KALAMAZOO, MI --

will resume plans to invest several million dollars into its facilities after president Larry Bell said he resolved issues with several of the company's minority shareholders.

Bell said last spring he was freezing future investments and considering selling the state's oldest and largest brewery if he could not convince 11 shareholders to sell their holdings in the privately held company. In 2010, Bell announced

. The company spent $20 million to

that opened in the spring and more than $3 million on renovations to downtown Kalamazoo's Bell's Eccentric Cafe.

Bell said the company will spend between $10-$12 million this year on capital improvements, including three major projects at the Comstock facility and additional work to the cafe at 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave.

"I've been able to resolve some of the issues I had, and some of the concerns financial institutions had, so I can move forward," Bell said.

Bell said the brewery will add a waste-water system, a fermentation cellar and a canning line at the Comstock Township plant this year. He also plans to

. Bell would not share how many of the investors accepted the latest offer. He wouldn't comment further on his statements last year about possibly selling the company, other than to say, "Bell's remains fiercely independent."

Bell said his goal is to have financing for the projects by April 1. He said he hopes to order the canning equipment in the late fall or early winter and to be canning by the time the brewery's top-selling beer, Oberon, is out in late March of 2014.

"I don't see any reason why I can't have that with my preliminary talks with financial institutions," Bell said.

Bell said he is also pursuing purchasing about 9 acres contiguous to the logistics center, located near the Comstock brewery.

"It would allow us to add to the logistics center in the future," he said.

Bell said there are plans to announce another multi-million dollar project soon.

Here is a closer look at the Comstock Township facility investments:

Fermentation Cellar



Bell's Brewery plans to purchase 12 800-barrel tanks. The 200-barrel brewhouse expansion at the Comstock facility gave Bell's the potential annual production of about 800,000 barrels. Bell's production continues to grow every year. The company sold 216,316 barrels in 2012, up from 185,000 in 2011.

Bell said plans for the new building are under way and he expects it to be complete by the end of the year.

Canning Line

Bell said the company plans to order a small canning line that will do about 500 cans per minute. It will be placed in the same room as the brewery's bottling line.

"The staff has done a lot of due diligence and research on it," Bell said. "It's going to be very easy to make the decision and place the order."

Bell said the brewery will can Oberon and a "couple other brands to start."

"I think Two Hearted in a can is a great idea," Bell said of the brewery's No. 2 seller.

Waste-Water System

Bell said the engineering staff is examining several different options for a waste-water system. A final decision hasn't been made on the project yet.

“We’ve gotten bigger and we’re to a point where the costs we're incurring in the municipal system have grown considerably. It’s time for us to be able to deal with our own waste water before using the municipal system," he said.

Bell added: “There are options that we are exploring, but it’s something we have to deal with and the investment will save us a considerable amount of money going forward."

John Liberty can be reached at 269-370-7372 or jlibert1@mlive.com. Follow me on Twitter @JohnTLiberty