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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-10 TranscriptionMarch lo, 2009 Ciry Council Page 1 March 10, 2009 City Council Special Work Session 6:00 P.M. Council Present: Bailey, Champion, Correia, Hayek, O'Donnell, Wilburn, Wright Staff: Lombardo, Helling, Karr, Dilkes, Davidson, Rocca, Knoche Others Present: Gunn - UISG Representative Council Appointments: Bailey/ All right, let's start with our work session. Champion/ Yes. Here it is. Bailey/ Our first item is Council appointments. We have the Airport, Senior (mumbled) and Cool Cities. So...the Airport Commission we have one vacancy and two applicants, I think. (several talking, mumbled) Champion/ I think they're both qualified. (both talking) That's exactly what I was going to say! Correia/ (mumbled) O'Donnell/ (several talking) Seems to me you would want that, for the...for the knowledge though. (several talking) Yeah. Bailey/ Yeah, that's what Steve Atkins said too, and you haven't (mumbled) (laughter) Okay, do we have four for Minnetta? (several commenting) All right. Senior Center. Hayek/ (mumbled) O'Donnell/ I'm interested. (mumbled, unable to hear people) Wilburn/ (mumbled) Bailey/ (mumbled, unable to hear people talking clearly) O'Donnell/ I would...I would second that. Am I loud? (several talking) Bailey/ Two vacancies for two applicants (mumbled) expressed in Mercedes, as one of...for one of the vacancies. Wright/ (mumbled) Bailey/ Okay. And... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 2 Hayek/ (mumbled) Bailey/ Are there four who are interested in proceeding in that manner? O'Donnell/ Yes. Champion/ I'm not. I'm willing to support (mumbled) Bailey/ I, uh, feel that we've heard quite a bit from Charlotte concerning the Senior Center before, and perhaps this is a good place for her to express her concerns. (noise on mic) Correia/ (mumbled) Bailey/ Do you have, I mean (mumbled) process. Correia/ (mumbled) Bailey/ Well, I think (mumbled) Dilkes/ You know, you all are going to have to talk up a little bit because we're not...we can't hear and... Wright/ Your mic is in your sweater. Bailey/ No it's not. It's on my sweater. Um, okay, do we have...do we have four who would (mumbled) my mic's not on. O'Donnell/ It isn't on. Mine's on...twice. (laughter) Bailey/ Do we have four interested in, um, Charlotte? Champion/ I'm interested. I don't think mine works either. Bailey/ Okay, do we have, um, four interested in deferring? (several talking) One, two, three, okay, we will defer. (several talking) LTh, Cool Cities. Tom Carsner, one vacancy, one (both talking) Champion/ ...ask for a better candidate (several talking) O'Donnell/ (mumbled) Bailey/ All right. Agenda items. Agenda Items: Champion/ (mumbled) maybe not. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Bailey/ Pardon me? O'Donnell/ No, we didn't. Bailey/ Agenda items? Amy, you're just going to have to yell (mumbled) Correia/ (mumbled) O'Donnell/ I can't hear any of that. Correia/ (mumbled) Bailey/ All right. Champion/ Amy, I cannot hear you! Correia/ Okay, sorry. Bailey/ Is her mic on? Karr/ We're having technical difficulties. Bailey/ All right, any agenda items? Hayek/ Can we (mumbled) Bailey/ Yeah. O'Donnell/ Is this on? Page 3 ITEM 20. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND THE ARTIST FOR THE IOWA CITY WATER WORKS PRAIRIE PARK SCULPTURE AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST THE SAME. Davidson/ By the way, Marcia, the staff person who staffs Public Art, will be at the fornial meeting, but she could not make it today. I'll try and answer whatever questions. Hayek/ There's a bit of (mumbled) but can you (mumbled) where this (mumbled) Davidson/ Yeah, the...the, yeah, the project is in Waterworks Prairie Park, in the lower part, where the, uh, trail system is, around the ponds, and they've tried to be strategic in the location in making it visible from Interstate 80 as one of the, one of the things that they're investigating, although it looks like it would probably not come out of the public funding This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 4 of it, but rather raising private donations, and that is to illuminate it, have it illuminated at night (noise on mic) investigating asolar-powered system for doing that. So, the object is to keep it out of the way of all the infrastructure that's down there for the wells in Waterworks Prairie Park, um, obviously keep it as far away from