Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-08-22 Info Packetj r r -•sem_ CITY Of IOWA CITY www.icgov.org City Council Information Packet August 22, 2019 IPI. Council Tentative Meeting Schedule Miscellaneous IP2. Invitation: Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition -August 23 IP3. Civil Service Examination: Senior Maintenance Worker- Turfgrass Specialist IP4. Civil Service Examination: Senior Maintenance Worker- Wastewater Plant Draft Minutes IPS. Community Police Review Board: August 13 IP6. Historic Preservation Commission: August 8 August 22, 2019 City of Iowa City Page 1 Item Number: 1. tr 'cmgz�, CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org August 22, 2019 Council Tentative Meeting Schedule ATTACHMENTS: Description Council Tentative Meeting Schedule �r CITY OF IOWA CITY City Council Tentative Meeting Schedule Subject to change August 22, 2019 Date Time Meeting Location Thursday, August 29, 2019 5:00 PM Special Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, September 3, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, September 17, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma 1. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, October 1, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Monday, October 14, 2019 4:00 PM Reception City of Iowa City 4:30 PM Joint Entities Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Tuesday, October 15, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Monday, November 4, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, November 19, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, December 3, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Tuesday, December 17, 2019 5:00 PM Work Session Emma J. Harvat Hall 7:00 PM Formal Meeting Item Number: 2. tr 'cmgz�, CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org August 22, 2019 Invitation: Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition - August 23 ATTACHMENTS: Description Invitation: Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition -August 23 Kellie Fruehling From: Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition <jcaffordablehousing@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2019 8:14 AM To: Council Subject: We need *HOW MANY* more affordable housing units???? I August Community Meeting News and Updates from the Johnson County Affordable Is this email not displaying correctly? Housing Coalition! View it in Your browser. JOHNSON COUNTY ►ffordc-"le HotAng CQd� FRIDAY AT NOON! We're looking forward to hearing from you at this month's community meeting. Friday, August 23 Noon -1:00 pm Johnson County Health and Human Services Room 203C (855 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City) In 2007, Johnson County cities conducted a market analysis showing a need for 3,110 additional housing units for lower income households, including over 1,600 for extremely low income households. http://www.iowa- city.org/webiink/O/.../1481137/Electronic aspx In the last 12 years, what have we done to close this gap? JOIN US this Friday to hear from Tracy Hightshoe, Iowa City Neighborhood and Development Services Director, about local housing advancements. Tracy will share updates to Iowa City's Affordable Housing Action Plan and discuss the newest allocation plan for the city's $1 million investment into affordable housing. Bring your questions and concerns! See you there. --Sara Barron Executive Director Copyright © 2099 Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, All rights reserved. mailchimp You are receiving this email because you signed up at an event or meeting. Our mailing address is: Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition 308 E. Burlington St. PMB 121 Iowa City, IA 52240 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list I update subscription preferences I view email in browser 2 Item Number: 3. tr 'cmgz�, CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org August 22, 2019 Civil Service Examination: Senior Maintenance Worker - Turfgrass Specialist ATTACHMENTS: Description Civil Service Examination: Senior Maintenance Worker - Turfgrass Specialist � r CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East 4Vashivon Slrccl Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826 (319) 356-5000 (319) 356-5009 FAX www.Icgov Org August 14, 2019 TO: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council RE: Civil Service Entrance Examination — Senior Maintenance Worker — Turfgrass Specialist Under the authority of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, I do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Senior Maintenance Worker — Turfgrass Specialist. Colin Stuhr IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Rick W ssy Chair Item Number: 4. tr 'cmgz�, CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org August 22, 2019 Civil Service Examination: Senior Maintenance Worker - Wastewater Plant ATTACHMENTS: Description Civil Service Examination: Senior Maintenance Worker - Wastewater Plant CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Strect Iowa City. Iowa 52240-1826 13 19) 356-5000 (319) 356-5009 FAX 1"WN'.1cgov 0% August 14, 2019 TO: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council RE: Civil Service Entrance Examination — Senior Maintenance Worker — Wastewater Plant Under the authority of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, I do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Senior Maintenance Worker — Wastewater Plant. James Bopp IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Rick W ss, Chair Item