HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-03-31 Info Packet��.. sow
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CITY OF IOWA CITY
www.icgov.org
CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET
APRIL 4 WORK SESSION
March 31, 2011
IP1 Council Meetings and Work Session Agenda
IP2 Memorandum from the Director of Public Works to the City Manager: Gilbert Street
Streetscape — April 19, May 3 and June 7
IP3 Summary of Pending Work Session Issues
MISCELLANEOUS
IP4 Memorandum from the Director of Public Works and the Director of Planning and Community
Development to the City Manager: Update: Flood- related activities
IP5 Email from the City Manager: Concrete patch in Pedestrian Plaza
IP6 Memorandum from the City Clerk: KXIC Radio Show
IP7 Letter from Craig Gustaveson to the City Manager: Farmers Market
IP8 Police Department Bar Check Report — February 2011
IP9 Staff response to Zach Hanson: Red Light Cameras and Question
IP10 The Planner— March 28, 2011
IP11 Newsletter: Miller Orchard Neighborhood Association — April 2011
IP12 News from the University of Iowa International Programs
IP13 Representative Jacoby Statehouse News -March 23, 2011
IP14 8th Annual City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission Youth Awards — Nominations
due April 27, 2011
IP15 Fair Housing Training — April 25, 2011
IP16 Invitation: Job Fair - Building Blocks to Employment — April 26, 2011
IP17 Invitation: Iowa City Community Looks at Poverty — May 5, 2011
IP18 Invitation: Iowa City Community String Orchestra Spring Concern - April 17, 2011
IP19 Invitation: UNESCO Creative Cities Network Conference November 16 -18, 2011
IP20 Minutes: Joint Informal Meeting of Johnson County Board of Supervisors and Criminal
Justice Coordinating Committee: March 2, 2011
March 31, 2011 Information Packet (continued) 2
Invitation: Tipton Shovel Ready Certification Ceremony — April 18, 2011
Invitation: Regional Economic Development Summit — April 7, 2011
DRAFT MINUTES
IP21 Human Rights Commission: March 15, 2011
IP22 Airport Commission: March 10, 2011
IP23 Board of Adjustment: March 9, 2011
�� ®a7
City Council Meeting Schedule and IN
CITY OF IOWA CITY Work Session Agendas March 31, 2011
www.icgov.org
♦
MONDAY, APRIL 4
Emma J. Harvat Hall
5:30p Regular Work Session
• Planning and Zoning Items "e"
• Council Appointments
• Agenda Items
• Gilbert Street Streetscape [IP2]
• Information Packet Discussion (March 24 & 311
• Council Time
• Budget Priorities
• Summary of Pending Work Session Issues [IP3]
• Upcoming Community Events /Council Invitations
• Discussion of Meeting Schedules
♦
TUESDAY, APRIL 5
Emma J. Harvat Hall
7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting
TENTATIVE MEETING SCHEDULE
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
♦
MONDAY, APRIL 18
Emma J. Harvat Hall
5:30p Regular Work Session
♦
TUESDAY, APRIL 19
Emma J. Harvat Hall
7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting
♦
MONDAY, MAY 2
Emma J. Harvat Hall
5:30p Regular Work Session
♦
TUESDAY, MAY 3
Emma J. Harvat Hall
7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting
♦
MONDAY, MAY 16
Emma J. Harvat Hall
5:30p Regular Work Session
♦
TUESDAY, MAY 17
Emma J. Harvat Hall
7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting
♦
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18
Coralville
4:00p Joint Meeting
♦
MONDAY, MAY 30
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Memorial Day — City Offices Closed
City Council Meeting Schedule and
CITY OF IOWA CITY Work Session Agendas March 31, 2011
www.icgov.org
♦ MONDAY, JUNE 6 Emma J. Harvat Hall
5:30p Regular Work Session
♦
TUESDAY, JUNE 7
Emma J. Harvat Hall
7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting
♦
MONDAY, JUNE 20
Emma J. Harvat Hall
5:30p Regular Work Session
♦
TUESDAY, JUNE 21
Emma J. Harvat Hall
7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting
♦
TUESDAY, JULY 5
Emma J. Harvat Hall
5:30p Special Work Session
7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting
♦
MONDAY, JULY 18
Emma J. Harvat Hall
5:30p Regular Work Session
♦
TUESDAY, JULY 19
Emma J. Harvat Hall
7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting
♦
MONDAY, AUGUST 1
Emma J. Harvat Hall
5:30p Regular Work Session
♦
TUESDAY, AUGUST 2
Emma J. Harvat Hall
7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting
♦
MONDAY, AUGUST 15
Emma J. Harvat Hall
5:30p Regular Work Session
♦
TUESDAY, AUGUST 16
Emma J. Harvat Hall
7:00p Regular Formal Council Meeting
DATE:
TO:
FROM:
RE:
City of Iowa City
MEMORANDUM
March 31, 2011
Tom Markus, City Manager
Rick Fosse, Public Works Director
Gilbert Street Streetscape — April 19, May 3 and June 7
M IP2
Introduction: The Gilbert Street Streetscape project is intended to enhance the visual
appearance of the corridor and improve the pedestrian space to the segment of S.
Gilbert Street between Prentiss Street and Burlington Street. Confluence was hired in
2009 to design this project and has since produced construction documents and
specifications in preparation for construction.
History /Background: The initial concept and cost estimate for this project were
discussed at the City Council work session on November 29, 2010. At that meeting, City
staff presented the proposed plan that included items such as lighting, raised planters,
retaining walls, trees, benches, and other amenities. This design was substantially over
budget and would have to be constructed in phases in order to proceed. The City
Council directed staff to re- design the project so that it was within budget with a priority
on including trees, lighting, and bike racks.
