HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-08-21 Transcription
m P~l
ITEM 2 PROCLAMATION.
Wilburn: Before we get to Item 2, urn, we will need to move Items 7, 8, and 9 on the
agenda, prior to Item 3a, to allow for conveyance prior to the presentation
of the certificate. So, I will entertain a motion to do so.
Correia: So moved.
O'Donnell: So moved.
Wilburn: Moved by Correia, seconded by O'Donnell. All those in favor say aye.
Opposed same sign. Carries 7-0.
Wilburn:
Karr:
Wilburn:
Witwer:
Wilburn:
a) Partnership for Working Toward Inclusive Communities
Haven't done this for a few weeks, folks, and I'm having computer
problems and papers are all over the place, but we'll make it through.
(reads proclamation)
Here to accept the proclamation is Bev Witwer, Chair ofthe Human
Rights Commission. (applause) Mr. Mayor, could you go around front.
Oh, yeah, that's right! I forgot about that. As I say, we haven't done this
for a little while. (laughter)
On behalf of the Iowa City Human Rights Commission, I'm pleased to
accept this proclamation, which reaffirms Iowa City's long-term
commitment to the.. .to inclusion as an important part of who we are.
Iowa City has shown in word and deeds its commitment to the active
participation of all citizens in the process of community growth and
development, and positive directions. We look forward to new efforts to
build relationships that strengthen our bonds across those old divisions of
race, sex, sexual preference, age, ethnicity, culture, religion, and disability.
We can always do more to bring our community together. By joining this
partnership with the National League of Cities, we are linked to many
other cities who are dedicated to the same goals that we are. On
Wednesday, October 17th, at 6:00 P.M. across the street in Chauncey Swan
Park where we all love to go to the Farmer's Market, we'll officially
celebrate Iowa City's entry into the partnership for working toward
inclusive communities, and we hope you all will join us, please. Thank
you very much!
Thank you! (applause) We are now moving to Items 7,8, and 9, and then
back to Item 3.a. So...
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#7
Page 2
ITEM 7
RESOLUTIONRE: CONVEYANCE OF A SINGLE FAMILY
HOME LOCATED AT 983 LONGFELLOW PLACE.
a) PUBLIC HEARING (CANCELED)
b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION RESCINDING RESOLUTION
NO. 07-212, WHICH SET PUBLIC HEARING FOR AUGUST 21,
2007, ON A PROPOSAL TO CONVEY A SINGLE FAMILY
HOME LOCATED AT 983 LONGFELLOW PLACE.
Vanderhoef: Move the resolution.
Correia: Second.
Wilburn: Sorry. No public hearing?
Karr: This public hearing is canceled, and the next resolution is rescinding the
one setting.
Wilburn: Okay. Uh, consider.. . actually, consider aTesolution rescinding
Resolution No. 07-212, which set public hearing for August 21,2007, on a
proposal to convey a single family home located at 983 Longfellow Place.
Bailey: Move the resolution.
Wilburn: Moved by Bailey.
Correia: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by Correia. Discussion? Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#8
Page 3
ITEM 8
AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE OF A SINGLE FAMILY HOME
LOCATED AT 962 LONGFELLOW COURT.
a) PUBLIC HEARING
Wilburn:
This is a public hearing. (pounds gavel) Public hearing is open. (pounds
gavel) Public hearing is closed.
b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
O'Donnell: Move the resolution.
Correia: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by O'Donnell, seconded by Correia. Discussion? Roll call. Item
carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#9
Page 4
ITEM 9
AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE OF A SINGLE FAMILY HOME
LOCATED AT 985 LONGFELLOW COURT.
a) PUBLIC HEARING
Wilburn:
This is a public hearing. (pounds gavel) Public hearing is open. (pounds
gavel) Public hearing is closed.
b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
Champion: Move the resolution.
Bailey : Move the resolution.
Wilburn: Moved by Champion, seconded by Bailey. Discussion? Roll call. Item
carries 7-0. Now, Item 3a.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
~ P~5
ITEM 3 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS.
a) City of Iowa city Homeownership Programs - Presentation of
Certificates
Wilburn: As I read from this, if folks would corne forward. The City ofIowa City's
Homeownership Program as coordinated by the Housing Authority has
been in existence for more than ten years. Urn, with the assistance of
these programs, more than 70 families have achieved homeownership.
We wish to acknowledge our local lenders who provided mortgages for
the two home sales approved tonight. These lenders contribute their
expertise and go that extra mile to learn about how our programs fit with
various loans that are available. Tonight we would like to publicly thank
your institutions for these valuable partnerships, and especially thank you,
the loan officers, for taking the time to match mortgage products with our
programs, creating affordable homeownership opportunities. And,
accepting from Residential Mortgage Network, Jessica Grieving. Thank
you. And Freedom Security Bank, Tiffany Leibold. Okay. Thank you.
And Elizabeth Randall, here you are. And Nikki Hilderbrand. Did'I say
that right? Thank you very much. Just so, these are certificate in
recognition of their success, achieving the goal of homeowners hip and
economic self-sufficiency. So, congratulations and thank you. (applause)
Elliott: Ross, I was talking with staff this morning, and I think it's an outstanding
thing to talk about. This is a huge success story. Out of more than 70 of
these situations, Steve said this morning there has been only one loan
default. Out of more than 70, and these are people who were not able to
just go to the bank with usual downpayment, usual loan, the City helped,
and a lot of the City's education program on how to budget and
live.. .buying a house. So, it's a great program!
Wilburn: Agree.
Vanderhoef: I agree, and there is one other partner that we have, getting these women
for homeownership, and that is the partnership with the Realtors in Iowa
City who are providing classes for them, to make sure they are ready for
homeownership, and be able to take care of them. So, we thank the
Realtors also for this, uh, assistance with our housing programs.
Elliott: You bet!
Wilburn: Just don't forget your keys! (laughter)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#3
ITEM 3
Karr:
Wilburn:
Martin:
Wilburn:
Angerer:
Wilburn:
Page 6
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS.
b) Recognition of Art in Non-Public Spaces - Kent and Loretta
Angerer - "II Compositore" aka "The Piano Man" located at 1231
E. College Street
Mr. Mayor, Emily Martin, Vice-Chair of the Iowa City Public Art
Advisory Committee is here to introduce the recognition awards.
Okay.
Hi, urn, I'm here tonight.. .we're going to co-present two certificates to the
first people that are being honored for their contribution to the City's
visual art environment by displaying artwork on their private property.
The recognition of public art and non-public.. .public art in non-public
spaces, uh, was established last year at the recommendation of the
Committee, by the City Council, and the goal of the program is to
acknowledge contributions to the visual art environment by citizens of
Iowa City, and to encourage private participation in art as a vital
component of our community character and values, and to promote Iowa
City's art heritage. We accept nominations through April 20th of each year
for anyone who displays art on their property. Urn, the art works may
exhibit any or all of the following characteristics: reflects and enhances
community spirit and values; may be challenging and not always easily
understood; whimsy, intelligence, and humor; reflecting individuality of
the owner, the neighborhood, or business; two-dimensional or three-
dimensional art; and traditional or non-traditional materials. Tonight we
have two, as I said, and the first individuals are Kent and Loretta Angerer,
who host "II Compositore," also known as "The Piano Man," in their yard
at 1231 E. College Street. If you would come forward, please.
Well, thank you for your participation, and uh, been by it many times.
So.. . anything you wish to...
Well, yes, uh, Ijust happen to know this fella that did this. It's my
grandson, our grandson, and we were out at Omaha not long ago, and saw
their artwork down the river, and I thought it was a good idea and I want
to plant that seed with the Council here tonight, that I think we should
have sculptures down on the river. Thank you for this (unable to hear).
Thank you. (applause)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#3
ITEM 3
Martin:
Wilburn:
Squier:
Wilburn:
Martin:
Page 7
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS.
c) Recognition of Art in Non-Public Spaces - Christopher Squier-
"Entasis" located at 226 Magowan
The second certificate goes to Christopher Squiers, Squier, for his, urn,
placement of "Entasis" on his property at 226 Magowan.
Well, and thank you. Anything you wish to...
One thing, usually when I'm standing here I'm talking to you about
backhoes, so this is a nice turn. This is a great program, and it was very
well carried out. I thank you for that, but all I did was provide four-square
foot of lawn. Urn, it was the artist that did the rest, and I did want to
acknowledge Mr. Larry Fry who is there and should stand up.. . (applause)
for his piece of work. Thanks very much!
Thank you. Iowa City is a community that does embrace art, and uh, I
think a recent study showed that both communities that show they're
interested in the arts and are willing to provide funding to do these things,
it's.. ..that are both visually pleasing, but contributes to local economies
and tourism and those type of thing. So, thank you all.
I'd like to encourage everyone to. . . ( applause).
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
M P~8
ITEM 4 CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS
PRESENTED OR AMENDED.
Champion: Move adoption.
Wilburn: Moved by Champion.
Vanderhoef: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by Vanderhoef. Discussion? Urn, we did have an item related
to, urn, where is it at? Chris, come on forward. Where's he at? Urn, the
Writer's Workshop. We had a brief discussion about this item. It's on our
Consent Calendar, but, uh, if you had a five-minute.. .walk us through
within five minutes or less, just kind of a general idea. That'd be great.
Merrill: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. My name is Christopher Merrill. I direct the
International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, and for the last
year and a half, we've been working on a proposal which we think would
be very exciting possibility for the City of Iowa City, and that is to apply
to UNESCO, United Nations Educational Scientific and Culture
Organization, to be designated as a "creative city" in literature. This is a
program that was begun in 2004 and since then, nine cities around the
world have been designated as "creative cities" in visual arts and design,
in cuisine, uh, Montreal, Buenos Aires, Berlin, those are three of the cities
that have been designated as "creative cities," and there's only one other
creative city in literature. That's Edinburgh. In fact, we fit all the criteria
to be designated as a "creative city" in literature, and I think that we don't
serve our visitors haggis, so we have also a little bit better weather than
Edinburgh, and we have, I think, a reasonably decent shot at, uh, being
designated such. We've been working very closely with UNESCO. I sent
to the City Council and to the Mayor, a draft of the application, which
included an inventory, incomplete, but it's about 45 pages, single-spaced,
of literary resources that we think that we have accumulated here in Iowa
City, ranging from presses to libraries to the distinguished writing
programs at the University, to the shear number of writers living in Iowa
City to make this place their home, and as the Mayor just said, uh, the
cities that invest in the arts flourish, not only visually, but in our case in
terms ofliteracy. That's something that we hope to bring to the, to bring
to bare, in what we expect will be a successful application to UNESCO.
So, I come to you tonight, uh, seeking your blessing to proceed forward
with this application, working with the Assistant City Manager, and with
those who can help us in fleshing out this proposal. This is a program that
we think could be housed safely within the International Writing Program,
within the larger umbrella of the writing university. It doesn't look like it
will cost the City anything. We've got pretty much all the staff in place to
put this together. We've got most of the programs in place already, and
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#4
Page 9
now it's a matter of sending off a draft application to Paris to UNESCO,
having them circulate it among their staff. They would come back to us
with, urn, any clarifications, any corrections they might like us to make,
and then they would invite us, if all goes well, to go and make a
PowerPoint presentation to them some time in October, giving again the
timeline, I think about two, three months after that, we would - if all goes
well - be designated as the loth creative city around the world, and enter a
network that I think has great possibilities for future cooperation with
these other cities already in the network. I thank you for that.
Champion: Great idea!
Merrill: Happy to answer any questions you might have.
Bailey: Ijust want to thank you for this. I think this is wonderful, and on page 9,
you have a question, does the City Council want to summarize local
creative economy efforts, and I think much of that was done when we did
the Cultural District designation, and so is easily available to insert there,
and I would encourage you to do so.
Merrill: Great! Actually, to that end, I spoke with, uh, Josh Schamberger this
afternoon and he offered to provide us as many of the details as possible...
Bailey: Great!
Merrill: . . .and again, I would work with Dale to try to make sure that what we
present is as accurate as possible.
Elliott: It also sounds like a nice division of labor. You do the work, we take the
credit. (laughter)
Merrill: That's how we work at the International Writing Program! (laughter)
Vanderhoef: Well, I appreciated reading this because I learned things about my own
city that I didn't know, or resources, that we have here. So...
Merrill: Actually for me, I felt the same way, once we put it all together, to see
just.. ..what an amazing array of activities we have. I mean, I was only
partly joking about what goes on in Edinburgh. I went there, I visited
there, to meet with my colleagues there, and in fact, what goes on in an
average month in Edinburgh in literary terms, based on their monthly
newsletter, is what happens every two to three days here in Iowa City.
