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415 West Washington415 W. Washington Proposal Interviews, August 13From the City’s web site: An advisory committee appointed by the Ann Arbor City Council will interview three development teams about their proposals for the city-owned site at 415 W. Washington. The interviews, which are open for the public to attend and observe, will be held on Wednesday, August 13 from 5:00 – 9:30 pm in the Board Room of the County Administration Building, located at 220 N. Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor. Three development teams submitted proposals. Each development team will make a 30-minute presentation outlining their proposal. Following the presentation, the advisory committee will pose questions to the team about specific aspects of their proposal. The interview schedule is: 5:00 pm – Ann Arbor Art Center; 6:30 pm – Morningside Equities Group; 8:00 pm – Old Westside Square Development Group. After the interviews, the advisory committee will evaluate the proposals and make a recommendation to City Council in early fall about how to proceed with the redevelopment of the site. Full information and link is here. Comment [2] City CouncilCity Council: President's Day Golfing SpecialTuesday, February 19 (one day later due to President’s Day holiday) at 7:00 pm. Highlights:
Comment [60] City CouncilCity Council: Greenbelt ExpansionMonday, August 20 at 7:00 pm. Highlights:
Comment [17] City CouncilCouncil votes down Easthope/Johnson resolutionAt tonight’s City Council meeting, the resolution by Easthope and Johnson to set aside three city-owned sites in their entirety as greenway parks was voted down, with Johnson and Easthope voting in favor and all other Council members and Mayor Hieftje voting against in front of an overflow audience. The resolution’s advocates in the crowd exercised such tactics as calling for “everyone who supports a greenway to stand,” booing a student who spoke against the resolution, and clapping after Easthope’s opening comment on the resolution until Mayor Hieftje made them stop, and said that clapping was not appropriate during the meeting. This was followed by most of the Council members who voted against the resolution to emphasize that they were not voting against a greenway, but against the particular timing of this particular proposal. More comment later; a number of other bloggers were in attendance, as well as Ann Arbor News and Michigan Daily reporters. EDIT, 22 March, 10:30am:For anyone interested in watching the meeting on CTN, rebroadcasts are scheduled on Channel 16 at, > Tuesday, 22 March, 1:30pm. Public comment is at the very beginning of the meeting./EDIT Discussion of the resolution began at 0:45-1:00 into the meeting, and ended around 1:30-1:45 into the meeting. (The meeting started 15 minutes late and there was a 15 minute closed session with the City Attorney, and I don’t know how these delays are factored into the rebroadcast, so these times are fairly imprecise.) EDIT, 22 March, 12:45pm: The Ann Arbor News’ article on the Council’s decision, Council declines to save lot for greenway, estimates the crowd at around 180 people, and includes several quotes predicting next steps: Margaret Wong, the co-chairwoman of Friends of the Ann Arbor Greenway, told the council after its vote that the public won’t get a real greenway unless they speak up. /EDIT Comment [36] PoliticsOngoing Greenway drama: Easthope announces intent to kill DDA planAfter last night’s forum at the library, City Councilmember Chris Easthope apparently told the Ann Arbor News that he plans a resolution for the 21 March Council meeting, that would set aside the city-owned lot [at First and William] for a larger greenway vision being pushed by environmentalists and others for downtown. Despite the fact that much of the criticism of the DDA’s proposal at this week’s Council meeting included a view that the DDA was trying to move too quickly with their proposal and with not enough opportunity for public input, Easthope seems to believe that fast, decisive action in the other direction is appropriate. Easthope represents the 5th Ward, which includes the Old West Side neighborhood where Greenway support is concentrated. See also, Comment [16] Keep reading: |
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