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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-02-21 TranscriptionPage 1 City Council Work Session Council Present: Botchway, Cole, Dickens, Mims, Taylor, Thomas, Throgmorton Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe, Andrew, Dilkes, Voparil, Boothroy, Seydell-Johnson, Yapp, Havel, Rummel, Bockenstedt, Fruehling Others Present: Simpson, Nelson (UISG) Annual update from the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD): Throgmorton/ First topic is an annual update from the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD) Hi, Mark Nolte! (several talking) Nolte/ Uh, good evening! Just wanted to come and give you our annual update, uh, on the work we're doin' and, uh, some of the feedback from the companies we're interviewed about, uh, Iowa City and the business climate. Um, I'll wait till that starts, but .... um.... Throgmorton/ Be patient! (several talking) Nolte/ Okay! (laughter and several talking) Okay, you can see it! Okay! So, uh, just ... as a recap for the public, uh, Iowa City Area Development Group, we spun off of the Chamber back in 1984 and we focus on the inter -state commerce companies. So, while the Chamber and Downtown District and others work on local businesses, we focus on those businesses that can be located anywhere but .... but choose to be here. So that runs the gamut from Procter and Gamble and Oral-B, and ACT, down to a small start-up tech company. So .... those businesses are bringing outside revenue in and creating employment that way, as opposed to serving a local market. That's.... that's where we delineate from the Chamber. And, uh, we have a team of six right now. We've got a great, uh, great staff in place, and to date we work in, uh, five-year increments, and to date we've helped over .... helped create over 1,700 jobs in the area. That's about 20 expansion projects, nine recruitments, and we've worked with more than 20 start-ups. Start-up number is always a little flexible cause they come and go, and some don't make it, and some pivot, so.....it's hard to have a firm number on there. We are working on a few, uh, significant expansion projects right now. One that we're very close to announcing, that's been working very close with staff, that, uh, will be very exciting, and that'll be a national project when it's announced, but ... we're really excited that .... it sounds like it's getting very close to being public. Of the companies we work with that we surveyed this year, uh, they plan to add 1,623 new positions in the next few years. They had 471 unfilled positions. The interesting thing about that 2,000 or so positions is that .... is half require a high school or associate's degree. So we've got ... we'll talk about this a little more ... but we've got a little bit of a misalignment with what we're sometimes producing through our higher education institutions and what our employers are looking for. And that's.....that's one of the bottlenecks in our workforce. But we asked, um, the companies to, uh, about 105 different questions every year, and were able to analyze this information and so that blue line, that first blue line, those are just the companies in Iowa This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 2 City Council Work Session City that we've surveyed, and so when you look at the performance of those companies, you'll see, uh, in almost every category they're out -pacing, uh, state and national norms, and sometimes in a large way. Uh, plans to expand being the biggest one. So ... only about half the companies in the State of Iowa, uh, plan to add jobs and .... and capital investment in the next few years, but 80% of Iowa City companies do. So .... that's a great trend. The challenge is that 93% are indicating there's a challenge with finding the workforce. So, but .... as these numbers show, that's a national phenomenon as well. So while we are lamenting some of these workforce challenges that growing metros like ours across the country are having some of the same issues. Quality of the local workforce is higher than the national averages, um, when you look at employee stability and productivity, that's where you get into some of the ... the areas where we've got some work to do in the workforce on the training side. Throgmorton/ Mark, what's the scale, the vertical scale? Nolte/ It's a 1 to 7 Likert scale, so we ask the executive or the plant manager how satisfied are you with these categories. Uh, this is .... we'll send you a breakdown with more data on this too, if you want, but we asked a variety of, um, different topics about the community. Then we kind of...uh, amalgamate those into, uh, these subheadings, but the bottom line... is that companies in Iowa City are very happy. You look at that last slide, business support, governmental services. Companies in Iowa City are happy with the business climate. So ... sometimes there's this narrative that, you know, Iowa City's not friendly to business or something like that. It's just not ... does not bear out with the executives and ... and the plant managers that we talked to. There's a lot of satisfaction with ... with the community as a place to do business, a place to grow. They feel like they're supported from ... from the City staff they work with, uh, policies, that sort of thing. So ... urn .... the bottom line is these companies like being here. They want to grow here. Uh, the challenge remains that the workforce side. So when you kind of look at the SWOT analysis, very similar to what we showed you last year, what we hear, uh, qualify of life, good schools. Uh, there's some concerns about that right now. Uh, the, uh, some of the challenges going on in Des Moines around public education. Uh, we're .... we're hearing that from .... from our companies. They see the long and short-term effects of some of those decisions. Uh, the biggest weakness and threat is the...their lack of the workforce with the right skills, and so that's why we're tryin' to do some things differently, like the MERGE space, uh, start to get things in a different career path that more aligns with the companies that we've got and the jobs where we see coming down the road. Some of the biggest threats we see, some of `em are a little more existential. The role of automation, artificial intelligence. These things are happening very quickly. We've got companies that are engaged in this right now, you know, even companies like, you know, ACT are looking at the role of virtual reality as it comes to testing, right. Will the number 2 pencil be the predominant way that the ACT is administered, or will it be done in some different.... type of technological capacity. So, how do we position this community to be on the front end of some of these changes as opposed to being threatened, uh, by some of the things that we know are coming. Um ... a lot of concern right now with .... with the health of the University, and ... and the changes that might be coming there due to budget cuts at the State. We know that the health of the community This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 3 City Council Work Session largely depends on the health of the University of Iowa, and uh.... as strong as the business community is around that, we know that home values, property taxes — everything — uh, could be affected there. So we're watching that .... those very closely, trying to do all that we can to assist the University, and uh.... but it's ... it's a concern, uh, as I'm sure everyone in the community is concerned with. So, biggest threat is the inability to grow the workforce as quickly as we need, but some of the things that we've talked about in the past — lack of workforce