In a post on her director’s blog, Josie Parker stated: ”The last phase of the work is scheduled for next week, and we anticipate another closure for the installation of the new jack. That work is scheduled to occur on Wednesday, August 27.”

On Aug. 13, the library announced that its downtown building would be closed indefinitely starting the following day. The elevator has been out of commission since this spring, after leaks had developed in the hydraulic piston, causing it to fail a weight test. At their July 21, 2014 meeting, trustees authorized a $93,598 contract with Schindler Elevator Corp. to repair the elevator. A week after the July 21 meeting, the board called a special meeting for July 29 to address additional issues related to the elevator. The four board members present at that meeting voted to authorize an additional $75,000 for elevator work.

The plan at that time was to attempt to keep the downtown library open as much as possible during the work, with the caveat that it was still unclear exactly what would be required to make the repair. However, the work required drilling concrete casings, which explosed the work area in such a way that made it impossible for the library to remain open.

The AADL is also undertaking a major renovation to the front entrance of the downtown library. On July 21, AADL trustees authorized authorized a $425,523 construction budget for that project, which has been in the works for several months. The budget covers new doors, a redesigned facade, and heated sidewalks, among other changes. The construction manager is O’Neal Construction of Ann Arbor.

AADL director Josie Parker gave an update on her director’s blog: ”It will remain closed into next week for certain. The repair requires casings that are concreted into the elevator shaft to be removed. A drilling rig will be brought in on Thursday, and the work area will be exposed in such a way that makes it impossible for the Downtown library to be open to the public.”

The elevator has been out of commission since this spring, after leaks had developed in the hydraulic piston, causing it to fail a weight test. At their July 21, 2014 meeting, trustees authorized a $93,598 contract with Schindler Elevator Corp. to repair the elevator. A week after the July 21 meeting, the board called a special meeting for July 29 to address additional issues related to the elevator. The four board members present at that meeting voted to authorize an additional $75,000 for elevator work.

The plan at that time was to attempt to keep the downtown library open as much as possible during the work, with the caveat that it was still unclear exactly what would be required to make the repair.

The AADL is also undertaking a major renovation to the front entrance of the downtown library. Construction work on that project has not yet begun. On July 21, AADL trustees authorized a $425,523 construction budget for that project, which has been in the works for several months. The budget covers new doors, a redesigned facade, and heated sidewalks, among other changes. The construction manager is O’Neal Construction of Ann Arbor.

Rachel Coffman spoke during public commentary to earn points in the AADL summer game. (Photos by the writer.)

Most of the funding was for renovations of the downtown library’s front entrance. The board authorized a $425,523 construction budget for that project at 343 S. Fifth Ave., which has been in the works for several months. The budget covers new doors, a redesigned facade, and heated sidewalks, among other changes. The construction manager is O’Neal Construction of Ann Arbor.

Also related to the downtown library, trustees authorized a $93,598 contract with Schindler Elevator Corp. to repair the public elevator, which has been out of commission since this spring.

A week after the July 21 meeting, the board called a special meeting for July 29 to address additional issues related to the elevator. The four board members present at that meeting voted to authorize an additional $75,000 for elevator work.

Because of the elevator repair work, the Friends of the AADL bookshop is now located in the main first-floor lobby of the downtown building, rather than its normal location in the lower level, which is closed. It’s been in the lobby since June 30, and is open all of the hours that the building is open. Books are sold at the circulation desk.

The third infrastructure project approved on July 21 was $50,000 for carpet replacement in parts of the downtown library, as well as at the branch located at the Westgate Shopping Center.

The money for all three projects will be taken from the fund balance, which stood at $8.17 million as of June 30.

In other action on July 21, the board approved five adjustments to the 2013-14 budget, for the prior fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. The adjustments totaled $96,300.

Public commentary was dominated by fans of AADL’s summer game – in part because they could earn points by speaking to the board. Other issues raised during public commentary included concerns about communication, outreach to underserved populations, the cost of renovations to the downtown library entrance, and the “purging” of reference books.

The board’s August meeting is canceled. The next scheduled board session is on Sept. 15.

Downtown Entrance Renovations

The board was asked to approve a $425,523 construction budget for renovations to the downtown library’s front entrance, at 343 S. Fifth Ave.

AADL trustee Margaret Leary, left, talks with Nicole Wallace of O’Neal Construction, center, and AADL director Josie Parker after the July 21 board meeting. Leary is chair of the board’s facilities committee.

The resolution also increased the capital outlays line item in the 2014-2015 budget by that same amount to cover the work, transferring it from the library’s fund balance. As of June 30, the fund balance stood at $8.17 million.

The construction budget was presented by O’Neal Construction Inc. At its June 16, 2014 meeting, the board had voted to hire O’Neal for construction management of these renovations. The project involves adding new doors and a redesigned facade facing South Fifth Avenue, along with changes to address accessibility issues.

The construction budget includes funding for heated sidewalks and two new flagpoles. Those were among the items that were considered discretionary, but were recommended by the board’s facilities committee. [.pdf of construction budget resolution]

The existing teal porcelain panels that wrap around the downtown building’s 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.

The overall project was originally expected to cost about $250,000. Work will begin later this summer.

Nicole Wallace at O’Neal Construction, the project’s supervisor, attended the July 21 meeting but did not formally address the board.

Downtown Entrance Renovations: Board Discussion

AADL director Josie Parker reported that the project has been submitted to the city for building permits, and bids will be going out soon. She hoped that the cost would be lower, but that won’t be clear until after bids are submitted. There will be a lot of concrete work.

Trustee Nancy Kaplan.

The amount was in line with what she had anticipated, Parker said. There were some adds that the facilities committee requested – three flagpoles that are lit, for example – which increased the cost.

Parker noted that the heated sidewalks also increase the cost quite a bit – by $67,834. There are several reasons why it makes sense to add this feature, she said, noting that it hadn’t been part of the board’s original discussion.

Because the library is working with the city to eliminate the step at the front curb, that means the grade needs to be handled somewhere else. So to remove the step, the grade will have to be accommodated in other ways. In addressing that, the concrete on the north side of the building will be removed and repoured. That’s why the library has asked that the ArborBike program delay installation of its station at that site, Parker said. That way the conduit they’ll be using to power the bike-sharing station will be placed underneath the concrete.

All of this new concrete work will be adjacent to the surface of the city-owned Library Lane underground parking garage, which already includes heated sidewalks. So the entire approach from the parking structure into the library will be clear of ice and snow, Parker said. She noted that the area was designed so that cars could pull into Library Lane to drop off library patrons, rather than stopping on South Fifth Avenue. Drivers can let people out on the passenger side, rather than having people get out next to traffic on South Fifth – a one-way, southbound street.

There will also be a heated sidewalk on the incline leading to the south of the building, which is exposed to the elements, Parker explained. The walkway under the overhang won’t be heated, because it won’t be exposed. But the steps in the front and the concrete deck in front of the building will be heated.

Rebecca Head characterized it as a balance between energy use and safety. Parker said it’s a one-time cost to put the heating in now, while the concrete is being ripped up for the renovation.

Parker also explained the $9,042 in additional expense related to cladding material. Under the front windows outside, there’s white material that’s peeling off, she said. A greenish-colored cladding will be placed over that.

New signs are not included in this construction budget, because the library will be handling that separately, Parker said.

Margaret Leary reported that the facilities committee had discussed this construction budget for about an hour. This was their recommendation to the board.

Outcome: The construction budget received unanimous approval.

Downtown Entrance Renovations: Public Commentary

During public commentary at the end of the meeting, Donald Salberg said he hadn’t planned to speak until he heard about “the apparent inflated costs” for O’Neal to replace the front entrance. He noted that Josie Parker had previously indicated that she hoped to keep the costs under $250,000. He said he wasn’t sure if the total cost now was estimated at $425,000 or closer to $700,000.

Trustee Barbara Murphy.

AADL director Josie Parker replied, saying “Dr. Salberg, I have no idea where you came up with the number of $700,000.” Salberg said he didn’t know if $425,000 would be the total – he said he’d assumed that was the number. It still represents almost doubling of the original cost estimate. He wondered about the heated sidewalks. Trustee Barbara Murphy clarified that the cost for the heated sidewalks was about $67,000 and characterized it as not very much, compared to the total project.

Salberg said one of the problems with heating coils is that if it doesn’t completely melt the snow as it falls, then you get a thin layer of water that’s being melted, covered by a thin layer of ice and snow. “That could potentially make the walkway slipperier than it would be otherwise.” He also wondered what the expected lifetime of the heat coils would be, how frequently they break down, and if there’s any way to repair them other than breaking up the concrete. It would be nice to know how much more the AADL will have to spend on electricity to operate the coils, he said. Using salt and the manual removal of snow seems to have worked well in the past, he added. He wondered if the expense was entirely necessary.

Carpet Replacement

The board was also asked to authorize the director to seek bids and award a contract for carpeting at the West branch, located at the Westgate Shopping Center, and in portions of the downtown library. The amount was not to exceed $50,000, to be transferred from the fund balance to the capital outlays budget.

Because of the work on the elevator in the lower level of the downtown library and the high use of the spaces there, the carpet will need to be replaced, AADL director Josie Parker told the board. That includes the shop for the Friends of the AADL, the meeting space, the exhibit area and stairwell lobby, as well as the hallway to the emergency exit. In addition, carpeting on the third floor will be replaced. It’s original to that section of the library, which was built in 1990.

After all the renovation work is done downtown, the branch at Westgate will be closed and completely recarpeted. That will likely happen in the fall, Parker said.

There was no board discussion on this item.

Outcome: The board voted unanimously to authorize the carpeting projects and budget.

Downtown Library Elevator Repair

On July 29, the board was asked to authorize a $93,598 contract with Schindler Elevator Corp. to repair the public elevator at the downtown library, located at 343 S. Fifth Ave. A special meeting held about a week later – on Tuesday, July 29 – included only one agenda item: Allocating an additional $75,000 for the repair work.

The downtown library’s public elevator is broken and barricaded.

The elevator has been broken and out of commission since this spring. AADL director Josie Parker had reported the situation at the board’s May 19, 2014 meeting, estimating it would cost about $100,000 to repair. It’s the same problem that took the freight elevator out of commission a couple of years ago. Leaks had developed in the hydraulic piston, causing it to fail a weight test.

The July 21 resolution authorizing the contract designated $57,988 for elevator repair, plus $35,610 for “well drilling (after-drill) of elevator hole in the existing hoistway and clean out of existing hole and casing.”

