Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-06-04 Transcription Page 1 Council Present: Alter,Bergus,Dunn,Harmsen, Moe, Salih, Teague Staff Present: From, Goers, Platz, Knoche,Davies,Nagle-Gamm, Seydell Johnson Others Present: Monsivais,USG 1. Review of Public Input Regarding Redevelopment of 21 S.Linn St. Teague: It is June 4th, 2024, City of Iowa City work session agenda, and item Number 1 is a review of the public input regarding redevelopment of 21 South Linn Street. Welcome Rachel who is going to present. Rachel Kilburg Varley,Economic Development coordinator. Okay. So I get to talk to you today about what we heard during the public input phase for 21 South Linn. So,uh, I'll do a quick overview reminder of kind of the project and what we're planning with it. We'll talk about what we did here through that public input phase and then talk a little bit about what happens next. So just a reminder that the property that we're talking about, 21 South Linn Street is here to orient you. It's at the corner of Washington and South Linn Street, so across from the Senior Center EnglertTheater,Daydream Comics. For the past couple of months, and for the foreseeable future, it's going to continue to be used temporarily as construction staging for some nearby major construction projects,the Dubuque Street Reconstruction project. Most notably, Senior Center is kind of wrapping up.Um, and then, of course, over the long term, our goal is to develop that into a mixed use redevelopment. So here's a reminder of the phases of this process that we've kind of agreed to at your work session in February. Uh, so we already conducted in December, uh, a review of past processes where we've gone through this public private redevelopment process. So the Chauncey and the RISE were those two examples that we reviewed. Um, over the past few months,we conducted the public engagement. Phase, and then today we'll review that. We'll talk a little bit about what writing that RFP will look like, and then,um,we continue to stay on track for issuing that RFP in the fall, September, October timeline, and then we would review the responses after that. So that takes us to our public input summary. So just a reminder again of kind of some objectives that we set out to accomplish through this process. We wanted to make sure that it was transparent,that it was predictable,that people could look at our documents and understand how the process was going to go. Um,ultimately, our goal is to obtain a public private partnership that incorporates significant public benefits for our community. And then, of course,we want to incorporate meaningful stakeholder and public involvement throughout the process. Um, so through this process,we kind of- of course, public or other stakeholders will have the opportunity to provide input at any phase, really. They can do that to I staff or to Iowa City councilors through just those normal public comment methods, email,phone calls,public comment periods. But we've really identified two kind of targeted public input periods through the process. So the fust,uh, kind of came at the beginning to again,hear from the public about how they're using the downtown. And maybe what they'd like to see out of this project. And then we anticipate another would come,uh, again, like a focused public input period would come. After we This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 2 receive responses,we've kind of narrowed down finalists. We would invite the public again to share their voice and weigh in on those. So as you may recall, in February, is when we presented a public input plan to you all. You provided some great feedback that we were able to incorporate. Um,but overall, our approach was kind of a two pronged strategy. So we really wanted to educate, and then we also wanted to collect input. So through the education component, our goal was,uh, again,to just be really clear and transparent about what our goal is with this site,which is to,um, develop a mixed use redevelopment. We wanted to remind people that we do have existing plans and priorities adopted through your City Council Strategic Plan, downtown Master Plan, the downtown Districts strategic plan. Um, and then also again,to talk a little bit about what the importance of property tax revenue generation will mean for this site. So, um,we wanted to help share some of those,uh, standard expectations, and then we also wanted to better understand people's user experience in the downtown and then their specific desires for maybe what they'd like to see out of this redevelopment project. Um,ultimately, our goal was through that public input phase,that what we heard could help inform that RFP and the goals that we have in that RFP, and then also perhaps influence what developers want to take away and incorporate into their proposals. Um, so our strategy,uh,took place about a one month period. So we launched that at the end of March and carried it through May 1st is when we said,you're welcome to share input after that,but that's what will be included in this summary to City Council. We had many methods,which I'll go through on the next slide. But we promoted those via news release, our social media platforms, Cable TV programs, and their weekly update video. We did flyers on all the city buses. We also had fliers disseminated through our economic development partners, so that would be the Downtown District,the South of six Business District, greater Iowa City Inc, and then think Iowa City. Um,through your suggestion. Uh,we worked with the Office of Human Rights. They have a diversity outreach list. So we were able to again, share these opportunities through that list. Um, and then we worked with USG and the University of Iowa Media Office to make sure we're hearing from students as well. Um, so the options that we made available to folks were an online survey. We had that available in English, Spanish,French,Arabic, and Mandarin. All but four were completed in English. We got three in Spanish and one in Mandarin. We had 1,482 people participate in the survey. It was four open ended questions, so that ultimately resulted in almost 6,000 separate responses. So we got a lot of good data. And we're able to really mind through that for insights. We held two open houses. So the fust we held in downtown,very close to the site. So we held that at the public library on April 15th. And then a couple of weeks later,we held it at the Pheasant Ridge neighborhood Center. Which is on the west side of Iowa City because we had learned through the downtown district's placer data that that's where people are least likely to come from to visit Downtown. So we wanted to make sure we were hitting both people who are already using downtown actively, as well as people who maybe aren't and learn why not. Um, so through those two events,we had about 25 people attend. We worked with the Downtown District also to use their Hello Lamp Post technology. So through that, folks were able to if they were walking by the site,they could see a sign there that said,hey, text this number and answer a few questions about how you use Downtown,what you'd like to see at this site. So we had 296 people take part in that. And they sent about 770 This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 3 text messages. So that was a great option for us, something we hadn't used before. Um, and then of course,we offered people the option to just simply a mail us or drop off letters, and we had 12 of those through those two options. So,um, definitely people took advantage of all their options. And overall, I think we had about 1,800 different respondents that would assume no one did more than one,but I'm sure we had that. I also mentioned to you, I forgot to say on the e-mails and written letters, we also advertise that as being able to submit in whatever language you prefer. Again,to give people who didn't want to take the survey just another option for providing their feedback in a way that was comfortable to them. So across all those options,we really asked four public input questions. So we asked these four core questions,um sometimes in slightly different ways,but ultimately, it was these core questions that we were asking. We wanted to provide these questions to encourage thoughtful and productive feedback,but we also knew,you know,just asking,what would you like to see here?Me just-yield unwieldy results and so we wanted to no-you know,not frustrate the people who were responding, not frustrate staff who were getting the responses, So, one strategy that we wanted to use was to focus on, again,that user experience. So who is using downtown? If you are,how are you using it?Why?Where do you go? If you aren't,why not?What would encourage you to