AATA board members Ted Annis, left, and Charles Griffith. (Photo by the writer.)

Ann Arbor Transportation Authority board meeting (August 19, 2009): Looming on a six-week horizon for Ypsilanti is the renewal of its Purchase of Service Agreement with the AATA – at a price slated for 10% higher each year over the next three years to make the agreement match actual costs. That’s the context in which three out of seven Ypsilanti city councilmembers appeared at the AATA board meeting on Wednesday.

Their collective message: Recognize the fiscal constraints on Ypsilanti, focus on the 30 years of a positive AATA-Ypsilanti partnership, and find ways to cut costs of the service without cutting service levels. Their message resonated with AATA board members, who seemed more inclined to find creative ways to cut costs than to use federal stimulus dollars to simply make up the gap. Part of that creative approach could include closing the Ypsilanti Transit Station.

The longer-term solution of supporting the AATA bus service through a dedicated countywide funding source was a theme that ran through the comments made by Ypsilanti councilmembers, as well as others at the meeting.

In other business, the board approved the construction contract for the Plymouth Road and US-23 park-and-ride, and formally discontinued the LINK service – a decision that came as no surprise given that the other two funding partners – the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority – had discontinued their funding for the downtown circulator bus.

Countywide Funding

The theme of a countywide funding source for the AATA was woven into several conversational threads. During public speaking time, the idea of establishing a countywide funding source for bus service – likely through a dedicated millage – came up multiple times. Three Ypsilanti city councilmembers addressed the board, in part to argue for a countywide system as a longer-term way to think about service they currently get through a Purchase of Service Agreement (POSA). They thus echoed the sentiments of Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber, who had appeared before the AATA board in May. Ypsilanti’s POSA comes up for renewal soon and AATA is asking Ypsilanti to increase the payment to match the actual cost of the service.

The theme of funding Ypsilanti bus service continued in the board’s consideration of a resolution that would use American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (federal stimulus) dollars to fund the gap in Ypsilanti’s POSA on a one-time basis.

Thomas Partridge: Board chair David Nacht read Partidge’s name off the sign-up sheet and looked up scanning the room, asking where Partridge was. Partridge then rose from the third row of seats and delivered a self-deprecating deadpan: “Perhaps you didn’t notice me because of my great height!” Moving quickly to the serious side, Partridge pointed out that in August 2008 the AATA board had been presented with three different avenues they could pursue that would transition the AATA to a countywide transportation authority for Washtenaw County. He also reminded Nacht that Nacht had appeared before the Washtenaw County board of commissioners and the Ann Arbor city council, and had presented the idea of a countywide authority to those bodies. Yet there had been no progress, Partridge said, towards getting a proposal put on the ballot that would establish a countywide funding source. Partridge also criticized the proposal in one of the agenda items that explored the possibility of using federal stimulus money for operating assistance for Ypsilanti. That proposal did not, he said, explore the possibility of expanding service westward.

Said Nacht in reply: “I happen to agree with Tom Partridge – it’s been a long time.”

Carolyn Grawi: Grawi reported that she’d just come back from Toronto, where the public transportation was, she said, “amazing.” There were trolleys, buses, ferries, para-transit – everywhere you looked there was public transportation. Addressing the elimination of the LINK service, she said that if the city keeps cutting service, she was concerned for the future development of the city, for the POSA agreements, and for the future of countywide service. She suggested looking at Genesee County and asking how they managed to fund countywide service.

S.A. Trudy Swanson: The Ypsilanti city councilmember said she was there to speak about the proposed 30% increase in the Purchase of Service Agreement (POSA) with the city of Ypsilanti that the AATA was seeking. She asked for a “decrease in the increase.” She stressed that Ypsilanti had riders who depended on the service.

In response, AATA board member Ted Annis said that the reason for the increase was to stop having Ann Arbor taxpayers subsidize Ypsilanti bus service. As an AATA board member, Annis said, he objected to Ann Arbor subsidizing its neighbors and said that Ann Arbor’s neighbors needed to pay the freight. He invited Swanson to the Aug. 31 meeting of the planning and development committee, where they’d be working on the size of the required increase to Ypsilanti’s POSA.

David Nacht, AATA board chair. (Photo by the writer.)

Michael Bodary: Bodary introduced himself as a Ward 2 Ypsilanti councilmember. He was there to speak to the issue of the increase in the POSA for Ypsilanti. The 10% increase per year, for a total of 30% over three years, had been explained by Dawn Gabay and Chris White of the AATA at an Ypsilanti city council meeting, he said, so he understood the issues behind the increase. For Ypsilanti, however, revenues were down due to decreases in taxable value as well as drops in state shared revenue. He pointed out that some of the costs incorporated into the POSA are infrastructure costs, for example for the Ypsilanti Transit Center, as opposed to operations. He reported that 1/4 of police calls in downtown Ypsilanti were to the YTC. The AATA itself, he said, paid for a security guard there. He reported that some Ypsilanti citizens had suggested closing the YTC – he was not necessarily advocating that himself. He emphasized that Ypsilanti and the AATA needed to work together on solving the problem, because the Number 4, 5 and 6 buses were lifelines between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. He pointed out that it’s only been the last three out of 30 years that Ypsilanti had been afforded a reduced rate for its POSA.

Nacht responded by saying, “We share almost all your views,” but noted that it was a matter of working out the details. Referring to the YTC security issues Bodary had raised, Nacht said the last thing the AATA wanted to do was cause a public safety problem.

Annis noted that the cost data on the YTC showed that $110,000 was spent on security, so he’d like to “explore” closing it down. Nacht interjected to say that the board was not at this meeting in any way taking a position on the issue of closing down the YTC. Michael Ford, CEO of the AATA, also said that whenever he heard talk of something “getting closed down,” it gave him pause.

Pete Murdock: Murdock is also a member of the Ypsilanti city council. He began by saying that they understood the AATA’s situation. The problem, he said, was that they had “flat out no ability to raise taxes.” He said that their view was that the survival of the transit system depends on a regional system with a dedicated source of revenue. Someone other than them, he reminded the board, needed to put a measure on the ballot.

