ember of Heights
council clarifies vote
on tax case
B.H. HOU
ByDee .10
BE TON HARBOR - On Wed­
nesday Sept mber 25, 1985
community ntpr tati of
Benton Harbor h ted a
luncheon for Mich n State
Unive ty faculty at the First
Congregational Church, 292
Bel .
Joe Damder, Dean of Ur-
ban Aftai Program of
ichigan State University;
John Sch tz r Director of
Econom and Prof
Urban AIde Program
Ic n State Uni raity
two of th keynote
era. P tion re
APPROV At of th t is ue
ith that motion (not to t a
precedent very unfair to the
community a a bole. I looked
b yond that mom nt into fu­
ture reque ts nd ho ily
e could b di criminatory.
This p rticular gentleman
ell- known and re peered in the
community. Perhap the next
individual m y not be kno n
ell, nor recei e the publicity.
Do turn that per on do n
ithout any consideration? If I
could not feel comfortable that
all ould b iven equal con­
ide radon, I could not justify
ju ton.
Som mi ht ev n hare the
same thoughts I.I thi coun­
cil b in consi tent? Earlier thi
e d 11 property
taxe (th of the elderly in­
cluded) nd I vied more taxe .
In critical time we're prepared
to tep in li nigh in hining
rmor to r ue citizens ho can
not afford to p y t ir taxe . But
in reality ar e pu hin them to
that point. (I 1 0 held a minor­
ity vot on that is u .)
G MP OVEMENTS
g n by M or Wile Cook
nd City Manager Elli
Mitchell Topics d u at
th Luncheon were th grow­
ing problem in Benton Har-':
bor and project to be de­
v loped to ddre the n
of Benton Harbor and its
citizen uch as: hou iog.
education nd un mploy­
ment Long term and hort
term goa re d scu
Economic D velopment Dir­
ector x Little gave the
Facility and community re­
PI' ntatlY a tourofth city
bybu .
5 THE CITIZEN
3
Training - ember of the Project Self Reliance II taff hold training ion for PIC emplo
Project Self-Reliance Ph II began on October 1. The program hopes to i t 2,000 people in
Berrien, Ca and Van Buren counrie move from elfare roll to job Intere ted person should
contact their county Department of Social Service. The project i funded ith 1.9 million for
one year.
effor in certain area of ec­
onomic development, id
Little.
A ard a n arly $5000 con­
tract to Traver City Water-
ork Supply Inc. for equip­
ment parts. Th company, ac­
cordin to city ter rvice
officials, the lowe t bidder.
D ny a p cial-u e permit,
reque ted by r. and Mr . Tom­
mie Adams, 1035 Columbu ,for
a candy tore at their re idence.
Citizens from the are ere pre-
nt at the cornrni ion meeting
and pre ented a p tition with
nearly 40 name that ere
a inst the grantin of the
p cial-u e p rmit.
Approved th 1986 Blo
orntime Grand Floral parade
route. The route, hich h
been a ource of irritation
amon city officials and re i­
dents ince it moved from
Main St., ill continue do n
Rivervi _pro to Gray St.
B.H. to pay for toxic cleanup
By Ron Leuty
"We ere trying to get in
much 10 er than that, but that'
10 ther'd come," id Ben-
ton Harbor City Attorney
Erne t White, Oct. 7 explain­
ing an out-of-court ettlement
between the U.S. Environmen­
tal Protection Agency (EPA)
and tb city, in hich th city
will have 0 pay $ 1800 and ha
ix barrel of PCB, dispo d.
Accordin to White the b r­
rels, tored in the city' form r
Public Works buildin on
orth St., are linked to the for­
mer Benton Harbor Malleable
Industrie, on Graham Ave.,
th t nt bankrupt in the
1970' .
"The Malleable Industrie ,
hen th y ent bankrupt, ju t,
abandoned a couple of transfor­
mer ," explained White, "and
ap-
parently, I'm not ure of the in­
du trial function of it, but PCB
. omeho u d in transform­
ers."
"The transformer h d been
drain d, and that material had
been properly di po ed of --17
barrels of it... abc in '78 or
'79," id Whit ," but after you
drain out the tra former you
have to flu h it out ith de' I
fuel, nd that' what the ix
b rre are' die el fuel that w
n ver di po ed of."
White aid that the uit by
the EPA w brou ht agai t th
city earlier this year and con­
cerned p perwork involved
with the storage of PCB. '
The EP 6. also raised th con­
cern that the buildin was not
marked, according to White.
White id th t the EPA
originally eekin a $3500 t­
dement, but settled at $1800;
but bite id that he a
happy ith the agreement.
W.W. Indu trial anitation
Service, 2,76 E.Main, Benton
Harbor, will dispo e of th
chemical, tated White. _
In orh r action, the commi
ion, afterholdin a hearing,
voted to rant Martin Bro. ill
& Foundry Supply Company a
12-y r tax abatem nt on irn
provements its plans to rna e.
The plant,289 Hinkley, Ben­
ton Harbor, has constructed an
aluminum reclamation plant,
ccordin to Community Ser-
vice Director William Lilly. In
all, the comp ny i plannin
$635,000 of improvements,
hich, over the next two ye rs,
will create 1 ne job.
In another matter, the com­
mis ion voted to accept a grant
from the Private Indu try Coun­
cil (PIC). The grant would help
the city, financially, through the
ment of 50 percent of
Economic Development Direc­
tor Allex Little' alary. Th hir­
ing of Little; and the co t of an
Economic D velopment direc­
tor, h been a major ource of
criticism ince Little as hired
nearly a year ago.
In other action ... the com­
mission voted to:
Support the establishment
of a Berrien County Gro th
Alliance. According to Little,
for everal year attempts have
been made to create a tri-couary
growth lliance. The alliance _
ould reduce duplication of
food, on
Oc
BENTO HARBOR - Th
Community Action Agency of
South Centrral ichigan/Berrien
County Operation will require
all person and individuals who
currently receive USDA Surplus
Commodities to be recertified
by October 31, 1985, accord­
ing to Loui e Price Community
Service Coordinator.
Price . d there will be no
commoditie distribution during
the month of October, due to
recertification proce. To be
recertified all recipients must
bring proof of household in­
come family size a Soci
Security card, a picture ID.
and current small white card.
To qualify for the urplu
commodities, recipients mu
have income at or below 130%
of the poverty guideline; enior
citizens 160% of th poverty
guideline determined by the
federal government.
People eking certification
should apply only on the days
and ites listed:
•
I
-October 4, 9, 11, 16, 18,
23, 25, and 30 for all pe on
who pick up commodities at
219 in Street. Report there
from 9:30 .m. - 3:30 p.m.
-October 8, 15 22, and 29
for Salvation Army participants.
Report there from 9:30 - 3:30
p.m.
Continued on P e 9
MSU to aid B.H.
BENTO HARBO - em­
bers of the Benton Harbor
Ho ing Commi ion voted
unanimously at their October
8 meeting to contract with
Korbuly - Graf Inc. of South
Bend for architectural servic
for the planned 16,000 im­
provement at the E t h­
ington Avenue apartmen .
Impro ements planned for
th 94-unit complex include;
10 ered ceiling in ulation,
fillin in a fa • ce, pIa -
ground, ne steel doors and
torm _indo