Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

City Council: Unposted Edition

18. November 2007 • Juliew
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Monday, November 19 at 7:00 pm.
Ann Arbor City HallCity Council Agenda will be here if posted.

Apparently, the City has not been able to update their website since Wednesday. So I have posted all the agenda items for Monday’s meeting as it is not currently available online. Thanks to Sabra Briere for sending the agenda so it can be posted.

Agenda:

Administration of Oath of Office to Newly Elected Councilmembers
Organization of New Council
1. Election of Mayor Pro Tem

Public Hearings
An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 55, Rezoning of 0.45 Acre from TWP (Township District) to R1A (Single-Family Dwelling District), Glaser Property, 3122 Geddes Road (Ord. No. ORD-07-45) (CPC Recommendation: Approval – 9 Yeas and 0 Nays) PH-1 07-0189

Consent Agenda
Resolution to Accept Board of Insurance Administration Meeting Minutes of October 26, 2007 CA-1 07-0351

Resolution to Approve the Transfer of Ownership of a 2006 Class C Liquor Licensed Business with a Dance-Entertainment Permit, located in Escrow at 3965 S. State, from Tables Inc. to Champ’s Club, Inc. CA-2 07-0393

Resolution Awarding a Contract for Directional Boring to R.C. Directional Boring ($40,800.00, Bid No. 3902) CA-3 07-0368

Resolution to Approve the Purchase of Furniture, Shelving, and Storage Cabinets for the W. R. Wheeler Service Center, Bid # 3848 – Globe Trading Company ($33,188.00) CA-4 07-0348

Ordinance – First Reading
An Ordinance to Amend Sections 2:4 (Points of Storage) and 2:7 (Solid Waste Facilities) of Chapter 26 of Title II of the Code of the City of Ann Arbor C-1 07-0291

An Ordinance Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of Sewage Disposal System Revenue Bonds, Series 2007-B to the Michigan Municipal Bond Authority (Roll Call Vote Required – One Reading) C-2 07-0352

Amendment to Chapter 55, Rezoning of 1.15 Acres from C2A (Central Business District) and C2B/R (Business/Service Residential District) to PUD (Planned Unit Development District), McKinley Towne Centre-Liberty Retail, 515 East Liberty Street (CPC Recommendation: Approval – 6 Yeas and 2 Nays) C-3 07-0347

Motions and Resolutions
New Business – Council
Resolution Requesting that the Downtown Development Authority Demolish the City-Owned Building and Establish a Temporary Surface Parking Lot at 350 S. Fifth Avenue DC-1 07-0668

Resolution Restricting Peddling and Sidewalk Occupancy Permits During the Ann Arbor Art Fairs DC-2 07-0670

New Business – Staff
Resolution Authorizing Sanitary Sewer Improvement Charge for 137 S. Wagner Road ($4,835.60) DS-1 07-0255

Resolution to Approve the Purchase of two Zamboni Ice Resurfacers from Charles R Mueller & Sons, Inc. ($144,300.00) DS-2 07-0340

Resolution to Appropriate and to Establish an Internal Service Fund for the Operating Expenses of the W.R. Wheeler Service Center ($450,000.00) (8 Votes Required) DS-3 07-0353

Resolution Accepting Easement for Public Utilities from CVS 8088 MI, L.L.C. (2100 W. Stadium Boulevard) (8 votes required) DS-4 07-0398

Resolution to Approve Second Amendment to Legal Services Contract with Butzel Long and to Approve Reimbursement of Legal Fees in Connection with William Street Station Development (8 Votes Required) DS-5 07-0473

Resolution to Accept, Approve and Appropriate a Grant from the Michigan Department of State for Voting Access for Individuals with Disabilities Program through Funding from the Help America Vote Act ($15,300.00) (8 Votes Required) DS-6 07-0427

Resolution to Adopt Revised Investment Policy DS-7 07-0262

Communications from City Administrator
Annual Survey of Traffic Calming Projects Constructed in 2006 F-1 07-0329

Public Engagement Process for Ann Arbor City Apartments Project at First and Washington Streets F-2 07-0428

Communications from City Attorney
Schieb Property, 1.18 acres, located at 1400 Warrington Dr., in Ann Arbor Township G-1 07-0430
Sader/Goldstein Property, 0.39 acre, located at 448 Huntington Pl., in Ann Arbor Township G-2 07-0431
Johnson Property, 0.50 acre, located at 192 Riverview Ct., in Ann Arbor Township G-3 07-0475
Gadway Property, 1.0 acre, located at 310 Huntington Dr., in Ann Arbor Township G-4 07-0476
Faylor Property, 0.30 acre, located at 580 Rock Creek Dr., in Ann Arbor Township G-5 07-0477
Annexation of the Ellis/Lawton Property, Fagan/Forester Property, Delcamp Property, Dec Property, and Bird Properties G-6 07-0518



  1. The William Street Station developer hasn’t given up. According to a posting on mlive.com, the developer is shopping for reconsideration of the vote killing the project.

    According to Council Rule 12, which governs reconsideration, “it shall be in order for any member voting with the prevailing side to move a reconsideration thereof.” That means that only a Councilmember who voted against the project can move for reconsideration. Newly-elected members can’t move for reconsideration.

