HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-01-24 TranscriptionJanuary 24, 2011 City Council Work Session
Council Present: Bailey, Champion, Hayek, Wilburn, Wright
Council Absent: Dickens, Mims
Staff Present: Markus, Helling, Davidson, O'Brien, Rummel, Yapp, Dilkes, Karr,
O'Malley, Rocca, Fosse
Others Present: Higgins, UISG
A;;enda Items:
Hayek/ Okay, why don't we, uh...
Karr/ I'm sorry. Susan is not going to be here, and Terry's not going to be here.
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Hayek/ We've got our five here (several talking). All right. We'll start the evening with two
down. We've got the five of us. And uh, everybody hang in there! Um...okay. First on
the work session is agenda items. Does anybody have anything regarding the agenda?
ITEM 13. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING, AUTHORIZING AND
DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AND THE CITY CLERK TO
ATTEST AN AGREEMENT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA
CITY AND H.R. GREEN COMPANY TO PROVIDE ENGINEERING
CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR THE ROCKY SHORE LIFT STATION
AND FLOOD GATES PROJECT.
Bailey/ I just had a quick question about item 13...the flood gates.
Karr/ You do have a handout this evening regarding that one, as well. (both talking)
Bailey/ It wasn't about the consultant's agreement (both talking) trust me!
Karr/ Okay.
Bailey/ No, I know that we've talked with Coralville about this and worked with them on this.
Are they going to be involved in this phase of it, or how are they going to be involved?
Fosse/ We are involving both, uh, Coralville and the University of Iowa in the...in the design of
this.
Bailey/ Okay. That's what I wondered. And...I mean, it's not...obviously it's not apparent from
the agreement because...but I just wondered.
Fosse/ Yes.
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Bailey/ Okay.
Fosse/ We will be.
Bailey/ Thank you.
Fosse/ Uh-huh.
Wilburn/ Wanted to make sure one...one door of the flood gate matches up with the other side!
(laughter)
Bailey/ Kinda yeah, it seems like when you're working with a flood gate on a border.
Wilburn/ Uh-huh. (laughter)
Bailey/ A border street.
ITEM 6. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS.
b) REZONING APPROXIMATELY 2.97 ACRES LOCATED
NORTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF FIRST AVENUE AND
HICKORY TRAIL TO AMEND A PREVIOUSLY APPROVED PLAN FOR
A PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY, MEDIUM DENSITY SINGLE
FAMILY (OPD-8) ZONE. (REZ10-00013)
Hayek/ Anything else? Um, as to item 6.b, which is a zoning request, um, I have a conflict on
this. Somebody in my firm did some legal work and I think that, uh, requires me to
recuse myself. Since, uh, Ross will not be here tomorrow night either, we need
somebody to handle that item. Regenia, could you...
Bailey/ Oh, sure!
Hayek/ ...be 6.b.
Bailey/ Okay.
Hayek/ I'll step out of the room at that time.
Bailey/ (mumbled) Apparently! Okay, thanks...yeah.
Wilburn/ Um, it's unclear to me whether I will be here.
Bailey/ So if I don't see you...I'll do it. If you're here, you'll do it.
Wilburn/ Yeah, I'm still waiting to here, um, I may...it's up in the air whether or not I'm
supposed to be at a School Board meeting tomorrow night, so...
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Champion/ (mumbled) (laughter)
Bailey/ Don't wear your invisibility cloak. It's always confusing.
Hayek/ Anything else on the agenda? Okay. Let's move on to Transit Service enhancement
options.
Transit Service Enhancement Options:
O'Brien/ Okay, thank you for your...can you hear this okay? Thank you for your time tonight.
Um...what this is is a follow up, uh, update as to where we are. We had a...a discussion
back in August 25th about Sunday bus service. Uh, at that time then we, uh, broke away
to start doing some research, putting some things together, um...cause of the cost of
the...the fixed route service (mumbled) something that we...we looked at and felt
weren't really uh, they were a difficult option at that time, um...and then in a memo
dated January 19th, uh, that I sent to you, kind of updating where we're at, uh, covering
some of the items, and I have a PowerPoint presentation, which...which is right here.
Um, I was going to refer you to the...the Bongo web site, but we had some technical
difficulties earlier when I was testing it out in here, so it didn't...didn't quite come
through so...uh, there's a snapshot that I took and put into the slides so we'll be able to
refer to the map. It just won't be active at the time. So we'll be able to cover everything
we need to at that time. So...uh, if there aren't any questions...I'll go ahead and get
started, before we get going...thank you. Kind of an overview, I wanted to provide an
overview before we...we got too much into it. Excuse me. Currently Iowa City Transit
operates 20 routes Monday through Friday. Uh, we also have eight routes that we
operate on Saturdays. Uh, we have a fleet of 27 heavy-duty buses, and our FY10 rides
were nearly 1.9 million. Uh, FY09 was about 1.95, so we almost hit the two million
mark, uh, in FY9, uh, FY09. Um...some recent changes that have occurred since our last
discussion. Uh, we've got our Nextbus AVL System, which Bongo is what...it's more
commonly known as. Uh, that's been fully implemented. Um, still a couple little bugs
we're working out with things like our engine diagnostic, uh, readings, things like that.