Number: 5. tr 'cmgz�, CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org August 22, 2019 Community Police Review Board: August 13 ATTACHMENTS: Description Community Police Review Board: August 13 COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD MINUTES — August 13, 2019 CALL TO ORDER: Vice -Chair Galpin called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Sam Conaway, Latisha McDaniel, David Selmer, Orville Townsend MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Legal Counsel Patrick, Staff Chris Olney STAFF ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT: Erek Sitting and Iowa City Police Captain Bill Campbell RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL None. CONSENT CALENDAR Motion by Townsend, seconded by McDaniel, to adopt the consent calendar as presented or amended. • Minutes of the meeting on 07/11/19 • ICPD General Orders 17-03 (Firearms) • ICPD General Orders 01-05 (Officer Involved Shooting/Lethal Incident Investigations) • ICPD General Orders 01-02 (Informants) Motion carried, 5/0. NEW BUSINESS None. OLD BUSINESS City Council Liaison Proposal — Olney informed the Board that the ordinance change was voted on for 1st consideration at the August 6th Council meeting with a vote of 4/3. The 2nd consideration will be at the August 20t' Council meeting. After Board discussion it was decided to have Townsend and Conaway attend the next Council meeting to further clarify any questions regarding the role of the Liaison. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None. BOARD INFORMATION None. STAFF INFORMATION None. CPRB August 13, 2019 DRAFT EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by Townsend, seconded by Conaway to adjourn into Executive Session based on Section 21.5(1)(a) of the Code of Iowa to review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition for that government body's possession or continued receipt of federal funds, and 22.7(11) personal information in confidential personnel records of public bodies including but not limited to cities, boards of supervisors and school districts, and 22-7(5) police officer investigative reports, except where disclosure is authorized elsewhere in the Code; and 22.7(18) Communications not required by law, rule or procedure that are made to a government body or to any of its employees by identified persons outside of government, to the extent that the government body receiving those communications from such persons outside of government could reasonably believe that those persons would be discouraged from making them to that government body if they were available for general public examination. Motion carried, 5/0. Open session adjourned at 5:40 P.M. REGULAR SESSION Returned to open session at 6:00 P.M. Motion by Selmer, seconded by Townsend to set the levels of review for CPRB Complaint #19-02 to 8-8-7 (13)(1)(d), Request additional investigation by the Police Chief or City Manager, or request police assistance in the Board's own investigation and 8-8-7 (13)(1)(e), Performance by Board of its own additional investigation. Motion Carried 5/0 TENTATIVE MEETING SCHEDULE and FUTURE AGENDAS (subject to chancel • September 10, 2019, 5:30 PM, Helling Conference Rm • October 8, 2019, 5:30 PM, Helling Conference Rm • November 12, 2019, 5:30 PM, Helling Conference Rm • December 10, 2019, 5:30 PM, Helling Conference Rm Townsend stated he had a question regarding ICPD General Order 01-05 (Officer Involved Shooting /Lethal Incident Investigations). It was decided to table the question until the next meeting when a representative from the Police Department would be present. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by Selmer, seconded by Conaway. Motion carried, 5/0. Meeting adjourned at 6:06 P.M. COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2018-2019 (Meeting Date) KEY: X TERM 9/11/18 10/9/18 11/13/18 12/11/18 118/19 220/19 3112/19 4/9/79 429119 5/14/19 6/11/19 7111/19 8113/19 NAME EXP. Donald 7/1/L9 X O R X X X X X X X X King Monique 7/1/20 X X X X X X X X X X X X Galpin X Orville 7/1/20 X X X X X X X X X X X X Townsend X X O X X O X X X X X O X McDaniel David 7,/1/21 X O X O X O X X X X X O X Selmer Sam 7i U23 X X Conaway KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting -- = Not a Member Item Number: 6. tr 'cmgz�l CITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org August 22, 2019 Historic Preservation Commission: August 8 ATTACHMENTS: Description Historic Preservation Commission: August 8 MINUTES PRELIMINARY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION EMMA J. HARVAT HALL August 8, 2019 MEMBERS PRESENT: Thomas Agran, Kevin Boyd, Helen Burford, Sharon DeGraw, Lyndi Kiple, Cecile Kuenzli, G. T. Karr, Quentin Pitzen, Jordan Sellergren MEMBERS ABSENT: Gosia Clore STAFF PRESENT: Jessica Bristow OTHERS PRESENT: Ginalie Swaim, John Christenson, Maeve Clark RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (become effective only after separate Council action) CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Boyd called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANYTHING NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS: 513 Grant Street — Longfellow Historic District (second floor rear addition). Bristow explained 513 Grant Street is a four-square, contributing structure in the Longfellow Historic District. It has a rock -faced stone foundation and piers. It has narrow lap siding, corner boards, and double -hung windows — a few of them paired. The house does have an intrusive addition built in the 1970s off the rear. The applicant is currently planning to add