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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-15 Transcription Page 1 Council Present: Alter, Bergus, Dunn, Harmsen, Moe, Salih, Teague Staff Present: Fruin, Dulek, Goers, Grace, Knoche, Havel, Ralston, Nagle Gamm, Rummel Others Present: Monsivais, USG, Martinez, Alternate 1. Clarification of Agenda Items Teague: All right. It is now 4:00 PM on October 15, 2024, and this is the City of Iowa City work session. And I am going to get us started with item number 1, clarification of agenda items. Fruin: Mayor, I do have one item or two items that I'd like to mention. Our staff has requested that we pull out Ta and Tc for separate consideration. So 7.a is the Bradford Drive water main replacement. Um, these are both setting public hearings, and 7.c is the high service variable frequency replacement pump for the water division. Um, we were overly optimistic that the plans in specs would all be ready for tonight, and they're not quite ready. So you'll see these reintroduced at another item, but we're going to ask you to pull them and um, Public Works director Ron Knoche you will come up and ask you to, um, vote those down so that we can re establish our future meeting. Teague: Any other items for clarification of agenda items? Dunn: I guess I have a question on that specifically. Is there a reason why we would vote it down as opposed to defer... Goers: Well, Dunn: is there any distinction? Goers: The item sets a public hearing for the next meeting. So if we were to-yeah, Dunn: Sure. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 2 2. Information Packet Discussion [October 3, October 101 Teague: Hearing no other items. We're going to go move on to item Number 2. Information packet, October 3. All right. Am I waiting for you?Yeah. No. October 10. Information packet. All right. So IP 5, we do have the joint entities meeting on October 21, and wondering if there are any topics for consideration that we want to submit? Dunn: Do we still have, um, on the agenda for that meeting, um, food insecurity contributions between the entities? I know we discussed that previously. Yeah. Okay. Teague: Any other topics for consideration? Alter: I'm not sure if it would be something to pull -pull together this quickly,but we had also asked for an update on the early childhood coalition about where their work is heading. I know that they continue to have conversations and meetings. Teague: Are people okay if we reach out and find out if they are available? Okay. Dunn: Actually, could we invite community to attend to talk about the food insecurity issues, particularly the issues of the food bank? Fruin: Is this a carry-.. I wasn't able to make the last joint entities meet. Is that a carry over item? Dunn: No. That was a new item that we discussed at a previous meeting. I'm not sure. Fruin: Previous date council meeting? Dunn: Yeah. And we decided that we would put it on the next joint entity. Yeah. Fruin: Um,just trying to think through the other food pantries in the area and whether they would need an invite, as well. Dunn: Yeah, I think absolutely. Fruin: Okay. Teague: And I assume that would assume -that would include Table to Table. Fruin: I think what I would do,just because I'm a little out of my element in that space is just rely on community, encourage them to bring the partners to the table. Everybody comfortable with that? That way I'm not leaving anybody out. Okay. Teague: All right. Hearing no other items? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 3 Alter: I did want to -I'm sorry. I was just not quick enough. I wondered if anyone, um, had any thoughts about the memo from the assistant city manager about deer hunting. We had had that discussion and the presentation, um, and I just wondered if anyone had a further thoughts now that there's been time to, kind of, adjust. I thought it looked very good. Teague:So that's one of our items four, so we'll probably talk about that in a little bit. Alter: Sorry. Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 4 3. University of Iowa Student Government (USG)Updates Teague: Yeah. Okay. We're going to move on to USG, which is item Number 3, and University of Iowa student government updates. Welcome. Martinez: Hi, good evening. Matthew's class run a little bit late this night this evening, so it'll be me giving announcements. I recently started writing some legislation to get$4,000 approved out of our budget to go towards our lease gap program because the university has partnered with the graduate hotel for a new program home since the House Hotel is closing. We've reached out-we've reached out to operations director Curtis Brenton to initiate USG's purchase of some city parking vouchers for finals week and dead week. We're really excited to continue working on this. And we're also currently working with our new governmental relations Senators to get their initiatives going, and we look forward to hopefully getting them in contact with some of you guys and to educate them about things going on in the city and some things about zoning reform and stuff like that. So thanks. Teague: Great. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 5 4. Opportunities to Expand Bow Hunting in or around Manville Heights [Continued from October 11 Teague: Alright, we're on item Number 4, which is opportunities to expand bow hunting in or around Manville Heights. And it looked like Kirk is coming up. Welcome. Lehmann: Thank you,Mayor. Kirk Lehmann, Assistant City Manager. This is just a follow up from our last meeting where we discussed, you know, different possibilities that we can look at to expand bow hunting within the Manville Heights neighborhood. Just in case for the record for background for others who might not be familiar, our bow hunting season is part of our deer management plan that includes five years of bow hunting, uh, the potential for a sharp shoot after 2026 with the approval by the state, and then also non lethal strategies as well. Our 2024-2025 Bow Hunt has already started and it runs through January 10. We do have a set of Bow Hunt rules as well that guides those. So that includes things like Hunter Registration stand approval, separation distances. And we also have a a process where the city can approve public property to be included in the hunt. So that's just kind of background for this. Within the Manville Heights neighborhood itself, it's tricky just because as we discussed last time. There's not a lot of private property that is currently available for the hunt as the hunt rules currently stand. And so at our last meeting, I discussed three approaches, and you all came back and said, we would like to pursue all three. So that is what I'm here to talk about today. In terms of the different approaches that we recommended, first was to try to change the rules of the hunt to expand where hunting might be allowed. Second is to reach out to targeted property owners. And then finally is to look at city owned properties within the Manville Heights neighborhood that might be appropriate for hunting, along with some potential stipulations to ensure the safety of the hunt. I did provide a memo dated October 10, which is what I'm basically going to go through today. Just to give you an overview, give you a chance to ask questions about what we're proposing. Within that packet, I do include a first attachment, which is the revised rules of the hunt that would go into effect. That would require a resolution, so I'd bring that back to you at your next meeting potentially, if that is something you want to move forward with. And then an attachment two, which shows the two public properties that we've discussed, opening for the hunt. So with that, I'll just dive into the hunt rules and the few changes that we've talked about. I'll talk a little bit about the contacts that we propose making and then the public property that we intend or that we recommend to allow hunting on. So in terms of hunting, as we discussed last time, there is a limit on the number of waivers allowed for separation distance. So when I say that, what I mean is hunting is not allowed within 150 feet of buildings of property lines, of rights of way, of trails, of schools and other similar properties. But there is an opportunity for private property owners or public property owners to waive the right to that 150 foot requirement for certain characteristics. So that would include property lines, that would include distance from buildings, for example, but currently that is capped at three waivers for any given location to be allowed to hunt. What we are proposing in the rule change that's included in attachment. One would be to just remove that requirement. What that means in effect is that as long as all property owners within 150 feet consent to allow hunting within that 150 foot separation buffer. