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Home My WebLink About2009-03-24 Correspondence2 1 Marian Karr From: Judith Pfohl [judypfohl@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 3:17 PM To: Council Subject: new school and Roosevelt Dear Council, The question of a new school does have a major impact on housing and areas of new growth for Iowa City. I talked with some people who were involved with the last chaos at Roosevelt when 6th grade bused to Horn for a year. Whatever is done will have an impact on the city and neighborhoods. You and the other cities need to stay connected with the school decisions. Here is a summary of comments I have heard "We chuckle at one of the alternatives...combining Roosevelt and Horn...upper at Horn...lower at Roosevelt. That was tried when Dave Cronin was still here. The Horn parents about had apoplexy. Our best advice would be for Lane to get his resume' updated, then push to have the whole district examined for building space, SES equity, and updating all buildings....air-conditioning, multi- purpose/cafeteria rooms, handicap accessibility. But that won't happen. Instead, there will be a stall...until the next board elections...we imagine there are already groups forming to elect Horn parents as there was the last time the Pheasant Ridge Cloud loomed over Horn's halcyon campus. We've heard about the scurrilous comment that the Horn PTO Pres. e-mailed to her constituents. The whole thing is just upsetting and will in the end bring out the very worst in many, with hurt feelings and more irrepairable damage to community relations. In the Lincoln neighborhood, there hasn't been a peep from these people...nor Shimek. They'll stay out of it unless their pristine environments/clientele are threatened... A real concern is busing Roosevelt children clear out to the Crossings...particularly those families east/south of the Roosevelt campus. People who can least afford to be driving distances, will have to travel the fartherest if they want to have any connection/relationship with the school. It just won't happen. The best hope is that they will tear down the old section of Roosevelt and build a wonderful new addition...then tear down the back half and rebuild that as time and money permits. " Judy Pfohl Ty'n Cae Neighborhood President 3/16/2009 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Mary Yagla [yags12@hotmail.com] Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 8:27 PM To: Council Subject: Iowa City School District Infastructure Proposal Dear Council Members, I am writing to express my disapproval of the Iowa City School Board's recent proposal to close Roosevelt and relocate a school to the fringes of Iowa City. I understand that as council members, you are trying to decide on whether or not to write a letter to the school board concerning this very issue. I believe that the relocation of a school greatly impacts, not only the school, it's students and families, but the surrounding neighborhood and the greater community as well. Usually, I would not advocate for the City Council to interact with the local school board, but this is a special case because the decisions the school board is making will effect the entire community, not just Roosevelt students and families. I encourage you, as our City Council, to contact the school board, because I do not want to see my neighborhoods slip away to the outskirts of town. Respectfu I ly, Mary Peterson 1417 Pine Street Windows Liver'": Keep your life in sync. Che_c_k__t_o_ut._ 3/9/2009 Page 1 of 1 Marian Karr From: Steve Yagla [steve.yagla@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 7:30 PM To: Council Subject: School Infrastructure proposal I am opposed to the IC School Board proposal to rebuild Roosevelt Elementary at a different location. Since this action will have a significant affect on neighborhoods in our community I believe it is appropriate and prudent to have the city council send a letter of opposition and engage in dialog with the the school board. Respectfully, Steve Yagla 3/9/2009 ~~~` ~ .-~..~ ~/ ~~~'y~ JIB --cy/~ ~ ~ ~/1/~/ y~j//~ _ 1-~._- J/,- fry /~~ 7 lJ~-~ ~ . vV~ 4~ ~ V/ l/'_.'` ~(/ Vl_.~Z//C.-~~~'~ j `.-'' ~rifi~N K~"'"~~~ f ` {~ n ` Jj~1 ~j f ~ V~ J ~C.s. 1~~`'~- ~-~'~r'~~o ""'~ /~~~ ~a~/c.1//~-- ,~~ L ~- L / ~..