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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1973-05-22 Bd Comm minutes• MINUTES Iowa City Charter Committee May 8, 1973 MEMBERS PRESENT: T Baldus ; D avidsen, Meardon, Corrigan, Cain,. De Counter,Welt, .°inggenberg MEMBERS ABSENT : Knight Staff Present: Rosenstein Chairman Mear don called the meeting to order at 8:00 P.M. Mr. Welt moved that 'the minutes of May 2, 1973 be approved as ,'corrected. Mr. Corrigan; seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Discussion next centered on S:ction 4.02, Accountability and Removal of the City ,Manager. The, idea :behind 'thissection was ol in'case ''a Manager was terminated without notice he would receive I some compensation so 'that 'he could have financial security be- tween jobs. Mr. Corrigan :moved the adoption of paragraph one, reading,` "The City Manager,, shall be under.the direction and supervision of the City Council:and shall hold office at its, pleasure'.' Unless otherwise; providedby contract, a'City Manager removed by the Council shall receive, termination pay; of not less than two months' salary, 'computed from the 'date of resolution of removal." Mrs. Davidsen seconded and the motion carried unanimously.', Mr. Corrigan move'd.',that the second-para- graph of Section 4.02 read as follows: "Upon the resignation or removal of the City Manager, the City Council shall appoint an individual qualified, to perform the duties of _City Manager; to serve at the pleasure of Council or until: a City Manager is appointed." Mr. Welt°seconded and 'the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Corrigan moved that the first paragraph of Section 4.03, Absence', Disability of City Manager, read as follows: "At all times, there shall be a person to perform the duties of City" Manager., In the case of temporary absence or 'disability of the City Manager, a substitute' shall be designated as �ll Mrs. Davidsen seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Welt moved that Section 4.03 (a) read as follows: "When the absence:or disability of the City Manager is known in advance, the City, Manager shall, by letter filed with the City Clerk, designate a qualified City 'employee as acting City Manager during the absence of the City Manager. The,City Council may, at `any time, 'revoke 'such designation and appoint some other • qualified person." Mrs. Davidsen seconded the motion. Mr. Meardon stated that the Council should be able to appoint anyone they want as the temporary City Manager. Mrs. Cain stated that temporary able to ,appoint a non-City employee the Council should not be duringthe tem orar absence of the City Manager because someone i should be appointed who was loyal to City policies. She drew the distinction between someone replacing a Manager for a short period and someone appointed after '.the;Manager.had resigned or been removed stating that in the latter, the Council should not be limited to City employees.''The 'question was 'called 'and the motion passed six for and two 'against with Mrs. sCain and' Mr'. Ringgenberg voting against. Mr'. Welt moved that Section': 4.03 (b), read, "When the absence or disability of the City Manager 'is not foreseen, the City 'Council `shall appoint a qualified person to serve as Acting', City Manager until the return or removal of'the City. Manager. Mrs`. Davidsen''seconded and the :motion 'passed five for and three 'against with 'Cain,` Ringgenberg,;and Corrigan- voting against. Mr. Meardon directed Mr. Rosenstein to prepare °a draft of the approved Y g p" ,give it to Mrs of the City Council And ofetheeCity Mana ereandwgi and dutie. Meardon for distribu- tion to the City Council and the City Manager.: Discussion next, turned to Article XIII, Initiative and Referendum. Mr. Baldus stated that there'were.five areas'which.the Model City Charter recommended not be covered by initiative and referen dum: budget,; taxes, salaries, appropriations, and the capital program. He 'stated that.he has deletedthe ,capital ,program and taxes from the 'proposed draft because capital improvements are a controversial issue, and allowing' these processes to have effect on taxes would force a Council to prove .to the, public', that their taxes were well spent. Mr. ;Corrigan 'stated that it would be irresponsible of the Charter Committee to 'allow a referendum on the tax rate because the-anti-tax elements were so strong and they could cripple the operation of, City Government. Mr. Corrigan moved that the restriction 'against -initiative and referendum on the salaries of City:officers be deleted. Mr. Corrigan' stated that the City Council's salary should be a possible initiative or referendum item, although the salaries 'of City employees, should not be an issue for initiative'or referendum. Mr. Baldus seconded',the motion and it passed unanimously. Mr. Co levy rri an'moved that the g e of taxes should be added `Ito. ',the Y. items restricted from action by initiative or 'referendum. Mrs. Cain seconded. The argument for this inclusion was ;that it should not be within the power of the voters to suspend taxes. The question was called and,the motion passed six for, one against, and one abstention with Mr. 