Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-09-06 TranscriptionPage 1 Council Present: Staff Present: Alter, Bergus, Harmsen, Taylor, Teague, Thomas, Weiner Fruin, Jones, Kilburg, Goers, Fruehling, Knoche, Havel, Sovers, Hightshoe, Nagle-Gamm, Fleagle, Odgen Others Present: Miglin (USG Liaison), Zeimet (USG Alternate) FY 2024 Budget Preparation Teague: All right. We're going to start the City of Iowa City Work Session agenda for September 6th, 2022. The first item is our fiscal year 2024, budget preparation, and I'll hand it off to our City Manager, Geoff Fruin. Fruin: Thank you, Mayor, Council, this is the uh, time of year in which city staff are beginning to compile their budget request for fiscal year '24. So that really involves looking out, uh, and seeing what has been budgeted for. And then- and the last four or five years revising those estimates, moving projects around as they see fit, and then also really focusing in on the operational budget going forward. Um, your review really does not start until late December, early January, but we always like to give you an opportunity as we're crafting our budgets to provide us any initial thoughts, ideas on initiatives that you'd like to see funded, uh, existing items that you'd like to see changed in some way, shape, or form, uh, anything new basically because it's [NOISE] always a lot easier for us to incorporate initiatives into the budget when we're creating that budget as opposed to once it's presented to you in January. Not that the uh, latter can't be done, it's just a little- little bit more difficult when all the funding recommendations have- have already been made. So no formal presentation tonight, just really an open forum for you to express any budget goals, uh, um, or- or thoughts that staff should keep in mind as we move forward. Teague: I always appreciate this opportunity, uh, to have this discussion. This Thursday we'll be having our strategic planning continuing that uh, conversation. So, um, even though I know a- a few of the hot topics is typically housing, um, I wanna kinda wait until after I hear on Thursday where, uh, the majority of council is. Bergus: I agree with that, Mayor and I think we're really close. It's really exciting to see that prioritization matrix that we- I think we'll be evaluating on Thursday. And we'll be able to give some very helpfully more concrete guidance at that point. Teague: Any other comments at this time? We'll have it on a future agenda. Fruin: Yeah, Mayor, we- we always would prioritize str- the strategic plan agenda, so we- we can certainly include it, but you can just assume that wherever that lands this fall that or that will also be reflected, but we'll reschedule it as- as you see fit certainly. Teague: Yeah. You know, it all depends on what- how council is on Thursday. We can play it by ear, but if this needs to be back on the agenda, just reach out at any other councilors. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 2 Fruin: Thank you. Teague: Anything else for this at this time? Sidewalk Cafe Policy Upadates Teague: We're gonna move on to sidewalk cafe policy updates. We're going to, uh, welcome Rachel Kilburg. Kilburg: Good evening Mayor and City Council. Um, so in your, uh, information packet, uh last week was a memo on the sidewalk- our sidewalk caf- cafe policy and some updates that we are considering. So last year the Iowa City downtown district commissioned a sidewalk cafe policy case study as part of their downtown recovery brief um, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Um, and then in- since then, the council and the city have received some, you know, subsequent- subsequent advocacy to take a look at our sidewalk cafe program. Um, so this memo hopefully you had a chance to look at it. It just provides a background on our program, um, and include some staff recommendations following our conversations, uh, among staff and with the downtown districts. So I'll kinda walk through this memo, just hit the high points. I know it's kind of a lengthy one, um, and then take any questions or allow your discussion. Um, so our sidewalk cafe policy is governed by both city ordinance, um, and administrative, uh, regulations or administrative policy. In general, the goal of our program is designed to, you know, serve restaurants or other non -alcohol -based establishments. So coffee shops, ice cream shops. Um, I'm not going to do a deep dive into all of that like I said, but just kinda, uh, touch on the high points. So our fee structure, um, our base annual fee was set in 1995 and hasn't been raised since. Um, in '95- so prior to '95, um, council had adopted kind of a flat fee structure. And then in 1995, they move to a square footage model and set that flat fee rate at $5 a square foot, which is what it is today for those non -elevated, um, sidewalk cafes. At the time that that was adopted, that council had, um, in their discussion, they had decided that that was proportionate to the amount of right-of-way area that, uh, business would be using and profiting from. And then, um, in 1997, um, the program was expanded to allow cafes be placed upon elevated structures, so then, um, an additional fee, um, schedule of $10 per square foot was added for those elevated structures. And again, that's what it remains today, um, for sidewalk cafes on elevated structures. That - during that time, they also implemented, um, onetime refundable deposits for, um, when a cafe is placed on an elevated structure as well as for anchored fencing and those deposits also remain the same today. And then they came back, um, in 2007 and added a one-time refundable deposit of $1,000 for any cafes placed within city -owned planter beds, um, just this was