City of Dexter City Council in-person (3515 Broad Street) and virtual (via Zoom) meeting on Monday, December 13, 2021 at 7 p.m.

Below is an annotated agenda I have created by excerpting additional details from the meeting packet. Page numbers in parentheses refer back to the meeting packet.

As always, there are two opportunities for non-arranged public participation: one near the beginning of the meeting and one near the end of the meeting. See the agenda for details.

During pre-arranged participation, Samantha Rofloc, the Dexter Farmers Market Manager, will provide a 2021 Season Review (page 11) and representatives from Partners in Architecture will provide an update about the proposed renovations of the new City Hall (3515 Broad Street) (page 23).

Council will discuss and/or consider (i.e., take action on) the following (with clarifying excerpts from the packet):

Unfinished Business (Items postponed from previous meetings)

• Community Input Request (page 87; Justin Breyer, City Manager and City Clerk)
  • On November 15, 2021, Council Member Arab submitted a memo with a request to have a discussion item included on the November 22, 2021 City Council agenda related to the solicitation of community input.
  • My words: Ms. Arab has expressed concern that my personal survey efforts “have not been implemented with appropriate processes.” Per her memo: “Council Member Arab is willing to create a policy/guideline document for the Council’s consideration to make sure current and the future Council are aware of the appropriate ways in which they can reach out to the public.”
  • Also my words: So that Council and the public can better evaluate the specific Council Member outreach in question, I submitted a brief memo and unredacted screenshots of my most recent citizen survey.

• Road Intersection and Signal Concerns (page 99; Justin Breyer, City Manager and City Clerk)
  • As briefly discussed at the November 8, 2021 meeting, Council Member Griffin and Council Member Hubbard shared a number of resident concerns related to:
    • 5th St. and Dover – a resident requested a review of the appropriateness of a four-way stop at the intersection of 5th St. and Dover.
    • Traffic signal at Main St. and Baker Rd. – a request from a resident to give additional consideration to pedestrians at the Main St. and Baker Rd. intersection, including looking at a leading pedestrian interval.
    • Traffic signal at Ann Arbor St. and Meadowview – A resident expressed concern about long wait times to turn left from Ann Arbor St. into Mill Creek Middle School. Staff received another verbal complaint about the short time period for school traffic to turn left from Mill Creek Middle School onto Ann Arbor St.
    • Traffic signal at Dexter-Ann Arbor Rd. and Dan Hoey – Council Member Hubbard indicated that she received an e-mail expressing concern about the interval for pedestrians to cross Dexter-Ann Arbor Rd. at Dan Hoey Rd. is too short.
  • In light of these concerns, staff spoke with OHM Advisors, which provided the attached proposal to review the individual locations in question and provide recommendations. If City Council is supportive of reviewing one or more of these locations, staff can bring this item back for consideration.

• First Street Park Sidewalk Connection and Project Recommendation from Parks and Recreation Commission (page 103; Justin Breyer, City Manager and City Clerk)
  • During discussion of the Second Street water main and sidewalk project, City Council expressed an interest in exploring the possibility of having new sidewalk installed to connect Second St. to First Street Park (near the former Adair Printing building). The sidewalk connection would be fairly straight-forward in terms of alignment, and OHM has estimated the cost to be around $30,000. OHM has provided a memo and project rendering, which are attached.
  • Following the November 22, 2021 meeting, staff reviewed the FY 2021-22 General Fund Budget to develop a revenue and expense projection through the end of the fiscal year. Staff’s fiscal year end projection indicates that there will be a positive (revenue – expenditure) balance of approximately $304,000.
  • City Council is also asked to consider the recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Commission to provide $20,000 for a First Street Park Improvement project.
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• 150 Jeffords Barrier-Free Parking Spaces and Ramp (page 109; Michelle Aniol, Community Development Manager and Justin Breyer, City Manager and City Clerk)
  • At its August meeting, the DDA considered a resident request for the placement of at least one barrier free parking space in front of the entrance to the 150 Jeffords building. Following a thorough review of the information presented and board discussion, the DDA voted unanimously to recommend that City Council use the City’s Voluntary Parking Fund to pay for flared ramp barrier free parking, in front of the entrance to the 150 Jeffords building.
  • The estimated cost for a depressed ramp at Location 1 would be $13,300, whereas the previously presented estimated cost for a flared ramp at the same location would cost $8,200.
  • Although on-site parking is not required for developments in the CBD, Central Business District, the developer of 150 Jeffords provided one on-site barrier free parking space, in its underground parking garage and an $85,000 contribution to the City’s Parking Fund, as a recognizable and material benefit of the project. The City’s Voluntary Parking Fund has a current balance of nearly $100,000.

