Pointes, Suburbs Reluctantly Levy WCCC Tax Hike Hill-Area Residents S

1 \ \)1 Ill. \\).:>1 • ~S pdgCS (iwsst' poinlt'. 'lil hig,lI\ 11011\1' ()t'1l\l'l\ 71' • '\,.\, ......1.11111... ' 00 Dl'C t'1Il!it'r .~O. .'001 Hill-area Pointes, suburbs residents reluctantly levy s~ill oppose WCCC tax hike Richner seeks legislative fix By Brad Lindberg egregious" building and Bonnie Caprara The legislatIOn would Staff Wnters allow voters m a school dis- By Bonnre Caprara A controversIal tax hike trict to opt out of paYIng for Staff Wnter has been handed down to a commumty college they WIth the hopes that a new broom property owners m the don't use Grosse Pomte and sweeps clean, a glOUp of Grosse Pomte Grosse Pomtes and Harper Harper Woods students Farms resIdents IS askmg the new cIty Woods compnse less than 1 percent councd to rescmd or ask for modIfica- Grosse Pomte Woods cIty of WCCC's student body On tions of the past council's approval of offiCIals agreed begrudgmg- the other hand, Richner saId variances for a new bUlldmg to be bUilt Pholo. by Wdl Harrah Iy thIS week to start collect- about 500 eastside students at 120 Kercheval 109 a 10-year, 150 percent attetld Macomb Commumty "It IS pamfully obvIOus that the prevI- Boulevard of lights millage mcrease on behalf of College ous council could not care less about the If the Sept. 11 evil-doers thought Americans would hide thelr Wayne County Commumty "We want the state to Will of the pubhc,~ said Farms re~ldent lights under a basket. they were hugely mistaken. The Christmas College allow us which communIty Greg Wheeler "On Sept 17, the prevlOus lights seem especially bright this holiday season. Members of the cIty coun- college we choose," saId CIty council, four of whIch are no longer seat- We are showcasing Lakeshore homes this year. though there are CIl are hopeful that legisla- of Grosse POinte cIty manag- ed, passed a site plan based on a park just as magnificently decorated homes throughout the Pointes. tion bemg drawn m Lansmg er Mike Overton "Our popu- mg exceptlOn over the objections and Above is the home at the foot of Morass at Lakeshore. We've WIll allow dIsgruntled com- latIon doesn't attend W<3eC, concerns of the majority of the cItizens tried for several years to get a good picture of this spectacularly mumtles to WIthdraw from It attends Macomb" present at that meetmg" decorated house and have finally succeeded. the tax obltgatlOn Richner also cntlclzed A petition contammg 214 signatures Below, middle, could easUy be mistaken for a glimpse over the The CIty of Grosse Pomte WCCC's spendmg level of presented to the council Cites concerns hedges of the White House. but actually the stately Georgian style was the first of the Grosse about $17,000 per student, about the lack ofparkmg on the HIll The home is in the 400 block of Lakeshore, where it proudly displays POInte and Harper Woods nearly tWIce the state aver- petitIon contends that the developers of our flag. communItIes Monday mght age the 120 Kercheval project saId they had At the bottom, is the home in the 700 b~ockof Lakeshore with to pass a resolutIOn seekmg "It IS extravagance beyond leases for 65 spaces m the Cotta,ge the life.size creche, not to mentlon the trumpeting angels at the to opt out of leVYIng the tax pale," RIchner saId "I'm HospItal parkmg garage But, m fact, rooftop and a thousand points of light throughout. CIty voters reJected the worlung on an amendment they only have a letter of mtent to lease While driving around looking a the awesome light displays. 10-year mJllage mcrease by that would prOVIde that the the parkmg spaces The petition also don't miss the home at Whittier and Jefferson and another home a 7-1 margm on Nov 6 The legislatIOn apply If spendmg states that the alleged five-year parkmg in the 1300 block of Kensington. There are too many to mention, new 1 5 levy added to the at a school IS at least 1-1/2 lease WIth Its two five-year optIOns IS so take your time. Halfthe fun Is the searching. Merry Christmas! eXIstmg 1 m111levy will ralse times the state average" insufficIent to comply WIth the city park- approxImately $792,000 for In November, Woods vot- mg ordmance reqUirements WCCC III the CIty alone - ers led the way m a resound- Ed Russell, one of the co-developers of $377 14 for the average CIty mg show of eastSIde subur- the bUlldmg contended the petttlOn's household The Grosse ban dIsfavor by turnmg claIms are erroneous Pomte Farms and Harper down the