Mold Remediation in Milford, MI

MILFORD — Milford House, shuttered for the past year and a half, is about to see a revival with new but familiar owners, a new name, and a whole new business plan.

Charlie and Tracie Berry, owners of nearby Charlie’s Still on Main, are in the process of buying the 10,000-square-foot building at the corner of Commerce and Main streets.

“I love Milford and want to own a piece of Milford,” Charlie Berry said. “Where I am now, I rent and will always rent. I saw an opportunity (to own a building) and do completely different stuff.”

Berry hopes to close on the sale by May 1, nearly a year after he first began pursuing the purchase of the property, which closed in 2021 during the pandemic only to reopen the following year with different operators. A small plates Mexican bar was added and then both operations closed a year later amidst an apparent identity crisis.On Monday, the village council helped clear the way for a successful makeover of the restaurant with approval of the transfer of a Class C liquor license to Berry.

Once Berry receives final approval from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, he expects to open the new business as “Charlie’s Still To Go,” offering carry-out items matching what is on the menu at Charlie’s Still on Main—including popular items like walleye, fried chicken, jambalaya, sandwiches and more.

He notes that the new location will offer more ease than his current location for doing increasingly popular carryout, but this is just for starters, Berry said.

In the section of the building where Banditos was, Berry is planning to host private events as a banquet space. With an estimated capacity of 100 in this area, he says it will be perfect for small weddings, showers and other parties.

This summer, he also hopes to reopen an ice cream shop at the location, with the confections supplied by Guernsey Farms Dairy and looks forward to having the open-air patios around the whole building open.

“The last thing to tackle” will be reopening the part of the building that was once the core of Milford House for a new total capacity of 250. Berry is renovating the main dining space in the restaurant, which he expects will take at least a year.

When it does reopen, it will have a different menu than Charlie’s Still on Main, which he promises is going nowhere.

“We love Milford and are looking forward to having a bigger footprint,” said Berry, who has owned Charlie’s since 2019, and previously managed Palate in the village. “We are putting roots down in Milford and staying a long time.”

Contact Susan Bromley at sbromley@hometownlife.com.

MILFORD TWP. — The township has its first manager, a metro Detroit resident who has spent nearly three decades working with government leaders to improve and keep safe local communities.

Matthew Best, hired by a 6-1 vote of the township board last week, started work on Monday.

“This is a great place to be and I am looking forward to it,” Best said. “It’s been a great first day so far. I’ve been looking for a place to settle down and build roots.”

Best, 51, is a Canton Township resident with 28 years of experience in local government, including almost two decades working for Wayne County in a variety of roles, before moving on to be the Van Buren Township director of public services for seven years, and then the director of municipal services for Pittsfield Township for the last four.

Best earned his bachelor’s degree at Central Michigan University, studying biology, environmental science and geology. He also holds a master’s degree from Eastern Michigan University in urban planning and geographical information systems.

His experience and education were a large draw for the township board, Treasurer Cynthia Dagenhardt said, adding they chose him “as the best person for the job.”The board interviewed six candidates for the township manager position after Dagenhardt said a subcommittee was formed last year to investigate “the best way for the township to be handled.” The subcommittee determined that a professional manager was needed, she said, due to an increase in township activities and growth, including major developments like Kensington Ridge and Millennium Park Estates, formerly known as the Crossings of Milford.

An intergovernmental agreement with Lyon Township has cleared the way for the developments to receive water services, which Best also has extensive knowledge of, as his roles with Wayne County included soil erosion control, drains manager and laboratory director for the downriver water treatment plant.

The board subsequently voted 5-2 at an October 16 meeting to reduce the responsibilities of the township supervisor position - to essentially running board meetings, as well as the salary- from nearly $93,000 per year to $3,000 annually, or the same as trustees earn. Supervisor Don Green, who has held the position for more than 25 years, voted no, along with former Trustee Toni Vulaj.

Three weeks later, voters reelected Green in the general election, in which he ran unopposed.

Green, the sole no vote on the hiring of Matthew Best last week, declined to comment.

The township board approved a contract for Best that will pay him an annual salary of $135,000.

Best said he has not yet had a goals meeting with the township board, but has already set some personal objectives of his own.

“My goal is to find a home for the next 15 or 20 years and bring things the community wants to reality,” said Best, who is married and the father of four. “If I have grandchildren one day, I want to be able to point (to Milford Township) and say, ‘we did this as a community.’”