There really is a very rich literary tradition, and when I first approached
them about this, they said, 'Yes, we've been waiting to hear from Iowa
City,' because you are the, you're the center of writing, so.. .it's a...
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#4 Page 10
Vanderhoef: We'll take it!
Champion: I love it!
Wilburn: Sounds like you're got that. ,.
Champion: Anything else we can do, let us know.
Merrill: Thank you very much.
Vanderhoef: Thank you.
Wilburn: Make it happen! Great!
Correia: I volunteer to go to Paris. (several talking and laughing)
Wilburn: Just a., . for the benefit of the public, within the Consent Calendar, the
Council's setting three public hearings. One is a public hearing on
September 18th to receive public comments regarding ordinance adopting
the 2006 editions of the International Building Code, International
Residential Code, International Fire Code, and the Uniform Plumbing
Code, International Mechanical Code, and International Fuel Gas Code.
There's also a resolution setting a public hearing on September 4th on
plans, specifications, contract, cost estimates for construction of Fire
Station #2. This also will be a new free-standing LED certified fire station
facility on the same site, and the third is a public hearing on September 4th
on plans, specs, form of contract, cost estimates for construction of ADA
restroom project, and that's on September 4th, Discussion? Roll call.
Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#5
ITEM 5
Wilburn:
Shields:
Wilburn:
Shields:
Wilburn:
Ta:
Page 11
COMMUNITY COMMENTS (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA).
This is a time on the agenda for the public to come forward and speak to
the Council and the public on items that do not appear on tonight's
agenda. If you wish to address the Council, please approach the podium,
state your name for the record, and limit your comments to five minutes or
less.
Okay, my name is Beth Shields, and I'm here in Iowa City. I'm here
tonight actually to, urn, talk to you about the 5th Annual Iowa City Dog
Paddle, which is scheduled for September 4th and 5th. ThIS is the fifth
year, obviously, that we're holding this event. It started out as a very, urn,
small little thing that we started our first year. We had no idea if anybody
would bring their dogs. This is, urn, where the dogs get to go play in the
City Park pool, after it's closed to the human swimmers, and our first year
we had over 350 dogs attend. Since then, we've expanded it to a two-day
event so it's the two days after Labor Day, from 3:00 to 8:00 P.M. This
event has actually become one of the most successful of its kind in the
nation in terms of attendance. Iowa Citians love their dogs and they love
this event, and I just want to encourage all the Council Members to stop
by. It's a. ..it' s a hoot to watch the dogs playing. We've gotten some
great business sponsors to help us cover our costs, so all money raised at
this event goes straight back to Dog Pac to help improve the Thornberry
Off-Leash Dog Park, as well as to, urn, work towards other dog ~arks in
Iowa City. So, again, the Dog Paddle is from.. .on September 4t and 5th
from 3:00 to 8:00 P.M., and I hope to see you there!
Thank you!
Thanks!
Would anyone else care to address the Council on an item that does not
appear on tonight's agenda?
Hi. My name is Nhung Ta, and I'm here to request to have a driveway for
my property, located on 326 Fairchild Street. Urn, I have absolutely no
parking whatsoever, and this has created great hardship to my daily life.
The City Code to support my case for this driveway, but I fear that the
City is not upholding its own law, and I feel I'm being discriminated
during my application for this, urn, driveway, so please hear my arguments
against and for my applications. First, the City officials say that a
driveway may not be constructed closer than three feet to the side of the
property line, except when a common driveway agreement with an
adjacent property owner, and Council, you have my neighbor's letter say
that, and signed, that he has agreed on this driveway. Therefore, this three
feet spacing is no longer an issue, according to the City's own argument,
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#5
Page 12
and above all, two years ago when originally applied for, this three-feet
spacing wasn't an issue for him, and he actually got somebody from the
City to come out to the property and measure that there is more than
enough, urn, space on the side of the property for the driveway, but when I
applied, I was told that there's not enough size space and was confirmed
by one of the City officials that no one was actually come out to the
property to do measurement, and the house and the lot line have not been
moved to create the change in this space. And second, the City officials
say that the direct driveway access to the public street may not be
permitted in all instances. In this same City Code, Title 14, Chapter 5,
Article C, "c" like cat, number 2-C, like cat, specifically say, and I quote,
"A resident or non-resident of property will be permitted at least one
vehicle or access." The instances of this law that is saying here won't
permit access ifthere is other alternative access, like alleyways, private
(can't hear), or cross access easement, which I have repeatedly proved that
I do not have any of these options for my property, and my case is a
special case when none of the other means of access are possible, and
third, the City say that I, my front yard space doesn't meet the current
green space requirement. Well, my home is 117- year-old house and is
already sitting on half of the current space requirement. Because of its
age, it is impractical difficulty to meet this set-back requirement, I am
qualified for a special exception as it says in the City Code; however, I
was unlawfully denied the option to go through the special exception, and
moreover, this set-back requirement and special exception process both of
this fall into the municipal design standard and according to the Code 14,
Chapter 5, Article C, like cat, number 2, D like dog, say that the article
permitting each property a vehicular access shall supercede a provision of
the Municipal Design Standard, and therefore, I feel that the City cannot
deny my right to have vehicular access to my property just because of the
set-back requirement, and fourth, as for the tree, it is not directly in the
way of the driveway. I have my contractor here to tell you that he can do
a driveway around the tree without hurting the tree, and he can also tell
you that there's more than enough space, urn, on the side of the house for
the driveway, but if the Forestry guy.. .we have to cut down the tree, for us
to go around it, then he can just plant another tree because without parking
is really creating hardship on my life. I don't have parking at all at my
house. Urn, and two years ago when the Forestry marked the ground to
plant another tree at a different location right in front of my house, I called
and asked them why and they told me that they were going to cut down a
tree that was in question. So, Council, I'm here to ask just for a small
driveway. I really don't think I'm asking for too much here. The City
Code seems to support my case more than is against it, and beside, one of
your laws require property to have sufficient parking because of the
downtown street congestion. So in my conclusion, I'm here because you
are my last option to resolve this case without a law suit. I do not want to
have to spend the taxpayer money. You know, that by denying my right to
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#5
Wilburn:
Ta:
Page 13
access my property is against the law, and I'm being practically driven out
of my own home, and that is very unkind and unfair, especially when I
have been living in Iowa City for a long time, and I know that I'm a
woman. I don't look like a Caucasian, and might have an accent, but I am
an American. I have been told by the official that I should move out of
this neighborhood. I mean, is that even normal for the City official to
encourage people to move out of their own homes, or is it because I'm the
only minority in this area? The people have let me know that I am
unwelcome here, and I'm asking you to give me a fair treatment, to uphold
your own law - the law that (coughing, unable to hear) my property to
have at least one means of vehicular access. So, please allow me to do a
driveway so I can access my property, and I have my contractor here to
answer any questions that you might have, urn, of the plan.
I'm not sure if you, urn, thank you for corning down this evening. I'm not
sure if you received my email response to yours this afternoon, but you
had asked that I fotward the information that you just read, and from your
sketched diagrams of the plot. Urn, I replied to that. That information,
when you copy it to Council at Iowa-City.org that went to the City Clerk,
and that information was presented to the Council last night at our work
session. We had a discussion about that and just a couple points that I
want to refer to, urn, in the email, since you did corne down here this
evening. I'm sorry I didn't get that sooner to you today. The.. .you
referred to, urn, the special exemptions. The City Council, uh, does not,
urn, does not hear appeals or make decisions. They corne from the Board
of Adjustment, and that is they are a quasi-judicial body, so their decisions
we cannot rule on. Urn, and at the discussion last night, we acknowledged
some of the challenges in the entire north side neighborhood related to
parking issues. There's a lot of different dimensions to it besides your
particular situation when you moved in, but that there was not a majority
of Council Members that were, urn, that were willing to override or
intervene in the decisions by the Housing Official, nor the City Forester.
Also, urn, the, urn, your interpretation of what our City Code reads is not,
according to our Counsel, the City Attorney's office, is, uh, a different .
opinion than what you were suggesting. So, is that a fair reflection?
Okay. Urn, othetwise, urn, if you have any further questions, I guess I
would just recommend that we have one point of contact, if you could
contact the City Manager's office, Mr. Helling, urn, as to just kind of
clarifying what your options that were presented in that packet mayor
may not be, urn, so that she doesn't have to go to the Forester, just so that
it's pretty clear, if you're willing to do that, but othetwise, urn, you did
receive an answer from our Attorney as to what legally we were
required.. .
Was I (unable to hear).
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#5 Page 14
Wilburn: Dale, right there.
Elliott: Do we have a copy of what the lady just read?
Wilburn: It was last night. That was what we...
Elliott: That was among the numerous materials we have?
Wilburn: Yes, yeah.
O'Donnell: Is there any interest in putting this on a work session? I'm interested in
discussing this farther.
Dilkes: Can I just. . .can I clarify one thing? Urn, with respect to the paving
requirement, the 50% paving issue, urn, in order to, unless Council is
interested in changing the Code, urn, there has to be a special exception
granted by the Board of Adjustment for that, and you certainly can go to
the Board of Adjustment if you want to seek that special exception. I
think staff, well, we don't tell people not to go to the Board of
Adjustment. We try and advise about what we think the result will be.
Urn, but she's certainly free to go to the Board of Adjustment, and as the
Mayor said, whatever the.. .the Board of Adjustment's decision is not
appealable to the City Council. It's appealable to District Courts. So,
unless a code, unless there's a code amendment, and Council's willing to
consider an actual code amendment to those paving requirements, and I
think that's a very, that's going to be a very involved process, urn, it might
make sense to start with the Board of Adjustment.
Wilburn: Board of Adjustment, okay, so...
Dilkes: Council would have some authority with respect to the decisions by the,
uh, Building Official for a minor modification, to the three-foot, uh, set-
back, and the, urn, the decision of the, uh, City Forester with respect to the
tree, urn, and that would be in the form of a direction to the City Manager,
I'm assuming, to direct those City employees to do other than what they
had done to date, but even if you do that, you're not going to be able to
deal with the special exception issue.
Bailey: Well, and I would suggest instead of, urn, looking at these case-by-case
that we pursue what Connie suggested, I think last month, is find a
neighborhood that might be willing to look at the parking permit situation.
The northside is known, urn, for parking challenges. I live on the
northside, and many people do not have access to their property, and many
people park on the street. It's very common in that neighborhood, and I
think that looking at a policy level question rather than a case-by-case like
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#5
Page 15
this might move us further into these kinds of how we build our
neighborhoods, especially in our older areas. So...
Wilburn: We're going to have a discussion that is beyond any individual
circumstances that it isn't, if it does involve a code change, I don't
necessarily know that that's going to happen in a timely fashion for this
case, if it even were to happen.
Dilkes: Well, and I don't want, I don't think she should be put through the Board
of Adjustment process if it doesn't appear the Council is going to override
those decisions of the Forester and the Building Official. So...
Elliott: Well, I'd certainly like to have that laid out on point so that we understand
each point, and the, the legalities involved with each of those points.
Champion: Well, I think also, you know, even with a house that's in a neighborhood
that was evolved.. .how many years ago?
Ta: It's 117.
Champion: I mean, my house is a hundred years old. It probably doesn't meet our
current City Code either, as far as paving and garage and set-backs and all
that. So, I think when you have old neighborhoods you're going to have
particular situations that are going to arise independently of the rest of the
neighborhood. So, although I'm totally willing to look at other
alternatives besides code changes. I mean, to look at parking,
neighborhood parking, urn, whatever we can do, but I do think people
ought to be able to park fairly close to their home in Iowa City. I mean, it
isn't Chicago or New Yark.
O'Donnell: That's exactly right. I think you own a home, you're paying taxes to the
City, that you should be able to park by your home. I still would like to
see this on a work session.
Wilburn: Urn, it sounds like there's enough that wish to have this put on
another.. .when is our next, uh, Council work session?
Karr: September 4th.
Wilburn: September 4th.
Karr: It's a combined with your formal because of the holiday.
Wilburn: Okay.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#5 Page 16
Champion: ...a while without this being resolved, and I think the next work session
will be fine.
Wilburn: September 4th is a work session where the Council will consider this and
some alternatives. You're welcome to come to that, if able, that Council
meeting.
Ta: Can I say something else?
Wilburn: Sure.