to a second -floor addition for a bedroom, bathroom, and closet. Staff worked with the applicant first to see if it was possible to have the second -floor addition fit the guidelines- set in from the corners of the house to preserve that corner, matching the siding, having the roof connect in either a flat roof, like a lot of the four-square sleeping porches are when they are on the second floor, or maybe match the hip roof on the house. One option would have been to have the new addition smaller than the footprint on the current addition. Structurally, that was not going to be possible. So following the existing footprint was most appropriate. The current proposal will revise the existing addition so that it is more appropriate for the house and then add the new second floor. Bristow noted there is an issue with the roofline that is not yet resolved following this approach. She said part of the reason the guidelines recommend additions are set in from the sides is to prevent an awkward condition with the roof connections. Staff has requested either more detailed drawings or a basic 3D model to illustrate how the rooflines will be resolved. The current recommendation from staff is to have the window and door product information approved by staff, or staff and chair after the fact, and also have staff and chair approve the roof condition. Bristow shared a view from the south side, showing how the addition protrudes two to three feet past the side of the house. The radon pipe will be removed. She showed the addition from the HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 8, 2019 Page 2 of 11 back corner. It has inappropriate siding and a flat roof with a small eave overhang. The windows are also incorrectly proportioned and ganged. The north side of the current addition has no windows. Kuenzli asked if there had been consideration of removing the bottom addition, and rebuilding it set in so it would meet the guidelines. Bristow said it was beyond the scope of the project because it is so fully integrated into the house right now. Bristow shared the proposed plan showing the footprint of the addition.On the second floor, the north side would have one window in it. There would be two full windows on the back and two windows on the south side. Bristow said the two ganged windows in the addition now on the first floor would be replaced with two windows that match the others in the house, with the second - floor windows aligned above them. Bristow described the west side, the area of the addition on the back side. Currently it has a pair of windows. The applicant would like to put in a pair of French doors to let more light in on the west side and to provide direct access to the back yard. There would be one, slightly smaller proportioned window in the bathroom above the French doors. Bristow said because of the interior they only propose to add one window to the north side. Staff finds that acceptable, partly because this part of the addition is recessed so far from the side walls of the house. It is also difficult to see from any direction, and is not visible from the sidewalk or the street at all. Bristow said an original porch was enclosed on the back of the house long ago and has a wide eave and a flat roof condition that could be mimicked in a flat roof on the addition. The other option is a hip roof. The slope of the existing roof and the head of the windows on the second floor in the original house make it difficult to tie in the roofs. This situation in combination with the addition extending past the south wall of the house make the roof condition difficult to resolve. For both floors of the rear addition, all siding and trim conditions would matched the historic house. At least one upper floor window from the house could be reused in the addition. The new windows would be five -over -one double hung windows to match the existing. Boyd explained that now was the time for clarifying questions before opening the public hearing. After the hearing closes, the Commission will have further discussion. Pitzen wondered if this were to be a flat roof with a side exposed, if there were any guidelines for how the roof edge would be treated. Bristow said they would have fascia or some kind of board on any side that did not have a gutter, so we would at least have some kind of a roof edge that had a flat edge. She said the house has open soffits, but it has the gutter, so it would be a matter of combining the roof edge co nd ition. Bristow said a model would allow them to work out the details. Agran thought, if the project timeline allowed, it would be better reviewed once all the roof details had been worked out. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 8, 2019 Page 3 of 11 Boyd opened and closed the public hearing with no comments. Karr did not believe the project could be reviewed without knowing how the roofline would look. Kuenzli agreed. Pitzen thought a hip roof would look more appropriate. Bristow said the goal had been to reflect a two-story addition with a sleeping porch, which tends to have a flat roof, but noted that might not be the best choice for this house. She said staff has pushed for the idea of having a model or more detailed drawings because the roof tie-in cannot be determined enough from the drawings to approve it. MOTION: Agran moved to defer the decision for the Certificate of Appropriateness for 513 Grant Street to either the August 19th meeting or the following formal meeting, contingent upon seeing specific information about the roofline of the proposed addition and how it ties into the structure, either in the form of more detailed drawings or a model. Kuenzli seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 9-0. 