A related item on the Aug. 18 agenda, which was also given approval by the council, was the vacation of a portion of the city’s right-of-way for Seybold Drive.

The Ann Arbor planning commission recommended all three items for approval at its meeting on June 17, 2014. The council gave initial approval of the rezoning at its July 7, 2014 meeting.

Aerial view of North Maple Estates site, outlined in green.

The project is part of a major renovation effort by the Ann Arbor Housing Commission of several of its properties. The site is on the west side of North Maple, between Dexter Avenue and Hollywood Drive. [.pdf of staff report]

The units in the eight-building, 42-unit apartment complex are proposed to have a total of 138 bedrooms. The units range in size from one bedroom to five bedrooms.

The project will include a playground, community building and 73 parking spaces. According to a staff memo, the buildings will be located along a T-shaped driveway that connects to North Maple Road and Dexter Avenue. The drive extends northward toward Vine Court but does not connect with that street. There would be a new connection to Dexter Avenue through the remaining, undeveloped length of Seybold Drive.

The project also requires the city to vacate a portion of the right-of-way for Seybold Drive. The surrounding land is owned by the housing commission, the land will become part of the housing commission property. In a separate vote, the planning commission also recommended approving that request.

When the project was in front of the planning commission, planning staff noted three issues that need to be resolved before the project gets approval from city council:

The parcel containing two duplex buildings also owned by the Ann Arbor Housing Commission in the northeast corner of the site must be combined with the subject site, forming a single parcel as a requirement for issuance of any permits.

The legal description and comparison chart data must be confirmed to include the duplex parcel.

The northern-most parking stall, nearest the connection to Vine Court, must be relocated outside of the minimum front setback area.

According to the staff memo, after June 3 the city’s traffic engineer reviewed the proposed new connection from Seybold Drive onto Dexter Avenue, and concluded that sight distances from all approaches are acceptable. He suggested that the pavement markings on Dexter should be refreshed.

The reconstruction of North Maple Estates is part of an ongoing effort by the housing commission to upgrade the city’s housing stock for low-income residents. At the planning commission’s May 6, 2014 meeting, AAHC executive director Jennifer Hall had made a presentation about the initiative, which includes seeking private investors through low-income housing tax credits.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

Animated .gif of the Burton Commons property showing the demolition of single-family homes on the parcels – from aerial images in the Washtenaw County and city of Ann Arbor GIS system.

If the parcels are available for sale, the council has also requested that the park advisory commission review the two properties and advise the city council by  Oct. 1, 2014 about whether they are desirable for city purchase using parkland acquisition funds and private contributions.

Originally on the agenda was just an item related to the Burton Road property, brought forward by Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3). During the meeting, the resolution was amended – at the request of Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5) – to include the Glendale property. The deliberations that led to the amendment and that resulted in the final wording of the resolution are reflected in The Chronicle’s live updates from the meeting.

The Burton Road property is the site of a long-in-the-works affordable housing project that has never started construction.

The land is immediately adjacent to US-23 to the east and Sylvan Park to the north. A residential neighborhood lies to the west of the land.

Kunselman had told his council colleagues at their June 2, 2014 meeting that he’d be bringing forward such a resolution for the Burton Road property. The idea would be to use funds from the open space and parkland preservation millage to purchase the land. The resolution states that the estimated fair market value, according to the city assessor, is $628,800.

One-third of the open space millage proceeds are supposed to be allocated to acquisition of land within the city limits. At the June 2 meeting, Kunselman argued for the purchase based on the positive impact on climate change and the adjacency of Sylvan Park to the north.

The purchase of the land would also be consistent with a sentiment Kunselman expressed at a recent mayoral candidate forum – that there was resistance in Ward 3, which he represents, to “dumping and piling on” affordable housing in that ward.

Aerial view of proposed Glendale Condominiums site, south of Jackson Avenue.

Kunselman is a candidate for mayor in the Aug. 5 Democratic primary, along with three other councilmembers: Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Sally Petersen (Ward 2) and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3).

The Glendale property is the site of a proposed development that was just recently in front of the city planning commission on July 1, 2014, but postponed. That meeting drew 22 speakers at the public hearing on the project, nearly all in opposition to it.

The plan calls for removing two vacant single-family houses and building six duplexes, each with two two-bedroom condos. (The original proposal had been for eight duplexes.) Based on the size of the parcel and the site’s zoning – R4B (multi-family residential) – up to 39 units would be allowed by right. Each unit would include two garage parking spaces, with 12 additional surface spaces on the site. That’s double the number of spaces required by zoning.

The amendment put forward by Warpehoski to include the 312 Glendale parcel in Kunselman’s resolution indicated that the estimated land value of the 2.64-acre parcel is $345,200.

On the combined resolution for both the Burton Road and the Glendale parcels, the vote was 8-2, with dissent from mayor John Hieftje and Sally Petersen (Ward 2). Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1) was absent due to illness.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

The council deliberations included discussion of the policy on eligible expenditures from the fund – which some councilmembers felt should be restricted to capital expenditures for affordable housing units. However, the current policy allows for funding of analysis and feasibility studies.

A bid by Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) to draw the money from the general fund instead of the affordable housing trust fund failed on a 5-6 vote, getting support only from Kunselman, Jack Eaton (Ward 4), Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5), Mike Anglin (Ward 5), and Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1).

The Ann Arbor DDA had approved the same amount of funding as the city at its meeting last week, on June 4, 2014. Money from the city and DDA is being considered as “up to” amounts. Mary Jo Callan, director of the county’s office of economic and community development (OCED), told the DDA board at its June 4 meeting that $75,000 from a HUD Sustainable Communities grant would be the first money spent toward the assessment.

The firm selected by the OCED to do the needs assessment is czb LLC out of Virginia. [.pdf of RFP for the needs assessment] The current needs assessment will update a report done in 2007. According to a memo from OCED staff to the DDA, the final report will “provide a clear, easy to understand assessment of the local housing market, identify current and future housing needs, and provide specific and implementable policy recommendations to advance affordable housing.

The goal for this update is to include an analysis that links transportation cost and accessibility, as well as other environmental and quality of life issues to the location of affordable housing. The RFP for the needs study describes the timeline for the work as including a draft for review due at the end of October 2014, with a final presentation due in mid-December.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

Mary Jo Callan, director of Washtenaw County’s office of community and economic development, explained to the DDA board what the affordable housing needs assessment would entail. The board voted to approve $37,500 for the study. (Photos by the writer.)

One was a $37,500 grant from the DDA’s housing fund to help pay for an affordable housing needs assessment to be conducted by Washtenaw County’s office of community and economic development. The other was a routine end-of-year budget adjustment that included the $37,000 grant as well as $500,000 of previous allocations made to the Ann Arbor Housing Commission, and a $1.6 million payment for the First & Washington parking garage that was made out of this year’s budget instead of the previous year’s budget.

In other voting business, the board approved up to $125,000 for the redesign and reconstruction of the public sidewalk in front of the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown location on Fifth Avenue. That money will come from next year’s (FY 2015) budget, starting July 1. The project will eliminate the step up immediately adjacent from the curb, which was installed as a result of the streetscape changes the DDA undertook during construction of the Library Lane underground parking garage in 2012. The sidewalk project will be incorporated into an AADL project that will substantially renovate the front entrance to the building.

The final item of voting business considered by the board was adoption of a policy for DDA grants to private developments. The policy establishes criteria for eligibility – which include public benefit to property outside the development. The policy also covers limits on the amount of funding, which is a portion of the additional TIF revenue generated by a project.

A resolution that had been postponed at the board’s May 7, 2014 meeting until the June 4 meeting did not receive any board action – a request to pay about $100,000 for the conversion of streetlights in the DDA district to LED technology. The board did not vote on the item. It did not appear on the board’s agenda as a resolution, but only as an update. That update consisted of remarks from executive director of the DDA Susan Pollay. She informed board members that as a result of conversations she’d had with city staff, they should consider the item tabled, but that the request might be brought back in the future.

The board also received its usual range of updates and reports from committees.

Affordable Housing Needs Study

The board considered allocating $37,500 for a housing needs assessment in Washtenaw County to be conducted by the county’s office of community and economic development. The total budget for the project is $150,000.

The firm selected by the county’s office of community and economic development (OCED) to do the needs assessment is czb LLC out of Virginia. [.pdf of RFP for the needs assessment] The current needs assessment will update a report done in 2007.

According to a memo from OCED staff to the DDA, the final report will “provide a clear, easy to understand assessment of the local housing market, identify current and future housing needs, and provide specific and implementable policy recommendations to advance affordable housing. The goal for this update is to include an analysis that links transportation cost and accessibility, as well as other environmental and quality of life issues to the location of affordable housing.”

The RFP for the needs study describes the timeline for the work as including a draft for review due at the end of October 2014, with a final presentation due in mid-December.

In addition to the DDA grant, money to cover the complete cost of the study will also come from a HUD Sustainable Communities Grant ($75,000) and a possible contribution recommended by the city of Ann Arbor’s housing and human services advisory board (HHSAB). The board is advisory, so the actual appropriation – from the city’s affordable housing trust fund – would need to be approved by the city council. That approval is scheduled to appear on the council’s June 16 meeting agenda.

In 2005, the DDA board voted to approve $15,000 for the housing needs assessment that the county undertook around that time.

Affordable Housing Needs Study: Board Deliberations

Joan Lowenstein introduced the resolution on grant funding for the housing needs assessment. The DDA is being asked to contribute $37,500 to support the affordable housing needs assessment, she said. The study would be useful to the DDA as well as to all the other governmental units, she said – because they would then not be operating “in the dark.” When they are asked to provide support for affordable housing, they would know what the needs actually are. They would not then have to put money into a pot without knowing what that pot of money would eventually support. The study would establish what the housing needs are in the community, she said.

Lowenstein continued by saying that this report would also consider workforce housing. When affordable housing is discussed in this community, she continued, people often think of below-poverty kind of housing, but this study will also be looking at workforce housing. Lowenstein invited Mary Jo Callan, director of Washtenaw County’s office of community and economic development, to the podium to briefly describe the study.

Callan described this current study as an update of a previous needs assessment. Following up on Lowenstein’s comments about workforce housing, she allowed that it was important to include a range of different affordable housing types. Affordability varies, depending on income, she said, and it’s important to include the workforce strata.

A consultant has been retained to do the study, Callan reported. The consultant was chosen because of his familiarity generally with doing affordable housing assessments – and understanding how markets work – and specifically for that type of analysis in college towns. That’s important for Ann Arbor, as a college town, she said. She expected it to be a significant undertaking – with lots of community engagement, lots of meetings and focus groups with stakeholders. The final report would be done in the fall, she said.

As Lowenstein had pointed out, Callan added, we know we need affordable housing – but it’s important to put some numbers on that. How much? For whom? Located where? She noted that she works for Washtenaw County, but each community in the county has particular needs with respect to affordable housing. The report will highlight some specific areas, she said. One of those specific areas will be the Ann Arbor DDA district. The city of Ann Arbor will also be a specific area focused on in the report. Ypsilanti and Pittsfield Township will also be highlighted as communities with specialized needs.

The study will also include an analysis of transportation as it relates to affordable housing, Callan continued. Access to transportation is critical. Affordable housing is great, she said, but it is only great if it provides access to jobs and other needs. The previous study had not included consideration of how transit affects affordable housing, Callan said.

John Mouat highlighted the fact that out of a budget of $150,000, the Ann Arbor DDA was a 25% stakeholder. Half of the amount would be provided by the HUD sustainable communities grant. And another quarter of the amount would be provided through the city’s housing and human services advisory board, he said. He also stressed the fact that the amount is an “up to” amount.

Callan agreed that it was an “up to” amount – which was important for the DDA board to know. She continued by saying that the $75,000 from the HUD sustainable communities planning grant would definitely be used for the study. And the cost of the entire study is currently pegged at about $92,000. However, she expects – as with any major community undertaking – additional components of the study could be added, including additional outreach and engagement. So while the amount is an “up to” amount, she aims to bring the study in under that amount.

Responding to a question from Lowenstein, Callan described the timeline as starting immediately as far as engaging with the consultant. The community engagement process would start very soon, she said. There would be a couple of major planned community engagement events, probably in September and October. She is shooting for the end of November for a final report, she said, but in any case by the end of the year it would be done.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved $37,500 for the affordable housing needs assessment.

Routine Budget Maintenance: FY 2014

The board considered routine annual budget adjustments totaling about $2 million. The amendments are typically made each year towards the end of the fiscal year to ensure that expenditures do not exceed appropriated amounts – in compliance with Public Act 621 of 197. The Ann Arbor city council undertook a similar action at its May 19, 2014 meeting.

The main part of the adjustment was a $1.6 million payment made for the First & Washington parking garage, which is part of the City Apartments project. The amount was budgeted for last year, but not paid until this year.

The rest of the adjustment was attributable to expenditures out of the housing fund – $500,000 of it to support Ann Arbor Housing Commission projects. The remaining $37,500 went to support a countywide housing needs assessment – an amount that was approved by the board in a separate vote.

The DDA will end the fiscal year with $6,167,757 in fund balance. The breakdown of that total is: TIF ($619,571); Housing ($160,154); Parking ($2,161,676) and Parking Maintenance ($3,226,356).

Routine Budget Maintenance: FY 2014 – Board Deliberations

Roger Hewitt introduced the item, saying that state law requires that the budget be amended so that expenses don’t exceed allocations in the budget. There were two areas in which the DDA has “overspent” this year, he explained. In the detail of the parking budget, he noted, there is a $1.6 million increase in the budget for the First & Washington parking structure.

DDA board member Roger Hewitt.

That’s the final cash payment for that structure, he noted. The reason the budget needs to be amended is that the expenditure had been budgeted for the previous fiscal year. The DDA could not make that payment until the certificate of occupancy for the parking garage had been issued. He described it as money that had not been spent last fiscal year and was being spent this fiscal year instead.

The other area where the DDA had “overspent” was in the housing fund, Hewitt said. After the budget had been set, there’d been a request from the Ann Arbor Housing Commission for several projects, he noted. Those projects totaled $500,000. Also a part of the mix was the $37,500 the board had approved at the same meeting for the affordable housing needs assessment study.

John Mouat drew out the fact that the Ann Arbor Housing Commission projects were at Baker Commons and Miller Manor, which are either in or near enough to downtown to fit the criteria the DDA applies for its housing fund investments.

Outcome: The board approved the fiscal year 2014 budget adjustments.

AADL Sidewalk Improvement

The board considered providing $125,000 of funding associated with a redesigned entrance to the Ann Arbor District Library on Fifth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor. The money will be put toward the redesign and replacement of the public sidewalk along the east side of Fifth Avenue, between William Street and the entrance to the Library Lane parking structure.

The goal of the sidewalk redesign is to eliminate the step that was installed at the curb, when Fifth Avenue was regraded in connection with construction of the underground Library Lane parking structure, which was completed in the summer of 2012.

This is the step near the curb on the east side of Fifth Avenue in front of the downtown location of the Ann Arbor District Library. The step will be eliminated as part of a renovation project to the front entrance. The DDA will be funding up to $125,000 of the cost of the improvement to the public sidewalk.

At its most recent meeting, on May 19, 2014, the Ann Arbor District Library board authorized the library director, Josie Parker, to negotiate with Ann Arbor-based O’Neal Construction Inc. for work related to the downtown library entrance. O’Neal would be contracted to provide construction management services. This is the next step in a process that began several months ago, stemming from the need to replace the entrance doors.

At its April 21, 2014 meeting, the AADL board had authorized Parker to hire a construction manager for the project. At that meeting, trustees also allocated $18,580 from the fund balance to pay InForm Studio for construction documents. InForm Studio, the architecture firm that previously designed AADL’s Traverwood branch, gave an update on the process at that same meeting.

The existing teal porcelain panels that wrap around the front facade, part of architect Alden Dow’s original design from the mid-1950s, will be replaced with a “concrete skin” panel. The entrance will continue to be oriented to South Fifth Avenue, with new doors into the building. Leading from the front of the building into the vestibule will be two balanced double doors, which will be easier to open than the existing entry, and a single automatic door. A matching set of these doors will lead from the vestibule to the interior of the building. A heated sidewalk is proposed along the exterior edge of the steps.

The new design also will address accessibility concerns that have been raised by the public. Concerns about the grading and steps on the public sidewalk had been brought up as issues that affect accessibility.

The overall library entrance project is expected to cost about $250,000.

AADL Sidewalk Improvement: Board Deliberations

John Splitt introduced the item. He said when the DDA had built the Library Lane underground parking structure, Fifth Avenue had been regraded – something that needed to be done for water flow and drainage. The level of the street had been changed, and the difference in elevation had to be dealt with near the entrance to the Ann Arbor District Library. So that was dealt with by adding a step, Splitt said. That step has never been terribly convenient for anyone, he said. But now the library is renovating its front entrance. The DDA has been asked to get rid of that step, he continued, saying it was right that the DDA had been asked to do that.

The resolution that the board was considering would allow the DDA to pay for the part of the project that’s in the public right-of-way, Splitt explained. The DDA is not doing the work itself, he continued. The original amount considered by the committee was $100,000, he said, but in the course of committee discussion, they had increased the amount to $125,000 to accommodate any needed enhancements. In the long run, he felt, the cost would be less expensive than that, noting that it was an “up to” amount.

Roger Hewitt pointed out that the Ann Arbor District Library was one of the taxing authorities from which the DDA captures taxes.

Keith Orr supported the resolution, saying it is well within the DDA’s wheelhouse, as it involved infrastructure. Joan Lowenstein asked if the mechanical parking meters that are currently in place would be reinstalled, or if kiosks could be installed. Splitt said he assumed that the mechanical parking meters would be used for the time being.

Susan Pollay, executive director of the DDA, indicated that they are waiting to see what happens when the new Blake Transit Center opens – as the traffic flow will be reversed from what it was previously. When the center was located on the Fourth Avenue side of the block, buses entered from Fifth Avenue and exited onto Fourth Avenue. When the new driveway opens, expected in the next few weeks, buses will enter from Fourth Avenue and exit onto Fifth Avenue. It’s not clear how many of the parking spaces can remain, she said. Once more is known, then a decision can be made on the equipment, she said.

Splitt noted that the general strategy will be to replace the old-style meters.

Rishi Narayan asked, from a budget standpoint, if there was any consideration given to what projects this one might be replacing that already been budgeted for. Roger Hewitt responded to the question by saying that in a larger sense, the DDA has money allocated for sidewalk work. The DDA was holding off on decisions about where that sidewalk work might take place, until the streetscape framework plan is completed. Once that framework plan is in place, the DDA can begin to prioritize, he said.

Hewitt characterized the library sidewalk project as “jumping the queue” – although he said there really is not a queue of projects at this point. He summarized by telling Narayan that yes, there is money in the budget for this project, although it has not been allocated to specific projects. Money was not being taken away from some specific project.

John Mouat asked Splitt for some detail about the plans for the redesign of the library’s entrance: “How does the step magically disappear?” Pollay explained that the entire area in front of the library’s entrance is going to be recreated. Instead of the current two steps up into the entrance, there will be four steps, she said. That will allow the portion of the sidewalk that is near the street to be flat, she said. When the work was being done on the streetscape in connection with the underground garage construction, it was not possible to address that issue.

Mouat ventured that it was possible to view this sidewalk work as an unfinished phase of the reconstruction of Fifth Avenue. He indicated that when the step had been installed, everyone hoped that it would be a very temporary installation. Splitt summarized the results of the project as making the elevation change on library property and not in the public right-of-way.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the $125,000 for the library sidewalk project.

Partnerships Grant Policy

The board considered a policy on granting financial support to private developments. [.pdf of DDA partnership grant policy]

The development of the policy was spurred by a request from First Martin Corp., which has asked the DDA to support its extended-stay hotel project at the corner of Ashley and Huron streets. That location is within the DDA district.

Highlights of the policy include a limit on the amount, keyed to the amount of tax increment finance (TIF) revenue the project will generate: “… calculated to be between 1% and 25% of the ten year TIF captured by the DDA from this project, with these funds to be directed to the cost of the public improvements agreed to by the DDA.”

Criteria for awarding grants include:

1. Addresses a documented gap in the marketplace or underserved markets of commerce within this sector of downtown.
2. Demonstrated that the project will act as a catalyst for additional revitalization of the area in which it is located which will trigger the creation of additional new tax revenue.
3. Is “connected” to the adjacent sidewalk with uses on the first floor that are showcased using large transparent windows and doorways to give pedestrians a point of interest to look at as they walk by the project.
4. Creates a large office floor plate.
5. Will facilitate the creation of a large number of new permanent jobs.
6. Is a mixed use development, that will encourage activity in the daytime, evening, and weekend, such as a development with a mix of commercial and residential.
7. Adds to downtown’s residential density.
8. Reuses vacant buildings, reuses historical buildings, and/or redevelops blighted property.
9. Number of affordable housing units created on site or funded by the project elsewhere in the community, which are beyond what is required by the city.
10. Environmental design is at or above a Gold LEED certification, or an equivalent environmental assessment.
11. Architecturally significant building or project design.
12. Strengthens Ann Arbor’s national visibility.

The grant policy considered on June 4 is similar to but distinct from a policy the board adopted at its June 6, 2012 meeting to cover brownfield grants – a policy that was spurred by the 618 S. Main project. [.pdf of brownfield policy]

Partnerships Grant Policy: Board Deliberations

Joan Lowenstein introduced the grant policy item on the agenda. The board has been discussing this for quite a long time, she said. She described the DDA grant program as “lying dormant” for a long period. The policy would structure how the DDA works with private developers, she said. Some guidelines need to exist, she explained, because it can’t be done simply “catch-as-catch-can.”

The policy sets out guidelines, based in part on the DDA’s brownfield grant policy. But Lowenstein stressed that this policy goes in a different direction from the brownfield grant policy. Specifically, this policy begins by asking the question: What can this developer do for us and our downtown and the rest of the community? So the policy incorporates criteria for how a developer can be eligible for grant support. More than just the developer’s own site has to be included in the benefit, she said. “In that sense it is a partnership, not simply a gift,” she said.

Amber Miller, the DDA’s planning and research specialist, was invited to comment by Lowenstein. Miller described two areas where she’d work on the policy with city staff. First, they had focused on the eligible improvements section of the policy. They’d identified opportunities for project elements that are not typically required of a site plan. Second, her work with city staff had also focused on the process by which the grants could be applied for. She noted that it would be helpful to have a grant application reviewed at the same time that city staff reviewed a project. That would be the perfect time for city staff to identify additional public improvement opportunities.

Roger Hewitt ventured that based on the wording of the policy, any residential project would qualify. Back-and-forth between Miller, board chair Sandi Smith, and John Mouat established that the inclusion of residential units was just one of many criteria for eligibility, and was not necessarily a sufficient criterion. Hewitt did not want every student housing project to qualify automatically. Lowenstein characterized the criteria as a “package.”

Mouat noted that the list of criteria was finite – and as the program continues for a number of years, it might be important to remove some items from the list or to add items. For example the need for large office floor-plate space was high right now, but after more of that type of space is built, it might not continue to be a priority.

DDA executive director Susan Pollay said the policy would be reviewed on an ongoing basis – as the city’s priorities change and as developments change. Mouat expressed concern that there might not be enough on the list to get developers interested. Pollay described how the DDA at one time had a façade improvement program – and the same concern had been registered at that point. Not much has been heard about the façade improvement program in the recent past, she continued, and that’s because there was no development interest. These DDA programs are not meant to supplant market forces – but rather are meant to be supportive of the DDA’s goals, she said.

