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ITEM 3. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA).
Hayek: This is the opportunity we provide to the public in each meeting for, uh, anyone
who's interested to address the Council on items that are not on the agenda
tonight. Uh, if you'd like to address the Council, please form a queue and uh,
sign in, and when...when you're time is up, uh, give us your name please, uh, and
then if you can limit your comments to five minutes or less, that would be great.
Thank you.
Holland: Hello. My name is Del Holland. I live at 1701 E. Court Street in Iowa City. First
I want to make sure I say to you that I appreciate your taking time in the agenda to
have this kind of comment from us, um...let's see. The reason I'm here is I've
got a couple hats on, um, to speak to you tonight. Uh, one is, um, my volunteer
status as a volunteer at the Iowa City Bike Library, and the other is as, uh,
Chairperson of Environmental Advocates, which acts as the physical agent for,
uh, the Bike Library, and I just wanted to thank you for the support the City has
continued to give to the Bike Library, and I wanted to report to you a little bit
about what we've done, uh, with your support. Um, at the end of, uh, calendar
year 2009, I counted up a few things and um, we had 230 bicycles that we
checked out to people in...in the year, um, and we'd had 39 volunteers working
with us during last year, and we had 1,400... over 1,400 volunteer hours, uh, to
make that all happen during the year. So, um, that...was a great year, the best
year we've ever had. Um, the other thing we did last year was we had, um, a
Vista volunteer start working with us. He actually came on, Brad Parsons came
on last year in August, and worked for... for us in our... in the Bike Library for a
year and really upped our capacity to do things, and I wanted to share with you
that, um, already this year we've checked out, uh, more than 170 bicycles. We've
got about, uh, 60 volunteers working with us, and uh, we've already got over
1,600 volunteer hours in so, um, he has really helped us do a lot more and um,
we're just really proud of that. Another thing that, uh, Brad helped us initiate was
a partnership with Hope House, and we've got the guys from Hope House coming
down to work at the Bike Library on Sundays, and they work there on Sundays,
mostly focusing on kids' bikes, which we hadn't really had time to deal with in
the past, and with their help, we've prepared and distributed over 100 bicycles to,
uh, kids at the neighborhood centers and other kinds of things like that, so we just
really feel good about how things are going and um...uh, those are kind of direct,
uh, benefits to people on bicycles, which is our core mission, but some other
things that we've done that I feel real good about, the environmental impact is
that, um, we get a lot of bicycles...we...we are open to any bicycles people bring
to us, so we take in whatever, and some of those bicycles for one reason or
another are not able to be, uh, put out as usable bikes by us, and we've developed
a relationship with an outfit in Chicago called Working Bikes Cooperative and
we've given them 170 bicycles this year that we weren't able to use, and then they
put them in shipping containers and send them to non-profits in Africa and Latin
and South America, that they've got relationships with. Um...another thing that
we've done, I'm talking about what...things that we've diverted from the Landfill
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and...we....we've, uh, hauled 360 pounds of rubber that was on bicycles that
would have ended in the Landfill, um, out and... and paid to have that recycled.
We've taken over, uh, 700 pounds to be recycled. And so, I think it's a... a really
nice win-win-win that the City is supporting us and we really appreciate Dale's
long-term support of this program, and Officer Dave Harris, and uh, CSO
Williams for their cooperation to make it all happen. And, so...thank you all. It's
just a neat thing that we're doing to make that thing happen!
Champion: Del, tell people how they can donate bikes to your organization.
Holland: Um...uh, our official open hours are Saturday at...from 10:00 till 1:00, um, and so
they can always donate then, but the reality is, we're so open to taking bicycles
that any time the door's open we'll take bicycles in. And there's somebody in
there working most evenings, so you could bring a bike by most evenings and
there'll be somebody there and we'll be glad to take it.
Wilburn: I think it's also a good opportunity to point out to the public that, uh, you
mentioned divergent from the Landfill, but unfortunately, uh, people sometimes
have chosen in the past to dispose of, uh, tires and bicycles in some of our creeks
in town and in the river, so it's a nice opportunity to...not do that (laughter) so
that (mumbled) so...so thank you!
Wright: You guys do a terrific job, thanks for...thanks for all the volunteer time (both
talking)
Holland: Thank you much!
Hayek: Thanks, Del!
Bentler: Hello, so that was sort of the good news. I have a...just a little bit of bad news so,
um, my name's Suzanne Bentler. I live in the, uh, historic 500 block of South
Governor Street, um, in a restored 150-year-old home. I am both a property
owner and a landlord on the street, and I'm here in response to, um, the recent
publicity about the reduction in house parties in the neighborhoods, and I'm here
to present this story that, um, is happening in our neighborhood. Um, I didn't
want to come here tonight; I'm not good at getting in front of you and talking, so
uh, I feel strongly about this. That's why I'm here. Um, I just wanted to, um,
make you aware that there is an increase in house parties, and drunk and
disorderly behavior in the neighborhoods close to downtown, at least in our
neighborhood, uh, in the last couple of weeks to be sure. I want to be clear about
one thing, especially about our neighborhood. Um, we don't...we are, um...um,
not a student neighborhood, per se. That's what I hear. You're a student
neighborhood, so you should expect these things. Um, on my street, in the 500
block particularly, uh, there's more owner-occupied property than...than student
rentals. Um, the ages of the residents on my street range from 4-months to 90
years. We have a mix, and we like it that way. We have responsible student
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renters, we have responsible non-student renters, we have responsible
homeowners. What we've experienced, um, despite the released statistics, in the
past couple weeks, is an increase in parties. Students trolling for house parties.