718 East Washington Street —College Hill Conservation District (window replacement for egress). Bristow explained 718 East Washington Street is a contributing property in the College Hill Conservation District. It is a bungalow and was owner -occupied for decades. Bristow noted the part of the application suggesting replacement of the five dormer attic windows had been withdrawn. They now propose to repair them and apply a storm window, as they will be doing with all first -floor windows. The attic was originally an unfinished walk-up. The applicant is adding two bedrooms in the attic — one on each side. They propose to change the second floor east and west windows to egress windows. Each will be a casement window that has muntin bars, so it looks like a double -hung window. The product information they submitted was a Brighton casement window, three -over - one appearance, meeting egress requirements. The guidelines talk about the ability to change a window like this if it's needed by code for a bedroom, which in this case it is. As they are also on the side of the house, Staff finds that appropriate and applauds the owners for repairing the original windows that remain in the house otherwise. Boyd opened and closed the public hearing with no comments. Pitzen asked if there were guidelines for matching muntins on storm windows. Bristow said storm windows and storm doors are not regulated but, if someone were to ask, generally we just like a storm window to be divided into two panes like a traditional storm window. They are not required to match other divided light conditions. MOTION: Karr moved to approve the Certificate of Appropriateness for the egress window portion of the project at 718 East Washington Street as presented in the amended application. Kuenzli seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 9-0. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 8, 2019 Page 4 of 11 10 South Gilbert Street — Local Landmark (generator installation and screening). Bristow announced that the applicant had requested to defer this discussion. The owner was not able to attend this evening. Since the Staff report did not recommend approval, she said they also wanted to investigate their options. Staff felt the request for deferral until the September 12th meeting was acceptable. Agran saw no reason to defer discussion of this project. Bristow said the applicant was aware the Commission would have to vote to do that. Agran said since their options do not include this site, there was no reason to have it deferred. Boyd stated the Commission would be receptive to a request from a property owner for a specific meeting if noted when submitting their application. DeGraw wanted to know if a motion was made to affirm or deny, would it limit their progress in any way when they come up with an alternative solution. Bristow said it depended what the Commission decides. If the Commission decided the equipment should not be on this site and needed to be removed, then an alternative proposal from the applicant would not need to be heard by the Commission. If the Commission determines the site is okay, but the situation needs to change, that would require an alternative submittal that could be heard again by the Commission. If it's the same site that had already been denied, then the Commission would not hear it again. Kuenzli thought for the sake of clarity the Commission should go ahead and render an opinion so the applicants would know what they must come back with and what they cannot come back with. Boyd made a counter argument to honor the deferment for the sake of being cooperative partners. He said in their motion they could note their intent to vote at the September meeting whether a representative was present or not. If deferred, DeGraw wanted to note issues with the project as is. Pitzen asked if any entity of the City had approved the applicants' request. Bristow said no, the approved site plans did not include a generator anywhere on the project at all. Sellergren asked if the problem was a noise complaint or simply esthetic. Bristow said the problem is that the equipment is for a different building installed on a landmark property. MOTION: Agran moved to defer the decision on the Certificate of Appropriateness for 10 South Gilbert Street to the September meeting to provide the applicant time to further investigate options and to attend that meeting, where a decision will be made regardless of the attendance of the applicant. Burford seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 9-0. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 8, 2019 Page 5 of 11 REPORT ON CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY CHAIR AND STAFF Certificate of No Material Effect — Chair and Staff Review. 714 Ronalds Street — Brown Street Historic District (porch repair). Bristow stated the porch would be repaired to match what was there. There was some rotting likely caused by too much plant material too close to the building. 528 East College Street — College Green Historic District (porch repair). This porch is being repaired. 507 North Linn Street — Northside Historic District (siding and soffit repair). 507 North Linn Street was once a Queen Anne. It has had two additions and is a rental property. The porch has been removed. Bristow said right now they are patching the siding. Some of it needs painted and some of the soffit needs repaired. She said the plan is that someday the historic house will all have narrow lap siding and the modern part will have modern, wider lap siding. 