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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-10-19 TranscriptionOctober 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 1 Council Present: Bailey, Champion (left at 7:05 P.M.), Correia, Hayek, O'Donnell, Wright Council Absent: Wilburn Staff: Helling, Karr, Jordan, Moran, Holecek, Clark, Fosse Others Present: Agenda Items: Bailey/ Do we have agenda items? ITEM 4. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED. g) Correspondence. 12. Disorderly behavior in Brookland Park neighborhood Wright/ Um, I just had a question, actually on the Consent Calendar. Um...the gentleman who wrote from Brookland Park neighborhood. Bailey/ LTh-huh. Fred Stern. Helling/ Oh, yeah. Wright/ Yeah, and has there been any formal response to that. It sounds like something's not working quite right (mumbled) calling these reports in or.. . Helling/ Um...formal response (several talking) Bailey/ The last correspondence...Fred Stern. Helling/ ...written no, but a number of staff has been in contact with him, and uh, working through some of the issues. Wright/ Okay. Helling/ Um...so there has been a response, but not...not a formal (mumbled) Wright/ Okay. Thank you. Yeah, I'm sure that they've got all kinds of interesting stuff going on (mumbled) Bailey/ Uh-huh. Other agenda items? Hayek/ I was going to bring that up as well. Mike, I'm glad you brought up that letter. (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 2 ITEM 13. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT FOR I-JOBS GRANT FUNDS FOR THE UNIVERCITY NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. Bailey/ I did check into Item 13, as you know we're signing, oh...we're doing a resolution to sign an agreement. The contract isn't there because they're still negotiating going on with the State. There was a start date, I think, that was inaccurate. Um...it was for October 1st and naturally we don't want to obligate ourselves when we have to do something in 90 days. So...um, there'll be somebody here tomorrow if there are questions about the details of that resolution, if you need somebody here, I guess. Anything else agenda item-wise? Going...going...moving on. ECO Iowa City. ECO Iowa City Update (IP2 of 10/15/09): Fosse/ Good evening! I have a whole box of stuff tonight! Couple weeks ago I shared with you about the snow removal, and how it's a collaborative effort between a number of departments and divisions in the City, and...and what we have tonight is another collaborative effort, uh, it's got a couple aspects that are unusual to it. Uh...first of all, it's a...it's between Public Works and the Library. I think it's the first one that we've had in that regard, but more importantly than that is, uh, this effort is focused on improving environmental sustainability in the community, and...and to best accomplish that and get the most mileage out of the...the Gates Foundation grant that generated this is a reaching outside your organization, all three sectors, other, uh, public sector entities, uh, not-for- profits, and private sector entities, all with common interests and goals in order to make the most of this, and for that, uh, Maeve and Jen should be complimented on that. So with that I'll turn it over to them. Jordan/ Thanks, Rick. (mumbled) We're just gonna...what we have for the presentation are a bunch of pictures from the events that we've done, and we'll just basically share about some of the stuff that we've done, um, about the partnerships that we've formed, both with ECO Iowa City, the City, the Library, and then other entities in town, and then talk about what's coming up next for events. And Maeve and I tend to bounce off each other a lot, so it might be a little scattered, so bear with us and please feel free to ask any questions. Clark/ So the grant came about, um, through the International City and County Management Association and it was funded through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Association got the money from them, and it was so that library, primarily libraries, could collaborate with city departments or county departments, whatever the governing agency was. So the Library wrote a grant with Jen's help, and a lot of help from Patti McCarthy, who's the Development Officer. We sent it off, um, well, first we talked about how we could do things, and we had already established a good working relationship with the recycling division of the City because we create a lot of paper and folks that we have to deal with, and so Jen and I had a working relationship so we thought we could build on this, and the whole idea of sustainability came up. So the three of us wrote the grant. We This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 3 were supposed to find out in February. ICMA sent us an email saying, 'Sorry. It's going to take us another month' because we have so many applicants. There were 515 applicants, and nine were chosen! Yeah! And we were one of the nine! So, we're very proud of that fact and... Jordan/ They had budgeted time and staff for about 75 applications, so when they got 515, they had shared with us that they were, um, very overwhelmed. So we're very honored to be one of the nine. Clark/ The highest amount you could ask for was 60,000 and we didn't want to be greedy so we asked for 57,000 and we received all $57,000 of it, and we had planned on starting in March, when we were going to get the grant, but we started a little bit later. In fact we were in Washington D.C. for the training on (both talking) Earth Day and the next day Jen had to get back to start us off. So...that began our journey. The grant is for 18 months and we're really loose on when the grant ends because we were sort of loose on when the grant began, so sometime next fall. Jordan/ ...the grant writing process we kept coming back to kind of four general areas, which were, um, urban composting and local food, energy conservation, smart waste disposal, and urban storm water management. So we started planning events and basically hand- outs for the public were kind of around those four things. The premise of the grant is really to give Iowa City residents the information they need for the Library, which has been a great resource for me personally to work with, because I utilize the Library, but I've learned many (coughing) but to utilize the resources that we can share with the public, and then also give them the things, literally, like some of the things that we have here and we'll talk about later, give them the materials to actually take the steps to be more sustainable. Um...(both talking) the logo and then the, uh, the web site link to the Library, which has been great. Um, this was basically our first advertising that we put out, and we have a lot of advertisings that just...in here kind of to show you what some of the things that we've done and um, just... Clark/ (both talking) so we used the web site as one of our main forms for communication. If you walk in the Library right now, we have the bulletin board area that's been for taxes and tax season will come soon, unfortunately, and we'll take that down but we...distributing information that way. We have a...not a hefty budget for advertising, but we are advertising. We're utilizing radio ads. Not so much TV, and lots of newspaper ads, including the Daily Iowan, because we want to reach that audience, as well, and then we found lots and lots of radio programs have allowed us to come and talk. I was on Dottie Ray this morning. We're going to be on Brent Balbinot tomorrow and so we have...I think a good network established for sharing our...our message. Jordan/ So some of the first things that we got, we were basically just talking to the public about the grant, what we were going to do with it, um, Earth Day East Side was done for a few years now, so we used that opportunity. We've been at Farmers Market probably about...a half a dozen times now, talking about different things, handing out different free things (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 4 Clark/ Baking soda, lots of baking soda. Jordan/ ...which the public loves. They've started looking for us because we're giving them free stuff, which they love, um... Wright/ Why free baking soda? Clark/ It's a...thanks for asking that. It's a clean alternative to...a green alternative to cleaning, and so a lot of the things that we do, we try and have double duty for them. So we had a...a, like a wide bookmark, small flyer, that had our upcoming events on it and then if you flip the back over, it had, um, recipes for green cleaning, and so we could give out baking soda with our logo on it, and then the bookmark for upcoming events, and then have the recipes on the back. So, they couldn't leave without information. Jordan/ Right, and then also advertises a program that we already have in place which is the hazardous waste facility at the Landfill, so triple duty really. Um, the project green fair was really the big first event that we did, um, we have gotten 250 seed packets from Seed Savers Exchange in northern Iowa and handed those out at the...at the, um, green garden fair, along with coupons for Iowa City community compost, and again, free stuff is very popular and we're really excited about, you know, having the information that we handed out to talk about the compost at the Landfill and then also the seeds. Um, we worked really quite a bit on compost early this year. Um, we had a backyard composting presentation at the Library, um, put on by Master Gardeners, so that one of the partnerships that we used quite a bit is Master Gardeners and then Project Green was a previous one. Um, we have some expertise in some of these topics, but it makes more sense to reach out to others in the community who are already doing these things and have lots more expertise on them. Um, we did a tour of the Landfill and the compost facility, and then... Clark/ And also at the Landfill and compost