Belleville City Council approves three-year contract with Fire Dept.

On Monday, July 10, the Belleville City Council went into a closed-door session to consider a new three-year agreement dated Jan. 1, 2023 to Dec. 31, 2025 between the City of Belleville and the Michigan Association of Fire Fighters.
The MAFF represents all paid-on-call fire fighters in the city’s fire department.
After about five minutes, the council came back into open session and unanimously approved the contract.
The contract had been on the June 20 agenda for approval.
At that time, council members noted the contract had already been approved by the fire fighters and it had yet to come to the city council in closed session for consideration, as was their policy.
At that June 20 meeting, council members voted unanimously to defer consideration of the contract until after they could meet in closed session, which they did on Monday.
Acting City Manager Steve Jones said the statements at the last meeting made the previous city manager look worse than he was and the procedure followed had not been wrong. He referred to former City Manager/Police Chief Dave Robinson who now is city manager for Monroe.
Mayor Kerreen Conley said the first part of the procedure, going into closed session with the council, didn’t happen.
“I made it sound like I hadn’t seen it, but I did have it,” said Councilman Jeremiah Beebe of the last meeting. He said the process wasn’t followed but the onus shouldn’t have been put on the former city manager.
Councilman Beebe suggested changing the minutes to reflect what he wanted to say.
Mayor Conley said what was in the minutes was what happened at the meeting. She said he could say what he wanted in this meeting and it would be in the minutes of this meeting.
Mayor Pro-Tem Ken Voigt said he recalled the contract had been discussed during budget sessions.
Also, at the July 10 two-hour-and-15-minute meeting, the council:
• With one motion, approved two special-event applications for Redemption Bible Church. One was Church Park Night from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 26, at Victory Park, a fellowship event for the church that does not have a building. It was pointed out that anyone could be in the park and they had to share the space. The other event was Worship Night from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 30, on the Fourth Street Square;
• Discussed additional compensation for the Acting City Manager and Acting Police Chief and then deferred action until more specific information could be gathered. Mayor Conley reminded them the compensation would be retroactive;
• Discussed the Charter Revision Ballot Proposal and deferred action on this until an attorney from Foster Swift law firm could give a presentation on the issue and draw up a resolution for the ballot language. The attorney could come in person to the next meeting on July 24 or talk to them at the meeting via Zoom. The council had had hoped to get the question on the November ballot, but they do not have the nine people needed for a charter commission, who must be voted in by city residents;
• Reviewed the Investment Summary from Multi Bank Securities that shows the city’s investments;
• Approved holding the Taste of Belleville at Horizon Park/High Street from 6-8 p.m. on Aug. 17, put on by the Belleville Central Business Community;
• Directed Acting Police Chief Kris Faull to study the Bridgewalk pattern that would work for the annual city event to be scheduled the same night as the Taste of Belleville. She will bring back her recommendation. There was concern because of the traffic pattern caused by the closing of Denton Road Bridge, which might be dangerous for walkers and those trying to cross busy Belleville Road at the north end of the Belleville Bridge;
• Discussed the offer from the General Motors Dealer Community Charging Program to provide, without charge to the city, electric vehicle charging stations. They would charge the public for their use and a percentage of that would be given to the city. Acting City Manager Steve Jones was directed to get more information, including the experience of other communities with EV fueling stations and what DTE offers. It was suggested EV stations could be put in every city parking lot and the city parks;
• Discussed the next steps in finding a permanent city manager. Candidate Ken Marten was interviewed in a special public meeting prior to that evening’s regular meeting and the council informally decided to keep him in the running along with the three others in the running. Marten will be given the opportunity to fill out a questionnaire. Marten currently is Village Manager and Clerk of Bingham Farms. A special public meeting was set for 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 22, to re-interview the finalists;
• Approved the following departmental expenditures over $500: to Atchinson Ford, $2,337.40, for water pump, drive belt, tensioner, and front engine mount for police vehicle 218A; to Dell Technologies, $3,357.21 for new server for City Hall following failure of current server; to Osborne Concrete, $744 for cemetery footings; and to Williams Emergency Vehicles & Equipment, $4,500 for removal of equipment and graphics from police vehicle 217 and build of vehicle 223;
• Heard Building Official Rick Rutherford explain that he talked to the Wayne County employee who changed the timing on the traffic lights on Main Street in an effort to solve the traffic problem caused by the closing of Denton Road Bridge. Rutherford said the man said changing the timing had an “accordian effect” and one light affected the next. He said it was a trial to see the effect. The county said this was done instead of putting a left-turn signal at N. Liberty and Main streets to see if it would solve the problem without a turn signal;
• Heard two mothers of Belleville High School football team members explain their upcoming carwash from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, July 22, at Lorangers’ Chiropractic Clinic to support food for the team. They had been informed to use biodegradable soap, non-phosphate and eco-friendly, as prescribed by the state; and
• Heard Acting City Manager Jones say he was scheduled to have a telephone call in the morning to discuss how to get back online after the city’s server shut down. He said it will take a lot of work. He said when it happened the first task was to get the tax bills out, which they did. Then it was payroll and that got done. The council packets were hand-delivered by police officers.