Belleville DDA elects John Winter chairman, Chris Donley vice-chair

At its regular meeting Feb. 19, the Belleville Downtown Development Authority unanimously elected John Winter as its new chairman and Chris Donley as its new vice-chairman for 2025.
Reelected were treasurer Sabrina Richardson-Williams and secretary Denise Baker.
Former chairperson Alicia McGovern, who was elected in 2020, has resigned from the DDA. Winter had served as vice-chairman in 2024.
The board also updated the DDA check-signers for the year. The current signers were treasurer Richardson-Williams, secretary Baker, and Kelly McWilliams.
McWilliams said she no longer wants to be a DDA check signer, so she was removed and chairman Winter was added to the list.
Later in the meeting, when the DDA was getting ready to approve accounts payable, McWilliams pointed out the accounts payable for January had not been presented to the board for this meeting.
The February meeting had been cancelled for lack of quorum. DDA Executive Director Steve Jones said he meant to give the January payables to the board and left the meeting to make copies which he distributed.
McWilliams said the $96,000 payable for the Victory Station payment was not on either the January or February payables.
She said recently she was in the business she owns, when Jones came in twice and asked her to sign a $96,000 check.
Jones said the DDA will get reimbursement for the check, which was an error, a mixup.
McWilliams said it would have been nice if Jones had said, “You were right, Kelly. We shouldn’t have signed the check.”
She said that was a big check and he came to her business to get her to sign it and it was not approved to be signed.
She said her customers commented that he was pushy and she wonders if they thought he was a gang member and she was involved in something.
McWilliams said that check never came on the DDA’s accounts payable list for approval.
“You came to my salon twice in one day, pushing me,” she said.
Jones said they paid the contractor with that check and, “They are reimbursing us today,” referring to the county. He said there was miscommunication between the city and the county.
Mayor Kenneth Voigt, who sits on the DDA, said the DDA agreed to pay part of the money for the Victory Park project, about $90,000. He said the contractor wanted to be paid.
McWilliams said she looked through her records and believes it was more like $25,000. She explained it was more than two months ago when she checked, but she can dig it out.
Jones said he would call the county to follow up on this.
McWilliams said other times Jones brought checks to be signed, they had been approved by the DDA.
“I feel strongly about that,” she said. “$96,000 is out of our account and this board didn’t know about it. I’ll pull up the $25,000 agreement.
Mayor Voigt said the arrangements for the Victory Park project came before he was mayor and when Police Chief / City Manager Robinson was here. He said the council approved its part.
“I do understand the reason,” Mayor Voigt said. “The contractor wanted to get paid.”
“If we don’t owe, the DDA doesn’t pay,” she replied.
“What difference does it make?” Mayor Voigt said, noting he believes it was a foul-up at the county level.
He said the county was very slow and it was three years before a shovel was in the ground for the Victory Park project.
“But you don’t jump and pay money you don’t owe,” McWilliams insisted.
“I didn’t think Steve did anything nefarious,” Mayor Voigt said.
McWilliams emphasized that check wasn’t on the January or February accounts payable.
The accounts payable for those months were separately approved unanimously by the DDA. This included the newly presented January amount of $54,275.83 and the February amount of $27,968.62, which went up at the last minute when Jones presented a new payment he needed for $44,480 for the new wall at the hardware store, for a total of $72,448.62 for February.
