HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-07-19 TranscriptionPage 1
Council Present: Botchway, Cole, Dickens, Mims, Taylor, Thomas, Throgmorton
Staff Present: Fruin, Andrew, Dilkes, Karr, Boothroy, Yapp, Ford, Nations, Hightshoe,
Havel, O'Brien, Ralston, Bockenstedt, Kelsay
Others Present:
Questions from Council re Agenda Items:
Throgmorton/ Okay, folks, let's get this show on the road. So, uh.... want to convene the Iowa
City City Council work session for Tuesday, July 19. Welcome to everybody! It's good
to see all of you. Talking to the Councilpeople up here, but also to you! (laughs) So, uh,
first item questions, uh, concerning agenda items.
ITEM 3f(4) David Robertson: Wetherby Area Disturbances
ITEM 3f(9) Deb Starr: My neighborhood
Thomas/ I had a question on, tun .... it was either 3f(4) or 3f(9). I have them combined here, but
some letters from the community regarding disruptions in their neighborhoods.
Throgmorton/ 8 and 9.
Thomas/ And, um.....my question would be what is .... when we receive such concerns, what's...
procedurally what is the response? Do we have, um.....
Fruin/ Depends on the nature of the email. If there's questions that are posed, the staff will
respond and you'll see those copied in here. Uh, oftentimes if it's just commentary, we'll
just let that go into the packet as .... as such. Um .... 3 .... f.....let's see, 3f(9) and 3f(4), I
know we've, uh.....staff has had, uh, various conversations with Mr. Robertson and I
believe that, uh.... 3f(9) is, uh, Miss Starr. I don't believe we've engaged with Miss Starr,
other than, uh, through neighborhood meetings with a larger group. We did have several
staff participate in a neighborhood meeting after the shots fired incident, uh, near Mercer
Park.
Throgmorton/ I think I would like to add that I've contacted Debra Starr and arranged a visit and
walk Esther Court and Esther Street with her. Uh, it's going to happen, uh, early in
August. I don't know, the 2nd, something like that. I don't have the date written down in
front of me.
Thomas/ Okay. Good.
Throgmorton/ I wanted to make sure she knew that people up here were paying attention. Other
agenda items?
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ITEM 3f(12) Charlie Eastham: Request for location of ICHA "Family Obligations"
[Staff response included]
ITEM 3f(13) Rafael Morataya: Forest View Tenants Association: Core Principles of
a Just Development [Staff response included
Cole/ I guess I have a question regarding, um, Item 3f(12) and 3f(13), uh, the preliminary
proposal, uh, that staff received from Charlie Eastham, as well as, uh, Rafael Morataya.
Um, have you had the opportunity to think about, Geoff, sort of what the process is going
to look like going forward in terms of these particular, uh, proposals?
Frain/ Let me just bring those up real quick. Uh, 3f(12) was responded to, urn .... from Eleanor's
office, um, and I don't think there's anything else left to do unless the Council has
questions, uh, regarding that item. And 311(13) was an invitation, uh.... uh, for me to meet
with, uh, the Center for Worker Justice and we have set that up for Friday. So I'll be
meeting with them, urn .... you can see the email that, uh, correspondence there and then
the attachment that they had sent, and I think that'll be the discussion points for the
meeting.
Cole/ Excellent!
ITEM 12. CITY MANAGER CONTRACT — RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE
MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST AN EMPLOYMENT
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND GEOFFREY E.
FRUIN, CITY MANAGER
Throgmorton/ Anything else? With regard to Item 12, the City Manager contract. I'm very
pleased to present the proposed contract to you, and I really want to thank Eleanor and
Marian for all the help you've provided over the past several months with regard to the
search and with regard to this particular activity as well. Uh, my July 14 memo
documents the steps .... I took with their help to craft a good agreement with Geoff. It
also highlights, uh, two key elements of the agreement, which I'd be happy to talk about
if you want, and as the memo, uh, ends, I will soon be soliciting your suggestions about
what to include in the preliminary set of goals that's part of the contract. So .... expect a
memo from me .... shortly, about that. So .... I don't know if...if you want to ask any
questions or have any comments about the proposed contract, uh.... now's a good time to
bring `em up. I'm pretty happy! (laughs) (several talking and laughing) Yeah, okay!
Good deal! Any other agenda items? All right, uh.... oh, I'm going to ask you about the
State of Iowa League of Cities Environmental .... thing when we get to that item, in the
formal meeting.
ITEM 13. COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS. Applicants MUST reside in Iowa City and be 18
years of age unless specific qualifications are stated.
ITEM 13e COUNCIL MEMBER APPOINTMENT — State of Iowa League of Cities
Environmental Coordination Committee
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Mims/ Yeah, we don't have a meeting date set yet. They had a Google calendar and .... I gave
`em my availability. So ... that's kinda it.
Throgmorton/ Yeah.
Mims/ But yeah!
Discuss creation of a Climate Change Task Force lIP # 4 Info Packet of 7/141:
Throgmorton/ All right. So we can turn to the next topic, which is to discuss creation of a
Climate Change Task Force. So....
Fruin/ Well I'll, uh, I can get, uh.....into the memo that was provided, or if you feel comfortable
with what was, um .... given to you, uh, you can just jump into the conversation, but staff
laid out in .... in May a process, uh, to bring a facilitator on board to guide a.....a, uh,
citizen -based climate change task force and we, uh, reposted that memo in the
Information Packet so you should have that in front of you, as well. Um, at this point,
staff is just looking for some direction on the process of establishing the .... the task force.
Uh.... so if you're comfortable with what we've laid out, then I think we're good to go.
Um, we are .... we did suggest that a couple of Council Members can participate on the
RFP committee to select the facilitator, um .... but other than that, uh, staff can really run
with it and at least get it started.
Throgmorton/ Geoff, I'd like to ask you to, uh, go through the memo a bit, uh, primarily because
I know there's some people in the audience who are interested and they probably have
not had an opportunity to read the memo.
Fruin/ Sure! Well the, um, we do recommend that we, uh, engage a facilitator, someone who's
knowledgeable about climate change and, uh, strategies that cities and communities can
employ, uh, but also somebody that can take some of the administrative burden off of
staff. Um ... uh, so someone that can coordinate meeting schedules and .... maybe conduct
minutes and those sorts of items. We did anticipate this in the budget. There's $25,000
available, um, for that, uh, service, which was just an estimate that we put together... last
fall. Uh, we would put out a request for proposals and see who's interested in, uh.... uh,
perhaps being that facilitator and uh, typically it would be a staff committee that reviews
that, but given, uh, the nature of the climate change task force and the fact that Council
will likely appoint the members, we feel it's appropriate to have one or two Council
Member representatives, uh, engaged so that you're comfortable with the selection
process and whoever it is that we, uh, engage as the facilitator. Ultimately we would, uh,
that committee would bring our recommendation back to you, and so you can sign off
on ... on that, uh, selection. Uh, we would use the expertise of the facilitator to help, uh,
draft a recommended, uh, committee structure and scope, so how many people, what
types of backgrounds, uh, all those types of questions, um, would ... we'd work with the
facilitator, uh, who again presumably would have some knowledge in this area and we'd
bring back to you, um, a suggestion for how the committee's appointed and what the
scope of their work is. Um, for those of you who were on the Council when we did the
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Ad Hoc Senior Services Committee, I think we just presented you with a .... a resolution
that basically laid out the steps, um, on ... on how that selection process would work. We
would take applications presumably from the public and then you would select the
participants based on the criteria that we set forth, am .... and that process, you know,
you're.... you're pretty familiar with already is you vet, uh, applications for various
boards and commissions. We would suggest that, uh, while that's being done, the
Council discuss a preliminary carbon emissions reduction goal so a very high level goal,
uh, to .... to more or less, uh, kind of give the facilitator and anybody that signs up for this
process or volunteers for this process an idea of...uh, what your expectations are. Uh,
realize that you can't get very detailed in your ... in your goal, but .... um, we can present to
you, uh, goals from a number of cities that have done this before, and I think you'll see
that there's four or five pretty common goals that are set, so .... by 2030 or by 2040 we're
gonna reduce by X percent. Um, I think it's important that that goal be set, or those
expectations be set, uh, by the Council up front and then when the committee's
assembled, they have ... they'll have more time to .... to dig deeper into that goal and if they
feel it's too aggressive, or not aggressive enough, they can always come back to you and
say, you know, we ... we'd suggest you modify it in some.... some way, but that ... initial
guidance, I think, is ... is important. Once you select your committee members, then it just
time to ... get down and get to work, and that's when the facilitator and staff will .... will,
uh, begin conducting meetings and, uh, we haven't talked about a timeframe, but you
know you might consider a .... a year's timeframe or 18 -month timeframe. I think the
facilitator could probably provide, hopefully provide, some guidance on what an
appropriate timeframe is, but you ... you'll want to sunset the .... the group at some point,
urn .... to keep them going and make sure that, uh, we can transition to an action plan
within a reasonable period of time.
Throgmorton/ Any questions for Geoff?
Cole/ When will we look at actually developing the action plan? Would that be at the end of the
12 -months or .... what would your preliminary estimate be as to that?
Fruin/ Yeah, I think .... I think the.... the .... I would think that would be a charge of the committee,
um, to develop the action plan. So I think, you know, if the committee convenes this fall,
you're probably looking at least 12 months from the fall. Um, we did budget, uh,
$100,000. That's the next item on your work session, uh, to undertake a carbon
emission's project this year. So we don't necessarily have to wait to pursue a project,
uh..... but that formal action plan will take a lot of committee work to develop.
Cole/ And how large of a committee are we looking at?
