HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-02-15 TranscriptionPage 1
Council Present:
Staff Present:
Alter, Bergus, Harmsen, Taylor, Teague, Thomas, Weiner
Davies, Goers, Fleagle, Fruehling, Fruin, Havel, Kilburg, Jones,
Seydell-Johnson, Sitzman, Sovers
Others Present : Miglin (USG)
Teague: And we're going start with roll call, please. [Roll call.] All right, well
welcome again, Councilors. We had a little bit of a break from the work
session, um, between the work session and the formal meeting and welcome
to everyone that is here, present in, uh, I'll I'll call it council chambers, um,
and also to everyone that is zooming in or through social media websites.
Welcome. I hope that your yesterday was, um, Valentine's Day. I hope you
had a pleasant day.
2.a. COVID Update -- Johnson County Public Health
Teague: We're going to start with item number 2, uh, 2a, which is COVID update
from Johnson County Public Health. And we'll welcome Sam Jarvis, who is the
Community Health Division Manager.
Jarvis: Good afternoon to the City of Iowa City, uh, City Council, uh, Sam Jarvis.
Johnson County Public Health has always appreciated the opportunity to
provide updates. And certainly, uh, as many can see, uh, we are, uh, seeing
pretty positive trends, uh, across the board. And so as we've reported out in
the past several weeks, uh, we've seen some of the highest cases, uh, we've
seen throughout the entire pandemic, uh, looking at seven-day periods of
roughly 1600 cases, uh, within a week, uh, to date, uh, within the last seven
days, we've seen roughly about 400, so we've decreased quite dramatically,
uh, and so we're happy to see this trend, uh, and we're, uh, we're continuing
to monitor what that local transmission is, uh, in our community as best as
possible, knowing that, uh, there's been, uh, a decrease in Test Iowa kit, uh,
demand. Uh, at one point in time, we were pushing out several pallets of test
kits, you know, roughly 1200 at, at a time, uh, with help from our community
partners at libraries and municipalities. Uh, but this past week, I believe
we've, we've pushed out roughly six cases of 50. So, um, the desire is, is
certainly different and we know that rapid antigen tests are more available
within the community, uh, which also, uh, most know that those, uh, test
results are not reported to us. So there's a lot of variability, but certainly
overall we're seeing good trends. Uh, we've seen hospitalizations across the
state decrease as well. Uh, and so we know that, uh, all of these things are
matching up and we're seeing positive trends in that regard. And so we hope
to continue to see that decrease. Uh, we know lot of folks are eyeing that, uh,
in our local communities, uh, knowing that it's also linked to mask
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recommendations. And so we're monitoring that as well, um, but, uh, to put it
into context, uh, roughly 97% of counties across the entire United States are
still within high transmission, so, uh, where we were once extremely high, uh,
with our Omicron surge, uh, we're still in high transmission. And so, uh, we
are still encouraging folks to be vigilant, uh, and to be mindful of all the other
mitigation practices that we are able to take. Uh, the other thing, uh, to note,
uh, and certainly within recent new is the change with, um, vaccination for
pediatric populations, uh, specifically our six-month to four year olds, uh, we
are waiting to hear more word and, and excited to have that roll out, uh,
within the coming week. Uh, we know that our, our federal partners, uh, have
given notice that Pfizer has, uh, taken a step back to review, uh, data and
collect more data on evaluation of a third dose. And so, um, that vaccination
for that population has been delayed at this moment. Uh, we do not have an
updated timeline on that, but, uh, as soon as we know, we'll continue to, uh,
share that information and prepare and plan with our partners. We know for
the most part, uh, with that population, it is likely that many will want to
receive that vaccination from their pediatrician or, or, or their doctor's office.
And so we'll continue to plan with those and be vigilant and mindful of
whether or not, um, different areas, if there's a need for community-based
clinics. Uh, if, if so, uh, certainly we'll work with our partners to do that, but
again, if we're looking at a vaccine with three dose, a three dose, uh, series, it
just adds, uh, another, uh, tier of logistics and, and hurdles to, to overcome,
but, uh, certainly throughout the entire vaccine campaign, we've, we've
overcome quite, quite a few of those hurdles. So, um, as always, uh,
appreciate our partnership, appreciate all of our partners, our community,
um, because after almost two years, we've, we've accomplished a lot. Uh,
we've got a high vaccination rate within our community. We also have a very
high, uh, booster rate, uh, so many folks in our community are up to date with
their vaccinations, which provide the most protection. So again, grateful, uh,
for everyone, uh, their patience and understanding, uh, and doing the right
thing. So with that, happy to answer any questions.
Harmsen: ?m, a couple of quick questions, first of all, uh, what was the said
transmission rate for the last seven days at about, uh, 400 cases? Um, seems
like the last time we were, uh, feeling a, uh, a little bit better was pre -Delta
last summer. What was the case rate? I mean, if you know, off the top of your
head, if not, I'm, I didn't prep you for that question, so.
Jarvis: No, no, quite all right. Uh, you know, within, uh, the last summer, uh, July, uh,
we saw probably our lowest trends and I believe we were under about 30
cases a day.
Harmsen: Okay.
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Jarvis: Uh, and then even got to the point where some days where we were single
digits, uh, and so that was, uh, also pre -Delta. So, uh, we did not have the
evidence that persons who are vaccinated could transmit, uh, illness at that
time. Uh, and so at that point we were feeling pretty good and probably at the
safest point, um, before we've seen, um, different variants.
Harmsen: Thank you. That helps with kind of context to the numbers, even though
they've come down, we're still not where we were last summer.
Jarvis: Absolutely.
Harmsen: Uh, pre Delta. Uh, the other question is I know that the state has changed a
little bit the way it's tracking and reporting numbers, although I believe the
state health department is still tracking those numbers. Has that had any
impact on, on the reliability of the numbers that you are able to bring
forward?
Jarvis: Uh, for the most part, to our understanding of the moment, uh, we believe
that it'll have minimal impact in our local operations, certainly that will
change, uh, overall the, the positivity rate, uh, as, uh, the state has mentioned,
um, only positive test results will be required to be reported. Negative test
results will not be, uh, and so that denominator for, um, uh, positivity rate
won't be available, but, uh, to our knowledge, uh, the positive, uh, results will
still reported, uh, and still be reported to the CDC where they are tracking for
that community transmission. So overall, uh, there is some loss of visibility,
but, uh, we don't believe that it will be a dramatic impact and likely we were
entering a scenario where that would occur anyways, given the, um, the
availability of rapid at-home tests, so.
Teague: When you're talking about lack of visibility, um, now that we have the
federal government that is sending home kits, as well as the availability of
home kits that people can pick up from a local pharmacy, what is, what is
your sense of, um, you know, the community's knowledge of the spread of
COVID? Um, do you think that there's a sense, a false sense because we don't
see the numbers, these are also not reported unless there's a way to self-
report?
Jarvis: Uh, that's a great question. And, and, uh, at this point it's hard to say given
how soon and new a lot of these changes are occurring, um, within
succession, uh. Likely we are continuing to see, um, uh, what would be
described as a, you know, absolutely seeing a decrease in, in transmission.
Uh, it's matching up with what we're seeing with hospitalizations. Um,
mortality rates have slowed as well. Uh, it's matching what other states are
seeing as well after they've seen their Omicron surge. So, I, you know, I, I
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think with certitude, we are heading in the right direction, uh, in terms of the
exactness, uh, of that, uh, I think is still unknown. Um, but as always, Test
Iowa kits are still available, um, providers are still providing COVID-19 tests
and also reporting those positive results. So there is some still, uh, visibility.
It's just not as, uh, we'll say pronounced as it once was. And we'll continue to
look at and determine how much of an impact that will be.
Bergus: Sam, you mentioned boosters. Do you have, uh, data on where Johnson
County is as far as percentage of people who have gotten that third shot?
Jarvis: Uh, right now I, from, uh, state data, it looks like our community is roughly
about 40%, uh, up to date with their vaccination status. So, um, overall that's,
uh, I believe the highest in the state, uh, it's comparable, uh, to what annual
flu vaccination rates are as well. So again, I, I, headed in a good direction. Uh,
certainly what we'd like to see that match our total or fully vaccinated rate,
which is about 71%. Absolutely. Um, why there's that large of gap, certainly
there's the timing. Uh, some folks may not be eligible for their booster yet, uh,
but there may also just be, um, less of a concern. Uh, certainly, uh, we've done
our, uh, our due diligence to continue promote that because of the Omicron
variant, it's very necessary, uh, to be boosted, but, uh, you know, it's still
some unanswered questions that well have to continue to, to look into.
Teague: All right. Well, thank you so much.
Jarvis: Thank you.
Teague: Appreciate you coming.
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2.b. State of the City
Teague: We're moving on to item number 2b, which is the State of the City. I am, I, I
did a, uh, video presentation last year in 2021, and what some of the remarks
that I got was, uh, they really enjoy seeing some visuals because our City is
very robust with the vi- various things. And so I decided to do the State of the
City again by video, and we'll share it at this time.
Teague [via video]: It is my duty, honor and privilege to address the City Council and
the community on the state of Iowa City. I would like to start by thanking my
fellow Council colleagues both past and present, to our most recently
departed Mayor Pro Tem Mazahir Salih and the longtime Councilor, Susan
Mims. Thank you. Your work was transformational. And thank you to our
current Council members, especially our newly elected Mayor Pro Tem,
Megan Alter, and Councilor Shawn Harmsen. I am honored to serve along a
group of such dedicated, caring and courageous individuals who have
entrusted me as their mayor. I would also like to thank our more than 600
City employees who help make our community great, from the soccer fields,
where our kids learn to kick a ball, to the safe and clean water that runs from
our tap. The work of our City staff is quiet and humble, but essential to our
lives. We cannot recognize nor thank them enough. Finally, thank you to the
awesome and amazing members of our community. The care you show our
city is endlessly inspiring. That is how I am feeling: inspired. Inspired by
what we've all been able, able to achieve together and inspired by the
opportunities before us. I would like to take some time to reflect on both. I'll
begin with what I believe is the most foundational characteristic of a
prosperous community, social justice and racial equity. Time and again, Iowa
City has stepped up and shown the courage and vulnerability it takes to
tackle these issues head on. This last year, the Oracles of Iowa City Mural was
unveiled and it serves as a symbol of our commitment to not disguise the
challenges or edit out the uncomfortable truths. We show this commitment
in the words we use, the way we treat one another and how we invest in this
community. Last year, we elevated our support for BIPOC businesses and
entrepreneurs. In the coming year, we have budgeted a new set aside
specifically for BIPOC business development, and have prioritized millions in
American Rescue Plan dollars to invest in this effort. We have also responded
to the calls for more equitable and just public safety in our community by
changing how we approach calls for service. Last fall, our Fire Department
launched a Navigator Assistance Program for community members in need
through a new initiative to carry Narcan in response to the opioid epidemic.
