Belleville Planning Commission elects Jim Courage new chairman

Jim Courage was in Florida on vacation on Jan. 9 when he was unanimously elected the new chairman of the Belleville Planning Commission for 2025.
He was present by Zoom, however, and accepted the new position, noting he will be in Florida until the end of March.
Assistant City Manager Steve Jones said Michael Hawkins, who was the former chairman and served on the commission for 20 years, had called the city that morning and resigned. Jones said he had no information on the reason.
Presiding at the Jan. 9 meeting was city councilwoman Julie Kissel, who is the city’s liaison to the commission and also serves as vice chairperson of the commission. She was unanimously reelected vice chairperson for 2025.
Before the meeting began, city clerk Briana Hootman swore in Alvis Brigis to fill a vacancy on the commission. He was recently appointed by the mayor.
In other business at the half-hour meeting, the commission:
• Approved the planning commission’s meeting dates for the year. All the meetings will be held on the second Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m.;
• Heard city manager Jason Smith say Steve Davenport is working with Hennessey, the city’s engineers, on stormwater plans for a housing development on Sumpter Road, next to the senior co-op. Smith said Davenports will have to bring their new plan to the city for approvals. The previously approved plans have expired;
• Heard Kissel note that the city needs updated zoning maps. Smith said if she would send the updated maps to him, he would send them to the printer;
• Heard commissioner Becky Hasen ask if Davenport is going to remove the old curbcuts in front of the Moving the Mitten building it constructed and Smith said the city can’t find any notations on the site plan that it was required to be done. Smith said the easiest fix is for the city to do it as part of some of the grants it is applying for. “Keep it clean … rather than go round and round [with the builder],” Smith said. Commissioner Hasen, who has been asking about the curb cuts for years, said, “It would have been nice if they just stepped up and said ‘oops,’” referring to Davenport;
• Heard Kissel announce that the newest housing survey being done as part of the Master Plan project has a link on the city web site and it will be up until Feb. 4. Giffels Webster planning consultants will be at the Feb. 13 commission meeting with a report on the year-long project, she said;
• Heard Smith say that the license renewal for the marijuana facility has come up and the business turned in its renewal check. He said the city is checking into the details, but it appears the business is in compliance;
• Heard Smith also report he was at a SEMCOG meeting on Jan. 8 and MDOT was also there. The subject of the meeting was Transportation Alternatives. He said the city is looking to apply for a TAP grant of $2-2.5 million, other grants, and funding options for the matching parts of the grants will be discussed at the next city council meeting. He said grants would cover the $7-10 million needed for the Five Points dogbone-shaped traffic circle. The grants would also cover a speed bump at Fourth Street, and a miniature traffic circle at Third Street, plus Wayfinding signage;
• Heard commissioner Mike Renaud say that Five Points is a “culture classic” and they want to turn it into something modernized. He said there are a lot better things the city needs to spend $7-10 million on – such as streets — and public input is needed;
• Heard Smith reply that the majority of the cost would be from a TAP grant and it would free up other city money for other projects. “We can do both,” he said. “In terms of public input, typically there’s not a lot of public input” and the city works with staff and engineers. He said, however, if bonding is the way to go, public input goes into that. Five Points would be in the new Master Plan and there would be public comment on that. Renaud agreed the city has had problems getting public input;
• Heard commissioner John Juriga ask about plans for a new city hall and Smith said they are getting a mockup of what it would look like and they’re talking with people about where it would go. He said right now the city doesn’t have the money, and it is all conceptual. He said when it’s ready, the city council would want to make a big deal out of the plans. He said then city hall would probably be demolished and the property put back on the tax roll;
• Heard Juriga say commissioners used to get a copy of the packet for the commission meeting a week before the meeting and it could be studied. He said he is dyslexic and that’s why he missed the last meeting. He seldom gets on his computer. He said city officials have to remember that commissioners are volunteers. “You are the employees; we are volunteers,” he said; and
• Heard new commissioner Alvis Brigis say his goal is to integregate technology into the system. He said he wanted everyone to know a new AI facility worth $1.2 billion is being built in Washtenaw County just down Huron River Drive from the city. It should be ready to use in 2029, he said in anticipation.