= ~-~-e~' 1 / / r -'~/ // /`i / f' r-. f ~~ ~t~~~ 6' Lam' ~ °~~ ` ~ '~ i C C~" v` ~iL~-' ,n ~.. ~ ~ ~~ ~~ _.1 G` G~ ,.~~,. ~'~'~ _ . ~. - _. _ , . ~. ~~ ~ .`.-i ...~f.-~ ~ _ _ /~ ~ CfJ`~~ Anti Kohl 709 61611n Dr. Iowa Cky, lA 52246-5510 ~f~ ~ ~ ~ r~^ 'vi`" ~ --t i"'"1 :Cr- " .q ~ f ~ xm. ~~ b ._,. Q. ~A Tragedy of Two '~'- ,~`> Decisions Avoided BY BRYCE BAUER A flower, petals numbered by nature He loves me, he loves me not; One for do, one for do not A man sits at a pub alone, love spurned by the whims of natural selection - a decision feeble made - One for mc, One for you, He tells the bartender ~1 consolation as old as what is being consoled. / U~ /~ T But no more! P~aR - ~ ?QQ~ As other revelers indulge one t~vo ten slurred conversation crescendos images, across the smoke-cleared room, blur out to the world they stumble, destiny unknown to a warm bed OR blows between brawlers OR a child-car collision The bartender knows not, But tells our lovelorn, No drink for me. - it's forbade, in effort to temper indulgence an ordinance was made above .02, no more can I pour there's a cop over there. you take both go and pass .08 on your path to blackness. That act of over-service, the law says is illegal too. But in this city Anointed a Top Party Place To where, from regions far around students come to swill Leaders speak of promoting sobriety making drinks smaller, more expensive, harder to obtain underage Shops close and bars open - an incursion legitimized through liquor licenses - ;~. The Cutoff's missed ~V Such an edict -too toilsome to enforce, Enforcers say. So to where will our unloved inebriate flit with One Drink Too Many? - Harmlessly down the street? OR face-forward onto the pavement? ~i OR afreezing-night's rest in the alley? Don't ask our officer or our server, one's making sure the other is safe and sob AUTHOR'S NOTE 1 tlrst became interested in the Icgal i5pcctti of alcuhol o~ e r ,crv!c~ a little more than t ~ car as*o, ~~ ~nc~n TJarl, Iraz~z.n re~i~rrer IicLc~ Be;lcramca and I started u~url:ui~~ on a seoe~° about the subject. llurin~ uur research, mxn} sources ~~ ° talked to said the tell ~ n~blen with alcohol comes ~chen ~ co ~~, h1e drink nx, t~luch injurin;~ thcrosch~cs and oihcrs. ~ Those s unecs readily adniirted that hr t a. on ~ other as(~e<t. of alee>hul a~nsumprion, Such as .~ndcta~>c drdnl.ir~ct,~«re just dt~tracti<~iu i'roni this ~ lulu nlorc serious i5we_ Bars that zervc tnrottCar- ~ ed patrr?ns tick tines, loss of liquor licenses, and ~ larvc lati~suits. But as -an}°one whu has spent rime dF,ivnrown hnu~crs, many, manq drunk peuptE are sell being set~<d at b u~s throw *houe7ou~ C~ir~-~ho~~gh Tom-a ~~ lax saS~s tt is iller~l to serge a p uron who ~s; or ~ appears tip be mioucued. Yuba rccards dating ~ back to 211(10 shops that no Jowa Cite bar has ever c - been cited for over-serciee. 1 ., ~. - :~i~:~l, ~z~aspublishcd, nn Peb. 28, .:; ...~ ~ ~ ~h '~ e these di~~ r~~ ~ ~~, ~~~ ~ «~~ i ~ l ~ „ I u~ ~ at people ~ ~ui i ~ ui ro - th II II ,~ f ~ i1~J~~ ^C',1~ I`Oil allel ~x ~ ~, et?i ~ iua rh ~ ~~Ir i~ . .o, ~ ~ l at~~~ 1~., u ~cc i i d.~i' 'n hal 1•~ n_ ~~ ~ In t ail, Elie t u •;rlc a,rainsi ~ ~~i~~,l', ill-cHrer~ -~~ [~_nti[:mies thi u h she 1 t icuni,i! Zl ur,lia.~ti~~c ddzu~~ -J V -~r: 1 ~r!i~r m ie i ~:,,i ~ ~ iop,~ e~, he the S u~~ Cin V ~~ l a~ C ~urxil ~ ~ h a~ } m ti^<~ Ii epl;c hnurti 1 h~~;~ ~ ~ ~ (gin us s:~ a~iiat ;o I>>a~' tnc tc, ~c~ir~~ this 1~~wn, ecn ~ nr.:~ ,r ~n ~l~c lwrcnuil ln- ~~t, .m ai tss~.~e- at rlmi ,~ J tirua: m;ikinu it ill~~~a t~~r rc~taur.inl wnd brit st,t~~! i~, drank on nc~ j~,h. 1'htr iilc;~, Lkc nuns hcl~~rc nr~u: `-~+~~ ~ ap] cats tai be<h {d. ~1 File nc~s~ ~de:u ee~teinl~, l;ceh ~I~_I> itc ~;i~l c~i~c i~tii~~n Ali [_, t~i<< ill shirt t} c key ~ 'r ~ i ~ ~~c c ~n~uinh n. ~~ I u~ ~ I. ~ c r . hrt t u ~ ~ ,n c :{ te« F-its _inr `~ \ ~~ ti:~~e I r I ~ c the it Gcrn ~ 1 Ice,w e ~Iie~; t~n~~,l s ~~~ K ~r~~ri it or t ~1~~iirrihc Iar~~~ii i ~.~lun i,nca<, ~rj er,i, n ~, -k> licinur~iflilor.m~lt~~v:~r _ i~~~~t i ~ elfc~ _- atli k~ l~~a.: ,i .i.t~ni~n; ~n~r- crsirc I i>, Iv~'t n h.inace~. arn:1, I Ln_': n~~~~n t~> [~I~rc L~Lrn.~ ,„I,~c u:~ tL~ l,~~i~~e. ur-' , i ~~ __ I'i .arc r~~, 1~..,u< air it ~i fr~quen~ F~~,i~ t,~ I~iin~ J;~nl<!c~ I h~ i>r~~l~l,~n !