Belleville City Council approves Fleet Management proposal

Acting City Manager Steve Jones proposed Fleet Management units for five Department of Public Works vehicles at the Aug. 21 city council meeting, and DPW Director Rick Rutherford said this was the first he had heard of it.
City Manager Jones said cost is $50 for installation of each tracking device, for a total of $250, plus $19.95 monitoring the tracking per vehicle, per month. This is from Safety Track.
He said they could put it on the DPW’s new pickup and dump trucks and it keeps track of maintenance and tracks the location of each vehicle. He said there’s a dashboard to keep track of it all.
When asked if the city shouldn’t do the police and fire vehicles as well, Acting Police Chief Kris Faull said their cars have GPS. Fire Chief 2 Chris Zweng said their vehicles have reporting software for maintenance, but it’s still being made.
Councilman Jeremiah Beebe said all the city assets should be on the same portal and each piece should have someone from that piece overseeing it – a fire department piece, police department piece, and DPW piece.
He suggested starting with the DPW and roll it out from there.
Jones said this would tell them when the vehicles are due for service.
Resident Allen Foulkes, Sr., asked if oil changes on the few vehicles are something they have to be reminded of. He suggested spending $3,000 a year might not be something the city needs to do.
Mayor Kerreen Conley said the units also tell where the vehicles are, and Foulkes asked if that had been an issue.
Jones said you can see where the whole fleet is at once.
“A cell phone in a glove box would be cheaper,” Foulkes said.
Councilman Tom Fielder made the motion, seconded by Councilwoman Kelly Bates, to authorize the units for the DPW and police fleets and possibly the fire department in the future. This was passed unanimously by those present, with Mayor Pro Tem Ken Voigt absent.
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Conley said she didn’t want to hear that “this is the first I’ve heard of it” comment from any other department director and all proposals affecting departments should be discussed with the director before bringing it to council. There shouldn’t be any surprises, she said.
In other business at the 55-minute meeting, the council:
• Held a moment of silence in memory of Bob Mytych who died over the weekend;
• Approved the following special events proposed by the Central Business Community with one motion: Monster Mutt Walk on Oct. 21, Harvest Fest with Tractor Parade on Oct. 14, Halloween Downtown on Oct. 31, and Photos with Santa on Dec. 9 and 16, with Santa hopefully in the museum;
• Approved the Belleville Area Council for the Arts’ extension of Music Lakeside for two more concerts. The Clockwork Band will be on Aug. 24 and Larry Lee & The Back in the Day Band will be on Aug. 31;
• Discussed purchase of new police department radios, which was budgeted at $60,000, but with the addition of a $2,500 channel encryption key for each radio which will soon be required by the state. Acting Police Chief Kris Faull said the Motorola cost was higher at $84,247.36 than the Kenwood Radio price, at $51,931.52, for ten portable prep radios with encryption and four in-car mobile radios with encryption and five-year warranties. She said they are working on grants for assistance with the cost. The police reserves cannot use the old radios because when encryption comes the old radios will be only good as paperweights, Chief Faull said;
• Approved a letter of understanding between the police union and the city on lateral pay to allow the police department to hire experienced officers and pay them according to their experience. Chief Faull said several experienced candidates for the police officer positions open have said they are waiting for this letter of understanding to pass before submitting their applications;
• Learned the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority distributed a total of $54,062 to the city in excess net assets from the State Pool Retention Fund;
• Approved Accounts Payable of $152,189.02 and the following departmental purchases in excess of $500: to Atchinson Ford, $47,557.88 for a new pickup truck for the DPW; to Cadillac Asphalt, $905.85 for road patch; to Mueller Company, $2,584.06 for remote water meter readers and $3,826.40 for water meters;
• Heard Jones say Bob Mytych will be missed because he was so active in the community. Councilman Fielder said Bob was someone who was always there to help. Councilwoman Bates said she didn’t know Mytych, but she enjoyed his cartoons, which gave the Independent a light-heartedness. Mayor Conley agreed that Mytych’s creativity was always a lot to appreciate;
• Heard Councilman Fielder say he had attended another Substance Abuse Disorder board meeting and the message is still the same. He said the #1 cause of substance abuse treatment in Wayne County is alcohol;
• Heard Bates say she and her husband drove out to the scene of the MiG crash and she is still in awe of the miracle that no one was killed. “What a blessing,” she said; and
• Was reminded there is just one item on the Monday, July 28, special 6 p.m. meeting: to select a city manager.