HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-06-03 Bd Comm minutesItem Number: 4.a.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 3, 2025
Airport Commission: April 10
Attachments: Airport Commission: April 10
MINUTES
IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION
April 10, 2025 — 6:00 P.M.
AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING
Members Present: Warren Bishop, Ryan Story, Judy Pfohl, Chris Lawrence
Members Absent: Hellecktra Orozco
Staff Present: Michael Tharp, Jennifer Schwickerath
Others Present: Adam Thompson (via zoom), Matt Wolford (via zoom)
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL:
None
DETERMINE (QUORUM
A quorum was determined at 6:04 pm and Lawrence called the meeting to order.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
FINAL
Bishop moved to approve the minutes as modified by Pfohl, from March 13, 2025, seconded by
Story. Motion carried 4-0. (Orozco Absent)
PUBLIC COMMENT - None
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION 1 ACTION
a. Airport Construction Projects:
L FAA grant projects
1. Runway 12130 Displaced Threshold/Relocation — Tharp stated
the good news was that FAA Flight Check was here on Tuesday
and they have approved the PAPIs. Tharp stated the REILs were
mostly successfully checked and stated they had a couple of issues
during the check. Tharp stated he didn't see any notams up and
that the electricians were aware of the faults and were in the process
of resolving them.
H. Iowa DOT grant projects — Tharp stated that he and Adam met earlier in
the day and discussed the hangar project. Tharp stated that he believed
they had a better feel for the projected costs and were proposing a project
with 6 hangar units as they had previously described. Tharp stated they did
not have enough room for 10 units with 45-foot doors but they could do a bid
alternate option for 8 units. Tharp stated the total project budget was just
over $1.4 million. Bishop asked about the pavement to which Tharp
responded. Tharp stated that the funding would come from their remaining
BIL money which was roughly $600,000, a state GAVI grant which was
Airport commission
April 10, 2025
Page 2 of 5
capped at $300,000 and a state AIP grant of approximately $360,000 and
would leave a gap of around $50,000. Tharp noted Adam was going to also
look at looking at a possible jet pod as an alternate bid item. Bishop asked
about heating. Tharp stated that these plans include heating and insulating
the hangars. Tharp stated that the 6 units at their planned price would
generate about $25,000 per year for the airport, Bishop asked about getting
down payments on the leases and Tharp responded. Tharp stated that he
wanted to get through the state grant process and they would start: marketing
these hangars for pre -lease. Tharp stated he was planning a 3-5 year initial
lease which would be a guarantee for any loan dollars they might need.
Lawrence asked about any sublease terms, Tharp noted that he wouldn't
have an issue with it. Tharp stated that he anticipated offering the hangars
to current tenants as an hangar exchange or anyone else that would be
interested and then backfill the hangar space as necessary from the waiting
list. Lawrence asked about any special consideration for Marion tenants who
might be displaced. Tharp stated that Marion was going back out for a 211d
RFP and he believed that Marion would get sorted out and remain open.
Tharp stated he would also update city staff regarding the plans, so that they
were aware of what potential dollars they were looking for.
b. Airport "Operations"
1. Budget — Tharp noted that they would be getting their farm rent check in the
near future so their incomes would look better. He also stated they were
about maxed out on the fuel flowage fees budget line so they would be
getting more revenue than projected from that.
ii. Management — Tharp stated that he sent out message to hangar tenants
and the Commission regarding a memo from the FAA that called for the
cancelation of the VOR-A approach. Tharp encouraged .members to contact
the FAA email address if they wished to help advocate for the approach.
Tharp also stated that they still need to present the Annual Report to the
Council. Tharp stated that the upcoming meetings for council would be May
6 and May 20. Lawrence stated he would attend with Pfohl. Lawrence
confirmed what all was to be said and Tharp stated that he would email the
annual report back out to everyone.
1. Hangar Ground Lease (Hangar 319er) — Story stated that he was
hoping one of the group members would have attended the meeting.
Story stated that he still had concerns with the rent they were giving
up and when the rent does begin, they were paying the rent rate that
would be in place today. Tharp stated that the group had pre-
arranged travel plans that conflicted with the meeting night. Tharp
stated that all the proposals started with the 30-year length and as
they talked about what improvements needed to be done things
moved. Bishop asked Tharp if he believed this was a Fair deal and
as good as we were able to get. Tharp confirmed.
2. Public Hearing — Lawrence opened the public hearing at 6:27,
Lawrence closed the public hearing at 6.34
3. Consider a resolution approving an agreement with Hangar
319er, LLC for a ground lease to construct hangar. Pfohl
moved resolution #A25-07, seconded by Story. Motion carried
4-0, (Orozco Absent)
C.
d.
e.
Airport Commission
April 10, 2025
Page 3 of 5
a. Consider a resolution setting a public hearing on a
commercial business agreement with Hangar 319er —
Tharp stated that he let the group know that it would be a
good idea to be at the next meeting. Bishop moved
resolution A25.08, seconded by Pfohl. Motion carried 4-
0. (Orozco Absent)
4. Summer Intern
a. Consider a resolution approving a memorandum of
understanding with McClure for an intern - Tharp noted
that he and Adam had been talking, even before the
engineering selection process about having an intern come
to the airport. Tharp stated they held it through the selection
process because they didn't want it to impact the selection
process. Tharp noted that the idea was an intern would
spend some time at the airport helping out with various tasks
and getting a hands on experience with managing an airport.
Tharp noted that the agreement was such that the intern was
being paid by McClure. Schwickerath noted that she wanted
to make sure everyone was clear this was a McClure intern.
Story moved resolution #A25.09, seconded by Lawrence
Motion carried 4-0. (Orozco Absent)
iii. Events — Tharp stated they had the EAA Ford Tri-motor this past weekend
and did not get the B-25 in. Tharp stated that the B-25 had a requirement
for pre -sale rides that wasn't quite hit. Tharp noted he had spoken with the
EAA chapter president and that over 200 people had taken rides. Lawrence
asked if there was a way to use airport funds to have a raffle or drawing to
give away a donated flight. Tharp noted that was probably a question for
Schwickerath. Tharp noted the next event was an autocross event.
Lawrence asked if we've ever tried to coordinate with the EAA for events
when we have the pancake breakfast or other events. Tharp stated he did
mention that when he spoke with Keith and that they were looking to get
more involved.
1. Summer of the Arts Movies (May 17, June 21, July 19, Aug 9)
2. Young Eagles (Aug 16th)
3. Pancake Breakfast (Aug 24)
4. Autocross (April 13, June 8, Sept 14, Oct 19)
5. EAA 33 Tri-motor/B-25 (April 4.6)
FBO 1 Flight Training Reports
i. Jet Air —Tharp stated the guys were doing the winter to summer equipment
transition. Wolford stated he didn't have a lot of updates. Bishop stated flight
training has been really busy.
Commission Members" Reports -- Lawrence asked about the grass ops, Tharp
stated that once Matt was back they would rent a roller and roll the ground and that
he had talked to Ryan before the meeting about volunteering to help.
Staff Report — Tharp stated that he was going to be out of office early Friday and
that next week he'd be at the IPAA conference. Tharp also stated that Lawrence's
seat on the Commission expires this summer and that applications were due by 5pm
Tuesday May 131". Tharp stated that the policy had been that after 2 terms the
Airport commission
April 10, 2025
Page 4 of 5
Council typically wanted folks to rotate off, but that if we wanted to continue he
should apply and members should advocate to the council.
i. State Aviation Conference Okoboji —(April 15-17)
ii. 4 States (FAA Central Region) Conference — Kansas City (August 20-
22)
SET NEXT REGULAR MEETING — Set the next meeting for May 81h. Bishop stated he would
be absent.
ADJOURN — Lawrence moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:55pm. Seconded by Bishop. Motion
carried 4-0. (Orozco Absent)
ZozS � 05-t�
CH RPERSON DATE
Airport Commission
April 10, 2026
Page 5 of 5
Airport Commission
ATTENDANCE RECORD
2024.2025
TERM
-S
-i
-*
®
_ ®
0
0
EXP.
ray
L
w
-L
w
a
i';3
-h
i s
d
d
iz;
d
w
d
w
d
N
d
iz
NAME
r.0�i
n�i
_
Warren
06/30/26
m
Bishop
OIE
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Christopher
06/30125
X
OIE
OIE
OIE
X
X
OIE
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
Lawrence
Hellecktra
06/30/28
X
OIE
X
X
OIE
X
OIE
X
x
01E
01E
x
OIE
Orozco
Judy Kohl
06/30/26
01E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
OIE
X
X
X
Ryan Story
06/30/27
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
irC y:
X = Present
XIE = Present for Part of Meeting
O = Absent
OIE = Absent/Excused
NM = Not a member at this time
XIS = Present for subcommittee meeting
O/S = Absent, not a member of the subcommittee
Item Number: 4.b.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 3, 2025
Community Police Review Board: April 15
Attachments: Community Police Review Board: April 15
CPRB — Final Minutes
April 15, 2025
Page 1
Call to Order:
Members Present:
Members Absent:
Staff Present:
Others Present:
Community Police Review Board
Minutes — April 15, 2025
Chair Mekies called the meeting to order at 5:28 p.m.
Jerri MacConnell, Saul Mekies, Jessica Hobart -Collis,
David Schwindt, Maurine Braddock
Melissa Jensen, Colette Atkins
Staff Connie McCurdy, Legal Counsel Patrick Ford
Police Chief Dustin Liston
Recommendations to City Council:
■ None
Consent Calendar:
• Draft minutes from the March 11, 2025 meeting
• Correspondence from Mary McCann
Motion by MacConnell, seconded by Schwindt to adopt the consent calendar as presented.
Motion carried 4/0. Jensen and Atkins were absent. Braddock abstained.
New Business:
• None.
Old Business:
■ Identification of officers in public reports:
The Board continued discussing the identification of officers in public reports from the March 1 lt' meeting.
Police Chief Liston said they do not use the identification numbers for internal reporting because he knows the
identity of the officers. Liston said he would change it from the numbers and use Officer A, B etc. in his
reports. Board member Schwindt mentioned that it would be easier if Liston used Officer 1, 2, 3 etc. in the
reports because it would match up with the officers in the video. Liston agreed to Schwindt's suggestion.
Public Comment of Items not on the Agenda
■ None.
Board Information:
• Board member MacConnell would like more information about the shared Iowa City Police Department and
Johnson County Sheriff jail proposals.
Staff Information:
■ Board Chair Mekies introduced the new Board member Maurine Braddock.
CPRB — Final Minutes
April 15, 2025
Page 2
Tentative Meeting Schedule and Future Agendas (subject to change):
• May 13, 2025, 5:30 p.m. — Helling Conference Room
• June 10, 2025, 5:30 p.m. — Helling Conference Room
• July 08, 2025, 5:30 p.m. — Helling Conference Room
s August 12, 2025, 5:30 p.m. — Helling Conference Room
MacConnell stated she will not be at the August 12th meeting.
Executive Session:
Motion by Hobart -Collis, seconded by Schwindt, to adjourn to Executive Session based on Section 21.5(1)(a) of
the Code of Iowa to review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept
confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition for that government body's possession or continued receipt
of federal funds, and 22.7(11) personal information in confidential personnel records of public bodies including
but not limited to cities, boards of supervisors and school districts, and 22-7(5) police officer investigative reports,
except where disclosure is authorized elsewhere in the Code; and 22.7(18) Communications not required by law,
rule or procedure that are made to a government body or to any of its employees by identified persons outside of
government, to the extent that the government body receiving those communications from such persons outside of
government could reasonably believe that those persons would be discouraged from making them to that
government body if they were available for general public examination.
Open session adjourned: 5:36 p.m.
Return to Onen Session:
Returned to open session: 6:05 p.m.
Arijournment•
Motion by Hobart -Collis, seconded by Schwindt to adjourn.
Meeting adjourned: 6:06 p.m.
