Jamie Kidwell, the city’s sustainability associate, and Wayne Appleyard, chair of the Ann Arbor energy commission. (Photos by the writer.)

The action plan identifies steps to implement 16 broad goals in a sustainability framework that was added to the city’s master plan last year. The goals are organized into four categories – resource management; land use and access; climate and energy; and community – that were culled from existing city plans and reorganized into this new framework.

The intent is to track efforts toward achieving the 16 goals, which cover a wide range of issues – from increasing renewable energy use and developing a resilient local economy to eliminating pollutants and maintaining Ann Arbor’s unique sense of place. The action plan includes specific indicators that measure progress in each area.

Jamie Kidwell, the city’s sustainability associate, is taking the lead on this project, and fielded questions from commissioners. Part of the goal is for each of the city’s commissions to incorporate these sustainability efforts into their own work plans, she noted. But the action plan is primarily to guide staff efforts. The action plan is also coordinated with the city’s budget process, tying in to the city council’s budget priorities.

Commissioners expressed interest in more collaboration – both among the city’s various commissions, and with other jurisdictions. One start will be to share their work plans, though not all commissions have those.

Commissioners also discussed the idea of holding an annual joint meeting of multiple commissions, possibly in September. Planning manager Wendy Rampson noted that the kick-off for developing the sustainability framework had begun with a joint meeting – with the planning, energy and environmental commissions – in April 2010.

Sustainability Action Plan: Overview

Jamie Kidwell, the city’s sustainability associate, began her briefing by explaining how the action plan is tied to the city’s sustainability framework. Each of the framework’s 16 broad goals is tied to targets for achieving that goal, and concrete actions to hit those targets. “The intent of this document is to really help measure our progress towards our sustainability goals, and to really ground those big, lofty goals … to some of these more measurable actions.” [.pdf of draft sustainability action plan]

The action plan will be a living document, Kidwell said. Some new indicators are included in the plan, she noted. It will be a learning process for staff, and some of the indicators will work better than others, Kidwell said. That means there will be adjustments in the future.

Because the document is primarily for staff, Kidwell said, there have been conversations among staff about how the goals, targets and actions are already being worked on in the short term. The plan isn’t meant to be all-inclusive, she noted, so not everything that staff are working on will be included. She stressed that it’s not really a new plan, but rather a reorganization of some efforts that are already underway.

Jamie Kidwell, the city’s sustainability associate.

One key component of the action plan is that it brings in budget goals that are set by staff each year during the budget cycle. The benefit of that approach is that it allows staff to work with an existing mechanism, Kidwell said, capitalizing on the budget process to more clearly communicate the sustainability goals to other staff, city advisory commissions, the city council and the public.

For example, this year the planning unit’s budget goals are explicitly tied to sustainability goals, Kidwell noted. [Responding to a follow-up query from The Chronicle, Rampson stated that the budget goals are still in draft form and are being reviewed by the city administrator. They will become available to the public as part of the budget book when it is presented to the city council in late April or early May.]

The draft action plan also includes a chart that identifies which unit within the city will be responsible for each of the sustainability goals. For example, the sustainability goals for local food are the primary responsibility of the parks and recreation unit, which includes the farmers market and greenbelt program. Kidwell noted that this chart might change, based on feedback from staff.

Kidwell said she wanted to talk to the city’s advisory commissions about the action plan in part because there’s opportunity to help both staff and the commissions find areas that are of common interest. Most commissions develop a work plan for each fiscal year, she noted. How do those work plans feed into the sustainability process?

The intent is to update the action plan every two years, Kidwell said. She asked commissioners for feedback about whether they thought the document would be useful to them, and if it helped communicate the city’s targets and actions regarding sustainability. “Does it really help you get your arms around what city staff is working on, in terms of our sustainability goals?” she asked.

Wendy Rampson, the city’s planning manager, reported that she’d reviewed the action plan with planning commission chair Kirk Westphal and Ken Clein, the commission’s secretary. They’d compared it to the planning commission’s work plan, and had found that there was alignment. [The planning commission most recently reviewed its work plan in detail at a Jan. 7, 2014 working session. See Chronicle coverage: "Planning Commission Reviews 2014 Priorities."]

Sustainability Action Plan: Commission Discussion

Chuck Hookham of the energy commission reported that he’s involved with several national programs on sustainability and infrastructure, and he gives presentations on these topics. When talking to the public, one of the main questions that’s asked is “What are we getting out of this?” he said. If taxpayer money is being spent, where’s the return on investment? As professionals, he said, they need to be better at communicating that.

Chuck Hookham, an Ann Arbor energy commissioner.

Hookham speculated that if he were to ask people in the community to define sustainability, he’d probably get a hundred different answers. So the city needs to be more specific about its goals. “I think that’s how we’ll get to the end game, which is improving life in the future,” he said.

In terms of communicating with the public, Jamie Kidwell said the city plans to have a very robust online version of this action plan. Part of that includes transitioning the current State of Our Environment report to a State of Our Sustainability report, she said. The idea is to provide snapshots online of city projects, and a report of indicators in the action plan, so that the community has concrete evidence that the city is working toward these goals.

Mark Clevey, an energy commission member, wondered how specific the indicators will be. For example, for the indicator of renewable electricity generation, will it be broken down into the number of solar energy systems, or how much renewable power is purchased from utilities?

Kidwell said the level of specificity is still under discussion. The State of the Environment report has 60 indicators that include a very deep level of detail, she noted. “We might be taking a fresh look at how we tell that story.” She encouraged commissioners to give feedback.

Clevey told Kidwell that “more is better” in terms of detail. Wendy Rampson, the city’s planning manager, noted that the time that staff spends entering data is time that they won’t have to do other things. The city can use interns for some of that work, she said, but “we’re trying to balance what gives people a sense of information, without being a slave to updating the data constantly.”

Rampson said if commissioners know of websites that they think would be effective models for presenting this information, they should let Kidwell know. Hookham cited the Envision sustainable infrastructure rating system, created by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. He described it as a program that’s similar to LEED, except that it deals with non-building facilities.

From left: Sabra Briere and Bonnie Bona of the planning commission. Briere also serves on the city council.

Bonnie Bona of the planning commission asked how the staff was dealing with creating indicators for targets that aren’t numerical. For example, the “engaged community” goal has this target: “Increase effectiveness of communication and service delivery.” How do you quantify that? she asked.

Kidwell noted that there are several areas – including community services, human services, and economic development – that are much harder to quantify. “I think we’re going to have to grow into some of these,” she said. One way to help make some of the indicators “less squishy,” Kidwell said, is to look at the targets and actions, and ask: What will these do, and what indicator follows from that?

Kidwell gave an example by looking at a human services goal: “Provide services that meet basic human needs of impoverished and disenfranchised residents to maximize the health and well-being of the community.” A target to achieve that goal is: “Increase housing stability of public housing residents.”

Within that target, several actions are identified:

• Create a Family Self Sufficiency Program for public housing and voucher residents to increase financial self-sufficiency.
• Increase employment of low-income households on housing commission projects.
• Create permanent supportive housing site with 24-hour front desk security.
• Increase supportive services to public housing units, including food, mental health, case management, and financial literacy.

For these actions, staff have identified the following indicators: (1) number of case managers for public housing sites; (2) percent of public housing residents employed; (3) percent of public housing units with supportive services; and (4) coordinated funding impact(s).

The idea is to find correlations between the indicators and targets/actions, Kidwell said. It’s more difficult for some of the goals, and the staff will be looking for feedback on whether they’ve identified the best indictors – especially as they start tracking the results, she said. “I think it’s going to be a learning process.”

The April 8 working session was the last meeting that Dina Kurz will attend as a member of the Ann Arbor energy commission. Her term ends on April 18, 2014 and she is not seeking reappointment. She was first appointed in April 2008.

Bona encouraged staff and commissions to think of these indicators in terms of “how they help us get the work done.” Then the indicators become something that’s needed, she said, rather than just a tracking of what has occurred.

Kidwell pointed out that the plan tries to capitalize on items that are already being tracked. That’s one reason why it’s being tied to the budget process. The staff goes through a process of identifying targets within each budget cycle, including what they hope to achieve during the fiscal year. As these things get pulled into the sustainability action plan, she said, the plan will evolve.

Kirk Westphal, chair of the planning commission, asked if it would be helpful for a smaller committee – with members from various commissions – to work on goals from the sustainability plan. Kidwell hoped that the action plan would help commissioners identify ways to work together. As an example, several different commissions have talked about incentives for sustainable “green” buildings. Westphal said he could envision how a committee with members from the planning, energy and environmental commissions could “really button down what the metrics are” for achieving that goal.

Mike Shriberg of the energy commission asked Kidwell to talk more about the intersection of the budget with the action plan. Kidwell replied that as part of the budget process, city staff are asked to identify what they’ll be working on in the short term, what they expect to achieve, and the metric for assessing their work. The hope is to coordinate that work with the sustainability action plan.

Rampson told commissioners that every city administrator has a different take on how they want the staff to develop the budget. City administrator Steve Powers, who started with the city in the latter part of 2011, has been working with the city council to identify budget priorities. Those priorities include fiscal discipline, public safety, infrastructure, economic health, affordable housing, and quality of life. Powers is trying to get the city staff to think about how their work fits within those priorities, Rampson said.

Rampson noted that she, Kidwell and other staff are advocating to incorporate the sustainability framework into this process as well, to see how work on a day-to-day basis fits within that framework. The planning commission’s work program fit really nicely, she said. For example, the planning commission’s work on downtown zoning – a project that the council had asked the commission to undertake – fits within the sustainability action plan under the category of integrated land use and following goal: “Encourage a compact pattern of diverse development that maintains our unique sense of place, preserves our natural systems, and strengthens our neighborhoods, corridors, and downtown.”

