HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-05-04 Transcription#1 Page 1
ITEM 1. CALL TO ORDER
Lehman: Ross had a meeting that he was speaking at tonight, or he certainly would
be here as well, so...
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ITEM 2. MAYOR'S PROCLAMATIONS
Lehman: (reads proclamation - Bicycle Month, May 2004)
Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Mark Wyatt of the Bicyclists of Iowa
City. (applause)
Wyatt: Thank you, Mayor, and members of the Council. On behalf of the
Bicyclists of Iowa City, I'd like to thank the City of Iowa City for this
proclamation. Bicycling is part of the solution to many of our nation's
problems. If the average person biked to work, or shopping, once every
two weeks, we'd see a dramatic reduction in air pollution, lessening of
traffic congestion, and a healthier population. I would like everybody to
join the Bicyclists of Iowa City for "ride to work" day on May 21st. We'll
be hosting rides across Iowa City, and as well as North Liberty and
Coralville. More information can be found at bicyclistsofiowacity.org.
Thank you very much. (applause)
Lehman: Thank you. (reads proclamation - National Visiting Nurse Association
Week, May 6 - 12th, 2004).
Kart: Here to accept the proclamation is the Executive Director of VNA, Suellen
Novotny. (applause)
Novotny: Thank you, Mayor, and Council members. I'm very pleased to be here
this evening and representing the Visiting Nurse Association of Johnson
County. Visiting Nurse Associations throughout the country have a very
rich history of giving. There are approximately 436 Visiting Nurse
Associations. Many VNAs, we go by the nickname VNAs, have been in
service for over a hundred years. The Visiting Nurse Association of
Johnson County is celebrating its 55th year of service. Why are we
celebrating VNA Week? It's because the VNAs do very high quality
home care for people with both acute and chronic illness. VNAs through
the country, and including Johnson County, have a very special mission.
Firstly, to serve persons of all socio, economic backgrounds, and cultural
backgrounds. Secondly, to be a part of and to serve the communities
they're a part of. Our focus in Johnson County on community health,
includes but is not totally number, we have maternal-child health, health
promotion services that we go into homes. We have health provision
activities within the community. We have 12 elder care sites throughout
Johnson County, where we provide services, and we're very involved with
disaster planning and assistance, and we collaborate very closely with
Johnson County Public Health in this respect. I'm very pleased to be here.
I think the Visiting Nurse Associations throughout the country are very
valuable for what they provide, in both elder care. We serve patients from
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infants to elderly. It's a pleasure to be here. I thank you for this
proclamation, and I feel honored. Thank you very much. (applause)
Lehman: Thank you.
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ITEM 4. COMMUNITY COMMENT
Lehman: This is a time reserved on the agenda for people to address the Council on
items that do not otherwise appear on the agenda. If you wish to address
the Council, please sign in and give your name, address, and limit your
comments to 5 minutes or less.
Hayek: Good evening. I'm wearing a couple of hats tonight. Second one is the
HCDC allocation, and I'll be sticking around for that, but the first matter
I'm here for tonight is on behalf of the Englert Board of Directors. I'm a
member of the Englert Board of Directors, and I have here with me tonight
Eric Kerchner, who I wanted to introduce to the Council formally. Eric's
our new Executive Director. He's been on board with us for about a
month I'd say. Eric is, comes to us via Ohio, and North Carolina. In
Ohio, his most recent job, Eric was running a municipal theatre in the city
of Dublin, Ohio, and he's got a lot of experience in running theatre
facilities and theatre programs as well. Eric is replacing Justine Zimmer
who many of you know as well, who did a great job for us for a good
period of time. Justine is moving on to other pursuits, but will still have a
role with the theatre. Just want you to know that we, the Englert,
conducted a nationwide search for an executive director, and we got over
60, as I recall, applications. All of which we read, and we narrowed that
down to 12 people whom we conducted telephone interviews with, on a
speakerphone, and of those 12 people, we brought 3 to Iowa City. Eric
was one of them, and we landed him and we're just thrilled to have him
here. Eric's, I think, got a great knack for community relations, and I
think he's already done a great job of getting to know the Chamber of
Commerce, the School District, and hopefully you folks as well, and we're
really glad to have him here, and I just wanted to introduce Eric Kershner
to you.
