Belleville DDA votes to bring in six new sculptures for 2017

The city of Belleville Downtown Development Authority voted unanimously at its Oct. 19 meeting to provide six new outdoor sculptures for the DDA district for the 2017 season.
DDA Coordinator Carol Thompson said the Van Buren Township DDA has agreed to work with the Belleville DDA again and get some sculptures for the VBT DDA district.
The 2016 project was the first time the two DDAs had worked together on the sculptures. Belleville got six sculptures and VBT got four, for a total of ten sculptures from the Midwest Sculpture Initiative.
The DDA Public Art Committee, who chose the sculptures for 2016, was Sabrina Richardson-Williams and Rosemary Loria of the Belleville DDA, Councilman Tom Fielder, President of the Belleville Area Council for the Arts Doug Dalton, VBT DDA Deputy Executive Director Lisa Lothringer, and Belleville DDA Coordinator Thompson.
Thompson said the Belleville DDA spent $5,000 to $5,500 a year for the sculptures, with fund raising for the rest of the cost.
Thompson said this year she would like to have DDA members get together to brainstorm on fund raising, since the same donors have been supporting the project.
In other business in the 26-minute meeting, the DDA:
• Was informed the presentation by Terra Firma on Village Park ponds was cancelled because of a death in the family. The presentation is expected to be on the Nov. 16 agenda;
• Agreed to organize holiday events to encourage local shopping and dining after Thompson said she was approached by business owners who would like to take part in a Downtown Holiday Shop Local Promotion. The DDA approved staff time, printing, and advertising costs. Preliminary plans call for the project to launch on Shop Small Saturday, Nov. 26, being highlighted during Winter Fest, and completed by Christmas. Thompson said the DDA cannot award cash or purchase prizes with TIF money and may need businesses to donate or sponsor the promotional campaign;
• Discussed the District Maintenance Calendar, with Thompson reporting they plan to winterize the kayak launch a week after its use for the fall canoe event. She said two of the district’s newer trees were run down by a car and police know who did it and the trees will be replaced. Williams noted that a prominent path off Aberdeen at Victoria Commons is overgrow with vegetation and needs to be cleared and more gravel put down;
• Discussed the follow-up list, with Thompson noting the check cleared for the Community Development Block Grant funds for the launch and now the launch will just be a maintenance item. DDA member Alicia McGovern ask if Pioneer Landscaping did OK for grass mowing to replace DPW workers. Victoria Commons president Kelly Bates said it was good except grass was left on the sidewalks and they didn’t edge or trim along the fence;
• Approved paying expenditures for September and October of $18,703.26. There was no meeting held in September;
• Heard Jeff Vernon ask how success is measured referring to comments that the outdoor sculptures were a successful project. “It does bring people to town,” said DDA chairman Rosemary Loria. Vernon said people tell him they don’t like the sculptures and Loria replied, “We haven’t heard the negatives. How can you measure art?” Jennifer Winters said from the audience that there were thousands of pictures taken of the skeleton sculpture that was on the Fourth Street Square next to Egan’s Pub last year. Vernon also asked if the holiday promotion would be in the Belleville area and Thompson said it would be just in the DDA district;
• Briefly discussed the successful pop-up shop last holiday season, but Winters said the Moving the Mitten woman won’t be doing it this year. Mayor Kerreen Conley said the coordination of a girls’ night out last year was fun and, “We had a really great time.” Winters said the lady from The Buckle told her she would come back to sell jeans again; and
• Heard Councilman Tom Fielder say a great example of an incubator is the Zombie Run, where the kids did what Thompson said to do the first year and now they are in charge and they aren’t even the same kids that started it.
There are two vacancies on the DDA that need to be filled. The positions both are for members with property interest in the district, Thompson said. See city hall for applications.