The capital outlays line item in the 2014-2015 budget would be increased by a total of $93,598, to be transferred from the library’s fund balance. As of June 30, the fund balance stood at $8.17 million. [.pdf of July 21 elevator contract and resolution]

Downtown Library Elevator Repair: Board Discussion – July 21

Barbara Murphy asked for an explanation of “after-drill.” AADL director Josie Parker explained that the elevator is a hydraulic jack design. It operates using a cylinder with hydraulic fluid that hoists the elevator. The cylinder is as deep as the library is tall, she said. Over time, the wear on the cylinder causes hydraulic fluid to leak, compromising the safety of the elevator. It failed its inspection for weight, she reported.

The same problem occurred with the staff elevator a few years ago, Parker noted. Both elevators had been installed about the same time – around 1990, she said, and it’s fortunate that the library was able to get this many years out of it.

The workers will drain out the hydraulic fluid, then take the jack out piece by piece by lifting it up and cutting off sections to remove. As the jack is removed, the earth around it caves in. So the work entails excavating and drilling the hole again for a new jack and casing.

The new jack and casing will also be brought in section-by-section through the front door, then welded together in the lower level. The workers will bring it in before the library opens, and on those days the library will open later, at noon. “The last thing we need is for someone from the public to come into the building when it’s not open, and go near that hole in the ground,” she said.

Parker noted that anyone who needs to use an elevator in the interim can ask any employee to use the staff elevator. People are asking for help, and the staff is happy to provide it, she said.

Margaret Leary pointed out that the contract with Schindler includes the statement that “the condition of the existing casing and hole is unknown. Removing the existing jack may uncover a cylinder hole full with sand or other debris requiring additional work to install the new jack.” If additional work is necessary, the company will provide a separate proposal for that.

Leary said one important element of this job is that Schindler doesn’t know exactly what they’ll have to do until they take it apart.

Outcome: The board unanimously authorized the elevator repair work.

Downtown Library Elevator Repair: July 29

A week later – on July 28 – the board announced that a special meeting was called for Tuesday, July 29 with one action item: Allocating an additional $75,000 for elevator work.

Board president Prue Rosenthal.

AADL director Josie Parker reported that after last week’s board meeting, Schindler made an assessment of the elevator. The well-drillers found that there were three casings in the elevator shaft, nested inside each other. It’s not clear why there are three casings, she said. To meet current code, the jack must be encircled by PVC. But the center casing is too narrow to accommodate the PVC and jack, and isn’t allowing a plumb drop. So the center casing must be removed. If the jack and PVC can be inserted without removing the middle casing, then the cost will be lower, Parker said.

The $75,000 is an amount that would cover the worst-case scenario, Parker said – that all three casings would have to be pulled out, the shaft redrilled for a new outside casing, PVC and jack.

The total authorized by the board for the project would be about $170,000. “If we don’t need it, we won’t spend it,” Parker said. But she didn’t want to keep coming back to the board “every time there a bump that causes to change the scope of this project,” she added, especially becase the board won’t be meeting in August.

Jan Barney Newman asked what the casings were made of. The old casings are steel, Parker replied.

Parker explained that the workers will come in next week and spend the week taking out the casing. The following week, they’ll be drilling for the new casing and prep for the rest of the work. “That’s when things are going to be incredibly noisy in here, and smell bad,” Parker said. The casing is brought into the building in sections of pipe that’s 12-15 feet long, and workers will weld the casing in place, she noted. It’s likely that there will be some closures of the downtown library during that period. The elevator work will be done during the weekdays, so there will be no closing on weeknights or weekends.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the additional $75,000 for elevator work. Four trustees were present at the July 29 special meeting: Rebecca Head, Jan Barney Newman, Prue Rosenthal, and Ed Surovell.

Finance Report

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s deputy director, presented the June 2014 financial report at the July 21 meeting. [.pdf of finance report] He noted that this report was for just the month of June, not for the close of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Eli Neiburger, AADL deputy director.

Through June 30, the library has received tax revenue totaling $11.256 million for the fiscal year. This is the library’s low cash time of year, Neiburger said, between the end of the fiscal year but before the arrival of revenue from summer taxes, which are collected in July.

Through the fiscal year, the library showed an operating surplus of $460,616. A lot of that related to positions that were open and that are now being filled, Neiburger said. The library had $8.77 million in unrestricted cash at the end of June, with a fund balance of $8.17 million, up from $8.001 million a month ago.

Revenue from state aid for the year was $153,000 more than budgeted, Neiburger noted. The library always budgets very conservatively, he added, because they’re not sure how much state aid will be awarded. Other revenue items that were higher than budgeted include interest and grants/memorials. Overall, revenue for the year was $12.3 million, “which was just about right on target,” he said.

Neiburger reported that five line items were slightly over budget for the year – purchased services, software, copier expenses, supplies and library programming. Purchased services are slightly over budget because the library paid for a survey in March. Regarding software, the library had planned to make a larger capital purchase, but it turned out that half of that purchase was actually a software license. Copier expenses were slightly higher than expected.

Regarding the supplies line item, Neiburger explained that every year, the library budgets for big capital projects but many individual purchases for those projects are typically under $1,000 each. That makes them assets that aren’t tracked, he said, so they can’t be paid for from the capital outlays line item. So every year at this time, the board is asked to transfer funds from the capital outlays line item to cover expenses in the supplies line item. These purchases are for things like computers and monitors that used to be capital outlays, but that are now much less expensive.

Library programming was $536 over budget for the year. “On a $273,000 [programming] budget, that’s pretty close,” Neiburger said. That line item went over budget primarily because of last-minute travel expenses related to visiting musicians performing in June concerts.

Neiburger noted that the board would be asked to make budget adjustments for FY 2013-14 later in the meeting.

The board had no questions about this presentation.

Outcome: The board voted unanimously to approve disbursements for June.

FY 2013-14 Budget Adjustments

The board was asked to approve five adjustments to the 2013-14 budget, for the prior fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. The adjustments totaled $96,300.

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s deputy director, had previously indicated that such adjustments would be necessary.

The resolution would authorize transfers in the following line items:

• $22,500 from capital outlays to supplies.
• $49,800 from capital outlays to software licenses/maintenance.
• $17,000 from utilities to purchased services.
• $6,500 from utilities to copier expense.
• $500 from utilities to library programming.

There was no discussion of this item.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the budget adjustments.

Summer Game

The AADL’s summer game launched in mid-June, and it was a theme throughout the June 21 meeting – for the public, staff and board.

This sign was posted outside the boardroom door where the AADL board held its July 21 meeting. Chronicle readers can get these 500 points too – because it’s like being there.

Players can earn points for traditional activities like reading a book, but the game includes tasks that are done online, like tagging an item in AADL’s catalog or commenting on a blog post. Points can be traded in for merchandise that’s available at AADL’s online store.

People can log on, sign up and earn points for completing tasks like checking out a book or other item (50 points), tagging an item in the AADL catalog (10 points), writing reviews (50 points), or posting a comment (50 points). One point per page or minute is awarded for reading, watching, or listening to media, with a 100-point bonus for finishing an item. You can get between 200-500 points for attending an AADL event – including board meetings – where you’ll be given a code that allows you to redeem the points and earn “badges.”

On July 21, points were awarded for attending the meeting, with additional points for speaking during public commentary.

Summer Game: Public Commentary

Rachel Coffman told the board she was in second grade going into third grade. She really loves the summer game, and so do her sisters. They love it so much that they’ve been hiding codes all over their house, in places like the toothbrush cabinet, and they’ve made badges out of paper. “I just really love the summer game,” she said.

Cherie Burkheiser said she was there because she’s addicted to the summer game. Last year she discovered the game late in the season, so she jotted this year’s start date into her calendar “and I was there the first day it started.” She also wanted to make some comments. She’s lived in Ann Arbor her whole life, so she assumed all library websites were like AADL’s. But she recently looked at some other library district’s sites, and said that many are difficult to search. She asked that AADL make improvements to the online commenting, however, to make it easier to follow comment threads.

Tom Brown and his daughter Lydia Brown spoke about the AADL summer game during public commentary.

Regarding summer game codes placed in parks, she requested that the staff make sure the codes are permanent. One code was graffiti on a bench that was subsequently sanded off and painted over, and another code was for signs that have been removed. She said she looked forward to when her son is older and can help with the summer game.

Sara Mayman said she enjoyed the summer game and the library. She also offered a general suggestion, noting that there’s a lot of outdated equipment, like Betamax videocassettes and Zip drives. She was hoping that AADL could have a media room or make this equipment available for checkout. People could donate the equipment, and perhaps volunteers from Maker Works could manage the upkeep. When she was cleaning out her parents’ house, she came across these kinds of things and wasn’t sure what to do with them. Most people don’t need to use this kind of equipment very often, or for very long, she noted. It would be useful to be able to transfer your old media to new media at the library, using equipment there. It would be expensive for someone to buy, especially just to use one time. She offered to volunteer if there’s a committee that would work on this.

Tom Brown and his daughter Lydia Brown told the board that they were enjoying the summer game. They described some of the things they’ve done, like attending the Emerging Writers workshop and Kids Read Comics, and visiting all the AADL branches. They went to Parker Mill to get their codes, and saw a deer. They also went to the Barton Nature Area. Tom Brown said he’s lived in Ann Arbor 22 years and had never been there before. “The code made me go there, so that was cool.” They saw a deer there too. And when they went to Mary Beth Doyle Park, they saw a badger. In total, they’ve earned 78 badges. They also participate in a summer game team with the youth group at their church. Lydia reported that she collects buttons – including some vintage AADL buttons – and put them on her AADL bag. AADL director Josie Parker noted that “vintage” means pre-district, when the library was part of the public school system and called Ann Arbor Public Library.

Jinny Potter introduced herself as a summer game “fangirl.” Her family moved here about four years ago from the ??south. In the south, people are friendly and like to get together. When her family moved here, they initially lived in the metro Detroit area and the library there only had events for her and her young son once a month. She never felt like a part of that community. When they moved to Ann Arbor, her husband has a longer commute but it’s been worth it. Having the library here has helped with her homesickness, Potter said. The summer game has been a great way to learn about local businesses, the parks system and it’s a lot of fun to play with her family. She hopes that the recent success with expanding public transit “means that maybe we can revisit the expansion of the downtown branch.” It’s already pretty awesome, she said, but it’s exciting that it could be even more of a resource for the community. She’d love to volunteer to work on that, because the library has given so much to her family.