kind of a higher- higher rate, recognizing that those are a little bit more invasive, um, and could be a little bit costly or if repairs were needed. And then in 2012, our program was again expanded to allow for cafes in the street under certain conditions, um, and so that was when the daily parking and Ballard fees were established. Again, all of those remain the same today as what they were established when, um, the council adopted them. Historically, we have waived [NOISE] fees, um, in instances of This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 3 construction. So the PED mall project, the Washington street reconstruction project, and then as you'll see in our recommendations, the upcoming Dubuque street reconstruction project, sidewalk cafe fees were waived for the businesses directly impacted. And then for two years following the COVID-19 pandemic, we also waved fees for all cafes downtown. Um, so as I mentioned, you'll see in the table in the memo, um, that our rates remain five dollars per square foot for non -elevated and $10 a square foot for elevated. And then depending on, um, what the cafe is, there may be other accessory fees that apply, like a daily parking fee or electricity fee. Urn, there's one error in your memo. It says refundable annual deposits. Those are one-time deposit. So on a sidewalk cafe and they started, they pay their one-time deposit and that carries over from season to season. Um, we currently only collect deposits for anchored fencing, um, and any cafes that are placed upon a platform or a structure. Just to put these costs and contexts, the average size of a cafe, um, through- throughout the years is around 355 square feet. And that's an annual cost of $1,775, um, per year that that business would be paying. Um, we collect around 80- just over 84,000 in sidewalk cafe revenues. That just goes into our general fund. Obviously, your general fund supports a wide variety of operations across the city budget, um, but it also supports our central business district maintenance operations budget, which is just over $285,000. So, um, while sidewalk cafes are great amenity, they do, of course, require more staff time and resources to clean, maintain, repair the downtown so, um, that- that revenue source does- does help there. The downtown districts, um, sidewalk cafe policy looked at several cities across the United States. We also supplemented that with comparisons with Big Ten communities as they're often facing, you know, unique issues, um, that many other communities or not. Um, so just some- some brief fmdings from that, our fees, um, were- mo- most were charging of either a per seat basis or, um, square foot basis rather than a flat fee. Our fees were a little bit on the higher end of the other cities that we looked at, but we're comparable to both Madison in Evanston. Um, we, ourselves and the City of Columbus, Ohio were the only ones who collected deposits. And then we also have some of the more, um, complex fencing requirements. Many actually did not require fencing. Um, we require, um, durable fencing anchored in some cases, or fastened. Um, but what's important to know about fencing, um, is, especially when you're looking at cities outside of the State of Iowa, is that, um, the alcohol and beverage division, uh, regulates what- how, um, cafes that serve alcohol must be delineated. So some other cities that we looked at may not have, um, a similar- a similar regulatory environment. Um, so that- I'm just going to jump ahead to the recommendations, so there were several, um, that we were able to act quickly on. There were others that after review and discussion, staff did not, um, recommend, uh, proceeding with, and then, um, several others that- that we would recommend proceeding with. So, um, those that we were able to act on immediately, um, [NOISE] was designated right away for food and drink consumption- consumption came before you, I suppose over a year ago now, um, to continue that seasonal closure of North Linn street, and we worked with the downtown district and able- they were able to secure the licenses and the agreements necessary to allow alcohol possession and consumption on that street as well. Um, so that's been a great addition of there. Infrared heaters. We currently allow those with the fire marshal approval. Um, this may not have been clear to many business owners, so we just, um, were able to clarify that. And then that next bullet This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 4 point, we were able to create a sidewalk cafe FAQ document to just help answer some of those kind of, um, questions that- that maybe weren't always so reader -friendly in, uh, the administrative policy or city code for. So then moving on to those that we discussed in, um, are not recommending, so permanently reducing or eliminating sidewalk cafe fees. And we heard from the downtown district advocacy at different times to either lower the per square foot rate, adopted a flat fee rate, um, or ultimately eliminate them altogether. We do believe that our current pricing model is fair. It's fair way to assessed it- assess it when you have cafes of varying sizes, complexities, um, and also just recognizing that they are profiting from the use of public right away. Um, we did find that it was comparable to other college towns, and since we have not increase these since, you know, 1995, um, we, uh, feel that these are- are still fair fees. Um, expanding cafe permiting, two bars serving drinks only. We're not supportive of this, um, because again, our program is designed to serve those eating establishments. Um, currently, it- it would- it would need to be a- a code change to allow it as a non -conforming use. Urn, but really