Sup. McNamara: Aerotropolis LDFA will not cost VBT taxpayers

At the Nov. 10 regular meeting of the Van Buren Township Local Development Finance Authority, via zoom, LDFA member Chuck Covington said he read that the Aerotropolis LDFA is coming into the VBT area.
He asked if the township can piggyback on the Aerotropolis LDFA.
VBT Supervisor Kevin McNamara said he represents VBT to Aerotropolis. There are three LDFAs available in the state and Aerotropolis was granted one of the three zones.
They can drop an LDFA on any community that is a part of Aerotropolis and this LDFA goes across all the communities in Aerotropolis: townships of Van Buren and Huron and cities of Romulus and Taylor.
Supervisor McNamara said VBT is not doing any more LDFAs since it lost out so much on the Visteon project.
McNamara said the Aerotropolis LDFA will captue six mills of school funds levied and the state will make the schools whole.
“I’ve asked the state to put an LDFA on Grace Lake,” McNamara said, adding the state won’t do that.
“That LDFA can capture what our LDFA can’t,” said LDFA member David Schreiber, referring to school funds.
McNamara said he told the state, “You took us down the yellow brick road … and left us holding the bag,” referring to the Visteon bonds. VBT does not have enough LDFA tax capture for the bond payments and the township is loaning the LDFA money for bond payments while fighting it out in court.
LDFA member Doug Peters suggested putting an information packet together to send to commercial realtors as a way to promote development at Grace Lake, the former Visteon Village.
LDFA member Scott Medlen, of Sovereign Investments which now owns Grace Lake, said the goal is to bring more tenants or build more buildings there. He said JLL represents Sovereign as its realty.
Medlen said currently the buildings are 100% leased, although some are vacant. He said before the pandemic there were 1,600 to 1,700 people working at Grace Lake and now that is down to 100 to 200.
Medlen said there is no demand for building a building at this time. He said some tenants are working to sublease.
He said the GE floor was empty and JP Morgan Chase wanted space, so they swapped GE out for Morgan Chase.
Peters said he wants the LDFA to know the plan for Grace Lake so they don’t conflict with Sovereign.
LDFA chairman Mike Dotson suggested havinga LDFA subgtoup meet with Sovereign’s realestate group to discuss the plans. He suggested Medlen could set something up so the LDFA can help them.
LDFA member John Delaney said the LDFA has already broached that idea with them a couple of times and, “They don’t want to grow.”
“Do we have evidence Sovereign doesn’t want to build on its 40 acres?” Peters asked.
“They’re not listing it,” Delaney said.
Peters made a motion, supported by Delaney to have a small LDFA committee make direct contact … in a Zoom meeting … to discuss the landlocked 40 acres and what the LDFA can do to help.
The LDFA had been discussing how to help early this year and then got stopped by COVID-19. The subcommittee had been made up of Covington, Delaney, and Dotson.
Covington said he would like to get somebody else to take his place on the committee. He explained a lot of things are going on for him right now and he asked to be replaced.
McNamara said he talks to the head of Sovereign regularly and what he wants is the landfill not to expand.
Dotson appointed Medlen to the committee.
Medlen said the landfill is a problem, with smells that linger 5-10 days of the month, seagulls, coyotes, and dead animals on the property. He said those at Grace Lake look out the upper windows and see the landfill.
“Does the Master Plan address the concerns of Grace Lake?” asked Peters and McNamara said it didn’t.
Medlen said it’s hard to lease out next to the landfill.
Covington asked if they could do a casino and Delaney said a casino couldn’t be in a LDFA.
“They are not successful in selling a stinky sublease,” Peters said.
McNamara said Haggerty Road is a hot property right now, but office space isn’t going because of COVID.
Dotson said there are a lot of questions and the subcommittee will meet with them this week or next week to discuss the issues.
In other business at the Nov. 10 meeting, the LDFA:
• Unanimously approved the 2020 Amended and 2021 Proposed LDFA Budget that was already approved by the township board;
• Approved the 2021 LDFA meeting schedule. Delaney said he wanted a representative of the planning department at the LDFA meetings so it will be aware of the smell of the landfill and the proposal to send a drone over the landfill at night to make sure it’s covered the way it’s supposed to be to keep the water out. But the more water in it, the more methane they can get out, he said. “It’s getting unbearable again,” Delaney said of the odor. He was informed that representatives of the planning department watch the Zoom LDFA meetings. Peters suggested they put landfill and smells on the agenda of the next meeting and have someone present to talk to the LDFA about it; and
• Heard Peters ask about the litigation against Visteon. McNamara said the legal bills are going up and Peters asked if the bills list what the attorneys are doing. McNamara said there is a magistrate assigned to handle discovery issues. Peters, a retired attorney, offered to look at the bills to see what’s happening.