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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-04-04 Correspondence ~l~hR ~ t ZB[IB 3/18/00 Dear Council embers:Cll f tA H .GER'S OffiCE I urge Iowa City to NOT renew an expensive, barbaric, and dangerous deer slaughter contract with Anthony DiNicola's White Buffalo sharpshooting team, or anyone else for that matter. Also, I am vehemently opposed to allowing sharphooters to have silencers on their weapons. Clearly, there are more economical, humane, and safe ways to regulate deer overpopulation. One option I hope the council will consider is the utilization of contraceptive methods such as the "biobullets" touted by Anthony DiNicola in his doctoral dissertation. Additional, less expensive and more humane options that I urge the council to consider are public education, the installation of deer reflectors and signs, and closer monitoring of vehicle speed limits in deer paths. Finally, I think it is imperative that Iowa City put limits on the construction of new buildings and roadways. The deer population, as well as the remaining undeveloped natural areas in Iowa City need to be recognized and preserved as the assets they are. Thank you. ,,'~ .5--7-..-- . , ,.,, Amy Blessing 41 S-Brown St. # 6 Iowa City, IA. 52245 319-338-9599 "~P,R 17 Zoo0 =~ COPY FO~ THE LI"MITING '"" q COUNTY AI IUAt.ET- CITY MANAGEirS OFFICE The Cost of Underage a Price Too Great to BY TED R. MILLER, PH.D. The Pacific Institute for Research and Ewduation '~aising the minimum drinking age to 2 ] throughout the United States has been a successful strategy for reducing underage alcohol use and preventing related problems. Since 1975, minimum-drinking-age laws have .... prevented more than 17,000 traffic fatalities. 1 However, it is clear that young people still drink--and their drinking all too often results in serious health and social problems. For the first time, estimates of the costs asso- ciated with underage alcohol consumption are available. These estimates can be useful in sup- parting decisions by policymakers to take deci- sive action to reduce underage drinking. Of course, regardless of the economic factors asso- ciated with underage drinking, anyone who cares about youth should be motivated to prevent youth alcohol use. Many of us are all too familiar with a major tragic conse- quence of underage drinking--traffic crashes. The combination Costs of Alcohol Use by Youth of alcohol use and driving by young people with littie driving The total cost of alcohol use by youth is $58,043 billion per experience and low alcohol tolerance can indeed be deadly. But year,2 the equivalent of $216.22 for every, man, woman and several other problems are associated with underage drin'king, child in the United States. including crime, various types of traumatic injury, suicide, fetal ' alcohol syndrome, alcohol poisonings, and alcohol dependence AT A GLANCE and abuse requiring treatment. These problems and their staggering costs are indeed alarm- Costs of Alcohol Use by Youth ing, but many effective tools are available to prevent and reduce underage drinking. Legislators, law enforcement personnel, par- in 1~ dollat~ ents and teens can all play a role in changing social norms about youth alcohol use. The reduction in traffic fatalities resulting from the increase in the minimum drinking age has Violent Crime $35,937,000 saved both lives and dollars--and significantly reduced physical and emotional suffering. However, these laws are only as strong Drowning $532,000,000 as their enforcement. : Understanding the impact of underage drinking--and the human, economic and other costs associated with it--can Fetal Alcohol Syndrome $493,000,000 promote more vigorous and comprehensive prevention strategies. The future of America's youth depends on these ' efforts. Treatment $1,008,000,000 ~ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (n.d. Tglffic Safety' Facts 1997. TOTAL $58,379,000.00 Aleohot: Washi.g~o., DC: NHTS^. : David 'E Levy, Ph.D.. Ted R. NIftier, Ph.D., Rebecca Spicer and Kathryn Stewart. "Underage Drinking: Immediate Consequences and Their Costs," Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation worl.ang paper. June 1999. · 2'?/'.tc"/}idl tqqo 19 .. , Trudy Foster Russell 422 Butternut Lane / Iowa City, IA 52246 March 24, 2000 Iowa City Council 410 E. Washington Street Iowa City, IA 52240 Dear Councilors: I am writing to encourage you to enact a local ordinance prohibiting underage people from entering bars. If we are going to help curb the problem of college and underage drinking, this is an important step. Downtown Iowa City would benefit from more healthy choices for college and high school kids to do, but as long as the bars are the dominant force there, it isn't an inviting place to open or promote such establishments. I strongly urge you to act in favor of curbing the drinking problem that continues to be too dangerous to ignore, by enacting a city ordinance allowing only those of legal drinking age to enter bars, at least after 8:00 pro. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. Sincerely, Trudy Foster Russell Resident, Iowa City 1999 - 2000 President, Irving Weber PTA Marian Karr From: Thomas Everson [eversont@gateway.net] Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2000 5:55 PM To: council@iowa-city.org Subject: Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 Traffic Safety Campaign Mayor Lehman and City Council Members: Hello from Omaha! During the past year I have e-mailed information about our new traffic safety campaign, Keep Kids Alive Drive 25TM, to city officials throughout the United States. Perhaps you received one of these communications. Keep Kids Alive Drive 25TM is designed to encourage motorists to observe the residential speed limit. In most towns and cities across the U.S., the residential limit is 25 mph. Thus the slogan, "Keep Kids Alive Drive 25TM ." After one year Keep Kids Alive Drive 25TM has grown into a campaign with contacts working on developing local initiatives in over 170 cities and towns representing 39 states. We are working to grow Keep Kids Alive Drive 25TM into a nationally recognized campaign that simply calls all drivers to slow down in our neighborhoods for our kids' sake. To date Keep Kids Alive Drive 25TM has developed into community initiatives in Columbus, OH, Tinton Falls, N J, Boilingbrook, IL, Florence, AL, San Antonio, TX, Wichita, KS, Omaha, NE, Waterloo, NW, Adams, NE, Arapahoe, NE, Springfield, NE, Kirkland, WA, St. Petersburg, FL, and Danville, CA. Plans are on the board to adopt Keep Kids Alive Drive 25TM in Tucson, AZ, Phoenix, AZ, Manhattan Beach, CA, Milpitas, CA, Westminster, CO, Maumelle, AR, Toledo, OH, Reno, NV, Ottawa County, MI, Oceanside, CA, Gelndora, CA, Novi, MI, Kalamazoo, MI, and Medina, OH. You can find more information on our web site, www.keepkidsalive.com. If you would be interested in helping get the word out about Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 in your community, I would welcome the opportunity to hear from you. You can contact me at 402-334-1391 or at ey~rsor~!@g~tew~y. net. We also welcome web site links to help get the word out. Thanks for your consideration. Tom Everson Creator of Keep Kids Alive Drive 25TM 3/24/2000 CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE Friday, March 1 O, 2000 City Council Members: I am writing to express my support for the renewal of funding for Public Access Television. In this era in which electronic media has such a powerful influence, having an outlet for I I people in the community to express their creativity and opinions is valuable. On virtual y a I other channels, only a few can have a voice in this pervasive medium. In this respect, PATV is healthy in promoting the spirit of democracy. Public Access TV gives a creative outlet for young people which is beneficial for them. Ukewise, it allows senior citizens to improve the quality of their lives through participating in making television shows. On PATV the whole community is represented: from church services to politicial symposiums, from artists to Hawkeye sports fans... all have a voice which enlivens and enriches our community. I think specific mention needs to be made that PATV contributes to informing citizens on important issues effecting their lives. This is a public service that improves the level of citizenship and community involvement. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Eric Roalson 619 E. Market #2 Iowa City, IA 52245 Marian Karr From: Earlene Giglierano [earlene@zeus.ia.net] Sent: Monday, March 27, 2000 5:13 PM To: council@iowa-city.org Subject: extend the neighborhood conservation districts Dear Mayor Lehman and City Council Members, I read with delight in the Press Citizen this morning that you are considering extending the neighborhood conservation districts to cover many older neighborhoods. It takes this type of forward thinking to protect the historic integrity and charm of older Iowa City. In my neighborhood (400-500 blocks of South Dodge St.) this is a major concern. We are sandwiched between the high density zoning of South Johnson St. and the proposed downzoning of Governor, Bowery, and Lucas. I strongly support this zoning change and hope that you will consider extending it to South Dodge St. If our neighborhood is not included in this change it will become ever more valuable to developers who look at the value of a