Archive for April, 2011

Writing for Poor Mojo’s Newswire, occasional columnist for The Ann Arbor Chronicle David Erik Nelson comments on The Chronicle’s Open Meetings Act lawsuit, which was recently dismissed: “But, even with all this failure, we–the folks that live in Ann Arbor–still get a slightly better government, because there is one small kind of fuckery that *isn’t* gonna happen any more. … So that’s what the Press is for: The reduction of fuckery.” [Source]

Writing in The Courant, editor Gary Wellings comments on a  joint meeting of the Northfield Township board and planning commission that took place on March 22, 2011. During the meeting, the resignation of board member Dan Rowe was accepted. His replacement, Mike Magda, was appointed the same evening: “… I find it odd that a resignation can be accepted and a replacement made so quickly and seemingly spontaneously in one session of the Board. It is frankly obvious that many Board members are discussing the public business in private. That is a total lack of transparency and may well be a violation of open meetings rules.”

Wellings concludes by looking ahead: “… thanks to Mike Magda for stepping up, he has been … [Full Story]

If you’re not a Michigan football fan, you probably haven’t heard of Vada Murray, but you might have seen his picture. It’s one of those iconic images of Michigan football, along with Tom Harmon standing in his mud-soaked, torn-apart jersey, and Desmond Howard diving to catch a touchdown pass against Notre Dame.

But the photo I’m talking about shows Vada Murray and Tripp Welborne soaring skyward to block a field goal. They were a kicker’s nightmare. But even when they got a hand on the ball, it simply denied their opponent three points. That’s not the kind of thing that wins you a Heisman Trophy or an NFL contract. They don’t even keep records of those things.

But more than two decades later, something about that photo still resonates. Maybe it’s because it captures their effort, their intensity, their passion – all of it spent just to give their teammates a slightly better chance for success. There is something noble in that. And we recognize it – which is why they’ve been selling that photo at the frame store on Ann Arbor’s Main Street for years, right along side the legendary poses of Harmon and Howard. [Full Story]

A tentative proposal for the governance structure of a countywide transit authority received strong disapproval from some Washtenaw County commissioners at their April 7, 2011 working session. A governance plan is being developed as part of a countywide master transit plan that’s been in the works for more than a year. [Chronicle coverage of AATA countywide planning to date: "'Smart Growth' to Fuel Countywide Transit"]

On Thursday, staff of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) and the Washtenaw Area Transportation Study (WATS) presented a possible transit authority board structure that would administer a countywide system. The proposed board would include 15 members, seven of them from Ann Arbor. [.pdf of proposed board seats] The assumption underpinning such a structure is that Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti would keep their current transportation millages, in addition to whatever countywide transit millage might be approved by county voters to fund an expanded transportation system. Before any countywide transportation millage would be put on the ballot, a countywide governance structure would first need to be established. It’s the countywide transportation authority board – likely to be incorporated under the state’s Act 196 – that would then place a countywide millage on the ballot.

Commissioner Wes Prater expressed serious reservations about the governance plan, and was “flabbergasted” that it had been developed to such an extent without input from the county board. One possible approach to creating a countywide transit authority would require the county board to ratify membership of a transit authority board, though the county would not be responsible for funding it or for putting a transit millage on the ballot. Commissioner Kristin Judge was concerned about putting too much of a financial burden on residents.

Terri Blackmore, WATS executive director, stressed that the plans were still in the early development stage and they were seeking feedback from elected officials in communities across the county. Another work session for county commissioners is scheduled on the topic on June 2.

This brief was filed soon after adjournment from the boardroom in the Washtenaw County administration building, 220 N. Main St., Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

About 50 residents gathered at Ann Arbor’s Abbot Elementary School late last month to get an update – and raise concerns – over a new consent judgment that changes the cleanup requirements of 1,4 dioxane contamination caused by the former Gelman Sciences manufacturing plant in Scio Township.

Mitch Adelman, a supervisor with the Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality’s remediation division, began the March 30 meeting by acknowledging the crowd’s reaction to the new agreement, which was issued earlier in the month without opportunity for public input. “I don’t expect anything I say or do tonight to alleviate your anger or frustration,” he said.

