Monthly Archive

Three quick items:  

(1) a list of top priorities for the city from neighborhood association presidents;

(2) a national expert could be hired to fix Division St;

(3) a discussion of the city’s future on Interlochen Public Radio. 

The question of the week is about Traverse City Tomorrow.  http://planfortc.com/question-of-the-week/jan-24-31-tc-tomorrow/

(1)  The presidents of Traverse City’s 7 neighborhood associations got together and sent the city a list of 8 priorities they want us to focus on.  Here is the letter:

January 22, 2010

Dear Mayor Bzdok and Commissioners,

Neighborhood Presidents from Slabtown, Old Town, Central Neighborhood, Kid’s Creek, Oak Park, Boardman and North Traverse Heights met on January 14, 2010 to ascertain what concerns we may have in common, as neighbors in Traverse City. With shared focus on our particular neighborhoods and broader focus on the whole, we all agreed that the following eight points are currently important areas we would like examined by our city govenment.

Our purpose is to present issues from the neighborhoods and encourage study and action to improve and enhance the peace, safety and community spirit that is of such great value to the overall well-being of Traverse City.

Following are the topics:

* Traffic Through Neighborhoods

Division St. improvements

Speed enforcement

Slowing traffic implementation

Curb and pothole repairs

* Bicycles and Pedestrians

Education for the public on safety and rules

Bike paths delineated

Pedestrian and bicycle crossings including lights and timing of lights at key intersections

* Boats and Swimmers/Access to Bay

Wider protected areas for swimmers

Improve access to bay across Grand View Parkway

* City Parks

Improving and adding parks

* City Tax Millage versus outlying areas

Carrying too much tax burden for county-wide services and public facilities

Proposition “A” Property values up/home values down

* Cherry Festival and other festivals

Dialogue with neighborhoods regarding noise and traffic

* BATA

Smaller electric/biodiesel buses in neighborhoods

Signage and education in neighborhoods about usage

* Neighborhood Identities

Signs

Unattached areas included?

Show Traverse City as a community of neighborhoods

Develop symbol like puzzle pin/art piece

We are going to our neighbors for their feedback and each neighborhood is prioritizing their most pressing needs with the option of adding priorities as we move forward. You will receive emails from each of us with our individual lists and comments. We presidents are meeting next on February 4, 2010.

Thank you very much for asking us to list those priorities for the Traverse City Commission strategic study session. We want to be heard!

Sincerely,

Boardman – Liz Whelan

Central – Seamus Shinners

Kids Creek – Bill Fernandez

North Traverse Heights – Larry Gerschbacher

Oak Park – Vicky Springer

Old Towne – Mark Crane

Slab Town - Mike Gaines

More info on the neighborhood associations is at http://www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us/City_Departments/City_Manager/Neighborhood_Association/ 

(2) The city through URS is ready to bring national traffic calming expert Ian Glatting on board for the Division St re-design.  This guy looks like just what we need:  http://www.designforhealth.net/events/ianlockwood.html

(3) Good discussion of TC’s future and priorities, including Mike Jackson on the waterfront and Oak Park neighborhood president Vicky Springer, (and yours truly), on Points North.  You can listen here:   http://ipr.interlochen.org/points-north-live/episode/6214

Early this evening, Judge Thomas Power ruled in favor of the city on the DNR swim areas controversy.  He ruled that the city has the authority to establish and enforce no-boat swim areas under an 1895 statute giving us jurisdiction of the waters up to a mile out from the shore of Grand Traverse Bay, and also under the city’s Constitutional authority to reasonably control our public places.  In a detailed and extensive opinion that took 45 minutes to deliver from the bench, Judge Power reversed the DNR and ruled that the state must issue buoy permits for expanded swim areas if the city chooses to establish them. 
 
This decision returns control of city beaches and near shore waters to city residents, through their elected representatives.  City Attorney Karrie Zeits represented the city brilliantly in this case.  More details on possible appeals and the city’s plans for the beaches this summer will be coming soon.

Rotary Talk – Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Good afternoon. Thank you for having me as your guest, and thank you for your service to this community.

My name is Chris Bzdok, and I have a part-time job as the accidental mayor of Traverse City.

Three years ago I applied for a vacancy on the city commission based on a voice mail from Bill Kurtz, who said I wouldn’t get it but it would get my name out there. I did get it, I was appointed, then ran unopposed for re-election, then unopposed for mayor. I have described this as like tripping and falling onto an escalator and suddenly finding yourself on the third floor.

The point is, I believe you have to make the most of your opportunities, however they come to you.