~,r ~r~nr_r~~~r, ~.i ~i ,,n ~ nri.~J ~ Ali ~ o. i {n a,,~. i~ i n~l.~ ii,~n iu~ i,,,,:.u l e~ ,~iu I l <<,~ Ic eri ~ i,~ I _., <<,u il., _-,ii!! iud u.rt, i., iinl,it~~ i„., nuir!;;nnl eY. r.r~:~_ irci:;"Ir 1 r~;~r~~:~.~~ n ~.u-ril .~-. d:~ Li~,~ i, ~~ru r , ~~ .~_mr,l ~In.~~~tl~; a i~~o.i~~i i r! c t ~J<< rr n ~, nl,~r~n a;iJ .ic ;.~:c ~4~1 L~ u;,_,i }vherc the,pc(. ~~:,, i-, il, ~~;u<~ t'.~,~~~~ rce- ,mcnr can Bract tonight;cnuLi I~.~ ~ iur~l yesterda~'> ;and doesn't require len>;tlrv t ~, ~~~. Council di,cnssion. Bryce Baez u ~ fo~rr,;, I) L ^' . ~.. ~ r>Iar astd rzLoiY.r u~rd ~r se~nir»'.r?rim; lonrn.r4, _._, _...: ~::v?Stirrli~:r. 2 3 Marian Karr From: Dale Helling Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 2:50 PM To: 'Kimberly Streeby' Cc: Council; Mike Moran Subject: RE: IOWA CITY SKATEPARK Dear Evan, Thank you for your email to the City Council regarding a skatepark on the East side of town. Council members do not receive their emails directly but your message, along with this response, will be forwarded to them. Presently there are no plans to construct another skatepark in Iowa City. Thus far Council has not talked about building another one. And to be quite honest, it is unlikely that one would be proposed in the next few years due to a lack of available funding. However, that is not to say that sometime in the future such a facility wouldn't be given consideration. Normally, recreational facilities are first discussed and prioritized by the Iowa City Parks & Recreation Commission. They are then given closer consideration by Council based, in large part, on how high a priority the Commission places on them. I would suggest you contact the Parks & Recreation Commission and make your request known to them. You can email them via the Parks and Recreation Department at icrec iowa-city.org Thanks for your interest and for communicating your idea to the City Council. Sincerely, Dale Helling Assistant City Manager cc. Mike Moran, Acting Parks and Recreation Director From: Kimberly Streeby [mailto:pkstreeby22@msn.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 5:31 PM To: Council Subject: IOWA CITY SKATEPARK Dear City Council: I would like to request the building of a new skatepark on the east side of Iowa City. It would be a fun place for kids and teen to go after school or during breaks. It is to hard to get all the way over to the river when they don't have a ride. It would possibly attract people from towns where they don't have skateparks or can't get to one. Please take this into consideration. sincerely, Evan Streeby Express your personality in color! Preview and select themes for Hotmail~. See_._h_ow. 3/13/2009 tME~Tq~ y `* ~Ilill~ * sc ~~ II~II~II Q~~ ~` 9g,H DEVE~o U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, DC 20410-0001 March 6, 2009 The Honorable Regenia Bailey Mayor of Iowa City 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear Mayor Bailey: 2 4 Q '~C) ~~ CZ -~ --1 C7 -< f-- t~ o ~' ~~ N ;T, ::'L'1 W w r.~ cr .~.. t ~~ I am pleased to inform you that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has allocated $10.1 billion, made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (Public Law 111-5) signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. This letter provides the allocations from the Recovery Act for the following programs administered by the Department: Community Development Block Grants; Public Housing Capital Fund; Lead Hazard Reduction; Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance; Homelessness Prevention Fund; and Tax Credit Assistance. These programs provide funding for housing, community and economic development, and assistance for low- and moderate-income persons and special populations across the country. Table 1 reflects the level of funding directly available for those programs in your community. Table 2 identifies funding available through other partners in your community, and finally, Table 3 identifies the allocation provided to your state for which you may apply: Table 1-Grants awarded directly to your community Recove Act o 2009 Pro ram Grant Amount Community Development Block Grant $176,785 Homelessness Prevention Fund $0 Lead Hazard Reduction $0 www.hud.gov espanol.hud.gov Table 2 -Grants awarded to partners in your community