And we have done that repetitively. We have done several of these committees to come forward and do that. We have had several meetings in which we have gone out and offered for the community to come here to learn about some of the things that we are doing. We are making those efforts of trust. And while that may not be enough for some people, continue to reach out, continue to talk, and we will continue to make efforts to grow and reach out and find that for you. But to say that we aren't is disingenuous. It's also disingenuous to express that we haven't done enough to meet where we are at right now for this district. Like so many districts in the state of Arizona because how we structure funding, we know what happens when we don't pass an override. Right now we have $14 million as part of our budget and we have financed for our next coming year for that one-third that we had to figure out where we're going to do and we've already made some cuts um for that.
Hell, we have really set a foundation. We've also this spring it it was very sad for me to come back to notice that we have not had a Kent High School Hall of Fame induction ceremony for at least four or five years. That is something that should be ongoing. Whether someone leaves or not and whether we have CO or not, we should have still had an induction ceremony. So, we're bringing that back with the hope of inducting members into the qual in the fall. The board of ed has done under Mr. Bishop's leadership a phenomenal job on policies and I thank Mr. Shelder and his committee for really adopting Shipman's policies. I think it makes the work easier and aligned uh with our our attorneys and what our attorneys are trying to do with us. The the communication we still need to and I'm glad we are having a board of education goal that is really going to be looking at communication and I've charged Mr.
Above all, I thank God for my for being my constant companion. I plan to pursue my education in medical humanitarian work management following a gap year volunteering. Luke Jordan I'd like to thank Coach Hal, Coach Matt, Coach Mike. They treated me well when I first started high school athletics.
We believe a current likely uh delineated map of the plume should be included into the document and language included in the document that potential development should provide no risk to homeowners via vapor intrusion and contamination of soils on new sites. The former Michigan Inn and the Ma property abuing Dolph Park on the western side of First Sister Lake are important potential larger parcels to be developed in the city or redeveloped. In addition, as mentioned, the plume is currently spreading northward into wells into Scio Township. This has potential to contaminate Barton Pond, Barton Pond, the source of the city's drinking water. We believe this language and mapping to the best ability should be considered in any final document before final review from you and city council. Thank you for considering my remarks and uh Mr. Lennon uh we will have a hard copy to you and to the commission as well and we'll probably use through some maps and documentation as well.
You have a surplus unit. Yes. That's the on the municipal lot presumably. Correct. And that has to do with the five units being more financially viable. Correct. Okay. Um yeah. So based on Mr. Serenian's comments and what you can read in, you know, political newspapers, there's a lot of the laws seem to be in flux. There's a lot changing at the state level uh in a short maybe in a short period of time. I don't know. But um if the plan is adopted as it's presented here, what is the timeline for implementation of the projects? So um the Borav project specific and the municipal they with 100% affordable housing projects um you have two years from the point where your plan gets approved. So assume you get your plan approved uh beginning of 2026. It would be a two-year period of time that you would have to have a shovel in the ground uh to for the pro for the 100% projects.
So, we're kind of in holding pattern. Yeah. So, is the is the Fed like you have this grant, spend your money and then billing or do you get the money? So with the federal grants, they say you are allocated x amount of dollars. You can spend it any way that you want within the parameters of each of the different types of grants. You know, the idea preschool grant just on preschool expenditures. Um with that we can allocate wherever we need to put those when you get the cash. So when we spend the money we so so once once we spend the money we do a reimbursement request and then they just send us whatever we expect. So the reason I asked that is because the cy food bank which is more than a food bank had a grant from the fed for a lift truck $70,000 and with all the stuff they reame that so now they've got to use reserve funds to pay truck that's why I as the funding for those grants is is guaranteed.
We've removed certain positions and the place that felt it the most would be the the administrative level. Okay. And we worked really hard to try to avoid anything else which again I am grateful for and I've expressed it before because we have centered staff because as Mr. Glover pointed out staff is a large part of this. We cannot do this without the people who come up and show here every day to do these types of things. We have just spent 45 minutes celebrating all the different extracurriculars and programs that we have that are direct result of having funds to be able to divers diversify and move beyond just the classroom because at the end of the day, kids come for more than what's just in the classroom, right? They come for those connections. They come for their areas of interest. And what gets hit the most when overrides do not pass are those areas of interest.
