Author: Dave Askins

Part 1 of the May 20, 2013 Ann Arbor city council meeting report is focused exclusively on the budget deliberations, which took up about 4.5 hours of the council’s time during a meeting that lasted until nearly 2 a.m. The budget remained largely intact, as the main amendments approved were for relatively small amounts. The council did not restore loose leaf collections in the fall, and did not reduce the 15th District Court’s budget to pay for additional police officers. However, the council did transfer $300,000 from the Ann Arbor DDA’s TIF fund to its housing fund. [Full Story]

In this milestone column, Chronicle editor Dave Askins explains why this publication has suspended coverage of the Ann Arbor Public Schools. He likens it to running a marathon, and notes that for an organization this size, the capacity to run multiple marathons – for each of the public bodies we cover – depends directly on the amount of sustainable financial support that’s received from subscribers and advertisers. [Full Story]

This article includes live updates from the city council meeting that started on May 20, 2013. The main business of the meeting was the approval of the fiscal year 2014 budget. Other items on the agenda included the establishment of a task force on economic development. [Full Story]

At the May 13, 2013 session of a meeting that started on May 6, the Ann Arbor city council began by approving the site plan for 413 E. Huron St. – on a 6-5 vote. Other business at the meeting included a preliminary approval to changes in the city’s public art ordinance, as well as wrangling over an appointment to the board of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority. [Full Story]

At its May 16, 2013 meeting, the board of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority unanimously passed a resolution acknowledging the city of Ypsilanti’s request to join the AATA, when had been made last month. The board also bid farewell to Jesse Bernstein whose term of service ended last month. [Full Story]

This article includes live updates filed from the May 13, 2013 session of the Ann Arbor city council meeting that started on May 6. The first item to be considered was the site plan for 413 E. Huron. But the agenda included several other items, like a first reading of changes to the public art ordinance. [Full Story]

At its May 6, 2013 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council did not reach the 413 E. Huron site plan on its agenda, but that item will be first to be addressed when the same meeting resumes on May 13. Before recessing the meeting for a week, the council postponed voting on a new video privacy ordinance and revisions to the sign ordinance. Receiving approval from the council was the site plan for Summit Townhomes. [Full Story]

This article contains live updates filed from the May 6, 2013 meeting of the Ann Arbor city council. It was expected to last long enough that it would need to be recessed, to be resumed on May 13. Items on the agenda included the site plan for 413 E. Huron St. as well as revisions to the ordinance governing the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. [Full Story]

The May 1, 2013 meeting of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board was brief, consisting of a range of updates and public commentary. This meeting report includes the monthly parking data for March 2013, the most recent month for which it’s available. [Full Story]

Two recent meetings of communities that are part of the “urban core” near Ann Arbor have developed some quiet momentum toward possible improvements in public transportation service in the area. Out of the meetings has come a request by the city of Ypsilanti to join the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority. [Full Story]