Belleville DDA considers new city clock on 4th St. Sq.

On Oct. 16, the Belleville Downtown Development Authority agreed something should be done about the malfunctioning clock on the Fourth Street Square.
Assistant City Manager/DDA Director Steve Jones reported the clock, which is from the 1990s, is not in good repair and is hours behind. He said he reached out to the Verdin Clock company in Cincinnati, which installed the clock and was told that particular model is obsolete. It has been 2010 since the Belleville clock was maintained.
Director Jones said there is a refurbishment option that would require attaching a small box at the base of the clock because the present clock is not big enough to hold the mechanism needed.
He said the basic refurbishment would be $7,385 and about $13,000 with new dials and the box.
A brand-new clock, similar to the present clock but with the controller built inside, would be $17,413.
Mayor Ken Voigt said the existing clock is pushing 30 years olds and is cast iron or aluminum and he doesn’t like the idea of a separate box at the base.
DDA vice chairman John Winter asked if there are guarantees for refurbishing or for the new clock and Jones said he didn’t know.
“We’d be better off with a whole new clock,” Mayor Voigt said looking at the prices.
Jones said with a new clock it is run by a photo cell and the light comes on and off by itself and the time can be updated by WiFi.
Winter, who was running the meeting in the absence of chairwoman Alicia McGovern, said they need to know the warranty for both options and the cost out the door, and have Jones bring the information back to the next meeting.
Mayor Voigt said somebody needs to go measure the current clock to make sure the replacement is the right height.
Jones said he will find out what it would cost to get the city seal on the clock.
Full-time DDA Director
The DDA also discussed at length the proposal to hire a full-time DDA Director. The DDA currently shares Jones with the city.
Treasurer Sabrina Richardson-Williams said as a first step she got the job description for DDA’s previous full-time director Carol Thompson and went to Van Buren Township DDA Director Merrie Coburn’s job description and Coburn gave her copies of the Holly and Romeo job descriptions.
She said the committee said the DDA needs a full-time director. There was discussion about whether Jones would come on full time and leave his city position and she didn’t know what Jones wants to do.
DDA member Valerie Kelley-Bonner said there is a uniqueness in what Jones is doing and the DDA hasn’t even been a part of the city discussion on how that would work.
“It’s not an emergency to make a decision on this tonight,” said Mayor Voigt. He said the city is trying to hire a DPW director and the person accepted the job and then withdrew, putting the hiring back to square one with advertising.
Mayor Voigt suggested giving everyone time to think about it and table action until the first of the year.
DDA member Chris Donley suggested rewriting the 2016 job description.
Richardson-Williams asked Jones if he would be willing to be DDA director and he said he doesn’t know the details of how that would be.
Mayor Voigt said things are getting done now.
Jones said he would like a job description before making a decision.
Mayor Voigt suggested forming a personnel committee to work on a job description and he would be happy to help.
Donley said Jones is very involved with Music Lakeside and asked if that would continue as a part of his duties.
Mayor Voigt said Jones has been working on Music Lakeside for 15 years without pay.
Kelley-Bonner said the DDA needs to know what it needs and how much it’s going to cost.
Mayor Voigt said it could be a three-person committee.
Richardson-Williams said she got his present salary and the DDA could afford to pay him, but it paid $300,000 for the parking lot and 20,000 to hard-surface the alley, and now more is needed for the hardware store.
Mayor Voigt said the DDA has a fund balance of about $1.2 million and it isn’t a problem to spend it. Later he explained a salaried position could not come out of the fund balance.
He said the DDA has three options: Hire Jones full time, hire someone else full time, or go on the way it is now. He said the first step would to put together a job description.
Mayor Voigt said having a good DPW person is essential to this board and the city has to have higher standards than in the past.
What he’s been doing overlaps with the city and change should be taken slowly and they shouldn’t rush into anything, Mayor Voigt said.
The DDA voted to set up a three-person committee for the job description. It will be made up of Mayor Voigt, vice chairman Winter, and chairman McGovern, if she wants it, and Donley if she doesn’t want to be on the committee.
Kelly McWilliams, of the Economic Development Committee, asked for the committee to put a performance review in the job description, remind them that Richardson-Williams has been asking for a job review for Jones for some time.
In other business at the Oct. 16 meeting, the DDA:
• Heard Donley report from the Marketing Committee that there is a Facebook page now. Jones said they just got it last week;
• Heard Richardson-Williams report that the Budget and Finance Committee determined if the DDA paid $80,000 for a director, they would have a deficit. She said they have to be mindful. She said the summer taxes will be coming in;
• Heard Kelley-Bonner report on the youth project her SOOAR business is doing with the school. She said it is not a DDA project, but it goes along with the idea Richardson-Williams has for an alley project. Donley said they need more things for kids to do downtown;
• Heard artist Vera Redden report she has finished the mural on the hardware store and she passed around a picture of the final result. Richardson-Williams said the ordinance calls for one-third of the window to be left clear, but Redden made a mistake and just painted one-third. Donley said the result was shorter than he envisioned and Kelley-Bonner said she thought it would be bigger and it’s hard to see just driving by. “We should have been out there with eyeballs” while it was being done, Donley said. After discussion, the DDA approved paying her the original amount due of $1,208.71 and authorized another $600 for more paint and more of her time to make the drawings bigger. Donley said he had some ideas and would meet with her;
• Tabled the hardware store wall project until after the election. This will give city engineers time to look at the project and make a recommendation. Bids are currently required by the city charter for any project over $5,000. Mayor Voigt pointed out changes to the city charter are on the Nov. 6 ballot and bidding is included, so maybe they should wait until after the election. Jones had presented two proposals with quotes, with one being to completely take out and rebuild the wall, which was costly, and one to build another attached wall to reinforce the failing wall, which was a third of the cost;
• Heard McWilliams promote the Oct. 19 book signing and apple pie baking contest at the Fourth Street Square, along with the Mutt Walk at the Fourth Street Place. The Witches Ball was mentioned along with trick or treat coming up downtown. Mayor Voigt said Belleville really does well with events, “Better than most communities.”