housing, some of the transportation barriers — are being addressed and we're starting to see those changes now and the satisfaction of the employers that we're talking to. They're seeing these projects come out of the ground -out of the ground. They're seeing the ... the ride -sharing options, the Zip cars, some of the things that you've been working on for the past few years. So .... there's a lot of positive energy, a lot of...of, uh, optimism out there that we're gonna.... we're gonna have the kind of workforce housing that we need in the next few years, urn .... so.....by and large it's .... it's, you know, we're very excited. It's a great community for these companies. We're blessed with the ... the diversity of the type of companies that we have, and their ability to grow, and the interest in new companies to form here, but we've gotta be ever mindful of some of these other issues that are coming down the road. So .... uh, we are engaged in a regional plan, trying to, you know, think past our borders and how do we fight some of these larger challenges together. We have a joint venture that .... that's kind of struggling to get off the ground with the folks in Cedar Rapids, so ... uh, we'll talk a little bit (mumbled) more of that if you're coming to our investor update meeting tomorrow, but .... one of these things we've gotta figure out. There's a lot of pride in ... in the individual communities in this region and how do we transfer some of that into more regional pride, because the days of competing against each other are behind us. Now it's how do we align our resources and our skills to compete together against, you know, some of these broader changes out there. So, it...it remains a struggle, um, there's no easy shortcut on that. It takes time to build the trust and relationships necessary, so.... Uh, collaboration with partners is great. We, you know, the Downtown District, the Chamber, the CVB, there's a lot of coordination and ... and kindred spirit between our organizations and we're lookin' at doing some things differently, um, in how we market collectively and .... and some of the tools that we're using. So for instance, we're... we're looking at jointly buying some 360 -degree cameras so we can shoot, uh.... uh, in virtual reality basically. So we can ... we can have content so those individuals that have never stepped foot in Iowa, we can say `this is what it's like to live in Iowa City,' that sort of thing. So .... uh, there is a group of entrepreneurs from Los Angeles that we spoke with recently and they .... honest go god, asked if we drive tractors. (laughter) So, that's the kind of perception, you know, it's funny but (several talking) they really think that! So if we can use some of these new tools and kind of be on the front end of that, to show them this is what ... what's going on here and so highlight things like Mission Creek Festival and some of the things that we're doing, because when we get people to come here, they realize it's a very special place. We've got a new individual that, uh, he and his wife were moving here and he was the head of eBay's, uh, Asian operation. So he's lived in Singapore. He's lived all over the world. He's blown away by this community, but he's like I didn't even know where Iowa was, until we moved here, you know, so he's a Hawkeye by marriage, he'll say (laughter) So it's .... what more can we do to change that perception and get people thinkin' about this place, and then get people to come back, uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 4 City Council Work session after they've graduated from here. We know they want to leave for a few years, go to Chicago — a larger metro, that sort of thing — but kind of this narrative: how do we get people to skip the Chicago suburbs when they're ready to have a family and .... and so those are the things we're trying to figure out how to marketly... how to market jointly with the CVB and .... and our regional partners and that sort of thing. And then the MERGE space and we can't thank you enough for your unwavering support of this. We've hit some bumps in the road along the way, but things are moving along nicely. Uh, they were in there — that picture on the right is from today. They finished the ... the, um ... mudding, I don't know what the technical term is. The skin coat, and uh, they should be able to start painting, uh, by the end of this week, and so then it's a matter of some doors and carpet and some furniture and we .... we, I believe we'll be open by .... if not April 1, early April. Uh, we've got all but four of the offices rented right now. Uh, so it'll open... fairly full. It'll feel pretty vibrant. We've got a robust schedule of activities that are going to take place in there, and again, we really see this as kind of being the hub of innovation and the living room of the community, and we want to welcome a lot of different type of diverse programs to get people out of their silos and bumping into each other and talking about different things that they can collaborate on, so.... It's comin' along! And then I'm gonna turn it over to Kate to talk about some of the other initiatives that she's been leading. Moreland/ So like Mark said, I think the workforce issues really remain, uh, top of everyone's mind, and being a community that's really easy to connect in, uh, really can retain talent here. So we're trying to do more programming with, uh, trailing spouses and people that are new to the area, making sure we connect them to the right resources, and we work a lot, Simon Andrew is on the, uh, International Welcoming Committee. I want to commend the Council for your, uh, work with the immigrant community and supporting, uh, that population. I think that is something ... we know diverse communities do better economically. So continuing that narrative and making sure that we are reaching out to those diverse communities and making them part of our community at large. So we continue to work on that through our welcome... welcoming initiatives. Um, `Pick Your Pace' is about ready to launch, and that will be a.....a site where, like Mark said, we can really convey what it's like to live and work here. Um, we've also worked on a ... a wing man project for the region, where when you're new to the area you can select, uh, a wing person to .... to kind of help connect you to the community. We know that we have about six months to really get people connected, and (clears throat) the spouses are often the ones, the partners, that if they don't find the right position or the right kind of home here, then when their time's up at the University for their spouse, they may leave. So, we're doing what we can, from a grass roots kind of level, um, to really make that a fun program for people and .... and so that's just starting to, uh, no pun intended, take off. So, um ... we continue to .... to just work on that connection piece, and I think having our space downtown, for some of our programming, will really create a place, uh, for that to happen. We have people stop in every day from frankly all over the world that are stopping in or are here for something, and so I think we're gonna see that, uh, really be a place, um, for people to connect to resources and ... and people. So, we're excited and we appreciate all your support. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 5 City Council Work Session Nolte/ Happy to take any questions or ... clarify anything. Throgmorton/ Great work, Mark ... and Kate, but are there questions? Botchway/ Yeah, I would just say, um, huge supporter of your work. I think we've had private conversations, public conversations in regard to that. I really want to thank you, because I think last time I made a couple comments about making sure that you expand to diverse groups and populations, and I've seen that effort, you know, made, um, especially in your, you know, new and improved MERGE space. So that doesn't go unnoticed and I wanted to kind of feed ... give that feedback after I made those comments or questions last time. Um, the other thing is, kind of around that workforce piece, because I think there's been some things that have come before Council in regards to the overall workforce. Whatever analysis, whatever information, especially as it pertains to workforce housing that you can provide, I think would be necessary. I still feel, and this is just my gut, I don't necessarily see too much data, and the people I've talked to, that there's a gap between I would say the 25 to 35, that we don't necessarily address from a workforce, um, standpoint on workforce housing standpoint, that we're gonna need to address, um, if we ... if we want to become as inclusive and progressive as I think we can become, and so whatever information that you have, uh, it would be greatly appreciated, at least from Council's standpoint. I'm sure you're sharing that information with staff as well. Throgmorton/ Anyone else? Cole/ I guess I have just a question. You've identified several things that we can do to improve the climate for the workforce. What would you say would be the one primary area that you really want us to get focusing on? What's sort of the lowest hanging fruit that you see, from a ... at least a Council perspective, to put you on the spot a little bit. Nolte/ Yeah, I mean .... our biggest concern right now is the education system. You know, uh, we need to make sure that we get the, you know, we're workin' with a lot of groups. We gotta get the bond passed, uh, to make sure we've got 2151 century learning environments. That's... that's always been our bread and butter, is ... is this community ... is public education, and so the .... our.....our concerns aren't .... I think you guys as .... as a City Council have addressed the things. We remain a vibrant arts community. Your support for things like the Englert and ... and Mission Creek and those kind of things that are bringing people here. You know, continue to focus on workforce housing, but I think as a lot of these projects come out of the ground, you're gonna see kind of a change in some of the price structure in some of the older facil.... you know, properties out there. So we're less concerned in the immediate need about having the .... the workforce housing for that 25 to 35 -year-old, cause that has been the gap, right. We had student housing and then we had, you know, family homes. We had very little in between, but when you start lookin' at all the projects that are comin' online now, I think that gap will be full, but our, you know .... we've gotta declare our intent. I think this could be known nation-wide as the community that does entrepreneurship and education right, but that seems to be under attack a little bit right now. So, those are the things that worry us a little bit. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 6 City Council Work session Throgmorton/ You're not alone! So, I want to express a dream to you, Mark .... and Kate. Uh, it's a dream that you and I talked about, maybe .... at least a year ago, maybe a couple years ago. As you know, we've just entered a climate action planning process, havin' to do with reducing carbon emissions, etc. And I'm very conscious that we have an industrial park here in our city that is ... is not really being used in the way intended or that we would like to see it used. I would .... this is my dream. I .... I would love to see ICAD and others help us imagine a way.... successful way, to develop that park, uh.... in a manner that would, um .... reinforce our efforts to, uh, address climate change, reduce carbon emissions, and so on. So .... if.....either of you, or anybody affiliated with ICAD has clear thoughts about that, clear suggestions, uh.... I.....I think we would, as a Council, would love to know about `em, and I certainly would! Nolte/ (mumbled) ...challenge. Mims/ I just want to add my thanks to all that ICAD does. I think a lot of people who don't.... get involved with ICAD or necessarily see some of the things that you put out in terms of the data and the things you're collecting and working on, don't necessarily realize the value of an organization like ICAD, and you're absolutely essential, and.... and Mark has provided, um, excellent input and leadership on the regional visioning, uh, committee, as well, which .... I appreciate, cause I sit there sometimes and I'm not sure where everybody's going, but .... Mark seems to figure out where we need to go. No, you along with Bruce Harreld and the other two tri -chairs from ..... from Rockwell and, urn .... Alliant? Have just done a really good job.....so I appreciate that. Nolte/ I feel like it's.... struggling. I appreciate the comment, but I feel like we're just..... spinnin' our wheels there. Mims/ Well.....hopef.....hopefully we'll make some progress, but you've had some really good input and I appreciate that. Throgmorton/ All right! Anything else? Thank you. (several talking) Okay, let's turn to clarification of agenda items, and before we get into any particulars, I want to just make a general comment. I'm sure you all noticed that staff has started using its new Council Action Report format. I'm wonderin', uh, what your initial reaction is to that format, you know, based on, you know, one ... one packet's worth of stuff, but... You know, my sense is it's pretty effective, I like it, but .... (several responding) Fruin/ Appreciate any feedback as we start to work these in, uh, it's greatly appreciated. Clarification of Agenda Items: Throgmorton/ Okay, how about specific items? ITEM 3f(9) R.J. Johnson (x2): Ped Mall This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 7 City Council Work Session Thomas/ I just .... it's kind of a very minor one, but it .... I'll just mention it anyway. On one of the, um, correspondence there was something, 3f....(9) I think I wrote. R. J. Anderson on the use of the planters. (several talking) And, uh.... yeah, L....you know, I .... I've noticed that when I've gone through the ped mall and I'm kind of puzzled by what's going on there. ... Sol ....it.....it is a bit strange. It doesn't seem to be, um, it's not being used properly, it seems to me. There is, you know, the dogs relieve themselves and it's ... it remains there (laughs) There isn't the pick up. So I was just curious what ... what the status was on that. Fruin/ Yeah, this has been an item that, um, gosh, there's been discussions on for .... three or four years at least, urn ... that at least I've .... I've been aware of...of at some point, but, um ... uh, probably goes back until, uh.... three or four years ago when we changed the ordinance to allow dogs onto the ped mall. There was discussion at that time on .... on what impact that might have on some of the .... the plantings and the vegetation down there. Um, there's been some concerns from some of our volunteers that ... that work down there that, uh, the dogs in the planters, um, are, um .... destroying some of the vegetation down there. Um, so we started to explore what are some good options, and ... and some cities, um, have designated `dog' areas, dog relief areas. And, uh, we thought that this year would be a good year to experiment with that, as we're headin' into the ped mall project, uh, redesign. So we took a couple of planters, um, that were near residential, um, units, where ... uh, there's known to be animals, um, and um .... where the ... in those particular planters there wasn't