A major renovation of Peasley Park is scheduled to begin Monday, September 30th.  A natural play area will be installed including a sand play area, climbing boulders, slide, log tunnel, play mound and a log pile along with new picnic tables and benches.  A new walking path leading from the entrance on Balfour to the drinking fountain will be added.  The large greenspace on the south side of the park will remain open during construction and after the project is completed.  The City is using Community Development Block Grant funds for the project.  Peasley Park is on Coolidge between Balfour and Winchester. VIEW RENOVATION PLANS HERE

Every five years the City is required to update the Parks and Recreation Master Plan to be eligible for certain grants.  The current Master Plan was adopted in 2015 so it is due for an update.  A Master Plan is a statement of community goals and objectives, and establishes a vision of the future. Because it is visionary in nature, the goals are not always achievable because of the City's limited budget so the Master Plan provides insight into what the community values so the City can focus on those goals.   

Resident input drives the Master Plan process so the City has two methods for residents to become involved.  There is an online survey on our website and a drop-in Community Open House on Thursday, October 3rd from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Gillham Recreation Center.  The survey should take 10 - 15 minutes to complete and your answers will tell the city what you like, don't like or would like to change about the City's parks and recreation system.  Or residents can attend the Open House and answer the same questions or ask questions about the process. 

Please join us on October 3, 2019 from 6:00-8:00 pm for a chance to have a direct influence on recreation development in the city. We will be having a drop-in open house at the Rec Center. You will be able to provide input on the state of parks, recreation facilities, and programming. The city has also created an online survey.

Please take a few moments and go to:
https://survey.sogosurvey.com/r/tUrqMN  to fill it out. 

Food is an important part of every culture, and to celebrate National Welcoming Week from September 13th - 22nd, the new Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee is holding the first Huntington Woods Festival of Food and Culture.  The event will be on Sunday, September 22nd from 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. at the Library.  Think of a recipe, either hot or cold, that is part of your ethnic or cultural heritage.  This might be a recipe passed down through your family, or it might be a typical dish you have learned to make from the country your family came from originally.  Prepare the dish and then share it with your neighbors at this new event!  Click here to sign up for the Festival.  Email resident Steve Gold at plutsk@gmail.com if you have questions or want more information.

In 2018, the City Commission convened a resident led ad hoc committee to study the City's long-term financial outlook.  A Final Report was released in July to the City Commission with recommendations on how to address the remaining road and sewer work and possible revenue and expenditure modifications to achieve long-term positive financial health for the City.  The City Commission will meet in a joint session with the Budget Committee on Wednesday, August 28th at 7 p.m. in City Hall to discuss the report and the recommendations.  Residents are encouraged to attend to learn more about the recommendations from the Committee.  A copy of the Final Report is available on the City's website. 

 The City Commission approved a Welcoming Cities resolution in 2017 and HW resident Steve Gold (plutsk@gmail.com) encouraged the City to consider taking additional measures to support the values stated in the resolution.  To that end, he collaborated with representatives from the Welcoming Cities initiative and proposed a new resident-led Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee.  Read More

The Detroit Zoo will temporarily close the Polk Penguin Conservation Center to make repairs to faulty waterproofing.  Construction is scheduled to begin September 9th and completion is anticipated in mid-June 2020.  The nature of the repair may require the use of trucks and other construction vehicles along Huntington Road.  The Zoo will make every effort to minimize any inconvenience to residents in Huntington Woods and Royal Oak.

The City received an update from DTE that said after reviewing the outage history, the data from the Dundee/York outages suggests that they are primarily caused by tree interference. The tree trim planning for this area has been completed and the actual trimming will start next week. The trimming for the whole circuit (not just the portion in Huntington Woods) will take 6 - 8 weeks to complete.

 

In addition to the tree survey, the DTE engineering team conducted a review of the equipment serving this area and looked at the age of the equipment such as pole top transformers. Although the equipment appears not to be related to the recent outages, as part of the work on this circuit, DTE will replace some of the transformers at the top of the pole as well as add an additional one which will more evenly distribute load. They will also replace some poles and fuses and add new fuse locations to further break up the circuit so if there is a problem on the circuit it affects less customers. The equipment changes will be completed in parallel with the tree trimming over the next few weeks. DTE expects that reliability will improve as the work is completed.

The City Commission approved the purchase and installation of a new sign at Scotia Park with four inch removable letters. Revenue from past Community Fund Board programs were used for the project.

The Huntington Woods Public Safety Department is introducing a new service for residents to assist first responders. Residents that fill out an Alert Form for Dispatchers can have important information on file so dispatchers can relay it quickly to first responders. 