Mark Clevey of the Ann Arbor energy commission.

Within that goal, one of the targets states: “Encourage dense land use and development patterns which draw people downtown and foster an active street life, contribute to its function as an urban residential neighborhood and support a sustainable transportation system.” An action item to achieve that target is to implement the rezoning and code amendment recommendations of the downtown zoning evaluation. That’s part of the planning commission’s work program for this year, Rampson said.

“In the ideal world,” Rampson said, “you have that line-of-sight from what you’re doing on a day-to-day basis all the way through to the sustainability goal and on to council’s budget priorities.”

Kidwell said the draft action plan reorganizes some of the current budget goals from various city units, slotting them into sustainability goals. Going forward, the hope is that each unit, as they set budget goals, will have the sustainability plan in mind. That will make it easier to pull the budget goals into the plan, she said.

Sabra Briere, who serves as the city council representative on the planning commission, said the council will benefit from seeing the direction that everyone is heading. It’s really easy for councilmembers to lose sight of what’s happening in the whole organization, “because you’re dealing only with what’s right in front of you,” she said. The sustainability action plan is a working document that will help councilmembers see how the priorities they set in December are being implemented for the budget process in May, Briere said. [The city's fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. The budget is adopted no later than May for the coming fiscal year.]

Bona noted that the budget isn’t the only document that drives investments. The capital improvements plan (CIP) also addresses the city’s investments in infrastructure and assets. There’s a sophisticated matrix for developing priorities in the CIP, she said. But that matrix looks at “the act of building, not the use,” Bona said. [.pdf of CIP prioritization matrix]

Nate Geisler, energy programs analyst.

Kidwell replied that the sustainability goals are already part of the CIP prioritization process. Projects get points in the prioritization ranking if they further one or more of the sustainability goals. That’s not the perfect approach, she added, but it’s a start. Kidwell said she’s already had some conversations with Deb Gosselin, who oversees the CIP process, about whether changes should be made to the matrix in the upcoming CIP cycle. Again, it’s a learning process, Kidwell said.

​Energy commissioner Shoshannah Lenski praised the action plan. She suggested including some very broad indicator, possibly by category, that signals how much progress is being made. It might simply be a green, yellow or red circle next to each target, for example. It could be a qualitative assessment by staff, she said, about whether they think they’re on track with the targets.

Kidwell joked that there’s a blank page in the draft document titled “Plan Progress.” It’s blank because the staff are working on how to best represent the data. She noted that the State of Our Environment report uses green, yellow or red colors to indicate good, fair or poor progress toward the goals, and arrows to indicate whether the indicators are moving in the desired direction.

Dina Kurz of the energy commission asked about incorporating “the language of resilience.” Resilience is an important vocabulary word, she noted, adding that it would fit into one of the targets for a safe community: “Adapt to and effectively manage current hazards and emerging threats from climate impacts.” The word could even be included in targets for public health and disaster preparedness. “What we’re hoping for is that the community remains resilient,” Kurz said.

Kurz thought it would be an important descriptive term. The concept of resilience would be complicated to use as a measure, but it could be an umbrella measure for a lot of different goals. The energy commission, for example, has talked about the benefit of the city’s hydroelectric dam that produces electricity, she said. Local electrical production is a valuable resource, she noted, and there might be other opportunities along the Huron River to produce electricity. That’s a measure of resilience.

The category of local food is another good fit for resilience, Kurz said. Having local food production and promoting that – through farmers markets, for example – is a way to provide resilience if there are disruptions in transportation from outside sources. All of these things interweave, she noted. Local food and markets, she said, also provide a center for community and neighborhood development.

Noting that this was her last meeting as an energy commissioner, Kurz encouraged other commissioners and staff to continue working hard to understand what’s going on in various parts of the community, and to bring those things together “under one tent.”

From left: Energy commissioners Erik Eibert and Mike Shriberg.

Brigit Macomber reported that the energy commission is starting to look at the issue of “time of marketing,” which she said seems to dovetail with green housing. That seems like a topic that lends itself to working with other commissions, she said. How could they make that happen?

Wayne Appleyard, chair of the energy commission, explained that this concept would require a homeowner to disclose energy usage when selling a house, and it might include an energy audit. The “time of marketing” refers to the fact that the disclosure would occur when a property is marketed, as opposed to the “time of sale.” It would allow a homebuyer to make a more informed choice, he said, and it could allow them to secure a mortgage that might include funding for energy efficiency improvements.

Kidwell noted that the action plan includes targets for energy efficiency. Responding to Macomber’s query about collaboration among commissions, Kidwell said the best way to involve multiple commissions on a topic would be to talk to the staff who support the commissions’ work.

Rampson said the key is to find the best fit for overlapping issues. The planning commission isn’t involved directly when single-family residential properties are sold. It might be a better fit for planning commissioners to work with the energy commission on the commercial energy disclosure project, she said, as part of the site plan review that the planning commission undertakes. Even when something isn’t required by city code, Rampson said, the planning commission can introduce the concept to people as they come through the site plan review process.

Macomber explained that she’d been asking a process question. There are rules about how many people can meet, and at what point it becomes a public meeting, she noted – referring to requirements of the Michigan Open Meetings Act. It would be helpful to get staff direction about how to approach joint commission work. “I think it’s great to have the commissions working together. I see a lot of potential in that,” she said.

As a starting point, Kidwell suggested that each commission could begin sharing their work plans with other commissions, and flag a few areas where there might be mutual interest. Westphal asked if each commission’s work plan is posted. It varies, Kidwell said. Westphal suggested emailing work plans for each commission to members of all the commissions.

David Wright of the energy commission.

Briere highlighted topics she’d like to discuss with the energy commission, such as solar shading. She indicated that she wasn’t sure of the mechanism for holding such discussions. She’s also interested in the fact that if you invest in a solar roof, the assessment of your property increases. “So not only do you not get a tax break anymore, but you get a penalty,” she said. As the city promotes installing solar roofs, how do they deal with that?

Appleyard replied that the city council, on which Briere serves, probably has the ability to create a policy. He reported that when energy commissioners met with the city assessor, the assessor had said he’d been told by state officials “that he had the ability to interpret things,” Appleyard said.

David Wright of the energy commission said his understanding is that the city has some discretion regarding assessments, “and we need to further understand what that discretion exists.” Is it with the state tax commission? Or is there some discretion that falls to the city?

Briere said the council has been told that they can’t set policy related to assessments, so she was trying to figure out what can be done in other ways. Wright replied: “We want to help figure that out.”

Appleyard noted that recently, three commissions – planning, energy and environmental – had passed similar resolutions recommending to council that sufficient staff be hired to implement the city’s climate action plan. “I think there was some real power in having more than one commission pass resolutions,” he said, “so I think we need to make use of that, when possible.”

Macomber asked if commissioners would be having regular joint sessions. Kidwell said it’s up to commissioners, and noted that the precedent is there. If there’s interest from multiple commissions, the staff can figure out how to schedule it.

Shriberg noted that the sustainability plan is a great forum for bringing commissions together, because the plan’s indicators touch on the interests of many commissions. Kidwell suggested an annual meeting to talk about progress toward the plan’s goals. Commissions could also present their work plans to each other at that time.

Planning commissioner Jeremy Peters said that one of the planning commission’s jobs is to look far into the future. Having a process like the one Kidwell described would help with that.

Ken Clein of the planning commission wondered if there’d been any thought to coordinating with Washtenaw County government as well. It’s important to realize that Ann Arbor doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Kidwell said staff had struggled with that question in developing the sustainability plan. As a starting point, the plan makes the city’s work more transparent, she noted. Another step would be incorporating partners, she said – for example, she’s already been talking with the county’s office of community & economic development about their work.

From right: Planning commissioners Kirk Westphal, Diane Giannola and Paras Parekh.

Kidwell reported that she’s working on a countywide housing project, too – that’s just one example of work that’s being done with other partners, she said.

Briere gave several examples of areas where there are commissions in multiple jurisdictions that do similar work – Ann Arbor has a park advisory commission, and Washtenaw County has a parks & recreation commission. Many jurisdictions have housing-related commissions. She said she didn’t know all of the commissions that existed countywide. She wondered if the staff saw any opportunity to bring together commissions outside of Ann Arbor with Ann Arbor commissions, “to really talk through the next set of ideas, whatever they may be.” It would be great to see regional planning, Briere said.

Kidwell agreed that it’s something to support. She gave the example of the Reimagine Washtenaw project, which involved several jurisdictions – Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township and Pittsfield Township – to improve the Washtenaw Avenue corridor between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.

Rampson noted that the Reimagine Washtenaw project is at a critical point, because the federal grant that’s paid for staff is ending in the next year. Now, each community must decide whether it wants to continue paying for that staff work, she said. The challenge is how to keep a project like this moving ahead.

There’s benefit in not reinventing the wheel, Rampson said – that’s a reason to collaborate with other communities.

Commissioners wrapped up by discussing the timing of an annual meeting of multiple commissions, possibly in September. Rampson noted that the kick-off for developing the sustainability framework had begun with a joint meeting – between the planning, energy and environmental commissions – in April 2010. [See Chronicle coverage: "Building a Sustainable Ann Arbor."]

Rampson suggested that the chairs of these three commission meet to do some planning, and to include the housing and human services advisory board too, and possibly the park advisory commission. Another possibility is to create a committee focused on the CIP.

As a follow-up to sharing work plans, Kurz asked that the planning commission’s work plan be shared with other commissions, so that it could be used as a template. [.pdf of planning commission's work plan] The environmental commission also has an active work plan, which was adopted in September 2013. [.pdf of environmental commission's work plan] The energy commission doesn’t have a current work plan. Nor does the housing & human services advisory commission, but Briere indicated that she would bring up the issue at the HHSAB’s next meeting.

