Belleville DPW declares its salt shortage, using only at intersections

At the Feb. 2 meeting of the Belleville City Council, a resident of Victoria Commons asked what happened to the salt this year. He said the intersection was fine, but then drivers slide into the subdivision on a slight hill there.
Mayor Ken Voigt said there is a shortage of salt statewide and nobody can buy salt.
Department of Public Works director Nathaniel Johnson said in the past, the city’s DPW directors had direct contracts with the Detroit Salt Company and they ended up with more than enough because the winters had been mild. There was a lot of salt left over each season.
Johnson said now they are using the MIbid governmental system. He said they have enough to handle the intersections. He said they are minimizing salt use, but make sure to do the intersections for the police and fire fighters can get to where they are going safely.
He said if it’s below 20 degrees, salt doesn’t work.
Johnson said they could use sand, but then they’d have to suck it out of the sewers and EGLE (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy) would get after them.
He said the plan is to plow all the streets and keep the salt for major intersections.
The resident thanked them for their explanation and then asked about the hazardous landfill trial that was coming up.
Mayor Voigt said the trial is going on this week and next and he is due to testify on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 3, before Judge Sean Cox at circuit court in Detroit.
He said EGLE granted a new license for the expanded landfill just four days before the trial was to begin. He said now Wayne Disposal, owned by Republic Services, has the right to go 50’ higher than before.
In other business at the 49-minute meeting on Feb. 2, the council:
• Was introduced to the newest police officer, Norman Brooks, who is retired from the Westland Police Department and earlier had worked as a dispatcher in Belleville. He started work for the city on Jan. 9. His brother, Charlie, is also a Belleville police officer;
• Proclaimed April 2, 2026 as Mildred Elizabeth Baker Day in the city of Belleville on the occasion of her 100th birthday. A proclamation in her honor was read by the mayor and adopted by the council;
• Heard Jay Wilde of Alan C. Young present the city’s auditor’s report for the last fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, with an unmodified opinion, the highest. He said the revenue went up because of the new public safety millage. Revenue was $4.4 million and expenditures $3.6 million, with $888,000 transferred out of fund balance leaving $2.9 fund balance at the end of the year, down $115,849 from the previous year. He reported $800,000 was spent to buy the new city hall and $120,000 went to the cemetery fund. He said fund balance money also was spent on streets;
• Approved the mayor’s new appointment of Alexander J. Henry to Parks and Recreation with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2029, and the reappointment of Angela Samyn to the Civil Service Commission with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2031. Mayor Voigt said the Civil Service Commission will hold its first meeting the next afternoon;
• Deferred action on clerk/treasurer Briana Papin’s request to raise the rates for using Victory Station since it has been upgraded. She based rates on what it costs each on two, similar rooms at the Van Buren Township Community Center. The current Victory Station fee is $20 per hour for residents and $40 for non-residents. She asked for a revised fee of $75 per hour for residents and $100 per hour for non-residents, or a bundled rental option of $225 for three hours for residents and $275 for three hours for non-residents, with up to two hours additional time for $50 per hour. Mayor Voigt said, “Seems like a big jump”;
• Removed from the agenda for the third time, without comment, an item on Tax Incentives for City Economic Development;
• Approved a resolution accepting Wayne County permits to work along county road rights of way, a yearly formality;
• Heard Public Safety Director/Police Chief Kris Faull say she will report on how the fire department duty crews are going and the status of the search for a new fire chief at the next meeting;
• Heard interim city manager Steve Jones announce the city has to update its fire code. It was pointed out by Van Buren Township. It can be done by ordinance and Jones said he would get a copy for the next meeting on Feb. 17 for the first reading and then on March 1 they could have the second reading and adoption. He said they also need to do the same for the building and electrical codes. The city can’t find proof in the files that these had been updated. Mayor Voigt said in the past the city hadn’t had good record keeping;
• Heard Mayor Voigt said the father with a gun at Romulus Middle School recently and a suicide in front of the Canton Township administration building has brought him to the realization that the city needs an Assailant Policy. He said he asked the Canton Township supervisor for a copy of its policy and it has been given to the city attorney for review and options;
• Heard Jones report the city had IT shortcomings and all of its servers are going to be cleaned up and backed up for clean copies to be on the new hardware at the new city hall. They are preparing everything for the move, he said. He reported attending a Wayne County Parks meeting and learned how the city’s parks millage can be rolled over for three years if desired to cover bigger projects. He also reported officials sat down with Hennessey Engineers and learned the city currently has seven open projects in the works;
• Heard councilwoman Julie Kissel report that in her organizational efforts at city hall she discovered the old, folded map of the cemetery being used and they have ordered scanned maps and printed maps; and
• Heard mayor Voigt invite everyone to the Mayor’s Ball which will be at 6 p.m., Saturday, April 25, at the BYC. He said it will be a gala event to benefit the Friends of Michigan Animals Rescue. This is reinstatement of the Mayor’s Ball that former mayor Kerreen Conley used to have in conjunction with the Romulus mayor to benefit Boys and Girls Clubs. He said donations of baskets for auction will be welcomed.