Al McWilliams inquired about a limitation on the number of grants that could be awarded any given year. Smith explained that payment on any grant would be made only after the property owner had paid all the property taxes due. The grant would never be paid ahead of the taxes, she said. For that reason, she said it is not a typical rebate, but rather a grant based on the payment of taxes.

City administrator Steve Powers characterized the policy that was before the board as much improved over previous drafts. Lowenstein said it was helpful to have this policy coordinated with the city’s capital improvements plan – a change she felt was really helpful.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the grants policy.

DTE LED Conversion

The board’s May 7, 2014 meeting included a resolution that asked the board to consider paying $101,733 to DTE for converting 212 mercury vapor and high-pressure sodium streetlights in downtown Ann Arbor to LED technology.

The board voted at that meeting to postpone a decision until its June 4, 2014 board meeting.

DTE LED Conversion: Background

In 2007, the DDA had previously granted $630,000 for conversion of 1,400 other streetlights in the DDA tax capture district.

Streetlight locations are mapped in the joint Washtenaw County and city of Ann Arbor GIS system. Data is available by clicking on icons includes ownership as well as the lighting technology used. This one is a high pressure sodium light operating at 400 watts.

The 212 streetlights that haven’t yet been converted are owned by DTE, which would be undertaking the work. Currently, the city pays DTE $72,585 a year for the energy used by the 212 streetlights. After conversion, the annual cost for the 212 lights is expected to drop to $51,895, for an annual savings of $20,690.

After an EO (energy optimization) rebate of $10,224, the $91,509 cost would be recovered in just under 4.5 years.

The project would include converting 100 watt MV (mercury vapor), 175 watt MV and 100 watt HPS (high pressure sodium) lights to 65 watt LED (light emitting diode). Further, 400 watt MV and 250 watt HPS lights would be converted to 135 watt LED. Finally, 1000 watt MV and 400 watt HPS lights would be converted to 280 watt LED.

DTE LED Conversion: June 4 Meeting

Susan Pollay, executive director of the DDA, told the board that at the previous month’s [May 7] meeting, she’d put forward a request to the board to consider a grant that would enable converting the remaining non-LED streetlights downtown to LED technology.

Some very valid points were raised by the board members, she said, which she’d taken back to a meeting with city staff. In that conversation, city staff had seen merit in both of the points. The first question concerned how the streetlight conversion project lines up with other priorities in the city’s capital improvements plan (CIP). About that, Pollay reported that “there was a lot of resonance for that question.”

The second question was how the streetlight conversion project lines up with the streetscape framework plan, which is not yet completed: “And that also had resonance with staff,” Pollay said. As part of the development of the streetlight framework plan, she said, we might decide as a community that the goal is to remove all of the cobra-head lights downtown – that we’d like to have all of downtown be lit with pedestrian-scale lighting, she said. And to make an investment at this point – before the DDA finishes that planning process – really didn’t make much sense, she continued.

Staff had “resonated with your questions,” Pollay told the board. So she’d put that board resolution on hold: “So effectively, that resolution you saw before, you should assume is tabled – not permanently, certainly, until after the framework plan,” she said. “If we feel it is important, we will bring it back.”

By way of additional background, in order to take advantage of this year’s funding cycle from DTE – which has a deadline of June 30 for application – the city’s energy office has developed a revised proposal for converting streetlights not in the DDA district. That proposal, to convert 223 mercury vapor lights to LED technology, is scheduled to be on the city council’s June 16, 2014 agenda. The net cost to the city for that conversion is $55,060, with an expected payback period to the general fund of 3.1 years.

Communications, Committee Reports

The board’s June 4 meeting included the usual range of reports from its standing committees and the downtown citizens advisory council.

Comm/Comm: Connector Study

Roger Hewitt reported out on the status of the connector study. [By way of background, an alternatives analysis is currently being conducted by the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority for the corridor running from US-23 and Plymouth southward along Plymouth to State Street, then further south to I-94. The alternatives analysis phase will result in a preferred choice of transit mode (e.g., bus rapid transit, light rail, etc.) and identification of stations and stops.]

The technical oversight committee had met the previous day, Hewitt said. They met with an expert on federal transportation administration (FTA) funding. The ultimate hope of the project, he continued, is that half of the construction funds will come from a federal grant. The expert had provided the committee with a lot of good ideas about how to request grant funding for the next phase of the project – which is the environmental impact study.

The expert had also provided ideas about how to request funding for the construction phase of the project, Hewitt reported. The expert had reviewed the projections of ridership 20 years into the future for this particular corridor, and characterized the numbers as “phenomenal,” Hewitt reported. This would easily be one of the top candidate projects for federal funding, as measured by the cost of the project compared to prospective ridership.

The expert had suggested that some FTA officials be invited to visit the city in the fall, when the University of Michigan students are back, because the FTA will not believe the numbers – they would have to see it for themselves. There’s a public meeting planned for Sept. 17, Hewitt reported. That will take place in the evening at the Ann Arbor District Library to bring the public up to date about the conclusions of the alternatives analysis.

Comm/Comm: Zoning Revisions

Reporting out from the downtown area citizens advisory council, Ray Detter said the group had reaffirmed its support for the city council’s decision to review the downtown zoning, to “correct mistakes that were made in the past.” He said that the previous month, some members of the citizens advisory council had spoken during public commentary at a recent meeting of the planning commission, which had voted unanimously to recommend a change in the zoning of the parcel on the southeast corner of Main and William streets – from D1 to D2. The CAC had supported that change, but had objected to another change associated with the same parcel – which allowed a height of up to 100 feet, instead of the 60 feet associated with other areas of the downtown that are zoned D2.

Detter said he believed that a “planned project” approach would be better than increasing the allowable by-right height in the zoning to 100 feet. Detter said the CAC supported the hiring of a competent urban planning professional to advise the city council and planning commission on ways to make decisions involved in shaping the final recommendations on zoning ordinance changes.

During communications time, Roger Hewitt responded to Detter’s comments made during the initial public commentary of the meeting, saying that past zoning is not necessarily a mistake – it could simply be a difference of opinion. A change in the zoning does not mean that the past zoning was a mistake, he stressed. It might mean that the views of the public have changed. Hewitt reminded everyone that he had served for three years on the A2D2 study committee, which resulted in the zoning changes adopted in 2009. So Hewitt objected to the outcome of those recommendations being referred to as a “mistake.”

Comm/Comm: Footing Drain Lawsuit

As part of his report from the downtown area citizens advisory council, Ray Detter said the group had spent some time discussing the status of the footing drain disconnection lawsuit that is currently pending against the city. The outcome of that lawsuit could affect the downtown area, he said. He reviewed how the lawsuit had recently been sent back to Washtenaw County’s 22nd circuit court from the federal court, over the objection of Ann Arbor city attorneys.

The footing drain disconnection ordinance, he continued, established a program under which property owners could be required to disconnect their footing drains from the city’s sanitary sewer system. The intent of the ordinance to diminish the risk of sanitary sewer overflows into the Huron River and sanitary sewage backups into homeowners’ basements.

Detter said he wouldn’t go into detail on the topic, but he summarized the essence of the lawsuit as involving inverse condemnation – the taking of private property without just compensation. If the lawsuit is decided against city, he continued, likely possibilities include the discontinuation of the footing drain disconnection ordinance and a discontinuation of the developer offset mitigation program. The developer offset mitigation program applies to every new development. Without that program in place, Ann Arbor’s sanitary sewer system would, he contended, be closed to new development.

The issue of inadequate sewage infrastructure in the city would have to be addressed, he said. If projects like 413 E. Huron are not able to mitigate sanitary in-flow, those projects would have to construct above-ground storage, he ventured. It could also have an impact on the University of Michigan’s new graduate dormitory, he said. The dorm is being constructed at the site of the former Blimpy Burger at Packard & Division.

Comm/Comm: Streetscape Framework Plan

John Mouat reported on a number of upcoming events related to the streetscape framework study. There will be a committee meeting on Tuesday, June 10 at 9 a.m. at the DDA offices. [At its Nov. 6, 2013 meeting, the board had authorized the consulting contract SmithGroupJJR and Nelson\Nygaard to manage the project.] There will also be a public meeting on June 12. The open house for the June 12 meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. with a presentation and feedback starting at 7 p.m.. That will be held at the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown location at 343 S. Fifth Ave.

Comm/Comm: City’s FY 2015 Budget

City administrator Steve Powers updated the board on the fact that the city council had adopted the fiscal year 2015 budget at its May 19 meeting. The budget includes funding for three additional police officers – two of them for the city’s community engagement unit, and one for traffic enforcement. The budget also includes funding for an additional firefighter and an additional rental housing inspector. There’s also a one-time use of fund balance of $1 million dollars to address the backlog in maintenance on trees in the public right-of-way. The fiscal year begins July 1, 2014, Powers concluded.

Comm/Comm: Main Street Light Poles

Board chair Sandi Smith noted that the replacement of the Main Street light poles was well underway. From what she heard, there’s a significant difference in the brightness of the lights.

Comm/Comm: Communications, Marketing

Reporting out from the partnerships committee, Rishi Narayan said that the communications subcommittee had focused on a couple of different data items to help determine how best to market downtown. The key is how to help market downtown, not for the DDA to take sole responsibility for doing it, he said.

The idea is to help the downtown area associations and the Ann Arbor Convention and Visitors Bureau. He said the committee is currently exploring a couple of ideas. They’re waiting for some feedback on Ladies Night, which had been an attempt to increase sales and traffic at a time that was not normally high-traffic. It took place on May 9.

They’d come up with some pretty cool ideas about how to use parking data, Narayan said. They were looking at using a startup company in Ann Arbor to look at macro data on purchasing in the downtown. Narayan characterized the committee’s approach as multi-pronged. The committee wanted to get the most bang for the DDA’s buck, and did not want to simply invest money in various events, or into advertising or a website without having a metric by which to gauge success or failure.

Comm/Comm: Main Street BIZ

Keith Orr reported out from the partnerships committee on an update received from the Main Street Business Improvement Zone (BIZ).

Main Street BIZ geographic area and expansion. (Map by The Chronicle from the BIZ plan using Washtenaw County and city of Ann Arbor GIS services mapping tools.)

Property owners immediately adjacent to the existing BIZ had been interested in participating, and the result of the vote among property owners was in favor of expansion. The expansion increases the geographic area of the Main Street BIZ by about 150%, he said.

The DDA had been asked to voluntarily contribute to the BIZ – something the DDA had already been doing for the Palio surface parking lot – even though the DDA is not assessed because it is a governmental entity, Orr said. Additional parking structures for which the DDA would be contributing a voluntary assessment would include the Kline Lot, the Fourth & William parking garage and the Fourth & Washington garage.

Comm/Comm: Sidewalk Maintenance

John Splitt reported that DDA executive director Susan Pollay and Joe Maynard [of Park Avenue consultants] had conducted a walk-around of the downtown to identify trip hazards and small maintenance issues with sidewalks. The budget for the work this year, which will take place over the rest of the summer, was about $75,000 or $100,000 dollars, Pollay thought. Splitt characterized the work as involving small concrete repairs, re-laying brick and those kinds of things.

Comm/Comm: TiniLite, Tiananmen Square

Changmin Fan introduced himself as the owner of TiniLite World. He told the board that he belongs to two countries – the United States and China. He noted that that very day – June 4, 2014 – was the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square uprising. Up to 1,000 people were killed during that uprising, he said. The whole world had talked about it at the time, but it’s quiet now, he said. We should appreciate the democratic system that we have in the United States and in Ann Arbor, he said. He suggested that his company’s technology could be used to help solve social problems by providing a better means for communication.

Comm/Comm: Downtown Spring Party

Reporting out from the downtown area citizens advisory council, Ray Detter said the next day’s weather, on June 5, was going to be sunny and 70 F degrees for the annual downtown spring party, which he hosts at his home on North Division. He ventured that all of the candidates for city council and mayor would be in attendance, and said that everyone was welcome to come.

Present: Al McWilliams, Cyndi Clark, Bob Guenzel, Roger Hewitt, Steve Powers, John Splitt, Sandi Smith, Rishi Narayan, Keith Orr, Joan Lowenstein, John Mouat.

Absent: Russ Collins.

Next board meeting: Noon on Wednesday, July 2, 2014, at the DDA offices, 150 S. Fifth Ave., Suite 301. [Check Chronicle event listings to confirm date.]

The Chronicle could not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of public bodies like the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle. And if you’re already supporting us, please encourage your friends, neighbors and colleagues to help support The Chronicle, too!

The firm selected by the county’s office of community and economic development (OCED) to do the needs assessment is czb LLC out of Virginia. [.pdf of RFP for the needs assessment] The current needs assessment will update a report done in 2007. According to a memo from OCED staff to the DDA, the final report will “provide a clear, easy to understand assessment of the local housing market, identify current and future housing needs, and provide specific and implementable policy recommendations to advance affordable housing. The goal for this update is to include an analysis that links transportation cost and accessibility, as well as other environmental and quality of life issues to the location of affordable housing.”

The RFP for the needs study describes the timeline for the work as including a draft for review due at the end of October 2014, with a final presentation due in mid-December.

In addition to the DDA grant, money to cover the complete cost of the study will also come from a HUD Sustainable Communities Grant ($75,000) and a possible contribution from the city of Ann Arbor’s housing and human services advisory board (HHSAB).

In 2005, the DDA board voted to approve $15,000 for the housing needs assessment that the county undertook around that time.

This brief was filed from the DDA offices at 150 S. Fifth Ave., Suite 301. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

At least 50 people attended the council meeting in support of the resolution, and four people spoke in support of the resolution during public commentary reserved time at the start of the meeting.

The council has already directed the city administrator to hire a real estate broker to explore selling the rights to develop the site – above the Library Lane underground parking structure, which was completed in 2012. But there is not currently an offer from a buyer for the development rights. Estimates of the sale price have ranged from $6-10 million.

The item had been postponed at the council’s April 7, 2014 meeting.

Voting for the policy at the June 2, 2014 meeting were Christopher Taylor (Ward 3), Margie Teall (Ward 4), Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5), mayor John Hieftje, Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1), Sabra Briere (Ward 1) and Sally Petersen (Ward 2). Mike Anglin (Ward 5) was absent. Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), Jane Lumm (Ward 2) and Jack Eaton (Ward 4) voted against it.

Details on the council’s deliberations are provided in The Chronicle’s live updates filed during the meeting.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

The council’s first meeting after adopting the budget for fiscal year 2015 – which was approved on May 19, 2014 – features a housekeeping adjustment for the current year’s budget, so that expenditures don’t exceed allocations.

The sign on the door to the Ann Arbor city council chamber includes Braille.

But the June 2 meeting agenda is dominated by items related to the physical attributes and layout of the city. Several items deal with city-owned physical assets, while several more involve land use and planning.

Possibly one of the more controversial agenda items related to physical infrastructure – and future development in the city – is a contract extension with CDM Smith Inc. for work related to the city’s footing drain disconnection (FDD) program. While the city council suspended the program in certain areas of the city in 2012, it continued in other areas, backed by the city’s ordinance under which the city can require residents to disconnect their footing drains from the sanitary sewer system.

Also not suspended was the city’s developer offset mitigation program, which requires developers to offset the increased flow from new construction into the sanitary sewer system. The vote on the CDM Smith Inc. contract extension was postponed from the council’s May 5 meeting. The dollar amount of the contract extension has been substantially reduced in the meantime – from about $750,000 to $143,000.

Part of the backdrop of the CDM Smith contract extension is a lawsuit that’s been filed against the city, challenging the legal foundation of the footing drain disconnect ordinance. The city sought to remove the case from state court to the federal system, but at a hearing on the matter this week, a federal judge indicated he’d be remanding the case back to the Washtenaw County 22nd circuit court.

City assets on the June 2 agenda include trees – as the council will be asked to approve the city’s urban and community forest management plan. The council will also consider a resolution on the city’s possibly most recognizable asset – the city hall building. The resolution would remove a $4 million renovation of city hall (a “reskinning”) from the city’s capital improvements plan for 2017 and 2018. This resolution was postponed from the council’s May 19 meeting.

Another city-owned asset on the agenda is the Library Lane underground parking garage. The council has already directed the city administrator to engage a real estate broker to test the market for the development rights for the surface of the garage. The resolution on the June 2 agenda, which was postponed at the council’s April 7 meeting, would set a policy to deposit 50% of the net proceeds from the sale of the development rights into the city’s affordable housing trust fund.

Land use and planning items on the June 2 agenda include a roughly $300,000 contract for study of the State Street transportation corridor. Related to transportation infrastructure, the council will also be asked to approve resolutions that move along the process of special assessing property owners on Stone School Road for the cost of installing a sidewalk on the west side of the road in connection with a road reconstruction project.

Also related to land use, three Ann Arbor housing commission properties will be given initial consideration for rezoning. A site plan and associated rezoning for the Delta Gamma house will be given final consideration. Also up for final consideration is a revision to the ordinance regulating drive-thrus. Councilmembers will also consider the site plan for a new Ruth’s Chris restaurant to be located downtown on South Fourth Avenue.

A rate increase for Ann Arbor water, sewer and stormwater rates is on the June 2 agenda for final approval.

Two items connected to parks and recreation appear on the agenda. One is approval of the receipt of funding for a program that helps Bridge cardholders purchase local produce at the farmers market. The second item is approval of a five-year agreement with the Community Action Network to continue operating the city’s Northside and Bryant community centers.

The council will also be considering a resolution in support of the local development finance authority’s application to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. for a possible 15-year extension of the arrangement under which the LDFA captures taxes. The captured taxes are used to fund a business accelerator that’s operated by Ann Arbor SPARK through a contract with the LDFA. Without an extension, the LDFA would end in 2018.

This article includes a more detailed preview of many of these agenda items. More details on other agenda items are available on the city’s online Legistar system. The meeting proceedings can be followed Monday evening live on Channel 16, streamed online by Community Television Network starting at 7 p.m.

The Chronicle will be filing live updates from city council chambers during the meeting, published in this article below the preview material. Click here to skip the preview section and go directly to the live updates. The meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at city hall, 301 E. Huron.

Amend Current Year’s Budget

On June 2 the council will consider a resolution amending the current fiscal year’s budget (FY 2014) to ensure that expenditures do not exceed appropriated amounts. The budget amendment will ensure compliance with Public Act 621 of 1978.

The total requested general fund budget amendment is $60,000. For all other funds, the amendment to be considered by the council on June 2 totals $310,000.

The non-general fund amount will cover right-of-way maintenance and purchase of materials that were necessary to deal with the severe winter weather. The general fund amount was the city’s cost for the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority’s special election held on May 6. That amount will eventually be reimbursed by Washtenaw County – which in turn will receive reimbursement from the AAATA to cover the roughly $100,000 cost of the election.

FDD Program Contract Extension

A contract extension with CDM Smith Inc. for continued work as part of Ann Arbor’s footing drain disconnection (FDD) program appears on the June 2 agenda. It had been postponed at the council’s May 5, 2014 meeting.

In the interim, the dollar amount of the contract extension has been reduced from $748,106 to $143,440. That reflects a reduction in the scope of the work. The original May 5 resolution called for the following activities to be funded: citizen support ($36,928); FDD citizens advisory committee meetings ($24,180); information management for sump pump monitors ($93,707); developer offset mitigation (DOM) program support; ($95,213); and multi-family FDD implementation ($498,005).

No longer a part of the scope of work in the revised June 2 resolution are the FDD citizens advisory committee meetings, information management, or the multi-family FDD implementation. The revised memo describes how the funding would only provide a bridge until recommendations from a study group have been received, which will determine the future of the FDD program:

This amendment would provide the services needed to bridge the gap until the SSWWE [Sanitary Sewer Wet Weather Evaluation] Project recommendations have been made. Presently, the anticipated timeline for completion of the SSWWE Project is in the autumn of 2014. That does not allow sufficient time to issue a new RFP, collect and review proposals, award a contract, and bring a new consultant up to speed to manage the remaining FDD and DOM work outlined above. Existing City staff does not currently have the available resources or expertise to perform the inspections required for the DOM program.

By way of additional background, in 2012 the city’s program to disconnect footing drains from the sanitary sewer system was suspended by the council in some areas of the city. Specifically, it was suspended in the Glen Leven and Morehead (Lansdowne neighborhood) areas. The program was allowed to continue in other geographic areas and as part of the city’s developer offset mitigation (DOM) program. The DOM requires owners of new developments to complete a certain number of FDDs to offset the additional flow in the sanitary system caused by new construction.

The CDM contract drew scrutiny at the May 5 meeting because the city is currently undertaking a sanitary sewer wet weather evaluation (SSWWE) study. It’s supposed to yield a recommendation about whether to continue with the FDD program, and if so, in what form. In addition, the city’s ordinance – which requires property owners to undertake FDDs – was challenged in a lawsuit filed earlier this year. That case is pending as the city first removed the case from state to federal court. But the result of a May 28 hearing before a federal judge will be to return the case to the Washtenaw County 22nd circuit court.

The previous three iterations of the CDM contract totaled  about $3.6 million. The money for these contracts is drawn from the city’s sewer fund.

The proposed contract extension drew criticism during public commentary on May 5 from Frank Burdick, a Ward 4 resident who urged the council to reject it. Council deliberations on this item were included as part of The Chronicle’s live updates from the May 5 meeting.

Since the FDD program’s start in 2001, about 1,834 footing drains have been disconnected through the city program and 848 footing drains have been disconnected through the developer offset mitigation program.

Animation of contrast between the pre-FDD configuration and the post-FDD configuration. (Original illustration from screenshots of YouTube video by Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, modified by The Chronicle.)

Urban Forest

The city’s first comprehensive plan for managing Ann Arbor’s urban forest will be considered at the council’s June 2 meeting. The Ann Arbor park advisory commission recommended adoption of the plan at its meeting on April 15, 2014. [.pdf of Urban & Community Forest Management Plan]

An urban forest is defined as all the trees, shrubs and woody vegetation growing along city streets, in public parks and on institutional and private property. In Ann Arbor, about 25% is on public property, with 75% on private property. Based on a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Forest Service i-Tree Eco Analysis done in 2012, Ann Arbor’s urban forest has an estimated 1.45 million trees. It creates a 33% tree canopy – the layer of leaves, branches and stems of trees that cover the ground when viewed from above.

The city manages 43,240 street trees and about 6,900 park trees in mowed areas. A tree inventory conducted in 2009 didn’t include natural areas, she noted, so there are thousands of trees that aren’t counted. The urban forest includes over 200 species, representing 82 genera.

Map of selected tree variety by The Chronicle from city of Ann Arbor 2009 survey. Image links to dynamic map hosted on geocommons.com

PAC had been briefed on the 135-page Urban & Community Forest Management Plan at its Feb. 25, 2014 meeting by Kerry Gray, the city’s urban forest & natural resources planning coordinator. The management plan includes 17 recommendations, listed in priority based on community feedback for implementation. Each of the 17 recommendations includes action tasks and implementation ideas, case studies, and resources that are needed, including funding. The recommendations are:

1. Implement proactive tree maintenance program.
2. Strengthen tree planting and young tree maintenance programs.
3. Monitor threats to the urban and community forest.
4. Increase landmark/special tree protections.
5. Secure adequate city‐funding for urban forestry core services.
6. Develop street tree master plans.
7. Pursue grant and philanthropic funding opportunities.
8. Strengthen forestry related ordinances.
9. Update tree inventory and canopy analysis.
10. Develop urban forest best management practices.
11. Increase urban forestry volunteerism.
12. Strengthen relationships with outside entities who impact trees.
13. Implement community outreach program.
14. Obtain the best use of wood from removed trees.
15. Create city staff working groups to coordinate projects that impact trees.
16. Engage the city’s Environmental Commission in urban and community forestry issues.
17. Review the urban forest management plan periodically and update as needed.

