REGULAR MEETING
BELDING CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Pere Marquette Depot
100 Depot Street
7:00 p.m.
A meeting of the Belding City Council was convened in open and public session at the Pere Marquette Depot, 100 Depot Street, Belding, MI 48809, at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
Mayor Bruce Meyers called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and gave the Invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
City Clerk, Janae Ortego, took the roll call:
Members present: Shelley Gladding, Bonita Steele, Jeannine Leary, Jorel Davis and Bruce Meyers
Members absent: None
Mayor Meyers removed the Closed Session from the agenda and added it to Item F. under New Business as “Discuss Real Estate Purchase”. Moved by Davis, seconded by Steele to approve the amended agenda. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
Moved by Davis, seconded by Leary to open the Public Hearing at 7:03 p.m. The purpose for the Public Hearing is to hear comments regarding Ordinance #561 which allows the city to issue bonds for the construction of the new wastewater treatment plant.
Sam Mason, 516 W. May Street inquired on the process of how long it will take to sell the bonds and if it will hold up the project. City Manager Jon Stoppels advised that the bonds have already been sold. Hearing no further questions or comments Mayor Meyers closed the Public Hearing. Moved by Davis, seconded by Leary to approve closing the Public Hearing at 7:05 p.m. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
Moved by Davis, seconded by Leary to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all. The Consent Agenda is as follows:
A. Approve Independent Bank Checks 80485 to 80563 in the amount of $243,645.45
Approve Independent Bank ACH Notifications
Approve Mercantile Bank Checks 1457 to 1464 in the amount of $233,266.47
B. Approve Minutes:
City Council regularly scheduled meeting minutes – September 5, 2023
Closed Session minutes - September 5, 2023
Mayor Meyers noted that $71,000 of the amount included in approving the Independent Bank checks was for replacement of 24 water service line change outs.
Steele advised that she was unable to attend the Rec Board meeting and asked Stoppels to provide a report. He reported that there was a construction update on Lightning Bend Park with construction to expand the disc golf course starting this week and that Scott McNeal gave a presentation on Gus Macker.
Gladding reported that the ZBA will be meeting on October 10th.
Davis reported that the Planning Commission will be meeting on September 26th at 6:30 p.m.
Leary advised that neither the Museum Board nor the Library Board has met.
Mayor Meyers advised that the Housing Commission will be meeting on September 21st at 6:15 p.m.
A. Moved by Davis, seconded by Gladding to adopt Ordinance #561-
Allowing the city to issue bonds for the construction of the new Wastewater Treatment Plant. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all. The Ordinance is as follows:
CITY OF BELDING
COUNTY OF IONIA, MICHIGAN
AN ORDINANCE REGARDING THE ISSUANCE OF JUNIOR LIEN BONDS; BONDS OF THE SANITARY SEWER SYSTEM AND OTHER MATTERS RELATIVE TO THE SANITARY SEWER SYSTEM.
WHEREAS, pursuant to Ordinance No. 413 and Ordinance 499 (the “Ordinances”) the City of Belding (the “City”) has issued its Sanitary Sewer System Revenue Bonds, Series 2007 (the “Series 2007 Bonds”); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Resolution 2023-07-16 (the “Resolution”) the City intends to issue its Sewage Disposal System Junior Lien Revenue Bonds, Series 2023 (the “Series 2023 Bonds”) as permitted by the Ordinances; and
WHEREAS, the City intends to sell the Series 2023 Bonds to the Michigan Finance Authority.
THE CITY OF BELDING ORDAINS:
ARTICLE I
JUNIOR LIEN BONDS
Section 1.1. Junior Lien Bonds. Junior Lien Bonds of the Sanitary Sewer System (the “System”) shall be governed by the Resolution.
Section 1.2. Junior Lien Bond and Interest Redemption Account. The Junior Lien Bond and Interest Redemption Account established by the Resolution shall be funded quarterly as provided in the Resolution after the quarterly deposit to the Bond and Interest Redemption Fund for the Series 2007 Bonds has been made pursuant Article VI of Ordinance 499.
ARTICLE II
MATTERS GOVERNED BY THE ORDINANCES AND THE RESOLUTION
Section 2.1. Resolution. Except to the extent the application thereof would impair the security for the Series 2007 Bonds, the issuance of bonds of the System, additional bonds, payment thereof and other matters addressed in the Resolution shall be governed by the Resolution.
Section 2.2. Ordinances. If any provision of the Resolution would impair the Security for the Series 2007 Bonds, which shall be considered and included in the definition of First Lien Bonds under the Resolution, the provisions of the Ordinances shall govern such matter until payment in full or defeasance of the Series 2007 Bonds.
ARTICLE III
MISCELLANEOUS
Section 3.1. Headings. The paragraph headings in this Ordinance are furnished for convenience of reference only and shall not be considered to be a part of this Ordinance.
Section 3.2. Recordation; Publication; Effective Date. This Ordinance shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation within the City, promptly after its adoption. In accordance with Act 94, this Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.
Section 3.3. Validity. If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance shall be held invalid, it shall not affect any other part of this Ordinance.
ORDINANCE ADOPTED AND SIGNED EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 19, 2023.
B. Moved by Leary, seconded by Davis, to do the first reading of Ordinance #562 to Establish New Voter Precinct Boundaries and set a public hearing date for October 3, 2023. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes- all.