Iowa City police officers saved the lives of seven individuals experiencing an
overdose in 2021. This is just one example of the professional and
compassionate services our police officers give. And there are so many more
stories that are just as kind and caring. We acknowledge that our police
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officers are being asked to respond to situations that do not always call for a
uniformed officer. And so I'm proud to report that over the past year through
strong partnerships, our city has gained a Victim Services Coordinator, a
Street Outreach and Engagement Specialist, a Mental Health Liaison, and a
Immigrant and Refugee Community Outreach Assistant. I am pleased to share
our City Council will be making a significant investment to expand the
community's Mobile Crisis Response efforts. And through our upcoming
budget, we will be increasing the annual Aid to Agencies Grants Program
because our strong network of social service agencies play an essential role
in our community. We continue to create soul-searching opportunities that
are all coming together in the spirit of unity, with items that were listed in
our Black Lives Matter resolution that was adopted by Council in June of
2020 that committed $1 million to social justice and racial equity initiatives
and the work of our Truth and Reconciliation Commission are a few things
we're all anticipating will impact all of us systemically. We adopted
Juneteenth as an official City holiday and had our first of many memorable
celebrations in 2021. I believe these are important steps forward in a city
where we have always championed justice, equity and inclusion. Recently,
the Human Rights Campaign Foundation awarded us a perfect score for the
LGBTQ+ inclusion for the eighth year in a row. Last spring, when our City
offered Iowa City Pride yard signs free to the public, they were so popular
that we ran out of signs three times. In the end, we nearly had 2000 colorful
markers across the city reminding us that we are a community who stands
united. Last month, our City Council approved a new SSMID in the South
District, which would revitalize an underinvested area and support diverse
business owners. I was inspired by the way the neighborhood imagined and
drove forward this vision, and I was heartened to see so many others provide
support to ensure this vision succeeded. The SSMID will live on as a symbol
of what can happen when a group of caring and committed individuals
imagine more for their community. It is important we invest in these vibrant
neighborhoods, and last year, the City bought 16 duplex units in the South
District to be rehabbed and sold to first-time home buyers from within the
neighborhood. We have also bet on the resiliency of this neighborhood. And
so I was excited that after years of hard work, the first form -based Code in
Iowa City was adopted in the South District. This effort is a part of the City's
larger affordable housing strategy to which we have committed another $1
million through our upcoming budget. And while we plan for the future, it is
also important to preserve our past. So I was excited to learn a few months
ago that the years of hard work by City staff and our partners paid off. The
Iowa City Downtown Historic District is now listed in the National Register of
Historic Places. In all the work we do, I, alongside my City Council colleagues,
have called for continued leadership and climate action. In 2021, Iowa City
was honored as just one of 95 global cities named as a climate leader on the
CDP A List. This recognition followed on the heels of news that our
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community emissions have dropped over 45% since 2010. In September a
week-long Climate Action Festival was held to celebrate how far we've come
and garner excitement about the work yet ahead. Last year, the City launched
two commercial and industrial energy efficiency matching grant programs,
which is anticipated to save hundreds of thousands of metric tons of
emissions each year. Carbon sequestration will play an important role in our
emission reduction strategy, and in 2022, prairie improvements will be made
at Terry Trueblood, Kickers Soccer Park, and Peninsula Park In the coming
year, we will be launching new programs, aimed at increasing resilience in
our community and preparing our most vulnerable residents from extreme
weather events. We'll also be ramping up our efforts to make Iowa City EV
ready so we can support the next generation of clean vehicle technology.
And in Iowa City, clean vehicles have made their way to our public transit
system too. A few weeks ago, our first fully electric buses hit the streets. The
sleek, bright new buses are a symbol of the future of our transit system. We
took our first steps toward that future last summer, when we launched new
route and fare changes that helped make system more accessible, reliable,
and convenient. Fm looking forward to working with my Council colleagues
on the next phase of our reimagined transit system: Sunday service, free fare
for low-income riders and late-night on -demand service. For those who
prefer two pedals to an engine, I am proud of the progress we have made on
the Bike Master Plan. The project's plan for the coming year will greatly
improve bike connectivity in the South District. When it comes to arts and
culture and recreation, we have had so much to celebrate this last year and a
lot to look forward to. Last summer was the inaugural season of a
partnership between the City and FilmScene that installed an outdoor cinema
in Chauncey Swan park to screen free movies for all ages. In August, we had a
ribbon cutting for a parkway named in honor of a personal inspiration of
mine and an important Black icon, the late James Alan McPherson. Recently,
we learned that the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department holds the
national record for the most athletic field environmental certifications. This
is an honor and testament to the progress our city has made on our Parks
and Natural Areas Master Plans, which is why I'm excited that in the coming
year, well also receive the completed Recreation and Facilities Master Plan,
and have the opportunity to think about how can we further invest in our
city's recreation, including one of the most popular topics of conversation,
City Park Pool. All ages are invited to find joy in one of the many arts, culture,
and recreation offerings in our community. Replacement of the Pedestrian
Mall playground will take place later this year and will provide more
accessible play options and plenty of shade. I am also looking forward to
working with my colleagues to strategize how we can best invest our
resources in the Senior Center to support their mission of ending the social
isolation for people over the age of 50. We are fortunate to hold such a
vibrant arts, culture, and recreation atmosphere, but we shouldn't forget the
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core services that provide a strong foundation for our city to thrive. The state
of our nation's infrastructure has been a topic of national discussion. I am
proud to report that despite our city growing at one of the fastest rates in the
state, putting a strain on our resources, Iowa City has the third best
pavement condition score of all of metropolitan areas in Iowa. Each year,
funding is prioritized to maintain the 237 miles of roadway in Iowa City. And
I'd like to highlight some of the major road improvement projects taking
place recently. Last year, as part of the American Legion Road project, the
new roundabout at Scott Boulevard was completed, significantly improving
the flow and safety of this intersection. We look forward to completing this
reconstruction project in the coming year, including the pedestrian tunnel
connecting students to Hoover Elementary School. Work continues on the
Melrose IWV Road improvement project and on completing the Second
Avenue Bridge reconstruction and the Orchard Street reconstruction project.
In the coming year, efforts will begin on the reconstruction of Fairchild
Street, installation of a roundabout at the intersection of Scott and First
Avenue, as well as the highly anticipated reconstruction of a portion of
Rochester Avenue, which will significantly improve vehicle ride quality and
safety. Through our upcoming budget, we again make significant investments
in our water, sewer and landfill infrastructure. These investments may not be
as visible or exciting as some of the new playground equipment or public art
installation, but they mean that our residents can always count on reliable,
safe, and sustainable public utilities and services. Federal funding through
the Infrastructure Bill may provide more opportunities to local infrastructure
investments. I am fortunate to lead in a time when the federal government
sees the value and the strengths in investing directly in our nation's cities.
The historic American Rescue Plan Act has provided our city an
unprecedented opportunity to make transformational investments that may
never again be possible in our lifetime. The magnitude of this opportunity is
enormous. So in closing, I want to reflect on what this moment in time means
for us. Last year, during my State of the City, we looked back on the
challenging year behind us and yearned for a return to normalicy. Since then
we've started using the phrase "new normal" and our call on us to ask, what
does that really mean? I believe our new normal is one that re-emphasizes
equity and sustainability at the forefront of all that we do. One that is more
honest about the inequities that exist, but is ripe with the promise of new
opportunities. I believe that in our new normal, we don't shy away from the
hard conversations and the tough issues, but that we do come to the table
with a faith in the integrity and decency of one another, that we stay open to
trust and respect even when, and especially when, we don't agree. We cannot
let the commonality of our goals and the shared hopes for our community go
unacknowledged or get lost in the process. There's too much work to do and
too much momentum to be hopeful about. So as we enter into another year
together, I ask my fellow Council colleagues, the City staff, the entire
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community to join me and taking time to celebrate our accomplishments,
make the most of the opportunities before us. And remember that above all,
we are one community. In unity, your mayor, Bruce Teague.
Teague: Well, thank you all for allowing me to give the State of the City via video.
And my closing remarks is just that, that we are, there's a lot of, of
opportunities ahead of us, and there's a lot of things for us to celebrate and
together we will make some historic moves right here in the great City of
Iowa City.
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3-8. Consent Calendar
Teague: We're going to move on to items number th-- three through eight, which is
the consent agenda. Can I get a motion to approve please?
Weiner: So moved.
Alter: Second.
Teague: All right. Moved by Weiner, seconded by Alter. And I know that there is one
item.
Goers: Yes, Mayor. Uh, the staff is requesting a deferral of the Dollar General alcohol
or liquor license renewal, it's part of item 5a, deferred to the next meeting on
March 1st.
Teague: Okay. I'm going to ask before we continue that I get a motion to defer item
5a, number two.
Bergus: So moved, Bergus.
Harmsen: Second, Harmsen.
Teague: Moved by Bergus, second by Harmsen. All right. I'm going to ask for public
discussion on anything that is on the consent agenda.
Goers: Mayor, you had a first and a second. If you could have a voice vote to that
would be great.
Teague: Oh yes. [Voice vote] Motion passes 7-0. We're going to move on with public
discussion, uh, on the items that are on the consent agenda, minus item
number 5a, number 2. Welcome. And we ask that you give your name. We
actually, that you give your name and the city that you're from. And you're
also, um, going to be granted, uh, three minutes and the timer is over there.
Welcome a familiar face, Mayor Pro Tem uh, uh, Salih, our old mayor that just
left us, welcome.
Salih: Hello, Mayor, City Council and the City staff. Really, standing behind this
podium, I really realize how much you guys do. So thank you very much for
your services and the tireless work that you try to make our community
work for everyone. I'm here today to speak to you about the proposal that's
in your packet, by the Center for Worker Justice. You have a beautiful state of
the city. I really love it. And to build on that and make our community, uh,
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especially immigrants in our community feel welcome and, uh, feel this city
has really belonged to them, the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa.
Goers: I'm sorry to interrupt, uh, Mayor. This appears to be the community
comment topic, not, uh, on the consent agenda.
Teague: Yeah, I was just looking through, yep.
Salih: Oh! I said because just, I'm sorry.
Goers: I'm sorry.
Teague: Yeah, yeah, no --
Goers: I'm sorry to interrupt.
Teague: Just, just a couple of months off and she's forgotten the, the routine. Yep.
Yep. It's for the consent agenda, but we'll, you'll have the opportunity to
come back up. Yes. And we do have individuals on, on online. So if you are
wanting to speak online, please raise your hand and I will acknowledge you.
Welcome.
Petersen: Hello. Uh, happy State of the City day. I'm sorry. That was a funny title to
me. Um, but I'm going to speak about the, uh, good neighbor item and just
like, um, about being, like being a good neighbor, for example, to be good
neighbor is to not be the mayor of a city, of a city that had as a paramilitary
force that commits war crimes on its citizens, and then, in its State of the City,
like, in the social justice portion of that, praise its cops as somehow
advancing social justice. Like that's just not being a good neighbor, in my
opinion it's to praise like the biggest enemies in this city, in this entire
county, of social justice in that, and then just be like, oh yes, these cops are
totally doing that. Like that is, like, just what the hell, Bruce? Like, why, like,
do you have no self-awareness of what your cops do? Do you cl -- do you -- do
you like, have no, do you, do none of you understand what your cops actually
do to the marginalized in this community? Genuinely curious. Cause I don't
know how else you could like, just go along with that or say that even,
because you obviously, what, how they treat, first off, like the most, like I've
seen, for instance, in my work of houseless community, I've seen like,
multiple times, the cops, not just the cops from the Fire Department it's not
as, does not treat them very well. Treat them not as humans, as less than,
just, something you can just abuse and do whatever you want with because
y'all clearly don't care because you'll, you'll go in your state of the union, your
state of, whatever. Anyways, other thing praising your cops, not actually like
addressing what your cops do, the actual harm, you'll just keep it up. So that's
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why you have to rely on your murals. That's like the only thing y'all done is
you paint your, you paint your murals, cause they're nice and all, but that's
the only thing you do. You don't actually do any action. Your murals are
absolutely meaningless. They're an insult. They're a slap in the face to the
entire community, when you back 'em up with no action. There is no action,
instead, you do Geoffs "reform". There's, increases the budget, increases the
power to the police. You increase inequity. You increase the inequality of this
community. When you give the police more power, you give them more
money, you don't actually address anything. You're not doing --
Teague: If you're talking about the good neighbor policy --
Petersen: Yes I am. This is about the neighbor policy.
Teague: These are not items related.
Petersen: None of this is neighborly. That is the opposite of being a good neighbor is
to let the cops just rampant.
Teague: I'11, I'll let you continue, and this will be your community comment.
Petersen: No, it's not. This is my consent comment, yes. It's not my community
comment. That is the community comment time. Obviously this is the
consent agenda. I'm talking about the good neighbor policy.
Teague: Thank you.
Petersen: You're welcome.
Teague: I do see some, uh, hand up on online. Welcome Mohamed.
Emam: Hello?
Teague: Oh, I, so Mohamed, I think you want to talk about the CWJ item.
Emam: Yes, sir. Can you hear me loud and clear?
Teague: Yes. I'm going to call you right back once we are, once we're done with this
item, I'm going to have you hold on. Thank you. Anyone else like to address
an item that is on the consent agenda, agenda. Seeing no one, Council
discussion. And we're going to have roll call for all the consent agenda items
except for item number 5a, number 2. [Roll call vote.] Motion passes 7-0.
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9. Community Comment (items not on the agenda) [UNTIL 7 PM]
Teague: We are onto item number 9, which is the Community Comment period. This
is the time when, uh, people from the public can come and comment on any
item that is not on our agenda. And we're going to give a total of 30 minutes.
