With 35,000 college students coming to Auburn Hills every day for classes, we are fast-becoming a "college town."  That's why I like to pay attention to the pulse on our biggest campus by reading Oakland University's student paper.  Here's an editorial they just published on the women's health and family planning facility that Planned Parenthood has announced it will open in Auburn Hills, probably within a year.   You'll find the editorial in the upper left corner of the Oakland Post homepage.  

Several months ago, Mayor Jim McDonald named an Ad Hoc committee to look at trash services in Auburn HIlls.  Recently, he named two additional residents (besides Councilman Otis Newkirk and I) to the Committee to continue working with city staff on the issue.  As Chair of the Committee, I recently wrote a guest editorial for the Oakland Press to clear up some misperceptions about our work.  I hope you'll read it.  Here's the link.

Auburn Hills, MI—December 20, 2010—The City of Auburn Hills, a dynamic community committed to innovation and growth, announces a variety of recent developments in the City’s business community that translate into approximately 500 jobs.

Dokka Fasteners Inc., a manufacturer of hot-formed bolts with a specialized coating that ensure the integrity of the fastener once it is installed, is moving to Auburn Hills. Dokka is the only company in Michigan manufacturing this type of specialized bolt and primary customers are wind turbine manufacturers located throughout the U.S. 

Dokka’s parent company is the Wurth Group of North America, which is part of the German-based Wurth Group.  The Wurth Group had 2009 global sales of over $7.5 B Euro and is comprised of 400 companies and more than 57,000 employees in 84 countries.  Dokka Fasteners Inc. is the first Wurth company to be located in Michigan, and the first Dokka company located in the U.S. The Company plans to be operational by the beginning of the second quarter 2011 with more than 90 employees.  

Weber Automotive, which develops, manufactures and assembles complete powertrains and vehicle body structures for cars, trucks and recreational powersports vehicles, will be moving to Auburn Hills in the first quarter of 2011. Auburn Hills was chosen over South Carolina, where Weber also has a manufacturing presence. The Company is expected to hire 119 employees in the first two years and a total of 262 employees over the next five years.

Montaplast North America, a Kentucky-based manufacturer of technical systems for the international automotive industry, is planning a move from its Southfield office into Auburn Hills by April 1, 2011 with a projected 25 jobs to follow over the next five years.

USFarathane, a developer and manufacturer of highly engineered plastic products and materials that broke ground on a new Auburn Hills headquarters in the spring of 2010, now has three lines of production operational. The Company began moving employees from its former Sterling Heights headquarters to the Auburn Hills location in Oakland Technology Park on December 15. A total of 600 employees are expected to be housed at the Auburn Hills facility by the end of 2011 and 250 of those employees will be in new jobs.

Last month, Auburn Hills launched its business attraction and retention marketing campaign, The Auburn Hills Advantage.  City Manager Pete Auger says the recent flurry of business activity further supports the City’s reputation for being business friendly.

“We are very pleased to see major new business opportunities in Auburn Hills in addition to the ongoing efforts of long-time Auburn Hills businesses. Our economic development team and all of our department heads work together with businesses here to do what we can as a City to act quickly, eliminate administrative red tape and help ensure their success,” notes Auger. “It’s especially gratifying to see new businesses locate here from Germany and South Carolina. The concept of the Auburn Hills Advantage is resonating well beyond the State of Michigan.”

Auger also extends the City’s congratulations to Chrysler Group, following the recent announcement that the Company will hire an additional 1,000 engineers.

“1000 engineering jobs is great news for Chrysler, the state of Michigan and the City of Auburn Hills. We are especially gratified to hear that the majority of the new engineering jobs will be based at Chrysler’s Auburn Hills’ headquarters,” says Auger.  

To receive the first in a series of marketing brochures for The Auburn Hills Advantage, please contact Laurie Johnson, Economic Development Coordinator, at 248.364.6947 or email ljohnson@auburnhills.org. 

About Auburn Hills

Auburn Hills is home to 20,000 residents and also serves as Michigan’s global business address, with 40 international corporations from 32 countries housed here, including Chrysler Group LLC and Borg Warner headquarters. Auburn Hills’ residents enjoy the amenities of city and suburban living with parks, a revitalized downtown district and a welcoming city complex with a library and community center. Additionally, the city has five colleges and universities, the award winning Palace of Auburn Hills entertainment complex and Great Lakes Crossing, one of the state’s largest destination shopping centers, providing a variety of cultural, social and educational opportunities to residents, workers and visitors. Learn more at www.auburnhills.org.

Grab your skates and enjoy the City's newly-opened ice skating rink.  It's located just behind the log cabin between Auburn Road and Primary Street in downtown Auburn Hills.  Skating is free.  Hours are 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. every day, weather permitting.  When you need to warm up, try Nana's for coco, Duffy's for a cold beer, Jo Angela's for awesome pizza and the Toasted Bun for just about everything else you could be craving.

