LOCAL NEWS THE MONROE NEWS n FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2014 n TALK TO US: Call Barbara Krolak, city editor, at (734) 240-5776 or e-mail barb@monroenews.com n 3A

BY MIKKI MOSCARAmmoscara@monroenews.com

DETROIT — Advancement in technology was one of the themes promoted by more than 35 companies at this year’s North American Interna-tional Auto Show press conferences in the Motor City.

Chief executive officers and engineers from around the globe promoted their efforts in research over the past year dedicated to energy efficiency and product durability. Bringing car buyers into the future with innovation, the auto-motive industry seems to be stepping up with new concepts, products and expansions.

Denso, one of the world’s largest auto suppliers, is planning an 81,000 square-foot building expan-sion for Southfield. The company will be investing

$10 million and will be adding 176 jobs, including positions for marketing and engineering pro-fessionals.

“No one would have seen this five years ago, but it’s a great time to be in the automotive industry,” said Terry Helgensen, senior vice president of industry relations.

The company is 25 percent owned by Toyota, and focuses on “advanced automotive technol-ogy, systems, and components,” such as fuel pumps, radiators, and

navigation systems.Michelin, another automotive product company

showcased at the show this year, is celebrating 125 years. This year it unveiled a tire that prompts the company to say “Our worn tire is better than your new tire,” using their EverGrip technology.

The new tire is made with a high traction silica with expanding rain groups and emerging grooves to maintain wet traction as it’s used. It’s called the Premier A/S (All Season).

Eco-friendly engineering seemed be a focal point this year in automotive manufacturing. Ford has an exhibit highlighting all of the vehicles offer-ing its new energy efficient EcoBoost technology, as well as a demonstration on how it works.

The new Mustang is available with an EcoBoost engine. Its 2.3-liter four-cylinder, which still man-ages to crank out 305 horsepower.

And though the Mustang is still available with the 5.0-liter V8, the four-cylinder EcoBoost allows consumers to have an environmentally friendly option and keep the sporty look, the automaker says.

Ford also revealed it is replacing much of the steel in the F150 with lightweight aluminum. The automaker hopes the best-selling vehicle in America will post much higher fuel economy rat-ings with aluminum body panels and structural pieces.

Ford had been hinting at the radical change for two years, but didn’t make it public until this year.

“We are seeing a new era of performance cars that are very safe, very fuel-efficient, and more mainstream,” said Lincoln Merrihew, industry consultant for Millward Brown Digital.

BMW made efforts to show it’s “green,” too. It’s exhibiting the i8 supercar, the company’s first hybrid plug-in vehicle. It was showcased as a concept in 2013 and later launched at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The i8 is powered by a 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine and has a combined output of 362 horse-power.

The car retails at $135,700, and has sold out of its allocated production units already.

Automakers unveiled more than 50 new vehicles this year during the press preview Monday and Tuesday. And though Ford’s luxury Lincoln line did not release anything new, it proved to continue

going strong with an impressive and grand exhibit including previous Lincoln models.

Mercedes-Benz unveiled its new 2015 C-Class at a separate event prior to the preview. The stylish and luxurious C-Class is a miniature version of the company’s S-Class, but puts up great competi-tion to the BMW 3 series. It’s the lowest-end class Mercedes-Benz offers in the United States.

Speed and high performance were definitely not ignored at this year’s auto show. Chevrolet dem-onstrated an impressive 2014 by winning both car and truck/utility vehicle of the year: the Corvette Stingray and the Silverado.

Cadillac has changed its logo this year, elimi-nating the wreath, making the company crest more prominent and released a coupe version of the ATS.

The ATS will re-place the CTS coupe eventually. The ATS, unlike the CTS, is smaller and more sleek.

Cadillac is moving toward smoother designs and abandoning the boxed designs it’s adopted in previous years.

“What you’ll see is a clear progression for the brand. It’s confident, it’s personal. It’s a sports coupe for today’s luxury consumer,” said Andrew Smith, Cadillac executive design director.

Lexus unveiled its fastest and most powerful vehicle yet: the RC F performance coupe. And though it won’t be seen on the road much, it fea-tures the most powerful V8 engine ever made by the Toyota Motor Corp luxury brand.

It’s a 450 horsepower engine and more than 383 pound-foot torque.

“It’s time to add a little more luxury performance to the automobile industry,” said Lexus group Vice President and Manager Jeff Bracken.

Subaru released the all-new WRX STI with a 2.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder boxer engine that produces 305 horsepower AND 290 pound-feet of torque. It’s the most powerful hatchback this year, beating the 2015 Volkswagen Golf R that was presented this year as well.

The all-wheel drive drivetrain in the Subaru WRX STI, which is rally-bred and unique to this model, is equipped with a center differential that allows for a 41.59 torque split.

Active Torque Vectoring is new for 2015 and improves handling and grip. Side to side torque distribution is optimized by limited-slip front and rear differentials. In other words, the WRX STI is a prime candidate for “drift racing” and taking corners at high speeds, the automaker said.

In 2014, visitors ot the auto show, which opens to the public Saturday, can expect to see better fu-el-efficiency, sleeker exterior designs and advance-ment in interior luxury. After a five-year slump the auto industry seems to be making a comeback.

IT’S ABOUT CHANGEAutomakers tout advances at Detroit auto show

— Monroe News photos by MIKKI MOSCARA

General Motors unveiled its 2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. The model includes a new, simplified logo for the brand.