C. Scott Hall from Fleis & Vandenbrink gave an update on the Wastewater Treatment Plant. They are hoping to have a ground breaking ceremony this fall. The city is trying to get the public to write letters to their legislators regarding the impact that the mandated facility is imposing upon themselves and their families. On September 8th the final paperwork for approval of the loan amount went through—the funding is secured. The city is to sign the paperwork, then the subcontractors and the construction can begin this fall. They have not exhausted cutting costs and are looking for similar cost savings. Many other communities that were mandated to construct new wastewater treatment plants are in are in a similar situation but with a much higher percentage of increase in costs.
D. Moved by Leary, seconded by Gladding to approve the Phase II Ellis Road Reconstruction Engineering Proposal as presented by Larry Hummel from Fleis & Vandenbrink. The project is funded by mostly state funds, approximately $481,000 with a city match of about $100,000. He is waiting to hear from the contractor to schedule the curb repairs. They should take about 2 days to complete. This project is on the Small Urban Schedule.
E. Moved by Leary, seconded by Steele to consider security camera bids. Stoppels and Mayor Meyers have met with TKS. Moved by Davis, seconded by Gladding to table the matter to the next City Council meeting to allow Stoppels and Mayor Meyers time to meet with Comtronics. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – All.
F. Moved by Steele, seconded by Gladding to discuss the real estate purchase. Mayor Meyers announced that the city has purchased 115 and 117 E. Main Street, formerly the Belco Building and parking lot, to be the new City Hall and parking lot. Mayor Meyers advised that approximately a year ago the city hired a firm to do a study of the current City Hall (at 120 S. Pleasant Street) due to its lack of ADA Accessibility and its many other issues. Upgrades would be in excess of $6,000,000 not including an elevator. An elevator alone would cost $550,000 - $600,000 and still would not reach every level of the existing city hall. The Belco building was purchased for $300,000. And meets the needs of both the citizens and city staff. The existing city hall is well built, but no longer a functional city hall in todays climate. Currently two of the five city council members are unable to access city hall due to its constraints. The new building is assessed at $240,000 ($480,000 market value). Studies have been done verifying that there is no contamination on the site. Moved by Davis, seconded by Steele to approve the sale and purchase agreement effective September 19, 2023 between the City of Belding and Belco to purchase 115 and 117 E. Main Street for $300,000 with the clerk and mayor to sign the closing documents at a date to be determined. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – All.
David Noah, 1018 Kenwood Avenue, commented on surveillance cameras, the purchase of the Belco Building and traffic control/speeding.
Dave Lance, 805 Morgan Drive, commented on potholes and the wastewater treatment plant.
Mayor Meyers commented on the misinformation, half-truths and opinions that flood Facebook postings.
Sam Mason, 516 May Street, thanked Fleis and Vandenbrink and Stoppels. He commented on the new building and on cameras.
Linda White, Bricker Street, commented on cameras and buildings falling down.
Jenny Bennett, 1125 Kenwood, commented on the wastewater treatment plant project overages, cameras, the bidding process, grant processes and a board’s ability to eliminate items if/when an overage occurs, the purchase of a new building for city hall and staffing.
Mayor Meyers advised that the council members sometimes not having questions at meetings is because their research is done beforehand so they can understand the topic that they are making decisions on.
Stoppels advised that the difference on eliminating overages on a park project versus the wastewater treatment plant is that the improvements at the park are a want not a need. The wastewater treatment plant is a mandate; there’s nothing we can do about it. He further advised that the current lagoon system is still functional and was not neglected. The minutes dating back to the 1960’s to current were researched by an independent individual and the minutes prove that the current system was regularly and properly maintained.
Cathy North commented on the Veterans Park, vandalism, Pitsch and the lagoons.
Clinton Hewartson, 107 E. Main Street, commented on the new building, the parking, possibly opening up a farmer’s market, the wastewater treatment plant and looking into options.
Ken Myers, commented on the water and sewer bill increases and council member reelections.
Jeff Hunter commented on maintaining the sewer ponds, qualifications to run the new plant and PFAS testing.
Steele directed Hunter to EGLEs website.
Stoppels advised council on the following topics of interest:
· Best public hearing he has ever had in 40 years
· DPW had to take the water tower out of service for a few hours and the water pressure caused a few leaks and they had to change some valves.
· A resident at Belhaven I has had a drainage issue for several years. The issue was fixed, restored and resolved last week.
Steele presented some facts on 11 x 14 sheets of paper to the public regarding the breakdown of property taxes, water rates, and other miscellaneous helpful information. (On file in the Clerk’s office). She additionally advised the public of how to find information on our website as well as some other helpful websites.
Gladding thanked everyone who commented, no matter of their opinion. She commented on appearing in person versus Facebook for comments. She advised that she is aware that the water/sewer rate increase is hard on many but it has to be done. The council is doing what they have to do and how this affects reelection is not a concern.
Davis thanked Steele for her presentation. He thanked everyone for coming and the benefit of so many citizens attending, as they are leaving the meeting well informed. He commented on the Lightning Bend improvements not being mandated like the wastewater treatment plant. The only way to pay for this plant is by water and sewer funds—no other money can be used—this is how the state says it has to be done. He commented on the cameras and thanked the DDA and the Belding community Fund for their donations.
Leary commented on the attendance and appreciated it as it makes for a better community.
Mayor Meyers thanked Bonita, this council and all former councils. He thanked each individual for their comments. He advised that council is concerned about the rates. He further commented that we are not over budget because of the delivery system we picked. Other cities are also over budget and used a different delivery method and are even further over budget that we are. Multiple prongs caused the rise in cost.
Moved by Steele, seconded by Leary to adjourn the meeting at 9:05 p.m. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
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Bruce Meyers, Mayor Janae Ortego, City Clerk