 “Holding the tree lighting ceremony on Friday night instead of Monday should better accommodate families of school-age children who are busy during the week. We are trying to maximize the number of attendees who can experience our beautiful downtown dressed up for the holidays,” says Auburn Hills Mayor Jim McDonald.  “Plus, our businesses will be open for busy shoppers or visitors who want to grab a bite to eat.”

VISIT WITH MR. AND MRS CLAUS AFTER THE CEREMONY:  After the tree lighting, everyone is invited to visit with Santa & Mrs. Claus at Waterhouse Photography (optional photo available for $5), enjoy a slice of pizza and a pop at JoAnglea’s Pizza & Deli ($2 per person), chili samples courtesy of the Auburn Hills Rotary Club, and a free Pillowmellow with the purchase of a hot chocolate at Nana’s Gourmet.  Participants can also enjoy the sparkling sounds of the Heritage in the Hills’ Belles and Beaus Handbell Choir and create a holiday “make-n-take” craft. All activities are in walking distance of the tree lighting ceremony.

HELP OTHERS IN NEED:  Donations of new winter coats, mittens, hats and gloves will also be accepted at the City’s Downtown Office at 3395 Auburn Road, Suite A, from 6pm – 8pm December 3^rd only. These items will be given to area shelters/charities. For more info: contact the Auburn Hills Community Center at 248-370-9353 or visit www.auburnhills.org.

 The City of Auburn Hills is now offering SHARP -- Senior Home Assistance Program -- to our senior citizen and disabled residents in need of help.  This is a new program being offered to anyone 60 years and older or physically challenged who could use a little help in maintaining their home and independence.   The work is done by local volunteers to help residents with inside or outside work around their homes that they cannot do themselves.   Here is a partial list of the kinds of work volunteers will do: 

• Clean up and removal of debris
• Painting
• Installing furnace filter replacements, smoke alarms, storm windows
• All kinds of household repairs including wheelchair ramp construction, fixing toilets and replacing broken glass.

TO GET HELP:  Call the City of Auburn Hills Senior Services:  248. 370.9353

TO VOLUNTEER:  Call the City of Auburn HIlls Senior Services or:  www.nwcommunityfoundations/SHARP/Auburn Hills

My special thanks to Cheryl Verbeke, a very active Auburn Hills resident who I served with on the Planning Commission for a number of years.  Cheryl is the Chair of the Auburn HIlls Board overseeing SHARP here.

Subject:  Auburn Hills Waste Haulers Update

Dear Auburn Hills Residents and Neighbors:

As many of you have heard, the City of Auburn Hills has recently begun researching the present Trash Hauler service for our residents.  The Council took this action because many neighboring communities have achieved lower prices, better service and increased recycling by negotiating city-wide contracts with one hauler.

I am the Chair of a committee that was directed by the Mayor and Council to investigate whether such a solution would be beneficial to our residents and community.  Councilman Otis Newkirk and key city staff are also on the committee.  

Because I have heard that some residents are concerned about the impact on their price and service if the city took such action, here are the facts:     

·        No decision has been made.  The working committee is still researching the opportunities and implications of offering qualified haulers the chance to competitively bid for our city-wide residential trash and recycling business.

·        Timing:   We hope to have a report and recommendation for City Council before the end of the year.  

·        Citizen Involvement:  A Town Hall meeting was held on Sept. 29^th to update residents, answer questions and listen to their ideas and concerns.   Answers to questions raised at that meeting are posted at: www.auburnhills.org.  Click on the garbage truck. We’ll continue to update it. Councilman Newkirk and I have spoken to a number of neighborhoods.  We’d be happy to do the same for yours.  

·        Existing Neighborhood Contracts:   Several of our large neighborhoods have already achieved very competitive rates by negotiating a collective contract.  We are presently comparing those agreements to evaluate the pricing and service we believe could be achieved for all residents

Potential Benefits of a Single Source Trash Hauling Contract

·        Lower or very competitive rates.

·        Increased recycling – including single stream (no sorting), bulk pickup and coupon incentives for local businesses.

·        Snowbird opt-out to allow residents to stop service

·        Decreased wear and tear on city streets.  Presently eight different haulers have multiple trucks (for trash, recycling and compost) on our roads five days per week.  One load by a double-axle truck is like 1,000 cars trips.   Road repairs are a major taxpayer expense.

·        Reduced noise.  

You may feel that you already have most of the above, which you achieved by leveraging your collective buying power for the common good.  We’d like to achieve the same benefits for all our residents.

Next Steps:  Once the committee’s work is done, the City Council will consider whether to move forward with soliciting bids from interested haulers.   There will be a public hearing at that time, which is another important opportunity for your voices to be heard.

I’ll keep you posted as our work progresses.  If you have further questions, I can be reached at: anne@annedoyleforauburnhills.com

Sincerely yours,

Anne Doyle

Auburn Hills City Council

The City has a new brochure to help attract more retail business to our downtown.  Click here to check it out. 

Auburn Hills has a long-standing policy of allowing burning during certain dates in the fall and the spring.  

Days of burning this fall are limited to Monday’s, Wednesday’s, Friday’s and Saturday’s October 15 through November 30 -- sunup to sundown and must be attended at all times.   You may also get a one-day permit from the Fire Department for a bonfire, if your idea of a great Michigan autumn night is sitting around a cozy campfire with friends. 

