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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-05-13 Council minutesJOINT INFORMAL MEETING OF THE CORALVILLE CITY COUNCIL, IOWA CITY CITY COUNCIL, AND JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MAY 13, 1998 Chairperson Bolkcom called the joint meeting to order in Montgomery Hall on the Johnson County Fair Grounds at 4:09 p.m. Coralville City Council members present were: Dave Jacoby, Diana Lundell, Jean Schnake, and John Weihe. Also present: Coralville Mayor Jim Fausett. Iowa City Council members present were: Karen Kubby, Ernie Lehman, Dee Norton, Mike O'Donnell, Dean Thomberry, and Dee Vanderhoef. Johnson County Board of Supervisors present were: Joseph Bolkcom, Charles Duffy, Jonathan Jordahl, Stephen Lacina, and Sally Stutsman. Other city and county officials present were: County Attorney Pat White, Coralville City Engineer Dan Holdemess, Iowa City Clerk Marian Karr, Johnson County Board of Supervisors Administrative Assistant Carol Peters, and Johnson County Council of Governments Transportation Planner Jeff Davidson. Introductions were made. Bolkcom noted that at the last meeting Iowa City School Board Member Pete Wallace suggested inviting Coralville the next time around, and then expressed his pleasure at having them present today. MORMON TREK BOULEVARD Bolkcom said the first item for discussion on the agenda was concerning Mormon Trek Boulevard. Bolkcom said the question would probably be when an expanded street would be built. O'Donnell noted the project is not in anyone's plans yet. Stutsman said the discussion began in the Johnson County Council of Governments (JCCOG), related to the Deer Creek Road and Highway 965 discussions, and it was thought this would be a good place to continue the discussion with the Supervisors and both city councils present. Norton responded that someone would need to approach the University of Iowa, and said he found it hard to believe that the improvements there would be solved altogether on the part of Iowa City or Coralville. Something has to be done, he said, and in the near future. Weihe added that traditionally this money has come from road funds, but rather than waiting for the road money to arrive, they should get out of the box and be more creative, because many possibilities exist. Vanderhoff suggested going to the Legislature to request money for building. Weihe suggested approaching the University and requesting money from student fees or the Athletic Department to offset the impact of traffic to University facilities in the area. This kind of initiative, he said, would let people know how serious they are about the project. Kubby endorsed the idea of a joint approach by the jurisdictions involved, suggesting that it might encourage the University to look at all these options. Norton brought up the matter of determining costs in order to revise budgets. Addressing Iowa City, Weihe asked whether they had discussed their capital improvement projects, if they had any intentions of doing something on the west side in Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 2 the near future. Thomberry answered that whether they liked it or not, the area under discussion is a serious bottleneck situation, and one he felt they should be looking at seriously, though it's not currently in the capital improvement program (CIP). He said he didn't know the University timetable for their construction work in the same area, but he felt that this project should be planned to begin after its completion. It's a project, Norton suggested, where the sales tax looms large as a source of funds. Weihe agreed, emphasizing the benefits of such a regional project to everyone. Thomberry wanted to know what portion of Mormon Trek, from the railroad tracks to the intersection at Highway 6, belongs to Coralville. Weihe said 50%. Holderness was asked to clarify the ownership of the street and the railroad viaduct. Holderness said Coralville's portion of 1st Avenue (Mormon Trek Boulevard in Iowa City) is from the north side of the railroad right-of-way to the north, and it is the west half of right-of-way; the east half is in Iowa City, along with all of the railroad right-of-way. So all of the viaduct, he said, is in Iowa City. Thornberry asked how much of the road belongs to the University. From the viaduct south to Melrose, said Norton. It was O'Donnell's understanding the viaduct construction project would cost $1,400,000; that's to keep the railroad moving during construction. Had anyone, he asked, investigated the possibility of stopping railroad traffic for a time, as a way to reduce the costs? Lehman wasn't sure that was an option. Holderness explained that the east abutment will be kept in place, with the result that the new lanes will be added to the west side, or Coralville's side, of the road. He said the company handling the project can keep the trains running while they work. Lehman suggested that both cities draft a letter to the University, requesting their time frame for the building of the sports complex, letting them know what the cities plan to do with the road, in regards to sidewalks, the size of the overpass, and finally