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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-08-18 Transcription#3 Page 1 ITEM 3. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA). Bailey: This is an opportunity for citizens to comment on items that are not on tonight's agenda. If you wish to address the Council, please appro...approach the podium, use the microphone, state your name for the record, and limit your comments to five minutes or less. Do we have anybody here for community comment? Dieterle: LJh, hi, I'm Caroline Dieterle, and I just wanted to briefly, uh, mention that a couple of times now, uh, when I've gone to the Library, I've noticed that people are pulling into those 20-minute, uh, spaces there, uh, that I think were intended for Library patrons and then walking away to do something else. And, um, so my thought was to suggest that maybe you could add to the sign for Library patrons only, um, and then I thought, well, if there are people who are using those out of desperation because they have something they quickly want to pick up and they think it won't hurt anything if they use the 20-minute space there, that maybe it would be, um, useful to take some more of the parking on that side of Linn Street and make it into the same kind of angled parking, uh, and have it all be 20- minutes only, um, because that would obviously fill a need that apparently is not being met, um, people who are downtown for longer can always go park in the parking ramp, but there's a lot of reluctance to go to the parking ramp when all you need to do is run into a store to pick up something that you've already ordered. So, uh, that's just an idea. Thanks. Bailey: Thank you. Wright: Caroline, in terms of the signs, I think the signs in front of the Library do say for Library (both talking) Dieterle: I looked! I didn't see that. Champion: (mumbled) during Library hours, that's what it says. Dieterle: It says, it gives the Library hours, but it doesn't say please don't use these unless you're going to the Library or Library patrons only or you know something...like that. I...I did talk to one man that was doing that, and I said, um, I think those are for the Library people, and he said, well, it doesn't say so, and I need to run into the store, so, you know, I looked and it didn't and...thus the idea. Bailey: Thank you. Anyone else? Mastain: Hi, my name's Brandi Mastain. Um, I (mumbled) the, um, idea of researching and finding out what's going on in our neighborhood. I know this isn't the safety, this is something else. I did a little investigation finding out how many Section 8, Section 42 Iowa City Housing, um, places that we have, and my question to the City Council is, why in 1996 when they said there was going to be no more This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #3 Page 2 building of the additional houses back there, because it does affect the property value, have we built over 30 places? I mean, I don't understand how, you know, you can move something from Section 42, from (mumbled) Corporation, you know, now is afor-profit, but then they ask the City, the Greater Iowa City Housing Authority, to manage these properties, and then they turn around and buy more property, and our area is inundated. I had a lady tell me today, her friend's house is for sale and they had, um, someone coming to look at it. They asked, oh, what neighborhood, you know, where's the school. They said Grant Wood, and they said never mind! Um, the neighbors a block away from me, two years ago, purchased the house at $159,000. They're reselling it at $139,000. I would like you to really look into why, you know, people are moving and why the property value's being killed, and I think you'll find the correlation between the, and I just...I do not, you know, if you're going to...live in a house that you get help with, you know, the rent or you need to be respectful, and then our neighborhood wouldn't get a bad reputation where it affects the house values. But, according to the Gazette, it said that every two houses in a thousand feet does adversely affect the property value, and we have like 70 back there, and I just would like an answer from the City Council as to why you have inundated, I mean, when...when I read that 96, I said, okay we'll remodel. We spent $35,000 remodeling. I cannot get out of my house, even try to, the fair...even the...the assessed value. It's just not fair. I mean, we've worked very hard to build equity. We've worked very hard, I mean, we had a terrific neighborhood, but it's out of control and now it...as homeowners, our property values are being killed. So can anyone here answer that question? Bailey: Brandi, I understand that you want an answer (mumbled) time for community comment, not really a dialogue. Mastain: Okay. Oh, I'm sorry! Bailey: No! That's fine! I just want to make sure that, you know, I don't want to leave you with the expectation that we're going to have a dialogue. Mastain: Okay. Bailey: But I know that you are concerned about this, and this is something that we can...we can address and talk about. We talked about housing policy last night. Mastain: Okay. Thank you. Bailey: Thank you. Anyone else...wishing to comment? Kerstetter: Jon Kerstetter, uh, Council, Mayor, thank you. I would like to, uh, propose or at least entertain this idea of a branch, uh, Library...on the east side. I know downtown's congested; everybody's complaining about the parking. It was brought out in the one speaker's comments. But my wife and I thought for years This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #3 Page 3 about the advisability of a branch, a small branch Library, uh, somewhere on the east side - I don't know where. Uh, it seems to be plenty of spaces available for things. There's car lots out of business, there's places around, uh, and...we're thinking of two things. One, accessibility for, uh, older folks, pardon me. Older folks, I'm one of ya! iJh, it...it gets hard to go downtown and...and, for those of us who have handicap parking requirements. There aren't enough of those to go around. And, so the accessibility is somewhat of an issue. The other reason I bring it up is, uh, there's a seeming interest in the eastside neighborhoods to have programs for, uh, kids and younger adults, uh, things to do in the summer, uh, reading programs for children, and uh, young moms, things of that nature. And I would suggest to you that a branch Library may in fact, uh, solve some of those issues on the eastside in terms of having, uh, programs or something to do for kids and...and moms and their families all year long. Thank you. Bailey: Thank you. Karr: Madame Mayor, could we please remind individuals to either sign in so we have a name and an address to respond back to you on, or there are some slips in the back that you could fill them out ahead. Bailey: (mumbled) anyone else wishing to comment? Davies: Yes, Mayor, Council, uh, I'm Ray Davies and first of all, I would like to thank those of you from the Council who attended our neighborhood meeting this weekend. Uh, you are more than welcome and I hope that some of the things we discussed, you took to heart, and I'm just wondering what happens with the, uh, suggestions that Chief Hargadine came up with about the, uh, juvenile delinquency act that he's, uh, proposed? Bailey: We directed staff to look at a curfew and that that type of ordinance and we'll be looking at that in the future. Davies: Okay. Thank you, Ma'am. That's about it for tonight. And, once again, thank you much for showing up, and hopefully we can get...all working together and get something done to help our neighborhood...because I think it, uh, what happens in one neighborhood affects the whole town. Thank you. Bailey: Thank you (several responding) Hayek: You know, Madame Mayor, I...it might he1p...I know we're not going to engage in a...in a dialogue because we don't during the public comment time, but I think for the public's purpose, um, last night at our work session, which is always the meeting that comes before the meeting that's