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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-04-06 TranscriptionApril 6, 2009 City Council Page 1 April 6, 2009 City Council Special Work Session 6:11 P.M. Council Present: Bailey, Champion, Correia, Hayek, O'Donnell, Wilburn, Wright Staff: Lombardo, Helling, Karr, Dilkes, Davidson, O'Brien, Rummel, Bollinger Others Present: Gunn - UISG Representative Council Appointments: Bailey/ You will need to wear your mics. Okay. First item on the work session agenda - Council appointments -Senior Center. Correia/ Well, upon reconsideration and (mumbled) based on, um, references, um, Carole Thompson (mumbled) I greatly respect, um, I would support Charlotte (mumbled) um, L ..I did have concerns, and I know we, that was a meeting where we, uh, had technical difficulties. The Mayor wasn't speaking loud enough. I do have some concerns about, or I have had concerns. I think that she can be strident, um, at times, to the point where she might not be as effective, um (mumbled) she has a valid perspective as aloes-income senior. I think that she does, um, advocate for needs oflow-income seniors, and I think that that is a need, um, that...constituency that doesn't have, um, hasn't had a direct representative on the Senior Center, and so um, I would support her nomination, her appointment, to the Commission. Bailey/ Do we have others who would support Charlotte's nomination? I would. Champion/ I would too. Bailey/ Three. Do we have another? (several talking) Okay, there's four. Okay. All right. Downtown parking, um, loading zone update. Chris? Downtown Parking/Loading Update (ref. IP#2): O'Brien/ Hello again. Uh, Mark Rummel and myself came to answer any questions you might have. Uh, I placed a memo in the packet, summarizing what's been accomplished and what we haven't done yet, um, I guess just a reminder back, I think it was December when we first, December 1st, uh, was the first meeting we discussed our proposal, um, it was kind of a packaged proposal of a lot of items that, um, had to take place, several of which couldn't take place until, uh, budget approval. They involved rate increases, um, to meters, permits, um...citations, so those are all part of the budget process. Um, at that time, uh, we were directed to move forward with the loading zone on 10 S. Dubuque, which we have done, um, and I know there are some questions so... Bailey/ I bet Connie has some questions. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of April 6, 2009. Apri16, 2009 Ciry Council Page 2 Champion/ I do. Well, I have some comments. Um, two people mentioned to me today that they thought downtown was dying, because they've driven through and that block of Dubuque Street is totally empty, 99% of the time. There was not one car parked in there this afternoon, except for one small commercial van and some pizza van. And I think we've taken two blocks, plus a block of Iowa Avenue, plus another part of the block on Iowa Avenue by Iowa Book and Supply, and made them non-usable, and I'm sure 1,144 vehicle violations, I bet 90 of those have been my customers, and probably a thousand have been other customers for downtown. We may see two blocks that...that I, I mean, I don't go to work at 9:00 in the morning, and it maybe busy then. I don't even go to work at 10:00 in the morning. Maybe it's busy then. But when I am there, and my...my employees and Jim Mondonaro commented on today, and other people, that is rarely used for commercial vehicles. If we had one block it'd still be more than enough. LTh, one day there were four pizza cars parked there, and this afternoon there was not one time there was actually a commercial vehicle there. From the time I got to the store until I left at 4:30. We went out and looked purposely. And I think your...we're already now four businesses closing downtown, and these aren't bars (mumbled) maybe one bar. So, you know, I think this has not worked out in reality. I think parking in the center of the street, at the time (mumbled) problem, and we've really taken up a lot of parking for customers that's not being used for commercial vehicles. I'm not sure who's using it. People are using it, and they're getting tickets. And that's a11...I made this comment to the City Council before, uh, and it totally amazes me on how little use that is getting, especially on Iowa Avenue, and Dubuque Street. So the commercial vehicle problem is probably not as great as we made it sound. When I think about when they parked in the middle of the street, there were rarely more than three there and now we've given them three blocks to park in. That's all I can say, but nobody agrees with me. Bailey/ Amy? Correia/ Well, I appreciate the memo that was in the packet. It was very thorough, um, especially the information about why there wasn't any painting on the pavement yet, because of the cold weather, so you know, I think that was important. I don't think...I don't think that we've had this in place long enough, and with the