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Home My WebLink About2009-02-23 TranscriptionFebruary 23, 2009 City Council Page 1 February 23, 2009 City Council Special Work Session 6:37 P.M. Council Present: Bailey, Champion, Correia, Hayek, O'Donnell, Wilburn, Wright Staff: Lombardo, Helling, Karr, Dilkes, Moran, Davidson, Boelke, Hennes, Lewis, O'Malley Others Present: Gunn - UISG Representative Council Appointments: Bailey/ Okay, let's start our work session. Just a note, a change in our work session agenda. We're going to move agenda items up before the budget section. So first item on the work session agenda is Council appointments. Um, there was a question, Mike... O'Donnell/ No, I thought...then I saw an appointment (mumbled) application for the Airport Commission. Bailey/ But it wasn't...okay. O'Donnell/ (mumbled) Bailey/ All right, let's start with Board of Appeals. We have one vacancy, two applicants. Correia/ Well, Chad Campion. Bailey/ Do you have your mic on? Correia/ Yes. Bailey/ Okay. Correia/ Sorry. Bailey/ Chad Campion? Champion/ He's serving on an expired term. Correia/ He's serving an (mumbled) Bailey/ Do we have two other...okay. Hayek/ Yeah (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Bailey/ Yeah, I...yeah, be hard to...to make a mistake there. Okay. Chad Campion. Civil Service. I think we have one opening (both talking) Champion/ ...also currently serving. Bailey/ Okay. Yes, William Cook. Hayek/ Sounds good. (several talking) Page 2 Bailey/ All right. Historic Preservation, it looked like we matched up pretty well for vacancies, three year terms. We got three applicants for the different vacancies -Frank Wagner for at-large, Esther Baker, who's serving east College Street and um, Genalie Swaim for Woodlawn, and Frank is also serving. Champion/ They're all currently serving. Bailey/ So...are we good with that? (several talking) Wilburn/ That's fine. Vision Iowa Application for Sand Lake Project: Bailey/ Great. Moving along. Vision Iowa application for the Sand Lake Project, information packet item #3. Um, Michael, did you want to speak to this, or...I can also make a comment. Lombardo/ Um, the long and the short of it is that, uh, Vision Iowa Board is not pleased, uh, our stretching the funding for this out over several years. Um, the letter is pretty self- explanatory, and so I guess the questions, uh, for us is what...what to do in light of that. Uh, seems to me that decisions lie within the realm of, um, consolidating the funding so that we can do the project in accordance, and possibly get the CAT grants, or uh„ stay to, uh, the schedule that's been provided in the budget, and possibly forego CAT grant funding, or to shelve the project, uh, or any other ideas that...that you may have. Um, the challenge with this, of course, and I've asked Mike, uh, Moran to give me some indication of what it would be, uh, to operate and maintain that (mumbled) and...and therein is the discussion from our budget, uh, session lies is the challenge of doing that. Uh, I'm hoping to get my arms around numbers, but um, part of the rationale for extending that several years is because we're having difficulty funding current level of operations and extending or adding a park of that magnitude we...we thought would be, uh, difficult to do, and I...I still agree with that. Um... Correia/ How much is the application for? Bailey/ $2 million. Correia/ And they have $2 million to give right now? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 3 Bailey/ Um, it's in the Governor's budget. I doubt if we would get the full $2 million. Most...most applicants do not...just as you know, I'm on the Board. I won't be able to vote on this. It's a...in what we see, it's a really good competitive project. I think that we would get something, but of course I can't speak for the Board. So... Correia/ And what have we spent...so out of this 4.25 cost in our C1P, we have $500,000 in 08. I assume we've encumbered that (mumbled) GO bonds. Lombardo/ ...is available for funding (mumbled) or available for (mumbled) Correia/ Okay. And...I can't remember what we changed from what.. . Bailey/ Amy, what page is that? I'm sorry. Correia/ Well, it was just this C-9 on the handout from our budget. Lombardo/ C-17 in the original budget book, um... Bailey/ Okay. Lombardo/ Typically the CAT grant funding is the last, you know (mumbled) indicating and what we...we moved it around, expecting that they could fund it possibly, um, next year, um, over two years, 2011 and 2012, and then we backloaded our, uh, remaining $2 million, uh, in 2013. Correia/ And generally when you get a CAT grant, what type of expectation is there that it's fully done in what period of time -two years? Three years? One year? What? Bailey/ Two. Correia/ Two years, and they're looking at funding for fiscal year 10 and 11? Bailey/ There's the opportunity typically for extensions, if there are weather delays and that's also not uncommon, but what they're trying to do is encumber money for funding for two...essentially, two years. Correia/ Well, I mean, if they...if...because the 11 and 12 were State grants, I mean, I don't see...did we move...we have 750,000 for contributions and donations. I don't know where we are with that, but...I think some of the issues where we wanted to move some things out related to the...to the operating, but we also wanted to limit bonding, as well, to keep the levy down, I mean, could we... Bailey/ ...also bringing parks on line...yeah. Correia/ No, I know, yeah, the bringing parks on line. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 4 Bailey/ And I think that's why this was moved (both talking) bonding issue. Correia/ Right. Lombardo/ The 750,000 is a combination of...uh, the...the (mumbled) land, um, and to the (mumbled) and then we're in the process of...I think we've raised almost 70,000 to date, and we continue to work at the fundraising, um, effort, um, the question is, uh, do we feel strongly enough about the project to, uh, put the 2 million in local funding up as early as next year. Not 2010, but 2011, um, and complete the project with the expectation we have to find a way to operate and maintain the park, and I don't have good numbers to date on what that would entail. Mike, I don't presume you'd want to take a stab at, um, at this point, but...it's not insignificant. (unable to hear response, away from mic) Bailey/ Mike, you're going to need to do the mic...microphone. Moran/ We've shifted some of the funds for that. We had $500,000 last year that we initiated the study for and we had the plan done by Snider and Associates. Uh, we left some money in that, uh, in order to develop the site initially to make sure that people knew that it was, it belonged to the City and what we were going to do with that. Most of the funding came out of FY10 and we moved that back into FY13, in your CIP discussions we had., uh, at the end of January. And that's where most of it came in, and then the million dollars for 11 and 12 from the Vision Iowa Funding Board. But the Vision Iowa Funding Board, we need to get that done in two years, and we couldn't guarantee that. After your discussions in January, I had to go present on February 11th and I couldn't tell 'em we could get that done. And so that's why the letter was sent, because they were concerned about, um, taking that money and then having to stretch that past the two year limit. Champion/ What if we divide the project in half? Moran/ That's one of the options Vision Iowa gave us, is that we could turn it into a phase project, and do that, and that would take a little bit of work on our part. Just go back and say, all right, how we going to phase this in then, uh, so that we can get what percentage done now, and what percentage done second, but then you're still faced with the issue of it's a new park and we still need people to maintain that. Correia/ So how much would it take to maintain it? Moran/ We haven't had a chance to run those numbers because I don't know what the status is going to be with that yet, but... Correia/ But I mean, I guess that's what...will it take, so it's bigger than City Park. Will it take more or less than what it takes to operate City Park? How much does it cost to maintain City Park? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 5 Moran/ Because of the aquatic, uh, features of that, it's going to be a little bit more than what it takes to maintain City Park, and City Park is very active, what we consider a very active park, and because of the water features, it's going to be just as active, if not more active. So we're going to have more safety concerns, more maintenance upkeep to make sure it's maintained properly. So it is a little bit different. We've got the river in City Park, but we don't really patrol the river or enforce that, but we would the lake. The lake would be ours to watch over and make sure that that's... O'Donnell/ When could you have a...an approximate of what that would cost? Moran/ I could work on that and get those to you by the end of the week. Bailey/ One of the things I mentioned too, Michael, today when we were discussing this is many projects that come through for CAT funding with a kind of ongoing maintenance will build an endowment, and that's something that we didn't figure into...build an endowment to care for ongoing maintenance and those sorts of things. Obviously that wasn't something that we, um, budgeted in this project, and we were talking, you know, baseline it would take probably a million dollars probably in excess of that, um, especially given our constraints about investments to be able to fund that, but that would be an approach that many projects use. Hayek/ To put it in context, my recollection is that we dropped the debt levy, uh, as we increased the emergency levy, in connection with the firefighter hire...firefighter hires, urr~, first of all is that correct? Yeah, so...and this was one of the things we pushed out to get there. (several responding) Um, if we did half the project or did all of the project, basically revert back to what was proposed in the original budget, can you estimate what the bottom line hit is, to...to those levies? Correia/ Well, I had a question, but my question was, I had a question could we do an inter-fund loan to upfront the costs and pay the inter-fund loan back when we had planned a bond for that? Lombardo/ The challenge, I mean, I'll be candid. I'm starting to get a little nervous about the inter-fund loans and obligating too much of the reserves that the, uh, Landfill, um, and so without really looking at that further, I'm...I'm disinclined to offer one way or another whether I think that's a strategy we can employ or not. We've used a fair amount of it, and with Fire Station #4, there's another (mumbled) the industrial (mumbled) and so we're getting to a point where that should be scrutinized a lot further (mumbled) Bailey/ Do you have a recommendation? Lombardo/ Um, I'm torn. I think this is a great project, uh, I think it would be a tremendous benefit to the city, but sitting here today, I have no ability to...to tell you how we might fund ongoing operating and maintenance. And...and knowing what we're going to undertake over the next several months in terms of just adjusting the budget to fit within our funding means, uh, it's going to be a challenge and so I...you know, I'm not, I'm not This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council in a place where I can recommend that...that I have a strategy for operating...the operating maintenance component. Um... Champion/ I don't think we can afford this gift. Page 6 Wright/ Yeah, I don't think we can either. There's, the ongoing maintenance is just going to be...I think more than we can work into a budget in the next few years, and I...it:'s a terrific project, and it's going to make a great park, one of these days. Correia/ Well, the only...the only thing is that...we haven't gone through the priority setaing process. If this is a priority within Parks, would this be...or a priority, I mean, $2 million.. . Bailey/ We'll probably get 1...1.25. Correia/ ...if it was the full project. Bailey/ Right. Wright/ But we don't even know that we're going to get any grant money from the State.. We probably will, but...we don't know.. . Moran/ Well, we do own the property, and we do have the plan developed, and one of the other options that the Vision Iowa Board gave us was to drop the project now, and then reapply for it at a later date, and of course the only, uh, caveat to that would be if the Governor keeps money in the Vision Iowa (several commenting), and if we have...if our situation rebounds so we can afford it. So, we're a little bit ahead if we...if we do that option, because we don't have to start all over again. We have the plan on the books, and things will be developed there to some...a certain extent. Lombardo/ You know, I spent the better part...off and on today, debating my own mind. I hate to give up that kind of money to build a park that I think is going to be a tremendous asset to the city, um, but I really...not knowing, uh, how we might operate and maintain it, I have a hard time recommending that we keep it in, in its current format or move the funding up, because I don't see the ability changing to be able to fund that. Hayek/ What...do you know what our operating expense is for City Park alone? Is there any way to ball.. . Moran/ We don't break it out according to parks. Lombardo/ We can flush that out this week (mumbled). Hayek/ Well, it doesn't sound like it's going to change your...your recommendation, cause you know it's high. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Lombardo/ Yeah, it's a substantial amount of money. Page 7 O'Donnell/ I think the option of funding it at a later date certainly sounds good at this time. I just don't see how we can afford this. Champion/ If we get some industrial park land filled up, and some other (mumbled) maybe there might be a chance. The way the economy is and our reserves are dropping because the interest is dropping ferociously. I think we should just forget this project for a while. Bailey/ Okay. Wilburn/ It maybe at some point, uh, as you were indicating, if the...if for whatever reason the public, uh, prioritization process showed that this was the number one project, relative to other across the board projects (several talking), um... Correia/ I was talking about our prioritization process. Wilburn/ Relative to what we're going to be undertaking, um, communities have been surprised at what they...may show up (mumbled) and that would give this Council or the next Council another set of decisions to make relative to (mumbled), depending on (mumbled) Lombardo/ When is the next application (mumbled) Bailey/ Um, they're being held off until the...there's a vote on the budget, although it is $10 million in the Governor's budget, but I think the letter expressed interest in knowing by the 11th so they knew what they had on their docket. But I think they're quarterly. Lombardo/ Quarterly? Bailey/ Yeah. (mumbled) Okay, so the consensus is that Michael will write a letter requesting this...that we're pulling this application. Correct? (several responding) Okay..All right. All right, let's talk about, um, the next item School District's Facilities Plan. Karr/ Madame Mayor, before we start, I just wanted to note in addition to tomorrow night's agenda, and that's the resolution, ah, supporting the Federal funding recommendation for Iowa City projects to JCCOG Transportation Advisory Committee. Bailey/ Okay. So we can talk about this under agenda items, as well, right? Karr/ We can, yes. I just wanted to note it because it is close to 24-hours. It's an addition. School District Facilities Plan: Bailey/ Oh, right. Thank you. Um, I put a memo in the Info Packet. I talked to some School Board Members. I attended a meeting where the Plan was released, and then I met with, um, the School Superintendent, the School Board President, and another Member of the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 8 School Board, along with, uh, staff to hear...to walk through the Plan and as I, um, read the Plan and heard from some of you, and also members of the community, I had. some particular concerns. I certainly want to emphasize that we a11...I believe we all understand that this Facilities Plan is the purview of the School Board, and certainly speaking for myself, I don't envy them in that, but there are some items in this, um, Plan that are under our purview, which are the neighborhood vibrancy, economic development issues, and specifically I've called out some of the things that in our most recently adopted Central District Plan and our Comp Plan, um, and I...in paragraph 3, I called out some things that are particularly concerning about our goals in that Central District Plan. So I wanted to have the opportunity to discuss this and see if we should, uh, send a letter to the School Board expressing our concerns, and then Jeff is here to talk a little bit about to what degree the School District is required to comply with our zoning codes and how that might impact zoning codes, as well as viewing our Comprehensive Plan. So, did you want to talk a little bit about that specifically (both talking) Davidson/ ...clarify, um, some misconceptions that there maybe. Um, two things specifically, one pertains to the Longfellow School, because it is in a historic district, and it is subject to historic preservation, um, rules and regulations, and then for the remainder of the school properties, the School...School properties along with County properties, are subject to the P-1 zone. The P-1 zone, which is a Public Zone, that's broken into two categories, um, units of basically local government, with the School District, do have to comply with some regulations in our zoning ordinance. State and federal levels of government are exempt. We have no control over them. Um, and the types of things are not, at least I wouldn't characterize them as significant, but they pertain to, well, some things have been controversial, such as lighting for example. Lighting of, uh, school facilities, which have occasionally been a, um, controversial, um, parking lot, number of parking spaces, screening, um, vegetation and that sort of thing, and...and, but nothing that would determine whether or not a school could be constructed, for example. It just...once a decision was made by the School Board to construct a school, there would be some zoning things to comply with, but again, not...not what I would characterize as...as significant. Um, with respect to Longfellow because it's in a historic district, that building cannot be demolished without approval of the Historic Preservation Commission. That decision of the Historic Preservation Commission is appealable to the City Council. So ultimately, the City Council would determine whether or not Longfellow School, uh, could be demolished, and the types of things that the, uh, Historic Preservation Commission would scrutinize would be typical to what they would scrutinize for any property, and that is that...what is the condition of the building, uh, why can it not be rehabilitated, basically all of those sort of standard issues for historic properties. So, um, that is significant with respect to that particular property. Uh, the other schools that there has been a lot of conjecture about, Mann and Twain, those are not in historic districts, so they would not have the same regulations. Bailey/ Okay, and then, regarding just our infrastructure requirements on the schools built, you, um, tossed out a number for me when we were talking about this, about typicall;~ what it costs to put in infrastructure of... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 9 Davidson/ Obviously the City and the School District work together, when a new school. is constructed, because although it's School District decision to construct the school or not, um, we supply the water, we supply the sewer, we supply the road access, again, similar to any development project really. Um, so depending on...on the timing and some things like that of when a new school is constructed, there are issues for the City in terms of providing, uh, that infrastructure. Um, the most recent Iowa City school, new school, was Weber on Rohret Road, and that particular school did require the City Council to accelerate some infrastructure improvements that had not been...they'd been anticipated to eventually to occur, but...but the decision to build Weber School and the timing of that did mean that some of those infrastructure decisions, namely the reconstruction of, uh, Rohret Road from a County rural road to a City street, uh, as well as some sewer and water extensions associated, uh, with that, those had to be accelerated. So, that's an issue, um, of course, with an in-fill site you don't have those issues because the street, sewer, and water are already in place. Bailey/ So given these considerations, Ithought it was significant that we discuss this to a certain degree, because we do have concerns or interests, I guess, with the Comp Plan and others, and so I just wanted to hear from... Champion/ Well, I think we have every right to make a statement about this. I disagree with the Press-Citizen editorial board, um, we're interested in neighborhoods, and if you view these neighborhoods, Mann, Longfellow, Roosevelt. They're kind of inter-city neighborhoods, and you can just view 'em like small towns, and if you take the school away, you're going to destroy the neighborhood. You'll...you'll ruin the...the family atmosphere to the...to the neighborhood, so I think because we're all about preserving our neighborhoods, and we've worked very hard since I've been on the Council for the last 11 years, to make sure that those neighborhoods have things in place to preserve them. So I think we have the right, and I think we have the ability, to let our feelings be known about this. Uh, I'm very concerned about our inter-city neighborhoods, and um, I saw...I'm totally for writing a letter how we feel about it. Wright/ I agree with you completely, Connie. I, uh, not only do I think we have the right to do it, I think we have an obligation to do this, as the City has a great deal of energy and time and money invested in trying to keep the core neighborhoods, um, vibrant and livable places, and as you pointed out, without schools...that's not going to be the case. Champion/ It doesn't work. Wright/ I understand the Board has not said that they're....had nothing in their plan that they're going to take down Mann or Longfellow or anything else, but the...the lack of any mention of those schools in the...in the Strategic Facilities Plan I think is concerning to me and for a lot of other people. Champion/ I think there's a definite loyalty in these neighborhoods to their schools. They're part of the important social fraction of a neighborhood. They're much more so than it is in This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 10 newer areas where they aren't so important. Um, so I really, yeah, I don't know `vhat we should say in the letter, but I think we...I certainly am for sending one. O'Donnell/ Well, the School Board will make the decision on this, and, you know, I'm having trouble fitting in Twain, Longfellow, and Mann into this discussion, since it's not: been discussed by the School Board, as far as doing anything. Uh, Roosevelt has, uh, I don't know, I drove by. It has four, six...uh, temporary buildings outside it, and uh, I don't know that...I certainly don't know what the, uh, the cost to renovate would be, and I don't think anybody here knows, but I think they've investigated that. Correia/ Well, and certainly I feel like the School District is concerned about...what they're concerned about is, are schools...environments where children can be taught, and I think that that's not our expertise, and it's certainly not what we concern ourselves with, in the Council realm. So I feel like absolutely individual Members of this Council and...and all other individuals should make known their opinion to the School Board, um, but I...I mean...I feel like we should, as individual citizens, be communicating our opinions and based on our knowledge of the community and our concerns about the community to the School Board, um, but I'm not sure what would go into our letter. I think that the School Board wants children to be in schools where they can learn, um, and we certainly know that we bus kids by schools that they live closer to, to go to other schools. I mean, that's not...so not all kids are going to neighborhood schools, and that's, you know, I guess...I feel like this is just outside of our realm, and it would be as if the School District were coming in and telling us what we should be doing about the fire station. Champion/ They might! Bailey/ They should be. Wright/ I'd welcome the input, frankly! Champion/ They might! I, uh, I disagree with you, though, that, um, kids are bused to different schools and you...and it's harder to find where the neighborhood school is. Uh, is the neighborhood school the one you can walk to or is it the one that you and your friends go to. I mean, to define that is really quite difficult. However, I...I...I don't think a building makes a school. I mean, frankly, all my kids went to Longfellow and they all have advanced degrees, and they had no trouble. So I don't think changing the building is going to make kids learn better. I think my kids learned incredibly well there. O'Donnell/ (mumbled) talking Longfellow again. (several talking) Champion/ I'm talking about old buildings. Correia/ ...I think that the School District, I mean, we're all concerned in making sure that we have facilities in place that make them, you know, make the most sense for kids to learn. I don't think that the School District is on a path to just build schools all along the outside and bus all the kids out. I think that they are embarking on a process. Um, we have one This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 11 school, Roosevelt, that they're talking about plans for now, and there's other...it sounds like, although from here you can only infer, and I feel like inferring maybe getting the School District off the track of being able to have these types of informed conversations that...that need to