HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-11-03 Transcription#2
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ITEM 2. OUTSTANDING STUDENT CITIZENSHIP AWARDS -Mark
Twain Elementary.
Bailey: Would the students from Mark Twain Elementary please come forward.
Thank you for being here. As I said when we were talking before the
meeting, this is something that we really look forward to, and we're really
excited to hear your statements. I have a couple of people up here to help
me, um, they're a little bit closer in...to your age so I thought it might be
interesting to have them along to help, and first of all I want you to meet
Michelle.
Han: Hi, my name's Michelle Han and I'm from the Iowa City Youth Advisory
Commission. Um, I work with other youth in the area so that we can get
involved in the community, um, even if high school students or college
students, when uh, in other ways than voting. So, um, I'm really glad you
guys are here and...
Gunn: Hello, my name is Tyler Gunn and I'm the Student Government,
University Student Government liaison here to the City Council, and uh, I
applaud your work as student citizens and uh, it's hard to believe at my
age, I too am a student, and some day you'll be standing perhaps right
here, and uh, I applaud your efforts. Congratulations.
Bailey: So we just wanted to have the opportunity to show you some of the
opportunities that you'll have as you get older to continue your
involvement. So what we'd like to do now is have you read your
statements so everybody can hear what you've been doing in your school,
and I'll start right here. Okay.
Barrett: I try to be a good citizen by being a conflict manager on our playground,
attending PTO meetings and helping with school fundraisers. I'd like to
thank my teacher Ms. Anderson and everyone who helped me achieve this
great award. And I'm Grace Barrett. (applause)
Williams: My name is Starr Williams and I am a sixth grader at Mark Twain
Elementary. When I'm in school, the first thing I do is my warm-up.
Then I go to math and in math we are learning about number sentences.
For math boxes we have six different math questions, percentages, place
values, multiplication and division. We also learned about arrays. An
array is an arrangement of objects into rows and columns. I am a conflict
manager and a conflict manager is someone that helps solve problems. At
school I'm also organizing...I got a 100% on (mumbled) that I had taken
at home. I have three chores that I have to do, and those three chores are
the kitchen, living room and my room. When I'm outside I have to take,
rake the leaves and mow the lawn. When I'm not doing those things, I
usually ride my bike or jump rope. (applause)
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McNabb: I'm a good...I strive to be a good citizen, or...I am a good citizen for
trying to help other students. When other students drop their stuff I try to
help them pick it up. At home I pick up sticks and do chores. I also pick
up garbage in my yard. I also stay after school and put away chairs and
cards other students leave behind. I am also on my school safety patrol
and student council. (applause) I'm Nicholas McNabb.
Bailey: Thank you. (applause) So we have a certificate for each one of you, and
I'm going to read them. Um, they'll each have your own name on them.
For your outstanding qualities of leadership within Mark Twain
Elementary, as well as the community, and for your sense of responsibility
and helpfulness to others, we recognize you as an Outstanding Student
Citizen. Your community is proud of you. And this is presented by the
Iowa City City Council. (applause)
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ITEM 3. PROCLAMATIONS.
a) National Hospice/Palliative Care Month -November 2008
Bailey: (reads proclamation)
Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is volunteer Margaret Reese. applause)
Reese: Thank you, Mayor Bailey and Members of the Iowa City Council. We at
Iowa City Hospice appreciate very much the City's support through our 25
year history, and our volunteers and staff welcome the people of the city to
contact us for more information about hospice care and grief support
services, uh, at any time. So thank you again very much for the
recognition.
Bailey: Thank you.