613 Ronalds Street — Brown Street Historic District (metal roof replacement). Bristow said the metal roof will be replaced with a new standing seam metal roof with flat panel in between. Minor Review — Staff Review. 309 Fairchild Street — Northside Historic District (porch stair and site stair replacement). Bristow said both sets of stairs would be replaced as they are, with concrete. She did tell the applicants that since they have a wooden porch, the more appropriate material would be wood stairs. The project was approved with that as an option. 809 Bloomington Street— Goosetown/Horace Mann Conservation District (porch floor and stair replacement). There was some rot in the porch floor and some of the railing that will be replaced. Bristow said this is not original. 424 East Jefferson Street — Jefferson Street Historic District (porch step and site railing replacement). The porch stair railing and the site stair railing would be replaced with a simple metal railing. 502 Grant Street — Longfellow Historic District (rear step replacement). The concrete stairs in the back will be replaced with wood. She said there was a simple railing around the side porch roof that will be matched. The stairs will descend in two directions. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 8, 2019 Page 6 of 11 603 East College Street — College Green Historic District (porch railing and skirting replacement). The front side porch railing will be replaced with a standard spindle railing. The project included enlarging the corner pier and adding some skirting. 821 North Johnson Street— Brown Street Historic District (metal railing replacement). Bristow explained this was a project that came through the Commission. They originally intended to retain the existing metal railing. This house is mid-century modern with a black wrought iron railing. The stairs had to change slightly to meet current code, so they must put in a new railing. Bristow said they talked about matching exactly what they had. It was just not going to work out, so they are going to install a simple black aluminum railing with spindles and posts to be as unobtrusive as possible. 318 Church Street— Northside Historic District (rear sliding door changed to French door). Bristow said this house had work on the front porch last year and had an inappropriate addition in back. The sliding door will be replaced with a pair of French doors. Intermediate Review — Chair and Staff Review. 829 Kirkwood Avenue — Local Landmark (porch repair and roof shingle replacement). The applicant will be replacing some of the porch trim and materials around the floor and stairs that have rotted out. She said staff worked with them on the roof replacement project. Currently it has original wood shingles. In the past, under a different owner, this house had been lifted off its foundation for a long period. Animals had been getting into the roof during that time. Ever since, the new owners have not been able to keep the animals out. Currently they eat through the roof shingles. The owners patch the roof and the animals eat through it again. Staff approved asphalt shingles for this roof to prevent animals from getting in. 423 Ronalds Street — Goosetown/Horace Mann Conservation District (fence installation). 423 Ronalds Street is the result of another project. Bristow said the neighbor has a Commission -approved a driveway going in behind the house. That driveway points at the applicants back deck and porch so they are now putting in a privacy fence in the backyard. Bristow explained the taller fence portion will step down and become much shorter in between the two houses. The main purpose of the tall part is to block car headlights pointing at them. 220 and 226 South Johnson Street — College Green Historic District (retaining wall replacement). 220 and 226 South Johnson Street are under the same ownership. Bristow said it has a concrete retaining wall, but it is falling in so they will be replacing it. She said they will be using landscape block. This was the second Willowwind School. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FOR JUNE 13, 2019 MOTION: Kuenzli moved to approve the minutes of the Historic Preservation Commission's June 13, 2019 meeting. Agran seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 9-0. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 8, 2019 Page 7 of 11 COMMISSION INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION: Commissioner Retirement. Bristow announced that Lee Shoppe had retired. He was moving, so he would not be able to represent the Woodlawn District anymore. His last meeting would have been July. She said she and Boyd thanked him for his service. We hope he continues well in his new location. Boyd pointed out current vacancies in Woodlawn and East College Street. Bristow said if any Commissioners know anyone who lives on Woodlawn or in the East College Historic District, please talk to them about becoming a commissioner. We would love to have them. Election of Officers. Boyd said the election is supposed to take place annually after the new Commission is appointed. All Commission terms are three years staggered and Zach, who was our Vice Chair, is no longer on the Commission, so we need a Chair and a Vice Chair. Boyd said he was happy to continue as the Chair, but if someone else wanted it, he would not object. Kuenzli moved that Kevin Boyd continue serving as Chair. DeGraw seconded the motion. There were no other nominations for Chair. Boyd said he had filled a partial