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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-06-04 Bd Comm minutesi CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org June 4, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Airport Commission: March 21 Item Number: 4.a. March 21, 2019 Page 1 MINUTES IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION MARCH 21, 2019 — 6:00 P.M. AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING Members Present: Warren Bishop, Derek LaBrie, Christopher Lawrence Members Absent: Minnetta Gardinier, Robert Libby Staff Present: Sue Dulek, Michael Tharp Others Present. Carl Byers, David Hughes, Matt Wolford FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council action): DETERMINE QUORUM: The meeting was called to order at 6:03 P.M. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes from the February 21, 2019, meeting were reviewed by Members. LaBrie moved to accept the minutes of the February 21, 2019, meeting as presented. Bishop seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0, Gardinier and Libby absent. PUBLIC DISCUSSION: None. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: *Members first chose a temporary Secretary. Bishop volunteered. LaBrie moved to appoint Bishop as temporary Secretary. Lawrence seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0, Gardinier and Libby absent. a. FAA/1DOT Projects I. Obstruction Mitigation — Hughes spoke to this topic, noting that they have been coordinating with the FAA on the temporary easement, for which they did receive approval. The City will now be able to move forward with this piece of the project. Members briefly discussed the process being undertaken, with Hughes responding to questions. ill. Terminal Apron Rehab — Hughes then spoke to this project, noting that they received bids from two contractors, and both are inline with the engineer's estimate, with the exception of the cost of mobilization and de- mobilization. He further explained how the funding they have will not cover both the taxi way and the apron rehab. Tharp stated that he has March 21, 2019 Page 2 had conversations with both Jet Air and the State over the past week about this project. He added that if they move ahead with the apron rehab this year, they will have to do the taxiway next year. This then forces them to have closures for three months over the next two seasons, as opposed to one. Tharp`s recommendation is to reject the bids and to delay the project to next year. They could then go after the additional funding they will need to complete both the taxi way and the apron rehab. Tharp added that the State was in agreement with his recommendation. He then responded to Member questions and concerns, reiterating that they will return the grant they currently have and can then go after the total amount needed for the project, once the 2020 cycle starts. 1. Consider Resolution #A19-04 accepting bids and authorizing contract — Lawrence moved to reject bids, as discussed. Bishop seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0, Gardinier and Libby absent. iii. Runway 25 Threshold Relocation — Tharp spoke to this topic briefly. He stated that this is a $97,000 contract. He noted that he has a fee breakdown to share with Members. 1. Consider Resolution #A19-05 authorizing Work Order No. 1 with Bolton & Menk for AGIS Survey for Runway 25 — Lawrence moved to consider Resolution #A19-05, as discussed. Bishop seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0, Gardinier and Libby absent. b. FY20 Iowa DOT Grant Application — Tharp stated that he does not have any new information to share at this time. He added that they will put in an application for the fuel system, as talked about previously, and they will also submit an application for the parking lot. He then responded to Member questions. C. FBO / Flight Training Reports I. Jet Air — Wolford shared the monthly maintenance reports with Members, noting that in February they were dealing with lots of ice and snow. He reminded the Commission that they may want to buy more of the de-icing pellets since they used much of their supply this season. There were also issues with several hangars icing shut, thus creating problems with the bottom seals on the doors being torn and things like that. Now that the snow and ice have melted, Wolford noted there has been a lot of garbage and debris to be picked up around the grounds. Speaking to Jet Air business, Wolford stated they are behind in fuel sales so far this year, due to the terrible weather they had. However, things are looking up — fuel sales are increasing, the shop is busy, flight training is going well, and flights have picked up. He then spoke briefly to the various updates they will be performing on their own fleet. Wolford then spoke to the flight simulator topic they had previously talked about, noting that there is still an interest in this. Members discussed this further, speaking to the best location for a simulator and how they might set it up for use. Tharp stated that if the Commission is agreeable, he can move forward with seeing how this might work, who is paying for what, etc., and he could then bring the information back to the Commission, March 21, 2019 Page 3 d. Airport Operations I. Management — Tharp stated that he will be attending the Aviation Conference April 16 and 17 in Sioux City. ii. Budget — Tharp stated that there isn't much to share right now and that they have about three months left in the budget year. Also, depending on what they come up with for the simulator idea, they will then have to address this as it was not something planned for in the recent budget cycle. iii. Events — Tharp stated that they have received an event application for a graduation reception. Most of this will take place outside, but in the event of poor weather, the plan is to use either Care Ambulance or Jet Air's hangars. Tharp stated that due to the applicant wanting to serve alcohol at this event, the Commission has to approve it. 1. Consider a motion approving event application — Lawrence moved to approve -the event application, as discussed. LaBrie seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0, Gardinier and Libby absent. e. Commission Members' Reports — LaBrie stated that he hit his 1,000th flight hour today and is ATP eligible now. f. Staff Report — Tharp stated that other than the Aviation Conference in April, he does not have anything else at this time. SET NEXT REGULAR MEETING FOR: The next regular meeting of the Airport Commission will be held on Thursday. April 18, 2019, at 6:00 P.M. in the Airport Terminal Building. Members will let Tharp know if they have any conflicts with this date. ADJOURN: Bishop moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:46 P.M. LaBrie seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0, Gardinier and Libby absent. CHAIRPERSON f /x/11 DATE March 21, 2019 Page 4 Airport Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD 2018-2019 Kev; X = Present X/E = Present for Part of Meeting O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = Not a Member at this time TERM o 0 i 0 0cc r N N NAME EXP. N -' 0 i rn i N rn i w .mss cn -1 o 5 -`► 5 -� N .� i ._.l 40 r_i00 0 co Warren 06/30122 Bishop NM NM NM NM O/E X X X X X Minnetta 07/01119 Gardinier O/E X X X X X O/E X X O/E Robert Libby 07/01120 X X X O/E O/E X X X X O/E Christopher 07/01/21 Lawrence X X X X X X X X X X Derek LaBrie 07/01/22 NM X X X X X O/E X X X Kev; X = Present X/E = Present for Part of Meeting O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = Not a Member at this time Item Number: 4.b. Awl Q- CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org June 4, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Housing & Community Development Commission: April 18 _4 _,--.r.® CITY OF IOWA CITY a MEMORANDUM Date: May 17, 2019 To: Mayor and City Council From: Kirk Lehmann, Community Development Planner Re: Recommendation from Housing and Community Development Commission At their April 18, 2019 meeting the Housing and Community Development Commission made the following recommendation to the City Council: By a vote of 5-0 the Commission recommends to City Council approval of the FY20 Annual Action Plan as presented with the addition of the rents of newly created affordable housing units. Additional action (check one) No further action needed Board or Commission is requesting Council direction X Agenda item will be prepared by staff for Council action MINUTES FINAL HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 18, 2019 — 6:30 PM SENIOR CENTER, ROOM 202 MEMBERS PRESENT: Mitch Brouse, Charlie Eastham, Christine Harms, Peter Nkumu, and Paula Vaughan MEMBERS ABSENT: Megan Alter, Vanessa Fixmer-Oraiz, John McKinstry, Maria Padron STAFF PRESENT: Kirk Lehmann, Erika Kubly OTHERS PRESENT: Clare Ferris, Drew Bloom, Sara Barron, Martha Norbeck RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: By a vote of 5-0 the Commission recommends to City Council approval of the FY20 Annual Action Plan as presented with the addition of the rents of newly created affordable housing units. CALL MEETING TO ORDER: Vaughan called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 14 2019 MINUTES: Eastham moved to approve the minutes of March 14, 2019 with corrections. Harms seconded. A vote was taken and the motion passed 5-0. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR TOPICS NOT ON THE AGENDA: Martha Norbeck (Johnson Clear Energy District) is part of the organizing group for Johnson Clean Energy District and wanted to share her observations about the Emerging Aid to Agencies process. Her understanding of the grant was it was intended for emerging agencies, with language specifying no funds in the past five years and being formed within two years. Specifically the language reads "This application is for emerging agencies, those that have not existed as a legal entity for at least two years or have not received Aid to Agency funds in the last five years." Norbeck was surprised when she looked at the submitted grants and the years other applicants were in business and the order they were listed in the packet were 6, 20, 1, 22, 20 and 1 years. And the three organizations that received funding were the ones that had operated for 20, 20 and 6 years. Norbeck acknowledged those agencies' presentations were polished and had excellent reference letters, they should be as they have been in operation for years and have a track record for success to stay in operation for 20 years. Norbeck acknowledged the Johnson Clean Energy Group may have been disorganized, they have a lot to learn as an organization and learned valuable lessons from the grant proposal process. She noted they do not feel shunned as the Johnson Clean Energy District, she understands they are just getting started, but rather it is challenging that the representation of the grant was for emerging agencies but the committee's actions supported agencies that had already been in existence and had a track record of success. That felt like a discontinuity and she wanted to communicate that she feels the language and parameters need to be more clearly outlined if the intent is truly to support agencies that are gaining a foothold. Sara Barron (Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition) wants to share two things with the Commission, the first is the Affordable Housing Coalition has sent a formal request to the City Manager Housing and Community Development Commission April 18, 2019 Page 2 of 11 and cc: the Council and some staff asking for rental unit prices to be collected as rental permits are issued or renewed. It is surprising to a lot of people to learn they don't have very reliable data, or really any type of comprehensive data about city-wide rental prices which makes it difficult to track progress in creating and maintaining affordable rental units. Because the City is in the process of upgrading their rental permitting software right now, Barron feels now is the perfect time to include a field to collect information about what the landlord will charge for the units. Having that information can be used a number of ways, the Affordable Housing Coalition's intention is to use it in an aggregated way that will give them raw data that can be sorted to show what rental prices are throughout the community and how many units are actually available to the households that need more affordable rentals. The second item Barron wanted to share, because this Commission is concerned with affordable housing, Council is continuing to discuss the comprehensive rezoning of the North Dubuque Forest View project which includes the Forest View Mobile Home community and that redevelopment would include many permanent affordable homes for people who currently live at Forest View. There is a lot to consider about that rezoning but the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition is in favor of moving forward with the rezoning and hopes it goes through soon because at this point it is at a three year process and the residents of Forest View have worked hard with the developer to create a plan that will allow for a private developer to provide affordable housing. The fact that commercial and residential are mixed together is precisely one of the reasons it makes it possible for the developer to create the affordable housing option. Eastham stated an interest to put on an upcoming agenda the inclusion of rental amounts in the City's permitting process. Eastham also acknowledged the comments regarding the emerging agency funds, he did not participate in those discussions because of a conflict of interest but feels the Commission should look at that process more closely. DISCUSSION OF PROJECTS THAT HAVE NOT COMPLIED WITH THE `UNSUCCESSFUL OR DELAYED PROJECTS POLICY': Lehmann gave updates from reports received on unsuccessful and delayed projects. He noted the Commission can reclaim funds if they feel insufficient progress is being made. FY18 Little Creations Academy Daycare Rehab — Little Creations does not yet have a contract for the amended project scope, that is, the additional $36,141 which was added to their initial $73,000 budget. The reason is that there have been issues with the contractor that are being worked through. Little Creations is exploring the possibility of switching contractors for the remainder of the work, otherwise they are trying to finish out the work the contract they have, trying to get the access panel done, and will continue to work through the challenges. Lehmann noted the amendment was approved in January so they have only had the additional funding for about three months. FY19 Aid to Agencies: Domestic Violence Intervention Program — Lehmann received an email update on this project, noting that DVIP has not billed any funding so far. They are finishing up a CDBG reimbursement of $21,000 for expenses in January