Ta: Urn, just response to your.. .the special exception and the Board of
Adjustment, those are for the (can't hear) standard, and there's a law in
there saying that my right to have an access to my property supercede the
(can't hear) standard, and for the special exception, and the set-back
requirement, those fall into the Municipal Design Standard, and there's a
law specifically say that my right to have a vehicular access to my
property supercede that MDS, and I'm here because I don't feel that the
City is following its own law, 'cause it's stated clearly that I can have one,
at least one vehicular access to my property, and even with.. .if! don't
meet the green space requirement, I don't even have to go to the special
exception because those are falling into the MDS standard, and the law
say that my right having vehicular access to my property over, supercedes
that MDS. I don't understand.
Wilburn: You stated that before, but we have a different. . .
Dilkes: I think there's already a memo from Sarah that you received that goes
through that issue in some detail. That's just not my.. .we just have a
difference of opinion.
Wilburn: Okay.
Helling: Mr. Mayor, at this point in time it certainly appears there will be time on'
the work session agenda, but it is combined so I want to make sure
that.. .there are a couple things that have to be on there. Make sure that
Council is available, you know, fairly early that afternoon, say, you know,
5:00 or so, if we need that much time. I'm not sure we will until we get
the agenda together, but.. .check on your availability.
Wilburn: Okay, we'll take a look at that. Okay. All right. Anyone else who wished
to address the Council on an item that does not appear on tonight's
agenda?
Jacobs: My name is Tom Jacobs from 1132 Briar Drive, and uh, I won't take up
much of your time this time, but we hope you all had a chance to review
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#5
Helling:
Wilburn:
McCue:
Wilburn:
McCue:
Page 17
our petition, neighborhood petition of Sandusky and Briar and Taylor, and
uh, we hope you had a chance to look at the video. Uh, just a quick update
on our personal damage.. .we, of the seven-inch rain in June, is that we
have put dirt in the backyard to raise up a barrier, some small barrier, and
we put our sheetrock up and we're getting ready to paint this Friday, the
two rooms that were damaged, and some of our neighbors are progressing
with fixing their damage too. Uh, the last few rains have pooled in our
backyards, but haven't gotten near the houses that the big one did, and we
know the projects take time, uh, so, uh, but can you please consider
discussing this storm sewer issue before your January budget meeting, and
I just heard it might corne up in the, in a September work session, and
thank you for your time.
That's the other issue I was talking about before.
Would anyone else care to address the Council on an item that does not
appear on tonight's agenda?
Hi, my name is Maureen McCue. I'm with Iowa Physicians For Social
Responsibility, and I just wanted to bring to your attention the fact that
we're doing a national conference here in Iowa City on the health
consequences of global warming, and will have representatives from some
of the cities around the country that have gone green. I know that Mayor
Wilburn has signed on to a proclamation to help green up the City, so I'm
hoping that some of you will be able to attend to join us. It's on the
weekend of September 14th to the 16th and uh, we will be addressing some
of the health consequences that people often overlook in discussions about
global warming, and we feel that human security - our security as a
neighborhood, as a city, whatever - very much depend on an intact
environment and climate, and so I hope that some of you will, urn, join us.
It's going to be at the Hotel Vetro, and I'll leave you some brochures.
Thank you, and just a, a couple items. You might consider talking to the
Iowa City-Coralville Visitor's Convention Bureau for any logistical
assistance, uh, and also, urn, unfortunately on the 15th, uh, at least in terms
of your conference, we will be interviewing, uh, search firms all day on
the 15th so...
Oh, that's a shame. Well, if you can't make it to the conference, it's a
heads up that I want to also take this throughout the semester as a City-
University, urn, NGO coordinated event and have some of the students be
working with representatives of the cities, the schools, whatever, to begin,
urn, to increase the discussion, urn, about how we can green up the city,
green the schools, etc. So, we'll have some of the University students
contacting you, and so you've had a warning (laughter) that that's going to
go on throughout the semester. Thank you.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#5 Page 18
Wilburn: Thank you.
Karr: Motion to accept correspondence.
Vanderhoef: So moved.
Correia: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by V anderh~ef, seconded by Correia. All those in favor say aye.
Opposed same sign. Carries 7-0. Anyone else care to address the Council
for community comment?
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
ITEM 6
Wilburn:
Dilkes:
Wilburn:
Dilkes:
Wilburn:
Davidson:
Page 19
PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
d) TO AMEND THE NORTHEAST DISTRICT PLAN, AN
ELEMENT OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, TO
INTEGRATE A LARGE INSTITUTIONAL PROPERTY INTO
THE PLAN FOR THE LINDEMANN HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD
NORTH OF THE PUBLIC SQUARE ALONG LOWER WEST
BRANCH ROAD.
1) PUBLIC HEARING
This is a public hearing. (pounds gavel) Public hearing is open.
Mr. Mayor, in can just comment. We have, urn, put d, e, and ftogether
because they all relate to the same matter. You'll only need to call, ask
Council about the ex-parte communications with respect to f.
Okay.
And not with respect to d and e.
Thank you.
Good evening. Uh, we have for your consideration three items tonight
related to the establishment of a new church in the northeast district for St.
Pat's parish. Uh, the first item here is the amendment to the Northeast
District Plan. I think most of you are aware that the Northeast District
Plan constitutes the Comprehensive Plan for this area, and that is it is the
broad-based overall vision for the establishment of a neighborhood in this
area, and in terms of the Northeast District Plan, we.. .we respect and take
very seriously that plan. This is not something that a bunch of egghead
planners came up with, but it was developed through a community
process, and because of that we take very seriously what the community
determined, and you subsequently adopted as the overall vision for this
area. We went through an extensive notification process beyond what we
would typically do, primarily because much of this area is undeveloped,
and we wanted to make sure that we went above and beyond what we
would typically do in terms of letting people know about what was being
proposed. The overall notion here is to try and maintain the original
principles that we are interested in for this area. Urn, and those being that
there would be a, this is the original plan, which is proposed for
amendment. As you can see, the focal point of it is a town square, located
along the access of, urn, Lower West Branch Road, which is currently
under reconstruction, urn, the principles then are this town square as the
focal point of this neighborhood, interconnected streets, extending from
the comers of the public square. You can see that very clearly. Sidewalk
and trail connections that insure good vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#6
Page 20
circulation, urn, between the square and other neighborhood destinations.
So, in terms of what is proposed, we want to try and preserve, urn, those
elements of the plan. Urn, proceeding then, this shows the property that
the church is interested in establishing their facility on, and as you can see,
it actually wraps around the north side of the square. The...I think most of
you are aware, but I'll just state that the area to the south of Lower West
Branch Road is largely developed, or developing. The area to the north,
uh, is largely undeveloped at this time, and this shows the property that 81.
Pat's is interested in. What we did then was come up with a concept. This
shows how the plan here might be amended to establish this l4-acre
parcel, and just to put that into perspective for you, we did a little research.
This would become the largest church property in Iowa City. Parkview
Evangelical is about 12 acres, currently the largest church property in
Iowa City. So this would become the largest church property in Iowa
City, and when we considered this, the notion of a church at the town
square is one that is very appealing. I mean, that is an iconic model that
goes back to Europe in the middle ages. So we believed from the very
beginning that this was something that could be incorporated very
appropriately into this neighborhood. The question was just how to go
about doing that. Uh, because it is such a large parcel, one of the first
thing that we wanted to make sure is that there was adequate pedestrian
and bicycle access, and you can see we are showing a trail connection
through the middle of the property, because there will not be streets
through the middle of this property. We did not want it to be cut off from
the rest of the neighborhood. You will also see that we show a street
across the north edge of the property, and when we get into the
subsequent, uh, Conditional Zoning Agreement, uh, that's one of the
things that's highlighted in there, is we are asking the church to dedicate
property for that street to be established, and a connection eventually made
down into the church property when it is developed. You can see,
particularly in this area through here, and in this area through here, we've
tried to acknowledge the sensitive features. You will note that this is not
a.. . similar to the Northside Neighborhood or the Goosetown
Neighborhood, a true grid street network, although we've tried to make it
interconnected, it's not a true grid network, and that is because we've tried
to be, we've tried to acknowledge the sensitive environmental features in
the area, and that's why you see the more linear design here, although it is
certainly interconnected, as you can see, urn, but we have tried then with
those sensitive features to establish open space that would eventually
become parks, have trails, and connections either side to the residential
neighborhood. Urn, this is consistent with the existing plan in that it
shows a variety of housing types, hopefully for a variety of incomes. As
you can see, there are areas shown that could have alleys in the rear for
higher density type, excuse me, townhomes. There are then more
conventional single-family lots, so it includes a mix of housing types,
ranging from apartment buildings to townhomes to single-family. The
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Page 21
final thing then to highlight in terms of the proposed Comprehensive Plan
amendment is that Planning and Zoning Commission did consider the
possible inevitability that, uh, after this plan was amended, that perhaps
the church would not end up establishing here. If that is the case, the
proposed amendment says that this would then be appropriate for going
back basically to residential development, if that were to occur. Those are
the highlights then of the Comprehensive Plan amendment. Any
questions?
Elliott: Jeff, could you point out.. .if the church is located there, would it be
located, the church building, would it be located on the southern most
portion of that property?
Davidson: Well, we have not seen an official site plan yet, so we need to kind of
reserve judgment there, Bob. In our informal discussions with the parish
committee and their architect, it's been indicated that it is likely that the
church will be here, you know, facing the square. There would not,
according to the existing City Code, there would not be parking allowed in
that area to be a green space with hopefully the church up against the
square. Again, a model that we think will be fabulous for this
neighborhood, and then likely the parking in the rear of the building, urn, I
believe the parish has plans for other facilities to be located on their
property that they were not able perhaps to augment what they had at their
former location. You have the public hearing tonight. I'm sure there'll be
representatives, and you may want to ask them about those plans.
Elliott: Thanks!
Davidson: Any other questions?
Champion: Excuse me.. . Jeff, I'm not concerned about the church being there. I think
it's good, but it's a huge space. I mean, if they're going to have a lot of
parking, urn, when they do the site plan, do churches do plantings and
light safety and all that stuff like we require other commercial
developments?
Davidson: Yeah, I mean, our Zoning Code has requirements already incorporated
into it that even other municipalities in our area here do not require, in
terms of, for example, trees, landscaping, and that sort of thing. Now,
through the Conditional Zoning Agreement, you have the discretion to
require things even in addition to that, if you feel that is appropriate,
because of the residential neighborhood that will eventually be built here,
and that's a key thing. You don't have a room full of 200 people here
from the adjacent neighborhood because there isn't an adjacent
neighborhood at this point. So, if you do feel that there may be things
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
, Bailey:
Dilkes:
Wilburn:
Juarez:
Page 22
required above and beyond what the Code requires, with the Conditional
Zoning Agreement you have that ability to negotiate those things.
I would like to talk about the parking issue. Should we wait until we're
talking about the Conditional Zoning Agreement? Because I think that
that's where it's most appropriate. I mean, I have some concerns.
. . . talking about the Comprehensive Plan, which is fairly broad, yeah.
Thank you. Does anyone care to address the Council on the public
hearing, related to this portion of it - amending the District Plan.
Hello. My name is Father Juarez. I'm Pastor of St. Patrick's Parish here
in Iowa City, and I'm grateful to be able to present to the Iowa City
Council this evening the night of the great holy Thursday storm of April
13, 2006, changed the lives of many Iowa City residents, including the
members of St. Patrick's Parish. We experienced first hand of the
destruction to neighborhoods and personal property, as well as our
beloved church, but we remain grateful for the fact that no human lives
were lost on that fateful night. The events of April 13th set into motion a
series of decisions that we had to make for the Parish, including where to
worship and how to provide for our parishioners on an on-going basis.
We took into account the present and the future needs of our people, and
decided that in order to better serve the needs of our growing community,
we should move to a new site. We adopted as our motto the Latin phrase:
"festina lente," which means "hurry up slowly." Maybe you can relate to
that. The challenge was finding buildable land at an affordable price, so
when two attempts at finding land, one at the comer of Scott Boulevard
and Rochester, and the second at the Lehman Farm on the south side did
not pan out, it was true...it is true what they say about the third time being
a charm. We were thrilled when we learned that the Henrietta Miller
family was willing to sell us 15 acres of land in an ideal location, as you
see on your screen, even though I personally was trying to hold out for 20
acres. Through a previous arrangement, uh, with the Miller family and the
City, which involved dedicating an acre of land to the City for the Lower
West Branch square, as evidenced here, we now have 14.1 acres that St.
