Belleville City Council: Timothy McLean is new deputy administrator

The Belleville City Council unanimously approved the employment agreement for Timothy McLean, who was hired as the city’s first deputy administrator during Monday’s regular zoom meeting of the city council.
He will start his new at-will position on July 6 at an annual salary of $73,000. He will receive health care benefits, but no retiree health care.
McLean currently holds the position of city administrator, DDA director, zoning administrator, and HR manager for the City of Gibraltar. His background includes a bachelor of science degree in political science from Grand Valley State University and a master’s degree in public administration from Bowling Green State University.
McLean has 11 years of experience in municipal government. After beginning his career as an intern for the City of Troy, he has served as assistant to the city manager, city manager, and community development director for various communities.
After he was introduced to the council via zoom, Mayor Kerreen Conley told McLean the city still had places in its 20-seat dragon boat for the weekend festival competition and he agreed to join in.
In other business at Monday’s one-hour-and-35-minute meeting, the council:
• Approved the mayor’s appointment of Mike Renaud as an alternate member of the Board of Review with a term that expires in June 2024;
• Learned of the service recognition plaque prepared for Carol Thompson, who served as Downtown Development Authority Administrator from 2005 to 2021. It will be presented to her in the future when she can be present;
• Announced a council-signed Proclamation of Gratitude to the Belleville Yacht Club for sponsoring three spring clean-ups of the Belleville Lake/Huron River Waterway this year;
• Reviewed a formal request by Jeremiah Beebe of Church Street to create a Golf-Cart-Friendly Community in the city of Belleville by allowing the use of certified golf carts. He prepared a detailed report on the state law on golf carts and the use of golf carts in other communities in the state. The mayor turned the information over to City Manager/Police Chief Dave Robinson for review and a future report. Councilman Tom Fielder voiced concerns that this might interfere with the Iron Belle Trail scheduled to go through Belleville. Chief Robinson also said he would check on legal liability for the city and safety matters;
• Approved budget amendments for the 2020-21 budget as recommended by Kelly Howey, CPA, contracted finance director from Plante Moran. There are no changes to fund balances as originally budgeted, but there are reclassifications between revenue and expenditure accounts within various funds;
• Approved the MERS (Municipal Employees’ Retirement System) 457(b) Deferred Compensation Program for use by employees, if desired, which is at no cost to the city, with administration only. The city manager/chief of police is the only employee eligible for employer contribution through his employment agreement and he gets $5,000 annually;
• Approved the Retiree Health Funding Vehicle for employees. Chief Robinson said both city bargaining units, the BPOA for police and GELC for general staff are up for renegotiation as the contracts expire at the end of this year. He said it is his intention to discontinue offering new employees, hired after July 1, 2021, the traditional employee retiree health care to address the ever-increasing OPEB liability to the city. He said his intention is to replace the traditional employee retiree health care with requiring new hires to be enrolled in a MERS Health Care Savings Plan;
• Approved the MERS Health Care Savings program. Mayor Conley said Canton Township has it and it’s the only way the city can continue to provide coverage and reduce future OPED liability;
• Extended for a year, at the same cost of $2,052, the contract with Town Web Design, the company that hosts and maintains all the city’s web-based services, including the city’s website, email addresses and webmail. The three-year contract expires on June 30. Over the next year the administration will examine the needs of the city in terms of web-based services;
• Heard Clerk Verna Chapman explain the information sent by the Wayne County Commission, which is urging all municipalities, the State of Michigan, and Congress to take more progressive measures to end the tampon tax to alleviate the toll it takes on women every day. After discussion Councilman Ken Voigt said apparently what council members can do is to contact elected representatives on the issue;
• Approved accounts payable in the amount of $84,342.15 and the following departmental purchases in excess of $500: to Hennessey Engineers, $12,499.50 from escrow, for Department of Public Services review of construction of the Van Buren Public Schools Early Childhood Development Center; and to Williams Emergency, $2,280 for bumper equipment for the police department;
• Heard Chief Robinson say the city has been working to showcase Belleville during the upcoming festival and to present the city in “our Sunday’s best”;
• Heard Councilman Voigt say he is looking forward to Lake Fest and, “I think it’s going to be a hoot.” He said Music Lakeside starts its season on June 24 and around 7:50 p.m.-ish, it will dedicate the Belleville Lake Bass outdoor sculptures. He said Jim Chudzinski clear-coated the bass earlier that day to protect the artists’ work and Davenport Brothers helped with the bases. He said there has been financial help from the BYC and Belleville Area Council for the Arts;
• Heard Fielder ask when the city council will be able to meet in person and Mayor Conley said they will add that to their next agenda after the new MIOSHA regulations are announced;
• Heard Mayor Conley say the new festival started with Councilwoman Kelly Bates who wanted a fresh start to the festival and, “It catapulted from there.” Now there are a lot of people involved, she said; and
• Heard Renaud say at the last meeting the water rates were raised as of July 1 and it was not on the agenda. If it were on the agenda there might have been comments from the public, but there were none. He asked the council to rescind its motion to raise the rates until after the rates are increased to the city in August. “You didn’t give the public a chance,” he said, adding he wasn’t faulting anybody, but, “We should be a little clearer when putting the agenda together.” Mayor Conley said she wouldn’t disagree with Renaud, but she doesn’t know if the increases are already in the computer. She said they will bring this back as an action item at the next meeting to reconfirm the action. She said the city hasn’t had a rate hike in five or eight years. “We got my two cents in,” Renaud said and Mayor Conley added, “and we heard you.”