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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-11-01 TranscriptionPage 1 Council Present: Alter, Bergus, Harmsen, Taylor, Thomas, Weiner, Teague Staff Present: From, Jones, Kilburg, Goers, Fruehling, Knoche, Havel, Sovers Others Present: Zeimet Development of the FY23-28 City of Iowa City Strategic Plan with facilitation services provided by the East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) Teague: It is 4:00 PM on November 1, 2022. And this is the City of Iowa City work session. And the first item on our agenda is gonna be the development of the fiscal year 2023 through 2028 City of Iowa City Strategic Plan with facilitation services provided by the East Central Iowa Council of Governments. And we're gonna just jump right in there. We're gonna welcome you to start this conversation. From: And mayor, I'm actually gonna- I'm gonna actually give a quick intro - Teague: All right. Awesome. From: Just kind of recapping the cover memo that I have in and then I'll turn- turn it over to Karen and Jessica from, uh, ECICOG to- to, uh, help you through the discussion today. But, uh, excited to be here. Uh, hopefully you're excited. We started this process back in March and we can kind of see the finish line, uh, hopefully here. Um, this builds- uh, this five-year plan builds off the previous two-year plans very well in my- in my view, uh, a lot of the same themes and- and focus areas are ca- carrying over. Uh, what excites me about this is, um, I think the attention to the vision statements and into the values this time around are- are really impactful. I think that's gonna, um, really help articulate to where you want to be in five years. It also helps us as staff and, uh, really envision, uh, our role in the strategic plan too. So thank you for your efforts in those areas. Uh, you'll see that the action steps, um, uh, I would- I would categorize are- are aggressive and- and aim to tackle some of our most complex challenges that we face. Whether that's housing, childcare, social justice, and more. And I- I certainly applaud you for that. Um, new to this strategic plan was the environmental scan section. We haven't really- we hadn't really taken the time to do that in the previous two-year plans, and I appreciated the Council, um, opening that opportunity for- for staff to offer some thoughts. And, um, you know, one thing that we really wanted to convey was some of the- the challenging, uh, times ahead in terms of some financial headwinds that we expect to face with the final phase -in of the property tax reform, uh, with the inflationary environment that we have, we're already feeling those pressures on our budget now. And then remember, there's always a lag between development and- and property tax, um, base. And so when you're coming out of those COVID years where we had slow build of our tax base, uh, we're gonna feel those in the same next few years that those other headwinds are- are hitting us. So, uh, we do have, uh, some- some more challenging times ahead. Thankfully, uh, we've prepared well, uh, from a financial standpoint to- to- to hit those head-on. Um, the environmental scan also identified some of the service needs that we have. And, uh, if you look back at This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 2 the census data from 2010-2020, we grew about 7,000 according to the Census Bureau. Um, I think you've heard me say before. I think that's probably an undercount and- and I'd like to say it's probably closer to eight or nine. Uh, that's the equivalent of Solon and Tiffin combined, the entire communities. Uh, so those pressures on our services are real. And because we were navigating some of the financial challenges with- with the property tax reform, we really haven't done a whole lot of service expansion. We've asked our employees to- to do a little bit more, uh, with the growing population and we can't do that forever. So that's just one more thing that gets thrown into the blender here, if you will. We've got some, again, aggressive goals that you've set, uh, we also have to be mindful of our own, uh, financial structure. We don't wanna lose that strong standing we've had and then we're gonna have to invest more in our services and- and our facilities. Um, all that said, I think it's- I think it's very doable. Uh, it's gonna require some focus. It's gonna require us to constantly check in on this and make sure that we're making progress on the- on the specific items that we've identified. And, uh, your staff is anxious to- to- to- to have this implemented and get to work on it. Um, a few final, uh, comments before turning it over to ECICOG to- to help you through this. Um, one is the world's a lot different today than it was five years ago. And we have to expect that the world five years from today will be a lot different. So at the same time I'm preaching focus, we all just have to know that we have to be adaptable too. And circumstances will change, priorities may change. Um, and I know that, um, you all will be open to that- that- that change and - and your staff will be too. But, um, we just have to expect that, especially as we move from a two-year, uh, to a five-year plan. So I think I'lI- I think I'll stop there. Uh, our- our hope is that you can get through, um, this, uh, final step, uh, tonight. But of course, if you need more time, we can schedule that. Um, if- if we can remain on track, we would look to bring the final plan to you at your December 6th meeting for- for adoption. Um, so we'll see how far we get today. As a reminder, you've kind of through your previous meetings, you've focused on these each- each of these individual sections, and you've - you've kind of taken deep dives into these sections, you've prioritized. This is really the first time you as a group have had a chance to look at it as a whole and discuss it as a whole, how all those pieces fit together. And so, um, I'll turn it over Karen now and she's gonna have some introductory remarks. And then I think we'll jump right into those action steps and see if there's some changes you want to make. Kurt: Good afternoon, everyone. Overlap: Good afternoon. Hello. Good afternoon. Kurt: I'm back. Teague: Welcome. Yes. Kurt: And so I have just a few introductory remarks that I think are largely going to parallel some of what- uh, what Geoff was talking about. Um, so obviously at this point you've seen this graphic before and it's just again, describing the process for, uh, people that might not be familiar that we've gone through today. And we started this process back at This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 3 March. There's been a lot of feedback both in terms from the Council and staff that's brought us to where we are here today. Um, and then this is just that slide that kind of highlights the new strategy map. As, uh, Geoff had mentioned, you know, really, these were themes that were present in your previous strategic plans, just been repackaged slightly, um, to reflect some- some sort of different emphasis in different areas. And so then of course, with this version of your strategic plan, we're really delineating that vision with respect to our impact areas and our resources, uh, and values. Um, specific strategies you'll be using, um, in each of those areas, and then action steps which are actually your to-do list of what you wanna accomplish in the next five years. And then we are dredging out some slides that you might remember these from the- the first session that we did. And, uh, these were slides that were specifically, um, for- for you here in Iowa City as we had gone through our, uh, introductory sessions with both the Council and staff. And we were kind of thinking about sort of the balancing, uh, that you would- you would need to be doing, um, as an organization and as elected leaders as you move forward. So you are blessed with a community that's highly engaged and full of great ideas. Um, and we saw that as- as we prioritized to the 300 potential action steps that just the staff and- and Council had- had brainstormed. Um, so for you I think as you're moving forward, um, beyond this plan, um, you know, you're gonna have to kind of continue to balance that, um, you know, the excitement to- to really dig in and- and move full steam ahead with the- the variety of ideas and challenges before you, um, with that need to- to prioritize, um, and potentially say no to some things because saying no we think in your case is gonna be just as important as saying yes, um, to be successful. And, uh, you've- you're all really super familiar with this graphic at this time. So it's really that constant thinking about effort versus impact and what's going to help us. Uh, for our- for the resources, we have both human and financial, what's gonna help us to advance that vision the most, uh, down the road? And as Jessica and I were talking about this a little bit, she probably doesn't even want to be associated with this at this point. But we were- you were brainstorming like why, what's the analogy? So forgive us. We're gonna use it a little bit of a cheesy analogy, but sometimes it helps. Um, so to think about a river, and you've got some different types of boats out there, and these boats are all different potential ideas and you're trying to get downriver to- to your- to your vision. Um, so you've got your barges, right? These- these are big things. It's slow moving, but at the end of the day, it's gonna accomplish a lot. It's gonna really move things, a lot of stuff down river or- or something significant downriver. And you've got your speed boats. Um, so your speed boats aren't going to carry a lot. But there are- there are those quick winds. Um, then you have your sailboats, which we love them. They're a little bit of a labor of love. And- and they're- they're able to get down river, but it certainly is gonna take more time and energy and may not have the same impact that the previous two had by the time you hit that finish line. And so generally, the- the more boats you're loading on this river, the more it's gonna slow it down for everybody. Um, so that's something to think about as you move forward. I would also say that sometimes there's a barge, but maybe you're not the- you're not the right people to lead that- that barge. There's another institution that's better suited, uh, to take leadership on that. And you as the city you- you're kind of the tugboats alongside, uh, helping out where you can. So anyway. Uh, we had also talked about this idea that, um, as City officials, you know, you can impact your- your community in This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 4 numerous ways. But there are specific areas where really you- you are really the only ones positioned to take the lead role. And we talked about areas like public safety, land use, um, public works, and infrastructure as being critical areas for you. Um, as Geoff has already kind of highlighted, um, your staff was excited about the strategic plan and committed to the- the priorities that- that you had- you had set previously. Um, but capacity is something that you'll just need to be mindful of as you're moving forward. And then again, um, the- the financial piece of it. And I know you're kinda about to head into your budget- budget cycle, so