The Dearborn City Council will review Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr.’s proposed Fiscal Year 2013 budget at a public hearing on May 14 at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers at Dearborn City Hall.

The budget adoption meeting, also open to the public, is scheduled to be 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 22 in the Council Chambers.

Extensive documents relating to the budget proposed for Fiscal Year 2013, which begins July 1, 2012, are posted at the city’s website, www.cityofdearborn.org.

Additional information about the city’s overall finances, proposals for future budget years, and past spending can also be found at www.cityofdearborn.org.

Valerie Murphy-Goodrich

The Dearborn Civil Service Commission voted to remove Human Resources Administrator Valerie Murphy-Goodrich, a city employee for 18 years,  from her position with the City of Dearborn.

Under the Dearborn City Charter, the Human Resources administrator “serves at the pleasure of the Civil Service Commission.” Murphy-Goodrich had been head of the Human Resources Department since 1994.

Regular readers of Deepsaidwhat.com will recall that Murphy-Goodrich was at the center of the political controversy that involved Dearborn Civil Service Commissioner Marjorie Powell, a former City Council president. The Civil Services Commission wanted Powell out and Murphy-Goodrich was pushing to help Powell keep her position, which could have helped her keep her own position. Lawsuits were filed by Dearborn lawyer Morris Goodman to help keep Powell’s appointed position but those efforts failed.  We wouldn’t be surprised to see Goodman get involved in this latest matter.

So after nearly two years after the Powell controversy erupted, the Civil Service Commission on April 19, 2012 voted 3-0, with Commission Chair Margaret Schaefer and Commissioners James. C. Peitz and W. Robert Schneiders voting in favor of the removal.

Commissioner Mohamad I. Chehab, who was just appointed in March and was attending his first meeting, abstained and Commissioner Michael Berry was absent.

Schaefer, in a city issued press release provided to media on the same day as the Civil Service Commission vote, said the decision was a difficult one, but was necessary in order for the commission to proceed with improvements to the Human Resources Department, as recommended by an independent review dated February 2011.

The review was conducted under guidelines found in Section 11.6 b of the City Charter.

Consulting firm Plante Moran performed the review, which outlined serious deficiencies in the operation of the department and included seven recommendations and 11 action items.

A key recommendation was for the city to “re-engineer all core HR processes across the organization as a means to gain needed efficiency and standardize service delivery to all departments.”

Schaefer said one of the concerns of the commission was the lack of progress in the implementation of the reforms proposed by Plante Moran.

Among its implementation recommendations, the Plante Moran report identified the need for a more timely process for hiring and promoting employees, increased use of technology, department restructuring into specialist versus generalist roles, an evaluation of training offerings, and development of a performance management system for staff feedback and increased accountability.

Under the City Charter, the Civil Service Commission has the responsibility for selecting a new Human Resources Administrator.

Camp Dearborn will welcome RV campers early this season. The official camping season of Camp Dearborn, May 1 through October 31, will be altered this year by accepting RV campers beginning Friday, April 20.

Lee Morris, interim camp manager, made the decision in response to the many calls he receives from anxious campers.

“The warm weather in March woke up the campers and they are ready to go,” said Morris. “We’ve had plenty of RV owners calling about the start of the season. Now I see we’ll be ready by late April, so we will make the change.”

The camp office is accepting RV site reservations now, but tent and cabin rentals will remain within the traditional season of May through October. The camping season with full recreational service begins mid-June and runs through Labor Day Weekend.

Camp Dearborn offers 191 temporary RV sites, 118 tents, 30 rustic cabins and eight new resort cabins. Temporary sites are either full hook-up or electric only and can be reserved by calling either of the Camp offices: Dearborn Recreation Department at 313-943-2350 or Milford Camp Office at 248-684-6000.

In addition to the popular camping area, Camp Dearborn offers acres of picnic area equipped with tables and grills alongside a beautiful half-mile beach and swimming lake. The Camp is open to the public daily, 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Admission at the gate is $4 per car for residents of Dearborn or Milford, $6 per car for all others and $10 per car for all special event dates.

Season passes are available for frequent visitors at the rate of $25 for residents of Dearborn or Milford and $35 for the general public.

More information about Camp Dearborn and scheduled events can be found at www.campdearborn.com, the Camp Dearborn Official Page on Facebook, or by calling either of the Camp offices.

A 12-year vision of expanded Michigan passenger rail options moved closer to reality on April 10 at a high-profile construction launch ceremony for the City of Dearborn’s new Intermodal Passenger Rail Station.

Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. welcomed 80 key leaders, including U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, Congressman John Dingell, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo, Michigan Department of Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle, and Amtrak Chairman of the Board Tom Carper, as well as transportation and industry officials.

The ceremony was hosted by Patricia E. Mooradian, President of The Henry Ford, where the event took place.

The ceremony celebrated the collaborative milestone marking the beginning of the construction of this $28.2 million federally-funded station, to be built at 20201 W. Michigan Avenue, west of the Southfield Freeway at the entrance to Dearborn’s west downtown.