In other business at its one-hour-15-minute meeting on Feb. 19, the DDA:
• Heard Jones announce he didn’t get the DDA Follow-Up List that is listed on the agenda, but he will send it out to DDA members later;
• Heard McWilliams ask if the chairs at the Fourth Street Square are on the follow-up list as she had requested and Jones said it was on the list. The 8-10 benches were to be picked up and put in storage over the winter, and be repaired and painted before bringing back. McWilliams said it’s almost spring and Jones replied it was still going to be done. McWilliams said she just doesn’t like to see all those benched pushed against a building the way they are now because it doesn’t look good;
• Approved a $1,500 proposal for two consultants from America in Bloom to come out for two days to evaluate the public spaces in the city and then have a symposium on how to enhance the city with flowers and other plants. Jones showed a video on a large screen with pictures of towns throughout the country with lots of flowers that illustrated the project. Mayor Voigt said he and Jones listened to the presentation on this and there is a heavy emphasis on recruiting volunteers. When Winter asked what the cost would be for what they suggest, Voigt said, “If we don’t have the evaluation, we don’t know the cost.” Baker said, “We need guidance on what’s the next step”;
• Approved the cost proposal of Orkin for pest control: $546.91 for the initial visit and $98.97 every month after that. Rose Pest Solutions was $646 initially and $190 per month. Jones said there was an issue in one of the rentals on Fifth Street and a mouse was caught in a trap. The pest control is for the hardware store and the three rentals;
• Heard Jones explain that Craig Atchinson read in the paper that the DDA was going to replace the city clock in the Fourth Street Square. Jones said Atchinson asked about the options from Shinola. He said Atchinson said he will provide a sizeable donation for the clock. Jones had presented ten pages of Shinola clock information and the DDA decided on one similar to the present clock that doesn’t work. Cost is $27,800.62, about the same as another clock they were considering. Winter asked if this price included warranty, installation, and other things and Jones said he would get details. He said he has been trying to get in touch with Atchinson, but has been unsuccessful. The item was tabled to the next meeting;
• Approved the price quote of Water Landscapes for the removal of phragmites in and around the pond at Victoria Commons. The initial treatment of cutting, mulching and removal is $11,500, which takes place in the winter months and monitoring the treatment would be $650 per month, May through October 2025. The price proposal was dated Aug. 1, 2024. The DDA had wanted a second price quote and Jones said another firm came out and they didn’t give a quote. Water Landscapes is the firm that regularly takes care of the Victoria Commons ponds. Voigt said the treatment is in the winter so they must act on this or wait another year;
• Approved the job description for DDA Executive Director, which was compiled by Chris Donley and first distributed to members for comments in December. McWilliams asked what was the next step and Jones said a salary level needs to be set and the board decides where to go from there. Voigt said it would be better to have a full board for those decisions and that night’s meeting has only a bare quorum;
• Tabled updating committee memberships for 2025 until more members are present;
• Heard member Valerie Kelley-Bonner ask if the Narcan vending boxes for the city have arrived. This was discussed at a previous meeting. Voigt said Growth Works was going to bring vending machines for the city. “My stepson overdosed two days ago,” she said, adding that you can overdose on prescription drugs, like the woman at her church who collapsed at a meeting. She said carrying Narcan with you is a lifesaver. She said her organization, SOOAR, has it and can share it. She said they just have a porch box. She said Wayne State University could give the city a box. She said free Narcan and free condoms are important;
• Heard Voigt say Jones got the wall at the hardware store all wrapped up. It’s a cinder block wall and it looks like it belongs there, he said;
• Heard Jones report that TechTown is coming out Feb. 28 to set up tech startups and incubations in the old hardware store, which is now being called “the warehouse” and the location is “outer Wayne.” There will be six different entities;
• Voigt said the city may be doing something for the boardwalk at Horizon Park and may need help from the DDA for that. He said engineering is being done for the Main/Denton intersection. He said the roads are a mess there and look like a third-world country. Engineers will put together a packet for bidding. Also, he said the water main broke on N. Liberty recently and the entire water main on N. Liberty will be replaced because it is cobbled together, he said. He said Liberty will then be repaved; and
• Heard Winter report that his oldest daughter Mary has saved another life. He said a man collapsed at Egan’s Pub with no pulse. This is the second life she has saved there, he said. The city presented her with a plaque for the first time; and
• Heard Winter also report that Egan’s will have a bus to take people to the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Detroit on March 16 and bring them back again. This is the 31st year his family has been involved in the Detroit St. Patrick’s Day parade. The biggest party of the year for Egan’s is on St. Patrick’s Day, which is March 17.