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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-01-13 Correspondence JOHNSON HISTORICA - SOCIETY 310 FIFTH STREET. P.O. BOX 5081 COI~ALVILLE. IOWA 52241 ,319) 3fil-5738 ~ Bid~ J~ ~ Jo~ E~ ~ ~y, ~11e ~ Kei~ He~agway ~ M~e~ ~d M~e~ ~y · JAN091998 ANAg£R'S OFF/C[ TO:. FROM: RE: Mayor Lehman & Councillors Champion, Kubby, Norton, O'Donnell, Thomberry, Vanderhoef Laurie Robinson, Executive Director, Johnson Co. Historical Society Increased assistance for the Johnson County Historical Society This year, the Johnson County Historical Society's Heritage Museum wns one of only four museums in Iowa to win a Genernl Operating Support Grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum & Library Services. These grants are awarded through a peer review process to museums who achieve excellence in all areas of museum performance. This is the Society's fourth consecutive award. We are an excellent museum, providing superior services to our constituency in spite of lean resources. In the first eight months of 1997, 8,947 children and adults visited one of the Society's three historic sites; or took part in one of our 113 events or activities. Dozens of history-related inquiries were fielded by Society staff on the phone and in person [some from City employees!]. Additional scores of county residents watched our 'Local Lore' or 'History for Lunch' lectures on public access television. And countless hundreds more learned a tittle history from our 'History Mystery' column in the Iowa City Press- Citizen. More and more, people seek knowledge of their local history. They delight in the connection to their predecessors that historic buildings and old stories impart. They explore local customs and culture so they can live in harmony with their neighbors. It's clear that our people need roots, too, just like the flowers and trees on the ped mall! But our community is unique in Iowa in its tendency to roodessness. According to the last census, 43% of our residents reported they'd moved into the county within the previous five years. Almost 33% were born in another state. More than 8% were born in another country. We enjoy neighbors from the four corners of the globe; and the languages of the world are heard in our stores and offices. Our very diversity, though, makes it difficult for us to reach out to each other, to form connections, to work together to meet our common challenges. We have only one common bond: We live here together now. Developing that bond into a tie that binds is the work of local history. When we learn each other's stories and share our own, then we can begin to trust each other. And only then can we work together. To preserve and teach our local history is a way of building a vital comtnunity-- and safeguarding our future and that of our children. Please consider the Society's request carefully and with an eye to the community's long term development I think you will agree that local history is important over the long term; and that the history of Iowa's most diverse, best-educated city is worth preserving and teaching. Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 09:54:37 +0000 From: Chris Hungerford <hungerfo@iavalley.cc.ia.us> To: council@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu Subject: EXCEL E-mail partners Dear Mayor Novick, I wanted to thank you for helping our students this past semester and look forward to working with you again next semester. They enjoy sending and receving e-mail with you. I appreciate your prompt replys. Please check out my Virtual City website I have created. It's not completely done but will give you more of an idea about the class. http://www.iavalley.cc.ia.us/Nhungerfo Have a great holiday season ' Chris Hungerford Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 12:20:54 -0600 From: "David M. Wehde" <davidwehde~email.msn.com> To: council~blue.weeg.uiowa.edu Subject: Russian Sister City Parts/attachments: 1 Shown -14 lines Text (charset: ISO-8859-1) 2 -28 lines Text (charset: ISO-8859-1) [The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] I read in a recent Press-Citizen that Iowa City may be establishing a relationship with a sister city in Russia. I can speak Russian fluently and have some extra time on my hands. (I recently graduated with a Master's Degree from the U of I Department of Russian.) I would like to enthusiastically vollunteer my services as translator, assistant, etc. if I may be of any help. Please contact me. Sincerely, David Wehde 354-1377 ? Help M Main Menu P PrevMsg O OTHER CMDS V ViewAttch N NextMsg o PreyPage Spc NextPage D Delete U Undelete R Reply F Forward Date: Sun, 28 Dec 1997 11:26:19 EST From: Tk5485 <Tk5485@aol.com> To: council@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu Subject: The water rates I would just like to say that I am disgusted by the waters rates in this city. For the amount that we already pay we get the crappiest water in the state. I manage a retail store in Iowa City and I cannot even count the gallons of bottled water that I sell every day. I cater to alot of students, and people that are at the University Hostbitals and they cannot stand the taste and smell of our water. And now you are raiseing the water by 15%???? What the heck is wrong with you people? How can you justify that rate? I think that maybe instead of just raising the cost you should look at giving us something for our money. Get that new plant built. Stop