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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-06-30 Transcription#2 Page 1 ITEM 2. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED. Wright: Move adoption. Champion: Second. Bailey: Moved by Wright, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Just had a quick question, Dale, about Item 2.£1, this extension for, um, public access TV. Do you think athree-month extension will be sufficient? It would be nice to not see any more extensions. Helling: Yeah, I...I'm hoping very much it doesn't take that long, but we wanted to be liberal so that if it did take that long we wouldn't have to come back a third time. Bailey: Okay (mumbled). Any further discussion? Roll call. Item carries 6-0, Correia absent. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #3 Page 2 ITEM 3. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA). Bailey: This is a time for those who would like to address the Council on items that are not on tonight's agenda, to approach the podium, state your name for the record, and limit your comments to five minutes or less. I think we have people here for community comment. Looks like it! Driscoll: Hi, I'm Stacey Driscoll. Um, I'm with IC, um, Friends of Urban Chickens, and as you know, we've been collecting signatures, um, for...on a petition to urge Council to consider, um, an urban chicken ordinance. I believe that Misha Goodman, the Director of Animal Control, is currently working on, um, revisions to the entire animal control ordinance, and I spoke with her yesterday, and she is planning on presenting her revisions and recommendations, um, within the next few weeks. So, I just wanted to take the opportunity to present to you the petition, the signatures that we have received so far. Um, we had a total of over 700, um, unfortunately, about 37 of those were bogus signatures that I had to remove. So we are coming with a total of 676, um, signatures that, um, I can give to you, and um, so these signatures are of residents that are supporting, um, urban chickens, and what we're asking is that you would allow five, um, five laying hens, no roosters, no slaughter, um, there are several reasons, and I believe that everyone received an invitation to the (can't hear) chickens, um, documentary that we had on Saturday, except for you, Mike, um, and I, oh, Mike O'Donnell, you did not receive it. I got it returned, so I brought it for you, um, there's also...what's that? O'Donnell: I said I moved. Driscoll: You moved, okay. That would be why. So there's also, um, a brochure in here that...that outlines a few of the benefits of...of urban chickens and also has several resources for you to check out on your own, if you would like to do so. Bailey: Okay. Karr: Motion to accept. Wilburn: So moved. Hayek: Second. Bailey: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Hayek. All those in favor say aye. Motion carries. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #3 Page 3 Wilburn: A quick question, um, I know we can't discuss this, Eleanor, but um, technically are small livestock listed as restricted in the...prohibited, uh, in our current code or... Dilkes: Currently, um, the zoning code does not allow chickens in residential... areas. Wilburn: Okay. Dilkes: You would have to make an ordinance change to allow that. Wilburn: Okay, all right. Bailey: So, Misha, as I understand, as you understand, is bringing us, um, a memo regarding this, and I think we will be looking at that probably the end of July, Dale? Is that when you think for the timeline? Helling: My understanding is it'll be ready within the next couple weeks. So that would probably be the first opportunity you'd have. Bailey: So the first opportunity we will have we will discuss it at a work session, which is a public meeting, um, and then we'll go from there. Driscoll: Thank you for your time. Bailey: Thank you. Anybody else wishing to, uh, make comments to the Council? Okay. Seeing no one, we will move on to Planning and Zoning matters. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #5 Page 4 ITEM 5. APPROVING A PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND AUTHORIZING THE CONVEYANCE OF LOT 1, NORTH AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT, PART TWO, TO THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA. A) PUBLIC HEARING Bailey: This is a public hearing (bangs gavel). Public hearing is open. Public hearing is closed (bangs gavel). B) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Champion: Move the resolution. Bailey: Moved by Champion. Wright: Second. Bailey: Seconded by Wright. Discussion? Hayek: We talked about this at, uh, our work session yesterday and I think there's consensus in this group, as well as with the Airport Commission, that, uh, while on one hand, uh, this sale isn't ideal in that it does not add to the, uh, the tax base, um, the circumstances are unique in that this, uh, lot is, would be acquired by the University for its Aircare facility, which is complementary to the function of the Airport itself, uh, provides a general benefit to...to the community and to the County, um, and that it's for the full asking price, which uh, goes a long way towards retiring Airport debt. I think it makes sense. Bailey: Uh-huh. Any other discussion? Okay, roll call. Item carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #7 Page 5 ITEM 7. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 6 "PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY" TO AMEND THE RESTRICTED GARBAGE DUMPSTER PICK-UP HOURS AFTER 10 P.M. AND BEFORE 7 A.M. (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Wright: Move first consideration. Bailey: Moved by Wright. Hayek: Second. Bailey: Seconded by Hayek. Discussion? Champion: Is this just a neighborhood... Helling: Right, this...this would be, uh, audible over a residential, the boundary line of a residential, uh, property in a residential zone. Champion: Okay, because when you think about downtown (several talking) Helling: Right. No. No. It would have to be...the residential is defined as zoned residential. Champion: Okay, thank you. Bailey: So it won't be in downtown. Champion: (mumbled) Helling: Right, and just...just to remind you, you brought this up, uh, a few weeks ago. Something was up last year, kind of got caught in the mix with the flood, um, but there is the issue of snow removal, and that's not included here. You'll be talking about snow removal later, uh, but that's a little bit different situation because of the...the way snow falls fall unscheduled and...and so forth, so we'll be talking about that at a later time. And I think we had one or two people that inquired about that, and I...I don't...notified them of that. Champion: Well, the City can shovel my street any time. (several commenting) Bailey: Further discussion? Okay, roll call. Item carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #10 Page 6 ITEM 10. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING DISTRIBUTION OF THE "PROGRAM FOR IMPROVING NEIGHBORHOODS" (PIN) GRANT FUNDS. Wilburn: Move adoption of the resolution. Hayek: Second. Bailey: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Hayek. Discussion? Hi. Harms: Hi. I'm Chris Harms. I am here on behalf of the Neighborhood Council of Iowa City, and I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. We're pleased to present to you our grants. Um, the Neighborhood Council of Iowa City is composed of members from different neighborhoods, and we meet regularly to discuss common issues and ideas. We are now in our 14th year of PIN grants, and we ended up having more than the $15,000 that was requested this year and so we have had to go through in a lot of, um, the different neighborhoods cut their requests so we could come up (mumbled) plans so that we can get what we really wanted, um, processed and funded. Um, we want to really, uh, let you know that we appreciate the continued funding in this hard economic times. We realize that, um, that it's hard to, um, come up with money and um, most of our, uh, projects are for primarily low and moderate-income households, and includes an extensive amount of volunteer effort. Um, this year (mumbled) come up with an idea, submit a grant on the standard form, review the grants at the Neighborhood Council meeting, and have another meeting to follow up on and ask, um, questions on issues (mumbled) and then they're ranked, and that's how we come up with, um, which one of the grants that we (mumbled). We're excited to present our wide variety of grants (mumbled) 2010, which the neighborhoods have worked hard to prepare. Um, do you have any questions? Bailey: Questions? Harms: Okay. Um, the first grant request is from the Longfellow Neighborhood. Schabilion: My name is Jeff Schabilion. I'm the representative from the Longfellow Neighborhood Association, and we have two requests, uh, this year. The first one on your outline, I think, is the one for, uh, sidewalk repair. Um, the City has a, uh, a process where they send around someone to inspect sidewalks and those that are found not to be satisfactory for a variety of reasons then, uh, need to be repaired, and this falls to the homeowner to pay for that. Uh, in some cases though where there are very low income This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #10 Page 7 or elderly, um, that can be a burden, so that request there is to allow for paying partially or entirely for those that are low-income, moderate- income. I think that's really quite fair because the City imposes that request. It's to everyone's best interest that those repairs be done. The second, uh, request also is, uh, one, uh, a problem that has fallen to the Longfellow Neighborhood by City's prior actions, uh, a number of years ago when the Longfellow Manor development was going in, as part of the...that development, a portion land on the flood plain there was seeded for development of a nature trail, and the Neighborhood Association agreed to assume responsibility for care and maintenance (mumbled) and so forth. And over the years we've gotten little PIN grants to put in benches and that sort of thing. Uh, eventually, uh, (mumbled) money was used to put a pedestrian bicycle underpass under the railroad. This is something that was very badly needed because if you were a, uh, pedestrian or bicyclist, the only way to get across the railroad safely in all of that Longfellow-Creekside neighborhood was either at Summit Street or First Avenue. That's a long hike if you're going to the Sycamore Mall. So, that was...that was a very good development, but what happened is that a lot of bicycle, in fact increasing bicycle and pedestrian traffic, ends up going on the nature trail, and that trail was never designed nor built to really handle that much traffic. So this second request is to make a paved connection from the north end of that tunnel, over to, uh, the 20-foot wide paved right-of--way in Longfellow Manor. The Longfellow Manor Homeowner's Association has agreed to allowing pedestrian and bicycle traffic. It would be a wonderful solution to a problem, which actually at this point is unsafe, because the narrow nature of the trail and the high plantings and so forth make bicyclists going at high speed surprisingly encounter people with their dogs on their leash or, uh, mothers with strollers or toddlers wondering, and so this way that traffic will be detoured over in a parallel paved surface with this very modest cost to the City. Champion: Great. Bailey: That's a great idea. Schabilion: Any questions? Wright: I'm really glad to see the Neighborhood Association propose this particular grant that...that little patch of no man's land has been a problem for years. Schabilion: Yes, and it, uh, was very interesting. It's taken over two years to kind of sort out who owned what and get permission, so...and get the, there's This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. # 10 Page 8 actually written estimates now