HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-01-18 Transcription Page 1
Council Present: Alter, Bergus, Harmsen, Taylor, Teague, Thomas, Weiner
Staff Present: Dulek, Ford,Fruehling, Fruin, Havel, Hightshoe, Kilburg, Jones,
Ralston, Sovers
Others Present: Miglin (USG)
Teague: I'm gonna call the City of Iowa City meeting to order on January 18th, 2022.
And I'm gonna start with a roll call please....All right.Well,welcome
everyone.And we also have, uh, not only people in the audience,but uh,we
have some individuals on Zoom,so welcome to you all as well. If you should
have any issues, urn, please raise your hand and let us know if you can't hear
us and we'll try to get that resolved, but wanna welcome everyone.And
yesterday was Dr. King's day.And so I hope people have the opportunity to
stop and commemorate,uh, the man with a dream that we are now still
pursuing as a country.
2.a Special Presentations- COVID Update -Johnson County Public Health
Teague: And we're gonna start with item number one, which is, is a special
presentation -- or item number two,which is a special presentation. Uh, 2a is
a COVID update from Johnson County Public Health, Sam Jarvis,who's a
Community Health Division Manager.Welcome.
Jarvis: Good evening to the Iowa City Council and it is always appreciated,the
opportunity to provide updates. Uh, certainly wish, uh, we could state that
we're seeing a decrease in cases, but we are still seeing a pretty significant,
uh,level of transmission. I know the staff had mentioned,uh, earlier this
week or this morning in,uh, our COVID update internally that over the past
seven days,we've seen roughly about 2,800 cases.And so to put that in
comparison or, or contacts at one point in time, near the end of summer,we
were showing concern when we had 400 cases within a, a seven day
reporting period and, and starting to creep into high transmission.And now
we are, are really beyond that point.And so ourselves, much like the rest of
the state and other parts of the nation, are seeing that, uh, omicron, uh, surge,
uh, right now. So what are we looking to do about that? Uh, as always,we are
continuing to promote and strongly encourage everyone get vaccinated and
boosted.And to clarify in the language that many have probably noticed the
CDC posture and, and state is to be up to date, uh,which includes to be fully
vaccinated, but, uh, get that booster shot when you're eligible, uh,which now,
for mRNA vaccines, or Pfizer and Moderna, that's five months after, uh,your
primary series.And so we continue to do our best to clarify that, uh,
information because we know within the past several weeks much has
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changed, uh, and quite quickly given the,the speed that we've seen this
increase in, in cases. So, uh, our staff are available to answer those questions
throughout the day. Uh,we are continuing to update our communication
pieces and guidance out to, uh,the community and other work groups that
we've stood up with, uh, different sectors, uh,whether it's our schools and
daycares and others. So, uh,we'll continue to push that information out as
best as possible because we know that, uh, it's not that always, that folks are
operating off of misinformation or even the wrong information, but it might
be just out, out of date. Uh, and so we want to continue to stress that
clarification. Uh,and then certainly, and, and what's probably top of mind is
the recent communication we've seen from the CDC about masks, uh, and
above all,we still wanna stress that any mask is better than no mask,
especially when we're talking about indoor spaces,uh, and community
transmission. Uh,but that it's really about fit,protection, and comfort
because many may want to opt into something that's most protective,but it,
if it's too uncomfortable that you don't wear it, right, uh,you may be erring
on the side of caution,but not wearing it correctly. So again, uh,you know,
other examples are that medical or surgical mask may not fit,uh, as
appropriate as for some,there may be gaps around the side. So we do want
to emphasize that fit, uh, and comfort are also, um, things to consider when,
when selecting a mask for yourself The other thing with that when we're
looking at folks moving to, or moving away from cloth masks, uh,things that
can be laundered,is the, uh, the time to wear, uh, or the length of time and
reuse of, of surgical or N95s.And so, uh,we've not received clear guidance
from our state or federal partners,but again, if it's soiled or damaged, it's
time to replace it. So we'll just continue to ask folks to be thoughtful and
think about those things. Certainly we know that, um, whether one wears
makeup on the inside, it can be,uh, it can come off on the inside of the mask,
or if,uh, depending on what you're doing, if you're cooking over a stove or
things like that, it can be soiled or laden with oil particles or other thing like
that. So as always, uh, if it looks like it's soiled or, or dirty, it might be time to,
to replace that.And as always,we'll continue to promote other layers of
mitigation,which are,uh,things like physical distancing and staying home
when you're ill. Uh,and to that point,uh, in regards of testing, again,
appreciate the support from all of our community partners and libraries, uh,
to support the Test Iowa at-home program. Uh,we've got, uh,good
geographic access, but we know that right now that there's been, uh, some of
a strain on testing capacity, uh,because of the high demand,which we're
happy to see.We're glad that folks are, are getting tested when either
exposed or symptomatic, or just wanting to know, uh,whether or not, uh, if
they're ill. Uh, and so we continue to,uh, provide guidance on testing, uh, and
do our best to, to meet access, uh, as best as possible. Uh,but with that, happy
to answer any questions the Council may have.
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Bergus: Thank you, Sam, what can you tell us about the drive through testing sites
that I've heard about at, uh, Liberty High School? I don't know if there's a
second one.
Jarvis: Yeah, absolutely. So, uh, to our knowledge, uh, for the, uh, Nomi Health
System, uh, it sounds like it has several test sites across the state, uh, and
they'll be, uh, or have set up one in, in, urn, North Liberty. Uh, and so they are
operating independently, uh, and in partnership with other entities, I believe
Iowa City school district,uh, Des Moines, uh,school district and, and Polk
County have,uh, set up sites.We believe that there is intention to set up sites
across other, other places, but at the moment we only know of the one that's,
uh, stood up here. Uh, so again,we appreciate the support of testing capacity.
Uh, we believe that they're in contact with the state health department,so
that, uh, the tests that they are taking, uh, are reported through the, the state
surveillance system. So happy to see access, uh, continue to increase.
Teague: Mm-hmm.Well, thank you so much for all that you all are doing, I know
that,um,with the numbers going up, um,what would be the best place for an
individual just to go, to get information if they suspect they have COVID or in
trying to figure out the new guidance?
Jarvis: Uh,we absolutely want them to contact us. Uh, they can reach us at the office.
We have staff available have happy to walk through their,uh,specific
scenario, because we know now that, uh, and as many are aware that we've,
uh,suspended investigations and contact tracing for individual cases,uh,
we're happy to provide the information and guidance and, and walk through,
uh, one specific scenario so they can reach us at the main line at the
Department, 319-356-6040, and asked to speak to a disease prevention
specialist.And we've certainly repurposed our contact tracing team to also
be available throughout the day to help us with that call volume. So, uh,we're
absolutely happy to walk through the scenarios.
Weiner: But Sam,with stu-,with students corning back,back in town now, urn,
presumably they've been other places where,and omicron is all over the
country. Do we have any sense of, urn,without having a crystal ball,when
omicron is likely to peak and start heading down around here?
Jarvis: Uh, that's a great question. Uh, to my knowledge,there's no, um,good
modeling.And if, and actually I, to note today,the state head made an
announcement that it sounds like the CDC, had modeling available on their
site, uh, and have recently taken that down because, uh, omicron is just far
outpacing what modeling can do.And so, uh, it is a bit unknown at,at this
point, uh,but going forward,you know, as we continue to see this increase in
cases,we are really stressing all the different things and tools that we have
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and, and knowledge so that we can curb transmission as best as possible. Uh,
but I apologize, right, a lot right now is, is somewhat unknown.
Weiner: Thanks.
