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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-05-03 TranscriptionPage 1 Council Present: Alter, Bergus, Harmsen, Taylor, Teague, Thomas, Weiner Staff Present: Fruin, Jones, Kilburg, Goers, Fruehling, Knoche, Havel, Sovers, Van Dyke, Lyon, Davies, Ford, Nagle-Gamm, Dumachi, Harland Others Present: Miglin (USG) Teague: I'm gonna call the meeting to order for the City of Iowa City formal meeting for May 3rd, 2022. I wanna welcome everyone to City Hall and I'm going to start roll -call, please. [Roll Call] 2. Proclamation 2.a. Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander Day Against Bullying Teague: All right. Again, welcome to your City Hall. Happy to see you all in person. And actually in the City Hall, we had been over in the senior center for a long- long time. And to everyone virtually welcome to you as well. And first item is going to be proclamations Item 2. And 2.a is going to be the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and Asian - American and Pacific Islander Day against bullying. (reads proclamation). And to receive this proclamation is Human Rights Commissioner Mark Pries. Welcome. And I'm going to give you this proclamation. Pries: So Mayor Teague and councilors on behalf of the residents of Iowa City and the Iowa City Human Rights Commission and staff, we're grateful for this proclamation of this May as Asian -Pacific Heritage Month and Wednesday, May 18th as Asian -American and Pacific Islander Day against bullying. As a diverse Iowa community residents of Iowa City have the privilege to become culturally aware and empathetic toward our minority residents. We can be allies for each other and then comes such times as these, when we must increase our ability and willingness to be advocates for minority residents and new residents of Iowa City. And now because of racist rhetoric from leaders, our Asian American and Pacific Islander neighbors welcome proclamations just such as this one that are beyond rhetoric and inspire attention, advocacy, and change. Thank you very much. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 2 2.b Bicycle Month and Bike to Work Week Teague: Thank you. Item 2.b is bicycle month and bike to work week. And this will be read by a Councilor Bergus. Bergus: (reads proclamation) And to accept this proclamation is Eria Sabiiti from Bike Iowa City. Sabiiti: Thanks Mayor. Uh, I actually came with a nice speech, but, uh, Councilor Taylor there really, I think for us my speech, it was word-for-word what I wanted to say. Um, for me, biking started as a journey to better my health. Over this- the last seven years, uh, I found out that, you know, I could see more of the community. The economics of biking, going to different towns. From Iowa City to North Liberty, the accessibility has greatly increased. Um, as you pointed out, uh, driving distracted is a big danger to cyclists. So seeing more pathways for cyclists. So actually getting to these- these different parts of town has been really- a God send to us. So we went to thank you very much for all the continuous infrastructure involvement that you've been doing in development across all cities between here Iowa City, Solon, and North Liberty. So thank you very much for all the hard work you're doing on that. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 3 2.c. Jewish American Heritage Month Teague: Thank you. Item 2.c is Jewish American Heritage Month. And this will be read by a Councilor Weiner. Weiner: (reads proclamation) And accepting this proclamation is Mark Pries, Human Rights Commissioner. Pries: Councilor Weiner, and Mayor Teague, all councilors on behalf of the residents of Iowa city, and the Iowa Human City- Iowa City Human Rights Commission and staff are grateful for this proclamation of May 2022 being designated Jewish American Heritage Month in Iowa City. The planting of the Anne Frank chestnut tree at the Pentacrest just this past Friday, the day after Yom Hashoah insists and inspires us all the more to dedicate our lives as a whole community to Anne Frank's vision of what can be. At the planting of the chestnut tree, Councilor Weiner, recalled Anne's naming her in her journal what could be, "When I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too will end that peace and tranquility will return once more." Years ago, Leslie and I took our children to the Secret Annex. We went up the steep stairs, hidden by the bookcase, visiting the rooms and especially looking out the window through the chestnut tree to see the facade of the Westertoren in a distant- in the distance just brought chills to us. This facade of what we would know as Westerkirk. This established Christian institution in Amsterdam is a symbol for me of what mindless religion tolerates while the horror of Holocaust fell upon Jewish residents in the Netherlands. Anne wrote about the Westerkirk, five days into her stay at the Annex. "Daddy, mommy, and Margo, can't get used to the sound of the Westertoren clock yet, which tells us the time every quarter of an hour. I can, I love it from the start and especially in the night. It's like a faithful friend." Jewish American Heritage Month brings our whole city an opportunity to give thanks for the blessings of the Jewish community in Iowa City for our Agudas Achim synagogue more than 100 -years -old. And to renew our mutual efforts to name and protect the human rights of every citizen, each of us, faithful friends. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 4 2.d. National Public Works Week Teague: Thank you. Item 2.d is National Public Works week. (read proclamation). And to receive this, is our public works director, Ron Knoche. Knoche: Mr. Mayor and Council, good evening. On behalf of the a 166 Public Works professionals in the Iowa City Public Works Department, I would like to thank you for the National Public Works week proclamation. The dedicated professionals who work in our engineering, equipment, resource management, streets, wastewater, and water divisions exemplify this year's theme, ready and resilient. Whether we are providing the everyday services made more challenging by COVID or responding to extreme weather events, the Public Works Department is ready and here to serve our community. I would like to thank you for your support of our operations. Last year I reported the Public Works facility phase 1 project was recognized by the American Public Works Association as a public works project of the year in the structures category for 2021. This year, this project has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects Committee on environment with one of the 2022 Cody Top 10 awards. We look forward to Saturday, May 21st, when we will have the opportunity to showcase this building with an open house. We invite all community members to stop by between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM. The city will have vehicles from its fleet on display with a touch of truck event. You'll have the ability to learn more about the- the services the city provides, as well as tours of the new building and the fire training tower. we '11 also have indoor roller skating, live music, food vendors and a quilt show in partnership with the old capital quilters guild. Uh, the quilt show has been titled beauties amongst the beast. The Summer of the Arts will host a free screening of the Field of Dreams within Napoleon Park at sunset. The Public Works open house will be held during National Public Works week on Saturday May 21st at 3810 Napoleon lane, between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, and parking for the event will be available at the Napoleon Park Softball Complex. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 5 3 — 7 Consent Calendar Teague: Thank you. We're going to get- can I get a motion to approve our consent calendar, which is items three through seven. Taylor: So moved. Weiner: Second. Teague: All right. And would anyone from the public like to address the- any item on our consent agenda? If you are present, we ask that you come forth and there are sign -in sheets that you can sign in at the podium. There are also stickers at the back that you can place in the basket at the podium. We ask that you limit your comments to three minutes or less, and we're going to welcome you today. Ross: Hello, my name is Brandon Ross, um, Iowa City resident, U- United States citizen. I - listening to all the- the intros about Asian American day and the bicycles and such. I mean, none of this will be possible. You know, some of the arts are things that we- we appreciate. Jewish, uh, the special Jewish day. If- if we engage, uh, in nuclear war, uh, the United States with Russia. Um, I- my mom's family was Jewish from Kiev and also from— Teague: Hey, Brandon. Ross: Yeah. Teague: Um, so this is the consent agenda. Ross: Oh, okay. Teague: But if you want to come back up during the— Ross: Oh, I didn't understand. I thought when you said anything that was not on the agenda. Teague: Yeah, um - Ross: But that was- that was quite a mishap for me. Teague: I'm sorry. Ross: I'd say, I feel like mayor bloomed when we got two years. Teague: I must- I must have misspoke. Sony about that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 6 Ross: No, no, you didn't. I just- I think it's the masks. Teague: All right. Ross: Sorry. Teague: So anything on the consent agenda, anyone want- want to address this? Seeing no one. Council discussion. Alter: I simply want to, uh, congratulate and thank Ellie Miglin, uh, for her recent appointment as our liaison- our student liaison and, um, Keaton Zeimet is the alternate and I look forward to meeting and, uh, liaising and getting to know him better. And fmally, I just want to thank Anna, uh, for her service. I feel like our future is very strong with, um, what you guys bring to the table, and I'm just really excited and say thank you for the service that, um, Anna has already provided. Teague: Here, here. Any other comments? Weiner: Yeah. I just wanted to note on- on- about Item 6.d. Just call people's attention to the- the approving a commercial energy efficiency improvement grant agreement, uh, between those antsy corporation, the City of Iowa City. It just really allows- this the type of grant that really allows for energy efficiency upgrades to- to important buildings. Teague: All right. Roll call, please. [Roll call.] Motion pass is 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 7 8. Community Comment Teague: Now we're at Item number 8, which is the consent agenda. Weiner: Community- no. Bergus: Community comment. Teague: Oh, I am sorry about that. We are at community comment. I must have said the wrong thing. All right. We're at community comment and this is for any item that is not on our agenda where the public can come up and share at this time. Ross: Thanks. Teague: Welcome again, Brandon. Ross: Brandon Ross. Wow. All right. So- I was just about to say that I have family from Poland and from Ukraine. I've noticed that there is signs up in Iowa City with Iowa cities logo, UNESCO City Police support Ukraine. I feel this is a very polar situation right now. Ukraine has been in civil war for eight years. US and NATO sent weapons into Ukraine. Right-wing national factions, fascist neo-Nazis, did get a hold of those weapons. I do believe that Russia intervened in the way that the US intervened during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I do believe that there are spheres of influence, especially considering nuclear weapons. When cruise ships sent weapons over to Cuba because Cuba was a sovereign state, the US was bothering with military and regime change operations such as Bay- Bay of Pigs. The US came back with a threat of nuclear warfare and they had a stalemate. Now, in this situation, Russia's border country, which is Ukraine, has had- has had a civil war going on for eight years. There have been three leaders in Ukraine: Yanukovych, Poroshenko, and Zelensky. And despite that Zelensky wants weapons and we keep sending them weapons, and Nancy Pelosi promises weapons when we just spend $33 billion on weaponry to send to Ukraine. I believe this is the wrong position, is the wrong position for NATO to be involved in Ukraine. Many people have said this before, including Stephen F. Cohen, the historian of Russian- the Russian historian, as well as John Mearsheimer, a Russian historian, as well as Henry Kissinger who said that we should not- never be in Ukraine. It is a neutral state. People in Ukraine are dying. They do not care whether the bonds come from the left or the right. They do not care. A third of the country is Russian, culturally Russian, pro -Russian. A third of the country is right wing. It's a very complex situation. So when I see the flags on people's houses with Ukraine flags or buttons or things like this, I think they are fetishes and they are appalling. So my suggestion is that people, if you really want to help Ukraine, all those niceties are not going to help Ukraine, more weapons are not going to help Ukraine. Please, please, call or write or both your senators, your Congress people, the White House, and please appeal to Joe Biden and your senators and Congress people to please withdraw weapons, withdraw NATO, and negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. The goal is detente. We can talk here all night long about all the different issues that we're interested This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 8 in. But if we get a nuclear war with Ukraine, with- with Russia, it's over. So I want to say that also Russia for Jewish people is a safer place than Ukraine, and I have friends there. Teague: Thank you. Ross: So thank you so much. Teague: Thank you. Anyone else want to address during this time? Welcome.I will ask that people give their- their name and the city they are from or and their, um, yes welcome. Salih: Okay. Hi, My name is Mazahir Salih. I'm the community- I'm the director of the Center for Worker Justice. This is my name. Today we just have a quick presentation about wage theft. I will start, how you do this? Slideshow right? Okay, wage theft. Yeah, I guess I wanna talk to you a little bit about the Center for worker justice. Ah, most of you know what we do but for the public, we just empower low wage workers to identify an issue in the community and start organizing around them. Uh, we have many victories during our- by the way, this is our 10th anniversary will be on September. So during these 10 years we, uh, one of the victories that we have, we