1967-04-19; Saline Reporter

              VOLUME 18, NUMBER 32.,- Wednesday, April 19,'1967
#     *     *
10c PER COP* ~$4PER YE-SB
CTBON
URPASS
Area Faced with Severe Library Week
Lack--No Ambulance
Saline area is facing a sea^
ious shortage ... an available ambulance.  '=,
As of October first, Bahnmiller Funeral Home will no
longer be able to provide ambulance service, the owner
notified Council this week.
"Until now we have provided ambulance service- to the
community, a service which
has never been financially
self-supporting," he said.
The closing of the service
will leave Saline area with
no ambulance closer than
Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti. None
is operated by the county
Sheriff's Department, and
none is provided for in Saline city police or fire department budgets.
Funeral homes in . o t h e r
small communities have oper a t e d ambulances in the
past, and some still do, Bahnmiller said, "but all of them
are having the same problems and all are being forced
to give it up." He will retain
the vehicle for use in his
■business, but it will no longer
be equipped as an ambulance.
Required for ambulance
service are two men, 24 hours
a day, both with Red Cross
training, plus the vehicle.
But, Bahnmiller pointed out,
purchase of a new vehicle
with equipment, by the city
or one of its departments,
would run from $5,000 to
$13,000, plus hiring eight
men on a full-time b.asis to
provide 24-hour coverage, vacations, sick leave, etc. . . .
^unless it were operated- in
""""injunction with anofffer'de-'
artment.
Said City Administrator
Mike Strait: "This is going
to be a real head-ache."
In announcing that he-
must end the service, Bahnmiller wrote to  Council:
"At this time of continually rising costs, Medicare demands, labor laws and increasing regulations requiring advanced trained personnel, we find it no longer possible to continue."
"The service that we have
provided until now has been
done with the assistance
from several individuals of
the community, some of
whom would not accept compensation and others who received little compensation in
relation to the odd hours of
duty and the inconvenience
to themselves and their families. Without naming
names, I would like at this
time to publicly thank them
and to have their community
interest recognized."
"Realizing -that the problems of ambulance service
for the community may not
be easily solved, we have given nearly six months notice.
Owner Seeks
Annexation
City Council received a request from J. F. Ferry, owner of J. F. Ferry Realty Co.,
of Detroit, for annexation to
the city of 101 acres of land
on Austin Rd., now in Saline
Township.
The property is owned bv
Mrs. Ferry, together with 25
acres alreadv inside the city,
along the Saline River. Ferry
said that he contemplates a
development of "finer homes,
equivalent to the type on the
east side of the river".
The 101 acres, now zoned
"agricultural", would automatically come into the city
under R-l-A zoning.     . • . .
Council[Okays
IBM Request
A request for an SDM permit (liquor carry-out) for the
^Saline Triangle Party Store"
was approved- by City Council Monday night and forwarded to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, by
■whom the nermit must -also
be approved before it can be
issued1.
Address of the "Triangle
Party Store" was  given as
• 806 W. Michigan Ave., the .
building on W. Michigan*'"at"
Austin Rd. formerly occupied
During this time if we can line hospital to one of. the
be of help to the Council, or larger hospitals in Ann Ar-
others, in working out a so- bor.
lution, please feel free to call 'Although many hospitals
on us." operate their own ambulane-
Ambulance trips .here av- es, John Strawbridge, admin-
erage about 14 a month, said istrator of the Saline hospi-
Bahnmiller, and of these, ap- tal, said he has not yet had
proximately 40 per cent are time to consider whether it
actual emergencies . . . heart would be feasible, or even
attacks, auto accidents, in- possible, here. "But the com-
dustrial accidents, and trans- munity certainly needs an
fers of patients from the Sa- ambulance," he said.