We get hoards of students. This is very unusual. It's a new, um, fact that we're
living with, um, and it's some of the worst behaviors we've witnessed in the eight
years that we've lived there. I just will elaborate just a little bit on what we've
experienced if you'll indulge me. Um, we have large packs of students in the last
two weeks, Friday and Saturday nights, sometimes a Sunday night, that roam the
neighborhoods, um, up and down the streets, starting from about 10:30 at night to
11:00 maybe. Um, they're creating issues that range from minor offenses to
some...some fairly major expense type offenses. Um, we experience a lot of
trash, lot of cups, beer cans, bottles broken. Um, I'll tell you a story, um, a couple
weeks ago we were experiencing these things. On a property that we own a
railing was torn out and thrown in the...in the yard. My neighbor had a concrete
block thrown into the side of her mini-van that was sitting in her driveway, um,
on the evening when much of this was happening. The neighbors kind of got
together. We went...last Friday night we sat in my yard, um, with a bunch of
lawn chairs, just to check out what was going on, cause we were, you know, we
knew these things had happened. We wanted to see what was going on, and this
is where we were experiencing hoards...hoards of students, um, and people. I
shouldn't just say students, uh, up and down the street, um, and a...and a couple
fairly large house parties towards the end of the street, which we did eventually
call in, um, three of our neighbors called this particular one in because we walked
down the street and found it, um, it took three different calls before we got a
response to it, but the good news on that is that there was a ticket written for a
disorderly house. It wasn't just a warning, and I think that's an...that's an
improvement over the past. Um... some other, uh, things that we saw that
we...we talked to the people walking down the street and we asked them what
they were doing, you know, they're...they'll...people'll talk! And they were
students looking for something to do, some place to go, and there were several
parties I think in the neighborhood. Um, so that was Friday night. We called that
party in, it got broken up, and the...the Mardis Gras sort of atmosphere tapered
off for a bit and came back up again, and the only time it really got broken up was
after midnight when the unfortunate accident at the end of our street, College and
Governor, when the car-pedestrian accident happened. Very unfortunate. I will
tell you that we weren't surprised that it happened, given what we were
witnessing that evening. On Saturday... Saturday night, the next night, we were
out for a while and we came back, and we were driving up Bowery to come back
home to Governor Street, and we could hardly get through. This was probably
11:15...on the street. There were several houses in a row on Bowery, on Dodge
Street, just people pouring out of the houses, into the streets, a live band, lots of
things going on. So, it is happening. It is out there, um, that too was called in and
had a police response to it, which I'm very happy to see. So that's the bad news,
uh, about what we're experiencing, and this is a change. This is a change from
last year. It's a change from the summer, um, and it's a negative change. Um, I
was a strong advocate for the 21-ordinance. Very strong, because I'm interested
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in this issue. Um, I am currently undecided because of what's happened in the
last couple of weeks. Um, and what may change my mind is what happens in the
coming weeks. I think, um, what I would like to see...the good news, again, I'm
seeing the disorderly house tickets. I'm seeing PAULAs, and...and open
container and public intox tickets being written. That has to stay. That has to
maintain to...to get the message out that this is an...is not an acceptable, uh,
activity in the neighborhoods. I would suggest two other things. Um, in addition,
uh, you've got the...you've got the disorderly house, um, make that more the
norm and less warnings, at least while we're transitioning through this period with
the 21-ordinance. The second is, um, consider strong action with people who live
in houses that have these big parties that are over 21 and are serving alcohol to
people who are not over 21, 21 and over. Is there some action that can be taken to
send a message to them that there are consequences for holding these kind of
parties with underage people? So, I...I don't want to sound too negative. I
understand there'll be a transition, and I understand that...that things will move,
but I really hope to see consistent and strong action in the neighborhoods, and that
this activity reduces in the coming weeks. So in closing, I...I would like to
extend an invitation to each of you to come to our house on any Friday or
Saturday night in the coming weeks, starting from 10:30 or 11:00, uh, I'm
welcome to put out lawn chairs for you and snacks if you want to come and see
this for yourself. Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you.
Mims: Thank you.
Hayek: Would anyone else like to address the Council during community comment?
Doesn't look like there's any interest, so we will move on.
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ITEM 4. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
a) AMENDING THE IOWA CITY ZONING CODE, SECTION 14-3B-1
HISTORIC DISTRICT OVERLAY ZONE; SECTION 14-8E-2,
HISTORIC REVIEW; SECTION 14-8E-3, CERTIFICATE OF
ECONOMIC HARDSHIP; AND SECTION 14-2B-6, MULTIFAMILY
SITE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS.
1. PUBLIC HEARING
Hayek: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open.
Davidson: Good evening, Mr. Mayor, and Members of the City Council. I am Jeff
Davidson, the Planning Director for the City of Iowa City. I'm here this evening
with the Chairperson of the Historic Preservation Commission, Alicia Trimble, to
my right, and to her right, uh, Christina Kuecker, the Historic Preservation
Planner for the City of Iowa City. Uh, what we have for your consideration
tonight under Planning and Zoning matters are some proposed changes to the, uh,
Zoning Code related to the historic preservation plan. Excuse me. The historic
preservation plan is an element of the Iowa City comprehensive plan, that's
intended to promote preservation of Iowa City's historic resources. The Historic
Preservation handbook is then the tool that we use as staff and the, uh, Historic
Preservation Commission to consider, uh, items that come before the, uh, before
the Commission for consideration. Um, this has been some time in the
development, the proposed changes that you're going to, uh, hear about briefly
this evening, and what we are trying to do are to make changes in the design
review process to improve the efficiency and predictability of this process. At
your work session, uh, yesterday evening you discussed, uh, possibly pursuing,
uh, changes to attempt to streamline our development process, and to make it
easier to navigate, and this relates directly to, uh, such an... an initiative. Um, you
know, what we want to try and do is make the process more user friendly and
predictable, uh, we believe we can do that by doing things such as, uh, adding
exceptions for unique situations, by allowing consideration of materials that over
time have proven to be, uh, appropriate for historic areas, uh, by adding
illustrations to the handbook to demonstrate key guidelines, and to add cross-
referencing to that handbook to make it easier to navigate basically, to make
the...the process, uh, easier to navigate for applicants. We also want to
streamline the process. We are proposing to you this evening, uh, having nothing
but the largest projects go to the Commission for consideration. Other things
would be, uh, handled administratively. Hopefully this will reduce the amount of
time, uh, of the Commission meeting minutes, if you've ever looked at those
minutes, some of those meetings are very, very, uh, lengthy, and...and under the
current process, appropriately so, but we believe we can shorten that process. We
also want to make a distinction between the level of review for historic districts
and conservation districts, and if you'd like Christina to, uh, call out the
distinctions for those two areas, I'm sure she would be happy to do that. We also
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want to create a mechanism to have preapproved items, such as certain windows,
doors, and handrails, basically things that are called out in the handbook that if
you do this, basically you're preapproved. So, with that, Christina is going to
elaborate on a few things, uh, and then you have your hearing and first
consideration this evening. Thank you.
Hayek: Thanks, Jeff.