asking them for some form of cooperation or meeting with them. Davidson confirmed that the University has already answered some of these questions. He said Michael Finnegan from the University had relayed their intention to begin work on the sports facility next year, with a completion date projected for the year 2002. He relayed the University position, that the function of the Mormon Trek Boulevard has changed from serving mostly the adjacent University facilities to one serving significant traffic between Iowa City and Coralville and it would make it an appropriate for the municipalities to participate in the upgrade of the road, rather than just the University. Referring to a study the Department of Transportation (DOT) conducted on moving passenger rail through this area, Lacina asked Davidson if there might be any money from the State, or money to the railroad, so that they could help fund the project as well. Such a project is not likely to happen, Davidson said, since most of the track through this area is straight and flat, in little need of repair. In response to a question posed by Fausett, Davidson went on to say that the University does not expect a large traffic increase to result from the new sports facilities. He said Cambus, which replaced Iowa City Transit in that area some six months ago, will continue to be a presence, and possibly capture a significant amount of Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 3 student ridership, especially if the University can manage to provide ample parking nearby. He noted there was currently at least a concept plan to expand the commuter lots that already exist there. Norton wondered if a sub-committee couldn't be formed of representatives of the University, Coralville, and Iowa City to sit and hammer out a proposal of possible scenarios for carrying out the project. Another letter to the University, he felt, without a plan or some numbers, was not going to get much accomplished. Bolkcom and Lundell agreed. Bolkcom asked Davidson if JCCOG wouldn't be a better place to have such a conversation. Stutsman proposed that they take the discussion a step further and consider the entire area in question, since anything done to Mormon Trek Boulevard has an impact on Highway 965 and Deer Creek Road as well. Norton and Fausett agreed that it should be considered as a regional issue. Kubby added that emphasis should be placed on the relationship bikers and pedestrians will have with a future Mormon Trek Boulevard. Perhaps the road itself will be improved, but this will not ensure a safe environment for people on bikes and on foot. Thomberry stated the assumption that a wide sidewalk would be associated with a widened road. Davidson confirmed that the City of Iowa City's design standards for an arterial street require a 8' sidewalk on one side and 4' on the other. Weihe confirmed that when Coralville did its First Avenue study plan, they looked at the sidewalk intersection on the north side of the viaduct and determined the safest way to continue the University trail system that ends there. Bolkcom repeated Norton's idea to form a sub-committee and asked if they were prepared to do this today, or if JCCOG wouldn't be the proper place for such an activity. Norton felt that they ought to leave it until the next JCCOG meeting to discuss Mormon Trek and other west side transportation issues. Kubby was hesitant to proceed before each party present examines their own capital improvement programs, to prioritize the needs of their own cities before committing to a plan too soon. She said their discussions would be in August. Jordahl suggested they discuss the use of both Mormon Trek Boulevard and Deer Creek Road to get to and from West High School. He said many people who live on the other side of Highway 6 go to West High, which occasionally created a bottleneck. He asserted that this makes Deer Creek an attractive route for travel, but Deer Creek Road is less than ideal. He said this was a question for the Iowa City School Board. Bolkcom noted the Board members were not present today. Weihe felt that any prior regional discussion of the project might benefit everyone when they sit down to look at their capital improvement program. Bolkcom asked everyone if they would like to choose committee members now or wait until the JCCOG meeting to do so. Most wanted to wait, Kubby in particular, who felt that a sub-committee formed before August, by its joint nature, will put pressure on to prioritize the project before there is a chance to look at individual city needs. -. Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 4 O'Donnell asked representatives of Coralville about Coralville's plans for work on First Avenue. Holderness said they would begin work on the First Avenue-Highway 6 intersection the next construction year, if funding comes through as expected. Overall, Lehman said, considering the time it will take for the University to complete its sports facilities, they should have more than enough time to figure out where this project will go on the CIP and when. Vanderhoef, stressing Jordahl's concerns about danger to drivers young and old near the intersection of Mormon Trek and Highway 6, proposed that whether the University decides to help or not, they should work together to resolve traffic difficulties in that area. She suggested taking action sooner than the 4 years it would take the University to complete their own building along Morman Trek. Bolkcom ended by confirming the consensus to wait until JCCOG meets to form a sub-committee that could look further into this. DEER CREEK ROAD Bolkcom called on Davidson to summarize recent discussions on Deer Creek Road, one discussion between the Board and Coralville, and another at JCCOG. Davidson said Coralville has developed an improvement plan of $4,600,000 for improving the geometry of the road, but keeping it in the style of a rural road with drainage ditches and so forth. He said it would be an asphalt road, to improve driving safety, and to bring about a more peaceful mix of quarry traffic, heavy land-fill vehicles, and West High traffic. He said that Coralville sees this proposal as a natural compliment to the extension of Highway 965 further south, the alignment of which Coralville and Iowa City have agreed upon. Davidson said Coralville has stated that they would like something done with Deer Creek Road in the short term, rather than wait for the extension of Highway 965. He noted Coralville has the Highway 965 extension projected for few years from now and they don't feel deal a Deer Creek Road improvement would be a through-away because of the traffic that would remain. He said Deer Creek Road is roughly a three-mile corridor, about two-thirds of which are in unincorporated Johnson County, the other third in Iowa City. Most of the unincorporated part will eventually end up in Coralville, according to Davidson, with small pieces to be in Iowa City. Davidson said the questions were what to do, when, and who pays for it. Jordahl mentioned that in the preliminary cost estimate for this project, a design speed of 45 miles per hour was planned. He said that he had seen people traveling at speeds around 60 to 65 miles per hour on the current calcium chloride surface, and asserted that improving the road to asphalt would only increase the speed. Davidson said that yes, when you improve a rural road, people tend to drive faster, and perhaps not more safely. But he felt that the improvement of the horizontal and vertical geometry of the road will alleviate these concerns. He added that currently the road has about 1,200 vehicles a day, whereas they use a guideline of roughly 100 to 300 for what they would like to see on a gravel road. Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 5 Holderness pointed out that of the two miles of Deer Creek Road that are unincorporated County, while the eastern half might come into Coralville, it was unlikely that the western half would ever be annexed, as the expressed wish of the adjoining quarry owners. Bolkcom asked him if there might be a 50/50 maintenance and construction agreement between the County and Coralville. Yes, said Holdemess, like there is for the First Avenue project. Then Weihe asked Holdemess how much the cost of the Deer Creek project would increase if they planned it for speeds of 55 m.p.h. and higher. Holderness said that the cost estimate for 55 m.p.h. was significantly higher. It requires longer curves, and a more gradual grade. He said they thought that by sticking with 45 m.p.h., they would not have to add to any of the existing right-of-way. He didn't have any of the numbers with him, but he knew the difference was significant. It was Jordahl's understanding, from working with engineers, that in a project like this, you plan not only for the traffic the road carries now, but for what it will carry once the improvements have been carried out. He wanted to know, then, how they plan to arrive at 45 m.p.h. from the present condition. Holderness referred back to Davidson's talk of geometrical improvement, adding that their goal was to get people to abide by the lower speed. He said the road could be made to accept higher speeds, but again it was a question of cost. Jordahl said the County Engineer frequently reminds them that people will not drive according to a sign posting a lower limit, but according to what they perceive to be a safe speed on the given road surface. Norton, however, questioned how wise it was to tailor Deer Creek Road to accommodate faster traffic, traffic that perhaps they should be trying to keep off the road in the first place. Jordahl agreed, and proposed talking about Highway 965 instead of Deer Creek Road. In fact it had been his impression that the Highway 965 extension was more or less going to replace Deer Creek Road. Jacoby wasn't sure that the extension would necessarily replace the traffic there. It wouldn't replace the quarry traffic, Jordahl agreed, or the County truck traffic, but he hoped that at least those traveling to West High would prefer the Highway 965 route. Vanderhoef asked Davidson how much the traffic count would drop along First Avenue once the Highway 965 extension was finished. Davidson said there might be some diversion, but that with the Mall coming it would be hard to make any predictions, though they plan to monitor the situation carefully. Coralville, he reminded her, has made significant improvements around Coral Ridge Mall itself to handle the ultimate build-out traffic in that area; presumably the design of the facility further south will be consistent with that. His guess, at any rate, was that they would see at the most only a slight drop in traffic along First Avenue, due to it's distance to the east. Lehman asked if the State would participate in the Highway 965 extension. Davidson said the State would instead wish to turn over the existing part of Highway 965 over to Coralville, in the same way they have done in North Liberty. The State considers Highway 965 a redundant facility to Highway 218 and 1-380, and feels it should be under local jurisdiction. Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 6 Weihe went back to a previous point of Vanderhoef's, that as parallel roads, Highway 965 and First Avenue will serve as emergency back-ups for each other, yet another reason for a timely solution to such traffic problems as sometimes occur at Highway 6 and First Avenue. Schnake added that once Holiday Road and Oakdale Boulevard are finished, north-to-south travelers, such as herself, will avoid First Avenue if they have a westerly alternative. She said those streets will have a significant impact. Jordahl went on to point out that at the Coralville intersection for Highway 965 with Highway 6 there are traffic lights and multiple lanes. He noted that at Deer Creek Road, you find railroad tracks, no signals, high-speed traffic on Highway 6 in two lanes, and dust all over the place. Jordahl asserted that extending Highway 965 made more sense. One or the other, Deer Creek or Highway 965, needs to be addressed, Schnake continued, because of the increasing traffic in that area. But the difference in cost between the two, Weihe reminded them, is significant. At this point, Bolkcom reminded them, the County has no money budgeted for Deer Creek Road in their 5 Year Road Plan. Norton added that none of these entities has money budgeted for Highway 965, as well as Deer Creek Road. Bolkcom wondered if this matter might be a candidate for another sub-committee. It sounded to Kubby like a candidate for the same committee as the one for the Mormon Trek project. Bolkcom and the rest agreed. Lehman suggested the idea of running an extension of 965 right into Deer Creek Road, instead of treating the two as separate projects. Jordahl agreed, saying that it made more sense to design one road instead of two. His question was why build both, if Deer Creek Road would have to be designed to carry the traffic that will eventually be diverted to 965 once it is extended. Lehman mentioned that at a JCCOG meeting, Davidson had stated that for reasons of money, it could be 20 years or more before Highway 965 was extended. Twenty years, Lehman said, is not a livable number, and if Deer Creek can be improved at a reasonable cost, then it makes sense to do something with it now, and leave Highway 965 to develop over twenty years. Holdemess was asked by Lehman if this was in the plan, if the northernmost end of Deer Creek would come out where Highway 965 was going to extend. That's not the case, Holderness said. He said Coralville's plan was to make Highway 965 a totally new facility, with a bridge over Clear Creek. He said Highway 965 would be built by developers and in an interim period would tie into Deer Creek Road because it would be a long time before a bridge is built over Highway 218. Holdemess said their goal is use Deer Creek in the short run, and let Highway 965 be built as the ground in that area is developed. Lehman agreed that Highway 965 had a far better intersection than Deer Creek Road and they should look at the alternative of using this intersection instead of improving Deer Creek Road all the way to Highway 6. Norton was having a hard time imagining how the north end of Deer Creek would be made to bend into the Highway 965 intersection. The creek is there, Weihe said, but it can be done. He noted that any alternative would involve a bridge early in the design, and as a result, a higher cost. Jordahl repeated that overall this alternative would make Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 7 Deer Creek Road safer, easier to use, and consistent with the design of the intersection by the new mall. Holderness reminded them that JCCOG hired a consultant to look at the possibilities for the Highway 965 extension and they looked at 36 options, one of which involved incorporating Deer Creek Road into Highway 965. Though he couldn't recall the details, he said them were a number of environmental, financial, and design reasons against it. Bolkcom suggested sending this issue to the JCCOG subcommittee as well. SEATS CONTRACT Reporting briefly, Bolkcom said the Board met a week or so ago with the City of Coralville to work out a five-year agreement, similar to the Iowa City agreement. He reported that the Board hoped to have a signed agreement in the next couple of weeks, which JCCOG was helping to draft. He further said the Board had begun advertising for a new SEATS director. Bolkcom said the Board was reviewing possible charges for the Advisory Committee, for