Civic News Ticker

On a 7-1 vote, the Ann Arbor planning commission has cleared the way for a group of up to six members of the Ann Arbor Jesuit Community to live in a single-family home at 1919 Wayne St. The action came at the commission’s June 17 meeting, when commissioners reconsidered an item that they had initially rejected on June 3, 2014.

The meeting included a public hearing that lasted about an hour, with the majority of speakers supporting the request. More than 100 people attended the meeting, many of them wearing stickers that stated “I Proudly Support The Jesuits.”

The Jesuits had requested a special exception use to allow a “functional family” to live in a house zoned R1C (single-family dwelling). Without the special exception use, only up to four unrelated people could live there.

The code that allows this special exception use was adopted by Ann Arbor in 1991. Although the city’s ordinance has allowed for a “functional family” designation for more than two decades, this is the first time any group has requested it. The members are affiliated with the St. Mary Student Parish.

Approval requires six votes, but on June 3 the request had garnered support from only five of the seven commissioners who were present. Voting against it were Diane Giannola and Kirk Westphal. Two commissioners – Sabra Briere and Paras Parekh – had been absent. An attempt earlier in that meeting to postpone the vote had failed, with a majority of commissioners wanting to take action that night, apparently assuming it would pass. Later in that June 3 meeting, after the item had been rejected then reconsidered, the commission took another vote to postpone. That vote was 6-1, over dissent from Giannola.

Giannola again dissented on June 17 to the special exception use, but the remaining seven commissioners at the meeting –including Westphal – supported the request. Jeremy Peters was absent.

The planning commission has discretion to grant a special exception use, which does not require additional city council approval.

The commission’s action on June 3 had come after about an hour of a public hearing and two hours of deliberations. Of the 21 people who spoke at that time, the majority were opposed to the request, including representatives from the Oxbridge Neighborhood Association and the North Burns Park Association. Concerns included the possibility of lower property values, the chance of opening the door to student housing or cults, instability of the household because members aren’t related, and “gender housing discrimination.”

Some people directed criticism against the power, privilege and abuse of the Catholic church. Other praised the Jesuits, saying their concerns were strictly related to the zoning code, which they didn’t feel permitted this type of living arrangement in the R1C district. They suggested that the Jesuits could live in other districts – like R4C – that would allow for up to six unrelated people to live together without getting a special exception use.

The public hearing was continued on June 17, and this time drew considerably more supporters of the request. Of the 23 speakers on June 17, 16 supported the Jesuits’ request. Some of the speakers who opposed granting the Jesuits a special exception use as a “functional family” said they’d support it for a church purpose, noting that the Jesuits would be using it as a parsonage.

The commission had also received more than 75 emails/letters over the past two weeks, the vast majority of them in support of granting the special exception use. About 50 of those communications were attached to the commission’s online agenda.

Assistant city attorney Kevin McDonald attended the June 17 meeting and fielded questions from commissioners. The resolution was amended slightly, with an intent to emphasize the long-term relationship of the Jesuits to each other.

The property is located in Ward 2. Both of the Ward 2 city councilmembers – Jane Lumm and Sally Petersen– attended the June 17 the planning commission meeting, but did not formally address the commission. The planning commission’s decision is final – as the request from the Jesuits does not need city council approval. Westphal – the planning commission’s chair – is running for city council in the Ward 2 Democratic primary. Westphal and Nancy Kaplan are vying to fill the open seat that’s being left by Sally Petersen’s mayoral candidacy. Councilmember Sabra Briere, who serves on the planning commission, is also running for mayor.

After the vote, members of the audience erupted in applause. One woman approached Ben Hawley, pastor and director of campus ministry for St. Mary Student Parish, saying: “Welcome to the neighborhood!”

This brief was filed from the second-floor council chambers at city hall. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

At its June 16, 2014 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council gave initial approval to changes in two parts of the zoning code affecting the parcel at 425 S. Main, on the southeast corner of Main and William streets. Initial approval was given to rezoning from D1 to D2, with an amended height limit – of 60 feet. The original height limit in the ordinance considered by the council was 100 feet.

Because these are changes to the zoning code, which is expressed in city ordinances, the council’s action needs a second and final vote at a future meeting, in order to be enacted.

The council’s initial approval came only after two votes on each of the parts of the zoning, as councilmembers had first decided to refer the height limit issue back to the planning commission, but ultimately decided to amend the height limit to 60 feet. A summary of the deliberations is provided in The Chronicle’s live updates from the meeting.

By way of background, currently a two-story 63,150-square-foot office building – where DTE offices are located – stands on the southern part of that site, with a surface parking lot on the north portion. [.pdf of staff memo on 425 S. Main rezoning]

Considered separately by the council were votes that would: (1) change the zoning of the parcel from D1 (downtown core base district) to D2 (downtown interface base district); and (2) change the character overlay district, of which the parcel is a part, to increase the D2 height limit from 60 feet to 100 feet.

It’s the second of those changes that the council amended – so that the D2 height for this parcel would be the same 60-foot limit as other D2 areas in the downtown. The proposed changes to the character overlay district also include upper story setbacks from any residential property. [.pdf of staff memo on overlay district] Those upper story setbacks will likely need some further revision – by the time a second and final vote is taken – in order to be consistent with the 60=foot limit.

The planning commission recommended both the changes at its May 6, 2014 meeting. The planning commission’s vote on the basic zoning change was unanimous – 9-0. But the vote on the 100-foot height limit was only 6-3, with dissent coming from Sabra Briere, Ken Clein and Jeremy Peters. Briere also serves on city council, representing Ward 1. Both recommendations had been brought forward by the commission’s ordinance revisions committee (ORC). Members are Bonnie Bona, Diane Giannola, Kirk Westphal and Wendy Woods.

The planning commission’s recommendations came in response to a city council directive given at its Jan. 21, 2014 meeting, which had been based on previous work the planning commission had done. The commission had studied and developed a broader set of eight recommendations for zoning changes in specific parts of the downtown. The overall intent was in large part to buffer near-downtown residential neighborhoods. The commission had unanimously approved those original recommendations at its Dec. 3, 2013 meeting.

Those initial Dec. 3, 2013 recommendations from the planning commission had come in response to a previous direction from the city council, given at the council’s April 1, 2013 meeting. The council’s action in early 2013 came in response to the controversial 413 E. Huron development.

The items on the council’s June 16, 2014 agenda were just the first of what are expected to be several other changes recommended by the planning commission. That set of initial recommendations from the planning commission to the city council – which the council then accepted and for which the council asked the planning commission to draft ordinance language – included a proposal to rezone 425 S. Main to D2. However, those original recommendations had also called for a maximum height of 60 feet for D2 zoning in the Main Street character overlay district – lower than the 100 feet put forward at the commission’s May 6 meeting.

The current D1 zoning for 425 S. Main allows for a maximum height of 180 feet. The previous zoning, prior to 2009, set no limits on height. At this time, no new development has been proposed for this site.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

The $75,000 annual contract with Ann Arbor SPARK for economic development services has been tabled by the Ann Arbor city council. The 6-5 vote by the council at its June 16, 2014 meeting came after 10 minutes of deliberations, with support from Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1), Jack Eaton (Ward 4), Mike Anglin (Ward 5), Sabra Briere (Ward 1), and Jane Lumm (Ward 2).