Nacht responded by saying that it was good to hear there’d be support for such a measure. “We’re a regional economy,” Nacht said, “and we need a regional transit system.” Nacht confirmed that the board shared that view philosophically.

At several points Annis invited Ypsilanti councilmembers to come to the planning and development committee meeting on Aug. 31 at 5:30 p.m.

The board considered a resolution involving the use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds – otherwise known as federal stimulus money – to bridge the gap in funding for the Ypsilanti Purchase of Service Agreement.

Board members expressed hesitation about using stimulus money in this way, when there might be other longer-term solutions available. Annis said he’d like to consider the matter in the planning and development committee. Board member Charles Griffith indicated that he didn’t want to see stimulus funds used if it meant that it was a way of not implementing other, longer-lasting solutions.

So board member Jesse Bernstein moved to table the resolution so that it could be available as a back-up plan.

The board voted to table it, which flummoxed the staff. “Now we can’t talk about it!” said Chris White. The resulting discussion revealed that the wording of the resolution didn’t authorize spending the money, but rather authorized AATA staff to talk to Ypsilanti about using ARRA funds to bridge the gap:

Now, Therefore, be it resolved that the AATA CEO is hereby authorized to discuss using a portion of the ARRA funds allocated to the AATA to bridge the gap between the beginning of the fiscal year and the implementation of service reductions.

It puzzled board member Rich Robben that a resolution had been brought seeking nothing more than an authorization to talk: “Why did you bring this to us at all??” Dawn Gabay, deputy CEO, explained that staff didn’t want to get out ahead of the board on a policy issue. Board chair Nacht traced the inclination of staff to proceed cautiously to an episode with former AATA director Greg Cook, who had arranged a deal to raise fares to cover the POSA gap, but didn’t have board approval to do so. Nacht recalled that he’d led the charge against those fare increases. The message that had been sent to staff at the time, said Nacht, was that staff needed board approval before going to POSA partners to talk about policy matters.

Robben, who’d voted for tabling the resolution, brought it back for reconsideration. It was not crystal clear to The Chronicle what happened from a parliamentary point of view, but the board did not seem to revote the tabling motion, instead opting to vote on another motion that expressly gave staff permission to talk to Ypsilanti about possible use of ARRA funds.

Outcome: Unclear from a parliamentary point of view. The board did, however, express its will that staff could talk to Ypsilanti about use of ARRA funds to bridge the POSA gap, among other solutions that might be longer lasting.

Report from Planning and Development Committee

In his update on the planning and development committee’s work, Ted Annis said that there were two main items they’d be focusing on: (i) the Ypsilanti Purchase of Service Agreement, and (ii) hammering out an AATA budget that met their goal of $96 per service hour in cost.

The LINK: Discontinued

The AATA board considered a resolution to discontinue the LINK service. The LINK is a downtown circulator service that does not charge a fare to ride. The LINK buses are painted purple.

The issue of the LINK was addressed by Tim Hull during public time in the context of public input on service changes.

Tim Hull: Hull identified himself as an AATA bus rider for the last six years, and suggested that the board reflect on the various avenues available for public input. It seemed to him, Hull said, that the public was often involved only at the last step. The Local Advisory Council, he said, was more of an advocacy group for seniors and disabled people, and met at a time inconvenient for people who worked a regular daytime schedule. He suggested that the public be engaged on matters such as schedule and service changes before they are set in stone. The discontinuation of the LINK, he said, felt like it was already a done deal at the time of a public meeting held over the summer.

In response, Nacht said that the last time that schedule changes had been contemplated, it had been a multi-month process and that originally, the Number 13 route to Newport Road had been targeted: “We were going to kill it!” But people spoke out, Nacht said, and the route was retained. So, Nacht said, he took Hull’s concerns very seriously and suggested that particular concerns could be conveyed to the director of community relations for the AATA, Mary Stasiak.

In his communications at the beginning of the meeting, board chair Nacht had already alluded to the item on the agenda that would discontinue the LINK. He described it as a “painful, difficult” decision, but that the AATA could not take on the funding of the service without the help of the two partners who’d bowed out – the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.

AATA CEO Michael Ford, who’s been on the job for a month, said that in the future, when the AATA embarked on a project involving partners, he hoped the authority could plan for a way to continue that project, even if the partners bowed out.

Board member Ted Annis quipped that his wife was going to be disappointed, because she takes the grandkids to ride the purple buses, which they enjoy.

Nacht said that philosophically he thought that a free downtown circulator was something that was important, and he was sorry the board was discontinuing the LINK.

Outcome: The board voted unanimously to discontinue the LINK service.

Goals and Objectives

A document called “Goals and Objectives” generated some animated discussion between Ted Annis and David Nacht. Nacht was concerned that the document would constrain the new CEO, Michael Ford, from putting his own stamp on the organization, if the goals and objectives were provided to him with no room for flexibility.

Annis wanted to make explicit how Ford would provide his input on the goals and objectives: “Let’s nail it down!” To which Nacht responded: “I think it’s too early to nail it down – the man has been on the job for a month.”

One concern cited by Nacht in the exchange was that among the goals and objectives there was nothing about expanding the AATA to include countywide service.

For his part, Annis was somewhat frustrated that Nacht was not attaching adequate significance to the document – which had come out of the planning and development committee, chaired by Annis: “What do you want to do with this – ignore it?”

In the end, a consensus seemed to be reached that would have Ford delivering his input on the goals and objectives, with the planning and development committee, as well as the performance monitoring and external relations committee, “getting a shot at dealing with the goals as proposed by Michael Ford,” Annis said.

Questions for Michael Ford, CEO

Board member Charles Griffith thanked Michael Ford for his weekly updates. Annis said that he’d been having fun with Ford, and that he’d been putting pressure on Ford to control costs. Nacht followed Annis’ comment with, “Michael is still here!”

Plymouth Road Park-and-Ride Lot

Before the AATA board was a resolution authorizing the CEO to execute a contract with D&R Earthmoving for $1.144 million to construct the park-and-ride lot at Plymouth Road and US-23. The Ann Arbor city council had approved the site plan for the 245-space park-and-ride lot at its July 20 meeting. Board chair Nacht wanted to know what exactly D&R’s work would entail, besides digging a hole in the ground. “What are they doing?”

