Neighbors,
In observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 20th, City of Ann Arbor municipal offices, including the customer service center at Larcom City Hall, will be closed. Trash and recycling collections will not be affected, and curbside service will be performed on their regularly scheduled days. Safety services and utility operations will maintain 24-hour schedules throughout.
City Council meets Tuesday, January 21 at 7pm. Here are some updates before a preview of our agenda.
Spin Temporarily Pulling Scooter and eBike Fleet
Spin, which provides eScooters and eBikes in Ann Arbor, will be pulling their fleet from operations for the next few weeks due to forecasted extremely cold temperatures and winter conditions. They will redeploy them around Feb.1 or sooner if the forecast moderates.
Conquer the Cold Challenge Kicks off Jan 20
Just in time for extremely cold temperatures, the Conquer the Cold Challenge kicks off tomorrow and runs through February 20. This annual program encourages walking, biking, using public transportation, and carpooling instead of driving alone. To participate, community members log whenever they take trips using sustainable forms of transportation and can win prizes. I know these next couple of days of forecasted extremely low temperatures, I will be taking advantage of telecommuting, which counts! I encourage you to join my Ward 4 Team so we can engage in some friendly competition with others.
Registration Now Open for the Ann Arbor Community Academy
Would you like to get an in-depth look at long-term planning and day-to-day operations in the City of Ann Arbor? Registration to attend the 2025 Ann Arbor Community Academy is now open! Sessions take place Wednesday evenings, and on select Tuesdays, in March and April. Please see https://www.a2gov.org/news/pages/article.aspx?i=1125, for more details.
City Council Meeting, Tuesday, January 21 at 7pm
Responses to Council Member Questions. There were no questions submitted by council members for this agenda.
Agenda Highlights
Ordinance to Amend Best Value Procurement (C-1). In January 2022, City Council adopted a Best Value Procurement Ordinance consistent with voter approval of the amendment to the City Charter. As city staff work with the ordinance, they have made recommendations for amendments to uphold Council's intent while streamlining its implementation. The following adjustments are being put forward:
Remove the requirement to evaluate bidder's qualifications based on evidence of any quality control program and the results of any such program on the bidder's previous projects. This recommendation is based on staff experience where bidders are demonstrating a low-quality assurance program, which results in the same score being awarded to each bidder.
Modify the requirement to evaluate bidder's workplace safety by allowing evidence of bidder's safety program to be provided through a link to information on bidder's publicly available website. This change is proposed to reduce the physical paper submittal that was occurring with presentation of bidder's safety manuals.
Remove the requirement to evaluate bidder's qualifications based on proposed use of sustainable products, technologies, or practices for the project. The reason for this change provided in the agenda item is that bidders are responding to City-specified requirements in RfPs; and in many cases they constrain the options available. This agenda explanation notes that staff intend to include sustainability criteria within the issued Request for Proposals themselves (Sponsors: Eyer and Radina)
Resolution to Authorize the City Administrator to Engage the Ann Arbor District Library in Discussions Regarding the Potential Development Including Housing on a Portion of the Center of the City Parcel Known as Library Lane Parking Lot (DC-2). In 2018 the Ann Arbor City Charter was amended as a result of Ann Arbor City Proposal A for the City-owned public land bounded by Fifth Avenue, and William, Division, and Liberty Streets to be retained in public ownership in perpetuity and developed as an urban central park and civic center commons to be known as the "Center of the City." At the time of its passage City officials made it clear that there were not city funds to develop and maintain a new park. To date, there has been no sufficient private or public funding source to permanently develop and/or program the site. In early January, our City Administrator informed us that the Ann Arbor District Library has expressed interest in including this parcel as they develop a new downtown library that includes housing. If it is determined that a potential development holds promise it would likely require an amendment to the City Charter. This resolution would provide authorization for the City Administrator to engage the Ann Arbor District Library in discussions regarding the development of this lot. (Sponsors: Taylor, Cornell, Eyer, and Akmon).
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