property only in monetary terms. As homeowners we look at its value in a different sort of way. We live in this neighborhood, raise our families in this neighborhood, and create memories in this neighborhood. The landlords who scream loudly about how no one should be allowed to decrease the value of someone else's property are thinking of the value of the property only in terms of dollars and cents. They think nothing of decreasing the value of OUR property to US by the additional noise, traffic, and litter that building a 16 bedroom unit where an older house once stood creates. Gary Watts quote in the Press Citizen, "If you don't like the area, move." is highly insensitive to the homeowners who live in the neighborhood. Why should my 100 year old neighbor and her daughter, who have lived in their home since 1920 be forced to leave because thoughtless landlords change the character of the neighborhoods and devalue our quality of life. Why should I, who have lived here for 13 years and invested much money in rehabbing my home be forced to move. I artended the last planning and zoning meeting where these issues were discussed in detail. Many of the landlords spoke of how they have only improved the neighborhood. (yet none of them live here) They claim that it is not their intent to destroy older homes. Yet it happens all too frequently. After the meeting, I and two neighbors introduced ourselves to landowner, Greg Allen who has recently purchased two adjacent homes across the street from us. I told him that we were happy to hear that he was not in favor of tearing down older homes to build large apartment complexes. He began to squirm and admitted that he probably would tear down the houses but he would build something "nice" in their place. The homes that are there are already "nice". There is no need to tear them down. I have to disagree with Anna Buss. The current zoning is not working. I was horrified to find out that landowners can circumvent the intention of the zoning laws by joining two properties together in order to build large neighborhood busting apartment complexes. We thought that we were safe because most of the properties are not large enough individually, to build large units on, but it appears that is not the case. I compliment you, Mayor Lehman, on your pro-active stance in conserving our older neighborhoods, for on this issue, hindsight is definitely too late. I sincerely hope that you will include South Dodge St. in the downzoning. Sincerely, Earlerie and James Giglierano 3/28/2000 Marian Karr From: OKJ OE@aol .com Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2000 11:53 PM To: council@iowa-city.org Subject: Are You A Sitting Duck For A Shooting Related Lawsuit? Are You A Sitting Duck For A Shooting Related Lawsuit? Here is some info on shooting liability that you may not be aware of. Cities, counties, law enforcement units, and trainers, may be sitting ducks for wrongful death or injury lawsuits brought against them on behalf of officers and civilians injured or killed in shootouts. Here is why? Police are trained in, and tested on, current shooting methods of applying deadly force in close quarters armed encounters. However, a review of 900+ videos of shootouts, shows that those shooting methods ARE NOT used in real close quarters (CQ) shootouts. Futher, police shootout accuracy is very bad. Four out of every five bullets shot by police in CQ armed encounters, miss and may injure or kill others. Here is what a training expert, the one who reviewed the 900+ vidoes said, "You still ASSUME you will look at the gun in a real shooting. Wish we could find it on REAL videos of such things. We are still looking 900+ videos later." The current shooting methods being taught are: Sight Shooting (using one or both sights to shoot with), and Point Shooting (pointing the gun at the target without the use of the sights and shooting). Sight Shooting does not occur, and Point Shooting defaults to Point and Blast. I have seen several such videos. In them, shooters do not aim. They just point their guns and blast away. As such, it is no wonder that the police accuracy rate is terrible, that police casualty rates are atrocious, and that tragic accidental shoorings occur all to frequently. Over the last ten years, per FBI data, police were shot and killed at the rate of 1 every 7 days, and thousands and thousands were wounded. You can plan for more of the same for the next ten years. In addition to the high human costs of those tragedies, millions and millions of our tax dollars have been lost to them, and millions and millions more will be lost to them and the legal actions that flow from them in the next ten years. Simply said, current training programs and