Planning commissioners present: Bonnie Bona, Sabra Briere, Ken Clein, Diane Giannola, Paras Parekh, Jeremy Peters, Kirk Westphal.

Energy commissioners present: Wayne Appleyard, Mark Clevey, Erik Eibert, Chuck Hookham, Dina Kurz, ​Shoshannah Lenski, Brigit Macomber, Mike Shriberg, Ken Wadland, David Wright.

Staff present: Planning manager Wendy Rampson; Nate Geisler, energy programs analyst; Jamie Kidwell, sustainability associate.

Next planning commission meeting: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 7 p.m. in the second floor council chambers at city hall, 301 E. Huron St., Ann Arbor.

Next energy commission meeting: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 6 p.m. in the second floor council chambers at city hall, 301 E. Huron St., Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listings to confirm date]

The Chronicle survives in part through regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of publicly-funded entities like the city’s planning commission. If you’re already supporting The Chronicle, please encourage your friends, neighbors and coworkers to do the same. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle.

Curt Gielow (right), campus chief executive for Concordia University Ann Arbor, talks with Ann Arbor planning commission chair Kirk Westphal before the commission’s March 4, 2014 meeting. (Photos by the writer.)

The project signals a larger effort to double the size of the current institution’s enrollment of 740 students and return Concordia – which was near bankruptcy in recent years – to financial stability.

Curt Gielow, Concordia University Ann Arbor’s CEO, told commissioners that because of its distressed financial state, the Ann Arbor campus was absorbed by Concordia University Wisconsin last year. Plans are in place to invest between $10 million to $20 million in the coming years on a variety of improvements, he said.

Gielow estimated Concordia’s economic impact on Ann Arbor is in excess of $10 million annually. “I don’t think anybody wants this university to close.”

The 187-acre campus is located at 4090 Geddes Road, just west of US-23 and north of the Huron River. The Ann Arbor campus is one of the smallest of the 10 Concordias nationwide, which all are owned by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. The LCMS Michigan district offices are located near the Ann Arbor campus, at 3773 Geddes.

The site plan will now be forwarded to the city council for consideration. Planning commissioners also granted a special exception use for the project, because the private university is located on a site zoned R1B (single-family residential district). No additional city council approval is required for that.

In other action, commissioners voted to support a resolution passed by the city’s energy commission and environmental commission, recommending that the city fill a vacant full-time position to focus on implementing Ann Arbor’s climate action plan.

During the March 4 meeting, energy commission chair Wayne Appleyard explained the rationale behind the recommendation, noting that one of two positions in the energy office has been vacant for about two years. While the office has been short-staffed, he said, climate change continues. “Greenhouse gases are cumulative, so the faster we can move to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, the better off everybody’s going to be.”

Near the end of the meeting, planning commissioner Diane Giannola announced that she and Bonnie Bona would be bringing a resolution forward on March 18 related to the Library Lane site. At recent city council meetings, she noted, there has been discussion about potentially selling the air rights for the Library Lane underground parking structure to a developer. So the resolution would describe the kinds of uses that the planning commission would like to see on top of that site, she said. Giannola likened it to a similar resolution that the planning commission passed prior to the sale of the former Y lot.

Concordia University Gym Expansion

A site plan to expand the existing Concordia University gym was on the March 4 agenda. The plan also includes reconfiguring nearby parking lots and stormwater management features on the 187-acre site at 4090 Geddes Road, just west of US-23 and north of the Huron River.

Aerial view of Concordia University campus, south of Geddes Road and west of US-23.

As a separate item, planning commissioners were asked to grant a special exception use for the project. That’s required because the private university is located on a site zoned R1B (single-family residential district).

The site plan requires city council approval, but the special exception use does not.

The proposal calls for a three-story, 34,391-square-foot addition to the current 22,021-square-foot gym that was built in the early 1960s, located on the west side of Concordia’s main campus. [.pdf of campus map] The addition will include men’s and women’s locker rooms, athletic office space, classrooms and an auxiliary gym. A second phase of the project entails constructing a single-story, 5,280-square-foot athletic training room.

An existing gravel parking area west of the gym will be paved and landscaped, and another lot north of the gym along Geddes will get new landscaping and bioswales. A total of 92 new parking spaces will be created, mostly in the former gravel lot. A new stormwater management system will be completed to address a 100-year storm event, including a detention pond with an outlet into a bioswale south of the developed area.

The site plan is for a planned project, which allows variations in height and placement. The proposed addition would be 39 feet high. The site’s zoning has a height limit of 30 feet. The existing gym is about 33 feet high, measured at the midpoint of the roof.

Concordia is located in Ward 2. A letter from the university stated that a citizens participation meeting for the project was held on Dec. 10, 2013. The only resident who attended was Ward 2 councilmember Jane Lumm, who had no concerns about the project, according to the letter.

In giving the staff report, city planner Jeff Kahan provided a brief history of the university. It was dedicated in 1963 as a community college, and became a four-year college in 1976. Concordia became a university in 2001. The main campus is located south of Geddes, with athletic fields north of that road.

Planning staff recommended approval of the site plan and special exception use.

Concordia University Gym Expansion: Public Hearing

Curt Gielow introduced himself as Concordia University Ann Arbor’s campus CEO. He’s lived here for six months, moving to Ann Arbor from Wisconsin. Concordia in Ann Arbor is one of 10 Concordias in the country, he said. Other locations include Portland, Ore., Texas, southern California, the Bronx, Nebraska and Alabama. Concordia Wisconsin is the largest, with a student population of 8,000 in the small town of Mequon, north of Milwaukee. Gielow noted that he previously served as mayor of Mequon.

Members of the staff and design team for the Concordia University project. In the foreground is Curt Gielow, CEO of the Ann Arbor campus.

The Ann Arbor campus is one of the smallest of the 10 Concordias, which all are owned by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.

The Ann Arbor campus is 50 years old, with three schools – business, education, and arts & sciences. Recently the campus has struggled financially, and within the last few years was near bankruptcy and closure, Gielow said. The church didn’t want that to happen, he added, because it felt there was a mission here. So church officials asked Concordia Wisconsin for a “helping hand,” he said.

Collaborations began a couple of years ago, culminating in a merger. So now the Ann Arbor campus is part of Concordia Wisconsin. So it’s one university with campuses in Ann Arbor and Wisconsin. Concordia’s Ann Arbor campus employs 110 people.

In the next few years, $10 million to $20 million will be invested in infrastructure and operating support to make the Ann Arbor campus viable, Gielow said. Today, there are 740 students and that’s not viable. They need to at least double their student enrollment over the next few years, he told commissioners.

Gielow said he previously served as dean of the School of Pharmacy at Concordia Wisconsin, and he was asked to come to Ann Arbor to be campus CEO. He’s been here since August of 2013. “We’ve got to be vigorous in our efforts to grow this university to a sustainable level,” he said. The projects that Concordia will bring before the planning commission in the next few years will focus on that need to grow. The campus needs to have between 1,200 to 1,400 students, he said, because it’s a tuition-driven operation. The campus gets no state or federal support – only tuition and donations.

Of the 740 current students, about 500 live on campus in 16 small dormitories that each house 32 students. “We think the economic impact of this university and sustaining this university in Ann Arbor is easily in excess of $10 million a year,” Gielow said. So he hoped that the city would allow Concordia to do the necessary things to grow.

As for the current project, Gielow said the addition to the gym would be built to match the look of the existing building. It’s not their intent to disrupt the neighbors, he said, and he thought there was unanimous support from neighbors for this effort. It won’t include any additional traffic. “I don’t think anybody wants this university to close,” Gielow said.

Cliff Mayer, the project’s architect, told commissioners that his firm has been working with Concordia Wisconsin for about 15 years. He noted that because the Ann Arbor campus was built in 1963, “everything that needs repair and replacement also goes [needs repair] at the same time.” They’re trying to be strategic about the work. The gym will be energy efficient, he said. He noted that his firm has saved the university’s Wisconsin campus $110,000 in annual energy costs through energy efficient construction, including well-insulated walls and state-of-the-art mechanical systems. It’s similar to the investments that will be made in Ann Arbor, he said. Mayer concluded by saying he was on hand to answer any questions.

Concordia University Gym Expansion: Commission Discussion

Sabra Briere asked about the anticipated growth of the campus, and wondered if the university will eventually build more dormitories. She also wanted to know if there would be more traffic because of the future expansion.

From left: Ann Arbor planning commissioners Diane Giannola and Bonnie Bona.

Curt Gielow reported that the existing dormitories are not full, so there’s some ability to take more on-campus students. He noted that in 2006-2007, the campus had about 1,100 students. Some students are commuters. “We just don’t know the mix of our new student base,” he said. For example, the campus is looking to grow its international student population, who would need housing.

Gielow noted that in the future, they might need to build another dormitory on campus. Much of the 187 acres that Concordia owns is available for growth, he said. “We have the significant advantage of space – and beautiful space on a beautiful river.”

He also reported that on the north side of Geddes, a football field is under construction now. Right now, Concordia plays its football games at Eastern Michigan University’s stadium and at Huron High School.

Bonnie Bona said she was very supportive of this project. She noted that she was raised in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, and knows that the state offices are “across the road.” [The LCMS Michigan district offices are located at 3773 Geddes.]

Bona’s father worked for an organization called Creative Buildings out of Champaign-Urbana that built many Lutheran structures in the early 1960s, she said, so she particularly likes the architecture of these buildings.

