A Civic News Ticker reported that the 413 E. Huron project received a recommendation of approval from the Ann Arbor planning commission at its Feb. 5, 2013 meeting. The vote was 5-3 in support of approval. However, six votes are needed for a formal recommendation of approval for a site plan, so the project received a technical denial. We note the error here, and have corrected the original report.
A proposal to build 19 single-family houses on a 4.6-acre site on Hideaway Lane off Traver Road – near the city’s Leslie Park Golf Course – was postponed by the Ann Arbor planning commission at its Feb. 5, 2013 meeting. Commissioners followed a staff recommendation, citing the need to resolve several outstanding issues. The vote to postpone was 5-3, with dissent from Bonnie Bona, Kirk Westphal and Diane Giannola. The item came up late in the meeting – after 11 p.m., following a long discussion and public hearing on the controversial 413 E. Huron project.
The project is located on the site of a development that began in 2005 but was never completed – and the site plan for that earlier … [Full Story]
Following a lengthy discussion and public hearing that drew 33 speakers, Ann Arbor planning commissioners voted 5-3 to recommend approval of the site plan and development agreement for a controversial development at 413 E. Huron, at the northeast corner of Huron and Division. But the vote tally meant that the site plan failed to reach the required six votes to achieve a recommendation of approval. The action at the commission’s Feb. 5, 2013 meeting followed an earlier decision on Jan. 15, 2103 to postpone a recommendation, pending input from the Michigan Dept. of Transportation.
Voting against the project were Sabra Briere, Ken Clein and Wendy Woods. Voting to recommend the project were Diane Giannola, Bonnie Bona, Tony … [Full Story]
The Jan. 25, 2013 meeting of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority’s operations committee featured a preview of budgets for the fiscal years 2014 and 2015. For FY 2014, the DDA budget calls for $23.1 million in expenditures against $23.4 million in revenues. That would add about $300,000 to the total fund balance reserve, which is projected to end FY 2014 fiscal at around $5.5 million.
City Apartments, a Village Green residential property under construction on Feb. 4, 2013. (View is at First & Washington looking east) The bottom two floors are a parking deck, which is on track to be turned over to the city and the DDA on March 15, 2013. It will expand the capacity of the public parking system by almost 100 spaces. (Photo by the writer.)
The surplus from FY 2014 would be used in the FY 2015 budget, which calls for $23.8 million in expenditures against $23.5 in revenues, leaving the DDA with about $5.2 million in total fund balance reserve at the end of FY 2015.
DDA revenues come from two main sources – tax increment finance (TIF) capture and Ann Arbor’s public parking system.
Besides operation and capital maintenance of the parking system, revenues to the public parking system are used by the DDA to support the getDowntown program’s go!pass subsidy. So one focus of the Jan. 25 DDA operations committee meeting was budgeting for that program. The go!pass is a bus pass that downtown employees obtain through their employers, who pay $10 annually for passes for each of their employees. In a presentation made to the operations committee, Michael Ford – CEO of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority – requested a total of $623,662 to support the getDowntown program, including the go!pass subsidy. That compares with $553,488 granted by the DDA last year. For FY 2014, the DDA’s draft budget calls for a $600,000 allocation that could cover most of that request.
This year’s draft budget also calls for $250,000 in parking revenue to be spent on a possible arrangement with the city of Ann Arbor to pay for additional downtown police patrols. Based on the conversation at the operations committee meeting, it’s not a topic on which any recent detailed talks have taken place. But DDA executive director Susan Pollay indicated a strong interest in having those conversations with the city. If that didn’t lead to an agreement with the city, she said, then the DDA board was certainly not obligated to spend the money in that way.
Another $300,000 in the FY 2014 budget that could be used somewhat flexibly is in the TIF fund budget, labeled “capital construction.” It could be used to fund sidewalk improvements between William and Liberty along State Street to facilitate patio dining for restaurants along that strip – or streetscape improvements for William Street, or even alley improvements near the Bell Tower Hotel, Pollay told the committee.
