District Library may have to put up signs when DORA approved

If a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area is approved by the Belleville City Council, the library may have to put up signs noting alcohol is not allowed on library grounds or in the building.
At the virtual meeting of the Belleville Area District Library Board on June 9, via RingCentral, vice chairperson Mary Jane Dawson told the board about DORA and how it may be adopted in Belleville if the state passes the legislation.
DORA was discussed at the June 3 meeting of the Belleville Downtown Development Authority. At the meeting it was noted HB 5781 was currently in the Michigan House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee. [The DORA was passed and signed by the governor last week and the city has approved a DORA district and times and days it will be open, as well.] Board member John Juriga said it would be just like they have in Key West.
Library Director Mary Jo Suchy said she thinks the no-alcohol rule already is in the library policy.
Dawson, who is chairperson of the policy subcommittee, said signage may have to be put up to alert the public to the rule and they may have to change the policy to include that.
Chairperson Sharon Peters said Dawson should call a policy committee meeting, if necessary.
One member commented that they didn’t want to have inebriated people sleeping on the benches or along the building.
In other business at the one-hour-and-27-minute meeting, the board:
• Accepted the resignation of Barbara Gates from the board, effective immediately. She said she already has moved to Dearborn, out of the district library area, to take care of her son who is in a wheelchair. Chairperson Peters said they would seek counsel from the library’s attorney on the most appropriate way to fill the vacancy. While board members expressed that they were very sorry to see her go, they agreed family comes first;
• Held a public hearing on the 2020-21 proposed budget and then unanimously passed the budget, which included 1.2484 mills for operation and .62 mill for debt service. The board also passed the amended 2019-20 budget;
• Approved the COVID Preparedness and Response Plan, as revised. It includes that, by law, staff is required to wear masks and the library is not required to take temperatures because of privacy issues, but staff members have to say they don’t have a temperature to enter;
• Heard Suchy say the next day they would begin curbside book delivery at the main library and once the kinks are worked out they will look at the Sumpter site. She said people order their books and they get a scheduled time to pick up the books in a paper bag with their name on it. The bags are placed on a table outside the library front door and then the staff goes inside and people drive up to get their bags. She said the books available were from the Belleville library but the Library Network would begin deliveries the next week, so holds can be put on other books, as well;
• Learned they were waiting for DTE to remove the utilities so the old library can be demolished. Also, it has been decided the elimination of the vermiculite in the back wall and the demolition will be done by Pure Safety Systems instead of Midwest and Blue Ribbon. Also, the plants for the live roofs will be installed as soon as possible since they are growing together, and additional padding will be put on the roof for the bees. The bees will be put as far south as possible so workmen don’t have to deal with them;
• Heard Suchy say it is hard to predict when the parking lot will be done and if there is a COVID surge, they will have to cut back again. “I wouldn’t plan anything until we get to level six,” she said, referring to the special donor appreciation party and the grand opening; and
• Heard chairperson Peters say there have been tumultuous times since she’s been on the board and now this coronavirus comes. “God was in it,” Peters said. “We were able to get our actual building finished before COVID. And when we open, it will be into a new society.”