The agreement came after the Ann Arbor city council passed a resolution at its Aug. 15, 2011 meeting directing its city administrator not to provide traffic control services unless the university reimbursed the city for those costs in the same way the university reimburses costs for police and fire protection on game days.

However, the agreement will mean a reduced level of service. For example, the city will not provide traffic control before the games or manual operation of traffic signals at major intersections like State Street & Eisenhower or State & Briarwood. The city’s press release warns that increased traffic congestion might result, compared to what people have historically experienced.

An exception to the reduced level of service is one game on Sept. 10, for which Ann Arbor will provide the full level of service that the city has provided in the past. That’s the date of the game against Notre Dame, which will be played at night.

Interim city administrator Tom Crawford had indicated at the council’s Aug. 15 meeting that his discussions with the university included the possibility of reimbursement for last year’s service. The estimated cost per year of the traffic control service given at the meeting was $100,000. Update: Via city communications manager Lisa Wondrash, according to interim city administrator Tom Crawford, the reduced level of traffic control services provided by the city will be reimbursed by the university at a level of $2,800 per game.

The press release issued on Aug. 26 does not include dollar figures for the reduced level of service that the university has agreed to reimburse the city, nor any information about whether the agreement is retroactive. [.pdf of press release]

This image shows how wire sculptures on the Huron River might appear, if a public art project proposed by a University of Michigan visiting professor gets approval from the state and city. (Image courtesy of William Dennisuk.)

At its Dec. 15 meeting, park commissioners raised concerns but ultimately signed off on a city staff proposal to use parts of Allmendinger and Frisinger parks for football parking during the 2010 season. The plan could raise an estimated $34,000 in net revenues for the city.

In a separate move, the commission gave the go ahead for UM to apply for a state permit that’s needed to install a series of wire sculptures at four locations along the Huron River, from Argo to Gallup. It’s an ambitious project by UM visiting artist William Dennisuk, designed to bridge the town/gown communities – assuming that the project itself gets approval from the city and state.

Commissioners also got a budget update from Jayne Miller, the city’s community services director, who told them to anticipate additional cuts over the next two years, and described how that might affect parks and recreation.

Budget Update

Jayne Miller, Ann Arbor’s community services director, spoke to commissioners to give an update on the city’s budget. Her responsibilities include supervising parks and recreation.

The city has a two-year budget cycle, Miller explained. Typically, the city council will adopt the budget for the first year and approve the second-year plan, which will later be adjusted as necessary. Usually, those adjustments for the second year are minor, Miller said. “That’s not the case this year.”

Last year, the city council dealt with budgets for fiscal years 2010 and 2011. The city is currently in the middle of FY 2010, which ends June 30, 2010. Staff is starting to work on revisions to the FY2011 budget plan, which begins July 1, 2010. Miller told commissioners that starting in January, Colin Smith – manager of parks and recreation – would be working with them on budget recommendations to send to the city council by April.

Also starting in January, the city will be implementing $3.3 million in cuts to the current general fund budget, Miller said. In addition, they’re looking to cut an additional $5.4 million in FY2011, she said. From FY2010 through FY2012, the city will likely need to make as much as a 30% reduction in its general fund budget. “I wanted to set the tone so you understand the magnitude of the challenge,” Miller said.

Parks programs will be affected in several ways. Miller noted that Mack Pool and the Ann Arbor Senior Center are slated to close as of July 1. [City council appointed task forces earlier this year to work on ways to keep Mack Pool and the senior center open. See recent Chronicle coverage: "Task Force Tries to Save Senior Center" and "More Options for Ann Arbor's Mack Pool"]

In addition, mowing cycles for parks will be extended from 14 days to 19 days, starting in the spring. And the city is eliminating hand-trimming contracts in the parks, to save about $140,000 annually.

Like other areas supported by the general fund, the parks and recreation unit is being asked to cut 7.74% from its FY 2011 budget, Miller said. Some of the possibilities to explore, she said, included asking voters to rescind or re-purpose the parks millage, forming a public/private partnership for Huron Hills Golf Course, discontinuing some maintenance in the parks and getting more volunteers to help with that, or selling some parkland, among other things. Responding to a query from commissioner David Barrett, Miller said the city would be open to exploring a public/private partnership for the city-owned soccer fields as well.

Another possibility is some sort of collaboration with the Ann Arbor Public Schools and Washtenaw County, Miller said.

Mike Anglin, a city councilmember representing Ward 5, said he thought working with the schools and county was a good approach, but that there will be cuts as well. “Bottom line, there’s going to be a lot of hurt, and services will disappear – and that’s the reality of it,” he said.

Christopher Taylor, another city councilmember (Ward 3) who like Anglin serves as an ex-officio member of PAC, said the commission can help by providing guidance to city council.

Commissioners also discussed how a focus on the budget would affect staff time and other projects. Smith said he was still trying to prioritize, but that he would need to spend the majority of his time on budget-related issues and task forces. That meant some projects would be put on hold, he said.

Football Parking at Two Parks

Under direction from city council, the parks and recreation staff explored the possibility of having parking in city parks during University of Michigan home football games. Staff proposed allowing parking in two parks – Allmendinger and Frisinger – during home games this fall. At its Dec. 15 meeting, the park advisory commission discussed how this would work, raised some concerns, but ultimately approved the proposal, which will now be forwarded to city council.

[A resolution allowing parking at Frisinger appeared on, but was subsequently yanked from, the city council's Oct. 5, 2009 agenda. Opposition to parking at Frisinger Park can be anticipated from Margie Teall (Ward 4), in whose ward it's located. Parking at the two parks is not a part of the resolution on parking to be considered at the city council's Dec. 21 meeting.]

Public Commentary

During the time set aside for public commentary, two people spoke about the football parking proposal.