necessarily a good healthy stock of vegetation, and we've turned `em into .... to precisely those areas, to see how they work, and, you know, if...if the, at the end of this kind of experiment we determine that, you know, they don't work because people still aren't pickin' up after `em, then you won't see those areas in the redesigned ped mall and we'll have to look to policy, new policy, or, uh, other enforcement actions to ... to try to get, uh, the results we want. So it's a bit of an experiment goin' on right now. Cole/ Is there a current fine, if you don't clean up after your dog? Fruin/ Yeah, I think so, but I .... I don't know off the top of my head what that would be. The problem is we don't have officers down there looking for that.... Cole/ Okay. Fruin/ ....at all times, so it's ... it's kinda like smoking violations. It's.... it's.....unless you're down there witnessing it, it's really hard to enforce. Mims/ Geoff, in those areas, do we have, or are we going to have, like a lot of places now have the .... the poles with the .... the bags and stuff (both talking) Fruin/ We're there (both talking) Mims/ ...I thought I had seen one down there recently, but I just wanted to make sure. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 8 City Council Work Session Throgmorton/ Yeah, several months ago, I don't know, sometime in the summer I guess, I did a walking tour of the downtown with Linda Schriver and some other people, and that was a point that, uh, Linda emphasized very strongly, that the planters are being basically destroyed by dogs that are urinating and defecating in the planters, and it's really bad for the trees and .... etc. So, uh...it...it seemed to me at the time, and I think Linda was saying this also, that new projects that have substantial numbers of residences in them need to provide internal space...... for their critters, because what ... what does a dog need to do, and what does it do the moment it goes outside? It's gotta urinate! Then you walk around for a while and it's gotta defecate, I mean, that's the bottom line of all that. So... the spaces need to be readily available... for... for the residents who own dogs. Fruin/ It's a challenge, and we can't.....we can't really do a .... a regional facility downtown, cause if it's not out your door, you're right, it's not gonna be effective. Mims/ Well I .... I don't know what other efforts we ... either that we can make as a city or through like the Animal Shelter and stuff in terms of, uh, maybe working with some of the ... the owners or landlords or some of these facilities just trying to educate .... I think it's a real cultural thing, cause I've gone other places where, I mean, it is people. They just.... they, it's a cultural thing. Dog goes, they pick it up, I mean, it's just .... not considered otherwise. And .... I think to get people, you know, really in the habit, um, I think unfortunately what we may end up having to do is turn around and ban them, and I think that's unfortunate because I think better way is to try and get people to be responsible about cleaning up after their pets. Um .... so if people have ideas of how we might try and structure something like that, that might be effective, I think it'd be a good idea. Throgmorton/ (both talking) ...key thing. I have lived in a city for five months where the culture was that nobody.... nobody picked up dog droppings, and people had dogs all over the place! Mims/ Uh huh. Throgmorton/ So all of the .... paved, basically paved spaces in this city .... were just covered with defecation (laughter) so what they did was rely on the public utility staff to come through and spray clean these paved kind of areas, like three or four times a day. It was pretty dreadful basically. Botchway/ Just so I'm clear, we don't have dog permits or something along those lines .... for pets? Okay. Thomas/ Is it .... is it limited to a couple of buildings where the residents live that .... have the dogs? Fruin/ I'd say there's a fair amount of visitors to the downtown that bring their dogs too, especially with special events (several responding) And that's, you know, that's the, kind of the conclusion we reached is we were debating, at least as a staff, on the ... on the ped mall ban. You could reinstitute the ped mall ban. Those dogs aren't necessarily going This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 9 City Council Work session anywhere, and you're gonna find `em on Washington Street or on Dubuque Street or on Linn Street, Clinton Street. So .... bans are .... I don't know if that's the answer either. Cole/ I like the vibe of having the dogs, but have we done any public relation's campaigns, just even reaching out to the landlords, that sort of thing, um, if there's any positive reinforcement too? Fruin/ There's been a lot of it. I don't know if there's a formal educational campaign, but there's certainly been a lot of conversations within the Downtown District and .... and, uh, the property owners downtown. Cole/ Okay. Taylor/ ...encourage them to post signs in their buildings that you have to pick up after your animals. Throgmorton/ I have a feeling we're not gonna solve this problem tonight. Thomas/ It's a wicked problem. (laughter) ITEM 3f(11) Erich Schmidt: Message from Iowa State Building Trades/City Council Request for Feb 21s' Throgmorton/ Okay other items? May .... maybe we should .... I know there are two people out in the room interested in Item 3f(11), uh, which is in the late handout, and it's a request from the Iowa Building Trades Council. And, let me think now. The request basically is ... gotta find the text, where'd it go? Uh... sorry! Thought I'd marked this. Taylor/ (mumbled) prevailing wage and .... and U.S. steel. Throgmorton/ Yeah. You know what, instead of me lookin' for the text, uh, because I'm havin' trouble seein' it, maybe Bill or Eric could just briefly state what the request is. Gearhart/ Hey, thank you. I'm Bill Gearhart. I'm President of Iowa State Building Trades Council. A life -time, uh, long-time resident of, uh.... uh, Iowa City and Johnson County. Uh, we're at the State House quite a bit as you can tell this year, and there's a bill working it's way through that we've titled the `road swap' bill. Uh, Eric's our legislative director. He can fill you in, but it's, uh, it's a way that federal money that comes into the state, that's got Davis Bacon requirements, which is prevailing wage for construction workers, and by American steel requirements, can be circumvented by swapping the federal money with state money, and we think that skirts some ... two very important laws that offer worker protection. So I'm gonna turn it over to Eric. He's been up on the Hill battling this all week. Schmidt/ Yes, thank you, Bill. Um, my name is Eric Schmidt. I'm actually from the City of Des Moines. Uh, we represent over 4,000 construction workers statewide from the Laborers This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 10 City Council Work Session International Union of North America. Um, just over 200 here in Iowa City. Um, Bill kind of gave an explanation of the legislation. Um, it....it does talk about swapping dollars from the secondary road fund with the DOT, and it's a dollar -for -dollar swap. Um, the problem that we have with that is we found an article, um, from the Telegraph Herald, and I believe we forwarded that on to you last Friday, um, of...a gentleman by the name of Stewart Anderson that works for the Department of Transportation, and before I move forward, I do want to say that this is not a, uh, a department -sponsored bill in any way, and they've admitted to that. Um, but in his .... in the article he was quoted as saying that the reason they needed to