Scio Township DDA Minutes
September 14, 2009
Scio Township Hall
827 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Members Present: Arbour, Cornish, Holland, Mayo, Rae and Upton
Members Absent: Clark, Fox and Weaver
Others Present: Del Vecchio, Egeler, Fecho, Fronizer, Hedberg, Shirilla and Siddall.
Chair Arbour called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m
Audience Participation: There were no visitors present who wished to speak.
Minutes:
Mayo moved and Upton seconded a motion to accept the minutes of the 8/10/09 DDA Board meeting. The motion passed by a yes vote of all members present.
The notes from the 9/4/09 Roads Subcommittee meeting were received and filed.
Presentation by SPARK:
Greg Fronizer and Donna Shirilla provided the board with some information regarding SPARK and their request for funding support from the DDA. They reviewed the structure and mission of SPARK. They discussed some of SPARK’s targeted industries and mentioned that SPARK is focused on attracting and retaining businesses that sell their products and services to customers outside of Washtenaw County (“exporters”), as opposed to commercial and retail establishments that cater to customers within the county. The rationale for this is that the “exporters” help attract commercial and retail establishments. Fronizer and Shirilla reviewed the recent activities and achievements of SPARK. SPARK is the main point of contact between Washtenaw County and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. This is a key point, because many established businesses that are considering locating new facilities in Michigan are looking for MEGA grants, which are provided by the state through MEDC. They mentioned that there are 8 municipalities that help provide funding for SPARK. Most of these provide $5,000 per year in assistance, and that is the amount SPARK is requesting from the DDA. SPARK provides their contributing municipalities with an annual report on job growth/loss/retention.
Washtenaw County Road Commission Report:
Del Vecchio reported on Right-of-Way activities. The sign has been raised on Parcel 25. On Parcel 31, the parking lot has been repaved, and Hedberg is now working on the landscaping. On Parcel 32, Del Vecchio received a settlement offer from the property owner, which he presented to the Right-of-Way Committee. The ROW Committee advised him to respond with a counter-offer. Arbour and Clark are reviewing the proposed agreement between the DDA, the Township and the WCRC on the distribution of any proceeds that could result from the sale of Parcel 38. Del Vecchio presented the board with 5 potential courses of action for selling, leasing, or maintaining Parcel 38. He will discuss these options with the Roads Subcommittee, and at the October board meeting they will recommend which option to pursue. The driveway needs to be reconstructed on Parcels 49 – 51 (Lowe’s). On Parcel 178, Judge Morris ruled on the two motions presented by the WCRC. Del Vecchio presented the ROW Committee with two settlement offers presented by the property owner – one to acquire the necessary ROW and another to acquire the entire parcel. The ROW Committee advised him to accept the offer on the necessary ROW only. Drainage easements are needed on the following parcels: 169/170, 181, 182A, and 187. A sign also needs to be replaced on 182A.
Siddall reported that construction of the eastbound pavement is almost complete. Most of the curb is also done, and work is underway on the driveways and sidewalks. The Jackson/Staebler intersection is open, but the Jackson Road entrance to Scio Farms Estates is still closed while paving is being finished. Work has been finished on all of the Scio Utilities connections. Siddall expects the next traffic switch to occur by late September. At that time, traffic will begin flowing on both sides of the median; however, it will be restricted to the right lanes only in both directions, while work is completed on the turn-arounds and median. Siddall will soon be receiving some bids for the brick pavers needed to be installed at the Arbor West site.
Landscape Consultant’s Report:
Hedberg reported that the landscaping contractor will start installing plants in the Phase III median around the end of September. As mentioned by Del Vecchio, she is working on the landscaping on Parcel 31, and she expects that work to be completed this week. She has also been working with some people at Sheridan Books, who will be planting a tree in the Phase III median near their site to commemorate a co-worker who passed away earlier this year.
Chair’s Report: Chair Arbour had no report.
