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.
Bill, does the sign say “FULL”?
Or does it say, “0″?
It read “0″ (I was walking w/ Bill).
Here are Bill’s photos. http://monkey.org/~bill/pics/noparking/
Ha. Evidence of a DDA conspiracy to create the illusion that we “need” the underground parking on the library lot?
It appears to be a malfunction with the numbering system. When the structure is full, the sign says “Full”.
Re: [5]
The plot thickens. Two council meetings ago. Leigh Greden — in making the case that more parking capacity was needed — said something like “When the counter says zero …” During the intermission, I ‘confronted’ Leigh: “You’ve never even actually seen a parking structure empty! They say FULL, not 0! Ha HAH!” And Joe Morehouse, deputy director of the DDA, confirmed that … until he checked with someone else and said that the counters on the structures say 0 when full, which required that I inform Greden he’d been right all along. I took Merrill’s photos to be further confirmation of that.
As for the issue yesterday, it’s important to understand that the signs work on an in-out counter basis, and get re-set every morning based on a manual count. As a result of an inquiry made by Greden, it’s emerged that the re-set had not taken place, leading to the erroneous display.
That is not what I heard – I heard that it said “full” – so who is right? (Actually, who cares – this is obviously a malfunction of the sign – let it go)
There are two signs – the numerical counter mounted on the building which reads “0″ when it thinks there are no spaces left, and the sign alongside the entrance drive which reads “full” when it thinks the structure is full. I don’t know if these two signs work off the same data, but one think they would.