HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-01-31 TranscriptionJanuary 31, 2011 City Council Work Session Page 1
Council Present: Bailey, Champion, Dickens, Hayek, Mims, Wilburn, Wright
Staff Present: Markus, Helling, Davidson, Dikes, Karr, Long, Hightshoe, Rackis, Dulek,
Fosse, Ackerson
Others Present: Higgins, UISG
Agenda Items:
Hayek/ Why don't we, uh, get the meeting started, and we can actually take up another bullet
point while you're pointing that out (mumbled)...another, uh, another agenda item. If
you don't mind. (several talking) They're trying to pull up the computer for affordable
housing. Let's move forward to, uh, agenda items. Anybody have anything for the
agenda? (several talking) Going once...going twice...okay. Info packet. There's only
one packet from the 27tH
Info Packet•
Wright/ (mumbled)
Hayek/ Right.
Wright/ (mumbled)
Hayek/ I think we should try to, uh, get some Members at the Chamber banquet.
Bailey/ I'm at a conference that night, so...
Mims/ I plan to go.
Hayek/ I'm going to try to go. I think if we can get three or four we're...we're good.
Karr/ (mumbled) ...help me in my recording. (laughter)
Mims/ Mims!
Hayek/ Wright, Hayek... anybody else? Okay.
Wright/ (mumbled) (laughter)
Mims/ I want to thank you, Matt, for the, uh, article from the New York Times. I think if people
ever read the packets that we get, that article on what a lot of cities are going through, uh,
makes ours seem like a piece of cake.
Hayek/ Anything else on the Info Packet? Okay. Keep going, or are you guys ready?
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Davidson/ Either way. We can start without the images. Everybody has the images, it just
would have been nice to project them, but I think everybody in the room probably has
(mumbled)
Hayek/ Let's get started.
Location of Affordable Housing (IP2):
Davidson/ Go ahead and get started?
Hayek/ Location of affordable housing.
Davidson/ Okay, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm Jeff Davidson, Director of Planning and
Community Development, uh, for the City. And, tonight we continue kind of getting into
the home stretch of an issue that we have been discussing for some time, and that is
where affordable housing that is funded, uh, by the City, specifically the CDBG and
Home programs, although it could be other programs if appropriate, uh, but where that
housing is located. And, uh, this has certainly been a labor of love for City staff in the
last month or two, uh, in addition to Eleanor, Tracy, uh, Kris Ackerson, myself, and
Steve, Sue Dulek in the back of the room, the six of us have really given this a lot of
scrutiny over the last, uh, couple of, um, months, and uh, the information that you have
for discussion tonight, uh, has had a lot of, uh, tender loving care in terms of its
development and uh, we're looking forward to getting a reaction to you tonight as to, uh,
how you think, uh, it's looking. Um, we want to pick up, uh, from your discussion on
November 15 where we discussed the data inputs that we would use for the proposed
affordable housing location model, and if you refer to the memo from Steve and I of
November 10, those three points, uh, in the...in the front of the memo you received for
this meeting, uh, kind of summarize, uh, what we were trying to do in looking at the data,
uh, for the model. One, we do not want to further burden elementary, uh, schools and
neighborhoods that already have issues related to a concentration of poverty. Um...there
is a desire to have diverse neighborhoods, in terms of a range of income levels. And,
finally we need to have a better idea from the Iowa City Community School District as to
its views on the affordable housing issue. Uh, and to that end, Steve and I were able to
meet with, uh, the school, the new school Superintendent Murley, and uh, one of his
assistants. And, discussed specifically the data that the School District would view as
appropriate for, uh, location of affordable housing in the community. Um, and
Superintendent Mur...uh, Murley had some very, uh, specific views on the subject. How
are we doing (mumbled, several talking) okay. Good. Uh, Superintendent Murley had
some...some, uh, oh that will help! (laughter) Um...when Steve and I met with
Superintendent Murley and his assistant, he had some very specific views on...how
students in elementary schools do well, and how that could relate to the location of
affordable housing in the community and they were able to give us some very valuable
information and the information that we're going to present in terms of data inputs for the
model come directly out of those discussions with, uh, Superintendent Murley.
Um...you know, to summarize, you know, roughly, Steve felt very strongly that low-
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income students, and in fact all students, do better where there's a mix of...a mix of
income levels in each elementary school, and that...and the District offered us three data
inputs that they felt could be easily updated and provided to us on an annual basic...uh,
basis, that would get to, uh, the impacts on elementary schools of locations of affordable
housing, and you'll...you'll see that presented this evening. Um...Kris here to my right,
of JCCOG, who I think you all know has been invaluable in terms of the actual GIS
portion of this and inputting the data into the model, and as we get into the discussion of
each data input, if you have questions about why information is presented in a certain
way, how we, uh, how we got the data into the model in a useable format. Kris will be
able to answer all those, uh, questions for you. Um...the goal of the discussion today by
the end of the meeting is subject to any discussion and modifications you wish to see, we
hope to bring you at the next City Council meeting, the next formal meeting, uh, a... a
resolution that will adopt basically what you want to see in this model for locating
affordable housing and using it as adecision-making tool. Now that said, it will not be a
static thing. It will be a dynamic thing, in that we will update it every year on December
1 in anticipation of the distribution of CDBG and Home funds. We will...we will update
it, and you'll recall that we're going to have new Census information and...and some
other things that...that will provide an even better model for us, uh, next time. We're
getting there, it looks like! Um...and again, this is for the location of CDBG and Home
funded, uh, assisted rental projects that include new construction or property acquisition.
That's what we're trying to get at in terms of, um, this decision-making tool. Um...what
we're going to do now, and I think we can start, although perhaps we have the expert
here.. .
Dilkes/ We can probably go ahead and remind them about the definitions of the various types of
assisted housing while Gary's working on that.
Long/ Sure, I'11...I'll run through. What we did is we looked at, uh, transitional housing, shelter,
affordable rental, and then the Iowa City Housing Authority public housing units. I'll
just go through a quick, uh, quick spiel about what each of those terms mean. We talk
about shelter and transitional, it's essentially it's the domestic violence shelters and the
home, general homeless shelters. Uh, basically people...people that are in need of
immediate and temporary housing, and typically persons that are...in the shelters and
transitional housing, uh, receive intensive social service supports, and as...as the
households or people are in those situations, they're working towards a more permanent
housing situation. So truly temporary. Affordable rental with using CDBG and Home
funds, typically we use the funds to acquire land, acquire existing homes, rehab existing
properties, and...uh, build new properties that create affordable housing. And, just a
reminder that Iowa City has about 17,000 rental units and we've assisted about 351 with
CDBG and Home funds. And of those 351, 46% are restricted to elderly and people with
disabilities. And, while we're gearing up, I'll just keep...going! (laughter) Um,
households living in CDBG and Home-assisted rental units pay rents that cannot exceed
the fair market rent, and we've gone through this before, so I won't go too into detail
about fair market rent, but what's important is the household is responsible for that entire
rent amount. (mumbled) public housing...public housing, the City owns 81 units of
public housing, and the tenants in those housing units have to be below 80% of median
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income, and the rent is based on their income, and someone can stay in that home even if
their rent, or their income exceeds the 80%. So those are the type of housing units we're
talking about.
