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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04-02 Transcription Page 1 Council Present: Alter,Dunn,Harmsen,Moe, Salih, Teague Council Absent: Bergus Staff Present: Jones, Goers, Grace,Platz, Knoche,Nagle-Gamm,Hightshoe, Sitzman,Yoder,Davies,Van Dyke,Ralston Others Present: LeFevre,USG Liaison, Monsivais,Alternate 1. Call to Order Teague: It is now 6:00PM on April 2,2024,and I'm going to call the City of Iowa City meeting to order. Roll call please. [Roll Call] All right.I wanna welcome everyone to your city hall.We have a full house here at City Hall and to anyone that is virtually joining us,welcome. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 2 2. Proclamation 2a. National Library Week Teague: All right. We're going to go on to Proclamations 2a is National Library Week (reads proclamation)to receive this is Manny from the Iowa Public Library. Galvez:Looks like I have like a mom-a moment to say something. Thank you everybody here and I am deeply honored to accept the National Library Week Proclamation on behalf of the Iowa City Public Library. This is a recognition that shines a library's vital role in our community. I want to repeat what you said properly and about the library,but also I want to thank you to the Iowa City Council and our community for your support and belief in our mission. This Honor refers our commitment to being a cornerstone of community life,intellectual growth,and cultural enrichment. Together,we will continue to open doors to endless possibilities for everyone in our community. Thank you so much. Teague: Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 3 3-7 Consent Agenda Teague: We are gonna move on to our consent agenda. Can I get a motion to approve items 3 through 7, although we will have a separate consideration for 5.b. Dunn: So moved. Alter: Second. Teague:Moved by Dunn. Seconded,by Alter. Anyone from the public like to discuss an item that is 3 through 7 except for 5.b,that is on our consent agenda.If you're online,please raise your virtual hand. Seeing no one in person or online. Council discussion.Roll call please. [Roll Call]Motion passes,6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 4 5.b Cigarette Permit Teague:Now we gonna get a motion for item 5.b,please. Dunn: So moved. Alter: Second. Teague:Moved by Dunn. Second by Alter. Teague: So anyone from the public like to address item 5.b?All right. Seeing no one in person and no one online with their virtual hand raised. Council discussion. Dunn: Eric,I've got a question for you on this one. Is our cigarette permitting authority granted through the state? Goers: Yes. Dunn: Is it a shall issue permitting authority? Goers: Certainly the city has discretion but it's based on,you know,legal disqualifications such as repeated violations,that kind of thing. Dunn: Do we know what any of the violations are or if there are any violations for these? Goers: There certainly have been tobacco violations for different entities.I'm not sure if those entities are among those listed under new cigarette permits,under item 5.b. Dunn: Okay. Thankyou. Goers: Sure. Teague:Roll call please. [Roll Call] We have three oh 3 -3. Yes. So,motion fails.Three and three?Yes. Okay.All right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 5 8. Community Comment Teague:Now,and we're moving on to community comment. This is an opportunity for the public that want to speak on any item that is not on our regular agenda. I do want to see a raise of hands of how many individuals want to speak. (unknown):We got anybody in the hallway who wants to speak? (unknown): One person out the hallway. Teague: One person in the hallway. (unknown): Two people in the hallway. Teague: Okay. (unknown): Go inside if you want to speak? Teague; Yep. So we'll allot for 3 minutes. And I also want to make mention that public comment is intended so that all members of the public can be heard by the council.Because community comment is for items not properly noticed on the agenda,council cannot engage in discussion or debate due to open meeting laws. So we'll welcome you at this time. There is also in the back sign in sheets that you can sign in and drop it in the basket is on the table back there. Otherwise,we'll ask that you sign your name and we ask that you state your name in the city you're from. Welcome. Denney: Good evening.My name is Emma Denney.I've been here before and I think you know why I'm here. I am a transsexual woman and I am here with many friends and community members to reiterate our demand that you protect trans people in this city and to respond to some things members of this council have said in this regard. Josh Moe,in an email to a friend,asked that we treat you all more like allies.He pointed out that you support drag in this city. That you let people have Pride yard signs,which is useless and meaningless if you want to actually protect our community.Josh,you mentioned that in new city buildings you're going to have gender neutral bathrooms,which is wonderful and I know several people who appreciate that.But I am much more afraid of someone calling the police on me if I use the women's room as I am a woman.I'm sure you wouldn't understand why that might be a concern.Megan Alter in a response to another friend of mine seemed to imply that should anything happen because we threatened people in this community spoke up for our own safety. It would be on us if vulnerable populations lost funding and I'm sorry that you seem to think that some members of your community matter more than others. It's pathetic and demeaning that you think you can sign a proclamation for trans day visibility,which does nothing but put a target on our backs if you don't protect us.You'll hear from many other members of my community this evening illustrating other points that they would like you to address.But I would like to reiterate our demands. First and foremost,that you create some sort of proclamation legislation,or ordinance for non enforcement of anti-trans laws in this state.I understand that that language is difficult for you all.I highly recommend looking at Madison,Wisconsin's language about prioritizing enforcement. Secondly,if we are to make Johnson County and Iowa City a safe haven for trans people,as many in the community already consider it to be,then people need to be able to afford to live here. That means actually taking action against landlords and others that strip us of our right to access housing and to meaningfully This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 6 monetarily support people fleeing to come here. I know that this will simply get a response saying that your hands are tied,that you're worried about what Des Moines might do,and I challenge you to do right by your community,to get creative, and to show that you actually care,or you won't have your jobs anymore. (unknown):Wow. Teague: Thank you. Welcome,please state your name and city you're from. Allon:My name is Bellona Allon. I'm a resident of Iowa City.I'm a 19-year-old transsexual woman, and I am shocked,disappointed and angry at the absolute cowardice of the people sitting in front of me right now. The blatant refusal to do anything of meaning,the requests to be treated as allies, well you give us empty words and no protections. It's sad. I hope none of you have your jobs come next election cycle. To my community who is here with me today,thank you. To my trans siblings,friends. Teague: We do ask that you address the council. Allon: Okay,sure,Teague.My community stands behind me today. They care about me,you do not. I will address you as a way of speaking to them. The people standing behind me are soon going to be asked to do extremely difficult things to protect the people they love. They are going to be asked to break state laws that discriminate against trans people and health care,they are going to be asked to fight with us,and if they do not have your support,it is going to be so-so much harder for them. Stand with us,do not invoke the names of our dead community members for brownie points, fix the problems in this city,give us some meaningful change. I know that landlords hate regulating their own,but God,do something,protect us,or we will die and we will leave,and it will be your fault. Thank you for your time. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Reynen:Hello,My name is Clara Reynen,and I'm from Iowa City,Iowa. We are back once again to ask you to do your job and protect your constituents. The transgender community needs you to listen and to do whatever needs to be done to make Iowa City a sanctuary city. Throughout the week, I've seen the e-mail exchanges between you and my friends,who are much better about remembering to email their City Councilors than I'm. And what I've seen has really shocked me, time and time again you have told my friends and other concerned citizens that your hands are tied, and making Iowa City a sanctuary city would put a target on our town's back from the state. I understand that this is scary.You all hold immense power and responsibility, and the thought that your actions could cause negative repercussions should make you scared. I hope it does. I understand that you can't physically raise your hand,but I want you to think about how many of you are afraid to loose state funding. Sit with that fear for a moment, sit with the anxieties about how community members might look at you,what they might say to you on the street as you walk past them.Maybe your favorite grocery store wouldn't feel like a safe place to shop anymore because you don't know what community members are thinking when they see you.But that is how it feels every day to be trans.And not for any decision that you've made,but for an innate part of yourself that can not and should not need to be hidden. So I ask you this rhetorically,what are you going to do about it?Are you going to use your fear to take action against a State that is passing unconstitutional laws? Gender identity is still a protected class under civil rights laws in Iowa no matter how hard Jeff Shipley tried to get them taken away.You This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 7 have a responsibility as elected officials to take action against unconstitutional and fascist laws. We have been told our entire life that if we want to make change,we need to get involved in local politics and that's what we're here doing.But now that we're here,now that we are demanding to be protected to,and listen to,what are you doing in response?Local politics suddenly can't do anything it seems. If this is the case,what is left for us to do,lay down and accept that you are all as worthless and as powerless as you appear to be?Is that really the takeaway you want us to go home with? The takeaway that we will flee this state with?I'm not asking,I'm demanding,do your job, sue the state if you have to. With each meeting that passes and you remain actionless you are making it abundantly clear that you are not politicians because you care about people,but that you are politicians because you want power.And I refuse to support elected officials who are not protecting my community. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome,please state your name and city you're from. Letourneau: Good evening.My name is Lex Letoumeau I'm initially from Atlanta,Georgia,but I've been a resident of Iowa City for the past five years. I moved here for my master's degree with the intention of moving immediately after I finished.But once meeting the community and the city here that very quickly changed. Iowa City is special. I have community here like Ibe never experienced anywhere else,as many other community members have come before you. And stated as well. I'm here today to urge you along with many other community members to protect your trans community members and make Iowa City a sanctuary city. I'm an educator in Iowa City Community School District,in which I feel very fortunate to be surrounded by many teachers who are incredibly supportive of our LGBTQ students. These students are growing up in a state that is proposing hundreds of bills each year that scare them,that embolden bigots to discriminate against them,that attempt to change curriculum,to teach false information,that bar them from access to their LGBTQ history, and that legally allow harassment and bullying. These students do not have a choice in where they grow up and where they attend school.I'm glad to be in Iowa City and ICCSD surrounded by so many queer community members, students,educators, and friends. These students have a right to live here as who they are,these students have a right to grow up,protected from being harassed by the state.A sanctuary city status will provide refuge for the many trans people across the state who call Iowa City home. And many more that we can welcome in under our protection. It will also protect our students. Iowa City councilors tell our students that they belong here. It is their home just as much as it is yours. As educators, it is our job to foster a safe environment so that students can focus on their education. How can they be kids focus on their schooling,learn about who they are and who they want to be if they're under attack from the state?Before you are our council people,you are our community members.Your neighbors,my best friends,my students need your protection and your action. Adopt Sanctuary city status.Moreover,these bills are not just endangering our students,but also our educators. Iowa has been known as having one of the best education systems in the country,evidenced by a national standardized test,the Iowa test,named for our state. If we do not protect our LGBTQ students and teachers,we will continue to lose passionate educators.Educators who are skilled at their jobs in their own right,but also provide a safe space for queer students. I have experience this first-hand as a queer educator and know how much it means to our students to have this representation in our schools.With these discriminatory and fascist laws in our state,educators may complete teacher preparatory programs here and then immediately leave upon completion. It is already happening,people are already leaving. The result of this will negatively affect everyone here,not just queer students and teachers. Students should feel safe,seen, and represented in our school. Protect trans students and educators, and make Iowa City a Sanctuary city,thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 8 Teague: Thank you.Excuse me.Did you sign in or leave a name tag? Letourneau:I'll do this. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Please state your name and city. Ross: Hey,my name is Brandon Ross and I'm-I'm here about,uh,thinking globally and acting locally and talk about-a little bit about international situations.Which I hope everybody here,everybody who is in Iowa City who is aware,would take action simply by writing or calling your congresspeople.Right now,we are arming basically an apartheid state out in the Middle East,er, which is slaughtering a whole group of people in Gaza. It's uh,none of us could possibly agree to something like that.We are arming,uh,uh,neo-fascist,the Kiev regime which has attacked, er, Eastern Ukraine for now 10 years. We've sent over$100 billion out there. We are occupying Syria,a third of Syria.Half of Syrians are displaced,half of that group of people are refugees. We're talking about many-many-many people,lots of children. We have attacked Yemen,we have bombed Somalia. We continue military operations in Iraq,and our bombing forays do not come with even our own constitutional law being followed,which is the War Powers Act. We don't even vote anymore.For Congress does not even vote anymore to appropriate these actions. So recently,you know,I'm-I'm half Ukrainian,on my mom's side.We're from Kiev. The Kiev regime.Basically in 2014,the US overthrew-helped to overthrow a democratically elected president in Ukraine. That was Viktor Yanukovych.Uh,and then they installed a government which was very violent and right wing and nationalist. And they attacked Eastern Ukraine over eight years,until Russia interceded on behalf of Ukraine.Russia did not attack Ukraine.Russia interceded on behalf of Ukraine. And the US was supporting the arming of this group. And we have records that show that we supp-we armed them for eight years.Lindsey Graham who was in Ukraine in 2014,couple of years ago,said this is a good deal for us.We supply the weapons and they supply the men.Well,there's over 600,000 casualties now from the Kiev regime,over 50,000 from Eastern Ukraine,over 50,000 Russian people. That was a highly cynical remark. Recently,a few months ago,Victoria Nuland,who was leaving the State House,she's been there since George W.Bush working for Cheney. She said,uh,it helps our anus industry to be out there because our anus industry hires a workforce.It's good for the working class.We are in these places cynically.Please write. Please call your Congress members. Please-please-please. The Doomsday clock is closest as it's ever been to midnight. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Please state your name and city you're from. Nix: Yeah. Hi,my name is Nix. Uh,I live in Iowa City. Um,I'm gonna talk a little bit about my experience in the jail here in Iowa City as a transsexual person. I know a lot of you,probably all of you will make excuses regarding this because it's the County Jail and it's not something that you have jurisdiction over. But where will the Iowa City Police Department take the trans people that they arrest because you allow them to enforce transphobic laws?They will bring them to that jail.I'm sure many of you have heard that the jail put a trans person in solitary confinement simply for being trans.And if you haven't,then I would say you're not an ally because we've been screaming about all this,uh, for months now. Um,I was that person who was put in solitary confinement simply for being trans. And before you make excuses,probably thinking,well maybe you deserved it. I asked them why I was being placed in solitary after already being placed in the female ward,and they told me, "Because you don't identify as a woman." I sat there panicking,crying, and shaking. I looked around the cold bright room with scratched words in the walls. There was no way for me to ask for anything or to alert the deputies if I was in need.I was This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 9 all the way down at the end of the hall and I thought if there was a fire,I will die.No one will come to save me. They surely won't just unlock all the doors. They will leave me here to die. I sat there blaming myself. Why had I told them I was trans when they asked?This was my fault,I shouldn't be proud of my identity in a space like this.What was I thinking?But I'm so fucking proud. And when they asked,I just told them the truth. I guess the jail here in Iowa City decided that the answer is to psychologically torture incarcerated trans people.Because let's be clear. Solitary confinement is psychological torture. The person in the cell next to me was having a severe mental health crisis and instead of being cared for and supported,they were ignored.Left to bang on the door and threaten to kill themselves.No one should ever experience solitary confinement. I emailed all of you about our demands. I had to email you all twice,and text some of you in order to get a response.Bruce Teague never emailed me back. Your responses,or lack of responses show us how you feel about trans people,how you believe that there is a dollar amount that we are worth.Listing,drag shows and progressive yard signs as proof that you care for this community.Meanwhile,refusing to meet our demands that would create meaningful material change.Josh Moe,as a white gay man,you owe all of your rights and so called freedom to trans women of color. You asked to be treated as an ally.But let me say this,allyship isn't about tolerating trans people. Teague: Thank you. Nix: It is about not tolerating transphobia,which means not enforce transforming all. Teague: Thank you-thank you-thank you. Welcome.Please state your name and city you're from. Plata Flores:Hello,my name is Maria Plata Flores. I was born in Bogota,Colombia.Migrated to Iowa City in 2021. I work for the Emma Goldman Clinic and I am co-chair of Iowa City DSA. I'm here to support,uh,making Iowa City a sanctuary city. The concept of sanctuary is key to me as an immigrant,and I understand that there is different ways that a sanctuary city can be as such. I've heard a lot of talk about keeping our transgender and non-binary folks of Iowa City safe. And of course,I support that.I also want to talk about the people that are coming here,the forcefully displaced trans people.Especially the trans people of Missouri now that their state has banned them to access medicine. Ah,what I see happening with abortion services since the Emma Goldman Clinic receives every week people from all around the state and all around the country. The same thing is going to happen with gender therapy. And I think that we will fail them if when they come here they don't find a reliable transportation and housing system because we don't have that. There is a clear inequality in the way that transportation and housing is given away in our state.And people benefit from that.You know who. There is people that profit,poor people that aren't housed, and people that profit from the fact that others cannot- are not able to be transported. So I urge you that if you take the decision to make this a sanctuary city,you take all that money that you are willing to spend on the three police departments that we have in the area and please invest it in making the life of the forcefully displaced trans people and our own trans people and non-binary people more accessible and livable here. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Welcome. Fell: Hello,uh,my name is Ash Fell. I'm originally from Burlington. I moved here just a couple of months ago and I very quickly,uh, found a home in the trans community here.Um,there's-it's much more vibrant than I could have imagined. Um,I think it's wonderful here,uh,and for that reason,you know,I would like to stay ideally,um,I told my parents a couple of years back that it This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 10 was,you know,very likely that after I just fmished my education that I would be leaving the state because of increasingly transphobic laws. Um,and,you know,I would rather not spend my life lying,which is the other option. Um,so,yeah,designating Iowa City as a sanctuary city,uh,is the only way to prevent,uh,the amount of brain drain that you can reasonably deal with. Um,the state-we-we all know that this has been a serious problem with the state lately as young people flee,um,and as one of those young people,uh,additionally,as a part ol�uh,minority that is being increasingly targeted,uh,I would prefer not to flee.I love Iowa very very much, and I've- I've found a home here faster than I could've imagined in Iowa City. So,um,yeah,I-I think doing your best,at least if not from a,uh,social perspective,but uh, from an economic one,uh, you know,it would be a good idea to try and keep people here instead of having them nun for their lives. Thank you. Taegue: Thank you. Welcome. Bracewell: Hey,my name is Tristan Bracewell. I've lived in Iowa my entire life. I've lived in Iowa City since 2020. Um,and I've known a lot of trans people.Um,I've had a lot of trans friends,um,and, uh,I'm kind of sick of seeing them die or leave,um,because those seem to be the only options. Um, and here in Iowa City,I know we've talked a lot about how you as elected officials and on the council,um,like to give lip service to a lot of this stuff with proclamations and things like that,um,but you don't follow through with actual material change. So I'm obviously here speaking in support of making Iowa City a sanctuary city.Um,but also,I just wanna say that, um,I'm honestly like a little disgusted,because lately,uh,there's been elected officials in Iowa City that haven't even been able to,I guess,keep up the veneer of caring about trans people,and, uh,have been you know openly,uh,transphobic and,uh,dismissive and I haven't read all the emails,but it sounds like a lot of you guys have been that way too.Um,so I don't know,it sounds like you're not doing your research,which is embarrassing. So my advice to all of you would be, do some research,fix your heart,or I hope you lose your job.Beyond that,um,I would say that, um,there's been a lot of remarks about the trans community in Iowa City,um,and what a vital, integral part of Iowa City culture,music,arts,uh,education,um,that,um,they are.Um,and I think it sucks that you guys are not willing to take a stand to avoid all those things being,uh, crushed and killed.Um,but also like,I don't know,we shouldn't have to argue and prove that trans people have value,um,because of those sorts of contributions because human beings have value,and they have human rights and,uh,I don't know if you're too much of a coward to stand up for that and stand up against the right wing,uh, state government and,uh,the laws being passed then I don't know how you can sit here and call yourselves,I hate this word anyway,but progressive,um,or an ally,or any of that. Um,like I said earlier,I guess I implore you to do your research. I know a lot of you might not know,um,what are a lot of the,you know,language and the issues that we're dealing with,but that's not an excuse. Um, figure it out,uh,get on the right side of this issue,um,and if not,I look forward to voting you out. So good luck. Teague: Thank you. Could I have a hand raise of how many individuals still want to speak? Okay. Okay. Well-we have six more. All right,please Welcome. Bakker:I'm Casper. I'm from Iowa City.And I just wanted to say that uh, any community that alienates a large part of itself,uh, should be ashamed to call itself a community at all. And trans people in Iowa City are not some afterthought.We are in your bars,we are in your homes. Kind of I guess we're in your schools,we're everywhere. And we will not stop being everywhere,uh,until ever. And this community will not stop being in distress until it stops listening to people-the people that live inside of it. So,yeah. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 11 Teague: Thank you. Did you sign in? Bakker:Yes,oh,do I need to put my little flag in there? Teague: Yes. Bakker:Yeah. Teague: Thank you. Bakker: Sorry. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Brink: Hello,again.My name is Storm O.Brink. I work in Iowa City. I am here because I was able to observe a lot of the responses that the council had to friends of mine who had wrote in about the possibility of getting a sanctuary city,um,kind of policy,ordinance,etc,or rather support for a sanctuary city in place,um,and throughout those responses,I discovered that-I think that we have a misunderstanding of what really the material needs are of the trans community. So I noticed like when my friends were writing into you,you were responding with things like yard signs,um,bathroom access.And while those things are great,and they can be signs of allieship, the needs of the trans community are really more rooted in the tangible basic survival related things right now. And so while I'm not-I'm the person who asked you a couple of weeks ago to get creative,and I've discovered through reading some of those responses that you may be struggling with what to come up with in that process of getting creative. So here are some of the ideas that I thought of for you. So as one of the people who was previously monitored by the police,despite the fact that I have not committed any crimes and have never been arrested,I thought perhaps an act either through an ordinance or as a stipulation to receive funding penalties for police monitoring citizens not suspected of a crime. Um, funding for affordable housing. And I know that you tend to source that through non profits a lot. And while nonprofits can do great work in this town,there are often a lot of barriers that trans people experience when trying to access funding towards that housing.I have worked in non-profits for about the last 10 years and so like when you are constructing the grants related for these non-profits, something that might be helpful is creating stipulations in the grants that require those nonprofits to break down the barriers,and outline what those barriers are,and what those actions would be to trans people accessing funds. So for example,when I worked at Transformative Healing,which was a sexual assault advocacy organization only for LGBTQ people in Iowa,one of our,um, stipulations from our granters was that we weren't allowed to cover the deposit for someone who was emergency relocating from a domestic violence situation.But we could cover the first month's rent. And that was a huge barrier to a lot of the trans people that we served because they didn't have access to the down payment in the first place. So if you can remove items like that,that create barriers from the grants that you're giving out.Also,perhaps like-things like creating penalties for the improper use of solitary confinement in Johnson County detainment facilities,which what happened to Nix was,I think,a misunderstanding of the protections afforded under Pria to trans people and so there was like a,you know,ruling related to that.Uh,but yeah,these are just some of my ideas. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 12 Dunn: Could you- could you repeat your name? Teague: Welcome. Alter: Did we get her name? Kula: Hello. Jenny Kula,Iowa City. After last city council meeting where we demanded sanctuary policy to protect trans and other people facing discrimination,we learned that the city council would not be taking any measures to protect its vulnerable population. The city fears that a non enforcement policy would put a spotlight on Iowa City and its policies.I'd like to ask the city council what they believe the current state of affairs to be. Do you not hear how the GOP talks about us?About Iowa City?They hate us because we are a bastion of education and free thought. They hate us because of our diversity, and they hate us because we yell In the face of injustice. The notion that we must stop asking for protections as it may draw the attention of the governor's regime is foolish. They are already watching and beating down on us. The governor appoints the officials who are in charge of the University Police. They operate and surveil under her direction.What local policy is it that must be protected?Policy to build a factory that will pollute our air. Policy that does nothing to prevent the closing of our schools. Policy that increases the funding of our oppressive military police state. The fascist state government in Iowa is throwing everything they have at us,but the city government is unwilling to respond in any meaningful way.It is cowardice,weak and shameful. If we continue to do nothing,this genocidal rhetoric posed against trans people will only get worse when the bell tolls,our blood will be on your hands to the gay members of the city council. They will come for us, and then they will come for you. You stand with us,or you stand against yourself. Teague: Welcome. Strawhacker:My name is Trent. I'm a resident of Iowa City and a transsexual.My family is from the more rural parts of the state, and every time I go home to see my mother,I am unsafe as someone who has discriminated against in the state of Iowa. I am grateful that the community of Iowa City is accepting of me.But this is still a city in Iowa that is complicit in this discrimination. The city does not have to enforce the Fascism coming out of Des Moines,but was not willing to do the right thing for its citizens. Instead,you allow the UIPD to terrorize trans people. There are people in this community that are too scared to show up and participate in their democracy, lest they be put on a list,illegally monitored and tracked down for us months after doing something that was not even illegal,I ask that you do anything to help the trans people of Iowa City people seek refuge from the rural,dangerous communities in Iowa City,and there is no-there is no longer an option under your government. I love Iowa,and I would really rather not leave this state.But if there's nowhere safe here,then I have no choice. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Bochenstedt: Thank you. I am Lisa Bockenstedt.I have lived here since 1971. I have seen a lot of changes in Iowa City. Um,we've always been very,very liberal and we've been a safe haven before,and I think we should remain a safe haven. Um,originally,I came here to talk about Pagliai's,but this is much more important to me because my-I thank you.I have two trans daughters and we have been talking about leaving the state because of all the scary things that-that are coming to light with the right wing folks.Um,my kids,they don't feel safe. With a lot of the rhetoric that's being This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 13 talked about,um,we have to remain a sanctuary city for people.It's a community,and this is always the sort of thing that this community has stood for is the people that are trodden on and that sort of thing. I'm sorry,I can't think of the words,but it's very,very important.And please save the Pagliai's Building. Teague: Welcome. Russell: Thank you. I'm Chris Russell. I am a new resident of Iowa City. I have been here for eight months now,so I actually come from Oklahoma City, and I come from Oklahoma City partly as a way of running away because of how bad it is in Oklahoma.Um,for trans folks,I'm not sure if- you know,you've seen the news lately,but,uh,the passing ofNex Benedict in particular comes to mind.Um,next died because there wasn't a community surrounding him.Nex died because of policy failure.Nex's death could have been avoidable. There's a lot more deaths that could be avoidable if you make this a sanctuary city. There's a lot of small town folk.I have friends from Dyersville and Ankeny who come here to seek refuge away from bigots and so-while people are leaving.People are coming here. You should welcome them of open arms and make this place a sanctuary. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. McGovern:My name is Tara McGovern. I live in Coralville. I had decided not to speak because Clara Reynen actually said everything that I wanted to say. And then you cut the microphone of my friend Nix,when they were talking to you about how they were treated in your jail.And I stand before you and you stare back at me because Robert's rules of order allow you to hide from treating people like human beings.And when I asked you for help, Shawn Harmsen,who won't even make eye contact with me because your Democratic County Attorney was prosecuting me on a charge that I could have had up to 13 months in jail.Your excuse was that the state attorney would have prosecuted me harder. That is I'm trying not to swear in front of you.I'm going to- for my own challenge,try not to. I don't understand how people that I have known for years can look back at me and write me off in this way write our community off in this way.And you think that just because the county is going to help us,the county has committed to helping us. That means that you're off the hook. You are not off the hook.You can get with us on this or we will be working against you. You can't hide behind etiquette,you can't hide behind whatever this visage of democracy,we are people in your community. We're some of the coolest fucking people in your community. And we're going to, and we will leave if you make us,so we elected you and it's time for you to have some moral courage and to stand with us.I have yet to hear from any of you individually,with the exception of Andrew Dunn,who has written and communicated with me and Laura Bergus. Of all of you deciding not to help us,Laura, as an attorney who actually knows about the law,is the one of you who decided that helping us was actually the right thing to do. Just reflect on your humanity and look at the people in front of you. Just do something. This is embarrassing.We have been embarrassed on the world stage. Teague: Thank you. Thanks to everyone that came and spoke. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 14 9. Planning& Zoning Matters 9a. 302-316 E.Bloomington St.Historic Landmark -Ordinance rezoning property located at 302-316 E.Bloomington Street from Central Business Service(CB-2)zone to CB- 2 with a Historic District Overlay (OHD/CB-2)zone.(REZ24-0001) Teague: We're going to move on to our planning and zoning matters,which is item number 9. Item 9.a as rezoning 302 through 316 East Bloomington Street.Local Historic Landmark,ordinance rezoning property located at 302 through 316 East Bloomington Street. From Central Business Service Zone to C132 with a historic district overlay zone and I am going to open the public hearing and welcome,Danielle. Sitzman: Thank you,Mayor. Danielle Sitzman,Neighborhood Development Services. As we introduced this is an application initiated by the Historic PreservationCommission for the rezoning of approximately,uh,0.4 or 5 acres of land from Central Business Service,CB2 zone to CB2 with that over-overlay zone for Historic District protection,um,making it a landmark Um,the property is outlined in white here on the slide,and the slide shows the surrounding zoning of the property as well. The purpose of this current zone is to serve as a transition between intense land uses in the Central Business Service District and adjoining areas. Uh,the city council does designate by ordinance,areas of the city as historic districts or local landmarks.Uh,the process is done through rezoning and the application of an overlay zone. Uh,with the proposed rezoning, the property would still retain that base zoning of C132,but then be given an overlay for the Historic District. As a result of the rezoning changes to the exterior,the building will be required to go through historic review process,which is a multi tiered process depending on the extent of the exterior change,ranging from a staff approval alone to a staff approval with the,uh, chair of the Historic PreservationCommission,or full review by the Historic,uh,Preservation Commission.Landmark stars- status will also make the property eligible for special exceptions from the Board of Adjustment. Those special exceptions are designed to waive or modify certain zoning requirements that other properties have to comply with because the property is-is historic, um,to help support the continued use of historic buildings in general. Landmark designation will also make it possible for financial incentives, such as tax credits to be,uh, applied for,and for the Iowa City Historic PreservationFund-Funds to be available for the property. The Slezak/Holub building is a remarkably well preserved example of commercial Italianate architecture. The building was built and operated by Joseph Slezak for 25 years, and when it was run by- and then it was nun by his son in law,Joseph Holub. As originally built,the building consisted of the two story portion on the comer that included-included two stores on the fust floor with a saloon and dining hall accessed around the comer from Linn Street. The second floor was the fraternal hall with dance floor stage and a balcony. The three story building behind was a boarding house along the alley,a carriage house,and had laundry and sleeping rooms on the upper floors.And adjacent to the carriage house on the East was a stable and feed bam.By 1920,the boarding house was running as a hotel,and the stable was converted to a garage.Later in about 1930,Holub remodeled the hotel and hall into apartments,creating a large storage attic and a vaulted space above the former- former National Hall. The former stable garage became a laundromat in 1958, and the Pizza Palace or Pagliai's Pizza moved into the grocery space in 1969. The building features two base store fronts that were remodeled 55 years ago for the Pizza Palace Pagliai's use. Above the signboard that covers the storefront transom area,there is a mid level bracketed cornice with dentules below narrow round arched windows with brick hood molds.The upper portion of these windows,uh,were closed with bead board at the time of the 1930s remodeled. The building is topped by a heavy bracketed cornice and baroque pediment that is similar to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 15 architectural details found in 19th century Central European architecture,which would have been familiar to the builders of this building,uh,the Bohemian immigrants,uh,that initially constructed the building. The saloon entrance off Linn Street was bricked in at some point,and a single window was also bricked in. The three story Holub apartment's has a decorative pro- projecting entrance,likely from the 1930s model as well. And more decorative cast hood molds over the windows,and more elaborate cornice,and,um, and brackets are,uh,evident on the building. The carriage house is a simple brick building with synthetic siding on the South wall. And mid-century 2/2 horizontal light window sashes. The laundromat is a brick building with a large gable and sliding stable door evident on the alley side,and large baroque pediment on the street facade.Let's just give you a little background about Historic Preservation in Iowa City in general.Um,prior to 1992,which was the adoption of the city's first Historic Preservation plan, much of this Historic Preservationwas kind of a piecemeal affair.Um,reactionary at times,to challenges,uh,to specific buildings. Often relying on the national program,rather than any local ordinances.Really,in 1996,the first land marking of individual properties began after the 1992 adoption of a strategic plan,which outlined the mission and goals of Historic Preservation work. There were 36 landmarks designated after 1996,um,when that land marking really ramped up. There was not initially a local land marking process as part of that adoption in the early '80s of the um,Historic Preservation approach. In two-2015,there was a work plan list of priority properties for fixture land marking. Um,that list was building on those 36 initial landmarks. The 36 initial landmark properties that had already been,um,identified as eligible for the National Register, so they had quite a bit of history behind them and-and were easy to landmark The 2015 list was a list that was created for properties,not already designated or recognized by the National Register. That means they need to have additional,uh,information found out about them and documented in order for them to be landmarked. Um,the first round of properties from that 2015 work plan were beginning to be designated in 2018.Uh,the first round of properties that were undertaken for survey and,um,rezoning were primarily buildings that were constructed of brick and initially residential at their early construction. Um,in 2023,the property,uh, subject to tonight's rezoning,was listed for sale in mid-September.In early October,the Historic Preservation Commission,uh,did discuss in a meeting,uh,proceeding with the land marking of that property.It was a property that had been identified in 2015,but had not made it through the work plan yet to be land marked. In October-late October,um,after that HPC meeting,a letter was sent to the owner requesting a meeting with them to let him-them know about the interest in land marking the property,and to,uh,describe the process that would entail and the effects of that. In early December, staff and the chair of the Historic Preservation Commission did meet with the owner,and then did follow up with the mail and email,again, about that process.In January,um,the application for historic-overlay rezoning was applied for,but as-as I said,the Historic Preservation Commission,and they held their public hearing on February 8th.At which time they did uphold and recommend approval of an overlay zone.Um,the way this works is that the recommendation does progress to the Planning and Zoning Commission,which held a meeting on the 21st to also uphold,recommend,um,rezoning. And correspondence was sent to the property owner after all of those touch points. So the role of the Historic Preservation Commission,I said, is to conduct a public hearing on the rezoning and to review and evaluate the historic significance of the property. The Historic Preservation Commission did determine that the property met the required criteria for landmark designation,and that it is significant for its role in the ethnic and commercial history of Iowa City's North side neighborhood.And as I said,a well preserved example of Italianate architecture. And again,on that-on that early February meeting,they did vote unanimously to recommend approval of the designation.And this slide does highlight the four criteria that the,um,Historic Survey information about the property,uh, could verify,met the criteria of the landmark designation requirements. So the landmark This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 16 designation is a zoning overlay,as I've said, and therefore requires recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission to the City Council. The Planning and Zoning Commission's role is to review the proposed designation based on its relation to the,uh, criteria that include, um,compliance with the comprehensive plan, and,um,any proposed public improvement plans that might be for the same area. And this slide does show that there's clear support in the 20-IC 2030 plan for Historic Preservation.Uh,there are several explicit goals contained in there,uh, identifying protection of historic buildings and identifying historic resources significant to Iowa City's past. This particular property is also located in a District Plan area. The Central District Plan,which also does include goals and objectives that are in support of the local landmark rezoning and emphasizes the historic character of this neighborhood. The Historic Preservation Plan is the implementation of what a lot of those goals and objectives. It does identify historic resources and that the ongoing identification and protection of those resources is a goal of the city. Um,when-well,that's specifically included in the North Side Historic District, shown here in blue. This particular property,um,is specifically discussed there as promoting preservation of architectural elements significant to that neighborhood and specifically lists this property. So here we are at the,uh,step of conducting the review for rezoning. Um,typically I show you the slide with some other steps for annexation and rezoning a subdivision. In this case it was just a rezoning.And based on the applicable review criteria,staff recommended designation as a landmark to the Historic Preservation,and Planning and Zoning Commissions. As I said,the Historic Preservation Commission reviewed the application, and its February 8th,2024 meeting and did recommend approval of the landmark designation unanimously. The Planning and Zoning Commission then, at their February 21st meeting,found that the proposed rezoning supports the goals of the comprehensive plan and the applicable sub-district plan,and also recommended approval by a vote of six to one.Um,earlier today,I believe,um,protest petition was submitted by the owner and has been verified as valid. So that is on file and that would change the vote, and I'm sure the City Attorney can walk you through that when you get to it. And that concludes my report.I'm happy to answer questions. Um,the owner,I believe,is present,as is the applicant. Teague: I do have a question relating to um,the criteria for the landmark designation. So where it says possesses integrity of location,design setting,materials, and workmanship. So there's been some renovation to this building. I guess my question is,how does that fit into the whole gamut of making this a historic um, -rezoning this to be a historic property? Sitzman: So that's a criteria that's used by the Historic Preservation Commission to make their recommendation. It's not a criteria for the rezoning necessarily,but it was included in your packet. Uh,basically,when a property is studied for the purposes of deciding whether it's appropriate to be landmarked,they- a historian is hired and they do a thorough research of the history of the property.It's entirely appropriate that buildings change over time and that those changes can be part of its historic character. So simply not being original doesn't disqualify a building from being historic. So all of those changes over time that might accumulate are actually just as valid as the original construction. Teague: Okay.And then because-when there is -should this be renovated in the future or are there any things that the commission um,could require right now uh,for this building in any fashion? Sitzman: Sure.When the overlay zoning is applied,um,the building does not have to be changed just simply because of the designation of the rezoning. Um,it's only at what point the future owner or the current owner decides to make a change that it has to be reviewed,and those are the changes that-that get reviewed for historic review purposes. So- and it has to be exterior. It wouldn't be This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 17 an interior change and it would be reviewed to the Historic Preservation guidelines,sort of,the adopted guidelines for the city. So um,there's nothing that necessarily has to be changed simply because the rezoning applies,but it does uh,affect all fixture projects um,needing to be reviewed towards those guidelines. Teague: So,is it fair to say that if someone -uh,because on this building there's,um,I don't know if it was an entry door-old entry door. Is it fair to say that-that if the owner never wants to change any of that area that,and maybe change something different,that-that is the grandfathered in as it's something that they couldn't come in. Sitzman: Typically,when we do a historic review,we're only looking at what the applicant has proposed to us,and whether what they're proposing to us needs to meet the guidelines.We don't look at larger areas of the building and require retrofits of things that they were not intending to change. Um,I don't have the specific guidelines in front of me for doors and windows,but the typical approach is not to add things into their project that they weren't uh,proposing in the first place. Teague: Thank you. There are no -no other questions. I wanted to know if the applicant is present,and want to speak?Okay. Hello,welcome. Sellergren: Good evening,Councilors. Uh,my name is Jordan Sellergren. I'm the chair of the Historic Preservation Commission. Um,others will speak tonight about the historic significance, economic value,and environmental factors in relation to preserving 302-316 Bloomington Street. But I'm here to speak about the process of applying historic landmark zoning. As you know,the Historic Preservation Commission has been appointed by you city council to advise on matters of Historic Preservation. And as spelled out in city code,you've given us the responsibility to uh, promote the educational,cultural, economic, and general welfare of Iowa City by protecting historic landmarks. To safeguard the city's historic aesthetic and cultural heritage by preserving historic landmarks. To stabilize and improve property values by conserving historic properties. To foster civic pride and the legacy of beauty and achievements of the past. And to protect and enhance the city's attraction to tourists and visitors,and thereby support and stimulate with uh, business. So these reasons are why we're here tonight. As assigned by the City Council,we've done our work and have identified that 302-316 Bloomington Street is a property worthy of Historic Landmark zoning. The Planning and Zoning Commission agrees and has recommended that you approve landmark zoning to fulfill the vision of the comprehensive plan as saving this property is in the best interest of our community. Your professional staff has found that landmark zoning is consistent with the city's plans and recommends approval.And as you saw in the agenda 30 North Side business owners have co signed a letter in support of the landmark designation,because they recognize the economic and cultural value that 302-316 Bloomington Street brings to the neighborhood. So, some have said that the Historic Preservation Commission shows up at the last minute to try and save buildings after plans are announced for their demolition. That is not the case here. Going back as far as the 1980s,the Historic Preservation Commission has made at least three attempts to include this property in a historic district,or give it historic zoning status. These attempts failed because previous city councils did not have the political will to do so um,to protect this building when there was not a looming threat.Now that it is in real danger of potential demolition,it is up to this city council to do what is called for in our comprehensive plan um,and protect this gem in our community. The state of Iowa,and the courts,including the US Supreme Court have granted you the authority to use our city zoning ordinance to do just that. To prevent demolition of significant landmarks such as the one at 302- 316 Bloomington Street. The courts recognize that the value in this property does not just come This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 18 from private investment,but that we the public and the city have also contributed to the value through public streets,water, sewer service,police and fire protection.Basically, all of the public infrastructure and services that makes a north- a North Side Marketplace a commercial success. Um, some will also say that historic Landmark designation is not fair to the property owner because it places restrictions on the property.But in fact,zoning restrictions already exist on this property as they do on every property in Iowa City,in this case,under the current Central Business Service Zone. Um,historic landmark designation actually provides incentives and allows the city to waive certain zoning requirements and to transfer development potential to other properties. Um,historic designation also makes the property eligible for federal and State tax credits that would- could make it more profitable. This is a positive alternative to tearing it down,sending valuable materials to the landfill. This is an environmental issue.Uh,preservation is considered to be an environmental issue. Um,and replacing it with an expensive new structure um,that has housing that is possibly not as affordable as the current housing,at the loss of this beautiful building and the history of immigration and community that it represents.Mr. Skarda and his ancestors before him have built and maintained a beautiful and useful property in this community. One that currently provides space for a beloved Iowa City restaurant,an essential service laundromat,and 16 affordable apartments. We understand that he has made the decision to sell. We do not wish to prevent him from selling the property and uh,receiving a fair price.But designating the property as a historic landmark may actually make the prop -the property more marketable, as historic uh,status includes incentives such as zoning waivers and tax incentives. Um,the Historic Preservation Commission was appointed to advise on matters of Historic Preservation, and we along with the Planning and Zoning Commission and city staff do so advise that this property at 302-316 Bloomington Street,is one of Iowa City's few remaining examples of architecture from this time.Um,we believe that it should be designated and protected as a local historic landmark,and I would say that now is the time before it's gone forever. And I would like to now tum this over to Historic Preservation Commissioner Deanna Thomann to speak about the environmental benefits of preservation. Teague: I think before you leave, are there any questions for Jordan? Alter: Um,I had one and it was based on something that you had mentioned. Sellergren: Sure. Alter: I'm not sure if this is - let me know if- Sellergren: I'll do my best answer,sure. Alter: So you mentioned that um,one of the things that can - an incentive for this is - is that there can be zoning waivers. Can you explain that just a little bit?I'm thinking of the Del Rey,is that? Sellergren: I can't speak to that,but I do know that. Alter: Speak to what I just asked. Sellergren: That,you know,uh,like grandfathering parking restrictions and things like that um,not requiring new parking uh,that would be required for new development.Um,there's also the um, uh,transferred development potential so that a certain amount of square footage that's preserved in uh,preserved in uh,existing building could be transferred to other properties um,to allow for This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 19 more space in a new development. So by preserving,you can actually expand into a larger property and create more space in a new development. So that will-those would be two examples of. Alter: Okay.Yeah,that works for me,thank you. Teague: And then one question I have is you mentioned that previous Council um,didn't have the political will to designate this as a historic property. Can you just speak to that a little more? Sellergren: Sure. Yeah,I do have some notes on that. Um, so in the early 80s,um,there was a proposal to create a larger-larger historic district,which failed at City Council. Um,in the 90s, another attempt was made and failed. And then there -I believe there was a letter drafted to the owner um,which was then removed from the outgoing mailbox in 2015 because uh,it was not advised that council vote on landmarking during an election year so. Teague: Thank you. Sellergren: Thank you. Teague: All right. That's all. Sellergren: Thank you. Teague: Thanks.Another Commissioners. Sellergren: As part of the Commission is Deanna able to go or should we Teague: So I -I guess if you all are a part of the applicant and you want to give some more comments, please come.And I will also say if some of this has already been covered by staff,because we also have the owner and we also want to listen to residents. Great.Welcome. Thoman: Hello,uh,my name is Deanna Thoman,and as Jordan mentioned,I'm on the Historic Preservation Commission and I represent the North Side neighborhood on that commission.Um, tonight I do want to uh,read some words from Lou Tassanery. He had hoped to be here tonight. Um,this does kind of represent the view of the Historic Commission. Uh, so in a recent article arguing the case for adaptive reuse,Alex Garrison stated the following. The built environment is an archive of culture and history.It manifests the aspirations and needs of a society in a particular time and place,creating a record of who we are.It is undeniable that the Slezak/Holub/Skarda building embodies the knowledge,skills,and sweat equity of not only Bohemian immigrants to Iowa City,but also the multi generational stewardship of the Slezak-Skarta family.Equally important, it embodies the physical energy required for its construction. Historic properties offer unique opportunities to contribute significantly to this city's sustainability goals. They preserve the energy already embodied in the existing building and eliminate the expenditure of additional energy for new construction.Many construction experts consistently estimate that even a new, green, energy efficient building that uses a large percentage of recycled materials would take many decades,that's many decades to recover the energy lost in demolishing a comparable existing building. So put simply,the most sustainable building is the one that you do not have to build,the greenest building is the one that already stands. The adaptive reuse of iconic older buildings simultaneously honors heritage,reduces the need for new construction,and creates the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 20 opportunity for creative architectural design, and the support of local craftsmanship through adaptive re-use. The physical and cultural history of this site has economic value that will ultimately be enhanced,not diminished by formally acknowledging it's importance to the community.I urge the City Council to unanimously agree with the recommendations of both the Historic Preservation Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission to grant the Pagliai building landmark status. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Any questions?Uh,not hearing any. Is the owner here? Okay.Would you like to speak?Welcome. Please state your name. Skarda: Yes.My name is Gary Skarda.I'm the owner of uh,the Holub apartment building. It's been in my family for five generations. I'm the fifth. Teague: And thank you for signing in. Skarda: Well,I'm here today to obviously oppose the uh,rezoning of my property.Um, first of all,I want to uh,congratulate uh,the Lady Hawks and Lisa Bluder uh,to make the final four and hopefully two more games to bring the championship back to Iowa City. That would be great.But now,you know,obviously I can't do the things that I once was able to do. You know,Ibe had health issues. I had an amputation on my right leg,and so uh,it's a very,very expensive.I was -I did the plumbing,I did the electricity,I did-did most things certainly and um,saved a lot of money by doing that,but unfortunately,I'm unable to do that right now.I have a manager on the premise. And uh, -but uh,but anyway,I decided,obviously I was going to sell the property.Uh,it's um,a lot of memories,obviously,that I have,but,uh,if-if I get the money that I certainly think I should get,uh,then I have to sell it to a developer.And you're not going to be able to develop that,uh,that zone,uh, il�uh,if it's,um,uh,if it's put on the historic registry, and,uh,you know a developer-I mean it would-it would bring more tax revenue into Iowa City.And obviously, Iowa City needs a lot of money to support their programs. And uh,I just received my tax bill the other day. Several, several thousands of dollars more than I paid last year for the property which is a joke to be honest with you. I know people complain about high rents in Iowa City,but they should also complain about high taxes for those people that own that property. Um,you know, it's,uh. There's a-there's a lot of maintenance that's involved,uh,to,uh,maintain an old building that way. Uh,there's a lot of maintenance,there's,um,you know,obviously,the utility costs, have increased considerably. Um,there's a lot of inflationary pressures right now on the economy.And-and yet now I get a high tax bill- a high tax bill to go along with the,uh,with everything else. And,um,you know,it's-I'm confined that-that I don't have anything larger than a one-bedroom apartment. I have-I have studios and one bedrooms, single people living there, they're not several people living in the same occupied space. That's,um,uh,where you can get three or four rents. It's one rent per apartment. So,um,I know I'm certainly limited to,um,the rent obviously,to,uh,you know,pricing myself basically out of the market because I just had a gentleman,um,a year ago that moved out. He was a very good tenant of mine,but he decided to live with some other people where he can save some money rather than live alone.And yet the city of Iowa City,again,you know,they literally raised my taxes several thousands of dollars. And,you know,I'm limited in terms of parking.U,we have street parking. Um,half of that street was metered,uh, several years ago because of a corner business that needed the parking. So they used my-my block to,uh,put meters in,which again,reduce the amount of parking that I have at the- at my building.Because you can't just go out every-every hour to feed the meter,you know, in your- in your- in your apartment. So,you know, it's,uh,so but the best thing that I can do, certainly-they're redeveloping the south side of Linn Street South Linn,uh,they're developing This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 21 that. And there's no reason why I can't have a developer come in to develop-put condos or whatever.Um,they can get three or four bedroom condominiums. It's certainly doable,it's,um, there's,um,no reason to,uh,to inhibit growth of this community based on-based on a building that takes a lot of maintenance. Um,I think a lot of this has to do with Pagliai's Pizza because many people know the building because of Pagliai's Pizza. Um,you know they've been in the building since 1969.And,um,you know,I was 13 years old when they came in.And-but,you know,they would certainly have an opportunity to stay in that location,in a new building. Um, it's very,very simple.And the fact that,you know,it's private property,that doesn't belong to the city, it belongs to me and certainly my family. And for the city to come along and say,or the Historic Preservation Committee or whatever,to say that I cannot,um,do anything with my property because it's historic is a joke,to be honest with you.And,um,uh,like I say,I just,uh,I need to,uh,you know,I've been in contact with some developers myself my real estate agent, and so on and-but they can't make a move when the decision is,it's going to be historic, so they can't do anything. They can't develop the property. And,uh,it handicaps me from a personal standpoint. Um,like I say,it is private property and I should be able to do with what I want to do with the property. So any questions? Salih: I guess I have a question for you. You spoke about the parking that being taken,you mean like before that the parking belonged to the building?Kind of,or can you guess? Speak more about that. Skarda: The black parking lot there adjacent to the apartment building,uh,is Pagliai's and laundry parking. And,um,unfortunately,my tenants are not obligated to park there. They do have the opportunity to spend,you know,uh,an additional amount,obviously,parking across the street,in the Pagliai's parking lot across the street. And,uh,and that's additional amount of money because,I mean,they pay taxes on that,uh,on that lot. And so they're going to,um, charge my tenants a-a certain fee, a monthly fee. Salih: And how many apartments are there? Skarda: So most of my-most of my tenant park along the street area.It's a lot more difficult now because the fact that half of this street was metered,I was against that,um. Dunn: Are you referring to- Skarda: -to look into it and so on because they-they decided to me that part of the-we basically compromised. They-they elected the,um,on the-on the-on the west side of the-of Linn Street, they decided not to meter that. So they-they metered it on the,uh, east side of Linn Street. Goes up half probably halfway up the block because of a business that's catty-comer to my building. And,um,you know,it's a- it was kind of ridiculous,uh,to do that because then that reduced the parking more-more than what it should. Um,uh,generally,it was odd and even anyway.It was odd-odd,you know,one side was odd,the other side was even,and a day. So they had to move the car from one side to the next,but that's still better than have half of the street metered where they're not able to park there until at least after 6:00,uh,in the evening. So it's,uh,parking has always been limited there obviously,it's limited most places around town,and,uh,it's a-it is a hassle. Teague: So she asked another question. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 22 Salih: Yeah,I asked like how many apartment do you have in this building?You said one bedroom and studios? Skarda: Yeah,one bedroom and studios. Salih: How many of each? Skarda: Fifteen, 15 apartments,uh, and,uh,uh,my,my largest,I have four large apartments,which includes a dining room as well as a living room,kitchen and bath, and one bedroom. I have four of those apartments,um,and,uh, and-they're-they're very adequate to have two people living there.I've had couples living there,but other than that,it's,uh,um,you know,it's just,very,um, you know,the apartments are small. You know,obviously studios don't even have a bedroom, just have a living area,kitchen and bath. And,um,and-and-and really the one person can really only live there. Teague: Councilor Dunn very different question- Skarda: -for two people. Salih: Thank you. Teague: Any other questions by Council? Thank you. Okay. Skrada: Thank you. Salih: I have a question for the Historic Preservation people. Teague: Sure. Skarda: That. Salih: Thank you. Okay. Teague: You can ask your question now. Salih: Yeah.My-my question,when-when somebody agreed to preserve a building,what benefit come with that?People are complaining about old building,like need,like a lot of maintenance and all this,you know. Can you just tell me what-if I preserve my building?What benefit I'm getting? Sellergren: Sure. Um well,there's er a 20%uh Federal tax credit,I believe for any um restoration work and then a 25%state Iowa tax credit. So a total of 45%Federal and state tax credit going toward work done on the property that is-that does have a landmark status. Salih: Yeah and can you tell me what that means? Sellergren: Well,that basically means that any m-that money you invest into improvements,updates,you know,all which would go through the Historic PreservationCommission.But any money that you invest,you would get$0.45 back for the dollar through uh state and federal credits. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 23 Salih:But they have to have money to like do that first. Sellergren: As with any renovation. Yeah,But there is an opportunity to actually get quite a bit back Whereas,you know,if uh-for a non landmark property,that won-would not be a possibility. So in many ways-In that way,it does actually heighten the you know the economic value of it because the owner would be able to make um a percentage of that back through tax credits. Salih: Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Harmsen:I might have a question that I don't know if it's for you or somebody else with Historic Preservation. Um when er designation comes,does that affect and I'm trying to remember back to an issue we had here just a couple of meetings ago,uh exteriors only or does that affect the interiors?Like where the apartments and things like that would. Sellergren: Our jurisdiction is exterior only, so any work done on the inside would not go through our review process. Harmsen:And then if work is done on the inside,that's just a regular renovation,but the stuff that could apply for the tax credits would be the external. Sellergren: I believe that's the case,yeah. Uh,Jessica's Historic Preservation staff and knows way more about this stuff than I do. Thank you. Teafiue: Thank you. Welcome. State your name. Bristo: Jessica Bristo.I'm the Historic Preservation Planner.And um to answer your question just a little bit more. We do have the ability for a developer or owner to get state and federal tax credits. And those tax credits can actually um include work on the interior of the building. They can sometimes include carrying costs and other things for a rehabilitation project. In addition,we have our Historic Preservation Fund,where we can use that to help an owner do repairs to their building. We also have um,well,we provide sort of design related services as well um,if they want to do some kind of rehabilitation or make changes to the building. And in general,property values do tend to be more stable in a historic district or an area that has been designated. Salih:But have you educate the people who you asked them to reserve their building about all the benefit?Do you guys know about that? That's what I'm asking. Bristo: Yeah. All of the information that we have provided to the owner does talk about the benefits for landmarking. And we also do um I mean,regularly,when I talk to owners about work that they want to do on their building,I always mention our Historic Preservation Fund,and if they have a project that might be eligible for tax credits,we also communicate that to the owners as well. Our goal is outreach and information to owners about all of the typ-types of programs that might benefit them. Moe: The city just sent letters to that are-to everybody who lives in an historic district about what the rules are and what the fimding streams are. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 24 Salih: Yeah,I'm-I'm just like really have a concern about if I'm like owning an old building,but I'm no longer have money to keep it up. And I-I how I'm going to survive with that,because I just want to make a Historic Preservation.If the city wants something to be historic,they should really do something very good.Like we are asking-we-we go to be people business and we ask them to do this to fulfill our Historic Preservation goals. Then we need to do something. Bristo: And we do. City council has implemented our Historic Preservation Fund and it has been very popular.We would love to increase it if we could,and we do that in order to help people with the repairs.In addition,when people make those repairs, instead of replacing,that money for that repair stays within this community. They are not going and buying windows that are manufactured in Ohio and trucked in. They are using people who work in our community and our state who can repair those materials.And so that money stays within our community. And so Historic Preservation is not only about saving the building, saving the materials,but also keeping that work,so that we are paying people in our community,we're not contributing to greenhouse gases and emissions and making plastic products,and vinyl products.We are fixing the wood materials that are priceless now because they're no longer available. Historic wood is much stronger than the wood that is harvested now. It has a tighter grain. It's more insect and water resistant, and it will last forever if it's maintained. And so Historic Preservation is about helping those property owners to not only know how to do that work,who can help them?But also we do try to fund their projects whenever possible. Salih: I think all you said is very good and amazing.But again,uh,to the question of Shawn,who said you-you said you provide some time money for maintenance. Is this maintenance for the interior or exterior? Bristo: Our funds would only be for the exterior. The state tax credits and federal tax credits could also be related to the interior.At the same time,we don't regulate the interior. So if they did want to carpet things or replace things on the interior,we are not restricting them in any way.Whether or not the building is designated does not impact-impact the interior of the building. It will prevent it-to from being demolished.But if they wanted to renovate and even change the layout of the interior,we would not restrict that. Salih: Yeah,the problem is keeping up,like with old building,it's cos- costly.You know,maybe the outside is very good looking,but always the thing that's really go bad is the inside.And I don't know,maybe you guys should think about helping people for the inside too instead, exterior,like how-how often people execute the ex.I live in my house and I don't think I'm going to gain anything outside,but um constantly changing things inside. Bristo: There are housing rehab programs within our community that also can work within-work with interior projects. In fact, frequently I work with the housing rehab people to come together to help fund a project. So they can help with the match to our Historic Preservation Fund and they can also help with that interior work that um,that we just can't help with. And- and part of the reason we can't help with the interiors is because we don't regulate that. Salih: That's all my questions. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. All right.I'm gonna open up this for public comment. I wanna see how many individuals want to speak on this topic.And if you are online,please raise your hand as well. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 25 Salih: One,2,3,4, 5,6,7, 8,9, 10 Teague: Okay.I count 10.We're gonna go for three minutes and I,um,there are name um,stickers in the back if you wanna pre write your name and drop it in the basket. I highly encourage people to do that. Um,we'll ask you to come forth and give your name and city you're from. And I also wanna mention that the council cannot engage in discussion or debate until the appropriate time for council discussion.However,once the commenter has left the podium, council may ask staff to respond to a concern or a question posed by the public or to follow up with the speaker. Uh,so at this time,we will ask for those that raise their hands and wanna speak to come forth. Please state your name and city you're from. Welcome. Swaim: Hi. Thank you. I'm from-um,I'm from Iowa City and I'm Ginalie Saim and I'm on the board of Friends of Historic Preservation.Excuse me,and I wanna thank you for this public hearing and to the Skarda family for all their many years of good stewardship. This is important building,tells more about the 19th century immigrant story in Iowa City than almost any other building in town. We all have immigration stories,some from our ancestors centuries ago,some from recent lived experience. Tonight's story is about the Bohemians,now we would call them Czech. In the 1850s, they escaped hard times and oppression,came to eastern Iowa,and by 1873,3,000 Bohemians lived in Johnson County. The first Bohemian language newspaper in this state was launched here in Iowa City. For many years,it was printed here. And in 1875,Bohemian immigrant Joseph Slezak opened this fine brick building.Uh,the slides. Oh goodness, freeze my time,please. Teague: Okay.I don't think we can freeze the time.What does it state? Grace: You can. Teague: Oh,okay. Grace: Like that. Swaim: Lisa Bludder time out. Teague: And I'll grant you an extra 15 seconds. Swaim: I appreciate that. Teague: Yes. Swaim: I appreciated that. So uh,where was I? So,Mr. Slezak opened this fine brick building. Its Italianate d-details are specially well preserved,and as someone else mentioned,the unique feature is his baroque style pediment on the top,which you would expect in Prague but not in Iowa. The building joined our growing commercial scene,especially at first, for the hundreds of Bohemians in Goosetown. Advertised as a farmer's home,it attracted fanners who came into town on business and then who needed a place to eat, stable their horses,and maybe spend the night. Called National Hall the name on the pediment was also in Bohemian.Mr. Slezak celebrated the opening with a grand ball and 400 guest in the second floor social hall,which had a vaulted ceiling and surely a good dance floor because it was used for decades.Bohemian Lodges and social clubs met here,helping members in tough times, expen-explaining US laws and keeping native customs.Bohemian was heard throughout the building because in an earlier Iowa This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 26 City,English was not the only language spoken. Today,Bohemian Czech surnames are still familiar, Shimick,Hayek,Cilic,Navotni, Setichek,Chatma,Dvorjak.Now,in the 19th century, we don't know whether Czech or Bohemian immigrants faced discrimination. We hope not. We do know that by 1920s, federal immigration laws were res-restricting immigrants from Eastern and southern European. And I-I other things were changing in Iowa City. In the 20th century for this building,lodging for Bohemian farmers became apartments for college students. The livery stable became a garage,and then a laundromat grocery table-grocery store became a pizza restaurant.Now,look back 150 years ago though,we had numerous hotels,social halls,eating places,and grocery stores.But note that this one building still standing,still recognizable,served all these limetions.No other local landmark tells the immigration story this extensively. This is where the Bohemian immigrants first found community as they prepared to join the larger society. We can do better at saving all immigrant stories. Teague: And that's your time. Swain: Old and new,let's start here. Teague: Thank you. Swaim: Thank you. Teague: Yep.Welcome. Oxley: Hey,my name is Willy Oxley. I am an architectural woodworker in Iowa City. It is my job to repair and restore old homes,um,and I wanted to talk a little bit about this building and about the nature of using old buildings instead of choosing to do new construction. Um,I am a descendant of crafts people in Iowa.I'm one of those Bohemians that they were talking about.My grandmother came over here on a boat.Um,this is the legacy that my uh,my ancestors left for me. And history aside,like the nature of these buildings is incredibly intricate and beautiful. And not only that,but it's considerably more environmental than new construction buildings often are. Um,the cost associated,both economic and environmental,with the destruction and demolition of a building,and then the cost associated with the environmental impact of a construction site in a historic district. In a city center,you're releasing tons of dust and paint and debris and you're burning thousands of gallons of diesel fuel.And I,I think it's absolutely senseless because these buildings were designed to be repaired,um, and repair is something that we don't think about anymore,and I think that it is probably the number 1 issue that we face as a country is our decision to say,oh,it's old,it needs this considerable cost. Well,there are all these new-these new ideas and concepts behind construction that we can adopt in these old settings that make things more economic,that make things more accessible to the purveyors of the property or whatever the word is. Um,and yeah,I,I,I can't even believe that we're having this conversation, you know,because my dad talks about going to lunch with Pagliai's with my grandfather and my great grandfather. And,you know,it's been such an institution in this town. It's an iconic impediment.It's an iconic set of four windows.You see this view,like this painted mural on the side of the building next to it.You're gonna lose that entire skyline. It's part of the skyline of Iowa City. And I,I,I,I don't know why-I don't know why we're even having this conversation.Um,so all in the name of profit as many things are. So I'm gonna leave it at that before I get a little bit too long winded,um,but thank you for your time. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 27 Teague: Thank you. And if uh,if people are wanting to speak,I ask that you begin to congregate here. Welcome. Woodruff: David Woodruff,Iowa City. Teague: Yeah,and feel free to get in the line. You're fine. Woodruff: Is it historic,and is it significant?Trained professionals have said yes,Planning and zoning has said yes,and now you have the opportunity to say,yes,the building brings more value to our community as a historic property than as a redevelopment site. It's now your opportunity to protect it forever,even if the owner objects. Aesthetically this links the North Side Business District to the North Side development,North side Historic neighborhood,and that's good for business. You all received a letter from the North side businesses, signed by a vast majority of them. The cost of demolition and new construction is far more than preservation environmentally, culturally and financially.As was pointed out,this would cause great environmental cost. There would also be extensive cultural cost as was pointed out, and you got a letter from the Czech museum as well. There will also be costs to the tenants.Yeah,the commercial and residential tenants will be forced to move, and if allowed to return,the tenants rent will be higher.Now,the benefits,302 Bloomington may be more valuable if it is marketed as a historic property. The demolition redevelopment buyer will have to pay to tear it down. They'll have to pay to send it to a landfill. They'll have to pay to rebuild,they'll have to pay for parking,pay-pay-pay-pay-pay Retaining or renovating will not have these costs. If you designate this property as historic,45% of the renovation costs can be covered by state and federal tax credits. The Highlander Hotel in Iowa,City Hotel Grennel,in Solon. The developer there,Angela Harrington,pointed out that getting back$0.45 on every dollar is a powerful incentives for re-developers. There are also city incentives with historical landmark zoning city incentives. The building has a zoning code. If a new building is built,a historic landmark has zoning code waivers. Iowa City Code also allows for the sale of development rights to adjacent properties.Additionally, studies have shown that when you use the incentives for historic landmarks,$478 comes back in direct private expenditures and$507 in economic activity. That means for every dollar we spend in historic incentives,we get$9.85 back into our economy. We have a finite supply of historic buildings in our community,and every time one is demolished,it is gone forever. You have an opportunity and your community will be forever thankful. Teague: Thank you. Did you state your name and city you're from? Woodruff: David Woodruff,Iowa City. Teague: Thank you. And then the next speaker,please come forward. And I do ask people to start lining up as the previous speaker is finishing. Thank you. Erdahl: Hi,my name is Roxanne Erdahl. All I had not planned on speaking.I just moved back to Iowa City after being gone for 20 years. I have some history and the fact that five generations, 1929, my grandparents owned Maid-Rite Meyers,Maid-Rite on the Pentacrest-right across from the Pentacrest.My dad moved us back in 65 to run it again. I opened a business in 1975 on the Ped Mall called Buck Leathers,and my son opened a restaurant in 2005. So I'm going to talk to you about history and what it means to this community. I took my two grandsons down this summer because I wanted them to know the history of Iowa City. And I think that's part of what we're talking about tonight. We're talking about a building.I'm asking you to also understand that at This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 28 least for my family,you also have a responsibility to hold that history in your heart.For us,it meant a lot to me that I could take my grandsons down there and say,this is where your great grandparents-your great great grandparents first opened a restaurant in 1929. This is where your grandma marched and made some history and fought for women's rights in Iowa City. Their grandfather Clemens Erdahl all sat up there where you're sitting right now for eight years.And so there's history here that people are talking about that's just really important and that's part of your responsibility is to hold the heart. So that's what I'm asking tonight. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. Please state your name is City. Beck:My name is Phil Beck and I live here in Iowa City.I've been here since 1975. I'd like to add my voice in support of this local historic landmark status for these properties on Bloomington Street. I realize that a community is made up of individuals,and individuals have rights.But I also believe that a community has an obligation to consider the collective good as well and part of the collective good,I believe is preserving what has value in the community. I think aesthetic beauty and history,our values,very fragile ones. As some people have commented already, once you sweep them away,they're gone forever.A building with historical value.If it's eliminated,that history disappears. I mean,it may remain in books,but there's no preservation. There's no evidence of it left. I think it's very significant that Slezak Hall was a gathering place for the Bohemian and Czech community in Iowa City. That makes it an important monument to the diverse ethnic history of our city.I'm someone with Czech heritage and family,and that means a lot to me. In addition,of course,as we all know,the building houses one of Iowa City's most popular and iconic restaurants,Pagliai's. And this ensures that this building is important not simply for its age or architecture,but because it continues to serve a vital part of the business and cultural life in Iowa City,I enthusiastically support designating it a local historic landmark. I think you have a great opportunity to preserve beauty,history,and value in our community and I hope you take it. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Anyone else want to address this topic?Please come forward.Welcome. Futrell: Thank you.Hi.My name is Susan Futrell and I live in the Nor-in the near North Side neighborhood here in Iowa City. You have a letter from my husband and I with some other points, so I won't repeat what I've already said.I think some of you who responded to that.Um, but I wanted to come in person and say to you directly a couple of additional things about the opportunity you have here. I love the history of my neighborhood and I've been active in trying to help preserve it and take care of our old house and those things.But I truly believe the-the decision to landmark this property is less about history than it is about the fixture and the character of our unique community,both economically and culturally. And I really want you to think about that in terms of the fixture. Since this came before the council,the last time,this neighborhood and business district on the near north side has changed considerably due primarily to development that has been of a particular kind that is quicker and turns profit more quickly and short term, putting up tall buildings with apartment buildings that hold multiple students or Airbnb's for the week,and, ah,first floor rental,that's sometimes hard to keep active. At the time this came before the council before that neighborhood was largely intact with buildings that were of a scale suitable to a walkable neighborhood.And we're more characteristic of the old history.Now this Pagliai's building and the laundromat represent one of the few buildings left that really hold that history.And I think by looking at other ways to add value and take value from that piece of property,you're actually doing something to benefit the entire community,both economically and culturally,not just the north side neighborhood. So I would urge you to really think about this in This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 29 terms of an investment for the fixture and one that can honor the stewardship that the Skarda family has taken of that building. They've taken beautiful care of it. And I think it's rare that you have an opportunity as the- as the council to make such a significant impact on the fixture of the community with such a small piece of property,um,as the one we're looking at tonight. So I urge you to landmark it and help transition it to new ownership that can find new ways of adding value and-and bringing that value to the community. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Honohan: Welcome Mr.Mayor and City Council. Um,my name is Jay Honohan.Um, live at 420 North First Avenue and I am going to speak against putting this on the historical um,landmark First of all,as you could see by that picture up there, even though the building was built in 1874,and it was as a dance hall,and then the laundry mat was a horse stable.Um,there has been significant changes to the exterior of the building and um,the inside of the building.And so since 1875 and so that wouldn't-the changes that had been made,then it wouldn't apply to putting it on the historical um,landmark.And second,you know I've been living in Iowa City since'64,and um, Pagliai's Pizza was not in that present location when I was bom.It was um,on Clinton Street um, where Old Capital Mall was. And it got-they moved because um,the city was doing urban renewal back then.And so,you should also consider a business inside of a building does not make it a historical landmark. And then you're limiting Mr. Skarda by selling his place um,to a developer. You're probably going to end up losing a lot of tax dollars um,by not having it developed. And so I'm opposed to putting this on the historical landmark Thank you Council. Teague: Thank you. I want to see how many uh,individuals still want to speak.I see two back there,and then we have one online.I'm going to welcome three still. I'm going to welcome Susan from online.Welcome. Please state your name and City you're from. Mellecker: Hi,can you hear me? Teague: Yes. Mellecker: Hi um,my name is Susan Mellecker and I'm from Iowa City. Um,I'm watching this online and I am going to have-again,I'm probably not going to have a popular opinion here. Um,I grew up in the North End. I was born at Mercy Hospital.I lived on Ronald Street. I have eaten a million and a half Pagliai's Pizzas.Everyone in my family has worked at Pagliai's over the years. Um, and every single time that a property owner wants to sell a property um,that may be considered historic,I mean I'm-I'm not saying that this property is not historic,but I'm always bothered by the lack of rights of the property owner.I mean I prob-in this case,I've just listened to the fact that a property owner can get 45%tax credits back for uh,you know,updates.But someone has to pay the 55%. And if you own a property and you can't afford that 55%then you can't update that property.And there's so many examples in Iowa City,it's going to be an unpopular thing to say,where the Historic PreservationCommission is not interested in a property at all until the owner wants to sell it, and I get the redevelopment of Iowa City.I'm 65 years old and I've seen the changes to this community,but I'm always concerned that if I want to sell my house someday,is someone going to come in and say,I'm sorry,you can't sell your house? That I've owned for 30 years that I've updated,that I've taken care ol� and that now is probably my biggest asset. It's always bothered me that no one is concerned about these buildings until an owner wants to sell them. And so,that's all I wanted to say tonight is that we do need to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 30 proactively approach people who own buildings in historic districts and start to work with them long before they want to put their property on the market. Thank you. Teague: Thank you and welcome to the next speaker. Wise:My name is Bob Wise.I live in North Liberty right now,but I was bom here in 1950. On the one hand,I have to say that I'm embarrassed to not have known that the area in which the national building sits is part of the original plot of the city of Iowa City. So its history goes back long before uh,the building was built.Kitty-corner,the parking lot, and then the house to the east of er,the Pagliai's parking lot. That's where Conrad Graf the brew master for the Union Brewery built his house. So if we extend on a line down to John's grocery,that's about the end of what's left of the original plot of the city of Iowa City,the downtown area of Iowa City.And the buildings are disappearing,not only in Iowa City,but also around the country. And with that, history is lost. Whether it's the Bohemian/Czech history,whether it's Native American history, um,I've seen it in Minnesota,I've seen it in North Dakota.All around. And so you don't have an easy task.Yeah,I don't envy any single one of you up there.But I do ask that you give serious consideration to eliminating part of the original plot of Iowa City and er,what the long term effects will be.In 1965 when this building became occupied,I watched the old fire station up on the comer of Linn disappear.Demolished.I don't remember who tore it down.I can't tell you how exactly it was done.But if we look at it now,it's a parking lot.If we go kitty-comer to the building that was over opposite of the City Hall,that's now a vacant lot. And as far as I know, there's no development which is planned for it. There's a lot of desire for the property within the- the area where the national building is at. And at what cost to the history of the City of-or the City of Iowa City um,will we render that. Thank you very much for your time. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Boyd:Uh,my name is Kevin Boyd.I live in Iowa City.Um,local landmarks connect us to both the past by honoring our civic-ancestors,what our civic ancestors built,but it also connects us to the fixture.It says we value this history and we want Iowa City ins to be able to experience heritage sites.But I also want to address a few things that I've heard tonight that I uh,don't know uh,to add to the conversation.You know I-I'm no longer on the Historic Preservation Commission,but when I was there,our approach was really trying to be yes and,you know,we partnered with the Iowa City Downtown Districtto provide um,a framework of incentives, for property owners to opt in historic landmarks to give them tools. Three of you were on the City Council when that happened,and you uh,guys declined to take that up. So we have tried,and I just wanted to point that out,that we are not always reactive.We try to be very proactive and that didn't happen, and that's fine.But here we are tonight trying to preserve this building.um,I also wanted to say to, you know,that we hear a lot about private property owners and what happens to them.But the city regulates private property all the time.Every city,every part of the city is zoned.Every part of it has regulations.um,and we all deal with those restrictions and regulations and what we do with that property,it's your right to do it and it is part of what we all just accept it uh,very often except for when it comes to Historic Preservation,buildings or buildings of historic nature.Um, and we also hear a lot of what might happen of the economic property value.But you guys make decisions all the time that impact people's property values.Whether you complete a road,convert a one way,widening a road,where to build or renovate a park, adding density to a zone, changing the zoning from a property across the street.All those decisions have economic impacts on-on people in the community,and you make those decisions regularly. Um,you know,I um,we've seen examples you know,of the state and federal tax credits,we've talked about the history. Um, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 31 but I also want to point out that this communication around this has been nearly entirely positive. Citizens are engaged,one of your core values,and in favor of this.We heard from local businesses,loud and clear that preserving this building adds economic value to more than just what's on this lot. Two commissions have passed it overwhelmingly.It's in multiple city plans. City staff recommends it.Um,you know,these plans are part of what the citizens have already told you.Iowa City is telling you to preserve this building. It's time to join its rightful place as an Iowa City local landmark and I urge you to support the landmark status. Teague: Thank you,and we'll have the last speaker come forth at this time.Welcome. Agran: Thank you.I'm Thomas Agran and I live in the north side.I served as HPC rep for seven years. We aren't talking tonight about landmarking a property as a stretch of the imagination. As we often did when I was on the commission. We're talking about a cherished core property in Iowa City's past,present and fixture,inextricable from the story of Iowa City and the north end.We lament the loss of so many historic buildings during urban renewal.But as far as I can tell, since moving here in 2009,urban renewal alive and well. As developers and accountants pencil Iowa City's history,texture and unique flavor out of existence in favor of cheap structures built for balance sheets. As you leave tonight,I ask you to look east at the distinctly forgettable 3 over 1 across from the Co-Op.Look west where a giant hole in the ground stands,monument to one Iowa City family's bank account,or north where historic UU Church was leveraged and now sits abandoned having served its role,lining private pockets.Don't forget the increasingly dilapidated historic 410 North Clinton wrongly rejected landmarking by Council in 2019 and held hostage for development handouts,or the charming pile of bricks we all woke up to on Christmas morning after a jolly visit from a bulldozer on South Dubuque Street.Episodes we can be proud of.I get it when a property owner disagrees with the historic designation of a building,it is awkward,but as fate would have it,in anticipation of these exact circumstances,we came up with systems and protocols. We have a comprehensive plan, succinct standards,historic properties must meet in a process of community representatives at three levels to ensure those guiding documents and standards aren't applied capriciously. So that when our community's history comes under threat, we haven't established an agreed way to prevent our historic assets being emotionally leveraged for private gain.We made the rules and the rules say that we don't have to play that game. This passed HPC unanimously,and the one dissenting vote on P&Z wasn't because it didn't overwhelmingly meet the criteria,but because they felt squeamish about the descent of the owner, which is not supposed to play a role in the analysis or recommendation and accordingly,we should consider the P&Z vote,also unanimous. The property is a bellwether. If we can't use the established process to save what I see as a slam dunk property over the objection of the property owner. How will we ever save downtown where dissenting owners pepper every block.Rulings on individual properties do not set precedent.But if I was a developer,I'd be watching this council's decision closely.You're tasked with putting process over personal.A dissenting property owner does not constitute some kind of teflon veto and a supe-super majority vote tonight in the affirmative sends the message that this building in our downtown is not for sale and showing yourself to be a council. The values preservation and lockstep gives mandate to the HPC and P&Z to begin protecting downtown in earnest before it's too late. If you're a no vote,I hope you'll show up at the demolition for one last hot slice and a photo op.I urge you tonight to do what is right for the community. Honor our agreed upon rules and processes and tell everybody that this Iowa City Council,that you have a chutzpah to stand up to developers and development. And that you value community character and fair civil process above private gain and tax base. All building new buildings require maintenance. Please show that you value a city worth maintaining. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 32 Teague: Thank you. And we're closing. Well,before I close public um,hearing,I want our City Attorney just to kind review the voting requirements for super majority since there are six of us,one of our Councilors,that's not with us tonight. Goers:Right. Thank you,Mr.Mayor.Uh,that's one of uh,three matters I'm hoping to take up with you before your uh,discussion begins. Uh,the first thing I wanted to mention was just making some record that the Mayor Pro Tem stepped out for a few minutes. This is a planning and zoning matter,so this is an important record to make for religious purposes,but was listening in for the entirety of the hearing uh,while she remained in the adjacent room. Uh,two uh,procedural vote because the uh,protest petition has been filed,uh,a super majority that is three fourths of all members of city council are required uh, for passage.And again, it's not three fourths of those present,it's three fourths of the members of the city Council. So that would still be six votes in order to proceed. So the informal consensus the mayor would be looking for would be all six present,uh,intending to vote in accordance with planning and zoning affirmative uh, recommendation. If six votes are not present for that,then we would need to uh,keep the public hearing open,uh,defer consideration to the next meeting,and ask or offer a consult uh,to planning and zoning. Finally,um,I want to just make a couple of clarifications as to what's appropriate consideration for Council um,in such a manner. One,there's been uh,mentioned by a couple of people about the opportunity to transfer uh,development rights. That's true in some form based uh, code portions of the town,but I don't believe that's present in this part of town. The other is,there's been quite a bit of discussion about the environmental impact of demolition and so forth.And while that's certainly true,um,that would be true of any building,historic or not,so that should not be uh,a strong consideration in your debate either.With that,I'd be happy to answer any questions about either those legal matters or the procedures. Dunn: So if I may ask,so you said that there are some things that we can't judge it on. Can you give us a clear picture on what we can judge this proposed line? Goers: Oh, sure. All the things that are in the staff report that are,you know,uh,considerations for whether this is considered to be historic,um,I could pull it out or. Dunn: For the sake of-for sake of the room,I'd appreciate it. Goers: Well,uh,would you feel comfortable?I think that there are a couple staff members who would certainly be better versed than me to offer that. So,I'll refer to Miss Sitzman for that. Thank you. Sitzman: Thank you. So just to recap,when the Historic Preservation Commission considered this,the landmarking criteria are the um. Teague: And will you. Sitzman: Criteria. Teague: And will you speak specifically to 314,310 and 316 those addresses? Sitzman:I'm not sure I know what that,what reference that is.What do you. Teague: So that's the laundromat. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 33 Sitanan: Oh,the addresses. Okay. Teague: Yes. Sitanan: They're all considered one property,so I'm not sure I can them out individually,but the most relevant resource for what-whether they meet local criteria,A,B,C,D, and E,would be what's contained in the Historic Survey,included in your packet,which was conducted by a qualified historian who researched the history of the property. They documented um,the architectural style and the uh,cultural history of the property. They documented all of the things that go into those criteria and found that they did meet them. So,I don't know if you really want me to recount every single element,but they certainly certified that local criteria A,B,C, and E were all met and that satisfies our ordinance for land marking. Teague: Any other questions by Council? Okay. So then um,essentially if one person is not inclined to vote with P&Z recommendation,and sometimes that could mean that um,maybe an individual is not very set on voting in the affirmative.I just want to state that for the public um,that they may want a consult. Um, so I just wanted to ask my fellow Councilors if um,people are inclined to vote in accordance with P&Z recommendation.Yeah. Salih: Can we discuss anything before we answer this question? Goers: Well,council discussion is the next portion,but if you have any questions for either staff or,uh, well, for staff,uh,I'd certainly try to answer them. Salih:My-my question really for the Historic Preservation.I-I want to see like this to be,kind of,you know,I think Kevin you talked about incentive and all this. Uh,I-I just believe that when we go to someone and try to ask them to preserve and they cannot, for example,if I have a historic house,but I'm no longer have money to keep it up and you designate it,and I need money.I need money for my house.I want to do something.I'm going to sell it because that's the only thing that I own. So if we would like to make something historic,I think we need to do more to that person. I understand that you came to the council and it was-to be honest with you,I just tried to understand these historic things from last time until now.I'm not against it,this is beautiful building,we need to keep it. There is many of them,we need to keep them too.But my-my problem is that when the city do something,we need to do extra to the person who own the building. Like-and even if we find out this person really,really need-need to sell this building, the city can buy-buy them and remark historic,there's no problem.But I-I really want to-I'm- I'm just tom now. I want this to be preserved. And the same time,I want to see if the staff can-or the history preservation can do-amend or propose amend- amendment for what they do currently. Because I things like just caring about the outside as I told you earlier,who often care the outside of the building,especially if it's old. That's why I-I-I would like to see before I can ye-vote yes or no,I wanna hear if that possibility. Dunn:May I ask you a question about staff? Goers: Uh, sure. I want to make sure I don't,you know,blow past the Mayor Pro Tern's question.Was that-did you have a question at the end there?I'm sorry.I want make sure I answer it. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 34 Salih: Yeah. I said I want to know if there is a way we can change this. So we can change what's the city responsibility when we ask a person to make their own building a historic.Like is there-can we give them more?Can we change instead of like exterior,can we do,like,help for interior?Can we help with keeping up the,like,maintaining the building inside? Goers: Well, sure. That would be a political decision that council would have to make to amend the ordinance to and to provide fixnding presumably for the kind of support that I think you're describing. Is that answer your question? Salih: Then can I ask my follow council question or no? Goers:No. Dunn:May I ask a staff question? Goers: You may. Dunn: This decision today would not preclude us from changing programs in the fixture to add additional funds or expand the things that Mayor Pro Tem is talking about; is that correct? Goers: You're correct. That could-you could do this rezoning today and then make the kind of changes that I think that Mayor Pro Tem is describing. Dunn: And-and we could,in fact,potentially direct staff to start investigating how we would change those programs or no? Goers: Yes,council could so direct. Yes. Dunn: In this moment.Not in this- immediate moment,but like- Alter: Tonight. -tonight? Salih: Under discussion,but- Goers: Um.Yes. Dunn: Okay. Salih: Okay. Alter: I have a question for Historic Preservation. Goers: Okay. Alter: So,designating this as a landmark,as has been recommended does not preclude-doesn't mean that the place can't be sold,correct? Sellegren: Oh, correct. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 35 Goers: I'm sorry.If you're going to answer,we need to have you come to the podium. Sellergren: All right.I'm sorry. Alter: Like designating this does not mean that the building cannot be sold,it simply is marking it as a historic landmark Sellergren: Yes. Alter: And then it is sold to perhaps a different developer-who is interested in a historic building. Goers:Right.I can answer that. Subject to its zoning,like any other sale,yes. Salih: Yeah.But it will be sale [inaudible]. Sellergren: While I'm here,may I comment on- Goers:But no. I'm sorry.No,you need to only answer question. Teague: Only-only answer questions,yes. Sellergren: I'm sorry. Okay. Moe:Maybe one question for Danielle real quickly. This is a C132 zone that has requirements for parking.If this was a new building,it would have to have parking. It would also have FAR requirements, so the size of the building would be substantially smaller. And this building,like if there were a,other building to go there,could you describe what's possible? Sitzman:We did do a brief development analysis just based on the premise of new development under just the existing zoning,um,and we did share that with the property owner as well.Um,let's see if I have it. Some of the questions earlier about how much parking rate does it have, and things like that went into our review. You know,we don't nun a Performa though, so I'm telling you whether it's priced appropriately on the market or what it might command on the market.Um,but certainly the standards of C132 would apply all the current standards,all the current site plan requirements. Um,it's certainly under the potential density for the site under that zoning as it currently is built. The number of units is below the maximum density.But what we typically see is the other constraints on development besides just unit count as providing parking and open space and all of those other things that go into a site development. Moe: Right. Sitzman:I think there might be some confusion about transfer of development rights simply because the C132 does have a little bit of that into it,but it's not based on historic designation so just to clarify. And we did look into a-a program of transfer development rights in 2019.Uh, city council deve- uh,directed staff to explore that,but ultimately,when we advanced a transfer of development rights,uh,ordinance change,it was not adopted by council. So we've explored that,but we do not currently have transfer of development rights anywhere except in the south or the Riverside- Riverfront Crossings form base code. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 36 Moe: Thanks Danielle. Teague: I have a question for you. So 314,310,316 I'm trying to de-determine what the historic,you know,attributes of these sites are. Moe: Are you referring to the building versus the state? Teague: Well. Moe: The stable. Teague: I mean,we have a- a Laundromat in there now and so I'm a little confused as to-I'd-I'd certainly get the,you know,the-the-the corner building,but the other properties. Salih: That's a historic that's what it is. Sitzman:It's- it's a whole one property,so the zoning would be applied to the entire property. Teague: Okay.And then if someone should come before the council in the fixture,let's say someone buys it,the council can consider,uh,kind of preserving the frontage of maybe some of the property, but not all of it.But that would be a council-it'll go through the-the proper channels,but that is a possibility. Sitzman: So if you're thinking of something like the Tailwinds Development on the Ped Mall on East College Street,where,uh, some redevelopment happened and some preservation also happened, um,if it were rezoned this evening,the entire site would be subject to preservation. Something like that would require rezoning,where perhaps the overlay was removed from,again, from part of the lot to allow it not to be part of,uh,Ilistoric Preservation anymore.Keep in mind that the Tail Winds East College Street project was also a Tiff project, so we had a development agreement that was negotiated so that gave us extra control outside of just regular zoning. Teague: We also did it on College Street- Sitzman:Right. Teague: -where we reserved the-the frontage and- Sitzman:Right. That was all one project. Teague: Okay. Okay. Dunn: Eric,I got another question for you.Um,would-would a desire to change another program be grounds for,um,denying this request? Goers:No. Uh,you would need to vote based on the current state of the law. Dunn: Thank you. Salih: Ca-can you tell me how many-how many buildings do you have preserve as historic? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 37 Sellergren: Uh,currently,I think of the 2,700 properties in Iowa City,there are 67 landmark buildings. Salih: And-and why is this building not being-is there- Sellergren: Attempts-attempt-attempts have been made, and so this is-this is our likely last attempt. Dunn: So,this was the third attempt,correct? Sellergren: I believe that this might be the fourth,perhaps even fifth. Salih: Oh,you mean,but it never come to us,right? Sellergren: It has come to council,yes. It has. And it's- it-it has not. Alter: The 1980s. Sellergren: Yep. Since-since 1980 I believe was the first attempt. Thank you. Salih: Thank you. Okay. Teague: Yeah. I'm having issues with this one.I'm-I'm going to request that we have a console with P&Z. Goers: All right. Then you want to keep the public hearing open and I would accept a motion or entertain a motion to defer to date certain. Teague: We would do the 16th and- and we can revise it April 16th. Goers: Okay. Teague: So could I get a motion to defer until April 16th? Salih:Move. Teague:Move by Salih. Harmsen:A quick question. This is kind of a fait accompli,right?If we don't have all six of us. Goers: Yes. So it has to be deferred at this point no matter what? Salih: Yes. Moe: Pretty much,yeah. Salih: Yes. Goers: Yeah. I mean, if the informal consensus is you don't have six votes, and that's what I'm hearing from the Mayor,then yes, a console must be offered to P&Z and thus you need to defer to a couple set. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 38 Salih: And if the deferral afford. Like if nobody agreed for the deferral,what's going to happen. Goers: If no one agreed to the deferral? Salih: Yes. If like motion second and when we come to vote it failed. Teague: Then we have to vote. Goers: I had not considered that hypothetical. Um I'm not sure why you would do that. If-if those who are opposed to moving forward or aren't confident that they want to move forward,it at this point would certainly want you to have the opportunity. I mean,the whole point of the ordinance is to allow planning and zoning to come meet with you,answer your questions,address your concerns or not,you know,but at least have that opportunity. I think it would be inconsistent with the current state of our ordinances for Council to-to not defer and thereby not allow that planning and zoning consult. Alter: Can I?It also means -I mean,they are the ones within this discussion that we haven't heard from, so it makes sense to sort of close that circle and-and talk to P&Z. Goers: Yeah. Teague: So we have a motion by Salih.We need a second. Alter: I will second. Teague: Second by Alter and roll call,please. Alter: What do we? Teague: This is a. Salih: Deferment. Teague: Deferment Alter: So yes under deferment. That's what we're. Goers: It's a deferral.We're voting to defer and since it's a motion,a roll call is not required. I'm happy to do that. Teague:But this will be for the April 16th meeting when we'll have a meeting with P&Z. Goers: Yeah. Teague: So all in favor say aye. All:Aye. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 39 Teague: Any oppose?Motion passes 6-0. Thanks to everyone for coming out for that one. Yes. Grace:Mayor,could we get a motion for the correspondence? Teague: Yes. Salih: So move. Dunn: So second. Teague: All right.Move by Salih. Second by Dunn. All in favor say aye. All:Aye. Teague: Any oppose?Motion passes 6-0. Yes. We're going to take a five minute break and we will return at 8:30. (short break) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 40 9.c Rezoning-1810,1816,and 1828 Lower Muscatine Rd.- Ordinance rezoning approximately 6.25 acres of land located at 1810,1816,and 1828 Lower Muscatine Road from Neighborhood Public Zone(P-1)zone to General Industrial(I-1)zone.