On June 15, Van Buren Township Supervisor Paul White asked the Belleville Downtown Development Authority for $22,000 or more for the Belleville Area Museum, since the City of Belleville could budget only $10,000 this year for its share.
Mayor Richard smith said the $10,000 allocated by the city for the museum was funding they could “barely afford.”
The DDA agreed to put the item on its July 20 agenda for further discussion.
Supervisor White did not attend the July 20 session, but the DDA had a lengthy discussion on the funding of the museum and decided not to take any action on the issue. This means the DDA would not be donating to the museum on behalf of the city.
Currently, the City of Belleville is $22,000 short of its $32,000 share for the museum.
VBT and Belleville each paid equal halves of the museum budget since 1998. Sumpter Township dropped out of a three-way split for funding the museum in May 1998 when budget problems made continued financial support impossible.
In the past, city officials would ask the DDA for money to bridge the gap when it was short, but that didn’t happen this year because in January the DDA announced that it no longer would be funding the museum.
A document presented at the July DDA meeting showed the history of the museum funding:
• 2002-2005 – VBT and Belleville each paid $27,000, with the DDA contributing nothing;
• 2006 – VBT paid $27,000; city paid $18,000; DDA paid $9,000;
• 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 – VBT paid $32,000 each year; city paid $18,000 each year; DDA paid $14,000 each year;
• 2011 – VBT paid $32,000; city budgeted $18,000 and asked DDA for $14,000. DDA approved $12,000 with a recommendation that the city look at the existing allocation formula and also pursue alternative funding sources to support museum operations in the future;
• 2012 – VBT amount is $32,000; city budgeted $10,000; DDA budgeted zero.
Some DDA members informally agreed that funding the museum 50/50 with VBT is not fair since VBT is ten times bigger in size and has ten times as much tax income.
The DDA wanted a committee of city and township people to sit down and discuss the library program, but “Supervisor White did not seem to be interested in that,” said DDA member Ken Voigt in recapping the previous meeting for those who missed it.
“We can’t make an intelligent decision without sitting down and talking about it,” Voigt said.
He said he doesn’t buy the inequity argument of fellow DDA members because of demographics.
“It is an anchor in our community and forms a cultural center with the library,” Voigt said. “But, there should be some kind of discussion. I wasn’t suggesting we would administer the program.”
He said he thought with the former director leaving this would be a good time to talk about alternatives for the museum funding.
DDA member Mike Colletta agreed that the museum was a valuable asset to the city, but “not 50/50.”
“We can’t make an intelligent decision without sitting down and talking,” Voigt insisted, adding again, that White did not seem to be interested in that.
DDA Chairman Kerreen Conley remembered the library support which was split equally between the three communities, but then there was a reassessment and it was changed. The financial support was determined by use and other factors. Now the district library has been formed and it supports itself through millage paid by taxpayers in all three communities, Conley said.
Conley said it was the discussion between the city and townships that lead to a more equitable agreement.
“We do benefit from having it downtown, but we have to have an intelligent discussion,” Voigt said.
DDA member Gary Snarski summed up White’s request: “The township wants the DDA to continue funding the museum – with no say.”
In other business at the July 20 meeting, the DDA:
• Voted 8-1, with Voigt dissenting, to
“leave the Fourth Street Square as it is.” Steve Jones had asked the DDA to remove trees and replace them with bushes in the back of the square so a portable stage could be pulled up or a large portable screen put up for outdoor movies. Jones said this would allow the square to be more fully utilized and was a “foreseeing” thing for future events. DDA member Jim Higgerson estimated this would be a loss of almost $9,000 to the DDA which put in the square last summer. Conley said there was a lot of public input on plans for the square and although Jones said his idea at the time was ignored, Conley said he was not ignored. “Ok, it was not incorporated in the plan,” Jones replied, adding, “If it’s too costly, so be it.” Voigt suggested just the center gingko tree be relocated in order to use the available stage;
• Heard an appeal from John Burke about the rejection of his application for a DDA façade grant after he made several changes suggested by the grant committee over several months that boosted his planned renovation by $800. The plans for his business at 392 Main also were reviewed by DPW Director Keith Boc in his role as Building Official and he said certain things were not in compliance with the Downtown Overlay District, Central Business District ordinance adopted in 2010. After much discussion, it was agreed the façade committee, Boc, Burke and Burke’s builder would meet at Burke’s business to discuss the situation. Conley suggested the DDA might want to hire a professional to review the applications instead of a committee. This is the first year of applying the façade program and so they are learning, she said, adding, “We wanted people to work on their facades and it’s frustrating when it gets in a deadlock”;
• Approved extending the façade program moratorium requiring 50% cash from applicant to May 31, 2012. The moratorium expired May 31, 2011, but $40,000 was approved in the 2011-12 budget for the program. Three applications, received before this year’s deadline, are currently in process. The program offers up to $5,000 grant and $5,000 loan and (under the moratorium) no cash from the applicant; and
• Asked the mural subcommittee to serve as a recommending body for possible purchase of additional holiday decorations since this is the time of year they are going on sale.