happen over a longer period of time than, you know, creating a crisis situation that we're closing Longfellow tomorrow, which I feel like that's building up, that everybody's concerned that next month Longfellow's slated to be closed, rather than getting people onboard to start having thoughtful, long and that seems like we're getting in the way of that by taking up our time...right now. Wilburn/ Well, it's certainly a, uh, I'm sorry, Matt. Hayek/ Go ahead. Wilburn/ It's certainly a complex issue, and we have our complex issues. And...I definitely believe individual Council Members have a right to voice their concerns, uh, listen to what we're hearing from our constituents, and address those with the School Board. The...because of the complexity of the issues that another governmental body is facing and it's routine for them to be discussing, uh, not just facilities, but as you were indicating, Amy, um, you know, both the learning environment and the learning environment, um, well, I think in one of the School Board Members, and it's even in the summary of the plan, that where you go to school should not matter in terms of the types of instruction that are...and I think that's what some of the limitations are, the types of instruction that can go...it can be limited by the facility. So, I mean, learning can happen anywhere, you know, as you're well aware, Connie, but the type of instruction, um, can be heavily influenced by the facility, but um, you know, the...the busing patterns, um, some that current School Board Members have inherited, um, you know, as...I guess if a letter's going to be written as a joint venture by the Iowa City Council, the content of and scope of that letter would be, uh, a question, concern that I had, um, if we get into um, I mean, you know the information you see is kind of all over the place, um, and as Jeff, you already said, we've got potentially have a role, if a decision were made about a building that were in a historic, uh, district, and so, uh, you know, where schools are located, the zoning, how the zoning's going...I...I think that some thought would really need to go in, rather than just let's hurry up and put together a letter, if that were a decision. For example, if part of the request of the City Council is, um, you know, if we wanted to have a joint meeting with the School Board and talk about, you know, what are some of the implications of our zoning on...on your future locating and the building - that's fair, but then if we get into, well, now should there be waivers for schools and there's...there's interest because of passion behind what's in front of the School Board right now and being brought to the City Council, uh, you know, then we're getting into, well, if we give waivers for, um, and I don't know if Roosevelt, is that a sensitive areas, in terms of their construction, is that a limitation, um, (mumbled) ravine and stuff back over their slopes and...um, you know, if the waiver's given there, then what are we talking about with, in terms of other development, and do we degrade the...the, uh, importance of our sensitive areas ordinance. So, if a letter is to be constructed, I think to what level are you talking, because you know, there...there are multiple issues here, and um, if we're going to both occupy the City Council's, um, agenda with things that in the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 12 end we don't have a vote on, but also setting up an expectation that the public can, um, I don't want to...have a false expectation that the Council can bypass the School Board on a decision that we have no jurisdiction on, that would be a concern, um, a concern of mine, um, those are just some initial thoughts about whether a letter should be, um, brought together. It's what's the scope and give some thought to that, because if you...I mean, if you're going to jump in and, um, address a range of issues here that again are not under our jurisdiction, then um, you know, what are the three, four other areas, issues that are impacting the schools that the Council... are you going to weigh in or not, but what's going to be the decision, what's the rubric for deciding whether or not the Council as a whole jumps into...in to write a letter or make, you know, that type of thing. Ga ahead, Matt. Hayek/ Um, let me preface my comments by saying that...that the School Board...or the School District and the City have historically had very strong relations, and I...I've not seen...I've seen nothing to change that perspective, um, and...and many of us know many of the folks who serve on the Board, as well as...as staff up and down the chain over there, and there's very strong relations. These are the two major players in town, excluding the County and the University. But let me make the case at least to maybe why I think it's appropriate for this body to consider a letter. My concern has to do with effective public planning, and...and use of tax dollars. Um, both institutions invest in our neighborhoods. The School District through the schools, and the City through a wide media, or wide range of things -public infrastructure, transit, safety, all of those things, uh, parks, um, and the extent of the investments each institution makes, um, has, uh, has an impact back and forth, and from my perspective, this is about how we allocate public resources. It's about economic development. It's about, uh, the stability of neighborhoods, and I think it's, uh, appropriate to, uh, express concern about areas of mutual interest, and to give you an example of this working in the opposite direction, you may recall that in 2003 the School District wrote the City a letter and expressed concern about our housing policies, specifically the...the assisted housing policies that the City had followed for a number of years, and asked us to look into it, and the City obliged by creating a task force, uh, which had representation from the School District, and...and looked into those issues, and studied them for a year and a half. I was part of that process, and made some recommendations, uh, back to the Council. Um, and I think that was the appropriate thing, uh, to occur. We were asked by a...by a neighbor that had a mutual stake in...in an issue to look into things. So there's precedent for that. L1m, I agree, Ross. We...it's not, it's not our task as a body to delve into the details, too deep into the details of...of facility planning, and I would suggest that I think that's for individuals to do as parents, uh, or...or concerned individuals in the community, but...but I do think it's appropriate for us to consider, uh, a general statement of interest in the long-range plans being discussed, uh, by that institution. If for no other reason than to encourage, uh, some...some coordination in the planning, uh, that each institution does, because each institution is using tax dollars from the same people, and talking about whether or not to use them in the same neighborhoods. Um, and so that's why I think it's appropriate for us to do that. I don't think we should be trying to tell them, you know, what to do with this piece of brick or that piece of brick. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 13 Wilburn/ I think that's...that's, again, if it's the desire of the Council to express a concern, write a letter, focus and scope because of...one, it's not our area of responsibility, uh, decision making about, um, setting a clear understanding and expectation for the public, but uh, if you want to...in their document, um, they talk about, um, in the study that was done, um, I think the summary was included in the packet, they talk about public input process, the board has been wrestling with this over a year. They've had...they've had some meetings that if...if part of that focus is, uh, we encourage you to continue having that public input process, um, we would encourage you to extend the time a little bit, uh, since this is come up on the scope of, to give individual Council Members an opportunity if they chose to participate, or the Council to at least hear a presentation or that type of thing, that's one...that's one thing, you know, and I guess, I think that gets back at your...in terms of the...public responsibility, but....and observation about, if there's a concern about process or allowing it to continue, that's one...that's one thing, but again, um, you know, in fact one of the letters gave some specific, uh, recommendations that gets into, um, the concern that I had that could see...at looking at it, you know, could foresee, um, requests of funding from the City to, uh, you know, to build, to add on, I mean, there's several...uh, for busing, for programs, but also to...uh, I could see one leading to waivers of, uh, of under construction building permit and that type of thing, and that has implications beyond the school. Bailey/ Ross, I suggested the letter, so let me tell you what I had in mind for content and scope. Um, certainly, I fully understand what our purview is and what the School District's purview is, and as I indicated, I would not want to be addressing the issues that they're addressing, but um, fundamentally indicating our commitment to neighborhoods and understanding that, um, the importance of neighborhood schools to the vibrancy of neighborhoods and...and um, our commitment, as indicated through our Comp flan, and our interest and commitment to thoughtful planning regarding infrastructure considerations with current and new schools, because even if they move boundaries, that could have some infrastructure considerations in some areas. And then our continued interest in partnering to help address the roles that schools play in vibrant neighborhoods, such as what we did at Grant Wood School, um, oversizing the gym, and our interest in some ongoing planning and discussion on a regular basis between staff members, as they develop their facilities plan. Um, once again, uh, expressing our concern and our interest in the plan, and understanding how it effects our community, um, emphasizing our interest in ongoing discussions, and certainly should the opportunity come, um, become available, I think we should be discussing what role the City can play in ensuring that these, um, I'm interested in these core schools. Um, it's not for me to say, as a Council Member, but it certainly is forme to express as a community member. I am interested in these core schools, and if there's something that we can do with the School District to make these core schools, um, more viable, uh, against the criteria that they're going to use to evaluate them, I think that we should be discussing those opportunities. It just makes sense as Matt said, as...as two large taxing entities that both have concerns about neighborhoods that we are working together to make sure that both visions are incorporated, so we're not going in different directions, and getting ourselves into situations where, um, it isn't the community that either had envisioned. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 14 Wilburn/ Just so I understand, what...what are, what do you mean by core schools? You mean just centrally located in the city or what are... Bailey/ I' talking about our Central District Plan. There are five schools located in that Central District. Wilburn/ Okay, I just needed to know what that meant, and then, uh... Bailey/ And Twain, Longfellow, and Mann were specific...in that Central District, were; specifically called out. City High was also discussed as...as additions and those sorts of things. Hoover was the only school in the Central District Plan that wasn't called out. Um, in the...in the longer plan, and I...I've read the longer plan, and um, the challenge, Mann and Longfellow aren't mentioned, but they aren't mentioned in a way that :indicates some decisions have been made about addressing ongoing maintenance. Um, as a person who lives in an 80-year-old home, you usually budget something for ongoing maintenance; nothing really has been budgeted from the SILO. This was something that was indicated when the SILO was passed, that these would be addressed, but I'm not...I don't think we necessarily need to get into that. I think we need to speak to how this does and doesn't relate to our Comprehensive Plan, and how we need to plan for infrastructure, um, should they change boundaries, or build schools, that we need to have this on our radar screen. Because it's going to impact us. Wilburn/ I guess, um, again, I'm just looking for clarity, um, and...and direction, if...if this is to be done. Um, tying something to the District Plan is...is one thing, but there are other issues and factors that the District puts into, um, where the lines are drawn for schools and population studies and um, well, and Amy already pointed out, um, you know, again, this precedes us on the Council here, but a decision was made back a few years ago that kids are bused by one school to go to another, I mean...is that going to be part of the conversation too, or is that just part of this. One is facility use and land use, but there's other elements to... Bailey/ Land use is what we do, and infrastructure is what we do, and I think that that's what we have...and economic development and neighborhood vibrancy is part of what we do, as well as part of what the School District does, um, I think we have a responsibility to speak with, speak to that. If I didn't, I wouldn't have put this memo in. Wilburn/ And I didn't say facilities and infrastructure is not part of what we do, but your. letter said concerns and there are several issues that they are wrestling with this, so I...if a letter's to be, it gets back to what is the letter, what's the content, because there are other aspects to this, and then I guess the other thing that I would just, the concerns that you brought up, did you...you said you met with the School Board? Bailey/ I met with the Superintendent, the President, um, another Council...another School Board Member. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 15 Wilburn/ And did you bring the concerns that you brought up with us, did you bring those up with them? Bailey/ Yeah, I indicated that there was some, seems to be some disconnect with, um, if indeed I could interpret in the broader plan, um, not having these schools on, for ongoing maintenance or any attention, ADA compliance or anything, that that would be concerning as it links to our Central District Plan, because we were looking, as I put in this paragraph, we're really looking for, um, an important mix, or a mix of, uh, owner- occupied and rentals, and schools drive that to a certain degree, particularly in the north side. And, um, so I indicated that concern. Wilburn/ And how was that received, and if there was an implication of further discussion, dialog, then why the letter? Bailey/ There was no indication of further discussion, dialog. It was heard. It was indicated that there wasn't any maintenance, I mean, correct me, Jeff was also there so correct me if I'm misrepresenting this conversation, and um, and that was that. Champion/ I also have another concern, Ross, um, about these...what Regina calls the "core schools." Where the core schools are located in this city is also where our affordable housing is. It's also where people can afford to live who don't make $200,000 a year, and what bothers me about the possibility of these schools not being maintained is that we'll be...I don't know quite how to say this, but it's easy to move children from a lower economic level than it is from a higher economic level, and that is my concern that we make our neighborhoods, that we're trying to preserve, less desirable, for somebody who can afford one of the more expensive houses because they don't want their kids bused. So, it also keeping those schools in those core areas, whether it's Roosevelt or the four schools we're talking about, also preserves the idea of a mixed economic neighborhood, that people can afford to live in, and... and you can also live in a very expensive house in these neighborhoods, and that to me is really crucial to this whole...to this whole discussion, cause that's one reason I love the older neighborhoods is they're mixed economically, they're mixed socially, and to me that is just an idea way (several talking) Wilburn/ Excuse me...(mumbled) I'll forget the thought. Um, maybe going back to what you said earlier, maybe it's a conversation about what is a neighborhood, because for...for the kids that do live in a neighborhood, neighborhood school, um, I agree with what you're saying, but again, because of some past historical decisions, um, at, um, what you all are identifying as the "core schools," a significant portion...portion, in fact a majority at one school, don't live in that neighborhood - at Roosevelt it's about 55-60% don't live in that neighborhood. So, that's what L..I'm just asking (both talking) Bailey/ Right, and I've seen the statistics on the busing and the other ones, and...and you know, and it's a majority who live there, I mean, it's a small majority, but it's...it's a slime majority, but it's a neighborhood school for that. Wilburn/ Right (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 16 Bailey/ ...in those core neighborhoods. Wright/ One tenet that I'm going to just throw in from the urban planning letter (mumbled) and I'm going to condense it down really quick (laughter). You close a school, you kill a neighborhood -those two tend to go together. When you're talking about a core neighborhood, um, schools tend to be the glue that holds, uh, older mixed neighborhoods together. And there's...there's some literature that supports that notion. Wilburn/ And so, um... Wright/ So if you want to flush the north side, you know, we can close down Mann. Correia/ But are we talking about that? I don't know (several talking) Wilburn/ I'm talking about the content of the letter now, and I'm not going to make a cavalier statement, what...what you just did, uh (both talking) okay, um, if... Bailey/ I outlined what I saw as the content of the letter, Ross, and I mean, if you don't...if you aren't on board with that, that's absolutely fine. I mean, I understand that you might be in a difficult position discussing this, but um, I mean, the basic question is, is there general consensus that we write a...a letter of, uh, and I would say of concern, expressing our commitment to neighborhoods and how this...this may, this may not support what is in our Comprehensive Plan, and also our interest in commitment to thoughtful planning regarding infrastructure with current and new schools, and some suggestion that we do some ongoing planning and discussion on a regular basis among staff members of the School District and the City, so um, these things are, you know, discussed in a more of an ongoing manner. This is potentially a ten-year facilities' plan, things will change, but the staff...staff should be talking about what's on...on deck so we can make sure that we're planning accordingly, as well. Schools and city planning go hand-in-hand. Unfortunately it hasn't been so much. Just as Matt pointed out, they came to us iin 2003. We responded. I don't think it would be out of line to come to them, respectfully acknowledging what decisions they make, what decisions we make, and how we are interested in...in having conversations regarding these... Wilburn/ I don't feel I'm in, uh, a difficult position in discussing this. I'm trying to...talk about role, and looking at it as if we were to make, uh, a letter, and we've written letters to the County related to certain issues. I'm looking. at focus, if a letter is...is.. . Bailey/ Right, comprehensive land-use planning and infrastructure, those are what we do, and that's...that would be the content of what I'm suggesting. Wilburn/ I'm just trying to make sure that...that it's clear, that that's...that's what we're....we're talking about. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 17 Bailey/ Okay, and I'm trying to make sure that I am being clear. That's...because Isuggested this. I wanted to make sure that what I...what I had in mind is clear, and that's what it was. So, my...my question is, is there general consensus that we...that we write a letter, or is there a reluctance to do so, and I'm fine either way. I think that we...no, I'm not fine either way. I think that we should, um, and I think that we should have some continuing discussions as they develop, through the public process of this plan, to make sure that our capital improvement plan is supportive of what they may chose to do. So nothing hits us by surprise. I mean, in these economic times, I think that's critical as well. So... Champion/ I guess there are four of us who want a letter written, and three who don't. Correia/ How are we going to do that, a letter from the Council that doesn't have...are we going to vote on it then? In the...in the meeting? I'm not...I don't... O'Donnell/ I don't think we should either. L .. I want (both talking) Correia/ ...have a vote on it, in the meeting then. (several talking) Bailey/ By resolution? Correia/ Fine! O'Donnell/ I want to say one more thing. As a...the 93 example you brought up was where we were clustering affordable housing in one area, and we all agreed and we formed a Scattered Site Housing Task Force. That's what that was about. We all agreed it would be better to...to um, spread. out affordable housing in the community, and as a native of...of Iowa City, I went to Henry Sabin, and shortly after I left they closed it. And it didn't destroy that neighborhood. I went to... Champion/ It didn't? O'Donnell/ No, it didn't. It was...it was always the same, Connie. And as I went to, uh„ I then went to Central Junior High. Shortly after I left, they closed that. I have to admit I was getting a little concerned about that pattern (laughter) but then I went to, um, City High and it's still going strong, but it didn't destroy the Central Junior High neighborhood. That's still a very strong neighborhood. You know, I just can't help but think that we're entering into something here that we do not have all the information on. We don't know the basis that the facts were made, and I'm just...I just really have a problem. I don't, you know, it's coming out like...like this is trying to destroy a neighborhood. I think growth areas were looked at, and...and I would really like to see what it would cost to renovate this school, and we keep bringing up Mann, Longfellow, and they aren't mentioned. Bailey/ They are mentioned in the bigger plan. They aren't mentioned in the summary perhaps, but they are mentioned in the bigger plan. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 18 O'Donnell/ And if we don't think that (both talking) maintenance goes on, on a weekly basis, I think that we're...we've got our heads in the sand. Wilburn/ I just, you know, just kind of, in summary, um, just to continue ...you made the statement you close a school, you kill a neighborhood. And correct me if I've paraphrased that wrong. Wright/ Almost a quote I think. Wilburn/ Okay, all right. Um, what's the, again, it goes back to focus -what's the intention of the Council. Is it just to say don't do this? Is the Council going to be making recommendations? Is the Council going to be, uh, if...if the school isn't closed, :if it's renovated on site, or any school not closed and renovated on site, are we going to be looking at, um, do we...do we let it stand at that without getting into, here's some solutions that will work, um, and then are we talking about modifying code? I'm just trying to get a...understanding on role, future role, and intent of the Council by doing this. Dilkes/ I...I want to clarify one thing about the zoning that was said earlier, just so that for the sake of making sure we don't have bad information out there. Yes, our code would require, um, Council...or Historic Preservation approval of the demolition of structure in that district, but the law of, um, regulation of one jurisdiction by another jurisdiction that is not superior to the other, like the State, visa-vie the City, is...is far more complex than that, and really involves a balancing of respective interests, and that's what the Iowa Courts would do if they were faced with that issue. Hayek/ You know, if you look at this from a macro level, because I agree it's...it's not, it's not for this group to...to get into some of the details that are already starting to pop up. That's why we have a School Board. That's their job, and that's the job of staff over there, um, but I think it is...and this...this plan is just that - it's a plan. It's...it's to be accepted and...and I understand that that doesn't mean the School, uh, District or School Board is...is approving any particular, uh, course of action with regard to any particular school. It's tentative and I know there's going to be an open process for...for community input, but the...there is a theme imbedded in those initial, uh, budget estimates, and that theme is, uh, as far as I can tell, a lack of funding to, uh, the schools in the core area, and that's a policy, uh, move by the School District, if it pursues that further. But if...if it does, in my estimation, that's inconsistent with policies that we have established, uh, for our Central District Plan and...and beyond that, and I think it's appropriate at least for us to at least consider making sure the District is cognizant of the inconsistencies between what they appear to be starting to do, and what we have decided, uh, is to be the focus, or one of the focuses of the City. I think from a planning perspective you can keep it on a more macro level like that, and appropriately express our feelings, or at least point out the inconsistencies in terms of how a particular move might not jive with the policies of another body. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 19 Wilburn/ And...here, perhaps this is an area where that may blur, or maybe, uh, as part of that macro there's still going to be caveats, um, the site they're talking about doing this was a...approved site for them to do a school, um, the agreement between Coralville, developers, City of Iowa City, and the School District, so some of the correspondence talks about and gets into sprawl questions. Well that was all a planned development, and so when Council made that, you know, yeah, here's an area where a school's going to go, but you got to talk to us first before you...before you build on it. And, that's where...that's where I'm just wanting to make sure we're clear on where you go in terms of those...