Fruin/ That's really your call. Urn.... you.... you get to determine that, and we'll give you a
suggestion, um, you know the larger it becomes, uh, the more difficult it can be to align
schedules and the longer the time period, uh, so I would, at least at this point, recommend
that, you know, it stay pretty small. You can have a .... group of maybe six to eight
community members that are your, kind of your steering committee, and what I ... what I
have seen is that if there's a need to break up into sub -groups, so if you want to have a
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renewable energy sub -group or .... you know, whatever... whatever it may be, they can
expand at the larger sub -committee so that the larger community can still be engaged in
the process.
Throgmorton/ Geoff, I'm thinking that there are certain key stakeholders, or .... types of experts
that should be involved, despite the fact that I agree that we should be seeking volunteers
to serve on the committee, as well. So the kind of stakeholders I'm thinking of are ... um,
probably a couple people from the University who are clearly expert in .... climate change
science and also in, uh, the engineering basically, uh, about, you know, what kinds of
measures can be done most effectively. Uh, secondly MidAmerican. Uh, thirdly, uh,
what's the other, uh..... uh, thirdly, uh, a repre.... at least one, probably more, but at least
one representative from, uh, climate change advocates, people who have been pushing for
this kind of change for quite some time. And, let's see, um .... someone from the
Chamber or, uh, an allied organization of some kind. So we can get a real sense of the
interplay of stuff, cause it's not purely a technical matter, right? We know that.
Fruin/ So there's.... there's a couple ways you can go about that. You can just identify that
there's a slot for MidAmerican and assuming they're willing to participate, bring `em on.
Or if you recall the sen ... the Ad Hoc Senior Center, uh, Committee, I think we reserved a
space, you know, for a member of the Senior Center or a non-member of the Senior
Center. So you could kind of create a broader category and then anybody that fits within
that category could apply. I know, uh, Brenda Nations is here. Brenda will be our point
person on this, um .... and she's done a lot of research into how these committees are
structured and ... and I've already seen her list of stakeholders that would be good to have
at the table. So ... that's something between now and .... you know, the proc.... this
selection process we need to work through a little bit.
Throgmorton/ Okee doke. Uh, any other questions for Geoff?
Mims/ I think the memo looks good. I think the recommendation and structure looks fine.
Throgmorton/ Me too!
Fruin/ Okay! Do we have one or two volunteers to sit on the RFP committee? (several talking)
Got three. (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton/ Who was the third .... I saw two (several talking)
Fruin/ ...saw Rockne, Pauline, and Susan. (several talking)
Mims/ Let Rockne and Pauline do it, that's fine.
Throgmorton/ Okay! There you go! So, all right, we can turn to our next item. All right, so the
next item is undertake a project in fiscal year 2017 that achieves a significant, measurable
carbon emission reduction.
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Undertake a aroiect in FY 2017 that achieves a significant measurable carbon emission
reduction IIP # 5 and IP # 6 Info Packet of 7/141
Fruin/ Okay, this is one ... there's also a memo that ... that Brenda put together and ... and she's here,
uh, she can certainly elaborate on ... on the two projects that .... that we're recommending.
Um, this one is, uh, a little bit difficult for us because this is a .... a dollar amount that the
City Council requested be put in the budget, but there was really no discussion on ... on
how to use that, so .... uh, we got a staff team together and ... and went through, uh, number
of ideas, kind of a brainstorming exercise on what we, um .... what we could do that aligns
with your, uh.... strategic plan, and the, uh, idea that rose to the top was an engagement
with, uh, AmeriCorp and the University of Northern Iowa, um, and they have a ... a
program where they will have, uh, AmeriCorp representatives come in and do, uh, energy
efficiency tests, uh, in .... in various buildings, and we thought it would be a .... a great
exercise to go through our 91 public housing units and do full-blown energy assessments,
uh, in those, uh, each of those buildings. Um, and ultimately create a plan to, um .... uh,
weatherize those, make them more efficient. Uh, we like this because it, one it engages
a....a group where we can leverage our dollars quite a bit, and by working through the
Ameri ... AmeriCorps problem, uh, program, we can take advantage of, um ... uh, skilled
labor, but cheap labor frankly and we can stretch our dollars quite a bit. Um, we'd be
enhancing publicly -owned assets, um, properties that we have, and yet the benefits would
not only accrue to us but to the, um, individuals residing in those units who are paying
the utility bills. The $70,000 was...was really just a dollar amount that we picked, um....
um .... it's ... it's, you know, we could ... we could probably double or triple that amount and
still have plenty to do within those buildings, you know, if you think about windows and
HVAC units, there's going to be probably pretty expensive, urn .... solutions that are
identified in addition to the cheaper ones, like replacing light bulbs and weather stripping
and things like that. So $70,000 we thought was a good one, uh, good number to start
with. And then the second item is not as well defined, but we thought, um, the ... the
remaining 30 could be used for a partnership with a local non-profit agency. Haven't
defined who that would be, but um ... to basically improve, uh, one of their facilities to
make it, um, more energy efficient. Could be anything from a .... a renewable energy, um,
installation on a .... on a .... on a particular non-profit, uh, facility, um, or .... other, uh, other
improvements to those facilities that would .... that would, uh, make those buildings more
efficient. Again, those benefits, um, would accrue to those organizations and allow them
to stretch their .... their dollars a little bit more to serve the public. So, again, that's....
those are our two ideas, but we didn't have a lot to go on. So we kind of expected that
you might have some.... some other ideas and ... and guidance for us. Uh, again, Brenda's
here if you've got questions on the AmeriCorps, uh, program. She's been, uh, working
through that.
Throgmorton/ One of the things I like about the $70,000, uh, part having to do with energy fis...
energy efficiency in ... investments with regard to public housing is that it combines all
sorts of, uh.... uh, good features. Uh, it invests money in public housing, which would
benefit lower income people, it would save them money in terms of their, uh, bills, their
monthly bills, uh, probably involve local labor, uh, it would, uh.... take advantage of
AmeriCorps, which means we'd be paying $8,000 to get a lot more .... value in terms of
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the labor, and reduce carbon emissions and save energy at the same time. Uh, that's a
pretty good combination of activities. So, I'm a big fan of that.
Mims/ I am too, and my thought even was .... I mean, I like the 30,000 for a non-profit, but at the
same time, if there's a lot more that could be used for the public housing in .... rather than
the 70,000, I'd rather have that other 30,000 go there instead of to the non-profit, which is
pretty undefined at this point. I .... I guess I'd rather hold off on that commitment on the
30,000 and see what AmeriCorps comes back with their assessment and evaluation, and
maybe put the whole 100,000 on the public housing.
Botchway/ I tend to, uh, I would say I tend to agree with Susan. Um, I would say that I was
going a little bit differently. I guess if it was the entire 100,000 towards, uh, AmeriCorps,
I'd be for that cause I agree with Jim — I think it's a great kind of nexus of different ideas
and different points that we're trying to address in different ways. Um, what ... one thing
that I brought here from, or one thing that I had as far as questions, you know, it sounds
good overall, um, some of the ideas listed, Brenda, I thought were really good ideas and I
know that, you know, it was kind of trying to get the more bang for your buck type of
element with this, but I didn't know whether or not, kind of going back to Susan's point,
but moving a different direction, we could use that $30,0000 to enhance some of the
other things that were talked about here. I know the (can't hear) program has been really
talked about as far as, you know, being in the downtown and, you know, some of those
areas, but some of the other things I was thinking about — the bike share program in low-
income areas, I mean that's a huge type of transportation thing that I think a lot of people
would get around, or .... get behind, um, I know that Jim ... not Jim, but John has talked
about, um, some of the sparse amount of trees, um, over in the Nevada Avenue area. I
believe when we were talking about the South District Plan and, you know, seeing
something along those lines. So I guess I'm with Susan. I feel like, you know, I'm
interested in hearing what AmeriCorps has to say as far as that piece, but I'm not
necessarily as sold with the, um, the non-profit project just yet. I'd like to see if we
could maybe stretch our dollars to .... the $30,000 especially, as far as moving it to make
a .... maybe a key low-income area or some (mumbled) along those lines to, uh, kind of do
another project or another initiative. That .... to be honest with you, I mean, I'll be very
frank .... the.....while I do appreciate the fact that we're doing some of the, uh, Public
Housing Authority units, some of those things may not be as .... in your face as, you
know, some .... a bike sharing program in a particular neighborhood, and so I think there'd
be a lot more public buy -in from that standpoint, if we're able to show something, um, a
little more tangible for our efforts. Not saying it's not important! Just saying .... a little
bit different (mumbled)
Cole/ Along those same lines, I'm really supportive of a $30,000 request for proposals for a non-
profits. Kingsley, you bring up a lot of really good points, and I guess I feel what that
could do is we could really catalyze the creativity of the non-profit center, um, and so we
may get a bike share proposal, we may get a gardening proposal, we may get a solar
project — Englert Theater — um, so I think let's see that, um, cause one of the questions I
had too in terms of (mumbled) for example kind of evaluation if there was a solar project.
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Do we have a sense that this would be a matching program or what would we be looking
at in terms of how is the $30,000 set? Is .... how did you arrive at that number?
Fruin/ Well, it was simply a remainder after we .... we kind of locked in on the 70 and felt that
that was a meaningful start for the AmeriCorps program, and so the 30 was simply the
budget remainder. Um .... I ... I think while we haven't set any criteria because we wanted
to .... to see where the Council was, um, typically leveraging outside dollars is a very high
criteria when we do these RFPs. So we have 30 in .... and someone else can leverage that
with 50 from another source, they're going to look pretty good compared to someone that
wasn't able to leverage and just wants to take the 30 and do a project.