But Adelman noted that if a company like Pall – which owns the former Gelman Sciences site – proposes a remediation plan that complies with state law, “we’re obligated to accept it.”

For nearly three hours, Adelman and Sybil Kolon, MDEQ’s project manager for the Pall site, gave an update and answered questions about the new consent judgment, the history of the cleanup, and what residents might expect in the coming years. They were challenged throughout the evening by people who’ve been following this situation closely – most notably by Roger Rayle, a leader of Scio Residents for Safe Water and member of the county’s Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane (CARD). Rayle has been tracking the dioxane plume for many years, and presented his own graphical renderings of data to the group.

The meeting was attended by several elected officials: Ann Arbor city councilmembers Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5); Ann Arbor Township supervisor Mike Moran; county commissioner Yousef Rabhi (District 11); and Sarah Curmi, chief of staff for state Sen. Rebekah Warren, whose district covers a large portion of Washtenaw County, including Ann Arbor and Scio Township, where the plume is concentrated. [Full Story]

At its April 6, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners gave initial approval to changes in the county’s grading/soil erosion sedimentation control ordinance. The changes, which would take effect on July 1, 2011, include: (1) increased fees for most applications, with one decrease in fees for certain types of commercial projects; (2) a new transfer fee for required inspections when property changes ownership; and (3) elimination of the Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Appeals Board. [.pdf of ordinance draft changes proposed] Board members are expected to take a final vote on this item at their April 20, 2011 meeting.

This brief was filed from the boardroom in the Washtenaw County administration building, 220 N. Main St., Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow. [Full Story]

At its April 6, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board came to a consensus that it was not ready to comply with the city of Ann Arbor’s financial request in negotiations on the parking contract currently being worked out between the two entities.

Specifically, the DDA board consensus was that it could – as it had previously discussed at a March 30 operations committee meeting – pay the city 16% of gross parking revenues for each year of the contract. But the city would like the DDA to pay 16% in the first two years of the new agreement, and 17.5% in years thereafter. Sandi Smith, who serves on both the city council and the DDA board, floated a proposal that would set the payment in the first five years at 16% and thereafter at 17.5%. But the DDA board did not reach a clear consensus on anything except that they could not meet the city’s 16-16-17.5% request.

The most recent background to the city-DDA negotiations includes a series of Monday morning meetings between the city council and the DDA board’s “mutually beneficial” committees. At a Monday, March 28 meeting, the city council’s team asked their DDA counterparts to convey a request to the full DDA board to reconsider the board’s previous consensus, reached at a full-board retreat. That consensus, as part of renegotiating a parking agreement with the city, was that the DDA would pay the city a percentage-of-gross parking revenues – 14% in the first two years of a future contract, and 15% in years thereafter. The city’s position since January has been that the DDA should pay the city 16% of gross parking revenues in the first two years of the contract and 17.5% in years thereafter.

At a Wednesday, March 30 DDA committee meeting, attended by 10 of 12 DDA board members, they reconsidered the city’s request and reached a consensus that they could live with 16% in the first two years, and for remaining years as well – but not the 17.5% requested by the city. That 1.5% difference translates to $270,000, based on roughly $18 million in revenues projected for fiscal year 2014, which would be the third year of the contract.

At another morning meeting of the mutually beneficial committees on April 4, city councilmembers had asked the DDA committee to take back to their full board a request to reconsider the flat 16% position and to think about increasing the figure to 17.5% in the third year and years thereafter. It was that request that was considered by the DDA board on April 6.

This brief was filed from DDA offices at 150 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report of the board meeting will follow: [link] [Full Story]

Ghostly International has posted a compilation of songs, available for download, in partnership with TEDxUofM 2011, a daylong event featuring speakers on the topic of encouraging crazy ideas: “Music for Ideas is meant to awaken the creative flow, the tenet on which TEDxUofM 2011 is based.” The University of Michigan’s version of the popular TED talks will be held on Friday, April 8 at the Michigan Theater and streamed live over the Internet. [Source]

At its April 6, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board authorized signing a new five-year lease for its office space at 150 S. Fifth Ave.

