Stories indexed with the term ‘board meeting’

Ann Arbor District Library board meeting (July 20, 2009): The board’s annual meeting unfolded with a light agenda, including the re-election of officers and some reflections on the past year by board president Rebecca Head.

Josie Parker, AADL’s director, gave an update on how the state budget crisis could affect the Ann Arbor library – the negative impact lies more in  services rather than in funding. The board also set its meeting agenda for the coming year – and unlike some boards, such as the University of Michigan regents, the AADL trustees don’t take off the month of August.

We’ll begin with Parker’s report on the potential impact of state funding decisions. [Full Story]

University of Michigan Board of Regents (July 16, 2009): At their monthly meeting on Thursday, regents approved a major renovation project for one of UM’s oldest residence halls, and got an update on the university’s parking and transportation strategy. The topic of parking and transportation came up again during time set aside for public comment, which included a pitch for a development at the possible Fuller Road intermodal transit center.

University executives also praised the recent inclusion of UM Hospitals and Health Centers in the U.S. News & World Report ranking of best American hospitals – they ranked 14th in the nation. [Full Story]

Downtown Development Authority board meeting (July 1, 2009): The Ann Arbor DDA wound up its current fiscal year with a frank and transparent disagreement about its future governance as a body, both in terms of its officers and its appointments. The disagreement was also reflected in connection with the specific substantive issue of raising parking fees at the 415 W. Washington lot.

An expected controversy over variable parking fees elsewhere was avoided when a scheduled resolution to introduce new variable-rate on-street parking fees – which would have increased parking rates and generated around $250,000 in extra revenue – was postponed until September, the board’s next scheduled meeting.

September is also when the question of who will be the board’s treasurer will be decided, with the board unable to choose between Sandi Smith and Roger Hewitt for that position during board elections. The board did arrive at selections for its new chair (John Splitt), vice-chair (Joan Lowenstein) and secretary (Keith Orr).

In other business, the board granted nearly $400,000 to the getDowntown program for the go!pass, extended a $50,000 arts grant re-directing the money towards performing arts organizations, authorized $25,000 for additional recycling containers to be placed downtown, approved $16,000 in grants to merchant associations to encourage attractive window displays, and authorized sponsorship for travel to the International Downtown Association Conference.

In the course of the meeting, city councilmember Leigh Greden’s attendance and vote in place of Mayor John Hieftje, who is a member of the DDA board, generated discussion of interest to specialists in civics. [Full Story]

University of Michigan Board of Regents meeting (June 18, 2009): Despite dissent from two regents over a 5.6% tuition hike, the University of Michigan Board of Regents approved several FY2010 budgets at their Thursday afternoon meeting – including budgets for the general fund, health system, and athletic department.

Though budget presentations – and speaking turns by each regent on the budget, most of them reading from prepared statements – took up much of the meeting, the board approved several other items, among them: 1) changes to UM’s technology transfer policy, 2) authorization to demolish seven vacant buildings that make up the Kresge complex at the corner of Ann Street and Zina Pitcher Place, 3) approval to hire an architect for a major expansion to the G.G.Brown building on north campus, and 4) design approval for a new intercollegiate soccer stadium.

We’ll begin our report with a look at non-budget agenda items. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor District Library Board meeting (June 15, 2009): A light agenda for Monday’s AADL board meeting included a discussion about how state funding cuts might affect library services, a video presentation on future broadband needs for libraries, and an update from director Josie Parker about negotiations over a utility easement the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority wants for its proposed underground parking structure. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board meeting (May 20, 2009): On an evening when board chair David Nacht rode his bicycle to the meeting, he acknowledged the board’s agenda was “rather sparse.” Still, the discussion by the board – and conversation elicited through public commentary  – gave some insight into the future of transportation service into three areas.

First, a significant chunk of time was invested in discussing the relative lack of success of the A2Chelsea Express, a commuter express bus service between Chelsea and Ann Arbor, plus the intent to begin offering a similar service for Canton. Nacht concluded the discussion on the Ann Arbor-to-Chelsea express bus by saying that he continued to be a “faith-based believer in commuter bus service, but I hope at some point to have some data to support my theology.”

