NEWSPAPERS n o i t i d E l a i c e Sp
JUNE 18, 2025 candgnews.com
Macomb County and Grosse Pointe papers
MILLER SLAMS OAKLAND DRAIN OFFICE OVER DISCHARGE RESPONSE BY DEAN VAGLIA dvaglia@candgnews.com
CLINTON TOWNSHIP — Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller released a statement on June 5 criticizing the office of Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash over its response to a state agency about recent discharges into the Red Run. On April 29, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy sent a letter to the Oakland County Water Resources Commission about a sanitary sewer overflow that occurred at the Red Run on April 3. The agency’s letter required the commission to provide information about the April 3 overflow, an evaluation of operating procedures at the George W. Kuhn Retention Treatment Basin that could affect overflows and provide a corrective action plan to prevent further overflows. The third request included four specific requests about what the plan needed to include: hydraulic modeling of the sewers, evaluation of the capacity limitations and restrictions of the overflow chamber and short-term and long-term corrective action implementation plans to eliminate overflows. The office’s response was made on May 29 via a letter signed by Chief Engineer Evagelos Bantios. Bantios’s responses about the modeling of the sewers and the evaluation of the overflow chamber’s capacity limitations were as follows: “Concerning Item No. 3a and 3b, we have not seen areas of high infiltration and inflow in the system from the local communities,” Bantios said via email. “Nor have we seen capacity limitations or restrictions or other impacts that may cause the hydraulic grade line to overtop the overflow chamber in the Dequindre Interceptor with the (George W. Kuhn Drainage District) system.” Regarding the short-term improvements, Bantios said the commission would “store as much flow as possible” in the system ahead of heavy weather events and “continue to discharge through the (George W. Kuhn Retention Treatment Basin)” under the impression that this will allow for more storage in the Dequindre Interceptor for backwater and reverse flow. Regarding long-term plans, Bantios said the Oakland County Water Resources Commission would work with the Great Lakes Water Authority “to determine how the GLWA system interacts with the (George W. Kuhn Retention Treatment Basin) system to see what improvements can be made to either or both the GLWA and (George W. Kuhn Retention Treatment Basin) systems” and that it would implement any improvements later. “The Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s response shows a total lack of concern about what Oakland County discharges into the Red Run Drain and the damages these discharges do to our environment,” Miller said via See DRAIN on page 5A
ABOVE: Ferry Elementary School students in James Fisher’s magnet class perform multiple roles running an American Coney Island restaurant for a day, with students including Harrison Cavanagh, a Ferry fourth grader in James Fisher’s magnet class, delivers an order to one of his tables. LEFT: Fourth grade Ferry student Drew Steiger takes orders as a waiter. Photos by Patricia O’Blenes
Students serve diners while raising funds for Autism Alliance of Michigan BY K. MICHELLE MORAN kmoran@candgnews.com
GROSSE POINTE WOODS — In teacher James Fisher’s class at Ferry Elementary School, compassion and commerce go together. Every other year, Fisher’s magnet class — which is made up of third and fourth graders — partners with American Coney Island and operates a restaurant at the school for an afternoon. The students seat diners, wait and bus tables, prepare the food, cash out the patrons, publicize the event and more. This year, all proceeds from the restaurant were donated to the Autism Alli-
ance of Michigan. This year’s restaurant day took place May 8 during lunch. Fisher launched this project 14 years ago after talking with his friend, Grace Keros, who owns American Coney Island. Keros provides the uniforms, donates the food and trains the students, but they do the rest themselves. “They have been working very hard,” Fisher said. “This unit ties in with all of the curriculum.” The students vote on which charity will receive the event’s proceeds. Fisher said their selecSee AUTISM on page 9A