Under terms of its current lease, which expires on June 30, 2011, the DDA pays $26 per square foot for 3,189 square feet of office space. Under terms of the new lease, the DDA would pay $16.75 per square foot in the first year of the five-year deal, for a total of $53,415. After the first year, the amount would increase to $17.25, $18, $18.75 and $19.50 per square foot.

The decision to renew the lease came in the context of mayor John Hieftje’s announcement at the April 4 city council meeting that he’d be inviting the DDA board to consider moving the DDA offices to newly renovated space in the city hall building. But at the Wednesday DDA board meeting, he indicated that he’d discussed the lease with DDA board member Roger Hewitt and understood that securing just a one-year renewal of the lease would mean agreeing to the less favorable terms of the current lease. Hieftje voted for the five-year lease extension, along with the rest of the board.

This brief was filed from DDA offices at 150 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report of the board meeting will follow: [link]
[Full Story]

The Detroit Free Press reports that Chris Armstrong, president of the University of Michigan’s student government, filed a lawsuit last week against Andrew Shirvell, a former Michigan assistant attorney general. The lawsuit claims that Shirvell stalked Armstrong “and inflicted emotional distress last year by posting alleged defamatory statements on a blog as part of a ‘bizarre personal obsession’ that included calling him a Nazi, Ku Klux Klan member and a ‘radical homosexual activist,’” according to the filing. [Source]

The April edition of Hour Detroit magazine includes a review of Logan restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor, calling it “daring and capable and worth a look.” More from the review: “(Ann Arbor’s) dining-experience, magnet restaurants of white-linen and expense-account fame, such as Escoffier and Moveable Feast, closed some years ago, and the top end has remained vacant – until quite recently. Logan is the first in ages to successfully attain the upper-category distinction. It’s now one of only a handful of fine-dining restaurants in the broader metro Detroit region. The food is excellent; the wine list is original, smart, and solid. Yet, Logan has the look and informality of a casual restaurant.” [Source]

Ann Arbor City Council meeting (April 4, 2011): At its Monday meeting, the council focused much of its time discussing the future of downtown Ann Arbor.

Councilmembers voted on two major downtown-related agenda items – one affecting the immediate future of an individual parcel, the city-owned Library Lot. The other item involves a process by which the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority would lead the planning of development for multiple downtown parcels, including the Library Lot.

The council voted, over dissent from two of its members, to end the RFP process for the Library Lot and to reject a draft letter of intent they’d discussed at a March 14 work session, which would have called for the city to work with Valiant Partners to craft a development agreement for construction of a conference center and hotel on the lot. The Ann Arbor DDA is currently building a roughly 640-space underground parking garage on that parcel.

Based on a separate resolution passed by the council, the future use of the Library Lot could emerge from a process to be led by the DDA. The council required lengthy deliberations before narrowly approving an amendment that reduced the area of focus for the DDA-led process. The amendment limited the area to the square bounded by Ashley, Division, Liberty and William streets, which would include the Library Lot on South Fifth Avenue, the Kline Lot on Ashley, the old YMCA Lot at Fifth and William, and the Palio Lot at Main and William.

The resolution on the DDA-led process is part of a broader ongoing negotiation between the city and the DDA, related to the contract under which the DDA operates the city’s public parking system. That contract is being renegotiated, and since January, the city has not budged from its position that the DDA should pay the city a percentage-of-gross parking revenue of 16% in the contract’s first two years and 17.5% in years thereafter. It appears that the DDA board is gradually conceding to the city’s bargaining position. That will become clearer at the DDA board meeting on Wednesday, April 6.

The city’s negotiating position is based in part on the idea that the DDA is, as mayor John Hieftje has described it, “an arm of the city.” Hieftje’s view of the DDA as part of the city was further accentuated on Monday, when he announced at the end of the council’s meeting that he would be inviting the DDA to move its offices into newly-renovated space in the city hall building. The DDA currently leases space about a block south of city hall.

Also a part of Monday’s downtown-themed meeting was initial approval the council gave to a revision to the city’s ordinance on panhandling. That ordinance revision – which added some areas where panhandling is prohibited – will require a second reading and a public hearing in front of the council before it can be enacted.

An additional part of the downtown discussion came at the start of the council’s meeting, with a presentation on work being done to plan and study the 415 W. Washington parcel for future use as a center for artists and as a greenway park.