In response, Chris White, manager of service development for the AATA, joked, “Stimulating the economy!” He went on to elaborate with Phil Webb, AATA controller, chiming in: earthmoving, paving, drainage construction, traffic signals, lighting, trees, signage. There will be a sign acknowledging the work was supported with federal stimulus funds.

White confirmed for Nacht that D&R was the low bidder, with the highest bidder coming in at around $300,000 more.

Annis confirmed with White that the “funny little” Green Road park-and-ride would remain open.

Outcome: The resolution authorizing the execution of the park-and-ride lot construction was unanimously approved.

Public Time: FITS and WALLY

LuAnne Bullington: Nacht greeted Bullington by congratulating her on the race she ran in the recent Ward 3 city council elections, though she did not prevail. Bullington stressed that if WALLY (the Washtenaw-Livingston Rail Line, a north-south commuter rail) was going to be built, it was important to identify sources of funding for operations, not just construction. She expressed concern that the Ann Arbor city council’s recent approval of design work on the Fuller Intermodal Transit Station (FITS) meant that city council was moving ahead as if the AATA board had made a decision to close the Blake Transit Center downtown.

Board member Jesse Bernstein responded to Bullington by clarifying that the approval for FITS was a study and siting phase on a parcel of land owned by the city and currently leased to UM. As far as Blake Transit Center was concerned, Bernstein said that there’d been no discussion of moving it, and that the board was instead discussing funding improvements and repairs to it. [Renovating BTC is a part of the goals and objectives document that provoked much discussion later in the meeting.] Regarding FITS and BTC, Bernstein said, “It’s not one or the other, it’s both.”

Communications: More on WALLY

Board chair David Nacht described a meeting he’d had with representatives of the University of Michigan along with Chris White, who’s manager of service development for the AATA, as a way to “open doors with that relationship.” Nacht also described “a lot of activity” to try to find capital funds for construction of the north-south commuter rail line known as WALLY. That included a multi-agency application for a TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant. Nacht said the AATA continues to remain open to the concept of WALLY, but expressed concern that there’d been a lack of interest thus far from Livingston County for the funding of operations. “We’d like to see more support,” he said. However, Nacht concluded, “We’re doing our best to push the project forward.”

Nominations

In his communications at the beginning of the meeting, board chair Nacht had said that he was impressed with the committee work that was getting done and how the board’s committees were able to process a tremendous amount of information.

Board member Jesse Bernstein was appointed the sole member and chair of the nominating committee for board officer elections, which will take place at the board’s September meeting.

Present: Charles Griffith, David Nacht, Rich Robben, Ted Annis, Jesse Bernstein.

Absent: Sue McCormick, Paul Ajegba

Next regular meeting: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. [note the unusual time] at AATA headquarters, 2700 S. Industrial Ave. [confirm date]

Cutting the Commissioners’ Budget

A resolution on the May 20 Ways & Means Committee agenda – which precedes the regular board meeting – calls for $77,750 worth of cuts to the $600,000 set aside annually in the budget for commissioners’ salaries, travel and other expenses. Among other cuts, the resolution submitted by commissioner Leah Gunn would eliminate the budget for all attendance at conferences and conventions and all per diem expenses. Gunn also proposes a 5% cut to the $57,000 paid to Governmental Consultant Services, Inc., a lobbying firm run by Kirk Profit that does work for several local municipalities, including the city of Ann Arbor.

Commissioner Kristin Judge began the discussion by saying she planned to make a friendly amendment to cut the travel budget by half, rather than eliminating it entirely. She said that there’s some travel she wanted to do for the job, such as attending the annual National Association of Counties conference. “I can’t do this job at a loss financially,” she said. Commissioner Mark Ouimet noted that cutting the travel budget would affect some commissioners more than others – he and commissioner Jessica Ping represent districts that cover a lot of territory, for example. (Ouimet represents District 1, which includes Chelsea, Dexter and all or part of the townships of Lyndon, Sylvan, Dexter, Lima, Webster and Scio. Ping represents District 3, which covers Saline, Manchester and the townships of Sharon, Manchester, Freedom, Bridgewater, Lodi and Saline, as well as the southern part of Scio Township.) [Gunn's proposal keeps the mileage allowance for commissioners, budgeted at $5,845.]

Rolland Sizemore Jr., chair of the board, asked how the resolution ended up on the agenda – he hadn’t known it was coming, and said he wanted to take it off the agenda until they had a chance to discuss it. Curtis Hedger, the county’s corporation counsel, said that only commissioner Conan Smith could remove it, since he’s chair of the Ways & Means Committee and sets that agenda. Neither Smith nor Gunn attended Wednesday’s briefing.

Commissioner Ken Schwartz said that each commissioners’ circumstances are different, and that cuts would fall on people in different ways. Ouimet had suggested looking at cutting health insurance, but some commissioners use the health insurance that’s provided, Schwartz said. Schwartz said he hasn’t yet used his travel budget, but he might want to at some point.

Commissioner Wes Prater said that if people don’t get training – whether they be commissioners or county staff – then “you’re going to have an ignorant bunch of people running the operation.” Prater suggested they make some cuts, then figure out ways to get that money back via the cost allocation part of the budget. Cost allocation is a charge levied on each county unit and designed to cover general costs like administration, technology, building use, insurance, etc. He said it was a subjective assessment, so there was some flexibility there. [The commissioners' budget includes a line item of $143,462 for cost allocation.]

Sizemore said he had no problem making cuts, but he felt like the resolution was being pushed on them and he wanted time to digest it.

Deputy county administrator Verna McDaniel, who was the staff representative leading the briefing, told commissioners that on June 3  the boardroom would be packed with employees. At that meeting, the administration plans to present recommendations for the two-year 2010-2011 budget, including cuts to address a projected $26 million deficit over the next two years. McDaniel said employees would be looking for commissioners to take a pay cut – she suggested that they follow the pattern of the rest of the organization, and make an across the board cut, rather than nickel and diming each line item. [Commissioners are paid $15,500 a year. Officers of the board are paid more: the board chair (Sizemore) gets $18,500, while chairs of Ways & Means (Smith) and the working session (Ping) get $16,500.]

