, the issues the protestors brought to the forefront have now worked themselves into the general discussion of issues in the representative democracy as evidenced by the recent mayoral campaigns in New York and other major cities across the country, along with the latest tack by President Obama, in which economic

disparity has become the buzz word in terms of political platforms and objectives.

At Westend we are reminded on an almost daily basis that perhaps the closest thing to a participatory democracy occurs at a local level where residents can still show up at meetings of the local township board or city council or meetings of their appointed boards and committees to weigh in on local issues of immediate concern.

While not a participatory democracy in its purest form, it is grassroots democracy at its finest, although it only happens on a limited basis.

The next best thing in terms of approaching a participatory democracy is to be informed and actually exercise one’s right to vote, something that does not take place often enough when one reviews the low voter turnouts in too many elections.

You can write it off to busy lifestyles or work schedules in a lame attempt at an excuse, but clearly there has developed a disengagement on the part of the voting public when it comes to taking the time to understand the issues and candidates and either show up at the polling places or cast an absentee ballot to at least be involved in setting the agenda for the representative democracy under which we govern ourselves.

Author James Miller (Democracy is in the Streets), professor of politics at the New School for Social Research, probably said it best years ago when he observed that politics has become more of a “spectator sport” with declining involvement of those being governed.

I raise this issue now because 2014 is an important election year in which voters have the opportunity to determine a host of elected offices from the U.S. Senate and House, Michigan governor, the state house and senate to county commissioners, along with some important local issues.

Clearly we need less “spectators” and more participants if we are to both preserve the system we now have and make it work. If you doubt it, just remind yourself of those fighting, and in some cases dying, around the world so that they can have the system of governance that we now enjoy.

David Hohendorf Publisher DavidHohendorf@downtownpublications.com

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Because of this, one of the most distinguishing features of Susan’s business is her vast pool of resources from which she can draw specialized services that help prepare you and your home for the best sale possible, whether it be Financial, Legal, Architectural, or Staging.

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CRIME LOCATOR

NORTH

Map key

Sexual assault

Assault

Murder

Robbery

Breaking/entering

Larceny

Larceny from vehicle

Vehicle theft

Vandalism

Drug offenses

Arson

These are the crimes reported under select categories by police officials in Commerce Township, Walled Lake and Wolverine Lake Village through January 23, 2014.

Placement of codes is approximate.

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FACES

Nathan Stoll

N

athan Stoll sold his first startup company to Google in 2010. Today the savvy 33-year-old computer genius remains a prospering Californian with a midwestern soul.

“The incredible thing you get in Michigan is the deep neighborly aspect of growing up (in the midwest),” Stoll said. “The idea that neighbors say ‘hi’ and let you borrow things is a different experience and a very grounding experience.”

In 1984, Stoll’s fascination with computers was galvanized when his father brought home an IBM computer. “I got into computers at a very young age.”

While attending Walled Lake Central High School, Stoll created computer games as a hobby; early gamers took interest in his work. “People would occasionally send a check for the updated software,” he said.

The young pioneer was accepted into Stanford University after he tied at the top of his class at Walled Lake Central. “I showed up at Stanford planning to study political science,” he said. But, Stoll’s undeniable zest for technology steered him towards a degree in computer science.

“The spring of my freshman year, Google was mailed around campus as a demo and we all used it for our research papers,” he said.

Upon graduation from Stanford, Stoll was offered a job at Google, a lesser-known and rapidly expanding company at that time.

“I was an associate product manager and the company was doubling in size every six months. There is an amazing focus at Google. It’s an aggressive market of growth and change and it’s very much a place that

understands you’re real people. It’s a grounding culture that gives people a strong base to work from,” he said. “And, I actually met my wife at my last company ski trip.”

Stoll became the public face of Google News and oversaw the expansion of the news source to more than 40 countries before leaving in 2007 to cofound a social search tool called Aardvark.

“My opportunity to impact the world was greater and, at that time, it was clear to me that people would find time to use social networks to impact real world lives.”

In 2010, Google made the founders of Aardvark an offer that was “very hard to refuse,” Stoll said. According to The Huffington Post, the search engine was sold to Google for $50 million.

Stoll then turned his efforts towards a new company he created called Luvocracy, which is a social commerce website based on the principle that having the right products recommended by trusted consumers results in better purchases. The growing business has been financially backed by the likes of motivational speaker Tony Robbins and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.

Stoll has acquired monumental success and credibility in his craft, but the pragmatic midwesterner maintains a focus on a sense of family.

“I’d love to continue to be in the forefront of technology,” he said. “But time with family and running with my wife and my dog in Lake Tahoe is the sort of joy that I don’t think any amount of wealth could replace.”

Story: Katey Meisner

Jim Mandeville

2013 CENTURION Award Winner

Top Selling Agent

Today, Inc. O ND

Living in, Working in, and Supporting Our Community.

248.672.4800 Jim@C21.com

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Wonderful location at end of cul-de-sac. 3 bedrooms plus main floor office. Over 2200 square feet of living space. Brand new carpet. Huge basement. Great room with fireplace and cathedral ceiling. $275,000.

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2013 Lakefront Sales Report Lake Name

2012 Number Sold

2013 Number Sold

2012 Average Sale Price

2013 Average Sale Price

Percent of Change

2013 High Sale Price

Cass Lake

9

11

$840,007

$541,386

- 35.5

$1,575,000

Commerce

3

9

$206,667

$493,333

+ 138.7

$655,000

Cooley Lake

5

2

$297,890

$247,450

- 16.9

$249,900

Elizabeth

5

6

$286,500

$444,333

+ 55.1

$630,000

Green Lake

3

4

$304,500

$434,750

+ 42.8

$586,500

Long Lake

3

3

$327,333

$256,667

- 21.6

$305,000

Lower Straits

5

9

$1,137,900

$912,189

- 19.8

$1,400,000

Middle Straits

8

6

$216,389

$458,833

+ 112.0

$650,000

Orchard Lake

6

5

$808,000

$1,529,000

+ 89.2

$2,110,000

Union Lake

9

8

$577,989

$424,813

- 26.5

$499,000

Upper Straits

5

3

$743,200

$1,596,667

+ 114.8

$3,850,000

Walled Lake

5

3

$272,500

$475,000

+ 74.3

$650,000

Wolverine

9

16

$251,598

$366,525

+ 45.7

$669,000

The above sales figures were obtained directly from Realcomp II Ltd. Canal front homes excluded.

How much is your Lakefront worth? Call Jim for the most accurate value opinion.

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6611 Commerce Road

SEEKING TOLERANCE SCHOOLS START TO RETHINK‘GET-TOUGH’ POLICIES OF PAST

BY LISA BRODY

O

nce, in days gone by, two students would engage in a schoolyard fight, with fists flying. The worst wound might be a black eye and bruised prides. They’d both end up in the principal’s office, possibly with detentions. And likely, some talking to by their parents, as well.

And then, two students shot up a school in Columbine, Colorado, followed by school shootings around the country, including in Jonesboro, Ark., Virginia Tech, at a community college in Houston, an elementary school in Georgia, and of course, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. And the idea of a simple reprimand for such heinous actions flew out the window along with the bullets.

Zero-tolerance policies in school began about 15 years ago in the wake of the Columbine school shooting. Zero-tolerance policies are discipline policies under which children are suspended, and even arrested, for major as well as minor offenses that can include cursing, getting into shoving matches, and other garden-variety misbehavior that in decades past would have been sorted out by a visit to the principal’s office, detention, or meetings with the student’s parents.

In the last few years, school administrators around the country have become increasingly concerned about this “one-size-fits-all” approach to disciplining students, with statistics more and more indicating that most suspensions and expulsions were for minor issues, and that minority students were overwhelmingly bearing the brunt of the punishments. A more moderate approach to discipline has been sought by educators, one where schools could choose the punishments on a individual basis, which hopefully would be more judicious.

“Superintendents recognize that out-ofschool suspension is outdated and not in line with 21st century education,” said Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, in a statement.

That’s not to say that if a child brings any sort of firearm to school, or makes a serious threat in any form, school and law enforcement should not be alerted and take action. Firearms and grave weapons, all experts agree, are in a sacrosanct category. These policies date back to 1994, when congress required states receiving federal education money to expel any student who brings a gun onto school property. Over time, states and local governments broadened and altered it to expel students for all sorts of offenses, including seemingly minor ones. At the same time, schools across the country began stationing police officers and security guards in their hallways. There, they witnessed infractions and arrests increased for non-violent behavior.

Further, studies reveal that the number of students actually bringing a firearm to school has dropped. More and more, school administrators are suggesting that energy spent deterring potential gun-toting teens would be better directed at preventing disruptive behavior that teachers deal with on a daily basis, behavior that gets more students thrown out of schools. ow, many educators have determined that tough school discipline codes like zero-tolerance policies and mandatory suspensions for even minor infractions may have significant costs to schools, students and society as a whole.

“We’re trying to get away from mandatory, zero-tolerance policies. Oakland Intermediate Schools supports that. We believe that local control is always a good thing. It gives our superintendents and building principals the ability to make individual decisions,” said Oakland Intermediate School’s Director for Government Relations and Pupil Services Lisa Hansknecht.

The federal government, after mandating zero-tolerance discipline policies 15 years ago, has come to the same conclusion. In January of this year, the Obama administration issued guidelines that recommended public school officials use law enforcement only as a last resort for disciplining students, noting that it comes as a response to a rise in the number of zero-tolerance policies that have disproportionately increased the number of arrests, suspensions and expulsions of minority

N

students for all crimes, including minor, nonviolent offenses.

A 35-page document prepared by U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan outlined an approach that included more moderate approaches such as counseling students, coaching for teachers and disciplinary officers, and sessions that would teach social and emotional skills to students, in an effort to reduce the time students spend out of school as punishment.

“The widespread use of suspensions and expulsions has tremendous costs,” Duncan wrote in a letter to school officials. “Students who are suspended or expelled from school may be unsupervised during daytime hours and cannot benefit from great teaching, positive peer interactions, and adult mentorship offered in class and in school.”

Not only have zero-tolerance policies been overutilized, according to Duncan, but data collected by the U.S. Education Department shows that minorities, particularly black boys and students with all kinds of disabilities, have received the harshest disciplines from schools.

According to the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, black students without disabilities are more than three times as likely as their white counterparts to be suspended or expelled. And for those students who are eligible for special education services, who are generally those with disabilities, they make up almost 25 percent of students who have been arrested at school. Yet they comprise only 12 percent of students in the country’s schools.

Civil rights groups say that as school districts have placed more police officers in schools, criminal charges against kids have spiked.

“A routine school disciplinary infraction should land a student in the principal’s office, not in a police precinct,” Holder said in a statement.

The Obama administration’s document also sets guidelines for reducing arrests and keeping discipline within a school. They advised schools to focus on creating positive environments, setting clear expectations and consequences for students, and to ensure fairness and equity in disciplinary measures. The document calls for districts to collect data on school-based arrests, citations and searches, as well as suspensions and expulsions. It also reminds schools of civil rights laws protecting all students.

According to the Council of State Governments Justice Center, which is a nonprofit policy group, children who are removed from school are at a heightened risk for low achievement, are held back more frequently, to dropping out or becoming permanently entangled in the juvenile justice system. They did a study of school discipline policies in Texas, which showed that nearly 6 in 10 students in public schools had been suspended or expelled at least once between seventh and twelfth grade. That’s 60 percent of students. However, they noted that only a very small percentage of those disciplinary actions were taken for serious criminal conduct that would require suspensions or expulsion under state law.

Since their report, the Texas legislature has

taken steps in an effort to keep minor misconduct cases from reaching the courts. One law recommends that school districts consider less harsh sanctions, such as sending a warning letter to parents or recommending counseling.

Another measure is designed to stop police from ticketing and fining children under 12 on school grounds or on a school bus for minor infractions.

Similar actions are taking place in other states, including Michigan. The Los Angeles school district became the first district in the nation to ban suspensions for what they have called “willful defiance”, which is a large grouping of all sorts of violations which consisted of more than 40 percent of California’s suspensions in the 2011-2012 school year. A new California state law allows for suspensions for serious offenses, like those involving violence or weapons, but it requires schools to try alternative strategies, which include utilizing parent-teacher conferences, before they can suspend a student for a non-violent infraction.

Nothing has yet been passed by the Michigan legislature, but a few bills were introduced in 2013. Rep. Thomas F. Stallworth III (D-Highland Park, Detroit) introduced House Bill 4490 which would give schools greater latitude in providing disciplinary action and penalties for physical assaults at school against another student. According to Rep. Mike McCready (R-West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Bloomfield), a key notation is the change in the wording of “may” from “shall” in suspensions or expulsions for up to 180 days when a pupil in grade 6 or above commits a physical assault at school against another pupil, and the assault is reported. ther language in the bill urges school officials to attempt documented efforts to “modify the pupil’s behavior without a suspension or expulsion...these efforts to modify behavior may include, but are not limited to, a coordinated behavior plan, alternative programming, referral for individual counseling, behavior contracting, in-school parental supervision, or other evidence-based alternatives to suspension.”

The bill also seeks to mandate the county department of social services or county community mental health agency follow up to coordinate completion of a behavior risk assessment that is performed by a licensed mental health worker or social work professional and that includes recommendations for effective intervention, for any student expelled more than three days.

The bill was referred to the education committee last March, were it has been stalled ever since. Rep. Stallworth and his office did not return calls for comment or clarification.

However, the Michigan Department of Education has suggested they were supportive of the bill because it gives schools more latitude and allows individual discretion on the part of principals.

