Belleville Planners approve site plan for new district library

A happy cheer was heard from members of the Belleville Area District Library Board on Sept. 14 after a unanimous vote of the Belleville Planning Commission that approved the site plan for the new $10 million library building.
The vote came after about 90 minutes of discussion.
Commissioner John Juriga made the motion to approve the site plan and Commissioner Matthew Wagner seconded the motion.
That’s when Juriga, who is also a member of the district library board, asked to be excused from the vote because there might be a perceived conflict of interest.
City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said the city attorney assures her that there is no conflict of interest since Juriga isn’t earning money by the construction, but the commission went ahead and unanimously excused Juriga from the vote.
Then, the rest of the commission voted to approve the site plan.
City Manager Kollmeyer said the city supports the new library and the planning commission was diligent in studying the plans which were supplied to them well in advance.
Rick Rutherford, Belleville’s Building Official, recommended approval of the site plan with a condition of building department review and approval of the final project plans, along with completion of city engineering review.
Hennessey, the city’s engineering consultant, presented a list of 18 comments on the plan.
Some of the details are still in flux as the architects and Beckett & Raeder work on the specifications. Because of expected higher costs than expected, some of the details are being scaled down.
Brian Barrick, a principal at Beckett & Raeder, presented the site plan to the commission and later architect Dan Whisler joined in. Matt Razow of O’Neal Construction also answered questions.
Commissioner Mike Renaud questioned the plans to make the alley from Third to Fourth streets one way, heading toward the library parking lot. Everyone using the alley would have to drive through the parking lot to exit on Charles Street.
“You’re forcing people in the new building to exit through the parking lot,” Renaud said, referring to the new Davenport building under construction on Main Street.
Renaud said this is creating the opportunity for chaos with people exiting their businesses and parkers backing up in the parking lot.
“There will be a learning curve in the city of Belleville and we can only guess how the flow of traffic will go,” Building Official Rutherford said. He suggested managing the alley traffic after the parking lot is up and running.
Barrick of Beckett & Raeder engineering said they should leave the traffic undefined for now
There were other comments on handicapped parking and the bioswale that will be in the parking area that leads to the underground storm management.
“Ninety percent of pollutants come from the first 10% of rainfall,” Barrick said. “That six-inch-deep outlet allows clearing of the water, following Wayne County standards, to the underground system.”
Commission chairman Steve Jones said the library is still trying to address costs.
“We don’t plan on changing the footprint,” Whisler stressed. He said they already have cut 2,500 square feet.
Whisler said they have to get rid of 6 feet of poor soils.
When asked about green roofs, Whisler said that is tentative. It is nice to do, but not budgeted, he said. There is a hope for grants.
“It comes down to can we find the money?” Whisler said.
Whisler said the entire building will have LEDs with occupancy sensors to turn the lights off. When asked if the parking lot LEDs will need heaters for winter, Whisler said, no, they are very robust. He said the parking lot LEDs are the same kind as Davenport’s at the new building across the alley.
Five bike hoops, which accommodate ten bikes, is planned, plus a flag pole and the board insists they must be a part of the budget, Whisler said.
Commissioner Matt Wagner said he would like to see more bike racks. Barrick said they have the necessary space to add more and could do so later, as funds allow.
Wagner said they should try to address the demographics of the area and have more handicapped parking and more bike racks.
Councilman Tom Fielder said from the audience that Fourth Street, off of Main between the museum and library, could be a statement of the community as a place to gather.
He referred to plans for making Fourth Street one way toward the new library and then turning into the alley where the parking lot will be located. Fourth Street in front of the library will have angle parking along the east side and an opportunity for green space.
Barrick said with the museum and library, Fourth Street will be a public corridor with an opportunity for green space, hardscapes, and other things.
Whisler said because of the current active shooter concerns, more exits than required have been planned for the library so there are more ways out.
There was also discussion about safety of the children’s garden on Roys Street.
Whisler said currently the library building committee wants a space they can go out in, but they could, eventually, decide it to be a place to look out at.
Commissioner Kelly Bates asked about the size of the library and Whisler said the current library is 11,000 square feet and the new library will be 31,000 square feet.
Bates also suggested repurposing things from the old library and call in Habitat for Humanity to remove some of the furnishing.
“We don’t want to throw things away,” Commissioner Juriga said of the library board’s intentions.
Whisler suggested a garage sale at the end and Fielder asked if some of the things could be used in the Sumpter satellite library.
Whisler said that is not being considered at this time because the Sumpter building will be a media center and it will be open long before the new building is complete.
Councilman Fielder said Van Buren Township and Sumpter Township should thank the Belleville Planning Commission for its work on the library that is to serve the whole community.
The planning commission also discussed the Master Plan update being worked on. Commissioner Wagner detailed all the items being considered and then the commission agreed to set a public meeting for Oct. 9, 10, or 11 at the high school to get input before the next regular meeting on Oct. 12. The exact date will be announced after chairman Jones sets up the session.