You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2009.
We deserve city government that is responsive to our concerns.
Neighborhood ombudsman
Twenty years ago, the Residential Retention Task Force called for the naming of a neighborhood ombudsman. The position was envisioned as an advocate for neighborhoods, similar to the way the DDA director is an advocate for downtown. We should look at this request again.
We depend on cooperation from the region.
Senior Center
We need to provide for our seniors. The senior center currently suffers from limited space and old facilities. The city provides the largest source of funding, but 75% of the people who use the senior center are not city residents. Some townships contribute, but there really is no allocation of a fair share to each local government based on population or number of members. As it stands, there is barely enough money to operate the senior center, and almost no money to upgrade or improve it. Two county commissioners recently proposed that the Grand Traverse County Commission on Aging take over operation of the senior center. The Commission on Aging would put a small millage on the ballot, and if successful the senior center would be operated as what it truly is – a regional asset. To ensure that the property stayed public forever, the city would lease the land to the Commission on Aging.
This is an excellent idea. It needs to be planned carefully, and then it needs to be supported.
Collective bargaining of solid waste services
Currently in Traverse City and surrounding areas, each individual resident contracts with a solid waste hauler, who picks up their household trash and recyclables. The city picks up leaves in the fall and spring, and does a round of spring clean-up in May. The system is expensive, and the services are less than ideal. Other communities have found that if they negotiate on a collective basis with the haulers, they can get more services for less money. If the expanded services could include leaves and large items, this could provide relief to the city budget as well. The city has been working with surrounding townships to hire an expert to guide us through this process. The county is paying for the expert’s services. We may end up with a trash authority, or simply a set of franchise agreements between the various local governments and haulers. Either way, facilitating a new system for solid waste services where residents get better service for less money is exactly the kind of thing city government should be doing.
Metro Fire
Traverse City has the most skilled, highly trained firefighters in the region. Surrounding Traverse City are the townships of Garfield, East Bay, and Acme, whose fire services are provided by Metro Fire. Traditionally, Metro was a rural model, based largely on volunteer firefighters, and the city was the professional department. Therefore, it made no sense to consider combining the two departments in order to promote efficiencies and save taxpayer dollars. Now Metro is upgrading its training, facilities and equipment. While the city department is still the best, the differences are diminishing. The two departments are even training together some of the time, and have a mutual aid agreement to assist each other in emergencies. Now that Metro is moving to a level closer to the city, the question must be asked: Does it make sense to have one set of fire stations and fire fighters protecting the city, and a completely separate set of fire stations and fire fighters protecting a half-moon shaped area that wraps around the city from Incochee Woods to Yuba? Local governments around the state have been consolidating their fire departments for one reason: it makes sense. If we can join Metro Fire, and do it in a way that saves tax dollars and maintains the high level of training and skill we expect in the city, we need to look at this. A more near-term project would be contracting with Metro Fire to provide some services in the city, or services in some portions of the city, perhaps in return for the city providing some services in surrounding townships.
We should plan for a sustainable future.
Traverse City has been here for over 150 years. We need to plan on another 150 years. That means taking care of our natural resources, and working toward renewable energy and efficiency in every possible way.
Energy Efficiency
Recent studies by Michigan’s two largest utilities concluded that energy efficiency investments pay for themselves at a rate of $3.50 in savings for every $1.00 invested. We need to be making those investments everywhere we can in Traverse City, starting immediately. Our capital plan process, which budgets for infrastructure projects over a 6-year time frame, needs to be revised, as well. We need to invest in energy efficient building designs, engineering, and materials whenever that is cost effective over the life of a project.
Traverse City Light & Power
Nothing is more volatile or less certain than the future of energy – where we will get it, and how much it will cost. TCLP is our electric company, and hanging onto it is the only way to protect ourselves from the uncertainties of the future. We need to support their efforts to diversify their renewable energy portfolio, and we need to encourage them to take further progressive steps in efficiency and load management to protect us from the cost of having to acquire future power sources we may not need if we plan well.
Solar Feed-In Tariff
A solar feed-in tariff is a premium, fixed price that an electric utility pays for energy from solar panels on the roof of a home or business. The solar panels provide the utility with renewable energy during peak demand, which occurs during daytime hours in the summer months. Local banks will give the home or business a loan to have the solar panels installed, because the loan is secured by the equity in the building and the feed-in tariff provides the owner with a guaranteed revenue stream. Local contractors can put people to work installing the solar panels. People driving into town from the south will see solar panels on the roofs of homes and businesses and know that this community is this state’s leader in planning for a sustainable energy future.