The city council has adopted a budget for FY 2015, which starts July 1, 2014 that includes a one-time expenditure of $1 million to address the backlog in maintenance of trees in the public right of way.

Included in the focus of the effort to remove the backlog are trees classified as Priority 1 removals (red dots), Priority 2 removals (yellow dots), Priority 3 removals (blue dots) for large trees and Priority 1 prunings (green dots). [Map by The Chronicle with data from the city of Ann Arbor.]:

City Hall Reskinning

At its June 2 meeting, the council will consider a proposal to recommend to the planning commission that the capital improvements plan (CIP) for FY 2017 and FY 2018 be revised to remove the $4.4 million that is included for a city hall reskinning project. The planning commission is the body that approves the CIP. But the council has budgetary discretion to fund projects in the CIP or not – so the resolution in some sense calls on the planning commission to take an action it does not have the authority to execute. This was a point made during deliberations at the council’s May 19, 2014 meeting when the item was postponed.

According to a staff memo written in response to a councilmember question, reskinning of the Larcom City Hall building would mean replacing the existing exterior walls and windows of the building. The result would be new squared-off exterior, eliminating the inverted pyramid design. The new exterior would hang vertically from the sixth floor.

The focus of the project is on improving energy efficiency. The memo describes existing windows as mostly single-pane glass on aluminum frames, which offer little insulation value. The project would also result in an incremental gain in square footage – because the lower floors would have the same footprint as the sixth floor, which is currently the largest floor of the building. The materials used for the exterior would “blend better” with the recently constructed Justice Center, which adjoins city hall.

Library Lot Sale Proceeds

On June 2 the city council will consider a resolution setting a policy for distribution of the proceeds from the sale of development rights on the Library Lot. The proposed policy would set aside 50% of the net proceeds to the city’s affordable housing trust fund.

The council has already directed the city administrator to hire a real estate broker to explore selling the rights to develop the site – above the Library Lane underground parking structure, which was completed in 2012.

The item was postponed at the council’s April 7, 2014 meeting. The vote was 6-5 to postpone, with dissent from Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Christopher Taylor (Ward 3), Margie Teall (Ward 4), Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5), and mayor John Hieftje.

State Street Transportation Corridor Study

The June 2 agenda includes a resolution for a $299,911 contract with Parsons Brinckerhoff Michigan Inc. to conduct a study of the South State Street transportation corridor. The 1.3 mile long area of the study extends from the intersection of Ellsworth Road and South State Street north to the intersection of Oakbrook Drive and South State Street. The money to pay for the study will be drawn in equal parts from the current fiscal year and next year’s general capital fund budget. The study will take a year, starting in June 2014.

The goal of the study is focused on transportation needs in the corridor and to provide base conceptual engineering plans for the redesign of the corridor – possibly including a boulevard “Complete Street” design. The redesign would be intended to “address all modes of travel; enhance vehicle flow; improve safety; create an aesthetically pleasing entrance to the City; and, utilize sustainable concepts such as low impact design (‘LID’), and low energy use lighting.”

The study of the area as a transportation corridor comes not long after a recently completed South State Street corridor plan, adopted by the city council into the city’s master plan at its July 15, 2014 meeting. That corridor plan established planning objectives for the land use along the corridor.

Besides Parsons Brinckerhoff, the other bidder for the work was DLZ.

Stone School Road Sidewalk Special Assessment

As part of a road reconstruction project for Stone School Road, the city is planning to install a sidewalk on the west side of the road. To fund the sidewalk construction, part of the cost will come from a special assessment of property owners. The extent of the project on Stone School Road runs from I-94 to Ellsworth Road. Construction is planned for the project during the 2014 and 2015 construction seasons.

The project is being funded in part through a federal surface transportation grant, which can pay about 80% of construction costs, but not engineering, testing or inspection costs. The total project cost is roughly $128,500, of which about $55,000 will be special assessed.

The council will be asked to approve a resolution directing the city assessor to set the roll of properties to be assessed.

Rezoning: Housing Commission Properties

At its June 2 meeting, the city council will consider giving initial approval to the rezoning of three Ann Arbor Housing Commission properties. The planning commission had recommended the rezoning at its May 6, 2014 meeting. The current PL (public land) zoning for some of the properties is a vestige of the AAHC properties’ status as city-owned land. The city council approved the transfer of deeds to the AAHC at its June 2, 2013 meeting. The three sites to be considered on June 2 are part of the housing commission’s major initiative to upgrade the city’s public housing units by seeking private investors through low-income housing tax credits.

Rezoning is recommended for the following public housing sites, two of which are currently zoned as public land:

• Baker Commons: Rezone public land to D2 (downtown interface). The 0.94-acre lot is located at 106 Packard Street, at the intersection with South Main, in Ward 5. It includes a 64-unit apartment building.
• Green/Baxter Court Apartments: Rezone public land to R4A (multi-family dwelling district). The 2-acre site is located at 1701-1747 Green Road and contains 23 apartments in four buildings and a community center. It’s in Ward 2.
• Maple Meadows: Currently zoned R1C (single-family dwelling district), the recommendation is to rezone it as R4B (multi-family dwelling district). The site is 3.4 acres at 800-890 South Maple Road and contains 29 apartments in five buildings and a community center. It’s located in Ward 5.

At the planning commission’s May 6 meeting, AAHC director Jennifer Hall explained that PL zoning doesn’t allow housing to be built on it. As AAHC seeks private funding to rehab its properties, it needs to ensure if a building burns down, for example, it could be rebuilt. In general that’s why the rezoning is being requested. It’s also being requested to align the zoning with the current uses of the property. She stressed that the highest priority properties to be rezoned are Baker Commons, Green/Baxter and Maple Meadows, because investors have already been found to renovate those sites.

For these three sites, planning commissioners also voted to waive the area plan requirements for the AAHC rezoning petitions, because no new construction is proposed and surveys of the improvements have been provided.

For additional background on the AAHC process of renovating its properties, see Chronicle coverage: “Public Housing Conversion Takes Next Step.”

Delta Gamma Site Plan, Rezoning

The city council will be asked on June 2 to give final approval of a rezoning request for 515 Oxford, to convert a house for use as an annex to the Delta Gamma sorority. The main sorority house is located nearby at 626 Oxford. The council gave initial approval to the rezoning at its May 5, 2014 meeting. Also on the June 2 agenda is consideration of the site plan approval for the same project. The site plan was recommended for approval by planning commissioners on April 15, 2014.

Aerial view showing the location of 515 Oxford, south of Geddes and at the eastern end of South University.

The rezoning request, recommended by the planning commission on Jan. 23, 2014, is to rezone the parcel from R4A (multi-family dwelling) to R2B (two-family dwelling and student housing). Most of the surrounding parcels are zoned R2B, although the site immediately to the north is also zoned R4A. Also nearby is public land (PL) where the University of Michigan’s Oxford Houses complex is located.

The two-story house at 515 Oxford includes two one-story wings. It is currently a rental property with three units – a studio apartment, one-bedroom apartment, and four-bedroom apartment – and a maximum occupancy of 8 people. One of the units is in a former garage.

The proposal for a renovation would accommodate a maximum of 20 residents, including a required resident manager.

The building is notable because it was originally designed in 1940 by architect George Brigham, who used it as his home and architectural studio. He designed over 40 houses in Ann Arbor, including many in Arbor Hills and Barton Hills between 1936 and 1958.

Drive-Thru Ordinance: Final Approval

On the city council’s June 2 agenda is final approval of amendments to Ann Arbor’s zoning ordinance related to drive-thrus. Initial approval came at the council’s May 5 meeting. The amendments would add a definition of a “drive-thru facility” to Chapter 55 of the city code. Currently, the term used throughout the code is “drive-in,” which is not explicitly defined in the code.

The proposed revisions define a drive-thru in this way: “Any building or structure, or portion thereof, that is constructed or operated for the purpose of providing goods or services to customers who remain in their vehicle during the course of the transaction.” The revisions also clarify that a drive-thru is an accessory use, not the principle use of the building. A project in which a drive-thru would be the principle use would not be allowed. Basic layout requirements would also be added to the ordinance.

In addition, the changes would require drive-thrus to obtain special exception use permits, which would be allowed only in the O (office), C2B (business service) and C3 (fringe commercial) zoning districts. Drive-thrus would not be allowed in the C1, D1, D2, and other commercial districts.

Currently, drive-thrus are allowed in C3 districts without a special exception use. They are allowed as special exception uses in the C2B district.

When considering whether to grant a special exception use – which does not require additional city council approval – the planning commission considers these issues:

1. Is the location, size and character of the proposed use compatible with the principal uses of the district and adjacent districts? Is it consistent with the Master Plan? Is it consistent with the surrounding area? Will it have any detrimental effects to the use or value of surrounding area, or the natural environment?

2. Is the location, size, character, layout, access and traffic generated by the use hazardous or inconvenient or conflicting with the normal traffic of the neighborhood? Is off-street parking safe for pedestrians? Do the necessary vehicular turning movements block normal traffic flow? Are any additional public services or facilities needed by the use, and will they be detrimental to the community?

3. Is the maximum density and minimum required open space at least equal to the standards normally required by the Zoning Ordinance for the district?

The planning commission recommended the changes at its April 1, 2014 meeting.

The proposed amendments were first reviewed by the commission’s ordinance revisions committee in 2007, but never moved forward to the full commission for consideration. The ORC most recently reviewed these changes in March of 2014. [.pdf of staff memo and proposed amendments]

Ruth’s Chris Site Plan

The site plan for a new Ruth’s Chris Steak House on Fourth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor is on the June 2 agenda for consideration. The planning commission recommended approval at its April 1, 2014 meeting.

Proposed facade of Ruth’s Chris Steak House at 314 S. Fourth Ave.

The site plan calls for renovating the single-story building at 314 S. Fourth Ave. and putting up a 1,943-square-foot second-floor mezzanine addition over the front part of the existing building. The current structure is 8,024 square feet, and most recently housed the Dream Nite Club, which closed in 2012. The project is estimated to cost $2.2 million. [.pdf of staff report on Ruth's Chris site plan]

Part of the planning commission’s discussion focused on whether there might be outdoor dining in front of the restaurant. The project’s architect indicated that at this point, outdoor seating wouldn’t be appropriate, in part because of bus traffic. The building is located near the Blake Transit Center, a hub for public transportation. The architect also indicated that the restaurant will be using valet parking, with valets positioned in front of the building.

This would be the first Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Ann Arbor. The chain is based in Florida, with locations nationwide.

Utility Rates

The council will consider giving final approval to higher utility rates – for water, sewer and stormwater. Initial approval came at the council’s May 19 meeting.

Water rates will increase across all tiers of consumption. For the first 7 “units” of water, the charge is will increase from $1.35 to $1.40. For the next 21 units, the charge is proposed to increase from $2.85 to $2.96 per unit. And for the 17 units after that, the increase is proposed to be from $4.88 to $5.08. A unit is 100 cubic feet, which is 748 gallons.

Sewer rates will increase from $3.65 to $3.85 per unit. And stormwater fees would increase for all tiers of impervious service. For the middle tier – for more than 2,187 square feet but less than or equal to 4,175 square feet – on a quarterly basis, the increase would be from $24.85 to $26.32.

According to the staff memo accompanying this agenda item, the recommended rate changes in water, sewer, and stormwater would increase revenues to the water, sewer, and stormwater funds by $765,119, $1,171,931 and $410,235 respectively. The reason given for the rate increases is to cover maintenance and debt payments, and to maintain funding for capital improvement requirements. The city calculates the impact to be an additional $6.25 per quarter or $24.98 per year for an average consumer, which is a net increase of 4.2%.

Water consumption for a typical single family is assumed at 19 units per quarter.

History of city of Ann Arbor water rates. The city converted to a tiered system 10 years ago in 2004, based on usage. The 2015 amount is proposed.

Grant to Farmers Market for Food Stamp Recipients

At its June 2 meeting, the city council will consider approval of an agreement with the Fair Food Network to continue administering the Double Up Food Bucks program at the Ann Arbor farmer’s market. Approval would entail acceptance of $32,000 in funding.

The Double Up name stems from the fact that it provides a match of up to $20/person/day for people using SNAP (Bridge cards/EBT/food stamps) to purchase Michigan-grown produce at farmers markets in Michigan.

The city of Ann Arbor has received Double Up Food Bucks grant funding since 2010.

Partnership with Community Action Network

A proposal for a five-year partnership with the nonprofit Community Action Network is on the June 2 agenda. The partnership was recommended for approval by the Ann Arbor park advisory commission at its May 20, 2014 meeting.

The agreement would be for CAN to continue operating the city’s Bryant and Northside community centers, which the nonprofit has been managing since 2008. The proposed amount is not to exceed $130,000 annually – an increase of $25,000 from the current agreement. The higher amount is included in the FY 2015 general fund budget for parks and recreation that the city council approved on May 19. According to a staff memo, the higher amount will address increases in fixed costs and “assist in retaining quality staff that is at the core of the services that CAN provides.” [.pdf of staff memo]

The staff memo also noted that a request for proposals (RFP) was not issued for this work, because CAN has been the sole respondent to the previous two RFPs and the city is satisfied with its work.

During the May 20 PAC meeting, CAN received praise for their work from several commissioners and Colin Smith, the city’s parks and recreation manager. CAN executive director Joan Doughty and deputy director Derrick Miller were on hand to answer questions. Part of the discussion focused on CAN’s exemption from the city’s living wage requirement, which the city council granted in 2012 for a three-year period through Nov. 8, 2015. Doughty noted that the exemption was sought in part because CAN was paying a living wage to part-time employees who were high school or university students, which limited the nonprofit from paying higher wages to full-time workers. She also pointed out that the city parks and recreation unit isn’t required to pay the living wage to its seasonal workers.

LDFA Extension

On the council’s June 2 agenda is an item that would express city council support of the local development finance authority’s application to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to extend the life of the tax capture arrangement for up to 15 years. Without an extension, the LDFA would end in 2018.

Ann Arbor’s local development finance authority is funded through a tax increment finance (TIF) district, as a “certified technology park” described under Act 281 of 1986. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) solicited proposals for that designation back in 2000. The Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti “technology park” is one of 11 across the state of Michigan, which are branded by the MEDC as “SmartZones.”

The geography of the LDFA’s TIF district – in which taxes are captured from another taxing jurisdiction – is the union of the TIF districts for the Ann Arbor and the Ypsilanti downtown development authorities (DDAs). It’s worth noting that the Ypsilanti portion of the LDFA’s TIF district does not generate any actual tax capture.

The LDFA captures Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) operating millage, but those captured taxes don’t diminish the school’s budget. That’s because in Michigan, local schools levy a millage, but the proceeds are not used directly by local districts. Rather, proceeds are first forwarded to the state of Michigan’s School Aid Fund, for redistribution among school districts statewide. That redistribution is based on a per-pupil formula as determined on a specified “count day.” And the state reimburses the School Aid Fund for the taxes captured by SmartZones throughout the state.

In FY 2013, the total amount captured by the LDFA was $1,546,577, and the current fiscal year forecast is for $2,017,835. About the same amount is forecast for FY 2015.

The extension of the LDFA is made possible by Public Act 290 of 2012, which amended the Local Development Financing Act to allow a SmartZone to capture school taxes for an additional five years or an additional 15 years. The staff memo accompanying the resolution describes the five-year extension as possible “upon approval of the MEDC President and the State Treasurer, if the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti SmartZone LDFA agrees to additional reporting requirements and the LDFA requests, and the city councils of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti approve, the amendment of the LDFA tax increment financing (TIF) plan to include regional collaboration.”

A 15-year extension is possible, according to the memo, “if, in addition to the above requirements, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, as the municipalities that created the SmartZone, enter into an agreement with another LDFA [a "Satellite SmartZone"] that did not contain a certified technology park to designate a distinct geographic area, as allowed under Section 12b of the Act…”

The council’s resolution states that if the MEDC approves the extension, the city of Ann Arbor will work with the LDFA and the city of Ypsilanti to identify another LDFA – called the “Satellite SmartZone LDFA.” The arrangement will allow the Satellite SmartZone LDFA to capture local taxes in its own distinct geographic area for the maximum 15 years allowed by statute.

Responding to an emailed query from The Chronicle, Sally Petersen (Ward 2) – who sponsored the resolution on the agenda and serves as the council appointee to the LDFA board– wrote that possibilities for an LDFA satellite for Ann Arbor’s SmartZone include Adrian (Adrian College) or Brighton and Livingston County (with Cleary University).

4:07 p.m. The public speaking line-up for reserved speaking slots is now available on the agenda. Four people are signed up to talk about the policy for distributing proceeds from the sale of the development rights to the Library Lane site: Amanda Carlisle, Jean Carlberg, Jim Mogensen, and Seth Best.

Two people are signed up to talk about the routine adjustment to the city’s budget for the current fiscal year: Thomas Partridge and Jeff Hayner. Two people are signed up to talk about the resolution supporting the LDFA application for a 15-year extension: David Jsa and Gregg Hammerman.

Signed up to talk about the footing drain disconnection contract with CDM Smith is Frank Burdick. And Henry Herskovitz is signed up to talk about Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty in 1967. Signed up as an alternate speaker on the topic of engine powered heating is Kermit Schlansker.

5:08 p.m. Staff responses to councilmember questions about agenda items are now available: [.pdf of staff responses]

6:33 p.m. Council chambers are set up with the dividers already moved back to create more room and about 40 additional folding chairs are set up. The item involving the policy on the proceeds from the sale of development rights for the Library Lane lot is expected to draw a large number of people. About a dozen people have already arrived.

6:42 p.m. Jack Eaton (Ward 4) is the first councilmember to arrive. Two dozen people now in the audience in support of affordable housing. They include former councilmember and planning commissioner Jean Carlberg, who has signed up to speak during public commentary. Round yellow sticker read “Homes for the Homeless Now!”

6:49 p.m. Sally Petersen (Ward 2) has arrived. She’s talking to people in the audience, which now numbers about 40 people.

6:53 p.m. Jane Lumm (Ward 2) has arrived. She’s chatting with Paul Fulton of the city’s IT services staff.

6:54 p.m. Mayor John Hieftje has arrived. He’s chatting with Jack Eaton. City attorney Stephen Postema is here.

6:54 p.m. Jim Mogensen has arrived. He’s signed up to speak tonight on affordable housing.

6:54 p.m. Pre-meeting activity. The scheduled meeting start is 7 p.m. Most evenings the actual starting time is between 7:10 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

7:01 p.m. Remaining councilmembers are starting to filter in. Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) is here. Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5), Sabra Briere (Ward 1) and Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1) have also arrived.

7:02 p.m. City administrator Steve Powers is here, along with the city clerk, Jackie Beaudry.

7:06 p.m. Not yet here are Mike Anglin (Ward 5) and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3).

7:06 p.m. Ann Arbor SPARK CEO Paul Krutko has arrived. He’s talking to John Hieftje.

7:09 p.m. Call to order, moment of silence, pledge of allegiance. We’re off.

7:10 p.m. Roll call of the council. Taylor, Anglin and Margie Teall (Ward 4) are absent.

7:10 p.m. Hieftje reports that Teall and Taylor will likely be along later. Anglin, however, is sick.

7:12 p.m. Approval of the agenda Eaton moves the closed session to just before DS-1 – that’s the footing drain disconnection contract with CDM Smith.

7:12 p.m. The council has approved the evening’s agenda.

7:12 p.m. Communications from the city administrator.

7:13 p.m. City administrator Steve Powers is ticking through some upcoming events, including his favorite – Red Fish, Blue Fish, which teaches kids how to fish. It’s on June 8 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Gallup Park livery.

7:13 p.m. Hieftje says Petersen represented the city well in the half-marathon of the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run that was held on Sunday, June 1. [She ran a sub-2-hour race.]

7:13 p.m. Proclamation honoring the University of Michigan International Center as volunteer of the month. The proclamation honors students, scholars and families affiliated with the center who have volunteered their service in city parks.

7:16 p.m. Public commentary. This portion of the meeting offers 10 three-minute slots that can be reserved in advance. Preference is given to speakers who want to address the council on an agenda item. [Public commentary general time, with no sign-up required in advance, is offered at the end of the meeting.]

Four people are signed up to talk about the policy for distribution of proceeds from the sale of the development rights to the Library Lane lot: Amanda Carlisle, Jean Carlberg, Jim Mogensen, and Seth Best.

Two people are signed up to talk about the routine adjustment to the city’s budget for the current fiscal year: Thomas Partridge and Jeff Hayner. Two people are signed up to talk about the resolution supporting the LDFA application for a 15-year extension: David Jsa and Gregg Hammerman.

Signed up to talk about the footing drain disconnection contract with CDM Smith is Frank Burdick. And Henry Herskovitz is signed up to talk about Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty in 1967. Signed up as an alternate speaker on the topic of engine powered heating is Kermit Schlansker.

7:19 p.m. Amanda Carlisle is executive director of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance. That’s a coalition of more than 30 organizations working to end homelessness, she says. She invites people to stand if they’re here to support affordable housing. [Just about everyone in the center section and the additional chairs set up is standing is support.]

Carlisle says she visited people living under bridges last week, not a mile away from where she’s standing – and they need housing, she says. We can’t rely on state and federal funding, she says, so we need to find local solutions. She’s calling for support of DC-1, a resolution that would allocate 50% of the proceeds from the sale of development rights for the Library Lane lot to the city’s affordable housing trust fund.

7:22 p.m. David Jsa is a web developer and chief technology officer at Seelio. About 2.5 years ago, that company was invited into SPARK’s incubator – a company of four people. They were barely going to make it, he said. But they’ve now grown to a company of 15 employees. So they’ve moved into a larger office space. They’re indebted to the LDFA SmartZone and SPARK for helping the business grow. He says they expect to add around another 20 people. They love Ann Arbor and love to tell stories about how great a place Ann Arbor is to start up a company. He refers to people to the services his company received from the LDFA. He supports the extension of the term for the LDFA SmartZone.

7:25 p.m. Jean Carlberg is a former city councilmember and former city planning commissioner. She says she’s been working on affordable housing and housing for the homeless for 30 years. It’s not often you get a chance to put a “pile of money” to put into the affordable housing trust fund, she says. Affordable housing is at best a break-even proposition, she says. There are over 4,000 who need assistance in one year, she says. Councilmembers have all said they think that affordable housing is critical to the community, she notes. Carlberg urges the council to take the step of putting the proceeds from the Library Lane development rights into the affordable housing trust fund. She calls it a rare opportunity. Their actions should match their values and the values of the community, she says.

7:28 p.m. Jim Mogensen is speaking on the Library Lane resolution. He’s speaking for Religious Action for Affordable Housing. Back in the 1990s, one of the subgroups was looking for additional funds. That’s why RAAH was set up, he explains. They’ve raised about a half-million dollars, he says. Mogensen notes that it sounds like a lot of money, but it’s not. They compete with Habitat for Humanity and other organizations, so it’s difficult to raise money, he says. It’s important to have a trust fund available when projects happen, he says. For every complex problem there’s a simple solution – and it’s wrong, he quips. Putting all the affordable housing in Ypsilanti is one such “simple” solution, he says.

