Ypsilanti City wants $820,000 refund on fire truck

(Photo courtesy Darrell Harden / darrellharden.com)

Ypsilanti City Manager told City Council in a letter dated December 2, 2008, that the city attorney has asked the manufacturer of the new aerial fire truck to take back the truck and return the cash. In the letter, City Manager Ed Koryzno told council:

Update regarding Aerial Fire Truck: The City Attorney has sent correspondence to KME, the manufacturer of the truck, and requested they take back the truck and provide us with our cash. As of this date, we are still awaiting a response on what action they plan to take.

The truck had a rocky start. After ordering the truck, the City learned it would not clear the doors at the city’s only fire station. The city paid nearly $30,000 to modify the station house so the truck would fit.

The trucks manufacturer, KME, was over 6 months late in delivering the truck requiring the city council to modify the purchase agreement to allow late delivery and avoid penalties.

The truck was finally delivered nearly a year ago.  Fire officials said the truck was not usable until April 2008, nearly four months after delivery. Even after entering service in April, because of continued problems, the city says the truck has not “serviceable for thirty consecutive days since delivery December 21, 2007.”

In October 2008, the city manager told council:

Aerial Fire Truck Update: We have had issues with the new fire truck and Chief Ichesco reports that the KME Aerial Platform (Tower-1) returned to service on October 1, 2008, with several defects that will require returning the truck to KME’s service provider R & R Fire Apparatus Repair. Tower 1 has not been serviceable for thirty consecutive days since delivery December 21, 2007. In fact, staff could not use the truck until April of 2008. Staff experienced multiple computer control and micro switch failures, engine control failure, and including the wrong coolant in the system causing a shut down. We gave KME 30 days from October 1, 2008 to correct all defects, make the truck serviceable, and comply with the agreement. If the truck cannot be corrected within the 30 days, we expect KME to take possession of the truck and return the $820,000 to the City so that we may find another truck. We rely on Ann Arbor Fire (first priority) and Pittsfield Fire Department ( second priority) for coverage during down time. Ann Arbor would respond based on dispatch information and Pittsfield response is mutual requiring confirmation prior to activation.

Ladies Literary Club runs afoul of new leaf ordinance

The Ypsilanti Ladies Literary Club on North Washington Street has violated the City of Ypsilanti’s new leaf ordinance by sweeping leaves into the street. The new law passed in October says property owners may not sweep leaves into the street. The fine is $50. No word if a ticket has been issued.

Even the City has violated it’s own ordinance piling leaves and branches on Catherine Street next to Water Works Park.

Residents say they are confused about the new rules and the schedule for when the city will pickup leaves.

The City implemented a single leaf pickup last year. But leaves were late in falling and for most neighborhoods their scheduled leaf pickup passed before the leaves fell.

The City has promised to put up signs notifying residents when they would be in the neighborhoods picking up leaves.

This is the 2008 schedule for leaf pickup in the City of Ypsilanti which starts this week. The city will skip picking up leaves during the week of Thanksgiving.

Tuesday Refuse Collection Day – Week of November 3, 2008
Wednesday Refuse Collection Day – Week of November 10, 2008
Thursday Refuse Collection Day – Week of November 17, 2008
Friday Refuse Collection Day – Week of December 1, 2008
Monday Refuse Collection Day – Week of December 8, 2008

For more information on the leaf pickup program, visit the City of Ypsilanti’s website.

Corner Health unveils mural in Downtown Ypsilanti

Corner Health in Downtown Ypsilanti is celebrating their 27th anniversary. As part of that celebration, they unveiled a new mural.

The mural entitled “Together we solve the puzzle” was painted by Mary Thiefels with the assistance of local students.

Corner Health is undergoing a an expanson of their facilities with new offices and patient areas. They are expanding into the former Ypsi Lock building on North Huron that they purchased last year.

Crocodile spotted in Riverside Park

(April 1, 2008) Residents have been reporting sightings of alligators in Washtenaw County for over a year. The story was even covered by Channel 4 News in August 2007 and the Ypsilanti Courier.

Washtenaw County Sheriff Dan Minzey told Channel 4 News that exotic pets get dumped in local lakes often. “There is probably a bunch of places these things can hide,” said Minzey.

We didn’t take those reports seriously until we got an urgent call from a resident from the Historic Eastside Neighborhood Association saying we needed to get over to Riverside Park, he just saw an alligator.

We weren’t really expecting to find anything, however this resident had told us about Ice Skating in Riverside Park and we didn’t think that was true either.

[Click on picture for a photo gallery]

Imagine our surprise when we saw what appeared to be an alligator sunning itself on the bank of the Huron River in Riverside Park. We observed the alligator for over an hour. It moved over to a small pond in the middle of the park. Then moved back to the river and headed down river.

Continue reading the story

American Legion Post in Ypsilanti destroyed by fire (Update2)

The American Legion Post 282 on South Huron in Downtown Ypsilanti was destroyed by fire last night. The fire started in the back of the building in the kitchen bar area. City of Ypsilanti firefighters were first on the scene about 11:30p Sunday and found the back of the building engulfed in flames.

Firefighters from five departments responded including the City of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, City of Ann Arbor, Pittsfield Township, and Superior Township. They battled the fire through out the night in bitterly cold weather finally leaving the scene well after 8am. Huron Street remained closed for most of the morning.

Ypsilanti firefighters were called back twice more today as flames and smoke re-erupted from the pile of debris. Ypsilanti firefighters then assisted Post members to retrieve priceless artifacts and records from inside the building. The post has been in the same location for some 80 years.

Click on photo for a gallery of pictures from the fire and aftermath.

[Update 2 -- Feb 12, 2008 7.41p] Corrected misspelling, changed time from 4am to 8am when firefighters left the scene. The errors were in reporting by YpsiNews.com.

Next Page »