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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-04-23 CorrespondenceRECEIVED APR I 0 tgg S VAN Volunteer Administrators Network April 5, 1996 Iowa City City Council Civic Center Iowa City, IA 52240 RE: NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK, APRIL 21-27 This year the Volunteer Administrators Network (VAN) is hosting the 4th Annual Community-Wide Volunteer Appreciation Celebration on Monday, April 22nd. The event will be held from 4-6 pm at Iowa City's Lower City Park shelters 12 and 13. At 4:30 pm a tree will be planted to honor the contributions volunteers have made in all of our communities. We invite you to attend this festive celebration. Last year the City of Iowa City, the City of Coralville, and the Johnson County Board of Supervisors issued proclamations during this week, recognizing area volunteers. Enclosed please find a "Sample Proclamation" for this year's National Volunteer Week. We would appreciate it if you would once again issue a proclamation. If you have any questions, please give me a call at 338-7035. Sincerely, Ren~ Paine, VAN member Enclosure Please join us as we plant a tree in honor of Johnson County Volunteers. Monday - April 22, 1996 4-6 pm Lower City Park Shelter's //12 & 13 Rain or Shine Volunteer Week ~,,~;~ 2!-27 Z lttJ I Refreshments will be served Sponsored by: Volunteer Administrators Network Omicron Chapter Nailoriel Co-ed Service Fr~tcrniq' Studera Activities Ccn~er Iowa Memorial Union The University of Iowa Iowa Cizy. Iowa 52242 (319) 335-3274 April 2, 1996 The members of Alpha Phi Omega cor~y Mvite you to joM m on Saturday, Apffi 27lb for o~ ~ SprMg Clmn-Up. ~O is a nafion~ co-~ se~ hte~ wMch ~onsors md p~cipa~ ~ acfivifi~ ~t benefit ~e co~mty. The theme of this year's Spring Clean-Up is "Handle with Care." This event places emphasis on the importance of taking care of our environment. You can make a difference now by starting in the Iowa City are~ Participation is also a great way for you to get involved in the Iowa City community. Spring Clean-Up will take place rain or shine from 10:00 a.m, to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday Aprt127th at City Park in Iowa City. Volunteers are asked to sign up for one-hour stuffs and to arrive fifteen minutes early in order to be assigned an area to clean. Most of Iowa City will be part of clean-up, so please have transportation available if possible. After shifts, volunteers are invited to return to City Park and feast on the various food donations from Iowa City area businesses. There will also be a raffle held with prizes donated from local businesses. T-shirts will be available at the cost of $10.00. For added incentive, groups of 25 or more that participate in the Clean-Up will be recognized in the Daily lowan the week following the event. Please fill out and return the enclosed response card by Friday, April 19. In order to aceomodate your schedules, please list your three time preferences. Get those cards in early to be assured of your first choice. We hope to see you there! Sincerely, Rachael Woodham President and Co-chair of Spring Clean-Up 354-8738 RECEIVED APR 1 11ggB i."~ 4-8-96 .~,,.~.,;..~ ,,~:~ ~;~.~ .T~ ~.~,,~. Trash." I was walking downtown w~th ,,,y ,~,.,,y last weekend. When ........ ' by could ,v~ v~seu a trash can, I noticed many v~j~,~ tha~have and ~'~"~-~ ~'-"~ ~--~" "-~"~ ~"~ *~-~I ~uld be wi}}}ng ~ r~cyde ff yau wou}d pu~ a recyc}~ng ~ .~ a lottrash and .,~,, if you recycle you Please write back to me and my 5t,~ g, od~ sc~,~ ~,.~. Sincerely, Kelsey Wilcox ~, 400 Grisse) Place Iowa City, Iowa /37oo Apdl 15, 1996 CITY OF I0 WA CITY Kelsey VVilcox Shimek Elementary - 5th Grade 1400 Grissel Place Iowa City, IA 52245 Dear Kelly: Thank you for your recent letter to the City Council expressing your concern about recycling. I have distributed a copy of your letter to all members of the City Council. I am sure they too share your concerns about how our community can best encourage people to do more recycling. It is difficult to encourage people to recycle more without some sort of economic benefit. As you know, aluminum soda cans can be recycled and a 5¢ return on deposit will be paid to you. It would be nice if we could do the same with many other objects, but for the time being we need to encourage good citizenship. At home you can do much to encourage recycling such as participating in the City's curbside recycling program which will take care of your plastic milk jugs, newspapers, cardboard, tin cans and clear glass. They