7:31 p.m. Seth Best apologizes for his attire. At the house on Stone School Road, they’ve been doing some renovating work, and he didn’t have a chance to change. He’s speaking in support of the Library Lane lot resolution. For every 100 people who are searching for affordable housing in the U.S., there are 30 homes available, he says. Affordable housing takes time, he says. He suggests that some of the money should support a community center or a warming center: Where do people go tonight? he asks. It’s national LGBT month, he says – and if you send people down South, that could put people’s lives in danger.

7:34 p.m. Frank Burdick introduces himself as a Ward 4 resident. He’s encouraging the council to vote no on the contract extension for CDM Smith for footing drain disconnection work. He says the city council has for the last 13 years listened only to the city staff and the city attorney, but not their constituents. He tells the council they have “married” the consultant, CDM. He talks about unhappy and anxious citizens who have failing sump pumps and frozen, improperly installed pipes. The city’s developer offset mitigation (DOM) program should be 100% funded by developers, he says. He contends that the DOM program is in serious legal jeopardy. He suggests that developers should deposit money into an escrow account instead of continuing the DOM program. He challenges mayoral candidates to consider their vote on the resolution.

7:37 p.m. Thomas Partridge introduces himself as a recent candidate for various public offices. He calls on the mayor and council to re-open the city budget to allow for more housing for affordable housing and community development for the most vulnerable residents of the city. Protections under existing city policies are not adequate, he says. He calls for a change in attitude to bring about rules changes so that the public could have greater lobbying access to city hall. He wants public participation periods during the meeting, not just at the start and at the end. He supports the resolution on the Library Land lot sale proceeds, but says that all of the money should go into the trust fund, not just 50%.

7:40 p.m. Gregg Hammerman is cofounder of Larky – a mobile, web-based service that helps people keep track of discounts and perks to which they’re entitled through professional associations, alumni associations, credit cards, health insurance, shopping clubs, community groups, museums and the like. He graduated from UM in 1994 and started his first company then, called Techstreet. At that time, Ann Arbor SPARK didn’t exist, he says. Still, they managed to persevere and Techstreet was finally purchased – and it now has $30 million in revenue and about 25 employees. Now there’s a real start-up culture here in Ann Arbor, which he attributes to LDFA and SPARK. His new company has eight employees, which had been achieved in a two-year cycle, instead of the nine years that his first company required.

7:43 p.m. Jeff Hayner is speaking against voting on the LDFA resolution tonight and encourages the council not to approve it until more information on the efficacy of SPARK’s programs is available. He’s arguing that the SmartZones statewide amount to a geographic transfer of wealth.

7:46 p.m. Henry Herskovitz begins by asking: What if you heard through the news media that fighter jets from South Korea were used to attack a U.S. ship? Our answer would be clear – that the U.S. would not tolerate an attack by an ally. South Korea has not done that, but that’s what happened in 1967 with the USS Liberty when Israel [mistakenly] attacked the ship. U.S. citizens should take it seriously when a foreign government can influence U.S. foreign policy, he says.

7:46 p.m. Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) has now arrived.

7:46 p.m. Communications from the council. This is the first of two slots on the agenda for council communications. It’s a time when councilmembers can report out from boards, commissions and task forces on which they serve. They can also alert their colleagues to proposals they might be bringing forward in the near future.

7:47 p.m. Sally Petersen (Ward 2) says that the topic of the work session on June 9 will be ethics and council rules.

7:49 p.m. Jane Lumm (Ward 2) thanks everyone who has come in to license their dogs. She was here on Friday afternoon and there was a long line at the clerk’s office. Everyone wants to do the right thing, she says.

7:52 p.m. Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) thanks staff for the repaving of the St. Aubin service drive near Platt Road. He announces he’ll be bringing forth a resolution at a future meeting to tender an offer on 8 acres where the Burton Commons affordable project is proposed. [The idea would be to use open space millage money.] Here’s an animated .gif of the aerial photos of the property: Burton Commons land. He’s arguing for the purchase based on climate change and the adjacency of Sylvan Park to the north. The resolution would direct staff to make an offer to purchase at fair market value.

7:53 p.m. Eaton conveys Anglin’s regrets that he can’t attend.

7:53 p.m. Appointments: Confirmation. Tonight the council is voting on nominations to city boards and commissions made at the council’s May 19 meeting. Larry Eiler was nominated to the Economic Development Corporation, replacing Daniel Blakemore. Andy Baker-White and Amanda Carlisle were nominated to the housing and human services advisory board to fill vacancies.

7:54 p.m. Outcome: The council has unanimously approved all the appointments.

7:54 p.m. Appointments: Nominations. Being nominated tonight for reappointment to the city planning commission are Wendy Woods and Eleanore Adenekan. Being nominated for reappointment to the commission on disability issues are Linda Evans and Larry Keeler. Their appointments will be voted on at the council’s next meeting.

7:54 p.m. Hieftje asks Lumm how many openings still remain on HHSAB. Lumm thinks there are still three vacancies.

7:54 p.m. Public hearings. All the public hearings are grouped together during this section of the meeting. Action on the related items comes later in the meeting. Five public hearings are scheduled tonight: PH-1 Ordinance to raise water, sewer, and stormwater rates; PH-2 Ordinance to amend drive-thru facilities and permitted uses; PH-3 Rezoning 515 Oxford (Delta Gamma); PH-4 Site plan for 515 Oxford (Delta Gamma); PH-5 Site plan for Ruth’s Chris.

7:55 p.m. PH-1 Ordinance to raise water, sewer, and stormwater rates.

7:56 p.m. Thomas Partridge asks that rates be revised so that the impact on the most vulnerable residents is ameliorated.

7:57 p.m. Margie Teall (Ward 4) has now arrived.

8:01 p.m. Jeff Hayner says that water rates have gone up every year. He notices it as homeowner, he says. He cites some Sierra Club information that indicates that only three Michigan municipalities operate water services as a utility, including Detroit and Ann Arbor. He questions why the fourth heavy use tier has been dropped – and wonders if it resulted from an effort to accommodate the University of Michigan. He asks the council to please keep Ann Arbor affordable.

8:01 p.m. PH-2 Ordinance to amend drive-thru facilities and permitted uses. No one speaks on this hearing.

8:02 p.m. PH-3 Rezoning 515 Oxford (Delta Gamma).

8:04 p.m. Thomas Partridge says the property needs to be accessible to disabled students.

8:05 p.m. PH-4 Site plan for 515 Oxford (Delta Gamma).

8:05 p.m. No one speaks at this public hearing.

8:06 p.m. PH-5 Site plan for Ruth’s Chris. Steve Fry, who is representing Ruth’s Chris, tells the council that he’s here if there are questions.

8:07 p.m. Thomas Partridge calls on the council to require the restaurant to be truly accessible to those who are disabled and to seniors and those who need to use public transportation. He says there should be menu items that are affordable to those with lower incomes.

8:09 p.m. Approval of minutes. Outcome: The council has approved the minutes of the previous meeting.

8:09 p.m. Consent agenda. This is a group of items that are deemed to be routine and are voted on “all in one go.” Contracts for less than $100,000 can be placed on the consent agenda. This meeting’s consent agenda includes …

8:09 p.m. Councilmembers can opt to select out any items for separate consideration. Kunselman pulls out CA-4. It’s a resolution authorizing $28,444 in sanitary sewer and water improvement charges for 3980 Platt Road.

8:09 p.m. Outcome: All items on the consent agenda except for CA-4 have now been approved.

8:10 p.m. CA-4 Authorize sanitary sewer and water improvement charges for 3980 Platt Road. ($28,444). Kunselman says the property has been under construction for some time. If this resolution is approved, he wonders if the builder will be pursuing this more diligently. Craig Hupy, the city’s public services area administrator, says that he won’t comment on the builder’s intent, but this will remove one hurdle.

8:11 p.m. Outcome: All items on the consent agenda have now been approved.

8:11 p.m. B-1 Increase water, sewer, and stormwater rates. The council will consider giving final approval to higher utility rates – for water, sewer and stormwater. Initial approval came at the council’s May 19 meeting.

Water rates will increase across all tiers of consumption. For the first 7 “units” of water, the charge is will increase from $1.35 to $1.40. For the next 21 units, the charge is proposed to increase from $2.85 to $2.96 per unit. And for the 17 units after that, the increase is proposed to be from $4.88 to $5.08. A unit is 100 cubic feet, which is 748 gallons. [For additional background, see Utility Rates above.]

8:13 p.m. Hieftje says he’s been following this for several years. And the city does a comparison with other communities. He calls the rate increases middle-of-the-pack and appropriate for a city with infrastructure the age of Ann Arbor’s. Hieftje is comparing the issue with roads – that to maintain the infrastructure, it requires money. He says the city’s departments are efficient with their use of money.

8:15 p.m. Kailasapathy asks about the four tiers of the previous approach: Why did the city move from a four-tier system to a three-tier system? Hupy says that those tiers are residential tiers. That was done in response to customers and councilmembers – and that fourth tier hit the large residential users. Powers adds that the commercial rates – including institutional uses – have a different rate structure.

8:16 p.m. Briere notes that years ago, the council used to receive the comparative analysis with other communities and asks that it be provided. Hupy will forward it to councilmembers.

8:17 p.m. Lumm reviews the elimination of the fourth pricing tier – and describes how it affected people who were watering their lawns. She describes the previous rates as involving “ungodly sums.” She notes that the rate increases will translate to $2.3 million in additional revenue. No one wants to increase prices, unless it’s absolutely necessary, and that standard is met, she says.

8:20 p.m. Kunselman asks if it will be possible to slow the rate of increase in future years. Hupy indicates he’s pessimistic that could happen for water rates, given that about half of the drinking water treatment plant might need to be replaced. Hupy expects at a minimum that water rate increases will be similar to what the city is doing for sewer rates.

8:20 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to give final approval to the increase in water, sewer and stormwater rates.

8:20 p.m. B-2 Ordinance to amend regulations regarding drive-thru facilities and permitted uses. On tonight’s agenda is final approval of amendments to Ann Arbor’s zoning ordinance related to drive-thrus. Initial approval came at the council’s May 5 meeting. The amendments would add a definition of a “drive-thru facility” to Chapter 55 of the city code. Currently, the term used throughout the code is “drive-in,” which is not explicitly defined in the code. [For additional background, see Drive-Thru Ordinance: Final Approval above.]

8:23 p.m. Eaton asks planning manager Wendy Rampson how this change differs from the standard the city has in the code now. Rampson describes how the new standard makes it clear that all drive-thrus are subject to planning commission review for special exception use. And windows can’t face the right-of-way, she says. Eaton ventures that this means that planning commission and the council have discretion to grant the special exception use. Rampson notes that he’s correct, but adds that the planning commission has purview on the special exception use. Eaton asks what the standards are for exercise of that discretion. Rampson points to the relevant section of the code.

8:26 p.m. Eaton raises the specter of a long line of cars extending into a neighborhood. Could anything be done about that? Rampson says that the planning commission has discretion on a case-by-case basis – and the commission could deny the application. Eaton ventures that the denial would not be required. Eaton says it would be easy to write this kind of requirement into the code – to prevent that kind of impact on a neighborhood. He revises “easy” to “plausible.”

8:26 p.m. Warpehoski says he’s glad to see this going through. Changing from by-right to discretionary is a good step, he says.

8:28 p.m. Briere says that she can send councilmembers the section of the ordinance that deals with special exception uses. There’s always the risk of making one size fit all, she says. The language in the ordinance revision is flexible enough that each site can be considered on a case-by-case basis.

8:29 p.m. Eaton says he wants to send this back to the planning commission to write into the ordinance what will happen when a drive-thru window is adjacent to a residential neighborhood.

8:30 p.m. The motion in front of the council is to refer this back to the planning commission. Warpehoski says he doesn’t think this needs to be sent back to the planning commission in order for Eaton’s goal to be realized. He doesn’t want to hold up the effort now.

8:31 p.m. Hieftje says he’s siding with Warpehoski, and wants to see the council pass what is good, instead of holding it up until it is perfect.

8:33 p.m. Briere says if there are concerns about drive-thru windows operating near residential neighborhoods, they should be looked into, but says there are already a lot of protections in the code.

8:34 p.m. Outcome on Eaton’s motion to refer it back to the planning commission: It fails on a 3-7 vote with support only from Eaton, Lumm and Kailasapathy. Anglin is absent.

8:34 p.m. Taylor says he’d also like to see the additional criteria, but adds that the changes in front of the council tonight already move the ball in the right direction.

8:34 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to give final approval to the revised regulations on drive-thrus.

8:34 p.m. B-3 Rezone 515 Oxford (Delta Gamma). The city council is being asked tonight to give final approval of a rezoning request for 515 Oxford, to convert a house for use as an annex to the Delta Gamma sorority. The main sorority house is located nearby at 626 Oxford. The council gave initial approval to the rezoning at its May 5, 2014 meeting. Later on tonight’s agenda is consideration of the site plan approval for the same project. The site plan was recommended for approval by planning commissioners on April 15, 2014. [For additional background, see Delta Gamma Site Plan, Rezoning above.]

8:36 p.m. Briere says that for many people, this is a landmark building, designed by an architect for his home and studio.

8:36 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to give final approval to the rezoning required as part of the Delta Gamma project.

8:37 p.m. Recess. We’re in recess.

8:45 p.m. We’re back.

8:45 p.m. C-1 Rezone Green/Baxter (AAHC).  At tonight’s meeting, the council will consider giving initial approval to the rezoning of three Ann Arbor Housing Commission properties. The planning commission had recommended the rezoning at its May 6, 2014 meeting. The current PL (public land) zoning for some of the properties is a vestige of the AAHC properties’ status as city-owned land.

The three sites to be considered are part of the housing commission’s major initiative to upgrade the city’s public housing units by seeking private investors through low-income housing tax credits. [For additional background, see Rezoning: Housing Commission Properties above.] First up is the AAHC property at Green/Baxter Court Apartments from PL (public land) to R4A (multi-family dwelling district). The 2-acre site is located at 1701-1747 Green Road and contains 23 apartments in four buildings and a community center. It’s in Ward 2.

8:46 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted without discussion to give initial approval of the rezoning of the AAHC property at Green/Baxter.

8:46 p.m. C-2 Rezone Baker Commons (AAHC). This would rezone the property from PL (public land) to D2 (downtown interface). The 0.94-acre lot is located at 106 Packard Street, at the intersection with South Main, in Ward 5. It includes a 64-unit apartment building.

8:48 p.m. Kunselman has a question. Rampson comes to the podium. He ventures that Baker Commons would exceed the 60-foot height limit in D2. Rampson says they don’t have an official height of the building, but agrees that it could be taller than 60 feet. She says that this would be a non-conforming structure. AAHC has been notified, and she says it’s not an issue as far as she understands. There’s not really a viable alternative zoning, she says. There was not a planning commission discussion of the possible non-conformance, Rampson tells Kunselman.

8:49 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to give initial approval to the rezoning of the AAHC property at Baker Commons.

8:49 p.m. C-3 Rezone Maple Meadows (AAHC). This item would rezone the property from R1C (single-family dwelling district) to R4B (multi-family dwelling district). The site is 3.4 acres at 800-890 South Maple Road and contains 29 apartments in five buildings and a community center. It’s located in Ward 5.

8:49 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to give initial approval to the rezoning of the AAHC property at Maple Meadows.

8:49 p.m. DC-1 Establish policy for distribution of proceeds from sale of Library Lane lot development rights. Tonight the city council will consider a resolution setting a policy for distribution of the proceeds from the sale of development rights on the Library Lane lot. The proposed policy would set aside 50% of the net proceeds to the city’s affordable housing trust fund. [For additional background, see Library Lot Sale Proceeds above.]

8:52 p.m. Hieftje says he wants to talk about some history. Several years ago, Michael Appel of Avalon Housing had come and talked with him about a pot of money that was available from the feds. [Appel was here earlier, but has departed.] That effort by Avalon had led to a partnership with the nonprofit Food Gatherers and the creation of Carrot Way on Dhu Varren Road.

But the funding landscape has changed a lot since then, Hieftje says. He doesn’t think anything can get done without a “pot of money” here locally. The community’s plans were set back during the Great Recession, he says. Now is an opportunity to create that pot of money, he says, but the exact way the money will be spent can be decided later.

8:55 p.m. As one example, Hieftje floats the idea of creating something like a Carrot Way – that could be located on Platt Road, where Washtenaw County’s former juvenile court facility was located. Hieftje says that the number of people in attendance reflects how well the proposal has been received. He ventures that the sale price might be around $8-10 million, which would mean the city’s general fund would receive several million dollars.

8:59 p.m. Kailasapathy says she’s heard from constituents that they’d like to see an “Arrowwood Part II” and calls it a worthy goal. But she says that there needs to be criteria set for the use of the affordable housing trust fund. It’s there to create new capital assets, she says. It’s not for recurring expenses. She wants to protect this fund for capital assets and says it shouldn’t be used as a slush fund.

Kailasapathy also has mixed feelings about the Library Lane lot. She was the one vote in the 10-1 vote on the hiring of a real estate broker to sell the development rights. She says she’ll support this resolution, and she knows millions of dollars are needed and this is just a start. She’d support 100% of a Palio Lot sale going to affordable housing, she says.

9:00 p.m. Petersen agrees with Kailasapathy that this doesn’t end the conversation about the Library Lane lot. She looks forward to the conversation. It’s more than a great cause, she says – it’s one of the council’s budget priorities and supports economic development.

9:05 p.m. Kunselman says it’s nothing more than a “teaser” resolution, as it’s non-binding. The number of $8-10 million is different from the number that Jim Chaconas had given, he notes – it seems inflated. The same people who sponsored this resolution are the same people who voted to bond for a $50 million underground parking structure, he says. “We’ve spent more money housing cars than housing people.” He points toward a June 4, 2007 vote when the council had rescinded a previous affordable housing policy as part of a land sale – because the council needed the money from the sale of the First & Washington property to build the police/courts facility. When the sale is actually done, he’ll support putting that money into affordable housing.

9:06 p.m. Taylor says he’s delighted to be a co-sponsor. He says the resolution is a moral commitment to use the money for an important community need. Local government can’t wave a magic wand to make things affordable, he says.

9:09 p.m. Briere says that after Kunselman brought forward the resolution to sell the development rights, she’s had a conversation with Hieftje about what percentage should go to affordable housing. The council’s budget committee had recommended 10% at a minimum. She cautioned that she didn’t want to see the community benefit of affordable housing used as an argument for a project on the top of the Library Lane lot that might not be a community benefit. She’s recounting the contributions that the council has made to the affordable housing trust fund – including from the former Y lot and from a strip of land associated with that parcel, as well as general fund contributions.

9:11 p.m. Briere asks if it’s political or if it’s good policy – and she concludes it’s not a political circus, saying that it’s an attempt to make good policy.

9:14 p.m. Lumm is concerned about the percentage and the timing of the decision. She’d supported the minimum 10% of the council’s budget committee, she says. This was first brought up on April 7, she says. The 50% amount is not unreasonable, she adds. But she says that the city’s general fund reserves are currently on the low side. She wouldn’t support any more than 50%. Chaconas’ estimate of $6-7 million would go down as chunks were taken away for public space, she says. Lumm is also concerned about other needs the city might have. She ventures that it might make sense to postpone again.

9:14 p.m. Lumm says she could go either way on this.

9:17 p.m. Eaton says this decision is premature. He notes that it’s not clear that the council has decided that the Library Lane lot development rights will be sold. This would put pressure on the council to sell those development rights, and cautions that it would possibly taint a decision to sell those rights. He’s also concerned about a lack of clear criteria for use of money in the affordable housing trust fund. It should be restricted to capital investments, he says. So he resists the idea of accumulating such large sums. He’d expressed those concerns when the council had sold the former Y lot. So he won’t support the resolution, he says.

9:19 p.m. Kunselman said he’d detailed some problems at a previous meeting about the bonding used for the construction of the underground parking garage. [The issue relates to how many spaces can be dedicated to private use.] He wants to know if staff now has an analysis of how many spaces are available for private use. Powers says that some of that information is still being compiled, but notes that some of the issues were addressed in a confidential memo to councilmembers from the city attorney. Powers allows that the answer to the question probably affects how valuable the property is.

9:23 p.m. Warpehoski notes that some councilmembers have wanted to lock down the amount of space designated as public open space before moving forward – and didn’t feel that it was premature to make that determination. Similarly, he doesn’t think that locking down a percentage for affordable housing is premature. Warpehoski will support the resolution.

9:23 p.m. Lumm says that her point is that things do change and that she wants to see how much money the sale actually generates.

9:24 p.m. Lumm is reviewing the changing in funding strategies by MSHDA – the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

9:26 p.m. Kunselman proposes an amendment, saying that the Ann Arbor Housing Commission is the largest affordable housing provider in the city. He wants to stipulate that 25% of all proceeds go to the AAHC – in addition to the 50% that would go to the affordable housing trust fund.

9:28 p.m. Briere gets clarification that Kunselman that he’s not confining the AAHC allocation to just downtown AAHC properties. She notes that money from the affordable housing trust fund has been used in the past for AAHC properties. She doesn’t think this amendment is necessary.

9:30 p.m. Briere says she’s heard the concern that too much money would be used for the AAHC. Kunselman says it’s important that the AAHC be given money “straight up” without having to come ask. He doesn’t think they should have to go through hoops – saying that AAHC shouldn’t have to go before the HHSAB.

9:32 p.m. Kunselman says the council has neglected the AAHC for so many years, trying to engage in speculative development. He cites the former Y lot, Near North and Burton Commons. He points out that AAHC is also looking to increase their number of units.

9:33 p.m. Teall appreciates Kunselman’s concern for the AAHC, but doesn’t think that AAHC has been neglected. It’s good for the process that when the AAHC needs funds, they come and request the funds and explain what the funds are needed for, she says.

9:37 p.m. Hieftje agrees with Teall and Briere that the AAHC can come and ask for money when they need it.

9:37 p.m. Outcome on the amendment: The council has voted to reject Kunselman’s amendment with support only from Kunselman, Kailasapathy and Eaton.

9:39 p.m. Briere speaks in support of the resolution, saying she’ll carry the concerns she’s heard back to HHSAB. Kunselman says he won’t support this for reasons he’s already described. He noted that he’d been the one to push forward the Y lot sale and he’d also been the one to push for the sale of Library Lane lot development rights. The resolution tonight is premature. He wants the council to have concrete information instead of making “grand gestures” to appease people.

9:42 p.m. Hieftje is now unable to resist responding to Kunselman’s remarks about using public TIF (tax increment finance) dollars to support parking – saying it’s an important economic development tool. He’s giving others on the council credit for some of the good things that have happened – reacting to Kunselman’s previous remarks about his own role.

9:43 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the policy on designating proceeds from sale of development rights on the Library Lane lot. Voting for it were Taylor, Teall, Warpehoski, Hieftje, Kailasapathy, Briere and Petersen. Anglin was absent. Kunselman, Lumm and Eaton voted against it.

9:43 p.m. DC-2 Remove funding for Larcom reskin. This is a proposal to recommend to the planning commission that the capital improvements plan (CIP) for FY 2017 and FY 2018 be revised to remove the $4.4 million that is included for a city hall reskinning project. The council postponed this item from its May 19, 2014 meeting. According to a staff memo written in response to a councilmember question, reskinning of the Larcom City Hall building would mean replacing the existing exterior walls and windows of the building. The result would be new squared-off exterior, eliminating the inverted pyramid design. The new exterior would hang vertically from the sixth floor. [For additional background, see City Hall Reskinning above.]

9:45 p.m. Lumm is reading aloud a prepared statement about other capital needs in the city. She describes the reskin of the Larcom building as being something that “might be nice” and expresses skepticism that the energy savings would translate to a positive business case.