Um, but one of the most, um, intriguing changes has been our ability to, uh, utilize
automatic passenger counters and (mumbled) later on in the presentation, but what those
do, uh, we have five vehicles that are equipped with that, but it provides us real-time data
for the boardings and departures at each and every stop that we have. Um, all of our
stops are GPS located on the map, and at each one of those stops when there's a board
and a deboard, uh, we have sensors on the front and the back that allow us to calculate
how many people are getting on and off at each one of those stops. Um...the importance
to that is...that data wasn't...wasn't always available to us at the time...what we had to
do is, uh, John's folks would come out, interns, and do, uh, ridership counts, but it was
sporadically. We'd get, uh, a few of them a year. Uh, with this, whatever we put those
five vehicles out on we're able to get that data, uh, live, um, as those things are occurring,
so we can get, uh, say we wanted to take a look at the Lakeside route for a week. We
could put all of our...all of our APC route, or buses, out on those routes, track the rides
for a week, and have a really good snapshot of what the ridership looks like at each of the
locations along those routes. Um, and then make decisions based on how many people
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are boarding, deboarding, um, are there other routes that are picking up people in those
areas that we can deviate and hit other areas in town, um, decisions like that that...before
we weren't able to make, uh, we could make those decisions. It was just a little...little bit
more difficult to get the data. And then obviously the economic landscape, uh, has...I
don't know if it's changed, but I think it's become more, uh, more prevalent, as far as
things that are...that are going on. Uh, obviously the City's budgets have tightened. Uh,
some questions on the transportation reauthorization bill, it... it had expired I believe back
in 09, and they've had two extensions of it, and I think March is when they're going to
vote on it again. Uh, and we've also heard rumors that they're...they're looking at going
back to having transit funded at FY08 levels, uh, which are a significant, uh, hit to us,
Coralville, Cambus, everybody in this area. And then our fare structure, we haven't
changed our fares in about 15 years. They've been about 75-cents a ride for about 15
years now. Um, and due to the, kind of the economic landscape now, uh, we feel now's a
really difficult time to increase our fares, uh, when the economy is the way it is and...and
people are dependent on rides to and from work, to and from school, uh, daycare, things
like that. So, when we were looking at a lot of the data that we were putting together and
when the, kind of some of the budget issues came in, uh, we started looking at, okay,
what kind of system modifications can we make, um...our...our bus stops is one, um,
because of the reliability of our system, uh, during peak times it's a very difficult,
um...during whether it's weather, heavy traffic, those times to maintain a...uh, consistent
schedule, and... and when you look at our bus stops the way they're laid out, um, I mean,
I actually have the map of all those routes, of all the stops, and we have nearly 600
marked bus stops, uh, that are stopped at, uh, throughout the city. Just to give you some
scope on that, if you combine Cambus and Coralville and multiply theirs by two, we still
have more bus stops than they do, combined. Um, so it's a lot of stops to stop at, and
then in addition during the off-peak hours, we stop at all intersections, in addition to...uh,
the marked bus stops. We looked at some minor route modifications. Were there any
minor, uh, modifications we can make to certain routes to help with the timeliness of
those routes? Um...could we bypass streets on select routes, uh, we started evaluating
overlapping routes, uh, and then route pairings, uh, we're looking at as well to see are
there ways we can modify those so that there's ways that you can maintain your
schedules without impacting your budget, or without, uh, extending those routes. Uh,
and then are there any major route modifications we need to look at, and...and we'll
show...we'll discuss some of the low ridership routes we have, and are there ways to take
the hours from those...those, uh, routes that are low performing and take those hours of
service and utilize them in areas that are either high ridership, um, or tweak those routes
so that you can, uh, provide service and...and get more rides out of those...those, uh, low
ridership routes. So here's the snapshot we took, and what this is is our peak, uh, peak
system, and this is off our (mumbled) map. This is our agency site. So this is the site us
and the managers see, so this is every one of our routes that operates Monday through
Friday peak times. Um, and what you'll see is every one of those white dots is one of our
bus stops. Um...so looking along...for example, the Oak Crest route. Um, coming up
Benton Street you'll see...it's stop after stop. Lakeside, uh, the Towncrest. Court Hill,
um, a lot of them have a lot of stops and...and very condensed, um, distances so instead
of condensing all the riders to one or two stops, we're spreading them out over a five or
six. So just as the bus would get up to speed, we have to stop again.
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Bailey/ Was that born out of some philosophy that nobody should be "X" number of...from a
bus stop or...
O'Brien/ ...from a bus route, a bus stop, and I...I think what's happened over time is, um,
drivers have come in, recommended stops be put in due to, um, location of riders,
um...new developments have taken place, and that's great, but they've never...I don't
know that...I think that a lot of stops have been put in and very few have been pulled out
if...if ridership has migrated to a different stops. Um...so as routes get added, um, and
we've added extensions on to several of these routes in order to cover new developments,
expansion of Iowa City, uh, without adding much time to them so it's really put a...a
hindrance on our ability, especially during peak times in the winter months to maintain
the schedule for the people riding. Um, and so those are the things we're looking at...can
we...can we combine some bus stops, um, other ways to modify the...the roads we're
taking so that we can get through places quicker, um, in order to...or are there
modifications that we can make, um, and I' 11 refer back to this map, uh, later when we're
talking about some potential changes that we might have. Um...what we can do with
each one of these stops though, whereas before we were kind of guessing or we're, uh,
we're putting people on those routes for...for small periods of time. As with the APCs,
this is the kind of data that you can get. Um, it tells you your boardings, your
deboardings, uh, what your maximum load was on that, those trips, and it lists every
single stop that we have. Now this obviously isn't every stop on this route. We did a,
kind of a condensed one for...for using this (mumbled) we can see is how many people
were boarding and then you'll see a zero or a two or a four, um, as well as nobody
deboarding during these times, uh, and those...that's how you can make your decisions,
based off, okay, if nobody's utilizing those stops, is there a stop nearby for the people
that maybe will use that stop once in a while so that we can combine those stops, um, so
that we don't have 20 people getting on at one location and then a block later, uh, you
may have just one or two that could maybe have gone up to that next stop. So these are
some of the things we're looking at as well to help maintain our...our schedules. Um,
Sunday service is obviously what, uh, where this discussion started. Um, and kind of
some things that we discussed were fixed route transit service, um, and obviously in this
economic environment it's very difficult to implement a service, uh, when you're using
fixed route service, uh, because of the cost o£ ..uh, service per hour of operation, and
then also we...we've looked into an after-hours cab program, and that's something that's
come up in discussions with our, um, some transportation groups that we're a part of, um,
but this is something that we actually attempted back in FY08 and FY09, uh, we received
funding for it out of a JARC, um, and I think the program, and I noted this in the memo
that I...I sent out to everybody, um, we felt that there were some restrictions that were
put on it that maybe didn't...uh, allow for more people to utilize that service. Uh, I went
through and looked at the actual, uh, printouts of everybody that rode, and we had four
people that utilized it. Now they utilized it more, but we only had four actual people, uh,
utilizing the service in FY08, FY09, uh, the total number...um...we had 143 trips total
for $1,538 was the total cost of the service provided, and then obviously there was, uh, a
JARK funded part of that and the passenger funded part of that. But that's a really low
number of trips for that service, and we just, um...I don't know if it was advertising. I
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think it was a combination of advertising, restrictions, and...and I think when I say
restrictions, in this community there's a lot of people that live in one area that maybe
work in, that live in Iowa City but they work in Coralville, or they work in North Liberty,
uh, or they live in Coralville and they work in Iowa City. Well, we restricted it to where
it was an Iowa City ride. You had to have an Iowa City bus pass. You had to be an Iowa
City resident, um, and for those people that needed to cross over into different
jurisdictions, it made it difficult, um, and at the time Coralville didn't have a program, uh,
in place, um, and one of the things that we've talked about with Brad Neumann is