Kuecker: Good evening, uh, I want to start with...I've tried to make this as brief as
possible, but there's 100 pages of handbook that I'm going to try to get through in
a short amount of time. Um, the motivation for this rewrite is, um, Historic
Preservation plan and goal number two, and it specifically says that we need to
make changes to the design review process to improve efficiency and
predictability and it goes into many ways, and outlines many ways that this can
happen. Over the past two years the Historic Preservation Commission and staff
has combed through meeting minutes, reviewed product information, um, looked
at best practices across the country, and out of that has come the...the revised
Historic Preservation plan, um...the changes, um, we hope are going to make the
process easier to understand, more predictable for applicants, and more
streamlined, as Jeff said. Um, so...I'm going to quickly step through the sections
of the handbook, um, and expand on those sections that received the most
attention and the most changes, um, section one is just the general background.
Uh, it was expanded to more accurately, um, describe the role of the Historic
Preservation Commission and...in the review process, and in the historic district
designation process, um, there have been comments that the...that explanation
wasn't very clear. Um, section two was a section...is the section that describes
the historic review process, um, this is a section that reviewed quite a bit of...um,
quite a bit of consideration, quite a lot of... of changes were made to this section.
Um, particularly in the amount of level, the...the ways that projects go through
the levels of review, um...this is kind of a flow chart. It's in the handbook. It
is...to help make it more clear, but to make it even more clear, there's four types
of review, um, the first is a certificate of (mumbled) material effect. This...this
project, types of projects remain unchanged. Those are projects that, um, are
repairs or replacements with life materials so if you need a soffit that needs repair
you don't need to go to a full Commission meeting. It just gets reviewed by the
Chair and staff. Um, these are essentially projects that are minor in nature, and
you won't even notice that they've been done after they've been done. Um, the
second type of review is a minor review. Um, this did change in the current
existing previous handbook, um, this was only allowed for non-historic properties
in conservation districts, which is a very small number of projects, um, and they
were reviewed only by staff. Essentially this only applied to things like in-fill
apartment buildings, um...that...and then it only applied to certain things like a
new deck or, um, a small alteration. Very, very, very few projects are going
through minor review, and I think only twelve in the past 20 years have gone
through minor review. Um, the way the Commission has changed this is that the
minor review would be a list of preapproved items that have been voted on by the
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Commission, such as a brand of window or a line of windows that would be
appropriate in almost any situation. Um, and then if an applicant were to come in
saying I want to replace my windows, I could say to them, well, if you use these
brands I can sign off on it right now. You don't need to go through any more
process. Um, so all of these proc... all of these items would be reviewed by the
Chair, or the Commission, um, voted on and then administered by the staff...by
staff as applicable. Um, the second...third type of review is an intermediate
review, um, previously this was only for properties, um, non-contributing
properties in conservation districts, uh, and then minor projects on contributing
properties in conservation districts. This was used a little bit more often, but...not
nearly as often as we feel it could be used, and these are reviewed by Chair and
staff, um, the Commission has changed this to reflect that this could be used on all
properties within conservation districts and also the non-contributing and non-
historic properties in historic districts, um, and essentially any project that meets
the guidelines would just need to be signed off on by Chair and staff. It wouldn't
need to go to a Commission meeting. This would include, um... small additions,
window replacement, porch reconstruction, decks, doors, windows, etc.,
um...allowing these applicants not to have to wait to the next meeting to proceed
with their project. Um...the Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission and
staff has always been really good at working together to make sure these sorts of
projects get reviewed quickly. Usually with a turnaround of less than a day, for
most applicants. And then that leads us to my major review, which is essentially
everything else, um, major projects such as major additions, new buildings,
um...and then any, uh, project on an addition or something on a, uh, a
contributing property in a historic district. The contributing properties in historic
districts are the highest level of buildings that need to be protected to maintain the
historic district status, and if I need to go into the different designations I can, um,
I will save that to the end. And this would...these would still be approved or
reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission, um, on my estimation less
than half of the applications that come in to review would be in this category.
Most... over half of them would go into one of the other three categories. Um,
and then any time for the other three types of categories, either the applicant or
the Chair or the...or staff could forward it to a major review. Um, this allows, say
if there's a project that came for minor review, staff didn't feel it met the
guidelines, um, or it came for immediate review, felt it didn't meet the guidelines
- we couldn't allow...we couldn't administer the denial. It...the denial would
have to come from the Historic Preservation Commission. Um, so they have that
opportunity for a public process. Um, section three, it's actually sections three,
four...three, four, five, six, and seven are about the guidelines for historic
preservation, um, this section has been, uh, edited quite a bit and um, we've added
in a lot of, um, a lot more flexibility, added in products that have proven the test
of time, that have seemed appropriate in historic districts, we've made sure to
cross-reference section, so if you open up to the porch section, you also are
referenced to the handrail section cause those go hand-in-hand cause a lot of
people only will open to the section of the project that they think is most
appropriate and not realize that there may be other guidelines that...that pertain to
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their project. Um, we also added illustrations to help make guidelines more clear,
um, not everyone knows what a... difference between a mutton and a mullion is
on a window so we added an illustration so you know what the difference is. Um,
added in, uh, language to allow for exceptions in unique situations, and the
previous handbook, um, it was...the Commission was kind of tied in a lot of cases
where it seemed to be a reasonable request, but the handbook didn't allow it and
there was no way to make any sort of exception for certain projects. So, when the
Commission can find unique situations and be able to quantify those unique
situations, um, there's a mechanism now to allow for exceptions to the guidelines.
Um, here's just a couple examples of pages from the guidelines, um, adding the
illustrations helps make the guidelines easier to understand, um, and...and you
can glance at it pretty much immediately and understand what's...what's being
told to you in the guidelines. Um, a few more, showing different types of
handrails that may be appropriate or un...inappropriate in different situations, um,
and then here's the section for new garages, showing two styles of garages that
would be appropriate on almost any...or on almost any property in town, um, and
something like the garage could also be one of those preapproved items if it met
certain criteria. Um...then section eight is...the neighborhood district guidelines.