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ITEM 3. PROCLAMATIONS.
b. Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week -November 16-22,
2008
Bailey: (reads proclamation)
Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Chrissy Cangelli representing the
Johnson County Homeless Coordinating Board. (applause)
Cangelli: The National League of Hunger and Homelessness is November 16tH
through the 22"a this year, and the Johnson County local Homeless
Coordinating Board is supporting two, or endorsing two events, um, this
board is constituted of 36 different partner organizations and program,
who work together daily to address the needs of men, women, and
children who are experiencing homelessness in our community. And, the
two events that we have, there's a clothing drive that's going on right now
with drop-off boxes that are located at the Hy-Vee on First Avenue in
Iowa City, and the Hy-Vee in, uh, Coralville in the park, Lantern Park
Plaza. Um, there will also be a box located at our third annual "sleep out"
which is November 15th. The distribution for the blanket drive will be on
November 20th at the Wesley Foundation, uh, Thursday afternoon, and I
brought posters for this, for all of you. Um, to kick off the National Week
of Awareness this year, we're holding John's Sleep-Out the third, uh, the
third sleep out that we've hosted, um, it's located at 429 Southgate
Avenue, which is the land that Shelter House owns on which we will build
the new facility next year. We, um, we'll have tents need to be up by 5:00
P.M. on November 15th, and we will have a soup supper that evening. I
really hope that you're able to come and join us, if not to sleep out with us,
uh, to at least come and have some, share some soup with us that evening.
Your support, uh, it means so very much to all of us, um, I'd also on
behalf of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board like to thank the
leadership of this community -you the individual Council Persons, City
Manager, and Assistant City Manager, the City staff who have been a
tremendous support to us daily, and the men, women, and families
throughout this community who support the local non-profit organizations
through their gifts of time, treasure and talent. Thank you very much.
Champion: I'd like to remind people that I did the sleep out last year. It was 13
degrees. I'd like to challenge one of you to try it this year when it's not
going to be 13 degrees.
Bailey: Are you doing it again this year?
Correia: How do you know it's not going to be...
Champion: I think I'm going to take a tent instead of a box. (laughter)
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Bailey: Thank you, Chrissy.
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ITEM 5. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA).
Bailey: This is an opportunity for those members of the audience to comment on
items that do not appear on tonight's agenda. If you wish to do so, please
approach the podium, state your name for the record, and limit your
comments to five minutes or less.
Felling: Hi, I'm Chuck Felling and I'm here from the Senior Center Commission
to fill you in on a few of the things that are going on at the Center, uh,
there's a conference coming up. It's called a "Positive Aging" conference,
which is, the title of it is "Achieving Purpose, Meaning and Vitality in the
Second Half of Life." This is, uh, a telecomm sort of presentation. It's
broadcast from the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and
Healing. Uh, this is a joint, uh, sponsorship by the Iowa City Senior
Center, Iowa Association of Senior Centers, and South Slope Community,
uh, Center, uh, the program will be held at...in North Liberty at the South
Slope site. There is a $20, uh, fee which helps us to pay for the cost of
getting hooked up for the telecomm. We also, uh, would like for you to
know that we're over 1,100 members at the Senior Center now, which is a
real landmark for us. That's the high-water mark, ever, so we're moving
up. From talking with some of the new members, uh, I think, uh, Mary
Dusterhoff's Dallas tai chi class is a big attractor this year. The other
thing I wanted to mention in case you hear of is that we've had some
chilly days and chilly nights at the Senior Center. LJh, the other day it was
43 degrees in the, uh, main lobby at the Senior Center, and that's because
although the boiler, new boiler has been hooked up, there was a neglect in
ordering a part, an essential part -the flu - so it maybe, uh, well toward
the end of this month or early December before we have that source of
heat, but the contractor has agreed to set up a temporary heating system
somehow, and I don't know how this works, in the alleyway in back of the
Center that will provide some heat to the second floor and to the
mezzanine, and hopefully, although we know that heat rises, we hope that
we can smush the heat down into the lower levels, uh, but you may hear
something of that and uh, it was one of those things that happens that
you're well aware of. When we have projects going, and that's uh, that's
it from the Senior Center for tonight. Thank you.
Bailey: Thanks for being here. Other members who would like to comment?
