HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-04-12 Transcription
April 12, 2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page I
April 12, 2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd.
4:30 P.M.
IOWA CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Elliott, Wilburn, Vanderhoef, Correia, O'Donnell,
Champion, Bailey
[Staff: Atkins, Karr, Dilkes, Helling, Davidson,
Franklin, Raclos, Lewis, Hightshoe, Long]
NORTH LIBERTY COUNCIL PRESENT: Wozniak, Franker
[Staff: James, Mulcahey],
CORALVILLE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Lundell, Fausett, Gill, Herwig
[Staff: Hayworth]
JC BOARD OF SUPERVISORS PRESENT: Stutsman, Neuzil, Lehman, Sullivan, Harney
[Staff: Sullivan]
IOWA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT PRESENT: Fields, Wallace, Cilek, Crooks, Klouda, Morgan
[Staff: Behle, Plugge, Vandenburg, Bobek]
GUESTS:
Andy Johnson, Housing Trust Fund
TAPES:
06-35 SIDE I and SIDE 2
Call to Order:
Wilburn! Okay everybody, we're going to need to get going here. Welcome to Emma 1.
Harvat HaIl, everyone, and we're going to need to go around and do a mic check.
So let's just do introductions, and I'm Ross Wilburn - we okay? - Iowa City.
Marian? Okay. (unable to understand)
Karr! Just keep going. I'll stop you.
Wilburn! Okay, all right.
Welcome and Introductions:
Stutsman! Sally Stutsman, Johnson County Board of Supervisors.
Wozniak! Jim Wozniak, North Liberty City Council.
Franker! Dave Franker, North Liberty.
Vanderhoef! Dee Vanderhoef, Iowa City City Council.
Neuzil! Terrence Neuzil, Johnson County.
Bailey! Regenia Bailey, Iowa City City Council.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
April 12,2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 2
Fields/ Patti Fields, Iowa City Community School District, Board of Directors.
Wallace/ Pete Wallace, Iowa City Community School District, Board of Directors.
Champion! Connie Champion, Iowa City.
Cilek/ Toni Cilek, Iowa City Community School District, Board of Directors.
Lehman! Mike Lehman, Johnson County Board of Supervisors.
Sullivan! Rod Sullivan, Johnson County Board of Supervisors
Crooks/ Liz Crooks, Iowa City Community School District, Board of Directors
Klouda! Gayle Klouda, School Board of Directors.
Elliott! Bob Elliott, Iowa City.
Correia! Amy Correia, Iowa City.
Lundell! John Lundell, Coralville.
Fausett! Jim Fausett, Coralville.
Harney/ Pat Harney, Johnson County Supervisors.
Gill/ Tom Gill, Coralville.
O'Donnell/ Mike O'Donnell, Iowa City.
Herwig! Henry Herwig, Coralville.
Wilburn! Okay, it sounds like we're all mic'd, and again, welcome. As we get going
tonight, I just want to point out we're scheduled to go until 6:30 and I'll try to
keep us moving along, but if we go further than 15 minutes on each item, that
takes us past 6:30. (laughing and several talking) Up first is a (unable to hear;
laughter and talking) Up first, while Bob gets us taken care of there, up first is a
presentation from the Housing Trust Fund and, there you go, there's Andy. We're
going to need to squeeze in here somehow.
O'Donnell/ Why don't you sit down here?
Karr/ Ross, we can put people up here, too, rather than block the doorways or the aisles.
...(unable to hear) sit up here, that would be great. (several talking at once)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription ofthe April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
April 12, 2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 3
Housin!! Summit:
Johnson! Well, thank you, I appreciate the opportunity to have 15 minutes to cover a
simple, non-controversial easy topic like housing in Johnson County. (laughter)
I'm actually here kind of with two purposes. As I understand it, there was some
interest iu this group looking at some housing issues, or starting a discussion
about housing, and in addition, as part of the Task Force that actually requested
some time, as well, to present the idea of a housing summit in Johnson County.
I'm passing around a brochure that I prepared about a month ago. At one point,.in
one week, I had three people ask me, 'What is affordable housing?' And 1 got the
impression that what they were hoping is that I could point to a particular unit and
say something like, '$120,000 condo - that's affordable housing.' And the reality
is, as many of you know, that it is not that simple, but there was an interest in
putting some parameters and understanding more about the topic, and so this
brochure really has two purposes and the first is to indicate that the definition of
affordable housing isn't about the unit. It's not about the housing. It's about the
household or the family that lives there and the income that they have to direct
towards housing. The general standard is that a household should hopefully have
to spend no more than 30% oftheir household income on housing related
expenses. And, obviously the...
Champion! Can I interrupt?
Johnson! Sure.
Champion! Do you mean their income after taxes or before taxes?
Johnson! Gross income.
Champion! Gross, okay. Thank you.
Johnson! And so, and obviously the concern on the policy level is for those who are
considered low income, which is 80% or less of the area median income. And so
there's a chart on the bottom of the first page and just to keep things simple, I've
taken a family of four. The median income in Johnson County is $72,600. So,
80% of that is $58,000, which is considered a low-income family in Johnson
County. I think that's a fact that when people hear "affordable housing" that's not
necessarily the category that they're thinking of, but that's where the interest and
the concerns start, and then what I've done is just do some simple math and at the
various income levels, and divide it out by 30% and then by 12 to indicate what
the housing related expenses should be for folks at those income levels. So, the
first purpose is to take the focus away from any specific units and direct it to the
household that we're interested in. Then the second purpose is kind of, it's
spelled out a little bit more on the second and third pages, and that is... they
indicate that the affordable housing discussion involves everything from
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
April 12, 2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 4
emergency shelter, affordable rental and transitional housing, to home ownership.
So when we talk about affordable housing, it includes families in all those sorts of
units, and so.. . and again, just to put some parameters on this, again, assuming a
family of four at the 80% -- take the family of four from the various income
levels, and at the 80%, if you do some rough calculations and some rough
assumptions about what sort of unit they might be looking for, it would be
something in the range of$150,000 or so. Just to provide a snapshot ofthat, on
Monday I went on realtor. com and plugged in some criteria to see what was
available in this community, and the results are listed below. There are things
available. There are.. . and that indicates where they're available and the types of
units that are available. Obviously, there's a lot of growth in North Liberty.