Recovery Act of 2009 Program Grant Amount Percent of Units in Your Communi Public Housing Capital Fund* $191,853 99% Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance** $943,831 Lead Hazard Reduction Grant $0 *Some housing authorities serve areas larger than the city or county. The Grant Amount reflects the total grant to the housing authority(ies), and Percent of Units in Your Community reflects the percent of its (their) public housing units that are in your community. **The Project-Based Rental Assistance reflects the funding needed to meet the Federal Government's contractual obligation with project-based owner(s). Table 3 -Grants awarded to the state. Partners in your community might be able to apply for these funds. ~j ~_ Recove Act o 2009 Pro ram Grant Amount ~ `' Tax Credit Assistance $18,978,542 ~ ~ w ~~ ~~ Additional competitive funding will become available in the near future for EA Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the Public Housing Capital Fund Program (reovatioWi~' nd energy conservation), and the Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance Program (energy conservation). Investments made with Recovery Act funds must be efficient, effective, and without waste, fraud, or abuse. To this end, the Recovery Act requires unprecedented levels of transparency, oversight, and accountability -measures that HUD rigorously will enforce. Effective performance measurement and accountability are crucially important in all formula grant programs, and it is essential that HUD have complete performance data to report to President Obama, the Congress, and the American people. Your dedication to complete accurate reporting of performance measurement data will be necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of your investments specifically, and of HUD formula grant programs and the Recovery Act at large. To ensure transparency and accountability for Recovery Act investments, public reports will be disclosed through a central website, www.RecoverS!.gov, and through HUD's Recovery website, www.hud.gov/recovery. Local governments nationwide are grappling with effects of the current economic challenge. The timely expenditure of Recovery Act funds being announced in this allocation, in addition to the competitive funds that will be made available in the near future, are targeted to help communities and families recover from the economic situation. Furthermore, many of these Recovery Act funds make it possible for communities to reap the three benefits of energy retrofitting: the creation of local green jobs, utility cost savings, and a reduction in carbon emissions. HUD strongly encourages its grantees to focus on this opportunity. 2 As with all HUD Recovery Act programs, your community has HUD's commitment to be as flexible as possible to help communities such as yours address local needs in the most effective manner. I look forward to establishing a partnership to help strengthen your community for years to come. HUD is always available to ontact uourlocal HUD Field Office ffectively. If you or your staff have any questions, please c y Sincerely, ~ ~. -~cP ca ~" ~, .~ _ ~° ~; ~~ ~, 3 Shaun Donovan d3-24-09 2 5 Marian Karr From: John Yapp Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 9:45 AM To: 'cdenburg@mchsi.com' Cc: "City Council; Kathryn Johansen; Michael Lombardo; Ron Knoche; Crystal Smith Subject: FW: Sidewalk needed by Taft Alternative High School Hello Ms. Denburg -your email has been forwarded to me for a response. The property owner is correct -the City has no authority to require the property owner to construct the sidewalk until they develop their lot. The requirement for sidewalk construction can be applied when the property owner seeks approval for site development and/or building permit, but otherwise the City has no 'stick' to require the sidewalk. Typically sidewalks are the last piece of infrastructure to be installed, as they are easily damaged during the development process. If the City wished to install the sidewalk in advance of development, it could be done as a City Council-directed assessment project, or at City/Public expense. Starting in fiscal year 2009, Iowa City has budgeted some funds for 'sidewalk infill' projects. We will add this sidewalk segment