Teague: Great,
Bergus: Sam, I really appreciated on your website,the Johnson County Public Health
website looks like it had been recently revamped that had three big buttons
about what to do if you test positive or you think you have COVID and, or if
someone in your household had COVID,but that,that repurposing or the,the
updating of that information was really helpful. So I hope folks will check that
out too.
Jarvis: Thank you. I, I'll, I'll be sure to pass that along to staff.You know, certainly
the, the decision to suspend,tracing investigations was,was extremely
difficult, uh,but we wanted to repurpose the site so that, uh, as soon as folks
were there on the landing page,as you noted, that they would have that
guidance, uh, directly for their situation as best as possible. So it is,staff did a
wonderful job to redesign that for, for high volume, uh, to be able to address
those,uh, specific scenarios. So thank you.
Teague: Great. Thank you so much.
Jarvis: Thank you.
Teague: All right.And I do see a hand raised. I asked, um, that hands be raised on, on
Zoom if there was an issue. So, oh, maybe there wasn't.The hand is removed.
We'll continue. But, um, if there is any issues, please raise your hand.And I'll
just confirm that there is an issue.
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3 - 8. Consent Calendar
Teague: We are on to items number three through eight. Could I get a motion to
approve the consent agenda?
Weiner: So moved.
Taylor: Second,Taylor.
Teague: All right.Anyone from the public like to discuss this, uh, topic, if you are on
Zoom, um,there's a button at the bottom for you to raise your hand and I'll
call upon you.And if you're in, in present here, I ask that you come to the mic.
There is a sign in on the side table over there that you'll need to do at some
point. Seeing as -- would anyone like to speak?Welcome.And everyone also
gets, uh, three minutes.Welcome.
Petersen: Hello. My name is Noah, live in Iowa City. Uh, I'm here to get a couple
items on the agenda today. Uh, one was about the C,the police review board's
minutes about the meeting where they discussed,where they somehow
found that ICPD was not in violation of using excessive force when they
gassed, tear,uh,wow, flash, flash bang, grenaded,whatever you want to call
it and OC sprayed, uh, hundreds of us that were standing in the middle of a
road for, and had, uh, acts that violate the Geneva Convention,war crimes
were committed against people who were peacefully standing in the street.
And the CPRB,the review board showed how useless, how ineffective they
are when they can't even find acts of war excessive force.That is obscene.
That's disgusting.And that is, it's wrong. Like that's, there's, there's no
excuse. There,that tear gassing at night was wrong. Like, <mumbled> this
Council has done nothing to rein in these cops since then, it's done nothing to
change the culture.And then when those cops talk about, on video,you can
hear'em saying, oh, let me gas,saying,just so proud of how they were
gassing us, bunch of'em, but a whole bunch of different agencies.And yet this
Council won't do anything to rein in those cops,give 'em millions and
millions of dollars a year,but not like when people need housing, the City
doesn't do anything for it.When there's extreme weather events coming, the
City doesn't pay.You look away all you want,but like, these are the facts.
When there was an adverse weather event incoming,you all ignored me.You,
other people,were demanding shelter for those people, did nothing about it,
but yet you can fund these cops millions and millions of dollars, but you can't
do, provide the most basic safety to people who need shelter. One, there's
like, three,basic things that every community needs is shelter. Everyone
needs that, and this,they can't even do that,but they can fund millions to this
force that will gas people, if they stand up to police brutality.Well, not just
police brutality,but yeah. Do something about that.Actually invest in the
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people of the city instead of the cops who are violent and will gas us when
they please.
Teague: Thank you.Would anyone else like to address any item on the consent
agenda? Seeing no one in the present or online? I am going to have Council
discussion at this point. Roll call, please. [Roll call vote.] Motion passes 7 — 0.
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9. Community Comment (items not on the agenda) [UNTIL 7 PMJ
Teague: We are onto item number nine, which is community comment.These are
items people want to address that are not on the agenda. Speakers will be
provided three minutes to speak, and I will, um, I could see some hands
raised online and if you're present and you wanna speak, I ask that you step
to the site and there's a, a note card to sign up and then step to the mic.And I
will call upon you.We're gonna go online to Amel Ali.Welcome.
Ali: Hi, can you guys hear me?
Teague: Yes, we can.Welcome.
Ali: All right. Urn, first and foremost, um, I just wanted to extend gratitude to you
all, uh, for allowing a hybrid form for these meetings, urn, because it allows
me a chance to, uh, formally give you an invite to a TRC meeting that I
reached out to you, um, a few, a few of you guys, um, about a couple of weeks
ago, urn, regarding, uh, Ron Wakabayashi where he would be presenting,and
unfortunately, due to COVID and inclement weather, we decided to cancel
our meeting. Um,so I'm here to formally invite you guys again to this
Thursday's meeting at 7:00 PM. Um,and you have the option to join via Zoom
as well. Urn, and just to give you a little bit of background, um, Ron was the
National Director of the Japanese-American Citizens' League that made the
redress campaign their priority. Urn, in 1988, President Reagan signed
legislation, HR 442, that issued a formal apology and monetary compensation
for any living survivor of the wrongful incarceration. Urn, and I think that it's
just a really great opportunity to hear from someone who's involved in a
truth and reconciliation process. Uh, there's a lot that we could all learn. Urn,
secondly, um, I just wanted to make one comment, uh, regarding the joint
entities meeting and this kind of ties to, um, the first presentation that was
given about, uh, COVID update. Urn, I think it would be really interesting to
pose the question to everyone,um, about adequate masks and, urn,supplying
adequate masks to the community.And, urn, especially those who are the
most vulnerable to catching COVID, um, like supplying better masks to
schools,supplying better masks to public libraries, urn, and things like that.
See how you guys can work together and put your money together, um, to
give people just a little bit more,um, peace with everything that's going on,
because there are so many unknowns with this variant. Urn, and frankly I'm
not at the place where I think it's gonna go, um, any better from here right
now.Urn, thank you for giving me this time.
Teague: Thank you. Nicholas. Welcome.
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Theisen: Uh, hello? Uh, sorry. Good evening, Council. I guess it is evening now. Um,
oh, geez. I don't, okay. I thought I only had 16 seconds there for a second.
Urn, first off I wanted to, urn, like Amel, I wanted to thank you all for,urn,
giving a hybrid option for these meetings. Urn, I'm in a similar situation
where, urn,given my, urn, childcare responsibilities, urn, I would not be able
to attend to these meetings in any capacity other than to watch them online.
So I do in fact, appreciate that despite I'm, despite regularly criticizing you all
for the things you do. Urn, and with that in mind, urn, I would also like to
thank the Mayor Pro Tern for, urn, advocating for like thinking a lot more
systemically about childcare needs in the county.And I don't think it's
inappropriate at all to try and bring these things up in joint entities meetings.
We do need to be thinking more broadly about these issues because frankly
childcare is a huge hassle as, as I and many others know. Um,but the thing
that I wanted to speak most specifically on was in reference to something
that, um, Councilor Thomas said during the work session about thinking
more systemically with regards to sort of the interrelation between transit,
uh, housing, uh, basically a whole host of issues because this Council
historically has had a very real problem of looking at any individual item on,
say a given Council agenda and thinking about solely that item. Urn, this is a
huge bugaboo for me. Urn, I have addressed you all, although in a different
composition before on precisely this issue, I believe it was in regards to the
first consideration for the IWV Road, uh, project that you, this Council has
said many times in the past that you need to think more systemically about
how you're doing development,like what long term planning needs are and
so forth. And yet when it comes time to actually make decisions about
individual projects that sort of systemic thinking kind of flies out the window.
