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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-08-16 TranscriptionPage 1 Council Present: Staff Present: Alter, Bergus, Harmsen, Taylor, Teague, Thomas, Weiner Fruin, Jones, Kilburg, Goers, Fruehling, Platz, Hightshoe, Kubly, Havel, Sovers Others Present: Miglin (USG Liasion), Zeimet (USG Alternate) Direct Assistance Update — Conversations with Johnson County Teague: It is 4:00 PM on August- it is 4:00 PM, August 16, 2022 and this is the City of Iowa, city work session. First item on the agenda is the direct assistance update, conversations with Johnson County. So I know the council, um, know I went there last Tuesday to represent the collective voices of this council with the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. Of course, the topic at hand is the direct assistance payments, um, where we submitted a letter, which I think many of you saw that letter. And the info packet where we were essentially asking the county to partner- to do 50 percent while we do 50 percent of the 319 remaining. We had some collective discussions, um, about why we wanted to do that, and at the end of the day, the county essentially said no to that proposal. Um, I will say that, um, I- I represented to the best of our ability. Um, I think facts about the situation which, uh, essentially, um, talked about the- the- the -the resolution that was drafted between the county and the city, which states essentially that the county would do the lottery first and after the lottery, um, any remaining, um, individuals within the Iowa City jurisdiction, would have be paid for by the city. Um, and so I- I did that. At this point, you'll know- I know everyone saw in our, um, our formal agenda packet or on our agenda that we do have an item there, whether resolution. So a part of my thinking was, um, I- I've heard the urgency in all of our voices, um, to, um, do what we can to move this process along. So I thought we would certainly have the discussion now, um, about the update with Johnson County and then, um, should we choose to move forward, um, based on the conversation here, uh, with the agenda item later, we can either vote on it as it is written and make some adjustments based on our conversation now. We could defer it, uh, we could remove it. Um, but I thought in order for us to really be in a position to continue the conversation and make some movement, um, having the works that -having this on the work session agenda and on the formal agenda would be the most, um, um, I- I- I think the most productive way to keep us going forward. At this point, I'll just open it up for council discussion. Taylor: Well, I'll start. I was so excited and it was so wonderful to hear the initial plan to collaborate with the county for the direct assistance program that would help to- help those persons who hadn't qualified initially for the federal government stimulus checks. So it was very disheartening to me to hear that 319 individuals would not receive any of those funds. It seems that the numbers somehow just didn't come out, right, uh. And although I don't believe that 100 percent of the shortfall should be on Iowa City, I strongly believe that all persons who should have qualified for funding should indeed receive it. These are some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Many of whom are now on the verge of further financial woes, uh, being threatened by greedy out This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 2 of state companies that have bought the mobile home courts where they live. These families are truly challenged financially and this could help them to get their feet on the ground. Uh, therefore, I believe that it, uh, it is urgent that we agree on a plan to assure that the 319 individuals who, uh, would've qualified are indeed funded and I would approve a resolution to do whatever it would take to accomplish that. The money's there and we should be able to figure this out and do it as soon as possible. Thomas: I- I agree, Pauline. Uh, you know I didn't really learn about the- the distribution and fact that we had 319 who weren't going to be receiving the direct assistance. Um, it was interesting to see you know where they were located, and it was also, uh, interesting to see you know how the various public entities had responded, uh, you know to the initial need. And- and my hope was that at least- my response at that time was, well, how can we bridge this gap? Urn, and that every- everyone, all the public entities would reassess where things were at that point. Um, you know we're now in a moment where we've seen what the response has been to that- to the situation we're in. And I to feel that Iowa City it needs to fill the need, uh, and if necessary, full it to its fullest extent. Um, I- I- I wish it were otherwise. Um, I had mentioned at our last meeting that I felt there was some possibility for kind of a public private partnership with this where,uh, if- if we'd expanded what we could in terms of the wealth of the public entities that perhaps