(several talking) Bailey/ ...more of the question, Ross, I mean I agree with you - it's...it's, yeah, we knew that there was a plan for a school out there. The question is, when do you intend to open, and is everything going to be in place? Wilburn/ LTh-huh. Bailey/ And making sure of that. It's more that kind of infrastructure. Correia/ But doesn't...doesn't the School District go to the City when they're doing, I mean, I... Bailey/ Well, it didn't...I mean, I sat on JCCOG when something happened in, um, (mumbled) North Liberty school, and both North Liberty and Coralville had to move up capital improvement plans to accommodate that. Correia/ They had to move it up because the School District went to them, to say we have these plans. Isn't that part of.. . Bailey/ No. That's not what happened. Correial So...do you believe by sending a letter that's going to change a process that might not be in place? I feel we've spent a lot of time on this. What's interesting to me is that the four of us who are most concerned about this live in neighborhoods affected, that you've identified that are affected, that...that, um, so you're concerned about your neighborhood school closing... Bailey/ Actually, I understand why (both talking) Correia/ ...but there's no plan for them to close the school in any of these plans. Bailey/ Actually (both talking) Correia/ ...but we all have the ability to go to the School District with other members of the public to express our concerns and our staff certainly...if our staff believe it's important to be in communication with other governmental bodies or on planning, have the ability to develop those relationships to do that, without Council directing them to do that, if they believe it advances their...work, that they're tasked to do in the city. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 20 Bailey/ How seriously do we take our Comprehensive Plan if we see something that is potentially in danger in our Comprehensive Plan, the most recently...approved one was the Central District Plan...that affects five schools, if we don't speak out when we see things that potentially affect it? Correia/ When I read this (both talking) I don't see that happening here. Bailey/ Okay. We've spent...you're right. We've spent plenty of time... Champion/ And I'm not just concerned about my neighborhood. I'm concerned about al neighborhoods. Bailey/ Yeah, I would like to (both talking) Champion/ I mean, my kids are all graduated, you know, they're all out of college, thank God, but I'm on1y...I'm interested in preserving our neighborhoods. I think it's very important. It's not about my school. It's about all of our inner-city neighborhoods, which I've always been a great supporter of our inner-city neighborhoods, and I will continue to be„ Bailey/ I think my experience comes more through living in small towns, and what Mike said. I mean, it's a... a neighborhood is like a small town and I've watched small towns disintegrate when they lose their schools, and a neighborhood is a microcosm of what happens, and... and we all obviously come at this from different levels. There are four who are interested, if we would like to proceed with some kind of letter and do that as a formal agenda item we can do that. And that's how we will proceed. Okay. Let's do... Wilburn/ If I can just add one other comment, uh, there are some School Board Members here so whether a resolution or a letter gets sent or not, um, in addition to (mumbled) they've heard some of the concerns expressed here (mumbled) Bailey/ Oh, and I'm sure that they (several talking) Wilburn/ ...open dialog and...and encourage them to continue on with their public input process. Champion/ And you know, I was on the School Board and dealt with busing and building new schools and issues, so I see both sides of the picture. Uh, but even on the School Board I did fight for our inner-city schools, and also the schools of lower social economic level. It's always been my concern. Hayek/ You know I will (several talking) I'm in favor of a letter; however, a letter that expresses the opinions of four City Councilors is the letter that can be interpreted in a couple of different ways. Um.. . Wright/ When we spoke about having consensus earlier, we have a majority but we don't have consensus. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 21 Hayek/ $xactly! Bailey/ Well, then, you know, I don't have to draft a letter. I have plenty of (mumbled) if we want to have consensus before we do anything, that's fine too. I mean...okay, moving on. Hayek/ I think this is the sort of subject that...issue that...that really requires consensus as opposed to just a straight vote on that. Bailey/ Okay, let's move on then, if we don't have consensus. All right. Item 14 in the agenda is Parks and Rec fees. Mike is here. Champion/ I just think we (mumbled) O'Donnell/ I disagree with you! (laughter) Bailey/ Let's move on to Park and Rec fees. Champion/ I think the public would like it. (several talking) Bailey/ Let's move on to Park and Rec fees! O'Donnell/ Let's move! Parks &Rec Fees: ITEM 14. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A REVISED SCHEDULE OF FEES AND CHARGES FOR PARKS AND RECREATION SERVICES AND PROGRAMS. Moran/ You want to do some jumping jacks (laughter) Bailey/ So, questions for Mike, um, or do you want to highlight some things? Moran/ No, these are just the...we bring these to you every year. We have to adopt these by resolution, and we're on a three-year plan, just like we are with the budget cycle, and you'll notice about half the fees go up every year, and the next year it will come back and the other half will go up. So, we maintain line with that. Uh, the last page shows you our self-imposed percentage. We've always said that we try to bring in at least 40%, and this year we'll bring in 44. So we've been able to maintain that for the last eight, nine, ten years since we've...we've put that self-imposition on us. Wright/ Okay, looking at the...at the fees that we charge, and the breadth of the programs is impressive, and the...they're a bargain! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 22 Moran/ Yeah, and we compare them with other people around, so that we don't get out of whack or we don't get, uh, charge a lot higher than anybody else. Bailey/ Other questions for Mike about this...additional comments? I did notice that there was a comment in the paper that, um, use of our facilities has gone up lately, um, probably similar to the reasons that Susan expressed use of the Library, cause we do have a bargain. Moran/ We have a lot of free activities and they're finally finding 'em! Bailey/ Yes! Okay. Thanks for being here! (laughter) All right. Let's go to agenda items. And, please note that you have an addition, 15b, um, if there are any questions about that, or any other agenda items? Oh come on! No, I moved this up. Agenda Items: Correia/ Oh, oh... Hayek/ Are all P&Z matters being taken up...exclusively? Bailey/ Uh-huh. Hayek/ Okay. ITEM 8. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 17 OF THE CITY CODE, ENTITLED "BUILDING AND HOUSING," CHAPTER 11, ENTITLED, "LICENSING," TO MAKE THE LICENSING REQUIREMENTS OF THE BUILDING TRADES CONSISTENT WITH STATE LAW AND TO ESTABLISH STANDARDS FOR THOSE HOLDING A STATE CLASS B JOURNEYMAN OR CLASS B MASTER ELECTRICIAN LICENSE. (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Wright/ I did have a couple of questions... Bailey/ Okay. Item numbers? Wright/ Item #8. Bailey/ Oh... Wright/ They're pretty basic questions. You're running through this on your own? Hennes/ Yeah. It's difficult. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 23 Wright/ Um, let's see. Under the section 1 amendments there...all I really wanted to know is we talked about no person shall work for example as a gas pipe installer, unless they hold a gas pipe installer license. Hennes/ License, right. Wright/ I assume that doesn't apply to homeowners. Is that correct? Do it yourself type of a project? Hennes/ Regarding homeowners, they are allowed to do their own plumbing, but uh...that's a difficult one. Um, because I would...I think we would want somebody that's qualified to do...to install a gas pipe. (laughter) Wright/ Certainly want it inspected! Hennes/ Yeah! Yes, and there's a pressure test and stuff like that. Wright/ But we have the same thing for the under, electrician...no person shall perform unsupervised electrical work within Iowa City. Bailey/ There was an exempt...there was one for homeowners that...but they needed to take a test, right? Hennes/ Right now, yes. Currently in Iowa City we do allow the homeowner to do their own electrical, provided it's owner-occupied and they do take that 25-question exam and...and get 75% on that exam. There are some changes coming down on the State, and that's what this whole amendment is about, is to accept the State changes. Wright/ Right. Hennes/ And in the future, um, you would, I think the State licensing is still requiring a license, or a permit, for the homeowner, uh, but they wouldn't have to be licensed. So, they're...we're still figuring out that the, uh, another thing I wanted to mention about licensing is, that plumbing and heat and air conditioning, there's some changes being made at the State on that also, and that's coming out of the Department of Public Health, which is a...different than the Department of Public Safety, where this one's coming from. So in a few months I'll probably be back with another amendment to accommodate those changes. Which is where the gas piping will probably (mumbled) Wright/ And my other question was, are most of our current plumbers and electricians in Iowa City licensed to this level. Hennes/ Uh, yes. Yes. And that is, the State, uh, not to dwell on'em too much, or get too complicated, but the State broke the licensing up into a Class A and a Class B, and that's what we wanted to make sure that our existing licensed people were still allowed to work, and...and we did fix that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Wright/ Good. Bailey/ Okay. Is that all you have? Wright/ That's all I have. Bailey/ Okay, any other questions about that particular item? All right. Wright/ I promise not to put in a gas line (laughter) Champion/ Well, I don't want to go in your house if you put it in! (laughter) Bailey/ All right, other agenda items? Wright/ Trust me! I got the bill to prove I didn't! Hayek/ Michael, in the consent calendar there's a.. . Bailey/ Item number? Page 24 ITEM 3. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED. ~ Resolutions. 1. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A TRAIL EASEMENT AGREEMENT AND A SANITARY SEWER EASEMENT AGREEMENT AND TO RELEASE CERTAIN EASEMENT'S LOCATED ON 820 AND 830 S. RIVERSIDE DRIVE, IOWA CITY, IOWA. Hayek/ Oh, it's f.l, it's the, uh, trail easement agreement and sanitary sewer agreement regarding Riverside Drive. We got a lot of material, but I did not review it closely, but I assume there's really nothing of...(mumbled)...significance. Correia/ Staples? Hayek/ The Staples' store. Bailey/ This is the big map, right? No. Lombardo/ There's nothing that we brought up in staff that.. . Dilkes/ No, it's... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 25 Davidson/ Uh, Matt, I'm not...completely familiar with the site plan. I mean, I worked some on this project. The trail easement is, uh, basically included in the 50-foot easement that according to our Sensitive Areas' Ordinance has to be maintained from the...the river in, so that's just something that would have applied to any redevelopment of this property, and I assume the sanitary sewer easement is an existing sanitary sewer that basically the building has been built around. Hayek/ Okay. I just get that much information and I wonder and...frankly I don't want t:o read it if I... focus on something else. Bailey/ Other agenda items? No burning curiosity about other...okay. Um, let's take 10 minutes. (BREAD Budget: Bailey/ Are we ready? Okay. Budget. Lombardo/ Couple things with regard to budget. It's on for first reading tomorrow, um, and so I'm wanting to see if there.. . Bailey/ Public hearing tomorrow. Lombardo/ Public hearing. Um, wanting to see if there's any further discussion, um, or anything else (mumbled) prepared for, and then the second item is with regard to the priority setting process, and as my memo indicated, I'd like to schedule a work session with you all to, Kevin and I can go through a, um, a spreadsheet and run some scenarios and talk about, and try to come to some level of agreement about how big the mountain is in front of us, and what level of cuts do we generally think are needed, and what does that mean for the City, and I think that would be helpful as we move through the priority-setting process to have that (mumbled). Bailey/ And so we will provide some direction for the internal discussions that will come back to us? Lombardo/ Correct. Bailey/ Is that...okay. Um, so...look at some dates, Marian, do you want to talk about that now? Karr/ Um, next week looks to be much better than the following two weeks, and then we're all the way to the end of March. So I just didn't know if there was any interest in meeting potentially next Monday or Tuesday evening. Champion/ I could meet either one. Wright/ What were the days, Marian? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 26 Karr/ LTh, it would be 2 and 3. Bailey/ March 2nd or March 3rd, and we're talking about an evening meeting. Karr/ That seemingly would work best, but certainly I don't think staff will mind a day meeting, if that works for you. O'Donnell/ (mumbled) Monday or Tuesday. Hayek/ I've got, I will likely be all right, but right now I am not. I've got a trial scheduled the first half of next week, that I think is going to be resolved, but I have no...no, uh... Bailey/ So would a Tuesday meeting be more likely to avoid or you don't know? Karr/ Or would (several talking) Hayek/ I mean, if it goes forward, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday are out. If it doesn't, they're open, and I just can't tell you right now what's going to happen. Wright/ Day and evening? Hayek/ Yeah. Correia/ Tuesday is better. Wilburn/ I'm having a technology issue here. Hold on! (laughter) On is on, it's just not. letting me... Bailey/ Okay. Hayek/ Wednesday afternoon or evening (several talking) Correia/ ...Wednesday after like 5:30 or later. O'Donnell/ So can I Wednesday. Bailey/ Wednesday? We're talking Wednesday. Champion/ What's the date? (several responding) Bailey/ It's the 4th. Champion/ I could meet after...(several talking) I could meet after 5:30 probably. Wright/ Yeah, Wednesday evening would be fine. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 Ciry Council Page 27 Karr/ Wednesday? Bailey/ Let's wait for Ross to catch up. Wilburn/ Wednesday's the 4th? (several responding) I had it locked. I couldn't get it unlocked. Come on. Bailey/ Forget your password? O'DonnelU Put in ROSS! (laughter) Wilburn/ Wednesday the 4th, uh, that will work. Bailey/ 5:30? Wilburn/ That will work. Karr/ 5:30 the 4th. Bailey/ Oh, neatly done! (several talking) Karr/ Yes, we can have dinner. What are you bringing? Champion/ Cause I won't have time to eat. I can't survive on these things! Karr/ We'll provide dinner! Bailey/ Thank you. Okay. Um... Wilburn/ That was 5:30, right? Karr/ Yes. Wilburn/ Sorry. Bailey/ That's okay. All right. Next question regarding the budget, Michael. We've dispensed with the hard one. (laughter) Scheduling! It always is the hard one! Lombardo/ Um, just heading in to the public hearing I want to make sure that, if there's anything, um, left to discuss. You know, we haven't chatted about the budget in a while, but from our position, staff wise, we feel that things are ready to move forward and I just don't like getting caught off guard and making sure that we're all on the same page. Bailey/ I told Michael horror stories about last-minute changes on budget approval night, and I think that's what he's concerned about. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 28 Lombardo/ I have a proxy letter here, uh, that I would (laughter) Correia/ So just...so what we have before us, that you submitted with your memo...has a million dollars for the Fire Station in the General Fund. Okay. Lombardo/ And...and my recommendation is, rather than budget that from the fund balance, and looking at the trend in fund balance, I'm just a little concerned. We had agreed that a certain amount would come out of an inter-fund loan and I'm suggesting that at least for now we add that million dollars to the inter-fund loan, get through the priority setting process, and if we feel good on the back end of it, we can always use, uh, fund balance to buy that down more quickly, and...and if we can do that, I'd be happy to recommend it, but just looking at the trend and where we are, um, I, you know, I think we'd do well to go through the priority setting process and...and see where we are, before we budget any more out of reserves. Correia/ So...just a second...(several talking)...no, I'm doing math. Bailey/ That's what they say. Wilburn/ I can't spell Council. Correia/ So, but what we have is total expenditures at 2.98 million over receipts. So we take a million out, because if we have a million in there that's for capital expense, and we still have 1.9 that are...that's in there that we are eventually using our reserves to cover. Is that right? Lombardo/ (several talking) the break out of that. So that would still be, the recommendation is still to, whatever the difference is, to make that up using fund balance for budgetary purposes, but we've discussed ongoing through the...the budget work sessions that the point of the priority setting model is to come to adjustments to mitigate any long-term use of...of the fund balance. Correia/ Okay, within the year. Lombardo/ By May, we will have direction and then we can talk about implementation. Correia/ Okay. Lombardo/ And that's what, you know...and I know staff, part of the reason for setting the...the, uh, work session next week is also then for us to be able to start working internally to talk about... and perhaps assuage fears that, you know, this is not going, we're not going to make decisions in an overnight, implement radical changes. These are changes that likely would be implemented over a period of time and...and work towards not anything dramatic or (mumbled). This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 29 Correia/ And then the other thing is, is this is sort of related...I think it's related, do we have anybody that's internally that's...we've identified to be the expert on what's in the economic stimulus plan. I mean, I think when I was reading that article about the different areas, there's money for police and fire. Lombardo/ Right. Correia/ So I mean, if...if over the next few years there's going to be federal money to help support police and fire staff, I mean, I want us to be as... Lombardo/ We're combing through, I mean, that just came out and so we're all combing through it very closely to see if we understand where there are little pockets of potential funding and...yes, we'll be coming, I mean, if there are areas...we know infrastructure, how that's going to be coming down... Correia/ Right! Lombardo/ ...but that, that's only the tip of the iceberg, and we are looking into all of those pockets. IT is another area that might have some funding and.... Wilburn/ We've also, um, did the Metropolitan Coalition, um, phone calls have started to D.C. to try and influence how the money is distributed, to try and get it to come to cities, as opposed to, like CDBG, in that format. Bailey/ So you want some direction this evening regarding how we use that million dollars. Is that what you're looking for? The allocating million dollars from... Lombardo/ I'd like to not budget that out of fund balance. A million for fire station... Bailey/ And you just want some direction tonight. Lombardo/ Um, it would (mumbled) Correia/ I think that makes sense, I mean, I'd rather not...bring down our fund balance any more. I mean, I'm concerned about not having a balanced budget going into.. . Lombardo/ There's literally, I mean, we did discuss that, uh, fair amount during the work session. There's really no way for us to, with, you know, with the additions that were put in, to really come to a balanced budget, I mean, that's what the priority setting process is meant to do, is give us kind of the forum to work through and...and more methodically decide what and how we make those cuts. Um, close the gap, even... even if we had worked since the last budget work session would be very, I mean (mumbled) Bailey/ So...so is there general agreement that rather than taking this from reserves that we do an inter-fund loan? As recommended? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 30 Wilburn/ Yes. Champion/ Yes, definitely. (several talking) Bailey/ Okay. Hayek/ I've got concern about our fund balance. It's gone in three years, according to these projections, from 40% of expenditures to 20% of expenditures. That's a cut of half! In three years...and um, and we can't use it for ongoing operations. We just can't. Bailey/ Right, and that's one of the things that we'll begin to discuss next week, and then throughout the prioritization process. Because I know that there's varying opinions about comfort level with that, but I think that we're all uncomfortable, so that says something. Hayek/ You know...I made the suggestion and didn't get very far last time to...to not decouple the additional firefighters with the what looks like inevitable cuts in staff elsewhere to be able to pay for all of this, um, and I'm not going to push that issue again, but I think at a minimum, um, if we're going to proceed with the fire station being part of the FY10 budget, and then going through this prioritization process afterwards, in a matter of months, which will necessarily, I think, uh, lead us to a point where we're going to have to make real staff cuts. Um, and we need to be fully aware of that, as a group. O'Donnell/ At what level? (several talking) Hayek/ At what level, and what are we looking at. Correia/ Well, I mean, I think that...most governmental bodies are going through that. l: know the University is. I mean, I know UIHC is. I mean, I think that...I also hope that at the staff level, department heads will be communicating, you know, that you'll be communicating with department heads on, you know, where they think... Bailey/ Well, and I think that's some of the direction that you (both talking) what our expectations are through the priority process, right, and will you have a memo in the packet sort of outlining what...what we should be thinking about for the discussion next week? I think that would be helpful. Lombardo/ I can prepare something, and then, uh, really it...I think the dialog during that...that time together will...will be helpful. We can talk about, and show you visually, um, in terms of if...if we cut "X" amount from certain areas, what the overall effect would be. Um, so, yeah... Bailey/ Okay. Hayek/ I think we need to...to be in front of this issue, in terms of the education of the organization, and of the public, that you know, assuming we move forward as I believe we will with the fire station for 10, you know, this is the range of cuts that we will have This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 31 to make and, uh, logistically probably a great majority of that is personnel. Just so that there aren't surprises! That's...those are going to be very difficult choices. And you know, I don't usually read these nation cities' pieces, but uh, this one's got some very interesting...in our most recent packet, spending cuts by cities 70% have, uh, engaged in hiring freezes and/or layoffs. 70! Tough times around the country. Wilburn/ Tough as it is for us, and you know, over the multi-year planning (mumbled) and all that, but uh, I was just out in California last week and it's just nuts out there, um, so that's the...the end goal, to not have to shut down like they were close to (mumbled) Lombardo/ Earlier this year I provided I think five pages of headlines and summaries from what's happening around the...I've stopped doing that, but I could easily put together probably five to ten more pages. You know, it doesn't feel like it now, but um, compared to a lot of the rest of this nation, um, Iowa City is in reasonably good shape, and I know it doesn't feel like that. It doesn't make this process any easier, uh, but we're very fortunate. We have a strong city and...and we'll come through this. We just have to (mumbled) Bailey/ Right, and it's our responsibility to keep it that way. So...anything else you need with the budget? Any other, you know, heads up that you're going to provide to Michael. Champion/ I like surprise questions. Bailey/ First time through it, so...I mean, we can...