messing around and letting someone else pull your strings. I have never seen a weeker and more lame city government. Shape up. Timothy Kelly 940 E Bloomington St. Iowa City, Iowa 52245 Dace: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 15:51:29 -0600 From: Kristi Ferguson <fer~uson@inav.net> To: council@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu Subject: DARE program [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] Fr: John Ferguson 14 Norwood Circle 351-3714 FYI: I hope the following information fr: LA Times re: review of DARE will be helpful. Federal prevention funding now requires local school districts to prove the effectiveness of the drug & alcohol prevention programs they implement, not just offer education in drug and alcohol resistance. Los Angeles Times Copyright Los Angeles Times Monday, December 22, 1997 Perspective DARE or Not? Schools Review Anti-Drug Efforts By CATHY WERBLIN, Special to The Times Every day, thousands of preteen students don their bright red DARE T-shirts and listen politely as uniformed police officers educate them on everything from cocaine to cigarettes, then warn of the dangers involved with illegal drug use. ~A~A~But this scene, played out in 17-week sessions on elementary and middle school campuses across Orange County, could be in for a change. Because of new state and federal requirements and a growing dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the widely used DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), officials are preparing for a different kind of drug war. ~A~3~lready, several Orange County school districts are beginning to assess the continued use of DARE, and many more are gearing up to research alternatives to the expensive and often criticized program. ~ATustin Unified School District recently launched a project to study the effectiveness of the DARE program, used in its 10 elementary and three middle schools. ~"Over the last year there has been a lot of press about DARE, and the board is interested in getting a clearer picture of what is involved," said Chris Wall, the district's coordinator of safe and drug-free schools. "They're interested in any time that's spent outside of [teaching] general education." ~Wall added that a newly established committee will study what alternatives are available to provide drug education, including private organizations such as Project Northland and Project Star. ~Under newly adopted U.S. requirements that provide federal funds, local school districts are required not only to offer education in drug and alcohol resistance, but also muss prove the effectiveness of the programs they implement. ~The beefed-up federal guidelines have helped motivate several conservative school board members in such communities as Orange and Tustin to begin questioning the effectiveness of drug education. ~In its effort to respond to the federal requirements, the state Department of Education has just released a guidebook outlining methods for determining whether programs either reduce student drug use or have a so-called "promising approach," evidence that shows the programs could potentia!iv reduce drug use. ~AAThat ~uidebook states that DARE, used by itself, doesn't lead to reduced drug use by students. AAAAA"We're not telling districts to stop using it, but we're not telling them to use it, either," said Greg Wolfe, a consultant with the state Department of Education. "We're not encouraging it." ~AALinda Kearns, the Orange County Department of Education's program coordinator for safe and drug-free schools and tobacco education, said districts across the county will have to reassess how they provide drug awareness education before next fall. ~"We will be asking districts to comply with new principles of effectiveness," Kearns said. "Just because a program is popular doesn't mean it's effective." ~Ralph Lochridge, director of communications for Inglewood-based DARE America, said DARE founders never expected the program to solve the nation's drug problem. ~"It's absurd to expect that in 17 one-hour lessons in the fifth grade, we'll solve the drug problem," he said. ~A~Lochridge, a former spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, added that the high number of school districts using the program--75% nationwide--proves that educators support the program. ~Sal Garcia, a psychologist for the Garden Grove Unified School District, said about 8,000 students in the district's 43 elementary schools currently receive DARE training, and there is no move to eliminate the program in one of the county's largest districts. ~"We have a state mandate about teaching drug and alcohol awareness," Garcia said. "DARE is a vehicle to provide those services. ~&The Buena Park school district had its DARE funding discontinued when the City Council withdrew its support last year. Mayor Gerald N. Sigler said the City Council, faced with $1.5 million in cuts, couldn't justify paying for city police to teach DARE. ~A~Phyllis Reed, student and community services specialist for the Buena Park school district, said a health committee has developed a new program combining textbooks with other materials to bring drug and alcohol awareness to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. ~A~A"We're hoping to cover a lot of the stuff the DARE officers covered," Reed said. ~A~AHuntington Beach City School District consultant Don Pate said the government's strict requirements are similar to an edict handed