And I wanna push back on something that actually the mayor said,because
you can't shunt these issues exclusively to the strategic planning meetings,
because we've seen what results, if you do that,where then you make a
determination on a completely ad-hoc basis,whether or not,you know, given
project conforms to X or Y plan.And then that's it,there's no sense of,you
know, needing to do outreach or sort of like actively soliciting projects or
sort of when you're sure looking at a given project, thinking about,say the
negative ramifications it might have for other goals that you have.And so I
really want to applaud Councilor Thomas, and I think you should all listen to
him and really take to heart what he has said,because what he is advocating
for and what he wants you all to do is really what the City should have been
doing 10 years ago. Uh, because if you had, maybe we wouldn't be in the
housing crisis that we have right now.And so, like I said, I just wanted to put
a button on that again, thank the Mayor Pro Tern for her statements earlier,
and thank you all for hybrid meetings and that's it. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. I see no other hands online, anyone in the public.Welcome.
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Petersen: Hello, my name is Noah. Urn,yes. Uh, sorry.You put my thoughts.Yes. Urn,
last meeting.Well, last, the first work session this year, I had to sit through
the meeting where y'all were talking about making up new rules or
whatever.And I will first, I'll say, I'm glad that most of you are against
arresting me and others who come up and to speak.And I guess,thank you
for that for not wanting people who use their voice to be arrested.Thank you.
Um, so there's that, but uh,to set the record straight,the, um, disruptions
that have occurred at this meet in past meetings have been me and others
coming up here to talk about, I'm talking about to have hybrid meetings. So
people don't have to risk their lives to come here,which I'm glad we finally
have. I'm not gonna thank y'all because you should have done that months
ago,but I'm glad this happening finally, now that get hybrid meetings,but,
urn,yes, demanding housing and accessibility will never, cannot begin,to
their disruptions to like, that's not a disruption. If you think that's disruptive
that me saying you need to provide housing people is disruptive,you need to
search in your own heart and think what's wrong with it.You could think
that like that somehow like a, a, something that could be wrong.There's
absolutely nothing wrong with people, demanding housing. People who need
it. I have friends who, lives are literally at risk.That last, last meeting of 2021
when there was the winter break snow that we very luckily not to not get
badly affected by right now, further west, they got in Nebraska and Des
Moines.And they,you could, they, they got a lot worse.We just got lucky that
we didn't actually get it bad in this city. My friends' lives were literally at
stake and I spoke over time, oh no, cause this City did nothing to protect
them. I,and you should, and there's still haven't done anything. There's no
emergency plan for housing people. No, no one, I've emailed y'all about that.
No one emailed me back about if the City has a plan for when there's adverse
events happening for giving shelter to people when there's no shelter. Urn,
also some other shared problems. The Shelter House, the email with the
winter shelter is finally open is terrible outreach. I,when was doing lunches,
the houseless people, I talked to four houseless people literally five minutes
away from weather, from the winter shelter.And all four of them told me
they didn't even know the winter shelter was open.This was like a week
after. No, I think it was more than a week after it was, it was last Thursday
that I talked to them and they, none of four people, none of them knew that
the winter shelter was open. There's lots going wrong.
Teague: Thank you.
Petersen: You fix that.
Teague: Thank you. Online, I see Taylor followed by Dan.Welcome Taylor.
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Kohn: Urn,yeah. Hi, uh, my name is Taylor Kohn. Urn, uh, sorry, I didn't get a chance
to organize my thoughts so sorry if this is a little shuffled,but, urn, I just
wanted to back up everything the other commenters have said so far, urn,
and I hope you really appreciate that, urn, people are talking you and are
telling you what it's like,uh, to actually live in this community, urn,outside of
your own experience,that's really crucial, urn,to the work you're doing and
you should value it a lot and you shouldn't be trying to put punitive,you
know,things in place,urn,in case they do it in a way that makes you feel bad
or makes you have to stay here longer. Urn, uh, so I, I would urge you when
you're thinking about like meeting protocols or something, urn, uh,to not
have any kind of, urn, consequences for, for people not being germane or, or
whatever,that's just not, it should not be a priority to you. And I would
especially caution you to stay away from imitating the City of Des Moines in
that respect. Urn,that is a very bad idea. Urn, they're committing like First
Amendment violations over there.You should not be looking at them as a
model. Urn,you should not be using violence in any way against your
constituents. Urn, and I also wanted to address, urn, the winter shelter. Urn,
I'm so, so glad that that became a priority a couple weeks ago and was open,
but why was it not a priority before then? Urn, this is not any kind of attack
on the organization that,urn,that you,you know, contract with or, or
whatever it is you do. Urn,the fact of the matter is that they were not able to
pull this off and your constituents suffered,your unhoused residents
suffered.And there was a long time where it was,you know, maybe a warm
December for you where you,you know, can go inside your home, but, urn,to
sleep in outside,why was,why was there no shelter? Why didn't,why didn't
someone say, oh my gosh, 911,we need to open one of our many public
buildings to have an emergency space so that people are not in the cold.Why
is there no, like it, it's not that difficult to have something in place that's
redundant. Urn, even if it's just on an ad hoc basis, like it there's, if, if the
winter shelter is not open, it should have been everyone's priority to drop
everything and get that open. Urn, and it's, it's not a matter of pointing fingers
at whose fault it is. It's just the simple fact that the,the City government is
supposed to provide basic services, so the residents can survive.And that
didn't happen this year. So now that the shelter is open and people have a
place to go, can you, can you please think about how you can make sure this
never happens again? Never.And I know two of you are new, welcome. Can
you prioritize this in your time as you, as you're figuring out what you're
gonna, what you're gonna do on this Council? Can we make sure this never
happens again, please? Thank You.
Teague: Thank you.Welcome Dan.
Kauble: Hi, can y'all hear me?
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Teague: Yes.
Kauble: Hi. Urn, so, uh, good evening, Council.And I would like to start by saying
thank you for having hybrid meetings. I'm in quarantine at the moment
because America can be dumb, but, uh, I guess that's where we're at. Urn,so I
would like to comment about meeting protocols. Urn, I just have, uh,
something quick I would like to say, um, to Council and Mr. Mayor, Councilor
Weiner, Mayor Pro Tem, all the people who are working on coming up with
the City's response to these,to new protocols. Urn, please just consider
tactics of de-escalation or just the way, I mean, the,because it seems like the
City and Mr. Mayor, it's zero to 100. I mean,there's, there's something there's
definite alternatives between just saying, Hey, can you please stop talking to,
Hey,we're gonna arrest you. So I would just like to, um, have you all keep
that in mind? And I would like to comment about the joint entities meeting.
Um, I think that because with the issue of the MRAP and armored vehicles, I
think that might be a good discussion with the County to have about their
usage of the MRAP at that time, I would also like to say that I think there
should probably be a Council work session regarding armored vehicles
because the Iowa City Police Department has been using the Linn County
Bearcat.And I don't know if,what the details are are about that. If we're
giving money to the Linn County Sheriffs department for the usage or what
that,what that looks like, but like that's pretty concerning.And I think that
Council deserves answers to that and just know what's going on.And the
public does.And I think now is the time, the ball is in the court of the City for
you all to make a definite judgment about armored vehicles.Thank you.
Teague: Thank you.Anyone else in the public?Anyone else on Zoom would like to
speak?Welcome? I'll have you speak first and then when you're done, there's
a sign in, but you can speak now. I'll have you come speak. Sure.And then
after you,you're done,you can sign in. Okay, welcome. Please state your
name and what city you're from.
