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Home My WebLink About2002-08-01 Info Packet of 7/25~ CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET CITY OF IOW^ CITY July 25, 2002 www.icgov.org I M,SCE'LANEOUS ,*EMS I IPI City Council Meeting Schedule and Work Session Agendas IP2 Memorandum from Parking and Transit Director to City Manager: Hotel Parking Bill IP3 FAX from Byron Ross to Finance Director: Sheraton Parking Ramp Agreement IP4 Memorandum from Police Chief to City Manager: Animal Care and Adoption Center IP5 Memorandum from Assistant City Manager: Joint Meeting re: Municipal Utility RFP IP6 Memorandum from Planning and Community Develqpment Director: Height Restrictions in the Downtown IP7 Email from Tom Saterfiel to Jann Ream: Burlington Bushes IP8 Email from Bev Platz to City Engineer: Dubuque Road Resurfacing IP9 ECICOG Express: July-August 2002 [Wilburn] City Council Meeting Schedule and Ju, 24. 2002 Work Session Agendas CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org I Itl I TENTATIVE FUTURE MEETINGS AND AGENDAS · MONDAY, AUGUST 19 Emma J. HarvatHall 5:00p Special Council Formal Meeting Agenda TBD Council Work Session Joint Meeting: Airport Commission Neighborhood Housing Relations Task Force Recommendations Fire Strategic Plan ICPD Traffic Stop Practices Remaining Agenda TBD · TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00p Council Formal Meeting · MONDAY, SEPTEMBER2 Labor Day Holiday - City Offices Closed · MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Emma J. Ha/vat Hall 6:30p Special Council Work Session · TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00p Special Council Formal Meeting · MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 6:30p Emma J. Ha/vat Hall 6:30p Special Council Work Session · TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 7:00p Emma J. Ha/vat Hall Special Council Formal Meeting Meeting date~imes~opics subject to change FUTURE WORK SESSION ITEMS Regulation of Downtown Dumpsters Downtown Historic Preservation Comprehensive Plan Update Opening of First Avenue Age of Consent City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: July 23, 2002 ~ V/~.. To: Steve Atkins, City Manager ~'~'~/(~ ~'~'~ From: Joe Fowler, Director Parking & Transit ~ Re: Hotel Parking Bill The City of Iowa City has an agreement to provide parking to the owner of the hotel located at 210 South Dubuque Street. This agreement is transferable when the hotel changes ownership. Under the terms of the agreement, the hotel purchases 720,000 hours of parking per year at the rate of 100 times the current monthly permit rate. Any hours used by the hotel in excess of 720,000 are billed at the current hourly rate. The contract year is July 1 to June 30. This results in the excess hours being billed in the next fiscal year. Recently, concerns have been raised about the hotel billing for years FY00 and FY01. The accounting for these years is correct. In March of FY99, ownership of the hotel changed. At the request of the owners, hours in excess of the contract were billed at that time to prevent the new owner from assuming the liabilities of the previous owner. In FY99, the hotel paid the $54,000 base rate, $23,869 for excess hours in the months July 1996 to March 1999, and $18,237 of excess hours from FY98. This accounts for the increased income in FY99, $96,106. For FY00, the new owner was given a 15-month period for the first billing. This was done because there were only three months remaining in FY99, and hotel demand fluctuates by season. We felt this was a reasonable accommodation for the new owners. FY00's 709,006 hours plus FY99's excess hours of 7,668 equals 716,674 hours; therefore, no additional billing was required. The hotel was undergoing major renovation with several floors closed at some time. In summary, the hotel was billed twice in FY99 for excess hours which resulted in no additional hours billed in FY00, and no additional hours were billed in FY01 because the hotel did not exceed the contracted amount. The hotel owners have always been billed in accordance with the contract, and at no time has a hotel owner not paid for additional hours billed. There were no missed billings, and the hotel is current with its obligations to the City of Iowa City. cc: Kevin O'Malley, Finance Director Chris O'Brien, Parking Manager Ju1-17-02 02:25P FAX TO: KEVIN O'IVL~LLEY FAX #319-356-~009 FROM: Byron R. Ross 1485 