Archive for June, 2011

At its June 20, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council revised its calendar for the year to include a work session scheduled for July 11. While the staff memo accompanying the resolution indicates only that the additional session is due to “numerous activities developing in the city,” a likely topic to be addressed at the July 11 session is the city’s proposed Fuller Road Station.

Fuller Road Station would be located on what is now a city-owned surface parking lot south of Fuller Road, east of East Medical Center Drive. The parcel is included as parkland in the city’s park planning documents, which has generated opposition among some residents. The initial phase of the project is being planned by the city and the University of Michigan as a large parking structure with bus bays and a bike station, with plans eventually to build a train station on the same site.

At the council’s June 6 meeting, the Fuller Road Station had received extensive public commentary, despite the lack of any item on the agenda related directly to the project.

Partly in response to that commentary and to remarks from Mike Anglin (Ward 5), at that meeting Sabra Briere (Ward 1) pushed for a city council working session on the project. From The Chronicle’s report of that meeting: “Sabra Briere (Ward 1) anticipated mayor John Hieftje’s reaction to Anglin’s comments [Hieftje has pushed hard for the project] by telling the mayor that she knew he had a lot of thoughts about Fuller Road Station. But she thought the council should have a working session, so that councilmembers can become more knowledgable about the issue. Hieftje indicated that he would look into adding something to the calendar.”

The city’s park advisory commission received an update on Fuller Road Station at its May 17, 2011 meeting.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its June 20, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council adopted a new fund balance policy to comply with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement No. 54, and revised the city’s debt policy to include two new sections – one on defeasance of debt and another on inter-fund loans.

The new GASB standard requires a finer-grained explication of the components of a fund balance. The breakdown of fund balance categories is: (1) non-spendable – not in spendable form or legally/contractually unable to be spent; (2) restricted – constraints on funds placed by creditors or through enabling legislation; (3) committed – specific constraints placed on use of funds by the city council (for example, funds set aside by council resolution); (4) assigned – constrained by the intent of the city, but not restricted or committed (for example, those funds to which authority for assignment is given to the chief financial officer); and (5) unassigned – fund balance that does not fit into any other classification. [.pdf of fund balance policy]

The debt policy as it relates to inter-fund loans includes a provision that addresses the ability of the city to make loans to specific funds from the investment pool. [The city invests its fund balances in a pool, not for each fund.] The policy notes that while such inter-fund loads may be prudent in certain situations, they are ultimately backed by the city’s general fund. So such inter-fund loans should only be approved if the credit worthiness is high for the fund to which a loan is made. [.pdf of debt management policy]

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

Among the several items on the Ann Arbor city council’s June 20, 2011 meeting consent agenda, were two involving city contractors: Ann Arbor SPARK for $75,000, and Governmental Consultant Services Inc. (GCSI) for $48,000.

Items on the consent agenda are considered routine, and include contracts for less than $100,000.

The contact with the economic development agency Ann Arbor SPARK is one that has been renewed annually since the Washtenaw Development Council and Ann Arbor SPARK merged in 2006. Previously, Ann Arbor had contracted with the WDC for the business support services for which it now contracts with SPARK. On June 20, 2005, the city council authorized that one-year contract with WDC for $40,000. This year’s $75,000 contract with SPARK describes the organization’s focus as “building our innovation-focused community through continual proactive support of entrepreneurs, regional businesses, university tech transfer offices, and networking organizations.”

Ann Arbor SPARK is also the contractor hired by the city’s local development finance authority (LDFA), to operate a business accelerator for the city’s SmartZone, one of 11 such districts established in the early 2000s by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC). The SmartZone is funded by a tax increment finance (TIF) mechanism, which in the current fiscal year captured around $1.4 million in taxes from a TIF district (which is the union of the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority districts, though revenue is generated only in Ann Arbor’s district.) The specific taxes on which the increment since 2002 is captured are the school operating and state education taxes, which would otherwise be sent to the state and then redistributed back to local school districts.

GCSI’s Kirk Profit, a former member of the state House of Representatives, typically makes an annual presentation to the council with an update on state-level legislative issues relevant to the city’s budget situation. Written updates to councilmembers on legislative activity are sent on a weekly or daily basis.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its June 20, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved a new collective bargaining agreement with its police service specialist union for a contract that goes retroactively from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2013.