So they're...they're guidelines that pertain to specific districts, um, for example
in the Summit Street historic district you aren't allowed to have your building for
the back 100 feet of your lot, preserving the open rear lots that are prevalent on
Summit Street, um, on... in the Northside there's certain, or in all the districts
there's certain architectural styles new...new buildings would have to be built to,
um, so this didn't change a lot, um, mostly added in some language about the
Northside historic district, the new district. Um, section nine...this section was
completely rewritten because it hadn't been rewritten since the zoning code was
changed, and the, um, the...it was rewritten to bring the handbook in...to
correspond with the central planning district for the zoning code, um, this had
proven to be difficult when the Historic Preservation Commission was reviewing
something, but the zoning code required different requirements so bringing those
two in line will help the...the process be more clear. Um, section ten, the
Secretary of Interior standards, uh, these are adopted by the National Park Service
and is the charge of every historic preservation commission in the country to, um,
base all their decisions on these stan...these standards, um, so the handbook is
taking those ten standards and extrapolating them into more detail that's easier to
understand for everybody. Um, section eleven, um, outlines the portions of the
zoning code that pertain to historic preservation, cross-referencing different City
documents, um, to make sure everybody knows that they're working in
conjunction, not against each other. And then the last sections are more resources
for historic property owners, um, information about architectural styles, lists of
our properties in districts, and then um, we added in a short one to two paragraph
history about each district, um, a lot of people wanted that basic information
about their neighborhoods. That's now in the handbook. And then, um, maps of
all the districts. The maps remain mostly unchanged. There was a few properties
that were either, um, destroyed during the tornado or were rehabbed after the
tornado that made them now historic rather than anon-contributing property, or in
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other districts there were properties that have gone through substantial
rehabilitation that now deserve a contributing status. Um, that being...with all
that information brings us to what is on the agenda for tonight, which is the
zoning code amendments that implement the changes of the Historic Preservation
handbook. Um, the ordinance for the zoning code is on the agenda tonight and
after the final vote for these amendments, um, the Council will be voting on the
resolution to adopt the handbook, so hopefully I won't have to go through this all
again in a couple weeks (laughter) but I can if you want me too! Um, so the
changes that need to be done to the zoning code to implement these...the
handbook rewrite is the addition of the Northside historic district map, uh, for
some reason that got overlooked when the district was implemented, um, so we'll
do that now. Uh, the second is to edit...edit the language for the levels of review
that I, uh, noted earlier. The third is to change the language of the Certificate of
Economic Hardship section to reflect current practice, which is submitting a letter
rather than what's in the code, which says to submit a form, um, actually there's
never been an application for that so we hadn't ever developed a form. Um, this
is a mechanism that allows somebody who is denied historic preservation
approval to go get an exception because of an economic hardship, um, it was
added when the zoning code was...was rewritten. Um, and then the fourth
section to be changed, uh, when the multi-family guidelines were being added
into the historic preservation handbook, it kind of...a potentially onerous standard
was discovered, um, for aset-back in the central planning district, no building can
deviate more than five buildings from the average set-back for an entire frontage.
This meant that applicants were having to measure 20, 30, 40 buildings
along...along street frontages such as South Governor Street or South Lucas
Street where it's a four or five-block long street between intersections. Um, and
the standard was to ensure that new construction was maintaining the same set-
backs as its surrounding neighborhoods, uh, we felt that by changing the standard
to give the option either you can measure the whole frontage, or the four closest
lots along any frontage that has more than six lots would achieve the same thing
and not be as onerous for any applicant. So those are the changes that are needed
to the historic preservation...or to the zoning code, to implement the historic
preservation guidelines. L ..I tried to go through it quickly. I'm happy to answer
any questions, and um...I didn't, guess I didn't bring copies of the handbook for
everyone, but if anyone wants one, I have copies in my office. It's also available
to download on the web site.
Hayek: One..one question, and uh, the first of the alternative of the...getting the setbacks
or the four closest lots...
Kuecker: Uh-huh.
Hayek: ...are those the... are those lots on the same side of (both talking)
Kuecker: Same frontage, yes.
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Hayek: Okay. So the frontage is a side of a street.
Kuecker: Right, yes. Yes.
Champion: Well, I think you've done a great job and some of these things are long overdue,
and as we've added more and more conservation, historic districts, this will keep
your Commission from being overwhelmed, uh, for simple things that could be
okayed by anybody. Appreciate the work that went into this, and I think it does
make it much more user friendly.
Wright: Does indeed! (several talking)
Hayek: Sorry to interrupt. We're still in the public hearing so we probably ought to keep
our comments a little in check, although I'm the first offender on that
so...(laughter) I'll take the heat! Let's see if anyone else wants to address
the...the City Council on...
Trimble: Hello, I'm Alicia Trimble. I'm the current Chair of the Historic Preservation
Commission. We really appreciate the Council, um, considering the revisions we
made. The Commission has worked very hard over the last two years to really
make the guidelines user friendly, for lack of a better term, and um, we really
think this will help expedite the process, make people realize, um, that the process
isn't as difficult as maybe they felt it was before, and I'm happy to answer any
questions you might have.
Hayek: Thank you. Anyone else from the public...on this...before I close the public
hearing? Okay. (bangs gavel) Public meeting is closed.
2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Bailey: Move first consideration.
Mims: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Bailey, seconded by Mims. Discussion?
Champion: I've already had mine! (laughter)
Hayek: Yes, you (laughter)
Wright: I'll ditto Connie's remarks, and also just say I appreciate the effort that the
Historic Preservation has put in to make the processes simpler, and more
transparent and more user friendly. Uh, it's come a long way over the past five or
six years.
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Hayek: Yeah, I...thanks for the har...for the hard work. I think...and I think the timing
of this is nice as we...as we bring the new Northside district into the fray, um, you
know, a more efficient, user friendly set of guidelines and processes, I think will
be good for everyone, but especially, uh, those new home...those new participants
in the historic district, uh, community. Anybody else? Roll call, please. Item
passes 7-0.
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ITEM 6. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 16 OF THE CITY
CODE, ENTITLED "PUBLIC WORKS," CHAPTER 1, ENTITLED,
"STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY," TO
ESTABLISH A PERMIT PROCESS FOR PLACEMENT OF PIANOS ON
THE PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY. (SECOND CONSIDERATION)
Wilburn: Move first consideration.
Bailey: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Bailey. Discussion?
Bailey: I love the pianos.
Wright: I do too. I think they're just terrific!
Champion: Did we extend the time? That they could be on the sidewalk?
Hayek: Yeah, that's what this is.
Bailey: Time of the year, yeah.
Helling: Currently they're temporary permits and they expire October 1. This will allow it
to go, uh, year-round, save the season, the winter season, when they'll have to
take them off for snow removal.
Hayek: Great. Anything else? I see, uh, Mr. Moen and Mr. Jet out there in the crowd.
Thanks for your leadership on this. This is...
Champion: Do I have a conflict since I'm going to help finance a piano downtown?
Holecek: No.
Champion: Okay, great! (laughter) Didn't want to break any rules!
Wright: I don't think you're breaking rules when you're parting with money on
something! (laughter)
Hayek: Roll call, please. Item passes 7-0.