There's a lot of condos and zero-lot lines. There are less than 30.. .on
realtor.com, which does have the realtors' listings, there are less than 30 detached
single family homes that fit those criteria, but obviously a number of other options
available. So, at that level, obviously we're not looking at people who don't have
housing, but the question for policy makers and for folks at this level is, does that
break out, have implications, for our communities and for our economic
development? Then just moving on, obviously, at 50% or below home ownership
is relatively out of the question for folks in Johnson County, and so then, we
begin looking at rental housing. And I provide some...the HUD Fair Market
Value, or Fair Market Rent, for a 3-bedroom unit, again continuing with the
assumption ofthe family off our and then at the 30% level, obviously, the burden
becomes more significant and the issues are more significant, and then, I think if
you read the paper, and obviously you folks deal with it on your level, we know
that the issue of emergency shelters is an issue in this community, but the folks
who direct those facilities, as well, report that the lack or the shortage of
affordable rental housing is a significant issue for folks trying to transition to
more permanent situations. And so that's just a snapshot of, as we talked about
affordable housing, what it includes and the range of issues that we're talking
about. And at this point, I guess, I would open it up. I don't want to be the expert
on it - there's a lot offolks who know a lot around the table, but if there are
questions or if there's issues that this raises, I guess I'll stop for a moment and. . .
Wilburn! Just before anyone jumps in with a question, just as a reminder, not every
jurisdiction has had a discussion about housing, affordable housing, those type of
issues; however, in the community groups outside of the jurisdictions have been
discussing this, as well, in all the jurisdictions. Some of the jurisdictions provide
some type of supplemental funding or programming that impacts people in low,
low to moderate income range, but not everyone does that through goverrunental
sources, so just open up for questions for Andy.
Champion! I think it's important too that, you imagine that it's hard for people to
transition from Shelter House into affordable housing. A lot of the reasons
they're in Shelter House is because they were in housing they couldn't afford and
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
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April 12, 2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 5
they end up not being able to pay their rent and they get evicted. So it's a very, it
works both ways in that economic bracket.
Elliott! Andy, have you set any kind of a target or a goal or an objective, of what you
think is an appropriate amount of affordable housing?
Johnson! Urn, more. (laughter)
Correia! Well, I think in the, in the third page, there was the, and this is for Iowa City and
the surrounding area, The Maxfield Research study did an analysis of the
projected demand between 1998 and 2005, so I'm sure that's related on, you
know, income, households, what the current stock was, what the... so there is a
little bit in there about, related to that.
Johnson! Other questions?
Franker/ I was just going to add that I know that Charlie Eastham's the expert here and
all of us in this room know a lot about this too, but when we looked (unable to
understand) two-thirds of the condos and townhomes that meet the criteria of your
search there, Andy, that we will, we've been working with Coralville to
bring... beginning transit now to North Liberty starting maybe late this summer,
this fall, and as Charlie can tell us, or as you know from your work, that housing
and transportation are the hand and glove that go together, so this can hopefully
mitigate the challenges that some people have who work perhaps in Iowa City,
but are looking for more affordable housing. One piece ofthe puzzle, perhaps.
Johnson! And nationwide, we're certainly seeing a trend where, when you add
transportation costs, there are more and more people who are actually over 50%
or their income between housing and transportation costs. So, it's a huge issue.
I've seen one study that indicates for every dollar you save on rent by moving
farther out, you spend 75 cents on transportation costs, so it is a significant.. . and I
certainly don't mean to indicate, I mean, this is sort of a jumping-off point for
some conversation, for some understanding of it. I don't mean to indicate at all
that there are a lot offolks addressing this and some services available, but it's
just a snapshot of where we are at this point.
Vanderhoef/ What do you see on the horizon, if any federal assistance in the way of grant
dollars?
Johnson! In general it's going down. Discretionary funds for housing are going down
significantly. So, you know, I don't see, I'm not aware of a lot of growth in that
regard. There is, there is action toward a national housing trust fund, and
obviously, finding the funds has been the tricky part, but in the new regulation of
Fannie May and Freddie Mac, there is a proposal that a portion oftheir before-
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
April 12, 2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 6
profit, before tax profits go into a national housing trust fund that would then be
distributed nationally.
Bailey/ You have a housing sununit scheduled, just.. . can you talk a little bit about that
and its objectives.
Johnson! Okay. I started with the Housing Trust Fund about a year and a half ago or so.
My background wasn't in housing so I've been learning a lot about it. It struck
me that there were not forums, that there were not regular forums where housing
was a topic that was addressed by a broad cross section ofthe community, and
just to read, I was just reading brochure from the National League of Cities on a
conference they're having on "Work Force Affordable Housing" and they say,
and this is just a blurb out of that, 'The nation's housing challenges will not
diminish without the involvement of all levels of government, as well as the
collaboration of businesses and non-profit housing service providers,' and on the
back of the brochure, there's one ofthe recommendations from the Scattered Site
Housing Task Force, City ofIowa City in particular, since that's where they're
recommendations were directed - work with the other municipalities and others,
as well as the League of Women Voters policy on housing, which recommends a
broad partnership in the community to address housing, and so how would that
conversation come about. There's a task force and many of them are here - Doug
Elliott from ECCOG, Maggie Elliott, Jan Peterson from United Way, and Steve
Brackis from the Housing Authority, are working on the proposal of planning a
housing summit that would bring together both elected leaders, representatives of
the business community, representatives ofthe non-profit community. First of all,
they have a discussion about housing to learn some of the facts - what is the
situation in Johnson County, to hear viewpoints of the situation that elected
leaders or business leaders or non-profits address, and then begin the conversation
about steps to move forward to address that. As the task force got together, it's a
huge issue, and we kind of wondered around and we said, 'You know, we need to
talk to those that we would want to come,' and present the idea, see if you think
it's a good idea, what would you want to see, what would be important to
consider, and to just receive your feedback on that. That really is the point where
we're at, is receiving feedback on it. My hope would be that we'd have it
scheduled for some time in the fall- perhaps October or early November, and so,
I'll just throw that out and our task force is here to kind of hear your comments
and your feedback. Is it worthwhile? What would be important to consider as we
move forward with the planning?
Wilburn! Will you be giving out invitations in which you have the exact date and place
set?
Johnson! Yep.
Wilburn! Okay.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
April 12,2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 7
Champion! This is a major problem in all of our communities because we're getting to
the point where the average person who works here can no longer afford to live
here - our teachers, our policemen, our firemen, young employees at the
University who haven't built up a nice salary, and I think it's pretty sad. I don't
have the solution, but I hope we can come up with something.
Sullivan! Andy, I know that the Johnson County Council of Governments has very
recently discussed looking at some different issues and one of them was housing,
and nothing's happened beyond the charge "let's look at housing" but that's
another, a lot ofthese same people sit at that table and that's another place where
you could collaborate.
Johnson! Okay.
Stutsman! You know, seems like we all say it's a problem, you know, (unable to hear) we
just don't seem to get much going with it, and I think maybe a housing summit or
at least a discussion, you know, involving all the players, you know, including
private business because it is an economic development issue. People have to
have a place to live if they're going to work in the community.
Wilburn! Well not only that. It goes beyond just (unable to understand) services because
in some of the programs, for example, the loan program that the City ofIowa City
offers to maintain a certain stock of affordable housing. I mean, it reaches some
of our financial institutions, it.. .money circulates with some of the home builders
in terms of the type of housing that they are building, and so it does touch, touch
other areas.