Moore: Uh, my name's Dave Moore and I'm from Iowa City. If, uh, let me ask you it's
three minutes. If I, if my reading glasses fog up, can I lower this slightly? Or
do you want me to keep it up?
Teague: You're,you're fine to take it off as long as people are six feet away from you.
Moore: Um,thank you. Um, Mr. Mayor, and rest of Council, urn, I wanna talk about
the Mill for a minute and I don't want to be perceived as somebody who's,
um, pursuing, pursuing lost causes or trivial matters. Um, this may be a
narrow path to putting the actual Mill location back on our plates, again, as a
community asset,but it's certainly not a trivial matter. Um, I wanted to just
explain it and, and I'm sure most of you know about this, but that if the
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Mayor unilaterally, Mr.Teague, or maybe possibly it's Constable, if you were
to put this, if you were to call a special, special meeting this week, and I guess
it would have to be this week, 'cause I think the demo is scheduled from
Monday,just a week from today or yesterday. If you were to put a special
meeting, if you were to hold one to consider whether, urn, this, the Mill has
historic status,then four out of City,seven City Councilors could decide if
they did agree with that, that they would send this,that they would declare a
hub, a public hearing sometime, that's the process. I think you call a special
meeting and then you'd do a four out,so you have a discussion,you do a four
out of seven vote as to whether to have a public hearing as to the status of the
Mill.And that in itself, this week, I believe would put the demolition on hold
for 60 days. So I'm, I'm just urging you to consider this sort of out-of-the-box
thing.And um,this is, my notes are just from an email that I sent to a friend
when he asked me what's going on with the Mill today. So if they're a little
scattered that said, okay, um,this building,you know, that has given so much,
I'm gonna go fast. Cause I don't know where my three minutes are here.You
know,it's over there. Okay.This is like in a,uh,wrestling match or something
is what it reminds me of. But I'm not here to wrestle, okay. Okay. So the
building that has given so much to so many is,is, is kind of going down
without so much as a whimper. Except if you look at social media,you'll see
whether it's, um, Little Village or any other website that people are hurting
deeply about this, hundreds, hundreds and hundreds of people all over the
country.And especially here,they're really hurting. Um, I think, um, someone
said it best that they thought that everybody thought somebody else was
taking care of this and, uh, COVID of course contributed to that.
Teague: Um, thank you.
Moore: Was that three minutes?
Teague: Yes.
Moore: Jesus.
Teague: Yep.Yep. Thank you though.
Moore: God, I haven't even started.
Teague: Yep.
Moore: Can I come back after, after?
Teague: No,no. Yep. But thank you.
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Moore: Well I thought the 42 seconds was, I was 42 seconds in.
Teague: No, it was, it was three minutes given.
Moore: Oh, okay.
Teague: So person behind you can come forth at this point.
Moore: Mr.Teague, can I, can I go an extra minute? Is that possible,with so little --
Teague: No.
Moore: I'd like to tell you the reasons why if possible.
Teague: No.
Moore: Okay. But thank you though.
Teague: Well, I'll have the person behind you come.Thank you.Welcome.
Carmen: Hi,my name is Chris Carmen and I, uh, resident of Iowa City.And I'm also
here to speak about the Mill, um, uh, and sort of to echo something Dave said,
this is not an effort to, to villainize anyone, uh, including the developer,but
just, uh, thinking about the historic, historic significance of the Mill, certainly
as a cultural asset and, and resource in our community, uh, for 60 years first
in one location in the downtown and then, uh, 50 years in the current
location.And, um, it's, and to me it's an example of living history. It's not
something that happened a hundred years ago, but it's some thing that, uh, if
you were to take a poll of Iowa City residents,uh, I think probably,you know,
a, a large number would have a, uh, an emotional and social connection with
the Mill,whether they went there to hear, uh, politicians speak,who's
running for, for president or, uh, to be part of some sort of organization was
meeting there or to,you know, to hear Dave Moore or, uh, Greg Brown or, uh,
any,you know, uh,any anyone else in our rich, uh, musical, uh, culture here.
And,urn, so,you know, I, I know that it, that is, uh, a challenge to think about
doing something at this point. Uh,but at very least, uh, I'd, I'd say that it's, uh,
it's worth giving local citizens a chance to, to have, uh, some input, uh, to,you
know,to go through a pro-- process of historic review and then,you know,
for an objective body to weigh the pros and cons. But, but, uh, but I think that
it would be, it would be a signif--, an act of, of, uh, paying attention to the
concerns of local citizens.And at very least I'd, I'd encourage the, uh, the
Council, to think about the Mill as an object lesson, and if nothing can reverse,
what's already, uh, in process now, how,how as a community, do we to re-,
preserve these, uh,these pockets of these important pockets of culture? Uh,
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especially when, when it's a,a, a private business that has,you know,uh,
significant community benefit,uh,you know, and so there are special
considerations I think, in, in these situations,but it's well worth,uh,you
know,uh,before we lose all this,uh, sort of grassroots, uh, culture that's, uh,
you know, that, uh, is very much part of the fabric of Iowa City. Uh,is there
some sort of,uh, process for stepping back and saying,you know,these in,
uh, these are maybe there's a definition for what this, uh, cultural, uh,
historic, uh, significance is and how it can be preserved. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Thank you.
Carmen: You're welcome.
Teague: Anyone else like to address an item that is not on our agenda? Seeing no
one,we're onto item number 10,which is planning and zoning matters.
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10.a. Rezoning-IWV Road SW- Ordinance conditionally rezoning
approximately 53.36 acres from County Agricultural (A) to Intensive
Commercial (CI-1), approximately 17.03 acres from County Agricultural (A) to
Interim Development Commercial (ID-C),and approximately 9 acres from
Rural Residential (RR-1) to Intensive Commercial (CI-1) for land located west
of the intersection of IWV Road SW and Slothower Road.
Teague: Item number 10a is rezoning, IWV Road SW,a ordinance conditionally
rezoning approximately 53.36 acres from County Agricultural to Intensive
Commercial, approximately 17.03 acres from County Agricultural to Interim
Development Commercial, and approximately nine acres from Rural
Residential to Intensive Commercial for land located west of the intersection
of IWV Road SW and Slothower Road. Could I get a motion to pass and adopt
please?
Bergus: So moved, Bergus.
Alter: Second,Alter.
Teague: Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If you're online,
please raise your hand. If you're in public, please step to the mic.Welcome.
Marner: Thank you,John Marner with MMS Consultants representing the applicant.
I'd just like to take a quick moment to thank Council, uh, the members that
have participated in the past discussion, uh, to consider this matter and I'm
available for any other questions. I understand there's two new Council
members and I'm available for any questions, if there are any from those
members.
Teague: Thank you.Anyone online? I see no hands. Council discussion? Roll call,
please. [Roll call vote.] Motion passes 7 - 0.
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11. Proposed South District Self Supported Municipal Improvement District-
Ordinance amending Title 3, "Finance, Taxation and Fees" of the City Code to
add a new Chapter, to establish the South District Self-Supported Municipal
Improvement District(SSMID) pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 386, Code
of Iowa; and providing for the establishment of an operation fund and the levy
of an annual tax in connection therewith. (Pass & Adopt)
Teague: Item number 11.We're gonna have, uh, Councilor Bergus recuse herself.
Item number 11 is proposed South District self-supported municipal
improvement district.This is an ordinance amending Title III, Finance,
Taxation, and Fees of the City Code to add a new chapter to establish the
South District Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District pursuant to
the provisions of Chapter 386, Code of Iowa and providing for the
establishment of an operation fund and levy of an annual tax in connection
therewith. Could I get a motion to pass and adopt?
Weiner: So moved.
