In February 2013, county commissioners voted to refinance debt for a sewer system in Lyndon and Sylvan townships, on the county’s west side. The resolution authorized the sale of refunding bonds that would be used to pay the remaining principal on existing bonds that were sold in 2004. That year, the county sold $5.115 million in bonds to help the townships pay for the sewer. Of that amount, $2.225 million remained to be repaid, prior to the refunding. The project built sewers at Cavanaugh, Sugar Loaf, Cassidy, Crooked, and Cedar Lakes. It’s funded through special assessments on property around those lakes and payments by the Sugar Loaf Lake State Park and Cassidy Lake State Corrections Facility.

In March 2013, the county received bids for the refunding, with the lowest bid from Hastings City Bank at an interest rate of 1.749838%. As a result of this refunding, only $695,000 in debt remains on this bond issue. Lyndon Township was able to cash reserves and redeemed all of their outstanding debt for this project.

The contract amendments given final approval by county commissioners on Sept. 4 remove Lyndon Township from any responsibility for debt retirement and reduce the amount of debt for Sylvan Township. All other provisions of the contract remain in place until the bonds are paid off in 2022. Both township boards have previously approved these changes, according to a staff memo.

This sewer system is separate from a controversial water and wastewater treatment plant project in Sylvan Township. For more background on that project, see Chronicle coverage: “County Board OKs Sylvan Twp. Contract.”

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

In February 2013, county commissioners voted to refinance debt for a sewer system in Lyndon and Sylvan townships, on the county’s west side. The resolution authorized the sale of refunding bonds that would be used to pay the remaining principal on existing bonds that were sold in 2004. That year, the county sold $5.115 million in bonds to help the townships pay for the sewer. Of that amount, $2.225 million remained to be repaid, prior to the refunding. The project built sewers at Cavanaugh, Sugar Loaf, Cassidy, Crooked, and Cedar Lakes. It’s funded through special assessments on property around those lakes and payments by the Sugar Loaf Lake State Park and Cassidy Lake State Corrections Facility.

In March 2013, the county received bids for the refunding, with the lowest bid from Hastings City Bank at an interest rate of 1.749838%. As a result of this refunding, only $695,000 in debt remains on this bond issue. Lyndon Township was able to cash reserves and redeemed all of their outstanding debt for this project.

The contract amendments given initial approval by county commissioners on Aug. 7 remove Lyndon Township from any responsibility for debt retirement and reduce the amount of debt for Sylvan Township. All other provisions of the contract remain in place until the bonds are paid off in 2022. Both township boards have previously approved these changes, according to a staff memo.

This sewer system is separate from a controversial water and wastewater treatment plant project in Sylvan Township. For more background on that project, see Chronicle coverage: “County Board OKs Sylvan Twp. Contract.”

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

The resolution authorizes the sale of refunding bonds that would be used to pay the remaining principal on existing bonds that were sold in 2004. That year, the county sold $5.115 million in bonds to help Lyndon and Sylvan townships pay for the sewer. Of that amount, $2.25 million remains to be repaid. According to a staff memo, the project built sewers at Cavanaugh, Sugar Loaf, Cassidy, Crooked, and Cedar Lakes. It’s funded through special assessments on property around those lakes and payments by the Sugar Loaf Lake State Park and Cassidy Lake State Corrections Facility.

The staff memo also states that additional funds might be available from special assessment prepayments and connection fees paid by the state of Michigan. These funds might reduce the total refunding bond amount even more, and would increase the savings.

This sewer system is separate from a controversial water and wastewater treatment plant project in Sylvan Township. For more background on that project, see Chronicle coverage: “County Board OKs Sylvan Twp. Contract.”

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

The resolution authorizes the sale of refunding bonds that would be used to pay the remaining principal on existing bonds that were sold in 2004. That year, the county sold $5.115 million in bonds to help the townships pay for the sewer. Of that amount, $2.225 million remains to be repaid. According to a staff memo, the project built sewers at Cavanaugh, Sugar Loaf, Cassidy, Crooked, and Cedar Lakes. It’s funded through special assessments on property around those lakes and payments by the Sugar Loaf Lake State Park and Cassidy Lake State Corrections Facility.

The staff memo also states that additional funds might be available from special assessment prepayments and connection fees paid by the state of Michigan. These funds might reduce the total refunding bond amount even more, and would increase the savings.

This sewer system is separate from a controversial water and wastewater treatment plant project in Sylvan Township. For more background on that project, see Chronicle coverage: “County Board OKs Sylvan Twp. Contract.”

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Races to be recounted include the race for city of Ann Arbor Ward 4 Democratic councilmember. The final results across the nine precincts of Ward 4 showed incumbent Margie Teall with a total of 848 (49.5%) votes, compared to 866 (50.5%) for Jack Eaton – an 18-vote difference.

The city of Ypsilanti Ward 3 Democratic councilmember race will also be recounted. In that race, Pete Murdock tallied 440 (60.03%) votes compared to 242 (33.02%) for Mike Eller and 47 (6.41%) for Ted Windish.

Three races in Augusta Township will be recounted, all in the Democratic primary: clerk, treasurer and trustee. In the clerk’s election, Iva Bielec tallied 304 votes (46.70%) compared to 343 (52.69%) for Kathy Giszczak. In the treasurer’s election, Susan Burek tallied 312 (49.60%) compared to 315 (50.08%) for Lynda Dew. And in the trustees election, Cath Howard tallied 324 (16.78%) compared to 278 (14.40%) for H. Neil Johnson, 307 (15.90%) for Laverne Kailimai, 310 (16.05%) for Joseph Keefe, 375 (19.42%) for Judy Thornton, and 329 (17.04%) for Ira Todd. Voters could choose up to four, so it’s the three-vote spread between Kailimai and Keefe that’s of most interest.

The Sylvan Township millage proposal will also be recounted. The yes votes numbered 480 (50.37%), while 473 (49.63%) no votes were cast.

Possibly added to the recounts to be done on Sept. 4 will be the Northfield Township Democratic trustee election. The board of canvassers will hold a meeting on Aug 29, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. to hear an objection to that recount. If the outcome of the hearing is to recount the ballots, then that recount will be held on Sept. 4 with the others. In that election, Douglas  Del Favero had 180 (18.26%) votes, with David E. Gibbons Jr. getting 189 (19.17%), Michael J. Magda getting 179 (18.15%), Tracy S. Thomas getting 236 (23.94%) and Athena Trentin getting 197 (19.98%). Voters could choose up to four candidates. So it’s the one-vote margin between Magda and Del Favero that’s at issue.

The recounts will be held at the county building at 200 N. Main Street in Ann Arbor in the lower level conference room.

In May of 2012, the county had picked up a $175,000 interest payment that the township couldn’t afford to make, related to $12.5 million in bonds that were issued 11 years ago – and backed by the county’s full faith and credit – to build a water and wastewater treatment plant in the township. The treatment plant in Sylvan Township that was intended for future development. Under a previous contract with the county, the township was obligated to make the bond payments. [.pdf of June 20, 2001 county board resolution authorizing the bonds] The township expected that connection fees from developers would cover those payments, but the development never materialized and the township has been struggling to make payments.

Township officials put a millage proposal on the November 2011 ballot to levy a 4.75 mill, 20-year tax that would fund the bond payments. But Sylvan Township residents rejected the millage by a vote of 475 to 328. As soon as the millage failed, it became clear that Sylvan Township – located west of Ann Arbor, near Chelsea – would not be able to make its payment in May of 2012. Because the county had backed the bonds with its full faith and credit, it is ultimately responsible for making the payments, even if it isn’t reimbursed for those payments by the township.  The county has an interest in making the bond payments to avoid having its AA+ bond rating negatively affected.

Even if the millage had passed, proceeds alone would not have been sufficient to cover the entire cost of the bond payments, however – forcing the county to tap its capital reserves as well. The millage proceeds were also intended to repay the county to cover any amount used from the county’s capital reserves, as well as interest. The proceeds would also have been used to repay the county treasurer’s office, which advanced about $1.2 million to the township in 2007 and 2008 related to this project.

At their Oct. 19, 2011 meeting, county commissioners gave final approval to a contract with Sylvan Township related to the township’s bond repayment schedule. However, the contract was contingent on voters passing the 4.75 mill tax, so the contract was nullified in the wake of the November 2011 vote. A staff memo accompanying the October 2011 contract resolution indicated that if the millage failed, the county could file suit against the township for breach of contract in failing to meet its debt repayment obligation. Such legal action could result in a court-ordered assessment on township residents. According to a staff memo for the July 11 resolution, the county is still pursuing “legal remedies” to the situation, but hopes to find other ways to resolve the issue.

Currently $9.7 million in principal is owed, plus interest – another $175,000 in November and two payments totaling $350,000 in 2013 – and the $1.2 million that was advanced by the county treasurer. In total, $11.425 million is owed.

The contract authorized by the board on July 11 is nearly identical to the one it approved in October of 2011. It’s contingent on township voters approving a 4.4 mill tax for 20 years that will be on the Aug. 7 ballot. The county will use its capital reserves to make the bond debt payments, and the township will repay the county with proceeds from the millage. The township’s repayments will continue for seven years past the debt repayment schedule, to cover interest as well as the repayment of $1.2 million advanced by the county treasurer.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

From left: County commissioners Ronnie Peterson and Rob Turner. Turner has been the board's point person for dealing with a debt crisis in Sylvan Township. (Photos by the writer.)

Chief among those was a report on the debt crisis in Sylvan Township. The county picked up a $175,000 interest payment on May 1 that the township couldn’t afford to make, related to $12.5 million in bonds that were issued 11 years ago – and backed by the county’s full faith and credit – to build a water and wastewater treatment plant there.

Rob Turner – who represents District 1 on the county’s west side, where the township is located – reported that township officials hope to seek voter approval in August for a 20-year, 4.4 mill tax to cover the remaining payments. However, some commissioners expressed skepticism that township voters would approve a tax now, after rejecting a similar proposal in November. The county is also pursuing legal action for breach of contract, and is working with the township to reach a consent agreement that can be submitted to the court to outline a repayment strategy. If the millage doesn’t pass, it will be up to a judge to determine a tax levy. Commissioners were told that township residents will be assessed for the debt, one way or another.

In another report to the board, county administrator Verna McDaniel told commissioners that the county had agreed to a one-year extension to continue administering the Washtenaw Head Start program, through July 31, 2013. As part of the budget process last year, the county board had voted to relinquish its 46-year administration of the program on July 31, 2012. But the process to find another entity to administer Head Start has taken longer than expected, so the county reached an agreement with federal officials to operate the program another year.

McDaniel reported that the agreement waives a 20% local match of about $750,000 that the county had previously been required to provide. Because of that decrease there will be program changes, though details haven’t yet been worked out. While several commissioners praised the decision for easing the eventual transition to a new Head Start administrator, Ronnie Peterson expressed concern that the program’s high standards would be compromised.

