Mayor appoints Laginess to PSC, Kelly-Bonner to DDA

Mayor Kerreen Conley appointed Joani Laginess to the Civil Service Commission and Valerie Kelly-Bonner to the Downtown Development Authority during the Aug. 19 regular meeting of the Belleville City Council.
Laginess’ term will expire May 31, 2024 and Kelly-Bonner’s term will expire Dec. 31, 2023.
At the meeting, Kelly-Bonner got up to introduce herself as the operator of SOOAR on South Street, which is funded by the Mental Health Authority.
The council unanimously confirmed the appointments. Mayor Pro Tem Jack Loria was absent.
In other business at the 27-minute meeting, the council:
• Approved closing Roys Street from Main Street ending before the Chase Bank drive-through lanes to accommodate the Harvest Fest activities. No date was on the approval application. Harvest Fest was approved at an earlier meeting, but that request failed to include this street closing;
• Approved the minutes of the Aug. 5 and 12 meetings together and then did it a second time, after former Councilwoman Kim Tindall advised from the audience that Councilman Tom Smith who made the motion to approve the two meetings was not at the Aug. 5 meeting, so he couldn’t make the motion to approve the minutes. The council separated the meeting minutes approvals and Councilman Tom Fielder made the motion to approve the Aug. 5 meeting minutes, seconded by Mayor Conley. The motion to approve the minutes of the Aug. 12 meeting was made by Councilman Jesse Marcotte and seconded by Smith. “I don’t want you to get in trouble,” said Tindall in explaining why she told the councilmen they were doing something wrong;
• Approved accounts payable of $276,194.43 and the following purchases in excess of $500: to R&R Fire Truck, $5,644.65, for annual maintenance / emergency repair; to Oakland Co. Treasurer, $4,078.60, for CLEMIS membership; to Emergency Reporting, $2,176, for reporting software/fire dept.; to Hennessey Engineers, $2,041, for construction inspections (from escrow account) and $629 for MS4 Permit from EGLE (formerly DEQ); and to Metro Environmental, $1,313.75 for storm sewer repair from the local street fund and $945 for sewer repair on Edgemont St. from the water/sewer fund;
• Heard Mayor Conley announce she was at the MMRMA (Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority) conference and could not attend the Bridgewalk or Taste of Belleville. City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said there was a fairly good turnout for the Bridgewalk and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell was there;
• Heard Kelly Bates say she went to the Music Lakeside concert on Aug. 8 and reported that both of the public park restrooms aren’t private and anyone could walk in on you. She said a simple partition would help. Also, she said there was no toilet paper;
• Heard Becky Hasen complain about garbage pickup at Belle Villa townhouses as a continual problem. “Why does our garbage continue to not be picked up?” she said, asking if residents could opt out of Republic Waste pickup. City Manager Kollmeyer said Hasen could come in to city hall any day of the week and Kollmeyer could do the research on that. She said bids are up for renewal in October and bids have been requested from haulers that operate in this area: Waste Management, GFL, Rizzo and Republic. Hasen asked if they could use the Michigan Municipal League site to call for bids statewide and Tindall said MML has a free service. Kollmeyer said that will be checked into;
• Heard Kollmeyer announce that the new rope for Horizon Park is now in the DPW garage and Pioneer Landscaping will install it at Horizon Park;
• Heard Councilman Fielder say there was a good turnout for the Taste of Belleville and that was because it was linked with that night’s concert in the park. He said at about 4:30 or 5 p.m., the rain stopped. He said Applebee’s won the trophy for the decorating contest;
• Heard Fielder announce he had been to the annual Wayne County Mental Heath retreat and learned that drug deaths were down 10% in 2018, to 1,000, with the average age for deaths at 44-54, and white males being the largest percentage. He said there were 13 overdose deaths in the tri-community last year, but because they are counted by where the body is, he said there could be more who were from this area who died in a hospital in Washtenaw County, where they would be counted. He also said fentanyl in its pure form has grown to be the #1 cause of drug deaths and cocaine replaced heroin as the #2 cause of drug deaths;
• Heard Councilman Marcotte report on the meeting of Aug. 13 at the BYC that explained the proposed reduced level for phosphorus in Ford and Belleville lakes. He said the City of Ann Arbor, upstream, has not always been the greatest neighbor. He said he would send the report from the state to the city and Kollmeyer said they would put it on the city website; and
• Was told the proposed new agreement for the 34th District Court will be on the next city meeting agenda on Sept. 3.