Comments on: More Planning for Rec Center in Ypsilanti

By: John Q.

John Q. — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:17:22 +0000

“The parcel’s north edge is Joy Road; it lies west of Gleaner Hall Road and its east edge is adjacent to Conrail property.”

The adjacent railroad is either owned by the Ann Arbor Railroad or Great Lakes Central Railroad, not Conrail. The two lines interchange on the adjacent tracks.

By: Steve Pierce

Steve Pierce — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:36:05 +0000

I love the idea of the Rec Center but taking the best commercial land on Michigan avenue and giving it over to a non-taxing authority makes no sense.

The City foolishly paid over $600,000 a acre for Water Street and owes over $30 million in debt. To pay it back, the City needs taxpaying entities on Water Street and those most likely to buy and build will be right on Michigan Avenue.

Please build a Rec center in Ypsilanti, please don’t take the last piece of commercial property on Michigan that has a slim hope of generating some money to pay the bonds back. Build it long the Huron River and Park Street (where the old Arlens was located). The vistas will still be great for patrons of the REC center, but it gives the city the flexibility in attracting new developers to Michigan Avenue to generate needed tax revenue.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:20:07 +0000

I’m enjoying Margaret Leary’s reporting here and in other publications. Thanks for this report on a project that has not been covered well elsewhere.

(Just as spellcheck is ruining my spelling, and Google is rotting my internal dictionary/index system, Twitter is making my thinking staccato. I had the impulse to add hatchmark asides #deerinfestations #lawquad.)

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:34:10 +0000

I also find it mind-boggling that they think that reducing the amount of information in the minutes would be a good thing.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:02:02 +0000

Thank you so much for this report.

The minutes for the Washtenaw Parks Commission are rarely timely and usually incomplete. They routinely refer to a powerpoint presentation on project updates but do not post that presentation on the county website.

I hope the Chronicle continues to cover these monthly meetings.