So right about, uh, 7 -oh, we'll just say 7:05 as, well, when we'll end this. Um,
at that time everyone will have up to three minutes to speak. I did want to get
a sense of how many individuals we have that want to speak so that I can
take full account of the time limits that I need to grant. I see one hand there.
Anyone else want to speak? I need to just see our hands. There's, there's 13
people on here. Okay. So we have 13 people listed already inside here. I see
six hands raised. So in order to allow everyone to speak with 20, right at 20
people, I'm going to ask that everybody keep their comments to two minutes.
And at the 30 minute mark, I, at 7:05, I will cut comments. So if you can allow
for others to come up, we'll be able to get more people to speak. So I'm going
to start with, um, in, in person. Welcome.
Salih: I'm sorry, first. Okay. My name is Mazahir Salih. I'm the Executive Director of
the Center for Worker Justice. Hello, Mayor, City Council, and City staff. And I
thank you so much for your tireless work to make our community work for
everyone. I am here to talk about our proposal's that in your package, first to
build on what you, the Mayor, just said on the Iowa City, uh, City of the State,
I, I really like what he said and just to build that and make our community
welcome and feel the cities belong, they belong to the city, the Center for
Workers of Eastern Iowa requests that Iowa City, City, Iowa City Housing
Administrative Plan, Section 2.3h be amended to create a more adaptable
absence policy. The current administration plan states that recipients of
Section 8 Housing Assistance must not be absent from their unit for more
than 30 consecutive days unless authorized by Iowa City Housing Authority
staff. The policy allow longer absence not to exceed 180 days for family
hospitalization, deaths, loss, or other scenario seen necessary by the staff.
The implementation of this policy for some Section 8 recipients, especially
immigrant families, to make a very hard decision between keeping their
affordable housing or visiting their family. We propose one of the following
to be a mandate and be adopted, the time period of absence be updated from
30 days to 60 days without authorization or that visiting immediate family
outside the United States once a year be added as accept, acceptable reason
for authorization travel over 30 days, either of these change would allow
recipients necessary family time without access, excessive absentism that
would result in losing the voucher. Please. You now consider this and thank
you for your work.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome, please state your name and the city you're from.
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Maldonado: Hi. My name is Marilyn, I'm from Iowa City. Um, living near or even in
the same country as family members is a privilege many immigrant
Americans do not possess. Immigrants in our community from Sudan,
Guatemala and other countries often must go years at a time without seeing
their parents or siblings in their countries of birth. When they do have the
opportunity to do so, these trips are more than just a vacation. They are
grand investments of time and money often require requiring extensive
travel time to and within the country. Limiting this visit to only 30 days is not
feasible for many households and serves as a major barrier to family,
cultural, and community cohesion. Recently, one of the CWJ members
requested approval for leave longer than 30 days to visit his elderly ailing
parents in Sudan, whom he has not seen an over three years. His application
was denied and the sections of the current policy we are advising to be
amended were cited as the reason for denial. Requiring Section 8 recipients
to choose between seeing their families or losing their homes is an unjust
and cruel result of a fault, of a policy that fails to consider the needs of people
from wide and diverse backgrounds. Maintaining this policy sense of
message worldwide Iowa is not a welcoming or supportive place for
immigrant communities. As advocates for immigrant workers in Iowa City,
the CWJ urges relevant authorities to amend ICHA policy to allow absences
over 30 days to visit family members abroad. Our hardworking community
members deserve the right to connect with their loved ones and heritage
without threat of losing vital homelessness prevention aid.
Teague: Thank you. We're going to go online and welcome Mohamed followed by
Dan. And if you're present and you want to speak, I ask that you sign the
paper on, on the side and then you can start forming a line. Welcome
Mohamed.
Emam: Uh, thank you. I wanted to, uh, talk about the same topic, uh, to increase the
holiday for Section 8, uh, recipient from one month to at least two months,
because, uh, when this policy is implemented, it was over 20 years ago. At
that time, there wasn't many immigrant resident in Iowa City. Now situation
has changed. Lot of immigrants live in Iowa City. Uh, these people, they need
to go back home to say hi to their family, to connect with their, uh, extended
family. That one month, it appears as if you are telling them, uh, don't, don't
connect with your family, 'cause it's just not feasible and not doable. So I
asked the City Council, uh, to change that policy, to extend the one month
holiday to at least two months. Thank you so much.
Teague: Thank you. We're going to welcome Dan.
Kauble: Hi, good evening.
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Teague: Good evening.
Kauble: Um, so, uh, I would just like to start by saying, uh, Mr. Mayor, uh, allow Noah
to speak during public comment. Um, if you don't, uh, we'll be happy to bring
forth a First Amendment, uh, lawsuit alleging discrimination against the City
and invoking you personally, Mr. Mayor, as the presiding officer. Um, Fm also,
I, I raised my hand to comment during the consent calendar, but I was not,
um, I wasn't called upon, but I had co--, comments about the neighbor policy
of the playground equipment. Um, regarding meeting protocol. Um, I had a
really good conversation with you, Mr. Mayor, um, last week and it was really
enjoyable. And I think we both came away with a greater understanding of
like each other and where we are coming from, um, personally, but that said,
I, I still am a little disappointed for that you are trying to invoke the police
into these meetings. Um, `cause I mean, that was my takeaway from the work
session. Um, regarding the Excluded Workers' Fund, I would like to speak
about this because um, this upcoming week, the Board of Supervisors on
Thursday are going to basically approve this lottery, to lottery payments, to
folks who win a lottery. Now, this is a problem because as Jon, Supervisor
Green reached out to the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. Treasury said that the
County ARPA staff who formulated this planning, their reasoning for it is very
faulty. So Councilors, I really hope each of you individually reach out to the
supervisors, reach out to Pat Heiden, Royceann Porter, Rod Sullivan, and get
them to delay the, these payments until that, they can fully fund excluded
workers. Because as the U.S. treasury said, they can totally prioritize
payments to folks who have not received federal stimulus payments during
the pandemic. These are folks who have worked their butts off and they
deserve, they deserve payment. Thank you so much.
Teague: Thank you. And I'm going to welcome the next person. Welcome.
Hayward: Hello. Uh, I'm Scotty Hayward. I'm from Iowa City, live on Friendship
Street. Uh, new topic, sidewalks. Uh, yesterday, a City Engineer came by outta
my house and very nicely told me they were going to put a sidewalk in. We
live right next to Chadek Park. And uh, I said, well, I don't want that. And he
said, nobody does. I said, then why are you doing this? He had no answer. Just
we're doing it. I said, well, there's a sidewalk right across the street. And uh,
asked him, I asked him by mail today, who's responsible for making decisions
as to where the sidewalks are going to go. No answer. It's just, impractical,
man, it's like, I, I don't wanna see my yard torn up, but I really hate to see this
City waste money on unnecessary projects that nobody wants. There's a
sidewalk on the other side of the street. It's not crowded. I walk around there
all the time. It's never a crowd on the sidewalk. So I just, uh, wanted to raise
that point. I don't know if you guys do anything about sidewalks, but uh, it's
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really unnecessary to put in sidewalks where people don't want them and
they're not needed.
Teague: Thank you. We'll have the next person come forth. Welcome. Please state
your name and the city you're from. Hello.
Thomas: My name is Mircea Thomas, uh, from Iowa City, and I would like to follow
up with Scotty. I'm really humbled that, uh, amongst so many important
problems, we come up with smaller, uh, issues, but the community I think is
made up of smaller people that need to be listened to as well. So my personal
issue is that, uh, uh, I was fined for not cleaning the snow, uh, on my
sidewalk, which in fact was clean, but it was not cleaned up to the
specifications to the width. And so when I, uh, when --
Teague: I believe your item is going to be item number 14, which is the assessment
schedule.
Thomas: Oh, thank you, sir. Yes. I'll, I'll wait.
Teague: Yeah, thank you. I'm going to go online and bring up Amel followed by Jane.
Welcome.
Ali: Hi, can you guys hear me?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Ali: All right. Hi guys. Um, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak
tonight. Um, since the last person, uh, mentioned something about sidewalks,
I figured I'd start, um, with, uh, a concern that I have, and I don't think many
Councilors have brought this up. Um, our Iowa City Skate Park, um, is in
shambles. Uh, the transition ramps that people skate on are uneven. There's
lots of cracks in the ground, um, and the metal coping, which are the pipes
that they use to grind on, there's lots of cracks, um, on those. There's no
lights, um, and I think that there's a reason why skateboarders are on City
and university property. And I think that reason is because the state, the
skate park is probably not up to code. Um, I don't believe it's been renovated.
So, um, I think that that should be something that we think about. Um, on a
completely different note, I know that at the end of March, your annual
budget for the Police Department is due, um, and I just wanted to ask if there
would be any opportunity for Council members to engage in listening posts
via zoom, um, before the 29th to get, um, input from, uh, the public, `cause I
know that there is one coming up on the March 22nd, but I don't believe a
week before the budget is due is enough time to gain, um, quality and good
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uh, public input. So, um, those are my 2 cents. I appreciate you guys for giving
me your time. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome Jane.
Murphy: Okay. I'm, I'm sorry, um, my name is Jane Murphy. I'm a 44 -year resident of
Iowa City, uh, living on the east side. Um, I would just like to be counted as in
favor of the Center for Worker Justice request about, uh, extending length of
time for, uh, for travel for our international immigrants. Um, as someone else
mentioned, it's completely out of date and simply is not logical in this day
and age. So thank you.
Teague: Thank you. We're going to welcome you all up.
Salih: This for him. If you can give us more time, please.
Teague: Absolutely.
Ahmed: My name is Badereldin, um, [via Salih] and I wanna speak about the policy
for the travel for Section 8. I'm married. I have my kids and I have not been
traveled to my country for seven years, And uh, ticket is very expensive.
Maybe this is the last time you're going to go back. Cause it's very expensive,
you know, and I need to, yeah. He just wanna travel for like at least because
seven years, and by the time he go there, he need like more time to visit
everyone. Since he seven years, he haven't visited their family. His wife's
from like some region in Sudan and he's from, his family in another region of
Sudan. My father and my mother are over 70 years old and they are really old
and sick and I never seen them because I wasn't have enough money to go.
But when now finally I save some money, I need to go there and spend more
than 30 days so I can take him to the doctor do checkup and many thing. You
know, especially this is affected me badly. And especially that, uh, you know,
the thing in Sudan is not stable. I wanna go and see them for a while. And
after that, because you never know if you're going to go there again or not.
Ahmed: Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. I'll call up the next individual. Welcome.
Guo: Hi everyone. I, I, I just wanna see that I, I have, during the summer there was
a growth my yard, um, supposedly has a warning ticket, but it had been taken
care of with the, a group of people from church that have been abated the
problem. But I have been repeatedly received multiple bills.
Teague: I, I think this is item number 14 as well. We'll call you back up.
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Guo: Oh, I'm so sorry.
Teague: Yes.
Guo: I have witness. I, I have support --
Teague: You, you'll be able to come back up. Thank you. We're going to go online
and we're going to, uh, invite Anthony followed by Aymen. Anthony followed
by Yamen.
Smith: Good evening.
Teague: Good evening. Welcome, Pastor Smith.
Smith: Uh, hi, I'm Pastor Anthony Smith. I'm the pastor of New Creations
International Church, and I also lead Johnson County Interfaith and I, I call, I,
and I'm here to support the, uh, the, the, the, the revision of the Section 8
guidelines, um, and, uh, from, from 30 days, uh, to at least 60 days. And, and
one of the things I, I really would like for the Council to, to look at is, is that,
um, is that some of these laws, yes, they are outdated, but the, the, but the
moral issue behind this is that many times we're pen-, uh, people are
penalized because of poverty. And, and I, I would like for you all to look at
this as, as right as this, in this section here, it is actually a penalty, uh, where
you are kind of where you are, uh, neglecting someone to, to, to have the
opportunity to visit their, their family, or to have the liberty, to, to wa, to go
where they wanna go and, and not have to come back because of a, a, because
of a, a Section 8, uh, rule. And this is, this is a dignity issue where, uh, and,
and, and we need to really look at these at, at this specifically, but also look at
some of the other things that, that, that penalize people, because of their,
because of their, uh, because of being on Section 8. So I, I, I challenge you not
only to, to change this, but also to look at some of the other underlying laws
that, that, uh, um, that are penalizing people because of poverty.
