HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-05-11 TranscriptionMay 11, 1998 Council Work Session page 1
Council: Lehman, Champion, Kubby, Norton, O'Donnell, Thomberry, Vanderhoef.
Staff: Atkins, Helling, Karr, Dilkes, Franklin, Davidson, Fowler, Dolman, Klingaman,
Neumann, Head, Grosvenor, Boothroy.
Tapes: 98-67, all; 98-68, all.
Review Zoning Matters 98-67 S1
a. Public hearing on an ordinance amending Title 14, Chapter 6, Zoning, Article T,
Nonconforming Uses, Structures and Land, Section 5, Regulation of Nonconforming
Lots, by changing the regulation ofnonconforming lots of record.
Franklin/First item is a p.h .... changing the use regulations for non-conforming lot. I
think this is most easily explained with a diagram. This is to allow non-
conforming lots of record to be used. You all understand it? I don't have to
explain it?
Lehman/Go ahead.
Kubby/The quirk is really, who owns the property.
Franklin/This is just an example. The first time we did an amendment was this...
property on the Northside... non-conforming lot... appropriate to be able to
develop that particular lot .... But it did provide an opportunity in an older
neighborhood to have another place for a s.f. house. Even though it didn't meet
the lot area requirement, it met compatibility .... At that time we did the change
that allowed the special exception if you didn't meet lot area, total square footage.
This is about lot width... That you will have lots that don't meet the lot area
requirement... they don't meet the lot width requirement... Another circumstance
where we believe that it would be appropriate to provide the possibility of
development occurring for a s.f. house. It has to go through the Board of
Adjustment, compatibility with the surrounding area .... A lot of safeguards in
place ....
Thornberry/Couldn't they still do this with special exception?
Franklin/If we do this change ..... Right now the only way it could vary is by lot area, so
you would have to meet the lot width... all setback requirements... The
suggestion here is to bring in that lot width as a component...
Vanderhoef/Didn't we use lot width when we were talking about the one down on S.
Summit?
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Franklin/No, that width met the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance.
Vanderhoef/Aren't we going to limit this one to 40 also?
Franklin/Yes. The limitation that we have selected... no less than 40 feet ....40 seems to
be about a good size... older neighborhood...
Kubby/Will the special exception process allow design issues to be taken into
consideration?
Franklin/Uh-huh. In fact this particular one that you see up on the screen right now is
before the Board of Adjustment subject to your approval of this amendment ....
Provisions have to do with design of the structure... issue of compatibility ....
Norton/Subj ective judgement ....
Franklin/Okay.
b. Public heating on an ordinance changing the zoning designation of approximately 5.4
acres from Community Commercial (CC-2, 2.4 acres) and General Industrial (I-1, 3.0
acres) to Public (P) for property owned by Kirkwood Community College at 1806, 1810,
1814, and 1816 Lower Muscatine Road. (REZ98-0003)
Franklin/The next item is a p.h. on a zoning change for property owned by Kirkwood
Community College .... Housekeeping... zoned P for public.
c. Consider an ordinance conditionally changing the zoning designation on a 1 O-acre tract
located on the south side of Melrose Avenue and west of West High School from Low
Density Single-Family (RS-5) to Planned Development Housing (OPDH-8) to permit an
80 dwelling unit retirement community. (REZ98-0002) (Second consideration)
Franklin/Item c. is the second consideration on the Melrose Retirement Community and
we will hold this then at the second consideration ....Won't see the pass and adopt
until the sewer issues have been resolved.
d. Consider an ordinance conditionally changing the zoning designation on
approximately 41 acres located between Lower West Branch Road and Court Street
extended, approximately 4/5 miles west of Taft Avenue from Low Density Single-Family
Residential (RS-5) to Medium Density Single-Family Residential (RS-8) for 29.1 acres
and Low Density Multi-Family Residential (RM-12) for 11.9 acres. (REZ97-0019)
(Pass and adopt)
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Franklin/Windsor Ridge, pass and adopt.
Norton/Has anybody- Do neighbors out there understand what is happening out in
Windsor Ridge? Have you had any calls about that at all?
Franklin/The neighboring property owner to the east, we have had conversations about
developing his property and he is certainly aware of this particular project ....
e. Consider a resolution approving a preliminary plat of Walnut Ridge, Parts 6 and 7, a
66.68 acre, 20-lot residential subdivision located at the north terminus of Kennedy
Parkway. (SUB98-0001)
Franklin/Walnut Ridge, Part 6 & 7. This is for the preliminary plat and then you have the
final plat, approving of the PDH Plan, part 6 & 7, and the final plat for Part 6 and
Part 7 as two different items. Basically it is pretty simple... changes...
Kubby/It is really consistent with the other part.
Franklin/It is very consistent with the other parts ....
Norton/Where does Kennedy Parkway go to the west? .... and north?
Franklin/(Refers to map). Takes it over into the neighboring property .... South of Camp
Cardinal Road.
Thomberry/ .... what would be the grade on that? ....
Franklin/I don't know. It is within our standards ....It is not that steep ....
Norton/What is the radius of those cul de sacs? Are they big enough?
Franklin/They are big enough... Any variations that there are .... They are the same
variations that we have been doing with Walnut Ridge throughout this whole
thing which has been reviewed by Fire ....
Vanderhoef/(Refers to map).
Franklin/(Refers to map). It is bifurcated there again ....
f. Consider an ordinance approving the preliminary OPDH plan for Walnut Ridge, Parts 6
and 7, a 66.68 acre, 20-lot residential subdivision located at the north terminus of
Kennedy Parkway. (REZ98-0001) (Pass and adopt)
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g. Consider a resolution approving a final plat of Walnut Ridge, Part 6, a 20.44 acre, 12-
lot residential subdivision located at the north terminus of Kennedy Parkway. (SUB98-
0006)
h. Consider a resolution approving a final plat of Walnut Ridge, Part 7, a 11.09 acre, 8-lot
residential subdivision located north of Kennedy Parkway. (SUB98-0007)
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Review Agenda Items 98-67 S1
1. (Agenda #7-Amendments to Flood Insurance Rate Maps). Vanderhoef/On the p.h. on
the flood insurance maps. It says that still have some more process... After it
comes back... do we have another p.h.? Or are we done.. if we close this one
tomorrow night?
Lehman/We do have to approve the map ....
Atkins/No hearing but you do adopt the maps officially after it comes back from the
feds.
Kubby/Do we have the option of adjusting anything after they come back from FEMA?
Atkins/
Lehman/Rick told me those can be adjusted anytime.
Kubby/
2. (Agenda #8-Amendment to FY98 Operating Budget). Norton/I hardly know how to
talk about the amendments to the budget here .... Numerous and extensive... For
example, pages 3 - 9 show the changes in revenue... expenditures... Page 4.
Atkins/I am making an assumption...
Norton/Some bond transaction didn't finish when you thought it would.
Atkins/Go down to Water Revenue Bond Control... he has zeroed that out .... Every time
he makes an amendment, he records it...
Norton/
Champion/...bottomline.. difference pretty minor.
Norton/It is a matter of how it gets that way.
Vanderhoef/In the budget .... Trails... taking $15- out in this amendment ....
Norton/Every time something is routine, you ought to give a hard look...
Atkins/
Vanderhoef/I was curious why we dropped the $15- this year... ?
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Kubby/Since that $30,000 annual... does that accumulate then?
Atkins/Yes, we have in the past ....
Kubby/Still $15- in the pot to be added with the $30,000 next year.