'Baldus voting against and Mr. Meardon abstaining. Mr.`Meardon stated that levying taxes was a positive issue but that the suspension of taxes might be a separate issue. • Mr. Ringgenberg asked if the intention was for initiative and referendum toapplyjust to ordinances or to resolutions. Mr. Baldus, stated that it should apply', to any Council action that formulated policy. It was agreed t0replace the references. to ordinances, with references to'"Council action." May 8, ,1973 Iowa City Charter Committee :I • Page 3 Mr. Meardon asked why Section 8.01 was entitled, "Limitation on Council Power. Mr. Baldus explained':that Section 56 of theCity 'Code of Iowa allows Home Rule Charters':to provide for the; powers and :duties 'of the Mayor and Council and there- fore the :initiative and referendum procedures could be inter- preted as being a limitation on Council, power. '-Mr.,Meardon stated that this rlimitation should go under Article LII, The City Council. Mr. Ringgenberg,moved:that the limitation on the Council's power by initiative and referendum be placed in Article II. 'Mr. Baldus seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Discussion next centered on' Section 8.02; Commencement of Proceedings, Petitioners' Committee; affidavit .with'Mr..Baldus, saying that this section was'necessary in order to make the procedurevery, clear. Mr. Baldus cited the Model City Charter which stated that the Article on initiative and =referendum:must belcompletely;self-executing; since: detail could not be filled in,by the Council. The purpose of,,these':procedures'is to Iguard against the possible inadequacies` of Council. Mr. "Corrigan.' moved that Section 8.02 be adopted as written with the addition " of the word, '"valid,"`before the word, "Signatures," in para- graph two. Mr. Baldus stated that any reference to'voters''in thislArticle referred to registered voters. Mr. Welt seconded and the motion passed unanimously.' Discussion next centered on Section 8.031 Petitions and on the number of signatures needed on an initiative or referendum petition. The Committee felt that it would be better for the petitioner if the Charter would specify'a certain number of signatures, thus alleviating some of the confusion of the process. It :was felt that if'. the population substantially,'changes, the Charter could later.be amended'to reflect that change. Mr. Baldus moved that the Charter specify that the petitions must be:signed by at least 2,,000 voters of the City. Mrs.',Davidsen'seconded. Mr. Ringgenberg moved to amend that motion to read at least 2,500. Mr. Corrigan seconded and the motion' passed', five for _and .three against with-Baldus, Davidsen, and Meardon voting against. Mr. Corrigan moved that Section 8.03 (b), Form and Content, be adopted as read. Mr. Welt seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Corrigan moved that Section�8.03 (c), Affidavit of'Circulator; be adopted as lead except for the first sentence reading, "Each paper of a, petition containing signatures..." 'Mr De Counter seconded and the,motion passed unanimously. Discussion was held on Section 8.03 (d), Time for Filing Referen • dum'Petition. Mr. Baldus stated that this places 'a sixty -(60) day limit in which to file a','petition.for'referendum after an ordinance is passed by Council. ``Mr. Baldus stated that this might not be a long enough period." Mr'. Corrigan stated that the Model City Charter used a limit of thirty (30):days to assure that. i I May 8, 1973 Iowa Y Cit Charter Committee • Page 4 the effective date of an ordinance will not be delayed unless the referendum 'effort is of serious proportions. Mr. Baldus stated that the ordinance isnot suspended until the petition is filed and the part that the petitions are being circulated does not effect the, status of the ordinance. Mrs. Cain asked if, there was a'-zoning, change passed by ordinance and then,a petition was ,filed, would the zoning change be suspended until the time of election.Mr. Corrigan stated that if the