Nancy Leff, chair of the Lower Burns Park Neighborhood Association, said she was opposed to this proposal. She asked that the city consider a range of questions: How much will the city net in revenues? How much will they have to pay attendants during the games? How will cleanup occur? What kind of overtime will be incurred for city staff? Whenever tailgating occurs, there’s a tremendous amount of trash generated, she said. Additionally, if the weather is bad, vehicles will tear up the ground. Most of all, she said, she’s concerned that residents won’t have access to these parks for eight Saturdays during the fall. Asking whether the city has done a cost/benefit analysis, Leff wondered if the revenue raised was really worth it.

Helen Cerey also spoke against the proposal. The parks are a great refuge for neighbors, she said, especially during football games. She described herself as a walker, and said she walked on sidewalks that were supposed to be maintained by the city, but weren’t. Given an even further reduction in the city budget, she wondered whether there would be sufficient resources to return the parks to their proper condition each week, so that they would be usable for residents, especially children.

Staff Report

Colin Smith, the city’s manager of parks and recreation, told commissioners that earlier this year, city council had directed staff to explore the issue of football parking in the parks. In putting together this proposal, several people and groups were consulted, he said, including Matt Warba, the city’s supervisor of field operations; Jessica Black, who supervises events planning; the city forester, Kay Sicheneder; the police department;  and community standards personnel.

Based on that feedback, the staff proposed allowing parking in Allmendinger and Frisinger parks during the seven home UM football games next fall. Game days in 2010 are Sept. 4, 11 and 25, Oct. 9 and 16, and Nov. 6 and 20.

Staff estimate that Allmendinger – bounded by Pauline, Edgewood, Potter and Hutchins streets – would accommodate 350 vehicles at $15 each. Frisinger, at East Stadium and Woodbury, would park 200, with a proposed fee of $10 each.

The proposal calls for four people to work during game day at each park, to oversee the parking. Smith also provided a list of recommended guidelines. They include:

The city won’t be responsible for the loss or damage to vehicles or their contents parked for football games.

The city prohibits possession of open intoxicants and the consumption of alcoholic beverages within Allmendinger and Frisinger parks.

Spaces are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Spaces may not be reserved for later-arriving vehicles.

Vehicles may begin parking at 8 a.m. on home football game days. Overnight parking is prohibited. All vehicles must vacate the parks within two hours after the end of the game or vehicles may be towed.

No RVs or buses are allowed.

Parking area personnel will have final decision on the location of vehicles.

There will be no parking on days where there is high likelihood of rain or the prior inclement weather has rendered the parks unsuitable for parking vehicles. Final decision of parking and rain will take place on the Friday before the game and will be posted on the city’s website, Twitter account and Facebook account.

The following breakdown of revenues and expenses assumes parking during all seven games.

Frisinger:     Expenses       Revenues
Vehicles
  200 @ $10                    $14,000
Porta-Johns (4)  $1,320
Trash barrels      $325
Trash pickup     $1,260
Site prep          $532
Materials          $500
Site restoration   $685
Staff            $2,394
Total            $7,016         14,000

NET REVENUE                    $ 6,984
-

Allmendinger:  Expenses       Revenues
Vehicles
  350 @ $15                    $36,750
Porta-Johns (6)  $1,980
Trash barrels       520
Trash pickup      1,610
Site prep           840
Materials           950
Site restoration  1,184
Staff             2,394
Total             9,478         36,750

NET REVENUE                    $27,272

-

Inclement weather was factored into estimates of revenues, Smith told commissioners. If parking occurs during only six games, due to bad weather, net revenues would be $22,714 at Allmendinger and $5,528 at Frisinger. For only five games, Allmendinger would net $18,156 in revenues, with $4,180 from Frisinger.

Combined revenues are estimated to be as high as $34,256 for all seven games, or as low as $22,336 is the parks are used for only five games.

Commission Deliberations

Commissioner concerns had several themes, including safety and liability, impact on the parks and residents, and the “worth it” factor – whether the effort and impact to the city was worth the additional revenues.

Sam Offen asked who would enforce the no-alcohol policy – that’s an issue for parking at the Pioneer High School property too, he noted. Smith responded that they’ve talked with police, who suggest putting up signs and having literature on hand describing the policy. Each park will also have four staff members on site, he added, who can watch out for alcohol use. If there’s a problem, staff would call police. In response to a query from Christopher Taylor, Smith said that non-alcoholic tailgating would be allowed.

Offen also wanted to know if children would have access to the playground area on football Saturdays. Yes, Smith said. Matt Warba, the city’s supervisor of field operations, said certain parts of the park were out of the mix – there’ll be no parking in the playgrounds, he said, nor underneath the drip lines for trees in the park (the area underneath a tree’s canopy).

Tim Berla expressed concern about the ability of staff to clean up the parks in a timely way. If it’s going to be a problem, he said, it wasn’t worth doing – the city’s parks are too valuable to risk damaging. Warba said it was not unlike managing other large events that happen on a regular basis at city parks. Smith added that in many cases, big events are held at the parks that staff doesn’t know about in advance, but they respond with clean-up as soon as possible. In the case of football Saturdays, he said, they’ll be prepared and can staff appropriately to handle the job.

The staff knows they’ll be under a microscope on this, Warba said, adding that there will likely be residents going to the parks on Sunday mornings just to check on the aftermath.

Berla suggested doing outreach to residents in the neighborhoods served by Allmendinger and Frisinger, by providing phone numbers of people to call if there’s a problem on game day or with clean-up. Smith said they could also include information about nearby alternatives to those two parks, such as Woodbury Park.