from, uh, All-American Concrete, so we know specifically...what the cost will be. Bailey: Well I thank you guys for taking this on. Mike is right, um, that this has been a problem for a while and, um, it'll be an improvement, not only for the neighborhood, but for the entire community. I think we'll all benefit from that. Klein: Good evening. Um, I'm Garry Klein at, uh, 628 Second Avenue, and my...my neighbor, uh... McKnight: I'm Maggie McKnight. Um, at 2127 Friendship Street. Klein: Uh, we were, um, working as our...as the Creekside Neighborhood Association, uh, on a PIN grant that would help some of our lower income neighbors to be able to, uh, have, uh, to improve their sidewalks and make sidewalk repairs that are required by the City. Um, there's two things I'd like to say, uh, about this type of PIN grant, is that, you know, sometimes people see these as sort of "feel good" sort of grants that the City does, you know, essentially giving us back our tax money to do things, and I...I kind of see it a little differently. I see it as...as doing two things. One, it's improving neighborhoods, and...and in our case, in our neighborhood, we're an older neighborhood, uh, we don't have brand-new streets. We don't have brand-new sidewalks. We have older neighbors, many of whom who are, you know, they want to grow old in place, and every expense they have, um, makes it harder for them to do so. So, when we were working on this grant together, Maggie and I and others, uh, we...we thought, you know, what kind of grant could we ask for that would be practical, and would help our neighborhood, both retain value to help our neighbors grow old in place, and to help those who frankly it's a struggle for them to make these kinds of repairs. And, I...Maggie, do you want to talk a little bit about the process that we went through? McKnight: Um, well, we, uh, Garry and I worked together to put together the grant, um, with the help of...who's the person from... Klein: Jen. McKnight: Jennifer...Jennifer from the, uh... Klein: The Morningside Neighborhood. McKnight: Morningside-Glendale Neighborhood (laughter) Klein: Lovely neighborhood (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #10 Page 9 McKnight: Yeah, uh, so when we sent out applications to all the neighbors, uh, people sent in their applications and, um, our hope is to be able to fund low- income neighbors to...to refund 75% of what they paid for their sidewalks, and moderate-income neighbors 50% of what they paid, um, so the neighbors are still, uh, pitching in, as well, um, and it's a very diverse neighborhood. We have a lot of elderly, um, and high...high pedestrian traffic. Klein: Yeah. And that's the other thing that, uh, these...this grant, I mean, we have abrand-new trail that runs through our neighborhood. Great thing about new trails is people are using them. The other issue for us is public safety. You know, the...you gotta get to the trail, and so having, uh, sidewalks that work and function the way they should is...is very important. It's become more important, actually. So, we're...uh, we...we feel that this grant has, uh, essentially 20 households have been helped by this, uh, particular grant. If you want to think about it t his way, per household it works out to about $10 a household to have this...this particular grant work, so we're...we hope that the City Council will see this as a favorable, uh, grant and to approve the, obviously, all the PIN grants. Thank you. Hayek: A question for you...are these, um, are the households that you helped, um, have they already incurred, uh, the expense of their sidewalk work, or is this prospective...future...it may be a mixture? McKnight: The deadline for, um, completing the sidewalk work was, uh, MaylSth I think, or June 15th. I think it was May 15th. So most of'em...that is if, um, the homeowners are taking care of it themselves. The...if...if they didn't finish it by then, the City would do it and charge them so I don't think the City has done..has finished those yet, but those who decided to take care of it themselves have completed already, and we also, um, worked with Morningside-Glendale Neighborhood to arrange a group rate so that we could, um, get a lower rate for the sidewalks. Hayek: Thank you. Bailey: Any other questions? Okay. Harms: Chris Harms from the Grant Wood Neighborhood Association, um, (mumbled) coordinator. Um, the, we have asked for different proposals (mumbled). Um, the first one I'm going to talk about is the Grant Wood Neighborhood clean up, um, we would like to partner with Reclaiming Roots with anon-profit organization that comes out and helps others, um, with different projects. We'd also...are going to be partnering with the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #10 Page 10 Realtors, um, they have a tool shed which we can use their equipment and we can go around to the different, um, parts of the neighborhood and we can do, um, raking leaves, mowing lawns, um, shrubs, um, just trying to beautify the neighborhood. And we'll be taking a lot of the junk that is laying around to the Landfill, and hopefully we can, um, get the hazardous waste team out there to so we can get rid of that, uh, there's so many people that are in poverty level that they just don't have the means, or the vehicle, to transport, um, some of the junk away. Um...so, um, we are hoping to get the...in the works, um, by the end of September, early October, before the snow flies. Is there any questions on this one? Okay, the next one is our Harvest Party. Um, this would be the fourth year for this, um, it's very well attended. The kids, parents come. We have a great time. They interact with each other, from the school. Get to see their friends from school or in the neighborhood. There's parents that can see, you know, meet the kids' parents that the kids hang out with during school, talk to them, um, we had the principal from Grant Wood School there last year and she thought it was very successful, and it was a