Dexter

Washtenaw County moves toward establishing land bank

By Newsroom

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August 5, 2009

The Washtenaw County Land Bank is about to become a reality within the next few weeks. The county treasurer, Catherine McClary, is pushing the paperwork forward to make it official by September. Properties could be put back on tax rolls as early as October.Land banks are becoming the governmental tool du jour to handle blighted and abandoned buildings remaining from the foreclosure crisis. Genesee County has turned its land bank into a nationally recognized tool to right-size the shrinking metropolitan Flint area. It is advising Washtenaw County on setting up its own land bank.The new land bank will host two public meetings in September on what type of policies it will employ and how it will be incorporated. It will carry a seven-member board that will create the bylaws, articles of incorporation and policies in September.The board will include the Washtenaw County Treasurer and Sheriff, a representative from the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, the mayors of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, the supervisor of Ypsilanti Township, and the supervisor of one of the county's western townships.Source: Catherine McClary, Washtenaw County TreasurerWriter: Jon Zemke

Jolly Pumpkin plans to open location in downtown Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Development News

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July 29, 2009

Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales is happy to announce an expansion into downtown Ann Arbor. The Dexter-based microbrew plans to take over the old Peppers bar space at 311 S Main St. The idea is to open a eatery side to the business, complementing its traditional production facilities in Dexter."It's an additional unit we're adding," says Ron Jefferies, owner, founder and brewer of Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. "It's a restaurant with a small brewery but most of the beer is coming from Dexter."The locally famous microbrew's Dexter operations are for production only. Most craft breweries combine both a restaurant and production brewery. Jefferies plans to add a tap room to the Dexter facility later this year to accommodate tourists who want see where most of the beer is brewed. The Ann Arbor location is set to open in mid September. Jeffries choose downtown Ann Arbor for its vibrancy and how it has become the area's primary dinning destination."It's really about location and downtown Ann Arbor is a great location for a restaurant," Jeffries says.Source: Ron Jeffries, owner, founder and brewer of Jolly Pumpkin Artisan AlesWriter: Jon Zemke

Dexter begins to nail down grants for Mill Creek Plaza

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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July 22, 2009

Dexter Village officials are starting to line up and knock down grants to build the Mill Creek Park.The village recently nailed down a $48,000 grant that requires a $48,000 match. It also applied for about $1 million more in grants, including a competitive, $500,000 Michigan Natural Resource Trust Fund grant. Decisions on these grants are expected to be handed down by the holiday season. The village is planning to spend $5 million to develop the Mill Creek Park along the west side of downtown over a number of years. The first phase of that plan, designed by Ann Arbor-based JJR, could begin construction as early as next year.The park will run alongside approximately one mile of the east bank of Mill Creek between Warrior Creek Park and Shield Road. It will be integrated into the city's proposed river walk, highlighting the section of Mill Creek that borders downtown.The idea behind the park is to open up the creek to more village residents and downtown patrons. The creek has turned into a mud-filled pond over the years as the old damn under the Main Street bridge has aged. The Washtenaw County Road Commission is tearing out that damn, rebuilding the bridge and the creek.Source: Courtney Nicholls, spokeswoman for the village of DexterWriter: Jon Zemke

Work on Dexter’s Main Street Bridge wraps up

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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June 24, 2009

Just about all that is left to do on the Dexter's Main Street Bridge is fasten some handrails and put a bow on it. The village-that-wants-to-be-a-city will soon have a nice new shiny gift from the Washtenaw County Road Commission."Everybody seems happy with the way the bridge turned out," says Aaron Berkholz, construction superintendent with the Washtenaw County Road Commission. "It's much better than the dilapidated bridge that had been there."That bridge had fallen into such disrepair that even its pot holes had pot holes. More importantly, the 100-year-old dam beneath it had stopped functioning as it was intended. The road commission ripped out the dam last year, restoring the tributary of the Huron River to its original state of semi-fast rapids and making way for a new riverside park on the edge of downtown.Road Commission workers finished up the work this spring. Even grass is growing alongside the new bridge. They expect to wrap up the last detail or two of work in early July, provided the weather cooperates.The new $2.5 million bridge accommodates both motorized and non-motorized traffic. There are still two-lanes for cars, along with bike lanes and sidewalks for pedestrians.Source: Aaron Berkholz, construction superintendent with the Washtenaw County Road CommissionWriter: Jon Zemke

Dexter Research Center plans to expand, hire 47

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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June 17, 2009