Cromwell Place Iowa City, IA 52240 FAX#319-338-7321 Kevin, Please fax me a copy of the Sheraton Parking l~np agreement. Also, assuming that the Parking Dgl~Hnent will send out "late" billings for the two years ~hey missed, copies of those billings when they are completed. Thnnk~. B3~on IOWA CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT 410 EAST WASHINGTON STREET, IOWA CITY, IA 52240 (319) 356-5275 ! FAX # (319) 356-5449 "An Accredited Police Depa rtm en t" To: Steve Atkins From: R J Winkelhake Ref: Animal Care and Adoption Center The second phase of the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) Project at the Animal Care and Adoption Center will cost $36,800. The first phase cost was $12,000 during last fiscal year. The items that will be replaced are the condensing unit/evaporator coil and a DDC (Direct Digital Control) system. The source for the funding of the project is $11,800 from the General Operating Funds of the City and $25,000 from the Animal Shelter Gifts Building Fund. City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM , oounc,, FROM: Dale Helling, Assistant City Manager DATE: July 23, 2002 RE: Joint Meeting re: Municipal Utility RFP I previously advised you that the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities planned to host a meeting of approximately 10 cities for the purpose of collectively formulating a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a joint preliminary feasibility study regarding the creation of local municipal electric utilities. That meeting will take place on Tuesday, August 13, 2002 in Ankeny at the IAMU offices. Kevin O'Malley, Andy Matthews and I will be in attendance. Additionally, the IAMU has extended an invitation to Public Power Initiatives of Iowa City to attend and observe and it is my understanding that representatives from the coalition will be there. We expect to receive copies of other RFPs for review prior to the 13~h. The goal is to have a joint RFP roughed out by the end of the meeting. This will not constitute a commitment on the part of any of the participants to ultimately join in a joint feasibility study. I anticipate the meeting will provide valuable information and insight for us, whether we continue with the joint effort or elect to proceed independently. I will keep you informed as we proceed. Cc City Manager Kevin O'Malley Andy Matthews Rick Fosse Chuck Schmadeke City of Iowa City M MORANDUM Date: July 22, 2002 To: City Manager and City Council ~ <~~ From: Karin Franklin, Director, PC~ Re: Height regulations in the Downtown Evidently a question has arisen as to the limitations on the height of buildings in the downtown. Most of the downtown (Iowa Ave/ Gilbert/Burlington/Capitol) is zoned CB-10. In the CB-10 zone there is no height limit per se, however there is a floor area ratio (FAR) of 10. This means if one were to construct a building which covered the entire lot, the building could be up to 10 stories tall, or approximately 100 feet. If one did not build all the way to the property line of this same lot, the height of the building could be increased proportionally such that the floor area relative to the lot was still 10. For example, if only half the lot was used for building, the height could reach 20 stories. One caveat is the Airport Overlay Zone, which places limitations on building height. The downtown is in the Horizontal Overlay Zone for the airport and this may further limit the height of a building. A case on point is the Plaza Towers project. The height of this proposed structure was limited by the Airport Overlay to 14 stories even though this is under the maximum number of stories allowed by the FAR of 10 permitted in the base CB-10 zoning. Historically, it appears the Zoning Ordinances for Iowa City started with a limitation on the height of buildings downtown that has changed over the years. In 1962, buildings in the CB zone could not exceed 8 stories and 100 feet. This changed in 1974 with a distinction being made between the downtown proper and the service area around it. At this time, a new zone was adopted, the CBS or Central Business Service zone, and a distinction was made in the height requirements between it and the CB zone. CBS was generally south of Burlington and east of Gilbert Street. The height in CB was increased to not exceed 15 stories and 170 feet, and the CBS zone took the old CB limits of 8 stories and 100 feet. In 1983, the nomenclature