(several talking) Correia/ Where are we with the Airport? Just so I know. Bailey/ (several talking) what's the amount. Lombardo/ You reduced the amount (several talking) 120? Bailey/ I thought we...went to 120, and there has been motions on (mumbled) to reduce it. Champion/ And we know Amy's going to make one! Bailey/ We're counting on it! (laughter) Anything else? Karr/ Madame Mayor, you had asked also, we were going to have the Aid to Agencies, and the Community Events resolutions on on the 10th. Bailey/ Right, and we're going to do that as well because there have been some changes, and I think it's only fair to give those people as much heads up, um, where are...you wanted to know where we are... Karr/ Well, right, and I just wanted to clarify - in the past we've had some Council Members who had conflicts on some Aid to Agencies, and asked them to be separately considered so it This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 32 required another resolution or two, and I guess this time I'd just like to ask if, I don't think there's any conflicts with Community Events, but I'm asking for the Aid to Agencies. Champion/ We'll have to pull it. Bailey/ Pull which? What's your conflict? Shelter House, and did you have a (several talking) Karr/ So what I'm saying is, do you want a separate resolution on Shelter House so you can vote on the rest, or will you simply abstain from all of them because of your conflict an Shelter House. Champion/ Oh! Karr/ See, those are the two options. Bailey/ That's the question. Champion/ Well, you know, I would feel better abstaining from all of'em, cause I could say, well, I think we ought to not give that organization as much and give Shelter House more. Do you understand, cause I think I'm just safer if I abstain from the whole thing. Karr/ So we'll prepare then one resolution for all of you, and any of you with a conflict would abstain and there'd be four of you, enough to pass (both talking) Champion/ I would be more comfortable just not voting on any of it. Bailey/ Okay. Karr/ So that's what we'll do for the 10th. Bailey/ All right, thanks for clarifying that. Thanks. All right. Wilburn/ ...did it for me for many years, Connie, I'll extend the... Bailey/ You don't have a conflict this year. Wilburn/ No! (several talking) Bailey/ Did you get what you needed with budget, or.. . Champion/ You're fine! Bailey/ Sales tax, Item 15. Eleanor, are you walking us through, or is Michael? (mumbled) Okay. Sales Tax: This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 33 ITEM 15. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION REQUESTING SUBMISSION OF THE QUESTION OF THE IMPOSITION OF A LOCAL SALES AND SERVICES TAX TO THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF THE INCORPORATED AND UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF JOHNSON COUNTY. Dilkes/ Okay, let me...let me just go through the ballot language. I mean, L ..obviously one of the most important things that you need to decide here, number one is...to put the issue on the ballot, um, and that would...and then secondly what Iowa City, you will direct that Iowa City will spend its revenue, its portion of revenue on, if it passes the tax, and the language that I have used is in two places. It's, and this is how it reads: A 100°/a for remediation, repair, and protection of flood impacted public infrastructure, and local matching funds for dollars received from any federal or state programs, to assist with, again, flood mediation, repair, and protection of flood impacted public infrastructure. It was my understanding from the Council's last meeting that a majority of the Council was interested in limiting the, um, use of the proceeds to public infrastructure. Um, and so when I say it has to be flood impacted public infrastructure that means for instance, Regenia asked me a couple questions today and I'll just share those examples with you, that...um, let's take a neighborhood for instance. Um, you...a raising of the intersection of Park Road and Normandy Drive would be in my view repair or remediation of flood impacted public infrastructure. The road is impacted by the flood. You can use the money to repair it, or um, protect it. Um, the sewer problems that you have in that neighborhood, that's public infrastructure. I think you could use that money for those things. I do not think that this language would allow you to acquire private property that has been impacted by flood. Champion/ I think that's how we intended to... Dilkes/ Nor do I think this language would allow you to place a levee with the purpose of protecting that private property. So that's the purpose language. Any questions about that? Bailey/ Is that clear to... Dilkes/ Is that what you were interested in...(several talking) Correia/ Can we talk about changing it? Champion/ I'm not interested in changing it. Wright/ I have...I feel obligated to bring up some conversations that I had with folks in the public about that. Bailey/ I think that's a...this is a good time now that we're all clear on what it is and isn't. Let's talk about what we've heard, because I know that people have heard different things. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 34 Wright/ Um, from more than one individual I heard a concern that...they generally agreed with the language, but felt it was just, that it did not allow the City any flexibility at all. For example, if we did want (mumbled) buyout, and I know we talked about that. But that the language might be too restrictive, and perhaps it should be more like Coralville's, which is just...just speaks to flood...flood protection measures. Champion/ I'm not willing to change it. Bailey/ Well, and I thought the consensus was not using this potentially for buyout, that it was specifically for as Eleanor has drafted it, and it is...broad enough to get to some neighborhood issues. Go ahead, Amy. Correia/ I think it does constrain us in, let's just...I mean, if...if somehow we get other dollars, other federal dollars through the stimulus, through...I don't know what else, to assist with the public infrastructure, and then we have dollars that we can't use and we have these other needs...that we aren't being addressed, then we have constrained ourselves to be able to...fund projects that have, that we have identified as having a public good. Champion/ I don't think we'll have enough money to cover all the things they want to do... Correia/ What I'm saying is... Bailey/ ...$150 million from another source, and we're continuing to collect the sales taY, what are we able to spend the money on. Is that... Correia/ Yes, that's essentially what I'm saying. Wright/ Yeah. Lombardo/ The two primary projects that we've discussed to date are ranging from $80 to $90 million and...and given the nature of the projects, you know, when we bid them out they could be more or within that ballpark, um, for us to find $40 to $50 million from. other agencies, uh, I think is pretty doubtful. I mean, you may find between $10 and $20 million, that's the range we've been discussing thus far, but beyond that we have, uh, protecting the wells, um, that's a $2 to $3 million, uh, project. We know, um, needs to be done and uh, we don't have a funding source, although we're looking for that and working with other agencies. Um, elevating Foster Road, um, Park Road and uh, Normandy and there are gate valves, storm water valves that need to be replaced and there are a lot of other public infrastructure projects behind that, um, that we don't have funding strategies for, um, there's some, I mean, some question of damage and repair for things that we've already funded.. We've used about a million and a half out of our fund balance to date, um, could we use, you know, are there projects that we funded that would qualify for this? I would think that there are some. But I think...for the amount of funding that this is proposed to bring in, we have doubled or tripled the amount of projects probably that we could identify without trying very hard. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 35 Wilburn/ I'm not trying to be insensitive to, um...that possibility, whoever knows how likely or unlikely it might be that in terms of buying (mumbled) that type of thing, but uh, there's a couple concerns that come up for me. One, in terms of, even just the projects we've identified, um, with flood repair and stimulus and proximity of, uh, other flood impacted communities, I think there's a chance that those construction costs maybe more than estimates because of just the, the uh, I guess the demand type thing, um, you know, if Cedar Rapids is having multi-million dollar projects, just a concern that there, um, there may not be enough...when I say local I mean state, local companies that would be able to bring in to do the job, plus if everybody's looking for cement. If there's a run on cement, which happened a few years ago with (mumbled) due to construction projects, then those, I think it's likely that those costs are going to be potentially higher than estimates might be, and then the second thing, which...just jumped out of my brain...come back to it if it comes to me. Lombardo/ (both talking) and I'm told they released the funds that have already been appropriated in, uh, in Washington, we won't know, but this allows us to focus very specifically uh, the funding on projects and any additional CDBG funding that we would contemplate using for projects we could forego and apply more directly towards the neighborhoods, um, but again, until they release that and give us an indication of how and when the money's coming, it's hard to know fully, um, whether that's possible or not. Wilburn/ I've got it! The, the other concern was, um, I hear what you're saying, Michael, in terms of...or what some have said about the language that Coralville, other cities may have better, uh, not focusing in as much. I think we have a harder sell, uh, in Iowa City. Just given the nature and the history with past sales tax (coughing, unable to hear) a flood and there maybe sentiment because of the flood, um, but I...um, I don't...I think we have a historical more difficult challenge because of the dynamics of the community, and I haven't heard of groups coming forward willing to champion this cause like there was, for example, with the school and the local option, I mean, if others have heard of some groups saying, you know, we would...we'd be willing to try and help rally. I understand some folks that are in the, that have homes in the area would be a natural and would be willing to do that, but I think, um, those collaborations of groups championing that as a cause to do, I just don't...I haven't heard or seen them coming forward. Hayek/ Yeah, I would...I echo your sentiments. I mean, I see the appeal of leaving it more, uh, wide open in scope to, um, preserve options, if you will, um, but I think there's got to be, I mean, there's a tactical decision here as well, and as soon as this referendum takes on a protection of private property flavor, which would have to be disclosed, um, regardless of the merits of protecting private property, which are there, I'm not sure it would get the same support in the community. Correia/ Do you think though that there's any... any thought that saying that this money is going for public infrastructure that folks aren't going to think, well, don't I already pay taxes for public infrastructure? Why would I vote for a sales tax to support public infrastructure? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 36 Champion/ Flood related (several talking) Correia/ ...but I'm just saying. Bailey/ ...I think the reason that we have the expedited schedule is for, because of the flood, and I think that you can make the case it's public... Correia/ Yeah, when we drive...when people drive around now, they don't see publicly...publicly impacted infrastructure. I mean, you drive on Park, I mean, we know that it's impacted and we want to...we want to improve it so that it's not impacted in the future, but it's, you know, we don't have a bridge out that people can't drive over, you know what I'm saying? I mean, it's not (several talking) Wilburn/ We do have recent experience, which can be said of, you know, the homes that were affected too, but I think just the fact that you're raising that as acounter-argument adds credence to the challenge we're going to have, in terms of, uh, you know, getting the...I hope...I hope it would pass, but.. . Champion/ It's going to be very difficult. I agree with you, Ross, and I think the other factor is the Supervisors might not support this for five years. It might only be three. Wilburn/ And that's...and that's, that gets, you know, that dynamic happens down here, then you know, Linn County's already getting some difficulties with what, and we had tried to parallel and match what they were doing, so I think it's a fragile...uh, attempt at even real focused, targeted (mumbled) Bailey/ You know, and I could be completely wrong, but I think that there's...there's acase that can be made on the state level to get additional federal funding into the state for these additional buyouts, and I think that that's almost a more focused, I don't want to say easier case, than going to the state to get infrastructure money. Um, because $2 to $3 million for buyouts goes a lot farther than $2 to $3 million on an infrastructure project, and so as that money comes through and we can, you know, arrest it to Iowa City, I think that there are greater opportunities and...and I think that there is a commitment on the state. To what degree money can flow from that commitment is always a question. Wright/ I do think Amy raised a point though that there...even if...I don't particularly agree with the logic, but I think there are some folks who might contend that, um, infrastructure ought to be paid out of our General Fund revenues and not out of a special sales tax, and that...so I understand the, where folks are coming from when they're saying that. Bailey/ Yeah. Champion/ Most people understand that infrastructure like bridges and raising roads doesn't come from the General Fund. I mean, that money... Wright/ It's from bonding, yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 37 Champion/ No, no, I don't think it even comes from...it comes from Road Use Tax, from federal...from federal monies. It doesn't...there's