Fields/ Well, and I think we've also seen that the transitory nature of some of the
population of our area certainly affects education in our schools, as well, so all of
us are touched by it in some way.
Wilburn! So you'll get information, invitations, and those who choose to attend... will do
so.
Johnson! Okay, you will know about it. Now, my contact information is on the bottom of
the brochure. If you have ideas or suggestions, let me know. As I do some
looking around for examples, I see that there's summits onjust about everything,
held in various places. If you've been to one that you thought was effective, let
me know. If you've been to one that was a waste of your time, let us know that
too, because we want this to be useful and we want it to come away with at least
the beginnings of some action steps to address the issues.
Wilburn! Just a couple points of information. City of Iowa City - we appointed a task
force last, well, it was three years ago now, to look at issues of scattered site
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
April 12, 2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 8
housing and that's where some ofthe recommendations came up. The City
Council will begin, at our next work session.. . next work session, discussing that
report and moving on from there. Second piece of information, the annual report
of our Housing Authority looks like this, sitting on your way out the door - if
you're interested. Just gives information about what the, in terms of self-
sufficiency and promoting home ownership, what the local Housing Authority has
been up to, and Steve Brackis, where you at, Steve? Raise your hand, ah, there he
is. He'd be glad to, if you have any questions, feel freeto give him a call. His
card is attached to it, as well. Thank you.
Correia! And the Iowa City Housing Authority, even though it's located in Iowa City
serves the whole county and into Washington County, so it really is a resource for
the whole county and all the cities, many ofthe programs.
Wilburn! All right. Thanks, Andy.
Johnson! Thank you.
Local Ovtion Sales Tax:
Wilburn! Iowa School District, local option sales tax - who's going to.. . okay. Thanks,
Pete.
Wallace/ I'll start off, Ross. Earlier this year, we were approached by the Solon School
Board, asking for a meeting of all school districts in Johnson County to discuss
the option of a vote on what is known as a silo, but it basically is a I-cent sales tax
that was authorized ten years ago by the State for the purposes of enhancing
school infrastructure. Historically, as you probably well know, 97 of the 99
counties in the State have passed this local option tax, Linn and Johnson being the
two holdouts. The law has been amended a couple of times. Most recently to
guarantee $575.00 per student per district with essentially a pool being set up in
any jurisdiction who passed the silo subsequent to 2003, or extended the original
silo, would be allowed to keep only that amount and the rest would go into the
pool to subsidize those counties whose tax base was insufficient to bring them up
$575.00. We can argue about the $575.00 that's being quoted around - I won't.
There is some movement in the Legislature to make this a statewide initiative,
which would then fold in Johnson and Linn counties, except last night that hadn't
gone very far, and hour to hour things change so I'm not sure where it stands
today. We did meet with Solon.. .I'm sorry?
Vanderhoef/ It's on hold, I talked to (unable to hear).
Wallace/ Good, thank you, Dee. We did meet on March 7 with representatives of 8 of the
other 9 school districts. Johnson County, the problem is basically that Solon and
Clear Creek both are at their bonding limits. Both are growing school districts.
Both have needs for new schools. Both have no ways to finance it. So, they are
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
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April 12, 2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 9
somewhat...I won't say frantic, but they are very concerned. In order to be good
neighbors and good friends, we did start our discussions on this, and most
recently a lengthy one last night. There are a couple of options. One is to
approach the voting community with the I-cent silo arrangement, understanding
that because we have a very rich tax base, estimated at about $1,027 per student
that we would surrender, all but $575.00 to the state-wide pool to subsidize the
other districts in the State. The other option would be to enter into a 28E
agreement - we'd all share the penny - with other local governments to split in
some predetermined manner, that money allowing school district to retain perhaps
more and the municipalities and the County to share. This is the proposal in Linn
County, although they're asking for money for a three-year commitment from
their voters, and it's my understanding they'll try to bring that to the public late
this year. We had a lengthy discussion last night and our main concern, I think,
initial discussions is what we perceive the citizenry of our school district, and
indeed Johnson County, feel about this tax. And, the second question that we had,
which is second question, what other governing bodies felt about the concept of a
shared penny versus (unable to understand). So, we elected by putting this on the
agenda today to ask all of you, you represent jurisdictions, but to step back a little
bit and start to give us some ofthe first feelings that you might have, your
colleagues, critics, neighbors, about the receptivity ofthis... put on the
ballot.. . either mechanism, but we're most concerned with starting off with the
plain silo tax. That's the other question. We intend to begin a education,
communication campaign, but this seemed like an ideal (unable to hear) because
all of you (unable to hear) many people, and engage the community. We'd kind
oflike your (unable to hear). Have I represented that.. .do you want to add
something?
Klouda/ Well, I'm wondering if maybe either you or Lane might address the issue, the
need for the additional funding by the Iowa City School District.
Wallace/ Well, that's a good point. As you know, we maintain what we call (unable to
understand) which is the physical plant; an equipment levy list ofthings that need
to be done, which range from asphalting, gym floors, to additions, new
classrooms, air conditioning, new windows, and what have you. It currently
stands at, Paul, 52? $52 million ofthings that we need to do. We also know that
we need new structures. West High needs a music room. There are a couple of
elementary schools that quite probably, most assuredly, would need additions,
classrooms, as they grow. We know from our demographic report that our
elementary school population is exploding and we're going to need at least one, if
not two, elementary schools in the next couple of years. We also have in the back
of our mind that within the next ten years, we may need a third high school. All
ofthose cost money. All of those have to be funded in some way. In addition,
which you probably know, the State Legislature in their budget cutting, has
essentially eliminated technology funds. Our district is at disadvantage in
compared to all ofthe districts, with the exception of Cedar Rapids. Weare way
.
This represents only a reasonably accnrate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
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Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
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behind in technology because we don't have enough funds to institute what we
feel is needed and to replace badly needed equipment. So, our teclmology
expenditures have dropped precipitously, through no fault (unable to hear).
Wilburn! So, at this point, you haven't made a decision one way or the other as to the
silo?
Wallace/ We're at the point where we would like to gauge the feeling of the community.
Champion! It's a tough sale. Even though it's obvious you really need it, I mean we tried
it one vote but we didn't try it for the same reasons you would try it, but I, you
know, if you decide to do this, I will of course support it. I would like to see the
sales tax money stay in the County. So I would like some kind of share, I mean,
whether we built a new jail with it or whether we split it between municipalities
plus the County, but I think to sell it you're going to have to involve a lot of
people and, boy, it's going to be tough. Not because you don't have the need, but
because I think people view sales tax as regressive. I don't. I think you pay
property taxes, whether you're renting or whether you're rich or poor, you're
going to be paying those property taxes, but I mean, I would support...I don't
know where to start to (unable to hear) how the community feels about it now.
