Archive for April, 2013

Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) board of education regular meeting (March 27, 2013): The main agenda item for trustees was agreements with the Ann Arbor Education Association (AAEA), representing the district’s teachers, paraeducators, and office professionals. The agreements, which were approved unanimously by the board, will save the district approximately $3.4 million in the 2013-14 fiscal year.

Mitchell Elementary students prepare for their musical performance. (Photos by the writer.)

Teachers agreed to a 3% pay cut for the 2013-14 year, while paraeducators and office professionals agreed to mandatory furlough days for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years. The trustees and district superintendent Patricia Green expressed their appreciation for what they called the “shared sacrifice” of the AAEA members.

The board heard extensive public commentary on several possible budget cuts. The board is facing $17-$20 million of cuts for next year’s budget.

The board also spent a significant time reviewing policy changes, brought forward by president Deb Mexicotte. Some of the policy changes included placing limits on board meeting times, adding items to the agenda, and changing the board’s committee structure. The board is considering a change from its current committee-of-the-whole to its former committee structure of two different standing committees. Previously the board had a committee for planning and one for performance – but it’s not clear if the board will settle on those committees. The board will consider the  raft of policy changes at its next regular meeting, on April 10.

The trustees also adopted an affirmation of boardsmanship, which is a “shared belief of values” that Mexicotte presented. The hope is that such a shared set of values would help guide them in their interactions with each other and the community. The affirmation came about as a result of their August 2012 board retreat, when board members decided that their number one board goal was to work on building trust with each other. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor planning commission meeting (April 2, 2013): A new retail project – with plans for a Jimmy John’s restaurant – will now move to the city council for approval, following a recommendation from planning commissioners this week.

From left: Ann Arbor planning commissioners Wendy Woods, Ken Clein and Sabra Briere, who also represents Ward 1 on the Ann Arbor city council. (Photos by the writer.)

Called the State Street Center, the project will be located on a thin strip of land off of South State, just north of Ellsworth and adjacent to a relatively new Tim Hortons. Commissioners recommended approval of the site plan and for rezoning the parcel to C3 (fringe commercial). The Jimmy John’s will face South State. A separate one-story retail building will be located behind the restaurant.

Some commissioners expressed concern that the businesses in the retail building won’t be very visible from South State. Jim Cernuto, the owner’s project manager, noted that the State and Ellsworth corridor is “coming alive” after the opening of Costco, and that there’s strong interest from potential tenants. The proposed C3 zoning is the most inclusive type of non-residential zoning, allowing for a wide range of businesses, including convenience stores, dry cleaners, wholesalers and warehousing.

Also during the meeting, several commissioners brought up items for future discussion. Bonnie Bona noted that the city’s energy commission plans to develop recommendations for the city council regarding future development of the former YMCA site, on William between Fourth and Fifth avenues. She suggested that planning commissioners should discuss whether they also want to make recommendations, laying out what councilmembers should consider in deciding the site’s future. At its March 4, 2013 meeting, the council voted to direct the city administrator to prepare an RFP (request for proposals) for brokerage services to sell the lot.

Sabra Briere raised the issue of a whether the city should develop a “solar blocking” policy. If someone puts solar panels on the roof of their house, she noted, there is no ordinance to protect the home from other buildings that might be constructed nearby and block the sun – even though the city is encouraging this kind of solar energy use. Although she didn’t explicitly mention it, the issue of shading has been an argument against the proposed development at 413 E. Huron. In that case the issue has concerned the impact of building shade on trees, not solar panels. Briere also serves on the city council representing Ward 1. Councilmembers voted on April 1 to postpone action on that project.

Related to the 413 E. Huron project is a recent council directive to the planning commission to review the city’s downtown core (D1) zoning. Also on April 1, councilmembers provided specific guidance for that review, along with an Oct. 1 deadline for the completion of the work. Briere communicated the council’s direction to commissioners at their April 2 meeting, but there was no further discussion about it.