Discussion of Solution: In response to City Council's recommendations, Confluence
modified the project design by limiting the improvements to lighting, street trees, PCC
pavers, and bike racks. The lighting is proposed to be installed on both the east and
west side of Gilbert Street between Burlington Street and Bowery Street. The plans also
include an alternate to continue the lighting to the Iowa Interstate Railway if favorable
bids are received. Street trees, bike racks and pavers would be installed on the west
side between Court Street and Ralston Creek. Street trees are proposed to be installed
on the east side between Ralston Creek and Bowery Street, as well as one bench near
the Prentiss Street intersection and two trees in front of The Mansion property. With the
proposed improvements as mentioned, the project is estimated to be within the allowed
project budget for construction.
Recommendation: Staff recommends proceeding to bids with the revised concept. With
this recommendation, the schedule for this project would be as follows:
April 19 — Set public hearing
May 3 — Hold public hearing
June 7 — Award project to contractor
Mid -June thru early August - Construction
Cc: Ron Knoche
Brian Boelk
SUMMARY OF PENDING WORK SESSION ISSUES
3/31/11
Downtown Planning (APRIL 18)
Commercial Vending in Melrose Avenue Area (APRIL 18)
New Animal Shelter (APRIL 18)
2012 Farmers' Market (MAY 2)
Sanctuary City
Review Function of Boards /Commissions: Explore Possible Consolidations
Flood Response & Mitigation Update (PERIODIC)
April 4 — 5
April 18 —19
May 2 — 3
May 16 - 17
IP3
r
CITY OF IOWA CIT IN
MEMORANDU
Date: March 30, 2011
To: City Manager
From: Rick Fosse, Director of Public Works
Jeff Davidson, Director of Planning and Community Development
Re: Update: Flood- related activities
Engineering Division
• The demolition of buyout properties continues. This in
preparing, contracting and
inspecting the asbestos abatement and structure removals.
• Staff is preparing a contract with the University of Iowa to conduct a Phase 1 Intensive
Archeological Study. This work will be done this Spring.
Dubuque Street Elevation and Park Road Bridge Reconstruction Project
• Comments from the March 3rd public meeting, a meeting summary and Frequently
Asked Questions with responses have been added to the project website.
• City Staff will be making project presentations at the Joint ASCE meeting on April 21 S`
and to the Norse Group on November 21s`
• Requested revisions by IDOT and the FHWA were made to the Purpose and Need.
• HNTB determined through future traffic analyses that additional through capacity on
Dubuque Street is not required for the No -Build condition.
• Park Road Bridge type, size, and location study was continued by HNTB. They also
held a profile grade workshop with hydraulics, bridge and roadway staff and prepared
profile grade matrix with bridge low chord elevation used as the controlling factor.
Bridge depth (from bottom of the low chord to deck) was used as the variable to
determine resulting profile grades with different bridge types.
• City staff provided with draft initial alternatives screening matrix and initial thoughts on
screening criteria. Staff provided review comments back to HNTB.
• HNTB coordinated with the City on hydraulic models, storm water manuals, and historic
flood elevations.
G d a Bella Vista neighborhood meeting on April
Prepare for the upcoming TAC meeting an
• MMS is wrapping up the topographic survey on site and has been coordinating with
HNTB to verify the study limits.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Consolidation Project
• Gravity Thickener site visit at Davenport WWTP on March 23`d
• Updating design concept on BAR process
• Developing sizing and layout of Equalization Basin
• Developing UV disinfection concept schematics and layouts
• Analyzing effluent water requirements and system layout
• Developing process chlorination system requirements
• Refining schemes for RAS /classifying selector design
• Updating design sizing and layout of rotating drum sludge thickeners
• Evaluate design of existing high strength waste equalizations tank
• Continued development of primary sludge thickeners
• Working on preliminary engineerin %design report
• Held a workshop with on March 28
March 31, 2011
Page 2
Rocky Shore Drive Pump Station and Floodgates Project
• Held an initial meeting with CRANDIC RR
• Scheduled an initial meeting with Riley Law Firm
• Progressing on the hydraulics and hydrology
• Progressing on field survey work
• Progressing on a draft of memo regarding the pros, cons and opinions of cost on the
types of removable flood walls and gates
• Scheduling a design progress meeting — proposed 2 PM Monday, April 4th to discuss
H &H study, alternatives and pump recommendations
Iowa River Flood Modeling
• Revisions based on the City's review comments are being made to the report.
West Side Levee
• City Attorney has received proposals for appraisal services. Staff is currently reviewing
the proposals.
• City has submitted the joint permit application to IDNR and Iowa Corps of Engineers.
Water Division
River Crossings
• The University of Iowa has completed the environmental /archeological study and review
for the river crossing sites located at the old plant and Hwy 6. The report recommends
that a Phase I field visit be performed a by an architectural historian prior to proposed
construction activities.
FEMA has been updated regarding the status of the project. The requested
archeological evaluation will be completed by the end of April.
Peninsula Source Protection
• Flood mitigation work is nearing completion. Mitigation work is complete on CW -4.
Work on CW -3 is expected to be completed within the next two weeks.
• The completion of this project that was scheduled for the end of January has been
extended to the end of March 2011.
Water Works Prairie Park Source Protection
• Howard R Green Co. met with Public Works staff to review 60% design documents for
flood mitigation projects at CW -1, CW -2, and the SPPS facilities.
• Scope changes were discovered through the design process and have been submitted
to IHS and FEMA, and their approval is anticipated.
• The expected completion of the projects was scheduled for September 2011. It is
anticipated the schedule will be extended due to the scope change and review process.
PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
A total of 69 residential properties have been acquired through disaster recovery buyout
grants. Of the 69 properties, 32 of the properties have been acquired through the
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), 31 with Community Development Block
Grant (CDBG) funds, and six with Community Disaster Grant (CDG) funds. A total of 55
properties have been demolished in the Parkview Terrace and Taft Speedway
neighborhoods.
An amendment to the CDBG buyout program was submitted to and approved by the
Iowa Department of Economic Development in order to add four properties on
March 30, 2011
Page 3
Normandy Drive. The amendment will increase the number of properties eligible for a
buyout with CDBG funds from 58 to 62.
• Staff has begun accepting homeowner applications and will hold a lottery drawing on
April 8th to determine selection order for Round 3 of the Single Family New Construction
Homes Program. There will be 31 affordable homes constructed in Round 3.
• Applications for Federal Jumpstart funds for repair, rental rehabilitation, down payment
assistance and interim mortgage assistance are still being accepted and funds are
available. To date, $869,500 in Federal Jumpstart funding has been used to assist 18
households.
• Staff has completed a scope of work for the Taft Speedway Levee impact evaluation and
will be publishing a notice this week to let potential study contractors know the RFP
process has begun. A public meeting will be held in early May to gather initial public
input on the scope and timeline of the study.
• Due to the possible rescission of federal grant funds, staff is continuing to provide
information to our Congressional offices in Washington on the City's active federal flood
recovery and mitigation grants.
Kathryn Johansen IP5
From: Tom Markus
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 10:48 AM
To: Kathryn Johansen
Subject: Council Question re concrete patch in Ped Mall
Please place this email in the info packet. The patch will be replaced with Ped Mall brick as soon as weather permits ie
frost comes out of the ground. It appears to be a repair for a water main /service line.
us -si -1 1
CITY OF IOWA CITY IP6
. ,
-� RAN D U M
�E� O
Date: March 30, 2011
To: Mayor and City Council n'
From: Marian K. Karr, City Clerk Imo`
Re: KXIC Radio Show
We are booked through March 30 but need to schedule for the next few weeks. Please take a
look at your calendars and come prepared to help fill in the schedule Monday evening:
April6
April 13
April 20
April 27
May 4
May 11
May 18
U: radios howasking.doc
Craig Gustaveson
2603 E. Court St
Iowa City, la. 52245
319- 330 -2671
Tom Markus
City Manager
City of Iowa City
411 E. Washington St
Iowa City, la. 52240
mod'
0 a
M IP7
I have served on both the DTA board, including 3 years as president, and 12
years, 4 as chairman, on our park and recreation commission, so I feel I have a
unique perspective regarding the Farmers Market.
As president of the a DTA, our main goal was to create better working
environment with the city and it's staff with the downtown community. We
wanted to create more events downtown and to make it more user friendly. One
of our interest was to bring the farmer's market closer to the downtown area on a
few Saturday's a year and test it to see if it was viable alternative.
As you have probably heard by now the uproar was tremendous. Not only did
the venders not want it, but a majority of the patrons didn't want it either. As
chairman of the park and recreation commission, we held several "town
meetings" to get feed back from the community and also authorized a survey to
get a perspective from a larger demographic. Again the results were to leave
the market alone.
I feel this issue needs to be put to rest. Tammy and her staff and spent too
much of their time addressing and readdressing this issue. The results are
going to be the same. Leave the Farmer's Market alone! If the DTA is adamant
about bringing the market downtown, let them create their own market. Let
them do the planning, contacting the vendors and figuring the logistics of where
vendors will set up, where people are going to park, how to handle free parking
that patrons want.
Although I agree with trying new ventures downtown is necessary, this is not the
one to pursue. It's time to tell the DTA 'no' and not waste anymore time on it.
Craig Gustaveson
Iowa City Police Department
Bar Check Report - February, 2011
Possession of Alcohol Under the Legal Age (PAULA) Under 21 Charges
�$ Numbers are reflective of only Iowa City Police activity
M IP8
Business I e�$ ` o\% Occupancy
(occupa h' lab iida a Oct 2008)
"f�
Monthly Totals
Bar
Under2l PAULA
Checks
Prev 12 Month APAULA
Checks Under2l
Under 21 PAULA
Ratio Rp110
(Prev 12 Mo) (Prev 12 Mo)
[Iowa City] Yacht Club 206
7
1
1
19
1
1
0.0526316
0.0526316
[It's] Brothers Bar & Grill 556
14
0
4
91
1
7
0.0109890
0.0769231
[The] Deadwood 218
4
0
0
14
0
0
0
0
[The] Dublin Underground 57
5
0
0
15
0
0
0
0
[The] Summit 736
17
8
6
84
8
17
0.0952381
0.202381
[The] Vine Tavern 170
3
0
0
27
0
0
0
0
Airliner— 223
10
0
5
50
0
5
0
0.1
Blue Moose 436
8
0
0
42
0
4
0
0.0952381
Bo-James— 200
9
0
0
34
0
0
0
0
Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar— 189
1
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
Caliente Night Club 498
8
2
0
19
3
0
0.1578947
0
Carl & Ernie's Pub & Grill 92
3
0
0
9
0
0
0
0
Colonial Lanes— 502
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
Dave's Foxhead Tavern 87
1
0
0
6
0
0
0
0
DC's 120
12
3
1
45
3
1
0.0666667
0.0222222
Donnelly's Pub 49
4
0
0
13
0
0
0
0
Gabes 261
3
0
0
8
0
0
0
0
George's Buffet 75
1
0
0
8
0
0
0
0
IC Ugly's 72
2
0
0
9
0
0
0
0
Joe's Place 281
8
0
0
30
0
0
0
0
Martini's 200
6
1
0
39
2
0
0.0512821
0
Micky's— 98
3
0
0
17
0
0
0
0
Pints 180
9
1
1
56
2
2
0.0357143
0.0357143
Quinton's Bar & Deli 149
2
0
0
14
0
0
0
0
Saloon— 120
1
0
0
7
0
0
0
0
Sam's Pizza— 174
4
0
4
8
0
4
0
0.5
Shakespeare's 90
1
0
0
12
