FeedsMain Street bond fails at polls
The City of Belleville will not see a $6.5 million Main Street bond proposal.
Unofficial results Tuesday showed the bond was not approved during the primary election. There were 624 ‘no’ votes and 314 ‘yes’ votes.
The $6.5 million bond would have gone toward: about $5.8 million for the water main, road paving and streetscape, about $200,000 for bond process and the remaining almost $500,000 for Liberty Street parking.
Carol Thompson, administrative coordinator for the Downtown Development Authority, said it’s a difficult situation because they’ll have no way of knowing why the voters turned it down.
“The project will now be tabled,” she said. “I’m disappointed because I believe it’s been a thorough process that would have strengthened the infrastructure, which is the key step in developing the downtown.”
Plans for the Main Street project proposed by Walker Development were initially unveiled in January, and included retail and residential development, including a 72,000 square foot grocery store (Kroger) located off of Main Street between Roy’s and Charles streets. It also included a new library on the ground floor, plus 31,000 square feet of retail, residential housing, office space, parking and, the elimination of several downtown buildings, like Chase Bank.
Downtown business owners were concerned about the project scheduled to start in May and formed a committee to stop the bond sale of the development. The right of referendum petition was submitted with about 450 signatures and approved in April putting it on the primary ballot.
“It’s hard to see that the voters turned it down,” said Thompson.
The next development authority meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 20.