through March. They expect other reimbursement requests shortly. Due to the amount of federal funding they receive and how the State allocates, it is cleaner for DVIP to expend full amounts from local, state or federal for same activities, in this case shelter indirect activities. They do so to show all funds are required to perform the services and are used to complete the contract period and is one of the ways DVIP can clearly show federal funds are not supplanting state or local funds. Holding off on expending City funds is different this year to accommodate this, they have never been in a position of not expending half their funds from the City by a specific deadline in the contract period. DVIP added that one issue they face is the contractors fees include both state and federal funding but they don't know how that is divided up until a couple months into the contract, in addition based on the State's process, which differs year to year, DVIP doesn't always know if they are documenting expending federal or state funds first until a couple months into the contract as well. DVIP noted this is a fairly new process within the last three years so one of the ways they are hoping to resolve this issue moving forward is matching their fiscal year spending to the federal year. Housing and Community Development Commission April 18, 2019 Page 3 of 11 Eastham asked if these funds are Aid to Agency Funds. Lehmann confirmed it is Aid to Agency funds and stated typically Aid to Agency funds get billed quarterly but this year DVIP changed how they are billing. Eastham asked if the source of the funds were local funds. Lehmann said they are using their federal funds first, followed by state funds and then tap into the local funds, but if they don't spend it out by June 30 they will lose any unused funds from the City due to the federal public services cap for CDBG, which is not something they can roll over. Eastham notes he understands why federal funds cannot be carried over but questions why local funds cannot. Lehmann stated it is a decision by the City Finance Department, that they were awarded federal, not focal funds. FY19 Arthur Street Healthy Life Center — Lehmann received an email right before this evening's meeting stating it appears the building will be sold to another buyer and Tess will withdraw her CDBG grant. Therefore that $51,000 will go back into the CDBG pot. Brouse asked if those funds would just be added to the next funding cycle. Lehmann confirmed that it could or also be tied into the Annual Action Plan. The order for uncommitted CDBG and HOME funds can be spent various ways by levels of consideration. (1) Existing projects that did not receive full funding can be considered. (2) Projects that had submitted projects that did not receive any CDBG or HOME funding will be considered. (3) New proposals in an extra funding round or (4) go back into a contingency fund to cover cost overruns. Eastham stated the Commission should follow the policy established and reallocate those unused funds. Lehmann said it can be discussed with the Annual Action Plan discussion later in the meeting. FY19 Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County Siding Improvement — Lehmann reported they sent out bids in August and only received one bid significantly higher than budget, about 60% above estimated. A second batch of letters were sent out in January and NCJC received two bids, and fortunately the lower of the two bids was close to the target budget. In March they signed an agreement with the contractor and the project is slated to begin on Monday, April 15 and is expected to take two to three weeks to complete. Lehmann stated he has been to the project site and they are making progress. FY19 Prelude Transitional Housing Improvement — Ron Berg was not able to attend tonight's meeting but provided a written report. Prelude has selected RM Boggs as the vendor to install the new water heater, they will be meeting on Friday, April 19 to confirm wages requirements and make sure all the paperwork is in order before proceeding. RM Boggs indicated the timeline for the project is two weeks for the water heater to be delivered and will be able to install shortly after receiving. The project is within budget. BEGIN AID TO AGENCIES PROCESS MODIFICATIONS DISCUSSION: Lehmann stated he included a discussion guide in the packets of things the Commission has talked about regarding Aid to Agencies and reflective questions to start the discussion. Lehmann noted this discussion covers emerging and legacy Aid to Agencies processes. Vaughan followed the discussion guide beginning with what the Commission feels worked well and what needs to be improved. Eastham believes the Council's recognition of the Commission's recommendation and implementation worked well, he was quite pleased with the presentation. Lehmann has comments received from Fixmer-Oraiz, Alter and McKinstry. Fixmer-Oraiz noted overall it was good for the first time trying the Emerging Aid to Agencies and is open to hearing what others think can be done better. One thought she had was to make sure the Commission splits up the times when they are hearing from legacy versus emerging groups, but she liked the length of time the Commission had to review applications and ask questions. Fixmer-Oraiz suggested sending a survey out to agencies for their input on the process asking for their top concerns and aspects they wish the Commission to address. It would be good to know what organizations and staff thinks and make best practices from there. Alter stated she liked being able to talk with the agencies before filling out the scoring sheets, she is still not entirely sure how to handle priorities and scoring high, medium and low with numbers that can Housing and Community Development Commission April 18, 2019 Page 4 of 11 range from 1 to 10, she would like to see the matrix be able to capture when the funding ask goes to salary. She finds that useful because of the section that discusses the impact on persons. There are agencies that impact a great number of persons but the funding request goes to deal with salary, the score on the matrix may be high but it is not reflecting the money impacting many. Alter would like to have an easy to find piece of info that reflects the percent of cost directed to salary. She also likes having information showing what the applicant has received from Aid to Agencies in years past. McKinstry hopes the process will remain dynamic as they try to make it responsive to emerging needs while trying to offer stability for established services based on official stated priorities somewhat quantified by a numerical scoring system yet interpreted through the experiences of people involved in the process. It is an orderly process yet filled with the drama of unmet human needs represented by underfunded nonprofits. McKinstry states he along with everyone on the Commission needs to find a way to put the overall Aid to Agency need total to be gathered early enough in the City budgeting process so that it doesn't quietly shrink as it had over the past few years. Eastham stated having the dialogue with agencies was very helpful to him and he has heard the agencies want to have that opportunity to clear up any misunderstandings or confusion with their applications. Eastham noted it is important to maintain the schedule that has been developed. Brouse agrees but admitted he was a little bit uncomfortable when the Commission was talking about allocations and some agencies were interjecting themselves into the conversation. While it is important to have the back and forth conversations, when it is time to discuss allocations it is a conversation just amongst the Commission. There needs to be a structure maintained of when open discussion time is and when is only Commission discussion time. Eastham commented on Alter's statement of the agencies using the funding for salaries, he is not in agreement with her and feels agencies have to pay salaries and he doesn't care what they use the monies for as long as it benefits the agency and they are accomplishing their missions. Brouse agrees and noted the nice thing about the Aid to Agency funds is there aren't strings attached and the funds can be used how the agency best sees fit. Some agencies have all their federal funds tied to direct services and these are the only funds available to pay salaries. Vaughan agreed the scoring sheet was challenging because there were a lot of yes/no and therefore all the ending numbers were very close and hard for her to distinguish the agencies and decide how the scoring would match the funding. Eastham noted a comment from agencies saying they found little correlation between scoring and funding amounts. That is a measurable thing. Lehmann said he did with Commission averages and it was roughly correlated. Lehmann said when the scores don't correlate is often with the $15,000 threshold and that can throw off the data. Lehmann noted he also heard feedback the Commission wants to spread the funding and agencies want them more targeted to priorities in City Steps. Additionally information was asked that was not part of the scoring criteria and also as heard earlier the emerging agency funds went to more established agencies despite the intent of the funds. Vaughan noted she is in agreement with the comments heard today regarding emerging agency funding and the wording on the application was confusing. It stated if one had ever received funding, not specifically Aid to Agency funding which is how it should have been worded. Brouse noted they do need to be clearer on what the intent for Aid to Agencies and Emerging Agencies, he feels emerging should be new agencies but the actual policies in place indicate it can be new agencies or just ones that haven't received this specific type of funding. He noted the Commission needs to decide what they are prioritizing and direct the funds towards that. Eastham noted the difficulty not including an agency that has been in existence for 30 years being eligible for emerging funds is it excludes and takes away possible funding source for agencies with history. He Housing and Community Development Commission April 18, 2019 Page 5 of 11 feels it is fine to allow one year old organizations to go head to head with 30 year old organizations for this source of funds. Lehmann stated part of the rational for allowing established agencies who had not received Aid to Agencies funding to compete for the emerging funds was the legacy agencies are the agencies that provide core services in the community and have received funds for a long time, whereas there are some agencies that have been around for a long time but were never part of that initial core set of services. So competing this allowed them to join the core Aid to Agencies funding cycles. Brouse noted then perhaps is shouldn't be called emerging agencies then if it will include established organizations. Vaughan agreed and noted there was a subcommittee that established the emerging category so perhaps that subcommittee can now reconvene to review the process after the first year and discuss concerns and clarify intent. Lehmann asked if the Commission felt the intent of the emerging agency funds was met with regards to the agencies that ultimately received the funding. Vaughan felt so at the time, however after tonight's discussion she feels maybe it does need to be reviewed. She agrees the term emerging makes it sound like new agencies so the wording may need to be clearer. Harms noted that all the Commissioners went through each of these applications diligently and that is how the decision of funding was decided, it wasn't a quick decision without thought. Vaughan agreed and noted she is comfortable with the decisions made in this funding cycle it is just now perhaps a matter of clarifying the wording for the future. Lehmann asked if it is the intent of the Commission to continue to allocate 5% of the funding to emerging agencies. The Commission agreed, noting it is the only way for an agency to get into the legacy agency cycle. Lehmann said they could dissolve the emerging agency funding and legacy funding categories and then any agency could apply generally to Aid to Agency funds. Lehmann stated this conversation will continue at the next meeting as well for the Commissioner's that are not able to be present this evening. The subcommittee for this process was Padron and Fixmer-Oraiz who are both absent this evening. Eastham asked about the allocation of monies based on low priority or medium priorities. He feels that didn't seem to sit very well with some agencies. Lehmann noted that agency questions he received were more about misunderstanding how the priorities would be used and they may not have fought being a medium priority which had the highest funding ratio of applications to availability. There was only one low priority application. Eastham said feedback he heard was funding should target the highest need. Lehmann noted his interpretation of that is in City Steps there are particular priorities and the Commission voted in the past to try to target more monies towards those priorities but never that medium or low priorities should not be funded. Lehmann also noted again with the $15,000 threshold there wasn't a willingness to defund agencies that scored low, which scewed results. Eastham noted in future discussions that the Commission should ask agencies if they want the City to keep the levels of priorities. Vaughan noted that if they do not allocate funds for low, medium and high then those agencies that are low priority will never get funding. There are just not enough funds to go around. Brouse stated that the goal is to spread the funding, but that is just a target, if the projects aren't there then an agency should not receive funding just because they are the only low or medium application. Vaughan also said in the next round of funding it should be decided if the Commission is funding the project or the agency, there has been a back and forth on that and a decision needs to be made up front Housing and Community Development Commission April 18, 2019 Page 6 of 11 so the applicants know when they are filling out the applications. Eastham noted in the scoring criteria they use budget and income target which have nothing to do with projects. Brouse feels it is better to base priority on the agency because all the scoring criteria is based on the agency not project. However it may not be all or none, some may be based on the project. Lehmann said the scoring criteria could be looked at, he used what was used previously for CDBG funds which needs a project but also looks at applicable agency criteria as well. Lehmann noted some feedback he received from the agencies were they didn't feel like there was predictability to the funding and if they knew the Commission was basing funding off one or the other they would write their