Bona suggested that the city would be interested in working with Concordia’s Ann Arbor campus in its long-term master planning, rather than just responding to projects as they come up. It would be helpful for the community to give feedback on Concordia’s master plans, she said. Gielow indicated that Concordia would be happy to share its master planning with the city.

It’s important to integrate the campus with the city, as well as with the adjacent neighbors, Bona said, though there’s not a lot of development in that area.

Noting that Gielow had talked about getting Concordia to a sustainable level, Bona wondered how he would define that. “When we make money instead of losing it,” Gielow replied. This year, they’ll lose $3 million, he said, and Concordia Wisconsin won’t sustain those kinds of losses. So the emphasis is on growing student enrollment and courses. For example, he pointed to outreach centers in Frankenmuth and Dearborn as efforts to recruit adult students who want to complete college.

Planning commissioner and city councilmember Sabra Briere.

Gielow noted that because of a connection his son had, Gov. Rick Snyder had met with Concordia officials. Snyder is interested in early childhood education and nursing, Gielow said. Concordia can provide degree completion for RNs who want to get BSN degrees.

Gielow also reported that he’s talked with Washtenaw Community College about possible collaboration. WCC would like to see its students with associate degrees move on and get bachelor degrees, he said, and Concordia can help with that. So Concordia is doing outreach, Gielow said, but in the short term, the campus needs to stop losing money.

Bona then asked about parking. The zoning requires a minimum of 140 spaces – or five per classroom. There are currently 481 spaces, with plans to increase that number to 573. Cliff Mayer, the project’s architect, said that they’re not actually adding any parking. They’re just upgrading the gravel lot to the city’s standard of an asphalt lot, with bioswales and landscaping.

Bona wondered if the parking was primarily to accommodate visitors for athletic events. Mayer indicated that there’s sufficient parking for current needs, as well as to support some future growth. He noted that an additional gravel area is located on the north side of Geddes, next to the athletic field.

Bona then asked whether there’s any accommodation on campus for buses. She thought there might be opportunity to encourage more use of public transit. Gielow replied that he’s been talking to the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority about bringing a bus stop onto the campus. There’s an existing stop nearby on the north side of Geddes. He noted that if more students take the bus, the campus would have less need for parking.

Bona suggested that the campus might be a good location for a Zipcar.

Concordia University is a significant asset to the community, Bona said, so she’d support this project.

Ken Clein wondered whether the city should talk to the university about rezoning the site, rather than having to grant a special exception use for each project. City planner Jeff Kahan replied that this is how the city handles private colleges. Such uses are allowed by special exception in office districts and single-family residential districts. Kahan said the city staff believes the existing zoning is reasonable, and it’s reasonable to require that the university request a special exception use for each project.

City planner Jeff Kahan.

Clein asked about the building materials. Mayer indicated that the intent is to match and complement the shingles on the addition’s roof with the existing gym. They’re looking at a steel shingle with granules on it that complements the “architectural ambiance of the ’60s,” he said. Right now, it’s a cost consideration, however. Clein noted that in life-cycle costs, the steel shingles would be cheaper. Mayer agreed, but said it was a matter of budget priorities within the context of all the work that needs to be done.

Clein replied that in terms of the city’s sustainability efforts, a steel shingle would go over well. Mayer quipped: “Is there any funding available?”

Clein also clarified with Mayer that the gym’s mechanicals will be going in the lower level, and any rooftop mechanicals will be screened. In response to another query, Mayer said the construction follows LEED principles, including high energy-efficiency wall systems, insulated windows, solar orientation and other features. But Concordia won’t necessarily go through the expensive process of getting LEED certified, he said.

Responding to a question from Kirk Westphal, Mayer noted that the auxiliary gym will be using natural light to lower the need for lighting during the day. It doesn’t face “dead south,” he said, but that’s not really necessary for this purpose.

Westphal asked Kahan to describe the environmental impact of paving the gravel parking lot. Kahan replied that the existing gravel surface, which has been compacted for years, has about the same runoff coefficient as asphalt. Constructing a new parking area that includes bioswales, landscaping and detention is a net positive for that site, Kahan said.

Outcome: In separate votes, planning commissioners recommended approval of the site plan and authorized a special exception use for the project. The site plan will be forwarded to city council for consideration.

Staffing for Energy Office

City planner Jeff Kahan gave the staff report, noting that at the planning commission’s Feb. 20, 2014 meeting, chair Kirk Westphal had distributed a copy of a resolution passed by the city’s energy commission. It supports a recommendation to hire a full-time employee to focus on projects that help achieve goals in the city’s climate action plan. [.pdf of resolution]

The energy commission has requested that the planning commission support this resolution. An identical resolution was adopted by the city’s environmental commission on Feb. 27.

Kahan reported that the planning commission’s bylaws give guidance on this type of request. He pointed to two specific sections:

Article III. Purpose, Objectives, and Duties
…
Section 3. The Commission shall advise City Council on matters relating to the physical and environmental development of the City. Its recommendations shall consider the impact which such development shall have on the physical, social, economic, and environmental condition of the City.
…
Article V. Ethics and Conflicts of Interest
…
Section 11. The Commission or its individual members shall not intrude into the management of the City Planning and Development Services Unit or into those matters which are handled administratively within the service unit.

Kahan listed two options that the planning commission might consider: (1) adopting the same resolution that’s been passed by the energy and environmental commissions; or (2) passing a resolution of support.

It was the latter option that planning commissioners pursued:

The Ann Arbor City Planning Commission hereby supports the Energy Commission and Environmental Commission’s efforts to identify resourcing for the City’s community energy efficiency initiatives.

Staffing for Energy Office: Public Hearing

The only speaker for the public hearing on this item was Wayne Appleyard, chair of the city’s energy commission.

Wayne Appleyard, chair of the Ann Arbor energy commission.

Appleyard gave some background for this effort. Until two years ago, there had been two positions in the energy office. But the previous energy programs manager, Andrew Brix, left his job two years ago. That position remained vacant until earlier this year, when Nate Geisler, who’s been the city’s energy programs associate, was promoted to manager.

So the energy office is still short-staffed, Appleyard said, with an opening now for the energy programs associate.

On Dec. 17, 2012, the Ann Arbor city council unanimously adopted a climate action plan for the city. It states that the city should move very quickly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Appleyard said. Because municipal government operations only account for about 1.2% of total emissions in the city, the plan “requires a lot of work out in the community, and we need that second position filled in order to do that,” he said.

Climate change doesn’t wait, Appleyard added. “Greenhouse gases are cumulative, so the faster we can move to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, the better off everybody’s going to be.”

He told commissioners that he was available to answer any questions.

Staffing for Energy Office: Commission Discussion

Bonnie Bona asked about the role of the open position. Prior to the period when one of the two energy office positions was vacant, had there been much outreach done to the community regarding greenhouse gas reduction? Wayne Appleyard said the energy office has always reached out to the community through events like the annual Green Fair, “but nothing really extensive.”

Appleyard noted that work has been ongoing, even though the office has been short-staffed for two years. But that’s primarily because the office has received grants to hire outside help. For example, the city’s property assessed clean energy (PACE) program – a financing program for energy efficiency projects on commercial properties – was only completed because the city used grant funding to hire an outside contractor. [That contractor was the Clean Energy Coalition (CEC), where Bona is employed.]

Planning commissioner Paras Parekh.

The climate action plan was just being developed when Andrew Brix left, Appleyard said. Again, grant funding allowed for the city to contract with the CEC to help move that plan forward. But a lot of work hasn’t been completed, he noted. For example, there’s an extensive appendix for the climate action plan that hasn’t yet been finished.

Bona clarified with Appleyard that the second position wasn’t eliminated by the city, but it just hadn’t been filled. Why wasn’t it filled when Brix left?

Sabra Briere speculated that it might be because the city left the position vacant in order to save money. “One way we have reduced the size of city government is through attrition,” she said.

Bona pointed out that the city had actually interviewed for the opening. That’s correct, Appleyard said. The city had interviewed candidates for the job and offered it to someone who ultimately decided not to take it. The job was then offered to another person, who also declined. At that point, he said, the process came to a halt and there was discussion about redefining the roles of the two positions.

Bona asked what would happen if the position was left vacant, and the city couldn’t pro-actively work on items in the climate action plan. Is there any way for the private sector to fill in, or is it something that only the city can do?

Appleyard replied by saying that over the past several years, the energy office has brought in over $600,000 in grant funding. “So it pays for itself, quite often,” he said. The problem with relying on grants and outside staffing is that it comes and goes, he added. The climate action plan is very ambitious and not easy to implement. “You don’t want to have boom-and-bust cycles of personnel,” he said. It’s essential to have consistent, ongoing staffing. He noted that when the office is short-staffed, some grant opportunities are missed.

Leaving the position vacant for financial reasons is shortsighted, Appleyard argued. He said that increasing energy efficiency in the community frees up money to spend on other things. When you buy electricity or natural gas, the money goes to businesses outside of the community, he said. But if residents are more energy efficient, they have more money to spend in this community. “All in all, it keeps a more vibrant community,” he said.

It’s also important to realize that with the effects of climate change, Appleyard said, “the more we can do to sort of hunker down, the better off we’ll be able to weather some of the problems that are happening.” Filling the second position in the energy office is important for that, too, he said.

A lot of people in the community are working on energy efficiency issues, in collaboration with the city, Appleyard said. A group called the Community Climate Partnership – which includes the nonprofit Ecology Center, some city staff, and energy commission members – are working on some of these issues, he said. [The Community Climate Partnership was awarded a $55,000 grant by the Funders' Network last fall. The project's description was "to build a Community Climate Partnership that brings together a cross-section of the community to implement the city’s Climate Action Plan and fosters broader community involvement and civic action around climate change."]

Planning commissioners Ken Clein, Diane Giannola and Bonnie Bona.