Vanderhoef/
Norton/I guess what I am looking for... hard to track water projects... I keep looking for
a code where you can say whether this is a time slippage, estimate issue...
unexpected problem... four or five key codes that would tell you why ....
Champion/When you do a budget like we do?... all of it is an estimate... bound to have
a lot of changes.
Norton/I get antsy if they are consistently bad ....
Atkins/Our estimates have been consistently good ....
Norton/Okay ....
3. (Agenda #16). Karr/I would just like to note the addition of28E agreement ....
Kubby/We have the agreement but it really doesn't say very much .... It basically says
we are doing training. Are there specific goals? ....
Vanderhoef/We are amending the agreement and the reason it is being amended is that
Henry Herwig and I were sitting at the meeting a week ago and there are some
expenses coming up for the city and the way the 28E agreement had been written
prior to this was that Johnson County had three votes and years ago .... Johnson
County designated that Coralville would have one vote and Iowa City would have
one vote and the county would have one vote. Well, it just seemed to Henry and I
that if we are expending money of the city, we would like the option of voting and
having our mayor sign for it specifically rather than having Johnson County
signing for us and sending us a bill. So we talked it over... now Iowa City will
have their own vote. It is clean up ....
4. (Agenda J~l 1-Changes to gection 8 Public Housing). Thornberry/Is everybody
comfortable with the Housing Authority flowchart?
Lehman/That is on the agenda for tonight.
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5. (Agenda # ) Thomberry/I guess I should bring this up now... I have a little
bit of a problem-
Kubby/That is on our agenda, too, the changes to-
Thomberry/The definition of family.
Lehman/It is on the agenda tonight .... It will be on- Start that at 8:45, Dean.
6. (Agenda #9-City Steps Annual Action Plan). Vanderhoef/I don't think this one is on
the agenda, Item #9... City Steps... There are some changes that we had sort of talked
about .... I thought this one was not.
Lehman/(points to CDBG/Home Allocation on word session agenda)
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Landfill Paper Ban 98-67 $1
Brad Neumann/Last time... fiber ban... There is three recommendations you should
have in your packet. The first one deals with banning corrugated cardboard from
the landfill .... Good place to start is corrugated .... Linn County is already
planning theirs for about a year earlier than we are... We can learn a lot from
them... Banning more than corrugated becomes an enforcement nightmare ....
People start throwing everything in... Corrugated is on of those things you can
recognize and deal with. We are still shooting for the year 2000 ....Curbside
service...
Norton/Don't we put cardboard underneath our recycling bin now?
Neumann/We do accept it now, yes. It will increase what we are taking in. We are not
getting it all. We will see more of it. We really have to educate.
Thornberry/...pizza left in a pizza box. Is that contaminated?
Neumann/Grease spot is fine but cheese hanging off of it is not .... Technical definition
from City Carton .... Storage reasons... food waste and have the rats get to it ....
O'Donnell/I have a problem with only one place to recycle cardboard down on Benton
Street .... We need to set up another major recycling spot .... Maybe out at the
landfill... Civic Center ....
Kubby/Important idea... easy convenience ....
O'Donnell/This place down there on Benton Street is very congested ....
Vanderhoef/
Lehman/We are talking about here primarily the commercial and multi-family.
Neumann/In the second recommendation we talk about multi-family and require them to
do the corrugated ....They do use the drop sites... reconmaending... mandatory in
multi-family ....
Lehman/When it comes to multi-family and commercial, a lot of them use the drop
site .... Once it becomes mandatory for commercial and multi-family... haulers...
will pick it up.
Champion/ ....There is a lot of places downtown you can put cardboard... Problem I
have ....I don't know how you are going to enforce this... difficult to do a
mandatory ban of corrugated cardboard in a multi-family dwelling ....
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Lehman/Person who owns the apartment is going to be ultimately responsible for it ....
Champion/Creating a terrible problem ....
Kubby/Des Moines .... They have all of these different bins next to the dumpster ....
Learn what to do ....
Champion/
O'Donnell/Difficult enforcement.
Champion/
Neumann/The enforcement in this proposal would be at the landfill... When the load
comes in and dumps on the ground... fined... double the tip fee .... 50% is what
we are proposing.
Champion/
Neumann/Hauler will go back and make sure his customers are not doing that ....
Kubby/...yardwaste and tires... multi-family ....
Neumann/The landfill is still about 2½% yardwaste even with the ban ....
Kubby/Are you having problems with tires and yardwaste in your dumpster?
Lehman/When the haulers loads the garbage... he can see when he is putting cardboard
on...
(All talking).
Thornberry/..they open it up and see...
Champion/What if it is in the bottom or middle... I see it as a real problem ....
Kubby/We want a grace period ....
Neumann/There will be a grace period, January '99 ....
O'Donnell/Does everybody agree we need more than one spot to take it though?
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Kubby/Yes.
Norton/Depends on how much is done by private haulers .... Commercial haulers... They
are going to have to have special trucks...
Neumann/They can take a mix of paper .... The only other option as far as enforcement is
to make it illegal to mix it in your regular trash .... You need some sort of
inspection... So your enforcement is at the landfill... Linn County... they are
going to hire a fulltime person to help implement that ban throughout Linn
County .... And that is all they will do. They are going to go a step further but they
have 28E agreements with all of the communities .... They are going to try ... all
communities pass an ordinance that requires it separate from the regular
garbage... They set up a fine structure within the community.
Lehman/Benefit of their experiences... have to start somewhere.
Kubby/
Neumann/We will start handing out the citations...
Kubby/
Norton/
Neumann/The haulers, as long as they are getting paid to pick it up, they really don't
have a problem with it. They just need time to make that investment for labor and
dumpsters ....
Thornberry/50% of my trash is cardboard ....
Champion/90% of my trash would be corrugated ....
(All talking).
Lehman/But that is all the sort of thing that has got to be worked out ....
Neumann/...multi-family .... They would rather just keep it co-mingled.
Thornberry/
Champion/
Thornberry/
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Neumann/Mainly the multi-family, it is the people that are managing the student
apartments .... They are having enough time keeping the exit sign up after a
weekend let along trying to teach them how to recycle.
Norton/Sent people around to the schools ....
Neumann/Any other question on the ban? We will start working on that then.
Lehman/I think so.
Neumann/The second recommendation deals with multi-family... requiring a mandatory
collection for corrugated, cardboard, newsprint, magazines, junk mail and office
paper. Now that mix is considered kind of low for city carton... They would
require .... We could throw in chipboard, the cereal box. It would cost $35 per ton
to dump it at City Carton ....
Kubby/Glass and metal... Would it be smarter for us in the long run to say we are not
going to do metals and glass anymore and separate out a few of these kinds of
papers?
Neumann/Curbside we will talk... next one .... Multi-family... paper and cardboard
makes up a vast majority of what they are throwing away. This option gives the
manager and the owner and the hauler a little bit of edge ....This will go into one
dumpster... can pick that up with the same type of truck .... It doesn't require a
curbside truck ....
Kubby/
Neumann/And you are going to pay them $35 per ton regardless .... That can be changed
a little bit... curbside changes... Drop site in multi-family, it is best just to make it
as easy as possible .... Cut their garbage in half.... And save space... We still have
to abide by all of the Fire Codes for inside collection...
Lehman/
Neumann/
Norton/If you put #1 & 2 together...going to have to go to this other dumpster ....
Neumann/Corrugated has to be included because it is banned ..... Because you are
throwing in the corrugated, that brings it down a grade .... $35 a ton.