Bishop with really developing and bringing back a communication plan that we've had in in the past to bring that back, but we're doing the best that we can with surveys, weekly communication, attendance at meetings. I'm really proud that a a group of us were chosen to present to Cape Conference on building strong relationships for school safety, financial sustainability, and efficient operations. I got to commend this board because this is not easy. We we spend the entire year developing our budget and looking at our budget. And I I think we need to even get that out more that we do spend this much time and we really forecast out and we do look at our capital planning, our small capital, our large capital. And I believe that we're we're this board is leading the way in in how we need to look at finances across the the the town, the business office.
I would also like to thank Miss Lindsay for keeping me out of the office. She she would say hi every morning and was the most friendly principal ever. I would also like to thank my family for putting up with me through high school. Reagan Kantac, I want to thank my sisters and my parents for always being my safe place. And I want to thank the girls who have been my best friends in dance, in school, and every day of our high school journey. Your kindness and love have supported me and given me excitement for the future. As I pursue college, creative writing, friendships, and faith, I will treasure the memories that all of you have given me. Boon Kenith, thank you, mom and dad, for always supporting me, advocating for me, and pushing me to do the best throughout my school years. I am also incredibly grateful to my Village High School teachers for their patience, flexibility, and encouragement as I balanced academics with my hockey schedule.
So, thank you. Perfect. Thank you. Hello. Hello. Uh my name is Ronald Koig. I've lived at 1215 Winstone uh Ward 2 since 1988. Previously, my wife and I lived in New York City and Brooklyn, Massachusetts. We moved here because we value the small city charm of Ann Arbor. Although I support plans to have densified housing downtown and along major transportation corridors, I'm strongly opposed to densifying single family home neighborhoods because that would destroy the small city feel of Ann Arbor that we love and that attracted us here 37 years ago. Allowing threetory multi three-story multifamily residences will bring noise and traffic. It'll result in loss of trees, stress local infrastructure, uh, etc., etc. Once this process starts, importantly, there will be nothing to stop it until eventually single family homes cease to exist and the small city character of Ann Arbor is destroyed. I question the assumptions that underlied the need for such a potentially massive increase in housing.
Thank you. Uh would the bureau try and you know maximize that timeline just to see if anything would change with regards to the the law? Well, those are existing rules that require the 2-year period of time for 100% project. If the rules change um that would be the only way that we would get any um additional time. No, no. I Yeah, I got you. But I'm saying maximize the two-year period, you know, in the event something were to change in that two-year window. I guess the the last day of that two-year window two years that that time. Yeah. For a developer to to pick a developer and have the developer go through the process of uh getting funded and putting a shovel in the ground. So, we can expect that if it's adopted and approved by all the the parties that, you know, basically it will take that full two-year period for it.
It's already been funded like by Congress before we start spending it. So they can But didn't we have a grant taken away from us last year because we didn't spend it soon enough or No. So what'll happen is if let's say we have $10,000 or $5,000 that we didn't expend because let's say we needed supplies at, you know, for summer school for summer school and then we didn't use all that funding. it will roll over to the next year in the grant. So, right now, we're finalizing this year's approval of funds. For example, some of our supplies for summer school, our teachers for summer school are still being paid out of title one and title four. I'm in the process of submitting for next year's grants for pre-approvals and with the funding that they've released and then we'll have to if there's additional funds then we have to go in and remend the grant and submit it again and wait for state to approve it.
We've looked at cutting the programs and if you forget, please go back to your email and look at that survey at all of the things that were there. There was a meeting and I do not sorry I do not know what month it happened or day in which we talked about how many of those items we would have to cut in order to meet that next twothirds that will go the year after. With respect to having money in our carry forward, this is a true statement. And while that can solve our problem for one year, what happens the year after? It is really hard to expect greatness from a district when you pull the rug out from from under us. Our district is routinely shown and we have several records to prove that that we are doing everything we can with respect to finances and being as smart as possible when it comes to these types of decisions.
Mrs. Robbins, I I feel very fortunate to have Mrs. Robbins as the business manager. One of the best hires that I made since I've come back to Ken was Mrs. Robbins. um because without her, I I wouldn't be able to really focus on what we need to do as a the district at large, I'd be really focusing on uh the the finances and and she's just taken that and really brought it to a level which we need to get to and I know it's going to get even better. I I've recently begun meeting with local businesses and community organizations to talk to them about helping with sponsorships of events and really understanding how they could get involved in our schools and helping us from a financial standpoint. working with our chief, our new chief administrator officer, Mark Penny, who it has been wonderful to work with, very very supportive of of the schools.
