City To Talk Complete Streets, Solar Arrays, MDOT Projects

Traverse City commissioners tonight (Monday) will discuss the city's Complete Streets policy, solar options for powering the city's wastewater treatment plant, and major state road projects set to take place locally over the next five years. Tonight's study session is one of two commission meetings scheduled this week; the board will also hold a special meeting Wednesday to interview nine candidates for a city commission vacancy.

Complete Streets
Commissioners tonight will revisit a discussion from earlier this fall on updating the city’s “Complete Streets” policy, which outlines the city’s commitment to providing “safe and convenient access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and drivers of all ages and abilities.” The city last updated the policy in 2011, and Commissioner Tim Werner suggested in October that it be revised to restate and strengthen the city’s position on supporting multi-modal transportation, citing recent debates over how best to redesign roads like Grandview Parkway and East Front Street (pictured) to accommodate different user groups. Werner also suggested adding new references to micromobility – which typically refers to e-bikes, scooters, skateboards, and other lightweight vehicles that go less than 15mph – and addressing climate change, an identified city commission priority.

In a memo to commissioners, City Manager Marty Colburn said that since the October meeting, he’s met with staff and the city’s Action Transportation Advisory Committee to review draft changes. With the city working with a consultant to create a Mobility Action Plan – a process that will include a “review of current policies and ordinances” and the “applicability of Complete Streets and other mobility/biking best-practices in the city” – Colburn suggested commissioners hold off on updating the Complete Streets policy until the Mobility Action Plan is complete.

“For one, the Mobility Action Plan will provide a framework for developing the aforementioned policy and will help to guide the process,” he wrote. “This will also allow staff time to research and explore the most meaningful ways to develop an effective policy that addresses transportation needs and demands at a network level throughout the city.” 

In the meantime, Colburn said commissioners can “reinforce the city’s commitment to equity in transportation” now by passing a resolution in support of complete streets. The proposed resolution notes that “increased walking, bicycling, public transportation, and the use of assistive devices offer the potential for improved public health, economic development, a cleaner environment, addressing climate change, reducing transportation costs, enhanced community connections, and more livable communities.” It also states that the city “hereby declares its support of complete streets” and commits to developing an updated policy that “considers all legal users across the transportation network as a routine part of infrastructure planning and implementation, which will be guided by the recommendations of the city Master Plan and Mobility Action Plan and will provide a decision-making matrix for the street design process.”

Solar Array
Jacobs, the firm that operates and maintains the city’s wastewater treatment plant, will present the results tonight of a study it completed on options to power the plant with renewable energy. According to the firm’s report, the city plant uses approximately 5,048 MWh of electricity annually, based on an analysis of monthly electric bills. The total cost is about $411,525, for a unit cost of $0.082/kWh.

Roof space on the plant could allow for the installation of 965 solar panels that would produce about 510MWh per year of electricity, or 10 percent of the plant’s annual consumption. The capital cost for the arrays would be about $576,000, resulting “in a simple payback of about 18 years if financed and operated by Traverse City,” according to the report. Jacobs noted that the city could explore net metering options with Traverse City Light & Power and possible additional incentives as part of the recently passed federal infrastructure act.

Jacobs tonight will also discuss off-site solar energy options in the city, including a possible array near the Oleson Bridge Trail. According to the firm, available land there could accommodate a 7.54MWDC/6.04MWAC solar project. Such a facility would “produce almost twice the amount of energy that the wastewater plant consumes on an annual basis,” according to the firm’s report.

MDOT Projects
Commissioners tonight will also hear a presentation from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) on state road projects planned in the Traverse City area between 2023 and 2027. The list includes 2023 projects at Chums Corner and South Division Street, plus initial work on Grandview Parkway, which will carry over into 2024 and 2025 when the bulk of reconstruction is set to take place in two phases from Garfield all the way to Cherry Bend Road. Other projects in upcoming years include work on M-72, US-31 near Interlochen, US-31/Three Mile Road, and M-37 between Garfield/US-31 and the Center Road/Peninsula Drive intersection. The Ticker has a more detailed overview of upcoming projects here.

Commission Candidate Interviews Wednesday
Commissioners will also hold a special meeting Wednesday at 7pm to interview nine candidates for an upcoming vacancy on the commission. Commissioner Ashlea Walter will leave at the end of the year to serve on the Grand Traverse County commission, leaving an open seat from January to November until the next election is held. Initially, eleven candidates applied to be interviewed. However, two candidates – Vicky Armour and Amy Koden – have since withdrawn.

The remaining nine candidates will be interviewed by the commission individually. Those include Gretchen Carr, Kenneth Funk, Gary Howe, Caroline Kennedy, Linda Koebert, Jason Lawrence, Brian McGillivary, Merek Roman, and Barbara Willing. City staff will randomly select the order in which candidates will be interviewed. Candidates not actively being interviewed will be asked to wait outside the room (though they can’t be forced to do so due to the Open Meetings Act). The public can attend the interviews, which will also be aired live on TACM and streamed on the city’s Facebook page.

“Each candidate will be given three minutes at the onset of their interview to provide an opening statement,” according to City Clerk Benjamin Marentette. “Then, each commissioner will ask a question of the candidate, with a minute provided for each response.” Following the first round of questions, commissioners could decide to select a candidate, narrow down the field of applicants and have a second round of questions (or invite all candidates to a second round), or pursue some other process. Marentette is recommending commissioners use a ranked choice voting system to select a candidate. At least four votes are required to confirm a candidate. The chosen individual will be sworn in at their first commission meeting in January.