9:48 p.m. Briere says that she has a bureaucratic problem with the resolution: The council can remove the funding, but the planning commission approves the content. The resolution asks the planning commission to remove the funding. So she had to ask what would happen if the planning commission removed the Larcom reskin from the CIP. Briere wants to remove the reference to the $4.4 million, but Petersen says that it’s merely an adjectival modifier of the project.

9:50 p.m. Petersen says that the council isn’t voting on the bureaucratic issue – and she’s going to support this resolution. She’s urging the council to explore the energy improvements. Hieftje says that he’ll support this resolution, because the city doesn’t have $4.4 million lying around. He recalls efforts the city had made to find federal dollars for the energy improvements.

9:52 p.m. Kailasapathy says that she doesn’t believe that there’s “free money” even if it comes from the federal or state government, because it’s all taxpayer money. She wants the cosmetic components of the project removed. “I just want to see this gone,” she says.

9:53 p.m. Teall won’t support this tonight. Energy efficiency is and should be a priority, she says. She recognizes that she’s fighting a losing battle. She’s concerned not just about the windows, but also about the insulation in the walls. Having the project in the CIP doesn’t mean we’re spending the money, Teall notes. She’s citing a common sentiment of Kunselman that the council shouldn’t tie the hands of future councils.

9:56 p.m. Kunselman says it’s ironic that he’d tried to fight the airport runway extension by removing it from the CIP, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to adopt that approach here. He wants to know more about the windows: Did they date from the 1960s? Powers notes that this is a project in the 2017 year of the CIP. Hupy confirms that it’s a very conceptual budget at this point. He confirms that the windows are original. Kunselman ventures that the title of the project can be changed from “reskinning” to something involving energy efficiency. He doesn’t think this resolution will do anything, but now suggests an additional resolved clause to address a title that will be more limiting in scope.

9:57 p.m. Hieftje suggests a recess to craft the language Kunselman is trying to come up with.

9:57 p.m. Recess.

10:05 p.m. Samuel McMullen, Ward 3 candidate for council, has arrived at the meeting.

10:05 p.m. We’re back.

10:09 p.m. Kunselman reads aloud the additional “resolved” clause that expresses a council desire that an energy-efficiency project be developed for city hall. Lumm is now arguing against the amendment based on skepticism that there’d be adequate payback. Kunselman allows that window replacements don’t pay back in energy savings, but it does affect the comfort for building occupants. It’s also a strain on the HVAC system, he ventures.

10:12 p.m. Kunselman says that if the building is going to be around for a few more decades, it might be worth putting in some new windows. Petersen says that she’ll support Kunselman’s amendment, characterizing it as formally asking what councilmembers have been talking about. Briere says that Kunselman’s amendment suggests a more cost-effective approach to the problems with the walls and windows. Briere notes that the building has historic status now that it is older than 50 years. She’s not particularly fond of the building, though.

10:14 p.m. Eaton says that the message to the planning commission is that the council won’t support anything that has the scope of a $4.4 million project. Teall says she’ll support the amendment, but not necessarily the main question. Hieftje reiterates his support for the main question and for the amendment as well.

10:15 p.m. Outcome on the amendment: The council has voted to approve the amendment.

10:16 p.m. Lumm is happy that it appears this will pass.

10:16 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve this resolution, over the dissent of Teall.

10:16 p.m. DC-3 Approve a five-year partnership agreement with Community Action Network for Operation of Bryant and Northside community centers. This is proposal for a five-year partnership between the city and the nonprofit Community Action Network. The partnership was recommended for approval by the Ann Arbor park advisory commission at its May 20, 2014 meeting. [For additional background, see Partnership with Community Action Network above.]

10:18 p.m. Taylor is reviewing the resolution. [Taylor is a council appointee to the park advisory commission.] Taylor says that CAN is uniquely qualified to provide this service. He encourages support of the resolution.

10:18 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the operating agreement with CAN for Northside and Bryant community centers.

10:18 p.m. DC-4 Approve application to MEDC for extension of LDFA term. This resolution would support the LDFA’s application to the MEDC for an extension of its current 15-year term, ending in 2018. The length of the extension would be for at least five years, and possibly as long as 15 years. [For additional background, see LDFA Extension above.]

10:21 p.m. Petersen is reviewing some points in a letter from the LDFA board to the council. First is that LDFA SmartZones are enabled by state statute. Second is that the LDFA has had its contract with SPARK audited. SPARK’s financials are now on SPARK’s website, she says. She notes that the LDFA has heard the council’s interest in high-speed telecommunications networks.

10:22 p.m. Carrie Leahy, chair of the LDFA board, has come to the podium to answer questions. She tells Lumm that the most serious conversations about who might be the satellite are Adrian and Brighton. She says that Flint is no longer on the table. She’s explaining that a satellite LDFA would set up its own TIF capture.

10:24 p.m. Lumm wants to know what the impact would be on the Ann Arbor Ypsi SmartZone. Leahy says the Ann Arbor Ypsi SmartZone funds wouldn’t be spent outside of Ann Arbor and Ypsi.

10:27 p.m. Hieftje ventures that Lumm is raising a good question: Why does the MEDC want to do this? SPARK CEO Paul Krutko says that MEDC worked with the legislature to see how to allow the LDFA program to continue. Currently there are 15 SmartZones, each with an opportunity to extend for five years. Three of the 15 have the chance to extend for 15 years. One of the three is already decided – Marquette. There’s a deadline set by the state, Krutko says, of June 30 and Sept. 30. The effort reflects the state’s emphasis on regional cooperation.

10:29 p.m. Leahy stresses that tonight’s resolution is just the first step. The application will then go to the MEDC. Then it will come back to the council. Krutko says that the LDFA wanted to come to the council early, because the other communities have a lot of steps to complete. Both of the communities still on the table are very interested, Krutko says.

10:32 p.m. Kailasapathy is returning to the topic of “windfall” gains that the LDFA had realized due to increased valuation in the TIF district. She’d proposed a budget amendment on May 19, when the council adopted next year’s budget, that would have reserved some of that windfall for construction of a high-speed telecommunications network. That amendment hadn’t succeeded. Kailasapathy wants to know if the LDFA can provide audited job creation numbers.

10:34 p.m. Leahy tells Kailasapathy that the LDFA has heard the council’s interest in infrastructure improvements and has begun to reach out to other communities and the MEDC to get more information about that.

10:35 p.m. Leahy says that the LDFA does not ask an independent party to verify the job creation numbers in an audit. “Why don’t you just do it?” Kailasapathy asks. Leahy says that the LDFA board has not had a meeting since the last council meeting.

10:37 p.m. Eaton is getting clarification from Leahy about the council’s options for denying an extension in the future. It sounds like the council could opt to extend only for five years, even if the MEDC approved an extension for 15 years.

10:38 p.m. Lumm says she doesn’t see any justification not to apply, because it would mean sending money elsewhere in the state.

10:42 p.m. Hieftje says he’s fully in support of this. He says that the city is interested in the best performance it can get out of Ann Arbor SPARK. Hieftje says that if the LDFA were to cease to exist, it would have no impact on the School Aid Fund.

Taylor is delighted to support this resolution. Both Ann Arbor SPARK and the LDFA do an excellent job, he says. About the drive for metrics, he says it’s the council’s obligation to oversee the money that is spent. It’s important to note, he says, that job creation statistics are not a science. It’s multivariable, he says.

10:46 p.m. Kunselman says he’s sitting on the fence. He doesn’t understand why the five-year extension is being discussed now five years ahead of the expiration of the LDFA. Kunselman expresses skepticism about the state’s reimbursement of the School Aid Fund, saying that the state has consistently underfunded the School Aid Fund. Powers quips that CFO Tom Crawford can’t speak for the governor except for the fact he’s not wearing a tie. Krutko corrects Kunselman’s understanding – pointing out that we’re only three years away from the expiration of the current LDFA.

10:47 p.m. Crawford is clarifying for Kunselman how the state reimburses the School Aid Fund.

10:47 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to support the LDFA’s application for the extension of its term, over dissent from Kailasapathy.

10:47 p.m. DC-5 Approve Bravo Brio Restaurant Group Inc. for a new Resort Class C liquor license. The restaurant is located at 760 Briarwood Circle.

10:49 p.m. Lumm is reporting out the liquor license review committee’s work on considering these license applications.

10:49 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to recommend approval of Bravo Brio’s application for a liquor license.

10:49 p.m. DC-6 Approve P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. for a new Resort Class C liquor license. The restaurant is located at 720 Briarwood Circle.

10:49 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to recommend approval of P.F. Chang’s application for a liquor license.

10:50 p.m. Closed Session. The council has voted to go into closed session to discuss pending litigation.

11:30 p.m. We’re back.

11:30 p.m. Recess. The council immediately takes a break.

11:36 p.m. We’re back.

11:38 p.m. DC-7 Community Events Fund Disbursements. This allocates $1,972 from the FY 2014 Community Events Fund to the African-American Downtown Festival scheduled for June 7, 2014.

11:38 p.m. Outcome: The council has unanimously approved the allocation.

11:39 p.m. DB-1 Approve 515 Oxford (Delta Gamma) site plan. This is the same project for which the zoning was given final approval earlier in the meeting.

11:39 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the Delta Gamma site plan.

11:39 p.m. DB-2 Approve Ruth’s Chris Site Plan This is the site plan for a new Ruth’s Chris Steak House on Fourth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor. The planning commission recommended approval at its April 1, 2014 meeting. The site plan calls for renovating the single-story building at 314 S. Fourth Ave. and putting up a 1,943-square-foot second-floor mezzanine addition over the front part of the existing building. The current structure is 8,024 square feet, and most recently housed the Dream Nite Club, which closed in 2012. The project is estimated to cost $2.2 million. [.pdf of staff report on Ruth's Chris site plan] [For additional background, see Ruth’s Chris Site Plan above.]

11:39 p.m. Outcome: Without discussion, the council has voted to approve the Ruth’s Chris site plan.

11:39 p.m. DS-1 Approve amendment No. 4 to the contract with CDM Smith Michigan Inc. for the footing drain disconnect (FDD) program. This item is an extension of a contract with CDM Smith Inc. for continued work as part of Ann Arbor’s footing drain disconnection (FDD) program. It had been postponed at the council’s May 5, 2014 meeting.

In the interim, the dollar amount of the contract extension has been reduced from $748,106 to $143,440. That reflects a reduction in the scope of the work. The original May 5 resolution called for the following activities to be funded: citizen support ($36,928); FDD citizens advisory committee meetings ($24,180); information management for sump pump monitors ($93,707); developer offset mitigation (DOM) program support; ($95,213); and multi-family FDD implementation ($498,005). No longer a part of the scope of work in the revised June 2 resolution are the FDD citizens advisory committee meetings, information management, or the multi-family FDD implementation. [For additional background, see FDD Program Contract Extension above.]

11:41 p.m. Eaton says he’s glad to see that the amount in the contract has been pared down. But he does not think the city should be spending money on the DOM, saying that the DOM should be funded by the developers. Residents in Ward 4 have expressed concern about the quality of work done by CDM Smith, Eaton says. When the work isn’t done right, water can freeze, he adds.

11:43 p.m. Eaton contends that about 1/3 of the houses that have had FDDs done don’t have a proper air gap in the discharge pipe. Eaton doesn’t think the city should continue to spend money to this consultant, when it should be funded by the developers, not taxpayers.

11:43 p.m. Teall says she doesn’t share the same level of distrust of the consultant that Eaton does. She allows that she’s heard from constituents who’ve had these issues. She says that the council hears a lot from only a few constituents.

11:46 p.m. Hupy is now at the podium. Teall asks him to respond to Eaton’s remarks. Hupy says there are simply not 1/3 of the houses with FDDs that don’t have proper air gaps. He says that the city is working through various complaints. Out of the nearly 600 installations the city has done, only five were frozen this past winter, he says. So the issue is not as widespread as it’s been reported, Hupy says. The city is now looking at solving the root causes of any problems, he notes.

11:48 p.m. Hupy describes what CDM Smith does: When a developer identifies a candidate for an FDD, they go in and verify that it’s a viable candidate and also verify that the work was done properly. Hupy doesn’t know why the program is set up so that the city pays for the administration of the DOM program. Hupy says that going forward, that would be an obvious aspect of the program to consider changing.

11:51 p.m. Teall asks what the impact on city staff would be if the resolution were not approved. Nick Hutchison says it would require about half the time of two full-time employees – that is, one FTE. And some workloads would need to be moved around. Summer road projects would need to be managed with outside resources, he says. Teall characterizes the situation as substituting different consultancies for the consultancy with CDM Smith. Teall says she’ll support the resolution. She’s dismayed by some of the communication that the council has been receiving from some people. There hasn’t been a balance from other members of the citizens advisory committee, she says.

11:53 p.m. Eaton says that his 1/3 figure was based on the results of a survey done by the committee – Question 18. Hupy says that residents who reported that don’t understand what they’re looking at. Hupy adds that when the city inspects those situations, they don’t find 1/3 with inadequate air gaps.

11:55 p.m. Back and forth between Eaton and Hupy ensues. Eaton ventures that the survey documents a great deal of dissatisfaction. Hupy says that a question about whether you’d recommend the procedure to a neighbor had a 70% positive response.

11:57 p.m. Warpehoski says he understands and hears the concerns. He’s also a satisfied participant in the DOM program, he says. For him, it had worked well – as part of a basement renovation program. CDM Smith had answered his questions and worked with his general contractor. Warpehoski says that the council has approved site plans that have development agreements requiring FDDs, so he thinks the council needs to approve this resolution.

11:59 p.m. Lumm thanks Eaton for his work on this issue. She’s glad to see the reduced amount in the contract. The recommendation from the committee won’t be coming back until the fall, she notes. She doesn’t think it makes sense to stop all the development projects that are currently in process.

12:01 a.m. Kunselman gets confirmation that the DOM program is voluntary from the point of view of the homeowner.

12:03 a.m. Kunselman asks if there are houses in the queue for the DOM. Yes, about 13. But there are about 350 that are on the books as required. About 150-160 are at some point in the process. Kunselman asks if anyone who is paying $100 a month instead of doing an FDD. Yes, there are two.

12:04 a.m. Hieftje says he appreciates the light that Eaton’s work has shone on the issue. But the consequences of not approving this resolution would be onerous, he says.

12:06 a.m. Briere notes that the DOM program does not mandate FDDs, but rather that the flow mitigate in some way. Hupy confirms that. She wants to know if the city encourages alternatives to FDDs. Hupy says that the city reviews any ideas that developers have. He cites how some developers own enough fixtures that they can reduce flow in those and achieve the needed offset – e.g., Ann Arbor Public Schools and University of Michigan.

12:07 a.m. Briere asks if there’d be a benefit to having developers pay cash in lieu. Hupy isn’t sure.

12:08 a.m. Briere notes that some alternatives will need to be found, because there’s only a finite number of footing drains. Hupy agrees that there will be a point of diminishing returns.

12:09 a.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the CDM Smith contract for FDD work, over dissent from Eaton and Kailasapathy.

12:09 a.m. DS-2 Resolution No. 2 for special assessment district for Stone School Road reconstruction project. As part of a road reconstruction project for Stone School Road, the city is planning to install a sidewalk on the west side of the road. To fund the sidewalk construction, part of the cost will come from a special assessment of property owners. This resolution sets the roll of properties to be special assessed. [For additional background, see Stone School Road Sidewalk Special Assessment above.]

12:10 a.m. Kunselman says he’s very excited that this project is moving forward. He’s also excited that about 80% of the cost of the special assessment is being covered by public dollars.

12:10 a.m. Outcome: The council has voted to set the assessment roll for the Stone School sidewalk special assessment.

12:10 a.m. DS-3 Approve contract with Parsons Brinckerhoff Michigan Inc. South State Street transportation corridor study. This item would approve a $299,911 contract with Parsons Brinckerhoff Michigan Inc. to conduct a study of the South State Street transportation corridor. The 1.3 mile long area of the study extends from the intersection of Ellsworth Road and South State Street north to the intersection of Oakbrook Drive and South State Street. [For additional background, see State Street Transportation Corridor Study above.]

12:10 a.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the contract with Parsons Brinckerhoff for the State Street transportation corridor study.

12:10 a.m. DS-4 Adopt the City of Ann Arbor urban and community forest management plan. This item would adopt the first comprehensive plan for managing Ann Arbor’s urban forest. The Ann Arbor park advisory commission recommended adoption of the plan at its meeting on April 15, 2014. [.pdf of Urban & Community Forest Management Plan] [For additional background, see Urban Forest above.]

12:12 a.m. Lumm says that it represents a huge amount of work. She’s thanking those who were responsible for its development. She says she agrees that the urban forest is a defining and highly-valued characteristic of the community.

12:14 a.m. Taylor says that the plan was presented to the park advisory commission a while ago. [He's a council appointee to the PAC.] PAC was extremely impressed with the plan, he says.

12:14 a.m. Outcome: The council has voted to adopt the urban forestry plan.

12:14 a.m. DS-5 Accept a Fair Food Network grant for the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market. This item would approve an agreement with the Fair Food Network to continue administering the Double Up Food Bucks program at the Ann Arbor farmer’s market. Approval would entail acceptance of $32,000 in funding. [For additional background, see Grant to Farmers Market for Food Stamp Recipients above.]

12:14 a.m. Outcome: The council has voted to accept the Fair Food Network grant.

12:15 a.m. DS-6 Amend Ann Arbor City budget for fiscal year 2014. This resolution would amend the current fiscal year’s budget (FY 2014) to ensure that expenditures do not exceed appropriated amounts. The budget amendment will ensure compliance with Public Act 621 of 1978. The total requested general fund budget amendment is $60,000. For all other funds, the amendment to be considered by the council on June 2 totals $310,000. [For additional background, see Amend Current Year's Budget above.]

12:15 a.m. Outcome: The council has voted to amend the FY 2014 budget.

12:15 a.m. Communications from council. Teall notes that Cinetopia is starting. It runs from June 4-8 at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor and also in Detroit.

12:16 a.m. Hieftje notes that the Ozone House celebrated its 45th anniversary, and there was a recent celebration for the 50th anniversary of the city’s Elizabeth Dean trust fund.

12:16 a.m. Clerk’s report. Outcome: The clerk’s report has been received.

12:16 a.m. Public comment. There’s no requirement to sign up in advance for this slot for public commentary.

12:18 a.m. Thomas Partridge salutes the council for passing the resolution on the distribution of proceeds from the sale of development rights for the Library Lot. It would have been better to have dedicated 100% of the money to affordable housing instead of 50%, he adds. Partridge says we need a new governor. He calls for the election of Democrat Mark Schauer.

12:22 a.m. Mark Koroi says he’s here to address the “debacle” that had occurred in the Bob Dascola lawsuit. The judge had excoriated the city in his opinion, and the city would now be paying tens of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees, he notes. Koroi says that Jack Eaton has stated publicly that the council had not given authorization for the city attorney’s action, so who did? Koroi says he’s endorsing McMullen in the race, but felt that Dascola should not have been denied access to the ballot.

12:25 a.m. Caleb Poirier is addressing the council on the challenge of dealing with the homeless population and those who are living under bridges. There are some unmet needs: toileting and trash removal. It’s the desire of his nonprofit to deal with the trash. He has a two-part request – to get trash into city dumpsters and to keep fecal matter out of the river. So he’d support port-a-potties at those locations.

12:28 a.m. Elizabeth Kurtz says she’s presentable because she just got her hair cut. Having lived on the streets for about 14 months, she’d been able to get into temporary housing. Generally she has little access to laundry and bathing facilities, she says. Despite the council’s resolution tonight, there’s little attention to immediate needs, she says. She describes herself as living a Third World existence. She was part of a Detroit Public Schools layoff – up until then, she was part of the middle class. We’ve got to get our priorities straight, she says.

12:31 a.m. Judy Bonnell-Wenzel is lamenting the fact that a friend of hers, Alan Haber, is away for the summer and is not here to speak in favor of a public commons on the Library Lot. She also says that people who have no place to sleep and unmet basic needs have no democracy. She worries about gentrification – pushing people out. She and her husband pay $527 a month for their housing, she says.

12:31 a.m. Adjournment. We are now adjourned. That’s all from the hard benches.

A sign on the door to the Ann Arbor city council chambers gives instructions for post-meeting clean-up.

The Chronicle survives in part through regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of public bodies like the Ann Arbor city council. If you’re already supporting The Chronicle please encourage your friends, neighbors and coworkers to do the same. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle.

Screenshot of Legistar – the city of Ann Arbor’s online agenda management system. Image links to the June 2, 2014 meeting agenda.

But the June 2 meeting agenda is dominated by items related to the physical attributes and layout of the city. Several items deal with city-owned physical assets, while several more involve land use and planning.

Possibly one of the more controversial agenda items related to physical infrastructure – and future development in the city – is a contract extension with CDM Smith Inc. for work related to the city’s footing drain disconnection (FDD) program. While the city council suspended the program in certain areas of the city in 2012, it continued in other areas, backed by the city’s ordinance under which the city can require residents to disconnect their footing drains from the sanitary sewer system.

Also not suspended was the city’s developer offset mitigation program, which requires developers to offset the increased flow from new construction into the sanitary sewer system. The vote on the CDM Smith Inc. contract extension was postponed from the council’s May 5 meeting. The dollar amount of the contract extension has been substantially reduced in the meantime – from about $750,000 to $143,000.

Part of the backdrop of the CDM Smith contract extension is a lawsuit that’s been filed against the city, challenging the legal foundation of the footing drain disconnect ordinance. The city sought to remove the case from state court to the federal system, but at a hearing on the matter this week, a federal judge indicated he’d be remanding the case back to the Washtenaw County 22nd circuit court.

City assets on the June 2 agenda include trees – as the council will be asked to approve the city’s urban and community forest management plan. The council will also consider a resolution on the city’s possibly most recognizable asset – the city hall building. The resolution would remove a $4 million renovation of city hall (a “reskinning”) from the city’s capital improvements plan for 2017 and 2018. This resolution was postponed from the council’s May 19 meeting.

Another city-owned asset on the agenda is the Library Lane underground parking garage. The council has already directed the city administrator to engage a real estate broker to test the market for the development rights for the surface of the garage. The resolution on the June 2 agenda, which was postponed at the council’s April 7 meeting, would set a policy to deposit 50% of the net proceeds from the sale of the development rights into the city’s affordable housing trust fund.

Land use and planning items on the June 2 agenda include a roughly $300,000 contract for study of the State Street transportation corridor. Related to transportation infrastructure, the council will also be asked to approve resolutions that move along the process of special assessing property owners on Stone School Road for the cost of installing a sidewalk on the west side of the road in connection with a road reconstruction project.

Also related to land use, three Ann Arbor housing commission properties will be given initial consideration for rezoning. A site plan and associated rezoning for the Delta Gamma house will be given final consideration. Also up for final consideration is a revision to the ordinance regulating drive-thrus. And the site plan for a new Ruth’s Chris restaurant to be located downtown on South Fourth Avenue will be given consideration.

A rate increase for Ann Arbor water, sewer and stormwater rates is on the June 2 agenda for final approval.

Two items connected to parks and recreation appear on the agenda. One is approval of the receipt of funding for a program that helps Bridge cardholders purchase local produce at the farmers market. The second item is approval of a five-year agreement with the Community Action Network to continue operating the city’s Northside and Bryant community centers.