combination of the other things that we're going to be putting in place, like the no stopping/parking or whatever on Washington, because you still see that quite a bit, um, because we don't have those signs up yet, um, and so I guess I'm...we talked about this as a complete package, from the memo you have initiated the conversation with the Downtown Association about changing the, um... O'Brien/ Going to the one-way. Correia/ ...going to the one-way, and I think that that's something that, you know, that would capture the parking. I mean, I do think that, um, with having that all of Dubuque Street, that maybe we've talked about opening up some of the commercial on Iowa, move it back to...non-commercial, um, or whatever, parking, um... O'Brien/ We talked about a 15-minute loading zones or potentially metered stalls. (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of Apri16, 2009. April 6, 2009 City Council Page 3 Correia/ I mean, and L ..it seems to me that it's like...are pizza delivery trucks considered commercial loading? It seems like that's a good use, cause otherwise they're in the middle of the street. Champion/ They aren't really. They used to park somewhere else, because they... Correia/ They used to park in the middle. I would see them in the middle. Champion/ Not the pizza delivery trucks, they didn't. Well, Amy, L ..I think that fines that you think this is a good idea, but pretty soon you won't have to worry about any delivery trucks downtown, cause there won't be anybody to deliver to. Correia/ Well, I don't know, I don't know that. Champion/ Especially on Dubuque Street. L ..I really find this, as a business person, and even as a City Council person, that it's absurd that we're tying up two blocks that most of the time aren't being used by anybody, except a customer who's getting a ticket. Hayek/ Well, I, you know, I'm a downtown business person too. I don't want to dampen the activity and patronage of that area at all, but I have to agree with Amy. I mean, we've...staff went through a comprehensive analysis of this and met with everybody from the Downtown Association to individual merchants and...and us, and we came up with a fairly comprehensive approach, that has not been fully executed, and um, maybe we should have executed it all at once, but we decided, I think, to implement what we could at the time and then do what remains to be done, uh, when we're able to do that. And so I think we have to blame ourselves if there's been a piecemeal laying out of...of these, uh, steps, um, but uh, if we do do those remaining things, you know, we'll probably go one-way. That will open up more, um, customer parking on...on Dubuque Street. It will also eliminate the still problematic commercial property...commercial parking on Washington, which has yet to be resolved, and um, so I...I guess I'm in favor of...of waiting longer and...and making sure this is fully implemented, and then taking stock, and if it's boneheaded after we've, uh, been able to collect all of the facts and seen how this works in totality, then...then we can reconsider it, but you know, last Thursday or Friday at some point in the afternoon I saw, uh, beer trucks lining the entire, uh, east side of Dubuque Street, from Iowa to Washington, um, I get there pretty early in the morning, you know, 8:00 or 8:30 and I'm seeing quite a bit of activity, uh, even the commercial loading zone on the north side of, uh, Atlas Restaurant on...on Iowa Avenue. So, um, I, you know, I'm not in favor of doing something stupid, but I don't think we're at a point where we should reconsider this, in fact I think we should wait and see. O'Brien/ Here's what we've seen, just to summarize, it was kind of tough to...to lay out, but I think a conversational was the way to go with this. What we've seen is, once again it usually takes just one non-commercial vehicle to mess up the entire loading zone. That was our motivation for upping the fine for...for that loading zone. So once we eliminate the 1,144 citations, or minimize those by upping that rate, um, we're not doing that for a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of April 6, 2009. Apri16, 2009 City Council Page 4 revenue generator. This is strictly a behavioral change is what we're trying to get with this fine. Um... Champion/ Well then let me ask you this, or the Council as whole, now you're talking about eliminating stopping and parking on Washington Street, and yet Washington Street has three big loading zones that are not used by commercial vehicles because there you have that 15-minute anybody can stop here. So, does that mean that the businesses on Washington Street are more important than the ones on Dubuque Street? But you've allowed them to have 15-minute parking in their loading zones. But you don't allow it on Dubuque Street. Am I right? I mean, I'm right. Also on Clinton. Those are all (both talking) O'Brien/ But our...our initial proposal was to put a commercial loading zone up on, uh, Clinton and Washington at that