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 6 Then hunting could be allowed within that property. Now, that's not to say that you can waive things like setbacks from right of way. That would not be allowed. Still,but it would allow in larger blocks where there's lots of property owners would allow them to potentially allow hunting on the property if everyone consented. It does, in no way, require that property owners than 150 feet consent to that. In addition to that, there are also some slight modifications to the language related to hunting near trails and near parks. That is specifically to allow hunting in the locations that I propose as, kind of, that third tranche of options to try and encourage additional hunting within the Manville Heights neighborhood. So like I said,the Hunt rules have been adopted by resolution in the past, and so we would want to bring that before you again as a resolution to approve, should you choose to approve it or to consider it at your next meeting. The next tranche of outreach that we discussed would be specifically mailing property owners that might be eligible to allow hunting at their properties. What we'd propose is basically waiting until any new rules are finalized because that will determine what properties might be eligible for hunting. We would then pull the addresses of those that might have a location on their property and just mail out a letter saying,hey, we'd love you to participate or you might be eligible to participate in our hunt. We're encouraging as part of our deer management strategies, if you're interested, contact the city. These are the rules, et cetera. That would include outreach to the University of Iowa as well. But again, we wouldn't pursue that until we had those updated rules because we want to make sure that the property owners that we contact are those locations that might be eligible for the hunt. And then finally, you had asked about adding more city owned properties specifically within Manville Heights. Staff does. I'm going to open up the memo just to go to the map because it's easier that way. Included as Attachment 2 within the packets. The two locations that staff had tentatively identified previously was property near the Ned Ashton House and then also property near City Park, including City Park itself. So staff proposes allowing hunting within those locations as shown in this Attachment 2. Subject to a couple additional limitations that we don't have on other city owned properties. First, would be that hunting times and locations would be restricted to avoid periods of heavy use and areas with programmed activities. Those would be approved by the Director of Parks and Recreation to ensure that we aren't disturbing other users of the property. And I did also include a note that City Park is already closed from dusk to dawn. It might extend a little beyond that time frame with the approval of Parks and Recreation Director. But those would be the locations that we're looking at. So it's a relatively large area that could be eligible. There might be other locations that might be eligible if there are adjacent property owners that are also interested in waving requirements. We would also consider this to be authority to wave requirements if there's property owners within 150 feet of these two properties as well. That would be private property that might be interested. Second is that if hunting is to occur within 150 feet of a trail, then that trail would be closed and signage placed at all entrances to the trail to prevent potential conflicts. You'll notice that obviously there's trails through City Park,there's trails through the area near Ned Ashton House. While we don't have hunt locations identified yet, it is likely that some of those trails are going to be within 150 feet, in which case, we would need to close those trails for the duration that we would allow hunting. Third, would be that we would reach out to staff and organizations that are within the area that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 7 would include city staff,park staff, public work staff, in addition to any other users of the property that are regularly programmed. For example, are there users of the ball fields, et cetera that we would want to make sure are aware that hunting might be occurring near there near their programmed activities. And then finally, would be that we would limit bow hunting first to city employees. In the event that there is insufficient interest by city employees, then we would open it to those with a proven track record with -with Iowa City's Hunt as it currently stands. So we'd be looking at approved hunters who have had at least one year of experience in the Iowa City Hunt. The goal would really be to make sure that these are folks that we can trust within these areas. And as City Manager Fruin mentioned, last time, especially with city employees, there is that enhanced sense of responsibility that comes with being a city employee operating on city property. And so it is something that you do see in other hunts throughout the state. So I did also want to note that with regards to this final item that is allowing hunting on public property, unlike the rules change, which would require a subsequent resolution, based on uh the methodology that Council has approved to approve new um city owned property for hunting, this meets that obligation to make sure that the public is aware that it's there. You are welcome to say, we don't want hunting in these locations, if that is the case, but if you're okay with hunting in those locations, then this would satisfy that requirement, and we would begin to proceed with seeing if there are eligible hunters, specifically, city employees that would be interested in these public properties. So we do believe that with these three measures, we could expand hunting within the Manville Heights neighborhood specifically. It is an area that has lots of deer, lots of property damage from deer, and we hear frequently from residents of the area. So we know that it's of high interest to them, but we believe with these restrictions, with these additional restrictions to public property specifically,that we can ensure that the hunt remains safe, but that we do try to help manage our deer population a little better in this challenging area. So with that, I'm happy to answer any questions you have. And we'll go from there. Dunn: So I got a couple of things. How many people outside of city employees are we talking about potentially being eligible to participate? Who would have that track record of participation in city programs in the past? Lehmann: That's a great question. I want to say we had 16 eligible hunters last year. I know some of those hunters have already found locations. A lot of them that have been involved in the hunt have a location that they've worked in the past and that they know works for them, um, but 16 is the maximum number that it could presumably be if city employees weren't interested. Dunn: Okay. Other than that, I think this is great.Yeah. Moe: We've been focused on Manville Heights because of the City Park and Ned Ashton House, but the removal of three waivers would be for the entire city, right? Lehmann: That is correct. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 8 Moe: And I am curious um, are there any- any special considerations for areas where it's multifamily housing as opposed to single family housing? Has that happened yet, or is that something to be, I just feel like when it's your home and your neighbor's home is a very different kind of communication requirement than an apartment building? Lehmann: That's a great question. Currently, it's structured so that it's property owners that are interested in participating. In the case of multifamily, you might have a situation where it's a condo, and you have multiple property owners that own the property, and all of them would have to consent. In some cases, you might have a single property owner that might be able to allow it. And that would be-under the current rules of the hunt that would be permitted. Moe: And if you have,like,let's say an apartment building, do they have to tell the tenants that they're allowing this hunt? Is that a requirement? Lehmann: There is no requirement within the current rules. Moe: Okay. No offense. It seems to me like if there is one that involves a multifamily housing, that it would be a requirement, we just tell them you need to notify. Lehmann: Sure. Moe: Yeah. Dunn: That's a great point. I agree with that. Bergus: I think if we add that, we could just say any rental property because I think it could be in a single family home with a landlord that might not communicate otherwise, but put it on the property owner to notify. Lehmann: And specifically to inform the tenant, correct? Moe: Yes. Lehmann: At a minimum, of course. Bergus: Kirk, I had one just kind of nitpicky question on the additional rules on Page 6 in the red line rules. The fourth bullet still has the, "Will not be approved if more than three waivers are required." I think. Lehmann: On Page 6. Bergus: On- it's numbered Page 6. Lehmann: Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 9 Bergus: Yeah, the fourth bullet in the additional rules. Lehmann: I appreciate that. Thank you. Bergus: Yep. Teague: So in doing City Park, of course. That's a large area. I imagine there'll be some concern potentially at some point, where we'll hear something from a community member, but I guess I wanted to just mention that the City of Urbandale has been doing controlled bow hunting for 24 years, and they've had no safety incident concerns. And so I think it would be, especially with how we're planning to have city staff, we're being very careful about who we want to be on public property. Doing these, I feel very comfortable moving forward with the four recommendations. Lehmann: And I would also like to add that of course, we as the city would want to ensure that where the stands are located, are going to have the least disruption. Teague: Sure. Lehmann: So. Teague: Any other? Harmsen: On top of the concession stand, maybe by