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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-09-17 Minutes numbered City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: To: From: Re: October 2, 1997 Mayor and City Council Marian K. Karr, City Clerk Joint Meeting Johnson County Board of Supervisors/City Council of Iowa City/Iowa City School Board, September 17, 1997 - 4 p.m. in Council Chambers Johnson County Board of Supervisors: Bolkcom, Duffy (left 6:00), Jordahl, Lacina, Stutsman Johnson County Staff: Peters, White Iowa City City Council: Kubby, Lehman, Novick, Norton, Thornberry, Vanderhoef (arrived 4:15 PM) Iowa City Staff: Helling, Karr, Dilkes, Franklin, Davidson, Smith Iowa City School Board: Leff (left 5:20), Levey (left 5:25), Matheson (left 5:25) Iowa City School Board Staff: Grohe Others: Tairi Sackfield, AFSCME Council 61; Timothy Clancy, Citizen; Nancy S. Overstreet, Goodwill; Michael L. McKay, Systems Unlimited; Bob Welsh, citizen; Jim Fausett, Coralville Mayor; Robert E. Miller, Johnson County Agri. Assn.; Stan Feldman, Johnson County Agri. Assn.; Rich Gay, Johnson County Agri. Assn. (fair board); Steve Greenleaf, attorney, Johnson County Agri Assnl; Geoffrey Lauer, The Arc of Johnson Co.; William Gorman, Systems Unlimited; Becky Hoffbauer, SEATS driver Tapes: Reel 97-129, all; Reel 97-130, all. Board of Supervisors Chair Stutsman requested that SEATS be discussed first. Mayor Novick stated that Council Member Vanderhoef will be late and wanted to be part of that discussion. COUNTY WIDE HUMAN RIGHTS ORDINANCE Reel 97-129, Side 1 Mayor Novick distributed Iowa City's Human Right's Ordinance and asked if the County wanted to establish a human rights ordinance similar to Iowa City. Kubby said establishing a human rights ordinance countywide would be a good thing. Stutsman asked if everyone should use a uniform county-wide ordinance. Kubby said that a consistent uniform ordinance would allow everyone to do similar edu.cation programming around human rights issues. Kubby stated she does not want to dilute the strength of Iowa City's Human Rights Ordinance to get a uniform ordinance established in the County. Lehman noted that each community would need to adopt their own ordinance. Jordahl suggested that a uniform ordinance be prepared that would be Joint Meeting - Bd. of Suprv./City Council/School Bd. September 17, 1997 Page 2 advantage to the County to adopt a human rights ordinance. Kubby stated it would offer local protection versus state protection to county residents. Lacina said the County would be the enforcement agency if they had a human rights ordinance. In response to Thornberry, Bolkcom stated the State Code preempts local government on issues relating to chemicals, tobacco, and firearms. Stutsman asked who would provide staff for a county human rights ordinance. Novick said the County may need to provide staff. Kubby suggested that the County and Iowa City look at a 28E agreement. Bolkcom suggested that Heather Shank present information to the County. Norton asked if JCCOG could offer assistance. Jeff Davidson stated there is a Rural Board. Council and Supervisors discussed the idea of holding a joint JCCOG and Rural Board meeting to discuss a county-wide human rights ordinance idea. Stutsman emphasized the need for educating area communities about the human rights ordinance. Lacina stated that the Board of Supervisors should first place the human rights ordinance on their agenda for discussion prior to a joint meeting. COUNTY WIDE BUILDING INSPECTORS Reel 97-129, Side 1 Novick distributed the handout: Permit, Plan Review, Inspection and Licensing Fees for Iowa City Building Inspection Division. Novick noted that it is the City's policy that the Building Inspector's salaries are paid for by the building inspection fees. Novick stated that Iowa City's building inspection fees were last reviewed in 1994. Stutsman said the County does not have a building inspector. Lacina said that in some community fringe areas where annexation is anticipated, there are agreements to require building inspectors. Lacina stated certification of contractors has been discussed. Lacina noted that Johnson County is watching Linn County's building inspection program. Novick said that Iowa City's Building Code follows the State Code with the exception of provisions relating to sprinklers and smoke detectors. Kubby stated that the City can provide a chart comparing the City's building inspection fees with other communities. Vanderhoef inquired about water and sewer inspections in the County. Lacina explained Maxwell's does the inspection for the septic systems. Vanderhoef asked if there was a required periodic inspections of the septic systems. Lacina stated inspections are required if there is damage. Kubby explained the On-site Waste Water Management District Committee proposed that the Health Department institute a postcard reminder program to remind county residents to check their septic tanks. Vanderhoef raised concerns about septic tanks leaking into the water supply. Lacina stated that the Health Department has only reported three health related cases linked to septic rank contamination and leakage. Bolkcom stated Johnson