Archive for July, 2011

The city of Ann Arbor has announced the names of three finalists for its city administrator job: Harry Black, Ellie Oppenheim and Steve Powers. Of the three, only Powers has a current position in Michigan.

Next week on Tuesday, July 12, a public reception for residents to meet the candidates will be hosted in the lobby of the new municipal center at 301 E. Huron from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The reception will feature five-minute presentations from each candidate, as well as time for informal conversations with candidates.

The following day, July 13, candidates will be interviewed in public view in city council chambers from 8 a.m. to noon. [Full Story]

In a news conference held Thursday morning, organizers of a new countywide health care initiative described plans to expand coverage for Washtenaw County’s low-income residents. The plan is intended to help local health care providers handle an influx of an estimated 50,000 newly insured patients when federal health care reforms take effect in 2014.

The goal is to develop a plan to provide better health care for the county’s low-income residents, the uninsured and people on Medicaid – prior to changes that will be mandated by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The Washtenaw Health Initiative (WHI) is a collaboration led by retired Saint Joseph Mercy Health System chief executive officer Bob Laverty, former county administrator Bob Guenzel, and retired … [Full Story]

Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) board of education meeting (June 29, 2011): Days before their most recent meeting, Ann Arbor Public Schools board trustees were hit with a surprise — the $475,000 reduction in athletics approved as part of the district budget had led to the elimination of entire sports programs instead of the trimming of transportation, training, and coaching costs they had expected.

The Ann Arbor Public Schools three athletic directors appeared before the board: Dottie Davis (AD at Huron); Lorin Cartwright (AD at Pioneer); and John Young (AD at Skyline).

After hearing significant public commentary on the issue, trustees held a lengthy public discussion with the three AAPS athletic directors (ADs) at the June 29 meeting, and ultimately requested that they revisit the cuts. “We’d like some more thinking on this,” said trustee Christine Stead, “and a different answer.”

The athletic budget reductions will be the main topic of the board’s July 13 planning committee and board meetings at 3:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively. Both meetings are scheduled to take place in the main conference room of the Balas administration building, and are followed by a study session 6:00 p.m. The study session will focus on the possibility of requesting that voters approved new millages to support district-wide all-day kindergarten and technology upgrades.

Also at the meeting, multiple people spoke in support of continued AAPS support of literary arts programs at the Neutral Zone teen center, arguing that is a nationally-recognized program that deserves continued funding from the district.

Finally, the board renewed the district’s food service contract with Chartwells, approved three new employee contracts, and held the first public hearing on a new video being recommended by the district’s Sexual Health Education Advisory Committee (SHEAC). [Full Story]

At its July 6, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners approved a resolution that would authorize up to $1 million for the next phase of the Washtenaw County trial court consolidation of services at the downtown courthouse facility, where the juvenile court recently relocated.

Phase two entails renovation of the first floor of the courthouse. Commissioners had previously received a detailed briefing on this project from Donald Shelton, chief judge of the Washtenew County trial court, at their Jan. 19, 2011 board meeting. The downtown courthouse is located at the corner of Huron and Main.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: … [Full Story]

In a step that could lead to ending a lawsuit filed against the county in 2006, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners voted to approve the recommendation of a court-ordered facilitator. The recommendation sets $749,427 as the amount owed by Ypsilanti Township and August Township to the county for police services provided in 2006. That was the year those townships, along with Salem Township, filed a lawsuit against the county over the price of contract deputies. Salem Township reached a settlement with the county in 2010.

The bulk of the recommended payment – $732,927 – will come from Ypsilanti Township, which had contracted for 44 sheriff deputies in 2006. In addition to approval from the county board, the recommendation would also need to be voted … [Full Story]

At its July 6, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners gave final approval to the price that municipalities will pay for a contract sheriff’s deputy through 2015. The police services steering committee recommended setting the price in 2012 for a police services unit (PSU) at $150,594. Initial approval by the county board had been given at its June 1 meeting.

