Clinton Township Trustee upset proposal to rename park after teen killed in explosion was rejected
CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - An inclusive park in Clinton Township is close to being finished, and one trustee who wanted to name it after a 19-year-old killed in an explosion is disappointed that the proposal was rejected.
Turner Salter was struck by flying debris moments after Good Distributors exploded in March.
On Monday, a proposal to rename the park after Salter was removed from the agenda at a trustee meeting; however, the family said they are grateful his name was mentioned.
"As far as the family, they are grateful that they considered him," said Tim Berlin, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Clinton Township. "They were honored, they said ... to even have his name come up was a real encouragement to them, that Clinton Township doesn't want to forget their son and the tragedy that took his life."
Berlin heard about the proposal a few weeks ago from Trustee Dan Kress, who pushed for the park to be renamed.
Kress released a statement after his motion was taken off the agenda:
"I am beyond disappointed that they didn't want to take the opportunity to at least discuss the proposal. I received permission from his church's Pastor to move forward with the proposed naming on October 14th, and then purposely didn't disclose my agenda item until hours before the meeting, so as not to make this political. Even during the entirety of the meeting I went out of my way to make no mention of Turner's name deliberately. Although, make no mistake, each board member had a copy of my proposed park naming and the opportunity to secure a lasting tribute to Turner's life."
Clinton Township Treasurer Paul Giegelhem said while he supports the township remembering Salter in some meaningful way, he questioned if renaming the park was the best opportunity to do so.
Giegelhem also said he did not agree with excluding the developer and committees in the renaming process because they had been working on the project for the past four years.
Meanwhile, Berlin said the family fully understands that point of view and remains grateful to be a part of this community.
"They are very thankful that they live in this community, they're thankful for all the love that's been shown to them," Berlin said.