Community Police Review Board
Attendance Record
Year 2024-2025
Name
Term
06/11/24
07/09/24
08/20/24
09/10/24
10/08/24
10/16/24
11/12/24
12/10/24
O1/14/25
02/11/25
03/11/25
04/15/25
Expires
Forum
Colette
06/30/28
---
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
Atkins
Maurine
---
---
---
___
X
Braddock
Ricky
06/30/26
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
O/E
O/E
O/E
--
---
---
Downing
Jessica
Hobart-
06/30/26
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
Collis
Melissa
06/30/25
X
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
Jensen
Jerri
06/30/27
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
MacConnell
Saul Mekies
06/30/25
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
Amanda
06/30/24
X
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
Remington
David
06/30/28
---
X
O/E
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
Schwindt
Orville
06/30/24
X
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
Townsend
Key:
X = Present
O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = No Meeting
--- = Not a Member
Item Number: 4.c.
a
CITY OF IOWA CITY
"QR T-4 COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 3, 2025
Historic Preservation Commission: March 13
Attachments: Historic Preservation Commission: March 13
MINUTES APPROVED
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
MARCH 13, 2025 —5:30 PM —FORMAL MEETING
E M M A J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL
MEMBERS PRESENT: Margaret Beck, Carl Brown, Kevin Burford, Andrew Lewis, Ryan Russell,
Jordan Sellergren, Christina Welu-Reynolds, Frank Wagner, Nicole
Villanueva,
MEMBERS ABSENT: Deanna Thomann
STAFF PRESENT: Jessica Bristow
OTHERS PRESENT: Karen Leigh
CALL TO ORDER:
Lewis called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANYTHING NOT ON THE AGENDA:
None.
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
HPC25-0002: 1025 Woodlawn Avenue - Woodlawn Historic District (rear demolition and new addition
Bristow stated this house is located in the Woodlawn Historic District and it's a contributing property.
This was Commissioner Wagner's family's home and now has a new owner. The house has a main
hipped roof that has gable projections in three directions, and then a two-story extension off the back.
The architecture style is called Stick style, partly because of all of the ornamentation: there is a band
board across the top of the second -floor windows and across the top of the first floor windows, there's a
narrow lap siding and corner boards, and there is shingle that is forming the frieze board all the way
around the top of the house. The gables have an elaborate barge board and some of the Stick style
detail in the gable peak. Additionally, each of the projecting gables have a half-moon style window. She
pointed out that between the band board that's at the top of the first -floor windows and the sill of the
second floor windows, there is a section that has a half -cove shingle and not the same fish scale as
above, it's a slightly different pattern. The rest of the house has large double hung windows and there is
an elaborate front porch that wraps around the west side and has a Chinese lattice frieze.
Bristow stated this house, with the one-story rear projection that is to be replaced, is visible on the
oldest Sanborn map of the area so they are unsure exactly when it was constructed, but it's in a slightly
different style and it's not a finished structure on the inside and has had some remodeling over time.
Located on the back of the house, it has a clipped gable with board and batten siding. The window
pattern is a completely different style, likely in place by at least 1920 if not before. Bristow noted the
interior of the one-story addition is not in good condition and there are some holes in the roof, and it is
basically an unfinished structure on the inside. The owner was talking about it as like a canning shed
where they could keep canned goods and stuff like that. It is also a step down from the rest of the
house as well.
The proposal is to remove that structure in its entirety and build a new one-story structure that'll have a
laundry, bath and mud room area. Bristow also noted it's interesting that on the west side of the house
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
March 13, 2025
Page 2 of 8
there's a different Stick style ornamentation in the frieze board and on the detail of the one-story
projecting bay. Bristow next shared the assessor sketch of the house pointing out the one-story section
and that on the assessor's photo the east side of the structure is aligned with the east side of the
house. She stated that normally if they were to remove this portion, they would want to replace it with
an addition that is set in on both sides. However, in order to maximize the space, the recommendation
is to go ahead and have this in line as it has been for over 100 years already. The west side will still be
set in but not quite as much as it is currently, it will be about one foot bigger. The recommendation from
staff would just be that it is set in enough that the roof will terminate at the corner board and not project
beyond to match the others. The plan is to have double doors on the east side and there would be two
windows on the west side, a pair of windows on the south (which is the back of the house) and then it
will be open to the rest of the house on the north. From the rear elevations it shows that they will match
the corner boards, the water table, the lap siding. Bristow is unsure if they would use wood or a smooth
cement board or Hardie boards, staff feels any of those would be appropriate as long as they are
smooth. The windows would match the historic windows on the house, Bristow noted the proposal had
a triangular window in the rear facing gable however the staff recommendation would be to match the
gables on the house and use a half-moon window. It would also be appropriate just to have maybe a
small square attic style window in that location if the owner prefers.
Bristow stated the main roof on the house is called a gable on a hip roof, and a hip roof is like a
pyramid and slopes in all four directions. She stated it can be extended so it's longer with a central
ridge and still have slopes in all four directions. If they want to get light into that attic they can extend
the ridge further to make a flat area of wall to put a window in it. This is the gable -on -hip as shown in
the triangular windows here.
From the east elevation Bristow noted they're showing the house has a stone foundation and they've
talked about doing something similar to that and staff just would need to know from the applicants what
exactly they want to do. Bristow explained since this is an addition they could do anything from a rock -
faced concrete block or put some kind of a stone facing on it. She stated while they usually like to
match foundations, it's hard to match a stone foundation so the foundation material is open as long as
it's not a smooth concrete or something like that.
Bristow pointed out the east side won't have any windows, it will just be lap siding, but it does show a
pair of doors. The rest of the house has a band board at a certain height at the top of the doors and
windows and all doors and windows come to the height of that band board so staff would recommend
that these doors do that too. Staff suggests that the doors are the same height as the others on the
exterior of the house, and whether or not it is a pair of doors or a single door doesn't really matter.
The guidelines recommend that all the doors and windows are trimmed the same, preserving similar
pitches and to retain the corners of the building, to match the window types, sizes and matching a
window pattern. Bristow stated it appears from the application that the windows will match fairly well.
Bristow next reviewed the guidelines about demolition since they are demolishing a part of a historic
structure. However because that portion does not match the rest of the house and it's in poor condition
the new owner has a desire for construction so that she can have actual living space and make it a
permanent part of the house and have it match the rest of the house.
Staff recommends approval a Certificate of Appropriateness for the project at 1025 Woodlawn Avenue
as presented in the application with the following conditions:
The new gable peak matches the other gables on the house, instead of the gable -on -hip roof.
The west roof overhang terminates at or before the corner of the historic house and is verified in
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
March 13, 2025
Page 3 of 8
drawings.
Foundation, window and door product information is submitted for approval.
The new door opening is revised to match the height of existing doors.
Karen Leigh (1025 Woodlawn Avenue) purchased the house in May 2023 and stated it is her dream
house, except for that back portion which is an abomination. Additionally, she believes it was an
abomination the day it was built, it is her understanding it was a canning shed where they did canning
and there was a big stove and a summer kitchen back there. To comment on the staff
recommendations, she has issues with three out of four of them. Leigh noted there's one gable peak on
the east side that is much simpler and does not have the protrusion or the Stick style ornamentation.
The other three gable peaks that exist on the house are just much too heavy for the proportions of this
proposed addition so she would very much prefer to have that triangular window as it would add a
lightness, not only to the appearance but more light to the interior of that space. She is hoping to get
some passive solar energy to heat that space. Then regarding products, she is happy to submit and
comply with whatever the regulations are but as far as the new door opening revised to match existing
doors the only existing door on that side is on that small back kitchen porch and it's higher than the
proposed roof line of the addition so she is unsure how it would match. Her salvage doors are not that
tall but has also talked about having a Simpson door product manufactured that would match.
Bristow stated they could look at something like that or potentially Leigh could have the frame made so
that maybe there was a transom above the salvage doors.
Leigh next discussed condition number two, about the west overhang terminates at or before the corner
of the historic house. She really doesn't want that east side to just be one long continuation, it's 28 feet,
as it is right now and she's proposing to add two feet. She noted it's got a real Motel 6 vibe to it that she
would really like to get away from and would like to have that inset even if it was six inches. Bristow
stated it would be fine to have it inset. Leigh stated a lot of time and effort has gone into that floor plan,
because there are not only features that she wants to have on the outside, but there are features she
wants to have on the inside. For instance, there is an old granite sink top that she'd like to incorporate
into that bathroom and it's very wide. She'd also like to have the light that's coming through there
because that's a very dark corner of the house and there are no windows on the south to have light.
The light coming in is coming all the way into the east side and go all the way to the hall but in order to
achieve that there's going to be an overhang of 11" on the west side where there is currently no
overhang. Leigh stated however that 11" is not visible from the street view, it's behind the two story that
incorporates the bay on the west side, and it would minimize the overhang that already exists on the
east side that's currently 17" as it would be 11" and that would give her the width to have enough space
for a washer/dryer, the layout of the bathroom as she would like to see it, and a hallway that meets
construction standards.
Sellergren asked for clarification about the overhang. Bristow explained what Leigh is proposing is to
actually set the addition in on that side so that it'll only extend 11" and the corner will be exposed to the
house which would be closer to the guidelines than the existing condition, and then the other side
would have the same 11" overhang in order to have the addition centered. Leigh confirmed she would
like to center the addition on the back of the house as the symmetry appeals to her but to do so would
leave 11" of overhang on that side.
Lewis asked if the guidelines only specify wall, or is it also overhang. Bristow stated the guidelines talk
about preserving the original walls and vertical corners that define the massing of a historic building.
The reason that they usually terminate the roof is to avoid some of the things that they have seen
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
March 13, 2025
Page 4 of 8
happen like if they have a roof that comes down and suddenly has an awkward projecting triangle of
siding, or they have a hip roof that then has to wrap around the corner three dimensionally, so they
typically avoid those kinds of situations. On this house it's been covered for so long, it just sticks out.
To center the addition there are concerns but a portion of the house will block that from view and it
doesn't actually violate the guidelines. They would want to be sure to maintain the horizontal lines, per
the guidelines they want the east and west gutters to be at the same height as the bump out, because
that's the horizontal line that they need to match and they wouldn't want them to extend lower than that
or have it higher, it has to match that height.
Leigh stated the problem with that is that the entire addition would have to be taller and the only thing
she loved about the old addition was the proportions of it in scale to the rest of the house. If she is to
make it taller then she is going further up into that fish scale band that's on the south side.
Bristow noted the Commission can make an exception to the guidelines, but here they have a guideline
where the height of this frieze would match the eave and that's a prominent part of the guidelines.
Leigh stated she noticed as she walked down the alley on her side of Woodlawn the additions and
windows that have been done in relatively recent years, their horizontal lines are lower than the original
lines. For example, the house directly to the east of her, their last addition has everything significantly
lower, with the exception of the water table and the drip cap, and that she would like to have it the same
height, but everything above that she doesn't want that addition to be that tall.
Sellergren asked if there are any drawings that compare what Leigh is hoping to do to demonstrate the
difference. Leigh stated she has photographs on my phone. Sellergren would like to see drawings of
the complete addition, completed drawings of the addition in context of the rest of the house, to see
how the horizontal lines would work out.
Bristow stated photographs on a phone are not sufficient they need drawings to evaluate and if needed
they can defer it to another meeting so the applicant can produce drawings.
Beck asked if what Leigh is describing will require an exception and would the Commission have to
vote on that.
Reynolds stated personally, she is receptive to what Leigh is describing, it's just simply a matter of
making sure that if the Commission does need to approve this they would need a different illustration to
make sure that they go through the proper channels.
Leigh stated to make sure she is understanding what Beck wants, would it be the south side of the
original house with the addition on it where there would be a deviation. She also noted some of those
interior rooms are going to end up being 5' by 8' and to have a 10' ceiling those proportions would just
be ridiculous, it'd be like standing in a shoe box on end.
Sellergren would like to see drawings and/or elevations from the east and west side so they can see
what the horizontal lines will look like. She feels they need more information in the argument to make
the exception.
Bristow stated it's the top guideline, the one in question as far as the horizontal lines. Based on what
Leigh has described here at the meeting they have a few things that are not necessarily shown
accurately in the drawings. One, what happens with the door and the door height, and two what
happens with the eave condition. Bristow stated typically they do ask for a drawing that shows a
portion of the existing house and how the addition ties in as an elevation drawing. That is done to show
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
March 13, 2025
Page 5 of 8
they're matching the window patterning and that they match the same height, size and scale, and then
match the trim lines and such. Therefore, either the Commission writes an approval that says these
things will be matched, or if they really want to evaluate whether or not it's okay to make an exception
of the guidelines because they're not going to match, that's when they might want to have another
drawing.
Brown asked then can they request a normal and customary drawing that they see for most projects
that come before them. Bristow replied yes, any time the Commission needs to see more information is
common to defer the project until that's given. Brown asked if there is a concern with being able to
provide those drawings.
Leigh noted this was such a simple addition she didn't feel it needed those drawings.
Sellergren stated it's a very prominent historic home in a very prominent historic neighborhood, so they
really have to be careful.
Leigh stated it is her understanding because this is on the backside of the house and nothing is visible
from the street view, that those kinds of exceptions were acceptable.
