Archive - Oct 2011

By DEB WUETHRICH
and MICKEY ALVARADO

City residents of Tecumseh that could be impacted by a potential drawdown of Red Mill Pond, which is regulated by the Tecumseh Dam, will be receiving letters from the city very shortly or have them already. The move comes after the city received a copy of an Emergency Dam Safety Order and Notice of Hearing from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) sent to Red Mill Pond LLC.

Dated Oct. 24, the order came from the desk of Gerald Fulcher, P.E., Acting Chief of the Water Management Section, Water Resources Division. Byron Lane, P.E., Chief of the Dam Safety Program, Water Sources Division signed the letter for Fulcher. Lane and Luke Trumble, Environmental Engineer of the Hydrologic Studies and Dam Safety Unit, visited Tecumseh October 13 for an unofficial visual inspection of the dam.

At that time, Wally Pike, the dam’s operator for several years, also was present and said that he will no longer be tending the dam, effective Nov. 1. Pike was originally paid a small stipend by Tecumseh Products, who formerly owned the dam, and the new owners for a brief time, but was informed in January by attorneys for Huntington Bank, who holds the mortgage to the property since Red Mill Pond LLC went into foreclosure, that there would be no more pay for the role. Pike has continued to raise and lower the gates and put in boards since then.

The MDEQ ordered Red Mill Pond LLC, as owners of the property, to “arrange for qualified personnel to operate the Tecumseh Dam” no later than Nov. 1, 2011. If no operator is named, the order was to draw down the dam.

The letter states that the MDEQ may issue emergency orders to an owner to immediately repair, draw down, breach or cease operation of a dam “where a dam is in imminent danger of failure and is causing or threatening to cause harm to public health, safety, welfare, property, or the natural resources or the public trust in those natural resources.”

By DEB WUETHRICH

Three candidates are running for Tecumseh City Council seats on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Precincts 1 and 3 will be in the Tecumseh Community Center; 703 E. Chicago Blvd.; Precinct 2 will be at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts, 400 N. Maumee St., and Precinct 4 will be in the Harold Easton Emergency Services Building, 101 E. Russell Road. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

All county residents will be asked to vote on Proposal l, authorizing a 0.28 mill property tax to support the Lenawee Economic Development Corporation over four years.

The Tecumseh City Council candidates are incumbents Pat Housekeeper, Gary Naugle, and Laurence Van Alstine. Naugle was appointed to finish Richard Johnson’s council term after Johnson was elected mayor in 2010. Brief summaries of the candidates and their views follow.

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Pat Housekeeper has been married to her husband, Tom, for 39 years, and the couple has two children. Kristin is married and lives in Denver with her husband and the Housekeeper’s two grandsons, Nicholas, 3, and Jack, 1. Their son Ryan lives in Ann Arbor.

Housekeeper, a Tecumseh resident for 32 years, is a member of the Tecumseh Service Club, co-chairperson of the City Employees Retirement Board, and a member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. She retired as a Long Term Care Insurance Specialist in 2011.

She is a graduate of Dequesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and acquired health and life insurance licenses along with industry financial exams.

Housekeeper offers the following background that enhances her service as a council member.

By MICKEY ALVARADO

A ball shot off the foot of Tecumseh High School senior Nate Brown ended a double overtime Division 2 district soccer championship match at Adrian on Saturday, Oct. 22, with the lone goal defeating Sturgis for the title.

Intensity increased on and off the playing field as the game wore on, however, neither team was able to score a goal in 80 minutes of play. A 10-minute overtime also went scoreless despite several good runs at the net.

Brown was finally able to break free in a second 10-minute overtime and scored the game-winning goal with 3:30 remaining on the clock.

“We get better as a match goes on,” said Tecumseh coach Matt Dailey. “One of the key things about our team is we just wear them down...We’re a team that’s fit and we go the distance.”

Sturgis was ranked No. 7 in the state going into the game.

“Now it shows that we can hang with the big guys,” said Dailey.

The Indians were used to seeing extra minutes tacked onto the clock. They were forced into overtime and a penalty kick shootout in the semifinal against Parma Western on Thursday, Oct. 20.

Sam Davitt has been a reliable goalkeeper throughout the season for the Indians and was solid as a rock when facing five opponents during a cold hard rain in the semifinal PK shootout. The Indians held a 1-0 lead but the Panthers were able to slip a ball past Davitt to tie the contest and force overtime. Tecumseh outscored Parma Western 3-2 in the PK shootout to advance to the championship match.