Champion: Great, welcome.
Lehman: Welcome, Eric.
Kemhner: I don't want to take up too much of your time tonight but just wanted to
come and introduce myself, and to let you know that the, we're doing very
well over in our construction site. It might look all boarded up and
everything, but there's a lot of activity inside that's moving forward a
pace, so we're very glad for that, and we're looking forward to sticking to
our deadline of trying to open the doors by later this year, hopefully in
December. We're really looking forward to that, and being able to serve
the public. I also want to thank you all for just this morning, I was able to
come down and pick up the $75,000 check that is going towards helping to
purchase lights, and so forth, for the theatre, and all the lights have arrived
and are ready to start going up as the construction continues forward. So,
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I thank you all very much for that, and all of your support throughout the
entire project. It's greatly appreciated. I don't know if, if we have any
time, if any of you have any questions that you would want to ask of me,
please feel free.
O'Donnell: Welcome to Iowa City.
Lehman: Thank you.
Kerchner: Well thank you very much, and never hesitate to contact me if you do
have any questions at all. Thank you very much.
Lehman: Any other public comments?
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ITEM 5. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS
e. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE FINAL PLAT
OF SANDHILL ESTATES PART ONE, IOWA CITY, IOWA
(SUB04-00009)
O'Donnell: So moved.
Lehman: Moved by O'Donnell.
Elliott: Second.
Lehman: Seconded by Elliott. Discussion?
Vanderhoef: Are thepapers...?
Lehman: Everything is ready.
Vanderhoefi Okay.
Lehman: Roll call. Motion carries.
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1TEM 6. ADOPTING IOWA CITY'S FY05 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN, THAT
IS A SUB-PART OF IOWA CITY'S 2001-2006 CONSOLIDATED PLAN
(CITY STEPS) AS AMANDED, AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO SUBMIT SAID PLAN AND ALL NECESSARY
CERTIFICATIONS TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND DESIGNATING THE CITY MANAGER
AS THE AUTHORIZED CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER.
Lehman: Public Hearing is open. Public Hearing is closed. Do we have a motion?
O'Donnell: So moved.
Bailey: Second.
Lehman: Moved by O'Donnell; seconded by Bailey. Discussion?
Vanderhoef: I would like to offer an amendment. I would like to see the Economic
Development allocation be reduced by $25,000 and that $25,000 be added
to the Grant Wood Neighborhood Center project.
Champion: Second.
Lehman: A motion and a second to transfer $25,000 of Economic Development
allocation to the Grant Wood project. Discussion on the amendment?
Vanderhoef: I'd just like to say for the public's sake, this particular year, because of the
sale of the last piece of parcel of land in the urban renewal area, the
allocation to economic development is a larger distribution than normal,
so there's roughly $25,000 additional that would have gone towards
economic development. Our experience at this point and time is that what
we have normally been getting has been more than adequate for our
annual needs, so I don't think this will impact the economic development
possibilities for this coming year.
O'Donnell: I agree with you, I don't either. Steve, what was the total? Was it
$175,0007
Atkins: The total was $270,000, wasn't it?
O'Donnell: $270,000, added to the...
Lehman: ...that's what we will have; we had a little over $100,000 left. The
allocation is $170,000. This would reduce that by $25,000, so we'd have
$245,000.\
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Elliott: As we discussed last night, I think most or all of us really like and
appreciate this kind of cooperation, coordination between the City and the
schools.
Bailey: I think it'll be great for that neighborhood.
Vanderhoef: It's certainly something that we must address. It's been many years that
certain activities happened in that neighborhood, and certainly the city was
part of that in buying low-income housing for the Housing Authority, and
so we have created a high need for families in that area, and this will be a
great resource for the area, besides I'd like to compliment the Broadway
Neighborhood group and what they have done with lack of space, shall we
say.
Lehman: All in favor of the amendment give me an enthusiastic "aye". Opposed?
The amendment carries. Discussion on the resolution as amended?