Schools I think are always more (unable to hear).
Wallace/ Okay. Thank you.
Gill/ I'm just speaking for myself, but I think it's a great idea. I think the split sales tax at
this time would work. You know, we've... we have kicked around sales tax for a
long time and I can remember when it came about when Larry Baker was trying
to talk to us about doing a sale tax and splitting it and who's going to get what and
who's going to.. . and my view is if we have a single issue, and what I'm pushing,
is this joint communication center where we have the County, all municipalities
under one roof and we can pay for that with a sales tax and I think it would be a
fantastic thing, and you know, this is an issue that is going to come and hit us all
and if we can all work together and the 28E agreements and who's going to get
what, and ifit all goes into one pot and serves the whole County, I think we won't
have a problem with it.
Wallace/ So your feeling, Tom, is that ifnot only the percentage division which is
mandated before election is announced, but the use that the various groups might
be putting that money to would enhance (unable to hear).
Gill/ And you know, we've had this argwnent, this (unable to hear) argument for years,
and you know, it's.. .my feeling is we've just got to get over this. I mean, there's
two counties in the whole State that do not have sales tax, and you know, I know
that argwnent, I know it's regressive, but you can find a lot of other things that are
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription ofthe April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
April 12, 2006
Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page II
regressive too, and I-cent sales tax is not going to harm people. I really don't
believe that.
Sullivan! Well, maybe I should speak then, because I actually, I disagree with Tom. I
feel the exact opposite.
Gill/ I know you do.
Sullivan! With all due respect, you know, the fact that it is regressive, I think can you say
well, let's do more. I don't get that argument. I mean, I think that it is in fact a
problem and I think when you look at this agenda, and you look at the housing
summit, and you look at a Health and Human Service building, you look at
Family Resource Centers. I mean, we've got a lot of people in this counties with
serious needs. Now, when they're only two counties that aren't doing something,
I think you've got to say either they're way, way behind or they're way, way
ahead, and in this case, I think they're way, way ahead. I think that if we have
needs, we need to have the people who are best able to pay for those needs pay for
it, and not ask the folks who are less able to pay for it. And the fact ofthe matter,
property is an asset. It gives you something. I mean, you have more net worth
when you have property. If you look to go, look at somebody who's looking at,
for example, nursing home placement. They don't just say, 'What do you earn?'
They say, 'What are you worth? What do you have?' Because property translates
into something that renters, frankly, don't have. Yes, renters will pay property tax
indirectly through paying rent, but the bottom line is, 'Will rents go up because
property taxes go up?' No, they'll go up because they can go up. It's totally
market driven and if the market allows it, landlords will charge it.
Gill/ But, Rod, you have one funding stream and that's property tax. You need another
funding stream, and the prime example is Iowa City. How much taxable property
(unable to hear) you have in this town?
Champion! We have a lot of non-taxable property.
Gill/ That's right. And you need another taxing stream. We're at that point...
Champion! It's growing.
Wilburn! Just to....and...the Iowa City Council has not had a formal discussion about
local option sales just over the course of the years, as Tom alluded to, several of
us have just made different comments related to, and I personally I would
encourage the School Board to do so, to pursue it, and as Connie was saying, to
keep the dollars local. We've all been through out budget cycles and you know
starting back to three, four years ago when we had to make some pretty dramatic
cuts in City services, and I'm looking at it as, you know, there are City services
being cut and as Tom said, we've got pretty much one source that we're funding
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that out of, and I think, you know, part of the discussion as it goes on, if you are
someone who is low to moderate income, what type of investment are you
looking at? If you are doing without police or fire, or if you've got a joint
communication problem in times when, whether it's law enforcement or natural
disaster. We're in tornado season now and you know, our emergency services
can't communicate with each other. We've got one jurisdiction, the School
Board, coming to other jurisdictions asking for money to provide services to the
very same low to moderate income folks we're talking about, and if your
disposable income, granted, is going to have a higher burden because ofthe
regressivity, you know, that'll be a time for folks who are low to moderate income
to say, you know, if after the one penny, if my disposable income, if my
contribution is $30 or $100 or $300 for the year, what services am I getting in
return, because as it is right now, the services being offered are being whittled
down and down and down, and I just think, you know, it's something that needs
to be put out there and let the, you know, let the votes for and against, put the
information out and let the voters decide.
Elliott! There's a popular term now called tipping point, and I think I can't speak for
other areas within the County, but I think Iowa City is very close to a tipping
point. If property taxes go up, we're going to see a decline in interest in living in
Iowa City, and ifthat interest declines, you can say good-bye to Economic
Development; you can say good-bye to the income that goes for all the services
that we want to have; and I would be very much in favor of some kind of. . . well,
first of all, I'd like to find out all the information that's available, whether it's 28E
agreements or whatever it is, but for instance, Iowa City desperately needs
another stream of income. Weare hurting in a number of areas, including public
safety, and I think this is something that we have to look at very seriously and
very carefully.
Vanderhoef/ Something that I'd like to bring out to the table because we've already seen
two different opinions on the regressivity of a I-cent sales tax, and as I recall,
about 1998, 99, thereabouts Peat Marwick did a study that might be pulled out
and take a look at it again because as I recall, when they went through (unable to
hear) income, there basically wasn't anything for the low-moderate income that
wasn't...the things that they purchased were all tax exempt and that they found
that property tax was far more regressive in that that was being passed back to the
renter. Certainly we don't have benevolent landlords who are going to (unable to
hear) taxes on their own and only pay upkeep on their buildings through the rent,
so education up front on that one point, and then start judging what the market
will bear, and how people really think about it, if they have good facts.
Fields/ I think you can manipulate data from a study and...to fit your need, whatever it's
going to be, you know. You can look at what's collected and you could make an
argument either way because it's really kind of (unable to hear). I had a recent
communication with Peter Fischer, which Tom had mentioned, and... within the
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past month, and I think his view has changed from before, because he said to me
that because the amount is so small, minimal, either way that it's almost a wash
between the two, as far as a funding steam, whether it's a bond, whether it's a
local option, and he was starting, he communicated that to me, because I think
that when we start talking about the study and things it's just, it's one that we can
manipulate however we want to make the argument. I think going to the
community, stakeholders in our communities, and for cities, for the School
District, they're the ones, you know? That's where the effect's going to be - we
have to get their views.
