2 Thursday, June 28, 2018 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS Ward 1 reps sue city over $10 million deal Councilmembers claim Mayor, City Clerk violated charter By ALICE TRACEY Summer Daily News Editor Ann Arbor City Councilmembers Sumi Kailasapathy, D-Ward 1, and Anne Bannister, D-Ward 1, have sued the city of Ann Arbor, Mayor Christopher Taylor and City Clerk Jacqueline Beaudry over a $10 million deal regarding the development of Library Lot. The contract, signed by Taylor, Beaudry and Chicago-based developer Core Spaces on May 31, hands over the development rights of Library Lot, a parking area next to the Ann Arbor District Library where Core Spaces plans to construct a 17-story high-rise called the Collective. Attorney Eric Lipson filed the lawsuit on behalf of Kailasapathy and Bannister June 18 in the Washtenaw County Trial Court. The lawsuit accuses Taylor and Beaudry of violating Ann Arbor’s charter by signing a development contract without first consulting City Council. The council voted 8-3 to sell Library Lot in April 2017 to Core Spaces, but the purchase was not finalized until this year. The lawsuit claims the May 31 contract finalizing the purchase was not presented to City Council. According to Kailasapathy, the Ann Arbor City Charter requires purchases or sales valued over $25,000 to be approved by at least eight councilmembers. She said the language of the charter is clear and she therefore feels confident about the strength of her and Bannister’s case. “In plain English, it says a contract has to come, and there’s no way they can say there was a contract 13 months before because there was no contract, there was a resolution,” Kailasapathy said. Kailasapathy claimed she and Bannister sued the city to protect the interests of their constituents. Ann Arbor voters trust the City Council to represent their interests, Kailasapathy said, so the council must get a say in financial decisions. Argus Farm Stop pioneers new business model By SONIA LEE Daily Staff Reporter Argus Farm Stop, an Ann Arbor small business focused on providing sustainable food for the community while supporting local Michigan farms, has proven a successful experiment in helping both consumers and producers in the communal food system. Founded by Ross M.B.A.s Bill Brinkerhoff and Kathy Sample in 2014, Argus Farm Stop is a grocery store and cafe styled as a farmers’ market. The market applies a new business model, allowing customers to buy produce, dairy products and meats directly from local farmers. With the knowledge that farmers’ markets, while having good intentions, are often inefficient marketplaces for both consumers and producers, Brinkerhoff and Sample found a need in the Ann Arbor community Argus could solve. “We knew a lot about local agriculture because we always shop at the farmers’ market,” Sample said. “We knew that farmers’ markets are a really hard way for farmers to sell their stuff. It’s a great community thing, but it’s a really hard way to sell because on a nice day they might rather be out on their farms.” Brinkerhoff and Sample were inspired to start Argus after visiting a similar market and cafe in Ohio. Part of their business model included allowing farmers to make deliveries of fresh produce, meat and dairy products to the farm stop at any time on any day, softening time constraints attached to traditional farmers’ markets, as well as eliminating the need for a middle man. “We were down in Wooster, Ohio, and we saw this store called Local Roots that had this new model that was an every-day farmers’ market,” Brinkerhoff said. “Where the farmers could just drop off their stuff and go back to their farm. We came back to Ann Arbor with the idea and talked to lots of people, and there was a consensus that there was a strong need in our community to further make local food economically sustainable for farmers and available to consumers.” The business model prioritizes bringing a majority of profits back to producers. Argus maintains itself as a low-profit limited liability company, which makes this model sustainable, Sample explained. “If they [local farms] were to sell through a traditional retailer, like a grocery store, they would get around 16 cents on the dollar of Ross grads launch local food market 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com ASIF BECHER Editor in Chief 734-418-4115 ext. 1251 asifb@michigandaily.com TOMMY DYE Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1240 tomedye@michigandaily.com EDITORIAL STAFF Emma Richter Managing Editor richtere@michigandaily.com Grace Kay Managing News Editor news@michigandaily.com SENIOR NEWS EDITORS: Rachel Cunningham and Alice Tracey Emma Chang Editorial Page Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com Tien Le & Jacob Kopnick Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com Jack Brandon Managing Arts Editor arts@michigandaily.com Alec Cohen Managing Photo Editor photo@michigandaily.com Jack Silberman Managing Design Editor design@michigandaily.com Olivia Sedlacek Managing Copy Editor copydesk@michigandaily.com Lorna Brown Managing MiC Editor michiganincolor@michigandaily.com Carrington Tubman Managing Social Editor CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom Office hours: Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. 734-763-2459 opt.3 News Tips news@michigandaily.com Corrections corrections@michigandaily.com Letters to the Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com or visit michigandaily.com/letters Photo Department photo@michigandaily.com Arts Section arts@michigandaily.com Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com Sports Section sports@michigandaily.com Magazine statement@michigandaily.com Advertising Phone: 734-418-4115 Department dailydisplay@gmail.com Read more at MichiganDaily.com The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2 per issue. Subscriptions for September - April are $250, and year-long subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. Subscriptions must be prepaid. Read more at MichiganDaily.com ALEC COHEN / DAILY The Argus Farm Stop is located on West Liberty Street in Ann Arbor. STEEP. puzzle by sudokusyndication.com