Ann
Arbor
City
Council
representatives
discussed
a
potential decision to transport
the city’s recyclables to Lansing
as opposed to redeveloping
the city’s materials recovery
facility
at
their
meeting
Monday night.
Ann Arbor hasn’t had an
operational MRF since 2016,
when the facility was shut
down due to safety concerns
that emerged from overuse. In
the interim, the city has been
sending local recyclables 250
miles away to be processed in a
plant in Cincinnati.
Councilmember Jack Eaton,
D-Ward
4,
supported
the
redeveloping the city’s MRF,
explaining that when it was in
full use, it provided benefits
not only for Ann Arbor but

for the surrounding region, as
well.
“Our MRF in the past has
had bigger capacity than the
city of Ann Arbor itself,” Eaton
said. “And we took in materials
from other (towns). So, having
a MRF in our region allows
other communities to use that
facility.”
Councilmember Chip Smith,
D-Ward 5, also expressed that
the MRF’s reopening is the
only viable long-term solution
and that the greater community
would prefer disposal of waste
within the city, rather than
its transportation to plants in
Lansing or Cincinnati.
“We were once a leader in
this field… we made significant
investments
in
our
MRF,”
Smith said. “We passed an
environment bond in the early
90s. All of this has been the
community telling us time and

time again, we want to do this
work here. We continue to hear
that. I have heard that loud
and clear on the environmental
commission.”
The
move
to
transport
recyclables to Lansing was
also controversial as it would
contradict the city’s October
decision to declare a climate
emergency. Councilmember Ali
Ramlawi, D-Ward 5, explained
that he has received concerns
from the public about the
detriments transporting waste
across the state may have.
“It’s been made clear to
me by the community, by the
numerous emails that we’ve
been receiving throughout our
community, that this is more
than just trying to find the best
cost, you know, it’s not like,
getting on Amazon and looking
for the lowest price,” Ramlawi
said. “There are other things
that
we’re
looking
for
with having RAA stay our
community partner.”
In
addition
to
the
discussion
among
councilmembers,
several
community activists gave
their
input
during
the
public comment portion of
the meeting.
Chris
Vandenberg,
a
mechanical engineer and a
lifelong Ann Arbor resident,
was particularly concerned
with
the
environmental
consequences
of
transporting recyclables to
Lansing.
“The current alternative,
namely
to
transport
recyclables to Lansing, has
serious
consequences
of
transportation
emissions,
increased
contamination
resulting in poor recovery
and the burning of some
materials,”
Vandenberg
said.
Vandenberg added that
redeveloping
the
MRF
would be a boon to the city’s
economy and would be a

viable investment in the future.
“We have an opportunity to
take our community and the
city government’s vast and
collective resources to nurture
and rekindle the local MRF,” he
said.
Ultimately,
the
council
voted 9-2 to begin negotiations
with Recycle Ann Arbor, with
councilmembers
Lumm
and
Hayner opposing. RAA has
proposed either reopening the
city’s plant or transporting
recyclables
to
a
plant
in
Southfield MI.
The next major topics of
discussion were two proposed
developments, one on 212 S.
State Street and one on 616
E. Washington Street. The
structure on Washington was
particularly
controversial,
as the proposal would be the
tallest building proposed in
decades, and would be located
only a block away from the
city’s
historic
State
Street
district.
The 19-story building would
be located behind the Michigan
Theater and would be the
tallest
building
constructed
in Ann Arbor since the 1960s.
While
the
building
would
exceed the city’s rules on
downtown
building
height
limits, developers would be
permitted to go forward with
construction due to the fact
that 19 of the building’s 240
units would be set aside for
affordable
housing.
Solar
panels to be installed on the
new buildings will also increase
the city’s solar production by 19
percent.
Councilmember
Zachary
Ackerman, D-Ward 3, was in
support of the Washington St.
development, framing it as a
benefit both to students and
community members.

30 0 YE AR S OF ROB INSON CRUSOE

2A — Wednesday, December 4, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily
Shipwreck novels are displayed to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Robinson Crusoe in Hatcher Graduate Library Tuesday.

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Twitter Talk
FRIDAY:
Behind the Story

MONDAY:
Looking at the Numbers

WEDNESDAY:
This Week in History

BEN ROSENFELD
Daily Staff Reporter

Representatives pass bill to begin development on tallest building in Ann Arbor since 1960s

Councilmembers discuss recyclable
disposal, new housing construction

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‘U’ offers response against lawsuit

Dec. 4, 1997
University officials claimed
the
lawsuit
challenging
the
admissions policies of the College
of Literature, Science & Arts is
invalid and requested a dismissal
of the case yesterday.
In its official answer to the
complaint, the University said
that while plaintiffs Jennifer
Gratz and Patrick Hamacher
received rejection letters, they
were offered a place on the
extended waitlist. Neither Gratz
nor Hamacher responded to the
offer and therefore were not
placed on the waitlist and were
not considered lher for admission.
Vice President for University
Relations Walter Harrison said

that Gratz and Hamacher may
not have proper legal standing
because they waived their right
to be placed on the extended
waitlist.
“The question here is, did the
two plaintiffs exhaust all of the
possibilities to be admitted to the
University?” Harrison said.
“In our response, we are pointing
out that they each received these
letters and they chose not to do
that.”
While
Hamacher
admitted
to not responding to the offer to
join the extended waitlist, he said
he received notice of the waitlist
option too late in the summer to
change his plans.
“We got the letter in April or

May,” Hamacher said. “It was
too late to do anything. I didn’t
feel that it was a good idea to wait
until July or August to find out.
“I received a letter that said
very few people on the extended
waitlist receive admittance and it
said to make other plans for the
fall,’ he said.
In its answer, the University
states that “the defendants pray
for a judgment dismissing the
complaint with prejudice and
awarding them the costs and
disbursements of this action.”
The statement examines items
in the complaint and either
admits, qualifies or denies each
allegation.
The University says in its

answer that the LSA Office of
Undergraduate Admissions uses
race as one of many factors in its
undergraduate selection.
“Defendants admit that the
University of Michigan has a
current intention to continue to
use race as a factor in admissions,
as part of a broad array of
qualifications and characteristics
of which racial or ethnic origin
is but a single though important
element,” the answer states.
Harrison
said
the
judges
hearing the case should consider
the fact that the plaintiffs did
not accept the extended waitlist
offer.
“This particular response asks
questions about (the plaintiffs’)

standing to sue,” Harrison said.
“That is an important question
the court should look at.”
The
plaintiffs’
lawyers,
however,
argue
that
the
University’s motion to dismiss
the case is moot.
“It’s legally irrelevant to the
claims we are making,”said Terry
Pell, senior legal counsel for the
Center for Individual Rights, the
firm that brought the suit against
the University on Oct. 14 in
Federal District Court in Detroit.
“It doesn’t change the fact that
they were discriminated against
earlier in the process.”
Pell said that regardless of
the waitlist offer, the University
racially
discriminated
in
its

admissions practices.
“This
is
a
very
weak
argument,’
Pell
said.
“The
admissions process is permeated
with racism. If there was not
racial discrimination, they would
have been admitted earlier in the
year.”
The University has a rolling
admissions
policy,
which
means students are admitted
continuously from September
through the summer based on
their
qualifications
and
the
number of spots available at the
time of application.

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during
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