down 30 years ago that required schools to teach Spanish in sixth grade. ~"They didn't give us any way to implement it, and in a few years it was gone," he said. ~Rod Skater, professor emeritus of education at UCLA and a longtime researcher of drug awareness pro~3rams, said research shows that DARE "has no effect on reducing drug use." ~"The basic concept of telling kids that drugs are bad for them doesn't work," Skager said. "We have to get rid of these pie-in-the-sky notions that we're going to get rid of drugs. We're not. We have to take a different approach." ~Skager advocates programs that educate parents as well as students and "give kids a chance to talk abou~ drugs." ~A~The educator added that schools and communities need to work together to establish ways of identifying and helping kids in trouble. ~AGetting past hysteria over drugs and realizing that there are students who will try drugs but not become addicted is also important, Skater said. ~A~"We go on backing programs that don't have any results at all," Skater said. "Research shows it's wasted time. We need honesty and discussion rather than lecturing." OSHA 14 SOUTH GRAY DAVIDSON GOVERNOR STREET IOWA CITY IOWA 52240 USA Tel: (319) 338-4778 Fax: (319) 338-8606 osha@pobox.com Iowa City Council City of Iowa City 410 E. Washington St. 52240 31 December 1997 Dear Councilors, First,, greetings and be~ wishes to the new Iowa City Council in this new year. Enclosed is an article from the NY Times concerning a problem familiar to many of us in Iowa City: the conflicts that come when the needs of businesses and those of teenagers collide. The article shows how one city (Stamford, Conn.) has dealt with this problem. I know you're all aware of the tensions on the downtown ped-mall. I hope the enclosed article will help you in crafting solutions that lead to a stronger community. Stepping up police presence downtown isn't the answer to the problem. It's one part of a more complete solution, one that addresses the very real needs of the young people who hang out downtown. It's too easy for adults to treat these teenagers as pariahs. Those who see them that way will inevitably create more problems downtown by 'cracking down' on teenagers. Yes, some of these teenagers have problems. (Who doesn't?) And, yes, their sometimes loud behavior can frighten us older types. But please remember that these are our children. While providing discipline we must also provide help where it's needed. As the mall manager in the article points out: 'If you treat young people as if they have brains and they're honorable, they will react accordingly.' Sincerely', .., xx YORK TIMI~.S NATIONAL TUESDAY, NOV]~MB£R 25, 1997 Mall Help_s Teen-Agers to . ang Out Stamford Center Has Social Workers, Activitls, Jobs and Peafie By JANE FRITSCH sports and other activities available cri es by teen-agers. STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 24 -- It Is a law of nature that things end up, tf at all possible, m places where they are not wanted. Ants invade picnics, polx:orn slips between the teeth and teen-agers converge on shopping malls. /red so tt is that mall managers parry each day with squadrons of giggling, Souring and sometimes menacing adolescents on the prowl. But here at the Stamford Town Center, things are oddly peaceful, in large part because of the gentle In- tercessions of two social workers hired by the mall. They approach loRering or misbehaving teen-agers and help them find something to do -- something other than hanging around the mall. The pair, who patrol the mall after school and on weekends, offer teen- agers an opportunity to enroll in a course on how to get a Job at the mall, tf that appeals to them. Or the teen-agers may be offered lists of to them around Stamford, as well as help In enrolling. On a recent afternoon, an exuber- ant curse burst from a 15-year-old boy, provoking a whispered but firm reprimand from Ronald A. Miller, one of the workers and by now n familiar presence to local teen- agers. "Oh. Sorry, man," the boy said, and he seemed to mean it. Three years after the mall began its unusual effort to deal with con- stunt, unruly mobs of teen-users, the profanity was the toughest problem of the day. "If you treat youn4 people as tf they have brains and they're honor- able, they will react accordingly," said AI Messer, the malrs manager. "They see through halt)hey and they see through smoke and mirrors. I think they really see us as being on their side." That was clearly not :he case three years ago, he satd, when both the city and the mall were searching for ways to reduce the htgh rate of Lorie Miller. a ~ocial worker hired by the Stamford Town Center, tlells j/dung people that she will intercede if anyone treata them unfairly. ' ' you acted up in the center, we ju~-,Ocked you out," he said. "it was us lainst you and, 'In your facel'" "hen Mr. Miller made his first fol y into the society of mall adoles- ce.~s, his mission was simple: find ou~what they wanted. But the teen. a~,rs quickly sized him up and told h~ how things were going to be, he r~ .alled. "The kids thought it was tl' ar mall," Mr. Miller said. "They c~trolled It." 'The presence of a vast number of ~m~nless teen-aBets was both incon- ~'uous and Intimidating to the htgh- ~.