The council will also be considering a resolution in support of the local development finance authority’s application to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. for a possible 15-year extension of the arrangement under which the LDFA captures taxes. The captured taxes are used to fund a business accelerator that’s operated by Ann Arbor SPARK through a contract with the LDFA. Without an extension, the LDFA would end in 2018.

This article includes a more detailed preview of many of these agenda items. More details on other agenda items are available on the city’s online Legistar system. The meeting proceedings can be followed Monday evening live on Channel 16, streamed online by Community Television Network starting at 7 p.m.

Amend Current Year’s Budget

On June 2 the council will consider a resolution amending the current fiscal year’s budget (FY 2014) to ensure that expenditures do not exceed appropriated amounts. The budget amendment will ensure compliance with Public Act 621 of 1978.

The total requested general fund budget amendment is $60,000. For all other funds, the amendment to be considered by the council on June 2 totals $310,000.

The non-general fund amount will cover right-of-way maintenance and purchase of materials that were necessary to deal with the severe winter weather. The general fund amount was the city’s cost for the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority’s special election held on May 6. That amount will eventually be reimbursed by Washtenaw County – which in turn will receive reimbursement from the AAATA to cover the roughly $100,000 cost of the election.

FDD Program Contract Extension

A contract extension with CDM Smith Inc. for continued work as part of Ann Arbor’s footing drain disconnection (FDD) program appears on the June 2 agenda. It had been postponed at the council’s May 5, 2014 meeting.

In the interim, the dollar amount of the contract extension has been reduced from $748,106 to $143,440. That reflects a reduction in the scope of the work. The original May 5 resolution called for the following activities to be funded: citizen support ($36,928); FDD citizens advisory committee meetings ($24,180); information management for sump pump monitors ($93,707); developer offset mitigation (DOM) program support; ($95,213); and multi-family FDD implementation ($498,005).

No longer a part of the scope of work in the revised June 2 resolution are the FDD citizens advisory committee meetings, information management, or the multi-family FDD implementation. The revised memo describes how the funding would only provide a bridge until recommendations from a study group have been received, which will determine the future of the FDD program:

This amendment would provide the services needed to bridge the gap until the SSWWE [Sanitary Sewer Wet Weather Evaluation] Project recommendations have been made. Presently, the anticipated timeline for completion of the SSWWE Project is in the autumn of 2014. That does not allow sufficient time to issue a new RFP, collect and review proposals, award a contract, and bring a new consultant up to speed to manage the remaining FDD and DOM work outlined above. Existing City staff does not currently have the available resources or expertise to perform the inspections required for the DOM program.

By way of additional background, in 2012 the city’s program to disconnect footing drains from the sanitary sewer system was suspended by the council in some areas of the city. Specifically, it was suspended in the Glen Leven and Morehead (Lansdowne neighborhood) areas. The program was allowed to continue in other geographic areas and as part of the city’s developer offset mitigation (DOM) program. The DOM requires owners of new developments to complete a certain number of FDDs to offset the additional flow in the sanitary system caused by new construction.

The CDM contract drew scrutiny at the May 5 meeting because the city is currently undertaking a sanitary sewer wet weather evaluation (SSWWE) study. It’s supposed to yield a recommendation about whether to continue with the FDD program, and if so, in what form. In addition, the city’s ordinance – which requires property owners to undertake FDDs – was challenged in a lawsuit filed earlier this year. That case is pending as the city first removed the case from state to federal court. But the result of a May 28 hearing before a federal judge will be to return the case to the Washtenaw County 22nd circuit court.

The previous three iterations of the CDM contract totaled  about $3.6 million. The money for these contracts is drawn from the city’s sewer fund.

The proposed contract extension drew criticism during public commentary on May 5 from Frank Burdick, a Ward 4 resident who urged the council to reject it. Council deliberations on this item were included as part of The Chronicle’s live updates from the May 5 meeting.

Since the FDD program’s start in 2001, about 1,834 footing drains have been disconnected through the city program and 848 footing drains have been disconnected through the developer offset mitigation program.

Animation of contrast between the pre-FDD configuration and the post-FDD configuration. (Original illustration from screenshots of YouTube video by Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, modified by The Chronicle.)

Urban Forest

The city’s first comprehensive plan for managing Ann Arbor’s urban forest will be considered at the council’s June 2 meeting. The Ann Arbor park advisory commission recommended adoption of the plan at its meeting on April 15, 2014. [.pdf of Urban & Community Forest Management Plan]

An urban forest is defined as all the trees, shrubs and woody vegetation growing along city streets, in public parks and on institutional and private property. In Ann Arbor, about 25% is on public property, with 75% on private property. Based on a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Forest Service i-Tree Eco Analysis done in 2012, Ann Arbor’s urban forest has an estimated 1.45 million trees. It creates a 33% tree canopy – the layer of leaves, branches and stems of trees that cover the ground when viewed from above.

The city manages 43,240 street trees and about 6,900 park trees in mowed areas. A tree inventory conducted in 2009 didn’t include natural areas, she noted, so there are thousands of trees that aren’t counted. The urban forest includes over 200 species, representing 82 genera.

Map of selected tree variety by The Chronicle from city of Ann Arbor 2009 survey. Image links to dynamic map hosted on geocommons.com

PAC had been briefed on the 135-page Urban & Community Forest Management Plan at its Feb. 25, 2014 meeting by Kerry Gray, the city’s urban forest & natural resources planning coordinator. The management plan includes 17 recommendations, listed in priority based on community feedback for implementation. Each of the 17 recommendations includes action tasks and implementation ideas, case studies, and resources that are needed, including funding. The recommendations are:

1. Implement proactive tree maintenance program.
2. Strengthen tree planting and young tree maintenance programs.
3. Monitor threats to the urban and community forest.
4. Increase landmark/special tree protections.
5. Secure adequate city‐funding for urban forestry core services.
6. Develop street tree master plans.
7. Pursue grant and philanthropic funding opportunities.
8. Strengthen forestry related ordinances.
9. Update tree inventory and canopy analysis.
10. Develop urban forest best management practices.
11. Increase urban forestry volunteerism.
12. Strengthen relationships with outside entities who impact trees.
13. Implement community outreach program.
14. Obtain the best use of wood from removed trees.
15. Create city staff working groups to coordinate projects that impact trees.
16. Engage the city’s Environmental Commission in urban and community forestry issues.
17. Review the urban forest management plan periodically and update as needed.

City Hall Reskinning

At its June 2 meeting, the council will consider a proposal to recommend to the planning commission that the capital improvements plan (CIP) for FY 2017 and FY 2018 be revised to remove the $4.4 million that is included for a city hall reskinning project. The planning commission is the body that approves the CIP. But the council has budgetary discretion to fund projects in the CIP or not – so the resolution in some sense calls on the planning commission to take an action it does not have the authority to execute. This was a point made during deliberations at the council’s May 19, 2014 meeting when the item was postponed.

According to a staff memo written in response to a councilmember question, reskinning of the Larcom City Hall building would mean replacing the existing exterior walls and windows of the building. The result would be new squared-off exterior, eliminating the inverted pyramid design. The new exterior would hang vertically from the sixth floor.

The focus of the project is on improving energy efficiency. The memo describes existing windows as mostly single-pane glass on aluminum frames, which offer little insulation value. The project would also result in an incremental gain in square footage – because the lower floors would have the same footprint as the sixth floor, which is currently the largest floor of the building. The materials used for the exterior would “blend better” with the recently constructed Justice Center, which adjoins city hall.

Library Lot Sale Proceeds

On June 2 the city council will consider a resolution setting a policy for distribution of the proceeds from the sale of development rights on the Library Lot. The proposed policy would set aside 50% of the net proceeds to the city’s affordable housing trust fund.

The council has already directed the city administrator to hire a real estate broker to explore selling the rights to develop the site – above the Library Lane underground parking structure, which was completed in 2012.

The item was postponed at the council’s April 7, 2014 meeting. The vote was 6-5 to postpone, with dissent from Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Christopher Taylor (Ward 3), Margie Teall (Ward 4), Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5), and mayor John Hieftje.

State Street Transportation Corridor Study

The June 2 agenda includes a resolution for a $299,911 contract with Parsons Brinckerhoff Michigan Inc. to conduct a study of the South State Street transportation corridor. The 1.3 mile long area of the study extends from the intersection of Ellsworth Road and South State Street north to the intersection of Oakbrook Drive and South State Street. The money to pay for the study will be drawn in equal parts from the current fiscal year and next year’s general capital fund budget. The study will take a year, starting in June 2014.

The goal of the study is focused on transportation needs in the corridor and to provide base conceptual engineering plans for the redesign of the corridor – possibly including a boulevard “Complete Street” design. The redesign would be intended to “address all modes of travel; enhance vehicle flow; improve safety; create an aesthetically pleasing entrance to the City; and, utilize sustainable concepts such as low impact design (‘LID’), and low energy use lighting.”

The study of the area as a transportation corridor comes not long after a recently completed South State Street corridor plan, adopted by the city council into the city’s master plan at its July 15, 2014 meeting. That corridor plan established planning objectives for the land use along the corridor.

Besides Parsons Brinckerhoff, the other bidder for the work was DLZ.

Stone School Road Sidewalk Special Assessment

As part of a road reconstruction project for Stone School Road, the city is planning to install a sidewalk on the west side of the road. To fund the sidewalk construction, part of the cost will come from a special assessment of property owners. The extent of the project on Stone School Road runs from I-94 to Ellsworth Road. Construction is planned for the project during the 2014 and 2015 construction seasons.

The project is being funded in part through a federal surface transportation grant, which can pay about 80% of construction costs, but not engineering, testing or inspection costs. The total project cost is roughly $128,500, of which about $55,000 will be special assessed.

The council will be asked to approve a resolution directing the city assessor to set the roll of properties to be assessed.

Rezoning: Housing Commission Properties

At its June 2 meeting, the city council will consider giving initial approval to the rezoning of three Ann Arbor Housing Commission properties. The planning commission had recommended the rezoning at its May 6, 2014 meeting. The current PL (public land) zoning for some of the properties is a vestige of the AAHC properties’ status as city-owned land. The city council approved the transfer of deeds to the AAHC at its June 2, 2013 meeting. The three sites to be considered on June 2 are part of the housing commission’s major initiative to upgrade the city’s public housing units by seeking private investors through low-income housing tax credits.

Rezoning is recommended for the following public housing sites, two of which are currently zoned as public land:

• Baker Commons: Rezone public land to D2 (downtown interface). The 0.94-acre lot is located at 106 Packard Street, at the intersection with South Main, in Ward 5. It includes a 64-unit apartment building.
• Green/Baxter Court Apartments: Rezone public land to R4A (multi-family dwelling district). The 2-acre site is located at 1701-1747 Green Road and contains 23 apartments in four buildings and a community center. It’s in Ward 2.
• Maple Meadows: Currently zoned R1C (single-family dwelling district), the recommendation is to rezone it as R4B (multi-family dwelling district). The site is 3.4 acres at 800-890 South Maple Road and contains 29 apartments in five buildings and a community center. It’s located in Ward 5.

At the planning commission’s May 6 meeting, AAHC director Jennifer Hall explained that PL zoning doesn’t allow housing to be built on it. As AAHC seeks private funding to rehab its properties, it needs to ensure if a building burns down, for example, it could be rebuilt. In general that’s why the rezoning is being requested. It’s also being requested to align the zoning with the current uses of the property. She stressed that the highest priority properties to be rezoned are Baker Commons, Green/Baxter and Maple Meadows, because investors have already been found to renovate those sites.

For these three sites, planning commissioners also voted to waive the area plan requirements for the AAHC rezoning petitions, because no new construction is proposed and surveys of the improvements have been provided.

For additional background on the AAHC process of renovating its properties, see Chronicle coverage: “Public Housing Conversion Takes Next Step.”

Delta Gamma Site Plan, Rezoning

The city council will be asked on June 2 to give final approval of a rezoning request for 515 Oxford, to convert a house for use as an annex to the Delta Gamma sorority. The main sorority house is located nearby at 626 Oxford. The council gave initial approval to the rezoning at its May 5, 2014 meeting. Also on the June 2 agenda is consideration of the site plan approval for the same project. The site plan was recommended for approval by planning commissioners on April 15, 2014.

Aerial view showing the location of 515 Oxford, south of Geddes and at the eastern end of South University.

The rezoning request, recommended by the planning commission on Jan. 23, 2014, is to rezone the parcel from R4A (multi-family dwelling) to R2B (two-family dwelling and student housing). Most of the surrounding parcels are zoned R2B, although the site immediately to the north is also zoned R4A. Also nearby is public land (PL) where the University of Michigan’s Oxford Houses complex is located.

The two-story house at 515 Oxford includes two one-story wings. It is currently a rental property with three units – a studio apartment, one-bedroom apartment, and four-bedroom apartment – and a maximum occupancy of 8 people. One of the units is in a former garage.

The proposal for a renovation would accommodate a maximum of 20 residents, including a required resident manager.

The building is notable because it was originally designed in 1940 by architect George Brigham, who used it as his home and architectural studio. He designed over 40 houses in Ann Arbor, including many in Arbor Hills and Barton Hills between 1936 and 1958.

Drive-Thru Ordinance: Final Approval

On the city council’s June 2 agenda is final approval of amendments to Ann Arbor’s zoning ordinance related to drive-thrus. Initial approval came at the council’s May 5 meeting. The amendments would add a definition of a “drive-thru facility” to Chapter 55 of the city code. Currently, the term used throughout the code is “drive-in,” which is not explicitly defined in the code.

The proposed revisions define a drive-thru in this way: “Any building or structure, or portion thereof, that is constructed or operated for the purpose of providing goods or services to customers who remain in their vehicle during the course of the transaction.” The revisions also clarify that a drive-thru is an accessory use, not the principle use of the building. A project in which a drive-thru would be the principle use would not be allowed. Basic layout requirements would also be added to the ordinance.

In addition, the changes would require drive-thrus to obtain special exception use permits, which would be allowed only in the O (office), C2B (business service) and C3 (fringe commercial) zoning districts. Drive-thrus would not be allowed in the C1, D1, D2, and other commercial districts.

Currently, drive-thrus are allowed in C3 districts without a special exception use. They are allowed as special exception uses in the C2B district.

When considering whether to grant a special exception use – which does not require additional city council approval – the planning commission considers these issues:

1. Is the location, size and character of the proposed use compatible with the principal uses of the district and adjacent districts? Is it consistent with the Master Plan? Is it consistent with the surrounding area? Will it have any detrimental effects to the use or value of surrounding area, or the natural environment?

2. Is the location, size, character, layout, access and traffic generated by the use hazardous or inconvenient or conflicting with the normal traffic of the neighborhood? Is off-street parking safe for pedestrians? Do the necessary vehicular turning movements block normal traffic flow? Are any additional public services or facilities needed by the use, and will they be detrimental to the community?

3. Is the maximum density and minimum required open space at least equal to the standards normally required by the Zoning Ordinance for the district?

The planning commission recommended the changes at its April 1, 2014 meeting.

The proposed amendments were first reviewed by the commission’s ordinance revisions committee in 2007, but never moved forward to the full commission for consideration. The ORC most recently reviewed these changes in March of 2014. [.pdf of staff memo and proposed amendments]

Ruth’s Chris Site Plan

The site plan for a new Ruth’s Chris Steak House on Fourth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor is on the June 2 agenda for consideration. The planning commission recommended approval at its April 1, 2014 meeting.

Proposed facade of Ruth’s Chris Steak House at 314 S. Fourth Ave.

The site plan calls for renovating the single-story building at 314 S. Fourth Ave. and putting up a 1,943-square-foot second-floor mezzanine addition over the front part of the existing building. The current structure is 8,024 square feet, and most recently housed the Dream Nite Club, which closed in 2012. The project is estimated to cost $2.2 million. [.pdf of staff report on Ruth's Chris site plan]

Part of the planning commission’s discussion focused on whether there might be outdoor dining in front of the restaurant. The project’s architect indicated that at this point, outdoor seating wouldn’t be appropriate, in part because of bus traffic. The building is located near the Blake Transit Center, a hub for public transportation. The architect also indicated that the restaurant will be using valet parking, with valets positioned in front of the building.

This would be the first Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Ann Arbor. The chain is based in Florida, with locations nationwide.

Utility Rates

The council will consider giving final approval to higher utility rates – for water, sewer and stormwater. Initial approval came at the council’s May 19 meeting.

Water rates will increase across all tiers of consumption. For the first 7 “units” of water, the charge is will increase from $1.35 to $1.40. For the next 21 units, the charge is proposed to increase from $2.85 to $2.96 per unit. And for the 17 units after that, the increase is proposed to be from $4.88 to $5.08. A unit is 100 cubic feet, which is 748 gallons.

Sewer rates will increase from $3.65 to $3.85 per unit. And stormwater fees would increase for all tiers of impervious service. For the middle tier – for more than 2,187 square feet but less than or equal to 4,175 square feet – on a quarterly basis, the increase would be from $24.85 to $26.32.

According to the staff memo accompanying this agenda item, the recommended rate changes in water, sewer, and stormwater would increase revenues to the water, sewer, and stormwater funds by $765,119, $1,171,931 and $410,235 respectively. The reason given for the rate increases is to cover maintenance and debt payments, and to maintain funding for capital improvement requirements. The city calculates the impact to be an additional $6.25 per quarter or $24.98 per year for an average consumer, which is a net increase of 4.2%.

Water consumption for a typical single family is assumed at 19 units per quarter.

History of city of Ann Arbor water rates. The city converted to a tiered system 10 years ago in 2004, based on usage. The 2015 amount is proposed.

Grant to Farmers Market for Food Stamp Recipients

At its June 2 meeting, the city council will consider approval of an agreement with the Fair Food Network to continue administering the Double Up Food Bucks program at the Ann Arbor farmer’s market. Approval would entail acceptance of $32,000 in funding.

The Double Up name stems from the fact that it provides a match of up to $20/person/day for people using SNAP (Bridge cards/EBT/food stamps) to purchase Michigan-grown produce at farmers markets in Michigan.

The city of Ann Arbor has received Double Up Food Bucks grant funding since 2010.

Partnership with Community Action Network

A proposal for a five-year partnership with the nonprofit Community Action Network is on the June 2 agenda. The partnership was recommended for approval by the Ann Arbor park advisory commission at its May 20, 2014 meeting.

The agreement would be for CAN to continue operating the city’s Bryant and Northside community centers, which the nonprofit has been managing since 2008. The proposed amount is not to exceed $130,000 annually – an increase of $25,000 from the current agreement. The higher amount is included in the FY 2015 general fund budget for parks and recreation that the city council approved on May 19. According to a staff memo, the higher amount will address increases in fixed costs and “assist in retaining quality staff that is at the core of the services that CAN provides.” [.pdf of staff memo]

The staff memo also noted that a request for proposals (RFP) was not issued for this work, because CAN has been the sole respondent to the previous two RFPs and the city is satisfied with its work.

During the May 20 PAC meeting, CAN received praise for their work from several commissioners and Colin Smith, the city’s parks and recreation manager. CAN executive director Joan Doughty and deputy director Derrick Miller were on hand to answer questions. Part of the discussion focused on CAN’s exemption from the city’s living wage requirement, which the city council granted in 2012 for a three-year period through Nov. 8, 2015. Doughty noted that the exemption was sought in part because CAN was paying a living wage to part-time employees who were high school or university students, which limited the nonprofit from paying higher wages to full-time workers. She also pointed out that the city parks and recreation unit isn’t required to pay the living wage to its seasonal workers.

LDFA Extension

On the council’s June 2 agenda is an item that would express city council support of the local development finance authority’s application to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to extend the life of the tax capture arrangement for up to 15 years. Without an extension, the LDFA would end in 2018.

Ann Arbor’s local development finance authority is funded through a tax increment finance (TIF) district, as a “certified technology park” described under Act 281 of 1986. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) solicited proposals for that designation back in 2000. The Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti “technology park” is one of 11 across the state of Michigan, which are branded by the MEDC as “SmartZones.”

The geography of the LDFA’s TIF district – in which taxes are captured from another taxing jurisdiction – is the union of the TIF districts for the Ann Arbor and the Ypsilanti downtown development authorities (DDAs). It’s worth noting that the Ypsilanti portion of the LDFA’s TIF district does not generate any actual tax capture.

The LDFA captures Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) operating millage, but those captured taxes don’t diminish the school’s budget. That’s because in Michigan, local schools levy a millage, but the proceeds are not used directly by local districts. Rather, proceeds are first forwarded to the state of Michigan’s School Aid Fund, for redistribution among school districts statewide. That redistribution is based on a per-pupil formula as determined on a specified “count day.” And the state reimburses the School Aid Fund for the taxes captured by SmartZones throughout the state.

In FY 2013, the total amount captured by the LDFA was $1,546,577, and the current fiscal year forecast is for $2,017,835. About the same amount is forecast for FY 2015.

The extension of the LDFA is made possible by Public Act 290 of 2012, which amended the Local Development Financing Act to allow a SmartZone to capture school taxes for an additional five years or an additional 15 years. The staff memo accompanying the resolution describes the five-year extension as possible “upon approval of the MEDC President and the State Treasurer, if the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti SmartZone LDFA agrees to additional reporting requirements and the LDFA requests, and the city councils of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti approve, the amendment of the LDFA tax increment financing (TIF) plan to include regional collaboration.”

A 15-year extension is possible, according to the memo, “if, in addition to the above requirements, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, as the municipalities that created the SmartZone, enter into an agreement with another LDFA [a "Satellite SmartZone"] that did not contain a certified technology park to designate a distinct geographic area, as allowed under Section 12b of the Act…”

The council’s resolution states that if the MEDC approves the extension, the city of Ann Arbor will work with the LDFA and the city of Ypsilanti to identify another LDFA – called the “Satellite SmartZone LDFA.” The arrangement will allow the Satellite SmartZone LDFA to capture local taxes in its own distinct geographic area for the maximum 15 years allowed by statute.

The Chronicle could not survive without regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of public bodies like the Ann Arbor city council. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle. And if you’re already supporting The Chronicle, please encourage your friends, neighbors and colleagues to help support The Chronicle, too!

The three actions were taken at the city council’s April 21, 2014 meeting.

By way of background, at its March 3, 2014 meeting, the council had directed the city administrator to prepare a budget resolution that would allocate $600,000 from the city’s affordable housing trust fund to support the AAHC’s plan to renovate its properties.

That allocation was to be contingent on the closing of the sale of the former Y lot to Dennis Dahlmann, as the net proceeds of that sale were to be deposited into the city’s affordable housing trust fund. The sale of the property closed on April 2, with net proceeds of roughly $1.4 million. So the $600,000 transfer out of the affordable housing trust fund was approved by the council at its April 21 meeting.

Also approved by the council at the same meeting was the reduction of planning and development fees associated with two of the capital renovation efforts being undertaken by the AAHC – at North Maple Estates and Platt Road.

Rendering of North Maple Ann Arbor Housing Commission property after renovation.

The current AAHC complex at 701-739 North Maple – north of Dexter Avenue, on the west side of North Maple – consists of 19 single-family homes with a total of 85 bedrooms, as well as two three-bedroom duplexes with a total of 12 bedrooms. AAHC executive director Jennifer Hall has described the 21-unit complex as the busiest of AAHC’s properties.

The housing at North Maple was built at the lowest portions of the site, while an asphalt basketball court is at the highest point. The current configuration does not make sense from the perspective of drainage and stormwater management.

The AAHC is proposing to demolish the existing buildings at North Maple site and replace them with a small community building and 42 new units ranging in size from 1 bedroom to 5 bedrooms.

A community center would be centrally located on the west side of the site, and parking will be located adjacent to each of the buildings.