can be placed at the curb for weekly pickup. So far the response has been more than expected, so apparently more people are thinking like you are, that is, we must recycle. We have thought about additional recycling facilities, however, our experience has shown that it is often abused. For example, our recycling bins at the area grocery stores are often filled with recyclable materials and then someone will dump trash or some other material. This simply means that the recycled materials are now contaminated and must be removed to the landfill and cannot be accepted by the recycling companies. It is a shame and we wish people could be more responsible. Thank you for taking the time to write and I encourage you to continue studying all types of recycling activities. Floyde Pelkey, who is the City's Solid Waste Superintendent responsible for our landfill and refuse collection often speaks to classes about these types of issues. You should feel free to contact Mr. Pelkey and he may make a presentation to your science class. He can be reached at 356-5180. Sincerely yours, Stephen J Atkms City Manager cc: Floyde Pelkey RECElVEO APR 1 ? 1§§8 April 16,1996 Dear Mr. Atkins, Thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule to write back to me and my 5th grade science class. We really appreciate what you and the City Council members are doing to make recycling a reality in our town. Because of what I have learned this year in school, my family has cut our amount of trash in half! If everyone could do the same, we would be much better off. Thanks again for writing. Sincerely, Kelsey Wilcox Shimek Elementary Iowa City, Iowa 52245 Kelsey Wilcox Shirnek Elementary 1400 Grissel Place Iowa City, IA. 52245 April ~5, 1996 Iowa ~]it¥ CoL, ncii ~ am writing this to inform yc, u of the mess the Grant Wood Neighborhood Association cleaned up this past weekend at the Whispering Meadows Wetlands Park. We hauled two truck loads of trash out of the wetlands and at least 2/3 of this was construction material. We picked up things like styrofoam~ ins~latlon, shingles~ wrap from the shingles, s~ding, and 2 x 4~s in the pond and through out the park. I have talked to Ron Boose~ Sr. Building Inspecter~ about this on going problem. He has assured me that he wi)l talk to, the people responsible for th~s trash. However, I feel that you should be aware of this problem. It is a real unsightly problem and if the wild life should ingest any of th~s waste, ~t could kill them. I hope that future construction in the area will be more considerate of the surrounding ecc, system. Thank You Jane Klitzka Vice Pr esdient Grant Wood Neighborhood Assocation 2304 Hollywood BlYd Iowa City~ Iowa 52240-2318 cc: Terry Trueblood, Director of Parks and Pecreation Terry Robinson, Forester Marcia Klingaman~ Neighborhood Services Port Boose, St. Building Inspector LENOCH & CILEK i ~prll 18, 1996 RECEIVED APR I 8 1§§6 City Council of Iowa City 410 E. Washington Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear Council Person, Tt is my understanding that the Council will be meeting with the Library Board on April 22. The President of the Library Board has emphasized that the Board has explored many options and feels that the acquisition of the Lenoch & Cllek building is their best option for Library expansion. The purpose of my letter is to ask the Council to move swiftly on this issue, if it is decided that it is the best option. This process is creating a very stressful situation for the tenants we have in the building, for our employees, and for myself. We would like to resolve it as soon as possible. We at Lenoch & Cllek recognize the importance of the Library to Downtown Iowa City and want to be fair and cooperative If this is the best option. We do hope, however, that whatever the resolution, that it has more vision for expansion than the design of the current building. Sincerely, .