A girl named Rosie said that this spring, she and her sister Margaret started talking about how they couldn’t wait for the summer game to begin. Their mom was confused about what that meant, “and then we got her hooked.” She thanked the board and staff for doing a wonderful job, and for encouraging reading and other modes of learning. She also thanked the library for hosting Nerd Nite, saying it was “awesome and very informative.” She’ll be sad when August comes and the game ends.

At the meeting’s final opportunity for public commentary, Donald Harrison quipped “the code’s making me do it!” He said he’s a fan of the summer game and of AADL’s non-traditional collections. The musical instruments have been a great addition, and he’s used most of them. Recently he saw a little green table on the shelves, so he checked it out and took it to a family reunion that weekend. He set up the table and net, and within minutes, “we’re playing ping pong at the family reunion, so family members who hadn’t seen each other in years were having a really great time.” Things like that create a lot of value, he said. Harrison joked that this might put some pressure on the parks and recreation department to add public ping pong tables in the parks.

Summer Game: Director’s Report

As part of her director’s report, Josie Parker highlighted the popularity of AADL’s summer game, as reflected in some of the public commentary. She noted that it requires a lot of work from staff. For example, the staff goes out into local parks to find where codes could be located. It’s gratifying to hear that the library is sending people out to visit parks they haven’t been to before, or to local businesses. “It’s the library bringing the community together in a game, but then sending the community out,” she said. “I don’t want us to lose that, because that’s what I think is so important about this way of playing the summer game. And it’s reading, reading, reading – there’s no way to play the game without reading or being read to.”

Parker also noted that teens are volunteering to package the prizes that players are redeeming with their points. It counts as community service for their high school, but many of them have finished that requirement and continue to volunteer, she said. Adults are also volunteering too.

Some badges are easy to earn, Parker noted – like the one called “Josie’s Chickens,” which entails going to her office and retrieving the code. But other badges take hours or days, because the clues are nuanced and complicated to figure out. “That’s why people love this – it makes you think,” she said. The game is teaching children how to use the resources of the library – its catalogue and databases – as well as getting them out into the community to find codes. If board members haven’t tried the game, Parker encouraged them to do it.

Committee Reports

The board has seven committees: communications, budget and finance, facilities, policy, director’s evaluation, executive, and strategic plan. Because membership on each committee consists of only three trustees, which is fewer than a quorum of the board, the meetings are not required to be open to the public under Michigan’s Open Meetings Act. The board has the option of making its committee meetings open to the public, but has chosen not to do so.

There were two committee reports on July 21: communications and facilities.

Committee Reports: Communications

Rebecca Head, chair of the communications committee, reported that they met on June 17. Other members are Margaret Leary and Prue Rosenthal. They reviewed the recommendations of the Allerton-Hill Consulting report regarding different ways to ratchet up the library’s communications. [.pdf of Allerton-Hill report]

Trustee Rebecca Head.

They agree that the communication is already pretty good, she said, but there’s always more that could be done. For example, AADL director Josie Parker has a blog, Head noted, as do other staff. That’s useful for getting information out, she said. The print newsletter that was mailed out earlier this year was a success, she added, and so those mailings will continue. The winter newsletter will focus on why people use the library, so that people understand what’s available.

There are plans to do more outreach to the townships that are part of the district.

The committee also talked about how to ratchet up services related to social equity, such as reading readiness and job search assistance. The library does an extreme amount of partnering in these areas, she noted, and are very connected to schools and other organizations. “But we’re always looking for new ways to get these messages across.”

Barbara Murphy mentioned that the board received a list of all AADL partners earlier this year. She didn’t think it had been part of the minutes or board packet. AADL director Josie Parker replied that it’s available for anyone who wants it. Murphy suggested posting it on the AADL website.

Committee Reports: Facilities

Margaret Leary, chair of the facilities committee, reported that the group met on June 25. Other members are Ed Surovell and Jan Barney Newman. Most of their discussion related to items on the board’s agenda that night, including the construction budget for the downtown entrance. They reviewed the most recent schematic drawings with Cory Lavigne of InForm Studio. They also went over the proposed budget for that work, she said.

The committee also discussed two other items that were on the board’s July 21 agenda: repair of the downtown library’s public elevator; and a proposal for carpeting in portions of the downtown library and the West branch.

Library Stats

The board is provided with monthly library statistics in five categories: Collections, users, visits, usage and participation. The data is compared to year-ago figures, when available. The information for June 2014 was presented by Eli Neiburger, AADL’s deputy director.

AADL collections data: June 2014.

AADL users data: June 2014.

AADL visits data: June 2014.

AADL usage data: June 2014.

AADL participation data: June 2014.

Neiburger noted that the presentation of these stats will be retooled in the future, because some of it isn’t very meaningful if there’s little year-to-year variation. It’s also an opportunity for some strategic planning, he said, to identify some key performance metrics.

Here are some highlights from Neiburger’s commentary:

• Collections: The AADL collection continues to grow in most categories compared to a year ago. In the digital collection, the category of photos saw the biggest growth (117%) with most of that coming from the Old News collection.
• Users: There are 199,613 known computer users, up 6.6%. Borrowers were up 8.3% to 123,437. The number of active borrowers during the month was 58,711. June is a big month for new library card sign-ups because of the summer game. New online registrations almost doubled compared to June 2013, mostly related to the summer game. This year there were 937 new library cards issued – 5% higher than last year. The number of cards issued to non-residents, businesses and organizations is also growing, he noted, thanks to the efforts of AADL’s outreach staff.
• Visits: The number of visits are down at all locations, but Neiburger said there’s missing data at several branches. For example, there was no data for five days in June at the downtown library. The door-counting hardware isn’t performing well, so the staff will be looking at how to get more accurate data. A ceiling-mounted system might provide better results. “However, our event attendance was crazy in June,” Neiburger said, with nearly 15,000 attendees – up 31.8% compared to a year ago. Online visits to AADL’s “devblog” – where staff posts information about the software they develop – was up over 100%.
• Usage: Checkouts were down in most categories, aside from art prints and tools/kits. The decrease of 2.2% for books is “really within the realm of noise, in terms of use of the collection month-over-month,” Neiburger said. Use of DVDs and CDs are falling off significantly more, he noted. Even though checkouts of Bluray decreased, that’s because most of the collection is checked out – there’s actually growing demand for it. The total collection value in all categories stands at $15.58 million. For online usage, image downloads increased 64.4% compared to a year ago, and video use is up 90%.
• Participation: For the first time, attendance at films and shows exceeded the turnout for storytime events, Neiburger reported. Attendance for the category of talks, which includes Kids Read Comics, was up about 200%. Overall, the library held 4% fewer events in June compared to last year, but attendance was up 32%.

Neiburger also gave highlights of some “Top Tweets” that mentioned @aadl during June. One was by Midwestern Gothic (@MWGothic), a literary magazine based in Ann Arbor. They tweeted about a reading that AADL hosted in early June for the magazine’s contributors. Neiburger pointed out that AADL has licensed the full run of Midwestern Gothic, and it’s available for immediate download to keep.

Some of the Tweets highlighted new items from the AADL collection, including the Bounty Hunter Junior metal detector, giant checkers, disc golf and Kubb – a Swedish lawn game. Neiburger described it as a cross between horseshoes and cornhole. The library just got 10 more sets of it.

Tweet from @AADL.

Tweet by Kathleen Folger.

Tweet by Ken Varnum.

Director’s Report

AADL director Josie Parker covered several topics during her director’s report, some of which are reported elsewhere in this article.

Parker showed the board a slide show about Visions 2014, a vendor fair held on May 14 at Washtenaw Community College for people who are blind and physically handicapped. The two-minute presentation is also posted on AADL’s website. The library continues to get good feedback on that event, she said.

Parker also noted that the Friends of the AADL bookshop is now located in the main first-floor lobby of the downtown building, because of the closure of the basement area where the bookshop normally operates. It’s been in the lobby since June 30, and is open all of the hours that the building is open. Books are sold at the circulation desk.

She reported that many people didn’t realize there was a bookshop, so it’s become very popular. Nancy Kaplan asked if there’s the possibility that it could remain in that location, even after the elevator repair is finished. Parker replied that it’s a possibility. “That conversation is one we’ll have to have,” she said.

Margaret Leary said it’s a fabulous example of a good outcome from a situation that was challenging. It’s creative and opens the door to new ways of thinking about the bookshop.

Resolution of Thanks

The board’s agenda included a resolution of thanks to Wendy St. Antoine, who is retiring on Aug. 15. She joined the library in December 1996.

AADL director Josie Parker reported that St. Antoine came into the system as a head clerk at the Northeast branch. “We no longer have head clerks, and we no longer have the Northeast branch,” she noted. St. Antoine is known throughout AADL for her quiet strength, Parker said. She deals well with all sorts of people, and does it respectfully and in a way that everyone finds approachable.

When Parker joined AADL in 1999 “and found myself managing the circulation department as well as the youth department during that financial crisis, suddenly I had over half the employees under my supervision, two-thirds of the budget, and all these desks everywhere. Wendy is the person who taught me how to think about that in the right way, so that it was manageable in my mind. I’ll always be grateful to her for that.” Everyone has a story like that about St. Antoine, Parker said.

Cancelation of August Board Meeting

The board was asked to cancel its Aug. 18 meeting.

Margaret Leary pointed out that board president Prue Rosenthal and AADL director Josie Parker had discussed this, and they don’t foresee any business that will need to be addressed at that time.

Parker said that actions by the board regarding facilities projects, in votes taken earlier in the July 21 meeting, give her the authorization she needs to move forward on that work – on the downtown library front entrance, the downtown library elevator repair, and the carpeting replacement.

The next board meeting will be on Monday, Sept. 15.

Outcome: A proposal to cancel the Aug. 18 meeting was moved and supported, but Rosenthal did not call for a vote on this item. The board appeared to have consensus, though no official action was taken. A meeting cancelation notice has been posted on the AADL website.

Public Commentary

Of the 12 people who spoke during public commentary, most of them talked about the summer game. They earned summer game points for both attending the meeting and for public commentary. Those comments are included earlier in this report.

Public Commentary: Communications

Lyn Davidge introduced herself as a Scio Township resident who also loved the summer game, and who’d spent the past 15 minutes looking for codes in the library. She said she hated to stand there and be the grinch, “but there’s one in every crowd.”

