The City of Belleville is looking at a redevelopment of its front door with the help of Scott Jones and his plans for a grocery store. A donut/bake shop is on the way near the new library and a restaurant is on hold for now at the corner of Third and Main. At last, the log jam to development has broken in the city and the future looks bright.
In Van Buren Township, over the bridge, there are all kinds of developments, including the pedestrian walk over the freeway, the Placemaking construction next to Aldi’s, the splash pad, a possible fishing site on the former DNR property, the huge Ashley Capital distribution center, and a possible Kalitta hangar with lots of jobs at Willow Run.
In the south third of the tri-community, however, progress is sparse and there is a lot of arguing and finger-pointing. The old-timers and their pals have dug in their heels opposing new ideas. Newcomer Treasurer Ken Bednark, a businessman with lots of experience and intellect, is trying to bring the treasurer’s department into the present with tons of resistance. His staff members are educated and sharp.
He won’t give up and he knows how to persevere. The Independent has been covering Sumpter Township for almost 25 years and we know the history of those entrenched. Good wishes to Bednark and staff in pulling the township into friendly, new waters and getting rid of all the drama that is so ugly and disruptive.
- Previous story Kalitta wants to build at Willow Run, bring 600 jobs
- Next story Belleville City Council approves Iron Belle Trail route in city
2 Comments
Weather
Where are the specifics for Sumpter Rosemary? You name specific projects in the Belleville and Van Buren communities, but leave only a vague comment about a possible issue with the township Treasurer? Good thing this is an opinion piece and not an article of true journalism.
This is an odd editorial. The article begins discussing real estate developments in Belleville and Van Buren and pleads for more “cooperation” from Sumpter? Cooperate how? With whom? For what purpose? The three communities are very different—two of the three have direct access to major freeways, one does not. Two have substantial industrial and commercial property areas which provide a significant tax base and reduces the tax burden on residential homeowners. Two of the communities have significant lakefront property within their municipal limits. Two of the three communities have areas which were largely built out in the hey day of residential developments when the government paid to build roads and maintain them for residential developments. One is still largely unpaved with little to no infrastructure such as storm water drainage or sanitary sewer. My point isn’t to pick on Sumter Township but to point out that it is a smaller community with far fewer resources. It seems like this editorial wasn’t about cooperating with its neighbors as it was about some interpersonal conflicts that have been on display at board meetings, even though those conflicts have had no impact on residents. Sumpter is doing fine for what it has. In that respect the citizens aren’t doing a bad job running the show.