Township Manager’s Report:
Fecho reported that the Township has received two requests for Industrial Facilities Tax Exemptions (IFTs). One of these is from Terumo Heart. That request is approaching the stage where it will be acted on by the Scio Township Board. Terumo Heart is seeking an IFT on a $5 million investment they are contemplating making on their site. The other request is from the Norfolk Properties site and is still in its early stages. Fecho also gave the board a brief update on the discussions that have taken place in the meetings of the Scio Local Roads Committee. That group is looking at ways of funding maintenance and improvement of Scio’s local roads. Arbour and Upton will be meeting with the chair of the Local Roads Committee, Lew Kidder, to hear a funding suggestion which that committee is considering.
NEW BUSINESS
On August 19, 2009, WAVE Executive Director Michaelene Pawlak submitted a letter to the DDA Board requesting that it consider providing additional funding for the services WAVE provided to the DDA District between November 2008 and July 2009. Upton pointed out that the funding being requested was above and beyond the payments the DDA has made under the agreement spelled out in the Purchase Order approved by the DDA in October 2008. Upton moved and Holland seconded a motion to respectfully decline to provide the funds requested in the WAVE letter of August 19, 2009. The motion carried.
Mayo moved and Holland seconded a motion to approve payment of $5,000 to SPARK in support of its activities for the year beginning October 1, 2009. On a roll call vote, Arbour, Cornish, Holland, Mayo, Rae, and Upton voted yes. Clark, Fox, and Weaver were absent. This check will be part of the October check run.
CT Property:
This is Parcel 38. Activities regarding the possible sale, lease, or maintenance of this property are outlined above in Del Vecchio’s Right-of-Way portion of the Washtenaw County Road Commission report.
Financial Report:
In response to some questions posed at the August meeting, Treasurer Upton provided the board with additional long-range financial projections. Based on his current information, the DDA is on a sound financial footing. Even if the DDA District experienced no growth in its Taxable Value for an extended period, it would still be capable of funding most of the projects it has been contemplating. If the District experienced a decline of Taxable Value in the near term, it would take a decline of 23% to yield the projection of a negative year-end balance in any future year, assuming the DDA undertook no new projects beyond Phase III of Jackson Road. In the scenario of a 23% decline, the negative year-end balance does not show up until the 2024/25 fiscal year. Upton and Egeler also discovered that some tax increment revenue which should have gone to the DDA in the 2008/09 fiscal year was, instead, disbursed to Washtenaw County and Scio Township. This was due to the incorrect application of a new wrinkle in the collection of taxes on commercial and industrial personal property that the state implemented when it replaced the Single Business Tax with the new Michigan Business Tax last year. The amount the DDA should receive back from Washtenaw County is about $45,000, and the amount it should receive back from Scio Township is about $11,000. Overall, the DDA’s financial position is sound. Based on that information, Arbour will allocate about 30 minutes of the October meeting for a discussion on the prioritization of the DDA’s future projects.
The current financial report was received from Egeler. The following invoices were presented for payment:
Sandra J. Egeler $ 400.00
Michigan Signs (boulevard Phase III) $ 1,333.06
People’s Express $ 6,840.00
Plante & Moran $ 2,000.00
Scio Township (2009 Audit) $ 5,425.00
Scio Township (US Bank, Bond Interest Payment) $ 104,825.00 Washtenaw County Road Commission $ 447,151.80
WAVE $ 315.00
Total $ 568,289.86
Mayo moved seconded by Rae, to authorize the DDA to pay the foregoing invoices. On a roll call vote, Arbour, Cornish, Holland, Mayo, Rae and Upton voted yes. Clark, Fox and Weaver were absent. The motion carried.
Egeler noted that, with the above payments to the WCRC and Michigan Signs, the DDA had now spent all of the funds received from the bonds it sold in 2006 and 2008.
OLB BUSINESS: There was none.
Adjournment:
A motion was made by Mayo, seconded by Cornish, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried. Meeting adjourned 1:50 PM.