the prairie, well., not as far away, but basically preserve as much of the prairie as possible, and uh, we've been working with Terry Robinson in terms of where it will have to be bermed and stuff like that, and make it visible from Interstate 80, so uh, that's what we're trying to do with the location. Correia/ So the funding though is from the Public Art...line item, for lack of a better word, and that's.. . Davidson/ A combination of FY09 plus FY10, and that's why this is specifically on your agenda (coughing, unable to hear) your approval of the FY10 budget. Correia/ Okay. Um, how much is...didn't we just have like a $63,000 to the Art in the...Rec Center? I mean, I thought we only had $50,000 in our.. . Davidson/ There's enough to cover this project, if taken from both the...it mazes out the remainder of the 09 allocation, and then gets into the FY10 allocation, and I apologize, Amy, I can't tell you exactly how much...it doesn't use the whole thing, certainly, um, but Marcia can...an answer that question more specifically tonight. Correia/ All right. Bailey/ Any other questions? (noise on mic) Whoa! Any other questions? Davidson/ And if you...if you were to for some reason, um, make any adjustments to the FY10 Public Art allocation, you'd probably want to defer this item so that the Public Art Committee could reconsider it. Correia/ ...for Public Art for fiscal year 10? (several talking) Matt's got it. Hayekl Well, I am.... Davidson/ ...what it's been, $50,000 (several talking) every year. Correia/ Every year, right, but we just...this year, in fiscal year 09, we approved the Rec Center art, which was about $60,000. Davidson/ That's correct. Correia/ ...only put $50,000... Davidson/ I think that did have some carry-over from... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 5 Bailey/ I think we were at carry-over. Correia/ Okay. Bailey/ As I recall. Davidson/ Yeah, the Committee is very cognizant of what the balance is. I mean, they don't ever go over their budget. That's part of Marcia's responsibility in managing the program. Correia/ It'd be good to know the status. Seems expensive... Davidson/ Yeah, these things are...the picture's in there. These things are 30 or 40 feet tall. Correia/ No, it looks amazing! Yeah, yeah, I know! Hayek/ It's...it's a uniquely uncomfortable time to include this in the (several talking) talking about forestalling fire stations and things like that, um, I understand the distinction between a project specific issue, like this, and the general funding decisions we make about our various departments. Davidson/ Well, we certainly can have any discussion you'd like to have about it. Hayek/ Yeah. Okay, well.. . Davidson/ By the way, this, just to...it may familiarize some of you...this artist is located on Highway 1 in Mt. Vernon. You may have seen some of his stuff when you go by there. (several talking) Bailey/ Yeah, it's kind of interesting that...it's neat that we can use a corridor artist potentially. I think that's great. Other agenda items? Okay. Information packet items. Amy? Information Packet Discussion (2/26 and 3/5): Correial Yes, so I just had a question about the, um, homeless encampment. I just wondered if the, when we go in...understand the posting, but have...does the police department generally communicate with Shelter House and their outreach staff, so that there can be some work with.. . Lombardo/ I'm going to be meeting with Linda Severson, and we're going to discuss this from a, in amulti-faceted approach, in terms of how best to...to try and meet the needs of the folks who would be displaced. Correia/ Right. Wright/ Okay, good. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 6 Correia/ If you can just give us an update, cause I (both talking) Lombardo/ Yeah, I'm meeting with her...I think Thursday. Correia/ Okay. Bailey/ Other items, other questions from the Info Packets? Hayek/ Let me go back to the agenda. I think I know the answer to this, but, um, these tap-on fee policies, that's just a matter of course, there's nothing...rtncommon about that. Bailey/ Did you have any specific question? I think Ron can probably cover anything you have. He's here. Hayek/ No, I just haven't seen a lot of these in my one year on the Council, and I'm just curious as to...they're 7 and 8 on the agenda. The project specific tap on fees for two different sewer projects. (several talking) ITEM 7. AMENDING TITLE 16, CHAPTER 3 ENTITLED "CITY UTILITIES" OF THE CITY CODE OF