you'll- you'll be becoming more mindful of that as you kinda dig deeper into that. And, um, and like Geoff said, you know, a plan is the best roadmap based on what we know now, it will inevitably change, um, and, um, adaptations will need to be made. Uh, as you start to pair up resources with the- with the objectives that you've- you've outlined. Um, so, um, be prepared for that. So that was really it for my introductory remarks. We did forward to you the draft plan, uh, based on the- the work we had done it in the previous sessions. I think that the only thing that I would really highlight is perhaps is a semi -significant change, I don't know if it's really significant, but, uh, from previous sessions is that we had really talked about sort of phase one, phase two, um, action steps. But as we started to kinda get feedback from staff and we were noticing that they were putting year ranges in, we decided that maybe it made sense to just eliminate that, that distinction was helpful for us as we were going through the process to be able to determine what was, um, more of a priority to you early in the plan. But in the final plan itself, it didn't seem like it was that useful, so we just combined the action steps into one table. And so with that, um, we can proceed through it by- by section or, um, Mayor if there's a different approach you would like to take? Teague: Yeah. Thanks again, Karen and the ECICOG team for all of your work in helping the Council and staff and our community navigate through this. Uh, I think what we might do is just, um, start with Council, um, if anyone has any questions based on the final, um, draft that we see? Bergus: I have a really basic question. So you were just saying how the tables of the action steps were, you know, oriented a little differently when we were doing a lot of the prioritization, we're obviously putting the priority like most impactful on top and these appear to be chronological. Is that right, from top to bottom as how they're represented here. Okay. And I- I was just thinking visually, there's not any representation of that. Like the weight we were putting on an individual thing, it's more in the, uh, closer to further in the future. Yeah. Kurt: Correct. Bergus: Okay. Kurt: So if you're talking about the grids that we had done in impact effort grids, um, we had attended that to just be a tool is you are going through prioritization, but we didn't include that in the final report although we certainly can. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 5 Bergus: No. I was- I was looking at this and my husband was looking over my shoulder and he's like, oh, is that the most important thing? I'm like, no, that's the most next in -line thing in terms of time. So I just wanted to make sure I was understanding that correctly. Thank you. Harmsen: First of all, thanks. Uh, this has been a good process. Uh, I've really- thanks to- to all of you guys, all staff and my fellow Council members. Um, one thing I was doing as I was reading through this, as I was trying to think of like, what would it be like for somebody who hasn't been sitting through the process with us, so this as a document to communicate. And one- one thing that jumped out at me and I really loved like the way that the vision statements were worded. But I'm wondering if- if it wouldn't be worth a little something to say, to explain, because we all know that's our vision of what success looks like. But if you didn't have that, now is coming in, it could be a little bit confusing because it talks about all these things that sound really great. But somebody who may be hasn't been watching, following along the whole time, I look at it and say, well, this isn't Iowa City. And of course not. That's why it's our vision plan. But I was wondering if maybe just rhetorically, it makes sense to do something, to have something, you know, to kinda make it clear to a first-time reader that this is our vision of success, or this is what success looks like or something like that. Again, just trying to- to limit confusion. Because again, we're all so close to it, we all know exactly what it- what it means. So- so that was something that kinda just jumped out to me. Kurt: Are you thinking just even retitling, something as simple as re titling it, vision of success? Harmsen: I'm open to it, yeah, whatever. I mean, others might have a good idea on- on what that would look like or what that would make sense without making it like an extra, you know, like too verb, too- too many words too verbose but something like that. Weiner: Right. I mean when- at the beginning when you described the strategy map, it talks about values and, um, uh, and sort of the vision as part of the values. Maybe there's a way to just add a sentence or two in there for the visions. The visions describe the, you know, the ideal or however we want to say it. But basically what- what Councilor Harmsen was talking about. Harmsen: Sorry. I think that makes sense. I think something like a heading at each vision like our vision of success. Because I'm thinking we look at these things carefully. Uh, but I think a lot of people will skim the document, and so they might not read through all the, you know, the introduction. They'll skip right to the, you know, what would be the meat of the- of the document and so. Fruin: Its a good point, we can we can do that. So what I might suggest, if there's not- if there's not word-smithing that needs to be done with the values and the- and the strategies. That's okay if you do have some word changes, this is- this is the time to do it. But we did a lot of that with the last round, you might jump right into the actual action steps. And This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 6 so that would start if you're looking at your IP packet that would be page 21 of your IP or page 10 of the report would be the first set, and that's your neighborhood and housing action plan. And again, these are- these are listed kinda chronologically on what we think we might get started with first, we- we did try to take your tiers into consideration here, but we wanna make sure that we've captured everything here. And if you expected to see something that you're not seeing, we can- we can go back and check to make sure we didn't miss it Or if there's dates that you'd really like to see something started sooner rather than later, that would be helpful. Alter: You provided a really good segue, actually. So I'm just going to jump in, if I may. Sure. Do you want to Pauline. Taylor: Oh, I was just gonna say it on- on those lines and maybe they'll say something similar as that, um, the item that says bolster financial support for homeless services and substitutes shipped, um, staffing towards, uh, shelter and service model. Uh, it says, of course, your office, uh, 25 to 28. I'd like to see that, you know, starting even 23 and then through 28 because it- it just seems like that's really become an issue. We'd gotten an email recently about some homeless camps in the- in the city that people were concerned about. And I- I just think it's a big issue and maybe make it, um, more 23 to 28. Okay. Sorry. Alter: No, no, that's good. Um, my question actually had to do with, it's the 1, 2, 3 the fourth goal, advanced priorit- prioritized recommendations in the 2022 affordable housing action plan, and then work with partners to undertake significant scale affordable housing efforts. And I was just wondering if some of the, if I'm remembering some of our discussions, I thought those were two separate goals. And it's certainly fine to, if they seem to align, to condense them. But those in and of itself, those seem like two large tasks. And so I was wondering if it makes sense to break those up again. Or if because they're significantly aligned as staff and as ECICOG's as you guys worked through finalizing it, um, if it seemed like they- they fit together well. Um, because in- in my memory it was a little bit different. Fruin: Yeah. That's, I- I made some changes there. I think as we were going through the staff at it, it's I put them together largely because it's gonna be the same team working on those. Uh, I also stripped out, some of you had some language using, I think, uh, ARPA or ARPA capital or bonding funds or something. You- you specified types of funds and I didn't really think that that was critical for a report like this, because ultimately we are gonna develop strategies for each of these action items. So we did take some liberties with rewording these, trying to, um, clean up some- some things where we can. They can be separated if you feel like they need separate attention, but it's gonna be largely the same team of staff working on those. So we- we felt they went well together. Weiner: I was curious as to why the next one right under which talks about seek out and approve residential TIF applications for infrastructure, what - why- just curious why that's assigned to the City Manager's Office. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 7 Fuin: Um, a couple- a couple of reasons. Capacity in NDS is an- is an issue. Um, it's gonna be really hard for, you know, there's a lot of planning items throughout this entire- um, throughout this entire report, and even with- um, even with what's assigned to them now, they're gonna- they're gonna be really challenged to- to- to keep things on track. Remember, we're still a growing xcommunity and part of their basic job is just to process building permits and applications that come in. So, um, they're gonna struggle to do that. We also do most of the TIF work in our office and with legal and finance, most of that economic development -related. Um, but we're familiar in the TIF realm. So this was just an area I thought that we could kinda take some load off of NDS and work on that ourselves. Weiner: Thanks. Kurt: And maybe just for my benefit, is there a consensus around changing the dates on bolstering uh financial support for human services and should do to shelter as a service model? Is that? Weiner: I mean we have- we have a work session coming up on that. I believe. I mean, I personally would support moving it forward, but it's sort of weird because we're about to - we're about to discuss it. But it seems like the issue is definitely out there and- and we're aware of it in the community, and it would make sense to- to me to prioritize it at this point. Fruin: I can tell, the reason that I- I think the reason that- that I selected --so I went through and I tried to assign dates to all these. I was largely my- my task. Um, we are in fiscal year 23 right now, so we're six months end of Fiscal year 23. We're prepping for Fiscal year 24 right now through the budget standpoint, I see this item as having a very hefty price tag. Very hefty and not necessarily one that you can tackle with ARPA funds, right? That's a point in time. That's a one-time expense. You're not gonna find one-time dollars to solve the homeless challenges that we have in our community. So the really, the reason I put Fiscal year 25 is because I think we're gonna need some time for financial planning and possibly talking about a different revenue source to fund it. That's how significant this- this- this item is in my eyes. And- and we may need to get alignment on what this means to you versus staff. But, um, I just felt it was gonna be very difficult to- to- to really get there certainly this year, but- but next fiscal year. That doesn't mean we're not continuing to work on the issue as we have over and over again the last many years. Um, but- but that's the reason behind the Fiscal year 25 start. Alter: So if I'm understanding it correctly, It's really a matter of in terms of because this is the strategic plan, the goal of bolstering services. I mean, that's like- that's digging in, that's, as you just said, something really substantial. Whereas our ongoing effort for this current year in the next months and next year are more like we're going to continue to find ways to help as best we can with the revenue sources that we have. But this is much bigger and scale. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 8 Fruin: I think so. Alter: Is that the best way to understand? Fruin: I think so. Alter: So it's not like, oh, we're just going to wait. Fruin: Right. It's definitely not. You just sit back and wait. But for example, Tracy and I right now are reviewing the- the proposal for the eviction prevention program that we've identified through our, but that's gonna be a million -dollar -plus program using one-time funds. That certainly speaks to this, right? That's about keeping people housed and keep - keeping people- pre -preventing people from falling into homelessness. That'll be a significant investment, presumably that this Council makes when it comes to housing. And that'll happen this fiscal year, I think. And so that's an example of something that's going to help, that's going to continue to push forward. But again, what I see in this item is more of a permanent commitment is saying we are permanently going to fund this at a higher level. And I don't think we're talking tens of thousands here. I think we're in a whole different kind of stratosphere. So again, that's something we need to start to explore. We'll do that at the next work session as kind of a good intro to that. But it's gonna be hard to come up with the resources in short order. Thomas: I had a question on the- I think would be the next item here on the initiating comprehensive plan update and subsequent zoning code, that- that action item. You know, we had a number of different ways in which that was expressed, I think during the previous work sessions. And so my- one of my questions was, given the language, you know, my- one of my concerns at previous work sessions was the idea of completing the form -based code for the core neighborhoods, the North side in particular. And where does that stand based on the language I'm seeing here? Fruin: Yeah. So this- this language, you know, growth areas first and then infill second was part of that prioritization process. So that's- what this articulates is that we would do a completely new comprehensive plan for the entire city, which means we could do a pilot program while you have a comp plan change going, but typically, probably I would say you probably wouldn't do that in normal order. So if you want to do a pilot form -based code program for the core neighborhoods, that should be- in my view, that should be articulated in fiscal- you know before this project starts. I think- I think that's - Thomas: As a separate action item, you mean? Fruin: Yeah. As a separate action item. Thomas: Well, that was what I would propose if we weren't going to change that language. Um, you know, I prepared some notes on this. It's I don't know if I want to read through them, but, you know, I have spoken to this issue numerous occasions um. And, you know, I've This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 9 tried to look- look at this both, you know, in terms of the, you know, the lens of the- of the, uh, strategic plan, but also just information, um, you know, that I've been gleaning, the neighborhoods have been gleaning, the core neighborhoods have been gleaning regarding, you know, the need for having some controls over development. Um, first of all, I would define, you know, this question of growth versus infill, I think it's kind of an interesting way in which to frame development, because what- what I would argue is the core neighborhoods, um, have never been exempt from change in redevelopment. So they've always been going through ongoing growth incrementally. You know, it's not like it's a subdivision out on the edge of town with covering 75 acres. But I would, you know, I think all of us would agree that perhaps no neighborhood in Iowa City over the history of this town has gone through more change, Um, initially, relatively minor incremental change until roughly 50 years ago, when, um, for various reasons the- you know, the core neighborhoods saw what I would call radical change when the multifamilies were introduced, ah, to the core neighborhoods that are fairly high density. You know, RM-44, it's quite a bit higher than, say, RS-8, which is itself even higher than RS-5. So, you know, anywhere from five time increase in density to something greater than that. One thing we've- I've learned recently is that, you know, and- and is been confirmed in many towns and that is that with that growth came considerable wealth to the City of Iowa City. The- the value of the lands on a per acre basis in the core of Iowa City are considerably higher than most other lower density single-family neighborhoods. And, you know, the - the university, ah, urban planning, um, program, you know, did a study of that. The- the report is still in a draft form, we're trying to finish it up. But they compare the- the value per acre of the Northside to two neighborhoods, Weber and Windsor Ridge. And the value per acre, um, was significantly higher and more than three times, uh, the value per acre than in- than in the, um, Weber and Windsor Ridge neighborhoods. How that adds to the conversation in my mind is that it means that, you know, the- the core neighborhoods have been a wealth generator and they will continue to be a wealth generator. Partly due to their location, but also just their- the way their infrastructure is laid out. They will undergo constant change. This is one of the things that, you know, has been noted is that, uh, that's quite unlike the way most of our residential neighborhoods are structured. They- they grow, they provide growth, and then they're kind of stuck in whatever form that initial development took place. And by stick, by- by being stuck, their value hasn't increased in the same way the core neighborhoods have. So what I- what I would be - what I'm suggesting is that it- it is important that we- we- we complete the form -based code process, um, we're- we're almost there. I think at our last work session, I mentioned that I contacted, uh, Tony Perez with Opticos, and he felt it was a relatively minor process to- to complete it. Six pages of text is how he described it. Uh, I've spoken with who, I- I'm forgetting her name at the moment. But Opticos is opening office in Chicago, uh, and is familiar with the work in Iowa City, uh, and is interested in- in doing the work. Um, the way I see it now, because of the- the continual pressures that we're experiencing in the core neighborhoods, we can- we can see in the- in the recent interventions by- by the state which removed all occupancy controls, is that, you know, as a City Council, we - we could consider whether to promote growth that incentivizes- continues to ce- incentivize high density occupancy for short-term residents, which arguably are not consistent with our comprehensive plan, uh, which I'm referring to there the Central This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 10 District 2007 plan, and also can be inconsistent with neighborhood context. Or do we try through a form -based code to incentivize diverse, affordable housing options that would be consistent with the comprehensive plan and the neighborhood context. That seems to me, the form -based code would be the foundation of that- that zoning framework that would allow us to accomplish that. Um, and as I said, we're almost there, ah, you know, it- it would not be a heavy lift. The heavy lift with- with the South District that's provided in our- in our zoning code, all the language we need in- in which to- to introduce a form - based code concept. What we would need to do is look at this- the actual zoning codes that would apply to the core neighborhoods as we define it and, um, we could build off those codes, those zoning classifications that are in the South District. So it- it seems to me, again, um, we're starting down that road. I think it- it's a road that's productive in terms of land use. And it's especially productive and critical, I would argue, in the core neighborhoods because of how they are just designed to- to experience continuous change, which is quite unlike most- most of the other residential neighborhoods in Iowa City. And hopefully, we can move that wealth forward and- and in ways which will not create the issues that have- have followed in the- in the wake of some of that change. You know, much of what we've seen in the last 50 years has created some destabilization in the core neighborhoods. So if we can avoid that while promoting affordable housing and moving forward in terms of our social justice initiatives, I think the form -based code plays a role in that. Alter: Can I ask a question of, um, Geoff, I guess, would this also fall under neighborhood and development, would they own? Fruin: Yes, if we went this route. I mean, I- I- I think a very high level. Um, I think you have to decide if you wanna take a- a neighborhood by neighborhood approach, which is largely what we've been doing, kind of updating district plans. And, you know, we did the South District neighborhood and- and talking about the core neighborhood. Um, we can continue to do that and there is nothing wrong with that. Um, some of the other, um, items you envisioned in here or that we've at least discussed that we'd like to explore like minimum density allowances, um, greater by right, um, housing types and all zoning codes. That's really a big picture comprehensive, ah, plan change. So in- in our- in our vi- in staffs view, um, some of those bigger picture changes need- need to start at a comp plan, and it would be the same staff. So if we want to do neighborhood by neighborhood, let's decide where we want to spend that focus, let's put our staff on that. Um, and then when they're done, maybe we take- take the step out we do like- they do the larger comprehensive one. That's not all gonna get down in a five-year period. I think with all due respect to- to, um, Tony at Opticos, um, we do not feel that this is a six -page, um, simple process in the north side. We think it's frankly fairly complicated and, um, that there's maybe some things that Opticos isn't, um, um, considering when- when providing you that commentary. Um, so we- we would see it's a much more, um, detailed effort to - to go through, uh, and do a core neighborhood form -based code pilot. But um, you know, that's something we could explore. If the Council wants us to work with Opticos again, we could explore that with them or another consultant. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 11 Teague: I have a question relating to, uh, where it says, broadly incorporate form -based code principles. Fruin: It's basically a shift to entire- entire code to form -based code. Teague: Okay. Fruin: That's- that's what many- many cities will take that approach as opposed to what we've done neighborhood by neighborhood so far with Riverfront Crossings, you could argue, with Peninsula, Riverfront Crossings and South District. Theree going to put form -based code principles throughout their entire code. So you're- you're- you're zoning categories apply across the board. Uh, that's what that would mean. Teague: So is the- the intent is by 2028, the entire city would have, I'll just use the term, form - based code? Fruin: That would be the intent. Teague: Okay. Sure. Fruin: Even that's pretty bold. To go through a comp plan amendment is- is maybe a couple of years, and then you're going through zoning code changes to and when you're basically rewriting your entire zoning code, that's- that's definitely a multiyear process, but within the reahn of possibility over five years. Teague: Um, I guess to the question that- that has been presented, do we go to kind of the northside and- and use them, I would say as a kind of as a pilot? Although, we already have, you know, some form -based code out there. I'm not opposed to it, except I do have - your analogy I got a little lost. I'm- I'm hoping that you were not suggesting that because they paid three times higher per acre, that they are deserving the City's investment. I'm - I'm not sure if that's what you were... Thomas: Well, what I was- what I was trying to- to draw attention to was- is that the core neighborhoods, um, are a wealth generating portion of Iowa City. They- particularly, when you consider it in terms- in relative to other single family, post -World War II neighborhoods. Um, and that generally isn't understood. You know, most people look at the core neighborhoods, you know, you drive through the core neighborhoods and you would tend to look at them and say, "This isn't a thriving neighborhood. You know, there are some- some issues here." Whereas if you were to go to Windsor Ridge, you know, that's- that's a nice neighborhood- that- this is a thriving neighborhood. The issue that I was trying to draw attention to... Teague: Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 12 Thomas: ... is that- that who- who is benefiting from these two different approaches that- that many cities have taken with regard to land value in their city. And that, you know, where you have that higher density, the wealth has generated typically. It may not be what people prefer in terms of, you know, the way in which they would like to- to reside. You know, there is clearly a desire to- on money people's part to live at lower densities, the RS5 densities that you see in Windsor Ridge say. Uh, the question is, you know, when you- when you start looking at the land values that they generate. Teague: Yeah. I'm not sure that I would throw that analogy in this circumstance. Thomas: Yeah, it's not really an analogy. It's just an acknowledgment of the differences in land cost or land values. Teague: I get that. Bergus: Can I jump in Mayor? Teague: Please. Bergus: I'd like to just kind of may be bring us back to the strategic plan and the question on the table, as I understand it, which is, do we want to take a more- you know, sooner but limited approach for the core neighborhoods or specifically the Northside on the form - based code, or do we want the overall comprehensive plan redo with form -based code in that? I prefer the latter. And I think we've already discussed that as a group and that's why this item is in here and the other was not. So to put on my lawyer hat were relitigating this and I don't want to- we can- we can until it's done, right. But I think- I think we've had that conversation and I stay with where we landed previously. I appreciate what you're saying, John, as a policymaker. I totally understand that core neighborhoods generate all this wealth. I remember in 2018, the heat map, the- the Downtown District put out that showed the whole community that was like tax generation with these big spikes in the core neighborhoods and like, you know, peddling out towards the edges. So I think we do think about that and it does matter. But it's- I think we should have a plan for an overall redo rather than the spots that we've been undertaking. Thomas: I could just quickly respond to that. You know, I don't disagree with the idea of a more comprehensive approach, although it may be, as I was suggesting, certain parts of Iowa City may be significantly more resistant to the change that I think, you know, to a form - based code. What- what difference will that make in certain neighborhoods in terms of their future? The form has been set in many of these neighborhoods and it may not change. But- but to your point, part of what- what I was trying to emphasize aside from the wealth generation, is that, the north- the core neighborhoods --in effect, we could use the Northside as the pilot because we understand it a little better in terms of the status of our work. You know, we're feeling because of the changes to state legislature made under more threat. That's an immediate threat. That's not something two years away. We're seeing it happening right now, and so that's- that's why I would ask that we- we look at it This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 13 on a- on a more- you know, a time frame that is more closer to the- to the present because of that immediate threat. And as I was also trying to emphasize, the- the core neighborhoods is a different beast than the rest Iowa- Iowa City's residential neighborhoods. Um, but I would say the- the issue here again is from a time frame. We are seeing development that is not consistent with the character, and it's- it's- it's not furthering our goal, which I hope all of us agree would be trying to create opportunities for affordable housing throughout Iowa City, and the foundation for that, as I said, as a form -based code. So there- there's a certain time urgency that I'm feeling, which is why I'm asking if we can, you know, pursue it on a- at an earlier date. Teague: Councilor Bergus, I appreciate you bringing up the fact that we did discuss this in great detail. And I- I mean, I- I, you know, do agree with you, John, that there is, ah- there's things happening at the State, you know that- you know, can impact some of the things that we do in the future. I agree, and for the core neighborhood that could, um, not be to our advantage if we wait. I am okay with kind of, you know, keeping it all in one and not doing what was previously suggested as kind of that pilot. Um, because I know we did go through this and I think that the Council did kind of gather. I- I was supportive then, I'm supportive now, but I do think the Council did go through this, ah, process and said no. But again, if someone wants to, you know, jump in and support and move forward, we can certainly do that at this time. Weiner: I mean, I think that we may- if you look at the state legislature, we may, again, put ourselves at risk if we single out one neighborhood that doesn't- that's not- that- that- yes - I mean, we see that it's somewhat different, but others may not. And I think there are a lot of specific interests to property owners and others have interests in the Northside and the core neighborhoods. I think we would- we would potentially be under much less threat if we do the whole grid at one time in saying we're not singling out one part of the city. It was- it made sense to the South District new area. It made sense to do Riverfront Crossings because it was a- it was like Brownfield. It was really- we're really encouraging it being redesigned. But I worry about- frankly about State intervention if we sort of- if we pick and choose right now. Harmsen: I mean, I'm hearing that it sounds like the time is really the issue and it's really a matter of we want to know, what I'm hearing, if we want to trade off. So if we want to, ah, make the entire city wait longer, we- we would go in and do- focus on one neighborhood. Ah, if we make the entire city come quicker, that neighborhood will have to wait a little bit longer, ah, and so I think that's kind of what we're really at the core of the time, and I don't know to me, it makes sense to try and kind of do it altogether. Ah, I think Janice made a good point about, you know, we're up, you're trying to second guess what will come out of Des Moines, and that's one of our legislative challenges that we're facing and we are- ah, it is a- it is an interesting place to be, so. Taylor: This seems to be coming up at meetings every so often. These, um, I think back historically when John and I were on the Council and things would come up and uh, we'd be told next time around or sometime around. And I do recall that we talked about form - This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 14 based code for the North District and uh, with all appreciation, Councilor Weiner, to the fact that South District was a new sort of district and the Riverfront Crossings was uh, was actually a new district. I- I believe I recall that we were told that North District would be next, that we would be looking at a form -based code for the North District. Um, but kind of sounds like that's almost the only one remaining um, besides like the far east, which they haven't really talked about wanting a form -based code. So if you're talking Geoff about doing a comprehensive plan for everyone, then um, perhaps it is at that time that we look and see who doesn't have anything which would be the North District. And I would hope that they would kind of have a priority for input on that. Fruin: Yeah. The- basically, the rest of the community doesn't- not just the Northside or the core neighborhoods um, absent those other areas I've talked about, we didn't and you're right. The Council has talked multiple times about doing one in the north side about Northside Marketplace versus the residential areas. We've never gotten to the point where we've - we've pulled the trigger so to speak. Uh, as you may remember, the- the- the last shift in direction was, we took this South District code and we're trying to put that over the Carson Farm area, basically, that- that Southwest District. That's- that was the task that our staff is currently working on now. That's going to P and Z right now and we'll come your way. And that's an example of again, us just taking the South District form -based code and trying to apply it to a new area, growth area, much like this plan articulates, applying it to growth areas first. Um, and that's been over a year effort from our staff to - to create that. So um, it's you- none of these issues are easy. How you prioritize them is fine with us. We'll make it work, but to get to your more ambitious affordable housing goals when it comes to, um, the forum and densities and things like that, you've got to start with the comp plan. So it's how quickly you want to get to that stage. Alter: One of the things that I'm coming back to and that I'm mindful of is how we began actually between you and Geoff and talking about sort of like how do we deal with the sea- environmental scan and in relation to the strategic plan and these lofty goals. That we need to be focused, we need to be disciplined, we need to say no more than we need to- that's is as