REGULAR MEETING
BELDING CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, March 7, 2023
BELROCKTON
108 HANOVER STREET
7:00 P.M.
A meeting of the Belding City Council was convened in open and public session at the Belrockton, 108 Hanover Street, Belding, MI 48809, at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
Mayor Bruce Meyers called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and led with the Invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
City Clerk, Janae Ortego, took the roll call:
Members present: Jeannine Leary, Bonita Steele, Jorel Davis and Bruce Meyers
Members absent: Shelley Gladding
Moved by Steele, seconded by Leary to excuse the absence of Gladding per section 4.5f of the City Charter. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: yes – all.
Mayor Meyers noted the following change to the agenda: Remove check 75912 in the amount of $44,064.00 from the Consent Agenda and add as Item C. under New Business for discussion. Moved by Davis, seconded by Leary to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
A. Approve Independent Bank Checks 79513 to 79580 in the amount of $787,840.98
Approve Independent Bank ACH Notifications – (4)
Approve Mercantile Bank Checks 1406 to 1416 in the amount of $22,258.06
B. Approve Minutes: City Council regularly scheduled meeting – February 21, 2023
Chief of Police, Dion Sower, presented their CIP. (The CIP, along with supporting documentation, is on file in the Clerk’s Office). Topics of interest included:
· Largest recurring expense are fleet vehicles
· The two major concerns are the radios and tasers. When the City of Ionia donated their radios to Belding in 2016, they were already at life expectancy. The radios are starting to fail; yesterday an officer could not transmit. Sower stated “They are our lifeline-YOUR lifeline.” Tasers are not operating correctly either. Sower is seeking grants for radios and tasers.
· Sower reported spending approximately $46,000 - $47,000 in motor vehicle maintenance in the past three years.
· The Police Department is currently down by one car. It has been inoperable for a year. Sower reported not having enough patrol vehicles at the Glow Run. He had to have a car from the Ionia County Sheriff’s Department come to the event to block streets.
Leary reported that the Library Board cancelled their meeting on January 27th, and cancelled their February meeting as there was not enough business to discuss. The Museum Board met on February 28th. Topics of discussion included:
· Display changes
· Organizing and cataloging items
· Looking into programs to bring in for next year
Steele reported that the Rec Board meeting for March 13th has been rescheduled to March 20th as the Clerk will not be available as she will be attending the Municipal Clerk Institute seeking to obtain her Municipal Clerk Certification.
Davis reported that he Planning Commission was held on February 28th. Draft ordinances for short-term rentals and marijuana retailer were reviewed. Rental properties were discussed as well. Planner Andy Moore from Williams & Works will be at the next Planning Commission meeting to go over any questions, then the ordinances should be ready to submit to City Council for consideration.
Mayor Meyers reported that the Housing Commission did not meet in February. Their next meeting is scheduled for March 16th at 6:15 p.m.
A. Moved by Leary, seconded by Steele to discuss the Consumer’s Energy Foundation Grant. City Manager Jon Stoppels advised that this program has been around for a while; it is intended to attract and maintain business, but it is hard to get. Stoppels requested the Board to consider ideas and then we could put together a brief presentation. Moved by Leary, seconded by Davis to direct Staff to work with local civic groups to gather ideas for projects to be implemented in the central business district that meet the criteria set forth by the Consumers Energy Grant program. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
B. Consider Public Works and Utilities Equipment Purchases - The DPW is working on putting together a CIP. Between COVID and the lack of availability of equipment they still have money in their budget to purchase the items below. They have identified several needs:
· Loader $185,000 (approved in 22/23 budget)
· Mower and trailer $18,000
· Small Loader $85,000 (approved in 22/23 budget)
· Water Trailer $7,000 (already purchased this week)
· Pick-up truck with V-plow (this is a 2019 Ford F-150 with a plow with only 10K miles)
These items total $339,000. $312,523 was budgeted in FY 22/23. $12,438.11 has been collected from selling scrap metal. The outstanding balance is $14,038.89 which can be funded from selling vehicles and more salvage.
Other identified needs:
· 2 vacuum trucks for leaf pick-up
These items can be put on the 2023/24 Budget.
Moved by Leary, seconded by Steele to approve the purchase of the requested equipment pursuant to the financing plan developed by staff. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
C. Moved by Davis, seconded by Steele to approve the check payment of $44,064 for a pickup truck with plow to Ed Koehn Ford. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
Stoppels commented on the following topics of interest:
· Working on the FY 2023/24 Budget
· Budget workshops will be held at 6 p.m. prior to the regular City Council meetings at 7 p.m.
· The Depot is almost finished. Just a small punchlist and clean-up remains.
· The City Hall Restoration Plan was distributed to Council Members.
· Road patching starts soon.
· Stoppels handed out his list of “To-Do” for this year, which will be continually updated.
Steele commented on the restoration plan.
Stopples commented that he is planning to add a survey to the Bugle regarding trash service, spring clean-up and recycling and plans to educate the public on what it costs to live here. The range that people pay for trash is extreme. He also plans to educate
people on ways to conserve water.
Davis thanked the police, the DPW, Jon (Stoppels), the newspaper and everyone who came to the meeting. He also commented on CIPs to make informed decisions going forward.
Mayor Meyers echoed Davis. He commented on the amounts of things needed, but thanked previous councils for being conservative as we have large fund balances.
He further commented on the large dollar amount of checks approved - $600,000 was for the first payment of the WWTP.
Moved by Leary, seconded by Steele to adjourn the meeting at 8:17 p.m. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
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Bruce Meyers, Mayor Janae Ortego, City Clerk