The full DDA board will be asked to approve the FY 2014 and FY 215 budgets at its Feb. 6 meeting. The DDA’s fiscal year is in sync with the city of Ann Arbor’s fiscal year, which begins on July 1. The city council will settle the city’s FY 2014 budget by May 20 – the council’s second meeting in May. While the city uses a two-year planning cycle – which begins fresh this year – the council approves its budget just one year at a time. [.pdf of draft DDA budgets FY 2014-15] [.pdf of FY 2013 six-month financial statements] [.pdf of monthly parking reports] [Full Story]
A revised auditor’s letter to the city of Ann Arbor was attached to the city council’s Feb. 4, 2013 agenda, and has been formally received by the council as a written communication from the city administrator.
The original version of the letter had indicated three instances of an employee with a vehicle allowance also being reimbursed for mileage, and characterized those reimbursements as a “violation of city policy.” It was subsequently revealed that it was the mileage reimbursements of city attorney Stephen Postema that had caused the auditor to flag the issue.
But after further review – pushed by Postema and chief financial officer Tom Crawford – auditor Mark Kettner agreed that there was no written policy per se that disallowed the … [Full Story]
The city of Ann Arbor’s street millage expenditure report for the 2012 construction season indicates that approximately 25 lane miles on 36 different streets were resurfaced or reconstructed this past season. Total construction cost was about $8.2 million, allocated between major streets (one-third) and local streets (two-thirds).
The street repair millage, renewed by voters in 2011, is levied at a rate of 2 mills, which generates about $9 million annually. The street millage expenditure report was attached to the city council’s Feb. 4, 2013 meeting agenda as a communication.
According to city project manager Nick Hutchinson, responding to an emailed query, the miles of streets resurfaced as reported in the city’s comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) is a different measure – in … [Full Story]
Two technology agreements have been approved by the Ann Arbor city council – a three-way agreement with the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority and Washtenaw County, and another two-party contract with the city of Chelsea. Both agreements existed previously. The vote on agreements came at the council’s Feb. 4, 2013 meeting.
The three-way accord had been approved by the council on May 2, 2011. The agreement – an interagency agreement for collaborative technology and services (IACTS) – is meant to provide a way to procure and maintain common technology platforms and services centrally.
The modification to the agreement, approved by the city council on Feb. 4, allows for adding other entities into the agreement in a more streamlined way, by “giving each … [Full Story]
A study of the city of Ann Arbor’s sanitary sewer flows – meant to assess the impact of a decade-long footing drain disconnection program – will be undertaken by Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment Inc. over the next year and a half to two years.
The city council authorized the $968,348 contract with OHM at its Feb. 4, 2013 meeting as part of a project budget that includes a $192,000 contingency and $85,000 to account for city staff time. The money will come from the city’s sanitary sewer capital fund.
The city of Ann Arbor’s footing drain disconnect (FDD) program was implemented in 2001, prompted by repeated incidents of raw sewage backing up in residents’ basements and the discharge of only … [Full Story]
A draft of Ann Arbor’s South State Street corridor plan has been authorized by the city council for distribution to neighboring jurisdictions and other stakeholders, such as the University of Michigan, the Ann Arbor Public Schools, and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority. The vote took place at the city council’s Feb. 4, 2013 meeting. The planning commission had voted to recommend the corridor plan’s distribution at its Jan. 3, 2013 meeting [.pdf of draft South State corridor plan]
The plan includes more than 40 overall recommendations for the corridor, which stretches about 2 miles between Stimson Street at the north end down to Ellsworth in the south. Recommendations are organized into categories of the city’s sustainability framework: Land … [Full Story]
The Ann Arbor city council postponed until Feb. 19 a step that would help owners of commercial property make improvements designed to help save energy under the city’s property assessed clean energy (PACE) program.
