​City of Warren Mayor, Jim Fouts, is extremely pleased with the many accomplishments of his administration, the staff, employees and the residents of Warren have been able to accomplish and what is still ahead in 2017!As we usher in a New Year, Mayor James Fouts would like to take this opportunity to again thank his administration, staff, employees and the residents of The City of Warren who, together have made great accomplishments in Fire, Police, Property Maintenance, DPW, Sanitation, and Fund Balance in 2016.
The City of Warren has the best Fire Department in the state. We have won the American Heart Association top award for several years in a row. That has to do with saving lives! We also have new Fire Engines, new EMS vehicles, and lot of other new equipment.
Mayor Fouts would like to thank Skip McAdams and his fire department! A great group of dedicated guys and gals. Top notch professionals who really care!
The City of Warren has the best Police Department in the state. We have pioneered in the prevention of elder abuse scams. We have led a consortium of other cities. We are fighting a crime that most cities ignored! We have also led the state in the fight against heroin and opioid abuse. We raided several drug homes in Detroit in June and shut down some bad operations. We also helped indict 13 key leaders of the Detroit Polo Heroin Drug operation in September. Great job Jere Green and his fellow Police professionals.
The City of Warren has a strong fund balance, most likely one of the best in the area, in fact, Warren Mayor James Fouts believes Warren has “a very healthy fund balance”.  Because of the Mayor’s initiatives, the City of Warren has drastically reduced over-time and other areas of waste, strengthening Warren’s fund balance in Warren, in order to continually fund much needed programs in the City.
Warren Mayor Jim Fouts is glad to finally be addressing the issue of chronic flooding. The City of Warren Council passed a much-needed bond to fund the development of a detention basin which finally addresses this chronic issue. This will be money well spent.
Warren City Council approved this initiative by a 5-2 vote.
Warren Mayor James Fouts’ administration is in the process of building a south Warren City Hall, which will include a new mini city hall; fire station, police station, and new library. These initiatives should help spur new development and residency in south Warren and provide a much-needed police facility.
Warren Mayor Jim Fouts’ efforts have brought companies such as General Motors, who have invested $1 billion in a new GM Technical Center.
The City of Warren is currently working on a new veterans project for residency in the city.  Adidtioanly, the City of Warren has a new library going up in February. Dedication ceremonies are still tentative but it should be about that time. This will be located across from Fitzgerald High School.
Mayor Fouts is happy that the City of Warren will finally have the first new first run movie theater in Warren. This dedication is tentatively scheduled for February. The City of Warren hasn’t had a first run movie theater for over 40 years!
Other New Development include  the New Super Meijers at 10 and Schoenherr this year, a New Super Kroger at 13 and Schoenherr, also this year.
Mayor James Fouts is very excited about Gibbs Panning, the firm that planned the new Birmingham development, is currently working on the new Downtown Warren area.  The the City of Warren is setting a goeal for a 5 star hotel and an upscale shopping store including a Whole Food, Papa Joe’s and similar venues.
Mayor James Fouts is happy that many things going on in Warren with great administrators, great employees, and a great council majority.
Warren Mayor James Fouts is most proud of the great citizens who care and want the City of Warren move forward.
Indeed the best is yet to come in 2017!

Warren Mayor James  R. Fouts formally requests that the office of the Attorney General’s Office conduct a full investigation of the Freedom Hill County Park landfill illegal dumping.Dear Attorney General Schuette:
As the Mayor of Warren, Michigan’s third largest city in population, I am writing to request that your office conduct an investigation of the Freedom Hill County Park landfill illegal dumping.
Although the closed landfill is not located in the City of Warren, our city is a member of the South Macomb Disposal Authority (SMDA) that is responsible for the maintenance of this landfill.  Warren’s percentage of this cost is 47 percent with the remainder of the costs going to other Macomb County cities that are SMDA members. The SMDA has spent over $3 million to remediate the landfill to meet M-DEQ requirements.
Warren Mayor James Fouts’ request centers around the decision of Mark Hackel, Macomb County Executive, to allow a contractor to illegally dump road excavation materials at the landfill without any permission to do this from the SMDA or the Michigan DEQ.
At least 200,000 yards of materials have been dumped at the closed landfill in violation of a 2005 consent decree with the M-DEQ that mandated that no action could be initiated at the Freedom Hill landfill without approval of the SMDA and the M-DEQ.
The following are excerpts from a corrective action plan for the landfill as a result of the illegal dumping prepared for the SMDA by Anderson, Eckstein  and Westrick, Inc. and TRC Environmental Corporation on November 30, 2016.  This corrective action was necessary because of the illegal dumping at Freedom Hill approved by County Executive Hackel:
DIRECT  QUOTATION

