Arbor Update

Local

Election 2006: Parks Millage

Posted by Juliew on 31. October 2006

An Arbor Update reader says:

The parks millage is one issue on which the two candidates for mayor disagree, according to the Ann Arbor News.

Tom Wall contends that there may be sufficient money already within the City budget to provide adequate maintenance for parks. Wall suggested during the CTN debates that volunteerism, especially on the part of young people, could be a positive force in addressing a range of local challenges, including parks maintenance.

John Hieftje has said he supports the parks millage, saying that the small increased millage rate (compared with the combined rate of the expiring parks millages) is needed in light of the Headlee rollback and the fact that the City has added more park land.

In light of the summer/winter tax cycle, Doug Cowherd (Sierra Club) asked City staff during one of the public meetings if this November election was, in fact, the last possible election time by when a millage would have to be approved, in order to keep the revenue stream associated with the parks millages uninterrupted. Answer: No, that’s Spring 2007.

And apropos of tax cycles, you gotta love it when over a hundred people descend upon a park and generate some activity there by racing their bicycles through it as they did this Sunday in Veterans Park.

Comment [2]

Local

leaf collection (and cyclists)

Posted by Bruce Fields on 31. October 2006

An arborupdate reader says:

Leaf collection time is already upon us here in Ann Arbor and the way we do it here is to rake them into the street exactly one day before the neighborhood is scheduled to have a giant front-end loader scoop them all together into a giant pile and then load them into a dump truck. When is your neighborhood scheduled for pickup? Consult page 15 of handy publication in PDF format called Waste Watcher which you may well have received in the mail as well.

There’s various reasons why it’s really not very neighborly to rake leaves into the street any more than one day before scheduled pickup. As this photograph illustrates, one of those reasons is: this is where cyclists ride! This shot is along a street scheduled for pickup tomorrow, so I couldn’t really do anything except exchange awkward smiles with the woman who was raking them straight into the lane I was riding in.

Comment [27]

Local

Rail a Reality?

Posted by Dale Winling on 29. October 2006

The Ann Arbor News reports that the owner of the Great Lakes Central Railroad is in favor of a north-south commuter rail line, and in fact bought the railroad with the goal of implementing passenger service.

Hieftje said he wants to see rail tried before improvements to US-23. He compares the projected $500 million cost of adding a third lane in each direction to the highway between Ann Arbor and Brighton with the estimated $27 million for the rail project.

“Why would we spend $500 million expanding US-23 before we see what we can do for $27 million?’’ he asks.

Comment [15] • Read More »

Local

Halloween trick or treat hours

Posted by Bruce Fields on 28. October 2006

From Edward Vielmetti, our embedded field micro-correspondent:

Halloween trick or treat hours for the county are here:

http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/2006/10/halloween_trick.html
http://arborwiki.org/city/Halloween

I’ve posted them as well to the arborparents list, in the expectation of getting a few details filled in.

• Ann Arbor: Downtown merchants 11am-5pm
  
• Ann Arbor: Downtown Library parade kids 2+ 10-11am
  
• Chelsea: 4-6pm
  
• Dexter: 5:30-7:30pm
  
• Manchester: Downtown merchants, no time listed
  
• Milan Downtown merchants Oct 27 4-7pm
  
• Saline: 6-8pm
  
• Ypsilanti: Farmers Market 3pm
  

Comment [14]

Elections are coming

Posted by Bruce Fields on 26. October 2006

Thanks to the Ann Arbor District Library and others for pointing out some useful voting information:

• The Nonpartisan Michigan Voter Guide 2006 from the League of Women Voters of Michigan
• An Analysis of Ballot proposals from the Citizens Research Council of Michigan
• Detailed voter information including polling locations.
• Local candidates, ballot proposal, and more from the Washtenaw County clerk’s office.

Comment [22]

Local

Urban Design Guidelines Lecture Series

Posted by Juliew on 25. October 2006

From the American Institute of Architects: Huron Valley chapter

The year 2007 marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the American Institute of Architects, and to celebrate AIA National is encouraging all its chapters to donate time, money, and effort in improving their environments. In the case of our chapter, we are building on a growing interest in the development of the architecture of downtown Ann Arbor with a lecture series. The four seminars begin with a discussion of urban design, architecture, preservation, and the qualities of a well-designed urban environment. The second seminar talks about the planning tools used in constructing that environment, from form-based zoning to design guidelines. Seminars three and four focus on the application of design guidelines in government organization and presents other localities that have implemented similar rules.

This lecture series has been discussed for several months now, but no dates or topics had been set. Flyers are available online here and a more updated one here but I have not seen them distributed anywhere. Unfortunately, although design guidelines are of great interest to many in Ann Arbor, this series has not been publicized widely. It was not on the front page of the City web site or on the Ann Arbor Discovering Downtown page until after the first lecture had come and gone.

