Three of nine parks and recreation commission members for Washtenaw County, who attended Tuesday's meeting. Front to back: Jimmie Maggard, Patricia Scribner and Robert Marans. Obscured is Bob Tetens, director of Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation. (Photos by the writer.)

The county’s parks and recreation program is funded by two separate, dedicated countywide tax levies at 0.25 mill apiece – for capital improvements and maintenance, respectively. The millages are separate from the county’s general operating millage.

The offer of matching funds came with the clear expectation from commissioners at the meeting that the county will be given its due – in terms of signage and participation in the project as it moves forward.

Bob Tetens, director of Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation, spoke at the meeting about the ability of the county to leverage the fundraising efforts of AASAC to achieve an $800,000 skatepark, instead of a $400,000 skatepark. For AASAC’s part, the plan all along was to build an $800,000 skatepark – plus establish a $200,000 endowment for maintenance.

The promised funds from the county will allow AASAC to leverage the match as part of their fundraising efforts. From that point of view, the timing of the county’s decision worked out to AASAC’s advantage. This Saturday, March 13, from noon-6 p.m. Red Belly Boardshop will sponsor The Grinds of March, a benefit for the Ann Arbor Skatepark fund to be held in a warehouse located at 704 Airport Blvd.

The Grinds will feature a pro skating demonstration by Garold Vallie and Andy MacDonald. MacDonald spent his summers in Ann Arbor, growing up skating.

The city of Ann Arbor has so far not offered dollars in support of the skatepark, but has approved use of the site, and struck a memorandum of understanding with AASAC. Ten out of 11 councilmembers also signed a letter dated March 8, 2010, urging the county’s parks and recreation commission to support the skatepark.

County Parks Commission Deliberations on the Skatepark

Discussion of the skatepark item was moved up as the first item for discussion after public commentary, from its original spot under “New Business.” That move meant that AASAC steering committee members Trevor Staples and Jim Reische did not have to wait through three reports, plus five items worth of old business for the commission to deliberate on the skatepark funding.

Bob Tetens, director of Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation, led off discussion by noting that the skatepark committee had contacted the commission numerous times and that Staples and Reische had appeared before the commission at its January 2010 meeting and made a presentation. At the staff level, Tetens said, the skatepark proposal had been considered for over a year and a half.

In October 2009, Tetens was not yet ready to advocate for funding the skatepark [Chronicle coverage: "Skatepark Rolls Towards Design"]:

At this point, Tetens explained, “We don’t have the numbers … We don’t know what ‘it’ is – a $200,000 park or a $2 million park.” Once you have a conceptual design, he said, you have a project you can talk about.

On Tuesday evening, Tetens pointed out that development of the skatepark had progressed beyond the conceptual design phase. [Skatepark designer Wally Hollyday held a design charette on Oct. 18, 2009.] Tetens also noted that the Skatepark Action Committee was well on its way to achieving 501(c)3 nonprofit status.

He observed that the skatepark enjoyed overwhelming support in the community and that the proposed site was situated on a bus route.

Deliberations: Veterans Memorial Park Site

With respect to the siting along a bus route, commissioner Janice Anschuetz noted that previously the commission had talked about building a skatepark out at Rolling Hills, a county park on North Territorial Road. What made the proposed Veterans Memorial Park location better, she said, was that a kid from Ypsilanti would be able to get on a bus and ride it to the skatepark.

Conan Smith – who serves on the parks and recreation commission as a representative of the county board, along with Rolland Sizemore Jr. – declared that he was excited by the skatepark, because it was in his neck of the woods. [Smith represents District 10 in Ann Arbor.] He observed that if you’ve ever had a drink at Knight’s, you might be familiar with the corner of Maple and Dexter-Ann Arbor, where the park is planned. With a stellar park [Veterans Memorial Park] at its heart, Smith said, it would drive mixed-use and mixed-income development in the area.

Deliberations: The County Gets Its Due

One concern shared by commissioners was that the county be appropriately recognized for its role in supporting the skatepark. Rolland Sizemore Jr. wondered: “Do we have any input, or is it Ann Arbor and skateboard people?” Trevor Staples assured Sizemore that up to now there’d been a three-way partnership between the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee, the city of Ann Arbor, and the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, but that they wanted to negotiate the participation of a fourth member. “We want it to be a partnership,” concluded Staples.

