At the June 2 meeting of the Belleville City Council, which met with a bare quorum of three, a motion to hire a firm to help the city comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act was tabled.
Councilwoman Julie Kissel said that since two council members were absent, it would be better to wait until a full council could vote. Also, she said, there are still questions to be answered.
City manager Jason Smith said the state department of Energy, Great Lakes and the Environment (EGLE) requires annual testing of residential and commercial cross connections and Wayne County is enforcing this rule.
A representative of HydroCorp of Troy said the city hasn’t had its sanitary survey and, “that’s what this is all about.”
HydroCorp, which has been doing the cross-connection testings for commercial properties in the city prepared a five-year plan to do 109 annual inspections of the residential at a monthy cost of $831.81, one-year cost of $9,981.68, for a total cost of $54,064.02.
The quote was presented at the council’s last meeting and then tabled until a representative of HydroCorp could come to explain it to them. He was present at the June 2 meeting.
He said the cross-connection program is trying to protect the water system from backflow and contamination and public education is part of that.
In other business at the hour-long meeting, the council:
• Approved the lease of a 500-gallon diesel fuel tank and 110v pump from Chapp & Bushey Oil Co. for the DPW at a $200 a month cost. City manager Smith said EGLE has no problem with the fuel tank as long as they put it on their report list. Currently the DPW uses a 100-gallon tank on the back of a pickup to fuel the backhoe, dump truck, and excavator and he said it looks awful when they have to take it on the road. They plan to trade in or auction the current setup. He said the cost of the diesel fuel is lower than taking the tank to the gas station to fill, the way they had been doing it in the past. Buying the tank would have cost $5,700, but then the city would be responsible for maintenance;
• Approved this year’s guidelines for Poverty Exemptions as required by law. Smith said that property owners who qualify under the guidelines can get a reduction in property taxes;
• Approved the use of Fourth Street Place by the Friends of the Belleville Area District Library and the library from noon to 5 p.m. on Aug. 2 for a Comic Fest. Also mentioned was the approval of Music Lakeside, but no one was present from either event to answer questions;
• Heard the first reading of an amendment to an ordinance to regulate trees in the city. This is the second time the first reading was held because several changes have been made to the ordinance that was originally presented. Now there will be no charge for permits to plant trees in private yards and dead or prohibited trees will not have to be replaced after they are removed, along with other changes. The second reading and adoption of the ordinance is expected at the next council meeting;
• Heard Smith report that 86.8% of the water meters have been replaced and they have 147 meters to go. He said they sent 180 final notices by mail and put door hangers on the residences. Councilman Randy Priest said the city has owners of some properties living in a foreign country and maybe the property owners don’t know what’s happening. Smith said they can go through the notices one more time before he asks for permission to start water shut offs;
• Also heard Smith say the council needs a public hearing at the next meeting before he can go forward with putting past-due water bills on the summer tax bills. He said they will weed out those with payment plans before publishing the addresses of those with water bills unpaid for 6 months. He said rather than cutting off the water, they can restrict water flow, which allows people to fill a glass of water in an hour so they can take their pills; and
• Heard a resident say she was devastated about DTE putting a meter on the outside of her house and ruining the beauty of her front wall. Smith said the city was due to speak with the DTE representative the next day and they’ll talk to DTE about it. He said DTE has a bond for restoration.
Absent and excused from Monday’s meeting were mayor Ken Voigt and councilman Jeremiah Beebe.
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