intersection, and after feedback from businesses, they said no. Champion/ No...right. I don't blame 'em! O'Brien/ Right, which we...the feedback we got from Dubuque Street was that they liked the change to the commercial loading zone, to remove the vehicles from the middle of the street, which once again, our initial...what our goal was was to eliminate...parking in the middle of...of Dubuque Street...to get the commercial traffic so that it wasn't causing congestion, um, and I will say almost to a certainty that we have minimized, if not eliminated, the center parking in Dubuque Street. Champion/ That's true. (several talking) O'Brien/ Now where those people have moved...um, it seems to be Washington Street, in the no- parking anytime area, which is the area...it's kind of where the planters are in front of the Post Office, the Jefferson Building, in that area, um, it's a no-parking anytime.. . Champion/ But they're probably not parking there to deliver beer (both talking) O'Brien/ Hawkeye...Hawkeye, it's the Hawkeye Distributor, the food, uh, it's flex sales (mumbled) um, we've actually contacted them directly every time we see them, uh, we actually call the distributors directly and say this is, you know, you're going to get tickets if you continue to park here. This...we opened up... Bailey/ ...call the University as well, because I see facilities planning there all the time. O'Brien/ Um... Bailey/ I see their vans (both talking) O'Brien/ I haven't seen them to call them, but I'm not saying we haven't. Our...it's whoever we see. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of Apri16, 2009. Apri16, 2009 City Council Bailey/ Yeah, I know. (several talking) Page 5 Lombardo/ Do you have a...a timeframe for the...the one-way Dubuque change to be made, is that with JCCOG now? O'Brien/ Right. We actually, um, Mark, myself, John Yapp met with the DTA, uh, March 18th I believe is what it was. Uh, they have a meeting Thursday, this coming Thursday, to discuss it with the Board, uh, we're waiting for their feedback. We wanted to see what their...try to get some buy-in from the DTA, present to them before we made a change without a chance for feedback, um, spoke to Darla again about it today, um, she'll be contacting me after the meeting to let me know how it went. Um.. . Bailey/ Well, Chris has indicated that he will provide an update for us in early August, and then again in early October, so there are other opportunities for decision points, once we have the entire package, and observe how that works. O'Brien/ And I think that's the key is until we get the fines in place, until we get all those other items in place, this one change to Dubuque Street um...while it...it solved the problem of the middle, I think it pushed people other places because, uh...personal vehicles are taking up a lot of spaces in those commercial zones, which, you know, the whole point was to open them up for commercial traffic, which like I said, is now moved over to Washington. We even see them double-parking up on Clinton Street now, which is something we hadn't seen before, um.. . Champion/ Well, have you observed like I've observed how little use that gets in the afternoons? Has anybody bothered walking up there in the afternoons? O'Brien/ Uh, we go through, well, we have enforcement there all day, and our supervisors go through, we drive through when we're coming downtown, um, I think a lot of the commercial loading and unloading takes places prior to 12:00, um, you know, a lot of the problems we were having was the, over the lunch hour, so basically ti112:00, which is kind of what we're seeing. Bailey/ And I assume that we could track that, and if we need to open it up, well, I guess once the one-way works it'll be a different sort of configuration, but.. . O'Brien/ And we had talked about delivery hours up front too, and that was... Bailey/ Right. O'Brien/ ...I think that was a little delicate. People not wanting to limit it to certain times of day. We had said delivery hours until I think 11:00 A.M. was what... Bailey/ Right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of Apri16, 2009. Apri16, 2009 City Council Page 6 Hayek/ You know, Connie, I'm sympathetic to your concern about there being, you know, anyone can park here for 15 minutes parking in some parts of downtown and not in others, um, and you know, I think that would be one thing we would look at closer, once we roll this out. Champion/ My real main concern though, Matt, is that in the afternoons there's nobody parked there. Bailey/ And I noticed that this afternoon, and I...I understand the perception that something's wrong with downtown because there are no cars here. I do understand that, um, I think that, but I want to see how this entire package works, because Washington Street even before this construction on it continues to be very congested. Correia/ And I also think once all the other pieces...the line markings on the pavement are there, if we move to one-way and there's more parking, it seems like