~,erald P. Meis Phone (319) 354-4167 130 5. Dubuque St. Iowa C~ly, IA 52240 Phone (319) 354-41; 1 Fax (319) 354-0948 1701 2nd Street RO. Box 5038 Coralville, IA 52241 Phone f319) 354-4143 fax (319) 354-6856 1558 Mall Drive P.O. Box 2476 Iowa Cily, IA 52244 Phone (515) 236-4825 Fax (S15)236-6441 1026 Main Street Grinnell, IA 50112 Dear Memt~rs of ~e Iowa City City Council, April 17, 1996 Although we come from various religious communities, we, the undersigned, share a deep concern that the Council is considering the condemnation of property belonging to and serving an important role in the parish life of the Church of Saint Patrick. We strongly protest such consideration. As a religious body, the Church of Saint Pauick sexyes a vital role in our community. Such an invasive action on the part of the Council would indicate a disdain not only for the Church of Saint Pauiek, but for religious bodies in general. CC: City Manager Steve Arkins Signed at the April 17 meeting of the Consultation of Religious Commuaities. April 10, 1996 CITY OF I0 WA CITY TO: RE: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council Civil Service Entrance Examination C0~UNICATIONS DISPATCHER - EMERGENCY 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. Lori Peterson Hired: 4/8/96 IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COM~ISSION ~h/el W~e Mi dy, Chair ATTEST: n Karr, City Clerk 410 EAST WAS~INOTON STR£ET · IOWA CITY, IOWA ~2240-1826 · (319) 3J6-~000 · FAX (319) 3~16-~i009 City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: To: From: Re: April 9, 1996 The Honorable Mayor, City Council and City Clerk James Brachtel, Traffic Engineer Removal of one-hour parking prohibition on the north side of the 100 block of East Lafayette Street As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3 of the City Code, this is to advise you of the following action. ACTION: Pursuant to Section 9.1.3A10 of the City Code, the City Traffic Engineer will direct the removal of the signs which post a one-hour only 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. parking regulation on the north side of the 100 block of East Lafayette Street. This action will take place on or shortly after April 24, 1996. COMMENT: This regulation was originally posted in October of 1994 at the request of an abutting commercial enterprise. In the time since 1985, conditions in the area have changed and the abutting commercial enterprises no longer require this parking regulation. City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: April 18, 1996 To: Honorable Mayor, City Council and City Clerk From: James Brachtel, Traffic Engineer Re: Stop Sign Installation on Stevens Drive at Its Intersection with Southgate Avenue As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3 of the City Code, this is to advise you of the following action: ACTION: Pursuant to Section 9-1-3.A.5 of the City Code, the City Traffic Engineer will direct the installation of a STOP sign on Stevens Drive both on the north approach and the south approach so as to cause traffic on Stevens Drive to stop prior to entering the right-of-way of Southgate Avenue. This action will not occur prior to May 2 and will be coincident with the acceptance by the City and the opening of the facility to the general public. COMMENT: This action is being taken to define the right-of-way of Southgate Avenue. bC4.2JB ¥MOI 'All3 ¥MOI ~,13?lq.? ,L i19 MEMORANDUM City of iowa City Date: April 18, 1996 To: Honorable Mayor, City Council and City Clerk From: James Brachtel, Traffic Engineer Re: Stop Sign Installation on Southgate Avenue at Its Intersection with Gilbert Street As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3 of the City Code, this is to advise you of the following action: ACTION: Pursuant to Section 9-1-3.A.5 of the City Code, the City Traffic Engineer will direct the installation of a STOP sign on Southgate Avenue so as to cause traffic on Southgate Avenue to stop prior to entering the right-of-way of Gilbert Street. This action will not occur prior to May 2 and will be coincident with the acceptance by the City and the opening of the facility to the general public. COMMENT: This action is being taken to protect the right-of-way of Gilbert Street from vehicles entering Gilbert Street from Southgate Avenue. ¥~,t01 ',LLI3 ¥t&01 L I :01 ~V I) 1 ~cl~ 96 MIKE STREB 90 PRAIRIE RIDGE COURT NORTH LIBERTY, IOWA 52317 PHONE: 626-2881 April 19, 1996 Re: St. Patrick Parking Dear City Council Member: Recent comments by members of the City Council and Mrt.~_.~%kJ~ls to local media are incorrect. ~ Condemnation of St. Patrick's parking lot will not benefit the church. We want nothing to do with a public parking ramp. Mr. Arkins and the Ciby promise that the parish will have a meeting hall and plenty of parking. Unfortunately, your word is no longer good to the people of St. Patricks(as a member of the parish council I am familiar with the negotiations that began with a promise of a "win-win" outcome). You threaten to take our property to furnish parking for other private concerns in the neighborhood. This does not constitute a vital public purpose. Twelve hundred families at St. Patricks do not intend to be pushed around. If you ~ant a