City Council considers ways to fund $3-4M in streetwork

The Belleville City Council is considering how to fund the upgrading of all the streets within the city, with costs in the area of $3-4 million.
At a special meeting on July 26, the council listened to a report and discussed the issue for more than an hour, before ending that discussion and interviewing another candidate for city manager.
Kari Blanchett, managing director of PFM Financial Advisors of Ann Arbor, laid out what is owed by the city and what ways money can be raised for road repairs. She presented a chart showing the details for the options of voted bonds, special assessment bonds, and Michigan Transportation Fund bonds. There were 10-, 15-, and 20-year terms for $3 million and the chart showed millages in the area of 3 to 4 mills.
“Nobody would want to buy a home in Harbour Pointe because the roads are terrible,” said Councilman Jeremiah Beebe, who lives on another city street that also needs repairs, Church Street.
“Nobody wants more taxes,” he said.
Mayor Pro-Tem Ken Voigt said all the roads in the city have been evaluated and the really critical repairs are estimated at $800,000.
Acting City Manager Steve Jones said he thinks they should bond for the whole thing.
“It’s not going to go away,” he said of the deteriorating roads in the city. He said it would take $3-4 million to do the other places, too.
Phase 1 of Harbour Pointe was estimated at around $620,000, but now it would be around $700,000. This is the “U” formed by the streets going in and out of the subdivision.
Mayor Pro-Tem Voigt said the city could add $700,000 to the total with the people of the city assessed for the rest.
Mayor Kereen Conley said one of the Downtown Development Authority bonds drops off in 2029. She suggested going for $3 million.
“Prices are going up monthly,” Voigt said, referring to construction costs.
“We need to come up with a number – three or four million,” Mayor Conley said.
Blanchett of PFM said she could run some numbers for them to consider.
Councilman Tom Fielder asked how much they needed to pave all the roads. He said there could be special assessment districts for those areas that need more work.
Councilman Beebe asked how much would it take to make all the roads in Belleville fall into the “good” or “better” categories of road evaluation.
Mayor Conley asked what about five years from now? Those not really bad now could be really bad then.
Voigt said, to give the council members some history, in 1972 the roads in the city were done and they are over 50 years old. Since then the Harbour Pointe and Victoria Commons subdivisions were constructed and paved.
Council members agreed it wouldn’t be fair to have all the members of the community taxed to fix just the deteriorating roads in the two subdivisions.
“We just went in and filled holes in Victoria Commons,” DPW Director Rick Rutherford reported.
Fielder suggested the council throw in money from the State Transportation Funds to reduce the total needed.
Blanchett said she could work up average cost for a typical house.
Mayor Conley said that should be for one issuance of bonds for $3 million. Councilman Beebe said also for $3.5 million and $4 million. He asked Voigt where he would get the $700,000 to throw in.
Voigt said they could scrape it together, such as from the fund balance, general fund, and road funds.
Mayor Conley said the marijuana funds coming in would be good used to offset road repairs to help the community. She said a use for those funds has not been set.
Blanchett said financial consultants want at least 20% of the budget in the fund balance. Council members noted they have been saving for a new building.
Blanchett said the amount in the “Rainy Day fund,” the fund balance, influences interest rates.
She said she would be back at the Aug. 21 meeting and will get additional information to them before that meeting so council members could review it.
Mayor Conley said roadwork wouldn’t be able to begin until next year, but they could get contractors in place late this year. Beebe said he would like Blanchett to set up a timeline.
Blanchett said it’s better to know the cost of the project before you bond.
“You don’t want bonds for 14 mills,” she said. Blanchett added that some communities are getting such projects fully grant-funded and grants are an option.
James Krizan, candidate
The council then gave an initial interview to James Krizan, current city manager of Lincoln Park, to fill the Belleville city manager position which is vacant. He told the council after they graduated from Eastern Michigan University, his girlfriend, now his wife, moved to Belleville and he visited the city often. Then they lived here together and enjoyed the walkability of the community. They now live in Allen Park. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from EMU.
When he asked the council about their process to fill the city manager position, Mayor Conley said seven rounds of applications have come through since they posted the position. After the initial interview, the next step is a questionnaire of 32 questions which they give to the finalist applicants, allowing 10 days for completition.
She said there were another two interviews set for July 31.
“We hope to finalize a candidate soon!” Mayor Conley stated, adding that they are able to take some time because they have two capable people in acting positions now.
After he left the meeting, the council agreed to put Krizan on the finalist list and send him a questionnaire. He would have 10 days to complete it.
For the July 31 special council meeting, set for interviews were Ryan Madis, who has completed the questionnaire and would be holding his second interview, and Steve Jones, acting city manager, who would have an initial interview since he recently applied. He was given a questionnaire and said he could complete it by July 31.
Madis is village manager of Ortonville with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Western Michigan University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan.
The two interviews were held on July 31 and then the council set other meetings to wrap up the selection process.
A 6:30 p.m. special meeting was set for Aug. 7 before the regular meeting to give the second interview to Krizan after his questionnaire is complete. The mayor will be present by zoom, since she will be on vacation, and Councilman Tom Fielder will be fishing in Canada and would have no internet available. The alternate for that meeting, in case he was not available on Aug. 7, was Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. (The meeting since has been set for Aug. 8 at 6 p.m.)
There are several vacations for council members in August, so the next meeting on the issue was to be late in the month.
The council set a date for the decision on the city manager for a 6 p.m., Aug. 28, special meeting. Council members were to come with their top two candidates selected to begin the discussion.