which they have scheduled a work session for next week, and that they will soon be advertising for Advisory Committee members. Bolkcom said the Board hoped to have a new director on board some time in July, and by that time to gather the new Advisory Committee for its first meeting. Kubby asked if everything was finalized with Iowa City. Bolkcom said it is. Vanderhoef asked about the time frame for hiring the director. Bolkcom said the advertisement will last until June 19, after which they will screen and interview applicants. Kubby suggested choosing the Advisory Committee sooner, and making them part of the interview team, perhaps not to make the final decision, but to join the process. Bolkcom asked for further comments, and said he was glad to announce that they were moving ahead with the matter and closer to implementing the agreement. JOINT-PURCHASING Bolkcom reminded them all that this topic was discussed at their last meeting, how they might become more efficient in their purchase of supplies and the like. Reading down the sub-items, Supplies, Services, and Maintenance, he stopped at Maintenance, under which Iowa City was noted as adding the sub-item to the agenda. He asked Iowa City if they had anything to report hem. He noted a portion of the SEATS agreement where Iowa City might take over the maintenance of the SEATS vehicles. Thomberry confirmed that if the Board were putting out a request for proposal (RFP), Iowa City would like to bid on it. Bolkcom said that at present the Board's preference was not to put out an RFP, but to have Iowa City directly bid. Regarding geographic information systems (GIS), Bolkcom informed them that the County has a number of computer technology committees, one which covers GIS and over the last year has been studying the implementation of GIS in Johnson County. He reported that earlier in the day, the Board had met with two vendors, Promap and Sidwell, who have conducted a needs assessment for the County on GIS. It would be the County's hope, he said, to develop a unified system, building on the one Coralville has already Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 8 implemented. He said one vendor estimated a half million dollars as the cost to get such a system up and nmning, building on the mapping project which the Auditors Office had completed, using those maps as a base, and perhaps sharing some of the costs of getting it up and running. Lehman said he doubted that any of them sitting there at the meeting knew what they buy, what they spend for it, or whom they buy it from. He suggested that given closer communication between purchasing agents from the two cities and the County, they could tell where there might be some economies. Bolkcom pointed out that in the case of GIS, communication is clearly happening at the staff level, and agreed that it would make sense to connect these people. Bolkcom asked who would be involved and was told Cathy Eisenhofer is purchasing agent for Iowa City. Jordahl said the County had different people purchasing for each department. Fausett said there were different people doing purchasing for Coralville, depending on what is being purchased. Stutsman suggested that it might be a good idea to consult organizations such as NACo that may be aware of areas where there would be cost savings, such as paper. Jordahl thought that one place to start might be in the area vehicles, something both the County and the cities use and need to maintain. Fausett said there is a State contract for vehicles they can buy on. Norton reminded them that this issue has been looked at in the area of paper. Everyone uses paper of so many different types and qualities that maybe the situation should be reviewed, and maybe people will need to change if there is going to be cooperation. Stutsman felt that if enough money could be saved by this, it would be worth it. Lacina noted that some arrangements like this already existed, citing the example of medical supplies bought by the County through the Hospital, where they cannot touch the prices otherwise. He noted the Hospital, for the most part, seeks out its own bids. They should also be concerned, he said, about breakdown facilities. Lacina noted that if you have a truckload of paper, that's fine, but you don't want to end up with something dated or obsolete, or with paper that for some reason doesn't function. He noted that due to just-in-time inventorying, bulk purchasing no longer meant cost savings for many items. He said, however, that if there are savings, say in something large like batteries, it would be worth it to coordinate things. Weihe reiterated the suggestion that this matter should be handled at the staff level and Bolkcom agreed, asking who should handle this. Kubby suggested that their appointed procurement officer can get together with others and instigate a conversation. Bolkcom thought it was a good idea, and encouraged the Iowa City representatives to have their procurement officer contact Carol Peters. LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX Bolkcom requested to hear the status of local option sales tax discussions in Iowa City. Lehman said they aren't in a position to tell them anything yet. Thomberry said they would be talking about it the next day. Norton felt that they need to do something pretty fast, given the things that are in the wind. He said they've heard from some people at the Library, who are anxious to know if they should be planning to mount a campaign. Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 9 Kubby said that they made a promise to resolve the issue on a time frame, sometime during the month of May. Vanderhoef asked representatives of Coralville and the County what their plans were. Fausett said that Coralville would like to see a number of regional issues discussed in terms of how the money is going to be spent. He thought it was a mistake for Iowa City, for example, to resolve to do it on their own and to set their own deadline for November without first addressing the important issues surrounding different spending options. He gave examples of the many options available for spending the money, including Highway 965 and Deer Creek Road, etc.. He didn't believe that such a complex issue could be decided in time to be on a November ballot. He apologized to the people at the Library, but reiterated that he didn't see this as being a feasible approach for the City to do it on their own, without meeting with the County, Coralville, and possibly some of the surrounding communities. Lehman asked whether Coralville has discussed the sales tax. Fausett replied that they had not. Weihe said that in light of Coralville's location, they are concerned to see how the vote comes up in Cedar Rapids on June 23rd. But it has been public knowledge since last fall, Norton pointed out, that they made a promise to the Library to get the issue on the ballot in November. Kubby clarified that the promise was to let the Library know if their facility would be on the ballot, not necessarily the sales tax. Weihe wondered if there would be any advantage to not having it on the same ballot as a general election. He said having it later would allow more time for educating people. Thornberry said, if the Library question was not going to be at the same time as the sales tax question, he thought that the sales tax question would still need to come before the Library. Otherwise, he stated, the Library would not know if there was to be any money for the project. But is a tax issue, Weihe questioned, a good one to have on a ballot during partisan elections? It's a complicated issue, Norton said, because they may be locked together, and there may be some virtue to that. Norton agreed with Fausett that there is a list regional needs, ones that stretch over a number of years and can't all be spelled out completely, but that shouldn't preclude their considering of some of them, like the westside road network as part of the purpose of the sales tax issue. Following up on Norton's comment, Lacina asked if everyone decided to do a collaboration, which 5 projects would be included on a list for consideration. He wondered if it would be the Taft Avenue-965 beltway looped around the entire municipal system for a long-term plan or a convention center, jointly owned and operated by the communities. He wondered what type of functions they would set down and take a look at that would benefit the communities, instead of having everyone break off to do a little here and a little there. Norton stated that he agreed with this idea. We all have ideas for spending the money, Bolkcom said, without dreaming up new projects. He added that he is not a supporter of the tax. He mentioned that Linn County is putting 83 percent of the tax into roads, and pointed out that most of their talk today had been about roads, about money they don't have for roads. In addition, he noted that now they are talking about a very regressive tax applied to roads. Bolkcom asked what is the best way to pay for roads as a growing County? He asked if they felt it was a sales tax, or another way? He Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 10 questioned if it is State income tax, or a penny more on the gas tax? He asked if they as growing counties, desperate for money, are being pushed by the State government into trying to use these resources that way? Fausett said a convention center should be looked at, as well as the roads. Norton added that in light of the increasing squeeze on property taxes and projects that have been waiting for a long time, to invent too many new projects, to put too much toward roads, would not be wise. But in Waterloo, Weihe said, they proposed to use their local option tax exclusively on roads, and it passed easily. He felt that roads were an important issue to lots of their constituents. Lacina said that in the example offered by Weihe, Waterloo was in a tremendous bind. Then, he offered a couple of warnings. One, he said, the local option tax is not a constant. When the economy dips, he explained, so will the tax revenues generated from the tax. He cited the example of Iowa County, that is now seeing a 30% tax increase because they got into a problem with substituting taxes for options taxes. Secondly, Lacina noted if you fund recurring expenses with this tax, it's going to disappear. In his opinion, the