Archive for September, 2010

At its Sept. 20, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council voted unanimously to enact a change to the city’s nuisance code that will prohibit the placement of upholstered furniture in outdoor locations like porches, if the furniture is not designed for outdoors. At its previous meeting on Sept 7, the council had postponed consideration of the ordinance, citing an interest in better informing the student community about the change, and hoping to get “buy in” from students supporting the ordinance change.

This brief was filed from city council chambers. A more detailed report on the meeting will follow: [link]

Wired magazine reports on a new approach to controlling traffic lights, aimed at achieving “the green wave” of traffic flow. The article quotes UM engineering professor Gábor Orosz: “It’s very interesting – the approach is adaptive and the system can react. That’s how it should be – that’s how we can get the most out of our current system.” [Source]

Ann Arbor City Council Sunday night caucus (Sept. 19, 2010): Most residents who attended the council’s informal Sunday night meeting seemed to be keen to focus the night’s discussion on one of two topics: a possible ban on porch couches; or the future of the Library Lot on Fifth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor. An underground parking garage is currently being constructed there, but no decision has been made about what, if anything, to build on top.

A specific suggestion for one of various amenities that could be constructed on the lot came from Haskell Rothstein: giant chess boards, with giant pieces. Already during pre-caucus chatter, Rothstein had opened the topic of giant chess boards on the Library Lot, and that conversational gambit prompted an interesting revelation from Alex de Parry: It turns out that de Parry’s father was a chess player of some distinction, once playing Bobby Fischer to a draw.

De Parry, of course, is developer of a proposed 154-bedroom residential project called Heritage Row, which would have been located on Fifth Avenue, a few squares south of the Library Lot. Heritage Row was rejected by the council at its June 21, 2010 meeting, on a 7-4 vote in favor of it, falling one vote short of the super-majority needed to approve the planned unit development (PUD) project. The super-majority was needed because of a protest petition filed by nearby property owners.

Heritage Row was brought back for reconsideration at a subsequent council meeting on July 6, 2010, but again failed, that time on a 7-3 vote. It was nearly brought back a third time – on that same evening. But Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) abandoned the effort in the middle of a parliamentary procedure that had appeared momentarily would result in another vote, this time with Hohnke providing the deciding vote in favor of Heritage Row. Hohnke had voted against the project on both previous occasions.

De Parry has an already approved “matter of right” 144-bedroom project in the same location as Heritage Row – called City Place. Approved last year, the City Place project contrasts with Heritage Row in that it would demolish seven existing houses and replace them with a streetscape consisting of two buildings separated by a parking lot. In the Heritage Row project, the seven houses would be renovated, and three additional buildings would be constructed behind them, with parking located under the site.

De Parry would like to begin construction in May 2011 – on either Heritage Row or City Place – and he indicated at the caucus meeting that the necessary lead time for permitting means that work on construction drawings needs to start now. So de Parry’s negotiations with city councilmembers to bring back Heritage Row for reconsideration have entered the end game.

During the caucus conversation, de Parry discussed with Mike Anglin (Ward 5) and Sabra Briere (Ward 1) – the only two councilmembers present at the caucus – the meetings and correspondence they’d had with each other and other councilmembers on the possibility that changes to Heritage Row might win a third consideration from the council. Previously, Anglin and Briere had both voted against the project, as did Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) and Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3). So one of those four would need to see significant enough modifications in Heritage Row to change their vote.

On Sunday evening, however, Briere told de Parry: “As near as I can tell, nobody is budging.” De Parry then indicated to Briere and Anglin: “We’re going to start on the other project [City Place].” Briere’s reply: “I mourn that.”

Additional topics discussed at the caucus included porch couches, panhandling, the future of the Library Lot, religious tolerance, and the format of the caucus meeting itself.
[Full Story]

Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education meeting (Sept. 15, 2010): As part of a full agenda during its first meeting since the start of the school year, the Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) board of education appointed the district’s deputy superintendent of operations, Robert Allen, as its interim superintendent.

The transition to Allen from current superintendent Todd Roberts will occur on a date between Sept. 30 and Oct. 11. This will make the next regular board meeting on Sept. 29 Roberts’ last before he leaves to take his new post in North Carolina.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Lee Ann Dickinson-Kelley was named as the next deputy superintendent of instruction, and Ruth Williams, a recently-retired AAPS principal, will be hired to fill Dickinson-Kelley’s current role as administrator of elementary education.