Commissioner Jimmie Maggard agreed that the county should have “someone on board.”

Sizemore moved an amendment to the resolution, which was accepted as friendly, that stipulated the county’s participation as the project moved forward. After the vote, he suggested that Conan Smith take the position representing the county on the project, but Smith said that county parks planner Jeff Dehring might be a better choice – he was open to discussion on that.

Janice Anschuetz also wanted to make sure the county was recognized, and that it was clear that the skatepark was not just for Ann Arbor – signage at the park would help with that, she said.

Commission chair Robert Marans declared that it would be a countywide facility before calling for the vote, which was unanimous.

Though he supported the resolution, Stephen Solowczuk noted that he’d wished for a bit more forewarning. He noted that a $600,000 allocation for a segment of the Border-to-Border Trail near Dexter meant that they’d be allocating $1 million in one night – they couldn’t have too many nights like that, he warned.

Deliberations: Ann Arbor Support

Commissioners noted the importance of the letter of support that the Ann Arbor city council had sent them, along with a copy of the resolution that the council had passed on Dec. 1, 2008, which approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Skatepark Action Committtee. In that resolution, noted Bob Tetens, the “shelf-life” on the city’s land allocation for the skatepark at Veterans Memorial requires that construction begin no later than Jan. 1, 2014.

The letter from city councilmembers mentioned by Tetens and others was dated March 8, 2010. It was forwarded electronically by city administrator Roger Fraser to the county’s parks and recreation commission. In Fraser’s email message, he stated that commissioners would receive a physical copy of the councilmembers’ letter. The electronic version indicates that it will be signed by all councilmembers except for Marcia Higgins (Ward 4). In addition, there’s a space for Scott Rosencrans, who chairs the city’s park advisory commission, to sign the letter. [.txt file of cover letter from Fraser and letter text by councilmembers]

Board Deliberations: Fundraising

During deliberations, commission chair Robert Marans asked how the skatepark advocates planned to raise their $400,000. Jim Reische, fundraising co-chair for AASAC, told the commission he felt that the matching funds would allow them to pursue gifts in the 5-6 figure range – he based that on conversations with prospective donors. He also cited a tremendous grassroots effort, now centered on a social networking fundraising site called crowdrise. [That site indicates $20,000 now raised out of the $1 million goal.]

Reische also told the commission about the Grinds of March fundraiser on Saturday. The revelation that Andy MacDonald would be skating was met with a “You’ve got to be kidding” from Anschuetz.

Grinds of March

Over the last weekend in February, The Chronicle documented photographically some of the ramp construction activity at 704 Airport Blvd. in a warehouse where the Skatepark Action Committee has built up a wooden skateboard ramp for the Grinds of March fundraiser on March 13. [After turning west onto Airport Boulevard off State Street, look north for the large "704" numbering.]

Retired Zingerman's posters will be for sale at the Grinds of March fundraiser.

Steve Risner jams a board into place with a backhand whack.

The ribs or the bones of the ramp are called "templates."

Teamwork was key in assembling the ramp.

Tony C. trims a board to fit. The taller section of the ramp was an extension to the original design.

You build it, then you can skate it.

Local coffee roaster John Roos took a tentative turn on the ramp. Roos, who sells his Roos Roast coffees at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market and other locations, has developed a Skatepark Blend to support the ramp.

Gregg Iddings gets ready to drop in as John Roos looks on. Iddings, a probate court judge in Adrian, is a member of the Skatepark Action steering committee

In the two weeks between ramp construction and the Grinds of March fundraiser, volunteers with the Skatepark Action Committee have been taking advantage of the ramp. The ramp itself will be auctioned off after the event.

Not his first time on a board.

Ready to launch from the lip of the Riley Skatepark in Farmington Hills, Michigan. (Photo by the writer)

Last Saturday, the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee loaded up the french-fry-oil fueled BTB Party Bus with as many local decision-makers as it could find and steered a course for Farmington Hills.

They wanted to show city councilmembers, park advisory commissioners and staff planners first hand what a free concrete skatepark looked like.