this. Lehmann: You might pass on that one. Teague: Do you need anything else from Council at this point? Lehmann: What I'm hearing is I'll have a resolution for you at your next meeting. After that, we'll send out letters, and otherwise,we'll start to see if there are any city staff that are interested in hunting these properties. So I appreciate it. Appreciate the guidance, and if you have any more questions, you know where to find me. Teague: All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That was quick. All right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 10 5. Disucssion on Affordable Housing Finance Teague: We're going to move on to-well we're going to move on to the next discussion item, which is item Number 5, which is on affordable housing. Financing. So welcome, Tracy. Hightshoe: I just need to open it up. All right. Well, thank you, Mayor Teague. As the mayor noted, I'm Tracy Hightshoe, the Director of neighborhood Development Services. Thank you for the opportunity to present today about the city's available resources for housing and our current efforts to address affordable housing in our community. I have worked for the city for over two decades now in community Development Housing, and I'm truly appreciative of the efforts that the City Council has went to support affordable housing as demonstrated in your Fiscal Year 16 annual action-housing action plan and your Fiscal Year 22 update. Affordable- sorry. Our past efforts have been recognized through the award of HUD's competitive pro housing grant. Since the funding award, we've been asked to present at numerous state and national associations, their legislative committees our funders and invest health. Since the-what this tells us is that, I believe that all communities are struggling with affordable housing to help their communities and their residents. The Census Bureau notes that over half of the nation's renters are cost burden, which means they pay more than 30% of their income on housing. The Harvard Joint Center for Housing studies estimates the nation shortage of affordable housing at 1.5-5.5 million, depending on who calculates it and what methodology they use. So what we're going to do today is we're going to look at what funds we have available, our current efforts, and our plans over the next 3-5 years to address longstanding regulatory barriers that restrict housing development and how we increase affordable housing locally to benefit our low income and our most vulnerable residents. What we did is we broke up our funding sources into four main categories. We have annual allocations and entitlements, those are our regular funds that are coming in through HUD and through our general fund that we budget every year that we rely on. We have our special allocations. Those are those one time funding opportunities that are time limited, and we have expenditure deadlines that we must meet. We have project generated revenue from revenues and programs that you have instituted that are now the projects are developed, and we have revenue coming in. And we have our reserves, and most of those are reserves are from our public housing programs, but we wanted to indicate them because there is some flexibility within city owned affordable housing in the public housing program, but this list is not exhaustive. We support administer housing projects that may not be reflected here through prior year carryover projects that we administer, like, such as down payment Assistance Program, our larger housing and public facility projects take over a year to finish, such as like the new DVIP shelter. We have the South District Affordable Homeownership program that you guys are very familiar with. We continue to renovate and we provide property management maintenance for the ones that are currently occupied. And the same thing with the railroad homes we purchase and we're renovating currently. We're going to focus on the HUD programs first under our annual allocations entitlements. HUD has been a phenomenal partner in our efforts to address affordable housing in our community. Up until about 2017, their primary funding source in support of affordable housing with the exception of the floods of 2008. After that, we This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 11 had a lot of funds for buyouts and for the single family new construction program, but our day to day primary funding source was our regular annual CDBG and HOME entitlements and the funds that we received through the Housing Authority. CDBG HOME typically we receive about$1 million a year. In this slide, you see the Fiscal Year 25 amount that we had available is 1.5 million. That includes not only our entitlement, but includes our program income and return funds. We have been a HOME community our CDBG community since the program's inception 50 years ago. We were asked by HUD to present for the 50th CDBG celebration in conjunction with Nashville,New York City, and Las Vegas. And the reason why they chose Iowa City is because we've been a reliable, steadfast partner in administering federal funds and your commitment to affordable housing and our local initiatives. We've received a lot of feedback from our sister entitlement cities and many-hold on. Going too fast. Many were impressed by just the city's local commitment to use general fund for local affordable housing initiatives. Hold on, I'm still way ahead. As you know, HOME and CDBG, you can fund various things through those programs. HOME you have to only fund housing related activities. CDBG, you can fund it quite a range. So we- in Fiscal Year 25, we funded the neighborhood Centers of Johnson County Facility improvements at Peasant Ridge. We funded the Grantwood Fair Meadow Sidewalk connection that will be this next construction season, Michael Prize and assistance for home based child cares, public services and owner occupied housing rehab. And then I wanted to include the two photos of DVIP that's the new shelter. It went from 70- 40 bed to 70 beds and incorporate a lot of design improvements from the previous shelter. And I know they're proud that they now offer five kennels. So a huge barrier for people leaving a domestic abuse situation and what happens to the family pet. So through charitable pet contributions, our pet charities and donors, they were able to put the five kennels in there, so it's no longer a barrier. I wanted to talk about historical funding of CBDG HOME. For the last decade in CDBG funding has been stable, but for the HOME program, we have seen major cuts. The Fiscal Year 25, it was a cut of about 25%, went from 515,000 down to 385,000 or 384. As funding reduced,we get less money to administer the programs. Federal programs are typically regulatory complex, especially for housing programs. Having trained staff with exposure and experience of federal housing programs allows us the ability to apply and receive additional funding through a variety of state and federal programs, increasing our ability to expand of subsidized affordable housing in our community. The second major source of HUD funding is what we received through the housing authority for our Housing Choice voucher program and our public housing program. So we administer close to 1,600 vouchers in Johnson County, Iowa County, and parts of Washington County. And I wanted to highlight that since we have 309 specialty vouchers. We have received 202 since 2019, and most of these vouchers are aimed at assisting those with the highest barriers in securing and maintaining housing. There's increased time and complexity to these vouchers. At tonight's council meeting, you'll be reviewing an agenda item for an additional housing program assistant position. Part of that position will be address our project based vouchers, quality control of the Housing Choice voucher program to meet all our federal requirements, assist in the compliance and regulatory tracking of the public housing tenants, especially as we re position ourselves into a Housing choice voucher platform. Aid agencies is included in this This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 12 housing presentation, as it is a key funder to our local non-profit organizations who work primarily with low income household to reduce household monthly expenses and address critical needs experienced by families through a variety of ways. The City has increased funds allocated substantially to aid agencies since fiscal year 16. You see 103% increase. While on average, 20 per six- 26% of the funds go to housing related agencies that you see listed on the screen, 74% awarded to agencies like Community Crisis Center Food Bank, Free Med,UAY, Table to Table, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Pathways, ARC, Dream Center,Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, Free Lunch and Center for Worker Justice. The last is after our HUD funds,we have our commitment to city general funds. Council has funded the Grip Program for the last 20 years. It provides rehabilitation loans for homeowners that don't qualify for our federal programs, either they're income eligible, or their eligible use is not allowed under the federal program, such as finishing your basement or providing an addition. Income can go up to 110% immediate income. All loans are repaid to the city with a maximum turn of 20 years. And then the Affordable Housing Fund. You guys have dedicated reliable funding since Fiscal Year 16 since that action plan was approved. So we've invested 8.6 