Vanderhoef: I have one other item that I would like to bring up. I won't make it in the
form of an amendment, but I brought it up last night. There was not a lot
of support for it, but I think it should at least be acknowledged to the
neighbors of the Four Cs. That property was rezoned at the time that the
Four Cs purchased the property from Lutheran Social Services. It's in a
residential neighborhood at the fringe of the mall property. At the time,
they tried to just get an exception. It was not allowed by the Board of
Appeals, so they came for a zoning change. There was a lot of discussion
at that time. There were a lot of neighbors in that area that were not
pleased with the idea, and they were concerned about traffic and parking,
and use of the building. And I remember it, Ernie and I are the only two
that were here at the time that the rezoning took place, but at the time, it
was made clear by the director of Four Cs that this would be the same kind
of activity in the building as what had been there with Lutheran Social
Services, and going back to the minutes of the P&Z at that time, she stated
that there would be 9 to 15 administrative staff would be using the facility.
She said her agency was an advocacy for children and safety of the
children, and the children would be the major concern, and that they were
being housed for their activities at the Mennonite Church over on the west
side of the river. We've not heard anything from the neighbors in that
area, but it concerns me when the application came in for $25,000 for a
elevator for strollers. So, I would have, if there had been support, I was
willing to postpone that for at least one more year and use $25,000 which
is the cost of the elevator, to increase the allocation for the Grant Wood
Neighborhood Center, and that I thought it also impacted, in particular
preschool activities, and I wanted to be sure there would be enough dollars
available for that project so that it wouldn't be scaled back in size. If it
were scaled back in size, it would potentially impact the number of
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children because of square footage, and the state laws of square footage
per child, in the program.
O'Donnell: Dee, I think the way we worked this out tonight, both of these have an
opportunity to receive what they need. This is the second year the Four Cs
has asked for this funding, and I'm ready to accept the recommendation of
our committee, and move forward with the amendment.
Champion: I really feel that Four Cs would be a good neighbor in a neighborhood.
It's a logical thing to put it in a neighborhood. (can't hear) We allow
other things in neighborhoods. I think it's a good idea.
Lehman: I would like to express our thanks to the committee who made the
allocations. This has got to be, Bob you served on the committee once.
Elliott: Correct.
Lehman: That has got to be one of the most difficult and challenging conunittees
that we have. The Council gives the committee certain guidelines to go
by. They come and make....I don't recall the actual amount of money that
was requested. All I know is the amount that is available is probably 25 or
30% of what's requested, and there's not a single request that isn't a valid,
good, decent request, and so I really thank the committee for the efforts
that they have put in, and a very, very difficult task. But we do appreciate
what you do.
Elliott: Absolutely.
Vanderhoef: No doubt about it.
Lehman: Other...other discussion? Roll call. Motion carries.
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ITEM 8. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 3 "CITY
FINANCES, TAXATION & FEES," CHAPTER 4 "SCHEDULE OF
FEES, RATES, CHARGES, BONDS, FINES AND PENALTIES" OF
THE CITY CODE, TO DECREASE WATER SERVICE CHARGES
AND FEES IN IOWA CITY, IOWA (SECOND CONSIDERATION)
O'Donnell: Move second...
Champion: Move second...um.
Lehman: Moved by O'Donnell; seconded by Champion, second consideration.
Discussion?
Champion: Was this one we were going to amend?
Bailey: Yeah, we have an amendment. I'd like to present an amendment to
change the return check fee, I think it was from $10 to $15, to better cover
our costs.
Lehman: Is there a second to the amendment?
Vanderhoef: Second.
Lehman: We have a motion and a second. Discussion of the amendment? All in
favor of the amendment? Opposed? I think, Eleanor, do we not now need
a motion for first consideration?
Elliott: So moved.
Bailey: Second.
Lehman: We have a motion by Elliott; seconded by Bailey for first consideration.
The reason that is because changing the amount for the return check fee
changes the substance of the ordinance so we're back to first
consideration, and we have a motion and a second. Discussion? Roll call.
Motion carries.