The field trip itself was meant in part as fuel for the imagination as the committee rolls towards an Oct. 18 skatepark design workshop, which starts at 2 p.m. at Slauson Middle School, located at 1019 W. Washington. It’s free and open to the public.

The planned location for the park is the northeast corner of Veterans Memorial Park at the intersection of Maple Road and Dexter Avenue, on Ann Arbor’s west side.

Almost a year ago, at its Dec. 1, 2008 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council passed a memorandum of intent to develop a skatepark at the Veterans Park location. Now the question facing skatepark supporters is: Where’s the money for building and maintaining the skatepark going to come from?

Private Funding

From its inception, skatepark supporters have emphasized their intent to raise as much of that money as possible through private donations. What they’ve asked of the city of Ann Arbor has been allocation of space in an existing park. And that’s been achieved.

Trevor Staples skating the capsule at Riley Skatepark in Farmington Hills, Michigan. (Photo by the writer)

It’s what Mike Anglin (Ward 5) referred to as an “in kind” contribution from the city, when he gave his fellow councilmembers an update on the skatepark at the council’s Oct. 5 meeting. Anglin also reported at that meeting that the fundraising effort to date had accumulated around $17,000. There’s a lot of air yet between $17,000 and the $1 million that the supporters think it might take to design and build a 30,000-square-foot skatepark.

The gap between private donations to date and the amount of capital it will take to build and operate the park is one reason Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) stressed the Oct. 18 design workshop in his own communications at the council’s Oct. 5 meeting. [The planned skatepark location is in Ward 5.]

Some kind conceptual design that people can look at will be key to ramping up the effort for private donations.

According to Trevor Staples of the Skatepark Action Committee, there was a glitch on the first try, but they are currently re-filing the paperwork for their official nonprofit status, which is expected to be finalized around the first of next year. That entity will be known as Friends of the Skatepark. Until then, donors can contribute in a tax-deductible way to the skatepark’s capital fund through the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, which is acting as the fiduciary for the effort.

Public Funding

What about public funding sources? The Chronicle followed up via Google Chat on that question with county commissioner Conan Smith – he’d originally planned to go along on the bus trip to Farmington Hills last Saturday, but circumstances conspired against that. Smith is actually quite sanguine about the possibility of a skatepark partnership between the county’s parks department, Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission, and the city of Ann Arbor. Smith serves on WCPARC in one of the slots designated for members of the county board.

On his inline skates at Riley Skatepark in Farmington Hills is Rodney Snider. The 15-year-old Snider has skated the park "every single day since the beginning of summer." The Ann Arbor party bus contingent is standing in the distant background. (Photo by the writer.)

In speaking with both Smith and Bob Tetens, who’s director of Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation, a point they emphasized is that the maintenance and operation of the county’s parks are not paid for out of the county’s general fund. Instead, there are two dedicated millages at 0.25 mill apiece, levied countywide to pay for parks. One of the millages goes to capital improvements and development, and the other goes to operations.

Although there’s strong support on WCPARC for a skatepark, Tetens said, it’s not yet a part of their 5-10 year capital plan. At this point, Tetens explained, “We don’t have the numbers … We don’t know what ‘it’ is – a $200,000 park or a $2 million park.” Once you have a conceptual design, he said, you have a project you can talk about.

Smith, for his part, felt that a partnership between the county parks department and the city of Ann Arbor on the skatepark would expect the city to do more than make the land contribution. Cash or cash equivalents are what he’d be looking for. By cash equivalents, Smith meant cost savings though the contribution of professional design and engineering for the project by city staff.

On Location at Riley Skatepark in Farmington Hills

Riley Skatepark, the destination of the Oct. 3 party bus, is similar in size to the kind of skatepark that’s being planned for Ann Arbor. The concrete of Riley covers 29,000 square feet – the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee generally talks about a 30,000-square-foot facility.

A hockey tournament was in full swing at the ice area in Founders Park on Oct. 3. (Photo by the writer)

It also has a similar context, located within a much larger sports park complex, Founders Park, which includes ball fields and an ice arena, as does Veterans Memorial Park in Ann Arbor.

