Belleville City Council wrestles with MIOSHA complaint on safety

An Aug. 23 employee complaint to Michigan OSHA charging unsafe working conditions at Belleville City Hall, pushed the city council on Monday to look into whether they should reroof the building, fix the roof and then sell the City Hall site, or what.
According to MIOSHA, the letter specified:
• The roof is failing and when it rains, there are multiple ceiling leaks onto employee work spaces. The main level has leaks in the police department, water/treasurer’s department, the building department office, and the city manager’s office.
• The ceiling is falling down in several locations throughout the building on the second level.
•There have been rodents living in the ceilings and within the walls.
• There is a smell of mold/mildew that is prevalent throughout the building.
MIOSHA asked the city what it is going to do about it and City Manager Jason Smith responded that he would talk with the council about it at the Nov. 13 meeting.
He said this information landed on his desk right about the time he came to work for the city.
“We absolutely need to address the roof,” City Manager Smith said, noting, it’s been patched to death and the second story has problems, but he’s not so sure about the first story.
He said his best guess is that it will take from $175,000 to $200,000 to completely reroof City Hall.
He said another option is to move to a temporary dwelling, sell this building, and build elsewhere.
“The roof absolutely has to be addressed,” he said. “The state has its eyeballs on it.”
Councilman Tom Fielder, a 23-year proponent of building a new City Hall, said the current building sits on prime property in the city and the city purchased land next to the DPW as a logical place for a new City Hall.
He said they need to look at how to get rid of the current building. He is relying on the portability of the new internet system. He said he assumes the fire department would stay where it is. He suggested reaching out to a Realtor and Mayor Kerreen Conley suggested an appraiser.
Mayor Conley said they could retrofit the building and lease it, or build on existing or new property, or make this building beautiful.
Smith said he talked with the state and sent them receipts for repairs that had been made.
“They claim we have to replace the whole roof?” asked the mayor. She said they could repair it if they were moving. She said the city doesn’t want to waste the taxpayers’ dollars by putting on a new roof and then moving. She also wondered about being able to do roof work during the winter months.
Acting Police Chief Kris Faull said the chief’s office had the ceiling fixed and in the spring it started leaking again.
Smith said most of the things mentioned are three years old and have been addressed.
Mayor Conley said more information is needed. Jones said an appraisal will cost about $3,000.
The council voted unanimously to spend what is necessary to begin selling the site, at a cost not to exceed $5,000.
Smith said he will get a current estimate on how to fix the roof and talk to Hennessey Engineers.
Councilwoman Kelly Bates said they should also look for a new site in the city, whether for a temporary location or a new location, she did not specify.
Smith said this action should be fine with the state and he has been given no time frame. Smith said he told MIOSHA that he doesn’t think it’s as bad as the state thinks it is.
At the Nov. 13 one-hour-and-34-minute meeting the council also:
• Directed the administration to get cost estimates for IT upgrades that are needed. Preliminary cost estimates, just for labor, are $100,000 to $110,000 over five years. City Manager Smith said the city first got a report on the needs of the internet system that showed the city’s needs are very severe. He said the guy who wrote the report sat in the City Hall parking lot and accessed all the city data within five minutes. There are a lot of security gaps, he said, and the first steps need to be a firewall and cybersecurity, things they absolutely need to have. Then they need the right software for everyone and computers consistent with the needs. A request for proposals will be put out and then a presentation made to the council. The deep dive into the IT service started after the server crashed;
• Heard City Manager Smith tell the council that his appointment for police chief will be on the agenda of the next meeting and he plans to ask for the appointment of Acting Police Chief Faull as full police chief. Mayor Kerreen Conley reminded him he had to go through the Civil Service Commission;
• Approved the special event application for the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration on March 16, 2024 at Egan’s Pub, 396 Main St. with use of the Fourth Street Square;
• Removed from the agenda the ceremonial swearing-in of former Wayne County Deputy Sheriff Brent Mytych as the new full-time police officer. It was explained that Mytych, who had been sworn in by the clerk and had begun work, had resigned because he found the job wasn’t a good fit. Now they need another full-time officer;
• Reviewed the special event application for the Veterans Day ceremony which had been held the previous Saturday, Nov. 11. Assistant City Manager Steve Jones said the person who usually handles the application, Cornell Anton, is very ill and with the change in the council meeting dates the application was late. It was turned in by VFW Commander Bob Krouse;
• Approved Mayor Conley’s reappointment of Valerie Kelley-Bonner to the Downtown Development Authority with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2027. The council also approved the new appointment of John Winter to take the place of his wife Jennifer Winter due to her health. His term also expires Dec. 31, 2027;
• Approved spending $3,848 for a radar speed sign from RadarSign that will be attached to speed limit signs in the city and would run on rechargeable batteries that are not solar powered. This replaces the city’s 20-year-old sign that no longer works. The present speed sign being used that was borrowed from Van Buren Township Police Department, will be returned to it, Acting Police Chief Faull said they have money left over in police capital funds from police radios for the speed sign. Now they are looking into a grant to fund police radios for reserve officers;
• Approved the annual Wayne County Pavement Restoration Permit that allows work in county rights-of-way;
• Reviewed public safety statistics for the police department for October. The figures show a rise in year-to-date calls for service from 2,797 in 2022 to 3,083 in 2023;
• Approved the AT&T Metro Act Right of Way Permit Extension for the fiber optic lines from the expiration date of May 31, 2024 to a term to end on May 31, 2029;
• Directed administration to contact the city attorney to help create an agreement between the City of Belleville and the Van Buren Public Schools for a School Resource Officer, similar to the contract Van Buren Township has with the school district for Brian Bidwell, who is the only SRO there now. Sgt. Kris Faull, who was the SRO for 12 years, is currently serving as Acting Police Chief and also recently had surgery, so she has not been working as a SRO. The most recent agreement the city had with the school district was for the school to pay $40,000 a year for the SRO;
• Approved closing City Hall during the week of Christmas/New Year’s Day, Dec. 25-Jan. 1, with union employees agreeing to use two days of leave time during closure. Property owners wishing to pay taxes on Dec. 31 are assured that if it is put in the slot in the outer lobby before the box is opened on Jan. 2, it will be recorded as being paid in 2023;
• Approved $494,662.12 in accounts payable and the following departmental purchases in excess of $500: to B&IR Janitorial, $670.96 for DDA maintenancee cleaning supplies and $546.46 for city hall cleaning supplies; to Blue Ribbon Contracting, $89,700 for road repair from Water & Sewer; to CDW Government, $1,122.05 for the new laptop for the city manager; to Downriver Hitch, $8,482.50 to outfit the new DPW truck; to EGLE, $1,618.08 for DPW annual fee; to LTI Information Technology, $1,800 for payment for completed network evaluation; to Michigan CAT, $134,011.33 for purchase of backhoe; to Mr. Muffler, $1,500 for police vehicle maintenance 218 – control arms and bushings; and to Spectrum Wireless, $1,139 for programming of new channels on fire radios;
• Heard City Manager Smith say on Thursday he will be speaking at the Michigan Municipal League Mayors/Presidents Institute; and
• Was reminded the next meeting is Nov. 27 and then the Dec. 4 meeting will be at the Belleville Area District Library, with a reception beginning at 7 p.m. before the 7:30 p.m. meeting where the new council will be sworn in.