Appleyard noted that the work requires staff who are designated for these projects, not just volunteers.

Kirk Westphal said he didn’t recall that the planning commission has ever given formal advice on staffing issues. He said he didn’t have the wherewithal to know if this was the best use of resources at the city. Noting that the planning unit could use more staff, Westphal observed that the planning commission’s bylaws prevent it from advocating for staff within the planning unit. He said he was comfortable with the resolution of support, because it cuts across many of the goals in the climate action plan and sustainability framework. Promoting energy-efficient buildings might be the most efficient way to put money into residents’ pockets, he said.

Ken Clein noted that one of the premiums offered to developments in the downtown zoning districts relates to energy efficiency. There are also discussions about solar access, related to zoning. So it would be very helpful to have staff with relevant technical abilities to assist the commission and council in making decisions about energy-efficiency issues, he said. It would benefit developers as well as residents, he added.

In response to a query from Paras Parekh, Appleyard noted that the budget for the city’s next fiscal year – starting July 1, 2014 – is now being developed. If the vacant position is not filled, he said, then maybe it won’t be included in that budget.

Diane Giannola asked whether the planning commission, by passing this resolution, would be intruding into the management of its service unit – thereby violating its bylaws. Kahan clarified that the energy office is part of the city’s systems planning unit, not the planning and development services unit.

Bona pointed out that in order to make a recommendation of approval for this resolution, it needed six votes. She observed that only six of the nine planning commissioners were present. So to pass, it would need an affirmative vote from all commissioners who were present. [Absent were Eleanore Adenekan, Jeremy Peters and Wendy Woods.]

Bona said the most compelling aspect of the resolution is the urgency of the climate situation. These kinds of efforts take a long time to build momentum, she said. Citing the city’s PACE program, Bona called it a “real squandering of resources” to not keep programs running. It’s not just energy efficiency, she said, it’s financial efficiency.

If the city is at all serious about its climate action plan or sustainability, “this is the least we can do,” Bona said. “It’s possible that we need to do more, but let’s certainly not go backwards.”

Outcome: Commissioners voted unanimously to pass a resolution of support for hiring a full-time staff position in the city’s energy office.

After the vote, Sabra Briere – who also serves on the city council – said she’d felt uncomfortable voting on this item, because it was a request made to the council. She thought the request should be directed to the city administrator, who sets the budget. The council can amend the budget, she noted, but it would be best if the position were included by the administrator and assumed to be filled.

Communications & Commentary

Every meeting includes several opportunities for communications from planning staff and commissioners, as well as two opportunities for public commentary. Here are some highlights from March 4.

Communications & Commentary: Library Lane

Diane Giannola announced that she and Bonnie Bona would be bringing a resolution forward at the March 18 meeting related to the Library Lane site on South Fifth Avenue. At recent city council meetings, she noted, there’s been discussion about potentially selling the air rights above the Library Lane underground parking structure to a developer. So the resolution would describe the kinds of uses that the planning commission would like to see on that site, she said. Giannola likened it to a similar resolution that the planning commission passed prior to the sale of the former Y lot. [See Chronicle coverage: "Planning Group Advises Council on Y Lot."]

Sabra Briere, who also serves on city council, said she looked forward to reading the resolution, but she was concerned because the issue of the Library Lane site would likely be on the city council’s March 17 agenda. The next planning commission meeting is the following day, March 18.

Briere said that her understanding of councilmember Stephen Kunselman’s proposal is to direct the city administrator to hire a broker, and to go through the process that was done to put the former Y lot on the market. The goal of Kunselman’s resolution would be to set in motion a process to sell the air rights to the site, she said, which would allow a developer to build on it.

Giannola said that the timing would still work, because the planning commission’s resolution would be sent to council prior to any proposals for that site from developers.

Communications & Commentary: Public Commentary

Two students from Skyline High School, who are part of the school’s communication, media and public policy magnet, spoke during the first opportunity for public commentary, as part of a class assignment. They were accompanied by a third student, who did not address the commission.

Kirk Westphal and Bonnie Bona of the Ann Arbor planning commission talk to a Skyline High School student about the procedures for public commentary.

Tina Lee, a senior at Skyline, told commissioners that she’s been working with Eli Cooper, the city’s transportation program manager, on the Walk, Bike, Drive initiative. The program is designed to educate the public and make Ann Arbor more transit-oriented, bike friendly and pedestrian friendly, Lee said.

Jeremiah Clark continued the commentary, saying they’ve been working with Cooper on this program because each year, road-related deaths are increasing. According to the Centers for Disease Control, he said, road injuries account for 1.3 million deaths – or 2.3% of deaths nationwide. These incidents can be prevented if everyone follows the driving, walking, biking guidelines, he said.

Lee spoke again, noting that Ann Arbor spends $10,000 annually on the Safe Streets and Sidewalks (A2S3) campaign. It includes ads on buses, a website, vehicle stickers, media alerts and public events, she said. Even though Ann Arbor is ranked as the third-safest town in the country for pedestrians, Lee said, it’s still a problem. She urged residents to be patient, cautious and responsible “for not only ourselves, but everyone on the road. Let’s all make Ann Arbor a more walk-friendly, bike-friendly and transit-oriented city.”

Communications & Commentary: Ordinance Revisions Committee

Bonnie Bona gave a report from the planning commission’s ordinance revisions committee (ORC), which met immediately prior to the commission’s regular meeting on March 4. The focus of their work was on developing ordinance language for the downtown zoning recommendations. [See Chronicle coverage: "Council Moves on Downtown Zoning Revisions."] The first ordinance revisions that will be coming to the planning commission relate to rezoning the property at 425 S. Main – the southeast corner of Main and William. [The recommendation was to downzone the property from D1 to D2, and to establish a maximum height of 60 feet for D2 zoning in the Main Street Character District.] “We’ll keep chipping away at those recommendations, but that one was the first,” she said.

The ORC is also working on a revised version of an ordinance that regulates drive-thrus, Bona reported. It had originally been drafted in 2007, she said.

Communications & Commentary: DDA

Ken Clein, who represents the planning commission on the partnerships committee of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, reported that the DDA is kicking off its streetscape framework project, and has asked that someone on the planning commission be part of that effort. [The DDA board authorized a $200,000 contract for development of a streetscape framework plan at its Nov. 6, 2013 meeting.] Clein said that cities like San Francisco and Portland, Ore., have been successful with similar projects.

Communications & Commentary: City Commissions

Kirk Westphal, the planning commission’s chair, reported that he and Ken Clein recently met with representatives from the energy, environmental and park advisory commissions to give updates on what each of those commissions is doing, and how the work plans for these commissions relate to the city’s sustainability framework. There was interest in the planning commission’s work related to revising the downtown development premiums, he said. “That seems to be one that ties together all the commissions, and I’m sure there will be a public process around that.”

Other topics discussed at that joint meeting included a community solar project and neighborhood mini-grants, Westphal said.

Present: Bonnie Bona, Sabra Briere, Ken Clein, Diane Giannola, Paras Parekh, Kirk Westphal. Also: City planner Jeff Kahan.

Absent: Eleanore Adenekan, Jeremy Peters, Wendy Woods.

Next meeting: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at 7 p.m. in the second floor council chambers at city hall, 301 E. Huron St., Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listings to confirm date]

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Dissent came from Ward 2 councilmembers Jane Lumm and Sally Petersen. Petersen was not in favor of a resolution that had no “teeth,” and would have been inclined to support a proactive resolution that provided direction for investment in clean energies.

The action came at the council’s Oct. 21, 2013 meeting, which was the third time the resolution had been in front of the council. When it was initially considered on Sept. 3, 2013, the council voted it down. But on Sept. 16, 2013 the resolution was brought back for reconsideration, then postponed until Oct. 21.

The resolution was amended at the table to soften it – at the suggestion of Christopher Taylor (Ward 3). For example, the word “urges” was replaced with “requests” throughout the resolution. Also from the first resolved clause the word “immediately” was deleted. Another piece of language from Taylor’s amendments: “…to investigate whether it can reasonably divest…” The phrase “consider ensuring” was used instead of just “ensuring.”

The council’s resolution was based on an energy commission resolution passed on July 9, 2013 recommending that the city council urge the city’s employee retirement system board to cease new investments in fossil fuel companies and to divest current investments in fossil fuel companies within five years. The resolution defines a “fossil fuel company” to be any of the top 100 coal companies or top 100 gas and oil extraction companies.

The top three coal companies on the list are: Severstal JSC; Anglo American PLC; and BHP Billiton. The top three gas and oil companies on the list are: Lukoil Holdings; Exxon Mobil Corp.; and BP PLC. The basic consideration of the resolution is the importance of the role that greenhouse gas emissions play in global warming.

The resolution cites the city of Ann Arbor’s climate action plan, which has a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2025 and 90% by 2050. The resolution warns that fossil fuel companies have enough fossil fuel reserves that, if burned, would release about 2,795 gigatons of CO2. That’s five times the amount that can be released without causing more than 2°C global warming, according to the resolution.

Nancy Walker, executive director of the city’s employee retirement system, has reviewed for the council at its meetings the implications of fossil fuel divestment on the retirement fund. Walker had told the council that moving to separately managed accounts from the system’s preferred strategy – of using co-mingled funds, mutual funds, and particularly indexed funds – would cost 30-40 basis points more in fees, independent of any difference in the return on investment.

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]

From left: David Stead, Jean Carlberg, and Fulter Hong at an April 13 working session on sustainability. They are members of the environmental, planning and energy commissions, respectively. (Photos by the writer.)