Patrick's will be buying, pending annexation by the City. Weare pleased
that these 14.1 acres will be dedicated to a noble purpose, of bringing
people together for the worship of God, and for the satisfaction of the
social and educational needs of our parishioners, and really the entire city
of Iowa City. In as much as that we are pleased that we have hired a local
architectural firm and contractor who in turn will hire local labor to build a
church facility that will be Leads-certified and as green as earth-friendly
as possible, as well as ample parking, and a beautiful tribute to God and
the faith of our people. I appreciate the open spirit that we have
encountered here in Iowa City from City personnel as we have worked
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#6
Page 23
together to satisfy the present and the projected objectives of the City, as
evidenced in this plan, for the neighborhood and for the parish. We feel
that we have met those objectives. Upon annexation, we at St. Patrick's
look forward to many years, and in fact generations of being a good
neighbor to the people of Iowa City, and to continuing the good
relationship that we have established with the City, as we continue to work
for the common good within our community. So, I don't know if you
have any questions or not, that I can answer.
Vanderhoef: I guess what I would like to know. I recognize that you had several
buildings in the downtown area, besides the church, and I'm presuming
these are the ones that you're going to try and replicate and move out on
that campus? Is that correct?
Juarez: That's correct. Yes. Thank you.
Wilburn: Thank you, Father. Anyone else care to speak to the public hearing?
Schmidt: My name's Carl Schmidt, and I'm from Ely. Hopefully you will let
somebody from Ely address your City Council. I represent Miller Farms
and particularly I'm Henrietta's son-in-law, and uh, we're obviously she's
the one that has requested the annexation and the, uh, and the rezoning
change, and so I'm speaking on her behalf. Urn, as Father Rudy
mentioned, he would originally liked to have had 20 acres for this, and
there's been, this has been a very difficult thing for our family to part
with.. .this is the family farm. It has been for over 70 years, and so there's
been some difficulty that we do this, but, uh, the fact that it's St. Patrick's
Church makes the pain a little bit easier because we can't think of any
better use of the land than to help people, instead of growing crops - we'll
grow people, we'll nurture people, and so we think this will be a fine thing
for Iowa City, and a fine attribute to the city. So I just wanted to verbally
voice our support for this annexation and rezoning, and I do have one
request I'd like to throw in. Urn, Henrietta Miller has donated an acre and
a half ofland to the City to be a park. Now, I think, I don't know how
many of us are in homes that are on family farms. I think probably all of
us are. I know I am, and urn, you know a lot of times when these farms
disappear, there's just, there's no mark left. It just evaporates, and the
work that all these farmers did for so many years is just gone. There's no
evidence at all, and in this case, we think there's an opportunity for the
Henrietta Miller family to leave a mark, a legacy. Urn, as I said she has
donated this land. She is the only family that has donated any land for this
park. The other half was donated from the Lindemann Farm, which is
across the street, which you see the name on that District Plan, but the
Lindemanns sold their land to a developer and then he donated that land to
the City. The Lindemanns were paid for their land. Henrietta Miller gave
this land to the City, and it's part of this annexation that you see on the list
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Page 24
here. We have submitted a name to the Parks and Recreation Committee
in an effort to try and leave a family mark, and urn, the name we've
submitted is the Franholtz-Miller Park or the Franholtz-Miller Square.
Franholtz was Henrietta Miller's maiden name. It was her father that
bought this farm in the early 1930's and she lived on it and farmed it, and
my wife and my brother-in-law and the family have farmed this land
for.. . since the early 1930's. Urn, we...I don't know who has the authority
to name this park, but I'm assuming you would have to approve it, so
that's why I'd like to verbally spout that off, and our.. .we believe
that... that our.. . that this is, you know, a request is only fair, that the
Miller family, the Franholtz family, get a chance to leave a mark and a
legacy where so many other farms have not. I mean, all you see left is
maybe a farm house or nothing, for all those years of work, and in this
case there's an opportunity where the family could leave a mark for all the
years that they've been good stewards of this land and they've been
generous enough to donate the land to the City for the good of the City.
So, thank you for your consideration.
Wilburn: Thank you.
Vanderhoef: I hear you loud and clear.
Schmidt: Pardon me?
Vanderhoef: I said I hear you loud and clear.
Wilburn: Anyone else care to speak to the public hearing? (pounds gavel) Public
hearing is closed.
2) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
O'Donnell: Move the resolution.
Wilburn: Moved by O'Donnell.
Correia: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by Correia. Discussion? This is on the Northeast District Plan,
Comprehensive Plan. Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Page 25
ITEM 6
PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
e) FOR A VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION OF 14 ACRES OF LAND
OWNED BY RELLIM FARMS, LLC AND 1.89 ACRES OF
LAND OWNED BY THE CITY OF IOWA CITY LOCATED
NORTH OF LOWER WEST BRANCH ROAD, BRENTWOOD
DRIVE, AND BROADMOOR LANE.
1) PUBLIC HEARING
Wilburn: This is a public hearing. (pounds gavel) Public hearing is open.
Davidson: You see the two parcels that have been referred to in your discussion so
far. The acre and a half, which is the other half of the square, along the,
through the middle of the picture... there is Lower West Branch Road, and
then the larger parcel, which is the 14 acre parcel for St. Pat's.. .that is for
rezoning. So, any other questions about the annexation?
Vanderhoef: Put the other map on again. It shows.. .not that one, the one you just
flipped past. No. The other way.. .that one, yeah.
Davidson: But that's information about the rezoning, which is your next item.
Vanderhoef: Okay. I'll wait. Thank you.
Davidson: Unless you'd like to have the discussion of them together, the annexation
and rezoning. What is your pleasure, Mr. Mayor?
Wilburn: Anyone care to speak to the public hearing related to the annexation?
(pounds gavel) Public hearing is closed.
2) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
Champion: Move the resolution.
O'Donnell: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by Champion, seconded by O'Donnell. Discussion?
Vanderhoef: I think that this will be a great addition to Iowa City, and we appreciate,
uh, the voluntary nature of the land coming in, so thank you.
O'Donnell: I look forward to this. This is, you know, it was a tragedy when St. Pat's
was destroyed by the tornado, and this is.. .this is a long time coming and
uh, they looked long and hard for the ground and I think this is a
wonderful addition to this area. So...
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#6
Page 26
Wilburn:
Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
ITEM 6
Wilburn:
Davidson:
Page 27
PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
1) CONDITIONALLY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 14 ACRES
OF LAND FROM COUNTY RESIDENTIAL (R) TO LOW
DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS-5) AND
APPROXIMATELY 1.89 ACRES OF LAND FROM COUNTY
RESIDENTIAL (R) TO NEIGHBORHOOD PUBLIC (P-1)
LOCATED NORTH OF LOWER WEST BRANCH ROAD,
BRENTWOOD DRIVE, AND BROADMOOR LANE (REZ-07-
00010).
1) PUBLIC HEARING
This is a public hearing. (pounds gavel) Public hearing is open.
The rezoning then. The notion here, as stated earlier, is to.. .the rezoning
is proposed to be conditioned, in order to make sure that the. . . the things
that we are trying to accomplish with the Comprehensive Plan, which you
have just amended, are accomplished. Uh, and I'll just run through those
real quickly. Urn, three of them are noted here; there will be dedication of
land for future street, the right-of-way across the north part of the 8t. Pat's
property, urn, and just to clarify here, we are asking for dedication of the
entire 60-foot right-of-way, that's the collector street standard. Urn, the
notion here is that it will likely be the developer to the north that is
required to construct that street. That is likely when it will be constructed.
81. Pat's is not likely to participate in the construction of that street, unless
it just so happens they are doing some type of a development project on
their property, adjacent to that street, then there's the possibility they
could be asked to participate financially, but it is not likely that they will
participate financially in the construction. That's why they're being asked
to dedicate the entire right-of-way. Uh, the sidewalk, which will be
established.. .this will be an 8-foot walk, trail/sidewalk, through the 81.
Pat's property, with a public access easement on it. There will be two
portions of the street that you see here, uh, where again the right-of-way
will be dedicated, urn, in conjunction with 81. Pat's construction of the
church. That then creates two parcels, one here and one here, at which
time those parcels are developed, either by 81. Pat's or if they are sold and
developed by someone else, we would ask then at that time for these two
little legs here to be constructed, because initially what will be constructed
is just the road around the square, but when these parcels develop, we are
asking for those two little legs to be constructed, so that the rest of the
street can eventually be connected to it, and you have an interconnected
street neighborhood. A couple of other things then, urn, oh. . . the street up
here to the north that I referred to here. When that is constructed, 8t. Pat's
will be required to connect it via an access driveway down into the
remainder of their property. The notion there is that when this street is
constructed, it is likely going to be in conjunction with development of the
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Elliott:
Davidson:
Elliott:
Davidson:
Elliott:
Davidson:
Bailey:
Davidson:
. Page 28
rest of the residential neighborhood in this area, and the desire then is to
be able to have traffic, for example, from up here on Rochester Avenue
circulate down through in this manner, to the church, and not everything
have to corne off of Lower West Branch Road, thereby burdening that
portion of the neighborhood disproportionately with traffic for the church,
that when the neighborhood builds out, we want multiple ways for people
to access, uh, getting to the church property. So that's the reason for that
stipulation. And then finally, again, there is a condition in the rezoning
that if for some reason the church does not develop here that it would then
be appropriate for residential development, similar to what was proposed
earlier. Those are the essential conditions in the rezoning that are culled
out. Any questions about those?
(several talking) You said, uh, before it's platted, you don't know
precisely where the church building will be, is that the same thing with
that one acre of land which is being donated for an open space, or a park?
Well, that'll be the north half of the square, which will be City property,
Bob, so the City will determine what happens with that. . .
That's the I-acre ofland?
. . .including the name, which. . .
Okay. Go ahead, Regenia.
Any other questions?
Well, there was some discussion, I think it was in Planning and Zoning
about the street on the north edge, and asking this property owner to
escrow for it, and I just want to make sure that we're not setting up a
difficult situation down the road about getting that street paid for and in. I
know that there's.. .there was some discussion about the speed of
development and not wanting to do that because the planning staff didn't
know how quickly this would develop, but are we setting this up
appropriately for the future to develop with this vision?
We feel it is set up with the model here that will allow that street to be
constructed. What is typical with a collector street is the developer, now
typically the developer is developing on both sides of the street. That
wouldn't be the case here, but that is an area which would be up against
a...an institutional use, such as this, would be appropriate for multi-family
type housing, which means a higher density than with single-family lots.
The City also pays the overwidth paving for a collector street. So, and of
course the right-of-way will be provided, so.. .so even though the
developer to the north would be asked to pay the entire amount, of course
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Page 29
pending any subsequent negotiations of that by the Council that's in place
at that time, what we would at least see happening is the developer paying
for everything, the City paying for the overwidth, and the right-of-way
provided. We think that's a workable model.
Bailey: Okay. I just want to make sure that we're not setting it up for that
developer to come to us and say, you know, it's not traditional for us to
pay for all of it.
Davidson: I cannot guarantee...
Bailey: I know. It's a future Council I'm caring about so.. . (laughter and several
talking)
Vanderhoef: . . . we can refer them back to. . .
Bailey: I don't think it will be "we" by then!
Elliott: Are you referring. . . Whispering Meadows, where they ended up with no-
man's-land?
Bailey: Yeah, and I just want to make sure we...
Elliott: Okay, yeah. Good.
Davidson: Any other questions about the rezoning?
Correia: I have a question about the sidewalk and public access. So that would be
the City would be planning to put that in there, it would be a like a City
trail, City sidewalk. That would be...
Vanderhoef: No, that was...
Davidson: No, I believe that's set up that the church is requirement...is required to
put that in. (several talking) The applicant agrees to construct an 8-foot
wide sidewalk.
Correia: Okay. But as we're planning this, it seems like there's an opportunity to
make sure that that hooks up with, I mean, not only other sidewalks, but as
you were talking about, the opportunity for other trails. Is...is part of our
master, the Parks and Rec Master Plan, are we...
Davidson: You can even see on the map here, Amy, that the dashed line here is a
proposed trail through what will be kind of a linear park through here, via
the sidewalk system, all of these streets will have sidewalks, so that the
trail constructed by the church would terminate at their property, through
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Page 30
the development of this property then, we would extend that through to the
sidewalk system along the street, and then it would connect into the park
and this linear trail.