My opportunity – really our opportunity – is to define the future of Traverse City. To define it, and then to make it happen.

I want to set the stage for that topic with a few statistics so you know I’m serious. Some of these you have probably heard. They concern the current state of the Michigan economy, and they are not pretty.

According to the Citizens Research Council, Michigan employment is down 20% from the year 2000 peak.

According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment here is 14.7%, 1^st in nation. The UM annual economic forecast predicts this figure will rise to 15.8% in 2010. 10 years ago Michigan’s unemployment rate was was 3.7%. The UM economic forecast estimates that we lost almost 300,000 jobs in 2009, and will lose another 85,000 in 2010, and another 36,000 in 2011.

The Detroit Free Press recently reported that Michigan’s per-person income has plunged from 20^th in the nation to 40^th in the nation.

Michigan housing prices have dropped 7.4% in a year and 20.5% over the last 5 years. The Senate Fiscal Agency says we are 4^th in the country with almost 40% of home mortgages underwater.

Traverse City is part of Michigan, and we are not doing great. Certain sectors of our economy and our community are hurting badly, desperately. In the aggregate, however, we are at least treading water.

Consider those housing statistics: state housing prices down 7.4% in a year and 20.5% over the last 5 years. Based on new data from Grand Traverse County Equalization and the City Assessor, housing prices in the county dropped 7.0% last year, and only 0.675% in the city. Based on the same data, 2009 County housing prices are actually up 0.678% from 2007, and up 2.5% in the city.

So we are suffering, but we are not drowning. The question that confronts us – everyone in this community – is, what do we do? Do we hunker down and try to wait it out? Or do we try to rise up and meet the challenge with optimism and effort and energy?

You know what my answer is by how I phrased the question. Let me give you two reasons why.

First, Jack Lessenberry wrote a column last November in which he quoted George Fulton, director of the UM research seminar that produces the annual economic forecast. Dr. Fulton referenced a rating agency that predicts it will take 30 years for Michigan to recover to the average unemployment rate in the nation.

I’ll be 68 in 30 years. In my mind, that’s too long to hunker down and wait.  (I can see some of you think it’s funny I think 68 is a long way away.)

Optimism and energy is riskier. If you try, you can fail. But the second reason I think optimism and energy are the path to take is because that is what is sustaining us now. I don’t have data for this argument, but the anecdotal evidence is pretty exciting.

Per the Traverse City Chamber of Commerce: Skilled Manufacturing, predominantly an automotive supplier, will now invest more than $9.5 million to expand into the aerospace sector and produce jet-engine parts in Traverse City. The average wage of the 73 new Skilled Manufacturing positions is over $34,000 per year.

Per the MEDC: Hagerty Insurance has made a public commitment to the County of Grand Traverse, City of Traverse City, Old Town residents and business owners, to provide as many as 226 new jobs in our region. (And to build new buildings on Lake Street).

Optimism and energy and the willingness to take risks are what led to the Munson Medical Center expansion, the entire Village at Grand Traverse Commons redevelopment, the Heritage wind farm (which is not in TC but is owned by TC entrepreneur Marty Lagina), and the restoration of the State Theater, a project that almost single-handedly turned downtown into a lively evening destination.

So I think we have to be optimistic and energetic and willing to take risks if this community is going to weather the storm swirling around us. I think we have to do this just to keep our heads above water in the face of all the downward pressure on us.

What does any of this have to do with local government? Two things.

First, it has to do with what we talk about. City government plays a supporting role in fulfilling our community’s values and goals, not a lead role. But we are the public forum where these topics get discussed. So what we say and how we say it becomes important, because it gets communicated elsewhere and drives the discussion elsewhere.

Second, city government can make the city a better place to live. In mobile 21^st century America, with the natural gifts and historic character and emerging brand TC already has, if we build upon the high quality of life in the city, most of the rest will take care of itself. People will visit here, move here, stay here, and open businesses here because they want to be here. Conversely, if we don’t take care of the quality of living in the city, if we allow it to deteriorate, then we will face an obstacle that we probably cannot overcome.

How do you determine what would make Traverse City a better place to live? Ask the people who live here.

The last time the city did this in an intentional way was 20 years ago, with a group called the Residential Retention Task Force. Jennie Nestor in Slabtown turned me onto this. The Residential Retention Task Force went to the neighborhoods and asked four questions:

Why do you choose to live in the city? What is it about your neighborhood that attracts you? What problems do you experience? What is your “wish list” for the future?

The answers were: protect the neighborhoods, calm traffic, improve downtown, and take care of our recreational resources. Some of these goals are on their way to being met, others we have a ways to go on.