Cole/ That's why I really like that, if we could use that as a $30,000 match to a non-profit, I
think that would be, uh, we could really get that creativity. So I think to Susan's point, if
we get those proposals, we don't like what we're seeing, then I think we shift gears and
put it into, um, you know, essentially the low-income housing is sort of what my thought
is. Um, but one final thought, and I don't know if it'd be part .... I think one of the things
Kingsley was talking about is this question of the signature project, and I know that Jim
was one of the people that actually proposed this in the, um, Comprehensive Plan
discussion. But at least what I was viewing it is that this would be a signature project
where we're, um, projecting to the State, you know, what our goals are in a very
meaningful, visual way, um, and I guess one thing I would like to explore, whether it's
with this project or some time later, is solar on City Hall. I think that would clearly
establish where our priorities are and I understand we've already had an estimate done
about 18 months ago. Lot of the structural engineering assessment has been done. So
that's something I would really like to encourage us to do, um, cause that would be
visual. I think we would be putting our money where our mouth is, and so that's sort of
like something I'd like the Council to consider as well.
Throgmorton/ I want to hop into this I guess. Uh, I ... I am a big fan of committing $30,000 to
some kind of project involving a non-profit, and I really like the idea of inviting non-
profits to submit proposals that we could then assess and then have a little bit of
competition in a sense ... and if some, uh, some of the proposals, uh, involve matching
funds, double the whammy or whatever, great! That'd be fabulous. Uh, but I ... I am
definitely a fan of the idea of ..of investing 30 of this, uh, toward, uh, a .... a non-profit
initiative. But I don't know what the other two folks down there think. (laughter)
Thomas/ I like, uh, the two proposals. Um, you know.....the.....the $30,000 proposal is a little
vague, so it doesn't.....it just doesn't resonate quite as strongly as the $70,000 proposal,
but once it flushes out I think it could become something we're very interested in. And,
uh, I thank you, Kingsley, for mentioning the street trees. It was mentioned in the .... in
the staff memo, urn .... and it is something I am very interested in and it's, you know, it
takes a while for trees to grow (laughs) you know, the sooner the better. Yesterday is
better than today. And I think there's a real opportunity for some community
engagement in that. You know, we could leverage the funds to, um .... involve
volunteer.... volunteers from communities in actually planting the trees, which I think
could be a really strong statement. And .... you know, I don't want to get into all the
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values of street trees, but you know, there is a long list of. ... of what they do. I think
everything we do ... we .... we should have an eye toward how many things will it
accomplish, and I think .... the, uh, energy savings on .... on our Housing Authority's sites
is a really great example of that. Street trees would be another.
Taylor/ I'm in favor of leaving, at this point, the 30,000 for the non-profit. I especially like the
phrase that said, uh, in an effort to maximize their service to the community, uh, because
there are some groups out there that do provide a service to the community. I think your
idea of having them offer the proposals to us though to decide, if they're worthy of the
30,000, and if we see that they're.... they're not, um, we hopefully would have the option
of putting it back in with the 70,000 for the 100,000 total.
Botchway/ (both talking) ...jump in real quick, just kind of to Rockne's comment. I do feel like
if we are, cause it sounds like, you know, overall Council's pretty supportive of doing the
non-profit, which isn't a big deal for me but ... I ... I worry, I don't want us to ... you know, if
we look at the proposals and don't like what we see, change our mind because that could,
you know .... I ... I don't know if people may feel weird about transparency or, you know,
that type of thing as far as we had our mind made up, I mean I think if we're going to go
a particular route, we just go that particular route. The other piece that I mentioned as
well is that I ... I think I agree with if there's an organization that's able to put, you know,
um, getting matching federal grant or state grant for $50,000, um, and leveraging the
$30,000, but then I was also thinking as Rockne was talking, some other people were
talking, that there could be, you know, as we had those kind of PIN grants that go out
from time to time, there could be like some small community groups, whether that'd be
neighborhood associations or whatever the case may be, that may be interested in putting
forth money as far as community gardens or other things that may be along the lines of
sustainable efforts that we would want to use the money for as well and so we don't have
to make that decision right now, and maybe you do, but I just thought .... as we were
thinking about deliberating on it later on that, you know, that could be something we
think about as well. Not to just ... not think about some (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I think those are all interesting ideas .... for me, the primary purpose is
reducing carbon emissions. That's what .... that's what we put it in the strategic plan, uh,
to accomplish, and if we can accomplish other objectives simultaneously, great!
Mims/ Well I think a big part o£..if we go with community organizations, as Rockne mentioned,
is trying to leverage that money. Um, you know, if ..if we can't leverage it for other
grant money and other things, then again, my preference would be to go to the public
housing and benefit those low-income people directly in terms of their utility bills, but if
there's ways to leverage that money through grants or other things with some of these
non -profits, then I'm certainly open to that.
Dickens/ I would .... I would think 80/20 is more what I'm thinking of, $80,000 for the .... the
public housing .... and going with John's, the street sharing. I'm .... I have Eagle scouts
who are working on their Eagle projects that are always coming to me looking for service
projects, and I think we could tie into that with the trees, and you know, that would be a
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great project. They can get other kids to help `em. You're getting the youth of Iowa City
working on this. They'll go raise money too on their own, cause I know the project, uh,
Hickory Hill Park, they raised a bunch of money to do that bridge. So I think if we can...
maybe tie into that, but I think .... the public housing is ... is my biggest concern, so .... I still
think there's.... there's room for the non -profits in moving that forward.
Thomas/ And I .... I, just a thought occurred to me on the audit of the, uh, the housing. It may be
that trees may be, you know, it may not just simply be improvements to the buildings
themselves but often site improvements can go a long way too.
Throgmorton/ As in shade.
Thomas/ Yes (several talking) ...and sun in winter.
Throgmorton/ I'm .... I .... the proposal before us is basically a 70/30 split. We already agreed on
the 70, so .... so do we want to stick with 70/30, uh, I mean I hear ya, Terry, and I
understand what you're saying, Susan, but .... you know, the question is what do people
want to do, on the whole.
Cole/ I support the 70/30. (several responding)
Thomas/ ...and going into it 70/30 (several talking)
Dickens/ We can always adjust that, as we see fit (several talking)
Fruin/ So just trying to capture your thoughts, urn.... obviously we need to put some more detail
to the non-profit angle, but I'm hearing that you all want to .... look at those proposals and
be the one that picks one, as opposed to assigning it to staff or.....running through a .... a
commission.
Throgmorton/ Sorry, I got distracted. Could you (both talking)
Fruin/ That's fine, I'm just trying .... I'm .... as we craft this process I want to make sure I know
what your expectations are. It sounds like you all want to be the ones to ultimately
review and decide, um ... who the award goes to, or would you ... prefer that staff present
that to you as a recommendation or that staff just .... go off on our own and....
Throgmorton/ Uh, I think you ought to present it to us as a recommendation.
Mims/ (both talking) I think so.
Frain/ Okay.
Review Council Member Cole proposal for Rose Oaks assistance:
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Throgmorton/ Okay! Good deal! Thanks to all on that topic. So, now we're going to move to
our next work session topic, which is to review Rockne Cole's proposal for Rose Oaks'
assistance and before you dive into that, I'd like to say a few words to frame this a little
bit. First, I am aware that Shelter House has received a substantial amount of criticism
from some members of our community. This situation has been very difficult for Rose
Oaks' residents, but the difficulty has not been Shelter House's fault. Shelter House has
earned and deserves our thanks for what it's been doing at Rose Oaks, and for all the very
good and very important work it's been doing for our community for such a long time. I
want to be very clear about that. Second, I'm also aware of the strong criticism that has
been directed toward the current owners of Rose Oaks. Although I think we all can see
that the process has not been perfect, it's been flawed, I want to acknowledge and thank
the owners for doing more than what is legally required of them. Our community needs
to have a good, strong, collaborative relationship with developers who are willing to
improve the quality and supply of housing in our city, especially housing that lower
income people can afford. Likewise, I can say something similar about our staff, that our
staff has been pretty roundly criticized at certain moments in this process. They deserve
our thanks, not blame. Last, I want to acknowledge and thank the Center for Worker
Justice's efforts on behalf of Rose Oaks' tenants. When vulnerable people are at risk, it's
important for them to have an advocate on their side. This can create the challenges that
all of us have to deal with and we certainly have dealt with it in this room .... in prior
formal meetings. But it's very important for vulnerable people to have advocates on their
side. So ... that said ... we can turn to your, uh, proposal, but you know, I guess I want to
say I'm generally in support of it, but not fully.
Cole/ What I'm hoping we can do is have a conversation, much in the same way we had a good
conversation 10 minutes ago about what our climate change task force would look like.
Um, you know, what our signature climate... emission's reduction would look like. I
don't think we have to solve everything tonight in terms of the exact contours of what
this will look like, and one thing I want to be very clear about is based upon I....I.....I
certainly have listened to the feedback in terms of this question of distribution.
I .... frankly tonight I'm not really as concerned about how this program would look.
What I'm really looking for is a commitment that we make that we're committed to this
assistance. My starting points for this request, um, we have had, um, numerous residents
speak to us directly. Um, two of whom were on the cusp of ...of actually being
homeless. Not couch surfing, not moving, um, to another location, but on the cusp of
being on the streets. Um, I do not want to get into who is blamed and if anyone needs to
have blame, I encourage people to send it my way, out of the extent that there's been any
communication and if that's the price that we need and people need to feel that, that's
fine. People can blame me. But I want to remember what the residents have suffered.
Um, you know, Thoreau said that men live lives in quiet desperation. And I think that
these community members have been living continuously in desperation since this
happened. Um, it is very similar to a natural disaster, which I think puts it out of the
ordinary funding process. Um, people have talked about, well, how do we make sure that
this doesn't open the doors that every time there is a needy or worthy resident that we're
going to have another request for 50,000. So, I just want to directly respond to that. I
don't think that ... we have a very talented staff. Um, I view this as an interim gap that we
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need to address because we don't have in our .... in our current development policies
notice. I think had the Rose Oaks' residents had .... more notice, I think they could have
absorbed this more effectively. And so I don't think this is going to be a criteria that we
have to automatically give this sort of assistance any time we get the request, and two,
our staff are very talented about addressing requests for funds. They do that all the time.