expanding that program if we're going to look at it again, to make it viable for everybody
to be able to cross into different jurisdictions and then those costs will be divided up
based off...off miles. So that's something that we're looking into as well. Um, and then
overall some recommendations that we have, and once again I'll go back to the map
and...and discuss some of these. Um, and this was in the memo as well. We're not
recommending any major expansion of service at this time. Um, and obviously that's due
to the economic factor. We, um, obviously the budgets, like I said, in the City are very
tight. We don't know what the funding from the federal and state levels, you know,
obviously it's not looking very good as well. Um, we're continuing to gather data from
our AVL system, our mass transit operators, uh, we want to do some more public
outreach, uh, to some of the areas that don't have service. Some of the areas that do have
service but the ridership's really low. Um, to find out is there something we can do
to...to enhance the service, uh, enhance ridership, or is it something where, uh, that
service could be allocated somewhere else, uh, or to...and all of these we want to
implement within our existing budget so that we're not, uh, obviously... so taken our, the
service that we have, the number of hours that we have, utilizing that more efficiently
than...than possibly, uh, we're using those hours right now, and that's Saturdays, for
weekdays, etc., um, are there things that we can do to, uh, provide more ridership to
people, more options for people within our existing budget. So, some of the
modifications that we're looking at, and this is from a, in order to, uh, help us as far as
timeliness our...along our Plaen View route is one of the examples that we always
utilize. Great route. It was one of those routes when it was developed, didn't have a lot
of ridership, things on the west side started to boom, people moved there to...to go over
to the Hospital, but we have, uh, a loop along Westside Drive, which I'm outlining right
now. We get a lot of rides out of there, and they come along Mormon Trek...coming
down into Plaen View Drive, uh, what we want to do is start evaluating the ridership
down there and along Cae and Abbey, um, and especially in the winter months, Cae and
Abbey's very difficult because, for those of you who are familiar with it, it's an
extremely sharp angle down, um, as you come into that stoplight, um...(mumbled). So
what we're looking to do with this route, after Westside Drive, continue along Mormon
Trek, staying on the arterials, um, until we get up to West Winds Drive, um, and then
looping up...and that's along the current route now, turns up past Fareway, excuse
me...uh, up to Melrose, and then back in. Um, and then back around past North Hospital
and then another one we're looking at...the North Dodge route, um...outbound, you
know, it's always been this way, uh, when ACT remodeled, or did some of their
enhancements out there, we really have to go deep back in there to get back to ACT, and
we don't get a lot of rides to and from that area, uh, we have a couple trips a day where
we'll pull people and it's sporadic, uh, and then also there was Pearson extended their
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services to the other side of, uh, so stop at Pearson and then, uh, turn into here, um, and
we have very little ridership out of this area, as well, but it was an expansion and what
we're proposing is keeping those the same, uh, those are, um, areas that...of employment
that we want to service, but on the inbound, and this is an area that I know we've
discussed prior to in different...is the Caroline, Whiting area, um, it's very difficult for
buses to turn in this area, especially having a 40-foot, low floor bus, uh, and the ridership
in that area is one that, once again, we're going to make sure we get some routes on and
monitor a total number of rides. It's one where we're not...we're not pulling a lot of
rides out of that area. So in order to help with the timeliness of that route, is to just come
straight inbound rather than possibly turning down, um, and going down into the Caroline
and Whiting area. Now once again, this is just something that we're looking at. We
haven't made any final determinations, um...and then there's some other, uh, like for
example the Lakeside route, and once it turns on Lakeside Drive, then you make another
right-hand turn into Miami, down to California, and what we'd like to do is maybe
continue all the way down Lakeside Drive, which would also open up some opportunities
for people who live in this area, um, preventing them from having to walk any further,
um, you know, we've had several calls, more from people down in this area, and if
there's a way we could, alter the route to get down into here, there's some nice places
where we can make turns to come back in, uh, we would certainly look at those as well.
Uh, but those are some of the minor modification things that we're looking at. Um, you
know... certain streets that we don't go down that we currently do, areas, uh, like along
the Manville Heights, this is a very difficult turn up into Lee, uh...the Lee area up here to
get turned, just because of how tight that area is, by taking a right here, coming down, uh,
it really opens up some things, and that's the way the route used to go, um...but it frees
up some time and also makes it a little bit easier to access...for those buses now that
they're low floor. Um... some of the major modification things we're looking at, uh, we
really want to enter into discussions with, uh, West High, City High, Regenia and
Southeast to talk to them about the services for the east side loop and west side loop. Uh,
currently the west side loop, we run it one trip a day, and we're averaging in the three
passengers per trip, uh, for that one trip a day. It's just not something that's heavily
utilized. I think a lot of the reason is we have so many buses that service that area. We
just want to talk to them, are there things that we can do maybe...is the timing just a little
off, things like that to where we can utilize the services that we already have out there,
rather than running another bus out there, uh, and then along the east side loop, um, in the
Southeast District Plan, one of the things that's called out, um, is for more service on the
east side that circulates the east side of town, uh, along the shopping areas, along the, you
know, in the Towncrest area that doesn't necessarily get... go to downtown so that we're
providing a circulator route on the east side. Well, the east side loop does that, but it only
does it twice a day. Other ways we can modify that route, utilizing hours of... of service
from either the west side loop or some other routes that we're going to talk about, to
provide a route that services those areas while still providing the service, um, around
those areas of interest, um, and allowing people who live near those areas to ride it to...to
City High, Sycamore Mall, uh, Fareway, things like that along the east side of town.
Bailey/ What bus services Kirkwood, I mean, I...I teach a couple classes at Kirkwood and...and,
in one of the discussions bus service came up.
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O'Brien/ Uh-huh, it's the Mall route that services there...currently.
Bailey/ Okay, all right.
O'Brien/ And then we have some late night, uh, routes that swing in just to cover it when the
Mall goes out of service, so...Broadway, Lakeside (both talking)
Bailey/ ...complaining about...I...timeliness Ithink and...
O'Brien/ (both talking) and the University has opened discussions with us because of the
number...I think their students, they're starting to get going...University students that
take classes at Kirkwood and vice versa.
Bailey/ Yeah, I think that might have been part of it, yeah.
O'Brien/ Um, and...Dave Rickus and I have opened conversations about how we're going
to...are there ways we can enhance service to that area. Um, and I know that they're
looking at obviously some construction in that area so...to enhance the street,
enhance...are there ways we can get routes coming down there that maybe aren't
currently using it, cause as you can see we have several routes...(mumbled) several
routes that overlap in this area, and are there ways that we can...can get them going in
different ways to provide different...different service levels to Kirkwood and deviate off,
uh, providing service to and from Kirkwood in the daytime and the nighttime. Uh, one
other, a couple other routes I want to highlight just because they are low ridership routes,
um, the 7t" Avenue, which is one that I know we've...we've discussed in the past.
Current ridership for that route is eight people per trip. Um, and just to kind of put it
into...there's six trips a day that the 7t" Avenue does and the total ridership for that was
12,500-ish. Uh, the east side loop does two trips a day and does 16,000 passengers so,
um, it's a low ridership route. It only runs during peak times, uh, and then the Cross Park
also had 12,120-ish, uh, rides last year, um, it's a route that's half-funded by JARK
funds, um, it's an area of town that has high transit ridership, uh, Lakeside, Broadway,
Mall, all service that area as well, but it's a route, and I think the differences between the
Cross Park and the 7t" Avenue is 7t" Avenue's ridership has continued to drop, uh, while
the Cross Park, since we've implemented it, has continued to rise. So, um, but I just
wanted to point those out, those are routes that we're looking at just because for example
Lakeside does 220,000 rides a year, uh, Oak Crest does 182 compared to 12,000, um,
granted it's a lot fewer trips, but even if you multiply it out to have the same number of
trips, it's just not even close as far as (both talking)
Wright/ Is the ridership down on the 7t" Avenue bus, is that...I used to take that and my
recollection is it was usually fairly full.