no way (several talking) Lombardo/ I think we have to make sure we get the information out as to what types of projects this is going to be contemplated for, and we have been making (mumbled) Bailey/ So...are we clear, I mean...it's not optimal for everybody. Um, and note that we're asking for afive-year sunset, and as Ross alluded to that there is some talk on the County level that perhaps that won't be what is granted. Champion/ Well, Connie brought that up, but L ..I've heard the same. Yeah. Bailey/ Yeah, um, so can we talk a little bit about how we can, how we talk about this publicly, just the constraints that we have as Council? Should this resolution pass and um, we move forward, and early ballots start, or absentee balloting starts at the end of March. So people are probably going to be asking us about this. Champion/ You can give information only, isn't that correct? Dilkes/ No, you.. . Champion/ Oh, we can? Bailey/ Yeah. Dilkes/ You as individuals can advocate, provide information, do whatever you want to. Um, the only restriction is that public funds and resources can't be used to advocate, only to provide information. So for instance if you remember the, um, the, uh, Library bond, referendum, um, they put out a lot of information. School District put out a lot of information. Um, as long as that information is factual, um, then public money can be spent on it. But if...if public money is being spent, then there are no restrictions on what...what you all can do in terms of advocating for its passage. Wilburn/ So we can instruct Michael to come up with glossy brochures and TV ads and stuff like that, related to "vote yes." Dilkes/ Right, you...not to vote yes. To provide information as to what the money would be used for and etc., yes. Karr/ And to vote, you could educate to vote. Bailey/ And on our web site, so we will provide the information, and how to make sure you're registered and when absentee balloting starts and all that. But we just can't suggest that...which way they vote, right? And we will be doing that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 38 Lombardo/ We're working on that as we speak. Wright/ And we certainly wouldn't use our City email accounts to advocate. Bailey/ Good point. Any other clarifications about that? Some of us haven't been through this, so I wanted to make sure that we all understood. I mean, I haven't been through this. Any other discussion about the sales tax issue? Dilkes/ I wanted just to run through...you have a handout, um, which gives you the...the most recent estimates that we've gotten from Iowa Department of Revenue, um, and the figures you see here are assuming that every jurisdiction passes it. Um, and obviously the actuals depend on which jurisdiction, if any, pass it, and the actual retail sales numbers. But, for instance, let me just give you an example. Uh, if you look at the certified 2000 census population column, um, 75% of the revenues are distributed based on relative population. The total Johnson County population they've got here is 114,419, and so if everyone passes it, Coralville takes 15.09% of that revenue that's allocated on a population basis. Let's say that Iowa City doesn't pass it, so we take out, all you're doing here is you're just messing with these figures. So, if Iowa City doesn't pass it, you take out the 62,000 of population from that total of 114, and that gives you a total population that we're looking at then of 52,039. So, under that scenario, Coralville's percentage would go up to 33.18%. So it's very dependent on who passes it, and how...and that denominator, when you're looking at the percentage, the denominator changes. The denominator's made up of the population from those jurisdictions that pass the tax. Bailey/ Okay. Wilburn/ So it becomes a percentage of population where... Dilkes/ Where passed. Correct. Lombardo/ And the dollar amounts adjust accordingly, as well. Dilkes/ Of course. Yeah. Hayek/ That's why there's considerable risk for Iowa City making this move. I mean, I feel like we're compelled to. We've been asked by a neighbor to do so, um, but there's a lot at stake. Bailey/ And a lot of opportunity. There's a lot of opportunity. There's always a lot of risk. Dilkes/ So, essentially you gotta pass it to share in the pie. Champion/ Uh-huh. Dilkes/ That's how it works. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Bailey/ Okay. Any questions about the math? Page 39 Wilburn/ And if it were to pass at, uh, five years we're looking at, uh, 45 to 50 million, is that correct? Dilkes/ I didn't hear you. Wilburn/ Over the five year period, 45 to... Bailey/If everybody, if everybody passes it (both talking) yeah. Dilkes/ And this 95% here, um, that is 95% because they distribute 95% throughout the year, and the final 5% is distributed at the end of the year. Um... Bailey/ How frequently do we get paid? Monthly? Champion/ I would think monthly. Dilkes/ I don't know. Quarterly...yeah, that sounds right. Champion/ So the state's earning a lot of money on all that tax then. Bailey/ But it's better cash flow than property tax. Twice a year. Dilkes/ And presumably these estimates are also based on, you now, what the sales revenue that has been generated to date, and I don't know if that will continue, given the economy. Bailey/ Any other...I'm sure we'll get questions about how that works, and it's particularly significant because of the law change that some jurisdictions can pass. It's not all contiguous that have to pass. So it changes...how can I say? If we don't pass it, it changes our level of support for surrounding, um, cities that might. Or changes the level of (mumbled) Hayek/ Um, I...I just for everyone's information, the Chamber of Commerce has looked at this. They have a task force, and I don't think their full board of directors has weighed in yet. Bailey/ Thursday, right? Hayek/ But tentatively the task force is in support of this. They'd like to see some commercial property tax relief, um, as part of it, which we talked about and didn't get very far with this body. They want, um, they want it to be limited to public infrastructure, which this already does, and they want it to have a sunset, which this does, and so I anticipate it's going to be supported by that group. Um, and then the Convention and Visitors Bureau, last week the board of directors voted to support...support this, assuming the language that...that we're talking about is what we go forward with. Now, I'm pleased we are...are limiting it to, uh, this public infrastructure, in large part because this is, this was This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 40 emergency legislation designed to deal with emergency caused by the floods and. I think it's important to follow that in spirit, and we see these municipalities, especially up in Linn County. Marian, you provided this list of, wish lists that these communities want to spend their money on and I'm not sure that's appropriate. It's not for us to...to decide, it's their community, but they're all over the board in terms of what they want to fund (mumbled). That's why I'm comfortable with this. Champion/ I am too. Bailey/ And Michael will be attending the work session of the Supervisors on Wednesday, and I'm going to the formal meeting with some other, um, with the Mayor, I think the Mayor of North Liberty and also somebody from Coralville will be there on Thursday, to indicate that, you know, we've passed the resolution and...and to formally, or to request verbally the five year sunset versus the three year. So...they're talking about a three year. Champion/ Well, the reason is, they were talking about the Justice Center and the only way they think that can ever get paid for is with a sales tax. So, they're thinking of having their own sales tax, um, and so I think that's the reason they want to limit this. Because the jail's getting into worse and worse shape. Bailey/ My concern though is three, I mean, even with five years, and this was something that, you know, was generally discussed with different entities, even with five years, we're not going to get to really address the kind of flood impacted public infrastructure that we need to, and three years almost seems...silly. You know, cause it just doesn't get there. $27 million potentially. Lombardo/ I don't see how the County can use a sale tax necessarily to do their project. I think that project is well in excess of $20 million and... Champion/ Uh, how about 60 or 70. Bailey/ 63. Champion/ 60 to 70 million. They won't use this sales tax for that. Lombardo/ It'd be something dedicated...I was thinking they would ask for a bond referendum to do the construction... Champion/ 70 million, 60 million, I don't think they'll ever get it. Bailey/ Okay, other questions or discussion about the sales tax? All right. Champion/ I mean, that's just what they're thinking now. I'm just throwing that out there. Lombardo/ I can't see how they'd take on a sale tax would fund that, unless it was indefinite (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 41 Champion/ Oh, you'd have it funded in five years. Bailey/ Okay. Any other questions about the sales tax? Okay. Dilkes/ Well you can pay, I mean, you can pay, uh, the debt on a bond issuance with the sales tax. Lombardo/ Right, or they could do a bond referendum (both talking) Dilkes/ So there are different ways of making that...yeah. Information Packets (2/12 and 2/19): Bailey/ All right. Info Packet discussion. Info Packets from, uh, 2/12 and 2/19. Any questions, comments? They were both pretty skinny, so...all right. I'm going to move along. If you come up with something... Lombardo/ It's not in the Info Pack, um, but I think you may have received an email. I'm not sure if you did or not, um, but there's some training that, um, County Emergency Management is...is sponsoring, uh, on...Incident Command and Emergency Operation Center Interface, and then um, Incident Command, System Overview for Executives and Senior Officials, um, and so it...it discusses different roles, it talks about the emergency response and planning process, uh, I have some information here if you're all interested. There's some dates, uh, but would encourage you to attend. I think it's time well spent, just to make sure that we're all up to speed and fresh on those different roles through different events, and so if you want to find out those dates or if you'd like the brochure, let me know and I'll provide that for you. Bailey/ Council time. Council Time: Champion/ Well, I think we've all done a wonderful thing with the parking on Dubuque Street. Because 60% of day there's no one parked on that side of the street, or any of the loading zones on Iowa Avenue. Not one car, not one truck. Bailey/ Are you taking pictures? Champion/ I'm observing. Bailey/ Okay! Champion/ I think we overestimated the amount of delivery trucks that are delivering to those eight businesses, and so in the morning it is pretty full, the first couple days of course cars, poor cars were getting ticketed like crazy, but we've given up a lot of customer This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 42 parking for four hours a day. There's not, this afternoon from 1:00 until I left downtown at 4:30, there was not one car or truck parked around all of Dubuque, or on either one of the loading zones on Iowa Avenue. So we've created a lot of loading zones that aren't being used. Bailey/ So you're saying the loading zones are needed in the morning but not the afternoons. Champion/ That's what I would say. Bailey/ Interesting. Champion/ But I mean, I'll keep looking and, I think the police department has video cameras we could set up and you could get it all on videotape. Schedule of Pending Discussion Items: Upcoming Community Events/Council Invitations: Bailey/ Other Council time items? Uh, schedule of pending discussion items. We've already scheduled for next week. Anything else that we need to be thinking about? Upcoming community events, Council invitations. I'll check in with all of you regarding JC~COG is Wednesday night. Anybody need coverage? Okay. Wilburn/ Um...I just have a regular ongoing labor management meeting Wednesday night. (both talking) Bailey/ ...want me to attend? Wilburn/ Yeah. Bailey/ Okay. All right (both talking) Champion/ ...to get there in time. Hayek/ I'm speaking to the Coralville/North Liberty Rotary group this week on the sales tax. Champion/ Oh, good! Hayek/ So I've gotten some information from Michael -thank you -and Marian, thank you. Lombardo/ Is that, if you want additional details, just let me know. Champion/ Do you have a Power Point and all of that? Bailey/ Of course he does, right? Hayek/ Hell, no! (laughter) Just a few notes that have yet to be penned. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009. February 23, 2009 City Council Page 43 Bailey/ Okay, anything else. Hayek/ And a lifeline, maybe I can, you know, place a phone call to the office. Bailey/ (mumbled) okay. Discussion of meeting schedule, which we've done. Anything else for the good of the cause? All right, see you all tomorrow night at 7:00. Champion/ Thanks. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of February 23, 2009.