Another bill introduced in February 2013, House Bill 4262, sponsored by Rep. Frank Foster (R-Emmet, Mackinac), deals with exceptions to prohibitions on carrying certain weapons, most notably to certain knives and other types of

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stabbing weapons. The bill would amend the Michigan Penal Code to remove certain types of knives from the classification of a felony of being armed with a dangerous weapon to a restriction on carrying a concealed weapon. he bill would not apply to an object that was being carried between someone’s house or other land they possessed as long as it was encased and not readily accessible for immediate use; or an object carried in the course of hunting, fishing, trapping, or for use as a tool in the course of someone’s occupation or hobby, as long as that hobby required the use of that object.

What that means for students and schools would be if a small sheathed knife was brought to school without the intent to do harm. For example, a Boy Scout knife, or a Swiss Army knife, which a student may inadvertently bring in their backpack, or for use in a shop class. The bill is clear that anyone with the intent to use a sharp instrument as a weapon unlawfully against another person is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment of up to five years in jail, or a fine of not more than $2,500.

While the Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Education have indicated they have no objections to this bill, it too has remained stalled in committee.

“In general discipline terms, (previously) the legislature took out of schools’ hands any sort of local discretion,” when they created zerotolerance discipline policies, stated Bob Maxfield, interim dean of the School of Education at Oakland University. “Obviously, if an older child brings a gun to school, there needs to be strict consequences. But what about more subjective situations? Like if an 11-yearold brings a Boy Scout knife to school to show a friend? Under the current law, he’s treated as if he’s an older student, and suspended or expelled.”

In April 2013, the ACLU of Michigan wrote to the Grand Rapids Public school district after hearing from several parents whose young sons were expelled from the district for inadvertently bringing knives to school. The ACLU explained that expulsion for such conduct is not mandated under state law; rather, school administrators have discretion to consider factors like whether the student intended to use the knife as a weapon. In June 2013, the school district agreed to start informing students facing expulsion about the discretionary factors, to develop standards to guide hearing officers about the discretionary decisions, and to allow students to be represented by legal counsel in expulsion proceedings.

Maxfield, who was superintendent of Farmington Schools for many years, emphasized that the one-size-fits-all zero-tolerance policies creates a loss of local autonomy on the part of local school districts. He noted that despite where the districts are, whether they are Farmington, Birmingham, West Bloomfield, Walled Lake, or Bloomfield Hills, “there is a problem of discrimination and overreaction on how African American boys are being treated, and the disproportionality of how they are being handled.”

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Walled Lake Consolidated Schools’ Student Code of Conduct Handbook, which was revised in July 2012, states that “every person has unique needs, interests and the ability to learn...physical and psychological safety is critical to learning. Individuals are responsible for their own actions. Students and staff must have positive role models and mentors to encourage respect, self-worth and personal expression.”

Bullying is especially called out as a prohibited behavior, “regardless of the motive of the perpetrator”, the code says. It further emphasizes that the board of education also prohibits retaliation or the false accusation of targets of bullying, against a witness, or another person with reliable information about an act of bullying at school.

Included in their reportable incidents to local law enforcement are students who are armed; incidents of arson; death or homicide; drive-by shootings; explosions; telephone bomb threats; sexual assault; and weapons on school property, although they don’t specify what the weapons could be. All behaviors any reasonable member of society would agree, and expect, would be unacceptable in school, and where a student should be removed and turned over to law enforcement.

But what about what they term Level II violations – gray areas of the law, besides academic dishonesty, which may include copying another student’s work, disclosing testrelated material, and plagiarism. These infractions can include assault, battery, either physical or verbal, bullying and intimidation, gambling, insolence, loitering, profanity, vandalism and the catchall term of misbehavior.

Certainly, none are activities any teacher or administrator wants to have occur in their school building, but should students be arrested suspended or expelled from school for them?

Walled Lake students can be suspended or expelled “In order to protect the health and safety of students and employees and to prevent threatened disruption to the education process, an otherwise eligible resident student may be suspended or expelled,” the student code explains, for acts on or off school premises.

“A problem with all schools is, they tend to cut one kind of kid slack, and not another kid,” asserted Oakland University’s Maxfield. “These laws need to be softened because they tend to be discriminatory. And schools’ attorneys tend to be risk-averse. They tend to tell schools to suspend students out of caution –’you don’t have a choice, and you don’t want it to come back to haunt you.’ It leads superintendents and principals to be overly cautious because the lawyers have told them to be.” axfield also raises one last issue that could have impact on both students and society for years to come: “What do you do with the kids that have been suspended and expelled?” he asked. “There are some online courses, and some disciplinary measures. But there is a lack of meaningful programs to address for these kids. Basically, the system has said to a 13-yearold, you’re out of public education.”

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Walled Lake, similarly concerned about what happens to suspended students, has a program called LATE, an alternative high school program for students that have gotten waylaid. “The goal is to have all the students pass through the levels and to return to their home high school.

Almost all of the students that come to LATE are behind in credits, so another goal is to have students try to make up credits while they are at LATE since they can work at their own pace and finish more than six classes a semester,” explained an instructor in the program.

Approximately 20 to 25 students come through LATE each year, with enrollment capped at 14 to 15 a semester. “The best attribute of the program is giving students that have gotten off track a ‘second chance’,” noted the instructor.

The American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP), in a policy statement issued in 2013, said that zero-tolerance policies do no good for children, and that suspending or expelling a child from school should be a rare last resort and not a routine punishment for bullying, drug use or other infractions.

“If the parents are at work with a child who is out of school, more inappropriate behavior often occurs. Students who are suspended or expelled are more likely to never get a high school diploma, end up in the juvenile justice system or eventually land a low-paying job, or no job at all,” the group stated.

What about the assertion that zero-tolerance policies keep troublemakers out of school, allowing “good” kids to benefit? Research doesn’t indicate that, AAP’s report said.

In 2006, a task force set up by the American Psychological Association, after a decade of research, found there was no evidence that zerotolerance policies made schools any safer or helped any students’ performance.

The pediatrician’s group said the best method for benefitting all students in a classroom is to come up with expectations for all students’ behavior, such as keeping your hands to yourself when you’re in the hallway or speaking up when you see someone being bullied, and making all expectations very clear.

It’s also imperative to let everyone know what the consequences to rule-breaking will be. If it’s minor, a teacher or principal will handle it. If it’s serious, it will be handled up the chain of authority.

But in order to fully implement these common sense guidelines, which school administrators and educational authorities appear to crave, legal handcuffs need to be removed from school districts to allow them to handle students in ways they recognize are appropriate.

“It’s easy for the legislature to determine what we as educators should do,” Maxfield said.

“Ultimately, we need to draw a line in the sand, because we need to protect our kids. Yes, there has to be hard discipline taken with guns.

Everybody was so concerned about firearms that they created less interpretation for everything else. It went from some reaction to no tolerance. There has to be subjective discipline.”

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LINGERING PROBLEM LEAKING UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS AND THE DIVERTED STATE FUNDING

By Kevin Elliott ess than a penny per gallon. That’s how much Michigan motorists pay at the pump to ensure the gas going into our tanks isn’t leaking into the ground from underground storage tanks before filling up our own vehicles. That equates to about $50 million every year that is collected by the state to repair leaking underground storage tanks and the contamination associated with them.

Why then, nearly a quarter century after the 7/8-cent per gallon fee was introduced, are there as many leaking underground storage tank (LUST) sites that still need cleanup action in the west Oakland county area as there are gas stations operating in the community?

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) places the number of LUST sites in the state at more than 7,200, with as many as 300 new sites discovered each year. Locally, the DEQ has records on 31 active cases in Commerce Township, Union Lake, Walled Lake and Wolverine Lake where gasoline, diesel fuel or another type of petroleum-based fluid has been released from an underground storage tank.

“There are a lot of old releases,” said Dennis Eagles, who oversees the LUST program under the DEQ’s Remediation and Redevelopment Division. “When gas stations were more plentiful and had more individual owners, they operated on budgets that were fairly marginal, at best. When they had releases, they didn’t have the funds to clean them up. A lot of those have gone orphan, or they don’t have the money to address them.”

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Releases, or leaks, typically happen when an aging tank begins rusting or corroding, which then allows the fluid inside to leak out into the ground.

Older metal tanks are typically replaced with fiberglass tanks. Federal regulations require gas stations to replace faulty tanks and to install monitoring systems that can detect leaks. he property owner where an underground storage tank is located at the time of the release is typically responsible for any actions required to address the problem. Because the liability rests with whoever caused the release, as well as any party that may have contributed to the original or subsequent releases, the responsibility may lie with more than one party. Even when the appropriate party is identified, the cost associated with cleanup may inhibit taking action. Those actions may include removal of a tank and contaminated soil, as well as monitoring of potential contamination of soils and ground water. Clean-up costs can range from about $50,000 on the low end of the spectrum, to upwards of $1 million, with the average cost estimated near $400,000.

“From a state standpoint, let’s say if an older couple owns a gas station, we do a cost evaluation on the funding they have and make a determination that they either are or aren’t a viable party,” Eagles said. “If we make that determination, we can use state money to do it. But in large part, there’s a large number of (still active) sites because we can only work on a certain number, and there are 200 to 300 new releases each year.”

In total, the number of underground storage tanks in the state – about 18,777 – far exceeds the number of leaking underground storage tanks, which total a little less than half, at 7,202. Of the more than 18,000 tanks in existence, the DEQ estimates about 95 percent are in use, while 5 percent are temporarily out-of-service. About 62 percent of the tanks are considered “low risk,” based on the age and type of construction. The remaining are likely to need replacement in the next five to 10 years, according to the DEQ. DEQ records indicate about 9,200 releases have occurred at the state’s 7,200 sites, meaning it’s not uncommon for one tank, once it becomes faulty, to have more than one release before it is replaced.

To help gas station owners address the problem of leaking underground storage tanks, the Michigan legislature, in 1988, created the Michigan Underground Storage Tank Financial Assurance Fund (MSUTFA), which was funded by a gas fee at the pump. The program was stopped in 1995 when the fund ran out of money. Since then, the number of LUST site cleanups have dropped by about 80 percent. Despite the discontinuation of the program, the 7/8-cent per gallon fee on all refined petroleum products sold or imported into Michigan was reauthorized in 2004, and the fund was renamed the Refined Petroleum Fund. While the fee collects about $50 million per year, about $850 million from the fund has been used to fund operations other than LUST sites.

“It has been used for various things,” Eagles said. “The Department of Agriculture has used it to pay for programs. It’s also been used for bond debt. It generates about $50 million (annually). Right now they are working on trying to get some of that money available to clean up sites. There is some talk and serious moves to get about $20 million a year set aside for owners and operators (of contaminated sites) to tie into it and use it to clean up releases.”

In 2010, the state legislature began an effort to address what has been viewed as an unacceptably low rate of LUST site closures in the state.

Lawmakers introduced a package of bills which were subsequently passed and enacted. A number of changes went into effect in 2012, including how sites are addressed and the type of action and information needed to close a LUST case within the DEQ, as well as efforts to restore funding to LUST closure actions.

Part of the 2012 legislative reforms to the program included the formation of an underground storage tank system cleanup advisory board, which was created to make recommendations to the DEQ and the state legislature on the development of a cleanup program, funded from the Refined Petroleum Fund, to assist owners and operators in financing corrective action required under Part 213 of the state’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), as it relates to leaking underground storage tanks. The purpose of Part 213 is to provide a process to remedy sites posing a threat to public health, safety or welfare, or the environment as a result of releases from underground storage tanks.

The advisory board, according to its latest report, published in 2013, recommended that all of the annual funding to the Refined Petroleum Fund be restored to the state’s underground storage tank programs in order to: (1) provide financial responsibility for owners and operators to address future releases; (2) fund a reimbursement program to provide assistance to

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qualified owners and operators undertaking corrective action to address known historical releases; and (3) conduct corrective action to mitigate imminent and substantial threats to public health or the environment at leaking underground storage tank sites where no liable or viable owner or operator is identified or able to undertake corrective actions, which are known as “orphan sites.”

The 2012 changes to Part 213 of the state’s environmental protection act require DEQ to adopt “risk-based corrective action” processes developed by the American Society of Testing and Materials as the basis for addressing contaminated properties. The new change is intended to make cleanup of properties more feasible than the former, stricter regulations.

“That allows more options on what a party needs to do to have closure on a site,” Eagles said. “They have to have a conceptual site model, which is basically a picture of where the contamination is, where it is moving and the risk it might present.”

The legislative changes also modify time frames for reports required to be submitted by owners or operators responsible for leaking underground storage tank releases. If the required reports, which are to document corrective actions taken at a leaking underground storage tank sites, are not audited by the DEQ within specified timeframes, they are considered approved by operation of law. Overall, the amendments intend to provide more cost effective and efficient closures of LUST releases while maintaining acceptable protectiveness of human health. ecent changes also repealed the DEQ’s obligation to evaluate and annually update a list of consultants and workers conducting clean-up work. Instead, the owner or operator of a site is now responsible for assuring the consultant meets a minimum qualification required under the state’s environmental protection law.

The legislative changes enacted in 2012 extend the collection of the Refined Petroleum Fee (RPF) to December 31, 2015. Further, Governor Rick Snyder’s budget has cut off some of the raiding from the RPF, allowing more to be used for its intended purpose.

Eagles said funding was noticeable last year.

“We got about $20 million to work on these sites, and we used a couple million to go out and investigate the old sites to see if there’s a risk there, and how serious it is. It’s not a full scale investigation. It’s like a ‘triage’ investigation.”

In order to “triage” a site, the department first tries to obtain permission from the current property owner in writing in order to investigate the site.

Investigators then inspect the site and look for signs of contamination. The department then looks to see what actions need to be taken to close the site. In some cases, the pollution is so old that much may have already degraded and additional action isn’t needed.