We also know that the residents want us to take care of business. By that I mean to ensure that we spend their tax dollars as efficiently and effectively as possible. The city commission is very motivated to do this, and in Mr. Bifoss we have a city manager whose acumen and experience in taking care of business are without equal among his peers.

We know that we need to deal with the city’s very old infrastructure. Under the leadership of Mayor Mike Estes and the skill of the city manager, the city commission has increased city street and sidewalk spending from $100,00 per year to $1.2 million. Now we can sit back and view that accomplishment relative to what was done previously, or we can view it relative to what still needs to be done. The city has 78 miles of streets, and 40 miles of those are rated in poor condition, not including gravel streets. With $1.2 million, plus additional money from other sources, we will fix 1.9 miles of those streets in the next year. That’s less than 5% of the poor streets – not counting gravel streets, or streets without sidewalks.

 So our work is cut out for us. And we have to keep asking the residents for direction, because city projects take a long time and the city is changing. Professional quarterbacks don’t throw the football to where the receiver is. They throw it to where the receiver is going to be when the ball arrives.

That is why I created www.planfortc.com. Actually, Mike Wills’ daughter Chelsea created it – I wouldn’t have known where to start. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to check it out. It’s an open forum using free blog software that I update weekly with news and ideas about what’s going on in the city, and people respond with comments and ideas of their own. In 3 months, we’ve had almost 8,000 visits, 200 comments, and over 800 fans on Facebook. The point is not to have a good website, the point is that a good website can be a tool to help government create a better city – by figuring out what our residents are going to value when the projects are completed. Where the receiver is going to be when the ball gets there.

The Chamber’s socioeconomic and demographic market snapshot says that between now and 2014 we are going to see double-digit population growth in two age brackets: 60-somethings and 30-somethings.

The 60-somethings are coming here because it is a quality place to retire, semi-retire, or think about retiring. Because this is where they want to end up.  The community gets the benefit of importing their money (obviously), and less obviously the community gets the benefit of their time, energy, and volunteer ethic. You know this from Rotary. I know it from my firm’s work for land conservancies and non-profits, and my wife’s work for the Inland Seas Education Association and GT Conservation District. If you calculated the sum of the hours these people put into local boards and volunteer time, multiplied by the rates these people commanded in the market place at the height of their careers, you would have a major explanatory factor of the quality of life in this community.

The 30-somethings and younger are coming here either for the natural amenities or because they grew up here and want to return. They bring their energy and the businesses of the future. Based on the website and the Facebook page, people my generation and younger are moving to the city because we want to live in the city. We want sidewalks and parks and porches and the waterfront and the downtown. We want to ride our bikes to work and walk to the store and walk our kids to in-town schools. We want to be part of a high-quality community because of what it offers us and because even today we define ourselves in part by our associations. We want a city that is unequivocally business friendly, gay friendly, and green.

This is how we weather the storm. By being optimistic, energetic, and willing to take risks. We need to push the envelope. Part of pushing the envelope is knowing where the edge is. Our challenge is to stride right up to the point where vision becomes grandiosity, where optimism becomes utopianism, where community pride becomes parochialism and hubris.

We won’t solve anything with just optimism and energy, but we certainly won’t solve anything without them. They are essential to any effort to keep our head above water, and hopefully make us a bright spot of the future.

I invite you to continue this discussion next Monday night. The City is putting on an event called Traverse City Tomorrow. [Read from the poster]. http://www.facebook.com/PlanforTC

Over 200 people have already responded positively to Traverse City Tomorrow on Facebook, and the first “old media” mention of it was in the newspaper today. There is excitement in this community about the future and we need to capitalize on that, to leverage that.

Come to the Opera House. Hear the panelists’ ideas, ask them your questions, share your own.

The late, great scientific philosopher Thomas Kuhn of MIT – one of my intellectual heroes – wrote that science is the product of a community or else nothing at all.

The product of a community or else nothing at all.

So is the future.

Thanks for your time.

This week the city will be voting on the Division St plan outlined here last week, and hearing about the downtown part of Winter Wonderfest, coming soon.  We also are putting out the word about Traverse City Tomorrow – next Monday night at the Opera House.  The Question of the Week is about mergers and partnerships with “big-city” organizations – let us know your thoughts by clicking on the Question of the Week and leaving a comment.

 Division St.  Last week we outlined a possible plan for making Division St easier to cross, more walkable and bikeable, and less of a burden on adjacent neighborhoods.  (see the post below this one for more info on that, and also this Record Eagle story: http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_011071200.html.) 

