Minutes of the DDA meeting on June 11, 2007
Scio Township Hall
827 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
Chairman Upton called the meeting to order at 12:05 P.M.
Members Present: Arbour, Cornish, Holland, Mayo, Nielsen and Upton
Members absent: Fox, Luckhardt and Weaver
Others present: Del Vecchio, Falzon (United Bank & Trust), Fecho, Hedberg and Siddall
Arbor moved and Nielsen seconded a motion to approve the minutes of May 14, 2007. The motion passed by a vote of all of the members present.
Notes from the Road Committee meeting of May 31, 2007 were received and filed.
Washtenaw County Road Commission Report:
Siddall announced that the Phase III plans, which are 90% complete, have been submitted to MDOT. Approval by MDOT is expected in early July.
We received $170,000 for our enhancement grant proposal. Chairman Upton thanked Nancy Hedberg and Sheryl Siddall for all the work they did preparing the grant application, and he thanked Manager Fecho for alerting the DDA to the fact that these funds were available. Had it not been for Fecho’s persistence on this issue, the DDA would never have submitted an application.
Siddall is following up on the status of the $400,000 federal grant through Congressman Walberg’s office. The grant was included in the last Transportation Appropriations bill by Congressman Schwarz; however, we need to clarify that “Jackson Road – Michigan” is our project.
The “Jobs Today” application period may be extended to include work to begin by April 2008. If the bill is passed to extend the date the WCRC will be first in line to receive part of the eight million dollars remaining in the fund. An application has been submitted and Siddall will follow up.
Siddal passed out a map, which displayed the status of the Jackson Road feeder roads. She will try to have cost estimates for repairing these roads by the June Road Committee meeting.
Del Vecchio is working on mitigation plans for five properties in Phase III.He is getting cost estimates from different contractors. He will be meeting with Lewan to review the plans this week. Del Vecchio is meeting with sign companies about relocations. He expects the sign contractor will get a multiple permit from the Township.
Del Vecchio will be taking three variance requests to the ZBA this month. He said it was not necessary to reapply for variances that have already been granted, as requested by an attorney.
Del Vecchio then passed out the Phase III Status Report and described the progress to date.
He then discussed what some of the problems are with properties that have attorney representation. He also said that ROW acquisition won’t meet the August deadline, but should be done in time for construction to begin next spring, and would probably be within budget.
Upton summarized the present status of ROW acquisition:
Acquired 44
Grading permit only 1
Working 23
Total 68
Landscape Consultant’s Report:
Hedberg explained that Del Vecchio had asked her if she would oversee landscaping mitigation. She handed out cost estimates for the work she might be asked to do and explained some details. Del Vecchio explained why he wanted to involve Hedberg in this work. He mentioned that the work could be billed directly to the DDA and wouldn’t have to go through the Road Commission. Also, Hedberg has knowledge of the Township ordinances and procedures with respect to landscaping.
Holland moved and Nielsen seconded a motion for the DDA to retain Hedberg to do the landscaping mitigation oversight work.
Arbour yes, Cornish yes, Fox absent, Holland yes, Luckhardt absent, Mayo yes, Nielsen yes, Upton yes, Weaver absent. The motion passed.
Hedberg is going to attend an MDOT seminar on pedestrian traffic and will report back. She has volunteered to do this pro bono. Upton thanked her for this and said the DDA should reimburse her for any travel expenses she incurs. This seminar should provide the DDA with additional information regarding pedestrian accessibility. Upton said that when consultant Cox attended the Roads Subcommittee meeting a few months ago, he said the Township would eventually need to have in place an accessibility plan for pedestrian traffic. Mayo questioned if this was to be part of the Master Plan. Hedberg said it was separate from the Master Plan. There was some discussion as to how the pedestrian plan would relate to the Master Plan.
There was discussion about snow removal and liability.
Chairman’s Report:
There is a need to relocate the sewer in the construction phase of Lowe’s out lots. The easements are still needed. There was some discussion as to whether the DDA or Township sewer fund would pay. Per the agreement reached in March, the Township Sewer fund would pay for the work in the out lots at Lowe’s.
Township Manager’s Report:
At Upton’s request DeLong had emailed our Attorney McGow and asked several questions. Fecho quoted McGow’s replies and inserted several comments. McGow does not believe there is a way for the DDA to pay for police protection. Fecho offered some alternative suggestions. Fecho also brought up the Home Depot site. The DDA plan would have to be amended to include the portion of the proposed Home Depot PUD which is currently residential. He explained that there would be a window when the Home Depot property would qualify as deteriorated and would then qualify to be included in the DDA. Fecho explained his view upon expanding the DDA. There was a great deal of discussion as to whether this property should or should not be included. Holland asked if we could get some idea as to costs. Fecho advised to wait until the Home Depot site plans were in and we could see whether the bulk of the improvements would be inside or outside the current boundaries of the DDA.
Executive Director’s Report:
Financial reports for the fiscal year through May 2007 were included with the June agenda. DeLong asked if there were any questions. There were none.
Other Reports:
Mayo presented a preliminary summary of the results of the Planning Commission’s survey related to the revision of the Township Master Plan. There were 1418 responses to the 3000 mailings. This represented more than a 50% response when the undeliverable questionnaires are subtracted. This is a high number for this type of survey. Mayo could not hand out the report, as the Planning Commission has not yet accepted it. She did explain the sampling process and described the highlights of the results. The report will be available at the Township upon acceptance by the Planning Commission and a summary will also be available on line.
Old Business: None
New Business:
Invoices:
The Bank of New York $300.00
The Bank of New York $262.50
The Bank of New York $250.00
Hedberg Associates $280.00
Panera Bread $137.47
Richard A. DeLong $800.00
Total $2,029.97
Nielsen moved and Cornish seconded a motion to pay the invoices.
Arbour yes, Cornish yes, Fox absent, Holland yes, Luckhardt absent, Mayo yes, Nielsen yes, Upton yes, Weaver absent. The motion passed.
DeLong said that CDAA6-12-07 is maturing tomorrow. Both Ann Arbor Commerce and United Bank & Trust have offered to renew the CC at 5.45% for periods of from three to twelve months. There was some discussion as to the renewal time and the bank selection.
Arbour moved and Cornish seconded a motion to renew the CD at Ann Arbor Commerce Bank for three months at 5.45% annual interest.
Arbour yes, Cornish yes, Fox absent, Holland absent, Luckhardt absent, Mayo yes, Nielsen yes, Upton yes, Weaver absent. The motion passed
Discussion and audience participation: None
Adjournment: Nielsen moved to adjourn the meeting at 2:15 P.M. Mayo seconded the motion. The motion passed by a yes vote of all the members present.