I'm very confident that in the future, to the extent that we do make this commitment, that
they can sort through these funding requests. So this is not going to be a slippery slope.
Um, this has happened before in the community, but it's relatively rare. I mean, I think
in terms of my time here since 1997, um, I don't remember thing ... any thing of this
magnitude... this quickly, and this amount, and the scale....of ...of what we're dealing
with here. And so I think we need to have, since it's such a unique event, I think we need
to have a response to that. So what I really want is a commitment that we ... that
we're .... we request additional funds, and two, that .... that the....that the staff, if we get
this commitment, can reach out to the Rose Oaks' residents themselves, um, we are in
contact with some of them still, and also other non -profits. I mean, this is a, um, an
enormous task before us and I think we all need to have community partners assist with
this. So, I'm very confident that if we ... if we work with the Center for Worker Justice, if
we work with Shelter House, or another organization that would like to assist with this,
we can come back with a more specific proposal that will address these needs .... their
needs. I'm not convinced that they don't need any more assistance. Um, I ... I ... I think
that they do. They've shown us that, and I think we need to step forward, um, to address
this, and if there's disagreements that people have how that's going to look, um, you
know, we don't have to decide that tonight. I'm looking for the commitment. Um, and I
did submit into the record .... 12 interviews that were prepared, um, for the Center for
Worker Justice describing the best that they could the individual difficulties that people
continued to have, um, and again, uh, I don't mean to intend this as a critique of Shelter
House either, um, but I think what this shows is there's need for assistance here, and I
think we catalyze that. I suggested that we could reach out to like United Way, but I'm
not stuck on that, and so that's what I would like to do, and finally, I really want us to
sort of reframe how we're thinking about development. I support economic development
assistance, um, to our developers. I support tax increment financing. The Rose Oaks'
residents do not have property. They do not have a lot of money to invest, but I think that
they're no less worthy of our development assistance. So that's why I'm asking for your
all support tonight, that we make this commitment and we can come back with a more
targeted proposal that will involve non -profits to be able to administer the funds, and we
can do it in such a way that we can be careful stewards of the taxpayer. Uh, so that's why
I've requested what I have tonight.
Mims/ Well ... I'll respond, Rockne, to ... to a couple of things. Um, one, and I'm.....not sure
where it is in terms of which memo from the staff, urn .... (several talking) Yeah, Geoff s
memo...
Karr/ Geoff s memo is IP7.
Mims/ Thank you (both talking)
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Karr/ ...the last packet.
Mims/ Thank you very much! Um, I ... I can't support where you're coming from, Rockne, and
here's a couple of things. Um, Shelter House still has money. They still have money
from Rose Oaks that is not restricted the same way as the City is. Um, you and .... and,
uh, Charlie have framed this as similar to a natural disaster. Well, even in natural
disaster, people have to show ... that they have need or show their loss. The proposal that I
have seen is simply that if people had a lease on a certain date, we take those people and
whatever that number is and divide it into the 50,000, they get cut a check (both talking)
Cole/ That's not what I'm talking about.
Mims/ Well, that's.... that's what I've seen, at...at this point. And no documentation of need, no
documentation of how the money is going to be spent, um .... I cannot sit here as a
steward of public tax money support that. We have people living at Shelter House for
weeks, months on end who are in just as much need as the people at Rose Oaks. Um, and
there is still money that .... that Rose Oaks has given to Shelter House, um, that could be
expended for their benefit. This is not a natural disaster, and like I say, even in those
cases, there is documentation necessary. Um ... absolutely no .... I .... I'm song, I cannot sit
here as a City Councilor and just give money to people simply because they had a lease
with a particular landlord on a certain date and cut them a check! I can't do it!
That ... that is just incredible to me. Where is the next person in line, simply because there
area hundred or there's 200 or whatever. What about the one individual that has just as
much need as any one of these at Oaks... at Rose Oaks? I think that is just unconscionable
for a council to do that with absolutely no documentation of how that tax money is being
used, whether it's documented for need or whether we say the issue is housing, there's no
documentation that is actually being used for housing. Secondly, my big problem with
this, and ... and it's totally secondary, we looked at this two weeks ago and you asked for a
two-week extension. We get .... an email .... from the City Clerk at 1:00 this afternoon
from an email that you sent to her at 10:00 last night, with virtually no chance .... I'm
sorry, I work full time. I did not even have a chance to see it until after 5:00, or not after
5:00, after about 3:30 this afternoon. With no chance to read it .... really think about it...
ask any questions about it when you've had two weeks from the time you asked for an
extension! So I have a real problem with the process, and I will not as a City Councilor
sit here and allocate City .... tax dollars to individuals, no matter how much their potential
need, without any kind of documentation. I absolutely cannot do it. I think it's
unconscionable if this Council does it!
Throgmorton/ What do the rest of ya think?
Thomas/ Well I would, um .... you know, I've looked at some of the tenant relocation assistance
programs that are often ... offered nationally, uh, Seattle and San Francisco have programs
where there's, um, there is financial assistance given to tenants who are in situations
similar to the residents at Rose Oaks. What are some of those qualifications, uh, Seattle's
is that, um, they qualify as a low-income resident, which is defined as 60% of the ... um,
area median income. That's one of their standards. Uh, San Francisco's is that this ... the,
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to qualify the residents need to have no-fault eviction notice. In other words they're in
good standing as .... as residents. So I ... I share your concern, Susan, that, you know, the
idea that, um, we don't have those qualifications in place, uh, is a concern. Um ... on the
other hand, we are very late in the game in this process. If we had had an ordinance in
place, we could have then established what .... who qualifies and who does not qualify
according to the language of the ordinance. With respect to the low-income residency, I
think we, you know, those are two that I would like to see if they could be applied in this
case. It's late in the game and I don't know that they can be. Maybe the question should
be asked, can we apply them? Do we have the documentation? Do the residents have the
documentation that would be able to .... to apply them? Um .... if not .... um, I .... I suspect
we could say that most likely .... the residents of Rose Oaks would qualify as low-income
residents. I don't think ... many of us would dispute that, that it's going toward low-
income residents. It's a relatively modest amount if you compare it to the .... the, uh,
relocation assistance that's offered in San Francisco, which as I recall is something like
$3,000 to $4,000 per resident, um .... we're talking about $250 per person. So it's a very
limited amount ... um .... by .... by comparison. So I'm .... I'm interested in carrying forward
this conversation. I would certainly prefer that there be qualifications. Uh, I think that
would.... you know, again, we're working without an ordinance, so we're .... we're
working in a ... in a difficult situation. Urn .... but I do think there is a need there, and I
think, Jim, you set this up beautifully, you know, a lot of people put a lot of effort into
this. This is not meant as a criticism or placing blame with anyone. I think the scale of
this and the need exceeded the, you know, the abilities of...of those involved to really get
a handle on it and so this .... this is a relatively modest proposal to deal with a problem
which is really quite large. .... sol ...I support advancing the conversation. Uh, I
would, as I said, prefer that there be conditions if we ... if we have the time to apply them.
Cole/ And to be clear, I'm in agreement with that, urn .... I .... I am perfectly comfortable with the
staff coming back with set of proposal to address Susan's concern on that. I am not
talking about per capita distribution. This was something that none of us expected ... to
happen and so we're doing what we can to address it, albeit imperfectly, and so that's
what I'm really looking for is a commitment to advance forward, and I think we can
come up with a tailored proposal that will address some of these concerns. (mumbled)
Botchway/ Yeah, I mean I would agree. I ... I agree with Susan's concerns. I think
documentation is key and .... um, you know, there.....I know that everybody's been
reading through the packet and kind of where you've seen some of the gaps as far as kind
of the rubric or the matrix that we've looked at, um, where an individual hasn't contacted
Shelter House or there's been something going on from that standpoint, and whether it's
miscommunication, whatever may be ... I .... I just want to make sure, and from my City
Council standpoint, that we're doing as much as possible. Um, you know .... again, I
think you framed it nicely, Jim, as well. I don't think there's anything that I have, except
a high amount of respect for everybody that's been involved in the process. Um, it's
been unfortunate that the conversation has, you know, dwindled down that it was
necessary to even state that, but .... um, for me, you know ..... I .... Susan, I can't go as far
as saying this is unconscionable. I mean, this is .... I think I get where you're saying from
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the unconscionable part of just getting money out, you know, willy nilly so to speak,
but.... you know....
Mims/ Well where do you draw the ... okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry to interrupt, but where do you
draw the line..... between a resident of Rose Oaks .... and a resident of Shelter House?
Forget the numbers. Forget the numbers! But where do you draw the line between an
individual.... who is or was a resident of Rose Oaks and had to move and has an
incredible financial need, and .... a resident for weeks or months of Shelter House who
can't afford a house, who has incredible financial need. How do you distinguish that one
is more worthy of Iowa City tax dollars than the other? If you can explain that to me,
then maybe I can support this, but I....
Cole/ That's true in any development (several talking)
Throgmorton/ We need to hear from some other people here.
Taylor/ I ... I see it as, like different situations and we do have funds that help those folks in the
Shelter House and I would hope, from what I've heard, uh, although I'm new to this
game, that there are, uh.... means of assisting those folks.
Mims/It's not getting them houses, and that's what you're trying to do with this money! (both
talking)
Taylor/ ...not, I mean, to ... I think you averaged it out it's only going to be $250 or something per
person if it .... went to everybody. That's not going to buy them a house. What it is is just
kind of hoping to ease the burden. These folks, as we were, were caught off guard. I
mean, it kinda reached up and slapped us in the face, that this is ... this is going to happen
and here's these folks who are hardworking people. They .... they, very few of them, if
any of them, even, uh, ever applied for Section 8. They did what they could to be able to
make every means possible on their own. Uh, but they live day to day, penny to penny,
so when they're told you have to go out and apply, uh, for apartments and, you know,
have background checks and those kinds of things, they were caught off guard
financially, and I think that's.... that's what this is all about is, uh, helping them to ease
that burden that they were caught off guard with.