O'Brien/ Um, it's continued to...was it recent years you've taken it?
Wright/ Depends what you mean by recent...probably...earlierthah 2006.
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O'Brien/ (several talking) Um...yeah, it dropped about 3,000 rides from last year to this year,
um...I didn't actually look at the trend prior to that, but I know, uh, many of the times
when we've come here to discuss transit services, the 7t" Avenue is one that we've
always brought up because that ridership has always, you know, really hung around that
10 to 12 to 15 rides per trip. Now we're down to eight. So...
Champion/ You know, it's not busy. When I take the bus home, I just go to the bus stop and I
can take any bus going east. It's going to get me fairly close to my house, and they're all
pretty busy, but that one's not busy. I just took it like two weeks ago, and it's about 4:30
or 5:00 I'm taking it, so it should be busier, you know?
Bailey/ When was the last time we did any kind of ridership or citizen survey about bus service?
O'Brien/ Uh, there hasn't been...the last two years we haven't done one. I can't speak to what
was done prior to that. Um...(several talking) I know we did one back in 90...99, 2000,
uh, when we were looking at major enhancements at that point.
Bailey/ Okay.
O'Brien/ And at that point we came up with a couple minor tweaks to the Broadway and...I
think the Mall route at that time. So...
Hayek/ Your memo, um, which by the way is really well written (both talking)
Champion/ ...really good!
Hayek/ ...really good memo, uh, references the City's long-standing policy serving all parts of
the city, which I think is a departure from what some other jurisdictions do where they
tend to fish where the fish are, so to speak.
O'Brien/ Right.
Hayek/ Um, is that something that...you know, is that policy...called into question by these
trends? Is that something we should be thinking about?
O'Brien/ Yeah, and I think that was one of the things we were going...and, you know, I think the
one thing...that's nice is, once again with the APCs on it, we're able to get a lot more
data to be able to provide to you, to make those decisions, rather than...here's what we
think, here's...here's what we got the one week that we went out and did ridership.
We're able to get that data for long-terms, but I think that's certainly something to look
at, um, however, you know, if you look at the areas that area really high ridership, there's
a lot of overlapping routes that go to those areas. Um...you know, along the Lakeside
route, Lakeside, Broadway, Cross Park, Mall, and that's the areas that we're pulling a lot
of ridership, um, the Oak Crest, Plaen View, West Winds...
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Hayek/ So in practice we may already be doing that (both talking)
O'Brien/ ...right, and...and I think then we're, you know, like the Manville Heights, North
Dodge that maybe aren't as heavy a use, you're still providing service to those
(mumbled) just not as...as quite the high level as you are in those other...
Bailey/ But the other thing is when you have, like Connie said, when you can take any bus to get
somewhere, you're more likely to take a bus.
Champion/ Yeah, I just (both talking) will get me home.
Bailey/ ...you know, hey, I've got one or two route choices here. I'm going to have to be very
careful. The timing's very particular.
O'Brien/ Right, and that's true, when...when you start...when you don't have routes that
overlap, for example, if you look at Manville Heights, North Dodge, when you run once
an hour during off-peak, it's not really convenient for people to use (both talking)
Bailey/ ...missed the bus.
O'Brien/ ...and obviously that was one of the things we were going to look at, um, you know, if
economic times were perfect and money wasn't an issue, frequency of service is one of
the main things that you'll get in response when you do a survey is, even at half hour
during peak that makes it tough cause if you miss, and it's an area that only has one or
two routes servicing it, it's a tough...it's a tough go for people.
Bailey/ What are we going to see as gas prices go up, you've seen this before and...what part...
O'Brien/ (both talking) we got...that's how we got the two...um, well, the ridership almost
kicked in right when the gas prices, and...and that was like atwo-year period where we
went from, I think it was 13% and 18% growth.
Bailey/ Right, but what...at what levels were gas prices then? I can't...
O'Brien/ I think it was $3.25, $3.30, right in there is where the (both talking) and then once they
dipped down and hung, you know, in the twos...$2.00, $2.SOs, that $2.50 range for a
while, then ridership started to dip a little bit.
Bailey/ Well, it's going up again.
Hayek/ Other question is, if...if in fact we see a drop in federal funding, whether it's down to the
2008 levels or anything close, what...what is that impact?
O'Brien/ Um, well, those are all operating expenses, and I think what you're going to see too is,
you know, capital expenses. For example, we've gotten six buses, could possibly have
two more on the horizon that we've gotten in funding the last year. It's going to be really
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tough to find those dollars, um, and we have right now a fleet of buses that we have 14
new ones, well...will be 14 if we get those two. Fourteen that are 2007 or better. The
rest are all 97s, 92s, um, so they've hit their useful life and the funds just aren't there to
replace. Um, Iowa has the second highest age, fleet age in the nation, behind only
Nebraska I think at this point. Uh, it was number one until this last year. We...we did
pretty well with stimulus money and PTMS money but you're going to see capital funds
dropped, the operational costs, um, you know, the Court Street Transportation Center has
been great for the transit funding, um, it's...we went out and bought a used bus, uh, a
2000 low floor we...the Bonneville system was all bought with local funds. It's allowed
us to do some things that we might not have been able to do had Court Street not been in
place. Um...because those funds go to Transit so...um, you know, it depends on how
bad the funding levels are hit, you know, and as the state funding, which I assume will
get hit as well, if the federal funding gets hit, um...those are all...all things that are going
to continue to drop, so...um, but once again, we haven't touched our fares in 15 years
and at some point, that's something we're (several talking) right! Right now it's tough
because you...you don't want to raise the fares if people are...economic times. What I
think you could do is say three years out because our plan (mumbled) fares are going to
be in three years, cause you can raise them a little at a time to get to that point, so I think
that that's...
Bailey/ Raise it to a buck. 75-cents is (both talking)
O'Brien/ That'd be our next step, is a dollar, because then our monthly pass rate would go up,
uh, semester pass rates would go up, um...but still that's a lot of people we would be
impacting and, uh, you know, Coralville we've had the discussions, uh, could we try to
keep our... our rates around the same. You know, transfers are free between the two
systems, um...
Champion/ I would hate to see us raise prices right now (mumbled)
Bailey/ I would too, but I mean they haven't gone up in a while, I mean, 15 years.
