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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-12-09 TranscriptionIowa City City Council Work Session of December 9, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:,[/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. [00:00:20] So today is December 9, 2025, and this is the city of Iowa City's work session. And item number 1 is the University of Iowa Student Government Updates. Welcome, welcome. [00:00:41] Hello. We've got a week and a half left of school, so it's been pretty slow on the student government side as we've been kind of winding down. So we've just got a few announcements for you guys tonight. First thing is that tonight, our Senate is going to be hopefully passing a resolution in support of more inclusive LLCs. LLCs are living learning communities because of a lot of the, uh, state rules regarding DEI, we had to get rid of a lot of our LLCs that were identity based, and we've been seeing really low engagement in our cultural houses and cultural organizations as a result. So, um, we think that probably kind of trying to get some more LLC like organizations going, trying to bring the LLCs back would be a really great way to get students re involved with their communities, um, because our cultural houses are on the very far side of campus. It's pretty out of the way for most students. And so the LLCs were really the easiest way a lot of us were, you know, getting to interact with our communities, whatever that be. So that is the resolution we'll be passing tonight and then sending to University Admin, so we'll see what comes from that. [00:02:02] And then also, we recently passed a funding bill to fund our Native American Student Association's Pow Wow. We didn't have that last year because of, again, um, new state rules. So it was kind of we didn't really know how to approach that, but now we have provided them funding again, and so we're really excited to support this part of our culture on campus. [00:02:26] Yeah, we're really excited. We approved $10,000 in funding for the Pow Wow. Well, so hopefully they'll be able to do a lot with that. [00:02:32] All right. [00:02:33] Thank you. [00:02:34] Cool. All right. Thank you all and enjoy your winter break. All right, we're going to move on to item number 2, clarification of agenda items. We went on to item number 3, information packet discussion, November 20, November 26, And December 4, we do have some direction that staff is requesting off of 24 IP5. And there's a memo from the city manager there about the Bowl protected bike lanes, and we'll have our assistant city manager talk to us on this. [00:03:23] Page 1 Iowa City City Council Work Session of December 9, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:,[/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. Yes, so we have Kent, our transportation planner in the office, but this is really, uh, that presentation that was provided a couple of weeks ago about protected bike bollards. Um, and what we had heard from you is that, yep, the direction that we're heading seems great. But with that Madison Avenue connection, which would connect some of our um, are heavier used bicycle areas, um, that that seems like that might be a little far out with some of the work that's being done on the Burlington Street Bridge and some of the other major projects that we have. And so we want to confirm direction with a project that's more immediate. And so, uh, in looking at that, staff did identify some corridors along Dodge Street and Governor Street to pilot some of these bike separated bike boulevard um, facilities, and I'll have Kent speak just a little bit to- with the mayor's permission, have Kent speak a little bit more to what that analysis looked like and that recommendation. [00:04:31] Great. Welcome. [00:04:32] Yeah, good evening, Mayor and Council, Kent Ralston, Transportation Planner. So Kirk did a nice job just kind of teeing things up. As he mentioned, Tool Design was hired earlier this year. They completed the analysis that you all received at your work session. I think it was on September 17. Like Kirk said after your last work session, we were given sort of the green light from you all to move forward with that Madison Street project. We'll also be looking at the Burlington Street Corridor with the bridge replacement project. As well as the one to two way conversions of Market and Jefferson, which are also in your capital improvements program. So the idea behind this is just sort of parlay this project, which we believe we can get done a little more quickly into those other already funded capital improvements projects. And probably the easiest way to understand that is if you look in that memo from myself and Jason Havill the city engineer, it sort of shows that map, and you can kind of see how we are trying to get our best return on investment by connecting sort of well, not sort of by connecting West Iowa City to East Iowa City, which has long been identified as a problem for bicycles. I'm happy