General Assembly meets on October 22; adoption of Direction2035 on agenda

SEMCOG’s General Assembly will meet on Thursday, October 22, at the ConCorde Inn (44315 Gratiot Ave., Clinton Twp., 48036), beginning at 4:30 p.m. (registration is 3-4:30 p.m.). Come early to attend a workshop on cutting costs and gaining efficiencies through better management of roads, water, and sewer systems. This Asset Management workshop begins at 3:15 p.m.

The General Assembly will take action to adopt Direction2035: Regional Transportation Plan for Southeast Michigan. Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in an interactive session using keypad voting, aimed at gaining a better understanding of how the region’s governments are responding to fiscal uncertainty and how SEMCOG can help.

RSVP online or by calling or e-mailing Raymonia Dale (313-324-3309 or dale@semcog.org). When registering online, please indicate in the “additional comments” section if you plan to attend the Asset Management workshop prior to the General Assembly meeting. Contact: Kathleen Lomako, SEMCOG Deputy Executive Director. 

Paul Tait is guest on “Spotlight on the News” on Sunday
Please tune in to “Spotlight on the News,” hosted by Chuck Stokes, this Sunday, October 17, 2009, at 9:30 a.m. (WXYZ-TV, Channel 7). SEMCOG Executive Director Paul Tait is one of the guests, speaking on a myriad of topics including Direction2035, transit, and local governments. Contact: Sue Stetler, SEMCOG Director or Communications.

It’s National Hispanic Heritage Month: Some data about the Hispanic population in Southeast Michigan
National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated annually from September 15-October 15 since 1988 when a bill was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. Here is some interesting data on Hispanics in Southeast Michigan, courtesy of SEMCOG’s Data Center. 

177,858 – The estimated Hispanic population of Southeast Michigan in 2008, making people of Hispanic origin the largest ethnic minority in the region. Hispanics comprised four percent of the region’s total population. There were 89,454 Hispanics in 1990, half of the current total. Click here to read more data. Contact: SEMCOG Information Center.  

Upcoming SEMCOG University workshops
Several SEMCOG University workshops are scheduled for Fall 2009:

• Winter Maintenance Workshop – October 29, 2009, 9 a.m.-noon (registration begins at 8:30 a.m.);
• Access Management: Improving Traffic Flow through Coordinated Community Planning – October 30, 2009, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. (registration begins at 8:30 a.m.);
• SEMCOG and DTE Present: Saving Money through Energy Efficiency Actions – November 6, 2009, 9 a.m.-noon (registration begins at 8:30 a.m.); and
• Center for Watershed Protection Urban Forestry Webinar – November 18, 2009, noon-2 p.m.

More information regarding these workshops is available on the SEMCOG University Web page. Unless otherwise noted, SEMCOG University workshops are hosted in the Ambassador Room at SEMCOG, Buhl Building, 535 Griswold St., Ste. 300, Detroit. Contact: Amanda Polanco, SEMCOG University Registrar.

SEMCOG updates Southeast Michigan’s fiscal capacity forecast for 2010 and 2011
In its newest Quick Facts, Community Fiscal Capacities – 2009, SEMCOG preliminarily forecasts the region’s taxable value to fall 11.1 percent in 2010 and another 4.4 percent in 2011.

Taxable value fell for the first time, region-wide, in 2009 by 3.5 percent. Declining housing values continue to drive the decline in State Equalized Value and, ultimately, the decline in taxable value.

Nonresidential property is starting to decline too. Nonresidential SEV fell for the first time, region-wide, in 2009 by 2.1 percent. Nonresidential taxable value slowed to a 1.9 percent gain (the smallest this decade). An increase in commercial foreclosures and a restructuring auto industry, lead to a bigger risk of a larger decline in nonresidential property for 2010 and 2011.

An update of the forecast will come later this year. For more information, including community-level data for changes in taxable value and SEV between 2008 and 2009, click here. Contact: Brian Parthum, SEMCOG Data Center Senior Planning Analyst. 

SEMCOG connects member local governments with efficiency and collaboration ideas
In these times of fiscal uncertainty, SEMCOG is committed to helping its members find innovative ways to increase efficiency, foster collaboration, and right-size their local government. As a result, we continue updating our Local Government Effectiveness and Collaboration Web pages with practical and useful information. One recent addition includes a narrated presentation from SEMCOG Consultant Dave Boerger, titled Restructuring Local Government by Effective Collaboration. The presentation served as a springboard for break-out collaboration conversations at recent SEMCOG Local Government Collaboration workshops.

Also available on SEMCOG’s Web site is a link to a Plante & Moran narrated presentation that provides ideas for balancing budgets. This presentation is a great supplement to SEMCOG’s list of Budget Best Practices, which contains information on best practices that have been used with success throughout the region.

AgileGov, SEMCOG’s searchable database of successful cooperative projects in Southeast Michigan, now features a Quick Search feature that provides links to several of the most popular searches in the database. Users may also search the database by keyword, type of collaboration/venture, project type, and service area. Contact: Dave Boerger, SEMCOG Consultant, 248-875-7120.

MDOT invites public comment on Environmental Assessment for Chicago-Detroit rail corridor
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), in cooperation with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Indiana and Illinois Departments of Transportation, is proposing significant improvements to the Chicago-Detroit/Pontiac segment of the Chicago Hub High-Speed Rail Corridor. 

MDOT recently completed an Environmental Assessment (EA) that describes the proposed improvements and steps taken to minimize harm to the surrounding area. MDOT is encouraging the public to review and comment on the EA, available on MDOT’s Web site. From the home page, go to "Rails & Public Transit," then "Applications for High-Speed Rail Projects from Federal Recovery Funds." 

Comments must be received by October 20, 2009. Mail, fax or e-mail comments to Lori Noblet, Bureau of Transportation Planning, Michigan Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 30050, Lansing, Michigan 48909; fax: 517-373-9255; e-mail: nobletl@michigan.gov. Those unable to submit requests in writing should call 517-335-2906. 

Safe Routes to School mini-grants available
The National Center for Safe Routes to School is awarding 20 mini-grants of up to $1,000 each to encourage student creativity in new or existing Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs. The goal of SRTS programs is to enable and encourage children to safely walk and bicycle to school. Successful applications will include one or more of the following: student-led activities, concern for the environment, and/or promotion of physical activity. Funded activities must be part of a new or existing Safe Routes to School program and must occur at elementary or middle schools. Activities must have the potential to have long-term impacts on safe walking or bicycling in the school community. 

Mini-grant applications are due October 30, 2009; award winners will be announced by December 1, 2009. For more information and to obtain the mini-grant application, click here. For information on additional grants available, visit SEMCOG’s Grant Opportunities Web page. Contact: Tom Bruff, SEMCOG Transportation Manager, or Kajal Patel, SEMCOG Transportation Engineer. 

SMART to host Transportation Summit November 9-12
SMART, Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility Research and Transformation, will host its Sustainable Urban Mobility & Accessibility Summit, on November 9-12, 2009, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The summit, Moving Minds: The Next Transportation Infrastructure, will focus on understanding the cultural and psychological underpinnings of our relationship to transportation (for both users and leaders), as well as responding with innovative systems, policies, and business models that address these dimensions sustainably, equitably, and compellingly. For an overview of the summit, and for registration information, click here. Contact: Krista Gullo.