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The following is a list of active Leaking Underground Storage Tank locations, including the address, type of release (if known), and the date of the release.

Clark Station #1720 519 Commerce Road, Commerce Township, 10/28/1992

Former By-Rite 101 Commerce Road, Commerce Township, 11/25/1986

Marathon #1177 8185 Commerce Road, Commerce Township, 5/21/1990

Ryder Truck Rental 2500 Union Lake Road, Commerce Township, (gas), 4/14/1993

Former Heating & Plumbing Co. 3075 Pontiac Trail, Commerce Township, 6/13/2005 Vacant 115 Commerce Road, Commerce Township, (gas) 11/19/2008 Bay Pointe Auto Wash 8393 Richardson Road, Commerce Township, (gas) 8/6/1993, (kerosene) 12/31/2001 Glen Frank’s 2718 Benstein Road, Commerce Township, 2/23/1999 Commerce Auto Gulf Oil Commerce 76 510 Commerce Road, Commerce Township, 6/23/2006

Inter Lakes Steel 9434 Highland Road, Union Lake, (gas) 12/5/1997 Six Lakes Service/Bobby Garrison 9241 Cooley Lake Road, Union Lake, (gas) 5/12/1997 Charles Pelton 4295 Commerce Road, Union Lake, (gas) 6/2/1992 Walled Lake Schools (junior high) 615 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, (gas) 8/11/1992 Clark Oil Store #900 670 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, 12/2/1992

“In the first year we did it, there were about 208 sites where we did this,” Eagles said. “At about 46 or 47 percent of those, we determined we could close the site because there wasn’t a risk. At about 10 percent of the sites, we determined there was sufficient risk to take some action in the near future. Then there was a middle band, where there’s some risks that don’t have to be addressed immediately.”

The changes enacted in 2012, in addition to additional funds being made available for the inspection of the sites, has resulted in an uptick in the number of LUST sites being investigated and subsequently closed. However, funding remains significantly below the levels needed to correctly address the problem.

“It’ really is an uphill battle,” said Paul Owens, southeast Michigan district supervisor for the DEQ’s Remediation and Redevelopment Division.

“We do what we can to take action with the state funding that is available, but what we really need is more compliance out there. We have a pretty low compliance rate, with more sites out of compliance than in. It’s tough to get that under control.”

LUST sites that are considered out of compliance may be categorized as “inactive” cases, or those in which a release has been reported and no additional information or action was taken. Others are “stopped” cases, in which some action and information had been done and reported to the DEQ, but had been stopped for some reason. An active site is considered in compliance if appropriate action is continuing; and a site is “closed” when all actions and monitoring are complete.

Of the 31 open cases in the west Oakland area, 10 are classified as “inactive” status; 15 are “stopped” status; and six are on “active” status.

“If they haven’t submitted anything for a year, it may be inactive or stopped status,” Owens said. “We don’t always have the resources to follow up on all of them, but we try to look at the ones that present the biggest threats. There are definitely a significant number that aren’t moving forward the way they should. A lot of that has to do with the responsible parties going through bankruptcy or running out of money.”

Statewide, the DEQ has 31 open cases where releases are considered hazardous. The remaining releases are categorized as either class 1, class 2, class 3 or class 4 sites, with class 1 posing the greatest risk and class 4 sites approaching closure. Statewide, there are 1,282 class 1 sites; 1,584 class 2 sites; 2,374 class 3 sites; and 999 class 4 sites. The number of unclassified sites in the state is about 2,995.

Terri Golla, project manager for the DEQ’s Remediation and Redevelopment Division’s Southeast Michigan District, said she isn’t aware of any hazardous sites in the west Oakland area. However, there are sites where the amount of known information is limited.

Owners of a LUST site may be able to submit a baseline environmental

Speedway Station, #8870 3490 W. Maple, Walled Lake, (gas) 5/30/1997

Amoco #6422 750 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, 7/5/1987

Mobile Oil Corp 1144 W. Maple, Walled Lake, (gas) 6/18/1998

Tuffy Muffler 784 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, (used oil) 9/17/1992

Walled Lake Transportation 960 Ladd Road, Walled Lake, (used oil) 12/22/1992

Village of Wolverine Lake 425 Glengary Road, Wolverine Lake, (gas) 4/29/1998

DJ’s Carwash 777 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, 6/29/1989

Mobil Station #03-np1 Cooley Lake Road, White Lake, (gas) 4/29/1992

Former Marathon Station 3495 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, 5/23/1990

Hop-in #532 7000 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, 5/9/1988, 5/19/1990

Tuffy Service Center 784 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, (gas), 11/22/1994

Tigan Land Development 5761 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, (gas) 7/23/1992, 4/27/1999

Marco Development Co. 2020 Easy Street, Walled Lake, 3/5/1998 Ray’s Landscaping 1825 W. Maple, Walled Lake, 8/30/1993 Walled Lake Marathon 120 S. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, 11/6/1990

Former Jet, #22064 6601 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, 8/11/1988, (gas), 11/21/2002 Campbell’s Collision 6818 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, (gas) 9/27/1996

Source: Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

assessment to the DEQ. The assessment provides basic information about the site, and it protects a potential purchaser of the property so that they aren’t held liable for the contamination on the property. Golla said a site may be considered inactive if it has had such an assessment done.

“The liability lies with whoever caused the release, or whoever contributed, so there could be more than one party,” Golla said. “Property owners can transfer use and say that the contamination was there when they bought it.”

In instances where heavy contamination is found, the owner of the property may be required to conduct some mitigation, even if the use is changed. or the public, the fallout remains significant. Leaking fluid may contaminate soil, poison groundwater or result in vapor releases from beneath the surface. In some cases, the amount and type of release is so old that it breaks down naturally.

“Most of the time, if it gets into the groundwater, it could migrate faster, so if there are drinking water wells nearby, it could be a problem,” Golla said. “In Oakland County, (for those on municipal water) it’s not as much of a drinking water issue. It could be a vapor issue, but usually petroleum vapors aren’t as bad as, say, a dry cleaner. But you could still have an issue.

Usually, it has to be pretty heavily contaminated.”

In general, the inclusion of a property as an open LUST site in the DEQ’s database doesn’t necessarily indicate a health hazard. Some sites that have been identified as open LUST sites maintain monitoring systems and have been redeveloped for new purposes, such as restaurants. Experts say they would eat at those new sites. Contamination at other sites is less known.

For instance, the DEQ’s database lists the release of gas on Nov. 19, 2008 from a tank at a vacant lot located at 115 Commerce Road, in Commerce Township. However, few additional details are known about potential contamination at the site.

“We are trying to get someone out there to see what is there. It’s unknown to us,” Golla said. “There was a tank there that someone found when roadwork was being done. We aren’t sure how old it is or anything. We will do some solid (soil) testing and take groundwater samples, then evaluate the risk after that.”

The vacant site is one of the “triage” sites being investigated by the DEQ under the renewed efforts in recent years. It’s also one where the DEQ received written permission to access the site and conduct testing. In other locations, verbal permission was granted, but the DEQ hasn’t received permission in writing to access the site, further stalling the investigation process. Two other triage sites in Commerce – Glen’s Auto at 2718 Benstein Road, which is currently in “stopped” status; and a former heating and plumbing business at 3075 Pontiac Trail, which is in “inactive” status – are locations where access hasn’t yet been made to the site.

“When the properties are sold, its hard to track down a liable party,” Golla said. “The person that is liable, they have to pay for a consultant to do the work.”

The lack of a responsible party is one of the roadblocks to closing a LUST site that might be nearing closure in the DEQ’s database. In order to speed the process, and to better assess the threat of such sites, the DEQ triage of sites may help speed the process.

“Usually we try to triage a site where we don’t have any information or very minimal information,” Golla said. “If it’s a class 1 and nothing is being done, then we better evaluate it. Some we don’t find anything (on the site) because it’s so old, so we can close out the files, too. If there is a risk, we put it on a list for a state cleanup if there isn’t a liable party. Every site is different. It depends on how much is released, but the financial issue is the biggest problem.”

Other sites are actively being monitored with the assistance of the responsible party. For instance, Golla said a 1990 release at the Marathon station at 8185 Commerce Road, in Commerce Township, is being addressed and groundwater in the area is being monitored. A report regarding the site was last submitted to the DEQ in December of 2013.

Groundwater contamination, Golla said, is more of a concern in areas where residents receive their water from underground wells, rather than from the Detroit Water and Sewerage System, since wells are more prone to outside contamination. Other issues, Golla said, could relate to vapor escaping the site.

“We had some issues Downriver with vapor where it went into sump pumps and were drawn into a home,” she said. “There’s nothing like that happening in Commerce or Birmingham, but it could happen if there is product there that is released.”

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FACES Seán “Junebug” Harris Seán “Junebug” Harris, upright bass player and musical director for Rio and the Rockabilly Revival, rocks audiences alongside brunette bombshell crooner and wife, Rio Scafone.

“I met Rio probably in 2005. Not only was she gorgeous, she has this amazing worldliness to her. She was powerful, well-adjusted and really intelligent.”

Harris and Scafone married in 2010 and founded the rockabilly band in 2011. The intensity they brought to the stage was explosive.

“It’s a high-energy band,” Harris said. “We’re a touring band and we perform anywhere in the country.”

Locally, Harris plays the Trenton Summer Festival in June and the Nor-East’r Festival in Mio. Harris grew up in a musical home, foreshadowing a career in the business. “Music was very important in my house. Our morning was Billy Squier or Journey. My parents were big music lovers. I got my hands on a bass at 15 and took to it immediately.”

Harris was accepted into the Berklee College of Music and The Juilliard School in New York, but ultimately stayed in Detroit to study jazz at Wayne State University.

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It was more inclusive and everyone was supportive and collaborative.”

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Today, he and Scafone make their living through music.

“There is a difference between being a rock star and making a living as a musician.”

Rio and the Rockabilly Revival recently released their latest album, Runaway Train. The album is available on iTunes.

“I love every track on that album and what makes me so proud about it is that it is completely self-produced. Rio and I literally produced and captured every moment of that album together in our home studio.”

Harris was a longtime White Lake resident and he returns often to visit his mother, who still resides there. “I always like to go to Highland House . And my mother, Donna, owns the Sears Hometown Store in Waterford, so I stop in there often.”

Still, the biggest joy in Harris’ life is his daughter, Sophia.

The four-year-old was diagnosed with a high-functioning form of Autism Spectrum Disorder at two-years-old. The band donates a portion of proceeds from some of their shows to Autism Speaks, and they encourage early detection and intervention.

“Do not ignore any signs,” he said. “Your child is not the diagnosis. The sooner you know, the better.”

Harris and the band are looking at performing in Europe and Australia in 2014. “We just hope to get bigger and better.”

With Scafone by his side, his professional and personal lives are in perfect harmony.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “Let me put it this way, I never thought of marriage as a priority, and after I was with Rio for a little while, I couldn’t imagine going through life not being married to her.”

Story: Katey Meisner

Photo: Laurie Tennent

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Betsy Snider Heuer

B

etsy Snider Heuer, a sassy siren with an offbeat style, is tantalizing readers with her new book, Beer and Whine. The comical work is a memoir of Heuer’s life, from birth to menopause. It recounts the co-mingling of her Jewish and non-Jewish family.

“I’m not a writer. I don’t keep a journal. I mostly talk to get things out of me,” she said. “When I started writing, I had the goal of doing something that was going to be a humorous and a respectful chronicle of mixed marriage.”

Heuer’s second husband, Jeff, was brought up Presbyterian and has since converted to Judaism. The couple has been married 32 years by maneuvering through the dynamics of their differences.

“I’m much more dramatic and I complain a lot more. (I’ve found) Gentiles don’t interrupt as often as Jews do, and Jewish people reveal more,” she joked. “Jeff’s family loves to drink and I don’t drink at all. For Jeff’s family, their cocktail hour is almost holy.”

The self-deprecating spitfire brings out the stereotypical humor of Jewish and non-Jewish lifestyles and puts the innermost thoughts of her life into a droll narrative.

“Jeff and I aren’t a perfect match. The things that draw you to someone initially are the things that drive you crazy later,” she quipped. “My life is one big drama. But, we both adore our kids, and he’s a smart, generous person with good values. That’s very important.”

Along with a knack for entertaining and unapologetic honesty, Heuer is a philanthropist with a keen focus on youth and literacy. She volunteers for

Beyond Basics, a literacy program through the Detroit Public Schools (DPS), and tutors for DPS at Pasteur Elementary, which she attended as a young girl.

“When it’s your own elementary school, it’s really neat to go back and tutor there. These kids need so much. The classes are big and they don’t get enough attention,” she said.

“They’re just happy to see you and are appreciative. You hope you’re making a difference in their lives, no matter how small it may be.”

Heuer also volunteers with the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit, which takes her to Israel. “I go to Israel twice a year,” she said. “This next one will be my 18th trip.”

Their social services program targets at-risk people. It aims to enrich lives and helps to improve English skills. “Kids can learn about other kids in different countries,” Heuer said. “They write essays about their lives and goals. It’s a great organization.”

The author’s book is sold on Amazon, iBooks and is available at Lori Karbal in Birmingham and at Sundance Shoes in West Bloomfield.

Heuer and her husband are West Bloomfield residents with four children between them.

“My family comes first before anything. My kids are 31 and 29 (years old) so, don’t forget, I annoy them now. My family and Israel are my biggest passions. That’s what makes me happiest in the world.”

Story: Katey Meisner

Photo: Laurie Tennent

BUDGETS CHALLENGED DESPITE SALES PRICES SLOW COMEBACK FOR LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES

BY LISA BRODY & KEVIN ELLIOTT

H

omeowners are feeling happy once again, as assessed property values and home sales prices have begun to show significant improvements after years of depressed worth. In the metropolitan Detroit area, Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties all had residential property values showing gains for the first time in six years, after a recession that in actuality more closely resembled a depression to the individuals, businesses and municipalities who had the misfortune to have to live through it.