do this dollar -for -dollar swap is so that they can go around the prevailing wage provision that's tied to federal dollars, and then also go around the Buy American provision, which is in, uh, Title 23, Section 313 of the Federal Highway Act. Um, we have an issue with that because .... we feel it, urn .... it takes away some of the credibility of the construction workers out there that do have projects that are intermingled with State dollars and federal dollars, and by .... in terms of, um, construction workers who are already somewhat hurting right now, especially outside of the commercial industry, by doing this we feel that it could bring wages down even further, which could end up recruiting an out-of-state workforce. Um, so we have an obligation to our members, throughout the state, who do work on construction to, um, try to defend some of the provisions that do go into certain projects. This has been current law for quite some time. They've introduced this legislation for the past four years now, and it's never had any bearing until this year under a Republican trifecta. Now I understand, um, that the City Council is a bipartisan group, so I don't want to get in the weeds there. Our only request is, um, when we looked at the amount of interest groups that are registered in favor of this legislation, and reger... registered against it, um, there's only three groups currently that are registered in favor of it, and one of them is the Metropolitan Coalition. Our request to the City Council, and uh, other city councils as well, is we're tryin' to find out who they answer to the Metropolitan Coalition, and if it is the top 10 cities or the mayors of the, um, top 10 cities, we're just asking for .... the different cities to use their political capital to maybe talk to the Metropolitan Coalition to just not be involved in this legislation at this current time, whether that be not .... we don't want them to be registered against it or in favor of it, but just to remain neutral. Um, there's various reasons and we have, uh.... suspected various reasons of why they are registered in favor of this. Um, if you read the legislation it's ... it's a very innocuous bill. It doesn't mention anything about the Davis Bacon wages or the Buy American Act. Um, only if you're a nerd like me who ends up reading the Federal Highway Act would you know that. So, um, we think that some people have been misled on this, and we're just asking various city councils to talk to the board of the Metropolitan Coalition, to change the registration just to being neutral on (both talking) Throgmorton/ .....so. Just to focus right in on the nub of it. Schmidt/ Uh huh. Throgmorton/ As I understand it right now as an individual city we are undeclared. Fruin/ Correct! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 11 City Council Work Session Throgmorton/ ...on this particular thing, but the Metro Coalition, of which we are a part, is registered in favor of it. Fruin/ As is the Iowa League of Cities, which we're a part of. Throgmorton/ Yeah. Okay. So your request is that we ask the Metro Coalition to become neutral on it. Schmidt/ Correct! Throgmorton /Yeah. Schmidt/ And, uh, one of the reasons we're separating the League of Cities from the Metropolitan Coalition is the League of Cities do represent, urn, smaller populated areas. And one of the things that has been addressed, and.... it's.... it's very convoluted, but, um, the County Engineers are also registered in favor of this legislation, and their mainly saying that they're in favor of this because of red tape that they have to jump through. We have talked to various leaders in the Iowa capital to let them know that we have came up with a plan similar to that of Oregon's, which says if you have a population of threshold under a certain amount, we can understand the abili.... your, um, issues with jumping through the red tape. So we fixed those concerns. However, when a couple other interest groups stepped in, um, they were unwilling to look at our compromise... that would fit the League of Cities and, uh, exempted them out of this. So, um .... the, our only request is for the larger cities, since you do have such a large population of construction workers that it would affect, to maybe do exactly what you were saying, and just to ask them to remain neutral. Throgmorton /Okay. Great. Thanks. Geoff, I know you've been in communication with Bill. Why don't you tell us what you know and so on. Fruin/ Sure. I...I haven't talked to Bill directly, uh, about this issue. We've traded some emails that .... that have led us to this point. Um, and I just want to make sure Council has a .... a understanding of what's going on, or what the legislation proposes to do. Um ... so I'm gonna speak very generally. Um ... uh, to try to describe what goes on, but ... um, every year the....the State gets a pot of federal dollars, and right now they take up that pot and they .... they divvy it up into, uh, smaller chunks and they put those out into the various MPOs across the, uh, across the state. Those MPOs then take those dollars and distribute them to their member communities. Um, when the federal dollars get chopped up like that, they get spread out, all those federal requirements stay with those dollars. Okay, so some recent examples here in Iowa City, um, of projects that ... that have involved federal dollars would be the First Avenue grade separation project, the Gateway project, and the next one, uh, would be, uh, likely the American Legion Road reconstruction project. Those are all projects that have federal funding, um ... in them that are awarded through the MPO. Just to be clear, all the other road projects that .... that we do on an annual basis, whether it's resurfacing, uh.... uh, road projects like Moss Ridge Road, uh, or any This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 12 City Council Work Session number of ones that we do, do not have those same federal dollars and thus do not cant' those federal, uh, requirements. Um, what, um, I think attracts cities, um, to this legislation, why you see the League of Cities and the Metro Coalition supporting it, it's my understanding that also the, um, Association of Counties and the Association of County Supervisors are also, uh, registered in favor of it, is that it consolidates the, essentially the federal requirements. So what the State does is they get that big pot of money in, and instead of divvying up that federal dollars to the MPOs, the State keeps all that federal money and just exchanges it dollar -for -dollar for state money, and that state money does not have all the strings attached, and by strings I mean Davis Bacon and Buy American and everything that Eric and Bill are, uh, representing. Certainly when you don't have, um .... uh, those strings, urn .... projects can move forward more quickly perhaps, but if you don't have to do environmental reviews that are, uh, triggered by the federal dollars, um, those dollars can potentially go farther, uh, because they don't have the.