Payne: Good evening. My name is Michelle Payne, and I'm here for two
purposes tonight. One of them is I'm the Planning and Zoning rep here
tonight, and also the other one is, um, I'm the community contact person
for MidAmerican Energy. Terry Smith used to have this job and he
probably came to every meeting that you had. I won't come to every
meeting that you have (laughter). Um, Marian has a piece of paper to
hand out for you, kind of explaining the community contact program with
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one of my business cards, Um, the real idea of the program is if anybody
needs somebody to call, you have a...my name and number. You can call
me directly. So if you need anything, I'm there to call. Also Marian has,
uh, something in your work packets for you tonight regarding a meeting
that's in Cedar Rapids, uh, regarding, um, communities and community
leaders. Um, I encourage everybody, or at least somebody, to attend that
meeting from the Council. Thank you.
Bailey: Thank you, Michelle.
Payne: Yes?
Bailey: I said thank you.
Payne: Oh, sorry!
Bailey: That's okay. Thank you. Anyone else wishing to comment?
Karr: Motion to accept correspondence.
Wilburn: So moved.
Champion: Second.
Bailey: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Correia. All those in favor say aye.
Those opposed same sign. Motion carries.
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ITEM 6. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
b. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ARTICLE 14-SB,
SIGN REGULATIONS, ARTICLE 14-9C, SIGN DEFINITIONS,
SECTION 14-4B-1, MINOR MODIFICATIONS, AND ARTICLE
14-3C DESIGN REVIEW, TO ALLOW LIMITED USE OF
FREESTANDING SIGNS IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS
SERVICE (CB-2) ZONE, ADD A DEFINITION AND
STANDARDS FOR ENTRANCEWAY SIGNS, AND CLARIFY
REGULATIONS REGARDING SIGNS ON RENTAL
PROPERTIES. (PASS AND ADOPT)
Wright: Move adoption.
Correia: Second.
Bailey: Moved by Wright, seconded by Correia. Discussion?
Champion: I was going to bring up an amendment to this, but I think, um, I do think
there is some unfairness in this ordinance. Um, but Regenia, you said we
would...why don't you tell me what you said you thought we might do.
Bailey: Well, I suggested that perhaps we look at how this works. This was
brought forward to us from, um, the Northside Neighborhood out of the
concern of proliferation in the residential, and look at the, um, zones in
which this unfairness, um, about size was mentioned, and see if there's
sign proliferation, what challenges there are, and address that separately,
after we look at how this...how this works, because it's addressing a
certain thing that citizens have brought forward, and I think it does a good
job of that.
Champion: Oh, I don't have any problems with that. But I am concerned about the
unfairness of a number of units it takes to put a sign up and if you have
two less you don't get to put a sign up. That does kind of bother me. But
I'm still going to support it.
Bailey: Okay. Further discussion?
Hayek: I haven't changed my position and I've stated it to this group twice now.
Bailey: So you're not going to restate.. .
Hayek: I'm not going to restate it (laughter). I think it's unfair.
Bailey: Okay. All right. Roll call. Item carries 6-1, Hayek voting in the negative.
Karr: Motion to accept correspondence.
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Wilburn: So moved.
Wright: Second.
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Bailey: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Wright. Discussion? All those in favor
say aye. Those opposed same sign. Motion carries.
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ITEM 6. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
c. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING
APPROXIMATELY 3.87 ACRES OF PROPERTY LOCATED
SOUTH OF DODGE STREET AND WEST OF SCOTT
BOULEVARD FROM RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PARK
(RDP) TO COMMERCIAL OFFICE (CO-1) (REZ08-00008)
(PASS AND ADOPT)
Champion: Move adoption.
Bailey: Moved by Champion.
Correia: Second.
Bailey: Seconded by Correia. Any ex-parte communications that you wish to
disclose at this time? Discussion? Roll call. Item carries 7-0.
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ITEM 7. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 9, ENTITLED
"MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC," CHAPTER 4, ENTITLED
"PARHING REGULATIONS," SECTION 9, ENTITLED
"PARHING DURING SNOW EMERGENCIES," TO REQUIRE,
UPON DECLARATION OF A SNOW EMERGENCY BY THE
CITY MANAGER, ALTERNATE SIDE PARHING UPON CITY
STREETS NOT CURRENTLY POSTED FOR SAME DURING THE
DECLARED EMERGENCY. (FIRST CONSIDERATION).