created the first Community ID in the Midwest. Uh, Johnson County Community ID where a lot people now using it and keep this community safe. We increase the minimum wage to $10.10, and you know what happened the morning yesterday, you know, Des Moines decide to take that opportunity from the county, but it's still center for workers just did not stay silent. We reach out to a lot of businesses in the area and they committed to pay 10.10 as a minimum. Uh, so, so far we registered 165 businesses committed voluntarily to keep paying $10.10 as a minimum. And also we do some kind of English classes, know your right training and all this kind of training. One our- one of our unique project during the pandemic, we created this program called From My Home to Yours where we receive a lot of donation for, um, you know, the caring community member where they donate the stimulus check. And also we receive some funds from the City of Iowa City County, Johnson County, and so far we help over 700 families by giving them between $300 to $600. So also we help, uh, like people who are applying for that state programs during COVID and we- the Center for Worker Justice has recovered more than $170,000 in unpaid wages. Eighty percent of that theft case were in Iowa City, whether the people live in Iowa City or the business is in Iowa City. So, uh, wage theft could be- why- what's wage theft? Wage theft it could be just basically work somewhere, never get paid, or you're misclassified as independent contractor where you work hourly, or stealing tips, or like working off the clock like many, many kind of, you know, like wage theft cases. And I think I'm going to turn it to, uh, I still have 50 seconds. Okay. We are- what we do, we don't like to really just highlight the business as a bad business, our goal just to recover wages. So the first step we do, we gather the information, give the employer a call, and after if that works. That's fine. Otherwise, we will escalate it by sending a delegation, and some of you were in the delegation before, so to demand that employer to pay. If it's work, okay. Otherwise we escalate it, we will do it as a request from the employees. We escalate it to do a protest and also at the same time filing a complaint with the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 9 Department of Labor and also do like press release and bring in the media and just make it like a public issue. I'm gonna turn it to Kaille to give you some example. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Simmons: Hi, I am Kaille Simmons. I'm a community organizer at the Center for Worker Justice. Um, so I'm gonna walk you through some examples of cases that we've seen in Iowa City. Uh, this one was recovered at the beginning of 2022. So the- these two, um, individuals were married and they had previously worked at the bar that was there before. Um, and so this new bar wanted to keep these old employees so they offered to pay both of them at a rate of $25 an hour. Um, but they were supposed to clock in through the alarm system when they walked in the door, um, but half the time that alarm system wasn't working, so there was sort of a miscommunication here, um, and they only ended up getting- one of them got a check for $290 something dollars. Um, so they came to us and we delivered a letter and we got in touch with the CEO of this bar and we were able to sit down and help them recover $423.32 each. Um, this was the case at Taco Loco in Iowa city. Again, a married couple they were working here, they were paid in cash, um, and then they stopped receiving pay all together. When they came to CWJ, um, we also realized that they were not getting paid overtime, so we held a delegation to deliver our letter and we ended up, um, recovering $1,257.91 for Sofia and $1,182.13 for Fransisco. Um, Rita Sandres, this is a case that is pretty public right now. Rita was not properly being paid overtime for 13 years of her employment. She was only getting paid half-time, or regular time instead of time and a half. So we've held numerous delegations, I think two or three delegations, um, to deliver a letter to the employer stating that we'd like to discuss this issue when he was working with us at the beginning, but unfortunately, those negotiations kind of died down. Um, so Rita wanted to escalate the situation. We held a protest and we are currently, um, in the middle of negotiations. We had a meeting on Monday, we'll have a meeting on Friday about this and hopefully, we can recover some overtime wages for her. Henry Torres, he works in construction. Um, we've been seeing a lot more of which the cases from construction. Um, he was subcontracted by a contractor to do roofing and siting and he had been paid up until November for every job he completed and then all of a sudden the payments stopped coming in. Um, so we held a delegation and we met with, um, the employer and he is working on payments towards $12,500 of unpaid wages. And Santos was misclassified as an independent contractor. He was promised a wage of $27 an hour. After that, they reduced his pay by $2 an hour and refused insurance benefits because he was an independent contractor. Um, and so CWJ held a delegation and we helped him recover $1,109. Teague: Thank you. Teague: Welcome. Hames: Good evening. Uh, my name is Greg Hearns. I'm -. Teague: Go ahead. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 10 Hearns: -president of Iowa City Federation of Labor, um, also Vice -President, uh, for CWJ. Um, I just want to read something here real quick. I'll try not to be too redundant and cover saying some of the same things that might be here said. But, um, every year, far- far too many Iowans experienced wage theft when they are cheated out of wages they have earned. Some are not paid for all of the hours the actually worked, some are paid off the books at less than the legal mandate at minimum wage. Some earn tips that they do not get to keep. Some are not paid at all- at, uh, the legally mandated rate for overtime. Some leave a job or contract arrangement and never receive their fmal paycheck. Annually wage theft deprives low-wage Iowa workers of an estimated $600 million deprive state and local governments that revenue and puts law-abiding businesses at a competitive disadvantage. And by the way, this report was put out in August of 2012 by, er, the Iowa policy project. Um so low wage iowa workers miss out on an estimated 600 million and the wages each year, wage theft may be costing the state at least 45 million annually and unpaid tax revenue plus another 14 million in lost revenue to the state's unemployment of fund. Iowa's enforced on to wage and hour laws lag far behind national and regional peers. Iowa enjoys just a single investigator to enforce the law for 1.2 million private sector workers. Wage theft disproportionately affects workers in certain sectors of Iowa economy, including restaurants, construction, small businesses, and the meatpacking and food processing industry. Wage theft has a disproportionate impact on Iowa's growing low-wage workforce and on immigrant workers. I spent 40 years m organized labor, and until this report came out in 2012, I wasn't familiar at all with the term wage theft, because in organized labor, you very seldom see wage theft. If