Mayor says it’s too late in the year to stop 2020 Strawberry Festival

Although the recommendation on the Strawberry Festival for 2020 was on the agenda for Monday’s Belleville City Council meeting, no action was taken on the issue.
At the last meeting of the council, there was a lengthy discussion on whether the festival should be held at all or completely revamped if it should continue. It was turned over to the new interim City Manager Tracey Schultz Kobylarz for review and recommendation.
Mayor Kerreen Conley said Kobylarz was not ready to make a recommendation. Kobylarz had met with the Strawberry Festival committee and the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce and had requested documentations.
Kobylarz, who serves on the board of the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority, was not present at the council meeting because she was at a MMRMA conference. Mayor Conley said she was scheduled to be back in the office on Thursday.
“It’s late in the game to stop it this year,” Mayor Conley said, adding next year they can put life back into the festival and make it something the city can be more proud of.
Mayor Conley expected the council to vote on whether to approve or deny the festival’s Administrative Policy and Responsibility Policy at the next meeting, March 16.
Councilman Tom Fielder said he talked to Councilwoman Kelly Bates and asked her to put together a “dream team” to allow everybody to put in ideas of what they’d like to see in the festival and they can come back and tell the council what other people want.
Mayor Conley said Councilwoman Bates and the city manager can put their heads together for a revitalization team.
In other business at the March 2, 56-minute meeting, the council:
• Set this year’s budget timeline as: Presentation of city budget at 6 p.m., April 20; budget review sessions at 6 p.m. April 27, May 11, and May 13 (if needed) and on May 18 call a budget public hearing for June 1, at which time the budget needs to be adopted as required by Charter Section 10.5;
• Was advised that Sumpter Township Deputy Supervisor Karen Armatis has invited the council to take part in Sumpter’s celebration of 180 years as a township at its regular board meeting on April 14. Cake and coffee will be served that evening. A proclamation was a part of Monday’s council packet and all the council members’ signatures will be on the original to be presented to the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees on April 14;
• Discussed the Belleville City Council Follow-Up List, that was expanded by City Manager Kobylarz from one page to six pages with lots of updates. As to the sidewalk repairs, DPW Director Rick Rutherford said they will keep updating the list and start repairs when the construction season starts. He said the DPW employees will try to do all the work they can themselves to save a lot of money. Also, as to the Recodification of Ordinances, Kobylarz obtained a $16,000 quote from Muni-Code. They plan to look into the possibility of using Community Development Block Grant funds. Rutherford asked if it was OK to go out for bids for Doane’s Landing restoration because it would be more than $5,000 and he was told to go ahead;
• Approved accounts payable of $114,397.10 and the following departmental expenditures in excess of $500: to Western Wayne Co. F.D., $2,220, annual fee from Fire Department budget; and to Mueller Systems, $864.56 remote viewers from the Water Department budget;
• Heard Nathaniel Oregon of the Belleville Seventh Day Adventist Church tell of the projects his church is doing for the community, including a free dental clinic on Feb. 2 that furnished $86,000 in services with help from the Lions Club and local dentist Dr. DeAngelo Webster of White Pine Dental Health; God’s Closet which served 45 families with free clothes last Friday, with another such event set for May 29; and Passport for Success series at Washtenaw Community College which started last Saturday and 14 youth attended. Session 2 of that series will be held March 29 and will include building a resume, with Session 3 being mock interviews. He also told of the six-week series, “Life in Belleville” being held at Wayne County Community College Ted Scott Campus that includes Opioid/Narcan, Child Abuse, CPR, Suicide Prevention, Healthy Cooking, and Anti Bullying;
• Heard Mike Kole of the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce tell of the free Non-profit Roundtable put together by five Chambers and teaching the non-profits how to ask for money. Over 60 non-profits attended the last session at Wayne County Community College, with the next session set in May. They plan to do it every three months. He also announced more than 200 tickets have been sold for the Chamber’s March 21 Awards Dinner, which also has a $10,000 raffle;
• Learned the FIRST Robotics competition will be held at Belleville High School on March 13 and 14. There will be no school on March 13 because of the event. The public is welcome to walk the pits starting at 8 a.m. and watch the competition from about 10 a.m. until 5 or 6 p.m., followed by practice. On Saturday, the competition begins at 9 a.m. and the finals start at 1 or 2 p.m. There is no charge to watch the competition, which has a Star Wars theme this year; and
• Heard Fire Chief Brian Loranger say the citizens voted for and passed the fire and police assessments and he had a hard time getting information he needs to have a grant written for a $500,000 fire truck that the city would only pay $50,000 for. He said he needs the city’s bank routing number and was told no. He said that number only allows money to go in, not out. “I’m trying to do what I can, to do something for the city and I’ve been stopped,” he said. Mayor Conley suggested Chief Loranger have the grant writer talk to Kelly Howey of Plante Moran, the city’s financial person. “They’re trying to cut me out,” Loranger said. “That’s the feeling I’m getting.” Mayor Conley said there was a request for the city manager to look at needs. “People didn’t vote for a fire truck or police car,” Mayor Conley said. “They voted for public safety.” She said they have to have a solid recommendation brought before the city council. Loranger said he asked for that last Friday and hasn’t heard back. He said the grant writer is experienced and he’s writing eight group grants. He said the deadline for the FEMA grant he wants is within the next two weeks.