VBT DDA gets report on Belleville Road Placemaking project

The asbestos removal is complete and it will take about a month to have the buildings torn down so the reconstruction of the old Albert Harris home at 10101 and 10151 Belleville Road can begin.
“It looks like a war zone,” said Susan Ireland, executive director of the Van Buren Township Downtown Development Authority.
Ireland gave a report on progress of the Belleville Road Placemaking project at the DDA’s regular meeting Aug. 22.
She presented a preliminary drawing of what the new building could look like and showed samples of the exterior colors and some interior colors. Ireland said Wakely Associates/Architects of Warren, advised her that they planned to submit full civil drawings to the township’s planning department on Aug. 25. This will generate the scheduling of a staff review meeting.
Ireland said there has been some redesigning, with the house and garage now being connected. And, the stone has changed for the exterior and colors changed. She showed the carpet with a random design.
She said the interior designer is coming the following week.
Ireland said they saved some things from the old house, including glass door knobs, a couple of doors, the mantle off the fireplace, and a large wooden toy. They also found a raccoon skeleton.
The plan is that the former house would end up looking like a lodge that would beckon those walking along Belleville Road to stop and sit in the quiet gardens and participate in activities in the meeting rooms and work shops. It was estimated to be a $2 million project.
LEDs for street lights?
Ireland also reported on her consultations with DTE about retrofitting the lighting fixtures on the Belleville Road streetscape lampposts to get LEDs, which take less power to operate.
She said because they are teardrop fixtures affixed to the arms, the DDA would have to buy new arms and fixtures and can’t just plug in the new lights.
She said the cost would be $142,142 for this and it would be a 4.3-year payback, but it would be an annual savings of $25,000.
The DDA now pays an electric bill of $59,000 annually and it would be $25,000 after the conversion.
VBT Supervisor Kevin McNamara, who sits on the DDA, asked why she is using DTE and Ireland said, “They service our lights.”
“The only thing we pay for is when someone runs into a pole,” Ireland said.
DDA Ron Blank said in one of his mobile home communities, they bid it out. He said he was curious whether the $59,000 was for more than electrical usage.
Ireland said that it was just for electricity. The maintenance fee has already been paid off. She was asked if it was for the “lifetime” of the poles and she said she would check.
Blank said his company is dealing with an electric company out of Dundee. “They would come in and explain your options,” he said.
“We did that, too,” said DDA chairman Craig Atchinson, referring to his Ford dealership. He said they could have hired DTE and paid triple the price.
Blank said there are other options for the streetlights. But, he conceded, the price could be the same.
“If you want the name [of the company], I’ll give it to you,” Blank offered.
“Not retrofit?” commented Atchinson. “Come on. Everything is retrofit … It’s just the wiring.”
“Ours are very special,” Ireland said of the light poles. She asked if the DDA wanted to pursue LED and there was unofficial consent for her to get more information.
DDA member Mark Laginess agreed, “In three years we’re saving money.”
In other business at the Aug. 22 meeting, the DDA:
• Heard Ireland report that there is still an expectation that the Michigan Department of Transportation will have a final meeting at the end of October or beginning of November on the proposed pedestrian overpass on Belleville Road. She said bidding should occur in February 2018, with construction in the spring;
• Learned Ireland would give the DDA budget presentation to the township board at its 4 p.m. Sept. 5 work/study session;
• Heard Supervisor McNamara say that morning he hosted the Wayne County Commission’s budget session at Grace Lake. He said 20 people showed up and usually there are 50 to 100. Ireland showed the video presentation McNamara gave promoting VBT. He said Ireland wrote the words and he presented the township promotion. There was a plan to put that on You Tube; and
• Heard Assistant DDA Director Lisa Lothringer give a report on her many township promotions, press releases, advertisements, grant applications, and a proposal to help start a Van Buren Magazine to promote the township. She also asked to spend up to $3,000 on autumn decorations for the Quirk Triangle and got unanimous approval from the DDA board. She will purchase two eight-foot, lighted (orange or purple) “twig” trees and one silhouette pumpkin with no face from Bronner’s Christmas Store in Frankenmuth. The decorations are to connect the VBT DDA with the month-long celebration of “Booville” taking place over the bridge in the City of Belleville in October. The autumn decorations will be swapped out for the winter decorations after Thanksgiving, she said.