VBT board approves higher water/sewer rates for 2026

Residents and businesses will pay 6% more for water and 4% more for sewer beginning Jan. 1 in Van Buren Township.
At the township’s regular board meeting on Oct. 7, water and sewer director Larry Lawrence said many water users have one-inch meters and the use of 15,000 gallons per quarter is average for a family. That would be an increase of about $15.92 per quarter.
Water rates have remained the same for several years in the township. Lawrence said currently in Southeast Michigan only Taylor and Livonia have lower water rates than Van Buren Township.
At its regular meeting on Oct. 7, the township board of trustees voted unanimously to approve the water and sewer fee schedule for 2026, along with departmental fee schedules that will be a part of the next year’s budget.
This was after a public hearing on the amended 2025 and proposed 2026 general fund budgets, at which no members of the public spoke. Also, a part of the public hearing were the proposed budgets for the Downtown Development Authority, Local Development Finance Authority, Landfill Fund, Belleville Area Museum, E-911 Service Fund, Federal Forfeiture Fund, State Forfeiture Fund, Long-Term Debt Fund, and Capital Improvement Fund.
Supervisor Kevin McNamara said approval of the budgets is the most important task the board has to do each year. The budgets will be officially voted on at the Oct. 21 meeting of the board of trustees.
In other business at its 47-minute meeting on Oct. 7, the board:
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointments of Bernard Grant and Peter Creal to the planning commission and Tony Gibson and Norm DeBuck to the environmental commission with terms to expire Oct. 1, 2028;
• Approved a water service agreement with Ypsilanti Community Utilities (YUCA) to provide a water line for Jason and Whitney Pinter at 7029 Rawsonville Rd., since the township does not have a water line for that property. In the future, if the township puts a water main past that property, the property will connect to the township line;
• Approved a sidewalk agreement between the township and YIP Ecorse BTS Partners Development, LLC for the Stellantis/Mopar Project on Ecorse Road between Denton and Beck roads. The Stellantis project will construct sidewalks on the west side of its property on Denton Road, but will not have to build sidewalks on the Ecorse Road side for now. This agreement concerns the Beck Road side of the project and the developer agrees to build a sidewalk in the future once Beck is widened, in about 10 or 20 years. The agreement has been reviewed by the township attorney and recommended by the planning commission;
• Approved a six-month moratorium on accepting car wash applications until the township can consider how to address concerns including having too many in specific areas. Ron Akers, director of municipal services, said any existing car wash applications are going forward;
• Set a public hearing for the Nov. 18 board meeting to consider the amending and restating of the Downtown Development Authority and its Tax-Increment Finance Plan. DDA executive director Merrie Coburn said the Van Buren Township DDA’s life expires in 2038 and the last update to the plan was in 2009. She said the update will show the increase in tax revenue and offer cost estimates on projects. The nine-member District Advisory Citizens Council has been established and will meet with the DDA board on Oct. 28 before the public hearing. Council members are Jeffrey White, Jackson Pahle, Aubrey Pruitt, Carrie Castino, Kathleen Springer, Dean Trudeau, John Cothorn, Linda Stevenson, and Margo DeLibera. All 1,100 residents in the DDA district will get notice of the public hearing. Coburn said the DDA is not amending the boundaries of the DDA district and not extending the life of the DDA. She said in the future they may want to extend its life;
• Heard an update on the Belleville Road widening project that has been delayed for additional wetland studies. She said there was an oversight on the application and a box that should have been checked, wasn’t. She said the error was by the DDA or its consultant. Now they have to wait until that is approved through the National Environmental Policy Act. She said the government shutdown would delay the NEPA approval, but then later that night advised the board and the press that she was wrong and the government shutdown did not apply. She said the NEPA approval would be from a federal budget that is approved for multiple years and so it is not affected by the federal shutdown. She said Wayne County had procured $90,000 for the project in 2022, which had to be used by 2025, and was lost because the project is not starting in 2025;
• Heard director Akers report on the progress committee meeting on the Denton Road Bridge construction. He said the bridge is not expected to open by the end of the year, as previously thought. He said the asphalt plants close for the season on Nov. 15. They need to have the block retaining walls up in order to pour the asphalt. The east side of the bridge causeway is complete, but the west side of the causeway still needs to be completed and needs asphalt. He said if they cannot complete that causeway in time, the bridge will open in June 2026. McNamara said the county at first wanted to not rebuild the bridge at all after it closed the bridge for being unsafe. Akers said the abutments have been installed and the deck will be poured this month; and
• Heard McNamara thank state representatives Reggie Miller and Ranjeev Puri for a $750,000 allocation for improvements to the Quirk/Belleville Road intersection. He said House speaker Matt Hall helped. McNamara also reminded everyone of the Oct. 11 pancake breakfast at the Belleville Road fire hall. Director of Recreation Nicole Gerhart invited everyone to the annual Candy Loop from 4 to 6 p.m. at Quirk Park on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Workshop session at 5 p.m.
Before the regular meeting started at 6 p.m., the township board held a workshop session to discuss the proposed development of 181 acres of township property at the northwest corner of Belleville and Tyler roads, commonly referred to as the Ford property.
The township has hired Giffels Webster as consultants and consultants Nancy Standish and Jim Eppink presented suggestions for property development, a site study, and survey input.
Representatives from the planning commission and Downtown Development Authority were present to give their input, in what was called a joint meeting with the board.
Supervisor McNamara pointed out that all of the property involved is in the DDA district. He said the size of the project is larger than downtown Belleville.
Suggestions included commercial development along Belleville Road and then residential areas along with a nine-hole golf course, sports bar, health center, trails, and parks.
Giffels Webster said they are looking for more ideas and will set meetings with public and private groups. Surveys will be emailed to the board, put on the township website, and on social media.
A resident asked from the audience if the development is going to flood nearby properties. McNamara said that the county deals with groundwater, but when developers make their plans they are required to put in holding ponds and they actually improve the drainage.
DDA director Coburn said the township needs to name the project or else it will be referred to by its location.
“Everybody start thinking of a name,” McNamara said to those at the meeting.