Secondly, Nacht gave his assurance a couple of different times during the meeting that it was not the intent of the AATA board to discontinue service to Ypsilanti. And finally, Dawn Gabay, interim director of the AATA, indicated that efforts were being made “behind the scenes” in conversations with the management of Arborland to preserve the AATA bus stops on that shopping center’s property – Arborland management has indicated a preference to have the bus stops removed.

Gabay might not have to serve in the capacity of interim director much longer, as the board got an update that negotiations were proceeding apace with Michael Ford, the one final candidate for the CEO position. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (May 6, 2009): At Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners got an update on how the county is responding to the swine flu threat, plus a bonus: Every commissioner was presented with a Red Cross personal safety kit. The implicit message was  that the county is prepared for emergencies, be it virulent viruses or something else entirely. Dick Fleece, interim director of the county’s public health department, assured commissioners that funding for the kits came from the feds, not the county’s general fund budget.

Commissioners also discussed a federal grant aimed at helping track purchases of pseudoephedrine. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor District Library board meeting (April 27, 2009): The proposed 2009-10 budget for the Ann Arbor District Library would lower the tax rate that the library levies – a decision that’s in response to the stressed economy, board members said during their monthly meeting on Monday. The board will vote on the budget at its May 18 meeting.

The budget proposes levying 1.55 mills for the fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2009. Currently, the library levies 1.92 mills. (One mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s state equalized value, or SEV.) The library projects its fund balance will be $6.6 million at the end of this fiscal year (June 30, 2009) and that it will remain at that level next year – at about 52% of AADL’s $12.7 million operating budget.

Prue Rosenthal, the board’s treasurer, characterized the budget as “very conservative,” citing the economy and a concern for keeping taxes as low as possible while maintaining the library’s services. That means the library won’t be putting money into its capital building fund or fund balance, she said, “but we all believe that is the appropriate and right thing to do.” [Full Story]

University of Michigan Board of Regents (March 19, 2009): Much of this month’s meeting of the University of Michigan Board of Regents was spent hearing from students who were advocating for three issues: A coordinated sustainability effort on campus, a tuition freeze, and UM’s investment in HEI Hotels & Resorts.

In her opening remarks, UM president Mary Sue Coleman praised the performance of several athletic teams, including men’s basketball, hockey, swimming and diving – all were competing at the national level, most notably the basketball team in a NCAA tournament appearance. She said in the midst of this was also sad news about the sudden death of Matthew Hilton-Watson, a 40-year-old UM-Flint professor who collapsed in class and died earlier this month, as well as the death of Bill Davidson, whom Coleman described as a “true gentleman,” philanthropist and exceptional business leader.

Coleman used the reference to Davidson’s business acumen as a segue into announcing that UM will ask employees to share a greater amount of their health care costs. She described employee health care as the university budget’s fastest-growing expense and a threat to its core mission. Details of those changes were released on Friday, the day after the regents meeting. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (March 18, 2009): A meeting that brought some heated rhetoric about funding sources for a regional aerotropolis project also included brief remarks by Stedman Graham about the county’s literacy initiative and an invitation to attend a March 29 soccer match between the sheriff’s department and the Washtenaw County Homeless Soccer Team.

The meeting was preceded by a reception that drew about 200 people from the community to highlight the county’s Blueprint to End Illiteracy, which was formally presented at the Wednesday board meeting. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor District Library board meeting (March 16, 2009): At their Monday night board meeting, a full contingent of the AADL board heard about the online searchable archive of Ann Arbor city council minutes, got a report from director Josie Parker (putting a recent library rating into context), set a process for conducting Parker’s performance review, and voted to approve additional funds related to replacement of air-handlers in the downtown library. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (March 4, 2009): County commissioners spent the bulk of their Wednesday night board meeting on two topics, both dealing with finances: 1) Details about $3 million in federal funds coming to Washtenaw County to rehab or demolish foreclosed properties in targeted areas, and 2) an update from county administrator Bob Guenzel about ongoing efforts to deal with a projected budget deficit.

Neither topic is new to commissioners or Chronicle readers: The federal foreclosure funds were discussed at last week’s administrative briefing, and the budget crisis has been on the table since the board’s Feb. 4 meeting. So commissioners were prepared to ask pointed questions on both issues, and they did. [Full Story]

University of Michigan Board of Regents (Feb. 19, 2009): At their most recent monthly meeting, UM regents got a detailed report about the community benefits provided by its health system, and heard from several students lobbying the university to establish a sustainability office.