to the list of potential sidewalk infill projects. We will be presenting the list of potential sidewalk infill projects to the City Council later this spring. Thank you for your note, John Yapp, Transportation Planner From: Christine Denburg [mailto:cdenburg@mchsi.com] Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 12:57 AM To: Council Subject: Sidewalk needed by Taft Alternative High School Dear Council, Four years ago during a snow storm I encountered students from Taft walking in the street. If my car would have hit a patch of ice the children would have been seriously injured. The street is very narrow and it is very difficult for cars during snow storms to move far enough into the other lane to stay a safe distance from the children. All the businesses on the street provide sidewalks except for one lot that is undeveloped that is just 200 feet from the Alternative High School. The narrow road doesn't give drivers much room to keep a safe distance from the pedestrians in slippery conditions. Since all the other businesses provide sidewalks I have also seen pedestrians, once they discovered there is no sidewalk, crossing at the Ace Hardware driveway to get to the sidewalk on the other side of Mall Avenue. Once they get to the other side they realize the sidewalk is 12 feet from the street - so sometimes they walk along that side of the street. I have stopped into Dr. Mergen's office several times over the years to ask if he can provide sidewalks. His staff has told me repeatedly he has contacted his lawyer and he is not legally obligated to provide a sidewalk until he chooses to develop the lot. Can the city do something to provide 100 feet of sidewalk on this undeveloped lot so pedestrians won't walk out in the street on snowy (and muddy) days. 3/10/2009 Page 2 of 2 Thank you, Christine Denburg 3/10/2009 2 6 Marian Karr From: Regenia Bailey [bailey@avalon.net] Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 10:14 PM To: Marian Karr Subject: FW: Shelter Overflow Interim Project Attachments: CRC Overflow Mar09.docx From: Dorothy Whiston [mailto:dwhiston@mchsi.com] Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 9:26 PM To: Regenia-Bailey@iowa-city.org Cc: amy-Correia@iowa-city.org; Connie-champion@iowa-city.org; mike-odonnell@iowa-city.org; matt- hayek@iowa-city.org; mike-Wright@iowa-city.org; ross-Wilburn@iowa-city.org Subject: Shelter Overflow Interim Project Dear Mayor Bailey, Please find attached a letter from the Consultation of Religious Communities (CRC) of Johnson County regarding the needs for overflow housing for the homeless in our area next winter, when the Shelter House will again be unable to provide accommodations for everyone in need. In recent years, the CRC has provided this assistance under the direction of the Shelter house, but additional resources are required for next year. I look forward to working with the City Council and other governmental and private non-profit entities in Johnson County to come to a workable solution for meeting these basic services in our community until the Shelter House is able to do so. Thank you. Dorothy Whiston, President Consultation of Religious Communities Dorothy W. Whiston, D.Min. Soul Friends (at Old Brick) 26 E. Market St., Iowa City IA 52245 319.321.7920 dwhiston@mchsi.com Ultimately we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace and to reflect it towards others. The more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world. --Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life 3/17/2009 Consultation of Religious Communities PO Box 2025, Iowa City, IA 52244 Dorothy Whiston, D.Min., President 319-321-7920 dwhistonia?mchsi.com March 16, 2009 Ms. Regenia Bailey, Mayor City of Iowa City 410 E. Washington Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear Mayor Bailey; As you know, the member faith communities of the Consultation of Religious Communities (CRC) of Johnson County have worked together to provide overflow housing for people turned away from a filled Shelter House from November through March for the last five years. Through the Interim Overflow Project, CRC communities have provided an average of 1200 to 1600 person/nights of housing each year with nightly averages growing from 6 per night in 2005 to the current 