The Chronicle traveled separately from the party bus and had some time to kill waiting for the Ann Arbor contingent to arrive.

On the opposite side of the Founders Park parking lot, with signs forbidding skateboarding in the lot, the ice arena looked warmer than the rain-soaked and wind-swept concrete of the skate park. A quick impression of under-16 hockey culture that we  soaked up in an hour at the ice area: Hockey is mostly about gigantic dufflebags full of gear lugged by young men in matching windbreakers and pants, wearing shirts and ties.

We met up with the Ann Arbor bus contingent when Chris Cassell, who’s a member of Ann Arbor’s skatepark steering committee, greeted us. We’d been looking for folks to arrive in the unmistakable red BTB party bus, so we didn’t even recognize Cassell at first.

When the bus rolled up, among the folks it disgorged were Mike Anglin (Ward 5 city council representative), John Lawter (Ann Arbor Park Advisory Commission), John Barrie (executive director of the Appropriate Technology Collective and editor of www.SustainableDesignUpdate.com) and Amy Kuras (Ann Arbor city park planner), as well as Jim Reische and Trevor Staples, who are on the steering committee for the Ann Arbor skatepark.

Big Ten Burrito Party bus arriving at Riley Skatepark. Visible in the passenger seat is Jordan Miller, former reporter for the Ann Arbor News, now blogger for AnnArbor.com and in charge of publicity for the skatepark action committee. (Photo by the writer)

Standing on the lip of the bowl, staring at all the blank concrete, a little impromptu design discussion unfolded among the Ann Arbor contingent. Kuras wanted to know if it might be possible to embed colors and graphics into the concrete.

Trevor Staples gave skateparks in Denver and Santa Cruz as examples where color had been used. Barrie suggested that an acid etching technique could be used on concrete to get color effects.

Looking at the capsule overhand, Barrie also mused that it could be easily built in the kind of slope that’s offered in the Veterans Memorial Park location in Ann Arbor.

Final Notes on the Field Trip

Staples and Cassell took advantage of the opportunity to actually  skate at the park – Cassell drove separately so that he could stay and skate longer if he wanted. He wanted. Mike Anglin (Ward 5) had announced at the Oct. 5 council meeting that he had stood astride a board – but only on the grass. With the aid of some Chronicle magic, maybe readers will forget he said that: [Anglin getting some sweet air.]

The bus back home was piloted by Todd Eschenburg, who drives for the BTB Party Bus. He explained that the engine gets warmed up on diesel fuel, but that once it’s up to temperature, it switches over to the used fry oil that the bus is famous for. It’s the same procedure in reverse for turning off the engine – which explained why he was idling for a few minutes after arrival in the parking lot.

This is one of nine black willow trees in West Park slated for removal as part of a planned park renovation. The historic bandshell, seen in the background, will stay. (Photo by the writer.)

The Chronicle last heard an update on improvements planned for West Park about a year ago, at a community meeting led by Amy Kuras, a landscape architect with the city. Kuras was also on hand at Tuesday’s meeting of the Ann Arbor Park Advisory Commission – this time, to report that the project is being fast-tracked in hopes of getting federal stimulus funding.

In addition to being briefed on West Park, PAC commissioners got an update on the Ann Arbor Skatepark project. Trevor Staples, chair of the Skatepark Action Committee, reported on fundraising progress and said he’d be back at a later date to ask for financial support from the city. He also gave some details on an Oct. 18 design workshop that will be open to the public.

And Scott Rosencrans won an election – more on all of this after the break.

West Park Renovations

Amy Kuras of the city’s parks & recreation staff prefaced her update to PAC by describing the outcome of three public meetings held last year focused on the West Park area. Three main priorities were voiced by residents: 1) deal with flooding in the park, 2) improve access and 3) preserve the recreational amenities.

On Tuesday, Kuras told commissioners that all of the current features of the park – including the basketball and tennis courts, baseball field, historic bandshell and pergola – will remain, though some locations might be altered. For example, they’ll move the basketball court out of the floodway, and reconfigure the parking lot. A boardwalk going through a wetland area will be added as part of the revamped network of paths. Tiered concrete retention walls for seating will be added to the hill facing the bandshell, and deteriorating steps coming down into the park from Huron Street will be replaced. There are also plans to reintroduce an historic Indian trail, which runs along the south side of the park.

