Three parcels received discussion at the council's May 7 meeting, from south to north: 415 W. Washington, 721 N. Main, the MichCon property. (Image links to higher resolution file)

In connection with different agenda items, the council discussed the future of three major parcels within the city, two of which are city-owned: 415 W. Washington and 721 N. Main, and the MichCon site near Broadway bridges.

First the council heard an update on the possible future of the city-owned 415 W. Washington property, located across from the Ann Arbor YMCA, which opened in 2005. The Y replaced the old Ann Arbor Technology Center, which had been the home of the 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios, along with independent artists and musicians, who rented space at the center. It burned in the course of a 2003 demolition.

The 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios went on to re-locate in Detroit. The group has some experience re-purposing buildings as space for artists, recently hosting a fundraiser for an additional property it has acquired – the 3rd Police Precinct in southwest Detroit. Artists can rent literal jail cells there as work space.

On Feb. 1, 2010, the Ann Arbor city council had established a task force – consisting of greenway advocates and members of the arts community – to explore the future use of the 415 W. Washington property. The Ann Arbor Arts Alliance was the group identified to represent the arts community interests.

Now, the 555 group appears ready to take responsibility for the arts portion of planning for the site. That’s the portion that entails re-using the existing building on the site, which is located in the Old West Side historic district. Carl Goines, a representative of 555, addressed the council on Monday night. Goines had co-founded the group 10 years ago in the tech center.

Goines described how an investment of around $45,000 is needed for surveying and environmental analysis of the 415 W. Washington site. That investment would be required whether the building is preserved or demolished, he said. Mayor John Hieftje indicated in his comments at the meeting that he’d be willing to give the group perhaps a year to establish a viable way to re-purpose the building, but also indicated an eagerness eventually to apply to the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund for a grant to develop the entire parcel as a park. If the 555 group could not find a way to rehabilitate the structure within a reasonable time, Hieftje indicated a willingness to pursue the option of asking the city’s historic district commission for permission to demolish the structure.

The other city-owned parcel discussed by the council was 721 N. Main, former site of a city maintenance yard.  That came in connection with a council resolution to establish a task force to study the North Main corridor, and deliver a report in a year’s time, by July 31, 2013. Earlier than that, by the end of 2012, the task force is supposed to provide a recommendation on the use of 721 N. Main.

The city has an already-approved grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to pay for demolition of two buildings on the site – but not the main building. The 721 N. Main parcel will also likely be part of a Natural Resources Trust Fund grant application by the city in the spring of 2013.

The task force is also supposed to provide a recommendation on the future use of the MichCon property, between the Amtrak station and the Huron River. MichCon is currently undertaking an environmental cleanup of the land, and the standard to which MichCon remediates the parcel will depend on its intended future use. Hieftje has been clear about his preference – that the city acquire the land for a park. A possible source of funds the city could use for acquisition of such a park would be money generated by the open space and parkland preservation millage.

By administrative policy, a third of the revenue from that millage is overseen by the land acquisition committee of the city’s park advisory commission. The council confirmed a new appointment to that commission at Monday’s meeting – Ingrid Ault, who replaces the term-limited Gwen Nystuen. The other two-thirds of the millage revenues – for preservation of land outside the city as a greenbelt – is administered by the greenbelt advisory commission. And notice of two upcoming reappointments to that body was also on the agenda – for Catherine Riseng and Peter Allen.

Allen is a real estate developer, who might have alternatives in mind for MichCon’s property that include more than just a park.

415 W. Washington

On the council’s agenda under the “introductions” section was an item updating the status of the city-owned 415 W. Washington site. For the council, the most recent historical touchstone was their Feb. 1, 2010 resolution establishing a task force consisting of Allen Creek greenway advocates and representatives of the arts community to work together to explore uses of the site. Chronicle coverage of that council meeting: ”Council Restarts 415 W. Washington Process.”

But the history of the planning for the site dates back more than just two years.

415 W. Washington: More Context – Current Use

Currently, the part of the parcel not occupied by buildings is used for surface parking in Ann Arbor’s public parking system. The lot offers 161 spaces, and generated $160,274 for 49,818 hourly patrons for the first nine months of fiscal year 2012 – that is, through March 31.

Based on the first three quarters of FY 2012, the annual revenue from 415 W. Washington’s parking lot can be estimated at $214,000 annually. The Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority operates the public parking system under contract with the city of Ann Arbor – a contract that stipulates 17% of gross parking revenues be paid directly to the city. So currently, the surface parking lot at 415 W. Washington could be estimated to provide about $36,000 annually to the city of Ann Arbor.

415 W. Washington: More Context – Future Use

A 2007 city of Ann Arbor greenway task force’s report included the following alternative recommendations for 415 W. Washington: (a) open space and a community art park; (b) a community building; and (c) new housing and additional open space. The (b) alternative mentioned the arts community specifically, but was not limited to that nonprofit sector. From the report:

Another rationale for maintaining the current structure has been provided by a variety of artists, artist organizations and other non-profit entities such as Kiwanis, many of which have expressed a desire to maintain the building for use by their respective organizations.

The city then issued an RFP (request for proposals) for the site. The RFP included a range of site objectives, but did not specify any one of the three recommended greenway task force alternatives for the site. The RFP site objectives, in excerpted form, are these:

1. Beneficial use of the site. … Preference will be given to proposals that incorporate a use (or uses) that provides a publicly available service to the community, for instance, building space that may be used for public meetings and civic or cultural events. Additional consideration will be given for the development of dwelling units affordable to downtown workers earning between 60% and 80% of Area Median Income (AMI), as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
2. Public greenway linkage. The floodway portion of the site should be reserved in some manner as open space for the Allen Creek Greenway. … The proposal should include provisions for long-term maintenance of the public elements by the applicant.
3. Flood risk mitigation. A successful proposal will employ the best management practices identified in the City of Ann Arbor Flood Mitigation Plan. …
4. Environmental benefits. The development proposal should incorporate to the greatest extent possible environmentally sensitive design and energy efficiency features that follow Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. Preference will be given to proposals that reuse or rehabilitate existing structures, consistent with historic district standards. …
5. Historic preservation. The project design must respect the historic character of the surrounding neighborhood and comply with the Old West Side historic district regulations. …
6. Financial return. The proposal must provide a positive financial return to the City. …

The three proposals received by the city, in severely abbreviated form, were as follows:

Old West Side Design Group: This proposal called for construction of a 3-story artist loft and live/work building totaling 24-36 units with above grade-level parking. The building, which would contain a minimum of 5-8 affordable units, would be located south of the main building on land currently occupied by garage structures. It would be designed for a LEED Silver rating or higher. A 24-unit residential condominium and commercial building is proposed on the adjacent 318 W. Liberty, to be developed under a separate site plan by members of the OWSDG proposal team.

Morningside: Construction of a new five-story, 52-unit condominium building with 48 parking spaces on the grade level under the building. Second floor residences are proposed for artist live/work space. Units would be priced in the mid-$200,000 range. The building, which would be designed for LEED Gold certification, would be located south of the main building on land currently occupied by garage structures.

Ann Arbor Art Center: Renovation of the 415 W. Washington building and garages into a community arts facility, to be owned by the Art Center. The Art Center would occupy approximately 13,000 square feet and rent or lease the remaining space to art groups and individuals.

Membership on the RFP review committee was as follows: Christine Brummer (Old West Side Association), Chris Easthope (now 15th District Court judge and then Ward 5 city council member), Sue McCormick (then director of public services with the city of Ann Arbor), John Mouat (then as now, an Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board member), and Scott Rosencrans (then a member of the city’s park advisory commission).

After meeting seven times from May to December 2008 to review and evaluate the proposals, the RFP committee offered praise for all three proposals but did not designate any one of the three a recommended choice. From the committee report:

Notwithstanding these positive elements, the Committee finds that no single proposal is able to satisfy all of the site objectives and requirements of the RFP on its own merits. This evaluation is described in the findings below, followed by recommendations for the next steps in the site redevelopment process.

The RFP committee then kicked the process back to council by asking councilmembers to refine the RFP and allow opportunity until mid-March 2009 for revision to the proposals. From the report:

City council should further clarify its vision for the intended uses of the site and revise the site objectives in the RFP accordingly. The Committee recommends that city council include the following elements in its vision for the site:

• A publicly-owned greenway along the existing floodway.
• Renovation of the 415 W. Washington office building for an arts and/or civic use.
• Removal of the garages behind the office building.
• Construction of a new multi-family or live-work residential building at the southwest corner of the site.
• Pedestrian and vehicle connections to both Liberty and Washington streets.

City council should provide each of the three proposers an opportunity to amend their proposal to respond to the revised site objectives and to provide for collaboration between the parties. The charge of the advisory committee should be extended to review the amended proposals and make its recommendation to city council by March 16, 2009.

The city council did not act in the fashion described by the RFP review committee.

Instead, the city council eventually moved ahead with its Feb. 1, 2010 resolution on the 415 W. Washington site. That resolution could be fairly described as taking the concept from the Ann Arbor Art Center’s RFP response and starting a community-based process to explore its realization.

The resolution language referred explicitly to an “innovative process of community collaboration to explore a greenway park and arts center.”

415 W. Washington: Update on  Process – 2011

The Greenway Arts Committee established to engage in the “innovative process” included: mayor John Hieftje, Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5), Margie Teall (Ward 4), Christine Schopieray (the mayor’s administrative assistant) on behalf of the city council; Joe O’Neal and Jonathan Bulkley for the Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy; and Tamara Real, Susan Froelich and David Esau for The Arts Alliance.

A year ago, at its April 4, 2011 meeting, the council received an update on the process. Esau of the Arts Alliance gave the presentation for the group. Highlights of the work included a report on focus groups conducted with artists. The committee also had made site visits to The Russell in Detroit, the Park Trades Center in Kalamazoo, and the Box Factory in St. Joseph.

At that time, the committee had secured a donation that had allowed a grant writer to be hired, to help submit applications for several grants, but none had yet been secured, Esau reported. He said the next step would be to raise $100,000 for additional studies on the old buildings located at the site, which are protected by the Old West Side historic district.

415 W. Washington: Update on  Process – 2012

At the council’s most recent meeting on May 7, 2012, Esau’s update was less sanguine about his own group’s involvement.

He characterized the group as having completed the work for the skills that are relevant to the Arts Alliance. The group had wanted to see a combination of different kind of spaces for artists and had generated preliminary layouts for the building. The result of that work suggested the building could house the activities that the Arts Alliance would like it to house, and that it could operate on a break-even basis. What was needed was a more sophisticated and detailed revenue/expense analysis, he said.

Funding for grant writing had been arranged, Esau said. However, most foundations offering grants are limited in their scope, he said. Foundations offering grants often are not interested in funding bricks-and-mortar capital projects, especially not early-stage projects like the 415 W. Washington project. The group wound up applying for just one grant, and it turned out that for that grant as well, the kind of capital project the Ann Arbor group had in mind was not a good fit, even though that was not evident from the grant criteria. The balance of the money that had been donated to the group for grant-writing activity has been returned to the donor at the request of the donor, Esau reported.

For the greenway portion of the project, Esau indicated that it would be included as part of the city’s grant application to Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund. [That same entity is funding part of the Ann Arbor skatepark and the renovations to the city's boat facilities at Gallup Park.]

Esau told the council that if the city is serious about redevelopment of the building, there is money that needs to be spent now. Some of that money would be needed anyway – even if the building is demolished. The Arts Alliance still believes a shared arts facility has potential and could be beneficial. However, as supportive as the Arts Alliance is of the concept, that organization can’t continue to do work on the project without compensation. All their work thus far has been pro bono. He noted that a different arts group has emerged that has more experience in adapting existing structures and is interested in participating.

With that, Esau handed over the presentation to Carl Goines, executive director of 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios. Goines sketched out the mission and history of the group, as it was founded in the Technology Center, where the Ann Arbor Y now stands, across the street from the 415 W. Washington site.

Vision of 415 W. Washington as complementary spaces with a greenway and space for contemporary artists. The bottom image is an aerial view of the existing site, looking north. (Image links to higher resolution file.)

Goines described three locations in Detroit that 555 currently operates, including the former 3rd police precinct building, with around 7,000 square feet, including jail cells. Goines said 555 was interested in working with greenway advocates to create complementary spaces – the greenway portion of the parcel and a building with space for artists.

The first steps that Goines said need to be taken are: hazardous materials assessment ($5,200); Phase 2/3 environmental assessments ($20,000); topographic and boundary survey ($6,200); structural condition survey ($3,000 to $5,000); and architectural/structural as-built survey ($8,000).

So the estimated total for survey work, he said, is $45,000 – but he had an understanding that the first three items were already in the city’s budget. It’s work that would need to be done, whether the building is demolished or rehabilitated, he said. [In subsequent remarks, community services area administrator Sumedh Bahl described the need to have environmental closure on the site, in order to be able to apply for a grant from Michigan's Natural Resources Trust Fund.]

After those first steps, Goines said, the next steps would be: developing a hazardous materials abatement plan; doing a structural feasibility analysis; doing a more detailed analysis of programming and design feasibility; performing a site and environmental feasibility analysis; doing a cost analysis; forming partnerships; and fundraising.

415 W. Washington: Council Deliberations

Mayor John Hieftje had introduced some of the history of the site before Esau and Goines addressed the council. When they concluded their remarks, Hieftje noted that 415 W. Washington is a city-owned site. The city needs to do something with it. He characterized it as a magnet for graffiti. Because it’s in the Old West Side historic district, the city can’t simply remove the building. The city would need to petition the city’s historic district commission, Hieftje said. He hoped that a proposal could be brought forward working with people who’ve done a similar project before – the 555 group.

However, Hieftje cautioned that if something couldn’t be brought forward in a year, the task force would have to come back and say they haven’t been able to bring something forward, and a decision would need to be made at that time. A year from now, Hieftje remarked, the building won’t be in better shape than it is now. He echoed the remarks of Esau and Goines in noting that the expenditures they’d identified would need to be made anyway before tearing down the building.

Sumedh Bahl, community services area administrator, explained that the annual deadline for Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant applications is in April. Bahl reported that staff had looked at 415 W. Washington as the subject of a possible grant application, but had concluded there are a number of elements not yet in place – for example, “environmental closure” on the site.

At the city park advisory commission meeting on Jan. 2, 2102, Colin Smith – the city’s manager of parks and recreation – had responded to a question from commissioner Gwen Nystuen about the possibility of moving ahead with development of a greenway park at 415 W. Washington. He noted the issue with the historic district as well as the need to master plan a greenway as items that would need to be addressed before a trust fund grant application could be made. From The Chronicle’s meeting coverage:

Colin Smith, the city’s parks and recreation manager, noted that a council resolution was passed on Aug. 4, 2011 expressing general support for the idea of a greenway. There have been conversations, he said, about applying for a grant from the Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources Trust Fund, to turn the 415 W. Washington site into a park. The city staff is looking into that. The process would be similar to the way that the trust fund application for the skatepark had been handled, Smith explained. Staff would first come to PAC for a recommendation to apply. That recommendation would be forwarded to city council, which would need to approve the application.

Smith noted that one issue for the 415 W. Washington property is that it’s located in a historic district – the Old West Side. So in addition to PAC, the city would need a recommendation from the historic district commission too, he said.

Finally, Smith reminded commissioners that the parks, recreation and open space (PROS) plan, which PAC approved, recommends that the first action should be development of a master plan to guide the creation of a greenway. That point bears consideration, he said.

415 W. Washington: What about 721 N. Main?

At the council’s May 7 meeting, Bahl explained that because the city could not move quickly with a trust fund grant application for 415 W. Washington, staff were instead considering the city-owned 721 N. Main as a grant application. To apply to the trust fund, he explained, there would need to be environmental closure on the site, a budget and a plan. Even for 721 N. Main, he said, it’d be an aggressive time schedule, but he felt the city could manage it. All the planning work would need to be done by Jan. 1, 2013, he said, to have the application ready for the April 2013 deadline. It would need to be reviewed by the park advisory commission and the environmental commission. Also, community meetings would need to be held and a community consensus achieved.

The introduction of the topic of the 721 N. Main property led to some confusion among councilmembers: Was the city considering applying for Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grants for 721 N. Main or 415 W. Washington, or possibly both?

Back and forth between Jane Lumm (Ward 2), Hieftje, and Bahl established that the city would plan to try for an application on 721 N. Main in April 2013, and for 415 W. Washington the following year, in April 2014. Hieftje said that city staff say they won’t have the capacity to do both at the same time.

Hieftje also indicated there’s a problem with the environmental conditions at 415 W. Washington. The city thinks it can meet the environmental standard at 721 N. Main. Hieftje also indicated that there’s some concern on the part of the city’s lobbyist in Lansing that the Natural Resources Trust Fund might not be as flush in coming years as it has been. In addition, Hieftje said, the Greenway Conservancy needs to have a park established as a part of the Allen Creek greenway so they can point to it, which will facilitate fundraising for additional acquisitions.

Lumm agreed that both properties are key parcels. She ventured that many members of the city council would like to assist with the planning effort for the greenway, and noted that it involved asking city staff to invest the time to master plan the greenway. Bahl said that planning exercise would be a two-year effort.

In his remarks on the 415 W. Washington presentation, Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) noted the relationship between the two parcels, saying a lot things are coming together at the same time. The 721 N. Main property is within the area of the North Main corridor task force, he said, which was an item later on the council’s agenda.

Outcome: The council did not have a voting item on its agenda related to 415 W. Washington.

North Main/Huron River Task Force

The council considered a resolution establishing a task force to study the corridor along North Main Street and the Huron River.

