At its joint meeting with the city council on Oct. 21, the Belleville Downtown Development Authority voted to continue its outdoor sculpture program next summer.
The program through the Midwest Sculpture Initiative has gone up in cost because the six minimum sculptures offered for lease for a year has gone up to eight. The $500 initial fee to be a part of next year’s program is due by the first of November.
DDA Coordinator Carol Thompson said the DDA asked if former supporters would continue and half were willing. She said the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce agreed to increase its financial support.
Thompson said that Belleville Mayor Kerreen Conley has received a pledge of $1,000 from a city resident.
Also, the Van Buren Township DDA said it could do one or two sculptures on Belleville Road as part of its program. Thompson said Belleville could then have its sculpture walk for all seven or eight sculptures.
“If I was emotional, I’d cry,” said DDA treasurer Sabrian Richardson-Williams. “I’m overwhelmed that a regular resident would want to donate $1,000 … and then the partnerships.”
The cost for next year’s sculpture project is estimated at $12,000-$13,000.
Thompson said she also is in the process of filling out the application for the Detroit Institute of Arts’ free Inside Out project that the city had in the past, so Belleville could have those outdoor paintings in place, too, next summer.
In other business at the joint meeting, the group:
• Discussed the DDA’s planned use of Tax Increment Financing funds through 2035. DDA chairperson Rosemary Loria said Belleville can’t sit back and wait for people to come to it, and needs marketing. DDA member Gary Snarski said Belleville needs to look at what Van Buren Township has done in the last 10 years. “They used to call us their downtown. They no longer do that,” he said. Loria said she would like parks to be cleaned up and beautified, but marketing and development are going to be the priorities. Thompson said the draft plan for DDA TIF use will be brought to the DDA in November for discussion and then sent on the city council;
• Heard Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education Trustee Allison Bennett give a pitch for the .50 mill Sinking Fund question on the Nov. 3 election ballot;
• Heard Loria say the canoe/kayak launch needs to be winterized. The metal parts will have to be taken out and stored at the DPW yard for the winter. They plan to have the professional who installed the launch do the work, but they have yet to get a price;
• Heard Snarski say the DDA and council needed more joint meetings like this to discuss the city, possibly twice a year rather than once a year. “What most want is more development in this town,” he said; and
• Heard Mayoral candidate Phil Miller say Belleville is technically a “food desert” since there are no grocery stores within a mile of most residences. “We have to focus on getting a grocer in here,” he said, noting everyone sees people walking to Belleville Road to get groceries. He said 4,000 people live in one square mile and there’s no groceries. He criticized ordinances that have become impediments to developers. “I’ll defend the DDA,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jack Loria, noting the DDA came close to having a good development in town that was turned down by residents, referring to the Kroger project.