Archive for April, 2011

The New York Times published an article featuring the newest University of Michigan solar car: “Just a few days ago, the newest and best hope in American solar car racing improbably rested atop four laundry baskets. Quantum, the newest creation of the University of Michigan’s solar car team, was designed for the World Solar Challenge in October. If it wins that event, in Australia, it would be the first victory for an American entry since General Motors’ Sunraycer in 1987.” [Source]

At their April 12, 2011 working session, Ann Arbor planning commissioners gave feedback on a draft request for proposals (RFP) for a South State Street corridor study. The RFP, which will likely be issued next week, will solicit a consultant to develop a comprehensive plan for the 2.15-mile section between Stimson Street to the north and Ellsworth to the south. Commissioners have discussed this project previously, including at a retreat held in April 2010. [.pdf file of draft State Street Corridor study RFP]

The RFP calls for the study to include: (1) a data inventory and analysis with information on existing conditions for land use, transportation, natural features and other elements; (2) a market analysis to identify demand and redevelopment potential; (3) identification of goals, issues and opportunities for the corridor; (4) identification of possible scenarios for developing the corridor; (5) selection of a preferred land use scenario; (6) identification of action plans and policies to implement the preferred scenario; and (7) development of a final corridor plan report. The process is expected to take 12 months to complete.

Jill Thacher, the city planner who is leading this project, plans to issue the RFP next week, with a mid-May deadline for submitting proposals and selection of a consultant taking place later that month. The planning commission’s master plan review committee – consisting of Wendy Woods, Diane Giannola, Evan Pratt and Erica Briggs – will help select the consultant. The goal is for work to begin in July 2011. Because the study is expected to cost more than $25,000, it would first require city council approval.

This brief was filed shortly after the commission’s Tuesday evening meeting. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

USA Today reports on the prevalence of drinking among high schoolers, citing a recent University of Michigan study that found 70% of high school students drink and 23% of seniors engage in binge drinking. In order to help decrease that number, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is launching a campaign to involve parents, the “number one influence” on teen drinking behavior, according to MADD. [Source]

Washtenaw County board of commissioners working session (April 7, 2011): At their working session, county commissioners heard – most of them for the first time – a proposal on structuring the board for a possible new countywide transit authority. It was not universally well-received.

Washtenaw County commissioner Wes Prater, right, talks with Michael Benham of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority following the April 7, 2011 working session of the county board. During the meeting, Prater raised concerns over the proposal for governance of a countywide transit system. (Photos by the writer.)

The tentative proposal includes allocating Ann Arbor seven seats on a 15-member board. While most of the other seats are based on population, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti would be given special consideration because both cities have millages dedicated to pay for public transit. [Ypsilanti – with a population of 19,435 compared to Ann Arbor's 113,934 – would be allocated one seat.] The assumption of the proposal is that those millages would remain in place, on top of another transportation millage levied on all county taxpayers. A countywide millage would require voter approval.

Commissioner Kristin Judge, whose district covers Pittsfield Township, protested the way board seats were assigned, saying it gave an unfair advantage to Ann Arbor. Commissioner Wes Prater, who represents southeast portions of the county, said he was “flabbergasted” that the governance plan had been developed so fully without consulting the county board, which under the current proposal would be asked to ratify the new transit authority’s board members. However, some individual commissioners were previously aware of the proposal, including board chair Conan Smith and Yousef Rabhi, chair of the board’s working session. Both Smith and Rabhi represent Ann Arbor districts.

Ronnie Peterson – a commissioner representing Ypsilanti and parts of Ypsilanti Township – expressed strong support for a countywide system, saying details of the proposal could be worked out. It’s important to have a board that allows for all parts of the county to take part in policy-making decisions, he said, noting that’s not the case with the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board. Both Judge and Prater said they supported public transit, but were concerned about how the system might be structured.