Water Quality
We must protect our water quality by investing in advanced storm water treatment as part of our infrastructure upgrades program. We need to continue partnering with the Health Department and the Watershed Center to implement programs to reduce the risk of e coli. This past summer was much more successful than the previous one, and we need to stay focused and build on that success.
We need to cultivate our local economy.
Our nation is suffering its worst economy in 70 years. The auto industry, the backbone of Michigan’s economy for a century, is getting the worst of it. Our state will not be the same when it’s over. We cannot pretend these difficulties are not going to reach Traverse City. They are here.
But there is some good news. Every report you read about the “new” economy says that the drivers of future economic development are the knowledge-based businesses, such as insurance, finance and other professional services, that can locate just about anywhere. This area of the economy represents America’s highest growth area for good-paying jobs. This opportunity must be a priority for Traverse City.
Traverse City has assets to attract businesses who have a choice about where they locate. These assets include our water and the beauty of our surroundings. They also include Traverse City’s emerging “brand,” which is a blend of the traditional and the ultra-modern – think of the State Theater, or the businesses that have located at Building 50.
While one can be skeptical about government involvement in private business, this is a time for pragmatism. City government needs to to promote economic development. This will help provide opportunities for quality jobs that provide for an economically sustainable life and an enhanced quality of life for our citizens. It will also help increase Traverse City’s tax base, which contributes to our general fund.
The infrastructure spending outlined in this plan will help stimulate our local economy. The energy efficiency and renewable energy spending outlined in this plan will help stimulate our economy. Enhancing our waterfront will help us compete for what are likely to be fewer tourism dollars than have been spent in the past. And there are other things we can do:
New economy businesses - We need to provide the groundwork for new economy businesses to locate in our city. We should create a committee, in the city or the region, to make recommendations about what local government can do to provide an attractive environment for new economy businesses. Examples of areas to study would include upgrading local broadband infrastructure, fostering entrepreneurship, and ensuring that city representatives are business friendly.
The high quality of life that Travers City offers is attractive to the entrepreneurs and young professional workers of knowledge based businesses. The Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce’s success in their Young Professional’s organization serves as an base to expand on.
TIF - If TIF is handled properly, it can be a true stimulus tool. Rather than borrowing against the general tax burden of our children and grandchildren like the federal government does, TIF lets our community borrow the future tax revenues of specific projects and use those captured dollars to build public infrastructure. That creates jobs, which we desperately need right now, and infrastructure we can use for years after it is paid for. This does not mean every TIF project should be approved. TIF dollars are public dollars, and the City Commission must be stewards of those dollars and only do the deals that are in the best interest of our residents. But it does mean that we need to evaluate these projects carefully, with an open mind, and with the understanding that we need economic development in our city more than we have in a long time.
Community development - We should continue the new office of community development, focusing on development in our entire city, including:
- Workforce housing
- Corridor development (8th, 14th, Woodmere, Garfield)
- Identifying obstacles to economic development in Traverse City and using our resources to overcome those obstacles.
- Partnering with local non-profit and grass roots groups to tackle issues where they have expertise and the ability to organize citizens.
Downtown - We need to continue the good things that have happened downtown. Downtown is our signature area. Along with our waterfront, it is what people remember, and why they come back. Most of the other taxing units in the region contribute to the TIF plans for downtown. The result is that for every dollar the city puts into downtown, other taxing units contribute another 93¢. The question we must ask, and continue asking, is how we can leverage this regional contribution on projects that, while located downtown, benefit the whole city. Effectively connecting the waterfront to downtown and the Bayfront Plan are good places to start. Downtown and Traverse City must continue to be innovative in making our community more inviting for visitors who spend money in our local businesses. Examples include more accessible restrooms and ground floor retail throughout downtown.
We should polish the jewel of our waterfront.
Traverse City’s waterfront is our greatest asset. It is the reason why most of us live here. We spent two years asking the public to help us study how to improve the waterfront through the bay front planning process. Now we need to implement that plan. http://www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us/departments/planning/finalfinal.pdf.
We should give people more things to do, especially on the zoo property. We should lease a zoo building to someone who will rent bicycles and kayaks. We need a playground area for kids. We need an ice skating rink. We should consider expanded food and beverage concessions. We need public restrooms between the zoo and west end beach. We need to make it safer and more convenient for people to cross the parkway to get to the beach.