Key features of the contract are no wage increases and participating in the city’s health plan, which requires a contribution by employees to the cost. There are five members of the police service specialist union. They are civilians, who provide support services to police officers.

This leaves the contract with the much larger police officers union still unsettled – it expired on June 30, 2009.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. … [Full Story]

At its June 20, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council gave initial approval to purely technical changes to to a change to its ordinance on retiree benefits for non-union employees. For example, the phrase “three years” was revised to read “36 consecutive months.”

These were not, as the initially published version of this brief indicated, the changes to the pension ordinance that had been described in a resolution passed at the city council’s June 6 meeting.

Under the planned ordinance changes for the future, for new hires after July 1, 2011, the final average contribution (FAC) for the pension system would be based on the last five years of service, instead of the last three. Further, employees would be vested after 10 years instead of five, and all new non-union hires would be provided with an access-only style health care plan, with the opportunity to buy into whatever plan active employees enjoy.

The council will need to give a second and final approval of the technical changes to the ordinance change, after a public hearing, at a future meeting.

At its June 6 meeting, the council had passed a resolution directing the preparation of the ordinance change for non-union employees, and expressing an aspiration to eventually extend the same policy to union workers. At that meeting, chief financial officer Tom Crawford stressed that the potential savings to the city would not be realized immediately, but rather five to seven years in the future.

Also at the June 6 meeting, mayor John Hieftje attempted to head off potential criticism that such a policy should have been enacted sooner, by pointing out that the city had reduced the size of its work force over the last several years and had made few new hires in recent years.

In response to a request from The Chronicle, the city provided data on new hires made by the city since July 1, 2006. Of those 121 new hires, 49 are non-union positions; they would have translated into savings had the policy been enacted five years ago.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its June 20, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council gave final approval to a revision in its landscaping ordinance. The changes are intended to: (1) improve the appearance of vehicular use areas; (2) revise buffer requirements between conflicting land uses; (3) reduce negative impacts of stormwater runoff; (4) improve pedestrian movement within a development site; and (5) preserve existing significant vegetation.

Those benefits are meant to be achieved through several text amendments to the ordinance, which include: adding definitions for “bioretention” and “native or prairie plantings”; allowing the width of landscape buffers to vary; modifying requirements for interior landscape islands; prohibiting use of invasive species for required landscaping; and increasing fines for violation.

The city’s planning commission had given the ordinance change a unanimous recommendation at its March 1, 2011 meeting. The city council gave its initial approval to the landscaping ordinance change at its June 6 meeting. All city ordinances require a first and a second reading in front of the city council, after a public hearing, before final enactment.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its June 20, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council gave final approval to increases in water, sewer and stormwater rates.

In terms of revenue generated to the city, the rate increases are expected to generate 3.36% more for drinking water ($664,993), 4% more for the sanitary sewer ($829,481), and 3.35% more for stormwater ($176,915). [.pdf of complete utility rate changes as proposed]

According to the city, the rate increases are needed to maintain debt service coverage and to maintain funding for required capital improvements.

The city’s drinking water charges are based on a “unit” of 100 cubic feet – 748 gallons. Charges for residential customers are divided into tiers, based on usage. For example, the first seven units of water for residential customers have been charged at a rate of $1.23 per unit. The new residential rate for the first seven units is $1.27.

The city’s stormwater rates are based on the amount of impervious area on a parcel and are billed quarterly. For example, the lowest tier – for impervious area less than 2,187 square feet – has been $12.84 per quarter. Under the new rate structure, that increases to $13.24.

Water usage for Ann Arbor city residents is available online under the My Property tab. [You'll need your account number to access information.]

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

As part of a broader article on reform plans for the Detroit Public Schools, the Detroit Free Press reports that Eastern Michigan University will play a role in the newly formed Education Achievement System, part of an effort announced Monday to restructure DPS. The district’s failing schools will be overseen by an 11-member authority, including two members appointed by EMU. It will be run by the district’s emergency manager, Roy Roberts. [Source] EMU also issued a press release with more details on its role. [Source]

University of Michigan board of regents meeting (June 16, 2011): Despite dissent from two regents, the board approved tuition and fee increases for the coming school year, as part of its FY 2012 budget. Regents Denise Ilitch and Larry Deitch objected to the increase, saying it would become more difficult for middle- and working-class families to afford a Michigan education.