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ITEM 7. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 5, ENTITLED
"BUSINESS AND LICENSE REGULATIONS," CHAPTER 1, ENTITLED
"GENERAL LICENSING PROVISIONS" AND CHAPTER 2, ENTITLED
"TAXICABS" TO CLARIFY REVOCATION PROCEDURES, RATE
PROVISIONS AND DRIVER BADGE PROVISIONS TO PLACE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR ISSUANCE OF AN IDENTIFICATION CARD
AND DRIVER LIABILITY INSURANCE ON THE TAXICAB BUSINESS.
(SECOND CONSIDERATION)
Hayek: This is second consideration, uh, and expedited action is requested.
Champion: Move second consideration.
Hayek: Actually L ..I think what I'm going to suggest here is let's get this on the floor,
and then we can (several talking) kind of a combo.
Mims: Second.
Hayek: Okay, so moved by Champion, seconded by, uh, Mims. Uh, if you want to
interject at this point.
Karr: Yes. This is a motion, uh, for second consideration. We'd like to, uh, as was
noted last night, at your previous formal meeting, you had requested to amend the
ordinance to include package delivery rates. And, first consideration was given
with that amendment. However, after further review, it was discovered that the
City regulates the taxi business when it carries passengers, and this does not relate
to the courier or package business. So staff is recommending that you, uh, amend
the ordinance to delete the reference to the package delivery, stay with the
passenger concept of the taxicabs, and the, uh, companies are allowed to do
courier service for packages, without being affected by this ordinance.
Bailey: Okay, so I make a motion to remove the, um, reference to courier rates and
packages that we put in the first consideration.
Wilburn: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Bailey, seconded by Wilburn.
Champion: Are they going to expedite any of this?
Karr: Well we need to first vote on the amendment.
Bailey: We need to clean it up before we can move it fast.
Hayek: Discussion on the, uh, removal? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay.
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Karr: Okay. Now is there any interest to expedite?
Champion: Who's got the thing?
Wright: Who's got it memorized? (laughter)
Champion: Ross does.
Hayek: Pull your sheets out of the desk.
Wright: Um, I move that the rule requiring that ordinances must be considered and voted
on for passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at which it is to be
finally passed by suspended; that second consideration and vote be waived; and
that the ordinance be voted on for final... final passage at this time.
Champion: Second.
Hayek: Motion to collapse by Wright, uh, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Those in
favor say aye. (several talking) Well, although we've got another pending
motion on the floor (mumbled)
Karr: Since that...that has been overruled by the fact, this supersedes it.
Hayek: All right. Let's take a roll call. (laughter) Motion carries 7-0.
Wright: Move adoption.
Champion: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Wright, seconded by Champion for pass and adopt. Discussion? Roll
call, please. Item passes 7-0.
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ITEM 8. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION RESCINDING PRIOR RESOLUTION NO.
07-334 AND IN LIEU THEREOF SETTING FEES AND INSURANCE
REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF
REGULATIONS FOR TAXICABS, BY INCREASING THE VEHICLE
DECAL ISSUANCE AND REPLACEMENT FEE TO REFLECT ACTUAL
INSPECTION COSTS AND DELETING DRIVER BADGE FEES.
Bailey: Move adoption of the resolution.
Dickens: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Bailey, seconded by Dickens. Discussion?
Champion: They probably want to expedite this too, I would think.
Karr: This is a resolution. (mumbled) voting on it (mumbled)
Hayek: Further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7-0.
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ITEM 9. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 5, ENTITLED
"BUSINESS AND LICENSE REGULATIONS," CHAPTER 2, ENTITLED
"TAXICABS," BY REPEALING SUBSECTIONS 5-2-2, "TAXICAB
BUSINESS LICENSE; VEHICLE DECALS," AND 5-2-4, "VEHICLE
INSPECTION REQUIRED," IN THEIR ENTIRETY AND REPLACING
THEM WITH NEW SUBSECTIONS; AND AMENDING 5-2-7 TO
PROVIDE PROVISIONS FOR RATE CHANGES. (SECOND
CONSIDERATION)
Bailey: Move second consideration.
Champion: Second.
Hayek: Moved by Bailey, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Looks like there might
be some interest from the public on this. Go ahead and address us, please.
Stevens: My name's Amanda Stevens. I represent Aardvark Taxi. Um, my only, uh,
(mumbled) comments, um, I did not know about their original Council meeting on
those, and I apologize for my late entry into that. Um, I have a, me and the owner
have a small business. We specialize in low-income customers who...we help
them save money by giving them, uh, special sets of fees and letting them pay
when they get paid, and so...we don't really work 24/7 because we specialize in
this area. We don't get calls after 1 I :00 and we tend not to get calls until 5:00 in
the morning. Um, I have kept track of this and have evidence to show you if you
need it. Um, a dispatching office, yes, would be helpful. I can have someone
being able to actually have the phone, not actually pay for an office, uh, because
again, we are a small company. We're not a big company. Um, the taximeter's
also a good idea. I worked at Five Star at one point. Those meters can be messed
with. I've seen taxi drivers do it. They're not...they are not efficient, but they do
help the customer see it. There's no way to stop the taxi drivers from messing
with the meter. I've...I've tried. It's not...there's not a way of watching it. My
biggest concern is just the 24 hour...24/7 thing, and also the fact that I did hear
that you guys were considering trying to make a flat rate like Cedar Rapids. This
won't work with the way the...all the taxicabs that are here. We compete. The
reason why I get these low-income customers is because I keep the rates as low as
possible without affecting my drivers. This is an important situation for me
because I do like to help these people save as much money as they can so they can
pay their other bills, and possibly save up money to get their own car! Um, these
are just my main problems. It's just...my focus isn't on the weekend as much as
getting these people to and from work or to their chores or appointments without
overcharging them and making them lose money, um...these particular things,
like I said, a couple of them are, you know, would affect the, um, the smaller
scale, um, I'd love to get a fourth car, but (laughter) right now I don't see how I
can get the funding to get a fourth car at this point, um, just keeping up the
maintenance tends to keep us right on the...right on the line of red and black,
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so...as...I mean, it's possible..for all of us to be able to get four cars going, but
the 24/7 isn't, uh, possible situation when there are no calls in between a certain
time during the weekdays. Um, I could have someone on call, but it wouldn't
work. Um...but that's my main issue with...with the comment part of that, uh,
their license and inspection things I don't have a problem with. I just was not
able to make a comment on it before and I do apologize for, um, bringing that
back up, but I did feel that, you know, there were only the big companies that
were here the last time, and the small companies had come in, so you didn't get a
point of view from a different company that sort of doesn't really have that many
cars, uh...I do apologize for continuing (mumbled). Thank you.
