Belleville mayor says plan to shut down fire dept. is off the agenda

At the beginning of Monday’s regular meeting of the Belleville City Council, Mayor Kerreen Conley said the fire department is not on the agenda and, “We don’t anticipate that it will come back on the agenda.”
She referred to the proposal to dissolve the Belleville Fire Department and contract with Van Buren Township for fire and emergency medical service in the city starting the first of the year.
Mayor Conley said she didn’t have her gavel at Monday’s meeting because it was still out in her car. At the Dec. 4 meeting where the intergovernmental agreement was on the agenda for possible approval, the meeting had to be adjourned and moved to Belleville High School to continue where there was more room for the crowd, so she took her gavel along for that meeting.
On Monday, she said the number of people who attended that meeting and spoke convinced her to step back.
She said after the first of the year, a team will be put together from Van Buren Township and Belleville and they will work together to come up with something to best serve the community.
She said the process will begin in January and VBT has indicated it will cooperate and will set up a committee. The committee will include someone from the outside to look at the facts and take the emotion side out of it, she said.
Mayor Conley said this facilitator will have an outside perspective.
Raymond Akans
City Manager Diana Kollmeyer announced the loss of one of the city’s dear employees, Ray Akans, who will be missed. She said he took good care of the cemetery. “He owned it.”
DPW Director Rick Rutherford said it is hard to get somebody with that kind of pride in his work.
“Unfortunately, we take people for granted,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jack Loria. “That cemetery was always in great shape. He will be missed.”
Councilman Tom Fielder said most of his family is at Hillside Cemetery and it will be difficult to replace Ray. “It is difficult for Joy and the family, but it is also a great loss to the community.”
Councilman Jesse Marcotte mourned the loss of Akans and also noted the community just lost another public servant in John Henderson of Van Buren Township. Councilman Marcotte said he attended the fire academy with Henderson, who had served in the Army and Reserves and “made one of the most high-profile rescues you can make” in the rescue of a 2-year-old girl from a house fire in VBT.
Mayor Conley asked those at the meeting to keep Akans in their thoughts during the Moment of Silence at the beginning of the meeting.
In other business in Monday’s 23-minute meeting, the council:
• Presented awards to the families winning the Home Decorating Contest and to Barber Bob’s for winning the business category in the contest;
• Approved setting a public hearing at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 16, on the move to repeal the city’s Medical Marihuana Dispensaries ordinance that authorized the establishment of dispensaries and facilities in the city. Mayor Conley said the council would take no action on the Michigan Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, which means the city is not opting in;
• Approved setting a public hearing at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 16 to consider $48,807 in 2018 federal Community Development Block Grant funds. Kollmeyer said that is down from $57,000 this year;
• Approved the 2019 SMART Specialized Services Grant in the amount of $3,651, the same as in the past;
• Approved the mayor’s reappointments of: Randy Priest to the Board of Review with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2020; Rosemary Loria and Sabrina Richardson-Williams to the Downtown Development Authority with terms to expire Dec. 31, 2021; Henry Kurczewski, Matt Wagner, and Becky Hasen to the planning commission, with terms to expire Dec. 31, 2020; and the appointment of Laura Nichols to the Parks and Recreation Commission with a term to expire Dec. 31, 2019;
• Approved accounts payable of $110,230.13 and the following purchases in excess of $500: to Provident, $4,935 for annual life and lost wages insurance from the General/Fire account; to Priority One, $3,225.20 for uniforms from the General/Fire account; to Miss Dig, $848.94 for membership/maintenance fee, from Water/Sewer fund; to Superior Auto & Truck, $775.81 for repair of the city’s only dump truck, from Major/Local Streets fund; and to Wise Technologies, $582.07 for computer support from the General/Police fund;
• Noted the next regular meeting will be on a Wednesday: Jan. 3, at 7:30 p.m. The city offices will be closed Dec. 22 and 25 and Jan. 1 and 2;
• Heard Rutherford say when there are four inches of snow on the streets, the mayor will declare a snow emergency and people have to move their cars off the streets so the DPW can plow. He said they have had their first snow emergency and had problems with cars in the street. He said he would prefer the cars be moved and not have to have police ticket the cars;
• Heard a veteran question why no dignitaries were at the Nov. 11 ceremony at the veterans’ monument. Mayor Conley said city officials have never been asked to participate in that service, although they do take part in the Memorial Day service. Councilman Fielder said he has been working with the VFW to tell the stories of the lives of those whose names are on the monument on Memorial Day rather than having politicians speak; and
• Went into closed-door session to discuss the status and strategy of pending union negotiations.