Davidson/ I think what we'll do while we're, uh, waiting for the machine to load here is, uh,
what we want to do is walk through the seven factors that will make up, uh, the model,
that we would propose to you. Uh, and Steve and I will step through these, and basically
that's what we're waiting for is to be able to show you each individual data input, and so
why don't we just start stepping through them and then we'll go back and actually look at
the pictures of each, uh, once we get those, uh, loaded and, um...up to date. There
were...there were two factors that you had discussed that we were not able, um, well, or
determined that...that we either shouldn't or couldn't, uh, use as part of the data.
The...the first one was the percentage of rental versus owner-occupied housing, and we'll
bring up the slide that shows why. It's basically covered with dots, the entire city.
There's rental housing everywhere, and so we didn't really feel like it added anything...
anything to the model to include that as one of the data inputs. The other was the
inventory of vacant, platted land, and this is information that we have. We just don't
have it in a format that is suitable, uh, for the model...the GIS, uh, model. So, uh, you
know, we can continue working on that...it's possible if it's something that's very
important to you, but otherwise, you know, the issue of where there is vacant land, uh,
available for affordable housing is one that undoubtedly we'll continue to address. We
do not have it in the model at this time and...and feel like we have a good working model
without it. You can give us your input on that. So let's go ahead and step through the
factors and Steve and I will kind of do a tag-team on this. Do you want to start, Steve?
Long/ (mumbled) talked about earlier, the different types of housing that we use CDBG and
Home funds, uh, for. The first...uh, bit of data that we looked at was the distance to
existing subsidized and assisted housing locations, and...for this analysis, uh, we did not
include...uh (several talking away from mic)...developments that, uh, were targeted or
geared specifically for the elderly or people with disabilities.
Davidson/ The next data input is crime density, and this was one that we had some discussions
with you about, but we think it's important to clarify why we believe it is an appropriate,
uh, factor to use. Um...the issue here is...is basically locating affordable housing in
areas of the city that due to crime information are dangerous for the people who would be
living in this housing. We do not want to expose people, uh, located in housing that we
fund, uh, to areas where there may be high crime rates, and what we were able to do is
get all the police calls from the Police Department and separate out those that are an
indicator of a particular place being dangerous; for example, a traffic call, those were all
taken out. And in fact, the majority of the calls were taken out, but what we were left
with were the, well, I think we summarized them here basically drugs, alcohol offenses,
property crimes, and personal injury, and so we included those as a factor in the model as
a place where we might want to avoid locating affordable housing due to the exposure
that people living in, uh, that housing would have to dangerous areas basically.
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Long/ The next, uh, data set we used was the median household income, and basically
we...(several talking away from mic) okay! I think we're getting it! Uh, this is by
census tract and uh...we understand that we're using, everybody understands that we're
using 2000 census information. We just don't...we don't have the 2010 yet, but it
will...we'll be getting this information in a few months, but we'll be updating this with
our annual update on December 1St of every year. We also, as Jeff mentioned, um, after
talking with School District administrators, they recommended the following three
factors. The first was mobility data, and that's represented by the rate of annual turnover
at each elementary school. And this...this is the Superintendent and the, actually we met
with Joan Vandenberg, um, determined that this should be the, weighted the highest of
the three. (mumbled) yeah! The...basically what we looked at was the percentage of
students remaining in an elementary school building for one calendar year. So how many
were left, um, when they started and when they left, and we mapped that out and there's
...there is a nice map that (mumbled) shortly. And it...anybody, actually we have an
extra pack...one extra packet if you'd like...anybody in the audience who does not have
a packet, feel free to come up here and take one. It has, uh, the PowerPoint slides. The
second one we looked at was the school academic performance as indicated by the Iowa
Test of Basic Skills. And this was the average scores for each elementary school, grades
3 through 6. And the third School District, uh, data set we looked at was the free and
reduced lunch percentage at each elementary school, and again, we mapped this
percentage, uh, by...at each school district.
Davidson/ (mumbled)...those were elementary school districts that we're referring to there. Uh,
the change in residential sales price was identified as a factor you were interested in
using. We were able to access information from the Assessor's office between January
of 2001 and November of 2010, uh, we then aggregated it by neighborhood boundaries,
and what we...what we found is that there was really no place in Iowa City that declined
in property values over that time. Not a terribly big surprise. There was one area, that
when we bring the map up, it jumps right off at you. The Peninsula neighborhood
showed a decline in housing prices and that's due to a couple of things that probably not
what Council's trying to get at, with...with, uh, the use of this factor, but they have a
combination have been building...they built, um, more expensive units earlier in the
decade, less expensive units later in the decade, so that's reflected in the difference in the
sales prices, and they've also dropped some of the prices out there, uh, that was a
decision of, uh, they put some new people into their development company, and they
made that decision to do that to basically try to sell some units and it's been successful.
So, uh, that's why the Peninsula kind of jumps out when you see that map. Otherwise,
property values have not declined in Iowa City. So, those are the...the seven factors, and
I guess, well, we have something happening here...going...okay. Okay, that's good
news. We have good news, I guess. Uh, we can...we can begin talking though about the
weighting of the factors, uh, of the seven factors you can see there, um, and...and staff
spent a lot of time scrutinizing what...what we attempted to do was to weight the relative
significance of each of the seven, uh, criteria, uh, that you directed us to use, based
on...we...we tried to take a combination of the goals that you set out for the model, as
well as the, uh, information that the School District administration provided us, and came
up with the weighting that...that you see there, and...and I think it...it's...what staff's
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perspective was is that the primary concerns that were expressed by both yourselves and
the school administration were concentrations of affordable housing, and that's why
we've...in the weighting, awarded that 40% of the weighting, is where affordable
housing is located currently and trying to avoid concentrations of affordable housing in
the community. The second was the elementary school district factors, um, and the
impact of affordable housing on elementary schools, and so we took the mobility item,
which was the most important one identified by the School Superintendent, and gave that
20%, and the other two 5% each. So the...the, um, elementary school factors totaled
30%. So, it's significant that...staff's presentation to you of this information is that
concentrations of affordable housing and the elementary school district factors make up
nearly three-quarters, 70%, of the weighting. And then the remaining factors, which
were change in residential sales price, uh...crime, and...what was the other one? Uh,
income, uh, those are 10% each, those make up the remaining...there! Uh, yeah, there
we have the, uh, that's the weighting of the criteria. Let's...let's go back and just real
quickly, uh, if we can, Kris, step through the...the slides. And the first one was distance
to existing subsidized housing, which you'll remember was 40% of the weighting.
Uh...actually go back to that one, just so we can...just look at that and...for a second. So
you...you can see, uh, where the clusters of existing affordable housing, uh, are located
there by the white, uh, the white areas. Uh, then the next was mobility data, and again,
these are...the three School District criteria are all aggregated by elementary school
districts. That's why you have the kind of squared off lines, uh, showed here. So you
can see mobility rates, um, obviously Twain and um...Twain and...and Grant Wood
stand out there. Uh, but you can see the...the range there, um...academic performance,
uh, ITBS scores in grades 3 through 6...um...next one was free and reduced lunch
percentage. And you will note there are some similarities between the three...the
patterns that come out in the three elementary school district scores. Uh, next then, Kris,
we had, um...change in sale price. Did I skip over one? I think I did. Yeah, I'm sorry. I
skipped over median income. Well...there's the change in average home price, and you
can see the Peninsula neighborhood...can you take the mouse (mumbled) and just...
right...there you can see it stands out, uh, quite a bit as the only area that declined, but
I've given you the reasons for that. And then the other one, Kris, was, uh, median...
sorry, which one was it? (several talking away from mic) Yeah, there I'm sorry. I
skipped over the page. Crime density, yeah... and you can see as we've... as you've been
hearing a lot, as we've discussed crime in the community, downtown is the focus of
crime in this community. You can see that clearly here. Uh, and then median household
income. And...the final one was, I guess we saw them all! Any questions or anything
you want to go back to looking at individually, any of the...Mike?
