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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-03-31 TranscriptionMarch 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 1 March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session 6:30 P.M. Council Present: Bailey, Champion, Correia, Hayek, O'Donnell, Wilburn, Wright Staff: Karr, Helling, Dilkes, Rackis, Boothroy, Cate, O'Malley Other: Volland, Maske Council Appointments: ITEM 19. COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS. a) Civil Service Commission b) Public Art Advisory Committee Bailey/ Let me just give you an update. The Civil Service Commission, I talked to Dottie. I guess we're advertising it, right? That's... Karr/ I have it listed on there as an option for you, yes. Bailey/ Okay. O'Donnell/ What happened with Dottie? Bailey/ She is interested in continuing to volunteer with the Police Department. She feels like that's...that's her primary volunteer work that she enjoys doing, and she'll seek an appointment on another Commission, if she so desires. Yeah, I think it's good that we asked her. Okay, um, we have applications for the Public Art. Champion/ I like Annadora. Wright/ Yeah, I know Ann, and I think she'd be... Champion/ How do you pronounce her last name? Just Khan? Wright/ Khan Champion/ Just like it looks. Wright/ She goes by "Ann." (several talking) Bailey/ Okay, all right. Well, it sounds like we have four for her. That's great. Wright/ She will be thrilled. Bailey/ We had good applications (several talking) Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 2 Agenda Items• ITEM 5. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED. g) Correspondence. 4. Laura Tuttle: Potholes Correia/ I had a question about, um, the correspondence that we got from the car owner, potholes. Is there a letter, a standard letter that can go out about how the City is not liable for damage to vehicles on City streets, or... Helling/ There...my understanding that...that that's been referred to, uh, to Finance for filing a claim, and I think the response has gone out... Correia/ Okay. Helling/ ...already. Bailey/ Could you outline what the, um, if we get calls, what we tell people to do? What we should tell people to do for this? It goes to Finance for a claim? Helling/ Right. They just file a claim with the Finance Department, uh, I think...I'm not sure...I think those forms are on-line. They can't file on-line, but they can print it on-line and fill it out and mail it in, or drop if off. Dilkes/ That's not to say it will be paid. But it will be examined. I mean, really you have to look at these on their facts. Correia/ Right. Bailey/ Okay. Other agenda items? ITEM 8. AMENDING TITLE 3 ENTITLED "CITY FINANCES, TAXATION & FEES," CHAPTER 4 ENTITLED "SCHEDULE OF FEES, RATES, CHARGES, BONDS, FINES & PENALTIES," SECTION 3-4-5, ENTITLED "SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL," OF THE CITY CODE TO INCREASE OR CHANGE RESIDENTIAL SOLID WASTE COLLECTION FEES. Correia/ Well, I had another question about...and maybe this is for a, um, future discussion item or a memo or something about, um, the transitioning our refuse collection to, uh, 100% tipper carts. What...do we have, uh, estimate of once that is throughout the city the savings, oncost of operation, I mean because we're increasing our fee a little bit, I mean, that's just what we're doing in the agenda tomorrow, um, and part of that is to help start to...help purchase another batch and get them out, and my understanding is one of the reasons we're going to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 3 tipper carts is to decrease the cost of operation eventually, both less persons to drive the trucks and less injuries. Do we have an estimate of what that cost savings will be when we're fully.. . Helling/ At this point I don't have it. We can get that, that...and you're right. Part of it will reduce it to one person per truck. Um, a lot of the savings too has to do with the reduction in injuries... Correia/ Right. Helling/ ...um, but let me see what I can get for you. Correia/ Okay, yeah, just a memo or something to... Champion/ Plus the fact that we're still a growing community. It might keep the cost... Bailey/ Might just keep the pace, yeah. Helling/ It could be, but that in itself is a savings. The other thing I...you know, I'm not sure about, uh, is whether we can get 100% because of the, there are some areas where they just probably...we won't be able to use them because of parked cars and that downtown, that type of thing, but I'm not sure about that. So we'll include some information about that too. Bailey/ Okay, other items? Hayek/ On Item 8, the solid waste collection fee increase, is...I think just some history to me...for me, would be helpful. Is this a fee that typically goes up each year? Helling/ It has, at least, uh, to my knowledge, since Fisca107, it's...it went up 50-cents. Um, 50-cents is somewhere near 4%. Uh, it went up a dollar, so that's about, a little less than 8% in 08, and the projections for 09, 10, and 11 are 50-cents each year. So it's about, with the exception of FY08, which was about 7.6%, it's pretty much, you know, consistent with, or near anyway, the cost of living inflationary rate. Hayek/ Okay. Bailey/ Did you need additional information? Hayek/ No, no, I just.... Helling/ Also, just to note, that that reflects, uh, an increase in fuel costs, which are above (several talking) Bailey/ Okay, other agenda items? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 4 ITEM 5. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED. g) Correspondence. 5. Doug Alberhasky: Alleys Bailey/ I did have a question and just wanted to see if there was any interest. I don't know. I know what our policy is about alleys, but this is the letter from Doug Alberhasky, um, just because alleys, the way that they are maintained or not maintained has an impact, not only on people who live off the alleys, but for example, we have an alley up the hill from us and they gravel it regularly and all that gravel comes down, onto the sidewalk. So it's not only affecting the alleys. don't know...what exactly I expect to come of a discussion, but is there potentially...potentially I expect maybe we would have a policy change, about how we ask people to maintain alleys? Um.. . Champion/ ...interested in discussing that. Bailey/ Okay. Are there other (several talking) okay. Thank you. Champion/ I get calls about alleys constantly. Correia/ And I guess I'm wondering, as we're talking about that, if we can...are there different, in terms of, um, the Peninsula has alleys... Bailey/ Sure. Correia/ ...and I'm just wondering if in new developments where we have planned alleys if there are different.. . Bailey/ The homeowners' association maintains some of those, you're right, so, you know, we can talk about that. What if, um, we put that on the pending and Dale and I will sort of shake some discussion questions around that, and then we can decide how we're going to discuss it before we discuss it...other questions that you might have about (several talking) Thank you. Any other.. . Champion/ Some of those alleys are...that one by John's is always... Bailey/ It's horrible, but I mean, the maintenance of alleys has a greater impact, and probably into our stormwater stuff too, at least with this gravel runoff, is what I'm seeing. Okay? Wright/ It's a problem I think it'd be really good for us to talk about. Bailey/ Okay. Other agenda items? If not, we'll move on to the next item on the, um, work session agenda, which is housing inspection fees. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 5 Housing Inspections Fees (IP2 of 3/27 Info Pkt): Boothroy/ What I hope we can accomplish tonight is clear direction, you know, how we want to go forward with this. I'd like to maybe look at this in two parts; um, at least from the last Council meeting, I thought there might be a consensus concerning one of the issues, so let's take that one up first. One of the things that we proposed was moving, uh, duplex and single-family structures from three to two years. Uh, I would like to find out if there is a majority of the Council that is interested in proceeding with that, and then...then we can go on to the second part, which is talking about fee increases. So... Bailey/ Are we interested in doing that? Moving those from three to two years? (several responding) Boothroy/ Okay, do I hear four? Five? Bailey/ I am, okay. Mike, you're not? O'Donnell/ I'm not, no. Boothroy/ Okay, so, let's go on then to the more complicated issue, I think, which is, uh, fee increases. Um, I guess the first thing to talk about is whether we're interested in continuing the policy and, uh, and doing a fee increase. So, um, are we interested in a fee increase, and...and as I explained the last time, the way we shape this proposal, and there could be other proposals, but the way we shape this proposal is that we based it on, uh, the fact that the Council, back in 2002 approximately had decided that we should, uh, you know, zero out our, uh, support from the General Levy or the, uh, General Fund, and so when we, uh, increased those fees substantially in 2002 and 2003, we actually did in 05...04, OS and 06, uh, reach a point where we were at a zero balance, in effect not taking from the General Levy, but since then we've slid back to, uh, needing support, uh, and this is why we're having this discussion again, because we...one of the things that they also said at that time is, be sure that you don't let it get so far out of whack that we're back to looking at 45% increases two years in a row or something like that. So, this is the time to talk about it. What you decide is up to you obviously, but we need to at least talk about it and see whether you want to continue that policy, and if you do want to continue the policy, uh, then that will dictate whether there will be a fee increase, or if you don't want to continue the policy but you still want to do a fee increase, that's another option. So, let's just talk about the fee increase and the policy. Where are we with this? Correia/ Well, I spent some time crunching numbers, um, to look at where we were, uh, with the Fiscal Year 09 budget that we approved, with...what is the percent of General Levy support to total expenditures in this department, because I think that perhaps a previous Council wanted there to be zero General Levy support, um, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 6 you know, I'm not sure that I believe that that is the most beneficial place. I certainly think that we're wanting to identify areas where we can decrease General Levy support in different program areas. So, just to try and see, well, where were we currently, um, when I looked at the whole department - Administration, Building Inspections, Housing Inspections -and took the total receipts, or