VBT DDA to host four Wednesday concerts in June at Harris Park

There are going to be a lot of free outdoor concerts in the area this summer. The Van Buren Township Downtown Development Authority announced it will host four summer concerts from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays in June in Harris Park.
DDA Executive Director Merrie Coburn told the DDA at its regular meeting April 25 that she has arranged at least one food truck for each concert in the series, which is called “Mid-Week Music in Harris Park.”
They are: The Tequila Mockingbirds on June 7, the Scott Martin Band on June 14, Sinjon Smith on June 21, and Mob Opera on June 28.
She said they will not be needing a stage since these are small musical groups and they will be under a cover.
Also on Wednesdays June 14 and 28 there will be free outdoor concerts at Wayne County Community College at 9555 Haggerty Rd., Van Buren Township.
In addition, Coburn said the township’s Recreation Department will be hosting 7 p.m. concerts at Quirk Park on a stage for the last three Wednesdays in July: July 12, Motor City Soul; July 19, The Rhythm Kings; and July 26, Toppermost. A Frios Gourmet Popsicle Food Truck will be present at all three concerts.
On Thursdays, starting June 15 and going on throughout the summer, there will be 7 p.m. Music Lakeside concerts at Horizon Park in the city of Belleville. There are ten concerts this year, with the first one being during the time the goats are on the shoreline eating the brush.
Coburn reported she is continuing to work with the Western Wayne Food Truck Consortium to obtain a list of approved food trucks to visit Harris Park.
She also announced that Midwest Sculptures will be taking out its current artworks and installing its new outdoor sculptures in the township and the city of Belleville on May 18. The Van Buren Township and city of Belleville DDAs are paying for the yearly leases of the sculptures.
In other business at the 38-minute meeting, the DDA:
• Approved the submission of an application for a SEMCOG Planning Assistance Grant for $43,200 and agreed to its 20% match of $10,800 for a total of $54,000. She listed three township studies now under way, including the Belleville Road Corridor Operational and Safety Study, a Truck Route Study on Belleville Road, and a Pedestrian Traffic Study, precursor to the Tyler Road sidewalk and the I-94 South Service Drive sidewalk and the update of the Belleville Road Streetscape. Coburn said the township will score higher on the grant application since it already has studies started;
• Approved a motion to direct Coburn to start discussions with Clover Communities and Wayne County about the 402.41-linear-foot, 27-foot-wide Belleville Road right-of-way that the DDA bought from Clover in the past for future road widening and sidewalks. The value of that portion of the DDA purchase at 8470 Belleville Rd. is $25,326. Clover has found that it needs this right-of-way back to comply with county rules for construction of the deceleration lane for its 128-unit senior apartment complex. DDA members suggested the DDA might be able to just deed the property directly to the county, since that is who would own it after the township widens Belleville Road and installs sidewalks;
• Approved spending $1,400 to replace, stake, and mulch two or three trees in the streetscape in front of Trinity Episcopal Church on Belleville Road. “It’s the front door to our community,” said Supervisor Kevin McNamara of the location. “They might have been mowed down by a car anyway,” said DDA chairman Craig Atchinson;
• Directed Coburn to get the estimated costs for replacing just half of the winter banners on the lightpoles, putting them on every other pole. There are 72 lightpoles and replacing all the 10-year-old winter banners with the needed banner arms is costly. The winter banners get the worst wear and tear and need to be replaced, Atchinson said. C2A Enterprises did an inventory on the banner arms and determined 62 needed to be replaced at an estimated cost of $62,849.40. They are getting estimates from three companies to find the best price for different options;
• Heard Coburn announce that Congresswoman Debbie Dingell notified the township that she has included VBT’s request for $6 million as part of her FY 2024 congressional budget for allocations for the Belleville Road Road Widening project. This is the first step and the budget has yet to be passed. There are 14 needed parcels for right-of-way needed for the widening and sidewalks. Letters have been sent out to property owners by OR Colan. Each property will have a land appraisal and landscape appraisal and will have a title search to ensure there are no liens;
• Learned also that U.S. Senator Peters has included in his FY 2024 allocations the DDA’s request for $60,000 for the VBT Small Businesses Get on the MAP (Master, Advance and Prosper) Program. This is just the first step as the budget has to be approved. Coburn said this funding will support instruction for small businesses regarding business planning, micro-lending, access to capital and workforce development. Supervisor McNamara said the DDA district doesn’t have small businesses and most are chains. Coburn said e-commerce is having a big impact on small businesses and some business need help. She said this is to keep the businesses that are here now and now have vacancies like in Monroe. She said this will help certify that VBT is a small-business-ready community;
• Heard McNamara ask Coburn to look into the cost of putting lines under ground for the Belleville Road widening. He said Ford Road did it, but it was very costly. He said he recently learned Huron Township got a $980,000 quote to do that with the recent roadwork;
• Heard chairman Atchinson ask about the planning commission calling Coburn and asking for the DDA’s opinion about a tent going up for a temporary business. He said the DDA has never been involved with making planning commission decisions. “I don’t ever remember getting involved,” he said. “I’ve never had that … We’ve never known we had ever given opinions.” Coburn said she just wrote up her opinion and sent it to the planning commission. There was no contact with the DDA members although it was presented as the DDA’s opinion;
• Learned Coburn will be attending the Michigan Development Association’s summer workshop in Alpena on June 2 and will be one of the speakers, doing a presentation on Small Business Advocacy and Training;
• Was informed Purpose Dental is a new business that will open where the old pawnshop was at 45520 Tyler Rd. Also, Healthy Paws is in the process of expanding its location to include the next store front at 10657/10659 and Blooms & Balloons is a new floral shop located in the plaza with Healthy Paws at 10665 Belleville Rd.; and
• Heard Barbara Miller ask about safety protocols for the Harris House office building, getting a list of food trucks for Belleville High School, and inviting the BHS principal and district school superintendent to the upcoming Morning SPARK event from 8 to 9 a.m. on May 12 at Harris House with the Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber and the Belleville Area Chamber. [Coburn has been appointed a board member to the Belleville Area Chamber.] Miller also asked if the township was looking into getting a movie theater and McNamara said it wasn’t. Other DDA members said movie houses were going out of business because people could get movies at home through the growing technology.
The 5:30 p.m. meeting was held up for 28 minutes since it did not have a quorum. At 5:52 p.m., a quorum was in place and the meeting could begin.