Wright/ Uh, for the crime density, does that weed out things like PAULAs and um...the various
alcohol crimes, which would tend to make the downtown look worse?
Champion/ (mumbled)
Davidson/ It does include those.
Wright/ It does include those.
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January 31, 2011 City Council Work Session
Davidson/ Yes.
Bailey/ Alcohol and drugs. So...
Champion/ That might change in a year. (laughter)
Mims/ Can you give us a better idea, Jeff, of what has been left out? I mean, there was...
Davidson/ Are you talking about the crime data now?
Mims/ Yeah.
Davidson/ Um, Kris, do you remember?
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Ackerson/ The...the crimes (mumbled) (both talking) yeah. Um, the crimes are...are from a
database of all of the requests for service to the Police Department. So they include
traffic accidents, uh, you know, disputes with your neighbor, uh, and so we went through
and pulled out um...just...I don't remember the figure exactly. It's around 9,000 of the
incidents out of, I think over 80,000 calls so it's just a sliver based on the types of crimes
that we thought were...
Davidson/ I do have, Susan, everything listed that was included, if you want me to go through it
real quickly.
Mims/ I would! (laughter) Sorry!
Davidson/ Fight in progress, domestic fight, armed subject, riot, suspicious activity or person,
alarm, homicide, kidnapping, sexual assault, robbery, arson, threats or extortion,
burglary, car theft, regular theft, motor vehicle theft, stolen property, criminal mischief,
narcotics or drugs...I have (both talking) that was off, okay. Prostitution, weapons
offenses, harassment, obscene phone calls, trespass, invade privacy, sex offenses except
rape, and I think...was rape included? (person speaking away from mic) Rape is
included, okay. And, child abuse and dependent or elderly abuse. Those are all included.
Bailey/ Included.
Wright/ Included, okay.
Hayek/ Thank you.
Davidson/ Any other questions about any of the data inputs? Okay then, the weighting, um, I
guess the next thing we want you to see is based on this weighting, which we can discuss
if there's an interest by a majority of Council in changing the weighting, we're happy to
do that. This weighting is...
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Dickens/ We're happy to do it if there's a..'.a rationale for it.
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Davidson/ Right! This weighting results in this map, uh, and I think most of the people in the
audience have handouts of this map. (several talking away from mic) That one? Okay.
Um...and you can see that, uh...you know, the two categories that are shown where
funding would be made available, and funding would be unavailable for, uh...assisted
rental housing funded through CDBG or Home, uh, programs. Um...one thing that we
had some discussion of, or at least I wanted to call out, was this notion of one side of the
street being acceptable and the other side of the street being unacceptable. And that's
based on elementary school zones, so as elementary school zones would change those
kinds of boundaries would change, but that would be the rationale between one side of
the street being acceptable and the other side unacceptable. It would be the elementary
school zone, or the elementary school impacts.
Champion/ The question that I...this is a lot of work, and you've done a great job, seriously! I
can understand it pretty clearly what you're doing here. I, um, the only question I have is
why was Mann excluded from, uh, having land available since they have a very high free
and reduced lunch, and that's one of the major criteria is, um...used.
Long/ Well, there's...you have to think of...Kris maybe correct me since he put this together,
but these are each layers, and well...it might be helpful for Kris to explain a little bit
about.. .
Dilkes/ Yeah, I think it would be.
Long/ ...how we got to this point, because it's...
Dilkes/ (several talking) how we get from the data to the composite (several talking)
Long/ ...explain it, how we broke the city up into pixels essentially.
Ackerson/ Um...so basically...um, you know, we took all of these different data sets and we
converted their, um, their data into, uh, into...a common range. So that they all go from
zero to one, zero being a poor location for affordable housing and one being a good
location. And, uh, essentially what we did, and bear with me this is a little technical. We
took the entire city and we, uh, created a very fine grid, uh, over the top of it. So that
there are pixels that are 50-feet by 50-feet across the entire city, and each one of those
pixels has a score associated with it for all the different layers. And, uh, we converted
them to a range of one to zero so that we can weight them, give some scores...increase
the weight of some scores by a factor of...in some cases 40...40%, 30%, 5%, um...and
after we did that, after we weighted them, we took all of the scores for each layer, added
them together on top of that...for that one point, that one 50/50 parcel, um, and got a
score. So every pixel on the...on the map has a score associated with it, and essentially
what we did is we, um, we came up with the one score that's served as a threshold and
used it across the entire city and those that were above that certain score, um, were
deemed uh, good locations for new assisted housing projects, and then those below, um,
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we've outlined here in sort of the brownish color is locations where there are, uh, a
variety of different factors that we've looked at that, um, make them undesirable or
unsuitable for...for new projects. Um, so the scores within the map range from like 18 to
108, and every pixel is different, but we've just highlighted those that meet our threshold
for being unsuitable. Does that make sense?
Hayek/ To...to answer Connie's question, the level...in using her example, the level of free and
reduced at a given school is one of the layers that goes onto that pixel parcel and
contributes per its...the weight you've assigned to it, to the ultimate score?
Ackerson/ Yeah, exactly. So a location could have a low score in one particular criteria, but if
all of the others are...are high, then, um, you know, that...that location will likely be
deemed suitable.
Davidson/ And remember, Connie, free and reduced lunch was 5% of the total so...
Champion/ Right.
Bailey/ And when you look at Mann's area for distance to existing assisted rental housing, which
is the most heavily weighted, um, it's farther. So you can kind of see how the map would
play out.
Mims/ Can you walk through with each of these seven, uh, data...points or uh, types of data that
we're looking at, and tell us for example like with the distance to existing assisted rental
housing. You know, how did you come up with a score from zero to one for each pixel?
Or, based on free and reduced lunch numbers, you know, what, depending on if it was
5% or 20%, how are you coming up with a number from zero to one? How did you
assign those numbers based on the data? The mobility data, etc., I mean...
Ackerson/ Um, I mean, I could do it for all of them, but I'11...I'll just walk you through one as an
example. Um...essentially what you do is you...you take the, uh, and I don't have my
notes in front of me, it's...it's, uh, it's called a...a transformation, a linear transformation,
and what you do is you take the...the highest score in the range and you subtract the...the
score of that particular pixel, and then you divide that by the difference in the range. So,
you subtract the lowest score from the highest score, and when you run that math, it gives
you a number that's between zero and one, that's relative to where it is in that range in
the actual data set. Does that make sense?
Mims/ Nope! (laughter)
Ackerson/ I mean, I could provide, uh (both talking)
Mims/ ...let's take maybe like an easy, well, I would assume easy. I mean, if you're talking
about distance to, you know, existing rental housing, okay? I mean, I'm sitting here on
this 50 by 50 pixel, and you know, maybe...you know, there's one rental housing that's
200 feet from me. There's another one that's 50 feet from one. There's another one
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that's 500 feet from me, you know, how am I, you know, getting a score between zero
and one? I mean, is it...basically what you were just saying? I mean...
Ackerson/ Yeah...
Mims/ ...and how far out do you go?
Ackerson/ It's...it's base...it's all relative, so it's...um...if you were 200 feet away, uh, just
for...for, um, discussion sake. Let's say you're 200 feet away. The score for that pixel
would be .1, and if you were 200 feet away, which would be better, the score would be
twice as high. So it'd be .2, or 400, sorry! It'd be .2. Does that make sense?