A rendering of proposed improvements at West Park. (Map links to larger image.)

The city has contracted with two firms for the project: Beckett & Raeder is handling engineering and landscape architecture issues, and Environmental Consulting & Technology (ECT) takes the lead on stormwater management.

At Tuesday’s PAC meeting, Andrea Kline of ECT gave a report on the stormwater management part of the project. An Allen Creek tributary, called the West Park/Miller branch, used to run though the park but was diverted into large underground storm sewer pipes in the 1920s. Though the storm sewer pipes will remain unchanged, the current project will build bioswales – shallow excavated areas filled with native vegetation – that roughly follow the course of the tributary.

The bioswales will widen into detention basins designed to catch stormwater. The deepest one, on the park’s northwest side, will hold up to three feet of water during heavy rains. Water will be contained for about a day as it slowly drains into the ground. Basins on the south side will have about two feet of water permanently, designed to support wetland habitat and plants. The bioswales and basins will be surrounded by buffers of native grasses and wildflowers found in wetland areas. Some of the wetland areas are already marked, in preparation for the project.

These pink flags in West Park indicate wetland areas where bioswales will be built to manage stormwater. (Photo by the writer.)

Kline said the bioswales and accompanying landscaping work will divert water from pathways in the park, which now are frequently flooded with water. In addition, some paths will be relocated to avoid the most problematic flooding areas.

The project also aims to improve the quality of water as it flows through the park. The city will be installing large swirl concentrators at two locations on the west side of the park. Storm water that flows through these underground concrete devices is swirled in a cylindrical chamber, filtering out a large amount of sediment, oil, grease and other contaminants.

The filtering effect from the entire water management system, including the bioswales, could remove as much as 60% of phosphorus and 70% of E.coli from the water before it leaves the park, according to a city report.

Because the Allen Creek is under the jurisdiction of Washtenaw County’s Office of the Water Resources Commissioner, the city is working with that department on this project. It’s the work on water management that makes the project eligible for federal stimulus funding, awarded through a Nonpoint Source Program administered by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Nonpoint source pollution refers to pollution that comes from many different, diffuse sources – like rainwater runoff that contains lawn fertilizers or motor oil. (An example of something that’s not a nonpoint source pollution would be the Pall Life Sciences 1,4 dioxane plume in the city’s groundwater.)

This phase of the West Park project is estimated to cost $3.54 million. A later phase would include building restrooms and a playground.

If funds are awarded, work on the project will likely begin next summer. The work will entail cutting down nine of the large black willow trees (Salix nigra) in the area near the bandshell. Kline said those trees are well past their prime, and are located in the lowest part of the park, where flooding is a problem. They worked hard to preserve the oaks in the park, Kline said, but it wasn’t possible to save the willows. The city plans to take cuttings from the willows and possibly ask Wildtype, a native plant nursery in Mason, Mich. to nurture them into a size that eventually can be replanted in the park.

Skatepark Update

At Tuesday’s PAC meeting, commissioners also got an update from Trevor Staples, chair of the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee. He reported that the group is focusing on two main areas: design and fundraising.

Wally Hollyday, a skatepark designer with a national reputation, will be leading a workshop on Oct. 18 to get community input on the park’s design. The meeting, which is open to the public, begins at 2 p.m. at the Slauson Middle School cafeteria, 1019 W. Washington St. There will also be a tour of the proposed site – at the northwest corner of Veterans Memorial Park – before the workshop, starting at 1:30 p.m.

Trevor Staples, chair of the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee, and Jim Reische, the committee's fundraising co-chair, update PAC on the project. (Photo by the writer.)

At the workshop, Hollyday will present illustrations of different skateparks that he has designed, and get feedback about what people attending the session like or don’t like. Based on that feedback, he’ll sketch out some preliminary designs for the Ann Arbor skatepark, Staples said.

Having a design in hand can be a very persuasive tool for raising money from private donors, said Jim Reische, fundraising co-chair for the skatepark committee.