Lyn Davidge.

She’d been pleased to attend the informational meeting on July 14 for potential AADL board candidates. She’d been looking on the AADL website, MLive and The Ann Arbor Chronicle for information about the session’s date and location. She was surprised to see an item published by The Chronicle on Sunday morning, July 13 at 11 a.m., announcing the session for the following day. “In my opinion, that was incredibly short notice to the public.” [The Chronicle received the AADL press release via email on the morning of July 13, though it was dated July 9.]

To double check herself, Davidge said she went back to the AADL website and still couldn’t find any announcement there. She still couldn’t find anything in the online or print editions of MLive. It was possible that she simply missed the previous announcements, she said. “On the other hand, I was left with the uncomfortable feeling that maybe the short-notice notice in The Chronicle was the only notice of the potential candidates meeting – and you know what that looks like, don’t you? It looks like you were hoping no one would show up.” She hoped they really didn’t want to give that impression, even to one constituent at one time.

Similarly, she said, the July 21 AADL board meeting was being held at the downtown library. But months ago, it had been announced that the meeting would be held at the Pittsfield branch, she noted. She knew that the venue had been changed, because a couple of trustees had given her the heads-up about it. They knew that she thought it was a good idea for the trustees to be visible in all of the branches. They also knew that she disagreed with the decision not to hold the July meeting at a branch. [The June 16, 2014 meeting was held at the Traverwood branch, and had drawn only one member of the public.]

Davidge said she could respect the board’s decision, but she couldn’t understand why the change in the July meeting venue wasn’t just announced during the June meeting. That way, people would have had very timely notice of that schedule change, she said. “Again, it looked like you were hoping no one would show up tonight.” That’s the impression people get, she said. Thank goodness there were a lot of people attending that night’s meeting – the word got out, she said. She hoped there would be more publicity in the future.

Kathy Griswold told the board that the Ann Arbor community is fortunate to have such an excellent library and truly excellent staff. She wanted to talk about one lost opportunity and two minor areas of weakness. The lost opportunity is that the library isn’t addressing part of its mission statement for underserved populations and low-income students, she said. Griswold said she’d tried to engage some of these students in the summer game, but she didn’t have the resources to do that. The library needs to go out into some of these communities, she said. There are several nonprofits who work with underserved youth but have limited financial resources, especially compared to the library. They are providing books to students in some of the subsidized housing units, she said. Griswold also noted that Ann Arbor Kiwanis recently provided a grant to the Family Learning Institute to buy a modified bookmobile. She’d really like to see the library revisit using a bookmobile that includes computers.

Regarding weaknesses, Griswold cited communications as something that needed work. She noted that the Detroit Free Press had recently sued the University of Michigan board of regents over alleged violations of the state’s Open Meetings Act. “I believe that their regents operate similar to the way that trustees operate, and that is just within the limits of the Open Meetings Act.”

Griswold also said she cringed to see that material had been printed out for trustees in “slide mode” rather than “handout mode,” which wastes a tremendous amount of toner – because the printouts had white letters on black background.

Trustee Margaret Leary.

Finally, Griswold noted that a step at the Traverwood branch hadn’t yet been repaired. It’s a minor issue, but it’s a safety issue that needs to be addressed, she said.

Later in the meeting, AADL director Josie Parker responded to comments about the underserved. Parker pointed out that the library does provide services to underserved populations through its partnerships with nonprofits, as well directly through the library’s outreach to schools. “We are considered sort of the foundational location for many of them, because they don’t have budgets that give them space,” she said. The Ann Arbor Public Schools English-as-a-second-language (ESL) classes are held at the library, as are sessions for Washtenaw Literacy and the Family Learning Institute. So the library’s outreach to the underserved – children and adults – is a long tradition, Parker said, “and not one that we would abandon.”

Margaret Leary clarified with Parker that it would not be accurate to say that the library doesn’t address the needs of the underserved, whether they’re children or adults. Parker said it’s fair to note that the library can’t solve all the issues that face the community. Root causes like illiteracy are of real interest to the library, and have always been, she said. Poverty, lack of health care and other issues are outside the mission of the public library, she added.

“However, we definitely serve those nonprofits trying to meet that mission, by giving them space to meet, space to bring those populations together,” Parker said. One example is the Proyecto Avance: Latino Mentoring Association (PALMA), a University of Michigan student group that provides tutoring in English. She said it’s important to be very careful in using the term “underserved” and labeling people.

Barbara Murphy highlighted the fact that AADL gives a book to every newborn – it’s one of her favorite programs.

Public Commentary: Reference Books

Gladwin McGee, an Ann Arbor resident, said he’s concerned about the purging of large numbers of reference books from the downtown library in recent months. There are several references that he’s used in the past, but they’ve been removed from the shelves. These include a three-volume encyclopedia of television, a three-volume encyclopedia of musical theater, and an eight-volume encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Just last week there was a Merriam-Webster encyclopedia of literature that had been removed, as was the American Decades series of history and culture.

“I would have hoped that it would be part of the philosophical groundings of librarians to respect various pathways of learning discovery, including respecting the choices of those of us who cherish various print reference works, who’ve found enrichment in them and would like to have the opportunity to continue using them.” He said it seemed like it was happening in almost “bibliocidal proportions.” It’s true that the Internet provides an almost unprecedented collection of facts, and would lead some to claim that print reference books are outmoded and could be dispensed with. However, the best reference works are more than just a collection of facts. They provide outstanding contextual frameworks for highlighting and exploring connections among related but independent sets of facts. “It saddens me greatly to see their removal.” He noted that he’d made an appointment to talk with the AADL director about this.

Responding to a follow-up query from The Chronicle, AADL director Josie Parker indicated that the library regularly removes outdated materials, and has not changed that process. Some print reference work also is now available in electronic databases.

Present: Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret Leary, Barbara Murphy, Prue Rosenthal.

Absent: Jan Barney Newman, Ed Surovell.

Next regular meeting: The August meeting has been canceled. The next regular board meeting is on Monday, Sept. 15, 2014 at 7 p.m. at the downtown library, 343 S. Fifth, Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listing to confirm date]

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The board recently took action at its regular July meeting – on July 21, 2014 – related to the downtown public elevator, which has been out of commission since this spring. The board authorized a $93,598 contract with Schindler Elevator Corp. to repair the elevator. Leaks had developed in the hydraulic piston, causing it to fail a weight test.

The July 21 resolution designated $57,988 for elevator repair, plus $35,610 for “well drilling (after-drill) of elevator hole in the existing hoistway and clean out of existing hole and casing.” The capital outlays line item in the 2014-2015 budget was increased by a total of $93,598, to be transferred from the library’s fund balance. As of June 30, the fund balance stood at $8.17 million. [.pdf of elevator contract and resolution]

The elevator has been broken and out of commission since this spring. AADL director Josie Parker had reported the situation at the board’s May 19, 2014 meeting, estimating it would cost about $100,000 to repair. It’s the same problem that took the freight elevator out of commission a couple of years ago. Leaks had developed in the hydraulic piston, causing it to fail a weight test.

The resolution authorizing the contract designates $57,988 for elevator repair, plus $35,610 for “well drilling (after-drill) of elevator hole in the existing hoistway and clean out of existing hole and casing.” The capital outlays line item in the 2014-2015 budget would be increased by a total of $93,598, to be transferred from the library’s fund balance. As of June 30, the fund balance stood at $8.17 million. [.pdf of elevator contract and resolution]

This brief was filed from the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library at 343 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow.

Ann Arbor District Library trustees Ed Surovell and Margaret Leary at the board’s May 19, 2014 meeting. (Photos by the writer.)

The rate of 1.55 mills is also lower than the 1.92 mills that the library is authorized to levy. The $12.568 million budget assumes a 2.4% increase in tax revenues, based on an increase in property values. No one spoke during a public hearing on the budget that was held during the May 19 meeting.

The budget includes a 3% raise for AADL director Josie Parker, increasing her current salary of $143,114. As part of an annual director’s evaluation, board president Prue Rosenthal read aloud a letter from the board that praised Parker for her work and accomplishments.

Related to infrastructure, trustees authorized 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 for the entrance’s renovation. This is the next step in a process that began several months ago, with construction to begin this summer.

The board also got an update from Parker about the public elevator for the downtown library, which is out of service. It’s expected to cost about $100,000 to repair and will take several months to fix. That work will also take place this summer, and requires closing the lower level of the building, where many public events are held.

The May 19 meeting included approval of contracts for janitorial services and HVAC maintenance, for three-year periods. Also approved was the renewal of a space-use agreement with the nonprofit Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library. FAADL operates a bookstore at the downtown library, with proceeds given to AADL.

The board also got a monthly update on library statistics, “top Tweets” and a viewing of a new video to promote AADL’s summer game, which starts on Friday, June 13, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 31. The video was produced by AADL staff and 7 Cylinders Studio.

2014-15 Budget

The May 19 agenda included authorization of the library’s fiscal 2014-15 budget with a millage rate of 1.55 mills – unchanged from the current rate. [.pdf of budget summary from AADL board meeting packet]

Prue Rosenthal, AADL board president.

The $12.568 million budget assumes a 2.4% increase in tax revenues, based on an increase in property values. The library is authorized to levy up to 1.92 mills, but in recent years the board has set the millage rate at lower levels. The library’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.

The budget reflects a 3% increase in the merit raise pool for full-time employees. Salaries, wages and benefits account for the largest portion of the budget expenditures – a projected $8.048 million in fiscal 2014-15. The budget also includes a 3% increase in the library’s contribution to employee health care costs. Other major line items include materials ($1.75 million); utilities ($448,000); programming ($320,000); and repair/maintenance ($312,000).

The legal expense line item is increasing from a budgeted $50,000 this year to $96,000 in FY 2014-15. That reflects the start of union contract negotiations.

The board held a public hearing on the budget on May 19, but no one spoke. Trustees had been briefed on a draft budget at their April 21, 2014 meeting,

2014-15 Budget: Board Discussion

Discussion was brief. Margaret Leary asked about the 3% increase in the merit raise pool, suggesting that the language in the budget packet could be clarified. AADL director Josie Parker explained that the entire available pool of funding for merit pay will be increased by 3%, but it doesn’t mean that all workers will get a 3% raise. Staff could receive varying increases, depending on their performance – some might be higher than 3%, some might be lower.