This Monday night the city commission will vote on whether to start that plan.  The members of the steering committee would include advocates from the adjacent neighborhoods, TART, Munson, the Commons, TBAISD, the Elks Lodge, the Rec Authority, city reps, and MDOT.  Discussions are underway with a nationally-recognized expert in complete street design – I hope to let you know who that person is in a few days. 

Based on feedback to date, it looks like three possibilities need to be explored: 

(1) A three-lane “road diet” design with a center turn lane and bike lanes.  There is debate right now about whether this design could work at the evening peak hour traffic volumes on Division St.  Based on data so far, the jury is still out on that.

(2) A four-lane divided Woodmere-style concept with a treed median, turn lanes, bike lanes, and enhanced pedestrian crossings.  This is the option that would require some parkland on the west side.  A key for this option is going to be that it not increase traffic speed or capacity.  This should rule out double-left turn lanes at Division and Grandview Parkway, for example.  Based on the history of these kinds of proposals in Traverse City – and the feedback so far - for the parkland idea to pass a city vote, the priority in using extra space has got to be slower traffic, more modes of safe and convenient travel, and safer crossing.  Not extra vehicle capacity. 

(3) A “calmed” four-lane streetscape in the existing footprint.  This idea has come from some neighborhood advocates.  The idea is to design a calmer, slower street in the existing footprint.  This again would provide for safer crossing and for less noise and burden on the neighborhoods, but would probably be less visually appealing than the Woodmere concept and could not incorporate bike lanes. 

Other important questions in the design process will be how to maintain ambulance access to Munson, and improve vehicle access to the Commons. 

The steering group will hold a public meeting to kick off this process.  Watch this site for more details.  There are also some good comments on www.facebook.com/planfortc. 

Winter Wonderfest.  Monday night the city commission will be hearing about an improved and expanded Winter Wonderfest in downtown Traverse City on Saturday, February 13.  Front St will be closed for events including a monster dog pull, “Soup’r Bowl” cooking competition, evening beer tent, snow and ice sculptures, and live entertainment.  You can see the whole schedule here:  http://www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us/agendas/packet20100118.pdf, at pages 67-68 of the pdf.

Traverse City Tomorrow.   What do you want Traverse City to be?  What aspects of our community should we preserve? Get rid of? Make better?  As we head into 2010, the City of Traverse City invites you to take part in Traverse City Tomorrow, a special interactive event Monday January 25th @ 7 pm at the City Opera House, featuring local leaders and hometown heroes sharing ideas for the future of Traverse City.  

The city commission and leaders of local governments throughout the region will be in attendance. Ideas and suggestions generated by the discussion will be used to drive priority-setting in our community over the next year. In addition to live audience participation, there will be numerous opportunities for audience members to leave their comments and feedback at the event.

Refreshments will be served at a free reception with panel guests immediately following the event.  More details will be placed on this site and on www.facebook.com/planfortc this Wednesday night, after we meet with the panel that afternoon.

Next week the city lays out a road map for reclaiming Division St.  And January 25th, we’re having a big event to discuss the future of Traverse City. 

Division St divides our town, degrades adjacent neighborhoods, and compromises our safety.  The Grand Vision, the city master plan, the master plan for the GT Commons, and growing public sentiment all call for more walkable, bikeable corridors, including on Division.  Neighborhoods along Division hope for less noise, and a safe way to cross to the Commons and Munson. 

Last spring, thanks largely to the efforts of TART’s Bob Otwell and then-Mayor Michael Estes, MDOT agreed to put on hold an asphalt replacement project that would have locked in the status quo for 10 more years.  The goal is to do something better.  A couple weeks ago, the city manager and I had a good discussion with MDOT Director Kirk Steudle and State Senator Jason Allen.  The MDOT Director remains enthusiastic about the Grand Vision, and specifically about re-doing Division St in a way that will help our city instead of just imposing on it.  Based on that conversation, this Tuesday the city commission will review a proposed road map for fixing Division St.  The road map looks like this:

January - The city hires URS and a sub-contractor with serious chops in the field of walkable/bikeable/neighborhood-friendly road design.  We need URS because they are the only local firm approved by MDOT for this kind of work.  We need the sub-contractor because this cannot be a run of the mill project – it needs to be state of the art. 

February to April – Then city creates a steering group of advocates from the adjacent neighborhoods, TART, Munson, and the Commons to work with the consultants to re-design Division St.  This will require a public input meeting at the beginning of the work to get ideas, and another at the end to review the product.  Important priorities include slowing traffic; safe crossings at 14th, 11th, 7th, Front, and the Parkway; better access to the Commons and Munson; and safe non-motorized infrastructure up and down the length of the corridor.  This could mean a road diet (three lanes with bike lanes), or it could mean a 4-lane, reduced speed concept with crossings and a treed median, like on Woodmere.  The Woodmere concept would require a strip of the park property on the west side of Division between 14th and 8th. 