The price in 2012 will remain unchanged from the 2011 rate of $150,594, which was a 4% increase over 2010 rates. In each of the following three years, the price per PSU increases about 1%: to $152,100 in 2013; $153,621 in 2014; and $155,157 in 2015.

In late 2010, the committee brought forward a recommendation to the board that set the cost … [Full Story]

At its July 6, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners gave final approval to five projects planned by the county’s water resources commissioner. Initial approval had been given at the board’s June 1 meeting.

The projects, which require the county to back bond payments totaling up to $6.54 million, are all located in Ann Arbor: (1) Allen Creek drain cistern installation, downspout disconnection and tree planting – up to $330,000; (2) County Farm drain stream bank stabilization – up to $1.2 million; (3) Malletts Creek drain/Burns Park porous alley; Malletts Creek cistern installation, downspout disconnection, and tree planting; and Malletts Creek stream bank stabilization – up to $3.48 million; (4) Swift Run cistern installation, downspout disconnection, and tree … [Full Story]

At its July 6, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners approved the adoption of a $50 fee for waiving the statutory three-day marriage license waiting period. According to a staff memo, the current waiver fee of $5 does not cover the costs of the Washtenaw County Clerk and Register of Deeds in “interrupting other services to immediately fulfill a marriage license waiver request.”

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

At its July 6, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners set a public hearing for its Aug. 3 meeting regarding a proposed interlocal agreement with the Southeast Michigan Energy Office Community Alliance (SEMRO). The Ferndale-based nonprofit (SEMRO) provides technical services to the county in identifying and implementing federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant projects.

The energy office is a division of the Michigan Suburbs Alliance. County commissioner and board chair Conan Smith is CEO of the alliance. The board voted initially to join the energy office at its March 17, 2010 meeting. Smith abstained from that vote.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. … [Full Story]

At its July 6, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners proclaimed July 30 through Aug. 5, 2011 as National Training Institute Week in Washtenaw County. The proclamation recognized the estimated $5 million economic impact of the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC) for the Electrical Industry – its annual training week brings about 2,000 people to this area. [See 2009 Chronicle coverage: "Electricians Juice Up Ann Arbor"]

The proclamation was introduced and read by commissioner Rob Turner, who was instrumental in convincing the NJATC to move its annual training week to this area.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 … [Full Story]

At its July 6, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners gave initial approval to an agreement with the Michigan Nurses Association – Unit I. The agreement covers the period from July 1, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2013.

Commissioners held an executive session early in their meeting to discuss the collective bargaining agreement, which affects 13 public health nurses and nurse coordinators in the county’s health services department. It’s the first of 15 union agreements being negotiated as part of the 2012 and 2013 budget cycle, and is expected to achieve an annual savings of $132,000. In total, the county hopes to see about $8 million in labor concessions for the two-year budget cycle, to help address a projected $17.5 … [Full Story]

A major consolidation of three county departments – the office of community development, the economic development & energy department, and the employment training and community services (ETCS) department – was given initial approval by the Washtenaw County board of commissioners at their July 6, 2011 meeting. A final vote is expected at the board’s Aug. 3 meeting. The changes would take effect on Jan. 1, 2012.

If the reorganization gets final approval, Mary Jo Callan, director of the office of community development, will lead the new office of community & economic development. The goal is to cut costs by eliminating duplicated services in the face of declining revenues, while finding ways to deliver those services more efficiently to citizens. Several personnel changes are part of … [Full Story]

At its annual meeting on July 6, 2011, held immediately following its regular monthly meeting, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board elected its officers for the next year: chair, Gary Boren; vice chair, Bob Guenzel; secretary, Keith Orr; treasurer; Roger Hewitt.

Outgoing chair Joan Lowenstein’s term on the board ends on July 31, 2011, as does Gary Boren’s and John Mouat’s. Their possible reappointment was not discussed at the meeting, except for the question asked by board member Newcombe Clark: Will Boren’s term be renewed? Lowenstein simply stated that it was not known. Mayor John Hieftje – who sits on the DDA board and also makes the nominations to the board, which are confirmed by the city council – … [Full Story]

At its regular monthly meeting on July 6, 2011, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board had no resolutions on its agenda requiring votes, except for the cancellation of its August meeting. (Cancellation of that meeting is an annual ritual.)