John Lawter applauded the staff’s creativity, but said he’d had experience with this kind of thing in a different city, where they eventually pulled the plug on parking. “Tailgating is nasty,” he said, with charcoal ashes and chicken bones getting buried in the ground. He suggested that staff do an evaluation after every game – it might not be worth the negative publicity. Smith said they were only looking at the 2010 for just that reason – they would evaluate how things went, and that would determine whether they continue the program in 2011.

Offen wanted to know why the parking rates were so low. Warba allowed that they were being conservative in their pricing, and that they could probably get more out of both locations. Taylor said he imagined that residents who had parking on their property wouldn’t be pleased to be undercut by the city. Smith said that in the past, the city had been overly optimistic in its estimates and he didn’t want to get into that situation again. However, he agreed that they didn’t want to undercut, either.

Taylor also asked whether it would be possible to allow parking, but not tailgating. The majority of concerns seemed to human-based, not car-based, he said, and “we can set the rules.” Smith said that tailgating is a reality of pre-game parking, especially if you’re in a park. It’s easier for staff to plan for that than to try to enforce a no-tailgating policy, he said.

Offen offered that perhaps selling reserved spots would be a better approach. That way, the city would know exactly who’d be parking there – people would get a dependable spot, and the city would know who to contact is someone caused a problem. Jessica Black, who supervises event planning and scheduling for parks and recreation, said they’d talked about using the city’s booking system for selling reserved spots. They decided that they’d revisit that possibility after seeing how the first season unfolded – it would be a bit of a challenge to set up, she said.

David Barrett commented that they were in an awkward position, given that the “Poseidon Adventure” wave was about to hit the city. “This wave is coming to shore, and I applaud you for trying to get out in front of it,” he told staff.

Smith said that $30,000 might not seem like a lot, but as an example, it’s almost exactly the amount of the gap between revenues and expenses to operate Veteran’s Memorial Park ice arena.

Outcome: The resolution recommending that parking be allowed in Allmendinger and Frisinger parks during 2010 Saturday home games for UM football passed, with Scott Rosencrans and Doug Chapman dissenting. City council will take up the issue at an upcoming meeting.

Art in the Huron River

The park advisory commission has heard from William Dennisuk at its previous two meetings, on Oct. 20 and Nov. 17. Dennisuk lives in Finland but this year is a visiting artist and lecturer through the University of Michigan’s Witt Residency program. He’s proposing an art installation in and near the Huron River, as a way to conceptually bridge the town and campus communities.

Public Commentary

Dennisuk did not attend PAC’s December meeting. However, two other people, both with the University of Michigan, spoke in support of his project.

Chrisstina Hamilton, director of visitors programs at the UM School of Art & Design, told commissioners that she runs the popular Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Visitors Series and the Witt Residency program, which is supporting Dennisuk this academic year. Hamilton said the university is in full support of his project – it’s being supported with $35,000 in funds from the Witt program. She described his project as a great way to engage the Ann Arbor community. After talking with city staff, the student component has been removed from the piece of the project that connects with the city, she said – student work will be placed on university property, in Nichols Arboretum and Matthaei Botanical Gardens. She said they looked forward to working with the city, and that the university would be flexible in responding to the city’s concerns.

Heather Blatnik, with the university’s environmental permitting program, explained that in order for the project to proceed, they needed to apply for a permit from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. As part of the application process, MDEQ required a signature from the city, which owns property along the river where Dennisuk is proposing to place his artwork.

Staff Report

Amy Kuras, a city park planner, reported that she’d talked about the project with Bob Grese, director of Nichols Arboretum and Matthaei Botanical Gardens, and Laura Rubin, executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council, as well as other city and university staff. City staff thought it was an exciting proposal, she said, and were generally in favor of it.

There were some concerns, however. Putting anything in the river could be controversial, Kuras said, adding that there was discussion about the need for a process to ensure the public was on board. City staff also had questions about who’d be checking the installations to make sure they weren’t vandalized or filled with garbage. Curiosity from the public can be both a benefit and a drawback, she noted. And if one of the works were vandalized, it’s still not clear how that would be handled. Some of the other concerns had been addressed by Dennisuk in a packet provided to the commission. [.PDF file of material related to Dennisuk's project]

Commission Deliberations

Scott Rosencrans, who chairs the commission, said he’d had several questions that Dennisuk had answered – the questions and answers were provided in the commission’s meeting packet. Tim Berla asked whether staff felt confident that the installations wouldn’t have a negative impact on canoeing, rowing or kayaking. Colin Smith reported that Cheryl Saam, facilities supervisor for the city’s canoe liveries, was on board with the project and the proposed locations – in Argo Pond, near the Broadway Street bridge, in Nichols Arboretum and in Gallup Park. However, Smith said he’d just recently talked with the head of a rowing team that uses Argo Pond, and the location there will have to be reconsidered. Right now, it’s proposed for an area that rowers use to turn their boats. [.PDF file showing proposed locations for the river art project]

Several commissioner mentioned the need to inform the public – Kuras said the staff had discussed the idea of holding a series of public meetings about the project.

Commissioners also questioned what authority they had to act. In response to a statement from Rosencrans, Kuras clarified that city council doesn’t need to sign off on the request to apply for an MDEQ permit.

Kuras noted that even if the university applied for and received a permit from the MDEQ, that doesn’t mean the city would be forced to give its permission, too. Hamilton said that at this stage, the university was simply asking the city – via PAC – for permission to apply for the MDEQ permit. That allows MDEQ to start the process. If at any point the state or the city says no, then the project is “off the table,” she said.

Hamilton further assured commissioners that the university’s insurance would cover this project, that they’re also paying for materials, installation and maintenance, as well as signs and literature promoting the project.

Several commissioners expressed support for the project, at this stage. There was some discussion about the level of detail needed in a resolution giving permission to apply. They settled on a fairly short resolution with this resolved clause: “Be it resolved that the Ann Arbor park advisory commission endorses the University of Michigan’s making of an application to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for approval of the project.”