May – If parkland is involved, the City Commission decides whether to put the question on the August ballot.

August - If city voters approve the use of parkland, MDOT’s Director is willing to work to get a design-build contract done for the fall.  If not, the city may ask MDOT as a backup plan to schedule the asphalt maintenance project the following spring.

Division St is a hugely important project for the quality of life in our city.  Please give us your comments, or come to the city meeting Monday night and let us know what you think.

Talking About Traverse City’s Future.  What do you want Traverse City to be?  What aspects of our community should we preserve? Get rid of? Make better?  As we head into 2010, the City of Traverse City invites you to take part in Traverse City Tomorrow, a special interactive event Monday January 25th @ 7 pm at the City Opera House, featuring local leaders and hometown heroes sharing ideas for the future of Traverse City.  

Don Coe - Managing Partner of Black Star Farms

Michael Moore - Oscar-Winning Filmmaker and Founder of the Traverse City Film Festival

Ed Ness - President and CEO of Munson Medical Center

Tim Nelson - President of Northwestern Michigan College

Marsha Smith – Executive Director of Rotary Charities

The city commission and leaders of local governments throughout the region will be in attendance. Ideas and suggestions generated by the discussion will be used to drive priority-setting in our community over the next year. In addition to live audience participation, there will be numerous opportunities for audience members to leave their comments and feedback at the event.

The event will be televised live on Up North 2 (Channel 97) and streamed live online at www.upnorthmedia.org.   Refreshments will be served at a free reception with panel guests immediately following the event.  More details will be placed on this site and on www.facebook.com/planfortc as they become available. 
 
It’s your community.  We hope you will join us for this important discussion on January 25th!

Question of the Week.  The question of the week is what should the city’s top 3 priorities be this year.  Check it out by clicking on question of the week, and give us your list.      

Check back soon for news on a major topic for next week:  Division St.  Plus, this weekend we’ll announce a unique event coming January 25th.

Happy New Year!  This week we’re talking about the future of the Grand Traverse Commons, a plan to remove dams from the Boardman River, and improving trash and recycling services within the city.  The Question of the Week is about what the city’s top priorities should be this year.  Click on the Question of the Week link at the top of this page to give us your top three list.

Grand Traverse Commons.  The old state mental hospital grounds has become one of the most unique and interesting places in our area.  The City and Garfield Township have been planning for the future of the Commons, and Monday the city commission approved the Grand Traverse Commons Master Plan.  You can see the master plan at this link:  http://www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us/City_Departments/City%20Planning/GT_Commons/.  

Boardman River Dams.  The city and county are asking for help from the Army Corps of Engineers with the removal of the Boardman River dams.  If the Corps brings the project into its Great Lakes Fishery and Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program, the Corps would ultimately pay 65% of the project cost.  Monday, the city voted to ask the Corps to prepare a feasibility study and restoration plan – you can read about it here, starting at p 37 of the pdf: http://www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us/agendas/packet20100104.pdf.  The city modified the request to ask for a repair of Union St dam, rather than a modification that would allow Great Lakes fish to pass upstream at the Union Street dam.  Removing the dams and returning the Boardman to free flow is an enormous project, and we have to think carefully about each and every step.  Please give us the benefit of your thoughts.

Trash.  This Thursday at 3 pm the group of local government representatives who have been working on improving trash and recycling services in our community will be making some decisions about what we should do. 

To recap, 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.  By having one hauler service an entire community or section of a community, we can reduce the number of trucks on our streets and alleys.  If the expanded services could include leaves and large items, which could provide relief to the city budget as well.  The city has been working with surrounding townships and an expert firm called GBB to determine the best way to improve our services and save money.

This Thursday at 3 pm in the Commission chambers, the group of local officials who have been working on this project will make some decisions about where to go from here.  The options are to ask the County’s Board of Public Works to take the lead, or for individual governments to franchise solid waste services themselves.  Key questions for the city to answer include:

1.  Do we maintain the existing services and negotiate only for price?

2.  Do we negotiate additional services as an option, such as compost, expanded plastics, and styrofoam?

3.  Do we try to privatize some city services in this agreement, like leaf collection and the pick up of large items currently done through the city’s spring clean up?

The solid waste ad hoc committee would like to hear from you.  Either post a comment on this site, or attend the meeting on Thursday and let us know what you think.