county-WIde tax "We have never gone before councIl Woods cIty counCIls are proposal by a nearly 8 1 and told them we had any kmd of lease expected IS dISCUSSa SImIlar margin or had any kmd of negotiatIOns WIth resolutIon m January The Woods' 4,133 "no" Cottage for those spots," Russell said The tax mcrease, whIch votes totaled more ballots "It's erroneous and casts a delUSIOnal raIsed the college millage cast m any of the other mdl- thought that we're domg somethmg from 1 mIll to 2 5 mills, IS VIdual Grosse Pointes and wrong" expected to generate more Harper Woods Wheeler IS also part of a group of than $37 5 mllhon each Despite losmg the sub- Radnor Circle reSIdents who have year In 2002, Woods proper- urbs, the measure CruiSed already been asked by the council to ty owners are forecast to through DetrOit to squeak meet WIth the 120 Kercheval developers account for more than $1 03 by overall The mIllage to come to a consensus over sIte plan mllhon of the total - the passed by 2,829 votes out of modIficatIOns and to address concerns seventh hIghest of Wayne nearly 280,000 votes cast about bUlldmg elevatIOn, wmdows, land- The skewed vote resulted, scapmg and parking The counCIl IS County's 36 clttes '\"d town- ShIpS, excludmg DetrOIt RIchner and many others expected to reVISIt the Issue m January "Many of us oppose thiS have saId, from an mordl- Wheeler claImed Russell had not yet mIllage enhancement," saId nately low suburban contacted the Radnor Circle reSIdents Woods Mayor Robert turnout Many suburban about their mput on SIte plan modifica- NOVltke "There are many communities, such as tions people supportmg a House Grosse Pomte Shores, had to Rus'>ell saId he has been m the process bin to undo the mcrease schedule a speCial, one-Issue ofworkmg WIth engmeers and archItects Until that's done, the only electIOn to accommodate the and WIll be commg up WIth a drawmg of thmg before us IS to spread mIllage vote DetrOIt, how- the proposed bUlldmg so the neighbors (the mcrease) on the taxes ever, added the college Issue can understand and Vlsuahze It He to the regularly scheduled plans on meetmg WIth the Radnor neigh- as we are requued to do " Rep Andrew RIchner, R. and heaVIly attended may- bors soon oral electIOn Farms mayor Ed Gaffney said the Grosse POlnte Park, saId the proposed legislatIOn, spon- "Our concern IS the way council would study the petitIOn sored by WJlham O'Neil, D- the mIllage was put to the Allen Park, has bIpartIsan voters m an electiOn where backmg not all the commumtles had ~Thls crosses party hnes," an electIOn," Richner saId WEEK AHEAD RIchner saId "It's an Issue of what's nght vs what's See WCCC, page 2A Friday, Dec. 21 Harper Woods Lions Club Cross-town rIVals Grosse POinte North and South high schools face POINTER OF INTEREST each other In a set of basketball games seeks help for the holidays at South The tragedy of Sept 11 started an club dug IOto other funds that were The Junior varsity teams play at 630 outpounng of chanty for the victims ~lated for future projects and the day Ken Ginger P m followed by the varsity game m Washmgton, DC, and New York to day busmes'> of the club but don't forget chanty l'l also needed II h d Home: Grosse Pomte Tuesday, Dec. 25 at home "Before Sep 11, we usua Y a no Woods problem collectmg enough to fund the Merry Christmas! Age: 56 The Harper Wood'l LIOns Club held dnve" Family: Wife, Martha, It'S usual fundralsprs and Its ' d Goodfellows paper 'lales The ralhed Broneel saId he doesn t bewu ge daughters Sara, 23, theIr member'l to obt y those m New York m any way, but he Beth, 21 and Erin, 17 INDEX donatlOn~ a~ pO""Ible am a., many hopes the commumt\ can offer a httl,e Occupation: Industrial bit of help to the LlOn'l m the clubs technology teacher at OpinIon. 8A They 'ltdl fell a bIt "hart when It tIme of need Grosse Pomte South came time to fund theIr hohday actlv- Th L k n07those that are HIgh School, part-time Itles e lOn~ are as 1 h • Schools .11A able to make a donatIOns to help volunteer Santa Claus Quote: "I'd hke to pass on Autos ,... .. 14A More than 70 famlhe'> received hol- recover losses that were made by lday food and gift ba'>kE'h, whIch con- helpmg the needy of Harper Woods skIlls and techmques as Obituaries .13A tamed a holJday fp.J~t 'lome food well as the 'hfe lessons' I ve learned I hope kids <;tock for the week" of wmter ahead Bruneel "aid tho"t wl"hmg to help Business.

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