0
0
0
0
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 Page 1 of 2
Short's Burger & Shine- 56
1
0
0
8
0
0
0
0
Slippery Pete's aka Fieldhouse 178
13
1
0
37
1
0
0.0270270
0
Sports Column 400
12
3
2
58
4
13
0.0689655
0.2241379
Studio 13 206
1
0
0
20
0
0
0
0
TCB 250
10
0
0
29
1
0
0.0344828
0
Union Bar 854
16
4
8
63
4
9
0.0634921
0.1428571
VFW Post #3949 197
1
0
0
6
0
0
0
0
Totals
201
24
32
904
30
63
0.0331858
0.0696903
Off Premise
0
0
7
0
0
18
0
0
Grand Totals
201
24
39
904
30
81
0.0331858
0.0896018
* includes outdoor seating area
exception to 21 ordinance
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Wednesday, March 30, 2011 Page 2 of 2
Marian Karr
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Good afternoon, Zach:
Accepted as item 3f(6) on the March 22 Formal agenda M
Kathryn Johansen
Friday, March 25, 2011 2:14 PM
zchnson @gmail.com
"City Council
RE: Red Light Cameras and Quick Question
Thank you for your email communication to City Council. Your message was forwarded to Council and accepted as
official correspondence at their formal meeting on Tuesday, March 22.
In response to your question regarding Dubuque Street, a special assessment for this project is not planned at this time.
Thank you again for writing, Zach. We appreciate your input.
Sincerely,
Kathi Johansen
Administrative Assistant
to the City Manager
319 356 -5010
- - - -- Original Message---- -
From: Zach Hanson [mailto:zchnson @gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, March 21, 20113:19 PM
To: Council
Subject: Red Light Cameras and Quick Question
Hello,
My name is Zach Hanson and I am writing to express my concern over the recent proposals of Red -Light Cameras in Iowa
City. However, before I begin that discussion, I have a simple question in which I have been unable to find an answer to:
Will the elevation of Dubuque street be funded entirely through the ARRA and City funds or will property owners nearby
be charged for a special assessment?
Red Light Cameras were declared unconstitutional and an invasion of privacy by our neighbors to the north in
Minnesota. I don't see why we should set any other standard here in Iowa City. With cameras, Cedar Rapids has
become even less attractive than before to the business and residential communities alike. It can be quickly proven
through a google search that any revenue initially collected is and will be quickly diminished by the third -party vendor
charging for the service.
If the council were to take a vote of residents (the residents that they are representing), this measure would instantly
drop dead in its tracks and I encourage such a vote whenever possible. Don't let narrow statistics shown to you by the
police chief (the man who will be receiving the additional revenue generated) instantly change your mind. There are
studies that will prove just the opposite of what he has told you if you do a little research. In fact, a study done by the
University of California San Diego (where red -light cameras are quite literally everywhere), proved that while the
number of fatal accidents decreased by 2 (which is probably a cause to new safety features in cars), minor accidents
increased almost ten fold from 273 to 2,531. The study indicates that people nervous about getting a ticket would slam
on their brakes surprising the car behind into a fender bender.
While I am greatly opposed to the cameras, I do understand the good
intentions of the police chief and the council in considering them.
If approved, I would prefer to see any money generated funneled into infrastructure or towards a decrease in water
fees. There are many roads in our city that need attention (Park Road Especially!).
A few alternate ideas to the red -light cameras that have been proven, without doubt, to lower accidents are as follows:
(Feel free to contact the transportation engineering professors at the University of Iowa to verify) - Extending the "All
Red" sequence of a traffic signal (The portion of a signal cycle in which all lights are red) - Extending the yellow times to
3 -4 seconds - Adding Right Turn Lanes where there are none
Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. I thank you in advance for your response.
-Zach Hanson
This correspondence will become a public record.
M 1pio
�o Planner
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3 Week of March 28, 2011
Newsletter for the Iowa City Planning & Community Development Department
Urban Planning I Historic Preservation I Housing Rehab I Community Development
Economic Development I JCCOG Transportation Planning I Neighborhood Services I Public Art
..................... ...............................
Calendar
s For a schedule of upcoming meet-
: ings for the Planning & Commun-
ity Development Department,
see our Calendar. Page 10.
Affordable housing.
City develops mapping tool to help
determine suitable new locations
Inside
A goal of the Iowa City Comprehensive Plan is to provide housing in
the community for residents of all socio- economic levels. Affordable
Round 3
housing developers are attempting to fill the growing need for afford -
Round 3 of the City's Single-
able homes. Affordable housing projects are frequently built on less
Family New Home Construction
expensive lots in subdivisions with less constrictive covenants. Those
Program is now underway. Get
lots are often located in low- to moderate - income neighborhoods, so
your applications in by April 7 for ?
there is the perception that affordable housing projects may uninten-
first -round consideration! Page 3.
tionally contribute to concentrations of poverty.
Market Place
Anxious for the Farmers Markets
to get underway? Get a jumpstart
on the season with the Grant
Wood Market Place! The success
of these events could lead to a
year -round market.
Page S.
Southeast District
The Southeast District Plan is
headed to City Council for final
approval. Page 6.
Terra Verde
If Council gives its OK, there
will be a new subdivision on the
east side. Page 7.