Reynolds noted it states matching key horizontal lines and this is the back of the house so she doesn't
see this as a key horizontal line and thinks the argument is about the scale, that if they go up too high
up, it's going to go into that and that's going to look worse. It's not about the bump outs on the house,
there's two bump outs before that back section and it's not going to be seen and it's not going to be that
much lower than the other sight lines so she would have no problem approving this to have that roof a
little bit lower. This is obviously a homeowner that is very particular about this house and this is well
thought out. She noted they're not trying to set a precedence, but this is also what they're supposed to
do and are supposed to look at something like this and if it makes sense not to have it go higher to not
force it. She wouldn't want an addition that small to have a 10' ceiling in it, that wouldn't work. Looking
down the side of the house they can see that there's a bump out, and then there is the addition, no one
is going to see that roof line from the front of the house. Personally, she doesn't have any issues as a
member of this Commission to approve lowering that sight line lower.
Beck agrees, but it was just simply a question about procedure and if it rises to the level where it
requires an exception and what do they routinely ask for to grant exceptions.
Bristow stated they routinely ask for an addition to show a portion of the house, because there are no
dimensions on this drawing so they don't know where that ridge line hits.
Sellergren stated she can't vote based on the drawings provided, it's just not enough information. She
can't make a logical decision based on what they've seen. Sellergren thinks they could defer to the
next meeting and have the applicant bring in another drawing. A lot of them would feel a lot more
comfortable with that, they need more to work with and more information than they have right now.
MOTION:
Sellergren moves to defer to a point where they have more thorough drawings.
Brown seconds.
Beck feels like in the case of significant disagreement, the prudent course of action is to defer it, rather
than try to push anything through tonight.
Brown noted they don't have to have consensus, but don't need one to vote. He is concerned if asking
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
March 13, 2025
Page 6 of 8
for additional drawings puts an excessive burden on an applicant, they now need an architectural
drawing when they weren't planning on doing one. They might be able to comply with all but one
exception based on what was shown tonight but it does seem reasonable to him for them to ask for a
more complete drawing like they see with most projects, even if it's a hand drawn on graph paper, just
something that shows the existing house and the change.
Reynolds noted the only question is the height of the roof line coming down, everything else was
spelled out like what materials they're going to use, etc. It's just the addition is kind of wonky to the one
side and it's going to get centered, and it's going to look just like that with the materials listed. She
stated it's just the roof is going to be lower and her vote is based on the fact that because it's the back
of the house. She feels it is probably going to be within inches to possibly a foot. This is somebody
who cares very much about the home and wants to preserve it, and this Commission needs to work
with people to make that happen.
Sellergren feels if this is an exception then she needs to see the correct drawings with dimensions.
Russell agreed and said with just pictures it's hard to see where those lines will be and needs
architectural drawings.
Brown added they have had cases like this in the past where they had a well-intentioned homeowner
and with all of the care for the house and the project and the historic neighborhood and so on, and they
are still cautious about making a motion and then approving a motion that allows a broad interpretation.
His concern is if they proceed with a project where they don't have a good idea of what it will look like in
conjunction with the rest of the structure then does that open up for approval of some other project
where they also can't quite see what it is, and that outcome will not be as nice as what this one will be.
Bristow stated she often asks for a drawing that showed the rest of the house, however she was sick
for a week that there was limited time.
Beck noted staff had a motion for the Commission to consider, and then there was some rethinking of
what was proposed.
Sellergren asked can staff and the property owner work together between now and the next meeting
and develop and work on new drawings and a more thorough example, so the Commission actually has
something that gives more information with regarding the guidelines that they can vote on.
Beck stated Brown's mention of precedent is a good one. There's been some reasonable back and
forth in the room, there was staff recommendation, the applicant had some input, individual people on
the Commission have expressed receptiveness to all of this so it's simply a matter of treating everyone
fairly when they ask for an exception.
A vote was taken and the motion passed 9-0.
REPORT ON CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY CHAIR AND STAFF:
Certificate of No Material Effect -Chair and Staff review:
HPC24-0102: 611 North Governor Street- Goosetown/Horace Mann Conservation District (siding and
trim repair and replacement):
Bristow stated this is the Weatherby house at 611 North Governor Street and it is just basically a
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
March 13, 2025
Page 7 of 8
painting and repair project. There's some siding and trim that has deteriorated that'll need to be
replaced, and an overall painting project, the Historic Preservation Fund is helping with this project.
HPC25-0005: 317 Church Street - Northside Historic District (addition of two bath vents and one
laundry vent):
Bristow stated this was just the installation of some vents in the rear portion of the house.
CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 13, 2025:
MOTION: Wagner moves to approve the minutes of the Historic Preservation Commission's
February 13, 2025, meeting. Villanueva seconded the motion The motion carried on a vote of
9-0.
COMMISSION DISCUSSION
Work Plan Update:
Bristow stated she is hoping to take time very soon to start doing the map updates that Kevin Boyd had
gone through when he was chair of the Commission for the Northside. This will give them some ideas
about properties that might change classification.
Brown asked how a property changes classification. Bristow stated for many reasons, a house can
have alterations removed and bring back historic character to make it contributing. Also houses that
were considered non historic because they were built in 1948 would be historic now and it could just be
a matter of are they noncontributing because they don't fit the story the district, probably. She stated
there could then be other things to make a house go from contributing to noncontributing, but there is
less of that. Bristow will begin working on this and if it's something where she finds a way that maybe
the subcommittee could do a little leg work, she might reach out, otherwise she will do the work in
looking at the properties and then come back with a report for the Commission with the proposed
changes.
ADJOURNMENT
Sellergren moved to adjourn the meeting. Wagner seconded The motion carried on a vote of
9-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:37 pm
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD
2024-2025
TERM
4/24
5/22
6/13
7/11
8/8
9/12
10/10
11/14
12/12
1/9
2/13
3/13
NAM E
EXP.
BECK,
6/30/27
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
MARGARET
BROWN,
6/30/26
X
O/E
X
O/E
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
CARL
BURFORD,
6/30/27
---
---
---
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
KEVI N
LEWIS,
6/30/26
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
ANDREW
RUSSELL,
6/30/27
---
---
---
O/E
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
O/E
X
X
RYAN
SELLERGREN,
6/30/25
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
JORDAN
STORK, NOAH
6/30/24
X
X
X
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
THOMANN,
6/30/26
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
DEANNA
VILLANUEVA,
6/30/25
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
O/E
O/E
X
NICOLE
WAGNER,
6/30/26
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
FRANK
WELU-
6/30/25
O/E
X
O/E
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
REYNOLDS,
CHRISTINA
KEY: X = Present
O = Absent
O/E= Absent/Excused
--- = Not a member
Item Number: 4.d.
I, CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 3, 2025
Historic Preservation Commission: April 10
Attachments: Historic Preservation Commission: April 10
MINUTES APPROVED
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
APRI L 10, 2025 — 5:30 PM —FORMAL MEETING
E M M A J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL
MEMBERS PRESENT: Margaret Beck, Kevin Burford, Andrew Lewis, Ryan Russell, Jordan
Sellergren, Deanna Thomann, Nicole Villanueva
MEMBERS ABSENT: Frank Wagner, Carl Brown, Christina Welu-Reynolds
STAFF PRESENT: Jessica Bristow, Anne Russett
OTHERS PRESENT: Luke McLeran, Mike Nolan, Peter Byler
CALL TO ORDER:
Lewis called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANYTHING NOT ON THE AGENDA:
None.
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS:
HPC25-0006: 1221 Sheridan Avenue -Longfellow Historic District (addition and garage conversion):
Russett noted this property is located in the Longfellow Historic District, it is a single story, minimal
traditional home. She next showed an image of the proposed addition, the existing garage, the existing
footprint of the home and then the east elevation of the home which will not be changing as part of this
project. Russett shared the existing west elevation and noted where the applicant is proposing the new
addition to the home, and she shared the plans for the addition. Russett noted the proposal includes
keeping the four original corners of the home and the addition is proposed to be set in from the existing
walls, additionally they are proposing to convert the garage space to living space. The plans also show
that they are incorporating windows that match the type and size of the historic windows in the home.
Russett stated the addition is also simple and formed to compliment the minimal traditional home and
even though the garage is being converted to living space they are keeping the appearance of a garage
door from the exterior and proposing an appropriate new garage door.
Russett next reviewed the guidelines and mentioned the exceptions. Section 3.2 of the guidelines allow
for the Commission to incorporate some flexibility into proposals, and they may consider exceptions for
uncommon situations. Russett explained the intent of exceptions is to allow alternative designs due to
exceptional circumstances. In approving an exception, the Commission must identify the guideline for
which an exception is being made and the rationale for the exception. She stated in this case, in the
guidelines for additions, one of the recommendations is that they place the building addition at the rear
of the property if possible, and Russett stated that is not possible in this in this case so staff is
recommending approval with an exception. The rationale for the exception being that the addition to the
rear is not possible as the home is approximately 10 feet from the southern property line.
Staff is recommending approval of this certificate of appropriateness, as presented in the staff report,
through an exception to the guidelines allowing an addition to the side of the home due to the lot
configuration that does not allow a rear addition subject to two conditions:
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 2 of 14
1. Window and door product is approved by staff.
2. Historic siding and trim configuration is documented and reviewed by staff.
Burford asked if the new proposed garage doors are practical, do they open and shut, or are they just
there for appearance. Russett replied that they're there for appearance.
Thomann asked again why the back side of the house would not be sufficient space for the addition.
Russett stated that according to guidelines that the City has for construction they would need to
maintain a five foot setback from the southern property line and the home is approximately 10 feet from
that southern property line so they would only have five feet for an addition, which isn't practical.
Thomann asked if this addition is approximately doubling the size of the house. Russett replied it's less
than double, it is significant, but the house is very small to begin with.
Luke McLeran (1221 Sheridan Ave.) is the homeowner and he and his wife own this home with their
young son who will be two in May. McLeran stated they love the neighborhood and feel like they found
a great place that they love and they hope to watch their son walk to school from there. This addition
just lets them grow their family and continue to grow and stay in a neighborhood that they love so they
hope the Commission will support and help them do that.
Mike Nolan (Horizon Architecture) is the project architect and thinks that the application is pretty
straightforward, and they designed well within the historic preservation guidelines. He did clarify that
they did look at going to the south but they would only be able to get about five feet for the addition and
as Russett pointed out they wanted to preserve the historic four corners of the property and anything
that they did that would move to the south side of the property would pretty much run afoul of the other
massing guidelines for the addition. Nolan noted the property is kind of odd because the frontage off of
Sheridan is pushed further to the side street so there's not really any room to expand, it's almost like
the backyard is a front yard, plus it is a corner lot to deal with. Therefore, they feel like this is the most
historically sensitive way to approach the addition.
Lewis noted the main concern with exceptions is just always making sure that they're not opening up a
door for precedents. Nolan stated he understood but it is technically infeasible to move to the back of
the property.
Thoman asked what year the home was originally built. Nolan replied it was built in 1941
MOTION: Sellergren moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for the project at 1221
Sheridan Avenue as presented in the staff report through an exception to the guidelines
allowing an addition to the side of the home due to the lot configuration that does not allow a
rear addition subject to the following conditions: (1) window and door product is approved by
staff and (2) historic siding and trim configuration is documented and reviewed by staff. Beck
seconded the motion.
Burford stated although not preferred, it seems the project is well within the spirit of the guidelines so he
would be in support of it.
Sellergren feels the same way, assuming the exterior elements are matched and approved by staff as
much as possible and given the spirit of exceptions for this specific purpose of the restrictive property
lines, this seems accommodating and understandable.
Thomann noted the charm of the home as it is, it's a 1941 home and small homes were built around
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 3 of 14
that time. It almost like they're doubling the size of the home but she realizes this is a this is a difficult
lot and there isn't space in the back.
Villanueva thinks the recommended addition is going to fit in really well and it's going to work
seamlessly with that neighborhood and especially that street so for her that's not a concern, it will fit
with the character of that neighborhood.
Lewis noted a concern that looking at it the garage ends up being in the middle of the house, which
does feel a little odd, it is symmetrical but that's not where garages tend to go but acknowledged they
are trying to work with a difficult lot and they're doing that to follow the guidelines.
Sellergren stated personal feelings about maintaining an unused garage door simply for appearances
when it could be functional, like a window opening instead.
Russell noted the elevations make it look like there will be three different levels to the front of the
house, the addition isn't equal to the front and the other side of the garage is set farther back. Bristow
noted that the house itself is basically a rectangle with the front gable that projects and then the garage
projects further and the addition will be set in from that main box of the rectangle. Again, the four
corners are preserved just as if the addition were on the back of the house.
A vote was taken and the motion passed 7-0.
