More than $1 billion in projects make the list as Ann Arbor releases new Capital Improvements Plan
Ann Arbor's wish list is long — 19 pages long, to be exact — and it includes more than $1 billion in capital projects the city would fund if it had the money.
That includes pumping $146,000 into the old 721 N. Main site, another $5 million into re-skinning the exterior of city hall, $800,000 for a spray park at Fuller Pool, and $5.4 million more toward achieving the vision of an Allen Creek Greenway.
Cresson Slotten, the city's systems planning manager, gave a report on the city's updated CIP Tuesday night.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Cresson Slotten, the city's systems planning manager, gave a report on the city's updated CIP as the Ann Arbor Planning Commission approved it Tuesday night.
Slotten said the CIP is a list of all of the city's identified capital needs. Just because a project makes the list, he said, doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be funded.
The city code requires that the Planning Commission annually prepare a Capital Improvements Plan for the next six fiscal years.
The 2012-2017 CIP was approved by the Planning Commission in January 2011 as a supporting document for the city's Master Plan and later approved by the Ann Arbor City Council in February 2011 as the basis for the fiscal year 2011-12 capital budget.
With approval of the updates, the 2013-2018 CIP also becomes a supporting document for the city's Master Plan and will be used as the source document for the city's capital budget planning.
Slotten's report highlights changes to the plan from last year, including an adjusted schedule for the Ann Arbor-Saline Road reconstruction project and a new roundabout going in at the intersection of South State Street and Ellsworth Road.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.
Comments
msddjohston
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 1:54 p.m.
Hello, Please, please focus on the trees, flowers, and ice rink! Thank you. Your friend, Dawn
RUKiddingMe
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 12:29 p.m.
Did I misunderstand the reason for the new city hall? I thought Larcom was old, cramped, and unusable, and so they built a new one. But it seems like they built a new one, then renovated the old one and are still using that too. Are Larcom and the new building just one massive city hall? If that is the case, does anyone think that that is an unbelievably off-scale number of square footage of office space for administering a city of this size?
julieswhimsies
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 9:57 p.m.
My wish list is short: Getting my bills paid.
julieswhimsies
Sun, May 6, 2012 : 5:58 p.m.
1 bit....That was good...Love to pay your bills for ya....but. Well. I'm afraid I'd come up a little short.
joe.blow
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 2:51 a.m.
My list is better. Voting for a president who hates those who pays their own bills and makes bill payers pay for those who expect others to pay their bills.
1bit
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 1:37 a.m.
Mine is shorter: Having you pay my bills.
a2grateful
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 7:36 p.m.
@ Stephen Lange Ranzini and demistify: 113,934 total population (SEMCOG 2010) - 42,716 UM students (UM 2011) = 71,218 full time residents. 13,683 residents are 14 years old and younger. Subtract them from the 71,218 full time residents, for a taxable full-time residence population of 57,535. The overall number of payers is less due to multiple-resident households. And please don't forget. Capital costs are the tip of the iceberg regarding infrastructure. Operating and maintenance costs for all of the new improvements are not included.
Stephen Landes
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 6:47 p.m.
The only reason I can think of for a "wish list" this big is that we, as a city government, do not have a clear vision of what we want to be and no strategy for getting there. A clear vision and strategy would knock out a lot of the projects that make the list because "we would do them if we had the money". FOCUS, people!
John Q
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 5:24 p.m.
More armchair commentary from people who are reading a summary of the plan and leaping to assumptions that are wrong. Let's sort out the facts first. 1. It's spread out over a 6 year period. Some of the projects are actually beyond the 6 year window of the CIP. 2. Many of the projects rely on funding sources outside of city tax dollars like state and federal highway and transit funds. These don't represent all city dollars as some assume. 3. Some of these projects have costs that are borne by a larger set of ratepayers than city taxpayers, water and sewer service being an example. 4. Some of the projects have project costs that represent the total cost of the project, not only the city's share. 5. The city does prioritize the CIP requests so that the most important ones get funded first. I know that the facts won't stop the misinformed speculation but at least they are out there for all to see.
John Q
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 3:37 a.m.
The information presented by Ryan is only a summary. The full plan contains the level of detail that asked to see. I don't have intimate knowledge of the this CIP. But in 10 minutes of reading the city's CIP documents, I was able to provide that information. Ryan could have done the same thing.
Veracity
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 1:44 a.m.
What is the point of publishing a "Capital Improvement Plan" (CIP) with variable dollar values if no other information is provided that would allow readers to understand what is to be accomplished and how the projects will be funded. As for projects being spread over six years the Capital Improvement Plan breaks down expenditure by year with some projects reporting expense for only specific years. With such intimate knowledge of the CIP I wish John Q would have written the article and included his explanation of the details related to figures that are provided in the CIP. His revelations would prevent misinformed speculation.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 4:38 p.m.