to answer any questions you have about the particulars. [00:05:45] Yeah, timing wise, it's my understanding that, you know, the Dodge governor is a 2026. [00:05:53] 2027. [00:05:54] 2027. Okay. [00:05:57] Yeah, so there'll be design some design work done in 26, and then Dodge will start construction in 2027. [00:06:04] Page 2 Iowa City City Council Work Session of December 9, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:,[/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. Okay. And then but Madison Street is going to happen, and when would that be? [00:06:08] So Madison Street's not yet funded. It's not yet in your capital improvements program, but we would hope to get a project in there. And I don't know, Councilor, when the best timing of that would be. My guess is it would be after the Burlington Street Bridge project to sort of connect those two, but it could be done anytime conceivably. But I think probably after that, which I think is why you all had some interest in getting a project done more clearly. [00:06:35] Yeah. No, that all makes sense to me. I just was trying to look at this map here on page 2 of your memo and understand what was happening exactly. [00:06:42] Yeah, so the dates on there should be construction dates. [00:06:45] Okay. And then when- so Governor Dodge, we've decided does not convert to couplets anymore. Are they going to remain couplets one way couplets? But when does Market Jefferson conversion happen. [00:06:57] So, Market Jefferson. I've got some notes here. [00:07:01] Is that 28? [00:07:02] Yeah, so currently, you're working on your capital improvements program, which you know is part of our budget. Let's see. So Dodge is construction in 2027 currently. Market and Jefferson is 28 currently, and Burlington Street Bridge replacement is 29 currently. So there's kind of a succession of projects, and this would also just like I said, kind of parlay nicely with those other projects as well, trying to get our best return on investment. [00:07:29] Cool. Thank you. [00:07:35] So the question, I just want to be clear what you're hoping for from the council tonight. [00:07:41] Sure. So we're looking for direction on whether to proceed with the 2026 Governor and Dodge pilot project, or if you would prefer to wait until some of these other projects start to get underway, Page 3 Iowa City City Council Work Session of December 9, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:,[/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. specifically Market and Jefferson, kind of as your first bollard's project. If you do move forward with it, I think we're estimating that it would be $110,000 to do so. There would be other operational challenges that arise from bollards that we'll have to work through regardless of what our first project is. There will be differences in the way that we have to maintain those, snow maintenance specifically, but just trying to figure out how we do bike bollards in Iowa City. It's going to be a learning process no matter what we do. So it's really. Do you want to move earlier than Market and Jefferson or not, kind of? [00:08:36] Did you say that we do not I'm trying to remember from our earlier presentation. Do we have I know for the snow removal, we need something that's, like, wider than what we have, but not as- do we have that equipment? [00:08:54] So that is something I'm not confident in. [00:08:58] Yeah. So- so tool design actually visited. We have sort of three different groups that might be able to do this work, and we haven't yet decided on which one. It could be our streets department. It could be our parks department, or it could be sort of our downtown parking force, I'll call them. So they've all three got different kinds of equipment. Tool Design actually came during a snowfall last spring and actually visited each one of those three departments, uh, took itemized what kind of equipment they had, and then recommend they said it seemed like sort of the downtown operations maybe had the best of equipment and were sort of the most centrally located. So they were leaning in that direction. But again, like Kirk said, I mean, operationally, it just depends on where we've got that the best performing equipment, and then, of course, the staff resources. So, um, I think we do have some equipment on the work. It may be that we have to buy some additional attachments and that sort of thing, but I think for at least the pilot project, we can get it done. [00:09:58] Sorry. [00:09:58] It may be once sorry. It may be once we have two or three or four of these. [00:10:02] Excuse me. [00:10:03] 1 would say we may need more equipment, and we may need more staff, but I'll leave that up to the city manager's office. [00:10:08] Page 4 Iowa City City Council Work Session of December 9, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:,[/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. I'm sorry. I'm going to come back to the timing thing, it must be dense here. We would be approving $110,000 for Governor and Dodge. Yet