Wolchek helps dumped-on residents sick of getting trashed
FOX 2 - These residents live in a place that's isolated and it's right on the line between Wayne and Washtenaw counties.
Local perspective:
The people there feel both counties ignore them and think the other county will fix it.
Sometimes it takes a little prodding to get things done - so they Rob Wolchek - he's good at prodding.
"It makes the whole area look trashy," said Cheryl.
She's talking about the road leading to the mobile home parks her where her friends and family live.
"It's full of years' worth of tires, couches, mattresses, garbage, and it's a terrible eyesore," Cheryl said.
Rob knows Cheryl because he interviewed her seven years ago. Wolchek did a special investigation into convicted murderer John Norman Collins.
Cheryl's friend Dawn Basom was murdered during that late 1960s killing spree and was brave enough to share her story with him.
Afterwards, she was brave enough to ask Rob Wolchek to help her and friends.
In 2021, Wolchek got the road paved for them. The stretch in front of the mobile home parks is in Wayne County.
He managed to get the county road commission to resurface it.
Residents tired of getting dumped on, reach out for help
A community that sits on the line between Wayne and Washtenaw counties feels they've been overlooked and are desperate for help.
Cheryl is a pest in a good way. Since then, she'd text Rob every few months and he promised her he would get the garbage on the Washtenaw County road cleared.
Since Rob is soon retiring, he thought he would keep his vow.
Wolchek: "Nobody's helping you, except me, maybe."
Cheryl: "Right, hopefully."
But man, it's way worse than Rob thought.
There are tires, an old couch, buckets, all kinds of things thrown there, over the past couple of years.
In other places, you've got fresh garbage. This isn't a dump - it's the side of a road.
And this goes on for about a mile on Mott Road leading into the mobile home parks.
Nearby there's a bunch of kids getting off the school bus. People live there. Families live around there.
Who wants to come home from school everyday, and see a bunch of garbage lying on the road?
It's a drag for grown-ups, too.
"You think wow, you worked so hard all day and you've got to look at this on the way home," Cheryl said.
Virginia says this is a nice community that doesn't get respect. It gets refuse.
"I know it's not the people that live here, that live in the park that's doing it," said XX "It's other people that are coming here and dumping this stuff."
Well, let's clean it up.
Meet Tom Gray.
Wolchek: "How many guys you got working out here today?"
Tom: "Six."
Wolchek: "Six ... and all your equipment? You're paying these guys, right?"
Tom: "Yes sir."
Wolchek: "So you're doing this just because you're a nice guy."
Tom: "Yes, yes."
Nice guy Tom owns Gray's Outdoor Services. A week after Wolchek called Tom, his crew was out there picking up all kinds of crazy stuff.
Someone even dumped a car door. Alongside that were couches, mattresses and about a hundred tires littering this road.
All of it was taken by Tom and his crew off the side of the road, into their trucks, to be delivered to responsible recyclers and legit landfills.
One of their tools is a large claw excavator. It's like one of those arcade claw games. But the prize they're grabbing here isn't a teddy bear, it's a ton of trash.
Wolchek: "What's the challenge?"
Tom: "It's frozen. At this point, but not much of a challenge. I've got a great crew of guys, we've got great equipment and we can get out here and get it handled for you."
What's Tom getting out this? Not a penny. He's done this for Rob before, cleaning up a backyard for lady who got ripped off from a Hall of Shame contractor a few years ago.
Honestly, Tom's just a good guy and we think he likes the love he gets from everyone passing by.
"I'm so thankful because it makes our whole neighborhood look so bad and I want people to take pride in our neighborhood," said one woman driving by.
And Cheryl's friend Virginia can't believe it.
Wolchek: "So it looks pretty good ..."
"I think it's awesome," Virginia said. "Amazing. You're amazing. You get it done."
The Source: Information for this story is from interviews with the resident of the community.