Teague: Thank you. Thank you. We're going to welcome Yamen.
Sharif: Hello.
Teague: Hello, welcome.
Sharif: Hey, how are you? Um, my name is, um, I'm Sharif, and, um, I am, uh, a
resident of Iowa City, uh, run A & W Sustainable Planning and Outreach, uh,
in, uh, in downtown Iowa City. I'm here to speak for the same for the, uh, to
urge the City Council to amend, uh, Section 2, uh, 3h of the Iowa City Housing
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Authority Administrative Plan in a way that is more responsive to the special
needs of many of the immigrants and newly arriving residents, um, and
families who chose to make Iowa City home and who use the program to
adjust to a range of social and economic problems, which is a per cause of the
program itself. There is a significant increase in population who are foreign
born and are nearly tripling. Uh, we have like a nearly tripling of the groups
who are identified with two or more ethnicities as per the latest consensus.
Many of those, uh, participants in Section 8 are from those groups. So those
participants generally fall under the very low income group of the
classification of the area, median, household income, uh, just generating and
earning less than 30% of the area median income. And we all know that
traveling and transportation is becoming really expensive. And many of the,
of these visits, visits we talk about in here involve long flights, very
expensive. Um, so those people really spend a lot of their various scarce
resources to secure this, uh, invaluable trips, emotionally, physically, and
psychologically. These trips became more difficult even during the COVID
because airports and closures, uh, frequently, uh, unpredictable.
Teague: Thank you, Yamen.
Sharif: Testing for COVID 19 itself is so expensive.
Teague: Thank you --
Sharif: -- for all those things. I strongly --
Teague: Thank you. We're going to ask that you all come up, that's going to speak,
welcome. And I just want to acknowledge that we have about 10 more
minutes for a comment, public comment. Welcome.
Mohamed: I'll make mine very quickly. Uh, my name is Faris Mohamed. I live in the
City for, uh, 12 years. I went to Kirkwood Community College and University
of Iowa. I'm still looking for a job I'm still, uh, living in a, a voucher of Section
8. In addition to what, uh, others said about the amendment of, uh, this, uh,
policy, I just wanna, uh, add very quickly that, uh, many of those first
generation, uh, immigrants that live here in city, when they travel the
recipient of the voucher, when they go back home, just like the first guy or
the second guy that, uh, Mazahir, uh, translate for him, some of them, uh, it
took them like 5, 6, 7, sometimes 10 years to go back. Uh, many issues that,
uh, facing people when they go back, just not the only to engage their kids to
the culture of their, uh, countries of origins, visiting their parents. Sometimes
there is like many cases, like in heritage cases, you have to run between
government agencies and courts, that takes a lot of times, sometimes just like
this guy said you have, uh, my parents is 82 and 72 years old. Uh, my young
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brother now take him, he live here, our city. He take him to the Cairo because
in our country with the current situation, the degradation that happened to
the healthcare and all the public hospitals, you have to take them to
neighboring country, Egypt, uh, to take care of them. Uh, there is other issues
that in a lot of them in details, but I don't wanna go through that, but I'm
supporting the amendment, if you guys, uh, give it a look and, uh, uh, take
care of it, we will appreciate that as a community. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. Welcome. And after you, we'll go online.
Djeugang: Hi, uh, my name is Bradarie, uh, I live here in Iowa City. I've been here for
about seven years now, and I don't think I'm going to, to add anything more
about, uh, what my predecessors have said. They say it all. Uh, this is
regarding the Section 8, uh, housing. Um, I'm just going to use my personal
example. Um, when you travel here to, I mean, to, uh, back home, Africa or
South America, or, and especially in Africa, it takes at least two days. So when
you take 30 days and you deduct four days, because that's back and forth,
you take, you, you, you subtract four days, it remains 26, and you, you all
know the condition back home are not the same as here. We don't have, uh,
airport where you can travel from one city to another easily. From here to
Chicago, you can either drive three hours or you can fly 30 minutes or 20
minutes from Cedar Rapids to Chicago. But back home, you have to, the same
for the same distance that you use 30 minutes here, you have to use a little
half, half, half a day. So you end up, uh, spending the, uh, uh, at least a week
only on the road traveling from one point to another, because you have to
assist members of your family who had some, uh, either, uh, uh, good or bad
things that happen. So I really support the, the I really support the, uh, I don't
know, uh, the law, um, uh, to, to increase the day, those day to at least 60
days.
Teague: Thank you.
Djeugang: So -- thank you.
Teague: Thank you. We're going to go to Amal followed by Mogahid.
Hassan: Hello? Hi everyone.
Teague: Hello?
Hassan: Hello. You hear me okay?
Teague: Yes.
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Hassan: Yeah. Speak the same thing, uh, following my brother and sister, speak for
me regarding the limit time from the housing, because mostly they live in the
low income, uh, uh, housing or voucher. So the different between what they
say and, uh, other people I know, including myself that we collect the money
because it's a lot of money for the ticket for about almost two years, three
years to go back. And then the time limited over there, when you go and you
find, uh, you missed a lot of, uh, part of your family, they passing away, you
need to visit and you need to communicate with them. And then, uh, the
strong thing that I, I, I, or encourage you to, uh, look about it, that kids, they
go back there to be connected with their family, for the culture and for the
behavior and the religion. And a lot of things, we cannot disconnect them
from going home. So strongly support this agenda, and I need, uh, extending
time at least 60 day for the family to go back and come, uh, back again to
United States. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. And welcome.
Elsheik: Hello?
Teague: Welcome.
Elsheikh: Hey.
Teague: Hello. We can hear you.
Elsheikh: You hear me?
Teague: Yes. Welcome.
Elsheikh: Uh, good evening everybody. My name is Mogahid Elsheik. I will speak
about, uh, the changing house policy of the Section 8 from one month to two
months. I think, uh, every immigrants here in Iowa City, we take a vacation
every two or three years that, uh, it is all the time that our kids get, uh, to
meet their relatives. And I think every immigrants we plan to stay for two
months or more than so, uh, so it will be very generous if you would agree to
this request, you came from one month to, to two months. Thank you.
Teauge: Thank you. We have one more online and then we'll just remain inside. As
to Tamadur. Welcome. Welcome. Have we lost? Let me see.
Harmsen: They said you may be muted.
Teague: Oh, you're muted. Tamadur, you're muted. Okay. We're going to go inside
and then we will allow, uh, just one more online. Welcome.
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D'Mello: Thank you. Uh, good evening, uh, Mayor Teague and Council members.
Thank you for, um, allowing us or me to speak on behalf of, uh, all the
immigrants and refugees who are looking for housing justice, and that has
been denied to them for a long time. My name is Lata D'Mello, I am an
advocate and an assistant director of Monsoon. We serve victims of domestic
violence, sexual assault, human trafficking in the Asian and Pacific Islander
communities in Iowa. I moved to Iowa City in 2017, thinking it was more
progressive than Des Moines, where I lived for, uh, 17 years. I still have to see
that progressiveness. So I'm hoping that this racial justice that you spoke
about, the equity that you spoke about, we don't need anymore people to
persuade you of what is the right thing to do. If it is social justice housing,
justice, we really have to look at what this 30 day limit is, especially because
not just to travel abroad, but to have the right to your own, um, shelter, to
have your own roof over your head and not have to worry about all the
conditions that need, uh, that you, uh, that you need to have as a basic
human, right. And I'm hoping that that has, at least maybe if this works, that
I'll think, oh yeah, uh, Iowa City is progressive after all. Um, until then I'll be
waiting. I do, uh, want to add that it's not just going on holidays. Um,
personally, and I'm someone who's privileged, I work with victims of, uh,
gender based violence who don't have those privileges. So I have seen the
struggle and even with my privileges, I lose family members back home most
recently, uh, uh, four to COVID --
Teague: Thank you.
D'Mello: -- and it has not been a --
Teague: Thank you.
D'Mello: -- good experience. So thank you so much.
Teague: Thank you. Thank you. We're going to try on, online one more time to, to
Tamadur, and I will acknowledge that it is 7:05. I will allow, um, four more
minutes to speak. Tamadur, welcome. And you'll have to unmute. Yeah,
technology, I know sometimes is a little challenging, so, um, I'm going to just
remain inside here. Welcome.
Kuku: Good evening, everybody. My name is Badri Kuku, uh, I will be actually
translating for Mr. Fathelraham, but at the same time, I want to let you know,
my name is on list, so I'm not going to actually take over the other
opportunities. So go ahead, Fathi.
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Siddig [partly via Kuku]: My name, uh, Fathi Siddig. I reside in Iowa City from
around 2013. I moved from Alabama. Uh, I have kids. He applied actually for
traveling outside the United States of America to Sudan, uh, for like two
months. Unfortunately the housing policy actually, they have rejected his
offer because they said, uh, it is not going to be allowed for two months. First
of all, the reason why I actually applied for two months, because my parents,
they are over 80 years old and, uh, it's not actually going to be fair, like just to
go for a month. And they are like, you know, older. So what's happening
actually during my journey, Sudan is going to cost like maybe at least like six
days so I can actually be in Sudan. My extended family are actually spread all
over. Some of them are actually in camps in Darfour, they're refugees actually
in Darfour and extended to Chad, in the neighborhood of Africa. So these two
months that I have actually proposed is not really even going to be enough
for me to visit everybody. The reason why I actually ask for two months,
because I have to be back for the school of my kids. But if it was up to me, I
would have actually taken like more than that. Uh, the, the offer was actually,
you can actually leave your wife here and you go, so you can take care of the
visit of your extended family. But the thing is that even if I leave my wife
here, she doesn't have like a driver license and she's not going to actually be
able to like help my kids commuting from, uh, school and home. I would
actually ask you as officials and as authority, if you could actually approve or
go through the, uh, the policy, at least if it could be like two months. There is
a section kind of like a question always like in the, uh, application, like where
do you guys actually get the money so you guys actually can travel. So what's
happening. We as low income, we always wait for the income tax. That's the
only source that we can actually wait for until we get that money. So we can
actually use it for a flight, thank you. Appreciate it.
Teague: Thank you. I am going to...
Kuku: Yeah. Uh, my name is Badri, as I said, from the Sudanese community, uh, I've
been here for almost eight years. I first of all, would like to praise the
presentation was actually awesome. Makes me proud and makes me
belonging and engaged to this city. Uh, and, uh, the issue of Section 8, I can't
actually add more than what they said as immigrant and being here for these
years, I would like also to go to my family, but I'm not going to actually enjoy
my time. According to what, you know, my colleagues actually mentioned.
The other thing as a coach certified by this state. I don't know if this is going
to be like, including to this or not. I'm certified by this state, live in low
income, all the kids, low income, they can actually, uh, be able to just reserve
for like that big amount of money for those coaches. I always volunteer to
coach these kids. The question is like the Hawkeye field. That's the only field
that for soccer, the other field is, uh, like Kickers, which is like far away from
here. I, I don't know if there is any way because I see like so many project
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being offered, uh, if anyway, so I can actually be able to coach the kids. Those
who are like, you know, low income. I don't really get paid. The, the, the
certificate that I get actually from the state, it costs me money, but I'm not
actually using it because my, my point is like, you know, to, uh, because
soccer is my, in my blood, you know, since I was a kid, uh, can you guys
actually do anything for these low income kids so I can help them? Thank
you.
Teague: Thank you. And I'm just going to have the last two individuals
acknowledged because we did extend, um, some time for translation.
Welcome.
Petersen: Hello. Uh, my name is Noah, um, and, uh, first is I'm going to be in
solidarity with all the comments here, to, tonight about the extending, the
time for allowing people to go back, you know, visit their family. Like you
need enact please act urgently on that because that some people testify
tonight. This is very time sensitive issue. So we cannot drag your feet on this,
urgency, urgency, urgency, in fact actually ties into what I'm about say next.