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Huntington Woods along with Berkley and Oak Park were the recipients of a multi-community planning grant from SEMCOG.  The objective was to look at opportunities for improvement along our shared 11 Mile and Coolidge corridors.  The engineering firm of Spaulding DeDecker was awarded the contract for the study and their report is complete.  The report focused on:  green infrastructure opportunities, identifying most used crosswalk locations and potential uses for an expanded right of way if the roads were redesigned and the number of drivable lanes were reduced.  The City Commission received the report at the July 16th meeting and directed staff to obtain feedback from City Departments and the Planning Commission.  The report is available for viewing HERE.

Consumers Energy is replacing the gas line in the right of way and the adjoining service leads in the area marked on the map. The work will be done with directional boring to minimize disruption to the right of way and homeowners getting new service leads will be contacted by Consumers Energy directly.

With the recent passage of Proposal 3 in the November 2018 General Election, registered voters can now request an absentee ballot without providing a reason. Under Michigan election law, all registered voters are eligible to be placed on the Permanent Absent Voter List. 

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The annual report on the source and quality of your drinking water is available here.  To have a copy mailed to you, contact Amy Hood at 248.547.1888 or ahood@hwmi.org.

The Huntington Woods - Pleasant Ridge Friends of the Library needs new members to  help with their fundraising activities.  All proceeds support Library programming and events.  The Friends of the Library President Melissa Kessler issued a letter encouraging residents to support the organization and their efforts.  The Friends most successful fundraiser is the bi-monthly used book sale and volunteers are needed to sort the books and staff the sale.  If you have time and value the Library, please consider joining the Friends of the Library and contributing to their success.  You can get more information by emailing HWFOTL@gmail.com.

DTE Energy has advised the City it will be performing tree trimming as part of its ongoing maintenance program in Huntington Woods this year. The area where the trimmers will be working is shaded in green on the map. At this time they have not provided us with a date that the work will begin. DTE does communicate with residents along the proposed trim route using letters, phone calls, knocking on doors and leaving door hangers if no one is home.

Residents will be informed about trimming or removals on their property before the work begins. Trimmers do not remove trees without permission. More information on their communication plan can be found on the DTE website.

DTE has notified the City that they are undertaking a streetlight reliability project to address the ongoing issue with street light outages between Wyoming and Woodward.  Starting in February, DTE contractor Harlan Electric will begin troubleshooting and cable testing existing underground streetlight wires along the streets marked on the attached map. 


Upon identification of any cable irregularities, those cable sections will be marked for cable replacement.  The replacement will be completed by using a directional bore method so disruption within the City right of way will be minimized.  Residents in the area will see miss Dig flags installed prior to the underground work beginning.  Any restoration to the ground within the right of way will be addressed in the early summer.  Please contact Amy Sullivan at asullivan@hwmi.org or 248.581.2632 if you have questions on the project.

MoGo, Detroit's bike share system, is expanding its service into the northwest Detroit area and the cities of Oak Park, Ferndale, Royal Oak, Berkley and Huntington Woods.

MoGo is hosting two community engagement meetings to get a sense of where people would like to see stations located.

There are two meetings coming up, one in Detroit (Thursday, January 31, 6 - 7:30 p.m. at Detroit Sip) and one in Ferndale (Thursday, February 7, 6 - 7:30 p.m. at the Kulick Community Center). They will be presenting general information about how MoGo works and will provide paper maps for people to indicate where they'd like to see stations.  For those who are not able to attend these events, you can leave feedback on their station siting page. 

Rackham Golf Course is hiring Grounds Crew Associates for the 2019 golf season.  See the attached for more information.
Maintenance Job Posting
Grounds Crew Job Description

The Men's Club has three $1,000 college scholarships for teens who have made a difference in our community through volunteering and community service.  The HW Men's Club established the fund to award the scholarships to City residents who are graduating high school this year or currently enrolled in college or a recognized trade school. Applications are available at www.hwmc.org and Berkley High School.   Applications are due March 29th and require a brief essay.  For more information or questions, please contact Jim Speir at jspeir@ameritech.net.

PURPOSE - QUALIFICATIONS - SELECTION
APPLICATION

Fruit Camp Applications for summer 2019 are now available at the front desk of the Gillham Recreation Center or through Tracy Shanley at tshanley@hwmi.org.  Deadline to return apps is January 25^th.  Applicants must be at least 18 yrs and/or graduating seniors. If anyone has any questions, please call Tracy at 248-541-3030.

The Library’s Drag Queen Story Time program has been in the news lately and we are aware of two out-of-state organizations that disagree with the concept.  I want to assure you that the City Commission is unanimously supportive of the program, as are a majority of residents and we will not be influenced by outside organizations that do not share our values.