come more? So our hope was that through these type of questions,we could,you know, identify trends,habits,patterns, or gaps and other insights that would help us better understand,you know,maybe what is needed here?What do we have too much of?What do we,uh,want to really leverage and focus on as strengths? So the next few slides are going to be a summary of kind of what we heard as we asked all of these questions?Uh, I read through every response that came in, so the numbers may be approximates,you know, sometimes you had to put them in the category that you think best matched,but I feel overall really confident in the data that we do have and I think we got some great results. So the first question was, do you visit downtown Iowa City?Why or why not? To this response, about half of the people said, "Yes and we come to eat, drink or shop." So those were some of the most common responses that we got. Arts and culture, entertainment came events came up as the next response?Festivals was in their farmers market. Work was about people about 10% of the respondents work downtown, 8%visit the library, 5% live there, 9%recreate or socialize, it's kind of just hanging out and then 3% come downtown for education purposes which could be classes or academic speakers,that kind of thing. Across these responses,we heard a few common themes, So 66 specifically mentioned,uh,that they like to support small and local businesses in our downtown, 119 mentioned that they really value walkability of our downtown, I also think we- it was apparent through some of these responses that I- I think we hit on many age ranges in the responses,because many people commented, either that they were students,that they used the senior center or that they were families with children. So gave us a little bit of confidence that we were hearing from a wider range of people and then this would be responses just of those who answered,yes, I do visit downtown. Those who answered no, some of the reasons they gave were parking challenges,that it was too oriented to college students,that it was not safe or clean,that there were no shops they were interested in,too much alcohol and tobacco uses and that it was too crowded. Um, I will say, so I'll go back to our list of four questions. The- in retrospect,maybe Question 1 and Question 3 were a little too similar for people so, on this summary, I don't have This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 4 anything on question 3 because it was just so similar to what we heard through Question 1, so just didn't want to be redundant there. Question 2 was,what is missing downtown that would encourage you to come more often or stay longer? So here we heard Parks Green space would be something that people are interested. Again, shops,restaurants, bars, cafes, coffee shops,was another common response, 10% said recreation or entertainment, 8% said parking, 7% said community spaces,which really encompassed a lot of things,which was, ah,you know, space for people to hold smaller events or space for people to just gather socially, another 7% said more options for families and children, 6% said music or performance venues,4% said housing and then 4% said some sort of arts use,which, again, encompassed a lot of things, galleries,maker spaces,that kind of thing. Um, so some of the common themes that we heard in this question were places that were open late and on weekends,but are not necessarily alcohol centric, so people look to want to spend more time downtown and have more options for when they are there about what to do. More free or inexpensive activities that people can access, less student focused options or more options for, again,more people. Um,places for people to sit, gather, greenery,heard a lot about,you know,people travel downtown,using their bikes, walking,using the bus so heard a lot about,uh, expanded facilities to support those type of commuters, safety and cleanliness, and then arts and culture were some of the common themes that we heard through that one. So again, I skipped Question 3 because it was very similar to one, so for Question 4,these were-here's where we invited people to say, okay,now,talking specifically about 21 South Linn,you know,what are your thoughts? What would you like to see? So again,we did hear that Park Green space, 6% said music performance venue, 12% said housing, about 5%mentioned specifically small retail or incubator space, another 6%mentioned restaurants,bars, food trucks,uh, another 6% mentioned, ah, some sort of a recreation attraction, 5% said more family and kid friendly options, 9% said they'd like to see this be mixed use,which is great in line with kind of our intent, 6% said community space, 5% said in arts use, 7%,uh,mentioned maintaining that mural and then 3%, ah,mentioned,you know, it'd be great if it could be designed well and blends well with the area and then the last two,4%mentioned density would work well here and then 6%would like to see some,uh, appropriate parking addressed with the development. So of those who- of the comments that people really mentioned, hey,we don't want to see this here, a few things were bars, smoke shops, liquor stores. Housing was another that was also mentioned as,yes,we do want that,but just over half of those who said they didn't want housing specifically said they were not interested in luxury or high end housing,uh, again, density was listed as something people were interested in,but it was also -also commonly mentioned as we don't want a high rise building large building and then parking showed up on both ends,too. So I just say that just to,you know, again,kind of point out how there were contradiction answers even within these questions, So,you just kind of have to look at this from a broad perspective, understand that we can't achieve everything everyone wants at this site,but I think we do still have some really meaningful and valuable insights that we got out of this. Uh, as staff,we never expected consensus. So,uh,we certainly didn't get that,but again, I think we're able to look at this and,uh,take away some important takeaways, so, for example, Parks and green space was commonly mentioned. However,we've already established that our intent is to develop a mixed use redevelopment. So as we looked at the data and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 5 thought about what are the takeaways,we said, okay,well,what did we hear the most common?And then out of what we've heard the most,what aligns with our goals for the project? Or our intent for the project and then our go- strategic goals of the City council and the downtown district. So that's how we move to start kind of picking out what we believe would be some key takeaways from the data. So that alignment with these existing plans was really a key driver of that and I think as you compare the data and then you look at these strategic priorities,there's actually a lot of alignment. So that's great, and that's very encouraging that hopefully we can achieve something here that the public is proud of and- and likes. Uh, so that leads us to those key takeaways. So again,many ideas,many preferences,but um, after reading through all of it and uh,kinda taking a step back,this is what I view as some of the key takeaways. So the fust one, I mean,to me, in my personal opinion,jumps out as the biggest, it seemed to be, it seemed to come across in a lot of people's comments across all of the questions,was that it um,they would like for this development to be inviting to the public. So that means it's inclusive to the public, welcoming to them. It may appeal to a wide variety of ages, and then uh, should increase options for spending time downtown. So,uh, I think uh, as I mentioned in the memo,you know,the Chauncey provides a good example of that. I think people feel welcome to go in there,um,to use the space. So,uh, inviting to the public was one key takeaway that- that we identified. Uh, the next would be space for new opportunities. So people had- people- like coming downtown,we had,um, it has a lot of existing strengths, and people come downtown for many different reasons. So how do we kind of leverage those strengths,but then also find space in this new development for new and unique experiences that kind of fill those gaps that people are looking for?Uh, so some of those gaps that I think uh, came up the most would be small business,retail,uh, dining, entertainment, or other experiences that aren't alcohol centric, and then housing options that diversify who lives downtown. The third takeaway that we identified was an authentic urban experience. So um,this just speaks to kind of mixing that great authentic downtown character that Iowa City already has, and then meeting it with modern amenities