Wilburn: Move first consideration.
Bailey: Moved by Wilburn.
Hayek: Second.
Bailey: Seconded by Hayek. Discussion, and we have Rick here to walk us
through this, and that would be a good place to start if you're willing to do
so, Rick.
Fosse: Certainly. Let me begin with just a little bit ofbackground, um, Iowa City
has had a snow ordinance, snow emergency ordinance, in effect for a
number of years, but as a matter of policy it hadn't been used and posted
30 years. And that was because of a view that, the concern that because of
the unique nature of our community with...with the University and all that
the hardships that it would impose would outweigh the hardships that it
solves. So, but last year we crossed a threshold. It was just a difficult
year and it made it clear that we need to have a workable snow ordinance
in effect and ready to go, and the net effect of not using it for so many
years is the language became outdated and more importantly, um, our
community was not familiar with it. So it's not something that you can
spring on somebody, you know, on a day's notice. People need to know
about it in advance, and that's part of what we'll do this fall, if this is
adopted. Um, so what we have in front of you tonight is...is a tune up to
the existing ordinance. And we've researched ordinances in other
community towns like Madison, uh, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Ames, and
others. So, our primary objective is to...to be able to get at the areas in
which there are unrestricted parking on streets now, and that's really what
the problem was last year, or one of the problems that we experienced.
And, the way it'll work, the declaration will be by the City Manager, um,
we'll have a minimum of four hours notice before it goes into effect. If it
goes into effect after 8:00 P.M., you know, or if it's declared after 8:00
P.M., excuse me, it won't go into effect until after 8:00 A.M. the next day
so that you're not out moving your car in the middle of the night. Um, and
both the time and the date of the beginning and the ending will be included
in the declaration. Now, with the unpredictable nature of winter storms,
there are some provisions where we can change the ending if that's
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necessary. Um, notification will be by the regular media outlets, um, we'll
ask for public service announcements on that, and we'll have information
on our web sites. We're also in the process of setting up a, uh, service that
you can subscribe to, where you'll get an email or a text message when the
snow ordinance is put into effect, and then that'll be a very active way to
get a hold of people. And also, um, we discovered that one of the
provisions in the State code is we have to have some sort of signage at the
edge of town, uh, we thought that's when the old leftover things in our old
ordinance, but it's still required today by the State code. So that's in this
amendment. So, the restrictions that'll go into effect when a snow
emergency is declared, uh, again, I want to remind you that the...what
we're really trying to get at here are the areas in which there are
unrestricted parking where we don't have access to get in and plow the
areas that we need to. Uh, so where there are no posted parking
restrictions, this would go to odd-even parking. So on the odd days of the
week, you park on the odd side of the street. By odd I mean the, uh, the
house numbers and typically that's on the west and the south sides, but
you'll want to look at the houses to be certain. Um, and on the even days,
you park on the even sides of the street. Um, where there are posted
parking restrictions, those posted parking restrictions will remain in effect.
For example, if you live in a neighborhood and you park on a street that
has calendar parking, that will remain in effect because that accomplishes
what we need to, people move from side to side daily and we can get in
and do the removals that we need to. Another example to look at is if we
have a street in which there's parking prohibited on one side all of the
time, and let's take Jefferson Street for an example. There's, uh, no
parking on the north side of that street. There's continuous parking on the
south side of the street. During a snow emergency, there will always be
no parking on the north side of the street, will not switch parking over to
that side because it's prohibited all the time. On the south side of the
street, uh, there'll be no parking on the even days. And that allows us to
get in and clear the snow on those days. Areas in which the snow
ordinance does not apply, is metered parking spaces, um, loading zones,
and then the Central Business District, because we already have a means
in place for clearing those areas that, uh, was some tune-ups that we did
last year, works relatively well. Um, the real difficulty for the people will
be finding other places to park, and...and the key here is some advance
planning. People need to think about it in advance, figure out where
they're going to go, make arrangements to get their car off the street, if
they can, or figure out where they want to park it, uh, alternatively. And
we're working with our Parks Department to make the parks' parking lots
available to people, and then also we're working with the, uh, Parking
Department to look at, uh, making free parking in the parking ramps
during the nighttime hours, and we have yet to work out the details on
that, but when we have the details we'll get that information out to the
public. So, with that I'll open it up to questions.