HPC25-0009: 203 North Linn Street - Local Historic Landmark (alteration to front facade):
Russett stated this is a local historic landmark but it's not within a district. The building is a three story
mid-19th century Greek Revival building that was built around 1862 and it has an addition in 1893 that
more than doubled it. It's listed in the National Register of Historic Places in addition to being a local
historic landmark. She noted the section of the nomination that outlines the building's significance was
included in the staff report but she also wanted to highlight a few of the items. It's significant as a rare
surviving commercial property type in Iowa City and it's characterized by a size and scale larger than
most of its contemporaries. The nomination notes that it's not a narrow, attached storefront catering to
retail customers in the downtown, and it's also not an industrial or commercial business located at the
edge of town, where access by rail or wagon would be common. Instead, is located near mixed
residential and retail blocks where walking was the primary means of getting around.
The owner is proposing to add a secondary entrance along the North Linn Street facade. Some of the
goals from this application include breaking up the size of the commercial space into two commercial
spaces on the first floor. Another goal is to renovate the residential units that occupy the second and
third story of the building. Russett next shared the two set of plans the applicant provided. In version
one the new storefront would be along the eastern North Linn Street fagade and is accessed through
concrete stairs and a landing. The new door would lead into an interior vestibule with access to the
commercial space and access to the residential units above via stairs. Based on the renovations that
are envisioned for the second and third story, the residential units would require another access so they
have added a staircase. Russett shared the elevations noting the new entrance proposed at the center
of the north half of the building, and the storefront is proposed in the center of that addition. In version
two the proposed secondary entrance is shown with steps leading directly to a vestibule, also on North
Linn Street, but the vestibule is not enclosed and exposed to the outside. She noted it's also in a
different location on the facade. From this vestibule, there would be again access to the commercial
space and then access to the residential units on the second and third floor via a staircase. With
version two, the location of the new entrance aligns with the rhythm of the facade and the corner
entrance more so than the first version.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 4 of 14
In review of this application staff requested that the applicant explore modifying the southern facade
along Market Street. This was requested this for a couple of reasons, first they know that the southern
facade has been altered so alterations to the southern facade could include a new storefront door and
new windows to bring light into the space. There's also an existing ramp that staff thought could
potentially be used for an accessible entrance. Staff met with the applicant earlier this week and he
expressed that the southern facade was not an option and he can share those details later with the
Commission. Another reason staff wanted them to explore the south is that they didn't find any
evidence that a second storefront ever existed on the east facade. Based on the Sanborn Maps they
know that two uses did exist on the first floor however both uses could have been accessed through
that corner entrance. Russett showed the Sanborn Map from 1899 which showed a bakery there and
then a restaurant to the north noting they would access the restaurant through the bakery, through an
opening in the wall. Similarly, that was the case when it was a hotel in the 1920s.
The guidelines used for this review are the Secretary of Interior standards for rehabilitation. Some
things to keep in mind as they consider this application include the new use should require minimal
changes to distinctive material, removal of distinctive material should be avoided, distinctive features
should be preserved, and exterior alterations will not destroy historic material or features. Russett also
wanted to note, similar to the last item, the Commission does have the ability to consider exceptions to
the guidelines for uncommon situations. She also wanted to note that staff sees many benefits to this
project, the applicant would be working to get the first -floor commercial space occupied with new
businesses and staff has heard from the Downtown District that larger commercial spaces are
especially difficult to lease because people need smaller spaces and this would create two smaller
spaces that may be easier to lease than one large space. The applicant is also looking at renovating
the second and third floor and converting the single room occupancy units to actual dwelling units on
the second and third floor and providing another egress to get in and out of the building in case of an
emergency. However, staff does have some outstanding questions that they would like some time to
work through with the applicant. If the Commission is open to another storefront along North Linn Street
staff could work with the applicant and make some modifications to the versions. There are also some
improvements that are going to need to be made in the right of way to provide access to the building
because the staircase and the landing would be in the public right of way which needs to be approved
by the Public Works department. Then, depending on the direction the applicant goes, the access to
the storefront may need to be accessible so that's something that staff would like to work through as
well. Therefore, staff is requesting that this item be deferred to work through items and also for them to
get some feedback on how the Commission feels about an additional storefront on North Linn Street
and considering an exception so staff can work with the applicant on that moving forward.
Sellergren asked if there are currently residences up on the second and third floor. Russett replied yes,
she would describe it as single room occupancy and not technically dwelling units with bathrooms and
kitchens. There's no kitchen and it's just shared bathrooms and living space. Sellergren asked if a new
entrance is required. Russett stated that the understanding from the City's building department is yes.
Russell noted he has eaten in the restaurant that was there before, and the one before that, so the
information about smaller spaces are easier to lease is coming from the Downtown District. Russett
confirmed that was correct.
Peter Byler (203 N. Linn Street) is the owner and is also the wood shop teacher at City High School.
He and his wife were able to buy this building a couple months ago and are requesting an approval of
the second entrance tonight. He shared some slides of their building and gave a little bit of the history.
Like Commissioner Russell said it had been the restaurants Goosetown and Northside and then going
all the way back it was the Union Bakery and Tap and connected to the brewery across the street. It's
been several other bakeries and always affordable units for rent upstairs when it wasn't a hotel. Byler
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 5 of 14
stated he is also privileged to own two other buildings in this block so it is a very special block to him
and his wife and they intend to be very long term owners and stewards of this property. He next shared
an idea of what would be going in upstairs. Without a second egress he is allowed to put four units
upstairs. To keep the historical spirit of the building alive they're trying to put as many small studio
apartments in as possible and therefore are going to renovate it to be seven small studio units on each
floor. Byler noted their goal is that people who live there now will still be able to live there. Currently
they have people who wait tables at the Bluebird and cook pizzas at Pagliai's that live there now and
hope that they can still live there when they are done with renovations. However, they need to make it
a modern building in some regards, including each unit having its own bathroom and kitchen. He stated
by code once they go above four units, they need to have two egress exits and they have to be
separated by a certain distance. The interesting thing about this building is when it was added onto the
brick north wall of the original building remains and in the attic they are able to look at the old building.
The old roof is still there, the old wall is still there, so the only way to get a staircase through that is to
go parallel to the hallway. That also works best because it takes the least amount of living space away.
To go parallel to the hallway they end up having to come out on Linn Street. If they don't have the
ability to add that second egress they are still going to renovate the building, or someone will renovate
the building, but they will only be able to put four units in, two units on the second floor and two units on
the top floor, and those will be four bedroom, four bathroom luxury student condos like everywhere else
in town. Byler stated they want to try to honor the history of the building, which is not luxury student
apartments and by adding 14 units upstairs their total resident load will not go down nearly as much
and they can rent to people who work in the neighborhood. On the commercial level, the reason that
the south facade does not work is if they try to divide the space with a wall going that way there is the
kitchen to work around. When they added on to the building, they added the L shape and put a
basement under the whole section to the north, but they didn't excavate the rest and its above grade.
Therefore, that kitchen is 18 inches higher and there are two ramps to get out of the kitchen. If they
tried to make that the front of one of the businesses, they would have to go in and re -excavate the
building and take it down to the level of the street outside. Otherwise to move the kitchen, moving all of
the plumbing and all of the electrical would be hundreds of 1000s of dollars, just moving the vent hood
would probably cost $100,000. This kitchen has always been there since this was added onto in 1892,
while they are doing some abatement work they can see where the original flu stacks were in the floor
and where the original ovens were. Therefore, historically it makes sense to divide it down the original
line, down the original wall that was always there and economically it's the only way that makes sense.
What they would end up with is a staircase that's running down the dividing wall, connecting third floor
to second floor to first floor, and then right out on the Linn Street.
Byler continued with a little bit of the history to again note why other openings aren't feasible. He
pointed out Don's Central Tap and the windows that used to exist. Those windows aren't there
anymore, because there is a beautiful flower shop that was built right next to it. That flower shop,
Willow and Stocks is not a separate building, it shares their wall. So again, one option is for the opening
is a swing -out door that's flush to the front, it has to be a swing -out door for egress. If they have a
swing -out from the flush facade, they have to have a landing outside and they are very limited on the
amount of right of way they have. They're also limited on their swing and are locked into this railing and
staircase down to the side, which is fine and he thinks is going to look really cute on their building.
Option number two is matching the idea of the stairs they already have, which is a recessed door and
the landing would be within the building envelope, and then the stairs coming down would again look
just like the stairs that are already there.
Byler next wanted to talk about fitting into the neighborhood and the shared history. This building and
the building right across the street are the two remaining buildings from the brewery era in Iowa City.
The Union Brewery building with its beautiful grand corner staircase, which wasn't always there but was
brought back, and they have a second door just like he is wanting a second door. That second door
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 6 of 14
isn't used currently, but that door is in their facade and no one walks by the Union Brewery and
wonders if it is one building or two buildings, it's obviously one beautiful building with two entrances off
of Linn Street, one's just not currently used. On the Market Street side the Union Brewery has a number
of entrances, and all of them are the style that Byler is describing where the stairs sweep out from the
building instead of turning immediately with a railing, they all sweep right out onto the sidewalk on
Market Street. He shared an image of the Union Brewery building in the 1970s before they made it look
historic, in this image they can see they didn't have the corner stairs nor the other door. They had
replacement windows, just like the building he owns has replacement windows. They went back in and
put in windows that look historic, door that look historic and the beautiful corner entrance. The reason
Byler's building is a little more constrained is because of the public right of way. Byler also stated Ron
Knoche does not get into designing the right of way with applicants before Commission approval and
that's why he hasn't approved it. Byler talked with Knoche yesterday and he said it shouldn't be a
problem he just doesn't give the approval because he doesn't want to waste his time if the Commission
goes the other way. Byler showed the right of way and the sidewalk in the right of way in front of his
building at the corner, the sidewalk then shifts across Market Street, it shifts two feet to the west and
the walking part of the sidewalk along Linn Street shifts. Because it shifts two feet they have to stay off
of that sidewalk and obviously can't impinge on the sidewalk so they need to get up and off of the
sidewalk elevation and into their building in a hurry, which is why they need to set their door back. They
can't have the landing out because then they're out of space.
Byler showed the view that will be seen on Linn Street, there will be the steps up that will go into what
will once again be a bakery. They have people lined up who are going to operate a bakery in this
space, if they're able to split it. They also have people that are very excited to lease the other side, but
he can't say too much about that yet. Where the bushes are is where they want to add a matching
staircase with a matching set of recess doors and the stairs would match the other stairs coming down
to the right of way again, staying off the sidewalk. Byler stated again, economically without this
entrance they are going to end up with four luxury student condos upstairs and a bar in the commercial
space because the only people that can afford big commercial spaces in Iowa City are people that sell
alcohol. They don't want to go that direction, they want a bakery because that's what it was originally
and it'd be neat to bring it back.
A little note about recessed doors, Byler stated when one walks down their favorite strips in Iowa City,
every door is recessed, they are recessed because they can't swing a door out into the sidewalk. He
showed an image of the Park House Hotel building, which is just a block away from his building, and
the Park House building is the same vintage of building. Their main front door is recessed three feet
back into the building as well, the door swings out and one comes down the stairs. So for Byler's
building to do this would not look out of place at all in Iowa City or in the neighborhood.
Byler acknowledged he could talk about this building forever, to tell all the history. There's an elevator
in Brewery Square, or what used to be an elevator now they use a ladder, but halfway down to the beer
caves there's a strange cut out in the wall that was to get the kegs across the street to the tap without
being taxed or later when it was illegal. They intend to try to see where it used to go and maybe
someday that'll be a neat historic tour feature of the neighborhood. In closing Byler wanted to state it
costs him about $25,000 a month in lost rent for a delay so he's asking for a decision at this meeting.
