GRAND BLANC — The City of Grand Blanc Police Chief Steve Solomon has been given authorization to hire one uniform patrol officer.

The hiring of a patrol officer is not an expansion for the department, but rather a move that will maintain the department at its minimum staffing level, Solomon said.

“Our officers have been working double shifts multiple days within a week,” Solomon said. “The overtime is extremely high. So I’m very grateful for City Council’s support.”

Currently, the department is short two uniform patrol officers and has used up its $100,000 line item dedicated in its budget since 2006 for overtime pay with four months left in its fiscal year.

Following the recommendation of its finance committee, the council approved in a 4-1 vote on March 28 to have the funds for the additional patrol officer — which including benefits equates to $67,000 a year for an entry level officer — to come out of the city’s $2,985,948 fund balance.

Councilman Dr. Mike Wolfgram voted against the motion stating he does not question the need for another patrol officer, but rather questions how the council plans to fund the position.

“Hiring someone and paying for it out of the fund balance with a structural deficit looming and revenues declining, I’m very disappointed,” Wolfgram said, adding that he would have liked the finance committee to find a different method of funding. “Now we have to find an alternative revenue or we have to cut our services in some other area. We can’t just keep adding services on without the revenue.”

Councilman Lonnie Adkins however said he believes it is council’s responsibility to provide citizens with the services they are paying for in the city.

“The fund balance is at a higher amount than most cities and municipalities in Michigan,” Adkins said. “We are holding on to taxpayers’ money, money they have paid the city for the services they expect, and we need to give it to them through public safety and the other services they are paying for.”

Wolfgram said they cannot always count on the fund balance paying for this patrol officer and wondered where the money would come from in the future.

“That money (the fund balance) will run out,” Wolfgram said. “Where will the money come from next year or the year after that or the year after that?”

Mayor Susan Soderstrom said possible funding options for the patrol officer in the years to come would need to be discussed in the finance committee meetings.

In the meantime, Solomon and City Manager Paul Brake will be working together on hiring a new patrol officer.

Solomon said they still have a list of top candidates from when they hired an officer in November 2011 that they will be communicating with to see if they are still available. If any of those candidates are available, Solomon said he would like to see a new patrol officer hired and begin training within three weeks.

“Once we have an officer hired, he or she will go through a 14 week field training period and then finally be able to assume a patrol position and begin reducing the overtime expenditures,” Solomon said.

In the event the department needs to begin its search from scratch, Solomon said it could take up to four months to get a patrol officer on staff due to the need to post the position, conduct testing and go through a multiple interview process.

“We have among the highest standards in mid-Michigan and because our standards are so high, we get to screen the best of the best,” Solomon said.

Councilman Jim Bappert was absent from the meeting.

GRAND BLANC — When Tressa Compton opened Style Maker Hair and Nails 30 years ago on April Fool’s day, it was anything but a joke to her.

It was instead a dream come true.

“I’ve known my whole life that I wanted to do hair,” said Compton, who grew up in Grand Blanc and now resides in Lapeer. “I started out in high school working out of my home just doing the hair of my friends and family before I was even licensed.”

Once graduating from high school, Compton attended cosmetology school before landing a job in her field at a local salon.

After two years of experience working at the salon under her belt, Compton said her entire family began encouraging her to branch out and open her own salon.

“My sisters and brothers all insisted that I not work for someone else,” Compton said. “At the time, my brother was working next door and he saw that this place had become available and then my sisters and brothers were all telling me again to open my own salon.”

Only 20 years old at the time and with little money to her name, Compton said her siblings pooled their money so she could purchase the small shop located at 7510 Fenton Rd.

Never did she imagine that today she would still be going strong at that exact same location which she now considers to be a second home.

“I’m shocked that I have been here for 30 years. Time really does fly as they say,” Compton said. “It has been great though. To have made it through all the ups and downs of the economies, I think it is awesome.”

As a full-service salon for those of all ages offering expertise in hair, nails and airbrush makeup, Compton said Style Maker has been able to succeed by maintaining the very same values in which the salon was founded upon, with the most important value being family.