The ceremony was held at Greenfield Village within The Henry Ford because the station will be built adjacent to this national Historic Landmark site and will provide improved access to the visitor attraction for passengers arriving by train.

At the April 10 launch, invited guests gathered at the historic Smiths Creek Depot inside Greenfield Village to hear details about the dramatic progress expected, and to receive thanks for their support.

A view of the new train station from Michigan Avenue.

The vision for an Intermodal Station

The pedestrian-friendly Dearborn Intermodal Passenger Rail Station will serve as a rail gateway to Dearborn and southeast Michigan.

The important transportation link will allow thousands of passengers per year to make connections to Amtrak’s Wolverine service that extends from Pontiac to Chicago; as well as to SMART, DDOT, Greyhound and charter buses; corporate and hotel shuttles; taxis and personal vehicles.

The station is positioned to support the eventual operation of the Detroit to Chicago High Speed Rail Corridor, which already has seen progress in western Michigan.

It will also serve the proposed Ann Arbor to Detroit commuter rail line. Eventually, the commuter rail line will allow easy bus connection to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The station’s proximity to the Rouge River Gateway Trail on the north side of Michigan Avenue in Dearborn should prove popular to pedestrians and bicyclists and provide easy access to the campuses of the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College.

MDOT Director Kirk Steudle, Patricia Mooradian of The Henry Ford, Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, Congressman John Dingell, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo, and Amtrak Chairman Tom Carper unveil a drawing of the new Dearborn Intermodal Passenger Rail Station.

Construction timeline

Preliminary work began in March with utility alterations on the construction site and completion is expected by fall 2013.

As the construction progresses, people traveling down Michigan Avenue will see the intermodal station evolve from a bare footprint to a beautiful two-story brick and glass structure surrounded by ponds and appealing landscaping.

The 16,000-square-foot intermodal station will offer amenities like free WI-FI and bicycle racks.

Also incorporated inside will be exhibits by the City of Dearborn, Ford Motor Co., The Henry Ford, Pure Michigan and others.

The site at 20201 Michigan Avenue had been previously used for the storage of vehicles.

Jobs

It’s estimated that the intermodal station project will create 280 temporary construction trade positions and, when completed, potentially offer 25 permanent positions.

View of the new train station from The Henry Ford.

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The Dearborn City Clerk’s Office is accepting applications for election inspectors (poll workers) for the Tuesday, Aug. 7 State Primary and State general election to be held on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Applicants should be at least 18 years of age and a registered voter in the County of Wayne. Interested parties may fill out an application at the City Clerk’s Office in the Dearborn City Hall, 13615 Michigan Ave., by Friday, June 1.

This position pays $120 for the day and an additional $10 for attending an hour-long election inspector training class.

The hours of work will be 6:15 a.m. until approximately 9 p.m. on election day. (Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. that day).

The duties of an election inspector include helping with the set up of voting booths and equipment, processing voters, offering instructions, completing the poll book and helping with the closing of the polling location.

For more information, call 313-943-2030.

Public Service Days starts again the week of April 2, 2012 and last through Nov. 30, 2012.

The city of Dearborn wants to avoid having to issue tickets during Public Service Days and has again issued a notice to remind residents that all vehicles must be off the streets on trash days.

Public Service Days starts again the week of April 2, 2012 and last through Nov. 30, 2012.

During this time period, Dearborn provides critical services, such as street sweeping, tree-trimming, and sewer maintenance in your neighborhood on your trash day.

To ensure these services are provided in a safe, effective manner, residents are warned to not park on residential streets from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on your trash day, which is also your Public Service Day.

Tickets will be issued to vehicles parked on the street during a trash day/Public Service Day.

If you are parking in a neighborhood that is not your own in Dearborn, check street signs to determine if it is that neighborhood’s Public Service Day.

As we have mentioned before here, residents can no longer park vehicles across the sidewalk on Public Service Days. You will be ticketed if you park across the sidewalk. In addition, you must not park on lawns or any other unpaved areas or you will be ticketed, too.

You must also keep your trash and recycle carts and yard waste containers off the street on your Public Service Days/trash days.

Additional information is available at www.cityofdearborn.org. For parking issues related to Public Service Days, call 943-2276.

Dearborn City Councilman Robert Abraham is offering $1,000 of his own money as a reward for information on the man who assaulted him in Detroit following a Red Wings hockey game on March 4.

Anyone with information on the assault is asked to call the Detroit Police Tip Line at 800-SPEAK-UP. Anonymous calls are accepted.

The $1,000 reward can be collected if the information leads to the arrest of a suspect.

Here are details of the attack, which has been well-publicized:

At about 6:45 p.m. on March 4, the assault occurred on the west end of Joe Louis Arena following the Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks game.

The assault took place on West Jefferson, across from the Joe Louis Parking Garage.

The assailant was a white man, approximately 25-30 years old, of average weight and height.

He fled as the driver of dark blue four-door Chevy SUV. There were three passengers in the vehicle; all appeared to be women.

