VBT DDA agrees to give executive director a $5,128 raise in salary

At the regular meeting of the Van Buren Township Downtown Development Authority on Sept. 24, the board voted unanimously to amend the proposed 2025 budget to give executive director Merrie Coburn a $5,128 raise in salary.
Van Buren Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara, who sits on the DDA, said everybody got raises in the proposed budget and so they want to raise Coburn’s pay up to where the last director was.
He said when they hired Coburn they paid her less than retiring director Susan Ireland, but now they are very happy with Coburn’s work and they want to keep her.
Her pay will be $90,000 starting Jan. 1, up from $84,872 for 2024.
The 2025 TIF revenue is expected to be slightly higher than in 2024 due to the rise in taxable value and a slightly higher increase in investment income is expected.
In other business at the Sept. 24 meeting, the DDA:
• Heard a presentation from Aerotropolis CEO Christopher Girdwood on large-acreage township properties for sale. He said he is the township’s “chief dirt salesman.” He announced a $700,000 grant from the state for site readiness and environmental testing for the 440 acres north of Ecorse between Beck and Belleville roads. He said a house and two barns have to be torn down on that property. He also said a $100,000 due-diligence grant from MDEC for the 68-acre Racer Trust land for traffic counts and unlicensed landfill remediation. Also, he said the state is funding part of an intra-state charging network to support operation of electric aircraft “puddle jumpers” at Willow Run Airport. He said he is working with the township on water/sanitary capacity for the large township sites north of Willow Run Airport;
• Approved an amount not to exceed $162,082.90 to pay Wade Trim to complete the final design plans for the Tyler Road Non-Motorized Pathway because the township received a MDOT/SEMCOG Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant of $1,348,638 for the Tyler Road project and need to move forward;
• Approved renewing the lease, installation, removal, and on-call service from Grosse Ile Lawn for holiday lighting for Harris Park for $8,050 and for the welcome sign area $2,500 in the total amount of $10,550. They will start lighting areas in October and will have the tree-lighting at 6 p.m. Nov. 20;
• Approved the 2025 DDA board meeting dates as 3 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month;
• Heard Coburn announce that they received notification that Wayne County is contributing $6.55663 million to the Belleville Road widening project, $3.111 million for 2025 and $3.44563 advance for construction in 2026. Bid letting is a year from now and construction the next year. Wayne County has yet to approve the alignment change using a small piece of some township property (the Ford property), noting the county is considering what that would do if it had future plans to expand Tyler Road;
• Considered an update on right-of-way acquisition for the Belleville Road widening project, with the attorney assuring the DDA that things are moving and there should be an eminent domain court date set within 90 days;
• Discussed how the DDA Development and Tax Increment Financing Plan is guiding development in the district and it is valid through 2038. It was last updated in June 2009 and needs to be updated again and also should have an Asset Management Plan; and
• Heard Coburn say they are planning the first Scarecrows in the Park event at Harris Park, set for Oct. 14-Nov. 4. The Light Up the Park event is Nov. 20 and the second-annual Santa Paws event will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4 and 11.