That step will be to authorize the issuance and sale of up to $1 million in bonds in support of the energy improvements to be undertaken by five property owners. In broad strokes, the PACE program is enabled by state legislation – the Property Assessed Clean Energy Act 270 of 2010. Property owners take out loans to make energy improvements to be repaid through regular installments as part of their taxes. Municipalities like the city of Ann Arbor administer the program. More than a year … [Full Story]
A request to zone a 2.95-acre site, just east of Stone School Road, as R3 (townhouse dwelling district) has been referred back to the Ann Arbor planning commission. The city council elected to make the referral at its Feb. 4, 2013 meeting instead of giving the zoning its final approval. The property was recently annexed into the city from Pittsfield Township.
The city’s planning commission had voted to recommend the rezoning at its Nov. 20, 2012 meeting and the city council gave initial approval at its Jan. 7, 2013 meeting.
When the council gave its initial approval, Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) had indicated that while he was voting for the zoning on that occasion, he wanted to alert his council … [Full Story]
Likely member of A2Shutterbugs on outing to shoot snowy Ann Arbor. [photo]
Knight’s Market is fully stocked with duck eggs. Looked for goose eggs, to no avail. [photo]
Ann Arbor public art commission meeting (Jan. 23, 2013): Despite uncertainty about the future of the city’s public art program, commissioners discussed several projects at their most recent AAPAC meeting – including some new efforts that likely won’t use city funding.
From left: Ann Arbor public art commissioners Malverne Winborne and Marsha Chamberlin at AAPAC’s Jan. 23, 2013 meeting. Winborne is explaining how he had interpreted the image on a proposed sign for the Dreiseitl water sculpture – in looked like a notebook binder’s spine. (Photos by the writer.)
AAPAC chair Marsha Chamberlin described a collaboration with the city’s parks system to use old canoes for a community art project. The effort also involves the Main Street Area Association and Ann Arbor Convention & Visitors Bureau. She indicated the project would seek private donations and grants, but probably not funds from the city’s Percent for Art program, which is currently under review by the city council.
The commission also heard from Linda Tenza, a resident who came to the Jan. 23 meeting to make an informal proposal for creating murals on the ceilings of the farmers market shelter. Likening it to a Sistine Chapel effect, Tenza suggested painting food-themed murals on the ceilings of the structures that cover the market aisles. Possible themes include food as medicine, the local farm community, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and the history of farming.
Although Tenza’s project is still tentative, one public art project that’s definitely coming to Ann Arbor is the Detroit Institute of Arts’ Inside|Out program, which involves installing framed reproductions from the DIA’s collection at outdoor locations on building facades or in parks. Two private Ann Arbor businesses – Zingerman’s Deli and the downtown Borders store – were part of the program in 2010. Since then the DIA has been talking periodically with AAPAC and city staff about expanded participation.
The works will be hung from late March through June at several downtown locations, including on the facade of city hall and on the wall of the fire station that faces the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. An official announcement about the project, including a listing of all locations, will be made at a Feb. 8 DIA press conference.
In other action at AAPAC’s Jan. 23 meeting, commissioners expressed frustration with the proposed design of a sign for the Herbert Dreiseitl water sculpture in front of city hall, calling it too “busy” with text and images that are unclear. Nor were they pleased with the proposed description of the piece that’s included on the sign: “Sculpture with Water Feature.” Chamberlin agreed to discuss their concerns with Ken Clein of Quinn Evans Architects, which handled the design.
Commissioners were also updated on several ongoing projects, including the selection of public art for the East Stadium bridges. A public engagement proposal for that $400,000 project – which might serve as a template for other projects – elicited some debate. John Kotarski objected to a recommendation that part of each artist’s interview with a selection panel should be held in private. He felt strongly that the process should be open and transparent. Wiltrud Simbuerger, who presented the recommendation, felt that the selection panel needs a “safe place” for their deliberations.
The Jan. 23 meeting included a discussion of officer elections, which AAPAC’s bylaws call for in January. The elections were ultimately postponed because only four commissioners were present at that point in the 2.5-hour meeting. Chamberlin has been serving as chair since April of 2011. Malverne Winborne is vice chair.