“It’s all about family here,” said Compton, adding that she has built such strong relationship with her clients that she starts with one family member and ends up with the entire family as customers. “The whole salon, from my employees to the customers, is one big family. We are family owned and everyone truly cares about everyone. It is that one thing that I think sets us apart from other salons. We really know our customers.”

To show her appreciation to the community while simultaneously celebrating 30 years in business, Compton has scheduled a free public open house, complete with food and prizes, from 2- 6 p.m. on May 20.

“I wouldn’t be here without the support of the community and my team,” Compton said. “I have excellent people that work here and support me. They are all just amazing people so I really wanted to do something to showcase that.”

In addition to her duties at the salon, Compton said her next step is to pursue teaching hair color to aspiring stylists.

“It is something I’ve been thinking about for some time now and something I really thing I would enjoy doing,” she said.

Although she would like to do more teaching in the near future, Compton said her clients do not need to worry about her retiring from styling anytime soon.

“I’m going to retire from here, I just don’t when though because I still love it,” Compton said. “I’m very fortunate. Not many people still love their jobs after 30 years, but I do and I have no desire to retire.”

Eventually however, Compton said she would like to find someone to take over the business when she is ready to step away.

“I want for someone to come in and have a spot of their own to do hair and yet still be able to have a family,” Compton said. “As a mother of three, I know it is difficult to balance a career and family. This has been perfect for me though, giving me enough flexibility to still be a mommy and keep this place going. I want that for someone else some day.”

Style Maker is open Tuesday- Saturday. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 810- 232-5510.

GRAND BLANC — The Grand Blanc McFarlen Library announced last week that it has received the largest donation in branch history totaling $329,054.

The donation was a generous gift from the late Dr. Charles E. Claffey and Margaret L. Claffey.

Prior to Dr. Charles Claffey passing away last May at the age of 86, Grand Blanc McFarlen Senior Librarian Kara Kvasnicka said he would visit the library’s business center on an almost daily basis.

“He was a very nice man. He liked to spend a lot of time here and he was well known as a regular,” Kvasnicka said. “He was on a first name basis with most of us here.”

The donation, Kvasnicka said, is the largest ever given to McFarlen and far exceeds any donations she has ever seen come into the Genesee District Library in her 23 years.

“This donation means the world to us, especially in these hard financial times for libraries, that he would consider us for that donation,” Kvasnicka said. “It is a true gift.”

A special committee has been formed to determine exactly how the library will spend the donation.

At this time, Kvasnicka said they have formed preliminary ideas that focus in on technology, family programming and ways to improve its resources to better serve the entire community.

“There are a lot of improvements that we want to make to the library, but nothing is set in stone,” Kvasnicka said. “It is going to take some time. This is not something we take lightly because we want to make sure that the money gets spent on something that will benefit the entire community and library.”

This article was published in the April 5, 2012 edition of the Grand Blanc View.

GRAND BLANC — A Grand Blanc West Middle School teacher and her students are looking to please the palate of numerous children with a semesterlong service project to end childhood hunger.

In October, Social Studies and Language Arts teacher Crystal Chapa received a $5,000 grant from the Sodexo Foundation —a non-profit organization aimed at supporting endeavors to end child hunger in the United States — to fund innovative ideas to give at-risk children in the community access to nutritious foods.

Since returning from winter break, Chapa said her seventh and eighth grade students have divided up into teams — such as research and resource, event planning and marketing groups — to figure out the necessary means to combat hunger in the community.

“I felt this project really fit well with the new common core state standards,” Chapa said. “We work on the project two or three times a week reading articles, watching videos and sharing facts relating to our topic. It’s been great so far. The kids are all really motivated to do the work.”

In fact, the students have been coming together to write proposals for sponsorships and have been researching the idea of getting T-shirts made as well to help advertise their cause to the general public.

Seventh-grader Anastasia Davis said she is proud of the work she and her classmates have been able to accomplish.

“It is weird because there are like people that are not hungry that get to eat every day. We waste food over and over again without realizing it too,” Davis said. “So this is something that if I were to have kids or when I go to college,

I can think back to this and notice that I helped with the hunger project.”

Davis said the first project they completed was on March 6 when they helped fill bags with healthy foods for the Indian Hill Elementary’s weekend meals/backpack program.