Tuition and fees will increase 6.7% for most in-state first- and second-year undergraduates at the Ann Arbor campus, for a total of $12,634 per year ($6,317 per term). Most out-of-state undergraduates will pay a total of $37,382 per year ($18,891 per term).

Voting against the tuition increases were regents Denise Ilitch and Larry Deitch. Ilitch has voted against increases for three straight years, but this is the first no vote for a tuition proposal that Deitch has cast in his 19-year tenure on the board. He objected to the higher percentage increase that in-state students were bearing compared to out-of-state students, as well as to the state-level budget process, which threatens additional state funding cuts for public universities if they raise tuition by more than 7%. He contends that the “cut-and-cap” approach results in tuition increases that are higher than they might otherwise be.

This is the second wave of increases for students this fall. At their May 19 meeting, regents had voted to raise residence hall rates at the Ann Arbor campus by 3%. The rate increase for Northwood Community Apartments – housing primarily for graduate students and families on UM’s north campus in Ann Arbor – is 1% for the 2011-12 academic year.

In presenting the budget at the June 16 meeting, university officials emphasized the context for these increases: The FY 2012 budget reflects a $47.5 million cut in UM’s state appropriation down to $268.8 million – a decline of 15% compared to FY 2011, and the lowest amount of state aid received since FY 1964, when adjusted for inflation. The budget attempts to soften the tuition hike by adding $9.2 million in student need-based financial aid.

Tuition makes up a large portion of the general fund operating budget. For the Ann Arbor campus, the budget of $1.58 billion in FY 2012, which begins July 1, reflects a 2.2% increase from FY 2011.

Regents also approved the FY 2012 budget for the UM Hospitals and Health Centers – revenues are projected at $2.169 billion, with a $23.5 million operating loss. The loss is due in large part to $89.4 million in costs related to the new C.S. Mott Children’s and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospitals, which open in November.

UM athletic director Dave Brandon gave a briefing on the athletic department budget, though it doesn’t require separate regental approval. The budget calls for a $11.4 million surplus and projected revenues of $121 million, including $45.5 million from ticket sales.

In addition to budget items, the board conducted other business during Thursday’s meeting, approving several construction projects – including a major renovation of Yost Ice Arena – and electing new officers: Ilitch as chair, and Deitch as vice chair. In her first action as board chair, Ilitch asked to enter a statement into the record. Though she didn’t read the statement or refer to its topic at the meeting, it was a response to a May 27, 2011 editorial in the Detroit Free Press about a resolution approved at the regents’ May 19 meeting. The resolution supported the right of graduate student research assistants to unionize.

That issue also arose at the meeting during public commentary. Dan Benefiel – a member of the Willow Run Tea Party Caucus and the Washtenaw County Republican Party executive committee – told regents he’s concerned that their decision will eventually lead to the unionization of college athletes. He called the vote a “leftist intrusion on American educational institutions.” [Full Story]

Heritage Newspapers reports on Saturday’s press conference of the Washtenaw County Action Team, launching an effort to help repeal state Public Act 4. The law, passed earlier this year, empowers emergency financial managers appointed by the governor to take over management of municipalities in the state that are under economic duress. Speaking at the event were Brit Satchwell, president of the Ann Arbor Education Association, state Sen. Rebekah Warren of Ann Arbor, state Rep. David Rutledge of the Ypsilanti area, Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber, Ann Arbor city councilmember Sabra Briere and Steve Norton, an Ann Arbor resident and K-12 schools activist. [Source]

Ann Arbor city council meeting (June 6, 2011, Part 2): At its first meeting in June, the council undertook amendments to both new medical marijuana ordinances, which it has been discussing in some form at least since June 7, 2010.

One ordinance concerns zoning – legislation that stipulates where medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation facilities can set up business. And the second ordinance concerns licensing – a law that describes how a maximum of 20 licenses in the first year will be awarded, and how a licensing board will be set up to evaluate applications.

Both ordinances have already received the council’s initial approval. But all ordinances require two approvals by the council and a public hearing. If an ordinance is amended in a significant way after the first approval, it needs an additional approval to count as the initial reading and approval in front of the council.