guns are not doing the job. Current training does not teach shooting methods that occur in real CQ armed encounters, and current guns do not have a practical means for aiming them in those encounters. If there is validity to the 900+ videos that show that current training methods are not used in close quarters gunfight, then to continue training in them, and testing on them, and then allowing trainess to put themselves in situations where they may be shot and killed, is akin to negligence or worse. It is a bogus operation. Ask your insurer or your staff attorney if they have any liability concerns about your officers learning bogus methods of applying deadly force, which based on a review of 900+ videos of real gunfights, do not occur in those 1 gunfights, and then allowing those officers to place themselves in situations where they stand a very good chance of being shot or killed. Also, ask them if they have any liability concerns about the fact that four out of every five bullets shot by your officers in armed encounters, will most likely miss and may hit or kill some innocent person. Ask them those questions as it relates to officers and civilains who have been shot in past, and those who will be shot in the future. Ask your police or sheriff if they have videos that show the current methods of applying deadly force which are being taught, being used in real close quarters shootouts. Also ask if 100 is the basis for scoring the handgun shooting test, and to detail the test routine. Keep in mind that most shootouts with handguns last only a few seconds, and happen at distances under 25 feet. Handguns are not rifles. You would think those in charge: the chiefs, sheriffs, trainers, politicians, and mayors, would know what is going on, and that they would be taking action, or demanding that action be taken to fix the situation and stop much of the killing and wounding. But, in cities and counties all across the country, that sadly is not the case, and it probably is the case in your city and county as well. And don't fault the cops on the street. They are not in charge. On the positive side, there may be a ready and available means for resolving this situation. Those in charge need to open their eyes to what really goes on, and come to grips with that. Then they need to agree to try new methods of applying deadly force that are simple and practical, and that can be learned and applied by your average cop in close quarters situations, and that result in better police accuracy and survivability. I also know that some police bristle and do not take it kindly, when outsiders offer advice about their business, or say that their training is wrong, or imply that it may actually be responsible for cops being killed. That is understandable. On the other hand, having a police officer shot and killed once a week, every week, for the past 10 years, is not a matter to be brushed aside. And what about the thousands wounded and the accidentally shot? Because "it" has never happend to them and most likely won't, or because "it" has happened but only rarely in their agency, does not mean that "it" doesn't happen. To not test new or different shooting means and methods in the very narrow but very critical area of close quarters shooting, is not very responsible to my way of thinking. The dead, the wounded, and the accidentally shot, deserve better. A ready and waiting platform is available for testing the agreed upon methods. Current car cams can easily and readily serve as that testing platform. They can provide feedback on what works and what doesn't in real time close quarters armed encounters. All that is needed is a few good ideas and a few volunter agencies. Agencies should be very willing to participate, since there is little to lose and much to gain by doing so. Once training staffs can accept the reality of the tapes, and move past their chagrin and embarassment, they should be able to implement proven remedies. I am an advocate of the P&S method of shooting. It is a natural and instinctive method of AIMED close quarters shooting that allows one to aim a gun fast, automatically, and accurately at night or day, in all kinds of 2 conditions, and with little or no training. It also works, As such, it may be one of those methods that you hopefully will soon be looking for. Here a brief on it. P&S is AIMED shooting that utilizes the natural and instinctive tool that we all have that allows us to aim fast, automatically, and accurately at stuff, people, or whatever. That tool is our index finger. It can be used to aim a gun fast, automatically, and accurately at a target. To P&S, you place your index finger along the side of a gun, point it at a target, and pull the trigger with