The vehicle was leaving the Detroit Red Wings Riverfront parking lot (permits only) onto eastbound West Jefferson.

Purchased in 1967 for $1.1 million, Dearborn sold its Florida apartment complex for $6.25 million.

Nearly two years after putting its Florida apartment building for retirees on the sales block, Dearborn has inked a deal to sell the 52-year old property for $6.25 million.

The sale of the apartment building, when final, will close a chapter in Dearborn’s history books.

It was the late Dearborn Mayor Orville Hubbard who led the charge to purchase the eight-story, 88-unit property back in 1967 for $1.1 million.

The purchase of the building, which Hubbard renamed Dearborn Towers, was billed as the first attempt by a U.S. city to own property outside the state.

The opportunity for Dearborn retirees to rent in Florida, at costs below market rates, for some or part of the year made Dearborn Towers immensely popular in the 1960s through the 1990s, and added to Dearborn’s reputation of providing one-of-a-kind services for its residents. A one mile walk from the beach, the complex included a heated pool, organized poker nights and other activities.

As times changed, so did Dearborn residents’ ideas about retirement, and the traditionally long waiting list to rent an apartment in Dearborn Towers disappeared.

The city put the Dearborn Towers on the sales block in May 2010, announcing it in a press release  that it was seeking buyers as a way to ease the city’s mounting financial challenges. The decision to put the Dearborn Towers on the sales block came nearly three years after voters approved a 2007 ballot measure to give elected city officials permission to do so.

Last week at a special meeting, the Dearborn city council approved the sale. But this time the city did not issue a press release that the Dearborn Towers had been sold.

In 2007, the 52-year-old Florida property was valued at between $8 million and $8.3 million, according to one informal appraisal. Another appraisal in March 2008 put the value of property at about $5.6 million.

So $6.25 million is a good price, considering today’s real estate market. The city in September 2010 said it had an offer for the apartments for $6.7  million but that deal never materialized.

The new winning bid was from Alchemy Management, via a broker the city hired in February. After brokerage fees, Dearborn will net just over $6 million from the sale when the deal closes, which is expected in about a month.

The apartment building is located near Clearwater Beach, which Dearborn says has consistently been named one of the best beaches in the country. The property sits on a 2-acre waterfront site on Clearwater Bay, and is near the Gulf of Mexico and downtown Clearwater. It has a private fishing dock, marina and pool.

Constructed in 1960, the apartment building has 40, one-bedroom and 48 two-bedroom units.

It’s that time of year again.  Public Service Days in Dearborn begins again the week of April 2 and continues through Nov. 30, 2012.

During this time period, Dearborn provides critical services, such as street sweeping, tree-trimming, and sewer maintenance in neighborhoods on trash day.

To ensure these services are provided in a safe, effective manner, Dearborn city officials are warning residents not to park on the street from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on your trash day. Parked vehicles will be ticketed.

Dearborn officials also remind residents that parking across the sidewalk on Public Service Days is no longer permitted.

You must also keep your trash and recycle carts and yard waste containers off the street on your Public Service Days/trash days.

Additional information is available at www.cityofdearborn.org. For parking issues related to Public Service Days, call 943-2276.

The city of Dearborn is reminding Dearborn residents that for a limited time they can order affordable trees that will be planted on the easement in front of their homes this spring.

The City of Dearborn encourages the planting of trees as a way to keep neighborhoods attractive, reduce energy consumption and support a healthier environment.

The annual spring tree planting program is open to Dearborn residents only.

2012 trees cost $175 each, and the supply of trees for the program is limited. Trees range in size from 8 – 10 feet in height and are sold on a first come, first served basis through Dearborn’s Department of Public Works.

Residents can choose from an assortment of trees. Each species offered meets American Association of Nurserymen standards and is zone hardy.

To place an order or to request a selection guide, residents can call 943.2317 or visit www.cityofdearborn.org.

This year’s selections include: “Ivory Silk” Japanese Tree Lilac, Corktree, Celebration Maple, American Hornbeam, Golden Rain Tree, Corzam or Corinthian Linden, American Yellowwood, Ginkgo Tree/Maidenhair Tree, “Lustre” Allegheny Serviceberry and Sugar Maple “Legacy”.

Homeowners can suggest an easement planting location and city personnel will have final approval.

The area between resident’s sidewalk and curb must be a minimum of 4 feet wide to accommodate a tree. Public Works officials will decide if there is adequate space in the easement of a property owner’s home for a tree. Multiple trees may be ordered if correct spacing is available.

Trees will be planted by a contractor and have a one-year warranty. Planting usually takes place in late April and should be complete by June 1. The contractor is responsible for planting, mulching, staking, pruning, watering and clean up at the time of planting.

At the end of the first year, the contractor will provide a final inspection and remove tree stakes and bracing.

Residents, who are responsible for maintaining the health of the tree through regular watering, will be billed by the City of Dearborn after tree planting is complete, usually in late June or July.