lot of fun, and her kids couldn't wait to come back, so...so I think that, um, that is a great opportunity for us to, um, help out our community. Our little neighborhood community. Um...so we're asking for the money to, you know, help with, um, the costs of getting some games, and food, and other things related to that. LTm, our workshops, um, I know in your packet you had a list of the workshops that we did for last year. We are very busy, as you can tell, um, we still have a lot of other things that we're going...that are going on right now, um, we picked up litter with the, uh, United Way a couple weeks ago. We actually are having a car wash tomorrow, um, for the Splash Pad, urn, all the proceeds will be going there and that is with the Yes program that has been started in our area. Champion: What time is that car wash? Harms: It's from 1 to 3:30. So...all donations would be really helpful right now, um, and so we have, um, talked to several of the people that I have on here...on the proposal that are willing to come back and...and do some other hands-on, um, events for us, um, we're talking to about getting other, um, people to come in that might be helpful for the youth in our neighborhood also. And, then it's the skate, um, activities. We are, um, trying to...figure out some, uh, ways to keep the kids off the streets in our neighborhood, and we, uh, feel that this would be a good opportunity to...get skates, roller skates in the gym, have it hopefully on a weekly basis, uh, possibly with music and strobe lights and then maybe we could even have, you know, birthday parties and different things to utilize the skates (mumbled) and just, you know, have something else for the kids in the neighborhood to do. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #10 Page 11 Bailey: I have a question about the Splash Pad. Harms: Uh-huh. Bailey: What...how much more money do you have to raise? Harms: About $16,000. Bailey: $16,000? Okay. Harms: (mumbled) Bailey: Questions? Wright: The creativity of the neighborhoods in, uh, their PIN grant applications just never ceases to amaze me. Bailey: I love the roller skate thing. Wright: The roller skates are terrific! Bailey: That's a great idea! Knutson: Hi, I'm Mary Knutson. I'm from, I live on 725 W. Benton Street, from the Miller-Orchard Neighborhood. And, we are asking for $500 for plantings along Benton Street. After several years of reactive work on the part of the neighborhood, we have decided to become more proactive by making a stronger statement about what defines our neighborhood. And if I may add that with the closing of Roosevelt School the decision was made a few weeks ago, this has become even more important to us as we lost our neighborhood anchor. We have had seven meetings since last October as a neighborhood to come up with ideas about what we want as a neighborhood. We've come up with many ideas, with one being, um, plantings along Benton Street which fits with the PIN grant application. The plantings along Benton Street will, um, serve many purposes. First of all, they'll help beautify our neighborhood. They'll help us feel proud of our neighborhood, and you...we want to find some way, um, to unite the neighborhood, especially with our arterial road that goes right through the middle of the neighborhood. We feel that when people drive through on Benton Street, they'll see these, uh, plantings and they'll become more aware that it is a neighborhood, and plantings also have shown to decrease traffic speed, which is a problem Benton Street and any way we can try and decrease speed is, uh, we will, um, want to do that. So far what we have done with regard to the PIN grant and planning it, is that we have talked to Iowa City Landscaping and talked with them about what This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #10 Page 12 plantings would be appropriate on the easement along Benton Street, what...what plants can, um, take combustion, salt, and sand. We want to work with this particular, um, store because they are in our neighborhood and we want to build a community with the businesses that are in our neighborhood. Um, they also probably will give us a discount for, uh, the plants that we buy. So far we've been looking at spiria and possibly some more crab apples, if the easement is large enough to put small trees in that. We've talked with the Forestry department also with the City, to find out what's...what we have to do if we do plant trees and also the size of the easement that is needed for different types of plantings that you have. And we have come up with a plan to begin looking at plantings at about $500. We would want to put the plantings near or towards Riverside, which would be towards Twin Image, where there when you come off Riverside, going up Benton Street, it just looks like a lot of concrete. You don't get the feeling that this is a neighborhood. With a lot of small, uh, families of small children that live near Twin Image, this will start identifying this as a residential area. We will do the labor ourselves, and we plan on putting this in in late summer. So that's...that's my PIN grants, so if you have any questions, uh, you can ask me now. Otherwise I'll go on and do the finishing touch for all the PIN grants here. Bailey: I had a quick question. You talked to Forestry, um, I'm assuming you've also talked to Housing Inspection Services about height in the...in the right-of--way and those sorts of things, because sometimes that...that issue comes up. Knutson: Right, right. Bailey: As plants get mature. Knutson: Yes, yeah. We did. Thank you. Bailey: Good. Knutson: If there's not any more questions, I just want to say thank you, again, for allowing us to present our grants. Again, these grant represents ideas that neighbors have for improving their neighborhoods, based on input from the neighborhood. PIN grants are cost-effective use of funds for both the City and neighborhoods, as we leverage other resources such as volunteer labor