Archive for February, 2012

Michigan Radio reports on a Feb. 6 panel discussion at the University of Michigan about the state’s emergency manager law. The forum included Ann Arbor Democrats Jeff Irwin and Conan Smith – Irwin is a state representative and Smith is chair of the Washtenaw County board of commissioners – as well as Flint mayor Dayne Walling and Howard Ryan, a state treasury official. Responding to a question about the salaries paid to EMs, Ryan said: ”It is one of the hardest, most difficult jobs imaginable. You’re going into a very hostile environment where nobody wants you there, nobody, not even…I mean…nobody.” Because EMs make tough decisions in cities with a great level of complexity, “you just can’t find people who will do … [Full Story]

Talking Points Memo reports that Washtenaw County commissioner Alicia Ping, a Republican and American of Asian descent, is endorsing Clark Durant, an opponent of former Rep. Pete Hoekstra in the U.S. Senate GOP primary following Hoekstra’s controversial Super Bowl ad. TPM quotes Ping: “If he didn’t know it was racist on some level, then shame on him. He didn’t apologize or say ‘maybe it was over the top’ or anything. He said, ‘I stand by what I believe in’ and, ‘the liberals are just making a bigger thing out of it.’ Well that’s not the case at all. It’s offensive and it’s racist. It’s demeaning to the Asian-American population.” [Source]

At its Feb. 6, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved the tentative award of a $92,929,000 contract with Walsh Construction Company II, LLC to undertake the work associated with the facilities renovations project at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The tentative award is a requirement for receiving a low-interest loan from the state’s revolving fund loan program, which is administered through Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality.

The city reviewed six bids: Lakeshore Toltest Corp. ($83,302,048); Granger Construction Co. ($89,990,000); Walsh Construction Co. II, LLC ($92,929,000); Walbridge ($95,380,441); Hunt/Colasanti ($99,990,000); and Barton Malow Co. ($102,884,000). The firms making lower bids were found not to be sufficiently qualified to undertake the specific work, because they did not have experience as a … [Full Story]

At its Feb. 6, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved the issuance of $2,850,000 of bonds to refinance the outstanding principal amount of Michigan Transportation Fund Bonds for the Broadway Bridges project. After factoring in bond issuance costs, the city expects to save around $185,000 over the next 11 years.

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]

At its Feb. 6, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council voted to appoint councilmember Tony Derezinski (Ward 2) as the hearing officer for annual liquor license renewal and revocation. Derezinski serves on the council’s liquor license review committee along with Mike Anglin (Ward 5) and Jane Lumm (Ward 2). The council also voted to set the fee for transcripts of any hearings to be equal to the actual cost charged by the transcription service for the work.

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 Feb. 6, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council voted to postpone until March 5 a resolution that would have established an agreement between Ann Arbor, the city of Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, establishing a new framework for governance of local public transportation.

The four-party agreement would expand the area and level of transportation service provided by the AATA by expanding the geographic area of its governance structure. Specifically, under the four-party agreement, the AATA would be incorporated as a transportation authority under Act 196 of 1986.

The council’s postponement on Feb. 6 came at the AATA’s request. The council previously postponed the issue at its Jan. 9 and Jan. 23 meetings. Thirty-nine people spoke at a public hearing held on Jan. 23.

The delay by the council is due in part to a desire to hear a recommendation from a financial advisory group that was scheduled to meet on Jan. 27 – but that meeting was postponed. The group is a collection of more than 20 representatives of the public and private sectors, led by McKinley Inc. CEO Albert Berriz and retired Washtenaw County administrator Bob Guenzel. They have met since the fall of 2011.

The day before the group’s scheduled meeting, a 17-bill package was introduced on Jan. 26 in the Michigan house of representatives that provides for the establishment and funding of a regional transit authority that would include Washtenaw, Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties. However, the AATA has not explicitly cited that new legislation as the reason for the postponement of its meeting. The meeting is now expected to take place on Feb. 29.

Before voting to postpone action on the agreement until March 5, the council undertook an amendment to the agreement. To the text on termination was added: “The City of Ann Arbor may also withdraw from the new TA [transit authority] using any of the methods authorized by MCL 124.458. In the event that the city of Ann Arbor exercise any of the forgoing rights, Ann Arbor may terminate this agreement upon written notice to the other parties.” [.pdf of 4-party agreement as previously amended on Jan. 23, 2011]

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 Feb. 6, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council gave final approval to changes to the supplemental regulations of a planned unit development (PUD) for Arlington Square. The changes to the PUD supplemental regulations would allow for urgent care and restaurant uses at the site, with no additional parking. No exterior changes are proposed.

