VBT commits $10M, if county gives it $5M more for community center

At a 13-minute, zoom meeting on Dec. 21, the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve a resolution designating more than $10 million in funds for construction of the planned $17,137,000 community center/senior center, if Wayne County gives it another $5 million.
Trustee Sherry Frazier was absent and excused.
Supervisor Kevin McNamara said the county will make a move only if the township commits to $10 million to build. He said the county needs a commitment and he wanted to get it as soon as possible.
Elizabeth Renaud, director of community services, said she and her team have been looking for funds to help with the project and the American Rescue Act funding is available.
Supervisor McNamara said the township is far ahead of everyone in the county in seeking the funds. He said since last August VBT knew the stimulus money was coming. He said VBT is one of the first to seek a grant through the Wayne County Commission.
He said once the resolution is approved, it will be sent to the county commission the next day. He joked that it might even be in the process of being faxed to them that very minute.
He said he talked to the head of the county commission and he said the procedure for giving out the grants is still being worked out. Supervisor McNamara said since VBT is one of the first, they are basing their procedures on what VBT does.
Supervisor McNamara said they will find out in February or March if they get the grant.
In the resolution it passed, the township board said the total cost of the $17,137,000 project will be paid with:
• $10,000,000 from VBT;
• $5,000,000 from the Wayne County Commission
• $1,137,000 from the VBT Downtown Development Authority; and
• $1,000,000 from the Van Buren Civic Fund.
The resolution also states that the community/senior center will serve not only the community’s cultural and recreational needs, but also allow for multipurpose spaces that can be programmed for the benefit of public health such as an emergency relief center (cooling/warming shelter, disaster relief, food distribution).
In other business at the Dec. 21 meeting, the board:
• Approved the attorney recommendation provided in an attorney / client communication, without any details announced. The board had just come out of a 51-minute closed-door session to consider that attorney / client communication and also to discuss the strategy and negotiations of the Michigan Association of Fire Fighters (MAFF) collective bargaining agreement;
• Was informed by Supervisor McNamara that the state has passed a law that governing bodies can no longer meet virtually after the first of the year, so, “We’re back in January.” The VBT board, committees, and commissions have been meeting via zoom since the state allowed it last April;
• Learned Judy Fields, the township’s building/plumbing/mechanical inspector, was retiring from VBT and a going-away gathering was planned from noon to 3 p.m. on Dec. 22, with the township offices closed during that time so everyone could attend to say goodbye. Treasurer Sharry Budd said, “She’s been here a long time and she will be sorely missed”;
• Was reminded that the treasurer’s office will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 30, so residents could pay their taxes;
• Heard Clerk Leon Wright announce that the township offices will be closed for the holidays on Dec. 24 and reopen on Jan. 4;
• Heard Supervisor McNamara say that before longtime Assessing Office Director Linda Stevenson retired, the Department of Treasury assessed the assessing office and announced the department got a 100% AMAR score and so won’t have to be reviewed for another five years. He said that others were a big part of this, as well; and
• Heard McNamara announce that the VBT police department passed everything in its recent audit for Michigan Law Enforcement Accreditation, with one or two details to attend to. He said they expect to get the state accreditation the second week of February. This is the highest police accreditation in the state, he said, and it was five years in the making. “It puts them right up there with a dozen other departments in the state…I’m very proud of them. We’re not done yet, but I think we’ve got it,” he said.