Most items on the agenda – including approval of over $13 million in construction projects – received little or no discussion among regents or UM’s executive officers. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (Feb. 18, 2009): Commissioners got another cold blast of economic reality at their most recent board meeting, as county staff laid out revenue projections for 2010-11 and asked for feedback about how cautious they should be in planning for the future. Pretty darn cautious was the general consensus among commissioners, saying it would be easier to deal with the budget if their projections proved too pessimistic than if they planned for higher revenue that never materialized.

County administrator Bob Guenzel and his staff also presented various scenarios for increasing revenues, as points of discussion, not recommendations. Those included a couple of options to raise or reapportion taxes that would require voter approval and appeared to have little traction among commissioners at this point. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board meeting (Feb. 18, 2009 ): At its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, the AATA board postponed a vote on its vision statement until its March meeting, when the board as a whole will thrash through the statement. A bit of news relevant to the board’s vision of the future was the announcement that the number of candidates for the executive directorship has been winnowed down to five. That position has been open since Greg Cook’s resignation in early 2007. Speaking briefly to the board at the meeting on the topic of its search for an executive director and the issue of countywide service was the mayor of Ypsilanti, Paul Schreiber. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor District Library Board (Feb. 16, 2009): With three trustees absent and little discussion on items in a thin agenda, Monday evening’s Ann Arbor District Library board meeting was an exercise in brevity. As is its custom, the board met in executive session an hour prior to the public portion of the meeting. The public meeting lasted 15 minutes, with financial issues touched on in several ways. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (Feb. 4, 2009): Most of Wednesday night’s board meeting was devoted to a discussion of the county’s budget crisis, but commissioners also heard an update from Josie Parker of the Ann Arbor District Library about the transition of the Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, and tabled voting on a facilities contract in order to have a later discussion about vendor preferences. They also met some of the administration’s interns. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor District Library Board (Jan. 26, 2009): The Ann Arbor District Library board got an update about work leading up to next Monday’s opening of the Washtenaw Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled @ AADL. And marking a shift toward renovation after plans to build a new downtown facility were put on hold last month, the board approved funds to replace 57-year-old air-handling equipment in the existing building, and suspended rules that require getting a competitive bid for the work. [Full Story]

University of Michigan Board of Regents (Jan. 22, 2009): The bulk of Thursday’s hour-long meeting of the UM Board of Regents was devoted to a presentation on the university’s research efforts, but the board also approved a multimillion-dollar building project for its basketball program, granted an honorary degree for Google’s co-founder, paid tribute to a former regent who passed away late last year, and plowed through a list of other agenda items with minimal discussion. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (Jan. 21, 2009): A light agenda for the county board on Wednesday included the presentation of a major art project, a report on efforts to partner with other municipalities for shared services, and appointments of commissioners to various committees. Rolland Sizemore Jr. led his first full board meeting as its new chair, and Kristin Judge led her first meeting as the new vice chair of the Ways & Means Committee – Conan Smith, the committee’s chair, was absent. [Full Story]

AATA Board (Jan. 21, 2009): Board chair David Nacht began the meeting by saying, “It’s great to be here in a supportive environment,” possibly an allusion to his annual AATA update given the previous evening to Ann Arbor’s city council. Nacht then spent some time briefing his board colleagues on reaction from councilmembers and setting the wheels in motion to get them some answers to their questions.

Public commentary at the start and at the end of the meeting covered a range of topics, from snow removal at bus stops, to the status of RideTrak (it’s back on line a few days earlier than scheduled), to the proposed fare increases, to accessibility issues, to the AATA’s Capital and Categorical Grant Program. This last item was the subject of one of the two resolutions considered by the board (the board approved the 2009-13 plan), the other being its annually required notification of intent to apply for financial assistance from the state. [Meeting Packet 4MB .pdf] [Full Story]

Administrative briefing and appointments caucus (Jan. 14, 2009): A staff briefing attended by all but two of the 11 Washtenaw County commissioners on Wednesday evening went quickly, previewing a relatively light agenda for the Jan. 21 meeting – the first full board meeting to be led by the new chair, Rolland Sizemore Jr. Taking up a bit more time was a caucus immediately following the briefing, where commissioners made an initial pass at divvying up committee duties for the year. [Full Story]

Downtown Development Authority Board (Jan. 7, 2009) The Main Street Area Association had hoped for a year-long delay in the parking rate increases that were approved by the DDA board at its Nov. 5 meeting. But after discussing that possibility – and the borrowing of $3.65 million from the TIF fund that the year’s delay would require – the board left their original proposal intact. However, it will not be put before city council for final approval on Jan. 20, as originally planned.