In other business, the board approved offering two alternate paths to a high school diploma: the Early College Alliance or the WAY Washtenaw program. New computers were approved for the district’s food service program. And the board set parameters for the interviews it will hold next Wednesday with five consulting firms it is considering for help with the superintendent search. [Full Story]

University of Michigan Board of Regents meeting (Sept. 16, 2010): This month’s public meeting of the regents lasted just over an hour and included some unusual elements, along with the usual fare.

Board chair Julia Darlow read a brief statement near the start of the meeting, stating support for anyone in the university community who comes under attack for their identity – an oblique reference to what’s been characterized as the cyber-bullying of Chris Armstrong, the Michigan Student Assembly president. Armstrong, who is gay, is the target of  the “Chris Armstrong Watch” blog, maintained by Andrew Shirvell, a state assistant attorney general.

Later in the meeting during his regular report on MSA activities, Armstrong criticized the Ann Arbor city council for its recent proposal to ban porch couches, noting that although he planned to meet with some councilmembers later that day, they had not consulted students before taking action on the issue. At their Sept. 20 meeting, council is expected to vote on an ordinance amendment to ban upholstered furniture on porches.

Also during Thursday’s meeting, regents approved renovations and upgrades for several facilities on campus. The vote for a high-profile project to add permanent night lighting at Michigan Stadium passed without comment, while a seemingly innocuous elevator replacement at South Quad yielded an uncharacteristic, albeit relatively brief, discussion about long-term planning for the renovation of that dorm.

Regents heard a presentation about the research work being done at UM’s Institute for Social Research, given by ISR’s director, James Jackson. They also heard from Stephen Forrest, UM’s vice president for research, that the university had for a second year passed the $1 billion mark in research expenditures for fiscal 2009-10, increasing 12% over the previous year.

Not faring as well are donations to the university. Jerry May, vice president for development, reported that contributions dropped 4% to $254 million during 2009-10, which ended June. 30. However, there was an uptick in the last half of that fiscal year and the first two months of this year, which May described as “very healthy.”

The meeting concluded with one speaker during public commentary. Douglas Smith criticized regents Andrew Richner and Andrea Fischer Newman for, among other things, failing to deliver on a campaign promise to hold tuition increases to the rate of inflation. Noting that the two Republicans were running for re-election, he urged the public to vote against them in November. After his remarks, three of the Democrats on the board came to the two Republicans’ defense. [Full Story]

The BBC reports on the rising cost of a college degree, and includes a look at UM: “Students resplendent in their Michigan sweatshirts and baseball caps (Americans love their college branding) strolled the impressive campus, registering for classes, and signing up for the fraternity and sorority houses. At the season’s opening football game, the Michigan Wolverines ran out in front of an astonishing 113,000 fans at the ‘Big House’, the expensively revamped stadium that is the largest university sports arena in the country. But here, as elsewhere, tough questions are being asked about lavish spending on facilities and sporting programmes when tuition fees, and class sizes, continue to rise.” [Source]

The Detroit Free Press reports that several hundred law enforcement officials traveled to Chrysler’s Chelsea proving grounds on Saturday, where the Michigan State Police road-tested possible replacements for the Crown Victoria, which Ford is discontinuing next year. Other options include Ford’s Police Interceptor, the Dodge Charger Pursuit police car and GM’s Chevrolet Caprice police car. The Free Press reports that preliminary results from three-day tests are expected in several weeks, with final results published in December. [Source]

Writing on the Poynter Institute’s Biz Blog about hyperlocal news publications like EveryBlock and AOL’s Patch, Rick Edmonds gives The Ann Arbor Chronicle a shout-out: “Those hyperlocal sites that have hit a sweet spot in news and commerce – West Seattle Blog, Dallas South News or Ann Arbor Chronicle – often combine an underserved and reasonably populous geography, a hard-working proprietor and some journalistic chops. But these strike me as eccentric (in a good way) exceptions, not the rule. The cookie-cutter sites, especially, seem to lack depth, heft and timeliness of content that would bring readers frequently or cause them to linger.” [Source]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting (Sept. 15, 2010): In a meeting remarkable mainly for its brevity – lasting less than 30 minutes – county commissioners on Wednesday passed several resolutions, ranging from approval of a millage that funds services for indigent veterans to new fees for remote-access online searching and copying of land records from the county register of deeds database.

No one spoke during any of the four opportunities for public commentary, nor did anyone speak at a public hearing for the indigent veterans millage. The board set another public hearing for Oct. 6 to seek input on an economic development millage it plans to levy.

Also during Wednesday’s meeting, the board passed the five-year master plan for Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation, and gave initial approval to backing a bond for a $2.8 million Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority project. The project will include a facility upgrade to handle single-stream recycling.