applications to fit. Brouse noted that it can't just be about the data, there is a human aspect to these agencies and that is why discussions take place before funding is awarded. Vaughan agreed noting that everyone looks at the applications independently and then when they come together for discussion it is a more rounded view after hearing others input. Lehmann stated at the February 2019 Council work session Council asked staff to reach out to Legacy Agencies this summer to discuss Aid to Agencies budget levels. The City Manager's office will lead the effort and will discuss with Legacy Agencies. The City Manager's office will also review growth projections as they consider a proposed FY21 Aid to Agencies allocation. Neighborhood Services staff may attend meetings but will not lead them. This is the first year of the Legacy/Emerging process and HCDC will need to review how it went as there will be a FY21 funding cycle as an annual funding round rather than a two year cycle. HCDC will need to review the process and identify if any changes are necessary. Every two years additional emerging agencies will be able to apply for legacy funds and emerging agencies get funded annually, so it is possible that every two years 6-8 new emerging agencies can apply for legacy funds. This will have a significant impact on funding levels for agencies who have historically been funded and should be considered. It is not reasonable to assume the Aid to Agency budget will increase by $90,000 or $120,000 every two years so HCDC needs to review priorities and how to approach funding should additional agencies come on board. Lehmann noted the City's budget process begins in August. NDS staff will have duties above and beyond current workloads and staff must complete the fair housing study and the Consolidated Plan in the upcoming months, additional research and correspondence for items not required by Council will not be priority items for staff as the City Manager's office is taking the lead for this item (working on the Aid to Agency process), it will not be a priority item for NDS staff. Eastham asked if for Aid to Agency budgeting the Commission should get the City Manager to come to a meeting Lehmann said it is that they are taking the lead while NDS staff will be working on the Fair Housing Study and the Consolidated Plan and they will come back to HCDC. Kubly said the City Manager's office will be working with agencies and are recommending HCDC wait until the City proposes the budget and then if the Commission has recommendations at that point to bring them forward. Eastham stated it is a good idea for the City Manager to be talking with the agencies about what they believe a reasonable Aid to Agency budget amount should be. However, he would also like to hear from agency directors directly what they think an Aid to Agency budget should be. Then HCDC can recommend a reasonable amount to the City on what the budget should be for Aid to Agencies. Lehmann noted that may be difficult depending on what happens at the State level because they are currently discussing revisions to the budget process and how much revenue cities have. Eastham doesn't believe what the State does really affects what the City does with its monies because the taxable valuation which includes everything in the City has increased every year. So as long as the taxable valuation continues to go up Eastham will continue to argue for increased budget for Aid to Agencies. Vaughan asked if HCDC's role is to advocate to the City Manager for increasing funding. Eastham stated the Commission was appointed by the City Council, not the City Manager so they should talk to Council Housing and Community Development Commission April 18, 2019 Page 7 of 11 and the budget setting process should include this Commission's recommendations on what the annual budget for Aid to Agencies should be. Sara Barron (Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition) spoke on behalf of their partner agencies that participate in all the various processes that come before the Commission for funding allocations, she noted the Commission gets to see very detailed applications for how the money will be used and that is done at the City Council's request on their behalf and then somehow that information has to be provided back to City Council on all the Commission has learned through the process because it seems clear that City Council is not getting all that detailed information. While she does not have a recommendation from the agencies on how exactly the budgeting process should go, she feels the Commission needs to remember not only are they charged with making the funding allocation but they are also learning all that information from the agencies on behalf of the Council and without that relaying that back, City Council doesn't have all the information about what the need is for the organizations. Lehmann noted that Council receives the minutes from the HCDC meetings, perhaps in the future the HCDC Chair could prepare a cover letter to Council with a summary. Vaughan said that might be good for situations where there is a need to call attention to something specific. Eastman noted that providing City funds to agencies doing social justice work is one of the key things this Commission is established to do and a vital function of this Commission is to inform Council why they are making the budget recommendations they are making. He would advocate for the Aid to Agencies funding process to not start out with a budget cap amount. Lehmann stated regarding overlapping funding HCDC has discussed on disclosing the various City funding going to each agency and he wants to invite the Human Rights Commission to the next meeting to discuss their processes as well. Eastham agreed it would be good to know if an agency is receiving funding from various City funds. Eastham asked what other Commissions the Council charged with providing funding. Lehmann stated Sustainability has funds to disburse, Historic Preservation may have funds, and Community Development. Brouse stated he would be interested in learning about the Human Rights Commission's processes. Lehmann is imagining having a liaison from each Commission that will go to the other Commission's meetings and bring back information. Lehmann asked if a member of the Commission wanted to reach out to the agency partners with a survey to ask about the process and ideas for improvement. Eastham is much more interested in hearing the feedback on budget amounts rather than process. Lehmann said that could be one survey. Eastham would rather have the agencies come to the May or June meeting and talk about the budget needs and process rather than do a survey. Vaughan is in favor of a survey or email asking for feedback rather than meeting. Brouse agreed. Lehmann noted that Fixmer-Oraiz volunteered to put together a survey. Eastham stated he would approach executive directors directly for in-person discussion. MONITORING REPORT: City of Iowa City — Kubly will review the City's CDBG/HOME projects. The City has $75,000 for the Neighborhood Improvement set-aside. The City typically works with Parks & Rec and Engineering to develop projects each year. Most recently they have are working in Villa and Highland Parks. They used funding for accessible trails, playground equipment, a permanent shelter, and drinking fountain. Kubly noted Parks is looking at paving trails at Wetherby and a project at Fair Meadows for next year. The next allocation is a $50,000 set-aside for economic development for low- and medium- income (LMI) business assistance, it is typically for job creation, retention, technical assistance for micro -enterprises (i.e. businesses with five or fewer employees, one or more of whom owns the business). They provided $25,000 to 4Cs to support the development of micro -enterprise daycare providers, a $10,000 no interest loan to a cell -phone repair business, and a $5,000 no interest loan to Iconic Salon located in the Sycamore area. Both loans are in repayment and the City still has funds available on a first-come first - serve basis if a business meets the criteria. She noted they are looking for opportunities to provide technical support for entrepreneurs looking to start a business and may partner with the UI as well as the Small Business Development Center for classes and once they have completed classes, they could get Housing and Community Development Commission April 18, 2019 Page 8 of 11 funding. Lastly the City may do an event for home-based businesses this year. The next project was owner -occupied housing rehab, the City provides grants and loans for homeowners and those who live in targeted LMI areas can get half the assistance as a grant. Mobile homes also get grants. The City received $90,000 from HOME and have three comprehensive rehab projects underway. From CDBG they get $235,000 and to date have six mobile home projects, one emergency, one exterior, seven in target areas and four projects that are in the hopper doing lead assessments and bid estimates. The City has a single application for all housing rehab programs so if someone applies and meets the HOME or CDBG criteria they will receive funding from that program. If their income is over 80% and under 110% AMI they can receive funds through the GRIP program which is local funds, a low-interest loan (the City receives $200,000 annually for that program). Lastly related to owner -occupied rehab is requiring energy audits for homeowners and have completed 10 audits so far this year. The last project is the South District Program, the City received $100,000 in HOME funds to rehab two duplexes, four total units, where the City will purchase properties, rehab them and then sell them to LMI homebuyers. The City selected properties and reached out to the landlords and followed up with the tenants to make sure they were not displacing any tenants but the tenants stated they were not interested in moving and not interested in homeownership so the City needs to look for other properties and perhaps expand the area (initially they just looked at Taylor and Davis Streets). One positive is the partnership with Habitat and Horizons for homeowner courses for anyone who is interested in homeownership. REVIEW AND CONSIDER RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL ON APPROVAL OF FY20 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN — PLAN AVAILABLE ONLINE AT httD://www.icaov.oralactionolan Lehmann noted a lot of the packet is information that is the same as last year but went over the highlights. One addition this year was as part of the Consolidated Plan where it goes goal by goal set in City Steps and the progress being made on each step they now report specifically on the progress of the goals. Of the eleven goals set four years ago, two are complete (increase the supply of affordable rentals and strengthening economic development). Five are on track to meet their goals and the remaining four are behind what would be expected at the point. However three are expected to be complete on time. Two probably won't meet the goals set, improving and maintaining public infrastructure facilities because the City decided to do fewer, bigger projects rather than more smaller projects as originally planned, a policy in line with City Steps which states they should focus funding in places to make a bigger difference. The other goal that will likely not be met is for facade improvements, the City went away from fagade improvements and now it is being funded through local dollars and thus is not reflected in the CAPER. Lehmann noted another change that happened from the original version, the Departmental and Commission Guidance is something that was not initially added, and how those fit into the preparation of the Plan and for soliciting public input. Consultation is much the same as it was last year although Lehmann has participated more in the local homelessness coordinating board so homelessness initiatives are featured more prominently in the current Action Plan. Also in the Plan is the list of who participated in the creation of the Consolidated Plan. For the timeline, the Annual Action Plan is typically due 45 days prior to the end of the fiscal year which would be around April 15. This year the City did not get their federal funding allocation until April 12, so it due 60 days from that date, currently June 11. The Plan notes the Commission is reviewing it today, there is a 30 day public comment period that starts on May 3 and people can come comment on the Plan at the next HCDC meeting. Council will then consider the Plan following a public hearing on June 4. For federal allocations, the City became aware of them on April 17, so Appendix B shows updated allocations. For HOME and CDBG funds, CDBG funds went up by $500 from budgeted so essentially unchanged from last year, HOME funds were decreased by $97,000 when the City was expecting an 8% decrease and fortunately had appropriately budgeted for this fiscal year, so they actually had slightly more HOME funds than expected which is reflected in Appendix B. Lehmann also noted the funding amounts for prior year resources are slightly higher because they had more program income than expected. Total budget amounts for FY20 are $799,000 and $739,000 for CDBG and HOME respectively. Housing and Community Development Commission April 18, 2019 Page 9 of 11 Lehmann next moved to the goals, objectives, and project descriptions. Project descriptions are broken into categories. Public Service Activities are Aid to Agencies and were increased by $9,000 in CDBG funds from the budget. $8,000 went to Shelter House, $50,000 to DVIP and $55,000 to Neighborhood Centers. They focus CDBG funds to larger agencies because they can handle it. Public Facility Improvements include DVIP and Old Brick, initially the allocation for DVIP was $90,000 and $10,000 for Old Brick. Since funding amounts were within 10% of what was expected, staff prorated the amounts and reallocated to DVIP up to their ask of $120,000 and the rest went to Old Brick for a total of $36,000. The Neighborhood Improvement set-aside, which goes to Parks or Public Works, remained unchanged at $75,000; Comprehensive Rehab is another set-aside that remained stable at $235,000 for CDBG and $90,000 for HOME; the Other Housing Activities increased from $540,000 to $570,000 so the allocation was prorated with Mayor's Youth receiving $186,000 in HOME funds; Habitat receiving $53,000; Successful Living receiving $173,000 for acquisition and $62,000 for rehab; The Housing Fellowship receiving $74,000 for rental rehab and $22,000 for CHDO operating. Economic development set-aside remained at $50,000; CDBG and HOME administration went up to the cap per the Council set-aside which leaves $25,000 buffers each for HOME and CDBG in case issues arise, which excludes the additional $51,000 de -obligated for the Arthur Street Healthy Living Center. Lehmann next discussed geographic distribution, the City for federal purposes does not distinguish between target areas and city-wide, all programs are city-wide although the City uses target areas to allow some loans to be forgiven, for example on rehab. While the programs are city-wide staff tries to target specific areas by using the affordable housing location model to distribute affordable housing throughout the community. For affordable housing, the City will assist 28 households overall, 23 will be special needs households through Mayor's Youth and Successful Living. 