The scope of the task force is described in one of the “Resolved” clauses:

RESOLVED, This task force’s efforts should develop a vision to create/complete/enhance pedestrian and bike connection from downtown to Bandemer and Huron River Drive, increase public access to the river-side amenities of existing parks in the North Main-Huron River corridor, ease traffic congestion at Main and Depot at certain times of a day and recommend use of MichCon property at Broadway; …

The task force is supposed to submit a report on its vision more than a year from now, on July 31, 2013. The membership of the task force is described as follows:

RESOLVED, That the task force will include one member of the park advisory commission, one member of planning commission, one resident representing Water Hill, one resident representing the North Central, one resident from Old Fourth Ward and one resident representing Broadway/Pontiac neighborhood, two business and property owners from the affected area, and one member of Huron River Watershed Council;

North Main/Huron River Task Force: 721 N. Main

In addition to the MichCon property, the resolution establishing the North Main/Huron River task force explicitly mentions another parcel – 721 N. Main.

RESOLVED, This task force’s efforts should result in a recommendation to council for the best use of 721 N. Main as part of the Allen Creek Greenway trails by Dec. 31, 2012;

So there are two deadlines for the task force – an outcome that was decided only after confusion and much conversation by the council during its May 7 deliberations. The earliest deadline is for a recommendation on the 721 N. Main property – by the end of 2012. The later deadline, for the overall report, is not until 2013, on July 31.

The 721 N. Main parcel is west of Main Street. The main building on the site is oriented north-south, visible just north of the blue-shaded area (the FEMA floodway) and inside the green area (the FEMA floodplain). The FEMA grant for demolition of buildings does not include the main building. (Links to higher resolution image.)

Council deliberations on the 721 N. Main portion of the task force resolution had already begun in the context of the presentation on 415 W. Washington. At that point in the council meeting, it was already established that the 721 N. Main property would be put ahead of 415 W. Washington for consideration of a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund application. It’s the trust fund’s April 2013 application deadline that pushed the council to give the task force a Dec. 31, 2012 deadline for a recommendation on 721 N. Main.

Some of the additional background on 721 N. Main, reviewed by community services area administrator Sumedh Bahl, included the fact that the city has received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to demolish two of the buildings – those in the floodway. The main building is in the floodplain, not the floodway, and is not included in the FEMA grant. Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) asked if there was any intent to save the main building. Bahl said he didn’t know right now, but the FEMA grant is for the demolition of the other two buildings.

The receipt of the FEMA grant is contingent on getting the city’s All-Hazard Plan updated, Bahl explained. It had lapsed, and FEMA requires an updated plan before the grant award can be made. [The city recently hired a new emergency management director, Rick Norman, who was introduced to the council at its Feb. 21, 2012 meeting. Updating the plan will be one of Norman's priorities.]

As funding sources for development of 721 N. Main as a greenway park, Hieftje gave another possibility in addition to the FEMA grant and the possible Natural Resources Trust Fund grant. Hieftje reported that he also had had a fruitful conversation with Washtenaw County parks and recreation on possible funding from that group. [The Washtenaw County parks and recreation commission operates with its own dedicated millage funds.] No formal agreement exists, Hieftje allowed, but the group was happy to see an application for funds go forward.

By way of additional background, Bob Tetens – director of Washtenaw County parks and recreation – told The Chronicle in a recent phone interview that there was not anything yet in front of the parks and recreation commission related to 721 N. Main. He indicated that there’d been conversations with the city about the project, and that the idea of connecting the 721 N. Main property would be a good fit with the county parks and recreation Connecting Communities grant program – a $600,000 annual program over five years, for a total of $3 million. Tetens also said that a project already partly funded through another source (like the state’s Natural Resources Trust Fund) would enhance that project’s application for a Connecting Communities grant. However, there are more applications for various projects every year than Washtenaw County parks and recreation can fund through the program, Tetens said.

Excerpt from the city's 2007 Non-Motorized Transportation Plan. (Image links to higher resolution file.)

At the council’s May 7 meeting, Bahl said that Ann Arbor will work with Washtenaw County parks and recreation as the project moves along. Hieftje also described the possibility of a tunnel under the railroad track that could connect the 721 N. Main side of the railroad tracks to the Border-to-Border Trail. [The two borders to which the trail's name refers are the eastern and western edges of Washtenaw County.]

The city’s 2007 Non-Motorized Transportation Plan, which is currently being updated by the city, shows a non-motorized trail underpass for the railroad tracks that would essentially extend a shared-use path from Fifth Avenue at Depot Street under the tracks across the MichCon property, where it could eventually connect with the Border-to-Border trail. [.pdf of map from 2007 Non-Motorized Transportation Plan]

Hieftje commented that he’s hopeful about a railroad underpass, because the Michigan Dept. of Transportation would be soon be acquiring the tracks from Norfolk Southern Railway. Railroad are notorious for being difficult to work with, he said. Hieftje felt that MDOT should be easier to work with than Norfolk Southern.

Bahl responded to Hieftje’s speculation by saying that MDOT might be easier to work with than the Norfolk Southern, but said that working with MDOT is no piece of cake. Bahl’s sentiments were consistent with those expressed by city staff on a March 16, 2012 staff-led tour of the area around the MichCon site and the Broadway bridges. Responding to residents who ventured that MDOT would be easier to work with, city engineer Michael Nearing and city transportation program manager Eli Cooper were both keen to stress that MDOT would not be easy to work with on railroad issues.

North Main/Huron River Task Force: Council Deliberations

Sandi Smith (Ward 1) led off the deliberations on the task force resolution. She co-sponsored it with her wardmate, Sabra Briere. She highlighted the fact that it’s meant to be a collaborative effort to look at the North Main corridor along the Huron River. She noted that access to Bandemer Park was difficult – for pedestrians, bicyclists and cars. None of it is being done very well currently, she said. So people use the illegal cut-throughs across the railroad tracks.

The city has given up maintaining a fence there, because it was destroyed so many times, she said. But across the railroad tracks is the only way into Bandemer, unless you go up North Main and cross the tracks at the at-grade crossing. Almost everyone takes the illegal shortcut, she noted. The city is investing a lot of resources in that general area. The Argo Cascades bypass around the Argo Dam has doubled or tripled the number of visitors to the area. People are flocking to it, she said. A connection between 721 N. Main and Bandemer will serve the greenway very well, she said. Getting to the Huron River from that side of the railroad tracks needs to be addressed, she said.

In his remarks, made later in the deliberations, Mike Anglin (Ward 5) noted that Smith had served on the Allen Creek greenway task force that had produced the 2007 report. It had a lot of technical detail that’s very deep, he noted. The participation of the greenway conservancy would be an asset, he said.

Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) said the task force effort ties in with efforts that had been discussed two years ago. He noted that he and Smith had walked the area to see what the North Main entrance into the city looks like. He said he’d support the resolution as an idea whose time has come.

Briere noted the difference between the work of the task force and the work that city staff would do. She observed that members of the task force are individual citizens, not staff members. She continued by saying she is partial to the resolution language that says the task force will conduct a series of workshops and would work with independent professionals – to help everyone listen to ideas they might not think of inside the box they live in. She stressed that the task force membership includes people who have a real stake in the area. She also stressed that anyone who wanted to attend the task force meetings would be welcome to do so.

Marcia Higgins (Ward 4) indicated she supported the resolution. But she wanted to know how the work would be funded. Briere indicated the task force would have access to one staff member – Sumedh Bahl. Most of the work would be done by people who don’t get paid. So Higgins ventured that the independent professionals the task force was supposed to consult with would be volunteers – yes, said Briere.

A lengthy discussion then ensued about the work that the task force would do on 721 N. Main, compared with the staff work that would be done specifically in connection with preparing to meet the April 2013 application deadline for the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund.

Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) and Sandi Smith (Ward 1) before the May 7 council meeting.

Bahl indicated that the initially proposed deadline for the task force recommendation on 721 N. Main (which had been March 31, 2013) would be much too late to make a difference for the April grant application. That deadline was revised to Dec. 31, 2012.

Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) expressed some concern that even that earlier deadline would not give city staff enough time to prepare the grant application. Bahl assured Taylor that the site plan that would be produced in connection with the grant application would be only at the conceptual level, indicating that the deadline would be achievable.

Hieftje stressed that the best thing from the point of view of pushing a greenway forward is to get the funding for 721 N. Main, so that the first of a series of greenway parks could be established. That would be the best approach to establishing 415 W. Washington as part of an Allen Creek greenway, he said.

Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) thanked Briere and Smith for developing the resolution and bringing it forward. He counted it as significant progress since the greenway task force had submitted its report. He also noted that progress had been made on the First and William lot. Hohnke felt that progress was now being made on the other two city-owned parcels [identified by greenway advocates as three key parcels for an Allen Creek greenway.] Hohnke noted that part of the challenge of the First and William site is environmental remediation.

Outcome: The council unanimously approved establishing the task force to develop a vision for North Main/Huron River. Appointments to the task force could come as soon as the next council meeting on May 21.

Appointments to Open-Space-Related Bodies

In addition to eventual appointments to the North Main/Huron River task force, at its May 7 meeting the council considered appointments to two park-related bodies of the city: the park advisory commission, and the greenbelt advisory commission.

Appointments: Park Advisory Commission

The council considered the nomination of Ingrid Ault to the city’s park advisory commission (PAC). Ault – executive director of the nonprofit Think Local First – replaces Gwen Nystuen, who served two three-year terms on the commission starting in 2006. Service on the commission is limited to six continuous years at a time – but an additional appointment can be made after a three-year pause.

During the council’s opportunity to deliberate on the appointment, Jane Lumm (Ward 2) spoke at length in praise of Nystuen’s service to the city on PAC.

Outcome: The council unanimously approved Ault’s nomination to the city’s park advisory commission.

Appointments: Greenbelt Advisory Commission

A parliamentary snafu was associated with the nomination for re-appointment of two members of the city’s greenbelt advisory commission (GAC), which is charged with overseeing a portion of the proceeds from the open space and parkland preservation millage. By administrative policy, two-thirds of the millage proceeds are invested in land preservation outside the city – GAC makes recommendations to city council for those investments. The other third of the money is overseen by the land acquisition committee of PAC, which also acts in an advisory capacity to city council.

The re-appointment of Catherine Riseng and Peter Allen to GAC was on the agenda as a voting item, but was supposed to be a communication. The council agreed informally to postpone the vote until its following meeting, on May 21. Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) raised the corresponding point of order – the council should actually vote on the postponement as a matter of form, which the council then did.

Outcome: The council unanimously postponed the reappointment of Riseng and Allen to GAC.

MichCon Site

Also a part of the North Main/Huron River task force scope of work is the MichCon site, bounded roughly by the railroad tracks next to the Amtrak station on the west, the Huron River on the east, and Broadway bridges on the south.

MichCon, a subsidiary of DTE Energy, is currently engaged in the environmental cleanup of contamination that’s related to the site’s history as a coal gasification plant. The cleanup plan for the strip of land alongside the river was presented to the city council recently, as well as to the city’s park advisory commission. [For a more detailed look at that plan, see Chronicle coverage of the March 20, 2012 park advisory commission meeting.]

At an April 10, 2012 public hearing held at Cobblestone Farm, Shayne Wiesemann, a senior environmental engineer with DTE Energy, spoke to The Chronicle about the cleanup. He explained that the cleanup of the area next to the river was the subject of the hearing, not the cleanup for the entire site. While the standards for remediating the riverside strip had essentially been determined, that was not the case for the entire site.

The cleanup standard that DTE Energy would meet for the entire site would depend on its eventual planned use by a future owner, Wiesemann said. He indicated that the MichCon leadership is interested in selling the property – but does not have an immediate sense of urgency to dispose of the land. He indicated that something like a five-year time frame would be appropriate to think about.

"Broadway Mills" – a University of Michigan student project. This rendering is oriented with south at the top of the image. (Image links to large .pdf of class project.)

Mayor John Hieftje and others have spoken about their desire to see the land acquired by the city and become a park. One possible source of funds for acquisition of at least part of the parcel by the city would be the open space and parkland preservation millage. That purchase would need to be recommended by the park advisory commission’s land acquisition committee.

For Peter Allen, who serves on the greenbelt advisory commission in the slot designated for a real estate developer, the vision of the MichCon property is more than just a park. [Allen's service on GAC would not allow him to have say in the expenditure of open space and parkland preservation millage dollars on the MichCon property, which lies inside the city.]

In a recent phone interview with The Chronicle, Allen described how the “buildable” portion of the property is closer to the Broadway bridges, and that he could imagine the parcel as including parkland as well as developed property. He highlighted in particular the possibility of including a performing arts venue at the location.

NoMo – a University of Michigan student project. The view is from the east with the Broadway bridges in the foreground. (Image links to large .pdf of class project.)

Allen teaches a course in urban planning as an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan. Two and a half years ago, The Chronicle reported on a class assignment that Allen gave students to look at the potential development of various sites around Ann Arbor. Two groups of students took on the challenge of evaluating the MichCon property as developable land.

The two projects were called Broadway Mills and NoMo. Both proposals include construction of buildings on the eastern part of the parcel, leaving the western portion as open space.

NoMo proposed a mix of retail (ground floor), office (middle) and residential uses (top). Broadway Mills also included a mix of retail and residential uses, and specifically called for a small amphitheater and a seasonal ice rink. A space the project team dubbed “Depot Plaza” – located roughly where the current Amtrak station is located – would be “a family-oriented space, with a splash fountain, climbable sculptures, and a playground.”

Outcome: The council did not have a voting item on its agenda regarding the MichCon property.

Present: Jane Lumm, Mike Anglin, Margie Teall, Sabra Briere, Sandi Smith, Tony Derezinski, Stephen Kunselman, Marcia Higgins, John Hieftje, Christopher Taylor, Carsten Hohnke.

Absent: Margie Teall.

Next council meeting: Monday, May 21, 2012 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at 301 E. Huron. [confirm date]

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Jonathan Bulkley gently shushes his granddaughter as mayor John Hieftje reads aloud a proclamation honoring him. Bulkley is a long-time University of Michigan professor and board member of the Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy. (Photo by the writer.)

However, considerable public commentary at the council’s Tuesday meeting – held a day later than usual due to the Labor Day holiday – was connected to appointments to the city’s medical marijuana licensing board. Advocates for access to medical marijuana tied their remarks to that agenda item, though none of the speakers had any apparent issue with the proposed constitution of the board. Instead, they expressed concerned that a recent court of appeals ruling makes the legality of certain dispensary operations uncertain.

On the council’s side, the unusual focus on appointments came during the usually perfunctory vote on the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority appointments. That vote was drawn out by a request from Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) to separate out the three appointments for separate roll-call votes. The votes on the reappointment of John Mouat and the new appointment of Nader Nassiff were unanimous. But Kunselman wanted to cast a lone vote of opposition against the reappointment of Joan Lowenstein to the board.

The other non-unanimous vote of the evening came on the reconstruction of a pedestrian bridge over Malletts Creek in the Lansdowne neighborhood. Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) asked his colleagues to indulge him in a two-week postponement on that project, so that he could achieve a clearer understanding of the public-private character of the project and its potential legal liabilities. His colleagues, who indicated they were already familiar with the longstanding issue of the bridge, were disinclined to grant the postponement. So Derezinski voted against the $120,000 project, which will be paid out of the city’s major street fund.

In other street fund expenditures, the city council approved a roughly $550,000 increase in the amount of its contract with Barrett Paving Materials Inc. to undertake additional street repair projects in the 2011 construction season. Progress on the scheduled projects had been sufficiently rapid that it was possible to add the additional work.

Land purchase and lease was the topic of three items on the agenda. In one, the city authorized a $100/month month-to-month lease of part of the city-owned 415 W. Washington building to the Kiwanis Club for storage for the club’s warehouse sale. The council also approved the use of $82,500 from the city’s open space and parkland preservation millage to purchase an Eden Court parcel located next to the Bryant Community Center. And the council held a closed session under the exemption in the Open Meetings Act that allows for such a session for the purpose of land acquisition.

In other business, councilmembers gave initial approval to a change in the city’s pension ordinance, approved the allocation of some money already budgeted for human services, and OK’d the allocation of community events funding.

In his communications time, Kunselman foreshadowed an upcoming issue for the council – the relationship between the street millage and the public art program. First Kunselman offered to fill the slot as council liaison to the Ann Arbor Housing Commission. Derezinski had stepped out of that role in order to serve on the city’s public art commission. At Tuesday’s meeting, Kunselman also reiterated his position that the city’s public art program takes money from dedicated millages in a way that is not legal. In response to his comments, Sabra Briere (Ward 1) encouraged Kunselman to take the action he felt was appropriate to rectify that situation.

Among the proclamations made at the start of the meeting was one honoring Jonathan Bulkley for his service to the University of Michigan, the state of Michigan and the nation. Bulkley had addressed the council at its Aug. 4, 2011 meeting in support of the council’s resolution on the greenway – he’s a board member of the Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy.

Med Marijuana Board Appointments

On the council’s agenda was a resolution to confirm appointments to the city’s medical marijuana licensing board: Patricia O’Rorke, James Kenyon, John McKenna Rosevear – all members of the public – and Sabra Briere (Ward 1) from the city council. The fifth member of the board, who is required to be a physician under the city’s medical marijuana licensing board bylaws, has not yet been nominated.

Medical marijuana was the topic of public commentary from a half dozen speakers at the start of the meeting.

The Ann Arbor city council gave final approval to its medical marijuana licensing and zoning ordinances at its June 20, 2011 meeting.

