Strawberry Run being planned by Chamber for festival week end

The Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce is taking over the run for the Strawberry Festival that had been put on in 2015 and 2016 by the Kona Running Company of Northville and brought 1,000 runners to town.
Keith Johnston, who explained the project to the Belleville City Council on Monday, said Kona has turned the run over to the Chamber. He came to the council to get information on what he needed to do with the city to get permission. He said he already had reached out to Van Buren Township to find out what to do there, since the run extends into the township.
He said they expect 400 to 500 runners. The plans were to hold the Strawberry Run on the same route as December’s Jingle Bell Run, starting at Horizon Park on High Street, going out over the Denton Road Bridge for a run around the township and then back.
He said they planned it for 8-10 a.m., Saturday, June 16.
Belleville Police Chief Hal Berriman said High Street is the only westbound street the city has open during the festival, since Main Street is closed. That was a safety concern.
Councilman Tom Fielder said the Kona run brought people into town on Friday, one of the slowest days of the festival.
Mayor Kerreen Conley said there had been a problem with parking and Johnston said they had planned to use the high school for parking and then walk to High Street.
Councilman Fielder said they’ve always closed High Street, so they could start there. He said maybe they could stage and start in the park, so High Street didn’t have to be closed.
It was pointed out with the Kona run, the street was packed with runners from the lake to the other side of the street, and traffic was backed up past the freeway.
Mayor Conley said if the run is held on Saturday, they would be competing with activities at Liberty Fest in Canton.
“Nobody’s opposed to it,” Mayor Conley said of the Strawberry Run. “We just need to work out the logistics.”
Mayor Conley said she will help with the planning and Chief Berriman will be a good resource.
Johnston said he will take the information back to the Chamber and work on the details.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the council:
• Approved use of the Fourth Street Square by Brownie Troop #76274 of Keystone Academy on Sunday, Feb. 18, or Saturday, March 10, from 1 to 5 p.m. to sell Girl Scout Cookies. The girls will set up a tent with a decorated booth and a sign;
• Approved the WCA Poverty Exemption for the 2018 summer and winter taxes. Applications are available at city hall;
• Took off the agenda the proposed dates for the 2018 Music Lakeside concerts since no one came to present the request;
• Approved the Waiver of Penalties for Failure to File Property Transfer Affidavits. The resolution said the city is not going to collect the fee because the cost to collect the $5 a day fee outweighs the benefit. There are fewer than 1,200 parcels in the city and maybe one a month changes hands;
• Approved the 2018 Strawberry Festival Responsibility and Administrative policies as presented, as recommended by City Manager Diana Kollmeyer. Fielder noted he had a potential conflict because he is president of Strawberry Festival, but he did not request permission to abstain;
• Accepted the Parks and Recreation Master Plan as presented by the newly reactivated Parks and Recreation Commission and set a public hearing for Feb. 20. Jeff Vernon, who was named chairman of the commission, said the 2009 plan was the most current plan they had, so it is being presented for approval. They will be updating it over the next few months, he said. Fielder, who is also on that commission, said they have updated SEMCOG numbers and there are no other changes to the plan presented. Councilman Jesse Marcotte said he attended that commission meeting. He said the master plan needs to be adopted by March 1 to be able to apply for grants by April 1;
• Heard City Manager Kollmeyer say city hall will be closed on Monday, Feb. 19, for Presidents’ Day, but the trash pickup day will not be affected by the holiday;
• Heard Fielder report on a Downriver Utilities Wastewater Authority (DUWA) meeting he and Building Official Rick Rutherford attended last Friday. He said he also attended a Robotics meeting at the high school. Fielder said Grace Baptist Church is celebrating 75 years and the church and Pastor Robert White have been very helpful to the community;
• Learned the redesign of the city’s website is moving in a positive direction. Mike Renaud asked if the city is still paying the contract price, even though it is taking so much longer. Kollmeyer said the price is the same and, “It’s not all their fault. We had some problems”; and
• Approved accounts payable of $596,319.84 and the following purchases in excess of $500: to Blue Ribbon, $3,458 for a water main break; to Morton Salt, $2,642.73 for road salt; to BM Collision Center, $758.80 for police vehicle repair; and to Wise Technologies, $741.23 for computers/network.