this is a loading zone, that's why there's no parking there. I mean, I don't see it as (several talking) Wright/ Right now it still does look like a big string of parking that nobody's (several talking) Bailey/ ...like you got really lucky, until you read the signs. Wright/ Like something's very wrong! Bailey/ Yes! Correia/ Right. O'Brien/ And that loading, there will be two 15-minute loading zones, if the one-way goes through the way we, two 15-minute loading zones on Dubuque Street, or, yeah, on the 10 block of South Dubuque Street, for...basically passenger loading and unloading, people that are running into businesses and that was part of the intent of the initial plan. Bailey/ It seems like there's a majority who's interested in sort of getting that entire package and reevaluating, um, as Chris as laid out in early August and early October, does that seem...I mean, that's (several talking) okay. Wright/ That gives us time to get all the pieces in place and actually, um, be able to analyze this on the basis of its merit, completed, as opposed to right now where it doesn't look great. I agree with Connie. Bailey/ Right, and not that I expect that we won't continue to hear concerns, because I think that that's part of the (both talking) Champion/ ...eight more months so...(laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of April 6, 2009. Apri16, 2009 City Council Page 7 O'Brien/ And we'll have about a full month's worth of data by the time August rolls around, um, if we implement everything in July lst...by July lst. So, just... Bailey/ I think we want you to implement everything (both talking) O'Brien/ It's just when the, we still have to get the fees through the Council process, so...everything else will be in place. Bailey/ Okay. Wilburn/ Are you counting the days, Connie? Or... Bailey/ Okay, any other questions for Chris? (several talking) Yeah, let's...July lst is what we would really like to see, and I think we can make that happen...we can make that happen. Wright/ ...keep us in the process, would you let us know what...just a paragraph of the results of the Downtown (mumbled) Bailey/ Uh-huh, good idea. O'Brien/ Yeah. Thank you. Bailey/ Thank you. All right. Agenda items. Agenda Items: ITEM 14. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE IOWA CITY PARKS, RECREATION AND TRAILS MASTER PLAN FINAL REPORT AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Bailey/ Well, I'll jump in, for Item 14 where, um, this, um, approved...adopting the Iowa City Parks and Recreation and Trails Master Plan final report and executive summary, which I think is really exciting. I would like to have a meeting with the Parks and Rec Commission about this, just to discuss some of the ideas in there, um, there's quite a bit of capital improvements suggested and indicated, so I think it would be good to have a discussion on it. Correia/ Yes, because I also wanted to make sure that if...when we adopt the Master Plan, that we're going to (mumbled) that we begin to use the Master Plan in all Parks and Rec budgeting, CIP, what...what's in there... Bailey/ And I think that's in the intent (both talking) at least that's what I think. Correia/ ...don't want it to just go on a shelf -this is a great plan. I want (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of Apri16, 2009. April 6, 2009 City Council Page 8 Wright/ An important thing to do with any of the...the master plans, the district plans that Council gets would be to sit down with the issuing body and just find out what their process was going in to that, what were the parts that maybe were a little more contentious than others. I'd find that useful. Bailey/ Yeah, and I...okay. Correia/ Yeah, and I think that's good, but I also think that then directing the leadership of Parks and Rec department, the Director and the Superintendents that when things are forwarded to City Manager and then to us for considerations on programming, funding, that this is to be used as a basis for those. Bailey/ So let's defer this, and let's defer it indefinitely so we can schedule a meeting. with Parks and Rec Commission... O'Donnell/ Good idea. Bailey/ ...and, um, get that set up as soon as possible and...and get this going, but... Champion/ yeah, I think that's a good idea too, but I was thinking maybe we could do it before a work session or... Bailey/ I think it should be part of a work session. Champion/ So we have it, yeah, so we have a date already set. Bailey/ Yeah, I think we should see if some of our work sessions work, first and foremost. Okay? So I'll just be looking for that motion to defer indefinitely for that Item 14. Thank you. Other agenda items? ITEM 21. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND THE ARTIST FOR THE WATER WORKS PRAIRIE PARK SCULPTURE AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST THE SAME. (DEFERRED FROM 3/24) Wright/ I've got one. Bailey/ Okay, which one? Wright/ Well, Item 21, which is the Water Works Prairie Park sculpture. Bailey/ All right. Wright/ Um... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of April 6, 2009. April 6, 2009 City Council Bailey/ And Marsha's here so... Page 9 Wright/ We have a couple of options on this one...defer the timing of the construction for a couple of years. The other would be to, uh, terminate the agreement and pay the artist two lump sums, over two different fiscal years, and this has been such a contentious project. Dilkes/ Mike, can I interrupt you for a minute, cause L ..I...we don't have to make those decisions right now. What the...what the renegotiated contract calls for is, it gives the council atwo-year period to make a decision about what you're going to do on this...with this piece of art -whether you're going to go forward or not. There will be two payments to the artist, one July 2009, one July 2010. If in that two-year period the Council chooses to move forward with the project, those two payments will be applied to the $80,000 contract price. If in that two-year period the Council chooses not to proceed, then those...that, then the artist will keep that $10,000. Wright/ Okay, thank you for that clarification. (several talking) Dilkes/ So that's the...that contract is, he has agreed to that, he has signed that, um, that's what we're proposing. Wright/ Okay. I appreciate the clarification on that. Bailey/ So... Wright/ Yeah, I'm...I still have some real concerns, uh, about going forward with this sculpture. Champion/ We aren't going forward with it. Wright/ Pardon me? Bailey/ But...but...yeah we are. Champion/ We owe hxm $10,000. Wright/ Yes. Champion/ We're not ,going forward with it. That'll be decided in two years. Wright/ Or one. Bailey/ Well, this is, um, this is, uh, as Eleanor I guess reframed it is actually addressing our contract obligations. It's not necessarily addressing the project of the sculpture, which will be determined at a later date. So, I guess our question tonight is addressing our contract obligations. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of Apri16, 2009. April 6, 2009 City Council Page 10 Hayek/ Well, and I think what Mike's trying to do is address the other issue. Bailey/ I know, and if he wants to address it tonight, he can, but we don't have to. Wright/ We don't have to. Um...you know, I'm just afraid that if...should this ever be built, that it's going to become kind of a negative icon, because this has been so contentious. Champion/ I'm not surge about that. People have short memories. Correia/ Is there...is tl~.ere the opportunity to work with this artist, to design a alternate public art that doesn't colt quite so much...that... Bailey/ If Public Arts.'~,..Public Art Commission would bring us another project that would use this artist in a different way, this obligates us to apply it to this particular project, but we could do anothler contract amendment. Dilkes/ Certainly. Bollinger/ I can address a little bit of that, I mean, just in terms of the conversations that I've had with Dale Merrill since this whole thing kind of escalated. Um, he's very interested in first maintaining the relationship with the Public Art program and the City. Um, he secondly, sure,:, he would love to do that project, or at least something, um...in, of that level of visibility (mumbled) renegotiating another location with another sculpture, um (mumbled) but that's...that's up to the artist, uh, at least for the next two-year period, I'm assuming. Dilkes/ Yeah. What this does is buy you some time to have those discussions, and make a decision about, ..well, number one, make a decision about this particular piece of art, and number two, hive those discussions if you choose to, and we certainly can have them with the artist.' But right now you have an issue...right now you have to deal with a binding contract and you need to limit any damages you're going to pay, as a result of breaching that contract, and this is, I think, the best way to do that. Bailey/ And if...unless there's a lot of interest in addressing the art tonight, let's address the issue of the contractthat's before us and give ourselves more time to address the issue of the art, and allow ~'ublic Art to also. I mean, unless you have a strong interest in addressing the issue of this sculpture tonight. Wright/ No, and actually I appreciate Eleanor's clarifications. I read through this a couple of times and I didn't quite see it that way, and...I'm willing to... Hayek/ That's fine. Bailey/ Okay. All right. Other agenda items? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of Apri16, 2009. April 6, 2009 City Council Page ll ITEM 11. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 9 ENTITLED "MOTbR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC", CHAPTER 7 ENTITLED "VEHZ~CLE SIZE, WEIGHT AND LOAD," TO RESTRICT LARGE TRUCE TRAFFIC ON NORTH SUMMIT STREET AND DEWEY STREET. (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Hayek/ Um, go ahead. Correia/ Oh, I just, cart we get, um, I mean this is Council time, never mind. Bailey/ Okay. Matt? Hayek/ Um, Item 11 is this, uh, weight embargo on some streets. Um, is there, I mean, this is probably fairly pro-forma, but can I get a little bit more detail on this? Davidson/ yeah, we've had a...we've had a regulatory sign up there, because of the Dairy trucks occasionally they'll get lost down North Summit Street, and as you know, if you get down into North...if you get down into North Summit and Dewey, I mean, it's...you can barely get a car through there, much less a semi truck, and apparently at least according to anecdotal evidence, it's been getting worse, and apparently they hit a fire hydrant a couple a weeks ago and created a real mess. So, the...the thought was to just kind of...this enables us to enforce it more readily, um, but it really doesn't change anything significantly in terms of what we've been trying to accomplish, but it would allow us to enforce it. Champion/ Those are really narrow old streets (several talking) Bailey/ Well, to make that turn into traffic, I can't even imagine that would be possible. Okay. Is that what you need? (several talking) Okay, other agenda items? Okay. Um, information packet discussion. Information Packet ~scussion (3/26 & 4/2): Hayek/ Uh...I would, I guess I'd just say I was, um, impressed by the disparity in Aid to Agencies funding between this community and our neighbors to the west. Looked like, I don't know, I think we're probably what -four times the size of Coralville, and um, our funding of Elder Services, for example, which touts the services it provides in Coralville is 30 to 1. That's a comment. I'm not...necessarily soliciting anything, but I was...I was bothered by that. Wright/ We've discussed that before (mumbled) money together. Bailey/ Other information packet? Um, just regarding the joint meeting on Wednesday, um, I assume that all of you are planning to attend? Correia/ I can't. I have a conflict. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of April 6, 2009. Apri16, 2009 City Council Page 12 Bailey/ Okay. O'Donnell/ I may have a conflict. Bailey/ Okay. Um... Wilburn/ I will be there for a short period of time, and then I have a (mumbled) meeting. Bailey/ All right. Um, regarding our portion of it, because we were going to present, um, Planning Director's going to present information from our Comp Plan. I think that, um, asking, I meet with the School Board President and I indicated to her that we would be asking for a regular meeting with staff, a quarterly regular meeting with our staff and their staff. Um, for planning purposes, similar to what we do with the University. I think we had discussed that, and I think it might also be a good idea to, um, ask them to...within their Facilities Plan, ask the District to indicate their commitment to, um, schools located in our older neighborhoods, not just historic neighborhoods, and...and noting, um, those schools as the critical component of community planning, um, and maintenance of neighborhood stability. So we are talking broad, or allowing them in their Facilities Plan to recognize the community planning aspect of what they are doing. I think that would lay good groundwork for those regular meetings with Planning staff and other staff from our, um, and it's not necessarily a policy, well it is I guess a policy indicator in their, um, Facilities Plan, but...just understanding that. So, and then um, I also talked with, um, Supervisor Sullivan and um, Toni Cilek about encouraging us to have these regular joint meetings, cause I think we're losing communication, um, without them. So...I think that that's one of the things I would like to bring to that table. Hayek/ So, all right, we'll have...we'll have Jeffs presentation... Bailey/ Jeff will do a presentation. Hayek/ Is that sort of part one? Are you essentially part two? How do you lay out the (mumbled) Bailey/ I'm...I will ask for the joint meeting, maybe, um, a former School Board Member who now serves on Council might ask that a Facilities Plan, um, the...include it in the Facilities Plan. She's only got eight months left -she can do this! (laughter) Um, and then...I think that the people I've talked to...I haven't talked to Coralville, are interested in regular joint meetings and that commitment, even if it's just a general update from the...so, if that comes up from others, it's said. If it doesn't, I'll put it out there. Hayek/ Okay. Bailey/ Okay? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of April 6, 2009. Apri16, 2009 City Council Page 13 Hayek/ Yeah. I don't have a preference to how it's laid out. I just want to make sure the points are delivered by somebody. Bailey/ yeah, and I don't...I don't feel like I have to do all the talking, and Connie I think would be the right person to deliver that other message, um... Champion/ I'll try to be nice. Bailey/ I didn't say that (mumbled) O'Donnell/ I don't think she can be nice anyway! (laughter) Bailey/ Okay, any other info packet discussion? Amy, you had Council time? Do you want to wait for later or now? Do you want to wait for Council...or Council time now? Council Time: Correia/ Oh, no, no. Um, the, um, the affordable housing task force, where...recommendations, I know this was on the JCCOG agenda at the last meeting which I was not able to attend, um, but I wondered if we could put this on a work session agenda to talk about, because I mean, there are recommendations for each...municipality to review and...and um...