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Champion: Well, if you, um, if you have an...like when you call the snow emergency,
and you say it's going to be from 8:00 and it's going to end at 12:00 or
whatever, I mean, I know it won't end quite that soon probably, but, uh, if
you park...nonnally park on Jefferson and you see that it's already been
plowed, are people going to be ticketed if they park there after it's been
plowed?
Fosse: No, if it's been plowed already.. .
Lombardo: I think in order to answer that it really depends on the snow event, and if
there's been a snow emergency declared, then we're expecting people to
adhere to the policies in place. Whether or not the...if it's been declared
for a period of time, we can make the decision to lift it early if need be,
but if more snow is anticipated, we don't want to have to get into
conflicting messages. So, once the snow emergency is declared, we're
expecting people to follow the procedures that are in place.
Wilburn: I think that'll be helpful too, not necessarily just with more snow, but uh,
the conditions will certainly (mumbled) drifting and (mumbled) areas of
town where, um, when people clearing their (mumbled) commercial areas
where they push the snow out onto the street after (mumbled)
Fosse: That tends to be problematic. And, one thing that you can expect is the
duration will be a minimum of 48 hours, because we'll need 24 hours to
get at each side of the street, city wide (mumbled).
Hayek: We also don't want people following snowplows, waiting for them to
(laughter). Jumping right in, which I could see happening.
Wright: I do think it's worth noting to the, uh, unlike the ticket you might get now
for violating calendar parking, this is going to have a little bit more teeth
to it because not only will you have a ticket, but will also involve towing.
Fosse: Yes, and that's significant, and that's why we want to go to quite a bit of
effort to get the word out to folks so that they understand it.
Correia: Will there be any other signage, besides at the edge of town, on particular
streets?
Fosse: No, there will not be. There...there are some communities that have
specific snow routes, and keeping of our arterial street network open has
not been a problem for us. So we won't have specific snow routes. It'll
be a citywide type thing.
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O'Donnell: Rick, I think an incredibly important part of this is alternative parking.
You know, there's so many cars and we...they have to go somewhere, so I
like the idea of utilizing our parking structures, but um, that's got to be
explained very clearly because like I said, there's so many cars and they
have to go somewhere.
Fosse: Yes.
O'Donnell: And I can see `em ending up in yards and...somebody else's driveway.
But um, you know, I hope we get that implemented just very quickly.
Bailey: And I think I agree with you, Mike, and I think another concern or
important part of this is going to be clarity and consistency. So, um,
enforcing it consistently so if it's a minimum of 48 hours, even if the street
has been plowed, continuing to enforce the ordinance, and clarity up and
down the organization, including our own understanding of it when we get
calls, as well as perhaps disseminating some information through the
neighborhood, um, groups. I think that that would help, um, making sure
that Marsha fully understands that, as well as some of the other ideas we
talked about, um, I think, Amy, you mentioned you thought that our non-
emergencynumber would get calls, um, a lot of questions, and I think it'll
be important that we all understand and have clear information when
people ask, because people will ask.
Correia: So, once the ordinance is in place, how will we inform the public? We're
not going to put the...I mean, obviously the ordinance will be on the web
site, but will there be, you know...snow ordinance for dummies type of
thing (laughter).
Fosse: We've actually got a couple people working on that right now. We see
two components to the...to the information roll out to the public, and one
is that...that just general education about the ordinance, and hopefully
we'll get good coverage in the...in the local media. Uh, we'll have
information on our web site, uh, might use InfoVision, and we also want
to work with the University to make sure that the news gets out to the
students, before they go home for winter break so they can make decisions
on whether or not they want to bring their cars back after winter break, if
that's something that they're going to need to deal with during that time
period. And certainly so that they don't go home and leave their car on
the street during winter break. LTh, the second component to getting the
information out is...is when a snow emergency is actually declared, and
we talked about some of the mechanisms for that. We're approaching it
on two different fronts.
