City Council proclaims May 5 as Sgt. Todd Schrecengost Day

To celebrate the 25 years of service of Police Sgt. Todd Schrecengost, on Monday the Belleville City Council presented him with a proclamation they signed recognizing May 5, 2025 as Sgt. Todd Schrecengost Day.
Police Chief/Public Safety Director Kris Faull said the city also had a lunch to mark his 25th year of service. She presented him with a plaque.
When the Independent asked him if he is retiring, he said he was not.
Chief Faull said it was time to start honoring employees for their service to the community.
She also introduced Isabella Teachout, one of the two new fire fighters, who along with Raytheon Martin, graduated from fire classes 1 and 2 and now they both are taking EMT classes. Martin was not present.
Chief Faull said she and Schrecengost were hired at about the same time and are like brother and sister. She said she recently moved him to the daytime shift to assist her in her duties and he has become her “right-hand man.”
Mayor Ken Voigt, who presented Schrecengost with the proclamation, said the plan has been to get another sergeant in place, since he is the only sergeant now, and to promote Schrecengost to lieutenant in the future.
The city also presented Mike Renaud with a plaque for his 15 years serving on the planning commission before he retired.
There were plaques for two who were not present: Alicia McGovern, who retired after 10 years on the Downtown Development Authority, and Mike Hawkins, who retired as chairman of the planning commission after 17 years of service.
In other business at the almost two-hour meeting, the council:
• Heard Faull give budget presentations on the police and fire departments, noting items she would like to see in the 2025-26 city budget;
• Approved the Egan’s Pub Summer Car Shows without comment. The car show is on Main Street, between Third and Fifth streets every Monday from June 2 to Oct. 27;
• Approved without comment the Lake Fest being put on by the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce June 27-29 throughout the downtown area. The request included the extension of Bora/Dora to midnight Friday and Saturday and 8 p.m. on Sunday. This allows participating bars to sell alcoholic beverages in special containers so they can be carried around the designated area by those imbibing;
• Agreed, without a vote, to have both GoGov and Nixle alerts to the public for a time until Nixle is discontinued. GoGov costs $3,900 a year and Nixle is $2,678. Mayor Voigt said he liked all the extra services of GoGov for citizen notifications and alerts app, but people will need time to adjust from Nixle;
• Approved on a 4-1 vote to purchase a gas self-propelled walk behind concrete saw for $12,299 with two 46” blades at a cost of $872 for a total cost of $14,043. City crews will be taught the use of the big saw so they can fix some of the concrete in the city themselves as part of the street program. There is a chance that the saw could be rented out to Sumpter and Van Buren townships to earn money. Councilwoman Julie Kissel asked what the rental charge would be and when they didn’t know, she voted against the proposal. She said she wasn’t against the saw, but she wanted to know the rental cost;
• Took no action on the proposal to buy engineered wood fiber for $9,674 for Victory Park and $6,075 for Village Park, when Mayor Pro-Tem Kelly Bates asked why the DDA wasn’t paying for it since the DDA does parks in the city. Mayor Voigt said to put it on the DDA agenda;
• Approved paying $6,200 to Giffels Webster to amend the 5-year Parks Plan Refresh to DNR Compliance. City manager Jason Smith said the DNR no longer allows “refresh” plans and all plans are considered “new” with more stringent guidelines. Giffels Webster is working on the master plan and so it has information for this parks plan. Once that is done the city will qualify to apply for parks grants;
• Tabled a proposal to approve Municode for digital ordinance and code book at a cost of $31,325 plus $3,375 annually. More discussion is needed;
• Took no action after discussing problems with downtown parking. Two businesses had complained to the city council about employees from other businesses parking in front of their shops all day and blocking their customers from the spaces. A letter from another business was included in the council packet. Councilman Randy Priest suggested a policy to respect each other’s businesses;
• Discussed different details on how to put up a sign that would mark the state championships of Belleville High School teams. More information is needed. Councilman Jeremiah Beebe suggested asking the school for their ideas;
• Adopted a resolution adopting the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code as required by the state. The 2021 version is the most recent adopted by the state;
• Reviewed the first reading of an ordinance to ban people from feeding wild animals in the city parks. City manager Smith said they put up signs banning the feeding and then found the city had no ordinance to back up the signs;
• Heard Mayor Pro Tem Bates ask about the $300 charge on the check register to the City of Romulus for euthanizing a dog. Chief Faull said the city had a viscious animal attack that put a child into the hospital and asked Romulus to keep it for 10 days. The dog owner went to court on the charge and signed to have it euthanized. She will reimburse the city, Faull said;
• Heard Mayor Voigt say they hope to move into the new city hall at 330 Charles Street by October; and
• Heard citizens say they came to the April 22 city council meeting that was cancelled and the city hall door was locked and there was no notice on the door that the meeting had been canceled. They said they called the police department who told them the meeting was canceled. They asked if a meeting is canceled to please post it on the door and city manager Smith said they would do so in the future.