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Be advised of a possible scam involving person(s) attempting to enter homes and/or businesses with a water shut-off and/or repair tactic. You should not allow any person(s) to enter your residence or place of business unless they are known to you. Read More

It is with sadness that the City informs residents of the passing of former employee, Lois Silk. Lois worked at City Hall and was the City's official "post office mistress" while she worked here from 1985 to 2010. We remember her for her diligent work ethic and always with a sense of humor.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Sawyer-Fuller in Berkley.

They have elected to rake the leaves of Berkley School District residents in Huntington Woods and Oak Park who are 60 yrs+.
Their intention is to have intergenerational opportunities and get to know their neighbors.

Please support their efforts by signing up for a date or two. Students will be given the addresses and your lawn will be looking good and the students will feel accomplished!

 

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An update on the tiger habitat development along Huntington Road can be found HERE.

If you are looking for employment opportunities, the Huntington Woods Public Safety Department is accepting applications for one full time and one contingent School Crossing Guard. Read More

Click here to view and "like" the page!

The City has prepared a Frequently Asked Question fact sheet to answer questions on the upcoming Sewer Repair Phase 1 Project. Click to view the fact sheet.

SOCRRA has an exciting new widget on their website called the Waste Wizard which will help residents figure out how to recycle and/or otherwise dispose of a variety of items.  Type in the name of an item into a search box and the widget will tell you how/where to deal with recycling it. Click here to try it out

We have developed a tax calculator to provide you with a fast and easy tool to determine the estimated property tax change associated with the proposed bond referendum.  Click here to use the calculator.

The city-wide sewer cleaning and televising program is complete and the engineers reviewed the videotapes from the project. They have recommended the City undertake three different types of repair to mitigate impacts from future significant rain events. The engineers recommended a three pronged approach for repairs which has been separated into 2 phases.

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The city-wide sidewalk replacement program is expected to start the day after Memorial Day on May 29th on the east side of the City moving westward towards Coolidge Highway.  The contractor for the project is Italia Construction and they expect the work to take about a month, weather permitting. 

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Did you know that fruit and vegetable scraps can be placed in your yard waste container to be composted?  Or purchase a separate container for $15 to hold your fruit and vegetable scraps and put it out on Tuesday for pick up by the yard waste truck.  The container can be purchased at the Department of Public Works.  Fruit and vegetable scraps that can be composted include:  apples and apple cores, bananas and banana peels, carrots, corn, peppers, beans, kiwi, lemons, lime, lettuce, peas, oranges and orange peels, radishes, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, pineapples and more!  Click here for more information on compost program.

The City Commission approved a contract extension to DiPonio Contracting for the 2018  Road Reconstruction and Water Main Replacement project. 

The areas scheduled for repair are:

• Hendrie Boulevard (Lincoln to Wareham) 
• Wareham Drive (Hendrie to Huntington) 
• Salem Road (Pembroke to Huntington)

Details on the time frame for construction will be announced in a future e-newsletter and residents along the route will receive more information prior to the work commencing. 

The 2017 Consumers Annual Report on Water Quality is a report on our drinking water prepared by the Southeastern Oakland County Water Authority (SOCWA) and the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA).  It details the tests that were conducted and concludes that our water exceeds quality standards mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). The report can be found on our website and will be mailed to all homes shortly.

View Flyer Here

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Trees are a big part of what makes our neighborhoods beautiful, but they are also the leading cause of power outages and can pose serious safety hazards if growing too near or into power lines. In fact, some area residents recently experienced an outage that was caused by a tree damaging electrical equipment.  DTE has advised the City that tree trimming will take place this year in the area shaded in green on this map. 

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For residents who don't have cable and can't watch the live City Commissions meetings, meetings are now being live streamed on the City's YouTube channel.

Skywarn is a training program from Oakland County. Individuals are trained to accurately observe certain weather phenomena such as cloud features that can lead to tornadoes and to identify storms that can cause damage. The class covers what information to report and how to report it. There are multiple training dates available and the free training lasts 1 1/2 hours. Read More

The Tri-Community Coalition has prepared a survey to assess the needs of the communities that the Coalition serves. With the data they hope to address current gaps and to create programming, educational events and provide support to better serve the area. The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete and is confidential. Take the survey here

 Click here for more information on the survey. 

The Huntington Woods Department of Public Safety is scheduled for an on-site assessment as part of a program to maintain it’s national accreditation by verifying it meets professional standards.

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With the preparation of the 2018-19 budget underway, the City Commission felt it was an opportune time to establish an ad hoc committee to study the City’s long term financial health. The impact of the great recession in 2008 has left the City very close to or at the maximum millage cap for our multiple governmental funds. Read More

The holiday season is upon us! At SOCRRA, it is a season where recyclers have a few more questions than usual about what can and cannot be recycled. Check out SOCRRA’s December eNewsletter to guide you this year. Their e-newsletter has a list of typical holiday recyclables are accepted by SOCRRA for recycling in your recycling cart — not just during the holidays, but year round! Check it out HERE.