Hayek: Thank you for your comments.
Bradley: Hello, my name is Roger Bradley, excuse me, I'm the manager of Yellow Cab of
Iowa City. Um, I'm not sure that...the thing I was going to speak about seems to
me to be under Item 7, which, um, you did not take comments on for that, but I
was going to discuss some rate pro...provisions. Am I allowed to do that?
Karr: Rates...rates are under 7 and 9 both.
Bradley: Okay. Well, all right, well, I'll continue. Um, I...our biggest concern about some
of, you know, the new ordinance would be, uh, specifically special event rates.
Uh, we went over this a little bit, uh, at the last meeting, um...but our concern is
still the fact that, uh, having a certain rate for home football games would be
much better for the consumer price wise. Uh, we would be able to quote them a
far more accurate price, uh, and not...not to mention this would be uniform
throughout the area, not just Iowa City. Our biggest fear with this, largest fear
with this right now is that if we weren't' allowed to do any sort of special event
rate, uh, you know, in Iowa City, we would be picking someone up say at a
Coralville hotel, taking them to Kinnick Stadium, charging them a special event
rate, which would be legal in Coralville, um, and then on the return if... if they got
into the same cab, you know, then it would become a rate based on distance and
time, which we could not predict because you cannot predict the traffic on these
days, as you probably know, other than it will be busy. Um, and so
con...consumers, especially out of town visitors, are going to see the same cab
charge them two different fares, uh, basically and the...the begin and end points
are going to be the same. Um, we understand that, you know, this area might be
an area where you're concerned because it does have a potential for abuse. What
we would like to see is that you simply maybe instead of having a special event
rate, which could be abused which, you know, cab company could say there's a
gymnastics' meet or something that, you know, we're really not talking about
because that doesn't tie up, you know, traffic like a home football game does.
Instead of having a special event rate, make it specific. Home football games.
We're talking six or seven days a year. Um, you can also...we would suggest
possibly even restricting when during that day you can charge such a rate, uh,
perhaps do it four hours before, until four hours after the game. Uh, that would
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eliminate companies from you know I :00 in the morning saying, you know, well,
gee, there was a football game, you know, ten hours ago and we're still going to
charge you this rate. Uh, you know, ten hours later the traffic's gone. Um, we
could...you could also further restrict this by saying, you know, such a fare would
be to and from the stadium area...simply. Um, you know, we just...we see a lot
of problems ahead with this, and uh, some of them are very...very, there're going
to be complaints coming in, you know, maybe not to the City Council but
possibly to the Visitors Bureau, uh, about taxicabs, you know, why is there one
rate. We just went the same...from the same place; we just did it in reverse. Um,
but you know seeing as how if you pick them up in Coralville, it will be different
from picking them up in Iowa City. Um, again, six or seven days a year, we think
it's very...we think to make things uniform, we think it would really help us run
our business and we think, you know, more importantly that it would just simply
help the consumer because we would be able to give them an accurate price. Um,
you know, not to mention the fact...without it we...we couldn't possibly be
getting the quoted price. Someone's going to say how much from here to there,
and we really, you know, are going to have a hard time with that. Um, you might
also have issues where taxi companies might feel that, you know, with different
rates from the different cities, perhaps the taxicabs will start migrating to a
different area. Certain area might not get proper service, um, we do serve some
sort of public function in that we do move crowds around. We don't like to see
everybody walking on the street, you know, or if they're intoxicated we certainly
don't want them behind the wheel of a car. I want all my drivers to enjoy a safe
roadway like anyone else. Um, so I encourage you, you know, take a look at this,
please. This is...this is, um, you know, we don't want to see the abuses, but if we
lose the ability to say, you know, home game rate there are going to be some
problems that are going to come up and uh, you know, I...with the season that we
have coming up, um, this, uh, this might not be the right time to do a trial and
error sort of thing. Uh, we've been in this business a while. We can sort of
foresee what some of these things will do. Um, so I encourage you, you know,
strongly consider, um, keeping some form of rate for home football games. Um,
the only other, um, item I just wish to consider, and you might wish to consider
this at a separate time. We do like many of the, uh, features of the new ordinance.
We still believe that if you are looking for companies to act professionally and,
you know, require them to invest the kind of money to act professionally, we
encourage you to before March 1St of next year to adopt some sort of color
scheme. Uh, we do feel that this helps... it only... it helps the companies brand
themselves, but it also helps the customers, especially someone from out of town,
say I'm not going to take that particular taxi company because the last time I was
in town something happened (noise on mic). I'll choose another one. Um, keep
in mind that there is a possibility that after March 1st some taxicab companies will
merge. They will merge in array of colors of vehicles, uh, and you're just, you
know, it, uh, color schemes would probably eliminate a lot of problems. Um, and
that's...I'll entertain any questions you might have.
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Hayek: Any questions for Mr. Bradley? Thanks for your comments, sir. Any other
comments from the audience?
Wezeman: Okay, I'm Peter Wezeman. I own, uh, Aardvark Taxi. Uh, okay, couple of these
(unable to hear, away from mic) I had complaints about people mentioned being,
uh, getting excessive fees from other companies sometimes. Uh, one of
the...L..it's much, I mean, the rates, the published rates are not that different
from one company to another. I don't think there's anybody less than 3.75 for the
first mile or more than 4.50. Nobody's less than 1.50 per mile, or more than 2.00,
I don't think. Uh, it's not that much. When they talk about these high prices,
essentially they're, I believe they're gouging by individual drivers. They take, uh,
a circuitous route, uh (mumbled) charge for it, uh, as opposed to say, you know,
I'm going to find the shortest route, uh, the, uh...one thing...uh, taximeters, uh,
all of them have the capability of charging...of pricing for both time and distance.
Uh, they've done this for decades. Economists can show that that's...it's a
needed capability because it basically encourages people in big cities to do their,
you know, they...yes, it costs them more for distance. Uh, the busy, when the
traffic's heavy than when it's not. It encourages people to make their trips when
traffic is less busy, so (mumbled) but no one in Iowa City has any kind of a time
as part of the published rate, but a driver can, you know, individually basically
turn on, activate the capability for charging by time, which is, you know, part of
all the taximeters that they make and you know, I...people have talked about it.