your middle or left index finger. Just point and pull. No more, no less. It's a no brainer, and it works because the gun barrel becomes a slave to the index finger. It can be used in instinctive close quarters shooting situations. It is not new, but it is not well known in the gun world as a survival shooting method. I was told to use it and did use it way back in 1954 when I qualifed with a sub-machine gun. It worked then, and still does. More information on P&S is available on my web site. The URL is: http://members.aol.com/okjoe/ps.htm There is a picture there of Jack Ruby using P&S to shoot and kill Oswald with one shot. AS I said, P&S works. I also have patented a simple, cheap, and practicle gun add on that can assist in making sure in its application, but it is not required to use P&So P&S works just fine without it, so don't consider this to be a sales pitch for the device. It could be an adjunct to the use of P&S that you might wish to consider if you select P&S for trial. When it comes to a real life or death situation where you may be killed or wounded, I think it would be good to have all the help you can. To date, no gun or gun grip maker has agreed to make or incorporate them in their products. I do expect that will change one of these days, and then they would be an off the shelf item. I also think that some of them may be able to be talked into supplying them to agencies in experimental form at no cost or a very modest cost. If they work, they would have a "police proved" product to offer to other police units and the public that can help one stay alive in a real life and death situation. If the use of P&S saves police lives, reduces the number of police wounded, and cuts down on the number of accidental shootings, that would be super. If my device increases those benefits, that also would be good. Best regards, John Veit aka okjoe@aol.com PS Thank you for taking the time to read this. I personally visit sites and use the site click-ons to send this note. If you get a duplicate, I'm sorry. PPS Here is a thought about e-mail vs forms: Without e-mail, you only dictate, you don't communicate. Also, if you don't want it, you don't have to read it, just delete it. Forms are intrusive, demanding, often times don't work, and tick some people off. I wonder who? That of course is OK if you want to squelch or hinder communication. HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF IOWA CITY P.O. Box 3396 March 21, 2000 ~owa City, Iowa 52244 Phone: (319) 351-5333 ~!~ ~2;~?~L~I~'~~' Fax: [319) 358-2443 Z E-mail: 75220.3550 Mayor E~est Lena · ~ c o m p u s e r v e . c o m citycity ffl [ Civic Center Iowa City, IA 52240 The Home Builders Association of Iowa Ci~ would like to the you for your support of continued City investment in public infrastructure, pa~icul~ly the extension of First Avenue ~d the First Avenue Wate~ain project. These are impo~t elements jn the growth of the East Side ~d the ~spo~ation element is ~ inte~al component of our community-wide ~affic ne~ork. Although the approval of the CIP does not gu~tee completion of the First Avenue extension, we feel your suppo~ of this project is a si~ of leadership and shows a commitment to responsible, plead gro~h. Tha~ you for your work ~d commj~¢nt. Sincerely '. I Home Builders Association of Iowa City Board of Directors affiliated with NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS & HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF IOWA Visit our Website: www. iowacityhomes.com 04-04-00 4f( 11 ) March 26, 2000 ~ ]~ I~R ~ Mayor Emie ~hmsn CMc C~t~ 410 E. Washln~on S~e~ Iowa C~, Iowa 52240 Dear Mayor ~hman: ~a~ you for ~d~g up for a heakhy, weH-m~ta~ed ~mm~ off~g a ~brant qua~y-of-~e. I am e~eciaHy looking fo~ard to ~e new ~verside ~eater v~ue Cky Park ~e we c~ ~joy S~ke~eare aH ~mm~ be~nn~g t~ ms~. addition, l join ~h fellow Iowa Ci~ans in celebrating our new look do~to~ advance offfie ~re~ape proje~s. ~, ofco~, ne~ to my hean, are aH projeas offfie ~bHc ~ Ad~m~ Comm~ee ~clud~g new oredoor ~e '~ed Mall," and a propond '~a~ waffi" along Iowa Argue. Now, I ~e to you ~ ~at I am about to be~me a '~O~ O~" I wanted to ~ Iowa Chy. Howler, tony of ~e more beaut~ home~ along College Str~, for en~le, w~e locat~ ~ b~ apart bulldogs. ~e ~ch home which I co~id~ed, located t 930 College S~, ~r~ ~e d~ay ~h the apam~t bulldog ne~ door. ~er deskable homes ~ ~des~able s~ions ~cluded L~der' home at 120 N. ~dge ~d ~offi~ ~odc home at 219 Ronalds Str~. I moved to Iowa Ci~ ~ 1997 ~om Cleve~nd, O~o, a ~ ~h ~ny d~e and beaud~l neighborhoods ~ch as S~k~ Heats. 