However, the meeting did include the regular monthly parking report – a comparison of the most recent month’s available data, compared with the same month a year ago. That regular parking report may be somewhat more detailed in the future. For the July board meeting, however, the board received its standard report.

Total public parking revenues for May 2011 were $1,218,442, based on permit holder fees plus fees paid by 170,471 hourly parkers in structures. That’s an increase from May 2010, which had $1,145,740 in total revenues and 169,466 hourly parkers.

Percentage-wise that’s a 6.35% increase in revenue and a 0.59% increase in the number of hourly parkers, with a total system parking space inventory of 19 additional spaces: 7,149 in May 2011 compared with 7,130 in May 2010.

The board has recognized for some time that this kind of measure for parking demand is somewhat coarse. The number of hourly parkers gives some insight, as does the total revenue, but these data do not provide a direct measure of how much of the system’s capacity is being used.

At the DDA board’s bricks and money committee meeting on Wednesday, June 29, Joe Morehouse – deputy director of the DDA – presented committee members with data showing the percentage of total parking hours sold for parking structures, with 100% corresponding to the (practically impossible) scenario of every spot in every space filled with a car 24/6 (structures are free on Sunday) and no time lost when one car pulls out and another pulls in. Like the standard parking report, the comparison for May 2011 against May 2011 using that metric also showed an increase in demand: 33.22% in May 2010 compared to 34.94% in May 2011. [Ann Arbor public parking efficiency chart]

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

Here’s a chance to grab some face time with people you might know only online – the bloggers of Motown to Tree Town, Damn Arbor and Transport Michigan are co-hosting a local blogger meet-up on Friday, July 15 at 6 p.m. in the basement of the Heidelberg, 215 N. Main in Ann Arbor. From a post on Motown to Tree Town: “If the thought of meeting Ann Arbor’s (and, by extension, Michigan’s) finest bloggers doesn’t sufficiently excite you, you have the choice of approximately a gazillion German beers which can be consumed – I shit you not– in a boot, if you so desire. Yes, an actual boot.” [Source]

The Detroit News reports that more communities in southeast Michigan are banning elected officials from emailing, texting or using other electronic communications during public meetings. The article quotes Noah Hall, founder of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, which sued the city of Ann Arbor – that lawsuit revealed that some Ann Arbor city councilmembers had been emailing each other during meetings. Council later changed its rules to ban that practice. Says Hall:  ”We don’t want to push people back into the Stone Age or to limit the use of efficient communication. I think that misses the mark. Electronic communications should create a whole new level of openness and accountability.” [Source]

The outcome of a vote at tonight’s Washtenaw County board of commissioners meeting could mean another step toward ending a years-long legal battle over the cost of sheriff deputy patrols.

A resolution is expected to be added as a supplemental agenda item at Wednesday night’s meeting, asking commissioners to approve the recommendation of a court-ordered facilitator. At issue is how much is owed by Ypsilanti Township and August Township to the county for police services that were provided by the county in 2006. That was the year those townships, along with Salem Township, filed a lawsuit against the county over the price of contract deputies.

While county representatives previously indicated they were seeking around $2 million, the recommendation calls for payment to the county of $749,427 – the bulk of that from Ypsilanti Township. In addition to approval from the county board, the recommendation would also need to be voted on by the boards of both townships. Those meetings are expected to occur next week.

On a related note, the county board is also expected to take a final vote at Wednesday’s meeting to set the price that municipalities will pay for a contract sheriff’s deputy through 2015. [Full Story]

At its July 5, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council voted against increasing the payment it makes to Recycle Ann Arbor (RAA) for curbside collection of the city’s single-stream recycling carts – from $3.25 to $3.55 per month per cart. The vote was made without any deliberations and resulted in 5 votes for it and 4 against. Voting against it were Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5), Mike Anglin (Ward 5) and Sabra Briere (Ward 1).