Sometimes the sirens call for strategic partnerships is too strong to keep companies where they were founded. Not so with the Dexter Research Center.The 31-year-old firm has renewed its lease on life by choosing to expand in its hometown, a move that will lead to 47 new jobs in the next five years. The defense contractor has strategic partnerships in Ohio and Massachusetts that were wooing the firm away from Michigan. A $313,000 state tax credit over seven years helped quiet them."We have always been here in Michigan," says Cory Ziegler, controller of the Dexter Research Center. "We enjoy being here."The Dexter Research Center manufactures infrared thin-film thermopile and silicon detectors used in the automotive, oil and military industries. It's also working on new products in what will be the $3 million expansion the firm plans to undertake. "The last couple of years we have had some good growth but we realized we need more products," Ziegler says.The Dexter Research Center employs 58 people and has 4-5 positions open right now. It expects to hire another 2-3 people on top of those by the end of the year. Source: Cory Ziegler, controller of the Dexter Research CenterWriter: Jon Zemke

Dexter’s Adair wins gold award for comic book

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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June 10, 2009

Dexter's Adair Digital Services has been talking about branching out into different segements of the printing world for a while, but now it’s starting to pay off in more ways than one.The printing firm received the Gold Printing Award from the Detroit Club of Printing House of Craftsman for a comic book created by Detroit-based Monolith. The special edition comic book ("Rapid City Comic Book B-Sides") went to a select group of fans in what was a once unheard short-run for the company."This comic book was so well done," says Kim Kachadoorian, creative project manager for Adair Digital Services.It also cemented Adair's new-found place in comic book publishing. Before the company just printed things like leaflets and owners manuals. Now the 77-year-old, family owned company is spreading out into other areas, like comic and children's books using its new digital press."The truth is if you want to survive in this economy you need to have a new innovative approach," Kachadoorian says.Source: Kim Kachadoorian, creative project manager for Adair Digital ServicesWriter: Jon Zemke

Dexter residents collect enough signatures to forward cityhood petition

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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June 10, 2009

Little two-stoplight Dexter is playing around with the idea of becoming a not-so-big city.Excerpt:Dexter residents have already collected enough signatures to move forward in their quest to turn the village into a city.Supporters of cityhood say they've gotten 140 signatures since the end of April, exceeding the 117 needed, and will forward the paperwork to the state Boundary Commission.Read the rest of the story here.

Fawns pop up in backyards around Washtenaw County

By Newsroom

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Environment & Sustainability

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June 3, 2009

Bambis are popping up in backyards almost everywhere in Washtenaw County these days.Excerpt:Fawning season has arrived, and with it, the likelihood that well-meaning suburbanites will encounter a seemingly abandoned youngster curled up on a back lawn.But wildlife rehabilitators say odds are that Junior is just fine, and holed up in a safe spot until Mom returns from foraging. Fawns spend the first several weeks of their life huddled where they are born. They can't run quickly enough to evade predators, so the mother deer caches the newborn in a safe spot and stays away, so as not to attract potential trouble. And because fawns are well-camouflaged with spots and are virtually without scent during their first weeks, "a coyote would literally have to trip over it to find it," said licensed wildlife rehabilitator Karen O'Connor of Dexter, who is the only licensed deer rescuer in Washtenaw.Read the rest of the story here.

Dexter residents to circulate petitions for cityhood

By Newsroom

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General

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May 6, 2009

The city of Dexter? Some local residents think that has a nice ring to it.Excerpt:Joe Ciaravino was the first Dexter resident to pick up a cityhood petition packet Wednesday night at the Dexter District Library.A resident of the village since 1983, he vowed to get signatures in support of the Dexter's incorporation as a home rule city."We're held for ransom by Washtenaw County, Webster Township and Scio Township," Ciaravino said. "We don't have the say of where our money goes."Read the rest of the story here.

Bearclaw continues to grow and grow and grow

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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April 29, 2009

One of Washtenaw's best growth stories doesn’t necessarily have to do with Ann Arbor or one of its new economy high tech staples, like Google.Excerpt:It's too simplistic, too formulated and too cliche to call this story, "from tragedy to triumph." Because Debi Scroggins' enthusiasm - no, make that her passion - for life didn't come from a tragedy and it's far reaching aftermath. This kind of zest for jumping out of bed and leaping with both feet into life's biggest challenges starts at an early age. It's something that's always there. She talks fast. And with an exclamation point after every sentence. Her voice bounces off the wood walls and around the corner. And it's infectious. Boy, is it ever infectious. Still, the eyes turn red and fill with tears. How can they not. It's almost 10 years to the day when the ultimate heartbreak stopped Debi on her joyful ride through life. It was a sucker punch that she admits knocked her on her butt and dared her to get up again.You see, when Debi loves you. She loves you for life. And to take away something she loves is devastating - especially when it's your son.Debi is the energetic, go-get 'em owner of Bearclaw Coffee, a company her and her husband, Doug, started in 2002 in a cornfield in Dexter. "Our first store in the cornfield supported our family and grew through this franchise brand," says Debi. "After a year and a half of very hard work we were able to support our family and grew this franchise from sales at our stores. We've never had investors."Read the rest of the story here.