IOWA CITY, IOWA, BY ADOPTING A NEW SECTION 16-3B-9 ENTITLED "PROJECT SPECIFIC TAP-ON FEE FOR THE DANE ROAD TRUNK SEWER PROJECT." ITEM 8. AMENDING TITLE 16, CHAPTER 3 ENTITLED "CITY UTILITIES" OF THE CITY CODE OF IOWA CITY, IOWA, BY ADOPTING A NEW SECTION 16-3B-10 ENTITLED "PROJECT SPECIFIC TAP-ON FEE FOR THE SCOTT PARK TRUNK SEWER PROJECT". Knoche/ The...it's normal course for a project of these sizes. It's a little bit dated as far as getting them enacted. They've been constructed for a few years. Um, but uh, it's something that....we kind of dropped the ball on as far as getting the things through, but it...it is normal course, uh, for the trunk lines that these are, to do it by tap-on fee. Hayek/ So you push some of the expense of the public infrastructure upgrade onto the developer. Knoche/ On the developers, correct. Yep. Hayek/ Okay. Thanks, Ron. Knoche/ Yep. ITEM 6b. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE REZONING 2.97 -ACRES OF LAND LOCATED NORTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF FIRST AVENUE AND HICKORY TRAIL FROM LOW DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY (RS-5) ZONE TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY, MEDIUM DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY (OPD-8) ZONE. (REZ08-00012) (SECOND CONSIDERATION) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 7 ITEM 10. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 17 OF THE CITY CODE, ENTITLED "BUILDING AND HOUSING," CHAPTER 2, ENTITLED, "ELECTRICAL CODE," TO ADOPT THE STATE ELECTRICAL STANDARDS AND ANNEX H OF THE 2008 EDITION OF THE NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE AS THE CITY'S ELECTRICAL CODE. (SECOND CONSIDERATION) ITEM 11. 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. (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Bailey/ Um, while we're back in agenda items, I just want to point out that the applicant at 6.b., the applicant has requested expedited action. If somebody's so moved to expedite, and Item 11, staff recommends expedited action. I don't think there are any others. Okay, any agenda... Hayek/ And Item 10 it looks like. Bailey/ Ten? Hayek/ Yeah. Bailey/ I missed that one, thanks. Yes, thanks. Um, any other agenda items, info packet items? Champion/ Um... Bailey/ Yes? 4f(7) Correspondence -Jonathan Kimmel: Litter Champion/ I'm, well, I guess we could do it at Council time, but although there is some communication. Um, I think all of us are getting pretty disturbed with the cigarette butts downtown. It's...there's a letter in the packet and I've had several people come into the store.. . Bailey/ I'm working on a letter. Dale was provided a draft that we will send to downtown businesses, as a Council, asking them to help us with clean up and then if that doesn't work, Michael has suggested another course of action, but first we're going to try that approach. Right? Wright/ Good, cause there's some pretty serious offenders down there. A lot of businesses do a terrific job of...of taking care of'em. Champion/ ...most offenders are the bars and they do nothing. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 8 Bailey/ So we will have a, um, we will send a letter to downtown businesses, um, I have a draft, and it should go out this week, on behalf of Council, asking for their cooperation. And we'll just go from there, and if...if that doesn't get us where we need to be, we can be a little bit more forceful. Hayek/ My understanding is that, um, and this comes from the bar community, is that, it's not permissible to maintain some sort of receptacle, you know, like a bucket with sand in it or something like that down there. Bailey/ Has to be hauled in I think, right? Wright/ I thought you couldn't put anything out period. I had heard the same thing. Hayek/ Can we maybe look at that? Dilkes/ Well, um, they have to have permission from the City to put'em in...put'em in the right- of-way, but the...the right-of--way is not, you're talking right outside their building, would not be anon-smoking area. There's prohibition in the...in the State act that says you can't put an ashtray in anon-smoking area, although that has been addressed by rules, so I think the issue with putting them out on the sidewalk would simply, would be an issue with, um, getting City permission to do that. O'Donnell/Has this condition worsened since you cannot smoke (several talking) Champion/ It's really terrible. Wright/ Go past some of the big bars. (several