The two-story, 51,285-square-foot retail and office complex is located at 3250 Washtenaw Ave. – the southeast corner of Washtenaw Avenue and Huron Parkway. An 8,000-square-foot space in the complex, where Hollywood Video was formerly located, is vacant, and the owner would like to have the option of leasing the space to a restaurant or urgent care facility.

The current PUD zoning, which was approved in 1989, allows for certain … [Full Story]

Attached to the Ann Arbor city council’s Feb. 6, 2012 meeting agenda is a letter from the state of Michigan treasurer’s office dated Dec. 29, 2011 noting that the city’s audit for the 2011 fiscal year (which ended June 30, 2011) had “repeated reported deficiencies from previous years.” The letter also stated: “There were reported deficiencies included with the audit report.” The state treasurer requests that the city respond with a “corrective action plan.”

The deficiencies are not “material weaknesses,” and do not affect the auditor’s unqualified or “clean” opinion. The deficiencies relate to proper controls and documentation on usage of procurement cards (P-Cards). [For detailed reporting on the audit, including the P-Card issue, see Chronicle coverage: "Audit is Unqualified 'Clean' ... [Full Story]

Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board meeting (Feb. 1, 2012): In the one agenda item that required formal action, the DDA board unanimously voted to award an annual management incentive to Republic Parking, the contractor that manages day-to-day operations of the city’s parking system.

DDA Quiz: Board member Sandi Smith is illustrating: (a) the "increment" in "tax increment financing," (b) the amount of a parking rate increase, (c) building heights and flood plains, or (d) relative thickness of concrete slabs in parking structures. (Photos by the writer.)

The amount of the award was 90% of the total amount the board could have awarded –$45,000 of $50,000. It’s the same amount the board has awarded in each of the last three years. It’s based on a variety of criteria, including customer satisfaction surveys, independent inspections of the parking facilities, and financial performance.

February’s meeting also included a review of the DDA’s finances at the mid-point of the fiscal year – through Dec. 31, 2011. The DDA’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. Operations committee chair Roger Hewitt sketched out a picture that portrayed things unfolding pretty much as expected. Although parking revenues are currently about $125,000 under the year-to-date budgeted amount, parking revenues are projected to finish the year at around $672,536 over the budgeted amount. The gross parking revenue now anticipated for FY 2012 is around $16.8 million. But capital costs associated with the new Fifth Avenue parking garage construction are anticipated to put the parking fund expenses over budget.

Part of that parking system revenue will come from rate increases and changes in billing methods, which were approved by the board at its Jan. 4, 2012 meeting. Some of the changes will not be implemented until September 2012 – like hourly rates at parking structures and lots, which will climb from $1.10 per hour to $1.20 per hour.

But other changes were implemented starting Feb. 1, including a change in the billing method at parking structures and hourly lots – from half-hourly to hourly. The board heard criticism of the change during public commentary, from a resident who makes frequent but brief trips downtown as a patron of the downtown location of the Ann Arbor District Library. The billing change amounts to a “surcharge” on his library use of a couple hundred dollars a year, he said.

The board also heard a pitch from the developer of the 618 S. Main project, Dan Ketelaar, who is interested in financing certain elements of the project through the state’s Community Revitalization Program. That’s the successor to the state’s brownfield and historic preservation tax credit program.

The 618 S. Main project, which received a positive planning commission recommendation on Jan. 19, would be a 7-story, 153,133-square-foot apartment building with 190 units for 231 bedrooms. The idea would be for the DDA to forgo a portion of the taxes that it would ordinarily capture on the newly constructed 618 S. Main project. The DDA captures taxes from the increment in value due to new construction within its tax increment authority (TIF) district.

The board also heard a pitch from Jody Lanning, with Lanning Outdoor Advertising, for a way to finance murals on the city’s parking structures and other public buildings. The board also entertained its usual set of updates from boards and commissions. [Full Story]

In advance of Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup between the New York Giants and New England Patriots, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press interviews Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady about how his time on the University of Michigan football team has influenced his NFL career: ”I think I was very fortunate in college to go through some pretty stiff competition. A lot of the lessons that I learned when I was 18, 19 years old have served me well when I was 23 and 24. This game is about competition. You have to compete every single day in practice, because if you don’t, you’re not going to be around very long.” [Source]

[Full Story]

Washtenaw County board of commissioners meeting (Feb. 1, 2012): A light agenda and three absent commissioners resulted in a brief 30-minute session at Wednesday’s county board meeting.