someone is shorter in their paycheck because of overtime or something like that, we have a grievance process that we can go through or take it all the way to arbitration. If you're not part of a collective bargaining agreement, you don't have those resources. So that's why so many people are reaching out to the Center for Workers Justice for help. Center for Workers Justice has helped people from as far north as Waterloo and far south as the city of Davenport. So it shows we're covering a lot of ground, and we're making a lot of difference. It's no wonder that people who engage in wage theft don't want employees organizing. Being the only organization that fights wage theft, CWJ has fought for workers prefer north Waterloo and southern Davenport like I said, uh, few short years ago, wherever you raise the minimum wage in Iowa's city and surrounding communities, it was because our community work side-by-side with our elected officials that we were successful when national lawmakers are the Des Mones was not willing to do so. Timing. Okay. That's good. Thanks alot for your time. I really appreciate it. Teague: Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. Stromquist: Thank you. Uh, my name is Shel Stromquist. Uh, I'm a resisdent of Iowa City and I'm an ally of the- community ally of the Center for Worker Justice and also chair the Finance Committee of the center. Um, I just want to make a few quick points complimenting what you've already heard. Um, we have every indication that wage theft is not just a longstanding problem but it's a deepening problem. And it's been deepened by the impact of the pandemic as has so many things. Uh, the kind of industries we have This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 11 in Iowa City, the construction and leisure, uh, industries in particular and restaurants and so forth, uh, are chronic. Uh, you know what, industries that have high levels of wage theft. And, um, and so I think it's particularly incumbent upon us as a community to begin to try to address this in a systematic and concerted way. Uh, and what we're seeing is the tip of the iceberg. Um, we- we know from our encounters with people who have experienced wage theft, how fearful they are to come forward. These are low wage workers, many of them immigrants, many of them fearful to make claims for the wages they have actually earned. And- um, and so we feel it's particularly important now to step forward and in a sustained and concerted way, uh, to address this problem as a community, and the Center for Worker Justice has a strong track record as you've seen. Um, these ARPA funds are not regular budgeted funds. These are special funds designed to address particular concerns and constraints that have developed in the pandemic. And so we urge you, um, to support the proposal that we put forward to you, uh to North Liberty, to the City of Coralville, and to the- and to Johnson County, and the others have all, uh, indicated their willingness to support this proposal. What we're basically asking for is enough support to carry on a five-year program to systematically address this issue. To begin to build trust and expand outreach in the community so that people who are fearful and hesitant to come forward realize that they have a right, they have a right to do this. Um, we need to educate the community more widely about labor rights and how, uh, absolutely unfair this kind of thing is. It's unfair to the- to the- obviously, to the vulnerable workers. It's also unfair to the community, uh, because we- it means, among other things, lost purchasing power, uh, and unpaid taxes. It's unfair to employers who do the right thing. So we as a community need to be more concerted, and we want to be able to train volunteers in a more systematic way to draw on other allies, to facilitate a broader network and the community, uh- Teague: Thank you. Stromquist-that can really systematically address this. Thank you. Teague: Thank you- thank you. And anyone else? I do see, uh, someone online. I'm going to welcome Noah. Welcome. Petersen: Hello. You can hear me, right? Teague: Yes, we can. Petersen: Okay. Perfect. A couple of things tonight. Okay. So last week, I mean- myself is a cop, but I call 911 because I saw one of ICPD's cop cars driving recklessly without their - without any light sirens or anything. But any person who was not a cop drove driven like that, they would have been immediately pulled over her reckless driving. So, I mean, this is not the first time I've seen ICPD drive recklessly without any- any lights or anything like that. ICPD is notorious for just turning on their lights to go through, stop sign - stoplights, red lights because they think they're above the law and they get to just bypass it. And they get away with it because they're cops. Who's gonna stop them? The cops? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 12 No, obviously not. Um, so yeah, that's- that's emblematic of the toxic culture that's just deep within the ICPD that is not reform was slightly younger way forward, is to defund them and take away their power by defunding them and not letting them in positions where they can abuse their power- what like they constantly do when they are on our roads, and they make our road not safe. Anyways, okay, um. And then the City refuses to release body cam footage of complaints against ICPD because they- this cities chosen that they would rather protect cops rather than what the public see the complaints against cops. And I'm just going to talk about what I've been talking about since I mean you all change your rules. Um, this City currently forces people to live outside because you are not providing a 24/7 law barrier emergency shelter, especially since the winter shelter is no longer- no longer an option and shelter house has turned people away because there's not enough capacity in filter house. In this city by it's inaction is forced people outside. So stop forcing people live outside, open the emergency shelter now. I would do something, stop forcing people to live outside. Or else stop for symbol of outside. Bruce, stop forcing people live outside. Pauline, stop forcing stop people live outside. John, stop forcing people live outside. Shawn, stop forcing people to live outside. Pauline, stop - sorry, Janice, I mean, stop forcing people live outside. I think I named you all, oh, sorry, oh and Megan, stop forcing people live outside. Redmond, stop forcing people live outside. And Geoff, firstly fuck you. You're fascist and stop forcing people to live outside. You're a liar, too, Geoff. You're like a massive liar, and you can't answer your damn emails. Geoff, Redmond and all of you answer your gosh, damn e-mails. Is it really that hard to answer emails and stop forcing peoiple to live outside? It's like you're like- I mean, obviously, you refused these. You don't give a shit about the houses community. That's why you force them live outside. That's the only conclusion that any reasonable person would come to you because you refuse to provide shelter to them. You should be ashamed. Teague: Thank you. Anyone else like to address a topic that is not on our agenda? Seeing no one. Thanks to everyone that has been a part of our community comment. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 13 9. 