At the city planning commission’s meeting on Sept. 8, Wendy Rampson – head of the city’s planning staff – indicated that applicants for licenses are welcome to submit information to the city in connection with license applications, but staff have ceased their review activity pending further direction.

The pause in activity and the concern from members of the public at Tuesday’s council meeting were prompted by a recent court of appeals ruling that has been interpreted by some to mean that dispensaries are not legal. [.pdf of the McQueen case ruling]

Medical Marijuana: Public Commentary

Shelly Smith introduced herself as a Washtenaw County resident for several years. She said the McQueen case ruling was not good for the city or for Michigan. First, if the decision is upheld, then on top of the many who are unemployed already, you would have to add 100 more in the immediate area plus five empty buildings and, she estimated, $30,000 in lost rent.

Second, it’s a decision that goes against democratic principles – the majority of citizens voted to have safe, legal access to powerful natural medicine. Third, it restricts access for patients who have chronic pain. It’s the first time in years they’ve had access to a quality of life that is not too expensive, she said.

Mark Passerini told the council that the controversial court decision had forced tens of thousands of patients statewide back to a state of limbo. The intent of the Medical Marijuana Act, he said, was to afford patients safe access. Experience has shown that it’s unrealistic for patients to have to rely on a sole caregiver for their medicine. It takes a seasoned cultivator four months to grow one plant – four months during which that patient might have to do without their medicine. Most caregivers are also not willing to bear the expense or gain the expertise to make edibles, tinctures or topicals – those are all different means of delivering medicine to patients. What if their caregiver is out of town? What if there’s a power outage and the crop fails?

Are the 100,000 patients in Michigan just flat out of luck? he asked. The Medical Marijuana Act should not be regarded as something that was short-lived, but rather something that is a model for the future.

He noted some recent headlines from across the country. At the end of July, in Seattle the mayor and city council enacted a measure to regulate the existing 70 storefront medical marijuana dispensaries. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that explicitly acknowledged the legality of local cannabis distribution centers. Colorado has licensed over 700 dispensaries. The New Jersey governor said that he was moving ahead with the state’s medical cannabis program, despite threats from federal authorities. A bill in Illinois is expected to pass in the next six months, which specifically calls for a dispensary in each of Delaware’s 59 senate districts. Lansing mayor Virg Bernero called the McQueen ruling “a terrible setback” and said that the court subverted the will of the people, Passerini reported.

Cocaine is a schedule 2 drug but marijuana is a schedule 1 drug alongside heroin, PCP and meth. That classification – as a drug that has no medicinal value – contradicts countless studies and research, 16 different state laws and the medical professional, Passerini said. It also contradicts a U.S. patent for the medicinal qualities of cannibis, he said: patent number 6630507. Passerini asked the council to continue with the licensing process and not to take any steps backwards.

Koos Eisenberg told the council she’s been an Ann Arbor taxpayer since 1995. And since April she has been a medical marijuana patient. Having medical marijuana dispensaries in Ann Arbor is important to her based on three concepts, she said: (1) security and safety, (2) education, and (3) alternatives to caregivers.

The additional security offered by dispensaries includes the fact that they’re covered by cameras. Only patients are allowed into the facility. The product is tested for quality, and she does not have to be a part of the “drug culture.” With respect to education, she said she’d learned about different strains of medical marijuana that are appropriate for her medical needs. She’d learned about options like “vaporizing,” which are safer for her lungs. Ann Arbor dispensaries also give her a chance to meet and talk with other patients. She has easier access to dispensaries than to her caregiver, she said. Her caregiver has been robbed. She expressed the hope that a just, safe and advantageous solution could be found for everybody.

Francesca Loria told the council about a conversation she’d had with friend who is a University of Michigan doctor. Her friend had acknowledged the benefits of cannabis in connection with glaucoma and cancer, she said. But the conversation made her realize there was a deep-seated prejudice against medical marijuana for other purposes. Her physician friend would not prescribe it, Loria reported, and would instead opt for prescription drugs for pain. Why would you need a prescription, when there’s a plant? she asked. She quoted statistics on the number of deaths annually due to prescription drugs and alcohol, but contended that the number of deaths caused by marijuana is zero. There are countless stories about people who’ve been helped by a plant, she said.

Dori Edwards introduced herself as a retired Waldorf instructor, who’d moved to Ann Arbor 15 years ago. It was the only place in Michigan that reflected her liberal ideals, she said. She appreciated the fact that the city of Ann Arbor was going to help. After the McQueen ruling, her Treecity Health Collective shut its doors. She had to turn away patients in wheelchairs and walkers. She had to say “I can’t give you any medicine.” One patient told her he would have to drive to Detroit, where he used to get it. She applauded council for taking a stand. She told the council that Treecity’s policies are within the law and that Treecity tries to regulate product so that it’s clean. She thanked the mayor for the speed with which he’d appointed the licensing board.

Chuck Ream reported that his medical marijuana business had been robbed by masked men with guns. He said his employees would have called the police, but the robbers were themselves police. He described the police as “thugs, pure and simple” who were trying to protect their jobs. Ream blamed much of the activity on the Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice grants, which he said need to be eliminated. He told the council that no warrant was shown and no charges were filed. But the police stole the license application that he was preparing to submit to the city, he said. The council should defend the city charter or resign, he said. He then quoted from the city charter:

(d) No Ann Arbor police officer, or his or her agent, shall complain of the possession, control, use, giving away, or sale of marijuana or cannabis to any other authority except the Ann Arbor city attorney; and the city attorney shall not refer any said complaint to any other authority for prosecution. (e) No Ann Arbor police officer, or his or her agent, shall complain and the city attorney shall not refer for prosecution any complaint, of the possession, control, use, giving away, sale or cultivation of marijuana or cannabis upon proof that the defendant is recommended by a physician, practitioner or other qualified health professional to use or provide the marijuana or cannabis for medical treatment. (Amended by election of November 2, 2004

Ream attributed the raid on his business to a call from a “crazy lady” to the police, who had referred her to LAWNET [the Livingston and Washtenaw Narcotics Enforcement Team]. But that should not be possible, he said, based on the city charter. The officer at the raid said it was due to two people who had expired registry cards – if that was the case, they should have been given a ticket, he said. Ream told the council that slavery is gone, women can vote, children can go to school instead of working in a factory – it would soon be the case that access to medical marijuana will be seen the same way. The mayor needs to get back on board and not make any more damaging statements, Ream said. It’s now time to implement what the voters said they wanted.

Medical Marijuana Licensing Board: Council Deliberations

Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) sought input from city attorney Stephen Postema. Postema described the city’s ordinance as allowing dispensaries when they are compliant with state law. However, in his remarks Postema indicated the unlikelihood that a dispensary could be compliant with the state law. He cited the McQueen decision as well as the county prosecutor’s press release, which explained that the prosecutor’s office would rely on that ruling in determining whether to prosecute.

Councilmembers Sabra Briere (Ward 1) and Tony Derezinski (Ward 2).

However, Postema said that whether the council should appoint a board is a policy issue for the council to decide.

Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) said he thought the Medical Marijuana Act would continue to be around and would continue to be interpreted, so it’s appropriate to have that advisory board. Postema indicated that he felt the Supreme Court was unlikely to change the law. But he stressed that the courts are not the last word in our legal system. He ventured that the the law might be changed through the legislature or a citizen’s initiative.

Sabra Briere (Ward 1) noted that the city’s ordinance does not deal with different business models for dispensaries. What the court of appeals had ruled out, she said, was patient-to-patient sales. Ann Arbor’s ordinance requires people to follow state law. It’s not something that will go away, she said.

Briere indicated that she felt the council should obey its own ordinance by appointing the licensing board. Whether anyone can legally be granted a license is a separate issue. The licensing board doesn’t act except through the council, she said. Mayor John Hieftje said he was in favor of going ahead with the appointment of the board.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to appoint four members of the medical marijuana licensing board.

Communications: Housing, Art, Street Millage

Some of the council communications were related, though they came at different times during the meeting.

During the initial communications slot on the agenda, Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) noted that the mayor had asked for volunteers to replace Tony Derezinski (Ward 3) as the council’s liaison to the Ann Arbor Housing Commission. As a former housing commission liaison, Kunselman said he’d be willing to step up and serve.

By way of background, Derezinski had agreed to serve on the city’s public art commission as a replacement for Jeff Meyers, who resigned this summer. But in order to take on that responsibility, Derezinski said, he needed to step down as housing commission liaison.

From Sabra Briere (Ward 1) came the heads-up that in two weeks she hoped to bring a resolution of intent for how the city expects to account for and spend the money from the street millage, which the city is asking the voters to renew at the Nov. 8 general election. [One possibility is that such a resolution of intent might exclude the street millage revenues from use by the city's Percent for Art program.]

During his council communications slot at the end of the meeting, Kunselman addressed the question of the city’s Percent for Art program. He observed that city staff had been quoted in the media about the legality of the city’s funding methodology for the program. [One percent of all capital improvement projects is set aside to be spent on public art, capped at $250,000 per project. That includes projects paid for with dedicated millage funds like the street millage and the parks and capital improvements millage.]

Kunselman acknowledged that Briere had indicated she’d be bringing forward a resolution of intent for how the street millage money would be spent, if voters where to re-approve it in November.

Kunselman said the state law indicates a need to have a clear statement on how a dedicated millage will be spent. He dismissed any explanations that had been given to justify the spending, based on states other than Michigan.

He noted that within Michigan, Tuscola County had offered the following explanation in a document posted on its website:

The Board of Commissioners does not have the legal authority to remove funds from the special purpose millage accounts for any purpose other than what the voters in Tuscola County approved the funds to be spent on. Simply put the Board of Commissioners can not reallocate funds from one account to another.

Kunselman noted that he’s said it time and time again: The city’s public art program illegally takes money from millages, because the program doesn’t serve the purpose of the millages.

Despite comments city staff, Kunselman said, there is no policy. Until the community gets an opinion from the city attorney as required by the city charter, he said, he would continue to say it’s illegal. Tuscola County has put its view in writing to give their voters confidence, Kunselman said.

Following Kunselman’s remarks, Briere encouraged him to take appropriate action to get his concerns addressed.

DDA Appointments

On the agenda was a resolution to reappoint Joan Lowenstein and John Mouat to the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board and to appoint Nader Nassif.

Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and mayor John Hieftje before the Sept. 6 meeting.

When the reappointments came before the council, Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) asked that the vote on their confirmations be split.

The vote on Nassif was not deliberated.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to appoint Nader Nassif to the DDA board.

For Lowenstein, Sandi Smith (Ward 1), who also serves on the DDA board, said that everyone is very familiar with Lowenstein through her previous service on the city council and planning commission. She described Lowenstein as thoughtful and generous with her time. Smith said she was eager to have Lowenstein serve another four years. Mayor John Hieftje, who also serves on the DDA board, said that Lowenstein really digs into things and does a great job. He said Lowenstein was an excellent chair last year. Kunselman did not comment.

Outcome: The council voted to reappoint Joan Lowenstein to the DDA board, with dissent from Kunselman.

For John Mouat, Smith described how she had enjoyed working with Mouat over the last four years. He’d taken over the chairmanship of a new committee – the transportation committee. She described his skill set as an architect of municipal buildings as valuable for the DDA board. She concluded that she highly supported Mouat as a member of the DDA board. Hieftje echoed Smith’s sentiments. Sabra Briere (Ward 1) drew out the fact that some of the appointments to the DDA board have certain criteria – some positions are reserved for those who work for a downtown business, for example. From the state statue Act 197 of 1975:

Not less than a majority of the members shall be persons having an interest in property located in the downtown district or officers, members, trustees, principals, or employees of a legal entity having an interest in property located in the downtown district. Not less than 1 of the members shall be a resident of the downtown district, if the downtown district has 100 or more persons residing within it.

Hieftje noted that Nassif had a law office downtown, so he was not an at-large appointment.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to reappoint John Mouat to the DDA board.

Lansdowne Pedestrian Bridge

Before the council for its consideration was approval of a $120,000 change to its fiscal year 2012 budget to include an expenditure from its major street fund to reconstruct the pedestrian bridge in the Lansdowne neighborhood. The bridge, located in Ward 4, connects Morehead and Delaware drives.

Councilmembers Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) and Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2).

The bridge has been a topic of neighborhood concern dating back at least to the 2010 Ward 4 Democratic primary race between Margie Teall and Jack Eaton, a race won by the incumbent Teall. The neighborhood association owns the structures under the bridge (a “weir” or short dam-like structure), while the city owns the bridge itself. Based on remarks from a candidate forum from that year, the pedestrian bridge has now been out of service for about three years.

The resolution altering the major street fund budget was sponsored by Ward 4 councilmembers Teall and Marcia Higgins.

Lansdowne Pedestrian Bridge: Council Deliberations

Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) wanted more information to come forward before voting. He noted that there were private-public issues as well as a potential liability issue for the city. He said he would like the council’s indulgence to wait another two weeks. So he moved to postpone the issue. The motion nearly died for lack of a second, but Sandi Smith (Ward 1) finally raised her hand.

Sabra Briere (Ward 1) asked how a two-week delay would affect construction timing. Sue McCormick, the city’s public services area administrator, explained that the project would start next spring or summer, so a two-week delay would not have a negative impact. Higgins said the issue has been worked on for 12 years and the issues are known. [The bridge is in her ward, and she faces a general election challenge from Republican Eric Scheie.]

Derezinski countered Higgins by saying that if it had taken 12 years, the two additional weeks was not too much to ask. Mayor John Hieftje said he’d had an opportunity to learn about the issue and did not feel the need to postpone. He called it unfortunate that there’s not more information in the staff memo.

Outcome on postponement: The motion to postpone failed, with only Derezinski supporting it.

Outcome: The council voted to approve the Lansdowne bridge project over Derezinski’s dissent.

Additional Allocation for Street Repair

The council was asked to approve a $550,040 increase to the contract with Barrett Paving Materials Inc. – the contractor that handles street repair work for the city. The money will be spent on additional work that can now be done because, according to the city, the 2011 street repair work is ahead of schedule.

The proposed additional work will be done on: (1) the outbound lane of Miller Avenue between Seventh Street and Chapin; (2) on North Division Street between Ann and Detroit streets; and (3) on Oxford Street between Hill Street and South University Avenue.

The work on Oxford Street could start either during the 2011 construction season or in 2012, depending on how talks go with the University of Michigan about the university’s contribution to the project.

Part of the approval authorized by the city council included $80,000 worth of crack-sealing work to be done yet this year on several different streets.

The city’s original contract with Barrett Paving Materials Inc. was for $3,710,953.

At the council’s meeting, Liz Rolla, senior project manager with the city, reviewed the streets and the repair activities that are planned to be done with the additional funds. She noted that some of the additional work had already been done – on Spring Street. She suggested that some councilmembers might remember the gnomes and flamingos that had been placed by neighbors on a particularly bad stretch of pavement.

About the work on Oxford Street, Rolla noted that it was paved as a residential street, but now has bus traffic. The University of Michigan had agreed to contribute to the project in proportion to its street frontage.

Rolla noted that crack sealing can give a street another 3-5 or up to an additional 7 years of life.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to approve the additional money for street repair.

Lease of 415 W. Washington to Kiwanis

On the agenda was a resolution to approve a month-to-month lease with The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor Foundation Inc., effective Sept. 7, 2011 for the bay of the 415 W. Washington building. That building is just down the street from the Kiwanis building at the southwest corner of First and Washington, where the club’s resale shop is located.

The Kiwanis Club needs the additional space for its warehouse sale. The club will pay a rental rate of $100 per month during the life of their tenancy.

A hint that some kind of agreement between the city and Kiwanis could be in the works came at the council’s Aug. 15 meeting, when Kiwanis board member Kathy Griswold mentioned the possibility during her public commentary.

At that time, Griswold had indicated that although nothing had been promised, it was possible that the city might be able to provide an alternate location for the Kiwanis Club’s warehouse sale, previously held at Airport Boulevard Building #837.

The 415 W. Washington building and land parcel are the focus of a renewed effort by the city, begun in February 2010, to redevelop the land. The effort includes city staff, councilmembers and advocates for the arts and for the Allen Creek greenway. The council received an update on that effort earlier this year. The group involved in trying to redevelop the land had identified funds that had allowed the hiring of a grant writer, and it was hoped that $100,000 could be found to support further studies.

During the brief deliberations, Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) complimented the staff in their work to make the lease happen. Mayor John Hieftje said he was happy that Kiwanis would be able to use the space. He described it as a raw space, that works for storage. Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) echoed what Hohnke said, describing Kiwanis as a wonderful organization, which is evident to people who see the work they do at the weekly rummage sale on a Saturday morning, he said.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to approve the lease of 415 W. Washington to Kiwanis.

Acquisition of Eden Court Property

The council was asked to appropriate $82,500 from its open space and parkland preservation millage to acquire the property at 5 W. Eden Court. The Eden Court property is immediately adjacent to the city’s Bryant Community Center, located in a neighborhood south of I-94 and east of Stone School Road.

The 2011 taxes on the property were estimated at $1,400, which would be eliminated from the city’s tax base, once the property becomes public land. The parcel could be used to expand the community center’s programming services. It could also be used in other ways in support of the city’s park and recreation system.

Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) asked Joan Doughty of the Community Action Network (CAN) to answer some questions about the Bryant Community Center. In 2008, the nonprofit CAN took over the community center, Doughty said. She described how CAN has outgrown the space – they have to use shifts for the after-school program. Older kids arrive first, have a snack and do homework, then go home. Younger kids then arrive, have their snack and do homework, and then the older kids return. There’s no room for an office and or food distribution, she said.