New Business

• Release of Bid Package for Capital Improvements to 3515 Broad St. (page 113; Justin Breyer, City Manager and City Clerk)
  • Over the last several months, the 3515 Broad St. User Group has been working with Partners in Architecture to identify the capital improvements needed to the 3515 Broad St. building and property in order to make the building and property functional for use as a City Hall. During the November 22, 2021 City Council meeting, Partners in Architecture gave a presentation regarding the work that has been completed to-date along with a walkthrough of the proposed changes to the building and property that are being proposed for inclusion in the construction bid documents.
  • Since their last presentation, Partners in Architecture has been refining their work and the details for items proposed for inclusion in the bid documents. Per the timeline presented by Partners in Architecture, City Council is being asked to approve the scope of work for the bid package before the release of the bid package.
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• Forest Street Sidewalk Connection (page 115; Justin Breyer, City Manager and City Clerk and Michelle Aniol, Community Development Manager)
  • In September, during the discussion of the 150 Jeffords barrier-free parking space, City Council transitioned to the topic of the concrete sidewalk adjacent to 3045 Broad St. At that time, City Council requested that staff evaluate the connection of that sidewalk to the Mill Creek Park Trail at Forest and Jeffords Streets.
  • To facilitate such an extension would require the removal of a set of existing stairs, significant earthwork (i.e., grading and embankment), and possibly the creation of a retaining wall. Further, the work would potentially encroach onto an existing concrete slab foundation on the 3045 Broad St. property. If a retaining wall is not required, then the cost to extend the sidewalk is estimated at $5,480. The engineer’s estimate for the retaining wall option is $17,800.
  • Two other factors need to be considered, as well, which are not factored into the cost estimates listed above:
    • 1. Due to environmentally contaminated soils under the 3045 Broad St. slab, the City could incur additional costs to mitigate any portion of the property being disturbed by the sidewalk construction; and
    • 2. Any improvements made for the sidewalk may not be compatible with a future development proposal for the 3045 Broad Street site.
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• Dexter-Ann Arbor Rd. Speed Limit (page 119; Justin Breyer, City Manager and City Clerk and Michelle Aniol, Community Development Manager)
  • In late-October, a resident contacted Mayor Keough expressing concern about the speed limit on Dexter-Ann Arbor Rd. near Lexington at the entrance to the Dexter Crossing neighborhood. City staff received a few similar calls several years ago, but when those calls were received, the stretch of Dexter-Ann Arbor Rd. from Dan Hoey heading southeast to the City limits was under the jurisdiction of the Washtenaw County Road Commission. The County Road Commission set the speed limit on this stretch of road at 50 mph. In October 2020, the City accepted ownership of this stretch of Dexter-Ann Arbor Rd. from the Washtenaw County Road Commission.
  • Changing the speed limit on this segment of road would require a traffic control order (TCO).
  • To change the speed limit on this segment of road, the City can take one of two tracks.
    • a. The first option is to implement a speed transition zone of 40 miles per hour. Per the State Traffic Code, when roads transition more than 10 miles per hour (in this case from 35 mph to 50 mph), the community can implement a transition zone. This would be similar to Baker Rd., where the speed limit within the City is 30 mph, then transitions to 40 mph immediately after the roundabouts, before reaching 50 mph about halfway between the roundabouts and I-94. The City would need to work with the Washtenaw County Road Commission to ensure that appropriate speed limit change warning signage is posted outside of the City’s limits heading towards the City.
    • b. The second option is that the City could have a speed study performed, which would look to set the speed at the 85th percentile speed.

• Fire Station Guiding Principles and Next Steps (page 123; Justin Breyer, City Manager and City Clerk and Michelle Aniol, Community Development Manager)
  • During the November 22, 2021 work session, City Council divided into groups and reviewed and discussed a set of guiding principle statements regarding the Fire Station. These statements were intended to generate conversation amongst Council, not to be the final statements. Through the exercise, the members of the three groups were offered the opportunity to markup, modify and change the statements as they saw fit.
  • Provided for City Council’s review are the comments compiled from the groups on the statements provided. This item has been provided to offer an opportunity for City Council to discuss the exercise and the statements/comments that are included in the packet; or to determine whether Council would prefer to set another work session to continue this discussion.
  • See page 128 of the packet for the specific list of guiding principles discussed.

REMINDER: Video recordings of past Council meetings are now available on the City's website (in addition to the City's YouTube channel): https://www.dextermi.gov/government/cc.php. If there's a particular past discussion you're interested in watching, just let me know and I'll do my best to point you to the relevant excerpt.

**If you would like to receive my personal meeting reminders via email, please visit https://www.griffinfordexter.com/ and scroll to the bottom to enter your email address where directed. 

Meeting Agenda: https://files.dextermi.gov/City_Council/2021/Agendas/2021-12-13-CC-A.pdf

Meeting Packet: https://files.dextermi.gov/City_Council/2021/Packets/2021-12-13-CC-P.pdf

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