Loortar Landings, Odd
Liven Week ,
Estimates/ Started Projects
uadruple Those Last Year
Last week's  weather pro- ficer Clyde Wellwood, on tor-
duced   a   series   o f  oddities nado watch west of the city,
.pared with which a fly- *&*** menacing cloud and
Services for all ages are offered by the Saline Public Library, ranging from." an adult book discussion club,
down through teen reading programs, to the tots' weekly "Story Hour", conducted by mothers, in the winter,
and the Child Study Club in summer. Above, Mrs. Paul
Wagner takes the toddlers into storyland.-
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compcucu  ,,±l'"  •'""-• ""•>■■■ then was buffeted by winds
ing saucer would have been so severe that he was unabie
old hat. to keep the police car on the
Thursday night's thick fog road. -
grounded a north-bound Five minutes later, heavy
flight of loons, all over town Win(j killed a lamb on the
. . . and Friday's winds blew Dold farm at 3801 S. Wagner
a police car off the road, re- Rd.. destroyed a shed, dam-
located a tent, and shoved a aged a barn, and shoved an
trailer 14 feet without harm- occupied house trailer 14 feet
ing its occupants.       ' from its foundation.
One of the loons crash- Inside the trailer were Mrs.
landed in the Ken Taylors' Raymond Wells, of S. Main
back yard, at 220 Monroe St., Ann Arbor, who was ba-
St. It appeared to have a by-sitting with her grandson,
broken wing,- but nobody in- Bill, 2V2, while his parents,
spected it too closely, even Wendell" and Kathleen Wells,
after Mrs. Ken Taylor and were away. Said the grand-
Frank Harms had trapped it mother: "All the dishes flew
by throwing a box over it.      out  of the shelves  and -the
Loons "are   just   about as lights went  out,  and the
big-as, .geese;- ihey..-weigh--».l-g- tr-dler._mc^-k-^But--<she:-a-id"--
to 16 pounds and can defend her  small charge  were  not
themselves   with   their  vici-" harmed.
ously sharp beaks. They do      Neither harmed nor un-
not like people. • nerved -was" MrS. Louise Dold,
Although they are grace- 85, Mrs. Ray Wells' mother,
ful and adept in water, they who was in the house at the
are nearly helpless on land, same address, watching TV,
and conservation officers and when a window blew in. (The
Saline police spent most of. Dold farm will be eligible to
Friday morning chasing become a Centennial Farm
loons, to transport the crea- within a few years.)
tures to the nearest water. Whether or not it was a
Atogether. 12 came down in funnel cloud, the wind that
the area that included Saline, hit the 'farm caused an esti-
Austin Rd., Manchester, and mated $30,000 in damage to
Chelsea . . . and as late as the barn ("The great big raf-
Sunday morning one was re- tiers were reduced to fImported out on Pontiac Trail, dfers," said Mrs. Wells) ,
according t o Conservation turned over two chicken
Officer Don Boyer. coops  and re-roofed  one  of
Two other standees were them,   destroyed  the  shed.   ^~"~~~1"'~\  lT~Ims.   «*,, would cost them 50 centsJ
observed in the Sahne Ford blew away about $100 worth better-balanced, budget, City employees in
plant parking lot. Nearly all of hay and straw, and Council this week raised the the "downtown area do better
of the birds showed signs of stopped a. clock at 8:30 p.m. fines -for overtime parking, than' this. They watch for
injuries to their feet, since At the Harry Parsons The fines were upped from the meter patrol and put a
they apparently mistook the home, at 9856 Saline-Milan 25 cents the first day and $1 penny in the meter when they
fog for water and came down Rd., the wind played tricks, thereafter, to $1 the first two see him coming. This allows
on solid ground instead. too. It pulled out tent stakes  days  and $2 thereafter,  ef- them  to   park   all  day   for
The loon from the Taylors' that were supporting the tent lective July 1, 1967. about 15  cents per week,
.back yard was carried, in its portion of a-camper-trailer. . _arljpr Atice ^ t ^g Therefore, I feel that the
box, to the mfflpond and re- It picked up tent and trailer chanIe was contemplated merchants are being cheated
leased. A few hours later, it together, turned them neatly £n*"fe ^J^g^ the if the prime spaces are not
had been joined by two more, one-quarter turn    and  set SfEr n^SS^f bein* used to full caj
Later yet, all- of them were them down _ . . with enough
gone. - air pressure to keep the tent
One of the sometimes nnsung blessings of the Saline schools is their fine library system, an advantage
many other schools have in far lesser degree or lack entirely. (See story on page 1A.) Above, at the Junior
High library, Gary Skinner, Leon Gall, Sue Dieterle, and
Diane Hill get suggestions and research aid from Librarian Dorothy Reynolds.