—the Davis Bacon wages and so that's why cities are, um, registered in favor of this by and large. Um, so that's... that's what we're talking about here. So a couple of key points there is ... is one, this doesn't impact all our road projects. It doesn't even pra... you know, we don't have these projects come up every year. It's usually every couple of years when we have these. Um ... I, you know, I .... I try to, uh, tell people, you can imagine the State could take all those federal dollars and pour it into one or two highway projects. That's the scale of projects that they're dealing with. Um .... regarding the, uh, the City's position on this, um, we have not .... we.....we likely wouldn't, um, take a position on a bill like this. We ...we don't formally weigh in on very many issues. Um, and generally only do so when .... when we have, um .... direct guidance from the City Council, either through your stated legislative priorities or .... or otherwise. Um, we just ... we just don't have a practice of doing that. The Metro Coalition and League of Cities, um ... I .... you know, we .... we can, um, certainly communicate anything to the Metro Coalition, but ultimately it's the.... the.... the 10 cities that .... that decide what we do. So, we could take a position, but it may not change the Metro Coalition position. Throgmorton/ So to be clear about why this topic is coming up here, my understanding is that you suggested to .... to Bill that it .... if, um, you could bring it, he could bring this topic to the City Council and the City Council itself could provide guidance about .... about how to respond. Fruin/ Yeah, I .... you know, as it stands right now, your legislative priorities indicate that we're generally supportive of Metro Coalition and .... and League issues, and .... and so we won't deviate from that unless it conflicts with something specifically that you've stated. Um, I can tell ya in talking about this issue, on both the League of Cities, uh, conference calls that .... that I've been a part of, and both the Metro Coalition conference calls, it's been... it's been firm support, uh, it hasn't been wavering, and I do think that the .... the cities fully understand, um, what .... what Eric mentioned here, and what Bill does. I don't think that there's, urn .... um, information that's.... that's not understood by the cities. We realize what the implications are with the .... the federal wage requirements and, uh, environmental reviews and things of that nature. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 13 City Council Work Session Throgmorton/ Do any of you have any questions or any thoughts about how you think we should proceed? Botchway/ I have two questions. One was, is this one that we'd bring up during Council time? Where we'd ... I mean talk about as far as, um, during the Consent Agenda part of the discussion? Throgmorton/ Well this is actually a question for Eleanor, uh, should we, uh, pick this up later on in the formal meeting, to have some kind of. ... more formal decision or .... is it just really a matter of four? Dilkes/ You've got the correspondence on your Consent Agenda (both talking) Throgmorton/ Right. Dilkes/ ...so I...I think you can (both talking) Cole/ We can talk about it (several talking) Throgmorton/ Okay. So ... when we make formal kind of decisions, uh, we have to do it in the formal meeting. But do we have any questions that would be.... Botchway/ So my other question is, you mentioned the kind of the First grade.... Avenue separation, some of the other projects. I mean, not knowing too much about this, it wouldn't retroactively ... harm or affect any of those projects, so .... okay! Fruin/ Not at all! Thomas/ So the two impacts are on the wages and, uh, the environmental review? Fruin/ No, L ....I don't know, uh, I couldn't tell ya all those different, all the different strings that the ... that the federal dollars carry. I wouldn't limit it to those two, um, but I'm not prepared to tell you exactly what they are. Certainly those two things are .... are on the forefront of cities minds when we look at this legislation. Throgmorton/ The specific request though is ... is for whether, the request is for us to ... ask the Metro Coalition to change their registration on the bill. That .... that's what we're bein' asked to do, right? (several talking) Yeah. Gearhart/ And to change it to neutral! Throgmorton/ Yeah, understand. Gearhart/ That would be a big step, and if I could just say one thing.... Throgmorton/ Sure, Bill! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 14 City Council Work Session Gearhart/ You know, we fight like hell at ... in Washington to get laws and protect workers, and the Davis Bacon Act has been in effect since the 30s by two Republic... Republican Senators, Senator and a Republican Congressman. It's to, like the minimum wage for construction workers. Why we wouldn't want to be on the right side of this issue. Why would we be part of a scheme that skirts that law, let alone Buy American Steel, or Buy American. We've got a steel mill over in Ipsco over there that workers depend on us using American steel. Why would we get involved in a .... in a .... in a, uh, scheme that would not ... that would circumvent that law. I'm even amazed we even have to talk about it, and to ... because without Davis Bacon, I guess what's the only protections for workers out there? Minimum wage? For people that have gone through apprenticeship and ... and uh, spent four years learning the trade. The only safety net for them is, uh, is, uh, minimum wage. Anyway.... Throgmorton/ Yeah. All right. I ... I think we get the general idea and the question before us, and we'll have to return to it in the formal meeting, but thanks to both of you for responding to some questions. Schmidt/Thank you for your time! Mims/ Thank you. Throgmorton/ All right, so I need to pull that item, I guess, from the ... Consent Calendar? Dilkes/ You don't have to pull it. You can just.... Throgmorton/ ...during discussion. Dilkes/ You know, during the discussion of the Consent Calendar, if you want to give direction to staff you can do that. Throgmorton/ Are there any other items that people want to bring up with regard to, uh, clarification of agenda items? (several talking in background) Bear ... bear with me. need to type a note to myself. ITEM 3f(8) John Fernandez: Honorary First Serve at a UI Women's Tennis Match Botchway/ I guess I'll throw out one. 3f(8) .... it's not really a clarifi.... or ... it is a question. Are ...is anybody doing that? Tennis... Taylor/ The what? Botchway/ The tennis thing. Taylor/ Sign up for the tennis? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 15 City Council Work Session Throgmorton/ Oh ... yeah (several talking) Taylor/ It sounded kind of fun! Botchway/ I didn't know if it was like a group kind of like tennis match or (laughter) one person, so I just wanted to make sure. Taylor/ Well they listed several dates. Botchway/ Yeah (both talking) Taylor/ ....they wanted individuals to sign up (both talking) Botchway/ I just wanted to.... Thomas/ It was a nice gesture. I wasn't planning to (laughs) offer myself. Botchway/ (several talking and laughing) I was planning on coming in, you know, in my short shorts and (laughter) maybe hittin' one across the way, so..... Dickens/ I have to swear now (laughter) Throgmorton/ Yeah, so ... you should respond (several talking in background) Botchway/ I'll respond. I just wanted to ask and find out what it .... what it was. Information Packet Discussion Webruary 9, 161: Throgmorton/ All right, any other clarification of agenda items? All right, well that gets us into our, uh.... uh, Information Packets. Uh, February ni... February 9`h. Taylor/ I had something regarding IP2. Throgmorton/ Yep! Taylor/ And that was your letter, uh, regarding the ACA, and I just wanted to thank you, Mayor Throgmorton, and others in the U.S. Conference of Mayors for this letter, uh, urging protection of healthcare coverage in .... in our country, uh, cause during my years as a nurse, I saw far too many patients who had waited too long to follow up on health concerns or didn't have preventative screenings, um, because of the cost, which often led them to even more serious situations, uh, but the ACA has helped resolve some of those issues and it's been a major step, uh, towards, uh, assuring coverage and ... and the positive things that you listed in the letter are ... are very encouraging for people. So along with you, Mayor Throgmorton, and your fellow mayors, and I would hope the rest of the Council Members, um, to also urge the members of our U.S. Congress to assure that no one, uh, is left without affordable healthcare coverage. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 16 City Council Work Session Throgmorton/ Yeah, for sure. Taylor/ It was an excellent letter. Thank you. Botchway/ Um, IN, um.... Throgmorton/ Bye, Jay. Botchway/ Friday .... I need to switch. Anybody interested for March P9. Throgmorton/ Do we know who's going to replace Jay? I ... I don't. Mims/ I don't. Dickens/ Um, I think, uh.... Pitts, Mark Pitts right now (several talking) Voparil/ ... think that is correct. I got an email from him today and I was trying to remember his name. (several talking) Dickens/ ....does a lot of their programming for `em and commercials (both talking) Mims/ At least filling in for now. Dickens/ Filling in until they find somebody Throgmorton/ Yeah, I'd like to Kingsley but I have a doctor's appointment (several talking) real early in the morning too. Botchway/ March 3', 7:15. Mims/ I can't. I'll be out of town Dickens/ (several talking) (mumbled) Botchway/ You can? Dickens/ Yeah. I'll just (several talking) Throgmorton/ So Terry's gonna take Kingsley's place on March 3rd. (both talking) Botchway/ ...switch with you on March 17th. Dickens/ That's fine. Yeah. Botchway/ I'll do March 17th This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 17 City Council Work Session Taylor/ Kind of along those lines, um, I .... I'd like to thank Jay for all of his time that he spends with each and everyone of us. I mean, I had never done anything like that and he just makes you feel so comfortable and he's always so knowledgeable about what's been goin' on in the city and the City Council. It ... it just is very easy and he's just been wonderful to work with, and so I'm gonna miss working with him. Throgmorton/ Yeah, I think he's done a terrific job over the years. Dickens/ Other than bein' a White Sox fan (several talking and laughing) Throgmorton/ All right, uh, other items for that, uh, Information Packet? I wonder about IP #5, the bar check report, for January. And .... once again the Union Bar leads the pack. So, many of you know — I don't — who owns the Union Bar? I'd like to find out. I'd like to know who owns the Union Bar and I ... I'd like to get some sense of why it's performing so badly. Voparil/ I can look that up and let you know. Throgmorton/ Thank you. Botchway/ In particular the citations are higher than the visits, and that's the only one that has that I think. Throgmorton/ Yeah, it's just at the top of the pack all the time.....seems like. Anything else on February the 9a'? Okay, February 16. Botchway/ Um, so IP6, I just want to quickly thank you, Jim, for .... that statement. I've received a lot of positive comments, um .... for some reason my notes aren't coming up, so that's great! Okay. Received a lot of positive comments, so just want to say .... good job! Throgmorton/ Thanks. Taylor/ I would.....I'd also like to comment on IP6, cause the proposal made in Des Moines regarding changes in collective bargaining for, uh, public sector workers does damage to something that's been in place for over 40 years. It's worked for many years and worked for many people in Iowa, and it's no secret I'm a member of a public sector union. Uh, my union, SCID, represents the healthcare workers at UIHC, uh, as do many of the other employees there are represented by AFSCME or throughout the University, by COGS also. So many of our .... and many of our City and County employees are .... are also union members and so this accounts for a large number of our community members. Uh, all of whom play an important role in, uh, us achieving our strategic plan and ... so I'd just encourage, uh, all of. ... all of you that are affected by this to, uh, stick together and grow even stronger with these challenges. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 18 City Council Work session Throgmorton/ Yeah. It's a dreadful bill, quickly enacted. I .... I want to note that the last paragraph.... of my letter was accidentally omitted. So I'd like to read that paragraph, it's real short, but I'd like to just kind of get it on the record so to speak. So the last paragraph, uh, meant to read: We also fully support the teachers, nurses, paramedics, recordkeepers, graduate assistants at the U of Iowa, and other public sector employees who make sure our children are well educated, our ailing loved ones are cared for, our elections are properly conducted, our vital property records are well managed, and our city and county can exercise the right of self -governance. So .... anyhow. That was supposed to be part of the, uh, of that.... release. IP7, housing study update. Uh, I was really happy to see that, uh, come along. I talked with Bruce Harreld, President Haneld, about it a few days ago. He's happy that it's... underway as well. Botchway/ I'll also state on that end as well. I know that sometimes I can be critical of other cities putting, um, money forth, or supporting, uh regional initiatives and so I'd just like to thank Coralville for stepping up and doing that. Throgmorton/ Yeah, it's a ... three-way split, right? 30,000 each..... Fruin/ Correct. Throgmorton/ ....party. Yeah. Simpson/ I had a question about that. Um, I know the scope of the study is to kind of figure out, um, conditions of the market, so talking about supply and certain projects, but will there be any, um, assessment of people's perceptions of the housing market. I'm thinking like students and how they relate to their landlords, but .... and I'm also thinking about say international students that have expressed concerns about being mistreated or other variables like discrimination, urn .... is that a part of this (mumbled) Fruin/ Yeah, um, the short answer is I don't know. There.... there.... the scope does include, um... some stakeholder interviews and if we haven't met to define who those stakeholders are, um, I imagine that the City will have some stakeholders. The University will identify some stakeholders, and I think it'd be appropriate that, um, the student body's represented as a .... as a stakeholder in the process. So, I'll make mention of that when we kick this study off next month. Throgmorton/ It's gonna take about four months. Give or take. Fruin/ Correct. Throgmorton /Yeah. Okay, I'm lookin' forward to seeing the results of that. Mims/ I want to thank Geoff for the couple of articles there. The big events in the Great Plains, giving some nice pub to Iowa City and, um, and also the bicycle friendly America. Um, I mean, just a lot of other good things in here and .... but to make sure we don't overlook, uh, hope everybody puts the employee potluck and service awards celebration on their This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 19 City Council Work Session calendar. Um, that's always a fun event and always very much appreciated by staff, and so hope Council Members can make it. Throgmorton/ Yeah! Come if you can! I agree with Susan about that. Employees like it a lot. Botchway/ Think Terry's going to be dancing as we're giving out gifts as well so .... (laughter) good reason to come (several talking and laughing) Uh, IP 10. I just want to say, you know, um, obviously at a Council level, good work that's been done as far as direction is concerned, but also want to compliment Tracy, Geoff, other staff that have been involved, um, with just the high level of things that are going on from an affordable action standpoint. It just .... you know, reading that made me feel