Thomas: Second,Thomas.
Teague: Move by Weiner, second by Thomas.Anyone from the public like to address
this topic, please step up to the mic if you're in the, if you're here in person
and we have a hand raised on, on Zoom.Welcome Nicholas.
Theisen: Uh, hello again, Council. Um, I haven't had a chance to address this issue
when it has been on Council agenda in the past due to lack of hybrid
meetings, et cetera, et cetera. I'm not gonna rehash that issue. Urn, I did get a
chance recently to speak to a couple of the organizers responsible for, urn,
putting the SSMID and okay,actually, can I, this is, this is gonna sound really
silly,but I do have to get it off my chest.There's no H in SSMID. Can we please
not say Schmid, sounds very strange to me, maybe that's just a petty thing,
but I,whatever.Anyway, I had a chance to talk to, uh,some organizers who
worked on the proposal and I was actually really impressed by the
differences between this, uh, proposal and the, the Downtown District that
it's modeled on. Urn, but the thing is a lot of what happened with the
Downtown District and also the effects that all of those sort of like
development priorities had on the near areas around downtown, especially
with regards to housing, um, the businesses that left and also the
transformations of the Ped Mall from what used to be sort of like,you know,
a commons for a lot of people who,you know, live in the city into the, I guess
you could say resort that it is now. Urn, I was impressed by the fact that the,
the organizers themselves are really sort of conscientious about involving
residents in the planning process. Um, but the reason why I'm addressing you
all about this is because a lot of what happened with the Downtown District
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was at the behest of the City.And I know when it comes to sort of the,the
gentrification effects that could possibly result, urn, not just with the,the
South District SSMID,but also the,sort of the,the larger sort of form-based
code issue in the South District, and also the way in which the City clearly
wants to gentrify that part of town. Urn, I think it's really important to honor
the, the wishes and the desires of the people who put this proposal together,
that the City actually stand out of the way of that.And also to, how should I
put this, not impose upon Angie Jordan and the others sort of an impossible
situation in which they have to sort of advocate for the existence of this
improvement district while at the same time,also implicitly advocating for
the sort of the gentrification effects that the City clearly wants to have on the
South Side. And so that is all on you to be extremely conscientious about that
and not to impose upon that part of town,which has historically been very
socioeconomically diverse a, well, what's already happening. It's becoming a
much more, it's becoming much richer, it's becoming much whiter.Urn, and if
you don't think very conscientiously about how those effects happen and
how the City is complicit in them,then I have a feeling that it's going to go the
same way of sort of the,the so-called core neighborhoods. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you.Welcome.
Levin: Good evening. Uh, my name is Elinor Levin. I have commented on this
previously, so I'm just gonna say a couple of things very quickly. One is that
I'd like to clarify that the organizers and the residents of the South District
SSMID are the same people. This SSMID came from the residents and from
the current business owners, and those are the people driving it.Those are
the people working on it week to week. Those are the people working behind
the scenes to make sure that it's successful.And really that's all I have to say
today. Thank you for your time.
Teague: Thank you.Anyone else else like to address this topic?Welcome.
Petersen: Hello, my name is Noah, um, and all I have to say is,uh, uh, practically
99.99% of the time, the capital business owners, such as there's lots of
capital,acts contrary interests of the residents. So, I mean,that's, anyways.
Urn,so yeah, um,this City, as I've said, previous meetings needs to,if they're
going to have this,have guidelines to control their cops. So the cops don't do
what they do when you gentrify,just push out the people. Finally. Essentially
the houseless folks this is happening in the South Side is happened more and
more of this. So. Control your cops, order them to stop having to from
harassing they houseless people, folks. Sorry. Oh yes.Also, urn, and pass an
ordinance to prohibit Iowa City cops from driving an MRAP around in the
South Side or any side, anywhere,like no, no ICPD cops driving, any military
vehicles. Ban that.You can do that. Last year you all talked about how you
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were against militarized police.Yet we still have militarized police.They still
use the military, military vehicles. They used, they had,they had the military
vehicle that night when they committed war crimes against your residents,
the residents of the city, the MRAP was there when that happened,which
would make sense that weapon of war would be there when they're
committing war crimes. But you all should do something about that. So you
have a lot,you have a bit of control over what, how you control your cops.
Obviously there's the state law stuff.There's, makes it harder for yourself,
but stuff like that,you can very easily control what the equipment they use.
They don't need an MRAP, they don't need Bearcat.They don't need any of
that.They don't need be using any of that, and you should ban them from
using any of that.Thanks.
Teague: Thank you.Anyone else like to address this topic? Seeing no one, Council
discussion.
Weiner: Just wanna underscore what Ms. Levin said, that it seemed it's been a, um,
and I think you, Mayor Pro Tem, know this 'cause you're probably part of it.
This,this has truly been an effort of the residents, um, to put this together
and push it forward and I'm really happy to see it come to fruition.
Teague: Mm-hmm.
Alter: I would just like to add and commend, uh,Angie Jordan and Elinor, and, um,
Tasha Laird,um, and a number of other resident organizers who actually
worked very hard and went back to businesses and nonprofits who are also
signed on to do this. It is very true that any SSMID that is created is created
by those who are in the area, um,but there was initially quite a bit of
resistance by property owners who did not want to buy into this, urn. Once
persistence and explanation and education occurred, um,that this can be
something that is eminently shapeable by the,by the people who live there
and own property you there, um,then you really started to see a slow change
in people buying into it.And this is entirely due to, uh, the persistence of the
residents in that area and, um,who very much want to, urn, strengthen and
fortify the neighborhood and the area while still retaining its own character.
And,um, I just think that it's a real boon to the area.
Teague: I'm super excited to have this, uh, be on our agenda tonight as the pass and
adopt. Uh, and I'm not gonna repeat all the thank you, thank yous, but, uh, the
South District Neighborhood Association and individuals within the South
District has, uh, really been impressive, um, in so many facets and, and this is
just one way of the community coming together and, urn, actually, um,
creating an avenue through conversation and, urn, relationship building to be
here with this proposal today. So, happy to vote in favor of it. If no more
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comments, roll call please. [Roll call vote] Motion passes 6 — 0 with one
recusal.All right.
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12. CPRB -Expand Membership - ordinance amending Title 8, entitled Police
Regulations, Chapter 8, entitled Community Police Review Board, to increase
the composition of the board from five members to seven. (Second
Consideration)
Teague: And we are onto item number 12,which is CPRB, expand membership.This
is the ordinance amending the Title XII, entitled Police Regulations, Chapter
8, entitled Community Police Review Board,to increase the composition of
the board from five members to seven members.This is second
consideration. Could I get a motion please?
Thomas: So moved,Thomas.
Taylor: Second,Taylor.
Teague:All right.Anyone from the public,like to address this topic? If so, please step
to the mic or raise your hand online.Yep.And I'll have you come forth first,
first,and then you can sign in once you're done.
O'Hara: Okay, cool. I'm Brigid.Um, I just wanna address like what the cops are
doing specifically about like sexual assault victims. Um, personally I
submitted mine in October and I followed up with it multiple times and I
haven't contacted me and they kept saying four to six weeks. Um,but again,
like I submitted mine in October. Um, so just like, it's a definitely a good thing
for closure. So just wondering if you could look into that,like they're just,just
their process. Like not just for me,but just like for everyone and my parents.
So yeah.
Teague: Thank you.Anyone online in the public?Welcome.