The board also approved a $6.5 million first-quarter budget and personnel changes for the Community Support & Treatment Services (CSTS) department, which operates under a fiscal year that’s aligned with the state and begins on Oct. 1. CSTS is in the process of merging with the Washtenaw Community Health Organization (WCHO), a partnership between the county and the University of Michigan Health System. The board got an update on that merger at its Sept. 16 working session. [Full Story]

Bloomberg reports on a discussion Charles Munger recently had with students at UM’s Ross School of Business. Munger, the business partner of billionaire Warren Buffet and vice chairman of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., shared his views on philanthropy from a millionaire’s perspective: “I believe Costco does more for civilization than the Rockefeller Foundation. I think it’s a better place. You get a bunch of very intelligent people sitting around trying to do good, I immediately get kind of suspicious and squirm in my seat.” [Source]

Most Michigan voters don’t want to raise the age for getting Social Security or Medicare as a way to tackle the federal fiscal crisis, according to a survey by the Detroit Free Press and WXYZ-TV. A Free Press article about the survey quotes Michael Traugott of the UM Center for Political Studies: “I think at some level, there is concern about the deficit. If 98% (of people) get a tax break and only 2% pay more, that seems all right.” [Source]

The Heisman Trophy had humble beginnings. In 1935, the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City – a private organization with no ties to the NCAA or any major football conference or team – decided to give an award to the best player in college football. The next year, when the Club’s most famous member, John Heisman, died of pneumonia, the members named the award after him.

They made a fine choice. Heisman went to Brown University as an undergrad, and the University of Pennsylvania for his law degree before becoming a coach in 1892. He coached at six colleges, including Georgia Tech, where he led his team to a 33-game winning streak. Many historians consider him the father of the forward pass. And, on the side, Heisman was a skilled Shakespearean actor.

But his best line was his own. To start the season each fall, he would hold a football in his hand and tell his players, “Men, it is better to die as a young boy than to drop this ball.”

It did not take long for Heisman’s trophy to gain prestige. Today it’s probably the best-known trophy awarded to an American athlete. But, there is a catch: The winner has to be an eligible amateur athlete. [Full Story]

At its Sept. 16, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board approved the organization’s operation budget for fiscal year 2011, which starts Oct. 1, 2010 and goes through Sept. 30, 2011. The FY 2011 budget calls for a total of $27,030,407 in expenses, among them a provision for a 2% merit-based increase in non-union staff compensation, with an additional 1% bonus for the organization’s top performers.

This brief was filed from the board meeting. A complete report on the meeting will follow: [link]

At its Sept. 16, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board voted to extend a three-year contract to RideConnect – a partnership of WATS, Washtenaw County, WAVE and People’s Express – valued at $200,000 per year.  The contract will be paid by federal and state funds designated specifically to aid the coordination between public transit and human services transportation needs.

This brief was filed from the board meeting. A detailed report on the meeting will follow: [link]

At its Sept. 16, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board approved another five-year MRide agreement with the University of Michigan to provide transportation for UM faculty, students and staff.

Under the agreement, which runs from 2010-2015, UM affiliates will continue to board without paying a fare, with UM paying the AATA $1 per boarding. Early in the negotiations, the possibility of charging some cost back to riders – using the swipeable card technology of the new AATA fare boxes – was eliminated from further discussion.

When added to the per-boarding payment, $800,000-$900,000 of federal funds – received by UM and included as a part of the MRide deal – will result in an estimated $2,370,000 payment by UM to the … [Full Story]

The Ann Arbor Newshawks have produced an educational film on the city of Ann Arbor’s new leaf collection program, which eliminates the twice-seasonal event of raking leaves into the street for pickup en mass in favor of an approach that requires residents to place leaves in carts or paper bags – containers. The Newshawks have succeeded in producing almost 10 minutes of film on the topic without deploying the word “containerize,” yet also manage to provide many useful suggestions for city residents who are struggling to contend with the new system. The film-within-a-film begins at the YouTube timestamp 2:15.   [Source]

Ann Arbor Public Art Commission meeting (Sept. 14, 2010): A proposed mural program, still in its formative stages, is being developed by AAPAC’s newest commissioner, Jeff Meyers, as a way to generate more public art in the community. At Tuesday’s meeting, Meyers presented a draft proposal for the effort, which aims to fund two murals during the current fiscal year from the city’s Percent for Art program, with the goal of eventually creating four murals each year.

The commission also got an update on bids from potential fabricators of the water sculpture designed by Herbert Dreiseitl at the new municipal center. Two companies made bids, and both came in over the $458,000 fabrication budget. (That’s part of the total $737,820 project budget, not including design fees.) Project manager Ken Clein of Quinn Evans Architects is working with the firms to lower the bids before making a selection.