14 units acquired, 8 units rehabbed and 6 new units constructed. For public housing it is similar to last year, homeless and special needs is also similar though a risk mitigation fund is something the local homeless board is exploring where they would provide an insurance pool for landlords if there was a homeless tenant and someone didn't want to rent to them because they were afraid they would destroy the unit, the City insure the landlord who could apply for funds to correct any issues. Some communities have such policies. The Affordable Housing Plan is also included which works to ensure there are affordable housing options and people are not in poverty just trying to pay for someplace to live. Lehmann noted the updated Plan is available for viewing on the City's website, it has all the appendices and updated action plans. Eastham asked if there was anywhere in the Plan stating the actual rental amounts for units and noted if anyone under an income level of $20,000 per year can afford the rental units the City says are affordable units. Therefore he would this Plan to include a report on rental prices for the parts of the report that refer to affordable rental housing. Additionally the table labeled "AP 20 Annual Goals and Objectives" in the goal outcome column it states there are a total of 11 rental units constructed but it doesn't say what the initial rent prices were. Lehmann noted the problem with rental prices is they change every year. Eastham said just to see the initial ones is fine. Lehmann will add that to the report. Eastham moved to recommend to City Council approval of the FY20 Annual Action Plan as presented with the addition of the rents of newly created affordable housing units. Brouse seconded. A vote was taken and it passed 5-0. DISCUSSION OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CELEBRATION: Lehmann said the community celebration is April 22-26, Council will make a proclamation set up, there will be a tour of CDBG/HOME projects Wednesday, April 24, and he encourages Vaughan as chair to write an editorial to the paper. The tour will be as follows: Housing and Community Development Commission April 18, 2019 Page 10 of 11 5:30 P.M.: Tour of 80 Whitechapel/15 Colchester, Mayor's Youth Empowerment Program 5:50 P.M.: Tour of 2620 Muscatine Avenue, The Arc of Southeast Iowa 6:10 P.M.: Discussion at 1105 S. Gilbert Court, Domestic Violence Intervention Program. 6:30 P.M.: Tour of 820 Cross Park Avenue, Shelter House STAFF/COMMISSION COMMENT: Next meeting is May 16. Will need to consider Commissioner's whose terms end June 30, there may be openings. Eastham stated there is a national firm that has been buying mobile home parks in this area, including the Sunrise Village Mobile Home Park in Iowa City. The firm's practice has been to increase lot rents in the range of 40% to 60%. Council members Cole and Salih are asking the Council to take some action and are requesting a work session to discuss adding mobile home parks to the affordable housing plans. They are also asking for the consideration of the City's acquisition of a mobile home park for the purposes of reselling to a nonprofit or possibility a resident led cooperative. Eastman feels HCDC might want to communicate to Council the support of this work session agenda item. The Commission agrees it is a conversation that needs to be had. ADJOURNMENT: Brouse moved to adjourn. Eastham seconded. A vote was taken and passed 5-0. Housing and Community Development Commission April 18, 2019 Page 11 of 11 Housing and Community Development Commission Attendance Record Name Terms Exp. 7/10 9/20 10/11 11/15 12/20 1/17 2/21 3/14 4/18 Alter, Megan 6/30/21 X X X X X X X X O/E Brouse, Mitch 6/30/21 X X X X X X X O/E X Eastham, Charlie 6/30/20 X X X X X X X X X Fixmer-Oraiz, Vanessa 6/30/20 X O/E X X X O/E X X O/E Harms, Christine 6/30/19 X X X X X X X X X Lamkins, Bob 6/30/19 O/E O/E X O/E O/E McKinstry, John 6/30/20 X X X X X X X X O/E Nkumu, Peter 6/30/22 8 0 X Padron, Maria 6/30/20 X X O/E O/E X X X X O/E Vaughan, Paula 6/30/19 X X X X X X X X X • Resigned from Commission Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Vacant Item Number: 4.c. i CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org June 4, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Housing & Community Development Commission: April 24 MINUTES HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION APRIL 24, 2019 — 5:20 PM CITY HALL, LOBBY MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: OTHERS PRESENT: CALL MEETING TO ORDER: FINAL Megan Alter, Mitch Brouse, Charlie Eastham, Vanessa Fixmer-Oraiz, Christine Harms, John McKinstry, Peter Nkumu, Maria Padron and Paula Vaughan None Kirk Lehmann, Erika Kubly Elias Ortiz, Kari Wilken, Roger Lusala, Mark Sertterh, Chelsey Markle Vaughan called the meeting to order at 5:20 PM. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR TOPICS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. 5:30 P.M.: TOUR OF 80 WHITECHAPELl15 COLCHESTER: HCDC arrived at 5:30 P.M. Kari Wilken and Roger Lusala (Mayor's Youth Empowerment Program) showed the Commission a completed project at 80 Whitechapel Drive. The project is a newly constructed accessible home for persons with disabilities. Currently four tenants live there. One tenant showed the Commission her room. Wilken discussed how every project they undertake teaches them lessons for the next time, such as a need for even wider hallways and taller ceilings in the garage. 5:50 P.M.: TOUR OF 2620 MUSCATINE AVENUE: HCDC arrived at 5:55 P.M. Chelsey Markle (The Arc of Southeast Iowa) showed the Commission completed projects at 2620 Muscatine Avenue. The projects include a public facility renovation and new accessible playground area. 6:10 P.M. DISCUSSION AT 1105 S. GILBERT COURT: HCDC arrived at 6:20 P.M. Elias Ortiz (Domestic Violence Intervention Program) showed the Commission pictures of completed projects at their family shelter. The projects included bathroom and kitchen rehabilitations. Ortiz noted he could not give them a tour for confidentiality reasons associated with publishing for the agenda. Housing and Community Development Commission April 24, 2019 Page 2 of 3 6:30 P.M. TOUR OF 820 CROSS PARK AVENUE: HCDC arrived at 6:45 P.M. Mark Sertterh (Shelter House) showed the Commission a completed project at 820 Cross Park Place. The project is a newly constructed 24 -unit apartment complex with optional supportive services for the chronically homeless. 23 of the 24 units are currently rented. ADJOURNMENT: Alter moved to adjourn. Vaughan seconded. Passed 9-0 Housing and Community Development Commission April 24, 2019 Page 3 of 3 Housing and Community Development Commission Attendance Record Name Terms Exp. 7110 9/20 10/11 11/15 12/20 1/17 2/21 3/14 4/18 4/24 Alter, Megan 7/1/21 X X X X X X X X O/E X Brouse, Mitch 7/1/21 X X X X X X X O/E X X Eastham, Charlie 7/1/20 X X X X X X X X X X Fixmer-Oraiz, Vanessa 7/1/20 X O/E X X X O/E X X O/E X Harms, Christine 7/1/19 X X X X X X X X X X Lamkins, Bob 7/1/19 O/E O/E X O/E O/E McKinstry, John 7/1/17 X X X X X X X X O/E X Nkumu, Peter 6/30/22 X X Padron, Maria 7/1/20 X X O/E O/E X X X X O/E X Vaughan, Paula 7/1/19 X X X X X X X X X X Not on the Commission Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Vacant Awl Q- CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org June 4, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Human Rights Commission: April 16 Item Number: 4.d. APPROVED Human Rights Commission Minutes April 16, 2019 Helling Conference Room, City Hall Members Present: Jeff Falk, Cathy McGinnis, Bijou Maliabo, Jessica Ferdig, Barbara Kutzko, Tahuanty Pena, Adil Adams, Noemi Ford, Jonathon Munoz. Others Present: Ellsworth Carman, Denise Brotherton, Jody Matherly. Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers. Recommendation to Council: No. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM. Approval of March 19, 2019 Meeting Minutes: Kutzko moved to approve the minutes; the motion was seconded by McGinnis. A vote was taken, and the motion passed 6-0. (Maliabo, Adams, Munoz not present). Funding Request for An Evening of Chinese Performing Arts: This is a funding request to offset the costs for the performing arts professionals and amateurs from the local Chinese community who will showcase their talents in performing arts, while providing the opportunity to share their culture with the diverse and inclusive Iowa City community. Munoz moved to approve $150.00, the cost of the food and drinks, McGinnis seconded. The motion passed 8-0 (Maliabo not present). To date, the Commission has supported community funding in the amount of $1,106.00 for fiscal year 2019. Library update by Director Ellsworth Carman: the library is now translating its brochures into Arabic, Swahili, Spanish, French, and Simplified Chinese. The new waiver of fines for children and teen materials begins in June. Borrowers will receive notice after the item is two weeks past the due that states if the item is not returned it will be replaced at their cost. So even though fines are waived, a replacement fee will still be required if the item is not returned within a certain realm of time. Police Department update by Chief Matheriv and Captain Brotherton: Over the last year crime is down in Iowa City; violent crime saw a slight rise. There is now parity on citations and on traffic stops in terms of minority contact. The department has over two hundred and twenty hours of training that was conducted in 2018, that is up from 1100 hours of trainings in past years. The Wetherby and Grant Wood Neighborhoods are where the police receive the most calls for youth related offenses, within the last year the number of calls have gone APPROVED Human Rights Commission Minutes April 16, 2019 Helling Conference Room, City Hall down. The number of referrals the police make to juvenile court services has also gone down. Community outreach has included afterschool programs and activities going on during the day and safety village. There are also two community officers. Outreach materials includes handbills on how to contact the police in Spanish, Swahili, Arabic, Chinese, and French. The handbill includes emergency and non -emergency contacts. The handbills will be distributed throughout the community. All officers are trained on crisis intervention some are even trainers. Strategic Plan and Committee Updates: There are four committees that assist in advancing the strategic plan. The four committees are Housing (*Falk, Adams, Pena); Public Safety (*McGinnis, Maliabo, Munoz); Education (Ferdig, Falk, Pena, Kutzko); and Community Outreach (*Adams, Falk, Munoz). Asterisks designates chairs of the committees. Housing committee: no report. Public Safety: the brochure on bias based incidents is still being worked on. The committee will be meeting with representatives from the Iowa City Police Department, and the Sheriff's Office to discuss bias -based incidents. The Associate Dean of the University of Iowa will also be invited to this meeting. Education Committee: has established a charter, meeting date/time, and also set up a list of priorities primarily focusing on elementary aged youth. Community/Outreach Committee: no report. Social Justice and Racial Eauity Grant: Commissioners received the scheduled reports from the Iowa City Community School District, Center for Worker Justice, and the Shelter House updating their use on the grant funding from fiscal year 2018. Commissioners expressed concern about the District's small use of the funding provided to them. Staff will reach out to District representative and set up a future meeting to discuss why more of the funding has not been spent to date. On May 15 the Commission will hold a work session that allows feedback from the public on the grant process. All the groups who submitted applications for fiscal year 2019 will be invited to come and provide feedback as well as the general public. A news 2 APPROVED Human Rights Commission Minutes April 16, 2019 Helling Conference Room, City Hall release will be sent to spread the word. If more time is needed for the Commission to discuss the grants May 23 at 5:30 will be held for that purpose. Youth Awards: The event will be May 8 at The Englert. The Mayor will deliver brief remarks. Pena will deliver the welcome, Munoz the presentation, Ferdig will distribute the awards, and Kutzko will deliver the closing. Commissioners should plan on being at The Englert by 6. There are 45 recipients this year. The number includes the Youth Ally recipient. Reports of Commissioners: Kutzko attended the Black Voices meeting and they will be sponsoring a reception to support Black administrators recently hired by the School District on April 30. Adams celebrated the Sudan Revolution with other Sundanese in the community. Falk attended the School District's Equity Committee meeting. He also participated in an advocacy training sponsored by Physicians for Social Responsibility. The training taught participants how to advocate in a productive manner. Ferdig attended the Health Equity Summit sponsored by University of Iowa Public Health and every year it gets bigger and better. She and her husband also led a roofing seminar at Build Our Future (her and her husband own a roofing business together). The event was sponsored by ACE. There were 160 students in attendance. She also plans to attend the panel discussion on Restorative Justice being hosted by the School District at the Coralville Library. Ford is speaking at a June 9 fundraiser and panel discussion on the psychological trauma of immigrant children and families. It is sponsored by RAICES and being held at the North Liberty Recreation Center. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn at 7:15 PM. Member Attendance Sheet Member Term Exp. 1/8 1/24 2/19 3/19 4/16 5/21 6/18 7/16 8/20 9/17 10/15 11/19 12/10 Maliabo 1/2021 Present Present Present Present Present McGinnis 1/2021 Present Present Present Present Present Munoz 1/2021 Excused Present Present Present Present Kutzko 1/2020 Present Present Present Present Present Falk 1/2020 Present Present Present Present Present Pena 1/2020 Present Present Excused Present Present Adams 1/2022 Excused Present Present Present Present Ferdi 1/2022 Present Present Present Present Present Ford 1/2022 Present Excused Present Excused Present KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting --- = Not a Member i CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org June 4, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Library Board of Trustees: April 25 Item Number: 4.e. IOWA CITY � . PUBLIC LIBRARY 123 S. Linn St. • Iowa City, IA 52240 -: Susan Craig • � 314356-5200 • rex 319 356-5494 . w Jcpl.org BOARD OF TRUSTEES Minutes of the Regular Meeting April 25, 2019 FINAL APPROVED Members Present: Diane Baker, Wesley Beary, John Beasley, Kellee Forkenbrock, Janet Freeman, Carol Kirsch, Robin Paetzold, Jay Semel, Monique Washington. Members Absent: None. Staff Present: Terri Byers, Elsworth Carman, Maeve Clark, Kara Logsden, Anne Mangano, Patty McCarthy, Elyse Miller, Brent Palmer, Angela Pilkington. Guests Present: None. Call Meeting to Order. President Paetzold called the meeting to order at 5:07 pm. Public Discussion. Byers said that AFSCME has been talking with the City about hourly employees. She met with the City Manager, Assistant City Manager, and Human Resources Administrator on April 10. This is an ongoing conversation with City administration. City Council focused on exploring options with hourly positions, including converting these positions into permanent positions with benefits. This would potentially affect approximately 300 people. City staff are gathering data from certain divisions in the City about hourly staff and their job functions. Semel asked if hourly staff receive benefits; Byers said they receive IPERS. Approval of Minutes. The minutes of the March 25, 2019 Regular Meeting of the Library Board of Trustees were reviewed. A motion to approve the Regular Minutes was made by Freeman and seconded by Washington. Motion carried 9/0. Items for Discussion/Action. Policy Review: 801: Circulation and Library Card Policy. Logsden gave a presentation on the Equity Toolkit, which directly speaks to this policy. Carman said there is widespread approval in the community for going fine free for children's and YA materials based on community comments. Semel asked about expected positive impact. Carman said people who would have been blocked from coming to the library will be back. We know that access to books and materials has a positive lifelong effect. Carman said sometimes when a card is blocked it isn't even the child's fines. Such a situation can cause negative interaction with staff who have to say no to a checkout at the point of contact. Kirsch asked if we anticipate moving to fine free for all library materials; Carman said he thinks we will learn a lot from this first step and he hopes so. Kirsch reiterated that the fine is connected to the material, not the user. Beary asked about the case-by-case basis language. Carman said we want to make sure we don't observe patterns of abuse. Beasley asked about the replacement fee and if the child would be blocked from checking out materials if there is a lost book. Semel asked how effective we are at collecting on our bills. Logsden responded that we refer bills to a collection agency after we have exhausted all other possibilities to get materials returned. If a patron finds a book after it has been paid for, the patron may get their money back or receive a credit toward future fines/replacement fees. The collection agency does not report patrons to credit bureaus said Carman. Beasley willing to support this for a year. A motion to approve the Circulation and Library Card Policy as revised by staff to be reviewed in July, 2020, was made by Semel and seconded by Washington. Motion carried 9/0. Policy Review: 817: Alcohol in the Library. Washington asked if we have had any trouble with alcohol. A motion to approve the Alcohol in the Library Policy as revised by staff was made by Semel and seconded by Kirsch. Motion carried 9/0. Election of Officers. The Nominating Committee met a couple of times and presented the following slate: Wes Beary, President, Carol Kirsch, Vice -President, John Beasley Secretary. A motion was made by Washington and seconded by Forkenbrock to accept the slate of officers as presented by the Nominating Committee. Motion carried 9/0. Staff Reports. Director's Report. Carman attended his first IUPLA meeting in Des Moines last month. Participants discussed challenges and shared experiences. Carman presented at the City Manager's Roundtable this month. He talked about going fine free for children and YA materials and our SRP materials in six languages. Carman met with Librarian team this month to talk about current issues and hopes for the future. Library Assistants will have a group meeting soon. Carman also presented at Human Rights Commission this month and was able to address the Library's Equity Toolkit initiatives. He felt it was reassuring to hear the Commission's questions. The Volunteer Appreciation event took place last evening and everyone seemed to have a good time. Coordinators are working on the current strategic plan at the department level. The group is thinking about the pre -planning process for our next longer range plan. Departmental Reports: Children's Services. Paetzold appreciated the extra materials about the Kids Matter conference staff attended. Collection Services. Mangano said rights management of ematerials is more challenging than it seems. IT. Forkenbrock asked about the coordination of the student library card project. Pilkington said the 2nd grade class in Davenport is doing this but we would be the first library in Iowa to do so. We've modeled ours on Los Angeles, North Carolina, Nashville. Paetzold asked about connecting this with the county ID card. Development Office. McCarthy thanked everyone who has made a donation or signed up for the Looking Forward event. In response to a question from Paetzold, McCarthy said response to the event is less than last year's numbers. Paetzold asked if there is a breakeven point and McCarthy believes this should be fine. The "Eat out to Read" fundraiser continues on May 1 at Goosetown Cafe all day. Paetzold noted that North Liberty is charging a fee to attend author readings in their library and asked if this is customary. Spotlight on the Collection. Clark said Weber Days begins May 1. Miscellaneous. No comments. President's Report. Paetzold thanked Kirsch for filling in last month. She thought the fundraising event last evening was lovely. Announcements from Members. The Bylaws Committee met and identified four areas for discussion: Does the board have ultimate decision power for making committees; search committee for a director and its makeup; nomination of officers, do we need a dedicated committee or have members suggest some P: names instead of having a dedicated committee for this; term for a board member is 6 years; other city boards and commission have three year terms. Paetzold asked if there will be a report on this next month. Semel said the committee didn't have any recommendations but have had discussion. Beary asked for an outline of these particular discussion points. This will be an agenda item next month. Committee Reports. Foundation Members. No meeting. Communications. None. Disbursements. The MasterCard expenditures for March, 2019 were reviewed. A motion to approve the disbursements for March, 2019 was made by Kirsch and seconded by Forkenbrock. Motion carried 9/0. Quarterly Financial Reports. No comments. Quarterly Use Reports. Mangano said circulation is up as is digital magazine use. She also stated we count streaming items, but not Kanopy. Set Agenda Order for May Meeting. Bylaws. Adjournment. A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Forkenbrock and seconded by Kirsch. Motion carried 9/0. President Paetzold closed the meeting at 6:20 pm. Respectfully submitted, Elyse Miller Board or Commission: ICPL Board of Trustees ATTENDANCE RECORD 12 Month KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting Meeting Date Name TeRiretion 6/28/18 7/26/18 8/23/18 9/27/18 10/25/18 11/15/18 12/20/18 01/24/19 2/28/19 3/28/19 4/25/19 5/23/19 Diane Baker 6/30/19 x x x x x x x x O x x x Wesley Beary 6/30/21 Not on Board X X X X X O/E X O/E X X John Beasley 6/30/21 x x x x x x x x x O x x Kellee Forkenbrock 6/30/23 O/E X x O/E x X O/E x x X X O/E Janet Freeman 6/30/19 x O/E O/E x x O/E x x O/E x x x Adam Ingersoll 7/30/18 X x x Off Board Carol Kirsch 6/30/23 x x O/E x x x x x x x x x Robin Paetzold 6/30/23 x x x x x x x x x O/E x X Jay Semel 6/30/19 x x x x x x O/E x x x x x Monique Washington 6/30/21 O 0 X O/E X x O x X O/E X x KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting i CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org June 4, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Parks & Recreation Commission: April 10 Item Number: 4.f. IOWA CITY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED MINUTES APRIL 10, 2019 RECREATION CENTER — MEETING ROOM B Members Present: Steve Bird, Luke Foelsch, Cara Hamann, Ben Russell, Angie Smith, Brianna Wills, Joe Younker Members Absent: Suzanne Bentler, Jamie Venzon Staff Present: Brad Barker, Zac Hall, Juli Seydell Johnson Others Present: None CALL TO ORDER Chairman Younker called the meeting to order at 5 p.m. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council action): None OTHER FORMAL ACTION: Moved by Russel seconded by Bird, to approve the March 13, 2019 minutes as written. Passed 7-0 (Bentler & Venzon absent). PUBLIC DISCUSSION None RECREATION PROGRAM UPDATES —RECREATION STAFF Brad Barker, Recreation Superintendent and Lyndsey Kent, Communications and Special Events Program Supervisor, provided updates as follows. Kent informed the Commission about the Riverfront Crossings Grand Opening Celebration scheduled for Saturday, July 20, 2019. She also shared the Party in the Park schedule with the Commission. Kent was excited to announce that staff will add some new parks to the schedule this season. Those will include Ryerson's Woods, Thornberry Off -Leash Dog Park, and Scott Park/Rita's Ranch Dog Park. She also announced that there will be a special day -time Party in the Park on the 4' of July at Upper City Park in conjunction with the City Park Pool's 701h Birthday Celebration. Kent also informed the commission of a couple of new events that the department will be helping with. These include the Great Iowa River Race on Saturday, June 8 and the Iowa City Monarch Festival on Sunday, August 28. Wills asked if the Blues Fest at Big Grove was in Conjunction with the Great Iowa River Race. It is not. Barker provided the following updates to the Commission. Adult Sports: Jeff Sears, Program Supervisor for Adult Sports, will be working closely with Corridor Games throughout the summer. He hopes to find adult sports that may work for future ICPR recreation programs. Examples of activities included in the Corridor Games include bowling, bocce (two bocce tournaments will be hosted by the department this summer), sand volleyball, mud volleyball, spike ball and dodgeball along with ultimate Frisbee. According to https://spikeball.com/blogs/the-crop-circle/what-is-spikeball, PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION April 10, 2019 Page 2 of 5 Spike ball is a new sport that's sweeping the nation. It's commonly referred to as the love child between volleyball and four-square. It is played 2 vs 2, with a taut hula hoop sized Spike ball net placed between the teams. A player starts a point by serving the ball down on the net so it ricochets up at his opponents. They have up to three hits between them Oust like Volleyball) to control the ball and bounce it back off the net. • Youth Sports: Matt Eidahl, Program Supervisor for Youth Sports, will be offering a Lacrosse program. Barker explained the First Sticks Lacrosse Grant that the department received and the ensuing program and clinic. Barker asked for input from the commission. Wills expressed her disappointment that the ages didn't include 14 -year old's. Younker proposed that programming for young teens be put on a future agenda for further discussion. At the request of many parents, Eidahl will also offer a summer skills basketball program. This program focuses on offensive skills. The annual Youth Triathlon will take place on July 1 at Mercer Park Aquatic Center. Seydell Johnson mentioned that Eidahl is always looking for volunteers for the triathlon to help keep kids on course and during the transition from one activity to another. • Arts/Socialization: Barker noted that Joyce Carroll, Program Supervisor for Arts and Socialization, has already been hard at work on the 2019 Summer Camp Program. Carroll will be offering two themes for each week of summer camp as well as a sports camp. Themes will include STEAM programming, enrichment, theatre, and film to name a few. Carroll is also providing environmental education opportunities this summer in conjunction with Green Iowa AmeriCorps. Green Iowa has four frill -time and four part-time staff members. Carroll's new programs include Eco Film Festival, Endangered Species classes, Nature Photography and the Science of Fermentation. Backyard Abundance will also offer programs. Kayaking and fishing programs with Johnson County Conservation will be offered as well as half- day art and STEAM camps. • Seydell Johnson also noted that programming is underway for Special Populations Involvement and Special Olympic programs as well as aquatics. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF Parks & Recreation Director — Juli Seydell Johnson: Staffing: Seydell Johnson announced that Matthew Eckhardt has left his position as Program Supervisor for Aquatics to start his own business. Interviews are complete for his position and staff hopes to make an announcement soon. IPRA Conference: Staff attended the annual Iowa Park and Recreation Association Spring Conference in March. Tyler Baird, Assistant Parks Superintendent, offered a session on landscape design sharing the basics in planting and landscaping. Seydell Johnson also noted that staff took a leadership role in the planning process for the conference Kate Connell, Assistant Aquatics Supervisor, presented "60 New Programs in 60 Minutes". Seydell Johnson presented three sessions. Younker suggested that Baird present to commission in the future. Cardigan Park Update: Seydell Johnson noted that three different groups used the fire ring over the weekend and all were well behaved. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION April 10, 2019 Page 3 of 5 • Creekside Park Update: Although staff received some construction noise complaints on Monday morning, progress is continuing. • Riverfront Crossings Park Update: The park signs have been installed. The restrooms are not yet open. The Snelson sculpture will not be complete in time for the grand opening but will be in place later this fall. • Willow Creek Park Update: The contract for this project has been awarded to All American Concrete. • Lower City Park Update: The bidding for this project will begin at the end of April and will close in mid-May. Some residents have contacted Seydell Johnson regarding accessibility of the new play area. The park will be all inclusive and ADA compliant. • Cabins: The cabins in Upper City Park are near completion other than a bit of concrete work. • College Green Park: Seydell Johnson noted that there has been some interest from donors in adding bocce courts to the park as well as permanent bag boards on one side of the park. • Recreation Center Nonprofit Space: Staff received two proposals for the space that currently holds the racquetball court and game room. The Bike Library and Public Space One submitted proposals. Seydell Johnson will recommend to Council that the Bike Library move forward with their plan to occupy this space. The bike library proposal will be included in the April 11, 2019 Council Packet. Younker and Wills asked if more support was needed. Seydell Johnson will follow up after the April 23 Council Meeting. Recreation Division Superintendent — Brad Barker: • Garden Plots: Garden plot registration opened on April 1 with many returning gardeners. There are currently 29 plots still available at Wetherby Park, otherwise all other locations (Chadek Green, Reno Street, & Kiwanis Parks) are sold out. • Dog Park Registration: The dog tag registrations have picked up tremendously with the recent warmer weather. • Bike Month: Barker announced that May is Bike Month. The department is partnering with Bicyclists of Iowa City and the Iowa City Area Development. Group to host the TTRA 100, a Mother's Day family bike ride at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. No registration or fee is required. Barker will also be attending a Bike Safety Rodeo later this month at Alexander Elementary School. • Aquatics: An underwater Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, April 20 and is sold out. • Scanlon Gym: Scanlon Gymnasium turns 20 on May 22. • Passport to Pools: Barker introduced the Passport to Pools partnership with Coralville and North Liberty Parks and Recreation Departments encouraging the public to visit local pools and splash pads. Wills suggested having passports available at the Library along with their Reading Passports program. • Affiliate Groups: Staff is working with sports affiliate groups to review their agreements. Staff will also be looking at policies and procedures internally. Parks Division Superintendent — Zac Hall • Spring/Summer Prep: Hall noted that park shelter and ball field reservations are now in full swing. Park staff is transitioning from winter by debriefing about the winter snow removal to spring and summer activities. Hall has met with the mowing contractor and will be adding additional sites to their schedule. Hall is working on creating an RFP for auto -lock restroom facilities. • Edible Planters/Landscapes: Hall announced that the edible landscape planters in downtown and at City Hall will transition to a "Tea Time" theme. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION April 10, 2019 Page 4 of 5 Staffing: Hall is still working on tilling temporary positions for the season. He also announced that full-time staff member, Nate Steele, is transitioning from a Forestry to the Horticulture position. The selection process to fill the Forestry position left vacant by Steele is underway. Projects: Hall has been meeting with new engineering staff on park projects that include the following: o ADA projects at both Brookland and Hunters Run Parks are being planned o Benton Hill and Miller Ave. Trail connection from the south where co -housing extended sidewalk to the north. Parks will be converting 25 acres of turf grass to native grass areas. o Hall noted that there is a lot of work going on at Hickory Hill Park including construction of trail bridges, installation of signs and tree clearing. CHAIRS REPORT: Younker expressed interest in reviving the Parks & Recreation Foundation, noting that the last major fundraising project was for the Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. Younker requested a 2 -3 -member subcommittee be established. Wills, Bird and Younker will be meeting with Seydell Johnson soon regarding future plans for the Foundation. COMMISSION TIME: Smith asked how fees for the garden plots were established suggesting that perhaps the department consider raising those rates. Seydell Johnson noted that garden plots are seen more as a community service and is a move to provide local food sourcing which is a goal of the strategic plan. Foelsch asked how the Parks and Recreation Activities Guides are distributed. Kent reported that the department is tracking where folks are coming through equity mapping. Foelsch expressed his concern as to whether some groups are being priced out and wondered if there are populations that we are missing. Wills expressed her desire to discuss the Eastside Sports Complex proposal and where that stands, especially with the new Hoover Elementary feeling there may be momentum in the neighborhood to fund such a project. Seydell Johnson will share the Eastside Sports Complex master plan with commission for future discussion. ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Hamann, seconded by Smith, to adiourn the meeting at 6:09 p.m. Motion passed 7-0 (Bentler and Venzon absent). PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION April 10, 2019 Page 5of5 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD NAME 00 00 00 00 00 0000 0000 00 o, a, 0, 00 N e M ~ M ~ O ~ TERM kn o -4 -4 N r -4N -4 M � EXPIRES Suzanne 12/31/20 NM X X X X X X X X NM X O/E Bentler Steve Bird 12/31/21 NM X X X X X X X X NM X X Wayne Fett 12/31/18 NM X O/E X X O/E X X Lucas 12/31/22 * * * * * * * * x NM X X Foelsch Cara 12/31/19 NM X X O/E X O/E X O/E X NM X X Hamann Lucie 12/31/18 NM X O/E O/E X X X O/E Laurian Ben Russell 12/31/21 NM X X X X X X X X NM X X Angie Smith 12/31/21 NM X X O/E X X X X X NM X X Jamie 12/31/20 NM X X X X X O/E X X NM X O/E Venzon Brianna 12/31/22 * * * * * * * * O/E NM X X Wills Joe Younker 12/31/19 NM X X X X X X X X NM X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting LQ = No meeting due to lack of quorum * = Not a member now i CITY OE IOWA CITY www.icgov.org June 4, 2019 ATTACHMENTS: Description Planning & Zoning Commission: April 18 Item Number: 4.g. MINUTES FINAL PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION APRIL 18, 2019 —7:00 PM— FORMAL MEETING E M M A J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Larry Baker, Carolyn Dyer, Mike Hensch, Phoebe Martin, Max Parsons, Mark Signs, Billie Townsend MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: Sara Hektoen, Anne Russett OTHERS PRESENT: CALL TO ORDER: Hensch called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. DISCUSSION ON THE GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY, APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, AND REZONING CRITERIA: Russett recapped what the Commission discussed at the April 4 meeting regarding the Good Neighbor Policy and application requirements, particularly for rezonings, and rezoning criteria. She noted a few comments from that meeting stood out to her and she wanted to highlight. One was the City should consider requiring a larger notification area for larger scale projects for Good Neighbor Meetings. Another was to consider requiring Good Neighbor Meetings for rezonings but not necessarily for platting or vacations. Also for Good Neighbor Meetings the notifications should be greater for projects in the downtown and Riverfront Crossings and also an interest in requiring concepts plans and elevations for any rezonings in a multifamily rezoning district or for a planned district overlay. Russett noted there were also some reservations requiring Good Neighbor Meetings for all rezonings and to perhaps leave it up to staff to work with the applicant on when a Good Neighbor Meeting should be required. Finally, it was stated the City needs to find better ways to communicate projects to the community. The Commission also mentioned there had been instances where the outcome of the project wasn't what they expected, particularly for rezonings where the Commission recommended approval for rezoning and the result wasn't what was expected. Russett would like to discuss that particular topic in more detail this evening and has some follow up questions. She asks the Commission to provide some specific examples of where they approved a rezoning and was disappointed with the outcome. And also why they feel that may have happened, was it because of the standards in the Riverfront Crossings Code or multifamily site development standards, or how standards were implemented. Was it perhaps because there was not enough detail in the staff report, or other reasons. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 2 of 16 Parsons noted one project the Commission was very disappointed in was the landscaping plan for the UIHC building on North Dodge Street. Hensch said the primary issue seems to be landscaping plans, he noted the Kum & Go project on Riverside Drive also didn't meeting the landscaping they had expected and minimal seems to be the theme on these projects, the developers do the minimum of what they need to do and then there is no follow up to see if the plantings actually live through a season. Hensch noted it is the Commission's responsibility to look out for the welfare of the neighborhoods and they should look nice. Martin asked about landscaping plans and what the requirements are for landscaping plans and what is the responsibility for replacements if plantings die. She noted the particular project on North Dodge did do some plantings but they died and haven't been replaced. Dyer noted they were supposed to have trees and none of those got planted. Baker asked then if the current regulation is the City can force the developer to implement a landscaping plan but there is no requirement of maintaining it. Russett said if it is brought to staff's attention there is an issue they will go out to the site and it could be noted as a zoning violation and the City would work with the property owner to improve the landscaping. She noted staff is only aware of issues if they are brought to their attention, they do not have the manpower to do proactive enforcement of landscaping plans. Signs noted that some property owners do not take care of the plantings, especially in the first year, and also there can be issues with snow plows taking out trees and plantings. Dyer also brought up the buildings in Riverfront Crossings are supposed to have a setback after the third or fourth floor and that hasn't happened in all projects. An example is the Hodge building on Dubuque Street (not on the corner of Prentiss, but further down on Dubuque Street). Another was the Park at 201 came and got permission to have their balconies stick out but then built it so the whole building sticks out. Dyer is concerned the Commission needs to see elevations of the major projects because this is the first place the public gets to see what the project will be. If there are no elevations, there is nothing for the public to see. Another thing about Riverfront Crossings Zone is the requirements state staff approves the standards and staff approves the design but they don't follow the requirements. Hektoen noted there is are provisions in Riverfront Crossings that allow administrative waivers of certain standards. What Hektoen is hearing is perhaps the way staff is exercising that authority is inconsistent with the Commission's expectations. Dyer agreed and noted there is no public viewing or comment if it is a staff decision. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 3 of 16 Parsons noted there was a past Commissioner that flat out stated she felt the staff was being way too lenient with the standards because projects didn't turn out as they thought they should. Signs noted the Hodge property on South Dubuque Street are a good example of the Commission spending a lot of time establishing the Riverfront Crossings criteria and Code and the second building doesn't meet it. Additionally the developer came back on the next building and again didn't want to meet the Code standards and requirements and used the precedent of not having to follow the standards and requirements on the previous building. Signs notes that is a blatant example of not following the rules. Russett asked if there were any other examples that were landscaping related or outside of Riverfront Crossings or downtown that didn't meet the Commission expectations. If anyone thinks of examples, please email her. Signs also noted the Hieronymus Square project, nothing it is in Riverfront Crossings, but when it first came to the Commission it did not have any of the design elements required for that district, it came with just one giant surface. Ultimately the Commission approved it with some modifications, but proposals should not come before the Commission that do not meet the rules and staff should alert the developers as such. If there are needs for modifications there is willingness on the Commission's part to do so but it needs to be done judiciously. Dyer noted the building being built next to City Hall first came before the Commission with a drive through for the fire department, it didn't have the towers above, and the final project is totally different from what the Commission saw at the Planning & Zoning meeting. It is entirely different except for the townhouses along Iowa Avenue. Signs agreed and noted they came before the Commission for a variance on those townhouses because they are not as deep as they are supposed to be because of parking behind and again he questions if the rules are there why are they designing things that don't meet the rules and then coming to staff and the Commission for forgiveness and variances. Parsons asked about the fire department drive through and Signs noted that was taken completely out of the plans. He added part of the pitch for the development was to have that drive through, a benefit for the City. Dyer agreed, it was a trade-off that the City would get the drive through and the developer would get their variance, and now just the developer got what they wanted. Hensch noted those are some good examples and it shows maybe just a bit of frustration with staff review of projects and how what the Commission thinks a project will be is noticeably different after the staff review. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 4 of 16 Dyer believes there should be citizen involvement if staff review is how downtown and Riverfront Crossings is going to be developed. There is design review for other areas that involve citizens. Russett said this discussion is very helpful and gives her some thoughts on how to address the concerns. Hensch suggested discussing the Good Neighbor Policy next. He doesn't know if there is consensus but believes the majority feels Good Neighbor Meetings should be mandatory for rezonings. Hensch noted if no one shows up for the meetings then that is okay, that means there is no need for concerns. Martin agreed, noting the cost is postage and a mailing. Signs asked if there should be a size of project that would trigger the requirement for a Good Neighbor Meeting. Hensch noted he is not comfortable with stating that because for example the rezoning for that little commercial space next to Walgreens on Muscatine Avenue could have impact on the neighbors. He feels the conversations could be helpful for neighbors and a lot of issues could be taken care of right at these meetings. Hensch doesn't feel it is burdensome to require a Good Neighbor Meeting for all rezonings. Dyer noted a rezoning by definition is a change. Hensch agreed and said one that could affect multiple entities. Martin noted the public library is free to use for meetings. Signs asked how the process of notification for Good Neighbor Meetings is done. Does the City do the mailings or are they up to the developer to do. Russett stated it is the developer's responsibility but the City often helps and will also review the letter that is sent out. Signs asks because the Commission hears many times from neighbors that they didn't get a letter. In some cases they may be out of the 300 foot circle by one lot or something. Sometimes also the case is a renter lives in the home and the notification goes to the owner who may not be in the area. But overall it feels like something is not working in this process. Martin noted the Commission only hears from the handful that didn't get the notification, but there is a many more that do receive the notifications. Hensch noted obtaining information about homeowners in the radius for notifying neighbors is not difficult, there is also a government website where anyone can get the information about property deed holders. Therefore there is no burden for this notification requirement. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 5 of 16 Martin said it would be easy for the developer to also save a PDF of the labels for the mailing so they could prove a homeowner was invited to the Good Neighbor Meeting. Dyer also noted that on the signs notifying of a zoning change there is a phone number and perhaps a website could be added as well. She was also thinking that those signs are seen when driving and one is not prepared to write down a phone number or website, so the notification of when the Good Neighbor Meeting is being held should be on those signs as well. Hensch agreed with Dyer and stated the notification requirements are really 20th century technology driven, a sign and a public notice in the legal section of the newspaper are the only way the neighbors know what is going on. While he acknowledges he does not want to be burdensome to the staff there has to be some technology to find a better way to communicate with the neighbors about this. A communications expert can find a 21St century way to alert neighbors and the public and to think bigger than just posting the sign and putting the notification in the legal section of a newspaper no one reads. Dyer suggested a link on the City's webpage that directly links to projects and not have to go through a bunch of pages and documents. Hensch also added that having the legal announcement in the newspaper is just not readable for people over the age of 45, the typeset is too small. Hensch feels the Commission is pretty much unified on the need for Good Neighbor Meetings on rezonings and also the encouragement of finding some current technology to share this information with neighbors and the public. Signs noted that in cases where there has been robust Good Neighbor Meetings it seems to have less venomous comments from neighbors at the Planning & Zoning meetings. They may not like the situation, but they do have a better understanding of the situation. Hensch also feels the 300 feet distance is random and should be increased. Martin also noted in the situation of the Muscatine Avenue property the radius is a quarter filled by Walgreens. Hensch asked if the requirement could be as simple as all adjacent blocks. Signs stated that larger projects should have larger exposure. Something on the scale of the Muscatine Avenue property is smaller and a smaller radius is appropriate and property captures all the concerned neighbors but in the case of the Forest View project, 300 feet doesn't seem at all reasonable and should have encompassed a larger area. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 6 of 16 Martin added that a rezoning in downtown or Riverfront Crossings or the Forest View situation, there is a broader reach, it will affect everyone that lives in the community. She noted so many people asked her about the Dubuque Street sign and what it was for. Hensch agreed, perhaps there needs to be a tiered response, if it is a single parcel being rezoned then the 300 feet is probably fine, but for the larger developments there is a more major community impact. He trusts staff to come up with the correct criteria. Dyer said this makes a good argument for using electronic means instead of mailings or signs for notifications. Signs noted the challenge with electronic is what channels do you use. There is not one place everyone goes to get information. Dyer said they can use the Nextdoor app, neighborhood newsletters, etc. People are not reading newspapers and there aren't as many reporters so there aren't advance stories to alert people what is coming up before City Council or Zoning. There were no reporters present at the meetings regarding the Forest View rezoning, in the past there were reporters that were assigned to cover such meetings every time they met. Martin asked if the City was at all in connection with the Corridor Business Journal. Russett said the City of Cedar Rapids is but she has not had any connection with them since she started with the City of Iowa City. Hensch stated he does not have the perfect answer on notification to the citizens but good faith efforts need to be made and it is the obligation of the City to find all possible avenues to notify neighbors so they can be involved in the conversation. Baker asked if there would be alternatives to the mailing of letters. Hensch noted the mailing of letters would continue but there needed to be additional ways as well. Dyer stated having more public notifications may get to people who are interested in a project but not in the general vicinity. Hensch agreed and also noted that renters should have a voice, or at least know what is going on, but will never get the notification because they are not property owners. 60% of the people in Iowa City are rentals, so automatically those 60% are excluded from participation in the conversation because they are never notified. Martin added many rentals are rented by one family for decades. Signs agreed and says that renters are impacted and especially the further away from campus the more long term rentals there are. Hensch noted that a long-term renter is invested in their neighborhood. Townsend noted that when a house is for sale there is a sign in the yard that has flyers with information on the house and could something like that happen with the Planning & Zoning signs. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 7 of 16 Signs asked if staff puts out the signs or the developer. Russett said staff puts out the signs. Parsons noted he is the only reservation, he agrees with all that the Good Neighbor Meetings are important but as a Commission they have approved applications in the past where the Good Neighbor Meeting was not used and it was not an issue. Martin said when Ann Freerks was the Commission Chair she always asked if a Good Neighbor Meeting was held and if the answer was no she asked why not. Parsons agreed it is fair to ask. Hensch noted that in the case of the rezoning on Muscatine Avenue next to Walgreens he was not in favor but he voted for it because his reservations were not required. He wished there had been a Good Neighbor Meeting held, but it was not and it was not required so he could not hold that against the developer on the vote. Parson has enough reservations and likes it to be listed as a recommendation but not a requirement. Russett noted it is both recommended and optional. Parsons stated to remove the word optional and just say recommended everywhere. Baker asked if the recommendation to extend the range of notification to the number of people, if there are several apartment buildings in a close area with a couple hundred renters the two owners of the complexes would currently get the notification but not the renters so the goal is to also get the 200 renters notified. Hensch said the goal is to get them notified, perhaps by social media or somehow. Martin said signs could be placed in building common areas or somewhere to notify the renters so they aren't excluded just because they are renters. Baker said then the developer could contact the building owner and get permission to post a notice in the rental building. Hensch agreed but thinks it is better to get away from flyers and paper notification and move towards better technology. Martin thinks flyers are a good way to go however and people do read them. Parsons is interested in knowing if other cities reach out to their citizens in electronic formats. Hensch noted that Iowa City is on Twitter, Nextdoor and Facebook plus a website so those should at least be utilized. Hektoen noted that any citizen can sign up to receive emails about meeting agendas as they come out. To have electronic communications there has to be an act by the citizen to follow the communications. Hensch acknowledged it is an ongoing struggle on communicating to citizens and there is no one way to reach everyone but that doesn't mean we don't try. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 8 of 16 Martin noted she recalls hearing from many that if there was more of a concerted effort made it would matter. Dyer noted there are four or five items per agenda max, perhaps there could be those listed without having to read through the entire agenda packet to just get to the one item a person is interested in. Signs noted that staff said they hadn't had much time to research what other cities were doing so if they can have time to do that perhaps a better option will be found. Dyer added that Good Neighbor Meetings come before the application comes to Planning & Zoning and corrections can happen and problems resolved before the item comes before the Commission. Baker asked in the current process if the developer obtains the names and addresses of the neighbors within the 300 feet or if staff does that. Russett replied staff will help if the developer needs it. Baker asked if staff is then aware of who all received the letters and Russett noted that is not always shared by the developer to staff. Baker asks because if someone comes to a meeting and says they were not notified, it would be good to be able to check to see if they were. Baker said that list should be on hand at the meeting or given to the City. Hensch also commented that when a Good Neighbor Meeting is held it is nice for the Commission to receive a report of what is said at the meetings as it is helpful to know what the possible concerns are and makes the Commission more effective in their jobs. Russett wanted to touch on the topic of notifying renters. Before she began working at the City there was quite a bit of effort Neighborhood Development Services went through to try to figure out ways to notify renters and it was very difficult. Hensch agrees and doesn't think individual renters need to be seek out and notified, but can try to broaden the communications via social media or other efforts to notify any interested citizen. Hensch moved on to application requirements and asked staff to present their questions within that area. Russett noted it was stated at the last meeting by Dyer that she feels strongly that elevations and concept plans should be required for multifamily projects and OPDs. Hensch noted again an issue he had with the property by Walgreens was there was no concept and no elevations. He feels it is not fair to the Commission to ask them to make a decision with no information. At a certain age in life one learns that trusting others is not always a wise course of action, it is better to be able to have facts and be shown what is going to be done. He also feels it is not asking the developer to spend a large sum of money on plans — they are just asking for a concept plan and elevation to show what the intention is. Asking the Commission to do a rezoning with an option of Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 9 of 16 three or four things they "might" do with no drawings is uncomfortable because what may end up being done may not be right for the neighborhood. It is the Commission's job to look out for the neighborhood and the citizens. Dyer said some developers (often the smaller or medium size developers) present the concept plans and elevations at every application so it is possible for all to do so. Signs shares the frustration but feels they need to be cautious about what happens if they bring the plans forward and the Commission doesn't like it. Martin noted it is a concept plan, it is not an exact final plan, and changes can happen but it is something to begin working off. Hensch said it is an opportunity for feedback and sometimes by the time the plans get through the Commission they can really be improved. Signs recalled the project off Camp Cardinal Road by the highway, the Commission got very deep in the weeds on the exterior of their concept plans. Martin noted they were violating a setback from a highway. Hensch added that application was asking for a lot of waivers and when an applicant comes forth asking for a bunch of waivers then the Commission can become much more descriptive. Dyer noted that any OPD is basically a waiver so if you want to do something different than what is allowed in that area a developer should be able to show exactly what they want to do. Hensch noted he is comfortable with developers pushing back, a good robust conversation makes things better. Parsons agreed, it can be a negotiation, the Commission will grant waivers but what will the developer agree to in return. Hensch noted it is not that the Commission doesn't want these project to happen, they just look at how they can help make them better. Signs noted the biggest frustration is the optional part of this, some developers come with very detailed plans and others just have vague ideas. With the case of the Muscatine Avenue plan the Commission was forced to vote because based on the rules a detailed plan wasn't required but in the end they have no idea what they were voting on. Baker asked if they are suggesting changing the rules to require elevations. Hensch said he is not suggesting requiring elevations but to have a concept plan so the Commission can make an informed judgement. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 10 of 16 Baker noted going back to the Forest View development, he focused on the commercial aspect of the development but also feels like the multifamily portion of the development was ignored and they don't have a good sense of what that is going to look like. Dyer noted she raised the question of concept plans and elevations for the multifamily development at Forest View many times during the discussions. Hensch stated it is difficult with the 45 day rule, if a developer is not interested in a deferral than a decision has to be made. Even if the Commission denies the item they can move forward to the Council and the Commission loses opportunity to negotiate with the developer. Hektoen agrees with OPDs it makes sense to ask for elevations and concept plans but to ask for that for the base zone it may be the problem is with the base zone, the regulations such as if the screening is not sufficient. The structure of the Zoning Code produces the project that is desirable for the community and perhaps there needs to be amendments to the Code. Martin asked if there are just too many options and perhaps it is not the Code itself but that there are too many interpretations of it and what that means to that particular developer. Hektoen stated it is a Code issue, if the Commission doesn't want to vote for a RS -5 zone because they don't know what it is going to look like, that says to her the Commission doesn't think the Zoning Code is producing projects that are consistent with expectations. Hensch agrees there is truth to that, he notes the Keokuk Street apartments were within compliance with the Zoning Code and there is no open space, the buildings are packed in there, and it ended up as a disaster. The base zone requirements were met but had the developer came in with a concept plan showing that it would have been denied because there is no green space, no play area for children, no parking areas. Concept plans flush those concerns out and help developers make their plans better for the good of the neighborhood. Dyer noted that with multifamily buildings the Commission always maintains there should be outdoor space for the residents, especially if it is planned to be for families, and occupying every square foot of land with a building doesn't help the people that will be living there. Parsons noted the Code has requirements for open space in multifamily developments. Russett acknowledged there are and stated there are also multifamily development standards so she would be interested to know when the Keokuk project was built because over several years the City has continually amended those multifamily design standards to address problem projects. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 11 of 16 Hensch trusts staff to come up with some rules regarding minimal information such as a concept plan for the Commission to see with applications. He does not like the Commission to have to make decisions with little information and that is not fair or good for the community. Hektoen said any concept plan of value would have to be part of a conditional zoning agreement (CZA) that states the expectation of some level of consistency with that concept plan, otherwise they are under no obligation to follow that concept. Hensch is fine with having a CZA on applications. Hektoen continued to say in terms of the level of investment in the concept plan, they will have to invest in something that produces something accurate enough that they can commit to it if a CZA is attached. Hensch noted that some developers come in with full packages, concept plans, elevations and details and other come in with nothing so how does that happen and why is that okay. Hektoen noted that some people own land for speculation or as an investment where as other applicants are in the business of developing the land so it depends on the purpose of why they own the land and what they want to do with it. Some just want a certain zoning designation so the land will be more marketable but the concept isn't identified yet, which is well within their right as property owners. Russett reiterated that concept plans, elevations and renderings the Commission receives may not be the final detailed plans and by showing that can set up unreasonable expectations. If the concept is not detailed then staff cannot review it against the form -based code and changes will need to happen and then the final product is different than what the Commission had seen. Dyer said the Commission is stewards of the public space and people in the neighborhoods or even everyone in the community is affected by private decisions and the Commission is a public agency that has some responsibility to see that development is done responsibly. Dyer has been a member of the Commission for seven or eight years and has never experienced anyone on the Commission making judgments in bad faith, no one is representing their own interests. She feels a great responsibility for the community and thinks there needs to be information given so they can exercise their responsibility. Hensch stated that no one is guaranteed a rezoning and the property values in Iowa City tell him this is a highly coveted area for people to live so it doesn't seem like a few extra requirements will be an issue or cause property values to go down. Russett agrees and reiterated what Hektoen stated that if the Commission wants to the project to comply with the concept plan there needs to be a condition. If the developer must comply with the elevations there needs to be a condition and often times these renderings aren't full designs so when staff is presenting them to the Commission they Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 12 of 16 need to be clear what the Commission is seeing is not the full design of the project, it is just a sketch. Hensch agreed and added if the Commission wants to make a requirement or CZA they need to add that. He noted they all feel an obligation to keep Iowa City a special place to live and the only way that can happen is if everyone is watching out for the welfare of Iowa City as a whole. Hektoen added that with conditions the Commission will need to be able to articulate the public need for identifying and addressing the public need. Baker asked if the Commission can do all of this now, impose the CZA and ask for concepts and elevations, they have that authority now. Hektoen said it cannot be said in a vacuum right now, the Commission cannot be arbitrary or capacious, there has to be a reason why and the Commission cannot impose their design views on a developer. Baker agreed but said they are just asking for basic design information at this time, not specifics. Hensch noted the Commission just wants to ensure the building is going to be an attractive and safe, sturdy building for the next 100 years, not just for the next 20 years. Baker stated then they don't need a change in the regulations to accomplish the goal. Signs feels they do, right now these items are optional and not required and the point is if the Commission wants to see these things they need to be required. Baker asked if they had to be required in every case. Small development versus big development, doesn't matter the Commission wants all these items. Hensch stated as they learned from the Lusk Avenue development a small parcel can have a big impact on a neighborhood. Hektoen stated there are single family rezoning applications and one cannot reasonably expect them to have every single family home redesign to be approved, so stating concept plans are required for every application causes her concern on how realistic that is, and what the public need is being identified there, if the Commission thinks the Zoning Code is not producing projects that are good for the community, if more open space is necessary, setbacks need to be better, stepbacks, etc., those need to be amendments to the Code not just the Commission acting as the design review committee. She has heard this evening, quite a few things the Commission finds lacking in the Zoning Code itself so that should be the focus rather than requiring a site plan or concept plan for every project when a lot of times it is premature. Hektoen added the OPDs are an interesting situation because they are asking for waivers and obviously have thought through their project further. She cautions the Commission away from requiring concept plans and elevations in every zoning application. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 13 of 16 Parsons added it is tough from a developer's standpoint to put all the detail into a project they don't even know if it is a go. Hektoen agreed noting sometimes there is an option to purchase the land contingent on the rezoning and if the rezoning doesn't get approved they don't want to have a whole lot of money sunk into the project. Martin understands but she doesn't think there is a lacking in the Code but rather a lacking in the developer's good faith efforts. She also stated it does not cost that much put something on paper. Hektoen said they can't just put something on paper because it has to be feasible. A developer has to have their budget put together, and all their research on a concept done to put something on paper and that takes time and money. Signs takes note of a property owner that just seeks a rezoning to make a property more marketable or interesting, what could be expected of that person. Martin stated for a project on Dodge Street they presented a few different options based on zoning of commercial, residential or multifamily. At least there were things to have a discussion about. This was the area across from the old HyVee next to the cemetery where there are now townhouses. The land was residential, it then became commercial and went back to residential. Dyer noted the reason for this whole discussion topic was the desire to be more consistent in what is expected. Hensch agreed and noted at some meetings the Commission can be very prescriptive and the next meeting less so. He wants the Commission to be more consistent and to have better regulations they could be. He has faith in staff to synthesize the thoughts of the Commission into something reasonable and workable. Overall allow the Commission to be more consistent and objective and treating all applications as fairly as they can. That comes back to the original point that many on the Commission feel they often don't have enough information to make an informed decision. Townsend stated as a new member she just wants to be clear what she is voting on and if she can't see it she is confused about what she is voting on. If there is not plan, not even a concept, then what is she voting on. Hektoen replied the Zoning Code. Hensch agreed and noted there can be four different land uses within one zoning code so that is the issue. Townsend feels if someone is looking to rezone a property they should have some idea of what they think the final property should look like. It could be several options and all those options should be presented. Hektoen noted the City is moving towards more form -based code, traditionally the zoning code has been based on use and the Commission is voting on what the property should be used for (commercial, residential, industrial) not necessarily the form which includes setbacks, screening and other issues. Riverfront Crossings is structured as a form -based code, but there have been a lot of waivers allowed that the Commission has Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 14 of 16 also expressed concerns about. There is a reshuffling of expectations of what a zoning code does and should do. Townsend asked if after the land has been rezoned can it come back to the Commission when they decide what they are going to do with it. Parsons noted that happened at the property along Herbert Hoover Highway for the multifamily that was going in next the Churchill Estates, the applicant wanted to see if the rezoning went through and then came back to the Commission with the preliminary or final plat with all the details. Russett noted that was an unusual order of things. Parsons agreed noting most times the plat is approved with the rezoning and not separately. Russett added typically if the Commission wants renderings or concepts or elevations that happens at rezoning not a platting, platting is really about the subdivision of land and creation of the lots. So when that applicant provided that additional information it was because the Commission requested it, those items are usually provided at the rezoning stage. Russet did note if a rezoning has to be platted it will come back before the Commission as a preliminary plat, otherwise it does not come back before the Commission. Hensch said they could apply a condition on the rezoning to make sure the platting comes back before the Commission. Dyer noted the ones they have had difficulty with were not the ones where people wanted to rezone their property to sell it but rather when there are specific projects they want to do but don't show any information. Russett thanked the Commission for their thoughts and felt it was good information and staff can incorporate this into the memo they are preparing for Council and City Council will also have the minutes from these meetings to also help inform them for their discussion on these items. CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: APRIL 4, 2019 Signs moved to approve the meeting minutes of April 4 2019. Parsons seconded. A vote was taken and the motion passed 7-0. PLANNING AND ZONING INFORMATION: Russett noted that Signs and she just got back from the National APA conference in San Francisco. Signs will present some findings at an upcoming meeting. He did note one of the takeaways was a lot of things this community is struggling with are the same as what other communities across the country are struggling with. Planning and Zoning Commission April 18, 2019 Page 15 of 16 Adjournment: Parsons moved to adjourn. Townsend seconded. A vote was taken and the motion passed 7-0. PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD 2018-2019 KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Not a Member 6/7 6/21 7/5 8/16 9/6 9/20 10/18 12/20 1/3 1/17 (W.S.) 2/4 2/21 3/7 3/21 4/4 4/18 BAKER, LARRY -- -- -- -- X X X X O/E X X X X X X X X X DYER, CAROLYN X O/E X O O/E O X X X O/E X X X X X X FREERKS, ANN X X `-- -- `-- -- `-- -- I `-- -- `-- -- HENSCH, MIKE X X X X X X X X X X X X X O/E X X MARTIN, PHOEBE X X X X X X X X O/E X O/E X X X O/E X PARSONS, MAX X X X X O/E X X X X X X X X X X X SIGNS, MARK X X X X X X X X X X X X X X O/E X THEOBALD, JODIE X O/E -- -- TOWNSEND, BILLIE -- -- -- -- X X X X X O/E X X X X O/E X X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Not a Member