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ITEM 9. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 10 OF THE
CITY CODE, ENTITLED "USE OF PUBLIC WAYS AND
PROPERTY," TO CREATE A UNIFORM PERMITTING
PROCESS, TO ESTABLISH REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
FARMERS MARKET, TO PROVIDE FOR THE
NONCOMMERCIAL PLACEMENT OF OBJECTS IN CITY
PLAZA ON A TEMPORARY BASIS, TO MODIFY THE
PROVISION ON RESIDENTIAL PICKETING, TO CLARIFY THE
CURRENT PROVISIONS REGULATING MOBILE VENDORS
AND AMBULATORY VENDORS, TO CODIFY SPECIFIC
ADMINISTRATAIVE RULES AFFECTING SAID VENDORS, AND
TO MAKE ADDITIONAL NONSUBSTANTIVE CHANGES (PASS
AND ADOPT)
Champion: Move adoption.
Bailey: Second.
Lehman: Moved by Champion; seconded by Bailey. Discussion?
Elliott: I'll just point out this action is not being taken lightly. Notice here we
have discussed this at our January 20, February 3, February 17, March 2,
March 16, and April 6 formal meetings. A number of people disagree
with the way I'm going to vote, one of them being my wife. But I will
approve it. (laughter)
Lehman: Okay. Other discussion? Roll call. Motion carries.
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ITEM 11. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO.
79-462 AND ADOPTING IN LIEU THEREOF A NEW
RESOLUTION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SENIOR
CENTER FUND FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF GIFTS,
MEMORIALS, AND FUNDRAISING REVENUE TO THE IOWA
CITY/JOHNSON COUNTY SENIOR CENTER (DEFERRED
FROM APRIL 6)
O'Dormell: So moved.
Lehman: Moved by O'Donnell.
Champion: Second.
Lehman: Seconded by Champion. Discussion?
Dilkes: You have a revised resolution in front of you to...
Lehman: The motion is for the revised resolution. Okay, discussion?
Bailey: Well I think it would be helpful if Jay, you could explain this a little bit for
benefit of the public of what is going to happen with this fund.
Honohan: I'd be happy to.
Bailey: Thank you.
Honohan: First I have to get my sticker from Marian, although I think by now she
knows who I am. Basically this resolution allows the Senior Center
Commission to forward the funds that we now call the Gift Fund, that are
contributions and donations made by seniors and other citizens to the
Senior Center, and it allows us to transfer the Gift Fund, except for what
we called Designated Funds, to a non-profit corporation, called Iowa City
Senior Center Fund Inc., which will then contribute or donate, whatever
you want to call it, the funds that we have transferred, to the Community
Foundation of Johnson County. It will be placed into two different funds
in the Community Foundation. One is an endowment fund. The other is a
charitable giving fund. The, and for the purposes of overseeing it and
handling the matter, we will be budgeting for the proceeds of these two
funds, the Endowment Fund for operations, and the Charitable Giving for
programs and services, and we will put those in our budget and then in
June of each year, we will draw out of the, either the Endowment Fund or,
probably both the Endowment Fund and the Charitable Giving Fund, to
meet our budget expenses. The push for this comes from the fact that we
can receive a much greater retum on the gift fund money than we can if
we had to invest it through the City because the City has more restrictions
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on these kind of investments than the Community Foundation. Last year,
and I...Mike isn't here now so I can say this and he can't dispute it, but
the Endowment Fund I believe contributed approximately 6% profit for
income to each organization, and he estimated for us that the Charitable
Giving would run 4 to 5%, and how we are going to handle this, in fact, it
may have been presumptuous of Linda and I but we have already set our
agenda for our next meeting, and the next meeting of the Commission, we
will open the meeting and after 2 or 3 items, we will adjourn to the Iowa
City Senior Center Fund Inc. Once we have opened what I'll call Inc for
shortness, we will adopt the by-laws that are attached to this resolution,
and by the way, I will have already, assuming your approval, I will have
already filed the Articles of Incorporation this week. And once we adopt
the by-laws, we will elect the officers of the corporation. We will then
decide on a depository because mechanically we will have to give the
money from the Gift Fund, from the City, to Inc in a checking account,
and then we will have to transfer that, from that checking account to the
Community Foundation. And we have to, the banks require a nice fancy
resolution from a corporation, naming them as a depository. At the same
time we will decide the percentage that we are going to give to the
Endowment Fund, and the percentage that we are going to give to
Charitable Giving. That has not been determined at this time. We will
probably be talking to Mike Stockerton of the Community Foundation on
that too to get his advice as to what we might, or should do. After that has
been accomplished, we will then authorize the officers to handle the
matter. We will adjourn the Inc meeting, and return to the Commission
meeting. All of this will be public, and both agendas will be posted as
required by law.