@demistify: the projects actually total $1.13 billion (see the grand total on page 25 of the link in the artile, and the city's population is 113,934 (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Arbor), so you overall point is still correct, it is just under $10,000 per person! I'd eliminate the new $5 million fascade for City Hall for starters. What a waste of money!!
demistify
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:48 p.m.
The population of Ann Arbor is roughly 100,000 (which includes the UM students). One billion means $ 10,000 for each man, woman and child. Why is the city government wasting time and money on this absurd exercise?
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:42 p.m.
The link to the Model for Mobility Feasibility Study won't post correctly, so I've created a TinyUrl to link to it here: http://tinyurl.com/A2ModelForMobilityFeasibility
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:34 p.m.
@Veracity: The $333 million they have listed for: TR-AT-10-38 Model for Mobility: Transit Connector (Construction) .....$300,000,000 TR-AT-10-33 Model for Mobility: Signature Transit Service Design ......$ 33,000,000 Both appear to me to relate to the Model for Mobility project to allow U-M to move 50,000+ people a day more easily between North Campus and Central Campus, with extensions (they call them "shoulders") to NCRC and Plymouth Road to the North and to Briarwood Mall (and later perhaps The airport and Saline) to the South. You can read the feasibility report here: www.a2gov.org/government/publicservices/systems_planning/Transportation/Documents/Feasibility%20Report%20-%20Low%20Res.pdf It is labelled page I-7 of the Executive Summary. You will note from page 17 of the PDF which lists the costs of the different options this $333 million figure does not correlate exactly to any of the numbers listed, but is closest in price to the option labelled Light Rail Transit (LRT) plus Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) (end-to-end guideway), meaning LRT for the busiest central part between the central part of the line and BRT in a guideway for the "shoulders" of the line. Also noted in the report is that 50% of the money could come from Federal matching funds and presumably much of the rest from U-M, since they are the primary beneficiaries of the project, though it must be run through the city to get the federal money. The feasibility study notes that the next step in the process is to do an Alternatives Analysis to apply for the Federal funds, and so there is a $3 million item there too, called TR-AT-11-05 Model for Mobility: Signature Transit Service Alternatives Analysis.
Veracity
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 1:31 a.m.
Thank you for the clarification.
Veracity
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:02 p.m.
CORRECTION: In my prior comment I questioned the dollar units but the "in thousands" is correct. Sorry.
Veracity
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 1:54 p.m.
PLEASE download the plan via the hyperlink and look at the entries. Many of the entries would benefit from a linked explanation of why that item is needed and what harm is done to Ann Arbor by delaying that capital improvement. I wonder how many cost estimates for capital projects are wildly inaccurate or just guesses. Here are a few entries that warrant further explanations because importance is not obvious nor the high prices justified (BTW, funding figures are in $100s and not in thousands): MF-PR-01-04 Open Space and Park Acquisitions .......................$44,000,000 What future purchases are identified at this time? TR-AT-10-18 Model for Mobility (Ann Arbor-Detroit): Fuller Road Station, Phase ................................$13,373,000 Seems like building the Fuller Road Station is a foregone conclusion. How has $29,904,200 been spent already? What did that money get for Ann Arbor? TR-AT-10-38 Model for Mobility: Transit Connector (Construction) .....$300,000,000 If this is part of the Southeast Regional Transit Authority plan then Ann Arbor municipal funds should not be used; the state plans to use car licensing fees to provide revenue TR-AT-10-28, TR-AT-10-22, TR-AT-10-15, TR-AT-08-03 .....(total) $5,600,000 WALLY capital construction and stations? How can this be justified since expected ridership fees will not cover costs? MF-PR-01-17 Skate Park Facility ............................................. $800,000 Is this not a private development that does not warrant taxpayer dollars? TR-AT-10-36 Allen Creek Greenway Non-Motorized Feasibility Study ................................................. $300,000 Why such a large figure since several other studies will cost $25,000 each? By the way, why are so many studies required? Many more questionable entries listed. You will find favorites of your own!
xmo
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 1:34 p.m.
I am glad that City Hall is busy thinking of ways to spend our money!
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 1:21 p.m.
Again, since we are dreaming, how about an interchange between Westbound I-94 and Eastbound M-14, to make it much easier to travel around the city on our ring expressway?
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:47 p.m.
I forgot to note that probably 90% of the cost of this could come from the Federal Highway Trust Fund, since it would be an exit off of Interstate 94. The local match would be just 10% and perhaps the County could chip in some of it, too? The return on investment from time savings and miles not travelled would probably quickly pay for this investment.
Jim Osborn
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:21 p.m.