The second lecture is this Thursday, October 26 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Downtown Library’s multi-purpose room. The topic is Planning Tools Needed for the Development of Design Guidelines for Urban Environments.

Comment [8]

Local

What's New on Main Street

Posted by Juliew on 21. October 2006

The 200 block of North Main is fully rented for the first time in recent memory with Peartree and Edible Arrangements opening. Khana Khazana Indian Restaurant has inexplicably become Chennai Vilas Indian Restaurant.

In the 200 block of South Main, Voila is having sales and will be closing soon. Another random Andy Gulvezan bar reimaging converts the Full Moon to the Monkey Bar, a Mexican restaurant.

The 300 block of South Main looks a bit empty with Ritters closing for the season, Jules closing for good after a brief move to Ashley, Sunglass Hut closed, and Improv Inferno and Pepperz leaving after a dispute with their landlord. Subway will be moving soon “within a few blocks” of their existing store. However, Mélange Bistro/Wine Bar (below Conor O’Neills and Rush Street) has received their liquor license and will open soon.

In the 400 block of South Main, Marnee Thai is still “opening soon.” Zenaida Lounge has applied for the liquor license from Middle Kingdom and is planning to reopen in late October with less chocolate and more alcohol.

In the 600 block of South Main, Cingular has moved closer to downtown to the McKinley Town Centre on Liberty. The Neutral Zone has moved to Washington Street. South Main Market has reorganized and awaits the opening of Copernicus (a Polish/European deli/bakery/market) set to open in November.

And, of course, a few changes are planned for the 1300 block of South Main.

Comment [3]

Environment

MDA Uncovers and Disarms Clandestine Healthy Food Distribution Cell

Posted by Scott TenBrink, Guest Contributor on 19. October 2006

While gubanatorial candidates point fingers over safety in the state, the Michigan Department of Agriculture is taking action! State troopers have seized the dairy products being delivered to co-op members as part of a sting investigating the selling of unpasteurized milk. According to the AANews,

[T]he investigation was touched off last April when a Washtenaw County woman’s three children became sick. She told her doctor she thought they’d become sick from pasteurized milk, but added that she also bought raw milk from the co-op.

That doctor followed up with the county health department, which passed the information on to the MDA, Kennedy said. The MDA began a sting operation. An agent joined the co-op and bought raw milk from Hebron from May through October. The milk was tested, and found to be fine, Kennedy said.

While the four months of testing on these illicit bovine secretions have identified no Milk of Mass Destuction, The MDA is quick to point out that this is a safety issue. The investigation has yet to address the fact that as partial owners of the producing animals, the co-op members may legally receive the dairy goods.

Comment [13]

Local

"Super Mayor" reveals campaign plan in debate

Posted by Chuck Warpehoski on 18. October 2006

The Michigan Daily has a report on last night’s mayoral debate between Tom Wall and John Hieftje.

The Daily article focuses more on Wall’s style than the substance of his comments, but they do have style:

Wall described a “super mayor” costume he intends to wear in front of the Michigan Union to make students aware of his candidacy.

“I’ll be singing a special song and handing out candy, there will be Little League cheerleaders with me and also a three-piece band,” he said.

For the substance of the debate, you’ll have to tune in to the CTN debate replays.

Comment [4]

Regional

County-wide Transit Plan meetings this week

Posted by Murph on 18. October 2006

The Washtenaw Area Transportation Study has five upcoming public meetings for their County-wide Transit Plan.

WATS study will include all forms of transit in or desired in the County, ranging from fixed-route service, such as AATA, to longer-range commuter lines, to door-to-door paratransit service. The plan is currently in the visioning and goal-setting stage, and will be developing over the next year.

Meetings are scheduled for:

Wednesday, October 18, 2006, 2:30-4:00pm
Ypsilanti Senior Center
1015 Congress St.
Ypsilanti, MI
To get there by AATA: #6 to Recreation Park stop

Wednesday, October 18, 2006, 6:00-8:00pm
Washtenaw Community College – 101 Morris Lawrence Building
4800 E. Huron River Drive
Ann Arbor, MI
To get there by AATA: #3 to Washtenaw Community College stop

Thursday, October 19, 2006, 2:00-4:00pm
Ann Arbor DDA Offices
150 S. Fifth Ave, #301
Ann Arbor, MI
To get there by AATA: Basically all routes, to downtown.

Wednesday, November 1, 2006, 2:00-4:00pm
Washington Street Education Center
500 Washington Street
Chelsea, MI

Wednesday, November 1, 2006, 6:00-8:00pm
Washington Street Education Center
500 Washington Street
Chelsea, MI

Comment [9]