million through the Affordable Housing Fund every year. I want to bring attention to our distribution of funds. Almost 70% goes to the Housing Trust Fund, either the general allocation or for the low income housing tax credit set aside. This fund, the Housing Trust Fund combines state, county, city, and loan repayments to fund affordable housing in Johnson County. In their upcoming fall funding round, they have over 1.7 million available. This is quite substantial compared to our Fiscal Year 25 home allocation of only 384,000,which kicks in all the federal requirements as well. And then I did mention, as we carry over funds, uh and we don't use those funds in the affordable housing fund, such as from healthy homes and emergent funds,that balance gets transferred in the opportunity fund and becomes available for other affordable housing projects. So our prior year carryover is about 265,000. So this is a summary of all our annual allocations entitlements. Once again, HUD has been a great partner, contributing over 13 million to our total 15 million each year. It is important that we maintain regulatory compliance with our largest funding partner. The next category is special allocations. You guys are familiar with American Rescue Plan Act, our ARPA Funds, that has the closest earliest deadline of 2026. We've dedicated 2.85 million out of our 18.3 towards housing. Uh,you'll see a picture of the new acquisition. We did three-three bedroom condos off of Herbert Hoover. We have the temporary CO, we have the rental permit, and now the housing authority will begin with the marketing and to lease up those units, and their income restricted rent restricted units. At the end of this week,we'll acquire the lots on North Summit Street to construct up to 36 units. And bear in mind, doesn't mean we construct up to 36 units. We'll evaluate the lot. We'll look at what can be developed. We'll think of the compatibility with the neighborhood and have different options that we may pursue. So that's upcoming, that's more information to come. And we dedicated over 1.1 million to Shelter House for their stability pilot project that is underway right now. And though this wasn't under set aside, we have dedicated money for housing related assistance through other ARPA set asides, and I listed those-those that directly impacted household housing. So much like ADA Agencies, ARPA dollars have indirectly supported housing, and provided over one million in operational support to various non profits such as Community Crisis Service This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 13 and Food Bank, Center for Worker Justice, Dream City, Iowa City Compassion, neighborhood Centers, Open Heartland and United Action for Youth. We have funded childcare programs to 4Cs in our partnership with the County and Community Foundation for wage enhancements for childcare workers, and we've also provided approximately 1.2 million direct payments to low income households with the county. Then HUD announced the availability of a new home ARP category. Few organizations were able to apply for these funds because of their programs preference criteria and who could be assisted. In general, the applicant had to serve those experiencing homelessness at risk of homelessness or those fleeing domestic abuse. These funds are also subject to federal requirements and non discrimination equal opportunity requirements. So the city got a direct award from HUD for 1.7 million. And those funds have been allocated a DVIP, Shelter House, and Iowa Legal Aid. And then in a separate funding around with the state, the state opened up a funding round for Home ARP. DVIP applied, and they are one of two organizations to get funded. They were fully funded. They're in partnership with DVIP. So DVIP will buy the lot that we purchased on Kenneth Drive for affordable housing with prior land banking or opportunity funds. And the IPO award allows DVIP to develop with a local match up to six town homes and provides supportive and operating funds for the next, I think, five or six years. The Pro Housing funds has been a pivotal grant,which will have several long term implications to help us meet our ability to increase our housing supply, assisting those needing affordable housing throughout our community. We'll come back to this grant at the end of the presentation. And then the last special-special allocation award was a Community Development Block grant CV award. Uh, this was directly from the state. It went to Shelter House to help with the-the design and improvements at their current shelter. And as all of us are at capacity or we're rearing capacity for federal and state funds, the state contracted with us to administer the funding for that award. So this just highlights all the special allocations, and we highlight the deadline that we're working against. All these projects have to be spent out by this deadline. And I wanted to note that all of these are HUD programs. The source of funding is all HUD except for ARPA,which was a grant through the Treasury Department. The next category was project generated revenue, and these are basically policies, and procedures that we set in the past and that are now generating income. One is Riverfront Crossings at Fee In Liue. We've taken payments of over 5.8 million. With interest, we now have 6.2 million. It has to be used just in Riverfront Crossings. We also did a residential tiff off of Foster Road. It's in Year 3 of a 10-10 year Tiff. So it's generated 393,000 to date. And then we had the Tailwinds Tiff, It was the project, uh, up in the Ped Mall. They paid us 1.8 million. We purchased eight duplexes with for the South district program. That available remaining balance will be used to rehab the units that we have. So 300,000 plus will fund the renovation of our next three duplex for a total of six units. So Riverfront project generated revenue is almost$7 million, and all of it is available for a future affordable housing project, except for the Tailwinds TIF balance. Public housing. Well, we're talking about reserves, and public housing has most of the reserves. We have 1.3 million available for affordable income and rent restricted housing projects. Now,this is for the whole jurisdiction, so those funds can be used anywhere in Johnson, Iowa, and parts of Washington County. They can only be used for acquisition and rehab of city owned affordable housing. And then we have our capital reserves, which are key. We This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 14 have 2.8 million. They have to be for capital improvements or acquisition of new public housing units in the program. So they're also, if you remember the presentation by Naomi, our intern with the Bloomberg Harvard Leadership Initiative. We're losing money in our public housing program every year, and those capital reserves are paying for that, and it's not sustainable. So that is why we're having a consultant take us through that repositioning into a housing choice voucher platform to make it sustainable because we can't keep sustaining those losses long term. And then the rest already talked about the opportunity fund. That's our prior year balance, not our current fiscal year 25 allocation, but our prior available balance for opportunity funds. So to summarize, our regular allocations provide us with $15 million annually. However, due to special allocations, project revenue, accumulated reserves, disposition proceeds, we are administering an additional 23 million. We'll have to be strategic and utilize staff as effectively as possible. We have hired one full time grant specialist since the receive of ARPA funds, but there is $38 million available right now. These funds, we will go by affordable housing goals. We want to be efficient and effective in what we do. We wanna encourage increase of supply of housing, all housing for all levels, and for all types of households and their various stages of life. And we will work on enabling expanding the construction affordable subsidized housing by creating a develop arm within the housing authority.New construction is never affordable without great subsidy. So if we're gonna move down this path, then we have to have multiple layers of financing to-to achieve that. I want to highlighted our recent successes. I have a few photos. One is the Ronald Street House. The other is the DVIP, the new bedrooms. Um, what was interesting about DVIP is the old shelter. They plan on converting to permanent supportive housing on the second level for individuals transitioning out to shelter, and the main level to be used for administrative offices support services. And then what was a huge lift got done was approved housing text amendments to the Zoning code that you approved back in November 2023. They allowed us to expand the use of duplexes,multifamily options and ADUs and additional residential zones with less requirements, it removed some design requirements for multifamily buildings that developer previously requested because they were expensive without adding a lot to the development, and includes increased density and parking reductions for income, qualified affordable housing. Next steps. We have contracted with the Mullin& Lonergan Associates out of Pennsylvania. They're developing our five year consolidated plan, which we also call City steps. This guides our federal funding to assist low income residents based on prioritized needs. There also, we contracted with them to do the regional housing mark