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        October 13, 2011
      
      
        CITY OF ROMULUS
      
      
        BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
      
      
        NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING
      
      
        8450 MERRIMAN
      
      
        SPEEDWAY GAS STATION
      
      
        Pursuant to Michigan Public Act 12 of 2008 (amended Public Act 110 of 2006, The City
      
      
        and Village Zoning Act), notice is hereby given that the City of Romulus will hold a pub-
      
      
        lic hearing at 
      
      
        7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 2, 2011 
      
      
        for the purpose of considering
      
      
        variance requests. The public hearing will be held at the Romulus City Hall Council
      
      
        Chambers, 11111 Wayne Road, Romulus MI 48174-1485.
      
      
        The Board of Zoning Appeals has set the public hearing to consider variances from the
      
      
        City of Romulus Zoning Ordinance as follows:
      
      
        1.
      
      
         Front Yard Setback Variance
      
      
         (Wickham)
      
      
        - Section 7.05, Table 7.05 requesting a front
      
      
        yard variance to allow a building setback of 10.08 feet. The Ordinance requires 50 feet.
      
      
        Therefore, a 39.92 foot variance is required.
      
      
        2.
      
      
         Front Yard Setback Variance
      
      
         (Wickham)
      
      
        - Section 7.05, Table 7.05 requesting a front
      
      
        yard variance to allow a parking setback of 4.04 feet. The Ordinance requires 20 feet.
      
      
        Therefore a 15.96 foot variance is required.
      
      
        3. 
      
      
        Side Yard Setback Variance
      
      
         - Section 7.05, Table 7.05 requesting a side yard variance
      
      
        to allow a side yard building setback of 10.08 feet. The Ordinance requires 20.00 feet.
      
      
        Therefore a 9.92 foot variance is required.
      
      
        4. 
      
      
        Side Yard Setback Variance
      
      
         - Section 7.05, Table 7.05 requesting a side yard parking
      
      
        setback of 3.61 feet. The Ordinance requires 10.00 feet. Therefore a 6.39 foot variance
      
      
        is required.
      
      
        5. 
      
      
        Landscape Greenbelt Variance Wickham
      
      
         – Section 13.02(c) requesting a variance to
      
      
        allow 4.04 feet for landscape greenbelt. The Ordinance requires 15.00 feet. Therefore a
      
      
        10.96 foot variance is required.
      
      
        6. 
      
      
        Loading Variance
      
      
         – Section 14.03(b) requesting a variance to allow for no designated
      
      
        loading space. The Ordinance requires one, 10 foot by 50 foot loading space.
      
      
        The Board of Zoning Appeals will also consider a variance from the City of Romulus Sign
      
      
        Ordinance as follows:
      
      
        1. S
      
      
        ign Height Variance
      
      
         – Table 29.07 requesting a variance to allow a 20 foot high pole
      
      
        sign. The Ordinance allows up to 15 feet high. Therefore a 5 foot height variance is
      
      
        required.
      
      
        2. 
      
      
        Sign Area Variance
      
      
         – Table 29.07 requesting a variance to allow a 72-square foot per
      
      
        side (144 square foot total) pole sign. The Ordinance allows up to 40 square foot (80
      
      
        square foot total). Therefore a 64-square foot (128 square foot total) variance is
      
      
        required.
      
      
        The subject property is located at 8450 Merriman Road. DP#82-80-043-99-0003-000.
      
      
        Copies of the application are available for review at City Hall during regular business
      
      
        hours.
      
      
        All interested parties are encouraged to attend and will be given an opportunity to com-
      
      
        ment on said request. Written comments may be submitted until 12:00 noon, Wednesday,
      
      
        November 2, 2011 and should be addressed to Carol Maise, City Planner, Planning
      
      
        Department, 11111 Wayne Road, Romulus, MI 48174-1485.
      