Rendering of Lower Platt Ann Arbor Housing Commission property after renovation.

The AAHC property described as Lower Platt is located at 3451-3457 Platt – on the east side of Platt Road, north of Belvidere. Currently, there are four single-family houses at that site, each with five bedrooms.

Three of those houses are in the floodway, and the water table is higher than the basements. When it rains, the properties flood. The plan is to tear down the existing buildings, and rebuild 12 new townhomes further north on the same site, on land that’s currently vacant.

In addition, there’s a strip of vacant city-owned land on the west side of Platt, north of Verle and south of Sharon. The land runs from Platt over to Springbrook. The development plan calls for building four duplexes there – a total of eight units – with two duplexes accessed from Platt, and the other two accessed from Springbrook.

For the North Maple and Lower Platt projects, the city would ordinarily assess fees for site plan approval, zoning approval and street vacation. Those charges break down as follows, for a total of $22,705:

• North Maple: $8,995 for site plan approval; $1,425 for zoning approval; and $2,565 for street vacation.
• Lower Platt: $8,295 for site plan approval; $1,425 for zoning approval.

But under Chapter 55, Section 5:108 of Ann Arbor city code, those fees may be reduced by resolution of the city council by up to 50% of the specified fees – if the reduction is based on a finding that the development would provide affordable housing for lower-income households. That’s what the council agreed to do.

At its April 21 meeting, the city council also authorized a payment in lieu of taxes for AAHC properties at North Maple Estates, North Maple Duplexes, Lower Platt, Broadway, and White/State/Henry apartments. The period for which property taxes are being waived – under Section 15(a) of the State Housing Development Authority Act and Chapter 19, Section 1:651 of Ann Arbor City Code – is 50 years. In lieu of taxes, a $1 service charge must be paid.

The $600,000 authorized by the city council in support of AAHC’s renovation efforts comes after the April 2, 2014 vote by the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board to grant $600,000 over a three-year period to AAHC for renovation of its downtown and near-downtown properties at Baker Commons and Miller Manor.

This brief was filed from the city council’s chambers on the second floor of city hall, located at 301 E. Huron.

The presentation of the city administrator’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2015, which starts July 1, 2014, is the main event of the Ann Arbor city council’s April 21 meeting. As the second council meeting of April, it’s the occasion specified in the city charter for that presentation.

The sign on the door to the Ann Arbor city council chamber includes Braille.

At its April 21 meeting, however, the council won’t be voting on next year’s budget. Under the city charter, the council will need to adopt the budget by the time of its second regular meeting in May, which falls on May 19 this year. The Chronicle has covered the FY 2015 budget preview in a separate article.

Related to this year’s budget is an agenda item for April 21 that will transfer $600,000 from the affordable housing trust fund to the Ann Arbor Housing Commission. The city administrator had been directed by the council to prepare the budget amendment at its March 3, 2014 meeting. The action was contingent on the final closing of the sale of the former Y lot. Net proceeds from that sale were roughly $1.4 million and were deposited into the affordable housing trust fund. The $600,000 will support AAHC’s efforts to make major capital improvements to its public housing properties.

The AAHC is featured in two other resolutions related to its plan of capital improvements, which include projects at North Maple Estates, North Maple Duplexes, Lower Platt, Broadway, and White/State/Henry apartments. One resolution approves a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) for those AAHC properties. A second resolution approves a 50% waiver of the site plan, zoning and street vacation fees for the North Maple Estates and Lower Platt projects.

Also on the April 21 agenda based on previous action by the council, at its April 7, 2014 meeting, is the second and final reading of a local ordinance that would regulate smoking in certain outdoor places. Those places include locations near entrances of buildings and potentially in parts of city parks at the discretion of the city administrator. A public hearing will precede the council’s vote on the outdoor smoking regulations.

Measured by the number of items on the agenda, sidewalks are a significant highlight. Sidewalk gaps on Scio Church Road and Newport Road have two resolutions each – related to the special assessments that will be imposed on property owners adjoining the stretches where sidewalks will be constructed. One resolution directs the city assessor to prepare a special assessment roll of properties to be assessed. The other resolution sets a public hearing on the special assessment – for May 5, 2014 at the council’s regular meeting on that date.

The council will also be asked to approve $177,100 of city funds for the construction of the Scio Church sidewalk and for an additional sidewalk on Barton Drive. The Barton Drive sidewalk will also be special assessed – with the associated resolutions to be presented to the council at a future meeting.

Rounding out the council’s April 21 agenda are some land use items. The council will be asked to approve the site plan for an overhaul of a Shell station and a new drive-thru restaurant at the northeast corner of the East Eisenhower Parkway and South State Street. Another site plan the council will be asked to approve is for the expansion of an office building at 278-280 Collingwood on Ann Arbor’s west side. A third site plan on the April 21 agenda is for an expansion to the Concordia University gym, which also includes reconfiguring nearby parking lots and stormwater management features on the 187-acre site at 4090 Geddes Road, just west of US-23 and north of the Huron River.

Also on the April 21 agenda are appointments to the environmental commission for David Stead, Kirk Westphal, and Susan Hutton. Appointments to this commission are different from most appointments to boards and commissions, in that the mayor does not nominate them. The appointments are under control of the council as a body.

The April 21 agenda includes the authorization for some street closings for upcoming events: NTI Block Party (July 30, 2014), Rolling Sculpture Car Show (July 11, 2014), and Ann Arbor Summer Festival’s Top of the Park (June 9 through July 9, 2014).

This article includes a more detailed preview of many of these agenda items. More details on other agenda items are available on the city’s online Legistar system. The meeting proceedings can be followed Monday evening live on Channel 16, streamed online by Community Television Network starting at 7 p.m.

The Chronicle will be filing live updates from city council chambers during the meeting, published in this article below the preview material. Click here to skip the preview section and go directly to the live updates. The meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Ann Arbor Housing Commission

Three resolutions on the April 21 agenda relate to the Ann Arbor Housing Commission: a $600,000 transfer from the city’s affordable housing fund to AAHC; approval of a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) for AAHC properties; and approval of a 50% waiver of fees for capital improvement projects to be undertaken by AAHC.

AAHC: $600,000 Transfer

At its March 3, 2014 meeting, the council had directed the city administrator to prepare a budget resolution that would allocate $600,000 from the city’s affordable housing trust fund to support the AAHC’s plan to renovate its properties.

That allocation was to be contingent on the closing of the sale of the former Y lot to Dennis Dahlmann, as the net proceeds of that sale are to be deposited into the city’s affordable housing trust fund. The sale of the property closed on April 2.

So on the April 21 meeting agenda is the resolution the council had directed the city administrator to prepare.

AAHC: PILOT

The agenda also includes an item authorizing a payment in lieu of taxes for AAHC properties at North Maple Estates, North Maple Duplexes, Lower Platt, Broadway, and White/State/Henry Apartments. The period for which property taxes are being waived – under Section 15(a) of the State Housing Development Authority Act and Chapter 19, Section 1:651 of Ann Arbor City Code – is 50 years. In lieu of taxes, a $1 service charge must be paid.

AAHC: 50% Waiver

For the North Maple and Lower Platt AAHC renovation projects, the city would ordinarily assess fees for site plan approval, zoning approval and street vacation. Those charges break down as follows, for a total of $22,705:

• North Maple: $8,995 for site plan approval; $1,425 for zoning approval; and $2,565 for street vacation
• Lower Platt: $8,295 for site plan approval; $1,425 for zoning approval

But under Chapter 55, Section 5:108 of Ann Arbor city code, those fees may be reduced by resolution of the city council by up to 50% of the specified fees – if the reduction is based on a finding that the development would provide affordable housing for lower-income households.

The item on the council’s April 21 agenda would reduce the fees by 50%.

Smoking

To be considered for final approval at the council’s April 21 meeting is a law regulating smoking in some outdoor locations. It was given initial approval by the council on April 7. The law would regulate smoking outside of public buildings and also potentially in areas of some city parks.

Made punishable under the proposed ordinance through a $50 civil fine would be smoking within 20 feet of: (1) bus stops; (2) entrances, windows and ventilation systems of the Blake Transit Center; and (3) entrances, windows and ventilation systems any city-owned building. Community service could be ordered instead of the payment of a fine.

The ordinance would also authorize the city administrator to have signs posted designating certain parks or portions of parks as off limits for outdoor smoking, and to increase the distance from entrances to city buildings where outdoor smoking is prohibited.

Where no signs are posted noting the smoking prohibition, a citation could be issued only if someone doesn’t stop smoking immediately when asked to stop.

A public hearing on the new ordinance will be held at the April 21 meeting.

The initial approval at the council’s April 7, 2014 meeting came after it had been postponed on March 3, 2014, and before that on Feb. 3, 2014. The initial approval came over dissent from Sumi Kailasapathy (Ward 1), Jane Lumm (Ward 2) and Jack Eaton (Ward 4). They cited concern that enforcement of the smoking law could distract from other policing duties and could have a disparate impact on the homeless population.

Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5), sponsor of the proposed new local law, appeared before the city’s park advisory commission on Feb. 25, 2014 to brief commissioners on the proposal and solicit feedback.

An existing Washtenaw County ordinance already prohibits smoking near entrances, windows and ventilation systems, according to the staff memo accompanying the resolution – but the county’s ordinance can be enforced only by the county health department. The memo further notes that the Michigan Clean Indoor Air Act does not regulate outdoor smoking.

Ellen Rabinowitz, interim health officer for Washtenaw County, attended the April 7 meeting and spoke to councilmembers about the county’s experience. She supported the city ordinance, as did Cliff Douglas, director of the University of Michigan’s Tobacco Research Network. Douglas addressed the council during public commentary and answered questions later in the meeting.

Council deliberations from the initial approval of this item are included in The Chronicle’s live updates filed during the April 7 meeting.

Sidewalks

Sidewalk gaps on Scio Church Road and Newport Road have two resolutions each – related to the special assessments that will be imposed on property owners adjoining the stretches where sidewalks are to be constructed. One resolution directs the city assessor to prepare a special assessment roll of properties to be assessed. The other resolution sets a public hearing on the special assessment – for May 5, 2014 at the council’s regular meeting on that date.

The total amount to be special assessed for the Newport Road project is $49,746. But residents of the Newport Creek Site Condominium – who would not ordinarily be assessed, as their property isn’t adjacent to the sidewalk – have volunteered to contribute $10,228 to the project to help offset their neighbors’ assessments. Details of that arrangement are being finalized.

For the Scio Church Road sidewalk project, the total cost is expected to be $365,100. Of that, about $164,000 will be paid from a Federal Surface Transportation grant. The remaining $201,100 will be paid out of the general fund and by the special assessment of just $1,626.

The council will also be asked to approve $177,100 of city funds for the construction of the Scio Church sidewalk and for an additional sidewalk on Barton Drive. The Barton Drive sidewalk will also be special assessed – with the associated resolutions to be presented to the council at a future meeting.

Approval of the design contract for the Barton Drive and Scio Church stretches of new sidewalk was approved by the city council at its March 3, 2014 meeting.

By way of additional background, at its July 15, 2013 meeting, the council approved $15,000 for preliminary design of a sidewalk along Barton Drive. And at its Nov. 19, 2012 meeting, the council approved $15,000 for preliminary study of a sidewalk to be constructed along Scio Church, west of Seventh Street. On Nov. 7, 2013, the council approved another $35,000 for Scio Church sidewalk design work. The design contract for the Barton Drive and Scio Church stretches of new sidewalk, drew on the previously authorized funding.

The preliminary planning budget of $15,000 for the Newport Road sidewalk gap was approved over a year ago by the council at its Jan. 23, 2013 meeting.

Location of proposed Barton Drive sidewalk.

Purple indicates stretches of Scio Church Road where no sidewalk exists.

Newport Road sidewalk stretch.

Land Use

Three site plans appear on the council’s April 21 agenda: Concordia University’s proposed gym expansion; an expansion of an office building on Collingwood; and the overhaul of a Shell station on South State.

Land Use: Concordia University Gym Expansion

A site plan to expand the existing Concordia University gym is on the agenda for city council approval.

Aerial view of Concordia campus.

The plan also includes reconfiguring nearby parking lots and stormwater management features on the 187-acre site at 4090 Geddes Road, just west of US-23 and north of the Huron River. The city planning commission recommended approval of the site plan at its March 4, 2014 meeting.

Planning commissioners granted a special exception use for the project. That’s required because the private university is located on a site zoned R1B (single-family residential district). The site plan requires city council approval, but the special exception use does not.

The proposal calls for a three-story, 34,391-square-foot addition to the current 22,021-square-foot gym that was built in the early 1960s, located on the west side of Concordia’s main campus. [.pdf of campus map] The addition will include men’s and women’s locker rooms, athletic office space, classrooms and an auxiliary gym.

A second phase of the project entails constructing a single-story, 5,280-square-foot athletic training room. An existing gravel parking area west of the gym will be paved and landscaped, and another lot north of the gym along Geddes will get new landscaping and bioswales. A total of 92 new parking spaces will be created, mostly in the former gravel lot.

A new stormwater management system will be completed to address a 100-year storm event, including a detention pond with an outlet into a bioswale south of the developed area. The site plan is for a planned project, which allows variations in height and placement. The proposed addition would be 39 feet high. The site’s zoning has a height limit of 30 feet. The existing gym is about 33 feet high, measured at the midpoint of the roof.

Land Use: Collingwood Office Building

The council will be asked to approve a site plan that expands an office building at 278-280 Collingwood. The proposal received a recommendation of approval from the Ann Arbor planning commission at its March 18, 2014 meeting.

Aerial view indicating location of 278-280 Collingwood Drive.

The site plan calls for removing the existing second floor on the east side of the office building and constructing a 2,451-square-foot second floor over the entire building for office use.

A new staircase will be added at the southwest corner of the building. The second floor will overhang the first floor along the front of the building and along part of the north side. An existing curbcut on the north side of the property will be removed. The current 22 parking spaces on the site will be reduced to 17.

Planning commissioners approved modifications to the city’s landscaping requirements for this site. Total construction cost for this project is estimated at $300,000. The office building is located in Ward 4. Collingwood Drive is a street off of West Stadium Boulevard, just south of West Stadium’s convergence with South Maple Road. [.pdf of staff memo]

Land Use: Shell Station Overhaul

The council will be asked to approve the overhaul of a Shell station and a new drive-thru restaurant at 2991 S. State. The site is located at the northeast corner of the East Eisenhower Parkway and South State Street.

Aerial view of the site for a Shell station and drive-thru restaurant at the northeast corner of South State and East Eisenhower.

The city planning commission recommended approval of the site plan at its March 18, 2014 meeting. The plan calls for demolishing the current one-story convenience store and car wash on this site, which total 2,435 square feet. In its place, the owner – Joseph Kafi of JAK Cubed LLC – would put up a single building with a 1,250-square-foot drive-thru restaurant and 3,000-square-foot convenience store.

The existing gas pump island canopy will remain in place, and two pumps will be relocated to spots under the canopy. According to a staff memo, a single lane drive-thru would be primarily accessed from the existing East Eisenhower Parkway curb cut. Vehicles would move in an east-to-north direction before exiting onto either South State or East Eisenhower.

The drive-thru lane provides stacking for up to nine vehicles and would be screened to the west by the proposed new building. A total of 22 parking spaces are proposed for the site, including eight that are located at the four gas pump islands. The project, located in Ward 4, is estimated to cost $800,000. The business is expected to remain open during construction. The existing convenience store will then be demolished after the new building is finished.

The specific restaurant to be located there is still being negotiated. [.pdf of staff report]

Environmental Commission Appointments

Also on the April 21 agenda are the appointments to the environmental commission for Kirk Westphal, David Stead, and Susan Hutton. All three would be re-appointments.

Westphal is being put forward as the planning commission’s representative to the environmental commission. He currently serves as chair of that commission. The planning commission voted at its Jan. 23, 2014 meeting to recommend Westphal’s reappointment. Westphal did not participate in the vote on that recommendation.

Westphal, a Democrat, is contesting the Ward 2 seat to which Sally Petersen is not seeking re-election – because she is running for mayor. Nancy Kaplan, who’s currently a member of the Ann Arbor District Library board, is running for that same Ward 2 seat.

In 2013, mayor John Hieftje declined to nominate Jeff Hayner to serve on the public art commission, citing a policy against nominating candidates for city council to serve on city boards and commissions. Hayner ran for Ward 1 council against Sabra Briere that year – a race in which Briere prevailed.

However, appointments to the environmental commission are different from most other appointments to boards and commissions – in that the mayor does not nominate them. The appointments are under control of the council as a body.

David Stead, right, reads a resolution he proposed at an environmental commission meeting in 2009. The resolution, which was approved, recommended removing Argo Dam. At left is Margie Teall, a city councilmember who also sat on the environmental commission at the time.

Past practice as been for the appointments to the environmental commission to mimic the typical two-step mayoral appointment process – with nomination at one meeting followed by confirmation at the next meeting. The council has customarily had the environmental commission appointments on its agenda for initial consideration and postponed a vote until the next meeting.

Stead was originally described in the agenda item as having served on the commission since 2007. That was subsequently corrected. City records in Legistar indicate he was among the first members to be appointed, on Sept. 18, 2000 after the council established the commission in a resolution approved on April 3, 2000. Based on Legistar records, he has served continuously since that initial appointment. Stead also served on the city council representing Ward 5 from April 1993 through November 1994.

Stead is vice president of Resource Recycling Systems. City council minutes show that the council has approved roughly $300,000 in contracts for consulting work by RRS for the city of Ann Arbor between 2007 and 2009.

Hutton was first appointed to the environmental commission in 2011 and is concluding her first three-year term.

4:42 p.m. Now available in Legistar are the staff responses to councilmember questions about agenda items: Agenda Responses 4-21-14. Also available are the slides for the city administrator’s FY 2015 budget presentation.

5:36 p.m. Here’s the spreadsheet referenced in the agenda response items: .pdf of budgets for Phase 1 Ann Arbor Housing Commission Projects

6:10 p.m. Based on councilmember questions posed to staff, deliberations on the outdoor smoking regulations and the sidewalk special assessments could be drawn out. Jack Eaton (Ward 4) posed a series of questions asking about the cost of educational efforts and the cost of posting a no-smoking sign ($70 without a post and $120 with a post). And a question was posed on the use of federal surface transportation funds for one of the sidewalk special assessment projects but not for a previous project. (Both projects were eligible, but funds were not available for the Pontiac Trail project.) A question on the number of terms David Stead has already served on the environmental commission (4 terms) hints at a likely debate over his appointment.

6:13 p.m. Community Television Network tech has installed and tested microphones. Testing includes wiggling them back and forth, which generates a prodigious amount of static.

6:45 p.m. Channel 2, Detroit’s Fox News affiliate, is here to film the possible action on the outdoor smoking regulations. Cameraman is chatting with Cliff Douglas, director of the University of Michigan’s Tobacco Research Network.

6:57 p.m. Chambers are starting to fill with audience and councilmembers.

6:57 p.m. Pre-meeting activity. The scheduled meeting start is 7 p.m. Most evenings the actual starting time is between 7:10 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

7:06 p.m. We’re off.

7:07 p.m. Call to order, moment of silence, pledge of allegiance.

7:07 p.m. Roll call of council. All councilmembers, except for Sabra Briere (Ward 1) are present and correct.

7:08 p.m. Mayor John Hieftje indicates that Briere will be arriving a bit later.

7:08 p.m. Approval of agenda The volunteer of the month proclamation is moved ahead of the budget presentation.

7:08 p.m. Outcome: The council has approved the agenda.

7:09 p.m. INT-2 Volunteer of the Month. This proclamation honors Dorothy Hastings for her volunteer efforts to improve Cloverdale Park.

7:11 p.m. INT-1 City Administrator’s FY 2015 Budget Presentation. For background on the proposed budget see: “FY 2015 Budget Preview: Cops, Trees” [.pdf of April 21, 2014 pre-dated memo from Powers to city council]

7:13 p.m. Powers is reviewing the council’s priority areas. He’s reviewing the work sessions that were held earlier in the year. May 12 will be a work session on public safety and infrastructure.

7:14 p.m. Revenues are improving modestly, Powers says. Property taxes are up 2.4%.

7:15 p.m. State shared revenue from sales taxes is up 4%. Road funding from Act 51 is flat. City millages will remain unchanged from last year.

7:16 p.m. Pension contributions are up 10% and VEBA is up 2%.

7:17 p.m. Here again are the slides Powers is presenting: [.pdf of slides]

7:17 p.m. The budget reflects two major impacts, Powers says: impact of GASB 68 accounting standards; and $1 million for street tree maintenance.

7:18 p.m. Powers is reviewing the historical trend of the number of employees. Y axis on the chart starts at 500, so the trend is somewhat amplified.

7:19 p.m. Powers is reviewing the addition of three police officers and one firefighter. A rental housing inspector will also be added.

7:21 p.m. The $1 million for streets in the public right-of-way is based on the significant deferred maintenance that has accumulated. He’s now reviewing the difference between recurring and one-time revenues. Post-employment health insurance funding is tied to revenue growth, Powers says.

7:22 p.m. He’s about to wrap up, as it’s not meant to be an in-depth review. As much opportunity as councilmembers would like can be provided to go over the budget, he says.

7:22 p.m. Powers notes that this is the second year of a two-year planning cycle, even though the council adopts a budget every year.

7:24 p.m. Because it’s in the second year of a two-year plan, Powers doesn’t think this budget reflects a lot of substantial changes. Powers notes that amendments to the budget can be undertaken after the budget has been adopted to improve the ability of the staff to deliver on city goals.

7:24 p.m. Budget questions will receive answers on a weekly basis through next month when the council must adopt the budget. Powers is now done with his presentation.

7:24 p.m. Public commentary. This portion of the meeting offers 10 three-minute slots that can be reserved in advance. Preference is given to speakers who want to address the council on an agenda item. [Public commentary general time, with no sign-up required in advance, is offered at the end of the meeting.] Tonight’s lineup for reserved time speaking includes Kermit Schlansker, Lou Glorie and Alan Haber.

7:28 p.m. Kermit Schlansker is talking about the importance of geometry in attaining sustainability. Big cities have less use of energy per capita than small towns, he says. Geometry is more important than solar or wind. But big cities can’t grow food, he says. Geometry is important in considering travel distances between the places where food is grown and where it’s consumed. People need to learn to use sewage for fertilizer. He describes burying people when they die and planting a fruit tree on top of them: “I’d rather become a useful apple”… than spend the energy on cremation, he says. If we don’t pay attention to the future there will be no future, he concludes.

7:32 p.m. Lou Glorie introduces herself as an Ann Arbor resident. She says that the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority millage request is being framed as a question about public transit and as a moral obligation. But there are legitimate reasons for opposing the millage, she says. She contends that the system is still difficult if not impossible to use, because of the downtown-centric system. The system only makes sense if one assumes that everyone wants to go downtown. Someone on North Maple might want to get to Briarwood, she says. It costs between $7,000 and $15,000 to maintain a car, but they have no other way to get around. The AAATA’s service model is more appropriate for those who live outside Ann Arbor than for residents. It’s not just okay to vote no, she says. It might be the only way to get the kind of transportation system for residents that we need.

7:35 p.m. Alan Haber is talking about his efforts to establish a public part on the top of the Library Lane underground parking structure. When he’d approached the Downtown Development Authority to ask how that land could be used for the public, the DDA had said that’s not their mission, because they focus on economic development, he says. He’s describing his unsuccessful effort to get the DDA to allow an Earth Day event on top of the Library Lane parking structure to take place this year. He calls for a public discussion of the maximum public use of the space. He’s got a list of people in this town who have a lot of money, he says.