He outlined two fundraising approaches they’re using for this project. They’ve conducted a broad grassroots campaign that has included free “skate jams” for the public, a float in the July 4th parade, T-shirt sales at the Ann Arbor art fairs, and a Skate Art Show in May that drew 400 people and raised nearly $9,000. In addition, the skatepark group is working to secure large donations from individuals, Reische said, “to move us toward our financial goal in a big way.”

What is that goal? The group hopes to raise $1 million – including $800,000 for design and construction of the skatepark, and $200,000 to seed an endowment for ongoing maintenance. The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, which is serving as fiscal sponsor for this effort, sets aside 10% of all contributions toward the endowment. To date, they’ve raised close to $17,000 for the community foundation fund, mostly from small gifts, Reische said.

Staples said they’d be seeking public funds as well. The Washtenaw County parks department has expressed some interest in helping fund the project, he said, adding that he hoped to see a city/county partnership evolve. He didn’t have any specific funding requests for PAC, but said he just wanted to “dip our toes in that water.”

PAC chair Linda Berauer told Staples that there were already models for city/county collaboration, citing the Swift Run Dog Park as an example.

In response to a query from commissioner Scott Rosencrans, Reische said they’d identified some giving levels and naming opportunities, but hadn’t finalized details yet – the city still needs to set a policy for that. Jeff Straw, the city’s deputy parks & rec manager, said city staff were in reviewing a naming policy, which would have to be approved by city council. Tentatively, the skatepark committee has designated $400,000 as the level to name the skatepark, with a range of smaller amounts, down to $500 for tiles.

Rosencrans also asked if there were any upcoming fundraisers that PAC could help publicize. Staples said they’ll be doing fewer events – he noted that in a couple of weeks he’ll be returning to the classroom as a third-grade teacher, and the thought of putting together a fundraiser “sort of wigs me out.” The next event will be the Oct. 18 design workshop, followed in February by an indoor skate jam, likely in conjunction with Zingerman’s.

Tim Berla casts his secret ballot for PAC chair and vice chair. (Photo by the writer.)

PAC Officer Elections

Linda Berauer, PAC’s chair, is ending her tenure on the commission, as is Brigit Macomber – both have served two, three-year terms. So neither of them were in the running for PAC offices – and, it turns out, not many others were, either. During Tuesday’s meeting, John Lawter nominated Scott Rosencrans as chair – he was the only nomination. Lawter currently serves as vice-chair, and was nominated for that position again, with no one else competing.

The commission recently changed its by-laws to allow secret ballots for the election of officers. Berauer noted that “it seems kind of silly” to vote secretly when the election wasn’t contested – but slips of paper were passed around anyway, and everyone dutifully wrote down the names of the candidates.

After Jeff Straw, the city’s deputy parks and rec manager, reported the results, someone quipped: “No recount?” It was an allusion to the recount of the Democratic primary election for Ward 3 city council, which is scheduled for next week.

Park operations budget

Karla Henderson, manager of Parks & Recreation, had been invited to provide commissioners with more details about the budget for the city’s field operations unit, which includes upkeep of the Parks & Rec properties. Several commissioners had questions for her. Sam Offen expressed surprise at the line item dealing with vandalism – $117,416 for fiscal year 2007-08, which ended June 30, or 267% over budget. Henderson acknowledged that it could be hard to predict and expensive to clean up vandalized property, including graffiti and broken windows. She said someone with the tag CHU is particularly a problem, and that they’ve been sharing information with the police department to try to deal with it. They also frequently clean up after The Rock at the corner of Hill and Washtenaw, and the sidewalks around it. Some of the increased expenses – including vandalism cleanup and turf care – are responding to feedback they received before voters approved the most recent parks millage, Henderson said.

Commissioner Brigit Macomber asked if Henderson could provide a spreadsheet showing all the revenues and expenses related to the city’s athletic fields. She said that revenues and costs have been shifted between funds and departments, and that it has become confusing to keep track of what’s happening. Henderson said she could provide that information.