Outcome: The resolution endorsing the university’s making of an application to the MDEQ for a permit for William Dennisuk’s public art project on the Huron River was unanimously approved.

City/Parks Agreement Renegotiated

An agreement between the city of Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor Public Schools’ Rec & Ed program – governing the use of city-owned fields – expired in November. According to a memorandum from Colin Smith, the city’s manager of the parks and recreation, the new agreement differs in the following respects. The new agreement:

• Covers all AAPS use of park space for sports including, but not limited to, soccer, field hockey, flag football, and lacrosse. The expiring agreement pertained only to baseball, softball, and kickball.

• Better outlines City responsibilities for baseball field conditions.

• Allows for AAPS to groom any designated park space for the purposes of preparing the field for interscholastic baseball or softball games.

• Provides for supplies of infield material to be stored at fields so that on-going field maintenance may occur.

• Allows the City and AAPS to renew this agreement if mutually agreed upon in writing.

• Allows the City greater flexibility in scheduling and programming events on certain City Parks by better reflecting AAPS usage levels.

[.PDF file of full agreement]

Commissioner Sam Offen asked whether money would be changing hands. Smith said that fees for third-party users hadn’t changed. There’s no set amount mentioned in the agreement for Rec & Ed’s payment to the city, he added, because Rec & Ed collects fees during the season, and their payment to the city depends on usage. The same applies to Rec & Ed’s payment for ballpark lighting.

Outcome: The commission unanimously passed a resolution recommending that city council approve the agreement.

HRIMP Report Redux

During the section of the meeting reserved for communications from commissioners, Christopher Taylor reported that city council, at its Dec. 7 meeting, had voted to ask the park advisory commission and the environmental commission to review the 30 recommendations in the Huron River and Impoundment Management Plan, known as HRIMP. [Those had been considered consensus recommendations and did not include the two conflicting recommendations related to Argo Dam – the HRIMP committee could not agree on recommending that the city remove the dam or keep it in, and that question remains unresolved.]

Now, PAC and the environmental commission are being asked to identify which of those 30 so-called consensus recommendations could be implemented with little or no cost to the city. The council would like a plan for implementation within a year, Taylor said. He noted that council had a “fulsome discussion” about the report, and that there was no longer a sense that the recommendations reflected a consensus.

Scott Rosencrans, PAC’s chair, took issue with the characterization of the 30 HRIMP recommendations as not reflecting a consensus. After a healthy debate, they were submitted by a unanimous vote, he said. Taylor responded that the public conversation has evolved since then, to the point that city councilmembers no longer felt comfortable giving their imprimatur to the consensus.

PAC won’t be able to get to the task for a few months, Rosencrans said. It would be valuable, he added, if the commission could get some criteria from council for doing the review, as well as information about funding sources. Taylor stated that the request is to review the HRIMP report regarding recommendations that can be implemented with little or no cost.

Public Commentary: Misc

John Satarino, a former park advisory commissioner, said he represented hundreds of activists and thousands of taxpayers, park users and staff who’ve created a beautiful and utilitarian park system. He wanted to share concerns about the Fuller Road Station project. Since the ’70s, he said, activists have worked to keep the Fuller Road corridor a green, rolling vista – but the University of Michigan has never fully bought into that view. He said that appeasing the university or anyone who has designs on the city’s parkland or park resources sets a dangerous precedent. He urged the commission to take a long look at the proposal for the transit station, and to consider the benefits for the average park user. There aren’t many, he said. Satarino also asked the commission to help disseminate information about the proposal and hold a public hearing on it. [The Fuller Road Station is a proposed UM/city project that includes building a parking structure for 1,020 vehicles on city-owned property that's designated as parkland. Most recently, at its Nov. 5 meeting, Ann Arbor city council approved two resolutions related to the project, including a memorandum of understanding with the university. UM currently leases a portion of the site for a surface parking lot.]

David Walsh told commissioners that he was representing both himself and his neighbors. On Oct. 31, the neighborhood suffered a loss, he said. A house at 1701 Waverly Road burned, killing three people. He reported that the city finally cleaned up the lot, and that the neighbors are hoping it can be turned into a community garden or park.

Present: John Lawter, Gwen Nystuen, Sam Offen, David Barrett, Scott Rosencrans, Julie Grand, Doug Chapman, Karen Levin, Tim Berla, Mike Anglin (ex-officio), Christopher Taylor (ex-officio)

Next meeting: Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 4 p.m. in the Washtenaw County administration building boardroom, 220 N. Main St. [confirm date]

While state Rep. Rebekah Warren (D-District 53) addressed the Ann Arbor city council, laying out the budget situation in Lansing, a meeting attendee read the Detroit Free Press editorial: "How Michigan can find billions for the budget." (Photo by the writer.)

Ann Arbor City Council meeting (Oct. 5, 2009): State Rep. Rebekah Warren (D-District 53) addressed the city council at the start of the meeting, bringing the council up to date on the state budget that had passed, but which she’d voted against. Over the next year, there will be $1.16 million less in  revenue sharing paid to the city of Ann Arbor, starting with an October check that will be around $200,000 less than last year. This outcome is on the optimistic end of the projected range provided to the city council several weeks ago by Tom Crawford, the city’s chief financial officer.

Before the public hearing began on the proposed new building design guidelines for downtown, Mayor John Hieftje indicated his and other councilmembers’ strong preference for a set of guidelines that were integrated into a required process as a part of a project review. So the several members of the public who spoke on the issue knew there was support on council for their view.

And University of Michigan student life was a part of the meeting in several ways – seen and unseen. The seen part included students who spoke against recent increased ordinance enforcement activity in the Hoover Street area on homecoming weekend. They announced a protest march.