12 guests per night. Well over 500 volunteers have put in more than 30,000 hours in this effort over the years. The monetary cost has been limited to under $7000 annually, with most expenses covered by individual donations of time, food and materials, as well as church building utilities and overhead. For many reasons, this arrangement is no longer feasible. The CRC's original commitment was to provide overflow accommodations and volunteers for 2-3 years while the Shelter House built a new facility. This was extended when that building effort got tied up in court. This winter it became clear that another arrangement would be needed for next year. The equipment we've been transporting from church to church is worn out and our volunteer pool is exhausted. In fact, we had to rely heavily on UI students to staff the program this year. Until recently Shelter House expected to break ground this spring and to have made enough building progress to host its own overflow in the partially completed facility next winter. Due to the economic downturn, construction will almost definitely be delayed so that this will not be an option after all. For a variety of reasons Shelter House will also be unable to provide staff to coordinate an overflow project that relies on others for space and volunteers, as they have done the past five years. The CRC cannot take on this project alone. We ask that Johnson County municipal and county governments and non-profit agencies work together to provide staff assistance to coordinate the overflow housing project and recruit and oversee volunteers. It would also be ideal if a single site could be found - perhaps a community center, government building orschool -to house the people in our communities who will otherwise endanger their health by sleeping out of doors next winter. While religious communities will still gladly contribute to a volunteer pool and provide breakfast supplies as we have in the past, it is imperative that the wider community be involved and that paid staff be found to coordinate this project (the CRC has no staff). The CRC is dedicated to working with our communities to meet the needs of those among us who are most disadvantaged and know you share this goal. It would be unacceptable for us to fail to protect our fellow citizens from the cold of Iowa winter nights. The CRC has worked alone with Shelter House to ensure this has been done for some time and we ask that government and other civic bodies now support this effort. We look forward to working on this with you in any way we can. Sincerely, Dorothy Whiston, President Consultation of Religious Communities cc: Iowa City Council Coralville City Council and Mayor North Liberty City Council and Mayor Johnson County Board of Supervisors United Way of Johnson County ~~ ~ March 17, 2009 Mayor Regenia Bailey 430 Church Street Iowa City, IA 52245 Michael Lombardo City Manager 410 E. Washington St. Iowa City, IA 52240 Rick Fosse Public Works Director 410 E. Washington St. Iowa City, IA 52240 Mary M. Murphy & Gregg Geerdes 890 Park Place Iowa City, Iowa 52246 319/354-2375 Mc~9425@mchsi. com geerdeslaw@peo~eAC com Council Members Connie Champion Matt Hayek Mike Wright Mike O'Donnell Amy Correia Rass Wilburn Dear Mayor Bailey, Mr. Lombardo, Council Members, and Mr. Fosse: C) ~~ t? "< N ~, :G €" ~~ ~ + D O N Because the city is now discussing flood mitigation strategies, it is vitally important that it recognizes our situation and other similarly situated homeowners. We reside in the Parkview Terrace neighborhood and were mandatorily evacuated on June 12, 2008, along with our five children. Our power and sewage services were turned off by the city around the same time. Flood waters did not reach our home. Instead, our basement was inundated with backup water resulting in the destruction of its contents and substantial costs. We did not receive legal access to begin working on our property until June 21 and were able to legally reside in our home on July 3. However, we, and everyone similarly situated in our neighborhood who had a basement, suffered extensive water backup from our basement drains and other basement plumbing. Several things should be done to correct this situation. First, action must be taken to ensure that your lift station continues