The board also got an update on ongoing efforts to address how the county handles animal control services, in preparation to issue a request for proposals (RFP) later this year. Those services are currently being handled through a contract with the Humane Society of Huron Valley, which ends on Dec. 31, 2012. Board chair Conan Smith passed out a schedule for the board’s animal control policy task force meetings, with the first one set for Wednesday, May 9 from 8-10 a.m. at the county’s Learning Resource Center, 4135 Washtenaw Ave. The policy task force meetings will be open to the public.

Financial reports were also on the May 2 agenda, including the 2011 audit and an update on long-term liabilities. Wes Prater voiced concern that the county now has dramatically more in long-term liabilities than it did just five years ago. Total legacy liabilities, including pension and retiree health care benefits, have increased from $302.198 million at the end of 2007 to $346.572 million at the end of 2011.

Other items addressed during the meeting included: (1) an update from Yousef Rabhi on plans to put Project Grow gardens on the county-owned Platt Road site of the former juvenile justice center; (2) approval of up to $270,000 in bonds to fund an extension of the Sugar Creek drainage district in York and Augusta townships; (3) a resolution of support for the U.S. Clean Air Act; and (4) public commentary regarding the dangers of DTE Energy’s “smart” meters.

Commissioners also honored Hazel Bowman for her 25 years of volunteer service in the county’s foster grandparent program, giving her a standing ovation.

Sylvan Township Bond

Verna McDaniel introduced the topic of Sylvan Township’s bond payments during her county administrator’s report, but asked commissioner Rob Turner to elaborate. Turner represents the district where Sylvan Township is located – District 1, on the county’s west side.

Sylvan Township Bond: Background

In 2001, $12.5 million in bonds were issued – backed by the county’s full faith and credit – to build a water and wastewater treatment plant in Sylvan Township that was intended for future development. Under a contract with the county, the township is obligated to make the bond payments. [.pdf of June 20, 2001 county board resolution authorizing the bonds] The township expected that connection fees from developers would cover those payments, but the development never materialized and the township has been struggling to make payments.

Township officials put a millage proposal on the November 2011 ballot to levy a 4.75 mill, 20-year tax that would fund the bond payments. But Sylvan Township residents rejected the millage by a vote of 475 to 328.

As soon as the millage failed, it became clear that Sylvan Township – located west of Ann Arbor, near Chelsea – would not be able to make its payment in May of 2012. Because the county had backed the bonds with its full faith and credit, it is ultimately responsible for making the payments, even if it isn’t reimbursed for those payments by the township.  The county has an interest in making the bond payments to avoid having its AA+ bond rating negatively affected.

Even if the millage had passed, proceeds alone would not have been sufficient to cover the entire cost of the bond payments, however – forcing the county to tap its capital reserves as well. The millage proceeds were also intended to repay the county to cover any amount used from the county’s capital reserves, as well as interest. The proceeds would also have been used to repay the county treasurer’s office, which advanced about $1.2 million to the township in 2007 and 2008 related to this project.

At their Oct. 19, 2011 meeting, county commissioners gave final approval to a contract with Sylvan Township related to the township’s bond repayment schedule. However, the contract was contingent on voters passing the 4.75 mill tax, so the contract was nullified in the wake of the November 2011 vote. A staff memo accompanying the contract resolution indicated that if the millage failed, the county could file suit against the township for breach of contract in failing to meet its debt repayment obligation. Such legal action could result in a court-ordered assessment on township residents.

Currently $9.7 million in principal is owed, plus interest – another $175,000 in November and two payments totaling $350,000 in 2013 – and the $1.2 million that was advanced by the county treasurer. In total, $11.425 million is owed.

Sylvan Township Bond: Board Discussion

Rob Turner reported that as expected, Sylvan Township failed to make its May bond payment of $175,000, and that payment was made by the county. [McDaniel later clarified for The Chronicle that the payment was made out of the county's capital reserve fund, which has an available balance of about $4.7 million.] The county’s legal counsel had met with the township’s legal counsel to start working on a consent agreement related to repaying the county.

Meanwhile, Turner said, the township board plans to make another effort to pass a millage. However, the millage will be set at a lower rate – 4.4 mills – because property values are higher than previously expected. The news about property values was released in April, as part of the county’s annual equalization report.

Everything else, including the payment structure and contract with the county, would be the same as what was previously approved prior to the November vote, Turner said. Any new contract with the county would also be contingent on voters approving the millage, which township officials plan to place on the Aug. 7 ballot. That contract would require approval by both the township and county boards.

From left: Washtenaw County corporation counsel Curtis Hedger and board chair Conan Smith. Hedger has been on medical leave – this was the first meeting he has attended since January, and he received a round of applause from commissioners for his return.

Ronnie Peterson asked for further explanation of the township’s default, saying he couldn’t recall this kind of situation happening here in the past. Curtis Hedger, the county’s corporation counsel, reviewed the history of the bond and said that by not making its May 1 payment, the township breached its contract with the county. He explained that parallel paths are being pursued: the county is taking legal action against the breach of contract, and the township is planning to ask voters for a millage.

In response to another query from Peterson, Hedger clarified that the county made the $175,000 payment on May 1.

Turner reported that May 15 is the deadline for putting a millage question on the Aug. 7 ballot – that’s the preferred approach. If the millage fails, they’d still have time to get a court judgment that would assess a millage on township residents on their December tax bills.

Turner pointed out that this potential outcome has been discussed – it was a situation that has been known. If the millage fails again, it would be better to have a consent agreement filed with the court for approval, to avoid additional legal expenses on both sides.

Peterson – who represents a district that covers most of Ypsilanti – then said that because people like to dip into his community’s business, “let me dip a little, too.” Why hasn’t a consent agreement been reached before now? An obligation has been called, he said. Sylvan Township should be knocking on the county’s door. ”There’s nothing to negotiate – you’re in default,” he said. All communities are hurting badly, Peterson said, but this situation is non-negotiable.

Turner replied that township officials did approach the county several months ago. They knew well ahead of time that they wouldn’t be able to make their payments. But the county’s legal advice was to wait until that non-payment actually happened. The township isn’t fighting this, Turner said – they want to work it out with the county.

Alicia Ping asked what would happen if the millage fails again. What would be assessed on each property owner in the township?

Hedger replied that the point of the consent agreement is to determine that amount. He explained that the consent agreement, reached between the county and township, would be presented to a judge as a recommendation. If there’s no agreement, it’s in the hands of the judge to determine how much to levy.

Ping wondered why the judge couldn’t order 4.4 mills to be levied now, so that it could go on the June tax bills, rather than wait until the county had to make another $175,000 payment. All of the commissioners had sat around the table and made budget decisions, Ping said, and they understand that $350,000 is a lot of money. She didn’t have confidence that Sylvan Township voters would approve a millage they had rejected in November. So why not just ask for a judgment now?

Hedger said the county is pursuing  dual tracks – taking legal action over the breach of contract, while trying to reach a consent agreement that can be presented to the judge. He cautioned that the judge might not accept the recommendation in a consent agreement. Ultimately, it would be the judge who determines the amount to levy.

Ping said the county is asking other residents to be very patient. She asked whether this approach is the fastest way to get money out of Sylvan Township. It is, Hedger said.

Conan Smith said he wanted to highlight the work that Turner had done. Turner has regularly updated the board about the severity of the problem and the consequences of the millage failure, he said, while at the same time being cognizant of the residents and of the damage to their quality of life if the county were to unilaterally demand full payment. The county is taking a measured course, he said. They’re partners. It’s not exclusively the fault of the developer or the township board – the county board played a role too. They need to find a way to get through this situation that keeps the county whole but doesn’t create a dire situation for residents who are already feeling financial stress.

Smith told commissioners he felt content with the process. He doesn’t want to end up with the county picking up the tab, nor should the county try to punish the township. It was great that Sylvan Township’s leaders came forward and are willing to try again with the millage. The right course of action is to get through this without undue hardship while keeping finances stable, he concluded.

Felicia Brabec asked Turner if he had any sense that the voters’ mood had shifted on this issue since November. That’s a good question, Turner replied. There’s a group that has organized against the millage, but they’re also against any payment, he said. Last year, voter turnout was very low. The hope is that if there’s a larger turnout and people are better informed, the millage might pass.

Brabec asked if there are plans for further education before the millage vote. Turner said he’ll make himself available for another town hall meeting, though he said the township’s legal counsel doesn’t want to hold such a meeting. Prior to the November 2011 vote there were three public forums, with about 100 people attending each one, Turner said. The exchanges became personal against the township board. While Turner said he was treated with respect, a lot of anger was directed at township board members. The township’s legal counsel is also a resident of the township, which puts him in a difficult situation, Turner said.

From left: Greg Dill, the county's infrastructure management director, talks with county commissioner Dan Smith.

Dan Smith said he was happy that the county made the bond payment, and maintained the county’s good credit rating. That’s important, he said, because a good credit rating lowers the cost of funding activities like the Sugar Creek drainage project they were voting on that night.

Smith said he also approved of efforts to minimize the impact on Sylvan Township residents. A judgment issued every year could result in widely varying millage rates, he said. At least a voter-approved millage or a court-ordered consent agreement would provide some stability, and help with planning and budgeting.

It’s disappointing that no member of the Sylvan Township board has attended any county board meeting, D. Smith said. [Current trustees are Robert Lange, Luann Koch, Arlene Grau, Reuben Lesser Jr. and Scott Cooper.] This has been an extremely public matter involving tax dollars, he noted, and is fairly unique because public bodies are involved in negotiations. But the county board has heard nothing directly from the township – it would have been nice if they had come to a meeting two weeks ago or a month ago, and let commissioners know about the situation in person.

D. Smith then directed a question to Hedger, asking whether Hedger’s advice stems from the fact that the only ways additional taxes to repay the bond can be extracted are through a judgment issued by the court, or through a voter-approved millage. That’s exactly right, Hedger replied. In that case, Smith noted, it binds the hands of the county board as well as the township board, in terms of actions they can pursue.

Peterson said he’d appreciate it if information about situations like this would be shared prior to the meeting. If he were a resident of Sylvan Township, Peterson said, he’d be upset that people had been aggressive in the past but now “I’m paying the bill.” He wondered how the county board could have approved loaning money to an entity that didn’t have a way of guaranteeing repayment.

[According to minutes of the July 2001 meeting, when the board gave final approval to the Sylvan Township project, Peterson seconded the motion for all three resolutions related to the project – including issuance of the bonds. All three resolutions passed unanimously. The minutes do not record any discussion that might have occurred. In addition to Peterson, current commissioners who also served at that time are Barbara Bergman, Leah Gunn, Wes Prater and Rolland Sizemore Jr., who was absent at that July 2001 meeting. Other commissioners at that time were Vivienne Armentrout, Dillard Craiger, Richard DeLong, Jeff Irwin, Martha Kern, Larry Kestenbaum, Christina Montague, Suzanne Shaw, Steve Solowczuk, and Joe Yekulis. Bob Guenzel was serving as county administrator.]

Peterson said the board should review its policies regarding when the county grants its full faith and credit to a project. If you don’t have cash reserves or assets to cover the payments, he said, you shouldn’t be borrowing money – that’s what caused the nation’s housing crisis. The board should have said no to the project, Peterson said. “We’re in it to our neck, but part of it is our fault.”