Mims/ You still have not explained to me .... how you justify tax dollars to a resident or former
resident of Rose Oaks versus someone who's living at Shelter House.
Botchway/ Susan, for me, you know, just to kind of continue on the point that I was making, you
know, this is a substantial shift, you know, I mean .... frankly I don't know if we've ... I
definitely haven't dealt with it while I've been on Council, uh, and maybe, you know,
some of you have, but you know this was a situation where I felt like, you know, we
should have had, uh, or been better stewards or been better overseers as far as, you know,
how are, you know, process as far as relocation is, um, concerning, you know, especially
low-income individuals. I think that we didn't, um, for whatever reason. I'm not saying
that anybody's at fault. We just ... it wasn't something that we first saw, and so because of
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that, um, this is a necessary kind of answer, um, albeit not enough, but a necessary
answer to kind of, you know, um, address this type of situation. I ... I totally get where
you're coming from and .... it is at times been tough for me to kind of. ... go back and forth
in my head what is the difference, but for me, I mean this is .... at the end of the day, it's a
substantial shift. I mean, these... we're talking, I mean, you're equating maybe one
resident, or .... multiple residents of Shelter House to a substantial shit of -shift of over
hundreds of people that are having to move a particular location, um, based on one
developer. Not blaming the developer, just saying that's, you know, the scenario and
situation, so urn .... that's where I guess my feeling as far as, you know, the proposal goes
because I feel like, you know, while it might not be enough, and frankly as I'm thinking
about, as we were talking about potential proposals, and I don't think like Rockne said
we need to hash it out tonight, I think one of the biggest things as this gets kind of, you
know, floated out there in the news media, is to again tell people that first go to Shelter
House, I mean, there's still the need I feel like to go to that, um, to that organization to
figure out what's going on there, and if you know the feeling, urn .... if they're not coming
back with the responses they need, or desire, and we have a different criteria, I feel like
they need to go there as well. It ... it's just worrisome to me to kind of be in some
meetings where, um, you know, families are talking about .... one of the families was here,
uh, that particular night, maybe couple meetings ago, two or three meetings ago, with six
kids or five kids, along those lines, and ... um, not being able to, you know, provide
assistance, and I think they received some money for a hotel but are still needing
additional money and I agree with, uh, Pauline. You know, this isn't about giving
housing. If that was the case, then we are relati.... we fall very short on this stick. This is
just from the standpoint of making sure we're easing the burden, and as I had talked
about before, our time has kind of run out. You know, I mean I feel like this is something
we have to address within the next two weeks and month, and ... and that's it. Um, I do
not believe this is, uh, a situation where we're going to continue to give dollars out. Um,
unless, and hopefully this doesn't happen again, we don't have the notifications put in
place by an ordinance to allow for residents to have substantial amount of time to address
this type of situation because a month's notice, some of the .... the back and forth that was
going on between the previous developer and the developer now, I mean, was criminal
for me. I'm not saying that it was literally criminal, Eleanor. I just thought it was
criminal for me, from that standpoint that you could get a residence and then a month
aw... a month later find out that you're kicked out of it, I feel like we need to do
something.
Throgmorton/ Terry (both talking)
Dickens/ My ... my question is legal, uh.... giving tax money to undocumented people, is there any
like statute (both talking)
Throgmorton/ What do you mean by undocumented people?
Dickens/ Well, um ... Charlie said that there's some people that didn't apply because they're
undocumented, they're not citizens of the U.S. or citizens of Iowa City.
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Throgmorton/ Trying to be clear.
Dickens/ Yeah, I just .... I didn't know if giving tax money to undocumented, if there's any
statutes there or anything that we need to worry about.
Dilkes/ That's ... I mean, generally if their federal funds there's those strings attached. It would
depend on the pot of money it came from, but I think probably general funds it
wouldn't.... there wouldn't be that restriction.
Dickens/ And my other .... what would be following Susan a little bit with the no criteria is I think
...that we need to have something in place and I agree with everyone that .... that.....our
next major project should be getting a development agreement that takes care of
something like this. That just seems it's .... too little too late, but.....I.... I can't support
just giving the money out without having more documentation (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ...want some criteria, some documentation (both talking)
Dickens/ ....criteria (mumbled)
Throgmorton/ Thank you, uh, so let me present my perspective and then .... if there's further
conversation we'll have it. So my sense is that the Rose Oaks' situation is very .... as I
think Rockne first said, is, uh, has been analogous to a natural disaster, uh, a flood for
example, that kind of event. So it's .... a .... a big event that hit a particular set of people
very hard, very quickly. That ... that's the starting point for me. When I think in terms of
that analogy, the first thing that comes to mind is the importance of early warning. You
know, cause it's possible to get out of harm's way if you have sufficient warning. We
rec... we recently received some very good advice from Eleanor in that particular point.
We'll .... we'll be devising some way of providing early warning. The second thing I
think of is the value of having community volunteers helping people move out of harm's
way. So it's not all about money. It's about community too. We share this space
together. We are part of a community. On August I't, some of us, I don't know, some
number of members of the community will be going out to Rose Oaks, invited by Shelter
House, to work as part of a community to help residents move. So .... that's good! The
third thing I think about is the importance of helping people clean up the damage or move
into new homes. I'll come back to that in just a second, and the fourth is to identify and
enact ways to avoid such disasters in the future. We've gotten advice about that and
we're going to be working on that. We'll get some recommendations in September. All
right, so those are the things I think about when I use that analogy. Given that analogy,
I'm persuaded that we should provide some financial assistance to displaced residents.
And my eyes are fading on me here. I'm having trouble reading. The primary rational
...rationale is this, no early warning system existed for those residents, and a
hundred.... what.... what's the total number? A hundred and.....
Fruin/ 209, I think (both talking)
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Throgmorton/ ....households were affected. Pretty much at....at one time. So, I suggest that we
offer some specific amount of money to each household that needs assistance. So I've
got some ideas about what constitutes need, as I think the rest of you do. Um, my gue...
my thought is .... we .... we could use say $200 as a fixed amount... for that kind of
assistance. I don't want to go into detail about my particular ideas. That'd just consume
a lot of time here, but I do have specific ideas about how need could be .... identified. So,
that's.... pretty much where I stand on that. So ... I think I hear five... well, si... at least six
people in ... in favor of providing some kind of assistance, if in some fashion... need can be
documented.
Fruin/ And that's, uh, that's where I think staff is going to need some more help, because as we
talked to Shelter House, um, and I think it's in my memo, that they have not denied any
household, uh, relocation assistance. So ... anybody that's came to them, they have tried to
assist, and they have not turned anybody away because of. ... you know, X, Y, or Z. If
you demonstrated they need, then .... and they were able to match that need, you got
assistance. And so the fact that they haven't denied anybody, I'm .... I'm trying to think
here as you're talking, and I'm thinking....well, what criteria.... could we invent that...
that may broaden the scope of people that ... that we can help. I'm having a hard time
understanding what that'll be. Um, and the ... the other thing is, as .... as we transition
away from Shelter House assistance, and ... and to a City administered assistance program,
you need to understand that we don't have the expertise. We're not case workers. We
can't necessarily sit down and troubleshoot with anybody that ... that comes in or calls us
the way that Shelter House staff can. They're trained professionals in trying to, uh,
match needs with whatever the solution is. We ... we don't have that kind of expertise.
So, urn .... that's going to be .... have .... have to be considered in whatever program
that ... that you construct.
Throgmorton/ Here's a possibility I want to toss out, uh, for you folks. Uh, perhaps we could...
collectively identify some particular reasons why a household might be in particular need
of assistance. One example that comes to my mind is the French-speaking man,
speaking ... who clearly could not speak English. He had held a job at Oral-B. Was going
to have trouble getting to work. Had no idea where he was going and all that kind of
thing, and he had kids. So, that.... combination of things, uh...is indicative of the kinds of
things I think we ought to be thinking in terms of. So, I .... I'm thinking maybe instead
of...requiring people to document that they are .... that they need assistance for specific
justifiable, documentable reasons, we could say... something like this, uh... I ... Iowa City is
prepared to provide assistance for anyone who meets the following criteria. If you think
you meet these criteria, apply for .... X.
Cole/ I think what we could do is we could reach out to the residents, Shelter House, and CWJ to
come back with a set of criteria at our next meeting. Um .... given the fact that it sounds
like we do have the (mumbled) funding so that we have a more concrete, um, proposal.
What do people think about that?
Throgmorton/ I'm not a big fan of that. I ... I don't think we should be turning to a particular
organization to tell us how to set up a particular, uh, initiative. Uh, if they have advice
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they can provide, uh, I'd be eager to hear it. But .... I don't want to assign the task to
them.
Dilkes/ You ... I mean, if I can just add, we've done a number of relocation assistance, because
we've had to cause we're using federal funds, etc., and um ... my guess is the ones in San
Francisco, etc., are ... are modeled after, you know, the federal relocation assistance
guidelines, etc., but they're.... they're all very expense -based. So they say this expense is
covered, this expense is not. You know, moving expense is covered. Um ... replacement
housing expense is covered, such as a downpayment on a .... a new place, but it's all
related to the housing. So, it seem .... I'm .... I'm having a hard time imagining a system,
other than a per capita system, and a system that's based on documentation of eligible
expenses.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, so .... one possibility then would be .... to say, you know, if you have .... if
you can document moving expenses, or if you can document some other relocation
assis.... uh, expenses, uh.... the City is willing to con ... uh, I don't know what verb to use,
but contribute $200 to those expenses, but we just need documentation for .... those
particular.... at least one of those particular things, uh.