zoning `change was more restrictive,' there could be irreversible harm done during the suspension. ° It was agreed to give this subject one during the Discussion was held on whether sixty furt(60) days was long enough. "Mr. Baldus stated that if the deadline had passed, the voters could petition for initiative on anordinance thatrepealedthe Council passed ordinance11 but that this would not have any suspension effects.; Section 8.03 (d) was tabled until further study ',could be made: Mr'. Baldus explained that Section 8.04, Procedure After Filing, provided for, exactly what was an improper petition, on what' ,grounds it could not be certified', and then provided for an to increase'the number of appeals process and a chance signa- tures on an invalid petition to the required number. Mr. Corrigan moved that Section 8.04,be adopted as read except for the 'addition of, "even though the petition nay contain one or more invalid signatures," the addition of, ",valid unless," and the deletion of, "(3) the 'voter was not given.an opportunity to read the full text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be reconsidered before his or her signature was executed. Mrs. Oavidsen seconded and the motion passed unanimously Section 8.05, Referendum Petitions: Suspension of Effect of Ordinance. Mr. Meardon asked what the effect would be on the referendum process'if the Council amended the ordinance. 'chis subject was deferred until further research could be done. Mr. Corrigan asked why, ',`if 2,500 people signed a referendum petition, the five people 's committee could withdraw on the petitioner the petition. Mrs. Cain stated that this could save the expense of reason the referendum was no f the election if there wasso longer, needed. Section 8.05 was '',tabled. Section 8.06, Action on Petitions provides that once the petition is'deemed sufficient, the Council has a time,,period,in which to reconsider their action. -Mr. Meardon asked if it were possible to have just initiative but not ,referendum and if that reduced the complication of the process. Mr'. Meardon said that'you can accomplish the same things with initiative as you can with !refer-. endum..', MrBaldus'stated`that'the only difference would be the mes with referendum. loss of the suspension that coMr. Baldus • also stated,that an,amendment to, an ordinance would not affect the referendum process as the process reads now. M. ,Mr,. Meardon adjourned the meeting at 10:45 P. May -1ty hart.r mmit MINUTES Iowa C Co tee MEMBERS PRESEN T Meardon ni K C a' jn , C ME ght o r M B B r' 1 staff ERS ABSENT Welt aldus,'Ringgenberg Counter, pavlasen ff Present; ' Rosenstein ChaiMan'Meardon Discuss.called Commission centered the meeting to ord Mrs. nS Pro around er, at 9: making SPosed draft the sub -commit 00 P.M. of ng government that °f!the artittee °n g Bo nt if you Icle on Dards a olsBoards more res bellev Boards and ° the procesSnunissions psnaIve tofthe people obj - e oflssions mentsssion'Was he brings '< then the use to Placed o, el on wh 4 citiyen input eth andalnFo bY-lawsth=e C.1ty C°unClthere should t° set rural conun gulations and on the, be specifi Mrsuirements if mI Ss ca rtren Aroce sesoncerning °Pen meds and Commisre that Caln statedr dismissaiormnendatio, req�irementtings,,fo.malIons of . to s had 'the Chart. that Join dells be se for Council the hart rteeen mptingottee hadlbewas C°n nternegl gentcmencjlllnd that if Co keep the' en operatin 'tO the'Philo ers are members a is charter' g under SOAK Problems of the getting s fair., since y to act on .1 thes Charter pecific Y general they be in the Charter ethes matters rocesses canaltteeand �beleyeBaldus stated except f • but has the Cou d that with the°r the; one Mr. 13 at n t' then ttsel now hasttere their relation hienessffe l°f gthethsorl.ntatat these he prow ngs shouldPower Of staff pavldSen P wjth Council°ards ands o� ssemberIsio ' thaStaff'in rel and that lops and With andtthaards and,a�o°nshyp to Boas important h Board t Present mmisS. rds and CO to cmmiss.larif Often °r COmIniSS 0 the staff need' staff report,I Ions. Y the role the n does She s the reco but notin tat Board imnendat rather make Order ed staff Should Commissio°ns of the staff reports reports to ° function go to uld b. a n. Mrs staff C golict, to the . reth°nsjbjlrc o Y onblco lSs to CouneDaviai n further stated thoseounciloand wl necessary th and treycitY Mans n. a he Charterhat they shoulat the Son8b1. stafftasProvidee oaed to ;P' cm rst sl rds a st a ance. and Co mm' 1 ss• lops • MINUTES Iowa City Charter Committee May 9, 1973 MEMBERS PRESENT: Meardon' Cain, Corrigan, De