VBT DDA votes to give up to $3,000 to arts council

The Van Buren Township Downtown Development Authority voted to allocate up to $3,000 to the Belleville Area Council for the Arts, matching whatever the Belleville DDA grants BACA, for Music Lakeside this summer.
At its regular DDA meeting on March 28, VBT Supervisor Kevin McNamara asked the item “Sponsorship of Belleville Area Council for the Arts” to be put on the agenda and then he explained.
He said the township wants to be part of the community and “be closer to those around us” and develop ties to the local communities. He said BACA is a good group to start with.
DDA Executive Director Merrie Coburn said she talked with Steve Jones, who not only is project manager for the city, manager for the city’s DDA, but active in the chamber of commerce and BACA. She said they all are in 48111.
Coburn said she was just elected as a director to the chamber of commerce and and Jones wants her to meet the rest of the board members.
The Music Lakeside concerts are very popular and they run out of parking, Coburn said. She said people could park in Van Buren Township and be taken by shuttle bus to the concerts and then brought back to their vehicles in the township and “be in our community.”
Supervisor McNamara said by putting money into the Belleville concerts, it would be advertising for the township. He said last year the Belleville DDA gave BACA $2,000 and the township will give $3,000 as advertising. He said the township has no concerts this year.
Coburn said the township does have three concerts planned this year and she was just at a meeting about them. They are July 12, 19, and 26, as well as concerts at Wayne County Community College in June. McNamara asked where the township concerts would be because of the construction at township hall and Coburn said they will be at Quirk Park.
DDA chairman Craig Atchinson said he would like a match of funds and whatever the Belleville DDA does, the VBT DDA would do.
The motion passed unanimously to authorize up to $3,000, but give whatever the Belleville DDA gives.
When asked if this was legal since the DDA is supposed to spend money only in its district, McNamara responded, “This is advertising. We can advertise wherever we want.”
In other business at the 44-minute meeting, the DDA:
• Reelected the same current officers for the year by acclimation: chairman Craig Atchinson, vice-chairperson Carol Bird, and secretary Chris Brown;
• Approved an agreement with O.R. Colan Associates to assist the DDA in the acquisition of the remaining 14 rights of way needed along Belleville Road between Ecorse and Tyler roads for an amount not to exceed $114,227.50. McNamara said they won’t have to spend that much money to buy the property, but the process for obtaining the properties is complicated. Atchinson said he understands that during reconstruction of Belleville Road, it will only be open to southbound traffic. Coburn said that is correct and one lane south will be open with a cut through north for fire department emergency runs. Atchinson said the detour could be Robson Road to Morton Taylor to Ecorse;
• Heard Coburn report on the design and concept of the Belleville Road project outlined in a one-page project sheet from Wade Trim engineers. It is a three-lane, concrete road, with right-hand turn lanes at the fire station/school, the mobile home community and the Clover development, as well as sidewalks on both sides of the road, improvements to the traffic lights at the fire station to include a hawk signal for a pedestrian crosswalk, and upgrades to the underground utilities. The widening project of Belleville Road between Tyler and Ecorse has been funded by the county for an amount of $2.1 million for the 2025 funding year and additional funding is being sought;
• Approved awarding the Belleville Road Streetscape Maintenance to low-bidder Pioneer Landscaping in the amount of $8,410. It was noted that is the firm presently in use;
• Approved the Harris Park Grounds Maintenance to low-bidder Grounds Control, LLC at a cost of $9,063. Matthew Barnett was present and explained that his firm, Grounds Control, had just formed and they are setting up another office in Traverse City. Barnett said he is a Belleville High School graduate and grew up in the Belleville area;
• Approved awarding the Belleville/Ecorse Road Intersection Grounds Maintenance contract to low-bidder Randy Brown Landscape in the amount of $18,280, conditional upon receipt of references and insurance. McNamara asked if picking up litter is part of the service and Coburn said it was;
• Heard McNamara comment on how bad the litter is throughout the township, especially along I-94 and across Tyler Road from Meijer. He said it’s a problem across America. He said a temporary agency was hired and got some areas cleaned up. The Independent added that the 34th District Court is working on reinstating the work crews, that were discontinued during COVID, because the communities are in such need of cleanups;
• In a related matter, heard McNamara say that State Rep. Reggie Miller, D-Van Buren Township, called him to find out his thoughts on allowing plastic bags to be banned in the state, which is something being considered by the legislature. Coburn said she drafted letters to businesses along the business corridor to urge them to clean up the litter. Atchinson said it is his understanding that the Belleville Yacht Club has two lake cleanups planned, one in April and the other before Lakefest in June;
• Heard Coburn say the DDA is working with the fire department to approve food trucks in advance. McNamara said the Wayne County Fairgrounds, which is not in the DDA district, brings in food trucks without approval from the fire department, as required. “Half way through the fair we have to shut them down,” McNamara said, noting it is a great inconvenience. Coburn said they are working on a consortium with other fire departments so the food trucks are all approved in advance; and
• Learned there will be a DDA board workshop set up sometime in May to get information on a project the police department wants funding for. The item was on the January agenda and then removed for more information. The request was for $85,000 over three years to fund “FUSUSCONNECT” for the Van Buren Township Public Safety Department. The project concerns businesses with security cameras in partnership with dispatch. McNamara said also dispatch could turn on pictures from a cell phone after the owner pushes a button so dispatch can see what’s actually happening at the scene. This would only be with the permission of the owner, McNamara stressed. He said the whole thing was similar to Project Green Light in Detroit.