the goal of our program is to focus on those establishments serving food- providing food service as well. And then a natural gas, um, fire pit lottery system. Our infrastructure in the downtown is just not built for that, and it would be very costly to- to build that out. We do offer other, um, electric propane heating options in, um, outdoor service areas. We have approved private gas, fire pits, you know, you're- The Vue, Joe's Place, Big Grove Brewery are some examples and we would expect to follow that precedent, to recommend we follow that precedent if another situation arose. And then finally moving on to those recommended. So um, as I mentioned earlier, we- we would look to again recommend waiving the sidewalk cafe fees, during the Dubuque street reconstruct - reconstruction project for any of those businesses directly impacted by the construction, and we would plan to bring that, um, before you within the next few months. Um, we also would recommend eliminating the collection of the one-time refundable deposit. Those were originally instituted- instituted to encourage property owners to make repairs on their own rather than, um, place that burden on the city. However, we have found that even when we are making those repairs, we're not, um, holding those deposits, um, and again, in line with our research of other Big Ten communities, not many other communities are collecting those. So while it will place a little bit more, um, of a burden on the city, in the event that we do need to- to work through an agreement to, um, pursue cost for any- any damages, um, we do think that it- it's a change that could help some businesses, um, remove one more hurdle to- to opening a sidewalk cafe. The downtown districts case study introduced this concept of major and minor cafes. Um, this really would just delineate between, you know, those larger, more complex cafes. And then the smaller bistro styles, so I think, um, the frozen yogurt shops are a great example where maybe they don't necessarily need as strict of fencing requirements, um, or something like that. So we- we are in favor of, um, looking into this idea more, working with the downtown district to figure out how and where this will work, um, and then coordinate whatever policy, uh, or legislative changes where necessary. Um, I would point out that it's- it's likely that if we- if we don't go this route on minor cafe designation would probably not be an option for establishments serving alcohol, because of those ABD requirements I referenced earlier. [NOISE] Last on my page of numbers. All right, and then, um, our next recommendation would be to expand sidewalk cafes, um, to other This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 5 areas throughout the community that it may work. Currently, they're only allowed in the CB2, CB5, and CB 10 zones, which is really that downtown, um, area. But especially as you know, um, as a community, we're talking about more centralized commercial nodes and that 15 -minute city concept. We do think there are other areas in the community where sidewalk cafes could apply. Towncrest and Olde Towne Village were two examples, um, that came to mind when staff were discussing it. And then finally, we want to explore any options for seasonally relaxing regulations to encourage more wintertime cafes. This was one goal of the Downtown District, uh, [NOISE] when they originally commissioned the study. Um, so we would like to work with them to take a look at any, um, fencing or furniture policy changes that we could make to just make it a little easier for businesses to keep- to keep active in the winter, um, and keep encouraging that foot traffic in the downtown during the winter. Again, have to add that obligatory alcohol, um, asterix to that- that if a business is serving alcohol there, we may be more limited in- in what relaxation we can do there. I'm so happy to cover anything that I didn't, uh, in my briefish presentation here. But, uh, if you have any questions, I can also answer those. Weiner: Thank you very much, Rachel. Could- the- you referred too, it's really helpful getting this overview. I hadn't realized actually before I read the memo, how complex the whole system was. And the- when the city does maintenance or the city does repairs, what is this? What is- what does that consist of generally? If there are -because of their occupant - if a cafe's occupying a certain- a certain footprint, what would the city be doing in that footprint? Kilburg: Ron, you can jump in if you- if you have anything else. But it's more of- if like a cafe leaves and they have anchored fencing and then they move out and that footing isn't filled or, um, I don't know what the word is for it. Um, that could be something that we need to come in and remediate after the fact. Fruin: I think the- the easy example that- that Ron would probably mention is if you think of a Ped Mall brick or if you're gonna to anchor a fencing into the Ped Mall, uh, you're going to have to take up a brick, anchor that fencing. And- and then if that cafe, if that business were to- to close or they want to reconfigure the cafe in a future year, there's the repair to that brick, right? You have to buy new brick and put a new brick in. Uh, uh, it'd be probably the easiest example. Weiner: But- but in terms of like regular upkeep or is there- is there anything that the city does or- or is basically. Fruin: No. When it comes to the fencing and cafe furniture and whatnot that- that responsibility is on the owner. So there's really nothing ongoing unless there is some- some damage to the- the sidewalk panel or something like that, but that would be pretty rare. [NOISE] Weiner: Thanks, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 