some of the wealth among ourselves and the Johnson County Community could step forward. But at this point, I just don't think that's possible unfortunately. Um, so at this point, I do feel City of Iowa City should contribute whatever is necessary to- to make this thing whole. Alter: I would agree with that, um, wholeheartedly, 100 percent. Um, I think that Pauline and John, you both have rightly put the emphasis on those who have been excluded. And mayor, that the- we need to continue with urgency. It's gone on long enough and honestly, as a human being to you all, speaking on behalf of the 319 I'm sorry that you have had to ask for it. Um -Additionally, I would like to point out that the first time that we have heard about the potential for any collaboration from the county was August 1 lth. And it was suggested that, "No, thank you. We've done our bit. You can go ahead and do that." We did enter into a largely successful collaboration with them for the majority of Johnson County residents, which includes Iowa City. We pay our taxes to Johnson County. I'm greatly disappointed that this became as political as it did and that in the process of this, that there were people who were left out and had to come here and fight for it. And I recognized the bureaucracy and the logistics of how this worked or such that we fulfill our obligation. The county did theirs, but I would also note that we are the ones who actually said, let's try and get something done. And so I'm absolutely positively behind making sure that we just put this to rest and get the people who deserve the money, their money. But I would also like to comment on, as I have already, but just to say that the narratives that have been put out here once this happened, we're not collaborative. We're not done in the spirit of how do we make this whole? How do we make this right? It was completely political and right now that doesn't sit well with me. So I apologize for taking my time to talk about that part of it. It is possible to both absolutely say, "The 319, you people who have been fighting and who are excluded, you This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 3 matter more than my feelings about the political situation, but it is also possible to be angry about that." So I just had to get that out. Harmsen: I'd like- basically I agree with everything that's been said up here. Uh, coming back from being out of town, I was very disappointed to see that, uh, our proposal, uh, to do collaborate on the last 319 was- was met with, uh, a rejection, but that is what it is. And my disappointment over that certainly does not more important than the needs of the 319 people, so I'm on board with that. I do want to take a moment to thank the Mayor for going and speaking on our behalf, on the city's behalf of this proposal and sitting through that meeting. And I'd also like to thank city staff for the work that they've put into this program from the very beginning to try and get this- get this working and work through all the intricacies of intergovernmental agreements, uh, which are, you know, I've- I've learned in the last six months are more complicated than they appear from the outside. And that's our issues to deal with, not the public's. So I agree. We just need to move forward with this and get people that help they- they've been looking for. Bergus: Um, just jump in. I agree with my colleagues that what needs to happen is those who were eligible for the program where the funds had been allocated would be paid the $1,400. It is incredibly frustrating how this has unfolded. And I hope that it is lessons learned particularly. Again, this echoing what- Sean you said of, thank you to our staff for working through this. And I know it has not been a straightforward or simple process. And it seems like when it became a very political, it got more complex as well. Um, I do think that given that this program has been talked about and hashed out for over a year, we need to find resolution and do that now. Um, I'm in favor of funding the entire amount if we fund Iowa City residents. So we're not funding those outside of the city limits, we made a commitment to only support- to not- had said that poorly, but to- to support those individuals who are Iowa City residents. And it's been helpful to hear some of the, um, very understandable misunderstandings about where the Iowa City boundaries might be, but I do think we made that commitment that our money goes to Iowa City residents. Um, hopefully the county will follow through with it's what it set forth and its rejection that it would allow that, uh, shifting of the funds, so that our money goes to Iowa City residents. Weiner: I would just like to- I mean, I am in agreement. Uh, I'd like to sort of step back and say this is when you look at the bigger picture, um, I really don't want any of this to take away from the fact that Iowa City and Johnson County together took on almost 100 percent of putting this program together for the- the excluded works, um, within this county. Um, that we both stepped up. I have great respect for those who advocated, for those who learned to advocate for the people- for the people from a Escucha Mi Voz and for- for that- for that process as well. Uh, because that's the piece that I really don't want to get lost. That ended up being, um, as has been- has been alluded to politics and blame and so forth. This is a positive. We are doing something that really others have not done in this state for people who worked for all of us. And I would really like that to be the takeaway, despite the difficulties of- of these last few weeks. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 4 Teague: Has, uh, such a complicated, uh, um, topic when it comes down to all the ins and outs of how we got here today, but at the end of the day, I'm pretty, um, excited to hear from my colleagues that they would be willing to support this for 100 percent. I am of the same mindset that, at this- at this juncture we should support 100 percent. Uh, there is a great, a lot of lessons to be learned. I think that we'll remember, uh, in the future. Um, I also want to, um, maybe just to stress the facts, um, to a small degree that, yes, the City of Iowa City our funds can only be used within our jurisdiction. I do understand that a lot of people, um, didn't learn about the boundaries until this took place. Um, I can tell you that my mom lives in Lake Ridge Mobile Home Park and she didn't learn about the boundaries until she went to vote for her son and she learned that she couldn't vote for me, because she's not in the boundaries. So I do, and- and of course, that was very distressful. And she said, "But my address is Iowa City." So I do get that. So I do understand the challenges. Um, what this from the- you know, from the public per - perception, you know, that's in- that's in the weeds for- uh, for a lot of individuals. At least for- at least from my perception, um, I will tell you that, um, this- the funds that we're spending are the City of Iowa City residents fund. Um, I- I think, you know, we're gonna- we're gonna do it because at this point, um, we hear the need- we know the needs and we are willing to, um, do what we can to meet the needs. But I also will leave the table open. We're gonna do it. I think We're gonna do it. I will leave the table open to back- we're going to backfill Iowa City residents that were rightfully paid by the county, 319 residents that were rightfully paid by the county. So we're going to backfill those individuals. I still open the invitation to the county to backfill us and to any other jurisdiction, uh, that want to be a part of this process. There is 11 jurisdictions in the Johnson County area. You all can also participate, thanks to Coralville for their 30,000. Uh, I know many people- this isn't to minimize that, uh, contribution, but their involvement was one percent of the total amount. Um, I had our involvement. I don't have it up before me, but it was pretty significant when it comes down to the three jurisdictions that, uh, contributed. Um, but I will be happy to, um, submit the 100 percent funding for Iowa City backfill in Iowa City residents 319, so that we can certainly move forward. And to the individuals that have endured this, you know, I wish, uh, you know, we can turn back the hands of time and I think there is a few things that we could have done different, um, so that we weren't in this position. Um, I will learn from this and hopefully we won't find ourselves in a similar situation that are like this in the future. But nevertheless, that sounds like the majority of this council wants to keep this agenda item on the formal agenda. And we will have- during that time, I'll kind of walk us through unless, um, our city attorney can- can give us some thoughts there. Goers: Sure, happy to Mayor. So, um, as the council knows the resolution had a blank, not knowing what council intended to do with this item. Uh, so there would be a- a motion and a voice vote at the time that this formal agenda item comes up to put in um, the amount of, uh, 319 times $1,400 and I'll do the math ahead of that. Geoff has already done it for me, $446,600. Um, the other part of the motion to amend that resolution item would be to remove the reasonable incremental administrative costs. Because I note that in the counties August 1 lth letter, they indicated that they would incur that expense and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 5 not invoices city for that. So those would be the two subject matters of the single motion to amend and then a roll call vote on the item itself. Fruin: Just to clarify on that, the county is still going to charge us additional 10,000 in check processing fees, so well just add that to the 446. Is that correct? Goers: Yeah. Fruin: Okay. Goers: Yes. Teague: Thank you for that. Any other discussion on this item? Alright. We're gonna move on. And again, thanks to every one that's been advocating for this, we clearly he- heard you and, um, hopefully tonight we will, um, be a part of something great in so many individual lives. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 6 American Rescue Plan Act State and Local Recovery Fund Update: Teague: We're gonna move on to the next item, which is the American Rescue Plan Act, State and Local Recovery Fund update. Fruin: Okay. Uh, mayor and council, well just, uh, do a transition into the larger, um, ARPA discussion. You have a memo in your information packet from Cassie Gripp, our grants manager that gives you an overview of where we stand on your various priorities. Um, I won't go through everything. I'll hit a few highlights and then if you've got questions, happy to, uh, try to respond to those. So we just covered the direct payments, uh, so we'll skip past that. On the eviction prevention front, we are having some conversations with Shelter House who is working on a proposal, uh, to extend eviction prevention. Remember council's previously funded eviction prevention efforts, and those funds are still remaining and- and fulfilling the intended purpose. This agreement would come in and just extend the duration of that effort. I know we're also looking at po- possibly piloting a risk mitigation program in the community to help, uh, people find housing as well. So you can look forward to that coming. Once we're able to reach an agreement on a proposal with Shelter House. The Forest View relocation programs have been fully authorized and you have an update in your- in your packet there. You can see that, uh, the vast majority, almost all have received their first check, uh, with many receiving both checks and- and having, uh, have vacated their home in the Forest View neighborhood. So just as a reminder, um, the end of the program is December 9th. And at that point, we expect that the park owners will close. Um, and we hope by that time we'll have all of the residents fully funded and that our partners with the Center for Worker Justice and others will have helped them find, uh, housing opportunities that meet their needs. You can jump in if you want to talk about any of these or I'll just run through. Uh, a couple of months ago, council authorized a non-profit assistance grant program. This is for operating dollars coming out of COVID. So kinda a recovery program. Uh, we have focused their efforts on Homeless and Assistance and housing stabilization, childcare and youth services, health care, including mental health services and food assistance. Those applications were due today from our non-profit community. So staff will be reviewing those in the coming weeks and we will make a recommendation to you for funding, um, at your one of your September 22, 2022 meetings. So next month we'll- we'll have those grants for your consideration. Alter: Geoff, sorry. I know that you said that today was the date. Is there kind of a rough estimate of how many applications have come m or is it too soon to- to get asked? Fruin: Glance at Erika Kubly, ask if she knows. Alter: Sorry to put you on the spot. I'm just curious. Kubly: I'm Erika Kubly with neighborhood services. We received 17 applications for just over $900,000 in funding. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 7 Alter: Thank you. Fruin: Um, we also have not returned to you yet with the wage theft, um, agreement that you previously committed to. We are working on that and- and hopefully well also have that ready for you in September. So quite a bit of progress expected in this in this category in September. When it comes to the BIPOC business supports, um, I think as- as you know, Astig Planning has been working on and inclusive economic development on a study. Councilor Weiner and I actually had a chance to hear an update on that at our ICAD board meeting last week. They are finishing up that study and working with ICAD on some recommendations. There'll be presented to not only the Iowa City Council, but Johnson County and some of the other communities in Iowa City. So I think they're getting pretty close to being ready to ask us for some work session time to present their recommendations to us. Fruin: On the social service, uh, capital funding, um, we have not yet started that program. Uh, we wanted to get through the operating grant process before starting to frame up the capital grant process. That'll be a more significant part of funding, will have a recommendation to your plan is to recommend the framework of that program to you in a work session, make sure you're comfortable with that. And then we'll go out and actually solicit grant applications from a non-profit community. On the affordable housing initiatives, uh, not much progress from the last update on this, We have had some initial conversations with the housing trust fund, but are not actively, um, drafting anything at this point and we do hope to, uh, get moving on that still yet this fall. Happy to report that much of the work with community, and it has been completed for their expansion of their Mobile Crisis Outreach. They have secured vehicles, hired staff, and I believe they are now in their new remodeled office space. Uh, so things are moving along really well, uh, with that