Champion: Terrific.
O'Dormell: Great.
Honohan: Any other questions?
Elliott: Jay, is there any change in the accessibility of these funds by the Senior
Center?
Honohan: I'm sorry, Bob.
Elliott: Is, is, with this move, is there any change in the accessibility to the funds
by the Senior Center? I think .....
Honohan: None whatsoever. We're going to budget it. I can't see any difference.
Elliott: I wanted a confirmation on that.
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Honohan: Yes.
Elliott: I like it, especially because I think this benefits the Senior Center, and I
think it's beneficial to the Community Foundation.
Honohan: Okay, this is the culmination of something that we started in our
accreditation process a few years ago when we got the Senior Center
accredited, and we have been working on the by-laws. In fact if you will
notice, I changed all the he's and all the him's to he or she, or him or her,
and I have them one, the next is a her, down through the thing. This was
at the insistence of my group. (laughter)
Vanderhoef: Thank you, Jay.
Lehman: Okay, thank you. Other discussion?
Bailey: I really appreciate all the work that you've put into this, and I appreciate
your flexibility because I know that I had a lot of questions, probably
given my background, and I think this is a terrific move, and support of
the Community Foundation, and I'm glad to see organizations in our
community using this resource because I think they're doing great work at
the Community Foundation.
Honohan: As far as any changes go, Regenia, I'm always happy to do what the boss
says. (laughter)
Vanderhoef: I too would like to thank you, and to Linda and the Commission. I think
this is forward-looking, and certainly looking out for the best interest of
the seniors now, and those to come, and also for the stability of the Senior
Center itself for operations, and I too will thank you for spending some
time with me because I had questions and ideas that I was concerned
about, and you've been very receptive, and thank you.
Honohan: And I would like to repeat what I've said many times before. Anybody
that wants to talk to me about the Senior Center Commission, or our
activities, my phone number's in the book and my office hours are 10 to
12. 351-8100. And one other thing that I would like to do which has
nothing to do with this resolution, but I would like to invite everyone on
May 24th, I believe he's captain and I know he's a doctor, Yon Kirkstatter,
who is a surgeon and who had a tour of duty in Iraq and Baqdad, will be
making a presentation at the Senior Center about his experiences at that
time, and I think this is open to the public, and we invite everybody to
come.
O'Donnell: Okay.
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Vanderhoef: What time?
Honohan: 2:00 PM, the 24th. Thank you.
Lehman: Thank you.
Vanderhoef: Thanks, Jay.
Bailey: Thanks, Jay. I know that I've heard from people with concerns, and I
appreciate the way that you've set up this Inc to have public (can't hear),
so when people do have concerns, there's a lot of transparency involved,
and I think that that will be helpful to the community as this moves
forward because it is a new idea, and that can sometimes be a little
challenging.
Lehman: Roll call. Motion carries.
Honohan: Thank you very much.
Lehman: Thank you, Jay.
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ITEM 13. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND THE IOWA CITY
LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND THE AMERICAN
FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL
EMPLOYEES LOCAL #183, AFL-CIO, TO BE EFFECTIVE JULY
1, 2004 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2007
O'Donnell: So moved.
Champion: Second.
Lehman: Moved by O'Donnell; seconded by Champion. Discussion?
Vanderhoefi I was just going to ask...Dale, were there any changes in the health benefit
this time?
Helling: No.
Vanderhoef: Okay.
Lehman: Roll call. Motion carries.