hours, equipment, and knowledge. We hope you'll continue supporting PIN grant funding as it has many worthwhile...as many worthwhile projects have occurred, such as when the park...Benton Street Hill Park opened several years ago, we had a park party, paid in part by the PIN grant, um, trees in the Galway neighborhood were paid by PIN grants, as was the trail connecting the Galway neighborhood to the West This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #10 Page 13 High High School, um, Grant Wood's neighborhood...gatherings this summer has paid for it, and the playground...play equipment at Weber School has also been paid for by PIN grants. These, um, these things would not have been possible if it had not been for the PIN grant. We're asking that you authorize a resolution approving the recommendation made by the Neighborhood Council for the fiscal year 2010 PIN grants. Thank you. Bailey: Thank you. Discussion among Council? O'Donnell: I'm just always amazed at how much they get for so little money, and...and the hard work that's done in putting these programs together, uh, you know, finance is very tough this time, but L ..I really think this is money that's well spent in the neighborhoods. Wright: (mumbled) Bailey: Well, there's so much volunteer labor that goes into it too, I mean, it leverages a lot of...a lot of additional funds, I think, funds and labor. Further discussion? Okay, roll call. Item carries 6-0. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Wilburn: So moved. Bailey: Moved by Wilburn. Wright: Second. Bailey: Seconded by Wright. Um, all those in favor say aye. Those opposed same sign. Motion carries. Thank you all for your presentations, and we appreciate you being here, and all the work that you did on these grants. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #18 Page 14 ITEM 18. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ADOPTING AN ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE OF UNPAID MOWING, CLEAN-UP OF PROPERTY, SNOW REMOVAL, SIDEWALK REPAIR, AND STOP BOX REPAIR CHARGES AND DIRECTING THE CLERK TO CERTIFY THE SAME TO THE JOHNSON COUNTY TREASURER FOR COLLECTION IN THE SAME MANNER AS PROPERTY TAXES. Champion: Move the resolution. Bailey: Moved by Champion. Wright: Second. Bailey: Seconded by Wright. Discussion? El-hattab: My name is Yasser El-hattab. I live at 1910 Kathlin Drive. About a week ago I stood here in this same place and, excuse me, um, I was uh, trying to dispute against the...the fine that we received at my residence for the snow removal, um, I still maintain the same position that I received the...the (mumbled) because maintain the position that the snow was removed that day and that was removed on the day that was in question, um. What, I mean, what are some of the questions you have for me? Bailey: Any questions? Wright: I do have question for you. I, uh, I understand you...you're maintaining that you removed tl~e snow and you probably did, it sounds like you (both talking) but is it possible that it snowed between the time you removed that and there was a re-inspection? El-hattab: Uh, yes, it is possible, um, from the...the date that was in question was from January 21 to January 26, um, from my knowledge from the weather forecast data, the...that I obtained from the Internet from the web site, Weather Underground, and the total snowfall between these dates didn't amount to more than one inch, and um, a good point that Mr. Ross Wilburn, who brought up the last time that I came, um, was that the possibility of wind gusts could have caused the, um, this snow to accumulate to more than one inch, thus causing, um, you know, issues with the, um, more than one inch regulation. But, um, I mean, I...I myself recall that on the 26th, uh, on that day we had snow flurries of less than one inch, and I remember the temperature on that day was somewhat elevated, causing the snow to melt after the flurries. So, um, so the sidewalk at the time, the snow on it couldn't have amounted to more than This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #18 Page 15 one inch. Unfortunately I do not have enough evidence for this, but I still maintain that the sidewalk was cleared during the time of inspection and that the bill was in error. Bailey: Any other questions? Okay, thank you. El-hattab: Thank you. Bailey: Anybody else wishing, um, to participate in the discussion on this? Hughes: My name is Lois Hughes and I was here also two weeks ago. My issue was the, uh, removal of flood debris, and uh, I sent a letter and...and you've had documentation from both the...the, uh, sanitation department or whoever did it, and from me, and there is a conflict between the dates that they remember and the dates that I remember. So if you have any questions of me.. . Bailey: Any questions for Lois? Thank you. Thanks for being here. Anyone else wishing to address Council...regarding this? El-hattab: (away from mic, unable to hear) excuse me, one thing that came to my mind, um, I looked at the letter and uh, the most recent letter that...for the snow removal, talking about, um, the snow removal issue, it talked about how, um, when the inspector walked on the sidewalk he said, um, I just wanted to know if there was any more information pertaining to this, what the exact (mumbled) were of the sidewalk, um, (mumbled) not being clear enough for it, so as not to warrant, um, the bill, um, because um, from my understanding, I want to clear the sidewalk to the maximum width of the sidewalk itself and all snow and ice was removed (mumbled) sometimes impossible to remove some residual ice or snow, um, because of the (mumbled) at the time, but um, I mean, my question to you, I guess, is what are some of the exact specifications for the sidewalk being cleared, because that wasn't specified in the letter, and besides having the sidewalk being, uh, cleared up from one end to the other, um, being accessible to the public. Bailey: Jann, could you please come and address that for us? Thank