the governor street reconstruction is in two years. [00:10:23] The Dodge reconstruction. [00:10:24] Sorry, the Dodge only street, not Governor. So would those bollards get installed and immediately removed and reinstalled for that reconstruction? [00:10:33] They would- so we'd have them in- I mean, we would have them available to use and study and watch and work with for about a year. Then they would be taken out during the reconstruction, and then that's correct replaced. So there may be a little bit of throwaway cost there, but also, as we've gotten the memo, it might be a nice break by which we can also say, okay, that didn't go the way we thought it would. It was a pilot. Now we're sort of reinventing ourselves, or it may be worked perfect. Everything was as we wanted it to be. It attracted more bikes, you know, made things safer, whatever the benefits are, and then we can put those back in. [00:11:06] And they have history of removing and reinstalling bollards. That's a normal thing to do? [00:11:11] Correct. [00:11:12] Okay. [00:11:12] Yeah. And there are communities that take them out before the winter and then replace them. [00:11:17] Every year, they're taking them in or out, not just for a construction project. Okay. [00:11:21] Is that part of- [00:11:21] We would like to leave them if we can. But again, this is sort of uncharted territory for us. And what Tool Design would tell us is that it's a little bit of a flip of the coin whether a community has a policy to take them out for the winter or keep them. And again, it's a function of staff and equipment and all these other things we've talked about. Page S Iowa City City Council Work Session of December 9, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:,[/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. [00:11:40] Uh, was some of that flexibility, one of the factors why we chose bollard's in the first place as the form of protected bike lane or? [00:11:52] So, the Tool Design would tell us as well, and we've got all the material. We did not share all of it with you, but they would also tell us that this is typically sort of the first foray for communities into protected bike facilities. And what they see and they did some- they actually did some research and looked at what six or eight different sister communities to ours, similar in snow fall mounts university communities, that sort of thing. And what they see is that typically these go in they are liked. They work, and then they move towards a more permanent barrier, whether that's a curb or whether they have, you know, they might have bollards with a physical barrier between those. There's different varieties. But they sort of see this as the first foot in the water, and then most communities go the next step and put in a more physical barrier, permanent. Not all, but they say most. [00:12:43] Okay. And you mentioned the idea of it being a pilot and particularly on Dodge Street with the brake. Thank you for explaining that. I wasn't sure what that meant in the memo, so a pause of the use while the street is under reconstruction. So are you planning or is MPO planning any, like, concerted surveying during that time? [00:13:04] 1 think so. It's just a hard thing to do. We don't really have equipment that can capture just bite counts, unfortunately, and it's hard to get average daily traffic counts like we would have for vehicles, we have equipment that does that. It's hard to get that for bicyclists. So we'll conduct some point in time. Collections, but, you know, the validity of the information and what we get back is sort of, it won't be as good as we want it to be. We'll do our best, yes. [00:13:34] I'm sure the folks who have been asking for protected bike lanes for a very long time will give us good anecdotal evidence. [00:13:40] Yeah. And then, you know, the question always is, too, is the purpose of these to attract more bicyclists or just keep the ones we have now safer? I would say both. Yeah. If we can. But either would be beneficial, right? So. [00:13:52] Thank you. [00:13:53] Page 6 Iowa City City Council Work Session of December 9, 2025 (audio and video recordings can be found at https:,[/citychannel4.com/city-council.html) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription through Verbit: AI -Based Transcription & Captioning Services. For greater detail please refer to the meeting recordings. Okay. So what are folks thinking? Yeah. That sounds good. Thank you. All right. You got it. Go for it. [00:14:04] That was easy. Thanks so much. [00:14:06] Right. Great. All right. Well, anything else from information packet from December 4? Hearing none, we're going to move on to item number 4, which is counsel updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees. End of the year. [00:14:28] Mine is on Thursday, so haven't had it yet. [00:14:31] Yeah, more celebrations than anything. All right. Great. Hearing none, we are going to adjourn from our work session, and we'll be back at 6:00 PM for our formal meeting. [00:14:43] [MUSIC] Page 7