Plans under way to get started on seawall repairs in Belleville

Most of the seawall repairs will be done from a barge in the water, with some three-foot sheets driven into the shore from the land on the far end of this spring’s project at Doane’s Landing in Belleville.
This was some of the report from Belleville DPW Director Rick Rutherford when he was asked for an update on seawall repairs at Monday’s regular meeting of the city council.
Rutherford said he has a meeting with the contractor this week and they will be locating utilities. He contacted a supervisor at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to help move along the permit needed. He said that went well.
Rutherford said the sooner they can start this project, the better. Doane’s Landing park next to the Belleville Bridge has been taped off to the public for several years because of the crumbling seawall.
Last August, the city fired its original contractor for the work and granted a $295,000 contract to C&R Lakeside Landscaping. The scope of the project is 60 days and C&R was busy last fall, so the plan was to start April 1.
In other business at the 15-minute meeting, the council:
• Heard Planning Commissioner Kelly Bates ask if the city will be able to negotiate bigger bins for recycling when the five-year contract with Republic Waste runs out this fall. City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said she is not sure how long the city will have recycling. “It’s a problem across the industry,” Rutherford confirmed, noting China is no longer accepting plastics. “We’re all in a waiting game,” he said. City Manager Kollmeyer said the comments by the editor of the Independent in last week’s paper on the subject were correct and the letter from Bob Balderston in that same issue, “had a pretty good handle on it”;
• Approved the request of the Belleville Fire Fighters Association for its “Fill the Boot for Autism” fund raiser from 2-7 p.m., April 2, at the corner of Main and High streets. The request was presented by Fire Captain Chris Zweng, who announced he just had been promoted;
• Approved the request of the Knights of Columbus to sell Tootsie Rolls at Five Points from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on April 12, 13, and 14, as a fund raiser to help those with mental health problems;
• Removed from the agenda the closed-door session planned to discuss the status and strategy of pending union negotiations;
• Approved accounts payable of $81,188.93; and
• Heard Councilman Tom Fielder announce that the Detroit Wayne Mental Health group that he sits on has learned that the federal Food and Drug Administration has decided electronic cigarettes are in the same classification as other cigarettes and cannot be sold to minors. He said the FDA also has ruled all the flavors besides tobacco and mint must be eliminated. Fielder also announced the recreation commission, which meets at 4 p.m. March 25, will take a tour to evaluate city parks, starting at Victory Park, and the public is invited to join them. He also noted that State Rep. Kristy Pagan will be at city hall at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 23.