fight, we will give you one. Those City council members voting in favor of condemnation will learn the hard way just how many catholics in Iowa City vote. Mike Streb Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 14:12:56 -0400 From: Kremenak@aol.com To: mkarr@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu Subject: City Council City Council Members: We hope we do not live in a city that squeezes churches out of the downtown area. We urge you to oppose condemning St. Patrick's Parish hall & parking lot. Our motivating interest should be to build community not destroy it. Sincerely, Charles and Nellie Kremenak, 815 N. Linn Lemme Elementary Safety Committee Iowa City, IA 52245 April 22, 1996 Iowa City City Council Civic Center 410 E. Washington St. Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear Iowa City Council Members: At the Feb. 13, 1996 council meeting, the Helen Lelrmle School Safety Committee presented a petition from concerned Helen Lemme parents regarding the intersection at Washington/Dartmouth Sts. and our concerns over the safe crossing of our children through this intersection. A traffic/gap study of the intersection was done m Feb./March, 1996. There are aspects of this report which deeply concern us, and this letter addresses those issues. Also addressed are the many safety problems dealing with this intersection. We ask the city council to give serious consideration to all our concerns as stated within this letter, so that adult crossing guard supervision can be obtained for the safety of our children. Most sincerely, Lemme Elementary School Committee April 22, 1996 Dear City Council, At the council meeting on February 13th, 1996, the Helen Lemme School Safety Committee presented a petition from concerned Helen Lemme parents regarding the intersection at Washington and Dartmouth Streets; and our concerns over the safe crossing of our children through this intersection. These concerns emphasized: 1. That during inclement weather, our children~¥e ~ had to wait ]0 to 15 minutes to cross. This didn't necessarily:~an:~ safely, since both vehicles and the ICT/Rochester bus have b~" ~ observed to have to stop in the street in order for the ch~ldre~<~n' th~ crosswalk to exit the crosswalk. c~_.' ~. 2. The entrance to the Helen Lem me school grounds~ one of four entrances/exits to tt~is intersection. 3. The Safety Patrol is staffed by 6th graders. They are instructed to only allow the children to cross when no vehicles are in sight. Nor are they out during inclement weather. 4. There ~,s a hill to the east, descending to the Washington/Dartmouth intersection. Many times the Safety Patrol has been observed by parents as to releasing the children to cross only to have to call them back because a vehicles/bus is approaching from the east. 5. The ICT/Rochester route bus passes through this intersection at 8:28 a.m. It has been already noted the observation of the bus stopping in the street due to children in the crosswalk. With school staring in 2 more minutes, children who have been waiting to cross, tend to get very anxious about being marked tardy ~nd haw b~en known to c~oss, even though there are vehicles in sight. 6. That there are children crossing at other areas due to the long wait at the intersection of Washington/Dartmouth streets. The Council noted at the February 13th meeting, that if the traffic survey warrents the need for a crossing guard, there was still tl~e position to fill. The Council also noted tl~at this would warrent a budget amendment due to the addition of an employee to the budget. We, at Helen Lemme. would be willing to help advertize for this position to be filled when the Council approves the additon of an adult crossing guard for the intersection of Washington and Dartmouth streets. The Council ordered a traffic study to be done and would base their decision on the results of the survey. This survey was made availabe to us on April 16, 1996. We wouk~o like to address some concerns regarding the results of the ~ ~, Traffic/Gap study. ~-:c;~ The gap study states the intent "is to measure the~_. _~ opportunities in traffic flowing on Wash. for school children t~-~2' -~ recognize an appropriate gap in the traffic stream, and to cross_--- ~' safely". The study then proceeds to separate the school traffic~'rom~ the through traffic when both proceed through the intersection. This is indicated by the statement, "when the school traffic is removed from the traffic stream of vehivles moving along Washinbon St., there is ample opportunities to cross Washington St." We