Overtime Parkins
Fines Upped Here
To  give the city parking 10 times for 25 cents, while
system better "odds" and a if they 'feed' the_meters it
Construction in the city
this year will almost certainly soar well past the $4 million mark.
Conservative and partial
estimates, drawn up by Assessor Robert Harrison, place
the figure at $4,110,000 . . .
and several major projects,
announced since he started
the compilation, are not included.
Residential building will
account for more than $3%
million, according to Harris
son's estimates, which were
worked out to assist the City
Council in preparing the
1967-68 budget.
He expects construction of
108 single dwellings, at an
estimated value of $2,020,000.
Only 42 single dwellings were
built in Saline last year. He
also listed six multiple dwellings, at $1,650,000.
This year's construction is
planned by several builders:
Whittier Construction Co.,
which has put up bond to
cover 42 houses and has all
but eight of them started;
Darrell Wisely, who is connected with the annexation
of the Goodson-Mayfield property on Maple Rd.; MEHA,
which has extensive plans for
multiple dwellings. More apartments are also proposed
on Clark St., Harrison said.
Not even considered in his
estimate, because it has not
yet reached the plat stage, is
a requested annexation of
101 acres on Austin Rd., to
be developed along with 25
'acres already fn^'th^-crtjri
along the river.
To arrive at the total 108,
Harrison predicted only four
residences built by private
owners, which is a conservative guess.    -
Garage construction is a
minor part of the whole, he
said, but last year 32 private
garages were built by Salinians. He counted an estimate
of-30 for 1967 but added, "It
could go as high as 100."
Under commercial development, for a total of $_!20,0Q0,
he listed $150,000 for the
A & P Store and shopping
center to be constructed here
this summer, but noted that
the site plan shows six store
locations so that the whole
project
000".
r'could  go  to $500,-
The new Marathon station,
now under construction, is included in the estimate, but
the recently-announced Ypsilanti Savings & Loan branch
office is not Neither is a car
wash, for which the site on
W. Michigan Ave. has just
been cleared. A building permit has been issued there for
$25,000.  -
Remodeling, and additions
are in progress or planned
County Equalized
Value Jumps
By $85 Million
SALINE ACCOUNTS
FOR 3% OF TOTAL
Washtenaw County's eaua-
lized value has risen $85,-
412,454'' over that of last
year, Robert Harrison, chairman of the Board of Supervisors equalization committee, reported today.
The* sharp rise brought the
county total value to $866,-
720.254 for 1967, as compared with last year's $781,-
413.800.
And, in one year, the value
of the City of Saline jumped
from 1.9 per cent to 3.12 per
cent of the total county value. About one-seventh of the
county increase took place in
Saline, where the equalized
value rose approximately $12
million, from last year's $15,-
052.100 to the 1967 figure:
-$27it_^'8(!^\".^^'^Sm_-Fi_jy'-
attributable to the Ford
plant", Supervisor Harrison
noted.
The equalization committee .met Wednesday morning
to give final approval, to the
figures, -before submission "to
the Board of Supervisors,
which will meet to approve
or disapproye it Monday.
Increases in equalized value are also shown for all
townships in the Saline area,
Harrison said.