Also factoring into the issue of officer elections was the uncertainty of AAPAC’s future. The city council has suspended expenditures for future projects pending review of the public art program by a council committee appointed last December. Chamberlin, who has attended all meetings of that committee, gave an update to commissioners, but noted that no decisions have yet been made. The committee is expected to give its recommendations to the full council in mid-February – its next meeting is on Feb. 7. This report includes a summary of the committee’s most recent deliberations. [Full Story]
Three fire trucks with lights and sirens have gone past in the last 5 mins. Details?
The Shape Ypsilanti website is soliciting input on community values to help guide development of the city’s master plan. From one of the responses: “City SUSTAINABILITY* is the priority in economic, energy, transportation and other matters. … Sustainability is NOT the ability to carry out endless growth & development.” [Source]
Crain’s Detroit Business reporter Bill Shea writes that officials with the University of Michigan athletics department are saying they did not “catfish” their athletes, contrary to recent media reports. The column quotes UM associate athletic director David Ablauf: “It was the media jumping to the use of the word cat fishing … not Dave [Brandon] or Brady [Hoke]. They did not use the term and that is not what we were doing with our teaching session for student-athletes.” [Source]
The Chronicle’s milestone column was originally conceived as a monthly feature – an opportunity for either the editor or the publisher to relay housekeeping news to readers, or offer opinions on topics related to media and journalism. It was also conceived as a monthly reminder to readers that actual human beings who live among them are reporting, writing and editing this publication.
Screenshot of blue overlay reminder notice. After it’s been closed – by clicking the “close button” in the upper righthand of the overlay – it should not appear again as a reader continues to navigate through The Chronicle’s site.
The monthly milestone column was also a vehicle for reminding readers that it takes regular financial contributions from readers like them to sustain this publication. As we look to transition this from a monthly to an occasional column, we’d like to maintain a monthly schedule of reminders to folks: If you perceive a benefit from The Chronicle to yourself and the broader community, then please consider contributing financial support so that benefit can be sustained.
So, to maintain a regular monthly reminder, especially in those months when we don’t publish a milestone column, we’re trying out a blue overlay – which should have appeared on your screen if you visited the website today (Feb. 2, 2013). In some ways, it’s an awful and ostentatious way to greet Chronicle readers. But to make it go away, just click in the upper righthand corner on the “close button.” It shouldn’t appear again for the duration of your visit.
Of course, instead of clicking on that “close button,” we’d prefer you clicked on the SUBSCRIBE link. Or failing that, we’re hoping that the blue overlay might remind you to review your check register for the last time you wrote out a check to The Chronicle.
And of course, if you’re already sending your regular financial support to The Chronicle, we’d like you to interpret that blue overlay as a thank-you. We hope it will encourage you to mention to your friends, co-workers and acquaintances that you voluntarily subscribe to The Chronicle, and suggest they do the same. [Full Story]
As night falls on a very cold day, a murder of crows appears and circles toward the west.
Ann Arbor Public Schools committee of the whole meeting (Jan. 23, 2013): At the board’s committee of the whole (COTW) meeting last week, trustees received an update on the district’s strategic plan from the executive team and other district administrators. Trustees also discussed reviewing the district’s contracting policy.
Deputy superintendent for instructional services Alesia Flye and Huron High School principal Arthur Williams. (Photos by the writer.)
While trustees received a comprehensive update on the eight points of the strategic plan, they focused their attention on aspects of international standards, personalized learning, and how best to market the district. President Deb Mexicotte argued that the district needed to co-opt the “language of the rhetoric” used by Lansing and demonstrate how the district is a better choice for students than the alternatives.
After hearing from six union-friendly members of the public during public commentary, trustees spent a significant amount of time discussing how, if at all, they wanted to change the district’s contracting policy. Currently, the board tends to accept the lowest qualified bid. But other factors discussed at the meeting included prevailing wages, historically underutilized businesses (HUB), and local contractors.
The conversation led to the creation of an ad-hoc committee to gather more of the information the trustees felt they needed before they could alter the contracting policy. Members of the committee were not yet appointed at the meeting. [Full Story]