Park project updates

Amy Kuras of the city’s Parks & Recreation staff briefed commissioners on projects at Cobblestone Farm, Leslie Park Golf Course and Leslie Park. She reported several renovations at Cobblestone: 1) an awning was replaced with a wood-shingled pent roof, 2) the front door was replaced with one that allows more light into the hallway, 3) interior renovations were made, included refurbishing the kitchenette and the bridal changing room, and 4) a walkway, raingarden and landscaping have been added to the exterior. At Leslie Park Golf Course, changes on the interior include new indoor/outdoor furniture and plans to replace the carpet, while exterior projects include replacing some pedestrian bridges, repairing pathways, dredging the pond and putting up permanent restrooms to replace portable ones. The north and south playgrounds at Leslie Park are also being rehabbed, with new equipment and other upgrades.

Jeff Dehring, a city park planner, talked about major changes at Mary Beth Doyle Park. Over the past three years, the Washtenaw County Drain Commission has worked on changes to the pond there, an effort aimed at improving water quality and flood control along Malletts Creek, which runs through the 81.4-acre park. At the same time, the city has been working on several projects, including installing a new basketball court, moving the playground closer to the parking lot where it can be more visible, adding a gravel path that loops around the area, and reconfiguring an 18-hole disc golf course. (Find out more about the active local disc golf community here.)

Commissioners asked several questions about the project. Brigit Macomber wanted to know how garbage pickup would be handled along the disc golf course, noting that it had been a problem there and at Bandemer Park, where a 9-hole course is located. Access is an issue, Dehring said, since there’s no way for trash hauling equipment to get back into some areas. They’re planning to put more cans along pathways were the equipment is able to pick up the containers.

Park names

The commission quickly and unanimously approved name changes to three city-owned properties:

• 7.7 acres purchased from the Girl Scouts of Huron Valley, known as Camp Hilltop, was renamed Hilltop Nature Area. The land borders the Kuebler Langford Nature Area and is near Bird Hills Nature Area, on the city’s north side.
• 13.5 acres known as Narrow Gauge Woods and purchased from Narrow Gauge Holdings Inc. and Sondra Gunn was renamed Narrow Gauge Nature Area. It’s located off Green Road near King Elementary School.
• 2.25 acres adjacent to Eberwhite Woods, bought from the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church. It was renamed Eberwhite Nature Area.

Bylaws and the city attorney’s office

The commission had planned to vote on some changes to the group’s bylaws at Tuesday’s meeting. Chair Linda Berauer characterized them as mostly minor cleanup, with one substantive change: Adding a budget officer position. Word that the commission was considering changes got the attention of the city attorney’s office and assistant city attorney Kevin McDonald spoke at the meeting, urging commissioners to postpone their vote until after his office had time to do a comprehensive review of PAC bylaws.

McDonald said that city council had asked the attorney’s office to review the bylaws for all of the city’s boards and commissions, with the goal of making them clearer and consistent across all groups. He said they had no intention of changing the function of the commission, but wanted to standardize language to “flatten that bumpy hill out as much as we can.”

What ensued was an animated discussion among commissioners and McDonald. Commissioner Sam Offen suggested voting to approve the bylaw changes at Tuesday’s meeting – then, attorneys could do the review, but with the newly altered bylaws in place. McDonald repeated his statement that the council had asked for a review, and that the commission serves at the pleasure of the council, in an advisory role. He expressed puzzlement at the situation. “There’s something I’m not understanding,” he said. “We’re here to assist you.”

It emerged that the last time the commission had tried to make similar changes to its bylaws some two years ago, they’d been told the same thing – wait until the city attorney’s office can do a review. That review never materialized. This was all news to McDonald, who said he could do the work on a priority basis and return a report within 30 to 45 days.

Berauer said that PAC realizes they serve at the pleasure of council. The question, she said, is how independently can they operate, in terms of their internal governance. If that’s taken away, she said, then “you’re kind of disempowering us.” She apologized to McDonald, saying she was sorry he’d stepped into the middle of a “rat’s nest,” and agreed to postpone the vote until PAC’s January meeting. Review or not, they plan to take a final vote on the changes at that meeting.