~d shoppers the mall hoped to ai- r act with stores like Saks, Brooks rothers and Burherrys. Mr. Miller, 3?, who ~n addition to Is part-nine Job at the mall works LS an inspector for the ctty's Health )epartment, persisted. He had lrown up In Stamford with children Just like that. "1 listened to what they wanted," he said. "They wanted a place to go and they wanted Jobs." But they dtd not trust adults and they did not believe that he would help them, Mr. Miller said. The turn- Ing point came after several long months during which he and his for- mer partner, Marcia McNeil-Major, were generally rebuffed. The key was .winning over one tough.talking teen-ager who "gave us hell from Day One," he said. If Mr. Miller approached, he recalled, the boy would stalk off, muttering, "l don't want to hear that." But after learning that the boy liked to lift weights, Mr. Miller and his partner arranged to take a group of teen.agers to the local Gold's Gym once a week for free. The boy signed on. "We went every Thursday, rain or shine," Mr. Miller said. A year later, he said, the buy was working'in the mall and had two Jobs. it is difficult to measure the pro- gram's results, but logs kept by the two social workers Indicate some success. In lffiS, they recorded 409 disturbances caused by teen-agers, but only 134 In I998, a $7 percent ~ AI$ Ronald A. Miller, a social worker at ~e S~m[ord Town Center, cha~ ~th three ~ys a[ter quietin[ ~em. drop. Jitatlstlcs for 1997 have not yet been compiled. The workers broke up only 11:3 large groups of teen-agers in down from 421 in lggS. Each time, the teen-agers are reminded of the maws first rule: "Shop, eat, look for a job or leave the mall." While the numbers indicate fewer problems w~th leen-agers, those who do come are not necessardy happy about their plight. "Just because we're young and in a group, they treat us like we're not customers." said Diana Gonzalez, 16 "They're always kicking us out everywhere." Perhaps because the mull works closely with the Urban League. it has avmded accusations of racism that have been made against other malls ~n their dealings with teen-aKers. rwo years ago, a black teen-ager from Buffalo was killed crossing a highway to get to a mall m a nearby suburb that barred Inner-city buses from entering its property Buses from suburban towns and from Can- ada were allowed in. Officials of the mall, the Walden Galleria, said they had been trying to prevent inner-city crime from reaching the mall. The furor caused by the death of the teen-ager, Cynthia Wiggins, 17, forced the Walden Galleria and two other suburban malls to allow access for mty buses. And m Trumbull, Conn., which bor- ders economically troubled Bridge- port, officials of the Trumbull Shop- ping Park fought a three-year battle w~th the (;reuter Bridgeport Transit D~str~ct to stop buses from dischars. Ing passengers near the mall on Fri- day and Saturday nights. An arbitra- tor ruled ~n 1995 that the mall had the r~ght to limit bus service Mall man- agers had argued that they were trying to deal with the secuniy prob. lems created by hordes of teen-agers congregating on weekend nights. At the Stamford Town Center, a was Mr. Messer, the maws manager. along with Andrew D McBr.le. the director of Stamford's Heath Depart. meat, who came up the idea of hiring socu~l workers to help teen-agerl who hang out at the mall. It was pan uf a grant proposal the city made to the qate in 1994 to cut down on teen- age v~olence and delinquency. 'rh,, cily d~d not Ret the gra~t, but Mr. Messer liked the maws pan of the project so much that he hired two "you'!l outreach workers" anyway. it co-'s the mall about $40,000 a year. The ::all Iob-traimng program, run in ~. )11Junctlt)lt wilh the Urban Leagut, costs $4S.000 more. About 200 let n-agers have been steered into lhe lr,~ program, and many have gone :o work at the mall. And over the years, all the mall's secur'ry guards have been mstructed to de.~ with teen-agers respectfully. · 'We :,n't want them to precipitate som,-'::~ng themselves. lust by Ihelr attire: .." said Roy Schiller, the di- rech,r ff security We don't want people 'ust hassled out .f here. It's offic,.r 'nendly. but ,ifilcar resolute." $AN-OS-lCJ~ 13:17 ~ ISU HXTEHSION $111-1~ CO TO ~ P.01 Poll-it" ~ ~ 75'-/'1 BJ~ Brothers Big Sisters of Johu: 4265 Oak Crc~ Hill Rd SE TOP RANKING for Number ot~lr~-a~ff'~> ~vea ..... Bjg Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County For Immediate Release Iowa City--Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County ranks #24 in the nation for number of~y. outh ..~rvetL ~-~..~- ~ - ..- A 1996 evaluation conducted by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America with ._/'~.-~ o .. 451 agencies reports that 608 youth were served by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johmson County with a budget of $203, 075. Thi.