Minutes of the DDA meeting on August 13, 2007
Scio Township Hall
827 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
Chairman Upton called the meeting to order at 12:14 P.M.
Members Present: Arbour (1:05 PM), Cornish, Mayo, Nielsen and Upton
Members absent: Fox, Holland, Luckhardt and Weaver
Others present: Del Vecchio, Fecho and Siddall
Nielsen moved and Cornish seconded a motion to approve the minutes of July 9, 2007. The motion passed by a vote of all of the members present.
Notes from the Road Committee meeting of August 2, 2007 were received and filed.
Washtenaw County Road Commission Report:
Siddall said there had been a grade inspection meeting on July 17th. There was a long, but good review. OHM is addressing the comments by MDOT. The Phase III plans will go to the WCRC this week. The final plans will go to MDOT by the end of September. The project bidding will be held up until the entire ROW is in hand. Things are looking good. Upton asked if there were any crossover changes at Honey Creek. The answer was no. The project will be bid as is. If the Honey Creek project moves forward and they are able to demonstrate that a different cross-over configuration would be better, it would be possible to incorporate that change via a change order. For now, Siddall said we have to keep the plan going. They will continue the dialog (with Honey Creek) but will finalize the plans.
Del Vecchio has asked for a written a letter from the Honey Creek people requesting a commitment to grant the ROW. There has been no commitment by the developer. Del Vecchio is putting an agreement together and hopes they will follow through. A Good Faith Offer will be presented and if rejected, then the next step would be condemnation. We have to move ahead to meet our deadline. Cornish asked if there had been a lawsuit yet by Honey Creek Development. The answer was no by the Township.
Siddall said she had received a funding letter for a little over 1 million dollars from the State “Jobs Today” program. Upon question from Mayo, Siddall explained the program. A date change in extending the program made the Phase III project eligible. Siddall also said that it appears that we may get $400,000.00 that was appropriated to a broadly written Jackson Road project.
At this point Del Vecchio went through the parcel Acquisition status report and described the ROW that still needed to be acquired. He talked about the status of the Honey Creek property at some length.
Several parcels are currently going through the condemnation process. Del Vecchio explained that the WCRC obtains possession of a parcel at the time he files for condemnation with the court. An owner can Challenge Necessity for a public purpose. If the judge dismisses the necessity challenge in condemnation hearing, then the WCRC can take possession. If not the judge may extend additional time to the owner for discovery. If this should happen the decision may go on for some time. At that point the only arguments are necessity and money. Upton summarized the ROW status:
ROW in hand 55
Filed with the court 3
In process 10
Total 68
Siddall explained what she felt were the priorities for repairing Jackson feeder roads. (Siddall’s priorities were included in chart form with the meeting agenda) It was decided to plan to do April Drive and Jackson Plaza next year and Heussler Court and Parkland Plaza in 2009. Upton said the DDA could “up front” the money and be reimbursed from SAD’s set up by the Township. Fecho said that some sub-division roads may also be repaired, but these would not be funded by the DDA.
Upton suggested that we try to get a block grant for sidewalks in Parkland Plaza. These sidewalks will be a challenge. Sidewalks are a problem with open ditch roads. Mayo said that Comcast had agreed to provide sidewalks in their area.
Upton asked what we needed to do to get the feeder road program going in 2008. Fecho replied that SAD road plans would take 3-5 months to set up. The plans will be subject to referendum. The next steps with the SAD’s are up to the Township and the Manager. Fecho said that a resolution would be presented at the next meeting.
Siddall mentioned that bike lane width had been resolved.
Del Vecchio then passed out a letter from Michigan Sign Company, which included estimates for sign relocation along Jackson in Phase III. He explained the problems that come with sign moving. Electrical hookups are the biggest problem. Michigan Signs will relocate the landscaping, if possible. The invoices from Michigan Sign will come directly to the DDA Board after approval by Del Vecchio.
Cornish moved and Arbour seconded a motion to accept the Michigan Sign proposal for an amount not to exceed $150,032. plus tax.
Arbour yes, Cornish yes, Fox absent, Holland absent, Luckhardt absent, Mayo yes, Nielsen yes, Upton yes, Weaver absent. The motion passed.
Landscape Consultant’s Report:
No report. Hedberg could not attend this meeting.
Chairman’s Report:
Heberg couldn’t be at this meeting as she was out of town, but she had talked to Upton and told him that the storage of additional tree bags would be a problem. We will keep what bags we already have.
Upton talked about the community fair meeting to be held this evening to consider suggestions in relation to updating the Scio master plan.
Upton also said that there would not be additional charges by OHM for providing plans to allow for future pedestrian crossovers at Scio Farms, Staebler and Baker.
Township Manager’s Report:
Fecho distributed a summary of available sewer capacity in the Scio Sewer system. The system will be 115 REUs short, if the developments that have requested capacity are approved. He explained the alternatives of building a Scio plant or expanding the Ann Arbor plant. There are pluses and minuses to either plan.
Nielsen commented that he thought the Honey Creek possibility was probably out.
Fecho then described the bonding possibilities for this year and next. He gave an update on options. After Labor Day we have to move on bonding. DDA should start preparing for what our needs are. There was a discussion of needs and timing.
The Safety Committee wants to use DDA funds for security in the DDA area. Scio will have reduced sheriff patrols in 2008. Fecho talked about possible ways in which DDA funds could be used. Cornish said business owners along Jackson Road were negative on a DDA millage. He feels there should be a Township millage to provide safety. Upton gave his opinion as to what DDA funds could be used for. There was discussion of the DDAs mission and a general discussion about police protection.
Executive Director’s Report:
A balance sheet as of July 31, 2007 and cash flow report for the fiscal year through July 2007 was provided with this month’s agenda. DeLong asked if there were questions. There weren’t any.
Delong reported that a CD was maturing and suggested that we transfer the funds from the CD to the DDA checking account as the DDA has several large payments to make.
Mayo questioned how over-capture worked. Upton gave a brief outline of the tax increment situation.
Arbour moved and Nielsen seconded a motion to transfer $2,566,119.85 plus one month accrued interest from a CD to the DDA checking account.
Arbour yes, Cornish yes, Fox absent, Holland absent, Luckhardt absent, Mayo yes, Nielsen yes, Upton yes, Weaver absent. The motion passed.
Other Reports: None
Old Business: None
New Business:
Invoices:
Scio Township Treasurer $2,055,109.00
Scio Township (misc. past items) $15, 067.78
WCRC $288, 190.38
Cardmember Services (July lunch) $139.37
Grand Traverse Pie Company $ 131.48
Hedberg Associates $340.00
Richard A. DeLong $800.00
Total $2,359,778.01
Nielsen moved and Mayo seconded a motion to pay the invoices.
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: Arbour moved to adjourn the meeting at 2:12 P.M. Cornish seconded the motion. The motion passed by a yes vote of all the members present.