They will stay within the confines of the Secretary of Interiors guidelines to the letter, to the 10th degree
and they are happy to bring back the materials and show everyone but he needs to know that he can
put another entrance on this street because it completely changes the business plan for every level of
this building if he can't put another entrance on Linn Street. Again, it's a choice between four luxury
student condos and a lounge or a bakery and a neat little shop next to it and 14 affordable units
upstairs. That's the reality.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 7 of 14
Mike Nolan (Horizon Architecture) noted Byler did a fantastic job of lining out the why of this building,
and the passion behind it and one of the things that highlights why this is a historic landmark and why it
is an enduring historic structure is because it's been able to maintain its viability throughout time. Over
time it has expanded, it started as a small building on the corner, then got wrapped around when the
other buildings came about, and then and now served as a boarding house. They are basically looking
to bring it into the 21 st century the best way they can trying to find the most sensitive ways of bringing
up to modern codes, modern standards, to meet egress, to meet all of the life safety and protection and
to maintain economic viability. Nolan stated they do a lot of historic work around the state and with
other cities so they are very familiar with the Secretary of Interiors historic preservation guidelines. He
noted it's a little bit different than the City's historic guidelines as basically the Secretary of Interiors is
kind of a framework for how they want us to address properties, and then there's another portion of
that, the preservation briefings. Nolan next discussed how they developed the project. Looking at the
project he didn't think that they were asking for an exception he thinks that they're well within the
historic guidelines. So they have put together, point by point starting under analysis, a few things they
wanted to address that they just don't necessarily agree with the way that it was presented by staff and
to give an alternate or a little bit of different context. First is these facades and the openings have been
altered, Nolan doesn't agree with that for a couple reasons. One is they don't know what was there
because there are no historic photographs available of this building. Byler has spent several times at
the historic preservation and there's nothing to show what happened with that building. Additionally, as
Nolan looked at the images of the east side elevations, he noted they can see a difference of the
original brick, which has a distinctive pattern and surface texture to it, and then at the bottom there's
actually a different color on the mortar and a different color of the brick. The original bricks are an
original eight inch full brick and the bricks down at the bottom are a seven and a half inch brick, clearly
filled in at a later date. So obviously it has been altered at some point in the past and not part of the
historic portion of the building.
Next, looking at the Sanborn Maps there is a note that was referenced for the Sanborn Map stating that
there was never an entrance on the east side of the building. Nolan doesn't think they can say that
equivocally. Looking at the Sanborn Maps there's a couple of references on here that's actually telling
the type of construction of the building, and that shows up in a couple of different places. So they can't
say equivocally from the Sanborn Maps that there never was an entrance on the east side of the
building, they can't say that there wasn't one especially given the fact that there's been some entrances
and changes to the store fronts, so it's entirely possible that there was at some point. Then the staff
report cites Section 10, there's one through six and a couple that are left out and then number nine.
One of those historic guidelines omitted, he thinks it's number eight says exterior and interior alterations
to a historic building are generally needed as part of a rehabilitation project to ensure its continued use.
The guidelines understand that from time to time historic buildings do need to be altered and changes
can be appropriate when done in that manner. So again, Nolan doesn't think that they're looking at an
exception, they're just looking at how they adhere to the guidelines based off of the preservation briefs.
Section number four, altering the east facade with the second storefront would have a negative impact
in historical character and significance of the building. As they look at the building, some of the concern
is if they put another storefront on there are they going to look at tall, narrow storefronts. What they see
across the east facade of this building in particular is a pattern of opacity and bays that's either the
window or the opening on the corner. With option number two by recessing back they can see that the
door is kind of obscured in shadow, they're looking to push that door back, keep the transom and
minimize the impact of that door. The pattern does not get interrupted in the vertical whatsoever and
the continuous building still maintains its shaping, massing and character. As Byler discussed they'd
love to just keep the exterior exactly the way it is but there are forces on the interior, the adaptive reuse
and the renovation of the building, and current building codes that are pushing them to a direction
where they have to do some of these interventions. They did look at the southern facade but one of the
big concerns is that brick wall. If they could bring a stairway out the other side, in addition to the
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 8 of 14
disruption of the current space and the use on the first floor, it would be then further damaging the
historic character the building and historic assemblies by having to get into that brick wall that's in
between the original buildings. And again, number six the rhythm of the openings, they're not doing
anything to adjust the rhythm of the openings, the spacing, things along that line, if anything they're
being the most sensitive they can to get the current needs and the modern needs of the building and
bring up the economic viability of the building. They are looking at very minimal intervention, they will be
happy to salvage material, but they are proposing minimal intervention on the exterior the building that
would be 100% reversible some point down the road.
Nolan reviewed the guidelines that were cited. One, there are minimal changes to distinctive material
features, spaces and spatial relationships. They are right in line with guideline number one. Historic
character will be properly retained and preserved. They're trying to keep the historic character and
historic function so Nolan believes they are in line with guideline number two and no exception is
required. Property is a character of physical time and place, he doesn't think they're talking about
anything false by adding another entrance here, they're not saying that the building wasn't commercial,
they're not saying anything different with that so they don't need exception to number three. Four,
retain to preserve and by keeping the building functional viable they are preserving the character of the
building and are caring that for the future. Distinctive material, finish and construction techniques will
be preserved, absolutely the only thing that they're looking to take out is a small strip of non -historic
brick, and they can certainly preserve and keep that wood trim if somebody wants to use that in the
future. Six, deteriorated features will be repaired rather than replaced. Nolan noted the building is in
good condition so again he doesn't think that's applicable with what they're asking to do here. Finally,
nine that additional alterations will not destroy historic materials. Nolan stated they are not destroying
any features, again they are doing moderate intervention and they'll be happy to retain any of that trim.
They're looking at that balance of the historic preservation guidelines understanding that from time to
time changes to the building need to be made to continue to be part of the City's stock of housing.
Again he would argue that they don't require an exception, they really would just like an up or down
vote so they can move forward. Regarding Byler's point about talking to Public Works, they don't
typically look at that right of way until they know it is going to be a viable project moving forward. The
same thing with the accessibility, they've had some preliminary conversations with the building
department, which is really under their purview, and have a viable path forward on that so he doesn't
think that is something that should necessarily hold up an up or down vote from the Historic
Preservation Commission.
Sellergren asked what are the accessibility options that they have in place. Nolan noted getting into
existing building code, if he were to build a new building, he would need to have 60% or greater of the
entrances to be accessible. For historic structures there is a little bit of leeway from that. Part of this
project is on the south side of the building where there's an existing ramp. On the west side of the
building they're going to create an alternate accommodation at the alley level, where the grade is much
closer and essentially create an accessible entrance at that shared corridor on the back of the building.
Byler explained in the alley they have an easement to access the building so they're going to turn what
is like a back door now, which is basically where the cook would leave and smoke, that will be turned
into an actual entrance, with a true glass door, into a spot where one can get into both commercial
spaces, it is a shared hallway because they will have shared bathrooms. He stated for the residential
units there's no way to roll to the residential units, there's a huge staircase and they're going to add
another staircase. A question for the building department will be do they need to make a ramp out there
just to get to a set of stairs, it doesn't make any sense and there are exceptions in the historic building
code for not doing that, but they will work through that with the building department.
Thomann asked Nolan if he is in agreement that doing an entrance on the south side is not feasible.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 9 of 14
Nolan stated to satisfy the requirement for separation distance there's not really a viable way for that
stair to come down through there and meet that separation distance without basically destroying the
building. So no he does not think there's a viable option to come out the south side of the building. To
get into the technical details of building code, once someone gets into a protected means of egress, so
once someone gets into this stairway, they need to be in a one hour rated enclosure so that if there's
fire on either side they can get safely out of the building. If they were to wrap around to the west,
because they did consider that, they wouldn't be able to use this hallway for anything other than that
egress access which is just really not a viable option with the way the building set up.
Lewis asked if they could have a hallway that goes along the east side, that exits out. Byler explained
it's not just putting a door in, like any new Kum & Go they see through the glass they just a dry wall and
if they did that it would have to be a continuously one hour fire rated wall and they would have to build a
wall to get that hallway out the door required and there is no exception to the building code in that
regard.
Lewis stated to do what Nolan is describing would lose the visual from Linn Street into this space which
would destroy the value of the commercial space and they can't put windows or anything on that wall to
look through to improve the visual aspect without actually having to put an entrance on the side of the
door or on the side of the building. Nolan stated they could put a four foot wide hallway across there
but would have to deal with another window and do a whole bunch of stuff and if they wanted to put
glass in there it would have to be fire rated glass which means they could spend $100,000 on this
hallway, which would just crush the value of this commercial space.
Beck stated she is very sympathetic to the argument that delays are expensive but it should be obvious
that they really respect and trust staff guidance so when the recommendation is for deferral for more
time, whether it's time to consider alternatives to the new entrance or time to revise what that new
entrance would look like, she'd like to hear a little bit more on what that extra time might do. Does staff
have some further changes, it sounds like even if the Commission approves the exception there are
some further changes that they would like to see to the design of the additional door.
Russett showed a slide with both versions side by side and on version two staff liked the entrance in
that location and in version one it's in a different location. One of the issues is they have two plan sets,
so if they can modify version two to actually look more like version one and have it look more like a
storefront door as opposed to an interior vestibule, that's one thing that they would want to work on.
She acknowledged with Public Works there is kind of a chicken and egg thing and who gets the
approval first, but she would like to have some understanding of what type of access is needed and if
it's feasible to maintain that five foot sidewalk that Byler talked about in his presentation with the
landings that they're proposing. Russett feels with a little bit more time they can come back with a
positive recommendation, they just want some more time to tweak a few things.
Lewis asked if that positive recommendation was based on the fact they're ignoring version one. Byler
explained he was trying to replace version one because the window is actually not the same size and
one of the reasons they moved the door to this location is they wanted the bigger existing opening.
And then to Nolan's point, it's going to be shaded so in keeping with the look of the building it's actually
important to move the door back and have that vestibule, because nowhere else on the facade is there
a door exactly like what they had here. If the concern is that these doors need to be shifted left or right
to make it look less like two doors and more like one door, they will make that work 100%. As he said,
they will do whatever the Commission needs him to do to make this work but the facts remain they're
not changing any of the massing, any of the vertical elements, any of the horizontal elements all they're
doing is adding the stairs and taking out a piece of glass and some non -historic brick.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 10 of 14
Thomann noted the biggest asset of this space is its space and not chopping it up and making money
here and making money there. It seems like that's the biggest asset of this building. The Icon building,
the sister building, it seems like they have enhanced what was already there, they got awards for
preservation, they weren't about changing what was there but enhancing what was there and making
the old shine. This building is 163 years old and from the evidence seen that east facade hasn't
changed which is miraculous, it's the same facade that they saw 163 years ago. This was built during
the Civil War, it's a landmark and it's on the National Register of Historic Places.
Byler stated this building is not from the Civil War, half of the building is from the Civil War, where this
door is going was added 35 years afterwards. They're putting back a wall on the interior that was there
until the 1980s, the space was divided by a big brick wall. With the demo they're doing they can see the
steel beam in here that was put in in the 1980s holding up the bricks on the top two levels. That brick is
the original brick wall, which was the outer wall of the original building. It was two spaces until the
1980s and it's been posited that you got from one space to the other by entering and walking through.
They also know that the bricks along the bottom are not original so the openings have been modified.
When it was Goosetown it was a really cool space but it's a big space and only a certain kind of
business can survive, they're not in this to make a ton of money, they are just about capital
preservation for themselves, they don't raise rents of the tenants more than CPI, and if they make
enough money in a given year they don't raise the rents at all. They are not money grubbing landlords,
and this isn't about creating more rent it is about letting the business tenants succeed, because the only
business tenants that can succeed in this space, unless they just give it away, are serving alcohol.
Thomann doesn't agree with that either and has faith that there's somebody out there. Looking at the
sister building, Icon, it feels like they've preserved that open feel, and it's not a bar, it's there for
education and arts and this space could be that too. She loves the idea of a bakery and they don't have
a say about the interior but what's happening on the exterior is just another extension of chopping up
historic space, and it doesn't sit right with her.
Byler respects that but comes back to the fact that they cannot touch anything in the building. They
cannot touch the residences, they're rooms with one shared toilet for 10 people, they can't touch any of
that without letting them get out onto Linn Street so they're trying to minimize the effect of all of that. If
they had a great tenant who wants to run an art or an educational school there that's be great but they
don't.
Sellergren asked what some of Byler's other properties are. Byler stated on Linn Street they own 211
and 213 which is where the Sacred Collective, a nonprofit is. Between that is Willow and Stock, Brix,
and then there is the building that may be developed into a store and bistro. Across the alley Byler said
they bought that building and are going to be turning over tenants because they're developing another
property that will better fit the commercial tenant in that building, who's a friend of theirs in Iowa City.
That's what they own on Linn Street and they also own a few townhomes on the east side but are
selling those currently to finance the renovation here.
MOTION: Sellergren moves to recommend deferral of this application to allow staff and the
applicant time to revise the plans to align with the guidelines. Villanueva seconded the motion.
Sellergren wanted to comment that of the two options the exterior presentation of option two is better
but the way the doors are set in is worse so if the staff prefers a combination of the two, with the front
facing three sided stairway with the option one door so the two doors aren't visible. She feels some
combination of that would be much less jarring.
Lewis likes the version making it to look like a storefront, even if they're walking into a vestibule with
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 11 of 14
two different doors that go one or the other. Lewis noted it is a bit like what is seen at The Paper
Crane, where you walk in and you go one of each way to get to the two different places.