Wow, I've been dreaming of this for years. It would be so easy to do it that direction. It would also keep many cars off Ann Arbor streets, too. While we are at it, both the eastbound Jackson on-ramp (to I-94) and Barton (to M-14 need to have the shoulder converted to an acceleration lane for 500 feet or so. At Barton, this was discussed but not allowed due to Federal law and highway funding. Where was Congressman Dingell? Instead, the city and MDOT brought out a plan to demolish several homes on Brookside, including that of my friends. It also would have cost a fortune.
Harry
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 1:18 p.m.
All they have to do is raise everyone's property tax to about $150,000 year. Problem solved. All the democrats are really excited now.
annarboral
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 1:05 p.m.
Evaluating projects that have no hope ever being implemented is a classic bureaucratic tactic, that is, make work. All that should be done is to identify and prioritize projects that are feasible given the realities of cash flow for the city. One billion dollars of projects? What an incredible waste of time and money for a worthless document!
Steve
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 12:36 p.m.
I have a list, too. And that's what it will remain: a list. Dare to dream.
Hal Dotson
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 12:22 p.m.
Like the T-shirt I saw at the Art Fair said: Ann Arbor six square miles surrounded by reality.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:50 a.m.
Since we are dreaming here, how about adding to the list access to the bicycle trail along North Main Street near Argo Dam without having to (unsafely) walk bicycles across the railroad tracks? How about finishing Huron Parkway the rest of the way to M-14 as originally intended, so we can lessen the traffic backups on Plymouth Road at rush hour and reconfigure the unsafe Barton Road M-14 eastbound exit?
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:37 p.m.
@Jim Osborn, I am referring *only* to the need to replace and reconfigure the on-ramp at Barton east bound and off ramp at Barton east bound which are both sites of many serious accidents. The original plan would result in a much safer interchange there, if implemented. The interchanges on and off M-14 west bound are just fine.
Jim Osborn
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:28 p.m.
This Barton M-14 Exit is safe, at 5 or 10 MPH, no faster. It should be a stop sign. What is unsafe is the on-ramp at Barton east bound, unless one has a fast car. It needs to be lengthened by 500 feet. An exemption to existing State and federal laws need to be obtained to allow it to be like many others in the state. There is not enough room between it and north US 23 to meet the new standard. An acceleration lane where the right shoulder is for just a few hundred feet would do wonders. Even 150 feet would help. But a stop sign? Madness.
Silly Sally
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:03 p.m.
Is this because the police eat too many donuts and can't run fast enough to catch anyone younger than a 70 year old woman? Or, because the Silly Mayor fired all of the younger ones and spent the money on art and the BIG DIG? Oh, so silly
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 1:25 p.m.
Councilwoman Sabra Briere informs me that on Monday the Council will consider appointing a task force to make recommendations about 721 N. Main and how to connect from the North Main Street sidewalk to the border-to-border trail.
GoblueBeatOSU
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 12:45 p.m.
@stephen...be careful on those railroad tracks. The AA police love to drag AA residents into court for walking on the railroad tracks, especially 70 year old women. However, football fans are free to walk the tracks as much as they want. So if you are crossing those tracks be sure to have your U of M football game day clothes on and tell the AA police you are heading to the game... http://www.railroadfan.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1426&p=6544 I don't want you to end up with a jury trial just for walking your bike across the tracks....but that's how the AA police work.
motorcycleminer
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:45 a.m.
If they have their way and get their hands any deeper in my pockets I won't have to scratch anymore...Oz needs an anthem...how about " Bring in the clowns "....
jcj
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:44 a.m.
They better start buy lottery tickets!
Karen
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:33 a.m.
Re-skinning...didn't we just finish building this structure? I would have thought the existing surface should have lasted more than 2 years. Rather shoddy construction. Another roundabout - fantastic. I take my life in my hands daily when trying to negotiate the roundabouts at the Geddes/US 23 interchange, and the Maple Rd/US 23/Skyline set, since everyone decides going into them that the other guy should yield, and now the city council want some more. What happened to traffic lights?
Basic Bob
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 1:31 p.m.
The same geezers that stop unnecessarily at the Geddes roundabouts also stop at the bottom of the acceleration ramp on US-23 to look both ways. I doubt going back to drivers ed would help. They should turn in their keys and ride the bus or get a ride with Sonny.
a2cents
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 1:29 p.m.
There are alternate routes I'd prefer you use...
foobar417
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 12:15 p.m.
They are talking about the older half of the building from the 60s. The goal with traffic circles is to lessen the likelihood of a T-bone collision, and thus lessen the chance of a fatal accident.
Jeffersonian
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:13 a.m.
How about saving a dime for capital reserves? Instead of a wish list it would be better to clearly format the priorities based on need and let private donations drive the excess.
joe.blow
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:06 a.m.