Cilek/ And as Pete mentioned, I think another thing to really keep in mind is the
technology portion... that the School District can use this money to not only do
infrastructure, but also technology updates, and you know, Ross, when you
mentioned the opportunities of some of the low income children, those are the
children who don't have these technology experiences in their home and they do
courit on the schools to keep them competitive and even give them those
opportunities, and I think that's a big advantage, a very big advantage, ofthe sales
tax that is not going to come from anywhere else, and when Pete talked about us
getting farther and farther behind because we can't give that to our low income
students like some of the other counties who have the sales tax - I think that's a
pretty important selling point for this particular option, and also I think, did we
talk a little bit about, as you said, Bob, about making sure we know the details of
it, I think there's different requirements for what the School can do with the
money versus what the municipalities can do with the funds. Is that correct, Lane,
is that right? So, that would be something that...
Champion! Infrastructure, right?
Cilek/ And technology.
Harney/ I myself, I would support what's been suggested for most of the reasons that
we've talked about here. I think what Rod is saying, and some others are saying
about the regressiveness, I think that's probably true to a point; however, those
that receive the benefits back from that tax, that penny sales tax, will benefit
through the schools, will probably benefit the most in what they would receive in
the end, the education, the technology, a lot of issues that they would. County, for
example, is at maximum on their levies for property owners, or taxes. We can't
go any higher, and the demands keep increasing, I think this is just a good way to
do it. The necessities are pretty much exempt on the taxation on the penny sales
tax, so I think everyone benefits in the end from what comes out of there.
Sullivan! I disagree totally, 100%. I just, for what it's worth, again, but here's an
important statistic. Over 70% of the people, and we talk about people who are
poor when you go back to what Andy Johnson proposed, over 70% of the poor'
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people are kids. I mean, they're the ones who get hurt the most by something like
this. It's not the adults, it's the kids.
Harney/ But they're benefiting in the education.
Sullivan! Well, you can say that, but the bottom line is they don't benefit and a lot of
people in the room could tell you that they don't benefit when there's less
available money in their household. That ends up hurting them educationally,
every bit as much if there' s a new computer.
Correia! Well...I think...I think there's an issue of if someone's receiving good education
but they can't afford a place to live, then they're bounced around from house to
house and they're not in the same school, they're not necessarily receiving the
same educational benefit than if they had a stable place to live and they were in
the same school. I mean, I just have, the things that aren't taxed current are food,
is that correct? (others talking at once)
Wilburn! I'm sorry, wait, I'm sorry, hold on...time out, time out everybody! One person
talking or the transcriptionist will let me have it, okay? (laughter) One person
talking. Go ahead, Amy, yuu weren't finished.
Correia! I just, so the things that aren't taxed currently are food.
Elliott! Prescriptions.
Correia! Prescriptions, and resale items.
Wallace! Gas, hotels.
Correia! Well, gas includes a tax as part ofthe price of it, but that wouldn't be affected by
the I-cent.
VanderhoefJ Clothing weekend.
Correia! A weekend, sure.
Vanderhoef! For families.
Correia! Lottery tickets. (laughter)
Wilburn! Is there someone that we haven't heard from yet that would like to?
Correia! I still have another question, I'm sorry. So, in terms of how we make the
decision, so (unable to understand). One is, you said that Cedar Rapids is
thinking about the 3-year, a 3-year. Are most of the counties, the 97 counties are
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just. . . they're ten years, okay. And then after ten years, it's over or they have
another vote?
(Wallace)! It has to be revoted and first counties...and I'm blocking, Sioux City, I can't
remember the county. (several talking) Just re-upped theirs this last fall, so they
were the first ones on the second.
Wilburn! Regenia, you had...
Bailey/ I just wanted to say I think it's important, I think that some points have been
made about talking to citizens. Rather than talking about the impact on citizens,
let's talk to those citizens, those low and moderate income citizens. I think it's
inappropriate to speak for people on what services they want, and let's see if they
feel it's regressive, and I think that that could be an important decision making
factor, because people should have a right to say what services they're willing to
trade off for in this community and in this area, and we know that services are
decreasing, as you pointed out, Rod, and I think it's important that they have that
option to say we'll step up, we're willing to do this, or not, and stop speaking for
them.
Sullivan! Well, the bottom line is, you know, the same people who will be most effected
won't vote if you put it to a vote, and that's just the way it is.
Bailey/ But once again you're speaking for them, and I think that our job....
Sullivan! Somebody better speak for them because nobody else is.
Bailey/ I think we should talk to them, instead of speaking for them. That's our job.
Sullivan! I speak to plenty of people.
Wilburn! We've got a couple other comments here.
(Wozniak)/ I echo some of Rod's sentiments. I agree that it is regressive in nature, where
Cedar Rapids had the local option sales tax for the pools. My parents live in
Cedar Rapids. They're going to be facing the Linn County vote. My mom would
always say, the argument would always be for people (unable to understand) it's
only a pizza (unable to understand) and my mom would always say, well this is a
pizza (unable to understand) and pretty soon I don't have money to buy a pizza
for myself. I think the advantage of the is that it does go to the voters and we
don't have to make the ultimate decision, the voters do make the choice on it. I
guess the current concern I continue to have is that the, as communities keep
discussing growth and economic development, when it continually becomes more
expensive in our communities and our counties. I think sometimes things are out
of balance in that way, and so, you know, like I said, I echo. It will go to the
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voters. It's that choice and they'll be the ones to ultimately decide, but I do agree
with some of Rod's comments that I think it is regressive.
Champion! Although it's been years since I've been in the income bracket, and maybe
this still exists, Iowa used to have a sales rebate for certain incomes. Does that
still exist, in State income tax? Anybody know?
Dilkes! Steve says no.
Champion! It was a good idea.
Wilburn! Yeah, Jim?
Fausett! I was just going to say that I think that if this is to go forward, it has to go
forward as a (TAPE ENDS) ... that the benefits stay in our communities, in our
cities. I don't see a lot of advantage to send it to Des Moines and let them, even
though it may be needed in other parts, it's needed here as well, and if we're
going to continue the type of economic development and growth that we need in
our communities, we need to be united effort and get behind it and see that
education is put forth, and I think it has a real possibility of being successful and I
agree it needs to be, as far as the cities and the counties are concerned, we need to
say what it's going to go for.
Wilburn! So I put it out there again, anyone who hasn't, and then, Pete, if you can walk
us through what your timeline or expectation is. You wanted to comment... yeah,
John?
Lundell! I was just going to say that I also support it, and one of the reasons that hasn't
been said yet, but it's also the fact that we do have, this community has very many
visitors and have tax our services on athletic weekends and other times, and this is
frankly an opportunity to help those visitors that are depending on our public
safety and so forth to help pay for those services. So I agree with almost
everything that's been said.
Wallace! I don't think, Ross, we have an absolute timeline. We intend to bring this back
to our next meeting, with consideration of comments here, with a little bit more
knowledge about what the State Legislature may (unable to hear) and make our
plans then. I think because we feel there's an obligation to respond to the other
school districts in the county, we will make some sort of decision (unable to hear).