Wright/ (mumbled) haven't been discussed for quite a few years. We have the free shuttles that
do...pull in quite a fair number of passengers (both talking)
O'Brien/ ...about 180...180,000 just off the southside, and another...so probably around
190,000, 200,000 is what we're pulling off the (both talking)
Wright/ (mumbled)
O'Brien/ Uh, yeah, the 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 trips are all...and that's the way we're seeing on our
Oak Crest as well, especially the start of every semester before people's travel patterns
have really shifted, is...is we are full, uh, on those routes. Plaen View in the morning on
those early morning trips trying to get to work.
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Wright/ I remember...quite a few years ago, Council discussing charging a dime or a quarter for
those free shuttles.
Champion/ (mumbled) wouldn't be free anymore, would they?
Wright/ No they wouldn't, but (several talking)
O'Brien/ ...dip in ridership. It's one of those routes it's convenience. Every 15 minutes.
Champion/ Yes, it's frequent! And people love that. It's frequent. You don't have to look at the
time. You just go to the bus stop and (both talking)
O'Brien/ And there's places that do fare-free zones where if you're within a little zone it's free,
and outside you charge "X" rate. So those are things eventually you can look at, um, but
yeah, obviously that free shuttle, it...um...you know...congestion downtown, things like
that, it helps alleviate because those people that live three blocks away aren't...aren't
driving, um, so there's a lot of benefits to that...to that route. In addition to the ridership
that it provides.
Bailey/ And I know that, okay, so your recommendation is not to do Sunday service, but we've
heard this for years...what...what options are there, besides people providing their own
transportation, I mean, what would you suggest if we wanted some kind of transportation
on Sundays?
O'Brien/ I...I think looking into a, and you'd have to really restrict it, I mean, that's
the...because if you start getting into the cab programs, uh, you know, you're looking at
$15, $10 per ride and then how's it funded, um...
Bailey/ Cause people work on Sunday and...and they don't have...they don't have ways to get
there.
O'Brien/ No, I...I agree, and is there a way to utilize smaller buses to provide, you know, but it
wouldn't be near the type of service level you're looking at here. Even our Saturday
service, you know, you might be able to provide some service that loops during peak
times to provide...but, you know, Saturday...the work schedules, are they the same as
they are during the week? Are they...um...
Bailey/ Yeah.
O'Brien/ So I would say you're looking at, do you have voucher systems, do you have after-
hours cab, um...but to put a fixed route system with a 40-foot heavy duty bus when you
may only have a...
Bailey/ That, I mean, that...
O'Brien/ I mean those are the things we're looking at.
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Bailey/ That conclusion makes sense to me, but I mean it still doesn't provide service and it still
(both talking)
O'Brien/ No, I...I agree. You know (both talking) are there ways we can utilize our SEATS
buses that aren't being utilized on (both talking) a fixed route service with a couple
vehicles. Those are the types of things that I think, moving forward, um...
Bailey/ And what about (both talking) a regional, I mean, have we talked about doing JARC
regionally, and are there funds still out there...avail...available somewhere out there to
do, to continue a JARC program, and what about...how far would it be to do it
regionally? Cause you're right -people live in one community, they work in the other.
O'Brien/ Right. It would be just...is everyone in the community, in the area, in kind of the
corridor willing to pay the funds that JARC and the passenger doesn't cover.
Bailey/ Is that being discussed, or is that just...
O'Brien/ That's...and that was something that when we met with Brad we talked about, was an
expansion of, so they're open to the discussions. We have Coralville, and I don't know
whether the University would fit in in this or not. Um...
Bailey/ Would it go so far as North Liberty? I mean, I know that they're (mumbled) with
Coralville Transit a little bit.
O'Brien/ Right, and...and that...I'm not sure if we...but that's potentially something we can
discuss. We have not discussed anything with North Liberty. Um, it's so far been just a
discussion between Coralville, uh, and us, uh, because like I said I think that was a lot of
the reason for the failures. There were a lot of people that want to cross over to work
or...and that option just wasn't available to them at the time.
Bailey/ Yeah. Okay, thanks.
O'Brien/ So I think those are your best options. And...is there JARC funding avail...right, the
application process is coming up, so there are...there are certain, uh, that's how we get
our North Dodge expansion, Manville Heights expansion, uh, Cross Park is all funded
through JARC funds, as well.
Hayek/ So we will...we will get updates from you going forward.
O'Brien/ Right, and...and I think...unless there's, you know, we kind of threw in in here how we
do bus stop signs, uh, we just put those in through the consent calendar. Is there anything
else...is there anything you want us to look at that we're not...that we haven't currently
spelled out here?
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Bailey/ I do have a weird little question. When you...there's a bus stop that disappeared on my
street, because the bus route changed, which is fine, but the concrete platform is still
there. Do we ever take those away? I know, it's a weird little question...
O'Brien/ No, and I...we have so few stops that ever disappear that...that certainly we...
Bailey/ You've got one on Church Street, you've got a big concrete platform on Church Street.
So if...if that's a direction we go we probably should figure out how we take those away.
O'Brien/ Right, and...and I think one thing just to add to it, by reducing some of these stops, I
think we could also allow us to enhance more of our stops, as well, to where we have
pads down on all of our...we have more shelters out, but when you have 600 stops, it's
just.. .
Bailey/ Now that we can get the data, it makes sense to be adata-driven bus stop, I mean,
because you're right. These have probably existed for years and years and years. People
shift.
O'Brien/ Right. They keep getting added and nothing ever gets subtracted, so...
Bailey/ Yeah!
Champion/ But they don't stop unless there's somebody there, or somebody wants to get off.
O'Brien/ Right, and...and I think that's what the issue is. You might get ten at one stop (several
talking) Right! (laughter) ...and you just get up to speed and then you're having...even
if you get up to speed in some of these areas, and then you're backing that back down
again to stop. Um...you know, the wear and tear on the buses is one thing, but the...the
timeliness is where you really...you're really hindered when you have two people at one
stop, two people at the next. If you could combine those, you'd have four at one, you're
stopping once. You have more distance to cover before your next.
Hayek/ There's got to be a fuel efficiency and pollution issue to that, as well (both talking)
O'Brien/ ...plus if you're idling, stop...there's certainly, your carbon footprint would be
impacted. As you can see, all the white dots on the screen, it overwhelms your actual
routes (several talking) by all the stops you have here. So that's certainly something
we're looking at.
Hayek/ Okay.
O'Brien/ Any other...
Higgins/ Do you have a timeframe or a target of like how many bus stops you want to cut? Cut
down?
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O'Brien/ It's tough to say now because we just implemented the AVL system in November, um,
is when it was really up and fully functioning so, um...we had to work out bugs in the
APC so we really haven't concentrated on any specific areas yet to...to put those,
so...um...
Higgins/ Just wait til you get more data?