6 Thomas: Rachel one- one question I had, would- would be the, you know, the scope of the maintenance in the downtown area. So in other words, the Ped Mall. Is the city responsible for, you know, if you have the building wall and then you have all the improvements, say that we're done in the most recent renovation? Is all of that the city's responsibility? Kilburg: Uh, we have an MOU with the Downtown District, uh, for cleaning, um, and so it's shared responsibilities. Um, I guess I don't know specifically what you're talking about, but for example, power washing, uh, the Ped Mall bricks, the alleys, and then kinda spot cleaning the corners. Those are shared responsibilities between the city and the Downtown District. Thomas: But in terms of the capital, you know, the actual, say the hard scape, the lighting, the seating, the landscape. Kilburg: Anything that's outside of the sidewalk cafe property the city would maintain and then anything within the- the cafe, the business. Thomas; Both in terms capital and operating costs. Kilburg: Yep. Fruin: Yeah. The only, I think the exception I would offer would be, um, the district does some, um, accent decorative lighting. I think the holiday season, the Downtown District has fronted those costs historically. Thomas: So- so I'm kind of reading into this maintenance operation budget of $285,000. That's - that's addressing that kind of- in my mind, more comprehensive aspect to the operations maintenance. Correct? Kilburg: Yep. Yep. Fruin: That's largely gonna be your trash removal. Um, You know if you go down early in the morning hours, you're seeing staff drive-through with the kind of the smaller street sweeper- sidewalk sweepers. That's- that's mostly what that effort is. Bergus: What's the fee structure for the Linn Street area? How does that work out? Kilburg: Um, so the Downtown District, uh, owns the liquor license and in dram shop for that area. Um and the cafes there do pay sidewalk cafes. Yeah. Fruin: They pay for their sidewalk cafes. Bergus: Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 7 Fruin: There's no fee because it's public seating. Anybody can sit there whether you're a patron of a restaurant or not. Uh, so there are no fees to the businesses for the streets eating if you will. Bergus: I don't think I brought up to Nancy previously was my concern with businesses that just because of where they're located or how they're located, don't have a sidewalk cafe option at all. And so, you know, sort of minimizing costs for those that already have that additional benefit was- was one concern that I had and I think things like the Linn Street block, um, help alleviate that in terms of, you know, that- that public, more shared area of- of the right-of-way. So I think any opportunities for that kind of thing or good. And then my last question is just the city provides- at least I think the city provides some permanent seeding, like right in front of, on the Washington Street reconstruction project, right in front of Mesa Pizza. I don't think it's a sidewalk cafe. It's built-in seats and a kind of a tall bench. How do we determine something like that? I mean, it benefits the most adjacent businesses, probably more than some others, but I- I like those concepts and I hope that we can keep doing that kind of thing. Fruin: Yeah, we looked at that. That was so very intentional during the Washington Street Project to look at where cafes, were at that moment, and where they weren't. And then to try to introduce some alternative style seating. Um, like in that case, we knew there was a lot of folks that would go in and get pizza and needed a place to seat. But, uh, the restaurant, there never had a sidewalk cafe and didn't really have any intention to- to- to - to do a sidewalk cafe. So it's just, um, something we analyzed based on the- the- the current landscape at the time. And I think it's- I think it's worked out pretty well. So we'll look at that with the Dubuque Street too to see if there's any opportunities like that. But most businesses [NOISE] and the food service will take advantage of any cafe opportunities that you give them. Bergus: Okay. Thank you. Goers: One thing I would add to that, I mean, the one of the clear distinctions about those kind of benches that you're describing is that they are open to the public and- and cannot be yeah. Bergus: Which I like. That's a yes. Goers: Right. Teague: Any other questions before we go into deliberations? Alter: This is slightly coming from left field, but has there been any discussion between the district and the- and the city about- you're talking about additional opportunities such as like winter, you know relaxation of certain rules about outdoor heaters, and things like that to be able to help. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 8 Kilburg: Yeah. So we addressed some of that in the memo. So we currently allow electric and propane heaters with the approval of the fire marshal? I think what a lot of cafes downtown will run into is spacing requirements. Alter: Okay, that was right I did. Yeah. Okay. Teague: Thank you. All right. Council discussion. I guess I'll jump out there. Well, I- I think it is we have businesses that do work hard in they're you know corning before us advocating for some relief. We understand the pandemic has you know affected a lot of businesses and food costs has gone up and all that. The one thing that I will say is there is a lot more than we need to do when it comes down to- or that I'm interested in and that is exploring throughout our community, other sidewalk cafes. So you know expanding that opportunity throughout the community. We are also going to look at you know winter time, potentially if this council