County has never really looked at the issue of ground water contamination from septic systems in large subdivisions. Stutsman said the postcard idea has been discussed and could be part of an education process. ANNEXATION OF RYERSON'S WOODS Reel 97-129, Side 1 Lacina asked why Iowa City wanted to annex Ryerson's Woods. Lacina stated he cannot support the annexation. Novick explained that Ryerson's Woods is City property. Karin Franklin, Iowa City Director of Planning and Community Development, explained annexation was considered to establish the City owned Ryerson's Woods within the corporate limits. In response to Kubby, Franklin stated the City will not be annexing the railroad tracks because Hills will not severe it. Franklin suggested the City not pursue annexation of Ryerson's Woods at this time because of the amount of discussion it has generated. Joint Meeting - Bd. of Suprv./City Council/School Bd. September 17, 1997 Page 3 Thornberry asked how Iowa City obtained Ryerson's Woods. Vanderhoef stated that it was a remnant piece left over from a DOT interchange project. Duffy explained the property was left to Iowa City via an estate. Norton said someone needs to prepare a history of Ryerson's Woods. POSSIBLE ANNEXATION OF FAIRGROUNDS Reel 97-129, Side 1 3 0.5 Duffy stated the annexation of the fairgrounds discussion was added to the agenda because of the Ryerson's Woods discussion. Thornberry said there is no desire for Iowa City to annex the Fairgrounds. Franklin explained that the Fairgrounds and Ryerson's Woods are both in the City's long range growth area and the intention is that at some time in the future both properties would be annexed into Iowa City's corporate limits. Franklin stated that the City doesn't have any intention of annexing the Fairgrounds and it would be up to the Fairgrounds Board to make that decision. Norton noted that Council received May 12, 1997 correspondence from City Manager Steve Atkins raising concerns about sewerage treatment service in the area. Thornberry noted that Councils change and therefore, a policy regarding annexation could change. Levey asked how annexation affects the Iowa City School District. Left stated that school district doesn't automatically change with the City's annexation of property. In response to Novick, Left explained the Iowa City School District has fixed boundaries. SEATS Reel 97-129, Side 2 Novick stated the SEATS contract is in negotiation and discussion should pertain to policy issues only. Bolkcom distributed the handout dated September 17, 1997 addressed to Mayor Novick and Council from Johnson County Board of Supervisors Re: SEATS. Stutsman stated there are two issues that are major Stumbling blocks. Stutsman emphasized the County wants to get a SEATS contract. Kubby stated the City Council and Board of Supervisors have the common goal to establish a SEATS contract to insure good integrated paratransit service. Novick said the contract should not be negotiated at this meeting. Stutsman asked if the City wants a contract. Norton inquired about double taxation. Vanderhoef stated double taxation is a policy issue and relates to how the County levies it taxes. Stutsman said SEATS is not levied in the Rural Fund. Vanderhoef said the double taxation is a concern for all of the rural towns that do not have 28E agreement with the County for services. Lacina explained the County does not have an ADA mandate and the County became a vendor of this service to keep Iowa City in compliance with federal transit regulations. Vanderhoef said the County is choosing to provide services and are levying for those services. Bolkcom asked everyone to read the September 17 memorandum. Lacina said other areas of double taxation are law enforcement and ambulance service. Norton asked about the earlier discount/reimbursement. Bolkcom explained the discount was offered to the Iowa City because the County recognized, as a result of ADA, the City's increasing costs for paratransit service and it was a way for the County to ease in full cost of the service. Bolkcom stated the discount is being eliminated because at some point Iowa City will either operates its own paratransit service and pay full cost or pay the County for the percentage of use, Thornberry raised concerns that the County is profiting from the service and asked for the extra moneys to be returned to the City. Vanderhoef reminded everyone that contract negotiation issues shouldn't be discussed during this meeting. In response to Thornberry, Bolkcom said the policy ought to be consistent when double taxation is taken into consideration because both the County and the City fund ICAD, Senior Center, and SEATS out of their respective General Funds and the County and City ought to be free to fund the priorities that citizens support. Council and Supervisors discussed SEATS funding issues. Joint Meeting - Bd. of Suprv./City Council/School Bd. September 17, 1997 Page 4 Lehman stated the County needs to provide the City with accurate records. Vanderhoef said there needs to accountability and Enterprise Fund situation is important as a policy matter. Novick noted there are fewer people riding on the paratransit. Kubby stated ridership is decreasing and