New name
JCCOG now goes by a new name
— MPOJC. And, they've got a
new logo and website address to
go along with it! Page 8.
i....................... ...............................
After dealing with several controversial projects, in November 2010 the
City Council expressed a desire for a more objective system for deter-
mining locations for affordable housing projects that receive a subsidy
from the City or the CDBG and HOME programs. Council expressed
three specific goals:
continued on next page
Longfellow Place, a subdivision off of Sheridan Avenue, offers a mix of housing,
including affordable homes for income - qualifying homeowners and renters.
The Planner, week of 3.28.201 1 — page 2
Affordable housing
continued from cover
• Do not further burden neighborhoods and elemen-
tary schools that have issues related to concentra-
tions of poverty.
• There is a desire to have diverse neighborhoods in
terms of a range of income levels.
• Take into consideration elementary school issues
as determined by the Iowa City Community School
District.
City staff has developed a tool which has been approved
by the City Council to determine the suitability of prop-
erties throughout the City for new affordable housing
projects requesting City funds or federal CDBG and
HOME funds. The Affordable Housing Location Model
prioritizes locations for assisted housing based on the
concerns expressed by the City Council. It includes three
specific criteria requested by the Iowa City Community
School District: elementary school mobility rates, ele-
mentary school free and reduced lunch rates, and stan-
dardized test scores at each elementary school, along
with distance to existing assisted or subsidized housing
locations, crime density, median household income and
change in residential sales price.
Staff from the City of Iowa City and the Metropolitan
Planning Organization for Johnson County developed a
Geographic Information System (GIS) location suitability
continued on next page
• 0 0 0 0 0 0 0! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0•
All shapes and sizes
Affordable housing comes in all shapes and sizes to meet a vari-
ety of needs in the Iowa City community:
Affordable homeownership (top photo): These townhomes on
Westbury Court were built as part of the Single- Family New
Construction Program in 2010, and were purchased by income -
eligible homebuyers with the help of a downpayment assistance
program.
Affordable rental (photo 2): This single - family detached home is
part of Aniston Village, which offers 22 affordable rental homes
for income - eligible households. The homes, built in 2010, are
managed by The Housing Fellowship.
Transitional housing (photo 3): MECCA's offices are located on
the lower level of this building on Southgate Avenue, while on
the upper level are 12 transitional housing units. Tenants who
live here receive services from MECCA and other agencies
while they transition to self- sufficiency. This building was built in
2002.
Special populations (photo 4): Lexington Place, on Shannon Drive
on the west side of the city, offers 30 rental units for low -
income elderly residents. These units were built in 2001.
AFFORDABLE
HOUSING
N THE CITY
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
STEVE LONG
Community Development
Coordinator
319.356.5250
steve - long @iowa - city.org
Web page:
www.icgov.org /commdev
The Planner, week of 3.28.201 1 — page 3
Affordable housing
continued from previous page
model. The model incorporates data inputs which represent the con-
cerns of the City Council which are weighted in terms of the relative
significance of each criterion based on the Council's goals and input
from the school district. The weighted data is entered into the model,
which then produces a map showing the suitability of all areas in the city
for future affordable housing projects. The model will be used for deci-
sion- making related to whether CDBG, HOME, or City funds are avail-
able for the construction or acquisition of affordable rental housing pro-
jects. The model will be updated annually.
The model has been popular with affordable housing developers in that
it allows them to go forward knowing where acceptable and unaccept-
able affordable housing locations are throughout the city. This provides
a more unbiased and less subjective method for selecting affordable
housing locations. The model will insure that future City or federal
funding assistance for affordable housing does not contribute to concen-
trations of poverty in Iowa City.
A map of the location model appears on the next page.
For more information, contact Community Development Coordinator
Steve Long at 319.356.5250 or e -mail steve - long @iowa - city.org
Round 3 of New Homes Program now underway
The third round of the City's
Single - Family New Home Con-
struction Program, in which 31
new homes will be built and sold
to income - qualifying applicants,
is now underway. Homes will
include duplexes, zero -lots,
townhomes, and single - family
detached homes ranging in price
from $130,000 to $180,000.
Construction will get underway
this spring, and at least some of
the homes should be available
for occupancy by this fall.
Applicants must meet income
guidelines set by the federal De-
partment of Housing and Urban
Development that are based on
the number of people living in
the household. For a family of
two, gross income cannot ex-
ceed $62,300; for a family of
four, the maximum income al-
lowed is $77,800. Applicants
This is one of the house plans
submitted by MBHG, LLC and
accepted by the City for Round 3
of the City's Single - Family
New Home Construction Program.
Visit www.icgov.org /newhomes to
see plans for more homes that will
be built as part of the program.
must also qualify for a mortgage
loan and borrow the funds from
a local bank that is participating
in the program. A downpayment
assistance program, through
which 25% of the sale price of
the home would be set up as a
five -year forgiveable loan, is also
available.
To be considered for first -round
selection, applications must be
submitted to the Planning and
Community Development
Department in City Hall by
5 p.m. on April 7.
For an application or more in-
formation on design plans, home
locations, builders, or income
level requirements, visit
www.icgov.org /newhomes or
contact Community Develop-
ment Planners Doug Ongie or
David Purdy at 319.356.5230
The Planner, week of 3.28.201 1 — page 4
NEIGHBORHOOD
SERVICES
MARCIA BOLLINGER
Neighborhood Services
Coordinator
319.356.5237
marcia - bollinger @iowa - city.org
Web page:
www.icgov.org/
neigh borhoodservices
The Planner, week of 3.28.201 1 — page 5
Homemade and home - grown:
Grant Wood Market Place schedules three
off - season farmers' markets in March and April
Homemade baked goods, Guatemalan weavings, donuts, handmade
soaps, cheese, plants and flowers, fresh eggs, jewelry, chocolate truffles,
pottery, pasta, and other unique homemade and home -grown products
await shoppers at the Grant Wood Market Place off - season farmers'
markets on March 26, April 9, and April 23. Each of the three events
will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Grant Wood Elementary School
gym at 1930 Lakeside Drive in Iowa City.