to operate during periods of flooding for homes that flood waters did not reach. Second, the city should not unilaterally order the shutting off of electricity to the entire neighborhood. Third, the city's mandatory evacuation of the entire Park View Terrace needs to be reconsidered. Those of us who did not suffer surface water flooding of our homes live on the south part of Park View Terrace, are contiguous to non-flooded property, and are able to access our property from Park Road and/or Oakridge. Our neighbors on these streets kindly consented to crossing their properties to access our homes. Letter to Iowa City Officials March 17, 2009 If we had been able to do so, we could have operated generators and greatly reduced or perhaps even eliminated our damages. Indeed, we had a generator sitting outside our basement windows ready to operate. When we inquired about the reason we were ordered from our home, we were told it was because emergency vehicles could not access our property. That is absurd. Access for emergency services was at all time was available from Park, Oak Park, Willis and other streets. Also, the flooding was itself an emergency, and it is ridiculous to deny homeowners access to an emergency because of a claimed lack of access. During the time that we were evacuated, we personally asked Mayor Bailey and Council Member Wilburn to visit our end of the neighborhood to view why it should be treated differently during a disaster than those areas of the neighborhood that were directly impacted by the Iowa River. Despite entering the Normandy end of the neighborhood with President Bush for a photo opportunity, both Mayor Bailey and Council Member Wilburn declined our invitation citing the evacuation order (although either could have stood on non-evacuated property contiguous to ours and easily viewed our property). Further, the City did not uniformly enforce its mandatory evacuation order this past summer as neighbors and contractors worked on their properties, and FEMA, insurance, and media personnel were present. Mayor Bailey did inform me that the evacuation order was lifted for President Bush. To summarize, the best mitigation you can provide us with is to fix the city's sewage problems and to allow us to promptly fix things ourselves if you are unable or unwilling to do so. We would appreciate a response as to what alternatives are available for providing us with sewage services in the event of a future flood and what alternative you intend to pursue as well as any estimated completion dates by April 5, 2009. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, ~~~ ~~ Mar M. Mur by and Gregg eerdes Y p ~~ Ca --6 t"3 O Cr- C'7 ~ ~ ca tv 11 TENTATIVE AGREEMENT City of Iowa City, Iowa and Police Labor Relations Organization of Iowa City March 16, 2009 The parties hereby agree to the following: 1. A one year contract for Fiscal Year 2010 (July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. 2. The recommendations of Factfinder Anna Duval Smith as outlined in the attached "Summary of Recommendations" are agreed to with the exception regarding Health Insurance indicated in #3 below. 3 The portion of the monthly premium paid by each officer for family health insurance will increase to $60.00 per month in FY 2010. All other terms and conditions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement remain unchanged. For the City: Dale Hellin As .City nager Date: ~ ~~ ~ Q For the PLRO-IC: David Schwindt, President Date: d3 ~~(p~~Q' of the existing performance appraisal system to sustain acceptable oflicer performance. Moreover, only three of the eight comparison cities have such systems. Wages health Insurance V. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS Item Recommendation 3.1% Clothing and Equipment Allowance (Plain Clothes Officers) Court Pay Special Duty Pay (FTO) Personnel Transactions Step Increases Grievance Procedure -Step Two Grievance Procedure -Arbitration March 2, 2009 Cuyahoga County, Ohio ADS:sss iperbl314 Current provision $700 clothing/$175 cleaning & boots; cash payment Current provision 10% of hourly pay for each hour of FTO dilty Current provision Current provision As agreed by the parties As agreed by the parties Respectfully submitted, Anna Duval Stnith, Ph.D. Fact Finder 10