The unseen part included an item stricken from the agenda that would have allowed the city to generate revenue from parking cars in Frisinger Park on home football Saturdays. And it included a closed session on a lawsuit stemming from the tasering of a UM student by Ann Arbor police in 2005. The incident arose out of the student’s arrest for having an open container of alcohol. A recent opinion from the U.S. District Court (Eastern Division) on a motion from the city for summary judgment found that the police officer was entitled to qualified immunity on the first application of the taser, but not on the second.

State of Michigan Budget

At its Sept. 21 meeting, the city council had passed a resolution opposing the proposed state budget, and asking Ann Arbor’s state legislative contingent to outline their positions:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Ann Arbor City Council urges Senator Brater, Representative Byrnes, and Representative Warren to provide the City Council with a written summary of their position on the Dillon-Republican budget proposal.

So on Monday night, Rep. Rebekah Warren, who represents District 53, which includes most of Ann Arbor, appeared at council to explain that she’d voted against the state budget, which included cuts in arts and educations funding, as well as reductions in state shared revenue – payments the state makes to municipalities like Ann Arbor. [The payments, which are funded by the state sales tax, are intended to some extent compensate individual municipalities for their restricted ability to levy additional taxes to increase revenue.]

State Rep. Rebekah Warren addresses the Ann Arbor city council. In the background, Leigh Greden (Ward 3) and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3). (Photo by the writer.)

The bad news: The state budget reduces the amount of statutory revenue sharing to Ann Arbor by about $850,000, which together with a $310,000 drop in constitutional revenue sharing means $1.16 million less for Ann Arbor, starting with the state’s fiscal year in October. The payments, which Warren explained come from the state in even-numbered months, will be $200,000 less, starting now.

Why it’s not worse news: The $1.16 million reduction in state shared revenues is actually on the optimistic end of the range forecast by CFO Tom Crawford in his presentation to the city council at its Aug. 6 meeting. [Coverage of that meeting: "Also: Ann Arbor CFO gives bleak report."] From our account of that meeting:

In 2002 the city of Ann Arbor received $6.2 million in statutory state shared revenue and $7.5 million in constitutional state shared revenue. In FY 2009 those totals had changed to $2.9 million and $7.9 million, respectively – roughly a $3 million decrease since 2002.

Projections on which the adopted FY 2010 budget were based saw state shared revenue levels as flat compared to last year. Based on the actual 8% drop in sales tax collections, plus a pessimistic assessment of likely action by the state legislature to address its own budget, Crawford is now projecting $1 million to $1.9 million less [emphasis added] in state shared revenue in FY 2010.

Added with $1 million less than projected in investment income, $0.2 million less in traffic citations, and $0.2 million less in development review fees, Crawford sketched a picture for councilmembers of a $2.4 million to $3.3 million shortfall for FY 2010, which is the current budget year.

The $1.16 million hit leaves FY 2010 with “only” about a $2.5 million shortfall.

Again, why it’s not worse news: Warren reported that the fire protection grant that the city receives from the state to provide fire protection for state-owned facilities would not be cut. [The grant itself is generally acknowledged to be underfunded.]

Warren, for her part, said she felt that the state legislature had “the responsibility and the tools” to provide the necessary funding. She noted that the state’s budget was dramatically lower than the Headlee cap – the state could, by law, collect $9 billion more in taxes than it does. She suggested that an overhaul of the state’s tax system was in order.

She did indicate that the legislature had passed a supplemental spending bill that would restore funding for some areas that had been cut, including state revenue sharing. However, as Leigh Greden (Ward 3) drew out, there is not any cash behind the supplemental bill. That is, the bill is an expression of intent. So when Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) sought to pin down whether or not Ann Arbor’s state revenue share could be restored in the next couple of days through some dramatic action, the answer was no.

Downtown Building Design Guidelines

A public hearing, but no vote, was scheduled on the design guidelines for new downtown buildings. The guidelines are proposed in connection with the A2D2 rezoning process. In his communications to council, Mayor John Hieftje indicated that when he and former Ward 1 councilmember Bob Johnson had originally supported the concept of design guidelines – prompted partly by a trip to Boulder, which has a mandatory process with voluntary compliance – they had always imagined a mandatory process and a design review board.

Hieftje said that he’d spoken with Marcia Higgins (Ward 4), who could not attend the council’s meeting due to illness, as well as with other councilmembers, and that there was a consensus that such a mandatory process with a review board should be added to the document. [Higgins, along with Evan Pratt from the planning commission and Roger Hewitt of the Downtown Development Authority board, constitute the A2D2 oversight committee.] As a result, Hieftje said, the vote on the design guidelines, which had originally been planned for Oct. 19, would be moved to Nov. 5, with the public hearing for the evening left open through Nov. 5.

In response to a question raised at the previous night’s caucus about why the mandatory review process had been gradually deleted from the document in the course of different drafts dating back to 2007, Hieftje said that he did not know. [Coverage of the previous night's caucus: "Another Draft of Downtown Design Guides." Coverage of a joint work session, which includes the fact that direction to the consultant to construe the design guidelines as voluntary in their draft came in a conference call held over the summer with the A2D2 oversight committee and the consultant: "Design Guides: Must vs. Should."]

Because the public hearing will be left open, the several speakers who chose to address council on the topic of design guidelines will not be able to speak again when it resumes on Nov. 5.

More than a dozen residents spoke at Monday’s part of the hearing. Many of them focused on the issue of a mandatory versus voluntary process. Speakers wanted to see “guidelines with teeth.”

John Floyd allowed that he understood why someone might object to an “aesthetics police” and that it’s “obnoxious to say that my judgment is better than yours,” but suggested that if the city was going to have guidelines at all, why not have them with teeth. He asked councilmembers to provide a description of the benefits of having guidelines that are merely voluntary.