Mims/ Uh-huh. Okay.
Davidson/ That's all relative, as Kris said, within the range for each data set.
Mims/ Okay.
Dilkes/ Why don't we explain the 400-foot, um, issue, Kris?
Ackerson/ Sure. Um... so in order to, um, on the one hand we wanted to provide as much land in
the city as possible, make it available for new projects, um, but we had to come up with
a...a rational way to decide what the...the score, what threshold score is going to be
deemed, uh...um, have...appropriate, thank you, for, um, for a boundary, and to do that,
we used, um, we used the subsidized, the locations of existing subsidized housing as sort
of a control, and we said we want the score that provides as much space as possible in the
city without ever getting within 400 feet of any existing subsidized project, because of
this desire to have them dispersed and not located on top of one another.
Davidson/ And that's slightly more than a block.
Dilkes/Now you should not take from that that we are...that that's the buffer around every, um,
assisted housing. That's the minimum buffer. So, in other words when you combine,
and this takes...this has taken us a long time, me, a long time to understand (mumbled)
but... but the way I understand it is that...is that when you combine all these factors on
top of each other, often your natural buffer, because of that combination of factors is
going to be far greater than 400 feet, but to assure a minimum of 400 feet, we took a
property...that didn't have the influence of those other factors, and made sure there was a
400 foot buffer around it. And by doing that, that set the control for the map.
Ackerson/ And I've put up on the overhead, you don't have this in your handouts, but this is the
same map but it includes the...the parcels that are, um, that are existing that were assisted
with City funds, and um, you can see that there are locations where, um, like south of, uh,
Kirkwood Avenue where the...there are properties, but it's...there's not a simple buffer
around it like in other parts of the city, because of all of these other factors, um, and if
you look at...at any of the individual parcels that appear to have a buffer around them,
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that buffer is not the same size, and the reason being all of these other confounding
variables that we've incorporated into it. Um, but the...the minimum, and there's a
particular parcel that, you know, all other, uh, criteria being equal has, um, would be the
best location for subsidized housing, and that parcel has that minimum 400 foot area
around it.
Davidson/ Other questions, or points of discussion?
Hayek/ The, um, the data on...on residential sales prices...um...is it possible for us to track, uh,
I understand this data to...to be an analysis of what increased, decreased, or stayed the
same over a given period of time, is it also possible to track for a given area - I assume
these are by neighborhood? In this category? Um...for the rate of growth, relative to a
community-wide average, or some larger average?
Davidson/ When you say growth, the rate in the appreciation of housing?
Hayek/ Yes.
Davidson/ Of transacted housing price?
Hayek/ Yes, and I think that's an important distinction, you know, assessed versus sales,
but...this is sales, but is it...is it possible to track the rate of appreciation as evidenced by
sales prices, for a given neighborhood, relative to an overall average? So we can see...
Ackerson/ That's what...I think that's what this is, if I'm understanding you correctly. This is
the...the rate of the increase or decrease of, um, of the average sale price of homes within
these neighborhood areas. It's not assessed value. We could do assessed value, if
you...if you'd like...
Hayek/ No, that, no it...I understand why we'd use sales. But I guess...
Dilkes/ I think you're talking about something slightly different, and that is not within that area,
but take an average across the city.
Ackerson/ But the city is 3%...
Dilkes/ Right...
Ackerson/ ...but this neighborhood was 1.5 or...
Dilkes/ ...and I'm assuming we can do that.
Hayek/ Right.
Dilkes/ Right. Is that...
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Ackerson/ Yeah, I mean, um...it's...it's already set up that way as the map appears, and the dark
green are the areas that have the highest...I...so you're asking for like the...the rate of
change on average across the entire city, just as a frame of reference.
Hayek/ I guess, but maybe this gets at that, I mean, maybe there's really not a qualitative
difference between what I'm describing and what (several talking) I mean, it's essentially
a curve.
Ackerson/ Yes, exactly, and... and zero, there were no neighborhoods where there was no change
between 2001 and 5 and 2006 and 2010. I took those two periods and... and compared
them. Um, so there was...there was only one neighborhood, the Peninsula neighborhood,
that actually saw a decrease. All of the rest had some, um, some level of increase, and
that is illustrated on the map by the color-coding.
Dickens/ How long has the Peninsula been out there? Since 2004 or 5?
Davidson/ Uh, Rick...Rick, when did...when did we put the water lines in out there? It would
have been shortly thereafter...2000. So it'd be not quite ten years.
Dickens/ I didn't know how much (mumbled) comparison between the two.
Davidson/ Anything else we can clarify about the data that's used in the model?
Mims/ I'm really, really impressed with what staff has come up with, and at the same time I'd
say there's a lot here to digest...for us seeing it for the first time! (laughter)
Davidson/ Yeah, and Susan brings up a good point of discussion. We...we have been looking at
that September...excuse me. February 14 date as...it's the last City Council meeting
before some decision making by the Housing and Community Development Commission
on CDBG and Home projects for this next year's allocation, and so that's why we've
been using that February 14 as a deadline so that...actually they're going to start their
deliberations on the 17tH of February, Steve, and then, uh, but they...they will not be
making any recommendations for you until...
Long/ March l Ocn
Davidson/ So...so that...that was the imperative to have this on your agenda on the 14tH
Hayek/ Can you, uh, give an explanation for the exclusion of Section 8 from these data?
Long/ The biggest...there's probably a couple reasons. One, the transitory nature and the...and
the, um, for residents, tenants can live anywhere in the area, and it is dependent, you
know, if you can find a place that accepts Section 8 for one, and you can afford to pay the
rent or the difference, um, that's...and it fluctuates monthly. So that's the biggest reason.
One census tract alone, I think, um, since April it's had about a 50% change.
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Hayek/ It's more of a moving target is what you're saying.
Long/ Exactly.
Hayek/ Yeah.
Wright/ That makes sense (mumbled) private housing and (several talking) one tenant to the next
and...
Hightshoe/ For this we're talking about the physical address that we've...these are subsidized,
and it's a physical address where Section 8 can move with the tenant.
Hayek/ Right.
Champion/ Would you repeat that, please?
Hightshoe/ For CDBG and Home, we're talking about the actual, we've assisted that physical
unit. So that's in place, um, with Section 8 it goes to the tenant, and wherever the tenant
moves, um, sort of more like a physical address of where we've assisted.
