This is a rendering of the electrical poles International Transmission Company expects to place along 19 Mile Road to route electricity to Henry Ford Macomb Hospital. While ITC claimed the poles could not be used on a route following Dalcoma Drive, township officials discovered the poles would not likely impact flights to the hospital helipad and that ITC used these poles in a 2021 rendering of a Dalcoma Drive power line route.
By: Dean Vaglia | C&G Newspapers | Published April 10, 2025
CLINTON TOWNSHIP — The Clinton Township Board of Trustees on March 31 resumed its discussion surrounding the proposed International Transmission Company powerline development to Henry Ford Macomb Hospital.
Initially brought to the board by ITC in November 2024, the resumed discussion came at the prompting of a letter from Trustee Dan Kress that advocated for immediate action on the project based on complaints and lawsuits from residents surrounding it. Kress also took issue with the township spending “almost $7,000” on a helicopter flight to analyze flight paths.
“My intent is to deny the special land use and site development plan for the ITC Shrine Interconnection Project,” Kress said. “I don’t know why we haven’t denied it yet. I don’t think we’re giving ITC false hope. I think the mood of the board is to deny their plan to go down 19 Mile Road. There’s numerous other ways to get there. The supervisor and myself have talked about Dalcoma (Drive) and that seems to be the most obvious.”
Supervisor Paul Gieleghem, deferring to township attorney Jack Dolan and Deputy Supervisor Dan O’Leary, explained the township’s approach to handling the project. Dolan told trustees that it would be in the township’s best interests to inform ITC of any public discussion in order for them to present evidence, rather than make a spot decision on the project.
O’Leary said that new evidence gathered by the township refutes claims made by ITC about the inability to change its proposed route. ITC claimed that Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy would not allow for a wetland mitigation plan along the Dalcoma Drive route, which was proven false when township officials met with EGLE.
“When the 19 Mile route was presented to (EGLE) they said, ‘Hey we have no problem with the route.’ That simply means they have no wetlands to govern on that route,” O’Leary said. “It was never presented to them that there was an alternate route and that there were problems with the 19 Mile route that the township had legitimate concerns with … (EGLE) said, when looking at the Dalcoma route, (they) certainly would consider an application that talked about wetland mitigation and we would be very reasonable with that.”
According to O’Leary, EGLE representatives joined him and other township officials in visiting the Dalcoma Drive area and “weren’t totally convinced that there (were) wetlands in the particular path that we were looking at.”
The helicopter flight also worked to counter ITC’s claim that the powerlines would interfere with the flight path to the hospital, a claim which O’Leary said was a “red herring.”
“It was a throw anything at the wall to make it stick (claim) by that point because when we were pushing back, they were looking for ways to undo what we were saying,” O’Leary said. “Legal counsel advised us to take a strong look at this, do some research, talk to people who understand the rules and he arranged the flight, and the reason for (the flight) was that we had to prove to ourselves that we had a strong case.”
Having a strong case matters not only for the township to be certain in its decision, but for making arguments against the plan should ITC attempt to get it approved through the Michigan Public Service Commission.
“You can’t just walk away and say no and everybody will be happy — you will lose because you are not prepared,” O’Leary said. “We understand now that the obstacles they think … would be there as a result of this are actually less of an obstacle than what’s already there.”
The township even uncovered, via a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Clinton Township Clerk Kim Meltzer, a 2021 plan by ITC and the hospital to get Macomb Community College’s consent to run power lines on a route along Dalcoma Drive. The rendering even used electrical poles similar to the ones proposed for the 19 Mile Road route, which ITC told the township could not be used due to the flight path.
Since discovering this information, the township has shared the information with ITC and ITC has requested a meeting with the township.
The board ultimately did not go with Kress’ suggestion, instead passing a motion to inform ITC, the hospital and the college via letter that the issue would be officially reopened at the April 14 Clinton Township Board of Trustees meeting. Kress cast the lone vote against the motion.
Opioid settlement allocations
Trustees also voted to allocate over $1.5 million in funds gained through opioid lawsuit settlements to a variety of organizations and departments within the township over the next three years.
The 41-B district court will receive $343,500 to cover non-treatment court probationer testing, certified peer recovery coaching, pro-social events promoting clean relationships and transportation costs to recovery appointments.
CARE of Southeastern Michigan will receive $774,312 to pay for recovery coaches, strengthening the Clintondale Coalition and outreach promoting substance abuse treatment and counseling services.
Face Addiction Now will receive $100,000 to support counseling families through substance addiction.
An additional police liaison for Chippewa Valley Schools’ middle and elementary schools is expected to cost the township $276,000 over three years, covering half of the officer’s expenses. The school district will cover the other half of the officer’s costs.
The remaining $84,900 is to be split between the Clinton Township police and fire departments.