term, and this was the final year of his first full term, so others should start thinking about serving as Chair. Bristow noted if they receive applicants for the at -large positions, Council wants to turn the positions over, so is may be difficult for the at -large positions to get a second term. Bristow explained the State really likes it if the Vice -Chair is being prepared to become the next Chair. Kuenzli nominated Tom Agran as Vice -Chair. Pitzen seconded the motion. Agran said he was not currently planning on renewing his term, but he would be happy to serve until next June. MOTION: Boyd moved to continue serving as Chair, with Agran serving as Vice -Chair. The motion carried on a vote of 9-0. Annual Awards Ceremony. Bristow explained the need to revamp how are awards are done because it currently takes too much Staff time. Bristow said she did talk to Stefanie Bowers, who staffs the Human Rights Commission about their awards program. They have both the adult awards and the youth awards. She said there were several things that came up that could potentially be done by this Commission. Some things, if they involve changes to budgets, would take more time. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 8, 2019 Page 8 of 11 Bristow noted there were at least three people in attendance from the Friends of Historic Preservation, one of our co-sponsors, as well as a representative from the County Commission. The County Chair had emailed that they think continuing to hold the awards is important and one of the only ways we have visibility within the community. They do want to be involved and Staff suggests getting them more involved. Ginalie Swaim, current President of the board of Friends of Historic Preservation, introduced Dan Matheson and Maeve Clark, also on the board. Swaim also noted Friends had co-sponsored the awards for years and years. She said that last year, and perhaps the year before that, Friends did not carry its load for various reasons. They are now in a better position to carry their load again and hoped to do more. Friends recognize the value of the awards to the community, to the property owners, to the contractors, and to the local preservation movement. It is a well-done event. It has high standards. It's a very educational event. It is a very feel -good event. From her past time on the Commission, Swaim also recognized the awards are a lot of work. She thanked Bristow for her work and said if things cannot continue the way we may like, Friends is ready to help rethink and redo the awards in any way they can with volunteer energy. John Christenson spoke. He has been a member of the Johnson County Historic Commission for 13 years. He compared the historic commission from his previous home in St. Peter, MN with the Iowa City Commission. He said St. Peter did not have the same strength and power found in Iowa City. He noted the Johnson County Historic Commission has no working budget, no staff members, and they do not have the authority to approve or deny changes made to properties. Christenson said one of the high points every year was cooperating with the Iowa City HPC to have the awards recognition. He thought it was tremendous to have all these people — contractors, architects, just ordinary people interested in preservation — brought together. Christenson said they want the awards to continue, even though they cannot contribute any money. He said they want to be involved. He believed it was an important public relations device. He said they do come up with some interesting historic sites within Johnson County to be recognized. Boyd asked Bristow what tasks could be shifted from City Staff to the combined historic committee. Bristow said Staff has been thinking about this - how to change it and make it better or more efficient. She said currently there are several major draws on Staff time. One is coming up with the nominees. One of the things that we used to do is look back through all the projects that we've reviewed over the past few years — a few years because maybe it took them that long to get finished, and the projects need to be complete before they are given an award. She said they also would just drive around town. We don't want to restrict the awards just to regulated historic properties. We really like it when we can find those properties that are outside of our historic districts and recognized landmarks. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 8, 2019 Page 9 of 11 Bristow said any projects that make it before the nomination committee should be reviewed by Staff. She thought the Commission and other groups could assist in acquiring an overall list of potential nominees and property photographs. Compiling the nominees and getting them ready for the nominating committee takes a considerable amount of time. Beyond that, the biggest time crunch is compiling information on the award winners. Some of that also must be done by Staff because we need to have a letter about an award come from the City. Bristow said in the past we have had the Committee help write the script, but Staff must edit it. Staff doesn't feel that taking the script writing away from the Committee is a good thing, but we do know with the other Commissions, staff completely write the script. Bristow said we could consider not only having a keynote speaker, which we have had in the past, but potentially having some educational moment. Bristow said the Human Rights Commission has never had to pay any speaker, but sometimes they are known people that help them sell tickets, because theirs is a paid event. Bristow said