public would not be pleased with another tax to operate off of. On the other hand, he stated, if you can invest it back into the community, into something the public can see or something that will position them for the future, then the tax will appear much more acceptable to the public. He felt this would be the case, even if they arranged such money uses separately. Kubby said that in the past when Iowa City has talked about this sort of thing, there have been at least two meetings where all the entities in the county were asked to sit in one room and discuss the nature of the sales tax, what is and isn't legal. Perhaps they need another such meeting to determine the needs of everyone. She ventured that most of the Iowa City Council would say that there isn't time to design a joint convention center by the time they want the Library project voted on. In response to an inquiry from Kubby, Karr said the issue had to be on either a General Election ballot or a special election, not a City Election. Bolkcom pointed out that on May 27th the County will, in fact, be hosting a meeting of all the small towns, with a representative present from the Department of Revenue to talk about the sales tax. Lacina asked if it was feasible to consider one unified transit system for the county. Kubby said that it's on the JCCOG work plan for at least Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty. That would be an example of a recurring expense, Bolkcom said. Lundell added that would not be one thing that people would vote for. Duffy agreed with the idea that people care not so much about the extra one cent as they do about what the money is used for. Everyone does use roads; he didn't recommend necessarily that they set aside 83 percent, but at least fifty percent. The roads are in better condition than people think, he felt. The other needs Duffy saw would be those of space needs. 30 percent could go to these. The other 20 percent he would like to see set aside for senior citizens. This is a big reason why he ran for Supervisor this time, and being on the State Economic Development Board, because several years ago, in the smaller towns and in some of the larger, about 48 percent of the people were related. in some way. They used to take care Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 11 of Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma. Duffy felt there should be more of an entity between the nursing home and people who need help staying in their homes. Retirement homes exist, but they are expensive. Duffy thought perhaps such a service could be accomplished by the neighborhood associations in a rural area. He said it used to be that mail carriers were involved in this kind of effort. These are four important needs to include on the ballot, he said. But he predicted that many groups will rush to have this or that need included, the pressure of which is likely to run down the tax altogether. Norton asked Duffy the question Bolkcom had asked, whether this was the best way to fund roads, or should they look seriously to the Legislature to change the Road Use Tax, the intended source, which apparently has fallen behind. Duffy said about 10 percent of the gas tax is used for other purposes, such as beautifying the highways. He cited that this fiscal year the revenue is expected to be about 225 billion dollars, for roads and bridges across the country. Duffy noted that 10% of that is a lot of money. Bolkcom repeated the idea of adding a penny to the gas tax, but Duffy felt the gas tax was already high enough. Bolkcom went on to say that the Board, over the last five or six weeks, has learned of half a dozen roads for which they do not have any money budgeted. People are knocking on their door, he said, requesting that something be done. The road use tax is controlled at the state level, Weihe said, and the nice things about the local option tax is that you can control it at the local level. If they were realistic, said Norton, they would need to add a large increase to the gas tax. Bolkcom noted that a penny on the gas tax was a very small amount. Norton liked the idea of naming the roads on the west side as a joint project, because this project would effect all of the entities involved; otherwise, he said, each entity has its own needs and should probably deal with them. He didn't think they should treat the entire tax jointly, but one shared effort might be a good show of cooperation, plus generate wide-scale support. The sales tax is not going to solve all their infrastructure needs, Bolkcom reminded them. Bolkcom felt that local governments need more ways to raise the revenue they need because they couldn't be raised by property taxes alone. He added that any amount of money that they raised from the sales tax would come up short. Norton agreed, but added that any reasonable amount they came up with would help in funding the west side project, which he noted that no one has yet funded. Weihe asked Iowa City councilors what the correlation is between the Library project and the local option sales tax? Or, he inquired, is it still up in the air? Lehman said the City Council would probably determine that tomorrow. He noted that