SHELBY - Monday, the Shelby Village Council made official a previously discussed financial commitment to the Downtown Revitalization Project when they approved two resolutions related to it. Council members Steve Crothers, Crystal Heykoop, Mike Termer, Curt Trott and Village President John Sutton all voted in favor of the resolutions; council member Dan Zaverl voted against both resolutions; and council member Samantha Gottschalk was absent.
The first resolution gave approval for two transfers, for $150,000 each, from the village’s Major Streets fund to the village’s Local Streets fund. One transfer would occur in FY25-26 (ending February 28, 2026), and the second in FY26-27. The two transfers would total $300,000 altogether.
The second resolution gave approval to formally commit $200,000 from the General Fund and the $300,000 from the village’s Major Streets fund for the express purpose of downtown renovations.
Prior to the vote, Village Administrator Phil Morse presented informational slides showing the village’s fund balances as of December 2025, as well as FY 26/27 “proposed” fund balances. Also included were village revenue and expenditures, as well as required minimum and maximum fund balances for the General Fund, Major Streets and Local Streets.
Morse said he feels the village’s Fundraising Team can raise $100,000 in private donations, making the village’s total contribution to the project $600,000. A match of the same amount from a private donor would bring available project funding to $1.2 million.
The projected cost for the downtown revitalization is between $1.7 million and $2 million, Morse said. The difference would be covered through a bond purchase to be covered with Brownfield Housing TIF (Tax-Incremental Financing) funds “captured” through private downtown construction.
“I feel very confident in these numbers,” Morse said. Adding, the anticipated downtown development would go hand in hand with the public project.
Prior to the vote, Termer said, “With Getty Park, donations did not come in as we’d hoped, and we ended up with a bigger bill.” He followed up by saying the one thing holding him up was a bond purchase. “I don’t like going into debt, and I don’t like putting the village in debt.”
Morse explained that funds from a TIF capture would be used to pay off the bond. The money would come into the village and go right back out. “If the TIF money is not there, we wouldn’t take out a bond,” Morse said.
Following the passage of both resolutions, Sutton said, “This shows developers and donors we (the council) are serious.”
Morse added, “This is the first time in my lifetime I’ve seen anything like this. It’s a really good opportunity for us.”
A third and final resolution approved the repair of the village’s Kubota snowblower, which sustained a mechanical failure in early December. The low bid from Wolf Kubota of Free Soil came in at $3,843.46. Considering the base price for a new tractor starts at $36,000, and this piece of equipment has given 20 years of faithful service, it is hoped the $3,800 repair will provide many more.
With regard to the housing unit fire at 55 E. Fourth St. in Shelby on Jan. 8, Chief of Police Dean Roesler reported the housing unit contained five apartments that had been remodeled and added on to numerous times. The cause of the fire was determined to be an improperly installed wall-unit gas heater. The day of the fire, DPW employee Brad Simons noticed smoke, immediately contacted 911 and Chief Roesler, and then started knocking on doors, Morse said. It was reported firefighters used one million gallons of water to fight the fire, necessitating the use of two village wells to maintain water levels in the water tower. In a regular 24-36 hour time period, the village uses approximately 200,000 gallons of water, Morse said. Eight individuals were displaced as a result of the catastrophic loss.
The whole incident renewed the importance of the need for some type of rental ordinance enforcement in the village. “While preliminary information suggests the fire was not caused by property maintenance neglect, it reinforces concerns that some rental units in the village may not be in full compliance with code requirements,” Morse’s weekly administrative report to council read. Coincidentally, the day before the fire, leaders from the City of Hart, the Village of Shelby, Trinity Health Lakeshore Housing Initiative and Shelby Township met to pick up where the group left off several years ago, when the hiring of a shared code enforcement officer had first been discussed. Morse said the concept will be revisited and evaluated in the coming weeks.
Finally, the Water & Sanitation Committee held a meeting with a representative from the Michigan Rural Water Association prior to Monday night’s meeting. Chairman Trott said a lot of data and information was shared, and it might be a good idea to have them present to the entire council.
The next village council meeting is set for Monday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m at the village hall in downtown Shelby.