The abbreviated discussion was the result of the fact that a motion to table – as contrasted to a motion to postpone to a date certain – is not debatable. So once the motion was made, the council immediately voted. The motion to table was made by Eaton, who said it could be taken up off the table at a future meeting when SPARK’s job retention, attraction and creation numbers could be reconciled.

Paul Krutko, CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK, stayed at the meeting until the rest of the council’s business was finished, which was around midnight. He was then invited to the podium to answer questions, and the ensuing debated by councilmembers lasted about 30 minutes. They did not reconsider their earlier vote to table the funding, however.

At its May 19, 2014 meeting, the council spent roughly five hours of deliberations on amendments to the FY 2015 budget, and just under 30% of that time was spent on two amendments involving SPARK – neither of which were approved by the council.

SPARK is also the entity with which the local development finance authority (LDFA) contracts for business accelerator services. One of the proposed amendments to the FY 2015 budget would have decreased the amount of funding to SPARK from the LDFA, resulting in an increase to the amount the LDFA would have reserved for future infrastructure projects. The second budget amendment debated on May 19 would have eliminated $75,000 in the FY 2015 budget for the contract that the council was asked to approve on June 16.

Ann Arbor SPARK also receives money from other governmental units in Washtenaw County. In 2013, the $75,000 paid by the city of Ann Arbor to SPARK accounted for more than half of the $132,888 total contributed by all governmental units besides Washtenaw County. The county levies a tax under Act 88, and out of that levy, last year the county contributed $200,000, according to the information provided to the city by SPARK. [.pdf of 2013 "return on investment" from Ann Arbor SPARK] [.pdf of 2013 Ann Arbor SPARK projects] [Ann Arbor SPARK 2013 annual report] [21st Century Jobs Trust Fund 2013 Annual Report]

During public commentary on June 16, three people spoke about the SPARK contract. Kai Petainen read a statement about apparent discrepancies in two reports that provide jobs figures. [Petainen public comment] [Ann Arbor SPARK 2013 annual report] and [21st Century Jobs Trust Fund 2013 Annual Report] Jeff Hayner said that SPARK has misrepresented its results, and he suggested revising the resolution to reduce the $75,000 to just 10% of that figure. And Dave DeVarti, a former councilmember, asked the council to deny or table the funding. He pointed out that $75,000 could go a long way for a human services agency. He asked that the council hold Ann Arbor SPARK to the same kind of standards as it does the human services agencies it has contracts with.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

The city of Ann Arbor will be contributing $37,500 from the affordable housing trust fund to support a housing needs assessment to be conducted by Washtenaw County. City council action came at its June 16, 2014 meeting.

The council deliberations included discussion of the policy on eligible expenditures from the fund – which some councilmembers felt should be restricted to capital expenditures for affordable housing units. However, the current policy allows for funding of analysis and feasibility studies.

A bid by Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) to draw the money from the general fund instead of the affordable housing trust fund failed on a 5-6 vote, getting support only from Kunselman, Jack Eaton (Ward 4), Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5), Mike Anglin (Ward 5), and Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1).

The Ann Arbor DDA had approved the same amount of funding as the city at its meeting last week, on June 4, 2014. Money from the city and DDA is being considered as “up to” amounts. Mary Jo Callan, director of the county’s office of economic and community development (OCED), told the DDA board at its June 4 meeting that $75,000 from a HUD Sustainable Communities grant would be the first money spent toward the assessment.

The firm selected by the OCED to do the needs assessment is czb LLC out of Virginia. [.pdf of RFP for the needs assessment] The current needs assessment will update a report done in 2007. According to a memo from OCED staff to the DDA, the final report will “provide a clear, easy to understand assessment of the local housing market, identify current and future housing needs, and provide specific and implementable policy recommendations to advance affordable housing.

The goal for this update is to include an analysis that links transportation cost and accessibility, as well as other environmental and quality of life issues to the location of affordable housing. The RFP for the needs study describes the timeline for the work as including a draft for review due at the end of October 2014, with a final presentation due in mid-December.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

The future of Liberty Plaza, a park in downtown Ann Arbor at the corner of Division and Liberty streets, will receive some added attention from the park advisory commission, as a result city council action on June 16, 2014.

The resolution considered by the council would have directed the city administrator to “work collaboratively with the property owners adjacent to and near Liberty Plaza, the general public, PAC [park advisory commission], the Ann Arbor District Library, and the DDA to develop a conceptual design for an improved Liberty Plaza…” The resolution was sponsored by Christopher Taylor (Ward 3), mayor John Hieftje, Margie Teall (Ward 4) and Sabra Briere (Ward 1).

But after nearly an hour of debate, the council voted to refer the resolution to the park advisory commission instead of approving it. The vote on referral to PAC came amid deliberation on some amendments to the resolution proposed by Jane Lumm (Ward 2) that would have broaden the scope of the effort to include the Library Lane lot. [.pdf of Lumm's amendments] Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5) cited the fact that under parliamentary rules, a motion to refer takes precedence over a motion to amend, so the council voted on the referral before the vote to amend.

Funding for the collaborative work on the redesign, in the amount of $23,577, was specified in the resolution as coming from the parks and recreation budget. In addition to a concept for a “re-imagined Liberty Plaza,” the resolution was supposed to result in options for funding construction, to be provided by city staff. The resolution called for a report to be provided to the park advisory commission by December 2014 and to the city council a month later in January 2015.

This resolution comes in the context of a push by some Ann Arbor residents to establish public park space on top of the underground Library Lane parking garage, which is southwest of Liberty Plaza separated from that park by a surface parking lot owned by First Martin Corp. Related to that, the council voted at its April 7, 2014 meeting – as part of reconsidering a vote it had taken at its previous meeting on March 17 – to designate a 12,000-square-foot portion of the Library Lane surface to be reserved as an urban park.

The result of the reconsidered resolution on April 7 undid the council’s earlier decision to establish a square foot range for the urban plaza – from 6,500-12,000 square feet. That April 7 council decision was made on a 7-4 vote, with dissent from Christopher Taylor (Ward 3), mayor John Hieftje, Margie Teall (Ward 4) and Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5).

Deliberations on June 16 included questions about why PAC hadn’t been consulted on this resolution. Taylor, one of the resolution’s co-sponsors, serves as an ex-officio member of PAC. Taylor indicated that it wasn’t necessary to consult PAC, as it’s the council’s prerogative to set policy.

PAC meets monthly, but its June 17 meeting has been canceled. The group had previously been directed by the council to develop a set of recommendations regarding downtown parks, which they completed last year. The council accepted the recommendations at its Nov. 7, 2013 meeting. [.pdf of 21-page PAC downtown parks report]

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

A two-year $95,694 contract with Recycle Ann Arbor for a recycling incentive program for multi-family residential units has been approved by the Ann Arbor city council at its June 16, 2014 meeting. Such a pilot program is included in the city’s solid waste plan, which the city council adopted at its Oct. 7, 2013 meeting.