televised, the Council did spend, uh, an hour to an hour and a half, I think, uh, talking with staff and with each other about the issues raised at the meeting on Saturday and other issues, and we've provided direction to staff to explore both, as the Mayor said, both a curfew and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #3 Page 4 a....a delinquency ordinance. We're going to be looking at other things, as well, and we're going to be reconvening as a Council some...in the coming weeks to take this issue up again. Um, so while we can't be providing information, or responding to questions tonight, because of the format of this meeting, uh, we did meet at length last night, uh, and a lot of discussion occurred and staff has been, uh, given instructions as to where we want to go from here. So, I...I think that would help the people in this audience and the television audience, as well. Bailey: And for those of you who have questions about the meeting schedule, or the meeting agendas, if you contact the Clerk's office, um, those are available electronically. Those are available at City Hall, and so you...you could know the schedule and what the topics are for the work sessions, as well as the formal. Champion: I think it's also important to let the neighborhood know that that was an incredibly well-run meeting. People were civil. People spoke their minds. They brought out their problems and I congratulate the neighborhood, that it was just really well done, and I thank you for that. Bailey: (mumbled) allow some more time for public comment. We're here to hear from you. Cohn: Good evening, uh, my name is Yale Cohn. I live on Iowa Avenue, far away, this far, knock on wood, from the very problems that we were discussing at the meeting on Saturday. Uh, though I live far away from there, I attended it, because it's a concern of mine, because I believe that problems of this sort affect not just one isolated area, but all who live in this town, and I'm here to verbalize my support for either, uh, the proposed delinquency ordinance, and more specifically the curfew ordinance, and I ask that the Council not, and I don't say this disrespectfully, dither on the matter because...there's a tendency to, and I understand the legislative process is a slow one, uh, but to consult and confer and have consultants come in, but this really is the time for action, um, because what, I mean, this is a rhetorical question obviously, but what would you say to the mother of a child shot a week from now and that might have potentially been stopped, were these to be implemented, uh, if you don't act on it for three weeks, or discuss it in three weeks and possibly implement it in five, um, you know, I think it was General Patton that said a good plan today is better than a perfect one tomorrow, and it's...it's time for a plan to be put into action, because as I mentioned at the meeting where I see there's a lot of other folks here, uh, as well, you know, any criminologist or sociologist would tell you the broken window theory, that a broken window in a building if left unattended to will cause the building to be defaced with graffiti which causes that building to go bad and then that block and that neighborhood. Well, we're long past, uh, broken windows. We're at the stabbings and the shootings and the mob action stage at this point, and I...I would implore the Council to understand the urgency of that and act with all due diligence, but also with expediency, because uh, at present rate, you know, I mean we're statistically overdue for one of these shots to connect. iJh, right now This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #3 Page 5 so far, knock on wood, it hasn't happened, but nonetheless...Ithfnk the Council would respond...rather Iwish the Council had responded sooner, but I can...I can think of other instances where the Council's acted with haste, uh, and the City and the community has acted with haste when there was an issue, um, I believe it was last winter for...actually for a period of time, with the groper, excuse me, the groper and the groping incidents, uh, patrols were increased, uh, as far as more decoy ...female decoy officers were, uh, deployed. There was a shuttle service, uh, put together by the University. I know there was watches, whistles were handled out...handed out, you acted! You didn't confer and talk. You acted! And thus far, I haven't heard a report of a groping incident in quite some time, um, whatever my personal opinions on the matter were...I didn't think it was an issue, but when there was ultimate fighting at Union Bar, you guys didn't like it - you acted! You shut it down. It didn't take, you know, it didn't dither in committee, uh, forever and ever and ever. Um, there's, I don't know what the legal (mumbled) are here, but I don't see any reason why you couldn't also act, and I know this isn't a dialogue, so I'm not asking for an answer, uh, I don't understand why you couldn't act now, you know, put something in place. Would it withstand legal challenges? It might or it might not. Would it harm anybody necessarily? No, I don't think so. Might it prevent problems? Violence? Death? Yeah, it has that capability. Um, one thing that I read in the Press-Citizen this morning in their editorial on your consideration of this matter, um, was that, and I don't know if this was, I didn't...I wasn't here at your work session yesterday, and I don't know if this language came expressly from the P-C or from the Council itself, but it was the Council will have to consider how to address the inevitable disproportionate implementation of the ordinance in some neighborhoods and on specific racial or socio-economic groups. I'd just like to personally say that I would implore you not to consider that, cause any consideration thereof would be a reasonably absurd! Um, I'm quite sure...I don't have numbers in front of me, but if you looked at all the arrests over the course of a weekend downtown for, uh, PAULA citations or public intox citations, those predominantly be white...white people being arrested. Why? There's a lot of white kids downtown getting drunk and causing trouble! Police arrest them! Well, if there's problems in other parts of the City where, uh, a police response would be needed, and that would then be disproportionately ofone, uh, specific racial or socio-economic group, I...I can't for the life of me fathom that those arrests would be based on that. Uh, that would be based on violations of either a curfew, uh, if that was to be implemented, or a, uh, juvenile delinquency, you know, it's the same with talking about marshalling police resources to (mumbled). There's underage drinking and possession of alcohol issues all over town. The police, they concentrate the downtown. Why? That's where the most problems happen when those things occur. Well, if loitering, whatever...whatever would fall under the purview of the, uh, delinquency ordinance, primarily happened in one area, in one neighborhood, one series of neighborhoods, concentrate the...the police force there. Bailey: Mr. Cohn, I need to ask you to conclude your remarks. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #3 Page 6 Cohn: Okay. Um, and lastly, um, related to this, um, I just ask that, and I broached this at the meeting. I understand that there's budgetary concerns about hiring, uh, other...additional, excuse me, additional policemen, but...I think it would be wise for the Council to consider to...to reallocate some of the funds that are expended on things that make this, uh, a wonderful town to live in because if people, any people, whether they live in Broadway or whether they live in Manville Heights, I..doesn't make a difference to me. We're all Iowa Citians. But if they're afraid to leave their house to enjoy these things, um, it's...it's kind of a lost issue. So, that's it on that. Completely unrelated matter, just to Councilor Hayek, we're also playing Frisbee on Thursdays now, uh, it would be lovely to see you come out if that fits your schedule better than Sunday. Thank you for your time. Bailey: Thank you. Others wishing to make public comment? Um, you...you need to use the microphone or we don't have record of it, Brandi. Just step up here. Mastain: I'm new to this whole process, so...is this where we talk about what we want to say about the, you know, the possibility of the juvenile detention? Is this where we talk about it here, or... Bailey: Sure, yeah. It's not on the agenda. Mastain: The one thing I want to say it, um, when we moved to our house in 1995, we did have a wonderful and beautiful diverse neighborhood. And it was great for the longest time, but when you add it...when we added more housing, you added more problems. And...and it's not, again, not a black or white thing. It's a crime thing. It's these kids are going to, I mean, I don't know if anybody's as freaked out as I am that a child got shot. I mean, to me that's what made me really jump into action, is a child got shot. Six inches one way would have probably killed him, or could have really killed him. We need to take some control of our neighborhood. I have neighbors that can't sleep at night and I know you guys are very aware of this, but you got to understand, but when you average between three or four hours a night sleep, you know, it's not fair to me, the homeowner, and I'm not the only homeowner. I know I've talked to several homeowners that are, you know, they live on the corners and unfortunately they get the whole (mumbled). The other thing I would like you to consider is finding some way to protect us, or to guarantee us some sort of noise ordinance with these cars that go by that...that vibrate my pop can on my counter. I mean, it just moves and it's kind of like watching ghosts in your house, but it's just outrageous, and this is all hours of the day and night, and it's just so unfair. I've asked both City Housing, because I mean, I recognize the car and where they live, to both, you know, Greater City Iowa City Housing, can you please send letters, can you please send letters. And, um, last time I asked, um, one of the Housing, the Greater Iowa City Housing Authority, there was a letter going around about me, in our neighborhood, that I rat people out, I write down their license plates, and call the police. Now, out of confidentiality Ithought that was supposed to be something that was supposed to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #3 Page 7 be confident. I had people going by and calling me racial names, all the time. And the, you know, the fear in our neighborhood, it's not good! So, I'm asking you guys to take this seriously, and to maybe help protect the, you know, the homeowners, as well as you want to protect the tenants, because something's got to change back there. My family and I are actually at the option of moving out of our house, and trying to figure out two house payments, but I have...my sons can't have people come over to our house because of the radio blasts how dangerous it is. I can't ruin their high school career by not getting to have friends come over. I mean, it's really lonely and it's hard for...when their friends used to hang out, oh you hang out, or you live in the ghetto. As a taxpayer, we should have the right to sleep through a night. I can't remember the last time I did. Oh, my son was at a basketball tournament. I slept the hotel, you know, great seven hours straight for four nights. My health is at risk, and that's why our doctor called my husband in to say, look, your wife has got to get sleep. And I don't know if there's...no easy solution, but the more house you add the noisier it gets, and you know, we're asking out of desperation. I mean, I don't know if you understand how unfair it is that we have to move out of our house forme to sleep. We have to move out of our house for our children to be able to have a normal high school, you know, normal time in high school without worrying whether they're going to get shot at night. Last year when I called, I called after the six shooting incidents and I felt like everybody kind of brushed it under the rug like, oh well, we don't live there, and I've invited every Council Member to sit on a Friday or Saturday night and see, hear the noise, watch the danger, watch the chaos. I was so humiliated when I had my family down and there was about 30 some kids running and screaming, fist fighting, cussing, you know, and we're like, oh, are they fighting? I mean, my family's, oh my God, I can't believe this goes on all the time. Scared the daylights out of my neighbor next door, and I have a neighbor next door that has two hearing aids, and that bump-bump-bump that goes by is very painful for her. You know, she has Down Syndromes, and it's very hard for her to, you know, turn up her hearing aids, turn down, because she doesn't know when it's going to hurt her. So I'm asking you as a taxpayer, you know, help us out, help us find a solution, you know, if it's...redisperse the housing throughout Iowa City. According to HUD regulations, the five-year plan said you were supposed to scatter site throughout Johnson, uh, Washington and Iowa Counties and if you look at the, it's obvious! It's all over basically by us, and it's not fair to us for our property values. It's not fair to us for safety. When you have kids...there's so many reports, I mean, I watch....my son watched a guy pull a gun out of his hoodie, right in front of our house, on a Sunday afternoon. I mean, they...they want to go to the back bedroom and sleep because they're so afraid, and my God, they're teenagers! They should be worried about, you know, who they want to date, not whether they're going to get shot! But, you...we invite these, you know, and we had some wonderful families, but guess what? They all moved out, because they don't want their kids involved with these kids. So I'm begging our City Council to please take this as a serious matter, uh, the juvenile crime, and also on you know maybe breaking up some of the housing so you're not, I mean, you're getting people from dangerous neighborhoods, all piled in one, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #3 Page 8 and someone wants to be the kingpin, you know, and that's what half the problems are happening back there. I mean, at 3:30 on a Saturday night I watched two cars get out, right in front of our house. You couldn't miss it. They're fist fighting and screaming, 'That was my niece. I don't want to go to jail.' And we're just standing there you know for fifteen minutes...going, cause we've had the experience and I don't blame our police, I mean, they have their job to do. They have their orders to do. But we...but we stopped calling because what's the point? Last time I called after I heard four gun fire shots, I said please don't put the lady who opened the door. I'm so tired of the letters. I opened up the door and said, 'Hey, did you hear that?' And the guy goes it was me. Can you understand how when you don't sleep your common sense goes out the door? And I was like, oh my God, the shooter knows I live here now. So I said to the police, please don't put my name! Please don't put the lady who opened the door, and what do they do? Plopped it right there! So I mean out of fear you know you sit there and go, yeah, we don't really have a choice. Bailey: Brandi, I need to ask you to conclude. I can assure you the Council has taken this very seriously. We are just as concerned as you are, even though we don't live, you know, I don't live there, but my parents live in that neighborhood. I understand. I grew up in that neighborhood. So we are taking it seriously. Mastain: Well, I...in conclusion I'm inviting every Council Member after the students moved out, and unfortunately I do feel for the Police Department because they do have to kind of man everywhere, to sit on a Friday or Saturday night at my house and watch what's going on. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Bailey: Thank you. Anybody else like to address the Council? I just do want to check, if there's anybody who wants...who hasn't had a chance to speak before we start getting people at the podium a second time. Is there anybody who hasn't had an opportunity to speak? Okay, go ahead, sir. Kerstetter: Jon Kerstetter again. Just briefly, let me add to my previous, uh, comments, uh...if...if the crime, uh, rate on the east side or whatever side, it doesn't what side, if it's high enough, as was brought out Saturday by the Chief of Police, to warrant additional officers and one of the issues that was brought out was response to the east side is...is not as good as he would like it to be, and I would suggest and encourage the Council to look into the possibility of a police sub- station somewhere on the east side. Uh, I understand Los Cocos has decided to, uh, close business. I mean, there's availability and...and a police substation would perhaps solve the issue of availability and response time. Uh, and I'll leave that to the Council for further consideration, but I...but I, and several people at the meeting had discussed that, uh, as a possible good idea. The other thing I do want to mention that, uh, in response to the neighborhood meeting, I met with several people afterwards and...and discussed, oh, just different things, but one of the things that came up was a sort of a citizen response to, uh, a small group formed, if you will, uh, and it kind of went like this. There...there was an officer This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #3 Page 9 there, and I apologize I don't recall his name, but he's got a new position of, I believe it's "community involvement." Do you remember who that was (mumbled) Yeah, Bailey, same, not related but.. . Bailey: Not related. Kerstetter: Not related...Officer Bailey, uh, talked with at length, and he was encouraging us to, uh, go ahead with a small kind of community group meeting, pot-luck, this- that, dozen folks get together at perhaps one of the churches locally and uh, have him over and discuss some of these community things and I discussed the idea at the meeting with several community members and they thought it was a great idea. So, again, uh, we wi11...I will, we will pursue that as a community and as a, uh, as, uh, an eastside community, and we'll certainly extend invitations to the Council, Mayor, anybody who'd be interested and certainly Officer Bailey indicated, uh, his intent to be at those, but it's just...just to show you that, you know, it's not all about screaming and yelling. It's about action and as I said at the meeting, uh, I understand people are alarmed and hurt and afraid of issues revolving around crime, but...now's the time really for action, and we cannot afford to wait till some, you know, child gets hurt or killed or worse, so I thank you for your time. Bailey: Thank you. Anybody else wishing to address the Council? Wootonn: My name's Richard Wootonn. I live on Miami Drive, right across the street from... from Fairmeadows Park. Been there five years. I'm selling my house. Uh, it's just an issue that I...I have two kinds, 12 and 15, and uh, I can't take the chance. And I would, this lady, she invited you to come over one night and experience what goes on there, and I would just (mumbled) that same invitation...excuse me, that same invitation to you. You know, just come see what's happening and...and uh, I don't see the Chief of Police here, but uh, I wanted to thank him, I wanted to thank you for the increased patrol. It's very evident, but in that...I don't...I don't think that's going to be the solution. You know, there has to be something, you know, whether it's curfew, whether it's delinquent, uh, ordinance, there has to be something done and I just encourage you to act, you know, soon. So, thank you. Bailey: And I've been asked by the Clerk to have you sign in so that we have that as record. Thank you. Wootonn: Okay. Bailey: Anybody else wishing to address the Council? I see a lot of you here. This is a nice opportunity for you to...give us your thoughts. Okay, we're going to move into the rest of the agenda, but I do want, once again, want to assure you the Council takes this seriously. We don't view it as a neighborhood issue, but a community issue, and that we're all in this together. And that we are taking steps This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #3 Page 10 to look at the curfew and to look at the juvenile delinquency behavior ordinance, and we'll be taking those up in sort of an expedited fashion, and um, we welcome your thoughts and your...your input on this, and we also know that there's not one simple, single answer, and so it's going to take all of us to figure out how to make this...how to meet this challenge. So I appreciate all of you being here and if nobody else wishes to speak at public comment, we're going to move into our Planning and Zoning items. Okay? And...you do not have to stay for the rest of the meeting, but of course you're welcome to stay. Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #6 Page 11 ITEM 6. AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE OF A SINGLE FAMILY HOME LOCATED AT 842 LONGFELLOW COURT. a) PUBLIC HEARING Bailey: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open. Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Correia: Move the resolution. O'Donnell: Second. Bailey: Moved by Correia, seconded by O'Donnell. Discussion? Wilburn: Just to point out, these are low-income assistance, not in the aforementioned part of town, and that the City does that program in other parts of town. Wright: This is one where it's going from assisted to (several talking) ownership housing (several talking) terrific program. Bailey: Any other discussion? Roll call. Item carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #7 Page 12 ITEM 7. APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FY09 LANDFILL GRADING PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS. a) PUBLIC HEARING Bailey: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open. Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Champion: Move the resolution. Bailey: Moved by Champion. Hayek: Second. Bailey: Seconded by Hayek. Discussion? Correia: Didn't we talk last night about the asphalt versus concrete...in this, with this issue? Dilkes: That's the next one I think. (several talking) Bailey: (mumbled) Item 8 is the parking area. So...any other questions or discussions? Correia: No...wait, this is the park area that...oh, sorry. (several talking) Wright: We don't want to pave that! (laughter) Bailey: That's not actually (several talking and laughing) okay? Any other discussion? Roll call. Item carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #8 Page 13 ITEM 8. APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PHASE ONE-TRAIL DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERRY TRUEBLOOD RECREATION AREA PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS. a) PUBLIC HEARING Bailey: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is closed. b) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Wright: Move adoption. O'Donnell: Second. Bailey: Moved by Wright, seconded by O'Donnell. Amy, did you (both talking) Correia: This is the one. Bailey: Yes! Correia: Do we have anybody from... Bailey: Rick is here from Public Works, and asphalt versus concrete question, is that (both talking) Correia: ...brought up in terms of cost. Fosse: Bidding them both, and then (several commenting) take the best value. (several commenting) Bailey: Anything else? Any other discussion? Okay, roll call. Item carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #9 Page 14 ITEM 9. CONSIDERING AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CITY CODE TITLE 1, ENTITLED "ADMINISTRATION," CHAPTER 5, ENTITLED "MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL," TO FREEZE THE COMPENSATION FOR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND REPEAL THE REVIEW POLICY ESTABLISHED BY ORDINANCE 97-3804. (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Bailey: This is second consideration, and staff recommends expedited action. Wilburn: I move that the rule requiring that ordinances must be considered and voted on for passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at which it is to be finally passed be suspended, that second consideration and vote be waived, and the ordinance be voted for final passage at this time. Bailey: Moved by Wilburn to expedite. Champion: Second. Bailey: Seconded by Champion. Discussion? Roll call. Item carries 7-0. Wright: Move adoption. Champion: Second. Bailey: Moved by Wright, seconded by Champion for adoption. Discussion? Hayek: You know, I'm supportive of this - we all are - but I need to repeat my refrain, which is that until we bring personnel compensation, expenses in line with our tax revenues, throughout the institution, uh, steps like these are nice gestures but...but they have minimal impact upon a bad budget situation. So we...we've got to make progress in that regard. That's my pitch. Ready to vote. Champion: It's mine too. Bailey: (several talking) lots of little steps. Wright: Kind of a tiny one! Bailey: It's a very tiny one, it's extremely small, but...but, yeah, we're never going to find the one big (mumbled). Roll call. Item carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #10 Page 15 ITEM 10. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING ANNUAL PASS FEES FOR THE THORNBERRY OFF-LEASH DOG PARK AND RITA'S RANCH DOG PARK. Wright: Move adoption. Bailey: Moved by Wright. O'Donnell: Seconded. Helling: Madame Mayor? Bailey: ...by O'Donnell. Helling: Madame Mayor? Bailey: Yes? Helling: Uh, it's been requested this be deferred. Bailey: Oh! Helling: Until the, well the next meeting to be September 14th. Fifteenth, I'm sorry. Bailey: We need...anything to withdraw those motions or can we just do a deferral? Karr: You can just do another motion. Bailey: May I have another motion, please, to defer to September 15th. O'Donnell: Move to defer...until the 15th of September. Champion: Second. Bailey: Okay. Moved deferral. Any discussion? It's not ready to go or... Helling: Just not ready to go yet. Bailey: Okay. All those in favor of deferring this to September 15th say aye. Those opposed say nay. Motion carries. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #11 Page 16 ITEM 11. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING FUNDING FOR CORRIDOR DRYWALL LLC FROM IOWA CITY'S COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) -ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUND AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ACT AS CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER AND SUBMIT ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTATION TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. Champion: Move the resolution. Bailey: Moved by Champion. Hayek: Second. Bailey: Seconded by Hayek. Discussion? Tracy is here. Amy, you had a question last night? Tracy, would you like to come up and talk a little bit about how the interest are established for these various loans. Hightshoe: We started the fund back in 2003. On the application the applicant, uh, puts the loan terms, the amount of loan that they are requesting (noise on mic) terms of the...that the business can support. A lot of our applicants work with private lenders, who are going through their financial projections and looking at their cash flow statements to see what kind of loan that the business can repay. So a lot of times, a private lender will state such and such terms. Um, we look at it; we see if it's viable. It's always been past policy or just...past practice that, uh, businesses that are more financially viable can support a higher interest rate, um, that being said, the interest rate usually runs from 1 to 3 to 4%. So it depends on the applicant. Bailey: And we do have some loans, um...I think some businesses that came up last night at zero percent, right? Okay. Some of our more micro...micro. Wright: This is usually done on a case-by-case basis, is that the.. . Hightshoe: Typically the...the applicants that are working with a private lender and they (noise on mic) part of their financing through a commercial lender, are typically in better financial condition than some of the applicants that we might (mumbled) offer zero, 1 % to. Bailey: Any questions for Tracy? Okay. Thanks for being here to explain it. Any further discussion of the item? Okay. Roll call. Item carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #12 Page 17 ITEM 12. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A CHANGE FROM CALENDAR PARHING TO ODD/EVEN DATE PARHING FOR STREETS WHICH CURRENTLY HAVE CALENDAR PARHING. Wright: Move adoption. Bailey: Moved by Wright. Hayek: Second. Bailey: Seconded by Hayek. Discussion? Moore: Let me get my sticker on here. My...I'm Dave Moore. I'm at 425 Davenport Street, and uh, is there...I went on the web site, um, about this odd/even thing, and the change, and it was a little unclear to me. I sort of...I wanted to make a few comments in opposition to this change, but I didn't know if I should...I would rather throw in my two-cents after I had more of an understanding of...of the proposal, but then that kind of enters into the dialogue area here. Bailey: Did you want to just briefly summarize, Dale, why we're moving to...(both talking) he could, you could sum... Moore: Yeah, how does the snow emergency thing falls better in sync with this change? Bailey: Yeah, let's have Rick overview it and then I think everyone will have a better understanding of it. Thanks. Fosse: What this change does is it puts the neighborhood parking in sync with the snow ordinance by default, and one of the problems that we experienced during the first year of the snow ordinance was...was confusion where we had posted parking that conflicts with what is enforced by the...by the snow ordinance. And, uh, the way we worked it is posted parking preempted what's in the snow ordinance, but...but that creates a...a confusion point, and that's we had a number of people that had problems with that last year. We looked to communities that have successful snow ordinances and that's how they've managed their parking, is to go to odd/even parking that...that corresponds with the snow ordinance, so they're just in the right place at the right time. Hayek: It might help the public...give an example of how that created a conflict last year. Fosse: Well, it...it...it could have been that you were supposed to be parking on the odd side of the street by the snow ordinance, but by the posted parking in the neighborhood, you were parking on the even side, because it was, for instance, a Monday or a Wednesday or a Friday, depending on how it worked out in that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #12 Page 18 particular neighborhood. And those...those two parking options are just at odds with each other, and...and some people interpreted it, the right way, and other people interpreted it differently, and...and we just ended up with cars on both sides of the streets, and then some people getting towed unnecessarily there. Bailey: So we're trying to do this to simplify, and to make it more clear and to avoid ticketing and towing...well, we tow actually in a snow emergency, so we're trying to avoid towing citizens who... Fosse: Correct. Yeah, and...and the most common feedback that we got...we got about fifteen calls on this. It's easier to remember the day of the week than the date, and can't argue with that, but I...I think once you get in the swing of things, going back and forth, it'll be just the same as you do now, with the exception of the end of the month where you have two odd days in a row. Champion: I was just going to ask that. So what happens then? Fosse: You stay on the same side of the street. Bailey: Those are the great days if you're on even/odd parking. (laughter) Fosse: So...as we work into this, we'll have cone-week, pretty much a grace period, where they issue warnings, and...and then also that first time we have adouble- odd day, uh, they'll issue warnings on that too, in case there's some confusion there. Bailey: Okay. Any other questions for Rick while we have him up here? Okay. Go ahead. You're going to need to approach the microphone, of course. Moore: I'd love to ask one question, and then I'll make my comments, if that's the right... so why not have the snow ordinance get in sync with the existing sides? Fosse: Then we're putting the whole day, or the whole City on a...