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ITEM 17. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF A
CONTRACT WITH THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION FOR FUNDING FROM THE URBAN-STATE
TRAFFIC ENGINEERING PROGRAM (USTEP) FOR
INSTALLATION OF VIDEO TRAFFIC SIGNAL DETECTION
EQUIPMENT ON BURLINGTON STREET
Vanderhocf: Move the resolution
Elliott: Second.
Lehman: Moved by Vanderhoef; seconded by Elliott. Discussion?
Vanderhoef: Only that it's finally our turn to get the state money for that since that's a
state highway. We've waited quite a while.
Lehman: Roll call. Motion canies.
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ITEM 18. RESOLUTION APPROVING THE DESIGN OF THE EXTERIOR
SIGN FOR "OLD CAPITOL CAFI~" AT 210 N. DUBUQUE
STREET, SHERATON INN
Champion: Move the resolution.
O'Donnell: Second.
Lehman: Moved by Champion; seconded by O'Donnell. Discussion?
Elliott: Is anyone else interested in a memo just explaining what the staff design
review committee does, the criteria with which it does it?
O'Donnell: I've read most of it.
Lehman: I think you probably ....
Elliott: Maybe I could just stop and talk to Steve.
Lehman: Yeah, I think...yeah. Other discussion? Roll call.
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ITEM 20. COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS
Lehman: Last night the Council decided to appoint the following folks to the
Charter Review Commission: Don Balmer, Andy Chappell, Penny
Davidson, Karen Kubby, Vicki Lensing, Naomi Novick, Lynn Rowat,
William Sueppel, Kevin Wemer; and to the Human Rights Commission:
Chris Bushman. Do we have a motion to that effect?
O'Donnell: So moved.
Lehman: Second?
Vanderhoef: Second.
Lehman: All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. I would like to say, and I'm sure
I speak for the entire Council, we had an outstanding group of folks to
choose from. Unfortunately all those folks who applied for the Charter
Review Commission were not, couldn't appoint them all, but absolutely a
tremendous group of people, and we're so fortunate to have those sort of
folks who are willing to serve.
O'Donnell: I agree.
Lehman: The chair of that committee will be Bill Sueppel, who I tried to get ahold
of today, but I was unable to.
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ITEM 23. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION
Elliott: When, before...I have 3 things tonight...before he left last night, Ross
asked me ifI would remind Council Members and the public again of the
Crisis Center's annual gourmet benefit breakfast. That's Sunday, May 9,
8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. I don't know who eats breakfast at 1:00 PM but
apparently some people do.
Champion: It's brunch then.
Elliott: Ross modestly said don't miss the best breakfast in town. So I think some
of my Council colleagues will be there, and it should be a good one.
Lehman: Entertainment provided by O'Donnell and Lehman. (laughter)
Champion: Try to keep the pancakes off the floor this year, would you? (laughter)
Lehman: We shall.
O'Donnell: We're experts.
Bailey: I'm supposed to serve those pancakes. I want them clean, yeah.
Elliott: Okay, next, I think other Council persons will say something about this
but last week at the Human Rights Commission student awards
celebration, and it was a celebration. It was overflowing. There were
junior high students, high school students, grade school students, parents
and grandparents, and friends and families, and everybody was so pleased,
and so proud. It was both a celebration and a very moving event and I
think, thank Heather Shank and the Commission for really putting this
thing through, putting it on, great success, and we need to do these kinds
of things more often.
Lehman: Bob, I think that is the only event of its kind that has ever been held. And
I don't mean just in Iowa City. I think, I talked to Heather about it, and
she's unaware of that ever being held in any community anywhere in the
country.
Elliott: We read in the paper, we hear on the news so many things, and you
wonder what's in the future, and then you see that and you think I think
we've got a chance. I think we've got a chance. Second, the third thing,
was I didn't know whether to say this but it was an embarrassing situation
almost. I got a call the other day from Marv Cook at home. I was
working on the computer, and of course, Marv Cook, All-American at
Iowa, and NFL, and I said yeah, hi, and he said perhaps you remember
me. I said of course I remember, and he said we're looking....there's a
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golf event that's going to benefit the Ronald McDonald House, and we'd
like to have you there as a celebrity. I said Marv Cook asking Bob Elliott
to be a celebrity is just the height of something or other. I don't know
what it was. (laughter) I was almost too embarrassed to respond. But I'll
be there, and it's going to be a great thing. It's a golf outing at Finkbine.
