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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-02-10 Correspondencequoted in the next day's Press -Citizen) raised at-lmt Tuesday night's meeting. Both had to do: with the issue of testing the city's urban renewal contract. Should the Council not take the.initiative, said Council- women deProsse, "the burden rests on the community, and I think that's unfair". "...it will take far less time to get a declaratory judg ment than -it-will to fight outside litigation," -added Councilman Foster. Might not, and should not, similar arguments apply to the issue of Councilman Vevera's eligibility? I'realize that ' the Council majority recently declined to test his status as a Council member, in part for reasons of expense But I wonder if it might not be possible and desirable for the Council to seek, an opinion -from the City _Attorney on'the related question of Councilman Vevers's status as a -city employe, and the underlying question of his eligibility, for a pension on which this all seems to hinge. The City Attorney recently replied tomyown query about this that "the matter is somewhat complex". ';Ideally Mr. Vevera himself would take the first steps.to'rresolve `the complexities. But after that it :seems to me .the duty and responsibility of the Council - in part`for.the practical - reasons of ;sparing the city rfuture :expense and possible em- barrassment, in part forreasonshaving to do --with the in- tegrity of the new charter under which the Council was it-. - self elected. The Council might take a_different view. But in that case, as Councilwoman deProsse might say, the burden rests on the comm ity, and I.think that's unfair. Y s t,,t��u avid ,chJ7o{enbaum February 23, 1976 Mr. David Schoenbaum 617 Bolt Avenue Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Dear Ntr. Schoenbaum: Thank you for your letter to the Council expressing concern on the issue of Councilman Vevera's eligibility. Your comments have been taken into consideration by the members of the Council. The Council appreciates citizen's views on this matter and hopes that you will continue to present yours on this and any other issues of concern to you. Sincerely yours, Neal G. Berlin City Ntanager- cc: City Clerk t,,, Is • RECEWD JAN 3 0 1976 SHULMAN, PHELAN, TUCKER, BOYLE TX MULLEN - - _ - ATTORNEYS AT LAW - LOU,. SHULMAN ❑nf NCP BUILnIND -i WILIIM PHCLAN --- P. e, RDE 2150' W ILL..MM .TUCR En DANICL W. RDvl.c IOWA CITY, IOWA 52240 TCLCPNONC - ...... CNAPLE$ A. tAntA CUDC 3.9) PIGHT - - - - SSCPN EY F. BRIGHT HRVCE L.WALRCP -- - RICHARD M.TDc... - - - - 28, 1076 .. Honorable Mayor and City Council of Towa Ci Ly - Civic (:onto]- Iowa City, Iowa '52210 IlOnorablL Mayor and Ci.ty Council of Iowa City: 'Phis letter is Submitted to you on`behal:f -of the Iixocutor of the Estate Of Mary (lands, Wi.1.1i.am G. Nusser, for the purpose of formally requesting the City of Iowa City to vacate the following described real estate located in 13.1ack's'park Additi.on, Iol.'a City, Iowa, and shoran On the plat thereof recorded in plat'l3ook 2, at Page 38 of the Plat Records of Johnson County, Iowa, to-wit: _-' All Of Ferson Avenue shown on said pial' lying between Rlacks l and G_and running from the North line of Koontz Avenue - - ((IOW park, Road),. t0.. the SO(ith_1.:1.I1C Of ... ---- Could Strcet, and all of_{lould Strect. lying ' hCtWLCII--tile Last in(] 1JCSC l.i Iljes - _... of Ferson -Avenue -extended as (1osl gna Loci oil said plat. So as not to deny an access to the property ly.i.ng adjacent to the above described real. estate, i.t i.s further requested that the City reserve a`r`ight of way for the use and bencfi.t of any adjacent property owners and their heirs and assigns over the following described tract, to=wi.t: A strip of land 20 foot in width eatend.i.ng from the north line of Koontz Avenue (now Park Road) to the south line of GOLIld Street the ccnterlinc of which is identical to -the centerline of Ferson Avenue, a as-designated ori.gi.naLLy-on till plat of 131ack's Park Addition - to low--] City, Towa, i.n- Plat Book 2, at page 38 of the Plat Records of .lohnson County, Iowa. 9'he basis for requesting the vacation of, the foregoing ' real estate is as follows: In 1941, the owners of the lots lying adjacent to the above described part or Ferson Avenue _ entered into a private vacation agreement whereby they pur- ported to vacate said section of Iverson Avenue. Tn'conjunction with