that people expect. So walkability,viability of the use there, safety, and then an engaging street level design,which again,kind of ties back to that inviting, inclusive um, development to the public. And then finally,we just wanted to address um,kind of in the- the public input in context of its geographical location. So some of what we heard uh, is important, again, in context of what else is close to 21 South Lane. So parking came up a lot, and we do have the Tower Place parking ramp nearby. Many people said they come downtown to visit the library and the senior center. So those two important civic connections are very close by. Um,we have some important arts and culture uses with the Englert fihn scene just a block away,uh, even studio on the back side. So um,just thinking about,you know,how they can be leveraged or um,you know, complemented and uh, in that new development. So those are kind of the key takeaways that we identified um,through that public input phase, and then we would use those to move into preparation of the actual request for proposals or RFP document. Um, so moving into this next phase,uh,we would- staff would go ahead and draft that RFP based on any direction you give us tonight. Again,using what we heard through the public input phase and your direction. Um,we also would like to take this opportunity to uh,make an update to our 2017 TIF policy. It's just a little outdated. We don't think it needs a huge overhaul,but it This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 6 still references, like the old strategic plan. Um, so we think there's a few things in there that-that we could update. So we would work with the Council Economic Development Committee uh,to-to update that before we,um, accept proposals for the project. And then um, as- after we have that draft RFP ready,we'd bring it back to you, of course, for your review um, and then ultimately approval for our issuance. So that would still put us on track again for that fall issuance of the RFP. Again,we would expect about 45 to 60 days for our response. And then er,beginning in November 2024,probably will take a little bit through those winter months. We could um, go through that review process and solicit any additional public input that we might need at that time. So what would be in the RFP um,reminder that we did kind of look at some of those examples ah,back in December, I think it was. Um, so you should have a general idea of maybe what um, those RFPs have looked like in the past,but we would expect that it would include the project description,project goals, some background information on our community for the developers who are responding. Uh,zoning parameters to understand,you know, what would be allowable at this site. Potential sources of,uh, city financial assistance or GAP financing. Of course,the requirements that they must meet to submit their-their proposal, and then kind of what that process will look like in terms of application review and scoring. So a lot of this is kind of very straightforward. It's just kind of the basic information that already exists that we need to fully under,um, stand when we get those proposals in,uh, and can fully evaluate them. And then,uh, again,just took another reminder that,you know,you can expect probably that those proposals will ah,narrow and become more detailed and ah,refined as we go through the process. So, uh,we'll, of course, ask for ah, enough information that we need through the RFP to make our decisions and select some finalists,but you'll also have the opportunity to continue to ask questions and learn a bit more about um,proposals as we go through the process. So that takes me to my last slide. Um, I'll be happy to answer any questions that you have. Um, I think after tonight,what we would see as next steps would be,um,well,you fust sharing any feedback that you have on this public input and then that draft RFP. We would go ahead and get to work on that right away,bring that back for your approval later this summer- summer, so it's ready to go by the fall. Teague: Thank you. Dunn: I think the fust thing to say is just thank you very much for working through this process. It really does seem like the plan in execution was done very thoroughly, and we've gotten great feedback. So,you know,yourself and others who helped out,with this should certainly feel accomplished in that way. And so we thank you very much for that. Kilburg Varley: Thanks. Alter: Say, I very much liked how you were able to take the raw data and then really assess, like, what is the common theme here rather than like you say, like,what do you want here? It's more,what are-what's the experience?What's the use value?Um, and so I- I know that you have had successful RFPs with both the Chauncey and the Ries and- and elsewhere, but just want to encourage that if it's possible in terms of talking about goals that-that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 7 kind of flavor, still comes through so it can allow for perhaps some creative um, responses. But I- I just really appreciate the work that went into taking all that raw data and then saying, okay,what is it that we have here?Ah,this is what people are talking about. I think you've done really well-well with that. Teague: I appreciate um, seeing that the responses um,wasn't just from a lot of people that lived downtown because it was only 5%, and I anticipated it would be more responses. So I appreciated seeing that and um,not that 10% is low for those that worked downtown. But again, I was just anticipating more input. Um, so I think that um,having it with more people from around the city,you know,tapping in and giving their thoughts. Um, I really think that that's what we wanted, and it really did reflect in um,kind of the overall walkaways that I think will lead us to the next steps,which will be very interesting for this community. We're not done with all of the,um, I think all of the specifics, of course, but uh, I think it will be something that this community is looking forward to, and we do have some examples such as the Chauncey to look back on,um,just to continue to make sure that we are still being proactive in ensuring that we take into account all of the things that we probably um,walked away as learning opportunities from the Chauncey. So just thanks to all the staff that's been working on this. And again,thanks to the community that has ah, gave some input. Salih: I guess I don't see anything like data by race,who will fill out this ah, informe, like the survey. And also, I saw that. Of course, like everyone. Great job. This is amazing,but I always like to highlight the thing that's missing. So ah, like, for example,you was talking about the people you ask,who is not coming to the down town town?And they told you like Pheasant Ridge, and we have only five people fill out the survey. That's not, like, five people. And even if the five people have really strong opinion about something,they are only five comparing to the people,that means their opinion is not going to be, like, evaluated or taking- like taking it seriously because there are only five out of this. And if I see, like,more people saying something, and fewer people saying something,why they are not coming. So I really,was surprised to see that. I- I wanted more people from the people who are not coming to the downtown to have,you know, like an opinions. I don't thinks I ask about this, and I don't think like certain people. I know that. You did one on the library. You did one on the Pheasant Ridge. You did,but I wish if you can do, like during an event for people of color event, center for worker justice event, like those time, because people are coming for something else.Nobody will come for that. If you know, I know like that the-the people who normally don't fill out surveys, ah,they don't come if you said, oh, I have a survey, come I just like an event specifically for that. But normally, I encourage when we have city surveys to be done in event that is already happening. Like, for example,membership meeting for the Center for Work Justice, a lot of people who come from different organizations. And during that membership meeting with cooperation,with those number of organization,they can fill out that survey at that time. So, and also, like, going to the website is not enough because people normally-there is many people don't go to,was fine. Yeah,the thing that I think is- is already done. But I always-when I want to highlight something, I want it to be, like for the future, of course, and ah,we know how to do outreach. I've been a community organizer and I know what's This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 8 work and what does not work sometime for the community that most