Christine Crockett, who introduced herself as the only member of the original A2D2 design guidelines committee, described how disappointed they’d been to see the mandatory process written out of the proposal. A bit of humor was provided when she was followed to the podium by Eric Lipson, a former planning commissioner who’d also served on the committee with Crockett. “Sorry!” Crockett exclaimed. Lipson pointed out that he’d been hidden from her view behind a brick column.

In addition to the mandatory-versus-voluntary issue, speakers addressed other aspects of the proposal. Alan Haber alluded to a lecture given by Peter Calthorpe, in which he said that planning always comes down to politics. Haber asked to what extent the design guidelines supported non-economic transactions – those based on communication and creativity.

Peter Pollack stressed that the document would be read by at least three different audiences: (i) neighborhood groups, (ii) developers, and (iii) city officials. The language – down to specific phrases like “human scale” – needed to be evaluated from the perspective of each of those groups, he said.

Zoning Structure Overhaul

Also related to the design guidelines in a tangential way was a resolution considered by the council to approve $122,480 for a contract with the consulting firm Clarion Associates to review the city’s zoning codes and land use regulations to make them unified and more efficient to deal with.

In response to a query from Sandi Smith (Ward 1), city attorney Stephen Postema explained that the work to be done by Clarion could proceed simultaneously with various other zoning initiatives like A2D2, the Area Height and Placement project and the R4C review. That’s because the effort to make all the various codes compatible will not, Postema said, change zoning policies themselves. The idea is to put a structure in place. City administrator Roger Fraser also stressed that zoning policies would not change as a result of Clarion’s work.

Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) clarified with Postema that the decision to hire outside expertise was not a function of a lack of expertise in the city attorney’s office, but rather a lack of adequate time to tackle the project.

Clarion has offices in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Possibly to address a question raised at the previous night’s caucus by a resident about why an out-of-state firm was hired for the work, Postema explained that Clarion was the firm that senior assistant city attorney Kevin McDonald had identified. [The work was not put out for a bid.]

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to approve the $122,480 expenditure to review all of the city’s zoning and land use regulations.

University of Michigan Student Culture

There was a heavy UM student presence in council chambers. Three students spoke about an increased focus by the city of Ann Arbor on football game day parties, specifically in the area of Hoover and State streets. [Coverage by the Michigan Daily: "City Attorney's Office threatens BOX House, other State Street tailgates."]

Public Comment on Tailgating

Joey Juanico: Juanico introduced himself as a UM junior, who objected to the increased attention on enforcement of city ordinances in the Hoover and State street areas, which threatened to “destroy the culture” of tailgating. That increased attention had been reflected in a letter sent to residents in the area by Kristin Larcom, of the city attorney’s office. That culture, he said, was about community and friendship. He announced that he’d organized a protest march for Oct. 16 that would lead from the UM president’s house to Ann Arbor city hall. The protest, he said, was to defend students’ right to partake in a tradition. He punctuated his turn at the podium with “Go Blue!”

[For readers unfamiliar with the connection between Kristin Larcom's name and the name of the building that houses Ann Arbor's city hall: She is married to Geoff Larcom, former Ann Arbor News editor/writer, whose father was Guy Larcom, the former city administrator after whom the building was named.]

Abhishek Mahanti: Mahanti is president of the Michigan Student Assembly. He raised concerns about an apparent change in policy regarding parties in the State Street area. But he conveyed a willingness on the part of the student community to be cooperative: “We’re all ears to working together to be moderate about it.”

Aaron Miller: Miller is the new UM student liaison to the Ann Arbor city council, having been appointed last week by the Michigan Student Assembly. Miller said that he’d be attending council meetings and would talk to councilmembers individually about concerns of students. He said he’d also be there to listen to concerns in the Ann Arbor community about the campus community.

Council Comment on Tailgating

During his communications to his colleagues, Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) took the opportunity to respond to some of the sentiments expressed by the student speakers during public commentary, in particular the “supposed tailgate ban.” He wanted to set the record straight, he said. There was no ban on tailgating and there was no policy change. Rather, he continued, the city had identified some acute public safety issues involving some “quite worrisome” behavior, and was consequently using existing regulations (e.g., on noise) to address those safety issues. The city, he concluded, had no intention of bringing the tailgating tradition to a stop.

Closed Session on Pending Litigation

At the conclusion of the council’s meeting councilmembers went into closed session to discuss legal strategy in a lawsuit that is tangentially related to some of the tailgating issues mentioned by speakers during public commentary.

The  lawsuit stems from an incident dating back to Sept. 1, 2005, which began with Ann Arbor police officers identifying a student, Daniel Perach, who was holding a red plastic cup filled with fruit juice and vodka. The incident involved a foot chase, and ended with Ann Arbor police officer Craig Lee twice using a taser on Perach in order to effect Perach’s arrest.

In a Sept. 30, 2009 ruling by the U.S. District Court (Eastern Division) on a motion from the city of Ann Arbor for summary judgment, the court found that the police officer was entitled to qualified immunity on the first application of the taser, but not on the second.

Relevant documents [.PDF files]:

• Initial Complaint
• City Response to Complaint
• City Motion for Summary Judgement
• Court Ruling on Summary Judgement

The suit was originally filed on Sept. 1, 2008. It claimed that:

10. The actions of Defendant in deploying his taser and intentionally striking Plaintiff caused Plaintiff great pain and injuries about his body.

11. By using unnecessary and brutal force to restrain Plaintiff where there was no legal basis to do such, the Defendant’s actions were objectively unreasonable and violated Plaintiff’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to the United States Constitution.

12. The Defendant does not have qualified immunity for his illegal actions as any reasonable person or police officer should have known that such actions were objectively unreasonable.

