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.
Linda Diane (or anyone)–is it possible to tap trees somewhere in the city? I don’t have my own maple tree and would kind of like to adopt some.
I spoke with a city forester, and they do not allow people to tap city trees. Sugar maples are already too stressed she said, and while all other maples can be tapped they are concerned about people who don’t know what they are doing putting in too many taps, or someone being injured by the taps, or a pail being adulterated by a passerby.
While you can apply for a permit to do something to a city tree,I was told that everyone asking for permission for maple syruping will be denied.
Find a friend with a tree, and share a bit of syrup with them. It doesn’t have to be a sugar maple, and even birch and sycamores can be tapped. Although I haven’t tasted the syrup from non-maples, and Euell Gibbons says sycamore isn’t worth the effort. But I did all my syruping from what I think is a silver maple last year and it was excellent.
40 gallons of sap makes one gallon of syrup. Boil it outside. Or use the raw sap for cooking – makes great oatmeal if you boil your cereal in sap rather than water! Also great bread, other baked goods.
This early thaw may cause a bit of decrease in the flow next month, but we should be OK. Meanwhile – tonight and tomorrow there may be maple sap icicles on the trees. A tasty surprise treat! Be sure to try them if you see them.
RE [1]: Try Washtenaw County Farm to see if you can use their trees. Details from a Chronicle story last spring: [link]
How do you keep the squirrels out? Ours are curious about everything and think they own the place.
I have neighbors (won’t say who or where) who tap into city trees on their hellstrip. They have flexible plastic tubes leading from the tap to covered 5-gal. buckets: squirrel proof.
Two other options. The plastic taps are easy to fit with the flexible plastic tube. But the right size and jam it into the tap. It stays. You can set a plastic milk jug on the ground and use tape or plastic wrap or aluminum foil to secure the tube going into the jug. Or, either buy plastic bags designed for the task or use zip lock bags secured with duct tape or some other fastener. Again, the bag is on the ground. And any tampering by people or animals would be obvious.
“hellstrip”?
Hellstrip: the area between the sidewalk and the street. So-called because it’s like hell to grow anything on that strip.
Example: [link]
If you gather the sap, from the previous day, in the early morning, there may be ice in the bucket. This ice can be thrown away. The sap at the bottom will be liquid and will contain the sugar. This will save a lot of boiling.
Fascinating. This is of interest to me because I once did a study (using Usenet as my data-gathering mechanism) that included eliciting terms for exactly that strip. I found several (parking, extension, boulevard, city property, etc.) that were used by lots of people, but out of several hundred responses, “hellstrip” appeared in the data exactly zero times. This was in about 1991, I think, so it seems to be a new term that has gained a lot of currency very rapidly. (Sorry for getting off-topic.)