~ translates to $334 per child ( one -to*one and group programming). Just to put this in perspective, the agency ranked g23 has a budget of $1,315,842 and serves 617 youth. Collaboration is the critical factor tha~'~Flow~ ds to serve these children with our budget. Without support from Iowa State University Johnson County Extens4on in p~ dovelopment -:and'~:~'ldnd'support we would have a much smaller program. We thank all of our supporters and look forward to providing our quality programming to more youth in 1998. TOTIlL P. 0! Date: City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM December 19, 1997 To: From: City Clerk Doug Ripley, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner Re: Removal of "Parking for Public Safety Vehicles Only" As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action. Unless directed otherwise by the City Coundl, this action will occur on or shortly after January 14, 1998. Action Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(10) of the City Code, signage will be removed indicating "Parking for Public Safety Vehicles Only" on the west side of the 100 block of S. Capitol Street. The spaces will be converted to "No Parking Any Time" consistent with the remainder of the west side of 100 S. Capitol. Comment This action is being taken because the University Public Safety building is no longer at this location and the spaces are no longer needed. City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: January 6, 1998 To: City Clerk From: Doug Ripley, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner Re: Removal of stop sign at intersection of Lower Muscatine Road and Fairmeadows Boulevard As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action. Unless directed otherwise by the City Council, this action will occur on or shortly after January 19, 1998. AcUon Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(5) of the City Code, signage will be removed indicating eastbound traffic on Lower Muscatine Road must stop at the intersection of Fairmeadows Boulevard. Signage will be installed indicating this same traffic must yield to traffic on Fairmeadows Boulevard. Comment This action is being taken to provide greater efficiency for the predominantly dght turn movements at this approach, while maintaining sufficient definition of right-of-way of this intersection. tp2-2dr.doc City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: To: From: Re: January 7, 1998 City Clerk Doug Ripley, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner ~ Modification of Commercial Loading Zone on Iowa Avenue East of Dubuque Street As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action. Unless directed otherwise by the City Council, this action will occur on or shortly after January 28, 1998. A~tion Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(18) of the City Code, signage will be installed identifying the existing Commercial Loading Zone on the south side of Iowa Avenue, east of Dubuque Street as effective between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Comment This action is being taken to accommodate local business deliveries while providing additional parking dudng evening and Sunday hours. Currently the loading zone is effective and enforced 24 hours, all days. Adjacent business owners have been contacted and concur with this action. December 10, 1997 CITY OF I0 WA CITY TO: RE: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council Civil Service Entrance Examination - PARKIN~ We, the undersigned members of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Parking Cashier. LaDonna Potter IOWA CIT~ Chair ATTEST: Ma: Karr, City Clerk January 5, 1998 '\ ! CITY OF I0 WA CITY TO: RE: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council Civil Service Entrance Examination COMMUNICATIN~ DISPATCHER We, the undersigned members of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Emergency Communications Dispatcher. Robin Statler IO~ CIT~ CIVIL CO~m,4SS~O- M edy, Chair ATTEST: n Karr, City Clerk Heritage Trees Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City Council and Staff Civic Center Iowa City, Iowa 52240 "*-*: '*'. ! Dear City Council and Staff:. In answer to your request for Heritage Trees' funding needs from the City for FY 1999-2001, our Steering Committee estimates that Heritage Trees will need $4,000 per year during those three years for a total funding of $12,000. FoRowing is a list of the projects that Heritage Trees has planned for those years and estimates of their total costs (with portions to be funded by the City in parentheses): Nan~y Seiberli~ Heritage Grove Planting $15,000---Donations already in hand to purchase 60 trees @ $250 per tree. ( 1,000~Fencing material to protect 60 trees from male deer in rot.) GRATIS--Planting, watering, and fencing 60 trees for 5-8 years by Heritage Tree volunteers. Manville Heifhts Tree Survey $18,{RR)---Donation in hand to cover professional arborist's fees. ( 1,~ost of survey materials: maps, survey forms, tape measures, tree identification booklets, pencils, computer time, etc.) $30,000--Volunteer labor of 50-100 citizens to measure and identify trees. College Square Neighborhood Tr~ Survey $18,000~Donation m hand to cover professional arborist's fees. ( 1,000 Cost of survey materials: maps, survey forms, tape measures, tree identification booklets, pencils, computer time, etc.) $30,000--Volunteer labor of 50-100 citizens to measure and identify trees. Iohnson County Fair Tree Information Booth ( $600~Rental Fee for a double booth for 3 years.) GRATiS~Volunteers and tree specialists to set up booth and provide information. GRATLS~Several thousand copies of tree information material donated by Heritage Trees Trees Forevere, Iowa State Extension Service, and State Forester. GRATIS---3 hardwood saplings donated each year by local nurseries for a daily tree drawing. Heritage Trees' Tree Walk Brochures ( $3,000~Update and reprint brochures for Goosetown, Lon§fellow, and Northside nei§hborhoods, as well as Oakland Cemetery.) ( 2,500 Compile and print tree walk brochures for 2 different tree walks in Manville Heights neishborhood.) Johnson Courtly, Tree Registry ( $1,500--Update and reprint 1996 registry.) GRATIS~Volunteer labor. The preceding estimates are based on