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Vanderhoef/
Neumann/This is a base line mandatory requirement .... As long as they are doing this as
kind of a base .... We just need to establish a baseline... We have to make sure we
are all on the same playing field. Okay.
The third recommendation is for curbside program here in Iowa City. We sent out
a survey to 1,000 customers... We got over 400 back... The biggest thing they
wanted to see.,. 92% wanted magazines as an additional item to the program.
56% said a mix paper like junk mail, office paper type mix .... Looking at...
recommend to change the newspaper end of it... mix junk mail, magazines,
catalogues-
Lehman/
Neumann/Cardboard and chipboard will remain separate. We will mix these other items
with the newsprint ....Takes that newsprint category down a few notches .... What
we are looking at .....adding these other items, we can expect about 1,250 tons...
Problem is we will have to change our contract a little bit with City Carton ....
Now we guarantee City Carton $20 a ton for the newsprint .... This is a special
category... We would have to guarantee them $35 a ton rather than $20 .... Right
now the market for special news is about $20 a ton ....could cost us upwards to
$18,000 a year to do that.
Norton/What is the problem with keeping the newsprint separate?
Neumann/We don't have enough room on the trucks .... You have two different
options .... We could eliminate glass.. Otherwise we could keep the glass and go
with the lower grade of newsprint...
Kubby/
Vanderhoef/Have to take your colored glass down there anyway ....
Thornberry/
Kubby/The paper mix for multi-family is a couple of notches down and they want $35 a
ton for that... Why wouldn't we negotiate something like that?
Neumann/The multi-family includes corrugated .... Throws it all off.... The multi-family
we will have to pay $35 and not based on the market because of the low grade.
Norton/
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Vanderhoef/Do you have an idea of the percent of the waste stream that is glass?
Neumann/! had it... glass is about 3% of residential waste stream... glass at the curb is
28,000 pounds ..... 14 tons a year for glass... not very much ....
Thomberry/
Neumann/Metal-3.2% is still being landfilled. And tin at the curb, we are picking up
11,000 pounds a year .... Magazines is 58% of the residential waste stream ....
That carries a lot of weight ....
Kubby/When you look at the numbers... makes sense to discontinue the metal and the
glass... public education... encourage you to recycle on your own...
(All talking).
Kubby/Tradeoff for that decision ....
Norton/
Lehman/We would be doing a much greater service to the citizen by picking up their
magazine and office papers and they can accumulated tin cans...
Vanderhoef/The amount that goes into the landfill will be less if we drop the glass and
the tin and pick up the paper ....
(All talking).
Lehman/Mix all paper and kept glass and metal ....
Kubby/It would be interesting to do a pie chart of the percentages and do kind of an
economic thing for a comparison.
Neumann/Do you want to see us separating out more types of paper?
Kubby/Do newsprint separate, magazines separate and mix everything else ....
CHANGE TAPE TO REEL 98-67 SIDE 2
Lehman/Magazines are strictly a category of their own.
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Neumann/You can mix anything you want... market is better... possibility in future that
we could mix magazine with newsprint along .... Different grade coming out...
Thomberry/City Carton separates out cardboard, slick newsprint, slick... paper, office
paper, newsprint.
Neumann/You are going to pay to have that separated .... Cedar Rapids and Marion...
they are going to co-mingle everything except glass .... Metals, plastic, paper,
cardboard... all co-mingled... Then they have to pay somebody... to separate
it .... They also run one route... saving money in a different area .... City Carton...
building new plant in Cedar Rapids... could do that in the future... at a certain
cost per ton.
Kubby/The more we can have people separate at the curb the better off.
Vanderhoef/My goal is to decrease what is going into the landfill and keep out curbside
recycling at the same price that we are doing for our customers right now... Not
increasing the cost to the customer ....
Neumann/High numbered plastics, #3-7, that would cost us about the same ....
Lehman/If you were to look at the possibility of mixing all of the paper .... Then
separating paper and perhaps removing glass or metal... seeing where the
economies are... volume into the landfill and then come back and give us a
recommendation as to how we should go ....
Norton/I would like to separate the three: newsprint, office paper and the magazine. Do
those curbside...
Champion/
Vanderhoef/
Neumann/
Thornberry/...fluorescent lights.
Neumann/In your house, you can throw them away. They are exempt. But in your
business you can't .... University has a program ....
O'Donnell/
Neumann/University... has a contractor that picks up their lights .... 35,000 a year ....
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O'Donnell/There is only one spot in the state...Dubuque ....
Neumann/There is quite a number in Wisconsin and Minnesota ....
Lehman/All right proceed ....
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Downtown Angle Parking 98-67 $2
Lehman/Downtown angle parking.
Davidson/Just so I am clear on the last one. We will get back to you with some
additional information on the last thing but the first two we are suppose to go a
ahead with start implementing according to that schedule.
Lehman/Yes.
Davidson/Last fall we implemented some new angle parking in the three blocks in
downtown Iowa City and we indicated... we would come back .... interested in
making it permanent .... City crews did a nice job in getting them in. We found
out that our downtown streetscape consultant will be designing the whole three
phase project this summer. Even though this particular issue is not until Phase
2 .... That is why we are back before you tonight so that we have plenty of time to
instruct the consultant one way or another .... If you want to keep them, we can
probably refine them a little bit... size of end islands... We have actually have
had a lot of positive comments from pedestrians... happy medium... making them
smaller for vehicles and still have a little bit narrower crosswalks. Also the
possibility that... may be able to squeeze a couple of more spaces out... one or
two more spaces .... We have provided you .... Put all the comments that we have
received .... We have summarized those for you .... What we are asking you for
tonight is just to indicate to us if you think it is a good idea? ....
Lehman/The one thing I have yet to understand, when you walk across the street, the
island between the walkway and the traveled portion of the street opposite the
parking, why is there an island there? ....What does it do? ....Here is this huge
island ....
Davidson/The one at the comer of Washington and Linn is larger than the other ones
because if you look north down Linn Street towards the University, the area in
front of the Senior Center is in farther. So the spaces are very long ....Constant
line...
Lehman/The one between the sidewalk and the street.
Davidson/That is part of the one that I am talking about ....
Lehman/...You got these two things sticking out.
Thomberry/I can't quite visualize that.
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Norton/He is talking about the aspect of the whole street ....He wants the traffic to be
lined up.
Lehman/
Davidson/(Refers to map).
Lehman/It serves no purpose at all.
Davidson/(Refers to map). These appear real long, this is cut in farther .... Brought these
out further. That can all be remedied ....Just there to define the cross walk, define
the comer radius.
Lehman/Every other street... they paint lines.
Davidson/This will be consistent with every other comer in downtown Iowa City ....
Lehman/
Davidson/That comer will be reconstructed with all the other comers that we are doing
as part of the downtown...
Lehman/But why do we have it? ....
Fowler/We really wanted to define the new traffic lanes when we installed the
parking .... By putting the curb out there and getting the curbs painted yellow, it
was a very visual change you needed to change your driving pattern.
Lehman/...what do we need the other one for?
Norton/It does make a very difficult turn there.
Lehman/
Kubby/If it is not there... cut the comer too sharply ....
Lehman/That is like every other street in town .... One is very sufficient ....
Davidson/Let us report that to our consultant .... See if we can eliminate it.
Kubby/That is part of what the pedestrians really like. They feel really protected at those
comers ....
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Davidson/I do think... improved pedestrian safety .... We can hit a happy medium.
Champion/The one by the library is awful.
