Midwestern Consulting

Will there be a FY 2011 higher education capital outlay bill?

Michigan House and Senate bills referred to committee in February to finance college and university building and renovation projects are stuck in their respective Appropriations Committees.

Both Senate Bill 1150 and House Bill 5858 seem to be going no where fast.  Each bill contains a “zero budget” for higher education spending.  The legislature needs to get a bill written and on the Governor’s desk by the end of September if there is to be any higher education spending from the state at community colleges and public universities in FY 2011.

Each year, community colleges and universities submit building construction “wish lists” to the state budget office.  If approved, the state pays 75% of the project costs for university projects and 50% of the costs of community college projects. 

The largest request from a university this year is from Wayne State University – $200,000,000 for a new multi-disciplinary Biomedical Research Building.  The largest community college request is from Oakland Community College – $32,065,000 for the interior renovations and additions on Building A in the Auburn Hills campus.

Design engineers, architects and construction trades benefit from the state’s spending on these big projects.  Passage of these bills would provide a huge boost to these employment sectors.

Ann Arbor’s parking space requirements passed in 1999-2000 means fewer spaces needed and more area available for development.

If you own an existing commercial building in Ann Arbor, you may be able to expand your square footage without going through site plan approval.

How’s that?  Ann Arbor’s parking space requirements passed in 1999-2000 means fewer spaces needed and more area available for development.

Office uses approved prior to 1999 were usually designed to meet higher parking count requirements.  Same with commercial uses approved prior to 2000. The reduced requirements create opportunities for additional development including adding square footage to your existing buildings, constructing new buildings, removing parking, or creating outlots.

Existing office and commercial uses in Ann Arbor may now have excess parking spaces that could be converted to additional income producing assets. New parking requirements for office use range from a minimum of 1:333 sf to a maximum of 1:250 sf.  Many office developments prior to 1999 were designed with 1:250 sf and even 1:200 sf. 

New parking requirements for some commercial uses are also given as a range.  Prior to 2000, retail stores and retail centers of under 300,000 sf were often designed with 1:200 sf.  Current reduced requirements range from a minimum of 1:310 sf to a maximum of 1:265 sf.

Another benefit:  new building square footage can be approved administratively, avoiding the higher cost of a full site plan, and the potential for public review, subject to additional limitations.

Earl Ophoff, LSA, is a registered landscape architect and senior project manager with Midwestern Consulting, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Call Earl at 734.995.0200.

Design and construction rating systems like LEED include little recognition of the benefits of sustainable landscape and site design. The Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) intends to change that with a 4-star rating system that recognizes “ecosystem services”. 

LEED scores soon to incorporate landscape design.

These ecosystem services include global and local climate regulation, air and water cleansing, water supply and regulation, erosion and sediment control, hazard mitigation, pollination, habitat functions, waste decomposition and treatment, human health and well-being benefits, food and renewable non-food products, and cultural benefits.

SITES is a distillation of practices and principles for integrating “ecosystem services” into site development, as described in The Sustainable Sites Initiative: Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009, released on November 5, 2009. It establishes and encourages sustainable practices in landscape design, construction, operations, and maintenance. 

Sustainable landscapes move beyond the typical green building do-no-harm/carbon neutral approach by sequestering carbon, cleaning the air and water, increasing energy efficiency, restoring habitats, and giving back through significant economic, social, and environmental benefits never fully measured until now. The U.S. Green Building Council anticipates incorporating the SITES guidelines and performance benchmarks into future iterations of its LEED® Green Building Rating System™.

SITES provides the first voluntary guidelines and rating system for sustainable landscapes, with or without buildings, and creates an essential missing link in green design.

Earl Ophoff, LSA, is a landscape architect and a senior project manager with Midwestern Consulting, LLC, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Call Earl at 734.995.0200.

Midwestern Consulting uses hi-tech laser scanning instruments to investigate auto accidents

It is not always sunny in Michigan! 

The spring and summer rains nurture new plant growth and our state blossoms into the pleasant peninsula described in the state motto.  These seasons also generate roadway crashes that seem to be related to stormwater ponding in highway ruts. 

Vehicle crashes occurring during rainstorms are a growing trend, and Midwestern Consulting is frequently contacted by personal injury and defense attorneys seeking our counsel on whether hydroplaning conditions likely contributed to a loss of vehicular control.   Our engineers are recognized experts in determining roadway conditions that could result in loss of control during rainstorms and the specific location where these conditions were present in relation to initial vehicle rotation and point of impact. 

Important considerations include a review of Doppler Radar for the specific storm and time of the crash, the tire tread depth and pressure, and the shape of the roadway along the vehicle’s travel path. 

Using high-definition 3D laser scanning equipment, Midwestern Consulting creates accurate surface models of each highway rut and calculates the probable depth of water in each rut along a section of roadway.  When this information is combined with the tire and rainfall data we are able to identify the speed and location at which each vehicle tire could be susceptible to loss of surface contact.  This information is used by a certified Accident Reconstructionist to verify calculations regarding the location and speed at which hydroplaning began – and to more accurately determine the velocity at the point of impact. 

Hydroplaning crashes frequently result in serious injury or death.  The scientific engineering approach that Midwestern Consulting takes in determining whether hydroplaning conditions were present is valuable in assisting attorneys as they pursue their cases to benefit their clients.  Our experts frequently are called upon to explain the hydroplaning analysis in depositions and court testimony. 

Jim Valenta, PE, is a senior transportation engineer at Midwestern Consulting, LLC.  He provides expert witness services related to roadway design and traffic accidents. Contact Jim at 734.995.0200.

Nothing like an erosion of tax base to get government to change it’s hidebound ways.  We are glad to see that Pittsfield Township is leading the way in the Ann Arbor area as this AnnArbor.com article suggests.

David Kwan is a development consultant working for Midwestern Consulting.  David can be reached at 734.646.7109.