of all the zones was changed and numbers were attached to zones to give an indication of relative density or intensity of use, e.g. RS-5; RS-8; CB-2; CB-10. At that time the CB zone changed to CB-10, the CBS zone to CB-2 and the concept of FAR was adopted. Height Memo, P.2 Without doing further research I cannot say absolutely, but I believe the changes were the consequence of a growing city in which a more densely developed downtown was envisioned. The changes in the ordinance in 1974 coincide with the period of rebuilding during urban renewal. It is likely decision-makers at the time were focused on rebuilding downtown with a central core of significantly more intense development and stepping that down as one moved out from the downtown. This is a fairly common pattern of urban development. The 1983 amendment carried that concept through but allowed more flexibility in its execution. Until recently, no one has acted on the possibilities that exist under the ordinance. It appears that even though more flexibility was built into the 1983 ordinance, height is practically limited by the Airport Overlay Zone. We know that the Plaza Towers site is limited to 14 stories, or 158 feet. Properties at a higher ground elevation (e.g. the corners of Burlington and Clinton) will need to be lower in building height, whereas those at a lower ground elevation (e.g. east of Linn Street) could be somewhat higher. At this point we are not considering changes in height regulations in our development code review. Cc Bob Miklo Marian Karr ~ From: Sater/ACTInc@act.org Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 8:41 AM To: Jann Ream Cc: *City Council; Lisa Mollenhauer; 'sater/ACTInc@act.org' Subject: Re: Burlington bushes I iust wanted to give you an update. Today is July 22 and the owners of the property have taken no action to trim their bushes. I also would tike for you to look at the pine tree that is between this location and court street. The limb this is growing over the side walk was so Iow this morning that you had to bend over to walk under the limb. VVhile I don't know the regulations concerning height on tree limbs over sidewalks, I do think this one may be too Iow. Tom Saterfiel Jann Ream <Jann-Ream~iowa-clty.org> TO: '"sater/ACTInc~act.org"' <sater/ACTInc~act.org> cc: Lisa Mollenhauer <Lisa-Mollenhauer@iowa-dty.org>, *City Council <Council@iowa-city.erg> 06/25/2002 11:03 AM Subject: Burlington bushes Mr. Sater- Thank you for bringing the bushes on Burlington Street to our attention. A Notice of Violation has been sent to the property owner and he has until 7/5/2002 to trim the bushes back away from the sidewalk. I will re-inspect on Monday, July 8, and if the bushes have not been trimmed, the City will have it done and the charge will be assessed to his property taxes. 7/22/02 Marian Karr ~ From: bev platz [bevplatz@mindspring.com] Sent: Friday, July 19, 2002 9:23 AM To: rick-fosse@iowa-city.org Cc: council Hello again. A few weeks ago I sent the council a e-mail concerning Dubuque Rd resurfacing and why it will remain a black-top and not concrete. The message was re-routed to you and you responded with an explanation. I thank you for that prompt response. While I do not agree with the reasoning as to this portion of Iowa City being considered "rural", (your words), I do understand that cheap is sometimes better. The purpose of this message is to make you aware that a good portion of the NEW surface has already begun to degrade! If you drive from the concrete portion towards the new black top and towards Moss farm and the traffic light you will find on the right hand side portion that are very soft, have bubbled up and even begun to break away. This road has a high traffic volume, more than I believe the city wants to admit. Please follow-up and walk/drive this portion of this new street. Thank you. From Council Member Wilburn JULY-AUGUST 2002 Recycling evaluation project underway A~arie DeVrles, ECICOG solid waste planning coordinator, facilitates a League o£ Women Voters o£ Uedar ffapids/~Iarion focus group as part o£ the resi- dential recycling evaluation project Almost a year ago, ECICOG received a These six are reflective of the types of $100,000 grant from the Iowa Department programs provided in communities and of Natural Resources (IDNR) to evaluate counties throughout the state of Iowa. As a the residential recycling programs in the result, conclusions drawn from ECICOG's