The solid waste plan includes evaluating methods to increase recycling participation through pilot programs. Among those methods is the introduction of a recycling incentive program for multi‐family housing units. The city council discontinued the RecycleBank incentive program for single-family residential units with a vote on May 22, 2012, which eliminated funding for the RecycleBank program in the FY 2013 budget. After two years of implementation, in connection with conversion to a single-stream curbside pickup program, the impact of the incentive program was not clear.

According to the staff memo accompanying the June 16 multi-family recycling pilot, a manual sort of waste conducted in the fall of 2012 found that only 12% of the trash that single-family residents threw away was recyclable, compared to 26% of the trash that multi-family residents threw away. The completion of the pilot program is expected in December 2016. According to the memo, Recycle Ann Arbor’s proposal includes:

1. Gather information on best multi-family recycling practices in North America.
2. Survey and/or interview key multi-family constituencies in Ann Arbor to better understand the challenges and opportunities for recycling in this sector. Based on feedback received, develop 3 to 5 methodologies for further testing and analysis.
3. Identify pilot parameters and measurement protocols.
4. Identify pilot communities to involve in the pilot programs (ultimately targeting approximately 1,000 units) and ramp up pilot start-up.
5. Implement pilot programs.
6. Analyze results of pilot programs.
7. Provide detailed recommendations to the City on best practices and report results to participating multi-family communities.

Methodologies that will be tested as part of the pilot will include the following:

• Recycling rewards program: Evaluate if a recycling rewards program would be effective in improving recycling participation rates in multi-family locations
• Indoor collection bins: Most multi-family locations share outdoor recycling bins. Determine if the provision of indoor recycling bins would help increase recycling rates.
• Multi-family recycling leader program: Determine if the use of recycling leaders at individual locations would help increase recycling rates.
• 300-gallon recycling cart: Determine if the use of 300-gallon carts instead of the standard 96-gallon cart would help increase recycling.

In other action on recycling issues taken by the council at its June 16 meeting,  a $39,480 reimbursement to Resource Recovery Systems – the city’s contracted operator of its materials recovery facility (MRF) – was approved for repair of the baler infeed conveyor belt. According to a staff memo accompanying the item, the belt was last replaced in 2007, and has worn out. Such conveyors are described in the memo as lasting five to seven years.

At the same meeting, the council also approved a $35,000 annual contract with Recycle Ann Arbor for services associated with the move-out of University of Michigan students. According to the staff memo on the item, RAA’s proposal includes a staffed drop-off location at the corner of Tappan and Oakland streets during student fall and spring move-out periods. The site is also used to collect reusable items (through organizations such as the Salvation Army, Kiwanis, or the Reuse Center), bulky metal items, and recyclable materials.

During council discussions on June 16, it emerged that Tom McMurtrie, the city’s solid waste coordinator, will be retiring. Several councilmembers praised his work. Craig Hupy, the city’s public services area administrator, indicated that a replacement for McMurtrie has been identified.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

A $75,000 contract with The Greenway Collaborative Inc. – to support the work of Ann Arbor’s pedestrian safety and access task force as a facilitator – has been approved by the city council. Action by the council came at its June 16, 2014 meeting.

The task force was established through a council resolution passed on Nov. 18, 2013. Confirmed as members of the task force on Jan. 21, 2014 were: Vivienne Armentrout, Neal Elyakin, Linda Diane Feldt, Jim Rees, Anthony Pinnell, Sarah Pressprich Gryniewicz, Kenneth Clark, Scott Campbell, and Owen Jansson.

The group has begun to meet and has elected Feldt to chair the task force. The resolution on the council’s June 16 meeting agenda comes after the council voted down a resolution at on April 7, 2014 that included a $77,400 contract with Project Innovations for the facilitation work. Project Innovations had been identified by staff as a contractor uniquely qualified to do the facilitation work. Project Innovations was familiar to city staff as the facilitator for a sanitary sewer wet weather evaluation study the city is currently conducting.

But subsequently the city issued an RFP (requests for proposals) for the facilitation work. [.pdf of RFP No. 893] Task force members participated in the selection process from among three respondents to the RFP. Besides Project Innovations and The Greenway Collaborative, ENP & Associates responded to the RFP. ENP is the consultant the city used for the recent review of downtown zoning.

Feldt and Armentrout both attended the council’s June 16 meeting and spoke during public commentary in support of hiring The Greenway Collaborative.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall located at 301 E. Huron.

Several items related to the criminal justice system, specifically for some of the specialty courts operated by the 15th District Court, were given approval by the Ann Arbor city council at its June 16, 2014 meeting.

As part of its consent agenda, the council approved an amendment to a $76,242 contract with Washtenaw County Community Support & Treatment Services – for mental health treatment services to people who are participating in the sobriety court and the mental health court.

The council also approved a $44,200 amendment to a contract with the Washtenaw County sheriff’s office to provide drug abuse screening and monitoring services for the mental health court. Also getting approval on June 16 was a $108,174 amendment to a contract with the nonprofit Dawn Farm for drug abuse counseling and rehabilitative services.

And finally, the council approved a $40,000 amendment to a contract with Reiser and Frushour PLLC to provide legal representation as court-appointed counsel to indigent defendants. On that vote, Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) requested that the council allow him not to participate in the vote, which they agreed to do. Taylor, an attorney with Hooper Hathaway, provides legal services to Reiser and Frushour. He took a seat in the audience during the vote on this item.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

A routine fiscal-year-end budget adjustment for the Ann Arbor DDA has been given approval by the Ann Arbor city council. The council’s action came at its June 16, 2014 meeting.

The DDA board had approved the adjustment at its June 4, 2014 meeting. The main part of the adjustment is a $1.6 million payment made for the First & Washington parking garage, which is part of the City Apartments project. The amount was budgeted by the DDA for last year, but not paid until this year.

The rest of the adjustment is attributable to expenditures out of the DDA’s housing fund – $500,000 of it to support Ann Arbor Housing Commission projects. The remaining $37,500 went to support a countywide housing needs assessment – an amount that was approved by the board at the same June 4 meeting in a separate vote.

The DDA will end the fiscal year with $6,167,757 in fund balance. The breakdown of that total is: TIF ($619,571); Housing ($160,154); Parking ($2,161,676) and Parking Maintenance ($3,226,356).

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

A traffic calming project on Larchmont Drive at a cost of  $8,800 has been approved by the Ann Arbor city council. The council’s action came at its June 16, 2014 meeting. The action included an appropriation for five other traffic calming projects, totaling $55,000.

The approval of this project comes in the context of the council’s budget deliberations last month, when an amendment was offered but rejected by the council that would have cut the FY 2015 budget allocation for art administration from $80,000 to $40,000 and put the $40,000 is savings toward traffic calming projects. The amendment got support only from Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1), Jane Lumm (Ward 2), Jack Eaton (Ward 4), and Mike Anglin (Ward 5).

Traffic calming projects must undergo a neighborhood engagement process in which at least 60% of households support the designed project. In the case of the Larchmont project, 13 out of 15 households supported the project.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

Four different special-assessed sidewalk construction projects appeared on the Ann Arbor city council’s June 16, 2014 agenda: Two public hearings were held, for projects on Scio Church and Barton Drive. In addition, two resolutions were approved, setting public hearings for future meetings – for Pontiac Trail on July 21 and Stone School Road on July 7.

