The Detroit News. June 29, 2017
Wayne Co. should make a jail deal
Looking at the numbers, playing hard to get seems to have paid off for Wayne County in its bargaining over the future of the unfinished jail site.
The latest bids were released Thursday from Dan Gilbert’s Rock Ventures and Walsh Construction, the only building firm to express interest in finishing the jail.
Both plans would give the county a new jail, for roughly the same money, but the Gilbert offer adds sweeteners that County Executive Warren Evans will find hard to refuse.
Gilbert is committing to build a 2,280-bed jail, as well as a replacement for the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice and the current juvenile detention center, all located off Gratiot north of Greektown.
The jail would be large enough for the county to shut down its other two lock-ups in the neighborhood, and a third in Hamtramck.
Total cost is $520 million, with the county obliged to cover a maximum of $380 million and Rock Ventures contributing $140 million.
Walsh, by contrast, would construct a 2,200-bed jail and renovate Murphy, a 50-year-old facility that has badly deteriorated, for $317 million.
The cost difference between the two bids for the county is $63 million. But for that money Gilbert is offering an all new criminal justice complex on Warren Avenue at I-75, a site owned by the city of Detroit.
Over time, Wayne County will have to replace Murphy and the juvenile facility, and the cost likely will be much greater.
Rock Ventures’ new offer is $20 million richer than Gilbert’s original bid, and the company has also backed away from a demand to share future operational cost savings from innovations at the new jail.
Now, Gilbert is asking only to share savings generated by bringing the project in under the stated price tag, and to get the parking concession for county-owned lots and structures in the neighborhood.
Wayne County would be held harmless for any construction cost overruns, which are almost guaranteed in a public works project.
In addition, a downtown district now populated by dreary municipal buildings likely will get a new major league soccer stadium, housing, offices and entertainment venues that will generate tax dollars for both the city and the county.
The Rock Ventures offer looks like a terrific deal for county taxpayers who were shafted when former County Executive Robert Ficano bungled the original jail construction, which was halted after posting more than $100 million in added costs.
Spending money to finish a jail that should have been up and operating by now, and paid for, is a bitter bill for taxpayers to swallow. But it has to be done.
The Gilbert plan recognizes the potential of the neighborhood, and fits into the overall revival of downtown Detroit. And it also allows the county to walk away at least with something more to show for its money.
Evans and the county commission has to vet the details, of course - and carefully. But unless there is something we’re not seeing at the moment, Wayne County should take this deal and run.
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Times Herald (Port Huron). June 29, 2017
Shelter joins fight against opioid addiction
Arnie Koontz’s mission is evolving. Koontz, director of the Blue Water Area Rescue Mission, has operated a men-only homeless shelter on 24th Street since 2010.
Since then, he has noticed that shelter users have changed. Like populations everywhere, from all walks of life and every social stratum, they’ve been caught up in the opioid epidemic.
“Prior to 2015, roughly 70 percent of the individuals we were seeing come in to the rescue mission primarily had an alcohol addiction,” Koontz said. “Since then, the tendency has shifted the other way. Now about 60 percent have a dual addiction with drugs and alcohol while the other 40 percent just are addicted to alcohol. So we have seen a dramatic shift to opioid-based addiction.”
Recognizing that the people coming to the shelter need more than a place to sleep, Koontz is taking steps to bring a state-licensed substance abuse treatment program to his 24th Street facility. Koontz said he will be certified as a recovery coach and will be able to train other counselors to help addicts through a faith-based, 12-step recovery program. He also intends to serve the larger community, not just the homeless, with recovery services.
Homelessness is not going away, though, and BWARM would continue to shelter and serve the homeless, allocating space and resources as needed.
Among the challenges facing many communities scourged by opioid painkillers and heroin is providing adequate recovery care to victims of substance use disorders. Small towns and rural communities often don’t have treatment options - but definitely do have people ensnared in the relentless clutches of narcotic painkillers. Port Huron does have some services, particularly for those who have graduated from in-patient care to community recovery, but many of them operate below the radar and sometimes with questionable permitting and murky credentials.
Koontz and the supporters of the mission deserve praise not only for stepping up to help with this problem, but also for doing it in an above-board, by-the-book manner in compliance with state and local regulations.
What they do costs money. Support Koontz and his work with a donation. Visit the BWARM website today at b-warm.org and click the “Give” button.
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Midland Daily News. June 29, 2017
Staggering numbers show need for help.
The scope of damage from the worst flood to hit Midland County in decades is coming into view, and it is staggering.