You've had now four meetings now about rules, and then next meetings to
meet, the fifth meeting about rules. So like, y'all can like have urgency on
some things like how do we meet, rules about meetings? Because people
came and talk at meetings. Anyways, I ain't going to really rehash that. We've
we all know the point here, like why you're doing the rules change. And we
all know it's dumb. No, uh, just a couple things, uh, so the work session you
talked about, uh, the homeless week, um, which is a problem and I've, I've
experienced it here. Like even when I, when I was a student, wasn't a student,
like the experience, some solutions, I guess like y'all should like focus on is,
um, I've had, you know, like lots of the folks, and actually mutual aid, like
helped last summer for folks that do the (mumbled) uh, so it's, City to help
provide doing storage of stuff, but that's a big problem. Like finding places to
have storage, lots of times of the storage units. It's like they're filled up in
Iowa City real quick, and then people have to go to Cedar Rapids or wherever
else. and it's hard to find storage and, uh, provide housing for people too.
Like I know, I mean, for like, there's, there's tons of hotels around in this, in
the area and I can't imagine their vacancies are super, I, I don't know the
occupancy rates, but there's definitely going to be like, they're not a hundred
percent. Like, there's, there's like, that's a place you could possibly do
housing for people who need like housing during that week too. There's
people that you can't go back home or stuff like, those are just a couple things
in there. Uh, and about, uh, the, uh, you talked about, you talked about the
prairie and you have a lot more land, you should do a lot more prairies for
helping environment ecology. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. And then we'll have the last person here in person. Welcome.
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Ayers: Uh, hello. My name is Ash Ayers. I'm a new resident of Iowa City, uh, and I
come up here in solidarity with, uh, all my friends and neighbors, uh, on the
Section 8 issue. I would like the Council to support the Center for Worker
Justice's proposal. Uh, many good points have been made, and I think
everything has pretty much been said. But I think the thing that really stuck
out to me was, um, a pastor that spoke about a question of freedom. Uh,
working class people are very restricted in what they can do with this Section
8. It should be extended so that people can go and they can visit their
families. Um, I've been speaking with my, with my friends about this that are
on Section 8 and they haven't been able to see their families for years
sometimes. That's very sad to me to think about, um, for so many different
reasons, the economic reasons. There's no freedom to go and do that because
with the current restrictions, not only do you have to pay your rent and you
have to pay for your family, you've lost your income because you're not
working. And the tickets, the cost of travel, everything is so expensive. And I
don't think that the wealthy residents of this city are being restricted in
travel if they're studying abroad or if they're going on a foreign vacation, but
the working class residents are. So I would like the Council to support the,
the CWJ's proposal. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you. We're going to go to the one that was online. One more time and
see if we can't have them chime in. So I'm going to welcome Tamadur Salih,
And then you'll have to unmute yourself there. Welcome.
Salih: Good evening, Mr. Mayor.
Teague: Good evening.
Salih: Uh, say I'm a middle school student at Northwest Junior High, uh, and I live in
Iowa City. I would like for the Section 8 in (garbled) community, I'm hoping
that you look at our consideration. My mom have now lived in America for
over 20 years and they sacrificed their lives for education. They aren't able to
see their family often and they usually do feel disconnected. And even when
they are able to travel, it's every three to four years and they stay around
only a month. It's, it's heartbreaking. You know, it's not (bad connection) like
most their family every so often. And, uh, one is definitely not enough to get
that time back. So please consider the extended Section 8 policy because we
all have a large-- of our family over there. They aren't to have blessings. They
aren't blessed enough.
Teague: Thank you. Thank you. And thanks to everybody that was, um, came out to
share your comments today.
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10.b IWV Commercial Preliminary Plat - Resolution approving the
preliminary plat of the IWV Commercial Subdivision, Iowa City, Iowa.
(SUB21-0012)
Teague: We are onto item number 10b, which is IWV commercial preliminary plat.
This is a resolution of, well, wait, sorry. All right. This is a resolution
approving the preliminary plat of the IWV commercial subdivision, Iowa City,
Iowa. Can I get a motion to approve please.
Alter: Moved.
Thomas: Second, Thomas.
Teague: Moved by Alter, seconded by Thomas, and then we're going to welcome
Danielle.
Sitzman: Good evening, Mayor. Danielle Sitzman, Neighborhood and Development
Services. As you introduced, this as an application for preliminary,
preliminary plat for land located along, uh, Melrose Avenue west of, uh, city
limits, just barely. Uh, it is currently in city limits due to a annexation earlier
in a rezoning earlier, uh, it's bounded on the north side by IWV Road and on
the east by Slothower Road, shown here bounded in the white boundary. As I
mentioned, it was recently annexed and rezoned. This exhibit shows the
commercial zoning district that was applied to it, it's zoned Intensive
Commercial, and as I mentioned, it was annexed and it was subject to a
Comprehensive Plan amendment as well. This is the proposed preliminary
plat. This is a two -lot subdivision, commercial, for future commercial
development. There's no, uh, intended development at this point. Um, it does
include two lots, as I mentioned, one about 22 acres, inside, is on the west
side here and another one about 36 acres in size. Um, there are sensitive
areas shown in the colors here on both lots, um, and they are, do also portray
their storm water retention basins as well. Um, there is also a 30, 350 foot
wide vegetative buffer easement indicated along the south boundary of both
of these lots as, uh, we always do when we review preliminary plats, there's
several conditions or criteria that we look at, the first is compliance with
Comprehensive Plan, also any existing zoning conditions that were placed at
the time of rezoning, and then we go through our subdivision code as well. So
as far as compliance with the Comprehensive Plan, this is in compliance with
the Comprehensive Plan, it was amended at the time this was envisioned, uh,
and the proposed development does meet all of the, um, vision of the
Comprehensive Plan for the types of land uses, future land uses here. As far
as conditions that were placed at the rezoning, um, although none of the
rezoning conditions are completely satisfied through this preliminary plat,
the plat does show the level of detail appropriate at this stage to ensure
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future compliance is going to be, uh, possible and is intended to be met. Some
of those conditions have to, uh, be, uh, shown at the final plat, which would
be the next stage of this, uh, particular development process, and as well as
before building permit could be issued. So the steps that still have to be
completed would be the ones that, uh, memorialize those easements, um,
require contributions of funding for roads and other components that were
conditioned at that rezoning. As far as elements of the subdivision code that
we look at, um, as I mentioned, this is a two -lot subdivision. There are no
public streets proposed part of this development because the exact nature of
the development is unknown at this point. However, if there were to be
public streets that would come back through this public planning process, it
is possible for private streets, um, to be, uh, eventually developed on these
two lots. Um, staff will be looking at a condition at the final plat, which would
be the next step after this application, to require, uh, cross -access easements
to ensure good circulation is, uh, maintained on the lot. As far as open space.
Um, this does not contain any residential use, so there's no dedication of
parkland required. However, as I mentioned, that 355 -foot -wide vegetative
buffer would be an element of this development. Storm water is being
managed with basins on site, and we have been reviewing the required
utilities, uh, including donation of, uh, financing for road construction,
dedication of right-of-way and any other necessary components of
infrastructure development. So shown on this slide is the previous steps, uh,
leading up to preliminary plat, as well as the, uh, remaining steps that need to
occur, including a final plat. Like I said, uh, those the, uh, the official
agreements that would show easement dedication and things like that. Um, if
this is approved, the preliminary plat's good for 24 months, and, which
would be anticipated to be followed up with those, those additional steps. So
based on a review of the relevant criteria and subdivision code, staff did
recommend approval at their February 2nd, uh, meeting. The Planning and
Zoning Commission concurred with staffs opinion and voted 5 to 0 to also
recommend approval tonight. And that concludes my staff report. I'm happy
to answer questions.
Teague: Is the, um, is any of the developers here?
Sitzman: Yes, he is.
Teague: All right. Well, well invite them up at this time. Welcome.
Marner: Thank you, Mayor. Jon Marner with MMS Consultants, representing the
applicant for the preliminary plat. I think Danielle covered the application,
uh, in all the different aspects. I'd just like to highlight again, the effort, uh,
throughout this process to provide that vegetative buffer, 350 feet. It's a
substantial amount. I believe during the conditional zoning process, uh, we
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highlighted that that's approximately 20, I believe 23% of the total site area
that's being placed in this vegetative buffer. It'll be comprised primarily of
the detention basins, and then the sensitive, sensitive features that already
exist on that property. And I'm available for any questions, if you have any.
Alter: I have a very basic question. What exactly can you give me, some real world
examples of what Intensive Commercial looks like?
Marner: Uh, it's a pretty wide range, uh, of uses. If you look at the code, it could be
anything from, uh, larger, larger commercial uses that would maybe be larger
contractors. Uh, it could be something, I know there's been a lot of discussion
about potential end users, uh, Mid -American, one of them that's been brought
up previously. Nothing is finalized at this point. That is one potential use that
that could be applied there as well. Um, large contractor base, a lot of
complementary uses to the Armory and some of the other sites that are
facilities that are already out there on IWV at this time.
Bergus: I just had a question about the vegetative buffer. I think part of the
conditional zoning was that there'd be a certain type of landscaping,
including trees that are at least 30 feet tall. Is that, is that right?
Marner: Correct. I think there needs to be a, a mix of evergreen and deciduous, uh,
layered in that vegetative buffer. Most of that would be reviewed and applied
for as part of the site plan application process. Uh, it's typically those
landscaping requirements are met with each site plan application, some of
the cross -access easements that, uh, that Danielle referred to as well until the
uses are fully, fully determined for that property, it's hard to put those in
place, but once those uses are established, then you can start to establish the
cross -access easements, and some of those other things.
Bergus: Still just relating to the buffer, can you help me understand what the basins
that are there and the requirement for trees, do you have kind of a vision for
how that will all fit together?
Marner: Yeah. So there is room within that 350 buffer, uh, again, a lot of the area or a
significant portion of areas are already comprised of existing sensitive
features. Those won't be disturbed throughout this process. There's a
portion right along the common lot line between Lot 1 and Lot 2, it's a small
stream corridor, some wetlands and a few trees. And then there is the
property, the portion over on the west edge, that's a larger stream corridor
and again some wetlands in, in some wooded areas, uh, within those,
between those two areas, there's larger detention basins or, uh, proposed,
I'm sorry. There's an opportunity to place some landscaping screening both
along the south portion of the detention basin and on the north portion. So
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there's a there's opportunity to place it in both places, again, to give a, a
layered screening effect for the property.
Bergus: Thank you.
Teague: All right, thank you. Would anyone from the public like to address this
topic? If so, if you're online, please raise your hand. If you're present, there's
a sign -in sheet and you can come to the podium. Seeing no one, Council
discussion. Roll call, please. [Roll call vote.] Motion passes 7-0.
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11. Maximum Property Tax Levy -- Resolution setting the maximum
property tax levy for certain levies for the proposed budget ending June
30, 2023.
1. Public Hearing
Teague: Item number 11 is maximum property tax levy. This is a resolution setting
the maximum property tax levy for certain levies for the proposed budget
ending June 30th, 2023. I'm going to open up the public hearing, and we're
going to start with staff. Welcome.
Davies: Thank you. Good evening, Council. I'm going to give a brief presentation on
the max property tax levy hearing. I'm Nicole Davies, the Finance Director.
Um, first, this was new legislation that was first passed in 2019. This does
not, um, cover all of the levies. This is for the general levy, transit, tort,
emergency, and employee benefit. Um, the levies that are not included in this
is the debt service, the Library and the SSMID. Um, with this property tax
levy approval, our maximum property tax level in the proposed, um, FY23
budget would be this $54.6 million. Um, this is a decrease of approximately
0.78% from FY 2022. Um, the primary reason for that decrease is the
decrease in property tax valuation that we've seen. And since we are actually
not increasing our property taxes more than 2%, um, this vote just needs a
simple majority of Council. Um, our overall property tax rate is decreasing 4
cents from the 15.673 to the 15.633 in the proposed budget. Um, the total
property tax revenues with all of the levies is budgeted to decrease about
0.65%, and that does include the SSMID, and there will be a separate public
hearing required to adopt a budget. This is just the, uh, next required step,
um, to get that passed, and I will take any questions.
Teague: All right. Thank you. No questions. I want to make sure that our online is
working, um, but now it's time for public comment. And so if anyone has a
comment, please come to the podium, or if you're online, please raise your
hand. I'm going to just ask for one person online to raise your hand, even if
you don't want to speak, just so that I can make sure that it's working
properly. Okay. I mean, all right. I thank you both. Thank you. Welcome.