costs are increasing in the public transportation system. Bolkcom said the contract called for weekly reports and the County has provided quarterly data reports i.e. Attachment A in the contract. Thornberry stated he has never seen the report. In response to Thornberry, Bolkcom stated nine months worth of summary data has been provided to the negotiation team, including number of riders and tour minute data. Bolkcom stated 81% of the system by head count is Iowa City and 72% of tour minute use is Iowa City. Council and Supervisors discussed availability of paratransit system data, including use of tour minutes data. Thornberry stated City staff reviewed one week of driver's logs. Thornberry explained Iowa City was charged 45 tour minutes for a six block SEATS ride. Lehman emphasized accurate data is needed. Kubby noted that the City and County have already agreed that trip minute data will be used in contract negotiations. Bolkcom said that if the City can provide cheaper and more efficient paratransit service,. they should do that. Lacina explained the City Information Services and County's Informational Services Director have offered data processing assistance. Lacina said accurate data will help both the County and City. Thornberry announced that the City's SEATS negotiating team will make a recommendation to City Council on Monday night. Kubby stated the City's goal is to have an integrated system. Thornberry asked if there was an overage of funds for last year's paratransit service provided by the County. Bolkcom asked what percentage of the system did Iowa City use last year of the allocated expenditures. Bolkcom said there is a fair share that everybody ought to pay based on ridership. Thornberry asked if the County had an overage of funds for the paratransit system last year. Thornberry stated the County put the overage funds in their General Fund. Bolkcom said the City had 81% of the riders and only 65% of the costs for the service. Becky Hoffbauer, SEATS driver and dispatcher, provided ridership scheduling information. Hoffbauer stated the 45 tour minutes charge for a six block ride was probably a mistake or a situation that involved a waiting period. Hoffbauer said that SEATS employees work hard to provide an efficient rider system. Thornberry said the City has received very few complaints about the SEATS service. Kubby said an integrated system is everyone's desire. Thornberry said the preference is for an integrated system. Vanderhoef said the Council's charge was to negotiate a paratransit service contract.'Thornberry said an integration system was not a mandatory charge going into contract negotiations. Lacina said accurate data will serve as a basis for decision making. Thornberry said the City's Information Services could provide data collection assistance. Bolkcom emphasized that 81% of 1997 paratransit users were Iowa City riders and $560,000 represents 65% of the costs. Vanderhoef said she has other figures that she will not discuss tonight. Thornberry said he has not received the nine months worth of figures. Jordahl said it seems to be a question of computer recording of the facts. Stutsman stated she is confused about what figures the City wants. Thornberry said the Transit Director has not received figures from the County. Kubby said there is nine months of .actual information. Council and Supervisors discussed using tour minute data and paratransit service costs. Vanderhoef reiterated that a report will be presented to City Council on Monday. Lehman stated accurate data is needed. Stutsman said the County keeps giving data to the City and the City keeps asking for different data. Thornberry said that is not accurate. Stutsman and Bolkcom said tour minute data has been provided. Vanderhoef said the County has said they cannot provide tour minute figures within the borders of Iowa City. Hoffbauer said detailed Joint Meeting - Bd. of Suprv./City Council/School Bd. September 17, 1997 Page 5 tour minute data within Iowa City is difficult to obtain. Thomberry asked for a definition of tour minute. Hoffbauer stated that she did not know exactly what a tour minute is. Council and Supervisors discussed tour minutes data collection. Bob Welsh asked when the City and County are scheduled to continue contract negotiations. Vanderhoef stated the City will contact the County after Council's Monday meeting. Lacina suggested contract negotiations be completed by the end of September. Kubby suggested that if the County and City meet again, that specific discussion parameters be set. SENIOR CENTER CONTRACT Reel 97-130, Side 1 Bolkcom said the Board sees a need to discuss Senior Center contract issues, including the nutrition program, space, programming, storage, and facility needs. In response to Vanderhoef, Bolkcom said the County contracts annually for Senior Center use. MISCELLANEOUS Kubby noted the School Board should be encouraged to submit joint meeting agenda items for discussion. Lacina said it will be important to get them involved with the utility company property tax and school location issues. Stutsman stated it is the School Board's turn to plan the January 14, 4 p.m., meeting. Meeting adjourned: 6:10 p.m. cleddmin10917-jm.doc