2022 Water Pavement Patching — Resolution approving project manual and estimate of cost for the construction of the 2022 Water Pavement Patching Project, establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders, and fixing time and place for receipt of bids. 1. Public Hearing Teague: We're on to item number 9, which is 2022 water pavement patching. This is a resolution approving project manual and estimate of costs for the construction of the 2022 water pavement patching project, establishing amount of bid, security to accompany each bid. Directing City Clerk to pose notice two bidders and fixing time and place for receipt of bids. I'm going to open up the public hearing. And a welcome. Van Dyke: Thank you. Just a second. I'm Marri Van Dyke. I'm with engineering. Um, this is an annual product where we repair pavement that was damaged from water main breaks. Um, so basically when there is a water main break, the water division will repair the main and then if pavement was damaged, they'll backfill with rock or do a temporary asphalt patch. And then this project combines all of the permanent pavement repairs into one project. So these are the locations for this year, so they all had a water main break this past winter or early spring. Um, and so they all need, uh, street, sidewalk or driveway repairs. And then as additional water main breaks occur, well add those to this project as well. So the estimated construction costs just for the previously listed sites is $175,000. The bid opening would be May 25th, and we'd award the contract June 6th. Then the - we'd have the contract until the beginning of November. But construction for each individual site would only last about a week. So that's kind of an overview of the project and I'm happy to answer any questions. Teague: No questions, Thank you. Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so, please come forth. Welcome. Harland: Next one. 2. Consider a Resolution Teague: Okay. All right. Seeing no one, council, I'm going to close the public hearing. Can I get a motion to approve please? Thomas: Second, Thomas. Taylor: Second, Taylor. Teague: Council discussion. Roll call, please. [Roll call.] Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 14 10. 2022 Rochester Avenue Reconstruction from Ralston Creek to North First Avenue — Resolution approving project manual and estimate of cost for the construction of the 2022 Rochester Avenue Reconstruction from Ralston Creek to N First Avenue Project, establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders, and fixing time and place for receipt of bids. 1. Public Hearing Teague: Item number 10 is 2022 Rochester Avenue reconstruction from Ralston Creek to North First Avenue. This is a resolution approving project manual and estimate of costs for the construction of the 2022 Rochester Avenue reconstruction from Ralston Creek to North First Avenue Project, establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid. Directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders and fixing time and place for receipt of bids. I'm going to open the public hearing. And welcome. Harland: Good evening, Council mayor. I'm Justin Harland I'm with engineering. I'm a senior engineer for the City of Iowa City. We're going to talk about the Rochester re - reconstruction project. So I'd like to start out with a little bit of background. Rochester acts as an arterial street averages about 7000 vehicles a day. It also goes primarily by the Regina schools, requires frequent maintenance, potholes, cracking, and spalling. And it's kind of at the end of its useful service life, might say end of the service life. Mean that we're putting more resources and money into it than we're getting out of it. In 2019, Snyder and Associates was hired to perform design services which included a traffic study. In 2020, that traffic study was complete. It recommended the complete reconstruction. And on the western end, it, uh, recommended to do at three to- three to two conversion. Uh, part of the reasoning behind that three to two conversion on the western end was with that, it kinda encouraged traffic calming, which thus kinda reduce speeds, which has been noted as a problem in that corridor. With the three to two conversion, this also allows the roadway to accommodate- or accommodate bicycle lanes. So as a brief project overview, this is a full reconstruction, as I said, um, it includes storm sewer, water main improvements. As long as ADA improvements. It does include new traffic signals at Rochester and First Avenue. Um, the speed limit will remain at 25 miles an hour. That is the design speed that we've chosen. And we've also tried to lessen the environmental impacts of this. Um, you know we've tried to be very mindful of protecting trees, uh, where we can't protect, um, we are going back and planting a few more trees, um, with the project. So just to give you a kind of overview of the project limits, uh, we start on the west end by Ralston Creek and we move back to the east up through the First Avenue intersection. Kinda with this our primary detour routes that we'll be focusing on will be Court Street, First Ave, Seventh Ave, and Muscatine Ave. As you can see, with Seven Ave- Seventh Ave being in the project, it will be closed for a short time. But as we move further on, that will open back up and we can use that. So kind of the typical sections of the roadway. Um, this one, there's three different typical sections. Um, they all kind of include similar attributes, but each one a little different. Um, so the first one we're gonna talk about is just your two through lanes with bike lanes, they're gonna be ten -foot lanes, six foot bike lanes, and you'll have a foot and a half This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 15 buffer for the bike lanes. You'll also have a four -foot minimal parkway. They'll have a five-foot sidewalk and will include ADA curb ramps. So that's kinda standard throughout the project. The water main is storm sewers will shift sides. Uh, this configuration or this typical section will be the typical section for the project and that will go from Montrose up Seventh Avenue and then also from Ashwood to Rita Lyn Court. So our second one uh is the cross-section that goes from that north Seventh Avenue up to Ashwood, it does not include sidewalk on the south side, as we've kinda discussed over other council meetings that was- that was decided. It does include a retaining wall with a paved parkway. The retaining wall heights will vary from 2.5 foot to 5.5 foot. And the parkway will be entirely paved. I know it kind of shows on that cross-section, there's little green there on the right side, that will be paved, it allows for snow storage, as well as lessens the maintenance on residents to go out there and mow it and city staff. So our third section is the kinda the section up by Regina Schools. It kinda goes from Ashwood up to that First Ave. Um, there will be a two-way left turn lane or TWLTL, includes bike lanes, that TWLTL will be 11 foot, also includes, you know, your sidewalks, ADA ramps, and it will include a pedestrian island for refuge, uh for pedestrians crossing that way. We know there's a large volume of pedestrians that cross that location and we would