Petersen: Hello. My name is Noah. Um, and I'm speaking to, um, how to say this, um,
well, I guess I'm actually glad that y'all, this is going down. Not because I
think it's a good thing that this City is not having, uh, money to put into this
community, but the fact that like y'all are incredibly irresponsible handlers of
the money and you put the money into a paramilitary force that will brutalize
and harass your citizens have no regard for their rights. Like they, like, if
your cops don't, if, your ICPD, if they don't want to give a rat's ass about your
rights, they're not going to give a rat's ass about 'em unless they choose to,
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it's up to them. And most of 'em in my own personal experience have chosen
to not care about people's rights, anyone's rights. Um, so yeah, I think that's
incredibly irresponsible to just keep giving them millions and millions of
dollars a year over year year. So like, if y'all like, actually like put your money
into stuff like responsible, uh, to like actually help the community, like an
actual like public housing program, um, that would be nice. And then you
should have like increase your tax levy and actually increase your rate and
take money from the rich, like it should be like to let's test on both
redistribution up in here, please. I know telling this to a bunch of bourgeois,
uh, liberals is like the wrong crowd to be speaking at, but like, it still should
be going down in this so-called progressive city, but it's not progressive city
since it like funds a paramilitary force that commits war crimes, gainst,
citizens, I mean members, not citizens. Citizenship is a stupid idea. Uh, no
borders. Um, yeah, just like be better handlers of the money and actually like
use the money to help people instead of putting it into cops and other
nonprofits that don't open with their shelters year over year, and then just
leave people to the elements and then wash your hands of it. Yeah. That's all.
Teague: Thank you. Anyone else like to address this topic? Seeing no one I'm going
to pull closed the public hearing. Could I get a motion to approve please?
2. Consider a Resolution
Thomas: So moved, Thomas.
Weiner: Second, Weiner.
Teague: Council discussion. Roll call, please. [Roll call vote.] Motion passes 7-0.
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12. Chadek Green, Whispering Meadows & Court Hill Parks Improvements
1. Public Hearing
Teague: Item number 12, Chadek Green, Whispering Meadows and Court Hill Parks
improvements, a resolution approving project manual and an estimate of
costs for the construction of Chadek Green, Whispering Meadows and Court
Hill Parks improvement project, establishing amount of bid security to
accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders and fix a
time and place for receipt of bids. I'm going to open up the public hearing,
and welcome.
Seydell-Johnson: Good evening, uh, Juli Seydell-Johnson, Director of Parks and
Recreation. Excited to be here tonight to talk to you about our 2022 summer
park projects. We have three projects that I'd like to talk to you about
tonight, Chadek Green, Whispering Meadows Park and Court Hill Park
renovations. Here are the locations. Um, the one on the, the left side is
Chadek Green off of Court, the one on the east is Court, Court Hill Park, also
off of Court, um, and then the final one, Whispering Meadows wetlands park
on the southeast side of Iowa City. I'll go through first Chadek Green as our
primary, um, community garden site. So for this, this park project, we had a
really great public meeting out on site that included both gardeners and
residents of the area. For all of these, we offered a neighborhood meeting
onsite or close to it, um, we included postcards going out to all of the
residents within a quarter mile of each park, um, did public, um, press
releases and social media and that sort of thing. It had really great turnout for
all of them. So Chadek Green, we're looking at primarily, um, the following.
I'm sorry, I'm going to go right here. So it will include a playground,
accessible parking, accessible paths, a restroom, raised garden beds, water,
additional water for the gardens, additional gate entries for the gardeners is
just not on the list, but one of the things they asked for, compost, composting
bin areas, and then the sidewalk along Friendship. So this project includes
the sidewalk extension primarily in front of the park, um, but also in front of
one residence, this connects it via sidewalk then to Court Street, which it did
not have a, a sidewalk connection before. It was one of the things asked for
by both the gardeners and the neighbors, um, during the public meaning to
have additional access into the park and to have a sidewalk connection. Um,
things that are on the alternate for this one are additional sidewalks within
the garden plots. So this was a request of the gardeners to have, right now it's
just, um, dirt, dirt paths within the gardens, and this would make them even
more accessible. And then a park shelter is an, is one of the alternate items.
So I'll stop there and answer any questions about Chadek Green first that,
this is the playground.
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Alter: So I think that you've actually answered it, but I just wanna make sure that I
do understand. So, uh, earlier there was a gentleman here talking about the
sidewalk, um, plan for Chadek Green. And so if I understand you correctly,
this is actually to help create accessibility into the park and the gardens, as
well as a through, kind of a walkability to get to Court Street as well.
Seydell-Johnson: Correct.
Teague: And that this was something that, uh, was done by way of public input
during your outreach.
Seydell-Johnson: Right. So the largest part of this sidewalk project is in front of the
park, um, and it's been planned that way for, for a long time, as soon as we
would do the park renovations, uh, to add the sidewalk there, but it was one
of the requests during the public meeting as well.
Alter: So, okay. Never mind the illustration helps. Thank you. Mm-hmm.
Thomas: Juli, how, how wide is the sidewalk and what's the size of the, um, uh,
gazebo shelter that is being considered.
Seydell-Johnson: I'm looking at the engineers to see if they know this, the width of
the sidewalk I, I'm sorry. I don't know that, um, we can find out and let you
know for sure. Um, and this was going to be one of our smaller side shelters,
similar to what is at Cardigan Park, um, Frauenholtz-Miller, a number of, uh,
Scott Park, that we've put in recently. The neighbors asked for that. They
didn't want a large gathering, um, shelter. They wanted it smaller sized for
smaller type gatherings.
Havel: I think typically what we would do for sidewalk and locations like this is we
would match what's existing out there. So there are some sections of
sidewalk and we're attempting to connect to some of that. So we would
typically match what's out there, existing
Thomas: Okay. Thanks.
Seydell-Johnson: Okay. Then we'll move down, move on to Whispering Meadows.
Um, on the southeast park, this, this, um, particular project, we had our
neighborhood meeting, um, during an event that was held at Weatherby
Park, so we actually had several of the, the neighbors from Whispering
Meadows come over, um, we also had a number of neighbors from the South
District that said, I didn't even know this park was there, so we introduced a
lot of people. It's largely a wetlands park, um, with a nice natural trail
through most of it. Um, we have been working with REAP grant funding to
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renovate and, um, uh, do some ecological restorations in the wetland area,
um, what this does is the City owns a residential lot off of Indigo Court, which
is the second cul-de-sac up from the bottom, and this will give us a nice little
pocket park, um, on that little residential lot there. So it is basically a very
small playground, accessible paths that connect to the larger path within the
park, um, and then the shelter is an alternate on there. And this is what the
playground features will look like. Any questions on Whispering Meadows.
Okay. The final project is Court Hill, this is a linear park that, that connects
Court Street and Friendship, um, and goes a little bit beyond, back along the
creek. Um, very interesting, we had a, a really nice neighborhood meeting
there in act over and the picture in the right, they stayed into the dark with
flashlights to give us input, that's how excited they were to talk about the
park that night. So a really engaged group of residents around there that we
appreciate, they had time, uh, to do that. This is one of the oldest, if not the
oldest playgrounds in our system right now, as well as this shelter that you
see there, one of the older shelters that we still have. This project, um, will
replace the playground and the shelter along with providing, um, another, a
new path from the current trail that goes through there, so the playground
and the shelter stay essentially in the same area, um, they just, uh, we just
renovate it with new, um, equipment and better accessibility out to the actual
playground equipment, um, we originally had talked about replacing the
shelter in the north end of the park, um, due to budgetary concerns that is
not included in this project at this time. It is something that we may, um, may
try to accomplish with, with our own staff in the future. And, uh, this would
be the playground that would go in at Court Hill. Any questions on Court Hill?
All three are set to, to have bids due by March 16th, um, and hopeful, start of
construction by April, substantial completion at the end of the summer, early
fall.
Teague: Great. Thank you. Would anyone from the public like to address this topic?
If so, please step to the podium. If you're online, please raise your hand.
Seeing no one, I'm going to close the public hearing. Could I get a motion to
approve please?
2. Consider a Resolution
Weiner: So moved.
Alter: Second, Alter.
Teague: All right. Council discussion.
Weiner: It's, it's just always, it's great to continue improving parks around, um,
around the, the city, various different places. I'm excited that people have
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figured out there's a new park. There's a park in the South District a lot of
people didn't know existed, but, um, especially in the pandemic new, um, new
and renewed, um, shelters and playgrounds is, is a great thing for, for
community contact.
Teague: Community gardens are always a plus too.
Thomas: Yeah, I do think, you know, considering our parks and open space as part of
our public health response, uh, is a helpful way of thinking about it. It's not
just simply recreation. And I think in one of our items coming up, you know,
there's some money going toward, you know, dealing with people who, who
need assistance, uh, public health assistance. So if we can, you know, improve
our public spaces and our open spaces, access to nature, I think that has a,
there's a remedy in that. So in terms of public health.
Teague: All right. Roll call please. [Roll call vote.] Motion passes 7-0.
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13. American Rescue Plan Act - Mobile Crisis Outreach Subaward
Teague: Item number 13, American Rescue Plan Act, Mobile Crisis outreach sub, sub,
sub -award. This is the resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign a state and
local recovery fund grant agreement with Community Crisis Services to
expand its Mobile Crisis outreach program. Can I get a motion to approve
please?
Bergus: So moved, Bergus.
Taylor: Second, Taylor.
Teague: All right, we're going to welcome Rachel.
Kilburg: Hello, Mayor and City Council. Rachel Kilburg, Assistant City Manager. Um, I,
this resolution authorizes a subrecipient grant agreement with CommUnity
Crisis Services and Food Bank to expand their Mobile Crisis outreach, um,
service using American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA funding. I'm going to try to
keep my remarks short because we do have Sarah Nelson here with us, um,
she is the CEO of CommUnity, um, and she, I'll invite her up shortly to talk a
little bit more about why this expansion is needed, um, and what this grant of
funds will accomplish, but I just wanna provide you a little bit of a
background refresher, kind of, on how this resolution came before you. So as
you know, through the American Rescue Plan Act, Iowa City, um, was
allocated approximately $18.3 million to respond to the public health and
economic impacts of the pandemic. Last summer, we collected public input
on use of these funds, and expanding, um, mental health services was one of
the top suggestions that we had heard. So then at your work session on
September 7th, um, staff presented the results of the public input phase, as
well as our initial spending recommendation-- recommendations. One of the
strategic recommendations that we recommended was bolstering mental
health services and specifically our community's Mobile Crisis outreach
program. The City Council offered their general support for those
recommendations at that work session. And so we've been moving forward
with making progress on several of those initiatives, including the one before
you tonight. Over the past several months, we have worked with CommUnity
to develop a proposal that would expand their Mobile Crisis program. That
proposal was included in your January 13th information packet, and a memo
indicating that we would move forward, uh, with drafting an agreement. Staff
recommend approval of this resolution to respond to both the public health
impacts of the pandemic and further our commitment to divert certain calls
for service from the police. Sarah will certainly detail this further, but the
pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues really across the country,
um, and we've seen that need grow locally as well. And I also do want to note,
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um, that the expansion of Mobile Crisis outreach was a recommendation that
was supported by the Council, uh, in the police restructuring plan. So, uh,
with approval of this agreement would be the first obligation in expenditure
that the council would formally make using author--, um, ARPA funding, and I
do note that this program is an enumerated eligible use of ARPA funds under
the U.S. Treasury's rules. So with that background, um, I'm just going to invite
up Sarah to talk a little bit more about the expansion.
Teague: Welcome, Sarah.
Nelson: Hello, Mayor, hello, Council. Uh, so I just wanted to give a little bit of
background on Mobile Crisis outreach in Iowa City and where it's been and,
and where we are going with it. Um, so we started out, uh, CommUnity
started out as a crisis line primarily, and we started recognizing the need for
in-person response for certain, uh, individuals we were helping on the crisis
line. And so staff began staff and volunteers began meeting with people in the
community to provide that follow up. And then shortly after, in 2015, we, we
were given the opportunity to become a state Chapter 24 Crisis Code
accredited, uh, to provide Mobile Crisis services in Johnson County. So in
seven years, under seven years, we've seen 506% growth in the program.