I love how these public servants seem to want to spend money on giving themselves expensive nice places to work when the rest of us work in places that are economical. Guess when you don't rely on competition, don't have profit margins and it's not your money, it's easy to spend money to give yourself expensive perks. AA should look at other smart government entities. ND has the highest budget surplus in the country, by a long shot. Now google their state capital building ... it's a freaking old nasty corn silo looking thing - but they save their peoples money and keep using it without blowing a wad on a shiny new building. Why can't AA save our money like that! It would show that they care about the people and our money. I think we should all be very angry with the council's art project and even more torqued about the placement of it near buildings that they work at. Vote all these clowns out.
John Q
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 3:47 a.m.
North Dakota has a higher corporate tax rate than Michigan, it's top individual tax rate is higher than Michigan's and ranks 29th in state business tax climate. Based on following North Dakota's example, we should be raising taxes on businesses.
joe.blow
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 4:53 p.m.
Tru2Blu76.... Drought? Maybe you should learn something about a state before going off on random rants filled with lies! They're having record amounts of FLOODS! Google the minot flood, Devils lake flood, or Red River Vally flood of 1997. Where did you get a $1Billion clean up cost? There's nothing to clean up! Crime increased because when your rate is just about zero, any crime makes it skyrocket. Ignorant.
Tru2Blu76
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 3:42 p.m.
North Dakota? You mean the empty state which is experiencing a petroleum boom - and an environmental crisis which will take at least $1 billion to remedy. N.D. is the "fracking capital" of the world. North Dakota has been featured in the news for its rising crime rate. North Dakota was featured in National Geographic because of its years-long drought which emptied most reservoirs there. THAT North Dakota?
Mike
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11 a.m.
"it includes more than $1 billion in capital projects the city would fund if it had the money." Key point in a lot of our governments reckless spending; it hasn't stopped them before. They'll print the money if they don't have it making the money worth less and less every year causing massive inflation. We need to start using our heads at the voting booths people, not just an emotional response to how we HOPE it will be.............
Richard Wickboldt
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 11:58 a.m.
I agree 100% Mike. I have been preaching this a long time. Keep voting everybody out until we get the right mix of responsible minded elected representatives. I scratch my head everyday and ask myself why do we pay many hundreds of thousands of dollars for NAP to go about town burning the ground cover and contributing to global warming.
a2grateful
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 10:57 a.m.
Unfunded need distribution: Alternative transportation + airport improvements + other transportation = 93% Wally Wally Wally: Hieftje! Folly Folly Folly: Hieftje! What's that? It's the sound of numbers so BIG they won't even fit on the spreadsheet . . . (###,###,###) All aboard for mass expenditures for mass transit for a city with 70,000 full-time residents! Big jets. . . Whoooooooooooooooosh! Big trains. . . Woooooooo Woooooooo! What's that? The sounds in Hieftje's dream future in the middle of every night and day. Notice the sounds that are missing. . . Police cars. . . Fire engines. . . Sounds associated with the very people that help keep us safe. The funded expenditure for public safety is in my tax bill now. In the city's spending, it is undistributed to my families care. . . Now, and in the future. . .
Barzoom
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 10:51 a.m.
Re-skinning means that they're going to skin the taxpayers for more money to throw at one of the top 10 ugliest buildings in the USA
motorcycleminer
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:42 a.m.
Amen to that.....
Carole
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 10:36 a.m.
$5M for re-skinning city hall -- can some one explain re-skinning for me. Appreciate it.
1bit
Sat, May 5, 2012 : 1:32 a.m.
Mixmaster: I'm crying over the "cheese grater" exterior comparison. Spot on. I will now forever refer to it as the cheese grater building.
mixmaster
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 2:35 p.m.
They want to make it an ugly cheese grater exterior just like to other monstrosity.
alan haber
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:21 a.m.
how about re-skinning the police and court building?
Brian Kuehn
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 10:58 a.m.
The Larcom Building's exterior does not match the new court and police building. The idea is to remove the metal siding on the old building and re-surface it with a metallic "skin" similar to the new addition. That way the entire structure would have a common exterior appearance. Since the "re-skinning" has no practical effect on City operations other than to make the buildings look similar, presumably this project is far down the list.
HappySenior
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 10:24 a.m.
"Slotten said the CIP is a list of all of the city's identified capital needs. Just because a project makes the list, he said, doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be funded." I see Fuller Road Station mentioned throughout the 19 page report. How many years does a project stay on this list before the city thinks we owe them the money?
justcurious
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 10:15 a.m.
Yippee!!! That translates to $20,000,000 for public art!!!
julieswhimsies
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 9:56 p.m.
Sigh. Again. It's all about Art.
Brian Kuehn
Fri, May 4, 2012 : 11:01 a.m.
Sadly, that won't make it possible to purchase Edvard Munch's "The Scream" as a symbolic reaction to the % for Art program.