Bailey: Any other questions for Rick? Okay. Thank you, Rick.
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Fosse: You're welcome.
Bailey: Hope it's not a very snowy one. Okay, further discussion? No further
discussion? I think this is good. Okay. Roll call. Item carries...
Champion: We'll need to expedite this next time.
Bailey: ...item carries 7-0.
Champion: ...snow (mumbled)
Karr: Motion to accept correspondence.
Hayek: So moved.
Wilburn: So moved.
Bailey: Moved by Hayek, seconded by Wilburn. All those in favor say aye.
Those opposed same sign. Motion carries.
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ITEM 8. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ADOPTING SIDEWALK SNOW
REMOVAL POLICY.
Wright: So moved.
Champion: Second.
Bailey: Moved by Wright, seconded by Champion. Discussion?
Hayek: Um, I'm wondering about the, uh, and I understand we're not changing
what's already policy. We're codifying?
Wright: Codifying. (mumbled)
Hayek: Okay. Um, the complaints I get are from people who were not the cause
of the complaint, but who lived down the street and who were also
inspected when the, when staff went out there to look around, and I...my
question is...is, um, does the City, does that staff person investigate, have
the authority to investigate all homes on that side of the street from
intersection to intersection, or is it everybody on both sides? Do we
know? (several talking)
Wright: ...the policy is to take a look up and down the street while they're there.
Hayek: Both sides. Okay.
Dilkes: I think that's the last sentence of (both talking)
Hayek: Oh, did I miss.. .
Dilkes: Field investigation of the complaint, and enforcement action may not be
limited to the specific address given, but may include the entire frontage
from intersecting street to intersecting street.
Hayek: Right. And that's...I just wanted to clarify that was both sides.
Bailey: So if there's a bad block, there's a bad block (mumbled) looked at, yeah.
Okay. Further discussion? I think this is good to codify what we've been
practicing, especially given what we heard from last winter.
Hayek: And I think we might want to entertain the same public information roll
out.
Lombardo: We'll put it out simultaneously.
Hayek: Yeah.
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Bailey: Yeah, I think that would be good.
Hayek: There's really people honked off.
Correia: The other thing I think would be good to let people know is that...that the
City has salt at Mercer and other places that the public can come and take.
I didn't know that, until last year, because somebody else just happened to
mention it to me. Because I think it can be a hardship to purchase, um,
you know, de-icing for sidewalks, and so...
Bailey: Rick, will we be providing that again this year? Is that a service that is
consistently provided?
Fosse: That's a service we've provided for a number of years, when salt became
in short supply last winter, those piles disappeared quickly. And so we're
going to begin the season with that, and see if they're gobbled up. Our
concern is that the commercial people are getting it and using it for their
businesses, uh, prior to last year, we'd have many years of...of good track
record there. People just taking what they need for their residential use.
We hope it continues this year.
Bailey: And I do notice the hardware store is stocking up on de-icing, which is
expensive, but you know, remember that it wasn't always available last
year. So, okay, further...
Dilkes: In conversations with my office today, Doug said that the Housing
Inspection Services is going to set up a snow hotline so that the snow
complaints are directed to a particular place, and can be left also on
weekends. They're going to try and deal with those snow complaints
more efficiently. (several talking)
Bailey: Okay. All right. Any other comments, discussion? Okay. Roll call. Item
carries 7-0.
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Council Special Formal meeting of November 3, 2008.
#11
ITEM 11. COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS.
Page 18
Bailey: At our work session we had applicants for the Human Rights Commission
and the Public Arts Advisory Committee, and we agreed for the Human
Rights Commission to appoint, um, Gathua, Day and Lubaroof, and for
the Public Arts Advisory Committee, Williamson and Carney. I'd
entertain a motion to that effect.
Correia: Move those appointments.
Hayek: Second.