Petersen: Hello?Um, so yeah,just pretty much just said,uh, last time. Um,instead of
have it so no former cops ever on the Police Review Board since cops, former
cops are of course going to find their fellow cops, cop,folks that,urn,that
they didn't commit offenses. I mean, let's,that's how it goes.We all know this,
uh,are aware of how it works when cops or former cops investigate current
cops.And of course they're not gonna find any wrong doing with,um,the
overwhelming majority of, of the time.That's why this review board never
does the anything regardless. I think like even more like cop-supporting folks
on there's,going to do anything to change it.And this board just,they
couldn't even condemn war crimes.And you think you need to have more
cops,more, more supportive cops on this board. It's supposed to be
reviewing the cops. It's asinine to me. Um, also just speak a little more about
the,the police problem, urn, and having, uh,having currently the first
response to mental health crisis is send cops and then possibly have the
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mental health after, still have first responders to be cops mental health crisis.
That is absolutely terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible way to do things.That's
how you get people killed. Someone that has, who has luckily not had the
cops show up on many times in my life. I've had, I've had my, more than my
fair share of mental health crisises that cops in 911 could have been called to.
And I, I really doubt I'd be alive here today if the cops had responded to,
some of those, must have a mental health crisis.And when people like me,
near the <mumbled> people, especially we don't get along with cops. These
cops don't know how to deal with us. And ICPD does not know how to
deescalate.When I film ICPD almost every single time I get cops getting mad
at me for filming them.They get in my face, they're like threatening to arrest
me because I'm filming them. And yet these people are supposed to be these
de-escalating situations and responding mental health crisises.And you think
that's not gonna harm people, again, asinine, urn, fix that.You know how
you've been told like multiple times by many different people, how to change
that, but you haven't done anything.Time to do something about that.
Teague: Thank you.Welcome, Dan.
Kauble: Hi. Um, so regarding the, urn, the CPRB or whatever the acronym is, I'm
sorry. Um,the Citizens Police Review Board. So this was a board that recently
declared that the June 3rd tear-gassing was justified and that there was still
no, um, misconduct which occurred that night.Anybody who was there that
night knows that misconduct occurred. People who were just sitting or
kneeling on the ground with their hands in the air were just, were repeatedly
shot with rubber bullets and they were tear gassed. Now the composition of
this current board was to declare that those war crimes justified, right. I
don't know if there are any current or former ICPD officers on the
department, but I do know that if you added officers from that department,
they would be inclined to say, Hey, this was justified because I mean,
anybody who's ever seen a cop movie knows that cops don't screw over
other cops. I mean, I've heard people who've been on the Iowa City Police
Review Board, Citizens Police Review Board,talk about how hard it is even
without the presence of cops to, to, to try to impugn police officers,because
people just wanted, um, let them do whatever they do.And I know that on
other boards, former police officers are very much like that. So, I mean, it's it,
this is about the efficacy of the Police Review Board and the process.And
frankly, I think that letting any former ICPD officer join the board, would
taint that efficacy, be them out, out of the department two years, five years,
personally, I think any number of years should disqualify them from
reviewing other officers. I mean,we know how it works.And I think if you
talk to any former members of the board, they would agree. So that's all I
have to say. Thank you.
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Teague: Thank you.Anyone else like to address this topic?Welcome,Taylor.
Kohn: Hi. Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes.
Kohn: Hi. I just wanted to chime in and also say that, urn,you should not have cops
on this board. It is a conflict of interest.Thank you.
Teague: Thank you.Anyone else like to address this topic, seeing no one, Council
discussion. Roll call please.
Alter: Actually, I do have a question. Urn, one of the things that I know has been
brought up about, uh,the need for police presence on the board or, uh,
membership is because there's often process that can be explained. Um, and,
and that there is a perspective from having a career in law enforcement, uh,
because I do remember also it's not necessarily that it needs to be a police
officer,but someone within law enforcement. Is that correct?
Taylor: Yes. Correct.
Alter: Urn, thank you for that clarification. Urn, one of the things that I will admit, uh,
I've been thinking about though, is, is there a need for that police officer or
sorry, as after I just got it clarified, for that law enforcement officer to have a
vote? I don't know.And I apologize because I have not seen the, the minutes,
um, other than having scanned them so that that discussion may have
already well been had at the Commission level. Urn, so I just, I want to put
that out there because I do think it's important to have, sort of, someone who
can sort of walk through, urn, um, a, a certain perspective given a situation,
um, that I think that that can be helpful. Um, but I was wondering about the,
is there a need for a vote, a voting membership?
Fruin: Uh, currently I could tell you the,the Chief of Police or designee attends all of
the meetings.And so he, he can provide that perspective, uh, with the
exception of the moments in which they adjourn to executive session. Then
the Chief does not go into executive session. Uh, I'd want to talk with the City
Attorney's office and, and explore that concept of whether somebody could
go into that executive session without a vote. Uh, urn, I'll see if you have
thoughts on that.
Dulek: Sure. Urn,just as you and Kellie,for example,go into an executive session
with the City Council, urn, that person could be invited, invited in,yes. But
right now all members have a vote. So you would have to,uh, have to have a,
a substantive change to, uh,the ordinance, um, to prohibit, urn, if that, if you
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don't want anybody with any law enforcement experience, 'cause that's
currently in the Code and has been from the beginning,you'd have to make
that, uh, amendment, so. But you certainly could.
Alter: And I recognize too that the Commission themselves voted on this and
agreed,uh, unanimously. So, um, I'm not proposing that to throw a wrench in
the works or to, um, go against what members of the board who are currently
on it are saying,it's simply a point that I don't think that we, had been raised
before or at least, um, I, it was a point of confusion for me.
Teague: Well, I'll, I'll say that when I first heard that, urn, and I think it was in
Coralville where they were getting their CPRB together and, um,they wanted
law enforcement a part.That was a part of the initial discussion.And I was on
the, under the, um, in the thought process that that was not a good idea. Um,
as I began to speak to various people, including the NAACP here in Iowa, um,
I came to the conclusion, that,you know, these are the,um,you know, the
CPR review board members and they're making the request. Um, it could
always be changed. I think this Council, um, it is our duty to look at all of it.
Um, and so I did get,you know, I am comfortable moving forward with it. I do
think that if something should change, um, the Council has every right to
come back and redraw how we wrote this.
Alter: Certainly. And as a recent former Commission member, that was sort of what
was guiding my, um, comment about not wanting to go against the
Commission. Um, I think I may be where you were at Mr. Mayor, um, that I
find it some somewhat problematic, um, even recognizing that they're one
vote of many, um,that said, I also want to put faith in the Commission
members, um, having been on a Commission, not the same one,but, um, the
notion that we appoint people to carry out in-depth conversations and to
really look at different issues that come before them, um,grant some sort of a
body of experience and of knowledge that,um, I wanted to at least state out
here that my hesitation or my question was not to question their judgment
per se,because they are in the thick of it. Um,but I did have to say as
someone who is new to this,that the notion of having, um,someone in law
enforcement on, on a board that reviews the police seemed sort of at odds
with one another. So I just wanted to sort of say here's both sides of it for me.
Uh, and I appreciate, um, the license to process that.
Teague: Mm-hmm
Bergus And the Council can also waive that requirement at the time of appointment.
As long as we have, um, if we agree on that,we don't have to, uh, appoint a
anyone with law enforcement expertise and it hasn't always been a police
officer. I know we had, um, an attorney who had actually, I think, prosecuted
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police misconduct in the past, had sort of filled that law enforcement spot on
the board before.
Teague: Mm-hmm.All right. Roll call please. [Roll call vote.] Motion passes 7 - 0.