Wilburn/ I have just a couple general comments before we get more into, uh, whether Council
finds the weighting and all that, uh, acceptable and...digesting...the numbers and the
math, and these are probably statements of the obvious, but I'm going to state them
anyway. Um, you know, the factors and the equations that staff came up with. Um, you
know, if you look at it given whatever the concerns are, that's the formula they came up
with, um, to let us know where we will allow, fund affordable housing. The basic
presump...um, fundamental presumption under that though is that, um, it will occur. It
will go somewhere, and...and the directive and those equations lead to how to disperse it
amongst the community. On one hand, since it's related to funding, so that any
developers who wish to build and apply for funding will know here's where I can go if I
want to get some assistance with building this, but the other part of that is that, uh,
community members won't know where...affordable housing can go. So if you are
someone in the community or on the Council who, uh, doesn't feel that, um...um...the
City should be in the business of funding affordable housing opportunities, um, this isn't
going to help you. It's not going to help you in that decision making process. It gets into
the political question, and the political realm. It's not going to stop calls and comments
and concerns about anyone who has the perspective, well, I don't want affordable
housing constructed in my neighborhood. Um, and so just...a concern I have, um, and I
know staff has the concern in front of them because there's folks in the community,
potential applicants for the funding that need to know, you know, where can I...where
can I build, and this is an area where I would like to develop, to have these opportunities
available for folks then I need to know so that, um, hopefully the criteria doesn't change
after I submit my application, and so that when I have an application for the Council, um,
you know, I'm, um, not at that moment but I have the criteria taken away from me, if I
follow all the rules. So, um...you know, I guess as we go forward with this discussion,
um, it would...be helpful to have folks comment on, you know, one is whether or not the
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mechanism is one that is fair based on the concerns that folks address, and the...and those
concerns in total, relative to each other as opposed to, um, you know, um, that equation
didn't result into where I don't want it to happen, um, those things aren't going to be
helpful, but it would be helpful to know that, versus you know, I just have a fundamental
concern or...belief that either the City, uh, shouldn't be providing these funding
opportunities, uh, it would just be helpful to know those rather than having staff put more
time and energy into trying to make an equation fit if your fundamental belief about it,
uh...um...isn't going to be resolved by an equation, or will it affect it. So that's just the
general comments that I would like to make, and I don't know if that aids in the
discussion or not. So...
Davidson/ Steve and I were just chatting and thought we'd maybe would add one...one piece to
what Ross was saying, and that there seems to be a trend in terms of the types of projects
that we are being asked to fund, going more to acquisition of existing units and
rehabilitation of those units, rather than acquisition of property for new construction. Uh,
what was the percentage you thought, Steve?
Long/ Just looking back over past couple decades, 70% of what we've funded has been
acquisition and rehab, or just acquisition of units.
Davidson/ So in...so in terms of looking at the map of where, as Ross was characterizing it,
where, you know, sending the message to the community of where affordable housing
that we fund would be allowed, it's not just a matter of vacant land. It's a matter of
wherever there's a unit that could be acquired and rehabbed.
Wilburn/ Thanks for that...additional (mumbled)
Bailey/ One of the things that I think this provides for us, and the community, is that it's going to
be updated annually, and I think that that makes a lot of sense and it sends clear guidance
to applicants before that process, something we've struggled with, in the last couple of
years since we've started this discussion. So I...I think it makes...I mean, I'm looking at
this. I...it's an incredible amount of work that you've done and it's...it's very
impressive, um, the overlays and how you devised this, but from my perspective I think
that we've got a workable model here that we should...try. The criteria are those that we
set out, um, you know...I'm generally comfortable with the weighting. I liked that we
got some input from the School District and really used their, um, priorities in that way. I
think that makes a lot of sense. We've heard about mobility rate as being a concern,
um...for years, and I think it makes sense to weight that more heavily. So...think it
reflects the discussions that we've had.
Hayek/ And I think...I think our decision tonight and this is alluded to by staff is to make a... an
initial threshold decision as to whether...this model is something we have interest in, um,
and...and secondarily, if the answer's yes we are interested in it, you know, is there
something about it, whether it's the...the data inputs or the weights assigned to them, that
we need to discuss.
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Wright/ As I'm looking at this stuff, the weights that have been assigned seem to make sense by
and large, um...it does...data is very, very logical, but it also sometimes defies your
logic. Couple instances where I see that I look at the data and I think, that just shouldn't
be the way it works out, but it did.
Bailey/ And I think that that's the...the challenge with having this kind of a model, and
um...that's the decision - if we're comfortable with a model or...continuing to use
some.. .
Davidson/ Is there anything specific, Mike, that you want to bring up that looks illogical that we
can maybe try and explain, not that we can (laughter) not that we can, but we can give it a
shot! (laughter)
Wright/ Well, if...if, um...you look in terms we have 40% of the weight on the distance to an
existing assisted rental housing, uh, and there are a couple of parcels in the extreme
southeast corner of the city, which may not even be fully available for residential. One is
the, primarily the industrial area of a...and I'm looking at the, uh, composite map right
now. Uh, yeah the...around 420t" Street, American Legion Road, that particular area.
Davidson/ Yeah, I think that's in a different elementary school zone, from the area to the...to the
west. That... Scott Boulevard I think is a dividing line there.
Long/ The area to the west goes to Longfellow. Area to the east I believe goes to Grant Wood.
Wright /Area to the east of...
Davidson/ Scott.
Bailey/ Scott.
Davidson/ The area...the area to the east of Scott goes to Longfellow, and the area to the west of
Scott goes to Grant Wood.
Wright/ Okay. Then there's the same little blip down along McCollister.
Davidson/ Yeah, you can see the brown there, there's two brown areas, the Longfellow district
that's around Longfellow, and then the area out east of Scott Boulevard...both go to
Longfellow.
Wright/ Okay, and so the...
Bailey/ And then you're looking at the area that's south...of McCollister (several talking)
Davidson/ ...that's going to be the biggest change from update to update, is how the school
district changes, the elementary school districts.
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Wright/ Okay.
Hayek/ Probably your example of that area in the industrial, on the other side of Scott, is an
example of how one layer impacts the outcome on the composite.
Long/ Yeah.
Hayek/ Is that a fair statement?
Davidson/ Yeah or the...you know, the elementary school data, aggregated, all three of them
aggregated into one, I think that's...that's right, yeah.
Hayek/ Fair enough.
Bailey/ In the distance. (mumbled)
Hightshoe/ (several talking) ...areas that we say that it's funding available, I mean, some you
won't be able to put up housing in, I mean, not, I mean, the Airport, you're not going to
be putting in residential homes. The industrial park, um, Finkbine Golf Course, so it
looks like there's a lot of yellow, but there's areas that's just not going to be placed in
affordable housing this year...or ever! (laughter)
Champion/ The cemetery!
Bailey/ So that might be helpful, and I don't know how much more difficult it would be, is to,
um, show those areas in a different color. Um...well, just...just areas that (several
talking) as you just, yeah, outlined.
Dilkes/ That...that's, I mean, I think that's a bigger task than you might think. Um...because
you...you have to take into, I mean, to do it accurately, I think you'd have to think about
the zoning of it and...
Bailey/ Right.
Dilkes/ ...I mean, we...Kris, speak to the different types of maps that...
Davidson/ Yeah, and you know zoning is subject to your legislative actions, so...(several
talking)
Bailey/ ...but there are some...there are some public areas that...that would, I mean, like the
Airport.
Champion/ ...point those out, I can scratch them out on my map.
Bailey/ Well, here. The ones with the runway (laughter)
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Davidson/ But you know in the...taking a long view of it, I mean, it's true that those areas are
not currently available for housing...
Bailey/ True!
Davidson/ ...but through your legislative actions, they could be at some point in the future, so I
mean there's just some caution in doing that, I think.
Dilkes/ Well, and to...to state the obvious, you know, just because funding may...when we say
funding may be available in the yellow, that just means that location is not a concern.
There may be any number of concerns with the project.
Bailey/ Of course.
Davidson/ Yeah, that was something we meant to say and we just (several talking)
Dilkes/ ...land use, one of them maybe (both talking)
Davidson/ ...the projects still have to go through the same scrutiny they all do (both talking)
Dilkes/ ...I mean, there's all sorts of things that could come into play.
Hayek/ And to also reiterate, this does not impact applications to, uh, remodel or rehabilitate
existing sites.