(REZ23-0010) (Second Consideration) Teague: Okay.We're going to go to 9. c.Rezoning- 1810, 1816, and 1828 Lower Muscatine Road. This is an ordinance rezoning approximately 6.25 acres of land located at 1810, 1816,and 1828 Lower Muscatine Road from neighborhood public zone to general industrial zone. And this is the second consideration. Can I get a motion please? Dunn: So moved. Alter: Second. Teague:Moved by Dunn. Second by Alter anyone from the public like to address this topic.Welcome. Please state your name and City. Routh: Good evening.My name is Laura Routh. I live in Iowa City,Iowa. I have resided in Iowa City off and on for about 50 years, so I predate Pagliai's.My home is about four blocks away from the former Kirkwood Campus complex on Muscatine that you all are addressing tonight. I know that you have received dozens of letters against the proposed rezoning,almost all from people, families,residents,and homeowners who live in the neighborhoods that will be most affected by this rezoning and while some folks have praised the Oral-B plant as a terrific neighbor,I see it differently.I'd like to present you all with a couple of photographs that I took just a couple of days ago. I'm going to give these to the City Clerk at the end here so she can put them in the record. This is the front of the Kirkwood building two days ago,20 plus chemical containers stored outside out front,right on Lower Muscatine Road. In spite of the fact that the rezoning has not yet been approved, Oral-B has already started storing chemical containers outside. It doesn't bode well for their future compliance with zoning rules. They are,as one neighbor described,too big to care. Oral-B is Procter and Gamble. They are the same company.By rezoning as proposed, you are giving Oral-B and Procter and Gamble carte blanche to do what they want on this site. Under the current proposal,the setback at the rear of the Oral-B property as proposed will be zero feet. Again,I'd like to just give you a little bit of a picture. That yellow part in the middle,that's the zero setback Okay. That means that those of us that live on the other side of the railroad tracks get to deal with whatever they decide to put on that what is now a parking lot all the way up to the edge of the tracks. If this rezoning goes through,Oral B can do whatever it wants on this property.Manufacturing more buildings,waste storage,truck movement,compressors, condensers, cooling towers, storage tanks. They will be allowed to do whatever they want to do. This proposed rezoning is a terrible idea and it will be impossible to undo it if it is allowed to proceed. To assert as some city officials have,that the details of fixture site planning can be worked out and we will rectify any problems associated with rezoning,problems such as lighting setback or storage is ludicrous. Those remedies rarely occur after the fact I think we all know that. The City Council does Oral B no favors by rubber stamping this.If you allow the rezoning to proceed without any conditions or restrictions,you are increasing the likelihood that Oral B and Procter and Gamble will be the subject of increasing regulatory scrutiny and citizen complaint. The city's failure to seek real feedback on this proposal is a poison pill. Teague: Thank you. And if anyone is online and want to speak to this,please raise your virtual hand. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 41 Dunn: Oh,do we move to receive correspondence? Teague: Yeah,um, could I get a motion to accept correspondence? Alter: Second. Dunn:Move by Dunn,second by Alter. All in favor say aye. All:Aye. Teague: Aye.Any opposed motion passes 6-0,welcome. Cochran: Thank you.Do I need to sign this also? Teague:No-no. State your name and city. Cochran: Hello,I'm Cindy Cochran,I live here in Iowa City,I was bom in Johnson County in 1959, January 1st, first baby in Johnson County at Mercy Hospital. I've seen many things in my 65 years. A lot of things downtown. I still refer to the whole place out there where Fin and Feather is as the Ward Way Plaza,that's the only way my husband knows how to find me when I'm out there.I'm here tonight because I spent the last 20 years of my teaching career at the Iowa City Kirkwood campus. And it's a travesty what Kirkwood did to the people of Iowa City and Johnson County. Taxpayer dollars went into building that beautiful building. Some of you I know have been in there, some of you were my students, some of you knocked at my door and asked me to vote for you with beautiful voices.And tonight I have watched many people approach this podium and speak out as public speakers because you see,that's what I taught people to stand up and to speak And tonight you have a lot in front of you. And I know why I'm never running for city council,but I'm glad my students are there and my neighbors.But you must do tonight in every case in front of you,what is right.Yes, it must be legal,but you must do what is right and what is humane. For the people in this community who are LBGTQ,for the elderly in this community,which I am getting more and more of,for everyone in this community,to preserve history,to preserve the fixture and yes,as you suggested,we as a council, as a community,as a county,we must protect landowners and say,yes,we need to do this to your property,but here's what we can offer you,we must be more proactive. And as was suggested by a speaker earlier in the evening,Johnson County,Iowa City,is where I live. I live here because it's the only place in Iowa where I would live yet I go across RAGBRAI,I go to the state fair,and I love people who oppose my ideas that I can talk to,not just have them trash me,because I'm not going to trash them.And so tonight I ask you that beautiful building,do not tear that beautiful building down. Those signs for demolition were on those buildings before you even looked at rezoning that area. They're going to tear those buildings down.Yes they stepped up just like the University of Iowa, to preserve that hospital,but they're not the goodness of the people. Save that building and turn it into something else, force them to. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome. Please state your name and city you're from. Kraus: I'm Anne Marie Kraus,a 40 year resident of the southeast side of Iowa City.I've got some comments and questions referring back to last meeting in March. The council and the zoning commission have both said that they can't vote against the rezoning because there's no data demonstrating pollution. So using that line of reasoning why do you think you can vote for the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 42 rezoning based on no data?If you require data to vote against the rezoning,you must also require data proving that no additional pollution would result from an additional factory.You do not have this data to prove that no harm would result. Secondly,during the meeting in March,you were right to recognize that there are other sources of smells and pollution in the area. Knowing that why would you want to add to it?And knowing that,why wouldn't you address these other sources before adding another source to it? Some have said that area traffic is a bigger polluter, but this is a diversion tactic. The same question remains,why would you add to the existing pollution with an existing factory?Third,at the meeting in March,you agreed to discuss air quality in the work session. I looked at the agenda for the work session a few days ago and air quality was listed,but as of yesterday,I could not see air quality listed,what happened to it?I hope you still discuss it. Fourth,at the meeting in March,Councilor Harmsen stated he couldn't smell anything on the east side despite the fact that many residents can and do smell chemicals please remember that Dr.Buchkina stood here and educated us that the harmful chemicals can be totally undetectable by smell. The absence of smells or the absence of data do not mean the absence of harm.Fifth,we need scientific testing and monitoring all over the east side. City government could make this happen.You have received e-mails about an Iowa City business that can do it. Sixth,at the meeting in March,Councillor Salih pointed out that the poor and immigrant residents are mostly unaware of the dangers in this area. They're too busy working multiple jobs or have other immediate concerns.It is your duty to acknowledge the environmental injustice of placing most of the polluting industries among the lower income areas. City councils of the past have run roughshod over the southeast side. This does not mean that the current council needs to continue this shameful practice. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome,please state your name and city you're from. Daby:Hello. Thank you for having me.I'm Tracy Daby. I live in Iowa City.Been here at the same house 25 years,which is one block behind Kirkwood. Two weeks ago,city councilors voted to pass the rezoning resolution,while also acknowledging that urban air pollution in southeast Iowa City needs to be addressed. The city is adding another chemical facility within a heavily populated residential area, and in doing so,may endanger public health. This is a serious decision.We believe the city has an obligation to gather baseline data measurements germane to chemical manufacturing when near seven schools and neighborhoods with vulnerable populations like my own. It has to happen prior to rezoning.Local UI Engineering researchers familiar with the situation tell us that the first step must be to gather accurate and independent baseline data. They recommend this and this is in my email,ECT,which has a local branch very convenient for us. They absolutely have the advanced technological expertise to do this job. If not rejected outright like it should be at least facilitate data collection prior to rezoning. You can prove cities that your commitment to sustainable and safe city management.Ask yourselves,why are prominent city voices telling you the council to disregard the scientific evidence that we've presented?When deflection and disinformation are set aside,the proposal fails- fails all the rezoning criteria. It is not compatible to have industrial zones in the center of seven schools, 12 places of worship. It fails to meet the rezoning criteria, so you cannot pass it. Procter and Gamble has had ample opportunity to establish their so called good land stewardship in the face of numerous community complaints over the last decade,and they failed. Has PNG hired independent environmental consultants to assess the public health impacts of their facilities?No.Did they set up fence line monitoring behind Southeast Junior High to guarantee the safety of those developing kids from petro chemical chemicals -petro chemical pollutants. When I asked Townsend this after the last meeting,he said,no,there are no fence line monitoring stations set up.I asked why. He said it's This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 43 not required. Due diligence demands the deferral or absolute rejection and gathering of baseline air quality data prior to making this decision. Teague; Thank you-thank you. Anyone else want to address this topic, seeing no one in person or online Council discussion. Dunn: Go ahead. Moe:No. I was going to say I took down sort of three clusters of notes here. One,the comment about don't tear down the building that is in my heart to keep buildings as long as we can and reuse them for sustainability reasons.But we are limited with non historic buildings on telling people that they can and can't tear them down. And so I hear what you're asking and I don't know that that's an option for us. I also heard comments about us making good on our promise to do air quality work session and we will do that.If you notice, sometimes our work sessions do get backed up. We have a lot, and we have a lot of them to work through,housing issues,to talk about,preservation issues to talk about,so we will talk about it and then the last question,the last thing I wrote down,compatibility and I still see it geometrically the same way as there's industrial on both sides of this site and there is a railroad track and a big road. And so it's hard to imagine it as anything else. Dunn: So the main thing that I wanted to hit on is something that Josh touched on as well.um,I guess I'll talk a little bit broader than that. The idea of a task force to address issues of air pollution in- in the southeast side is still alive and well. There was a comment about the air quality issue being removed from the work session.I reviewed that tonight and it's still there. It's on our pending work sessions topic,so it might not be in the place that you're looking for,but during any work session,we are now able to discuss air quality issues. So just be assured by that. To that end,I don't think that my thoughts have changed any from the previous meeting and just like Josh said, when we're talking about industrial on both sides,we're talking about north and south,or at least, you know,midam and we're talking about the pre existing Oral B,right.No matter how you look at it,it's the same every way around that property. It's pre existing infrastructure,the facilities are pre existing. So fimdamentally,I don't see it as changing the character of the neighborhood. I see it as in line with the recommendations by staff and I will be approving tonight. Harmsen:I don't really have anything to add to that,but I do want to correct the record just real quickly because I believe in giving credit where due. I was mistakenly identified as the person who came up with the idea for the air quality,looking further into that,and that was Councilor Dunn. I supported it,but just so for public record,just in record of whatever,again,I don't want to take credit for somebody else's good idea. So I wanted to make sure that everybody knew that. Teague: It would also be up to this council discussion during the work session to determine if there is a task force. I don't want to -want to make it clear that that discussion remains to be seen. Alter: I'm also like Councilor Dunn in,it's an incredibly difficult situation.I do think that we need to look at the urban air pollution in the area.I'm also a southeast side resident.And so it is something that we need to look at for myriad reasons that you all have reiterated that Mayor Pro Tem has talked about many up here on council.But there's -I go back to what Councilor Dunn talked about,is that this is not-this is a zoning issue and in fact perhaps commonsensically,or perhaps how you are experiencing it,you say it doesn't make sense,but in fact,if you look,there's the Mid American plant and then there's Oral B. So it is zoned for these areas. That's what the zoning This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 44 office does. So I am absolutely in favor of sooner rather than later looking into getting data,but I also at the same time that there is experience -important lived experience from what you're saying. I have seen pregnant workers,I have seen the unions stamp within that and trust and believe that the teamsters are not going to put their people in a place that's not safe to work,let alone in an area that is emitting so- Dunn: The other thing- Salih: I will take it from where she-the industrial area there-I understand what you were saying,um, Councilor Alter the Mid American and Oral B,and this is in the middle.Yes.But let's go back and see when those area has been rezoned as industrial. This was-the neighborhood was not like that. It wasn't a lot residential area there. If it's up to me and I have power,if I really have power right now,I will move Oral B,I will move Procter& Gamble from there and put it like toward the end of the city. Since I don't have that power,why increase industrial area in that area?This is- specifically,this college,I went that to that college.And Cindy was my teacher. So that was beautiful building.And just to see like all this container now like outside,that's by itself changing how the community looked before. I were- still have concern about the air quality and everything and putting a text for- for air quality.What are we going to do?What the power we have as a council to tell them,you cannot do it. And they have license to put that,you know,pollution on there. They have license.I think even the test score that we're talking about is really useless. It's like we're going to bring the study and they will say,yeah,it have pollution on their. Okay. What else we can do?They have license to do this job. The only thing really the council have in their hand right now is just not to add to it,but we cannot eliminate it,we cannot,you know,just wipe it out or take it off.But the only thing that we can do and we have power to do is do not increase industrial area in that area. I will be proudly voting no for this project. Dunn: I-I very strongly disagree that there's nothing that we can do about this.I think that that,um, completely ignores the ability that we have to work as trustworthy community partners who are, you know,going towards a common goal and good relationships,right? The city has leverage in our relations with businesses.We have capital that can be used to address common issues.Hell,if we want to say talk to Procter and Gamble,we do this investigation and we figure out where there's a problem,right?Whether it's Procter and Gamble or someone else,right?We have the ability to- as a Council say,we would like to put your tax dollars towards addressing this issue so that our residents don't address this.You cannot tell me that we don't have that power and you cannot tell me that they're going to tum down free money to fix that problem. Salih: I will be waiting for that meeting and see what we can do. Dunn: It's not going to be productive though if people don't believe that the change is possible in the first place. If you go into something and you say no,nothing's possible,there's no power,they have a license to pollute. They may have a license to pollute,but we also have a license to partner and solve problems. Salih: Yeah. Yes. Good energy,Council Dunn,but we'll see how that will go. Teague:Roll call,please. [Roll Call] Motion passes 5-1. Could I get a motion to accept earlier correspondence? Harmsen: So moved,Harmsen. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 45 Moe: Second,Moe. Teague: All in favor say aye. [Voice Vote] Any oppose?Motion passes,6 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 46 10. Regular Formal Agenda 10.a Iowa Avenue Bridge Trail Underpass Bridges Project-Resolution approving a project manual and estimate of cost for the construction of the Iowa Avenue Bridge Trail Underpass Bridges Project,establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders,and fixing time and place for receipt of bids. Teague: Item number 10 is our regular formal agenda 10.a. is Iowa Bridge Trail Underpass Bridges Project Resolution,approving a project manual,an estimate of costs for the construction of the Iowa Avenue Bridge Trail Underpass Bridge Project,establish the amount of bids security to accompany each bid,directing city clerk to post notice to bidders and fixing time and place for a receipt of bids. I'm going to open the public hearing,and welcome,Ethan. Yoder: Thank you,Mayor. Uh,I'm here to talk about the Iowa Avenue Bridge Trail Underpass Project. Um,I want to start with a little bit of background. Um,this year,during the 2023 biannual bridge inspection,uh,it was noticed that these bridges to the pedestrian tunnel are starting to deteriorate and fail, so we had to close the pedestrian tunnel for safety reasons.Here are a few of the pictures showing the underside,which both can show that there's concretes falling off,as well as the rebar and post tensioning is starting to fail. So this project would include demolition of those existing approaches,building new steel structures to support the new bridges, as well as reinforce concrete and new steel guard rails. And I do just want to mention that this is just for the approaches to the pedestrian tunnel and not anything else there. The estimated cost for this project is $170,000.Bid letting is April 23. The award is May 7. Construction is expected to start mid to late May and completion is expected around mid July. Are there any questions? Moe: Yeah. Quick question about the-is- is it changing the geometry of the approaches and is it going to be fully accessible with these,um,modifications? Yoder:Yes. So essentially our plan is to put back very similar what's there. We're just kind of changing how they are built because these are just using like the pref-prefab concrete right now and right now we're going to switch it so that the water doesn't infiltrate as much and cause as much damage to the slabs. Moe: As far as like slopes and grades though, like I know I've tried to ride my bike under that thing in the past which isn't a bad idea. Yoder:Yeah. Currently the plan is to kind of keep that all very similar to what it is currently. Moe: And because is it actually currently meet accessibility requirements, and will it with these improvements? Yoder:I would have to double check that to make sure. Moe: And then the second- Yoder:I know at least the cross slope would definitely meet,make sure that that met compliance. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 47 Moe: And then the second piece of this is- is-how much effort has been put in the,um,Burlington Street bridge design process, and is this-and does this tie into that sidewalk at all?And is there any reconfiguration of sidewalks when we redo the bridge? Yoder;I'll let Jason talk on that one. Havel: Good evening,Jason Hovel, city engineer. As far as the Burlington Street Bridge project goes, we're just at the very early stages with that. We're currently in the consultant selection process for the study phase of that,so the very first phase of that project. So I would say we- at this point,we don't anticipate this being part of that project. It would be focused really kind of in the Burlington Street Corridor,um,but we'll obviously look at sidewalk connections and how those might play into that project,I'd say. So at this point,I would say probably not,but we'll fmd that out for sure as we work through that design process. Moe: Okay. Yeah.Just it's miserable place for cyclists,cars,and-and-and walkers that-that stretch, so- Havel: We'll defmitely take a look at those connections and what those extensions look like,but we just don't know at this time. Moe: Okay. Teague: Any other questions?Thank you. Anyone from the public like to address this topic?If you're online,please raise your hand. Seeing no one in person or online,I'm going to close the public hearing. Could I get a motion to approve,please? Salih: So move. Alter: Second. Moved by Salih,seconded about Alter. Council discussion. Alter: I'm glad we have an architect on the council now who can answer some- Moe: I'm very excited about the Burlington Street project. So bridge project,I think that we can make the city a lot safer for people with that river walk area being an amenity instead of a death trap. Alter: Yeah.No,I'm just glad that- Moe: -one piece of it. Alter: -put questions that were like colleague, colleague,and help us all understand better. Teague:Roll call,please. [Roll Call] Yes.Motion passes 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 48 10.b Mormon Trek PCC Patching Project-Resolution approving project manual and estimate of cost for the construction of the Mormon Trek PCC Patching Project,establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid,directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders,and fixing time and place for receipt of bids. Teague: Item 10.b,Mormon Trek PCC,Patching project resolution,approving project manual and estimate of costs for the construction of the Mormon Trek PCC Patching Project.Establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid.Directing City clerk to post notice to bidders and fixing time,and place for a receipt of bids. I'm going to open the public hearing and welcome. VanDyke: Good evening. I'm Marri VanDyke.I'm with the engineering division. So this project involves, uh, street patching on Mormon Trek Boulevard from Melrose Avenue North to the Iowa City limits,which is right before the railroad tracks. Overall,Mormon Trek is in pretty good condition, but there are several locations that have a lot of cracking as you can see in this picture,the goal of this project would be to replace the pavement in these cracked areas so that we prevent the cracks from spreading to the adjacent panels.With our patches,we'll also be including,um, additional steel reinforcement in the patches so that,uh,we prevent similar cracking from occurring in the same locations. Uh,so with all of this patching,we'll be extending the life of the pavement so that we are getting as much use as possible out of the existing pavement before it reaches a point where it needs to be completely reconstructed.As always,we want to minimize traffic impacts as much as possible.Mormon Trek is four lanes,and then it's divided by that center median. So our plan is to maintain one lane of traffic in each direction throughout the project. At this time,we don't anticipate a need for any complete closures,so project schedule. We would open bids April 23rd,award the contract May 7th,and then construction would go from May to August this year. The estimated construction cost is $670,000.I'm happy to answer any questions. Moe: Are there any penalties for failure to complete on time for this project? VanDyke: So there will be$500 per day liquidated damages,uh,every day past the final completion date, which,um,is the substantial completion date,meaning that the roadway needs to be reopened is two weeks before the first home football game. Moe: Perfect.My next question is,how does this align with football season? VanDyke:Yeah. Moe: So perfect. Teague; Thank you.No other questions. Thank you. Anyone from the public like to address this topic?If you're online,please raise your virtual hand. See no one in person or online,I'm going to close the public hearing. Could I get a motion to approve,please? Alter: So moved to Alter. Moe: Second Moe. Teague: Okay.Now,we should probably wait for Councilor Dunn. Goers: If you'd like to,or you can move ahead.Yeah, either way.It's- This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 49 Salih: It's not enough. Goers: He asked me whether he needed to be present for this vote and I said no,he did not, and so-. Teague: Okay.I wasn't aware. All right. Council,discussion. Alter: I'm just glad it'll be done before the first home game. Moe: Thank you staff for doing that. Teague: Okay.Roll call,please? [Roll Call]Motion passes 5-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 50 10.c $3,322,000 Sewer Revenue Capital Loan Note Public Hearing-Resolution instituting proceedings to take additional action for the authorization of a loan and disbursement agreement and the issuance of$3,322,000 Sewer Revenue Capital Loan Notes. Teague: Item number 10.0,is $3,322,000 sewer revenue Capital Loan Note,public hearing resolution instituting proceedings to take additional action for the authorization of a loan and disbursement agreement on the issuance of$3,322,000 sewer revenue Capital Loan Notes.And I'm going to open the public hearing and welcome Nicole. Davies: Hello. Good evening again,Mayor and Council.Nicole Davies,Finance Director. Here to talk about a$3.3 million Capital Loan Note. This is for the design for two major,um,projects at the wastewater treatment plant. The first one being the digester complex rehab. The second part being the digester gas improvements.Really I'd say the first one is for needed maintenance, some efficiency improvements. The second one is to be able to take the natural gas that is now being let off into the air and re-piping it into the pipeline to reuse that natural gas. With this loan note,we had a call back in November as we were working on the CIP plan with our bond Council,our municipal advisor. They had mentioned that an SRF loan,which stands for State Revolving Funds,might be a good fit for this project.We weren't sure what the timing that it was going to work out,but Public Works was able to get the initial application filed by the end of November, which got approval in March to put us as a project priority list um,and their intended use plan. Um,we'll still need to, for that loan,complete,um, some technical and environmental reviews and then the project bidding. And then at that point,we would file the actual application for the construction loan. Um,and then,which wouldn't be probably until early 2025.And then after that,we'd have the loan disbursement and close out,which is probably about a year from this time.But along with that we can apply for a 0%planning and design fee loan,which is what this piece of it is.Uh, so obviously,if we can get a loan for about a year,a 0%interest and continue to earn,um,interest on the money that we're holding,it's a good deal for the city. So this part is to approve the this loan to sign all the documents for the 0%design loan,um,and then when the other loan closes,this would roll into that at that time,which like I said,would be about a year from now. The reason we're looking at this is interest rates appear to be 1-2%better than what we would get if we went out on the market and got revenue bonds. The current rates for this program is 2.75 for tax exempt and about 4.02 for taxable,which we'll probably have both with this project. The first project which would be tax exempt,we are expecting the digester gas improvements to be taxable,but still 2.75 and 4%. Again,that's what the interest rates are now. They will be different a year from now,hopefully even slightly less,but we have no control over that. And again,this is covering both items 10.c and 10.d. Any questions? Moe: Have we used state revolving fund loans much in the past?Are there any strings attached or anything that makes them operate differently than special? Davies: To my knowledge,we have never used it before. Moe: Okay. Davies: Um,my understanding there's more front end work with the environmental reviews,but it kind of sounds like we go through some of that anyway. So why exactly we've never used it before?I don't know. It does sound like they've recently changed the program to make the interest rates better, so I think that difference is larger and therefore making it a better option for us. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 51 Harmsen: Okay. I have a really basic question.What's the difference between just a loan and a loan note. Like is the terminology super relevant or does it mean the same thing? Davies: I-I think that's just referring to the document itself.I mean,it's a loan. Harmsen: Okay. I was just curious if I'd seen that before. I wasn't recalling, so yeah. Alter: So this might be because of the time of night.Um,what actual dollar amount is the amount that you're applying for- for the 00/o? Davies: It's not the 3.3. Alter: Oh,it is the full three point. Davies: That's-that's just for the planning for the design.Right. Alter: The hundred million-. Davies: Total plan project is 33 million- Alter: Okay. Davies: -on two pieces. Alter: Gotcha. Okay-okay. Moe: And can you remind us when that's in our capital improvement schedule? Davies: Well-. Moe: $30,000,000 spend. Davies: -we're designing it now,right?I mean,it's in the plan for 24. Obviously,the design is happening now so we don't expect construction until early,about a year from now. Moe: Okay. And this is Enterprise Fund,correct? Davies: Yeah. Wastewater. Teague: All right. Hearing no more questions. Thank you. Anyone from the public like to address this topic? Seeing no one online or in person,I'm going to close the public hearing. Could I get a motion to approve,please? Alter: So move to Alter. Moe: Second Moe. Teague: All right. Council discussion,roll call,please? [Roll Call] Teague:Motion passes,6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 52 This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 53 10.e Block by Block downtown cleaning agreement-Resolution authorizing the City Manager to sign an agreement with Mydatt Services,Inc. dba Block by Block and the Iowa City Downtown District for cleaning of City Plaza,downtown sidewalks, downtown public alleys, and City-owned parking ramps. Teague: Item 10.e,Block by Block downtown cleaning agreement resolution,authorizing the city manager to sign an agreement with Mydatt Services,Inc. DBA Block by Block,and the Iowa City Downtown Districtfor cleaning of City plaza,downtown sidewalks,downtown public alleyways,and city owned parking ramps. And um,could I get a motion to approve,please? Salih: I'll move. Alter: Second. Moved by Salih second by Alter. And we're going to welcome Danielle,welcome. Nagle-Gamm:Hi there. Darian—Darian Nagle-Gamm? Teague: Yeah. Nagle-Gamm:Director of Transportation Services. Teague: It is getting late. Nagle-Gamm: That's all right.I'm going to cover a presentation for both l0e and 10f tonight. So um, historically,the city of Iowa City has contracted for janitorial services in the downtown and in the city owned parking ramps,as well as partnering with the Downtown District for contracted power washing services. And in an effort to advance their safe and clean downtown initiative,the Iowa City Downtown District approached the city about partnering on a contract with Block by Block, who's a national um,firm specializing in cleaning safety and hospitality services in downtown districts. So simultaneously,the city has been experiencing some pretty significant and substantial ongoing challenges,with substandard service being provided by the downtown janitorial contract holder. So as a result,the city agreed to partner with the Downtown District on a service agreement with Block by Block for enhanced cleaning and ambassador services in the downtown and in the downtown parking ramps. So a little bit about Block by Block Again,it's a national company. They specialize in cleaning safety and hospitality. That's unique that they focus on all three of those different areas. And they work specifically in improvement districts or Smids,or downtown districts,much like Iowa City's. They also work in parks,transit systems, and municipalities. To give you a little bit of background about what they do,they've been in business since 1995,and now they serve more than 140 clients with a 96%retention rate. There's some improvement district examples are Des Moines,where they provide services.Milwaukee, Wisconsin,Grand Rapids,Michigan,and South Bend,Indiana are four- four examples of communities they currently serve.And they provided very positive feedback on the company. In fact,we did visit the Des Moines operations to tour their facilities and check out their operations and just kind of get a lay of the land downtown.And we were impressed by their work maintaining um,the Downtown District there. So the proposal tonight that you see before you, the,the agreement provides-the proposal provides 268 hours a week of downtown cleaning plus 168 hours a week of parking garage cleaning. Including a full time on site operations manager that would support both the parking ramps and the downtown activities coverage would be This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 54 provided seven days a week Approximately 16 hours a day included early morning and later evening hours.Now on the cleaning side of things,the services that will be provided,again,will be enhanced over what we've had with our previous contractees. It's going to include trash and litter removal. We control manual mechanical cleaning,graffiti removal,detail cleaning,and other sort of special projects.But in addition to that,and this is kind of new and exciting,there's going to be hospitality and ambassador services. So that includes everything from public relations checks with the businesses,reporting and referrals for quality of life issues,working with the downtown police liaison and so on.And really to represent themselves,to be helpful representatives of downtown and of Iowa City. We want them to represent um,this community with pride,that they're friendly,that they're helpful representatives. So really they're going to really take on an ambassador role. And that's not something that we've had before,so we're really excited about that potential opportunity.In addition, so the Downtown Ambassadors,which will be the name that they will take on. They're also going to be equipped to capture and report upon daily metrics of services provided and incidents or maintenance issues required-excuse me. Maintenance issues encountered. And that's definitely a level up from what we've had in the past. This would allow us collecting that data. They collect it very quickly on smartphones,will allow us to get a real picture of what's happening in downtown,what our janitorial needs are,what our safety needs are,and really be more strategic about how we-we,um,we um,allocate those resources throughout the downtown. So we're very excited about that opportunity as well. Another feature to this agreement is that the organization provides flexibility to bank or reallocate hours to high demand events. This is something that would be new to us too that we-that we thought was really great. So for example,during the summer we have all those great festivals in the downtown.And as you all probably can imagine,it takes a lot more work,especially during the events,but afterwards,to clean up.Well,this contract has the flexibility to be able to shift hours around,and then move them around events and things like that when we need greater support. Football games is another-another reason we're excited about that. We're going to continue to contract with Fresh Starts for additional help during festivals. That's been something that we've been doing to try to supplement the amount of support that we can give.And then of course all the baseline existing service levels provided by the city through the transportation services department will still be maintained. Okay. So in terms of staff for Block by Block,they are going to provide their-their staff with comprehensive, initial and ongoing training and quality. We were really impressed with the level of training that they-that they provide for their employees,the resources they give them to be able to do their jobs really well. They're paid living wages. They started 18.50 for their front line if you will. Team leads 22 and then that really important operations manager,$35 an hour. And all employees receive healthcare,dental insurance,paid vacations,free life insurance,401k,birthday pay,all season uniforms that we'll get to that again in a second,and recognition and rewards programs. So the total package is one that I think is going to create an environment that people really want to work in. And it's going to help attract people who can help support our downtown in a greater way than maybe our previous contracts had.Um,back to that point about uniforms. So all of the Block by Block employees would have uniforms,vehicles,and equipment would all be branded consistent with the downtown Iowa City branding. So you're going to see red of course. We haven't gotten through the design clearly yet. We've been kicking around some ideas,But I think you're going to see an enhanced level of visibility and professionalism that we-that we didn't have before.I don't think anybody who could have pointed out any of our janitorial services staff before.But since they're taking on also this potential ambassador role,we really want them to be visible for the public,and visible and professional,and really represent the downtown.Well, speaking of downtown, so the service area is going to include the Downtown District boundaries,targeted gateways into the downtown. Of course,the six city owned parking ramps as I mentioned before, and the city is This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 55 going to manage the parking ramp portion of the contract,and the Downtown District would manage the downtown portion of the contract. The joint management is going to allow the Downtown District that extra flexibility to have Block by Block work in gap areas like private alcoves and things like that. Places that the city was not able to manage,because they're private. We're going to be able to better in a joint.With our joint strategy,we're going to be able to better holistically address all of the downtown needs.And also, as part of the partnership,the city and the Downtown District will enter into a memorandum of agreement,which is the next item on the agenda related to the sharing of equipment-equipment storage spaces,reporting metrics,general procedures for joint management of the contract. And additionally,the city is going to lease a vacant space in the Court Street Transportation Center to the Downtown District at a below market rate to serve as the primary office location for Block by Block staff. So they'll have a store front. There'll be a place where people in the community can go to talk to Block by Block staff, talk to the operations manager.It is really going to professionalize operations in away that we have not had in the past. In terms of the annual contract fee,it will be shared between the city 86%city with the Downtown District contributing 14%and the city's share will be funded through the parking and general fund revenues as follows. It's a three year agreement. The proposals for three year agreements with subsequent renewal period Year 1 $710,000 Year 2, $720,650. And Year 3 it would be$738,666 right now. And each of those renewal periods that I mentioned would be limited to a maximum of 1.5%. So again,upon renewal,the city and the Downtown District both agreed to continue that cost sharing,that 86, 14 split for cost sharing. And then of course,as I mentioned before,the Downtown District would be also investing in the rent at the Court Street Transportation Facility that the city manages.And another benefit is that that rent would go to support transit services,because that-that specific parking facility was federally fimded by the Federal Transit Administration.All revenue that comes into that facility is earmarked for transit. So this would be also supporting transit in that way. So tonight before you, this resolution authorizes the city manager to enter agreement with the Downtown District and Block by Block The current contract with ABM Industries expired yesterday,so transportation services staff,we're on our own for the next couple of months. The proposal is that Block by Block would start kick things off on June 1. So our team is um,was really battening down the hatches and getting out there and trying to make sure everything is covered and really setting they want-I've been joking that they've been nesting in some way,shape,or form,because they really want to get the downtown prepared for this new organization to come in and set that expectation for what a really great, excellent,clean,safe,comfortable Downtown District looks like. So I'd be happy to answer any questions. Salih: You said who was when the-the-the organization or the company expired today or yesterday? What is the name? Nagle-Gamm:Yes,it was ABM. Salih: ABM. And can you tell me how much we was paying ABM to clean downtown? Nagle-Gamm: The contract for downtown in the parking ramps was over I believe it was $320,000 a year. Salih: And now$700,000? Nagle-Gamm:Yes. Salih: That's like more than 50%increase,why is that? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 56 Nagle-Gamm: So it's the enhanced services that we're getting um, so- The ABM contract was a very bare bones janitorial services contract in terms of changing trash liners,picking up litter from the ground,um,detail cleaning,um,which we struggled for years with getting them to-to meet the tenants of the agreement in terms of the detail cleaning.Um,and also in terms of,um,them,quite honestly,meeting the base-the most basic tenant of that agreement,which was changing out the trash liners. So we struggled mightily with them with a very very basic contract,um, and the Block by Block contract, it is proposed as a much bigger expansion of what we expect this team to do. So like I said,it was a few,um,it was the trash liners, it was picking up trash,um,may be doing some detail cleaning that they-that they maybe weren't doing. On the other hand,with a Block by Block, it's-they're doing the detail cleaning,they'll be doing sweeping,they'll be doing graffiti removal,they will be doing,um,let's see here,litter removal,mechanical cleaning,bodily fluids,um,handbills and stickers and the detail cleaning that we weren't quite happy with our previous contractor doing.And that's just on the janitorial services side of things. So they're also going to be acting in that ambassador role. So,um,again,the public relations checks,the-the reporting,um-the reporting of,you know,quality of life issues downtown,uh,the after hours escorts. I don't know if I mentioned that that's something that-that we really thought was a great feature. So they can provide assistance for people at night to walk to their parking ramp,just to have another person to walk with. So there's going to be a way that,that people can reach out to Block by Block, and they will stop what they're doing, and they will walk somebody to their car. Um, information sharing,again,we want them to be highly visible. So people walk up to them and ask them questions about where do I go here. You know,um,just being informed and,uh, being an ambassador.And that's not something that we've expected,um,or we've received from- from our previous contracting,uh,agencies. Salih: You mean those things was not being done before by the other contractor? Nagle-Gamm: Yeah. It wasn't part of their agreement to do that ambassador role. So that's really- Salih:Not the ambassador role. That's the last thing I want to think about.But there-there is another feature,that like some- some type of cleaning that we were not being doing it and now they're doing more.Because like from 300,000-710 that's more than 100%. So I-I just want to know like how much we increase.And also I will be interesting to know that increase from-coming from which budget. And we always been hearing we don't have money and now this is like more than 400,000 extra. Nagle-Gamm:Yeah. Um,so let's see here. Let me-I'll address the-the second piece first. So it's-it's going to be fimded through the parking and general fixed revenues. And ultimately this was proposed in the budget as part of the parking rate and fee increase. So part of that parking rate and fee increase was designed in such a way to support enhanced cleaning services and ambassador services downtown that we just did not have previously. So that-so it is a new revenue source that will be fimding this initiative. Salih: And we already increase our parking. Yeah.Yeah.Makes sense. Yeah. Jones: And if I could just add,um,so the basic services,which is what the previous contract was under the ABN contract,that's what the city was providing. So our partners,our downtown partnership wanted more. So there's some aspects that's been added to the contract that's going to be shared. Those costs is gonna-gonna be shared with the downtown SMID as well. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 57 Salih: Yeah.Which is,uh,86-18,you said? 18%something like that. Harmsen:Fourteen. Salih: Fourteen. Dunn: Six and fourteen. Goers: Six and fourteen,yeah. Salih: Fourteen,yeah. Yeah.I'm glad that the downtown is stepping up,and it is not something unusual for them to do,but that's-that's good. Yeah.But I was just,uh,wanna know from where we get that cost.But is this from revenue of the parking? Nagle-Gamin:Yeah. It will be from the revenue from the new parking rate and citation fine increases that we'll see after July 1st. Salih: Okay. Moe: Can you speak a little bit about what the reporting is from this company and then if,you know, you're unhappy with them,what is the city and the downtown district's ability to get out if they aren't able to meet their contract requirements? Nagle-Gamm: So the reporting is,uh,we're excited to see the reporting,um,when it all comes together. But they co-collect statistics on literally everything that they do,um,every action that they take, virtually. They have a quick system that they developed quick at base kind of swipe,quick-quick entry system. So,um,I-I- it's going to be the whole gamut of everything that they do. So where did they have-where did they pick up trash on the ground from? So we'll be able to kind of have a sense for where those situations are occurring. Where did they change trash liners?Where did they do,um,you know, a specialty project for us?Where did they have a report of something concerning in the downtown that happened, either safety related or something they needed to call for PD support or,um,all of that is literally everything is- is tracked that they do? So we're going to have kind of a treasure trove of information to help us be more strategic about how we deploy resources downtown,and just get better sense for what's happening downtown on a daily basis, um,that we hadn't had before. Harmsen:I was happy to see that there was something you-in the presentation had mentioned-mentioned something about,uh, flexibility of hours and being able to schedule more folks during festivals and so on.Um,in the trash liners,I've noticed in- in some of our many wonderful festivals downtown,um,that that occasionally would be something that we'd struggle with,um,you know, keeping those-those empty and did a lot of people,you know, so they feel quickly.Um,I've seen Parks and Ree staff like that happen to be there,kind of jump on some of that once in a while, which is great,good for them.But,um,and thank-thank you to those people who did that,city staff who kind of stepped up. Um,but it'd be nice to have that being taken care of.Um,you know,just-just have the resources necessary to handle that sort of,you know,increase. Especially,you know,big festivals,lots of food vendors,lots of paper plates and so on and so forth. So. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 58 Goers: I thought I might answer one of the other components of Councilor Moe's question about termination. Um,there is a termination clause in the contract. If we believe they're breaching the contract,not living up to the obligations that are found therein,we have to give them a notice to cure,they have 30 days to fix it.If they don't,then we're out,the contract is terminated. Moe: Thank you. Salih: I guess someone has a question. Go ahead,Megan. Alter: I just have a simple question,I hope.You mentioned,you know,the-the sorry. The range for the different types of jobs and,um,the-the pay range,will these jobs be hired locally? Nagle-Gamm:Yes.Yes. Yep,absolutely. We'd like to hire 100%locally. Um,they like to hire their teams all locally.Local knowledge, local experience support,local staff. Salih: I don't know how to phrase my question,but when we say that this contract between the Block by Block and the Downtown District for cleaning, is it downtown acting like the city,right?Making like portion of the payment,and both of us,the Downtown District and Iowa City is contracting with Block by Block or Block by Block,and Downtown Districtis one thing now,like they're-I don't know. Just can you explain that? Nagle-Gamm:Yeah. Salih: You understand my question. Nagle-Gamm:It'll be separate, so they'll be a set dollar amount that-that the city,um, contributes on a monthly basis,um,which will represent 86%of the total costs.And then the Downtown District would remit 14%of that monthly payment themselves to Block by Block. So we would still be paying it separate. Salih: Oh,separate from the downtown and from-okay. Okay. I get you. Yeah. Yes. Goers: To be clear,the Downtown Districtis a signatory to the contract,uh,with block to block-Block by Block. Salih: That's what I'm asking. Yeah. Goers: Yeah. And then we've got the separate MOU just between us and the Downtown District to govern that relationship. Salih: Okay.Yeah. That's what my question was. Thank you. Teague: Um,I have a question related to were there other companies research just to kinda compare apples to apples? Nagle-Gamm:Yeah. I think there's been an ongoing search for the right partner for- for many years and- and Block by Block has-has kind of risen to the top because of their work that they do. They specialize in downtown SMID districts. So this is just the type of support they don't,um,like I said,they do have a few other little pieces that they do from a municipal perspective,but this is This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 59 really what they specialize in. Um, so this one,after researching what potential options are out there for a more specialized service that will better support the downtown.Um,ABM is kind of more of a general. They do all sorts of cleaning,you know,many different things,building facilities and that.But Block by Block is,I think,unique in their skills and talents in terms of serving downtown districts that are just like ours. So that's how they sort of rose to the top of that research. Salih: I-I think the-the Mayor,just remind me from the question that I forget.Why would you not open this forbid. Nagle-Gamm: So we were approached by the downtown district,who was-and Betsy could probably speak more to this.But we were approached by the Downtown District again because they wanted to partner with Block by Block.And they could have partnered with Block by Block.But again,we decided to do it together,um,because we saw the benefits to having a joint-joint initiative here,um,and fmding a provider who could meet our special needs again in the Downtown District is why we went with Block by Block.We were approached by,um,we were approached by the Downtown District and in evaluating the options that we have.Um, and looking back at our previous janitorial services contracting opportunities,it seemed like a right opportunity for us to try somebody different and somebody who's been specialized in serving, again,the Downtown District type environments across the US. Salih: You know,I-I just really like their wages of payment,like it's $18.22 and 35 is amazing.I think they in health care,I think in terns of a good company that will treat their employees very good,I can tell from the numbers.But-but you know,I just think like I-I want to see in the fixture something like this being bid on,not like assign,just give it to someone kind of. Yeah. Teague: Any other questions?Thank you,Darian. Nagle-Gamm: Thank you. Teague: Yes. Anyone from the public like to address this topic? Teague: Welcome. Potter: Hello,I'm Betsy Potter from the Iowa City Downtown District.And I don't have a ton to add because Darian did such a nice job.But I just did want to say thank you so much for the support of this and really to the staff on the city here because they've done a ton of work We've been meeting for months and months kind of going through all of these issues and answering all these questions and-and we're really excited about it.It's our initiatives and our strategic plan really has always, as you all know.Really talked a lot about clean and safe initiatives and I think this will be the fust time that we're,as an organization,able to invest a lot more. So it's a 10 percent increase in our cleaning services from our budget line item. So we are very thrilled about that.As Darian mentioned,we did go to Des Moines. They've been working,just so you all know,they've been working with Block by Block for 21 years now. So they've been very,very happy with those services. Their operations manager is terrific. So there's a really close case study here that we can rely on and kind of communicate with often.And I think the greatest value of this new contract in Block by Block is that they really focus on the staff and they invest in their staff.And so ultimately those staff members really,they take pride in the place.And I think that's something that we can all agree that will be a major benefit to the community. It'll make hopefully This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 60 downtown safer,cleaner,and more welcoming. So thank you.I'm happy to answer questions if you need,but I doubt it because she did a great job. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Any other-anyone else want to make a comment on this? Seeing no one in person or online council discussion. Dunn: I'm just really excited for this. I think it's gonna greatly increase the lived experience of our residents,our visitors and you know,our workers and business owners downtown. So I think it's- I think it's great. Salih: I agree.I just like the labor force that they can add to the community.And being people like good pay and health insurance,that's amazing. And also,yeah,we really need to keep. That's where our visitors come to and the first thing they go is the downtown area and we need to keep that area clean. Yeah,I agree. Moe: Yeah,I work downtown and then I feel like the last several years I've seen a slump in the cleanliness in certain areas,and so I'm very excited to see a reinvestment and additional effort put towards that.Because I'm excited for it. Teague: I will say this is an enormous amount of money. So when I go into the parking ramps,I'll be using my sniffer to see if bodily fluid smells are still there [LAUGHTER] It's been up front. Moe: The attendant won't be there. Alter: One of the things that I actually, and I know it was just an aside,but the fact that there are people who are-there would be escorts at night is one small step,but an important one towards actually really helping create some more safety among downtown. So this just seems really,really great. And actually I go to Grand Rapids often and I had no idea that that was what they did or who they partnered with.But it's very clean, so I can say that anyway. Yeah,this is a real testament, actually,to the other thing I was going to say that I had forgotten was the fact that this is actually all self contained within this enterprise fund is-it's again,it's a real testament to staff and to the collaboration to be able to figure out ways to make things better and to be able to pay for them in spite of what all we're-all facing. So thank you. Teague: I think I understood that this is some general fiord is also allocated. Salih: She said no. Alter: I thought it was enterprise. Nagle-Gamm:I don't have the split necessarily,but it all funded in terms of revenue-revenues that will be coming in due to the parking rate and citation fore increases that are coming this year that it's been 11 or so years since we've raised any of those rates. So it'll all be fimded from new revenue sources. Alter: That's great. Teague: All right,thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 61 Alter: I misspoke.But it is all still like the same ecosystem. Teague:Roll call. Please. [Roll Call]Motion passes 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 62 10.g Parking prohibition on east side of Keswick Dr.