Belleville City Council approves downtown coffee party Oct. 31

At Monday’s 28-minute meeting of the Belleville City Council, the council unanimously approved having a Coffee Party/Booville Event on Halloween at one of two suggested locations.
Carol Thompson, coordinator of the Belleville Downtown Development Authority, said the event is to gauge the support for a coffee shop in town.
She said the DDA is suggesting Victory Park and Victory Station as its first choice of location. Second choice is the Fourth Street Square, where they will need to block off two parking spaces on Main Street for the two coffee vendor trucks.
The problem is that the trucks would need access to 220-volt power and if they are at the park they would need access to generators. The DDAs like the park atmosphere better for the event, she said.
“The police will be right there,” said Police Chief Hal Berriman, referring to the police station across the street from Victory Park.
Thompson said the event may be named Fresh Brewed BOOville and could be referred to as Jackojava.
Set-up time is 9:30 a.m. The event starts at 10 a.m. and it is over at 1 p.m.
On Oct. 31, the students have a half day of school and the high school is released at 10:30 a.m. The coffee event is scheduled to coincide with the free time for teachers and staff before they have to be back at the school for a professional development session.
The event is for the whole community, not just the schools, she said.
Thompson said she is working with a group of students at Belleville High School who will take a survey of participants to see if there is support for a coffee shop downtown, what hours they would use it, and what they would want offered at the shop.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the council:
• Approved the $295,000 agreement with C&R Lakeside Landscaping of Taylor for the Doane’s Landing Seawall Project. The work will begin on April 1, 2019 and shall be substantially completed by Aug. 1, 2019. The contract was prepared by city attorney Steve Hitchcock and city Building Official Ruth Rutherford said they will update the dates in the paperwork, as needed, before the official signing. Rutherford said steel prices are skyrocketing and the contractor said he could “eat the difference” now, if we could get the contract finalized. Rutherford said he still has to talk to a condo owner who is out of the country and she is a supporter of the condos doing the seawall work together with the city. Rutherford said if a “return” is needed to be put in to separate the city seawall from the condo seawall, he doesn’t think it will cost the city any more;
• Approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign all necessary documents for the Municipal and Community Credits Master Agreement with SMART (Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation) for the period of July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019. City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said the amount of $3,914 is the same as in the past and the city puts in more than the local match required. The SMART money all goes for the local Senior/Disabled Transportation Program and $4,501 more is funded with the Senior Transportation budget;
• Approved accounts payable of $197,226.19 and the following purchases in excess of $500: to Hennessey Engineers, $10,525.25 for library site inspection from the money the library has placed in escrow with the city; to Command Communications, $3,400 for police prep radios; to Upright Fence, Inc., $1,130 for fence post repair at the cemetery; and to Wise Technologies, $765 for computer support for various departments;
• Heard City Manager Kollmeyer say Councilman Tom Fielder was at city hall early that morning to put signs on the 25 scarecrows brought in and filled the council meeting room. They later were attached to lamp posts along Main Street. Kollmeyer pointed out some of her special scarecrows. She said School Supt. Pete Kudlak’s face is on a scarecrow across the street from city hall, made by employees in the school administration building, and a big rooster is in front of the ice cream shop, prepared by those at the Wayne County Fairgrounds;
• Heard Councilman Fielder thank Laura Nichols, president of the Parks and Recreation Commission, and her daughters for making the signs and laminating them with the help of the library. He said they will be better at withstanding the weather than signs in the past. He said a special meeting was called and judging of the scarecrow entries by the commission has taken place; and
• Heard Mayor Pro Tem Jack Loria ask when the city will take possession of the land it purchased next to city hall and Kollmeyer said possession was immediate and she has the deed. Kollmeyer said people are cutting through that property to avoid the stop sign at Liberty/E. Huron River Drive and she has alerted the police to be on the watch.