Davidson/ Right! (several talking) That area already rental, yes. (several talking)
Long/ That are already rental.
Champion/ Any rental?
Long/ Any rental.
Champion/ Could be remodeled for subsidized housing, is that what you're saying?
Long/ Well, we...we looked at this as a way to...for one we're not adding to the existing rental
stock, but it's also a way to help maybe possibly improve or stabilize an area.
Hayek/ If...if, uh, if an assisted rental unit within one of those orange areas came in with an
application for HUD funds to remodel that unit, it could proceed. I mean, there may be
other problems for, you know, the application still has to stand on its own, but this model
or this policy would not preclude that kind of application. The idea being we want
reinvestment in these facilities.
Champion/ But my question is...if a rental unit comes up for sale that's not an assisted rental
unit, can that be remodeled for assisted rental unit?
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Long/ We wouldn't be able to use the funds to acquire the unit. But...an entity, private or
nonprofit, could purchase that unit and use our funds to remodel it. Those units.
Champion/ And then turn it into an assisted living...
Long/ For a number of years, yes, "X" number of years.
Champion /Well, that's a problem.
Hightshoe/ (several talking) ...areas in town such as, um, like Lakeside, Town and Campus, or...
Long/ Actually... sorry, Tracy, let's give one example since Housing and Community
Development Commission has already approved, you know, be coming to you in the next
month with a recommendation to award funds to Southgate Development to rehabilitate
the Broadway Condominiums. They're in the process...I think they've already acquired
most of them, of the condominiums from the other owners, take control of that entire
development, use CDBG funds to rehabilitate those units, and uh, I think quite extensive
if I remember right, 40,000 per unit or something that manner, and then, uh, amend the...
basically have total control of the apartments, instead of having thirteen owners there
would be one owner of the...of the entire complex. So it's...we felt, and the
Commission felt, that it was a way to actually improve and stabilize that area through
single-ownership and control of the leasing structure and management.
Dilkes/ I think that's a good example. Connie, it's a...I think it's an acknowledgement of the
fact that...affordable housing is...is in many places that's not assisted, and...and
that...that stabilizing or providing, uh, resources to make that more stable, affordable
housing, um, we're not increasing the number of housing units, etc. Is...is...doing that is
not contrary to the Council's goals.
Champion/ So the areas that...we're concerned about, the southeast side of Iowa City, that's
what brought all this up again, could continue to have more subsidized housing, is that
what you're telling me, even with this model?
Dilkes/ No, that's not...that's not what we...what we're saying is that...if there's a unit in the
orange area that is already a affordable unit, it attracts people who don't have a lot of
money to pay to live (both talking) yes, that unit may be assisted. It wouldn't be...you
wouldn't say you can't do it because of the location.
Dickens/ It's not assisted living; it's getting assistance to keep it affordable.
Long/ Well, in the case of...of the example I gave, the rents that are being charged already at that
location are below the fair market rent, or right at fair market rent, I believe.
Hightshoe/ This project actually might increase the rent.
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Long/ Actually...it's...it will be, I mean, we view it as a way, I mean, affordable housing, a big
part of affordable housing, well managed affordable housing, is...is part of our goal, and
in this community we do have some, um, complexes that are, I would say are not well
managed and are causing some issues, and I...we view this as a way to...to assure that
they will be well managed, because we have control over the funds. We monitor and
make sure they're well managed.
Dilkes/ And if you look at the Council's goals is...you know, avoiding burdening areas that are
already (mumbled) poverty or... or further burdening schools, assistance like that
doesn't...isn't (mumbled)
Hayek/ I'm not sure you guys are on the same page.
Mims/ I was going to say the same thing.
Hayek/ I...I think your message is to Connie that in...in one of the orange areas and I'm just
calling it that because that's the color on the page, an existing rental unit could not be
acquired with HUD funds (several talking) right.
Dilkes/ We're just talking about (both talking)
Hightshoe/ Existing property owners who had applied just for rehab at those facilities that are
already rented primarily to low-income folks. So that we could do some revitalization in
the neighborhood and improve that housing (both talking)
Champion/ Okay, all right.
Mims/ But, the way I heard Connie ask it was...if...if somebody is sitting there with rental
property, okay? Not being assisted, may or may not be affordable at all, somebody else
could come in and buy that...
Hightshoe/ Not with our funds.
Mims/ Okay. They could come in and buy it though with other money, then they could apply for
CDBG or Home money to renovate, even if it was in the orange area. If it had been
rental before they purchased it. That's the way I read the conclusion. (several talking)
And I just want to make sure that we all...if that's what our policy is going to be, that we
understand that, and the public understands it, as well. (several talking)
Hightshoe/ ...I mean maybe we could put something like it had...you had to own it for five years
before...I don't know. I mean, there's ways that we could structure that something like
that wouldn't happen, so somebody wouldn't just immediately buy it right before they
applied for funding. Um, we could put time parameters, um, to avoid somebody from
doing that.
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Bailey/ Well, keep in mind the process too with the Housing and Community Development
Commission. It's a competitive process, and they weigh a lot of factors, including
becoming, um, stabilizing an area that perhaps had challenges. So that is taken into
consideration maybe not at the Council level, but would be taken into consideration at
that particular level, which as, I mean, I think that that is a broad community goal that we
should continue to support, as they analyze how that particular property and project is...is
working towards that goal.
Mims/ Yeah, I'm not saying I disagree with this. I just want to make sure that everybody
understands it, and that we're all on the same page as we go forward, and either a Council
Member isn't sitting here saying, oh yeah, and then all of a sudden (both talking) we see
a project (several talking) to do this, and also for people in the community, that they fully
understand what we are saying the limitations are, and what they aren't, as we go
forward.
Dilkes/ And there's nothing saying that the Council couldn't look at that particular project as
proposed and say no, this does not fit with our, um, our affordable housing goals. It's
just saying that it wouldn't be out of question because it's in the orange area. There may
be other reasons you didn't like the project. I mean, presumably somebody would be
taking already affordable housing and stabilizing that housing, not you know... some
other goal. And you could look at all that stuff.
Bailey/ And I think Housing and Community Dev...I mean, I think that commission does too, as
well, so...there are two layers of scrutiny for objectives.
Dilkes/ The Broadway project, for instance, is not taking, um, non-affordable housing and
making it affordable. They're taking...a project and making it better affordable. So...
Davidson/ I think if you look at the second sentence of the first paragraph of the conclusion. We
were trying to get exactly at this issue. And to read the first sentence: Staff recommends
that this model be applicable to all CDBG and Home assisted rental housing projects that
include new construction or property acquisition. And then the sentence I refer to: This
does not include the rehabilitation of existing rental housing because rental rehab will not
increase the number of rental units and it allows for the ability to improve and stabilize
existing units. That second sentence is exactly what we're talking about and again, this is
our recommendation to you.
Dilkes/ Purely in terms of location. Not any other factor that you might consider in (mumbled)
Hayekl Well...well, that is an important distinction, and I'm glad you...you made that, Connie.
I... cause I wasn't tracking that particular point until that came up. The example I was
looking at, you know, was an existing physical location, you know, the example you
gave, Steve. Something that had been acquired with, um, CDBG or Home, and which
was applying for rehab monies. That was...the example I was thinking of, not the one
Connie mentioned.
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Davidson/ I guess at this point, Mr. Mayor, we're just looking for anything that a majority of
Council would like to see that varies, uh, from what's being proposed, so that we can
bring you what you'd like to see on the 14tH
Champion/ I don't like that quirk. But I would love to see Broadway rehabbed somehow. It's so
awful! It's (mumbled) my mind!