The discussion touched on the conceptual as well as the concrete, with some commissioners urging the group to tackle practical considerations as well. The chairs of each commission – Bona, the energy commission’s Wayne Appleyard, and Steve Bean of the environmental commission – set the stage by talking about the roles of their appointed public bodies, and how sustainability might be incorporated into their work.

Specific ideas discussed during the session included financing energy improvements in households through a special self-assessment on property tax bills, and tapping expertise at the University of Michigan.

More than midway through the meeting they were joined by Terry Alexander, executive director of UM’s Office of Campus Sustainability. He described UM’s efforts at implementing sustainable practices on campus as well as creating a living/learning environment for students, teaching them what it means to be a “green citizen.”

Toward the end of the meeting, Bona noted that the issue extended far beyond the three commissions gathered around the table. Housing, parks and other areas need to be involved as well, she said, if they were truly to tackle the three elements of sustainability: environmental quality, social equity, and economic vitality. Bean said he and the other chairs would be meeting again and come up with some specific examples for what steps might be taken next. “You’ll be hearing from us,” he said.

Planning, Energy & Environment: An Overview

Bonnie Bona began the discussion by describing the work of the planning commission, which she chairs. They’re responsible for the master plan and ordinance revisions related to planning, and work on a raft of issues through standing and ad hoc committees, including area, height & placement standards, capital improvements, and R4C/R2A zoning districts, among others.

Bona said she’s been thinking about the concept of sustainability for several years, and the questions that it raises. For example, what’s the sweet spot for building height and density, to create a sustainable community? In her work on the area, height & placement committee, each time they’ve gotten comfortable with a certain level of density, they’ve asked: Why not push it a little more? Bona said she doesn’t know what optimal density is, but she’s feeling less and less comfortable relying on political winds, and not having a way to measure it.

Beyond density, she said they haven’t been considering the other elements of sustainability – economic vitality, and social equity. These are broader issues that encompass more than just planning, she said. A more productive way to move forward would be to take a comprehensive look at what it means to be sustainable. “And that is how I got here,” she said.

Wayne Appleyard, chair of the Ann Arbor energy commission.

Energy Commission

Wayne Appleyard, who chairs the energy commission, said the group was trying to help meet the city’s green energy challenge, set in 2005: To use 30% renewable energy in municipal operations by the year 2010. He noted that the deadline is coming up quickly. The goal for the entire community is 20% renewable energy by 2015.

City government is close to meeting its goal, Appleyard said, with its “green fleets” program using alternative fuel vehicles, electricity generated from landfill gas and two dams on the Huron River, and other efforts.

For the broader community, the commission is exploring the PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) program as a way for homeowners to finance energy improvements, like installing a solar energy system. [Matt Naud, the city's environmental coordinator, explained the program in more detail later in the meeting.] Other possibilities include requiring time-of-sale energy audits, so that potential homebuyers could wrap funding for energy improvements into their mortgage; educating the public about renewable energy and energy efficiency measures; and figuring out how to generate more electricity from dams on the Huron River.

Appleyard also discussed what it means to be sustainable. Often it’s considered as meeting our needs today, without harming future generations. It takes into account both economic and social aspects as well. He quoted William McDonough, author of “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things,” in describing the outcome of sustainability: “a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world, with clean air, water, soil and power – economically, equitably, ecologically and elegantly enjoyed.”

Achieving these goals means redefining everything we do, Appleyard said. Sustainability means you have to account for everything you do, and do things only that make sense for all three areas: environmental, economic and social.

Environmental Commission

Steve Bean described the work of the environmental commission as advising the city on issues related to the environment and sustainability. The group has six committees: natural features, solid waste, water, transportation, State of Our Environment, and sustainability community. Ad hoc committees include recycling and the Huron River and Impoundment Management Plan (HRIMP).

Bonnie Bona, chair of the Ann Arbor planning commission, and Steve Bean, who chairs the city's environmental commission.

The sustainability committee is taking a three-phase approach to its work, Bean said: 1) looking at what the city does now that isn’t sustainable, 2) developing an environmental action plan to show how to work toward their goals, and 3) broadening the goals to include elements of the economy and social justice.

The sustainability committee has also been working with the Transition Ann Arbor group, Bean said. [See Chronicle coverage: "Transitioning Ann Arbor to Self-Reliance"] That group is focused on transitioning the community in light of an end to cheap oil – known as “peak oil” – climate change and economic instability. One aspect of their plan is to build bridges to local government, Bean explained, so the sustainability committee offered to serve that function. They’ll be talking about how the Transition Ann Arbor plan meshes with the city’s efforts toward sustainability.

Bean also said he felt that the term “sustainability” was used too loosely: Something is either sustainable, or it’s not.

Starting the Discussion: Some Questions

Bonnie Bona began the more general discussion by posing four questions: 1) Where are there opportunities or overlap for pursuing sustainability among the three commissions? 2) What are the constraints? 3) Should they measure progress? and 4) Is there consensus toward a way of moving forward, or a goal?

The three commission chairs have been meeting regularly and will continue to do that, Bona said. There are also things that can be done informally. But she wondered whether there was any interest in forming a joint steering committee on this issue, or pursuing a community-wide discussion.

Commissioners Weigh In

Planning commissioner Jean Carlberg, a former city councilmember, began her comments from a personal perspective: How can she heat her house and get electricity in an energy efficient, cost-effective way? She pointed out that what she has to do individually is exactly what every city has to do on a larger scale. How can they develop pathways to move away from reliance on oil and natural gas?

Wayne Appleyard said that you start by making energy efficiency changes in your home, because those are the cheapest. Payback on your upfront costs is always an issue, he said. “And I’m convinced the future isn’t going to be like the past, so payback is harder to predict.” Once you reduce energy costs as much as possible that way, you can start looking at renewable energy to meet your needs, he said.

Steve Bean noted that the PACE program is one potential way for homeowners to fund energy improvements. John Hieftje, the city’s mayor who also serves on the energy commission, said that he, Mike Garfield of the Ecology Center, Ann Arbor energy programs manager Andrew Brix and Matt Naud, the city’s environmental coordinator, have visited Lansing to meet with legislators, asking them to approve the enabling legislation needed to make PACE possible.

PACE: Property Assessed Clean Energy Program

Naud gave a more detailed explanation of the program, saying that several other states have enacted legislation to support it. He explained that while there are programs available for low-income homes – like the county’s weatherization efforts – it’s more difficult for people at middle-income levels to find resources. Banks aren’t lending, he said, so there’s a gap in how to pay for upfront costs to make your home more energy efficient.

The program would be voluntary. Homeowners would first get an energy audit to find out if they’ve already taken initial steps on their own – for example, Naud said, you wouldn’t want to install solar power if you haven’t sufficiently caulked around your windows. You’d sign a contract with the city, which Naud said would microfinance the improvements. To repay the loan, homeowners would get an additional assessment on their property tax bills.

The risk is low, Naud said, as long as they structure the program in the right way – for example, not lending to people who are upside down on their mortgages, owing more than the home is worth. There’s already a system in place to make payments – the tax bills – and the improvements would add value to the property. The city has set aside $400,000 from a federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant it received, to use as a loan loss reserve fund. If the enabling legislation is passed, the city would be able to put together a package that would work, Naud said.

[Link to a September 2009 article about the PACE program, written by Eric Jamison, a law student at Wayne State University Law School who's working with the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center to develop the program in Michigan. More information is also available on the PACE Now website. Previous Chronicle coverage related to PACE: "Special District Might Fund Energy Program"]

Other Thoughts: Regionalism, Economic Impact, Trees

Mayor Hieftje said that talk of sustainability can’t just stay within the city’s borders. It’s important to look at it regionally, as the city has done with the greenbelt program, the Border-to-Border trail and transportation, including efforts to develop a commuter rail system. What is Ann Arbor’s responsibility to other communities, he asked. Also a factor – thousands of new jobs are expected to be added in this area in the coming years. “It’s a big issue, and I don’t think we can talk about it within city borders and do it justice.”

David Stead of the environmental commission said the Ann Arbor region should be looking at the issue of sustainability as an economic development tool. Michigan is going through dramatic change, he said, and Ann Arbor is at the epicenter as the state shifts from an industrial economy to whatever comes next – possibly clean energy. “We can be the model and the driver for that,” he said.

From left: Chuck Hookham, Josh Long, and Diane Giannola. Hookham and Long are members of the Ann Arbor energy commission. Giannola is a planning commissioner.

Valerie Strassberg, also on the environmental commission, said it was difficult to know where they were going without knowing where they were now. This community is different from Berkeley or Portland or Seattle, she said. What are lifestyles like now in Ann Arbor, and how much would they need to shift to be sustainable?

Josh Long of the energy commission talked about the continuum of how to get energy, from efforts by the individual homeowner, which are easier to control, to the energy provided by large utilities. Large-scale energy generation is more cost effective at this point, but when it’s transmitted over long distances, some energy is lost. The sweet spot might be generating energy on a regional or district scale, but there are legal constraints to doing that.

Tony Derezinski, a planning commissioner who also represents Ward 2 on city council, said he’s interested in distributive justice – making sure the community’s benefits and burdens are spread equitably. Congress has dealt with health care, he said – what about energy, or water? How you do it is the trick, he said.

Erica Briggs, also on the planning commission, wondered what exactly they want to sustain in the community, and regionally. There’s talk about sustainability in the Washtenaw Avenue corridor, but what does that actually mean? When you start looking at it in detail, she said, it’s difficult. Briggs gave the example of her own house, which she described as an “energy hog.” Even though she loves it, she said it probably shouldn’t have been built.

Gwen Nystuen – who serves on both the environmental commission and the park advisory commission – said she wanted to put in a “big word” for trees. Trees are an important component of sustainability, helping in water protection, for example. The type of tree as well as its location should be considered carefully, she said.