-Establishment of"No Parking Any Time" parking prohibition on the east side of Keswick Drive. Teague: Item 10.g is prohibition on the east side of Keswick Drive.Establishment of no park at any time. Parking Prohibition on the East Side of Keswick Drive. Could I get a motion to approve correspondent?Wait. Dunn: Accept correspondent. Teague: The motion to approve. Goers: Well,this is a little complicated.Normally the council doesn't need to approve these changes. Staff makes them, and they are required to give notification to you. And so normally it is just approved as part of the consent agenda as correspondence. So it is in fact a motion to approve correspondence for [OVERLAPPING] Teague: From the consent agenda toward,okay. So first time ever. Goers:Me too. Teague: All right. Could I get a motion to accept correspondence? Dunn: So moved. Moe: Second,Moe. Teague: All right.Moved by Dunn,seconded by Moe and welcome. Ralston: Good evening,Mayor council. Thank you. As the mayor mentioned,this item before you is consideration of no parking, anytime parking prohibition on the east side of Keswick Drive between Benton Street and Wheaton Road. It's about a 400 foot stretch of road,which is typical of a city block here in Iowa City. This portion of Keswick Drive is 25 feet wide,and the prohibition is consistent with the existing parking prohibition just to the north of Wheaton Road, just to the north of this section. If approved on street parking will continue to be available on the west side of Keswick Drive. So,we're just talking about removal of one side. And all affected households adjacent to this portion of Keswick Drive have been notified of the proposed action. At your March 19 meeting,this item was deferred,which I think is why this is a little bit different for you all tonight. I know you've had a long night,but I just wanted to take a few minutes just to describe a little bit about how we work through our process when these requests come to our office,and then how these ultimately end up before you. The City Subdivision Code regulates on street parking on newly constructed streets. And it's very clear streets that are 28 feet wide or wider can allow parking on both sides of the street. Streets that are less than 28 feet wide,parking is restricted just one side of the street. So that's newly constructed roads and subdivisions.While the city code provides those clear regulations and new subdivisions,that's a little bit more murky for existing street,which is the case of Keswick Drive tonight.In general,the code states that parking can be prohibited on one side of the street when it does not exceed 30 feet in width. And it can be prohibited on both sides of the street when it is less than 20 feet in width. So just some general parameters that's provided by the code.Because there's some flexibility in the code,we typically use sort of the following process. I'll outline for you. First off,on local and collector This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 63 streets,on street parking,prohibitions are really generally limited to one side of the street. In very rare cases,do we have prohibitions on both sides of the streets for obvious reasons?It creates hardships for those that live in the neighborhood. The first situation I'll outline is when a request to prohibit on street parking is requested by a city department,whether it's streets,fire,police. What we'll do in those cases and just is investigate what the request is,and then we bring those to you,because sometimes those are emergency situations where either a fire truck hasn't been able to navigate a street that's too narrow,that has parking on both sides,or garbage collection simply can't get garbage picked up,plowing,that sort of thing. So we'll bring those straight to you. The next situation is what we have on Keswick Drive is when the request to prohibit on street parking is generated by a resident. So in this case,we had a complaint from a resident. We actually went out and observed that the complaint in fact was taking place,which is a narrow street with parking on both sides of the street,when the cars are directly opposite each other,creating sort of a bottleneck. What we do in those cases is we will notify the neighborhood of the request,which we did,and then we bring that to you all for consideration. In this case,we also talked to the streets superintendent which indicated that he had difficulty plowing Keswick this winter. That said,he also indicated that he had difficulty plowing a lot of roads this winter because of the heavy snowfall we had. And then the last thing we'll do is if we can't document vehicles parked directly opposite each other,we take no further action.If the neighborhood wants to move forward with a prohibition anyway,we'll then do a neighborhood survey. So in that case,we would actually request a petition be signed by 50 percent of the affected households. On in this case it would be Keswick.We need 50%of responses. And then of the 50%we want 60%,uh, majority of those responses to be in favor of the proposed action and then we bring it to you.But again,that's when we get a request from the neighborhood that we-we really can't,um-we can't- we can't see when we go out and visit it. Uh,what I did for you is in your packet,uh,I don't have it on the screen here,but in your packet I provided some different scenarios.And basically what I tried to-to do is provide,uh,a scenario by,what I'll call a best case scenario and a worst case scenario on Keswick Drive which is 25 feet wide. Um,the best case scenario would be if you have two smaller cars parked directly at the curbs,uh, small vehicles about six feet wide and that would leave 12 feet passing. Fire truck is 10 feet wide. So if a fire truck is trying to navigate the street and that best case scenario on Keswick,you've got about a foot on either side of that fire truck which is going to be pretty tight if you're in a hurry. Or even if you're not in a hurry, collecting garbage or plowing it's going to be tight. Um,then the other depiction in your,er, packet was we'll consider a worst case scenario. So,on Keswick Drive,if two large SUV's or trucks are parked directly opposite each other,parked 18 inches from the curb,which you can legally do as part of our code. That leaves a passing width of about six feet,and again,a fire truck is about 10 feet wide. So again,while the code is a little less clear on existing streets,that's why for new subdivisions we have that 28 foot wide and wider. We allow parking on both sides,but less than that we don't. Um,but again,we brought this to the council back in 2019.There's about 100 streets in town that currently allow parking on both sides that are less than 28 feet wide. And back in 2019,the council said,you know,we don't want to just blanket pro-er,prohibit parking on one side of those streets but we'll use this process to sort of just work our way through these if and when we,er,have problems. So the sort of the background,er,the quick background on this. Happy to answer any questions you have. Salih: You said the-the superintendent said they have a hard time of doing like snow and is, and,is this something new? Ralston:No,not particularly. I mean,parking changes on streets because people move,er,in and out,that sort of thing. Um,he had indicated they had a lot of difficulty on a lot of narrow roads this winter, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 64 so keep that in mind, er, in your deliberations.Um,but he did say they could-this is one of the ones they could not get down and this is one of the streets that had a neighborhood complaint, um,so that's why it's before you tonight. Salih: Yeah.Because if this been forever- forever,like long time like years,um,they was-the-the superintendent never complained about cleaning or differ-what would happen here? That's the only thing that they wanna know. Ralston:Yeah,so wha-wha what we do at the end of each winter, so come spring,whenever,whenever the superintendent gets to us,he will actually have a list of streets that he would like to remove parking on,and then we, sort of,go through this process again. So even though he may have had difficulty in years past,it may not have risen to the level of saying,okay,we really need to restrict parking and Kent,I want you to go to the City Council and-and,you know,uh,ask for them to consider it. So, it may be that somebody moved in this,this year they had additional vehicles parked on the street. You may have new drivers because there's new children on the street,you know,that,sort of,thing.But he did not come to us. The neighborhood first requested this,then we checked with him and he agreed that it was an issue. Salih: And I did not understand the petitions,what you said earlier. You mean like even if we approve this tonight,if the neighbors start petition and 50%said[inaudible],that. Ralston: So if you approved-if you approved this tonight and the neighborhood wanted to add the parking back,we would also request a petition from them and we would just rese-reverse the process where to add parking,we would ask them to have the petition signed by 50%of the neighborhood,then we would want 50%of those mail-back survey cards back,and a majority 60%.It's the same,um,process we use for traffic calming- for neighborhood traffic calming requests as well,we use that same,kind of,mechanism. I would say,however,if we removed parking,because we are concerned about emergency response,we should be very careful to add the parking back because then we just get back into the same issue we have now which is difficulty with plowing and potentially emergency response. Moe: Do we-are other cities striping their parking zones to constrain the width that cars can park in?I know that there is serious cost to striping,but it seems like as cars keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger and our road costs keep getting higher and higher and higher there might be an opportunity there to,um restrict that side parking to only six feet wide vehicles and maintain safeties. Are there-I know we don't do that,are there other communities doing that and what are the pitfalls? Raltson:Not that I'm aware of. I mean,you'll see it closer to downtowns typically,um,you know,where there's metered stalls and that,sort of,thing but I'm-I'm not aware of-of any community that's just striping their residential neighborhoods,and just because of the cost. Moe: Okay. Raltson:Yeah. Moe: But that seems to be the problem,the change has been,there's new larger vehicles on the street that's causing this issue. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 65 Salih: We can prohibit,you know.We can put a sign and say,you know,every vehicles smarky or something like that. Moe: I think striping would be the one thing we could do,but we don't have any experience with it and it sounds like the- Ralston:Yeah,and I say, speaking for streets and probably a City Manager's office,I mean to do those additional striping projects would be extremely cost prohibitive. And right now,I think we have- we struggle just to keep up with the striping we have. Um,I think it's safe to say that the City Manager's office would-would give you the same information. Moe: Yeah. I know they don't want to do that but,um,I think that there's an opportunity to make a road smaller. Teague: Any other questions?All right. We're gonna thank you. Any one from the public like to address this topic.Please come.Welcome. Walton: Douglas Walton and I live at 830 Keswick.Um,I'm gonna provide some of the details that were left out here on this. First off,what are the pictures are there,that the main picture is not of Keswick.Uh,it's not even-it's not even off the street. So to me it's- it doesn't feel like it has a lot of bearing on that. The-the issue is,and I brought this up two weeks ago when we were here,we had a neighbor move in who has opened up a commercial business that maintains two large commercial vehicles on the property. They use the garage to store commercial supplies,and they parked their commercial trucks on the street. Lived there for 25 years. Literally this is the first problem that's ever come up.My wife and I were probably the ones that called when the snow plow couldn't come down the street,and it was the neighbors across the street that had a separate car that they owned that was parked opposite of their two large trucks. Other than that,I can't think of another time where we've ever had this issue. So I think completely redoing things for one incident because we have a nuisance neighbor that runs a commercial business out of their house that just started here in September seems to be,you know,we're kinda cutting off the head to cure the headache. So,I guess I would like the council to think about that because once this is gone,trying to get people organized to bring the parking back and everything else,the likelihood that it's probably gonna work out real well is probably not high. So the decision that gets made tonight is probably going to be permanent. So there,you know,I would also state that Willow Creek Park is right across the street. There are a number of organizations that- soccer leagues, there's volunteer-there's,there's walks,all kinds of things. People use that street to park. You're also limited the parking for those things in the middle of the summer when there's really not an issue. The real issue really comes in the wintertime when the plows can't get close enough to the curbs,so it restricts access to the street. So it's not only just restricting to the 13 houses,you're restricting other people that use Willow Creek Park in the surrounding area. So that's-that's all I gotta say. I appreciate your time,and I-and I know it's been a long time for you guys,it's been a long night for us as well,waiting to speak So I appreciate your time and- and I'll step away. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Anyone else like to address this topic?Is there anyone in-person or online?Council discussion? Dunn: Just to clarify,we are discushi-discussing whether we will receive correspondence. All right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 66 Goers: Well. Yes,again,what the ordinance calls for is that staff make these decisions the end,but that they have to notify you. So I mean,ultimately if your vote is no on this,you would probably want to just direct staff that we don't want to see that changed man,you know, staff will,you know, respond accordingly. Teague: One of the questions I have that,um,just came up Kent. What are-I know when snow happens, you know,there's signs that say no parking or can signs say parking on this side of the road on snow days,or-what are options for snow removal? Ralston: So we have a snow ordinance,um,which I would probably rely on the City Attorney to give you more information on.But we have a snow ordinance that we don't use very often in terms of-of sort of temporarily restricting parking to move snow. We do that I think in places in town,but I don't know that we-I don't know that we do it out in the far sort of neighborhoods.I would have to check on that for sure but it's not something that we can rely on very-very well,I think because we don't know when the snow is going to come. And it takes more staff time to get out there and post these things. The Streets Department would certainly do that but,um,I don't know if I can answer your question very clearly on-on whether or not it's a good option or not, unfortunately. Salih:Maybe,you know,just letter to the neighborhood during snow time and say,hey,you have to know that you cannot park here during snow.Because think about it. All summer,there is no snow remove. The people can't really enjoy parking there and I guess during winter maybe you can do something. That's why last time I said can the staff be creative and just figure out something. Ralston:It's a little bit hard to get creative I-I think if the council is struggling with this. I think the easiest thing to probably do is survey the neighborhood. That's what we would do.In other cases where the neighborhood would say,you know,we want to parking change,we're seeing issues, we go out and can't observe those issues. As I outlined earlier,we would survey the neighborhood. You know,in this case,we've not heard from police or fire. That's an issue. That is an option as we could survey the neighborhood otherwise,I would move forward with the proposed. Salih: What do you guys think about surveying the neighborhood? Alter: That sounds like a good idea. Salih: Yeah. And it is not winter?Ah,yeah. It is. There is snow as today,but it's not bad. You know?It wasn't that bad. So I-I think-I think there is no an urgency to do this. Can't we just give it a chance and do the surveying neighborhood and- Harmsen:I don't have a real opposition necessarily if that's the will of the council to do a survey.But I do want to point out one of the things I come back to. Actually,I'm far less worried about the snow removal than the emergency vehicles. So I think of the inconvenience of having one side parking, but I also think of the inconvenience of having to have the ambulance crew pull that stretcher all the way up half a block if somebody's having a heart attack or if a house is on fire or something like that. And- and so that's kind of what I feel like is-the snow removal is certainly an issue. I mean,you know,nobody-everybody wants their street plow because we got to get out.You know,we just saw that,you know,big snowstorm this winter and it's no joke when it's that much snow.But I certainly don't want to discount that and I don't want to discount the hassle of having This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 67 one side street parking.But I'm also aware too,this-this developed situation that you described to us,um,I would be frustrated too,but I wonder if that's not almost a bell weather. So the fact that it has changed as cars get bigger,that we may hear this more from- from more of these streets. And apparently,you said back in 2019,the decision was made to handle these piecemeal as they came up and not as a blanket way. Ralston:Yeah.No,that's correct. So I mean,that would be my concern as well as the emergency response.You know,when staff goes out,we don't-we don't address whose car it is,we don't address where they come from.I can-you know,I don't live on Keswick or near Keswick,but I could still park on Keswick if I want.Right? Soo- so we don't know whose cars are whose. We just-if we go out and witness these vehicles parked opposite each other,which we have done on Keswick for us that's how we handle the policy and we bring it to you all know,you know,we don't try and dissect that further.We certainly could survey but that would be my concern as well as it's just a deviation from the policy and- Harmsen:Yeah.I mean,so that's one thing I'm not sure.I mean,the survey, again,if the majority of the council wants that,I wouldn't stand in the way of it but I don't know that,that survey response solves that problem. And for me,that's a big deal. Salih: Yeah.But Teague: Anymore questions for Kent? Salih: I still-I still think- Harmsen: Sorry if they is a question a comment.My apologies. Salih:No,I still think that nothing has been changed. The emergency vehicles unless the emergency vehicle become bigger.But this is for years,it's the same thing that was going back and forth. If there is someone like the snow plower was going back and forth and it-it was not like really a big,uh,problem unless they talked about this new business who have like really huge trucks like parking against like better to each other. So- Teague: Yeah,I think we have two options here. One is to do the survey and the other is to go for a vote. So,um,just wondering what people are thinking. Salih: I will put a motion to do a survey.I don't know. That's-that's right. Goers: Well,if- if Teague: I'm doing it informal first just to see if that's okay. Moe: I'm-I'm with very much with Shawn.What councilor Harmsen said is the emergency vehicle aspect to this is,to me,the driving force behind all of these things.And these guidelines were established to protect that.I'm-It stinks that like you had a neighbor that kind of,you know,peed in the pool for everybody.But I'm-and I'm sorry for that,but I think we have to say when it comes to fire trucks and ambulances,we don't want to take risks. So if everyone else here wants to do a survey sure I'm more inclined to say let's accept correspondence. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 68 Teague: If you want to make a motion,you can make a motion. I was just seeing if there was- Alter:Nothing,I think Council. Goers: Well,there's-there's- Salih:No if there is no-I thought there is enough people want to the survey because I can like Councilor Harmsen and say I support it if like everyone and I don't know. That's why I-I don't know if I should do the motion or you should ask informally. Goers: Well, so there's a motion on the table. And so if Council wants to have the survey,my recommendation would be to vote no to not accept the correspondence and then immediately follow it up with a motion to direct staff to conduct a survey. If Council wants to approve it,then they should vote,Yes. Dunn: I'm inclined to accept correspondence. Teague: Yeah,I I'm inclined to accept correspondence. I think that the challenges-I think beyond what this council can-can really fix, and I'm inclined to accept the correspondence. And I think we had two over there. So that means that we'll go for a vote,um,roll call,please. [Roll Call]Motion passes 4 -2. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 69 101 FY24 Rachial Equity and Socail Justice Grant Allocations -Resolution Adopting the Racial Equity and Social Justice Grant Allocations for Fiscal Year 2024. Teague: And then we will move on to item number 101i and I know that Mayor Pro Tem is going re- recuse herself. 10.h is fiscal year 2024,Racial Equity and Social Justice grant allocations. Resolution,adopting the Racial Equity and Social Justice grant allocations for fiscal year 2024. Could I get a motion to approve,please? Dunn: So moved. Teague:Moved by Dunn. Moe: Second,Moe. Teague; Second by Moe. And we're going to welcome our HRC Chair and Commissioner. Yes. Welcome. Kollach: Thank you. The chair of the Human Rights Commission,Doug Kollach,with me as Vice Chair, Kelsey Paul Shantz. The Racial Equity and Social Justice Grant is an opportunity available to Iowa City based organizations,both non and for profit,with the purpose of encouraging empowering and enr-engaging racial equity and social justice initiatives through programs, activities,or services that help eliminate inequities in the Iowa City community. The City council established this grant in 2017.Programs that address one or more of the six priority service areas receive preference. And those service areas are building communities,criminal justice,education, employment,health,and housing. The Human Rights Commission reviews those applications and then forwards its recommendations to the City Council for review and approval. And I'd want to take the opportunity to talk-talk through a little bit of our process on how we-how we do that. The Commission held two grant informational sessions via Zoom on November 8th and 15th,one over the noon hour,one in the evening. Commissioners Lusala, Shantz,myself,and Maliabo presented on behalf of the Commission. The recording and slide deck were made available on the City's RESJ site. At both informational sessions the Commissioners provide information on the following,past recipients of the grant,how we define racial equity social justice and human rights,the areas of focus,the grant requirements,and things to consider in deciding on a project, advice and tips on filling out the application. We also review the rubric that each Commissioner uses to score and review every application and how we generally alive-arrive at those recommendations.After the November 15 informational session,a news release was sent out, encouraging those interested in applying for the grant to watch the video from the Informational session and review the slide deck. The Commission received applications from December 1st through January 5th.We received 29 applications. We received those formally at our January 23 meeting,along with the rubrics for each individual commissioner to score those applicants. The Commissioner created the rubric some years back and it was updated in 2022. The total possible points an application can receive on the rubric is 35,and each Commissioner uses a point system of 1-5 to determine what number best reflects their agreement with the certain criteria on the rubric. Organizational information,information about the proposal,and the funding information for each application. Commissioners send back their individual scores for each applicant to staff using an Excel document.And then on March 4th,we held a special meeting of the Human Rights Commission to discuss those scores. And we discuss the-we start that discussion with the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 70 applicants who receive the highest overall scores and work our way down the list. The recording to that meeting can be found online. After the meeting all rubrics are collected by staff and are available for viewing,and the staff has sent copies of applicants rubrics to them upon request. All applicants do receive an email from staff notifying of any meeting dates the Commission will be discussing the grant. That also includes an email with the recommendation,the Excel sheet with all the scores,and the date that the recommesh-recommendation will go in front of city council. So with that,tonight we recommend that full finding for the Eastern IOWA Chapter of Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs. Inside Out Reentry Community,Open Heartland,Better Together Community Development Corporation,and Domestic Violence Intervention Program. We also recommend partial funding for projects by Houses into Homes,United Action for Youth, Indigenous Art Alliance,Escucha mi voz Iowa,Community Crisis Center,and Right House of Fashion. I do want to point out that of those 29 applications,that-um-um, ended up in a requested total amount of,$542-$177.24. So over$500,000 of grants were requested of us,we have$100,000 to allocate.And I know that last year committee chair Lusala came and presented these-these recommendations and asked for increased funding for the RESJ grants,and I will reiterate that we keep seeing increased number of applicants,increased amount of funds requested,and it's very difficult to-to discern among all of those,and we want to help as many organizations as we can.Um,so of the 29,we were able to award grants to 11 of those, and $100,000 out of the over$500,000 that was requested. We appreciate the ambition in our community to pursue racial equity and social justice.Unfortunately,we're unable to fund all applicants. Um,but we do recommend unanimously the Human Rights Commission,by a seven zero vote, approve these recommendations and present them to you tonight for approval. Teague: Great,thank you. Any questions? Harmsen:Yeah,I got a couple. You go first. Alter: I was just going to say,um,thank you for the detailed process overview.And I know that you said, um,that during the training sessions or the-to have the applicants come in and sort of learn about the process itself. Do you define what these grants are for?Can you sort of summarize that now in terns of what-what would an applicant hear about what the purpose of these grants is? Kollach: Yes. So the grant racial equity, social justice. The proposal should seek to eliminate inequity in the community,whether it be individual,institutional,or on a structural level. Um,there must- must be a new project.We do-we have some leeway there where if organizations were previously fimded in one cycle,they can apply to continue that for the next cycle.Um, and we do not allow governments,public schools,colleges,university,to be applicants. Um,it's a total of $25,000. Um,we give examples of previous-previous awardees that have gotten the grant to talk about projects that they've worked on. Um,Kelsey has the PowerPoint here pulled up. So,I'll let her talk more to. Paul Shantz:Yeah. So during those sessions that you asked about Megan,um,there is-we provide a definition of how the Human Rights Commission is considering racial equity and social justice. So those defmitions are in the slide deck,but I can also just refer to them now in case that's helpful. That racial equity is a process of eliminating racial disparities and improving outcomes for everyone.It is the intentional and continual practice of changing policies,practices,systems, and structures by prioritizing measurable change in the lives of people of color. Social justice then refers to a fair and equitable division of resources,opportunities,and privileges in society. Um, and then we go on to define human rights as well for the purpose of the Commission. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 71 Alter: Thank you. Could I ask-It's late.We all want,so I'm just going to cut to the chase. I did notice-, um,I mean,we-we've been having this discussion about agent-nonprofit agencies,and unfortunately,we are in a situation where there's,you know, a pie and a lot of agencies. So,um,I know that on the application also,there was a question that asked,have you been funded by the City in the past year?Right.And I couldn't help but notice that a couple of the grantees,um, DVIP,Better Together,UAY,they have been fimded and they're also pretty well established. And,um,they- so I guess I'm wondering,given the fact that this is such a small pot,I'm just wondering rhetorically,I guess,of the wisdom of granting to agencies where they have stronger fundraising mechanisms and,um,-and they have the ability to stand up new programs every year. Whereas there may be in this list of 29 that there were certainly agencies that might be needing that that money would actually go further because they are smaller,right. Kollach: And you're right. And that's a conversation that we have and you-you can watch our meeting from March 4th,we-we-we struggle with that too. On the one hand,you know,we-we appreciate those organizations that are established because they have the ability to quickly stand up a project that might have some impact, and so we can help them out with that.Whereas, if- those other-those smaller-smaller organizations,is it going to be sustainable?Are they going- you know are they going to be able to continue that?Is it going to be as impactful as something from a more established organization?I mean Kelsey,you could probably add some more about our discussions on that. Paul Shantz: So one of the things I might just mention is that so because we're starting from our rubric scores, so I think you have copies of actually all of our individual scores. That's a cumulative of all of the seven points that Doug mentioned,but many of those actually pull us towards a place where we're evaluating sustainability. So can the project continue beyond the cycle that we're suggesting grant being-be approved for. Um,and does it have a clear vision of what success looks like? There are some of these questions that lend themselves to individually,um,preference over organizations that can answer those questions affirmatively. Um,and so I think it's a really important question for us to consider as a commission,but also if there's a different directive coming from City Council of what this is meant to do. That's always helpful as well too,but that is in our current process,how we're interpreting and also then how those numbers start to add up. It is making probably a difference in the overall rubric scores,yeah. Alter: Thank you. Moe: I'm-I'm curious about the report back So you guys grant money out?Um,we all grant money out. Um,what is the report back?To see whether they built capacity,they achieved their goals,and what's their skin in the game if they fail? Kollach: Yeah. Great question. So all- all organizations that receive a grant are required to submit a report at the end of the-I think twice during the cycle,is that right?Um,two times during the cycle to report back on how they spent the money,you know,what the-what-how successful that project was. In the past two years we've also initiated programs with the Commission where Commissioners are paired with organizations that have received our grant. And we work with them and we contact them more often than just those,you know,two reporting periods,to see how things are going,establish those relationships and provide any other additional support we can to that project. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 72 Paul Shantz:I would just say through that,um,the grants,as you know,they're- immediately,those that are approved are immediately distributed.And so in terms of follow up then, for those-the,um, organizations that are not able to fixlfill, like their project as they've proposed it,they have to report that back to the city. The city then reports and shares that communication with us. Harmsen:First of all,uh,thank you for the work that the Commission does going through,uh, applications. Uh,that is a-is a great deal of work and there's a lot of responsibility that comes along with that. And I appreciate,uh,all the Commission members,um, for taking that on.Um, the other question about process a little bit,um, and-and I-I apologize,I haven't had a chance to go back and watch the March 4th meeting. Um,when you weigh out the decisions you mentioned,rubric-rubrics can be very helpful in trying to score things. Um,is that the only criteria,or is there some discussion?What do you do-what do you do if you have an extreme outlier because you have a small number of commissioners, so an outlier can really skew numbers disproportionately. Kollach: Great question-great question.Yeah. So we-we start with the rubric scores,we start at the top of the list and work our way down.And then as we get to the end,then we open it up and we look at the rest of the-rest of the list. Where are the outliers?Are there any projects that a certain Commissioner saw that said hey,this is worthwhile. We can bring those up for discussion as well. So,you know,yeah,we don't-there's no cut off,and then we just throw everyone out the window. We-we do go through everything.All nine Commissioners have a chance to bring up outliers,bring up projects they thought were particularly worthwhile,that maybe didn't end up, you know,at the top of the scores. So- so yeah,there's-there's a pretty robust discussion of all the- all the applicants in that meeting. Paul Shantz:I will say as well too,that,um,because we do go through a specific process of starting with those that we have all collectively scored the highest,and then going from there. There is an inherent sort of,um,agreement of just the collective of where we're moving from at the beginning.But for those that applicants that have said,um,yes,we could do this with partial funding.Um,some applicants say no,it's- it's all or nothing here.But some do say we could do this with partial fimding. We take that into account,um,and we do actually make notes then about if we want to do partial fimding,um, so that then we're able to spread the just$100,000 that we have in our grant applications to more applicants. Alter: Sorry. And this is really basic,but you did mention,um,this is specifically for projects, correct? Kollach: Correct. Alter: Okay. Teague: All right. Any other questions?All right. Anyone from the public like to address this topic?I do see a hand raised online. Um,I'll welcome Tasha at this time. Welcome.You're muted.We can't hear you.We're gonna go to,uh,Rachel. Welcome. Scott: Good evening. Can you all hear me? Teague: We can. Welcome. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 73 Scott: Thank you. So,um,I just want to say I am Iowa City resident.My name is Rachel Scott and I represent the Black Professionals of Johnson County.And I suggest postponing the vote on this grant until we have a clearer understanding of the contributions of each organization being considered for it.It is essential to recognize that our organization along with others have been constantly overlooked despite our tireless efforts toward bettering our communities. Thus,it is only fitting that any financial assistance be allocated to those who demonstrate tangible impact within our local- local communities. To ensure equitably,I'm sorry it's late.But to ensure that the distribution of the resources are provided to everyone that really needs it and do work in our community,I propose delaying the vote on this grant until we can thoroughly evaluate the merits of each group in question. And we must prioritize supporting organizations that truly make a difference in the community,especially the smaller organizations,because we are-this is what our second year and we have shown that we do make an impact in our community.And with help and grant fimding,we can reach more people. And that's pretty much all I have for tonight. Teague: Thank you. And Tasha will go to you.Welcome. So you're still on mute.And if anyone is in-in person,want to,oh,we can hear you now. Lard: All right. Thank you.Uh,my name is Tasha Lard. I am the Executive Director of Black Professionals of Iowa, and I am here to shed some light to the invaluable contributions of Black Professionals of Iowa within our community. Our organization has tirelessly work to showcase the vibrant essence of Iowa City,attracting individuals eager to exploit its rich culture and opportunities.More significantly,we have seamlessly aligned our core values with the city's strategic planning,compelling initiatives focused on racial equity,social justice,and human rights. For an entire year,Black Professionals of Iowa has been at the forefront of driving meaningful change without any support from the city. Our efforts have been widely recognized and publicly visible,raising the question,why will organizations like ours overlooked for grants, especially when our impact on advancing the city's goals has been undeniable. It's imperative that the City Council recognize and-and support grassroots organizations like ours,whose dedication and results directly contribute to the betterment of Iowa City. We continue to urge you guys to look at other organizations like ours who may be small but mighty.We've done this work continuously for a year,and if we discussed sustainability,we've done that without any help from the city. And again,because we've brought so many individuals into Iowa City,we would have thought that we would have been considered for some of the fimding so that we can continue to work Thank you for your time and your consideration. Teague: Thank you. Um,and we'll go to Ayman.Welcome. Shariff: Good evening.And,uh,my name is Ayman Sharif.I'm the Executive Director of the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa.I really would like to express our great appreciation for the city of Iowa City and the Racial Equity and Social Justice Grant and the Commission for their- for their efforts. Um,I'd like to say that we are an established organization here.We've been working for more than a decade continuously to lead successful programs that empower immigrants,low wage workers,and also supporting of affordable housing residents,uh, in the county and the area here. We are 50-more than 50%of,uh,immigrants and,um,African American communities, 40%or more of Latino-Latino communities. So we are pretty much diverse and we are also member based organization. We think that a priority must be given always to member based organizations being,uh,like a-of more capability to,er,work with community groups and support them,which we have been doing successfully for all those years.We've been also depending on this grant together with other things to ex-expand our work and effort,uh,all the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 74 time.We see like kind of a problem with the process of this grant.And,er,actually,I really appreciate what,uh,Councilman Shawn mentioned here regarding the average system that has been used to,uh,grade the applications.I just think this is not really suitable or appropriate for- um,it really school the outcome of the,uh,the grant. As we could see here,and I'll say, for example, for our- for our,ah,application-this is just an example.We have been graded. Uh,let me-I will see that very quickly, like six- six times or six of the Commissioners graded us either above 30 of the 35 or in the middle in the 20. Only one Commissioner graded us like very unusual low of seven,which has not been grade to any other applications. And that really- Teague: Hey,Ayman. That was three minutes. Thank you. Welcome, ah,to anyone in person that wants to speak,please state your name and city you're from? Porter:Royceann Porter,Iowa City, and I have some correspondence for you. Okay. The chair and the vice chair um,say this grant opportunity is available to Iowa City based organizations,both for nonprofit and profit.With the purpose of encouraging empower and engaging in racial equity and social justice initiatives through programs,activities,or services that help eliminate inequities in the Iowa City community. They stopped at that,there's a period and they stopped.What they didn't say is programs that address one or more of the six priority service areas will receive preference building communities, criminal justice,education,employment,health and housing. The goal of race equity grant is to invest in communities most impacted by structural racism and oppression. Support community and client centered approaches to civil organizations and leadership. We got five black grassroots organizations. Five Black Voices Project,Black Professionals of Johnson County, Sankofa,New Creations Childcare,and the Iowa Immigrant Worker Welcome Network All five grassroots organizations doing the work in our community and not one of us receive a dollar. I want to say the black voices project met the criteria and I'll tell you how, in education,school environment access improvements in addressing discrimination in schools.Partnership with the Iowa City community school district. Several school board members and the superintendent are members of the Black Voices,where they attend meetings regularly and are highly trusted stakeholders. This group have worked collaboratively- collaboratively,making recommendations and having ongoing dialogues.Evaluating the impact of educational campaigns through surveys and assessments. Two,housing aim to ensure that people with section eight vouchers and those living in public housing,understand their rights and know how to navigate the appeals process effectively.Legal interventions measure the success of legal support in combating housing discrimination,access to affordable housing,and ensuring fair treatment for all residents.Number 3,policing,building communities,partnering with the Iowa City police department on community outreach. Iowa City police volunteered for our annual Martin Luther King parade and Martin Luther King celebration held at Mercer Park The Iowa City Police officers volunteered to help serve food for 300 plus people at our annual Henry Harper community soul food dinner. Iowa City Police officers volunteer for our annual Juneteenth celebration held downtown Iowa City, feeding 1,200 plus people. The city of Iowa City,there is a partnership building communities partnership with the City of Iowa City Parks and Recreation to utilize their facilities.I gave. Teague: Thank you. Thank you.We have it. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to address this topic? Seeing and hearing?No one else. Council discussion? Dunn: I'm going to be brutally honest.My head hurts really bad. It's 10:30.Um,I'm very comfortable moving this to defer when we can have a broader conversation,have some more conversations with other folks. That's just me,honestly,just Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 75 Teague: I guess one of my I think one of the things that's happening with all of our granting is there are concerns at how-at how the process is happening or the discussions are happening.We heard it tonight. The rabic that's being used, certainly most granting committees have some discretion is subjective to a great degree.I've been on several granting committees. There is not one that I've been on that you go top score and stop.I think this council is at a point where we need to look at all of the granting opportunities that come through the city or the majority of them.I think I know all of them because they come before us and we have to have discussion,review some of the- some of the comments that's been made to give direction,not to point out anyone,but to give direction. And this isn't just related to the HRC,this is related to any of the granting bodies that this city has as far as this was before us currently.Again,it will be a huge undertaking I think for this Council to-to look at all of the applicants here. We have other applications that are coming before us from other commissions like our HCDC. Just receiving recommendations from them and of course,we'll be able to review those recommendations at the time when that's before us. Personally do I think that,you know,after watching the video of any of our commissions. Certainly I can see um,where if I was a part of it,you know,I would have made some different recommendations or brought up some concerns in the moment,but I'm not a part of that. The Commissioners are tasked to look at the grants and make recommendations to this Council. This Council has the ability to revise it. There are 29 applications,over$500,000.It is an impossible task that I think we ultimately give to any of our granted bodies.I do see great opportunity for us to give greater direction. I think the Commission,I just heard it tonight,would be welcome to any type ol�um,further direction that the Council would like to give. I believe that we,again,need to review all of our granting process.But when it comes to what's before us tonight,I know everybody that spoke tonight. I absolutely love everybody that spoke tonight from the public. I know the work that they do.I believe in it. It is awesome and amazing.But I think what's before us tonight as far as like what's been proposed.I understand there can be a lot of conversation said about how they arrived at these 11,but at the end of the day. I think the commissioners did it based on their information,their knowledge.What they believe represented the definition and the meaning of this grant. I will be supporting the allocations as they are.But I would say to this Council that we must have a work session that brings all of this to bear and we have a discussion. So,I'll leave it at that for now. Alter: I would agree with that,um,I served on HCDC for five years. Over time with different people in the Commission that while the applications stay the same and the purpose ostensibly is the same, there's oftentimes,um,there can be movement,just calibration changes. Um, So I think and-and additionally,when I was in HCDC,there was a lot of discussion actually from HCDC that we didn't know what one hand was doing with the other,what were other grant giving commissions doing,and who was getting the funding and what not,and that at that time we talked about, it would be really useful for us to know so that there wouldn't necessarily be overlap,um,you know,unless it was sort of un-under like,uh,this is for this,and this is for that or,the point being that I think that,um,I very much,um,I second the Mayor's,uh, sense that there needs to be a look by Council,uh,because it's not really fair to the commissions and certainly isn't fair to the applicants to try to figure out where there might be moving goalposts and or where the applications themselves,and that's probably the better way to say it. Where the applications themselves,uh-um, could be made more clear and could be more helpful in terms of the information that they ask. Um, so I absolutely think-,I realize I'm talking about something that is not in front of us at the moment,um,but I think it's something that we owe to th-the commissions,um,because the people have volunteered to be appointed on it and 110%for the people who are applying for- for the entities that are applying for grants.Um,and just my two This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 76 cents since I'm still at the mic,um,I think that there really should be,um,perhaps without trying to take away the autonomy,and the hard work done by commissions,um,I think that there can be a little bit,um,investigation or- or discussion about the purpose of what each commission's grants are for and,um,because we certainly have,um,in some entities,it's like stuff for operational or standing up larger projects.And so I think it just makes sense to have that conversation about what are all of these grant giving commission. What's there-what's the purpose? So at any rate that's,sorry,that was like 7-9 cents,um,rather than two.But I support this for now and then moving forward,we need to make some-,um, some decisions that'll clarify the process. Sorry. Dunn: I'll just make a really quick comment piggybacking off that,um,I think you probably believe this as I do. Um,if there is any lack of clarity,uh,that you're referring to,um,that is not the responsibility of the commissions. That is-that is our responsibility, so,um,bringing that up. That is not,uh,to say,all the commissions have failed at anything,uh,that is us failing at making your important service jobs that are unpaid,um,easier and more streamlined. So,um, in any case that that is,I would give personal apologies. Moe: You took the words out of my mouth,Councilor Dunn,I think it's our job to make the rules and procedures better,and so we'll do that,uh,we need to do that.Because that's what I heard from the- from-from Rachel,from Tasha, from Ayman, from Royceann is,you know,there's frustration. They didn't get the grant but there's also a questioning of process and so we can fix the process. I also think that we have Commissioners that we've empowered to make decisions and I think we,uh,we want to leverage that. And so when they make a recommendation,I think it's-we would never get our work done if we reguessed everything that every commission did. So I'm inclined to say yes,and we will work on making a better process. Harmsen: So I think a couple of things,uh,just to kind of,uh,Bruce said a couple of things I just kind of want to-want to agree with.First of all,um,the full throated,uh,full chested,uh, acknowledgment of all,and again,I also know the people that called in and I know the work they're doing in this community and-and Supervisor Porter,uh,the work that she does in our community,no question.And I think of the quality of the impact and everything else,uh,I just think that that's worth noting. I also feel something you had said,Mr.Mayor,you know,might have,in that position,may have made some different choices and I think that that's something that resonated with me. Um,I think one thing that agreeing,kind of talking about,uh,what we need to do to make this better,and one thing that commissions don't necessarily have is that 10,000 foot view. So one of the things we see is we see when we have these different programs, or at least what I've noticed,we have these different programs and we are trying to,um,you know,have them focused in on laser focus on different aspects of our community we want to make better,which is generally okay.But I think one of the things I've noticed is that sometimes accidentally,again,the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing,we end up with sort of,uh,skewing a little bit like all of a sudden,you know,one organization just gets a lot while some others get left out in the cold and not that there was an overarching goal to do that, necessarily. Certainly none that I've ever been aware of either by individual commissions or by different commissions,but sort of an end effect. So I feel like,you know,that is something that, you,that we can see at that 10,000 foot view and that certainly creates,rather than creating positive momentum in our communities with our grant programs,which,you know, at the end of the day as a city,you know,I'm very proud of what we do with our grant programs,but with our administration of it,obviously people that don't get grants are going to be upset.But I think this is more than that,I think there's some real deeper issues that I see and I recognize,and I think they're fixable. Um,I don't know that I'm willing to vote against this tonight,but also I also want This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 77 to just in Councilor Dunn's early thing about deferring,um,you know,we have one council member,this is an important discussion -one council member who has left and one who is just barely holding on. And so I would also be okay,just that's two important voices.Where we have one important voice who has to recuse themselves, so we're already kind of shorthanded with our full council taking this on.I would be okay with deferring and seconding. Did you make a motion,Andrew? Dunn: I haven't,no. Harmsen:I mean,and as much as I don't want to push,you know,I want to get things,you know,have organizations get the benefit of this,right?Because these are some good organizations that I should probably point out to some good projects too,that-that the commission has picked. Nothing against any of those groups in my statements,you know,at all or against any of the Commission members. Teague: I want to make certain that,you know,the Council it seems amendable to having a work session, you know,totally on the granting process. Any other things that we have concerns,uh, from?We heard some today there'll be more,um,we'll have that discussion.I just wanted to make that clarification that we will have a work session on that.If-If there is,I'm ready to make a decision because I really think that that grant process,that's a whole another conversation that we must have that I think we have to have.But I don't know where people are and,are people ready to make decisions? Dunn: Why not. Harmsen:Yes. Teague: Okay. Goers: All right. I'll make one note,Mr.Mayor,because this is a resolution under state law,ordinance and resolutions require a majority of the entire council, four votes,whereas motions just require a majority of the quorum present. That would be three votes for what it's worth so four votes to pass. Teague: Great. Thank you,we're going to go with a roll call,please. [Roll Call]Motion passes 5 -0. Okay.And thanks to everybody for-that came and speak on this item. Grace:Mayor,could we get a motion to accept the correspondence? Teague: Yes. Could I get a motion to accept correspondence? Alter: Second. Teague:Move by Dunn. Second by Alter. All in favor say aye. All:Aye. Teague: Any oppose?Motion passes six- 5 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 78 This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 79 10J Assessment Schedule-Resolution adopting an assessment schedule of unpaid mowing, clean-up of property,snow removal,sidewalk repair,and stop box repair charges and directing the Clerk to certify the same to the Johnson County Treasurer for collection in the same manner as property taxes. Teague: All right. Great. And then we're going to move on to item Number 10i,assessment schedule. This is a resolution adopting an assessment schedule of unpaid mowing,clean up of property, snow removal,sidewalk repair, and stop box repair charges,and directing this clerk to certify the same to the Johnson County treasurer for collection in the same manner as property taxes. I would like a motion to approve,please. Dunn: So moved. Moe: Second Moe. Teague:Move by Dunn. Seconded by,uh,Moe. Anyone from the public like to discuss this topic? See no one present or online,Council discussion.I did want to just,uh,make mention that we received an email from property owner at,um,a property owner that stated that they closed on their house 3/20/2024,but these assessed charges were from 5/20/2023,$250 and then from,uh,November 10,2023 of$300. So- Alter: There was an email,actually. Sorry. Goers: We saw that email. I spoke with the attorney Sue Dulek in our office who handles these,and she said we would just take him off. That was an appropriate objection. Alter: And there was an email to that effect actually that came out. Goers: Yeah. She responded, Teague: Oh,I didn't see that. Goers: It was rather late Mayor. Teague: Okay. Thanks. All right. So, for clarification,because it is in the public document. Grace: There was a-I'm sorry. There was a revised schedule in the late handouts today that took those two off. Teague: Thank you. Grace: Yeah. Teague: So,I just wanted to make it at least clear for the Council,I wasn't aware,but thank you. Um,that, um,that,uh,individual is not on-a part of this conversation anymore. Any other comments by Council?Roll call,please. [Roll Call]Motion passes 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 80 11. Council Appointments 11.a Civil Service Commission- Once vacancy to fill a four-year term,April 2,2024- April 3,2028 (Term expires to Richar Wyss) Teague: We are onto Item Number 11. Council Appointments 11A,Civil Service Commission. One vacancy to fill a four year term,uh,April 2nd,2024 through April 3rd,2028. And there is one male requirement,civil service. Salih: Okay. Goers: Is that right,Kellie?I had it down as one none but maybe I-maybe that's mistaken. Grace: I don't think I had it updated when I sent it to you. Goers: Oh,okay. Sorry. Harmsen:Mr.Mayor,I would put forward,uh,Richard Wyss for this. Moe: Continuation. Harmsen:It would be a continuation.Yes. Alter: Yeah. Harmsen: Continuation. Alter: That works. Teague: Yep.I will support it. Moe: Yeah. Teague: Um, and maybe we'll just do them, each one by one. Uh,any other nominations?Hearing none, could I get a motion to appoint Richard Wyss to the Civil Service Commission. Dunn: So moved. Harmsen: Second Harmsen. Teague:Moved by Dunn,seconded by Harmsen. All in favor say aye. All:Aye. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 81 ll.b Human Rights Commission one vacancy to fill unexpired term upon appointment through December 31st,2025. Teague: Any opposed?Motion passes 6-0.We're going to move on to Item Number l lb,which is the Human Rights Commission one vacancy to fill unexpired term upon appointment through December 31st,2025. And this does have a male requirement. Salih: How many do we know, like how many black people they are? Teague: I-I don't know. Moe: I apologize. I'm not prepared to advance anybody or offer anything.I'm losing my energy. Teague: Okay. Dunn:Move to defer for next meeting. Salih: Yeah. Moe: I'm fine deferral. Teague: Okay.We're going to defer l lb the Human Rights Commission to the April 16th. Could I get a motion please. Salih:Move. Alter: Second. Move by Salih,second by Alter. All in favor say aye. All:Aye. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 82 14. City Council Information Alter:Really quick. There is the,um badging with- from the Iowa City Fire Department tomorrow at the firefighters,um,an awards assembly is what. I can't even speak It's a-it looks like it's a reception for people who've been doing good first responder stuff and badging.And it is at Terry Trueblood tomorrow night. Harmsen: Oh,tomorrow night. Teague: 6:30 PM. Alter: Thank you. Teague: Okay. Salih: And the question,when we defer those to next meeting,is this means people can apply,right? Teague: Still open. Dunn: If it's open. Salih: It's open,yeah. Goers: I'm sorry.Was the question whether they open backup for applications?I think the answer is no, unless you do something to the contrary. If you do that,you would probably want to extend from April 16th to a later date so you would allow sufficient time for folks to get word apply and close. Salih: That's what they said about the deferring. Goers: Oh,well,was it for that reason or just because the [OVERLAPPING] [inaudible] didn't talk to anybody on the list. Salih:Because I just did not see like some people that they can be good fit here. Teague: I think at this point we'll have to discuss that at the next meeting because that's not the agenda item right now.Yeah. Salih: Yeah,I don't know. What do you think city attorney? Goers: I'm sorry.What's the question? Salih: Like how are we going to solve this if we already passed the item? Goers: Uh,well,I agree you already passed the item and,uh,whereas not for long,um,I think it would be appropriate to move on. I think the mayor's suggestion is that if you don't like the candidates, let me phrase that more diplomatically. If you think that,uh,we would benefit from having additional applicants, certainly you could do that at the next meeting. Uh,just reopen. Salih: That's what I thought would be fair. It wasn't clear. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 83 This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024 Page 84 15. Report on Items from City Staff Teague: Yep.Any other updates?All right. Item number 15 is a report on items from city staff City Manager's Office. Jones:Nothing tonight. Teague: City Attorney's Office. Goers: Uh,City Clerk and I met with the Charter Review Commission at their first meeting last night.Uh, I was,uh,uniformly impressed. They appeared to have done their homework and read minutes from the last session 10 years ago. I think it's going to be a great group. Teague: Great. City Clerk's office. All right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 2,2024