Wright/ I think I'd like to just put this out there for a year and see how well it works, or doesn't
work. That's the only...really, ultimately, the only way we're going to be able to tell.
Hayek/ Yeah.
Bailey/ Yeah. I think so too. We've asked for some criteria. We've asked for models. This
is...we got what we asked for. Let's see if (both talking)
Wright/ ...most data we've ever had!
Bailey/ ...and the most...
Dickens/ We'll be getting better figures too after the Census comes in, in the next what month or
two? April or...
Davidson/ We weren't proposing, Terry, to update the model. I mean, it's (both talking) more
like March or April, but we would not update the model until December using that
information. (several talking)
Dickens/ But we'll be getting more information, newer (several talking) more updated
information.
Davidson/ Yeah, the one data factor that uses the Census data will be updated considerably the
next time.
Wright/ I think it's actually very good...we got this input from the School District. That's...that
is significant. Uh, particularly the idea of the mobility being the factor that they're the
most concerned about.
Bailey/ Uh-huh.
Hayek/ I...I have mixed feelings about that last rehab part, but I don't think I'm in a place
personally to...to make a decision in terms of how I feel...to support or not support,
um..but aside from that, this...this is a comprehensive approach, um, that reflects
considerable, uh, effort and I think, um, wisely includes the specific concerns from the
School District, and I'm...I look at the data categories and the weights that were assigned
to them, and I...um, I can't come up with, uh, ways that...that I could recommend to
improve this, um, I mean, they seem, uh, rational and logical to me. Uh, so I'm with you
on that, Mike.
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Mims/ Yeah, it's nice to get something that can take, um, a lot of the emotion out of the decision
making and the recommendations and stuff as we...as proposals come forward, um...I
still, I need to give some more thought to that last, Connie's question and the answer to
that. I just...you know if it's rehabbing something that's already there, you know, I'd be
supportive. I just...I'm a little bit concerned if there's some glitch possibly that we're
opening up there, and I...I just need to give it more thought.
Davidson/ Yeah, I mean, we've...but what we've tried to impart to you is that...it's proposed the
way it's proposed because we feel like it's, as Eleanor pointed out, consistent with your
concerns, and enables an area to, you know, be upgraded and improved, that's an
existing area, uh, it is a factor that you have the ability as a matter of policy to...to
change, if there's a majority of Council that feels otherwise.
Dilkes/ Well, if you can...if you can articulate how that would relate to the goals you've
identified.
Champion/ I just...I have one more question. Um...I mean this is easy to look at. It's actually
easy to understand, uh, maybe...maybe I don't understand it. That's why it seems easy,
but (laughter) um, again, my concern is the available land for...for housing. When
I...when I look at, take Roosevelt out of the picture cause it's closing, okay? Uh, but
when I look at...Mann, it's...the highest, except for Wood and Twain. Um, it's the
highest. In... (several talking)
Mims/ Highest what? (several talking)
Champion/ Highest, uh, free and reduced lunch or poverty level.
Bailey/ But that's a 5% weighting. I mean...
Wright/ Also has pretty high test scores and ...
Champion/ Yeah, well that's a factor...(several talking)
Davidson/ Yeah, I think it's a case, Connie, as...as Regenia pointed out, is just...it's 5% of the
total, and that's why it's not shown any differently.
Dilkes/ And you really can't look at just one factor (several talking)
Bailey/ ...here's another factor too. The change in home sale price.
Wilburn/ I think that's a critical point...that, um, I mean, I support being methodical about it, but
again, whatever method you use, you commit to it or not, and if you're...if...running it
through again, running it through the equation, you don't like the answer that you're
getting, you have to consider there were multiple factors that went into that, and that's
perhaps the fairest way to, um...allow the housing and that support to occur.
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January 31, 2011 City Council Work Session Page 23
Champion/ Right.
Wilburn/ And if not, then...try and give a rationale, as opposed to the presumptions that people
will make and the little maps that we have (both talking) on how things exist in the
community. So...
Davidson/ And just to reiterate one more time, because it's such an important factor, and that is
that a project still has to pass muster both at HCDC and Council. This is just concerning
location. That's all.
Bailey/ And then, with the update, the annual update, um, what have you considered, or have you
considered, how you will continue to have a dialogue with the schools, not only on
district changes and there'll be providing data, but um...if for example some other factor
comes into play in what they're seeing, would we try to incorporate that into the model
or, how's that...how do you anticipate that? Or do you? Or...
Davidson/ We don't anticipate it.
Bailey/ Right.
Davidson/ Um, you know, to...to me that would be a pretty significant...
Bailey/ Sure!
Davidson/ ...change. Um, and Superintendent Murley seems to have some very strong feelings
about the appropriateness of these factors, and mobility above everything else. But
certainly if there's something else that they...we're keeping those lines of
communication open, and that would be something we'd...we'd have to do a major
reevaluation at that point.
Bailey/ Okay, and that makes sense to me too, since the School Districts are, you know, one of
the primary concerns of Council at this point, it makes sense that... continuing to, uh,
look at what's happening out there. And what they're seeing.
Wilburn/ Well, and the potential too...in the long term is for atwo-way street in terms of the
influence on where the district draws the boundaries...
Bailey/ ...and I'm hoping that...that would be nice to see!
Wilburn/ ...especially if mobility is an issue, and if housing and affordable housing opportunities
are stabilized, more stabilized throughout the community, then some of the mobility,
the...whatever the impact of free and reduced eligibility might be and the other factors
should play itself....so there potentially room for (both talking)
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Bailey/ That would be a nice...that would be a nice change actually, that discussion and
that...that consideration back and forth. I'm...I'm comfortable moving ahead, you know,
I'm with you. Let's try it. We'll change it. You know, as it rolls through.
Wright/ (mumbled) always be undone or revised!
Hayek/ Is that the opinion of, uh, the group?
Dickens/ I'm comfortable with it.
Bailey/ And I think the only way I'm going to know...comfortable using the model is to use the
model and see how it feels.
Hayek/ Okay.
Mims/ I'll just be interested the next, you know, couple of weeks before we get to the meeting,
I'm sure we'll hear from community members and if there's something, you know, in this
discussion that we've overlooked, um, I mean in general I feel real good about it, but I
am interested to hear what the public has to say.
Hayek/ Oh, absolutely! Okay, well, I want to thank the six of you who worked so hard on this.
(several talking) ...deliberations throughout this process and uh, really assisted in this
critical component of our discussions. Thank you.
Wright/ (mumbled) (laughter)
Bailey/ Are you under some computer curse or... (laughter)
Hayek /Okay, why don't we, yeah, then we can maybe take a three to five minute break and go
to the City... go to the Conference Board. Okay, we, um...we have... start up with
Council time.
Council Time:
Wright/ Just one thing I wanted to throw out there quick, Matt. Last...at the last formal meeting
we talked about, um, addressing...looking at the concerns of the, uh, the lady had about
the rental permits and...could that be revised in any way to reflect frequency of
inspections for problem versus well-kept properties.
Hayek/ I think that's something staff's looking at, isn't it?
Wright/ (person speaking away from mic) Okay, just wanted to make sure it was out there.
Markus/ You asked that we take a look at it, and we are looking at it, looking at other
jurisdictions and what they're doing, so...there's some variations that I think you'll find
kind of surprising, so...we'll come back with a report on it.
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Hayek/ (several talking)...circle back on...okay. Any other Council time items? Okay.