analysis. We'll use that data to form both our comprehensive plan and consolidated plans. And as we've talked about earlier, we are going process of issuing an RFP, which hopefully will be out next month to reposition our public housing program, and to develop the capacity with internally to develop affordable housing. Hopefully, that's released in November, and we'll continue to make strategic investments in housing and pursue funding opportunities in line with the City strategic plan. One of those is a pro housing grant that was due today to HUD, and one of the main focus is to complete a comprehensive update of the Zoning Code. The Zoning Code update is extremely important as we need to focus on the three most-of three most important levers that we can to change different development options in residential zones. When at the Best Health meeting, the collaboration grant back in This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 15 Missoula, I thought it was funny because they called these layers the Holy Trinity of zoning. Basically, you look at density, defines how many homes and type of homes that can be on a lot, given its size. You look at setbacks. Tells us how far away from property lines, we must place the home building. There are usually different distances for, uh, front, rear and side setbacks, and also various variations for corner lots and unique situations. And lastly, parking. It tells us how many parking spaces we must accommodate on the building lot to create a dwelling unit. So we'll need to update these levers to promote a diversity of residential development. The PRO housing. The PRO housing is very comprehensive. We will hopefully in the next year or two start housing counseling services. We will get trained. Our housing counsel services will be focused on our housing authority tenants with hopes to provide community workshops on budgeting, maintaining housing, credit repair, and other related topics throughout our jurisdiction. We'll update the comprehensive plan, that land use plan, that consultant agreement, it will be to you probably November. Within that,we hope to increase land zone for multifamily residential development initiative parking reform. And we'll start developing affordable housing through that pilot development project, and we're looking for sites as we speak. And I want to put a cautionary note cause you guys get a lot of pressure like we have this money. Why aren't we spending it right now? Developing affordable housing is complex, it takes a lot of significant time and resources. There's numerous stages. So I highlighted the stages here that all developers go through, but the ones in yellow,we have increased time in the public sector and affordable housing to provide. So the feasibility study, private developers go through environmental reviews just like us. However, we have to incorporate items such as environmental justice, distance to schools, public transport, and a variety of other items to complete a sat-satisfactory environmental review for HUD. Our goal-wait- and the next is community engagement. We go through a lot more community engagement to find out what's compatible with the neighborhood design options. We have to secure multiple financing cause with affordable housing, I told you new construction is never affordable without significant subsidy. So that means you're applying you're attaching different layers of financing that could be federal, state, local, private financing, and you're applying you're getting awarded before you can even start. And the last one regarding whatever funding source you secure, you have to ensure regulatory compliance, and your mandatory reporting throughout. So there are different things in the public sector that private sector they don't have. So it will take time. So while looking at current statistics on housing shortages and a affordability issues, I came across this article. I thought from recent times to discuss the nation's current housing shortage and affordability issues, but it was referring to the housing crisis immediately following World War IL With millions of military personnel coming home, lack of housing production throughout the Great Depression, and construction and manufacturing diverted to the war effort, and a dramatically expanding population, there was a severe lack of housing throughout the nation. Federal policies were changed, mortgage reform was made, incentives expanded. The nation collectively addressed the problem. We are at another time with a severe housing shortage and increasing affordability problems made worse by the pandemic. We will continue to work with our federal state and local partners to address the issues. We have the funds available to make significant improvements in long term affordable housing, and reduce long standing regulatory This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 16 barriers through zoning reform. We need to either hire or contract for the expertise needed to have an effective real estate development wing,hopefully housing the housing authority. We are working to develop the staff capacity to administer the funds we have now under the constraints of each award, we need to make strategic or we have to be strategic with the funds we have and the opportunities we pursue. Our uncommitted funds sounds like a lot of funds, but 13 million builds about 42-52 homes depending on the type of housing and without leveraging any other sources of funds. Our goal with these funds, especially the PRO housing grant is long term, to position ourselves that we encourage private development to increase our supply of housing, all types of housing, for all income levels and stages of life, to build our long term capacity to support our non profit affordable housing partners, as well as build our own capacity to develop and administer affordable, subsidized housing effectively and sustainably. So once again, thank you for the opportunity to present today about the funds that we have for affordable housing, and our current efforts. And I'd be happy to take any questions. Teague: Well, first, I want to say thanks for your 20 plus years of serving at the city. It is evident in your presentation today. Always good information from you. I'll just open it up, um, uh, for questions, and comments at this point. And I'll reserve mine for a little later. Salih: May I ask you about the Riverfront Crossing reserving that we have, I think seven million or something like that? Hightshoe: 6.8. Salih: 6.8. And is this going to be, like-is this attached to, we have to do that in Riverfront Crossing? Or we can be, like, do like anywhere else. Hightshoe: No, due to state law,we have to use it just in the area that was generated, so we have to use that money in the Riverfront Crossings district. Salih: Okay. Teague: If we wanted to use that money elsewhere, what would be the process of-is there any opportunity? Salih: There is no. Hightshoe: I mean, I'll have Eric answer that, but I don't think there is. Goers: No. Teague: All right. Because we hear that a lot, you know. Salih: Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 17 Dunn: We could expand Riverfront Crossings, though, couldn't we? That would be one way to change it. Goers: Well, I guess I would have to look to see if it would be applied retrospectively or prospectively, that is, at the time we collected this money that we're discussing today,the shape and size was this, and if we then expand it to the whole city, let's say,that would seem to undercut the, uh, purpose of that. Dunn: I don't think anyone would want a whole city. Goers: Well, if-I'm using an extreme example to illustrate my point. Sure. I would need to research that as to whether we could expand it and-and use it in the fashion you're describing, but I'd be happy to look into that if there's council interest. Salih: But any plan right now, Geoff. Fruin: Yeah, I'd say for the last two or three years,we've been keeping our eyes open for available property,we've had some conversations with the Council,uh, about available properties. Riverfront crossings is, it's seen a lot of redevelopment,which is great because it's generated the 6.3 fund balance, but there's also extremely high land prices and extremely high demand. We're trying to be strategic and in what properties we pursue. But we pursued some and lost out to better offers and at least right now last six, nine months, there hasn't been a whole lot of property available,that would meet our criteria for developing affordable housing. We're just continuing to keep our eyes open for available land that may work and I shouldn't limit it to just land. It could be existing residential units that we just purchase and do more of a rehab or purchase of existing. We are also looking at those options. Alter: Can you talk a little bit more about that Holy Trinity? Hightshoe: Well, it's interesting because in Missoula they have a pro housing, not relate to the Hud grant, but they have a group of architects, building community, neighborhood residents because their average house prices have gone over 500,000, and their kids can't afford to live in Missoula. They have a group out there educating residents about what density, parking, and setbacks mean, and taking them through older development, explaining why you could based on the zoning code develop that today and so I think that's effective. Those are the three levers that our zoning code will need to trigger in order to get that variety of housing that they're