you. Ream: Um, to...my name's Jann Ream. I'm the Code Enforcement Assistant in the Housing and Inspection Services department. Um, basically both the tag that's left at the door and the letter that we send state that the sidewalk needs to be cleared the entire width of the sidewalk, down to concrete. Um, now obviously our inspectors when they go out have to use some judgment when they go out to inspect the first time, and to re-inspect. And you have to know that this is something that they struggle with, every This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #18 Page 16 winter. Um, they know it's difficult. They know when it's cold. They know when we've had a lot of ice. Um, and they really do try when they go out to a sidewalk to assess that a significant efforts been made. Obviously if there's some residual, little bits of snow or ice, we do not, and...we do not order clearing the sidewalks in those instances. I did ask the inspector, um, who did the Kathlin Drive inspections if she remembered anything specific about her reinspection. Um, you have to remember that these inspectors do hundreds of inspections during snow season, and it is very difficult for them to remember individual sidewalks, especially after several months have passed. What she did remember about this, those sidewalks, was um, that it was a very, excuse me, shaded area and she knew the first time she went out it was probably a difficult sidewalk to keep clear, because of the amount of shade that was on the sidewalk. Uin, her recollection when she went out to reinspect, if...um, per the memo, there were four addresses on Kathlin that were initially cited, two of them, um, she inspected and they had been cleared adequately, and two in her opinion had not. And that is why she sent the work orders out on those two addresses. Bailey: Any questions... O'Donnell: Excuse me, could you tell me, are the majority of these, um, citations, are they complaint activated, or do... Ream: They're all complaint activated. O'Donnell: They're all complaint activated. So we've had neighbors call and say the sidewalk is (both talking) Ream: And that is a section of sidewalk that, um, school children walk on on a regular basis so we do find those sidewalks that are close to schools, we do get numbers of complaints about those. They should know that, um, it's complaint driven, but if we go out to an address and we see other properties on that same frontage, we do also tag those properties, just as a matter of fairness. It just doesn't make sense to tag a property and leave a violation next door, without letting them know about it. Bailey: Any other questions for Jann? Okay, thank you. King: Good evening, uh, I'm Charlotte Jane King. We actually own the home these folks live in. I'm not taking exception to much here with the exception that this particular sidewalk has no shade, on both sides of my house, their house, there's clearly retaining walls that shade this sidewalk, but ours is right in the middle. There is no shade on that sidewalk. That's just my only comment. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #18 Bailey: Thank you. King: Thank you. Page 17 Bailey: Approach the podium if you have comments. Let's let somebody who hasn't made a comment speak first, please. Ismail: My name is Ayat Ismail. I'm his father. Uh, L ..I (mumbled). I live in (mumbled) seven years, uh, and myself I used to do the snow removal every winter (mumbled) regulations that are, uh, we have been instructed by the landlord. And this year, uh, the first year we have this citation, which in my opinion, um, completely unfair because we actually do the snow correctly as, uh, as required and I remember actually I was (mumbled) 10th of January I arrived back home. By the 19th, I received this warning letter, and I told my wife and my son about it, uh, they immediately actually complied the same day, in the afternoon, and I witnessed that, and my wife, uh, (mumbled) snow herself, uh, and repeated again, uh, within less than 24 hours. When I come back from work (mumbled) that night, I saw the equipment and the, uh, they tried to move some of the snow, and then we received the citation. So I actually myself, uh, observed my wife and my son doing the snow twice, uh, properly, according to the regulations. Uh, just up to you in the end. Bailey: Thank you. El-hattab: iJh, the reason (mumbled) my father, um, she made some good points, and I just wanted to, I guess add to that. When inspector came, uh, on the sidewalk to inspect, I'd just like to know if there's (mumbled) communication (mumbled) or um (mumbled) photographic evidence for example or you know something that establishes or sets in stone the observations of the inspector so that we can be comfortable with the statements that they make. Bailey: We don't have any photographic evidence. Is that correct? (unable to hear response away from mic) Okay. No. El-hattab: I mean, is it just enough to (mumbled) um, we, I mean, in our opinion, the sidewalk was cleared and, I mean, we'd like to just be able to clarify what the City...based on evidence that it has been...we just want the observations to be verified, and so we do not see that before us and, um, that's why we're standing here because we still hold our position. So.. . Bailey: Right, and as you heard, we do, I don't know, hundreds of these every winter and that's not in our current protocols. We don't have photographic This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #18 Page 18 evidence. I mean, it would be included in the packet at this time. So...there you have it. Further discussion? Council Member discussion? O'Donnell: You know, there...in my mind, there's a big difference if you're living in your home, you're given 24-hours notice to clear the sidewalk. Um, now having said that, uh, I still think that we need to make a special exception for the Parkview Terrace area. Um, and these people are not in their homes, um, there are no neighbors to complain, and now, I just think