Subaru showed off its new, powerful WTX RTI

Even vehicle parts show off at the auto show, such as Mi-chelin wilth its new tire design.

n The school board took the next step Thursday night to ask voters to approve a multi-million bond issue to pay for the project.

BY CAITLIN VANOVERBERGHEcaitlin@monroenews.com

BEDFORD TOWNSHIP — As the Bedford Public Schools Board of Education took the next step in a massive facility renovation plan, more details of that plan are emerging.

The board Thursday night approved and signed a Prelimi-nary Qualification Application for a proposed bonds and loan program to raise money for the construction and renovations.

The action, taken at a spe-cial meeting at Bedford High School, movees the district to-ward what the board is calling a “reinvention” that would cost the school system $70 million, to be paid off by taxpayers over 30 years.

Residents would see an ap-proximate $20 a month in-crease a household on the property taxes, according to Supt. Mark Kleinhans. The bonds would be issued in two series, the first for $50 million and the second for $20 million.

The plan includes building a new elementary school, reno-vating and reopening Smith Road Elementary School, ren-ovating Bedford Junior High School, Bedford High School and Monroe Road Elementary School and demolishing Doug-las Road, Jackman Road and Temperance Road elementary schools.

A final draft of the district’s bond application will be sent to the State of Michigan Depart-ment of Treasury for final ap-proval today. The state either will approve or deny the appli-cation within the next 30 days.

Then, by Feb. 25, the board would adopt a resolution to put the question on the May 6 bal-lot

“I try to explain to people that we could have made the easy decision to just remodel the el-ementary buildings,” Mr. Klein-hans said during the meeting, “We could have (sought) a bond for a smaller amount and changed only the things that were necessary. But 20 years from now, a new board will be sitting here presented with the same problem and buildings that are falling apart.”

During the special meeting, chaired by Vice President Tim Brakel in President Mike Smith’s absence, the board reviewed every page of what would be the final draft of the bond ap-plication.

With the help of Plante Mo-ran Cresa, a Southfield real es-tate consulting firm, Vice Presi-dent Paul Theriault and firm partner Greg Vankirk, the board discussed each project and its cost.

Each building has its own construction plan and budget. Each budget is a generous esti-mate, Mr. Theriault said.

Here are the highlights:n Reopen and renovate Smith

Road Elementary School, $6.4 million.

Four new classrooms would be added, the roof would be replaced and new windows and exterior doors would be in-stalled. Mechanical and electri-cal systems would be upgraded.

n Demolish Douglas Road El-

ementary, $410,000. n Demolish Jackman Road El-

ementary, $430,000. n Demolish Temperance

Road Elementary, $370,000.n Build a new elementary

school, $17.9 million. Mr. Klein-hans said the district is consid-ering using land occupied by Temperance Road Elementary or Jackman Road Elementary as the site for the new building.

n Renovate Monroe Road El-ementary, $1 million.

This work with the second bond series would reconfigure the main entrance and kinder-garten classrooms and upgrade flooring and lockers.

n Remodel Bedford Junior High School, $11.6 million.

The roof would be replaced and new windows and exte-rior doors would be installed. Mechanical and electrical up-grades would be made. Plans to improve the gymnasium have also been slated.

n Remodel Bedford High School, $26.7 million.

Lighting outside the building would be upgraded and roofing replaced. An addition would be made to the auditorium and upgrades would be made to the school’s athletic fields and gym-nasiums. The cafeteria would get a facelift with new furniture and kitchen equipment.

n Remodel the administra-tion building, $190,000.

n Renovate the maintenance building, including the bus ga-rage, $4.1 million.

This cost includes buying several new buses and other equipment.

The “reinventing” project has been unfolding steadily over the last few months.

A facilities study was com-pleted by Plante Moran Cresa in September on Mr. Kleinhans’ request as a way to discover where the district could spend sinking fund dollars. The study cost $15,000 from the sinking fund.

Plante Moran Cresa discov-ered what it called crippling structural issues with the build-ings and the board began ex-ploring options of how to cor-rect those issues.

After accepting the findings of the Plante Moran Cresa study last month, the board gave Mr. Kleinhans the power to create a bond project to fund building renovations.

On Jan. 6, a draft of the dis-trict’s Preliminary Qualifica-tion Application was sent to the Michigan Department of Treasury.

On Jan. 10, Mr. Kleinhans, along with representative of Plante Moran Cresa, met with the Department of Treasury to review and finalize a draft of the application. During delibera-tions, it was found the project would cost closer to $70 million rather than an original estimate of $64 million.

The board soon will begin discussions on how to present the issue to residents. One of the options is holding town hall style meetings to speak.

“You will have to fight for every ‘yes’ vote,” Mr. Vankirk said to the board at Thursday’s meeting. “When you ask for new money, it’s a 50/50 chance (of receiving it or not). (School districts) that are united are the ones that have the most suc-cess.”

Bedford details ‘reinvention’ plans

DUNDEE — Firefighters ex-tinguished a barn fire in the 17000 block of M-50 early this morning.

The Dundee Township Volun-teer Fire Department was called

to the blaze about 3 a.m. and immediately called for assis-tance from Summerfield Town-ship volunteer firefighters.

They were on the scene for about three hours.

Dundee barn burns in early-morning blaze