The Pontiac Trail project was the subject of two agenda items – one to direct the assessor to prepare an assessment roll, and another to set a public hearing on the special assessment for July 21. The assessable cost is $72,218. According to the staff memo accompanying the resolution, sidewalk construction would be done as part of the reconstruction of Pontiac Trail beginning just north of Skydale Drive to just south of the bridge over M-14.

The Pontiac Trail project will also be adding on-street bike lanes and constructing a new sidewalk along the east side of Pontiac Trail to fill in existing sidewalk gaps and to provide pedestrian access to Olson Park and Dhu Varren Road. That’s a part of the city’s Complete Streets program. In addition to the sidewalk, approximately 1,960 feet of curb and gutter is being added north of Skydale along Pontiac Trail to protect existing wetland areas. [.pdf of Pontiac Trail sidewalk special assessment area]

The council had previously directed the preparation of a special assessment roll for a new sidewalk along the west side of Stone School Road. This work will be done in conjunction with the Stone School Road reconstruction project from I-94 to Ellsworth Road. The total sidewalk project cost is roughly $128,500, of which about $55,000 will be special assessed. So the action taken by the council on June 16 was to set a public hearing on the special assessment for July 7.

The council did not take action on the Barton Drive or Scio Church sidewalk projects, but held public hearings on the projects. No one spoke at the public hearing for the Scio Church project. Jeff Hayner was the only speaker at the public hearing for the Barton Drive sidewalk, thanking everyone involved and noting that it’s been at least 12 years in the works. He encouraged the city’s pedestrian task force to take a look at the area.

The Barton Drive project would extend eastward from Bandemer Park at Longshore Drive. The cost of the Barton Drive sidewalk has been calculated to be $80,606. Of that, about $36,000 will be paid from federal surface transportation funds. Of the remaining $44,606, the city’s general fund would pay $42,626, leaving just $1,980 to be paid through the special assessment. The city council had voted at its May 19, 2014 meeting to set the assessment roll and to schedule the public hearing for June 16.

For the Scio Church sidewalk project, the total cost is expected to be $365,100. Of that, about $164,000 will be paid from a federal surface transportation grant. The remaining $201,100 will be paid out of the city’s general fund and by the special assessment of just $1,626.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

A $570,900 contract with NuView Inc. to replace the city’s human resource and payroll system has been approved by the Ann Arbor city council. Action came at the council’s June 16, 2014 meeting.

The staff memo accompanying the item explains why the existing software, acquired in 2007, is being replaced:

In 2007, the City installed a Human Resource and Payroll system called Ultipro, by Ultimate Software. The Ultipro system included modules for Recruiting, Benefits Administration, Human Resource Administration and Payroll. The City has experienced a variety of issues related to the underlying database architecture utilized by Ultimate Software. In addition, due to changes such as new legislative requirements, the increase in recruiting volume and the increase in manual data entry involved in benefits administration, the City has found the Ultipro system unable to meet its Human Resource needs.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

A roughly $350,000 contract with Widgery Studio LLC – to fabricate and install public art at the East Stadium Boulevard bridges – has been given approval by the Ann Arbor city council. The city had already contracted with Widgery on May 20, 2014 for $8,248 to finalize the structural design of the artwork with an engineer.

This amendment to the contract, given approval by the council at its June 16, 2014 meeting, adds art fabrication and installation services to the existing agreement, bringing the total compensation to $353,552 for all services. The East Stadium bridges art was one of the projects for which the city council left funding in place, when it voted on March 3, 2014 to transfer most of the unspent money from the now defunct Percent for Art funding program back to the funds from which the money was originally drawn.

The June 16 vote approving the funding was unanimous. It was preceded by a presentation, around 11 p.m., by John Kotarski and Bob Miller, the vice chair and chair of the city’s public art commission.

By way of additional background, in early August of 2013, Catherine Widgery of Cambridge, Mass. was recommended as the artist for this public art project. She was picked by a selection panel from four finalists who had submitted proposals for the project, which has a $400,000 total budget. [.pdf of Widgery's original proposal] The selection panel provided feedback to Widgery and asked that she revise her proposal before it was presented to the Ann Arbor public art commission and then later to the city council for approval.

Members of the panel were Wiltrud Simbuerger, Bob Miller, Nancy Leff, David Huntoon and Joss Kiely. [.pdf of panel feedback] The public art commission recommended the project’s approval at its April 23, 2014 meeting.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

A $48,000 annual contract with Governmental Consultant Services Inc. for lobbying services was approved by the Ann Arbor city council at its June 16, 2014 meeting. According to a memo accompanying the item, GCSI has contributed to Ann Arbor’s efforts to increase state funding for fire protection, land-use planning, and parks and recreation projects.

GCSI is also supposed to monitor issues currently pending before the legislature and advocate for the city’s specific interests. GCSI has done this kind of work for the city of Arbor since 2001.

GCSI also provides lobbying services for Washtenaw County, as well as other local municipalities. The city’s main liaison with GSCI is Kirk Profit, an Ann Arbor resident and former Michigan state legislator.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

The site plan for First Martin Corp.’s proposed extended-stay hotel at 116-120 West Huron Street has been given approval by the Ann Arbor city council. Action came at the council’s June 16, 2014 meeting. The planning commission had earlier passed a recommendation of approval on May 20, 2014.

The proposal calls for a six-floor, 88,570-square-foot building with a ground-floor restaurant or retail space and an extended-stay hotel on the upper five levels. The hotel will be operated by Marriott.

The current site at 116-120 W. Huron includes a Greyhound bus depot and a one-story building that houses the Ann Arbor Convention & Visitors Bureau. Both of those buildings will be demolished. The bus depot facade will remain in place as part of the new building’s design. [.pdf of staff report]

The main hotel entrance is proposed for the building’s west side, facing North Ashley, while the main entrance for the restaurant or retail space is proposed to face West Huron, on the building’s south side. The site is zoned D1, which allows for the highest density development in the downtown. According to the staff memo, five off-street parking spaces are required.

First Martin has secured a letter of commitment from Zipcar, a car-sharing service, for two vehicles. Parking spaces for those cars are proposed at the northeast corner of the site. For purposes of the city’s parking requirement, the two Zipcars would count as eight off-street parking spaces, and would satisfy the requirement. The two existing curbcuts – on North Ashley and West Huron – will be closed, and access to the two parking spaces, loading dock and trash/recycling would be from the mid-block alley to the north. The alley is currently one-way, and will be converted to a two-way alley and repaved.

Streetscape changes will include curb bump-outs on North Ashley, on the north and south ends of the site for passenger drop-off. Nine bicycle parking spaces are required for the project, and would include two bike hoops in the North Ashley right-of-way and two in the West Huron right-of-way, for a total of eight bike spaces. Three more hoops are proposed for the Ann Ashley parking structure, with First Martin paying for labor and materials. The city of Ann Arbor and Downtown Development Authority would assume responsibility for maintenance of those hoops.

Construction is estimated to cost $13 million. In giving the staff report to the planning commission, city planner Alexis DiLeo noted that the Greyhound bus depot has been at that location since 1940, and the site has been a transportation hub since 1898.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

A site plan for an addition to the Bank of Ann Arbor headquarters at 125 South Fifth Avenue has been given approval by the Ann Arbor city council. The council’s action came at its June 16, 2014 meeting.  The planning commission had recommended approval of the project at its May 20, 2014 meeting.