Um, I think, you know, a lot of that is because with word of mouth, people
start to learn that this is a service that's available, and we've been working
really hard on outreach in the last year with the pandemic and state of
mental health to make sure that people know we exist for everyone
regardless of socioeconomic status, regardless of insurance status, um, no
matter where you live in this community, youth, adult, age, um, it's it's for
every citizen. So we've seen, uh, changes in the call volume from 2015, we
were averaging 12 and a half calls per month. And, uh, we peaked at about 60
calls per month. And then you can see, we dipped down during the pandemic
when we had an altered response, so we weren't going out in person for a
while. Then we were going hybrid between telehealth and then we've really
worked hard to ramp back up to fully in-person, so the last six months have
been averaging 76 calls per month, but I can tell you, the last two months
have been at a hundred calls per month, which are record numbers for
Mobile Crisis. So the diversion rate, um, which is, is the goal of Mobile Crisis,
is to keep people safe in their community and, and connected with the least
intensive intervention necessary to stabilize someone. Um, in the past six
months, we've set two program records, even with the highest call rates in
program history, we are still extremely effective at diverting clients from
hospitals and jails. So in 2021, 90% of calls ended without a trip to the
hospital or jail, and 66% of calls were stabilized on scene without any further
service. Response times, which is one of the things that we're really trying to
address with this expansion, um, in 2021, we started piloting what it would
look like, how we could get decreased response time to ensure that we have a
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quicker response for law enforcement, schools, and other community
partners, um, so our supervisory team who has other traditional duties
began responding to calls, and through that full-time staffing model of
response, we were able to respond, reduce our average time from 34 to 24
minutes, um, and the addition of full-time staff and vehicles to create quicker
response, we expect that to decrease to an average of 15 minutes inside of
the city of Iowa City limits. And this is of course important because we're
responding to crisis, but we don't have lights and sirens, so we're always
looking for creative programmatic ways to get there quickly, safely and, and
meet the needs of those in crisis. So Mobile Crisis at CommUnity Mobile Crisis
does serve Johnson and Iowa County, but out of those calls, 80% of them are
within the city of Iowa City, so the lion's share of our calls are within the city
of Iowa City. So the ultimate outcomes of the expansion would be to reduce
our response time, cut it in half within the city limits and to increase the
capacity to meet the current needs within the community. And we are seeing
um, just tremendous increase in need of mental health for youth and adults.
It is anecdotally very apparent that it is, is tied to, um, the mental health
fallout from the pandemic, so we expect that to continue to climb. So with
that, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
Thomas: With the numbers, the numbers that you were giving us are some of those
numbers repeat individuals, or are they all unique?
Nelson: So some of them are, I don't have that data, although I'd be happy to
provide, um, any data that's helpful, helpful for you. I can follow up with that,
but we, we can see repeat clients. And so what we'll oftentimes see is there
may be somebody that's experiencing an acute period of three months, you
know, where they might have particularly heightened crisis situation. And we
might go out on that, that particular individual to their home repeat times,
but the majority of our calls are those one-time responses were we're able to
then connect them to the appropriate community resources and treatment.
Thomas: Thank you.
Weiner: So what, what expansion of resources including vehicles allow, uh, they
allow for, um, the, for CommUnity and your crisis Mobile Crisis to respond to
issues at, within the school district as well?
Nelson: Yes, so this is, uh, related, but unrelated. So we recently had, uh, an addition
of a full-time person for a school, um, youth Mobile Crisis coordinator, which
has really been able to conduct outreach within the Iowa City school district.
And they have been, um, busy every single day. So we have a formal
agreement with the district and are working hard to respond to various
levels of mental health crisis within, uh, the district. The vehicles, what's
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different in the model about the vehicles is that with a fleet of vehicles, we
can have Mobile Crisis counselors, at the start of their shift, pick up a Cri-- a
vehicle so that if they're dispatched out, they don't have to go all the way to
the office to pick up the Mobile Crisis vehicle and then out. And that's what's
expected to reduce the time that we're able to get to a call. And, and because
we transport clients to hospitals and to various place, to Guidelink or various
places in the community, it needs to be Mobile Crisis vehicles and not
personal vehicles. So that's the part that will reduce that response time.
Bergus: Thank you, Sarah. In your written proposal was reference to the 988, um,
line that's, that I think is becoming effective this July. Can you just speak to
that and how it might integrate with this project?
Nelson: I can. So that's a much larger statewide issue, but I can speak a little bit
about it. So, uh, CommUnity Crisis Services is one of two Lifeline providers in
the state of Iowa, which means only National Suicide Lifeline providers are
going to be answering for 988, so, uh, CommUnity Crisis Services and
Foundation 2 Crisis Services will be answering all 988 calls in the state of
Iowa. So it provides a lot of opportunity for us to connect some of the dots
within the crisis continuum to explore ways to dispatch Mobile Crisis from
988, so that we're really increasing that access point for people because they
are going to remember 988 like they remember 911. And so it's expected that
especially in year two, year three of 988, we're the pretty dramatic diversion
from 911, just by nature of, people are going to know this is the number that
you call when you're experiencing a mental health crisis. And so, um, it's a
really exciting time in crisis services in Iowa. I mean, there's a lot of
opportunity and we have a lot of the parts, and so just really trying to close a
lot of those gaps on the continuum, 988 can draw, um, a lot of those things
together. So it's a statewide effort, but we're lucky 'cause it's two centers in
Eastern Iowa that happen to be, uh, Lifeline centers.
Teague: Right. Thank you.
Nelson: Yes. Thank you.
Teague: Yes. All right. Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If
you're online, please raise your hand and if you're present, please come to
the podium and sign in. You can come forward.
Petersen: Hello. Um, name is Noah. Uh, guess a couple questions, um, of the 10%, uh,
like what the hospital to jail, what of that is jail.
Teague: Um, and we ask that you address Council, please.
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Petersen: Could you tell where? Yep. Okay. I guess I'll talk to him some other time,
but um, so I guess my concern is, is that this is still working with the cops. So
I understand this is a very different cops, mostly, which is improvement,
which is some progress, so not against this, but, um, we should be more, um,
just like no cops, but that's my stance on all things on cops, as you should
know by now. So yeah. Thanks.
Teague: Thank you. Anyone else like to address this topic? If online, please raise
your hand. Seeing no one, Council discussion.
Taylor: I'm just so pleased to, to see this come before us. And, uh, it's an extremely
important, uh, resolution, uh, to come before us to, to vote on, on, uh, it's
absolutely necessary as we've seen by the numbers that she presented. Um,
and in fact, it's got some urgency to it. Uh, we need to really mo--, bolster the
Mobile Crisis unit and increase their responsiveness and the quality services
that they provide to this, this very vulnerable members of our community. So
I'm absolutely in favor of it.
Bergus: I appreciated what, um, Sarah said about the response to the pandemic and
the fact that mental health, uh, services are so much, um, increasing so much
in, in need right now. And this is a, I think a swift and very important
response to that. And also as Rachel previewed for us, um, with this item, this
was one of the, I, I think what I thought was maybe a more difficult piece of
the preliminary plan to restructure the Iowa City Police Department, because
at the time we were talking about how could we dispatch Mobile Crisis, how
could we get, uh, response times down? And now here we are. Um, at that
time you all may recall the loud call from the community for a service like
Kahoots. And, uh, I just know from the, uh, research and information that we
received at the time that that service still has response times sometimes of
60 minutes. So having a service like this, um, in our community, I just think is
tremendous. And thank you to CommUnity for their work and this
partnership.
Weiner: I mean, I, I think my understanding is that, that the goal is for community
members themselves to internalize this, to use, when it comes online, to use
the new 98, 88 number and request, themselves, mobile, Mobile Crisis, so
that the, the more, um, a service like this, assuming we approve it, becomes
embedded in the community, the more people are dealing directly with
services that directly assist people, um, with mental, with mental health
issues and mental health crises without the intermediary of law enforcement.
And that's really, that's really the direction I, I personally think we need to be
going anyway.
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Harmsen: Uh, I'd just like to say, agree with everything that's been said. And also,
um, the work of the previous Council, some of whom are still here, uh, in
CommUnity. Uh, it's nice to be able to come here 48 days into being a
member of the City Council and getting to vote on something like this. And
that's because of the work y'all did. So, so thank you.
Thomas: This, this is a huge, a huge thing. I mean, thanks so much CommUnity for,
um, providing the service and, and diverting a person in crisis from two
outcomes, both of which are not all that desirable, ending up in jail or in a
hospital. So thank you. This is great.
Teague: So I think, uh, some of you know, that, um, Caring Hands and More used to
have more the cri, crisis stabilization bits. Uh, we were the second in the
state, um, Foundation, not Foundation 2, but, uh, Cedar Rapids was the first
in the state. And so we, I, I personally had firsthand experience with Mobile,
uh, Crisis outreach, um, through, through CommUnity. And the, the stories of
individuals that were in crisis are very many. And this, sometimes we never
saw them, um, in the crisis stabilization beds because of the outreach that
Mobile Crisis did, um, and, and really talking to those individuals and giving
them the supports that they need. And even when they did come to the crisis
stabilization bed, I can tell you time and time again, how appreciative they
were for their Mobile Crisis outreach that came to where they were, um,
should that have been the desire, uh, uh, you know, for them and really talked
them through some of the most, difficult, um, times in their life. Oftentimes it
could be somebody's first time having a mental crisis where they needed to
be, um, in a different place, other than a hospital or their home, um, or in, or
in jail, really. And so this is a great opportunity for our community. And I'm
going to be supporting it. With that, roll call, please. [Roll call vote.] Motion
passes 7-0.
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14. Assessment Schedule
Teague: On to item number 14, which is assessment schedule. This is a resolution
adopting an assessment schedule of unpaid mowing, cleanup of property,
snow removal, sidewalk repair, and stop box repair charges, and directing
the City Clerk to certify the same to the Johnson County Treasurer for
collection in the same manner as property taxes. Could I get a motion to
approve please?
Thomas: So moved, Thomas.
Bergus: Second, Bergus.
Teague: All right. Anyone from the public like to address this topic? And if you're
online, please raise your hand. Welcome.
Petersen: Hello? Yes. Um, so my question is, since this isn't (mumbled) that you can
answer questions on it. Does the City work with people who are disabled and
who cannot move stuff themselves? Like, so they have, like, they can't clear
stuff, does the word, City work with those people instead of just fining them?
Or is there just like a, you have, it doesn't matter if you're able or not, we're
just going to assign you the fee or is there like, do you work with folks on that
And you legally can answer this since that's what on their, Iowa code you
can't answer. This is and on the agenda item.
Teague: Any other comments?
Petersen: Uh, I would like to know, like Geoff, does the City work with people or is it
just like a blank? You, you, you can answer it like you, if you look, look at
other cities, like even freaking Des Moines, I hate using Des Moines as a
example, but Des Moines will actually like answer people if they ask
questions about agenda items. Cause that's what the state Code allows on
their open meetings is, this is an agenda item. There's no legal requirement
that says you cannot answer people's questions. And other cities around the
state do this. You are in an exception in not answering questions. I would just
like to know, like, do you guys work with people on this? Or you just like
assign the fee to people because if you're just assigning the fee to disabled
people and saying, screw you, I would like to know, like, if that's what this
City is doing or not. Based on the non -answer, I'm going to assume that's
what it's doing.
Thomas: This, this seems to fall under what we were talking about earlier. I want to
ask staff if, um, you know, what, what is, how, how do we factor in when a
property owner has physical disabilities
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Fruin: As our, our inspectors will work to the extent that they can to find a solution.
It's different in every case, at the end of the day, we have to get the, uh, the
property under compliance or the, the, um, you know, the walk, shoveled,
whatever the issue may be. But yes, we try to show compassion and be
creative in trying to find solutions.
Thomas: Thanks.
Petersen: I guess. Um, I'll I, sorta answered it. So like, but like, So does, I mean, so
someone is not able-bodied. They will, the City could just like clear that and
does that, like, is that like what you mean, like (mumbled) solutions, like the
City clears it for people who are not able bodied. Or other,
Teague: We really can't get engaged in --
Petersen: You can though on this, I mean, this is agenda item, this legally you can, it
is a Council decision to not engage on items, like this, you can, this is all on
your decision, frankly.