project. On the workforce development side, we've have kind of three different things that we're looking at right now. The first is a proposal for the from the Iowa Labor Center for an apprenticeship program that would target underserved young adults m the community, uh, to encourage them and help them get involved into the local trades. Uh, we also are working on a regional childcare effort, um, with Johnson County and- and the business partnership, and currently evaluating the framework for a potential wage supplement program. So really looking at how do we, um, increase wages of childcare providers and take some of that cost burden off the parents. So allow those providers to pay the wages that we would like to see, but also not put that cost back on- on the parents themselves. So that'll take several months. I think there's going to be some surveying of Johnson County childcare providers to help inform some of those discussions, but that is underway. And then the council knows that, uh, uh, um, 4Cs has proposed a child care navigator position that was explained a little bit in your work session in June. Um, and we will be following up that as staff here in the next couple of months to see if there's an opportunity for us to play a part in that role. Fruin: And then the last thing I'll mention are two more things sorry. ThinklC was the recipient of, ah, $250,000 from the council. Some of that was for back filling lost revenue during COVID. And then, uh, half of that amount, $125,000 is going to tourism grants for the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 8 Iowa City community looking to fund events in different parts of the community that can, uh, stimulate some business expenditures and hotel stays in the community. Then, uh, uh, next month you will have a resolution, um, to provide some revenue replacement to our utility accounts for the period of time in which we were not charging water shut offs where we had a large amount of unpaid bills, we'll be looking to make those revenue, I'm sorry, those utility accounts whole through the use of a revenue replacement, um, provision in the ARPA legislation. Okay. That's the quick recap. The more detailed memo is in your packet, but happy to try to answer questions that you have. Fruin: I should also say that this is fluid if council see some things that staff isn't prioritized and you want to change priorities or you wanna to further discuss any of these categories, you always have the ability to- to revisit these and- and, uh, give us further directions or, uh, guide changes in direction. Teague: I think the only question I have is, um, I know the 4Cs came before it's m a work session, um, to propose the child care navigator. Is that not, you know, in any of the other elements where they could apply for that. Because I think that would be most appropriate that they apply under one or the other umbrellas, which I don't know if today's applications would have been, you know, it could have been included in there. Fruin: Yeah. I think it'd be eligible under the applications that were due today. We'll evaluate. I'm not sure if they apply it or not. Um, but we did indicate in our workforce development section that childcare would be included there. So it- it could be either one. We'll- we'll have to see if they're among the 17 that applied for the applications that were due today. Certainly, council can give us that direction if you'd like to see childcare in this bucket, or that bucket or both buckets, it's, you know, your prerogative to do so. Weiner: Right. Well, I mean, the first one that- that- that you had the grants out for that were due today is for emergency non-profit assistance. Um, the other one is sort of more forward- looking. Struck me and that's why it seemed like it like 4CS might fit well in that because they're not looking to to backfill anything or costs. They're looking to- to help create a structure that's going to work better going forward. Bergus: I have a question just for my colleagues. Are we interested in, you know, narrowing down even like some of these larger buckets? Are we certainly- you know, I think having this memo is really helpful and maybe getting monthly updates even if we don't talk through them, but maybe having Cassy update this memo on a regular basis would be really helpful. Even just this front page with the totals at the bottom that says "We're talking about up to $34 million. We've got, you know, 18.3." Um, maybe just trying to give a little more framework or direction to that. Is that something we want to do- are willing to do. Can talk about doing? Alter: Yes. Teague: I think the answer is yes. But well am trying to figure out like how do we - This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 9 Bergus: Yeah. Teague: So yes. Bergus: And? Teague: And? . Fruin: So I would suggest- so this memo we intend to update after every reporting cycle. Um, so we have to report quarterly to- to the Feds on how we're using the dollars. And our intention is then to- to place this in the info packet after each reporting