Revisions to the zoning ordinance made on June 6 involved wording changes like including “part of a building” in the definition of a dispensary. They were deemed not substantial enough to re-set the legislation to its first reading. So the council did not take a vote on anything except a set of amendments. The council postponed the vote on the ordinance as a whole, because that would have been the second and final vote, which would have enacted the zoning legislation. The licensing legislation was not able to receive its final approval that evening – and the council would like the zoning and the licensing ordinances to be enacted together.

The licensing ordinance could not receive its final approval, because it underwent substantial changes. Those included eliminating a requirement that effectively made the landlord give written permission for use of any leased property as a medical marijuana dispensary or cultivation facility. Also altered were two record-keeping requirements. A requirement on storing patient records was changed from one year to 30 days, with access to the information limited to patients themselves. And a requirement on cultivation source record-keeping was changed from an indefinite period to 60 days.

At its June 20 meeting, the council may take its final vote on both pieces of legislation.

For a description of the council’s business on June 6, 2011 that was unrelated to medical marijuana, see Part 1 of the meeting report: “Beyond Pot: Streets, Utilities, Design.” [Full Story]

In an article published by Michigan Today, University of Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon talks about the possibility of a mascot for UM: “We’re interested in doing a mascot but it has to be something that fans love, that children love and everyone can embrace. So far we haven’t figured out a way to do it. Until we come up with something we love, we don’t have a mascot.” [Source]

The Ann Arbor city clerk is preparing to send out the first group of absentee ballots to voters in the Aug. 2, 2011 Democratic primary elections. They’ll be sent on Monday, June 20 to voters in Ward 2, Ward 3 and Ward 5, where Democratic primary elections will be contested for the city council.

In Ward 2, voters will choose between incumbent Stephen Rapundalo and Tim Hull. In Ward 3, a three-way race will be contested by incumbent Stephen Kunselman, Ingrid Ault and Marwan Issa. In Ward 5, incumbent Mike Anglin faces Neal Elyakin. [Chronicle coverage of a recent candidate forum, broken down by ward: Ann Arbor Democratic Candidate Forum]

The last day to register to vote for the Aug. 2, … [Full Story]

In a post on Old House Web, Matt Grocoff of Ann Arbor writes about how to cool a house without air-conditioning: “Before you can naturally ventilate your old house, you must reactivate the original ventilation features of the house like the attic and basement windows. Many old homes have basement and attic windows that have been sealed shut. In some cases, these have been sealed to try to keep out moisture. Big mistake. Unfortunately, sealing up basement windows to keep out moisture ends up trapping moisture inside instead.” [Source]

In a column for The Atlantic magazine, Zingerman’s co-founder Ari Weinzweig reviews bacon from Herb Eckhouse and La Quercia in Iowa: “Having done a fair bit of research over the years while writing ‘Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon,’ I can tell you that a lot of the old sources list the Tamworths as hogs that were bred specifically to have their pork cured up into bacon. Herb told me pretty much what other sources have said as well – the belly meat from the Tamworth is supposed to be particularly tender. It’s also known for having a near-perfect balance of fat and lean, and its flavor gets particularly sweet during the maturing.” [Source]

My dad grew up in Scarsdale, New York – but, as he’s quick to point out, that was before it became “Scahsdahle.” His dad told him always to root for the underdog, and my dad took that seriously.

All his friends were Yankees fans, but Dad loved the Brooklyn Dodgers. A perfect Friday night for him, when he was a young teen, was to go up to his room with a Faygo Redpop, a Boy’s Life magazine – he was on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout – and listen to Red Barber reporting on the Dodgers’ game. He wouldn’t say something so prosaic as, “the bases are loaded,” but “the bases are saturated with humanity.”

Dad was a decent athlete – baseball and golf – but he didn’t make his high school team. He did have a star turn as the short stop for his fraternity softball team, which won the championship when he pulled off a perfect squeeze play. You never forget those moments.

My parents raised three kids, and spent most of their weekends schlepping us to swim meets and hockey games. My dad had to wake me up at five in the morning, then pile me and my hockey bag into our 1965 Volkswagen Beetle – which had no radio and a heater only in theory. I’m sure I complained every time he woke me up. He didn’t complain once. [Full Story]