1 ~ought k nd ~at lack ofprop~ ~ning, as c~ Few, I image, created t~s mi~e of lovely homes ~ b~een ~dmt apaments. U~o~ately, b~ause offfie apa~ment~ I began hou~h~t~g ~ other areas. ~ank~lly, 1 ~ on a c~c ad~ comm~ee ~d learned '~ou~ the ~ap~e" ~at ~e ~os~s at 820 ~ood Avenue ~ere about to p~ ~e~ home on ~e ~rk~. ~o~ and Carol~ ~v~ed me over to look- ~d my ~arch was over} ~ new (old- 1880's) home is locat~ fight in ~e hi~ofic n~ghborh~d m~oned in ~e n~ap~- near Lucas, Bow~ and ~vmor. ~e major con~ I had ~ purchasing a home t~s nei~borh~d was ~e pos~ble ~croac~ent of apa~ment bu~gs ~d ~d~t hous~g. Please help us m~ta~ ~e chara~er oft~s ~odc comer of Iowa C~. There is, in the opinion of many others I have talked to who move here from other places, limited desirable housing stock in Iowa City. To attract, recruit and keep top employees and faculty for the University, Iowa City must remain competitive and offer desirable neighborhoods. Also, for all residents and future residents, I hope that you and the members of City Council will establish a visionary plan for future growth in Iowa City. Thank you for your consideration of this matter. Deborah L. Cralbraith (Former member, Public Art Advisory Committee) cc: Karin Franklin, Director, Planning and Community Development 1~3/3B/2E~80 88:27 31cJ358GE~ScJ DETt,,JETLEI~ CONST 04-04-00 4f(12) Dear City Council Members: Successful Living has applied for funding from the Housing and Community Development Commission in this funding round. The Commission voted unanimously to fund the project and is passing that funding recommendation on to the City Council. I artended a meeting with the North Side Neighbors last Thursday to discuss this project and answer their questions, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the concerns that a few of the neighbors had about this project. 1. Concentration of transient housing in the North Side Neighborhood I think people are confusing the words transient and transitional. This project is to provide transitional housing for low-income persons in the Iowa City area, Persons can stay in the program for up to two years, The avenge length of stay is a year, To get into the project persons must be of low income. Some may have substance abuse issues or mental health issues. We screen persons to see if they have violent histories and may be a harm to themselves or to others. Some persons may be on probation, In two years of service we have not yet had any one come to us from prison, Before we can discuss if there is too much of "this type" of transitional housing in the North Side Neighborhood I think we first have to decide what is the Noah Side Neighborhood- What are the boundaries? At the North Side Neighborhood meeting I attcndcd last Thursday to discuss this project that was one of the issues brought up by the neighbors themselves. Second we need to decide what type of housing are we counting. Some neighbors counted the Free Medical Clinic and Free Lunch Program; those aren't housing programs and are they in the North Side Neighborhood? Some neighbors said you shouldn't count System Unlimited Houses. Why? They are supervised group homes. This project is a supervised group home or are we just trying to pin point a certain population? In addition I think that it is important to remember that the Church St. house that Successful Living is trying to purchase, has been owned and operated by Hillcrest Family Services as a transitional living project for 14 persons with mental illness since 1983. The difference between Successful Living and the Hillcrest Program is that Hillcrest persons all had mental illnesses and Successful Living people may not all have mental illness and Hillcrest had 24 on site staff where Successful Living has 24 hour supervision but not always on site. I would estimate that about 6 hours a day there are no staff in the house although our on call system is active. Most of the people Successful Living serves do not have as high of needs as the residents that Hillcrest served. I also think it is important to remember that since 1983 this house was occupied by 14 persons, Successful Living would only be housing 8, including the on site house monitor so if anything we are actually decreasing the units of transitional housing in the neighborhood. 