cycle. I think after your next one, uh, we will be pretty well closed out on direct payments to adults. Uh, the, uh, Forest View relocation by then I think we'll have eviction prevention probably taken care of and then emergency non -profits so that top tier of emergent needs should more or less be complete. And then I think that's a good time to focus in on your strategic investments a little bit more. That's where you're going to have to determine priorities and maybe even drop some buckets or, uh, uh, lower some of those upper ranges. Um. Weiner: I'm- I'm also wondering to what extent as we move forward with- with our council strategic planning, some of the- the- the goals that we end up really specifying. Er, maybe at the end the session that will be towards the end of September will help us really focus this and can be- and can be considered together with that. Thomas: Yeah, I agree. I think that's an important factor and trying to understand how to best use the ARPA funds. So I'm always looking forward, you know, sometimes it's thought of as stacked benefits. So how we can do things which do many things. Um, because I don't think we have the funding, you know, um, to look at things in isolation. So- so to the degree we can integrate and overlay, uh, some of these strategic investments, the better, I think. Bergus: Thank you. Teague: So is Council comfortable with more of a quarterly update, that would also give us a kind of where we are with these 17 apps that were doing today as well. At least for a start, we can- we can always change. Harmsen: I think that makes sense. And then finding out what these first- like the first tier as Goeff was saying, uh, get that nailed down and then- then- then I think it's time to make some decisions on the bottom tier and sort of get that moving. I think that makes- that does make sense. Alter: And as others have said, it fits in really well with our next phase of strategic planning to be able to say, yeah, what projects can be sort of brought to bear. Recognizing there's also a - This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 10 a- a shorter timeline on these ones, then perhaps our strategic plan that's still the two can dovetail pretty well. So I think that's a great idea. Teague: And does that kinda- I guess I want to not be dismissed. So does that- okay. Great. Bergus: Thank you Mayor. Teague: Great. Alright. We'll go with, um, a quarterly knowing that it had to be fluid, and we can always pull it on the agenda, you know, if we want to. Alright. Any other comments? I mean, there was a lot of programs or categories that we're just going through. Weiner: I'm really glad to hear that the mobile crisis expansion is basically nearly complete. That's going to help the community in many ways and to have had that front -loaded is really helpful. Alter: And now that we have, um, agreed in our earlier agenda item about the funding for the 319. I know it's a smaller amount than- than before, but what is left and, um, was there any discussion or a thinking? I know there hasn't been discussion. Has there been any thinking about where that might be sort of slotted in were existing? Fruin: So if you look at that- that front cover of the memo, which is on page nine of the 8/11, um, packet. Um, we've always presented these, I call them buckets categories like with ranges on them. And the- the- the range was really on the very low end, is- is kind of what we have funds for. It's roughly the 18 million. And the upper end was kind of some of those stretch goals and those categories potentially. And that was- we put that upper end. Um, it ended up at right now at 34 million, knowing we didn't have 34 million, but that we could maybe potentially leverage funds from other entities, whether it's other grant sources or partnerships with the county. Um, we thought that we might be able to do that. So when you look at the direct payments and we thought initially we might spend up to 1.5 million on that. We're going to end up spending about 1.2 presumably based on where- where you indicated your goal tonight, that extra 300 thousand is- is simply going to filter down into one of those buckets, right? So if, um, you determined on the capital grants side that you want to be closer to five million than four. Well, that $300 thousand will be there to support that effort or to bolster affordable housing efforts. Um, it doesn't get lost. It's going to fit in one of these categories. But I hesitate to say we're going to assign it to a particular category. [BACKGROUND] Teague: And then I don't know that there was I mean, I made that suggestion because I understand that staff mentioned they were going to get back to 4Cs to kinda help them figure out where to go. Um, I just wanted to make sure that maybe I'm clear on wha- what's going to happen, wha- what staff will do with 4Cs. Fruin: Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 11 Fruin: Well, my impression from your last work session was that there was some support for- for working to try to bridge that gap that was described. Um, we