Sandi Smith (Ward 1) said she supported the center, but was concerned when the city removed affordable housing and did not add to its stock. Smith wanted to know if there was enough space on the existing site to add to the facility. Doughty said there was not room. Doughty acknowledged that yes, it’s hard to lose affordable housing. She described how the person who is moving out is happy to be leaving because of the drainage issue in the neighborhood – he’s not too happy to be living there. The loss of one housing unit means the ability to serve additional people, she said.

Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) noted that the proposal before the council was a purchase of property, but to make it functional, additional funds would be needed. Where would that money come from? Sumedh Bahl, community services area administrator, explained that federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds would be used.

Kunselman then asked Mary Jo Callan, head of the city/county office of community development, about building additional affordable housing. In the neighborhood, he said, Habitat for Humanity has built one house and rehabbed one. He asked if the city could acquire tax-foreclosed property from the county and turn it over to Habitat for Humanity. Callan acknowledged that yes, that’s a model used in other communities. So Kunselman said he wanted to bring that to the attention of his council colleagues: The city has first dibs on tax-foreclosed property, and the city would be seeing some more of these situations. So he’d be looking for their support for that.

Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) asked Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) if the purchase had been reviewed by the park advisory commission. [The purchase is being made out of the open space preservation millage, which has two components – land outside the city and parkland inside the city. Hohnke serves on the greenbelt advisory commission, which handles open space preservation outside the city. Taylor is one of two council representatives to the park advisory commission. PAC has a land acquisition committee that handles open space preservation millage recommendations inside the city.]

Taylor said he didn’t recollect if there was a conversation at PAC – if there was, it wasn’t a big discussion. Bahl confirmed that it had been reviewed by PAC.

Sabra Briere (Ward 1) drew out the fact that the amount of impervious surface on the parcel would remain the same – there would be no increase.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to approve the Eden Court purchase.

Human Services Allocations

The council was asked to allocate the additional $85,600 for human services it had previously approved as part its 2012 fiscal year budget in May 2011. The nonprofit entities receiving additional funding through the increased allocation were already slated for support – it was a matter of distributing the additional funds.

Both in terms of percentage increase and total dollar amount, Legal Services of South Central Michigan received the largest increase in support for its program to prevent evictions. The program was allocated an additional $55,816, bringing its total to $157,055. [Google spreadsheet breaking down additional allocations]

The additional funds were allocated in a way that most programs received a 2.7% increase compared to the amount they’d previously been allocated. The staff memo accompanying the resolution acknowledges the apparent proportional discrepancy, explaining that it “reflects a redistribution in which funder is funding the contract. Some contractors have funding from more than one funder and some funders have funding from just one funder. But the total allocation for each agency is the amount that all funders agreed upon based on the evaluation score, and the fund distribution formula.”

Human Services Allocations: Public Comment

Lily Au began with complimentary words for The Ann Arbor Chronicle but quipped that its editor, Dave Askins, was not her friend – he had not friended her on Facebook. She addressed the issue of coordinated distribution of human services funding – an approach whereby the city, the county, the Urban County, the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation and Washtenaw United Way together work to allocate funding to different nonprofit organizations.

Au noted that the human services funding goes through the city/county community development office, which she said charges administrative costs that are too high. She contended that most Ann Arbor residents don’t know about the coordinated approach – the city council had approved it without much discussion. She pointed to a possible conflict between AnnArbor.com’s coverage of the issue and the fact that its vice president [Laurel Champion] serves on the board of directors of the United Way.

Au criticized the United Way expenditures on pension and retirement. A new expense item this year for United Way is called “functional expenses,” which Au contended is related to the coordinated funding.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously without discussion to allocate the additional money as recommended.

Pension Ordinance Change

Before the council for its consideration was initial approval to an ordinance change that increases the city’s pension vesting period for non-union employees hired after July 1, 2011 – from five years to 10 years. It also changes the final average compensation computation so that it’s based on the the last five years of employment, not the last three years.

The preparation of the ordinance change came at the direction of the city council, which passed a resolution at its June 6, 2011 meeting asking the city administrator to bring forward ordinance revisions that for non-union employees would change health care benefits and aspects of the city’s pension plan.

Specifically, the June 6 resolution pointed to ordinance revisions that would base the final average contribution (FAC) for the pension system on the last five years of service, instead of the last three. Further, employees would be vested in the pension plan after 10 years instead of five. Finally, all new non-union hires would be provided with an access-only style health care plan, with the opportunity to buy into whatever plan active employees enjoy.

At its Aug. 4, 2011 meeting, the council gave final approval to an ordinance change that addressed the health care provision from the June 6 resolution. That ordinance change distinguishes between “subsidized retirees” and “non-subsidized retirees.” A non-subsidized retiree is someone who is hired or re-employed into a non-union position with the city on or after July 1, 2011. In their retirement, non-subsidized retirees will have access to health care they can pay for themselves, but it will not be subsidized by the city.

The ordinance change that was given initial approval at the council’s Sept. 6 meeting addresses the retirement plan portion of the June 6 resolution. All ordinance changes require approval by the council at two separate meetings, in addition to a public hearing on the change before the final vote.

The city expects that when it reaches a point when all non-union employees have been hired under the revised pension plan, the city’s costs will be $230,000 less than they would be under the current plan.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously without discussion to give initial approval to the change in its retirement ordinance.

Community Events Funding

The council was asked to authorize the allocation of $43,378 to various groups in support of events they sponsor. The largest grant was to the Ann Arbor Summer Festival – for $25,000. Most of the rest of the grants were for $1,000 to cover the city’s costs for placement of street barricades.

Awardees included the Ann Arbor Convention and Visitors Bureau, Arbor Brewing Company, the University of Michigan’s Alice Lloyd Scholars Program, and the Main Street Area Association, among others. [Google spreadsheet of awards]

The council committee recommending the award amounts consists of Sandi Smith (Ward 1) and Margie Teall (Ward 4).

Marcia Higgins (Ward 4) thanked Smith and Teall for taking on the task and doing a great job.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to approve the community events disbursements.

Gallup Boat Access Study

Another request before council related to a $7,500 grant agreement with the Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources (MDNR) to perform a preliminary engineering study for Gallup Park boating access site improvements. The Gallup Park boating dock does not meet current standards for barrier-free access, pedestrian/vehicle access, and parking.

The money will be spent out of the 2012 fiscal year park maintenance and capital improvements millage budget. The city council had applied for the grant from MDNR on March 21, 2011.

During the brief deliberations, Sabra Briere (Ward 1) noted that the city had applied to the state for the boat launch access improvements at the same time as it applied for a grant for Gallup Park generally and for a skatepark. She asked for an update on those grants. Community services area administrator Sumedh Bahl told Briere that “the letter is in the mail,” he’s been told. [By that he did not mean that approval was imminent, but that a notification about whether the grants had been approved would be forthcoming.]

Mayor John Hieftje remarked that in conjunction with the new Argo Dam bypass channel, it means there will be a lot of new opportunities for boating.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to authorize the grant.

Federal Grant for Crime Mapping

Councilmembers were asked for authorization to use $27,996 for crime-mapping work, if the money is awarded by the U.S. Dept. of Justice through an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance grant.

The funding would be used to create a specific, geospatial crime-mapping dashboard – a Law Enforcement Information Dashboard (LEID). According to the staff memo accompanying the resolution, the LEID would be shared with the CLEMIS consortium (Courts and Law Enforcement Management Information System), which includes multiple law enforcement agencies in the region.

During the public hearing on the grant award, Thomas Partridge applauded the efforts of the city to apply for and receive the grant. He suggested that instead, the funds could be going to “drug courts.” He described the amount of money as small compared to the problem of illegal drugs.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously without discussion to authorize the grant application.

Cleaning Contract

On the agenda was a resolution to authorize a $580,680 cleaning contract with Kristel Cleaning Inc. for janitorial service at the city’s municipal center, Wheeler Service Center, the water treatment plant, the Ann Arbor Senior Center and various smaller locations.

At a budget retreat in early 2011, public services area administrator Sue McCormick had brought up the topic of the frequency of cleaning:

The increases include restoration of janitorial services from three days per week to a five-day service. That move from five-day service down to three-day service, McCormick said, proved to be the “worst thing we could have done.” Exacerbating the issue is the age of the building, and there’s ongoing construction adjacent to the building, plus the fact that more people will be returning to work there. So next year’s budget proposes five-day service – an additional expense of $33,500 per year. In the new municipal center, McCormick said, a three-day-a-week janitor service would be a “recipe for decline” in the new building.

The contract with Kristel called for a 5-day-a-week cleaning schedule for the municipal building.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Sandi Smith (Ward 1) wanted to understand what factored into the frequency of cleaning: Does it depend on the number of public visitors or the number of people who work there? What what are the problems with a 3-day schedule? Alluding to the fact that the city had dropped down to a 3-day schedule from a 5-day schedule, mayor John Hieftje suggested that it would be appropriate to ask if the city is spending more for cleaning now than three years ago. Interim city administrator Tom Crawford said “fruit flies and critters like that” were an example of some problems with the 3-day schedule.

After hearing that there was no particular urgency to getting the contract approved, Smith moved for a postponement.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to postpone the cleaning contract.

Communications and Comment

Every city council agenda contains multiple slots for city councilmembers and the city administrator to give updates or make announcements about important issues that are coming before the council. And every meeting typically includes public commentary on subjects not necessarily on the agenda.

At the top of the brick column is a new wireless network router that now offers the public wireless access to the Internet. It was not noted during the meeting, but after installation of the hardware a few weeks ago, the wireless service was turned on last week and was used by The Chronicle to report its Civic News Ticker items during the meeting.

Comm/Comm: Video Surveillance

During her communications time, Sandi Smith (Ward 1) told her colleagues that on Sept. 19 she expected that a proposed ordinance would be before them that would regulate video surveillance. [Smith has previously updated the council on that ordinance.] She described how the ordinance specifies that security cameras can’t be in residential neighborhoods. It doesn’t affect whether security cameras can be in locations like parking structures, she said. If it’s not on the Sept. 19 meeting agenda, it could be expected after that.

Comm/Comm: PAC report on Fuller Road Station

Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) is one of two ex officio council representatives to the city’s park advisory commission. He reported that at its last meeting, the commission had a discussion about Fuller Road Station and the Border to Border trail. PAC had passed a resolution that identifies a number of items, including the fact that trail improvements should be prioritized over bicycle amenities within the station. PAC is also interested in ensuring that the non-motorized trail system be a jointly funded enterprise by university, city and county. [Chronicle report of the PAC meeting: "Action on Argo Headrace, Trails Near Fuller"]

Comm/Comm: Fuller Road  Station

Libby Hunter delivered her public commentary in the form of a song, as has become her habit over the last two years. The lyrics, sung to the tune of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer,” featured the refrains “lie, la, lie” directed pointedly at mayor John Hieftje. The subject of her complaint was the proposed Fuller Road Station: “Tell me please Mayor Hieftje / Is it true what we’ve been told / That you gave away our park / For a pocketful of nothing / Empty promises.”

Comm/Comm: New City Admin – Thank You to Crawford

During his communications, mayor John Hieftje noted that the new city administrator, Steve Powers, would be arriving soon. [Powers starts the job on Sept. 15.] Meetings are being set up for Powers with all councilmembers, the mayor said. Hieftje thanked Tom Crawford for his service as interim administrator. Crawford is the city’s chief financial officer, and has served as interim administrator over the last four months since the departure of Roger Fraser.

Comm/Comm: Proclamations

At the start of the meeting, several proclamations were made. One honored the Thunderbolts, a ball team that has helped maintain the city’s Southeast Area park. Alan Tanabe accepted the proclamation given by mayor John Hieftje.

Hieftje also declared September as Hunger Action Month.

Hieftje presented Nick Shannon with a proclamation acknowledging Shannon’s winning a 2011 All-America City Youth Award.

Jonathan Bulkley, a long-time professor with the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment, was also on hand to receive a proclamation for his service to the University of Michigan, the state of Michigan and the nation. Bulkley had addressed the council at its Aug. 4, 2011 meeting in support of the council’s resolution on the greenway. He serves on the board of the Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy. His granddaughter Nina accompanied him at the podium.

Comm/Comm: Remembering 9/11

Thomas Partridge introduced himself as a Washtenaw County and city of Ann Arbor Democrat, an advocate for the most vulnerable residents. He told the council it’s a serious week when the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 falls. So he called on the mayor and council to honor victims and families of that tragedy. He asked them not to raise funds to create memorials, but to honor the people who gave their lives, not in vain, but in full purpose of furthering the American economy.

Partridge said that the council should honor them by calling on people of all political persuasions and all faiths including Islamic, Christian and Jewish religions – all major and not-so-major faiths – to honor a commitment by resolving conflicts with non-violence.

Partridge concluded quickly by asking councilmembers to support the recall of Gov. Rick Snyder. He asked them to fully fund affordable housing, transportation, health care, and education.

Present: Stephen Rapundalo, Margie Teall, Sabra Briere, Sandi Smith, Tony Derezinski, Stephen Kunselman, Marcia Higgins, John Hieftje, Christopher Taylor, Carsten Hohnke.

Absent: Mike Anglin

Next council meeting: Sept. 19, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at 301 E. Huron. [confirm date]

The Kiwanis Club needed the space for its warehouse sale. The club will pay a rental rate of $100 per month during the life of their tenancy. A hint that some kind of agreement between the city and Kiwanis could be in the works came at the council’s Aug. 15 meeting, when Kiwanis board member Kathy Griswold mentioned the possibility during her public commentary.

At that time, Griswold had indicated that although nothing had been promised, it was possible that the city might be able to provide an alternate location for the Kiwanis Club’s warehouse sale, previously held at Airport Boulevard Building #837.

The 415 W. Washington building and land parcel are the focus of a renewed effort by the city, begun in February 2010, to redevelop the land. The effort includes city staff, councilmembers and advocates for the arts and for the Allen Creek greenway. The council received an update on that effort earlier this year. The group involved in trying to redevelop the land had identified funds that had allowed the hiring of a grant writer, and it was hoped that $100,000 could be found to support further studies.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

The vacant building on city-owned property at 415 W. Washington. This view is looking west – an entrance to a surface parking lot is in the foreground. (Photo by the writer.)

In its main land use business, the council approved a resolution to start a process for redeveloping the city-owned 415 W. Washington parcel. The resolution calls for the arts and greenway communities to lead fundraising and development of a vision for the parcel’s use. The site, across from the YMCA, is currently providing revenue to the city as a surface parking lot. It was previously the city’s maintenance yard.

Sandi Smith (Ward 1) convinced her colleagues to add language that would make any future use of the parcel cost-neutral with respect to the general fund. But a bid by Mike Anglin (Ward 5) to add a “citizens committee” to the mix was rejected.

And while council approved several deals under the city’s greenbelt program, it postponed consideration of another – in the area of the Bluffs park and the Black Elks lodge on Sunset. The postponement was prompted by concern from Marcia Higgins (Ward 4) that the property’s appraised value seemed too high.

The council also extended an emergency moratorium on demolition and other work in a historic district study area south of William along Fourth and Fifth avenues, and adjusted permissible on-street parking locations along Baldwin Avenue in the Burns Park neighborhood.

And the council took time to thank some volunteers for its Adopt-a-Park program. The volunteers who were recognized at the meeting helped out at Ann Arbor’s parks through CHS Group Inc.

415 W. Washington Resolution

Several people spoke on the topic of the council’s resolution on 415 W. Washington during public commentary, before the council deliberated. The resolution called for creating a community process to develop a vision for the parcel, to be led by the Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy and the Arts Alliance.

Public Comment on 415 W. Washington

Margaret Wong: Wong spoke on behalf of the Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy board. She said that the creation of a greenway park and art center on the 415 W. Washington parcel would result in a “true public benefit.” She said the conservancy would step up as a young nonprofit and participate in the process that the council’s resolution would create. She stressed that the process should be open to all and not just some. She also suggested that the goal of the process should not just be a report by 2011, but rather the goal should be to have artists actually installed there, working and performing in the space by March of 2011. In a year’s time, she suggested, the community have something real to show off.

Ray Fullerton: Fullerton spoke as a board member of the Greenway Conservancy and agreed with Wong that they needed to speed up the time frame. They had already spent five years on this, he said. He gave an example of Seoul, Korea where they had ripped up expressways and created a greenway in the city, which now enjoyed 40,000 visitors a day. He suggested that the next site they should look at was 721 N. Main, another city-owned maintenance facility.

Tamara Real: Real spoke as president of the Arts Alliance and supported the resolution on the 415 W. Washington parcel. She stated that there is a great need for a facility like that. Based on a survey that had been conducted after the Tech Center was demolished [on the site of what is now the Ann Arbor YMCA], it was found that 50,000 square feet of artist space was needed. Based on a 2008 study, she said, there are at least 1,000 artists in Ann Arbor. But she cautioned that Ann Arbor is losing its cultural vitality, as younger artists are moving away. She pointed to the Ann Arbor Comic Opera Guild, which performs in Canton because there is no suitable performance facility for them here. In contrast to Wong and Fullerton, Real thinks the time frame of producing a report in a year is realistic.

Lou Glorie: Glorie said it is important to make Ann Arbor more welcoming to artists. She pointed to a lack of space for artists and asked that the 415 W. Washington space be considered for studios. She also alluded to the possibility of a sculpture park. However, she advised the council that the resolution could be tightened up a bit, suggesting it should say that the process would be open to the whole community. She described how such a process usually worked, where perhaps 40 people would show up initially, and then it would melt down to a much smaller number. She suggested that some teeth be put in the resolution beyond some vague wishes to find money, and that the Downtown Development Authority be asked explicitly to invest in the process.