important, and that we have to have regular assessment and reassessment. And so I liked very much what Councilor Harmsen talked about where it's sort of like it's- it's- it's sort of like which slice of a larger whole? And do we want to put a smaller piece first to get it done with- with respect to the- the Councilors who've been on for a long time, and talking about this coming up the North based- north- the core neighborhoods pilot. But I think that we've got this five-year plan, which in the scope of things is actually not that much time. And if we're disciplined and we can say in five years we've managed to get the whole city accounted for within this form -based code that includes the core neighborhoods and it provides a roadmap for how the whole city can continue to grow whether through infill, through core neighborhood um, and our growth areas. So, um, and I am absolutely mindful that this has come up a couple of times and there's very good argument for this. I just think that we're looking at a strategic plan and right now, I have to say honestly, I'm more uncomfortable by saying, let's start slicing it even finer given what we need to accomplish. The core neighborhood will be part of this, it just won't be called out in its own. But the idea is that this will be done in five years of This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 15 which the core will be part of that. So I'm not seeing it as a loss, it's just it's not being called out as its own individual because it's smaller in scope. I think we should actually go for a comprehensive so. Thomas: I- I just want to- I just want to mention- I hear what you're all saying. Um, but let's- you know, let's- you know, this idea, let's not do any more specific plans in effect. Let's just do a comprehensive plan. Well, just in the last few years, we've expanded our Riverfront Crossing zones on the west side of the river in Miller Orchard a couple of times. Uh, now we're looking over at Carson Farm. That's a specific plan for- for a particular area. Um, we did some code changes to the near- near east side around um, you know, just uh, east of Gilbert Street. So we have done numerous um, small scale specific plans form -based code related, all the while, um, you know the issue of the Northside or, what I would argue, the core neighborhoods has been out there and uh, has not moved forward. So, you know, if- if we include it in this five-year plan, great. As I said, I'm seeing um, whenever there is a sense of urgency, and maybe its overgrowth as opposed to um, a growth, but addressing some of the, you know, the issues that have been associated with growth in the core neighborhoods. Um, you know, it's- it's just a matter of responding to those issues. And we have responded with numerous specific plans to do form -based codes over the last few years. So you know, I'm happy to see we're looking at it comprehensively, but I'm also seeing that at the same time we're cherry -picking certain parts of Iowa city for form -based codes as it's- as it's felt needed. Teague: Thanks to everyone for having that conversation. What we'll do is um, are there any more action items that people want to um, just bring forth at this time? Alter: Completely over the whole - Teague: Well, anyone. Yes, yeah. Alter: Just this page or all? Teague: This or all yes because we have more to go through. Alter: Sure. So one question that I had that might actually help sort of bring a bunch of different conversations into the mix. is that I was looking at the um, champions; that- that column under all of the different action categories, or the categories for action. Um, and I was wondering in a bro- broad sweeping, yeah, it's specific way, are there ways in which we, the Council and/or staff sees the Council as being more active in being champions? Like we own a couple of things where- and we discussed it during strategic planning that we could use sort of our position and our influence to have conversations with other regional entities. Right? Um, so that's one clear cut place. But I was just thinking, this is a tremendous lift for staff. It is really ambitious. Are there ways in which we can step in, in effect to be champions in cer- if not owners not actually in there sort of having those execution meetings, but are there ways in which we can step up and help? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 16 Fruin: Yeah. So um, you do have a couple of actions assigned to you. If you just skip ahead of mobility, we talk about CRANDIC and regional transit, really, starting with your- your leadership and your connection with your elected peers across the county. Um, most of these other items will require Council action at some point and- and are really- our next step is once you finalize these action uh, items, is to build um, the plans that go along; the execution plans or implementation plans for each one. So what kind of budget authority is needed? Are there additional staffing that's needed? All those types of questions. Um, and then we'll come back to you. So just because you don't see your name as the champion, um, it doesn't mean that you won't- you won't have some- some important milestone decisions to make along the way. Alter: Certainly. I just wondered if there was anything- Fruin: Yeah, I think if you see anything else that's not listed, City Council, that you'd really like to have, you know, let- let me know and- Um, there may be a role. There- there may be a role um, particularly when it comes to shaping policies um, or priorities. Like for example if you wanted to take that affordable housing plan which you know, we presented to you in a quick work session and it has 30 some recommendations. If you wanted to be involved in prioritizing those, absolutely that would be- that would be a- a wonderful role for the Council to play. You don't need that. Absent that, your staff is going to prioritize um, based on what we think you would do and- and bring that forward to you. But if you see some of those types of things, there can absolutely be a bigger role for- for Council to play. Weiner: I just wanted to add quickly on this- on this particular area that I recognize it's chronological, but I'm really happy to see the exploring legal steps to discourage or prevent bad faith and predatory property investors at the top. Alter: Yes Teague: So navigating through more action plan items, um, for mobility is on Page 12 if- yeah. Thomas: Well, one that came- came to my attention was on the snow removal issue, which is shown as a Fiscal Year 25 start. Um, I was- I was looking at that and I was trying to compare it with some of the other items related to mobility. Uh, further up the list, install additional permanent charging stations for vehicles, bicycles, and electronic devices, and that's starting 23. Um, what I would suggest is you know, we could look at this as something where we're trying to develop what I would call a active mobility transition plan that would begin sooner than Fiscal Year 25. So we we roll it out, so to speak and get start it sooner than '25 is. You know, um, '25 seems like a ways out for me to at least start working on this issue because it relates to trying to promote active mobility for as a you know, distinct from the auto oriented approach. Whether it's passing you know, the bus system, bicycling or walking. Tho- those are the options that it would be nice to see moving forward, at least taking steps moving forward and I guess I'm looking at Fiscal Year 25 is kind of a break- in pretty significant break in terms of that action. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 17 Harmsen: If I could just ask for a point of clarification. I think Geoff, you may have mentioned this earlier, but I want to kind of make sure that I've got it right. If we see Fiscal Year 23, we're in Fiscal Year 23 and so those are ongoing current efforts that are just big and take - will take a long time or we're never really end. Fiscal Year 24 is the budget that the staff is working on now that will have before us-. Fruin: Starting July 1 of'23-. Harmsen: And then Fiscal Year 25 would be the budget that you'll be working on a year from now. So I- I just want to be sure. Fruin: I- I don't disagree you know, um, when it comes to ordering some of these, but for example, the- the charging stations for vehicles, bicycles, and electronic devices, we have those budgeted now that's something we're doing now. We're adding charging stations in our decks. Almost every year we're adding more charging stations. Climate action, as part of the Climate Action and Adaptation plan, has resources to expand charging. So we're looking at solar charging devices in the community. So that's- that's why that's moved forward because resources in hand ready to go, something like the snow clearing at sidewalk corners. Again, we've talked about that. That's just a heavy lift financially and you're talking about people and equipment and they're- they're expensive and even on the equipment side, we're running into issues where we can't get equipment, you know, 9-12 months out is doing really good on the stuff. So that's why it's back a little bit. But if you want to move it up, we'll do our best to get started as soon as possible. Thomas: Yeah, I'm not really, again, looking at this as we're you know, actually implementing it in its full sense, but taking the kind of steps that you were just talking about, trying to understand you know, what will be entailed in this sort of at the planning phase, so to speak, before implementation. If that makes sense. Taylor: I had just a question about the fleet of electric buses. If I'm remembering right when we first obtained them, um, we realized that there were some routes that these couldn't take. So with the ultimate goal not necessarily be to replace the entire fleet as the others wear out, but to keep some non -electric buses for those like the Iowa Avenue Bridge, for instance. Fruin: Yeah. That's the only- that's the only obstacle that I'm aware of. So we'd have to keep a- a bus that can get under that or reroute routes around that bridge or raise the bridge, you know. But uh, I think this is- this is an implementation plan, you know, that is probably going to be 15- 10,15 years by the time every bus comes up for replacement. We're holding onto buses now 18-20 years, even though the- the kind of the useful life they say is 12, 15. So it's going to take some time. So maybe by then the buses will be built in a way that the electric buses might fit under that bridge too. Taylor: That's a great plan. I know people have love- love the buses. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 18 Weiner: Uh, I'm again happy to see the- the separated bike path issue. I literally just read an article yesterday about this being one of the best investments for switching- switching away from a carbon heavy economy that you can make right now. They've had huge successes in a variety of cities, ones that have separated paths and I know that's a heavy lift as well. I'm just glad to see it in here. Teague: Any other item? We will move on to economy, which is on Page 14. Alter: It seems like an incredibly good, sorry. It seems like a really good kind of overlay of a lot of different strategies that are coming from different places to be able to create a healthy sort of economic plan. Weiner: My only suggestion, I don't feel particularly strongly about it one way or another, is I noticed that later on in the plan when you're talking about streets and infrastructure, the possible need for LOST. I think that it would be- I think- I think it would be good to add that into this- this section as well, particularly maybe as part of the childcare thing, but we're going to need more funds for some of these things and- and LOST for early childhood education and so forth is likely going to be a- a quite a popular item if we're able to push it. But again, whatever you all want, I just wanted to- to note that I saw it later and thought it might fit here well as- as well. Thomas: I mean I- I noticed that under the, um, create flexible incentive- incentives to support the top goals of Iowa City's SSMID districts and other commercial nodes, including obtaining a desired business mix that serves the surrounding neighborhood. I- I would just add to that and I see that it's a Fiscal Year 25, so it's sort of- it's not- not happening anytime immediate to you know, our plans. Including- including in there the notion that it's- it's a desired business mix. But what I- my observation is that creating public space as a part of a commercial district is a really valuable component of a successful commercial district and we saw that I think dramatically with the northside marketplace recently, where closing Linn Street suddenly was a transformative move in terms of the, um, the value of that commercial district to the city and to the community, and opened up all kinds of programming and other opportunities for congregating. So I don't know if we need to change anything, but I- I would just simply you know, as we move forward on those things to have, how can we make them more sociable, as part of the discussion? Taylor: I think that's a good point, Councilor Taylor, or Councilor T- Thomas . Great things, great news is coming out of SSMID and part- I'm particularly thinking of the Smulekofrs location and I think that's intended to be very similar to what the atmosphere of the diversity markets were, which was a very social event and it sounds to me that they're going to have the little cubbyholes for the different vendors, food and crafts and whatever in that location and it'll be indoors of course, but- but very social and I'm anxious to see that happen. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 19 Alter: I think it sounds like a fantastic idea. One of the things that I like is that for what it's worth, this is where the SSMIDs themselves can decide how- I mean, because that's definitely that was what the downtown district along with those property owners and- and you know, were able to say "this is what we want" to Council and I know that there are similar plans for the South District in terms of being able to make place -making. So I loved that you've pointed it out. I'm wondering necessarily if it needs to come from the City since the SSMIDs themselves are the ones who are kind of putting that money in and then they can come and advocate to us. Thomas: As I said I'm not necessarily suggesting changes but - Alter: It's a great point. Thomas: My observation is that neighborhood commercial districts often benefit from having public open space as part of the land use plan. Teague: Awesome. If nothing else, we'll move on to safety and well-being on Page 16. Alter: I do have a question about, um, actually the first item, in- in terms of champions. Um, and I mean it utterly neutrally. Is the Police Department the right owner or champion for this item, right? Um. Fruin: Well, the- the Council, I think, uh appointed Mayor Teague to- to represent, um, you all at the- at these meetings. Um, I think it's probably- Mayor you probably haven't been to a meeting yet, have you? Teague: I haven't- I haven't had one scheduled yet. Fruin: Probably waiting till after the first of the year would be my guest to reconvene, um, if you'd like to list the city Council on there. But when it comes time for implementation of this, um, it's- it's absolutely the Police Department that's gonna be the point here for the city. And I think that's a- a- a lot of how these Violence Intervention programs work, the police departments and close communication with the team that's on the street- the civilian team that's on the street, and sharing information, and helping- helping guide positive outcomes. So we can add City Council. You can replace police with City Council if you want, but there's really not another city department that would take a lead here. Bergus: I think this is one- I- I had a similar question, Megan. And I- I think it's one where I anticipate that we will see non -city organizations really taking the lead in this. I think- I think there are challenges, and problems with the police in terms of information sharing, and some of those things you were just mentioning Geoff that- that can make it, um, in some cases less effective when law enforcement is centered in some of those violence interruption, um, strategies. So I- I think that, yeah we had a good discussion, and having Mayor, you appointed to represent us, but I- and I think I said this at one of our- our This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 20 sessions as well. I don't know about the- you know, the centrality of law enforcement in that effort overall. So I don't know if we want to make ourselves that or some other- um, you know, who's the best liaison for people who are on the ground since fun patrol doesn't exist yet. Alter: And certainly, the- the police are active in this. I- I was just thinking about it at sort of that point person or point entity. Um, yeah, but- and I was thinking about it in terms of their own, um allbeit these have been brief conversations with Chief Listen but, you know, that essentially, he has acknowledged, and said yes at the same time, we want to prevent crime. We're also here to- Harmsen: Respond to it. Alter: respond to it. Thank you. Um, so tha- I was thinking in the same way that perhaps, you know, different organizations would come in. That said, these are all- what are the- what are the city departments that are holding. So I recognize sort of it's a- it's not rhetorical, but it's also like within the universe that we have, who is the best department? Um, I guess I'm okay with this for now, but I- I do think that maybe this is something to have be somewhat flexible in thinking about once the meetings have occurred, perhaps, um there's other ways in which we can envision this. Fruin: You can add City Council now, you're in the meetings. Um, this isn't something that Police Department is leading community -wide, but from our organization, they- they are leading. But if- with the Mayor attending the future meetings, would you want to add City Council as a second champion? Weiner: That would be going to be good. Alter: I think I'd be comfortable with that. Teagie: Anything else with this action plan? Bergus: This is just kind of a overall comment not just for this public safety section, but I think this brings up a good point of, Megan, you just said like of who- the University of who we have now, right? And like how departments are organized. So I hope that, you know, Geoff, as you're looking at how different departments are changing, and growing, and how needs are changing that some realignments in things, maybe- maybe part of that flexibility that we talked about. Teague: All right. Thomas: There were just a couple of typos I noticed, um, under the heading, uh safety and well- being, or consistency. Um, do- do we want a hyphen there? We have it in- in the actual description of the vision, it seems to me a hyphen is typically used there. And then under This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 21 the last item of the actions, uh, expand neighborhood -based programs such- I think we want to say such as mobile community, social recreation resources. Bergus: Good catch. Teague: Yes. Taylor: You're right. Teague: All right. Kurt: Um, If I could just recap to make sure I'm clear. There's a lot of great discussion. I'm not sure. I walked away with a lot of changes. Um, so, um, going back to neighborhoods and housing, there was some talk about splitting apart, um, an item brought up by, um, Mayor Pro Tern Alter. And I- I wasn't clear what the consensus was, and I don't think it really matters whether we split it apart or not. But just- it should be - Alter: I think I was asking for a point of clarity about like what was the rationale, and - Kurt: Okay, got it. So we're good there. And then, um, the -the LOST as a funding source under economy. Are you suggesting that perhaps we consider adding that in the resources section? Like evaluating LOST as a funding source? Harmsen: I don't know. Does it need to be there? I mean, if it's already in the finance section, and I- I have a question about LOST, and then we get to the finance section anyway. Kurt: Okay. I don't- I didn't see it in there, so I guess like maybe that's me being confused. Teague: I think that's just one financial source that we'll be looking to. Kurt: Okay. Teague: So I'm not sure that it needs to be, uh listed. Kurt: All right. And- and then just adding, uh, City Council, uh, under the, um, community violence intervention efforts. So okay. All right. Good. Okay. Thank you. Alter: And I- I also had a- a- a- like a editing comment on page 7, uh, under climate and action vision. Um, you'll see it there, but there's a couple of extra spaces of, uh, between sentences between, I don't remember what, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 lines up, soil quality, period, and then there should be just a couple of extra spaces before every citi- resident. Kurt: You know, I think that's because it's justified. It stretches it out? Unknown: Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 22 Weiner: Not of them are justified, some of them are, and some of them aren't. Bergus: It depends where the photo is, I think. Kurt: I think it's justified on the- uh, good point. All right, we'll go check that. Thanks. Teague: So Council, we're running a little short on time. So we're gonna go to facilities, equipment, and technology, and that is on page 18. Harmsen: I have nothing. Teague: Okay. We'll go to people. And then as on page 20. Harmsen: I did have one thought on the action plan under people on the first one, it says complete and execute the results of organization -wide compensation, etcetera, etcetera. I was wondering if that might be a place to put in there sort of, because it might fit there, just a nod towards, uh, let me see, I think I wrote this down, so I, uh, a nod towards, uh, uh, also kinda reviewing the classification, making sure that all city workers are classified appropriately, which will come into, I mean, which, which I think dovetails probably with ideas of, you know, what- work conditions and compensation are like. Fruin: Yeah, that's, that's, that's part of the, the plan. We're preparing the RFP now, so I'm pretty familiar with where we're going. It's basically a review of all job descriptions and then an internal equity analysis to make sure that any jobs that have evolved over the last decade or so that maybe haven't been captured in, in formal job descriptions are then evaluated against the peers within the community, and are reclassified up or down accordingly. So it's been 15 years since the city has done this. Um it's just a healthy exercise for organizations our size to do. Um, but, the- that is absolutely part of it. We can make that clear here if you want, but it's certainly our intent. Harmsen: Yeah, that, I mean, I figured it might be, but yeah I think - Fruin: Yeah. Harmsen: Adding it into something would be a small change maybe. Teague: Uh, I will support that change. I don't know what others. Sure, yeah. Bergus: Yeah. We will add that. Anything else? Alter: I have a suggestion or, I don't know, a healthy challenge, um, for Council under the fourth from the bottom, strengthen volunteer engagement management and appreciation efforts. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 23 Um, I see this as a yes, and I mean, clearly, you know, city government is its own entity. And as such, um, you know, there's a lot of internal efforts towards this kind of work, but I think that Council could be much more active in this. Um, we've talked a lot about when we've actually gone to sort of you know, like the, the various entities and been able to talk with staff and whatnot, how awesome and engaging and whatnot. And so it just seems like this might be a way that if we were, had it more as actually this is an action item for us, that we could have it more front of mind and, and, and help with that. So, my, my suggestion is simply to, I put it forward to ask Council how they feel about it, but then to suggest that we put a slash and put City Council on there too, just to be more aware and, and appreciative. Bergus: I really like that idea, even if it really just means an execution like establishing the expectation of our participation in more of these things. Because every, I completely agree, is like every time we do actually show up, that's all right I think pretty meaningful or helpful but - Alter: Write it down and then we're accountable. Bergus: Yeah, yeah I like that. Fruin: Uh, I know we're pressed for time, I apologize Mayor, but I can't help myself here. The - thank you for that, first of all, that, that comment. One thing that, um, a lot of cities do that we don't do is, is do public recognitions of our volunteers, particularly our boards and commissions, whether that's an annual kind of reception or events that brings all those folks together. Um, and, and just as a way, a small way to say thank you for their service. Um, it's, it's something that the Council could lead on. Again, that just focuses on boards and commissions, but I've, I've seen that add a lot of value in communities before, but those are your appointments. It really takes your leadership to, to step in and say, yes, let's host this event and, and, and say thank you in that way. Weiner: Great idea. Teague: So the question is, do we want to um, add our name or kinda go with, um what Councilor Bergus just mentioned is just, you know, ensuring that the City Manager's Office is aware that we want to be, um, we're open to being included even if it's just some of us being present. Bergus: I mean, I think adding our name there, even if that's what it means would be good for future . Teague: Okay. Weiner: Yeah. Especially if there would be something like, like appreciation for all these This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 24 Teague: All right. Sounds like we've got a majority to add the name. Perfect. Anything else on this- in this section? We'll go to financial page 22. Harmsen: I had some thoughts actually kinda going up to the strategy portion of the financial. And I'm just, and, and let me preface what I'm about to say by uh, knowing that in some of the, the comments earlier that this is- could be one of, is going to be one of our biggest challenges over the next, you know, X number of years. Um, and so my thought heading into this, um, and, and I, I find if I'm the only one, um, is that to be really clear that most things should be on the table and that we don't want to presuppose what we'll have to do. So with that preamble, I was looking at the first strategy. Um, and this, I know this is, is not uh, not, not something, you know, that's comfortable to talk about. But the way it's worded right now, it has that maintain stable or declining property tax rates, um, as sort of like a presupposed outcome of what this process is going to be. Um, I think that would be a wonderful outcome. Don't get me wrong. I think that's fantastic as a possibility. Um, and the rest of it, I have no problem with the idea of growing tax, uh, growing the tax - based, diverse- diversifying revenue sources and leveraging outside funding, I think that all, it makes beautiful sense. Um, I'm actually one of those people that has some, some real, um, misgivings or some, some trepidation about LOST as a, as a funding revenue because it is kind of a regressive tax. But I think even that, even though I don't like that, I think I acknowledged that that has to be something on the table that we talk about. So my thought, if anybody else agrees that that's just, without trying to box this, putting us into a corner, I guess is what I'm, what I'm trying to avoid here. If we just kinda flip it around and I just kinda just put something, so something like this, grow the tax base, consider alternative revenue sources, and leverage outside funding to maintain core services and priorities while maintaining equitable property tax rates. Um, just as because I think, you know, just sort of then we're not predetermining the outcome, um, for ourselves in a couple of years or for future Council members, and, just my thought. Again, if I'm, if I'm the only one, that's fine too. But I did wanna kinda voice that. Thomas: Could, could you repeat it? Harmsen: Sure. Uh, grow the tax base, consider alternative revenue sources, and leverage outside funding to maintain core services and priorities. Or maybe, maybe a new priorities or whatever, other priorities, while maintaining equitable property tax rates. So if it works out that that's stable or declining, awesome. Like, I'm not against that. I just don't want to presuppose, you know, just kind of, and again, this is obviously everything in this document. We can change as circumstances allow as we need. So I don't know that it's a super critical issue, but the finance portion of this picture is going to be just, it's gonna be less than fun over the coming years. So that's just my thought. Again, if I'm the only one, that's fine too. I just wanted to raise that idea. Bergus: I was thinking we just strike the words "or declining," but I like your version better Shawn. I have the same concern. Alter: Although this is part of the vision statement, right? These are the strategies. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 25 Harmsen: Right. This isn't the action plan. It's sort of leading into the action plan. Alter: Right, right. No, no, no. I mean, I'm, I'm on the same page as you're looking. I was just sort of like working through the rhetorical of like here's the vision, right? And so... Weiner: How we get to it, right? Alter: Right. And so that's like I said. It's the how. Harmsen: I'm, I'm, I'm not a big fan of LOST, but I acknowledge that you know - Alter: I think it depends. Harmsen: It needs to be in the action plan as something we discussed and have a healthy debate about so. Alter: Well, and LOST also totally different debate but all right, discussion, but it's like it depends on what it's going for. Harmsen: Right. Different issue for different day, you know, so. Thomas: Yeah, I would support the change. I do think we need to be somewhat open to neutral circumstance. Fruin: Can you email me that? Harmsen: Absolutely. Fruin: All right. Weiner: I'm fine with the changes well, we need to talk about LOST. I'm not gonna do it here. Bergus: I'm sorry. I just said that's the how, the strategies are the what. Right? I'm remembering the pyramid. Harmsen: Yeah. Oh yes, yes. Yeah. Teague: All right. Any action items from this section? No? All right. Um, so other than that, any other comments about anything in the report so that we can maybe kinda wrap it up. I will say the alignment crosswalk, um, I really appreciated seeing uh kinda the, how is the- how is aligning with a lot of things within our community um, that are together 2030 vision. I know we've been talking about that a lot, uh the racial equity and social justice and human rights. Um and some of the other things, you know, the climate action. So This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 26 those are some of the things that I thought was really good. And of course a vision East Central of um, East Central Iowa. So yeah, it- it was really good. Weiner: Yeah. I really appreciated that as well as the this whole environmental scan basically putting everything into context in different ways. And that's something we haven't done before. Teague: Yeah. Alter: Under the consultant notes, and this is just something I wanna put out to Council for us to discuss at a different time. I very much like the idea of a decision -making framework so that allows us, to John's point, like things that come up and say we might need to change or what have you, we have something in place that helps us have kind of a- a strategic plan of how do we make decisions for adapt- adapting to change and how do we prioritize as we need to, um rather than just, you know, I woke up and I had a really good breakfast this morning so I'm in this frame of mind. So anyway, I just- I very much liked that idea and I would like to put it for perhaps the future work session or something. Teague: And I, I think this will be - Alter: To figure out, how, what does that look like? Teague: Yeah. I think that'd be great. There's seven of us up here with seven different ideas. Alter: Seven different breakfasts. Teague: Yes. That'll be helpful. Outside of the changes that have been mentioned now, uh, what are Council thoughts? Weiner: We've come a long way. Begus: It sounds amazing, I feel good about it. Harmsen: A lot of gratitude and a lot of [INAUDIBALE]. It had that feeling of like when you have a really hard like that weekend where we just like you, you have to clean up the yard before fall and you work really hard and you get done, you're tired or whatever, or, you know, you've done a lot of work but you feel good about it. And I feel good about this plan. Bergus: I'm excited to hold us to it, with flexibility, but expect me to be looking down, down, down the dais... Teague: All right. Bergus: ... and saying, and remember this? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 27 Teague: It has already been litigated, we're not going to vote again. All right. Thank you Karen and your team. Kurt: And thank you so much for trusting us to help you with this. And definitely a collaboration between ECICOG and your staff who have been just fantastic to work with. So, it's been a pleasure. Teague: Yeah. So on behalf of the city and the, um, all of the citizens of this community or individuals within our community, we say thank you. Bergus: Thank you, yes. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 28 Clarification of Agenda Items Teague: All right, we're gonna move on to clarification of agenda items. In the late packet, you'll see we do have one um, resolution. No, not a resolution. Taylor: Proclamation. Teague: Proclamation, that was the word. Proclamation that we'll be doing. Just wanted to point that out. Weiner: Um, so I'm gonna go ahead and, which- which one are you doing first. The first one was really short or- or non -agenda items, never mind. Sorry. Teague: Yeah, we're just doing agenda items and then we'll get to er, information packets. But yes. Alter: Um I think, I just wanna point out, I don't need to do it in main, uh, wait a minute. Sorry. I just have to find it. Alter: No, never mind. I'm good. I'm gonna wait. Teague: Okay. Awesome. So let's go to, um, if there's no more items, then we'll go to information packet. Fruin: Sorry, I was late to jump in. Um - Teague: Yes. Fruin: This may be on- on your agenda for leading the meeting, but I did wanna let the Council know that we will have to defer the UI Labor Center uh, agreement for one more meeting. Um, we've made some good progress but just didn't have everything in place. So I- I- I know you've heard me say this before, but I'd feel very good that it'll be ready for November 15th. Um so we'll ask for a deferral on that to your next meeting. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 29 Information Packet Discussion (October 20, October 27) Teague: All right. All right. Well, move on to information packet, October 20th. Taylor: Excuse me. Weiner: Really small packet. Ovelapping: Yeah. Harmsen: Make sure that its the right one. Oh, never mind. Teague: Yeah. Harmsen: I'll wait for the next one. Teague: All right. Well, move on to, uh, October 27th information packet. There's a few things there. Harmsen: I would like to say that, uh, thanks to uh, Councilor Weiner. Um, I really uh, appreciate the work that went into the land acknowledgment draft resolution. Um, I didn't see anything there that- that I had any arguments or problems with. Um, uh, so I'm just, just thank you for the- for the work that went into that. Weiner: Um, thank you. I also wanted to mention a few things with respect to it, but- Bergus: Uh, go ahead. Weiner: So um, just so for everybody's information in drafting it, I drew directly from the University of Iowa's land acknowledgment, uh, the- the College of Laws land acknowledgment and the language from the Native American Council um, here at the University. In my view, it's really long past time for us to honor tho- those on whose land we live and thrive. It's an essential part of our history. And I think we've learned over the past few years at least that we must learn from, accept, and acknowledge our past and allow it to inform our present and our future. Um the- the- this happens also to be the first day of Native American Heritage Month. Um, and so it seemed like an auspicious time to- to consider moving something forward. And also what- whatever the Council decides to adopt, it's my personal view- view that it doesn't need to be read at the beginning of every meeting. It can be easily accessible on the City website, it can be linked to the agenda if the Council should- should so choose. I just thought it we should get it on the agenda and move forward with a land acknowledgment. It's been recommended by a couple of our commissions. Um and we also just passed, had Indigenous Peoples Day, which we, uh passed as a Council or at least was done this time. Anyway, that's my two cents worth. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 30 Bergus: I'd like to see this on the agenda for our approval. Alter: Second. Or I don't know. Teague: Yeah. And we- Bergus: Maybe we- we need three people, right, under to our current rules. Harmsen: Um, I did have a question though. Do we want to have some sort of a, not, not this whole statement, uh, but some sort of verbal, do we wanna add that to the beginning of our meetings in some sort of a verbal way or do we just want to have that attached? And I don't have a- I don't have a strong, um you know, uh, I'm asking, not, not suggesting through- through a question, what way to- to uh, you know, to do something like this, like a shorter version or? Weiner: I don't know what the best way is. Obviously, I, I think it would be at least, the- the first time that we talk about it, it be read, but I don't know what the Council wants to do with it otherwise. I think it's important that exists, that it exists. Harmsen: And that may be something for us to ruminate upon. Teague: Yeah, I think- I think if we can get the land acknowledgment, um, if- if there's any changes, I think now would be a good time to talk about any of those changes in the language. Um and then,um how we, rec- how we- what we do with the document. Um, I would agree um, with what um, Council Weiner just stated. That'll be something that we have, I would- I would think on our website. As a land acknowledgment we do annually and maybe we can do um, it several times throughout the year. Like even this month, something like that, uh where we'll be able to also give, um, if not the full version, a- a more smaller, shorter version. Alter: I think that makes sense. Teague: Any thoughts to language that needs to be changed? Hearing none, then we will have it on a future uh, Council meeting. Fruin: Probably, okay, to have that on the next one. Is, are you comfortable with that? Bergus: Yes. That would be Great. Teague: All right. Other items? I appreciated seeing, uh, the opposing Public 1 measure. Uh, some literature on that. Um, the county did something as well as the- uh, the school board, um, had something in the paper, and so happy that the Council has been giving this some thought as well. If nothing else, we will move on to the University of Iowa Student Government with their updates. Welcome. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 31 This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 32 University of Iowa Student Government (USG) Updates Zeimet: Hi Council. Uh, just a couple of announcements here. First off, uh, as you know, we had homecoming last week, and it was really successful. We had events scattered throughout the week, an amazing parade, and to top it off with a Hawkeye victory during the football game. And then, uh, we have a board of regents meeting on November loth. Uh, we have some of our executives going to, uh, Council Bluffs to help communicate student ideas and connect with the board of regents. And then we also have a new deputy, Noah Lefevre. And, um let- I'll have him introduce himself. Yeah. Thank you. LaFevre: Um, so yeah my name is Noah Lefevre. Uh, I'm currently a second year student now, and I am going for a BA in, um, political science and then also, um, a social studies education. Um, and I look forward to working with you all. So thank you. Teague: Great. Welcome. Bergus: Welcome. Zeimet: Also, last thing, keep an eye out for an email from Noah to hopefully set up a meeting within the near future. Thanks. Teague: Awesome. Fruehling: Keaton, just as an FYI, we'll have to formally do it on- we can do it at the November 15th, but, um, I'll email you about it when I- I need like a letter or something. Zeimet: Yeah. Fruehling: Perfect. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 33 Council Updates on Assigned Boards, Commissions, and Committees Teague: All right. Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees. Alter: I actually had a really interesting meeting, um, with University of Iowa Overland Center for Advanced Learning, uh, in conjunction with Tippie School of Business. And it was a roundtable, um, to connect, um, business leaders, non-profit leaders, um, government, and the University of Iowa kind of clustering around grad students. There's been a real push within academia to provide graduate students with alternate, um, kinda career thinking, um, since the education system currently in- in higher education, there's a real dearth of jobs. And so how do graduate students take the skills- the expert skills that they have and sort of think about them more broadly in other contexts. And as we all know, one major way that that happens is through communication and networking. Um, and so this was an initial discussion among all these entities, um, and University professors to think about what are the important skills that grad students have already, expert skills that they're not even thinking about, and for professors to start thinking about those skills in a more broad context, um, in conversation with sort of, um, different people in the community. So this is, um, the beginning of a conversation that's really looking to create a sustainable network among the different entities of, um, government and non-profit business and University. So I think that it's yet another way that the University and sort of the town part of the town and gown are really trying to make some inroads in an organic way. So it was a really interesting conversation. Weiner: So several of us attended the ICAD annual meeting, um, and that was sort of follow on to, er, a special joint meeting that was held between- with ICAD and the business partnership, um, to discuss the possibility of a merger of the two. There will be more discussions going on with- with both organizations, but to create some efficiencies and- and- and- and be able to move some processes forward in a way that apparently mirrors what a lot of other, um, er, towns- cities are doing around the country. Bergus: I did have a question about pending work session items. I'm sorry, I'm a little out of order. Is that okay, Mayor? Teague: No. Go right ahead. Bergus: Um, are we going to have or when can we have a discussion about, um, after November 8, you know, what- what meeting at which will we be able to discuss the presumed vacancy we'll have on our Council? Taylor: I'm so happy you brought that up. Teague: Yeah. Weiner: Actually that is the plan.. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022. Page 34 Fruin: So, um, if- if a resignation is received on, uh, November 9th, staff you will have a memo in your, um, November 10th packet laying out your options to move forward. Um, we may sti- we may actually have an item on your agenda just in case you're able to- to make a decision, um, o- on which path you want to go forward. So we're working with the County to lay out those options and that will come from Kellie, Eric, and I. Bergus: Okay. Great. For the 15th, sounds like? Fruin: For the 15th, yes. Bergus: Thank you. Fruin: So your November 10th information packet will have some background, and then I think we still need to figure out if- if there needs to be a, uh, agenda item as well. Teague: Great. Any other item? I did want to say thank you to Mayor Pro Tern for leading us or the- leading the Council in the last, uh, work session and formal meeting, I did watch it just last night- just last night. It's just that I needed to make sure that I wasn't gonna be surprised by anything today. But, um, no, you did an excellent job and so thank you so much for doing your role and filling in when needed. So thank you so much. Weiner: As we appreciate you, Mayor. Teague: Thank you. Alter: I appreciate everybody's support and staff, especially for some of those moments when some logistics might've fallen through the cracks. So thank you, everybody. I appreciate it. Teague: Great. All right. With that, we will be adjourned until 6:00 PM. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 1, 2022.