Ann Arbor City Council Preview: 8 September 2020

 

Happy September gentle reader. Did tonight's #a2council meeting sneak up on you? It snuck up on me. Here's the agenda. 

The evening kicks off with a 12 item consent agenda. Though it looks like CA-12, "Resolution to Approve Increasing the Purchase Order with Washtenaw County for SWAT Supplies ($26,469.09)" has been pulled. CA-11 looks interesting, it's a resolution to create a temporary childcare fund for city employees. This seems like a good thing to do. 

There are three public hearings on the docket tonight. PH-1 is the second reading of the short term rental ordinance. My guess is that a lot of folks who own Air B&B's will be speaking at this. PH-2 is on a resolution to approve the site plan for a hotel going in at 361 West Eisenhower Parkway. PH-3 is on the Valhalla Annexations. These are 17 parcels on Valhalla Drive which is just south of the intersection of Scio Church and Main. 

Elsewhere on the agenda we have C-2, the first reading of an update to the sign ordinance. 

As always, gentle reader, I am probably forgetting some very important items here. What agenda items are you most looking forward to seeing. I am guessing that tonight will be another late night around the virtual council table. Hopefully we will see you there. The CTN stream starts at 7 pm. Make sure you follow the action on the #a2council hashtag.

Ann Arbor City Council Preview: August 24, 2020

 

Gentle readers, there is yet another #a2council meeting this month. Here's the agenda. 

There are three items on the docket tonight. DC-1 is a consent to the Mayor's declaration of a local state o emergency. The Mayor declared a state of emergency due to COVID earlier today. DC-2 is an ordinance that adds a temporary emergency ordinance. My understanding is creates rules around wearing masks in Ann Arbor. DC-3 is a resolution to recommend next steps in the city administrator search process. I imagine this will be the most contentious issue of the night. Some are arguing that, since we are in the lame duck session, and since there will be 5 new councilmembers in November, council should wait until these new members are sworn in before choosing the next administrator. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. 

As always, gentle reader, I am probably forgetting some very important items here. What agenda items are you most looking forward to seeing. I am guessing that tonight will be another late night around the virtual council table. Hopefully we will see you there. The CTN stream starts at 7 pm. Make sure you follow the action on the #a2council hashtag.

Independent Film Festival Ypsilanti streaming tonight and tomorrow

IFFY, Ypsilanti's new, independent film festival, kicked off last night with a drive-in show in front of the Water Tower. If you missed it, fear not. There festival will be streaming tonight and tomorrow with events at 7 and 9 pm. You can access the streams here. 

Ann Arbor City Council Preview: August 17, 2020

 

Gentle readers, tonight is, by my count, the 5th consecutive week with a #a2council meeting. What a treat. Here's the agenda. 

The evening kicks off with a 13 item consent agenda. Of note, CA-4 would create a unified affordable housing waitlist. 

There are four public hearings on the docket tonight. PH-1 and PH-2 are on the rezoning and site plan for 3611-3621 Plymouth Road. There was some murmuring during the first reading about traffic flow here so it will be interesting to see if it passes today. PH-3 and PH-4 are on the rezoning and site plan for 2800 Jackson. This passed first reading without much discussion. 

DC-1 is a resolution to endorse HB 4738 which would create a state crosswalk law and weaken Ann Arbor's Crosswalk Ordinance. This was postponed at the July 6th council meeting. I feel like I am going to have to share this article about Ann Arbor's Crosswalk Ordinance that Erich Z. wrote last year, so here it is. Finally there is DC-2, a resolution to approve the purchase Laurie Terrace Ann Arbor Affordable Housing Corporation. 

As always, gentle reader, I am probably forgetting some very important items here. What agenda items are you most looking forward to seeing. I am guessing that tonight will be another late night around the virtual council table. Hopefully we will see you there. The CTN stream starts at 7 pm. Make sure you follow the action on the #a2council hashtag.

Ann Arbor City Council Preview: August 10, 2020

 

Gentle readers, tonight there is another special session of #a2council. Here's the agenda. There is one item on the docket tonight, DC-1. This resolution would put a charter amendment for city council and mayoral elections to voters in November. My understanding is that this is largely the same as the resolution that was past last summer and followed by a veto from Mayor Taylor. What's different this time? I don't know. My prediction for tonight is an acrimonious debate followed by party-line passage followed by a mayoral veto. 

A little inside baseball/speculation on my part here. Careful watchers of #a2council may conclude that Councilmember Lumm feels like she would have a better chance getting elected to council if she is not forced to run in a partisan primary. I am not sure Lumm, who has run as a Republican, independent, and Democrat would fair better in the November election that the August election. Anyway, my two cents. 

As always, gentle reader, I am probably forgetting some very important items here. What agenda items are you most looking forward to seeing. I am guessing that tonight will be another late night around the virtual council table. Hopefully we will see you there. The CTN stream starts at 7 pm. Make sure you follow the action on the #a2council hashtag.