approves. I think that would be great to look at their winter time exploring what that would look like. And then the major and the minor cafe designations. What does that structure look like as well? So I think overall, I'm very comfortable with you know the fees. This isn't a public right-of-way. It does offer a boost to individual businesses. I mean, sidewalk cafes are a plus for businesses should they have one. So as far as the waiver on the fees, I wouldn't support that, but certainly looking at the winter time, exploring that. The one question that I want to have while we're doing that is snow removal to make sure that we have some type of an MOU or if that seems appropriate or because that does become a little bit of an issue downtown. If one person does their snow, someone else doesn't. The other thing that I might talk about when we're looking at any type of revisions, I didn't see where cleanliness around a person property had any type of association with the renewal of their cafe- sidewalk cafe. But I do think that cleanliness around a property is very important and it can be tied to that. I think that enhance compliance with keeping an area clean. Other than that, you know I'm looking forward to hearing about the major and the minor cafe designations. What would that look like after we've done some research? We do have natural seats in the downtown area that with some of our bricks and that is placed, which is phenomenal. But looking at where benches are placed, I think would also be helpful in determining you know if it would even qualify for a major or minor. Other than that, I am happy to hear about the infrared heaters, that it is allowed if I understood you correctly. So yeah, I think I'll leave it at that. Alter: Is it possible this was- Nancy bird had actually emailed council this morning and I don't know if it came into the packet. Is it okay to speak to that or no? It was for all of us. Teague: You can speak to it. Alter: Okay. I just wanted to say that it sounds like this has been an incredibly you know robust collaboration you know and we're not quite there yet, but that there's been a lot that has been agreed upon. And so I just want to thank both staff and the downtown district and Nancy, particularly for being out there and swinging. So one of the things I did want to bring up is that in fact, Ms. Bird did mention she's that they're not asking for a waiver of This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 9 the fees, but simply a reduction of them. Three dollars for cafes and seven on elevated structures. And in the memo that we have from staff, there is a table that demonstrates what the fee structures are for other cities. This doesn't seem to be out of line with that. So it is something that we could consider. I would agree that if these are the same fees and not if since these are the same fees since it was begun in 1995, that was extraordinary, seems very high at the time. In comparison, it seems like it has come down and it seems much more reasonable now, but it is still based on this table. It does seem to be a little bit higher. I completely agree that in terms of being able to see this for a non -eating establishment, I don't think that that's ultimately where we want to go at all. So I'm kind of a mixed bag in terms of you know I think that the agreements that staff and the downtown district have come to our good and I'm for that, I do think it's worth considering the proposal or counter proposal, if you will, from the downtown district about reducing the fees somewhat and honesty, I've thought back -and -forth about restaurants make a lot of money in a weekend, but I'm also you know I go downtown and the restaurants really have in there- half of them have completely halved the amount of time that they're open. They're not open Monday through Saturday or even Monday through Sunday. It's like we're talking three days a week. So I think that in times apart from COVID, I might think you know maybe there's a little exaggeration. Obviously, you know this is for profit. You want to make the most that you can. But in this instance, I think that there- there may be some validity to this because this isn't just like, oh, well, we had to shut down for a little bit. It's like restaurants are not coming back for myriad reasons. But that truly is going to impact them in terms of how they can survive on a long term. So I just offer that up for consideration for people, three dollars and seven dollars - Seems to me, uh, possible to consider. Teague: Could I add- which has one thing to that? I- I want to make sure that I had made- uh, made my statement clear. We are going to be- it sound like if this council is an agreement, we're gonna be looking at other opportunities, wintertime, minor or major, um, sidewalk cafes throughout the community. And so a part of my concern is if we change the structure now, we know that there is a food establishments, there's liquor establishment. [NOISE] You know, if you are in a prime area versus not so prime. Um, I think if we change the fee structure, we could be putting in a place where we don't want to be potentially. That- that's the only thing I would add to clarify my position on that. Taylor: That's true. I agree with that. And I thank you, Nancy, for- for your, uh, memo because prior to that, even after, uh, just reading our information packet. I was- I was shocked that our- our fees were so much higher than surrounding big ten kinda university communities and that- uh, that they were set way back in 95 at that- that amount. Uh, it- it just seemed like a little bit high on the high end. But as- as you said, Mayor will- will be discussing that at- at some point in time and maybe adjust some