Belleville Council votes to share cost of engineering for roads

At Monday’s regular meeting of the Belleville City Council, the council voted unanimously to pay a minimum of $30,000 of the $60,000 engineering costs the Harbour Pointe property owners would have had to pay upfront to get more exact costs for the special assessment district to fix their roads.
The council also agreed to share 50% of the cost not to exceed a total of $40,000.
But, that wasn’t necessary, since petition carrier Beth Hutter, who had volunteered to collect signatures to start the SAD, announced that she and her husband William have found that, “None are in favor of moving forward with the petition.”
The 94 properties in the subdivision were asked to pay the cost of from $1.6 million to $1.7 million in roadwork.
Hutter asked the council to form a committee made up of residents and city officials to discuss the city’s road problem and come up with ideas on what to do.
Hutter noted the city has funding limitations and people at Harbour Pointe don’t want liens on their homes.
Mayor Kerreen Conley said she doesn’t think the city ever would not want to hear from the residents. She suggested the city administration and DPW director Rick Rutherford form a subcommittee.
Mayor Conley said they will be looking at other alternatives at the next council meeting.
“It’s certainly open to dialog,” Conley said. “Leave it open to discussion.”
Planning Commissioner Mike Renaud said until Main Street is paid off in 10 to 12 years, the city has no money for an upgrade of city streets.
While the city has no debt, the Downtown Development Authority has bonds it is paying off for upgrading Main Street and water lines. The DDA’s debt limits the city’s ability to bond to $5 million and the city streets upgrades would amount to an estimated $10 million.
“I wondered why [the council] renewed the DDA for another 30 years,” Renaud said. He said the DDA life should have been limited.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the council:
• Introduced the current 1953 ordinance on Special Assessments with a recommendation to have attorney Tom Colis make suggestions for updates. When a man in the audience said they should not waste the money on the off chance the city will need it. Mayor Conley said the ordinance is not just for Harbour Pointe. “This ordinance is 64 years old,” she said;
• Approved Strawberry Festival policies without changes. These were the policies presented in February. They were turned over to City Manager Diana Kollmeyer for review and not brought back until now. Joan Bodnar of the festival said she asked for them to be on the agenda since the festival is just a few weeks away and they want to know everything is in place;
• Approved holding the annual citywide yard sales on the weekend after Labor Day; and
• Heard a 20-minute, PowerPoint presentation by Ron Akers on the newly approved Van Buren Township Lake Shoreline Ordinances. Akers, director of planning and economic development at the township, said he is at the city meeting because they want to be good neighbors and treat the city residents well. He suggested the city may want to formalize the township ordinance or treat it in some other way. He said if a city resident wants to build a dock, the city should refer the resident to the township for guidance. Councilman Tom Fielder said the city should check with its legal counsel to make sure it meets its legal obligations in this matter.