AAPAC members had also hoped to hear good news about filling one of two vacancies on the commission. Lee Doyle, a member of the University of Michigan President’s Advisory Committee for Public Art who also oversees the UM Film Office, was interested in joining AAPAC. But on Tuesday, commissioners were told that mayor John Hieftje, who makes nominations to the commission, instead wants to appoint someone who resides in Ann Arbor – Doyle lives outside the city. This news prompted a discussion of AAPAC’s role in soliciting people to serve.

Other agenda items included updates on projects in West Park and the proposed Fuller Road Station, a draft of guidelines for working with the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, and approval of AAPAC’s annual report. [Full Story]

UM law professor David Moran writes a commentary piece in the Detroit Free Press about a case the Michigan Supreme Court will be considering that would set a one-year limit for the appeal of prisoner convictions. Moran, who is co-director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, writes: “Since the Michigan Innocence Clinic opened last year, we have exonerated three men who had served a total of 25 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. The new evidence we presented in those cases not only clearly established our clients’ innocence (the prosecutors dropped the charges in all three cases) but also identified the real perpetrators. The proposal would effectively shut us down and would mean that almost all prisoners with … [Full Story]

WXYZ Channel 7 Action News, Detroit’s ABC affiliate, reports that state assistant attorney general Andrew Shirvell has been using his blog to attack Chris Armstrong, president of the Michigan Student Assembly, criticizing him for his openly gay lifestyle and “radical homosexual agenda.” The report quotes a cyber bullying expert who states that the blog meets the definition of cyber bullying. Attorney general Mike Cox issued a statement saying “I don’t agree with Mr. Shirvell’s tactics, his judgment, or his word choice but nonetheless I recognize his non-work related blog is protected by our Constitution.” [Source]

At its Sept. 15, 2010 meeting, the Ann Arbor Public Schools board of education approved the recommendation brought by superintendent Todd Roberts that deputy superintendent of operations Robert Allen be appointed interim superintendent.  Allen will assume his new position no later than Oct. 11, freeing Roberts to head to his new post as chancellor of the North Carolina School of Science and Math sooner than originally anticipated.  Roberts also announced a series of additional administrative appointments he will make this week to fill in the rest of the district’s top positions.

This brief was filed shortly after the meeting concluded. A full report of the other appointments, as well as the other business conducted at the meeting, will follow: [link]

On Monday morning, the respective “mutually beneficial” committees (MBCs) of the city council and the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority continued their work on renegotiating the parking agreement under which the DDA manages the city’s parking system.

The discussion provided some clarity about what’s feasible with respect to the DDA’s role in enforcing parking regulations. And though parking enforcement appeared ready to slide completely off the table at the last committee meeting due to practical concerns, it appears now that the issue could be back in play, at least from the perspective of technical feasibility.

Concerns of Main Street merchants were also aired at the meeting, with Maura Thomson, executive director of the Main Street Area Association, addressing the two committees to suggest that any additional payment by the DDA to the city be partially earmarked for downtown public safety – that is, downtown police patrols.

But the highlight of the meeting was a more fleshed-out version of an outline that DDA executive director Susan Pollay provided, which describes a process by which the DDA would lead the community in comprehensive site-planning for the downtown’s city-owned surface parking lots, based on work that’s been done over the last half-decade – including the Calthorpe process, the A2D2 rezoning process, and the downtown plan.

DDA board member Russ Collins wanted to know if the process addressed any specifics regarding payments from the DDA to the city. Pollay responded to Collins by acknowledging that DDA board member Newcombe Clark – who does not serve on the DDA’s MBC – was keen to see the DDA purchase land from the city as part of the process. She indicated that would be a topic addressed by the DDA at its retreat, scheduled for Sept. 22.

However, the focus for Monday morning’s meeting, said Pollay, was not on the idea of land purchases, but rather on a comprehensive site-planning process: If the process feels like it resonates, she said, then the discussion could move on later to include land purchases. City councilmember Carsten Hohnke then zeroed in on a crucial question: “How do we come to a conclusion it’s resonating?” [Full Story]

At its Sept. 15, 2010 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners gave final approval to year-round dog license renewals, with the added option of a three-year dog license. Currently, a one-year dog license is available for purchase starting Dec. 1 for the upcoming year. Dog owners have until March 1 to buy a one-year license before their previous license expires. The board also approved a new fee schedule: Licenses will cost $1 a month for a maximum of 3 years for spayed or neutered dogs, or $2 a month for unaltered dogs.

This report, filed just after the board meeting adjourned, will be followed by a detailed article: [link]