that that area must be given special consideration because it's, uh, it's enough losing your home and everything in it, um, they're...they're not there to get the citation so I...I still am very uncomfortable citing somebody whose house is destroyed and not living there and uh, I'm...I'm not going to support this if...if that includes the Parkview Terrace area. Champion: (mumbled) motion to withdraw the Parkview Terrace? O'Donnell: I could do that. Champion: I'll second it. Bailey: So you're withdrawing 877 Normandy Drive from this assessment list? O'Donnell: Yes I am. Champion: Uh-huh. Bailey: And there's a second by Champion. Discussion on withdrawing this particular property from the list? Hayek: Well I...I appreciate that sentiment, but um, my thoughts are that, uh, this was complaint driven, meaning somebody down in that very neighborhood lodged a complaint to the City, um, the neighborhood, despite being hit hard by the floods, is...is trying to maintain itself as a neighborhood and with that comes the same set of expectations that...that any neighborhood would have, uin, and... and it appears that this property owner was actually given extra time by staff, above and beyond what is typically provided to a property owner, and I think, uh, the critical part in this exercise is...is consistency, to the extent possible, and I...and I know staff strives to be consistent, um, we have hundreds of cases each year that are...that are taken up and...and dealt with, uh, and some come before us, and I think our goal should be as a...as a elected body to look for consistency or...or the departure from consistency as giving us a reason to, um, not proceed with a recommendation to attach a fine, uh, and I don't see that here. I'm very sympathetic to that neighborhood, um, but I think those other concerns override this particular example. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #18 Page 19 Bailey: Further discussion on the amendment? All those in favor of the amendment say aye. All those opposed say nay. Okay, the amendment fails, um, 3-2...2-3; Champion and O'Donnell voting in favor.. Okay. We are considering the list of the assess...(several talking) oh, sorry, 4-2! (laughter) My math is failing me. I'm sorry! Thank you. Um, okay, so the list, back to the list of assessments. Discussion on this resolution? Hayek: Well, I...I guess I'd also add, this applies to everybody, and I'm...and let me preface it by saying, you know, I appreciate the time you put into appealing this and the preparation put in...into this, um, it's difficult for us, sitting up here, to gauge these appeals, um, we have the documentation provided to us by staff. We have the documentation provided to us by the property owners. We're not able to conduct an independent evaluation. We're not equipped to conduct a miniature trial, um, and...and so, what it really comes down to is us as a Council looking at, uh, the documentation we receive from staff who...who works for the City, works for us, uh, and...and we look for whether the file appears to be documented and...and defensible, um, and...and the City Council's in a meeting...it's hard for us to go much beyond that, um, this policy, uh, is tough. There's no doubt about it. But, it has to be tough to ensure a high level of snow removal, uh, among private property owners, especially in a town like Iowa City with so much turnover, um, and as I said before, the key is consistency and, uin, my feeling is that what I've seen shows that staff is being as consistent as it possibly can, um, and I don't see a departure from that, in...in these materials, and that's why I will support this. Wilburn: The other thing I would have to add to what Matt had said was, uh, that the reason the...the importance of, um, following through and uh, and having is not to generate revenue for the City. It's for compliance for safety reasons for, uh, children, uh, well, anyway, trying to walk through and this is Iowa and it's challenging in the winter time, and um, we um, as Matt was alhiding to, we have to look at the information that's provided for us and uh, we have...um, it's important for accessibility reasons, I guess is kind of the bottom one. Bailey: Well, and I want to say, you know, I understand, um, the appeal, it's a sense of fairness. You believe that you complied, um, there's evidence to suggest you didn't, but this whole thing is based upon fairness. It's complaint driven, and what is fair - is it as Matt and Ross have said, a consistent application of this. Sidewalks have to be cleared. We have a lot of people who walk in this community. It's very important, insofar as, um, the...I think our staff really work hard to be fair, to be consistent when they go out and see properties that have been, uh, complained about. They also tag other properties that are adjacent, that might not have This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #18 Page 20 received a complaint call, so it's...it's certainly a challenge, um, and I appreciate the time you've taken to make your points, but I'll be supporting these assessments simply because I do think that we have maintained a high, uh, standard of sidewalk clearing for this community. I think it's very important. O'Donnell: I really appreciate what everybody's said about consistency, but these were very unusual circumstances and very challenging times, and with those I still say we have to snake exceptions, and uh, I will not be supporting this. Wright: L ..I will be going to support this as L .. as has been noted, it's...it's a difficult balance that we're trying to weigh here with...with not, uh, evidence that's not worthy of a trial (mumbled) but we do have documentation logged in by staff, uh, I know personally that their judgment, uh, is very important in these cases. I don't think that they are terribly harsh in applying their judgment, but they do take a look at each individual situation, um... and uh, weigh it as best they can. I understand that in...in both these cases the owner has some...has some evidence that they tried to comply, but it's contrasted with staffs evidence that the compliance was not full, um, and uh, for those reasons I think I will be supporting this. Bailey: Anything else? Roll call. Item carries 4-2; Champion and O'Donnell voting in the negative. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Wilburn: So moved. Hayek: Second. Bailey: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Hayek. All those in favor say aye. Motion carries. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #19 Page 21 ITEM 19. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ON UNCLASSIFIED SALARY COMPENSATION FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010 FOR THE CITY ATTORNEY AND CITY CLERK. Wilburn: Moved adoption of the resolution. O'Donnell: Second. Bailey: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by O'Donnell. Um, just for the public's information, this is a 2% increase, um, on the compensation paid to each of our, um, the City Clerk and the City Attorney, and we would also like to express our appreciation for all your hard work in a particularly challenging year. So...any other discussion? Roll call. Item carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #24 Page 22 ITEM 24. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION. Bailey: Mr. Wright? Wright: I just wanted to remind everybody, if it's not already on your calendar, that this is Jazz Festival weekend coming up. It wasn't on your calendar, was it? Uh, we have some terrific musicians coming into town. There will be the usual wonderful food and wonderful music, and I urge all Iowa Citians and folks from across the region to come down and enjoy some terrific music this weekend, and the weather so far sounds, knock on wood, pretty good. Champion: And fireworks will be at the Pentacrest. Bailey: Yes! Sponsored by the City of Iowa City! Champion: (mumbled) Bailey: You have anything else, Connie? Champion: Oh, no. Oh, I forgot about that. Well, I've mentioned it so many times I figure I've over-mentioned it, but Shelter House will have a groundbreaking tomorrow at 4:30 at its new location on Southgate Boulevard, uh, behind the Hy-Vee, and we're really excited. It's been a long struggle to get to this point, but it's going to happen tomorrow. Bring your shovels! Bailey: We have to bring our own shovels? Champion: No, you don't (laughter) Bailey: Mike? O'Donnell: Uh, I participated in the bingo drawing for the, um, incentive program, uh, for homeownership, uh, we had four, um, flood victims, uh, apply and uh, they were automatic, but 36 first-time homeowners have an opportunity of a lifetime to get into a house. This is such a great program and it was...it was really a privilege to be involved with it. Bailey: (mumbled) O'Donnell: yeah, it was fun! Bailey: Ross? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #24 Page 23 Wilburn: For the benefit of the public, and I guess for staff as well, at last night's City Council work session, uh, the Council received a...a very strong and unanimous recommendation from our Parks and Recreation Commission, as well as the Parks and Recreation Foundation, to, uh, name Sand Lake Park after the current Parks and Recreation Director, Terry Trueblood. Uh, in honor of his, um, long dedication and commitment to, uh, the Parks and Recreation department, the community, uh, the work that he's done, uh, helping, nurturing (mumbled) very extensive park system and trail system, and um, just uh, the...pleasures it's been for all of us to have worked with him over the years. It's my understanding that, uh, after receiving some other bits of information that, um, that uh, it appears that the Council will...does intend to proceed with, um, a naming opportunity and...and naming Sand Lake Park after, uh, Terry Trueblood. I don't know if there's any more that we can (mumbled) that tonight, but uh, it's uh, I've known Terry for, uh, I think about 15, 16 years and um, I know that sentiment and appreciation for his work is reflected, not only in the Commission, um, and Foundation, which he also helped establish that...that fundraising foundation, um, but amongst the staff and the current Council itself. So... Hayek: Nothing. Champion: Great...great idea! O'Donnell: Great thing to do! Bailey: Okay, um, you've said it all. Jazz Fest this weekend; Shelter House groundbreaking tomorrow. That's a lot of exciting things happening, so we'll see you all out at the Jazz Fest. Do I have a motion to adjourn? Hayek: So moved. Bailey: (mumbled) Hayelc, seconded by Champion. All those in favor. We are adjourned. Oh, I'm sorry! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009. #25 ITEM 25. Dilkes: Bailey: Helling: Bailey: Page 24 REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF. I never do, but I did (laughter) Wow, I should eat dinner before I come to these. We are not adjourned. Can we withdraw that? City Manager, do you have anything? Nothing. Okay, thank you. City Attorney, apparently you do. (laughter) Dilkes: Um, we today closed, um, after a glitch yesterday in a publication of a notice requirement with the State, we closed on eight...closed the purchase, the City's purchase, of eight flood impacted properties, two on Taft Speedway and six in Parkview Terrace. So, it's our first batch. Bailey: Great! Oh, that's wonderful. Champion: Thanks! Dilkes: It was very...it was very exciting to see these folks finally close that chapter (several talking) Bailey: I bet they were really (several talking) Champion: A horrible long time, but it's only been a year. Bailey: That's a long time though (several talking) Um, your department has done an incredible amount of work on...on that, so thank you very much. Yes. City Clerk? Okay, let's try this, um... Karr: We have it on the floor, we already have the motion. Wilburn: It's already on the floor. Bailey: So, we are adjourned. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City City Council meeting of June 30, 2009.