Assessments and values vary widely by individual community, but overall, southeastern Michigan’s Detroit metropolitan area has seen home prices rise 52 percent since the end of 2009, after first watching them plummet an average of 60 percent.

While sales prices do not directly correlate to taxable values, Oakland County overall has seen the needle of the arrow turn northwards. Locally, residential property values increased by an average of 8.96 percent from 2013 to 2014 in Commerce Township, Walled Lake, Waterford Township, West Bloomfield Township and White Lake Township, according to figures provided by Oakland County Equalization Division Manager Dave Hieber. County-wide, property assessments increased by an average of 8.38 percent.

In neighborhoods that once saw for sale signs litter the landscape like neglected garbage and foreclosure notices scattered about with abandon, houses are now selling at a rapid clip. Real estate, that sacred cow of a commodity, is hot once again.

So while sales values and corresponding assessment values declined in recent years, the situation is starting to reverse itself.

Y

et despite the rise in values, this has not translated into a windfall for government units relying on tax revenues to underwrite budgets, thanks to a couple of long-standing constitutional amendments and some legislative action this past year.

The first roadblock to recovery for municipal budgets was actually enacted by voters in 1978. Called the Headlee Amendment, this constitutional amendment keeps taxes from increasing more than the rate of inflation and automatically “rolls back” a municipality’s millage rate to cap overall community revenue growth at the rate of inflation.

An exception to the cap on taxation involves new construction and improvements to existing structures, the full value of which can be added to the tax rolls, a definite boost to the municipal revenue stream.

The Headlee Amendment was enacted because real estate values were increasing at a fast pace, driving up assessed values so when taxing entities – cities, townships, villages, the state – calculated property taxes based on how much the property was worth, they would collect a windfall in terms of new revenues each year. But the Headlee Amendment altered that scenario.

Then in 1994, state voters approved Proposal A, another constitutional amendment which was aimed at moving most of school funding to an increased state sales tax. At the same time, Proposal A cut property taxes and capped them while creating a new gauge – taxable value – as the basis for the calculation of property tax. Any increase in taxable value is limited to the Consumer Price Index of inflation or 5 percent, which ever is lower.

While under the pre-1994 system taxes were tied directly to state equalized valuation (SEV), which is generally 50 percent of market value, capped taxable value is determined by taking the previous year’s taxable value, plus/minus losses or additions to a property, with an adjustment for the rate of inflation or five percent, which ever is lower.

Another factor affecting municipalities in limiting the amount of taxes local governments can collect are recent changes made by the Governor Rick Snyder administration to personal property taxes paid by businesses.

In December 2012, Snyder signed into law 11 bills affecting the taxation of personal property. Beginning on December 31, 2013, owners of personal property or commercial personal property with a true cash value less than $80,000 can file for an exemption. The exemption refers to industrial and commercial personal property, such as machinery and equipment.

Hieber said personal property tax revenues account for about 7 percent of all tax revenues in the county. Exemptions being implemented this year, he said, will equate to about a 15 percent reduction in personal property tax revenues countywide.

The personal property tax exemption, Hieber said, will likely impact communities with greater amounts of commercial and industrial businesses, such as Auburn Hills.

As of January, residential property values in Commerce Township increased about 9.68 percent from the previous year, with ratios equaling about 45.13 percent of a property’s market value. Property values in Waterford Township increased about 6.96 percent on average, with ratios at about 46.78 percent of their market value.

Values in West Bloomfield Township increased about 9.01 percent, with ratios equaling about 45.41 percent of market value. Values in White Lake Township increased an average of 8.70 percent from the previous year, with ratios representing about 45.54 percent of market value. Assessments increased 10.47 percent in Walled Lake in 2014, with the average ratio being about 44.81 percent of market value.

Assessments in Wolverine Lake Village are included in the county’s assessments for Commerce Township. However, Wolverine Lake Village Treasurer Mike Kondek said residential properties increased about 7 percent in the village from 2013 to 2014. He said the biggest growth has been with condominiums and lakefront property, while apartment properties have decreased slightly, which he said is in line with Commerce Township and the rest of Oakland County.

The increases mark the second consecutive year for increased values in all five of the municipalities in the past decade, indicating that home values that stabilized in 2013 continue to rise. Home values in the west Oakland area dipped slightly in 2007, with the beginning of a sharp decline starting in 2008. Prices continued to drop significantly through 2011, with decreases in each of the five municipalities reaching double digits until 2012.

These slight increases don’t neccesarily help local governments.

As taxable values fell, so did the budgetary amounts that local government had to work with. Local government budgets are based on taxable values, not on increased market value. With capped valuations and inflation remaining low under Headlee and Proposal A, municipal budgets remain squeezed.

“We’re not yet seeing the increases in taxable values. It will be (the year) 2020 before it catches up to 2009,” said Commerce Township Supervisor Tom Zoner. “Values in houses will go up, but that would be the SEV, not the taxable value. Our taxable values were set last year when we did our budget.” Zoner said they based their 2014 budget on a 1.5 percent increase in the CPI. “There could be an increase, but we wouldn’t experience that until the end.”

For every one percent in CPI, that brings in $320,000, meaning that a 1.5 percent increase in the CPI translates into only $500,000 to the township’s budget.

S

ince the economic downtown hit in 2008, local municipalities have been forced to make a lot of cuts.

Zoner said Commerce Township has definitely not been immune to that economic reality. Commerce Township Treasurer Susan Gross said values remain down, with personal property tax revenues expected to decrease by about $47,000 in 2014 from 2013.

“We did cut. In 2010 or 2011, we laid off a lot of people. We did a SAD (special assessment district tax) for police and fire, which has allowed us to restore two police and fire officers since, but not all of the things people had to give up. We used to have 28 people in township hall running the business here. Now, there is only the

township building administration left. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 10 to 12 people less than before. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a hold on a lot of unnecessary spending, and we continue to do that today. We have saved 15 percent in utilities just by have four ten-hour days rather than five days a week, which we did in 2012.â&#x20AC;?

Walled Lake Finance Director Colleen Coogan said they have seen a significant drop in the amount of money in their coffers due to decreased residential property values, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;as residential climbs back, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re more than offset by the continued drop in commercial. That has continued to go down by a significant amount of money.â&#x20AC;?

Waterford Township assessor Don Wood said that residential properties in the southern portion of the township saw increases, as did the rest of the township, with increases of up to 7 and 8 percent. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not back up to 2007 levels,â&#x20AC;? Wood said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really say they are close to that yet, but there has been an increase.â&#x20AC;?

Wood said commercial properties in Waterford Township have continued to decrease this year, with a drop of about one percent on average. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For the past five years, they have gone down about every year,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not as severely as residential, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still a decrease.â&#x20AC;?

In Wolverine Lake Village, with little commercial property and no industrial, the rise in residential values would appear to be in their favor, but, like other communities, they are subject to Headlee and Proposal A. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the inflation rate that they use is 1.6 percent, so even anything larger than that, we are subject to that cap,â&#x20AC;? said Wolverine Lake Village Treasurer Mike Kondek. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our high water mark year would have been, the highest ever, was about $172 million in taxable value in 2008-2009. Now, we are down to about $135 million in our current budget year. I would say we lost about a 22 percent decrease overall.â&#x20AC;?

Which is a tremendous amount of money that will not be readily recouped for years to come.

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akland Countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Daddow has long cautioned governmental officials, going back to 2007-2008, just prior to the crash, that their revenue streams were not sacrosanct. He said the current CPI of 1.6 percent needs to be compared to the 30 percent of value which was lost over six years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The only way to really rectify it is to see holes in the ground and new construction,â&#x20AC;?

Daddow pointed out, because new construction is outside of the taxable caps of the Headlee and Proposal A amendments, and can provide communities with sizable new construction taxable revenue increases. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Without new construction, individual taxpayers are seeing the benefits of the CPI, but local governments have not recouped, and they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t for a long time. Right now itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1.6 percent. So even if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a 3, or 5, or even 7 percent increase of SEV, governments are just chasing inflation,â&#x20AC;? Daddow said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The high point for local governments was 2007.

Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be back around 2020 to 2025, depending on the community. A bedroom community that is all built out, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be closer to 2025 to 2030.

But newer communities, with greater potentials to build and put on houses and infrastructure, that goes right into the coffers for a communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s taxable property value. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But, the reality is, not every community is going to experience a restoration of property values,â&#x20AC;? Daddow continued. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The unfortunate thing is, many are not going to see anything more than the rate of inflation, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to have to wait for inflation to restore those values. Of course, at the same time as inflation is growing, so are their expenditures, so the net is zero.â&#x20AC;?

I really think inflation will stay low, so even with any growth in property valuations, the brake is still on in terms of what the village can do raise in property taxes,â&#x20AC;? Wolverine Lakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kondeck said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s our single largest source of revenue. We, like everyone else, are subject to the cap, and I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get back to those high levels. At least, it would be a long time from now.â&#x20AC;?

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A Call for Volunteer Groups and Individuals The Lakes Area Rotary Club is looking for Volunteers

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Sign up as Groups, with friends, or as individuals.

Pre and post event volunteers are needed also. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Service Above Selfâ&#x20AC;?

Unique Fundraising Opportunity for Organizations available by volunteering.

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Go to www.RotaryCarnival.net to Volunteer

LAKEFRONT - DETACHED CONDO WEST BLOOMFIELD | $240,000

Lakefront on one side, woods on the other.

There is no better spot than this. 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths and loads of updates.

This really is a “Must See”!

PINE LAKE PRIVILEGES WEST BLOOMFIELD | $240,000

Mid-Century Modern ranch home a short walk to Pine Lake, sandy beach and docking. Vaulted ceilings and large doorwall bring the outdoors in on this lovely half-acre lot. Nice space. Great Value!

LAKE VIEWS OF CASS LAKE WATERFORD | $175,000

Close to Cass, Sylvan & Elizabeth Lakes this home is also in walking distance to a marina with boat docking. If you are looking for the boating lifestyle without the cost - here it is! 1900 Sq ft

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CARLTON FOREST CONDO NOVI | $229,900

Ground floor ranch condo. 2 bedroom, 2 bath with 1500 sq ft and a 2-car attached garage. Built 2003, w/great x-way access. Master suite with spa-bath and there’s a home office too! Move in ready!

OUTSTANDING RANCH HIGHLAND | $215,000

2003 built ranch, privileges on All-Sports Upper Pettibone Lake. Large lot w/privacy landscaping.

Open floor plan w/great room & library, 3 bed-rooms, 2.5 baths. 1800 sq ft plus basement. Mint condition!

TO BE BUILT NOVI | $899,900

Pretty spot in gated community with 1.55 acres.

All the amenities you are looking for and you make all the selections. Build your dream home.

Near Meadowbrook Golf Club.

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NEW CONSTRUCTION NOVI | $1,047,500

GORGEOUS CHELSEA PARK WEST BLOOMFIELD | $550,000

All the finest materials in this nearly 5000 sq ft home with walk-out and 4-car garage. With a master suite walk-in of 30 x 15 and a pantry of 9 x 9, you might have to do some shopping! Gated community

West Bloomfield’s crown jewel! Centrally located in “The Hills” this beautiful home backs up to private wooded area and features all the amenities you are looking for. Over 4000 sq ft

LAKE FRONT ON GREEN LAKE WEST BLOOMFIELD | $550,000

BEAUTIFUL AUTUMN PARK NOVI | $530,000

Updated in 2003, this pretty home sits on the shore of Green Lake - a “quiet” lake, where beauty and serenity will surround you. 2400 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 2.1 baths. West Bloomfield Schools.

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House Beautiful! Nearly 4000 sq ft, granite, crown moldings, 11 ft ceilings, fabulous detail and pretty court setting. Junior master and Jack-n-Jill suites. Sunroom too, and Northville Schools.

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FACES

Brad Burlingame

B

rad Burlingame scaled his way to the top; from carrying extension cords as an intern with the Detroit Pistons to dominating corporate sales for the Dallas Cowboys.

“I definitely got my work ethic from my mom. She was a single mother and we were her number one focus. My mom would work two jobs.”

Standing 6-feet-2-inches tall, Burlingame was a shooting guard for Walled Lake Central High School from 1994 to 1997 and envisioned a life for himself in the NBA as a boy.

“I started playing basketball at about six or seven-years-old. It was really something I gravitated toward. My cousins had a basketball hoop, so I spent a lot of time with them.”

Growing up, the Detroit Pistons’ “Bad Boys” era was in full effect and the Commerce Township native took notice. “Isiah Thomas was always my favorite player. I liked how gritty he was and how hard he played.”

Realizing that a career in the NBA was a lofty goal, Burlingame studied business and marketing at Eastern Michigan University. Still, he yearned to work within the profession.

“I bought tickets and went to a (Detroit Pistons) game. I saw this woman down by the floor and walked down to the court, pre-game. I got two seconds of her time, but she handed me her business card.” After calling the woman for six months, Burlingame was offered an internship with the Pistons.

“At the games, I was the guy carrying the extension cord behind the camera. I was doing the grunt work.”

Burlingame stood out as a doer, and the eager intern was quickly promoted.

“I was calling schools and churches and trying to get them to buy large group tickets.”

He became the top sales person in that position and was later offered a job with the Miami Heat. “I got promoted there pretty quickly. I moved to corporate sales for the (Maimi) Heat and was with them for seven years.”

There, Burlingame met and befriended Miami Heat’s head coach, Erik Spoelstra.