likely they don't feel survey for the city. So,but yeah, amazing work, and thank you for your hard work. Bergus: Just a couple of questions,Rachel, one's, like, a scoping question. So of the 1,400 survey respondents, I'm understanding this right,that only 529 say they come downtown and eat or drink,right? The 529 say they visit downtown for restaurants coffee shop or was this, like ranked saying, like,this is your top reason? Kilburg Varley:No. So it was- so this is- it's mentioned. So it's now like, I come down to do this most often. So it's just if some- so 529 people specifically mentioned, I come downtown to usually eat, or drink, or shop. Bergus: What surprised me about that, and when you combine the eat, or drink, or shop, together,that makes a little more sense,right?Because then you get over 1,000 respondents. But the fact that there was only 37% of people who said they visit downtown to eat or drink was just really surprising to me. Were there things that were surprising to you in the results? Kilburg Varley: Um,not necessarily. You know, I think, I take that with a grain of salt as people maybe think about what did they most recently come downtown to do and respond that way, or what do-yeah,what do they always come downtown to do? So, definitely,that's why I kind of want to especially in the memo, I put some,you know,just caution that these numbers should not be taken as exacts. But I think it's- it's probably at least representative of,you know, overall,what are people doing?What are they-what are they at least associating with downtown? Is maybe a better way to think that's good so. Bergus: Thank you. Teague: All right. Well, thank you so much for the presentation. Harmsen: I'm sorry. I, I,uh, [OVERLAPPING] Yeah. What exactly,um, do you or does the city need from us?Like, do you need some granular level of input, a general idea of input? Are we going to come back and talk about this more the next meeting when we've had time to think about these results a little bit longer. You-you should mentioned next steps, but I want to drill down on that just a little bit. What- what input do you need from us now, so that three months from now,you're not saying,well,why didn't you tell us that? Kilberg Varley: Yes. Harmsen: Does that makes sense? Kilberg Varley: Geoff, if you see anything different than I do,but yes, as I mentioned,next, so we would go ahead. So kind of those key takeaways, as Councilor Alter mentioned,we would kind of rely on those, ah, as we start to think about the RFP and some of the goals in those, so if you have other thoughts, or anything you agree with, disagree with, like, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 9 now would be the time that we would love to hear and then we would just get to work on that RFP so I don't know. Fruin: Yeah, I think that's really accurate. The only thing I would, ah,really ask of council, if there are non starters,that you know you don't want to consider. So, for example,you- you don't want a 15 story building there. It's better just to-to- to get that out early on. If you know that you don't want a particular use in this building,um and you think you need to articulate that,right?You don't need to tell us you don't need a vape shop in there, right?We-we-we-we can make a couple of key assumptions. But if- if you really feel, like,hey,you know,this isn't the place for a restaurant, or this isn't the place for retailer or whatever it may be, it's better to get that out in front. Otherwise, like Councilor Alter said,we're going to craft this in a way that encourages creativity and a variety of responses. But you don't want to be in that position where you invite that, and then you immediately reject something that you otherwise should have known that you didn't want there. Do you want that now, or do you want that I don't have-by the way, I don't have anything on that list. I just want to make sure that-that-Yeah, it's really what you're comfortable with. If you- if you- if you feel like you need more time to reflect on this, and we can certainly add this to a future work session this summer. But generally speaking,um,you saw those takeaways. They-they-they are very kind of general. That's how we're going to craft the goals,both on the types of uses that we're encouraging, and the type of design that we're encouraging. We're not planning to specify design parameters so as long as you're comfortable with that approach,we don't need anything more. Dunn: I'm ready to go. Um,yeah. Um,just have a broader conversation. I've got a lot of thoughts about the things that I'd like- like to see in my ideal world, so whenever that's appropriate for us to discuss, I'd love to just go into that and dig into it. Fruin: Yeah. Alter: I'm fine with that. I would just like some time to think through it. Dunn: Yeah of course. Alter: And dig in. Yeah. I think we just need tine. Fruin: Okay. Can we add this to your next work session? Is that too soon because we do have that month gap between your second? I think that makes sense. Okay. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 10 2. Quarterly American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA-SLRF) Update [Deferred from 5/21/241 Teague: All right. Thank you so much. We're going to move to item Number 2,which was. Dunn: I thought we were going to discuss. Teague:No,we're going to move it to the next. Dunn: Oh, okay. Sure. Sure. Teague: Yes. All right. We're going to move on to item Number 2,which is the Quarterly American Rescue Plan Act Update. Welcome. Turnbull: Thank you. Sam Turnbull Grant specialist, I'm here for Tracy,who is going to give you guys this update last work session. Do you guys have the presentation? Fruin:No, it should be loaded on that. Turnbull: Okay. All right. So this is our quarterly ARPA update. This is based on the ARPA update that I put together at the end of April. So looking back a little bit because most of our ARPA,um, funding recipients are reporting quarterly. So, Tracy put together this part that kind of reflects over,um,the process for allocating the ARPA funds. And so back several years ago,Lowa City was allocated the 18.3 million dollar. To date, we've encumbered 15.65 million of that. There was a lot of public input in summer 2021. This is a whole list of it. If you want more information on this,please slow me down,but I was kind of going to go through this part quickly to get to the-the meet of the update. And then survey results from that input,there were a variety of common suggestions,many of which we've,um,we've got programs going that address at this point. And then these were the guiding principles that were developed that kind of guided the decision making as far as what would be funded with the ARPA funds. So there were three funding categories like high level,the emergent needs,the strategic investments, and the government services and revenue replacement. Um, fust looking at those emergent needs, a lot of these have pretty much wrapped up. So the direct payments to eligible adults, 791 applicants were funded with the city funding. Eviction prevention is underway with shelter house. So far,there's been three expungement clinics with a total of 129 records expunged,um, 170 forcible entry and detainer dismissals. Um,yeap. And then housing, repair and relocation, so this activity is complete. This was the Forest view relocation as of February 2023. All the residents were,um, relocated with financial assistance. And then emergency non profit assistance,this one is underway,but a lot of it- a lot of the programs have spent all their funds, so 12 non profits received funding, 11 of those have spent all their funds. We have one that's still drawing down from that, and then there were also separate from those 12 non profits. There were funds provided to send for worker justice for the wage theft program. And with that program,they've assisted 65 workers so far to recover 77,000 in wages. And then this one we've talked about This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 11 recently,this was the fust of the strategic investments in this presentation,uh,the entrepreneurial support services to BIPOC businesses. So these,uh,these six agreements came through in the last couple of months on your agendas. Uh,they're underway. Dream Center was able to acquire their building,um, in April and is starting to get the construction not underway,but like researched, and the design is getting wrapped up with the architects. Uh,multicultural development centers got some businesses they've already assisted with some technical assistance grants. Uh,neighborhood centers program starts in the summer. And then,White House was able to make their executive director position a paid position,which is a great