Turner responded to Peterson, saying “Amen!” He said he totally agreed, but at the time, everyone felt that the housing growth wasn’t going to correct itself. “That is an assumption that should never have been made,” Turner said.

The money will be paid back to the county, Turner said. It will be paid back by some people who didn’t even live in the township when this project was approved. It’s even more hurtful that residents could be forced to pay it without a vote. [That is, if a millage fails to win voter approval, a judge will make a ruling to assess residents instead.] The situation has a long and complex history – “it’s a mess,” Turner said. This could have been a successful project, he said, but everything went against it. His heart breaks for the people of Sylvan Township and the burden they’ll have to carry, he said.

Referring to the county’s May 1 payment on the bond, Rolland Sizemore Jr. said he didn’t know how the administration could write a check for $175,000 without informing him, and he hoped it didn’t happen again. He asked whether the county would recoup its legal expenses. Hedger said it’s not automatic, but they could ask to be reimbursed. Sizemore wrapped up the discussion by saying that he’d be very upset if something like this happens again.

Sylvan Township Bond: Board Discussion – Coda

Later in the meeting, Rob Turner said he didn’t want to beat a dead horse, but he wanted to clarify that everyone was in agreement about the plan to work with Sylvan Township on a contract similar to the one they had approved last year, laying out a plan for repayment if the millage passes. No one responded, which Turner took to mean assent.

Wes Prater said he thought Turner was doing the right thing, and that he knew Turner had spent a lot of his personal time working on this situation. Prater said he believed Turner was making headway. “Maybe the third or fourth time [the millage vote] will be successful, Prater quipped. He added that he really hoped it would work out this time.

Head Start Update

During her county administrator’s report, Verna McDaniel told commissioners that the county had agreed to a one-year extension to continue administering the Head Start program, through July 31, 2013.

County administrator Verna McDaniel, left, talks with Diane Heidt, the county's human resources and labor relations director.

By way of background, last year – as part of the budget process – the county board voted to relinquish its 46-year administration of Washtenaw Head Start on July 31, 2012. The plan is for federal Head Start administrators to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to seek other interested entities that could take over the program.

The RFP wasn’t issued until April 19, McDaniel reported, and the selection process typically takes 8-12 months. That meant that on Aug. 1 of this year, an interim agency would have taken over the program, running it until federal officials selected a new grantee.

Rather than have two transitions, the county negotiated to extend its administration of Head Start until the next grantee is selected, McDaniel said. This will allow for a smoother transition and avert an interim management period. In exchange, federal officials have agreed to waive a required 20% local match. The program will be funded only through $3.8 million in federal dollars, for which the county must apply for as it has done every year. [McDaniel later clarified for The Chronicle that the match amounted to about $750,000, which the county has previously funded through a combination of cash and in-kind contributions.]

McDaniel said that her staff had met with union representatives earlier in the day to discuss the change, and the union is being very cooperative.

Head Start Update: Board Discussion

Ronnie Peterson wanted details about the impact of eliminating the 20% match. Classroom size is important to him, he said, as is the teacher-to-student ratio. The county has a nationally recognized program because of its high standards, Peterson noted. He did not want those standards to be compromised, and asked for regular reports during this transition period.

McDaniel said that eliminating the 20% match would not result in lower standards or reducing the number of students that participate.

Board chair Conan Smith noted that every year, the county must apply for federal funding to operate Head Start. County staff had not intended to do that for the coming year, but now they will, he said. The application must articulate any program changes, and the staff is working on that now. Because the 20% match is being eliminated, there will almost certainly be program changes “to the negative,” he said, but those details are still being worked out.

Smith pointed out that the will of the board last year had been to relinquish the program to save money. If they now decided they wanted to maintain the program in its same form, they’d need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said. So there will be changes to the program’s scope and delivery of services. The number of children in the program won’t be cut, and the county hopes to partner with other institutions like the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. If that happens, they might even be able to serve more children, he said. But the reality is the program will likely change, and the staff is working on a plan for that.

The alternative, Smith noted, is that an outside organization would come in and take over with fewer resources and inevitably the program would offer fewer services. Extending the county’s involvement gives commissioners the chance to guide the process, he said, and ensure that the children are taken care of. “Is it going to be the program we had last year? No, it is not,” Smith said. But they knew that when they made the decision during the budget process. No one feels good about the situation, he concluded, but that’s the reality of it.

Felecia Brabec said she echoed Peterson’s concerns, and she appreciated the hard work that was focused on the transition. She wondered if it would be possible to find out which entities respond to the RFP. McDaniel replied that typically, the federal officials receive four or five proposals, and she’d try to get details for the board.

Brabec pointed out that there are many educational institutions in this county that would be a good fit for Head Start. It would be good to support those applications, she said, rather than proposals from outside the area.

Yousef Rabhi described the extension as a great course of action, to ensure the program only goes through one transition, not two. It will preserve the program’s leadership and make less of an impact during the transition, he said.

Peterson then spoke at length about his concerns for the “county’s babies” who are born into poverty, and how he feels responsibility for their welfare. He hoped that the county would bring in Head Start experts to act as consultants and guide the county through this transition period.

Animal Control Services

During the May 2 meeting, commissioners were updated on ongoing efforts to address how the county handles animal control services.

Rob Turner, who serves on an animal control services work group led by sheriff Jerry Clayton, reported that a meeting for May 1 had been cancelled and rescheduled for May 15. The work group includes representatives of the county, the Humane Society of Huron Valley, and other municipalities that have animal control ordinances. That group was created by the county board earlier this year and is tasked with developing a methodology to determine the cost of providing animal control services.

At the board’s April 18, 2012 meeting, commissioners had discussed the need for a policy task force on animal control issues to also convene. On Wednesday, board chair Conan Smith passed out a schedule for the task force meetings, with the first one set for Wednesday, May 9. He noted that the resolution passed by the board at their Feb. 15 meeting had set a May 15 deadline for an initial report from the task force. But since its first meeting will be just a few days before that, he said he wasn’t sure what kind of report they could make.

Six meeting dates are scheduled for the policy task force, all on Wednesdays from 8-10 a.m. at the county’s Learning Resource Center, 4135 Washtenaw Ave.: May 9, May 23, June 13, July 25, Aug. 22 and Sept. 12.

Smith described the approach he wanted to take as a bit experimental, using the kind of interest-based process that the county uses in its labor negotiations. He has asked that the meetings be facilitated by staff of the Ann Arbor-based Dispute Resolution Center.

Topics to address include defining the county’s state-mandated services, selecting the non-mandated services they’d like to offer, and identifying the revenue sources available to fund those services. For example, if the county wants to provide animal control services for cats – which the county considers a non-mandated service – then they’d need to find out how much it costs to do that, and what revenues are available to pay for it, Smith said. Serviceability levels are important, he added, because that will be included in the request for proposals (RFP) that the county eventually issues. If the county learns that the desired service levels cost more than its ability to pay, some decisions will need to be made about that.

Another issue is to set policies for pursuing repayment through the courts for animal abuse cases. Smith said he hoped to have preliminary recommendations from the task force in August, with final recommendations in September.

The board had previously set a deadline of Sept. 15 for the sheriff’s work group to complete their recommendations, with a final task force report to be made by Oct. 15. Ronnie Peterson pointed to the amount of meeting time scheduled for the task force, indicating that six two-hour meetings seemed like a lot. Smith hoped it wouldn’t take that long to do the work – if it’s done sooner, “I’d be delighted,” he said.

Noting that there are two parallel tracks – the work group and the task force – Felicia Brabec asked how those two entities would communicate. Smith said he didn’t know yet, but that he planned to communicate with the sheriff, county administrator Verna McDaniel, and commissioner Rob Turner, who all serve on the work group. It’s important that the two entities are “cross-communicating,” Smith said.

Yousef Rabhi reiterated the importance of communication. He noted that the purpose of the May 15 initial report from the policy task force was to provide some direction to the sheriff’s work group. Smith replied that at the first policy task force meeting, they should clarify the scope of their work, which might help the sheriff’s work group to prioritize its research.

Wes Prater clarified with Smith that these meetings will be open to the public and noticed in accordance with the state’s Open Meetings Act. He felt that the work of the policy task force should be simple – establishing the types of services the county will provide, and the level of service. They should start with mandated services and go from there, he said.

Turner cautioned that the recommendations will need to be reviewed at a work session, followed by an initial vote at a ways & means committee meeting, then a final vote at a board meeting. After that, the RFP will be issued, and there needs to be time to receive proposals, review them and make a decision about awarding a contract. All of this needs to happen before the end of the year, when the current contract with the Humane Society of Huron Valley ends. The board needs to be sensitive to this timeframe, Turner said. Otherwise, they’ll find themselves in the same position as they were last year.

2011 Finance, Audit Reports

There were three presentations at the May 2 meeting related to the county’s finances.

Mark Kettner of the accounting firm Rehmann.

In what’s become an annual ritual, Carla Sledge, Wayne County’s chief financial officer and past president of the Government Finance Officers Association, presented the county with a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting for its fiscal year ending December 2010. The award is based on the county’s timely completion of its state-mandated comprehensive annual financial report, or CAFR. This is the 21st year that Washtenaw County has received a certificate of achievement.

Pete Collinson of the county’s finance department then gave a brief presentation of a set of financial reports: (1) a schedule of fund balances and net assets as of Dec. 31, 2011; and (2) a schedule of long-term liabilities over the last five years.

Collinson noted that the board had received a detailed report on 2011 year-end finances at its March 21, 2012 meeting. The county had used nearly $800,000 from its fund balance for the year, but the good news is that the amount was considerably less than anticipated. [The finance staff had originally projected that $5.3 million would need to be drawn from the general fund balance for the year – the board had approved the 2011 budget based on that assumption.]

The county also received favorable news from the equalization report in April, Collinson said, which means that 2012 property tax revenues will be higher than expected. He pointed out that the county also has $14.5 million in the fund balance for its general fund – or 14.2% of annual expenditures, “which is very good,” he said. [The total for all of the county's fund balances stood at $111.743 million at the end of 2011.]

Looking at the schedule of long-term liabilities, Collinson observed that the county’s bonded debt has decreased but its legacy liabilities – including pension and VEBA (Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association) – are growing. [VEBA is a 501(c)9 trust established to pre‐fund retiree health care benefits. Total legacy liabilities have increased from $302.198 million at the end of 2007 to $346.572 million at the end of 2011.]

Collinson said there were no significant findings in the audit report, and that all other issues raised in the audit had been addressed.

He highlighted the county’s state revenue-sharing reserve fund, which stands at $10.8 million. About $6.8 million of that will be used in 2012, with the remaining amount to be used in 2013. At that point, the fund will be depleted, he said, but it’s hoped that the state legislature will reinstate revenue-sharing at some level beyond that.

Collinson reported that the county staff had a conference call in late April with Standard & Poor’s and have been told that the county’s AA+ bond rating will remain unchanged – a very favorable rating, he said.

In wrapping up, Collinson noted that this report is coming to the board a little later in the year than usual. He pointed to significant finance staff turnover in 2011, as well as the fact that finance director Kelly Belknap had been “borrowed” by the administration during the year. [Belknap began serving as interim deputy administrator a year ago, following the medical leave, then resignation, of deputy administrator Bill Reynolds.]