Villanueva asked what would match on the sister building across the street, because they had similar
entrances across the street.
Thomann stated she walks by this stretch all the time and lives very close to it. Tonight she took a look
at the sister building and the openings that are there and those seem like in the past, it was maybe
meant for heavy deliveries, the kegs or whatever and it was not a door that pedestrians were using. It
looks like they're just wooden doors meant to swing out get something in and then close up. There are
no stairs leading up to those doors. She stated they do need to think about back in the day when this
building was built walking was still the major means of getting about town and they can argue that that's
still the case today for this area of town, there are pedestrians through there all the time and how might
this interrupt the flow.
Russell would say the same thing's true when the patio furniture is out there with the restaurants, it just
makes the sidewalk even smaller so it's not taking up any more space than it's already taken up
Sellergren stated her opinion is if it looks really good and it's structurally sound, and the interior
changes 400 times between now and when the building falls down, the world ends, or whatever, an
additional entrance is not going to be the end of the world. In following the guidelines, working with staff
to make sure that the materials and the presentation is consistent with what it should be, but in terms of
altering the use or adding more pedestrian movement she doesn't personally see an issue with those
things. Whether the space is divided into two spaces or changed back into a single space in the future,
the door would stay. She thinks there are so many elements to this issue and she maybe doesn't have
all the information she needs but all the things considered, the affordable housing, the code
requirements, and then in terms of creating something that they can't then remove in the future, a door
that looks beautiful, that's very well done, would not be the end of the world.
Burford stated he can see the practical need for that egress entrance and a plus for him is that it would
be potentially restorable at some future date if someone wanted to go back and undo the door. He
would be supportive of version two so that it looks like one door going into one building.
Thomann is concerned and feels like there's a disconnect between hearing a door on the south side is
not possible, but then hearing from staff a door on the south side is possible. Russett clarified staff did
not determine that a door on the south side is possible, it was just a comment to the applicant if they
explored that south facade.
Villanueva noted if it's not going to be a usable building without that door, what does it be, what does it
do to the City because this is an issue where places are getting priced out and they're leaving and
they're just staying vacant. So if there's a solution to bring in local businesses to these areas that
everyone will love to visit and also still protect the historic property they should approve it.
Sellergren agrees they do have to consider progress, what the economy looks like, what people are
willing and able to pay in this town, and how the downtown is currently looking with people being
evicted left and right because rents are being raised so high and storefronts being vacated by original
tenants and replaced with vape shops. That's the worst fate she could imagine on this corner. They
have the opportunity to create a more community focused, smaller space here that's highly functional,
and then also could be reverted back to a larger space if needed.
Russell stated the space has been empty for how many years and if there was a bakery it would attract
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 12 of 14
more people to that community. It is a great space, but there's only like three places to go to when you
get there because the Webster is not somewhere you just can walk into so he is inclined to say yes if
they figure out the door situation, which he likes option two with the stairs.
Lewis likes the option of making more spaces but doesn't necessarily agree with the threat of a bar. He
agrees with the fact that it has been empty for a while and it would be nice if something was there right
now and having more access to that would be fine, as long as it is something that is version two and
looks like it is one door that goes into the building.
Lewis noted it sounds like they are inclined to say yes to an entrance there, if it follows the guidelines
and everything gets approved so what does that mean right now, do they want to defer this and wait for
a plan?
Sellergren would go with the staff approval to defer, but it's assuming that staff will work with the
applicant on what was discussed tonight.
Beck wanted to go on record as supporting an edited door.
A vote was taken and the motion to defer was passed 7-0.
Byler noted moving forward is problematic because half of Commission said that they wanted the steps
flowing out and others said they wanted the door right at the facade and they can't have both of those.
Sellergren stated maybe there's a couple different options presented to staff and overall the
Commission is in favor of this project, it seems interesting and it seems helpful.
REPORT ON CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY CHAIR AND STAFF
Certificate of No Material Effect -Chair and Staff review:
HPC25-0008: 538 S Gilbert Street - Local Historic Landmark (repair and replacement of exterior wood
elements):
Bristow stated this is Close mansion and some of the wood trim around the window and around the
front entry canopy is deteriorated so they will be replacing that.
Minor Review —Staff Review:
HPC24-0041: 930 E College Street- College Hill Conservation District (basement egress window):
Bristow noted this house had the porch reconstructed last year and now they're making an egress
window. She did state the top of the egress window well will match the brick on the house.
HPC25-0007: 431 S Summit Street- Summit Street Historic District (replacement of first floor asphalt
shingles with metal roof):
This roof will be replaced from what is some kind of a bitumen or rolled rubber roofing to a standing
seam metal roof.
HPC25-0012: 220 S Johnson Street -College Green Historic District (replacement of flat porch roof):
This porch roof is going to be replaced with a rubber membrane roof.
CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FOR MARCH 13, 2025:
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
April 10, 2025
Page 13 of 14
MOTION: Sellergren moves to approve the minutes of the Historic Preservation Commission's
March 13, 2025, meeting. Russell seconded the motion The motion carried on a vote of 7-0.
COMMISSION DISCUSSION:
Work Plan Update:
Bristow stated she will start on the map updates.
Sellergren noted her last meeting will be July of this year and then there's going to be an at -large
vacancy.
ADJOURNMENT
Villanueva moved to adjourn the meeting. Beck seconded The motion carried on a vote of 7-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:13 pm.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD
2024-2025
TERM
5/22
6/13
7/11
8/8
9/12
10/10
11/14
12/12
1/9
2/13
3/13
4/10
NAM E
EXP.
BECK,
6/30/27
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
MARGARET
BROWN,
6/30/26
O/E
X
O/E
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
CARL
BURFORD,
6/30/27
---
---
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
KEVI N
LEWIS,
6/30/26
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
ANDREW
RUSSELL,
6/30/27
---
---
O/E
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
O/E
X
X
X
RYAN
SELLERGREN,
6/30/25
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
JORDAN
STORK, NOAH
6/30/24
X
X
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
THOMANN,
6/30/26
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
DEANNA
VILLANUEVA,
6/30/25
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
O/E
O/E
X
X
NICOLE
WAGNER,
6/30/26
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
FRANK
WELU-
6/30/25
X
O/E
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
REYNOLDS,
CHRISTINA
KEY: X = Present
O = Absent
O/E= Absent/Excused
--- = Not a member
Item Number: 4.e.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 3, 2025
Library Board of Trustees: April 24
Attachments: Library Board of Trustees: April 24
Iowa City Public Library Board of Trustees
Meeting Minutes
April 24, 2025
2nd Floor — Boardroom
Regular Meeting - 5:00 PM
FINAL
Tom Rocklin - President Bonnie Boothroy Robin Paetzold
DJ Johnk — Vice President Joseph Massa John Raeburn
Hannah Shultz -Secretary Claire Matthews Dan Stevenson
Members Present: Bonnie Boothroy, DJ Johnk (remote), Joseph Massa, Claire Matthews, Robin
Paetzold, John Raeburn, Tom Rocklin, Dan Stevenson.
Members Absent: None.
Staff Present: Elsworth Carman, Karen Corbin, Melody Dworak, Anne Mangano, Brent Palmer, Jason
Paulios, Angie Pilkington, Katie Roche, Jen Royer.
Guests Present: None.
Call Meeting to Order. Rocklin called the meeting to order at 5:01 pm. A quorum was present.
Approval of April 24, 2025 Board Meeting Agenda. Massa made a motion to approve
the April 24, 2025 Board Meeting Agenda. Boothroy seconded. Motion passed 7/0, Johnk abstained.
Public Discussion. Dworak introduced herself as a librarian on staff who will be serving as the staff
representative for the library director search.
Roche and Shultz entered the meeting at 5:02 pm.
Items to be Discussed.
Director Evaluation Discussion. Rocklin shared Carman's evaluation was completed using the new
evaluation process.
Appoint Interim Library Director. Rocklin recommended appointing Mangano as the interim library
director on 5/20/2025 until a new librarian has been selected. Rocklin recommended Mangano be paid
10% above her current salary and an additional week of vacation should be awarded at the completion
of her interim service. Rocklin said Mangano has a plan to cover the workload of her current position.
Rocklin recommended Mangano's salary return to her current salary plus any across the board raises at
the completion of the interim director role. Shultz made a motion to approve Rocklin's recommendation
If you will need disability -related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contact Jen Royer, Iowa City
Public Library, at 379-887-6003 or iennifer-rover@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
to appoint Mangano as interim library director with a 10% increase in wages, to award Mangano one
week of vacation at the completion of the interim position, and to also return Mangano to her current
wage as Collection Services Coordinator plus any across the board raises at the completion of the
interim director position. Matthews seconded. Motion passed 8/0, Johnk abstained. Rocklin thanked
Mangano.
Rocklin said it is nice when someone begins an interim position to have expectations from the board
they will be reporting to. Rocklin asked trustees to share their thoughts on expectations during that
time. Matthews noted the timing of the director vacancy will coincide with the end of the strategic plan,
end of the fiscal year, and budgeting work to hire a consultant. Matthews said she assumed the trustees
might consider placing the strategic plan on hold, saving that work for a new director. Carman said
there is one year left in the strategic plan but the planning for the new strategic plan would normally be
done next fiscal year. Rocklin said he hopes Mangano can manage that so we're ready when a new
director arrives.
Paetzold asked what the plan is to introduce Mangano to professional colleagues, noting the
importance of reinforcing the idea there is stability at this time. Carman said now that the interim
director appointment has been made, he will begin to invite Mangano to stakeholder meetings, and he
will meet with Mangano to review in progress projects and HR situations. Carman said the appointment
of the interim director could be used to create an announcement for Carman's departure and the
interim director. Carman said we're looking at a small-scale public event that can function as an
introduction to both of those pieces. Rocklin said Helmick shared there was a draft press release ready
to go announcing the appointment. Boothroy noted Mangano's ideas for the interim period, and
suggested after Mangano meets with Carman she could report to the board what her plan looks like
and how she sees it coming together.
Consider the Future of Standing Committees. Rocklin said there are two standing committees,
finance and advocacy. Rocklin said he had come to understand that those meetings are subject to open
meeting laws. Rocklin said while that work could be done publicly, it would require a formal agenda
published to the public. Rocklin said there is always the possibility of a future board president asking a
couple of trustees to work on a task, as opposed to the standing committees. Rocklin said the bylaws
call for a nomination committee, which should be meeting publicly. That committee's work is scheduled
for next February. Rocklin said the board should consider the bylaws. Rocklin said there is a specific
requirement that the board approve the president appointment to any search committee. Rocklin noted
there won't be search committees of that nature in the future. Paetzold said the bylaws should be
revised at a future meeting. Rocklin agreed.
Shultz said the finance committee is new and asked if that has been helpful. Stevenson said that he
learned a lot which helped with his understanding but as far as helping library staff he was not sure
they'd offered much. Stevenson said he was comfortable with eliminating the committee, and use a
working group as needed. Carman said it has been helpful to have focused and longer form
conversations with trustees about finances, but at this point the group has normalized. Carman said the
finance memo has been worked out and it is a functional document that shares information leading to
more complex questions. Carman said the ad hoc idea or trying without a committee seemed
reasonable. Carman said Mangano as the interim director could ask for that kind of meeting if needed.
If you will need disability -related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contactlen Royer, Iowa City
Public Library, at 379-887-6003 or iennifer-royer@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
Paetzold said to Mangano there may be value in having a finance committee during the interim period
of change. Paetzold said trustees may need to look at this in two stages: the interim period, and the
more permanent structure. Matthews said the formalized memo in the packet is helpful in the way it is
laid out. Matthews said now there is a roadmap that is public that someone in the future could look at.
Matthews said she was fine with it being ad hoc as needed. Rocklin agreed the director could always ask
a couple board members to look at something. Rocklin encouraged Mangano to use board members
wherever it would be useful. Rocklin expressed there was consensus the board could eliminate the
finance committee and asked about the advocacy committee.
Matthews said she didn't think the advocacy committee could be dissolved. Matthews said trustees have
discussed how having a formalized process doesn't work for the timeliness of the work. Matthews
suggested using an informal working group. Paetzold agreed and noted the committee had seasonal
patterns and a standing committee isn't the best structure. Rocklin suggested in November or
December the president could ask for volunteers to keep an eye on legislation and inform the board.
Stevenson made a motion to eliminate both the finance and advocacy committees. Shultz seconded.
Motion passed 8/0, Johnk abstained.
Paetzold asked if the bylaws revision should be added to a future meeting. Rocklin said this could be
done as soon as the next meeting and have the city attorney review the bylaws. There was a discussion
about the policy schedule. Rocklin proposed having a discussion at the May meeting with feedback
from the city attorney and to formally review the bylaws at the June meeting. There was consensus
among the trustees.