The commission’s regular meeting on April 2 was relatively brief, lasting about an hour. It was followed by a working session, where commissioners got an update from Nathan Voght, project manager for Reimagine Washtenaw. The effort is aimed at improving the Washtenaw Avenue corridor between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Voght works for Washtenaw County’s office of community & economic development, which is overseeing the project. [Full Story]

Final authorization to create two new jobs – in IT support and water resources – was given by the Washtenaw County board of commissioners at their April 3, 2013 meeting. The items had received initial approval on March 20.

The water resource specialist will work in the county’s office of the water resources commissioner, Evan Pratt. The job is authorized at a salary range between $30,515 to $40,253. According to a staff memo, the position is needed due to heavy drain construction activity and an increase in soil erosion application inspections. The job is described as a revenue-generating position, bringing in an estimated additional $41,337 in each of the first three years, and a minimum of $15,000 annually after … [Full Story]

A public hearing is now set for April 17, 2013 to get input on the Washtenaw Urban County‘s five-year strategic plan through 2018 and its 2013-14 annual plan. The hearing will be held at the county board of commissioners meeting at 6:30 p.m., in the boardroom of the county administration building at 22o N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. Commissioners scheduled the meeting with a unanimous vote on April 3.

The Urban County is a consortium of Washtenaw County and 18 local municipalities that receive federal funding for low-income neighborhoods. Members include the cities of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Saline, and 15 townships. “Urban County” is a designation of the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), identifying a … [Full Story]

Taking a step officially to end an effort that stalled last year, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners has given initial approval to dissolve a countywide public transit authority known as the Washtenaw Ride. The unanimous vote took place at the board’s April 3, 2013 meeting, without discussion. A final vote is expected on April 17.

The Act 196 authority, created in mid-2012 and spearheaded by the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, never gained traction and was for all practical purposes ended late last year when the Ann Arbor city council voted to opt out of the transit authority at its Nov. 8, 2012 meeting. Of the 28 municipalities in Washtenaw County, the city of Ypsilanti is the only one that … [Full Story]

The creation of 39 new jobs and the reclassification of 76 others for Washtenaw County’s community support and treatment service (CSTS) department received initial approval from the county board of commissioners at its April 3, 2013 meeting. A final vote is expected on April 17.

CSTS is a county department employing about 300 people, but receives most of its funding from the Washtenaw Community Health Organization, a partnership between the county and the University of Michigan Health System. The WCHO is an entity that receives state and federal funding to provide services for people with serious mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance abuse disorders. WCHO contracts for services through CSTS. Although staffing has remained fairly constant in the last … [Full Story]

The latest post on Nacho Frenzy – a blog focused on “nacho ratings from in-and-around the city of Ann Arbor” – reviews the nachos at Ashley’s: “There’s nothing outright bad about the plate, it’s just very average. I usually enjoy it more than I should because of the above mentioned atmosphere and because I’m usually two beers in by the time I get them.” Other recent posts review nachos at Isalita and the Wurst Bar in Ypsilanti. [Source]

Ann Arbor planning commissioners have recommended approval of a proposed site plan for State Street Center, near the intersection of State and Ellsworth, as well as rezoning for the site. The unanimous vote took place at the commission’s April 2, 2013 meeting.

Aerial view of State Street Center project near South State and Ellsworth.

The plan calls for demolishing a vacant 840-square-foot house on this site. In its place, the developer plans a one-story, 1,700-square-foot drive-thru Jimmy John’s restaurant facing South State Street. A one-story, 6,790-square-foot retail building … [Full Story]

Ann Arbor park advisory commission meeting (March 19, 2013): A packed agenda for this month’s PAC meeting included several items related to downtown parks and the Huron River.

