Ann Arbor City Council Preview: March 20, 2023

 

Gentle readers, it's #a2Council night in Ann Arbor. Here's your preview:

The evening kicks off with a decent, 20-item consent agenda. The first two items, are street closures. CA-1 is for MUSIC Matters Spring Fest on April 14th. CA-2 is for the Glacier Area Memorial Day Parade on May 29th. There are also some cool housing items on the consent agenda. CA-7 is appropriating $3.5M in American Rescue Plan funds to purchase 8 duplexes in the Liberty/Virginia for affordable housing. CA-8 is transferring 121 Catherine, the 4th and Catherine Surface Lot, to the Ann Arbor Housing Development Corporation for a future affordable housing development there. CA-8 is the tax exemption for that project. It is really exciting to see this moving forward. CA-9 is a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) for the 121 Catherine project. 

There are two public hearings on the agenda tonight. PH-1/B-1 is on amendments to the city's solid waste ordinance. PH-2/B-2 is on an ordinance to amend the city's risk fund. 

There are two ordinance first readings on the agenda tonight. C-1 is very exciting. This is the rezoning of the old Road Commission Building, 415 W. Washington, from public land to PUD. The plan is to replace the decaying road commission building with a pretty nice mid rise. Very exciting to see this moving forward. C-2 is to amend the city's housing code to require buildings with gas appliances and/or attached garages to have a carbon monoxide detector. Makes sense. 

On to the resolutions. DC-1 is to appoint Kate Laramie to the Greenbelt Advisory Board. DC-2 is to request the public art commission put together a plan to redesign the city flag for the bicentennial next year. Honestly, it'd be hard to beat what we have currently:

The current flag of the City of Ann Arbor. These colors don't run. 

DC-3 is to approve a general services agreement between Wast Management and Ann Arbor for solid wast franchise collection. DC-4 is a resolution asking the Administrator to provide city with a monthly risk fund claims review. DB-1 is a resolution asking the Administrator to engage with the state legislature and Public Services Commission to advance energy equity and resilience. 

And that's all there is. What items are you most looking forward to seeing? Hopefully we will see you there. The CTN stream starts at 7 pm. Make sure you follow the action on the #a2Council hashtag or on a2mi.social.