(mumbled) Bailey: Why don't you...I think Dave can hear us and I don't think he'll be offended if you use the microphone. Fosse: Uh, that addresses during the week. You've got the Monday, Wednesday, Friday parking, but then you've go the Saturday and Sunday thing. The...the odd/even parking is what really works well in the other communities that have had experience with a similar (mumbled). We wanted to go with something that was proven there. Bailey: Okay. Fosse: And...and in some areas there is odd/even parking. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #12 Page 19 Bailey: And, once again this winter it'll be the second winter of our snow emergency ordinance. I'm assuming that as we find challenges, we'll continue to tweak this snow emergency ordinance. Fosse: Yes. Bailey: Okay. Moore: All right, thanks for your comments. I'm not exactly sure how having it be the 13th and then 14th, then the 15th and the 16th makes still any difference than being Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday because Sunday is excluded from either...either thing, right? Whether it's odd or even? Bailey: Yes. Moore: Okay. So, I'm not sure whether it's worth the switch this direction and...and here's my reasons why, and I feel a little funny talking about it because after the public testimony relative to problems on the east side, this is clearly not like an earthshaking, you know, issue relatively speaking, but for me...it's just a little pain in the ass, you know (laughter). I just want to say a few words. Bailey: Sure! Moore: Uh, you know, to me it is really clear that it's just plain harder to remember. You know, I saw these, the blue signs in our street two or three days ago, and today as I was working and around town, including dinner with my dad, I asked four or five people, 'Do you know what the date is?' And nobody knew what the date...it was. 'Do you know what day it is,' and everybody knows what the day is. Um, so it...it seems like, and you can say, well everybody will readjust. Well, how? You're asking a whole population to suddenly be able to absorb this consciousness of...of knowing the day of the month (mumbled) having a calendar in your car, or if you got a cell phone and you can check it or if you're in front of your apartment you can run in and see or, there's ways to figure this out. I can understand that. So, it seems to me like a minor inconvenience, you know, for the people on the streets that are parking, yet it seems like a minor inconvenience that goes on every day and every day for year after year after year, you know, for hundreds of people during those days, for thousands of tens of thousands of people over the years, and...and so, um, and then I was trying to think of sort of a...some responses, like...and someone might say, 'Isn't it obvious which side of the street you park on, just from looking at the street?' You know? And it's not at all! As anybody...I don't know how many on the City Council have ever lived on an odd/even street...I live, I have lived on one for 25 years, 30 with no alley access and no garage and no driveway, and so me and my family, couple teenagers with cars have, you know, probably paid the salary of somebody (laughter) with parking tickets and...we put out a lot, even being conscientious This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #12 Page 20 and trying our best on oddleven, you know. iJh, but it really isn't obvious, because by about 8:00 in the morning, everybody...you don't know where everybody's going to park. They're on one side or the other. But by...by 5:00 it starts to get really ambiguous. By the time people come home from work, by the time students and apartment dwellers come home from work, it's sort of like a free-for-all. You go on the street, and wow, what day is it today, uh, some of the people are still on the right side, other people have made the move to the other side. It's Tuesday. Okay, that's what I do. But I can imagine myself or thousands of other people saying, oh, Christ, it's what date of the month, you know, and...you know, to me it's, uh...I'm not so sure that, you know, there are not a whole lot of people...a lot of people have garages and a lot of people have driveways. You don't have to think about this. It's a pretty small group of low- incomepeople Isuppose that don't have either, like me, or it's apartment dwellers and students. Um...but these are a lot of people, as anybody knows who goes up and down these streets, they're packed. A lot of people change. A lot of people every day, hundreds, you know, thousands over years have to make this decision. Um...and then I, uh, try to imagine, uh...why nobody else besides me is concerned about this. Champion: But they all have calendars, Dave. Moore: They all have calendars! (laughter) Champion: I'm going to get you one. You can put it right in your car! (laughter) Bailey: I...I think there will be other people (several talking) Moore: I'm pretty close to being done...and, and it maybe I'm off on this...my guess is that there's (mumbled) City Hall going on, you know. I don't know if that's true. My guess is that there's not a, again, not an earth shattering issue, but I also think that there are probably a lot of people affected by this who are students or apartment dwellers that know they're going to have to deal with this issue only for a year or maybe four years while they're in town, and so you know, it's going to be a hassle, it's going to be an inconvenience. I'm not going to worry about it right now. So, anyway, to me it just seems like a minor inconvenience that just goes on and on and on, to a whole lot of people that could grow into really a royal annoyance for people who live and want to park in those areas, and I hope before you go with this change you decide whether it might be just much simpler just to not do it, and coordinate the snow stuff with the existing signs as they are. So.. . Bailey: Thanks, Dave. Anybody else wishing to talk about odd/even parking? And there are some of us who are affected by this. So...some of us understand. Anderson: Uh, my name is Roger Anderson. I live at 1310 Cedar Street, and I have lived in Iowa City for 46 years. I'm a little bit embarrassed to even talk about parking after the earlier public testimony cause I think maybe the only thing you should be This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #12 Page 21 working on is the southeast problem, and until it gets fixed do nothing else. But, nevertheless, I will take this opportunity. I agree with the previous gentleman. Why not change the snow ordinance? I mean, that seems to be the simplest solution of all! And that if no one understands this...the snow ordinance, how can it possibly become more confusing? Um, what is the cost of new signs? How much is it going to cost to resign Iowa City? I mean, just having gotten my tax bill, I really don't want to see an extra cent wasted. As he pointed out, even/odd is much more confusing, because people, they know the day of the week, usually. They don't know necessarily the date of the week. It isn't...that isn't as important to 'em as the day of the week. You know you go to work on Monday. How many people know what, you know, that Monday was the 17th? They don't. Okay. LJh, it leads to the problem for the odd, or the months with odd days, you know, 29 in February sometimes. Thirty-one in the months, because the following day is another odd day. Uh, and you know, someone might say, is this just intended to bring in more parking fine money. If you want to change the parking system, I think that you should consider other options. I know at least two of you campaigned to get on the Council being "green" people and wanting to save gas and things like that. The idea of having to move a car every day of the week wastes gas. I don't know how much. Perhaps someone should do a study of it. Is there a plan that doesn't require those who don't use their car, other things that you've encouraged, that they don't have to move it every single day. The other one is the downtown no-parking 2:00 A.M. to 6:00 A.M., seven days a week. San Francisco has the same thing one day a week, they tell which day, they clean the streets on that day. It changes, you know, for different areas, but that is something that wastes gas and also leaves the people driving when they shouldn't be driving, and then my final comment is we're discussing this when the majority of the people involved aren't in town. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but I think this really should be discussed when the students are in town because if they are the people who are most greatly going to be affected by it. Thank you. Bailey: Thanks. (both talking) Thank you. Dieterle: Well, I...I don't really like the snow ordinance either. I would prefer it to be the Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday for the snow ordinance be on that same schedule for the people who live on streets that have one-side only parking, because it is easier to think of whether it's Monday or Tuesday than it is to be able to think of what date, excuse me, day of the month it is in terms of numeral. The other thing is that I was not aware that, um, Sunday is exempted from this. Uh, and the logic of exempting Sunday kind of, uh, escapes me because after all it will snow on Sunday, uh, but if you're going to exempt Sunday, then I would, uh, submit that would you please also exempt Christmas Eve and uh, New Year's Eve, because I think that the amount of ill feeling that you will get from ticketing and towing people on those two nights will far outweigh any usefulness of, you know, clearing the streets then. Thanks very much. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #12 Page 22 Bailey: Thanks, Caroline. Wright: Just for clarification, Rick, you didn't mean to imply that the snow ordinance is not enforced on Sundays, but that the parking.. . Fosse: That's right. Wright: ...is not (several talking) Fosse: ...that's the way the neighborhoods are now (mumbled) people want to keep it (both talking) Wright: So if a snow ordinance is declared on a Sunday...parking restrictions will go into effect. Fosse: Right...on that Sunday. And... Dieterle: (away from mic) those two days ought to be (away from mic) Bailey: Okay! We...(unable to hear, away from mic) Dieterle: ...um, is the new schedule of fines, uh, parking fines, going to be affecting the, uh, the odd/even parking, uh, or whatever it is that you're going to decide to have, or not? Bailey: I don't think so. I think those were specific...we raised some parking rates, but I don't think we raised...we did raise some fines that seemed to be more related to the downtown. More expired meters (both talking) Helling: We can find out. I'm not sure, um, if this is like in a prohibited zone or...but we'll find out and let you know. Bailey: Yeah. I don't... Dieterle: Cause there's some poor people that live on these restricted parking things with a family, you know, and more than one car. They could get into the $50 a time thing pretty quickly. Bailey: (several talking) the escalation will affect these kinds of tickets, yes. But the first ticket is a...is free. Hayek: Freebie every six months. Champion: (several talking) every six months. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #12 Page 23 Bailey: So, Rick, talking about...that's my question, I think, calendar...why didn't we do the snow ordinance with days? Fosse: Sure, let me address that for you. You know, the majority of the city does not have the...the, uh, calendar parking (mumbled) so the, when the snow ordinance kicks in, they need an easy way to know which side of the street to park on. So, uh, on even days you'll park on the even numbered side of the street. On the odd days you park on the odd numbered side of the street, uh, when you get out of the other neighborhoods there's...there's no Monday, Wednesday, Friday side to default to or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. That would just become very confusing for the 80 to 90% of the rest of the city. Bailey: So what we're assuming is people who are used to moving their cars are used to sort of paying attention to some of these considerations... Fosse: Yes. And the reason we don't leave the parking just on one side of the streets, so people don't have to move their cars, is the storage...street storage issue. Wright: It becomes a parking lot if people don't have to move their cars periodically. Fosse: Yes, for long term parking. Hayek: You threw out a statistic, was it 80 or 90% of the community is not currently in a, in an even/odd, I'm sorry. Fosse: Right. I'm shooting... Hayek: ...calendar posted sign. Fosse: Yeah, it's pretty much just the near north side, a little bit on the east side, and a very small piece on the south side. Wright: I can attest as somebody who's had to jockey cars around, with regularity, that it is...any way you slice it, it's a bother. Bailey: Yes. Wright: Whether it's calendar, uh, parking or even/odd parking. Bailey: I agree. It's a challenge. Okay. Moore: Quick follow up. The question pops into my head, why the other 80 to 90% of the city is not done on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (mumbled). That is easier to remember. And it's tough to return to that thinking. Either way it's a hassle, but I think relatively it's a...it's way less of a hassle to be thinking in terms of the days of the week. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #12 Page 24 Bailey: Thank you. Anybody else wishing to comment on this potential change in parking? Okay. Any discussion among Council Members? Hayek: I, you know...we don't want to micro-manage on things like this, and you're right, Mr. Moore, we do tend to defer to staff. We think they've thought about the issues carefully and I think they have here. I'm on Brown Street, so I'm used to what you're used to, um, but the fact that 80 to 90% of the community, um, is not under that kind of regime, and...and the...the...the difficulty of enacting something like a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, as a snow removal ordinance in the 80, 90% of the community that doesn't have any signs relating to alternating parking, I think suggests to me that this makes sense overall. It is probably a slight increase in...in headache for those of us in the central district, than the other places, without that kind of posted signs, but I think it's important to defer to staff on this and I'm comfortable that they have thought this through very carefully. Bailey: Mr. Anderson? Anderson: How difficult is it to change the snow ordinance to say that in those areas where it's calendar parking, that is what is being enforced, and in other areas it's even odd? Bailey: That's what we had last year, and it caused quite a bit of problems, and quite a bit of, as Caroline put in, bad feeling about towing. There was a lot of confusion...I know this because I live in one of those neighborhoods. There was a lot of confusion. Anderson: Was it not properly introduced to the people? I mean, you...you have to, you know, inform the people, and I...I kid you not, putting it in the Press-Citizen does not inform the public. Wright: We even leafleted windshields to make sure the public knew about this (mumbled) Bailey: And we worked with the University, as I recall (mumbled). Further discussion? Champion: I... Wright: I realize that this is...this is an annoyance, um, it...I think that if the majority of the people who do have to move their car every day, and I live on the north side and we...we have to deal with this too, uh, you know where your car was parked legally the day before, most of the time you can remember which side of the street you're jockeying to, and what I often do with this is...if I don't remember which day it is, I can usually remember what date it was a few days ago and do the math (laughter) uh, so it's