Last night the City Council voted (4-3) to ban all use, possession, cultivation and distribution or sale of medical marijuana in Auburn Hills.  This decision is a response to the mess that communities all over Michigan are trying to deal with related to medical marijuana.  The problem is that the state law is way too vague.  I did not support the outright ban.  Because 66% of Auburn Hills voters supported the approval medical marijuana, I believe our job is to find a way to make this work.  I would have supported allowing personal, private use in their home by people who have state-issued Medical Marijunan Cards.  

But, I am totally supportive of the immediate need for the state to take leadership on this issue and clarify how to allow people whose health problems are truly helped by marijuana without creating another layer of widespread drug use.

Here's the news release issued by the City this morning. 

Auburn Hills City Council Votes to Ban Medical Marihuana

Zoning, Policing and Public Health Issues Raise Concerns on Implementation and Enforcement of Act

Media contacts: Barbara Fornasiero, EAFocus Communications; 248.651.7536 cell: 586.817.8414; barbara@eafocus.com; Stephanie Carroll, City of Auburn Hills; 248.364.6802; scarroll@auburnhills.org

Auburn Hills, MI—October 5, 2010—The City of Auburn Hills, a dynamic community committed to innovation and growth, announced that the Auburn Hills’ City Council voted at its meeting yesterday to ban medical marijuana operations within the City limits. Prior to Monday’s vote, the City of Auburn Hills had imposed a 120 day moratorium to review the issue, a project that was taken on by the City’s Planning Commission, City Council, Police Department and staff.

“Since we began wrangling with implementation and enforcement issues associated with Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA) this summer, several other SE Michigan cities, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper and Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard have spoken up about the desperate need for legislative guidelines on MMMA,” said Auburn Hills’ City Manager, Pete Auger. “The City of Auburn Hills is not making a judgment on the medicinal benefits of marijuana, we are making a judgment on the inadvisability of the way the MMMA is written and encourage the State to act on the current statute by providing clear directives on zoning and police regulation.”

According to the City’s Community Development Director Steve Cohen, Auburn Hills was one of the first cities in Michigan following passage of the Act to allow medical marijuana dispensaries, approaching the issue from a zoning and land use perspective.

“We originally zoned medical marijuana dispensaries in our commercial areas to keep drug transactions out of the neighborhoods,” explained Cohen. “While the ordinance was adopted well over a year ago, the City only started to receive interest from prospective business owners mid-summer 2010.  The majority of inquiries have been requests to open large scale facilities, while the City’s original ordinance was intended to comply with the MMMA by allowing a limited number of small-scale, pharmacy-type distribution operations. However, we never envisioned the amount of grey areas in state regulation.”

Auburn Hills’ Police Chief Doreen Olko offered that City officials became concerned once learning how existing dispensaries actually operate.

“Marijuana is a Schedule 1 narcotic and can’t be prescribed or distributed by a physician or pharmacist.  That’s why physicians can’t write prescriptions, only recommendations, for medical marijuana.  It is also why drug stores cannot sell marijuana.  The City envisioned something similar to a pharmacy, where patients purchased medical marijuana and returned to their homes to use the drug privately, but that is not the case at the dispensaries we investigated,” noted Olko. “We found that dispensaries are generally unregulated businesses where patients are welcome to smoke or ingest marijuana at the facility.  Some facilities offer marijuana laced food products as an alternative to smoking, a practice which is not reviewed by a public health authority.  We also have concern about the traffic safety aspects of people driving under the influence. The traffic safety laws have not caught up with the state law. The lack of oversight at so many levels is of real concern to the City.”

Police Chief Olko added that while the MMMA is a zoning and land use issue, the public safety repercussions can’t be ignored.

“Unregulated medical marijuana dispensaries may unwittingly serve in creating a readily identifiable class of victims: ill persons whose legitimate use of medical marijuana makes them vulnerable to crime by purchasing the drug,” affirmed Chief Olko, adding that policing issues with medical marijuana, as with any other kind of drug, require police resources of time, expertise and money.

Auger said the City acted in good faith in investigating and trying to comply with the MMMA.

“The City of Auburn Hills is not asking to be exempt from the requirements of the MMMA, we are asking the State to use its position as a regulating body to provide solid direction on implementation,” clarified Auger. “Until that time, the safety and well being of our residents and businesses left us no choice but to implement a ban.”

About Auburn Hills

Auburn Hills is home to 20,000 residents and also serves as Michigan’s global business address, with 40 international corporations from 32 countries housed here, including Chrysler Group LLC and Borg Warner headquarters. Auburn Hills’ residents enjoy the amenities of city and suburban living with parks, a revitalized downtown district and a welcoming city complex with a library and community center. Additionally, the city has five colleges and universities, the award winning Palace of Auburn Hills entertainment complex and Great Lakes Crossing, one of the state’s largest destination shopping centers, providing a variety of cultural, social and educational opportunities to residents, workers and visitors. Learn more at