Hedger said that commissioners aren’t allowed to alter their salaries until the beginning of their next term, in 2011. “Who would sue them if they did?” McDaniel asked. Ouimet asked if they could just turn the money back in after they’d been paid. That would be possible, Hedger said, but they’d still have to declare the full amount on their income tax.

Hedger said that one option would be to approve a salary decrease that wouldn’t take effect until 2011. Sizemore then suggested cutting their salaries by 5% in 2011, and taking another 5% cut to the budget in 2010, with details to be worked out by the end of 2009 regarding exactly where that 5% cut would be made.

Ouimet said they needed to widen the circle and get more commissioners at the table before making any decisions. Six of the 11 commissioners – Smith, Gunn, Ping, Jeff Irwin, Barbara Levin Bergman and Ronnie Peterson – didn’t attend Wednesday’s briefing.

The discussion ended with Sizemore saying he’d call Smith and talk to him about these issues, then make a plan for what to do next.

Update: On Friday, Kristin Judge told The Chronicle that she plans to submit a friendly amendment to Gunn’s resolution that would propose cutting the $33,000 travel budget in half and capping the per diem at $100 per month for each commissioner. Currently, commissioners are entitled to $25 for each meeting they attend of a board or commission that they’ve been appointed to by the board of commissioners’ chairman. Not all commissioners request that per diem, however.

Other Agenda Items

2009 budget adjustment: McDaniel asked to take the presentation of the 2009 budget off the May 20 agenda because staff wasn’t yet prepared to present it. The administration will be recommending adjustments to this year’s budget, in the wake of last month’s equalization report which determined that revenues for 2009 will be about $370,000 less than projected.

2009 operating millage rate: The board will be asked to approve the operating millage rate at 4.5493 – the same amount that was levied in 2008. The state requires that the operating millage be levied on July 1 each year. Other taxes – including drain assessment, natural areas and park – will be levied on Dec. 1. The operating millage accounts for the bulk of the county’s millage rate, which totals 5.6768 in 2009. Commissioners will be asked to approve the operating millage during the May 20 Ways & Means Committee meeting, then vote for final approval at their June 3 board meeting.

The board will also need to set a “Truth in Taxation” hearing, which Hedger said they hope to hold on June 3. However, they need to post a notice of the hearing that lists revenue the county will get from cigarette and alcohol taxes – they get that information from the state, but the state hasn’t yet provided it, Hedger said. He hopes to have it in hand early next week.

Head Start funding: The county’s Head Start program is receiving some federal stimulus funding in addition to regular funds it gets annually. Pat Horne McGee, the program’s director, has asked that the board approve the funds at both its Ways & Means Committee and regular board meeting on May 20. Why the rush? McDaniel told commissioners, “You know, when you get stimulus money, you’ve got five minutes to implement it.” The program will get about $275,000 in stimulus funds – half will be used for personnel costs, half for facility and playground improvements, including a new roof on the Ann Arbor Head Start building.

In addition, Head Start’s oral health program will receive $42,500 in federal revenue and grants to provide training and services to parents of Head Start children, and another $15,000 from the state to provide fluoride varnish to Head Start children twice a year. It was at this point that commissioner Ken Schwartz revealed he was trained to be a dentist in the Air Force. “Do you believe that?” Ouimet asked Prater. “Yeah, I believe it,” Prater retorted, “and I’ll bet he could do a good job today, too.”

Weatherization funding: The county has already received $4.1 million in stimulus funding for its weatherization program – now, they’re getting more from a different federal source. A $350,836 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will allow the county to make 43 homes and apartments more energy efficient. Eligible residents must have an income level at or below $22,648 for an individual or $44,100 for a family of four. The grant is administered by the county’s Employment Training and Community Services (ETCS) department.

Community development: The board will be asked to approve an action plan for the Washtenaw Urban County, a group of 11 municipalities in the county that participate in the federal Community Development Block Grant program. This is the first year that Ann Arbor has participated, which boosts the amount of federal grants that the urban county receives. This year, the urban county will receive $1.685 million from the HOME Investment Partnership program and $2.22 million from the Community Development Block Grant program. The funds are administered by the office of community development, jointly operated by the county and the city of Ann Arbor.

That office is also requesting the board approve a full-time position to help administer funds from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The county is receiving about $3 million to deal with abandoned, blighted and foreclosed properties. The position will be paid for out of grant funding, and will be eliminated when the program ends.

Finally, the board will be asked to approve registering the county as a payee/buyer of HUD homes, which will allow the county to buy HUD foreclosed properties and resell them for $1 to nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity. Habitat would then rehab the properties and sell them to qualified buyers. The properties would be in Ypsilanti Township and Superior Township – areas with high foreclosure rates. Mary Jo Callan, community development director, will be on hand at the May 20 meeting to answer questions about these programs, McDaniel said.

Layers of history are preserved on the wall of SPARK East in downtown Ypsilanti.

On Friday, May 8, the renovated Ypsilanti storefront that houses SPARK East will be open to the public for a look at the business services offered there. The event is part of a larger economic development effort on Washtenaw County’s east side, an effort that’s getting a boost from federal stimulus funding – or what one county official called “Obama bucks.”

Last Thursday, about 40 members of the Eastern Leaders Group got an overview of the 2009 Recovery and Reinvestment Rapid Response Strategy Business Plan, which had been approved by the ELG executive committee in mid-April. Held at the brick-walled SPARK East office on Michigan Avenue, the meeting covered a lot of ground, from neighborhood revitalization efforts to a plan for microloans to businesses.

The Chronicle dropped by to hear about the plan too. Though the meeting was decidedly forward looking, there was an element of history at SPARK East as well – more on that later. We’ll start with a look at the three main topics covered on Thursday: 1) business development and employee training, 2) microloan programs, and 3) community revitalization and stabilization plans.

David Behen, deputy county administrator, introduced the presentation by listing some concrete things the Eastern Leaders Group had done, a list that included helping to open SPARK East. Last year activity slowed down, he said, but when federal stimulus dollars became available, that provided an opportunity to act.