Rebecca Head highlighted the fact that the board is not levying the full amount of the millage that it is authorized to levy. Leary noted that this is the same millage rate that was levied last year.

Outcome: On three separate unanimous votes, the board approved the budget, set the millage rate, and designated the budget as a line-item budget with a policy for disbursements.

Downtown Library Entrance

The board was asked to authorize 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.

Rendering of the new design for the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown building entrance. (Image by InForm Studio.)

At the board’s April 21, 2014 meeting, the 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.

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

Downtown Library Entrance: Public Commentary

During public commentary at the start of the May 19 meeting, Don Salberg read from the library’s purchasing policy, as adopted by the library board in December 1995, with revisions in September 1996, August 2001, and June 2006. It states that the library will encourage, by any legitimate means, active and vigorous competition for library district business, he said. Salberg also read an excerpt stating that if the cost of goods, supplies or services can reasonably be expected to exceed $27,000 then specifications shall be prepared describing the type of goods, supplies or services that might be needed.

He said he was reviewing the policy because he doesn’t think it’s being used in the selection of a construction firm for the front entrance work. The AADL director has told him that no RFP (request for proposals) will be issued, Salberg said, although the work is expected to cost more than $27,000. “I ask the library board to insist that the executive director follow its own purchasing policies and ensure that the selection of the construction firm for replacing the front of the library will be decided by competitive bidding, if bids are submitted by more than one firm.”

This process would allow for local firms to compete, Salberg said, which he noted may not have been the case previously when the library hired Allerton-Hill consultants of Columbus, Ohio, Lansing-based EPIC-MRA, and InForm Studio of Northville. “The Ann Arbor community will benefit if its tax dollars are retained by contracting with local companies,” Salberg concluded.

Downtown Library Entrance: Board Discussion

During her report from the board’s facilities committee, Margaret Leary noted that the work with O’Neal is not for construction of the whole project, but rather for the project’s management. The facilities committee was recommending approval of the resolution.

Nancy Kaplan.

Ed Surovell, another facilities committee member, asked AADL director Josie Parker to respond to Don Salberg’s public commentary. Parker replied that the construction manager has oversight for the project. They look at construction documents, determine whether the design is feasible, and work with architects on the project’s budget. The construction manager then bids the work, she said, and subsequently manages the project as construction takes place. “They make sure it’s done on time, in sequence,” Parker said. The construction manager handles the permitting process, inspections, stormwater mitigation, safety, and any other aspect of the project.

Parker also noted that the construction manager will be responsible for helping AADL stay open during the project.

Surovell confirmed with Parker that the three new library branches – Malletts Creek, Pittsfield, Traverwood – were handled in the same way. Skanska was construction manager for Malletts Creek and Pittsfield, and O’Neal was construction manager for Traverwood.

Leary stressed that the library has extensive experience with O’Neal that’s been very satisfactory. She noted that Parker had requested qualifications from O’Neal, which had in turn been provided to the facilities committee.

Parker pointed out that the library policies allow for a request for qualifications (RFQ) to be used rather than a request for proposals (RFP) for this type of work.

Nancy Kaplan noted that O’Neal is a local firm, based in Ann Arbor.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the resolution authorizing Parker to negotiate with O’Neal Construction for construction management services.

Director’s Evaluation

Earlier in the meeting, the board met in closed session to discuss the director’s evaluation. Barbara Murphy, chair of the director’s evaluation committee, attended that session but left before the rest of the board meeting due to illness. Other committee members are Jan Barney Newman and Rebecca Head.

AADL director Josie Parker.

Prue Rosenthal, board president, read aloud a letter that outlined Parker’s accomplishments, including her appointment to the state Commission for Blind Persons and the fact that no union grievances were filed this year. [.pdf of letter]

For the past four years, given the economic climate, Parker has requested that her salary remain unchanged, and the board has agreed. This year, the board is giving her a 3% raise. Her salary prior to the raise is $143,114.

The board gave Parker a round of applause.

Outcome: This was not a voting item.

Later in the meeting, the board voted to go into closed session at the start of their next meeting, on June 16, for the purpose of continued discussion of the director’s evaluation. This session was at Parker’s request.

Director’s Report

AADL director Josie Parker congratulated staff for putting on Visions 2014, a vendor fair held on May 14 at Washtenaw Community College for people who are blind and physically handicapped. About 500 people attended, from as far away as Grand Rapids, Gaylord, Toledo and Detroit. Parker said that consumers and their caregivers told her how difficult it is to get information about these services, especially for people who live in rural Michigan or Ohio, so they appreciated the vendor fair. “Right now, there’s nothing else like it in Michigan,” she said.

The event also drew librarians and staff from the Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons. Parker pointed out that the event included a contractor from the Business Enterprise Program (BEP), which the bureau oversees, to manage the food vendors.

In particular, Parker praised AADL managers Terry Soave and Tim Grimes, who held the most responsibility for the event. Soave is the library’s outreach & neighborhood services manager. Grimes serves as manager of community relations and marketing. They received a round of applause from the board.

Director’s Report: Elevator Repair

Parker also reported that the public elevator for the downtown library isn’t working. It’s the same problem that took the freight elevator out of commission a couple of years ago, she said. Leaks had developed in the hydraulic piston, causing it to fail a weight test.

Ed Surovell.

It will cost about $100,000 to repair, and AADL is working with Schindler Elevators on the project. The work will be more difficult to manage because it’s in the public space, she noted. The repair work will be staged in the building’s lower level, but there will be noise and some emissions when the workers are welding.

Parker said that when workers remove the piston that operates the elevator – buried deep underground – dirt falls into the hole. Depending on how compacted it is, workers will need to drill down to remove the dirt. That drilling is what causes most of the noise and vibration, she said. The new piston will be brought in as 15-foot segments through the front entry, she said, but that will likely occur before the library opens in the morning.

The elevator won’t likely be functional until the end of August, Parker said. There won’t be public access to the lower level during the work, so programming that’s scheduled there will have to be moved. It’s helpful that the bookstore operated in the lower level by the Friends of the AADL isn’t open during the summer, she said.

For people who can’t use the stairs, they can ask the library staff to escort them to the freight elevator. That’s coordinated with security staff, Parker said. Everyone else will be using the stairs.

Parker pointed out that this work will be occurring while the front entry renovations are underway. That’s why the oversight of O’Neal Construction is more important than ever, she said.

Agreement with FAADL

A resolution was on the May 19 agenda to extend the Ann Arbor District Library’s space-use agreement with the nonprofit Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library for one year. The current agreement expired on May 21. [.pdf of agreement]

FAADL operates a used bookstore in the lower level of the downtown branch at 343 S. Fifth Ave. Proceeds of the store – about $90,000 annually – are given to the library.

Agreement with FAADL: Board Discussion

Margaret Leary, chair of the facilities committee, noted that this item had been reviewed by committee members on May 8. At that same meeting, the committee discussed the desire by FAADL to have the carpet replaced in the bookshop. Under terms of the agreement, that’s the responsibility of the library, she noted. So the library will be replacing the carpet sometime this summer, along with carpet in other areas of the downtown library.

AADL director Josie Parker noted that work to repair the public elevator will be staged in the lower level, so the timing of the carpet replacement will be pushed back a bit. She reported that all of the carpet in the lower level – including the multi-purpose room, where events are held – will be replaced.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the agreement with FAADL.

Finance Report

Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development, presented the April 2014 financial report at the May 19 meeting. That job was previously done by Ken Nieman, associate director of finance, HR and operations, whose last day was May 2. Nieman took a job as CFO for the public library in Sonomo County, California.

Eli Neiburger.

AADL director Josie Parker thanked Neiburger for stepping in, saying he’s working hard to make this transition seamless for the board. [.pdf of finance report]

Through April 30, the library has received 98.4% of its budgeted tax revenue for the fiscal year. The library had $10.076 million in unrestricted cash at the end of April, with a fund balance of $8.433 million, up from $8.415 million a month ago. Neiburger noted that it’s not common for the fund balance to increase in any given month, but there’ve been several retirements resulting in some open positions, “so salary expenditure is uncommonly low for this month.”

Four line items – purchased services, software, copier expenses, and supplies – are over budget, but are expected to come back in line by the end of AADL’s fiscal year on June 30. Purchased services are slightly over budget because the library paid for a survey in March. Software reflects a $66,000 purchase made every July for a library automation system, and copier expenses include a semi-annual payment made each September. Several supply purchases were made in April to carry through until the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Neiburger noted that these are the same items that are mentioned every month.

There were no questions from the board. Ed Surovell commented that he appreciated the details about the line items that are over budget, saying that it’s helpful for the public to know.

Outcome: This was not a voting item.

Service Contracts

Two service contracts – for janitorial work and HVAC maintenance – were on the agenda for board approval. Both contracts are for three-year periods.

Margaret Leary, Ann Arbor District Library, The Ann Arbor Chronicle

Staff and the facilities committee recommended awarding R.N.A. Janitorial a contract through fiscal 2016-17 for a total of $476,748. The current contract expires on June 30, 2014 – the end of the current fiscal year.

Three bids were received for this work, including one from Pioneer Janitorial. The library currently contracts with both Pioneer and R.N.A. for janitorial services. The bid from Pioneer was significantly higher, at $584,618 for the three-year period. Library staff believed that the lowest bidder – CITI Building Services, at $437,115 – did not understand the full scope of the work. [.pdf of staff memo for janitorial services]

For HVAC equipment maintenance and repair, the board was asked to approve a contract with Shambaugh & Son for $259,240 over a three-year period. Shambaugh was the lowest of three bidders. They also hold the current contract with AADL for this work. The new contract would begin on July 1, 2014. [.pdf of staff memo for HVAC contract]

Service Contracts: Board Discussion

Margaret Leary, chair of the facilities committee, explained that the contract for janitorial services was put out for bids. The library staff had a pre-bid discussion with bidders, and felt that CITI representatives didn’t understand the scope of work for maintaining public buildings like those operated by AADL. She noted that R.N.A.’s bid was significantly lower than Pioneer’s.

The rationale for using two firms in the past – R.N.A. and Pioneer – was that it would provide some flexibility and backup, in case one company wasn’t able to do the work, Leary explained. “As a practical matter, that’s never happened,” she added. It was cheaper to just use R.N.A., and its past work has been satisfactory, she said.

Regarding the HVAC contract, Leary noted that it had also been reviewed by the facilities committee. Shambaugh & Son has provided satisfactory service in the past and was the lowest bidder.