The site plan involves reorienting the main entrance – moving it from the center of its South Fifth Avenue side to the southeast corner of South Fifth and East Washington. Existing doors will be replaced with windows. A 9,179-square-foot third-floor addition would be constructed over the rear of the building’s east side. In total, the building would be 32,651 square feet after construction. The project is estimated to cost $4.2 million. [.pdf of staff memo]

According to the staff memo, the design “seeks to transform the current style from contemporary to traditional by replacing the yellow brick façade with brown and red-colored bricks and limestone-colored stone accents and trim and creating a brick and glass tower at the street corner to create a prominent entry.”

The original two-story building was constructed in 1965, which included the drive-thru window. An addition was completed in 1999. The project was evaluated by the city’s design review board on Jan. 14. The board suggested making the entry structure taller and more closely aligning the bank’s design features with those of the adjacent Ameritech building to the east.

The site is zoned D1, which allows for the highest level of density in the downtown area. D1 zoning requires a special exception use for drive-thrus, which the planning commission approved on May 20 in a separate vote. Because the project is going through a site plan approval process, the requirement for a special exception use was triggered. Special exception uses do not require additional city council approval.

The bank has an existing drive-thru teller window on its north side. No changes are planned to that configuration, however. In giving the staff report to the planning commission, city planner Alexis DiLeo said if the drive-thru were used more frequently, staff might suggest additional design features, like a more clearly marked crossing or differentiated surface materials. But because there are only 20-25 transactions per day at the drive-thru, and given the “successful history” of the existing drive-thru, staff was comfortable with it remaining as is, DiLeo said.

Modifications to drive-thru regulations are in the works, but not yet enacted. The planning commission approved new drive-thru regulations earlier this year. Amendments to Ann Arbor’s zoning ordinance related to drive-thrus received initial approval at the council’s May 5, 2014 meeting, and received final approval at the council’s June 2, 2014 meeting.

There was no substantive discussion of this project at the council’s June 16 meeting.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

Several physical infrastructure projects have been approved by the Ann Arbor city council at its June 16, 2014 meeting.

Highlights included a bridge maintenance project, a sewer lining project, a manhole replacement project, a water main replacement project, and renovations to restrooms and locker rooms at two of the city’s five fire stations.

The council approved a $187,184 contract with Northwest Consultants Inc. for the Fuller Road, Maiden Lane, and East Medical Center Drive bridges rehabilitation project. According to the staff memo accompanying the resolution, the project includes “re-painting of each bridge, repairing corroded structural steel, bridge abutment and pier (substructure) repairs, expansion joint removal and replacement, bridge deck patching, placing an overlay on the existing bridge decks, bridge railing repairs, guard rail upgrades, brush trimming and removal around the perimeter of the bridge structures, and other related work.”

Money for the design work is available in the approved FY 2014 public services area street millage capital budget. The state of Michigan’s local bridge program pays for 95% of eligible construction expenses up to $790,000. The project will also receive $1,373,440 in federal surface transportation funding, administered through the Michigan Dept. of Transportation. The federal program pays for 81.85% of eligible construction expenses. But neither the state nor the federal sources will pay for the design work that the council’s action will fund.

In addition, the council approved the award of a $1,566,121 construction contract with Lanzo Lining Services for the 2014 sewer lining project. According to the staff memo accompanying this item, the project includes the lining of about 18,028 lineal feet of sanitary sewer and 2,942 lineal feet of storm sewer at 16 locations throughout the city. The memo describes sewer lining as a “trenchless technology which enables the pipe to be repaired without disturbing the surface above.”

The council also approved the award a $47,193 contract to Fonson Inc. for the Eighth Street sanitary sewer manhole replacement project. The manholes in question are described in the staff memo accompanying the project as “101 years old, composed of brick and … disintegrating.”

The deterioration of the manholes is attributed to corrosion from sewer gases, vibration from traffic, decades of freeze/thaw cycles and variations in hydrostatic soil pressures. The deteriorated condition includes spalling, weakened mortar, missing bricks and excessive groundwater infiltration, according to the memo.

Also approved by the council at its meeting was a $1,324,357 construction contract to Douglas N. Higgins Inc. for the Arbor Oaks Phase II water main replacement project. This project will replace the older water mains in the Bryant neighborhood. The water mains in the neighborhood are described in a staff memo as experiencing frequent breaks and in generally poor condition.

The project will install 1,100 feet of 12-inch water main and 2,360 feet of 8-inch water main along Santa Rosa Drive, Jay Lee Court, Lucerne Court, Burlingame Court, Blain Court, Hardyke Court, and Bryant Elementary School property. Included in the project is the resurfacing of the street, replacement of some curb and gutter, and reconstruction of some storm sewer structures.

Finally, at its June 16 meeting, the council approved a $149,500 contract with Emergency Restoration Company for the renovation of restrooms and locker rooms in Fire Stations #3 and #4. The staff memo accompanying the item indicates that the project will renovate the existing restroom facilities to create two unisex restrooms and showers at each station. Facilities and ventilation in the locker room and restroom areas will be improved.

Fire Station #3 is located on the city’s west side, on Jackson Road. Fire Station #4 is located on the city’s southeast side, on Huron Parkway. [Google Map of all five fire station locations]

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

A purchase agreement with DTE – to convert 223 mercury-vapor cobrahead streetlights to LED technology – has been approved by the Ann Arbor city council. The up-front cost of the conversion will be $69,555 – but that amount will be reduced to $55,060 after rebates.

The annual electric bill from DTE for the 223 streetlights is currently $45,128. After conversion, the projected annual cost will be $30,910. The savings would result in about a 3.1-year payback period on the net cost of $55,060. City council action came at its June 16, 2014 meeting.

The city is billed for 7,431 streetlights – of which 5,216 are DTE-owned. Of the 2,215 city-owned lights, 1,923 have LED fixtures.

None of the streetlights to be converted under the agreement ratified on June 16 are in the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority tax capture district. Streetlights in the DDA district were part of a similar proposal considered by the DDA board at its May 7, 2014 meeting, but postponed by the board at that meeting until June 4. By the time of the June 4 meeting, however, a decision had already been made that the DDA would not be funding an LED conversion this year. [DTE's program has an annual cycle, but is not necessarily offered every year.] If the DDA board had approved funding for converting lights in the DDA district, it would have affected 212 non-LED streetlights.

The project the DDA declined to fund this year would have included converting 100 watt MV (mercury vapor), 175 watt MV and 100 watt HPS (high pressure sodium) lights to 65 watt LED (light emitting diode). Further, 400 watt MV and 250 watt HPS lights would have been converted to 135 watt LED. Finally, 1000 watt MV and 400 watt HPS lights would have been converted to 280 watt LED. Currently, the city pays DTE $72,585 a year for the energy used by the 212 downtown streetlights. After conversion, the annual cost for the 212 lights would be expected to drop to $51,895, for an annual savings of $20,690.