In addition to packing backpacks, the students have also been working on compiling simple, healthy, cheap meals to include in a cookbook that will be distributed to families at local food pantries.

Building off the cookbook idea, seventh grader Shayla Hamady applied for and received an additional $500 grant from Sodexo Foundation to host a cooking class.

Hamady said they have decided to call the event the “Book N Cook” where about 10 families in the community will be allowed to attend a free cooking class to learn how to make the dishes published in the students’ cookbook.

“We’ll supply the food and the families will get to take home what they make during the class,” Chapa said. “We were all just so excited when we learned Shayla was awarded the grant.”

Hamady said the grant process was challenging, but that she feels one step closer to reaching their goal.

“I’m learning that more kids in America are hungry,” Hamady said. “I thought by doing this that I could help a few of them at least.”

Chapa said the final event for their service learning project will be a school-wide celebration on April 24 to coincide with Global Youth Service Day. She said the students will highlight for the school what they have been working on for the semester and try and collect donations for future projects.

By the end of the semester, Chapa said they are hoping to have gained enough attention from the other stu- dents and the community to keep the charitable effort going in the future.

“The goal is to create something sustainable without a grant so it can buildup as the years go on,” Chapa said. “We’d like to find a self-sufficient team of students to take charge and plan fundraisers to end child hunger in the community.”

A date has yet to be scheduled for the cooking class. Those interested however, or those wanting to donate food or money to the cause, are asked to contact Chapa at cchapa@grandblancschools.org.

GRAND BLANC — The Grand Blanc Farmers Market is taking extra measures to ensure the produce sold at the market is locally grown.

For the cost of $50, farmers will be able to become Market Master Certified. The certification will allow farmers to display a sign at their produce stand validating that their produce is fresh and locally grown, provided they pass an inspection.

Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Wendy Jean-Buhrer said for the past six years the market has run on an honor system where the market simply trusts when a farmer states that he or she grew the produce. “For the most part, they have been honest and it really is not a problem,” said Jean-Buhrer, adding that those who do not locally grow the food needed to pay a fine. “We just thought to gain more legitimacy for the market and the farmers we would start a Market Master certification program.”

To become certified, each farmer will need to pass a site inspection by either Jean-Buhrer or Market Manager Missy Healey prior to the first market day on May 13.

“We’ll go out to the farms and inspect probably a month after the seeds are in the ground,” Jean-Buhrer said. “We’ll take pictures and document everything to back it all up.”

Farmers not interested in becoming Market Master certified will still be allowed to participate in the market under the honor system, Jean-Buhrer said.

However, Jean-Buhrer said the farmers have been really supportive about the idea so far after it came up during their newly formed Farmers Market Advisory Committee.

The committee, Jean-Buhrer said, consists of not only farmers, but also artisans and crafters who collectively agreed offering Market Master certifications would be beneficial for the market and community as a whole.

“The market is growing and evolving and we wanted to add this other later to make sure everyone is on the up-and-up,” Jean-Buhrer said. “We want to make sure what we are saying (about produce being fresh and locally grown) is true and this program will ensure that.”

The market will be running on Sundays from May 13- Oct. 21. The Sunday market — located at Grand Boulevard, just west of Saginaw Street and east of Davis street — will be open from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. and feature food and artisan vendors. A Wednesday evening market — located at the north cul-de-sac portion of Grand Boulevard — will be open from 4:30- 8 p.m. June 6 - Oct. 17 and feature just produce.

GOODRICH — An investigation aimed at bringing closure to a yearlong debate over a previous computer investigation in the Village of Goodrich has left the community divided.

Last February following the requested resignation of its village administrator and the removal of her computer hard drive from the village offices, former Village President Patricia Wartella and Councilman Doug McAbee signed a contract with Larry Dalman of Dalman Investigations to conduct a forensic investigation of the village comput- ers and server.

In the months that followed, questions began to arise as to whether or not the village was responsible for the $6,134.47 bill from Dalman for his services as the council never approved the project. In addition, employee’s signed a petition stating their personal information had been illegally released and asked council to resolve the matter.

In November the council unanimously voted to hire Certified Public Accountant and Fraud Examiner Karl Haiser for $9,300 to determine who should pay the Dalman bill and if personal information had been illegally released.