Local attorney Stefani Carter talks with Rolland Sizemore Jr., chair of the county board's ways & means committee, before the Feb. 1, 2012 meeting. Carter will be filling in for the county's corporation counsel, Curtis Hedger, who is taking a three-month medical leave. (Photos by the writer.)

Items not on the agenda took up much of the meeting time. As he has in the past, commissioner Wes Prater raised concerns over a countywide transit plan being developed by the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority. It’s expected that the county board will eventually be asked to authorize a four-party agreement with the AATA and the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, but that agreement has not yet been formally presented to the board. [The Ann Arbor city council has postponed its ratification of the four-party agreement twice, and has been asked by the AATA to postpone the issue again at the council's Feb. 6 meeting. That postponement would be until March 5.]

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, county administrator Verna McDaniel introduced local attorney Stefani Carter, who’ll be filling in while corporation counsel Curtis Hedger is on medical leave. Carter has been doing contract work for the county, and previously spent 15 years with the Ann Arbor city attorney’s office.

Speaking at the time for public commentary, Billy Salamey – owner of three towing companies in the county – defended accusations that have been levied against his business during a recent bidding process for towing services with the sheriff’s office. Salamey’s commentary in turn prompted board chair Conan Smith to defend the county’s bidding process, which Smith described as transparent and fair.

Among the formal actions taken during Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners authorized a five-year, $460,000 extension to a project aimed at improving conditions at Whitmore Lake. They also gave final approval to a two-year collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME Local 3052, representing 52 general supervisors. [Full Story]

At its Jan. 31, 2012 meeting, Ann Arbor’s medical marijuana licensing board voted to recommend awarding 10 licenses for dispensaries – the same number that had submitted applications. Two of the license awards were recommended conditionally. Treecity Health Collective (1712 S. State St.) would need to move to a differently zoned district, and Greenbee Collective (401 S. Maple St.) would need to provide for adequate parking. The board also settled on some recommended changes to the city’s medical marijuana licensing ordinance.

Ann Arbor medical marijuana licensing board at its Jan. 31, 2012 meeting. Left to right: Sabra Briere, Jim Kenyon, Patricia O’Rorke, John Rosevear and Gene Ragland. (Photos by the writer.)

Both issues – the award of the licenses and the changes to the ordinance – will be up to the city council to decide. The licensing board’s recommendation and report had been due to the city council by Jan. 31, according to the council resolution passed in conjunction with last year’s enactment of the licensing ordinance. But at the city council’s Jan. 23, 2012 meeting, Ward 1 representative Sabra Briere gave her colleagues a heads up that the medical marijuana licensing board would be submitting its recommendations in early February instead.

The legislation enacted by the council on June 20, 2011 included provisions for licenses and zoning requirements. The zoning requirements played a role in the recommendation to award one of the 10 licenses conditionally. Treecity is located in a district zoned for office use, which does not permit medical marijuana dispensaries.

On Jan. 25, 2012, the city’s zoning board of appeals (ZBA) turned down Treecity’s appeal of the city’s decision to deny Treecity’s application for a zoning compliance permit – a necessary component of a license application. At the same meeting, the ZBA granted the same kind of appeal to another dispensary – Green Planet (700 Tappan St.).

The tension between the board’s work and the city attorney’s office is reflected in the fact that even as the board recommended the conditional award of a license to Treecity, the city attorney has served a lawsuit against the dispensary.

The tension was also reflected during the meeting itself, as assistant city attorney Kristen Larcom reminded the board that their purview, according to the city’s ordinance, is [emphasis Larcom's] to “send to City Council a proposed resolution recommending either approval or rejection of each complete license application.”

In the city’s view, Treecity’s application is not complete, because the city has denied a zoning compliance permit to the dispensary. However the board appeared to rely on the subsequent sentence of the ordinance: “A recommended resolution may set conditions for approval.”

Also at its Jan. 31 meeting, the licensing board recommended that the initial licensing fee be established at $1,100 with the annual renewal fee set at $350. [Full Story]

On the Ann Arbor city council’s agenda for its Feb. 6, 2012 meeting is action on a previously postponed item – a four-party agreement between the city of Ann Arbor, the city of Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority.