The proposal for governance has been developed separately from a 30-year transit master plan, which the AATA has been working on for more than a year – a process that has included dozens of public meetings to solicit feedback. If the current proposal stands, a countywide transit authority would be formed to operate a system that could expand bus service throughout the county, as well as bring commuter rail to the area. Capital costs for the system are an estimated $465 million over the 30-year period, with roughly $100 million in annual operating expenses. AATA would be dissolved, and its staff and assets would be transferred to the new entity.

Thursday’s working session was attended by six of the 11 commissioners. Three of the four commissioners representing Ann Arbor – Barbara Bergman, Leah Gunn and Conan Smith – were not present. [Full Story]

At a special meeting of the Ann Arbor city council on April 11, a provision common to three separate easements granted by the University of Michigan, and previously approved by the city council at its April 4 meeting, was deleted from those easement grants by request of the Federal Highway Administration.

The easements are necessary for the city to proceed with its plan to replace the E. Stadium Bridges over State Street and the Ann Arbor Railroad tracks. The city has been awarded a total of $13.9 million in TIGER II federal grant funding to pay for the project.

Easements approved by the council include: a road right-of-way easement from the University of Michigan for $563,400; two utilities easements from UM totaling $426,650; and an unrecorded water utilities easement.

The deleted provision in the easements had provided for a relocation of facilities, but only if it were allowed by law and specifically approved by the Michigan Dept. of Transportation – otherwise, relocation was prohibited. Because relocation is prohibited by law in any case, MDOT took the view that the provision should not appear in the contract; hence, the change to the wording was requested. It is an administrative change, not a substantive one.

By holding a previous special meeting on March 16, 2011 to sign necessary documents, the council was able to get $800,000 of the TIGER II federal funds formally “obligated” for the first right-of-way phase of the project.

This brief was filed from city council chambers. A somewhat more detailed account of the special meeting will follow: [link] [Full Story]

The Detroit News reports on proposed legislation to change the process of adopting foster children in Michigan. The article quotes Vivek Sankaran, a University of Michigan law professor and director of the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy, who argues that courts should have the final say in adoptions, rather than state officials: “For me, that type of decision-making process is better, because there’s a lot more transparency.” [Source]

Washtenaw County board of commissioners meeting (April 6, 2011): An initiative that’s providing refurbished computers to low-income residents won praise from county commissioners at their most recent meeting.

Washtenaw County sheriff Jerry Clayton talks with Sarah Taylor, the county's dispatch operations coordinator, before the April 6, 2011 board of commissioners meeting. Taylor and two dispatchers were on hand to receive a resolution from the board of commissioners in recognition of the work of the dispatch staff.

The board heard a report on the Digital Inclusion project, which was launched in 2008 to help address the county’s “digital divide” – the gap between people with computers and Internet access, and residents who lack those resources. Run by B.Side: The Business Side of Youth at Eastern Michigan University, the program uses old computers donated by the county government, and trains youth to refurbish them for re-use. To date, the program has distributed over 200 computers to low-income residents.

Also at their April 6 meeting, commissioners gave initial approval to a new fee structure for the county’s soil erosion control program. Proposed by the office of the water resources commissioner, the new fees – part of a broader ordinance overhaul – aim to recoup staff expenses associated with administering the program.

Commissioners also honored the county’s dispatch operators during Wednesday’s meeting. And as one of two appointments to county committees and boards, former county commissioner Ken Schwartz was re-appointed to a four-year term on the veterans affairs committee, which advises the county’s department of veteran services.

Several people spoke during public commentary – topics included criticism of the cost of public health inspections for small businesses, concerns over the results of an autopsy for a man who died after being Tasered last year, and denunciation of the University of Michigan’s relationship with China. [Full Story]

Patricia Green, incoming superintendent for the Ann Arbor Public Schools, will be earning an annual base salary of $245,000, according to a contract signed March 30, 2011 and provided to The Ann Arbor Chronicle in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The five-year contract runs from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2016.

Fringe benefits include 25 vacation days annually, three personal days per year, 12 sick days that could accrue up to 200 sick days, and the same paid holidays as other top AAPS administrators. She also receives long-term disability and retirement benefits equivalent to those received by top AAPS administrators; a term life insurance policy at three times her salary; up to $2,500 per year in fees and dues to join community organizations; and reimbursement for participation in up to four professional organizations. The district will pay for her laptop computer, cell phone, job-related travel, entertainment and professional development activities. Green has waived the district’s medical, dental and optical benefits, instead receiving an additional $2,700 per year.