the total Housing...the total levy support, um, to expenditures, we're at 25%, um, which is not... Bailey/ 25% support from General Fund. Correia/ Yes, 25% support from the General Fund, um, and when I, what I didn't do though, and I just did, when I looked at what is the percent of General Levy support, just to the Housing Inspections sub-budget area, to total expenditures. It's only 16%, so it's even less than when you look at all three sub-sections of the department -Housing Inspections, Building Inspections, and um, Administration. When I looked at...when I looked at what...compared that to General Levy support as a percent of budget for the Airport operations, that percent is 32%. So I mean, we're under what the General Levy support is for the Airport, so I mean, I think we're on the right track, and I think if we go to a two-year cycle, we change the frequency of inspection, leave the fee the same, that's going to generate increased income (mumbled) on-line, uh, I think this next year when there's a feeling that people are being `nickeled and dimed,' we have increased levies for Joint Emergency Communication, it's a difficult economy, not sure if it's the right time right now to increase the fee, when we're also increasing the frequency, which will increase our revenue, as well. Given that we're at pretty low level of percent, um, support from the General Levy, and this is...it's a public safety function, a public safety program. So that's where I am. Bailey/ So you would like to discontinue the policy of, um, fully funding its budget through rental permit fees? You are comfortable with the current, uh, mix of General Fund and (mumbled) fees. Correia/ I am comfortable with the current mix. I mean, L ..I, and because I would want to see over maybe two years, one to two years, what the change in percent of support would be from the General Fund, when we increase the frequency of our inspections, and that'll increase, that'll result in an increase in revenue. Additionally we have, um, increase in units come on-line every year, so our line increases and, you know, with new technologies, we're not consistently needing to increase staff to...to absorb that increase in volume...so... Bailey/ Some of you were here in 2002, so, I mean, what are your thoughts regarding this policy, continuation of this policy? Champion/ I understand where Amy's coming from. I would like to see a small increase to keep us toward that goal, of self-sufficiency for that department, but I'm not hung up on total.. . This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 7 Boothroy/ Zero out...even expenditures equal (several talking) Champion/ ...because we're going to, our General Fund is going to become shorter and shorter and shorter, and we do need to staff a Fire Station. So, I would say...I would like to see, even without the two-year thing, I would like to see a small increase now, so we can start...instead of a bigger increase later. Bailey/ Mike, what, I mean, you were on Council, right? O'Donnell/ Yeah, they did want it to zero out. You know, I guess the bottom line in my way of thinking is rents are very high in Iowa City anyway, any...anything we put on the landlord is passed on to the renter, so I've always tried to look at that. Um, we...we receive money from building inspections. We also receive money from building...uh, permits. Is that correct? Boothroy/ Yes. O'Donnell/ Is that the same pool of money? Boothroy/ No. Correia/ Different department. O'Donnell/ How much is in the building permits? Correia/ That budget is already at self-sufficient. That line... Boothroy/ There is no subsidy there, or any General Fund... O'Donnell/ There's a substantial amount coming in from building permits. L . . Boothroy/ It's...it's a, the caution on that is, it is usually covering itself, but it is market- driven, so one of the things that...we really don't have the same way of projecting with building, because we never know how well the market's going to be. In terms of, if we don't have a lot of new construction, our revenue goes down accordingly. With rental inspections, it's a fixed amount, so it's easier to project. We have 16,000 units. We're going to have 16,000 units probably tomorrow. Five years from now, we may have 18,000, but we can make much better projections, uh, with those type of numbers. It's sort of, you know, I've been around through the system and I've seen like in the 90's where our inspection fees...we were actually not covering Building Inspection fees for a year, I think, or maybe two years, when we had a slump in the housing market. So it's possible, but then you get, you know, you get a huge project like Plaza Towers and all of a sudden, boom, that revenue goes up. So it's peaks and valleys. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 8 O'Donnell/ My only thought is...is that I guess the end of the line comes from persons renting and these inspection fees are very expensive today. If you look at somebody that owns a couple eight-plexes, they're spending a tremendous amount of money on inspection fees, and now when we're on a duplex going from every two years to every three years, are we going to require... Boothroy/ It's the other way around. Correia/ Three to every two, yeah. O'Donnell/ We're going from three to two, correct. Boothroy/ Yeah, yeah, okay. O'Donnell/ You knew what I meant! (laughter) Uh, but it just seems that that's going to be more money and expense to the landlords, and that's certainly going to be passed on and everybody here at the table has talked about affordable housing and apartments, so... Boothroy/ Keep in mind though, I think another thing is that...one of the things that's difficult with our revenue is that everything's either on a two or three-year cycle right now. It will go to a two-year cycle, so we're always...we don't get the full affect of the revenue increase for at least two years, and with the change from three to two, there are some duplex units and single-family units that won't see that change for three years, plus, so it's...it's kind of aslow-moving growth that we have each time because we have to work it through the cycles. So, if you chose to...we can't turn on a dime and generate enough revenue to necessarily resolve a deficit if it suddenly pops up, and that...you just have to understand that it takes...takes time to get that money back, if it happens, and I'm not trying to change your mind. I'm just saying that's the way it works, that's the dynamic. Bailey/ Ross, you were also on Council. Um, what are your thoughts? Wilburn/ It is a delicate balance, trying not to overburden, um, someone who will be a renter, uh, and I do agree with Connie though. It, uh, I mean, this is a public safety service, and you see all the time the, uh, well, you see in the news recently about areas where there's some type of accident because inspections didn't happen, uh, and, you know, the building codes are there for a purpose for the public safety, um, and so, um, you know, that's going to take some time and it's got to be paid for. So, I think we do need to...my concern if we...if we don't keep, um, have some type of increase to try and keep that revenue coming, it's...it's going to come back and bite us, either with other things that we're trying to do with the General Fund, whether that's firefighters or other things. Um, and not wanting to put that burden off onto future Council. That's where we find ourself in trouble, um, with some things that some past Councils didn't make a decision to do. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 9 Hayek/ I did some very rudimentary math on this to understand what we're looking at, and I think the way for duplex and single-family, the way to conceptualize this is to look at it on a six-year cycle, because, uh, that's I think the best way to draw a comparison. Under the current structure where we charge $188 every three years, that works out to $376 for that unit over six years. If we go to a biennial inspection, and we keep the rate as it is, that's $564 over six years. And if we go to biennial inspection with the proposed rate increase, that's $609. So, 376, 564, 609. Correia/ But essentially by moving to every two years, we're increasing the fee. We're going to be generating increased income, and that's what you are... Bailey/ And as Doug pointed out, we will see that over a period of years. (several talking) Boothroy/ Right. We do five inspections in ten, versus three inspections in ten. Hayek/ Right. Boothroy/ So there is more...more, uh, public safety... Hayek/ Oh, yeah, you get something for that...that expenditure, but I mean, just in terms of the sheer cost to the landlord, that's how I look at it. Bailey/ So where are you at with this, um, increase fees or not increase fees, I guess. Hayek/ I guess I'm leaning toward, you know, switching to the two-year, and not increasing the fee, and... and acknowledging that that may cause us to dip into the General for support a little bit, but see how it plays out over the next few years. I'd rather play some catch-up, uh... Cate/ I point out though that you're not even going to realize any of that revenue until FY201 1. If we were to adopt this in July of this year, uh, that doesn't roll in to those single-family and duplexes, until FY2011. Boothroy/ Right, so in 2010...(several talking) Wright/ I do support moving to the two-year structure, and L ..I think a small increase makes sense, um, I'm afraid to not do so with this type of...the grades of the two- year, uh, before we see any money, any increase coming in, we will have seen some substantial increases in what this costs by that point, uh, and I think to not recognize that fact, and saying we're definitely going to be dipping into the General Fund, um, and I think, uh, I really do think we need to cover our costs. At least try to cover our costs. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 10 Champion/ And gas...