like to increase their safety where possible. So some of the unique project features, um, you don't see those on- see these on every project. You'll see a few, but these are kind of what makes each project different. Um, for this one, we're gonna install a pressure release valve vault or a PRV. It's installed near the First Avenue and Rochester Avenue intersection. And this is part of our department's plan for water pressure zoning. Uh, we create consistent zones throughout the city. It helps service and our water infrastructure. We're also going to install that pedestrian island. I've kinda hit on that a little bit. It's located near the west Regina driveway. It's a pick in that, or picture in the lower right corner. And it just increases pedestrian safety or that's the intent. Another one you'll see is somewhat unique to this one is the conversion of overhead to underground utilities. You know currently if anybody's driven by the corridor, you'll notice some construction. Currently Mid American is in their converting overhead to underground. A lot those are your electrical services, your communication services, or telecommunication services. You will see- still see street lights, so there will still be poles out there, but it- it reduces damage like when we see major storm events. You know those are now underground and not hanging above your head on poles. Kind of the project timeline, obviously, we here today on May 3rd holding the public hearing. Bid letting is scheduled for May 24th or date June 6th. Construction start is July 5th of this year. I'll kinda get into the phasing of this project after this slide so we can break that down a little more. A milestone completion is scheduled in December. That milestone, um, what that is is we want to, or we're shooting for the pavement through the west leg of the First Avenue intersection to be done in December of 23. This allows other projects that we're working on, for instance, Court Street, if that schedule falls through to detour through Rochester. The final completion date will be September 30th of 2024, the opinion or probable cost at 5.6 million. Initially, we thought the project could be done in 2023. With the dollar amount and the scope that we have in the plans, uh, we felt that, that was- put a big burden on the contractors and as well as drive up our bid prices. So we've gave them the option to complete that east leg of the First Avenue in Rochester intersection in 2024. To kind of This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 16 go through the further phasing that stage one, which is from Ralston Creek to kind of halfway in-between Rochester court and Windsor drive. That will be scheduled for the summer and fall of this year 2022. Stage two will continue on towards the west. So where we pick up on '22, will go into '23, looking too go to Rita Lyn court, and that will be kind of the spring and summer of '23. Our idea is to stage the Rochester Court reconstruction in front of Regina Schools during the summer while school is out. That is the intent. Whether it happens that way, that's kinda up to the contractor and our construction seasons weather. We go further west to the west leg of the first Avenue Rochester intersection, there needs to be some temporary pavement that goes there. That's why you're seeing the schedule or the stage 4A 4B and 4C. So 4A will be the temporary pavement that allows through traffic and turn movements through there so we can keep the First Avenue intersection open. And then the west leg will be completed in the summer and fall of 2023. That just leaves the east leg of the First Avenue intersection in the spring and summer of 2024. With that, I'll close that out and open it up to questions. Thomas: Is it Seventh Avenue, that is the entrance into Hickory Hill Park? Harland: Yes, I believe it is. Thomas: Is- was there any consideration of putting in a pedestrian island at that intersection? Harland: I cannot answer that. For the- for the design, I know that we- we've asked Snyder to include as many pedestrian accommodation facilities as we can. I don't know specifically if that was looked into. I can find out for you if you'd like. Thomas: Yeah I think that, it seems to me, I'm sure there's quite a bit of- of movement across Rochester at that location. Maybe not as high as at the school, but Hickory Hill is a major destination, so I would expect there's quite a bit of it. Weiner: I mean, I would- I would imagine that the um is there another- if some of the scheduled were to slip around Regina, is there another way to get in there or would, does that just really- does that really have to end up being during that springs- that summer? Harland: So the nice thing with Regina is they do have two driveways or two entrances that we could possibly use. We could also utilize temporary pavements to make sure that they have that there. That being said, it's still gonna be an inconvenience if that were to happen. But I think we've been in contact with them and I think we can work something with them that works for everyone. Weiner: Okay. Havel: I'm just gonna to mention something about the- the question about the pedestrian ref - refuge at Seventh Avenue. The challenge that's going to be there is really the space within the corridor, so the one up at Regina, we're putting in there because it's gonna be a three -line section. There's not an opposing left turn movement there, so there's a space This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 17 there that we can put that in without taking away something else. At seventh Avenue, the challenge that you get into is it's a tight corridor. We aren't looking at getting additional right away and with left turns there, there's not that same condition that we were doing with the Regina location. So I think it's just they're a little bit different and there just with having the goal being to go to two lanes and narrow up the roadway that sort of is contour to what the- the pedestrian refuge would require. Teague: Any other questions? Thank you. All right. Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? And welcome, Noah. Petersen: Hello. Teague: Hello. Petersen: Can you hear. Hello? Teague: Yes. Petersen: So I comment early because currently the city substreets, is- currently the city is forcing people to live on the streets by not providing. Teague: Alright You need to stay on topic. I'm going to end the conversation now. Thank you. Petersen: Actually no because I'm not done. Bruce. Teague: You're done. Thank you. Petersen: I'm not done talking. Teague: We need people to stay on topic. Anyone else like to address this topic? Seeing no one, I'm gonna close the public hearing. Can I get a motion to approve, please? Weiner: So moved Weiner. Taylor: Second Taylor. Teague: Council discussion. Roll call. Oh, please. Weiner: It's gonna be a long project. I mean, people- people there, a lot of people up there, people are really going to have to get used to having their lives and- and roots disrupted and be- and be prepared for it, I guess. Well, that will require a fair amount of communication as well so that I mean, it's,- it's needed and it's going to be a big long project. Teague: Roll call, please. [Roll call.] Motion passes 7-0 This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 