The City of Belleville is looking for someone to take over the responsibilities of market manager for the Farmers Market, since longtime manager Robert Kennedy has retired from the job.
City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said Kennedy celebrated his 80th birthday and decided he doesn’t want to be market manager any more.
Kollmeyer said she and the mayor will fill in until they can get someone for the position. The market manager is a volunteer, who has to be there every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. from the first Saturday in May to Oct. 9, when the market concludes for the season. The market is held in Victory Park at Five Points.
The market master gets a free space to sell his/her items, Kollmeyer said.
At Monday’s regular city council meeting, members of the audience had suggestions on who could fill the spot. Ideas included the city new garden club or a 4-H or scout group.
The city council approved having the Farmers Market again this year in its present location.
In other business at Monday’s meeting, the council:
* Set a public hearing for 7:30 p.m., May 3, to consider a zoning ordinance amendment for the B-2 Central Business District, as recommended by the Planning Commission;
* Approved Mayor Richard Smith’s appointment of Matthew Wagner to the open seat on the Planning Commission with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2011. Wagner, a lifelong area resident, bought a house in Belleville a year ago and has completed his bachelor of science in urban and regional planning. He currently serves as a DDA intern in the City of Plymouth;
* Officially recognized the Belleville Area Women’s Club (the reorganized Belleville and Professional Women’s Club) as a nonprofit organization operating in the community. Secretary Janet Millard said the state requires this recognition before the club can pull a raffle permit for its annual fashion show. “It’s not as if we’re opening a casino down the road,” Millard said. Councilwoman Kim Tindall questioned whether the city council was the right entity to recognize the club, since the club’s address is a post office box in Van Buren Township. Millard said the state doesn’t care, as long as they serve this community;
* Approved the Chamber of Commerce’s request to expand the Strawberry Festival carnival area downtown to include more children’s rides in the parking lot behind the museum/fire hall and on Fourth Street, with Tindall voting no because of concerns about safety;
* Approved closing High Street from noon to about 4 p.m. on May 31 for the sixth-annual motorcycle ride and Memorial Day service to honor veterans. Kathy Steigerwald, chairman, said there were more than 300 bikes last year and more are expected this year. Last year the entire ride was televised on German TV, right from the beginning. The route is different this year. The ride starts at 11 a.m. at WCCC and goes Haggerty to Harris to Willis to Stony Creek to Textile to West Huron River Drive to High Street. DPW Director Keith Boc agreed to clean up the memorial area before the event and remove the old wreaths;
* Approved sidewalk sale permits for city businesses from May 1 through Oct. 9 that permits them to hold sales from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday-Sunday. There is no fee for the permit, but a permit is required;
* Approved the sale of excess fire department turnout gear to Van Buren Township for a total of $1,600. Former city Fire Chief Darwin Loyer is now chief at VBT and he had borrowed some city gear and now wanted to buy it. Current City Fire Chief Bill Emerson said new turnout gear is $1,600 per set. The city sold one set that is five years old for $700, one set that is more than five years old for $200, and one coat that is two years old for $700;
* Approved the mayor’s appointments of Mayor Pro Tem Rick Dawson and Councilman Jim Shrove as signatories from the city to join with signatories from the DDA for a join city/DDA bank account to hold about $4 million in bond proceeds for the DDA projects. Councilman Brian Blackburn voted no, since the city sold the bond and is legally responsible for its use, although the DDA is repaying the bond with its tax increment finances;
* Approved accounts payable of $216,591.85 and the following departmental purchases in excess of $500: to SMART $1,976.77 for vehicle repairs and to Stan’s Alignment, $542.80 for vehicle repair; and
* Heard former Mayor Tom Fielder comment on the plan to have Music in the Park and the Taste of Belleville at the same location at Horizon Park this summer. He said Taste of Belleville is a premier event in the community and the concern was that the Music Committee hadn’t even met with the Taste organizers. He said the Taste is not a venue for a formal concert, with people milling around. “I’m not anti-anything,” Fielder said, adding. “We think we have a very good program right now. We’re just saying, talk to us.”