(several talking)...gas is going way up, sky high! Bailey/ I share some of the concerns that are already heard, about we have increased our levies, the County's increased our levies, the School District's increased the levies, we're also increasing our fees for, um, solid waste pickup, so I mean, I'm comfortable going to the two-year, but I have concerns about further increasing fees at this time. I mean, it seems like this has been the year, and the economy is not...it just seems like this would be the wrong year to continue to go back to this well for citizens to increase fees, so I have concerns about increasing fees at this time. Um, but you know, I note that our General Fund is...is really being stretched. So... Wright/ That's probably my biggest concern. Bailey/ I share that, but I just think that, um, we've increased a lot this year, the City itself, and we've been pretty good in previous years and have been proud of that, but I have concerns about increasing fee. Correia/ And we have, um, we have...we did our three-year plan with our budget, and we have General Levy support in there. I think, based on...I had a conversation with Doug and Norm this morning that, you know, they will be getting their revised projection of budget, or budget...of revenue this year which is going to be more than what's projected, and I think that that happens, um, and any shortfall, um, that would require additional General Fund potentially could be miniscule. I mean, we've already planned for General Fund in this area over the next three years. I do think this year is the wrong time, and when we look at the percent of General Fund levy to this public safety function, it's...it's pretty low. I mean, it's 15%, compared to, you know, other areas that may have the greater ability to generate income, and, um, is not a public safety function, and impacts less people in Iowa City, um, in the Airport, so... Hayek/ I will say this though, and this is kind of talking out of the other side of my mouth. We need, to the extent that, uh, building permit revenue waxes and wanes. We probably can expect it to wane, now... Boothroy/ ...Hieronymus project for a year, it sounds like. The Hieronymus project is lost for probably a year, so we're not going to see that next year. Hayek/ Right, and I assume permit activity is down, and... Boothroy/ It is. Hayek/ ...so, you know, that will exacerbate any gap that... Correia/ Well, that revenue does not... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 11 Hayek/ No, I know, but if you look at the department as a whole. I mean, you don't want to co-mingle, but... Boothroy/ Right. Hayek/ So we need to be, we need to anticipate that. Champion/ Those of you who are not willing to raise fees, that's fine. I'm not going to argue with you, but can we look at this in six months? Because the price of fuel is going, is really going high, and these departments do use fuel, and they probably use as much fuel as they ever used. They're just going to pay a lot more for it, um, you know, I think we need to keep a close eye on this, because that General Fund is also going to be used for a lot of other fuels, and this is going to have a major impact on the economy everywhere, just the price of gasoline itself. Bailey/ I agree with you, Connie. I think that, I think that if we're looking at a potential fee increase in next year's budget that we should start these discussions much, much earlier. Correial And we haven't...I mean, and we did plan through our budget process this year that we would be taking a closer look at where we were, in real time, throughout Fiscal Yea 09, so I mean, I think that... Boothroy/ I sense there is this...this zero out policy that you want to continue. If I'm wrong you can correct me now, but if we look at it through the budget process, which will start in about six months, in the fall, uh, is there... Champion/ Winter's that close to coming again? (laughter) Boothroy/ Yeah, it's continuous, believe me! Bailey/ It's actually probably closer than six months. Boothroy/ Is there a guidance that you can provide with regard to what is the target, or are we just supposed to hold it to where we are, at this point in time? I mean, I mean, I think...I mean, it's nice to have some target for us to make up some...numbers. Correia/ Yeah, I think, I mean, I think 15%...you know, 15% support of, you know, 15% or below when we looked at your comparisons of, you know, just looking at other Iowa communities, I mean, the one Iowa community that had 100% fees, they only, um, inspect...um... Boothroy/ Actually the trend in other communities is they're looking at increasing fees, in order to get closer to being where we are. We're sort of the model. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 12 Cate/ Yeah, every municipality that I talk to, they are planning for fee increases. Boothroy/ Yeah, so... Hayek/ I did notice that, I mean our fees are higher relative to others on this chart. Boothroy/ Yeah, we...we're at the front end of this, but I could tell you that over the next three or four years, I think many other communities are going to try and catch up with us. So, it...it is an area where everybody's strapped, every dollar that goes into this takes from the General Fund, and people are looking to try and stretch those General Fund dollars, and so it's...it's a logical location to deal with this issue. Wilburn/ You also have to consider some of those cities have other revenue sources that we chose not to have, so you always have to put that into context when you're comparing to other... Boothroy/ That's true too. (several talking) Wilburn/ ...like Dubuque. Bailey/ Ames doesn't, right? They're local option sales tax, but not gambling, right? Wilburn/ I don't think (several talking) Champion/ ...local option sales... Bailey/ Right, that's what I was saying. Champion/ That would take care of all our problems! (laughter) Bailey/ There's no such thing as a panacea! O'Donnell/ ...be able to do this with the same amount of employees? Boothroy/ Yes, yes. Well, keep in mind that...that where the revenues kick in, I mean, we ramp up in regard to this workload anyway, over time, so it's not as if...it's going to be three years before we see the full impact of this, and I think under the full impact, you were looking at how many additional inspections a month? Cate/ Five to seven. Boothroy/ With everything in place, that's three years from now. So I don't see a problem. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 13 O'Donnell/ Could...do you have any...any idea, Doug...I know there's property owners that take a great deal of care in owning their properties and you go through `em and rarely will find anything wrong, um, and others who have more of a problem. Is there any way to set that up on where you can.. . Boothroy/ We do have that set up in terms of how we do our inspections. We did that, with your approval, about four years ago. Cate/ There is a policy change, but it doesn't affect the rate that they pay. Boothroy/ No, no, but it effects how we staff it. Cate/ ...how we would staff it, how we would inspect that property, uh, we wouldn't necessarily go back if there's anything wrong because we know that the owner's going to take care of that property, uh, they are able to in some instances fill out a self-certification form. O'Donnell/ That's what I was getting at. (several talking) Boothroy/ So it saves their time too, because it used to be -when we first, years ago when we first started, everybody was learning the curve. Everybody was trying to figure out what to do, but we have some people that we know that if the...the, uh, smoke detectors are operable, instead of sending another inspector out and taking their time and all that kind of stuff, and arranging with the tenant that we're coming 24-hours ahead of time, we trust the...the uh, landlord and we're going to be back there in two years too, so, it does work well and it has saved staff time. Bailey/ Um, how is it that Dubuque used CDBG funds to do inspections? Boothroy/ Well, we used to use CDBG funds too. Bailey/ Okay, and why, just out of curiosity... Boothroy/ I think that was a Council decision. Bailey/ Okay. Champion/ Well, you used them for low-rent, um, yes. Boothroy/ You can argue that...that a certain amount of rental housing is low rent, and so when...back in the 70's when they first started the inspection, uh, I think at least...well I can't...one or two inspectors were fully funded through CDBG monies. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 14 Bailey/ Okay. Okay, so it sounds like there's four who aren't interested in increasing fees, but we're all in agreement that we'll keep an eye on this, um, I don't think we have a target for you, although I'm comfortable with... Boothroy/ I heard 15%. Bailey/ I'm comfortable with the mix of not over 25%, but I don't, that's just... Boothroy/ It makes a difference in how we do our numbers. Champion/ I think that's a little high! Bailey/ Okay. Well, you... Boothroy/ How about we shoot for 15 and then you can argue...how's that? Bailey/ Sure. Boothroy/ And then, we'll go ahead and put a resolution together, changing the frequency for single-family and duplex. Okay? Thank you for your time. Bailey/ Thank you. Hayek/ Thanks, guys. After-Hours Club (2e7 of 3/11 Info Pkt): Bailey/ Okay, after-hours club. I put this on because I was getting a lot of questions. assumed that you all were getting a lot of questions about the letter that we received, and so Eleanor, I just... Correia/ ...have the letter? Champion/ I didn't bring mine. Correia/ And I recycled mine and couldn't... Karr/ Amy, I made a copy. Regenia mentioned you wanted it, and I left you a copy of the top for you. Correia/ Oh! (several talking) Oh, that's it! Sorry, got it. Bailey/ I think we always see...what packet was it in? Karr/ It would be 11. (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 15 Bailey/ Yeah, we all got it (several talking) All right, Eleanor, can you just tell us, I mean, they sent these to multiple communities, as far as I understand, so... Dilkes/ Currently, we don't have any regulation (unable to hear) club from operating if they were in the appropriate zone, etc. Um, and I think generally the information that's provided in the letter about...that he received from the Alcoholic Beverages Division is accurate. Um, staff has looked at this. Um, and recommends that if you want to regulate it, you do it, um, as a nuisance and essentially by prohibiting on-premises consumption, um, of alcohol at commercial establishments after 2:00 A.M., or whatever time... Champion/ Well, if we can do that, I'm wanting to. Dilkes/ And the reason... Bailey/ So they go to houses? Dilkes/ Commercial establishments. Bailey/ No, I'm just saying if we regulate it, I was suggesting that it...there'll continue to be after-hour parties. Okay. Dilkes/ Um, and I think that you, I think you have the authority to do that. These are not licensed establishments, so they're not governed by all the, um, provisions of the, um, State code regarding licensed establishments. That's something that you.. . Bailey/ And these won't be establishments obviously that already hold a liquor license, so a bar cannot close at 2:00 A.M. and then turn into an after-hours club. This is a stand-alone, so there's not...I've gotten some calls about that, to clarify. Dilkes/ If they have a liquor license, they are subject to the hours established. Bailey/ Sure, Correia/ My question is so, um, alcohol will be brought in by patrons. Is there.. . Bailey/ Wine and beer and wine coolers, not hard liquor. Correia/ Okay, right. Is there, are they... O'Donnell/ We all know you can't get drunk on beer. Correia/ ...required...what's the policing around legal age of consumption? I mean, could a 15-year-old go into this after-hours club? And partake in, um, a beer because nobody's, there's no license from prohibits anybody from serving? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 16 Dilkes/ Well, the prohibitions against underage consumption don't apply just to a licensed establishment. I mean, there are...I think there are some provisions about parental consent or within your own home. You can authorize your child to whatever, but...you still... Correia/ So if a 15-year-old goes into an after-hours club and somebody, obviously that doesn't work there, but, um, you know, serves them. Dilkes/ They're not being served. Correia/ Okay. Gives them, makes available to them alcohol, is there, I mean, because if...if a parent has a party in their house and allows their child and their child's friends to consume alcohol, haven't there been suits against, if something happens? That child leaves or... Dilkes/ Those are civil liability issues. You certainly...there's anumber of regulations you could do. You could have...you could allow after-hours clubs and prohibit persons under the drinking age from entering, just like you can do that with licensed establishments right now. Correia/ I have a lot of concerns because, you know, one of my concerns is how much, I mean, how University and Iowa...downtown Iowa City are very much ingrained. You have a lot of teenagers that hang out on the Ped Mall. They want to kind of be in the crowd with high school...or college students, and with having after- hours club, we don't have a...as far as I know because I believe I've asked, we don't have a curfew in Iowa City, and so kids can be out, um, and not be in violation of anything, and if we wouldn't say nobody under the age of 21 can go into an after-hours club, I would be concerned about high school students, teenagers -not college student teenagers, high school students, um, and younger, you know, getting into dangerous and unsafe situations. Champion/ I totally agree with you, Amy. I think it would be a disaster! Wright/ I agree with you as well. The only way I'd be remotely comfortable with doing something would be if there was a prohibition of alcohol on premises. Bailey/ Well... Wright/ You can't bring it in. Bailey/ Right, and that's not an after-hours club then. I mean, that would be prohibiting the after-hours club, is what you're suggesting. O'Donnell/ I think the only way you can do it is if the bottle you bring in is no stronger than milk. I really think that...we've had this conversation in Iowa City forever This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 17 about (person coughing, unable to hear) alcohol, and I think to encourage anything after hours is something that (several talking) Bailey/ But, I mean, okay...here's my question, I mean, and maybe this is apples and oranges, but, um, these things are happening throughout our entire community and mostly next door to me, I think, um, so I, I mean, I guess my concern is, you know, we have this specter of possibility, because we don't know necessarily that they're coming to this community. I mean, from what I understand they sent this letter to most of the communities. They're sort of testing the waters. I guess I have a concern about going full bore, making regulations, when we don't exactly know what the problems are. We can anticipate what the problems are because these are the same problems we have at after-hour parties, but I guess that's my concern. I would be more of a let's see if this happens and let's see what the issues are. Correia/ The one difference - I was thinking about that -the one difference when you go to an after-hours party at someone's house is that if you...what? Oh, is if you become so incapacitated that you can't get yourself home, and you can stay at a party. You can't stay at an after-hours club. So, and if there's no regulation, how, I mean, I'm just worried about, you know, we have a lot of, you look at the police reports, there's a lot of, um, D.U.I., O.W.I. charges, and a lot of folks, young folks that come here from other communities to utilize...whatever, enjoy the nightlife, and I.. . Bailey/ Who's the responsible party at an after-hours club in those kinds of settings? I assume it's the owner or the manger on site. Is that correct, Eleanor? I mean, should somebody become so incapacitated, I mean... Champion/ The whole idea is to get more intoxicated. I mean, that's the whole idea of the after-hours club. Oh, the bar's closed? Bring your alcohol in here -you can drink all night long! I...I think it's bad news. Dilkes/ I think you need to look at it from a nuisance perspective. What's the, there are civil liability issues that...that are going to be addressed in that manner, um, but whether you think that, um, that the continuation, I mean, my sense is they're looking to locate downtown. Okay? Not out in the boonies somewhere. Champion/ So you've got to have... Dilkes/ So I think you need to look at it from the perspective of whether you think continued, um, legitimate and legal alcohol use in the down...in the downtown, and maybe that's a distinction you end up making between downtown and other places, if that's a case we're going to have to go to the zoning issue, but is...is a, is good, is a good thing. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 18 Champion/ I think it's a bad thing. There's going to be more vomiting, more vandalism, more broken windows, more people being hurt, more people falling down, more people being picked up for public intox, more people driving, um, you know. I've said it before, you know, alcohol...I'm not going to say it again...and testosterone just don't mix very well, and...I just think it's asking for more trouble. Right now at 2:30... Hayek/ ...ban men from bars? Champion/ No! (laughter) Hayek/ Let's go over to the University and get a grass roots effort to stop you Connie. O'Donnell/ Only drinking men! (laughter) Bailey/ Drink milk and you're okay is what we're saying! Hayek/ Well, here's a question. You know, if we allowed this, but had an under-21 prohibition, you know, how do we enforce it? What's the impact on our nighttime police staffing needs? We have to consider that sort of thing. O'Donnell/ I'm just not even interested in talking about it any further. Bailey/ Well, what does that mean? If we talk about it further, I mean, if we're going to regulate it, we're going to have to talk about it further. Correia/ Yeah, I mean, I'm interested in regulating it so that it doesn't... O'Donnell/ Well, then let's regulate it. No alcohol. That would probably stop it. Champion/ (several talking) We'll just say no alcohol in a commercial building...after 2:00 A.M. (several talking) Yes, I like that! Dilkes/ No on-premises consumption of alcohol. Bailey/ In a commercial establishment. (several talking) Hayek/ Can L..I'm sorry, I interrupted. Um, if you're a...do we, we have some BYOB establishments locally, like Motley Cow used to be. Bailey/ We have restaurants. Hayek/ Red Avocado, okay. Do they have a liquor license? Dilkes/ No, I don't...no. (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 19 Hayek/ I guess what I'm thinking is, is there also a fairness issue here - if you're a little bistro and you've got a BYOB policy, and you shut down at 2:00, because you're like a wine bar or something like that, you know, are those...are we, is that person harmed relative to this kind of operation, because they shut down, you know, at 2:00 and then this kind of operation because it qualifies as an after-hours place can go the rest of the night. Maybe we don't face that. Bailey/ We don't have bistros serving that late, I'm afraid! (several, talking) Hayek/ It's Iowa. Everybody's in bed by 9:00 anyway! (laughter and several talking) Champion/ I don't think it'll affect any of the restaurants that have a BYO... Bailey/ No, it would be 2:00 A.M... Champion/ ...or after. So if they want to have...well... Bailey/ That's another point. Abbie mentioned that because they don't have a liquor license, the range of entertainment that would be available to be at this, um, after- hours club is much broader. Is that correct? Correia/ Well, it says they can't have... Bailey/ It says they're not interested...they don't intend, but they could legally. Champion/ Oh, they could have that fighting thing (several talking) Correia/ Oh, yeah, okay. (several talking) Dilkes/ The prohibition on the fighting is of your own making. Bailey/ Right. Champion/ I would like to (mumbled) Bailey/ Well, we don't have one yet, so (several talking) Champion/ They are looking at space. They are looking at space. Bailey/ Oh, sure, of course. It's a good market. Dilkes/ I think if we are...if you are going to do something, I mean, that was staff's recommendation, assuming you all made a policy decision that that's what you wanted to prevent, that that would be the best way to do it, by way of nuisance regulation, unless you wanted to focus on certain zones, etc., and then you'd have to (several responding) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 20 Hayek/ What is the mechanism for...for doing this? Dilkes/ This would just be...it would just be an ordinance that would say, "Thou shall not...(laughter and several talking)... Champion/ I mean, I'm simply not a puritan about alcohol. I'm not even a puritan about minors having something to drink. I am a puritan about this after-hours club. Bailey/ Thanks for clarifying! (laughter) Dilkes/ And we would just set a, we set a penalty. Bailey/ So we don't think...I'm just going to raise this, because it's the flip side. We don't think that this would help mitigate some of the challenges in our neighborhoods for after-hours parties? (several responding) O'Donnell/ I'm just thinking it'd make some of those challenges later. Bailey/ Or earlier. About the time when the (several talking) Correia/ ...and, unless we had an age type of thing, I mean, I do think it would put our young people, high school students, in some danger, and if we did have an age thing, it would increase the need to police that, which would increase our resources needed to cover that policing of that, and so I just.. . Bailey/ Well, it seems like the majority is interested in a preemptive strike, so Eleanor... Dilkes/ What I was going to say, yeah, I will, and I do think if you want to do something, it's better to do it ahead of time than later. (several responding) Bailey/ Sure, so we'll have to probably see this the next meeting, right? Champion/ Can we have it on our agenda tomorrow night? (laughter) Bailey/ Uh, we don't have time. Wilburn/ Hey, if Council's willing to...regulate this, I'm all for it. I've gotten pummeled about alcohol stuff in the past, but if...you were all on a roll in a direction that I was supportive of, so I didn't want to put the reigns on. Bailey/ I caught the smile, so I figured you were in approval. (several talking) Okay. Champion/ Wait and see, it's hard to regulate then. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 21 Wright/ Well, if they can't serve alcohol, chances are they're not going to bother opening up. Champion/ I don't think so either. Iowa Container Deposit Bill (IP3 of 3/27 Info Pkt): Bailey/ Okay, next item. Iowa Container Deposit Bill. LJm, Dale. Healing/ This is something that I brought to your attention, um, last meeting because we had Jennifer Jordan was drafting an op-ed piece encouraging recycling and...and so forth, and also had mentioned the, uh, well, there are several, have been through the Legislator, or considered by the Legislator, several bills, uh, bottle bills of one type or another. The one that seems to have survived is, uh, I think it's, yeah, House File 2537, um, and it does two things. It increases by one-cent the amount that the distributors would pay, in order to buy back those, uh, those bottles that are recollected, and so what it amounts to is, uh, a penny more per bottle that the distributors would pay, and that penny would be, uh, go to increase from one-cent to two-cents. The handling fee to the, uh, collectors, like the supermarkets and so forth that collect those bottles. That's one aspect of it. The other aspect of it is that it would increase the, uh, or extend the types of bottles to, not only include like soda bottles and that, but also water and juice that's sold in plastic containers, or...or metal containers, whatever the type container. Um, and, uh, I asked her, or asked Rick to work with her and hold off on sending that op-ed piece in the newspaper because Council had not taken a position on the bill, um, so that's why it's before you. There are a couple of options. I think the op-ed piece could be written without any specific reference to the legislation, um, on the other hand, if Council does want to take a position on the bill, or on either one of those issues, uh, separately, um, then that could be rolled into that piece as well. Um, so it's kind of at your discretion, if you want to talk about this further and take a position or not. Regardless of that, we'll probably, since something, some kind of an op-ed piece to the newspaper is indicating that support for recycling and green kinds of issues. Correia/ Has the Metro Coalition taken a position on the bottle bill? Wilburn/ Um, no, and...by design, um, the scope of the bills that the Coalition was going to, um, take a proactive stance on or even a defensive position was going to be smaller scale...I'm not talking too loud, am I? Okay, all right. I've got a...um, was going to be smaller than the scope of the bills that the League of Cities was going to be observing, and so, um, I'm not...I don't even think there's been conversation about this particular one, which they, you know, so...so don't...no action or not even monitoring this bill...don't take that as... Correia/ No, I was just wondering... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 22 Champion/ Well, I'm supportive. I mean, I think we're ruining ourselves with all this plastic and cans and...destroying the world. I think we ought to make it all really expensive and pay people back for recycling. People still throw tons of stuff away. It's amazing. Wright/ I think if this were to pass this could have a positive impact on (several talking) litter in the community. This'll be a great thing for Iowa City and any other town. O'Donnell/ Depends on whether or not you support additional taxes. And L..I don't support this because there's no way you can look at this other than to tax. Correia/ But the people get the money back if they...redeem `em. O'Donnell/ Not all of the money back. Correia/ They don't get two-cents. O'Donnell/ Yeah. Hayek/ Is this...(several talking) Correia/ ...they get it all back, but the people who accept it get to keep two-cents, and the rest of it gets sent to the State. I think the consumer gets all of their extra five- cents or whatever... O'Donnell/ That wasn't the original. The original was... Wright/ No, this has gone through a couple iterations. O'Donnell/ ...you bought it for a dime, you got back eight cents. That was the original. Helling/ That...the original bill, that was one of the original bills proposed. This bill happens to have been bumped over to Ways and Means, so it's funnel-proof, and it's, the bill that we're talking about, is, uh, is still keeps a nickel. Uh, but there was an added one-cent charge to the distributors and that goes to the people that collect it. Now it would cost the distributors two-cents rather than one-cent, per container. Hayek/ So this, okay, so this has, uh, no impact on deposit paid by a consumer. Helling/ Right. Hayek/ It's merely a doubling of the kick-back, for lack of a better word or (laughter) that's probably not...I guess I could find a better word, but I mean, it's merely an increase in the amount paid to the, uh, collector, by the distributor. (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 23 O'Donnell/ Well, they have changed that bill considerably. Helling/ I think it's a different bill, Mike. I think there were several, and this one... O'Donnell/ I was so upset with the first one, I could care less what they do. Wright/ This one is completely neutral for consumers. Bailey/ Well, you (several talking) distributor passes on their expense and (several talking) Correia/ Well, you pay a deposit...(several talking)...I mean, I generally just recycle mine and don't take them back to the store, but it ends up recycled. But, I mean.. . Bailey/ So the question really is, I mean, Jen has written this op-ed and there's a position supportive of the Container Deposit Bill, and we've got the current iteration in front of us. Do...does the Council want to take a position on this, and...which would .enable that op-ed piece to (several responding). Hayek/ I don't support an op-ed piece in support of this particular legislation. I don't know much about it, other than these two pages. I haven't heard anything from the constituent groups affected by it, um, I would support an op-ed of a more general nature, supporting you know efforts to encourage, incent or require better recycling, uh, adding things like juice and water bottles to the deposit structure - things of that nature. Bailey/ That's where I'm at. Amore general...op-ed piece. Correia/ ...support Senate File blah, blah, blah, but... Bailey/ 2537. O'Donnell/ If you would add juice and water bottles to it, um, that would increase revenues so much, I don't know why you need to take seven-cents. Bailey/ But I guess I'm....I'm agreeing with Matt. I would just like a more general op-ed piece that states that sort of a green pro recycling position of the City, that didn't take a stand on a particular piece of legislation. Part of the challenge being that by the time the op-ed piece is published, it could have a different version of the legislation, I'm assuming. Correia/ Those supporting the ideas that are in this piece of legislation supporting the State to do something... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 24 Hayek/ Well, I don't necessarily support increasing it from one to two-cents, and I don't know what's behind that. I don't know what the policy objective is. I don't know what the pros and cons are. You know, for all I know it could be a lobbying move by grocery stores, packs of...around the state, you know, and...and have no net impact one way or the other on...on the environment. I just don't know and... O'Donnell/ You would like to know what the money's intention is. Is that what you're saying? Bailey/ Ross? Hayek/ Yeah, and we're not going to find out, I don't think. (several talking) Wilburn/ What's that? Correia/ It would be interesting to know...who's registered in support and against the bill. Wilburn/ I already said I was, I'd support it. Wright/ I'd support it. Wilburn/ I'd support, I'd support the bill. Champion/ It's really easy to say "I support" recycling, but if you don't take some concrete action, what are you saying? I support recycling. Well, who's going to say they don't support it? Bailey/ ...a city that says they support recycling, and ask everybody...ask individuals how many support it, or how they really support it. Well, it seems like a majority is willing to let the op-ed piece go in support of the...the legislation, so.. . Champion/ If you're reading the newspapers now, you're seeing what other countries are doing, uh, with... Hayek/ That's not the point, Connie. That's not my point. I mean, it's not knowing enough about this specific bill to support this specific bill. I think you can still be supportive of the concept of enhancing our recycling efforts statewide. Champion/ Okay. Hayek/ That's the point I'm making. (several talking) Yeah, yeah, I did. Champion/ No, and you could be right. I mean, that's...possible. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 25 Hayek/ You're paying Hy-Vee more to collect cans (mumbled) and you is the distributor, and that's as much as (several talking) Bailey/ Okay, legislative update... Hayek/ That's fine, I'm not...(several talking, laughter) Legislative Update: Wilburn/ Just a few issues that I want to bring up with, uh, the legislative update. One, I just want to make a general comment. It's, uh, challenging in particular during funnel week, uh, the speed, the rate at which different pieces of legislation come up, um, are...can be challenging in that, uh, some of the issues that come up, and some that may have broader impact, uh, on...on cities and citizens, um, would be some issues that we would, as a Council, have never even discussed, debated, and so when you're working with, uh, a coalition to try and, um, I mean essentially articulate a position or concern, uh, is challenging, and so I've tried to, um, at least based on where I sense some broad philosophical stances that the Council has taken, and use that as a guide to try and, um, voice a vote on behalf of Iowa City, uh, for example, one of the bills that came up was a Public Safety Impact Fee. We've never discussed a Public Safety Impact Fee, per se, but this bill authorizes cities or counties to impose by ordinance or resolution, a Public Safety Impact Fee, on each night of lodging rental within the jurisdiction of the city or county. That's nothing that we've discussed, but we have discussed, um, alternative revenue sources and local control, and so if this were something that were to pass, and if it were signed in to law, it would be up to cities or counties to see whether or not they did it, and so we have had that discussion, and so, uh, that's something that I registered with the Metro Coalition as us being supportive, and there were enough cities to take a position, uh, or to move the Coalition's position from, uh, undecided to "for" or in favor of this particular legislation. Uh, there's