Fruin/ That's where I think our struggle is is because that's what the Shelter House has been
doing. That's what the Rose Oaks' assistance has, you know, the .... the no -strings
attached 30,000 that they got, urn .... was exactly for that purpose. If you document a
need for moving expenses, we can help you. I just want to make sure whatever we're
communicating out there that it's.... realistic, that we can follow through there.
Botchway/ I .... so, and I don't know if we're gonna necessarily be able to hatch this out tonight
and so I mean I could, you know, work with Rockne and another Council Member to,
you know, figure this out. I mean, I do apologize. I had strep throat, you know, and also
got my chin busted and so I was out of commission for like the last.....I got five stitches
(mumbled) unfortunately was out of commission for like the last two, two and a half
weeks and so I mean that's on me for not necessarily, you know, participating or reaching
out to Rockne to, you know .... get a more finite proposal, um, but you know I .... I'm
going on vacation on Thursday but I mean I feel like we could have some type of
communication tomorrow or the next day to kind of work on some possibilities.
Cole/ I'd be happy to do that.
Botchway/ I ... I guess I just don't know what we're going to do right now
Throgmorton/ Yeah, we can't keep processing this. I ... I would think the simpler the better, um,
in general.
Mims/ If the majority of the Council is going to agree to move forward on this, I would simply
ask that we get this more than an hour or two before our next meeting, so we actually
have a chance to....
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Cole/ That's fair enough (both talking)
Mims/ ....consider it.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, sure. Okay, so .... Kingsley and Rockne are going to work together on this
in the near future .... and come back to us.
Botchway/ As soon as possible!
Throgmorton/ All right. Thank you all! Information Packet. July 7. (mumbled)
Information Packet Discussion [July 71141:
Thomas/ Really like that double -up food bucks (laughs) I thought that's a great .... a great
program.
Throgmorton/ Agreed! Anybody else?
Cole/ I just wanted to address the concerns raised in the IPS, the road diet issue. Urn .... I, this
obviously... we've been getting a lot of feedback in terms of what we've been doing with
the road diets, but I just really want to emphasize to the public it's really about public
safety. Um, the data is there that you get that, uh, road flow, but at the same time, you
really have substantial reductions in injuries and crashes. I think the data from the DOT
is something along the lines of a 25% reduction, and the primary (mumbled) beneficiaries
of that are 18 and under and 65 and older. Um, so I just .... we're going to continue to
have this conversation, I can see why there are those concerns, um, but I stand fully
behind, uh, the road diets and so I think it's just important for us to have that
conversation.
Taylor/ Well I'd like to echo that too, Rockne. I think in addition to the safety, along with the
safety is, uh, just the number of incidents of, uh, fender -benders that were cited for the
Mormon Trek area for example and John .... John and I were talking about that as far as
the expense that entails for police officers to even, uh, go to those calls even if it's a
minor damage. They still are called to the accident scene and 120 -something accidents.
That's a lot of time and ... and, uh, City money to have to deal with that, and it's been
documented. Des Moines has showed a massive reduction in the number of accidents
when they switched one of their streets to a three-way.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, there's a lot that can be said on this topic, but we'll have an opportunity to
do it during a formal meeting when a resolution comes to us, cause we'll have to approve
a resolution, uh (both talking)
Fruin/ Yeah, I think .... uh, it's in the next Info Packet. We had a .... a memo from Kent Ralston
and I believe Jason Havel, as well. Um, we just want to make sure, given the ... the public
feedback that was received, we're .... we still recommend that we move forward with both
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projects. This is a chance for the Council to provide alternative direction before we get
into plans and specs.
Throgmorton/ (both talking) Yeah, so you want guidance (both talking)
Fruin/ Well, we're going forward (laughter) If you want us to ... if you have hesitation, now's the
time to (both talking)
Throgmorton/ I don't have any (several talking)
Botchway/ I will say I do, you know, I don't necessarily, I mean .... I live on the west side and so
it's a little more personal for me from that perspective, and overall, um, I've had this just
kind of feeling, inkling as we've been talking about how to make our city more walkable.
We haven't necessarily, you know .... I don't know necessarily that we've had that
conversation with the community as much, but we also haven't talked about just the
congestion overall being in a university community and other things. I do know there's,
you know, information of cities out there, um, that, you know, show different things,
but .... I mean I'm .... I'm looking at these numbers and I'm still not understanding, um,
and I drove .... I think I drove it last night just to kind of have a clear understanding of
what it would be, and I .... I just don't understand how traffic is going to move faster. I do
think that people use the left tum lane, but again, I drive that road day in and day out and
I don't necessarily see the .... I mean, the left traffic lane, or right, depending on where
you're turning from, is a problem, but .... it's been identified as that being the biggest
problem with that particular area and why our road diets are needed and .... or why the
road diet in regards to also the turn lane is needed, but I .... I just, if. ... if, go back to the,
um, I can't remember where it is in the packet, it talked about the A, B, C, D kind of
determination (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Level of service.
Botchway/ Level of service, and correct me if I'm wrong and maybe I read it wrong cause I was
reading it late at night, it looked like our level of service downgraded substantially, and
so we went from A level of service to C level of service with the proposed upgrades, and
maybe I'm wrong, I mean I can't remember where it is (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, you're right.
Botchway/ Um, and I just .... I just have a problem with that. It doesn't sound like
we're ... moving forward if we're doing from A to C, and I understand the safety elements
and so I know that that is the biggest piece of it, and so I don't want to, you know, say,
you know, I don't want the media to say Kingsley's un ... unsafe, doesn't care about things
(laughs) That's not what I'm trying to say. But it does seem kinds weird as far as, you
know, with the level of service going down and then me just kind of taking, you know,
couple of.....couple, my daily eye glance, that the service is going to drop substantially as
far as that area is concerned and I just don't know how we're going to mitigate that
concern.
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Dickens/ I've heard the same thing on First Avenue from a lot of the business owners. Uh, the
two or three that I've talked to, one was really concerned with Southeast Junior High
being there and the .... the bike .... bike lanes and more traffic being jammed into two lanes
in a very busy area there, and with the new underpass that .... his concern is really safety,
and you read the things, that they're more safe, but....it just worries me that you're...
you're slamming more people into that area, and that's a major thoroughfare through the
east part of Iowa City, as much as you're on the west side, I tend to be on that east side a
little more and see that, see the traffic. It's, you know, if there's a lane closed right now,
traffic is backed up, partly with the construction, but there'll be traffic that's all the way
onto the railroad tracks right now, but that won't be a concern once the railroad tracks are
done, but you're still gonna have that with the schools there, the number of bikes
and... and traffic still in that area.
Fruin/ One thing that I like to always remind folks of when we have these discussions, cause
there's certainly been a lot of feedback to staff, both positive and negative, um, with these
projects we're not changing curb lines. Uh, we are adding a turn lane on Mormon Trek,
but if we get into this and it...it doesn't work, it .... if for some reason the traffic conditions
are unacceptable or, um, the safety projections don't pan out, you know, you .... you
change the paint on the street and.....you know, call it an experiment that didn't work so
well, and uh.... so ...... keep that in mind. This isn't a permanent infrastructure change that
will restrict our ability to revert back at some point if the community doesn't find it
acceptable.
Throgmorton/ Another thing to think about is level of service refers to motor vehicles on the
road. It does not refer to bicyclists, pedestrians, the quality of the streetscape, the ability
of, uh, the street, uh, and the street design to enhance the place itself. Instead level of
service, folks, is on the smooth movement of traffic, and .... one of the things I ... I strongly
believe we need to be doing is enhancing the quality of the place that we're living in, not
helping traffic speed right along, coming in from wherever they come, to the ... the core of
the city and then going back out. That said, the level of service is .... I think it does, the...
the projections we get, do show some decrease in level of service, but the level of stur...
service is still adequate and, uh, will enable people to get around easily, almost all the
time, throughout the day. There.... peak.... peak morning hour, peak afternoon hour
would be exceptions. And it'll be a little bit slower, but not (laughs) it'd be safer too! So
it's a trade-off.
Botchway/ Yeah, I mean, I ... I ... I hear what you're saying, Jim, and I know that .... I think from a
majority standpoint I don't know if we're gonna get that turn or change, Geoff, but .... I'm
a .... I mean, I'm a ... get to point A.....get to point A, point B type of guy and so I know
that, um, you know, the aesthetics and other thing also are a part of it, and I don't want
to .... I'm not against bicycling or anything along those lines. I think there's a .... there's a
necessary need for that, as well as you know maintaining walkability. I just feel like ... I
wish there was another model, cause I don't like this (both talking)
Cole/ ...work session on this. When is it coming up for us formally?
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Botchway/ (mumbled) formal (both talking)
Fruin/ No, this is ... it'll come before the project starts (several talking)
Cole/ Approximately when will that come up in the formal agenda?
Fruin/ Uh.... I have to turn to Jason. If he can't ... if you have any ideas on....
Havel/ I think as far as, uh, formally coming before you, probably be looking at, um, First
Avenue probably later this fall. Um, and Mormon Trek likely next spring. That one will
have some property acquisition that will likely be needed for the .... the right turn lane. So
that one would be pushed back probably until next year.
Throgmorton/ Which will facilitate traffic movement on .... on Mormon Trek, right?
Havel/ Correct, yep, it would be a right turn lane there at Benton Street.
Botchway/ Before the proposal?
Havel/ What's that?
Botchway/ Say that again, I'm sorry, I missed that part.
Havel/ So that part, with property acquisition and need for that, that typically is a longer process,
so that would push the .... the Mormon Trek project likely not starting till sometime next
year. But the First Avenue one would be completely within the existing, uh, curb lines,
so that one could move quicker and... and likely would come before you guys, uh,
probably later this year.