after in each of our residential neighborhoods. Bergus: Am I understanding correctly, Tracy that that is part of the larger overhaul of the zoning code that we've been talking about? Hightshoe: First, we're doing our comprehensive plan, which is basically our land use plan. Hopefully, that land use plan calls for more multifamily higher density residential and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 18 then after you have that, then we're going to have to update our zoning code because it's the mechanism which enforces our land use plan. So once we get one done,we're moving to the other. Bergus: I know we've had to do some sort of spot amendments to the Zoning Code to implement different pieces of this and some of the ways that you discussed this evening. I just I feel like we need some kind of shorthand reminder, you know, when the council's up here looking at a particular proposal or development, and it's like,we don't have the comp plan amendments yet or we don't have the zoning code amendment yet, but there's something that's in front of us that actually would meet, where we think we're headed, since we know it's a number of years. Hightshoe: like a timeline? Are you looking for a timeline? Bergus: Well, I'm just wondering, when staff gives a recommendation relating to a rezoning in particular, if there's a way to elevate, we believe this is where we're headed in terms of our affordable housing goals, even though we know this is a very complex, interdependent process. I think just kind of surfacing those, hey, Council. This really will align with this, even though I'm just thinking of cases where it may not require a zoning code amendment, but we might want to do something that we know is headed down that path. We just haven't hit all those regulatory landmarks yet. That makes sense? Hightshoe: I would like to highlight that. We'll be coming back to you. Navigate is submitting their rezoning for the Form Based code in the south District. There's a bunch of text amendments that we're going to have to do in order to for that development to proceed. We could highlight about how what is needed to change in our regular code in order. But when we do those text amendments to the Form based code, those will be for every development from there on out. Is that what you mean? Bergus: I think that would be helpful. I mean, I think I was thinking even more generally,which is why I keep looking at Jeff on the,you know, overarching question rather than maybe the more technical questions that your department provides, but you know, something to just kind of make sure that we're reminded. I always go back. The example that's always in my head is the annexation that we voted down four years ago or whatever in the Carson Farms area, because I felt like we didn't have a really solid understanding of that element of the need for housing of all types and all stages of life and all places and that. Teague: So, I think what I hear you saying is we have been in positions before where the current codes, whether it's not in alignment with what our future aspirations are. I think that's what I hear is that we are often faced with something that is ancient. But the proposal before us has some of that foresight. But oftentimes we're held to you know, the red ink that's already been dry and so I think that's where Councilor Burges, if I understand correctly, if you can remind us sometimes of,yes it's not in the code now, but this is really where we're trying to get to. I think that's what I hear, because there's a lot of work to be done on so many fronts. Did I understand your position correctly? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 19 Bergus: Yeah, I think staff does a really good job, and I know they have those conversations with developers long before it gets to us. If we're probably going to be heading this way or you should be looking at this. I just think elevating the affordable housing elements just to tie that bow for us, for me, personally, would be really helpful. Alter: Actually I do have one more question. It was one of the later slides and you were talking about it was via the PRO Housing award that we've gotten nd you're talking about I'm putting it as future state. But begin ing counseling services. That's fascinating. I mean, so it sounds like honestly that the city is taking on more of a wrap around approach to housing by way of this award. Is that? Hightshoe: So part of what we apply for, and we got funded for was 200,000 to initiate a certified housing counseling program. The focus will be on the 1,600 voucher holders and our public housing tenants and basically, it will be somebody working with them to work on budgeting, how to maintain housing but also, we hope to get to the point where we can do workshops in the community that talk about credit repair,those related subjects. But we have to have a certified HUD counselor with experience. We have to hire that person, and then we can train internal staff as well, Alter: [OVERLAPPING] train the trainers, Hightshoe: but we have to have someone with experience based on HUD regulations. That'll be hiring that we just figure out where we're going to put them. Alter: True. Is that something that you are hoping will become a sustainable, like, a permanent feature if your department. Hightsho: Hope we can use our reserves to continue funding that and there's programs within Hud too, if you have that. That we can apply for so we're hoping, yes. Alter: Thank you. This would be amazing. Teague: You talked about$13 million remaining. Hightshoe: Uncommitted? Alter: Yes, I think that was through HUD. Teague: I wasn't sure where the number was coming from, because I know we have 6.8 in Riverfront Crossing and some more funds. But maybe that's not really. Hightshoe: The 13.4 million consists of the pro housing grant for the development project. It includes all the Riverfront Crossing. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 20 Teague: Got it. Hightshoe: Then the Public Housing reserves and Opportunity Fund that you come up with 13 million when you add all those. Teague: Got it. Hightshoe: All have restrictions. We could just pick one project and use it all in and I didn't go through all the CBDG rules. I didn't say 24 CFR blah. Yes but those. Teague: No, I just need a clarification on that and then you mentioned the real estate Wing potential that could be under the housing authority. I just heard Councilor Alter mention looking at all the things of housing,where we're going to have the Counseling, there's going to be some more things that we're doing. Are there other significant things that you've seen in other cities where there has been housed in the city that we're now talking about doing,which I'm sure some of this stuff that you're mentioning. Hightshoe: Yeah. Sorry, go ahead. Teague: But if you can maybe highlight some of those things as well as, is there something that we're still not on our radar as far as, like, this is what we're going to be doing? Hightshoe: We have different experience. We have the zoning, we have the inspection. There's a different part of a real estate wing that we lack expertise or experience, and that's the real estate portion, such as the realtor,the development. We don't typically develop our own housing like new construction. We've looked at, we've met with other housing authorities, somehow we're hiring that consultant to take us through to develop our own internal capacity, what the legal structure looks like, what the funding sources looks like, what our staffing, because you have to ramp up staffing if you're going to increase the number of units that are under our management, and that we're, that we have. That consultant hopefully takes us through that. We've met with other housing authorities that they decided to remove themselves from the city, or maybe the city appoints the housing authority board of directors and so you have some in order to create a separate liability line between that housing authority and the city. Then there's others that the housing authorities remains in the city, and they have their own development wing, and they contract out for developers that do LIHTC projects. There's a lot of different options that we've seen throughout throughout other cities. We just need to find what works best for us and so that's what we hope that consultant does and the consultants that we see that take you through the repositioning of public housing are also because they do RAD conversions and stuff. They're also very familiar with LIHTC development and just real estate development. We're hoping finding one of those firms that takes us through both of the reposition of the public housing and then developing our capacity, and what that looks like, I don't know. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 21 Teague: That answer is very encouraging and it actually answered the question of are there opportunities that could still be out there that we might want to consider and you just answered, Yes. We'll have someone that has worked with various communities, and there could be something that might be recommended that might work for us and enhanced that the experience that people have in our city. Hightshoe: Got bad news from HUD. When Naomi's presented, we decided we want to go through the streamlined conversion process and then we find out HUD is no longer supporting that now we need that consult to come back. Option number 2, what does that look like and so takes through those financial models in our processes. It'll be coming back to you. Teague: Sure. Hightshoe: We know we have to go through some repositioning, but what the final solution is. We don't know that yet. Fruin: Mayor, if I could just add a couple of thoughts to that. When it comes to the right strategy for affordable housing, it tends to be all of the above. We need the private sector building at all levels. We need non profits engaged and expanding their services and their housing and as Tracy just outlined, the city's got to get a little bit more aggressive with our public housing. You have to do all of these things. If I look at this presentation and where we're going, one of the things that I question, whether we're working enough in the space if we're working enough in is the rehabilitation, the investment in our existing stock. Tracy mentioned a couple of times during the presentation that new construction is very expensive, whether we're buying it like the Town homes that we just bought, whether we're building it, like the pro housing pilot project. Those are very expensive and the cost per unit are difficult. They're also,just, as Tracy said, very complex,. They take a lot of time. One of the things that we don't get a lot of credit for, and, frankly, the funds maybe tilted a little unequally, are just the rehab,keeping people in their homes at an affordable rate, and ensuring those homes remain affordable for the next generation of renters of homeowners. We want to do everything. We have limited resources. But I would just kind of plant that seed and I think the Riverfront crossings discussion that Mayor Pro Tem brought up before is a good highlight. $6,000,000 after land acquisition doesn't get you much in Riverfront crossings. But could we buy existing units? Could we help rehabilitate sure income protected units going forward in an area that's quickly kind of gentrifying? We probably could, and we may be able to hit more units. Those are the types of conversations that we have here at City Hall, and I want to just share that perspective with you. Moe: Appreciate you talking about the three potential developers of housing that all need to do their work, for profits and not-for-profits. What are we doing to incentivize? I know that the code to planning, excuse me,the comprehensive plan revisions and potential zoning changes will be something that would hopefully entice private developers to develop smaller or more affordable units. In the interim, is there other things that we can do to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 22 encourage the private sector to develop the housing that we know we need,because I think we know the sizes of homes that we need and the price points. It's just that those are the least desirable for builders to build. Is there anything we can or are doing? Hightshoe: I know a barrier for when I talk to developers is our annexation policy. It's great intent, but when they look at it, and with no financial incentives attached to it, they are hesitant when they can build in other communities. Something like a residential TIF agreement that we can support. It's a win win situation for the builder, and affordable housing, that's something we could look at. Fruin: Yeah, I was going to say, residential TIF is a tool that we first started to bring up in 2016 with our action plan. What that allows allows for TIF to pay for some of the infrastructure costs that supports residential development, and can often times make development feasible when it otherwise would not and then it can spin off additional money for affordable housing. Tracy had briefly mentioned the the Foster Road TIF that we did. That's where the Vintage senior living is. That was a case in which Vintage couldn't go there unless Foster Road was extended through. It would be rare for a developer to have to pay for an entire section of main arterial like Foster Road so we-we had a TIF agreement with them, uh, where they built the road, and for 10 years, we'll be rebating them the cost of that road. And then 50% of that TIF is also just accumulating that we can invest in the- in the community. So when we think about um, some of our larger residential development areas in the future,um, Carson, someone brought up the Carson property out on the west side. There's going to be some major roadway networks, major stormwater infrastructure that needs to be developed out there. I think residential TIF is something that we'll need to consider that can bring down the cost of development for the-the-the private sector,but also help us generate some, um, affordable housing dollars that we can reinvest, either in that neighborhood or outside of the neighborhood. I think that's about the one tool that we could probably use a little bit more. You have to- you have to be careful in how you use that,um,because as you're building rooftops, the demand for public services, both from the city and the school district go up. So the TIF withholds those tax dollars for- for the provision of those services to repay the infrastructure, so it's a Balancing Act. It worked really well with Foster Road when you're just building one senior housing building, but, um,when it gets time to Carson, we'll have to have some- some more thought analysis on the types of services and funding those services will need versus the infrastructure cost. Salih: Yeah, I also want to add that if we really seeking to improve land use and enables much needed housing construction, I think we should have look at our parking minimum. And do like I see, like now, like a trend, like cities doing like parking reform, um, big cities have done it, and small cities also have- cities like our size have done it on cities like bigger than us have done the same thing. And I think this is when we the requirement for parking, this is also will help developer like do more houses. I- I don't know, but Council, really, it is time to think about that, so we can-we can have more houses being built. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 23 Hightshoe: The PRO Housing grant does it cover,we will be doing a hiring consult to help us with parking reform. Salih: Okay, that's great. Hightshoe: Yep. There's some communities that are moving, not requiring any-they're not dictating how much parking, they allow the private market to decide. I think in Missoula, they were looking towards going that way, because they basically said parking is amenity. You pay more for on- onsite parking, and you just have naturally affordable housing if you don't have on street parking. So they were thinking a bit more as amenity. I don't know if we'll go that far. [LAUGHTER] But we have a consultant that takes us through those options. Salih: Sure. Yeah. Teague: Well, thank you so much. Great. Salih: Thank you. Teague: Yes. Bergus: Thank you. Teague: It is not a easy topic but seem like we have, uh, some champions amongst us to try to figure this out. So thanks to staff and all that you all do on the affordable housing front. Salih: Yeah, I- I think we just need to remind ourselves every time every day. I- I was trying to request that like, maybe each city council meeting wish it highlight in the beginning,like how many-to remind ourselves, like,how many people in the waiting list waiting for housing? How many homeless people we have? Like, keep just reminding us that because I know everybody is passionate about this, but we're moving slowly. Like many things will make us move slowly, I know that because we don't have a lot of funds, that's a big deal. But it's still, like reminding us constantly, we will do something. Teague: I think,you know, because of the urgency that we feel of the-the housing need on so many fronts,we have,um, individuals that lose-where the landlords are increasing the rents, um, housing is not being affordable anymore. They're trying to find new locations, it's hard to find it in Iowa City. Um, we have the unhoused, um, situation in our community as well. So,Mayor Pro Tem, I do think that you bring up a point where this council has stated that we want to be more aggressive with our- our housing efforts, and I- I also believe that if we have the little reminder is just here two things right now, and it could expand. But one would be, um, you know,how many individuals are unhoused in our community. And then the second that you just mentioned was-. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 24 Salih: I like the waiting list of, like,how many people are in the waiting list of the housing voucher. Teague: So that housing voucher,um, housing authority just to give us some data, I would be supportive of that. The question is, do you want that in a- do you envision it being in a work session? Do you envision it just kind of being a part of our,um,packet. A part of the packet where can just be, um, either updated and we can bring it up? Salih: I guess one, like when-normally when we have something public, you know,that's, like, really fires and fires people. So I want maybe the staff, like, every meeting can just report that. And like, when we ask in the beginning or in the end, I don't care anytime. Yes, like, this is the report about like housing. We have like,maybe because if we record it, like, we have 100 homeless people, next time, if they said, we have 120, that will make us like, say, oh, what's going on here? We need to do something about this. But if they said, oh, it is become 80,we will be, like,happy that's happening so exciting. Alter: [INAUDIBLE]. That's great. Salih: So. Yes, like, something like that, to remind us all the time. We all we busy, and sometimes we forget this. And sometimes we come here with a lot of issues going on, we need to focus on. But if the staff can remind us that will be great. Or I can ask every meeting. Teague: Yeah. I mean, I don't know what other, um, Councilors are thinking about, but, I would suggest it being, um, it could either be quarterly, but even if it was,you know, every meeting, it can be on our work session just where it is a- it is information, and if there needs to be a comment, someone could make that comment. Salih: I would go with that. Just like the same thing we have, like, clarification of agenda item and we have it can be just say it one line. Teague: And maybe not to get this so crunched up potentially, it could be in an information packet, where, um, it just highlights,you know, 10/10 IP5, you know, the update on affordable housing,where we don't have it all here. It's in the- Salih: packet. Teague: It's in the packet, but it just alerts us to if someone wants to bring it up and shed light on it, it'll be there. Salih: It sounds good to me. Teague: What do people think, thoughts? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 25 Moe: I've- I've noticed that staff has been putting building statistic reports in her IPs, and I've appreciated that. So thank you for including that because that's I think the fundamental of all of our housing problems is there's just not enough houses. So to see that included is good, and I read those, but I don't usually highlight them in our discussions of our IPs, but we can start crawling that out, but it sounds like you're wanting for other statistics, too maybe Fruin: Yeah, I guess I'd want- I'd maybe ask for a little bit of time to think about this. I want to provide you something meaningful,but I also want to make sure it's credible. And when it comes time to, like, homeless- for homeless counts, um, I'm not sure we can- I'm not sure there's variability in every- every two weeks to-to-to report out to you, and I don't want to, um,put information out there that I can't substantiate. Hud requires a once a year point in time cou-count. We also have nonprofit providers like DVIP and Shelter House that are providing homeless services. So I'm imagining just the difficulty in trying to update a figure that's reliable every two weeks. Um, if- if affordable housing in general is your interest,we can-we can pepper you with all kinds of statistics and research and, um, operational information that-that-that we could put into an IP that you could pull out and highlight. Um, I just want to be very careful about trend data that I don't have a whole lot of confidence in right now. So if you could give me a little bit of time to think about it and maybe, um, start to put something together, and once you see it in the IP, you can massage it and direct me to-to change it, um, as we go, so it's a little more fluid. I- I think that might work out for the best. Harmsen: Yeah, and I was going to ask, sorry. Salih: Go ahead. Harmsen: I was going to ask too because I was aware that we only do the have, like, the count once or twice a year. Um, so of, like,you know, the homeless estimate. I think most cities do something like that usually, there's like I usually watch for the article in the Gazette about the Cedar Rapids versus Iowa City, and that usually comes out about once a year. Salih: I understand and that's what we've been seeing, Shawn and Geoff. But we want to be Geoff aggressive. So that's what we want to see. If- if you think you need just time, if you think like two- like twice a month is too much maybe it can be once a month for the homeless, but I think for the waiting list for, like,wherever it's closed right now, even that's easy to find out from the housing authority, how many people, they pull this months. And how many people left, you know, still on the waiting list. That's easy,you can get that, but I understand that maybe it's burden on the organizations who are like recording this-the homeless people, it will be too much on that. What about once a month? Like, of course, of every organization will-will record for their own record. How many people would they have every month? They have that data ready, and if they can share it with us will be great. We're going to understand that could not be the exact for now, maybe there's somebody else homeless somewhere and they never report themselves to any organizations. But this is will give us, like, kind of something close to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 26 the-yeah, I-you can still think about it. Yes,maybe you can find better way than what I'm saying. Fruin: Yeah, I just- I don't disagree with anything, I just want to make sure that it's meaningful and credible. Um, if I can accomplish those two things, then-then I'm happy to do it. Every IP, and-, um, and I agree keeping it front and center will-will usually spur more action. So, um, I -we'll put something together, we'll get it in, and you'll have to just direct me if you're not, um, completely happy with what we're providing you. Salih: Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 27 6. Council Updates on Assigned Boards, Commissions and Committees. Teague: All right, we're going to move on to item Number 6. Council updates on assigned boards, commissions and committees. Harmsen: Um, I would be remiss if I didn't remind everybody that currently the Iowa City Book Festival is going-happening now, and we'll be continuing through the weekend. Uh, tons of events, tons of authors, um, Iowa city of literature.org has the full schedule of events and authors. Um, you know,there are things going on now, it really hits its stride coming this weekend, um, in locations around the city, including, of course, the public library, the University of Iowa Main Library, Praire Lights Books. Um, I think there might be let's see, some other- some stuff on the Ped Mall, um, Daydreams comics. I'm just kind of looking through MERGE has some stuff. Um, so just a lot of stuff going around- it's revolving around our UNESCO City of Literature. It's a huge event, um, and lots of cool things to see. I know there's a- I'm hoping to make it to some of the-the talks on Saturday. Um, there's one with Ari Berman that I'm really- saw him speak actually when he was here several years ago, I'm looking forward to see him speak again, if I can work it into my schedule. Um, but, yeah, there's kind of a reminder to the public that's-that's going on currently and through the weekend. Teague: Alright, you gave that a little early. This is for Council updates on assigned boards. Harmsen: I'm assigned by the boards. Teague: Oh, you are assigned to the boards. Harmsen: I'm assigned to the boards. Teague: Great. Alright. Yes. Bergus: Similar then. Teague: Alright in there. Bergus: Kellie will say this also at the end of the meeting, but we have a different audience for the work session. So tomorrow evening, this is relating to the Community Police Review Board, which I'm liaison still. So tomorrow evening at the Iowa City Public Library, beginning at 5:30 P.M in meeting room A is one of their public forums been soliciting questions from the public, but also will take-, um,which they will intend to answer at the forum, but also they will take questions in real time. So 5:30 P.M tomorrow at the library. Moe: Great. Tomorrow morning at 8:30 is Economic Development Committee meeting, you're all welcome to join us online. Bergus: Oh, no,they can't. No all of them. Less than a quorum. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024 Page 28 Moe: Join us to watch. Teague: Yes. Alright. Dunn: You're welcome to join. Teague: Yeah, you can't be tuned. You can't be, like, signed in. All right. I want to remind us that on the 22 October, 1:00 P.M - 5:00 P.M we'll be back in this room for our Council strategic plan-planning session. And again, that is on the 22nd 1:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. Salih: And I just want to know that this is something that have to finish at 5:00 P.M. Right? Not like we can maybe go on. Teague: I-I think yeah. Yeah, I think the-the 5:00 P.M is a hard stop. Salih: Okay, good. Because I have another commitment at six o'clock in North Liberty. Harmsen: Okay. Do we have any homework between now and then or is that something you talk about in your report at the end of the meeting? Fruin: Yeah. So, um, what I've sent out prior would just I'd- I'd appreciate if you just take a skim through the existing plan. And, um,we had issued the annual update about a month ago in one of your September IPs, it's also available on the website. It's just icgov.org/strategic plan so if you could read through that update in September and the plan, I think that would be helpful on- in this week's IP, so on Thursday, uh, you'll have a- a memo from me that provides some of- some of my thoughts on,um,the-the process and, um, some suggested modifications to the plan. It's a short memo won't take you too long to read probably, um, it's a couple cover pages with a red line document, and I really, really tried to limit,um, any red lining, trying to honor the intent of your plan, but mostly trying to fine tune things. So budget a little bit of time for-with that memo, and we should be good to go. Harmsen: Thank you. Teague: All right. Hearing nothing else. We are adjourned. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 15, 2024