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13. Farmer's Market- Insurance - Ordinance amending Title 10 of the City
Code, entitled"Use of Public Ways and Property", Chapter 11, entitled
"Farmer's Market," to require all vendors to carry insurance. (First
Consideration)
Teague: Item number 13 is farmer's market insurance, ordinance amending Title X
of the City Code entitled Use of Public Ways and Property, Chapter 11
entitled Farmer's Market to require all vendors to carry insurance.This is
first consideration. Could I get a motion please?
Bergus: So moved, Bergus.
Alter: Second,Alter.
Teague: All right. Um,we'll have Geoff kind of--
Fruin: Yeah,just, to briefly, briefly cover this one. So this is, uh,being done after just
kind of typical reviews of our, urn, risk management, uh, operations, farmer
market operations.We currently only require liability insurance for those
that are grilling out on the street. Um, uh, during those farmer's markets, urn,
it's, it's certainly best practice and what we found to be common in, in
comparable farmers' markets, that the vendors also inside the market carry
a, a, a very common general liability po-, uh, policy. Urn, so this would be, uh,
an ordinance change to require, um, that insurance requirement. Um,again,
some of the cities that have similar requirements here in Iowa, Cedar Rapids,
Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Bettendorf, Sioux City. Uh,we didn't do a
comprehensive review of all cities,but we, we wanted to make sure we
weren't asking for something that wasn't, um, um, uh, standard in other, uh,
comparable size markets. So I can try to answer any questions, um,that you,
that you have tonight.
Weiner: Geoff, do you have an idea if most, if most of these vendors carry insurance
anyway, and we're just not aware of it. Urn, and the second, the second part
of my question is there, do we think that this is gonna push out any smaller
vendors?
Fruin: Well,those are two very good questions.And I think, urn, the answer to your
first question is probably some of them carry it, urn, 'cause we know we have
vendors that might vend, for example, up in Cedar Rapids. Um, so, um, I
would say some probably carry it, urn,your larger, more established vendors,
urn, may do that, urn, depending on where else they vend and, and,uh,what
other insurance,you know, they may, um, be pursuing on their own. Urn,
would it push, push folks out?That's certainly not the intended, urn, urn,
consequence of this action. It's something we'll have to, to, urn,watch closely.
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And if we do see that we have vendors that can't make payments, we may
have to try to explore some, some programs to assist them,whether that's fee
waivers on, on the stalls,you know,they're currently making payments to be
a vendor. Um, we'll have to look at that a little bit,but,but I think it's a, I
think it's a really smart idea to require that insurance and then figure out if
there's unintended consequences, how to mitigate those.
Weiner: Thanks.
Harmsen: Uh, I would think too,uh, a conversation,uh, that we had just kind of
explaining who is not covered by this and who would still be exempt. Urn, so
we could share that with the public.
Fruin: Yeah. So these are,we're really looking at the vendors. Uh, if you are,uh,well,
some of you have campaigned and you go out to the farmer's market. Um, if
you have a child that's been,uh, a part of the, uh,kids day market, or you're
just out there,uh, passing along information,which is very common in our
markets,you wouldn't be required. These are,these are the actual vendors
that are selling,uh, goods on a regular basis at our market.
Harmsen: Thank you.
Teague: Okay.Any other questions? Great. Urn, public comment.And if you're online,
raise your hand and if you're in person,just come up,welcome.
Petersen: Hello. My name is Noah and, uh, I'd share the same,uh, concern as you,
Janice, about the pushing out smaller, uh, producers, people. So like to make,
if you are going to have the insurance, I don't have probably a good
<mumbled> to have insurance. Urn,but if they are going to have that
requirement to have it,so it doesn't hurt small producers and people who
don't like do it, they just like do it on this side.They're just like, it's not. So,so
you're not pushing out people who,un,unintended consequences type thing,
like you're saying,to just make sure if you're doing that to actually include
that with there. So, and to do it, uh,now instead of reacting to that,to do
more preactive instead of reactive. Cause that's like, I honestly, I don't know
exactly what you would do when you were talking, Geoff,but like you said,
you may like,like,we'll see what's happening. Like once it happens, the
problem with that is you're already gonna have like the negative effects,but,
and then if you're reacting to that,but you should be proactive with that.And
for the insurance, have the insurance and have the programs already in place,
so people aren't discouraged away from it. So you already have it. So it
doesn't,you don't have those in unintended consequences.Thank you.
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Teague: Thank you.Anyone else like to address this topic? If online,please raise
your hand. Seeing no one, Council discussion.
Alter: I just wanna say thank you for doing the research of the comparable cities.
Uh,that was,just starting to jot that out as a question and you answered it in
advance. So, um, incredibly helpful for us to sort of see context wise, how,
um, common this is, uh, so that to comments points about being proactive.
It's also that this is not some kind of, um, likely will not become a surprise,
uh, that this is going to be introduced potentially, uh, for the vendors.And,
um, I just echo that. Um,yeah, if we sort of keep in mind some of the smaller
vendors who may struggle a little bit, that we,um,work to, to keep them a
part of the farmer's market here in Iowa City.
Teague: I, I have no doubt that if our staff finds some challenges with individuals
that,um, we will navigate that and, and make sure that people still have the
opportunity to be a part.The one thing I will, uh,say, insurance, even though
I, none of us like to pay it, I would assume, um,but it, it really is for your
protection. So if something should happen, um, and someone gets sued, a
vendor, um,then they have some protection and it,you know, uh, potentially
won't go into,uh, causing them much financial heartbreak. So insurances are
there for a reason.And I think this is the right step.
Weiner: That's a good point.Thank you.
Teague:All right. Roll call please. [Roll call vote] Motion passes, 7 - 0.
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14. Downtown SSMID Amendment- Ordinance amending Title 3, "Finance,
Taxation and Fees", Chapter 7, "Iowa City Downtown Self-Supported Municipal
Improvement District",Section 4, "Operation Fund" of the City Code to confirm
the amendments in Iowa Code Chapter 386 regarding multi-residential
properties. (First Consideration)
Teague: Number 14, Downtown SSMID amendment, ordinance amending Title III,
Finance,Taxation and Fees, Chapter 7, Iowa City Downtown Self-Supported
Municipal Improvement District, Section 4, Operation Fund of the City Code
to confirm to the amendments in Iowa Code Chapter 386 regarding multi-
residential properties.This is first consideration. Can I get a motion please?
Thomas: So moved,Thomas.
Weiner: Second,Weiner.
Teague: And I'll invite Geoff back up.
Fruin: Yeah. Uh,just real quick. The intent with this ordinance is to maintain status
quo, um, and, uh, the change that's happening,that's prompting this
ordinance is at the state level.We talked actually quite a bit about it on, on
your budget,uh, Saturday.We have those multi-residential properties that
are being reclassified as residential, as part of that 2013 property tax reform.
The downtown SSMID collects the SSMID tax on, um, the multi-residential
properties, but it does not collect on residential. So as the state, urn, was
going through this transition, this, uh,this kind of oversight was recognized.
The state now allows for form--, if you were formally classified as multi-
residential for you to continue to pay into that SSMID. So this ordinance
would allow us to continue to collect those SSMID dollars for the Downtown
District on those multi-residential properties that soon will be residential.
Sorry if that's a little confusing,but again,the intent is to maintain status quo.
If you were already paying into the Downtown SSMID,you'll continue to, if
you weren't,you will continue not to.
Teague: Okay,great.Any questions? No.Anyone from the public like to address this
topic? If online, please raise your hand. Seeing no one, Council discussion.
Weiner: I'm just glad it's something they didn't try and take away from us at the
same time as they took the,the change, the, the,the title,the prop, kind of
property?
