Rich Mazzella hugs Derek Kull, Monroe Fire Department captain, at the July 1 Mount Clemens City Commission meeting. Kull and three other first responders were recognized for saving Mazzella’s life after he collapsed during a hockey game at the Mount Clemens Ice Arena earlier this year.
By: Dean Vaglia | Mount Clemens-Clinton-Harrison Journal | Published July 12, 2024
MOUNT CLEMENS — Celebration was the tone taken at One Crocker Boulevard on the evening of July 1 as the Mount Clemens City Commission gave a hero’s welcome to first responders and legislators.
The meeting began with special recognitions given to four first responders for saving the life of a skater at the Mount Clemens Ice Arena earlier this year.
Rich Mazzella, 84, was playing hockey on Feb. 26 when he collapsed after his second shift on the ice. Thankfully, Mazzella was playing several first responders: Todd Adams, a retired battalion chief of the Roseville Fire Department; Michael Schwartz, of the Roseville Fire Department; James Penman, of the Rochester Police Department; and Derek Kull, a captain with the Monroe Fire Department. The men assessed his condition and realized he was in cardiac arrest. They then worked to give Mazzella CPR and used an automated external defibrillator to bring him back to consciousness. The attempts were successful and Mazzella was able to speak with his rescuers by the time an ambulance arrived.
Adams, Schwartz, Penman and Kull each received recognitions from the city of Mount Clemens and state recognitions signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist. The state recognitions were presented to the first responders by state Rep. Denise Mentzer and state Sen. Kevin Hertel.
Mazzella gave his own thanks to his rescuers, hugging each of them and sharing kind words.
“I started playing with firemen and policemen about 25 years ago and never really appreciated firemen or policemen until I started playing hockey with them for all these years,” Mazzella said. “After what happened to me and saving my life, put them at the top! They’re definitely underpaid for their work. I appreciate everything you guys did for me. That was great.”
Mazzella said he felt like the “luckiest guy on the face of the Earth” ever since that fateful day at the ice area, referencing Lou Gehrig’s 1939 farewell speech at Yankee Stadium after his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosis.
He said he hopes to return to the ice soon.
State budget allocations
Appearing before the Mount Clemens City Commission, Mentzer and Hertel spent more time discussing the details of $5 million for the city that is earmarked in the 2024-25 Michigan budget, pending the governor’s approval.
The money comes to the city after a 19-hour legislative session on June 26 to get the state budget sorted out. A key goal of the legislators has been to reduce the tax burden the city and residents have to deal with given how much of the city’s land is owned by Macomb County and therefore nontaxable.
“The lens that I look through all of this (with) is how do we take state dollars that are available for grants that will go here or other places in the state,” Hertel said. “We want to bring them back to our community, but do it in a way that will increase the taxable value of (Mount Clemens) land.”
The projects money includes $1.5 million for a new pump station and $2 million for a waterfront revitalization project. While full details of the waterfront revitalization project will be discussed later this year, Mayor Laura Kropp says the project will involve the relocation of the city’s government offices and the redevelopment of City Hall.
“We are going to be looking at a new home for City Hall, and that money will enable us to work with another entity that’s in the downtown and possibly move City Hall to downtown,” Kropp said. “There’s many hoops to getting there but we’re going to start looking at the feasibility of that and how that’s going to all work out.”
City officials were generous with their applause for the state funding, which has been around $10 million over the past two budgets.
“I’m extremely happy,” City Manager Gregg Shipman said prior to the meeting. “I feel like up until just recently, I think Mount Clemens was forgotten about and we hadn’t received anything. I think Mount Clemens with its high nontaxable rate should absolutely be in consideration all the time for any kind of assistance … We’re an overburdened community and it’s nice to have people in place representing us that see the value in investing in Mount Clemens.”
Money will be made available to the city after the state budget goes into effect on Oct. 1.
Clementimes renewed
Commissioners approved the renewal of the deal between the city, the Mount Clemens Public Library and Drive Creative Services to create and publish the Clementimes Newsletter. The quarterly newsletter showcases city and library news and events, as well as providing advertising space with the city and library receiving 40% of the revenue in the form of direct reductions in the cost of creative work and distribution of the newsletter.
The cost to the city for the last edition of the newsletter was just under $3,960.