They say well they saw the thing change when they were stuck in traffic or
something. Well, again, that's...that's acapability of all the taximeters that there
are, you know, it's...just having a taximeter won't address that. Uh, there's,
yeah, there's ways for drivers to do stuff. Uh, one...another, okay,
the...business...requiring charging only, um, distance. Okay. Uh, every
taxi...every taxi company here, we have for example a flat rate from anywhere in
the city or Coral...up to the Airport, the Cedar Rapids Airport, we have another
flat rate to Quad Cities, there's others, or down to the Riverside Casino. Uh,
it's...the distance rate would maybe be, you know, 25, 30% more than that. Uh,
but we find it useful to be able to quote people a flat rate. If somebody calls us
up, you know, they say how much does it cost to go to the Airport, we can say,
you know, $28 plus $5 for each additional passenger. Uh, no problem, uh,
whereas we' d have to say I' 11 have to actually figure out, you know, what
the...you know, where they are and figure out the road mileage and stuff. Uh,
again, I don't know (mumbled) would be...thing under proposal not allow that, I
mean, not allow flat rates? Or would an...how about a flat rate that is lower than
the distance rate?
Karr: The...the...
Hayek: Go ahead. You can address, Marian, if you want.
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Page 20
Karr: The current ordinance would provide that rates must be based on time, distance,
or a combination thereof. If it's a rate based on distance, it's destination rates. So
from Iowa City to Riverside is X amount. If it's time, you must use the taximeter.
Wezeman: Uh, yeah, but note that it's quite a bit of difference in distance from one, you
know, we have a flat rate to Riverside, but it's actually the distance, uh, between,
you know, one part of Iowa City, Coralville to another might be five miles
difference...when you still charge the same, but I mean, it's...the distance is
different. Uh, same thing going to Cedar Rapids. There's actually quite a bit of
distance between where you start from (mumbled)
Hayek: I...I think embedded in this new ordinance is the notion that you can't have it
both ways, and... and so we have the taximeters, um, which as you astutely
pointed out have this duel capability, but we also allow for destination rates. Um,
Iowa City to Riverside Casino, for example.
Wezeman: But it does allow for destination, even if....like for the Iowa City...Iowa City,
Coralville to Riverside. We can say that destination, this price, even though the
actual distance might be, you know, independent of the actual distance.
Champion: Right, and that's why I thought you could go from points anywhere in Iowa City
to a football game. You have the destination rate. You don't need a special
provision for it.
Wezeman: Okay. Okay, that's what...a flat rate to a given destination is allowed.
Champion: Yes!
Wezeman: Okay. Thank you. That takes care of that part, uh...okay. That's, uh...I guess as
far as the...special...when people...
Champion: It's not a special event rate. It's a destination rate.
Wezeman: Yeah. But, okay, so the current thing would in fact allow...would that in fact
allow the, uh... current, uh, the common practice of special, uh, per person,
uh...rates to the, uh, say the Kinnick Stadium and the tailgating.
Champion: My understanding.
Bailey: You can do a destination rate and a per person charge. It just has to be posted.
Wezeman: Okay. (several talking)
Bailey: It can't be just randomly developed on the day of the event. So...if...if you don't
have a posted destination rate to Kinnick Stadium, then you're going to have to
put on your taximeter and charge that way. If you have a posted Iowa City to
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Page 21
Kinnick Stadium or Iowa City to Coralville to Kinnick Stadium 50 bucks -it's 50
bucks plus $5 for extra...whatever it is!
Wezeman: Which is exactly what, yeah, basically (both talking) that's all we need then.
(several talking) That takes care of that question! Uh, thank you. Nothing else!
Hayek: Thanks!
Prior: I'm grateful to be up here a second time when I'm not quite so nervous (laughter)
and I brought my own pen because last time that one didn't work. Um, as I've
tried to think about this situation from everybody's perspective...
Hayek: Sorry to interrupt. Would you mind giving us your name again so...
Prior: Oh, I'm sorry! Uh, Marialyce Prior. Sorry! I knew I'd do something wrong
initially but... can you hear me?
Hayek: Yeah!
Prior: Um, I have thought about this issue...from everybody's perspective. I've put
myself in your shoes. I've put myself in my partner's shoes out there driving
trying to make a living, and the owner's shoes and the small companies, and even
some of the companies that I really don't like, I've even put myself in their
situation, realized they have a right to make a living, and I don't envy any of you
having to figure this all out. It's just really complex. You wouldn't think that a
cab industry would be so complex, but it is. Um, everything I've heard today, and
everything I heard the last time I was here, leads me to believe that a more
responsible cab company will be a better cab company. Any company, such as
Aardvark, a small company, with colors, and a willingness to go the distance and
get another cab even though it's expensive and...and conform to your request,
um, that's a businessman. That's a company, and it's operating...operating for a
profit, but it's also operating for the benefit of the city and the patrons, the
football fans, the students, anybody who might need a cab! This is why I think
it's very important that we strengthen every ordinance that we possibly can
legally, and I don't feel like we're impeding fair trade or...independent thinking.
We're challenging real cab company owners to rise to the occasion and do
something really great with their company. It's not impossible, you know,
already you're, as I suspected, some of the smaller cab companies are going to try
to merge. Well, there's no reason with all their extra cabs for them to not rise to
the occasion and provide a better service. My issue...um, well, I was going to
give an example. We were thinking of moving to Seattle area and we looked into
becoming drivers for Yellow. They wanted a $1,000 up front and aone-year
residency requirement. Uh, so they had some pretty strict requirements there.
Um...I would love to see, um...uh, bear with me. I made way too many notes,
um...I would love to see...a bigger commitment on the Council's part to expand
the background check for the safety of our students who, especially the freshmen
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who come here to experiment with every possible thing they can, and they often
don't know what they're doing when they get out of the cab, or even in the cab,
and I feel that these background checks, I know we only go as far as I think Iowa,
the state of Iowa, with background check and correct me if I'm wrong, but I think
that's it, but we have people coming from Chicago to drive on the weekends. Uh,
we have people from South Africa. We don't know anything about these people.