The Grant Wood Market Place
is serving as a test market to
gauge the level of community
interest in a year -round Farmers'
Market. If participation from ven-
dors and market -goers is strong,
the Grant Wood Market Place
may be expanded to a year -round
or winter market. The special
markets are being coordinated by
the City of Iowa City Neighbor-
hood Services Division and the
Grant Wood Neighborhood
Association, with the support of
the Iowa City Farmers' Market.
MARKET
PLACE
Some of the Iowa City Farmers' Markets most popular vendors have
registered to participate in the three Grant Wood Market Place events.
Currently, the list of products that will be available for sale include:
Foods:
Produce (including organic options), cheeses (Gouda and goat cheese),
donuts, jams, granola, eggs, pork, pasta, Italian baked goods, soup mixes,
chocolate truffles, fruit pies, black walnuts, hickory nuts, caramel corn,
and a variety of other baked goods.
Plants:
Flowers, vegetable and herb plants, and bedding plants, and hanging bas-
kets.
Bath and body:
Soaps, lotions, natural deodorant, feather pillows, and herbal products.
Art and gifts:
Jewelry, stained glass art, Guatemalan weavings, notecards, paper and
poetry collages, stoneware pottery, greeting cards, photo prints, and
wall hangings.
Other items:
Homespun yarn, hand -knit cotton hats, fabric, and scarves.
Even more products are expected to be available as the event draws
closer. For more information, contact Neighborhood Services Coordi-
nator Marcia Bollinger at marcia - bollinger @iowa - city.org or call
319.356.5237.
PLANNING
ROBERT MIKLO
Senior Planner
319.356.5240
bob- milclo @iowa- city.org
Web page:
www.icgov.org /urbanplanning
The Planner, week of 3.28.201 1 — page 6
Southeast District Plan
now heads to City Council
The Planning and Zoning Commission has voted to recommend
approval of the Southeast District Plan, which means the plan will now
go before the City Council for a public hearing. The Council will discuss
the plan at its April 5th meeting, scheduled at 7 p.m. in Emma Harvat
Hall in City Hall, 410 E. Washington Street. If adopted, the plan will
serve as a guide for public and private investment in the Southeast Dis-
trict — everything from residential, commercial, and industrial develop-
ment to future roads, parks, and trails.
City planners drafted the proposed plan based on public input provided
through a series of community workshops and discussion forums with
residents, business owners, and other interested members of the com-
munity. Areas discussed in the plan are housing and neighborhood qual-
ity; eastside growth area; commercial development; industrial and em-
ployment areas; streets and transportation; and parks, trails and open
space.
To view the plan, visit the City's website at www.icgov.org /SEplan. If
you cannot attend the public meeting on April 5 but would like to pro-
vide comment, contact Karen Howard in the City's Urban Planning divi-
sion at 319.356.5251 or e -mail karen- howard @iowa - city.org
Before you start that home improvement project
The arrival of spring means that many homeowners are starting to think about home improvement projects.
The Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission reminds those whose homes are located in historic or conser-
vation districts that exterior construction projects must be approved by the Commission before a building permit
will be issued.
Projects that typically require historic review include: siding replacement or repair; window and door replace-
ment or addition; porch construction or repair; construction of new dormers, additions, decks, and ramps; addi-
tion of skylights; construction of a new outbuilding, such as a garage; demolition of a primary structure, outbuild-
ing, or any portion of a building; removal of decora-
tive elements such as porches, trim, brackets, chim-
neys, or dormers. Projects that typically do not re-
quire historic review include: paint or change in paint
color; reapplication of roof shingles on single - family
buildings; replacement of gutters and downspouts;
installation of storm windows; construction of fences
that are less than 6 feet high; or changes to the inte-
rior of the structure.
Before initiating a project or submitting an applica-
tion for historic review, please contact Christina
Kuecker at 319.356.5243 to discuss ideas and plans.
For more information, including a map of Iowa City's
historic districts, the Historic Preservation Hand-
book and guidelines, or the City's historic preserva-
tion plan, visit www. icgov.org /HistoricPreservation.
The Planner, week of 3.28.201 1 — page 7
TerraVerde. 0
Final plat to be reviewed for proposed east -side subdivision
The final plat for a proposed new housing subdivision on the eastern edge of Iowa ,.,,MDE�
City that will be a "geothermal community" will be reviewed by the City Council at
its April 5 meeting. Terra Verde, a TNT Development, LLC project, will be located
at the northwest corner of Scott Boulevard and Muscatine Avenue.
The proposed development includes 19 lots for single - family detached homes, and
three multi - family lots for 23 townhouses that would face Scott Boulevard,
Muscatine Avenue, and a new street called Terrence Lane. For more information,
contact Christina Kuecker in the Urban Planning division at 319.356.5243 or e -mail
christina-l<uecl<er@iowa-city.org.
MPOJC
TRANSPORTATION
PLANNING
JOHN YAPP
Metropolitan
Planning Organization
of Johnson County
Executive Director
and Transportation Planner
319.356.5252
john - yapp @iowa - city.org
Website:
www.mpojc.org
The Planner, week of 3.28.201 1 — page 8
Met— politan Pla —ing C]V.nir do f Jnr °san f_` :sun ?}
410 E. ashingtaa St it kwea City. la 52240
New name, new logo!