Collinson introduced Mark Kettner from the accounting firm Rehmann, who briefly reviewed the 2011 audit and fielded questions from commissioners.

[2011 comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR)] [communication from Rehmann to board] [building authority 2011 financial statement] [department of public works 2011 financial statements] [water resources commissioner 2011 financial statements] [employee retirement system 2011 financial statements] [money purchase pension plan (MPPP) financial statements] [VEBA financial statements] [2011 Michigan single audit]

2011 Audit Report: Board Discussion

Wes Prater noted that the financial status looks good, with the exception of long-term liabilities. It’s of concern to look at the last five years and see that the county now has nearly $50 million more in long-term liabilities than it did in 2007, he said.

“That’s a tough nut,” Kettner replied, adding that he agreed it was a scary outlook. Those are challenges that are going to survive the people in this room, he said. Previously, the county had a defined contribution plan, he noted, but shifted to a defined benefit plan – that was a policy decision that had an impact on long-term liabilities. To offset that, changes have been made in labor agreements, shifting more of the costs to employees. But benefit programs remain the county’s primary liability, he said.

County commissioners Alicia Ping and Wes Prater.

Prater said that it’s troubling to see such a dramatic increase over the past five years. The county owes its employees for the work they’ve done, he said, but the long-term liabilities are an issue the board needs to address.

Kettner noted that part of the issue is tied to workers taking retirements earlier than anticipated. That’s a strategy that helps the county’s short-term financial situation by removing people from its payroll, he said, but people then start drawing their retirement benefits sooner. Perhaps it’s time to start asking whether the county’s actuarial assumptions – as well as assumptions about interest rates and investment returns – are realistic, he said. These are challenges for everyone, Kettner said, and no one has the answers.

Rob Turner said that assumptions of 7.5% investment returns are nearly impossible. Even if those returns are in positive territory at 3-4%, he said, the system is still in a hole because it was based on getting much higher returns. He said the county’s VEBA and pension boards are looking into this, and will be hiring a new actuary.

The employees’ retirement system liabilities stood at $40.49 million at the end of 2007 and are now at $84.2 million, Turner noted. Just in the last year, those liabilities had increased by $14 million. It’s also important to work with the labor unions representing county employees to address this issue, Turner said, adding that there are “handcuffs” related to that, too. It was addressed in the last labor negotiations, he said, and will be an ongoing issue.

Sugar Creek Drain Bonds

Acting on a request from water resources commissioner Janis Bobrin, commissioners were asked to give initial approval to pledge the county’s full faith and credit for up to $270,000 in bonds to fund an extension of the Sugar Creek drainage district.

The project – which in total is budgeted at $349,899 – was requested by the Washtenaw County road commission. It entails relocating a portion of the county drain, including a section of 1,850 feet adjacent to Platt Road between Judd and Stoney Creek roads in York Township. A second phase includes removing sediment and vegetation, as well as making wingwall repairs, at the drain crossings of US-23, McCrone Road, and Gooding Road.

The Sugar Creek drainage district covers parts of York Township, Augusta Township and the city of Milan. The bonds will be repaid in part by assessing property owners in the district – 70% of the cost of the bonds will be paid in this way. [.pdf map of drainage district] The remainder of the funds will come from York and Augusta townships, the city of Milan, Washtenaw County, the Michigan Dept. of Transportation, and two railroads – Ann Arbor Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railroad. The county’s share of the cost is $24,203 – half of that will be paid by the county road commission.

A contract for the work has been awarded to Mead Brothers Excavating of Springport, Mich., the lowest responsible bidder.

Sugar Creek Drain Bonds: Board Discussion

Wes Prater said he felt the board needed an explanation, since this was a “pretty big project.” Janis Bobrin, the county’s water resources commissioner, described it as a standard construction project, aimed at protecting the road from continued degradation. She noted that her office had been petitioned by the road commission to do the work because of drain problems related to erosion on the county road. The process had involved quite a bit of time negotiating with a property owner in the area where the work will be done, she said.

Prater pointed out that the project showed cooperation between two county departments, though he noted that the road commission is an autonomous unit. [The road commission operates independently from the county, but its three commissioners are appointed by the county board. The water resources commissioner is an elected position.] Prater noted that the project is located in his district – District 4 – and the work is needed.

Bobrin described the relationship between her office and the road commission as a great partnership. Prater agreed, quipping that “it took a while to get there.”

Outcome: Commissioners unanimously authorized bonding for the Sugar Creek drain project. A final vote is expected at the board’s May 16 meeting.

Support for Clean Air Act

A resolution on the May 2 agenda expressed support for the U.S. Clean Air Act, and opposed “attempts to weaken, dismantle, overrule or otherwise impede the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing or implementing” the act.

The resolution was requested by Dick Fleece, director of the county’s public health department. A staff memo accompanying the resolution notes that since the Washtenaw County Clean Indoor Air Regulation was implemented in 2003, the number of county residents using tobacco has dropped from 18% in 2003 to 12% in 2012. The memo notes that “supporting the Clean Air Act, along with national standards can provide protection from traveling air pollutants,” including emissions from Michigan’s 19 coal-fired power plants.

The only discussion on this item came from Yousef Rabhi, who said: “The Clean Air Act is awesome!” When the vote was taken, Rob Turner said he was voting against it because of concerns about the impact on business and employment.

Outcome: The resolution supporting the federal Clean Air Act passed on a 6-1 vote, with dissent from Rob Turner (R-District 1). Dan Smith (R-District 2) abstained. Barbara Bergman (D-District 8) and Leah Gunn (D-District 9) were absent, and Rolland Sizemore Jr. (D-District 5) had left the meeting early and was not present for the vote.

Food Policy Council Appointment

The May 2 meeting included a resolution to appoint Yousef Rabhi, a commissioner representing District 11 in Ann Arbor, to serve on the new Washtenaw Food Policy Council.

County commissioner Yousef Rabhi.

The county board approved the creation of the council at its March 21, 2012 meeting. The council’s goal is to support local “small and mid-sized farmers by fostering policies that encourage local food purchasing and production,” according to a staff memo. Among other activities, the council could also: recommend policy changes at the local, state and national levels; provide a forum for discussing food issues; encourage coordination among different sectors of the local food system; evaluate, educate, and influence policy; and launch or support programs and services that address local food needs.

Partners who have been working on this initiative include the Y of Ann Arbor, Growing Hope, Food Gatherers, the Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP), Slow Food Huron Valley, Eat Local/Eat Natural, Michigan Farmers Union, Ypsilanti Food Coop, and the Washtenaw County public health department.

The council will have a 15-seat membership roster, with members drawn from the following sectors: agriculture, nutrition, education, emergency food system, health care, food services, food manufacturers and distributors, waste management, planning or transportation, retail/business or economic development, human services, faith-based organizations, local governments (board of commissioners), public health, and at large community member(s). The county public health department will be responsible for recruiting members. A draft set of bylaws has also been developed. [.pdf of food policy council draft bylaws]

The council will initially use grant funds from the Michigan Dept. of Community Health, passed through to the Washtenaw County public health department. The council eventually expects to secure financial support from private grants and philanthropic funds. The project will also seek significant in-kind and volunteer support, according to a staff memo.

Outcome: Commissioners unanimously approved the appointment of Yousef Rabhi to the Washtenaw Food Policy Council.

Urban County Annual Plan

A public hearing on the annual plan for the Washtenaw Urban County took place during the May 2 meeting. Only one person spoke: Thomas Partridge.

The annual plan describes how the Urban County expects to spend the federal funding it receives from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) programs, operated by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). [.pdf of 2012-2013 draft annual plan] [.pdf of list of planned projects]

The Washtenaw Urban County is a consortium of local municipalities that receive federal funding for projects in low-income neighborhoods. Current members include the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, and the townships of Ypsilanti, Pittsfield, Ann Arbor, Bridgewater, Salem, Superior, York, Scio, and Northfield. An additional seven municipalities will become part of the Urban County as of July 1, 2012: the city of Saline, the village of Manchester, and the townships of Dexter, Lima, Manchester, Saline, and Webster.

“Urban County” is a HUD designation, identifying a county with more than 200,000 people. With that designation, individual governments within the Urban County can become members, making them entitled to an allotment of funding through a variety of HUD programs.

The Washtenaw Urban County executive committee meets monthly and is chaired by county commissioner Yousef Rabhi. The program is administered by the staff of the joint county/city of Ann Arbor office of community and economic development.

During the public hearing, Partridge said he was very interested in the plan because the Urban County receives state and federal resources for affordable housing. He was disappointed that the county board chair, Conan Smith, and other commissioners hadn’t personally invited constituents of the Urban County areas to speak at the public hearing. The meetings of the Urban County are out of the public view, Partridge said – the meetings are held at the Washtenaw County Learning Resource Center, 4135 Washtenaw Ave., and are not recorded by Community Television Network (CTN).

Partridge advocated for getting an extension on the deadline for submitting the annual plan, because public input on it had been inadequate. No one had been on hand to explain the plan, he said, and it’s almost completely devoid of specific goals for adding additional rental and single-family housing units. Partridge concluded by calling for more public hearings held at locations throughout the county, including in Ann Arbor.

Communications and Public Commentary

There are various opportunities for communications from commissioners as well as general public commentary. These are some highlights.

Communications: Project Grow

Yousef Rabhi reported progress that’s been made on an effort to put Project Grow gardens on the county-owned Platt Road site of the former juvenile justice center. He said he was approached by Eric Meves, a Project Grow board member, who had expressed interest in the property. [Meves attended the May 2 board meeting, but did not formally address commissioners. He had previously made a presentation about Project Grow during public commentary at the April 17, 2012 meeting of the Ann Arbor park advisory commission.]

The nonprofit already has 80 gardens at the nearby County Farm Park, Rabhi said. He pointed out that about 40 people are on a waiting list to get Project Grow plots, and the Platt Road property is available. The county wouldn’t need to do anything, because Project Grow volunteers would come in and till the soil, and install a separate meter on the water hookup so that they could pay for their water use. Project Grow would also add the county to its insurance coverage, so there would be no concerns about liability, he said.

Rabhi said it’s a great way to use the property until the county decides what to do with it, and that Project Grow understands that gardeners might need to leave at some point. [The possible disposition of the property at 2270 and 2260 Platt Road – which includes a vacant 42,320-square-foot building on 10 acres of land – was discussed at a March 8, 2012 board working session.] In this interim period, Rabhi said, having Project Grow gardeners on the site will help the county with security and lessen the likelihood of vandalism there.

Hazel Bowman was honored for her work with the county's foster grandparent program.

Communications: Hazel Bowman

During the May 2 meeting, commissioners passed a resolution honoring Hazel Bowman for her 25 years of work through the county’s foster grandparent program. County administrator Verna McDaniel read the resolution, stating that Bowman ”strengthens the fabric of our community through her work, gracious spirit and unfailing support of others.”