A special thank you to my Billet family for welcoming me into your home and to my friends and teammates for the unforgettable memories and support. Each of you has played a role in making my high school journey an amazing experience and I truly appreciate it. Thank you all. Jazzy Clug. The biggest thanks to you all to the wonderful teachers and friends that have guided me through this wild chapter of life. I'm excited to continue my dance journey in college and achieving a degree in either dance or interior design. I'm so thankful for everyone who supported and continued to support me. Allison Naggi. Firstly, I want to thank my family, especially my brothers, for supporting and helping me through my school years after the pandemic. Next, I want to thank my wonderful mentor, Lori, and my teachers, Erica, Matt, and every other teacher who I had classes with for teaching me and helping me learn all I needed to know to succeed in life.
The population growth estimates in the comprehensive plan seem wildly high and unsupported by any real data. Importantly, the era of growth at the University of Michigan, especially at the medical school, is likely over due to massive cuts in the federal budget, including the NIH. and it would not be unreasonable to expect an actual decrease in the number of M employees. This was not accounted for in the comprehensive plan because the decrease in federal dollars is too recent. Now does not seem to be a wise time to forge ahead with such a radical plan that will permanently change the character of Ann Arbor. The comprehensive plan cites four other cities that have densified housing. Um, Seattle, Portland, Austin, Minneapolis, but those are much larger than Ann Arbor, four to nine times the population of Ann Arbor. They're medium-sized cities with a much different character than Ann Arbor, which is a small city.
Is changing, but sure as hell isn't changing in our favor. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I got to read more about it for sure, but you know, I think maximizing that two-year window would be behoove everyone involved in this. Um, if the fourth round were to somehow be ended or changed in some capacity, can the plan be rescended once it's approved by the courts? It all depends on how the laws evolve. For example, I was involved with uh legislation. I'm a member of the New Jersey Institute of Local Government Attorneys. They created a subcommittee on Affordable Housing to deal with Fair Housing Act 2 because it was so ownorous. The committee drafted legislation that contemplated rooting the numbers in reality instead of fantasy. And um that legislation provided that if it was enacted into law, the Department of Community Affairs would have to rerun the numbers and towns would have 90 days from getting a new number from the DCA to comply.
So, if you remember last year, we had to go in, we had to do the revision because they finally gave us credit for our rollover funds. And then they came back and said, "Nope, that doesn't work because we readjusted the allocation formula and now you're getting less." And then they came back and said, "No, we're readjusting it again. You're getting a little bit more." So it there was just a bunch of give and take on the federal side and at the and at the state level grants management continues to change who's who's our who's facilitating who's facilitating it. So when we get a new person they're like oh we don't need you to put the number of hours specific to you know the number of days just give us the amount and then the last person told us you need to add this information. So we're constantly sometimes our grants go into third and fourth revision throughout the year or let's say we say we want to spend it on something different because so one example is when I write for the pre-report grant there's items written into title one but if approves the grant then we can journal entry and free up money in title.
I struggle with any board member who is going to say that it is not in our district's best interest to support this override because for our students, for our staff, to continue to have Higgley be amazing in all of the ways that we are amazing requires a lot a lot of work. And while I recognize that there is hardships across the board, for those individuals who do not have students and do not feel the direct benefit of that, you still benefit because your property value shows you so when our schools do phenomenally well. People come here, people wish to bring their kids here because of the programs and the offerings that we have. And that is only done through continued support. And so to Mr. Glover and Mrs. Schultz's point, I agree at the end of the day that we have done as much as we can to be as fiscally responsible as possible.
The the combination of bringing our accountants payable back and our payroll back and now our benefits coordinator uh back to the school has really allowed us to make sure that our operations are running at a very smooth. the the business manager has done a wonderful job facilitating all state grants. I believe we managed fiscal year 2425 budget really really well. As you know, tonight we're $361,000 in the red and that's completely attributed to what we've been talking about since last summer of new students that have come in to our district that uh required special education services. I I I have to mention and commend this board of education that our the our budget book was nominated as the the one of the best as the best budget book in the state of Connecticut for schools and district districts our size for last year. So I got to commend the board on that and I got to congratulate uh Mrs.