18 11. Eastwood Drive and Southlawn Drive Intersection Improvement — Resolution approving project manual and estimate of cost for construciton of the Eastwood Drive and Southlawn Drive Intersection Improvement Project, establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders, and fixing time and place for recceipt of bids. 1. Public Hearing Teague: Item number 11 is Eastwood Drive, Southlawn Drive intersection, improvement, resolution approving project manual and estimate of costs for the construction of the Eastwood Drive and Southlawn Drive intersection improvement project establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid directing the City Clerk to pose notice two bidders and fixing time and place for receipt of bids. I'm going to open the public hearing and welcome. Dumachi: Mr. Mayor and Council. Good evening. My name is Alin Dumachi and I am a Senior Civil Engineer in the Public Works Department. Today, I'll be giving you a brief overview of the proposed improvement that Eastwood Drive and Southlawn Drive in the City of Iowa City. The project, just like the title says, is located at the intersection of Eastwood Drive and Southlawn Drive. At the northeast -northwest corner of Lucas Elementary. The existing condition at this intersection show the pavement is beyond the useful life and def- there is deficient street drainage. De- uh deteriorated pavement. Southeast storm intake is severely damaged and is currently covered with, uh, steel plate which presents a hazard for vehicle traffic and pedestrians. Sidewalk ramps are currently not ADA compliant. And this project will address all these issues. The proposed improvements, uh, are replacing the existing storm sewer system, with new storm sewer pipe and intakes, upgrade existing six inch ductile iron water main to eight inch PVC pipe, new eight inch pavement with six inch interior curb and sub drains, new curb ramp - ramps to meet ADA compliance, relocation of an existing, uh, fire hydrant. Some of the estimated quantities are 101 linear feet of storm sewer and associated structures, approximately 343 square yards of pavement replacement, approximately 156 linear feet of trenched water main, and approximately 100- 106 square yards of sidewalk replacement, and associated landscape restoration. The estimated cost for this project is $225,000 and the construction is scheduled to begin June 3rd with substantial completion date the Friday before school starts, August 19 2022 and the final completion date of September 30th, 2022. And with this, if you have any questions, I'll be more than happy to address them. Alter: Sorry, can you just repeat when the beginning of the project. Dumaki: Beginning of the project would be June 3rd. Alter: And end in September. Dumaki: September 30th. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 19 Teague: Thank you. Dumaki: Thank you. Teague: Great. Anyone from the public like to address this topic? And I'm going to welcome Noah. I do want to say that I've already warned you that you must stay on topic. If you do not stay on topic after this, you will not be recognized the rest of this meeting, but we do want to hear from you, so welcome, Noah. Petersen: Hello. Teague: Welcome. Petersen: All you bastards stop forcing people to live outside. Stop forcing people to live outside. 2. Consider a Resolution Teague: Anyone else from the public like to address this topic? Seeing no one, I'm going to close the public hearing. Can I get a motion to approve, please? Weiner: So moved. Alter: Second. Teague: Moved by Weiner, seconded by Alter. Council discussion. Roll -call, please. [Roll call.] Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 20 12. Transit Funding Application — Resolution authorizing the filing of an application with the Iowa Department of Transportation for FY2023 Iowa Department of Transprotation State Transit Assistance and Federal Transit Administration funding. 1. Public Hearing Teague: Item number 12 is transit funding application. This is a resolution authorizing the filing of an application with the Iowa Department of Transportation for the fiscal year 2023. Iowa Department of Transportation State Transit Assistance and Federal Transit Administration Funding. I'm going to open the public hearing. And I'm going to welcome our staff. Welcome. Nagle-Gamm: Good evening, Mayor, Council. Good to see you all back at home again. Teague: Yes. Nagle-Gamm: Um, the MPO of Johnson County is going to be filing on our behalf a consolidated, ah, funding application- transit funding application on behalf of Iowa City Transit with the Iowa DOT. This is an annual process um you see me about this time every year. Um we um, we're essentially asking for what is really formula funding. It's kind of our formal approval process um to request the funding for both our state DOT funding, federal funding, and for our wish list of items which we- we have a long wish list of items for transit. So in terms of State Transit Assistant Program, that request is for approximately $571,000, for- in terms of our federal operating assistance, it's approximately $1.9 million in annual funding. And then for our pair transit services, it's approximately a $155,000 in annual funding. And the request I would call it the wishlist items, um, in terms of um, what we hope to receive federal funding for is, um $21 million. And of course, it's inclusive of, um funding for potential transit facility. So we want to make sure we keep that item on our wishlist, um, and hopes of being granted grant awards in the future. And I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have about this application process. Teagie: Sounds like you're getting off easy. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone from the public like to address this topic? 2. Consider a Resolution. Teague: Seeing no one, I'm going to close the public hearing. Can I get a motion to approve, please? Taylor: So moved. Bergus: Seconded, Bergus. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 21 Teague: Motion Taylor, second by Bergus council discussion? Roll -call, please. [Roll call.] Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 22 14. 2022 Bond Resolution — Resolution directing sales of $10,255,000 (subject to adjustment per terms of offering) General Obligation Bonds, Series 2022. Teague: Item number 14 is 2022 bond resolution, resolution direct- resolution - direct- resolution directing sale of $10, 255,000 general obligation bonds series 2022. Can I get a motion to approve, please? Bergus: So moved, Bergus. Weiner: Second Weiner. Teague: All right. And welcome. Davies: Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Uh so this is for our GO Bond issue that happened this morning. Our bond sale. And so here today is Maggie Berger from Speer Financial, who is our financial advisor and she's going to walk you guys through the results. Teague: Thank you and welcome. Berger: Thank you very much Mayor and Council. As Nicole mentioned, my name is Maggie Berger with Speer Financial. We did take bids this morning on $10,255,000 of general obligation bonds series 2022. You did receive four bids as part of that 30 -minute window. And we are recommending the lowest true interest rate by law from Morgan Stanley and Company of New