The Ann Arbor-Ypsi area is being invaded by robots and their leader is Cre Fuller. Artist, fruit and veggie monger, and all-round Ypsilangelist, Fuller's creations are part of what makes our community the quirky, do-it-yourself hub of invention it is. Concentrate's managing photographer Doug Coombe offers a fabulous photo essay on his work.
Imagine paddling in your kayak from Ann Arbor to Lake Erie. Or up into Oakland County. Pretty cool, huh? The Huron River Watershed Council is hoping to create a 100-mile water trail that does just that. HRWC planner Elizabeth Riggs will speak at our next Concentrate Speaker event about what the trail, and the Huron, means for our community. Sign up now for this May 26th event.
Ypsilanti's Corner Brewery is currently undergoing a $1 million expansion and clean energy renovation project, and a team of University of Michigan students played no small part in this green sweep. Beginning in February of 2010, a group of students in U-M's School of Natural Resources and Environment graduate program spent 14 months working on planning for this project at the brewery, which earlier had undergone an overview energy audit through the Clean Energy Coalition."Our goal was to help align the business practices of the owners more closely with their values of environmental conservation," Jarett Diamond, a dual master's degree candidate in U-M's school of natural resources and the department of mechanical engineering, says. "And our pathway to achieve that was to focus on energy and water efficiency on site, as well as options for renewable energy generation. And we wanted to tie all these options completely together with a program for employee and customer education and community engagement."Diamond and fellow team members Jazmine Bennett, Gary Fischer, and Kerby Smithson performed an energy and water resource audit. They measured where and how the energy and water were being used at the Corner Brewery's restaurant and brewing operations and then identified the most cost effective options to improve energy utilization efficiency and water efficiency, Diamond explains. "One example that was very surprising was how much energy their chiller was using," he notes. The chiller, used to cool beer during the fermentation process, was much larger and more powerful than what was actually needed. "So we put in a proposal for downsizing the chiller and also adding a heat recovery option, so instead of just dumping heat into the air that's removed from the fermentation tanks, that heat can be used to preheat water for the next batch of beer." The Corner Brewery also sponsored the team's presentation at the Brewers Association annual gathering in San Francisco, where they were featured as one of the must-see seminars preceding the conference, Diamond says. And U-M made a short documentary film about the project.So did brewery management actually implement any of the students' recommendations? "That's what I'm working on right now," Diamond says. He has been hired on as energy director for the summer. Currently he's requesting bids for a downsized chiller and for different solar panel configurations. The brewery will also be showcasing its project at the Ann Arbor Green Fair on June 10."Look for big changes," Diamond promises. "It's great to be conserving energy at the brewery, but we want to show how easy and cost effective it can be to be more environmentally friendly, and that this is something people can do in their own homes and their own businesses and see very rapid paybacks and not only feel good about it, but actually see financial returns." Source: Jarett Diamond, MS/MSE candidate, U-M's School of Natural Resources and Environment & College of EngineeringWriter: Tanya Muzumdar
Maybe you've stumbled past the Auto Museum after a night of fried pickles and brews at Ypsi's Sidetrack and wondered what was inside. Well, wonder no more. This Depot Town destination provides an important glimpse into the city's auto history. And they've got a Tucker! Don't know what that is? Watch, learn, visit.
It may not be not accelerating at the same rate as gas price hikes (about 34% in Ann Arbor over a six-month period, according to gasbuddy.com), the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) reports that Amtrak's Wolverine line between Pontiac, Michigan and Chicago saw a substantial 16.3% increase in ridership over the same period last year. Over that six months, 243,185 passengers rode the Wolverine line. At Washtenaw County's Ann Arbor and Jackson depots, 73,648 and 13,332 passengers, respectively, either originated or concluded their trips at those stations during the same time frame."Clearly, gas prices at the pump are driving some people to look at other travel options," says Janet Foran, communications director for MDOT. "But gas prices haven't been this high for that long, so there are obviously other factors too. We believe that more and more people are going to Amtrak because it's convenient and it's a good value – and there's been so much talk about high speed rail in the state that just that conversation alone lets people think about train travel." The increasing interest in train travel is not just of the inter-city sort that Amtrak provides, but also in commuter rail options. MDOT is helping to fund two more platforms, one at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse in Depot Town, and another near the airport. Those platforms will be critical cogs in the proposed Ann Arbor-to-Detroit commuter rail line that may start service in the next year or two, says Therese Cody, rail operating program manager for MDOT. The Ypsilanti platform is for the commuter rail line only. It is not connected with the high speed rail effort and will not be a stop on Amtrak's Wolverine line, she emphasizes. "We're working on equipment right now that will provide the commuter service," Cody says. Owosso-based Great Lakes Central Railroad is refurbishing the rail cars. Track work to handle the capacity of additional trains on the freight railroad lines is still to be completed."That's what taking so long," Cody explains. "They're rehabbing these cars and they have to have crash tests on the seats." Locating a company qualified to perform crash testing put another unexpected crink in the works."It just keeps evolving, and it's all really great things, and we need to let it happen," she says, "but some of the things we didn't put in a timeline, and we learn as we go because it is a new project." Sources: Janet Foran, MDOT communications director for MDOT; Therese Cody, MDOT rail operating program managerWriter: Tanya Muzumdar