Park planner Amy Kuras, left, talks with Stewart Gordon, an advocate for putting an ice-skating rink atop the Library Lane site. In the background are Andrew Walton, left, and Doug Kelly, the city’s director of golf. Walton supervises the Huron Hills golf course. (Photos by the writer.)

Commissioners discussed a proposal to build an ice-skating rink atop a portion of the city-owned Library Lane underground parking structure. They took no action on the item, but were briefed on the proposal by two advocates of the effort: Alan Haber and Stewart Gordon. The two men also attended a subsequent March 26 meeting of a PAC downtown park subcommittee. This report includes a summary of that session as well.

River-related items on PAC’s March 19 agenda included a resolution to recommend awarding a $295,530 contract to Gerace Construction Co. for repair work and repainting at Argo and Geddes dams, as well as site improvements around Argo Dam. Brian Steglitz, an engineer with the city, told commissioners that the work is being done in response to the most recent inspection by state regulators.

Commissioners also recommended awarding a $512,180 contract for improvements at the Gallup Park canoe livery to Construction Solutions Inc., which will be funded in part by a $300,000 state grant. Cheryl Saam, facility supervisor for the Argo and Gallup canoe liveries, gave commissioners a presentation on those operations, in preparation for budget recommendations that PAC is expected to consider at its April 16 meeting.

As part of her report, Saam noted that the city plans to issue another request for proposals (RFP) to design a whitewater section along the Huron River, downstream from the Argo Dam near the Argo Cascades. Parks and recreation manager Colin Smith reminded commissioners that the first attempt at this project wasn’t successful. The Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality did not approve the initial design, and would not issue the necessary permit for the project. The staff is working with the state to address MDEQ’s concerns, he said. Smith also reported that DTE Energy still intends to pay for the project, which is located adjacent to property that the utility company is cleaning up.

DTE representatives were on hand at the meeting because of a different project: To request an easement on city-owned land in Riverside Park, where utility poles are located. The easement is needed as part of an $8 million new electrical substation that DTE is building on land adjacent to the park. Commissioners unanimously recommended that the city council approve the easement.

In another presentation to set the stage for next month’s budget discussion, PAC heard from Doug Kelly, the city’s director of golf, and Andrew Walton, recreational facility supervisor at Huron Hills. They reviewed the status of the city’s two golf courses – at Huron Hills and Leslie Park – and noted that both courses have seen significant revenue gains over the past five years.

The issue that drew the most public commentary during the meeting wasn’t on the March 19 agenda: a possible dog park on a knoll in West Park. Residents in that area aren’t happy about the prospect of barking dogs in their neighborhood. [Full Story]

Jonathan Chait’s column in New York Magazine – ”How Did the Michigan Basketball Team Get Good?” – credits coach John Beilein, freshman Mitch McGary, and the fact that the team “stopped playing Big Ten games.” About McGary, Chait writes: “The six-foot-ten, 255-pound freshman spent most of the season coming off the bench and alternating brilliant plays with cringe-inducing, giant-puppy-furniture-crashing mistakes. McGary figured out how to control his spastic tendencies, perhaps induced by his ADHD, and transformed himself into a superstar.” [Source]

A contract for street resurfacing in Ann Arbor – with Barrett Paving Materials Inc. in the amount of $3,583,944 – has been approved by the Ann Arbor city council. The work will occur in the spring and summer of 2013.

2013 Ann Arbor street resurfacing program.

The council has also approved two contracts in connection with the city’s 2013 ramp and sidewalk repair project – a $748,576 contract with Doan Construction Company and a $207,350 contract with Precision Concrete Cutting.

Action on all three contracts came at the council’s April 1, 2013 meeting.

The city has a ramp and sidewalk repair … [Full Story]

A $512,180 contract to Construction Solutions Inc. for improvements at the Gallup Park canoe livery has been approved by the Ann Arbor city council. The council’s vote came at its April 1, 2013 meeting.