It's, I forget, it's in June some time. When you find out when it is, take
part. It's a great cause.
Champion: You'll be a big draw.
Elliott: Oh my God. (laughter)
O'Donnell: I can hardly wait. (laughter)
Lehman: I'll be in Canada fishing but I'll really miss you.
O'Donnell: I'd go with you to miss it. (laughter)
Lehman: Connie?
Champion: You know I've always been in favor of carts downtown and sidewalk
cafes, and I totally endorse them. I love it. But somebody stopped in
today, and we're getting some carts on Iowa Avenue now, and I think
maybe we need to pay a little bit of attention about where we put them
because one of the carts, a pita cart, right in front of the Pita Shop, and it
isn't like the pedestrian plaza, which is jam-packed all the time, and so,
but Iowa Avenue, there's not a lot of traffic, not a lot of foot traffic on it.
So I just ..... I don't know how anybody else feels about that but I think we
maybe need to pay some attention to what we're putting where.
Elliott: I think it's a good point. Point well made.
Vanderhoefi I think there's also a little concern with the vaults, and how they open and
space to load and unload around the vaults and the safety factors with that.
Champion: With the cart there you mean?
Vanderhoef: With carts there, ur-huh.
Dilkes: The ordinance that you just passed tonight does not provide for
considering what competing businesses are in other spaces. I mean, it
does provide for considering what other carts are downtown, and Dale and
I have had some discussion about this, and I think you'd have to give
some serious thought to examining that issue that you raise. I mean, I
think it raises a lot of issues for...for instance, there's been a coffee cart
downtown for a long time and we have lots of coffee shops, and how
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we're going to make those kinds of decisions, I don't know that we want
to be doing that at a staff level. So I think you'd need to give it some
serious thought.
Champion: Well I know, I'm just suggesting that. It doesn't bother me with the coffee
carts on the Pedestrian Plaza because it's so jam-packed it doesn't affect
anybody specifically.
Dilkes: But I'm just suggesting it may bother someone else, and then we have the
issue and so this, I don't think we can limit it to the pita cart so, I'm just
suggesting that you give it some thought and talk about it if that's what
you're interested in.
Elliott: Work session?
Lehman: Well, I think we should probably individually look and see what this looks
like, and if it's something we want to put on a work session, we certainly
can.
Bailey: Want to start over again with Title 107 That's what we're doing. We're
starting again with Title 10, I mean, that was a consideration of it.
Vanderhoefi I wasn't aware that carts were being moved over to Iowa Avenue where
there is not city cleanup.
Dilkes: Well that was something that was done, not as part of this ordinance, but
previously. That...
Vanderhoefi It was for Iowa Avenue also?
Dilkes: Yes.
Helling: That was an action that you took last, I think last April. You...
Champion: I think it's great, especially with all the activities (can't hear) on Iowa
Avenue.
Lehman: I think that was also a consideration in the design of the street, and the
width of the sidewalks, so they would accommodate the carts.
Helling: That was something...they weren't really moved over there. We just
added. We used to have 5 carts all in the Plaza and we've added 2 so now
we have 7. And the design, the streetscape, was such that it would
accommodate carts.
Champion: I'm totally in favor of it, don't misunderstand me. I love it.
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O'Donnnell: (can't hear)
Vanderhoefi Are the electrical outlets on the north side of the street so they could go
(TAPE ENDS) north side of Iowa Avenue?
Helling: There are, yeah.
Vanderhoef: So that would be a possibility to talk about.
Helling: Traditionally what we've done is just, on the Plaza too, is just picked out
spots that would accommodate a cart and then let them choose where they
want to be. Two spots per cart, one or two, they can have up to two and
they can move back and forth between them if they'd like, but we have not
looked at, in terms of where they were with relation to the stores or the
restaurants or whatever that are adjacent.
