A house on a largely quiet street in Pontiac — right in the heart of the beleaguered city’s historic Indian Village, not even a mile from the eastern Waterford Township border — sits blighted. The overgrown backyard is the equivalent of an urban jungle: the shingled garage roof is caved in. A pair of toys from a children’s playground abut the rear of the house, which seems to have more broken windows than in-tact ones. [...]

The Commerce Township Board Trustees is at a bit of an impasse as the board looks to adopt the township’s 2012 budget. So far, one presented spending plan has been voted down, while another was tabled at a meeting earlier this month. The two budgets were similar, by and large, according to Commerce Township Clerk Dan Munro. The total revenue for Commerce was proposed at $5.22 million with total expenditures coming in at about $4.5 [...]

Waterford and White Lake townships were recognized for their collaborative efforts in information technology when they earned the award for Best Technology Project of 2011 from the Michigan Chapter of Government Management Information Science (Mi-GMIS). Mi-GMIS is the state chapter of the federal organization that is comprised of information system (IS) professionals from cities, townships, villages, counties and states at large. The award specifies that Waterford contracted with White Lake to provide information technology (IT) [...]

The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees held a special budget meeting on Monday, Nov. 28, where it was determined that there would be no furlough days for township employees in 2012. The township has observed nine furlough days throughout 2011. The board also approved the township’s drug forfeiture fund budget. Yet to be approved for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 budget year, which begins Jan. 1, 2012, are the general fund, public safety fund, [...]

When 30,000 gallons of raw sewage overflowed into Wolverine Lake in late November 2010, village officials opted to collect water samples to see if there were any negative effects and have recently analyzed the results which indicate some short-term residual effects but minimal long-term impact. Water testing was conducted a month after the incident and then again a few months later. The first sampling was conducted while there was ice covering the lake, 20 and [...]

There will no longer be a lieutenant at the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Highland Township Substation in 2012, according to the contract with the county’s law enforcement arm approved at the November Highland Board of Trustees meeting. Instead, the substation will be commanded by a detective sergeant. “One of the very important observations to make first of all is that this is not a reflection on the lieutenant (David Pement),” said Supervisor Triscia Pilchowski. “He [...]

In the tradition of a Victorian Christmas, the Walled Lake Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is hosting an event filled with nostalgia and holiday spirit from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10. The Season to Remember event will be held at the historic Stonecrest building located at 207 Liberty Street in downtown Walled Lake. “We had it a few years ago and brought it back again,” said DDA Executive Director Charlene Long. “It’s very [...]

A former Oakland County Democratic Party employee will face sentencing in Circuit Court on Jan. 12, 2012 on charges that he and the former party chairman concocted a scheme to siphon off conservative vote from Republicans in close races during the 2010 election cycle. Jason Bauer, the party’s former political director who resigned last year, will be sentenced early next year by Circuit Court Judge James Alexander after he and Michael McGuinness, the former county [...]

The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) may soon be waterlogged with more paperwork and responsibility if the state Senate passes legislation requiring all road commissions to adhere to a new competitive bidding requirement, according to an RCOC official. House Bill (HB) 4790 states that if a township contributes 50 percent or more to the costs of a road project, then the township board, via resolution, can require the solicitation of competitive bids on the [...]

With property tax revenues going to school districts in a free-fall over the past few years, many districts haven’t been able to meet the obligations of their existing bond debt. In order to shore up those payments, the state of Michigan has a program that lends school districts money to cover their bond indebtedness shortfalls, one that currently has a liability of about $1.2 billion. State Sen. John Pappageorge (R-Birmingham) and a few of his [...]