we could potentially have fewer awards. She suggested some light categories, like painting, could have the number of awards reduced. Typically we have many awards, generally 18-19. Attendees numbered around 75 last year, 100 the year prior. She said many of the winners were not the award presentation attendees, so even if there were fewer winners, she thought they could still bring in a crowd. She believed we could also err on the side of too few awards. People like to hear about the buildings, but they also like to hear about the stories in town. Having a speaker that was more entertaining might be a good thing, too. Kuenzli agreed with everything that everyone said about the importance and significance of the awards. She noted it helps create civic pride. It encourages people. It motivates people. It can be inspirational. Kuenzli said she was willing to help in any way she could to keep it going. She thought fewer awards might be a good idea and maybe people would come if it didn't go on so long. Bristow noted they try to limit the awards to one hour. DeGraw suggested four commissioners volunteer to each take on four properties to research, gather information, take photos and then meet back together on a deadline. These would be properties designated as awardees. She said a larger pool of volunteers could help come up with the nominees. Bristow suggested commissioners take stock of their own districts for nominees. Burford asked if there was a contractor list or list of building permits that could be reviewed. Bristow said contractor lists for historic preservation exist. They could be contacted for potential nominees. She advised against sending a blanket email to all general contractors. Maeve Clark spoke. She is on the Friends of Historic Preservation Board, but also works at the Iowa City Public Library. She suggested holding the awards in May, during Weber Days, when the City celebrates local history and preservation. She thought maybe the Library could help find a speaker and include the awards in the promotion they already put out. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 8, 2019 Page 10 of 11 Boyd was in favor of tying the awards in with Weber Days and preservation month. He said it would create some great synergy and allow for cross -promotion and bringing greater awareness on both ends of things. Clark noted in the past, they typically displayed the before -and -after pictures of the awardee projects at the Library. She said the pictures catch a tremendous amount of attention. Kuenzli thought people would be more likely to come out in May than in January. Boyd suggested a couple HPC Commissioners and representatives of the other organizations get together to map out a work plan around a May awards date. Then people would be needed to go look for sites and take photos, and someone to draft an email to the contractor list or past award winners. Swaim said that after the last awards in January the Mayor met with her, Agran, and Boyd. She said he thinks the awards are a wonderful thing, but he hoped more opportunities could be found to have more stories and less description of architectural features. After today's discussion, she thought if there were fewer awards, they could maybe have something more of human interest to draw more people in. Boyd believed some of the new landmarks would lend themselves to stories tying buildings and humans together and how they are part of our shared history as a community and as a City. Bristow asked for a list of Commissioners who would be involved with the initial work plan. Boyd named DeGraw, Burford, Kuenzli and himself. Agran wanted to make sure the short-term goal was organization and distribution of tasks, not reinvention of a well -attended event that would cause more work for the upcoming year's award ceremony. Boyd agreed. Boyd and Bristow mentioned research that had already been completed on some projects that could be used to obtain stories for the event. Boyd stated there was consensus to move the next award ceremony to May 2020. He said ideally, a work plan would be ready for the September meeting listing who needs to do what. Bristow encouraged attendees to watch for projects when they are out and about. When they see somebody working on something, write down the address and take a quick photo. Then come back later to check the progress and take more photos. Bristow reminded Commissioners of a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, August 19th. The next regular meeting is scheduled for September 12th. ADJOURNMENT: Agran moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Kuenzli. The meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m. Minutes submitted by Judy Jones HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 8, 2019 Page 11 of 11 :16-1[.1:7taw :7:-]:I; -11107.[K.]►•I►•46Y.9[.]0I ATTENDANCE RECORD 2018-2019 TERM 9/13 10/1 11/0 12/1 1/10 2/14 3/14 4/11 5/09 5/23 6/13 8/08 NAME EXP. 1 8 3 AGRAN, 6/30/20 X O/E X X O/E O/E X O/E O/E X X X THOMAS BOYD, KEVIN 6/30/20 X X O/E X X X X X X OE X X BUILTA, ZACH 6/30/19 X X X X X X X X X X X -- BURFORD, 6/30/21 X O/E O/E X X X X O/E X X X X HELEN CLORE, 6/30/20 X O/E X X O/E X X X O/E X OE OE GOSIA DEGRAW, 6/30/19 X X X X X O/E X X X X OE X SHARON KARR, G. T. 6/30/20 X X X X X X X X X X X X KUENZLI, 6/30/19 X X X X X O/E X X X X OE X CECILE KIPLE, LYNDI 6/30/22 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ X , 6/30/21 X X X X X X X X X X X X QUENTIENTIN SELLERGREN, 6/30/22 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X JORDAN SHOPE, LEE 6/30/21 O/E X O/E X O/E X X X X X OE --