Population trends in Washtenaw County are moving at crosscurrents with much of the region represented by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). Collectively over the last decade, the seven-county area lost 2.7% of its population, or 128,625 people, while Washtenaw County gained 22,021 residents, for a 6.8% increase, according to the 2010 U.S. Census figures. That growth rate was second only to that seen in Livingston County, which saw a 15.1% jump in residents."Washtenaw County has the advantage with the universities, and some of the other businesses...the economy is already more diversified than other parts of the region, and that is probably the biggest reason that Washtenaw County did better than the rest of the region," says Paul Tait, executive director of SEMCOG.The county's two largest cities posted flat to declining numbers, with headcounts in Ann Arbor dropping .1% and Ypsilanti losing 12.6%. Much of the growth was in the townships and outlying communities, with the village of Dexter's 74% rise as the standout exception. The cities of Milan, Chelsea, and Saline gained 23%, 12.4% and 9.7%, respectively."These are good numbers for Washtenaw County," Tait says. But maintenance and enhancement of the county's core infrastructure is still of concern. Tait points to U.S. 23, slated by the Michigan Department of Transportation for a major rebuild and widening - a project that will probably not be daylighted, for now. "We're driving more fuel efficient cars, and in part because of the economy, we're not driving as much. We're driving alternative fueled vehicles, hybrids and electric vehicles, so we're not getting the gas tax money that we need to again, even maintain what we've got." Tait still calls the 6.8% rise "fairly sustainable growth". And that figure is lower than the overall U.S. population growth, a remarkable 9.7% over the decade. Much of that, he says, was due to immigration to the south and southwest to fill entry-level jobs not necessarily requiring a college degree. The Census Bureau will be releasing educational demographic data this fall. By comparison, Tait says, "when you look at immigration in our region, it tends to be much more highly educated people with advanced degrees."Source: Paul Tait, executive director of SEMCOGWriter: Tanya Muzumdar
After entering into their first international brewery franchise in Bangalore, India, Matt and Rene Greff are uncapping other ambitious plans for the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti. This time it's a $1 million complete green energy renovation and new addition to the premises.Still in the final stages of obtaining necessary approvals from the city, they hope to break ground on the addition before the end of April, says co-owner Rene Greff. The 2,000-square-foot pre-fab steel structure will be used for storage and a new bottling line, which will allow for the packaging of product in advance. The company has been packaging to order, which was causing lag time and difficulty in keeping up with demand. "We have been experiencing production growth between 20-30% over the last couple of years and we definitely think that will continue and could even accelerate," she notes.The new addition will have a ground water heating and cooling temperature-controlled system and solar tube lighting. Those eco-friendly features will be echoed in the main building as well, which will be undergoing a green energy renovation with the same ground water heating and cooling system and a combination of solar thermal and photovoltaic panels for heating and electricity. New offices for management will also be constructed there. Greff hopes the addition and move will be done by mid-May and the rest of the green renovations by July.The Greffs also have a $75,000 installation of groundwater, solar, and photovoltaic technologies planned for their Arbor Brewing Company brewpub in downtown Ann Arbor. Energy cost savings should in the area of 30-50%, Greff figures, and taking into account the federal tax grants and incentives from DTE, a five-year payback period on the project. "It's a pretty incredible investment," she says.Source: Rene Greff, co-owner, Corner Brewery and Arbor Brewing CompanyWriter: Tanya Muzumdar
Look, up in the sky! It's a Flying Fortress! Willow Run's Yankee Air Museum is an incredible mix of volunteerism, American history, and cooler-than-cool aircraft thundering across Michigan's skies. Concentrate's resident videographer Keith Jefferies introduces you to the aviation buffs who make it happen.
If you've a musical or bust-a-gut act you're ready to air, open mic nights are the perfect opp to take to the stage at the likes of The Ark, Oz's Music, or the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase. These venues give artists the chance to mix with other entertainment folkies and pick up a fan audience. And some, like The Ark, even have a winnowing system where the best musical and student songwriter talent are graced with a full evening showcase.
A 10-block stretch of W. and E. Cross Street in downtown Ypsilanti is about to get the shoots of a new tree canopy and other niceties in a streetscape enhancement project that has just broken ground. The $1 million project plan includes about 80 new trees, the city's first LED streetlights, replacement of old asphalt, stamped concrete crosswalks, rain gardens, and traffic bump-outs in Depot Town, according to Tim Colbeck, director of the Ypsilanti DDA. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) committed $760,000 in funding, the source of which was a federal interstate transportation enhancement authority (ISTEA) grant. The city contributed $100,000 and the DDA just over $80,000. "It's a big face-lift and it's just going to make that whole stretch of Cross Street look a lot better and actually flow a lot better," Colbeck says. "When we approve the crosswalks it's going to make it a lot safer for pedestrians too."The work should be largely complete by June's end. Tree planting will occur this fall, and in deference to arborists' best practice will consist of four different tree varieties. Thus if blight affects one type of tree, it won't take down all the others on the street. And even with new lights, the peek at Ypsilanti from outer space will be a shade bit dimmer. To go with upgrades at Eastern Michigan University's campus, the fixtures are dark-sky compliant – meaning the light is focused downward and won't bleed into the sky. "It was very important to Eastern because they have the observatory on campus and you lose a lot of the effects of the observatory when you have the light escaping upwards," he explains. The only section of Cross Street not under the revamp's umbrella is the part from Huron Street through the bridge. The city is working with MDOT on obtaining separate funds for that improvement, a costly one, says Colbeck.Source: Tim Colbeck, director of the Ypsilanti DDAWriter: Tanya Muzumdar
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