In deliberations at the DDA board’s May 7 meeting, DDA board member Roger Hewitt opposed the grant, because the savings that would be realized accrues to the city of Ann Arbor, which pays the energy bills for the lights. Hewitt noted that the relationship between the city and the DDA includes a number of fund transfers to the city. Even though the amount is not huge, Hewitt said, the expenditure of several small amounts could eventually impair the DDA’s ability to pay for major infrastructure improvements.

Other board members joined Hewitt in their concerns, questioning what projects might be sacrificed if the DDA paid for the LED conversion. Concern was also expressed over the possibility that the result of a streetscape framework planning effort could result in a decision to replace all cobrahead lights in the downtown area with pedestrian-scale lampposts. And that would mean that the new LED fixtures would be used for only a short while.

For deliberations at the council’s June 16 meeting, see The Chronicle’s live updates filed during the meeting.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

A $62,800 contract has been approved with Black & Veatch Ltd. covering a water & wastewater system capital cost recovery study for the city of Ann Arbor. The city council’s action came at its June 16, 2014 meeting.

Background to this contract was a June 3, 2013 city council action to change the calculation of the water and sanitary improvement charges for properties connecting to city water mains or sanitary sewers – but only for a two-year period, from July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2015.

The effect of the council’s action was to reduce the connection charges considerably. It was understood at the time that the two-year period would allow for the hiring of a consultant to review the city’s fees and charges for connections to the water and sanitary sewer systems and make recommendations for revision. That’s why the Black & Veatch item appeared on the council’s June 16 agenda.

The principles at stake are described in the staff memo accompanying the item as follows:

When making future changes to improvement charges and connection fees, it is important that various competing elements are satisfied. The fees must be easy to explain and easy to understand to be accepted by the users. The fees must recover costs equitably. The fees must not result in either an undue burden on existing rate payers of the systems or an undue burden on new customers connecting to the systems. The fees must be easily understood and neither over recover costs nor under recover costs. Any under-recovery of costs would place undue and inequitable financial burdens on current rate payers. To meet these goals and gain the experiences of other utilities, it is desirable to contract with a consulting firm that has nationwide experience in this area.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

Ann Arbor mayoral candidate Sally Petersen has included in her most recent campaign email a list of forums that will be taking place, leading up to the Aug. 5, 2014 Democratic primary vote.

• Saturday, June 14, 10 a.m. The Ann Arbor Democratic Party will host a mayoral candidate forum at the Ann Arbor Community Center, 625 North Main St. Refreshments and mingling with the candidates starts at 9:30 a.m.
• Wednesday, June 25, 7:30 p.m. Literati Bookstore will host a mayoral candidate forum at their store located at 124 East Washington St. Questions will focus on how the next mayor of Ann Arbor can support local business owners.
• Thursday, June 26, 4:30 p.m. The Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce will host a mayoral forum at the Regent Hotel, 2455 Carpenter Road.
• Wednesday, July 9, 8 p.m.  The League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area is hosting a weeklong series of candidate debates. Space for a limited live audience is available at the Community Television Network studios at 2805 South Industrial Highway. The forums will be broadcast on CTN Channel 19, which is also streamed live over the Internet.
• Tuesday, July 15, 7 p.m. A group of faith organizations is hosting a forum on homelessness at the St. Clare of Assisi Episcopal Church and Temple Beth Emeth, co-located at 2309 Packard Road.
• Saturday, July 19, 1-5 p.m. Hosted by the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Black Chamber of Commerce, this event will provide a 3-minute opportunity for candidates running in mayoral, city council, and judicial races. This event will be held in the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College.

Petersen currently serves on the Ann Arbor city council, as do the other three mayoral candidates in the Democratic primary: Sabra Briere, Christopher Taylor and Stephen Kunselman. No Republican is running for mayor this year. One independent candidate, Bryan Kelly, has taken out petitions.

The board of the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority has voted to approve a raise for CEO Michael Ford that extends retroactively to October 2012. The board’s vote – to award 3% increases for the previous and current years – came at a special meeting held before the board’s annual retreat on June 10, 2014.

The context of the salary increase includes Ford’s selection as the new CEO for the southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority, but it’s not clear at this point whether Ford will take the job. At the June 10 meeting Ford said, “Right now, I’m still the CEO here…”

The increase for the period from October 2012 through September 2013 raised Ford’s base salary from $164,800 to $169,744. The 3% increase on that amount through the current fiscal year brings his salary to $174,836. The board’s June 10 action authorized a lump sum payment to cover the retroactive raises up to the present time, as well as a $20,000 payment into Ford’s 457 deferred compensation plan account, which reflects payments of $10,000 cash for the fiscal year 2013 and 2014. The lump sum retroactive salary adjustment works out to a little less than $11,900.

Before this most recent increase, Ford’s most recent previous revision to his compensation had come at the board’s Dec. 15, 2011 meeting, when his salary was increased by $4,800 to $164,800 annually. Ford’s contract also includes a car allowance that translates to roughly $10,000 a year. [.pdf of June 10, 2014 compensation letter][.pdf of Ford's contract]

This current raise was awarded to Ford based on a performance evaluation the board had completed at its May 15, 2014 board meeting, which came 11 days after a successful transit millage proposal on May 6, 2014. That performance evaluation also came in the context of Ford’s application for the CEO position with the southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority. The day after his evaluation, Ford was named as one of three finalists for the RTA job, and was subsequently made an offer of the job, which is still pending. The RTA was established by the state legislature in late 2012, and includes Detroit and the four-county region of Washtenaw, Wayne, Macomb and Oakland.

Commenting on his current status at the AAATA board’s June 10 meeting, Ford said: “Right now I am still the CEO here and I’m not having any other discussions at this point with the RTA and that’s my status. I’ll leave it at that.” Board chair Charles Griffith added that Ford has not ruled out the RTA job, saying that the AAATA board would obviously prefer that Ford stay at the AAATA. But if Ford chose to go elsewhere, the board would support that decision. Ford had also assured Griffith that the AAATA would be in good hands and would have a stable transition if Ford were to leave.

Ford’s evaluation was expressed in the form of a board resolution approved on May 15:

Whereas the AAATA board’s evaluation of CEO Michael Ford’s performance reflects his leadership, work ethic, and ability to motivate staff to work at a high level of public service during a challenging period of transitioning the AAATA;

Whereas Michael’s outreach to community leaders in Ann Arbor and surrounding communities has laid the foundation for the expansion of the authority to include Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township and for the newly expanded organization to do an improved job of providing high-quality transit services;

Whereas Michael has led the organization to a number of significant accomplishments during the previous and current fiscal years, including: continued growth in overall ridership; growth in the vanpool program; growth in AirRide ridership and a decrease in the cost of the service; a new collective bargaining agreement ratified by the members of the TW Local 171 and approved by our Board of Directors; launch of a new AAATA website with improved rider information, navigation and tools; construction of a new Blake Transit Center; development of a new five-year urban core transportation improvement plan and a successful millage proposal;

Therefore be it resolved that the AAATA Board of Directors recognizes Michael Ford’s performance and accomplishments and desires to continue his employment as CEO, and the board looks forward to working with Michael on a new contract to continue his employment and also working with him to improve transit services in our community. Our intent is to complete this contract the time of our next meeting.

This brief was filed from the Holiday Inn Express at 600 Briarwood Circle, where the board held its special meeting.

