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Photo by Christine Laughren
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Ypsilanti Mayor Paul Schreiber, left, sits next to Ypsilanti Twp. Supervisor Ruth Ann Jamnick during Tuesday night's joint work session
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For the first time in history members of the Ypsilanti City Council met with the Ypsilanti Township Board for a special work session Tuesday evening to discuss common issues between the two municipalities.
Top items discussed at the work session included, border road improvements, shared automatic fire response and the SPARK East Incubator.
"I think it was a very successful meeting and it gave us the opportunity to put us in the same room and talk about issues of mutual concern," Township Supervisor Ruth Ann Jamnick said.
Items that made some headway during the hour and a half discussions were the shared automatic fire response and SPARK East.
Township trustee Stan Eldridge said he has been working with City Council member Brian Robb to find ways the township could work with the city to enhance fire services.
Eldridge explained the proposal he presented to the township as a mutually beneficial agreement evolving the township and the city fire departments providing immediate assistance regardless of jurisdiction.
As it stands now, a department must call for help if necessary when it arrives at the scene of a fire.
"It's really just asking for the city and the township to respond to each other in a timely fashion," Eldridge said.
He cited the February 2007 Paradise Manor fire on Michigan Avenue, in which three children died.
Eldridge said in a situation like that every minute counts and the quicker units could respond the better.
Eldridge also clarified the departments would remain their own separate entities and there would be no merging involved.
"It is a very simple way, a very easy way for the municipalities to cooperate with each other," he said.
Township Clerk Brenda L. Stumbo said she would forward Eldridge's proposal over to the city for review so the municipalities could move forward with the plan.
Another topic that generated a lot of interest was the SPARK East Incubator proposed for the city.
In it's last regularly scheduled meeting the city approved $5,000 each year for three years for the SPARK East business incubator project. SPARK East is currently looking at two undisclosed locations in the city. One is said to be located directly on Michigan Avenue.
According to its Web site SPARK's mission "is to advance the economic development of innovation-based businesses in the region by offering programs, resources, and proactive support to business at every stage, from start-ups to large organizations looking for expansion opportunities."
Jamnick said the township was waiting to see what the city would do with the SPARK East project. And members of the township board said they were happy to see the city allocate money for the project.
"I'm glad to see the city has committed dollars," Stumbo said of SPARK East. "Anything we can do to create job opportunities is certainly worth the investment."
Jamnick said the township would discuss SPARK East at their next meeting May 20.
Finally, possible improvements to roads shared by the city and the township was discussed. Specifically, questions were raised regarding Mansfield Street, near West Middle School.
According to members of both municipalities the road is in great need of repair.
Mayor Paul Schreiber said the Ypsilanti School District has even discussed dipping into its general fund for improvement of the road.
City Manager Ed Koryzno said Mansfield is not currently scheduled for any improvements.
Jamnick said she is not certain of who is in charge of sections of the road. She said she would like to set up a meeting with the city and the Washtenaw County Road Commission to clarify how the work and money would be divided.
Ypsilanti Council member Brian Filipiak agreed a joint meeting with the road commission would be helpful.
Both municipalities cited Tuesday evening's work session as a success and all proposed a quarterly meeting would be beneficial.
"I think we covered a lot of meaty subjects," Schreiber said. "Certainly more than I thought was going to get covered."
Stumbo said she wasn't quite sure how the meeting would go but she said she though the meeting went smoothly.
"I'm glad we met," Stumbo said.
Jamnick said the meeting was a good first step. She said with the city and the township working together both could be a "strong force" in Washtenaw County.
"We have differences, we each have our own destinations but we share a name and we share goals."
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