Leary pointed out that the board always has the option of rejecting the bids and re-bidding the work. She stressed that it shows the board is serious about putting items out for bid and considering the financial and performance aspects of the bidders.

Outcome: In separate votes, the board unanimously approved both contracts.

Library Stats

The board is provided with monthly library statistics in five categories: Collections, users, visits, usage and participation. The data is compared to year-ago figures, when available. The information was presented by Eli Neiburger, AADL’s associate director of IT and product development.

AADL collections data: April 2014.

AADL users data: April 2014.

AADL visits data: April 2014.

AADL usage data: April 2014.

AADL participation data: April 2014.

Here are some highlights from Neiburger’s commentary:

• Collections: AADL staff is doing “some serious weeding of parts of the collection that haven’t circulated in a long time,” Neiburger said. So for the first time in many months, the number of books slightly decreased in April compared to March – 415,251 compared to 415,391. It still shows a slight increase compared to a year ago, however. Neiburger noted that Overdrive – a business that provides electronic books to public libraries, which AADL accesses through its membership in the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services – has upgraded recently. The upgrade has made it difficult to tell how many items are in the collection, he said, so this month there’s a question mark for that data point.
• Users: Thanks to efforts of the outreach department, Neiburger said, the number of business/organization cardholders is up 51% compared to a year ago. On the digital side, the number of unique users of AADL’s website is up 16%. He noted that they weren’t able to identify the number of robots that accessed the site in April, “so score one for the robots.”
• Visits: Door visits were down in April for all but the Traverwood branch, which Neiburger attributed to the cold weather and snow. The total number of page visits on AADL’s website increased 22%.
• Usage: Decreases in usage were also attributed to the bad weather in April. Neiburger noted that the 71% drop in webpage usage compared to last year is due to the optimization of pages, resulting in fewer pages per visit. You can view more results on a single page, which causes a drop in the number of webpages viewed. Video usage is up 467%.
• Participation: Meetups increased 51% in April, due in part to a couple of big events, including FoolMoon, which drew a lot of people despite the foul weather. “We had hail in the middle of the event,” Neiburger said. “I told my staff that the last time I was standing in weather like that and not running away I was wearing a tuba and a marching band uniform.”

Neiburger also gave highlights of some “Top Tweets” that mentioned @aadl during April, and showed a video to promote and explain AADL’s popular summer game. Neiburger noted that the game is “very much about immersing in pop culture,” so there are lots of references to that within the video to explain how the game works. The video is posted on AADL’s website. It was produced by AADL staff and 7 Cylinders Studio.

Screenshot from the AADL’s summer game video. The fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library has been slightly transformed.

Committee Reports

The board has seven committees: communications, budget and finance, facilities, policy, director’s evaluation, executive, and strategic plan. Because membership on each committee consists of only three trustees, which is fewer than a quorum of the board, the meetings are not required to be open to the public under Michigan’s Open Meetings Act. The board has the option of making its committee meetings open to the public, but has chosen not to do so.

On May 19, four committee reports were given – finance, communications, director’s evaluation, and facilities. The director’s evaluation report is summarized earlier in this article.

Committee Reports: Finance

Chair Jan Barney Newman said the finance committee met to discuss the budget and the positions that the library will be filling. She did not elaborate. Other committee members are Barbara Murphy and Nancy Kaplan.

Committee Reports: Communications

Rebecca Head, chair of the communications committee, reported that the committee met on May 9. Other members are Margaret Leary and Prue Rosenthal. They talked with Krysia Hepatica, the library’s new social media and marketing technician.

Rebecca Head.

They also reviewed the AADL newsletter, which is in production and will be mailed soon to residents in AADL’s district. It will focus on recent survey results, she said. [The survey had been conducted in February by EPIC-MRA. The board was briefed on the results by Bernie Porn – president of the Lansing-based firm – at their March 17, 2014 meeting.] The second newsletter will go out in September.

The committee also discussed an upcoming AADL board candidate event that will be held prior to the November 2014 election. That will be discussed in more detail at a later date, Head reported. [This year, terms for three board members expire: Barbara Murphy, Jan Barney Newman, and Ed Surovell. In addition, Nancy Kaplan is running for Ward 2 city council in the August Democratic primary. She has indicated that she'll resign from the AADL board if she wins. The library trustees are non-partisan positions.]

Committee Reports: Facilities

Margaret Leary, who chairs the facilities committee, reported that they reviewed several items that were subsequently brought forward as resolutions that night, including recommendations for the downtown building’s front entrance renovation, janitorial services, and an HVAC contract. Other committee members are Ed Surovell and Jan Barney Newman.

Public Commentary

Two people spoke during public commentary on May 19. Don Salberg’s commentary is reported earlier in this article.

Lyn Davidge thanked the board for continuing, as they did last year, to hold their summer meetings at AADL branches. Last summer she noticed that there were new faces at some of those meetings, and good turnouts. As the library thinks of ways to better communicate with the public, it’s important to get out and be visible and make it easier for people to know what the board is doing, she said.

However, Davidge told trustees she’s disappointed that the board is meeting at the branches only three times. So she urged them to look ahead as they set their meeting schedule for 2015, and hold more meetings outside of the downtown location.

Present: Rebecca Head, Nancy Kaplan, Margaret Leary, Jan Barney Newman, Prue Rosenthal, Ed Surovell.

Absent: Barbara Murphy.

Next regular meeting: Monday, June 16, 2014 at 7 p.m. at the Traverwood Branch, 3333 Traverwood Drive (at Huron Parkway), Ann Arbor. [Check Chronicle event listing to confirm date]

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Image from preliminary drawings by the Carl Walker design team for renovated southwest elevator and stair tower for the Fourth & William parking structure.

The board voted to establish a project budget of $5 million for renovations, which are prompted by a need to replace an aging elevator and stair tower at the southwest corner of the structure. The amount would be covered by issuing bonds, but approval of that step would come later, and would require approval of the city council – because the bonds used by the DDA have historically been issued by the city.

The Fourth & William structure, at 994 spaces, is one of the largest in Ann Arbor’s parking system – but has elevators that are more than 30 years old. [A recent trip from the ground floor to floor 7 was timed by The Chronicle at 45 seconds. The comparable trip at the newer Washington & Fourth parking structure took about 17 seconds.]

In addition to replacing the elevator and stairway tower, the DDA is considering some work on the south and east sides, using some surfaces that are more reflective and perhaps installing some awnings. The resolution also describes the possibility of expanding the pedestrian lobby area, updating parking equipment, adding electrical capacity and additional electric vehicle charging units, and building out some of the first floor area for active uses. The stairway and elevator towers would be glass-enclosed.

The stair tower and elevator portion of the project was estimated to cost on the order of $3 million. The first, very preliminary drawings were provided to the DDA’s operations committee at its Feb. 26 meeting. That preliminary work was authorized by the DDA board at its Jan. 8, 2014 meeting.

By way of background, at that Jan. 8 meeting, the DDA authorized up to $40,000 for Carl Walker Inc. to develop architectural renderings for renovations to the southwest stair tower and elevators of the Fourth & William parking structure.

The DDA was presented with two options for the renovations, based on either a two-phase or a three-phase approach. In both scenarios, the goal is to keep the parking structure open for business during construction.

The two-phase approach would last about a year – from August 2014 through July 2015. The three-phase approach would take five months longer – through about December 2015.

Chronicle chart of potential timeline for renovations to the southwest elevator at the Fourth & William parking structure, based on Carl Walker Inc. estimates.

The resolution passed by the DDA board on May 7 authorizes the DDA’s executive director to oversee issuance of bid documents and to sign a contract with Carl Walker Inc. to prepare construction drawings for the project. Those construction drawings are to be limited initially to the stair tower and elevator replacement project. The selection of a contractor for the work would need separate approval by the DDA board.

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

Floor 7 at the southwest elevator of the Fourth & William parking structure in downtown Ann Arbor. (Photos by the writer.)

The elevator in question is located at the southwest corner of the Fourth & William parking structure. The 994-space capacity makes it the largest structure in Ann Arbor’s public parking system, which offers around 8,000 parking spaces in lots, structures and on-street, metered parking.

The elevator is at least 30 years old, and was characterized at the meeting by DDA executive director Susan Pollay as one of the slowest in the Ann Arbor area, and the frequent subject of parking patron complaints. A trip from street level to floor 7 was timed by The Chronicle at about 45 seconds. That compares to 17 seconds for a similar trip on the elevator at Fourth & Washington, which is the DDA’s second-newest structure.

The board’s Jan. 8 resolution authorized $40,000 for Carl Walker Inc. to develop architectural renderings for the work at the Fourth & William parking structure. Carl Walker is the consulting firm used by the DDA for its routine maintenance inspection program for the parking structures. The design is supposed to allow for phased construction so that the parking structure could remain open during the construction period, which would not begin before next winter. The estimated construction cost for the project is $2.25 million.

In its other main business item, the board voted to allow the developer of the future 624 Church St. project in downtown Ann Arbor to extend for up to 15 years – for a total of 30 years – the contracts for 48 already-approved parking permits under the city’s contribution-in-lieu (CIL) program. At its meeting on Nov. 6, 2013, the DDA board had already approved the purchase of 48 parking permits through that CIL program for a new version of the proposed residential development at 624 Church St. in downtown Ann Arbor.

The spaces were approved to be provided in the Forest Avenue parking structure. The DDA board’s Jan. 8 resolution indicated that for the extension periods, the DDA might choose to allocate the spaces in some other structure than the Forest facility.

In an update at the meeting also related to parking, city administrator Steve Powers said that the surface parking lot at the former Y site would need to be closed no later than March, due to the sale of the city-owned property to Dennis Dahlmann. The property is located on the north side of William Street, between Fourth and Fifth avenues near the Blake Transit Center and downtown library.

The board also received an update on its initiative to pay for downtown ambassadors. And board members were alerted to the upcoming Jan. 13 city council work session about economic development.

Preliminary Design: Fourth & William Elevator

The board considered a resolution authorizing preliminary design work costing $40,000 for a new elevator and stair tower on the southwest corner of the Fourth & William parking structure.

Fourth & William parking structure elevator/stair tower on Jan. 7, 2013. (Photo by the writer.)

The resolution tasked Carl Walker Inc. to develop architectural renderings for the work at the Fourth & William parking structure. Carl Walker is the consulting firm used by the DDA for its routine maintenance inspection program for the parking structures. The funds for the design work are to be drawn from the parking fund, not the DDA’s tax increment finance (TIF) revenue.