Skatepark

Though they didn’t speak during public comment, several people involved in the Ann Arbor Skatepark project – including lead organizer Trevor Staples – attended the meeting until commissioners acted on that agenda item. The item was a resolution to approve a memorandum of intent between the city and the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee, spelling out how the two entities would interact to design, fundraise and build the proposed skatepark at Veterans Memorial Park. It also laid out a fund agreement, essentially providing the framework for the skatepark committee to begin fundraising through the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. Kevin McDonald from the city attorney’s office said that when the skatepark committee forms a nonprofit, they’ll enter into a more formal agreement with the city outlining how they’ll pay for construction and ongoing maintenance. After receiving unanimous approval from the commission, chair Linda Berauer said, “Good luck, Trevor – you’ve done a great job so far.” The memorandum goes before city council at its Dec. 1 meeting.

Closed session

At 6:30, the commission went into closed session to discuss legal matters with Kevin McDonald from the city attorney’s office.

Present: Mike Anglin (ex-officio), David Barrett, Linda Berauer, Tim Berla, Julie Grand, John Lawter, Gwen Nystuen, Brigit Macomber, Samuel Offen, Scott Rosencrans, Christopher Taylor (ex-officio).

Next meeting: Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 4 p.m. in council chambers, 2nd floor of the Guy C. Larcom, Jr. Municipal Building, 100 N. Fifth Ave.

Any idea who this is?

Last Saturday, the Ann Arbor Skate Park Action Committee followed up its August Skate Jam with a September event. Laid out with a variety of portable ramps and obstacles, the cordoned-off area of Westgate Shopping Center drew more than a hundred skaters, plus some prominent politicos – a couple of them skaters, and some non-skaters.

As it turns out, the skater-politicos we saw on Saturday are not the ones Chronicle readers might be thinking of. Trevor Staples, member of the Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee, is also the newly-elected Democratic delegate for Precinct 4 in Ward 5. Trevor was still basking in the glow of his election to this post by dint of his four (possibly five) write-in votes.

And Mike Anglin, city council member representing Ward 5, displayed the grace of a skater – even if it wasn’t while standing on a board – when he passed along the new deck he won in the raffle to whoever had the next number drawn. But what about the guy in the white helmet in the photo at the top of this story?

That’s county commissioner Conan Smith, whose willingness to take spin on the board, coached by Trevor Staples, is consistent with Rebekah Warren’s assessment of him made before she and Smith were married:

Conan has the bruises and injuries to prove it. He’s a little more daring than I am. I tend to be a little more cautious and that’s probably a good descriptor of our whole life. He’s got the bangs and bruises to prove he’s adventurous … [Source: Teeter Talk]

Martin Fobes (L) and Eric Wheeler (R)

Warren was at the skate jam, too, and while she and The Chronicle were watching Smith did not fall on his head, but it wasn’t like he was attempting anything like a frontside 180 with a nose grind. That’s the sort of thing best left to guys like Martin Fobes, who was there to take full advantage of the obstacles laid out in front of Sun & Snow. Fobes was fresh off of some Best Trick success at the Adrenaline Games held last month up in Brighton. Saturday he was riding a board with a big cursive “L” – for Launch Board Shop – and hanging out with Eric Wheeler, who manages Launch at 1202 S. University in Ann Arbor.

When The Chronicle showed up around 3 p.m. there was still plenty of skating action, but we missed the special clinic for girls – attended by eight skaters. For girl and boy and politico skaters alike, Saturday’s event was pure fun and games. But there’s some tough fundraising work ahead for the Skatepark Action Committee. Last May, they got a big boost from the Park Advisory Commission, which unanimously recommended the choice of the committee’s proposed site in the northwest corner of Veterans Park. To finalize an agreement with the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation to act as its fiduciary, the committee will need some final approvals from city council, which are currently slated for its Oct. 6 meeting.

Keep scrolling for some still shots taken by The Chronicle last Saturday. Prefer moving pictures when it comes to skateboarding? For its simple, understated elegance, we recommend this YouTube clip of Fobes answering the question: How many different ways can you cross a flat gap? The answer seems to be “at least nine.”

Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee skatejam at Westgate Shopping Center in front of Sun & Snow.

Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee skatejam at Westgate Shopping Center in front of Sun & Snow.

Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee skatejam at Westgate Shopping Center in front of Sun & Snow.

Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee skatejam at Westgate Shopping Center in front of Sun & Snow.

Conan. Smooth as Smith.