Wilburn! If you all, if you would put it forward and you would be putting, if you decide
to go the route ofthe...well, either one. I guess you're in the driver's seat.
Wallace! Part of the law says that the application for this vote has to come from the
largest school district in the County, that's us, so that's why the other school
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districts have come to us. We have 11,000, or 14,000 students, so we are the
(unable to hear). We say "yeah" or we say "nay" and it goes.
Wilburn! And so, should you decide to pursue this and pursue the shared penny, would,
does the contract come first or the vote come first? I mean, in terms of a proposal
for the public to respond to if it's put on the ballot?
Wallace/ The division of the penny has to proceed the vote. I think the usage to which
everybody shares is important. It would be very valuable to (unable to hear), but
that is not mandated.
Wilburn! Okay (several talking at once).
Wallace/ That's a practical matter, I mean, you're looking at ten years of income. You're
not going to be able to anticipate how you're going to spend all that money.
Elliott! I have no problem with the School District going point on this, but I hope you will
not do things unilaterally. I would hope that you would let all the rest ofthe
councils and the boards keep in touch so that we all can either benefit and
approve, or reject or whatever, but I would hope that you do not do this
unilaterally.
Wallace/ Thank you, Bob.
Vanderhoef/ I have one last question for you.
Wallace/ You better hurry because Ross is glaring at me. (laughter and several talking)
Vanderhoef/ Uh, as we all know, cities have the opportunities - cities and counties - of
putting together a I-cent sales tax, and the question I would like answered from
the school side of it is there anything that you cannot do that you see a need for by
using silo? In other words, silo is only for infrastructure and technology. Do you
have a need for operating funds that would possibly be available if it were split
from a city-initiated, versus a silo initiation?
Wallace/ No, I think our great needs are in the infrastructure, and looking ahead at what
we...
Fields/ I don't believe we can use it for anything besides that.
Vanderhoef/ When the city initiates it, you can use it, you put it out as to what you're
going to use it for. So it has broader possibilities for use.
Correia! I just have one final questions, are you, is your hope, after you decide, that it
would be on the November ballot, it'd be a special. . .
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Wallace/ I think we would probably, Amy, go for a special ballot. We certainly would
not put it on the School Board election ballot. I think that would be a mistake.
And I would, I guess, prefer it not be swallowed up in the general election too. I
think it would probably, but that's the....(several talking at once).
Correia! And is there an application deadline, I mean, do you have to have it in?
Wallace/ No.
Correia! No, okay.
Klouda! I haven't heard anyone at the table make a comment with regard to how you
would feel about the School District going for silo, and keeping this separate and
perhaps the other municipalities doing a sales tax on their own, and I just
wondered if anybody has a reaction to that possibility.
Elliott! That's what I tried for my comment to be, that I would like for the school not to
do it unilaterally, that's something that we would all have the opportunity county-
wide to be a part of this.
Wilburn! That's what I had heard. Yeah. Okay. Thank you.
Harney/ Can I just say one other...
Wilburn! Yeah, go ahead.
Harney/ When I was talking here earlier about taking the services away, the County's at
the point where we give out all these grants and so forth to support the United
Way, a lot ofthe other areas that provide the services to the children, and to me,
we're at the point where we have the jail needs, we have the communication
center needs - there's a lot of needs out there the County cannot raise taxes for
anymore and I think we need another channel, and those dollars, I don't want to
take them away from the people that we're giving the grants to. I want to see
those dollars continue to come in and provide the services to the individuals that
really need it the most.
Wilburn! Iowa River Landing. Jim? Or.. . (laughter and several talking) It's all yours!
Iowa River LandinI! Planninl! Process:
Herwig! As I look at the agenda there.. . have to wing it here! The planning process is the
point that we're trying to make here. You're familiar with the Iowa River
Landing Project and the area bounded by Interstate 80, 1st Avenue, the river, and
the Iowa River Power Restaurant, essentially. Urn, in the, in the fact that there's
probably not going to be a rain forest sprout up there, we have taken control of
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that for the last several months and we're trying to move it forward. We have a
formal process and I think it is anticipated that we open it up to anybody who has
an opinion and it'll start off in, later this, well next week or so, where the Council
identifies some general goals for the area and then they're going to have a series
of (unable to understand) planning and so forth, but it's open, we're trying to
invite as many people as have opinions to put them out, so if you happen to have
any ofthose, you're welcome to try and plug into the process. Josh
Schaumberger from Convention and Visitors Bureau is going to kind of
superintend the process and we're hoping to get as many thoughts as you may
have for attraction areas and so forth. The hotel's on schedule, everything is
moving along and ultimately traffic will flow back the way it used to, or better,
and it's going to be an exciting area and so if you have some thoughts, we're
starting from square one to a certain extent, as far as asking for public input. So,
that'll be the hallmark ofthe planning process. It'll move along at a fairly
vigorous rate, but we will have plenty of opportunities for input if you have them.
So, I think that was the only point that was going to be made there.
Wilburn! Okay. And I'm just going to interject just an announcement, since we've been
talking about livable communities here, May 23rd, William (Bill) Novelli, CEO of
AARP, topic is Johnson County, A Livable Community, from I :00 P.M. to 2:30
P.M., Holiday Inn Coralville, and you can see afterwards if you have
questions. Okay. Health and Human Service Building. County.
New Health and Human Services Buildinl!:
Lehmani As you know, we're acquiring property north of the current County
Administration Building for a Human Health, Developmental Disabilities,
MHDD, our Board of Health, Veterans Affairs, Juvenile Justice - we're going to
bring those all under one roof, kind of one point of services. A lot ofthose people
have to access those travel from different parts of the City now, so we're going to
try to bring t hose under. We rent from some of the facilities now, we own a
couple of them. I think there's going to be some savings there. We're looking at
doing a building, we've talked about a 2-story. We're looking at a three, possibly
two, maybe overbuild for our future uses. There's been some discussion of
maybe partnering with other entities that may be interested in some ofthe
building, either on a permanent or temporary basis. Part of what we talked about
today a little bit in our strategic planning, key issues was possibly the School
District, looking for a different location, possibly may want to partner with maybe
a third floor, that type of situation, either on a permanent or temporary basis. Just
want to let you know what we're thinking. We're soon to take possession of most
ofthat property over there sometime in June. We'll be doing some design build
plans on those buildings, but we need to know before, you know, we go out for
bids, what we actually can afford, what we can actually, you know, put on the
property. Parking is going to be an issue, as much as anything, putting a ramp in
- flat parking and stuff, for the employees and also the people who are going to be
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accessing that building, it's going to be an issue, so... any other supervisors want
to comment or throw something in, you're sure welcome.