Seven governmental units
in Washtenaw County are
now at an equalization factor of 1: the City of Saline,
and townships of Dexter, Lodi, Pittsfield, -Salem, Saline,
and-Webster. -—■-"'
at Uniloy Division of Hoover; R & B-Tool Co.; Bahnmiller Funeral Home (a 24-
by 36-foot, two-story construction) ; the Saline Reporter; and Leutheuser's Restaurant,, he said.     ...
Industrial starts, additions,
and remodeling last year added to $250,000. In this year's
fijgure, Harrison projects only two starts, at $100,000.
Alterations t o dwellings
COUld easily go'.to^50,000, he
believes, but might not show
up unless a full-time building
inspector were on the job.
Many home-owners are apparently not aware that even
for minor alterations building permits are required.
Hiring a full-time building
inspector to ride^.hdrd on the
burgeoning cojcstruction now
should be possible as a result
of the-fl^truction itself: Es-
timated'revenue from $4,110,-
000 worth o f construction
would amount to $12,439 for
building permits, and about
•$7,500 from electrical, heating, and plumbing permits,
for a total of $19,939. Estimated disbursements leave
enough leeway to pay the salary of a full-time inspector.
At present, the assessor's
office and building' department are combined, with
Harrison serving in both capacities. The city hires electrical and plumbing inspectors on a part-time basis.
Council Accepts
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City Council Monday night
accepted a bid from the firm
Butcher & Willits, of Ann
Arbor, to construct the new
fire hall for a sum of $55,-
457, with a four months completion date.
The basic bid was $55,400,
which includes electric door
openers, plus $57 for an^ alternate proposal, a slight-
foundation change. Council
noted that there was a difference of about 71.4 per cent
between their bid and that
of the next lowest bidder.
Butcher & Willits were the
builders of the Houghton El-
em'ghTary School, completed
last year.
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33 Foreign Students Visit
"When a decision of1 this P*^ customers."
capacity by
Alter ooservmg one of the perfectrrhiated"whiie_Har: nature is made it w^d seem ^The ^the^resent^te
birds, an area resident tele- ry and his son, Rick, search- that the City and the^Cham- ^f^tturn on fin^ fs not^S
phoned Boyer and marked: ed for the tent stakes in the ber  should work  ctoser  to- of return on fines,
pnoned tfoyer and remarKed: eu -««■ "«. !•<_«. -..a-.,., _i. uk_ ~~-   -~-----   -„ "...riv,   .       .-_.-. m-on-priv compensated  Tt
"This thing acts crazy!" Said dark and rain. They restaked |^^ ^ ^ Mtifipd brfore 'Xf Sde^S^hne'to
Boyer: "Sure it dies' You've the tent exactly as it stood, conception of such a change.   5^t<^^bteJf£ Jg
heard the phrase, 'Crazy as      "The tent just stood there "The   Chamber   does   pro- * u ™t a ticKe t   an a as an
-      -   -                     -             and waited for us!"  Harry test the increase'in parking tickets are not paid, tne re-
a loon', haven't you?"
turn is not a profit to the
A siren storm warning was marvelled later. Surprised fines, as the most recent ar-      --_,       .vst.m   mv.P fnilni-A
sounded in Saline about 8:30 neighbors witnessed the en- tide has brought many ™-'HSnfe™T_
  favorable comments by cus- T0 Place money in me meiers
tomers " causes a considerable loss of
"We would however like to revenue to the parking sys-
find out why the City feels tem which it needs to pay its
the increase to be necessa- obhsrations. Since the notice
7» in the paper about the possi
ble raise in fines, the number of "parkins' violations erven out has  dropped to less
p.m. Friday, after Police Of- tire episode.