The seven-page contract also stipulates that the district will pay for her relocation costs. For any time spent in the district prior to her July 1 start date, consulting with the district or meeting with community members, the district will pay a daily rate of 1/260 of her base salary – or $942 per day – plus travel, lodging and meals.

If the school board terminates her contract, Green is entitled to 18 months worth of salary. At the current rate, that amount totals $367,500. [.pdf of AAPS contract with Patricia Green] [Full Story]

At a 7:30 a.m. Monday, April 11, 2011 meeting of two “mutually beneficial” committees – one composed of Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board members and the other made up of city councilmembers – a consensus was reached that the full city council should now give some direction on the new contract under which the DDA would continue to operate the city’s public parking system. The two committees agreed that a “resolution of instruction” should be put to a city council vote at the council’s April 19 meeting.

The contract will call for the city of Ann Arbor to be paid a percentage of the public parking system’s gross revenues. The two committees have been unable to reach a consensus on that percentage. So on April 19, the council will be presented with two options: (1) 16% in each of the first two years of a 10-year deal, and 17.5% in the remaining years – the 16-16-17.5 scenario, which is advocated by the city’s committee; (2) 16% in every year of a 10-year deal – a flat-16 scenario reflecting a compromise from an earlier DDA board position.

For additional details and history of the negotiations, see previous Chronicle coverage: “City, DDA Continue to Talk Parking, Taxes”

On the council’s committee are councilmembers Carsten Hohnke, Margie Teall and Christopher Taylor. Serving on the DDA committee are Gary Boren, Russ Collins, Roger Hewitt and Sandi Smith. Monday’s April 11 meeting was attended by Smith and Teall in person, with Hewitt, Taylor and Hohnke joining by conference phone. Sue McCormick, public services area administrator for the city, also attended the meeting. [Full Story]

Chelsea photographer Burrill Strong’s recent collection of shots from the Chelsea Music Boosters’ friends and faculty talent show includes a name that will be familiar to readers who track The Chronicle’s coverage of the Washtenaw County board of commissioners: Rob Turner. He appeared on stage accompanying his daughter, Molly, who performed the song, The Lion Sleeps Tonight. As Strong’s photo illustrates, Turner fully embraced the role of the lion. [Source]

A special meeting of the Ann Arbor city council has been called on the topic of the East Stadium bridges project. The meeting is to be held on Monday, April 11, at 7 p.m. in city council chambers. The city council already has a work session scheduled at the same time and venue, when city administrator Roger Fraser will be presenting his proposed fiscal year 2012 budget to the council.

Reportedly, the purpose of this second special meeting for the bridge replacement project is to consider revised wording for at least one of the easements that the city council already approved at its April 4 meeting in connection with this project.

Easements approved by the council on that occasion were: a road right-of-way easement from the University of Michigan for $563,400; two utilities easements from UM totaling $426,650; and an unrecorded water utilities easement.

The city was able to get $800,000 in TIGER II federal funds formally “obligated” for the first right-of-way phase of the project. The city council held a previous special meeting on March 16, 2011 to sign the necessary agreement to get those funds obligated.

The approval of the easements at the April 4 meeting was supposed to allow the city to proceed with getting $13.1 million in TIGER II grant funds obligated. Those funds have already been awarded for the second phase of the bridge replacement project. A continuing federal budget resolution passed by the U.S. Congress – which would preserve the TIGER II funding – expired on April 8, threatening to shut down the entire federal government. Previous proposals by House Republicans have included cuts that would have eliminated the TIGER II funding. However, a last minute deal was struck to keep the federal government operating.