“He’s my best friend. He introduced me to my wife and he’s the godfather to my children.”

Despite his longtime association with the NBA, Burlingame was enticed by an offer to work in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys. He persuaded his wife, Charo, to relocate from the sandy beaches of Miami to the Lone Star State.

“Basketball is my favorite sport; but business-wise, I always wanted to get into the NFL. There are 50 million Americans who are NFL fans and the Cowboys are the number one brand. It’s a really good experience.”

Burlingame and his wife have three daughters and he has found great satisfaction in his career, but he aims for even greater success.

“The ultimate goal is to be the president of an organization; whether it is the president of an NBA or NFL team,” he said. “People ask me how I got here and I tell everyone it was through hard work. I have a strong work ethic and I got it from my mom.”

Story: Katey Meisner

Edwards & Chris Kelly Small 248. 631.8750 cedwards@hallandhunter.com

CHRISTIE’S INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE

248. 924.1375 ksmall@hallandhunter.com

- NEW LISTING -

- MULLET LAKE FRONTAGE -

- REDUCED PRICE -

BLOOMFIELD | $1,650,000

INDIAN RIVER | $12,900,000

CHARLEVOIX | $1,095,000

6 Bedrooms 4 Full, 1 Half Baths 7500 Square Feet MLS# 214014216

Wallace Frost midcentury on 3.6-acre hilltop. 100’ of Orange Lake frontage. Private and secluded location.

10 Bedrooms 10 Full, 5 Half Baths 14,497 Square Feet MLS# 214008556

Gated masterpiece with 2390’ of shoreline. 27.5 acres of pine-studded forest. Sweeping 131’ veranda. 10-car garage.

5 Bedrooms + Loft 4 Full, 1 Half Baths 3930 Square Feet MLS# 213031109

Newer year-round retreat on prestigious Michigan Avenue. 100’ of sandy beach frontage. Stroll to nearby dining and shopping.

Co-Listed with Pam Gray

Sellers: We will advertise your property in the next issue! Call for more information.

- PENDING -

- SOLD -

- NEW LISTING -

FARMINGTON HILLS | $245,000

NOVI | $408,000

FARMINGTON HILLS | $245,000

5 Bedrooms 2 Full, 1 Half Bath 2200 Square Feet MLS# 214010346

Sought after Barrington 4 Bedrooms Green cul-de-sac backing 2 Full, 1 Half Baths to common area. Master 2999 Square Feet with large bath. Great MLS# 213119964 neighborhood features!

Lochmoor Village beauty 4 Bedrooms with open floor plan. Granite 2 Full, 1 Half Baths kitchen. 1st floor laundry, 1994 Square Feet part. fin. LL. 2-sided fireplace MLS# 214014784 in family room/office.

olverine Lake Village Residents Wwww.ChrisandKellySold.com

Cul-de-sac backing to a 10-acre forest. Screened 3-season room. Updated kitchen & baths. Part. fin. basement. Oversized garage.

442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

MUNICIPAL District judge loses control of docket

By Kevin Elliott

Oakland County 52-1 District Court Judge Brian MacKenzie broke the law and issued illegal sentences to defendants who had previously been convicted of misdemeanor crimes, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Colleen Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien wrote Thursday, February 13, in a ruling that ordered superintending control over MacKenzieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s court.

The ruling stems from a complaint filed against MacKenzie on November 26, 2013 by Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper. In it, Cooper alleged MacKenzie had, on at least eight occasions, set aside convictions and entered pleas that were taken under advisement without the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s knowledge, nor consent as required under state sentencing law. Further, the ruling affirmed allegations that MacKenzie had taken the illegal actions during secret proceedings, then ordered the case records be made â&#x20AC;&#x153;non-publicâ&#x20AC;? in an attempt to conceal the illegal actions.

Under the ruling, MacKenzie, who was first appointed to the 52-1 District Court in 1988, affirmed the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s allegations in those eight cases, and ordered MacKenzie to â&#x20AC;&#x153;cease and desist his practice of granting illegal dismissals of valid criminal proceedingsâ&#x20AC;? and receive consent from the prosector any time he takes a domestic violence matter under advisement, as required by law.

Additionally, MacKenzie must provide the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office with a list of all domestic violence cases he has dismissed over the past 10 years, which were granted under the statute regarding under advisement status for domestic violence cases.

The 52-1 District Court serves the communities of Commerce Township, Highland, Lyon, Milford, Novi, South Lyon, Wolverine Lake Village, Walled Lake and Wixom.

Under advisement status allows first-time criminal offenders to keep some convictions from being entered in the court system by pleading guilty to a charge, then agreeing to undergo a sentencing program prescribed by the judge. The arrangement, particularly in domestic violence cases, requires the defendant to receive consent by both the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office and the victim of

Future road projects in Commerce

T

he Commerce Board of Trustees considered more than a dozen potential road construction projects to be considered this year under a cost-sharing program involving the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC), Commerce Township and Oakland County at their monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 11, which trustees will approve as they come forward in the future.

The RCOCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tri-Party program allows local governments to undertake some road projects by sharing in the cost of the project with the RCOC and the county. Funds available to Commerce Township during the 2014 Fiscal Year, which runs from October 2013 to September 30, 2014, total $131,439, with the township responsible for contributing an additional $43,813.

The program allows communities to decide the nature of annual road improvement projects to be funded by the RCOC, Oakland County and the participating community. Tri-party projects are typically smallscale work, such as widening intersections, adding turn lanes and widening roads. Funding is based on the number of miles of roads in a community and the number of accidents annually.

Potential project locations and actions for 2014 include: â&#x20AC;˘ Adding a northbound turn lane signal at Benstein Road at McCoy Road. â&#x20AC;˘ Installing a westbound passing lane at Commerce Road at Cedarbank Road. â&#x20AC;˘ Adding eastbound and westbound turn lanes at Commerce Road at Cooley Lake Road. â&#x20AC;˘ Resurfacing Crumb Road from Welch Road to Haggerty Road. â&#x20AC;˘ Improving 14 Mile Road from M-5 to Decker Road. â&#x20AC;˘ Improving Pontiac Trail from M-5 to Walled Lake Drive. â&#x20AC;˘ Improving S. Commerce Road between Oakley Park Road and Commerce Road. â&#x20AC;˘ Widening the intersection at Wise Road and Carroll Lake Road. â&#x20AC;˘ Widening the intersection at Wise Road and Commerce Road. â&#x20AC;˘ Resurfacing Wixom Road from Charms to Duck Lake Road. â&#x20AC;˘ Resurfacing Duck Lake Road from Wixom Road to Commerce Road. â&#x20AC;˘ Widening and resurfacing Haggerty Road from Pontiac Trail to Richardson. â&#x20AC;˘ Improving the intersection at Oakley Park Road at South Commerce Road.

Commerce board members added two additional projects to the list of potential areas to improve, including paving part of Farr Street near Commerce Elementary School and the widening of Richardson Road near Union Lake Road.

Projects must be approved by the program, with precedence given to projects that increase road safety over other types of projects, such as congestion or drainage.

the crime before under advisement status can be granted.

However, the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office alleged, and the higher court agreed, that MacKenzie broke the law by granting under advisement status to defendants without consent and without knowledge of the prosecutor or victim. In other instances, the circuit court found that MacKenzie illegally tossed out valid convictions gained by the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office and charged the defendant with lesser charges which were given under advisement status, without the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s knowledge.

The complaint alleged that MacKenzie was able to take these illegal actions without the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s knowledge by taking such actions at sentencing hearings where the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t present, and without giving the prosecutor notice.

Further, the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office stated that MacKenzieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s court reporter falsified records to indicate that assistant prosecutors were present at the illegal sentencing hearings when they were not actually in the courtroom. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien stated that it did in fact appear that the court

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reporter had on several occasions listed attorneys as being present when they werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In reviewing the uncontested facts of this case, it is clear that Judge MacKenzie has chosen not to follow the law on at least eight occasions,â&#x20AC;? Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien said in her ruling. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Judge MacKenzie does not address the legality of his action. Judge MacKenzie gives no explanation for proceeding time and time again without the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consent, which is in direct violation of the statute.â&#x20AC;?

The ruling goes on to say that MacKenzie granted reduced sentences based on his experience and knowledge that treatment would be more beneficial than jail for some defendants. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Judge MacKenzie claims that his sentences have worked and many of the referenced defendants have not been charged with a repeated offense. However, a good result cannot be predicated on illegal actions. A judge cannot ignore the law,â&#x20AC;? she wrote.

David Timmis, Mackenzieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attorney in the case, said while Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien ordered superintending control and a review of MacKenzieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cases, there was no finding that he ever attempted to conceal, hide or cover-up any proceedings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the primary and most salacious allegations that the prosecutor made was that judge MacKenzie tried to cover up some proceedings, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to note that there was no judgement or finding that judge MacKenzie ever did or attempted to cover up any proceedings,â&#x20AC;? Timmis said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Judge MacKenzie looks forward to working with the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office. He has always been willing to work with the prosecutorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office, and he will continue to administer justice, and will do so in accordance with the law.â&#x20AC;?

Paul Walton, chief assistant prosecutor for Cooperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office, said he disagrees with MacKenzieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contention that he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t attempt to hold proceedings in secret. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wonder if he is reading the same opinion that I did,â&#x20AC;? he said of Timmisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; statement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The reason the court is granting superintending control is because he is granting these illegal sentences... she may not have used the word â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;secretâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; but that is clearly what he is doing. I would hope that this would send a message to judge MacKenzie: follow the law.â&#x20AC;?

Conflict of interest on rails to trails?

By Kevin Elliott

An error discovered within a 145page city master plan approved by the Walled Lake City Council at its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 3, led to a brief discussion of plans to purchase the Walled Lake railway station and a perceived conflict of interest involving a Commerce Township official.

City council member Tamara Loch, who was appointed to the council on January 15, questioned a sentence in the city’s master plan stating that the former Michigan Air-Line Railway had recently been acquired by the Commerce, Walled Lake, Wixom Trailways Management Council.

However, while the trailways council has received a grant to purchase the property, the deal has not yet been finalized. That technicality led councilman John Owsinek to express concern about a potential conflict of interest involving the trailways council and the Commerce Township planning consultant.

The Michigan Air-Line Railway was constructed in 1883 and merged with the Grand Trunk Western Railway in 1928. For many years, the only remaining part of the railway that wasn’t abandoned was a line which ran between Wixom and West Bloomfield. The line has since been abandoned, with the Walled Lake station running its last “dinner train” in 2008. Plans have since been underway to create a walking trail that would connect the line to West Bloomfield’s existing walking trail, which is based on the former railway.

In January 2011, the railroad formally abandoned the track, and in 2012 the railroad was removed between Walled Lake and the interchange in Wixom. In order to gain federal funding to support the rails to trails project, the Commerce, Walled Lake, Wixom Trailways Management Council was created through an intergovernmental agreement. As part of the grant application process, the council is required to have a master plan for its project.

Owsinek said Kathleen Jackson, director of the Commerce, Walled Lake, Wixom Trailway Management Council, recommended using McKenna & Associates to create a

More sidewalks coming to Walled Lake

W

alled Lake City Council on Tuesday, February 3, authorized efforts to acquire land and/or right-of-way easements along the north side of Pontiac Trail in order to install new sidewalks in the area.

Construction crews in the fall completed road construction along Pontiac Trail near Decker Road. The project, which was to include sidewalk replacement and signalization equipment, was cut short on the pedestrian improvements due to inclement weather.

Walled Lake City Manager Dennis Whitt said engineers working on the sidewalk project informed him that the city doesn’t currently have all the required property rights to complete the project. In order to address the issue, Whitt recommended the council authorize the city attorney to commence the proper proceedings to acquire the property.

Whitt said the process involves obtaining the land through eminent domain procedures prior to paying the property owner, then determining the proper price for the land obtained through legal acquisition proceedings.

The project led to discussions about a second sidewalk project along Decker Road that was to be done as crews completed a $1.17 million construction project between Maple and S. Commerce roads.

The sidewalk portion of the project wasn’t included in the road project, which included a new overlay, curbs, gutters, storm sewer and drainage improvements.

Whitt said the city has a potential partner on the sidewalk portion of the Decker Road project, but the city will need a grant to complete the project, which he said could cost as much as $300,000 per mile of sidewalk.

Council approved two motions regarding the sidewalk projects, including authorizing the city attorney to move forward with efforts to acquire the needed land along Pontiac Trail, as well as moving forward with preliminary plans on the Decker sidewalk project. Both motions passed unanimously, with councilman Casey Ambrose absent at the time of the vote.

master plan for the trail project.

However, Owsinek, a member of the trail council, said he voted against the recommendation because Jackson is married to the vice president of McKenna, John Jackson.

“There is a conflict of interest regarding two parties involved,” Owsinek said at the city council meeting. “I couldn’t, in good conscience, approve it. I’m going to need to see at least three bids, not a single source where the two parties are related. That didn’t sit well with me, and it goes against my ethical standards.”

Calls and e-mails placed to Kathleen Jackson by Westend weren’t returned. Jackson also serves as the Commerce Township Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Director and the township’s planning consultant.

Commerce Township Supervisor Tom Zoner confirmed the relationship between Kathleen Jackson and John Jackson, but said he doesn’t see any

problems with using McKenna for township business.

“We contracted with McKenna before they were married,” according to Zoner, who said contracts involving McKenna had been bid out by the township several times in the past, and that McKenna was usually the lowest bidder and offered excellent quality. Further, he said the township has since become one of McKenna’s “preferred clients,” meaning the township receives better pricing on planning services. “They offer a better deal than others, and they are usually the low bidder.”

Walled Lake City Attorney Vahan Vanerian said the trailway council indicated it is in the request for proposal process regarding the hiring of a consultant to conduct a master plan of the project.