Tense!!Moment
ry
- Council authorized the City
Administrator, Mike Strait,
who   recommended, the-in-    ,      ,   ,     „ ,
crease, to advise the Cham- than half tfftettCTiwiate
ber of his reasons. Strait re
st nd meter collection will in-
crease considerably. This
gives-indication that enforcement will be easier and reve-
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Martha Taylor converses cautiously with: the loon
that piled up in her back yard and "walk chased down-hill
toward the Universal Die Casting plant (b-^kgrouttd)
before it was trapped in a box and transported to the
mill pond. Loons are beautiful but not sociable; it did
notresjpond.toStartha'si gesturesof friendship*   ,
plied in a letter:
- "The purpose of the parking meters  is  twofold. Pri- , . _,        . , _.,    •
-marily. the meters, are meant ™es higher with the increase
to keep   cars  moving   from in fines-"        -
spaces to allow parking for      O he downtown merchant
prospective customers."       • „has ?#<&<&■ thought of a way
"Secondly, the meters are to keep employees;from put-
to produce revenue for de- ting pennies m the meter :
velopmnt and maintenance of G- Walker sent a letter to
parking facilities." Council, seeking to lease four
"The present fine is too parkiner spaces for employ-
small to provide incentive for ees. His letter was tabled,
the people to either move Monday, for further study,
their cars or 'feed' the me- but other owners of down-
ters. it is cheaper for-them to tomestaptohments have al-
gamble on being caught than s° expressed interest in such
it is to place the money in   a system, Strait said.
the meters. The numerical ^m
odds are 10 to one that they TOWNSHIP MEETING. SET
can stay in a parking space A'Saline Township Board
for a half hour without hieing meeting wdll be held at 8
ticketed. This means th.at p.m. on Aprii 24 in the Town-
they can use parking spaces ship Hall.
Saline young people this
week entertained 33 foreign
exchange students in a lively program that even included a "blow-in" ... a session
in a tornado shelter.
Students from 11 nations
stayed with Saline area hosts.
Eight of the guests were
"from Germany; others came
from Japan, Chile, Hong
Kong (not actually a nation,
but an open city), Denmark,
Finland, Brazil, the Philippines, Holland, Sweden, and
Argentina.
Arrangements were made
by Marjorie Quick, a member of the High School Student Council, who contacted
the visitors through Youth
for Understanding, located'
local host families, planned
panel discussionsat the
school for Friday" and a potluck' supper and a square
dance, with caller, for Friday
evening. . ,      .
Marjorie's own guest was
Pirjb Pennahen, from Finland. All of the exchange
students have been in Michigan for seven months with
other host families and are
attending schools in the Detroit area. Said one, Thomas
Osterman, of Sweden: "The
whole Detroit area is stuffed
with such students."
The students arrived in Saline Thursday night ... or
were supposed to ... to stay
until Sunday. But the weekend was slightly more adventurous than some had expected: Salinians Beth Volz and
George Beal drove to Plymouth Thursday night, in a
pea-soup fog, to pick up their
guests . . . but the exchange
students' Michigan "parents"
refused to let the quartet
drive back in such hazardous
conditions. They returned on
Friday morning.
Friday night's square
dance was interrupted by an
unscheduled tour of the
school furnace room, when a
tornado signal was sounded
in Saline. Dancing continued
after the "all clear".
On Saturday, tlie Saline
host students entertained
their guests in assorted ways.
Some  went -to  Belle  Isle,
Exchange Days -/0^
some went shopping, or flew
kites, or played golf or miniature" golf, or went bowling.
Some toured Greenfield Village, and some drove through
the Irish..Hills.-..'.. . and one
group went to Hell, Mich., for
horseback riding, "just so
they could say they went to
Hell".
The festivities wound up
Saturday- evening with a .Student. Council-sponsored party
witix liver.band at the nome
of Mary Fox.
Gaping at the TALL buildings? Well, no, that would
be a tall story . ... but local students and their foreign
exchange guests found something to stare at, up there
(barn swallows, perhaps) in the course of their sightseeing tour around Saline. Left to right are Gail Girbaeh
of Saline and-Mieke Gronheid from Holland j Susanne
Stallnum of Germany, who was staying with Bobbi Politz; Thomas Osterman from.Sweden and his Saline host,
John Bell.