Bowman’s work over the years has included acting as a mentor, tutor and caregiver for children and youth with special needs at Clark Road Group Home, Jefferson Head Start, Henry Ford Elementary, and the Willow Run Early Learning Center.

Bowman received a standing ovation from commissioners and others in attendance.

The foster grandparent program connects qualified volunteers – U.S. citizens who are 60 or older, meet income guidelines, and are able to work 20 hours a week – with special needs children in public schools, hospitals, and day care centers. The foster grandparents receive a $212 monthly stipend, transportation assistance to the site, one meal each day of service, and a free annual physical.

Communications: Public Commentary – Smart Meters

Nanci Gerler told commissioners that she had spoken to the Ann Arbor city council about the growing problem of  DTE’s smart meters, which are now being installed in Michigan and other states, even though some customers don’t want them. There are protests and injunctions against the installation of smart meters in other communities, she said, but those aren’t widely publicized. It’s extremely critical that people are aware that these meters are unsafe, she said. Some people who are sensitive to electromagnetic frequencies see the effects immediately, with headaches, ringing in the ears and sleep disorders. Cost issues are another concern – some people have seen their electric bills increase dramatically after the meters are installed. The meters have also resulted in fires from faulty wiring, she said. “It’s going to impact every one of us,” she concluded.

Communications: Public Commentary – Most Vulnerable Residents

Thomas Partridge spoke during the two opportunities for public commentary. He described himself as an advocate for the vulnerable residents in the county, and urged commissioners to adopt a framework for supporting affordable housing, health care, transportation and education, especially targeted to the most vulnerable population. He criticized some county agencies for not having the best interest of residents at heart, citing specifically the Project Outreach Team (known as PORT), the Community Support & Treatment Services (CSTS), and the Washtenaw Community Health Organization (WCHO). Staff is too often neglectful and have callous attitudes toward residents, he contended.

Partridge also endorsed president Barack Obama for another term, and urged Obama to run on a more people-oriented platform to address unmet needs in health care, education, public transportation and housing, as well as giving emphasis to the needs of the disabled, senior citizens and college students with undue financial burdens.

Present: Felicia Brabec, Alicia Ping, Ronnie Peterson, Wes Prater, Yousef Rabhi, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Conan Smith, Dan Smith, Rob Turner.

Absent: Barbara Bergman, Leah Gunn.

Next regular board meeting: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. The ways & means committee meets first, followed immediately by the regular board meeting. [confirm date] (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 commentary is held at the beginning of each meeting, and no advance sign-up is required.

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Map A: Breakdown by precinct of the vote in Ward 2, with white shading to indicate Jane Lumm's weakest precinct (2-2 with 33%) and black her strongest precinct (2-5 with 71%). Shades of gray show relative strength of Lumm's support. Incumbent Stephen Rapundalo managed a majority in 2-9 and 2-2, but in 2-2 only three people voted. (Image links to dynamic Google Map.)

And the preference for Democrats, which the city of Ann Arbor has shown in recent years, was generally also confirmed in Tuesday’s city council results. Four of five Democratic incumbents were given another two-year term on the 11-member body. Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), Marcia Higgins (Ward 4) and Mike Anglin (Ward 5) all easily kept their seats.

The lone Democratic incumbent who lost was Stephen Rapundalo. He was defeated on Tuesday by Jane Lumm, who served previously on the city council as a Republican, but who ran against Rapundalo as an independent. Rapundalo himself is a former Republican, but served three terms on the council as a Democrat.

Ann Arbor voters also said yes to all three proposals on Tuesday’s ballot. They approved a renewal of the 2.0 mill street repair tax, the addition of a .0125 mill sidewalk repair tax, and a change to the composition of the city’s retirement board of trustees.

Sylvan Township voters were in a less agreeable mood, voting to reject a 4.75 mill tax that would have been used to reimburse Washtenaw County for some bond payments on which Sylvan will likely default in 2012. The county will likely file a lawsuit to recover the money through a property assessment.

In The Chronicle’s travels to polling stations throughout election day, turnout was described by precinct workers as light to moderate. It ranged from a low of less than 1% in three predominantly university student precincts, to a high of 26.6% in Precinct 5 of Ward 2 – the ward with the most hotly contested race. Countywide, turnout was 11.24%, according to the county clerk’s office. However, several election workers noted that percentages are hard to gauge, given that many voters are still registered even if they’ve left the area – as is the case with many voters who register as college students.

Complete results are available on the Washtenaw County clerk’s election results website.

Ann Arbor City Council

Ann Arbor’s city council includes the mayor and two members representing each of five wards, for a total of 11 members. They all serve two-year terms, which are staggered so that in any given year, one seat from each ward may be contested. The mayor’s term is keyed to even years, so this year was not a mayoral election year.

Ann Arbor City Council: Ward 2

In Ward 2 this year, the race between three-term incumbent Stephen Rapundalo and independent challenger Jane Lumm was expected to offer the greatest chance for a challenger to defeat an incumbent. And Lumm prevailed by a comfortable margin.

Among all voters in Ward 2, Rapundalo had 1,359 votes (39.5%) to Lumm’s 2,079 (60.4%). The absentee votes were counted separately from ballots cast at the polls on Election Day and those results came first Tuesday night, with the indication that Lumm stood a good chance of winning the ward – absentee votes are counted by ward, not by precinct. Among absentee voters across Ward 2, Rapundalo had 268 votes (36.7%) to Lumm’s 461 (63.1%).

Rapundalo won a majority of votes in just two precincts – Precinct 2, where he received two of the three votes cast, and Precinct 9, where he received 218 votes to Lumm’s 194. The voting patterns in Rapundalo’s past city council races have included an extraordinarily strong showing by Rapundalo in the two northern precincts near his neighborhood – Precincts 9 and 6 – which has previously made up for deficits in other precincts.

As Map A illustrates, the pattern of relatively stronger support in the north was also attested in Tuesday’s outcome, but not nearly with enough plurality to win the day for Rapundalo. [Dynamic Google Map of Ward 2 2011 election results]

Lumm will take office on Monday, Nov. 14, based on the Ann Arbor city charter provision on terms of city council office:

Terms of Office
SECTION 12.4. (a)
The term of office of each member of the Council, including the Mayor, except as by this section provided, shall be two years. Such term shall commence on the Monday next following the regular City election at which such officers are elected. …

That makes the council’s Nov. 10 meeting Rapundalo’s last one.  This year, as always, the council’s regular meeting was pushed from Monday to Thursday due to the election on Tuesday. So Lumm’s first opportunity to attend a gathering of the council will be at its Nov. 14 work session, when it will take up the issue of the city’s public art program and downtown parking rates (in a joint session with the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.) In candidate forums and other venues, Lumm has stated opposition to using millage proceeds for public art, which the city’s Percent for Art program does.

Lumm will be ceremonially sworn in at the council’s Nov. 21 meeting. This will be her fourth term on the council – she served three terms in the mid 1990s.

Ann Arbor City Council: Ward 1

In Ward 1, Democratic incumbent Sabra Briere was unopposed in Tuesday’s general election, just as she had been in the Democratic primary. Typically, unopposed candidates will still not receive 100% of the vote, because some voters will write in names for a write-in candidate, even if no one has registered as a write-in candidate.

Briere received 1,149 votes (95.27%) against 57 (4.73%) write-ins.

Ann Arbor City Council: Ward 3

The race in Ward 3 was between Democratic incumbent Stephen Kunselman and Republican challenger David Parker. Kunselman received 1,738 votes (77.3%) compared to  Parker’s 482 (21.4%).

Kunselman won every precinct with over 70% of the vote.

Kunselman was first elected in 2006, but lost his seat to Christopher Taylor in 2008. He came back the next year to defeat Leigh Greden. This next will be Kunselman’s third term (though not successive) overall.

Ann Arbor City Council: Ward 4

The race in Ward 4 was between Democratic incumbent Marcia Higgins and Republican challenger Eric Scheie. Scheie had the strongest showing of the three Republican challengers.

Map B. Ward 2 is colored light blue. Ward 4 is colored yellow. The magenta dots are addresses that made monetary contributions to Jane Lumm's Ward 2 campaign. In Ward 4, Precinct 9 (with bolded border) there was a cluster of Lumm contributions. Republican Eric Scheie won that precinct in Ward 4.

Higgins received 1,488 votes (58.8%) compared to Scheie’s 1,013 (40.1%). But he actually carried Precinct 9 with 54% of the vote – 211 votes against 180 for Higgins.

The Chronicle’s mapping of Ward 2 campaign contributions showed that in 2-9 4-9, Jane Lumm received a cluster of campaign contributions. [See Map B.]

Higgins was first elected to the council in 1999 – as a Republican. She switched to the Democratic Party in 2005, a year that saw Stephen Rapundalo win his first seat in Ward 2 – also as a Democrat, though in 2000 he’d run for mayor as a Republican.

On Tuesday night, Higgins visited the Ward 2, Precinct 9 polls to collect the results for Rapundalo, one of only two precincts he carried.

Ann Arbor City Council: Ward 5

The race in Ward 5 was between Democratic incumbent Mike Anglin and Republican challenger Stuart Berry. Anglin received 2,750 votes (79.6%) compared to Berry’s 677 (19.6%). Anglin won every precinct with more than 70% of the vote and polled around 85% in some of them.

Last year in Ward 5, Republican John Floyd tallied similar, but slightly better numbers than Berry, with around 22% of the vote. That was a three-way race between Floyd, Democratic incumbent Carsten Hohnke and independent Newcombe Clark.

Anglin was first elected to the council in 2007. He’ll be starting his third term.

Ann Arbor Ballot Proposals

Ann Arbor voters were presented with three ballot questions.

Ballot proposals: Sidewalk and Streets

On the ballot were two connected proposals, one to renew a street repair millage at a rate of 2 mills and another to add another 0.125 mills to support sidewalk repair. The sidewalk repair millage hinged on being approved in its own right, and also on the renewal of the street repair millage.

Voters approved both millages, with a majority vote in every precinct. Across the city, 10,345 voted Yes on the street repair millage (77.3%), while 3,038 voted No (22.7%).

Support for the sidewalk millage was not as strong: 8,010 voted Yes on the sidewalk millage (60.1%), while 5,314 voted No (39.9%). In one precinct – Ward 4, Precinct 9 – the sidewalk millage only very narrowly achieved a majority. Voting to approve the sidewalk millage in 4-9 were 206 people (52%), compared with 193 (48%) voting against it.

Negative sentiment about the sidewalk millage was based on a variety of issues. Some voters felt the city could take over responsibility for sidewalk repair without an additional levy. Others had already recently repaired their sidewalks under a five-year inspection cycle, which just concluded, and saw it as a question of equity. Still others did not vote for the millage because they disagree with the city ordinance requiring 1% of any capital project be dedicated to support public art as a part of that project.

Ballot proposals: Composition of the Retirement Board

The third proposal before Ann Arbor voters was a change to the city’s retirement board of trustees. The change retains the body as a nine-member group but distributes them differently: (1) the city controller; (2) five citizens; (3) one from the general city employees; and (4) one each from police and fire employees. Eliminated from the mix is the city administrator.