The trailways council, which includes representatives from each of the three municipalities it represents, requires unanimous support from council members for approval.

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Strong interest noted for DDA development

By Kevin Elliott

The withdrawal of a $4.5 million offer to buy land inside Commerce Township’s 330-acre downtown development project area hasn’t dampened interest in developing the area north of M-5 and Pontiac Trail between Haggerty and Welch Roads, known as Commerce Towne Place, a real estate professional told the Commerce Township Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board members at their monthly meeting on February 18, after providing an update to the Commerce Township Board of Trustees at their monthly board meeting the week before.

“As far as marketing activity, it’s a top infill location in metro Detroit, and it’s shovel ready,” Insite Commercial President Randy Thomas said of the Commerce Towne Place project area during an update to the trustees. Commerce Township DDA Director Kathleen Jackson and Thomas gave an update about the project’s progress to trustees on February 11 and to DDA board members on February 18.

Commerce Towne Place was created as an endeavor by the DDA to establish a planned development area with residential, commercial and retail sites coexisting and supporting each other in an effort to establish a downtown area for the township.

The project area consists of about 202 acres of buildable land, as well as 128 acres dedicated to conservation areas, public trails, preserved wetlands and storm management for the project. About 70 acres of land is earmarked for commercial development, with approximately 140 acres intended for residential use.

The project area is derived from two former golf courses and about 50 acres of former parkland that the DDA purchased from the state of Michigan.

The DDA last year accepted its first two purchase agreements on parcels in the project area. A third offer by multi-family developer and management company Edward Rose and Sons of Bloomfield Hills, to purchase two parcels of land in the project area, was withdrawn in December. Thomas said then that the developer felt it would have “an uphill battle” in having plans for a 400-unit apartment complex

approved by the township. That conclusion was based on comments by township board members in November who voiced opposition to what some viewed as an abundance of high-density, multi-family residential developments in the township.

Despite that perception, Thomas said three different developers have expressed interest in the property.

Each of the developers would be interested in constructing higher density single-family homes on a 43acre parcel south of Oakley Park Road, between Martin Parkway and Haggerty. â&#x20AC;&#x153;All three parties have submitted letters of intent,â&#x20AC;? Thomas said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There may be one or two more.â&#x20AC;?

The entire 330-acre project area is divided into 11 parcels, A through K, with specific uses recommended for each.

Parcels A and H total about 59.9 acres of land. Parcel A is located north of Pontiac Trail between Welch and Martin Parkway. Parcel H is located at the northwest corner of Pontiac Trail and Martin Parkway.

The property is currently under contract with M. Shapiro Development Company. The DDA has accepted a purchase offer of about $5.15 million for the land. Shapiro has proposed construction of approximately 400 stacked ranch and/or townhouse units. About 4.5 acres of land fronting Martin Road is intended to be used for mixed use/commercial development, possibly as hospitality and restaurant use. About 4.4 acres is intended for single tenant use, such as restaurants, banks or retail.

The two parcels are under contract and the developer is in its due diligence period. Thomas said the developer is also waiting for a final traffic study, which is being prepared, to determine if access to Welch Road from the site is necessary.

Parcel B includes about 64.2 acres of land north of Pontiac Trail and east off Martin Parkway. The DDA is currently in negotiations with a developer who is contemplating a phase 2 retail development. The DDA has granted the developer a confidentiality agreement after having submitted a letter of intent but no formal purchase offer. An offer or agreement is expected within the next 60 days.

Parcel C consists of 6.2 acres of land at the corner of Pontiac Trail and

Million dollar advance approved for DDA

By Kevin Elliott

T

he Commerce Township Board of Trustees, at their monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 11, approved advancing $1 million to the Commerce Township Downtown Development Authority (DDA) from the townshipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debt sinking fund.

The advance is part of approximately $2.7 million in contributions expected to be advanced to the DDA from the township this year, under the DDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2014 budget. The township board in September 2013 approved advancing $1.8 million to the DDA from the sinking fund.

Additional advances from the township include $800,000 on March 19, 2013; $150,000 on Jan. 29, 2013; $150,000 on Nov. 13, 2012; $1.3 million on Aug. 14, 2012; and $850,000 on March 15, 2012.

The advances make up the majority of debt service payments for the DDA, which include $2.6 million in interest and administrative costs, and $1.55 million in principal debt in 2014.

Debt owed by the DDA includes interest and principal on bonds used for the $10 million purchase of the former El Dorado Country Club in 2004, and $14 million spent to purchase the Links of Pinewood golf course in 2006 and 2007, as well as 50 acres of Huron Clinton Metropolitan park land and contiguous parcels. The goal of the project, north of M-5 between Welch and Haggerty roads, was to alleviate traffic congestion, enhance the economic stability of the township via planned development, and to allow for the preservation of open space.

Key to repaying the DDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debt is the development of a mixed use areas that include commercial and residential developments, named Commerce Towne Place. The DDA last year accepted the first two purchases for portions of the land from developers, including a $5.15 million purchase agreement between the DDA and M. Shapiro Development Company, which occurred on June 25. The DDA accepted an agreement on August 20 for Hunter Pasteur Homes of Novi to purchase 14.9 acres for $1.04 million for a residential housing development.

While the purchase agreements have been accepted, the final closings and full payments will not be made to the DDA until due diligence by the developers is completed. The funds, once received, will go toward paying the DDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debt.

This new advance from the township was approved by a unanimous vote from the township board. The funds will be distributed to the DDA on an as-needed basis subject to the DDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cash flow.

Haggerty. Two developers have submitted letters of intent, both proposing similar retail centers with a restaurant pad at the north of the center, adjacent to Walmart. Thomas said one developer, in particular, has met with both him and Jackson to get feedback for a proposed development, and has since submitted a formal purchase agreement. That agreement is being negotiated by the DDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketing committee and is expected to be available for review before the DDA board in the next 30 days.

Parcel F consists of about 3.9 acres of land just southeast of township hall that is intended to be used as retail or office space. It may also be used as a potential site for a new township library. Thomas said there hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been much interest in the parcel, yet. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t anticipate any until

development comes to fruition,â&#x20AC;?

Thomas said.

Parcel G has about 15 acres just west of township hall. The DDA in September accepted a purchase agreement from Hunter Pasteur Homes of Novi for about $1.04 million for the land. The developer has proposed building 39 single-family homes with an average sale price between $250,000 and $350,000, and an average home size between 2,500 and 3,200 square feet. The developer has submitted a site plan that will be considered by the townshipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s planning commission on Monday, March 3.

Parcel I contains about 2.9 acres of land northeast of township hall that is intended to be used as office research.

Thomas said there have been limited inquiries on the land to date.

Parcel J includes about 5 acres of

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land at the southwest corner of Oakley Park and Haggerty to be used as retail or office space. To date, there have been limited inquiries, but no offers have been presented. The land includes a high-pressure gas main that runs diagonally through the property with a wide easement that limits the type of development that can occur on the property.

Parcel K includes about a half-acre of land across the street from the parcel, south of Pontiac Trail. Thomas said the best use of the property would be to combine it with the neighboring property to the east and west, as it would very difficult to develop on its own because of its size and poor access to the site.

Village land buyer given additional time The schedule of a Wolverine Lake apartment home project was extended Wednesday, February 12, by the Wolverine Lake Village council at its monthly meeting, following a request by an Ohio development company seeking to increase the due diligence period under its purchase agreement.

Redwood Management Company in June 2013 purchased a 13-acre parcel of land near Oakley Park Road and Commerce Road from the village for $473,000 in order to build singlestory apartment homes. The project will consist of about 110 units, with each consisting of 1,300 square feet with attached two-car garages. Rents are expected to be between $1,300 to $1,400 per month. The development plans to cater to empty nesters nearing retirement.

Under the purchase agreement, Redwood was given until February to complete its due diligence period to develop conceptual plans, preliminary analyses, cost estimates and other routine pre-development work.

However, issues regarding the propertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s master deed and title have taken longer than expected to resolve, leading Redwood to request an extension of the due diligence period.

Village council voted unanimously to extend the due diligence period until June 10. The developer had asked for two 90-day extension periods, however, the council said they hoped the process would move quicker if they extended the period for only 90 days, rather than 180.

Special conditional zoning approved

By Kevin Elliott

Landowners seeking approval from the city of Walled Lake to rezone their property for different uses or development may agree to special conditions on the property, under an ordinance nearing final approval by Walled Lake City Council at their meeting on Tuesday, February 4.

City council members approved the second reading of a conditional rezoning ordinance that intended to add flexibility to the development and zoning process. Conditional rezoning allows landowners to voluntarily propose conditions or special provisions regarding the use and/or development of land as part of a rezoning request.

“These provisions can potentially provide benefits to property owners and communities alike by providing a more streamlined, flexible and cohesive process for developing and rezoning properties consistent with a community’s goals and objectives,” Walled Lake attorney Vahan Vanerian said in a memo to council. “Potential benefits can include flexibility from strict compliance with zoning ordinance requirements when appropriate by avoiding additional costs, delays, uncertainties and rigidity associated with the variance process.”

Under the proposed Walled Lake ordinance, rezoning plans would have to go before the planning commission, which would be required to hold a public hearing on each rezoning request. The plan would then need final approval from city council.

The conditional rezoning process is an accepted practice for some local units of governments, such as

Commerce Township where a conditional rezoning plan was approved in August 2013 to permit the construction of a 225-unit apartment complex to break ground at Maple and Beck roads. Other municipalities have steered away from conditional rezoning practices because some considered it a temporary land use, for the specific project only, and when the project ceases to exist, the property would revert back to its original rezoning.

“Conditional rezoning under the statute is best suited for landowners who have fairly well developed plans for a future use at the time of rezoning but needs some flexibility from rigid zoning ordinance requirements,” Vanerian said.

Township, DDA land conveyance okayed A strip of land conveyed to Commerce Township in April 2013 by the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), near where the new township hall now sits, will be given back to the DDA in order to accommodate a residential development project in the DDA area of the township.

The land transfer was unanimously approved by the board of trustees at their meeting on January 14, and by the township’s DDA board on January 21. The approval also included related agreements regarding a temporary construction easement agreement and an easement agreement for emergency access.

The agreement stems from an April 2013 land transfer in which the DDA conveyed the township hall and surrounding land to the township. That conveyance was made with the understanding that the DDA, at

Luxury apartment zoning given township blessing

A

conditional rezoning request to allow for the construction of a luxury apartment development at Maple and Beck Roads in Commerce Township was granted final approval Tuesday, February 11, by the Commerce Township Board of Trustees.

Conditional rezoning allows property owners to agree to special conditions regarding the property in hopes of gaining approval of having the land rezoned for a different use than otherwise would be permitted.

Farmington Hills-based M. Shapiro Development agreed in August 2013, to revise plans to construct approximately 225 luxury apartments on the 28-acre parcel of land. The project, dubbed Maple Ridge, is to

another time, may request a portion of the land to be re-conveyed to accommodate the sale and development of adjacent land owned by the DDA. That time came only months later when Hunter Pasteur Homes agreed to purchase DDA-owned land next to the township’s parcel, and develop part of a five-unit site condominium project.

However, that sale and development project require the condominium site to have both direct access to Martin Parkway, as well as a secondary access route available for emergencies.

Further, construction at the site would be hindered unless the developer is granted permission to move equipment across portions of the township’s property.

“It’s all township property,” said Commerce Township Supervisor Tom Zoner. “If the DDA ceased to exist tomorrow, the land would all become township land.”

Title and legal agreements are required to be put in place in order for projects and sales to move forward as planned. Particularly, in regards to the Hunter Pasteur development parcel, the sale and completion of the project are contingent upon the DDA reacquiring a portion of the township’s land, and for the township to grant the developer easements for emergency access and construction.

On January 14, the Commerce Township Board of Trustees approved a land exchange agreement that returns a strip of land about 25 feet by 63 feet to the DDA, which will allow for one of the easements; and the conveyance of another small strip of land owned by the DDA to the township, which then will provide an easement to the developer to allow for emergency

consist of two-bedroom, two-bathroom luxury apartments ranging from 1,200 to 1,400 square feet.

Shapiro originally presented the project to township officials in 2011, and it has been subject of a series of revisions since. Final revisions were agreed to by the developer and the township board on August 13, 2013. The board on Tuesday gave final approval, by a vote of 6-1, to rezone the property from single-family residential to multiple-family residential use. Trustee Rick Sovel was the dissenting vote.

While approval was granted for rezoning the property, Shapiro will still need to have a site plan approved by the Commerce Township planning committee before work can begin on the project.

The project came before the township board of trustees in December of 2011, but was sent back to the planning commission for further review. A July 16, 2012 planning commission meeting drew

access across the land. The DDA on January 21 also approved the agreement.

Under the agreement, the DDA will be required to pay for all title fees and associated costs. The agreement and subsequent costs are expected to be no more than $500, and possibly less than $100.

Library plan runs into snag while adopted

By Kevin Elliott

Plans outlined in a strategic plan regarding the Commerce Township Community Library ran into the first of what could be many roadblocks on Tuesday, February 11, immediately after being accepted by the Commerce Township Board of Trustees at their monthly meeting.

Commerce Township Library Director Connie Jo Ozinga said in presenting the plan that it establishes four goals to be undertaken in the next three to five years for the library, including: establishing the library as a destination within the community and a resource and innovation center for Commerce Township; creating and promoting a public image of the library as a vital dynamic, customerfriendly resource and center of the Commerce community; building the library’s capacity (infrastructure) to prepare for future growth; and exploring the development of a new library to better serve the residents of Commerce.

