DDA approves reserve dollars for Cross Street improvement

By David Gomez
Mar. 24, 2010    ·    5:58 a.m.

The Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority approved pulling $57,500 from its reserve funds to cover the local match for the planned Cross Street improvement project.

The shortfall in the match came as the Depot Town Community Development Corporation pulled its anticipated $46,406 contribution to the local match, as the scope of work is not what the organization had approved to support.

Estimated to cost more than $1 million, the beautification project would be funded by a federal grant that covers 60 percent of the budget.

Nearly 40 percent of the remaining $410,000 in local funding will covered by the Michigan Department of Transportation, leaving $257,000 to be paid by local organizations.

In February, City Council agreed to cover up to $170,000 of the local match. The DDA anticipated spending $30,000 on the project and the DTCDC agreed to cover the remaining cost so long as the scope of work it approved was being implemented.

Six options were being discussed in the early stages of the plan, all designed to offer pedestrian safety and beautification elements from Depot Town to the water tower along Cross Street. The DTCDC approved two options, neither of which are the plan being considered for implementation.

The main differences in the plan now being considered for implementation and the plans approved by the DTCDC are the current plan does not including adding to the median on Cross Street in Depot Town and it calls for fewer bump-outs than the other two plans.

In a resolution presented by the DDA’s Design Committee, the board approved using reserve funds held by the DDA to increase the match of funds to the Cross Streetscape Grant Thursday.

Mayor Paul Schreiber said in the future, requests to use reserve funds should come after the DDA Board has its budget completed. He said all projects should be prioritized before the board starts deciding what to do with reserve funds.

“As we’re considering this motion we should consider what our priorities are,” Schreiber said. “Six months down the road, when the city has made some cuts and people are really feeling it, people might ask why is the city doing this, why are they not investing in other things, or our infrastructure?”

The resolution was passed and as a result the East Cross Tax Increment Financing fund will contribute an additional $23,000 in matching funds from the East Cross TIF reserve balance to the streetscape project. The West Cross TIF will also contribute an additional $34,500 in matching funds from the West Cross TIF reserve balance to be used for the streetscape project.

Later in the meeting, the board approved an unrelated resolution concerning the DTCDC proposed by the DDA's Organization Committee, which denied a $5,000 payment from the DDA to the DTCDC.

When the DTCDC had control over scheduling and maintenance of Riverside and Frog Island parks, the former Depot Town DDA had agreed to pay the organization $5,000 a year for three years to help with the effort, of which it had made two payments.

The resolution was proposed by the committee because the DTCDC no longer has those responsibilities. The committee said it did not want to continue paying for services that would no longer benefit the DDA districts.

The resolution was approved but it also suggested that the DTCDC submit a new request for funding from the DDA at a later date.

Related articles:
Ypsi DDA Design Committee moves on projects
Non-profit loses parks agreement with city