Teague: We want to hear from you.
Petersen: Yes. And I'm saying like, this is, I'm not like trying to have a full discussion.
I just like couple quick questions. And, uh, you sort like, I don't, I (mumbled)
like exact answer to my question, you sort of answered it. I don't know. I
guess I kind of want more specifically. Well, I do appreciate actually. And
thank you, John, for working (mumbled). I really also really appreciate earlier
work session for bringing it up too. Thank you. All right.
Teague: Thank you. Anyone else like to address this topic? Welcome Dan online. I
don't see a, a speaker mic for Dan. All right. Now you can unmute.
Kauble: Hi! Um, my name is Dan Kauble and the I'm just going to preface this by
saying that all the topicality of what I'm about to say is established by the fact
that this, I mean, it's the way that the public communicates with Council. First
of all, I think that there's a major overhaul happening within the way the
public communicates with Council. You all can legally respond to what we
say and Mr. Mayor --
Goers: I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor, this does not seem to be germane to the topic.
Teague: Yes, please keep it on the topic.
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Kauble: It's germane to the public comment. Um, sir, Mr. Mayor, I would say, as we
discussed at moments like this, you could take a recess. We could go off the
record, have a conversation about things --
Teague: Please keep it to the topic.
Kauble: -- recess 30 seconds. And then we could go back into Council meeting. Sir, I
think that's a really good way to circumvent a situation like this. And I'm
really disappointed that this is how the Council meeting has gone, especially
given our conversation, because I thought that we were talking, we had a
good conversation about the merits of de-escalation about, um, what to do in
a situation like this, where it is tense, where it is a standoff. Legally, you all
can respond to comments. And legally, if we ask you questions, you can
respond. That's common that city councils across this country. Oh, and I
would like to remind Council members, your mics are hot. We can hear the
things you say and we will use them against you. Anyways. Um, so you all, I
don't understand why you're stuck in the past. There needs to be a major
over -- overhaul of Council meeting protocol.
Teague: So this is, you need to stay on topic to the assessment schedule.
Kauble: Mr. Mayor, Bruce --
Teague: This is not germane.
Kauble: This is germane because it's about public comment, sir. This is still about the
structure of public comment, which is --
Teague: -- Okay, I'm going to, I'm going to end, the comment is not according to the
topic.
Kauble: Sir, it is germane. Do you not want to have these discussions? Can we have
another meeting to talk about this sometime? Can we set that up?
Teague: We're going to, we're going to stop this, this topic --
Kauble: -- sir, are you --
Teague: -- right now, with -- thank you. Anyone else like to address this topic
assessment schedule.
Goers: Mr. Mayor, if there's no other comment I wanted to, uh, invite a, a motion to
amend from, uh, Council. Uh, there were two of the, uh, properties that are
listed on the assessment that reached out in the last couple of days,
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indicating they would like to have a contested hearing, uh, at this meeting,
there were two additional, uh, for a total of four, uh, that wish to be heard by
Council directly. Uh, it's uh, Council's custom to, uh, approve the assessments
that are uncontested at the initial meeting such as tonight, and that if there
are property owners who wish to be heard or to contest the assessment that
they are, uh, scheduled for the subsequent meeting. Those, uh, four
properties are 314 Church Street, 1050 Woodlawn Avenue, 1940 Plaen View
Drive and 1851 Muscatine Avenue. Again, if we could get a motion to, uh,
amend to remove those from tonight's motion, uh, we'll be sure that they're
listed, uh, separately on the March 1st meeting.
Teague: Can I get a motion to defer those, uh, properties?
Harmsen: So moved.
Weiner: Second.
Teague: Moved by Harmsen, seconded by Weiner. Roll call please. [Roll call vote.]
Motion passes 7-0 and we are on to --
Goers: Oh, I'm sorry. That was a motion to amend.
Teague: Yes. A motion to amend, 7-0. And now we're going to go back, um, and just
do Council discussion for any of the assessment schedule. Hearing none, roll
call please. [Roll call vote.] Could I get a -- the motion passes 7-0. Could I get a
motion to accept correspondence?
Bergus: So moved.
Thomas: Second, Thomas.
Teague: Moved by Bergus, seconded by Thomas. [Voice vote.] Passes 7-0.
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15.a. Housing & Community Development Commission -- One vacancy to fill
an unexpired term, effective upon appointment - June 30, 2023.
(Theresa Lewis resigned) [Appointment deferred from 1/04/22]
Teague: 1Sa is Housing and Community Development Commission. Housing and
Community Development Commission is one vacancy to fill an unexpired
term, effective upon appointment through June 30th, 2023. And now it's
Council discussion.
Bergus: So we deferred this from last meeting, um, and we're hoping for more
applications. I don't know that any...
Fruehling: We got one additional one and I, I think we had actually deferred it from
February 1st. Well, no, I think it's from January.
Bergus: January. Yeah.
Fruehling: It's been a couple meetings.
Alter: I was going to ask if there are ways that we can try to improve the applicant -
- not improve. Sorry. Spread the message so that we can get more applicants.
Um, are there recommended.
Fruehling: I know Communications did, um, Facebook, Twitter. Um, I think we also
do Nextdoor. Um, and then on our City website. I'd be open to suggestions.
Taylor: It sounds like, you know, you've made an attempt to -- Councilor Bergus and
I were talking about earlier and really struggled over this appointment
because I thought this is where we were before, the same place and with just
one newer applicant. And not that these applicants are not good applicants,
but they just don't seem like a good fit for the HCDC. So I, I just really
struggled over, over what we should do.
Weiner: I mean, the only other suggestion that I would have is that as we, as we go
out and I hope do more of these community forums or listening posts that we
really push at at those posts or, or urge people to let them know what's open
and, and suggest that either they or, or people they know apply for them
since they're already, um, exhibiting an interest in engaging. That's about the.
Teague: So it sounds -- go right ahead please.
Harmsen: Just have a question. Um, are, are there any of, uh, this board or any of the
other ones, are, are they, do they have enough current members to be able to
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function and do business? Do we have any sort of a clock running in terms of
making sure they can have a quorum and, and do what they need to do?
Teague: I think the quorum adjusts.
Harmsen: Does it?
Fruin: They're able to meet and have a, and, and, and carry on. Um, but cl, clearly
more members would help.
Teague: So it sounds like a deferral.
Thomas: Well, I was ready to make some calls on this, but if, if others want to defer,
that's fine.
Teague: I'm going to assume a deferral. Okay.
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15.c. Senior Center Commission -- One vacancy to fill an unexpired term,
effective upon appointment - December 31, 2023. (Susan Eberly
resigned)
Teague: And then well go to 15c, which is Senior Center Commission, Senior Center
Commission, one vacancy to fill an unexpired term, effective upon
appointment, appointment through December 31st, 2023. And we'll have
Council discussion here.
Taylor: I had a question about the application, um, name is Karen Page. Under the
gender where you checked the gender it was checked male, uh, but under
sexual orientation, you wrote female I'm thinking maybe it was erroneously
checked or, or do we have some way of knowing? I mean, there's no gender
requirement for this position, so it really doesn't make a difference, but just
for future reference.
Teague: I think since, yeah, I think in the future, maybe that can be clarified.
Taylor: Cause I would be fine. I mean, sounded like a good applicant for the position,
familiar with the Senior Center.
Thomas: Yeah. I support that too.
Teague: Okay. All right. Looking like we have, um, a majority of Council supporting
Karen Page for Senior Center Commission. Can I get a motion to appoint
please?
Alter: So moved.
Weiner: Second.
Teague: Moved by Alter, seconded by Weiner. [Voice vote] Motion passes, 7-0.
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18. City Council Information
Teague: We are on item number 18 which is City Council information.
Thomas: Well, I had an opportunity to, um, go to the, uh, performance of the, that
world premier at the, uh, river, Riverside Theater in its new location, and,
um, highly recommend that show and also seeing the new venue. It's just
beautiful, really charming space and historic building, and, um, the play is
quite powerful, um, set in the Vietnam War year of 1971, but, um, you know,
it's a wonderful new place in Iowa City. Thank you, Riverside Theater and all
the, all those who supported it.
Harmsen: Um, I would like to, uh, kind of excited to, uh, announce, um, I've been, uh,
in contact with documentary filmmaker Sarah Terry, uh, and it sounds like,
uh, there is a date set for the screening of her documentary, A Decent Home,
uh, at Film Scene on April 28th, um, so more details are coming on time. Uh, A
Decent Home is a documentary that looks at the exploitation of vulnerable
communities of mobile home owners, um, and residents in those, uh, in those
mobile home courts. Um, it looks at this through the lens, uh, specifically, uh,
of a couple of different parks, but, but primarily two, one in Aurora, Colorado,
and one in North Liberty, Iowa. Uh, this is a documentary film that has
already been shown at film festivals in Denver and New York, um, and is, is
signed up, I believe for another one or has been shown at one out in Montana,
and I believe is, is on the docket for some other film festivals. Um, it's really, I,
I've seen this, I saw it when it premiered out in, uh, in Denver. Uh, it's an
incredibly well put together documentary film, um, and, uh, full disclosure,
uh, my mom is actually one of the people in this film, so when I find out more,
uh, more information about the exact time and stuff, I'll be sure to share that
with the Council and with the community, um, and with staff, I think that's
going to be something that, um, uh, we're going, it's going to be very
beneficial thing to see because it does affect, um, our communities here, in
around Iowa City.
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19.b. Reports on Items from City Staff -- Deputy City Manager
Teague: All right, we are on to item number 19. This is reports on items from our
City staff. Deputy City Manager.
Jones: I did have a small item that I'd like to share with the City Council. Uh, there's
an exciting new innovation that you may notice in our community, uh, it's a
public safety, a public health innovation, um, that involves AEDs. Uh, so if you
notice, uh, in the community, large yellow boxes, uh, they're actually housing
AED, as you may know, uh, in the fight against, um, sudden cardiac arrest,
minutes are, uh, are precious to, to survival. And, uh, frankly, uh, if you, if it
goes beyond 10 minutes, you're likely not going to survive. Uh, in addition,
every minute that goes by, that's like 10% less, uh, uh, chance that you
survive. So, uh, this innovation, um, is, is actually capitalized by a partnership
that involves, um, um, Pulse Point, which is the technology provider. Uh, they
essentially, uh, kind of utilize something that's very similar to a, uh, um,
Amber alert. Um, those who are interested to, uh, provide assistance before
our EMS can get to that person. Uh, it will give alarm on the phone and they
can then be directed to AED. All of this will be coordinated through our, our,
uh, dispatch system. And then they can begin that, that process of getting
that, uh, assistance to that victim. Um, so, uh, also involves our Rotary, local
Rotary, uh, Johnson County, um, uh, Ambulance Service. Uh, the City as well,
particularly kudos to Fire Department and, and Public Works Department in
making all this happen. So, uh, just know we have, uh, five locations right
now, um, it's, uh, being thought that we may be getting some more AEDs, so
you may even see more, uh, around the community, but when you see those,
that's what that's all about.
Teague: Great.
Taylor: Thank you, Deputy City Manager. I was going to ask about that and I'd
forgotten 'cause I was driving along Mormon Trek and on a pole right there
on the corner, uh, was an AED and I thought, this is really a strange place for
that to be, and I hadn't heard of this program, but it, it's really a great idea.
And it's, it's right there. It's visible. It's uh, uh, very busy, uh, intersection
there near Benton Street and with a little shopping mall nearby in the bank,
in the drug store and all those things. So that's great. So I'm, I'm glad you
explained that, `cause I --
Jones: Well, you know, actually there's a little science behind that. There's been a
tracking of how many incidents that we've had in the last three years. And so
we actually concentrated those in where the areas we had most incidents, so.
Taylor: Okay, good. Thank you.
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Weiner: I guess, um, shout also to the Rotary Heart and Kerber HeartSafe Program.
Dick Kerber was a, was a physician for many years, um, at, at the University
of Iowa. And I know that his wife has continued his efforts on this.
Jones: Yep, absolutely.
Teague: Great. All right.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
formal meeting of February 15, 2022.