After four months, residents gathered at the Village offices on March 14 for a special meeting to hear Haiser’s findings.

In his report — which included a review of documentation and interviews — Haiser stated he believes the village is not responsible for the unpaid Dalman bill and concluded the Social Security numbers of village employees were illegally distributed.

Former Councilman Phil Jackson, Wartella and McAbee declined a request by Haiser to be interviewed as part of the investigation.

“The documents speak for themselves,” Haiser said. “I have found nothing to contradict my findings.”

Haiser stated after holding a peer review of village meeting minutes from February 2011 he did not find any evidence indicating the council had approved the hiring of Dalman.

“In my opinion, (the client) certainly wasn’t the Village of Goodrich. This is very simple,” Haiser said.

Instead, Haiser said contracts signed by Wartella and McAbee indicate they alone authorized the investigation and are therefore responsible for the Dalman bill and recommended McAbee step down from council.

Furthermore, Haiser recommended the village pay to protect its employee as he found their personal information to be at risk following Dalman’s copying of the village server.

McAbee said Haiser’s report was full of speculation and refused to step down.

“He way over stepped what he was hired to do,” McAbee said. “He doesn’t have a partial story, let alone a full story.”

Wartella also disagrees with Haiser, adding that she declined his interview request because she felt he was biased and unqualified to perform the investigation.

“The village is responsible for paying Dalman 100 percent,” she said. “The council voted on Feb. 11, 2011, in a 3-2 vote to get a copy (of the administrator’s hard drive) with no deletions and that is exactly what I followed. To complete what we voted on, it was recommended by the state police that I get a forensic investigation.”

Haiser’s report, Wartella said, was a way for the council to “take the limelight” off of current Village President Rick Horton who removed the administrator’s hard drive from the village office after her resignation.

Horton has previously stated he was given the hard drive and took it home with him for the weekend before turning it over to the sheriff’s department. He denies tampering with the hard drive.

Haiser’s report supports Horton’s claim, stating he found no issues concerning the adjustments on the hard drive.

“The hard drive went through a chain of custody that I think is reasonable and accounts for itself,” Haiser said.

Village resident Don Emch however said without knowing what condition the hard drive was in before its removal from the offices, Haiser cannot accurately determine nothing was erased from the hard drive.

After discussing the report in a closed session, council voted 4-1 to turn the issue involving the possible compromise of Social Security numbers over to its insurance company and purchase Lifelock, a security service to protect employees information.

Councilman Richard Saroli voted against the motion.

“This is playing little ball; this is not hard ball. The bottom line is that the provisions in the village charter were violated,” Saroli said. “I think it is on the people of the council to address that.”

Horton however said he felt it was in the best interest of the village to turn the matter over to its insurance company.

“We are trying to do due diligence,” Horton said. “I just think the next correct step is to contact our insurance company.”

Keith Walworth, concerned for his Social Security number, said he would like to see the council involve the county prosecutor in the matter.

“What they did was break the law,” Walworth said. “They could of authorized an investigation without doing what they did. I think you guys (the council) need to do something criminal because they broke the charter law.”

In a letter to council however, Gildner said there was no evidence to the fact that a crime has been committed in copying the hard drive.

“(Haiser) also did not find that Dalman or anyone else committed or intended to commit identity theft by copying the hard drive,” Gildner said. “It is a crime to obtain another person’s personal identifying information with the intent to commit a crime or to sell such information to someone else who will use it.”

The council did not decided to take legal action as of March 14, but Horton said taking the matter to court could be a possibility at a later date.

Haiser said his report is court ready and subject to change should new information or facts be provided.

GRAND BLANC — Traveling has always been a passion for Sarah Miller and due to the thoughtfulness of one anonymous individual, she will soon get to embark on a trip of a lifetime.

Miller, a previously home schooled student in her first year of public school as a sophomore at Grand Blanc High School, was nominated by an unidentified individual and selected through an interview process to take part in the People to People Student Ambassadors program.

“They sent me a letter that I had been nominated and I was so excited,” Miller, 15, said. “My mom was like, ‘now, don’t get your hopes up, everyone probably gets that letter.’ She really thought it was a scam.”