of the rights according to, uh, location in the community, that'd be an option. Bergus: I'm grateful to see the elimination of the deposit and I think that will help, especially when people had said there was that, you know, upfront hit. I realized that's a onetime fee. And for those who've been doing it for a long time, you know, they've already This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 10 absorbed that cost. I think that helps and I see the fee structure consideration coming with the major and minor distinction and that maybe those, you know, smaller, much simpler cafes would have, uh, a lesser fee than the, uh, more complex ones. I don't know that that would be the case, but I think that's something that staff should take into consideration. But yeah, I- I agree with you, Mayor, that I think let's implement the recommendations here and consider that with, uh, maybe the more simplistic cafes, you know, kinda have an open question as to the- the fee structure. Fruin: Yeah. If I could just- just jump in real quick. If you look at the- the specific portion of the memo, major and minor, staff does- does indicate that he would kind of addressed situation policy provisions such as fees, fencing, spacing regulations. So I think we would be certainly open to that idea. If there's no fencing required, if it's just a couple of seats outside your- your yogurt shop, if you will, then- then there- there could be a lower fee tier for those types of businesses. Harmsen: I would agree with all of that one question I had and I noticed that some of this talking about fencing and I- I get like good fences make good neighbors, plus there's the alcohol issue, all that kind of good stuff. The other thing I noticed to look comparing to other cities was with the fencing and requirement existed and what those look like. Is there anything in terms of what we require in terms of the materials for the fencing. I know we have- we have a pretty elaborate one compared to other cities. Maybe it's exactly what it needs to be, but I was just wondering if anybody had any thoughts about like is there another way that we- that the city could be part of a, you know, cost savings while still accomplishing all the things that the current fencing needs to- to do. And I don't know that- what the answer to that is, but that's one question I had as I was reviewing this material. So I don't think anybody has any thought on that at this point in time, but maybe that's just something to put in. Fruin: I think, you know, we do require a durable material and we're- I think there's multiple acceptable materials. I can tell you just visiting a few of these cities that- that have cafes, I'd be hesitant to move away from a fencing. I originally thought that that may be something to do, but I've seen some- some other delineations not work so well in practice. That was in one of these communities recently and he was just kinda empty old kind of whiskey barrels with rope tied around it and looked neat. But you get these sagging ropes that- that kind of hung down on the sidewalk. And you could see where - where cafe lines weren't exactly straight and as a pedestrian, it really influenced, you know, how you walk. So I- I think we're open to- to looking at other options. I think we've been open to like planters in the past that are- that are durable, that could provide some enhanced aesthetics. But I would- I would hesitate to go something that's easily movable. Because we- we would see that creep a little bit and- and we try real hard to maintain that eight -foot walkway at all times. And I think without somebody that's going out there and looking at it on a regular basis that eight feet becomes seven feet becomes 6.5 feet. And, uh, I just don't not sure that's something that we want to get into. But if there are other structures that could provide that same durability that- that are, uh, maybe This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 11 easier for- for businesses to- to afford when they're investing in their cafe. I think absolutely we're open to that. Harmsen: And then one other thing looking at and assuming just this was kind of implied. But there is a challenge created between the needs of the fencing with the fencing accomplishes, and then in winter time with snow removal because they are in the way probably for the, you know, may it makes it much less efficient to clear off and all that kind of- kind of thing. Fruin: Yeah, I think that's something that we just have to- we have to keep in mind. And- and I think we're really looking at how can we enable businesses to take advantage of those nice winter days, right? It's- it's early December or maybe it's late February and you get a - and you get a stretch of really nice weather where people want to be outside. But we're not ready to put up those fences yet or- or the fences have just been taken down. How can we make it really quick and easy for businesses to take advantage of those opportunities? Thomas: Yeah. I did- I did find it interesting that and this was a very- very useful memo. Thanks for preparing it. It really provided the history and just all the different aspects of, you know, the sidewalk cafe concept. And it was interesting to see that with the fencing requirements. You know, Ann Arbor has none. So I don't know yet, I sort of- I wish Ann Arbor were a little bit closer. I would love to kind of see how that's managed because Ann Arbor and it's not alone, Columbus, Champagne there all year round. How did they do that? But yeah, I think overall the- I made an agreement with the- with the recommendations. And, you know, I- I think one of the concerns I have is, you know, if depending upon- I'm certainly interested in seeing