    Those voting on the prevailing side were Easthope, Suarez, Johnson (no longer on Council), Rapundalo, Kunselman, and Hieftje. The major says he won’t make such a motion. That leaves Easthope, Suarez, Rapundalo, and Kunselman.


       —Sabra Briere    Nov. 19 '07 - 01:09AM    #
  2. Oop! The above comment was entered by me, not Sabra. I’m using her computer and forgot to enter my own name. Heh.


       —David Cahill    Nov. 19 '07 - 02:36AM    #
  3. Doesn’t it seem odd that Mr. Cahill is now using his wife’s computer (City provided?) and/or computer account and providing council information to the public under her name. Does he now review his wife’s council materials? Emails? The mayor provided this information listed above to Mr. Cahill? Who is the councilperson here? This even before the new council is sworn in. Very disturbing. An explanation from the councilperson is in order here. Or will we get an explanation written by Mr. Cahill under his wife’s name. Maybe she is unaware of this? How will we know?


       —concerned reader    Nov. 19 '07 - 07:53AM    #
  4. “Doesn’t it seem odd that Mr. Cahill is now using his wife’s computer (City provided?) and/or computer account and providing council information to the public under her name.”

    No, it doesn’t seem odd. The Williams street story that he cited is on mlive.com, and Council procedures are set in writing, and all he did was recall how Council voted, which is also public record.

    Nothing wrong with Dave’s post at all. Well except he signed his wife’s name….and heck, I can do that if I want.


       —todd    Nov. 19 '07 - 08:08AM    #
  5. Just wanted to say that my friends who recently paid $1200 to replace sidewalks the city told them to replace are pretty hopping mad about the city putting the whole thing on hold. It’s things like the sidewalk replacement program SNAFU that make people wonder whether this city’s being run competently or not. For reals, yo. Get with the program, Deuce Gov’t.


       —OWSider    Nov. 19 '07 - 08:40AM    #
  6. Since David Cahill was the first one let AU readers know what happened, and since all the information to which he referred is public, I don’t see anything sinister at all.

    I do have a problem with people using a pseudonym to throw crap.


       —Tom Brandt    Nov. 19 '07 - 08:42AM    #
  7. Hahaha! Concerned reader should get a grip. I didn’t use Sabra’s new underpowered City-furnished computer. Instead, this weekend, as on most previous weekends, I used her regular computer. For some reason, when I went to type comment 1 above, it entered Sabra’s info instead of mine. Right now, I’m doing the same thing, but the computer is showing my info, as usual. Go figure….

    Sabra and juliew worked together to get the agenda posted. I was not part of that endeavor.


       —David Cahill    Nov. 19 '07 - 05:29PM    #
  8. OWSider- The sidewalk program was not put on hold. The Council is reviewing the sidewalk procedures to make sure they are properly applied. The sidewalk program will continue as scheduled.


       —City Hall Insider    Nov. 19 '07 - 09:58PM    #
  9. The text of the sidewalk resolution says in part: “RESOLVED, That the City’s sidewalk repair program for 2008 be suspended temporarily until such time as the task force makes its recommendation for chnges and improvements to the City’s sidewalk repair program.”


       —David Cahill    Nov. 20 '07 - 02:21AM    #
  10. The full agenda with attachments is now posted on the City Council web site.


       —Juliew    Nov. 20 '07 - 02:51AM    #
  11. Hallelujah! Nobody on Council moved to reconsider the rejection of William Street Station yesterday evening, so it died an unlamented death. Finally, a “no” vote on a development was a real “no” vote, not a “yes-but” vote.

    As today’s AA News indicates, Councilmember Briere raised a concern that requiring the DDA to pay for the demolition burdened its budget. Oddly, Easthope and Greden said it was fine for the DDA to pay for this, since the DDA would benefit from the taxes on any future new construction on this site.

    But the DDA benefits from the taxes on all future construction within the downtown. Should it, therefore, be required to pay for all demolition within the downtown?

    How many withdrawals can the “DDA Bank of Ann Arbor” stand?


       —David Cahill    Nov. 20 '07 - 06:51PM    #
  12. David,

    We know your wife knows how to post here and can speak for herself. Maybe if you had just linked to the article, we could have read what she said for herself instead of having to read what you said she said that added nothing to what was already in the article.


       —John Q.    Nov. 21 '07 - 12:39AM    #
  13. Hmf. I think what I said added a great deal to the AA News article.


       —David Cahill    Nov. 21 '07 - 01:37AM    #
  14. As to the old-Y demolition: is anyone going to get to salvage all that fancy colored tile and glass block?

    A creative builder could do something great with all that stuff.


       —Larry Kestenbaum    Nov. 22 '07 - 10:14PM    #
  15. I’m with concerned reader here – I am shocked, simply shocked, by the potential for David Cahill to have any knowledge of or influence on Sabra’s thoughts while she is on Council.

    In fact, it’s probably not just Sabra. I expect that, over the years, several similar “special interest groups” have grown up that have undue access to Councilmembers. I’d like to ask that the City immediately review its policy on allowing Councilmembers to be married, have children, or otherwise fraternize with other members of the community.


       —Murph    Dec. 3 '07 - 11:51PM    #
  16. What’s really great is that even when David HAS knowledge of his wife’s thoughts and statements, he misreports them.


       —Dale    Dec. 4 '07 - 06:06AM    #