Across the city, 7,977 voted Yes for the change in the retirement board composition (68.1%), while 3,729 voted No (31.9%). The measure achieved a majority in every precinct of at least 61%.

Ann Arbor School Board of Trustees

Two seats – each for four-year terms on the seven-member AAPS board – were open. Six candidates sought the two slots: Albert Howard, Ahmar Iqbal, Patrick Leonard, Larry Murphy, and incumbents Simone Lightfoot and Andy Thomas.

Thomas and Lightfoot won with 24.2% and 21.8% of the vote, respectively.

Across the entire district: Albert Howard had 853 votes (3.5%); Ahmar Iqbal had 3,473 votes (14.4%); Patrick Leonard had 4,180 votes (17.3%); Simone Lightfoot had 5,257 votes (21.8%); Larry Murphy had 4,427 votes (18.4%); Andy Thomas had 5,838 votes (24.2%).

The Ann Arbor Public Schools district includes some areas in townships outside the city of Ann Arbor. In the townships, support for first-place candidate Thomas nearly matched that inside the city – 23.4% in the townships compared to 24.2% inside the city.

However, overall third-place candidate Larry Murphy moved up to second place among township voters. In the townships he received 22% of the vote compared to 19% for Lightfoot.

The breakdown just for the townships: Albert Howard had 211 votes (4.6%); Ahmar Iqbal had 636 votes (13.9%); Patrick Leonard had 724 votes (15.9%); Simone Lightfoot had 893 votes (19.6%); Larry Murphy had 1,002 votes (22%); Andy Thomas had 1,069 votes (23.4%)

Sylvan Township

A ballot measure in Sylvan Township, located in the western part of Washtenaw County, has implications for Ann Arbor residents, because it impacts the county.

By way of a quick demographic sketch, Sylvan Township’s population is 2,833, with a median household income of $72,115, according to the latest available data from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). The largest percentage of land in the township is in agricultural use (34.7%), followed by residential (30.5%).

Sylvan Township voters on Tuesday rejected a proposal to levy a 4.75 mill, 20-year tax, by a vote of 475 (59%) to 328 (41%). Proceeds from the millage were intended to help with payments on $12.5 million in bonds issued in 2001 to build a water and wastewater treatment plant that was intended for future development. The township expected that connection fees from developers would cover the bond payments, but the development never materialized and the township has been struggling to make those payments.

Now Sylvan Township – located west of Ann Arbor, near Chelsea – is facing default on its bond payment in May 2012, which Washtenaw County will need to cover. Millage proceeds would have been used to repay the cost of the bond payments made by the county – the county had backed the bonds with its full faith and credit, and is ultimately responsible for making the payments if the township defaults.

Even if the millage had passed, proceeds alone would not have been sufficient to cover the entire cost of the bond payments, however – forcing the county to tap its capital reserves as well. The millage proceeds were also intended to repay the county to cover any amount used from the county’s capital reserves, as well as interest. The proceeds would also have been used to repay the county treasurer’s office, which advanced about $1.2 million to the township in 2007 and 2008 related to this project.

At its Oct. 19, 2011 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners gave final approval to a contract with Sylvan Township related to the township’s bond repayment schedule. However, the contract was contingent on voters passing the 4.75 mill tax, and will be nullified in the wake of Tuesday’s vote.

A staff memo accompanying the contract resolution indicated that if the millage failed and the township defaulted on its bond payments, the county could file suit against the township for breach of contract in failing to meet its debt repayment obligation. Such legal action could result in a court-ordered assessment on township residents. The county is expected to make the bond payments to avoid having its bond rating negatively affected.

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Now Sylvan Township – located west of Ann Arbor, near Chelsea – is facing default on its bond payment in May 2012, which the county will need to cover. The township board voted to put a proposal for a 4.75 mill, 20-year tax on the Nov. 8, 2011 ballot for township residents, with proceeds to repay the cost of the bond payments that would be made by the county.

The millage proceeds alone would not be sufficient to cover the entire cost of the bond payments, however, and the county would need to tap its capital reserves as well. After the bond is repaid, the millage proceeds would continue to be used to repay the county to cover the amount used from its capital reserves, as well as interest. The millage proceeds would also be used to repay the county treasurer’s office, which advanced about $1.2 million to the township in 2007 and 2008 related to this project.

The contract between the county and township is contingent on voters passing the 4.75 mill tax. If the millage fails and the township defaults, the county could file suit against the township for breach of contract in failing to meet its debt repayment obligation, according to a staff memo. The county would also need to make the bond payments, to avoid having its bond rating negatively affected.

This brief was filed from the boardroom at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Ann Arbor city administrator Steve Powers talks with Washtenaw County administrator Verna McDaniel before the Oct. 5 meeting of the county board of commissioners. Powers, who started his job in mid-September and was formerly a Marquette County administrator, told the board he looked forward to building more collaborative efforts between the city and county. (Photos by the writer.)

The proposal debated by the board came from the Washtenaw County road commission. Rob Turner (R-District 1) recommended indefinite postponement. He objected to the idea of levying a millage without voter approval – an action that road commissioners believe is possible under a 1909 law. It’s still on the books but that hasn’t been used in decades.

Ultimately, the board voted to postpone action until their Dec. 7 meeting. The next evening – on Thursday, Oct. 6 – they held a working session on the issue.

In other business, the board gave initial approval to a contract with Sylvan Township, related to its bond repayment schedule, which the township is struggling to meet. The county will be tapping its reserves to help the township cover the bond payments, but the deal is contingent on township voters passing a 4.75 mill, 20-year tax that’s on the November 2011 ballot.

The board also took an initial vote to create a new management position and hire Greg Dill into that job – as county infrastructure management director. The job is part of a broader reorganization of county administration, which hasn’t yet been approved by the board.

Accolades were threaded throughout the meeting, as the county handed out its annual Environmental Excellence Awards to several local organizations. Praise was also served up to Lansing lobbyist Kirk Profit for his work on the county’s behalf. That praise included initial approval of a two-year contract renewal for Governmental Consultant Services Inc. – Profit is a director of the Lansing-based firm.

The board also said an official farewell to Kristin Judge, a Democrat from District 7 who resigned her seat, and was attending her last board meeting.

Introduction: Ann Arbor City Administrator

At the start of Wednesday’s meeting, county administrator Verna McDaniel introduced her counterpart at the city of Ann Arbor, Steve Powers, who started the job as city administrator on Sept. 15. Powers told commissioners that it felt good to be back at a county meeting – he’d spent most of his career in county government, including the past 15 years as county administrator in Marquette County.

Powers said that McDaniel, as county administrator, was one of the first people he had wanted to get to know when he came to town. He came from a place where cooperation was a necessity, and it’s clearly a necessity in Washtenaw County too, he said. Powers cited several examples of how cooperation is already taking place between the city of Ann Arbor and the county, including police dispatch operations, the joint office of community & economic development, and natural areas preservation. He said he looked forward to building on those efforts, to better serve citizens and manage the tax dollars entrusted to local government.

Road Repair Millage?

The item on Wednesday’s agenda that received the most discussion related to a county road repair plan – and the potential for a millage to fund it. The idea of a millage was put forward by the Washtenaw County road commission.

The board had initially discussed this issue at its Sept. 8 working session, and it was expected to be on the agenda for the Sept. 20 meeting. But it wasn’t until Sept. 23 that the road commission formally submitted its plan to the county clerk’s office outlining road improvements. The plan was then brought forward as an item of discussion on Oct. 5. However, no resolution related to the topic was proposed, and no member of the road commission attended Wednesday’s meeting.

At issue is how the board should respond to the road commission’s plan. One option would be to levy an 0.6 mill tax, which is now estimated to raise $8.7 million for a raft of road improvement projects countywide. [.pdf of projects list] [.pdf of map showing project locations] Road commissioners believe the millage could be levied under Public Act 283 of 1909. Because that act pre-dates the state’s Headlee Amendment, it could be levied by the board and would not require voter approval.

Wes Prater began the discussion by proposing that the board table the item. It’s important to communicate what’s happening with the road commission, he said, and that discussion needs to take place at a public meeting before the board takes action.

It’s ultimately the county’s responsibility to provide funding for roads, Prater said. Yet it’s been nearly two years since the board met with the road commission to talk about it. The road commission is getting the same amount of state funding as it did in 2000, Prater said. It’s struggling like everyone else, and many county roads and bridges are in bad shape. This needs to be discussed, he concluded.

Alicia Ping observed that the information given to the board was different than what some communities have received. At least one community had been told that all the millage proceeds collected from their community would be spent on projects there, but it turned out that no projects on the final list were located there, she said. [Ping did not specify which municipality she was referring to.]

There’s no question that some county roads need to be fixed, Ping said, but residents should be the ones voting on a millage.

Barbara Bergman said if she’s going to tax citizens and must choose between funding services for the homeless and children, for example, or filling potholes, then the choice was clear to her. She couldn’t support a millage for roads.

Ronnie Peterson separated out two issues: Communication with the road commission, and funding for county roads. The road commission has presented a plan, and now it’s up to the board to decide how to proceed, he said. They should have a dialogue in the public eye, he said. Finding a funding mechanism should come after a report on the condition of the roads, Peterson said.

Board chair Conan Smith said there’d been some back and forth about setting up a meeting with road commissioners, and he apologized for not following up on it. Regardless of the millage issue, the board needs to start working more closely with the road commissioners, he said.

From left: Commissioners Yousef Rabhi (D-District 11) and Rob Turner (R-District 1).

Rob Turner, who serves as the board’s liaison to the road commission, thanked Smith for apologizing. There’s been some miscommunication and misunderstanding, he said. The board needs to make time to meet with the road commissioners, and road commissioners have expressed the desire to do that. The board needs to hear about the conditions of county roads and bridges, and future funding needs.

However, Turner said, since news about the possible millage has spread, he’s heard from people of all walks of life who are very concerned that a millage might be levied without voter approval. There are also split opinions among officials of local townships, he said.

Turner said he supports road repair, but doesn’t support this approach to funding it. He then moved to postpone the road commission’s proposal indefinitely, and to encourage the road commission to work toward funding the projects with a voter-approved millage or millages.

Prater responded by saying Turner was jumping the gun – the board hadn’t yet discussed the proposal with the road commission. Postponing action until a specific date was fine, Prater added, but he didn’t support getting rid of the proposal completely.

Dan Smith agreed that indefinite postponement was premature. He said he had planned to suggest postponing it until the board’s Nov. 2 meeting.

Conan Smith asked a procedural question: Didn’t the board have to vote the proposal up or down? Curtis Hedger, the county’s corporation counsel, replied that this is the first time a county has considered this particular law in roughly 40 years, so in some ways they’re winging it. Hedger’s reading of the law is that after the road improvement plan is presented to the board, commissioners can do whatever they want – approve it, reject it, pick only certain projects out of the list and levy a lower amount to cover the costs of those projects, or find another funding source.

Hedger noted that if the board delays action much longer, the county wouldn’t be able to include the levy on the December tax bills – assuming they wanted to levy the millage this year.