The suit asked for $150,000 in damages.

In asking for a summary judgment, the city had argued that the force used by Lee to stop Perach from fleeing – from Lee and other officers – and to overcome Perach’s resistance to efforts to handcuff him were “objectively reasonable,” and thus did not constitute excessive force, nor did it violate clearly established law. The city also argued that Perach’s “no contest” plea to resisting arrest prevented him from claiming that Lee had used excessive force by employing his taser in order to keep Perach from fleeing and in order that he could be handcuffed – because it was Perach’s attempts to flee and to resist handcuffing that had led to Perach being charged with resisting arrest.

But in its Sept. 30 ruling on the summary judgment motion, the court found that:

… Perach’s plea of no contest to the resisting arrest charge does not prohibit the continuation of his claims under Section 1983 action for excessive force against Lee.

The Court also holds that Lee’s first taser deployment (1) was an unconstitutional use of excessive force, but (2) did not violate a clearly established right. Hence, Lee is entitled to qualified immunity on this issue.

As to the issue relating to the application of the second taser, the Court concludes that this act of law enforcement constituted a use of excessive force which was in violation of the clearly established right of Perach who has proffered sufficient evidence to establish that Lee’s conduct was objectively unreasonable. Thus, Lee’s request for qualified immunity on this issue is denied.

In the court’s view, then, the second taser deployment is a matter for a jury to decide.

The court’s analysis cites Ann Arbor police department policy on deployment of a taser, which is not to use a taser in the manner that Lee did:

The memorandum, written by Sergeant Baird, stated that “the Taser is not generally intended to be used as a tool to apprehend someone that is attempting to escape by running away” and that “[w]hen deciding to use the device in this manner the main consideration upon the officer is the severity of the crime they are wanted for” (emphasis in original). In addressing Perach’s arrest, Baird also wrote that “[i]n this case the suspect was wanted for a code violation only. Using the device in this manner is inappropriate.”

In light of the summary judgment ruling, the city of Ann Arbor can (i) appeal the ruling on the summary judgment to the 6th Circuit Court, (ii) go to trial, or (iii) attempt a settlement.

Based on the motion considered by the city council after it came out of its closed session, during the closed session the city attorney had presented his preferred course of action and asked council to support it.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to authorize the city attorney’s office to pursue his recommended course of action.

Parking on Football Saturdays: Frisinger Park?

Placed on the agenda on Oct. 2, with sponsorship from Sandi Smith (Ward 1), Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5), and Mike Anglin (Ward 5), was a resolution that would have allowed the city to generate revenue from parking cars in Frisinger Park on home football Saturdays. Frisinger Park is just south of East Stadium Boulevard between Woodbury and Iroquois. It was pulled off the agenda on Oct. 5.

Here’s how the resolution read:

Whereas, Frisinger Park is well situated to provide special event parking, in particular for University of Michigan home football games; and

Whereas, The City is providing home football game parking at other City-owned facilities, including its facility on S. Industrial and these parking revenues are a new source of funds for the City which is striving to maintain high quality level of service for its citizens;

Resolved, That the City Administrator establish a parking program for University of Michigan home football days at Frisinger Park, including the option for pre-game/post-game tailgating.

The football parking proposal was an idea that came in the “turning over every stone” approach that Sandi Smith (Ward 1) has been taking to find a way to generate the revenue that would go missing if parking meters are not installed in certain neighborhoods near downtown, which is an assumption currently built into the budget for FY 2010 passed by city council.

In deliberations about the extension of the moratorium on installation of parking meters in neighborhoods near downtown – which came later in the meeting – Margie Teall (Ward 4) gave perhaps some insight into why the Frisinger Park parking resolution had been pulled from the agenda. She said she would simply not support football parking in Frisinger Park. The park is located in Ward 4, which she represents.

Moratorium on Parking Meter Installation

Back when the FY 2010 budget was first introduced with a proposal for installation of parking meters on service drives, it was quickly changed to a proposal for meters in neighborhoods near downtown. Sandi Smith (Ward 1), with support from Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5), and Mike Anglin (Ward 5), has adopted the project of finding additional revenues to offset the estimated $380,000 that would come from not installing meters as planned near certain neighborhoods downtown.

Part of the strategy to avoid installation of parking meters has been to buy some time by enacting, at the council’s June 15, 2009 meeting, a moratorium on installation in some areas.

During public commentary reserved time at the start of the council meeting, Bob Snyder and Ray Detter both spoke in support of the moratorium.

Pressed by Margie Teall (Ward 4) to describe some of the revenue streams identified so far that would replace revenues otherwise generated by the parking meters, Smith pointed to the restructuring of fees for the surface parking lot at 415 W. Washington [also passed at council's June 15 meeting] plus the agreement with the Downtown Development Authority about where those proceeds go.

Extending enforcement of existing meters downtown past 6 p.m. was also a possibility, Smith said, but that would require negotiations with the DDA, via the “mutually beneficial” committee, which includes members of city council and the DDA board.

Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) gave his support to the moratorium, but cautioned against exploring budget solutions outside the discussion within the budget and labor committee.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to approve the resolution extending the moratorium on installation of parking meters until the council’s second meeting in December.

Sign Board Task Force

The council considered a resolution to create a task force to evaluate the placement of sandwich boards on downtown sidewalks and to explore the possibility of assessing a fee for their placement, handling the signs in a way that’s similar to how sidewalk cafe chairs and tables are regulated. Right now, said Sandi Smith (Ward 1), the signs are “a little bit haphazard.”

It’s part of the effort to find additional revenue so that parking meters won’t need to be installed in neighborhoods near downtown. Smith easily won support for the idea for adding a member of the sign board of appeals and a member from the commission on disabilities. The sandwich board task force, she said, was expected to be short-lived.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to establish a task force to look at regulation of sign boards.

