Fourth St. crosswalk may require loss of 2 or 3 parking spots on Main

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
When the proposed crosswalk sign goes up in the middle of Main Street at Fourth Street in the City of Belleville it may require the removal of two or three parking spots on the Fourth Street Square side of the street.
This is what interim Police Chief Hal Berriman told the City Council at its April 21 regular meeting.
Councilman Tom Fielder, who has been promoting the sign in the middle of the street that would require vehicles to stop if a pedestrian was in the crosswalk, was reporting to the council on the sign.
Councilman Fielder said he had taken the idea to the Downtown Development Authority at its April 16 meeting and he reported the DDA feels it’s appropriate, even though the city may lose a parking spot there.
That’s when Chief Berriman said, actually, they may lose two or three spots to enable a large truck to turn north safely on Main from Fourth Street.
Councilwoman Kim Tindall said she thought large trucks – semi’s – weren’t allowed on the city streets, but Chief Berriman said he meant large panel trucks that make deliveries.
The district library on Fourth Street had deliveries most days from a large panel truck.
Councilman Fielder said he would have a “schematic” for the next meeting. He said that Main Street is in the DDA district and the DDA is open to the approximate $370 price of the sign, because they want pedestrians to be safe.
Mayor Pro Tem Jack Loria, who was leading the meeting in the absence of Mayor Kerreen Conley, said, “There are an awful lot of signs on Main Street.”
Chief Berriman said with the sign in the middle of the street, “You could eliminate two big yellow signs on poles” that mark the crossing.
Fielder, who also was involved with planning the new Wayfinding signs being put up by the DDA, said the Wayfinding signs, with several destinations and arrows on one pole, were planned so that other signs could be taken down.
In other business at the 35-minute meeting on April 21, the council:
• Opened one sealed bid for Newspaper of Record from the Belleville-Area Independent with a bid of $5 per column inch. The bid was referred to the administration for review and a recommendation. The city went out for bids because its Newspaper of Record, the Belleville Lake Current, went out of business. The Current had charged $3.99 per column inch since August 2012 when it was named the city’s Newspaper of Record;
• Approved setting the annual City-Wide Yard Sales for Sept. 6 and 7;
• Approved the annual Sidewalk Sale Program that requires a permit, without charge, for sales from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, from May through October, with the city reserving the right to restrict sidewalk sales during special events. City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said the antique shop is the only business that has taken out a permit over the past few summers;
• Passed a resolution to implement the 80/20 healthcare premium contribution by all city employees, as required by Public Act 152. This means all city employees eligible for healthcare coverage pay a 20% monthly healthcare premium contribution. Kollmeyer said this is the same resolution passed last year, with only the date changing. She said it complies with the state’s EVIP (Economic Vitality Incentive Program), category 3, which means the city will get state funds;
• Approved accounts payable of $167,459.98 (minus a $678 payment to Fox Auto Parts for fire truck maintenance) and the following departmental purchases in excess of $500: to Alpha Psychological Service, $695, for new PO Evaluation for police; to Burhop’s Collision, $9,081.22 for police vehicle repairs; to Hydro Designs, Inc., $1,495, for inspections for water department; to Oakland Co. Treasurer, $2,382, for CLEMIS membership; and to Wayne County, $630, for use of Dickerson Facility by police department. The payment to Fox Auto was questioned because it was over $500 and not explained. Kollmeyer called Fire Chief Brian Loranger in the Bahamas on Monday and he said he didn’t think the repairs would be that much. Kollmeyer said the CLEMIS payment was less than expected because Chief Berriman took out the part having to do with pawn shops;
• Heard Kollmeyer say, “It’s a delight to come to city hall now … with Keith Tackett in the building and Rick Rutherford in the building and Chief Berriman in the building,” referring to the men who had replaced retired employees Keith Boc and Gene Taylor. “We’re moving right along,” she said;
• Heard Chief Berriman announce a retirement party for retired Police Chief Gene Taylor on May 16 at the BYC clubhouse;
• Was advised that on the May 5 meeting agenda there will be consideration of updates to the Animal Control and Special Events ordinances, along with a revision to the Strawberry Festival ordinance; and
• Heard Timothy King of Ypsilanti Township tell of his project to seek funding from the state for a memorial to the B-24 Liberator Bomber and the people who worked at Willow Run to help win WWII. He said he has the Yankee Air Museum on board and has contacted the Tuskegee Airmen, Ford Motor Co., Ypsilanti Township, Ypsilanti, Wayne, Ann Arbor, and others to get them to sign his petition to the state. Fielder said, as a historian, he is interested and will sign since the Yankee Air Museum is involved. Mayor Pro Tem Loria asked King to wait until the meeting was over and those on the council who were interested in signing could sign his petition. Fielder said since the mayor wasn’t there, and it should be unanimous, they couldn’t approve support for his project as a unit.