JCCOG becomes MPOJC
Johnson County Council of Governments (JCCOG) has officially
changed its name to Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson
County (MPOJC) to better reflect its role in the county. A new logo
has also been introduced to accompany the change, as well as a new
website address: www.mpojc.org.
John Yapp, Executive Director, said that the change was made to clarify
the department's status as a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)
under federal guidelines. MPOs are transportation planning agencies
responsible for planning, coordinating, and overseeing funding of trans-
portation programs and projects within metropolitan areas that have
populations of 50,000 or more. Projects under their supervision and
guidance range include planning for arterial streets, trails, public transit,
passenger rail, and other types of transportation and transportation
facilities.
In addition to transportation planning in the metropolitan area, MPOJC also periodically assists smaller commu-
nities in Johnson County with planning services related to transportation, such as land use issues and traffic
studies, as well as human services coordination, which is yet another component of their work.
Offices for MPOJC are housed in the Iowa City Planning and Community Development Department in City
Hall, but services are available for all Johnson County local governments.
UAPB to discuss transportation projects
The MPOJC Urbanized Area Policy Board will meet on
March 30 at 4 p.m. in Emma Harvat Hall in City Hall at
410 E. Washington Street. Six Iowa City councilors sit on
the MPOJC Board. The meeting is open to the public.
Agenda items will include:
FYI 2 Transportation Planning Work Program
The Transportation Planning Work Program is a compila-
tion of requests for projects that have been submitted by
metropolitan communities for fiscal year FYI 2. The Board
will have the opportunity to review project requests. Some
of the proposals include a traffic signal study at the inter-
section of Court Street and Gilbert Street in Iowa City,
and a request from the City of North Liberty for a series
of traffic counts and traffic speed studies on Hwy. 965. The list of transportation planning project requests and
other March 30 agenda items can be viewed at www.jccog.org /boardagenda/ 153.pdf.
continued on next page
The Planner, week of 3.28.201 1 — page 9
Transportation projects
continued from previous page
Transit Capital Equipment Replacement Plan
The Board will consider approval of the Transit Capital Equipment Replacement Plan, which identifies transit
buses and equipment that have reached or are nearing the end of their life cycle and are eligible for federal
funding. Examples of Iowa City Transit items which are included in the Capital Equipment Replacement Plan
include light- and heavy -duty buses, bus shelters, and bus maintenance equipment such as a brake lathe machine
and steam cleaner.
Long -Range Transportation Plan
The Board will review the list of projects that have been proposed by urbanized area local governments for
inclusion in the Long -Range Transportation Plan. After the Board's review, public meetings will be scheduled so
that citizens can weigh in on the projects, ask questions and give opinions about what they'd like to see
included in the Long -Range Transportation Plan, which would make the projects eligible for federal funding in
the future. The public meetings have not yet been scheduled, but will be held in late April or early May. A
copy of the proposals that have been submitted is included in the meeting agenda packet, located at
www.jccog.org /boardagenda/ 153.pdf. For more information, contact Kent Ralston at 319.356.5253 or
e -mail I<ent - ralston @iowa - city.org.
Transportation Plan boundaries
One of the proposals for the Long -Range Transportation Plan is to request a slight increase in the size of the
planning boundary area for MPOJC. This would expand the area where federal funds, which are allocated by
the MPO, could be utilized. A map of the proposed new boundaries appears below.
The Planner, week of 3.28.201 1 — page 10
UPCOMING MEETINGS
.......................................... ...............................
This is a tentative schedule of upcoming meetings. To verify that the meeting will be held, check the
calendar on the City website at www.icgov.org or call the Planning & Community Development office
at 319.356.5230. Meetings will be held at City Hall at 410 E. Washington Street unless noted other-
wise. The individual listings below provide the name of the meeting room.
Thursday, April 7
■ Planning & Zoning Commission
7 p.m., Emma Harvat Hall, City Hall
Wednesday, April 13
■ Board of Adjustment
5:15 p.m., Emma Harvat Hall, City Hall
Thursday, April 14
■ Historic Preservation Commission
6 p.m., Emma Harvat Hall, City Hall
Thursday, April 21
■ Housing & Community Development Commission
6:30 p.m., Lobby Conference Room, City Hall
■ Planning & Zoning Commission
7 p.m., Emma Harvat Hall, City Hall
To view agendas
& meeting packets
for City meetings
Agendas have not yet been written for
some of these meetings. To find out
what's on the agenda, visit the City
website prior to the meeting.
Go to the City's
Calendar page at www.icgov.org/
default /apps /GEN /calendar.asp,
click on the date of the meeting, and then
on the name of the group that will
be meeting. Agendas and meeting packets
for all scheduled meetings are posted to
the web at least 24 hours in advance.
Sign up for your
FREE e- subscription
to The Planner!
Free e- subscriptions to The Planner,
the City of Iowa City's Planning &
Community Development Department
newsletter, are available by signing up
on our website. Go to:
www.icgov.org /subscribe
then to "Newsletter"
then click on "Planner Newsletter."
After you subscribe, we'll e -mail a
copy directly to you each time a new
issue is released.
Or, you can visit our website at
www.icgov.org /PCD to see current or
previous issues.
WHO SHOULD YOU CONTACT?
PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
General Phone: 319.356.5230 Fax: 319.356.5217
Department Web Page: http: / /www.icgov.org /PCD
................ ...............................
ADMINISTRATION
.................. ...............................
COMMUNITY
.................. ...............................