O'Brien/ Yeah, I think we need to...to start isolating routes, running them on there, uh, the bus is
on there and then coming back with some data that says, okay, uh...(mumbled) Rochester
route, these route, these stops are...
Champion/ I think, Chris, I just wanted to clarify. All those little dots represent a marked bus
stop.
O'Brien/ Those are just the marked ones, right, and I think one of the things that we also...the
off-peak, you know, one of the things we'd like to consider is do we still just stop at
marked stops during the off-peak?
Champion/ People are spoiled by that (several talking)
O'Brien/ Right, but the problem is is that they get used to it, and then during peak times you'll
see them at intersections, waiting for the bus and, you know, it's tough to say no when
they're waving you down, um...
Markus/ So you will stop though...on the fly, I mean, if somebody waves you...
Bailey/ On off-peak.
O'Brien/ In off-peak we'll stop on the fly. Um, during peak, um, I would say it's one of those
things, it depends. Can you stop safely, can you...um...is it somebody you've talked to
before, they need to be at the stop. Is it...there's a lot of things that...
Wright/ That's pretty nice! I've never come across that with a transit system before.
Bailey/ I've only ever gotten off at corners. I've never...I always get on at a stop, but I've never
(mumbled)
O'Brien/ ...makes it tough when you have the free-for-all system for the drivers too. To help
maintain...when you have somebody at every intersection.
Markus/ But if you didn't have the frequency of stops, and then you (both talking)
O'Brien/ That might impact it. During the off-peak, right.
Markus/ Well, even...
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Champion/ I've gotta tell you though that the last wedding we had at our house, and we've had a
lot of `em, all my kids and family took a bus to come back from downtown to the
wedding, or to the...whatever, and the bus dropped `em off right in front of the house.
They were all so impressed, all these people from Chicago and New York (laughter).
They couldn't believe they let `em off right in front of the house! (laughter) Plus there
were like 30 of `em!
Bailey/ So...
Markus/ It was an off-peak wedding! (laughter)
Bailey/ No Champion wedding's ever an off-peak wedding! (laughter) Um, so...by fall you'll
have...you'll...how quickly will you (mumbled)
O'Brien/ Well, I think there are some things that we can implement quickly. Um...you know, as
far as some of the route modifications, the smaller ones, um, some of the major ones by
fall. The eastside loop, Westside loop we'd like to have (coughing, unable to hear) by
fall, um...obviously we'd like that in place, the discussions to take place...during the
semester so we can get word out so that in the fall we can have the changes implemented.
Um... some of the minor modifications, like if we're going to, you know, the Plaen View
route, detouring those loops, uh, looking at the North Dodge, those are some of the things
we want to focus on, uh, route pairings. You know, other ways you can pair your routes
differently. Those things we can implement rather quickly.
Bailey/ And will you be talking to employers as well, that some of those might be impacting?
O'Brien/ If there's route deviations that will impact...well, and I think we'd like to talk to those
neighborhoods too, just, you know, how many people are actually utilizing the service,
you know, would you consider...would you be okay if it was a block this way, a block
that way. Those types of discussions, so...
Bailey/ Got a year! You've got a lot of discussions to have.
O'Brien/ We do, and...and you know, I think we've got certainly a lot of resources in the city to
hold quite a few sessions to have those meetings, so...uh, there's plenty of us to spread
out and take care of a lot of these neighborhoods so...
Champion/ I should also tell you that when I moved to Iowa City buses were free.
Bailey/ All of `em?
Champion/ All of `em!
O'Brien/ I won't bother to ask what year that was (laughter) (several talking)
Bailey/ In my lifetime I don't remember free buses, so...in Iowa City (several talking)
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Champion/ They didn't have very good brakes! (laughter)
Wilburn/ As you learn more information from, you know, as you collect your data, um, I think
what I'm hearing from Council though is if there's any policy questions or guidance that
you need in terms of decisions and uh, if there's any issues or problems that are coming
up that if we modify one...particular, uh, policy that it will provide a benefit for what
you're hearing from the service, I think the Council's willing to...hear that, so just let us
know (both talking)
O'Brien/ Well, and I think constant updates on this is the way it's going to go, because we'll
probably come across things we'd like to change periodically and we'd like to make sure
we keep you updated on...on where we're at with this. (mumbled) memo or additional,
uh, work sessions, where we give you brief updates, things like that.
Hayek/ I think opportunities for more efficient operations would definitely be something we'd
want to hear about. So...
O'Brien/ We'll keep you apprised.
Hayek/ Thank you.
O'Brien/ Tharlk you.
Champion/ Good job!
Budget FY12:
Hayek/ Uh, next item is budget. Um (several talking) so, I mean, it was on there as a placeholder
so we could talk about... if somebody had something to discuss.
O'Malley/ So is Thursday off or on?
Bailey/ That's what I would like to know.
Champion/ Thursday's off, isn't it?
Wright/ We haven't said so.
Bailey/ We haven't decided yet.
Markus/ I think you were going to decide...
Bailey/ ...decide...I mean, still willing to meet, but...
Hayek/ Well, the question is do we need to.
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Champion/ I don't need to.
Hayek/ And I'm not sensing a need to, from Council or staff.
Wright/ (mumbled)
Hayek/ Ross, are you all right with not...okay. Okay, so we will not meet on Thursday. Uh,
let's move on to Info Packet.
Information Packets:
Hayek/ There are two of them. One is January 13t"...packet. Anything on that?
Champion/ (mumbled)
Hayek/ Hearing none, I will move on to the January 20t" packet.
Bailey/ Can we pick a date for the fireworks?
Wright/ I'm sorry?
Bailey/ Can we pick...
Hayek/ Fireworks, we need to talk about...
Bailey/ IP10, can we pick a date? We don't get both dates, I assume.
Karr/ No, we don't get both dates.
Hayek/ $50,000 (mumbled)
Karr/ Probably we could for...doubling the money we could (mumbled)
Bailey/ I think that's what he said and I think that then we'd have to meet on Thursday!
(laughter)
Hayek/ True!
Champion/ I think we should do `em on July 4t" if at all possible! Isn't that fireworks day?
Bailey/ That too, but the Jazz Fest, it's nice when everybody's down there! The Jazz Fest.
Wright/ But when you have the 4`" of July in the middle of the week?
Bailey/ It's not the middle, it's Monday, right?
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Wright/ But it changes from one year to the next.
Bailey/ Right.
Wright/ So I don't know that we necessarily want to tie it to Jazz Fest.
Bailey/ Well, no, we're just asking about this year.
Wright/ (mumbled) I'm kind of a 4t" of July kind of guy.
Bailey/ I am too! Presents on Christmas morning. 4t" of July, fireworks on the 4`" of July.
Champion/ Valentine's on Valentine's Day.
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Hayek/ I did a, uh, I did an informal poll of one person, who was not me, uh (laughter) and the
feedback I got, and it was not my spouse either, uh, the feedback I got was, uh, to go with
Sunday the 3rd, easier on families.