In non-downtown business, the council accepted a series of easements that will set the stage for TIGER II grant funds – already awarded by the federal government – to be formally obligated to the city. At stake is $13.1 million, which is currently still part of a continuing resolution for the federal budget. But that continuing resolution expires April 8, so the council was acting with some urgency.

The council also gave necessary approvals for a bus pullout to be constructed on Washtenaw Avenue, and authorized emergency purchase orders for furniture. And the council heard a presentation from Andrew Brix, the city’s energy programs manager, about efforts to increase the percentage of renewable energy that the city uses. [Full Story]

The Wall Street Journal reports that Ann Arbor-based Borders Group, the bookstore chain that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year, is planning to move its headquarters to Detroit, where it can rent cheaper office space. From the report: “Presenting its business plan to an unsecured creditors committee, predominantly made up of publishers and landlords, Borders also plans to say it has now closed about 50 superstores as part of efforts to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to people familiar with the matter. Altogether, Borders will close 226 by the end of next month, although a handful of additional stores could be closed, depending on negotiations with landlords, the people said.” [Source]

At its April 5, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor planning commission unanimously recommended approval of amendments to the city code that establish a design review board and design review procedures for certain downtown properties.

The city council had approved design guidelines at their Feb. 7, 2011 meeting, as well as a temporary design review committee, but asked the planning staff and planning commission to draft ordinances that would lay out details of a design review program in the city’s code. The review process would take place before the mandatory citizen participation meeting, so that the design review board’s comments could be incorporated into the project’s design before it’s presented to citizens. Though the review process is mandatory, developers aren’t required to act on the review board’s recommendations.

This brief was filed from the boardroom in the Washtenaw County administration building, where the planning commission is meeting due to renovations in the city hall building. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

Local historian Laura Bien posts a 3-minute video on YouTube that documents her drive from downtown Ypsilanti to Saline, on her way to give a talk to the Saline Area Historical Society on April 3, 2011. The video includes scenes from the historic Rentschler Farm. [Source]

Washtenaw County apportionment commission meeting (March 31, 2011): The county’s apportionment commission convened its first meeting last week, starting the task of reviewing census data to redraw districts of the county board of commissioners, based on population shifts.

By law, the apportionment commission has five members: The county clerk (Larry Kestenbaum), county treasurer (Catherine McClary), county prosecuting attorney (Brian Mackie), and the chairs of both the county Republican and Democratic parties (Mark Boonstra and Cleveland Chandler). Aside from Boonstra, all members are Democrats. Their first order of business was to elect a chair – Kestenbaum was nominated and elected unanimously.

Kestenbaum had briefed the county board at its Feb. 3, 2011 working session, describing the process that unfolds every 10 years after block-by-block census data is released. There are currently 11 districts for the board – before 2001, there were 15. Though it’s legally possible to have as few as 5 districts or as many as 21, it seems unlikely – based on comments at Thursday’s meeting – that the number of districts in Washtenaw County will increase or decrease dramatically.

At their meeting, the apportionment commission approved the expenditure of $3,000 for software to help in developing a redistricting plan. They also picked dates for three meetings to get public input on the redistricting, as well as a possible final meeting date when they might make a decision on which redistricting plan to adopt – assuming that more than one plan is proposed.

The public hearings will be held in different parts of the county: (1) on Saturday, April 9 at 4 p.m. in the Pittsfield Township hall; (2) on Saturday, April 16 at 11 a.m. at a to-be-determined location on the west side of the county; and (3) on Thursday, April 21 at 5:30 p.m. at a to-be-determined location in Ypsilanti or Ypsilanti Township. Another commission meeting is set for Thursday, April 28 at 5:30 p.m. in Ann Arbor. [Full Story]

Ron Weiser, an Ann Arbor businessman and former chairman of the Michigan GOP, is being named finance chairman of the national Republican Party, according to a report in the Detroit News. Weiser told The News: “This is an extraordinary opportunity for me to be able to work with the new chairman Reince Priebus and a national team of like-minded people who are concerned about the future of this country and make a difference. The chairman made the decision and I’m pleased that he did. I intend to do this on a full-time basis until we achieve our goal, which is a victory in November 2012.” [Source]

During his communications period at the conclusion of the Ann Arbor city council’s April 4, 2011 meeting, mayor John Hieftje announced that he and councilmember Sandi Smith (Ward 1) would be presenting the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority with an invitation to move its offices into newly renovated space on the lower level of city hall. That invitation will be made at the DDA’s Wednesday, April 6 board meeting. The DDA is currently contemplating signing a lease renewal for its existing space at 150 S. Fifth Ave.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 100 N. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its April 4, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved two emergency purchase orders for used furniture, but for different reasons.