      
        Ellen Craig-Bragg, City Clerk
      
      
        City of Romulus, Michigan
      
      
        Publish: October 13, 2011
      
      
        ABSTRACT
      
      
        WAYNE CITY COUNCIL MEETING NO. 2011-29
      
      
        OCTOBER 4, 2011
      
      
        Regular Meeting of the City Council held Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. at Wayne
      
      
        City Hall, 3355 S. Wayne Rd. All members present.  Presentation of Life Saving Award to
      
      
        Westland Police Officer Harlan Epperson and presentation from Jim Ridgeway regarding
      
      
        a grant received from NOAA to remove the Rouge River Dam.  APPROVED: minutes of
      
      
        Regular Meeting of September 20, 2011; Bid award to Denmark Heating & Cooling for
      
      
        $14,850 for City Hall Boiler; Appointment of Patricia Rice to LOCC until 2018; new
      
      
        SDM License to Merriman Place LLC at 5774 Merriman; Weed List #10; the purchase of
      
      
        5227 Howe Road for $50,000.00; Traffic Control Order No. 598; amendment to the
      
      
        Professional Services Agreement with Denise Sciacca; the appointment of  Dobrowolski
      
      
        as a voting delegate and Rowe as an alternate to the National League of Cities
      
      
        Conference; consent calendar. Received and filed Communications and Reports.
      
      
        Adjourned 9:16 p.m.
      
      
        Publish: October 13, 2011
      
      
         Matthew K. Miller
      
      
        City Clerk
      
      
        CITY OF INKSTER
      
      
        GENERAL ELECTION
      
      
        TO THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF INKSTER, County of Wayne:
      
      
        Notice is hereby given that a General Election will be held in the City of Inkster on
      
      
        Tuesday, November 8, 2011 from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. at which time the candidates
      
      
        who seek election to the following non-partisan offices are to be voted for in your city:
      
      
        Mayor and Councilperson for District I, II, III, IV, V, VI; Library Board Directors and
      
      
        Taylor School Board (D3-P4 only) are qualified to appear on the November 8, 2011 bal-
      
      
        lot:
      
      
        The places of voting for the General Election to be held on November 8, 2011 will be as
      
      
        follows:
      
      
        Locations
      
      
        District 1/Precincts 1 and 2 Baylor-Woodson Complex, 29115 Carlysle
      
      
        District 2/Precincts 1 and 2 Recreation Complex (gymnasium), 2025 Middlebelt
      
      
        District 2/Precinct 3
      
      
         Pentecostal Temple Church, 30053 Parkwood
      
      
        District 3/Precinct 1
      
      
         Smith Chapel A.M.E. Church, 3505 Walnut
      
      
        District 3/Precinct 2
      
      
         Department of Public Service, 26900 Princeton
      
      
        District 3/Precinct 3
      
      
         Demby Community Center, 4360 Hickory
      
      
        District 3/Precinct 4
      
      
         F.L. Peterson Academy, 4000 Sylvia
      
      
        District 3/Precinct 5
      
      
         Thompson Towers, 27727 Michigan Avenue 
      
      
        District 4/Precinct 1
      
      
         Hicks School, 100 Helen
      
      
        District 4/Precinct 2 and 3 New Jerusalem, 821 Inkster Road
      
      
        District 5/Precinct 1
      
      
         Pilgrims Travelers Missionary Baptist Church, 2945 John
      
      
        Daly
      
      
        District 5/Precinct 2
      
      
         Tomlinson School, 25912 Annapolis
      
      
        District 6/Precinct 1
      
      
         Twin Towers, 2000 Inkster Road
      
      
        District 6/Precinct 2
      
      
         Daly School, 25824 Michigan Avenue
      
      
        The polls for said election will be open at 7:00 a.m. and will remain open until 8:00 p.m.
      
      
        on said day of election. Every qualified elector present and in line at the hour prescribed
      
      
        for the closing thereof shall be allowed to vote. Voting sites are ADA compliant.
      
      
        Publish: October 13, 2011
      
      
         Velida Gutierrez
      
      
        City Clerk
      
      
        B
      
      
        ELLEVILLE
      
      
         - I
      
      
        NKSTER
      
      
         - R
      
      
        OMULUS
      
      
        Comcast unveils program to aid underprivileged
      
      
        Authority chairman is replaced
      
      
        Education experts agree, the internet is
      
      
        nowessential to learning.
      