Bailey: Moved by Correia, seconded by Hayek. Discussion? All those in favor
say aye. Those opposed same sign. Motion carries. Also at our work
session we discussed, um, that these other, the Board of Adjustment, the
Airport Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Board of Appeals, Parks and
Rec Commission, and Senior Center Commission will be readvertised, and
it was suggested that the Youth Advisory Commission advertisement for
vacancies be deferred indefinitely, um.. .
Wilburn: (mumbled)
Bailey: Announcement. Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Wright. Discussion?
This is due to the changes in the by-laws, we'd like to do those first. All
those in favor of deferring that indefinitely say aye. Those opposed same
sign. Motion carries.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council Special Formal meeting of November 3, 2008.
#14 Page 19
ITEM 14. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION.
Bailey: Let's start with Amy...tonight.
Correia: Um, I had the opportunity two Sundays ago to attend a pastor appreciation
day at Salvation Army, um, there were members of that parish were
appreciating the pastors for the work that they've done in the community
with the flood recovery and other disaster recovery, so I went, um,
representing City Council (mumbled) as a past Mayor, um, members of
their board, faith based organization were there as well, so it was very
moving, and I want to thank Salvation Army for their work, uh, in the
community, and I also wanted to let you all know that there's, the effort to
create a voluntary certification program for universal design has, um, been
completed. There, um, there will be a press conference next Thursday
morning. It's a joint effort of the Iowa City Area Homebuilder's
Association and the Livable Communities for Successful Aging, um,
Doug Boothroy has been really instrumental in...in, um, helping to write
the, uh, the certification guidelines. This is to help establish livability and
visitability standards, and encourage, um, this in new construction and we
have in all the building departments (mumbled) with taking applications
and doing inspections during the regular inspection process. So, look
forward to telling you more about it as we get it more off the ground.
Bailey: Mr. Hayek.
Hayek: Um, November...Tuesday, November 11 is Veterans Day, and as usual,
the Johnson County Military Affairs Association puts on its annual
banquet, um, this year the venue is different. It's going to be at the
Riverside Casino. Time is a little different as well. It starts at 5:30 with a
special flag dedication, uh, with everything else starting immediately after
that. Tickets are still available through the Military Affairs Association
and I encourage people to support this event.
Bailey: Thank you.
Wilburn: Encourage everyone to go out and vote, exercise their right, and um, there
was a little bit in the paper about whether or not your vote matters or will
make a difference (mumbled) historical note, I believe that (mumbled)
where it was a tie and they had no (mumbled) breaking the tie, and so they
drew names (mumbled) provision now, but uh, to this day no one can tell
me whether or not it was a (mumbled) but...
Hayek: Move to strike that comment.
Wilburn: ...so please get out and vote.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council Special Formal meeting of November 3, 2008.
#14 Page 20
Wright: Just a few years ago we had a City Council election here that was decided
by one vote.
Bailey: That's right. All right.
O'Donnell: And I hope tomorrow night is decided. I hope we don't need a coffee can
tomorrow night. Um, I...I mentioned to you, Mike, short time back about
a place to put leaves, where um, City can pick them up rather than putting
them on the curb where they wash into the storm drains, and you know, I
think it would save us a lot of time. I'm wondering, did you see any value
to that?
Lombardo: That's something I haven't gotten an answer back. I'll follow up this
week for you, Mike.
O'Donnell: Okay, good. And incidentally, I had, um, some complaints on parking
structures that were not being utilized very well, and um, I've had some
(mumbled) since we cleaned up the parking ramp, I've had some very
good comments on it so please continue that.
Lombardo: It's something, um, we're taking very seriously and putting together a
longer-term strategy for how to manage that situation.
O'Donnell: Okay, great. Thank you.
Champion: Tomorrow is the big day. I can't wait!
O'Donnell: There's a lot of that!
Bailey: Is that it?
Champion: That's it.
Bailey: Okay.
Wright: I can't wait either, and I just go along with Ross. I encourage everybody
to get out and vote tomorrow. It is incredibly important. One event I do
want to, uh, bring to your attention is partly sponsored by the City's office
of Neighborhood Services. Next week at the University campus, the off-
campus living expo. This is geared for students who are preparing or
considering living off campus, uh, this is the first time something like this
has been done, and uh, I really appreciate the work that Marsha Bollinger
and folks at the University have done putting this together, and also want
to thank the University of Iowa Community Credit Union for uh giving 15
$50.00 gift certificates to folks who are in attendance at this. It's a very
nice event.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council Special Formal meeting of November 3, 2008.