The first purchase order was for $32,291 for used furniture – office cubicles and work stations – to be purchased from Steven C. Proehl Office Interiors. The furniture will go in the first and sixth floors of the city hall building, which are currently being renovated.

The staff memo describing the purchase order refers to a lease expiring for a Southfield, Mich. business, which has resulted in the availability of furniture at one-quarter to one-third the cost of the furniture on the regular used furniture market. The emergency purchase order is being requested to take advantage of the savings. Reportedly, one consequence of the used furniture acquisition is that the old chairs around the council table will be replaced.

The second purchase order was a supplement to one that the council had authorized at its Dec. 6, 2010 meeting, for $39,000 worth of furniture for the 15th District Court, housed in the city’s new municipal center. The court had anticipated being able to use furniture it already owned in some areas of the new facility, but an on-site inspection showed that it was not usable as anticipated. The resolution passed by the council at its April 4 meeting increased the purchase order by $17,240, to $56,240.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 100 N. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its April 4, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved the award of a construction contract worth $159,107 to Fonson Inc. The company will build a bus pullout as part of a bus transfer center on eastbound Washtenaw Avenue, east of Pittsfield Boulevard.

At the same meeting, the council also authorized the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority for the city to manage construction of the bus pullout – the project will be paid for with federal stimulus funds provided to the AATA. The AATA board authorized its side of the MOU at a special meeting held on April 1.

The bus pullout is part of a larger project – a transfer center on the south side of Washtenaw Avenue at Pittsfield Boulevard, opposite Arborland mall – which will include a “super shelter.” For now, only a center on the south side is being contemplated, because topographical and right-of-way issues pose challenges on the north side.

Construction on the bus pullout is to begin in April and be completed by June of this year.

The need for a transfer center at that Washtenaw Avenue location, of which the bus pullout is a part, stems from the termination in July 2009 of a previous arrangement with Arborland shopping center, which provided for a bus stop and transfer center in the Arborland parking lot.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 100 N. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its April 4, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved four items related to its East Stadium bridges replacement project: a road right-of-way easement from the University of Michigan for $563,400; two utilities easements from UM totaling $426,650; and an unrecorded water utilities easement.

The city was able to get the TIGER II federal funds formally “obligated” for that first right-of-way phase of the project – city council held a special meeting on March 16, 2011 to sign the necessary agreement.

The approval of the easements at the April 4 meeting will allow the city to proceed with getting $13.1 million of TIGER II grant funds obligated that have already been awarded for the second phase of the bridge replacement project. A continuing federal budget resolution passed by the U.S. Congress – which would preserve the TIGER II funding – expires on April 8. Previous proposals by House Republicans have included cuts that would have eliminated the TIGER II funding.

The council is acting with some urgency to get the funds obligated before the program is eliminated – if, in fact, it is eliminated.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 100 N. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its April 4, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council finally voted to approve a resolution that would establish a process to develop alternate uses of city-owned downtown surface parking lots, to be led by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. The vote was unanimous.

The council had considered but postponed the resolution at its March 7, 2011 meeting, and before that at its Jan. 18, 2011 meeting. At the March 7 meeting, Marcia Higgins (Ward 4) had complained that no revisions had been made to the resolution to accommodate objections made at the Jan. 18 meeting. [.pdf of the unamended resolution with the parcel-by-parcel plan] At that meeting, objections to the proposal included “resolved” clauses in the resolution that would (1) require placement of items on the city council’s agenda; and (2) under some circumstances require the city to reimburse the DDA for its expenses.