Connie Cronenwett: Cronenwett spoke on behalf of the Ann Arbor Women Artists, which has 230 members and has existed since 1951, she said. She emphasized the lack of primary exhibit space for artists. Her group puts on three juried shows per year, she told the council, using venues like the downtown location of the Ann Arbor District Library, the Mallets Creek Branch of the AADL, the University Michigan hospital, and the UM Power Center. But none of those venues were primary exhibit spaces, she said. With respect to the 415 W. Washington building – which the resolution calls for possibly rehabilitating – she said she did not want to wait 10-15 years. If the rehabilitation of the building is not possible, or if it was too costly, she said they needed to think about achieving primary exhibit space now, and suggested looking at the city-owned Library Lot site for that purpose.

John D’Addona: Speaking at the end of the meeting during unreserved public commentary time, he expressed concern that adequate attention hadn’t been paid to the environmental problems at the 415 W. Washington parcel. He noted that there were three large underground storage tanks, on which proper due diligence would need to be done. He reminded the council not to forget about those problems: “You might decide what you want to do, and find you can’t do what you want.”

Council Deliberations on 415 W. Washington

Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) led off council deliberations on the 415 W. Washington resolution by describing Allen Creek as one of the most significant topographical features of the city – but one that was largely hidden. He described the resolution as another step forward in the creation of a greenway along the creek’s path.

Margie Teall (Ward 4) said that she looked at the resolution from the point view of the art component. She reported that her daughter had previously rehearsed with the Young People’s Theater at the old Tech Center. When the Tech Center had been demolished and replaced with the new YMCA building, the Young People’s Theater had needed to move out to the townships to rehearse.

In his comments, mayor John Hieftje cited the greenway task force report from 2007 that had made three different recommendations for the site. He described the RFP (request for proposals) process that had followed from the greenway task force’s report as “long forgotten now, I believe.”

Historical Interlude

Based on the council deliberations at the Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010 caucus and during council’s Monday night meeting, it’s probably fair to characterize the substance of the RFP committee’s work as “forgotten.” But the committee concluded its work just about one year ago. In fact, local developer Peter Allen gave the council a presentation at their Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009 caucus on his group’s proposal in response to the city’s request.

The greenway task force’s report included the following alternative recommendations for 415 W. Washington: (a) open space and a community art park, (b) a community building and, (c) new housing and additional open space. The (b) alternative mentioned the arts community specifically, but was not limited to that nonprofit sector. From the report:

Another rationale for maintaining the current structure has been provided by a variety of artists, artist  organizations and other non-profit entities such as Kiwanis, many of which have expressed a desire to maintain the building for use by their respective organizations.

The city’s subsequent RFP included a range of  site objectives, but did not specify any one of the three recommended greenway task force alternatives for the site. The RFP site objectives, in excerpted form, are these:

1. Beneficial use of the site. … Preference will be given to proposals that incorporate a use (or uses) that provides a publicly available service to the community, for instance, building space that may be used for public meetings and civic or cultural events. Additional consideration will be given for the development of dwelling units affordable to downtown workers earning between 60% and 80% of Area Median Income (AMI), as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
2. Public greenway linkage. The floodway portion of the site should be reserved in some manner as open space for the Allen Creek Greenway. … The proposal should include provisions for long- term maintenance of the public elements by the applicant.
3. Flood risk mitigation. A successful proposal will employ the best management practices identified in the City of Ann Arbor Flood Mitigation Plan. …
4. Environmental benefits. The development proposal should incorporate to the greatest extent possible environmentally sensitive design and energy efficiency features that follow Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. Preference will be given to proposals that reuse or rehabilitate existing structures, consistent with historic district standards. …
5. Historic preservation. The project design must respect the historic character of the surrounding neighborhood and comply with the Old West Side historic district regulations. …
6. Financial return. The proposal must provide a positive financial return to the City. …

The three proposals received by the city, in severely abbreviated form, were as follows:

Old West Side Design Group: This proposal calls for construction of a 3-story artist loft and live/work building totaling 24-36 units with above grade-level parking. The building, which would contain a minimum of 5-8 affordable units, would be located south of the main building on land currently occupied by garage structures. It would be designed for a LEED Silver rating or higher. A 24-unit residential condominium and commercial building is proposed on the adjacent 318 W. Liberty, to be developed under a separate site plan by members of the OWSDG proposal team.

Morningside: Construction of a new five-story, 52-unit condominium building with 48 parking spaces on the grade level under the building. Second floor residences are proposed for artist live/work space. Units would be priced in the mid-$200,000 range. The building, which would be designed for LEED Gold certification, would be located south of the main building on land currently occupied by garage structures.

Ann Arbor Art Center: Renovation of the 415 W. Washington building and garages into a community arts facility, to be owned by the Art Center. The Art Center would occupy approximately 13,000 square feet and rent or lease the remaining space to art groups and individuals.

After meeting seven times from May to December 2008 to review and evaluate the proposals, the RFP committee offered praise for all three proposals but did not designate any one of the three a recommended choice. From the committee report:

Notwithstanding these positive elements, the Committee finds that no single proposal is able to satisfy all of the site objectives and requirements of the RFP on its own merits. This evaluation is described in the findings below, followed by recommendations for the next steps in the site redevelopment process.

The RFP committee then kicked the  process back to council by asking council to refine the RFP and allow opportunity until mid-March 2009 for revision to the proposals:

City council should further clarify its vision for the intended uses of the site and revise the site objectives in the RFP accordingly. The Committee recommends that city council include the following elements in its vision for the site:

• A publicly-owned greenway along the existing floodway
• Renovation of the 415 W. Washington office building for an arts and/or civic use.
• Removal of the garages behind the office building.
• Construction of a new multi-family or live-work residential building at the southwest corner of the site
• Pedestrian and vehicle connections to both Liberty and Washington streets

City council should provide each of the three proposers an opportunity to amend their proposal to respond to the revised site objectives and to provide for collaboration between the parties. The charge of the advisory committee should be extended to review the amended proposals and make its recommendation to city council by March 16, 2009.

Membership on the RFP review committee was as follows: Christine Brummer (Old West Side Association), Chris Easthope (then city council member), Sue McCormick (director of public services with the city of Ann Arbor), John Mouat (Downtown Development Authority board member), and Scott Rosencrans (city’s park advisory commission).

The city council’s current path for moving forward on the 415 W. Washington proposal could fairly be described as taking the concept from the Ann Arbor Art Center’s proposal in response to the RFP and starting a community-based process to explore its realization.

Not a part of the current discussion seems to be the possibility of residential uses on the site, which a year ago were pointed to as providing “eyes on the park” 24-7 to help address concerns about security.

Also not included in the current discussion seems to be the idea of a transit station use, which would theoretically serve the proposed WALLY north-south commuter rail. The future of WALLY seems somewhat bleak – although at the council’s Monday meeting councilmembers heard from SEMCOG (the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments) that six railroad cars were being refurbished for WALLY.

More Council Deliberations on 415 W. Washington

Mayor John Hieftje then read aloud for a few minutes from the greenway task force report, and said that they needed to respect the work of the task force, which had lasted for over a year. He said that the city had tried to take action but there wasn’t a good result. They had tried for the third option for the site recommended by the greenway task force, he contended, but that hadn’t worked out. He said he felt it was worth it now, though, to take a shot with this resolution to develop the second option [alternative B], a process he described as “a beginning point.”

Sabra Briere (Ward 1) expressed thanks to the 415 W. Washington RFP committee, which she said had spent a great deal of time and worked very hard, although nothing had come to fruition. She said that the failure of any proposal to move forward was perhaps a mark of the times or a mark of a flawed RFP process, but certainly not a reflection on committee members.

Briere noted that the 415 W. Washington building is protected as part of the Old West Side historic district. She said that in discussion with both her artist friends and other friends who are involved in the greenway effort, they felt like the resolution provided some needed momentum. “It’s a win for us,” Briere said. She allowed that there was not a commitment of money in the resolution, but said that now was not the time for that.

Sandi Smith (Ward 1), who was a member of the greenway task force, recalled how there were many challenges and problems involved with crossing streets and how the route of the greenway is very difficult to lay on top of the fabric of the Old West Side – still, she understood the vision. That vision, she said, is still 30-50 years off. [Other members of the greenway task force were: Linda Berauer, Jean Carlberg, James D’Amour, Larissa Larsen, Barbara Murphy, Peter Osler, Peter Pollack and Margaret Wong.]

Smith compared the parks to be established along the route of the greenway to pearls on a string, and suggested that this was one of the first pearls. Smith noted a bit of irony in the fact that one of the strategies the city is at least putting on the table to contend with the current budget difficulties is the sale of parkland. Sale of the land would reduce maintenance costs in the parks system.

So it was a natural question to ask whether now was the time to add an additional park facility, Smith said. Still, she said, she supported the resolution and wanted to add a “resolved” clause stating that in any eventual proposal there would be a goal that it be revenue neutral for the city’s general fund. Smith’s amendment was accepted by her colleagues on the council.

Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) drew out the fact that currently the parcel is a parking lot and is generating revenue to the general fund.

Mike Anglin (Ward 5) then made a bid to amend the resolution in a way that was substantial enough that his council colleagues described it as a “substitute resolution” rather than an amendment. Anglin’s proposal for a different resolution was driven by concerns about inclusiveness, and he expressed concern that some in the community did not share the vision and that those individuals needed to be included as well. Anglin’s resolution called specifically for the creation of a “citizens committee” and asked for $50,000 of support from the DDA.

Hieftje was the first to respond to Anglin’s proposal by saying that he objected to the fact that Anglin would eliminate the explicit mention of the Arts Alliance and the Greenway Conservancy in the resolution. He also worried that a citizens committee – that allowed any resident of Ann Arbor who wanted to participate to be on the committee – could wind up with 100 people. Such a  large group was not consistent with the kind of shortened time frame that some of the public speakers called for, he said.

Kunselman said he appreciated Anglin’s passion for citizen involvement and wanted to try to retain something of Anglin’s resolution in whatever they passed. But Kunselman expressed no enthusiasm for trying to wordsmith at the table on this question.

Briere addressed Anglin’s concern for citizen involvement by saying that his idea of the citizens committee reflected the idea that citizens should play an integral role – and that role was played by the citizen involvement in the two organizations that the resolution named. Smith said her basic concern was that community partners like the Arts Alliance and Greenway Conservancy be identified, so the process could start at that level.

Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) described the request for money from the DDA as “far premature.” Spending money, he said, was not the first step. The first step was to involve a process, determine how much money was needed, and then talk about where to go get the money. A totally unstructured citizens committee did not appeal at all Rapundalo.

Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) affirmed his support of the idea that the collective wisdom of citizens should always be harnessed if possible. But he echoed sentiments made earlier by Briere in saying that the organizations identified in the resolution are themselves made up of citizens.

Outcome: The vote on Anglin’s amendment got no votes except from Anglin. The resolution itself was unanimously approved.

Land Acquisition: Greenbelt

Also on the council’s Feb. 1 agenda were approvals of several greenbelt related items: (i) a participation agreement for purchase of development rights on Zeeb Farm, (ii) a grant application for purchase of development rights on the G. Whitney Property, and (iii) a grant application for the purchase of development rights on the Honke Family LLC Property. These were approved with little discussion.

Another greenbelt item was postponed, however. The postponed item was the purchase of 0.58 acres of land at 220 Sunset St. for $381,170. The property is currently owned by James L. Crawford Lodge No. 322 of Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World (IBPOEW) – the Black Elks.

In the summer of 2007, the city council had rejected a development proposal by the Black Elks that would have put housing on the site, and that called for construction of a new lodge. From a June 19, 2007 Ann Arbor News article by Tom Gantert:

The Avery House/Elks Lodge development was a 37-unit condo building that would stand 53 feet, 7 inches high in a neighborhood of mostly one- and two-story homes. The developer was to demolish the old, deteriorating Elks lodge off Sunset Road and replace it with a new one, key to the Elks staying on the site.

But the council was swayed by dozens of concerned residents who said the project would ruin their neighborhood.

Mayor John Hieftje said when neighborhoods come forward with overwhelming opposition, the council has to listen. The only people that spoke in favor of the project were either members of the development team or the Elks lodge.

At Monday’s meeting, Sandi Smith (Ward 1) led off discussion by asking Jayne Miller, community services area administrator, to explain the rationale for the acquisition. Miller described how it would help access to Bluffs Nature Area. Addressing the concern that it would increase maintenance costs by adding yet another park to the system, Miller described any investment as limited – it would consist mainly of chip paths so that people could get into the area. Miller told Smith that she did not know how the cash would affect the Black Elks’ specific ability to refurbish their lodge.

Marcia Higgins (Ward 4) said she was struggling with the amount of money that was being spent for half an acre. Miller explained that for all greenbelt properties there is due diligence done and appraisals made of fair market value. Those appraisals had to be made within 12 months of purchase, Miller said. Higgins noted that even within the last 12 months there is bound to have been a great deal of fluctuation. Miller did not have the exact date on the appraisal. The greenbelt acquisition was postponed.

Outcome: The council postponed consideration of the purchase of property from the Black Elks, pending clarification on the appraisal.

Historic District Study and Parking

In other business, the council extended a moratorium on demolition and other work in a study area for a proposed historic district south of William Street along Fourth and Fifth avenues. Such moratoria can only be passed six months at a time, even though the period of study was planned for one year. So the extension of the moratorium was not unexpected.

There had been hope expressed by some residents south of the study area that this area would also be included in the recommended scope for a historic district. However, current indications from the committee are that this additional area will not be included.

Also, new parking regulations were approved by the council for Baldwin Avenue, which runs north-south just east of Burns Park. The regulations restrict on-street parking to just one side or the other –  the side where parking is allowed was determined through resident input.

Three Percent for Symbolism

On the subject of the symbolic 3% give-back to the city from their salaries, which some councilmembers had promised at their last meeting, Stephen Rapundalo reminded his colleagues that he had said he would “consider it.” Now that he had considered it and discussed it with the “boss at home,” he said he had decided to make a 3% contribution back to the city on a quarterly basis.

Marcia Higgins also announced that she would be joining other councilmembers and making a 3% contribution back to the city from her paycheck.

Other Council Communications

Stephen Rapundalo indicated that he and his Ward 2 colleague, Tony Derezinski, would be bringing to council a proposed ordinance that would ban use of cell phones and texting devices while driving.

Derezinski said that his remarks at a previous council meeting on deer-car interactions and possible plans to cull the herd had generated a great number of e-mails and phone calls. He felt the interest that had been generated merited some looking into. In response to city administrator Roger Fraser’s previous comment that the 30 deer-car incidents a year are really not that high, comparatively speaking, Derezinski contended that there were a lot of things that have not yet been reported. Derezinski allowed that he knew the topic was controversial, but remarked, “That’s why we get the big bucks.” [It's not completely clear whether the pun was intended.]

Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) thanked the city administrator for providing a tour of the construction at the new municipal center, which will house the 15th District Court and the Ann Arbor Police Department. He said he was proud of the way the money is being spent.

Other Public Commentary

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Crosswalks and Ordinary Process

Kathy Griswold: In public commentary time available at the conclusion of the meeting, Kathy Griswold alluded to her 15 years of service on the transportation and safety committee – a joint committee of the city and the Ann Arbor public schools. She urged that a meeting be finalized that is supposed to deal with the King Elementary School mid-block crosswalk. [Griswold has advocated on multiple occasions at council meetings and caucus for moving the mid-block crossing to the nearby four-way stop intersection.] She described how there are many incidents that are handled efficiently and appropriately concerning the crosswalk. For example, a driver had been speeding down the street and disregarded an adult crossing guard. The transportation and safety committee had contacted the police department and officer Clock had handled it appropriately, she reported.

These kinds of incidents, Griswold said, get handled all the time, without involvement of the city administrator. The effort to move the crosswalk from its mid-block location to a four-way stop intersection had now taken a two-year effort and it was “mind-boggling to understand why it’s taking so long.” Griswold read from a series of e-mails she had obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, which supported her contention that the city administrator was involved in the process concerning the crosswalk.

Medical Marijuana

Chuck Ream: Ream spoke to the council about therapeutic cannabis. He reminded them that in 2004, more than 74% of Ann Arbor voters had voted for medical marijuana. He described it not as a victory or a mandate but as “clear marching orders.” He suggested that six centers be established as dispensaries and noted that the city charter already enabled it. He said that he had a formal legal opinion written by a lawyer that stated it was legal. He had a draft law that they could adopt, he said. Ream suggested that establishing six large centers that would be well run was a better alternative to dispensaries showing up on every street corner.

Musical Interlude

Libby Hunter: For her turn at public commentary reserved time, Hunter sang a tune to the melody of “My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean” that included the lyric “Roger [Fraser] makes the money go away.”

Serving the Underserved

Thomas Partridge: Partridge introduced himself as a Washtenaw Democrat who was there to represent those who are underserved – seniors and disabled people, lower income and unemployed individuals. He called for the need to respect these groups and suggested that instead of simply being willing to accommodate disabled people’s needs in addressing the council, that they should have a permanent area established for their use. He alluded to the 50th anniversary of the sit-in at the Woolworth coffee counter during the country’s civil rights demonstrations. He stated that past progress was good, but they could not rest on that.

