Van Buren Township’s DDA Placemaking construction to begin

Construction will begin on the $2 million Belleville Road Placemaking Project as soon as engineering revisions have been approved by Wayne County.
At the regular meeting of the Van Buren Township Downtown Development Authority on July 24, DDA Executive Director Susan Ireland reported she spoke with the county permitting office on July 17 and was told it would be another two or three weeks.
The buildings have been removed from the site and as soon as all requirements have been met, construction will begin on the parcels at 10101 and 10151 Belleville Road.
DDA member Victor Delibera asked if when the Placemaking project is done, will the DDA move its offices there and Ireland replied they still will do some things at the township hall.
In other business at the July 24 meeting the DDA:
• Approved the Amended 2018 DDA Budget and Proposed 2019 DDA Budget as presented and recommended approval to the VBT Board of Trustees. The board will have budget hearings on Aug. 13 and 14 and the DDA budget will be presented on one of those dates. Ireland said the numbers are reasonably conservative. She said with some growth in the township the income will be a little more. She said the first bond payment will be in October, interest only;
• Heard DDA intern Melissa Kalnasy give a report on a splash pad that will be installed at Quirk Park next year with the approval of the township board. She presented information on six other splashpads in Michigan, with costs, entry fees and passes, including initial costs from $300,000 to a $2.5 million project in process in West Bloomfield;
• Learned the 2018 $2 million bond issue for the pedestrian bridge went smoothly. They went into the market on July 11 with an AA rating and sold with an average interest rate of 3.6%. The closing was scheduled for July 26 at which time the funds were to be deposited in the DDA Bond Fund;
• Heard Ireland report that MDOT was still expecting work on the Pedestrian Path along Belleville Road over I-94 to begin on July 30. A November completion is expected. She said two pedestrian poles were specified to be yellow instead of black poles that has become the standard within the DDA District. The correction was made and they will be ordering them in black, at an additional cost of $1,900;
• Learned the Belleville Road streetlight LED conversion has been completed by Corby Energy which installed new roadway arms and light fixtures. Ireland said she asked Corby if the strobing or pulsating of the lights had been fixed and they informed her the issue had been resolved;
• Learned S&L Electrical Services has completed its part of the installation of the Belleville Road/Ecorse Road Landscaping irrigation system upgrade so it can begin to work again. Ireland said they are waiting for DTE to complete its portion of the project, which is expected any time; and
• Heard DDA Assistant Executive Director Lisa Lothringer report that this year’s Public Safety Day will be held at the south end of the Menards parking lot from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 15.