Election of Officers. Shultz proposed a slate of officers to the board: Paetzold as President, Stevenson
as Vice President, and Matthews as Secretary. Rocklin said the proposed individuals privately agreed to
serve in these roles. Rocklin asked if there were any nominations from the floor; none were proposed.
Boothroy made a motion to approve the slate of officers. Raeburn seconded. Motion passed 8/0, Johnk
abstained.
Board Recognition Discussion. Carman said in the past there has been a regular event to acknowledge
trustees, to come together outside of regular meetings, and to celebrate achievements. Carman said the
last event was two years ago. Carman said Royer asked City Attorney Eric Goers if that type of event
constitutes an open meeting. Carman said as long as there is no time spent on active library business it
is okay to recognize past success. Carman asked the trustees if they would like to have an event planned
and if so what month. Rocklin said at the last event a lot of problems were solved by doing it in
conjunction with a staff retreat with low expenses. Rocklin asked if there is a staff retreat scheduled.
Carman said no, there was one a few months ago. Carman said there may be another one in the fall if
trustees wanted to look at a fall date, but there was a lot of flexibility if trustees would prefer to do it
sooner.
Shultz said her memory was that the last event happened because there hadn't been one schedule since
the COVID-19 closure. Shultz thought the recognition normally happened every other year when there
was a major board transition. Shultz said the last regular event was in 2018 and it included the outgoing
and incoming trustees. Paetzold said the idea was to introduce the incoming trustees and recognize the
outgoing trustees. Paetzold said it was an annual event only if there were new trustees joining the
If you will need disability -related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contactlen Royer, Iowa City
Public Library, at 379-887-6003 or iennifer-royer@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
board, noting it was an opportunity for leadership to meet them as well. Rocklin and Paetzold proposed
holding it in July or August. Royer said in the past the library paid for the trustees being honored, and
everyone else paid their way. Stevenson said he liked the last event saying it was a good way to provide
food without the expense of a venue. Paetzold proposed using a library room and there was general
agreement. Carman said an August event at the library could be planned. Matthews said to plan for
early August.
Review and Consider Adoption of Tentative FY26 Wage Rates. Carman shared this item was
reflective of the wage reopener that was part of the collective bargaining agreement. Carman said the
city met with AFSCME and a library leadership representative. The recommendation was a 2.75% across-
the-board increase FY2026. Carman said the Library Board had an opportunity to support it. Mangano
said Iowa City City Council approved it April 15 and it would be brought back to the May meeting to be
finalized. Raeburn noted the Library Board wasn't mentioned on the document. Carman said
traditionally the Library Board signs as a third entity because it is semi -autonomous department. Rocklin
said the Library Board participates in the negotiation but is really not going to have a different contract
than the city has, noting it would be hard to administer. Massa made a motion to approve the proposed
FY26 wage rates. Paetzold seconded. Motion passed 8/0, Johnk abstained.
Policy Review: 505 Volunteer Policy. Matthews asked if the policy was brought back from last month
to finalize the previous conversation. Carman confirmed and said some edits were made to reflect the
previous conversation, noting Helmick and Roche worked on it. Raeburn suggested cleaning up item C
to, "Create and facilitate strong community connections so volunteers become empowered in their
knowledge and advocate for the library in the community." Shultz made a motion to approve the policy
with Raeburn's amendment, Boothroy seconded. Motion passed 8/0, Johnk abstained.
Policy Review: 809 Library Use Policy. Carman said this policy is used daily and Paulios led a large
staff committee to review the policy because of it's significance. Carman said it was a multi -month
process. Carman said there was a lot of internal discussion around the changes suggested. Carman said
historically the policy has generated significant conversation.
Massa noted 809.301 and found the sentence starting with sleeping to be awkward; Massa suggested
rewording it. Rocklin agreed it was awkward and endorsed the sentiment. Rocklin noted there has been
a history of discussing sleeping. Paetzold asked if sleeping while sitting up on a sofa was okay. Paulios
shared sleeping in a seated position is fine. Raeburn suggested recumbent sleeping or upright sleeping,
noting patrons blocking resources isn't permitted. Paetzold felt it was not friendly to users. Paetzold
asked if staff are comfortable enforcing the policy. Paulios said the language came about to split the
difference, staff were finding that groups of individuals were on the floor or under furniture or using
study rooms to sleep. Paulios said there were many unintended uses of library space and people didn't
have access to tables because people were sleeping under them. Paulios said these spaces were
becoming daily resting places for people and staff were trying to reset expectations. Paulios said you'd
have to find a different way to say you're blocking access to furniture that's not accessible right now; the
way it is worded now someone could be napping in a chair. Paulios said putting your head down after
studying for two hours is normal human behavior, noting that sleeping is also impacted by the weather,
especially when there are unavailable spaces for shelter. Paulios said sitting in a chair while sleeping felt
different than laying on the floor. Carman said sitting on a chair also gives staff a visual to make sure
If you will need disability -related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contactlen Royer, Iowa City
Public Library, at 379-887-6003 or iennifer-royer@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
there are indicators that patrons are okay. Carman said it is much more difficult to do that if someone is
on the floor or under furniture. Paulios said there is a separate internal document for staff that guides
how to implement the policy when patrons break rules. Paulios said sleeping has always been handled
as an unlimited warning scenario until something has been abused in a much larger way such as
refusing to comply with staff requests. Paulios shared the proposed policy changes with two Shelter
House outreach representatives and there was no direct feedback. Paulios shared he is always in
conversation with different community groups. Paulios shared Helmick was his cohort on the policy
revision.
Boothroy asked what is meant by limited resources in regard to sleeping. Paulios said it could mean
computers, or discussion rooms. Carman said when people are laying under tables it limits the seating,
also noting the microfilm is a limited resource. Carman said sometimes people are looking for soft
seating and if people are laying on the available couches that could also be a limited resource. Paulios
said it could also mean a table, noting there are times when every table is in use.
Raeburn said sometimes it is okay to sleep and sometimes it's not, saying the difference is that an
amenity that is supposed to be available to everyone is blocked by someone that is recumbent sleeping.
Raeburn said even seated sleeping can do that at computer terminals. Rocklin agreed. Raeburn
suggested the language, "Recumbent sleeping or seated sleeping that limits other patrons access to a
physical amenity is prohibited". Rocklin said that was a good point and noted patron posture helps staff
check on patrons. Roche asked if listing the intended use of the resource could be useful and gave the
example of, the study room is meant to be used as a study room. Stevenson asked if the Study Room
policy addressed sleeping. Paulios said the hope for the Library Use policy was to capture the whole
building in an umbrella policy. Paulios said legal reviewed the policy were okay with the language.
Matthews said the policy is clearer now and assumed the policy was a public document that can be used
to start the conversation with a patron. Matthews said brevity is important and it seems straight forward.
Matthews agreed the sentence about sleeping could be clarified but appreciated it overall.
Rocklin asked Paulios and Helmick to work on the one sentence and bring it back next month. Shultz
requested the policy revisions not have red lines for the meeting. Carman said both could be included.
Paetzold noted 310 and said it seemed like a new piece altogether and asked why. Pilkington said this
originated out of behavior in the children's room. Paetzold asked if there were wanderers that weren't
participating in the services offered in that area. Pilkington agreed. Paulios said adults were interacting
with young people. Paetzold asked if legal was okay with limiting access to part of the building. Paulios
agreed with the caveat that adults can be there to get materials but not loiter. Paulios said it is the same
for the teen room. Paetzold asked how it would be implemented. Pilkington said staff are good about
asking adults when they come into the children's room to see if they can help them find materials.
Pilkington said that usually stops the behavior. Carman said the children's room staff navigate this and
he is confident in their ability to do so equitably. Carman said there are adult patrons that use the space
independently and read materials from that section and said they are welcome to engage with staff and
the collection.
Dworak exited the meeting at 5:49 pm.
Carman said if someone is monopolizing staff time or behaving inappropriately staff need the policy to
If you will need disability -related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contactlen Royer, Iowa City
Public Library, at 379-887-6003 or iennifer-royer@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
support them. Paulios said there is caveat language in the policy for exceptions. Paulios said patrons
with different disabilities might prefer to use the children's room. Paulios said similarly with teens, there
are some teens that aged out of the teen center but might still attend City High School. Paulios said the
language was borrowed from the Boston Public Library and was modified to fit ICPL's space needs.
Paulios said legal commented on the age requirement of 12 and under, noting the struggle when
middle school went to junior high. Matthews referred to section 809.310, "and those interested in
children's materials while retrieving or using resources from the collection." Matthews suggested the
language, "and those retrieving or using resources from the children's collection" in the interest of
brevity and placing it in line with language in other policy statements. Paulios agreed. Paetzold asked if
there is protection around adults not using the bathroom in the children's room. Paetzold said a person
could come in to use the children's bathroom. Pilkington said the only single occupancy bathroom is in
the children's room. Paetzold asked if it was open to everyone. Pilkington agreed. Carman said there
was at least one instance of someone using the lactation space as a quiet area as well, noting staff are
very attuned to the room but doesn't think a limit can be put on the bathroom itself. Pilkington said she
doesn't think we can and shared there was a state law to consider with offering single occupancy
restrooms. Pilkington said usually that is the comment she gets when asking adults if she can help them
find anything in the kids room. Pilkington said patrons want to use the bathroom because it is the only
single occupancy restroom and it locks. Rocklin asked for the policy revision to be brought back next
month.
Review 3rd Quarter Financials & Statistics. Carman shared he is comfortable with where the budget is
now. Carman said there has been a bit of bottom -line volatility in the past few months, but it hasn't
been out of line with what is normal. Carman and Royer have been watching it closely. Carman said the
finance committee met and had a good conversation, stating nothing rose to the group's concern.
Carman said the chart of accounts Royer created is a good resource to learn about the object lines.
Staff Reports.
Director's Report. Rocklin shared it was Carman's final meeting. Carman said he counted the agendas
and it was his 90th meeting. Carman said there is no additional information about Enrich Iowa right
now. Carman said while the library funding for next year is not delayed, the agreement with the State
Library has been pushed back. Carman said we don't yet know what resources will change or be limited.
Carman said there has been some communication amongst Iowa libraries about this. Carman said both
Enrich Iowa and IMLS funding are getting attention right now and we're working on additional
communication to make sure that is clear.
Carman said he also documented some next steps occurring in the library director transition. Carman
said there is confidence among the leadership and staff that he and Mangano will create a smooth
transition. Carman is working to introduce Mangano to stakeholder groups such as IUPLA and the
Johnson County library directors at their upcoming meetings. Carman shared gratitude for the Library
Board, stating he couldn't imagine a more dedicated and engaged group. Carman said it has made a
huge difference in the experience of being the director. Rocklin thanked Carman.
Departmental Reports: Children's Services. None.
Collection Services. Paetzold said the report was very interesting and sad. Mangano said the library
If you will need disability -related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contactlen Royer, Iowa City
Public Library, at 379-887-6003 or iennifer-royer@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
book industry is imploding and there will be ramifications. Mangano is working to get Ingram accounts
so there are multiple accounts to use. Mangano said she is working on acquiring a new ILS (Integrated
Library System) which could integrate directly and would show book pricing.
IT. Matthews said the report was very interesting.
Palmer exited the meeting at 6:01 pm.
Development Report. Rocklin said the Bright Future event was fantastic, fun, and had amazing energy.
Roche said she was deeply appreciative of library staff, the Library Board, and Friends Foundation Board
for their work. Roche noted Kami Zbanek-Hill spearheaded the planning and did an incredible job.
Boothroy asked if Roche had analyzed the survey results. Roche said there was a lot of wonderful
feedback and some constructive feedback. Rocklin shared he was looking forward to next year's event.
President's Report.
President Appoints to Foundation Board. Rocklin shared Boothroy and Stevenson agreed to serve as
library representatives on the Friends Foundation Board. Rocklin said he assembled a working group to
help with the director search and Paetzold would be the chair, and Massa and Boothroy will serve.
Rocklin said Dworak will serve as the non -management representative, and Pilkington will serve from
the leadership. Rocklin said at some point in the future the working group will present finalists to the
Library Board who will then choose a new library director. Rocklin said while the group is working the
city attorney advised that communications be one way only, from the working group to the Library
Board. Rocklin said he doesn't believe that means questions can't be asked but there shouldn't be an
appearance that the Library Board is doing the work of the search. Rocklin said the city attorney's
preference is written reports to the Library Board for updates on progress. Stevenson asked if there
should be regular updates to the Library Board at the meeting orjust along the way. Rocklin said that is
up to the Library Board. Shultz asked if they had started meeting and Rocklin said no. Rocklin thanked
everyone and said hiring the director is fundamentally the most important thing the Library Board does.