Kristin Judge said she disagreed with Turner. It’s important to address this now, she said. The board is an oversight body for the road commission – the board doesn’t control the road commission’s budget, but it does appoint the road commissioners, she noted. In her last newsletter, Judge said, she conducted a poll about the millage. Even constituents who are generally anti-tax seemed supportive of it, she said. Good roads are key to economic development, but the state isn’t providing sufficient funding. “To me, it’s an infrastructure question,” she said.

She felt the county could push the envelope on this issue. Judge also expressed frustration that the road commissioners hadn’t been scheduled for a meeting with the county board so far. She said she knew the road commissioners had wanted to come, but they hadn’t been put on an agenda – that’s an issue, she said. She would not support indefinite postponement.

Bergman said roads might be the county’s responsibility, but it’s yet another unfunded mandate from the state.

Turner said he appreciated Judge’s comments and he also wants the roads maintained. But this “ancient law” isn’t the way to do it. He felt it would be wrong to bring road commissioners to a meeting if he had no intention of supporting a millage. If the road commission comes with a more viable alternative – that he might vote for – then that’s fine.

Judge countered that it’s important to have this debate in public – and her board colleagues shouldn’t assume that they know the outcome of a vote. They shouldn’t stand in the way of a public debate on an issue of such importance to residents.

Dan Smith asked about procedure – is postponing indefinitely just another way of voting no? Hedger replied that there wasn’t a main motion to vote on. The agenda item had been a discussion point, not a resolution. The county administration didn’t want to presume to know what the board would want to do, he said, “so it’s now in your lap.” The motion to postpone indefinitely would have the effect of killing it, Hedger said. If commissioners vote to do that, the issue could be reconsidered in the future if it’s brought forward by someone on the prevailing side of the vote, he said.

After some additional commentary by Peterson, who supported having a public discussion with the road commission, Prater moved to “call the question” – a procedural move that forces a vote.

Outcome on Turner’s motion to postpone indefinitely: The motion was rejected on a 3-7 vote, with support only from Turner, Barbara Bergman (D-District 8) and Conan Smith (D-District 10). Leah Gunn (D-District 9) was absent.

At that point, Rolland Sizemore Jr. suspended discussion to handle other items on the agenda, including the Environmental Excellence Awards – several people were on hand to accept those awards, and had been waiting while the board conducted other business.

Later in the meeting, when the discussion resumed, Dan Smith moved to postpone the item until the board’s Dec. 7 meeting, and that it be scheduled as the topic of a working session at some point before that date.

Yousef Rabhi, who chairs the board’s working session, said he had tentatively scheduled the road commission for the Oct. 6 working session, pending the outcome of the board’s discussion on Wednesday. His only question about the Dec. 7 date is whether it’s too late for putting a millage on the December tax bill, if that’s what the board decides to do.

Dan Smith said they needed to think through the issue, indicating that they shouldn’t rush to make a decision based on the timing of the tax bill.

Peterson said he wished Dan Smith had made that proposal an hour ago – it would have saved the board some time. And if there’s an intent to kill the proposal on Dec. 7, that should be stated, he said. It’s just a report, he said, and the board needs to deal with it.

Sizemore expressed some reluctance to hold the working session so soon. He said he wanted to get some documents under the Freedom of Information Act before meeting with the road commission.

At that, Prater called the question.

Outcome: The motion to postpone the road commission proposal until Dec. 7 passed on a 9-1 vote, with dissent from Alicia Ping (R-District 3). Leah Gunn (D-District 9) was absent.

Later in the meeting, Sizemore urged anyone who was watching the meeting to contact the road commission and give them input. He provided the web address and phone number: www.wcroads.org and 734-761-1500.

The topic was on the agenda for the Oct. 6 working session, which was attended by road commissioner Ken Schwartz and Roy Townsend, the road commission’s director of engineering.

Sylvan Township Bond Repayment Contract

At Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners were asked to give initial approval to a contract with Sylvan Township related to the township’s bond repayment schedule. The township has been struggling to make payments on $12.5 million in bonds issued in 2001 to build a water and wastewater treatment plant intended to serve future development. The township expected that connection fees would cover payments for the bond, which is backed by the county’s full faith and credit. But the development never materialized. [More extensive background on the situation is provided in a staff memo that was part of the board's packet of material for the Oct. 3 meeting.]

Sylvan Township – located west of Ann Arbor, near Chelsea – is now facing default on its bond payment in May 2012, which the county will need to cover. The township board voted to put a proposal for a 4.75 mill, 20-year tax on the November 2011 ballot for township residents, with proceeds to pay a portion of the bond payments.

The millage proceeds alone would not be sufficient to cover the entire cost of the bond payments, and the county would need to tap its own capital reserves to cover the remaining amount. After the entire bond is repaid, the millage proceeds would continue to be used to repay the county to cover the amount used from its capital reserves, as well as interest. The millage proceeds would also be used to repay the county treasurer’s office, which advanced about $1.2 million to the township in 2007 and 2008 related to this project.

The contract between the county and township is contingent on voters passing the 4.75 mill tax. If the millage fails and the township defaults, the county could file suit against the township for breach of contract in failing to meet its debt repayment obligation, according to a staff memo. The county would also need to make the bond payments, to avoid having its bond rating negatively affected.

Sylvan Township Bond Repayment Contract: Commissioner Discussion

This issue has been discussed several times over the past year, most recently in a report by commissioner Rob Turner at the board’s Sept. 7, 2011 meeting. Turner represents District 1 on the county’s west side, which includes Sylvan Township.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Yousef Rabhi asked how much the county would be paying on an annual basis. Curtis Hedger, the county’s corporation counsel, pointed Rabhi to supplemental materials provided at the meeting, which laid out the repayment schedule. Sylvan Township’s portion of the bon payments – using millage proceeds – start at $853,860 in 2012, with the county contributing $118,498. The estimates for county payments vary, reaching a high $262,414 in 2023. The bond will be repaid in 2026. For five years after that, all millage proceeds will be paid directly to the county, to repay the county’s contribution from previous years.

Hedger said the estimates for millage proceeds were calculated for the worst-case scenario – that is, for zero percent growth in property value.

Outcome: Commissioners unanimously gave initial approval to the contract with Sylvan Township, contingent on township residents passing a 20-year, 4.75 mill tax in November. A final vote on the resolution is expected at the board’s Oct. 19 meeting.

Contract Renewal for Lansing Lobbyist

Commissioners were asked to give initial approval to renew a two-year contract with Governmental Consultant Services Inc., a Lansing-based lobbying firm. The contract would run from  Nov. 1, 2011 through Oct. 31, 2013 at $54,250 per year. That’s the same rate that the county currently pays, and is already built into the proposed 2012-2013 budget. [.pdf of draft contract]

GCSI lobbyist Kirk Profit attended Wednesday’s meeting. He and his colleagues most recently gave a formal update to the board at their March 2, 2011 meeting. GCSI provides lobbying services at the state level for several local units of government, including the city of Ann Arbor.

County administrator Verna McDaniel noted that commissioners had been given a list of issues that GCSI had worked on for the county, and said that GCSI staff have been very helpful and responsive. From the staff memo recommending GCSI’s contract renewal:

GCSI has, on numerous occasions, been able to cut through the red tape and arrange for County officials to meet with various hard to reach members of State government. In addition, GCSI has on many occasions advocated the County’s position on pending legislation with key State lawmakers. GCSI also keeps the Board of Commissioners and key County Administrative personnel periodically apprised of developing legislation that could positively or adversely affect County government. This early notification permits the County to develop a strategy to either promote or oppose the proposed legislation.

Contract Renewal for Lansing Lobbyist: Commissioner Discussion

Several commissioners praised GCSI and Profit specifically. Conan Smith said Profit has done yeoman’s work over the last year, on issues ranging from state revenue-sharing to 80/20 legislation [requiring public employees to pay 20% of their health care costs, effective Jan. 1, 2012, or to cap the amount that local governments would pay as premiums for employees] to threats against Act 88, which allows the county to levy an economic development millage without voter approval. Smith hoped Profit would be able to bring even more benefits to the county in future years.

Kirk Profit, a director with Governmental Consultant Services Inc., a Lansing lobbying firm, attended the Oct. 3 county board meeting. Commissioners gave initial approval to renew GCSI's contract with the county.

Barbara Bergman recalled that when this contract first came up for consideration years ago, she questioned whether the county would get any value out of it. “That was not the smartest question I ever asked,” she said.

Kristin Judge also thanked Profit, and said she hoped someday the county would consider hiring a lobbyist at the federal level, too. She was especially grateful for his work in helping secure funding for an improvement project at Lakeside Park on Ford Lake, which included building a new boathouse.

Wes Prater quipped that with all the praise Profit was getting, he must not actually be on the payroll. Profit replied that GCSI appreciated the compensation provided by the county. Prater added that Profit has always been a hard worker, now and when Profit had been a state legislator.

Conan Smith noted that Profit also has worked on behalf of the county parks & recreation department. He asked for an update on pending state grants for parks-related projects.

Profit began by praising parks & rec staff and its director Bob Tetens, crediting them for pushing for collaborative efforts that have been funded in the past. That included the $500,000 in state funding received for the Ford Lake project, in partnership with Eastern Michigan University.

This year, Profit said, even though there’s not a lot of money coming out of the state, Washtenaw County is again well-positioned to receive funding from the state Dept. of Natural Resources trust fund. He said that state Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-District 18) – who is married to Conan Smith – and state Rep. David Rutledge (D-District 54) have been helpful, as have DNR staff. Profit noted that Gary Owen, DNR’s legislative liaison, grew up in this area.

He mentioned that the $300,000 requested from the DNR trust fund for the proposed Ann Arbor skatepark scored well, and now they’re working with the trust fund board to ensure that the full amount gets awarded. [The county parks & recreation commission approved $400,000 in matching funds for the skatepark, which is proposed for city-owned land at Veterans Memorial Park in Ann Arbor. The $300,000 state grant would be counted toward meeting that match.]

Profit also cited collaboration between the city of Ypsilanti and the county parks & rec department on a $300,000 DNR grant for Rutherford Pool, calling it a recreational opportunity in an urban setting that’s unmatched in this region. He praised the collaborative efforts of the county, and thanked commissioners for their support.

Outcome: Commissioners unanimously gave initial approval to the GCSI contract renewal. A final vote is expected at their Oct. 19 meeting.

Infrastructure Manager

On the agenda was a resolution to authorize hiring Greg Dill to the new position of county infrastructure management director, with a salary of $116,758. The resolution also approved the creation of that post, with responsibility for information systems and technology, as well as management of the county’s buildings and other facilities. Some of those duties were previously assigned to the county’s information & technology manager, a position that was eliminated following the departure of James McFarlane earlier this year.

Dill has been director of administrative operations for the sheriff’s office, but previously worked for five years in facilities management for the county. Dill attended Wednesday’s meeting but was not asked to address the board formally.

The creation of this new job and Dill’s appointment to it were originally on the agenda for the board’s Sept. 21, 2011 meeting. However, that item and a proposed reorganization of county administration were pulled from the agenda at that meeting. The reorganization would have replaced the deputy administrator position by giving additional responsibilities to four managers, including Dill, paying them annual stipends of $15,000 each in addition to their salaries. Some commissioners had concerns over the stipend, and the proposed reorganization has not yet been reintroduced.