      
        Low-income families, however, often do
      
      
        not have access to computers or internet
      
      
        service, leaving some students at a disadvan-
      
      
        tage in the classroom.
      
      
        Not if Comcast can do something about it.
      
      
        The cable and internet provider recently
      
      
        announced the launch of a new program,
      
      
        Internet Essentials, which will offer residen-
      
      
        tial internet service for $9.95 plus tax per
      
      
        month to local families with children
      
      
        enrolled in the school free lunch program.
      
      
        The program also provides qualifying fami-
      
      
        lies with a vouch to purchase a low-cost com-
      
      
        puter for $149.99 plus tax and includes no
      
      
        price increases, no activation fees or equip-
      
      
        ment rental fees for the termof the program.
      
      
        The new program was announced last
      
      
        week at an event co-hosted by Kathy
      
      
        Walgren, CEO of the YWCA-Western Wayne
      
      
        County and Lisa Birmingham, vice president
      
      
        of Government and Regulatory Affairs, for
      
      
        Comcast's Heartland Region at the YWCA in
      
      
        Inkster. Joining tomark the launchwere Sen.
      
      
        Hoon-Yung Hopgood, Rep. Richard
      
      
        LeBlanc,, Rep. Bob Constan, Rep. George
      
      
        Darany, Westland Mayor William Wild,
      
      
        Wayne Mayor Al Haidous and Inkster Mayor
      
      
        HilliardHampton.
      
      
        According to Comcast, the Internet
      
      
        Essentials program addresses three of the
      
      
        primary barriers to internet use: a lack of
      
      
        understanding of how the Internet is rele-
      
      
        vant and useful; the cost of a home comput-
      
      
        er; and the cost of the internet service.
      
      
        Available to low-income families in Western
      
      
        WayneCounty and acrossMichiganwith chil-
      
      
        dren who receive free lunch under the
      
      
        National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the
      
      
        goal of Internet Essentials is to help close the
      
      
        digital divide and ensure more Americans
      
      
        benefit from all the Internet has to offer, he
      
      
        added. 
      
      
        “While America has increasingly become
      
      
        a digital nation, many low-income western
      
      
        Wayne County families are being left at a dis-
      
      
        advantage, because they don't have Internet
      
      
        service at home. Comcast is leading the
      
      
        charge inmaking broadband adoption a real-
      
      
        ity formore families,” saidHopgood. “We are
      
      
        proud to pledge support, but we can't do this
      
      
        alone. We need parents, educators, commu-
      
      
        nity leaders and other government officials
      
      
        to join in this effort, spread the word and
      
      
        help increase broadband adoption in our
      
      
        community.”
      
      
        According to David L. Cohen, Comcast
      
      
        Corp. executive vice president, “The Internet
      
      
        is a great equalizer and a life-changing tech-
      
      
        nology. Internet Essentials helps level the
      
      
        playing field for low-income families by con-
      
      
        necting students online with their teachers
      
      
        and their school's educational resources as
      
      
        well as enabling parents to receive digital lit-
      
      
        eracy training so they can do things like
      
      
        apply for jobs online or use the Internet to
      
      
        learn more about healthcare and govern-
      
      
        ment services availablewhere they live.”
      
      
        A household is eligible to participate in
      
      
        the Internet Essentials program if it is locat-
      
      
        ed where Comcast offers Internet service
      
      
        and has at least one childwho receives a free
      
      
        school lunch under the National School
      
      
        Lunch Program. To be eligible, the family
      
      
        must not have subscribed to Comcast
      
      
        Internet service within the last 90 days and
      
      
        must not have an overdue Comcast bill or
      
      
        unreturned equipment.
      
      
        Comcast will sign up eligible families in
      
      
        the program for at least three years and
      
      
        through the end of the 2013-2014 school year.
      