Rocklin thanked Carman for his service to the Iowa City Public Library and shared it had been very
gratifying to work with and learn from Carman. Rocklin said Carman is leaving a super solid attractive
place for someone to succeed him and he was grateful for that. Rocklin said staff are organizing an
event to celebrate Carman's tenure.
Announcements from Members. None.
Matthews exited the meeting at 6:06 pm.
Committee Reports.
Advocacy Committee. Rocklin distributed the advocacy statement that was discussed at the previous
meeting. Paetzold asked trustees to review the final draft and determine if it was ready for graphics.
Paetzold said the original goal was to place the sign in the lobby of the library. There was consensus to
move forward. Rocklin said it was okay to go forward with an informal consensus. Paetzold and Rocklin
agreed that a draft should be sent to Paetzold and Matthews with the graphics.
Finance Committee. Raeburn said the committee reviewed the plus's and minus's and they come close
to balancing out. Raeburn said the library wouldn't be over budget. Raeburn said a lurking problem was
If you will need disability -related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contactlen Royer, Iowa City
Public Library, at 379-887-6003 or iennifer-royer@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
determining the budget for hiring a director search consultant. Paetzold asked if salary funds from the
director's absence could be used for marketing. Carman said the directive from the City of Iowa City is
always to balance bottom line of the budget with a preference to spend it as allocated by category.
Carman said an overage for a consultant would be processed to pay from the consultant line which may
end up being 200-300% overspent, but functionally as long as the bottom line balanced against the
personnel line that is okay. Paetzold said similarly with the overage for the interim director the same
philosophy could be applied, with the goal being to balance and be transparent. Rocklin said the interim
position wouldn't be noticeable because the personnel line would have excess in it. Carman said this
could change any time, but historically the city budgets personnel at a maximum level. When there is a
vacancy, especially at a higher paygrade, it results in that line being spent less. Paetzold said funds for a
consultant will be available this fiscal year but the bill may come next fiscal year. Paetzold asked if an
internal budget adjustment should be done for FY26. Carman said staff would need to look at where
room could be found. Carman said now that an interim director has been formally appointed it will be a
conversation that Royer, Mangano, and Carman can have to see which projects are most critical and if
any can be delayed. Carman said it would be helpful to have a sense of what the cost would be.
Paetzold agreed noting a down payment could be placed this fiscal year. Carman said with the last
director search consultant there was an initial payment and then a balance payment. Mangano agreed.
Paetzold asked if the RFP from the last library director hire was found. Rocklin said he had it and would
send it to Paetzold. Carman said Des Moines Public Library may be doing a similar RFP so time is of the
essence.
Foundation Members. Massa said the Finance committee met and the Foundation is financially robust.
Communications.
News Articles. None.
Consent Agenda. Boothroy made a motion to approve the consent agenda. Paetzold seconded.
Motion passed 7/0, Johnk abstained.
Set Agenda Order for May Meeting. Rocklin said the Library Use policy will be reviewed,
there will be department reports, and Rocklin asked trustees to review the bylaws for the May meeting.
Adjournment. Rocklin adjourned the meeting at 6:16 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jen Royer
If you will need disability -related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contactlen Royer, Iowa City
Public Library, at 379-887-6003 or iennifer-royer@icpl.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to
meet your access needs.
a`r%t IOWA CITY
PUBLIC LIBRARY
Board of Commissions: ICPL Board of Trustees
Attendance Record
Name
Term
Expiration
6/27/2024
7/25/2024
8/22/2024
9/26/2024
10/24/2024
11/21/2024
12/19/2024
1/23/2025
2/27/2025
3/27/2025
4/3/2025
4/24/2025
5/22/2025
Boothro , Bonnie
6/30/2029
X
OE
OE
X
X
X
X
OE
X
X
X
X
OE
Johnk, DJ
6/30/2025
X
X
X
X
X
X
OE
OE
X
X
OE
X
X
Massa, Jose h
6/30/2027
X
X
X
X
X
OE
X
X
X
X
X
X
OE
Matthews, Claire
6/30/2023
X
X
OE
X
X
X
O
X
X
X
X
X
OE
Paetzold, Robin
6/30/2023
OE
OE
X
X
X
X
OE
X
X
X
X
X
X
Raeburn, John
6/30/2027
X
X
X
OE
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Rocklin, Tom
6/30/2025
X
X
X
OE
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
OE
Shultz, Hannah
6/30/2025
OE
X
X
X
X
X
X
OE
X
OE
X
X
X
Stevenson, Daniel
6/30/2027
X
X
X
X
OE
X
X
X
X
OE
X
X
X
KEY:
X Present
O Absent
OE Excused Absence
NM No Meeting Held
R Resigned
TE Term Expired
Item Number: 4.f.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 3, 2025
Public Art Advisory Committee: April 3
Attachments: Public Art Advisory Committee: April 3
Approved, p.1
Public Art Advisory Committee Mtg, 41312025
Minutes
Public Art Advisory Committee
April 3, 2025
Emma J Harvat Hall
Public Art Advisory Committee
Members Present: Leslie Finer, Juli Seydell Johnson, Andrea Truitt, Jen Jordan,
Sophie Donta, Nate Sullivan, Rachel Kinker, Scott Sovers
Members Absent: Jeremy Endsley, Anita Jung
Staff present: Chris O'Brien
Public Present: none
Call to Order
Truitt called the meeting to order at 3.31 p.m.
Public Discussion of Any Item Not on the Agenda
None.
Consider minutes of the March 6, 2025 PAAC meeting.
Johnson moved and Donta seconded that the minutes from the March 6, 2025, meeting
be approved. Motion passed (7 -0).
Determine Funding Awards for 2025 Public Art Matching Grant Program
O'Brien summarized scoring and questions submitted prior to meeting. The total
requested funding was $31,453 and the budget was $25,500. Full funding of requests
that remained below budget was $24,771 and consisted of 7 projects.
Jordan asked about highlighted rows on spreadsheet for clarification.
Sullivan suggested discussing 3 projects that fell short of funding
Group discussed Zero to Sixty and as a whole felt that there was not enough included in
application to fund the project.
Group discussed Revision and discussed that the project was a good project but that it
had received funding in prior years. No artist was chosen yet.
Group discussed Minds in Bloom and did comment how the location was nice as there
was not much art in the area. While they liked the potential of the proposal, no sketch
was provided. It was also noted that the artist was the same as another project that had
received funding.
Approved, p.2
Public Art Advisory Committee Mtg, 41312025
Seydell Johnson asked if we could pull additional funds to fund everything. O'Brien
indicated that the group could fund as identified on the spreadsheet, redistribute funds,
use the remaining budgeted funds to partially find a project or pull finds from the budget
to fund more, but that this would be at the expense of maintenance. Also noted that
assessment of existing inventory would be completed and that may need funding for
maintenance of existing inventory.
Staff Updates
Jordan noted that the mural on the refuse building was one of her favorites. Seydell
Johnson noted that the City Park Pool project is moving forward. O'Brien noted that
Ethan Wyatt had completed touch up painting on bus stop project.
Old or New Business
O'Brien asked if there is any additional feedback or requests for the May meeting where
the strategic plan will be discussed. Truitt requested that materials that were distributed
in March related to the strategic planning process be resent prior to May meeting.
Adjournment
Jordan moved to adjourn at 3.58 pm. Sullivan seconded. Motion passed (7-0).
Approved, p.3
Public Art Advisory Committee Mtg, 41312025
Public Art Advisory Committee
Attendance Record
2023-2024
Name
Term
Expires
11/2/23
1217/23
1/4/24
4/4/24
6/6/24
8/1/24
9/5/24
10/3/24
1117/24
12/5/24
2/6/25
3/6/25
4/3/25
Ron Knoche
N/A
X
X
X*
X*
X
X
O/E
X
X*
X
X*
X
X*
Juli Seydell-
N/A
O/E
X*
X
O/E
X
X
X
X*
X
X
X
X
X
Johnson
Steve Miller
12/31/23
X
X
X
X
X
X
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
Eddie
12/31/24
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
Boyken
Andrea
12/31/25
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Truitt
Anita Jung
6/30/23
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
0
X
X
0
0
0
Jenny
12/31/23
0
X
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
Gringer
Jeremy
12/31/25
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
X
O/E
Endsley
Nate
6/30/26
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
O/E
X
O/E
X
Sullivan
Leslie Finer
12/31/26
---
---
---
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Rachel
12/31/27
---
---
---
X
X
O/E
X
X
O/E
X
X
O/E
X
Kinker
Sophie
12/31/26
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
X
X
O/E
X
X
Donta
Key
X
= Present
X*
= Delegate attended
0
= Absent
O/E =
Absent/Excused
---
= Not a member
Item Number: 4.g.
CITY OF IOWA CITY
COUNCIL ACTION REPORT
June 3, 2025
Senior Center Commission: April 17
Attachments: Senior Center Commission: April 17
Approved Minutes
April 17, 2025
MINUTES
SENIOR CENTER COMMISSION
April 17, 2025
Room 311, Iowa City Senior Center
Members Present: Nancy Ostrognai, Jay Gilchrist, Kate Milster, Lee McKnight,
Warren Paris, Mary McCall
Members Absent: Betty Rosse
Staff Present: LaTasha DeLoach, Kristin Kromray
Others Present: Skylar Hoffman, Ross Taylor
CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting was called to order by Gilchrist at 4.00 PM.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL:
None.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE FEBRUARY 20, 2025 MEETING:
Motion: To accept the minutes from the February 20, 2025 meeting. Motion
carried on a 6/0 vote. McKnight/Milner
PUBLIC DISCUSSION:
1► •17T�
OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW:
DeLoach reported the program guide for May and June is now available. A few
program highlights include a collaboration between Senior Standing Room Only
and the Tamarac school, which are doing a production of the Sound of Music,
music concerts for the New Horizons Band, Voices of Experience, and Family
Folk Machine, and Frisbee Fest at City Park on May 3. The Original Mature
Groovers are hosting a trip to the Quad Cities on June 14t" with part of the
proceeds brought in by the Black History Ball. The trip will include a stop at the
Freight House farmers market, a lunch cruise on the Celebration Belle and the
afternoon at the Figge Museum. The annual member, donor, and volunteer
appreciation event will occur on April 29t" at Terry Trueblood Lodge.
Approved Minutes
April 17, 2025
The window and door project is expected to begin this summer. Various parts of
the building will need to be closed for short periods. The largest impact will the
first floor when the large windows are being replaced.
Kromray gave a report highlighting what her role as Operations Assistant entails.
She highlighted training, supervising, assisting in hiring, scheduling and
supporting front desk staff including 2 permanent daytime receptionists as well as
evening and weekend customer service attendants. Additionally, her role
includes administering multiple software applications, overseeing membership,
parking and locker programs, working with other City departments, overseeing
day to day budget items, assisting in annual budget preparation, purchasing
items for the department, working with volunteers including the ambassador
program and tour guides, handling room reservation and rentals.
Commission Discussion
Commissioners are invited to be presented a proclamation for Older Americans
month at the May 6t" City Council meeting.
Commissioners asked questions regarding what programming people are asking
for at the Senior Center. Ostrognai inquired about ASL classes.
Meeting Adjourned.
2
Approved Minutes
April 17, 2025
Senior Center Commission Attendance Record
Term
4/18/24
5/16/24
6/20/24
7/18/24
8/15/24
9/19/24
10/17/2
11/21/
12/19/
1/16/25
2/20/25
3/20/25
4/17/25
Name
Expires
24
24
24
Betty
12/31/26
X
X
NM
NM
O/E
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
NM
O/E
Rosse
Jay
12/31/25
X
X
NM
NM
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
NM
X
Gilchrist
Mary
12/31/27
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
X
O/E
NM
X
McCall
Angela
12/31/24
X
O/E
NM
NM
X
X
X
O/E
X
--
--
--
--
McConvill
e
Lee
12/31/27
O/E
X
NM
NM
X
X
X
O/E
O/E
O/E
X
NM
X
McKnight
Kathryn
12/31/27
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
X
X
NM
X
Milster
Nancy
12/31/26
X
X
NM
NM
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
NM
X
Ostrognai
Ross
12/31/24
--
--
--
--
O
X
O
O
O
--
--
--
--
Taylor
Warren
12/31/25
X
X
NM
NM
O
X
O
X
X
O/E
X
NM
X
Paris
Key: X =Present O =Absent O/E=Absent/Excused NM =No meeting -- = Not a member
3