Correia: Is that.. .because I can't see that in relationship to how that.. .this
neighborhood hooks up with the rest of the city. Are we looking at trails
that are both recreational and commuter? I mean, are they going to
connect so that folks can...
Davidson: Well, we certainly see them that way. That's why we...
Vanderhoef: From Rochester down.
Correia: Right, and so are...is the, with the Parks and Rec Master Plan, we had
asked to take a look at trails and trail connectors. Will this be.. .can they
include looking at this?
Davidson: Yeah, actually the JCCOG trails' plan is kind of an overall planning
document that we use, but it certainly philosophically when you have an
institutional use of this size, it's appropriate to not make pedestrians and
bicycles go around it. You know, we do that with.. .when we have long
blocks, we try and have mid-block pedestrian connections, and this is the
same sort of thing. I mean, we feel, Amy, that it is, I mean, you can see on
the other side here, we would propose it connecting to this cul-de-sac here.
That'll be done when this property develops. We think we have an overall
plan here that provides a network that has the necessary connections so
that for example someone who lives in this neighborhood could easily get
from this neighborhood into downtown Iowa City.
Correia: Okay.
Vanderhoef: I'm thinking far out, and I'm thinking about the parking, and I don't know
the Code well enough to, urn, assess whether this is a possibility in the
future, but I'm thinking of two-level parking, similar to what's down by
Mercy Hospital, that isn't totally underground, so it doesn't take all the
ventilation and that kind of thing, but if.. .if the Father wanted 20 acres
and didn't get quite that much because of other, uh, buildings for the
campus, would this be a possibility on this campus?
Davidson: Let a representative of the church respond to that question, Dee.
Vanderhoef: No, I'm asking if it would be legal to put that kind of a structure in an RS-
5 neighborhood development.
Dilkes: I think we need to back up for just a minute, and just remember that... that
the church has to go through the special exception process, and that
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Page 31
special exception process presumably will deal with a lot of these issues,
because the whole part, the whole idea of the special exception process is,
urn, to make sure that an institutional use like this fits in with the
residential neighborhood.
Davidson: Right. Any religious use in a residential zone requires going through the
special exception process. That's when that sort of thing would be
scrutinized, Dee, if the church came in with a plan that showed, uh, a
multi-level parking facility. I mean, in the discussion we've had with
them, there hasn't been any mention of that. The notion has been that it
would be surface parking. Certainly they have enough property here that
extensive surface parking could be provided.
Bailey: Well, and I understand that the parking issue will go through the Board of
Adjustment. I guess my concern is we've been referring to this as a
campus, and I think that conjures up green space visions, and I think one
of the reasons that churches buy large lots is so they have adequate
parking, and I have a concern, urn, given the vision for this area and given
the public square vision, that urn a big island of concrete isn't exactly an
appealing sort of thing, and I want to know what we can do in a
Conditional Zoning Agreement to do, to have these discussions now when
there aren't neighbors to advocate for green space. I think our new Zoning
Code does some great things with parking, but I think we could do a little
bit more at this juncture, with this Comprehensive Plan vision, and Ijust
have really a lot of concerns about putting large parking lots, urn, in
residential areas, not only because of the appearance, but because of the
environmental impact and the quality oflife impact, and I know that's
taken care of through the Board of Adjustment, but can we do more? In a
Conditional Zoning Agreement? We have, we seem to have a lot of
latitude here.
Dilkes: I think you do have that latitude in a Conditional Zoning Agreement.
Champion: Well, I'd like.. . again, I think also the church needs adequate parking.
Bailey: I agree.
Champion: But, there is street parking for Sunday services when the most cars would
be there, and during the week and for other times, they wouldn't need this
amount of parking that you need for Sunday services. So I hope that you
would take that into consideration that street parking is available for
Sunday services, in Iowa City, even on streets that don't allow parking
ordinarily. For instance, Dubuque Street, churches downtown, Riverside
Drive or whatever it is, uh, so I think the parking won't be an issue with
me. I'm not going to deny them adequate parking. I think it has...
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Bailey:
Elliott:
Davidson:
Wilburn:
Bailey:
Page 32
I'm not interested in denying adequate parking, but what I'm interested in
is this seems like an opportunity to negotiate with a good spirit about how
we can incorporate adequate parking in a way that doesn't de gradate
something that was going to be a public square, and when we keep saying
campus, I think you see green and trees, and I think that there's an
opportunity here that we shouldn't miss, and I really want, urn, I would
like to see that included in the Conditional Zoning Agreement, because I
think that we could develop something that would be interesting,
innovative, creative, and a nice example to what can happen on a church
campus, or an institutional campus.
Let me tell you what happens on our block. We obviously live on a
residential block and at the top of our hill.. .Jeff, you know, on Dover
Street at the top is a church with a large parking lot. We look at that as an
advantage. There are times when maybe you have different people
visiting. We can go up and use the parking lot. I've checked a number of
times, and the church has been very happy to say, 'Sure, ifit's not Sunday
when the church is going on.' It's really an asset to our neighborhood to
have that parking lot there. I just think the neighbors would be happy to
have the parking lot.
To clarify for the purposes of your discussion, urn, the Board of
Adjustment will have a specific site plan showing what the church intends
to do. Urn, they are likely, based on past history, to, uh, they have the
opportunity to require things beyond what the City Code requires, to
address the exact issues that you are talking about here. However, if you
desire.. .ifthere's a majority of you who would like to reopen the
Conditional Zoning Agreement, you would defer action this evening
because you have a signed Conditional Zoning Agreement, as presented,
signed by the Millers and the church, so you would want to defer that, and
then have us go back and attempt to negotiate exactly what you're
speaking to, and bring that back then to you.
We still have a public hearing open, and I just invite an
opportunity.. .members of the church you've heard this discussion.. .uh, I
don't know that you've looked this far down the road, but maybe you
could layout, urn, I guess just address some of the points, any initial
thoughts you had about, uh, the parking, the scope, urn. I'll also point out
for the Council if I heard correctly, you also try and look for things
balance, compromising in the same spirit, but I believe I heard that the
building itself was going to be Leads-certified, but if someone could come
forward and address the concerns that were.. . (several talking).
What are the implications of parking in a Leads-certified building?
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Monson:
Bailey:
Monson:
Bailey:
Monson:
Bailey:
Page 33
I'm Kevin Monson with Neumann Monson Architects, and we are the
architects of record for 8t. Pat's, and been working with the congregation
in the planning process, and I'd be happy to talk a little bit about the plans
for the church. Urn, first of all, the church and the congregation has
decided that they do want to have a green building, and we are going
through that process and we hope to be a Lead-certified church, and so
certainly that takes it to a much higher standard than City Codes and City
requirements, uh, and looks at the project as not just a city project, but a
community project, and one that sustains the environment, as well. As far
as the, I wanted to address the issue of the square. We see the public
square in our front yard to be an asset, one that we anticipate to take much
pride in, and accentuate and certainly will be working with the City staff
to make that, our building, an asset to the square. I think as squares are,
they need to certainly have a different connotation than if we were
building on a normal street in a normal neighborhood. So, that's a very
particular and very unique, uh, opportunity for the planning of the church,
is to have a very large public green space, uh, in front of the church, and I
use that, uh, front as a very much, uh, operative word is that we do, uh,
expect the church to front the street, and that parking would not be in front
of the church, and so, uh, I think you'll be very, very happy and we'll be
going through the special process as the City Code requires us to go
through the exception process, and I think you'll be very delighted, uh,
and we will work with you very closely, and I think we'll all have a
community minded asset to Iowa City. So...
So with a green building, how do you...I mean, what are some of the ways
parking is approached?
Well, we're going to look at, parking is an issue of reflectivity, heat island
issues, of water run off.. . all of those issues are going to be addressed. Uh,
we anticipate p1antings, uh, shading, uh, and reducing the heat island
affect by using light colored products, 00, we're anticipating dealing with
our stormwater retainage within the site and not passing it down through
the neighborhood, and we've got ideas about using that as well. So, those
issues, I think, will be addressed, and these are beyond Code requirements,
certain1 y.
I understand that. And what about. . . what about light. I mean it's a
residential neighborhood. One of the nasty things about parking lots is the
light, I'll call it light pollution.
Sure. Certainly, and the city does have light pollution controls, and we
will be using those, and that just makes common.. .good neighborhood
sense too, to control our light.
But what about.. . are there Lead-guidelines for light?
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6 Page 34
Monson: Oh, yes, absolutely. Y es. Yes there are, right. Light pollution is part of
our Lead-point system.
Bailey: And so, you say you're going to do a Lead-certified building, and I
applaud you for that, Kevin, but, urn, we don't have any guarantees. I
mean, it's not in the Conditional Zoning Agreement. I mean, so this is just
an understanding.
Monson: It's a goal of the congregation, uh, certainly the final determination of the
certification is by the U.S. Green Building Counsel, they make the final
call on that issue, but our intent is that it will be green. I think you can
trust that we, that goal will be maintained. That is our goal.
Bailey: Do you know what level you're going for?
Monson: Urn, we have done preliminary work, but we, I'm not sure, uh, it looks
like we could very easily be silver, urn, but there's a lot of work yet to do.
We're very, very early in the process. So, we're just now hoping to have
some site to work with, so.. . (laughter).
O'Donnell: Kevin, I'm certainly ready to trust a church. We'll take your word.
Monson: Thank you.
Wilburn: Would anyone else care to speak to the public hearing? Which one.. . are
we on f? Okay. Does any Council Members have any ex-parte
communications that they have to disclose?
Bailey: I talked about the parking issue with Karen Howard and Bob Miklo and
Jeff Davidson. I mean, so...
Wilburn: The issues you just mentioned?
Bailey: Yeah, I mean, I pretty much laid it out the way I talked about it. So...
Wilburn: All right. Anyone else? Uh, and I presume that I shouldn't close the
public hearing if, uh, anyone wishes to change the CZA?
Bailey: So, I certainly trust the church. I certainly trust all of our developers in
our community, and I'm glad that St. Pat's has a potential site, but I still
have concerns about parking, because we won't see this again. It'll be a
Board of Adjustment issue, and urn, this is a large property, and it's.. .it's
significant, it will have a significant impact on this neighborhood, and I
would like to explore what we can do, at this juncture, rather than waiting.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Page 35
We don't have advocate for this neighborhood in the room because it's not
built yet, and we're the advocates.
O'Donnell: It's unfortunate, you know, the automobile is a very popular way to travel,
and St. Pat's Church has got a, I've attended there on occasion, and it has
a, a some of the parishioners are reaching an age where they're not going
to ride a bicycle or jog to church. So, parking is absolutely necessary, and
we.. .we also have addressed light pollution. You know, we have large
grocery stores in residential areas, and they funnel the light down to
address those concerns, and I don't share your concerns with that.
Bailey: Well, I'm certainly not looking to limit their abilities to have as large a
church as they dream of. I mean, and with every parishioner in a car, if
they so choose, but we have a responsibility to our community to take this
into consideration, something that was previously considered a public
square, a green space, and so how do we balance interests and that's what
I'm suggesting that we do with the Conditional Zoning Agreement, that
we do have a clause addressing this issue to some degree, and I'm
confident the Planning staff could come up with something.
Vanderhoef: I would visit about this too because, uh, early on before campus has
moved along, it could be just a sea of parking and true it's going to look
very, very nice from the square side, but all of the developing housing that
will be to the north, and east and west, uh, may have a view of a sea of
parking, without perhaps as much green as we would like on such a large,
uh, property. So, I'd be willing to talk about it. I'm not sure how it's
going to look, and I'm certainly not into slowing this whole process down
a lot, but I think it's worth discussing it right now.
Champion: .. . green space and a parking lot, but that's certainly is part of our City
Code, and I think that because the church wants to be green, it's not going
to just be an expanse of cement with yellow lines, so I'm willing to move
this forward, and I'll, urn, have to eat my words if they don't have some
trees in there.
Wilburn: I'm a.. .um, obviously, I don't think there's anything inappropriate that's
been asked here, I mean, we are supposed to look for, and that's what we
do. The overriding thing for me is that, uh, you have indicated and
working with an architect who has a, uh, a track record of looking, of
making these considerations, and in particular, pursuing the Lead-
certification. I, uh, I'm willing to proceed forward with the current,
existing CZA. Uh, I hear two that are wanting to, or at least examine it.
Are there others?
Elliott: I'm ready to move forward.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#6 Page 36
O'Donnell: I am too.
Wilburn: Urn, so I will go ahead and close the public hearing. (pounds gavel) ,
2) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST
CONSIDERATION)
Karr: Motion to accept correspondence.