development. Uh, Social Service Needs Assessment and capital planning is another strategic investment. There's an agreement in place with Iowa City Free Medical Clinic for a million dollar to renovate the Free Medical Clinic. They also receive some Johnson County ARPA funds,which slowed down their timeline a little bit,but they anticipate that their sealed bid for construction will go out in June, and then they'll start on that construction.Neighborhood centers. This one was just on the agenda maybe last time, and there uh,have accepted purchase offers for two buildings in the Town Crest neighborhood,um, and expect those renovations at the,um - at the more administrative office site to be completed in November and then the Early Childhood Center by Summer 2025. Affordable housing. Um,we're actively working on finding properties for,uh,to be publicly owned affordable housing. We anticipate there's about 1.6 million available for that investment. Um, for our ARPA obligation deadline,we have to have signed purchase offers by December 2024 for that investment. Mental health services. There's a partnership with community. They've got three mobile crisis counselors working full time,um, and they have-now have eight mobile crisis vehicles, and that's allowed them to average 22 minutes to respond to calls in the last fiscal year. Workforce development,the UI Labor Center Prentice program going. Uh,they had 42 residents involved in the FY23 and 24 cohorts. Their next cohort it's gonna begin in early like January,February so that those graduates can finish the program in spring to align with construction hiring. The 4C's Child Care workforce Development Program um, is working with the Starting Strong providers in Iowa City and has provided some specialized services to them and is also working with the school district to develop a child development Associate program. And then childcare wage enhancement,um, as of April,there were 109,000 payments to five childcare centers in Iowa City, and then a sixth center was recently added to that. Small business, arts, culture, and tourism. There's an agreement with- I think Iowa City that replaced hotel motel lost revenue. And then they also are funding um projects that are being proposed over time. So far, there have been six projects. They have two more coming up in the fall. Um, and then proposed, we've got the self supported Municipal Improvement Districts agreements. Those are on the agenda tonight. Um, and the skatepark renovations grant projects, so funding to um, assist with that Skate Park renovation. Then our third category of the government services and revenue replacement. There was a utility assistance program that brought utility accounts up to date. Uh, administrative expenses for ARPA are being paid out of the interest earned from the ARPA funds. The lead reduction program through the Water Department is assisting with residents replacing lead water service lines. So far eight households have replaced their lead service lines. Uh,workforce retention incentive. This was like a December incentive to reduce turnover rates here, and that is complete. And so This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 12 next steps,what's still to come on the ABPA Funding is finalizing those agreements for the self supported municipal districts, entering an agreement for the skate park renovation, acquiring and signing purchase agreements for the permanent affordable housing, and then,um,monitoring all the remaining projects until they're complete. They do have to be completely spent down by December 2026. So we're working with all of them and watching the budgets closely to make sure they're on track. Questions. Teague: I'm not hearing any questions. Turnbull: All right. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 13 4. Discuss Funding Organization Serving the Immigrant Community [Deferred from 5/21/24] Teague: All right. Items number 3 is the,uh,review of City Council pending work session topics. I don't know that we'll be able to get through everything. Um,we'll have to come back to some of these items. So I'm gonna put that one on and maybe we can jump to number four if people are okay with that. Harmsen: Sure. Teague: And so that would be the,the discussion on the funding- funding organizations serve the immigrant community. And this was another one that was deferred from 5/21/2024 And so I know that this was something that Mayor Pro Tem, uh,you wanted,uh,to it was something that was,um,you added to to the pending work list. So maybe I'll have you give us a start there. Salih: I, I think,you know, I- I was talking about it during like,the fund that I think was from heart. And I think the council said this is a good idea to maybe we can talk about it in a work session. I- I guess feel like there is many,uh,when I guess so like the ARPA fund for, like, all the organization in town, all of them, they really do, like,really incredible work. And I,you know,they do something really needed in the community. But what maybe the public don't know, is there is many,many other immigrant or immigrant serve organization, or I can call it ethnic community based organization. Like,that's maybe the, the right way to say because they serving like they're serving the whole community,but also they understanding the culture of their community. That's why they but they cannot even build the capacity for those like they cannot build their own organization capacity because they don't have fund. I know,many organization in town that they always been evicted from their place because they cannot pay from the rent. They close,you know, they've been moving from renting space to another space because also they couldn't afford that rent. You know,those people,they've been applying for city funds. They did not get it many times. And I can just mention some of the organization. Uh,that at least I know,African Community Network of Iowa,Refugees and Immigrant Association, Sudanese Community Association,there's two, Congless Community Association, and Kenyans Community Association,voice of Christ Minster International,NISA,which is also one of the organized national. It is also for, like,woman, domestic violence. So and African woman dooms violence,prevention, and women of change, Story Mission, IOC, African vestibule, and Art of cultures, and,uh, Open Heart Land,the center for work of Justice, and like,many,many mores,you know? Those are not. They don't even know it is ARPA fund for the you know,the organization. And the thing that I've been seeing, there is some initiative has been made by the cities themselves to reach out. So to,to organization or businesses to ask them what they need as a part of, like, empowering businesses or empowering like,you know, I don't know,there is many things here. The people did not-we did not open it for a grant,but actually the staff is initiated, initiative, initiated. And after that people apply for it. That's why make sense also to,you know,this is ARPA money, is something that we was not expected that it's going to come. An This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 14 opportunity that came. Maybe we can do something with it that is different, that we cannot do it normally with a regular funds. And so I just believe we need to reach out and see what-maybe we can do the same thing that the staff did for South of Six and downtown District. While they reach out to them,we allocate some money and reach out to them and say,what do you wanna do?You have something to do?And the people will start saying,yes, of course,we have this and this and this. And we funded 250, 2006 and 250 to the,uh, at to downtown district. So it was not grand. It was not can we allocate the same thing and let the staff reach out and see what they need in those community?And if they need something,that's what I really want to say. Alter: I think it's been- I think it's a very good topic to raise so that we can have awareness and then start having conversations. The only small thing I would say is that with the SSMIDs, I know because of the South of Six,there was a huge amount of effort, as well as I know that that's exactly what these organizations are doing,they're working very hard on their own. And it's a mutual thing that the city and South of six, for instance. Before it was South of six,the people who are working to try to figure out what can we do to generate and rejuvenate the area reached out to the city. It wasn't just the city came to them. I just want to say it was a conversation. Salih: We've been giving them money,we- and they are-no problem. I'm not talking, I'm just give that as an example of a unique way we can do it,just the same thing like we did it here. It's okay to give them money,there is no problem. Alter: Yeah.No-no-no. Salih: Yeah. I'm just saying. Alter: I'm just saying the City didn't just say,here's- do you need something. The people who were organizing said,We need something. So that's why it's good that we're having this conversation. Salih: I asked the staff and the staff,they said,we allocated money and we was idea, and we went to them, and we asked them, and I think that's what Geoff told me. And I'm not making things up. So I'm not telling you. I'm not saying we should have not give them. No. Alter:No-no-no. Salih: We need to give them that money,but I'm saying, can we do the same thing?Because those people,they don't come and advocate, and they don't know how to advocate. And that's why maybe we let them feel on the clock. I don't think so. Yeah. You saying because they come and they come many time,they said,yeah,we need this and we need that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 15 Alter:No, I'm saying that there-that there was sort of, there was a sense of, like,no one is listening to us, so there's a grass roots thing of and so what can we do?And it was very similar to what you're talking about with the agency saying,We are doing for ourselves. We are doing for our community and there was then you're taking up the mantle to say, the city should know about this, and the advocates themselves were coming so that there was a conversation back and forth. I just- I didn't want to oversimplify that it wasn't just the city saying, Oh,you need something. Here's the money. It was a long process of conversation. And so it's good that this is coming up. Salih: We need to initiate the same. Yeah,we're in the same page,by the way. I don't see we are disagreeing here,we are in the same page,yeah. Yeah,we just like-we need to initiate that process and to normalize it. Because now it's normal to work with those kind of like, business people and everything. Can we make it normal to work with immigrants and just like say,yeah, can we know your needs?Because you are unique. We don't know-we don't know what you guys doing, and we don't know what your need is. The same thing, taking the advantage of this money,that's what I really want to say. It's no- I think we are in the same page. Yeah. Alter: It's just- there has to be self advocacy. Salih: Exactly. Alter: From the agencies as well. And it looks like there are people who are here to represent and to support and to say,Yes,we are interested in having this conversation and to-to work on visibility and collaboration. Salih: Yeah, I agree with you,yeah. Alter: We are on the same page. Salih: Yeah,we are on the same page. Teague: So I was looking up some of our pending work sessions,because I also go back to maybe the etiology of how this came up, and it was or there was many elements to this, um,but we have on our pending work session,uh to discuss some of the allocations that some of our commissions are doing with,um,you know, like CDBG,well, you know, when they distribute some funding, and to talk about that process of,you know,how is the funds being allocated. So I am also reminded that that is a huge part of you know,the discussion that we're going to have to have at some point at just looking at how our commissions are,you know, doing their work,which we,um know that it's never an easy job when you're doing some grant,uh decision making for the community. And so I just want to put out there that that discussion on,you know,reviewing of the city grant programs is something that we're going to be doing. And it has that,um you know,that, you know,that piece of how do we you know,have some of these conversations involved in that as well?Because I know that the last time we had individuals come before us that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 16 wasn't granted some funding, and we get some come to City Hall, some don't. They reach out to us. And so I'm also reminded of that process that we still need to talk about. Salih: But that process Mayor is for the city grant that they give out every year from the city funding. I get that we need to talk about that because there's some people come here and they think the evaluation or the way that the people do it is not you know, it need to be tweaked or maybe changed. I understand that, and we're going to talk about that. But I'm thinking like, for ARPA money,this is an opportunity. We have some money that we have to allocate it by December of this year, and now we have really a huge opportunity to look at the people in our community who fall in the crack. So how can we just use this in our advantage to help everyone in the city, and we've been doing it? I think the money that we get an update and we allocate it to,uh like people in this community. I think there is a lot of good thing we have done. And just to build on that,we need just to continue doing, like for the whole community. I want like the people to see- like to feel they heard. We've being seeing like most of those organization,they already built capacity. You know how long those organization existed forever, and they don't have paid staff yet? You know, and they don't have like space- like 99% of this organization I mentioned, they do it on their own. Everybody's volunteerd. And they just like base on donation. "They like ask for the rent of their space. They ask can you just put money so we can pay our rent?And I- I-they try even to build their space. You attend some of their event, Mayor. And you see, like how they try hard even to maybe buy a space and tell everybody and they just collecting donation. They're really doing it grassroots. But they didn't get like-we need just, like,to elevate. We always talk about equity, equity, equity all the time. This is the kind of equity we want to do. You know, if there is another organization,they already have,you know,they get funding many times from the city, from ARPA from everything, and those people are not getting anything, and those people are the vulnerable community members in our community. How can we elevate them a little bit?And so that's the equity we're talking about. Bergus: I just have a question maybe for staff that ties this together with our last item that we were talking about on the ARPA allocation? So I know we haven't started the Affordable Housing initiative, and I think,uh Sam let us know about 1.6 million is what's kind of being targeted for that. So there aren't,um, are there other categories that we have of the 2.6,whatever the amount left was?Yeah, about 2.6, 2.7. What is like the 1.1 you're marked for, or is it not? Fruin: Correct me if I'm wrong on this,but it's the $250,000 grants that aren't yet approved,but are on your agenda tonight. Bergus: Okay. Fruin: The Skate Park contribution and the 1.6 in the affordable housing. And we have started that. It hasn't come before you,but we are in kind of active pursuit of acquisitions for permanent affordable housing. That correct?Yes. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 17 Bergus: Okay. Dunn: So effectively,there's not ARPA dollars that are unplanned. Fruin:Not unplanned. Unencumbered,yes.Not unplanned. Dunn: Can you specify the difference between those terms? Fruin: Unencumbered would mean they're not under contract. So for example,we have not brought you a purchase agreement for properties on the affordable housing piece. Um, however,we are working on that. So those funds are not encumbered,but there is a plan that staff is working to toward. Dunn: So if we wanted to create, like a new grant program,we would have to change course on things. Fruin: You'd have to. Dunn: Okay. Fruin: You'd have to shift those unencumbered funds,um, so maybe a good example to use are the two Schmid agreements because they are on your agenda. They're unencumbered,uh right now. Uh, if you were to vote affirmatively for those,um,with your consent agenda tonight,those would be encumbered. And that 2.6 that Councilor Bergus mentioned would be 2.1. Dunn: Great. Bergus: Yeah, I think this is a really important conversation to have, and it just is- it's a,you know,Mayor Pro Tem, as long as you've served on Council, I've heard you advocating for,you know,this kind of what I would narrow down to the issue of those who can't access our systems or our-our sort of resources that some people can access.Like how do we bring more people in to be able to access um,what the city has to offer?And in this particular case, I hear you saying uh,ARPA grants,right? That there were people who applied, didn't receive them or maybe don't- didn't have the capacity, like,they're trying to build capacity by receiving funds,but they didn't even have the capacity to,you know, know where to look or to ask for the funding right now. As- as- am I kind of hearing that correctly? Salih: Yes, most of them,they really need to build a capacity. And I think uh,we can help them build capacity as like City. Since normally,we don't have money for that, and all the money that we have for certain grant,we-we apply for it and whoever get it,whoever get it,you know, decided by the Commission, and that's it. I just want to like think about,we have an opportunity here. If we always say we don't have money for that because we have certain grant in the community and doing that,we have opportunity. I understand This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 18 affordable housing and I am very champion for affordable housing,but we always seeing taken from Affordable Housing Fund to fund something else. How many times we did that?A lot of time. If I remember from when housing into home came,we get the $25,000 for them from the Affordable Housing Fund. If I- I remember that very fully. And many times,we take from Affordable Housing Fund and you do something else. Bergus: I mean,not in my experience,have I ever known that COs. Salih: I was in council. Bergus: Okay. Salihi: And I don't know. Geoff, do you don't remember that? Fruin: The-the emergent- er, so the Affordable Housing Fund has an emergency, er, component to it. Salih: Yes. Fruin: Five percent of the annual,um, allocation from the general fund goes into an emergency pot,which has been used for,um,relocation services. Um, and I believe you are correct that when Houses into Homes appealed to Council,that that was considered a housing project,um, and that support was through that emerging portion of the Affordable Housing Fund. I don't recall any other examples along those lines,but we got emergency line. Salih: It was to hire, like the staff. But I think this could be the same. I don't know,but there is many. Uh, I think this is an opportunity. And even if we-because now when you say we have 1.6 for the Affordable Housing Fund,we can have one like point something else, not the point six,not the whole money. We can take from that because we did not assign it. And-and still, we have to have like something- another plan for affordable houses as well,because this is not the only going to do, like really to solve the problem for affordable housing,but we can start. Bergus: And I think the three million with the- the Dream Center project and the neighborhood centers, er, and there's-there's aspects of this,the Taylor Tax and Accounting. All of those,um, awards are-have at least pieces of them that are intended to help organizations build capacity. So I think maybe because of the timing,right, if all of our ARPA funds, which the Council went through,you know, several iterations of processes to narrow down what we wanted to spend that money on, and that framework is in place now,but we were very intentional in saying we identify these-these needs. And I think it's-it's really important to make sure that those folks connect with that project and the Taylor type. Like those- all of those projects. I'm- Salih:No. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 19 Bergus: Okay,that's fine. That-that would be my suggestion for those who are looking to build capacity. Salih: Your suggesting is good in everything. There is no problem, and I always like those kind of suggestions. But that's not- did you read their grant and what their focus is on, like, using that money?For those is specifically, I don't think it's meant to be for any immigrants. I- Bergus: Don't think that's correct. Salih: I don't want to, like, guess still talking publicly about many thing,but I feel like those things are not going to give those people to rent the-pay for the rent. Can they give out, like money? That's what I'm thinking. What do you mean by build capacity?Like hel Bum with a tax, for example, or this kind of thing?No, I mean, like,really fund too, like, buy computers to- for their- for their staff to pay for their space or pay for their build staff, something like that. Those- I mean, like those-your suggestion is not going to help those people get this stuff. We give those people money,three million dollars to them to also, like,pay for many thing for their own. But they don't-there is no portion, say,we're going to give mini grant to another organization. That's why I say it's not going to help because they are not giving out mini grant to help another organization build capacity. Dunn: I think- Alter: Multicultural gift. That's the intent. Salih: Multicultural gift for the- for- for businesses. If somebody want to do- Alter: An organization. Salih: To build capacity? Fruin: I think- I think the central question that I have is, I think that there's an idea that there is money,there's ABPA dollars that are available,but our governmental structure, our staff have been moving towards a plan that we have already approved. And so my central question is, I don't know where this like,where's the money coming from? I don't- I don't know where if we were to pursue a different program or grant program,where that money would come from. I'm not comfortable changing things midway through and giving them six months to put together a program,put together proposals,put together, and then have that all spent. That seems impossible to me. Salih: But Andrew, I asked a specific question when I-when I talk about this last time. I said, do we still and I turn my head,we can go to the video. I said, do we have money? They said, yeah,we still have something point six million. You know,we can allocate it the way This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 20 that we can allocate it. I think we-we are here for a reason. We can, like,really- since in and out and just come up with, like some fun, like,yeah, 100, 500,000 and- Dunn: So yeah,the money-the money is there,but my understanding is that there's plans for where that money is to go. The workers are- Salih: We make the plan,Andrew. Dunn: I understand. But we've already approved those plans. And so what we would be having to have an additional discussion on is,what are we not going to do?And I don't think any of us in this moment is prepared to have a discussion on what we have already approved, how we would like to change it, and how we would like to diminish those prior approved programs. It's a difficult place to be in. Salih: What do we want to do exactly with the 100, 2.1 you said after if you approve the 500 tonight,how much left? Fruin: 2.1 in unencumbered ARPA funds. Salih: Okay, one- 2.1,what exactly we plan for? Fruin: The acquisition of affordable housing units. So permanent affordable that the city would own and manage long term,um, and the $500,000 contribution to the Skate Park renovation capital project. Salih: To the what? Fruin: The Skate Park renovation project. This is a capital project. Salih: But we did not purchase land,we did not do that. We said, okay,this money,we're going to purchase land and make, like permanent affordable housing,right? Fruin: Staff is working on that already. Salih: Yes. Fruin: So we have not brought that to you,but staff is working on that. Salih: Yeah,but we-we can buy, still buy some, and we don't have to use all the money to buy those kind of things. We can still buy some with-with those money and allocate some to this project. Teague: I- I think the-because we are beyond the quarter after,um, I just noticed that, sorry about that. We can certainly come back to this,uh, question,but what I do here is at least I- I get a consensus that if there's going to be discussions on more funding that I don't This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 21 know where the willingness of this council or I think it's capacity,the capacity for the city to create a new program and have people come and apply. We know that,um, although I did hear you say, like,you know,um,the city went and,you know, asked the- the SSMID communities to come and get grants, I mean. And- and I think maybe there was a part of your,um, I don't know if that's what you're suggesting is that the city go find organizations. Salih:No we can't. We don't find a gross,we can just now say, instead of using two point million dollar, 1.1,right, for the affordable housing, specifically. Fruin: 1.6. Dunn: Which program would you cut? Salih: What? Dunn: Which program would you cut? Salih: Instead of using 1.6- 1.6 million to do afforda-buy land for affordable housing. Yeah or escape culture or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Let us uh,use like, for example, 1.3, and have, like $300,000 allocated,you know, and we can come up with something. Still the stuff can still work to use that 1.3 to do something or whatever number that you guys decide. I mean, like one point-that's example,just example 1.3. Teague: What I'm going to do is I'm going