Sylvan Pavement

Pulled out of the consent agenda for individual consideration by the council was an expenditure for $54,271 to pay for engineering services (from Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber, Inc.) connected to the Sylvan Avenue permeable pavement project. Permeable pavement allows storm water to filter straight through the surface. The surface parking lot where the old YMCA building stood at Fifth Avenue and William is paved with permeable pavement.

Sylvan is a short one-block-long street running east-west, nestled into the upside down”V” formed by State and Packard streets, near Yost Ice Arena. Nick Hutchinson, who’s a civil engineer with the city, fielded questions from Margie Teall (Ward 4) in whose ward Sylvan Avenue is located.

The reason Sylvan was chosen, he said, was that it had suitable soil underneath, it was flat, and there were existing drainage problems. He was asked first by Teall about maintenance, a question that was followed up with a specific question from Mayor John Hieftje about the possible need to vacuum the pavement to maintain its permeable properties. Hutchinson explained that it was more a matter of running a street sweeper an extra time per year over the street as opposed to vacuuming it. He also noted that during the winter, no sand – just salt – should be spread on the street.

The extra cost of permeable pavement, he explained, came mostly from the extra cost of the asphalt itself, not from the street reconstruction activity. So the extra cost for this project, he said, was not significant, given the 800-foot length and narrowness of the street.

The project should be finished, Hutchinson said, in spring 2010.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to approve the resolution authorizing the expenditure for porous pavement installation on Sylvan Street.

Other Public Comment

Henry Herskovitz: Herskovitz began by suggesting that Israel, which is generally characterized as a U.S. ally with common cultural threads, has some important cultural differences. In the U.S., he said, all men and women are created equal, but in Israel, all men and women are not created equal unless they’re Jewish. Noting that if he argued that the non-Jews on the Ann Arbor city council could not become Israeli citizens, the argument would not be compelling: the non-Jews on the city council likely preferred to live in Michigan, anyway. So he sketched out a hypothetical scenario, in which the Jews of Cleveland, Ohio, decided to try to make Ward 2, with Burns Park, a Jewish ward. To achieve that goal, he asked councilmembers to contemplate that they killed some non-Jewish families there, and forced the remaining non-Jewish families to seek refuge in Wards 1, 3, 4 and 5. Thinking about the issue of Palestine from that point of view, Herskovitz suggested, might enable councilmembers to understand Palestinian issues.

Thomas Partridge: Partridge introduced himself as a Washtenaw County Democrat. He continued to come to meetings like this, he said, as he’s done throughout his life, to influence people to take responsibility to protect those who most need and deserve protection. He commended Rep. Rebekah Warren for her efforts [she spoke to the council on the budget at the start of the meeting] and challenged the city council to protect the most vulnerable in society.

Other Public Comment: Development Issues

Alan Haber: Haber sketched out some possibilities for use of the surface on top of the underground parking garage, for which ground was broken last week. He argued for the space to remain owned by the public as a gathering space, a mixed-use, many-use, flexible-use, garden, stage – a tourist attraction for those who come to discover downtown Ann Arbor.

Hand sanitizer has appeared in multiple locations in city hall, not just at the podium. Note the pump bottle in the background next to the pitcher in front of Tony Derezinski (Ward 2). There are also dispensers next to all the elevators. (Photo by the writer.)

Haber alerted interested residents to a meeting on Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to noon at 310 S. Ashley to work on a proposal for the new downtown public space on top of the library lot.

John Etter: Etter introduced himself as representing the Sloan Plaza Condominium Association. He couched his remarks on development in terms of earning and keeping the public trust. The councilmembers had gained sufficient trust, he said, to win election to that body. But he contended that they would lose that trust if input from citizens did not affect their decision-making. In the case of Sloan Plaza residents, they’d made the case, he said, that a D2 zoning designation was more suitable for Huron Street than D1 – D1 is core downtown, while D2 is transition. Alluding to the city’s contention that MDOT’s Lansing office had given the D1 zoning a green light, Etter concluded by saying that if the matter gets to another forum, evidence of that approval would have to be produced.

James D’Amour: D’Amour is a former planning commissioner. Referring to the “by right” City Place project, which the council had approved at its last meeting, he contended that there was no such thing as a “by right” project. He maintained that if a project had a detrimental effect on public safety, health and welfare, that the project could be turned down. “Staff’s hands are tied,” he said, “but yours are not.”

Toy Guns

At the council’s Sept. 8 meeting, a second reading was heard of an ordinance that would allow enforcement of prohibitions against so-called look-alike weapons. Sabra Briere (Ward 1) had raised questions about the adequacy of the language in the ordinance. [See Chronicle coverage: "City Council Begins Transition."] For that meeting, the city attorney’s office had asked that the resolution be tabled so that the language could be rewritten.

The council voted to postpone the resolution – until Oct. 5. As Briere had clarified at caucus, the attorney’s office had actually wanted a tabling of the resolution (with no date fixed). No changes have been made to the language in the interim. The request from the attorney’s office is again to table the resolution so that adequate time can be put into reworking the language.

Outcome: The council voted unanimously to table the resolution.

Work Session

In his communications to council, city administrator Roger Fraser advised councilmembers that there would be a work session the following week, Monday, Oct. 12, starting at 7 p.m. [confirm date] to address three main topics:

• Downtown BIZ (Business Improvement Zone)
• The Fuller Road Station [formerly known as FITS]
• Single-stream recycling

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

Absent: Marcia Higgins.

Next council meeting: Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 at 7 p.m. in council chambers, 2nd floor of the Guy C. Larcom, Jr. Municipal Building, 100 N. Fifth Ave. [confirm date]