The Ann Arbor park advisory commission had recommended the contract award at its March 19, 2013 meeting. The project budget includes a 10% construction contingency, bringing the total cost to $563,398.

Schematic of the proposed Gallup Park canoe livery improvements.

Construction Solutions, based in Ann Arbor, was the lowest qualified bidder on the project. … [Full Story]

The Ann Arbor city council has approved the publication of a notice of intent to issue water supply system revenue bonds totaling $18.5 million to pay for additions and improvements to the city’s water supply system.

According to the staff memo accompanying the agenda item, the first in the series of bonds is expected to be for around $3.8 million and will be sold directly to the Michigan Finance Authority as part of its Drinking Water Revolving Fund program. The bonds will be paid solely from revenues to Ann Arbor’s drinking water system.

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]

The Ann Arbor city council has authorized the award of a $295,530 contract to Gerace Construction Co. for repair work and repainting at Argo and Geddes dams, as well as site improvements around Argo Dam. The council took the action at its April 1, 2013 meeting.

The contract had been recommended for approval by the city’s park advisory commission (PAC) at its March 19, 2013 meeting.

Gerace, based in Midland, submitted the lowest of four qualified bids for this work. Other bidders were Anlaan Corp. ($354,050); E&L Construction ($457,989); and Spence Brothers ($797,000). According to a staff memo, the work entails “repair and repainting of gear housings, lift equipment, tainter gate structural steel, miscellaneous concrete repair, and minor site improvements. Site … [Full Story]

A $3,000 lease to accommodate overflow parking for the Argo canoe livery has been approved by the Ann Arbor city council. The vote came at the council’s April 1, 2013 meeting, having been pulled from the council’s March 18, 2013 consent agenda and postponed at that time.

Sabra Briere (Ward 1) had asked that the item be separated out from the consent agenda. Briere had heard concerns that the lot is not very well-graded and that there’s a lot of runoff. She wondered if there was a way for the city to enforce maintenance of the lot through the lease.

At the council’s April 1 meeting, Briere indicated that it was not feasible to enforce through the contract the kind of improvements … [Full Story]

The site plan application for 413 E. Huron – a proposed 14-story, 216-apartment building at the northeast corner of Huron and Division streets – has been postponed again by the Ann Arbor city council. The postponement on April 1, 2013 – until the council’s April 15 session – came at the request of the project’s developer.

A new public hearing on the project was started at the April 1 meeting, and held open so that it can resume on April 15. The council first considered the 413 E. Huron site plan at its March 18, 2013 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 … [Full Story]

Final approval to changes in the city’s sign ordinance – to allow for only a limited type of digital signs – has been delayed by the Ann Arbor city council. And because a council-enacted moratorium on applications for digital signs was set to expire on April 11, 2013, the council decided to extend that moratorium until July 1, 2013.

The ordinance revisions were postponed until the council’s first meeting in May – on May 6.

According to the resolution approved by the council, the purpose of postponing a decision on the ordinance amendment and extending the moratorium was to allow for additional time to review the proposed amendments and to “gather input from the public and interested parties, and to promote the public health, … [Full Story]

The Ann Arbor city council has extended a temporary halt to spending money set aside under its Percent for Art ordinance.

The city’s public art ordinance requires that 1% of all capital project budgets be set aside for public art. Originally set to run through April 1, 2013, the temporary halt on spending – except on projects already in the works – will now be extended until May 31. The extension was approved by the council at its April 1 meeting. The three projects currently in the works are installations for East Stadium Bridges, a rain garden on Kingsley Street, and Argo Cascades.