to,uh,pause this conversation, and we're going to come back,um,to this after our formal, um,meeting. And we can consider ourselves on a recess until later. [Recess to Formal] Teague: We are going to reconvene our work session on June- on June 4th, 2024. We were at item Number 4. Um, I think what-what I want to mention is, I- I would like to finish the discussion on Number 4, and Number- item Number 3. I think we can defer that,um,to our future council meetings to cover the pending, er,review of the city council pending work session topics. Um, and then information packets,we will need to go through those tonight, and then we will get the,um, the USG updates, and then council updates. So the only thing that we'll refer-defer to a future meeting will be item Number 3. Salih: I'm just going to take long. I'll have to go. Teague: Okay. Salih: See you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 22 Teague: All right- all right. So we're at item number,we're going to continue discussion on Number 4. And this is,uh,to pick up the-the conversation on Discuss Funding Organization Serving the Immigrant Community. Bergus: I think just to pick up where we were Mayor, I don't- I am personally not interested in revisiting the ABPA allocations that we already have, and would encourage those organizations that feel like they've run into any hurdles to engage with our staff. Dunn: Same here. Alter: Agree. Harmsen: Good enough. Teague: Okay. Any other discussion on item Number 4? Dunn:No. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 23 6. Information Packet Disucssion (May 9,May 16,May 23,May 30) Teague: Hereing none,we're going to move to-to item Number 5 is Clarification of Agenda Items. Uh,we've already went through our agenda. So, is there any additional comments on- on that? I would assume not. Um,we'll move on to item Number 6,which is information packet discussion May 9th. Bergus:Nothing. Harmsen: Do we need to give some direction? Alter: That will be later packet. Harmsen: Later packet. Gotcha. Teague: May 6 that's um-um- Harmsen: Oh yes. I'm sorry. Teague: Yeah. May 16. Bergus:Nothing. Teague: May 23rd and May 30th. So on May 30th,we do have a IP7 memo from our senior planner on the nomination to the list the Iowa City Community Rec Center and the National Registry of Historic Places. From: Mayor, can I offer a few comments on this one? Teague: Yes. From: Um, so this IP pertains to a nomination that was prepared by uh, some community members that are really passionate about the Robert A Lee Recreation Center. Uh,the applications to nominate of the facility to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. So as a certified local government,uh we're required to have the Historic Preservation Commission review and comment on this nomination. And they did that on May 22nd. The next step is to have the chief elected official sign the provided form and add any comments if desired. You're not required to add comments,um,but the signature from the chief elected official is required. Uh the nomination then goes to the state nomination review committee, and then if they approve it, goes to the National Park Service for consideration. So essentially,tonight,what we're looking for feedback on is whether the Council wishes to add any comments before we ask the mayor to sign uh his name to-to the required form. As I mentioned,May 22nd,Historic Preservation Commission uh took this up. They received the nomination and found the building to be eligible. Uh there were comments added by the Historic Preservation uh Commission, and those are included in your packet materials. But real quick, listing on the National This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 24 Register is a honorific designation. It does not provide protections or prevent future changes in use, interior or exterior modifications, or even demolition. Um as Council is aware,there are no current plans in our CIP budget for significant modifications to the building or to the uses within. Uh from my perspective,the only comment that I believe uh would be important for both this process and- and for the local records is a notation that this nomination was not initiated by the city or by the Historic Preservation Commission,uh nor were we involved in its preparation. Um, further,the-the nomination has not been previously contemplated in any city plans,um, or Historic Preservation Commission Work Plan. Outside of that, I wouldn't suggest that you consider any other specific comments unless something,um, strikes you after reading the materials. Alter: So the last thing I want to do is get into the weeds on this. Um, so I just-but I do have something that you mentioned. So you said there was no involvement on the city's part in terms of doing the work to create the-the material for the Historic Preservation Commission to make their determination that,yep,this meets the criteria. That was all done by way of this group. Fruin: Yeah. Alter: And- and they hired a consultant or they found- Fruin: Yeah, and done very well, done a very thorough job. Um,but it's- it- it's different, and that's what I'm trying to draw. It's different than a process say we would go through to nominate the Senior Center, or the City Park log cabins, or any other public building,that would be our staff to lead that process. And we would work through historic preservation on that. In this case, it's- it's different. It's something we haven't experienced before where the public is nominating a building that otherwise wasn't being considered by the city. Alter: And do you know how large this group is that- I mean,have they identified themselves as a conglomerate, or is it- I know that they are there, and they exist in Iowa City. I just wondered if they were identifying themselves as a particular group. Fruin:No, I don't- I don't think so. Alter: Okay. Bergus: I think those comments you mentioned, Geoff,make a lot of sense. Teague: Yeah, I would support the comments as- as stated. Fruin: So obviously,we don't have prepared um comments to-to share with you. What I'd ask is for um allowance for me to put that in writing in- in kind of a memo form that we would attach to the form. The mayor would review. I'd- I'd have the City attorney just review to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 25 make sure it's consistent with what I articulated, and then,um,we would get that off to the state for review. Bergus: Yeah. Harmsen: Sure. Alter: That sounds great. Fruin: Thank you. Teague: And I'll-based on what was said tonight, I'll, er, delete or add. Based on what I would know that the-yeah. All right. Bergus: Sounds good. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024 Page 26 7. University of Iowa Student Government(USG) Updates Teague: Sounds great. Okay. Any other uh comments on that IP7?Here and none. We are at item Number 7 after a big yawn back there. Dunn: Don't be calling out like, come on. Teague: We're human. So University of Iowa Student Government(USG)Updates. Welcome. Monsivais: Hi, everyone. Give me one second here. Okay, cool.Now, I'm ready. Uh the governmental relations team had their fust meeting to check in over the summer last Thursday. We expressed a strong interest in wanting to team up with Hawkeye the Vote to mobilize young voters. In addition, our GR director Anna wants the City Liaisons to engage with city voting initiatives,um be it that there are any and organizations in the area that will be holding events, candidate appearances,uh any opportunities that we can seek to collaborate between USG,Hawk the Vote and the public. So we don't have, like a specific route that we're going on on that,but she's just asking that the city Liaisons pay attention to that. Um, speaking of voting, I voted in Johnson County, so yeah. Harmsen: Good for you. Monsivais: Um,USG members have the chance to present at Hawkeye Information Fairs over the summer, allowing us to promote the resources and programs that we advocate for, as well as our state and university decisions. Platform committee information has finally been released. And the good news is that I thought I was going to have to apply to be on the committee,but unexpectedly, I'm actually leading a part of it. Teague: Okay. Monsivais: So I will update you uh as more takes place with it,but that does mean good things for our- our city legislative agenda,um collaboration with USG's legislative agenda. And then that's all I have for now. It's been a pretty anti-climactic summer thus far. So, thank you. Teague: Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right,we're on to item Number 8. Council Updates on Assigned, Commissions, and Committees. Hearing none. We are adjourned. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of June 4, 2024