Throgmorton/ So the question at hand is, uh.....do we want to intervene in the staff s.....decision
to move ahead with this. So .... John, you haven't said anything yet.
Thomas/ Well I (laughs) I think you know where I'm coming from (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ...be brief, you know (both talking)
Thomas/ I was ... that 126 collisions over, was that a five-year period. That's a pretty astonishing
number, um, I was looking at police reports partly related to the, um .... you know, the
new police chief and noticed in their 2015 documentation, 1,600 calls for service on
collisions citywide. Now I don't know how many are.... specific to the two streets in
question, but .... that's an enormous amount of effort on the part of. ... aside from the
property damage and personal injury, the amount of time the police spend calling,
responding to these collisions, um .... I mean I.....that.... that.....aside from all the
pedestrian advantages and so forth, the mere accident rate is call for.....the system isn't
working.
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Throgmorton/ So you don't....you do not want to intervene....
Thomas/ Right (both talking) I do not want to intervene.
Throgmorton/ Okay, so I think I heard Pauline, John, Susan.
Mims/ Yep, go ahead.
Throgmorton/ .... me .... Rockne, you....you got your instructions there, Geoff?
Fruin/ Thank you.
Throgmorton/ Uh, we're still.....we're actually on, um.....um.....Council, or Information Packet
for July 14 (mumbled) that's where we're at. So, any other comments on any of those
items?
Botchway/ Yeah, I think .... I mean my only comment would be, you know, I think that you put
the STAR rating system in there. Um.....you know, going back to the, um ..... equity and
empowerment, it just.... some places we scored relatively low. I guess my question was
around why did we .... I think we might have answered this before, but I guess I'm just
looking for another answer because I've forgotten, but ..... um, why didn't we submit
certain, um.....documents or whatever to, you know, get points in certain areas. I think I
saw that a couple of times that the City didn't submit something. Um, is that something
we're going to submit in the future that's going to change our score, or we didn't have
any information to submit at the time? And maybe it's .... I don't.....
Nations/ I think what you're probably referring to is the environmental justice in the working
lands. Those were two areas that we didn't, uh, submit information, and they just didn't
fit like for example the working lands, um, one had to do with best practices in
agriculture and uh, quarries within city limits, and you had to go to each one and make
sure that they weren't, um, like pesticides or something, and that environmental justice
one had to do with, um, going to an EPA web site and figuring out, um, from the
selection of data where we had, uh.... uh, certain things like, uh, super fund sites and
things like that, and it just didn't really match .... I think it was more for larger cities that
had downtown areas or different places that, um, that had issues with that, and um, it's
something that we could look into more, but those two didn't really, uh, fit us and we
didn't have the information to apply for those, but ... um, in our workshop that we're
having on Thursday we are going, um, back to .... 12 of those items that we didn't score
very well in and we're sp ... specifically looking at how we can, uh, fill those gaps.
Botchway/ Okay, I mean I think that answered my next question cause I didn't just look at the
ones that had the zero rating, but also as you look at poverty prevention and alleviation.
It says Iowa City did not submit data for the two outcome measures as communities that
show reduction in poverty over time, and so, you know, if we're .... that was my next
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kinda point, suggestion, question was .... if we're looking at as far as, you know, what's
the plan to address some of these issues.
Nations/ Yeah, that's what we're going to be doing at our .... at our workshop and we're going to
be looking at some of the, um, areas that we didn't have data for or that we didn't, um,
score highly in, so.....
Botchway/ Okay, thank you.
Throgmorton/ Thanks, Brenda! How bout Item #9, KXIC radio. (mumbled) So.....I'd like to
volunteer for August 20, unless somebody else really needs that date.
Thomas/ I'll go on, uh, the 17th of August.
Karr/ Thank you.
Botchway/ I can do the 31 sc of August.
Karr/ Is that Kingsley?
Botchway/ Yes.
Karr/ Thank you.
Dickens/ You need August 10th.
Karr/ Yes.
Dickens/ Sure!
Karr/ Thank you.
Mims/ I'll do the P.
Cole/ I'll do the next one. What would that be? (several talking and laughing)
Botchway/ No, I think it's the 240' (several talking)
Karr/ 24th is Throgmorton.
Botchway/ Oh, so it's the 7th. September 7th. (several talking)
Karr/ The 31s` is Kingsley. So we have the 27th .....we don't have July 27th.
Cole/ Okay, I'll do that.
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Karr/ Next week?
Cole/ Yep!
Karr/ July 276'. I'm into Wednesdays. Oh, okay, so I think that takes care of the Wednesdays.
27n, 3`a, 10th, 17th and then we're into, um, now we're to September 7th.
Botchway/ I can do the .... wait, yeah (both talking)
Karr/ September 7th is a Wednesday.
Botchway/ Okay. If anybody (both talking)
Karr/ Did you want....
Taylor/ I could do that, if that....
Botchway/ Okay! (several talking)
Karr/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Do you wanna... do you want us to do Fridays?
Karr/ Uh, yes. We'll have to do a couple Fridays, yes.
Botchway/ I can do August 5th and September 2"a
Throgmorton/ I've never done a Friday live show. I could do September 2"a, so if you have
a .... did you want to do both those dates?
Botchway/ I want to do both cause I don't have an alternate. Yeah.
Karr/ So .... Kingsley will do August 5th and September 2"a, so August 19th and September 16th.
Dickens/ I can do August 9th ... well, what's the later one?
Karr/ September 16th.
Dickens/ Let me do September 16th.
Karr/ September 16th is Dickens.
Cole/ I can do August 19th.
Karr/ August 19`h .....Cole. Okay. I'll send out a revised list.
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Throgmorton/ Yeah, great. How bout IP 10, has to do with.... concerning listening posts. We've
done three of `em so far.
Karr/ The only reason I put it in was not only for the update, but because one of the items
mentioned was Fanners Market, and that is a seasonal type of opportunity, um, and if
that's one we wanted to explore, we probably want to take a look at that fairly shortly. If
not, certainly the remainder of the year you'd still have some other indoor options.
Throgmorton/ We did two in April, and one in .... June (both talking)
Karr/ June. Correct.
Throgmorton/ Uh.....we could do one in early September, maybe, I mean .... I'm totally open to
this stuff.
Mims/ I think the Farmers Market, while that's still seasonal, then the Senior Center would be
maybe the two good next ones.
Karr/ Farmers Market, is there a preference to a Wednesday or a Saturday? And I can come
back to you.
Mims/ Sure.
Karr/ And then Senior Center, we'll look at another date toward the end of the year. Okay.
Throgmorton/ Okay, good deal. Uh, anything else?
Botchway/ Um, I just want to make a mention of.....the study that Kent put in the packet and
how we don't need to have ... or need to consider different road diets. Um, the other thing
was, uh.... IP #14 and uh, just want to thank Stefanie for the work, and obviously other
staff as well. Everybody, not necessarily Stefanie, but um, just the work on, again, that
update on diversity implementation and the status from that standpoint. So.....
Thomas/ Uh, IP 11, uh, the Oakcrest, uh, infill, you know looking at staff's memo, I think the...
the rationale of the, um.....safe walk to school certainly is a strong, uh, argument for
doing it. Urn .... I was looking .... I believe Deanna's residence is at 904 Oakcrest, if I'm
not mistaken (several responding) Um, and I was looking at .... on Google earth the .... the
residential portion of the house is pretty well set back from the streets, so in terms of
privacy I wasn't .... I think there are ways ... if distance is not enough to remedy that in
some other fashion. Uh, I ... I would want to emphasize, I mean, in looking at Oakcrest I
find that to be kind of a mean street, you know, you have, uh (laughs) no parking, um, I
don't know if it has continuous street trees, so .... so again I would want to emphasize if,
you know, and the history and background I noticed that it's an important component of
creating and maintaining accessible infrastructure, safe walking routes to school — that's
good, improving walkability. Now if we .... if we're really talking about walkability, it
gets into a higher threshold. It's not just putting in sidewalks. And, urn .... I would say at
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a minimum, you know, one thing that could be considered on these infill projects where
we're really talking about walkability, um, because there's potential for it, such as safe
routes to school, that for example street trees could be considered as part of the project, if
they're needed because.....that would, particularly on a street like Oakcrest. You have
no, um, no street parking, so there's no buffer for the ... for the pedestrians as they're
walking along the street. Street trees would provide some sense of separation from the
roadway, and I expect on Oakcrest with the street improvements that speeds .... I don't
know what the speeds are now, but they may be higher, uh, as a result of the repaving.
Andrew/ Yeah, generally the sidewalk infill project and our tree plantings have, uh, gone
forward independently and haven't interacted much, but that's a .... a good point that
maybe we should look at coordinating those, uh, two pots of money (both talking)
Thomas/ I think where there is, again, it's sort of where there's potential for walkability, uh, look
at ... you know, the .... the four criteria that we've talked about earlier, the .... the safe walk,
the useful walk, the comfortable walk, and the interesting walk, so it sort of falls under
the comfortable walk. I mean if you put in a sidewalk but you don't feel comfortable
walking on the street, you know, you're not going to get many walkers, unless they're
compelled, as a child might be to get to school, um, but it would nevertheless make it a
safer walk for them and a more comfortable walk to have the trees.
Fruin/ We've had those conversations, just real brief, uh, on .... when we're doing the resurfacing
to look at some of the traffic calming options to us, including what you're talking about.
Um, and ... and this isn't... we're gonna do that but..um, sometimes trees can be just as
controversial as sidewalks (laughter and several talking) You know, I don't want a tree
in my front yard (several talking)
Thomas/ I wouldn't impose them, just (laughs) but to .... to offer that, I mean it could be offered
to Diane.... Deanna, you know, she's, um, as a way of, uh, if she has issues with this
privacy that the trees may be of some benefit.
Throgmorton/ I think there's support for the staff's recommendation.
Cole/ I'm supportive of that!