Lehman/
Davidson/We were amazed that those things weren't more torn up ....
(All talking).
Kubby/I continue to hear comments from bicyclists .... Have to be even more
defensive... There aren't that many safe ways to travel downtown on a bike .... It
is just really hard to ride downtown. This does not help the bicycle friendliness
downtown...
Lehman/You are asking us do we want to keep angle parking on a permanent fashion? I
guess the comments I have heard are positive because we do want to keep the
parking.
Davidson/There are four for keeping the angle .... Anything else specifically you want us
to give our designer?
Thornberry/Soften the asphalt there.
Champion/...something more attractive... It does keep the traffic slow...
Vanderhoef/Bicyclists... when it gets narrowed down too far, then they are competing.
Kubby/I thought we all agreed that they are too big.
(All talking).
Lehman/Shrink them down a little ....
Vanderhoef/In the Consent Calendar is the traffic-parking down in front of the Union to
metered. Do we have any other meters down there that we are enforcing?
Fowler/No.
Vanderhoef/And have we done anything further on looking at metering further north on
Clinton and up on Church and those things on the west of Dubuque Street?
Fowler/No, we haven't.
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Vanderhoeff I thought maybe that was coming back to us.
Atkins/Dee had asked ....
Davidson/We did a proposal for a residential parking system in that area.
Vanderhoef/You brought back for east of Dubuque Street but you didn't bring back
anything for-
Davidson/It was basically, Dee, area between Church, Bloomington, Clinton...
residential permit system in that area.
Atkins/ ....simply got out signals crossed ....
Kubby/University may want it. We are the ones enforcing it ....
Fowler/Right now we have to go down twice to enforce it because it is a loading zone ....
It would be more efficient for us to enforce it with meters.
Norton/There will be a lot of out oftowners grieving about that.
Vanderhoeff That is a 30 minute meter that you are putting in.
Lehman/
Atkins/(Can't hear).
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CDBG/HOME 98-67 S2
Lehman/CDBG/HOME allocation. We received the recommendation from the
committee ....
Head/The commission has confirmed the recommendation they made to you. Just to
refresh your memory .... Review those recommendations that were made .... As
you can see, the recommendations... Greater Iowa City is the #1 ranked project,
followed by Successful Living, DVIP .... The 60 points was the cut off limit. If a
project did not receive 60 points, it would not be considered for funding. There
was several of the projects that did not receive the required amount of... Small
Business Development Center and Mayors Youth Program and Institute for
Social... That was what the Commission recommended to you. As you know,
there is only so much money and they, of course, spent a great deal of time in
trying to rank a project .... Come up with these recommendations for you. That is
a review for you so you know exactly what they recommended.
Lehman/Maurice, there were a couple of items that were brought to our attention... Your
note to council indicates you folks are reaffirming your original recommendation.
I guess my question to council is are we accepting that recommendation or do we
care to discuss some variation in what has been recommended.
Thornberry/I can live with their recommendations.
Norton/ .... I think you allocated $100,000 for local rental assistance... I am concerned
about this. Suppose you did that for two years, is this the start of a larger
program? ...Where does it go? It looks to me that it could only get bigger ....
Won't there be a constant pressure, having started this, to expand that locally ....
Head/Well, I mean, that is a possibility that that could happen ....
Norton/...hard to cut that?
Head/There are different priorities that we have in the community ....
Thornberry/Just because you get subsidized for one or two years, you shouldn't think
you should get it for the next 15.
Norton/Under the federal program that seems to be more or less the case... I want to take
a real hard look at this next year ....
Thornberry/
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Norton/That is why I am concerned .... The committee has worded about it longer than
we have.
Kubby/...obligated... ISED... they had some real specific reasons why they didn't fund
it... One of the things... they have been getting block grant money for five
years... They have gotten a lot of private funds, it just goes to rural programs... I
do feel in that respect they have made an attempt .... I would be interested in
talking about an amount but much less than they originally requested ....
Thomberry/I was really anxious to fund them also... have gotten funding from one
bank...
Kubby/They are in discussions .... No money has exchanged hands ....
Thornberry/...if one starts ....I like people to go out and get private funding.
Lehman/Maurice, if council were to accept the recommendation .... Appear that we
will... And indicate a strong interest in your considering ISED ....
Kubby/The committee has said don't fund ISED this year. If we want to fund ISED, we
should just fund ISED ....
O'Donnell/I think we follow the committee's recommendation.
Lehman/A year ago we changed a recommendation. This year we met with the
committee .... We agreed to the rules. We got a decision from that committee
according to the rules that we agreed to. I personally feel that we are obligated to
follow the recommendation of the committee because they did exactly what we
ask them to do .... I think if we have some discussion or felling about other things
that we might wish to be considered in future years, that we meet again prior to
next year's recommendations so that we are all on the same sheet of music again.
Kubby/But it is up to individual applicants to put in a proposal ....
Lehman/The weighting, the number system .... Did not include property taxes .... There
may be some changes that we want to make for next year ....
Norton/
Vanderhoef/How about we list those right now .... I have got three things... that I would
like to at least have a discussion about and it works with the ranking criteria...
One of them is the points for getting-keeping property on the tax rolls. I would
like to take another look at perhaps subtracting points for funds that are not being
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recycled into the community .... Third one is I would like to talk about a percent
of the total funds perhaps going into the economic development category. I think
that category for me was sort of slighted this time ....
Kubby/
Vanderhoef/If we have a percentage... I would go ahead to move towards that
percentage.
Kubby/...Do you mean a loan versus a grant? Isn't that part of the criteria point-wise
already? So you are talking about additional-
Vanderhoef/But I think points should be subtracted for projects that do not have that
happen .... It has to do with the money that goes out in a rent program does not
benefit the community on an on-going basis like some of the other projects...
Lehman/These are things that we will want to discuss next year prior...
Head/! have the list now ....
Thornberry/I think the committee looked at all of these things in depth ....
Lehman/Thanks.
Kubby/I think on the criteria, if we are going to give money for taxes coming back, we
should give partial points for fees in lieu of....
Vanderhoef/
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Neighborhood Services 98-67 S2
Lehman/Neighborhood Services, Karin.
Franklin/About a month ago I came to you and we talked about a proposal to look at the
organization of Neighborhood Services Office and I started out saying it was not
about cost... and it was also not about abolishing neighborhood associations and
this message has gotten lost... resulted in a lot of consternation .... What I would
like to suggest tonight .... There were kind of three parts to it. 1-We would
approach our communications on a district level... 2-That we would institute a
service delivery system at a district level... Suggest that we continue to approach
the planning process through the district approach .... Includes neighborhood
associations .... I also like to suggest that we go forward with designing internally
a service delivery system by district .... Coordinating more as an organizational
tool within city government. As far as the communication, that we continue with
the neighborhood association newsletters as they have been because our goal was
not to undermine the existing associations at all .... Do you wish us to continue to
pursue ways to communicate with the citizenry more comprehensively than we
are? With the associations in the last nine months, with their newsletters ....
Contacted 4,561 households .... We figure that there is probably about .... 20,000
households in the community. So there are a lot of people that we are missing. If
you are interested in our expanding these efforts to get the word out, I think what
we need to do is do some kind of analysis of different methods and different
options, what the cost would be and estimate who we would reach and
effectiveness ....Depending on what tool we use... weighing out some of those
things.
Thornberry/People don't read their water bills?
Franklin/Some do, that is a direct mail. It isn't district by district... It goes out every
other month. It only goes to water bill customer... newsletter is every other
month... When you mail out the water bills... to the water customer which is not
necessarily a resident of Iowa City ....We don't know the magnitude of that... out
to owners, not necessarily renters...