Infrastructure Manager: Commissioner Discussion

Wes Prater asked whether the job description could be altered after board approval. County administrator Verna McDaniel said it’s quite easy to do that and it can be handled administratively, as long as they’re not changing the salary rate.

Rolland Sizemore Jr. said he had a problem with the way salaries are presented for new positions. There’s often just a range given, he said, but it would be better to have the exact amount. He asked that staff provide information over the past two years indicating the salary ranges that the board has approved for new hires, and the actual salary that’s been set for those jobs. It might be time to tighten up what the county pays, he said.

Outcome: Commissioners unanimously gave initial approval to create the position of infrastructure manager and hire Greg Dill for that job. A final vote is expected on Oct. 19.

Appointment to Natural Areas Advisory Group

On the agenda was a resolution appointing Catherine Riseng to the natural areas technical advisory committee (NATAC), which advises the county parks & recreation commission regarding its natural areas preservation program (NAPP). Her appointment was recommended by the county parks & recreation commission, to fill a seat previously held by Mike Wiley. She’ll serve the remainder of a two-year term, which expires on Dec. 31, 2012.

Riseng is an aquatic ecologist researcher at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment. She also is vice chair of the city of Ann Arbor’s greenbelt advisory commission. [.pdf of Riseng's cover letter and resume] Other NATAC members include: Rane Curl, Bob Grese, David Lutton, Tony Reznicek, John Russell, and Sylvia Taylor.

NAPP is funded by a 10-year countywide millage that was first approved by voters in 2000 and renewed in 2010 at 0.2409 mills.

Outcome: Without discussion, commissioners unanimously approved the appointment of Catherine Riseng to NATAC.

Environmental Excellence Awards

At Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners passed a resolution honoring winners of the county’s 2011 Environmental Excellence awards, now in its 14th year. The awards were handed out to representatives of the winning organizations by Steve Manville of the county’s environmental health department, and Janis Bobrin, water resources commissioner.

The overall Environmental Excellence Award went to the Chrysler Group LLC for the Chrysler Proving Grounds in Chelsea, in recognition of its waste reduction and recycling program, its model stormwater and erosion control system involving native plants, and its efforts to keep toxic materials out of the waste stream.

The Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Commission was given the Excellence in Water Quality Protection Award for its innovative stormwater management, use of native plants in landscaping, and pollution prevention. An honorable mention in this category was awarded to Horiba Instruments Inc.

The Leslie Science and Nature Center of Ann Arbor received the Excellence in Waste Reduction and Recycling Award for its extensive recycling program, purchasing of recycled products, and educating the public in waste reduction and conservation ethics. And ITC Holdings Inc. of Ann Arbor received the Excellence in Pollution Prevention Award for reducing the use of toxic substances and preventing pollution before it is produced.

After the presentation, several commissioners praised the winners. Yousef Rabhi said environmental quality is important, and it’s important to have local institutions like these at the forefront of environmental protection. He noted that during the presentation he’d received a text message from his girlfriend, Christine Muscat, an environmental compliance analyst with Con-way Freight in Ann Arbor. She was teasing Rabhi about the fact that her employer’s environmental efforts hadn’t been mentioned. Rabhi gave Conway and his girlfriend a shout-out for their work.

Conan Smith said that places that take care of the environment attract the best talent. It’s part of Washtenaw County’s culture, he said, telling the organizations that “you’re really the models of the future of our economy.”

Smith and other commissioners also thanked Bobrin and her staff for their efforts in environmental protection, praising the innovative approach they took to the work.

Ann Arbor Drain Projects

Drain projects in Ann Arbor – including two related to the East Stadium bridge reconstruction project – were given initial approval by commissioners at Wednesday’s meeting.

The county water resources commissioner’s office was asked by the city of Ann Arbor to design and build stormwater control measures for the bridges along Stadium Boulevard between Kipke and South Industrial, according to a staff memo. The Allen Creek East Stadium bridges drain project and the Malletts Creek East Stadium bridges drain project will require in total no more than $415,000 for bonds issued with the county’s full faith and credit. The bonds will be repaid through special assessments on property in the drain district for this project.

Separately, county commissioners gave initial approval to an Allen Creek drain project in Ann Arbor. The project involves installing an underground infiltration system on the west side of the Veterans Park Ice Arena and putting in a rain garden near the entrance of the ice arena on the east side of the building. Rain gardens will also be installed next to Fire Station #3 at 2130 Jackson Ave., and trees will be planted in the city right-of-way throughout neighborhoods on the city’s west side.

The Allen Creek project had been previously approved by the board at its July 2011 meeting, as one of several drain projects authorized at that time. The overall cost of the projects approved then is now expected to be $1.45 million less than originally estimated. However, the $330,000 approved for the Allen Creek project turned out to be an underestimate – that project is now expected to cost up to an additional $65,000. That $65,000 – covered by bonds issued with the county’s full faith and credit – was the amount commissioners were asked to approve at Wednesday’s meeting.

Outcome: Commissioners unanimously approved the drain projects on an initial vote. A final vote is expected on Oct. 19.

Farewell to Kristin Judge

It’s the board’s custom to award a resolution of appreciation to commissioners when they leave the board. On Wednesday, Kristin Judge, a Democrat who represents District 7, received such a resolution. It was her last regular board meeting before her resignation, which took effect on Oct. 9. She announced her decision to step down on Sept. 30, citing potential conflicts with a job she recently accepted with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC).

After receiving a framed copy of the resolution, Judge got a standing ovation from her board colleagues and staff, and several commissioners praised her work on the board. Conan Smith (D-District 10) described her as a “force of nature,” while Rob Turner (R-District 1) cited her energy, passion, and compassion. Ronnie Peterson (D-District 6) called Judge ”an outstanding public servant – and I have not said that about many people in my career.”

From left: Commissioners Ronnie Peterson, Conan Smith, Kristin Judge, Wes Prater.

Saying there were too many people to thank individually, Judge said she’s loved every minute of her time on the board. [She was first elected in 2008, then re-elected in 2010.] One of her goals, she said, has been to make people understand that government really works, and that most people in government are good. In her new job she’ll work with local and state governments nationwide, she said, helping address online security threats.

Much of Judge’s recent work has been related to cyber-security issues. She led the formation of the Washtenaw County Cyber Citizenship Coalition, and organized the Oct. 7 Michigan Cyber Summit, a day-long event that served as the kickoff for National Cyber Security Awareness Month. Keynote speakers included Janet Napolitano, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. In conjunction with that event, at Wednesday’s meeting the board also passed a resolution declaring October as cyber security awareness month in Washtenaw County.

The county has announced the process for filling the vacant District 7 seat, which will be an appointment made by the board of commissioners. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 5 p.m., and the board is expected to make a decision at its Oct. 19 meeting.

The board must make an appointment within 30 days of a resignation, for a commissioner to serve until special elections are held. There will be a Feb. 28, 2012 primary for that seat, followed by a May 2012 special general election. The winner of that election would serve a truncated term for the current District 7, through 2012. Redistricting of the county board that takes effect in 2013 will reduce the number of districts in the county from 11 to 9 – candidates for the new districts will compete in an Aug. 7 primary and November general election.

Upcoming Working Sessions

The topic of working sessions emerged at several points during Wednesday’s meeting.

After the discussion about a potential road repair millage, Rolland Sizemore Jr. told his fellow commissioners that he wanted to schedule a working session to discuss all possible millages that might be coming in the future. He said he’s heard rumors that some commissioners want to see a countywide millage to fund human services. There’s also the likelihood that a countywide transportation millage might be floated. Why not put them all on the table to get a better overall sense of what’s happening? he said.

Ronnie Peterson said he hoped that the road repair millage would be the topic of a working session, before other possible millages get discussed. Sizemore noted that a working session on the road millage was set for the following evening.

Later in the meeting, Yousef Rabhi – who as chair of the working sessions sets those agendas – reported that the Oct. 6 working session would include the possible road millage, as well as an update on bond ratings and the county’s fiscal scorecard. A special budget-related working session will be held on Thursday, Oct. 13, he said. Topics will include an update on the community’s food and housing needs, and a discussion of the proposed 2012-2013 budget for nonprofit and other outside agency funding.

Peterson questioned why commissioners needed an update on food and housing needs. They should focus on budget items, he said. Rabhi indicated that the update, which had been requested by Barbara Bergman, would be brief.

Conan Smith observed that the community’s food and housing needs provide a context for making budget decisions, particularly for funding nonprofits that provide food and housing services.

Peterson again expressed concern, saying he hoped the working sessions weren’t going to be stacked with non-budget items. If so, he wouldn’t attend. The budget for funding outside agencies is over $1 million, he noted. They had a lot to discuss, and commissioners shouldn’t be burnt out on other topics before they get the chance to address the budget. The budget is their biggest responsibility, he said. [Earlier in the meeting, the board had voted to postpone the agenda item on a discussion of the budget until their Oct. 19 meeting.]

Bergman said she certainly wanted a complete discussion about outside agency funding, but she agreed with Conan Smith – the update on food and housing would provide context.

Rabhi then highlighted topics for other upcoming working sessions, noting that topics reflect items that commissioners had previously expressed interest in. On Thursday, Oct. 20, the board will hear from Pat Horne McGee, director of Washtenaw Head Start. [The county administration has proposed relinquishing support for the program, and previously reviewed that option at a July 21, 2011 working session.] Other topics for Oct. 20 include professional services contracts and the county’s Voluntary Employee Benefits Association (VEBA) trust. A Nov. 3 working session will focus on the 2012-2013 budget.

Public Commentary: Salem Twp. Historic District

The only speaker during the four opportunities for public commentary was Terry Cwik, president of the Salem Area Historical Society. He said the topic he wanted to address – creation of an historic district for Jarvis Stone School, the Dickerson Barn and associated property – wasn’t on the agenda that night. It would likely come up at the board’s Oct. 19 meeting, but he couldn’t attend then. The school is owned by the historical society, he said, and a study committee has been working on a proposal for the board to review.

Cwik said the one-room schoolhouse on North Territorial was built in 1857 and in continuous use until 1967. The historical society now uses the school as its headquarters, he said. The site is a worthy candidate for designation as an historic district, he said, and would be the second one in Salem Township. [The current historical district is Conant Farm on Napier Road.]

Kristin Judge said she’d been to the school, and called it a gem in the community. Conan Smith expressed confidence that the historic district designation would eventually be approved, and noted that it was located just a couple of miles from where he’d grown up. He also joked that it was special because commissioners Barbara Bergman and Wes Prater had been part of the school’s first graduating class. Prater pointed out that Smith was incorrect: “It was the second,” Prater quipped.

Present: Barbara Levin Bergman, Kristin Judge, Ronnie Peterson, Alicia Ping, Wes Prater, Yousef Rabhi, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Dan Smith, Conan Smith, and Rob Turner.

Absent: Leah Gunn.

Next regular board meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. The Ways & Means Committee meets first, followed immediately by the regular board meeting. [confirm date] (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.

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