November 9, 2009
Scio Township Hall
Members Present: Arbour, Clark, Cornish,
Members Absent: Fox, Rae and Weaver
Others Present: Egeler, Fecho, Nancy Hedberg, Scott Hedberg and Siddall. Later attendees included Dick DeLong and Donna Shirilla and Vince Nystrom of Ann Arbor Spark
Chair Arbour called the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m.
Audience Participation: There were no visitors present who wished to speak.
Minutes:
The minutes of September 14th and October 12th were approved.
S. Siddall reported on Right-of-Way activities. On parcel 32, Print-Tech, a trial date is scheduled in January, and a resolution doesn’t seem likely, with a number of motions before the Court. Parcel 38 has been deeded to the WCRC and signs have been posted regarding the sale or lease of the property. Thetford’s signs and lights have been replaced, and $550 paid to Affordable Signs to replace a planting bed destroyed in construction work.
Siddall reported that construction is essentially complete and all lanes should be open by Thursday, 11/12. Landscape work is incomplete due to the heavy rainfalls recently. Any such landscape work will be completed in the spring.
Landscape Consultant’s Report: Scott Hedberg, standing in for Nancy Hedberg while she was preoccupied with the recent election, reported that 80% of the trees and 25% of the shrubs had been planted and silt fencing installed. Unfortunately the specs and plans did not coincide and a significant number of trees had no planting location. With approximately 30 trees without a home, and as they cannot be returned, it was suggested that they be planted in Phase I were existing maple trees need replacement. Advanced Underground will handle this as a separate contract, deleting them from the existing Phase III contract and entering a separate contract with the DDA. They will charge $150 per tree with gators included.
Upon motion of
Chair’s Report: Chair Arbour had no report.
Township Manager’s Report:
Darrell Fecho and Scott Hedberg as EDC Chair reported on the
NEW BUSINESS
CHAIR Dan Arbour presented Bill Upton with a plaque recognizing Bill’s dedication as Chair of the DDA over the past 21 years.
Financial Report:
Sandy Egeler advised that the under capture of taxes was actually an excess capture, and that the result was $99,500 less income. Further, Michigan Commerce Bank because of mergers with other associated banks, can no longer offer the CDARS program. Temporarily the funds with the bank are now FDIC protected in an interest bearing checking account.
Upon motion of
The current financial report was received from Egeler. The following invoices were presented for payment:
Sandra J. Egeler $ 400.00
Hedberg Associates $ 1,600.00
OHM $ 98.00
Total $ 504,121.73
Mayo moved seconded by Upton, to authorize the DDA to pay the foregoing invoices. The motion was unanimously approved. Fox, Rae and Weaver were absent. The motion carried.
OLB BUSINESS:
There was none.
INFORMAL DISCUSSION:
There followed an informal discussion of the DDA’s priorities in the short term. Bill Upton began with a presentation regarding the spreadsheets he has prepared which show potential income and potential expenditures over an extended period. Discussion focused on expected revenues in the short term, and the possible spending priorities that the DDA might consider in the near term. Donna Shirilla and Vince Nystrom of Ann Arbor Spark attended to advise as to issues regarding what new businesses might want to see in a future relocation. The prime answer was a class A office park. Also the need for or appropriateness of a marketing effort was discussed, however, that did not seem to hold much promise, given that site selection does not focus initially on specific geographic locations, but rather, is driven by the need for and availability of specific (needs) space. Spark itself focuses primarily on retention of existing businesses, not the attraction of new businesses. Many issues were discussed including the need to upgrade the
Adjournment: The meeting was declared adjourned at 3:05 PM.