He noted that when the ELG steering committee met on April 14 to vote on the plan being presented to the group that evening, the person who made the motion was Peter Fletcher. (Fletcher is a longtime Ypsilanti businessman, a Republican stalwart and an erudite man not known for mincing words.) “He’s someone who makes sure it’s right before he’s behind it,” Behen said. “Well, he’s behind it.”

Business Development & Employee Training

Diane Keller, president of the Ypsilanti Area Chamber of Commerce, started off the discussion about business development by noting that nearly all the services that any business would need are available within a two-block area of downtown Ypsilanti.  She ticked off a few of those: Eastern Michigan University’s College of Business and its Center for Entrepreneurship, the chamber, SPARK East, Congressman John Dingell’s office, the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center, the Ypsilanti Export Assistance Center and others.

The idea is to bring these groups together in a “mega” partnership, Keller said, with the goal of creating or retaining 25-30 businesses, creating 250-300 new jobs, and training 200-400 people. The partnership could provide customized job training, marketing and technical assistance, microloans and referrals to other federal, state or local resources, she said.

Trenda Rusher, director of the county's Employment Training and Community Services (ETCS) department.

At that point, Trenda Rusher, director of the county’s Employment Training and Community Services (ETCS) department, took over the presentation  and outlined the industries for which job training will be prioritized. Among them are “green” industries like alternative energy or environmentally friendly construction, medical/life sciences, telecom, and companies focused on electrification (such as the development of batteries for vehicles). High-skilled, high-wage, high-demand industries will also be a priority, she said.

Also in the ELG plan is a Center for Transitional Talent, which will provide retraining and other services to executives, middle managers, dislocated workers and retirees who are returning to the workforce. Programs could include paid internships and apprenticeships.

Yet another program will focus on training and jobs for youth from ages 14-24 years old, Rusher said. Partners include EMU’s Early College Alliance and the Business Side of Youth, another EMU program.

Microloans

Skip Simms, managing director of Ann Arbor SPARK’s business accelerator and manager of the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, gave an overview of a microloan program that’s part of the strategic plan for eastern Washtenaw. The goal, he said, is to provide funding for small businesses as well as startups founded by people who took early retirement or buyout offers. The county is planning to provide about $200,000 to fund these programs.

There are two components. One fund, managed by the Center for Empowerment & Economic Development (CEED), will provide small loans to businesses that are having cash-flow problems and that perhaps can’t get a line of credit. These microloans could be leveraged to bring in additional dollars from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which could potentially provide 7-to-1 matching funds.

A second fund, managed by Ann Arbor SPARK, will target companies with global markets and the potential for high growth, Simms said. That means the loans – capped at $50,000 – would be high risk, he said, but “the opportunity is huge.” The goal is to create 185 jobs within two years.

Community Revitalization & Stabilization

Mary Jo Callan, director of the city/county office of community development, said that economic development goes hand-in-hand with neighborhood revitalization, and she described several programs in the latter category.

Ongoing community development programs in the county aim to assist low- and moderate-income residents find and maintain housing, she said. Her department also funds community projects designed to improve the quality of life for residents. (The department’s website gives examples of improvements to parks in Ypsilanti Township and sidewalks in Salem Township.) They’re spending about $1 million annually on the eastern side of the county, Callan said.

Callan also described a new federal program to fund neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures. All of the $3 million in funding will be used on the east side of the county – in Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township and Superior Township. [See previous Chronicle coverage of the program here.] Separately, the county hopes to find funding sources for improving the housing stock around the Eastern Michigan University campus.

Washtenaw County is also getting $4.1 million to help weatherize homes of low- to moderate-income residents, Callan said. A large part of that federal Recovery Act grant will be used on the eastern side of the county, she said, and will result in a triple bottom line: 1) homeowners save money on their utility bills, 2) the county creates “green” jobs related to weatherization and possible alternative energy initiatives, and 3) the program ultimately helps the environment by reducing the amount of energy used.

Callan described two other initiatives: a land bank being formed by the county treasurer’s office that will buy, redevelop and resell residential or commercial properties that had been abandoned or foreclosed on, and 2) energy efficiency and conservation block grants (EECBG), which can be used by homeowners or businesses. The county is getting $750,000 through these grants – Callan said one possibility might be to start a revolving loan fund that people could tap to make energy efficiency improvements.

Deputy county administrator Verna McDaniel and Shamar Herron, manager of SPARK East, at a reception following the April 30 meeting of the Eastern Leaders Group.

Next Steps

After the presentation, deputy county administrator David Behen urged ELG members to sign up for specific “action teams” focused on the areas that had been discussed. The roughly $8 million in federal dollars that’s funding many of these programs must be spent within 18 months, he noted. But the point is that they now have the funding to be successful, he said: “That’s something that should get this room excited.”

The plan will be officially launched at a June 2 breakfast hosted by the Ypsilanti chamber, and Behen said they planned to promote the initiative in print, TV, radio and online. He told the group: “We’re gonna get this done this time.”

Friday’s open house at SPARK East, 215 W. Michigan Ave. in Ypsilanti, runs from 1:30 to 8 p.m. Tours of the facility will be held from 1:30 to 5 p.m., with a ribbon cutting to take place at 2:30 p.m.

One Final Note: Peeling Back History

In the lobby of SPARK East is a section of plaster covered with plexiglass. It stands out because the rest of the walls are exposed bricks, mostly covered with artwork. There’s a story about that piece of plaster, which is pictured at the beginning of this article. A close-up is shown below.

There were actually several layers of plaster on the walls that workers removed to expose the bricks. As they stripped away one section, they found that workers in November, 1941 – who were also doing remodeling work in the building – had signed their names lightly on the wall. So the section was left up, signed and dated by workers who did the current remodel, to connect the present to the past in one small way.

A close-up of a section of plaster at SPARK East, which had been signed in 1941 by workers remodeling the space. The section was uncovered during a more recent remodel this year – those workers signed their names above the older signatures.

Commissioners also discussed their plan for this Saturday’s retreat, which will focus on setting budget priorities.