talking) Council Time: Champion/ Okay, that's one thing I wanted to bring up, cause I promised my daughter, who made me walk down Iowa Avenue with her. (several talking) Also, um, I want to bring up again the parking on Dubuque Street. IJh, I was at the store yesterday for six hours. Only during that six hours that I was there, during one hour there was one commercial vehicle parked on Dubuque Street, and five cars with tickets. There was also...uh, a mail truck parked there for a short time, probably delivering an express package. I mean, I think you've taken away a lot of parking places for downtown businesses on Dubuque Street for no reason. Bailey/ When are we scheduled to review this? Lombardo/ I'm going to check into that. I'm not sure off the top of my head when we were going to revisit this, but I know there's additional steps that are...I'll get it on for an upcoming work session, and we can...we can discuss the... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 9 Bailey/ Cause I thought it was on our pending of, that we had indicated we were going to look at this. Champion/ And I did tell all of you that there was, for the first time in I know at least a year, there was actually a beer truck parked in one of the Iowa Avenue loading zones. Number one that I've seen. Anyway... Hayek/ We haven't implemented every part of this parking change. (several talking) Correia/ We've taken away...I mean, I supported doing this. We took away the, uh, meters so people are parking for free. I mean, I...at lunch downtown, parked in a meter, saw a whole row of cars just parked on the other side. Champion/ They're getting tickets. Correia/ Yeah, but sometimes they're, I mean, it was totally full so... Champion/ They are getting tickets! Correia/ Yeah. Champion/ And we never did ticket the beer trucks in the middle of Dubuque Street after whatever amount of time was supposed to be there, but now we're ticketing cars who think they can park there, because in every other loading zone downtown they can. Hayek/ Maybe we ought to get an update. Champion/ I mean, I know (several talking) constantly. Bailey/ But we are scheduled to look at it again, so... Wright/ Can we maybe look at it sooner rather than later? Bailey/ Michael said he would (several talking) Wright/ No, I've been observing, I go...I go up Iowa Avenue every day, and I've made...been making the same observations that middle of the day, there might be one commercial vehicle. Bailey/ Right. The challenge is I don't think there's one solution to address all issues. I think that's the challenge. So... Wright/ But we at least should...should talk about the other pieces of this, that we may chose to implement to help the situation out. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 10 Hayek/ I agree, but it seems to me we did all of these things together, assuming, uh, all of the changes were being made...be made at the same time or in fairly close proximity, and some of... some of the commercial parking that is still occurring illegally, um, has not been changed, and I wonder whether doing so would then fill up the spots you're talking about. (several talking) Bailey/ ...Chris at our next work session...probably the next one! Hayek/ That's the way to deal with this. Bailey/ Yeah. Thank you. All right. I think that was Council time. Wright/ I think we've morphed into Council time. Champion/ I'm sorry! Bailey/ No, that's fine! We expect to hear (mumbled) Um, other Council time? Hayek/ L..you know, we...on the School District issues, um, we opted against sending a letter. I think that was a good decision for us to make, but the issues are still there and I wonder whether we should not have a conversation soon about, um, ways of, uh, communicating information from the City to the School District, and encouraging communication, um, back and forth. I mean, that's the sentiment I'm hearing from the School District, and I think we share that, um, at some point I'd like to have a conversation here about what would be appropriate for this group to do. Correia/ Well, I mean, it seems like we used to have quarterly...joint meetings. Bailey/ Right. Correia/ I mean, it seems like that...the, at least one venue for having cross (both talking) Bailey/ Are we scheduled for one of those...soon? Karr/ No, the last one we had scheduled was North Liberty and it was cancelled. We certainly could talk to them about rescheduling. Bailey/ Well we could certainly call one, and we could call a joint meeting with the School Board so this is something we can talk about, maybe after spring break. See...