A2Council Meeting Summaries

Month: July 2020

Ann Arbor City Council Special Session: July 27, 2020

This was a Special Session of Ann Arbor City Council to discuss the Affordable Housing Millage ballot language. This item was postponed from the previous Council Meeting (7/20/20) because it was added to the agenda too late for Council Members to ask questions of staff. This meeting was held online via the Zoom application.

APPROVED: An Affordable Housing Millage (1.0 mills) will be added to the ballot in November 2020 to support the construction, maintenance, and acquisition of new, permanent affordable housing units for low-income individuals and families making less than 60% Ann Arbor Area Median Income, and for providing social services for the residents of such housing for 2021 through 2041. (Legistar)

A2ELNEL Voting Chart

Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for July 27, 2020

Ann Arbor City Council: July 20, 2020

This was the eighth regular Ann Arbor City Council meeting since Governor Whitmer declared a state of emergency and stay-at-home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This meeting was held online via the Zoom application.

Ann Arbor City Council Meeting Summary

POSTPONED TO SPECIAL SESSION: An Affordable Housing Millage (1.0 mills) would be added to the ballot in November 2020 to support the construction, maintenance, and acquisition of new affordable housing units for low-income individuals and families making less than 60% Ann Arbor Area Median Income, and for providing social services for the residents of such housing for 2021 through 2041. (Legistar)

APPROVED: Renewal of 2016 millage (1.0 mills) will be put on the November ballot in support of Street, Bridge, and Sidewalk repair. It may be used for resurfacing or reconstruction of existing paved City streets and bridges, pedestrian crosswalks, street crossings and corner ramps, and repair and/or replacement of sidewalks. The Downtown Development Authority will continue to fund sidewalk repairs in the DDA district. (Legistar) (Legistar)

APPROVED: A new millage (0.2 mills) will be put on the November 2020 ballot to cover the cost of constructing new sidewalks starting in 2021. Sidewalk assessments for individual property owners will be eliminated. This millage will not displace requirements for new developments to construct and pay for new sidewalks. (Legistar) (Legistar)

APPROVED: The City of Ann Arbor commits to a 10-year services agreement (with two potential 3-year extensions) with Recycle Ann Arbor to rebuild our Material Recovery Facility and process recyclable materials locally (Legistar)

APPROVED (BACK TO FIRST READING): The hotel property at 3611-3621 Plymouth Road will be re-zoned to permit rebuilding of a hotel and the addition of a drive-through restaurant. This agenda item would have been approved at this meeting (“Second Reading”) but the zoning plan was changed to include a $75,000 contribution to the City’s Affordable Housing Fund, which moved it back to “First Reading.” The new “Second Reading” will be Aug 17th (Legistar)

APPROVED: The City’s definition of “responsible bidder” on construction projects will include new requirements for reporting and documentation. Bids on projects in excess of $25,000 must now verify appropriate licensing for all contractors and sub-contractors, include information about what percentage of their workforce is local (Ann Arbor/Washtenaw), and documentation of pay rates/benefits, insurance coverage, references from the last five years as well as completed projects from the last five years. Additional requirements attach to bids on contracts in excess of $100,000 and $250,000. (Legistar)

A2ELNEL Voting Chart

Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for July 20, 2020 Part 1
Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for July 20, 2020 Part 2
Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for July 20, 2020 Part 3

Ann Arbor City Council: July 6, 2020

This was the seventh regular Ann Arbor City Council meeting since Governor Whitmer declared a state of emergency and stay-at-home order due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This meeting was held online via the Zoom application.

Ann Arbor City Council Meeting Summary

DEFEATED: Collective Bargaining Agreement with Ann Arbor Police Officers Association (effective January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2022) (Legistar)

APPROVED: City Council endorses the resolution of requests from the Independent Community Police Oversight Commission (ICPOC) regarding policy and the Ann Arbor Police Officer Association Collective Bargaining Agreement (AAPOA CBA). Requests include additional transparency to ICPOC (availability of personnel files), policies for discipline, and procedures for termination (elimination of binding arbitration). (Legistar)

APPROVED: Two contracts ($3,364,492.95 and $3,429,675) for two years of services for sewer televising and cleaning construction. (Legistar)

Three Greenbelt purchases approved:

  • APPROVED: $73,593 for Greenbelt purchase of 27 acres in Northfield Township. (Legistar)
  • APPROVED: $115,830 for Greenbelt purchase of 13 acres in Scio Township. (Legistar)
  • APPROVED: $60,000 for Greenbelt purchase of 40 acres in Ann Arbor Township. (Legistar)

Two Healthy Streets resolutions approved:

APPROVED: The City Administrator is directed to develop a plan to review and increase use of our Poverty Exemption Program that waives property taxes for low income residents. To be reviewed: increasing public awareness, raising the income level for eligibility, and simplifying the application process. (Legistar)

APPROVED: Application of any new C1 and C1A/R zoning requiring site plan approval is suspended for 180 days so that the Planning Commission can evaluate the continued viability of the C1A and C1A/R districts (central, campus business districts) and make recommendations whether to eliminate the C1A and C1A/R zoning districts. (Legistar)

APPROVED: The City property at 415 W. Washington is pre-entitled for plan approval to be conducted through a Planned Unit Development and Concept Plan, or another mechanism toward the realization of goals with a future development partner. Ann Arbor Housing Commission is the applicant, and the City is reviewer/property owner. Recommendations would be presented to the City Council by March 19, 2021. (Legistar)

A2ELNEL Voting Chart

Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for July 6, 2020 Part 1
Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for July 6, 2020 Part 2
Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for July 6, 2020 Part 3
Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for July 6, 2020 Part 4

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My name is Elizabeth Nelson, and I believe that your local government should be accessible and transparent. Since 2018 , I have sent out a newsletter before every Council meeting with my summary of agenda items coming before City Council, plus news and events of interest to Ann Arbor residents.

After each Council meeting, I create and post voting charts so that you can easily see how Council voted, and update this website with meeting summaries that include links to the City’s Legistar website, CTN’s YouTube video, and articles published on MLive.