The council had originally enacted the moratorium on spending at its Dec. 3, 2012 meeting. The action came in … [Full Story]

Following a decision made at its March 18, 2013 meeting to give direction to the city’s planning commission to review zoning in the D1 (downtown core) zoning district, the Ann Arbor city council has now enumerated the areas of inquiry the commission is supposed to pursue:
RESOLVED, That City Council requests the City Planning Commission to specifically address these issues:
(i) whether D1 zoning is appropriately located on the north side of Huron Street between Division and S. State and the south side of William Street between S. Main and Fourth Avenue;
(ii) whether the D1 residential FAR premiums effectively encourage a diverse downtown population; and
(iii) consider a parcel on the south side of Ann St. adjacent to north of city … [Full Story]

Several revisions to Chapter 7, a city ordinance governing the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (DDA), have received an initial approval by the city council. One of the revisions could result in roughly $559,000 in additional annual revenue for the city of Ann Arbor – compared to what it would receive under the DDA’s current interpretation of the ordinance.

The 7-3 vote came at the council’s April 1, 2013 meeting. In order to be enacted, the changes will need to receive approval from the council at a subsequent meeting, following a public hearing.

The revisions considered by the council fell roughly into two categories: (1) those involving board composition and policies; and (2) calculation of tax increment finance (TIF) capture in the … [Full Story]

Ann Arbor District Library board meeting (March 18, 2013): Several items during the AADL board’s most recent meeting related to the issue of communications.

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and production, talks with AADL board president Prue Rosenthal in the small room off of the fourth-floor boardroom. The former closet is used as a studio for podcasting. (Photos by the writer.)

Nancy Kaplan, chair of the board’s new communications committee, announced that AADL will hire Allerton-Hill Consulting to do a communications audit and plan for the library, to be completed this year. The decision was made in consultation with AADL director Josie Parker, Kaplan said. It didn’t require a board vote because the amount of the contract is the maximum for not triggering board approval: $28,000. Contracts for purchases over that amount must be authorized by the board.

Board president Prue Rosental, in supporting the decision, noted that during the campaign to pass a bond for a new downtown library – which voters rejected on Nov. 6, 2012 – library advocates learned that “people in the community didn’t know what we do and how well we do it.”

Some of those “what we do” activities were highlighted during two presentations at the meeting: (1) an overview of AADL podcasts produced by staff and patrons; and (2) a report from Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and production, about his recent trip to Germany as a guest of the U.S. State Department and Zukunftswerkstatt (“Future Workshop”), visiting libraries in several cities. The head of the Zukunftswerkstatt was interested in using AADL’s efforts as a model to get German libraries more involved with younger communities, using gaming and other activities. As a result of the partnership with AADL, a dozen libraries in Germany have started running events through the GT System, which AADL staff developed. A league tournament is being held, and three winners will come to Ann Arbor for the May 19 German-American Gaming League Championships, held at the AADL.

Communications was also a topic during public commentary. Libby Hunter, a member of the Protect Our Libraries political action committee, urged the board to be more open and transparent, asking them to allow the public to attend committee meetings, to videotape their meetings for broadcast on Community Television Network, and to explain their use of closed sessions in relation to the Michigan Open Meetings Act. And Don Salberg asked for more information related to the condition of the downtown library, and for details on the board’s rationale for wanting a larger building on that same site.

Also during public commentary, Stewart Gordon spoke briefly about an effort to put a skating rink on the city-owned Library Lane site, adjacent to the downtown library on South Fifth Avenue. He hoped the topic could be put on the board’s agenda at some point.

The one resolution that was on the board’s agenda was unanimously approved: A one-year contract extension with Pace Mechanical Services for $83,865. The contract, which will run through June 30, 2014, covers HVAC equipment and maintenance.

The board also talked briefly about its budget preparations for fiscal 2013-14, which begins July 1. The budget and finance committee will bring a draft budget to the board’s April 15 meeting, with a vote on the budget scheduled for May 20. For the current fiscal year, the AADL has a budget of about $12 million, with a millage rate set at 1.55 mills. [Full Story]

The University of Michigan is exploring a possible public-private partnership to run the parking system for its Ann Arbor campus and the UM Health System. The University Record reports that UM has hired Greenhill & Co. to study possible options. [Source]