Vacant omes�- Topic heats up council session . . 1 I By Derrle C. Le and t ey expre sed thei r COn'eS10 elll frustration ith the city's HIOHLAND PK. - During a' v cant housing. heated city council meeting Downca t in the face of Monday, May 7, Highland ' what they see as mounting in­ Park citizens expre ed their efficency by the city, block frustration over the city- in- club members expressed fear ability to handle the vacant of being sued the owners of the housing problem. . vacant houses. if they tried to In a meetina where city d- take the matter in 0 their own mini trators and council mem- hands. by boarding the bouse ber were personally held up tbemselves. accountable for wbat they see Councilman Frank Ross as deteriorating city service. aid. "1 am .gelling uncomfort- citizens took full advantage of able bee use more and more the speaking time allowed people are expressing interest them during the councils in their neighborhoods but get- public session. ting less and less response, no One woman aid she has written replie , and no one to lived next to a vacant house for talk with." 10 years. Most complaints Director of Community centered on boarding up and Development Tom Kelley says tearing down vacant houses. there are more than a thousand People were concerned with the crime that is a sociated with vacant building. fear of fire' preading to adjacent home -. and declining property values. More than one resident told of how they have repeatedly telephoned and written city ad­ ministrators about the problem, and havc' not received any replies. " I MANY CITY BLOCK club members were present, vacam houses in the City that have to be torn down. He said the city cannot get to them a oon as possible. because there are too many. He indic ted that soon as the City boards up a house. they are taken down the next day. Kelley said the city wa al­ located $3 million by the state for demolishing buildings during Mayor Blackwell's d­ ministration, and there wa . only $500,000 left. Kelley said he doe not knowwhat the $2.5 million was spent on. THE CITY ALSO has received a S 1 00.000 arson grant from the state to tear down public structures. Kelley indicated that he is working on a fire escrow demolition list. Choir performs downtown 0$0 musician appears The Choraleers are directed by Rex Houston. The Highland Park Choraleers, whose 82 members are all Highland Park Com­ munity High School students, . were tcaturcd participants in the first annual Go pel Youth Extravaganza at Ford Auditorium in Detroit Friday. May 4, at 7 p.m. Detrou Symphony Or­ chestra ba ist Richard Robin­ son, an alumnus ·of Highland Park' Barber School, ap­ peared there in a 90-minutc afternoon visit May 1 to pcr- . form and talk to students. I I He . said 15% of the proceeds from insurance. He said it cost the city $4 thou d to demoli h a single family ome, and the city i trying 0 stretch the available money far a possible. .' He said it can cost up to $160,000 to demolish 12 unit apartment building, because of the problem of asbestos removal. Kelley attributed the delays in tearing down vacant houses to the fact that it take the city 485 days to get permission from the st te to demolish a building. and then anot er 3 months to get approval from the courts. He said the ci ty cannot tear down private property without . the approval of the courts. "The whole constitution of these United States is solely to protect property rights. A Vtan's house is his castle no matter what condition," said Kelley. Other items involved a dis­ cus ion on whether the "council will purchase a computer sys­ tern that i $2 thousand more than. and incompatible with the system that was purchased by the city administration. Council members tabled the issue for further discussion. HIGHLAND PARK - J · Mayor Martha G. Scott aDd the City of Highland Park the 73rd annual Michigan Wee P de S day, May 19, 1990, beginning 12-00 DOOD. The parade will take place the Woodward Avenue busiae district. . years parade COJiuDit- tee i proud to announce Ronald McDonald and the BABES Alive! Puppet Stais - Buttons, Bo , Myth Mary, . Early Bird, Do ovan Dignity. RCCO\'eriDg Regie and Rhon­ da Rabbit of the NatioDal Coun­ cil on Alcoholism d Other Disorders (NCA/OD) BABES­ WORLD Substance Abuse Education Program, as the "Grand Marshalls" of the 1990 parde. Each year more than 1500 spectators come out to ob­ serve this spectacular display of bands, floats and other special attractions. Other Michigan Week ac­ tiviti include the Wade Show Carnival (M Y 16-20 ..... Senior Citizens Day (May 22), Govern­ ment Day (May 23), Educa­ tion/Heritage Day (May 24), and Youth Day (May 26). For more inform tion, call 252- 0026. HfRf SOMfTHINO RfA URING about having a connection with the past-whether it's going away to the same col leg where your father met your mother, or sitting down with the taste or the same kind of coffee that melled so good around the house in the morning. Choosing to attend a Black colleg means a COrT clion with the past, too. A past that has created a uniqu environment that sets no limits on what an individual can achieve, and has produ d 40% of Black col graduates. So when you finally mak the big move away from home and into col ge, remember to sti k with a few of your old family tra