were intentionally waiting until this grant program that we launched concluded, uh, to- to see if that was the applicant, if they applied and if that application rose to the top. Uh, if it doesn't, uh, we're probably going to engage them in discussions to say, what does this look like? Are there other funding partners potentially that we could look- look to? Will there be other municipalities? Uh, and just have that discussion with- with, uh, uh, with 4Cs. Uh, by all means, if- if there's- if the Council wants us to kind of pump the brakes on that a little bit, we can. Um, uh, but I sense that there were some interests and childcare is one of those things that we called out specifically. So we had kind of an overall umbrella for non- profits support. But we mentioned mobile crisis, we mentioned, uh, um, childcare, we mentioned apprenticeship programs specifically in some of our initial planning. So where- where we mentioned those specific objectives, staffs under the direction that we can go and kinda of pursue those. So they might feel like they're corning to you as one of our projects. That's really not our intention. It's really just responding to those early, um, decisions that were made. Um. Teague: So maybe I- maybe I heard your question. I think I heard you state as you were talking about 4Cs, you know, they're going to be- you're going to have to figure out a way to work with them, I think essentially. And then if Council wanted to, you know, give a different direction, I guess I just heard, um, like you're not sure what you're going to do, but it sounds like you do have a plan and, um, a somewhat of a plan and there's other buckets of funding that they could- could qualify under. So based on what you just said now, I don't know that. I- I'll retract what I state- stated and it sounds like you all will be fme navigating. And childcare absolutely, this Council has, um, highlighted as a huge issue, so I- I'll just retract what I- what I stated it sound like you're- you're going to be fme. Fruin: Okay. Weiner: Yeah. With respect to childcare, I was also, um, um, very gratified to hear that- that- that we and the county together are looking at a wage support program because the wages are the- the 8001bs gorilla, essentially that the- that the Governor's task -force really tried to address. But then none- none of those recommendations were taken. Um, and they can - they have grants for facilities. But does it matter if you have a facility, if you can't find the qualified staff? Um, and that's- is basically the building blocks of the workforce. If we can't- if people can't get childcare as I can tell you in detail right now, from personal experience, it really- it impacts your ability to- to do anything at all. Um, in addition to what you're talking about. I think there's- there's at least- there's at least one other aspect which is- that may play into what you and the county are talking about, which is looking at, um, those who are getting childcare assistance and the difference between those childcare assistance grants and what the day- what the child -cares need to charge in order to be able to surv- survive because it's- you know, it's a personnel heavy, um, business. Harmsen: Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 12 Weiner: Um, and the more of- of those people we can help as well, the better off everyone in this community will be. Teague: Any other comments on this agenda item? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 13 Information Packet Discussion (August 4, August 11): Teague: Information packet discussion on August 4th. Teague: Information packet discussion August 1 lth. Weiner: With- with respect to IP 5, the pending city council work session topics, um, the- the - the land acknowledgment is- was on it for awhile and fell off. I think we had at least three people who are willing to- to discuss it. I'd be grateful if- if we still do to get it back on. Teague: And I'm not exactly sure how that fell off, uh, but it- it started [OVERLAPPING]. Fruin: It's number 9. [OVERLAPPING]. Alter: I think it's on. Bergus: Yeah. Weiner: There it is on. Okay. Teague: Okay. Weiner: Thanks. Harmsen: The list is getting long. It's hard to - Weiner: Well, there are a couple- there a couple of them we could probably take care of in short order ones. Teague: Sorry about that. Yeah. Alter: In terms of I know that, um, it's down on the list, however, there's a lot of interest about it and we were only presented with an initial set of, um, kind of proposals and whatnot along with a lot of feedback from the, um, public. But I do think it makes sense for us to, um, talk again about the parks and rec master plan. Um- [OVERLAPPING] Fruin: So you - Alter: I know- I'm sorry. I know that this is something also that you guys have been charged with doing some work on. So maybe I'm speaking too quickly [OVERLAPPING] Fruin: Yeah. Our intention is certainly to come back to you on that. The Parks Commission itself is currently working through this in two phases. The first is the non aquatic parts of the