Stories indexed with the term ‘runway extension’

At its April 16, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved four different resolutions in connection with the completion of an environmental assessment of a proposed 800-foot lengthening of the runway at Ann Arbor’s municipal airport. The main resolution was approved on a 7-4 vote. Voting for a grant contract with the Michigan Dept. of Transportation were Sandi Smith (Ward 1), Tony Derezinski (Ward 2), Christopher Taylor (Ward 3), Margie Teall (Ward 4), Marcia Higgins (Ward 4), Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5). Opposing it were Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Jane Lumm (Ward 2), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and mayor John Hieftje.

The city council had initially authorized funding for the assessment project at its Feb. 2, 2009 … [Full Story]

At its Feb. 7, 2011 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council approved its capital improvements plan (CIP).  The plan covers the fiscal years 2012-2017, and includes a list of major capital projects – for projects that have identified funding sources as well as those that do not. The city code requires that the CIP be developed and updated each year, looking ahead at a six-year period, to help with financial planning. It’s intended to reflect the city’s priorities and needs, and serves as a guide to discern what projects are on the horizon.

Included in this year’s proposed CIP was a plan for a runway extension at the city’s municipal airport, an item that the council had voted to remove last year before last year’s CIP was finally adopted. This year, Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) raised the same objection about the runway that he had voiced the previous year, and the council again removed the item by a narrow 6-5 vote.

The city’s planning commission recommended adoption of the CIP at its Jan. 4, 2011 meeting, when commissioners discussed in detail how the plan was developed and how public input was sought. [Previous Chronicle coverage of the possible airport runway extension: "Ann Arbor Airport Study Gets Public Hearing"]

This brief was filed from the boardroom in the Washtenaw County administration building, where the council is meeting due to renovations in the city hall building. A more detailed report will follow: [link] [Full Story]

At its Feb. 2, 2009 meeting, the Ann Arbor city council authorized funding for an environmental assessment of a proposed 800-foot lengthening of the runway at Ann Arbor’s municipal airport. The assessment began on May 4, 2009.

And on Wednesday evening, from 4-7 p.m. at Cobblestone Farm, a combination of a dozen government officials and consultants held an open-house style public hearing on the draft report of that environmental assessment.

At any given time, during the hour The Chronicle spent at the public hearing, the hosts outnumbered visitors. In a phone interview the following day, Molly Lamrouex – with the aeronautics division of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) – told The Chronicle that around 20 people had filtered through Cobblestone Farm over the three-hour period.

The time for submission of written comments on the environmental assessment has been extended from April 12 to April 19 at 5 p.m. Emails can be sent to lamrouexm@michigan.gov.

In the context of the controversy about the runway extension – which has played out at Ann Arbor city council meetings over the course of the last year – the public hearing was somewhat subdued. [Full Story]