wonder why schoo~ and through traffic can be separated when both constitute Washington St. traffic; contribute to the congestion of the intersection and impact upon the ability of the children to cross. One must then concur that if school generated traffic is present there is NOT ample time to cross. We wonder how it can be concluded that no adult crossing guard is recommended, when all traffic flow must be considered that impacts this intersection. This makes the statement "when school traffic is removed, there is ample time to cross" an invalid one. The duties of a crossing guard states "to intervene in the flow of traffic when deemed necessary to insure the safe crossing of the children and the gaps in the traffic flow are not present without intervention." This statement does not differentiate between school generated and ticrough traffic, it just states the "flow of traffic." ~ e it mu~ ~ ~mpua~a~u tll~ "safe CfO$SJflg . not a safe crossing. The traffic study does not take into consideration the many safety problems that must be considered. This is not a matter of just counting cars. Therc is the physical aspect of the terrain of Washington St. due to the hill to the east of the intersection; the fact that the Helen Lemme entrance/exit at this intersection is the only entrance to the school grounds; and the presence of sixth grader safety patrol, who can not intervene in the flow of traffic. The survey considers that" an adult crossing guard will be only directing traffic out of the school grounds" without emphasizing that the school entrace is part of this intersection. The survey states that "sufficient opportunities for the children to cross in the through traffic on WashingtApron St. do occur" when the survey has already indicated that "when the school traffic is removed from the traffic stream of vehicles moving along Washington St. there are ample opportunities to cross Washington St." How can the school traffic be removed from consideration when it also enters the Washington/Dartmouth intersection? c~ One day chosen to survey traffic was an inservice~.a_y ' ~ which no school children were present. This showed a traffi~.~o.w ~sff 64 cars through the intersection during a 26 minute period o~no school day. On a regular schoolday, during the same time per'~i6~t~ tt~ number nearly tripled to185 vehicles. This was not an inclen~_._~ .~. weather day, as temperatures were above freezing and no ~ ~ precipitation was noted. On a severe weather day the traffic numbers would be far l~igher. Though the school had requested that one survey day reflect an inclement weather day to show this increase in traffic flow, this was not done. The study states that "on February 16th, the total amount of traffic is significantly lower during the observed time", but this is a day with no children present. 64 vehicles through the intersection on a day where no school is in progress, is alot of vehicles. The parents of Helen Lem me school children are concerned about the results of this Gap study. We consider the study fails to address our concerns regarding: 1. The terrain of Washington St. with a hill descending from the east to the Washington/Dartmouth intersection. This makes it very difficult for the Safety Patrol, which is made up of Sixth-graders, who are instructed NOT to release children to cross if a vehicle is in sight. ~. The presence of the '"* ,n .... uu> crossing the Washington/Dartmouth intersection, two minutes before the school bell rings, and the observations of the bus having to stop due to children still in the crosswalk. 3. The results of the Gap study stating "when the school traffic is removed from the traffic stream, there is ample opportunities for the children to cross safely." How do we tell parents they can no longer drive their children to school, despite inclement weather, or the distance the children will now be walking? How can the school traffic be removed from consideration of counting cars, when the entrance/exit to the Helen Leto me school grounds is part of the intersection? Let it be noted that All traffic has to cross the crosswalks regardless if they are going through the intersection; turning into the school grounds; or turning onto Washington St. to go east or west. We thank the ]C Council for hearing our concerns about the safety of our children at the Washington St./Dartmouth St. intersection; and our very real concerns regarding the results of the Gap study. We are willing to help fill the position of an adult crossing guard when the Council approves tills positlon's availability.