One way to pay for these amenities would be to tap the Brown Bridge Trust Fund. The Brown Bridge Trust Fund contains over $12 million from oil and gas royalties on city-owned recreation property south of town. Last year the fund had over $500,000 in royalties. Using $3 million from the fund would pay for all the bayfront improvements we realistically need.
It takes a vote of the residents to tap the Brown Bridge fund. Two years ago, city residents rejected using fund dollars to pay for street repairs, because street repairs are a basic job of government, not something special.
The waterfront is special. Developing amenities along the waterfront that would let everyone to enjoy it more (without impeding the view, of course) is worth using this special fund for. If we do it, we’ll look back some day and be so glad we did.
We expect city government to be efficient and cost effective.
Taxes
City residents and businesses pay high taxes compared to those in surrounding metropolitan townships. Our long-term goal must be, and is, to lower city taxes. Lowering city taxes would spur development in our commercial districts, help developers who want to build affordable housing, help young families buy a home in our neighborhoods, and reduce the burden on our residents.
We must be candid, however. Before we can lower taxes, we need to take care of the infrastructure needs identified in this plan. And that will take time and a lot of money. Reasonable estimates are 15 years and $30 million.
The first place to focus, therefore, is how the city spends our tax dollars: whether city government could do things more efficiently, and whether city residents are getting the maximum possible benefit for each dollar spent.
COFAC
The COFAC group (Citizens Operations and Finance Committee) spent over a year studying these questions, and we are all in their debt for that service. COFAC’s conclusion was that we receive excellent city services, but we pay a premium for those services. The question we need to answer is whether we can reduce that premium without unduly compromising that excellence.
We believe that at least in some areas, we can do that. Some of the COFAC group’s best recommendations include:
Pensions - We need to meet our obligations to the professionals who spent their careers working for our city. However, the current trend at which our pension obligations are growing is not sustainable. Nor is it comparable to the private sector, nor to what is happening in other communities around the state. We need to use all means that are legally available to us to reduce the unsustainable growth in our pension obligations.
Police Patrols – Traverse City residents are also residents of Grand Traverse County. As county residents, we help pay for the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s department. Based on a per capita breakdown of the 2008 budget, Traverse City taxpayers pay a share of the county’s road patrol budget that adds up to over $800,000 per year. Yet we receive no road patrol services from the county. Instead, we pay over $3.6 million for police protection from the Traverse City Police Department, a budget which includes road patrol. City residents deserve assistance with road patrol from the Sheriff’s department. This would reduce the burden on city taxpayers for road patrol, saving us potentially millions of dollars over the next decade.
Community Police Officers - The County also provides community police officers to townships who request them. The townships pick up roughly 70% of the cost of these officers, and the County picks up roughly 30%. The County is willing to provide this service to the city. We need to look at a pilot program for using County community officers to meet some of our city policing needs. A pilot program would mean 4 to 8 officers to try it out. The city would be protected by the same number of officers, but at a lower cost to city taxpayers. By keeping the pilot program small at first, it would allow operational issues like chain-of-command and call responsibility to be worked through. It is an idea worth trying.
Other COFAC ideas are discussed in the section of this plan on the city’s relationship to the Region.
We should offer transportation choices.
The Grand Vision study says that residents “overwhelmingly” support new pedestrian and bicycle routes. As we re-build our streets, we need to make sure they are complete streets.
That means streets that serve not only cars, but also bicycles and pedestrians. It means bike lanes, sidewalks, and safe places for people to cross our major roads. It means solving the problems on Division Street. It means re-striping Eighth Street so people can ride their bicycles safely between Boardman and Central neighborhoods. It means installing or improving pedestrian crossings over US-31 at Fourteenth Street, Eleventh Street, Randolph, Grandview Parkway, Oak Street, Hall Street, Garfield, Eighth Street, and Parsons. It means providing safe routes to school.
In part, this is an equity issue. Not everyone has a car, or is in a position to drive. They deserve a way to get around town, too. In part, this is a plan for reducing traffic in our city. If we don’t make it safe and convenient for people to travel on foot or bicycle, how can we ever expect them to get out of their cars? It’s also about being a desirable city. The most sought-after places around the country provide for walking and biking throughout their city limits, and residents and visitors in those cities do just that. It’s time we get with the program.
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