Norton/Your district newsletters were going to be expensive...
Franklin/Yes, that is expensive... putting together the mailing list... address...as
opposed to a name .... That is what we need to look at this point... We need to use
a number of different ways to communicate as opposed to thinking we can rely on
just one. Any newsletter is not going to meet the timeliness... development
issues... continue those notification processes ....Some people respond better to
things on computers... television...
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My suggestion is that we do the neighborhood planning by district, the service
delivery by district and then look at more ways to do communication, different
ways. Get you cost and evaluation of effectiveness and come back to you.
Thornberry/Could you have the post office separate that group?...
Franklin/It is the company .... That does the distinction for you .... We... would need to
make those distinction...
Thornberry/Just put the insert in those water bills.
Franklin/We could, that is just one method.
Norton/...If we could find some way to combine the notice in the water bill ....
Kubby/You miss a lot of people ....
Thornberry/...expense item .... Where you print notices ....
Franklin/Legal notices are one aspect of it.
Champion/Less people get newspapers than water bills ....
Franklin/There is one paper that is delivered to every single household and that is the
Advertiser ....
(All talking).
Franklin/...whatever you use for an avenue of communication .... You need to educate
the public about where they are going to find this information and get them use to
it ....
Kubby/ ....make it fun... a little freebie.
Champion/I don't have any problem spending money on communication. I like the idea
of using the water bill ....
O'Donnell/
Kubby/Boring governmental bureaucratic forms of how we could present information ....
Norton/
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Franklin/What I am suggesting to you is that we amend our proposal to you. That we
continue with the neighborhood newsletters.
Norton/And the neighborhood council?
Franklin/Yes. And then we will look at ways to communicate with more people.
Norton/Can you tell me once more what you mean by service delivery? I just have a
negative reaction to that word. What does it exactly mean?
Atkins/We have intended to divide the city into ten districts .... Collect data .... We
would also begin to provide our public services in a fashion that is easily
identifiable by district ....We will change ....ten police beats... for planning
purposes...
Norton/Part of this is further aspects of planning ....Communication is going to be by
district ....
Atkins/...our planning districts are not designed ....
Kubby/Are there any current neighborhood associations that are within two of the ten
planning districts? ....
Atkins/Split?
Franklin/We have a map put together that shows the districts and the associations .....
Kubby/Makes sense... Do you know if that same thing is true for schools?... the more
commonality we can have with what is currently out there .... Have our district
lines flow from that.
Atkins/There is a desire to have that... I don't think we can guarantee it ....
Franklin/It is hard ....
Kubby/When you look at options .... May be some cases where we do things on a case
by case basis because there is a special issue coming up ....
Franklin/That goes to the issue of having a number of different ways that we
communicate .... Some things that are so timely that we have to do something
special.
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Lehman/What is the procedure now that the city goes through in contacting
neighborhood associations? How successful are we? ....
CHANGE TAPE TO REEL 98-68 SIDE 1
Lehman/It is really important for neighborhoods to know what is happening ....
Franklin/The ones that you have heard from are the active ones ....
Norton/You will continue to try and generate those? .... But I think you continue to try
and encourage neighborhood associations.
Franklin/We now have a situation in which any of the neighborhood contact people ....
Are free to call Marcia with an issue .... We try to stay out of the singular
disputes that might be going on between two people and focus on the
neighborhood issues. Also there is a regular system of sending out information,
council agendas .... Information to the neighborhood contact people .... To all of
the associations whether they are active or not .... One of the ways that you get
people involved is by providing them with information that they can respond
to .... Those folks that are in the active neighborhood associations .... They will
include those in their newsletters and send them out ....Periodically Marcia will
try to contact somebody in the inactive associations ....There may or may not be a
positive response. She is not going out and trying to drum up business. There isn't
time for it... There is a responsibility on both sides of this thing.
Kubby/We get a pending list... Is that part of what you send out?
Klingaman/They get the agenda .... map ....
Kubby/Yes, they get the pending list ....
Klingaman/Often I will give people a call ifI know something is coming up ....
Norton/If you manage a way to send out a district newsletter... that will contain
information that will alert neighborhoods .... Might be time to get organized... I
think that neighborhood associations that have been active... extremely
thoughtful...
Franklin/They do very positive things... sense of community.
Kubby/I think your plan is a good one to kind of step back a little.
Lehman/Yes, go for it.
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PIN Grant Video 98-68 S1
Klingaman/At your new formal meeting on May 26, you are going to be reviewing a
recommendation by the Neighborhood Council for the FY99 PIN Grants
program... updated as to what has been happening... video .... Six minutes
long .... (Presents video)
[Council Break 8:50 - 9:05 PM]
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HousinE Authority Reorganization 98-68 S1
Lehman/Reorganization of the Iowa City Housing Authority.
Boothroy/Maggie and I are here to talk a little bit about the proposal that we have in your
packet, the reorganizational plan for the Iowa City Housing Authority .... We
spent some time talking and planning this... discussed the plan with HUD...
Maggie .... Staff meetings... feedback or comments... Last Tuesday we did
finally have a plan in a presentable fashion and presented it to the staff... Also
met with the Union after that... met last Tuesday with the staff to get further
feedback...
This... is proposed because we want to improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of the Iowa City Housing Authority. We want to improve customer service...
productivity... maintain our budget... improve decision making. We believe ....
This is the best plan...
Simply.. three points... 1- Talks about reducing the organizational hierarchy,
eliminating six levels and reducing it down to two .... 2-...Going to establish five
housing program assistant positions .... Cross trained in all program
requirements... improves customer service .... Client gets the service they are
needing... 3-Changing processes and looking at use of improved technology...
determined that we don't need as many staff positions as we have...
reconmaending the reduction of one .... There is some stress among some staff.. is
a staff reduction involved... new positions... everybody will need to qualify ....
The way we are going to handle this... certainly give everybody on staff the first
opportunity to qualify for these positions ....
Kubby/Will you explain what that means?
Boothroy/They will all get a chance to interview for the positions.
Kubby/We are laying people off and people can apply for these positions.
Boothroy/Exactly.
Norton/
Boothroy/I didn't say they would be equally qualified .... What I said is the existing staff
would have to qualify... interview for these positions... There is going to be one
staff person that will not get a job out of this.
Champion/Will training be provided?
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Boothroy/Yes.
Lehman/Interviewing the folks for these positions ....
Kubby/They will be on probation again ....
Boothroy/ .... new job, new responsibility .... 40 day to six month probationary period is
not unusual.
Kubby/
Boothroy/...memo is pretty self-explanatory .... Like to move forward with this .... I will
end with that .... We can answer questions about what we are proposing to do.
Norton/... somebody who is currently a housing specialist... new position would be
doing some clerk typist work?
Boothroy/Yes... those types of duties...
Norton/
Boothroy/Everyone of these housing program assistants will have responsibility for
receptionist duties .... We have made some changes in terms of technology ....
Example... forms... documents .... Don't need clerical help to actually type these
documents and create them... The need for clerical support is not as great as it use
to be.
Norton/This leaves very little room for progression within the business?
Boothroy/They could go up to a coordinator position or housing administrator .... Less
progression... We find the tiers are extremely unproductive... duplication...
confusion .... 1 think this change is absolutely necessary if the Housing Authority
is going to be effective and have good service ....
Thornberry/What is the low and high level in grades, steps or money of a housing
progran~ assistant?