the majority of the Council has indicated that they do not have money in the general fund to operate the Library, if it were built. So, he explained, the sales tax is necessary component of that. Bolkcom asked if all in attendance were sufficiently updated on the local option sales tax. Lacina suggested they have someone from the Department of Revenue come back to talk to the them all. They are coming to the meeting in two weeks, Bolkcom said, and he reminded Coralville that they were invited. Stutsman recommended they also invite people from the School District, because she had heard the presentation before and felt it Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 12 was an excellent source of information. Bolkcom noted that the meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27, at the Board of Supervisors. EMPOWERMENT ZONES Bolkcom asked Stutsman to begin. She put this item on the agenda, she said, to update people on recent legislation that was passed, and to tell people what the Board is doing with empowerment zones. She explained this legislation is trying to blend funding streams for services for children and families in the community. She added that it's a fallout from welfare reform and devolution, bringing decisions dealing with children and families back to the community level. Stutsman said they would be blending funding streams from the Department of Health, the Department of Education, and the Department of Human Services, into one funding stream and then allowing the community to decide how the money will be spent. She added that this will be quite a change from the past, when everyone had their own funding streams and each entity chose which programs it would support and fund. She noted this proposal would set up a Community Empowerment Board comprised mostly of citizen members, plus other entities, with the focus on local control. Stutsman said that a grant will be available September 1st, for which the communities need to apply. She noted that the initiative for the community empowerment zone is coming out of a Decat Executive Committee. She noted that Johnson County is a Decat Committee, so the Decat Executive Committee has been charged with getting the ball rolling. So far, she explained the Executive Committee has put together a steering committee to talk about applying for this grant and setting up the community empowerment zone. Stutsman added that this meeting will happen on May 20th. She said that the steering committee members will include Cheryl Whitney from the Department of Human Services, Decategorization Coordinator Jan Peterson, Brandon Beaudrey with the Court Services, Bolkcom and Stutsman, who served on the Decat Executive Committee as Board of Supervisor representatives. Also, she added, representatives would be present from the 5 largest school districts in the county, noting they have asked Mary Neuhauser to sit in on the steering committee, as well as Graham Dameron from the Health Department, Linda Severson from JCCOG, and Susan Solter from AEA. Stutsman stated the steering committee will begin the process as small group, but there will be larger broad-based community involvement later on. Norton asked if this will be a new grant. Yes, answered Stutsman. She added that the grant will have to do with at-risk children, and will be new money coming into the community. She said statewide the moneys to be allocated are at about 5 million dollars, so it isn't a lot, but enough to warrant applying for the grant. Stutsman emphasized the importance of collaborative projects, and recalled that Johnson County has a good history of collaborative efforts, putting them ahead of the game in this respect. She reiterated that the big focus of this process was to get citizens and the community involved in the decision-making process regarding what would be done for children and families. Weihe asked if the citizen's Board would be selecting where funds go? Yes, Stutsman replied, Informal Minutes, Joint meeting of Cities of Coralville and Iowa City and Johnson County: May 13, 1998/page 13 they will set up a strategic plan process, essentially a statement of what the community feels is important and where the money should go. Weihe also asked if this was to be a one-time thing, or ongoing soft money. She said the idea is to have it ongoing, but many changes have been made. First, she recalled, they had Decat, then Innovation Zones, and now they have moved on to Empowerment Zones. Bolkcom added that the long-term duration is currently expected to be 3 three years. He also said that the Board is involved in organizing this, but there is no administrative money for staffing, sending out notices, and so forth. Stutsman added that this was a big initiative for community organization. NEXT MEETING SCHEDULED Bolkcom called for other business or announcements, then inquired as to the time of the next meeting. It was agreed to meet on July 8th, at 4:00 p.m. Adjoumed at 5:32 p.m. Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor By: On the day of ,1998 By Casie Parkins, Recording Secretary Sent to the Board of Supervisors, Coralville City Clerk, and Iowa City City Clerk on June 5, 1998 at 3:30 p.m.