Keeping It Real: What Does This All Mean?

Eric Mahler of the planning commission was the first to raise some concerns about the conceptual nature of the conversation. When evaluating a site plan, he said, “it’s hard to think of distributive justice.” He disagreed with Steve Bean’s earlier statement that sustainability was an all-or-nothing concept, and said he didn’t feel the group had reached a consensus about what it means to be sustainable.

Mahler also raised several questions: How does sustainability intersect with historic districts, or design guidelines? Does the city have the option of regulating building materials, with an eye toward sustainability? What are the city’s enforcement capabilities? He urged commissioners to think about the issue in terms of their clearly defined roles. “I wish I had answers for you, but I just have questions.”

Steve Miller of the energy commission had similar concerns, saying he was disappointed by the lack of specifics in the discussion. As he listened to the high-level talk, he said he had no idea how to apply it to goals that they might have a chance of achieving. For example, the city is pursuing a program to install LED lights, he noted, but it’s not clear whether that technology is sustainable in the long haul. In 2025, will LED lighting be the best choice? And discussions of regionalism didn’t seem to take into account the legal constraints they were working under, he said. He wasn’t hearing a lot that would help move some of these issues forward.

Planning commissioner and former city councilmember Wendy Woods described the discussion as great. “But I’m sitting here thinking, ‘Now what or why am I here or what am I supposed to do?’ I’m sure the public is out there wondering too.” All of the commissions are advisory to city council, she noted, and all have long lists of tasks that they’re working on. Is the goal to simply define what sustainability is?

Bean said this was the kind of feedback they wanted. The organizers were just interested in starting a discussion, and seeing where it goes. If they don’t reach consensus, he said, at least they might have a sense of what steps to take next.

Margie Teal, a Ward 4 representative on city council and a member of the environmental commission, said there seem to be answerable questions that can be tackled by the planning commission, like how the city’s area, height and placement (AHP) standards interface with density. “I welcome them digging in and pursuing that,” she said.

Evan Pratt of the planning commission said he liked the overarching goals that the energy commission is working toward – of 20% and 30% renewable energy use – and the goals that the environmental commission is tracking through the State of Our Environment report. From a policy perspective, planning has a role to play, too, in furthering sustainability goals. “It’s pretty clear that some change is necessary,” he said. Pratt suggested identifying common goals that each commission can work toward.

Bean said he thinks of sustainability as a filter that each group can apply, asking how each policy or project they deal with affects the environment, social equity and economic vibrancy.

Dina Kurz, a member of the energy commission, noted that all the commissions are advisory to city council, and that there are areas where their missions overlap. For example, the energy commission has discussed solar access zoning – that’s clearly a relevant topic for the planning commission, too. She said she doesn’t believe that sustainability can be just a city-driven effort, but that they can only change the things that they control. They need to figure out what those things are, she said, and how to leverage their partners to move forward.

Sustainability: The University Perspective

Terry Alexander attended Tuesday’s meeting to give an update on initiatives at the University of Michigan. He was appointed as director of UM’s office of campus sustainability last year – The Chronicle had previously encountered him at the December 2009 board of regents meeting, where he described sustainability initiatives underway on campus.

Terry Alexander, director of the UM Office of Campus Sustainability.

On Tuesday, Alexander gave a similar presentation, though he had exchanged his suit and tie for more casual garb. He told commissioners that UM president Mary Sue Coleman hoped to make the university a world leader in sustainability, and to develop a living-learning environment for students. UM touches the lives of 40,000 students each year, he said – if they leave campus with even a little awareness about sustainability, they’re the ones who will go out and change the world.

The Executive Sustainability Council – led by Coleman and consisting of many of the university’s top executives – sets broad policy and goals for the initiative. The academic and research efforts are led by the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute. Some of that entails recruiting faculty with interests in sustainability, who can attract research dollars, Alexander said. He pointed to the Erb Institute and the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute as other examples of sustainability-focused research. There are also about 50 student groups on campus that have a sustainability component – the Graham Institute is trying to coordinate those efforts, too.

Alexander described his own office’s mission as three-fold:

1. Establish long-term “stretch” goals for the university. UM has been doing things like conserving water and energy for years, he said. Now, they need to come up with goals that will change the way people think about things on campus. They’ve set up teams to make recommendations in seven areas: buildings; energy; land and water; transportation; purchased goods; food; and culture (changing people’s attitudes). Alexander said they hope to have goals set by later this spring.
2. Coordinate the existing sustainability projects already underway on campus. There are over 200 projects that relate to sustainability, Alexander said – some new, some that have been around for years. His office will try to coordinate these efforts and help people find the resources they need.
3. Get the word out. There’s a lot going on, but they need to communicate that to the community, state and nation, Alexander said. One of their current publicity efforts is an annual Environmental Report, a brochure that he passed out at Tuesday’s meeting. [.pdf file of 2009 Environmental Report] “If we don’t get word out,” he said, “we’ll never be recognized as world leader.”

John Hieftje, the city’s mayor who also serves on the energy commission, said the city is working with UM on a study for a possible bus connector system to run through Ann Arbor, along the South State and Plymouth Road corridors. [See Chronicle coverage: "Green Light: North-South Connector Study"] But a few years ago, he said, the city tried to partner with UM in purchasing LED lights, and he couldn’t understand why the university didn’t want to work together on that. “As we move forward, keep us in mind,” he told Alexander, adding that UM might be going over ground that the city has already covered. He noted that Ann Arbor has won awards for its environmental efforts.

Responding to Alexander’s comments later in the meeting, David Stead of the environmental commission asked how conversations at the executive level related to sustainability as a community-based function. The university doesn’t always consider its impact on the community, Stead said, adding that there’s a long history of ignoring things, like compliance with building codes. “If you’re going to do sustainability, I certainly hope it doesn’t stop at State Street.”

Alexander said it was a valid point, but he doesn’t participate in the executive-level discussions. However, he said there was a lot of interaction between the university and city staff at the planning level, including monthly meetings between the two groups.

Next Steps

Jason Bing of the energy commission, who also manages Recycle Ann Arbor’s Environmental House, said that the only way Ann Arbor would meet its goals is to link with the university and regional partners. If everyone embraces the same goals, that will allow things to happen on the ground. It had been extremely valuable to bring the commissions together, he said.

Fulter Hong, a manager at Google who serves on the energy commission, suggested setting up an online discussion group so that members could continue these efforts, rather than relying on the commission chairs. It’s a tactical approach to keeping the discussion active, he said. Valerie Strassberg of the environmental commission suggested setting up a Facebook group or a blog.

Steve Bean pointed out that the environmental commission includes representatives from other commissions, as a way to keep informed about what other groups are doing. “I’m learning it’s not a two-way street,” he added.

Matt Naud suggested that the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, which he’s active in, could be a resource.

Setting Goals: The State of Our Environment Report

Referring to the city’s State of Our Environment report, Jean Carlberg – a planning commissioner and former city councilmember – said she’d like to see someone prioritize the next steps to achieve the sustainable energy goals. What steps should be taken, at both the individual and institutional level? The planning commission isn’t the best place to do that, she said, but it seems like it’s appropriate for the energy and environmental commissions. “I’m happy to follow somebody else’s lead,” she said.

Planning commissioner Eric Mahler agreed, but suggested that perhaps the planning commission can take a small portion of the city – the South State Street or Washtenaw Avenue corridors, for example – and ask what sustainability might look like, from all three perspectives: planning, energy and environmental. He proposed that the chairs make recommendations to the rest of the commissioners about how to proceed.

David Stead of the environmental commission noted that that the State of Our Environment report was based on data. Their intent was to identify goals and metrics. He suggested that each commission could do the same. The planning commission, for example, might want to look at density and ask what are the goals, and how would they be measured.

Valerie Strassberg said there were some things she’d like to bring to planning commission. She serves on the environmental commission’s water committee, and they’ve talked about why gray water can’t be used in toilets – it might be possible to change building codes to allow that, she said.

“I’m not sure toilet water quality is in our purview,” Mahler quipped.

John Hieftje took issue with some of the environmental indicators in the State of Our Environment report. He noted, for example, that the bicycling indicator was listed as “fair,” but that Ann Arbor ranks among the top in the nation for bike-friendly communities. Steve Bean replied that the indicators reflect how the city is doing relative to its own goals, not compared to other communities.

Sustainability: Role of the City Council

Josh Long of the energy commission observed that the way government is structured is an impediment to achieving sustainability. The recent city staff reorganization, he said, reflects priorities. In the org chart, the city administrator and city council are on top, followed by budget and finance staff, then everyone else. That reflects financial priorities, but not the environment or social justice, he said. Reorganizing to elevate the status of environmental and social justice issues would be a difficult thing to do, he said, but an important one. That way the city could really start focusing on sustainability.

From left: City councilmembers Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5), Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) and Margie Teall (Ward 4). Derezinski serves on the planning commission. Hohnke and Teall are on the environmental commission.

Wendy Woods, a planning commissioner, pointed out that the city council could take action on these issues, if they had the mindset to do so.

City councilmember Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5), who also serves on the environmental commission, said that one of the themes he’d heard during Tuesday’s meeting was that for sustainability to gain traction, there’s a cultural change that needs to occur. Perhaps one way to change people’s attitudes is to translate sustainability into very direct benefits for the community. For example, if people can see that their energy bills would go down when they take certain actions, that might change their behavior.

The council talks about its priorities and goals at an annual planning retreat – Hohnke said it would be good to touch base with the chairs of these commissions before the retreat.

Finally, he noted that the local food system was another element of sustainability, and there are efforts underway to increase the amount of money that residents spend on locally produced food. [See Chronicle coverage: "Column: The 10% Local Food Challenge"]

Bonnie Bona wrapped up the meeting by noting that the issue extended far beyond the three commissions – housing, parks and other areas need to be involved as well. Steve Bean told the group that the three commission chairs would come up with recommendation for steps that might be taken next. “You’ll be hearing from us,” he said.