costs incurred for similar Heritage Trees projects from 1993 to 1997. Thank you for considenn§ this request. Sincerely, Kate Franks Klaus Project Designer Dec. ~ 1997 ~9:51l:~tP2~ JOHNSON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIE. TY 310 IPIIPTH STi~F~'r. P-O. BOX ~l COit~LVrvW~ IOWA Presentation to the Iowa City City Council by Laurie Robinson, Executive Director, Johnson County Historical Society Jan. 5, 1998 Good evening. My name is Laurie Robinson and I am the executive director of the Johnson County Histori. c. al Society. The Society is a private, nonprofit organization which operates the Heritage Museum. As a nonprofit, the Society, is, of course, mission driven. Our mission is simple: We collect, preserve, and teach our local history. Our programs are diverse: They include *preserving our collections - about 10,000 items at present and growing -publications - bimonthly newsletters, exhibit booklet, History Mystery in the Press-Citizen -museum exhibits offered free to the general public five days a week throughout the year *Irving Weber Award, Historic Preservation Awards *lecture series "Local Lore" & "H~tory for Lunch" *school visits *after-school groups *Traveling Trunks *history day camps *Back to the Future Hands-on History series *preserve & interpret Old Coralville School, Plum Grove Historic Home in Iowa City, & Johnson County's First Asylum, on the western edge of Iowa City. In 1997, more than 9000 individuals visited one of our three historic sites or attended one of the 115 programs, events and activities offered by the Johnson County Historical Society. Today, we added our 1000th member: Of these 1000 members, 610 are residents of Iowa City. Our constituents --and yours-- depend on the JCHS to preserve and interpret local history. For the last three years, the City of Iowa City has supported our operating budget with an annual stipend of $3000. In the upcoming f'mcal year, we ask you to consider increasing your level of support to $5000 --an increase of $2000. This figure represents only 8 cents from each resident of Iowa City. This is the seventh year I have stood in front of you and pleaded for Iowa City's support for local history. We know that our needs comgete with those of other cultural organizations: and with festivals and event~ a.q well. Rut every year, I search again for the words and statistics which might move you to see the inlportance of local history and culture. This year. I ask you to consider these words: Please help support the work of the JCHS as we help build a community we all wish to live in: · a community that values tradition and posterity more than disposability and irresponsibility · with museums where we preserve our historic artifacts and documents from rust and decay · with schools that teach our youngstem about their own neighborhood, their city, their county · a community which keeps alive in our collective memory the stories of our citizens. What do museums and historical societies do that no other institutions or event can do? Museums !ink us with our past and our future: They free us from the tyranny of the present. JOHNSON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCmTY 310 FIFTH STREET. P.O. BOX 5081 CORALV]T.I-r- IOWA 52241 ~319) 351-5738 The Board of Director~ Mildred Bit!!~k John Chadline Jonnder Ellsworth Lloyd Epley, President Michelle Grace !~ith Heml _,~way Claudia McGehee David Muttlena Emily Roberts Jan. 5, 1997 Mayor Ernie Lehman Councillors Champion, Kubby, Norton,O'DonnelL Tho'nben'y, Vanderhoef City of Iowa City - Civic Center Iowa City. IA 52240 Dear Mayor and Councillors of the City of Iowa City: For FY99. we are asking you to consider Iowa Cily's support for the Job mort County Historical Society in the amount of $5,000 - about 8 cents per cry resident. This amount would help to: -insulate us from the devastating effects of upcoming federal funding cuts · explore fully our proposal for building a new history center for the county in Iowa City · keep up with the rising costs of everything from duplicating papex to security services · and give cost of living raises to our staff. We believe Iowa City should sllgport the Johnson County Historical Society for these reasons: *The Society provides services ec, aeati~l to bm71ding a cohesive community. *The Johnson County l-list~ical Society provides its basic servicea free to the public at large. -The Society's museums --the Heritage Mu~enm. the Ftrst Asylum, and Plum Grove Hiat~c Home-= atwact tourists. *The Society brings grant dollar~ to Johnson County--more than 5101,000 in the last 8 years. -The work of the Society is highly valued by Iowa City residents. *The Society achieves excellence. · The Society accomplishes all this while raising more than 60% of our own operating revenue each year from non-government sources. We are proactive and aggressive in seeking means of support other than governmental. But unless we can add an additional staff person soon to assist with fundraising activity, our growth must come to an end. Please consider increasing city support [currently $3000 per year] to $5000 this year--the same level of support provided to the Jazz Festival and the Arts Festivat This amount would return your level of support to the 4% level. where it began in FY92. Members of our board will be visiting with each of you to diacu$s this request. I hope you will feel free to call upon any of them-- or to call me-- if you have any questions or would like further