Palestine

Blaine Coleman: Coleman asked that the CTN camera operator focus on his sign, which read “Boycott Israel.” He told the council that he had asked for years for a boycott against Israel, which he described as the most openly racist country in the world. He criticized the council’s choice of Neil Elyakin as an appointee to the city’s human rights commission, because of Elyakin’s affiliation with Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces. Coleman alluded to the fact that Elyakin was in attendance at the council meeting. Coleman then told the council that they would eventually pass a resolution to boycott Israel in the same way that they had eventually passed a resolution to divest from South Africa. Coleman compared the situation to the passage of a local anti-discrimination housing law in 1963 which white Realtors “went crazy opposing,” but that had eventually been passed.

Present: Stephen Rapundalo, Mike Anglin, Margie Teall, Sabra Briere, Sandi Smith, Tony Derezinski, Stephen Kunselman, Marcia Higgins, John Hieftje, Christopher Taylor, Carsten Hohnke.

Next council meeting: Tues. Feb. 16, 2010 at 7 p.m. in council chambers, 2nd floor of the Guy C. Larcom, Jr. Municipal Building, 100 N. Fifth Ave. [confirm date]

Much of the conversation focused on a resolution added to the council’s Monday agenda on Friday, which calls for restarting a process to develop a city-owned parcel at 415 W. Washington. The land is currently used as a surface parking lot – net revenues from that lot were recently adjusted so that they go to the city of Ann Arbor, not the Downtown Development Authority.

Caucus attendees were generally skeptical about the 415 W. Washington resolution on the council’s agenda. They said it was merely a diversionary tactic to distract attention from the Library Lot, another city-owned property where some are advocating for an urban park. Hieftje disavowed the idea that there was a trade-off – open space at 415 W. Washington, but no urban park at the Library Lot. Hieftje left the Library Lot decision as still open, saying that he “would bet” that none of the submitted proposals would be adopted by the council.

Caucus conversation covered a range of other topics, including: golf, historic districts, and design guidelines for new construction in downtown Ann Arbor.

Design Guidelines

On the council’s Monday agenda is a resolution to appoint a task force which would oversee the formulation of design guidelines for new projects in downtown Ann Arbor. Those guidelines are the final piece of the A2D2 rezoning project for downtown. The city council recently dissolved the A2D2 oversight committee, with its work largely complete. [See previous Chronicle coverage on design guidelines: "Downtown Design Guides: Must vs. Should," "Another Draft of Downtown Design Guides," and "Zoning, Design Guides on Council's Agenda."]

At Sunday’s caucus, Ray Detter said he thought there was little opposition to the appointment of a task force to look at the final formulation of design guidelines and a plan for their implementation in the planning process. He said that he and numerous other people had been working for years on the idea, and alluded to their participation in the Calthorpe planning process in 2005. When the concept of a design advisory board did not show up in the final draft of the design guidelines document presented in September 2009, Detter said, they were “shocked.” That document had nothing to do with what they had been discussing, he said.

Detter, who serves on the Downtown Area Citizens Advisory Council, reported that this had prompted 16 citizens to meet and go over the design guidelines document to suggest corrections and refinements and additions. They welcomed the appointment of the task force, he said, which he hoped would move their work forward.

He felt that the resulting document would be better than what the city originally proposed. It would include specification of the design guideline review board, an outline of the board’s operation, and a mandatory process with voluntary compliance. Detter wound up his remarks with praise for councilmember Marcia Higgins (Ward 4)  for her participation in the A2D2 planning process, as well as for Hieftje. Detter stressed that the board needed above all else people with expertise, people who know what they are talking about.

Norm Tyler sketched out the contents of a handout he had provided to the city council concerning the appointment of the design guidelines task force. He said the document covered (i) problems that have been identified in the city’s original document, (ii) an outline of the responsibility of the task force, and (iii) a sketch of what the design review board could look like. Hieftje said he thought it would be good to take a couple of existing buildings and run them through the proposed process as a way of testing the process. Tyler replied that it was a good idea – this what his group had suggested.

Peter Pollock told the caucus that the job of the design guidelines task force was to prepare guidelines for the council to approve. But he stressed that two things were key: (i) more research needed to be done into how other communities dealt with design guidelines, and (ii) the guidelines needed to reflect the sentiments of this community in Ann Arbor. He echoed the sentiments of Detter in saying that there needed to be people with expertise on the design guidelines board, who understand what a design process actually is.

Part of the work of the task force, Pollack said, would entail determining what specific questions would be on an application for a project – the questions would largely determine the kind of answers that developers would give. Pollack also stressed the importance of making sure that the public was aware of the task force’s process throughout their work. He expressed the hope that the design guidelines would stimulate conversation about quality of design and what is important in a project.

Sabra Briere (Ward 1) clarified that the task force would be charged with creating the ordinance and at the conclusion of their work, the entity would be dissolved. But the ordinance would specify the creation of a design guideline review board, which would then have a role in the review of new projects.

Tom Whitaker addressed the caucus on the design guidelines as well, saying that he threw his support to them, echoing remarks that others had made on the subject.

415 W. Washington and the Library Lot

Although mayor John Hieftje explicitly disavowed at Sunday’s caucus any trade-off between the Library Lot and the resolution the council will be addressing on Monday concerning the 415 W. Washington parcel, caucus attendees drew a connection. The idea of restarting a process for development of the 415 W. Washington lot – partly as a park – was a way of directing attention away from the Library Lot, they said.

Last year, the city solicited proposals to develop the top of an underground parking structure that’s being built on city-owned property on South Fifth Avenue, just north of the Ann Arbor District Library. After formal interviews with proposers, the review committee set aside two projects that proposed open space on the Library Lot. The two remaining proposals that will move forward to city council are for hotel/conference centers.

Much of the caucus conversation centered on either the 415 W. Washington resolution, the Library Lot, or the connections people saw between them.

Alan Haber requested additional information about the cost of the footings to be installed in the underground parking structure so that he and his group, which had put forward a Library Lot proposal called the Community Commons, could develop a more precise business plan. The Community Commons, as well as the Ann Arbor Town Square – the two open-space proposals submitted in response to the city’s RFP (request for proposals) for the Library Lot – are not being recommended by the RFP review committee. But Haber pointed out that the council would have his group’s proposal in front of them to consider, even if it did not come in the form of a committee recommendation. [The city council is free to consider any of the proposals.]

Regarding the 415 W. Washington resolution , Ethel Potts said that it “just appeared” and was not on the city clerk’s printed agenda yet. That made things hard to follow, she said, when items were added to the agenda on Friday. At that, Sabra Briere (Ward 1) mused that Friday was better than Monday [the day of the meeting].

Rita Mitchell also spoke about the 415 W. Washington parcel. Mitchell said she appreciated the attention to the greenway, but noted that the parcel is located in Ward 5, said that the resolution should have included both city council representatives of Ward 5. [The sponsors of the resolution are John Hieftje (mayor), Margie Teall (Ward 4), and Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5). Teall and Hohnke were absent from the Sunday caucus.]

Mitchell went on to describe the resolution as “loose” and having “no teeth.” She said that she hoped for something “more toothsome.” She emphasized that she hoped that any community involvement in the development of open space at 415 W. Washington would not preclude open space in other areas. This was an apparent allusion to the still-hoped-for outcome for the top of the Library Lot – that one of the two open-space proposals would be considered and adopted by the city council.

Nancy Kaplan followed up on Rita Mitchell’s point, stressing that she felt it was not a matter of shifting energy for community participation towards the 415 W. Washington front but rather it was a matter of shifting away from the Library Lot. “It could be a diversion,” she said. She noted that having an “innovative process of community collaboration” as specified in the council resolution was something that had been explicitly rejected in the two open-space proposals for the Library Lot. “Why now?” she asked. The timing, she said, made it seem like a decision on the Library Lot had already been made. She said she hoped it was not merely a diversion. She echoed Mitchell’s sentiments that there was “not much tooth” in the resolution.

Bob Snyder said he was taken aback by an article that he’d read in AnnArbor.com over the excitement for a process to start planning for 415 W. Washington. He described it as a diversionary tactic. There were 16 “whereas” clauses and four “resolved” clauses, he said. For some of the “whereas” clauses, Snyder said, he couldn’t tell if they were “good, bad or indifferent.” He said he felt like the resolution was simply putting up a straw man while the Library Lot RFP review committee does its deliberations. Why, he wondered, was there no discussion on the agenda about the Library Lot?

Sabra Briere replied to Snyder by saying that the Library Lot would not be coming before the council until March. About the resolution concerning 415 W. Washington, Briere said she did not find out about it until Friday afternoon, just before she met with the mayor. She said she took the resolution to mean that the 415 W. Washington RFP process is broken. She recounted how the RFP review committee for 415 W. Washington had concluded in its final report that none of the three proposals the city had received were good enough to warrant a recommendation, as they did not meet all of the site objectives. And then nothing had happened, she said.

By way of background, the 415 W. Washington RFP review committee made a recommendation in its final report that the vision for the site be revised. They made a recommendation for how the vision should be revised, and said that the revised vision should be provided to the three proposers with an opportunity to respond by the end of March 2009. Asked whether she thought this “ball” from the committee had been in the city council’s or rather the city staff’s “court,” Briere pointed to it as city staff’s responsibility.

Hieftje described the 415 W. Washington resolution as stemming from a look at the greenway task force’s report, combined with his expectation that the historic district commission would not allow the demolition of the 415 W. Washington building. He described the first task of the groups identified in the council’s resolution as raising enough money to fund a full-time person who would then write grants – the mayor felt that there was a lot of money out there, energy grants for example, that could be found. The idea would then be to get matching funds for those grants. This process of writing grants and getting matching funds, he said, could be applied to other properties that could become a part of the greenway.

In response to Kaplan’s question of “Why now?” Hieftje said that the conversation around the Library Lot had inspired the 415 W. Washington resolution, and that it was not a matter of a diversion or any kind of “bait and switch.”

Hieftje said that he himself predicted that the council would recommend “none of the above” after evaluating the proposals for a Library Lot. He said he would bet the top of the underground parking garage would simply be a surface parking lot as a “holding pattern.” As far as the 415 W. Washington resolution, he said he had been in conversation with both the Arts Alliance and Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy, and that both of those organizations were ready to go.

Jack Eaton engaged the mayor in an extended conversation on the 415 W. Washington resolution as compared to the Library Lot. In response to remarks made by Hieftje earlier in the caucus, Eaton said he was happy to learn that the mayor didn’t think there was support on the council for any public financing of the project on the Library Lot. But he pointed out that $50,000 had been allocated by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority to pay for a consultant to study the two remaining proposals, which involved public financing. In that light, Eaton said that he hoped that the $50,000 could be saved.

With respect to the 415 W. Washington resolution, Eaton said he hoped the public participation process outlined there would address the shortfall on public participation for the Library Lot process. At that point Hieftje interrupted Eaton, saying there had already been lot of public process around the 415 W. Washington parcel, which had included work by the greenway task force. Eaton acknowledged the previous public process, but noted that the resolution talks about “groups,” saying that the general public also needed to be included. There was then some back-and-forth among the mayor, Briere and Eaton about the exact language of the resolution and whether “individuals who are willing to invest time” was the public that Eaton was talking about.

Eaton summarized his point by saying it was simply important to seek public input early – from taxpayers generally. Hieftje then seemed to suggest that what Eaton meant was that all of the previous work involving public process with the greenway task force should be re-done. Apparently trying to move on to a different point, Eaton offered that they would have to agree to disagree on that point. At that, Hieftje declared, “I’m not disagreeing at all!” The mayor then went on to say that it was the second alternative suggestion for 415 W. Washington from the greenway task force that the resolution was exploring, and that it was clear that’s what they were doing. “It’s clear,” he concluded. To which Eaton replied, “It’s not clear.”

Eaton then transitioned to the topic of the Library Lot. With respect to the Town Square proposal [one of the open-space propsals – an urban park design submitted by Dahlmann Apartments], Eaton said that one argument against it had been that policing it – providing security – was an impediment. However, he noted, policing the proposed 415 W. Washington green space was not seen as having the same kind of impediment. That, contended Eaton, exposed the security argument as a fiction.

Mike Anglin (Ward 5) followed up on the point about security by saying that the council was now asking for data from the police chief about resources required to provide security. Eaton continued on the security theme, saying that the underground parking structure itself would need to be policed anyway, with its entrances and exits –  it’s not as if an urban park at that location would need separate and distinct policing resources.

Hieftje then told Eaton that Eaton might not have been as aware of the process that the 415 W. Washington parcel went through as those who had been working on it longer. Hieftje said he did not understand what Eaton meant regarding the Library Lot – there was not a trade-off between 415 W. Washington and the Library Lot, the mayor said. Eaton then reiterated his point that the argument against a downtown urban park based on police policing was, he felt, just a reason to claim that the proposals were not economically viable.

Emergency Moratorium in Historic District Study Area

Ethel Potts urged the council to extend the emergency moratorium associated with the historic district study committee for South Fourth and South Fifth avenues. She reported that the committee had been working as fast as it could and that they had been doing their own work.

Tom Whitaker confirmed what Potts had said about the historic district study committee – Whitaker is a member of that committee, but stressed that he was speaking there just as a member and not on behalf of the committee.

Whitaker advised the council that he’d sent them a message regarding state enabling legislation for historic districts. The legislation allows that projects coming before the city during a period of review can be reviewed by the historic district commission, even before a historic district is established. He pointed out that the Heritage Row project [a proposed housing development on South Fifth Avenue previously known as City Place] was coming before the city’s planning commission on Feb. 18.

There was then some discussion among Whitaker, Briere, and Hieftje about the proper sequencing of review for projects that are brought forward in a historic district. There seemed to be a consensus among the three that the project should first go to the historic district commission, followed by the planning commission, and then city council for final approval. The Glen-Ann project was cited as an example of a project that did not follow that sequence – a lawsuit was filed and eventually settled over that project.

Development Issues

Included in the caucus conversation were some development topics not related to 415 W. Washington or the Library Lot.

The Moravian

Tom Whitaker, who touched on a variety of topics,  also alerted the council to the fact that a project called The Moravian [proposed on East Madison] would be coming before them as a planned unit development. [See Chronicle coverage: "Moravian Moves Forward, Despite Protests"] Whitaker said he did not think that the Moravian rose to the level of what a PUD requires in terms of the public benefit required by city code. LEED certification, Whitaker said, should be a matter of course, and environmental certification was not a public benefit in the sense of the code. A PUD project, he continued, should benefit the use of immediately surrounding parcels. Required elements – like storm water retention – should not count as a public benefit, he said.

General State of Real Estate

Mike Anglin (Ward 5) conveyed the concerns of a resident of Ward 5, which he represents, who was unable to attend the caucus. The resident lives on Jackson Road, where there are hotels. In contemplating the possibility of a hotel built on the Library Lot, the resident wondered, “Who do we want to put out of business?” Anglin noted that hotels are currently only about 50% occupied.

Another concern of the resident, Anglin said, was that there was a lot of empty commercial square footage for rent, in and around downtown Ann Arbor. Mayor John Heiftje replied to concerns about empty space for rent by citing the hour and a half that a PBS television crew had spent with him last year, saying that they had told him they were surprised by the relatively low rates of unoccupied space. They were impressed, Hieftje said, by how well Ann Arbor was doing in comparison to other places they had seen.

Golf Courses

Nancy Kaplan also asked about the city’s golf courses and the municipal service charges, as well as the IT charges, that had been assessed to the enterprise fund out of which they are operated. “Why can’t there be cuts made there, instead of cutting services or selling land to generate more revenue?”

Sabra Briere (Ward 1) offered an explanation of the municipal service charges and IT charges by saying that they were “kind of mythical.” She described them as being included in financial reports for the “enlightenment of council.” But she said it was not a matter of literally taking money from one place in the general fund and putting it in another place in the general fund. “They’re not real charges,” she stressed. “We are assured that they are not real charges, we are told that the charges reflect what it would cost if they were assessed.”

Kaplan said that the charges were confusing. Briere allowed that municipal service charges for the golf courses versus other funds, which had more employees than were accounted for in the golf fund, made the charges for the golf enterprise fund seem “a bit high.” Briere said that efforts to combine IT services with the county should result in some savings and that she expected to see IT charges go down.

Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) drew on his previous experience serving on the city’s park advisory commission, pointing out that golf is the only recreational activity assigned to an enterprise fund. If golf were handled within the general fund, Kunselman contended, it would not have municipal service charges and people could not point to the golf fund as failing. Golf as a recreational activity had been “set up to fail,” he said.

Referring to Kaplan’s suggestion that attempts be made to cut the amount of useful service charges and IT funds, Kunselman described the situation as “not a matter of cutting – it’s a matter of accounting.” Referring to Kaplan’s objection to the selling of any parks, Hieftje said that he would be surprised if she could find any councilmember in favor of selling a park.

A Bluestone Realty sign is still on the former Ann Arbor Art Center building at 220 Felch St., but the building was sold last week to ICON Technologies.

When Rob Cleveland of ICON Technologies sent us a press release about his firm’s purchase of the Ann Arbor Art Center’s Felch Street property, we took the opportunity to get an update on the center’s plans for its main Liberty Street site.

We reported last year that the art center, like virtually all nonprofits, was struggling financially and faced a budget shortfall. Last August, with two weeks left in their fiscal year, they’d launched a “Close the Books in the Black Campaign” to raise $20,000. So how was the center faring financially now?

The sale of the Felch property – also known as the Art Factory – helps their financial outlook, said Marsha Chamberlin, the center’s CEO. (She spoke to us by phone from New York City, where she’s visiting her daughter this week.) Proceeds will be used to pay down debt and “put a little in the bank,” she said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Chamberlin said they got “a very good price.” When the building went on the market in September, it was listed for $1.1 million.

