Council Objects to Liquor License Renewals, Welcomes Clinic and More

The Ferndale City Council's agenda Monday covered a wide variety of subjects. Following are highlights from the meeting:

Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan CEO Lori Lamerand made a special presentation after it was . She said the Ferndale location makes for the 17th location between Detroit and Benton Harbor – the only in Oakland County – and Planned Parenthood projects it will serve 69,000 clients in the next year with all the health centers. She thanked the city of Ferndale and community partners like and , saying, “It really feels like we’ve come home.”

Council objects to the renewal of Class C Liquor Licenses for three establishments in Ferndale: , which closed last year leaving more than $23,000 in delinquent balances to the city; , which council gave until the end of the month to lift the objection because the owner is said to be out of the country; and S & J Post, which council believes in in bankruptcy proceedings. Two more restaurants, and , were scheduled for the public hearing, too, but resolved their balances before the start of the meeting.

Anne Heller of gives her regular clinic review, reporting that the health center served 226 patients in 2011, with no patients needing emergency care during that time. She also reported great success with diabetes patients and said hypertension was the most treated condition last year. Heller broke down demographics, noting that the patients came from 40 cities, with half of clients being over the age of 50 and two-thirds being female.

Fourth annual Ferndale Green Week will kick off April 16, according to the . An event will be held each evening of Green Week and the details will be announced at the next City Council meeting. FESC is also accepting nominations for “Green Business of the Year.” Visit its Facebook page for details.

All items on the consent agenda were adopted, including erecting a stop sign at Allen and West Troy, as well as a Resolution of Appreciation for Jerome Raska, a Ferndale business owner and longest-running board chairman of the .

Mayor David Coulter was nominated and supported as the council representative to the Millennial Mayors Congress. He accepted and council agreed to participate in the second phase of the Better Buildings for Michigan program. Interested residents can contact the Regional Energy Office at 313-566-4801 for details and to sign up.

Council adopted the plans for the Woodward Transit-Oriented Development Task Force after a yearlong collaboration with Woodward Avenue Action Association. Four more communities are expected to sign by the end of April: Birmingham, Royal Oak, Berkley and Huntington Woods. The plan is based on the LSL Planning Inc. study that proposes actions such as road diets, safety regulations and parking improvements.