Present: Energy Commission: Wayne Appleyard, Jason Bing, John Hieftje, Fulter Hong, Charles Hookham, Dina Kurz, Josh Long, Steve Miller, Ken Wadland. Environmental Commission: Steve Bean, Carsten Hohnke, Gwen Nystuen, David Stead, Valerie Strassberg, Margie Teall. Planning Commission: Bonnie Bona, Erica Briggs, Jean Carlberg, Tony Derezinski, Diane Giannola, Eric Mahler, Evan Pratt, Wendy Woods.

After their Tuesday evening meeting, members of the Ann Arbor Energy Commission checked out a hybrid plug-in Ford Escape parked outside the county administration building on North Main. From left: Fulter Hong, Charles Hookham, Bill Verge, David Wright, Mike Delaney and Jason Bing. The car was brought by Delaney, who works for DTE Energy Ventures in Ann Arbor.

At the start of last Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Ann Arbor Energy Commission, Bill Verge commented that for the first time since he’s been on the commission, people in the audience outnumbered commissioners. “I’m quite happy about that,” he said.

The reason for the interest? Argo Dam.

The dam has been at the center of a heated debate over whether to repair it or remove it completely – the latter option would result in the elimination of Argo Pond. The city’s Park Advisory Commission and Environmental Commission have both weighed in with recommendations to city council, the body that will ultimately decide the dam’s future.

Because Argo Dam has the potential to generate electricity, as Barton and Superior dams already do, the Energy Commission decided to look at the issue, too. Nearly a dozen people showed up on Tuesday night to see what the commission would recommend. (As soon as the commission finished with that segment of its meeting, all but a couple of people in the audience departed.)

Is Hydropower Really Viable?

Before commissioners discussed the Argo Dam situation, they heard a presentation by Matt Naud, the city’s environmental coordinator. Naud explained that the city bought four dams on the Huron River from Detroit Edison in the 1960s: Barton, Argo, Geddes and Superior. In the 1980s, the city deemed it feasible to generate electricity from hydropower at Barton and Superior. At Barton, a 900-kilowatt turbine generates about 4.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year. At Superior, a smaller 520-kilowatt turbine generates about 2.3 million kilowatt hours per year. The amount of energy generated varies by month, depending on the river’s flow. Peak months are typically in the spring.

In 2008, the city commissioned a study looking at the feasibility of hydropower at Argo and Geddes. That study, conducted by the consulting firm Stantec, concluded that Argo and Geddes had the capacity to generate varying amounts of electricity. At Argo, installing a 370-kilowatt turbine would yield an estimated $2 million kilowatt hours per year. Significantly more could be generated at Geddes, according to the report – an estimated 3.35 million kilowatt hours from a 670-kilowatt turbine.

For each dam, the cost to install hydropower is estimated around  $4.35 million, plus $300,000 for toe drain repair on Argo. Based on an assumption that the city would take out a 30-year bond at 5.5% interest to pay for each project, Naud estimated that it would take 39 years before Argo would generate enough power to pay back that cost. The estimate was 21 years for Geddes.

The city now sells power to DTE for less than 6 cents per kilowatt hour, Naud said, but the investment payback calculations are based on an initial rate of 8.35 cents, with a 5% increase in that rate every year for the next 30 years.

Naud then posed a series of questions for the commission to consider, including:

• If an economic analysis suggests that reinstalling hydropower is viable, how do environmental effects of the dam impoundments influence the decision to install hydropower?
• Should a hydropower feasibility analysis include expenses such as dredging costs to mitigate the impoundment effects on the environment?
• Who pays to maintain the dams to preserve future hydropower potential?
• When a community partner (such as the VA Hospital or Consumers Energy) is interested in generating power at the dams, how does that affect the city’s decision?
• If hydropower is seen as a redundant power supply for homeland security purposes, what can electricity from one or more dams run, and when? What’s the cost to run the infrastructure from the dams to points of use?

Naud expanded on a few of the issues addressed in these questions. The VA Hospital, for example, gets incentives from the federal government for using renewable energy – generating their own renewable energy would earn them “super double bonus points” from the feds, Naud joked. The hospital is not interested in owning any of the dams, he said, but they are interested in exploring the use of hydropower in some kind of partnership with the city. The hospital is doing a feasibility study, Naud said, but he wasn’t sure what the next steps might be for them.

Naud also discussed in greater detail the issue of emergency power. The city’s water treatment plant and wastewater treatment plant have backup generators – that’s why raw sewage didn’t get dumped into the Huron River during the August 2003 blackout, Naud said. Using federal homeland security funding, the city also installed generators at Huron and Pioneer high schools, which could be used in emergency situations. But if a power outage continues for more than 30 days, Naud asked, how might the city handle that?

He outlined how existing power sources might be used to operate critical functions. The landfill, which generates power that the city sells to DTE, is about 2,500 feet from the center of the Wheeler Service Center, a facility bounded by Stone School, Ellsworth and Platt roads. Barton is the closest hydropower site to the water treatment plant, about 5,000 feet away. And the Superior hydropower facility is about 7,000 feet away from the wastewater treatment plant, going along the railroad tracks (assuming, Naud noted, that Bill Ford won’t let them go through his yard).

What if hydropower were installed at Argo and Geddes? Argo would be about 5,500 feet from the center of the water treatment plant and 3,200 feet from city hall. Geddes would be about 2,000 feet from the center of the wastewater treatment plant.

Under an emergency scenario, the landfill generates enough power to run Wheeler Service Center, Naud said, if the city can get out of its contract that supplies power to DTE. Getting electricity for the other sites is more problematic. Even with power from both Barton (existing) and Argo (estimated), there still wouldn’t be sufficient power to run the water treatment plant year-round, Naud said – for about four or five months of the year, river flow would be too low to generate sufficient amounts of electricity. The scenario is even worse for the wastewater treatment plant: Tapping both Superior (existing) and Geddes (estimated) wouldn’t provide sufficient power during any month. Finally, if Argo had hydropower, it could generate enough electricity for city hall for a significant part of the year, Naud said.

Naud characterized his presentation to commissioners as “food for thought.” He outlined a timeline for next steps that includes a working session on Argo that city council will hold an hour prior to its June 15 meeting, starting at 6 p.m. (The council meeting starts at 7 p.m.) Council will hold a public hearing on whether to keep or remove the dam at its July 6 meeting, he said. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which has been pushing the city to either repair or remove the dam, has set a July 31 deadline for a decision, said Naud.

Commissioners’ Questions and Discussion

Several commissioners had questions for Naud of a general nature regarding the Huron River Impoundment Management Plan, of which the Argo Dam issue is a part. We won’t repeat that coverage here: For background on those broader issues, see our reports on the city’s Park Advisory Commission, which voted 5 to 4 in favor of keeping the dam, and the Environmental Commission, which voted 8 to 4 in favor of removing it.

Some questions, however, related specifically to the hydropower issue. Charles Hookham asked whether installing hydropower at Argo or Geddes would require relicensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC. Yes, Naud said, and that process would cost an estimated $300,000 per dam.

Hookham, an engineer, said that the Stantec report focused on conventional hydropower, not advanced turbine technology. He said that advanced technology might not generate as much electricity, but its payback on investment might be quicker than for conventional systems, and it might be more environmentally friendly.

One commissioner asked if the city had considered taxing recreational users on Argo Pond, such as rowing groups, to help pay for dam and impoundment maintenance. Naud said that though no plan had been proposed, discussions about that possibility were under way. He said if the dam were used to generate power, then energy users should be asked to help pay, too.

When it came time to discuss a resolution recommending that city council either repair or remove Argo Dam, Hookham said he’d rewritten a resolution to state that the commission did not have sufficient information at this time to make a recommendation. He said the commission’s focus should be on energy issues, not on environmental or impoundment management. The main issue, he said, was that once the dam is gone, it’s gone – a new one wouldn’t be built in its place, and that meant there’d be no opportunity for hydropower.

Naud said that city staff didn’t need a resolution directing them to take a look at new hydropower technology. He mentioned again that the city had commissioned the Stantec study, but acknowledged that the study didn’t evaluate advanced turbine technology. They’d have to act quickly to get a bid request together for an additional study, he said, and to figure out how to pay for it.

Another factor to consider is that no one in the state is putting in low-head hydro, Naud said. ["Head" refers to the pressure of falling water, which is linked to the distance that the water falls. "Low head" refers to a relatively short drop in elevation.] Hookham responded, saying that no one is looking at low-head because it’s a high-cost proposition at the moment. But if you look at what the Environmental Protection Agency might do with regards to a carbon tax, that might put an “interesting twist” on what makes economic sense, he said. [If the government levies a tax on carbon emissions such as those generated by coal-burning power plants, that could make hydropower – which doesn't generate greenhouse gasses and thus would not be taxed – a lower-cost option than traditional power sources.]

Commissioner Jason Bing asked whether anyone had a sense of the opinions of those commissioners who weren’t able to attend the meeting. [Four commissioners – including the chair, Robert Black – were not at Tuesday's meeting. Those attending were Jason Bing, Michael Delaney, Fulter Hong, Charles Hookham, Dina Kurz, Bill Verge, and David Wright.] Andrew Brix, the city’s energy programs manager, said that Black had suggested holding a special meeting between now and July to focus on the Argo Dam issue. Several other commissioners agreed that this would be a good approach – the resolution was not moved, and the group agreed to coordinate with other members to set a date for a special meeting.

As of Friday, Brix said that the special meeting had not yet been scheduled.