The city council had voted on March 15, 2010 to adopt the single-stream recycling program, which began exactly one year ago, on July 5, 2010.

At that time, the city approved a contract with RAA that called for a payment of $3.25 per month per cart that RAA empties, plus a per-ton payment of between $18.74 and $30.00. The amount of revenue RAA has received through these two kinds of revenue was less than projected last year. Specifically, the tonnage payments received by RAA for fiscal year 2011 (which ended June 30) for recyclable material were projected to be $406,332 but in fact only generated $187,560 for RAA – only 46% of what was expected. The shortfall was $218,772.

Also, the city expected to distribute 32,779 carts, but it turned out that only 29,734 carts were deployed, or 9.3% fewer than planned. The staff memo accompanying the resolution explained the reduced number this way: “… many of the smaller multi-family residential units that were previously using the 11-gallon recycling ‘totes’ are able to share recycle carts, resulting in a smaller number of deployed carts.” In terms of revenue, the reduced number of carts meant that RAA received only $1,159,626 compared to the projected $1,278,381 – for a shortfall of $118,755.

Summing the shortfalls in the two kinds of revenue ($118,755 + $218,772), RAA received $337,527 less than it expected for FY 2011. The increase in the monthly per-cart service fee requested (but rejected by the council) – for all five years of the five-year contract – would have worked out to nearly cover the annual shortfall that was due only to the decreased number of carts: $107,042 versus $118,755.

The overly-optimistic projections were made by the city’s recycling consultant Resource Recycling Systems and RecycleBank, a company that administers a coupon-based incentive program to encourage residents to recycle. When the council approved the single-stream recycling contract with RAA last year, it also struck a 10-year deal with RecycleBank, at roughly $200,000 per year, to administer their coupon-based incentive program to help boost recycling rates in conjunction with the single-stream rollout.

At the time, Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) questioned the length of the RecycleBank contract, and established in the course of deliberations that the city’s opt-out clause would be less costly than the cost of the contract. He was concerned that the city had options in the event that RecycleBank’s incentives did not boost recycling tonnage to the levels that were forecast. ["Council Banks on Single-Stream Recycling"]

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 July 5, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council authorized a collective bargaining agreement with its deputy police chiefs. It’s a one-year deal, expiring June 30, 2012. As part of the deal, the deputy chiefs are exempt as employees under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which means they are not eligible for overtime. The deputy chiefs will also continue on the same health care plan as non-union employees, which requires a contribution by the employee.

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 July 5, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved several water-related items.

The council approved a permeable surface alley project in the Burns Park Neighborhood – the alley connects Wells Street and Scott Court, running parallel to and between Lincoln Avenue and Martin Place. The porous pavement will allow rainwater to soak through the surface, reducing runoff. Money for the $121,139 contract with Audia Concrete Construction Inc. on the $200,000 project will come from the city’s stormwater capital budget. But that will be repaid as a loan from the State Revolving Fund (SRF) and will include 50% loan forgiveness. The use of stormwater funds on road construction was a practice that was criticized during the public hearing held at the council’s June 20, 2011 meeting, on the increase in stormwater rates.

The council also approved a $25,440 contract with Conservation Design Forum to design and construct a rain garden on the property at 215-219 W. Kingsley Street. The rain garden is meant to alleviate some of the flooding that occurs there during heavy rains. The parcel has drawn the curiosity of Chronicle readers due to its boarded-up house and the prodigious amounts of water that accumulate there during heavy rains. At its Nov. 15, 2010 meeting, the council accepted a FEMA grant that will help pay for the demolition of the structure to aid stormwater remediation efforts.

The council also approved a level-of-service study for its drinking water distribution system with AECOM. The outcome of the study will be a recommendation for a sustainable level of service for the city’s water distribution system, and determination of how much investment it would take to achieve that level. The study would also help the city decide, for example, which water mains should be replaced first. The council had tabled the resolution at its May 16, 2011 meeting after amending out a $10,550 contingency in the $208,984 contract. Later in that same meeting, at a session reconvened on May 31, the council took the item up off the table and postponed it until July 5.