However, in an email message sent early Friday afternoon (Feb. 3) to Ann Arbor city administrator Steve Powers and assistant city attorney Mary Fales, the AATA has requested that the city council postpone a decision on the four-party transit agreement: “Michael Ford [CEO of AATA] would like to request to postpone consideration of the Public Transportation agreement from February 6 until March 5.”

The email, sent by AATA community outreach coordinator Sarah Pressprich Gryniewicz, indicates that Ford will attend the council’s … [Full Story]

The Washtenaw County sheriff’s office is now participating in Crimemapping.com, a service that allows residents to view a log of crimes reported in their community. Ann Arbor and Pittsfield Township are also using this online service, which is searchable by address, zip code or type of crime. [Source]

Editor’s note: Ann Arbor city councilmember Tony Derezinski has already stated publicly that he’ll be seeking re-election to his Ward 2 seat in 2012. It was Ward 2 that offered the closest race in the fall of 2011 – a contest won by Jane Lumm over Stephen Rapundalo. Neighboring Ward 1 offered the least chance of a surprising outcome in 2011, featuring just one choice on its ballot – incumbent Democrat Sabra Briere. Briere was also unopposed in the August Democratic primary.

This ballot likely reflects a sentiment against the Fuller Road Station, which would include a train station, bus terminal and – in its first phase – a large parking structure. At last report, the facility would be a joint city of Ann Arbor-University of Michigan project, located on city-owned land that's designated as part of the park system.

Out of curiosity, The Chronicle asked intern Hayley Byrnes to take a look at the names of people voters wrote by hand on their ballots. 

Of the 1,206 Ward 1 voters who dragged themselves to their polling stations on a rainy Tuesday last November, 57 filled in the bubble next to the blank space for write-in candidates.

None of the people whose names were written on any of those 57 ballots could have won the election. Some were not the names of actual people who live in Ward 1, or even actual people at all.

But even among those actual Ward 1 residents whose names were put forward by voters, none of them had filed officially for a write-in candidacy. They were therefore not legal opponents in the election. Those 57 bubbles, however, reflected the votes of 57 Ward 1 voters.

Writing in the name of a person who has not registered as a write-in candidate – on a ballot that offers only one candidate – could reasonably be seen as an expression of dissatisfaction.

So The Chronicle wanted to discover: What form did voters’ dissatisfaction take? [Full Story]

John U. Bacon

The most important day of the year for a college football coach is not the home opener, the big rivalry game or even a bowl game. It’s national signing day, which falls on the first Wednesday in February.

On signing day, the end zone is not grass or Astroturf, but a fax machine tray. Only when a signed National Letter of Intent breaks the plane of that tray does it count.

Sounds pretty simple, right? A couple years ago I got a chance to see the sausage get made at close range – and it’s a lot crazier than you imagined.

The coaches start by collecting information on more than a thousand players years in advance. Then they watch hundreds of hours of film, and make dozens of trips across the country – from Pasadena to Pahokee – to meet with hundreds of high school players, their parents and their coaches. They follow that up with thousands of calls, emails and text messages – all in the hopes of getting the 25 players they think will help them win a title a few years later.

That’s bad enough, but now, thanks to ESPN and the Internet, recruiting has become a full-blown season in its own right. It lasts all year – and it’s harder on the coaches than the actual football season is. [Full Story]

The Arts Alliance has hired Debra Polich as interim executive director, according to a press release issued on Feb. 2 by the Ann Arbor-based nonprofit. Polich will continue to serve as CEO of the Artrain, another Ann Arbor arts nonprofit –she’ll hold both roles on a part-time basis, starting Feb. 6. The alliance’s former executive director, Susan Froelich, resigned in January, after serving nearly a year in that position According to the press release, Polich will “lead the organization as the board appointed transition team continues to consider strategic options for the organization.” Alliance board members include Lynne Friman, Leslie Sobel, David Esau, Roxana Overdier, Melissa Milton-Pung, Mary Kerr, Donald Harrison, Mike Henry, Britany Affolter-Cain and Teresa Reid. [Source]

The Traverwood branch of the Ann Arbor District Library, located at Traverwood and Huron Parkway, will be closed starting Monday, Feb. 13 for repairs and maintenance to its wood floors, according to a post on AADL’s website. The branch is expected to be re-opened by Thursday, Feb. 23 or sooner, depending on how the work progresses.

