City Council approves 2017 SMART Operating Assistance Grant

The Belleville City Council approved the 2017 SMART Operating Assistance Grant at its regular meeting Monday.
The $3,651 grant from the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transport subsidizes the service that provides transportation of the elderly and disabled persons in Belleville.
An agreement has been approved and implemented with the Belleville Area Senior Transportation Committee for the use of these funds for operational costs.
It was the only action item on the agenda of the nine-minute meeting.
In other business, the council:
• Approved the accounts payable in the amount of $185,797.20 and one departmental purchase over $500: to Lonnie’s Auto Repair, $630.73 for emergency front-end repairs to the 2006 GMC Sierra because of wear due to age and hard use (plowing);
• Heard the Independent report two streetlights are out at the Veterans’ Memorial. DPW Director Keith Tackett said he would get the pole numbers and alert DTE. The Independent also reported the tattered State of Michigan flag at the memorial. Tackett said the new flag just came in and would be put in place. The Independent also announced the first meeting of the Belleville, Van Buren, Sumpter chapter of the non-partisan League of Woman Voters will be held at 7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 18, at the private dining room at the restaurant at Belle Plaza on Sumpter Road. Everyone is invited, both men and women;
• Heard council members give their sympathies to Dreama and Carl Arnett on the loss of their daughter Clare. Councilwoman Kim Tindall said Clare was “a great, great kid. This world is really to be less with her passing.” The other council members sent their thoughts and prayers to the parents, as well. Mayor Kerreen Conley said the teen’s passing was a tragedy;
• Heard Mayor Conley give a report on the recent Downriver Utility Wastewater Authority meeting, its negotiations, an offer to Wayne County, and a reconsideration of the attorney hiring practice. The current attorney’s contract has not been renewed;
• Heard Mayor Conley announce the third-annual Mayors’ Ball to raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs will be held March 12 at the Sheridan in Romulus; and
• Was advised the council may need to set a special meeting for contract negotiations.