71G N. D~P, ~ lo~sa l~mJ, Ifi 52245 'Pkm~ of Fmc: (~ 1 I~} 35G-0947 83/38/2880 88;27 3Z~3586889 DET~EZLER CONST PAGE 83 2. Are the residents supervised? Each resident is assigned a counselor when they come into the house. The counselor works with the resident to develop a transition plan telling what the goals of the resident will be while they are in the house. The counselor meets with the resident on an as needed basis, ~is could be daily, weekly or monthly depending on the needs of the residents. We have a licensed Substance Abuse Counselor that facilitates group meetings and provides one-on-one support to residents. The Substance Abuse Counsdo~r carries a ceil phone so he can be reached for emergencies- In addition we have a Social Work Counselor on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are trained to respond to a call within 5 minutes. Furth~Tmore some of the residents with mental health issues are also connected with social workers from various community agencies. Each house has a live in monitor to add to the supervision. Yes, some people come into the Successful Living program on probation but that person now not only has to be accountable to us but also to his/her probation officer. I think that is a plus for monitoring a person. 3. Is the project monitored? The City of Iowa City monitors the project on an on-going basis. In addition, Successful Living is licensed by the State Department of Human Services and is inspected on a regular basis by the State, Successful Living has a Board of Trustees that currently consisting of 8 members. The agency has a Quality Assurance Program that is monitored by the Board. 4. Crime will increase. Crime has increased in Iowa City in general and the type of crime has changed. I have spoken with persons in the record dept. of the police station. They went to a new computer system in Dec. They now can give us some good statistics that will be helpful in the future but they couldn't help me find anything significant for the past two years. Some of the neighbors referred to the incident last year where two of our men were charged with attempted murder. When I met with the North Side Neighborhood last Thursday I discussed this with them. Yes those two men were from our home on Dubuque St. They were in our program and after about 5 months they relapsed, went out drinking and got into trouble. They never came back to our house and we did not try to hide them. I think we have to keep it in prospective, there were 40 other persons we sethred that year. I did fred that in 1999 the police came to our house. on Dubuque St. 34 times. Fifteen of those times were for parking in the alley, that doesn't mean it was our people parking, but that there was a ear in the alley. Almost everyday there is a car in the alley from the property next door. Out of 21 persons, in the Dubuque St. house only 3 of our men have cars. Yes people come and go from the building and they park up on the public streets. The other police calls were for information finding; a theft investigation and serving warrants of the two men for attempted murder. Again we need to keep that into perspective, at the neighborhood meeting I artended last Thursday one man said he lived next to a fraternity and the police were called there 200 times in 2 years. 71G N. Dubutl Iowa Othj, IO. E;~245 'Pko of Fax: (a 1 O) SsG-O 47 03/30/20B0 08:27 3193586889 DETWEILER CONST PAGE 04 I also think that many people arc misinformed thjnking that Successful Living and The Emergency Housing Project are the same. They are two different agencies. About a third of the persons Successful Living serve come from the Emergency Housing project as referrals. I hope that the information I have given you has been helpful. I ask you to keep in mind two key factors to this project. First, that the Housing and Community Devdopmcnt Commission ranked it second in its list of p~'iorities and unanimously voted to fund the project 100% of request and second that this house has been operating as a transitional housing project for 14 mentally ill persons since 1983 and Successful Living will be downsizing to 8. I will follow up by contacting you in the next couple days to see if you have any questions and to ask your support for this project. Please feel free to contact me at any time. Kopatich~inav.nct City of Iowa City MEMORANDUM Date: March 17, 2000 To: City Clerk From: Jeff Davidson, Acting Traffic Engineering Planner ~ Re: Designation of a no parking area As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3(B) of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council of the following action. Unless directed otherwise by the City Council this action will occur on or shortly after April 5, 2000. Action: Pursuant to Section 9-4-1(A)(19) of the City Code, signs will be erected indicating NO PARKING ANYTIME on the north side of Highway 6, between Ralston Creek and the bridge over the Iowa River. Comment: This action is being taken to make it clear that vehicles are not permitted to park in the highway right-of-way at this location. People fishing and others have been parking in this area, damaging the vegetation and increasing the potential for erosion into the Iowa River. The signs will be erected by the Iowa Dept. of Transportation. Marian Karr From: Alisa