“We’re estimating 3,000 homes have some kind of damage,” said Ann Fillmore, executive director of United Way of Midland County. “We know that 50 homes were completely destroyed, and over 250 are unlivable. Our thoughts are with our friends and neighbors in need, and we want you to know that we’re here to help.”
In Midland County, when there is a great need, the community steps up with great support. There is now an official place to direct financial support for those who need it, offering reassurance to donors that their money will be used for good.
United Way of Midland County and the The Midland Area Community Foundation have jointly established a Disaster Relief Fund. Up to $75,000 has been approved by foundation trustees, and community members can donate to the fund at www.midlandfoundation.org
One hundred percent of donations to the Disaster Relief Fund will go toward those impacted, under the direction of the Midland County Office for Emergency Management. To qualify, residents must first report flood damage through the Midland 911 website, found here: https://bit.ly/2sUacOC, or by calling 989-837-3500.
United Way is coordinating volunteer efforts with the American Red Cross. Interested volunteers can sign up online at https://eportal.unitedwaymidland.org/flood.
Also, a multi-agency relief center is being established at the Midland County ESA building, located at 3917 Jefferson Ave. The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Department of Health & Human Services and others will be on hand to provide assistance.
These official sources of help for those with damage are good routes to go if you don’t know a friend or neighbor who needs direct support at this time.
In times of emergency, not all people have the best intentions. Word has spread of a potential scam involving people posing as Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representatives going door-to-door. The Michigan State Police Emergency Management & Homeland Security Division says federal officials are not going door to door in the counties affected by the flooding at this time. Federal workers do not solicit or accept money.
FEMA officials recommend the following precautions:
. Ask for official laminated photo ID. A FEMA shirt or jacket is not absolute proof of identity.
. Safeguard personal information. Do not give personal information such as Social Security and bank account numbers unless you initiate the call.
. Beware of people going door-to-door. People going door-to-door to damaged homes, or calling homeowners claiming to be building contractors, could be scam artists, especially if they solicit financial information.
Suspicious activity should be reported to local authorities or to the FEMA Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Hotline at 800-323-8603 or TTY 844-889-4357 or e-mail FEMA-OCSO-Tipline@fema.dhs.gov
If in doubt, do not give out personal information. The last thing anyone wants to see is people becoming victims of fraud, after losing so much during the flood.
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Traverse City Record-Eagle. June 29, 2017
Traffic trouble a symptom of bigger problems
The summer traffic infusion has officially gushed into northwest Michigan, the kickoff to a season when we all notice the shortcomings of our infrastructure.
As the fist-shaking, eye-rolling, headache-triggering influx of vehicles throbs into our arterial roads during the next few weeks, we all should take note of the worst sections of asphalt. They are the places where local commuters idle, hemmed in by a sea of tourist-piloted cars as the sun sizzles outside and daydream of cool water lapping on a quiet beach far from the bustle.
And this year is the time to utilize those extra-long commutes to - instead of ruminating over how satisfying it would be to run the next six rubber-necking bay peepers off Grandview Parkway - truly consider the need for real solutions to our inadequate road infrastructure.
But those ideas can’t fade as the fall arrives to wipe away another idyllic summer season in the Grand Traverse region. This time those problem-solving ponderings must turn into actions, lasting solutions.
That’s because there is a serious, preventable health problem on the horizon for our region if we don’t intervene soon. Traverse City’s surge in popularity has delivered many positives to a community that once struggled to overcome economic crests and troughs that accompany status as a tourist destination. But popularity has its drawbacks.
Roadways mapped decades ago simply weren’t designed to shoulder the kind of pressure that accompanies northern Michigan’s seasonal surges. Grandview Parkway, Division Street and South Airport Road often more resemble parking lots than thoroughfares. Those normally-clogged roadways devolve into pavement prisons for months each year, a universally recognized dilemma.
The fact is transportation infrastructure probably has been studied more than any other issue facing the Grand Traverse region during the past three decades. Yet solutions to the worst traffic hot spots seem to lag behind.
There was a proposal to extend South Airport Road from Three Mile Road at least as far as Four Mile Road to share the weight of commuters who often are forced onto U.S. 31, where they compete for space with tourist traffic.
Or the plans for an additional Boardman River crossing in Garfield Township once dubbed the “Hartman-Hammond crossing.” Those plans were sidelined, but the need didn’t evaporate.
Recently Grand Traverse County Road Commissioners authorized yet another study of need for additional east-west traffic corridors in the county, a project that hopefully will result in some concrete solutions to the looming atrophy that soon will overtake our arterial roadways.
The resulting suggestions likely will elicit debate. It’s during those mid-winter finger-wagging sessions we all should take a moment to remember that one moment we all will experience during the next month when the beach is calling, but traffic is crawling.
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