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Saline Reporter
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VOL. 61, NO. 11
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011
Board hears more information about millage proposal proactive problem solving units that work with various groups such as homeowner associations; road patrol and a field The Pittsfield Township training unit that trains townBoard learned more informaship officers. tion about a proposed tax Grewal said there has been a increase after voting previously focus within the last few years to put it on the ballot for voters on crime prevention and efforts to consider. Voters will go to the polls May such as the township’s commu3 to decide on an increase to the nity patrol unit may have to be township’s 10-year public safety cut if the millage is not passed. The millage remains one of millage that is set to expire at the lowest rates in Washtenaw the end of the year. The 1-mill County and the township is one increase will nearly double the millage, bringing it to 1.95 mills. of a few communities that has seen a decrease in crime, she The existing 0.95-mill levy said. generates less than $100 per Grewal said crime decreased year on a house with a $100,000 an estimated 18 percent between taxable value. The new millage would tax residents an addition- 2008 and 2010. “I think the credibility really al $100 per year and generate goes to the fact that our public $3.3 million overall when first safety personnel are so dedicollected in 2012. If it’s not approved, Township cated,” she said. The township will cover the Supervisor Mandy Grewal said cost of the election. The ballot cuts will have to be made. also will include a request from “There will be service cuts the Washtenaw Intermediate and there will be layoffs,” School District for a special edushe said during the Pittsfield Township Board meeting March cation millage renewal. Grewal cited long-term finan9. cial planning as the reason for According to a document the increase. released by the township, millWith decreased revenues age funds would be used for from the state and other sources operating expenses; sworn of funding, the township is havpolice officers; firefighters and support personnel; replacement ing to finance more of the public safety bill from its general and additional fire apparatus; capital requirements, including fund, she said. Grewal said 50 percent of equipment acquisition; and for the public safety department’s related program support. budget is financed from the Some of the services providtownship’s general fund. The ed by the public safety departtownship wants to keep the ment include 911 dispatch that also assists with non-emergency PLEASE SEE BOARD/3-A calls; community patrol unit;
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Portion of west Saline was once its own village By Steven Howard Heritage Media
A capacity crowd gathered in the Brecon Room of the Saline District Library Sunday afternoon to hear local history enthusiast Douglas Elfring give his presentation, “The Lost and Forgotten Village of Barnegat.’ More than 65 people were on hand to hear Elfring discuss the portion of west Saline that once went by the name Barnegat beginning in the middle part of
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Mother Goose entertained an audience for 30 minutes March 6 at the “Kerry Tales: Lions and Lambs with Mother Goose” event at Hollander’s in Ann Arbor.
Curious crowd hears about Barnegat the 19th century. Elfring talked about how Barnegat was a civic enterprise in its own right as it was home to many of the area’s mills given its location close to the Saline River surrounding where Wellers now exists. Wellers itself was once the mill owned by Haywood, Elfring said, but was moved slightly from its original location by Henry Ford when the automaker purchased it, as well as several other regional mills, as part of his “Village Industries” rural part-making endeavor. “In 1848, then, Schuyler Haywood came to build a mill down on the river,” he said, “and he brought a lot of friends and
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relatives with him.” Haywood came to Saline from Barnegat, N.J., thus explaining the prospective village’s name. Where one mill began, another often followed, Elfring said. “Whenever you had a grist mill, normally somewhere associated with it was a saw mill,” he said. “And if you’re going to process flour, then you’re going to need something to put it in, so there had to be barrels.” From the start, Barnegat faced a substantial challenge by way of a large hill that once ran across Michigan Avenue from where the Saline American Legion Hall currently is on the north side, to the western edge of the cemetery on the south side.
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BRIEFLY... ■ Players to perform ‘Sound of Music’: “The Sound of Music,” presented by the Saline Area Players, will be held 7 p.m. March 25, 22 and 7 p.m. March 26, and 2 p.m. March 27 at the Saline High School Auditorium. Tickets are $15 for adults or $12 for seniors 65 and older, and students through high school. Seating is general admission. For more
The road was paved with wooden planks, covered by dirt, making it nearly impossible to traverse in poor weather. “At that time, there was a great hill separating the rest of Saline,” he said, citing a newspaper article written by an older man in the middle 20th century who remembered Barnegat from his childhood. “He said that made it necessary to chain the wheels of the buggies and things going down over the hill so that they wouldn’t run over the poor horses.” As time moved on, Barnegat faced even more challenges, including those that came by way of modern innovation. People changed the way they obtained their milled products,
and the riverside milling operations became obsolete. “And then, in Saline, came the railroads, and that changed the whole shipping process,” Elfring said. “And also came packaging. You don’t need cooper for barrels when you can buy smaller packages.” Though the Barnegat area of Saline has been home to several memorable businesses throughout the past century, including a farm implement store and bowling alley, in addition to those currently operating there, Elfring said the name slowly fizzled into extinction. For more information about future events hosted by the Saline Area Historical Society, visit www.salinehistory.org.
www.salinereporter.com information or tickets, visit www.salineareaplayers. org or call 944-4940. ■ Internet safety class to be offered: An Internet safety class will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at Saline District Library, 555 N. Maple Road. Rich Coleman, Pittsfield Township Public Safety community cordinator, and Detective Don Lupi, Saline Police Department, will discuss the dangers of scams and fraud, tips on password protection, and the process for filing a police report
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E-mail: editor@salinereporter.com when you’ve been scammed. Registration required. ■ Tecumseh hosting Downtown Divas at Dusk: Downtown Divas at Dusk will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. March 24 in downtown Tecumseh. There will be special promotions, refreshments, a prize drawing and “desserts to die” for at the British Pantry. A “Diva Time” surprise at the Wild Iris, as well as complimentary chair massages are also on tap. Thirteen downtown Tecumseh merchants are participating. Call 1-517-424-6003 for more details. March 25 & 26 @7pm March 26 & 27 @2pm Saline High School Theater General Admission $12-$15 Call 734.944.4940 or visit: www.salineareaplayers.org