if we can reduce the fees, perhaps along the lines of the, uh, distinction, that was we're- we are looking into. Um, but at the same time, you know we have a $285,000 operating budget and, uh, you know, that $84,000 can help go toward, you know, bringing- making sure that we're, you know, that - if that money doesn't come in and we have an $84,000 hole. And- and what does that - how does that affect our other operations? And I- I also have wondered if- if these other cities, university towns, big 10 towns, have the same kind of operational maintenance requirements that we have. We have the Ped mall [NOISE]. Teague: Trying to silence, but I pushed the wrong button. Thomas: You know, the Ped mall is or that's three city blocks of public open space that the- the city maintains. Uh, I'm not- I- I haven't been to Ann Arbor in many years. But, you know, I suspect, you know, what you see in Ann Arbor and probably most of these other cities are sidewalk, open spaces. It's- it's not the entire public right of way that's under consideration. Um, so there is a- there is a higher level of investment that lowa City has in its downtown with the- with the Ped mall and consequently higher operations cost. But again, I think it's- this looks like it was a very useful discussion between staff and the downtown district. And thanks Nancy [NOISE] for paying such attention to this issue. Uh, and I look forward to any further improvements we can make on it. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 12 Fruin: If I may, just real quick say I think it's to- to Councilor Thomas's point. Uh, the- the maintenance budget that was cited in a memo is really the- the trash pickup in the basic cleanup. We didn't go and look into the parks and rec budget for the maintenance of the planter beds or the streets budget for maintenance of the- of the lights and the stage, you know, components. If you start to do that, that $285,000 operational budgets suddenly gets much bigger. That's really just the bare bones. Keep it- keep it clean budget. Weiner: Yeah. I'm- I'm glad to see that- that you recommend eliminating the refundable deposits is I think that probably does cause an upfront barrier. I hope we'll continue to look at the overall fee structure as- as we look at different kinds of cafes. The only- I guess the only thing and I really appreciate this overall effort. The only thing that I'd add is that anything we can do to simplify any of this going forward so that it's- it's really simple and understandable for businesses, also easier for the city would be great. Thomas: I- I did look at Evanston's permit process and they did have different fees depending upon the type of business, uh, was under consideration. So there was kind of a range in - in the fee structures, which kind of speaks to the, you know, this distinction [NOISE] we're trying to make between the major and minor cafes. Teague: Any other discussion on this? Staff do you have what you need? Fruin: Um, well, so there's as Rachel mentioned, there's two components. There's the- there's an ordinance change that will need to happen to address some of this, and then there's the - the regulation piece that- that follows. Um, we're happy to prepare this. Um, um, thinking what I heard from the majority was the fee structure stays the same except for minor cafes. There's an agreement to look at lowering for that tier. If there's a- if there's a push to- to lower for all cafes, we need to know that before we prepare that ordinance and we'd like to do that this fall- well before folks are starting to renew for next spring. So can I just get clarification on what direction for the- the fees themselves? Teague: I might make a suggestion, um, is that you bring that back to council before it's on our agenda for a vote. So in a memo or. Fruin : Another work session? Teague: You can do it in a memo. And then we can- I think we should probably see those minor cafe rates, at least that would be my personal preference. Or do people just want to see it in, you know, see it on the agenda? Bergus: I understood Jeffs question, as are we, um, is there direction to overall reduce the rates? Are we just looking at bifurcating, keeping the rate structure the same for presumably major cafes, and looking to potentially reduce for smaller. I think that was the question. Alter: And I think I was the only one who actually brought up the lower rates. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 13 Fruin: Okay. Alter: So, um, as long as we have- there have been multiple options for different scenarios in terms of the future, so I'm- I'm in the minority here I think. Taylor: That's kind of where I was corning from too is- is perhaps lower rates because I just think getting us standing out with such so much higher rates than other big 10 universities, uh, but doing, uh, the different, uh, parts of the community depending on where the location of. Teague: I think the reality, uh, I think the reality is as we could change whatever we want if is on the- on the agenda, we can adjust amounts. But your question is? Fruin: Yeah I think our- our next step would largely to bring you the ordinance and then the- the regulations that- that go along with that, um, I just want to make sure that all the blanks are filled and I'd rather not bring you a- an ordinance and just have you decide that evening. Um, unless that's what you want. But, um, so it's yeah, do you want a second work session item on this topic to- to hammer out the fee structure or do you want staff to just recommend a lower rate on the minor cafes and come back to you? Thomas: I would be okay with that. Weiner: You think also, I thought the other thing that I thought I heard was looking at potentially