information. Re ,gaff:Is, . .?c -Laurie Robinson .... Executive Director also to: City Manager Steve Arkins, City F'mance Directre' Don Yucuis, City Cle~ Marian Karr Fiscal Year 1983-91 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999' 2000* 2001' page 2 History of Iowa City's SuDport of the Johnson Connty Historical Society Society Budget City Support $0 - $15681 -0- $47S16 $2000 $62480 $2100 $839O6 $22OO $89534 $3000 $100,000 $3000 $120,000 $30O0 $125,000 $5000 $135,000 $5400 $150,000 $6000 City Support as % of Budget 0% 4% 3.3% 2.6% 2.3% 3.3% 3% 2.5% 4% 4% 4% *proposed Johnson County Historical Society Our mission -collect -teach -interpret our local history. Our Mission Statement The Johnson County Historical Society serves the public by furthering an appreciation of the historical and cultural heritage of the Johnson County community through education, preservation, and interpretation. dear Brother Grandviewgrove, July 11, 1840. I just now noticed that Wm. Moore has disposed of the Westem Farmer, and what he has don~e ~,..n the Rose of the Vally, I dont know, for it has ceased coming to me some time, I suppose because I did not pay in advance. Now a thought just struck me. It may be he would like to come to Iowa City, and edit a paper & preach for us, Now is the time. The people are determined to have a paper printed in I. City, They number individually over six hundred. The legislature will sit there, one year from next winter. To suceede, I suppose it would have to be political. There are no religious society found yet, The E. Methoc~ist talk about forming, the Presbyterians talk of it, the Associate Reform talk of it, & the Baptist talk about it, stil there is no moove tcwards doing so yet. I wish a good M.P. Preacher would come here, and settle himself, in the city, form a society, and remain there. I would insure him a good salary, but he must not be subject to the everlasting itinerary, he must preach by the life time, & not by the year. I wish you would pay $9.50 to Mr. F. H. Stockton; agent in Cin ati for the Christian Review for me.* I wrote to him & requested him to send to Iowa City. I told him I would get you to pay his agent in Cin ati for me. Gov. Lucas was here at our 4th of July celebration he was much pleased with our City much surprised that it had grown so fast, had no idea that it was so large made a speach while standing on the -- of the Capital. said this was the best country he ever sew, stoped at our house on his return to Bloomington and dined with .,.;s. Eliza praised the country so much in his presence that he said he would bring his lady out to our house to hear (said he) a lady talk who had been here some time. He has just brought his wife to this country says she likes it pritly well out is anxious she shall hear others express themselves to her. I just now received a letter from you by -- and also a Shiners [?] book. I am glad of it. I will attend to all you wish me to as well as I can. The county seat has been located on the --- joining the south side of Iowa City. it will be a continuance of Iowa City, and a lot there will be as good as in the C~ plot it is on better grcund than the most of the City plot that will be soon. I will let you know. There will be Court house next season to be built I think I will have influence. All well Yours W.B. Snyder NOTE: Blanks indk:ate places where ink has disappeared or words are illegible. About W.B. Snyderw William B. Snyder came from Ohio to make his home in Johnson County in 1839. As the Territnry of Iowa's Superintendent of Public Buildings, he was placed in charge of Old Capitol's completion. Thinking that the rock that was being used in the Capitol was of an inferior quality, Snyder discovered a very promising bed of rock about ten milesnorthwest of Iowa City, on the right bank of the Iowa River. This quarry---known from that time on as the ~01d Capitol Quarry'-- was opened and boats were prepared for the transportation of rock down the river. Much of the rock already !aid in the walls was replaced by the superior material from the new quarry. 'His name lives on in Snyder Creeic ]GHNSON COUNTY RUDITOR TEL:$19-$56-6086 Jan 02,98 15:09 Chadea D. DufFy ~onathan ,lordaid Ma]~ and Cit~ Iowa Cit~ Civic Cc~tct 410 !~. Wmhimg~m Strict Iowa City, IA 52240 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE No.00S P.02 Ix:Ming the compIt"~,-' ofthe tour dmre report. ~ no further iraise,u, --ts m an at,,,,.,,.,.,at. ~. there appmcndy ¢~di,,,.-u to I~ xm~q~-imd and undocunaded ressam not ;o bring closure ;o eurJoiat nui, e~i~tions. We haw ~ th~ onoe w~ kn0~ what ym~ n~mlng needs am. w~ ~an me~ ~ent We are now n~ady ~o · dvlso us whe~ w~ cs~ mcc~ ~Saja to Finish our no~o(isti(mL 9; 3 SOGTH D~:JUQUE ST. ]).O. DOX 13~S0 iOWA C~'Y, IOWA 52244-13~0 TIff,: (319) 3 _S6,~a~b~_ ~ ~FAX: O!9) 3S6.6086 JGHNSON COUNTY RUDITOR TEL:319-$56-6086 3an 02,98 13:10 No.005 P.O$ JP, N-09-3~ FRI 08:24 PH HAC~ CENTP~L FAX NO. 3193660776 ^ HELP UP, NOT A HAND OUT P.O_ Box 789 Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406 C319) 366-7631 Ja!ll~ry 9, 1998 Iowa C/ty Cou,cil C~y Hall Iowa City, RE: ReprocuShion of the Iowa City Council on the Hawkeye Commaniq~ Action Board oF Din~cto~ P. 02/O2 The citim of Ced~ Rapids, Iowa City, and Coralville ear~ have a seat on the HACAP Boarcl of Directors. For the past five yea~, Karen Kubby has been the desi~agd Council member repr~md~ the iowa Cid, Council. !