Boothroy/Salary range? I don't know.
Thornberry/Would a receptionist?...
Boothroy/Would be a pay increase .... All, except for the housing specialist positions...
would be considered promotional ....
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Thornberry/.. all of these other ones would be a step up ....
Boothroy/Office coordinator... same.
Kubby/We are going to do interviews and select the best person for this job ....
Boothroy/Pay range... $24,585 to $31,699. That will change as of July 1 ....
Thornberry/What does a clerk typist make?
Boothroy/Two ... $20,779 to $26,600 and other $21,465 to $27,539. Okay.
Champion/Do you find the new flow chart much more user friendly for people ....
Thomberry/...they will be able to answer the questions.
Boothroy/...they will be able to handle somebody else's client...
Vanderhoef/...very user friendly ....
Kubby/I looked at some of the current job descriptions .... New proposed job
description .... The old ones have a lot of language in them .... New.job
description doesn't talk about those issues... The language in the new ones...
really basically you do the paperwork and I am really concerned about that .... I
want all of the housing specialists to know and do education about fair housing ....
Other human service agencies... Now that it is going to be out, I am really
concerned about that .... One of the core values ....
Grosvenor/As I stated to you, Karen, it is still addressed. It is stated differently .... It is
much more general... I am out there providing some of that information... tenant
newsletters, landlord newsletters. We are doing that. Each individual housing
specialist doesn't need to do it.
Kubby/I want them to know that stuff....
Grosvenor/What they need to do is provide information, assistance to the public and
other departments when it is called for. They need to assist in public inquiries,
including tenant owner concern.
Kubby/ .... I am saying I am still uncomfortable with the general-ness of it .... That
doesn't really say what the job is about... not going to be very thorough...
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Grosvenor/It is the thought process. We are going from a specialist to a generalist ....
Thornberry/To go on with Karen's question, if someone comes in .... they are
knowledgeable enough... they do know enough to refer them to other agencies ....
Grosvenor/You will have staffing with your coordinators .... And you are say are there
any concerns .... Routine basis .... Coordinator positions... handle some of those
out of the routine type of issues.
Thomberry/Writing the job description, it is very difficult to include every single thing
that you do .... And all other duties ....
Kubby/My concern is that those special needs are bumped up... I want these housing
program assistants to be able to deal with those things.
Grosvenor/They will be...
Kubby/
Thornberry/
Grosvenor/They will have more individual attention .... Ratio... 1:150. So the individual
person is going to have more interaction ....
Lehman/
Grosvenor/
Lehman/I will be able to talk to one person and have all that done.. instead of five
persons..
Grosvenor/You will be assigned to one person ....
Norton/Why can't the job description of the program assistant be modified to cover some
of the points Karen is talking about?
Kubby/Just to be more explicit.
Thornberry/...more general way...
Kubby/
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O'Donnell/I really don't think it is our job to critique every job description in this
department. These are the experts.
Kubby/We are the Public Housing Authority... approving the reorganization...
O'Donnell/...They are telling us this is more efficient and they are the experts ....
Kubby/Then there is no use for us to be here.
Thornberry/I can understand the proposed flow chart .... I have talked to Maggie several
times...
} ubby/
Lehman/Bottomline is you are saying this is a more efficient way of running the housing
department... better service .... I guess I am willing to accept that.
Thornberry/Bottomline on dollars... starting pay is going to be considerably higher ....
What is the bottomline on money?
Grosvenor/You can only guess at this point... about $30,000 saved.
Norton/Might be easier if number of Section 8 vouchers go down... might be some
virtues there ....
Boothroy/
Thornberry/Easier to eliminate one of these ....
Vanderhoef/
Boothroy/Any additional staffing cuts... very speculative.
Norton/
Boothroy/I think their reaction of it is that they are not very supportive of it... concerns
about some of the contract language...
Helling/...shared with them how we interpreted the contract... We haven't really gotten
a response at this point ....
Kubby/What is the time frame if we should approve this tomorrow night?
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Boothroy/We would like to proceed with advertising in-house as soon as possible...
closure on it... So they know whether they qualify or not .... Wednesday or
Thursday...advertised... advertise for five days in-house... Interviews next week
sometime.
Champion/
Grosvenor/Structure the interview questions... This is first .... Then the job
descriptions... then all who want to can apply... Determine who is best qualified,
then we will train.
Kubby/...concerns... When Doug talked about employees knowing... they didn't really
know that they were going to be let go .... I think there is a lot of fear... Need to
be sensitive to people... Offer... for people who don't make the qualifications ....
How we can offer opportunities within our organization for those loyal
employees... I want to know what our plan is for counseling and support for these
people .... Those employees are there are good for the tenant .... History,
situations, trends and resources in the community. I want to know what our plan is
internally...
Thornberry/As far as long term tenants, I would just assume not need this.
Kubby/
Thornberry/I would like to see this flowchart get smaller and smaller as time goes on. I
would like to see more people self-sufficient.
Kubby/...talk to how we deal with emotions... as we transfer people.
Helling/In a case... layoff status or major change... try to work with them individually...
Employee Assistance Program... Contract also covers how we fill all positions...
The moment that you approved this, these positions are eliminated for the
future... when this transition takes place... Treat each one of those individuals as
if they are in a lay-off status .... They get those benefits... plus if they choose to
apply for any of these jobs... They have those rights for a period of time... We
can't take those folks... put them in another job... other employees.. balance it..
Work with the Union as much as possible.
Kubby/
Helling/If they are in a lay-off status and competing against other internal employees ....
They don't have any special considerations. It is only when they are competing
against employees from the outside.
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Vanderhoef/They get the notice and are able to apply...
Helling/Under the contract we post city wide the position for 5 days.
Vanderhoef/Lay-off status people are eligible...
Kubby/Is there a way we can contact the Union to say we want to hear what you are
thinking about and maybe have a response tomorrow?
Helling/That was basically the door we left open when we-
Kubby/...maybe we open it a little wider ....
Thornberry/I don't think it is up to the Union ....
Kubby/I just want to hear what their reaction is... How they might want to participate in
the transition.
Champion/
Helling/
Kubby/I am not asking for some big summit.
Thornberry/The Union doesn't need to make this decision for me.
Kubby/I am not suggesting they do. I would like to hear their input.
Thomberry/Get your input, I don't need it.
Lehman/All right, move on.
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Elimination of Federal Low Income Housing Preference 98-68 1
Lehman/
Boothroy/There are four things that we are asking for you to consider: elimination of
federal preferences; establish a local preference for the homeless; increase
minimum rents from $25 to $50 per month and change the definition of family. If
you have some questions... On for consideration tomorrow night... combined in
one resolution at this point in time.
Kubby/When you are talking about having deferral preferences... ineffective... Is that
because of the kind of preference it was or just the fact that there was a
preference?
Grosvenor/Federal preferences are defined. The federal government set the definition.
How we implement them is up to each individual housing authority .... The reason
suspended them is they aren't working.
Kubby/Will the homeless preference... will that just substitute another slowing down of
the process?...
Grosvenor/A lot shorter... targeted four different organizations which are specifically
knowledgeable of homeless .... Going to certify... eligible...
Kubby/Minimum rent.. two years ago... I agree with having people pay for something...
two years... rapid escalation... prefer to go to $35 .... Smaller than $50 ....
Grosvenor/HUD came out first and said you must charge $25... then they came in and
set it $0 to $50... suggesting... tenant accountability... encouraging people to get
jobs and go to work .... Simply not to penalize people who are difficult
situations .... Put clause in there that you can exempt certain people ....
