Belleville DDA votes to partner with city to trim Horizon Park lake bank

Belleville City Manager/Police Chief Dave Robinson told members of the Downtown Development Authority that since the Independent put the proposal to use goats to trim the banks along Belleville Lake on its front page, he got a quote for $5,000.
He said policy is to get sealed bids for something of that cost, so he went to Pioneer Landscaping and got a bid, which is less than the goats, and he’s waiting for a third bid so he can present them to the council.
At the July 21 zoom meeting of the DDA, Chief Robinson said that he has been looking into past operations and he found one year the DDA paid for trimming the bank and one year the city paid, alternating.
“I’d like your opinion about going 50-50 with the city,” Chief Robinson said, noting the bank is overgrown all the way to Johnny’s restaurant.
He said he got one quote for $20,000 to cut the bank, but it would be $50,000 if they removed everything. That quote wasn’t being considered.
“It’s obviously something that needs to be done,” he said, adding then there would need to be a monthly thing where you cut what’s sprouted up or do a mass planting of daylilies that are impossible to kill but would be nice looking from the lake.
“If we really want our parks to be pristine, and I think we really do, we have to find out the true cost of taking care of the parks,” he said.
Chief Robinson said he wants to bid everything they need to do and have a partnership.
DDA chairperson Alicia McGovern said she thought the idea of goats running around town was interesting.
“They start at the top and eat all the way down,” DDA vice chair Jason Mida said of the goats.
Mayor Kerreen Conley jokingly asked if the goats would help control the geese.
The DDA unanimously passed a motion to partner with the city to handle the costs of Horizon Park trimming.
Treasurer Sabrina Richardson-Williams said at some point she would like to address the weeds around the park at Victoria Commons. Mida said the banks to the pond are very steep in some places and very swampy in other places. He suggested they have a public meeting on park grass mowing.
“The goat thing may work,” Richardson-Williams said, adding maybe it’s an environmental thing to keep the weeds up.
In other business at the one-hour July 21 zoom meeting, the DDA:
• Discussed the present grass-cutting contract with Gonczy, with Mida saying he’s not trying to make excuses, but they can’t hold Gonczy responsible for what’s not in the contract and it’s been very rainy. Mida said he hasn’t been able to contact Gonczy. They decided to put a subcommittee together to do a walk-around to see what needs to be done in the parks and proposed keeping the contract with Gonczy for the rest of the season. McGovern asked for a copy of the contract to be a part of the next packet. Besides Mida, they would invite City Councilmembers Ken Voigt and Kelly Bates to go on the walkaround. DDA member Jennifer Winter also volunteered;
• Was introduced to new Belleville Deputy Administrator Tim McLean. The DDA is considering using him to administer the DDA and wants to figure out the payment for his services. McLean said he has 11 years of experience in municipal government and has served as staff liaison to the DDA, DDA director, and knows the daily operation of the DDA in community and economic development. Mayor Conley said McLean has a nice, well-rounded background. McGovern said this item will be kept on the agenda until they can see what the former coordinator made and see how to move the money from the DDA to the city to pay for his services. Treasurer Richardson-Williams said she read in the Independent that McLean had experience with golf carts in Gibraltar and she was interested in having golf carts here. He said there is less traffic in Gibraltar than here and people were driving after dark with no lights. “I had mixed feelings about the golf carts,” he said. Chief Robinson said a couple of city council meetings back a resident presented a very-detailed proposal on the use of golf carts in the city and the city attorney is looking at the liability. After the attorney is done, Chief Robinson said he would finish his safety review and make a recommendation to the council;
• Voted unanimously to move forward to schedule Finders Keepers for an event on Main Street for 2022, possibly during Harvest Fest. McGovern said the organization sets up the event without cost to the city and invites vendors with vintage items. She said they have a great following and would bring a lot of people to the city. Mayor Conley said Finders Keepers has two events at the Wayne County Fairgrounds this year, on Aug. 22 and Oct. 17, and it is very well run and has a great following. DDA members indicated they would check it out;
• Was alerted to the annual conference of the Michigan Downtown Association on Nov. 4 and 5 in Detroit. Since the DDA is a member, McGovern suggested several of the DDA members attend together;
• Discussed electric service for the Fourth Street Square and Fourth Street, with McGovern saying she talked to Bill Osier. She asked if she should just have him look at it or should she go out for three quotes. Mayor Conley said she had to go out for bids. Conley said if Osier did the new electric service in Horizon Park, she is not happy with that and wouldn’t like him to do the work. “We were told it would come off the pole and it didn’t,” she said. McGovern didn’t know whether Osier did that work, but she would take the project on and get the bids and walk the site with the bidders. She said she also would talk to Van Buren Township about a possible meter for electricity from the museum, since there is to be some construction there soon. She also volunteered to contact DTE on the situation;
• Heard Winter say she thought they voted to meet in person in July, yet here they are at a zoom meeting. McGovern said the city voted not to meet in person yet so they are going along with the city. Winter volunteered the patio at Egan’s Pub for a meeting place. McGovern said she would reach out to the library for a roomier meeting place for the DDA and Robinson said he already planned to contact the library to see if future city council meetings could be held there. He said he would be glad to ask about the DDA, too, while he is there. He said meetings there would be another reason to visit the beautiful building. “The library people are wonderful,” he said; and
• Heard John Winter comment that the lines on Main Street need to be remarked. He also said the flashing light for the pedestrian walkway at Fourth Street is not right. First, the flashing should be on both sides of the street and the controls should be facing toward the crosswalk and it’s 180 degrees away. “The little sign in the middle doesn’t do a whole lot, but at least it hasn’t been dragged down to the bridge yet,” he said, referring to what happened in previous years.