Teague: Yeah. I, I actually agree with this move from the state,so,yep. Roll call
please. [Roll call vote.] Motion passes is 7 - 0.
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15. Dover Street Traffic Calming—Resolution authorizing the installation of speed
humps on Dover Street, between Perry Court and Muscatine Avenue.
Teague: Item number 15 is Dover Street traffic calming, resolution authorizing the
installation of speed bumps on Dover Street between Perry Court and
Muscatine Avenue. Could I get a motion to approve please?
Weiner: So moved,Weiner.
Harmsen: Second, Harmsen.
Teague: All right.And welcome Kent.
Ralston: Yeah,thank you. Uh,good evening, Mayor, Council, Ken Ralston,
Transportation Planner. Uh, as the Mayor mentioned, the item before you is
resolution authorizing the installation of speed humps on Dover Street
between Perry Court and Muscatine Avenue, uh, quickly by way of
background. The residents at Dover Street have successfully completed the
City of Iowa City's traffic calming program, uh,based on traffic speeds. Uh,
staff discussed traffic calming with residents of Dover Street at a meeting
held back in October, uh, of last year where the consensus of residents who
attended the meeting was to move forward with the request for speed humps
and then survey, uh,themselves essentially. Uh,then about a week later on
October 27th,the survey was sent to residential properties along Dover
Street to measure support for the speed humps, and in all, 24 households
returned, uh,their survey postcards, uh,representing a 61% response rate.
And then all of the 24 postcards received by the deadline indicated support
for the proposed, uh, speed humps,which obviously represents a hundred
percent, uh, in favor of that. Uh, note, there were two postcards arrived after
the deadline. Uh, one was for and one was for against the proposal. Uh,the
other thing I would add is that it's also important to note that prior to
engaging with the neighborhood staff reviews, uh,the speed data and street
context with the City Engineer,uh, the Streets Department and the Police and
Fire Departments and the consensus of the committee was that speed humps
were the most safe and effective means for lowering speeds in the
neighborhood.And I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have.
Weiner: So does this end up being, it sounded like from one of the letters,uh, one of
the emails we received that this ends up being used, essentially as an escape
route for some people who wanna,who, who don't wanna stay on the main....
Ralston: Right. So this is a north-south oriented street for those that aren't familiar,
um, and it happens to ultimately connect Friendship, uh, down to Muscatine.
So it is sort of a cut through for a lot of folks. Uh, also Willowwind School is, is
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in the same, stretch of Dover. So this is the part north of Muscatine, not south.
That's correct.
Harmsen: Yeah, I was gonna add,that's in my neighborhood and actually some of my
kids' friends live on that street. So I've driven on that a lot of times,um, when
the Scott Boulevard project was going on, I know the traffic among their
street as well as another street that I live on really picked up.And so a lot of
people were cutting through a lot more. Um, but yeah, no, I think this is, uh,
the,the speed bumps make sense.That's a really busy piece of with, between
the, Southeast Junior High being a couple blocks away, two elementary
schools within a block of that, um, Dover Street in general, the whole length
there is, um,you know, is, is really busy at certain points of the day. So.
Ralston: Yeah, I agree.And what's interesting about Dover, if you were to drive
down, it, it feels like a street that would not have high speeds. It's, uh, not
particularly wide, it has parking on both sides.We've sort of done everything
we can, uh, at this point,but the speed data does show that there is still a, a
problem.
Teague: All right. Thank you.
Ralston: Thank you.
Teague: Great.Anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so, please come
at this time, and raise your hand online. Seeing no one, Council discussion.
Taylor: I appreciate the comments we received. We did get some letters,uh,both
sides, uh, of this issue.And it certainly showed that things can be seen
differently by different people,uh, but I think the, urn, game changer for me
was the most recent letter, uh, or correspondence that we received, uh,just
the other day, uh, from someone who lives on there and has seen, actually
seen accidents and, and, uh,watched people, uh,who were apparently,uh,
exceeding the speed limit.And I think that was kind of a decision maker for
me that, uh, this is needed.
Teague: You have no other comment. Roll call, please. [Roll call vote.] Motion passes
7 - 0. Could I get a motion to accept correspondence?
Weiner: So moved.
Bergus: Second.
Teague: [Voice vote.] Motion passes 7 - 0.All right.
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18. Community Comment [If necessary]
Teague: We are at item number 18, and we're gonna invite USG to speak to us and
welcome back. Classes started.
Miglin: Well,thank you. Urn, so yeah, that was my first thing that I was gonna say,
actually. Um,yeah, it's our first day of classes today and, urn, one of our
biggest concerns and most, urn, apparent concerns at the moment has been
the concerning lack of COVID protocols on campus for this semester. Urn,
Ulowa is currently ranking last in Big 10 COVID protection policies and the
City thus must take, help,take aggressive action to help address this issue.
Urn, the, that being said,the Welcome Center at the IMU does provide or,and
Student Health locations in the IMU,um,and Westlawn, uh, as well as in
residence halls, all have COVID, um, uh, test kits available this semester and
students, urn, may also consider requesting a free COVID-19 test for pickup
or mail deliver-- delivery through Test Iowa. There's also a limited supplies
of KN95 mask on limited locations on campus. I've been noticing them a lot
in, um, like our Tippie Business School and whatnot. Urn, but USG members
are also attending or will be attending the Association of Big 10 Students at
the end of January, uh, to discuss, uh, fraternity and sorority life, food
insecurity and mental health and wellness.We are excited to be, um, working
to address all these topics with Council as well, and are excited to continue
that work. Um,we are still seeking feedback on our Homeless Weeks survey,
urn, in order to inform, uh, future discussions, urn, a link, uh,will be provided
to you all again in the email that I will be sending out. Urn, and yeah, that will,
that will be all. Urn, thank you so much for your time.
Teague:Well, thank you and hope you enjoyed your time away and the rest of the
students,and now it's time to get back to work.
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19. City Council Information
Teague: All right,item number 19 is City Council information and updates,
community events, that type stuff.
Weiner: Um,but the further to Sam Jarvis earlier, urn, if anybody, anybody can go
now, it was launched a day early,and go to the website covidtests.gov and
order four rapid COVID tests to be sent to your home for free. Um, so that,
that was just launched today,um, and otherwise, participated and
appreciated the City's sponsorship of the MLK events yesterday, heard your,
your voice recorded, um, some, some, uh, really good events that were pretty
COVID-safe. I thought. So.
Alter: Following actually on your heels about COVID, um, I got an email from the
school district that they, urn, are doing a vaccination clinic for 12-year-olds
and up at Tate on the 23rd, uh, 24th, I'm sorry.And then the, also at
Kirkwood Elementary on the 25th. So for those who are eligible, it just carne
out today at about 4:30 or so.
Teague: I do wanna mention, urn, as I started out this evening,uh, talking about the
life of Dr. King and just that, um, commemoration that, uh,we do annually,
and I, I think it's very important for us as a community to continue to do that,
urn, and happy that it was done in some fashion, urn, both there was a hybrid
option for people. So that was great to, uh, still have that available here
locally. Uh, I want to remind people that, uh, as we,you've been hearing
COVID is off the rails a little bit. Um, and I think that,uh, wearing masks, as
we know, that's one way that we can do it. Um, I'm tired of it, everybody here
that I know is tired of it,but when you're getting together in family
gatherings, um, it might feel a little awkward at first. Um,but for me is almost
like a security blanket now where I just don't, don't really feel comfortable,
uh, in close proximity without it. So I would just encourage people,just, um,
mask up just a little while longer.We're gonna get through this at some point.
Urn, and we are in this together.Any other comments.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
formal meeting of January 18, 2022.