“That was kind of my fault so I wanted to redeem myself in the PK shootout,” said Davitt. “That was pretty big for me.”

By MICKEY ALVARADO

A new season and a new coach brought big hopes for Tecumseh High School’s varsity football fans but moans of “Maybe next year,” could be heard in conversations as they left Indians Stadium after the final football game of 2011 on Friday, Oct. 21.

Tecumseh again failed to make the playoffs after losing 35-14 at home against Carleton Airport and dropping its overall record to 2-7. The Indians finished 1-4 in the Southeastern Conference with a win over Ypsilanti. Tecumseh’s only other win was against non-conference foe Redford Union.

In Tecumseh’s final game, Airport took a 7-0 lead after the opening quarter and added seven more points in the second quarter before the Indians answered back. Austin Shartle rushed the ball into the end zone from just two yards out while Casey Hunt connected on the Point After Touchdown kick.

But it was a costly seven points. Tecumseh’s starting quarterback, Brad Vannatter, paid dearly for every pass or rush made with the Jets pounding him even on completions. The Indians began warming up their backup quarterback in the quarter after Vannatter complained of pain in his right passing shoulder. Despite the injury, Vannatter took it in stride and continued leading the Indians behind the offensive line.

Airport scored again in the second quarter to take a 21-7 and then again to lift the Jets to a 28-7 advantage with 2:16 remaining in the first half.

The Indians scored their final touchdown with 33.2 seconds remaining in the quarter on a five-yard pass from Vannatter to Hunt and Tecumseh finished the opening half down 28-14.

The Jets (8-1 overall) added their final touchdown midway through the fourth and final quarter.

The last time the Indians advanced into postseason playoffs was in 2007 with an overall record of 6-3. The Indians made the playoffs three consecutive seasons from 2000 to 2002.

Britton Deerfield’s varsity football team defeated Morenci 20-15 on Friday, Oct. 21, to advance into playoffs for the first time since 2000.

The Patriots put up 14 points on two touchdowns and a pair of point after touchdown kicks in the first quarter.

Morenci scored on a touchdown and a kick in the first quarter and took a 15-14 lead in the second quarter on another touchdown and two point conversion pass.

Neither team scored in the third quarter but with just 4:04 remaining in the fourth quarter, BD’s Brock Prain rushed four yards into the end zone to give the Patriots a 20-15 game-winning advantage.

Andrew Prielipp connected on 13-of-18 passes for 167-yards and added another 50-yards rushing. He scored BD’s first two touchdowns on two- and one-yard runs. Prielipp also made good on two PAT kicks.

The Patriots improved to 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the Tri-County Conference with the big victory.

Tecumseh’s varsity girls cross country team placed third at the Southeastern Conference Championship at Hudson Mills Metropark on Thursday, Oct. 20 while the Indians’ boys finished fourth.

Dexter placed first in the girls division with a score of 25 while Chelsea was second with 32. The Indians scored 93 points to place third.

Two of Tecumseh’s girls, Erin Landstrom and Jessica Tebbetts, received honorable mentions from the SEC White Division.

Landstrom placed 15th with a time of 21:20 while Tebbetts placed 18th in 22:05.

Tecumseh’s Katie Kasper was 19th (23:01): Karlie Wright, 23rd (23:25); Kendra Randolph, 25th (23:40); Kelsey Hammer 32nd (25:33) and Zoe Melnyk, 33rd (25:34).

Raquel Champion led Tecumseh’s JV girls with a 106th place time of 24:52.

Tecumseh’s Emily Eisele placed 155th (26:58) while Alexi Schnur was 183rd (29:03).

Dexter also won the boys division while Chelsea was second and Adrian third.

The Indians were led by Sage Rebottaro’s time of 18:13. He was followed by Ben Shaw’s time of 18:18. Both runners received honorable mentions from the SEC White Division.

Matt Maki turned in his season best time, clocking in at 18:33 while teammate Drake Vandenberg crossed the finish line in 18:56.

Tecumseh’s Anthony Lesko recorded a time of 19:03 while Max Miller finished the run in 19:20. Gabe Lopez clocked in at 20:30 for Tecumseh.