Budget? Okay, pending work session issues?
Pending Work Session Issues:
Helling/ Couple things I would bring up there. Um, one of the items on there is the County's
proposal regarding the Joint Emergency Communication Center, um...if we are going to
bring that to Council and have some discussion about your position on those suggestions
from the Board, we'll have to do it on the 14tH and, as you noticed, there's a lot of other
things on the 14tH, as well. I just wanted to...to bring that up, because the meeting, and I
don't recall the...
Karr/ The meeting is the 23rd, but agenda items are due the 20...the 16tn1
Helling/ Okay. So that's something that will also go on the next...the next work session. I just
wanted to point that out. The other thing is that you had a...uh, a letter in your
correspondence in the packet, and I guess maybe I should have brought it up under
correspondence, but its...the question is whether or not you put it on the, uh, the pending
list, and that is, uh, item f.3 regarding the ticket machines, um...that's something that
(several talking) yeah. Um, that's something that we would either put on if you want to
do that, or we should respond back to the...to that individual, uh, that there's no interest
at this time.
Champion/ Oh, I'm willing to look at that (mumbled) (several talking)
Helling/ Okay, all right. We'll...
Champion/ We have the 21-ordinance! Yeah, I'm willing to look at it.
Helling/ It's not something you'll probably get at real soon, but...we'll put it on the list.
Hayek/ Yeah, that's fine. L ..I continue to hear from, you know, the American Legion and
(several talking) places that just want to do a little lottery and (mumbled) (laughter)
Markus/ (away from mic) is this, uh, video gambling? Is that...these tickets or...
Hayek/ No, I don't think so.
Champion/ It's legal! The machines are legal in the state of Iowa.
Mims/ The issue that came to us was...what they were using their winning tickets for.
Bailey/ (several talking) redeem it for alcohol.
Champion/ And when we had the situations downtown, we didn't like that idea but...
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January 31, 2011 City Council Work Session
Karr/ That's our ordinance. That's not state code, it's our (both talking)
Champion/ Right, and now that it's 21, I'm willing to look at it again.
Bailey/ Because nobody over 21 drinks to excess.
Champion/ Ever! (several talking)
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Hayek/ We've made a decision to look at it, and so we shall do so. Back on the County thing, do
we want to make sure we're talking about that on the 14th, I mean, we've been
specifically asked to weigh in on an issue by the County.
Helling/ And I think they've pointed out the...the meeting, the joint meeting on the 14th, or on
the 21St, 23`d But it's kind of up to you whether you want to...add that to the list.
Wright/ (mumbled) particular time sensitivity from the County (mumbled)
Hayek/ Oh, okay.
Wright/ Can you think of any reason?
Bailey/ No. I mean, I suppose on the 23`d if we haven't gotten to it, just telling them that it's
scheduled for a pending work session and that we will be in touch with them.
Wright/ Yeah, I don't...
Bailey/ I mean, because there's no...
Wright/ (both talking)
Bailey/ ...no timeline for change on the...
Wright/ There's no timeline I'm aware of at all.
Helling/ I think they were perhaps just anticipating some discussion at the meeting on the...on
the 23`d
Wright/ Yeah.
Bailey/ But I mean, if we haven't gotten to it, we haven't gotten to it.
Wright/ ...abetter discussion and...
Dickens/ So there's no real deadline on this...as far as...
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Hayek/ I'll defer to Mike and Regenia on this as our go-betweens.
Karr/ You recall that you had received a letter from, um, Chairperson Stutsman in January, and
Susan asked about scheduling it. We waited for Mike to come back because he was not
at that meeting. I think it was the 10th of January.
Wright/ Yeah.
Karr/ So the question is, again, simply whether you want to be in a position to report something
at the joint meeting; you'll have to do it the 14th, and if not then that's up to you.
Bailey/ Well, we can report that it's scheduled for a pending work session. (both talking)
Wright/ Yeah, we can report it...and we'll make sure the results of the discussion go out to the...
Bailey/ Absolutely!
Wright/ ...uh, other JECC members.
Bailey/ Yeah.
Hayek/ Okay. Do you have anything else, Dale?
Helling/ No.
Hayek/ Does anybody else have anything on the pending list? Okay. Uh, community events,
Council invites?
Community Events & Council Invitations:
Karr/ Mr. Mayor, you asked me to remind you of two things. The VA Salute to Hospitalized
Veterans on the 14th. You're unable to go, and we're wondering if anybody else wanted
to go, or whether we would make other arrangements to deliver the proclamation that
you're proclaiming tomorrow night. That's a salute that...there's a visit to the VA
Hospital, to present the proclamation.
Champion/ When is it?
Karr/ It's on the...it's on Valentine's Day.
Dickens/ Monday the 14tH
Champion/ Oh...what time?
Karr/ I don't' have that information. I can get it for you tomorrow night.
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Champion/ Yeah, I think I could probably do that.
Karr/ I'll have it for you tomorrow night, Connie.
Hayek/ I don't know if that's something we've traditionally dispatched to...
Champion/ I don't think so! I've never heard of it.
Karr/ We...if...it depends. We have sent in the past a number of people, and yet not...in the past
we've had one delegate, usually the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem has delivered it. Last year
it was not possible to do, so we hand-delivered it, and it was just read out loud. So it's
really a matter of scheduling.
Champion/ ...what time and then I'll...
Karr/ Okay, I' 11 find it.
Champion/ But at 6:00 in the morning I can't do it!
Hayek/ That's (mumbled) (laughter) ...other item, Marian?
Karr/ The other one was whether or not you wanted to discuss the, um, request for a letter to
Harkin to support the Iowa Children's Museum...funding.
Hayek/ Oh, right. Uh, we got a request from the Iowa Children's Museum to issue a letter to
Senator Harkin's office in support of essentially an earmark for programming there.
Bailey/ Throughout the state...it's the Mobility Museum.
Hayek/ Okay.
Bailey/ I think we should.
Hayek/ Okay.
Bailey/ I'm just a proponent of the work that they do.
Dickens/ (mumbled) Children's Museum. It's a mobile museum?
Bailey/ It's a Children's Museum sponsoring a mobile museum throughout the state of Iowa.
Karr/ And it's specifically for...the request is specifically to endorse, if you will, the Iowa
Children's Museum (several talking) their request.
Hayek/ And...and I don't know if we have a past practice of...of limiting, keeping our ammo
dry if it's not something related to Iowa City or not.
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Bailey/ Well, and...in the past I know that, as a Council Member, I've written one as an
individual. I mean, that's why I'm familiar with this and I think others have...have for
other organizations as well, and if you would prefer to approach it that way, I think that
that's valid as well, I mean, knowing that we're asking for earmarks ourselves.
Champion/ Yeah, I...I have (mumbled) (several talking)
Hayek/ ...basis?
Bailey/ Yeah. (several talking)
Dickens/ (mumbled)
Hayek/ Conflict for you (mumbled) um, okay, well, my sense then is that people would rather
just write individual letters.
Karr/ The deadline is tomorrow.
Hayek/ Well we'll get out of here early tonight and people can work on their letters until, uh,
David Letterman comes on! Okay.
Karr/ I do have draft information so if you want me to send it to you let me know and I can do
that.
Hayek/ Okay. Anything else? Meeting schedules, uh, got your list. We've got tomorrow night,
and then we don't have anything until the 14t". Okay. Why don't we take a break and
we'll start up in three or four minutes with Conference Board.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session meeting of January 31, 2011.