Champion/ Oh, that's true!
Hayek/ Um, you know, to the extent children go to this. I mean, they're not going to have school
the following day, but the parents are going to have work and...uh, and also the tie-in to
Jazz Fest.
Champion/ Well, I think there...this particular year I think there is an advantage to do them on
July 3rd. You'll have a lot of people.
Wright/ You'll have a big crowd (mumbled)
Champion/ Well, you usually (mumbled)
Wilburn/ Where are the Champions going to be? That's (laughed) down to!
Wright/ That's a lot of the crowd!
Champion/ We'll be on the roof at our house!
Markus/ And...and if you really want to see fireworks, there's another...a neighboring
community on the 4t"
Champion/ On the 4t", yeah! (several talking) And that's a big production there!
Markus/ I know you'd never do that, but...
Bailey/ ...have to drive!
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Markus/ Just get an elevated site and...
Champion/ Are we going to run the shuttle, the free shuttle, for the fireworks?
Karr/ Well, at this particular point we're certainly taking a look at all of the arrangements,
similar to what we've done in the past. Obviously, there is some logistical things, when
it's a Sunday rather than a...and you've got the weekend and the...but, at this point we
haven't made any other arrangements or had any other discussions, pending the outcome
of your decision on when.
Hayek/ Is there precedence for not doing the fireworks on the 4cn~
Champion/ Uh-huh! (several commenting)
Bailey/ ...done that before, even without Jazz Fest. (several talking)
Karr/ There's a lot of different advantages with either option. Certainly as noted, Coralville
always has been the 4tn of July, and will continue to be the 4tn. We recently have
combined efforts with the Summer of the Arts and I think it's been appreciated, um, and I
think there is, uh, certainly an advantage with the next day being a holiday, just because it
is a later night than usual.
Champion/ And (several talking) go ahead. Will they be on the Pentacrest again?
Karr/ We will do it... at the present time we hope to make, again, the same arrangements, use
public park, so people would be on the, uh, Pentacrest looking...
Champion/ Right, right. Great! (mumbled)
Bailey/ Well, and they...and they're willing to bill, and...and publicize it as well and make it
part of...
Karr/ Yes, they definitely are interested in making it part of it.
Champion/ Okay!
Bailey/ I'm fine with it.
Champion/ (mumbled)
Hayek/ No, it was a co-worker of mine.
Champion/ I think it's a great idea (mumbled)
Hayek/ My mother! (laughter)
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Karr/ So...July 3`a is
Hayek/ So July 3`a, are we all right with that...and that's...that's (both talking)
Karr/ Once I release the date it's very difficult to get the gentleman back.
Hayek/ Yeah. All right. Let's go with the 3`a
Karr/ July...July 3`a. Thank you.
Hayek/ July 3`a
Bailey/ With Jazz Fest!
Karr/ Yes.
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Wright/ And on the 4tn maybe we can have a shuttle bus up to Dubuque to watch the fireworks
(mumbled) (several talking)
Hayek/ Yes!
Bailey/ ...that I would do!
Hayek/ Okay. Anything else on the Info Packet from...January 20tn~
Champion/ Well, I just...I just, um...was reading that letter about Dubuque, and I just want to
write that person a letter and tell `em, they do have a riverboat.
Wright/ Hmm?
Bailey/ What are you talking about?
Champion/ He's commenting about...
Markus/ The budget question (several talking)
Champion/ So, I wished people knew all their facts before they write letters.
Bailey/ They...not only have a riverboat, they have acity-owned casino.
Champion/ Yeah. That's (mumbled)
Markus/ They have a private casino and acity-owned casino?
Hayek/ And a sales tax!
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Markus/ How do you get one of those?
Bailey/ A casino?
Markus/ Yeah.
Hayek/ Countywide vote, I believe.
Wright/ And the blessing of the Racing and Gambling Commission.
Bailey/ Yes!
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Hayek/ Well there's that too! Well although I'll have to say that letter did, you know, it raises
some decent points about public involvement and stuff like that. I mean, you responded
to that in your letter. So...
Wright/ Actually I think...
Markus/ And I would say that I think that there's, uh, pretty good willingness on the part of staff
to kind of change up the documents somewhat, so...
Wright/ I think he had some good suggestions for (mumbled) a little bit.
Hayek/ Okay. Anything else on the Info Packet? Okay. Council time.
Council Time:
Champion/ Oh, there is the (mumbled) Olympic wrestling thing coming here (mumbled)
Karr/ Sorry! Can't hear!
Champion/ Oh! I just...didn't say anything important!
Karr/ Oh! Okay.
Hayek/ (several talking)
Champion/ Our basketball team won its first Big Ten game! (laughter)
Wilburn/ (several talking) ...just got a message, I will be here tomorrow night, but the following
Monday, um, work session I will not be, um, my daughter's going to be a National Merit
person, but I'll be here (mumbled)
Dilkes/ You guys, if you want us to hear you gotta talk a little bit louder! (laughter)
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Wilburn/ I will be here for tomorrow's City Council meeting. I just got a text message so I will
be here, but the...Monday work session, next week, I will not be here, um...
Karr/ Okay, that one is a discussion on Sanctuary City that was scheduled to have all seven here.
So I just wanted to note that for the record. Do you want to proceed with the Sanctuary
City or...
Hayek/ Isn't that also the Affordable Housing?
Karr/ Yes.
Hayek/ And a third item too, which is not insignificant, I thought...
Bailey/ ...naming policies? That's...that's the other one that has a date on it, with our pending.
Hayek/ Oh, yeah.
Wright/ That's kind of a big work session. (several talking)
Bailey/ (mumbled)
Hayek/ So, um, the question is...is, uh, one of our members, uh...
Bailey/ Is that tentative or definite?
Wilburn/ My daughter is getting inducted into the National Merit Society.
Bailey/ So it's definite. Okay.
Wilburn/ I would like to, uh...
Bailey/ It sounds definite.
Wilburn/ ...I would hope if, uh...
Bailey/ I didn't know if it was (both talking)
Wilburn/ I'll ask the public to please excuse (mumbled) I've missed several (mumbled)
Hayek/ Oh, no, obviously the public and (several talking) but this is an important discussion, and
(several talking) we may want to...
Bailey/ ...you just said you got a text message about tomorrow, I mean, that's why I was
wondering if you had a hold on it or (several talking)
Champion/ Is the, uh, the induction at the school?
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Wilburn/ It's at City High at, um...at 7:00.
Champion/ So what else is on that...are you having a big party afterwards?
Wilburn/ Um...
Champion/ Could you come afterwards? No, too late?
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Wilburn/ I could. I don't know what, uh...I can check to find out what the schedule is going to
be, and if the induction happens I can run over, if it's going to happen in the first hour, I
can.. .
Karr/ What about the reverse of starting earlier? And putting up front the Affordable Housing or
the...
