The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Political leaders update Washtenaw business group
By Edward Freundl, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 24, 2008
While individual municipalities may be struggling with their own special challenges, budgets and funding remain a common priority.
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That was the message to members of the Western Washtenaw Business Association during its "2008 State of the Area" luncheon on April 16.
Scio Township Supervisor Charles Nielsen, Washtenaw County Commissioner Mark Ouimet and Ann Arbor City Councilman Chris Easthope addressed about three dozen bankers, insurance agents, realtors, contractors and other members of the group at the Peace Neighborhood Center in Ann Arbor.
The group was formed several years ago after the merger of Jackson Road Business Association and the Stadium Boulevard Business Association.
Each elected official took a few minutes to give a rundown of activities on his particular governmental board, then all three took questions from the audience.
Nielsen made no bones about the challenges facing Scio: the economy and business development, public safety and infrastructure.
"The township faces some public safety problems, particularly with our fire department," Nielsen said, noting that the township's police and fire budget is "is approximately half" of what it should be.
"It's a problem because many residents don't realize there's a problem," he added. "If they call the fire department, somebody shows up to help them."
Next was sewer and water system capacity and service.
"We studied it and thought we would be better off building our own (sewer) treatment plant," Nielsen said.
"Businesses bought into it and we found we were several hundred REUs (residential equivalent units) short."
Nielsen also reported that the township was considering applying to the low-interest State Revolving Fund to finance improvements to the water system.
Another item on Nielsen's list was the proposed rebuilding of Jackson Road, the heart of the township's Downtown Development Authority district.
"That will take about a year and a half, and it will be real ugly until then," Nielsen said.
To keep the disruption to a minimum the work would be done in stages, about a half-mile at a time, he said.
Nielsen also suggested a novel idea that would kill two birds with one stone.
"We're looking at a DDA bus route; like a trolley traveling just up and down Jackson Boulevard," he said.
"It's a good time to try this, with gas prices being what they are and also with the road construction — the more cars we can take off the road, the better."
Nielsen said the township would approach businesses on the boulevard to see if they want to participate in the pilot program through People's Express motor coach.
Limited funding has also caused other township roads to fall behind in maintenance, Nielsen reported.
"For fixing our roads, a special assessment district is one approach," he said.
"Some roads are in a pretty advanced state of deterioration, and they will only get more expensive to fix the longer we wait."
Nielsen wrapped up his comments by saying township officials have been hard at work on an updated master plan and streamlining site plan approval procedures.
"It was inefficient: builders and developers would have to come back to us several times and we would make revisions," Nielsen said.
"Now we give them a brochure that tells them exactly what's needed and what to expect at certain steps along the way.
"We are going to build our way out of this recession."
The next speaker was Washtenaw County Commissioner Mark Ouimet, whose District 1 encompasses much of the northwest side of the county.
The county budget was the focus of his comments.
"The county is up against the wall for its 2009 budget," Ouimet admitted. "It's $107 million, and we ended up with a $10 million gap."
Ouimet gave credit to the county's 15 unionized bargaining units, which helped negotiate down that deficit to just $3 million.
"Through a series of negotiations with different departments we whittled that down to $3 million now," he said.
"This is where we are looking at a reduction in programs and services, which is the toughest part."
Ouimet pointed out that the unions agreed to a 1 percent increase this year; which equals about $1 million, he said.
He noted that the county board will merge the two existing pension systems to reduce costs and fund them from current revenues.
"The county's annual contribution to the retirement system was $150,000 in 1985; now it's $5.5 million," he said.
Ouimet, who is just one of two Republican commissioners, said the County Commission was looking at ways to "re-engineer" government to be more efficient and responsive.
"It's an exciting, challenging time," he said.
Ouimet said he has seen a number of areas where the county could be more cost-effective.
"One thing for me is eliminating duplication of services," Ouimet said.
"For example, human resources. There are separate HR departments at the county, the Sheriff's Department and the Road Commission; we can bring those together."
Another area is in Information Technology and the ability to purchase hardware and software.
"We've done that for Chelsea and Ypsilanti," Ouimet said.
"Then there's One Washtenaw, which is open purchasing power through the county and passing the savings on to local units of government. We started that a couple of years ago."
That program allows any unit of government in the county to order supplies and equipment — from filing cabinets to police cars — and pay the wholesale county price.
"I've always looked at serving in government as a stewardship position," Ouimet said. "You do the best you can to help people."
Ann Arbor City Council Member Chris Easthope reported that his city's budget is in "pretty good shape" since converting to two-year budget cycle.
"We have a very healthy rainy-day reserve, (and) we've been aggressive in attacking infrastructure problems," he said, adding that the city council is also looking at regionalism as a way to combine services and reduce costs.
Easthope reported that the University of Michigan Hospital is planning a major expansion in its work force.
"The growth of the hospital is good news; they are adding 3,000 to 5,000 good-paying jobs by 2012," he said.
There has also been a lot of discussion about a combined police department-district court facility, Easthope said.
When the police department was built in 1956 there were no accommodations built for women, he noted.
"Consequently, female and juvenile offenders are crammed in the basement," Easthope said.
"It's a valid item for pubic debate, and we're looking at putting up a bond."
During the question-and-answer period, Ouimet replied to an inquiry on Sheriff's Department services contracted to townships and villages.
"The idea was to raise the price of contracts to the point where townships would have a hard time paying," Ouimet said.
"We are substantially under-policed in the county. I happen to think public safety is one of the core services the county should provide, but many of my colleagues do not share that view."
Nielsen was asked about details on the proposed sewer and water plants for Scio Township.
"We're not sure on the location of the sewer plant yet, but we have a couple in mind," he said.
"As far as the water plant, frankly there hasn't been a lot of concern about that yet We still have a good aquifer at two wells and those seem to suffice."
Nielsen also shared more details about the streamlined planning process.
"Right now it takes many months and many thousands of dollars in planning review; it costs 10 times more now than when I started 20 years ago," he said.
"The whole idea of this was to save money, but it's too early to tell — we've only had a couple of people go through the new process so far."
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