a whole list of items that were at least observed by the Metro Coalition. Another one, and again this is a challenging area where we have not had as a Council some discussions. You may have seen in the paper, the, um, piece of legislation, um, House File 2645 on Collective Bargaining. And, uh, over the weekend, uh, that, um, the Coalition, or I guess it hit the papers on Thursday, Friday. There was a late discussion, decision, by the House to, um, to approved, well, and the Senate approved, um, that would change the nature of what maybe subject to, um, the collective bargaining process, and so, um, because of the, uh, the speed at which this came up and the concern that was expressed by, uh, not only, um, all of the Members of the Coalition, but many Members of the League of Cities. Um, I went ahead in conversations and said that, uh, due to us not having had a chance to discuss what the impact might be, I also checked with, uh, Kevin. This occurred over spring break, so, um, I know the Mayor was gone and Dale was gone, but I did, uh, and there was a quick timetable on this. I did discuss with, uh, Kevin O'Malley, who had spoken with, uh, our representative attorney that...that is involved in the collective bargaining process about the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 26 potential impact on...on, uh, on our budget, that, uh, we would have concerns about this particular piece of legislation. Um, and so the Metro Coalition went forward with the position, in support of the League of Cities, that, uh, we'd be against this particular, uh, bill. I guess the other piece that I said in addition to the timing, um, without, um, a couple other pieces to it, without having, uh, a discussion or concern about, uh, the potential implications for an arbiter having potential larger impact on...on our budget, and...and bargaining process position, but secondly, not knowing, uh, not having any type of comprehensive discussion about the revenue side of the equation, uh, that that would be reasons that we would be, have concerns, and be against this. Uh, since that time, uh, there was a, um, meeting this morning. I was not able to attend that, uh, Regenia did, but the, uh, in addition to, and you've probably seen in the paper that the Governor has threatened to veto this particular piece of legislation, but um, the Metro Coalition has a, um, they've got a meeting with the Lieutenant Governor to, uh, express concerns and to encourage veto of this particular piece of legislation. Um, that meeting is at 11:00 tomorrow, and the group is getting together at 9:30, uh, before they meet with the, uh, the Lieutenant Governor, uh, to discuss, um, that and procedure, or strategy, in discussing with the Lieutenant Governor the position of the Metropolitan Coalition, um, and so, uh, and I'm not sure how much of this we can, uh, discuss, and Eleanor will correct me, but uh, the Coalition is wanting to know which cities are willing to be part of that meeting, have a representative be part of that meeting, um...and again, the purpose of the meeting is to...to advocate for a veto of that particular... Bailey/ And express, I mean, fundamentally express concern about the process more than the legislation. I mean, many cities are taking, um, nuance approaches on...on this. So... Wilburn/ Well, they'll be...I mean, above all, it's the conversation about the process, but there will be, you can guarantee there'll be cities that will, uh, be saying specifically what they are against, or if there are any alternatives that they would recommend, at least based on their initial (mumbling) legislation. Bailey/ And in speaking with our Legislative delegation over the weekend, which I indicated to you, of course they're very supportive of this legislation (mumbled) what it is, so we know that, um, uh...that talking to them, I mean, that conversation's not going to go very far about, uh, impact and revenue, and they even had some, they were somewhat defensive of the process. They thought the process was appropriate, so... Wilburn/ And, that conversation with our local delegation is, um, that's not necessarily relevant to this request tomorrow, uh, to have... Bailey/ Right. Correia/ The what? Oh... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 27 Bailey/ Oh, sorry, I mean, to a degree I think that the...it's somewhat relevant, I think. Just how we formulate it. Wilburn/ What the position perhaps, but whether or not we send someone to participate as part of this is another question. Bailey/ Yeah. Hayek/ So you're asking if somebody can participate in this call tomorrow, or are you... Wilburn/ I have to interview principal candidates tomorrow. Bailey/ Neither Ross nor I can go to Des Moines tomorrow, but Dale is available to Des Moines tomorrow. Is that still correct? Wilburn/ As a representative of Iowa City as part of the Coalition. Dilkes/ And do you all know what the bill is? Champion/ Tell me what it is. Dilkes/ Okay. I'm not sure we have a...all right...in your legislative link of March 21St, there's a very good summary of it. Essentially what it does, it expands the, um, those areas that are subject to mandatory bargaining. Champion/ Right. Dilkes/ That have to be bargained. Um, currently, those mandatory areas are wages, vacations, holidays, seniority, transfer procedures, job classifications, staff reduction procedures, and in-service training. The amendment would expand that mandatory list to include such things as establishment of work shifts and schedules, and procedures for assigning work shifts, determination of the health insurance carrier, shift differentials, preparation time, class time, or class size, uh, grounds for discharge and...of other discipline, staffing levels, um, and there's evaluation procedures, etc., etc. So it's...it really expands the scope of... Champion/ I think we need to send somebody. This would be devastating. Wright/ I actually don't agree with you. I think this is probably a piece of legislation we need, and I'm speaking as somebody, as a manager who deals with union contracts. Champion/ How can we afford it? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 28 Bailey/ Well, part of it is, I can see both sides and the challenges we've not...the process prohibits...not prohibited. It was such a quick process, there was no thorough exploration of what the cost implications might be to cities, counties and schools, and I think that that needs to enter into the discussion, even to be fair to our legislators, because it's going to be an impact on taxpayers, and I think that they, um, even if this does result in better work places, that they need to fully, have a better understanding of that than was explored as the bill went through. Champion/ I think it's a disaster. I'm very...don't misunderstand me, but there are, you cannot negotiate management. I mean, that's what they want. They want to manage their own management. And we're talking about class size. Well, that could be devastating to a school district -devastating! They might...some school districts would never have the money to follow the negotiated agreement. Wright/ Well, you're assuming though that every piece of...of possible bargaining Eleanor mentioned is going to come into play in every contract, and they're not. They're just possible. Champion/ Not every contract, but if only one comes into play. Dilkes/ But I think you have to understand the process of collective bargaining to appreciate that, and I think, I mean, Dale can best speak to that. The greater you expand the list of mandatory subjects, the more there is to arbitrate about and divide the pot about, once you get to arbitration. So, I mean, I think that's...is that correct, Dale? I mean, you're the one who's been involved in that process, so... Helling/ Well, I might be a little bit biased, but you know, I do have serious concerns about the legislation, and for...largely a lot of it is just what Eleanor said, um, arbitrators tend to not want to be labeled as pro-management orpro-union, so they tend to split things. The more that's on the table, the more they have to split. I think in the long run, that would result in an increase in cost. In the short term, you're probably not going to see that dramatically, um, but I think it would be interesting to see, if the legislation passes, how many more arbitration cases there will be in say the two years succeeding that, versus preceding. Um, but I think the issue that the Metro Coalition is really looking at is the process and...and uh, if...you know, if I go over tomorrow that would be the position that I would represent, not...not necessarily a position...unless the Council really feels strongly about, you know, opposing the bill, but I think what I'm hearing is the process (mumbled). Bailey/ Well, they indicated, um, our delegation indicated that that hasn't naturally been the impact in states around us that have...have gone this direction, and I think a more thorough understanding on our part maybe would make counties, cities, school districts feel more comfortable or less comfortable, depending...but a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 29 more thorough around what the impact is I think is always important with this kind of legislation. Wilburn/ And again, the piece that...that, uh, I had added in consultation with Kevin was regardless of whether you want to support, um, whether you feel that putting some of these things on the table in decision-making is a change in...in relationship, uh, with...with management, that type of thing. Um, as a Council Member looking at, um, not only concern and care for, um, the workers that we have, but you have to talk about the revenue side. It's potentially and long...you know, maybe there might not be an initial, but long-term, um, greater impact on the budget, which the tendency for our, um, given our...our limited source of revenue relative to some other cities, and relative to some of the surrounding states, is the trend is this way, and if you're going to...if you're going to support something that's going to send the deficit, or the expenditure side up, you've got to be able to talk about well, what are the...what are some of the broader, um, implications, what are some of the possibilities about revenue about us for cities, and since there's no comprehensive look at, uh, our tax system or even the alternative revenue side, then, uh, you've got...you've got to consider that, and without that being on the table, again, that gets at time to either study or have conversations or whatever. Bailey/ And I think it's also important for unions to understand if we're talking about care of our employees, the impact that increased costs can have on the employees. I mean...I mean, you go in particular directions when you can't afford the number of employees you have. So, I mean, there are impacts the unions, I think, need to understand as well, in that discussion that were overlooked in the process. I mean.. . Wright/ I think the unions are very much aware of those...those concerns. Bailey/ But I think, you know, that conversation I think would have brought us perhaps a better process, perhaps better legislation, if we want (mumbled) that's just my (mumbled). Hayek/ I...I am personally not in favor of this legislation, and I would support having Dale take, as part of his message, an anti-legislation perspective. On the other hand, we have not as a group had a chance to discuss this, or review assessments or, uh, guesses as to what the impact would be, so it's hard for us to have that conversation, you know, with this kind of timeframe, where they pass it a week ago and here we are and... Bailey/ As Ross pointed out, that's the nature of this coalition is...is this responsive nature and I think as part of the coalition too I think it behooves us to have a representative at that meeting tomorrow. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 30 Hayek/ No, and that makes sense, um, but what are the marching orders we're sending him there with? Champion/ Well, you're right, and then, you know, next year they want to bring this up again and discuss the impacts to communities, and to employees by the way. There'll be a lot of impact on employees, good and bad, uh, that legislation has not had any thought into it at all. I mean, I've been on negotiating teams. I know it...everything you arbitrate costs money, and you've got to have some management rights, and you've got to have some other...I mean, we can't discuss this tonight because it's too complicated, but we need to know the impact of some of these things, and you can't just throw it out there and say we're going to do this. Bailey/ So, what...so we're supportive of Dale going and participating in this meeting? And focusing on the challenge of how quickly this piece of legislation came about and how we did not have an opportunity to fully understand its impact and we thought that that discussion would be better. Is that essentially what you were... Wilburn/ I think so. Well, and I think, um, would everyone be comfortable with the unknown, about the potential on our...on the expenditure side of our... Champion/ Exactly! Hayek/ Yes. Wilburn/ Is that... Helling/ Yeah, I think that's largely the approach that the Coalition wants to take. I would not anticipate probably even speaking tomorrow. I think there'll be, you know, a few people will speak. It's going to be a short meeting, and uh.. . Wilburn/ I just...excuse me for interrupting, Dale, I just got a...I just, what they're going to discuss at the 9:30 meeting for who's going to take the lead speaking for the Metro Coalition, establish the tone and approach, finalize a message from the Coalition, um, so they will negotiate that amongst themselves, um, they'll talk about, uh, the tentative finalized message is veto, requested concerns with process bill followed, and the other one is concerns with bill unintended consequences and scope, how we would improve the bill, options, possible things to delete from the bill, add to the bill, so, uh, the mutual benefits of a potential veto. So those are some of the dynamics that other cities are going to come to the table tomorrow. Helling/ Sounds like I'm leaving earlier than I thought. Wilburn/ Yeah. (laughter and several commenting) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 31 Bailey/ Thank you, Dale! Wilburn/ And this just came, and it looks like you got a copy too, Dale, so... Helling/ Yeah, I'll check it. Bailey/ Any other Legislative Update items, Ross? Wilburn/ Otherwise, uh, the open meetings, open records, uh, Senate File 2378, um, Eleanor may have some better insight about this bill, but uh, at least according to Legislative Link with League of Cities, Senator Dvorsky has been instrumental in helping city voices be heard on the bill, as leading effort to make changes, um, so...that's some of the impact, um, I think you may have alluded to it earlier about the, um, what...I think they were trying to address, you know, uh, walking meetings and all of that, but the impact on us, not just us but county and the school board, uh, I think would be a concern, even being able for one or two or three Council Members to...to bounce ideas, to talk with the severely limited, so that's another thing that people are keeping an eye on. Bailey/ And just, you know, we agreed that when we joined this Metro Coalition that after...after this session we would talk about, you know, our membership and then what the process was, and perhaps what we can anticipate next year, you know, setting forth our Legislative priorities pre-session in a very conceptual way, but also checking in pre-first funnel and second funnel with some specifics about specific bills. So... Wilburn/ Yeah, and even, you know, Metro Coalition said, even if we had our own lobbyist, there'd be a challenge with, again, with the rate that some of these bills come up and get changed and modified can be a challenge, I would think, on how a council...so there's...whoever is representing, um, the City of Iowa City with the Metro Coalition, um, there's going to be a little give and take, and I guess trust, essentially, with how that person is, uh, representing or coming back and trying to check with Council, but it's...it can be challenging. Bailey/ Yeah, well, and you've done a good job of staying on top of things. I mean, it happens fast and furious, and Ross is really been with it, and... Wilburn/ Thank you. Bailey/ ...and responded well, thankfully! It comes up fast. Any other Legislative Update items? Okay. Council Time• Correia/ I had a couple of things from ECICOG, I'm on the ECICOG board now, as you all know, and there was a meeting last week, uh, so a couple of things. One is, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 32 ECICOG is going through its strategic planning process, and they have a survey that they would like member cities, municipalities, to complete, and I think Doug told me that he had sent you that survey. Do you... Karr/ Yes, and I sent it upstairs. Correial Oh, okay. I was also wondering about having the solid waste, transit, community development department heads complete that, as well, since those are the other areas that ECICOG, other work areas. Bailey/ Jeff will probably send it to John to do. JCCOG will probably do... Karr/ I'm sorry. I did send it to John, not Jeff. I sent it to John. Correia/ Okay. Karr/ Did you want me to follow up, or.. . Correia/ Um, sure, I mean, and I...the other thing is, it can be filled out not only by staff, but elected officials, and so if you could send it to, or make copies and give to the Council, we can fill it out and... Karr/ So ever municipality doesn't get one, they're just... Correia/ No, I asked that question. Bailey/ So it's a stakeholder survey. Correia/ Yeah, yeah, yeah. Karr/ I'll get it back. Correia/ And the other thing I just wanted to, the solid waste division, at ECICOG, they do, they have a public education component, and uh, that focuses...lots of different public education outreach, but they have some youth programs. They...they do summer reading programs at area libraries, they do Earth Day presentations, and they have three presentations scheduled in Iowa City around Earth Day. They'll be at Lemme School, Longfellow School, and Roosevelt School, so...those are some good resources from ECICOG that are coming to, um, our area. Bailey/ Okay. Other Council Time? Hayek/ I've got something. Well, first I wanted to commend Dale on your letter to, uh, the citizen regarding snow removal and Parks and Rec crews, and (several talking and laughing) I know! I know! S.g.3, to be specific. Uh, you struck a good tone. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 33 I know this was probably the hundredth letter you've had to send out, um, but I think it's effective, and actually I learned a lot about the way we operate from these kind of communications, so job well done on that. Um, secondly, on the issue of downtown commercial congestion, which a task you charged me with a month or two ago, I have, uh, I met twice with, uh, our parking division, and have a, uh, proposal, uh, that is almost complete. It's awaiting a bird's eye view aerial map, showing some changes in parking treatments in the downtown business district, um, and I think the next step is to put it on a work session agenda. Um, I was waiting for that map to go to the DTA people, which is I think my next step, even before the work session, just to get...to engage their thoughts, but some interesting things, using both carrots and sticks to solve a problem. Bailey/ Good. Wright/ Good for you! Bailey/ Other Council... Hayek/ We'll see. Yeah, we'll wait till the first... Wright/ Couple of things. One, uh, the Emergency Management Commission met last, uh, Wednesday, yeah, thank you. All of a sudden it all blended together. Uh, one of the things that they're hoping to encourage this coming spring is, uh, critical incident training, critical management training for executives, and by their standards executives includes city councils. Um, it's a two to three-hour training, uh, Roger Jensen from the Fire Department was very highly recommending some kind of participation from our Council, and I did...I should have sent the Power Point slides that I scared up about this, uh, for everybody to take a look at, um, it looks like it would probably be worthwhile training for us. As I said, two to three hours. There're going to be a number of training, uh, opportunities in this area, some I think might be in an evening, one on a Saturday, just to try and catch as many participants as possible. So if there'd be interest on Council for that, if so, I can take that back. I think they would be thrilled to hear in the affirmative from us. O'Donnell/ Have to know when and where, Mike. Wright/ Well, we don't know the when and the where yet, other than late April or May. Champion/ What kind of things will it cover? Bailey/ Yeah. Wright/ Basically it deals with, um, the possible role of Council in the years when a disaster strikes a community, whether it's another tornado, uh, could be a public health threat, uh, what our role ought to be. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 34 Champion/ I don't have to like do push-ups. Wright/ No, I don't think you have to do push-ups. (laughter) O'Donnell/ Do they want the whole Council, Mike, or just a... Wright/ I think they want as many folks as they could get, but, I mean, it's certainly not mandatory. Bailey/ Would they come in and do a work session with us, instead of having us participate in their schedule (mumbled)? Wright/ Do a three-hour work session...it's possible. Correia/ Or we could say, would you schedule this on a day we have a work session, and you can invite whoever else you want to be there too? (laughter and several talking) Bailey/ That would be another option. Are other people interested in going through this though? Champion/ I might be. (several commenting) Hayek/ Do we have quorum issues on... Bailey/ That's why I was saying if we did a work session, I mean, it would be opposed to being...it might be easier. (several talking) Wright/ Let me, um... Wilburn/ Um, I had, there was a mandated, uh, yeah (several talking) and then there's another emergency response training that I went through for my employer. Wright/ CIS402 is the mysterious little name that they have for it. (several talking) Bailey/ Yeah, I think maybe...maybe look into that for a work session. Karr/ Also, Mike, just to...Roger wants to know your work session schedule, he can contact me too, and we could look at some dates together, because your April and May schedule looks a little bit different, and so we could take a look at that, earlier rather than later. Wright/ You know, and it doesn't...I don't think it has to be April or May either. There are several people in the area qualified to do the training. Dave Wilson, who's the... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 35 Karr/ I mean, that would be something we could work into the calendar, as well. Bailey/ Yeah, right. Okay. Anything else? Wright/ I'm curious -would there be any interest from the Council, I talked to a couple of you, in trying to craft some kind of, uh, I want to say...I've got to find my right modifier (laughter). Bailey/ Careful, careful! Wright/ Limitation on smoking on City properties. I've heard from people concerned about.. . Bailey/ I heard from someone Saturday, yes. Wright/ Specifically, I know when you're going down a trail in a park and there's somebody smoking a cigarette, or you see cigarette butts on the ground, um, if we could, would there be interest in talking about that? Bailey/ Somebody talked to me about youth sports' parks (several talking) soccer parks (several talking). (mumbled) Okay. (several talking) Wilburn/ I just got another note. The 9:30 meeting in Des Moines tomorrow will be available by conference call, um, I'll be in the middle of interviews, so I don't know if you'll...okay, all right. So if you're running late, Dale, you can call in. (laughter and several talking) Helling/ My intention will be to be there by 9:30. Wilburn/ Okay. Bailey/ Okay, other Council Time? Champion/ Should we talk a little bit about JCCOG. I had a few appointments they wanted the Council to make? Bailey/ I asked John to come to the next work session. Karr/ We're going to put it on the next... Bailey/ It's on the next work session. Champion/ Because I had offered to do the housing thing, but with Shelter House's lawsuit being settled, I'm going to be in that fundraising committee, so I want to back off, just in case somebody... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 36 Bailey/ Okay, so we can hammer, okay. And I just want to reiterate, if people aren't able to attend JCCOG, I put those on my calendar, so even if it comes up last minute that you're not able to make it, you might just give me a call on my cell, um, if you want coverage. I know that it's not...I just like to see Iowa City strongly represented, especially in voting situations. (mumbled) but yeah, feel free to give me a call on my cell if something comes up with those meetings. Okay, um, any other Council Time? Pending Discussion Items: Bailey/ I wanted to talk a little bit about the pending discussion items. We have quite a few things on our list and we added a few tonight, but a couple I wanted to bring up just so you know where they are, um, I did meet with, um, Jen about the banning plastic bags, that we were interested in putting on that, and there has...some stores have already expressed concern about that interest, but Jen Jordan will come in, hopefully, in May and talk about some of the green initiatives that the City is undertaking from a staff perspective, when we can talk maybe more broadly about some green initiatives we might be interested in undertaking. So that's kind of how that particular topic has morphed. We can talk certainly, um, continue that discussion about the possibility of banning plastic grocery bags, if we would like to pursue that. So, um, I talked to her about coming in in May about that. Um, as you all probably know, you know, the old bus depot site has been on our pending list for at least a year probably, and we have people approaching us about use of that site. The vets approached us, um, the Housing and Community Development Commission has had a proposal and it ranked very highly in their mix of proposals that they saw this spring. A private person has talked, has approached our Economic Development Coordinator. I think that we should probably schedule that discussion, and instead of being responsive to the individual requests that come through, talk a little bit about the history and why, what the vision was for that, and then maybe have staff walk us through the public, the private-public partnerships, or the selling the property options, and we can discuss the direction we want to go with that, and I think we're looking at June, given our schedule. Correia/ I do...I do think that the Housing and Community Development Commission recommended funding for the project, so I don't know if... Bailey/ They did, but if we decide to proceed in this manner with this particular piece of property, I think we're going to have to anticipate that we're going to not, that we're going to reject that proposal. Correia/ Well, have you...I talked with that applicant today, and one of the things, and I think it might be worth having a discussion about that particular application, during the public comment period, because the...the application wasn't for, to develop the site, it was to do an environmental study and concepting, that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 37 wouldn't necessarily lead to that applicant developing the site, but we would get some more information about the site. Bailey/ But I think it will help as we get inquiries now that we have a date, and we're going to have a discussion that people can begin...it's apparently a very attractive site. Champion/ Yes! Bailey/ It's probably the building! Champion/ It is the building, but I think that's a good way to approach it, Regenia. Bailey/ Okay. So, I'm looking at June, so if you can start thinking about your approach, and some of you were on Council when the, I think the (mumbled) and you know see how we want to approach it. Okay. Volland/ I would also say that the veterans' group had been discussed at the housing coordinating board that we asked for information on...about panhandling, and that that would be a good person if we were looking at specific organizations to talk to about that particular group (mumbled) Bailey/ Oh, sure. (mumbled) Um, let's see. And then, just another pending item, just I want to update you of the multi-family commercial refuse pickup hours, the noise concern. Um, staff is getting input from haulers and I think that...you said that letter has gone out or will be going out shortly. Helling/ I believe it has gone out. Bailey/ So we'll have an opportunity to talk about that issue probably...(several talking)...somebodycarne to us and there were some private haulers picking up, and you know, they make noise when the trucks back up, and it was in residential and multi-family, um, commercial neighborhoods that were abutting each other. Wright/ The dumpsters make a phenomenal amount of noise. Bailey/ Yeah, and then the trucks that (several talking) O'Donnell/ I think they do that early (several talking) 7:30 traffic. Bailey/ So staff is going to get some information from the haulers about looking at...we talked about limiting the time or...or the noise issues, and so that's where that is. Matt updated us on commercial vehicle congestion. Hayek/ Let me stop you on the issue ofmulti-commercial... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 38 Bailey/ Multi-family commercial. Hayek/ Yeah, um, the provision of recycling services to those structures is something we...I think we've talked about. Bailey/ Yeah. Wright/ Yes, we have. Bailey/ And I mentioned that with Jen, and I think we could probably add that to that (mumbled) that discussion. Good. Um (several talking) and those kids come trained. I mean, most of them have gone through a recycling programs in their own communities, and they come trained, and we're not taking advantage of it. And then snow removal, as you know, is April 30`". So... Hayek/ Weather permitting! (laughter) Bailey/ And if it keeps going this direction, we're good! Did I miss anything that we talked about? Helling/ I don't think so. Bailey/ Okay, so that's sort of an update. We still have things on the list, but those are how we're chipping away, and I know April's really busy with a lot of meetings, um, but I wanted to give you an update so you know that these aren't just lost in a...in a vortex. So, uh, pending discussion items. Um, anything else on pending? Upcoming Community Events: Bailey/ Council invitations. People have things they think we should be attending? I did, I think you probably all received an invitation to Hoover Wallace dinner, um, I intend to attend, but not ask Council to pay because it's quite an expensive one. LJh, but I plan to attend, and I think Dale is going to attend on behalf of the City. If there are others interested, it is April 19`h and it's at the Marriott, and it's...this is more of a state-wide organization, the, um, the proceeds go to the Borlaug- Ruan International Internship program through, uh, the Food Prize. So, um, that's one, so we will have representation there, which I think is good, um, Senator John Culver and, um, Ignacio Ponseti and Jim Leach will be recognized at that dinner, so I think that's (mumbled). I also got an invitation to the Goodwill Annual Awards banquet. I think others, I don't know...I just got that at home, if others are interested in attending that, that is on April 24"'. I won't be attending. If people feel like we need a City presence there - I don't know. Any other events coming up that you (mumbled)? Okay. Correia/ So tomorrow night Steve Rackis will present in the public hearing on the (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008. March 31, 2008 City Council Work Session Page 39 Bailey/ Housing Authority, that's the plan. Steve will be here. Okay. Any discussion? Do we need any meeting schedule discussion? We're solid on meeting schedule? Okay. Anything else? Karr/ It's solid as long as we don't change it. Bailey/ We're not changing it. If we don't have discussion, we can't change! Okay, anything else? Okay, see you tomorrow night. Thanks. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of March 31, 2008.