Kubby/What would the criteria be?
Grosvenor/...Homeless... looking for work... You could exempt them for a six month
period until they are able to pay... mandatory reporting that they are looking for
employment...
Kubby/Will there be some written criteria?... apply them fairly and consistently over
time ....
Grosvenor/...I don't believe you can list them too specifically.
Kubby/
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CHANGE TAPE TO REEL 98-68 SIDE 2
Kubby/
Grosvenor/It will be an administrative decision ....
Kubby/Does anyone else have a problem with going up to $50 so soon? ....
Norton/...I didn't know what to think ....
Grosvenor/In '96 you adopted the $25.
Norton/I do think ...encouragement this may create.
Vanderhoef/ .... ask what do you anticipate HUD doing in the near future of raising that
even again?
Grosvenor/I haven't heard anything.
Kubby/
Grosvenor/Notice that it only impacts 47 families ....
(All talking).
Grosvenor/...I am not going to be that narrow.
Kubby/So I guess people don't have a problem with the $50 is what I am hearing ....
Thomberry/On the change on the definition of family. A family may be a single person.
As a single person, as a family single person, I don't think that we need to include
persons who are registered as domestic partners as additional family. I think they
could register as individuals if they so desire .... Everyone needs and deserves
human rights .... So I don't think it is needed to register individuals as a family
unit because it is already taken care of as individuals.
Norton/... a family single person is elderly or disabled, otherwise single people don't
qualify.
Thomberry/A single mother with three children...
Norton/
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Thomberry/...Until the state recognizes gay and lesbian marriages, I would just assume
not.
Kubby/
Norton/Some sets of them are already involved because of family... with a child .... They qualify already. This expands that ....
Thomberry/
Norton/This other adds... relatively small category.
Thornberry/I would just assume not ....
Champion/I don't have any problem with the domestic partner thing... My question..
What benefit is this to domestic partners? ....I don't understand what advantage
this would be to domestic partners.
Kubby/You couldn't have that person living there ....
Grosvenor/You can't just have anybody living there. You have to declare them as part of
your family .... Two individuals that aren't elderly or disabled or married or
having children would be excluded from being eligible to apply.
Norton/This does expand that class.
Champion/Are you telling me that a homosexual couple of a lesbian couple who have a
child could not apply?
Grosvenor/They could. If you they are childless, they cannot apply. They are not eligible
in Iowa City for rental assistance ....They cannot individually, only if they are
elderly or disabled ....
Norton/
Lehman/What this does is that it empowers gay and lesbian couples without children to
qualify .... They would be competing for the same dollars as those folks with
children. Is that correct?
Grosvenor/It isn't the only way. You could expand #5, the Zoning Ordinance .... Most
housing authorities in Iowa expand this #5 .... Sustaining relationship for at least a
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year or two years... provide documentation... It doesn't have to be worded this
way.
Thornberry/
Grosvenor/Two or more persons, whether they are married, not married, if they are a
sustainable relationship .... Document .... Prior to applying for assistance.
Vanderhoef/Common-law ....
(All talking).
Thornberry/Until the state recognizes homosexual marriages... those marriages ....
Norton/We now are going to have three definitions .... Human Rights Ordinance...
Zoning definition and now we have another one which combines both of those ....
Boothroy/The difference between the Zoning definition and this is that they are trying to
accomplish completely different functions .... We don't need all of this additional
verbiage... This is consistent with the Zoning Code, consistent with the Human
Rights Ordinance ....
O'Donnell/Do we need #4?
Vanderhoef/If we put in//5 we can use the sustainable relationship ....
Boothroy/Part of the problem... how do you allow single people to live together and not
serve students... issue that was not addressed ....
Thornberry/
Boothroy/I am not prepared to move forward on that at this time.
Kubby/We have a definition for domestic partnerships .... It is clear ....
Boothroy/It was chosen because there was a process in place and there are standards
identified .... What is nice about it is the City Clerk has got a setup, forms... so we
can plug into an existing process and move with it .... Nice to have this
available... control for concern about serving students.
Kubby/We use the criteria that the University of Iowa does .... Familiar to people ....
Vanderhoef/What criteria are you speaking of real specifically to register?
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Boothroy/They have to have joint checking account... 4-5 different criteria that they
have to verify.
Norton/Serious commitment.
Thornberry/If they are that serious, they can get married.
Norton/That is not possible at the moment.
Thornberry/I understand that .... Done for a reason.
Norton/
Thornberry/I don't think we got a monopoly on the smarts .... ! don't think we are that
much smarter than the rest of the United States.
Kubby/Statistics will prove you wrong. We are the most educated community in the
country.
Norton/Everybody has got to live somewhere...
(All talking).
Thornberry/For housing assistance, I don't think it is necessary to expand the program.
O'Donnell/I am less comfortable with #4 because I just simply do not like domestic
partners competing with young married couples with children out trying to find a
house.
Kubby/They are a young couple trying to find a house.
(All talking).
Lehman/If we have a gay or lesbian couple that have children, they would qualify
without #4 because they have children. #4 only... enables couple who are gay or
lesbian... this enables them to apply for housing when they otherwise would not
be able to .... What Mike brought up.. concerns me... I am far more concerned
with those folks out there who have children .... Far more concerned that they be
serviced and helped than I am a couple with no children.
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Kubby/Does that mean you don't want heterosexual couple without children to be able to
qualify for a program? ....We recognize domestics parmerships in our
community.
O'Donnell/And this is about how far we are going to take it.
Kubby/Why should you say you are a couple for a swim pass and a couple for these
other things in our community but you are not a couple for housing ....
Vanderhoef/ .... We are getting away from prioritizing... on the #1, the federal
preferences. What I am hearing and where I lean somewhat is that if I have a list
of people waiting for housing, my preference is to take care of the children part of
it. Is there anyway we can do this and still meet the guidelines?
Grosvenor/This is definition only. This is not ranking, simply a definition ....
Vanderhoef/...How do we get back... prioritize?
Grosvenor/We are trying to get away from preference.
Vanderhoef/
Grosvenor/...once you are into preference, then you are into documentation ....
Norton/...systematic kind of discrimination...
Kubby/Do we have very many two adult person households without children who seek
assistance?
Grosvenor/...40% are elderly disabled .... 1997 statistics ....
O'Donnell/My problem still remains that domestic partners are going to be in direct
competition with young people with children which is a definition of a family... I
think we need to change #6 and do away with #4. Change #6 to include the single
person ....
Norton/It systematically excludes certain kinds of couples ....
Thornberry/
O'Donnell/Which isn't recognized by the state.
Norton/We ought to recognize that subset ....
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Lehman/I don't think anybody is going to change anybody's mind .... We will discuss it
tomorrow night. I expect we will vote on it.
O'Donnell/I don't think we have talked about it enough.
Champion/I support #4 being in there ....
Norton/I support it.
Vanderhoef/...find out whether we can put some preferences ....
Norton/
Kubby/Big thing .....issue is children, then we need to treat all childless families the
same ....
Lehman/I think there is a philosophic difference between members of council. I think
there is a legal difference between those who are legally married and those who
are living together as domestic partners ....
Kubby/ ....We need to be clear about what it is that our goals are.
Thornberry/Human rights aspect is not a question. It is a question about housing. Who
gets preference on housing. Two able bodied individuals probably are both
working.
Kubby/No matter what their sexual orientation ....
Thornberry/
Lehman/Two able bodied people are probably not going to be in this program anyway ....