Throgmorton/ All right. Other items for July 14th? I .... I'm going to bring up one I guess. IP 13,
traffic calming on Ridge Road. I think you forwarded an email concerning that and it
sounded pretty problematic to me as well, but uh, I wonder if staff has ideas about .... how
to respond effectively to that concern.
Mims/ Well and I know I've talked to Geoff and .... and I've comm ... and I have and will continue
to communicate back with some of the people up there that .... and Geoff made clear to let
them know, and I have and will but you know, if they have continuing issues to, you
know, to let the City Manager's office know that staff had been out there and felt that
after the first few days, some of those .... some of those traffic numbers had kind of
dropped significantly, and I certainly noticed, as an example this morning as I was
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heading out on Dodge Street, um, the incredible traffic coming in on Dodge Street about
quarter of eight this morning (laughs) A lot of people have figured out to stay off of
Dubuque Street at about quarter of eight in the morning, and they're using Dodge Street
instead to come in, so I mean I think .... I think we're seeing some adjustments in that.
Um, and if. ... if any of those people are watching tonight, I .... I would encourage them
and again I'm communicating with them, you know, get a hold of City Manager's office.
Geoff made it clear that, you know, we would send staff back out and .... look at that and
see if. ... if there were some temporary things that we really needed to do, um, in the
meantime, but I think, Geoff, you gave me a timeline of like October that....
Frain/ Right.
Mims/ ...everything's gonna change again, and so (both talking)
Frain/ ...shift over lanes in October and Ridge will close and Brown and Kimball will open.
Mims/ (both talking) ....open back up, so.....
Frain/ Um, we're trying to find that balance between temporary measures to .... to get through
this period, um.....and.... but if there are long-term concerns, then we'll.....we'll go
through the traditional, uh, calming program, uh, process. So we'll continue to stay
engaged. I know, um ... uh, our engineering staff is, uh, you know, kind of (both talking)
Mims/ Overly taxed (laughter) (both talking)
Frain/ ....they've, you know, especially the first week or two of that project was really trying,
but every time you shift a little bit on that construction, there's a new wrinkle thrown in,
so as we close a different section of Park Road or we make the switch in October,
everything gets thrown out the window and we kinda start all over again and try to figure
out how people are adapting.
Throgmorton/ Sounds a little bit like fences on Washington Avenue.... Washington Street.
Frain/ That's right!
Throgmorton/ Okay, anything else on that packet?
Cole/ Are we going to be doing a work session on our traffic pal... calming, uh, program? I
understand that was going to come back to us, cause I guess one of the things .... I
understand why we do it in a complaint -driven process. I get that, um, but I also want us
to sort of identify, sort of proactively, you know, ways in which we think we can calm the
traffic in some of our.... especially inner core neighborhoods. So that's what my thought
is.
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Fruin/ We .... we haven't got to the pending topics yet. We don't have anything, uh, scheduled
for August. Traffic calming is one that we're targeting, we're just not sure what date
that'll fall into.
Cole/ Okay. Thanks, Geoff.
Throgmorton/ Anything else? Hearing none, let's go to Council time. I don't, Rockne, why
don't you start.
Council Time:
Cole/ I don't have anything.
Dickens/ Just a quick update. You talked about Washington Street, uh, that we did lose one
business that temporarily closed, uh, Running Wild is working out of their Coralville
store until further notice.... which is a shame. Uh, I know they're working as fast as they
can. We're gettin' regular updates. I know the .... they can, uh, foreman of the
construction has been doing around to the businesses, letting them know when they're
going to be pouring their cement. So they're doing the best job they can. They just keep
fording interesting stuff under our streets, and uh, hopefully they can get back on
schedule, but uh, you always hate to hear somebody pulling out, even if it's temporary.
So....we just gotta.... hunker.... hunker down and hopefully it gets done quickly.
Mims/ And support the businesses along there.
Throgmorton/ Right (several talking)
Botchway/ Um .... you done? Soon ... in the late packet, IP something, uh, late edition handouts,
um, that the, uh, DVIP was interested in meeting with more Councilors for, urn .... a
meeting talking about services and stuff. They've listed July 270' and 291', or August 3 d
and 5d' for potential dates for three Councilors to attend. Throwin' it out there as far as...
interest from Councilors.
Throgmorton/ Who would be interested in joining .... are you (both talking)
Botchway/ I can't now because I .... because the dates changed. I'll be gone.
Thomas/ And what group was this again?
Botchway/ DVIP (several talking)
Karr/ July 27d', 29"'; August 3`d or 5d.
Mims/ So I .... I didn't have a chance to look at it. So are they looking at .... trying to get us to
start thinking about stuff in advance of. ... budgeting for this fall or.....
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Botchway/ They did not say that, I mean, I would assume that it is a part of that. I think it was
more just talking about the level of services that they have or .... available and kind of
having that discussion.
Karr/ It was originally posted as a lunch and learn.
Botchway/ Yeah.
Throgmorton/ I can say I cannot do it on the 27`h or 29°i
Cole/ I could do on the 29`h. Are they looking for both dates?
Throgmorton/ Marian, could .... could we do this, um, by email somehow?
Karr/ Yes, I'll send .... I can send that ... I can send out an email and if you could just all respond to
it (several talking) They're looking for more than one Council Member (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Susan?
Mims/ Uh, nothing. Thanks.
Throgmorton/ John?
Thomas/ Nothing.
Throgmorton/ Pauline? Okay, I want to mention three things, uh, Geoff and I had a terrific
meeting with President Harreld on the 12`h. Uh, we wanted to talk with him about, uh,
off -campus demand for student housing and.... relationship of that to the housing market,
and all the other things associated (laughs) with that, and we also wanted to talk with him
about, uh, collaborative possibilities with regard to the Riverfront Crossings District, and
the riverfront itself. Uh, so we had a very stimulating and very productive conversation
with him, Rod Lenertz, and Tom Rockland. So ... I think .... we're gonna see some....
initiatives coming out of that. I ... I can't detail `em because they haven't been generated
yet (laughs) but I think that's gonna happen. Secondly, on July 13a' I participated in a
meeting at the Partnership for Alcohol Safety. I'm, uh, co-director or whatever that, co-
chair, and I just directed a question to ... to Geoff about that, so we might get some ... some
feedback.
Fruin/ Sure.
Throgmorton/ ...pertaining to it. We're gonna go up to see Mayor Cownie tomorrow up in Des
Moines, and we're gonna meet with him at 3:00 P.M. Looking forward to that. And on
the 14`h I had the opportunity to accept a check for $400,000 from Friends of the Animal
Shelter Foundation. When I opened it up, there was nothing in the envelope, but the
check had already been deposited (laughter) It was great, I mean, it was really (several
talking and laughing) That's right! Yeah, I spent everything (laughter) Yeah, it was
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Page 32
really fun to be down there, uh, and you know, it turns out my neighbor, Liz Ford, is
director of the Animal Shelter. So it was really fun to do that at a personal level. So,
anyhow, that's it for me with regard to Council time. How bout meeting schedule?
Meeting Schedule:
Throgmorton/ What do we.....um...... couple of ADA things coming up.
Mims/ Right.
Throgmorton/ Next week and on .... I know .... (several talking) Oh, this week, I'm sorry, on... on
Sun .... no Saturday at noon, right (several talking) ADA celebration on the ped mall. Uh,
and the night before, on Friday, uh, there's a guest speaker, Tao Tamasse. So I ... I think
I'm supposed to introduce her that night and then say just a few words at the other event.
(several talking)
Mims/ It's afternoon, isn't it, it's like 2:00 or something. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah. But, uh, are there other meetings or whatever that we should be aware of?
Taylor/ Rummage in the Ramp. We had a memo about the Rummage in the Ramp .... coming up.
Throgmorton/ Yeah.
Botchway/ Couple quick things. I think that the .... it says here, and I have it on my schedule and
I could be wrong, is the ... um, celebrations from .... it starts at 10:00 A.M.
Andrew/ That's correct.
Botchway/ 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Yeah.
Andrew/ In previous years it has started at noon, but this year it's moved up to 10. That's
correct.
Botchway/ Um .... and that's all I have.
Throgmorton/ Okay, we really only have.....what, really only one other thing to do and that's
pending work session topics.
Pending Work Session Topics fIP # 8 Info Packet of 7/141:
Throgmorton/ I .... I have three possibilities. I'm a little leery about gettin' into this. I don't want
to run over too much but.....one, I would like .... if.....if enough of you are willing, uh,
one thing I would like to put on the pending work session, uh, agenda is something... with
the little like this: consider future actions concerning downtown redevelopment, and I
don't want to be more specific about that right now, but you know it's very clear. We all
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understand this, that there's a challenge at the moment and, uh, I think we need to explore
that in a thoughtful way. So, I don't know, is there support for doing that?
Cole/ I'm supportive of that.
Thomas/ I would support that.
Throgmorton/ I'm seeing at least four nods, plus me, so that'd be ... well, six, so.....uh... second,
uh, Geoff, I think it would be good at some point in the near future for you to ..... to
describe to us during a work session, uh, the process you intend to go through in regards
to the search for a police chief. And that doesn't need to be a special topic so much on a
work session agenda, but I think it'd be very helpful for that to be described in a way that
is available to the public, uh, who watches .... uh, our work sessions. So I ... if that's
reasonable to you, uh, that'd be a good thing to do.
Fruin/ Sure.
Throgmorton/ Okay. Uh.....well, I .... I have one other idea, but given the time I think I'm going
to skip it at this moment and come back to it at our next meeting and make it as a
suggestion. So .... anything else that we need to discuss? I guess we do have the
upcoming community events, but we already sort of covered that, didn't we? Anything
else? Okay, so we're gonna adjourn our work session agenda and we'll reconvene at 7.
Thanks everybody!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of July 19, 2016.