Scio Township DDA Minutes
April 20, 2009
Scio Township Hall
827 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Chair Upton called the meeting to order at 12:06 PM
Members Present: Arbour, Clark, Cornish, Mayo, Rae, and Upton
Members Absent: Fox, Holland and Weaver
Others Present: Delong, Fecho, Hedberg and Siddall.
Public Comment: there was none
Minutes:
Arbour moved and Mayo seconded a motion to accept the corrected minutes of 3-9-09. The motion passed by a yes vote by all members present.
The notes from the Road Committee meeting of 3-27-09 were distributed.
Washtenaw County Road Commission Report:
Sheryl Siddall advised that the spring road work on Jackson has commenced, and paving should begin shortly. The number of driveway access points will be collectively placed as much as possible, to avoid having to stop the paving process.
With regard to open condemnation issues, parcel 22 involves a damage claim for interior damage related to road construction. There appear to be reasons to question whether any damage was caused by construction, however, in the interest of resolving the matter,
Arbour moved seconded by Mayo, to grant Frank del Vecchio the authority to resolve this matter in an amount not to exceed $3500. On a roll call vote, Arbour, Clark, Cornish, Mayo, Rae and Upton voted yes. Fox, Holland and Weaver were absent. The motion carried.
With regard to parcel 31, Thetford, repairs still need to be scheduled and completed. Frank del Vecchio will be reporting to the ROW Committee on Parcel 32 and the outcome of the case evaluation process. Parcel 38 was through the case evaluation process, which was then accepted by the WCRC and rejected by the Plaintiff. It is scheduled for trial in June. Parcel 48, Terumo, still has some issues outstanding.
Landscape Consultant’s Report:
Nancy reported that the median grasses have been cut, and arrangements for summer grass cutting completed. The WCSD will arrange for trash pickup, and it is planned to pull dead plant materials from the beds. Advance Underground is handling landscape issues in Phase III.
Chair’s Report: Bill Upton reported that he had prepared an analysis as to what point in time we might have to be concerned that the DDA’s fund balances might drop into the red. However, having met with Sheryl Siddall and Sandy Egeler, he discovered an error in his budget calculations flowing from a contingency provision. His initial analysis concluded that the Township’s tax values would have to drop some 16% before the funds would drop into the red, however, as now revised, it would be an 8% drop in tax values which would plunge the DDA into the red, and that could occur in 2019.
Marty Mayo reported on bus service, and while she had prepared a new spreadsheet to give us more valuable information about ridership, that information had not been provided by either bus service. The primary interest is in discovering what the bus service means to the business community. It was also reported that Woodchase Apartments had no interest in supporting bus services for their tenants.
Township Manager’s Report:
Darrell Fecho reported that Terumo has expanded and has requested IFT funding for an $8M expansion and adding 50 jobs. Also he reviewed the approval of the Honey Creek Development proposal (as a conditional rezoning) and what that mixed use development might eventually result in.
An extended discussion followed regarding the upcoming Jackson Road Cruise, scheduled for May 16th. He discussed logistics and public transportation issues, and passed on the request of the organizers that the DDA consider underwriting any losses up to $5000, being an estimate of fixed costs such as bus services, etc.. This was on consideration of the possible result were the event to occur on a rainy day, when attendance can be expected to be low and revenues even lower.
Arbour moved seconded by Cornish, to underwrite any losses experienced in the Jackson Road Cruise in an amount not to exceed $5000. On a roll call vote, Arbour, Clark, Cornish, Mayo, Rae and Upton voted yes. Fox, Holland and Weaver were absent. The motion carried
NEW BUSINESS
Parkland Plaza sidewalks:
Darrell Fecho noted that while he had passed on the necessary information to the Washtenaw County staff for urban county funding of the project, he had heard nothing back. He noted the possible use of Metro Act funds which are received by the Township from cable providers to be used for row purposes.
Scio Master Plan Amendments:
Dave Cornish reported on the recent Planning Commission meeting and the potential action with regard to SPA-3, being the area north of I-94 on Zeeb Road. His concern was that the area needed a regional draw, and the proposed revisionary language would prohibit such regional commercial uses. The members of the DDA indicated a belief that a successful private development in this area is likely to need some kind of establishment that would act as a regional draw. (Examples of commercial businesses that might serve that purpose include stores like a Barnes & Noble or Whole Foods.) With the current economic environment, the DDA hoped that the Planning Commission would retain as much leeway as possible to attract tax-paying enterprises to the DDA district (which includes SPA #3). This is important for maintaining the DDA’s long-term financial health.
Note: Member Clark left at 1:30 pm
A motion was made by Upton, seconded by Cornish, to convey to the Planning Commission that the DDA supports the language in the current draft of the new Master Plan with respect to Special Planning Area #3, including bullet point #5, which provides the Planning Commission the flexibility to approve developments in SPA #3 with appropriately defined establishments that would act as regional draws. The motion passed unanimously.
Financial Report:
The following invoices were presented for payment:
Grand Traverse Pie Company $ 91.76
Sandra J. Egeler $ 400.00
Orchard, Hiltz, McCliment $ 138.00
Peoples Express $ 7,920.00
Printing Systems, Inc. $ 137.99
Scio Twp. (bond payment, 2008 bonds) $ 65,104.20
Scio Twp. (bond payment, 2006 bonds) $ 190,000.00
Scio Twp. (bond payment, refinanced bonds) $1,059,400.00
Washtenaw County Road Commission $ 155,183.73
WAVE $ 546.00
Total $1,478,921.68
Arbour moved seconded by Mayo, to authorize the DDA to pay the foregoing invoices. On a roll call vote, Arbour, Cornish, Rae, Mayo, and Upton voted yes. Clark, Holland, Fox and Weaver were absent. The motion carried.
A motion was made by Arbour, seconded by Mayo, to approve the DDA Budget adopted by the Scio Township Board of Trustees at its March meeting. On a roll call vote, Cornish, Rae, Mayo, Upton, and Arbour voted yes. Clark, Holland, Fox, and Weaver were absent. The motion carried.
Election of Officers:
An election of officers for the coming year was held. The following candidates were nominated:
Dan Arbour – Chair
Dave Cornish – Vice Chair
Bill Upton – Secretary/Treasurer
A motion was made by Mayo, seconded by Rae, to close the nominations. The motion carried. A motion was made by Mayo, seconded by Rae to elect the officers shown above. The motion carried.
Adjournment:
A motion was made by Arbour, seconded by Mayo, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried. Meeting adjourned 1:45 p.m.