plan. Uh, so that's your ball fields, your tennis courts and gyms and things like that. Um, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 14 they started that conversation at their August meeting. I don t think they were able to fmish that. Alter: Yeah. You are right. Fruin: And then they'll transition to the aquatics piece and then it'll come back to you. So, um, it's- [OVERLAPPING] Alter: Thanks for the clarification. Fruin: I think because of the volume of public input it's probably going a little slower than we initially, uh, uh, thought it might, but that's okay. We're getting a lot of input, a lot of interest. We need to take our time and we'll return to you, uh, maybe this fall. Alter: Thanks for the clarification and I forgot about that, yeah, they didn't even get to talking about it because of quorum. So, anyway, thank you for that. Teague: All right. We're going to move on if nothing else with August 1 lth. Info packet? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 15 University of Iowa Student Government (USG) Updates: Teague: We're going to move on to, ah, University of Iowa student government updates. USG. We're going to welcome you all back. I know you have some updates because I've been seeing a lot more people in our streets. Miglin: Yeah. Absolutely. Um, how are you all council? I hope you're doing well. Teague: [OVERLAPPING] Hello. Miglin: Um, just to start out, like you mentioned, the school year is beginning, and so, uh, we are- are- the academic year begins August 22nd with a large incoming class. Um, not only was Parklawn reopened, of course, but also three dorms had their housing options expanded. Uh, so that was pretty crazy. Um, we, ah, hope to partner with the city to make this year great for- for the university and community of course. Um, through this, we hope to- er, we've been revisiting our, uh, platform highlights and the governmental relations committee hopes to especially focused on advertising more involvement opportunities with commun- community organizations. Uh, we're going to be working on- working with the bicyclists of Iowa City on ambassadorship programs, as well as, um, our fmance committee is revisiting the way that they, uh, allow for student organization, uh, funding and accessibility to that. Um, additionally, um, we will be coordinating- we're focusing on coordinating with campus partners to provide voter registration opportunities, um, as well as increasing student engagement [NOISE] among the student body. So- could you- Zeimet: Um, some, um, sorry. Some of our other initiatives are, our sustainability committee is working to bring back on Iowa tours of the Iowa city farmer's market, and, eh, we'll be at the sustainability open house with the bicyclists of Iowa City, uh, then event runs from 09:00 AM- 12:00 PM on Friday, August 19th, on the lawn between Jessup and McBride Hall. Miglin: You're all welcome to come and please stare. So that's all for right now, but thank you. Alter: Can you repeat the date appointment? Miglin: Sorry. Alter: Can you repeat the date of the- [OVERLAPPING] Miglin: Oh, yeah. It's, uh, August 19th. It will be, um, this Friday. So - This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022. Page 16 Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees: Teague: Thank you. Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees. Weiner: There was as- as Geoff indicated there was an ICAD board meeting, um, last Friday. There was a really excellent presentation by estate planning as, um, and uh, they are- that sort of- that dovetails. They also had a presentation by the new head of Better Together, Cady Gerlach, about the- the- the Better Together, 2030 or whatever they ended up calling that project here which dovetails really well with the ECICOG, um, with the ECCOG 2030 project which I also sat in a meeting on- on, um, last week and is in the process of being rolled out. They fit very well together and I'm hoping that especially since we as a council have- have now sort of also worked on strategic planning with Karen Kurt of ECICOG that all these plans will be able to- to mesh and benefit from, um, from the- the staffmg that we have at ECICOG here at the city as well as, uh, Cady Gerlach locked now taking the reins there. Um, and on other things I- there was mention of apprenticeship programs. I, um, was able to go on the apprenticeship tour that was offered to all council members up in Cedar Rapids where we went to, um, I think four different- four different locations, um, carpenters, electricians, workers, and a variety— it was really, just really impressive programs in availability. Don't try and be an electrician. There's a huge waiting list. Everybody else has room. But in terms of ability and, um, excellent programs for- for not only young people who don't, um, who would like to have a- a career that doesn't necessarily involve, um, college, [NOISE] the opportunities are there. Teague: If no more updates who will be adjourned until 6:00 PM. We'll see you soon. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 16, 2022.