After some research, Miller and her mother, Carrie, found out the program was indeed credible allowing participants to receive one semester elective social studies credit and 10 service hours from the Washington School of World Studies.

“I’m going to learn a lot,” Miller said. “It’s one thing to learn from a book and a completely different thing to go out and experience it first-hand.”

Leaving on June 15 for 21 days, Miller’s trip will take her to France, Belgium, England, Wales, Ireland and the Netherlands where she will visit parliament and Anne Frank’s home among other attractions along the way.

In addition, Miller will be living with local residents, soaking up their culture and customs.

“Everyone I’ve talked to has told me this trip is going to change me,” Miller said. “I can’t wait.”

As part of the deal she made with her parents to become a student ambassador, Miller has been working on raising the $7,000 needed to go on the trip since October.

“We told her if she wanted to go, she needed to raise the money for it,” Carrier Miller said. “She had to plan for it.”

Being the driven person that she is and unfazed by the hefty $7,000 goal, Miller quickly began compiling a list of possible fundraisers.

Once her school work was completed, she was out going door-to-door in the community seeking donations. She wrote her family and friends, as well as local businesses, asking them for help in any way they could provide and she has been baby-sitting, raking leaves, selling candy bars, collecting cans and bottles, shoveling snow and holding photo shoots to raise the money.

With another $2,000 needed to reach her goal, Miller admits it has been a challenging, yet rewarding experience.

“Fundraising matured me, I think,” Miller said. “I appreciate the concept of money more now. I got to see a different side of people, to see their generosity. And I learned how to open up to people.”

While always proud of her daughter’s accomplishments, Carrie Miller said her admiration for Sarah has grown over the past five months.

“She inspires me,” Carrie Miller said. “She is the type that when she gets something in her mind, she makes it happen.”

In an effort to raise the last $2,000 for her trip, Miller will host a bake sale at the mom-to-mom event from 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. on March 24 at the First Congregational Church, located at 6494 Belsay Road.

Cici’s Pizza, 6319 S. Dort Highway in Grand Blanc, is also allowing Miller to host a fundraising night from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. on March 27 where 15 percent of the proceeds will go toward her trip costs.

Those wishing to contribute to Miller’s cause, but are unable to attend either events can visit Citizens Bank, 11425 S. Saginaw St., to deposit a donation with an attention to Sarah A. Miller in the account listed with the last four-digits of 8890. Donations may also be placed in jars located at Sophias Kitchen, Complete Computers, FitZone, Grand Blanc PKSA, Thomas Appliance and The Pawn Shop.

Miller said she will be giving special recognition to business and community members helping her with her cause in a June edition of the Grand Blanc View.

GRAND BLANC — The Grand Blanc Fire Department is now operating with a fulltime staff.

Grand Blanc Township Deputy Clerk Susan DeVernay swore-in Robert Burdette, Chris Keller and William Larsen as full-time firefighters during the Fire Commission’s March 20 meeting.

A fourth full-time firefighter will be selected in April.

The addition of the four new full-time firefighters was made possible through a 0.5 mill, 10-year levy passed in November 2010 by the majority of residents in both the city and township that nearly doubled the department’s budget to $1.4 million.

In total, 18 candidates applied for the positions. Fire Commission Treasurer Hans Rodgers said the Fire Commission was able to narrow its pool down to 13 due to the “rigorous demands” required of each individual before ultimately selecting Burdette, Keller and Larsen.

Burdette has been with the department since 1982 serving currently as a deputy chief. His first full-time shift with the department was on March 21.

Along with Burdette, Keller has been the fire inspector for the township and fire department for the last five years. Keller, who begins his full-time position today, will now be conducting fire inspections in both the township and city in addition to working with the schools on fire prevention.

On Friday, Larsen will be added to the full-time rotation. With nearly 20 years of experience in the department, Larsen currently serves as captain for fire station two and has worked as a medic for Swartz Ambulance service.

Fire Chief Jim Harmes said he is proud to have accomplished adding new around-theclock coverage for the community and thanked all those involved in the process.

City Mayor Susan Soderstrom echoed Harmes thoughts, adding that this was a long time coming.

“I’m really excited about the whole thing,” Soderstrom said. “We did our due diligence. This is going to be a positive endeavor for the community as a whole.”