The plan, which included input from members of the community, library staff and the township’s library advisory board, was created with the assistance of Library Strategies, an outside consulting

concerns from residents who had issues about developing rental apartments in the area, citing traffic issues and the belief that such a development would have a negative impact on surrounding home values.

After going back and forth between the planning commission, the board of trustees and the applicant, it returned to the planning commission on June 18, 2013, at which time planners recommended the plan be sent to the township board for approval with special conditions regarding sidewalks, elevation requirements, trailway requirements and finalization of the zoning issue.

Under the plan approved Tuesday, the developer agreed to increase guest parking at the complex from 75 to about 95 spots; additional landscaping at the site; road improvements to alleviate traffic concerns; and additional sidewalks.

company. Acceptance of the strategic plan by the board of trustees doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t guarantee future funding for actions.

Neither does the boardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s acceptance necessarily mean that all of the goals in the plan will be met as prescribed in the plan â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a reality that became clear after the plan itself was accepted by the board. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are aware there are a lot of items that say we want to do this and that, and they cost money,â&#x20AC;? Ozinga told the board, â&#x20AC;&#x153;but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not our expectation that your approval today means that we expect they will be approved when asked for in the future.â&#x20AC;?

Additional items included in the strategic plan include establishing the library as a destination in the township. A first step in the strategic plan calls for developing a vision for the libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role in the township. That vision statement is to be developed by the library advisory board and used on all marketing pieces to enhance the libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s image.

Specific actions to establish the library as a destination place include enhancing services and programs, such as English as a Second Language (ESL) services; senior services and programs; educational programs and services; and researching placement and cost of kiosk stations for patron pick-up and return of library materials; researching better utilization of the current building space; transforming the library into a more welcoming and user-friendly environment by potential use of additional signage, parking lot improvement, use of credit/debit cards, as well as community promotions; prioritizing and expanding technology needs by making additional services ad programs available.

While the board accepted the plan, the board of trustees declined to take any action Tuesday on a request from library advisory board chairman Barry Hiscox to create a marketing and publicity committee that would include community volunteers who would make recommendations to Ozinga and the library advisory board regarding marketing and publicity efforts.

Ozinga, who presented the idea of the marketing and publicity committee to the board with Hiscox, said the library has difficulty marketing the library because Commerce Township lacks a dedicated newspaper or television station. She and Hiscox said it became apparent while developing the strategic plan that such a

committee was needed to help promote the library.

Trustees questioned the need for the committee and whether such a committee would be subject to open meetings, or violate state law by using township resources to promote future millage proposals regarding the library. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to prevent this group from getting together without us,â&#x20AC;? trustee Robert Berkheiser questioned. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have issues with making this subject to the public meetings act by formalizing this. It almost seems they want to take away some authority from the library board.â&#x20AC;?

Trustee Rick Sovel noted that the proposal for the committee mentioned that it â&#x20AC;&#x153;be activated without further delay due to the urgent need to raise the profile of our local library with the public, in preparation for the impending millage renewal request.â&#x20AC;?

Currently, the library operates from two millages, one of which is dedicated to the construction of a new library. The current library, which is located at 2869 N. Pontiac Trail, inside Commerce Townshipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Downtown Development Authority property. The 20,000 square-foot building, which was a former golf course clubhouse that was located on the land, was converted to a library at the cost of about $400,000. While long-range plans include selling the land and relocating the library to a new location, it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t yet known when such actions will take place.

Key questions remain over where a new library would potentially go and how much it would cost. Ozinga said they currently have almost $7 million in their coffers set aside for a new building, from two library millages, one of which is set to expire this year, another in two years. Realistically, construction and operating costs for a new library put a new building at $275-$300 a square foot, meaning the township needs another $5 million.

Commerce approves part-time position

By Kevin Elliott

A part-time position in the Commerce Township treasurerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office, approved at the Tuesday, February 11, township board of trustees meeting, will help the department keep bank information up to date, treasurer Susan Gross told board members.

The need for additional staff in the department was highlighted in September when an independent

auditorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report recommended that bank reconciliations be done each month in a more timely manner. Gross said at the time that while the department has attempted to update account books by the end of each month, she and other staff had been overwhelmed with the amount of work they are required to do.

Gross, who has served as the townshipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s treasurer since 1993, said in September that she was already working weekends in order to keep up with the workload, and that the problem would likely persist without the addition of more staff. The auditorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report also reflected a lack of needed staff in the auditorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; discussions with management.

The township reduced staff levels in previous years to help balance the townshipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budget. However, recent growth in residential development in the township has led to an increased workload in many departments. In order to address the issue, the townshipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2014 budget included the addition of a part-time staff member in the treasurerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office.

The position, which will be a nonunion position, will require no more than 25 hours of work per week. Pay was approved at between $12 and $14 per hour.

The part-time position, which will require the employee to work Monday through Thursday, will be advertised at the townshipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website, www.commercetwp.com, with an application deadline of March 20.

The position was approved by a vote of 5 to 1, with trustee Robert Long voting against approving the position.

Walled Lake, DDA agree on lease term Walled Lakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) will remain at its current location at 1499 E. West Maple for the next year following the approval of a free lease agreement by city council at its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 3.

Council approved the $0-per month lease agreement by unanimous vote, with councilman and DDA chairman Casey Ambrose absent at the time of the vote.

Walled Lake City Manager Dennis Whitt said the lease agreement will save the DDA about $12,000 for the year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They got another year lease for no charge,â&#x20AC;?Whitt said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no

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pressure to find another spot, but I believe it may be the last year we get a free lease. And, as a city, we may want to put the DDA somewhere else, since the purpose is to bring business into downtown, where the office is located.â&#x20AC;?

The lease agreement is between the DDA and Walled Lake Station Inc., which is part of Ohio-based Phillip Edison & Co. Under the terms of the agreement, the lease will begin on April 1, 2014 and run for the length of 12 months. While Whitt said the DDA may want to find a new location in order to open up the location to new businesses in the future as commercial development in the area is expected to increase, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not yet known if or when the DDA will relocate its office.

The purpose of a DDA is to promote economic development projects by utilizing funds generated from property taxes within the DDA area.

The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s DDA moved in 2010 from city hall to its current location in the Walled Lake Commons Shopping Center at the corner of West Maple and Pontiac Trail.

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WESTEND

PLACES TO EAT The Places To Eat for Westend is a quick reference source to establishments offering a place for dining, either breakfast, lunch or dinner. The complete Places To Eat is available at westendmonthly.com and in an optimized format for your smart phone (westendmonthly.com/mobile), where you can actually map out locations and automatically dial a restaurant from our Places To Eat.

Amazing House Chinese Restaurant: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, Mondayâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Friday, 3-10 p.m. No reservations. 1130 E. West Maple Road, Walled Lake, 48390.

248.669.8896.

Anaamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Palate: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2534 Union Lake Road, Commerce Township, 48382. 248.242.6326.

Applebees Neighborhood Grill: American.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 9100 Highland Road, White Lake, 48386. 248.698.0901.

Backyard Coney Island: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 49378 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393. 248.926.9508.

Bayside Sports Grille: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 142 E. Walled Lake Drive, Walled Lake, 48390.

248.669.3322.

Biffs Coney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

3050 Union Lake Road, Commerce Township, 48382. 248.366.7400.

Big Boy Restaurant: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Beer & Wine. 5834 Highland Road, Waterford, 48328. 248.674.4631.

Big Boy Restaurant: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

800 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, 48390. 248.624.2323.

Big Boy Restaurant: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Beer & Wine. 7726 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, 48327. 248.363.1573.

Billyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tip N Inn: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 6707 Highland Road, White Lake Township, 48383. 248.889.7885.

Blu Nectar: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday - Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

1050 Benstein Road, Walled Lake, 48390. 248.859.5506.

march march madness has arrived ved at at

Boon Kai Restaurant: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1257 S. Commerce Road, Commerce, 48390.

248.624.5353.

Buffalo Wild Wings: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

5223 Highland Road, Waterford, 48327.

248.674.9464.

Carinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Italian Restaurant: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 500 Loop Road, Commerce Township, 48390.

248.926.5300.

Carrie Leeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of Waterford: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

7890 Highland Road, Waterford, 48327.

248.666.9045.

Caseyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sports Pub & Grill: Deli. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1003 E West Maple Road, Walled Lake, 48390.

248.669.5200.

CAYA Smokehouse Grille: Barbeque.

Dinner, Tuesday - Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 1403 S. Commerce Road, Wolverine Lake, 48390. 248.438.6741.

China Garden: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. 49414 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393. 248.960.8877.

China House: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 901 Nordic Drive, White Lake Township, 48386.

248.889.2880.

China King: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. 4785 Carroll Lake Road, Commerce Township, 48390.

248.363.9966.

China Queen: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1130 E. Maple Road, Walled Lake, 48390.

248.669.8896.

CJâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brewing Company: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

8115 Richardson Road, Commerce Township, 48390. 248.366.7979.

Coffee Time CafĂŠ: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

1001 Welch Road, Commerce Township, 48390. 248.624.0097.

Coyote Grille: American. Lunch, MondayFriday; Dinner, Monday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 1990 Hiller Road, West Bloomfield, 48324. 248.681.6195.

Dairy Queen: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 10531 Highland Road, White Lake, 48386.

248.698.2899.

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Willow Rd. Commerce Rd.

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WESTEND COMMERCE • WALLED LAKE • WOLVERINE LAKE • UNION LAKE

Member of Downtown Publications

248.792.6464

daily. No reservations. 2510 Union Lake Road, Commerce Township, 48382.

248.363.7000.

Dave and Amy’s: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

9595 Highland Road, White Lake, 48386. 248.698.2010.

Dave’s Coney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No Reservations.

901 Nordick Drive, White Lake, 48383.

248.889.3600.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit: Barbecue. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 4825 Carroll Lake Road, Commerce Township, 48382. 248.360.4055.

Dobski’s: American, Polish. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6565 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, 48327.

248.363.6565.

Eddie’s Coney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

1749 Haggerty Road, Commerce Township, 48390. 248.960.1430.

El Nibble Nook: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations for 6 or more. Liquor.

2750 Haggerty Road, West Bloomfield, 48323. 248.669.3344.

El Patio Mexican Restaurant: Mexican.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

7622 Highland Road, Waterford, 48327.

248.666.5231.

Five Guys Burgers & Fries: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 5134 Highland Road, 48327. 248.673.5557.

Gest Omelets: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily until 4 p.m. No reservations.

39560 W. 14 Mile Road, Commerce Township, 48390. 248.926.0717.

Golden Chop Sticks: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 47516 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393.

248.960.3888.

Grand Aztecha: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6041 Haggerty Road, West Bloomfield, 48322.

248.669.7555.

Greek Jalapeno: Greek, Mexican. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

6636 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, 48327. 248.363.3322.

Green Apple Restaurant: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 7156 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, 48327. 248.366.9100.

Haang's Bistro: Chinese/Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 225 E. Walled Lake Drive, Walled Lake, 48390.

248.926.1100.

Highland Grille: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 7265 Highland Road, Waterford, 48327.

248.666.8830.

Highland House: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2630 E. Highland Road, Highland, 48356.

248.887.4161.

Highland House Café: American, Pizza.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

10719 Highland Road, White Lake, 48386. 248.698.4100.

Hong Kong Express: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 5158 Highland Road, Waterford, 48327.

248.673.7200.

It’s a Matter of Taste: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2323 Union Lake Road, Commerce, 48390.

248.360.4150.

Jennifer’s Café: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 4052 Haggerty Road, Commerce Township, 48390. 248.360.0190.

Jenny’s Restaurant: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

1186 E. West Maple Road, Walled Lake, 48390. 248.669.8240.

Kennedy’s Irish Pub: Irish/American.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 1055 W. Huron Street, Waterford, 48328. 248.681.1050.

L George’s: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1203 S. Commerce Road, Walled Lake, 48390.

248.960.5700.

Leo’s Coney Island: American/Greek.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 6845 Highland Road, White Lake, 484386. 248.889.5361.

Leo’s Coney Island: American/Greek.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 4895 Carroll Lake Road, Commerce Township, 48382.

248.366.8360.

Leo’s Coney Island: American/Greek.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2210 Teggerdine, White Lake, 48386. 248.779.7085.

Leon’s Food & Spirits: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 29710 S. Wixom Road, Wixom, 48393. 248.926.5880.

Lion’s Den: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 4444 Highland Road, Waterford, 48328.

248.674.2251.

Lulu’s Coney Island: Greek. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

1001 Welch Road, Walled Lake, 48390.

248.669.1937.

Maria’s Restaurant: Italian. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2080 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48323.

248.851.2500.

Mexico Lindo: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6225 Highland Road, Waterford, 48327.

248.666.3460.

Mezza Mediterranean Grille: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. 1001 Welch Road, Commerce Township, 48390.

248.926.2190.

Moonlight Mediterranean Cuisine: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. 1123 E. West Maple Road, Walled Lake, 48390.

248.859.5352.

Nick & Toney’s: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday; Sunday until 3 p.m. No reservations. 9260 Cooley Lake Road, White Lake, 48386.

248.363.1162.

North Szechuan Empire: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 39450 W. 14 Mile Road, Commerce Township, 48390. 248.960.7666.

On The Waterfront: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 8635 Cooley Lake Road, Commerce Township, 48382. 248.363.9469.

Panera Bread: Bakery, Deli. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

5175 Highland Road, Waterford, 48327. 248.618.0617.

Pepino’s Restaurant & Lounge: Italian.

Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 118 W. Walled Lake Drive, Walled Lake, 48390. 248.624.1033.

Red Lobster: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 479 N. Telegraph Road, Waterford, 48328.

248.682.5146.

Red Robin: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 3003 Commerce Crossing, Commerce Township, 48390. 248.926.2990.