7:35 p.m. Communications from council.

7:37 p.m. Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) says that the three additional police officers are welcome, but he’s not yet clear about what their responsibilities will be. He holds the door open for amendments to the budget. He also reports that he’s asked Steve Powers to see if the city has resources to do targeted enforcement of additional community standards in campus areas. He’s looking forward to a report that’s due in May on meeting environmental goals.

7:38 p.m. Sally Petersen (Ward 2) announced there will be a meeting on the AAATA millage proposal on April 29 at 7 p.m. at the Earhardt Village club house.

7:41 p.m. Jane Lumm (Ward 2) is giving announcements related to Humane Society of Huron Valley animal control services. She says that the Humane Society has given the city invoices that have not yet been paid. She says a meeting has been scheduled to move the ball forward.

Lumm is now talking about the deer population. She calls for developing a strategy for dealing with the problem. She’ll be bringing forward a resolution concerning that. On the budget, she says she’s tried unsuccessfully to add police officers, so she’s glad to see that. She calls on the DDA to come forward with funding for downtown beat cops.

7:41 p.m. Briere has arrived.

7:45 p.m. Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5) reports out on a public meeting on the Jackson Road reconstruction project. He’s talking with MDOT to find out how the pilot project for the lane striping (three lanes with the center lane a turn lane). He’s responding to Lou Glorie’s comments during public commentary. About the AAATA millage, he says that the new service plan includes some cross-town routes that are not part of the hub-and-spoke plan. He notes that because Ann Arbor is not laid out on a grid, it poses a challenge. He stresses the importance of frequency in providing adequate service. He points to proposed Route G as a connection that would help cross-town connections.

7:47 p.m. Jack Eaton (Ward 4) reminds people of the Friends of Dicken Woods fundraiser on April 24. The Friends have taken care of the nature area for 10 years and fund education programs at the neighboring elementary school: dickenwoods.org

7:48 p.m. MC-1 Confirmations. Several confirmations are on tonight’s agenda – of nominations that were made at the council’s April 7, 2014 meeting:

• Airport Advisory Committee: Mary Karen McClellan (filling a vacancy, for a term ending May 30, 2016);
• Ann Arbor Housing Commission: Gwenyth Hayes (serving out rest of term for Gloria Black as a residents’ representative, through May 4, 2015) and Daniel Lee (re-appointment, for a term ending May 6, 2019);
• Design Review Board: Shannan Gibb-Randall (serving out rest of term for Mary Jucari, through May 30, 2015);
• Employees Retirement Systems Board of Trustees: Mark Heusel (re-appointment for a term through May 2, 2017);
• Public Market Advisory Commission: David Santacroce (re-appointment for a term through May 30, 2017).

7:49 p.m. Briere notes that Santacroce has celebrated the birth of his second child today. Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) congratulates Santacroce, and gets clarification that Santacroce also serves on the park advisory commission.

7:50 p.m. Outcome: The appointments are all confirmed.

7:50 p.m. Public Hearings. All the public hearings are grouped together during this section of the meeting. Action on the related items comes later in the meeting. Four public hearings are scheduled: (1) Outdoor smoking ordinance [for additional background, see Smoking above]; (2) Concordia University gym expansion [for additional background, see Land Use: Concordia University Gym Expansion above]; (3) Collingwood office building expansion [for additional background, see Land Use: Collingwood Office Building above]; and (4) State Street Shell station site plan [for additional background, see Land Use: Shell Station Overhaul above].

7:50 p.m. PH-1 Outdoor Smoking Ordinance.

7:53 p.m. Leon Bryson, who’s running for Ward 5 council, is addressing the council. He’s speaking in support of the ordinance that is being proposed by Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5) [against whom he's running]. There are two main components of this ordinance: places where smoking would be banned; and the enforcement. The 20-foot distance is reasonable, he says. The city administrator is given a great amount of authority to set areas for non-smoking in public parks. It’s not his expectation that the city administrator would ban smoking in all areas of all city parks. Based on the discussion at the last council meeting, Bryson does not think enforcement will be a problem. He does not expect that the ordinance will be enforced in a way that has a disparate impact on the homeless. He thanks Warpehoski for his work.

7:56 p.m. Jeff Hayner asks the council to modify the ordinance in light of another problem: chewing gum. It’s not a problem unique to Ann Arbor. In Great Britain, they spent $230 million on removal of chewing gum, he says. He suggests that we look to Singapore as a model, which restricted the trade and use of chewing gum. Smuggling fines can go up to $3,000 or a beating with a bamboo cane. So he asks for the ordinance to be modified to include a fine for littering of cigarette butts and a ban on chewing gum.

8:01 p.m. Seth Best rises to speak against the ordinance because he thinks it will have a disparate impact on the homeless, the poor and the LGBT community. He notes that it’s legal to purchase cigarettes. He says there are more important things to worry about that are more worthy of the council’s time. Going after smokers is a way to push those who are poor and the homeless further away. He thanks the council for modifying the original proposal to include community service instead of a fine.

8:02 p.m. Colin Yee is addressing the council as a graduate student in public health in support of the ordinance. As a student over the last six years, he’s noticed a decline in smokers as a result of a tobacco-free campus initiative. There’s less of a haze walking across the Diag, he says. The ordinance further reduces the social acceptability of smoking and will reduce the exposure of young people to second hand smoke. It’s time to walk the walk and show why we are the leaders and the best, he says.

8:05 p.m. Julie Grand, who’s running for Ward 3 council, speaks in support of the ordinance. She has passed out some best practices for health policy. This policy has to balance individual liberty with public good. The benefits outweigh the burden on individual liberty, she says. She’ll be able to point to a sign next to a swingset and ask someone to refrain from smoking. Do we want high school students to be standing at a bus stop near smokers, she asks? [Grand is a lecturer in public health at University of Michigan, Dearborn]. She points to the fact that enforcement of the ban in restaurants has not been problematic.

8:08 p.m. Cliff Douglas thanks the council for its 8-3 vote on first reading at its previous meeting. The support that the council is hearing tonight is typical of public sentiment, he says. These ordinances save lives, he says, as they keep smoke away from infants. These ordinances also reduce litter from cigarettes, he says. No-smoking rules will join other, familiar rules for public parks, like no alcohol, and no dogs offleash. He’s now reading a letter from the manager of the People’s Food Co-op who contend with smokers at Sculpture Plaza.

8:09 p.m. Channel 2 cameraman unhooks TV microphone from the podium.

8:09 p.m. PH-2 Concordia University gymnasium addition. No one speaks at this public hearing.

8:10 p.m. PH-3 278-280 Collingwood site plan. No one speaks at this public hearing.

8:10 p.m. PH-4 State Street Shell station/drive-thru. No one speaks at this public hearing.

8:10 p.m. Minutes of previous meeting. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

8:10 p.m. Consent Agenda. This is a group of items that are deemed to be routine and are voted on “all in one go.” Contracts for less than $100,000 can be placed on the consent agenda. This meeting’s consent agenda includes:

• CA-1 Approve a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) for the AAHC for North Maple Estates, North Maple Duplexes, Lower Platt, Broadway, and White/State/Henry Apartments. [For additional background, see AAHC: PILOT above]
• CA-2 Approve AAHC site plan and zoning fee waiver request Maple and Platt. [For additional background, see AAHC: 50% Waiver above]
• CA-3 Award a Contract to DLZ Michigan, Inc. to design repairs to the wastewater treatment plant access bridge ($32,752).
• CA-4 Resolution No. 2: Newport sidewalk special assessment. [For additional background, see Sidewalks above]
• CA-5 Resolution No. 3: Establish a public hearing for the Newport sidewalk special assessment project
• CA-6 Approve an emergency increase to the Osburn Industries Purchase Order for Aggregate Materials ($36,750).
• CA-7 Approve street closing for the NTI Block Party: July 30, 2014.
• CA-8 Approve street closing for the 2014 Ann Arbor Summer Festival’s Top of the Park (June 9 through July 9, 2014).
• CA-9 Approve street closings for the 2014 Rolling Sculpture Car Show (Friday, July 11, 2014).

8:11 p.m. Councilmembers can opt to select out any items for separate consideration. Sabra Briere pulls out CA-1 and CA-2.

8:11 p.m. CA-1 Approve a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) for the AAHC for North Maple Estates, North Maple Duplexes, Lower Platt, Broadway, and White/State/Henry Apartments.

8:13 p.m. Briere says she wanted to pull this out because it’s an example of every creative effort that the city can find to help the AAHC. She commends staff for being creative in solving the problem.

8:13 p.m. Outcome: The council approved CA-1.

8:13 p.m. CA-2 Approve AAHC site plan and zoning fee waiver request Maple and Platt. Briere says this is another example of creativity to help the AAHC.

8:13 p.m.  Outcome: The council approved CA-2.

8:14 p.m. Outcome: The council now completed its approval of all items on the consent agenda.

8:14 p.m. B-1 Outdoor Smoking Ordinance. This is the final approval of a new law regulating smoking in some outdoor locations. It was given initial approval by the council on April 7. The law would regulate smoking outside of public buildings and also potentially in areas of some city parks. Made punishable under the proposed ordinance through a $50 civil fine would be smoking within 20 feet of: (1) bus stops; (2) entrances, windows and ventilation systems of the Blake Transit Center; and (3) entrances, windows and ventilation systems any city-owned building. Community service could be ordered instead of the payment of a fine. The ordinance would also authorize the city administrator to have signs posted designating certain parks or portions of parks as off limits for outdoor smoking, and to increase the distance from entrances to city buildings where outdoor smoking is prohibited. Where no signs are posted noting the smoking prohibition, a citation could be issued only if someone doesn’t stop smoking immediately when asked to stop. [For additional background, see Smoking above]

8:15 p.m. Chuck Warpehoski (Ward 5) is reviewing some amendments that have been made. The buffer around bus stops has been reduced to 10 feet, after consultation with AAATA. And the language describing the non-smoking zone around Blake Transit Center has been tweaked.

8:18 p.m. Warpehoski is addressing the argument based on disparate impact, saying that it’s a public health impact that can have a positive effect on lower-income populations. He reminds people that the fine is only levied if they fail to stop smoking when asked to do so by a police officer.

8:19 p.m. Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) is proposing that the fine be reduced from $50 to $25. It’s greater than the marijuana possession fine of $25. He felt that smoking a cigarette should be on par with that. The amendment is accepted as friendly by Warpehoski.

8:21 p.m. Kunselman says he’s going to support the ordinance, thanking Warpehoski for bringing forward some very convincing speakers at the last council meeting. On a personal note, his stepdad passed away over the weekend – and he was a life-long smoker, so Kunselman felt there was nothing he could do except vote for the ordinance.

8:24 p.m. Jane Lumm (Ward 2) is reviewing the issue of police resources. She says that if the ordinance is self-enforcing, then she wonders why there needs to be police enforcement. Any time a police officer spends on this is time that could be spent on more important issues, she says. Lumm says she lives next to a large park and says she sometimes quips that it’s the city’s largest off-leash dog park – because the city doesn’t have the means to enforce that or many other issues. She doesn’t think the decision on areas for non-smoking in parks should be left to the city administrator. Lumm notes that she’s a staunch non-smoker – and you can ask her husband what happens when he lights up a cigar.

8:28 p.m. Jack Eaton (Ward 4) thanks Kunselman for the amendment. Not making it punitive is a step in the right direction. He’s against diverting police resources to a public health issue. These are issues that are best addressed through education, he says. This is fraught with potential for conflict – because a smoker who is asked to stop smoking by a civilian would know that a police officer could not possibly arrive soon enough to enforce the ordinance. Banning smoking, for example, in Sculpture Plaza, will simply move smokers to other locations. He ventures that the cost of placing signs will be greater than the cost that was given by the city administrator [$70 without a pole, $120 with a pole].

8:29 p.m. Christopher Taylor (Ward 3) says he’ll support the ordinance, because it’s reasonable, prudent and measured. It’s public health problem and an environmental problem, he says, that is being solved. This provides non-smokers with the tools to educate smokers, he says.

8:29 p.m. Taylor says this will help create a set of social norms that says that smoking is not acceptable in these locations.

8:31 p.m. Sabra Briere (Ward 1) said after Sunday night caucus the smoker’s corner was set up right next to the ventilation system on the Ann Street side of city hall. She also noticed the litter of cigarette butts. She appreciated the concern of councilmembers who were concerned that police would be required to run hither and yon to monitor smokers. Briere allows that Jane Lumm (Ward 2) is right that there are not enough resources to monitor other issues – like offleash dogs.

8:34 p.m. Briere is talking about problems with enforcing the leash laws. She says the penalty for this ordinance is small. Mothers don’t take their children to a park near her house until they spend time picking up cigarette butts, because they don’t want their children to eat cigarette butts. We should think about those people who want to use the city’s parks and feel like they’re being crowded out of the parks by smokers.

8:36 p.m. Margie Teall (Ward 4) says she’s supported this from the beginning. She thanks Warpehoski for putting a lot of time and thought into it. As Julie Grand suggested, Teall thinks it might help shift social norms.

8:39 p.m. Mayor John Hieftje says he will support this. He doesn’t have a concern about the policing of this –because 900 other communities aren’t finding their police forces are tied up dealing with smokers.

8:39 p.m. Mike Anglin (Ward 5) says that everything that can be said has already been said. He thanks Warpehoski for revising the punitive parts of the original proposal. When someone sits near him and is smoking, he has to move, Anglin says.

8:39 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to give the outdoor smoking ordinance final approval, over dissent from Eaton and Lumm.

8:39 p.m. DC-1 Environmental Commission appointments. Nominations to the environmental commission are the council’s privilege to make, not the mayor’s. On tonight’s agenda are three re-appointments: Kirk Westphal as the planning commission’s recommended appointment as that group’s representative on the environmental commission; David Stead, who’s served on the environmental commission since it was established in 2000; and Susan Hutton who’s completed her first three-year term. [For additional background, see Environmental Commission Appointments above]

8:40 p.m. Briere moves to postpone, as it’s customary to do so for EC appointments.

8:40 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to postpone consideration of the EC appointments.

8:40 p.m. DB-1 Site Plan: Concordia University Gymnasium Addition This item approves a site plan for the expansion of the gym at Concordia University. The plan also includes reconfiguring nearby parking lots and stormwater management features on the 187-acre site at 4090 Geddes Road, just west of US-23 and north of the Huron River. The city planning commission recommended approval of the site plan at its March 4, 2014 meeting. [For additional background, see Land Use: Concordia University Gym Expansion above]

8:40 p.m. Lumm is reading aloud a description of the project.

8:41 p.m. Lumm thanks the CEO of Concordia for answering all her questions.

8:43 p.m. Petersen also thanks the CEO of Concordia.

8:43 p.m. Lumm is concurring with Petersen’s thanks. Lumm said that she’d heard from people who were interested in what was going on across the street from Concordia. Longer term, they’re thinking about building a football stadium. No site plan has been submitted to the city on that, she says.

8:43 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the Concordia University gym expansion site plan.

8:43 p.m. DB-2 Site Plan: 278-280 Collingwood. This item approves a site plan that expands an office building at 278-280 Collingwood. The site plan calls for removing the existing second floor on the east side of the office building and constructing a 2,451-square-foot second floor over the entire building for office use. [For additional background, see Land Use: Collingwood Office Building above]

8:43 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted without discussion to approve the Collingwood site plan.

8:43 p.m. DB-3 Site Plan: State Street Shell station/drive-thru restaurant. The council is being asked to approve the overhaul of a Shell station and a new drive-thru restaurant at 2991 S. State. The site is located at the northeast corner of the East Eisenhower Parkway and South State Street. [For additional background, see Land Use: Shell Station Overhaul above]

8:43 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the Shell station site plan.

8:43 p.m. DS-1 Approve transfer of $600,000 from the affordable housing trust fund to the Ann Arbor Housing Commission. At its March 3, 2014 meeting, the council had directed the city administrator to prepare a budget resolution that would allocate $600,000 from the city’s affordable housing trust fund to support the AAHC’s plan to renovate its properties. That allocation was to be contingent on the closing of the sale of the former Y lot to Dennis Dahlmann, as the net proceeds of that sale are to be deposited into the city’s affordable housing trust fund. The sale of the property closed on April 2. So on tonight’s meeting agenda is the resolution the council had directed the city administrator to prepare.

8:44 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the $600,000 transfer.

8:44 p.m. DS-2 Accept easement for sanitary sewer. This would accept an easement for a sanitary sewer from Subaru Research and Development Inc. at 3995 Research Park Dr.

8:45 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted without discussion to approve the easement.

8:45 p.m. DS-3 Approve agreement with Black and Veatch for the water treatment plant alternatives analysis project ($220,339). According to the staff memo accompanying this item, the goal of the water treatment plant alternatives analysis project is “to evaluate the need and feasibility for addressing several challenges facing the water treatment plant, including the replacement of the Plant 1 treatment basins.” The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) evaluates all public water system every three years. And the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act (Act 399) requires all public water systems to complete a master plan every so often. Included in the 2013 MDEQ evaluation and the city’s own 2006 master plan are recommendations that the treatment basins be modified or replaced. The memo describes the facilities as follows: “The basins were built in 1938, are inefficient, do not meet current recommended design standards, and have exceeded their useful life. These basins provide reliability on average days and capacity during peak demand periods.”

8:48 p.m. Anglin has asked public area administrator Craig Hupy to come to the podium to answer questions. Anglin says that it appears the scope of work will allow the staff to make some decisions. He asks if Hupy would be considering delivering water on the west side of the city for less money. No, says Hupy. This project would evaluate the options – from replacing in-kind at that location, to purchasing wholesale from elsewhere. Anglin wants to know the timeline. Hupy says the design process would come in FY 2017 with construction in FY 2018 or FY 2019. Anglin ventures that this project will have huge implications for the city.

8:48 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the agreement with Black and Veatch for the water treatment plant alternatives analysis project.

8:48 p.m. DS-4 Award contract to Evergreen Civil LLC ($616,806) for the Yellowstone water main replacement project. This project will replace the existing water main with about 1,700 feet of new 8-inch water main. The existing water main on Yellowstone Drive, bounded by Bluett Drive on both ends, had experienced frequent breaks and is in poor condition, according to the staff memo accompanying this resolution.

8:50 p.m. Lumm says that residents could not be happier. This main has had multiple breaks, she says. She’s happy the construction will start in May and be done in July. The public meeting at Clague Middle School was helpful, Lumm says. She calls it great customer service by the staff.

8:50 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to award the contract to Evergreen Civil LLC ($616,806) for the Yellowstone water main replacement project.

8:50 p.m. DS-5 Scio Church sidewalk: Approve the Scio Church and Barton sidewalks project appropriation of funds from the general fund ($177,100). The council is being asked to approve $177,100 of city funds for the construction of a Scio Church sidewalk and for an additional sidewalk on Barton Drive. Like the Scio Church sidewalk project, the Barton Drive sidewalk will be special assessed – with the associated resolutions to be presented to the council at a future meeting. [For additional background, see Sidewalks above.]

8:54 p.m. Teall is thanking Peter Houk for his advocacy on the Scio Church sidewalk, which began several years ago. Eaton echoes Teall’s sentiments, saying that it will be an important addition. The link to the Pittsfield branch of the Ann Arbor District Library will be important, he says.

8:55 p.m. Kailasapathy says she and Briere had attended a lot of neighborhood meetings on this issue. Roads, traffic calming, and sidewalk gaps seem to be topics that are of great concern for residents, she says. So this is a very good move to help make the city’s parks more accessible to children.

8:57 p.m. Kunselman appreciates the financing that’s been used, and goes as far as to propose that the special assessments be eliminated. He wants to take that money out of the general fund and make it a city-funded project. Hieftje proposes a short recess to work out that language.

8:57 p.m. We are in recess.

9:08 p.m. We’re back.

9:09 p.m. Kunselman says that in the future he wants to make sure that 80% of the funding is provided through non-special assessed funds. But he’ll support this resolution at this time.

9:09 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to approve the appropriation of funds from the general fund for the Scio Church and Barton Road sidewalk projects.

9:10 p.m. DS-6 Scio Church sidewalk: Resolution No. 2 Special Assessment ($1,626). This is the second in a series of resolutions necessary for a special assessment, directing the setting of the assessment roll. For the Scio Church Road sidewalk project, the total cost is expected to be $365,100. Of that, about $164,000 will be paid from a Federal Surface Transportation grant. The remaining $201,100 will be paid out of the general fund and by a special assessment of just $1,626.

9:11 p.m. Kunselman asks that this be postponed. The amount to be special assessed isn’t worth the amount that will be special assessed, he says. Eaton seconds.

9:11 p.m. Hupy indicates that the second meeting in May would be a good meeting to which to postpone, because the Barton Drive special assessment could then be brought forward at the same time.

9:14 p.m. Hieftje says that he doesn’t want to set a precedent – given the number of people who have needed to pay a special assessment. Hieftje says he’ll support the postponement, but says that the issue needs a larger discussion. Kailasapathy notes that general funds are limited, and she’s afraid that a commitment to using general funds might stall the process of filling sidewalk gaps.

Briere says there’s an issue of legal equity. The council just earlier in the evening approved the special assessment for Newport’s sidewalk. She notes that property owners who weren’t legally required to contribute had stepped forward and volunteered. Those residents will feel that the city has really “offended” them if the city pays for other projects out of the general fund.

9:17 p.m. Lumm agrees with Briere and Kailasapathy. “If we do this here, we gotta do it citywide,” she says. The history of the way these improvements have been done needs to be recognized, Lumm says. Hieftje calls Hupy to the podium. He wants to know if the project would be delayed if this is postponed until the second meeting in May.

9:18 p.m. Kailasapathy ventures that there could be a de minimis rule that if the total amount is less than $1,000 then the city would pay.

9:20 p.m. Kunselman asks why the city is so gung ho about eliminating sidewalk gaps that have been there for decades. He calls it “ridiculous” that the city is setting up a special assessment for a little more than $1,000. In his neighborhood, there’d been a project that was originally planned to include sidewalks and the plan was to special assess 100% of the cost. The result was that no sidewalks accompanied the project, because neighbors objected.

9:20 p.m. Hieftje notes that everyone seems inclined to postpone.

9:21 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted to postpone the setting of the assessment roll for the Scio Church sidewalk project until the second meeting in May.

9:21 p.m. DS-7 Scio Church sidewalk: Resolution No. 3 Set public hearing.  This is the third in a series of resolutions required for a special assessment. The public hearing is being set for May 5, 2014, the council’s first meeting in May.

9:21 p.m. Kunselman also wants to postpone this one.

9:21 p.m. Outcome: The council has voted postpone the setting of the public hearing on the Scio Church sidewalk project special assessment.

9:22 p.m. Communications from council. Lumm is asking that an LDFA issue come to the council at its next meeting, not May 19.

9:22 p.m. Clerk’s report of communications, petitions and referrals. Outcome: The council has approved the clerk’s report.

9:22 p.m. Public comment. There’s no requirement to sign up in advance for this slot for public commentary.

9:22 p.m. No one rises to speak.

9:22 p.m. Adjournment. We are now adjourned. That’s all from the hard benches.

A sign on the door to the Ann Arbor city council chambers gives instructions for post-meeting clean-up.

The Chronicle survives in part through regular voluntary subscriptions to support our coverage of public bodies like the Ann Arbor city council. If you’re already supporting The Chronicle please encourage your friends, neighbors and coworkers to do the same. Click this link for details: Subscribe to The Chronicle.