ICON Technologies, an Ann Arbor-based online marketing agency with offices on South State Street, made an offer within a week of the listing. Environmental studies, working through requirements for an SBA loan and dealing with the due diligence of its lenders – especially in the wake of last fall’s nationwide financial meltdown – pushed back the closing. The final papers were signed on Feb. 20 just before 6 p.m., Chamberlin said.

The Ann Arbor Art Center building at 117 W. Liberty.

The building sale was part of a three-year plan to bring all of the center’s activities under one roof, and is unrelated to the center’s involvement in a proposal to redevelop the city-owned 415 W. Washington site. More on that later.

The center owns the downtown Ann Arbor building at 117 W. Liberty, which houses its offices, retail shop and galleries, as well as its drawing and painting studios. They’d bought the Felch Street building in the mid-1990s because they’d been renting studio space elsewhere and figured “if we’re going to put money into it, let’s at least own it,” Chamberlin said.

Over the years, their space needs changed. At 11,000 square feet, the Felch building was too large for the center’s needs, and they’d been renting out extra square footage to other tenants. In the past they’d also rented space at the Liberty Street location, though there aren’t any tenants there now. That gives them room to bring the ceramic and jewelry studios now at the Art Factory back to the main downtown site, Chamberlin said. The center’s staff is working with Rizzolo Brown & Novak Architects to do space planning and remodeling – they plan to vacate Felch by June 1.

The economy is affecting the Ann Arbor Art Center just as it’s affecting other arts and cultural groups, Chamberlin said. Membership is down 25% over the past two years. They now have about about 1,000 members – at their high point five years ago, that number was close to 2,700.

In other cases, there are some mixed signs. December sales for the gift shop were down, but this January sales exceeded the previous year. Fall registration for art center classes exceeded their expectations by 20%, she said, but dropped for the winter term. Community giving is down, but they’re about to announce the sponsorship of the center’s 100th anniversary this year with a “generous donation,” Chamberlin said.

Even so, at the end of December Chamberlin had to retool the budget based on a less optimistic forecast. They’ve been meeting those new numbers, she said, but “by the skin of our teeth.”

Despite those challenges, she described the sale of Felch and consolidation into 117 W. Liberty as a strategic reorganization, not a retrenchment. The changes will make the art center more of a hub for all their activities. “Everything we do will be a lot more visible,” she said.

As for the status of the 415 W. Washington project, “we wish we knew,” she said. The art center is the lead partner in a proposal to redevelop that site, and was one of three finalists selected by an advisory committee to city council. However, as previously reported in The Chronicle, the committee did not make a single recommendation, saying they liked elements from all three final proposals and asking the city to “refine” its RFP (request for proposal) and have the three finalists reapply under the new RFP. To date, the refined RFP has not yet been released, so the art center and others vying for this project are on hold.

Though they’ve worked on this project for more than three years, it’s just as well that there’s been a delay, said Chamberlin, because the Felch sale and the response to the economic climate have occupied the art center’s focus.

The gentle brown S-curve in the diagram denotes a "social street" which is envisioned by the Old West Design Group to connect Washington and Liberty streets as part of a re-development plan for 415 W. Washington. Margaret Wong spoke at council against the idea of a motorized vehicular connection between Washington and Liberty. (Image links to larger resolution file.)

City Council Meeting (Jan. 5, 2009, Part II) This article reports the portion of council’s Monday evening meeting that did not relate to the City Place PUD, which is covered in Part I.

This piece is organized thematically, not chronologically.

• Laptop computers – what do they cost the city?
• Liquor – why do they get a liquor license, when we’ve heard so much negative news about them?
• Easement for public utilities – what, if anything, do the public schools have against electricity?
• Public Art Commission – an unexpected wrinkle in a garden-variety appointment.
• City Income Tax – a previous study to be updated.
• Streets and Snow – includes a ride-along in a snow plow reported by councilmember Marcia Higgins; also Stadium & Pauline and Huron Parkway & Nixon have construction planned starting in the second half of April 2009, to be completed by end of August 2009.
• Waste – commercial recycling and wastewater treatment (can you say “bio-solids”?)
• Public Commentary – against a street, for social justice, and for unbiased reporting on the bombing of Gaza.

Laptops

This resolution was originally on the consent agenda as CA-1, but councilmember Sabra Briere asked that it be separated out for discussion. It called for up to $95,500 to be authorized for personal computer replacements.

Briere called Dan Rainey, the city’s director of information technology, to the podium and asked him to convey orally the answers she’d already received from him by email in response to some questions she’d asked. Rainey gave a cost breakdown for the approximately 25 desktop and 36 Hewlett Packard laptop computers that the money was being used to purchase. The cost per laptop was $1,625, which included a 19-inch monitor, keyboard, mouse, docking station, and monitor stand. For desktops the cost was $931. There was, said Rainey, a $1,307 contingency for unplanned purchases because of breakages.

Councilmember Leigh Greden thanked Briere for eliciting the information and said that it opened a larger dialog that they need to have. To many people, said Greden, the IT departement and its budget and inner workings remains a mystery, because it’s its own internal service fund. As council enters the two-year budget cycle, said Greden, it’s important to take a very close look at IT. He characterized IT as a critical investment, but said that it was also critical to not feel like money is disappearing someplace. Briere followed up by saying that when they make technology buys, they need to buy the best that can last the longest time. She stressed that she was confident in the IT department, but the public needed explanation about where these big-ticket items go.

Liquor

Agenda item D-2 dealt with the transfer of ownership of a 2007 class C liquor-licensed business with dance-entertainment permit, located at 314-316 S. Fourth doing business as Studio 4. Councilmember Stephen Rapundalo, who chairs the liquor license review committee, reported that the committee had voted 2-1 not to recommend the transfer.

Rapundalo wanted to make clear to his council colleagues what the vote reflected: a certain amount of frustration about the number of incidents reported through the media at Studio 4 that seems higher than similarly-sized establishments downtown.

Despite that frustration, said Rapundalo, the conditions for rejecting the transfer consist only of a failure to pay property taxes: the assessor’s office determines whether there’s something delinquent. In this case the establishment had a clean bill of health. The police department looks at Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) code violations, fire code violations are considered by the fire department, and the planning department looks a building code violations. With regard to MLCC violations there were a few cases of minors in possession of alcohol.

Regarding the number of incidents, Rapundalo said in some cases it was hard to discern whether it involved an action inside or outside. [Editor's note: Ann Arbor District Library's online archive of Ann Arbor News articles provides examples over the last year of incidents ranging from shots fired outside the bar to an underage girl found passed out in a booth inside the bar.]

Rapundalo said that the new owner is the manager of the establishment. With regard to the issue of property taxes he has a clean bill of health, reported Rapundalo. He had also provided a plan to address safety, which included hiring private security guards. Rapundalo said that the liquor license review committee had put Studio 4 on notice that they would be diligent in reviewing the establishment.

Part of that diligence, continued Rapundalo, was to develop specific criteria by which to deny these transfers (beyond delinquency on property taxes), which are currently not in place.

After the resolved clause was changed to reflect approval (as opposed to denial) of the transfer of ownership, the transfer was unanimously approved.

Public Utilities Easement

Agenda item DS-8 was a resolution accepting a public utilities easement from public schools for the Miller-Maple transmission water main project at Forsythe and Wines schools. Mayor John Hieftje recalled there being an objection on the part of the public schools to having an electrical conduit installed that was connected to a windmill that generated power – something that city staff confirmed had not been done. Because he was curious to know what the source of the objection was, Hieftje asked that the item be postponed, which it was.

Public Art Commission

At the Dec. 15 council meeting, the following nominations for the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission were placed before council for consideration:

• Marsha Chamberlain re-appointment (Jan. 5, 2009-Dec. 31, 2011)
• Cheryl Zuellig replacing Tim Rorvig (Jan. 5, 2009-Dec. 31, 2011)
• Connie Rizzolo Brown serving out Elaine Sims general public term (Jan. 5, 2009-Dec. 31, 2009)
• Elaine Sims replacing Larry Cressman – U/M Representative (Jan. 5, 2009-Dec. 31, 2011)

Confirmation of such nominations is usually perfunctory. In this case, councilmember Marcia Higgins, seeing that Zuellig’s address was listed as Ypsilanti, asked, “Why is someone from Ypsilanti sitting on our commission?”

The explanation that Hieftje offered was that there was a UM connection, which was important to maintain, because UM had not yet committed in the same way as the city of Ann Arbor had to allocating a percentage of its construction project budget for public art, notwithstanding the many large public art pieces UM had installed.

It was pointed out that a different person was spelled out in the nomination (Sims) as the UM-connected replacement. Councilmember Briere noted that Zuellig was an employee of JJR, as a reminder of who was who. [Editor's note: Zuellig was slated to replace Tim Rorvig, also of JJR. The art commission meets at the JJR second-floor conference room, at 110 Miller Ave.]

Hieftje then said he’d like to withdraw Zuellig’s name. The other three nominees were unanimously confirmed.

City Income Tax and Other Taxes

During communications from council, Stephen Rapundalo made a request of city administrator Roger Fraser that the 2004 city income tax study be “dusted off” and distributed. Rapundalo introduced the request in the context of UM’s purchase of the Pfizer site [which removes the property from the city's property tax rolls, because UM does not pay property taxes]. Rapundalo said he would like staff to see what needs to be updated and bring it back at an appropriate time and manner.

Greden echoed the need for the 2004 study to be looked at again and updated, noting that he’d received emails from constituents on the topic. [Editor's note: Ann Arbor does not currently collect a city income tax.]

Related to taxes – in the form of a kind of exemption – was a public hearing on the application of Edward Brothers Inc. for an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate. One member of the public spoke, John Floyd, who said that every time we give someone a tax exemption, everybody else has to pay: either services go down or taxes go up. Overall prosperity, Floyd said, depends on keeping tax rates low.

Streets and Snow

Based on the number of comments on a Dec. 29 Chronicle column about snow removal in Ann Arbor, it is a topic of keen interest to Chronicle readers. Count councilmember Marcia Higgins as someone who’s interested in snow removal as well. In her communications from council, Higgins reported on a Dec. 19 ride-along with a snow-removal crew. She spent 4.5 hours with a crew, and said that she was impressed by the finesse used – from moving tons at a time to just rolling the snow gently without flooding the sidewalks with snow.

Years ago, she said, the city did curb-to-curb plowing, which is no longer the practice. She said it became apparent during the subsequent warming trend that we have compacted snow against storm drains, which results in flooding.

Higgins reported seeing such flooding on Stadium Boulevard, where million of dollars had been spent on storm drain improvements. She wondered if, as we change snow-plowing practices, we are changing the way we build roads. She concluded by thanking the crew: “These guys do a fantastic job!” She said that it was an eye-opening experience to see them drive the truck, adjust the blade, spread the salt, and pay attention to traffic.

Besides possible flooding in connection with snow plowing, Stadium Boulevard came up in the context of improvements planned at the intersection of Pauline Boulevard. Agenda item DS-1 was a resolution to approve an agreement with the Michigan Department of Transportation and amend the project budget for the West Stadium Boulevard at Pauline Boulevard improvement for $1.51 million.

The breakdown provided by Homayoon Pirooz, head of the city’s project management unit, was $850,000 from a grant, $904,000 from the street millage, $250,000 from the water main fund, and $356,000 from the storm water fund. He explained that the curb-to-curb width would be virtually the same, widened only by a few inches.

Bike lanes would be achieved by decreasing existing lane widths from 12 feet to 11 feet, Pirooz said. Responding to the issue of the impact of snow plowing, he said there’s no good solution: “It’s been a challenge forever.” Councilmember Mike Anglin wanted to know if the possibility of locating underground storm water detention tanks had been explored with adjacent property owners. Pirooz replied that for residential properties it had not been explored, and that when the city had attempted to reach an understanding with the commercial owners of parking lots, ultimately there had been no understanding reached. Councilmember Higgins expressed concern about the replacement of three cobra-head street lights with 11 new lights as a part of the project: Would there be an impact on nearby residential areas?

The timeline for the project would have it beginning in the second half of April 2009 and to be completed by the end of August 2009.

The same timeline was indicated for improvements in the area of a second intersection: Nixon & Huron Parkway. Agenda items DS-2, DS-3, and DS-4 related to the Nixon & Huron Parkway project. The agreement with Michigan Department of Transportation and amendment of the project budget was made for $909,174. Council also approved $196,370 for construction engineering services from Orchard Hiltz & McClient Inc. and $39,680 for construction materials testing by CTI & Associates Inc.

Other road corridors discussed at council were not being improved through construction, but rather by adding them to the SCOOT (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique) system, a traffic signal control system that is already deployed on (i) Plymouth Road from US-23 into the city, (ii) Washtenaw Avenue between US-23 and S. University, and (iii) Eisenhower between Main and US-23. SCOOT optimizes signals in real time based on information received upstream from induction loops under the pavement. Les Sipowski, traffic engineer for the city of Ann Arbor, was on hand to explain the system and to offer his observations about its performance: when there was an accident on US-23 causing traffic to divert to Plymouth Road (one of the locations where SCOOT is installed), he could see that from a driver perspective the length of delays was not increased, and that means it’s working.

In agenda items DS-5 and DS-6, council approved $479,339 for expansion of SCOOT to Ellsworth Road and S. State Street and $210,722 for SCOOT on Ashley and First streets.

Streets also came up in the context of re-development proposals for 415 W. Washington. The Chronicle has recently reported on the current status of that process: the review committee has recommended that the RFP be refined and re-issued to the proposers with the hope that they will discuss a joint proposal amongst themselves.

Sue McCormick, public services area administrator for the city of Ann Arbor, plus Scott Rosencrans, a member of the Park Advisory Commission, made themselves available at the beginning of the meeting to answer any questions. McCormick said that what staff was looking for from council is concurrence with the committee’s recommendations, under which staff would revise the RFP. The committee, she said, has expressed a willingness to continue its service.

Rosencrans said it’s not a very easy piece of property to develop. The committee, on which he served, wanted to give council the opportunity to revise the RFP so that applicants can come closer to meeting the recommendations in it. One of those recommendations was that the greenway area (which had been stipulated in the original RFP to include the entire floodway area of the parcel) remain under public ownership. Another recommendation was that there be a connection between Washington and Liberty streets. [In previous coverage, The Chronicle reported that the Old West Side Design Group had used a "social street" to make this connection.]

During the public commentary reserve time at the beginning of the council meeting, Margaret Wong spoke to the issue of a street connection. She appeared on behalf of Allen Creek Greenway Conservancy, and was responding to the 415 W. Washington’s RFP recommendations report.

Wong said the ACGC fully supported the finding statement: “Preservation of floodways as open space in public ownership or control is considered a best management practice for flood risk mitigation, and none of the proposals would be negatively impacted by retaining the floodway portion of the site in public ownership.” The conservancy supported the recommendation of public ownership, she said.

However, she said that it cannot support a vehicle connection between Liberty and Washington, saying that it would disrupt the free flow of non-motorized traffic envisioned for the greenway. The greenway was meant to promote a healthy community by creating non-motorized options for travel, as well as to reveal a neglected creek valley, she said. Part of the goal of the greenway was to remind us why Ann Arbor was sited where it was sited. We should set the bar high, Wong said, and “aim for the most we can achieve, not the least we can get away with.”

Waste: Water, Commercial Recycling

Agenda item DS-10 was a resolution to award a contract to SG Construction Services for $42,444,927 to construct a residuals handling improvements project at the wastewater treatment plant. Earl Kenzie, unit manager of the wastewater treatment plant, was on hand to explain what the project included.

Kenzie explained that it would replace 30-year old equipment that was at the end of its useful life. According to Kenzie, the project would take 2.5 years to complete. Mayor Hieftje elicited an explanation of why methane extraction from bio-solids was not currently feasible onsite at the wastewater treatment plant (although it had been explored and tested). Fleming Creek, Huron River, and the railroad tracks bound the treatment plant’s facility, Kenzie explained, so there simply is not enough space to undertake it. Hieftje expressed his hope that new technology might make it possible to implement using less space. The resolution passed.

Also related to waste was agenda item DC-1, which was a resolution to accept the report of commercial recycling implementation recommendations. This report came from the commercial recycling implementation committee, which was created by the city’s environmental commission to make those recommendations. The environmental commission had accepted the recommendations at its Dec. 4 meeting.

Councilmember Higgins led the discussion by clarifying a procedural matter regarding the “multi-stakeholder oversight committee” to be created “to assist the staff in the development of a solid waste collection rate schedule, which would be adopted prior to the July 1, 2009 start-up date for the solid waste franchise and the commercial recycling program, and that includes, at a minimum, a review of the frequency of pickup, the number of containers per pickup, and the weight of waste material per waste container.”

The original language of the resolution called for the environmental commission to create the oversight committee, but at Higgins’ suggestion it was revised to assign that role to city council. Higgins solicited agreement from council’s two representatives to the environmental commission, Carsten Hohnke and Margie Teall, to take responsibility for the oversight committee.

On the substantive matter of the recommendations, Higgins led the discussion with staff as well, bringing out the key feature of the recommended program (which is intended to increase commercial recycling by 50% and to save money for businesses): it will rely on a franchise system with a vendor selected by the city (Waste Management), which businesses would be required to use. Higgins said that she’d heard from a couple of businesses to the effect that they thought their existing arrangement was more economical than the rate schedules being proposed, and asked what options they might have. Staff indicated that they felt that the vast majority of businesses would have cost savings, but acknowledged that in a few instances it could go the other way. It was identified as a matter to bear in mind going forward.

