Minutes of the DDA meeting on May 14, 2007
Scio Township Hall
827 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
Chairman Upton called the meeting to order at 12:09 P.M.
Members Present: Arbour, Cornish, Fox, Holland, Nielsen Upton and Weaver
Member absent: Luckhardt and Mayo
Others present: Del Vecchio, Fecho, Hedberg and Siddall
Fox moved and Holland seconded a motion to approve the minutes of April 16, 2007. The motion passed by a vote of all of the members present.
Notes from the Road Committee meeting of April 26, 2007 were received and filed.
Washtenaw County Road Commission Report:
Siddall said that the Phase III plans would be delivered to MDOT next week. The plans are on track for a November 2007 bid let.
There have been ongoing discussions with the developers of the Honey Creek PUD. The location of the crossovers is a subject of the discussions.
Feeder road information is being prepared and will be presented at this month’s Road Committee meeting.
There has not been a response from MDOT to the request for the landscaping enhancement grant.
Del Vecchio talked about why American Title Company has been doing the Phase III work. He has contacted and gotten cost estimates from another firm. In comparing costs he has found that while there might be savings for some cost items in selecting another firm, he feels that it is not clear that there would be savings overall. Also, he said that American has done the title work for the first two phases and is familiar with the unusual partial ROW divisions required. Del Vecchio passed out data showing what the costs have been to date for title work. There was some discussion about the data. We are about half way through the ROW process and Del Vecchio feels there would be delays if he switched the title work to another company. The new firm would have to go through a learning process. While the engineering plans are on track for a November bid letting, it is not certain that we will be able to have all the ROW work completed by then. It is important to avoid any unnecessary delays.
Several questions were asked and discussed. Holland said he believed that one company makes sense. Upton recommended staying with American. There was general support from the DDA Board that we stay with American for Phase III title work.
At this point Del Vecchio passed out copies of the Jackson Road Phase III Parcel Acquisition Status report and described each parcel’s present situation. Del Vecchio was asked if the information in the report was confidential. His reply was that the chart only shows information which is already public.
Del Vecchio discussed the probable need for an additional sewer easement at the Lowe’s property. He also mentioned some issues at the Honey Creek PUD parcel. Fecho made mention that there have been revisions to the Honey Creek waste water treatment plant, but at this point the situation is “up in the air”.
Upton asked about the cross over concerns at Honey Creek. He was told that the locations had not been resolved, but a resolution is not out of the question.
Del Vecchio is working with the Honey Creek people to resolve the ROW requirements without going to condemnation.
The West Scio Town Center (South Baker) appears to have been abandoned.
Del Vecchio described some problems solving the ROW for property 178.
Upton summarized the ROW progress to date. Thirty-six obtained, four close and 28 working on.
Landscape Consultant’s Report:
Hedberg is arranging to replace four damaged trees. There have been some discussions about aerating lawns. Some weeding may be done. There was some discussion about what kind of trees should be used to replace trees. And some general tree discussion.
Chairman’s Report:
At Arbour’s request, Upton had a brief orientation session with him last week. Within the next few weeks, Upton will offer a more formal orientation session to Arbour, Mayo, and anyone else who is interested.
Township Manager’s Report:
Fecho and Nielsen met with the Michigan Economic Development Council. They discussed tax abatements. Scio can permit 50% for 12 years. Two businesses will probably apply.
Township and DDA future bonding was discussed. The Township has about $8.5 million in non-DDA related projects for which it will need to bond in either 2007 or 2008. From an interest rate standpoint, it is advantageous to keep the overall Township bonding below $10 million in each calendar year. Our plans had been for the DDA to bond for the remaining cost of Phase III in 2008; however, if the Township is not prepared to bond for these other projects in 2007, it will be desirable for the DDA to advance its bond into 2007 to keep the overall amounts for Scio below $10 million in each of the next two years. The DDA should not have a problem doing this. We’ll need to see how things develop and make a decision this fall.
Nielsen said that the Local Roads Committee is looking for a member and that a DDA Board member would be desirable. The person must live in the Township. Roads are a problem.
Fecho gave a progress report on the activities of the Public Safety Committee. There was discussion about how to pay for police protection, especially in the DDA district.
Fecho described the total fire and police protection situation.
Fecho will set up a meeting of the committee formed last month to talk about the possibility of DDA assistance on this issue.
There was some discussion about the Planning Commission survey results. Upton will contact Mayo to see if the DDA could get an update on the results at our next meeting.
Executive Director’s Report:
Financial reports for the fiscal year through April 2007 were included with the May agenda. DeLong asked if there were any questions. There were none.
Other Reports: None
Old Business: None
New Business:
Invoices:
U.S. Bank 2002 Bond Annual Fee $325.00
Hedberg Associates $300.00
Panera Bread $137.47
Richard A. DeLong $800.00
Total $1,562.47
There was a motion by Holland and a second by Nielsen to pay the listed invoices.
Roll Call: Arbour yes, Cornish yes, Fox yes, Holland yes, Luckhardt absent, Mayo absent, Nielsen yes, Upton yes, Weaver yes. The motion passed.
DeLong said that CDU5-13-07 had matured. He said that United Bank & Trust offered to rollover the CD for 6 months at 5.25% interest and with no penalty for early withdrawal.
Weaver moved and Fox seconded a motion to rollover the CDU5-13-07 for 6 months at 5.25% interest and with no penalty for early withdrawal.
Roll Call: Arbour yes, Cornish yes, Fox yes, Holland yes, Luckhardt absent, Mayo absent, Nielsen yes, Upton yes, Weaver yes. The motion passed.
Holland moved and Cornish seconded a motion to approve an addition of $26,990.10 to the 2006-07 ROW contract bringing the total to $146,990.10 and to recommend approval of the revised agreement to the Scio Board of Trustees.
Roll Call: Arbour yes, Cornish yes, Fox yes, Holland yes, Luckhardt absent, Mayo absent, Nielsen yes, Upton yes, Weaver yes. The motion passed.
Discussion and audience participation: None
Adjournment: Nielsen moved to adjourn the meeting at 2:17 PM. Cornish seconded the motion. The motion passed by a yes vote of all the members present.