Just because they've been in Iowa for a little while and we can't find anything on
them that doesn't mean they're not, you know, prone to criminal activity and I
really wish that we would expand the background check, and if necessary, let the
drivers pay for it. I mean, if they want to work here, let them prove, you know,
that they're reputable. Um...give me a moment. Again, I've expressed my
personal experiences with...numerous college students, telling me stories about
price gouging, being dumped out in the country in cold weather, uh, it... a lot of
this was inappropriate behavior, and in one case it was, I think, threatening to this
particular female that I happen to know, and she's afraid to this day to go to the
police because she doesn't think anyone's going to be able to protect her because
she...the driver knows where she lives, he has her number. He knows what she
looks like. She's just going to lie low and hope it goes away. Another good
reason to have background checks, but also I like the idea that I suggested to
Regenia over a year ago, how about a www.ictaxiissues.gov on the backseat of
every cab. So these students and these, uh, football patrons, as they're driving
along or they're in Iowa City, they see these on the back of the cabs, they'll know
that they have some resource, if there's an issue 24/7, you can get on your
computer and you can report that. You don't have to go to the police and...you
don't have to deal with them questioning whether or not you're telling the truth or
not. These things can be reported, and hopefully, they can identify the cab
company and then whoever would review that can look at it, whether it be the
police or somebody in the Council can look at it and see if there's a pattern with
certain driver or a certain company, and maybe address the issue from that point
of view. So..I believe safety first, color will help, and I believe any strengthening
of the ordinances we (noise on mic) improve the Iowa City cab fleets overall, um,
and I guess I'll leave it at that. I had one more parking issue on Clinton Street,
but I don't know...the triple parking on Clinton, I...I wish they could come up
with something where that's only for cab companies and maybe one company...at
a time can be parked along there. It's a bottleneck and often times you cannot
pick up your customer because you can't get anywhere near the building, or near
the sidewalk and...
Hayek: I'm going to interrupt you here. You're over your time and that...that last point is
well taken but it's really not part of this ordinance. It'd be something you could
bring to our attention (both talking)
Prior: ...thought I'd (both talking). Okay, I signed in.
Champion: ...lot of experience and come back again and you can still bring your own pen!
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Page 23
Prior: Okay! (laughter)
Hayek: Thanks for your comments. Anyone else?
Schoenberger: Hi everybody. My name's Roman Schoenberger, south Scott Boulevard. Uh,
I'm a driver, cab driver. Uh, I get a lot of complaints, and it's price gouging, and
uh...I don't know if there really is an answer to that, but when people get in the
cab, uh, they look at me...with a little less favor, because of something that
somebody else has done. And I try to be professional about what I do. My job is
to get somebody safely from point A to point B, as expeditiously as possible.
Uh...but I hear these things that, uh, two people get charged $15 from downtown
to south Johnson. $38 from downtown to Gasby's on 6 and uh, Gilbert. Um, and
this...this happens on a weekly basis. It's not during football. This is during the,
you know, during the year. Um, I wish something could be done about that. I
don't know what could be done about it, but it's got to stop. Um, it makes it bad
for all of us, who are trying to make an honest living. Uh, from the discussion
I've heard tonight so far I can see how we can do the game rate, uh, the football
rate. Uh, the only thing that I would add to that, and... and backing up Roger, is
there should be a time limit on that. Uh, again, I get these complaints -it's 1:00
in the morning, I'm going from the hospital to the Marriott and I'm being charged
$15 a head. That's...that's ridiculous. Uh, this shouldn't be allowed to happen.
Uh, I can understand why we have so many taxis now. I mean, I started when
there were only two taxicab companies and uh, 11:00 to 2:00 in the morning it
was pretty tough getting a cab. Uh, something that Yellow has been doing for the
past few years now is, uh, we don't shut our phones off. It used to be the rule
where 1 I :00 cab companies would shut off their phones and we'd all go out and
flag. Uh, now we keep our phones open all the time so that when we flag
somebody, uh, that comes over the air that there's somebody waiting at the Sports
Column going in the same direction, we'll go and pick them up too so that, you
know, we try to service everybody. We...we keep the phones open also so that if
there's somebody in Coralville that wants to go someplace, we go out to
Coralville. We're not coming into town empty, we're picking somebody up and
taking them some place. But that's how, you know, that's a better way to run a
business. Um, the...again, I'd like to see the color scheme. Uh, I ask these
people who have been price gouged, what cab company was that -white one, uh,
purple one, blue one. No idea. Um, I'd really like to see something be done on
that, uh, front. Uh, otherwise, uh, thank you very much.
Hayek: Thank you for your time. Okay. Discussion on the Council level? Hearing none,
roll call, please. Second consideration passes 7-0.
Karr: Motion to accept correspondence.
Wilburn: So moved.
Mims: Second.
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City Council meeting of August 31, 2010.
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Hayek: Moved by Wilburn, seconded by Mims. Discussion? (noise on mic) say aye.
Opposed say nay. Motion carries.
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City Council meeting of August 31, 2010.
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ITEM 14. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION.
Hayek: We'll start with Mr. Dickens.
Dickens: Just wish everybody gets a chance this spring if you did not get to the, uh, Taste
of Iowa City, which was last week. It was very well attended. The weather was
fantastic. Tons of people downtown of all ages. So...it'll be going again as a
farewell to the seniors this spring so be looking for that.
Bailey: Nothing.
Hayek: Mr. Wilburn?
Wilburn: Thursday morning at 7:00 is the United Way Campaign kick-off. It's that time of
year for people to rally behind, uh, United Way and many of the great agencies
that deliver a lot of services that benefit, uh, a lot of people in Johnson County.
Be at the Marriott!
Hayek: (mumbled)
Wright: Uh, we just, uh, concluded another tremendous Landlocked Film Festival. It was,
uh, terrific event, well attended from folks all across the country, uh, and uh, just
extremely well done by the staff and the volunteers, and my hat's off to
everybody who was involved in it, and I'm already looking forward to next year!
Champion: I don't have anything.
Mims: Um, as we head back and everybody's back in school now, uh, we had a
celebration last week on the southeast side for a nice quiet summer. Uh, lots of
activities and I just would...would publicly like to thank all of the people who
came together from mentors to tutors to the various organizations to, um, help this
summer, and the great celebration at The Spot last week, and thank everybody.
Hayek: I just, two quick items. First, uh, I don't know if any of you were downtown last
Friday evening, but it was one of those...I don't know if it was the perfect
weather or the music or the crowd, but it was one of those incredibly unique Iowa
City evenings, un...unforgettable, uh, great night in Iowa City, and then secondly,
to, uh, express my thanks to the public for your patience with all of the road
construction right now. Um...
Champion: They're not really very patient about it!
Hayek: Well, I know, but it's...it's a minor inconvenience for now, for a few weeks, uh,
but uh, I think we're seeing a really nice product in the form of smoother arterials,
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City Council meeting of August 31, 2010.
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and...and other streets, and just hang on a little longer and I think we'll be able to
finish that up fairly quickly.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the special formal Iowa City
City Council meeting of August 31, 2010.