(mumbled) moving forward. Bailey/ What is our next work session agenda shaping up to be, Michael? Karr/ It's a combined one, just to remind... Correia/ Oh, so it's not going to work. Bailey/ So, no, it might work, depending upon (mumbled) but would even the first meeting in Maybe acceptable? No, are you... Correia/ Yeah. Bailey/ Is there interest to do that? I think it would be good. Okay. (several talking) We'll put it on the list and get it on first meeting in May or... Karr/ You had requested that meeting be kept short, because of Executive Session. Bailey/ One of the meetings in May. Davidson/ Madame Mayor, I was just speaking with the JCCOG Director today. One complication is that JCCOG's main resource person has left his employment, where he was assisting JCCOG, and is now taking...taken, replaced Mike Sullivan at the County Board of Supervisors, and so JCCOG may be waiting for the Housing Fellowship to fill the Executive Director position. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of April 6, 2009. Apri16, 2009 City Council Page 14 Correia/ Housing Trust Fund. Davidson/ Housing Trust Fund, excuse me, to uh, to fill that position, so they have a new resource person (several talking) possible to maybe... Lombardo/ We'll contact John Yapp and just see when, what his thoughts on a meeting date would be, and...(several talking) Bailey/ ...doesn't lose his expertise, just because he's with the Supervisors either. I mean, he might.. . Davidson/ ...John left me with that implication that maybe Andy was not going to be a resource person for JCCOG anymore, because of his new position. Correia/ But I mean, I do think at Iowa City we have the advantage of we have Steve Long, I mean, we have folks that, um, other cities don't have, with expertise. Davidson/ I guess in terms of your...your timing, John might be glad for the delay! He went to a subsequent meeting just so he could make sure he had a resource person, and if it...if it is not the Housing Trust Fund individual, like you say, it maybe Steve Long or somebody who can assist John. I'm sure that something like that can be worked out. Bailey/ I mean, I think that's good. So, one of the meetings in May, maybe the last meeting in May, but we'll talk about it. Okay. Council...any other Council time? Um...that was...(both talking) go ahead. That was essentially also pending discussion items. Wright/ Um, there's...I've been getting a lot of expressions of concerns from folks in the community about the...the perceived spike in crime in Iowa City, and of course we saw the, uh, articles in the paper last week about the Police Chief talking about the cameras downtown. I think that's probably something that the Council needs to address in some way. I...I'd like to see some figures for starters. Correia/ Yeah, I'm interested in that too. Bailey/ (both talking) part of budget prioritization? Correia/ I mean, I think we should be getting an annual report like we get from the Fire Department, um, I mean, I know that they collect the data on numbers of police reports, crimes, arrests, I mean, I get that data from our juvenile court on juvenile arrests, I mean, I know that there's the ability to do that. Bailey/ Okay. Wright/ I don't know if it's increased reporting in the newspaper or what, but there is a lot more.. . This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of Apri16, 2009. April 6, 2009 City Council Page 15 Bailey/ The perception or reality, yeah. Wright/ (mumbled) we don't know if (mumbled) but I think it's something that Council needs to take a look at. Correia/ If we could get even a few years worth, to look at.. . Lombardo/ Yeah, I'll ask the Chief to, or staff, to provide athree-year trend to date. I'm not sure how current, you know, when the log information and how current it would be, whether it'd be in the last few months or last quarter, but I'11...I'll clarify that and get better information, um, one...one observation is that, notwithstanding the data, often perceptions of crime or perceptions of safety, uh, become reality, and so you just...regardless of what the numbers may or may not show, the fact that there's this perception of...of increased crime, it's something that should be discussed and...and worked through, because yeah, it's as pressing as...as the data to support it. Wright/ Yeah, and I think it's a good point that perceptions can be reality. Hayek/ yeah, and there's a difference between perceptions and hard statistics, but there's also anecdotal crime and that has been occurring, and..in recent months, anecdotally it seems to be going up, and I really think there's a groundswell