Meggitt [Alisa. Meggitt@dnr.state.ia.us] Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 10:45 PM To: council@iowa-city.org Subject: Urban Sprawl presentation to be held in Iowa City The Iowa City Area Group of the Sierra Club has invited two speakers to come from Des Moines to deliver a presentation on Urban Sprawl. This Friday (March 24) at 7:00 p.m. Ed Fallon and LaVon Griffieon of 1000 Friends of Iowa will give a compelling lecture about the adverse effects of urban sprawl on local communities, farmland, small businesses, tax payers and the environment. They will also address state and local solutions to land use challenges. This information rich program includes two short videos, a slide show, and a visual demonstration of the scarcity of prime farmland. A dialogue on land use issues in Iowa City will follow. The presentation will be held in room A of the Iowa City Recreation Center (on the corner of Gilbert and Burlington Streets downtown). If you need any additional information about this program, please contact Alisa Meggitt at 319-354-1850. Alisa Meggitt Iowa Department of Natural Resources Waste Management Assistance Division 502E 9th Street Des Moines, IA 50319-0034 (515) 281-8308 Alisa Stone Iowa Department of Natural Resources Waste Management Assistance Division 502E 9th Street Des Moines, IA 50319-0034 (515) 281-8308 Page 1 of 2 Madan Karr From: Weity [red.oakS@worldnet.att.net] Sent: Monday, April 03, 2000 11:23 AM To: Op-ed Iowa City Press-Citizen; Daily lowan; Iowa City Gazette; Iowa City Icon; OpEd C.R.Gazette Kurt Rogahn Cc: Mark Nelson; Lesley Meier; Christopher McDonald; Christy Ann Welty; Gene Krass; James Johnson; Jason Besler; Tim Borchardt; council@iowa-city.org Subject: Letter to the editor To the editor: Private roads have not been considered as a choice for the First Avenue extension in Iowa City. This letter explains the option of a private road. Christy Ann Welty, Chair Libertarian Party of Johnson County Here is a libertarian proposal to resolve the First Avenue extension debate. It's outside of the box of traditional thinking, but it is a fair solution for everyone: private roads. These are some practical advantages of a private road extension of First Avenue. * The new neighborhood would be well-served with connections to Rochester and Captain Irish. * Traffic patterns wouldn't change much. They would be similar to patterns that will form with the new connection in place between Captain Irish and Scott Boulevard. People are careful about using and maintaining their private roads. Heavy traffic would not be allowed to run pell-mell through the neighborhood. People would feel some relief about pollution threats to nearby Hickory Hill Park and traffic threats to school children along the rest of First Avenue. * Nobody gets pushed around. People who love Hickory Hill Park are incensed at proposals for their taxes to be spent subsidizing development that they think will threaten the park. A city- owned park is equally owned by all the citizens of the city. Defenders of the park shouldn't be pushed into paying for threats against their own property. * Land would be developed responsibly. Development would proceed along a time line determined by market pressure instead of political pressure. * The City's budget would be relieved of a big expense. City infrastructure subsidizes developers at the expense of the City. Private infrastructure puts all financial burdens on developers. * Lifting all zoning restrictions would increase the land's value for its owners. It would force development to its highest and best use. * Many city services would be provided by the owners. The unzoned property could be taxed at the lowest rate for city property. There are more points to consider about private roads and infrastructure. A homeowners association or a corporation could make one connection into the City's water and sewer systems and other utility services. An association or corporation could contract with the City for those services, exactly like other large users do. Other services, like trash pickup, could be contracted with the City or with other providers. The City could contract with the homeowners association or corporation to use the private road to expedite emergency services. I'll speculate that they would be welcomed with no charges at all. 4/4/2000 Page 2 of 2 Contracts like these are common in 3ohnson County. They would be easy to apply to the First Avenue extension. What I like best about this idea is that Iowa Citians would be reunited and satisfied instead of torn apart and bitter. Iowa City deserves a solution that is fair for everyone, and hurts no one at all. Christy Ann Welty, Chair Libertarian Party of 3ohnson County 4/4/2000