The board of directors for Performance Network Theatre has distributed a letter to the media with an update on last month’s decision to suspend operations for the Ann Arbor professional theater. [.pdf of PNT board letter]

The letter states that the theater did not have resources to pay its staff, actors and vendors in a timely manner, and to make debt payments.

“Each of us cares passionately about professional theater in Ann Arbor, and in particular the high caliber of work Performance Network Theatre has produced over the years. At present we are engaged in due diligence as we assess the true financial situation in order to determine the appropriate next steps and decide on a course of action when the Board of Directors meets later this month.”

The theater cannot reimburse subscribers and ticket holders at this time. ”We remain committed to doing our best to determine an appropriate course of action for the mutual benefit of the theatre, staff and those owed money. At a meeting of the Board later this month, we hope to evaluate options that might allow for the continued operation of the Performance Network Theatre.”

The board members are: Ron Maurer (president), Tom DeZure, Linda Levy, Edward Abbott, Gene Dickirson, Jessica Litman, Mary Avrakotos, Steve Gerber, Stephen Palms, Barbara Bach, Hannah Goodstein, Myra Poplin, Norman Bash, David Herzig, Sheila Sassar, Tom Crawford, Steven Klein, and Philip Stoffregen.

Update: On Monday, June 9, a group of PNT supporters – including former staff – announced a proposal to re-open the theater with a smaller staff, dramatically reduced budget, and plan for reaching financial solvency. The proposal will be presented to the board at its June 18 meeting. [.pdf of June 9 press release]

The motion for fees filed by Bob Dascola’s attorney in his successful election lawsuit against the city of Ann Arbor has now been filed with the federal court. The ruling of the federal court, made on May 20, 2014, was that the city charter eligibility requirements were not constitutional enforceable, which put Dascola on the Ward 3 city council Democratic primary ballot for Aug. 5, 2014.

In the June 6, 2014 filing, attorney Tom Wieder has asked that the court award him fees for 93.25 hours of work at $400 per hour for a total of $37,300. Another $425.50 in costs for filings and document retrieval from the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) system brings the total amount the city would owe to $37,725.50.

The 93.25 hours of work is itemized in 57 specific increments in spans of time ranging from 15 minutes to 9.75 hours. The number of hours is argued in the supporting brief to be reasonable based on the complexity of the case and the fact that Wieder was Dascola’s sole counsel.

The argument for the hourly rate is based on various standards cited in the accompanying brief, which include the quality of the results obtained for the client, and the reasonableness of the rate based on Wieder’s experience, skill, and reputation. [.pdf of motion for fees and accompanying brief]

Washtenaw County commissioners gave final approval to create a new committee that will explore funding options for countywide road repair. The action took place at the board’s June 4, 2014 meeting on a 6-1 vote, over dissent from Conan Smith (D-District 9). Commissioners Yousef Rabhi (D-District 8) and Dan Smith (R-District 2) were absent.

Commissioners had given initial approval to the idea at their May 21, 2014 meeting, after rejecting a proposal to levy a 0.4-mill countywide road tax in December. The tax would have been levied under Act 283 of 1909, which does not require voter approval.

In arguing against levying the tax at this time, some commissioners cited the need to study funding options – including a possible Act 283 levy – before making a decision. The committee will consist of seven members: (1) a road commissioner or designee; (2) the road commission managing director or designee; (3) the county board’s road commission liaison; (4) one additional county commissioner; (5) a position representing townships; (6) a position representing incorporated municipalities; and (7) a member of the general public. Members will be appointed at a later date.

The county administrator will help provide administrative support to the committee. The resolution also states that the county road commission could present a road funding plan at the board’s annual meeting in the fall “as Act 283 of 1909 provides.”

For additional Chronicle coverage on road-related issues, see: “County Board Continues Weighing Road Tax,” “County Board Debates Expanded Road Commission,” “County Board Sets Hearing on Road Tax,” “County Considers Road Funding Options,” “No Major Change Likely for Road Commission” and “Group Explores Road Commission’s Future.”

This brief was filed from the boardroom at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Washtenaw County commissioners took action on two millage-related items at their June 4, 2014 meeting. The county board gave final approval to put a 10-year parks & recreation operations millage renewal on the Nov. 4, 2014 ballot. They also voted to set the county’s 2014 general operating millage rate at 4.5493 mills – unchanged from the current rate.

The parks & recreation operations millage was first authorized by voters in November 1976 at 0.25 mills for a 10-year period and has been renewed three times. Because of the state’s Headlee amendment, the rate that’s actually levied has been rolled back and is now 0.2353 mills. The current millage expires in December 2016.

If renewed again, it would generate an estimated $3.2 million annually. That’s about half of the parks & recreation annual operating expenses of $6.7 million. Other revenue sources are admission/gate/membership fees charged seasonally at facilities including the Meri Lou Murray recreation center, the water/spray parks, and the Pierce Lake golf course. Funding is also received from state and federal grants as well as private donations. [.pdf of staff memo]

The county parks system receives most of its funding from two countywide millages. In addition to the operations millage, another millage pays for capital improvements and park development. It was also originally levied at 0.25 mills, but has been rolled back to 0.2367 mills.

In addition, a third millage – levied at 0.25 mills but rolled back to 0.2409 mills – funds natural areas preservation, bringing in about $3 million annually. It was first approved by voters in 2000, and renewed for another 10 years in 2010.

The county’s parks & recreation department is overseen by a separate entity – the parks & recreation commission – whose members are appointed by the county board. The county board has the authority to put a parks millage proposal on the ballot, but does not authorize expenditure of the funds. That responsibility rests with the parks & recreation commission. The group meets monthly at the parks & recreation office at County Farm Park, and its meetings are open to the public.

Regarding the June 4 vote to set the 2014 millage rate, this is an annual process that includes a public hearing, which was also held on June 4. One person – Thomas Partridge – spoke, advocating for more resources to provide services for the county’s most vulnerable residents.

Several other county millages are levied separately: emergency communications (0.2000 mills), the Huron Clinton Metroparks Authority (0.2146 mills), two for county parks and recreation (for operations at 0.2353 mills and capital improvements at 0.2367 mills) and for the natural areas preservation program (0.2409 mills). That brings the total county millage rate levied in July to 5.6768 mills, a rate that’s also unchanged from 2013. [.pdf of staff memo]

This is a mandatory procedural action, not a vote to levy new taxes. With a few minor exceptions, the county board does not have authority to levy taxes independently. Millage increases, new millages or an action to reset a millage at its original rate (known as a Headlee override) would require voter approval.

The rates will be included on the July tax bills for property owners in Washtenaw County.

This brief was filed from the boardroom at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Public hearings are set for July 9, 2014 to get input on two millages that Washtenaw county levies without voter approval: (1) for support of indigent veterans and their families; and (2) to fund economic development and agricultural activities. The action to set the hearings took place at the June 4 meeting of the county board of commissioners.

No increase is proposed for the economic development millage, levied under Act 88. The proposal is to levy 0.07 mills in December 2014, raising an estimated $1,022,276 in property tax revenues. In previous years, the resolution setting this millage has outlined how the revenues would be allocated. The largest allocations have gone to the county’s office of community & economic development, and to the nonprofit Ann Arbor SPARK.