Vanderhoef: So moved.
Wilburn: Moved by Vanderhoef.
O'Donnell: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by O'Donnell to accept correspondence. All those in favor say
aye. Opposed same sign.
O'Donnell: Move first consideration.
Wilburn: Moved by O'Donnell.
Correia: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by Correia. Discussion?
Bailey: I'm just going to have to vote against this. It just doesn't...it' s not a
Conditional Zoning Agreement that I can support.
Wilburn: Just to the members of the church, and uh, the architect designing, I think
you've seen, again, it's a concern for future impact of the, a part of the
community that's not built out yet, uh, you've heard that we applaud you
for considering the Lead-certification. I strongly encourage you. This is a
leap of faith by some of us for you to do what you can to pursue that, and
again, I think that helps provide a balance, and perhaps go a little further
than, uh, I don't see the potential. There's always potential that.. .what a
parking lot mayor may not look like is out there, but I think there's some
strong pluses here, in terms of, uh, the frontage of the square, the
dedication, urn, the access to trails, and in particular, the Lead-
certification.
Bailey: And certainly, my concern is not with the church, and perhaps you're
suggesting that some of us just don't have as much faith as others.
Wilburn: That was not my intention. (laughter)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6 Page 37
O'Donnell: That would be me! (laughter)
Vanderhoef: I will support this, but uh, I do hope you take a strong look at minimizing,
uh, the amount of parking that goes on that property, even ifit is dual-
level.
Wilburn:
Roll call. Item carries 6-1, Bailey in the negative. Weare going to take
ten-minute break, twelve-minute break - back here at quarter til.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6 Page 38
ITEM 6 PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
g) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING
APPROXIMATELY 15.42 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED
SOUTH AND WEST OF WHISPERING MEADOWS DRIVE
FROM MEDIUM DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
(RS-8) TO HIGH DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
(RS-12) (REZ06-00025) (SECOND CONSIDERATION)
Champion: Can we expedite this?
Karr: The applicant has requested expedited action.
Vanderhoef: I move that the rule requiring that ordinances must be considered and
voted on for passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at
which it is to be finally passed be suspended, that the second consideration
and vote be waived, and that the ordinance be voted on for final passage at
this time.
Champion: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by Vanderhoef, seconded by Champion to expedite. Discussion?
Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
Vanderhoef: I move that the ordinance be finally adopted at this time.
Correia: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by Vanderhoef, seconded by Correia. Discussion? Rollcall.
Dilkes: Need to do ex-parte.
Wilburn: Oh, that's right. Urn, does anyone have any ex-parte communications that
they need to disclose? Since the last meeting?
Elliott: Nothing new.
Wilburn: Okay. Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#6 Page 39
ITEM 6 PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
h) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING
APPROXIMATELY 34.86 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED
SOUTH AND WEST OF WHISPERING MEADOWS DRIVE
FROM MEDIUM DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
(RS-8) AND HIGH DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
(RS-12) TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY 8 (OPD-8)
AND PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY 12 (OPD-12)
(REZ-6-00026) (SECOND CONSIDERATION)
O'Donnell: Move second...
Wilburn: Uh, applicant has requested expedited. . .
Vanderhoef: I move that the rule requiring that ordinances must be considered and
voted on for passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at
which it is to be finally passed be suspended, that the second consideration
and vote be waived, and that the ordinance be voted on for final passage at
this time.
Wilburn: Moved by Vanderhoef.. . to expedite.
Correia: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by Correia. Discussion? Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
Vanderhoef: I move that the ordinance be finally adopted at this time.
Correia: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by Vanderhoef, seconded by Correia. Discussion?
Champion: Been a lot of discussion.
Correia: There has been a lot of discussion.
O'Donnell: Too much.
Champion: It all worked out fine. Just happy to get it done.
Wilburn: Roll call. Urn, I didn't ask for ex-parte.
Dilkes: We'll assume it's the same as the last time.
Wilburn: Okay, all right. Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6 Page 40
ITEM 6 PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
i) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE
PRELIMINARY PLAT OF WHISPERING MEADOWS
SUBDIVISION, PART 4, IOWA CITY, IOWA (SUB06-00017)
Champion: Move the resolution.
Wilburn: Moved by Champion.
O'Donnell: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by O'Donnell. Discussion?
Correia: I'm still interested.. . and I know that in terms of the open space dedication
this is where there's open...
Dilkes: No, you need it on h, to not pass that.
Correia: That was the platting.
Di1kes: Well, the problem is that, well, I think what Jeff said last night, because of
the OPDH plan establishes the lot configurations, and there's no part about
Lot A designated, to be dedicated to the City. That upon passage of that
you don't have that option.
Correia: I misunderstood.
Elliott: We lost Amy. (laughter)
Wilburn: Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#6 Page 41
ITEM 6 PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
j) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE REZONING APPROXIMATELY
2.35 ACRES OF PROPERTY LOCATED AT 802 S. CLINTON
STREET FROM INTENSIVE COMMERCIAL (CI-l) ZONE TO
NEIGHBORHOOD PUBLIC (P-l) ZONE (REZ07-00009) (PASS
AND ADOPT)
Bailey: Move adoption.
Champion: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by Bailey, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Does anybody
have any ex-parte communications they need to disclose? Roll call. Item
carries 6-0, with 1 abstention, Correia, due to conflict of interest.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#6
Page 42
ITEM 6
PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
I) AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE OF THE VACATED
PORTION OF COURT STREET RIGHT-OF-WAY BETWEEN
CLINTON STREET AND CAPITOL STREET.
a) PUBLIC HEARING
Wilburn:
This is a public hearing. (pounds gavel) Public hearing is open. (pounds
gavel) Public hearing is closed.
b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
O'Donnell: Move the resolution.
Wilburn: Moved by O'Donnell.
Vanderhoef: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by Vanderhoef. Discussion?
Vanderhoef: This is just a trading of land to, uh, take care of a jog that happened to be
in the right-of-way along this street, and this is, uh, to the advantage of
both of us.
Wilburn: Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#10
ITEM 10
Wilburn:
Ford:
Page 43
APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AN
AGREEMENT FOR PRIVATE REDEVELOPMENT BY AND
BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND ALPLA, INC.
a) PUBLIC DISCUSSION
This is a public discussion. Anyone care to address the Council on this
public discussion?
Hi, I'm Wendy Ford, Economic Development Coordinator, and I've been
working with Alpla, the company has come to the City to request a
$600,000 four-year tax increment financing assistance package. They are
a company located out in our industrial area, and they have received a TIF
in 2003 to help them establish a business that started out with a promise of
having 35 full-time jobs, and now they have built that up and they have at
least 180 full-time, 180 full-time permanent jobs, and are willing to
maintain that for the life of what they hope will be their second TIP. What
they'd like to do is add on to the second building they have. As you'll
remember, they had one building, uh, that was the one for which they
applied for TIF. They went in and purchased the old General Mills
building, and now they would like to expand onto that so that they can ad
a product line of creating cap closures for the blow-molded bottles that
they already have been manufacturing. Urn, for those of you who mayor
may not know, Alpla makes blow-molded plastic containers that are used
in such products as the Dasani water bottles that you may find at your
convenience store, or the Proctor. . . the mini Proctor and Gamble
containers that get shipped essentially right down the street to our Proctor
and Gamble facility here in Iowa City. What they would like to do is put
on an 82,200 square foot addition, and they would promise to, uh, bring on
25 new permanent full-time jobs with that facility, uh, during the life of
the TIF. One particularly important point about this TIF, uh, is that in the
agreement, in the agreement that we have drafted with Alpla, they have
agreed not to seek the partial industrial property tax exemption, to which
they would be entitled. Now that, uh, that is a five-year sliding scale or
declining actually property tax, uh, abatement that they would receive,
simply because they're in the industrial area, and would amount to about a
45% or so tax break on.. .on the taxes that they owe. With a TIF, the
difference is, uh, that they would, a, first of all pay 100% of all the
property taxes on all of the property they own, including the new addition,
and then and only if they met the requirements that we set forth in terms of
employment and investment in the property would they be eligible for that
rebate, and the rebate would total just slightly more than the total of a
partial industrial property tax exemption would. The advantage to the
, company is that they would realize the $600,000 within four years, and
thus have the luxury, or the benefit you might say, of receiving those cash
dollars ahead of, uh, when they would be able to enjoy them with a partial
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#10
Page 44
industrial property tax exemption. The other very salient point, and the
differences between these two sorts of tax assistance, or public assistance,
would be that with the partial industrial property tax exemption, the, uh,
the debt levy by the taxing bodies - the City, the County, uh and the
schools - is not protected, anduh, thus, those dollars are.. . are taken out of
the coffers of those, uh, taxing bodies for that particular, for that particular
amount over that particular time. That is not the case with TIP, as you'll
remember, because property taxes are paid in at 100%, but they're rebated
back out at less than 100%, and that difference there protects any debt levy
that the cities, the counties, and the school districts incur. So that's
probably the most salient part of the agreement, or not salient, but the
most, uh, confusing and, but more interesting parts of this agr~ement, uh,
is by providing this type of incentive and preventing them from going after
the other kind of.. .we're actually doing our community a favor. Uh, let's
see. I believe you've been able to read through all the materials and you
see that with the jobs that they have they would promise to pay at least a
$14.00 an hour minimum wage average over the jobs that they create, and
there will be 25 new ones, and that they would promise to maintain 180 in
the permanent full-time status, as well.
O'Donnell: Great!
Correia: Wendy, does partial industrial property tax exemption, who would they
apply.. .when you say they could apply for that. Is that to the State? Is
that to us? I mean...
Ford: Through the City, if! have that right. I believe it's through the City.
Dilkes: It's a State Code provision that we essentially mirror in our City Code.
We've done it, for those of you who've been around, we did it for ACT,
but it's really a perfunctory thing, if they meet the criteria. And it's not a
discretionary issue.
Bailey: Right, we have no contractual arrangement, if they would apply for it, and
I think that was a huge motivator in how we developed this agreement.
Correia: What's the criteria?
Ford: That they're in that particular area, I believe.
Dilkes: It's very minimal.
Wilburn: Any other questions of Wendy? Thank you. Would anyone else care to
speak during the public discussion? I'll consider a resolution.
b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#10 Page 45
Bailey: Move the resolution.
Vanderhoef: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by Bailey, seconded by Vanderhoef. Discussion?
Champion: I do think the Economic Development Committee felt like this was a
really strong company, that we really wanted to keep here, they're
motivated, they're growing much more rapidly than they thought they
would, and we're happy to be able to do this and keep 'em moving!
O'Donnell: Great!
Correia: My question is I was looking at.. .was that we, I mean, this whole_
thing put a wrench in things, which from reading the minutes I didn't
really get a sense of what the difference was, and that is was something
that they would essentially be able to receive based on criteria. Urn, as I
was looking at, you know, looking at whether we should provide a second
TIF after they're still in the first TIF, with $500,000, and that it is a
growing company that, it's a growing industry now. I'm not worried that
this company is not committed to Iowa City, given that Proctor and
Gamble is right down the street. They reported $230 million in local
sales, a $2 billion company, it's, you know, an industry that's growing,
urn, and so as we continue to talk at budget time about our inability to, urn,
fund essential services that we'd like to fund, urn, you know, look at that.
Whether we should do this because would they, and I suppose that's a
gamble you take, would they do this anyway? They purchased this
building; their business is obviously thriving; urn, but if they could receive
this other thing, sort of anyway, and we're giving a better benefit by doing
the TIF. I mean that, for me, that sort of puts a wrench in just thinking
about should we do a TIF in this instance, as we're trying to...
Vanderhoef: One of the things that, that I weigh with that, because you're not wrong
with what you're thinking, is the fact that we are very committed on this
Council in the past to make sure that these are short-term, and if! read the
materials correctly, the first TIF will be completed, uh, and paid out and
they'll be coming on to the tax rolls at the time that this second one, uh,
kicks in, which means we're already reaping the benefits of, of a short-
term TIF, which is not a traditional thing that we see across the State of
Iowa, that frequently they're put in for 10, 15,20 years and continue to
stay off the tax rolls. We put a limit on the amount of rebate or TIF that
they can get, and if it' s paid off even earlier, then, uh, it goes onto the full
tax rolls.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#10 Page 46
Correia: I understand that.. .but I guess, I guess part of it is these are public dollars,
or potential public dollars, and if there's indication that this business will
expand without, without this investment, then because it's a strong market,
there are conditions in our community that make this a very appealing
market for this company to continue to grow in, including other industry
that's nearby, including we have workforce that's available in the
community to work at the plant, urn, then... then is that a wise use of these
dollars, if we would get this growth anyway. I mean, that's what I, as I
was considering this, that's what I was considering, within that framework
of thinking.