Stimulus funds for local workforce

At their April 15 meeting, commissioners will be asked to approve the receipt of $3,638,720 from the federal stimulus act, to be managed by the county’s Employment Training and Community Services (ETCS) department. Nearly $2 million of that will be spent on funding between 600 to 1,000 jobs this summer for teens and young adults from low-income families.

Trenda Rusher, ETCS director, is contacting schools and existing programs that serve the county’s youth, trying to get the word out about the availability of funding for jobs, according to McDaniel. The No. 1 priority is to find placements for eligible youth, she said.

In addition, $855,634 is allocated for services targeting dislocated workers, such as people laid off from the auto industry, and $461,622 will fund other adult workforce programs run by ETCS. These programs are currently funded by nearly $4 million in federal money awarded last summer via the state’s No Worker Left Behind program. Out of the stimulus funding, $363,872 will be used to cover administrative costs.

Annual equalization report

Next Wednesday’s meeting will also include some much-anticipated financial news: Raman Patel, the county’s equalization director, will present the board with an annual equalization report, which tells how much money the county will be collecting in taxes this year. The report is crucial because the county is already four months into its current fiscal year, and if tax revenues turn out to be lower than projected, the board will have to make cuts in order to balance the current budget. This possibility has been discussed frequently over the past few months, as one challenge in a generally bleak budget outlook.

April 11 budget retreat

Grappling with those budget challenges is the focus of Saturday’s retreat, held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the county’s Rolling Hills Park Lodge. The retreat is open to the public and will be facilitated by Scot Graden, superintendent of Saline Area Schools.

Commissioner Kristin Judge, who’s taking the lead in organizing the retreat, said the goal is to emerge with a set of budget priorities, which will help guide the board as they make what will inevitably be difficult choices to slash the budget. Of its roughly $100 million general fund budget, the county could face deficits of up to $28 million for 2010-11, unless revenues are higher than projected or the board makes deep cuts in expenses. County administrator Bob Guenzel has described this as the worst financial situation he’s seen in his 36 years with the county.

Judge said they’d start the retreat by revisiting the county’s “guiding principles,” which are listed on a framed poster in the conference room where Wednesday’s briefing was held. They are:

1. Ensure long term fiscal stability for the County.
2. Reduce the cost of conducting the County’s business.
3. Enhance customer service.
4. Provide the necessary knowledge, skills and resources to County employees to carry out these principles.
5. Ensure adequate provision of mandated services.
6. Focus on the root causes of problems that affect the quality of life of County citizens by aggressively pursuing prevention strategies
7. Provide leadership on intragovernmental, intergovernmental and intersectoral cooperation and collaboration aimed at improving services to County citizens.

Judge said they’ll use those principles to help identify general budget priorities. They won’t talk about cuts to specific programs or departments, she said – that will come later, during their regular board meetings. Rather, discussion at the retreat will aim at developing broad priorities that can help guide the board and administration when the time comes to make specific recommendations about budget cuts.

Commissioner Mark Ouimet asked what success would look like at the end of the retreat. “If we come out of there alive,” quipped Rolland Sizemore Jr., the board chair. Judge said she hopes they’ll emerge with 7 to 14 budget priorities. Commissioner Jeff Irwin said success or failure depends on how broadly they cast their priorities – too broad, he said, and it won’t provide meaningful guidance to the administration. “It’s more art than science,” he said.

Ouimet asked who was attending. Of the 11 commissioners, Judge said Conan Smith can’t attend, and it’s unclear whether commissioners Barbara Levin Bergman or Ronnie Peterson will attend, either.

Sizemore said that even if they all don’t attend, the retreat will be useful. “We may not get as far as Kristin thinks we’re going to get, but it’s a start.”

Judge also said she hoped the board would come together as a group and talk through some of their feelings about their priorities for the county. Ouimet asked what she meant by “feelings,” and Judge allowed that she was using her “counselor talk” (she has a masters degree in counseling), and that he could think of it as opinions. However, she said, part of the point is to bond as a board, since they’ll have some tough decisions to make together. “I think we need to do some of that warm and fuzzy stuff,” she said. “So come with a positive attitude!”

During the public comment part of Wednesday’s briefing, Caryette Fenner, president of Local AFSCME 2733, said that even if the board emerged with just one priority, that would give some guidance. Fenner represents the largest union of county workers – with more than 850 members – and said she plans to attend Saturday’s retreat as an observer. Irwin said he’d be interested in hearing her thoughts at the retreat, when there will be time for public comment as well.

Misc.: Feel-good reports

As board chair, Sizemore said he and Ouimet, who serves as vice chair, wanted to do more positive things at future board meetings, since they’re dealing with such negative budget news at the Ways & Means Committee. [Ways & Means meetings, chaired by commissioner Conan Smith, immediately precede board meetings. Much of the board's work is conducted during these sessions, which are typically longer than the regular board meetings that follow.] Sizemore asked staff to come up with some “fast, feel-good reports” that they could present to the board. Deputy county administrator Verna McDaniel and Joanna Bidlack, management analyst with the county administrator’s office, said they’d work on that.

To ramp up for this influx of federal funding, the program will be hiring staff for the duration of the grant, which runs from April 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010. Aaron Kraft, program coordinator, said there are two full-time employees now (including him), plus a private contractor who does inspections. Kraft expects they’ll need seven full-time staff in the office to handle outreach and applications, four more inspectors and double the number of general contractors that they use to work on these projects.

In addition to the increased number of houses they’ll be able to serve, the amount that can be spent per house has roughly doubled, Kraft said. Not including administrative costs, about $4,500 will be available for each home. The program covers houses, mobile homes, townhomes and condominiums, but not usually apartments in large complexes, Kraft said.

Those funds pay for an energy audit/home inspection, which reveals ways in which a home’s energy efficiency can be improved. That includes a “blower door” test to depressurize the house – basically, taking a powerful fan and sucking out the air to exaggerate the effects of air leakage through cracks around doors and windows. They’ll also do a meter reading on the refrigerator – if it’s an energy hog, the program might pay to replace it with a more efficient model.

