Belleville City Council decides to ‘eat’ $10 charge for bulk pickups

After a discussion at Monday’s meeting of the Belleville City Council, the council voted unanimously to “eat” the $10 charge being levied by the new pickup service for each bulk pickup until the end of the year and then reevaluate the issue.
City manager Jason Smith said residents are upset over the $10 upfront charge for each bulk pickup. That would be $20 for a mattress and dresser, he said.
“Do we want to absorb the $10 in our bill?” Smith asked the council.
He said he has had four calls on the new pickup service, with one concerning the bulk pickup charge.
Mayor Ken Voigt said for the time being the city could eat the charge and may want to set a number per household and then assess how it’s working.
“We’ve eaten it in the past,” Smith said, referring to former vendor Priority Waste that just kept a log of the bulk pickups and added it to the city’s bill.
Mayor Voigt suggested limiting the number of pickups and Councilwoman Julie Kissel said, “How many couches can one house have?”
They noted that flat screen TVs are not picked up. Mayor Voigt said they can take the TVs to Best Buy.
John Juriga asked from the audience if someone is evicted and all the belongings put at the curb, who is responsible. He was told the property owner is responsible.
Smith said when the new pickup bins are delivered, they will have a notice attached on the handle, with a calendar showing the pickup days and the recycling pickup days, since recycling will be every other week. It also will tell what is and is not acceptable.
Up to two extra bags next to the pickup bin is acceptable, without charge.
Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Bates was absent from the meeting.
In other business at Monday’s hour-long meeting, the council:
• Heard Jay Wilde of Alan C. Young present the audit for the year ending June 30, 2023. He pointed out the audit is six months later than it should be because the city had a crash of its computer system in June 2023 and lost six months worth of information. The city is in violation of state law, since the audit was due Dec. 31, but the state has been kept informed of the problem and has not withheld revenue from the city. He said in spite of all the problems, the city has been given an “unmodified opinion” which is the gold standard for audits. The Plante Moran financial consultant said when computers crashed the city had to take care of the people first with their paychecks and the vendors and so the audit was put on the back burner. Now all the information has been put back in place and is protected;
• Viewed a brief video created by SEMCOG showing positive scenes in the city, promoting Belleville. Smith said it was done free of charge and the city is free to use it however it wants. Juriga asked if the city can put it on TV and Smith said the city’s Downtown Development Authority is working on marketing and could use it. Smith said SEMCOG plays such videos on a loop during its meetings;
• Approved the special events of Harvest Fest (Oct. 12), Monster Mutt Walk (Oct. 19), Halloween Downtown (Oct. 31), and Photos with Santa (Dec. 14 and 21);
• Set a public hearing for the Sept. 3 meeting for the five-year Parks Plan refresh. Smith said this is the final hoop the DNR wants the city to jump through before it is eligible for park grants;
• Approved donating $1,500 to the Belleville High School Dance Team for painting fire hydrants in the city as a community service project. There are 101 hydrants in the city and they have done 23 and will be working at Victoria Commons this weekend. Smith said when they are done it is expected that about 30-33% of the hydrants will have been painted;
• Approved a total of $7,150 to Leffler’s Property Maintenance for tree removal of one at Third and Church, three on Edgemont, and four at Hillside Cemetery. This includes stump removal except for two stumps on the bank at the cemetery that can’t be reached by the machinery for removal;
• Passed a resolution to approve the addition of Michigan Cooperative Liquid Assets Securities System (CLASS) investment pool as an approved investment option for city funds. Smith said the city was one of 11 in the state that does not participate. The money is available to spend and while it is invested in the pool makes about 5% interest. Smith said that day’s CLASS interest was 5.36%;
• Approved the $123,000 lowest of four bids from C&S Construction general contractors of Lincoln Park to build a new Victory Park Restroom building behind Victoria Station that is similar to what is at Village Park, with male and female restrooms. This is open to the outside. The Victory Station upgrade is also being done by C&S for the low bid of $63,300 and will include new flooring, inside only bathrooms, cabinetry for a kitchenette, and changed ceiling with updated lights. The projects are covered 65% with a Wayne County grant, 25% by the DDA, and 10% by the city. The original budget for the park projects was $244,000, which includes the fence and concrete, so it is still under budget, said assistant city manager Steve Jones. He said C&S is ready to begin;
• Approved accounts payable and the following departmental expenditures more than $500: to Osborne Concrete, $1,083 for cemetery; to Core & Main, $952.76, water/sever and $952.76, water/sewer; to Rocket Enterprise, $575, annual fee for flag/flag pole service; to Advanced Underground Inspection, $35,145.63 for especting, clean and TV for six days at Victoria Commons and $4,375 to TV and clean various locations; and to Burhop Collission, $881.65 to replace tailgate on 2017 F-250;
• Heard Smith report that the Five Points flagpole broke and they took the flag down for a day and then it was fixed. He also reported there will be a Harbour Pointe roadwork pre-construction meeting on Friday and the begin date may be moved up; received $175,000 from the state for that project; the no-parking signs are up in Victoria Commons and the permits for permit-only parking are on order; and portable signs saying “no school drop-offs” have been delivered;
• Heard Juriga report that about 500 people came to each of the nine concerts at Music Lakeside this summer and the Horizon Park restroom wasn’t good, so the Methodist Church opened its doors so concert-goers could use its restrooms and put up signs that the church was open. The Methodist Church also has been a rain location for the concerts for many years. The council decided to honor the church at a future meeting;
• Heard Assistant Fire Chief Chris Zweng announce that the fire department open house is Aug. 24 from noon to 3 p.m. He thanked Scott Hall of R&S Security for paying $368.10 to provide the food for the open house; and
• Heard Fire Chief Brian Loranger say The Butcher Shop did a great job at the Taste of Belleville, especially with its ribeye steak bites, and, “It’s not even a restaurant.” He said The Butcher Shop booth had the longest line.