Belleville City Council sets joint meeting with DDA to make plans for city

A joint meeting between the Belleville City Council and the Downtown Development Authority will be held at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 21, at city hall.
The meeting was set during the Sept. 8 regular city council session.
The council and DDA will meet to do some planning for the city.
DDA Coordinator Carol Thompson told the council to come in costume to the meeting since it is the DDA’s Belleville Booville meeting. She said there also is sure to be food.
The meeting is open to the public.
In other business at the Sept. 8 meeting, the council:
• Approved Victory Park usage by the Belleville Area Council for the Arts to rent out spaces during the city wide yard sale;
• Tabled a request from the Plymouth YMCA for a “Dash in Disguise” family fun run on Oct. 24 during Booville because no one was present to discuss the proposal;
• Approved the mayor’s appointment of Alicia McGovern, of Edward Jones on Rawsonville Road in Van Buren Township, to the Belleville DDA with a term to expire in December 2018. She will represent the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce, as a business within the district;
• Approved the Oct. 17 5K Zombie Run or walk, at 9 a.m. with the race at 10 a.m. starting at Horizon Park, as presented by Marissa Higgins of Belleville High School New Tech;
• Heard Councilman Tom Fielder ask about item #1 City Hall Security on the “Follow-up List” that has been on the list since Aug. 1, 2011. There was a proposed analysis of current building security. City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said the item requires finances. At one time the price was hundreds of thousands of dollars, she said, and, “We hated to pour excessive amounts of money into this building.” Fire Chief Brian Loranger said a lot of places offer grants for security. The item remains on the list;
• Approved accounts payable of $123,836.74 and purchases in excess of $500: to All Seasons Landscaping, $607.96 for a chainsaw for the fire department; to Emergency Reporting, $1,668 for software for the fire department; to Michigan Association of Planning, $650 for annual dues, general fund; to Wingfoot Tire, $7,242.12 for tires for the fire department; and to Wise Technologies, $573.75 for computer support for various departments;
• Heard Mayor Kerreen Conley remind everyone that the applications for the Scarecrow Contest are due Sept. 25, although the scarecrows aren’t due until the first week in October. Last year there were 20 scarecrows entered;
• Was introduced to two fire fighters who have passed probationary status: Ed Smith and Shauna Spoonamore, with a third person, Derek Smith, unable to be present for the meeting;
• Heard Fire Chief Loranger ask everyone to keep police officers in their thoughts and prayers because, “There’s a lot of weird stuff going on”; and
• Went into closed-door session to discuss pending union negotiations and went back into regular session only to adjourn.