Bailey: Well, and just looking at TIF as a tool, I mean, how do you believe, or not
believe, what somebody tells you? I mean, we just had that discussion
with St. Pat's, and you take a lot of things on faith. If somebody comes in
and tells you that they need this to expand, and so to use a TIF, to see
incremental improvements that will.. .perhaps not tomorrow, perhaps not
next year, but in four or five years, increase our commercial tax rolls, I
mean, that's the tool that we're using. So I think it does merit
consideration - would they do this otherwise, but it also merits looking at
what is our return on investment for the community, for the tax rolls, and
to use a TIF here rather than the partial industrial property tax exemption
does something that I think we've been committed to, is protecting the
other taxing entities, because we hear concerns in Johnson County that it
affects and has an impact on the School District to use a TIF, and so I
think we're being very responsible by creating an agreement that locks the
use of something they have access to, just almost in a pro forma way, that
would affect those other taxing entities, by creating a relationship and
agreement that we have standards for, for wages, and that we have
standards for improvements, and it's a rebate situation. So, they really
have to verify all of these agreements. So, I understand...I certainly
understand your concerns, but I think how we look upon this as, is the
return on investments down the road. Keep it short. Get them on the tax
rolls as quickly as possible.
Champion: Well, we also.. .
V anderhoef: Well, one of the things that.. .
Correia: I understand all that.
Vanderhoef: . . . they... you say they are in a good climate and they're thriving. That's
true, but if this is a four-year TIF, it may be four years before they're in a
position to make this expansion. Meanwhile, we have been paying
salaries, or they have been paying salaries out, which is dollars that
support our own economy that ripple through our whole economy if we
have 25 new.. .new good jobs. (several talking) Yeah, but.. .but paid out.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#10 Page 47
Bailey: We have to see an increase in two years.
Vanderhoef: Yeah, exactly. So it's.. .it's a matter of do we wait for them to be in that
position, or do we get that, the dollars of salaries into the economy sooner,
and ripple through the grocery stores and all that.
Correia: I understand all that. I...
Vanderhoef: No, I know where you'recoming from, but I see these other things as
advantages.
Correia: I guess I'm.. .I'm thinking we're going to get this anyway.
Champion: Oh, I think you're really naIve, if you think that.
Correia: I mean, that $230 million in sales in Iowa City, a $2 billion company
globally, you know, it.. .so, I mean, but I needed to know more about...
Dilkes: Essentially, it's just both the State Code and the City Code, which mirrors
the State Code, establish a partial, urn, exemption from property taxation
for new construction of industrial, real estate, research service facilities,
warehouses, distribution centers, so essentially if you meet that definition,
you're entitled to the exemption.
Correia: An exemption of how much. Like what's the.. .percent?
Dilkes: The amount of exemption allowed for actual value added is...
Ford: It slides, so the.. . and I don't think I have the figures here, but it declines
such that the first year you are exempted from, for example, 45%.
Dilkes: This says it's for the first year, 75%; second year, 60%; third year, 45%.
Ford: Oh, yes, that's right, and it averages a...
Dilkes: .. . fourth year, 30%; fifth year, 15%.
Vanderhoef: We did some of those a few years ago, but we haven't done any recently.
Dilkes: And I think it comes to the City Council simply as.. .as, urn, approval that
it meets that criteria.
Vanderhoef: And don't they have the choice of.. .100% for the first, for three years, and
then go on? There's one of them that does that, and then, or they can
choose to take this sliding one. . . scaled one.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#10 Page 48
Ford: Don't know ifit's on the industrial one.
Dilkes: I don't think on the industrial.
Ford: Or one of the other enterprise zones perhaps or something.
Vanderhoef: No, we haven't done enterprise zones.
Elliott: This is one of those times when I agree with Regenia, and I think she
articulated it quite well. TIF's we have used, yeah, you're surprised! I
agree! (laughter) TIF's we have used, I think, very judiciously over the
past several years, and in each instance, it has just been almost a
miraculous benefit to the City of Iowa City. When I look at the things that
have been TIF'd, it is an investment in the future. It is a public-private
partnership and it's.. .it's good, as long as we do. . . the word judicious
comes up, and I think we have been very much that way.
O'Donnell: I agree, Bob, and this is exactly the type of growth that Iowa City's
looking for. It's clean. It's traditional jobs with above-average wages.
I.. .by a long shot, so I'm very happy to do this.
Correia: I mean, I think it's fabulous growth as well. I don't think it's not good
growth. I'm just wondering if it requires the amount of public investment
that we're...I mean, that over now a nine-year period, this will be
investing over a million dollars.
Elliott: Would they do it anyway, is your question.
Correia: That's what I'm wondering. Because it's a growing industry, this is a
good community, urn, you know, from what, you know, limited time I
spent researching them on the internet and what they've been able to
achieve in this community, urn, in sales. I mean, we don't need to sell
ourselves short. (laughter)
Bailey: It's just how you take what people say. I mean, that's part of the
challenge with this, I think.
Wilburn: Okay. Roll call. Item carries 6-1, Correia in the negative.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#11
ITEM 11
Wilburn:
Elliott:
Wilburn:
Page 49
APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF
CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE NAPOLEON
PARK CONCESSION AND RESTROOM FACILITY,
ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO
ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO
PUBLISH ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS, AND FIXING TIME
AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS.
a) PUBLIC HEARING
This is a public hearing. (pounds gavel) Public hearing is open. This
replaces the old concession/restroom building in Napoleon Park. Uh,
estimated construction is $275,000. It'll be financed with General
Obligation Bonds and contributions from Iowa City Girls' Softball
organization. Anyone care to speak to the public hearing?
Do you have any interest in that, Ross?
Yes, I do. (laughter)
Vanderhoef: Don't we all! (laughter)
Wilburn:
Elliott:
Wilburn:
But the opportunity's there for anyone...
You bet!
Uh, public hearing is closed. (pounds gavel)
b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION
O'Donnell: Move the resolution.
Bailey: Move the resolution.
Wilburn: Moved by O'Donnell, seconded by Bailey. Discussion?
Correia: So, when do we think this will be constructed...I mean.. .will they be done
before next. . .
Helling: Terry came all the way down here, so...
Champion: And without his sling!
Trueblood: Sorry, did you ask about the construction time?
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#11 Page 50
Correia: Well, just the time, and will they be constructed in time for the 2008
softball season, which starts pretty early in April?
Trueblood: Yes.
Correia: Yes? Okay. Yeah! (laughter and several talking)
Wilburn: Barring any construction problems.
Bailey: We never have those! (laughter)
Wilburn: Uh, thank you. Item 12.. . (several talking).. .yes I do. Roll call. Item
carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#12 Page 51
ITEM 12 CONSIDER ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 10 OF THE CITY
CODE, ENTITLED "USE OF PUBLIC WAYS AND PROPERTY,"
CHAPTER 3, ENTITLED, "COMMERCIAL USE OF
SIDEWALKS," SECTION 3, ENTITLED "USE FOR SIDEWALK
CAFES," TO ALLOW FENCING TO REMAIN YEAR ROUND ON
CAFES LOCATED ON CONCRETE PLATFORMS AND TO
CLARIFY THAT CAFES MAY BE LOCATED ON PUBLIC
RIGHT-OF-WAY. (FIRST CONSIDERATION).
O'Donnell: Move first consideration.
Wilburn: Moved by O'Donnell.
Bailey: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by Bailey. Discussion?
Bailey: Can you give me an example of where this will.. .where we might see
this?
Dilkes: I think it's for the Teaspoons at the new Clark Building.. .on Market and
Linn, I think.
Bailey: And how will this affect snow removal issues? Because, I mean, removal
of fencing, I mean, I know downtown because we have people doing the
snow.
Dilkes: Well, it's going to be an elevated, it's on an elevated platform, so there
won't be...
Bailey: So it won't be on the public.. . okay, got it.
Dilkes: You won't be walking on it.
Elliott: Teaspoons?
Karr: Teaspoons, uh-huh, it'll be their new location. (several talking) No, it's
an additional location to their. . .
Wilburn: Further discussion? Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#13 Page 52
ITEM 13 CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 16 OF THE
CITY CODE, ENTITLED "PUBLIC WORKS," CHAPTER 3,
ENTITLED, "CITY UTILITIES," ARTICLE G, ENTITLED
"STORM WATER COLLECTION, DISCHARGE AND RUNOFF,"
TO DELETE THE EXEMPTION FOR CONCRETE TRUCK WASH
OUT. (FIRST CONSIDERATION).
Bailey: Move first consideration.
Vanderhoef: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by Bailey, seconded by Vanderhoef. Discussion?
Bailey: We need to do this, right?
Champion: Have to do it.
Dilkes: You have to do this.
Vanderhoef: Not a choice! (laughter)
Dilkes: Because the federal law says so!
Elliott: Somehow that seems unusual, when you bring something before us and
say, 'This is what you have to do.' Why do we have to do it? (laughter)
Vanderhoef: Federal law preempts us every time.
Wilburn: Roll call.
Champion: If I vote no, will they send the IRS after me? (laughter and several
talking)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#14 Page 53
ITEM 14 CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING FUNDING FOR
GLUTEN EVOLUTION, LLC FROM IOWA CITY'S
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT - ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT FUND AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO ACT AS CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
AND SUBMIT ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTATION TO THE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN
DEVELOPMENT.
Wilburn: Item 14, I will need to abstain due to a conflict of interest. It involves the
use of Community Development Block Grant Funds, and I work for an
organization that receives such funds.
Bailey: (reads Item 14)
O'Donnell: Move the resolution.
Vanderhoef: Second.
Bailey: Moved by O'Donnell, seconded by Vanderhoef. Discussion? Wendy?
Did you want to present some background on this.
Ford: Uh, yeah, sure. The owner, Anna Sobaski, and one of her business
partners, Darin Fig are here on behalf of Breads by Anna, Gluten
Evolution, which is a company who has applied to and presented to the
Economic Development Committee for a CDBG loan in the amount of
$50,000 for her business which specializes in the research and
development of products that are, uh, that are made for people with
gluten.. .who need gluten-free diets, and the illness is escaping me.
(several talking) Celiac Disease, I'm sorry, uh, so, her company has been
working very diligently and uh, the product actually, while it's developed
and researched here, is put together and packaged, or co-packaged as the
word is used, in Michigan and New York, where food licenses are for this
particular product. Then the product comes back to the Iowa City area
where it is marketed and distributed, and that, uh, marketing and
distributing are the two areas of the business that Gluten Evolution is
trying to grow, and will be using these funds for. They'll be able to
employ a full-time marketer and at least a half-time, if not a full-time, uh,
person to pick orders and work in the warehouse, as well. Okay,
questions?
Correia: Well, I'm interested in offering an amendment. I'd like to see those
CDBG loans offered at a lower percent. These are dollars that, urn,
are.. .that we loan out at no cost to the City. They're not.. .they're CDBG
dollars. We had these dollars for a while, trying to market them, and I
know staff has been doing a fabulous job finding, urn, businesses and
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#14
Page 54
working with potential businesses that can utilize this fund, urn, and I'm
interested in offering an amendment, um, for a 1.5% loan. So I move a
1.5% loan for this.
Bailey: Do we have a second? Okay, motion dies.. .or amendment dies for lack of
a second. Wendy, did you want to explain how the interest rate was
arrived at?
Ford: Sure. Uh, when applicants come to the City for CDBG loans, they have
first have to work with the local financial institution for the amount that
that institution is willing to, or feel comfortable giving them. The City
then can step in, in a gap filling role, if you will, and between the financial
institution and the applicant, urn, and the City perhaps to some extent, urn,
they determine what the applicant is able to, or would be able to pay back,
and that's how interest rates are derived on this particular one.
Bailey: And what would be a typical bank interest rate for a business loan?
Ford: Typically.. .um, my last one was over 7 and 1/2 percent, urn, typical I'm
not exactly sure, but they're above 7% at this point.
Bailey: So this is still below market.
O'Donnell: It's a great rate.