solid waste planning area DSM study should be applicable to other regions Environmental, a Vermont consulting firm, in the state. Evaluative tools and training is conducting the evaluation with assistance will also be made available to other regions and oversight from ECICOG solid waste as a result of the grant from [DNR. planning staff. DSM and ECICOG staff are collecting The purpose of the study is to compare data through a variety of methods. Waste and evaluate different program types in sorts, in which residential garbage is collect- terms of how much recyclable material they ed and sorted to identify items that could capture and how much the programs cost. have been recycled, have been conducted in There are basically slx types of residential Cedar Rapids, Marion, lowa City, Belle recycling programs in the region: Plaine, and Traer. get out and participation · MANDATORY CURBSIDE (individual studies have taken place in several commu subscription) nities with mandato~2~ curbside. Residents · MANDATORY CURBSIDE (city provided utilizing drop off facilities have been sur service) veyed and their recyclables categorized and · MANDATORY CURBSIDE WITH PAY-AS-YOU- weighed. Community and nonprofit orga- THROW nizations have participated in focus groups. · MANDATORY CURl]SIDE WITH PAY-AS-YOU- All of these activities will continue THROW AND DROP-OFF throughout the summer and early fall. A · VOLUNTAI~ INDIVIDUAL SUBSCRIPTION final repor~ Is anticipated in November. AND/OR ACCESS TO DROP-OFF For more information, contact Marie · DROP-OFF ONLY DeVries (ext. 26) or Jennifer Ryan (ext. 31) at ECICOG, £CICOG circuit riding planner, n~eet$ ~vith a pIanning committee in North English. If it's Thursday, this must be Callender Over the last several months Catherine Hankey, ECICOG circuit Hankey works with local public officials and citizen groups as riding planner, has spent a lot of time on the road getting communities identify and prioritize needs. She then facilitates acquainted with thirty communities spread across five planning establishing a work plan, and helps connect the cities with regions, resources such as the COG and other state and federal agencies to These communities are participating in a three-year pilot pro assist in implementation. ject funded by the Iowa Department of Economic Development, Though most ECICOG employees are native Iowans, recent USDA-Rural Development, and the five councils of governments weekly staff meetings are lessons in Iowa geography, as Hankey (COG). The purpose of the project is to give individualized tech shares her travel schedule for the project. A list of the participating nical assistance to communities to address issues in housing and communities appears be]ow. community development. Brighton Chelsea Callender Bancroft Elgin Garrison Dows Buffalo Center Elma Monticello Farnhamville Corwith Fayette North English Fonda .~_e~djard Guttenberg Vinton Lehigh Lohrville Riceville Spillville Pomery Titonka Strawberry Point Roll Waukon Stanhope Census 2000 demographic data released The Census 2000 Iowa demographic profile tables for social, economic, and housing charac- teristics were released on June 3, 2002, Examples of the information available are provided in the table below for the ECICOG region, Contact ECICOG for more information, or visit these websites: http://www, silo.lib.ia.us/specialized services/datacenter/ or htt p://fact finder.census.gov/. Sample gensus 2000 Demo§raphi¢ Data for the [gl{iOB Region Benton 25,308 +11% 24 26 10,377 +14% Iowa 18,671 +7% 51 55 6,545 +9% Johnson 111.813 +13% 5 6 45,831 +23% Jones 20,221 +2% 36 35 8,126 +10% Linn 191,701 +11% 2 2 80.551 +18% Washington 20,670 +5% 32 34 8,543 ~-9% Calendar July 31 ECICOG Executive Committee Meeting. ECICOG offices, 108 Third Street SE, Cedar Rapids, 4:00 p.m. August 8 ECICOG SWTAC Meeting, Kent Park, Hwy 6, Johnson County, 1:00 p.m. August 15 ECICOG TOG Meeting, Linn County LIFTS, 625 31 st Ave' SW' Cedar Rapids' 10:00 a'm' August 29 ECICOG Board of Directors Meeting, ECICOG offices, 108 Third Street SE, Cedar Rapids, 1:00 p.m. EAST CENTRAL IOWA COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS August 29 Region 10 RPA Policy Board meeting, ECICOG offices. YOUR REGIONAL pLANNINGAGENCY 108 Third Street SE, Cedar Rapids, 3;00 p.m, (estimated start September 2 ECICOG offices closed in observance of Labor Day holiday ECICOG 108 Third Street SE, Suite 300 319 365-9941 F~: 319 365-9981