facility, we toured the salvage barn, so Friends of Historic Preservation are one of our partners, and we've done a couple things with them and they're pleased as punch to...to work with us and in fact the last event that we had was on energy conservation in older homes, and they bought the ads for the radio and we did the other kind of advertising, so not only do we have these partnerships, but they're working with us in getting the word out. Jordan/ You guys have seen the Iowa City community compost logo before. This was the presentation at the Library. We had about 50 people there. One of the benefits in working at the Library, or having the presentations at the Library, is that we can put them on, is it Channel 10? Clark/ The air live, and then the air forever, and ever, and ever, and then we also add them to our collection so they circulate. In fact, they not only circulate in the Iowa City area, but through inter-library loan we can lend them to libraries throughout the state or the nation. (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 5 Jordan/ Um, we had $2,500 of the $57,000 grant set aside for compost bins. We were able to purchase 100 compost bins and then sell them at a really subsidized rate of $25, um, we sold 100 compost bins in ten hours, and we're still...I literally got asked at the Laundromat this week if we had any compost bins left, and this was in...June. So... Clark/ And that was the partnership with Restore. Jordan/ This was actually...these are the compost bins upside down. They're called the Earth. Machines. Um, that is a City employee picking up his compost (laughing) bicycle. Clark/ Not only...not only did he pick up his compost bin on his bicycle, he rode to Fareway afterwards, got his groceries and then rode back home, so...he's our...he's our poster boy, because he's also riding a bike and.. . Jordan/ Right, he's very active (several talking) ...and he was wearing a helmet, yep! Uh... Bailey/ But not a shirt! (laughter and several talking) Jordan/ Um, with the compost bins, one of the things that we did is we, uh, well, actually backing way up. We wrote an intern into the grant, so we have an intern who does about ten hours of work for us, um, one of the things that she pulled together was a compost bin survey. So we've been able to contact, I think we probably have like an 80 or 90% response rate on the survey, to see if people have gotten them in, if they're using them, if they've had any issues with them, that type of thing. So, uh, good feedback on that. This is the... Clark/ Johnson County Fair. Two Americorp volunteers approached us and said, 'Can we help you?' And we said, 'Oh, yeah! You can help us!' Why don't you go to the Johnson County Fair for four days in a row and hand out baking soda and talk to people about our sustainability grant, and they did! And, um...they met...not millions, but hundreds and hundreds of people at the fair and really continued to get the word out, and there's the compost where people could touch it and learn more about it. Jordan/I'll give you guys a second to look at these and see if you can figure out what it is. It's probably not that difficult. I didn't get a chance to do (several talking) but ECO Iowa City was, very much had a presence at Rummage in the Ramp and we utilized both ECO Iowa City to advertise Rummage in the Ramp and vice versa. So, um, we had a wedding dress this year, Rummage in the Ramp, which I...we sold for $2.50 for someone's little girl to play with just...in some ways kind of depressing, but anyway one of the interesting things this year from Rummage in the Ramp. Um...we did use that opportunity to advertise quite a bit though and were able to work, um, that partnership in as well. This is one of my favorite pictures from Rummage in the Ramp. These are the urban and regional planning students (mumbled) that volunteered and they put a lot of work into it, so I just wanted to share that with you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 6 Clark/ So, we were at Farmers Market and Deb Green...Deb Green, boy! God bless her. She...she told a story, sort of, I mean, she did! She was very successful in telling her story. Her outdoor P.A. system didn't work, so she had to shout, and then in the middle of her story, which was the hungry caterpillar the...ambulancetyas called away, and the fire truck! So they were here, we were there. Deb was here. She just stopped and...waited, and it was pretty exciting for the kids cause they got to go over and watch that (laughter) and then they all came back, and Deb finished her story about the hungry little caterpillar and then this woman came by on stilts, who had turned from the caterpillar into the butterfly and it was just a perfect morning, and it was a fantastic activity, that children's day at the Farmers Market. There are so many children and we talked to so many more people and gave more baking soda away (several talking) Jordan/ This was the lead-in for our fall event. It started with the...a indoor composting presentation on September 17th, and we had 92 people show up, which was...(both talking) Clark/ We had a long, long debate about, okay, so...compost bins, those are popular and normal people do composting, but you know who is going to do worm composting. That's a fringe, tiny group, well, no! It wasn't a fringe group, and so we had to have a worm compost bin lottery at the night of the event, and it was sad to turn people away (several talking) we had the worms and everything, but... Jordan/ We had 25 bins and 92 people. Clark/ But on our web site, we have instructions on how to make your own at home and we have contacts for worms, and you can buy them from Cheryl...Squire Farms at market. She's selling them...still. (several talking) She's our worm queen, yep, yep! So it...it was just a fantastically popular program. Jordan/ This was actually a program at the Library. You can see...you can't really see the worms in there, but you can see they're looking in the bins. Um, Roxane Mitten who is very active with New Pi Co-op and other community organizations in town and Backyard Abundance were the two speakers that we had come in for the (mumbled) so definitely draw on their expertise for that. Um...pills...first pharmaceutical collection we've been able to do in Iowa City (several talking and laughing) We had about seven different partners for this -the Iowa State Patrol, the Iowa City Police Department, Engineers for Sustainable World, um, The Nest of Johnson County, and the American Pharmacy Associations Academy of Student Pharmacists, and without the student groups we probably wouldn't have been able to pull this off, because they were actually the ones that got the final resting place for the drugs set up. We hadn't been able to do that before through the Landfill, so...this is the first time we've done this event. It was very popular. We've yet to receive the bill from the (mumbled) place they got incinerated, so we're thinking...because we've allotted $3,000 for this, we're probably going to do another one in the spring and make (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 7 Clark/ The stories that go along with this...I missed the very beginning of it because I had needed to go pick up posters, and so I went and got (mumbled) and I thought all right, I'll drive through so at least there'll be me to take a picture of...I get back and there's a line and then the line just continued, and I guess the first person who came was a woman on a motorized wheelchair with her drugs and the oldest vial was from 1992. People...people were just begging for a place to take the drugs. Jordan/ We ended up with about 135 pounds of drugs...eight 5-gallon buckets, uh, and this was (several talking) three-hour collection of that. So, um, it was I think a very positive thing for the community and it's something with the Landfill (both talking) Clark/ A perfect example of collaboration on all different levels. We had the State, we had the University, the student groups, the...the City, the police officer came and sat, and then the trooper told her to go away because we didn't really need her and it was just a marvelous morning. Jordan/ The next couple things we're going to talk about we don't have photos for, but we've done several energy efficiency things at the Public Library...uh, programming, and.. . Clark/ Let me tell you a little bit about this. This is a weatherization kit and when we were setting up the program for, um, the energy component of it, I called MidAmerican, cause they do a whole lot of energy stuff, I guess that's the business, isn't it? And I said to the energy specialist, John O'Roake. Can you tell me what we need to put in a weatherization kit. We have money budgeted for it, and he said, well, I have some. How many do you need? I said, oh, a hundred would be nice, and he said okay. I'll bring 'em over, and so he did. So that saved us money and it just continues to show the partnership of all different kinds of groups, including for-profit business groups and MidAmerican has just been wonderful. So, we've been giving away these gifts that have, um, water...thing you put on your filter, it'll whistle at you when it's dirty, just marvelous things that (laughter) people haven't had to pay for. All they had to do was come to a program and pick up some literature and listen. Jordan/ We had a food panel discussion...was that last week, two weeks ago...that we shopped on Wednesday night at the Farmers Market and got the food. Made the treats for the group the next night, on Thursday, and had...talked about... Clark/ It was...there were two parts to that program. The, one of our partners is the Center for Human Rights at the University of Iowa and we're partnering with them through One Community, One Book and the book this year was a perfect book for us. It's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and it's all about eating locally. So we decided we were going to do a program based on that, including a book discussion. So we decided to get local food producers and then we needed a moderator, so your Mayor...our Mayor...was the moderator for that evening, and it was a pretty interesting discussion, don't you think, Regenia? Bailey/ I think it was fascinating. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 8 Jordan/ So that's kind of tilted back towards local food with the crops coming in the, harvest coming in, this time of year. Um, Maeve received a call from Weber Elementary, two, three weeks ago? A month ago? Clark/ Ann Spencer, who used to be on the Library Board. Jordan/ Yep, and they were interested in coming out to the Landfill for tours, so um, we've usually done tours...we do quite a few tours actually at the Landfill, and they're usually in groups often or fifteen kids. They're usually from the private schools or from Girl Scout troops or something like that, but they have 150 kids they wanted to bring through. So what we did is we split up the kids into...over two days split them up into groups. Had the adults stationed at different areas. So we talked about greenhouse gases by the methane flare at the Landfill. We talked about composting by the wind rows. We talked about waste reduction, and then we talked about hazardous waste and its relationship with ground water and the hazardous waste facility. So I mean the kids moved around, and it was actually a really good way to do it and...and... Clark/ You had something the day before too. You prefaced it with something on Monday. Jordan/ Yeah, we worked with ECCOG who does a lot of our solid waste education out of Cedar Rapids, and um, Christian Simon did a presentation at the school about landfills so when they came out they already had a general idea of what they were going to be seeing. So I think that was a good practice for this. Um, but this was really popular. Wednesday was gorgeous, or Tuesday was gorgeous. Wednesday was cold so.... Clark/ I went out and took pictures and the kids were asking questions and they got to be in all these neat things and in fact unfortunately you can't see it, but that lower picture there was steam coming off the compost and it...it, you know, it's a fascinating place to be in. We've had people who said well, we missed the tour of the Landfill in the summer. Will you please do it again, and I think they missed it because it was 92 degrees, but nevertheless, we are going to do more of those, because people want to know about it, and ... Jordan/ Um, this is the poster that's just been completed, um, starting with this Saturday, the International Day of Climate, and actually we have a bunch of activities going on in conjunction with Engineers for a Sustainable World, and then the Environmental Film Festival, um, moving into the end of October we have some bicycle maintenance stuff, and then.. . Clark/ We have, um...people have been so generous and so there's a place in Madison called Bike Planet, and one of the things we want to do is get people to ride their bikes more, and um, ride buses and so the Transit Department's going to give us some bus passes to give away, but we also are helping with the Police Department because they're going to start, maybe not so much ticketing, but encouraging and then perhaps going into ticketing bicyclists who don't have (mumbled) on so we got these great bicycle lights. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 9 Champion/ Oh, great! Clark/They're tiny! And they either blink or they...just glow, and so we have 50 of these, both front and back, and we'll be giving those away as incentives. First we're doing the ghost bike ride to Oakland Cemetery on Saturday, and um, we have Lori Erickson who wrote the book of Ghost Tales of Johnson County who will be telling ghost stories at the Black Angle and then there's a new storyteller in town, sounds like a gunslinger! Anew storyteller in town who will go to the little amphitheater and she'll tell more stories, and um...it's really aimed for kids aged 8 to 12, but anybody can come and meet us there, but we're limiting the bike ride to just 50 people, and they're going to get lights and they have to have helmets. Bailey/ Nice! Jordan/ So the rest of the stuff coming up yet this year - we have, um, film and food festivals in November, all at the Library, um November 15th which is America Recycles Day, we'll be having a shred and recycle day, and then we have a green New Year's party planned, the afternoon of December 31st in which we'll ask people to come in. They'll have...we'll have free stuff to give out, of course. Clark/ Incentives. Jordan/Right. And ask them (several talking) lots of baking soda left! Um... Clark/ We're getting (several talking and laughing) Jordan/ Less than one pallet (mumbled) um, but we'll be asking people to make new...green New Year's resolutions then and then we'll check back with them on Earth Day and see how far they've come and how they've done with this. So, um, we kind of wanted to end with some of the stuff coming up so to peak your curiosity a little bit, I'm just going to flip through some of these really cool garden spaces (several talking) Clark/ Wait...now guess...what is this space down here in the lower corner? Anybody know (several talking) Wright/ Rec Center. Bailey/ And what...what's missing? (several talking) Clark/ Here's one of our stellar partners in the back. Mike, and we're um, Backyard Abundance and the Rec Center, for children's programming, they're going to build, make a community garden. We're paying for the fencing for it and we'll help with the...with the seeds, and it...I think it'll just be a beautiful enhancement along College Street. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 10 Jordan/ So that's one of the very visible programs that we'll be working on this spring. Um, this is just basically a quick glance at some of the partners. I think we have about thirty at this point, but you can see we've...they're mostly environmental, some educational, but some of them are actually state agencies. Clark/ And the...the goal is not only to...to do this grant for sustainability right now, but it's to develop and foster the collaboration through already existing groups so that they're comfortable in working together, and they'll continue to work together after we're gone, and we're already seeing the seeds of that, um, they're doing some things with the, with Parks and Rec that will only continue to grow after the grant is finished, and one of the goals for me as a librarian is get...get people to use the Library and to see the resources we have at the Library and to, um, people to use whatever kind of resources, whether they're online or the television station or print or...or AV. Jordan/ So (mumbled) couple things that we have coming up in the spring then. We're going to do an e-waste collection after the holidays to help people get out the old stuff after they've brought in the new, potentially, electronics. Uh, we've renamed Earth Day Earth Month because it's the 40th anniversary and we have a ton of stuff going on, or will have tons of stuff going on. We haven't laid out the program yet, but there'll be lots of activities, um, mostly focused on storm water. We have rain barrels written into the grant. We have a rain garden workshop and free plants written into the grant, and we have a demonstration garden. We've been working with Public Works and Carol very closely, and Brian, on that. Um, and then the garden at the Rec Center is going to be one of the highlights as well. So... Clark/ And if you have, you know, suggestions for us on programming or any kinds of things that you think would be interesting, we would hope to do gardening with all types of groups, social service agencies, you know, growing food so that you've got it there (several talking) Champion/ You've done a lot! Bailey/ Looks great! Clark/ Well, you know, we have actually done quite a bit (several talking) Jordan/ ....totaled up. I think we've spent about $7,000, and most of it's been in advertising (several talking) we had $1,500 budgeted for these -they were free. We had (several talking) Clark/ ...and ask people for things and (mumbled) give that to you. (laughter) Okay! And we have done a lot, but it's really...it's a fun...it's a fun project to work on, and people are so positive about it! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 11 Bailey/ So what's the, I mean, the goal of the grant is to do collaboration, but what...on what will you be evaluated? The collaborative efforts? Or...but not necessarily the sustainability.. . Clark/ I think we'll be evaluated on the...the...each...each of the nine grants is unique. Ours is probably the...the most program-oriented one, so what we can turn into them...we have to write quarterly reports, are the number of people who attend programs and we aren't really counting circulation of materials because I don't think we could break that down, um, then...whether we buy things and people purchase them, those kinds of things. Bailey/ Okay. Clark/ The number of programs we do. Bailey/ So it's a process evaluation rather than a, okay (both talking) Clark/ ...quantitative one. Does anyone...a weatherization kit for your home, so I don't have to take it back? Champion/ Don't need it but it sounds like a great idea. Hayek/ ...that whistler thing. Clark/ You put it on your filter...when your filter is so dirty that it's blocked it whistles. Correia/ Your furnace...oh, I have a high efficiency... Champion/ Mine would be green all the time. (laughter) Clark/ All right, I'll take it back. Wright/ There's gotta be somebody out there that needs that. Bailey/ ...have a question? Correia/ Well, I was...I know I'm going to sound like a broken record, but since part of this is inter-governmental, or inter-departmental collaboration, and since the Rec Center person's here and I bring this up all the time, we talk about recycling, is the, um, increasing the or creating more opportunities for