The council is acting with some urgency to get the funds obligated before the TIGER II program is eliminated – if, in fact, it were to be eliminated. One measure of that urgency was that on April 4, immediately after council approved the easements, a recess was called so that the documents could be signed and forwarded to the Michigan Dept. of Transportation. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board meeting (April 6, 2011): Since June 2010, the city of Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor DDA have been negotiating a new contract under which the DDA would continue to operate the city’s public parking system.

While the city and the DDA have achieved much agreement on the non-monetary details of the arrangement, Wednesday’s board meeting left the financial piece still unclear.

Keith Orr pores over the figures under various scenarios for the new contract under which the DDA would operate the public parking system. (Photos by the writer.)

The board discussion included a focus on the contrast between the combined fund reserve of the DDA – which includes those funds it collects as a tax-increment finance authority – and the reserves of just the public parking fund. Sandi Smith, who’s a DDA board member and an Ann Arbor city councilmember, stressed throughout the conversation that it’s not just the overall fund balance, but the public parking fund balance itself that needs to be monitored.

Last week, the board had come to a consensus that the public parking system could absorb a payment to the city equal to 16% of gross parking revenues in every year of a 10-year contract, which represented a revision upward from its previous position of 14% in the first two years, followed by 15% in subsequent years.

After lengthy back-and-forth, the only consensus reached by DDA board members was that they were not prepared to revise their position upward (again) to meet the city’s request that the city be paid 16% of the public parking gross revenues in the first two years of the contract, but 17.5% in remaining years. Mayor John Hieftje, who serves on the DDA board, was the lone voice of support for that position.

The mayor also found himself somewhat isolated on another issue in front of the board at its Wednesday meeting – the only action item on the agenda. The board voted to sign a new, more favorable lease agreement for its roughly 3,000 feet of office space at 150 S. Fifth Ave. for a term of five years.

Although the mayor voted with the rest of the board in authorizing the lease agreement, he had announced at the city council’s Monday, April 4 meeting that he would be asking his fellow DDA members to consider moving into space that’s currently being renovated in the city hall building. Two days later, at Wednesday’s DDA board meeting, the mayor appeared to understand that there was little enthusiasm on the board for the move, based partly on the fact that it would cost the DDA more in the short term.

At the meeting, the board also heard its usual range of reports and communications, including an update from DTE on the addition of a new substation near the Broadway bridge, to meet increased demand for electricity. [Full Story]

Ben Brainerd describes the basic premise of a webseries he’ll be producing if a Kickstarter fundraising campaign he’s launched is successful: “Nate Porter has had a rough week. First his girlfriend dumps him and then, just as he’s ramping up to an epic sulk, he wakes up to find that everyone is dead. Neighbors? Dead. Classmates? Dead. The annoying dog down the street? Totally dead.” The webseries is called “Apocalyptia: Urban Life at the End of the World.” The project was conceived several years ago – so not necessarily in response to the recent gloom of southeast Michigan. [Source]

Ann Arbor planning commission meeting (April 5, 2011): In another step toward completing a years-long process to develop design guidelines for downtown properties, planning commissioners unanimously recommended approval of amendments to Ann Arbor’s city code that establish a design review board and design review procedures.

Kirk Westphal, an Ann Arbor planning commissioner, served on the city task force that helped developed design guidelines for downtown development. (Photo by the writer.)

One person, former planning commissioner Ethel Potts, spoke during a public hearing on the topic. Potts said she was glad the design review comes early in the project approval process, but she wondered how the review would be used – that could be a challenge. Commissioners discussed the issue only briefly before the vote.

In the city’s project approval process, the design review would take place before the mandatory citizen participation meeting, so that the design review board’s comments could be incorporated into the project’s design before it’s presented to citizens. However, developers aren’t required to act on the review board’s recommendations. Though the review process is mandatory, implementation of the board’s suggestions is voluntary. [Full Story]

An April 8, 2011 tribute to Vada Murray originally stated that Vada and his wife Sarah had three children. In fact, his oldest child is from his first marriage. We acknowledge the error here, and have corrected the original column.

The Green Thumb Black Dog blog provides an antidote to Friday’s gray and rain: Photographs of some “springy arrangements” by Pot & Box owner Lisa Waud. [Source]