Root Restaurant & Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 340 Town Center Blvd., White Lake, 48386. 248.698.2400.

Rudy’s Waffle House: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No

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reservations. 674 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, 48390. 248.669.7550.

Samuri Steakhouse: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7390 Haggerty Road, West Bloomfield, 48322. 248.661.8898.

Shark Club: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 6665 Highland Road, Waterford, 48327.

248.666.4161.

SIAM Fushion: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. Liquor. 6845 Highland Road, White Lake Township, 48386.

248.887.1300.

Siegel’s Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 3426 E. West Maple Road, Commerce Township, 48390. 248.926.9555.

Sizzl in Subs & Salads: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2051 N. Wixom Road, Wixom, 48393.

248.960.0009.

Swasdee Thai Restaurant: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 6175 Haggerty Road, West Bloomfield, 48322. 248.926.1012.

Sweet Water Bar & Grille: American.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 7760 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, 48327. 248.363.0400.

Taqueria La Casita: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 49070 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393.

248.926.1980.

Thai Kitchen: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. 7108 Highland Road, Waterford, 48327. 248.886.0397.

The Lake’s Bar & Grill: American. Lunch, Tuesday - Sunday; Dinner daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2528 Union Lake Road, Commerce Township, 48382.

248.366.3311.

The Library Pub: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

6363 Haggerty Road, West Bloomfield, 48322. 248.896.0333.

TJ’s Sushi & Chinese Restaurant: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 8143 Commerce Road, Commerce Township, 48382.

248.363.3388.

Town Lake Family Restaurant: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. 1186 E. West Maple Road, Walled Lake, 48390. 248.669.7550.

Uptown Grill: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

3100 West Maple Road, Commerce Township, 48382. 248.960.3344.

Village Grill: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

1243 N. Commerce Road, Commerce Township, 48382. 248.366.3290.

Volare Risorante: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 49115 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393.

248.960.7771.

VR Famous Fried Chicken: American, Cajun. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 47520 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393. 248.926.6620.

White Palace: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6123 Haggerty Restaurant, West Bloomfield, 48322. 248.313.9656.

Wilson’s Pub n Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

2256 Union Lake Road, Commerce Township, 48382. 248.363.1849.

Wonton Palace: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 5562 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, 48327. 248.683.5073.

Woody’s Café: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 235 N. Pontiac Trail, Walled Lake, 48390.

248.624.4379.

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214007730 - $288,900 Stunning 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home in desirable Wixom’s Wildwood Sub! Large kitchen with hardwood floors, large master suite with cathedral ceilings, walk in closet, luxury private bath, large backyard, immaculate move-in condition, Walled Lake Schools. www.realestateone.com

214007249 - $584,900 Spectacular, updated home with over 100 feet of frontage on 540 acre all sports White Lake. Gorgeous great room and state of the art kitchen with fantastic views of the lake. Spacious Master, updated bath. Finished walk out with bar and full bath. www.realestateone.com

213201841 - $255,000 Nature Lover’s Paradise on 1.48 acres, this contemporary home is nestled on secluded wooded lot. Neutral décor, great room with vaulted ceilings, natural stone fireplace, new flooring in kitchen, baths and laundry room, finished lower level can be used as private guest quarters. www.realestateone.com

214014541 - $160,000 PRIME, PRIME, PRIME location in Northville, deep in the sub backing to a premium wooded private site. A hard to find walk out location adds lots of extra room for many uses. (3rd bedroom, or in laws) Updates include newer furnace and a/c. Large rooms and open feel, lots of windows. www.realestateone.com

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214014633 - $149,900 Lake Privileges on All Sports White Lake! Much sought after 3 bedroom, two bath ranch with user friendly open floor plan and spacious cathedral ceilings. Master Bedroom features full bath. Large lot, private beach, and private launch. www.realestateone.com

214009126 - $474,900 Amazing lake front lot with 187 ft. of frontage and view of water on 3 sides. Charming 2600+ total sq. ft. home with major renovations in 2003+. New 22 X 11 Florida Room facing lake, 2 way stone FP, updated kitchen with granite counters & Bosch appliances, Trane air cond. & furnace, Anderson windows & DW. www.realestateone.com

© Real Estate One, Inc., 2014

Lakes Area (248) 363-8300

EQUAL HOUSING

OPPORTUNITY

BUSINESS MATTERS New salon opens Annette Krzyskowski and the staff at Your Salon, 46670 W. Pontiac Trail in Commerce Township, have more than a century of combined experience in hair cutting, coloring, styling and texturing. The salon is the most recent salon to be opened by Krzyskowski, who has been doing hair since moving to Commerce Township in 1979. Prior to opening Your Salon, she co-owned One Cut Above, which was located in Union Lake and later Walled Lake.

Krzyskowski and some of her staff came from the former Style Salon in Wixom, with some stylists from other nearby salons. The salon does a variety of different styles of hair. “We do African American hair, which is unheard of out here,” Krzyskowski said. Krzyskowski’s commitment to the community is expressed in several endeavors taken on by the staff, such as “PJ’s for Patrick” week, where she and the staff wear pajamas to work all week as a way to raise awareness for mental illness it’s effects on one local family. The staff also has a “pay it forward” wig program, in which they accept donated wigs, clean them and pass them along to people in need. “I

westendmonthly.com

have to stay local,” Krzyskowski said.

“I love the people in this area, it’s in my heart.

Sushi, Japanese fare It began 17 years ago in Sterling Heights, when Gar Yung opened his first restaurant. In February, he opened his fifth location, Shogun Japanese and Chinese Bistro at 5656 Maple in West Bloomfield. The teppanyaki-style bistro features a sushi bar and table-side cooking, as well as a full-service bar with traditional Japanese cuisine and some Chinese dishes. “It’s a good location,” Yung said about his decision to bring Shogun to the West Bloomfield location, which has previously been home to Joe’s Crab Shack and Chuck Muer’s Seafood Tavern before they closed. Shogun, which bills itself as a premier Asian bistro, has locations in Macomb Township, St. Clair Shores, Sterling Heights and Brighton.

New pizzeria in Commerce Commerce Township restauranteur Mickey Valle had a “crazy” idea for a restaurant in a market filled with gimmickry: offer great food at a fair price. The result is the newest

independent pizzeria to open its doors in the community, Epic Pizza Garden at 2510 Union Lake Road in Commerce Township. “I got into it without a lot of vision; it was just based on the food,” Valle said. “It starts with the dough that I make and the sauce. The dough isn’t like bread – it has nice, tight bubbles and a crispy crust that’s tender on the inside with some chew. For years, I have grown my own basil and oregano. I purify it and put it in the sauce, and it gives it a nice, wellbalanced flavor. All the ingredients are hand cut, nothing is frozen.” Now, shortly after a soft opening, Valle said there are a few changes coming to the restaurant. For starters, he is enhancing the simple vision to revamp the interior of the store and the name to reflect the interior and applying for a tavern license. Epic serves up traditional and gourmet pizza toppings as well as salads and subs made in house. Additionally, Valle has added his homemade meat pasties to the menu three days of the week. He said the recipe was handed down from Cornwall, England, where his grandfather was from.

WESTEND

Laser pain relief Dr. Mark Kendall spent 30 years in chiropractic practice to help alleviate people’s pain, then he discovered cold laser treatment and everything changed. “I found a laser product that is phenomenal in pain relief,” Dr. Kendall said, owner and operator of Advanced Laser Pain Relieve Center in Commerce Township at 955 Commerce Road. “I found it works so well that we made it the focus of our service.” Kendall is now an expert in cold laser therapy, using Advanced Laser’s LaserTouchOne process to treat the source of pain by stimulating damaged cells to promote growth and healing. The most common areas of treatment include headaches, back pain, elbow pain, and post surgery pain, among others. “It’s phenomenal,” Kendall said about the treatment. “It’s really specializing in pain relief for people who are tired of taking medications.”

Business Matters for the west Oakland area are reported by Kevin Elliott. Send items for consideration to KevinElliott@downtownpublications.com. Items should be received three weeks prior to publication.

41

ENDNOTE

Municipal ethics policies revisited

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oncerns raised last month about a perceived conflict of interest and the potential for nepotism involving the director of the Commerce, Walled Lake, Wixom Trailways Management Council provides west Oakland's municipal leaders with an opportunity to examine local ethics policies.

The issue, raised on February 4 by Walled Lake city councilman John Owsinek, involves Kathleen Jackson, the director of the trailways council, and her husband, vice president of Northville-based community planners McKenna and Associates.

Owsinek, who serves as the Walled Lake representative on the trailways council, took exception to a no-bid contract offered to McKenna by the trailways council to develop a master plan for the inter-governmental body.

The development of a master plan to convert about 33-acres of the former Michigan Air-Line Railway to a walking trail connecting the West Bloomfield Trail and the Huron Valley Trail in Wixom is key to acquiring the now-abandoned rail corridor. Work to acquire the land has been ongoing for several years and includes more than $3.75 million from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund.

While this publication believes the attempt to waive the competitive bid process and award the contract to McKenna was well-intentioned, we must point out that no-bid contracts inherently give the appearance of unethical dealings, as noted by Owsinek. And, while Owsinek's decision to vote against awarding the contract without seeking competitive bids may have temporarily derailed the acquisition process, we also support his decision to reject the contract without going

out for additional bids to design a master plan, something that should be commonplace when dealing with projects controlled by a multicommunity panel.

We also point out that the trailsways council, in addition to seeking additional bids for the project, is also in the process of hiring two appraisers to assess the land, as required by the state for grant purposes. This fact, in addition to local ethics policies, should be an indicator that intergovernmental boards, such as the trailsways council, should also establish an ethics policy from their onset that works to reduce the appearance of conflicts of interests, and it could be something as simple as adoption of one of the municipal ethics policy already developed.

Commerce Township Supervisor Tom Zoner has noted the township has been contracting with McKenna well before Jackson, who serves as Commerce Downtown Development Authority director and planning consultant, and her husband, John Jackson, were married. Further, he said McKenna has consistently been the lowest bidder in the past, and that the township has since become one of the firm's "preferred clients" which allows for preferential pricing.

While Commerce Township's ethics policy specifically addresses conflicts of interest, the policy is broad. The township's personnel policy, or handbook, includes two sections relating to ethics: business ethics and conduct and conflicts of interest. The portion of the handbook outlining conflicts of interests establishes only the framework on how to operate, in order to provide general direction.

The section reads: "transactions with outside firms must be conducted within a framework established and controlled by the Commerce Township Board of Trustees. Business dealings with outside firms should not result in unusual gains for those firms. Unusual gain refers to bribes, product bonuses, special fringe benefits, unusual price breaks and other windfalls designed to ultimately benefit either the employer, the employee, or both. Promotional plans that could be interpreted to involve unusual gain require special written approval of the township.”

Also, "no presumption of guilt" is created by the mere existence of a relationship with outside firms.

While Commerce and other local communities have ethics policies, the recent incident suggests that the policies may have to be reviewed and ultimately offer more detail on how officials and employees must handle certain situations. Further, the local ethics policies should, as part of the policy, be extended to multi-community boards like the trailways panel.

Ethics come from a branch of philosophy that addresses questions of morality, and the concepts of good and evil, right and wrong, virtues and vices, and what is appropriate justice for a crime.

The key to a good ethics policy is to avoid even the whiff of impropriety or conflict of interest. Ethics policies and ordinances allow a community to ask questions, explore appropriate answers and find solutions which fit specific situations, something that a broad policy may not be able to accomplish.

Establishing ethics policies or standards from the onset avoids the appearance of conflicts or unethical behavior, and allows everyone to proceed with their community's best interests satisfied.

School district giving kids another chance

Z

ero-tolerance policies in schools began about 15 years ago in the wake of the horrific Columbine school shooting, and have morphed into something that many educators feel has gotten out of their control. Rather than policies for heinous, life-threatening crimes, kids in many school districts are having their lives uprooted for transgressions which were once considered childhood offenses.

Zero-tolerance policies are discipline policies under which children are suspended, and even arrested, for major as well as minor offenses that can include cursing, getting into shoving matches and other garden-variety misbehavior that in decades past would have been sorted out by a visit to the principal’s office, detention or meetings with the student’s parents.

These policies date back to 1994, when congress required states receiving federal education money to expel any student who brings a gun onto school property. Over time, states and local governments broadened and altered it to

expel students for all sorts of offenses, including seemingly minor ones. At the same time, schools across the country began stationing police officers and security guards in their hallways. There, they witnessed infractions and arrests increased for non-violent behavior.

In the last few years, school administrators around the country have become increasingly concerned about this “one-size-fits-all” approach to disciplining students, with statistics frequently indicating that most suspensions and expulsions were for minor issues and that minority students were overwhelmingly bearing the brunt of the punishments. A more moderate approach to discipline has been sought by educators, one where schools could choose the punishments on a individual basis, which hopefully would be more judicious.

While Walled Lake Schools has followed the national trend of suspending and expelling students for all sorts of issues, from major crimes to more minimal offenses, we are impressed with a

proactive program they have created to help many of these students reintegrate back into the educational process. Called LATE, it’s an alternative high school program for students that have gotten waylaid. About 20 to 25 kids utilize the program each school year, with approximately 14 to 15 in it each semester. As an instructor pointed out, it allows teens who have gotten off track a second chance.

Research consistently shows that students who are suspended or expelled are more likely to never get a high school diploma, end up in the juvenile justice system or eventually land a low-paying job or no job at all. By helping these students find their way back by getting caught up on their credits, working at their own pace and perhaps receive counseling, which then allows them to return to their traditional high school, Walled Lake is essentially saving them.

Many other school districts would be wise to study Walled Lake’s lead. Both the students and society will be the long-term beneficiaries.

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