Sullivan! Well, one of the things that I think had been mentioned before was, you know,
since it's a health and human services building, there might be some things that
either the School District or the City, I'm talking Iowa City, I guess, since it's in
Iowa City. No offense to Coralville or North Liberty, but urn, one example would
be maybe the housing. I know that Steve Atkins has talked about this building
being cramped before and that would be something that could potentially be a
pretty good fit, I think, in terms of we've got a lot of the same clientele using
housing as would be using some of that building. But that's just a thought, and if
folks have other thoughts of things that are a good congruent uses, now's the time
to tell us.
Stutsman! Plans are to break ground in 07. Hopefully have it done by the end of 07,
beginning of 08.
Wilburn! Family Resource Center cooperative. Who from the School District is going
to.. . okay.
Familv Resource Center Cooperative:
Pluggel Can I just stand here? Is this all right? Can you pick me up from here? Joan
Vandenburg is here. My name is Lane Plugge, I serve as Superintendent here.
Joan Vandenburg is here to assist. She's got some things she's going to hand out.
Really, this was placed on the agenda for three primary reasons. The first is we're
looking to expand Family Resource Center services at Lucas and Roosevelt. I
know that, at least the supervisors and some City Council Members in Iowa City
have probably talked to some folks at either or both Roosevelt and Lucas, and we
don't have all the funding. We're not here saying write your check out today-
maybe later! (laughter) But the, the District has submitted a grant that we're
hoping to help fund this. We're looking for other dollars to piece together for
this, but the ongoing operations of these centers will be really dependent on
extending existing partnerships we have. Second reason really is we want to
provide you with some information about the Family Resource Centers and
thirdly, we wanted to thank all of you that are here today because you have helped
partner, being very important partners, in the creation and the operation of our
Family Resource Centers. Family Resource Centers are basically site-based
providers and coordinators of services to not only students, but to families as well.
We view the Family Resource Centers as probably our primary tool and our
driver in our golf bag, so to speak, of how we deal with removing barriers to
learning. We look at it as an early intervention strategy, where we think it's
easier to help students and families overcome those barriers early on in their
careers, rather than looking at remedial services later. The first Family Resource
Center was implemented in 1995 at Hills School. Little later in that same year,
another one opened in Penn. Both of these were funded by grants. Those grants
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are long gone, but we've since supplemented them with other funding and other
grants. In your handout, you've got the listing of all the schools where we have
the Family Resource Centers. They're listed on the first page. Actually, we've
got the locations, we've got the outcomes that we're looking at. I think if you
look at page, that third page also shows the funding, where it all comes from, and
it's truly a partnership. These are the operating funds from the various
government entities and if you look at the Iowa City Community School District,
we target some categorical funding we have. The biggest portion is called
"dropout prevention." That could buy us four teachers. We could place those
four teachers in schools where we have chosen to fund Family Resource Centers.
Of course, the Johnson County Empowerment, the Johnson County Decaf Funds,
Johnson County Juvenile Justice, we have been successful and we thank the
cooperation of Johnson County for that. We use some of our State grant funding
instead oflooking at class size reduction, we have sunk it into the Family
Resource Centers. We believe it works. That this model really works. We have
somewhere in here, how many kids - what was it, a 1,000 kids last year? And I
think more importantly, look at the nurnber of adults. The Family Resource
Center just does not target children alone. It would target the adult family
members in that household. There's another thing on the budget. If you haven't,
how many of you have had a chance to get to Wood School yet? That's what a
Family Resource should look like. That is our vision. The City of Iowa City
helped us with some capital funding. It's a great facility. They will serve as a
home for site-based, school-based services for years to come. So we thank you
for that. Anything else we've got here, let's see... urn, I just think this is a
demonstrative model. It's successful. It's worked in this community. We're
looking to expand it. You've heard many times as you talk to teachers, we've
heard it, read it in the papers, the changing demographics, the greater needs of
kids and the services are declining. We've talked about it here. There, a goal of
ours is to expand the Lucas and Roosevelt. We appreciate any help you've given
us. We'd appreciate any future help, partnerships, you could give us. It's also
listing all the community organizations, I think on that last page, that have helped
us. It's probably our best example of partnerships. So, Joan, am I leaving
anything out at all?
Vandenburg! (unable to hear)
Wilburn! Joan, Joan.. . (laughter)
Vandenburg/ I just want to echo what Lane has said about the support that we've gotten
from the various groups, and the County, if you'll notice, it's abstracted, but they
gave us a nice bump this year, which we...I know in difficult budget years that
was stellar of you all to do that, and we have a little bit of money allocated from
the County for Lucas and so we're trying to piece some things together. And I
guess from my standpoint, I think it's a win-win. It's a win-win for schools
because it helps kids come t6 school and be ready to learn, and it's a win-win for
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the community and the families because it makes services more accessible. And
that's, I think, earlier we talked about transportation. (unable to hear) ...a real
benefit.
Pluggel Our parents are convinced it's needed too. If any of you have talked to the
Lucas' families, they want it because they see it work somewhere else, and we
will get it. I just don't know how long it will take us to get there. We've tried to
use the funding streams you see. We really have not contracted from general
ledger and programs. The (unable to hear) probably most importantly spent there.
I asked the question what would happen if we pulled Family Resource Centers
and I didn't even get rolling of eyes. I got first flared nostrils and (laughter) I
think that they're here to stay. We appreciate your help and ask you to seriously
consider continuing that support or expanding it in the future. So...
Wilburn! Any questions for Lane?
Gill! Would this program ever work at the middle schools at the junior highs, or is this
primarily. . .
Pluggel No, it could. We have other at-risk programs there. It's been more successful,
probably because of early intervention. We try to do that there, but it certainly
could work. Probably on a different.. . site-based school services certainly can
work in all our schools. It might look a little bit different. Some of the same
things could be needed. Other things we're working on now are maybe some
medical services, bringing them in to some of the existing Family Resource
Centers. At Wood we have some traveling clinics, but, yeah, the partnerships are
all there. I'm sold on school based. What we have to give you is access to those
families and families who really need the help.
Elliott! Lane or Joan, just very quickly, I'm looking at services at these sites. Can you off
the top of your head give me an... what are the, probably two or three major
focuses? For instance, when I've talked to a couple principals, I hear them talk
about people who just don't know how to do school, or people who are
malnourished. What would you say are the major focuses, if that's a plural.
Vandenburg! I would say probably one of our biggest challenges right now is just
meeting the basic needs. This is the same conversation we've had before, but you
know, kids just needing the basics of food, shelter, and clothing.
Elliott! Okay. This is, if you were going to say, this would be almost more for family
basic needs than for school, because they need that to excel at school.
Vandenburg! Right, so that. . . and I think the other thing is just the communication issues
that, you know, just how you reach some families that maybe have more
challenges is different than the letter home in the mail that we do traditionally
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with in school, so I think there's extra efforts that go, because we really want the
parents actively involved in their child's education, but to get there sometimes
you have to take care ofthe crisis, and then you move on to that next level.