good. So.... Mims/ It's nice to see it all in once place (several talking and laughing) ...what's going on! Throgmorton /Yeah, I really like the ... yeah, the conciseness of the update. Yeah. IP #5. The .... a conservative case for climate action. That's, uh, I think a New York Times article that really referred to a Wall Street Journal article, which referred to a cluster of, um, illustrious, urn ... Republican party leaders, like, uh.... uh, James Baker and George Schultz and several others, who have together put together a proposal that has potentially at least really significant implications for our climate action plan, because if it's adopted, it...it would increase, well, put a price on carbon basically and it's very much like that fee and dividend approach that we briefly discussed last time. So the idea would be .... there'd be a fee or a tax, per ton of carbon, and then.... the... the.... the, um, income basically would be distributed to households. So ... that's interesting to see and because it came from James Baker and George Schultz and other well known economists, it might get some action at the national level. Dickens/ (mumbled) the paper this morning had the University reducing its coal (several talking) which was another big plus, because that's one of the major ... that we didn't have control of, that should help. Throgmorton/ Yeah, that's.... that's great news for our climate action plan, being able to achieve at least the short-term goal. Great news! (several talking) Uh, and, uh.... I get, I think that was announced at, uh, the farewell ceremony for Liz Christianson. I didn't know that, cause I left before it was announced, uh, but wish I had been there. I would have thanked Bruce Harreld, you know, because he helped make that happen, and I understand Liz cried at that moment when it was announced. Yeah, so anyhow, with regard to Liz, she's done a great job as sustainability coordinator for the University, and I'm really sorry to see her go. But .... great news about the coal plant, or the, you know, the power plant. Okay. Cole/ I don't know if this would be more appropriately tailored for Council time, but IP4, um, possible work session topics. This Kirkwood collaboration that we've sort of talked bout in our strategic plan. Nothing super urgent about that, but I was just sort of wondering — do we have a rough update in terms of ..have we had some conversations with them and um, where do we see that in terms of....possibly coming up on our work session agenda? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 20 City Council Work Session Throgmorton/ You mean with the School District and with Kirkwood (both talking) Cole/ Yeah, because I was thinking of what Mark Nolte was talking about. That STEAM component is absolutely critical, um, and so I'm glad that we do have that part of our strategic plan, but just sort of. ... where are we on that? Have we reached out to Kirkwood? Is that something that we have an update on or we'll have a work session on? And then (both talking) Fruin/ Yeah, I think it can be scheduled any time. Really, you know, staff s lookin' for direction from the Council on what your expectations are with this particular item. I have met with Kirkwood Community College. I toured their regional facility that was just completed, that has a lot of those components already in it. W81[a1ifiMiw Fruin/ I had a brief conversation, several months ago, with, um, Superintendent Murley. Um, I don't think that either of those agencies are prepared to take a lead on anything, and so, um, that's what I need to have the discussion with the City Council about — is this something that you want to be a City -driven project, um, as opposed to supporting a School District -driven project, um, or a community college -driven project. I'm not saying.... there may be interest from those organizations to participate in some fashion, but, um, I don't think you're going to see either of them, um, put forward a .... a concept. Cole/ Uh huh. Mims/ I would say especially right now, with the budget situation they're all in. Cole/ I guess in the next three or four months I'd like to do a work session topic on it though, so we could either give the staff direction, or pull it. I mean so I think that that would be something that we should do, because I do think it's .... there are budget issues, but I think it's a critical issue, so ... that would be my thought, if people support that. Um, next (both talking) Throgmorton/ I'd love to see us move ahead on that (both talking) provide, uh, Geoff with direction (both talking) Cole/ Yeah! Throgmorton/ Uh, we now have a lot more items on our work session agenda though, uh, I think, what five or six or whatever were added. Fruin/ Yeah, if I could briefly just mention, and this'll come out with the next update, uh, of the pending topic list, but um ... after this was published we were able to confirm several dates. Um, so number, uh, five, the joint meeting with the, um ... School District is tentatively, uh, scheduled for April 4"'. Um ... the joint meeting with Johnson County is This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 21 City Council Work session tentatively scheduled for May 24`h. The joint meeting with the Telecommunications Commission would ... is tentatively scheduled for April 18`h. Throgmorton/ You're way ahead of my ability to write. April 4`h was, who's that with? Fruin/ That's with the School District. That would be, um ... uh, at the, um, School District offices. Throgmorton/ And that's a Council meeting night, right? Fruin/ Right. So we would have the work session there and come back here for the formal. Throgmorton/ Okay. Frain/ Um, April 18`h would be .... regularly scheduled meeting here with the Telecommunications Commission. Throgmorton/ Yep. Fruin/ And Johnson County would be a special work session on May 24`h, which is a Wednesday. Um, that would tentatively be at 5:00 and we'd probably hold that at the Poor Farm. Throgmorton/ Okay. Fruin/ And March ... the next Council meeting we've invited, uh, representatives, uh, from the County to present on the, uh, CIT, uh, project. So that would be March 7'h. Throgmorton/ Okay. Fruin/ So we have .... the second meeting in March is still open, um .... I'd like to return with the, uh, Police item, um, as .... as soon as we're ready to, uh, but both April work sessions are now booked. Thomas/ Yeah, another topic, um, along those lines that I was....wanted to ask about was the complete streets... item, when that .... I don't know if there's been any discussion. Fruin/ Yeah, anything on here on the strategic plan and the budget related topics, um, it ... it's, from our standpoint, it's pretty much on hold until we get direction from you all. So, a complete streets study, if you want to do a study, we just need to know what ... what your expectations are of that study, are there particular corridors you're lookin' at, um, we want to make sure there's no duplication with the bike master plan, um, or.....you know, Gilbert Street study or anything else that we may have in the works.....so..... Throgmorton/ I think tomorrow you and I need to go through this long list and see if we can do some .... come up With some recommended priorities and.... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017. Page 22 City Council Work Session Fruin/ Okay! Throgmorton/ ....sort that out. Anything else on February 16? I don't think so! Feels a lot like we're done with this work session for this evening. Dickens/ Can't we meet afterwards again? (laughter) Throgmorton/ If you really want to! (laughter) Okay, so we're done and we'll reconvene at our formal meeting. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of February 21, 2017.