plastic bottle recycling at our youth sport parks, um, and I've been talking about this for quite a while and um, they started doing it at City High...the City High softball (coughing) and I think this was aparent- lead effort really, but having a plastic bottle recycling right next to every garbage can, and I really think that there's probably a way to measure impact on garbage going from those parks to the Landfill, because really most of the garbage created there are the plastic bottles -pop, water, Gatorade bottles -and they just fashioned these garbage cans, with the lids, that are...have a rope, that have a circle cut out with the little (mumbled) so This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 12 I mean, you have...and it says 'plastic bottle' so that people aren't just dumping garbage, I mean, I'm sure it does happen and there's some contamination but I don't know if there's a way to mitigate that (several talking) Bailey/ ...a spring activity (both talking) is what she's asking! (laughter) Correia/ ...yeah, or summer. Clark/ It would be an opportunity for another kind of partnership to... Correia/ ...purchasing those and trying to get some (both talking) Bailey/ ...money with some (several talking) Clark/ ...that's a good point. Thank you. Jordan/ I actually have that (mumbled) I got back last week, and there's a couple new vendors out there that have relatively portable, relatively inexpensive models out (mumbled) so (both talking) Clark/ I wouldn't have to pick all those plastic bottles up from the Longfellow field every morning, after a soccer game. Fosse/ I wanted to add to that. The...through my role at, uh, City High Little Hawks Club, I'm involved in the stadium cleanup on Sunday mornings, and our...our recycling... Bailey/ You guys have started recycling there, yeah! Fosse/ ...it's gone up exponentially. We...most Sundays we're at the point where half of the stuff that's picked up is recycle, so that's very good. The key is focusing on one particular recyclable and getting that by itself so that it doesn't end up going to the Landfill, because it has to be sorted. Bailey/ Right, right. Clark/ Well, and I think a large component of this is just the education of it. Educating people and making...we're not trying to get people to make radical changes because that, you know, it's not going to happen, so little bitty baby steps and you know if you just do a little bit you can make a difference, and just one of the things we want to do is get people to quit using water bottles so much, but that's not going to happen overnight, so...things...Ithmk that's a good idea, and we can certainly look into... Jordan/ We actually do have water bottles written into the grant too, which we'll probably be handing out around Earth Day. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 13 Hayek/ Speaking of education, don't forget to educate the bar and restaurant community. If you want to depress yourselves to no end, go to the area (several talking) between Atlas and 808, you know, it goes back into that parking area, and there are a lot of places that use that, including my law firm, but um, it's incredible what they throw out. (several talking) And... so much of it could be diverted. Jordan/ And that stuff has a deposit on it too. So that's.. . Hayek/ So, anyway. Correia/ I just happened to go on the County web site today for something and I...I, it seems like there's some...I don't know if Conservation's doing a...something on rain gardens on like November 5th (mumbled) okay. So I was thinking I might go to that. (several talking) Bailey/ Any other comments or questions? Wright/ (several talking) heck of a start on this. It's terrific. Bailey/ ...thanks. It's really fun (several talking) and nice job getting a, one of the nine (several talking) grants. That's impressive! Champion/ You've done a lot! Bailey/ Thanks! Clark/ ...big community to do it in, so that helps. Thank you. Hayek/ The whistler, I just want to look at it, uh (several talking) Correia/ You have an old house (several talking) Hayek/ Still holding on to my old, drafty house. Bailey/ Well, maybe you want to weatherize it. (laughter) Your renters won't. Okay, let's move on to 20101egislative priorities, um, Dale, did you want...you had a memo in here. Why don't you just, uh...start us off. 2010 Legislative Priorities (IP3 of 10/15/09): Helling/ Yeah, very briefly, I just outlined the things that were attached, uh...documents of legislative priorities that you, either yours from last year or others that you've taken into account (mumbled) status of the priorities, and also note in the second paragraph that essentially you have until the 16th to finalize these, if you want, the resolution on your, uh, I guess it's December 1st agenda. Um...so you can pass that prior to meeting with the area legislators. Um...so...these things here to kind of help you get started, if there are other things, um, what we have done the last couple of years is after you've gone through This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 14 the things you sort of pared them down to a short list and that's in response, I think, to the legislators that...they say they prefer that as far as your highest priorities. It's not that you can't have opinions or...or positions on other issues, but they're looking for in order to establish priorities, they're looking for the highest priorities, um...and I think recently, in recent years, the Chamber and other entities have done the same thing in response to legislative requests, as well. Bailey/ Okay, I mean, Dale provided some information from the League. I sent, um, email to our lobbyists from the Metro Coalition. The Metro Coalition has not yet determined its legislative priorities, um and then we have of course last year's legislative priorities from us and from the Metro Coalition. I know that it's probably going to be a very...I don't want to say quiet legislative session, but probably won't be a lot of funding activity. Wright/ (several talking) ...be quiet. Bailey/ Right, no, I wasn't, I mean... Hayek/ And the fact that...that the climate right now is what it is, um, leads me to wonder whether...whether we ought to take a different look at our funding requests. I mean, I just don't see much getting funded and maybe a shorter, sweeter list would, uh, would be received better, and I know this gets filtered through the met...the Coalition, um... Bailey/ Well, our...you know, our priorities, we talked to them, when are we meeting...December 7th...7th? So, I mean, and I talked to Senator Dworsky and I said, you know, can you provide us any guidance, and he said ifll be...funding'll be challenging, but they have no expectation that people will stop asking for funding. So... Wright/ I'm wondering if we should maybe just focus it a little bit more than we did last year. Bailey/ On? Wright/ Well, we had...increased funding for microenterprise, earned income tax credit, historic preservation tax credit, uh, changes like TIF (several talking) Bailey/ ...touch any tax credit programs, personally, but that's just, uh, the climate. Wright/ I don't think we should touch them, but I'm (both talking) Bailey/ No, I don't think we should talk about them (both talking) I don't think we should talk about them at all. Wright/ No, and that's something we need to pare this down a little bit. Bailey/ Oh, sure. So what are, I mean, I think our rail priorities I think are critical. Wright/ That's the biggest one forme is the rail. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 15 Bailey/ Others? How do others feel? I mean, part of that is it underscores the work that the Chamber is doing and part of it is consistent and...and we really do want to see this extension date of Amtrak and so that's...funding through the Iowa DOT, um...as well as the fact that we recognize our partnership with, uh... Wright/Did anybody notice that last year it said extension of Amtrak to Iowa City of Iowa City? O'Donnell/ Yeah, I didn't know what that was. (laughter and several talking) Wright/ But the economic development issues, that's the...I think that's the key. Bailey/ Where? Which one? Wright/ From... Bailey/ Are you looking at last year's? Uh-huh. Champion/ What did you say was the key? Wright/ The funding for passenger rail. Bailey/ Oh, yeah, yeah. I think so. Champion/ Right, right. Correia/ Well, what about then like the alternative revenue, it's not a state budget. Wright/ Right. I'd sure love to see taxing those non-owner occupied condos, those... Bailey/ I think we have to continue to talk about that, even though it's unlikely. I mean, it's...it's a huge concern (several talking) and we know that it's not as much of a concern for other communities, but it's a huge concern for us. Right, exactly! Champion/ ..even Des Moines! Bailey/ Well, I wonder if it's going to impact Des Moines eventually, now that they're building more residential downtown. Champion/ We wouldn't need that excise fee and utility fee if we...condos. Hayek/ On hotel/motel tax...it's dicey to talk about bumping up the...that tax when of the municipalities in the vicinity of Iowa City, we're they only ones talking about it and others, like Coralville, North Liberty have...have a lot of hotels and motels that would not be affected by, or covered by, a tax increase. I assume it would just be... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 16 Bailey/ It would be the County...if...if... Hayek/ Is it county-wide? Okay. Bailey/ If that was, if we could increase it, it would go to a county-wide vote and it would be up to the people to increase that particular tax. That's how hoteUmotel tax works. Hayek/ That changes it then. Bailey/ Um, and that's been on our list, I think, since I got on Council. Hayek/ Yeah, yeah. Bailey/ And it probably will be on the Metro Coalition's list because I think West Des Moines has an interest in this, as well. Wasn't that right, Dale? They were interested in like a $1.50 per room...they had some other variation of it. Helling/ Yeah, there's really two alternatives they talk about that (mumbled) and then...or a (mumbled) Bailey/ Right. Helling/ (mumbled) Bailey/ But do we want to, the question is do we want to leave that on, I mean, it would be something that...we...it would be an enabling legislation to enable us in the county to put it to a vote. Wright/ I'm fine with (mumbled) Champion/ I don't mind leaving it in there, but I don't think we're going to get anywhere with it. Bailey/ Do we want to say, um...increase the percentage to at least 9%, or last year we increased maximum tax by raising percentage or setting a flat amount per (several talking) Champion/ Raise a percentage. Bailey/ I agree with that. We had (mumbled) interest of West Des Moines. It was a Metro Coalition thing. Champion/ I'm going to leave. Bailey/ Okay. Champion/ I'll see you guys tomorrow night. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Bailey/ Something we said, Connie? Champion/ Actually, no (laughter) O'Donnell/ Have a great night! Bailey/ (mumbled) (several talking) Okay, others? Other thoughts? Hayek/ Well, if we're working off the FY, um, 9... Bailey/ We seem to be. Hayek/ I would shave back some of the ED initiatives. Page 17 Bailey/ Well, I think we need to...to take all these tax credit programs off. I just...I don't think mentioning tax credit programs is a...is a good thing this year. Wright/ No, I agree. Bailey/ Just like salt. Wright/We're not going to see Vision Iowa funding, uh, restored...this year. Bailey/ Well, it's been restored, and besides I'll have to work on that myself. That board will take care of it. I mean, you don't want it on our priorities is what you're saying. Wright/ I don't think it's that much of a chance...of big increase. Bailey/ Oh, it's not going to be increased. Wright/ Be lucky if it even stays where it is. Bailey/ It'll stay where it is. Hayek/ What if we leave, uh, TIF and passenger rail in. Bailey/ Uh-huh. You know, this...because we don't have a CAT application I don't see the direct impact to Iowa City this year anyway, so...tax increment financing, no changes or further restrictions. That's a non, I mean.. . Hayek/ That's a what? Bailey/ It's not going to cost them anything to not touch it. Wright/ Keep passenger rail in there. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 18 Bailey/ How bout the microenterprise, did you say cross that off? Wright/ We're not going to get an increase... Bailey/ I don't think...I don't think Department of Economic Development is going to get much this year...for increase, I just don't know. Hayek/ No, I'm not...the world's most foremost expert on the passenger rail issues, but I have to think that the Amtrak aspect is far more likely than commuter line between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. Bailey/ I agree. Hayek/ Maybe an overreach by keeping both on the list? Bailey/ I don't think it's bad to keep both on the list, knowing that our priority is Amtrak. That's how I've always talked about it to DOT, but I don't want to lose...and I think that others in the corridor would agree we don't want to lose sight of that commuter.. . Wright/ Yeah, I'd like to keep it. (several talking) Bailey/ Especially with the improvements that, um, Coralville will be doing for flood recovery to that, um, the rail along there. There's an opportunity there. Wright/ The line. Hayek/ Can we flip them so Amtrak is A and commuter is B? Bailey/ Good idea. Hayek/ I'm sure that nuance of change won't make all that difference. Bailey/ I'm actually sure that they will pick up that subtlety and it will overwhelm them (laughter). Do we want a statement support local revenue options that do not impact state revenues, or should we cross that off? Do we want all three alternative revenue (several talking and laughing) Correia/ I don't think if we have any examples we should have it on there. (mumbled) Bailey/ So what we have so far is hotel/motel tax, increase minimum...increase byraising a percentage. Do we want to say 9%? Or do we want to say? Okay. Tax owner-occupied condominiums as commercial property. Non-owner occupied, um... O'Donnell/ That never goes anywhere! Bailey/ I know! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 19 Wright/ As Connie said, I think other communities are going to start noticing this. Bailey/ Yeah, as they build out, I mean, you know, amazingly I wonder, I mean... Correia/ ...for folks that rent...pay commercial taxes on single-family home or a duplex than for others who buy a condo and don't have to pay commercial tax, but they're getting (mumbled) income. Helling/ ...with this too is, excuse me, trying to discourage them going the other way. But there's always legislation (both talking) Correia/ Oh, right. Sure. Wright/ Good point. Bailey/ Um...and we have tax increment financing, no change for the restrictions, funding support for passenger rail initiatives, extension of Amtrak to Iowa City from Quad Cities. We had an alcohol beverage...um, one. Do we want to... Wright/ We can keep asking. Correial Is there any (mumbled) had talked about with our alcohol policies that were related to the state (mumbled) Bailey/ I...I put one in the email to Erica that...that has come up in alcohol task force about the cover charge issue. Correia/ Ah, there you go. Bailey/ Um, but I don't, um, I did check with some people at the state level, including the auditor's office, and they feel that their measures are....what they have in place is sufficient to...to, um, their oversight is sufficient of this cash-only business, at this juncture. That's what I heard. But I mean we could...we could mention that. If there's interest. Wright/ I'd like to put both of t hose in, the...both the, um, state statutes to restrict their price specials and...cover charge. I've heard from too many different people, some of whom are even... are pretty reliable about cover charge slush funds at the bars. Bailey/ It seems to me in a difficult financial (mumbled) that the state might be a little bit more interested in the taxes that they're foregoing. I don't know. That's just me. Okay. Helling/ Both of them? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 20 Bailey/ Yeah. Anything else we should be thinking about? Besides...I had also included, and I don't...I don't really think that this is possible, but I always talk...speak to them about this, because we were right on the...um, the last funded I-Jobs for $3.5 million for our north waste water treatment plant is another round of funding for I-Jobs, um...the state would bond for. I don't think it's...probably going to happen, but I don't think that was a bad program, and we certainly benefitted from it, and could continue to use for flood recovery. Hayek/ Yeah, and I'm just...I'm torn philosophically because I, you know, basically asking the state to put more on its credit card, um, but I also understand that that's how municipalities get much of their funding. Bailey/ Well, we did...we did okay with it, and certainly a second round may benefit us. Hayek/ Well, sure it benefits us. Bailey/ Right. Hayek/ Um... Bailey/ And we do have...we'll continue to have large bills to pay regarding flood recovery, so...maybe we could ask about that possibility, and watch them laugh or whatever. If there's been discussion. I know that there has been some discussion with IFA, and uh... Wright/ IFA? Bailey/ Iowa Finance Authority who administered the program. There's been some discussion about the possibility of second round of funding, but that was three months ago. Anything else? Hayek/ Well, whatever we throw up to the Coalition will...will have to be vetted against everyone else who's a member of the Coalition and will ultimately turn into that, essentially a half page bullet point, like.. . Bailey/ It'll be a little bit more clear than the League one. It'11...I think, I don't know. Yeah, it'll be churned in, but none of what we're talking about for our priorities would be...contrary to the interests of the Coalition members, do you think, Dale? Helling/ No. Hayek/ I mean, the specificity of...ours (both talking) pare it back is far more specific than the League's broad stated agenda. Bailey/ Right, and it's... Hayek/ ...about the Coalition? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 21 Bailey/ Yeah. Yeah, I mean, last year's is here, behind ours. Hayek/ Yeah. Bailey/ Yeah, it is very broad because, um...for that very reason. Multiple cities, but...some of these specifics would be specific talking points, um...you know, revenue diversification, specifics of the hotel/motel tax would be, you know, a bullet point underneath that. Hayek/ What do you think, Dale? Am I missing something...we should add? Bailey/ You talked to staff, and nothing came... Helling/ Uh, nothing overwhelming, no. Um...we...we talked, uh, about a couple of things that probably aren't, uh, aren't likely to see the light of day, um...one of the things that...concerns me anyway is, and it's sort of addressed in the League's priorities in terms of Iowa City's going to ensure the integrity of the long-term sustainability of (mumbled) state's retirement system. Um, and there's more than one way to do that. One way obviously would be to...you know, raise substantially the amount that the cities have to pay in in order (mumbled) give back (mumbled) um...but another way obviously is look at the benefits and...and try to strike a balance there somehow, because we...we've seen, uh, that the MFPRSI, which is Fire and Police pensions, could go up as high as 38%. The floor is 17, and the highest it's gone is right around 30, and that was several years ago. Um, now obviously that...that goes up and down as the economy (mumbled) changes, but I think, you know, it's something that, uh, that going up by another 27%, uh, or another, let's see...17, 34, about 21 %, uh, that's a percent of the total wages (coughing) so that's a substantial amount of money. Hayek/ What would a 21 % increase mean to us in terms of a dollar amount? Helling/ I... Hayek/ Roughly. Can you...pull that out of thin air? Helling/ I...no, I can't pull it out of thin air, but it's...it's a lot, I mean, we pay millions of dollars (mumbled) Bailey/ So...a statement about better...careful, I mean, what would be the...the statement (mumbled and laughter) Hayek/ You could use the Iowa League of Cities reference to that issue, which is cryptic. Bailey/ Although it's...it's too cryptic, I think. I think we need to be a little bit more direct. Um... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 22 Karr/ Madame Mayor, I just wanted to state that the League priorities that you're looking at, this was approved September 1. They're doing position papers on each one. So what you're looking here is their bullet points, but there will be more supportive statements and papers on each one. Bailey/ Right, kind of like the Metro Coalition does. Karr/ Exactly! Bailey/ They have bullet points underneath. Karr/ Yeah, so this won't stand alone. Hayek/ Well, L ..I mean, I'd be... Bailey/ So when will those be done? Sorry, Matt. Karr/ I just spoke with them last, uh, Wednesday, and they're working on it. They're hoping within the next, uh, "few weeks." Bailey/ Oh, that doesn't help us much. Go ahead, Matt. Hayek/ Well, I'd be interested in including that, uh, on our list and, the particular language I'm not worried about, uh, stop killing cities, something like that. (laughter) Bailey/ That's nice! Hayek/ But, uh, I'd be...I'd be interested in that. Bailey/ And, can you provide us some more information with that, Dale, like, I mean, Matt's point about what, you know, 21 %. Maybe if we could do the kind of thing that you do with us, um, a percentage point equals.. . Helling/ Yeah, that...(both talking)...what's 10%, I mean... Bailey/ Yeah, that would be helpful for us, all to be able to articulate that. Um, and maybe, I don't know, come up with some wording that's (mumbled) Anything else? O'Donnell/ Good. Bailey/ Okay, so you'll draft these out and we'll take another pass at them and, before we...(several talking) resolution. Helling/ yeah, if anybody comes up with anything else, just (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 23 Bailey/ I know that you're all having...conversations with, you know, legislators and...and other people about what the upcoming session looks like, um...so if you hear... Hayek/ Not all of us are. Bailey/ Really? Hayek/ Yeah. Bailey/ As you... Hayek/ You're either being facetious or...(laughter) or very optimistic. Bailey/ I figure that when you bump into these people at the grocery store, so, how, you know, you talk and you chat, I don't know! (several talking) Hayek/ Here's what I say to 'em: how come nobody knows what you do in Des Moines, and we so much as talk about chickens and you know they...they get on us. Correia/ Maybe we should talk to the media about that. Hayek/ Anyway, that's what I tell Joe Bolkcom. Wright/ We actually had Mary Mascher over for dinner a while back and...the state budget did not come up once. Bailey/ Okay, I sat next to Bob Dworsky at the Great Places thing and we only talked shop. I guess you're a better conversationalist than I. Hayek/ The other thing I told Joe Bolkcom the last time I saw him was that he had a higher re- electpercentage than Fidel Castro. (laughter) Bailey/ Okay, you guys are better conversationalists than I am (laughter). Okay. We're moving on to info packet discussion from October 8th and October 15th. Anything? I'll give you a moment. Info Packet Discussion (10/8 and 10/15): Hayek/ I...uh on the budget amendment, um... Bailey/ October 8th, one. Hayek/ IP4 on October 8th...can we...basically be walked through this, at least the salient points about the amendments? Um... Helling/ We can, um... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 24 Hayek/ And it doesn't have to be tonight. But, I mean... Helling/ Normally Kevin would have been here, but as you noticed the...this had to be extended, uh, we set public hearing (mumbled) so um, he'll be available certainly at the regular meeting and if you want him at the informal meting, uh, that's fine. We can have him here (mumbled) Bailey/ ...setting the public hearing. Hayek/ Yeah, so maybe it's premature. Bailey/ So let's have.. Helling/ You won't be holding the public hearing now...on... Bailey/ Tomorrow. Helling/ No, on the 2nd. Bailey/ Right. So let's have him there on the... Helling/ Have him here on the 2nd. Or the 1st, I'm sorry. Karr/ No, it's a combined meeting (several talking) Helling/ November 2nd. Wright/ Yeah, if he could be here the 2nd, that'd be good. Helling/ Yeah, we'll...it's a combined meeting, so he can be at the work session... Bailey/ Will that work for everybody? (several talking) Yeah, that's good. Any other info packet discussion items? Wright/ Um, just a question for Mike on the Farmers Market survey. Bailey/ Yes, I think that's why he's here. Wright/ I...I was guessing that might be why you were here. Bailey/ This is IP8 from October 15th. Moran/ Yes! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 25 Wright/ Um, and I'm just, uh, wanted to ask about circulating the flyer with the information about it in the water bills. Moran/ Uh-huh. Wright/ How successful is that at getting a return rate, because I have to admit, I really almost never look at what's in my water bill. Moran/ Well, we've done it before in the past, so it's been standard practice for us. Wright/ But how good is the response? Moran/ Uh, that's hard to measure because people can go, especially online, cause they can go on several times, so we don't have a backend to that either. Bailey/ Do we have any way of preventing that, because I can't enter contests multiple times, doggone it, so... Moran/ We're working with Matt Ewers on that to see if...if we can...to see what we can do to track, back-track that. Correia/ I think the issue is something about like the IP address, like if somebody's at the Library, and then...yeah, then... Moran/ And actually, you know, if somebody wants to get on the Farmers Market survey four or five, five, six, seven, eight times, I guess that... Bailey/ They have strong... Moran/ ...strong feelings about it. Correia/ Has this, uh, cause there's still a couple weeks left. Moran/ yeah, it won't even start until October 28th. And then it goes through November 18th, that's the cycle water bills (both talking) Correia/ ...currently attending the Farmers Market. Moran/ yeah, well...what we're going to do with vendors, we'll hit all the vendors (both talking) and all the participants, yeah, we'll...we'll have 'em available for the last two, three markets that we have, as well. Yeah, people have multiple opportunities to use it, and that's their option. Correia/ Ifll go, when does it go through? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 26 Moran/ Uh, through November 18th, and then we'll keep the survey open for a month to December 18th, and then we'll compile the information. Correia/ I'm wondering if folks that...won't there be a, like a winter market in November? Isn't there a... Moran/ Well, we have, uh, yeah, we have the holiday markets, and we're doing three of those this year, so we'll do one in November, one in December, and then one in either late January or February. Correia/ That might be a way (mumbled) Moran/ That's...that's awhole other issue...so we want to sort of just keep the Farmers Market together instead of mixing the holiday market (both talking) Bailey/ I want to jump on something Amy said about, because the survey will start October 28th, you'll pre-advertise that availability of the survey...from now until the end, yeah, because there really aren't a lot of markets left, are there? Moran/ No, and...and the attendance is down and the...yeah, there's only two or three left, and the attendance has been down, because of the frost. Bailey/ So, yeah, if we can get the web site or whatever, the web address out there I think that would be helpful...for the (mumbled) Moran/ We're going to hand out the same flyers that we're going to do the water bill, uh, at the (mumbled) Bailey/ And what about, um, I would imagine some of the people who will do the ECO Iowa City film festival are probably Farmers Market users, not maybe exclusively, but what about collaborating with them to advertise? (several talking) Moran/ (mumbled) available and hand them out to all the participants. Bailey/ Okay. Moran/ And then after December 18th, we'll prepare a report, take it to the Commission, and then bring it to you all for a list of recommendations and anything that happens. Bailey/ And then will the Commission have some other recommendations about process, about not only sitting down with, I mean, sitting down with vendors, I mean, that was part of the challenge, I think... Moran/ yeah. We usually send our letter out in February to the vendors about what's coming for the future and stuff, and I think what we'll do is make that more interactive, instead of just send them a letter we'll have aget-together, and then we can all sit down and talk, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 27 and you know, the social hall or some place and...and get all the issues out, so that people have a chance to react to that. Bailey/ And will they have a sense of when you're bringing recommendations to the Council, as well, so if they want to...okay. Moran/ The timeline will all be put together on the summary sheet. Bailey/ Okay, other questions for Mike since he's here about this? Good, thanks. (several talking) Any other info packet...Matt? Hayek/ Uh, yeah, um, Rick, if you wouldn't mind. Just want to make it worth your while to be here. Um... Bailey/ Why wouldn't he like spending an evening with us? (laughter) Hayek/ I mean, it's so hard to ask you questions cause these memos are...these bullet points are perfect, cause they impart information quickly, but um...in terms of, uh (several talking) sorry, IP6 of October 8. Bailey/ Flood related? Hayek/ Yeah, in terms of...my question is really related to the, um, public infrastructure levy projects. Taft and Dubuque and those things. We will be...I think your memo says we should have some answers by later this month on... Fosse/ Oh, for the...for the projects, where we're trying to get Community Development Block Grant funds? Hayek/ Yeah, and I'm just trying to get a sense of if funded when we know, and then when does that conversation get held here. Fosse/ That's...that's a moving target right now because of what's going on at the state level. We'd hoped to know later this month. It might drift into November. It sounds like you've heard some things... Bailey/ No, I just know how the department is running right now and...and I think, I mean, that's coming through DED, right? Fosse/ Yes, they've got some distractions going on there...which is unfortunate because, you know, (mumbled) these funding sources so we can begin to gel up our plans. Hayek/ Okay. You know, we need to be mindful of the fact that these delays are not caused by us and contingent on outside funding decisions, um...will be associated with the City. Right? Feel it's important for the public to understand that issues such as that, which are wholly contingent on outside funding are driven by outside deliberations and factors. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 28 Bailey/ And I think the...I think there was some correspondence from...from, uh, Doug with one resident regarding that, and I think the flood staff does a great job, but you're right. With these broader infrastructure issues, I think that there's...there are more people we don't know looking at this and wondering about this, who aren't asking directly. Fosse/ Dale and I had a good meeting with some representatives from Parkview Terrace neighborhood last weekend and we filled them in on the (mumbled) things we don't know about yet, and that seemed to help a lot, and I hope that information will get out amongst the neighborhood. Hayek/ Good, thank you. Bailey/ And...and I think they do know that it's contingent upon funding, but it's not, um, it's not a done deal if the funding comes through, I mean, there will be additional conversations and we'll have discussions. Hayek/ ...a possibility! Bailey/ Right! Hayek/ Financial possibility. Okay. Thanks, Rick. (several talking) Bailey/ Oh, okay, well, we're getting there. Are we done with info packet discussion? Okay, shall we move into Council time? Go ahead. Council Time: Correia/ Well, there's two things - one I went to the Davenport, the meeting in Davenport. Bailey/ Oh, right! Correia/ (several talking) week before that. Bailey/ Okay. Correia/ Um...so what I was wondering is...is if we could have a agenda item on our work session to bring in...I think it was Steve...a police officer from Iowa City... Bailey/ Who went? Correial yeah, who went as well, um, and then (several talking) and Marcia, um, and then pull in maybe Jorey Bailey, the Police Chief just to talk about what...what we were talking about, what we learned at the meeting, as well as some of the...the efforts that we currently have in place to support neighborhoods and to support, uh, increase crime This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 29 prevention and patrol and that sort of thing, and then talk about maybe how the Council wants to take this information and what we might want to do with that. Bailey/ I'm interested in doing that. The next work session is combined. Do...do you want to wait till the 16th, or do you want (both talking) I mean, we can certainly start, but be aware that that might back up our start time. Okay. Helling/ Give some background just on the Davenport trip and what they're doing and so forth. want to pull together staff and get each other informed, and out of that there will come sort of a maybe a...organized report that we can give you. Bailey/ If we could start with a memo, and then have a discussion, with...with a memo with some background, I think that that...(several talking) yeah. Helling/ (mumbled) Bailey/ Let's try to have the discussion in November. Do you think that's feasible? Helling/ I would hope so, yeah. Bailey/ Is that...is that acceptable to everybody? Helling/ Well, I was thinking we could at least report out on the Davenport trip and what they're doing, you know, kind of some of the things staff learned from there, but then to get everybody together and try to pull it all together. I'd like to do that...and get something in writing to you (mumbled) Bailey/ But keep in mind also with a...with a combined meeting we can also have the option of going into work session after the formal meeting. So that would be an option too, if you wanted to have the whole thing on the 2nd. So there are options. Helling/ I don't know if we could get the report... Bailey/ Okay. Correia/ Seems to me like there might be benefit to having the Council talk and...before it being wholly staffed. Bailey/ Sure. Correia/ Framed discussion, and I don't know (both talking) Bailey/ so you'll bring us something from...the staff that overviews and...the Davenport meeting. Helling/ We can do that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Bailey/ And then, we'll... Correia/ I took notes, I mean, I can.. . Bailey/ And then could you prepare a memo, as well, for the packet? Helling/ (mumbled) Bailey/ Okay. Helling/ Yeah, I mean, I...just from what you told me, I have no idea how to frame that discussion for the 2nd. You all understand what you want to do, that's fine. Page 30 Bailey/ I think what we're interested in sort of the information, and then some, I mean, Amy probably will start off with some suggestions about what...what seems feasible, and then we can go from there about more questions and what seems feasible. Matt, did you have a question? Hayek/ That's fine. Bailey/ Mike, you good with that? O'Donnell/ What's that? Bailey/ If we just start with a report, and then Amy can probably...and they'll have some ideas, I'm sure, right? Helling/ Oh, yeah (mumbled) Bailey/ I think that that was part of Amy's point. Correia/ Because I mean, on some level there's a lot of...what I've noticed in a lot of correspondence that we're getting is, the City isn't doing anything around issues that are coming before us, um, and I think that that's not an entirely true statement. Helling/ Certainly isn't. Correia/ Right, and so I mean I would like there to be more opportunities for staff in public meetings to be talking about the things that we're doing, the information gathering that we're doing, to try and create recommendations to do more (mumbled) so that's...I guess that's part of, and wanting to hear because we haven't, um, Council approve the community prevention officer, you know, however many budget cycles ago, and it took a while to get a person in that position due to loss of personnel related reasons and we haven't heard an update. I've been in settings where I've heard what Officer Bailey's This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 31 doing. We've heard a little bit here, but it'd be nice to have him come, talk about what he's doing, um, here, what we learned in Davenport, um, and then have that... Helling/ I was just suggesting that you have the update in your hand (both talking) that would take it back to the 16th (mumbled) Wright/ I think it's okay if we start the discussion on the 2nd, and carry it forward to the next work session. Bailey/ I don't know, I mean, it would be helpful for me, and I don't know if this would work for other people, it's just the way I frame things, is...some of the things that are happening in Davenport, and maybe some things that we have that maybe similar, and some things that we're already doing to address some of these same issues, some things that are completely different, and then maybe how we could take some of the things that we're doing farther, that would either look like Davenport, or wouldn't work here because we're not Davenport. That's kind of how I'm thinking about this whole discussion. Okay. So we'll have something in our hands on the 16th. We'll start the discussion on the 2nd. O'Donnell/ That's good. Bailey/ Are we good? Correia/ And then I just have a question, cause of something...cause this is Council time, um, when we were in Davenport we talked about some neighborhood, um...(mumbled) I'll just use neighborhood betterment or whatever, issues related to lighting, and I was in a meeting...like what happens when a light goes out, a street light, and I was in a meeting, um, it was the HACAP site council meeting last week and I was sharing what I learned in Davenport what they're doing, and so we were talking about lighting and somebody who lives in Iowa City that's on that site council said that a street light went out in her neighborhood in January, and she remembered because it's her birthday, and she called the City three times and there still...the light, the street light still hasn't been replaced. So... Fosse/ MidAmerican owns and operates the street lights (mumbled) we get complaints we forward those on to 'em, and one of the things that we can do is...is get that 800# from MidAmerican more prevalent on our web site so that people can contact them directly. We...we essentially rent those street lights. Correia/ Right, so what happens...is there any ramifications to MidAmerican if they haven't replaced the street light -it's October. Fosse/ Normally they're...they're good about it! If you can get me a specific location. Correia/ Okay, I have it at work. I thought I had it in my bag, so I'll have to email it to you. Fosse/ It's rare that complaints get to our office about them being slow. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 32 Correia/ Okay. Fosse/ Get me specifics. Correia/ Okay. Bailey/ Other Council time? Other Council time that would require Rick to stay? (laughter) Okay, other Council time? I did want to mention that, um, as you know it's been in the paper that the University will start charging public...the public fees for using their recreational service facilities, the Field House, the...what do they call that? The tennis facility, I call it the old Rec Center, and then the new rec building, and um, so we met today just to talk about what they're thinking about, the range of the fees, um, why, um, this is partially because they think it's more fair to students, and they're raising the student fees to cover the...the construction costs of this new rec building, which sounds like it'll be amazing and wonderful. And so, um, Mike was in that meeting, Dale was in that meeting, and I think that they'll keep us up to speed about what implications this will have for our services, and our programming, because it could have some program implications, as well, because they will offer some things similar to what we do. Is there anything else you wanted to add just about... Correia/ Like the track at the rec building, behind... Bailey/ Yes! Correia/ (mumbled) Bailey/ No. They'll have a single point of entry for all their facilities, and you can pay a day rate, a...a...you can buy afour-month pass, or a year membership...as members of the public. You will have... Hayek/ ...tax dollars built? Bailey/ Yes. (several talking) Staff will have different... Wright/ We still have to pay. Bailey/ Right. Yeah, so, but I just...I asked for the meeting to get an update, because I think it will have impact on the expectations of services we do or don't provide, and it will have implications on the uses of our facilities, and Mike is...has been in conversations, but...is there anything else? Helling/ ...short-term effects, obviously. (mumbled) long range it's...we'll have to work with them and plan (mumbled) entire community. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 Ciry Council Work Session Page 33 Correia/ I think one...that track at the rec building, whatever you call (mumbled) lot of community use. Yeah, and I (several talking) I think when that survey went out when they were doing the Master Plan.. . Bailey/ Yes! Correia/ ...there was some talk about a walking track. Bailey/ Well, and that...that's why exactly, because I think it will have implications for how we phase in that Master Plan strategically, what the expectations for services, some of our programs, so...Mike...now and Dale and...will keep an eye on that, but more to come, but you will hear about that. I think they're taking that proposals to the Regents in October, so you probably will be getting comments like Matt made about tax dollars and expectations and...just... Correia/ (mumbled) real estate signs Bailey/ Yeah, just so we're...I wanted everybody to know what it was, and what the range is, so when you hear comments we're up...a little bit more up to speed. Okay, any other Council time? O'Donnell/ I mentioned a month or so ago about the Legion out on Muscatine Avenue. Bailey/ Yeah. O'Donnell/ Not being able to put a sign out and say when they're having spaghetti (several talking) without getting a fine from the City. Um, I drove by, well, let me finish, I drove by there the other day, and they do have a sign and it's in a window, and you...you almost get in an accident trying to look at see the sign, and I don't know if there's some provision we can put in... Helling/ Yeah (both talking) we'll get that for you. Your question specifically, Mike, what would we need to do to make that legal. O'Donnell/ Correct. I think it's just, you know, it would be abusiness-friendly move, I mean, I just can't see this thing hurting anybody, whether you're selling a donut or spaghetti to have a sign out there for a couple hours, a couple days a week. I mean.. . Helling/ And that's what we have to figure out, how to do that without having the larger impact, the negative impact that we don't want to have with sign proliferation and (mumbled) O'Donnell/ We can specify that it can't be a neon sign. You know, these are small signs! Helling/ They're temporary signs (several talking) Wright/ I think the nature of being temporary is... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 34 Bailey/ Well, you'll get us something and...and I had talked to somebody, and I think some options have been offered to them so... O'Donnell/ Good. Thank you. Bailey/ Other Council time items? Um, budget priorities, just standard? Budget Priorities: Hayek/ Yeah, I've, uh, I've been thinking it's that time of year when you start to think about what we're going to get and jumping into the budget process, and unless anything's changed, uh, I anticipate there being a gap that we've got to figure out, um...and I don't know how you want to go into this cycle, Dale, but um, do we...do you think we need to have as a Council some sort ofpre-budget meeting where we talk about a...an expected gap and give directions, uh...at least some general directions, or...or would you prefer just to present apre-budget? Helling/ I think we want to keep you apprised as we get good information, so we can start projecting the revenues. Unfortunately we don't have that when we start the process, so the...departments and divisions submit their budgets, um, not knowing what...what the revenue projections will be, but certainly I've told them that this is going to be a very lean year, and so I anticipate the budgets will reflect that. Until we have both and can put them side by side we can't really project what, you know, what that gap might be. Um, and probably as we get into early November we...we may have better information by that time. We should have the rollback, for instance (mumbled) Bailey/ Okay. Helling/ And uh, on our evaluations and...and uh, so we can have some idea then (mumbled) Bailey/ So we'll just continue to have budget priorities on the work session agenda, and then when you need to update us...I guess Matt's also asking if, you know, if there's anything else we need to discuss before we go into... Hayek/ I mean, it's going to be a very tense process because of the economic climate and the extent to which we can smooth that on the front end with some...some decisions, or guidance, um...have to think that would help. Bailey/ yeah. Hayek/ But, we can't, you know, it's guess work until we... Helling/ Well, yeah, and it's hard for you to make (mumbled) until you have all that information and we'll have (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 35 Bailey/ I (both talking) Helling/ ...that you want to talk about (mumbled) Hayek/ Why don't we...maybe we should wait until, I mean, I don't know how many pieces of hard data we need. If it's the rollback, or the rollback plus these other things. At some point where we've got enough information to have a pretty good sense of what it will be like, maybe that's when we hold a conversation (both talking) Helling/ I think when we have...when we're satisfied that we have pretty good solid information to make our projections, we can look at the current budget and (mumbled) and hopefully come up with a, you know, something so you'll know whether it's, you know, quarter of a million or a million and a quarter or whatever, you know. Bailey/ Well, and I think it would be good just given...what we've seen the state do, I mean, we were getting messages, it's fine, it's fine, it's under control, it's under control, and then the REC met and then it was a 10% budget cut, and I think that if we can be real clear, and I think we have been that we know that there's going to be a gap. We're not sure the extent of it, but I think that'll help too, as we go into a difficult budget cycle. Helling/ Yeah, your...um, while we anticipate, um, some...a little bit of a downturn in evaluations, and certainly a lesser growth than we've had in the past, um, the...those numbers still aren't nearly as volatile as the state, you know, income tax revenue and that, and sales tax revenue. It...it varies widely, and very quickly, and so they obviously have (mumbled) I think we're in a better situation. We could have more information and have abetter picture of what the future looks like before you have to make those decisions. Bailey/ Okay. Hayek/ Okay, thanks. Schedule of Pending Discussion Items: Bailey/ Um, schedule of pending discussion items. I think we're good. We talked about that. Anything else? Upcoming Community Events /Council Invitations Bailey/ Any upcoming community events? Of course the Human Rights breakfast is Thursday. I think Marian has information from people who wanted to attend. Anything else coming up? Karr/ The ICAD Annual meeting. If there's anyone who (both talking) that's the 28th. Bailey/ ...and we are buying a table for...so let Marian know. What time does it start? It's an evening event. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009. October 19, 2009 City Council Work Session Page 36 Karr/ It's an evening, I think 5:30 to...5:00 to 6:00 is the reception, and then I think 6:00 to 8:00 is the, um, event dinner and speech. Bailey/ Okay. Hayek/ I cannot do the 28th so I'm out. Bailey/ Well...all right. (several talking) Wright/ What day of the week is the 28th? Bailey/ 28th is a Wednesday. We'll also have the groundbreaking on the fourth Fire Station then, and at 3:00 in the afternoon. At this point, the...it's on the Governor's schedule and he will be there. Helling/ Um (mumbled) Bailey/ Okay, um, we have worked with his scheduler, and I think I'm very hopeful that he'll be there. It's an I-Jobs project so he's very interested in being there. It would be good to have a good turnout by Council, and you get to actually shovel, you know, do the groundbreaking, so that'll be good! Anything else? Okay. Um...we know that we're meeting tomorrow (laughter) and we know that November 2nd is a...a double up meeting. So, anything else we need to know about meeting schedules? Marian? Okay. Thank you. I'll see you all tomorrow night. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular work session meeting of October 19, 2009.