The Fourth & William parking structure is described in the board’s resolution as the largest one in Ann Arbor’s parking system with elevators that are more than 30 years old and inadequate to meet customer demand.

A recent trip from the ground floor to floor 7 was timed by The Chronicle at 45 seconds. The comparable trip at the newer Fourth & Washington parking structure took about 17 seconds.

Regular parking customer satisfaction surveys reflect the fact that the elevators are slow. Some sample comments from survey results reported in early 2012 include: “Elevators way too slow. Stairwells dirty on upper floors. Too much constant construction.” and “Elevators are slow so usually take the stairs.”

The Fourth & William structure has 994 spaces. Since 2011, the structure has generated a rough average of $210,000 in gross revenue per month. According to DDA financial records, after expenses and debt service on bonds associated with the structure, the Fourth & William structure generated $293,929 in income for FY 2013.

The board’s Jan. 8 resolution indicated that to keep the facility open during the elevator tower renovation, a phased construction plan would be used. Construction would not be expected to begin until next winter.

Preliminary Design: Fourth & William Elevator – Board Discussion

John Splitt introduced the resolution on the Fourth & William elevator.

DDA board member John Splitt.

Splitt characterized the resolution as taking the DDA to the next step of developing the plan to replace the elevator and stair towers at the Fourth & William parking structure. The elevator and stairway are original to the structure, he said. The DDA had some preliminary discussions with Carl Walker – and based on those conversations, the construction will need to be phased so that there’s an elevator and stair available at all times. It should also be phased so that it’s as much as possible not disruptive to the neighborhood. The resolution authorizes $40,000 for the next phase.

John Mouat asked Splitt to clarify that this is still the design phase. Splitt noted that there’s a lot of work that goes into even this preliminary phase, because you have to know where electrical systems and everything else are going.

Board chair Sandi Smith characterized the southwest corner of the parking structure as very dull but a very prominent corner. She encouraged Carl Walker to make the design more of a “signature piece.” She would be much happier, she said, if the result was something more than just a new stairway. Splitt concurred, saying that the idea is to consider “opening it up” and putting in as much glass in as possible.

City administrator Steve Powers noted that the DDA has a capital improvement plan, and the elevator is included as a part of that plan. [In the course of the debate that unfolded in 2013 about a revision to the city's ordinance the regulates the DDA's TIF capture, the DDA developed a draft of a five-year plan of projects. The ordinance revision eventually passed by the city council, on Nov. 18, 2013, requires the DDA to "submit their capital budgets to incorporate them into the City’s capital improvement plan (CIP)." The state's DDA Act requires – as a part of a DDA's TIF plan – a development plan that includes a description of improvements to be undertaken, with cost estimates and a description of construction phasing. The DDA's 2003 TIF plan adopted by the city council does not appear to contain the kind of detail indicated by the state statute.]

Powers asked DDA executive director Susan Pollay to comment on the elevator tower construction project in the context of the DDA’s five-year capital improvements plan. Pollay indicated that the Fourth & William parking structure was included in that plan. [The five-year project draft document puts the estimated cost of construction at $2.25 million.] The Connecting William Street planning project had highlighted the importance of the parking structure, she said. She also pointed out the link between the Kline surface parking lot at Ashley and William, the Palio lot at Main and William, and the Library Lane parking structure between Fifth and Division, north of William. Pollay characterized the elevator as perhaps the slowest elevator in the whole Ann Arbor area.

Maura Thomson, executive director of the Main Street Area Association, literally stuck to her knitting in the audience as the DDA executive director spoke of the figurative knitting together of various initiatives associated with the Fourth & William parking structure.

It would take about 6-8 weeks to replace the elevator, Pollay said, but the parking structure can’t function with just one elevator, on the north side of the facility. So the DDA is exploring the idea of undertaking the construction in a phased way. She noted that it’s not a very attractive garage, so the DDA is looking at how to enhance its appearance from Main Street. Pollay also described the eventual possibility of building out the ground floor on Fourth Avenue one bay deep to provide commercial space of some kind. It would animate the sidewalk, she said, noting that the block needed to gain back human beings.

Pollay continued by saying that as long as that part of the parking structure was being built out, it would be necessary to add electrical capacity, which ties into electric car charging projects. The impetus for all these various initiatives is the elevator project, she said. Having renderings to look at will help to knit them together, Pollay indicated.

Smith asked if this project would be included in the city’s capital improvement plan. Splitt indicated that it was. Splitt also pointed out that there’s an estimated 30-50 more years of useful life in the structure, so investing in the new elevator made sense.

Al McWilliams asked if there was particular urgency to replace the elevator. Splitt responded to McWilliams by saying that no actual construction would be scheduled until next winter. Pollay added that there was no urgency in the sense that the elevator was failing, but the regular feedback from customer surveys is that the elevator is too slow. The work is planned for the winter, to reduce the impact of construction noise and to be as unintrusive on Main Street businesses as possible.

Outcome: The resolution on the elevator design passed unanimously.

624 Church Street Parking Permit Extensions

The board considered a resolution that would allow the developer of the future 624 Church St. project in downtown Ann Arbor to extend for up to 15 years – for a total of 30 years – the contracts for 48 already-approved parking permits under the city’s contribution-in-lieu (CIL) program.

At its meeting on Nov. 6, 2013, the DDA board had already approved the purchase of 48 parking permits under the CIL program. Those permits were for a new version of the proposed residential development at 624 Church St. in downtown Ann Arbor. The spaces were approved to be provided in the Forest Avenue parking structure. The DDA board’s Jan. 8 resolution indicated that for the extension periods, the DDA might choose to allocate the spaces in some other structure, not necessarily the Forest facility.

The CIL program allows a developer the option of purchasing permits to satisfy a parking requirement that would otherwise be satisfied by providing parking spaces on-site as part of the project. The request for an extension on the CIL monthly parking permit contracts was driven by an interest in the financial backers of the project to see contracts in place that would cover the 30-year period of a mortgage.

Brad Moore, architect for the 624 Church St. project, had appeared before the DDA board at its Dec. 4, 2013 meeting to request the ability to extend the contracts on the 48 permits for up to two 10-year periods past the standard 15-year period associated with the city’s CIL program. After discussing the matter, the board opted at that meeting to table the question. The Jan. 8 resolution gave extension options that were in total 5 years shorter than what Moore had requested, but still covered the 30-year financing period that had motivated the request for the ability to extend the contracts.

The original proposal for the 624 Church St. project, which received site plan approval from the city council at its March 4, 2013 meeting, was for a 13-story, 83-unit apartment building with approximately 181 beds. And for that version, the Ann Arbor DDA had authorized the project to purchase up to 42 monthly permits through the city’s CIL program.

The newly revised 624 Church St. project, which received a recommendation of approval from the city planning commission on Dec. 17, 2013, is larger than the original project, with roughly 122 units and 232 beds. The parking requirement is a function of the by-right premiums for additional square footage beyond the basic by-right of 400% floor area ratio (FAR). So the parking requirement for the revised project is greater than for the original version of the project. That’s why the DDA was asked to increase the number of permits from 42 to 48. The number of required parking spaces for the revised version of the project is actually 53, but five of them will be provided on site. The overall revised project still requires city council approval.

The DDA makes the decision about whether there’s adequate capacity in the parking system to allow the sale of additional monthly permits – because the DDA manages the city’s public parking system under a contract with the city.

Ann Arbor’s “contribution-in-lieu-of-parking” program was authorized by the city council on April 2, 2012. That program allows essentially two options: (1) purchase monthly parking permits in the public parking system for an extra 20% of the current rate for such permits, with a commitment of 15 years; or (2) make a lump sum payment of $55,000 per space. It’s option (1) that the 624 Church St. project is using.

624 Church Street Parking Permit Extensions: Public Commentary

Sean Spellman with The Opus Group – which is partnering with the Tice family on the 624 Church Street project – addressed the board during public commentary at the start of the board meeting. He told the board that he was in attendance so that he could answer any questions they might have about the agenda items regarding the parking permits. Spellman raised some issues with respect to the wording in one of the “whereas” clauses of the resolution – but it turned out that his concerns were based on a draft version. The issues he raised had been addressed in the final version of the resolution.

624 Church Street Parking Permit Extensions: Board Discussion

Roger Hewitt introduced the resolution. He then reviewed the issue of the project’s financing and how it was tied to the ability of the project owners to extend the parking agreements to a total of 30 years – beyond the 15 years normally associated with the CIL program.

DDA board member Roger Hewitt.

Hewitt noted that for the period of the extensions, the spaces could be reallocated to other facilities besides the Forest structure. Hewitt felt very strongly that the DDA needs to have some flexibility in the system. The DDA needs to be careful about what the system is going to look like 30 years from now, he said. He assured his colleagues that the system today is very different from what it was 30 years ago.

If the downtown housing boom continues, he said, the parking system will not have the space to warehouse all the cars. So the current DDA needs to let future boards and future parking operators have some flexibility. Hewitt was reluctant to tie up spaces for 30 years.

Hewitt was willing to bend and give the option to extend for the three additional five-year periods, but he reiterated the need to keep flexibility.

Outcome: The resolution on the extension of the 624 Church Street parking permits passed on a unanimous vote.

Communications, Committee Reports

The board’s Jan. 8 meeting included the usual range of reports from its standing committees and the downtown citizens advisory council.

Comm/Comm: City Council – Economic Development

City administrator Steve Powers alerted the DDA board to a city council work session to be held on Jan. 13. The focus of the session will be on economic health – Powers reported that the council had reaffirmed that as a priority area for the coming year.

Later in the meeting, John Mouat reported on the work that a joint economic development task force has been doing. He noted that the group had been meeting for several months now. Powers had drafted a document and DDA executive director Susan Pollay had “worked it up a little,” Mouat said. It would be a kind of “action plan” describing things that different entities can purse. Those entities, Mouat said, were the city of Ann Arbor, the Ann Arbor DDA, and the economic development entity Ann Arbor SPARK.

With respect to the DDA’s tasks, it was all work that falls within the purview of work the DDA has done before, he said. Mouat said he’d be interested to see how it’s received at the Jan. 13 work session and how the city council wants to move forward with it. Mouat made two general comments on the work. There are specific action-plan items about things that might get done. But there’s also a chance to change the culture of the community a bit with respect to economic development, he said. Mouat felt that the phrase “economic development” had acquired a negative connotation. He said he also did not care much for the phrase. He felt that it simply has to do with jobs and vitality and the general health of the community. The more the community can be helped to think of it in terms of jobs and vitality, then that’s a good thing, he said.

