By: Dean Vaglia | Macomb Chronicle | Published September 25, 2024
MACOMB TOWNSHIP — Kids of all abilities will get a chance to have fun as the Macomb Township Board of Trustees approved the purchase of a new accessible playground for Waldenburg Park at its Sept. 11 meeting.
“It is our goal to make this a boundless playground,” Macomb Township Parks and Recreation Director Salvatore DiCaro said. “To do this, 70% of the play activities must be accessible to serve children with physical disabilities. That is the case with this plan that you have before you.”
Coming in at just over $726,800, the playground exceeds the 70% threshold by being 84% accessible with 20 elevated and 13 ground-level activities. The rubber playground surface will be replaced with turf. Equipment is rated for both children ages 2-5 and 5-12 with capacity for 250 kids.
The playground was purchased from Ohio-based Midstates Recreation and is expected to be installed by May 2025. Midstates Recreation recently provided the playground equipment for Pitchford Park.
Ethics ordinance
Trustees also approved an ordinance establishing policies and procedures for handling violation complaints submitted to the township ethics board.
As approved, the ordinance states a complaint must be filed in writing to the ethics board via mail or in-person delivery. The human resources director will receive the complaint unless the complaint is made against the human resources director, in which case it is to be received by the township supervisor. The ordinance goes on to state how complaints are to be formatted, outlining the procedures for why and how a complaint is dismissed, how hearings will proceed and other procedural steps. Should any criminal offenses be implicated in a complaint, the ethics board or human resources director must notify the township attorney for review and/or transmission of the complaint to law enforcement.
The ordinance does not include an official appeal process if the ethics board does not rule in a complainant’s favor. Responding to a question about the matter from Trustee Frank Cusumano, Township Supervisor Frank Viviano said a complainant is allowed to address concerns before the Board of Trustees during a meeting.
“My concern was not to disparage the current board or the supervisor, but the history has been with these ethics complaints that people have alleged the politicalization and weaponization of the process,” Cusumano said. “So, I wanted to make sure that my understanding that there is recourse to the full board is in fact the policy of the township.”
The Macomb Township Board of Ethics was created in January 2021 by the then-newly seated board in reaction to a long line of corruption scandals involving members of township government. Viviano says the board has not received a formal complaint.
2024 Pathway Gap Closure Program
Trustees awarded the 2024 Pathway Gap Closure Program contract to JSS-Macomb LLC for $489,510.
JSS-Macomb was one of five firms to bid on the project and has been contracted to perform the work in the past.