Correia: I mean, I guess as we...in an earlier item, we are providing up to a million
dollars in grant to a multi-million dollar international corporation. I mean,
I don't think it's beyond, urn, an expectation to offer much lower. I mean,
I want a revolving loan. I support, I mean, we could give these dollars out
as grants and support micro-enterprise, as many communities do do that
with their CDBG dollars. I support having a revolving fund with, you
know, getting the principle back, small amount of interest, urn, I mean, I
just don't think it's beyond unreasonable, urn, to do that. I mean, I
understand it's what she could pay back, but this is going to be
additionally supporting a very small business that has, sounds like has
really good potential. Urn, so, that's why I offered the amendment, but I
see that there's not support for that, so...
Bailey: Okay. Further discussion? Roll call. Item passed 6-0, Wilburn abstaining
due to conflict of interest.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#15 Page 55
ITEM 15 CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE HISTORIC
PRESERVATION COMMISSION TO FILE AN APPLICATION
FOR A CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENT (CLG) GRANT FOR
CONDUCTING AN INTENSIVE SURVEY OF THE NEAR
SOUTHSIDE AREA TO IDENTIFY, EVALUATE AND PREPARE
DOCUMENTATION FOR THE HISTORIC PROPERTIES.
Bailey: Move the resolution.
Wilburn: Moved by Bailey.
Champion: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by.. . Champion. I knew it began with a "c." Uh, discussion?
Elliott: I'll not support this, as I said last night, I think this is going at it the wrong
way. I like the way Jean Walker and her folks did it out in the Melrose,
where they first generated interest by the people in that area, and then
worked with the City to get it done, as opposed to on the northside where
it turned out to backfire. So, that's the reason I won't support this.
Bailey: One of the things I really like about Historic Preservation Commission is it
regularly seeks grants, and brings in outside dollars. I know that there's a
match requirement, but it's bringing in outside dollars and communicating
with other organizations that are supportive of our community's goals, and
so I know that it's extra work for volunteers, and I appreciate the work
that you're willing to do to do these sorts of things to preserve the history
and document the history of our community.
Correia: And it also appears that this project is going to work towards goals of the
1992 Historic.Preservation Plan, and the Near Southside Redevelopment
Plan, which was developed with citizen and neighborhood participation.
So, I mean, I do believe that does involve the neighborhood, urn, in
pushing for this. It's just been a while in getting there. So, I appreciate
the work, as well.
Dilkes: I just want to remind you too that, urn, after the northside problems that
we had had, we did change the resolution to provide that the grant
agreement must specifically be approved by the Council, and that any
nominations for National Register approval proposed by the study have to
be approved by the Council.
Wilburn: Roll call. Item carries 6-1, Elliott in the negative.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#16 Page 56
ITEM 16 CONSIDER A RESOLUTION NAMING THE ENTRY DRIVEWAY
TO THE IOWA CITY WATER TREATMENT PLANT STEPHEN
ATKINS DRIVE.
Vanderhoef: Move the resolution.
Correia: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by Vanderhoef, seconded by Correia. Discussion?
Bailey: Do you think he's watching right now? (several talking and laughing)
Elliott: And the preference was Stephen as opposed to Steve? Is that correct?
Helling: That's correct.
Wilburn: Stephen Atkins Drive.
Bailey: Thanks for checking on that.
Elliott: Aren't' we formal?
O'Donnell: That's very formal.
Correia: I like it.
Champion: Well, for a man who irons his socks. (laughter and several talking)
Wilburn: You know, I did that once because my socks were still wet, but (laughter).
Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
Correia: So when do we think that sign will go up? Any idea?
O'Donnell: Is Steve painting it, is that what's going on?
Bailey: We didn't ask for that, I bet.
Helling: I think.. .we can probably, you know, create the sign in short order. I'm
not sure when it'll go up. I told Steve that we would let him know.
Wilburn: Okay, great!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21,2007.
#17 Page 57
ITEM 17 CONSIDER A RESOLUTION NAMING THE POND AREA
LOCATED WITHIN THE THORNBERRY OFF-LEASH DOG
PARKAS LILY'S POND.
O'Donnell: Move the resolution.
Bailey: Move the resolution.
Wilburn: Moved by O'Donnell, seconded by Bailey. Discussion?
Champion: It's a deserving name.
O'Donnell: It's a great idea.
Vanderhoef: (several talking at once) The name is just sort of appropriate for a water. . .
Wilburn: This is named after the Dalmatian, Lily, who recently passed away.
Champion: How old was Lily?
Wilburn: Lily was six.
Champion: A baby!
Wilburn: Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#19 Page 58
ITEM 19 CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING, AUTHORIZING AND
DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AND THE CITY
CLERK TO ATTEST CONSULTANT SUPPLEMENTAL
AGREEMENT NUMBER 1 TO THE AGREEMENT DATED JUNE
27, 2006, BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND HOWARD
R. GREEN COMPANY TO PROVIDE ENGINEERING
CONSUL T ANT SERVICES FOR THE MCCOLLISTER
BOULEV ARD IOWA RIVER BRIDGE PROJECT.
Bailey: Move the resolution.
Wilburn: Moved by Bailey.
Vanderhoef: Second.
Wilburn: Seconded by Vanderhoef. Discussion?
Vanderhoef: This is for the muscle.. .relocation project.
Wilburn: Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#21 Page 59
ITEM 21 CONSIDER A RESOLUTION REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 97-
112 AND ESTABLISHING A POLICY FOR PAYROLL
DEDUCTIONS FOR CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS.
Correia: Move the resolution.
Vanderhoef: Second.
Wilburn: Moved by Correia, seconded by Vanderhoef.
Elliott: And this is also required?
Champion: No.
Dilkes: Urn, if you. . .if you chose not to do this, you would have to
discontinuation for any organization that qualified. In other words, you
could no longer do United Way.
Elliott: To all or to none. Okay.
Champion: And I like the idea of expanding it. I think it's healthy.
Bailey: Mr. Mayor, I'll be abstaining due to a conflict of interest.
Wilburn: Okay.
DiCarlo: Good evening, my name is Monique DiCarlo and with me tonight are
eight members from an organization called Iowa Shares. We're
representing the Englert Theatre, Environmental Advocates, Iowa United
Nations Association, Iowa.. .Iowa's Physician for Social Responsibility,
and the Women's Resource and Action Center. Iowa Shares is a
federation of nineteen member coalition of non-profits that would be
eligible to participate in the workplace campaign with the City, and we're
very excited about this potential. We, urn, have had quite a bit of past
success in our 14 years of existence. We have raised over a million
dollars for our nineteen-member organizations. We participate in over 30
other workplaces around the State, and have an excellent reputation, and
would be happy to provide the City with references. Urn, research, as
some of you know, indicates that the more giving options that exist for
employees, the more that giving goes up in general. More people give and
those who are giving often give more. Kathy Lyons is a staff member
with Iowa Shares here tonight, and also has our most recent brochure that
we'd like to share with you.
Champion: You've been in existence for a long time. Tell me again how long that
was.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#2l Page 60
DiCarlo: Yeah, I think our first campaign, Kathy, in 1993?
Lyons: It was in 1993. We were originally formed in 92, so this is our 15th
campaIgn.
DiCarlo: Happy to answer any other questions from Council Members.
Wilburn: Thank you. Roll call. Item carries 6-0, with one abstention by Bailey due
to conflict of interest.
Karr: Motion to accept correspondence.
Wilburn: I will entertain a motion to accept correspondence.
Vanderhoef: So moved.
O'Donnell: So moved.
Wilburn: Moved by Vanderhoef, seconded by O'Donnell. All those in favor say
aye. Opposed same sign. Uh, carries.. .uh, you can accept
correspondence, can't you?
Bailey: I think so. Can I accept correspondence?
O'Donnell: You can accept it, you just can't read it. (several talking and laughing)
Correia: Urn, so who would Iowa Shares work with in the City, urn, to have their
information distributed to employees along with other workplace giving
information. I mean, I think it makes sense to have those things...
Helling: Right.
Correia: .. . should be at the same time, not to have too many.
Helling: Yeah, that's done through Human Resources, Sylvia Mejia's office.
Correia: Okay.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#27 Page 61
ITEM 27 CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION.
Wilburn: Bob?
Elliott: Nothing. How 'bout that?
Wilburn: Works for me. Regenia?
Bailey: I just want to note that this weekend people in the area will have the
chance to ride the train, slowly, between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. I
hope some of you are taking advantage of that, and I hope that those of
you who didn't receive tickets will pay attention to the responses of people
who were on the train. I think this is an exciting commuter opportunity
that we will continue to look at in the corridor, and it offers us an
opportunity for, urn, transit and development, and not spending a lot of
extra money to put extra lanes in, but potentially looking at some public
transportation that's desperately needed between Cedar Rapids and Iowa
City.
Correia: All the tickets have been sold.
Bailey: I have one, if somebody wants a 3:00. Urn, I have an extra one, so...if
anyone's interested.
Vanderhoef: Uh, the only thing I have for tonight is school's started. A lot of happy
families out there, happy children out there, and let's keep them all safe
and drive safely through our school zones, and watch for, uh, these young
ones who may get a little confused on where home is, and help them find
their places.
Wilburn: Mike?
O'Donnell: Well, this is the first meeting in ten years that Steve Atkins hasn't been
sitting over the meeting. Dale, great job tonight (laughter and several
talking) I assume you're going to call Steve in the morning and tell him
about the change of the name and everything, because it's past 9:00 and
I'm sure he's in bed.
Wilburn: Dale says, 'Steve who?' (laughter)
Helling: I would call him. I'm not sure he's in bed.
Wilburn: Connie?
Champion: Urn, does anybody have any idea, and who would I call to find out, when
the construction is going to be done at Gilbert and Bowery. I had some
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.
#27
Page 62
college student tell me today I totally have ruined his senior year, by
allowing that to be done.
O'Donnell: I think it's on the same timetable as North Dodge.
Bailey: Which is done! Almost! (laughter and several talking)
Elliott: That took a decade, I think.
Helling: I'll let you know! (laughter)
Champion: And of the Champions, I'm proud to announce our 14th grandchild! A
girl! (several talking at once) Julia Constance, born on my birthday. How
perfect! That's a smart granddaughter! (laughter and several talking at
once)
Wilburn: Amy?
Correia: I want to, uh, say a special thank you to the firefighters who were in
attendance at the August 7th block party. That was the night-out block
party, the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, a national night out
block party to get people out of their homes and into communities, which I
attended. It was at the intersection of Broadway and Cross Park on
August ih, urn. There were four or five firefighters there. Had a fire
truck. Kids were getting a tour and they were, urn, very friendly, and it
was a very warm evening, and um, couple of us spotted a fire hydrant that
was right there on the corner and so they did open up the fire hydrant and
all these kids were just having a blast, urn, in this fire hydrant, so it was a
very good event to accommodate all of those kids and it was a very fun
evening, so I want to say thank you to those firefighters that were there,
urn, which made me really think that that splash pad, I think, in that area
would get a lot of use. So, good luck to those folks.
Champion: Now that they know how to turn the.. . (laughter and several talking at
once)
Correia: There's some pretty itty, bitty kids there. Urn, I also attended, had an
opportunity to attend, I think it's the first, the Landlocked Film Festival. I
don't know if other folks...it was on the, took place in the downtown, the
Englert, the Iowa City Public Library, urn, Hotel Vetro, and urn, Sheraton
all had films all across the three days. I caught one of them, uh, the
Facing Sudan documentary which was very moving, but as I was leaving
that movie, which was well attended, they were just. . . which was at the
Library, there were just lots of people waiting for the next movie. I think
that it was probably successful, I hope, just from what I saw. The listing
of movies was incredible, so I hope they do it again. And, just
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007. '
#27
Elliott:
Correia:
Wilburn:
Page 63
congratulations to the folks who did that. And I just also want to thank the
Police Chief for putting out this memo, um, on August 17th about the...
Good, Amy, thanks for mentioning that!
Yeah, about the, urn, various sexual assault update, and so it looks like he
is working, and the Department is working with the UI Police Department
and Kirkwood to get the word out, urn, on what's going on, the
investigations, what to do, urn, in case you need some help, so I really do
appreciate that. We also got, urn, some statistics that will be in our packet
from RVP so I want to thank the community for, urn, and those folks, for
giving us information and for staying on top of this. So...
Just a reminder to the public that the Summer of the Arts is still
continuing, starting to wind down. You have an opportunity to enjoy the
Friday Night Concerts or the Saturday Night Movies. Friday night the
Orquesta Alto Maiz was playing and it was a packed house downtown, so
please come out and enjoy the rest of the summer activities. It will be hot
and cool.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of August 21, 2007.