Powers followed up on Mouat’s remarks by saying that the city council has renamed the priority area to “economic health,” partly for the reasons that Mouat had mentioned. The city pays most of its bill through taxes on the value of the real estate in the city, he noted. So having development is important to the city’s ability to deliver services, he said. The work session on Jan. 13 is intended to provide some discussion about some of the larger economic issues. The work session should also include some specific actions the city could take. The task force so far has helped to frame those actions, as well as the larger policy considerations for the council.

Sandi Smith said the other component of the conversation is the idea that it’s not economic development for the sake of doing it, but to increase the level of services and the quality of life that we enjoy. The point is not to generate dollars, she said, but to make everything better for all the residents of Ann Arbor.

Comm/Comm: City Council – Goals

Reporting out from the partnerships committee, Joan Lowenstein said that they’d heard at their meeting from representatives of the city council about the results of the council’s planning session – which included basic services focused on neighborhoods and quality of life. Lowenstein hoped the council would work to define “some specific parts of those things they would like to see,” she said. [The two city council representatives on the DDA's partnerships committee are Jane Lumm (Ward 2) and Margie Teall (War 4). Councilmember Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) had volunteered to serve in that capacity in November 2013, but was not appointed to the committee. ]

Comm/Comm: getDowntown

Reporting out from the operations committee, John Splitt said that getDowntown executive director Nancy Shore would attend the next committee meeting to talk about the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority’s Route #4 and Route #5 from Ypsilanti. [The presentation from Shore will likely lay the groundwork for a request to the DDA to fund the go!pass for the coming year.]

Comm/Comm: Ambassadors

By way of background, for several years the Ann Arbor DDA has had an interest in maintaining some kind of additional patrol presence in the downtown. In the mid-2000s, the DDA entered into a contract with the city of Ann Arbor with the implicit hope that the city would maintain its dedicated downtown beat cops. That contract was structured at that time to pay the city $1 million a year for 10 years, with the city able to request up to $2 million a year for a maximum of $10 million.

That hope was not realized, and the DDA has since discussed the idea of providing additional funding for police or for ambassadors. The idea of “ambassadors” was explored in the context of subsequent re-negotiations of the contract between the city and the DDA under which the DDA operates the parking system. The DDA wanted to be assigned responsibility for parking enforcement – a function performed by the city’s community standards officers. Board members imagined that this activity could be performed in an ambassador-like fashion.

At its June 3, 2013 meeting, the city council approved a resolution encouraging the DDA to provide funding for three police officers (a total of $270,000 annually) to be deployed in the DDA district. The DDA is pursuing the idea of ambassadors. Several DDA board members made a trip to visit Grand Rapids last year, a city that has recently launched an ambassador program.

At the board’s Jan. 8 meeting, Roger Hewitt gave an update on the DDA’s initiative to fund downtown ambassadors. Ann Arbor police chief John Seto and Sgt. Tom Hickey had attended a recent meeting of the operations committee. Concerns had been raised about how communication between the ambassadors and police officers would work, so that issue had been discussed. Hewitt said that the committee had now asked Susan Pollay to come up with a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a company to provide the ambassador service. That would allow the DDA to gather more information and at some point come back to the full board with a recommendation.

John Mouat added that he found it interesting to hear from Seto and Hickey that AAPD is already accustomed to dealing with volunteers in connection with special events. So he felt the ambassador program could be made to work pretty well.

Comm/Comm: Former Y Lot

Board chair Sandi Smith asked city administrator Steve Powers for an update on the former Y lot.

Ann Arbor city administrator Steve Powers, who also serves on the DDA board.

[The context for Smith's request was the recent sale of the former Y lot by the city of Ann Arbor to Dennis Dahlmann. The parcel is currently used as part of the public parking system, which the DDA manages under a contract with the city. The equipment that has been installed there will eventually need to be removed. At one point it was thought the lot would be closed by the end of 2013.]

Powers indicated that the lot will need to be closed no later than March. Smith received a clarification that the parking equipment is still installed and operating.

With two to three days of lead time, all the equipment could be removed. The equipment at that lot is relatively new, so some of it could be installed at other lots with older equipment.

Comm/Comm: CAC, Downtown Zoning

Ray Detter reported out from the downtown area citizens advisory council. He congratulated the DDA and executive director Susan Pollay for the recent opening of the City Apartments project at First & Washington. [That residential complex includes public parking in the lower levels.] That project had taken a long time, and hopefully it will be real success, Detter said. He also complimented the Kingsley Lane and Kerrytown Place projects.

Detter said he wanted to focus his remarks on the recent recommendations that the planning commission had made on possible revisions to downtown zoning regulations. He said that the CAC has all along supported zoning changes consistent with the 2009 downtown plan goal of encouraging zoning and design approaches that minimize negative impacts on neighbors in terms of height, scale, shading and harm to natural and historic resources. He believed that Erin Perdu’s consulting group did a great job at getting the community involved in the review process. Detter also said that the planning commission had done a good job, even if he didn’t agree with everything that had been recommended. The city council will ultimately decide how to proceed, he noted.

The planning commission recommends rezoning the parcel located at 336 E. Ann St. from D1, which would allow an 18-story building right across the street from a historic residential neighborhood, Detter said. He called the D1 zoning a terrible mistake. The CAC recommends the rezoning of that one parcel to D2 be extended along Ann Street all the way to North Fourth for the sake of consistency. The second point Detter noted was the planning commission recommendation to reduce the height in the East Huron I character area – on the north side of Huron Street between Division and N. State Street – to 120 feet, and to include a tower diagonal maximum and consider setback requirements to reduce shading on residential properties.

Detter said that Dennis Dahlmann, who owns the property on East Huron between Sloan Plaza and the Campus Inn, supports that change, even though the proposal would downzone his property from 150 feet to 120 feet. Detter said that the CAC recommends extending that reduced height all the way to North Fourth. Even though the city council had not given direction to do so, he noted, Erin Perdu’s group had made a recommendation that the property at the northwest corner of Huron and Division, where Ahmo’s Gyros and Deli is located, be zoned with a height limit of 120 feet.

Later in the meeting, city administrator Steve Powers followed up on Detter’s remarks about the zoning issue, by pointing out that it would be an item on the council’s Jan. 21 agenda.

Comm/Comm: Communications, Marketing

Reporting out for a communications and marketing subcommittee, Rishi Narayan said that he and Al McWilliams had been newly tasked to focus on communications – and they were really trying to figure out how to explain to people what it is the DDA does.

DDA board member Rishi Narayan checked his smartphone before the meeting started.

They’d discussed the idea of partnering with the downtown merchant associations, many of whom are already doing a lot to market and promote their areas. Some of the associations are member-driven, he said, while others are not. Narayan wanted to start by figuring out the DDA’s role – in communications or trying to bring everyone together. He said they didn’t want to reinvent the wheel.

McWilliams added that over the years, the DDA had talked a lot about doing more data and information collection. They’re looking at ways to make that data more useful. Many of those assets are already in place, he said.

Joan Lowenstein noted that for the next meeting of the partnerships committee, representatives of the merchant associations had been invited to attend. John Mouat ventured that it would be a good idea to invite the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to attend as well. Narayan agreed, but indicated the committee felt that instead of having everyone attend at once, they would invite others to subsequent meetings.

Narayan thought McWilliams had brought up a good point: What is the data and information the DDA has that can help downtown businesses tell their story?

Comm/Comm: New Year’s Events

City administrator Steve Powers noted that as everyone knew, the city had hosted two significant events over the New Year’s holiday – on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. [A New Year's Eve event called The Puck Drops Here was held downtown, and the NHL's Winter Classic game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs was held at Michigan Stadium on New Year's Day.] Overall the response had been very positive on both events, he reported. About the traffic control challenges, Powers said it was fortunate the fans were well-behaved and made it to Tim Hortons without any serious injury, he quipped. Powers thanked the DDA for its support of those events through the parking system.

Not mentioned at the meeting were some problems reported on New Year’s Eve in connection with patrons trying to exit, more or less all at the same time, from the newly constructed Library Lane structure. [.pdf of email correspondence between DDA executive director Susan Pollay and Kai Petainen] Petainen reported that he’d waited 45 minutes to exit after paying for his time, which meant that he had to pay again when he reached the exit.

The final email in the chain shows Petainen thanking Pollay for her detailed response and sharing some positive remarks about the NHL’s Winter Classic generally: “I should note that more things went right than wrong during the Winter Classic. A few days ago I was in a taxi ride in Toronto. The taxi driver had been to the game! I actually heard overheard others (strangers) talking about it as well! I heard them at the Tim Hortons, at the airport and on the street. The event was a big deal to Toronto, as much as it was a big deal to Ann Arbor.”

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

Absent: Bob Guenzel, Russ Collins, Keith Orr.

Next board meeting: Noon on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, at the DDA offices, 150 S. Fifth Ave., Suite 301. [Check Chronicle event listings to confirm date.]

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Fourth & William parking structure elevator/stair tower on Jan. 7, 2013. (Photo by the writer.)

The board’s action to task Carl Walker Inc. to develop architectural renderings for the work at the Fourth & William parking structure came at the board’s Jan. 8, 2014 meeting. The funds for the design work would be drawn from the parking fund, not the DDA’s tax increment finance (TIF) revenue.

The Fourth & William parking structure is described in the board’s resolution as the largest one in Ann Arbor’s parking system with elevators that are more than 30 years old and inadequate to meet customer demand. [A recent trip from the ground floor to floor 7 was timed by The Chronicle at 45 seconds. The comparable trip at the newer Washington & Fourth parking structure took about 17 seconds.]

The Fourth & William structure has 994 spaces. Since 2011, the structure has generated a rough average of $210,000 in gross revenue per month. According to DDA financial records, after expenses and debt service on bonds associated with the structure, the Fourth & William structure generated $293,929 in income for FY 2013.

The board’s Jan. 8 resolution indicates that to keep the facility open during the elevator tower renovation, a phased construction plan would be used. Construction would not be expected to begin until next winter.

This brief was filed from the DDA offices at 150 S. Fifth Ave., Suite 301, where the board holds its meetings. A more detailed report of the meeting will follow: [link]