At the April 4 meeting, Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) offered amendments to the resolution that among other things added additional language about public process: “Solicit robust public input and conduct public meetings to determine residents’ parcel-level downtown vision.” Taylor also added clarifying language that would require the DDA to account for its direct costs and that they be reported along the way, in order to potentially have their costs reimbursed. Those amendments were undertaken as revisions to the resolution at the start of deliberations.

Sandi Smith (Ward 1) offered an amendment that confined the focus to the area bounded by William, Ashley, Liberty and Division streets, which passed on a 6-4 vote, with dissent from Taylor, Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5), Mike Anglin (Ward 5) and Tony Derezinski (Ward 2).

At its Jan. 5 board meeting, the Ann Arbor DDA board had approved a resolution urging passage of the council resolution, which had been circulated as early as the city council’s Dec. 20, 2010 meeting, when Taylor had attached a copy of the the draft resolution to the council’s meeting agenda, and alerted his council colleagues to it at that meeting

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 100 N. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its April 4, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council voted to formally end the review process for proposals that had been received in response to an RFP for the use of the city-owned Library Lot.

The council rejected a letter of intent (LOI) that had been presented in draft form at a March 14, 2011 work session, which would have called for the city to work with Valiant Partners over a four-month period to draft a development agreement for construction of a conference center and hotel at the South Fifth Avenue site. The Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority is currently constructing a roughly 640-space underground parking garage on the parcel.

The RFP review committee, which was charged with evaluating the proposals, had selected the Valiant Partners conference center and hotel proposal as the preferred one out of six responses to the city’s RFP. The name “Valiant” is an allusion to the University of Michigan fight song, which includes the line, “Hail to the victors, valiant.” The partners include prominent UM alums Fritz Seyferth and Bruce Zenkel. [Previous Chronicle coverage "Column: Library Lot – from Bottom to Top"]

Added on Friday, April 1 to the Ann Arbor city council’s April 4 agenda, the resolution to end the Library Lot RFP process was sponsored by mayor John Hieftje and councilmembers Christopher Taylor (Ward 3), Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) and Sandi Smith (Ward 1). Voting against the resolution were Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) and Margie Teall (Ward 4).

A vote on a final draft of the LOI – which was scheduled for the council’s April 19 meeting, along with a public hearing – will not take place.

Just after voting to reject Valiant’s proposal, the council considered a resolution to establish a process under which the Ann Arbor DDA would facilitate the development of downtown city-owned surface parking lots, which would now presumably include the top of the underground parking structure. That so-called parcel-by-parcel plan – somewhat of a misnomer, because it envisions the master planning of districts of the downtown, not individual parcels – has been considered by the city council at two previous meetings, but postponed.

When this brief was filed, the council had not yet finished deliberations on the DDA-led development plan.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 100 N. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its April 4, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council gave its initial approval to a revision to the city’s code on disorderly conduct – the part dealing with solicitation, which is more commonly known as panhandling. To be enacted, the ordinance revision will need a second vote by the council and a public hearing.

The revised ordinance prohibits panhandling in one generally-defined additional location (in or within 12 feet of a public alley) and one specific location (within 12 feet of the downtown location of the Ann Arbor District Library.) [.pdf of revisions to existing ordinance as they were drafted at the start of the April 4, 2011 meeting]

The proposal to revise the law grew out of a street outreach task force, which was appointed at the council’s Sept. 20, 2010 meeting and charged with developing cost-effective recommendations for addressing the issue of downtown panhandling and the needs of those who panhandle. [Previous Chronicle coverage: "Ann Arbor Task Force Consults Panhandlers"]

At the council’s March 21, 2011 meeting, the council received a report from two members of the task force – Maggie Ladd, executive director of the South University Area Association, and Charles Coleman, a project coordinator with Dawn Farm. A recommendation contained in the report included revising the city’s ordinance on solicitation to prohibit panhandling in additional locations. [.pdf of street outreach task force report]

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 100 N. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At the April 4, 2011 meeting of the Ann Arbor city council, a mayoral proclamation was issued, declaring Ann Arbor a “city of ONE.” ONE is an international group that works against extreme poverty and preventable disease by advocating for better development policies and trade reform. ONE’s board of directors includes Bono, lead singer of the band U2.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 100 N. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report of the meeting will follow: [link] [Full Story]