usually not too tough forme to figure out what...what the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #12 Page 25 date is, and I think most of our citizens will be able to adapt to this. I...I know there was far more confusion last year, and I got an earful about this on a couple of different occasions. Uh, because the two, um, snow emergency parking systems did not quite jive, and this should accomplish that. Champion: I do agree that it is hard to remember the date, even though I write it maybe 25, 30 times a day, I still have to think of what date it is, but...so I...I'm totally against alternate parking anywhere in town, so...uh, but that's not going to change, because I think I'm the only one who likes to bring that up, that it's...ridiculous, I mean, Summit Street is (mumbled) a lot of apartments and students who park there. We seem to manage just on one side of the street. They manage to get our street clean and the trash picked up and all that, but I'm going to support this, but Dave and I, I really will give you a calendar. (laughter) Bailey: Well, I'm going to support this. I fully expect that I will have a lot of tickets this winter, or when we enact this, because it is...you're right, it's hard to remember. I also use post-it notes pretty compulsively so...I think...I think the coordination...I'm so delighted that we finally have a snow emergency ordinance, or um, that anything that makes that easier, I think, is...I'm supportive of. Other (mumbled). Okay, roll call. Resolution carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #13 Page 26 ITEM 13. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE BURLINGTON / US HWY 6 BRIDGES FLOOD REPAIR PROJECT (ER-3715(641)-BR-52 & ER-3715(642)-BR-52) Bailey: Um, we have the information today on the bids, um, the engineer's estimate was $76,703, and Public Works and Engineering recommend awarding the contract to Vieth Construction of Cedar Falls. Their bid was $51,394.50. So below our estimate! Wilburn: Move adoption of the resolution. Hayek: Second. Bailey: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Hayek. Discussion? Roll call. Item carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #14 Page 27 ITEM 14. CONSIDERING A RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE 404 HAZARD MITIGATION PROPERTY ACQUISITION DEMOLITIONS PROJECT. Wilburn: Move adoption of the resolution. Bailey: Moved by Wilburn. Hayek: Second. Bailey: Seconded by Hayek. The engineer's estimate for this, and this is a hand-out tonight, was $270,000. Public Works and Engineering recommend the award of the contract to D.W. Zinser of Walford, Iowa, and their bid came in at $83,521. Champion: How can they explain those differences in those bids? Bailey: Rick, can you address... Champion: $300,000 and we're awarding the bid for $83,000. Bailey: Rick, can you...or...it's a....really a range of bids, that's for sure! Scott: Yes it is. My name is Daniel Scott. I work in the Engineering department. I...I, uh, it is quite a large range in bids and I guess this was just a very difficult project to estimate. That's the answer. It...there's, there's a lot of odd things in tearing down houses. Just a lot of things that were up in the air (mumbled) Bailey: And we don't do this... Champion: But there is a bid for $300,000, and one for $284,000, and then we're awarding a bid for $83,000. Did they understand what they're going to be doing? I hope so! Correia: Does the... Bailey: We'll make sure that they do, right? Hayek: You know, Connie, they've got this saying about gift horses! (laughter) Champion: Don't put your head in their mouth! They get mad! Bailey: Rick? Correia: ...include, uh, site clean (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #14 Page 28 Fosse: Well, that's one of the differences in the bids is...is the contractors have the option to salvage the materials, get rid of some things, and uh, we don't know what all this contractor factored in to this one, um, also there is a performance and payment bond, so we have some protections there for...for those types of things. Um, it is a tough thing to estimate, because you know we pretty much know what it costs to tear down one house, but when you do a bunch at a time, there could be economies of scale, and I think that's what this contractor's realizing here. Bailey: Okay. Well, we're glad that they came in below estimate. Champion: Does that include taking out the...the basement, if there's a basement and all that? Fosse: Yes. Champion: Wow! Fosse: It includes killing the water and sewer services, as well. Wilburn: Which federal grant is this, that covers this? Dilkes: This is the HMGP grant. Bailey: This is the FEMA buyout (several talking) Dilkes: The FEMA buyout. Wilburn: Thank you. Dilkes: These houses have to be demolished within 90 days of their purchase by the City. Bailey: And do we have a date when this will start, after this contract is... Dilkes: Our...our first, um, closing was the end of June, so it's going to have to be before the end...for about six of them, before the end of September. Bailey: Okay. So...once this is signed we'll move ahead. Okay. Um, after that discussion we need a roll call. Resolution carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #16 Page 29 ITEM 16. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION CONCERNING MEDIACOM COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION'S 2009 UPDATING OF RATES FOR BASIC CABLE SERVICES. Hayek: Bailey: Wright Bailey: Move adoption of the resolution. Moved by Hayek. Second. Seconded by Wright. Discussion? This is actually a decrease in rates for basic cable. I'll just point that out for the public's information. Roll call. Resolution carries 7-0. Just the basic cable. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #20 Page 30 ITEM 20. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION. Bailey: I'll start with Mike Wright. Wright: I don't have anything this evening. Thank you. Bailey: Okay. Champion: I don't either. O'Donnell: None here. Bailey: Ross? Wilburn: I want to thank the Youth Advisory Commission, uh, and the City Clerk for their work on the, uh, Back to School Ice Cream, Rootbeer Float, uh, event that was on Saturday. Um, kids that showed up had fun. There was a little communication apparently about some of the advertisement, but there, all in all there were probably about, uh, including some of our volunteers about 40, 50, so it was a good event. Had a few inquires about the, uh, commission and the purpose of it, um...so we'll see where it goes. They've got another event coming up and then continue to work on trying to recruit some new members. Bailey: Okay. Matt? Hayek: Nothing. Bailey: Okay. Wow, um, I just wanted to say that we have a lot of events, um, somebody previously said that we have a lot of events in this community that makes a great community, and we have a lot of those events coming up -the Landlock Film Festival, um, Sand in the City, Taste of Iowa City, so I encourage people to get out and enjoy those, and I don't want to minimize some of the concerns that we heard tonight, but I think one of the things that we need to embrace is that we have a great community here and together we can work on these challenges, so...yes? Wilburn: I almost forgot, uh, Thursday is back to school, so please be careful driving, uh, please pay attention to the posted speed limits during school hours, and just be aware that there'll be some shorter people, including myself, walking around (laughter). Bailey: So back to school, another great event, um, in the community that I just want to say that I think together we can enjoy the benefits of this community and work on This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009. #20 Page 31 the challenges, and I think that, uh, tonight was a good evidence of people who are really concerned about the community and glad to see everybody come out. Wilburn: I raised my hand.. . Bailey: A good example! They still do that in class rooms, right? Wilburn: Some! (laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of August 18, 2009.