(several talking) okay. Any other Council time items? Wright/ Yeah, something I'd like to bring up, uh, not for work session, for a formal work session, but to talk about during our prioritization process. Bailey/ LTh-huh. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 11 Wright/ In 07, the Council passed a resolution establishing pay plans for the Confidential Administrative Employees and Executive Employees, that essentially guarantees some step increases for the different pay...pay scales and pay steps every year, and I think given the economy and given our budget, that's something we ought to take a look at. Bailey/ Would others like to add that to the discussion of prioritization? Okay. All right. Wright/ I should add, it's due to expire in, um... Bailey/ I think it goes through F10, right? Wright/ FY10. Bailey/ Yeah. Wright/ So it's a good time to take a look at it. Bailey/ Okay. Other items? Council time? Karr/ Madame Mayor, there was the agenda, or the in the, um, Info Packet there was a schedule on prioritization sessions. Do you want to talk about that, under Council time, under Scheduling, under Info Packet? Bailey/ I was going to talk about it under scheduling of pending discussion items, or scheduling I guess, or discussion of meeting schedules. Are we ready to move on to that? IP4? Meeting Schedule (IP4): Bailey/ Okay, let's just go right down the line. You've made it very easy, Marian. Pick one, Monday or Tuesday. Monday March 30th or Tuesday March 31st. Wright/ And are we talking day times or evenings? Bailey/ Um, let's start with what's your preference -day times or evenings? Wright/ Evenings. Bailey/ I was assuming evenings. O'Donnell/ Evenings. Bailey/ Okay. Correia/ (mumbled) Bailey/ Okay. Evening. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 12 Wright/ Either one of those. Bailey/ I have two either. Wilburn/ If it's evening, the 31st is better forme. Bailey/ Okay. I have a preference on the 31st. I have a preference for the 30th, but...um, okay. So, who's...do we have four people who want to meet on the 31st? Champion/ Yes. Correia/ Sure. Wright/ That's fine. Bailey/ Okay. Karr/ Okay, we're looking at approximately four hours. Do you want to start at 5:30? (several responding) Bailey/ Uh-huh. Karr/ 5:30 on the 31st? Bailey/ Uh-huh. Okay. I'm assuming the next one, the 13th or 14th, we're on evenings, as well. Is that a safe assumption? (several responding) Okay. Once again, four hours. Champion/ Wait (mumbled) Bailey/ April 13th or 14th. Lombardo/ I don't know that that one would have to be so...quite as long. I guess it depends on what we accomplish on the...on the 13th, or the 31st. Champion/ Well... Bailey/ (mumbled) Champion/ Umm.. . Bailey/ 13th or 14th? Champion/ ...on the 14th. I might still be doing my taxes. (laughter) Bailey/ I can't believe you do your own taxes. You do your own taxes? That's great! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 13 Karr/ Um, 5:30, 6:00, 6:30? Bailey/ Let's start it... O'Donnell/ How long are we scheduling? Bailey/ Michael says it's variable, but I would suggest scheduling at 5:30, and if we get out early, we get out early. Karr/ 5:30 on the 31st, 5:30 on the 13th. Bailey/ Okay. O'Donnell/ Fine. Bailey/ Now we need two. Pick two. All right. In May. Last week (several talking) Hayek/ I'd rather not do back-to-back. Bailey/ Okay. I would rather not do a Friday. Wright/ Tuesday and Thursday? Bailey/ I'm good with that. Champion/ What were the dates Tuesday the 26th and 27th? Bailey/ 26th and 28th. Wright/ ...28th. Bailey/ How does that look to everybody? Karr/ I'm sorry. What date? 26th? Bailey/ 26th and 28th, is that good? (several responding) Karr/ 5:30 again? Bailey/ Uh-huh (several talking) yeah, 5:30. Okay. Wilburn/ And I'm sorry, it was 26th and 28th? Bailey/ Uh-huh. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009. March 10, 2009 City Council Page 14 Karr/ 26th and 28th. And I'll firm that up, and add it to your agenda, as well, on Thursday. Bailey/ Great! Anything else we need to cover at a work session? Upcoming Community Events/Council Invitations: Bailey/ Are there any upcoming community events, um, that we should be aware of? Okay. Schedule of pending discussion items, I think we did that. Meeting schedules. Okay. See you at 7:00. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of March 10, 2009.