The wood floors used as part of Traverwood’s design – featured in the video “Up From Ashes” – include wood from dead ash trees harvested at the branch’s site on the north side of Ann Arbor. It’s the only wooden flooring in any of the system’s buildings. As part of regular maintenance, the floors need to be resealed every year.

From the AADL’s post: “The … [Full Story]

Editor’s note: The monthly milestone column, which appears on the second day of each month – the anniversary of The Ann Arbor Chronicle’s Sept. 2, 2008 launch – is an opportunity for either the publisher or the editor of The Chronicle to touch base with readers on topics related to this publication. It’s also a time that we highlight, with gratitude, our local advertisers, and ask readers to consider subscribing voluntarily to The Chronicle to support our work.

The Ann Arbor Chronicle currently has no plans to implement a choice of "skins" for the website, especially not one that would allow readers to view the publication as if it were printed on the scales of a dragon we slew.

Some eagle-eyed regular readers might have noticed that in the spot on the “masthead” where the current date used to sit are now four links: Civic News Ticker • Stopped. Watched. • Comments • Events. We’re also expecting the sad grey box at the top of the left sidebar to be retired sometime soon.

This does not signal that a major design change is in the offing. We have no plans, for example, to implement a choice of “skins” for the website, especially not one that would allow readers to view the publication as if it were printed on the scales of a dragon we slew.

That initial change – swapping out the masthead date with links we’d like to highlight – was prompted by some confusion that resulted from the appearance of a current date … on the same page as an article originally published three years ago.

It’s actually somewhat encouraging that The Chronicle has now been around long enough that this kind of confusion could result.

What I’d like to share with readers this month is a little vignette from the city council’s last meeting, which concluded near midnight – so I was draggin’ tail. And the vignette itself is a little dragon tale. [Full Story]

Curtis Hedger, Washtenaw County’s corporation counsel, is taking a three-month, part-time medical leave following a diagnosis of congestive heart failure in January. Local attorney Stefani Carter will be handling his responsibilities in his absence – she was introduced at the Feb. 1 meeting of the Washtenaw County board of commissioners.

Hedger told The Chronicle that he plans to work a limited number of hours per week, and will help Carter transition into her role with the county. Carter has been serving as “of counsel” with the county on a contract basis, and Hedger recommended her for this new role. Early in her career Carter worked in the county prosecuting attorney’s office, and later spent 15 years as an assistant city attorney … [Full Story]

The Washtenaw County board of commissioners authorized two contracts at its Feb. 1, 2012 meeting: (1) for the third-party administration of claims services for the workers’ disability compensation program from 2012-2015; and (2) for excess workers’ disability compensation insurance coverage from Feb. 1, 2012 through May 1, 2013.

The agreement for third-party administration of claims services was awarded to Broadspire Services Inc., based in Atlanta. It calls for paying Broadspire $36,750 in each of the first and second years, and $37,565 in the third year of the contract. Broadspire is the county’s current vendor for these services.

The contract for excess insurance coverage above $500,000 was awarded to St. Louis-based Safety National. The agreement calls for paying the company $62,297 for the period … [Full Story]

At its Feb. 1, 2012 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners gave final approval to a two-year collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME Local 3052, representing 52 general supervisors. The agreement had been ratified by its membership, and had received initial approval from commissioners at their Jan. 18, 2012 meeting.

AFSCME Local 3052 was one of five bargaining units – out of 17 units representing county employees – that did not reach an agreement with the county by the end of 2011, when its previous contracts expired. Negotiations continue with the other four units – representing the prosecuting attorneys, the prosecuting attorney supervisors, attorneys in the public defenders office, supervisors of attorneys in the public defenders office.

The new agreement, which runs from … [Full Story]

A five-year, $460,000 project to study and improve conditions at Whitmore Lake received initial approval from the Washtenaw County board of commissioners at its Feb. 1, 2012 meeting. The lake is located in Washtenaw County’s Northfield Township and Livingston County’s Green Oak Township. A final vote is expected at the board’s Feb. 15 meeting.

The effort – focusing on removal of invasive weeds – is a continuation of a project that began in 2003, and was renewed in 2007. It’s overseen by the county board of public works. The project’s cost will be recovered through special assessments on over 800 parcels near Whitmore Lake.

This brief was filed from the county administration building at 220 N. Main in Ann Arbor. A more detailed … [Full Story]