Op-Ed by Scot Beaton City Council Regular Meeting Meeting date/time: 4/22/2013 7:00 PM Meeting location: 1000 Rochester Hills Drive Our Mayor is requesting our City Council to grant him the authority to spend up to $929,165.00 on a new building at our DPS facility to store Salt. Wow... that's a lot on money for a building to house salt... don't you think? Let me try to explain... first we a going to tear down about 1/2 of the old DPS building and turn the remaining 1/2 into a cold … [Read more...]
Mayor joins President Obama in congratulating Rochester Hills-native NASCAR champ Brad Keselowski
April 17, 2013 by 1 Comment
Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett applauded the town’s own Brad Keselowski at the White House on Tuesday for being the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series defending driver’s champion. President Obama held a special ceremony honoring last year’s champion on the South lawn of the White House as the 2013 NASCAR chase for the Sprint Cup rounds the curve. “I’ve been to the White House several times but it’s always a very cool experience,” Barnett said of Tuesday’s event. With … [Read more...]
Mayor shares local innovation with Rochester Hills residents in State of City Address
March 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett welcomed his town to a crowded Emagine theatre as he delivered his seventh State of the City Address centered on innovation Wednesday night. “I’m incredibly excited about the news tonight because we have a really great story to tell,” Barnett said prior to the event. And that story is one of low city unemployment rates—5 percent compared to Michigan’s 8.9 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, second lowest in the state—as well as … [Read more...]
The Passing of Mayor Pat Somerville
March 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Pat Somerville, former Mayor of Rochester Hills, dies at age 80 Pat Somerville raised show dogs and ran a dog grooming business before getting into politics. She and her late husband Ken moved from Detroit to Rochester Hills in the late 1960s. Local neighborhood issues led Somerville to attend city council meetings, become a council member and eventually became the Mayor of Rochester Hills. She “cared about the people and the city” said her daughter, Autumn VanHollebeke, on Monday from the … [Read more...]
Hills awarded grant to rehab velodrome
January 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The International Velodrome at Bloomer Park in Rochester Hills is about to get a much-needed facelift, thanks to a $45,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to resurface the aging track surface. The velodrome was funded entirely by donations and built by volunteers in 2001. It was designed by Olympic track designer Dale Hughes, a lifelong Rochester Hills resident. “After 13 years the wood panels began to decompose, causing a rough ride for … [Read more...]
Livernois Road to close July 9
June 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment
It's official. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC), the City of Rochester Hills and the City of Rochester announced that Livernois Road will close July 9 at the bridge over the Clinton River between Avon and Hamlin roads, when RCOC begins the replacement of the bridge. Officials held a press conference at Rochester Hills’ Veterans Park on Wednesday to make the announcement. “A lot of road and bridge improvements are taking … [Read more...]