However, at its Nov. 6, 2013 meeting, the board adopted a new policy for allocating Act 88 revenues, drafted by Conan Smith (D-District 9). [.pdf of Act 88 policy] The policy included creating an Act 88 advisory committee to make recommendations to the board and prepare an annual report that assesses how Act 88 expenditures have contributed toward progress of goals adopted by the board. The policy allows the committee to distribute up to 10% of annual Act 88 revenues without seeking board approval. The policy also allocates up to 30% of revenues to the county office of community & economic development, which administers Act 88 funding.

For support of indigent veterans, the county is authorized to collect up to 1/10th of a mill without seeking voter approval. That’s because the state legislation that enables the county to levy this type of tax –  the Veterans Relief Fund Act, Public Act 214 of 1899  – predates the state’s Headlee Amendment. The county first began levying this millage in 2008, and collects the tax in December. Services are administered through the county’s department of  veterans affairs.

Since 2008, the county board has slightly increased the rate that it levies each year. In 2012, the rate was 0.0286 mills – or 1/35th of a mill. It was raised to a rate of 1/30th of a mill in December 2013, to fund services in 2014.

The current proposal is to levy 1/27th of a mill in December 2014, which is expected to raise about $540,887 in revenues for use in 2015.

This brief was filed from the boardroom at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Application for a $421,900 state community corrections grant was approved by the Washtenaw County board of commissioners at its June 4, 2014 meeting.

The grant from the Michigan Dept. of Corrections is for the period from Oct. 1, 2014 through Sept. 30, 2015. This is part of a regular, annual grant process to fund services that include diversion and alternative sentencing options to the Washtenaw County Trial Court, pre-trial services, drug testing, electronic monitoring and “social education,” according to a staff memo. The total program of $1.18 million also includes $240,983 in county matching funds, $280,584 in estimated program revenue, and $239,554 in the use of fund balance. The community corrections program is part of the county sheriff’s office. [.pdf of staff memo] [.pdf of grant application]

This year’s program includes a new position – with a salary range between $31,912 and $43,674 – to help supervise a substantial increase in use of electronic monitoring by all Washtenaw County courts, for pretrial and sentenced offenders as an alternative to jail. According to the staff memo, the use of electronic monitoring increased 256% over the previous fiscal year. Average electronic monitoring cases for FY 2012-13 were between 25-30 at any given time, and increased to between 85-115 cases in FY 2013-14. Increased revenue from the electronic monitoring program and use of fund balance will be used to fund the increase in staffing.

The grant was submitted to the state in May.

This brief was filed from the boardroom at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Improvements associated with a redesigned entrance to the Ann Arbor District Library on Fifth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor will be getting a boost from the Downtown Development Authority. In action taken at its June 4, 2014 meeting, the DDA board approved up to $125,000 for the redesign and replacement of the public sidewalk between William Street and the entrance to the Library Lane parking structure, on the east side of Fifth Avenue.

The goal of the sidewalk redesign is to eliminate the step that was installed at the curb, when Fifth Avenue was regraded in connection with construction of the underground Library Lane parking structure, which was completed in the summer of 2012.

At its most recent meeting, on May 19, 2014, the Ann Arbor District Library board authorized the library director, Josie Parker, to negotiate with Ann Arbor-based O’Neal Construction Inc. for work related to the downtown library entrance. O’Neal would be contracted to provide construction management services. This is the next step in a process that began several months ago, stemming from the need to replace the entrance doors.

At the its April 21, 2014 meeting, the AADL board had authorized Parker to hire a construction manager for the project. At that meeting, trustees also allocated $18,580 from the fund balance to pay InForm Studio for construction documents. InForm Studio, the architecture firm that previously designed AADL’s Traverwood branch, gave an update on the process at that same meeting.

The existing teal porcelain panels that wrap around the front facade, part of architect Alden Dow’s original design from the mid-1950s, will be replaced with a “concrete skin” panel. The entrance will continue to be oriented to South Fifth Avenue, with new doors into the building. Leading from the front of the building into the vestibule will be two balanced double doors, which will be easier to open than the existing entry, and a single automatic door. A matching set of these doors will lead from the vestibule to the interior of the building. A heated sidewalk is proposed along the exterior edge of the steps.

The new design also will address accessibility concerns that have been raised by the public.

The overall project is now expected to cost about $250,000.

This brief was filed from the DDA offices at 150 S. Fifth Ave., Suite 301. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Routine annual budget adjustments totaling about $2 million have been approved by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board. Action to adjust the FY 2014 budget came at the board’s final meeting of the fiscal year, on June 4, 2014.

The main part of the adjustment was a $1.6 million payment made for the First & Washington parking garage, which is part of the City Apartments project. The amount was budgeted for last year, but not paid until this year.

The rest of the adjustment was attributable to expenditures out of the housing fund – $500,000 of it to support Ann Arbor Housing Commission projects. The remaining $37,500 went to support a countywide housing needs assessment – an amount that was approved by the board at the same meeting in a separate vote.

The DDA will end the fiscal year with $6,167,757 in fund balance. The breakdown of that total is: TIF ($619,571); Housing ($160,154); Parking ($2,161,676) and Parking Maintenance ($3,226,356).

This brief was filed from the DDA offices at 150 S. Fifth Ave., Suite 301. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

A policy on granting financial support to private developments has been approved by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board. Action came at the board’s June 4, 2014 meeting. [.pdf of DDA partnership grant policy]

The development of the policy was spurred by a request from First Martin Corp., which has asked the DDA to support its extended-stay hotel project at the corner of Ashley and Huron streets.

Highlights of the policy include a limit on the amount, keyed to the amount of tax increment finance (TIF) revenue the project will generate: “… calculated to be between 1% and 25% of the ten year TIF captured by the DDA from this project, with these funds to be directed to the cost of the public improvements agreed to by the DDA.”

Criteria for awarding grants include:

1. Addresses a documented gap in the marketplace or underserved markets of commerce within this sector of downtown.
2. Demonstrated that the project will act as a catalyst for additional revitalization of the area in which it is located which will trigger the creation of additional new tax revenue.
3. Is “connected” to the adjacent sidewalk with uses on the first floor that are showcased using large transparent windows and doorways to give pedestrians a point of interest to look at as they walk by the project.
4. Creates a large office floor plate.
5. Will facilitate the creation of a large number of new permanent jobs.
6. Is a mixed use development, that will encourage activity in the daytime, evening, and weekend, such as a development with a mix of commercial and residential.
7. Adds to downtown’s residential density.
8. Reuses vacant buildings, reuses historical buildings, and/or redevelops blighted property.
9. Number of affordable housing units created on site or funded by the project elsewhere in the community, which are beyond what is required by the city.
10. Environmental design is at or above a Gold LEED certification, or an equivalent environmental assessment.
11. Architecturally significant building or project design.
12. Strengthens Ann Arbor’s national visibility.

The grant policy adopted on June 4 is similar to but distinct from a policy the board adopted at its June 6, 2012 meeting to cover brownfield grants – a policy that was spurred by the 618 S. Main project. [.pdf of brownfield policy]

This brief was filed from the DDA offices at 150 S. Fifth Ave., Suite 301. A more detailed report will follow: [link]