their vacation agreement, these same property owners - concurrently executed another agreement reserving to each owner a right of way over this same section of Ferson Avenue. The legal validity of these_ agreements was not questioned at the time and as a consequence, after their recordation with the Johnson County Recorder, they wore noted and reflected on - the records of various other county and city agencies, including the official -plat of Black's First Addition in the County - Recorder's Office, the Plat Records in the .Johnson County Auditor's Office and the Vacation Records of the City of Iowa City. Two of the parties to these agreements were William L. Nusser and Mary Nusser, husband and wife, who were the owners of I.ot l of Black's First. Addition, situated at the NG corner of the intersection-of-Fe•son,Avenue and Koontz Avenue, the Tatter presently being known as Park Road. Following the death of h'iIli.am L. Nusser, Mary Nusscr, now being tile sole owner, of _said Lot 4, married Harold L. (lands, whom she also survi.ved, still retaining her ownership of the Black's Addition property. On June 12, 1974; Mrs. (lands entered into a purchase -agreement with Richard and Gooro:i.a Pegnetter whereby she agreed to sell said Lot 4 to the Pegnetters. Ln entering i.nto this purchase agreement, i t had been represented to the Pegnetters, based upon the plat records of the Johnson County Recorder and Auditor and the records of the City of Towa City, that the segment of person Avenue here in question had been validly vacated -As part of the process of transferring title to said -°_- Lot 4 from Mrs. (lands to the Pcgnetters the abstract of title to the property was continued to cover the period from the acquisition of Lot 4 by William and Mary Nusser to the date of sale by Mary Nusser to the Pegnetters. Fol,l.owi.ng this continuation of the abstract of title, an opinion as to the condition of the title to Lot 4 was rendered by Mr'. William Meardon who therein ra:i.sed_a question as to the validity of the 1941 vacation. By virtue of the latest continuation, the fact now appeared that prior to the executi.on Of tile private vacation agreement,Black's First Addition was annexed by the City of Iowa City and therefore, the question arose as to whether any private vacation agreement executed sub- sequent to the date of annexation is valid and e;ffecti.ve. This question arose at some point around or after the death of Mrs. Hands in the first part of August, 1974. Mr. William G.-Nusser, as Executor of PJrs. (lands' 'Estate, - - thereafter succeeded to her rights and obligations under the prior Purchase_agreerircnt. pursuant to the terms of the purchase agreoment, the sale or Lot d was consummated on August 15, 1974, With Lhc understanding that the Executor of Mrs. (lands' Estate would pursue a resolution of the problem raised in theearliertitle opinion. 'Hic legal question involved was presented to the City Attorney's Office whose Opinion was that the 1941 private agreement dial not effect a valid vacation of person Avenue. It is the desire of the ExCCutor of mrs. Hands' Estate to satisfy the expecati-ons of the hegnetters as to the vacated status of the section of Person Avenue here in question. On the Executor's beha:Lf therefore we submit this vacation proposal. to you for your coils i.derati.on-and action. lVe do hot believe that this vacation will in any way be inconsistent with the best interests of the City of low., City and that, i.n fact, ,i-ttii.1.1 Airthor the Ci.ty's interests' by officially confirming , vacation which rmtil nod everyone, -including the City of Towa City, has believed took place in 1941. -Attached horeto'is a copy of the official plat of that part of Person Avenue here i -n question with aPpropri.ate notations as to the proposed vacation area and the area over which we feel a right oC way should be preserved. 117 you believe any further information Ls needed we will be happy to furnish it to you upon request. 1 would appreciate being advised as to the procedure now to be followed 'i.n regard -to this vacation proposal. Thank you for your time and cooperation. Very truly yours, 12 Richard M. Tucker RDIT: dw enc. 