Hayek/ Starting the meeting earlier?
Karr/ Uh-huh.
Bailey/ Um, what time?
Karr/ I'm just trying to figure out an option, because you know it's difficult when it's at 7:00 to
say you'll try to be here at 8:00 and then to get revved up on a meaty discussion at 8:00, I
just didn't know if we could start at 5:00, 5:15 (several talking)
Wilburn/ I could start at 5:00 that night.
Hayek/ I think...I think with...with our gift and naming policy and Sanctuary City, those are
items that are less time-sensitive, but the third item is not (both talking)
Karr/ ...start with that one.
Hayek/ ...and uh... if we could move up the meeting and gain your attendance, as long as it
works for everybody else too...maybe we should do that.
Champion/ (mumbled) affordable housing discussion? Right, we need everybody here for that.
Dilkes/ I mean, we could move Sanctuary City to the next meeting. I don't think there'd be
any...14t", there'd be any harm in that, and I think we want to make sure we give
ourselves enough time to talk about the affordable housing issue.
Hayek/ How `bout that? So, Marian, can you explore with (both talking) Susan and Terry, their
availability for, uh, I guess...
Karr/ Should we say 5:00...5:15?
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January 24, 2011 City Council Work Session
Wilburn/ I could go at 5:00, yeah.
Karr/ 5:00?
Wilburn/ Yeah.
Hayek/ Can you do that? Okay.
Karr/ So I'll explore, and hopefully maybe we'll even know as early as tomorrow night.
Hayek/ Okay! You'll let us know, please. Thank you.
Champion/ (mumbled)
Wilburn /Thank you.
Helling/ So we're still scheduling Sanctuary City for the 31 Sty
Champion/ I think we moved it to the next one.
Hayek/ Let's bump Sanctuary City...
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Helling/ If we bump it, just looking at the 14t", that could be a bit of a problem too with some
other stuff that's schedule there. I don't know...
Wright/ The 14t" is also a big session with firearms and wastewater.
Helling /Or there may be something on the 14t" I can push back, um... Sanctuary City in there,
so...but if you don't want it for the 31St then we won't put it on.
Bailey/ But firearms is a recent addition. You could move that. Sanctuary Cities has been, I
mean, if you go with how long something's been on the pending list, go with Sanctuary
Cities the 14t" and move firearms. I mean...that would be another way to approach it.
Hayek/ All right. Although I don't think we want to delay too long on...on the firearm issue
either.
Wright/ I was just thinking I'm not really...
Champion/ ...too long to discuss that (several talking)
Hayek /Well, except that we've...we're already hearing anecdotal indications of city meetings
being, uh, heavily attended in other communities throughout the state and I don't think
we, uh...
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Bailey/ But it's a work session. (several talking) ...come the next night.
Hayek/ Right. All I'm saying is that, uh...
Markus/ We've already had that inquiry.
Hayek/ Sure, and we should expect that! Yeah.
Champion/ I just can't believe it's going to take us very long to decide what to do with that! I
mean, it's going to be (mumbled) oh, I'm sorry! (noise on mic)
Dilkes/ Just speak up when it's really important, Connie!
Champion/ Yeah, that'll help! (laughter)
Hayek/ If we're trying to decide which to place first, Sanctuary City or firearms, on our work
session, I would go with firearms.
Wright/ I would go with firearms, as well.
Wilburn/ So would I.
Champion/ I mean, there will be a lot of the public here, but...
Bailey/ I don't care. I'll show up on the 14th (mumbled) talk about what's on the agenda.
So...yeah, I mean (both talking)
Champion/Yeah, leave `em both on.
Bailey/ Whatever...whatever you guys feel will work for the schedule.
Helling/ One of the things, we won't know for sure about sort of guessing how much time you'll
spend on housing on the 14th until your, uh, discussion of the 31St is done, so...
Markus/ Correct.
Helling/ Yeah, we'll just...we won't put Sanctuary City on the 31St, and we'll, given your
priorities, we'll work something out.
Hayek/ Okay.
Karr/ And, Dale, we'll...we're moving the Sanctuary City then from the 31St to the 14th? And
what else are we doing? Nothing?
Helling/ Then we're going to see what else needs to be done on the 14th, depending on housing
and, yeah, uh-huh.
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Hayek/ I just, uh, since, uh, Rick and Andy are here, I just wanted to, uh, I just...mention a
couple of things. First of all, job well done to the Fire Department and our EMS
responders to the tragedy that occurred on campus today. It was a very long day and, um,
must have been a very, very tough situation. Um, and secondly, uh, I'm going to...I'll
mention this tomorrow night, um, I got a...I got copied on a letter, uh, from somebody
who lives over by Ashwood, complimenting the Public Works staff who came out and
cleared a storm water conduit, uh, threw out some compliments to staff on that. I'm
going to read that tomorrow night, but since you're here, Rick, I wanted to...make sure
you heard that. Job well done on that too! Any other Council time?
Champion/ Well since we've got these people here I'd like to ask a question that dawned on me
today when I was coming out of the parking ramp. How do we keep water in fire
hydrants from freezing? (laughter) It just dawned on me today for the first time.
Fosse/ That's a good question! There is no water in fire hydrants. There's a valve down low, the
valve is at the base of it, 5-feet below the ground, and when you close that valve, the
water that is in the hydrant drains out a weep hole in the bottom. So until you turn the
valve onto top the hydrant, it doesn't fill with water.
Markus/ But if there was water in those fire hydrants (both talking) it would have been frozen!
Champion/ I was concerned about that! But that's good, yeah, okay, now I know!
Hayek/ Okay. Pending work session issues? Sort of spent some time talking about those!
Upcoming events, Council invitations?
Invitations•
Bailey/ I plan to attend the Thursday Riverfront Crossings that we're going to...are others going
to be there too? I mean, I know that (mumbled) but...
Wright/ I'm planning to be there for the (mumbled)
Bailey/ Okay.
Champion/ I'll be there for part of it also.
Hayek/ Remember the stump rule!
Champion/ I know!
Bailey/ No problem.
Hayek/ Anything else...on Council invitations? Okay. Uh...meeting schedules? We're not
going with this Thursday's meeting. Any other... items we need to talk about as to the
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January 24, 2011 City Council Work Session Page 28
schedule? Just as a reminder, and I've been talking about this for approximately eight
and a half months, um, uh...the 14th, 15th...is real dicey for me, depending on when, uh,
the addition...
Bailey/ And we just moved some big discussion items to the 14th? Was that intentional?
Hayek / Oh, God, you're right! Well, we'll have to see!
Markus/ Subliminal!
Hayek/ So, um, official due date is the 19th. Just saying, you never know! (several talking) I
know.
Bailey/ I think that works!
Hayek/ So...okay. Uh, that's it, I think. All right. Nice work, we'll see you tomorrow night.
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