Instead, the rate hike, which is part of the same packet of materials as the Fifth Avenue underground parking garage project, will be placed on the agenda for the second council meeting in February. The board settled on this delay when mayor of the city of Ann Arbor, John Hieftje (who serves on the DDA board in that capacity) announced that the council’s budget and finance committee had indicated a preference to see that packet delayed until February. Hieftje warned that if it were placed on the Jan. 20 agenda, it would simply be postponed by city council. [Full Story]

County Board of Commissioners (Jan. 7, 2009) In an uncharacteristically short session, members of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners were sworn in. They then elected new leaders, adjusted their rules to cut the amount of time given to public comment – and adjourned in less than an hour.

Rolland Sizemore Jr., whose district primarily covers Ypsilanti Township, was elected to chair the commission, replacing Jeff Irwin, who represents District 11 in Ann Arbor. Both are Democrats. Any drama that occurred over the change in leadership happened behind the scenes – no dissenting votes were cast in the election of any officers on Wednesday night. [Full Story]

At its last meeting of 2008 and before adjourning to a post-meeting year-end gathering at Argiero’s, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners swore in two new members, got word that the state is cutting back on winter road-clearing funds, heard from the newly elected sheriff on plans to reorganize his department, debated the police services contract and discussed how information was handled regarding an upcoming article in the Ann Arbor Observer. And everyone got a bottle of Calder Diary eggnog to boot – more on that later. [Full Story]

Within the first few minutes of the Nov. 20 University of Michigan Board of Regents meeting, President Mary Sue Coleman led the group through three rounds of applause: Congratulating Larry Deitch on his recent reelection to the board, applauding vice president for development Jerry May and his staff for their work on the $3.1 billion Michigan Difference fundraising campaign, and wishing a happy birthday to Bill Best, who has led the Department of Public Safety for 10 years and is taking another job within the university. The remainder of the meeting was somewhat less festive. [Full Story]

The Ann Arbor District Library board has called a special meeting for Monday morning, Nov. 24, to discuss the downtown building project. The meeting will be held in the conference room of the downtown library, 343 S. Fifth Ave.

The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. with a closed executive session. It will reconvene in a meeting open to the public at 10:15 a.m. If anyone wants to come at 9:30 a.m. – though they won’t be allowed to enter the meeting – they’ll need to use the back entrance to the building. The main entrance opens at 10 a.m.

No further details are available about the meeting’s agenda. Earlier this year, the board hired Luckenbach Ziegelman Architects to work on designing a … [Full Story]

The Chronicle arrived 20 minutes late to the AATA board meeting held Wednesday. But at 6:50 p.m. the board was already well into the discussion of its single agenda item listed under new business, which had been predicted on the published agenda to begin an hour later. The item was a resolution authorizing additional funding for a north-south connector study. After approving an increase in their contribution to the budget for the connector study from $100,000 to $160,000 (the total budget for the project increased from $250,000 to $640,000), the board heard from the public, and a few minutes later the meeting was adjourned.

So what happened? [Full Story]

A budget discussion, the renaming of three nature areas, another step in the skatepark project and a discussion regarding a comprehensive bylaws review were among the items on a full agenda for the Ann Arbor Park Advisory Commission on Tuesday. PAC’s chair, Linda Berauer, noted that they had full attendance: “It’s been a while, so it’s great.” [Full Story]

You can tell it’s a longer-than-usual meeting of the Ann Arbor District Library board when it adjourns later than city council. The Monday evening meeting included a discussion of the board’s vision for the new downtown library building, and presentations by city planner Wendy Rampson about the A2D2 zoning proposals. Three staff members also briefed the board on a wide range of literacy programs offered by the library. [Full Story]