For many homes, Kraft said, installing insulation in the attic, walls and foundation “gets the most bang for your buck.” They replace all light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, but they don’t often replace windows – that’s often beyond the program’s budget, and it’s not where you’ll see the most energy savings, he said, calling that a myth generated by Wallside Windows.

The inspection also looks at general health and safety issues, like whether there are adequate smoke detectors. They’ll also check to make sure there’s no carbon monoxide emissions from a faulty furnace or hot water heater.

Federal guidelines, based on poverty levels, have changed for income eligibility, Kraft said, so more people qualify for the weatherization program. You automatically qualify for assistance if you’re receiving Michigan bridge cards (formerly known as food stamps), or if you receive supplemental security income (SSI). Priority is given to the disabled, elderly and families below 125% of the federal poverty level, Kraft said.

Beyond that, you qualify if you fall at or below these annual income levels:

• 1-person household: $21,660
• 2-person household: $29,140
• 3-person household: $36,620
• 4-person household: $44,100
• 5-person household: $51,580
• 6-person household: $59,060
• 7-person household: $66,540
• 8-person household: $74,020
• (For each additional person, add $7,480)

Income is calculated going back the previous 90 days, so if someone was making more than these levels but has been laid off recently, they might qualify.

The grant is part of a much larger amount expected for Washtenaw County from federal stimulus bills passed in 2008 and earlier this year. Other federal funding, such as $3 million for the purchase and rehab of foreclosed property, was discussed at the March 4 Board of Commissioners meeting, where some county staff members mentioned the weatherization funds and pointed The Chronicle to Kraft.

Much of the federal funding hasn’t been allocated with specific dollar amounts, so in that way the weatherization program is ahead of the game. The funds flow from the U.S. Department of Energy, and are administered locally via the county’s Employment Training and Community Services (ETCS) department out of its Harriet Street office in Ypsilanti.

Handling such a dramatic increase will be challenging, Kraft said. In the past, they’ve relied on word of mouth and local nonprofits or community organizations to make referrals. Or people might be made aware of the program when they call the county’s 2-1-1 information line. They’ll probably change their approach to outreach, he said, in order to get more people enrolled.

So what if the program doesn’t spend all the funds?

“Oh … not an option,” Kraft said.

If you think you qualify or would like more information, call the weatherization program 734.544.2948.

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

Foreclosure rehab funds

Mary Jo Callan, director of the city/county office of community development, and Jennifer L. Hall, the office’s housing manager, gave a report on the $3 million received by the county through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). [Separately, the city of Ann Arbor is receiving $850,000 through this program.] These funds, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), are part of the 2008 Recovery Act, not the most recently passed stimulus package.

Hall, who is directly managing this effort, gave most of the presentation and fielded questions from commissioners. Nationwide, she said, HUD used a formula to determine the  areas of greatest need. For the Washtenaw County grant, those areas are Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township and southern Superior Township. Need was determined by the number and percent of home foreclosures, the number of homes financed by subprime mortgage-related loans, and the number of homes in default or delinquency.

The funds can’t be used for foreclosure prevention. [The county treasurer's office has other programs for that.] Rather, NSP funds will be used to deal with three types of properties: 1) abandoned properties, 2) “blighted” structures, and 3) foreclosed properties. Specifically, here’s the breakdown of uses:

• $1.9 million to buy and rehab abandoned and foreclosed residential properties within the targeted areas, with the goal of reselling these units to low-income buyers. The bulk of that – $1.12 million – will be split between two nonprofits that are partnering with the county: Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley, and Community Housing Alternatives. In addition, $60,000 will be used for owner education programs and $740,000 will be invested in multi-unit rental properties.
• $300,000 for a land bank. This project is being set up through the county treasurer’s office and will be used to acquire foreclosed property as a “last resort,” Hall said – for instance, when there are no interested buyers  on the open market.
• $500,000 for demolition of blighted properties. Hall said that Ypsilanti officials have indicated they might use their portion of these funds for properties in the Water Street area, which the city is attempting to redevelop.
• $302,471 for administrative costs, spread over four years.

For this program, eligible applicants to purchase properties can have income no higher than 120% of the area median income (AMI). For a four-person household, 120% of AMI is $98,900. At least 25% of funds must be used for households at 50% AMI or lower.

After her presentation, several commissioners had questions and comments. Commissioner Leah Gunn – who chairs the executive committee of the Urban County, the entity through which these funds were awarded – described the program as “incredibly complicated” and praised Callan, Hall and Damon Thompson, operations manager for the office of community development, for successfully pulling off the application in record time.

Commissioner Barbara Levin Bergman expressed concern that people who get homes through this program will end up in the same cycle of foreclosure. “I want this to work, but it’s sounding a little rocky to me.” Hall said they had the same concerns, and were addressing those concerns with rigorous guidelines. There are also strategies to make the purchase more affordable. If the house is acquired through Habitat for Humanity, for example, homeowners have a 0% interest loan, so their payments are lower. The program also can assist with a down payment. And when rehabbing the properties, they make energy-efficiency improvements on the houses, thus lowering utility bills.

Hall said that over the past 25 to 30 years the city and, more recently, the merged city/county office of community development has worked with about 1,500 households and had only 25-30 foreclosures.

[Later, in a follow-up phone conversation with The Chronicle, Hall said that applicants for NSP funds go through a homebuyer education program, administered by the Washtenaw Housing Education Partners. Then, they'll get one-on-one counseling to look at their income level, assets, debt, credit rating and other factors, making sure they'll be able to take on the financial burden of home ownership. The program also requires that buyers secure fixed-rate mortgages, not the riskier adjustable-rate mortgages. Hall said they expect hundreds of people to apply for this program, but not everyone will be eligible.]

After describing the program as “government at its best,” commissioner Kristin Judge asked how many homes would be part of it. About 45-50 was their best guess, Hall said.

Commissioner Jeff Irwin asked for more details about the rental properties. Hall said there weren’t a lot of multi-family units in foreclosure. They’re looking at three properties, and would be one of several investors in each one: 1) a property that Avalon Housing is acquiring from the Washtenaw Affordable Housing Corp., 2) two other properties that Keybank holds the mortgage on, and that Community Housing Alternatives will be acquiring.

