Brown Recommended for N. Main Group
At its May 23, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor public art commission (AAPAC) unanimously recommended that Connie Rizzolo Brown be nominated for a position on a task force to study the corridor along North Main Street and the Huron River. That recommendation will be forwarded to mayor John Hieftje.
The task force was established by the city council at its May 7, 2012 meeting, with membership to include the following: one member of the park advisory commission, one member of the planning commission, one resident representing the Water Hill neighborhood, one resident representing the North Central neighborhood, one resident from the Old Fourth Ward, one resident representing the Broadway/Pontiac neighborhood, two business and property owners from the affected area, and one member of the Huron River Watershed Council.
At its May 21 meeting, the two sponsors of the resolution that created the task force – Ward 1 councilmembers Sabra Briere and Sandi Smith – proposed adding three additional representatives: a member of the city council, someone from the boating/fishing community of river users, a representative from the Huron River Citizens Association. Tony Derezinski (Ward 2), who also serves on AAPAC, then proposed an amendment to add an AAPAC member to the task force. The AAPAC addition was passed by council on a 6-5 vote. [See Chronicle coverage: "Positions Added to North Main Task Force"] Appointments are expected to be made at the council’s June 4 meeting.
At AAPAC’s May 23 meeting, Derezinski told commissioners that “basically, we need someone at the table.”
The task force is charged with delivering a report to the city council more than a year from now – by July 31, 2013 – that describes “a vision to create/complete/enhance pedestrian and bike connection from downtown to Bandemer and Huron River Drive, increase public access to the river-side amenities of existing parks in the North Main-Huron River corridor, ease traffic congestion at Main and Depot at certain times of a day and recommend use of MichCon property at Broadway; …”
Earlier than that – by the end of 2012 – the task force is to make recommendations on the use of the city-owned 721 N. Main parcel.
Brown has served on AAPAC since early 2009, and has chaired the commission’s projects committee. She is a principal of Rizzolo Brown Studio, an Ann Arbor architecture firm.
This brief was filed from the basement conference room of city hall at 301 E. Huron, where AAPAC held its meeting. A more detailed report will follow.
Thanks for Totter Toons, Dave!
You know that abbreviation “LOL”? I could use “COL” (for Chuckle Out Loud) for this Totter Toon. Thx, Dave!
Coal is good. It can help get us off foreign oil. Why is Obama and, of course, city council, bashing our most abundant fossil fuel? Sure, let’s send some more cash to Venezuela and the mideast. Morons.
That would be because of the devastation to the environment in the mining and the burning (use) of coal. It isn’t an either or pick – we can (and are) creating alternatives to both coal and oil. In the meantime, decreasing the use of both as much as possible seems the only ethical and practical choice. There is no future with coal. But I agree – not with oil either.
If you were just making a joke, sorry, I missed it. I really am not sure if you are serious, Jake.
Ethical? Perhaps. Practical? You’re joking, right? O himself has said he wants to eliminate oil imports from mideast by 2019, a worthy but not practical goal. How can he did this w/o coal? Impossible unless we start 22-hour-a-day blackouts. Extreme liberals: No future w/coal. No future with nuclear. No future w/oil and gas. That leaves “alternative energy,” which makes up 6.8% of all usage currently and even under the most extreme liberal estimates (not practical estimates) might be 30% by 2020. Yup, blackouts it is. That’s your “practical” alternative.
Thanks, Jake, for pointing out the obvious — as long as we consume as we have been, the ‘liberal’ alternatives don’t measure up. Perhaps 22 hour blackouts aren’t such a far fetched idea. (I’m only partially joking here.) How much coal and oil does it take to ride our bikes. How much savings in energy would be have if a significant majority took a bus to work?
A serious question is whether we can more gently lower our standard of living?