'q9" February 2, 1976 Hon. Mary Neuhauser, Mayor of Iowa City Civic Center, Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear Mayor Neuhauserc - - - In the last few days rumors, which I hope are untrue, have reached I that the Council is thinking of diverting,.to-another use the Housing and Community Development Act funds supposedly earmarked for purchase of theShowers(McCollister) property immediately south of IoC the River. The purpose of the Iowa -City on: is to make up for a wait culation as to the closing costs in connection -with urban _Ra misc— it is true that these funds are to be t . If aken from their original purpose and used for another, that is, at best, very unfortunate. We on the Riverfront-Commission, as you know..better than anyone, have worked for a long time in planning suitable riverfront'development for the City. For its part, the City is spending $40,000 for the services of the Stanley Associates. The one major concrete step we have theose contemplated and planned carefully for has concrete the acquisition -of -part of the; Showers property, approximately 120 acres as our plans now stand. In this we havebeenjoined by the Parks and Recreation Commission.- The two Commissions are very near precise delineations of the property we wish the City to acquire for our mutual goals. To thwart these plans and to _make meaningless all this work by the Stanley Associates and by our Commission members would-be a severe blow indeed. Our expectations have been legitimate. This is to be the first star in our crown. To postpone it indefinitely would make much of our work meaningless.. On behalf of the Riverfront Commission, I`ask that our hope of using these funds to purchase that property before l July 1976 not be denied or postponed. Yours si cerely, -- - Samuel M. Fahr SMF/taa Chairman, Riverfront Commission j • February 5, 1976 Iowa City City Council Mayor and City Manager Iowa City Civic Center ` Iowa City, Iowa , 52240 Dear Iowa Citions. The Iowa City administrators have suggested a $48,000,00 budget cut by; the Parks and Recreation Department. for salaries equipmentP- I am sure that with,tisinand efc. must come fro 9 costs the funds Recreation `Departt Department ds have trimmed their proposed budget Pa The Parks and by cutting expenditures in obviously many areas g $ ,000.00 now allocated to baseball softball 1 , one of which is the $3,600.00 ` baseball and girls softball �$ '200.00 each for. Little League and scheduling, ). These are expenses ofpdministrative gime Babe Ruth ,:.umpires, . There are over 800 youngsters in the three programs. I think $4:50 a person per year in those programs is a bargain. Y°e will agree that is born by the participants through registration fees, local concerned civic organizations and businesses generous donations, g Major financial responsibility insurance which inflation has affected alsoes include playing a ui Parents and volunteers. The o eq6i Pment; uniforms and Thousands of man hours Aeration of the programs is do neby willingly and these people will continue their suPer year are given to the' responsibility in professional hands. PPart. But lets piece Programs Professional If you can continue support for meaningful youth activities, I concede that those some youths will grow into thel.kinds of responsible persons that will be an asset rather than p drain on our societ programs rather than administrative costs andsalary to make most budget cuts from will be nothing to administer. ry it won't be ion and decide if there are many areas asemportant as our . g before there - and look at total recreation expenditures _youth. Sinc/eyre,l-- _y_ RL/IP Robert Lehnertz 1221 Hollywood Blvd. I Iowa City, Iowa 52240 DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DE 'LOPMENT 1 � OMAHA AREA OFFICE UNIVAC. BUILDING, 7100 WEST. CENTER ROAD 1 OMAHA, NEBRASKA 68706. REGION VII Room 300 Federal OfllcO B.Ildln¢ - - - -IN REPLY REFER —10% - ° I W.Ioul Sveel - February 3, 1976 Rannas Cat 9. Ml. aoml 6u Ud - 7.2CM (B-75-1114-19-0005) -11r. Dennis Kraft Director, Department of Comunity Development Civic Center 410 Bast Washington =. Iowa city, Iowa 52240 Dear Mr. Kraft: Thank you for your letter o£ January 26, 1976, and the copy of the extracts from the minutes from the :Januarq 20,' 1976,°City Council meeting. With this locally datermined.extension of the first -project Y ear, i.e., less than 30 days, the second year application would be submitted and received by the Area Office bvril 15,,Ap1976. Please note that with the submission of the application the Grantee Performance Report should also be submitted or; precede the application by not more than 30 days. Si c rely, /.Guy J. Birch Area/Director cc: Honorable Mary Nauhauaer C• 6,1976 -t