#14
Page 21
Bailey: Thanks. I want to announce that on November 19, it's Wednesday, from
7:00 to 9:00 P.M. there will be a public forum, Fairness for All Families.
It's a marriage equality public forum that will be held at the Senior Center
assembly room. That's at 28 S. Linn Street. I would encourage people to
attend. It's sponsored by many of our organizations here locally, and it's
an issue that affects, um, many of us here in Iowa City. Um, I'd also like
to just note that we don't see them very often, but we did get a chance to
see Tyler on camera tonight, but our student liaisons from the University
of Iowa Student Government. Tyler and Alexis, I know that this is a
particularly busy time for you this time of the semester, so I want to thank
you for your dedication to the Council, and for your participation. We get
to see you, and hear from you a lot more, at our work sessions, but it's
good to have you here at these meetings. And then when I was at, getting
my dinner tonight I did get a complaint, and I don't know, maybe Connie,
you can speak to this as well `cause you're downtown more frequently,
that there seems to be a rash of bicycles again on the sidewalks downtown.
I know that we get a lot of grief for that enforcement, but it is a safety
issue and I think that, once again, um, probably need to look at that, as
well as some scooters on the sidewalks.
Champion: And the scooters too. But there are, it has been a big problem in the past
couple weeks again. (mumbled)
Bailey: Oh, that's probably it, yeah.
Champion: It is a dangerous situation.
Lombardo: Absolutely.
Bailey: Yeah, so...
Wright: I've actually seen a couple scooters on the sidewalk.
Bailey: Yeah. Just a reminder that we don't allow bicycles in, on the sidewalks in
downtown Iowa City. It's just too much of a pedestrian area, so it's
tempting, but they're not allowed. So...
Champion: I just want to point out too that, um, when I was pulling out of my
driveway tonight, there was a bicyclist coming up the street, riding very
close to the curb, and so I had to kind of get my car out there, and um, I
saw him -it's not aproblem - but I saw him because he had a light. And
please, it's so important at night to have lights on your bicycle. It's so
important.
Bailey: Right. Right. Good point. Okay. All right.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council Special Formal meeting of November 3, 2008.
#15 Page 22
ITEM 15. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF.
a) City Manager
Bailey: City Manager?
Lombardo: Well, several weeks ago the Mayor had, um, raised the idea of a concept
to have, um, lunch or a series of lunch with the area not-for-profit
managers and directors, and Thursday, Friday and today, um, I had lunch
here in Harvat Hall with, uh, many of the area not-for-profits, their
directors and...and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it was a great
opportunity, just, uh, get to know them better in a relaxed setting, but also
to discuss kind of common issues and...and uh, challenges. I just want to
say thank you, Mayor, publicly for suggesting. It was a great idea, and it's
kind of got me thinking about, um, a brown-bag series, and I guess I'll
throw it out to you all and perhaps the public if there are topics, um, that
we want to have broader discussions with the public about in a kind of
relaxed brown-bag setting, um, I'm willing to go through the process of
scheduling that and getting that, the work together around that, but only
willing to do so if folks think it would be very well received and there'd
be attendance, uh, and that there's a desire to do that. So, I'll put that out
there and encourage you all to weigh in on it, um, and then, um, one final
thing, uh, I will be out of the office tomorrow for the day, uh, joined by
Kelly Hayworth, the City Administrator of Coralville, and Nancy
Quellhorst, the Chamber Director, um, we're going to be meeting with
some folks to discuss regional economic development, and cooperations
and collaborative and just trying to get some new ideas for, uh, how we all
work together, but also, uh, how we engage hospitals and universities and
others to look at a long-term approach to sustainability.
Bailey: So we hope you've already voted!
Lombardo: I haven't already voted -thank you.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council Special Formal meeting of November 3, 2008.