We are happy to announce the City has hired a new DPW Director -- Rocco Fortura, who will begin working in Huntington Woods on December 11th.  He fills the vacancy created when Jay Mader retired earlier this summer.  Rocco has been the Deputy Director of Public Works for the City of Oak Park and brings 15 years of municipal experience to the job.  Prior to Oak Park he worked for a company that specialized in underground utility construction.  We also want to extend our sincere thanks to DPW Supervisor Marty Wozniak for assuming the duties of Interim DPW Director while the search was conducted. 

The Planning Commission has been reviewing the City’s Zoning Ordinance since August 2015 and they have prepared an updated ordinance for the City Commission to consider at their December meeting.

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The annual report on the source and quality of your drinking water is available here.  To have a copy mailed to you, contact Amy Hood at 248.547.1888.

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Watch SaveMiCity, a presentation by the Michigan Municipal League that highlights what needs to be done to "fix" governance and economic issues in Michigan as they pertain to the funding of our municipalities...

Click HERE

Residents may notice activity in Scotia Park soon.  While the actual construction will begin in mid-September, the Department of Public Works will be on-site shortly to remove shrubs and cement in anticipation of the renovation.  The project  is anticipated to last 6 weeks following the start date so the park will be ready for concerts in 2018!

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The Senior Advisory Committee has completed a report entitled "Housing Options for an Aging Population". It will be presented to the City Commission for their consideration at the April 25th City Commission meeting.  The report is the culmination of years of efforts of the Committee to study the need for and feasibility of senior housing options in the City.  A copy of the report is available HERE

The City of Huntington Woods, The Southeastern Oakland County Water Authority and the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) are proud of the fine drinking water they supply and are honored to provide this report to you. The 2016 Consumers Annual Report on Water Quality shows the sources of our water, lists the results of our tests, and contains important information about water and health. We will notify you immediately if there is ever any reason for concern about our water. We are pleased to show you how we have surpassed water quality standards as mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

DTE has advised the City they will performing tree trimming as part of their ongoing maintenance program in Huntington Woods this year. The area to be worked on is on this map shaded in green. At this time they have not provided us with a date that the work will begin. DTE does communicate with residents along the proposed trim route using letters, phone calls, knocking on doors and leaving door hangers if no one is home. Residents will be informed about trimming or removals on their property before the work begins. They do not remove trees without permission. More information on their communication plan can be found at this link.

Prior to the ongoing discussion about senior-oriented housing, the City commissioned two studies. One was to survey needs of older adults and the other studied the 11 Mile municipal property and looked at age-specific housing. Both studies can be viewed on our website at these links:

2015 Needs Assessment

2012 Survey Findings

Joe Rozell's Commissioner's Corner is available for viewing on our YouTube channel. Joe talks to the City's Recreation Director and Library Director in this episode. Watch the episode

Start Pedaling... Get On that Bike !

Recently you may have noticed new stencil markings featuring a bicyclist on the pavement of Borgman, Lincoln and Scotia. These stencils are called "sharrows" and they are used to mark a designated bike route that connects Huntington Woods with our neighboring communities.  A copy of the bike route can be found on the attached map.  The markings also are to remind motorists to share the road with bicyclists.  View map...... Here

Zoo administration officials discuss the fencing issue along the Zoo property in Huntington Woods, and new developments regarding the application of screening and planting along Huntington Road..... Zoo Fencing Presentation
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Peter Brasseur from Ecotec pest Control discusses the issue with the City Commission.  Data is offered on the problem, the current status of these rodents in Huntington Woods, and ways to keep you yard free from these vermin...View Video Presentation here

Commissioner Joe Rozell's new video Series which highlights topis of interest for the residents of Huntington Woods Read More

The report on Housing Options For An Aging Population is now available to the general public. Read More

Sue McCormick, CEO of the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) released a statement  dealing with the Flint water crisis and the quality of the water in GLWA communities. Read More

DTE has informed the City that they are planning to have crews in HW to trim the trees growing near and into power lines. Read More

For a brief statement about the City's water quality click here. For further, in-depth, information check out the Consumers Annual Report on Water Quality.

The idea of re-establishing a block captain program has been discussed by both the Emergency Advisory Committee and Communication Advisory Committee while they review alternative methods of communication in the event of a disaster. Read More

The three programs sponsored this fall by the Environmental Advisory Committee and the BART Board are available for viewing. Read More

The City Commission recently adopted two new policies concerning construction of new residential homes and new additions in the City.  

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A design for renovations to Scotia Park are now available. Read More