In support of the study, city staff prepared additional documentation for the July 5 vote.

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 July 5, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved a fee for its new design review process, which is now a part of the city’s code. The application fee was to have been set at $1,000 – to cover estimated mailing costs of $500 and about five hours of city staff time. But the council amended that amount to $500 at the urging of Marcia Higgins (Ward 4). The staff were directed to track the staff time used for actual reviews.

The vote on the fee was postponed at the council’s June 20 meeting. Projects in Ann Arbor’s downtown area, zoned D-1 and D-2, are now subject to a mandatory process of design review, but compliance with the … [Full Story]

At its July 5, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved a non-disclosure policy on information that it might collect as part of its medical marijuana licensing and zoning ordinances, which it approved at its June 20 meeting. In relevant part, the resolution states that a long list of various kinds of information “shall be protected against public disclosure in the course of the zoning and licensing process …”

The resolution also was amended to read “Ann Arbor city staff shall treat the foregoing information as exempted from disclosure …”

A similar non-disclosure policy had been discussed, but postponed, at the council’s March 7, 2011 meeting. When the matter was before the council again, at its March 21, 2011 meeting, the council chose not to pursue that non-disclosure policy. That’s because the amendments to the medical marijuana legislation it approved on March 21 did not include the collection of personal information. So that resolution was withdrawn by its sponsor, Sabra Briere (Ward 1).

On July 5, dissenting on the 6-3 vote were Marica Higgins (Ward 4), Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) and Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2).

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 July 5, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council considered a proposal to redraw the boundaries of the city’s five wards and to make the new ward boundaries effective after the Aug. 2 city council primary elections, but before the Nov. 8 general elections. Most of the boundary changes involved reassigning Ward 1 areas to other wards to balance out the population among the city’s five wards.

Ultimately, the council decided to postpone the boundary changes. But before the postponement, the council amended the ordinance to make the changes that they eventually agree on effective on Dec. 1, after the Nov. 8 election.

All public commentary on the issue encouraged the city council not to enact the boundary changes between the primary and the general elections. Public commentary included remarks from John Shea – a representative of the Washtenaw branch of the lawyer’s committee for the American Civil Liberties Union – and local attorney Tom Wieder. County clerk Larry Kestenbaum attended the meeting, but did not sign up in time to be included among the first 10 reserved speaker slots. (Reserved commentary slots are reserved on a first-come-first-served basis.)

[Previous Chronicle coverage: "Column: Ann Arbor Ward Shifts Should Wait"]

By the numbers, if the 2010 census population were distributed perfectly evenly across the city’s five wards (pie-shaped, per the city’s charter), they would each have a population of 22,787 – the ideal number in redistricting terms. Without any redistricting, the imbalance among wards, due to relative population growth in Ward 1 since 2000, breaks down as follows: Ward 1 [24,616 population, +1,829 whole number deviation from ideal (+8.03%)]; Ward 2 [22,419, -368 (-1.61%)]; Ward 3 [22,206, -581 (-2.55%)]; Ward 4 [22,585, -202 (-0.89%)]; Ward 5 [22,108, -679 (-2.98%)].

In 2000, the variance from the ideal for each ward ranged between +1.5% and -1.5%.

As proposed, the city’s redistricting plan would yield the following breakdown: Ward 1 [22,795, +8 (+0.04%)]; Ward 2 [22,739, -48, (-0.21%)]; Ward 3 [22,919, +132 (+0.58%)]; Ward 4 [22,760, -27 (-0.12%)]; Ward 5 [22,721, -66, (-0.29%)]. To restore the balance in the wards, the redistricting proposal focuses on reassignment where the five wedges of the ward pie meet, in the center of the city near the downtown. [.pdf of City of Ann Arbor proposed ward boundary changes ] [.pdf of ward boundary changes proposed by councilmember Sabra Briere]

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]