Irwin also asked how the administrative funds would be used. Callan said that since the funding wasn’t a permanent revenue stream, they didn’t plan to hire additional full-time staff. She also noted that because these funds will be targeted to specific parts of the county, “I think these funds will really let us free up other funds for other jurisdictions.”

In response to a query from commissioner Ronnie Peterson, Callan said they expected to receive additional NSP funding from the 2009 federal stimulus package, which has allocated $2 billion nationwide for the program. Unlike the 2008 funding, which was distributed based on a HUD formula, the 2009 funds will be awarded on a competitive basis.

County budget update

As part of ongoing discussions related to the projected budget deficit, county administrator Bob Guenzel gave an update on efforts to address this issue. He reported that he’d had a long, productive meeting with department heads. He passed out several documents that they’d discussed at that meeting, including a chart that showed a range of funding scenarios, department by department, if across-the-board cuts were made. The chart showed the amount of funding that would be reduced if departments cut their budgets by 5%, 10% and 20%. A 20% cut for the trial court, for example, would mean $1.36 million in cuts out of a current $6.8 million budget. For the sheriff department’s corrections budget – by far the largest on this chart, at $14.66 million – a 20% cut would reduce that budget by $2.9 million.

Guenzel stressed that these documents are intended as tools, and not as recommendations for across-the-board cuts. He said he’d heard “loud and clear” from commissioners that they want cuts to be strategic, not across-the-board, but he said the chart allows departments to see the implications of the different levels of funding cuts that might be required.

The chart did not include all of the county’s operations, and several commissioners queried Guenzel about that. Commissioner Barbara Levin Bergman asked why police services funding wasn’t included in the chart, referring to the contracts that the county has with several townships to provide sheriff deputy patrols. Guenzel said he didn’t include that funding because the board has already made a contractual commitment with the townships for fiscal 2010, so that’s off the table. Bergman said that it’s not set for 2011, and she felt it should be included on this kind of public document. Guenzel said he would add it.

Commissioner Wes Prater agreed with Bergman, and noted that the chart represented $73 million out of the county’s $104 million budget. He wanted to see the entire general fund budget represented, including the entire amount for the sheriff’s department. Guenzel said they’d provide that information.

As he has in the past, commissioner Mark Ouimet stressed the importance of managing cash flow, and said it was crucial to ensure that the county was getting use of its capital as quickly as possible. He praised the documents showing the impact of various budget cuts, saying it was a good place to start wrapping their minds around what these cuts will mean.

Commissioner Ronnie Peterson urged the administration to start talking about “early nipping” of the budget, rather than waiting until July. [The administration plans to make a formal proposal to the board for budget reductions in early June.] Guenzel agreed, noting the county did have a hiring freeze in place. He also said that employees aren’t retiring or taking other jobs at the rate they have in the past – the implication being that the county didn’t have as much opportunity to shrink its payroll through attrition.

Later in the meeting, commissioner Conan Smith presented a draft proposal to the board for a series of community forums they plan to hold about the budget. The forums are planned for late May and early June, but no dates have been set. Smith said for these forums they’d be partnering with community groups like the local chambers of commerce, nonprofit agencies and others.

Stimulus package update

Verna McDaniel, deputy county administrator, gave an update about the administration’s efforts to coordinate among departments with regards to anticipated federal stimulus funding. She said they’re communicating with state legislators as well as Congressmen John Dingell and Mark Schauer, and are tracking which county departments are applying for and/or anticipate receiving funds. For example, the Head Start and the Employment Training & Community Services (ETCS) groups expect to get significant stimulus funding. The goal is to get a handle on how the county will be affected by this funding, McDaniel said. At this point, however, ”there isn’t a lot of super-solid information about amounts,” she said.

Guenzel said they’d prepare a status report for the board within the next couple of weeks.

Public commentary

Tom Partridge was the only person to speak during the four times allotted for public commentary, and he spoke twice. He said it was not permissible to require speakers to state their address or citizenship before they spoke. [The county asks speakers to state their name and address before making a public comment.] He then directed his first remarks toward commissioner Conan Smith, who chairs the board’s Ways & Means Committee. Partridge said the board, as well as all elected bodies, should form a code of ethics that would prohibit officials from holding paid public office while also having positions within political parties. He asked Smith to choose: either serve as county commissioner or as chairman of the Ann Arbor Democratic party [a position Smith was elected to earlier this year].

In his second turn, Partridge chastised the board for being overly pessimistic, and called on them to reject the worst-case scenario when planning their budget. He said he listened intently for big ideas during their meeting, but said he heard none. These times require forward-thinking programs, he said, such as ones to bring about the rapid expansion of public transportation.

Present: Barbara Levin Bergman, Leah Gunn, Jeff Irwin, Kristin Judge, Mark Ouimet, Ronnie Peterson, Jessica Ping, Wes Prater, Ken Schwartz, Rolland Sizemore Jr. (who attended the Ways & Means Committee, but had to leave before the regular board meeting), and Conan Smith

Next board meeting: Wednesday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 220 N. Main St. The Ways & Means Committee meets first, followed immediately by the regular board meeting.  (Though the agenda states that the regular board meeting begins at 6:45 p.m., it usually starts much later – times vary depending on what’s on the agenda.) Public comment sessions are held at the beginning and end of each meeting. [confirm date]

How their wishes will be answered isn’t clear. They’ve been told to supply “shovel-ready” projects, those that are ready to go within 90 days of getting funded. Federal dollars will likely be delivered to the state, with the governor and state legislature responsible for allocating those funds. The Chronicle recently talked to state Sen. Liz Brater, who said that until Congress decides how much it’s willing to provide and how it wants the states to handle those funds, “we’re really in a holding pattern here.”

So what exactly do city and county officials hold in their wish lists? Housing, roads, sewers, sidewalks and more – there’s no shortage of projects. The files below give the details.

City of Ann Arbor Wish List

City of Ann Arbor Environmental Wish List

Washtenaw County Wish List

Washtenaw Road Commission Wish List (JPG file)

UPDATE: Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) Wish List