different rates in different areas of town, but if-. Teague: That may not be. Weiner: Which may not be- may not be doable, but that's something that I heard. [NOISE] What would this when- when a new ordinance passes, is it- is it at that point that deposits already made would be refunded? Fruin: Yeah. We'd have to figure out logistics on that, whether we just credit that amount for renewal situation or we actually refund, but, um, yeah, we would be able to move on that fairly quickly. I would think. [NOISE] Clarification of Agenda Items Teague: I- I know that I saw two hands over here and I will be okay with just bringing it on- on an agenda. I don't know. So we have four. So just bring it on the agenda in the future and well go from there. Any other items? All right. Let us go to information packets, we'll go with August. Alter: Sorry, I did have under clarification of agenda. Teague: I am so sorry. Clarification of agenda items. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 14 Alter: Yeah. I just wanted to end the consent agenda. I just wanted to make a comment on, um, the climate action, commissions notes, and then also on, uh, so 4.a and then 6.e. I just had a question. Teague: Go for it. Alter: Um, so with the police vehicle procurement, if I'm understanding it right, these are replacements, correct? These are not in addition- these are not additional vehicles. Fruin: That's correct, we're not- we're not increasing the fleet, we're just replacing part of their fleet that's aging now. Um, and then real quick so I had another councilor ask a couple of questions on that item. I can fill in some blanks. We- we typically replace the patrol vehicles, uh, every three and a half to four and a half years. At that time, they typically have a little over 90,000 miles on them. Um, they are- they are hybrid option, um, we do not have, uh, an option for electric at this point. There's very few electric, um, cars that would be rated for, uh, police, uh, uh, for police duty, um, and like all electric cars right now, the lead time on actually getting one if you can actually get into an ordering system, uh, is- is substantial. So we- we couldn't take advantage of that now, but it's definitely something on our radar. Alter: Thanks. Teague: And 4.a? Alter: Oh I just wanted to wait until. Teague: Oh, That was all. Alter: I'll let you know that. Teague: Great, sounds great. Urn, anything else for the clarification of agenda items? Information packet August 25th? Teague: Information packets September 1st? Thanks, Councilor Harmsen. Um, I don't remember what agenda I- what, um, IP it was, but. Seven, um, for the- for the film. A Decent Horne, um, very powerful film. Um, I hope there's more opportunities for people to see it here in our community. Harmsen: Yes. Thank you- and thank you, it was, um, and again, the- the information in the packet is just some additional background information, um, from advocates for mobile home residents in some of the stuff. They'd been looking for at the state level, um, even though we're not setting state law here as we look at local policies and things like that, I thought that might be a good piece of information to have, uh, in front of us, so. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022. Page 15 University of Iowa Student Government (USG) Updates Teague: All right, we're going to ask the University of Iowa student government to come up with their updates. Miglin: Hi council. Teague: Hello. Miglin: Um, so to start off today, um, we'd like to talk about how the federal loan forgiveness, uh, program, uh, will be taking 10,000 off- of all federal loans, uh, 20,000 for a Pell Grant recipients, and 125 for single, uh, as well as 250 for double filing limits. The applications for that are going to be open until December 31st of next year, um, and that's just like really exciting for us, uh, all as students and the lowa City Community. Um, and at the end of, uh, this past, uh, August, the Stanley Museum of Art opened on Burlington Street, and it is the, uh, first of its kind Museum in Iowa City, uh, as a collection of works by both global and Iowa based artists. Um, I hope you all have- had the opportunity to get to go see it. Um, I particularly love the generations as well as history is always now exhibits, um, and their overall homecoming. Um, additionally, uh, our fall nominations for Senate happy gun, with nearly 100 students applying to join student government. So I'm really excited to see a- a hopefully a much more diverse student body representing us. Um, and as you all know, um, I've decided to resign from my position as City liaison, and I'm excited to see how Keaton will continue to push this position forward. Uh, applications for the deputy position are being coordinated now, um, with more information to come, definitely before the end of this month. Zeimet: All right, uh, USG's external committee is beginning to work on creating a student Org liaison program so that, uh, we can do better, uh, be better connected with the student body where they're at, uh, more info is to come. Additionally, the Sustainability Committee shared coupons at the farmer's market, and this Wednesday, some of our executive board members are visiting Clinton for a Mental Health, uh, Roundtable to speak with state legislators to discuss mental health issues and seek funding for mental health resources. Miglin: That's all for now. Thank you. Teague: Thank you, both. And council, we're going to go ahead and adjourn until our 07:00 PM, uh, 6:00 PM formal meeting, and then we'll be able to give updates of assigned boards, commissions, and committees at that time. We are adjourned. [MUSIC] This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 6, 2022.