of concern throughout the community about this, and, um, and the Ped Mall has seen some unfortunate activity lately, um, and uh, but as have other parts of town. So...you know what? Someone tried to break into my house last night, uh, a drunk kid from the dorms showed up at 10:00 and spent 15 minutes trying to get in my various doors, as I called 9-1-1, and kept my wife and kids upstairs and scared the living you know what out of us, and they got there and they gave him a public intox second charge and he was unarmed and stupid and drunk, but he was...we didn't know that. Wright/ It's hard for you to know that when you're inside and somebody's banging on your door. Hayek/ And that pales in comparison to some of the things we've seen lately, but it's uh, keep your doors locked, folks! And I wasn't going to even mention that tonight, but you set me off! (laughter) Bailey/ Okay, so...we'll talk about it. And if there are, um, we're going to get (several talking) yeah. You'll let us know when we, when that can be programmed, right? Lombardo/ (away from mic) update you in the At-a-Glance this week so it gets in the immediate packet, and let you know specifically when you can expect to see that. Bailey/ That seems realistic (mumbled) May as well. Okay, Marian, you wanted to talk about meeting schedules. Discussion of Meeting Schedules: This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of Apri16, 2009. Apri16, 2009 City Council Page 16 Karr/ I had, uh, proposed a summer meeting schedule in your packets. It was based on the information I had on availability and conflicts, and I'd like to see if we could nail that schedule down tonight. Bailey/ July 8th doesn't work, or that July 6th, 7th doesn't work for me. Karr/ Again, we can be flexible. We can combine, we can go down to one meeting. Bailey/ ...won't work for me. Karr/ So the July... Bailey/ 7th won't work... Karr/ 7th does not work. So... Champion/ And that's the... Bailey/ Formal. Champion/ When is the 4th? Bailey/ Saturday. Champion/ ...a holiday, or is Monday considered the holiday? Bailey/ Friday. Karr/ Friday is the holiday for the City. Bailey/ (mumbled) Wright/ The 6th? Karr/ The 6th ~is a work day. Wright/ And the 7th does not work (mumbled) (several talking) Bailey/ Or I'm fine to combine, whatever. I'm... O'Donnell/ ...conflict there on the 7th also. Karr/ I'm sorry? Champion/ Why don't we combine on the 6th? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of Apri16, 2009. Apri16, 2009 City Council Page 17 O'Donnell/ good idea. Bailey/ Is that going to work after a holiday weekend...for people? Okay. Karr/ Okay. So that's, is that the only change, is to remove the 7th and combine for July 6th? Bailey/ Does the 27th, 28th work for people? At this point? Karr/ And then one meeting in August, the 18th? Bailey/ And are we comfortable with one meeting in August? I think that's what we've typically done. People are okay with that? Champion/ Are we doing the, uh, work session and then the meeting, or just the combined? Karr/ We have a regular...we have both. Monday, Tuesday. Champion/ Right, okay. Bailey/ And school starts that week. Champion/ So...that's... Correia/ It starts the 17th? Bailey/ Isn't it? Correia/ Wow! Champion/ It starts earlier and earlier every year. Bailey/ But that works for people? Okay. Um, September, phew, 14th and 15th, does that work? (several responding) 28th and 29th? Sorry...okay, 28th and 29th. Okay. Hayek/ Um, on...on meetings, I, uh, there's a meeting May 4th and 5th. I think I've advised you guys of this, but I am, uh, likely going to be in a trial those dates, and so my attendance is very dicey at best, right now. Champion/ you're talking about May? Hayek/ May. Karr/ May 4th, 5th? Hayek/ Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of Apri16, 2009. April 6, 2009 City Council Page 18 Karr/ That is, um, that's regular meetings, 4th, 5th, that's also evaluation. Hayek/ Oh, God, that's right! Um, well, I'll have to, I mean, it's in town and so, um...yeah. (several talking) Well maybe L . . Karr/ Or do we want, do you want to review your May schedule? I think... Bailey/ Why don't you figure out what you can do and let Marian know and we can review our May schedule if need be. Karr/ Because I think the following week, I think Mike...Mike Wright, is gone. Champion/ Is the...the evaluation is after the meeting though, so...Matt... Hayek/ You know, I suppose I could...I could skip some of the meetings and sit in on evaluation, just to keep that...(several talking) yeah, and I don't want to skip that (several talking) absolutely! I'm just worried about my attendance at the meetings, and so you know, if there was a particular agenda item that requires my presence, then maybe we...(several talking) try to get along without me (several talking and laughing) as difficult as it will be! Bailey/ Okay. Would, okay, all right. We set? Let's uh, meet back here at 7:00 and go into the Special Formal. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of April 6, 2009.