York, New York at a true interest rate of 2.9355 percent. You can see from the first to the last, we range from a 2.9355 down to a 3.0586. We've also included that ah, Moody's Investors rating report. The City does do this exercise when they're issuing debt. And you were reaffirmed at the AAA status, which is the highest um that you can acquire from the rating agency. They always talk about how stable um, your credit profile is. The economic base is very stable here. Always we talk about what could lead to a downgrade, um, substantial and sustained reduction in reserve funds. We will say it again and again. Moody's and any other rating agency loves cash. They want to make sure that you have plenty of cash on hand to operate the City in a time of need. Ah, this goes on and talks about how you have grown your tax base by an average annual of 5.7 percent annually, that your median family income is 108 percent of the national median income, which is fantastic for them. It also talks about how you across all funds have 65 million or 80 percent of your fiscal year 21 operating revenue as reserve funds. And that again is a cash reserve that they like. Amortization is rapid within the city with 100 percent of your general obligation debt, principal and interest being paid within a 10 - year period. So they do include the scorecard um on the second to the last page of the report, then that does indicate you know where you are in line with a AA, AAA, A categories. Um, we've seen some upward movement as well in fund balance and that's always helpful to them. We've included the bid in bidders tabulation so that you can see the interest rates that were bid. And as part of this sale, you are receiving a small premium. Will say small in comparison to years in the past. And really that premium is This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 23 about 535,000. That is excess money that can be used not only for the debt service payments, but also any cost overruns on these projects that were part of this issuance. The fmal debt service schedule is on the back page. And we do always protect the city with a call feature. And that just means that the bonds become optionally redeemable after June 1st of 2028. Once that payment is made, you could call the bonds in whole or in part. anytime after that date. You would also have the opportunity to refund them if interest rates are lower than that remaining four down to a 3.3 percent. With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have this evening. Teague: Very detailed report. Thank you. Berger: Thank you. Teague: All right. Would anyone like to address this topic? Seeing no one from the public council discussion. Roll call, please— Weiner: Could, could we— [OVERLAPPING] Could we say something? Goers: I don't think we have motions, mayor. Fruehling: We had motion, but I wanna— Yep, we did. Weiner: We did, Right? Fruehling: Bergus and Weiner. Goers: Sony. My apologies. Weiner: Um, but I just wanted to note that it um, really is to our advantage to maintain the AAA rating because we- we get essentially more bang for our buck. We- it's a- a puts us in a much better financial position ah, and it costs us less to get the money. And I think the timing of this was great too, because I think the Fed is about to raise rates so. Taylor: I just like to say a Susan Mims, if you're listening, you always stressed about the AAA rating and I never did quite understand it, but thank you for helping me understand it then. Here we are. Great. Alter: Thank you to staff and for shepherding and- and protecting the money and making wise choices and allowing us to be able to enjoy this. Teague: All right. Roll call, please? [Roll call.] Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 24 18. City Council Information Teague: And we are at item number 18, which is City Council information. Weiner: I just, um, put out that the electric bus bash is rain or shine this Friday afternoon at 2pm. Looks like it's gonna be over in the Chauncey, if it's- if it's gonna rain. But I guess they will put out that. Farmer's Market starts on Saturday. So whether or not it looks like spring, it's here. And there are a lot of events going on this weekend including NAMI walk and some other events. Harmsen: I just wanted to say thank you to those who came out for the premiere of A Decent Horne last week in Iowa City. I know that several members of council were able to make it and those who weren't had been showing a lot of interest in learning more about what was in the film. And so, appreciate that because that really touches on our affordable housing crisis locally and across the country. So thank-, thank you for everybody in the community who- who- who got out to see that. Thomas: That was a very powerful film. And your mom was one of the stars, so that was kind of fun too. Harmsen: I might be a little biased and very proud of her for doing that work so. Alter: I just- actually want to mention I had a lovely meeting with a pickleball club, that was at Mercer park and it was to look at the courts, um, but I now have a standing offer to learn free lesson, um, they don't charge for them so- But no they're just an amazingly enthusiastic and passionate group of people who in fact have been you know kind of - they said during COVID, this was kind of a lifesaver for them to be able to be around and to draw some pleasure. And I learned about pickleball in ways that I knew nothing about. I didn't realize it was as huge as it is and so, um, and it's all ages. I mean, I met with some folks who they were in their 80s. Um, but they're- there, they're teaching junior high kids. So it was just a really cool thing and it's growing like crazy. So I just wanted to take an opportunity to shout out Myra and Duane and Jill Miller, those were some ambassadors. I'm not sure if that's the exact name for them, but I think they self-styled it so. Thomas: I did want to mention that I had an opportunity to see Pierre and Natasha and the Great Cornet of 1812 which was a production of Riverside Theatre. And congratulations to Riverside theatre that, that is truly an extraordinary perform- production for our Iowa City Theatre to be able to pull that off was really an accomplishment. Unfortunately, I think it's sold out now for the rest of its run, which may be through May 7th. I wish they could extend it because not many people can attend any one showing. And It's such a large production. You know I would want it to have as large an audience as it deserves. But in any event, congratulations to Riverside and all who participated. Teague: Great. Any other comments? I do want to just again say thanks to Councilor Weiner and to Mayor Pro- Mayor Pro Tem, and to all of the councilors that's been filling in last week, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022. Page 25 I was on vacation, a very much needed vacation. And there were great events happening that councilors defmitely stepped in. I know Councilor Bergus was over in the south district, busy over there and I- and our councilors are real engaged. We just heard Councilor Thomas talking about you know Riverside Theatre. There's so much happening and I do encourage people to get out, rain or shine. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of May 3, 2022.