REGULAR MEETING MINUTES BELDING CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
7:00 p.m.
A meeting of the Belding City Council of the City of Belding, Michigan was convened in open and public session at the Pere Marquette Depot, 100 Depot Street, at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.
Mayor Jeannine Leary called the meeting to order and led with the Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance.
City Clerk, Janae Ortego took the roll call:
Members present: Shelley Gladding, Bonita Steele, Nikolai Zerkle, Linda Curtis and Jeannine Leary
Members absent: None
City Manager Keven Krieger requested the following additions to the Agenda under New Business: Add Item A. 3. Jeffrey Puehler – ZBA and Item G. Depot Street Road Closure for Memorial Day Service at Veteran’s Park. Moved By Gladding, seconded by Steele to approve the amended agenda. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
A. Mayor Jeannine Leary presented Mrs. Tara Price with a Good Neighbor Award recognizing the volunteer efforts Mrs. Price and several of her Belding Area Middle School students who picked up over 400 pounds of garbage throughout the Belding Community on Earth Day.
B. Scott Hall from Williams & Works gave the monthly update on the status of the WWTP, which included a handout with photos (on file in the Clerk’s Office).
C. Hall gave a very brief update on the status of the Drinking Water Grant which is still in progress.
Moved by Steele, seconded by Gladding 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 83450 to 83514 in the amount of $462,886.97
Approve ACH Payments
B. Approve Minutes: City Council Regularly scheduled meeting – May 6, 2025
Zerkle reported that the ZBA will be meeting in early June. Gladding reported that the Planning Commission meets next week.
Steele reported that 28 people attended the Edmond Fitzgerald event at the library. The library will be closing for a week later this summer to remove all books from the shelves and go through them.
Curtis reported that she attended her first Housing Commission meeting where the upcoming fiscal year budget projections were reviewed.
Mayor Leary reported that the Museum Board meets next week.
A. Interviews were conducted for the ZBA and DDA boards. Three seats are available on the DDA. One applicant, Robert Leppink, was interviewed. One regular and two alternate seats are available on the ZBA. Two applicants, Bill Mangini and Jeffrey Puehler interviewed.
At the conclusion of the interviews, it was moved by Zerkle, and seconded by Curtis to appoint Robert Leppink to the DDA. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
Ortego distributed ballots for the vote for vote the ZBA position. Upon collection and tallying the votes, Ortego announced that there were 3 votes for Puehler and one vote for Mangini. Moved by Zerkle, seconded by Steele to appoint Puehler to the ZBA and to appoint Mangini to the ZBA as the alternate. Motion carried 4-0-1 by the following roll call vote:
YEAS: Zerkle, Steele, Curtis and Leary NAYS: None
ABSTAIN: Gladding (citing conflict of interest)
B. Moved by Steele, seconded by Gladding to reappoint Arthur Mahar to the Housing Commission Board. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
C. Moved by Zerkle, seconded by Steele to approve the Recreation Advisory Bylaws as presented, with the only change being to add back the verbiage on page 2 as follows: “The Mayor may appoint a member of the City Council to the Recreation Advisory Board to serve as a liaison to the City Council. Such appointees are not eligible to serve as a voting member of the Recreation Advisory Board.” Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
D. Moved by Zerkle, seconded by Steele to approve the Special Events Application submitted by the Belding Area Community Fund for a Turkey Trot 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run to held on November 22, 2025. (On file in the Clerk’s Office) Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
E. Moved by Zerkle, seconded by Steele, to approve the Bridge Street Reconstruction Project as presented, authorizing the City Manager’s signature. (This construction contract is to reconstruct Bridge Street from M-44 to Ellis Avenue in 2025 (contract on file in the Clerk’s Office). The addition from Ellis to Kiddville will come in at a different time.) Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
F. Moved by Steele, seconded by Zerkle, to approve the budget amendments as presented. (On file in the clerk’s Office) No significant changes were noted. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
G. Moved by Zerkle, seconded by Gladding to approve the closure of Depot Street on Sunday, May 25th from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. for the Freedom Riders and on Monday, May 26th (Memorial Day) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a program of the Veteran’s Group. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
Mary Roy advised the council of dates, locations and brief descriptions of Civil War reenactment events. (handout on file in the Clerk’s Office). She advised that the city does not have enough room to do a battle, however, the Civil War reenactors could come to the school in their attire and do a Q&A session or they could do an encampment event in the space we do have showcasing demos and formations. There would be no risk or projectiles.
City Manager Keven Krieger commented on the following topics of interest:
· The city assessor’s will be doing property assessments around town
· Both tornado sirens are now working
· Demolition has started in the new City Hall building
· Pot hole patching has commenced
· DPW is preparing for Memorial Day
· Memorial Day service on Monday
· Mausoleum will be open on Memorial Day
· Brush pick-up next week
· City email extensions will be changing to the .gov format, Microsoft TEAMS will be integrated for ADA and Military participation
Gladding thanked everyone for coming, thanked the interviewees, and commented that the recording meetings is being researched by Krieger.
Steele commented on the civil war reenactments and on Belding cemetery history.
Curtis welcomed the new ZBA and DDA members.
Zerkle advised everyone of his military orders; he will be leaving for 29 days and then will be immobilized next year. He will still be able to have contact and participate.
Residents are welcome to contact him with questions.
Mayor Leary thanked the board/commission applicants, citing new and diverse voices. She additionally thanked Chief Lubitz.
Moved by Zerkle, seconded by Gladding to adjourn the meeting at 7:56 p.m. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: Yes – all.
_______________________________ ___________________________________
Jeannine Leary, Mayor Janae Ortego, MiPMC City Clerk