Counter, Davidsen, Knight, Baldus, Rin4genberg MEMBERS ABSENT ; Welt Staff Present: Rosenstein Chairman Meardon called the meeting to order at q;pp P.M. Discussion centered around the',sub-committee on Boards and Commissions proposed draft of the article on'',Boards'and Commissions. Makin if You believe in the objective of Mrs. Davidsen stated that Making more responsive to the people, then the use Of Boards and; Commissions is a way of bringing citizen input into the process. Discussion was, held on whether there should be s ments lace specific if' P on the P is re e City Council and on the Boards ',and Commissions to adopt by-laws, regulations concerning open meetings,; formal. and informal communication processes r to e set time limits 'for recommendations 'toubeesent sto�Council lland requirements for dismissalofdelinquent or negligent' members. Mrs. Cain 'stated that doing this was .counter';to the philosophy that the Charter Committee had been operating under since they had been, attemptingto keep, the Charter fairly general and now the Charter_Committee is getting specific.Mr. Baldus stated that if members of ,the Charter Committee believed that there are problems,in these processes and the Council now has the power to act on these matters but hasn't, then these things should be in the Charter. !Mr. Baldus stated that these provisions, except for the on; dealing with orientation of members, deal with the effectiveness of the Boards and Commissions and with their relationship with Council. Mrs. Davidsen,stated`that it was important to clarify', the role of staff in relationship to Boards and Commissions. She stated that Boards and Commissions need staff reports in o and that presentlyorder to the funct' staff ion Board or; Commission,' but ratherstaffreportsmake sgoetorCouncilts hand to often the recommendations of the staff conflict with those of the Board or Commission. Mrs, Davidsen further stated that the staff should be able to go to Council but lthat >they should first go to the Board or Commission. The Charter decided to place_a responsibility on the City Manager to provide 'Boards' with necessary a • nd and C Y yeas Commissions ions le staff assistance:" May 9, 1973 • Iowa City Charter Committee Page 2 Mr. Meardon stated that repeating Boards, Commissions, and Committees was too unwieldy and,th'ere should be some shorter term to refer to them:Mr. Baldus stated that there was need of a general definitions section. 'Mr..Rosenstein was directed to prepare such a section for Committee approval. Mr. Baldus stated that too often Boards and Commissions have been "closed _groups with not broad 'enough representation. -Mr. Baldus stated that the Charter should require that notices of openings be given and that there" should be some'procedure'for assuring an equal distribution of opinion. Discussion was held on whether there should be a separate article on Boards and Commissions'' in the Charter. Mrs. David - sen said there be so people could 'see the Charter's commitment to citizen, participation in government and ,this -would help"establishfBoards and Commission as,a third branch of Cty,government. Mr. Baldus moved that there be something on Boards and ,Commissions in the Charter. "Mrs.! Davidsen seconded and the motionp assedl,six to two with De Counter and Ringgenberg voting against. Mr. Meardon stated that the Charter should require the full Council to appoint the Boards and Commissions. Mr.' Rosenstein stated lthat 'this ",requirement could 'be' in conflict with State Law becauseDivision, provides that `the City`Council,shall provide for the method of appointment of the Boards and Commissions. Mr. Meardon stated that if ',the Charter is a separate,form of government, then this provision does not apply to a Home Rule Charter. Mr. Baldus moved that "The City Council shall appoint members of the City's Boards, Commissions', and, Committees," be placed in Section 2.08 (d)'.; Mr. De Counter seconded and the motion passed seven to one with Mr. Ringgenberg voting against.