Public Commentary

Besides Margartet Wong, whose comments are reported above in connection with the general topic of streets, two other citizens appeared to speak during reserved time.

Tom Partridge: Partridge addressed his remarks to the mayor, city council, the public attending and watching. He identified himself as the author of four resolutions passed at last August’s Washtenaw Democratic convention calling for countywide public transportation, the ending of discrimination against seniors and handicapped people, the creation of a universal healthcare program, and for creation of housing commissions through all regions of the state. He asked council to pass a resolution calling for economic expansion in the city, county, state and nation.

Henry Herskovitz: Herskovitz said it’s hard to know where to begin in describing the all-out assault on the “world’s largest concentration camp – the Gaza strip.” Noting that the Israeli military had dubbed their operation “cast lead,” he said it should instead be called the “Hanukkah massacre,” because it happened during Hanukkah and was, in fact, a massacre.

He conveyed to councilmembers (via the city clerk) a quarter-page information sheet that included the ratio of killed Palestinians to killed Israelis, which was 100 to 1. He then addressed the coverage of the Israeli military assault in the media. In discussing one headline, “Israelis move into Gaza,” he noted that it was accurate, because they had in fact moved into Gaza, but said that an equally valid headline would have been “Poorly-Armed Hamas Girds for Invasion by Superpower.” Another headline that began “Israeli weighs goals in Gaza” focused attention on Israel, Herskovitz said, and leads readers to believe that Hamas is the problem. We are supposed to get the who, what, when, where, and why from the media, “But where’s the why?” he asked. Part of the why, he said, was included: “Eight days of punishing air strikes failed to halt rocket fire.” But the why of the rocket fire was not there, he said. He offered that the why of the rocket fire had to do with an illegal blockade that forces people in Gaza to eat grass and eat bread made from animal feed.

Present: Sabra Briere, Tony Derezinski, Stephen Rapundalo, Leigh Greden, Christopher Taylor, Margie Teall, Marcia Higgins, Carsten Hohnke, Mike Anglin, John Hieftje

Absent: Sandi Smith

Next Council Meeting: Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 at 7 p.m. in council chambers, 2nd floor of the Guy C. Larcom, Jr. Municipal Building, 100 N. Fifth Ave. [confirm date]

415 W. Washington Background

To review proposals for redevelopment of the property, in May 2008 city council appointed an advisory committee consisting of Christine Brummer (Old West Side Association), Chris Easthope (then city council member), Sue McCormick (director of public services with the city of Ann Arbor), John Mouat (Downtown Development Authority board member), and Scott Rosencrans (city Park Advisory Commission).

The three proposals, in severely abbreviated form were as follows:

Old West Side Design Group: This proposal calls for construction of a 3-story artist loft and live/work building totaling 24-36 units with above grade-level parking. The building, which would contain a minimum of 5-8 affordable units, would be located south of the main building on land currently occupied by garage structures. It would be designed for a LEED Silver rating or higher. A 24-unit residential condominium and commercial building is proposed on the adjacent 318 W. Liberty, to be developed under a separate site plan by members of the OWSDG proposal team.

Morningside: Construction of a new five-story, 52-unit condominium building with 48 parking spaces on the grade level under the building. Second floor residences are proposed for artist live/work space. Units would be priced in the mid-$200,000 range. The building, which would be designed for LEED Gold certification, would be located south of the main building on land currently occupied by garage structures.

Ann Arbor Art Center: Renovation of the 415 W. Washington building and garages into a community arts facility, to be owned by the Art Center. The Art Center would occupy approximately 13,000 square feet and rent or lease the remaining space to art groups and individuals.

After meeting seven times from May to December 2008 to review and evaluate the proposals, the committee offered praise for all three proposals but has declined to designate any one of the three a recommended choice. From the committee report:

Notwithstanding these positive elements, the Committee finds that no single proposal is able to satisfy all of the site objectives and requirements of the RFP on its own merits. This evaluation is described in the findings below, followed by recommendations for the next steps in the site redevelopment process.

The committee has thus punted the process back to council by asking council to refine the RFP and allow opportunity until mid-March 2009 for revision to the proposals:

City council should further clarify its vision for the intended uses of the site and revise the site objectives in the RFP accordingly. The Committee recommends that city council include the following elements in its vision for the site:

• A publicly-owned greenway along the existing floodway
• Renovation of the 415 W. Washington office building for an arts and/or civic use.
• Removal of the garages behind the office building.
• Construction of a new multi-family or live-work residential building at the southwest corner of the site
• Pedestrian and vehicle connections to both Liberty and Washington streets

City council should provide each of the three proposers an opportunity to amend their proposal to respond to the revised site objectives and to provide for collaboration between the parties. The charge of the advisory committee should be extended to review the amended proposals and make its recommendation to city council by March 16, 2009.

415 W. Washington Caucus Discussion

Peter Allen, who is part of the Old West Side Design Group, led off caucus public participation by saying that he thought the committee’s recommendation that city council amend the RFP was a great idea. He was also there to fill a gap in the council’s information packet – the economics of how the Old West Side Design Group’s proposal would work. He also emphasized what he saw as the positive aspects of his team’s proposal.

Peter Allen summarizes some elements of the Old West Side Design Group.

They included the possibility of “launching” the greenway at that location, and taking advantage of the location as a possible transit station in the event the railroad right-of-way could be secured into Ann Arbor from Barton Drive (where the north-south commuter rail project WALLY would stop unless that Ann Arbor right-of-way could be secured). Allen also emphasized that his proposal included a “social street” – a predominantly pedestrian street, but that would allow cars to connect between Liberty and Washington streets.

Allen stressed that another unique aspect of his group’s proposal was the possibility of integrating the development of the adjacent carwash site at 318 W. Liberty as mixed-use residential. Redevelopment of the carwash site, said Allen, would generate a $1.2 million TIF, which could be used to develop the greenway. One of the renderings for the carwash site presented by Allen at caucus had been observed previously “in the wild” by The Chronicle.

At the conclusion of caucus Peter Pollack, member of the design team for the Ann Arbor Art Center’s proposal, thanked council for the opportunity to refine the proposals. He also sought to clarify that while the proposal was an Art Center facility, it was conceived as a cultural center with the Art Center as one component.

At the mention of the notion of a “cultural center,” a member of the public, who had appeared to speak to the issue of the PUD rezoning for City Place, took the occasion to address a cultural gap in Ann Arbor that he hoped might be incorporated into a 415 W. Washington redevelopment: a community theater. He characterized it as a “disgrace” that Ann Arbor lacked such a facility. Asked by the mayor of Ann Arbor, John Hieftje, if the facilities at the high schools or various churches might serve the purpose, he explained that high school facilities carried with them the association of a less-than-professional quality performance and said few people would come to a performance at such a venue. Church facilities, he said, generally lacked a pit for an orchestra or fly space necessary to mount a serious production. In a facility used on loan from another organization, he added, it was generally not possible to leave sets in place between rehearsals, which meant packing everything away after each rehearsal.

Hieftje inquired of Pollack if he saw a possibility of combining the three different proposals. Pollack allowed that it had been talked about, but that the vision his group had pursued was to look at the architecture that is there and to ask: what’s the best and highest use of that space? Hieftje asked what the expected hours of activity for art center classes and studio time might be – a question driven by concern for the lack of residential units that could provide “eyes on the park” for the greenway portion of the redevelopment. Pollack said it would be “normal business hours” and could extend to 9-10 p.m., but noted that past that time, residents start going to bed, so residential units would not guarantee the “eyes on the park” benefit, either.

Councilmember Mike Anglin thanked Pollack for his work “from day one” (an allusion to his work on the greenway taskforce) and said that he would like to see dialog between the groups making the proposals, instead of council simply making a decision.

City Place Background

The proposal, brought by developer Alex de Parry to council after a recommendation against approval by planning commission, is for a 123,168-square-foot residential building to replace seven existing houses along Fifth Avenue, south of William Street. Dimensions are 327.24 feet long, 48 feet tall, and 96.5 feet deep. The length dimension is frequently described in public discussion, and in the city’s staff report as well, as longer than a football field.

The building would contain 90 units with 164 total bedrooms.

What about the project makes it necessary to apply for a Planned Unit Development, or PUD, a more flexible type of zoning? Highlights include the fact that current R4C (multi-family dwelling) zoning would require a front setback of almost 62 feet, whereas the proposal is for a 19.5-foot setback. Rear setbacks for R4C would be almost 67 feet, whereas the proposal is for a 31.6-foot rear setback. Height limits for R4C are 30 feet, whereas the proposal calls for a 48-foot tall building.

City Place schematic. (image links to higher resolution file) This is a view oriented looking east. Fifth Avenue is at the bottom of the schematic. On the left edge is William Street.

City Place view from Fifth Avenue. Although it appears to be three separate buildings in this drawing, the building continues through the apparent gaps.

The project would require demolition or removal of seven houses along Fifth Avenue currently owned by de Parry. De Parry has offered to sell any of the houses for $1, to be moved to an alternate location, but to date no one has taken him up on that. Some spitballing has taken place about possible locations suitable to receive one of the houses (on Swift Street), but nothing concrete has emerged as a proposal, and the idea of moving the houses from their original locations has gained little traction as an alternative among those opposed to the project.

The seven houses, with their descriptions from the city staff report are as follows:

407 S. Fifth Ave. – c. 1899. This Dutch Gambrel style house was built around 1899. The first occupant listed in the Polk Directory was Ms. Richmond Bannister (widow of William) in 1902. (From the staff report on the PUD proposal.)

411 S. Fifth Ave.: Andrew Reule House – c. 1901. This house is a fine example of the Queen Anne style and features cross-gabled roofs and varying sized windows, including unusual oval and Diocletian shapes. Mr. Reule, a downtown clothier, occupied this house from 1902 until at least 1940. (From the staff report on the PUD proposal.)

415 S. Fifth Ave.: Clayton Gaskell (Beakes) House – c. 1838. This Greek Revival style house is believed to be one of the oldest surviving houses in the city. Though it has been altered over the years, particularly the interior, it remains architecturally significant. It features a pedimented gable-front orientation, lunette in the attic, well-defined cornice, corner pilasters, and classical side entry. The house was the home of two important Ann Arbor mayors: Hiram Beakes, from 1860 until the late 1880s; and a short time later Samuel Beakes (no relation), for whom Beakes Street is named. (From the staff report on the PUD proposal.)

419 S. Fifth Ave.: Henry and Mary Mann House – 1902. This late Queen Anne style house is symmetrical in form, with fancy shingle and fan patterned siding in the gables and brackets and upper spindles on the front porch. The house also features returns in the front gable and a full pediment and plain round Doric posts on the porch. (From the staff report on the PUD proposal.)

427 S. Fifth Ave.: Francis M. Hamilton House – c. 1894. This house first appears in Polk Directories in 1893 or 1894. Francis Hamilton moved in in 1896, and Hamilton descendents lived there until 1938. Mr. Hamilton was a mayor of Ann Arbor, and the developer of Hamilton Place, in his Fifth Avenue backyard. The house is a restrained and symmetrical Queen Anne, with cross-gables, a cutaway corner and an open front porch. (From the staff report on the PUD proposal.)

433 S. Fifth Ave. – c. 1850s (?). This very old and very charming housewith its low pitched roof and symmetrical eaves appears on the 1880 Panorama View of the City of Ann Arbor, and could date back to the 1850s. Herbert Slauson lived here for many years after the turn of the 20th century. He was superintendent of Ann Arbor Public Schools, and the namesake of Slauson Middle School. (From the staff report on the PUD proposal.)

437 S. Fifth Ave.: John McCarthy House – 1866. This house is an example of the simplest and most typical form of the Italianate style. It features a plain three-bay facade with the entrance at the right. The door is flanked by pilasters and a modified entablature. (From the staff report on the PUD proposal.)

City Place Caucus Discussion

The comments from the public at caucus reflected many of the same sentiments from the planning commission’s public hearing. Not all of the members of the public took a turn at the podium on Sunday night, possibly due to mayor of Ann Arbor John Hieftje’s discouragement of speakers from speaking both at caucus and at Monday’s council meeting. That admonition came at the start of caucus and again at the conclusion of one of the speaker’s podium turns: “Just to remind people, we’re hoping not to see you tomorrow at the public hearing.” This earned a sharp response from Ray Detter, of the Downtown Area Citizens Advisory Council, who said, “John, as you know and as I know, both, all of these people will be here again tomorrow. And they should be here tomorrow.” Hieftje said that caucus used to go on for four hours or more and that this had led them to discourage “double-dipping.”

For the following report of public comments, we categorize sentiments loosely based on topic.

PUD Language

One resident, who’s scheduled in May to move into a recently-purchased home on Fifth Avenue, quoted the italicized portion of the state enabling legislation, and concluded that City Place foundered on the requirement of integration:

MZEA:
125.3503 Planned unit development.
Sec. 503. (1) As used in this section, “planned unit development” includes such terms as cluster zoning, planned development, community unit plan, and planned residential development and other terminology denoting zoning requirements designed to accomplish the objectives of the zoning ordinance through a land development project review process based on the application of site planning criteria to achieve integration of the proposed land development project with the characteristics of the project area.

The same resident cited Ann Arbor’s city code, emphasizing the italicized portion:

5:10.27. PUD planned unit development district. (1) Intent. The purpose of this district is to permit flexibility in the regulation of land development; to encourage innovation in land use and variety in design, layout and type of structures constructed; to achieve economy and efficiency in the use of land, natural resources, energy and the provision of public services and utilities; to encourage provision of usable open space and protection of natural features; to provide adequate housing, employment and shopping opportunities particularly suited to the needs of the residents of the city; to expand the supply of affordable housing for lower income households and to encourage the use, reuse and improvement of existing sites and buildings which will be developed in a compatible way with surrounding uses but where the uniform regulations contained in other zoning districts do not provide adequate protections and safeguards for the site or surrounding area. The district is intended to accommodate developments with one or more land uses, sites with unusual topography or unique settings within the community or sites which exhibit difficult or costly development problems or any combination of these factors. This zoning district shall not be allowed where this zoning classification is sought primarily to avoid the imposition of standards and requirements of other zoning classifications or other city regulations rather than to achieve the stated purposes above.

Most of the commentary addressed the merits of the various public benefits mentioned in the city code.

Affordable Housing

The proposed development would offer 38 units reserved for those with incomes at 90% or below of the area median income, and 14 additional units reserved for those with incomes at 80% or below of the area median income. According to the staff report, the 80% AMI figures are $76,900 and $96,250 for two-person and four-person families, respectively. The 90% AMI figures are $49,200 and $61,500 for two-person and four-person families, respectively.

Several speakers at caucus were critical of the project as eliminating the truly affordable housing that existed in the form of the seven houses to be replaced. One speaker stated that the rents to be charged at the lowest level for the new project would exceed existing rents by 50%.

Density: Where?

The Central Area Plan was cited as specifying increased density in the downtown, but not in the adjacent neighborhoods. One resident, who had walked from his Fifth Avenue neighborhood home to caucus, related how he was initially supportive of the project, but only in a lukewarm way. What convinced him that it was not something he could support, he said, was the fact that an alternative to building densely could be had only 40 paces away at the site of the old YMCA. There, he said, he didn’t care if they built a 20-story apartment building – a remark that prompted Hieftje to say, “We’re going to remember you said that.”

Related to density is one of the benefits cited by the developer: efficiency in the use of energy resources.

Energy Efficiency

Responding to the developer’s cited benefit of increased energy efficiency, many of the speakers made the point that older homes can be retrofitted to be more energy efficient. Further, they made the point that into the calculation must be thrown the embodied energy used to construct the original houses. One resident noted that he’d made investments in his home in the area of increased insulation, but hesitated to think about adding a geo-thermal system, when the future of the neighborhood seemed threatened. Another resident noted that back when these homes were built, the materials were already recycled, citing the example of the beams in his basement home, which he said seemed to have been scavenged from a barn.

De Parry said that he’d made efforts to insulate the properties, but that when his energy bill approached his tax bill, he knew something was wrong. Scott Munzel, attorney for de Parry on the project, offered an analysis of the increased energy efficiency that put the total carbon investment per person housed in the proposed project at one-third the amount currently used. He suggested that in terms of embodied energy, the relevant notion to apply was how long the payback on the investment took. He noted that he was a land-use attorney, not an energy expert, but gave citations to sources that had estimates in the range of 10 years or less. Munzel also stressed the carbon savings from the reduction in transportation energy used – the development is expected to attract residents with jobs near the downtown.

When Munzel concluded his remarks, one resident flitted to the podium to offer her observation that Munzel had just suggested that everyone tear down their homes and replace them with more energy-efficient structures.

Who Wants to Live There?

The developer describes the project as appealing to young professionals. In response to this, many speakers questioned whether they would prefer to live in a “clunky apartment building” or a house. One 31-year-old young professional said that he’d vastly prefer to live in a house than an apartment building.

Character and Aesthetics

Several speakers spoke to the scale and mass of the proposed building as inconsistent with the overall character of the neighborhood. One speaker noted that businesses have an interest in keeping Ann Arbor an attractive place to visit that is different from outlying Detroit suburbs. It is important, she said, to preserve Ann Arbor’s unique ambiance, and City Place did not do that, because it had no distinctive character.

Present: Mike Anglin, Carsten Hohnke, Christopher Taylor, Tony Derezinski, Sabra Briere, John Hieftje.

Next Caucus Meeting: Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009 at 7 p.m. in council chambers, 2nd floor of the Guy C. Larcom, Jr. Municipal Building, 100 N. Fifth Ave.
[confirm date]