      
        Any household that qualifies during this
      
      
        three-year period will remain eligible for
      
      
        Internet Essentials provided the household
      
      
        still qualifies for the program until that child
      
      
        graduates fromhigh school.
      
      
        For general information about Internet
      
      
        Essentials, visit www.internetessentials.com
      
      
        for English and visit www.internetbasico.com
      
      
        for Spanish. Educators or third-parties can
      
      
        more information at www.internetessen-
      
      
        tials.com/partner. Parents looking to enroll in
      
      
        the program can call 1 (855) 846-8376 or, for
      
      
        Spanish, 1 (855) 765-6995. 
      
      
        There are two new faces on the Romulus
      
      
        Downtown Development Authority (DDA),
      
      
        after a long-serving member was not re-
      
      
        appointed to the post.
      
      
        William Crane, who had served on the
      
      
        board since Councilman William Wadsworth
      
      
        suggested his appointment in 1985, was not
      
      
        reappointed after his termexpired last month.
      
      
        Crane, who owns Crane Funeral Home, was
      
      
        the chairman of the board. 
      
      
        “He has done a lot for the community, I
      
      
        think he should continue on the board,” said
      
      
        Wadsworth, who added that he thought the
      
      
        people appointed to replace Crane and Paul
      
      
        Witherow, were good choices to do so.
      
      
        Witherow had informed the city that his
      
      
        schedulewas too busy to continue to serve.
      
      
        Mayor Alan Lambert appoints citizens to
      
      
        the various boards in the city. He recommend-
      
      
        ed that FrederickHay, RonHopson andDiane
      
      
        Lambert be reappointed to the board; their
      
      
        terms would run through 2015. Hopson is the
      
      
        vice-chair of the board. 
      
      
        Lambert also suggested Keith Johnston,
      
      
        owner of Johnston Lithograph, and Cynthia
      
      
        Wilkin, assistant vice president of the
      
      
        Romulus Comerica Bank branch, be appoint-
      
      
        ed to fill the spots vacated by Crane and
      
      
        Witherow. 
      
      
        “I think they'll do a good job for us,” said
      
      
        Lambert. 
      
      
        Councilwoman Eva Webb said she thought
      
      
        the appointees were good choices, but was dis-
      
      
        appointed that Cranewas not re-appointed.
      
      
        “He was one of the best volunteer business
      
      
        persons that I knew,” she said. “There was so
      
      
        much thatmandid over the years.”
      
      
        Lambert agreed and said he would send a
      
      
        thank you letter for all his service.
      
      
        “He has done a lot of work for the commu-
      
      
        nity and I certainly appreciate that,” Lambert
      
      
        said.
      
      
        Members of the Belleville City Council
      
      
        have voted to clean up the skate park in
      
      
        the community one last time.
      
      
        Council members said during the
      
      
        meeting that should this attempt result in
      
      
        further damage to the park by vandals, it
      
      
        will be permanently closed.
      
      
        The park has been vandalized numer-
      
      
        ous times. According to Director of Public
      
      
        Works Keith Boc whenever a trash recep-
      
      
        tacle is placed in the park, it is set on fire
      
      
        and thrown into the pond.
      
      
        Police Chief Gene Taylor also told the
      
      
        council and audience at the Oct. 3 meet-
      
      
        ing about problems at the facility. He cited
      
      
        instances of trespassing onto nearby pri-
      
      
        vate property as a problem stemming
      
      
        from the park, said that there were
      
      
        instances of drug and alcohol use at the
      
      
        facility and fights about control of the
      
      
        skate park.
      
      
        The park must remain open through
      
      
        June of next year as a condition of the
      
      
        grant obtained fromWayneCounty to fund
      
      
        the park almost 10 years ago. Kay Adkins
      
      
        offered to work with volunteers to clean
      
      
        up the area. She plans to appoint a com-
      
      
        mittee of teens and adults to help cleanup
      
      
        and then maintain the park. She can be
      
      
        contacted at (734) 697-9376 for information
      
      
        about the committee or clean up efforts at
      
      
        the facility.  
      
      
        Vandals threaten skate park