~-,'~ she will no longer be able to serve in this capacity, I thought it would be appropriate to ~ you wit~ some ~ The Hawkeye Amn Community Action Program, Inc. (HACAP) is cleftned ~s a "community action agency" unde~ Iowa !lw. Community A~ion Agencies were omented by th~ Eeon0mie ~ Act of 1965. The~ are currently over 900 CAA's ~ th~ nation. The dmfte~ of this legislation mvisioned a network of ~ agencies across the nation whose mL~sion the needs of~ose in poverty living in their communities. Townrd this end, I~ iegisLatim~ tequirecl that ~ membership of three Boards of~ be compos~l of one-third 1oca!ly-~lec~! public officiaL% one third low-income petsong The hope ,v~ that tl~ "sectors" of the ixqmlation ~ besl ~sesg ~e ~ ~ ~~ ~d d~i~ ~ ofhc~ ~p~ ~ ~ff-~ff~L W~ t~, ~ ~ of~ I~ ~~ could provi~ ~ 1~ ~ ~ m ~e a d~-~ce. v~ ~ ~n~ m ~e ~ ~le of~ ~~. ~ 1o~ ~ 6~ ~ ~ly of ~e ~isl~,~ ~ !~ ~min~ ~i~ A~ A~ci~ ~ Iowa ~w~d ~tm~ ~ ~ of ~'~ ~ ~h vo~ ~ have ~ ~~ ~m ~b of~e ~ ~. HACAP .~zves n six-county ~mm which encompasses the Counties of Benton, !own. Johnson, Jones. Linn. and W~ington. Besides the three publie sector ~ves from the City Councils of C,"O_ ~- Rapids, Iowa City, and Coralville. each of the six coontim hns a ~e fTom tl~ir respective Boards of~rs. I hope that through your deliberations you will continue to send a Council Memh~ to ~t the needs o£thc Iowa City Community. Thank you. Sincerely, HAC~P ~ [~reetor HAVI~KEYE ARF..A C(~WvIMLINITY ~J"~N'q State Historical Society of Iowa '~o~;The Historical Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs January 9, 1998 Ernest W. Lehman City Council 410 E. Washington St. Iowa City, Iowa 52240 Dear Mayor Lehman: Pursuant to our conversation, I am writing on behalf of the Iowa City center of the State Historical Society of Iowa to respectfully request that City Council investigate and evaluate the storm sewer problem that has plagued the Centennial Building at 402 Iowa Avenue for years. In particular, I would like to see this issue addressed as part of the Council's FY 99 Capital Improvements plan, or at the very least to have it included as one of the City's project priorities in the next 2-3 years. In brief, the Centennial Building has experienced varying levels of flooding episodes in the basement for literally decades. It wasn't until a lengthy and thorough investigation was conducted over the course of several years, however, that the true source of the problem was determined - the Beer Sewer that runs adjacent to the building on Gilbert Street. The walls of the sewer are constructed of fieldstone with dry joints, which allows water to pass through, and has several abandoned sewer stubs that open toward the Centennial Building. Moreover, the sewer line runs within 4-6 feet of the building, and is located approximately 4 feet above the basement floor level. During moderate to heavy rains, water instantaneously backs up through the field tile, and overflows the building's sump pit, resulting in water levels in the basement of anywhere between 4-12 inches (and in recorded instances from the 1970s have reached 4-6 feet). As a result of these findings, both the Historical Society and the City's Engineering Division have exhausted virtually all alternatives for resolving the problem, with less than satisfactory results. The Historical Society has spent in excess of $30,000 in the last 2 years alone to attempt to "waterproof" the basement (not to mention the expense for clean up each time flooding occurs), while the Engineering Division has dedicated countless hours to smoke testing, patching and grouting the sewer line. The work conducted thus far seems to have improved, but not eliminated, the problem (for example, a heavy rainfall /~1402 Iowa Avenue owa City, Iowa 52240-1806 (319) 335-3916 [] 600 E. Locust Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0290 (515) 281-6412 [] Montauk Box 372 Clermont, Iowa $2135-(I372 (319) 423-7173 over the weekend of June 21-22,1997 resulted in 3-4 inches of water in the basement). The most compelling, and pressing, reason to resolve this problem, of course, is the serious threat to the invaluable and in some cases irreplaceable collections housed in the building. Each time flooding occurs, materials in the facility (on all floors) are subjected to dangerously high humidity levels, which can lead to serious long-term damage for both print and non-print items. In addition, even after the humidity percentage has been brought back down to an acceptable level (after removing the water from the basement, and running dozens of dehumidifiers), there is still the potential of mildew damage to items in the basement (and indeed elsewhere in the building). Furthermore, due to the continuous water problems in the building, we long ago had to abandon use of the bottom tier of shelving in the basement, and have even gone so far as to evaluate possible relocation options as a result of this issue (and others, of COurse). Given the situation detailed above, and emphasizing the fact that the Historical Society has done everything within our control to resolve the problem, I would urge the Council to give serious, and immediate consideration to a more permanent solution. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration in this matter. If you have any questions about this, I plan to attend the budget meeting on Saturday, January 10, and would be glad to answer them at that time (or feel free to contact me at work at 335-3927). Sincerely, Shaner Magalh~es Acting Bureau Chief