` Mrs., Cain moved that' :Section 5.02, Duties, of the sub -committee on Boards and Commission draft be deleted. Mrs Davidsen seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The Charter Committee requested the sub -committee to rework Section 5.03,', Rules and Procedures. The Charter Committee decided that Section 5.04, Staff Assistance, be deleted because it would be covered by the addition of the requirement for the City, Manager to provide necessary.and'reason- able clerical',,research,>and fprofessional assistance to Boards, Commissions, and',Committees:in Section 4.05, Duties of Manager. • Mr. Rosenstein', presented the Charter Committee with a draft of a cover 'drawn by Mr. Stan Hari.,g. Mr. Rosenstein stated that the printing of this cover mightcost;more than his earlier 1; 1 - I Minutes r- Planning & C ommission Meeting g Zoning • May 10 1973'• Civic Center Council Chambers - 4:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Madsen, Fenry,'Galiher, Davidsen, Ogesen STAFF PRESENT: Kraft, Wollmershauser, Lambert,, Child Chairman Madsen called the meeting to order and asked if there, were any corrections to the minutes of the April 26, 1973 meeting. Dr. Ogesen requested the following changes: 1. To add after the first sentence in the fifth paragraph on'page `one the comment: (Dr. Ogesen pointed out that there is a platted alley between the Rock,Island and tracks and the lot in question.) 2. To amend the third sentence in the second paragraph on page three to read: "The Kelley's, however, were contacted after the fire by potential buyers but because of the practical building size of 2,400 square feet',p ermitt ed on the 'site, the prospective buyers were not interested." 3. To show that the Andover Garden Apartments' request (page ,seven)' (S-7303) was deferred by the Planning & Zoning Commission until a later meeting. It was moved by Mr. Galiher, seconded by Dr. Ogesen, to approve the minutes as corrected. The motion carried unanimously. Z-7214. -Request for rezoning, R1AIto-PC, for a tract oflland on southeast corner of Sycamore Street and Highway 6 Bypass. Dateoriginally filed (R1A to C2): 6/14/72.' Date revision filed: 4/17/73. 45 -day' limitation: '6/1/73. Chairman Madsen explained,that this rezoning request was on the -agenda '>for ,the last meeting,,April,26, 1973 and that the matter was deferred. 'Because a`Staff recommendation had not yet been made, Chairman Madsen suggested that the matter again be deferred until the next meeting. Additional comments were invited. Mr. Phil Leff, attorney for General'Growth Properties, stated that the petitioners were disturbed by the delay. He pointed out that the Staff Report dated April 26, 1973 indicated that the Staff would be preparing; an addendum to that report and ' at the problems were with the Staff not having t:know.wh he: didn't p a report or recommendation at; this time. r -z- c • Mr. Dennis Kraft, Director of the Department of Community Development, explained that General Growth had submitted material late the day before (4:30 p.m., May 9, 1973) and, therefore, there was not enough time for Staff review and', recommendation. Mr. Leff explained that the plan had been revised and City Parking requirements had now been met.(' He stated that General Growth had submitted to the ,Staff and'Commission the economic feasibility report, the report of the 'affect of the planned commercialdistrict on>surrounding property, and the impact of the traffic generated' on surrounding streets. He asked if there was anything additional' that the petitioner should furnish. Chairman Madsen indicatedthatthe Commissioners were concerned' .'about the design of the parking lot:and they would like to have ;as much input as possible on that particular. feature of the eplan xpire He stated that the 45 -day time limitation would not 1973 and felt the; Commission should operate with''as much information as'possible.' After further discussion; Dr. Ogesen moved and Mr. Henry seconded a motion to.defer the request for rezoning,:R1A'to PC, for a tract of land on southeast corner of Sycamore Street and High- way 6,IBypass. The motion carried 3-0,,with -Mrs. Davidsen and Mr. Galiher abstaining. S-7304. Court Hills -Scott Boulevard Addition, Part I. Preliminary Plat,_ located north of Court Street between Scott Boulevard and Dartmouth Street, by Plum Grove Acres, Inc. Mr. M. rTerrance Lambert, Associate City Planner, explained that the City Engineer, as well as the Planning Staff, was recommending approval of this request. ` It was moved by Mrs. Davidsen, seconded by Mr. Galiher, to recommend ,approval :of the Court Hills' -Scott Boulevard Addition, Part I, Preliminary Plat. The motion'' carried unanimously. S-7306. Village Green, Part V. Preliminary,' Plat, located south and east of,the 'intersection of. Village Green Boulevard !and Village Road, submitted by the Iowa City Development :Company. Mr. M. Terrance Lambert explained that the City Engineer had not yet made a recommendation and theStaffwould recommend • deferral. It was 'moved by Mr.' Galiher, seconded by Dr. Ogesen, to ` recommend deferral of the Village Green, Part V, iPreliminary Plat. The motion carried unanimously.