Plugge/ Our ultimate goal is to make them successful in school. We're working now to
make sure that, we're working toward that. We just don't become a service that
hands out clothes or food. There are other services in our community that
certainly do that. It's the connect with that, but we try hard to make sure it's
(unable to understand) that success in school will help these families, help the
children in these families to succeed later in life.
Elliott! Okay, thanks.
Vandenburg! I have a third focus. I think just informal counseling and helping both the
parent and the kid connect to someone there, so I think there's a lot of, some of
the resources in the community have dried up for that, as well, so I think
sometimes they just need someone to talk to, and we know when some ofthose
counseling needs are met, the kids will do better in school, as well.
Plugge/ .. .my nature to feel guilty about things, and I feel a little guilty being here,
saying, 'Gosh can you help us with this,' but it truly is something that works, and
it works because...I don't think it's just a school issue, and we're open to any
possibilities that could be out there in the future, as well, and we will get Lucas
and we will get Roosevelt eventually. So...
Gill/ It's a great program, but the key thing, at the point of contact. It's where the
families first go (unable to hear).. .ideal thing, and once they're on track, it works,
and it's a good program.
Plugge/ I apologize if anybody came begging to you, but they're begging for a good
purpose. (laughter)
Wilburn! Thanks, Lane. Thanks, Joan. Forevergreen Road.
Foreverl!reen Road Extension Study:
(Fausett)/ I think I'll ask Kelly to come down and give us some information about the
studies and so forth of what we're doing.
Hayworth! The Forevergreen Road study has been completed. This is the corridor study
that would connect north Dubuque Street, North Liberty Road, lih Avenue, 965,
and ultimately, over to 380. This looked at specifically the corridor between 12th
Avenue and Dubuque Street. That has been completed. It has been sent out to all
the affected property owners. All the governmental entities that were involved in
the planning process have received that information, as well. Jeff is scheduling it
for public hearing in June, I believe, at JCCOG, so that'll be an opportunity for
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
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Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 24
those residents to come forward and ask any questions. We have received two
property owners are moving forward with their development plans along that
corridor so it will be moving along very promptly, but everybody should have
received the information and we're looking forward to moving it forward at the
June JCCOG meeting.
Wilburn! Are you going to be participating in the race against the bus and the.. .I'll talk to
you about it later. (laughter)
Sullivan! Does this go into the corporate limits of Tiffin at all?
Hayworth! No, this would go, this, the particular study is from 12th Avenue east to
Dubuque Street. Ultimately, it would, if you extended Forevergreen Road to
the...it is extended to the Interstate now. You can go from l2'h Avenue to 380,
can't get on. (laughter) There is... there is a (unable to hear) area plan, is that
what you call it, Jim? There is an interchange shown at that point, and
Forevergreen Road could extend on into Tiffin and so, yes, that would. Thank
you. Okay....(unable to hear person in audience).
Wilburn! Can you repeat what he just said, please.
Hayworth! Yeah, Jeff just said that Tiffin has asked JCCOG to review that to take
Forevergreen Road on into Tiffin, so that amendment would be occurring, as well.
Wilburn! All right. Joint Communication Center. (unable to understand) asked for the
City to put this on or. . .
Joint Communications Center:
Harney! I asked to put that on, and the reason being is that there's not a lot to report, but I
don't want this to become stagnant. I want to keep this out in front of the entities
to try to push the Communication Center along. I think it's important, it needs to
be done. Iowa City is indicated they have work that needs to be done. The
County has radio communication problems that they're going to need.. . switching
gears, they're going to need things put in. It's going to be costly when we do this,
and I think it's time to push this along and try to get the counties and entities
moving along on developing the Communications Center. There's a lot of ways
we can do this, and one is today we talked about a little bit on perhaps the sales
tax. Like (unable to understand) another way we need to look at. Just things for
thought is, I think there's a possibility the County could put together like a Transit
Authority, that type ofthing, where you actually have its own taxing authority,
county-wide, where it could support a Communications Center and I think what
we need to do, we're going to push this along to JCCOG at the next meeting - it's
going to be on their agenda - asking them to try to get a committee together from
each community and try to push the Communications Center along, rather than let
it sit there. We need people taking the lead and moving it along. So it's just food
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City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
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Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 25
for thought, and hopefully that, when it comes to JCCOG, that they'll have some
input and try to keep things moving. Get it going along.
Vanderhoef/ Thanks for putting that on because I fully agree with Pat.
Stutsman! Pat, can you just say what the cost of this Communications Center will be, in
case people don't know.
Harney/ I don't think there's an actual cost if you don't know what the building is at this
point, but the radio system and so forth...I don't, does Steve, do you know - was
there a total cost on what the radios themselves were? We don't have the facility
costs.
Atkins/ The consultant study was $6.9 million and that was everything.
Harney/ That include the building?
Atkins/ No, it did not.
Harney/ I didn't think so.
Champion! We have a cute bus station.
Wilburn! 12th Avenue, sidewalk construction. School District?
12th Avenue Sidewalk Construction:
Plugge/ We want kids to be able to walk down lih Avenue. (laughter) (unable to hear)
Wilburn! The answer was yes, uh, according to the City Manager of Coralville. Okay. I
guess we're done. I must say, I think a year ago we had some questions about
whether or not we can make this meeting more productive, and there's a lot of
energy exchanged today, so let's keep it up. (unable to hear)
Next Meetine: Date:
Wilburn! Do you know who's up, Marian? Coralville.. .do you want to get back to us on
a date, or you want to. ..
(male)! We might make a couple of suggestive dates, what? Two months or three
months? What are we meeting now?
Wilburn! Folks, want two months or three months? Three months? Quarterly, I think
that's what we had talked about (several talking). July 28th? I won't be here!
Urn, is there a.. . (several talking)...third week ofJuly? First week of August?
First week of August? (several talking at once)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.
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Joint Meeting - County, City, Coralville, N. Liberty, School Bd
Page 26
(male)/ First week of August' II probably work, but after that gets pretty hectic.
Wilburn! You say the first week of August? No? Yes? First week of August? August
2nd. That's a Wednesday. (several talking) Connie's gonna be here - August 2nd.
And 4:30 unless you hear differently from the City of Coralville. 4:00? 4:00,
unless you hear differently from the City of Coralville, August 2nd.
Karr/ (unable to hear)
(male)/ No, it doesn't really matter. I just wanted to know. I was thinking it was at 4:00
today and so...
Wilburn! Is 4:30 better than 4:00 or?
(male)/4:30 appears to give a little better time.
Wilburn! 4:30. Okay. 4:30, Wednesday, August 2nd All right. Thanks everybody.
Adiourn:
Meeting adjourned at 5:45 P.M.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the April 12, 2006, Iowa
City City Council and Joint Meeting of County, Coralville, North Liberty, and
School Board.