Lehman: Okay. Anything else, Connie?
Champion: Huh-uh.
Lehman: Mike?
O'Donnell: Just a couple things. My nephew is getting back from Iraq this weekend,
and I went out and helped 3,000 other folks welcome the 109th back, and if
you haven't done this yet, if you haven't had an opportunity to see these
young men and women come home, it's just outstanding. It's exciting. I
recommend it to everyone, and finally, Ernie, I look forward to the
challenge Sunday morning, and I think you're right, we do provide the
entertainment.
Lehman: You're absolutely right, that is so much fun. So many people enjoy that
breakfast. So, Crisis Center Sunday morning, 8:00 AM, St. Wenceslaus!
Dee?
Vanderhoefi Two things. The first one, I would just like to thank the Johnson County
Task Force on Aging and their Senior Center dining report. It was very
inclusive and very informative, and I thank them for doing that. The other
thing that I have been noticing recently, in our correspondence that we get
from the public, it has been very positive. It has also been informative,
and several times they have come up with ideas. They have a problem but
they also are offering solutions, which I think is just the best of all worlds.
As a Councilor to have something pointed out to me and start me thinking
about other possibilities of how we can do something to meet the needs of
our citizens. So thank you public for writing, and keeping us informed.
That's it.
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Bailey: Project Green sale, 9:00 AM Saturday morning, one of my absolutely
favorite events, lots of plants, you need to get there early or there won't be
anything left, and I also want to thank the 3rd grade class, Ms. Gugluzza, I
always butcher her name, 3rd grade class for inviting me to talk about City
Council issues. They're learning about the City, and knew quite a bit, and
their presentations were quite impressive and I want to thank them for
inviting me to their class. I had a great time.
Vanderhoef: And if you're really lucky, you'll be able to get some of the Vanderhoef's
plants. (laughter) They are shade plants, and the summer shade and
summer sun. They came and dug them up about 2 weeks ago. We have
them ready to go.
Lehman: Two things: one of these I'm going to read so I do it right. The Iowa
Correctional Association recently recognized volunteers Ann Bovbjerg,
Darlene Neff, and Iowa City TV Division employees, Jerry Nixon and Ty
Coleman for their work in producing videos which highlight the programs
and activities of the 6th Judicial District Department of Corrections of
Johnson County and the 6th District. On April 15th these 4 individuals
were presented the Outstanding Citizen Award which recognizes an
individual or group who has made a significant positive impact on
corrections in the State of Iowa. Among the videos they have produced
are "Introduction to Community-based Corrections", "How Iowa
Corrections is Funded", "Community Service", "Restorative Justice",
"Silent Witness Project", "Circles of Accountability and Support", and
"Crime Victims Week". Anyway, that's a real honor for the folks from
this community, and also from Cable TV Division. So we should be very
proud of them. The other event, I encourage everyone to wear black and
gold. Listen to myself. Anybody who hasn't noticed, there are Herky's
all over Iowa City and Coralville. I think this is the neatest promotion I
can remember, and of course my age that may be a factor of age, but we
have a City employee who is really, really instrumental putting this all
together. Marcia Klingaman really, really helped out. A lot of people
worked really, really hard. I know it's a fun project. Everybody enjoys it.
It's just a gmat project all the way around, but those things don't just
happen. And Marcia was out, I know, for the last several months working
on this. But Sunday night, those folks picked those birds up about 9:00
PM and worked until 2:00 AM in the morning distributing them around
town, bolting them down or whatever, and I just want you folks on the
Council and the public, that the folks who work here in the Civic Center,
mainly Marcia Klingaman, was instrumental in getting those things out, so
a big thank you to Marcia as well. Steve?
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ITEM 24. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF
Atkins: Thank you for that for Marcia. Nothing.
Lehman: Eleanor? Marian?
O'Donnell: We'll be adjourned.
Lehman: Motion to adjourn.
Vanderhoef: Second.
Lehman: Have a second. All in favor? Motion carries. Thank you.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City
Council meeting of May 4, 2004.