We have said... we do not believe there should be any discrimination based on ...
sexual preference .... Question... I think there is a difference between
discrimination against something and providing for something... This is a
different situation...
Norton/Form of discrimination... eliminating a class ....
Thornberry/
Norton/It is eliminating a class. Other people have something available that they do not
because of their particular relationship.
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Thomberry/
Norton/...it is pervasive.
Thomberry/
(All talking).
Kubby/Our human rights ordinance for the private market is already protecting that class
of people. Why shouldn't we do it in our housing program? ....
O'Donnell/Domestic parmers in same sex marriages are not recognized anywhere.
Kubby/We recognize them right here in River City. What do you mean?
O'Donnell/No state in the country.
Norton/
Champion/I want a direct answer. IfI am in a domestic partnership and I have a
dependent child, do I qualify for housing?
Lehman/Under #2, yes.
Kubby/Can I have my domestic partner living with me in Section 8 Program? .... Don't
you take the full household income into consideration? What is the difference in
recognizing it. They should be recognized.
Boothroy/I don't know how this is going to shake out tomorrow night on the definitions.
But it is all included in one resolution .... Other things we feel that are very
important... I think we would prefer the whole thing be dropped out of the
resolution at this time and act on the other items. Or you can delete #4 .... I just
want to make it clear... we would like to elimination of preference and we want
to move forward with that even if you can't come to consensus on this other item.
Thomberry/Take out... definition of family and vote on that as an individual item,
Norton/Do we need 5? ....
Grosvenor/If you don't have 5 in there then you don't recognize-
Norton/HUD didn't have that in there.
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Grosvenor/HUD leaves that to the housing authority... This is right out of the Federal
Register: A family may be a single person or a group of persons... the housing
agency determines if any other groups or persons qualify as a family.
(All talking).
Thomberry/Two able bodied persons shouldn't need this program ....
Kubby/You should take #5 out too so that you are treating all couples the same ....
Thornberry/... I could support it if it were actual marriage without the one year or six
months... If you have a marriage license, they are covered under #5 ....
Lehman/This is going nowhere. Do we have four people who favor keeping #4 in.?
Champion/I support it.
Norton/Yes.
Vanderhoef/I need more time.
Lehman/That is it for this. Obviously with the exception of#4, there seems to be
agreement on the rest of it.
Kubby/You will found out tomorrow about the child preference software.
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Elks Driving Range Request 98-68 S2
Atkins/Eleanor, Chuck and I met with the Elks last week .... Letter came in today...I do
want to point out that we do have to have p.h.s and we told them to get it in...
Kubby/There is a piece of ground by No Name Street. Is that a current driving range?
Lehman/They had a lawsuit over that ....
Kubby/It is not being used as a driving range.
Atkins/That property... They want to develop that property.
Kubby/So they do not currently have a driving range?
Atkins/Not that I know of.
Norton/If it were to go where it is proposed, is that not going to impinge on the river
front?
Atkins/No ....
Norton/So if you wanted to walk along there, you could still do that without getting
beaned?
Atkins/That I am not going to promise you.
Kubby/So what is your timetable?
Atkins/Eleanor... I will get you a memo on it.
Kubby/So we will talk about it at our next informal.
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Local Option Sales Tax 98-68 S2
Lehman/Steve, do you want to walk us through what you have got here for local option
sales tax?
Atkins/I don't think that is possible.
Lehman/I think we are going to do that Thursday.
Norton/
Atkins/It is very complicated and I do want to spend time with you... very deliberate
fashion to answer your questions.
Kubby/...We have been waiting a long time to talk about police issues...
Norton/
Karr/There are some backup dates but they are considerably later...
Champion/Come at... 8:00?
Kubby/I have something scheduled at 11:30 ....
O'Donnell/Let's do it at 9:00 so Dean can be here.
Lehman/Thursday.. start out ... sales tax and then get to police matters.
Champion/We have to do sales tax now.
Atkins/We have to settle... many issues ....
Champion/I will ask all of you to please think about taking away a little bit of the sales
tax for improvement and putting it back down into human services.
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May 26 Meeting Schedule 98-68 S2
Lehman/May 26 meeting schedule.
Karr/Combined work session. I just wanted direction from you .... You are starting at
7:00 formal... work session... how many items? ....
Norton/Start at 4:00, go to 6:00 and then take a break ....
Karr/
Champion/Why don't we just do Zoning items .... ?
Vanderhoef/Concern .... City Hall is closed the day before...
Norton/4:00 to 6:00.
Lehman/Meet from 4:00 to 6:00 and then break until 7:00 .... 26th of May.
Karr/4:00 to 6:00 and not have dinner brought in. You want to go someplace to eat for an
hour?
Lehman/ .... an hour to grab a sandwich.
Karr/So no dinner, 4:00 to 6:00...
Lehman/Bring your own sack lunch...
Champion/
(All talking).
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Council Agenda/Time 98-68 S2
1. (Agenda #15- Civic Center third floor and Police Department second floor expansion
project.) Norton/I want to ask a question about the Carlson thing. Should we-can
we repair the damage or are we in trouble?... I thought we were proceeding
rationally...
Atkins/Damage has come from their end. We have done everything we can to
accommodate these people. Bob and Steve have said this is the way it is going to
have to be. Letters have been-
Norton/Heavy duty.
Atkins/Yeah. Dale has worked with them.
Norton/Should we have just hung up the paperwork all together earlier?
Atkins/No ....
Lehman/Get another bid.
Atkins/We have the design. We are going to ask someone to do the construction
drawings.
Norton/
Champion/I thought it was their choice.
O'Donnell/
Lehman/That was a strange situation.
2. Norton/I want to remind you guys... read your text for the June 13 .... (talent
show) ....
Champion/Maybe we need a five minute rehearsal at our next work session.
Norton/I will bring along a tape recorder...
3. Norton/How come the contract with University raises the transit bill 2% when we are
raising the employees 3%?
Atkins/Pretty close to actual cost. We dropped a route ....
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4. Norton/How do we provide cable service to the county? Do they pay or how does
that work?
Helling/They have their own separate agreement...
Norton/
Helling/Right now... they- we have somebody who assists them. We do that with
Coralville, too... chargeback basis .... I can't tell you right now... If we are
involved for Coralville, the County... we will charge it back.
5. Norton/Is anybody going to CVB thing tomorrow at West High? I am going ....
6. O'Donnell/I am not going to say anything about this right now but ... I am having
trouble with some of the programs that have been shown on ... PATV .... I don't
know how I am going to pursue this ....
Lehman/There have been problems all over the country.
Thornberry/
Lehman/
Thornberry/We have five government access channels ....
Helling/Five local access channels ....
O'Donnell/I don't really care about the political on there... programs... very
questionable.
Champion/I thought there were actually nude children... exploitation of children. I have
problems with that.
Norton/Better have Rene' come and talk to us ....
Kubby/You can go to the PATV Board, too ....
Champion/... I think nude children are something else.
O'Donnell/I didn't get one call.
Champion/Children don't have a choice.
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Norton/Why don't we have Rene' of someone else come and talk to us.
O'Donnell/... child pornography.
Lehman/Steve...ask Rene'.... Nice to have...written policy.
Helling/ .... strong First Amendment issues... Eleanor can address this.. City Attorney
will probably want to be involved in that discussion ....
Champion/I worry about kids in those situations. It bothers me a lot.
Lehman/All right, Rene' will come and talk to us. Good night.
Adjourned: 10:20 PM
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1998
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