• The need for corrective action is due to a separate and unapproved action which is described below.
• “During the summer and fall of 2016, two berms were constructed on Freedom Hill Landfill; one along the west landfill limits and one along the south and east landfill limits. The construction of these berms has compromised (damaged or removed) a substantial number of the remediation assets and created a number of uncontrolled leachate outbreaks. Therefore, the following describes the necessary corrective actions to restore the assets, stop the leachate outbreaks, and reshape the cap in a manner required by the regulations.”
• Stop Existing Seeps – At our on-site visit with TRC MDEQ (Greg Barrows) on Thursday, November 17, 2016, approximately12 seeps were identified.
• High levels of Methane along the West Property Line –  High levels of methane were measured at three monitoring wells along the west property line during the semi-annual monitoring event performed in early November. The first action will be to determine how far the methane has migrated in the soil to the west onto the Bethesda Christian Church property.
• Gas Vent Disturbance –  During the filling of low spots and construction of the berms, several of the vents were disturbed and the nozzles (for measuring methane levels) and ports (for measuring leachate levels) and ports (for measuring leachate levels) were covered.
• Grading Issues – The berm that was constructed on the east and south edge of the Freedom Hill landfill is approximately 15 feet high. The berm appears to have a front (north and west side) slope of about a 1   on 3, about a 15 to 20-foot flat top, and a 1   on 2 to 2 Yz back (south and east side) slope. Maintenance maximum slope is 1   on 3.
• Fill Over Trees and Tree Wells that were planted as part of the remediation plan –  During the construction of the berms, several of the Tree Well Systems were covered or damaged. Also, seeps were occurring at some tree good locations and the wells and trees were excavated and backfilled with certified clean clay to stop the seeps.  Due to the pressure of the berm on the waste below, it is anticipated that approximately 30 to 40 additional Tree Well Systems will be installed.

This action plan was also the direct result of the Mayor’s Facebook post that warned of possible contamination because of the illegal dumping. This illegal dumping by the contractor has been on-going since last summer.  No corrective action was taken until November 21, 2016.  Instead, Mr. Hackel decided to criticize me for my warning.
Clearly, Mr. Hackel and the contractor had not planned or undertaken any corrective action during or after the illegal dumping.
The investigation requested by Warren Mayor James Fouts should address the following questions:

1. Under what legal authority did Mr. Hackel approve this illegal dumping?
2. Why was this illegal dumping not reported to the M-DEQ or the SMDA Board?
3. Is this illegal dumping a violation of state environmental laws or regulations?
4. What financial arrangement, if any, did Mr. Hackel have with the contractor to use a county facility for illegal dumping?
5. How many yards were dumped and what were the fees paid to the county by the contractor?
6. What was the contents of the excavation?
7. Were there chunks of concrete in the dirt?
8. How much did the contractor save in landfill and transport costs?
9. Did the taxpayer-funded road project include costs of transport and landfill disposal costs and shouldn’t there be a refund for those costs because the contractor did not have these costs because of the illegal dumping?
10. Did the contractor use his personal or corporate jet to transport Mr. Hackel and others to Detroit Tiger – Baltimore Orioles baseball games in Baltimore the weekend of May 12-15 and to the Kentucky Derby on May 7, 2016?
11. Were there any other contractor-financed jet trips for Mr. Hackel by this contractor (Dan’s Excavating)?
12. Did Dan’s Excavating contribute to Mr. Hackel’s campaign or hold any fundraisers for other candidates at Mr. Hackel’s request?
13. If so, is that a conflict of interest, favoritism, or a quid pro quo?
14. Why was no corrective action taken by Mr. Hackel until after my written concerns about possible Red Run Drain contamination?
15. Can the county ethics commission investigate impartially since all of the Commission members are appointed by Mr. Hackel?

Warren Mayor James R. Fouts requesting a full investigation by your office of Mr. Hackel’s illegal actions.
This situation could have resulted in an environmental disaster in our county. It is not enough to excuse Mr. Hackel’s actions by referring to the corrective action plan now underway. Illegal actions by public officials must have consequences to avoid actions like this in the future.
Sincerely,
City of Warren Mayor
James R. Fouts