MPOJC
Jeff Davidson
DEVELOPMENT
John Yapp
Director
Steve Long
Executive Director
319.356.5232
Coordinator
319.356.5252
jeff- davidson @iowa- city.org
3 1 9.356.5250
john -yapp @iowa - city.org
Janet Dvorsky
steve -long @iowa- city.org
Transportation Planners:
Administrative Secretary
Community
Brad Neumann
319.356.5230
Development Planners:
319.356.5235
janet- dvorsl<y @iowa- city.org
Tracy Hightshoe
brad- neumann @iowa - city.org
Joy Bayshore
319.356.5244
Kent Ralston
Clerk
tracy- hightshoe @iowa- city.org
3 1 9.356.5253
319.356.5230
Doug Ongie
I<ent- ralston @iowa - city.org
joy- bayshore @iowa - city.org
319.356.5479
Kristopher Ackerson
doug -ongie @iowa- city.org
319.356.5247
................................................
David Purdy
1<ristopher- ac1<erson@
3 1 9.356.5489
iowa - city.org
URBAN
david -purdy @iowa- city.org
Darian Nagle -Gamm
PLANNING
Housing Rehabilitation
319.356.5254
Robert Miklo
Specialists:
darian- nagle -gamm@
Senior Planner
David Powers
iowa - city.org
319.356.5240
319.356.5233
Human Services
bob- mil<lo @iowa- city.o
david- owers iowa -cit ' or g
Planning:
Urban Planners:
Jeff Vanatter
Linda Severson
Karen Howard
319.356.5128
Coordinator
319.356.5251
jeff- vanatter @iowa - city.org
319.356.5242
Karen- howard @iowa- city.org
Iinda- Severson @iowa - city.org
Liz Osborne
Christina Kuecker
:
Program Assistant
:
.................. ...............................
Historic Preservation
319.356.5246
319.356.5243
Iiz- osborne @iowa- city.org
NEIGHBORHOOD
christina- l<uecl<er@
iowa- city.org
.................. ...............................
SERVICES
Sarah Walz
Marcia Bollinger
ECONOMIC
Coordinator of
Board of Adjustment
319.356.5239
DEVELOPMENT
Neighborhood Services
sarah -walz @iowa - city.org
Wendy Ford
&Iowa City Public Art Program
Coordinator
319.356.5237
marcia- bollinger @iowa - city.org
319.356.5248
wendy- ford @iowa - city.org
U.5 -.51 -"1 -i
IN
Miller Orchard
April 2011 Neighborhood Association
Miller Orchard Newsletter
Neighborhood
Association
Neighborhood
Miller Orchard Neighborhood Spring Clean -Up
Representatives
Orchard Street adjacent to the Miller Orchard Neighborhood Garden. Feel free to
Mary Knudson
Saturday, April 16 9:00 AM —Noon
Mark Cannon
furniture, construction debris). Please, NO appliances, tires, computers, or hazardous
name and e-mail address
We need YOU to make a difference in our neighborhood!
Community Garden
Mulch will also be available at the empty lot on Benton Street between 224 and
Coordinator
Habitat for Humanity has offered to help the Miller Orchard neighborhood in a
Katherine Parker Bryden
Spring Clean -Up and will be bringing in volunteers to work alongside us as we
Miller orchard s
tackle our spring neighborhood cleaning. Habitat is primarily interested in working
Newsletter Editor
with elderly, disabled, or low income persons on the exterior of their homes, but
Paula Swygard
others can participate as time and resources permit. Some of the possible pro -
Iowa City Neighborhood
jects could be:
Services Coordinator
Marcia Bollinger
• Gutter cleanout
marcia- boilinger@iowa- city.org
. Yard raking/clean -up
e Disposing of bulky waste items
• Shrub trimming all
Between Newsletters
• Minor carpentry repairs /painting
If you have questions or
A dumpster will be available to accept bulky waste items and will be located along
need further information
Orchard Street adjacent to the Miller Orchard Neighborhood Garden. Feel free to
between newsletters, or to
use it to dispose of items that will not fit into your garbage can (large bulky items like
be added to the MONA
news e-mail list, send your
furniture, construction debris). Please, NO appliances, tires, computers, or hazardous
name and e-mail address
waste. If you need help moving these items, contact Mary Knudson (see below).
to:
Mulch will also be available at the empty lot on Benton Street between 224 and
miller.orchard.neighborhood
302 W. Benton. Bring your wheelbarrows or buckets and take as much as you
@gmail.com
would like. It helps keep down those weeds in planting areas and spruces up the
Miller orchard s
look of any yard!
We will also expand our Benton Street Perennial Planting program which was
started last year near the Orchard Street intersection. Let us know if you would like
Inside this Issue:
perennials planted in your right of way! It adds beauty to the street, lets everyone
Roosevelt Repurposing 2
know we care about our neighborhood, and might even slow down traffic a bit!
Neighborhood Meeting
Please contact Mary Knudson at 319.400.1151 or at mary_knudson @msn.com if
you have work that needs to be done or if you can help. We will meet at Benton
UniverCity Neighborhood 2
Hill Park at 9:00 AM on April 16 with the Habitat for Humanity volunteers, receive
Partnership
instructions and necessary equipment, and move on to various locations. Please
Miller orchard s
consider participating in the group effort to spruce up our neighborhood and use
Community Garden
this opportunity to tidy up your space as we head into summer.
ROOSEVELT
U W
193 _ -ro 2011
Roosevelt PTO cordially
invites you to attend
Roosevelt Elementary
School's
80th Birthday Parry
Saturday, May 14
2 PM— 5 PM
Roosevelt Gym
Special Program at 4 PM
East side of Roosevelt
school and gymnasium
Join us for cake and com-
pany, meet our mascot,
Roosevelt Roadrunner,
discover Roosevelt's history
and enjoy musical perform-
ances by students and
alumni
Participating
Organizations
State of Iowa I -Jobs
University of Iowa
City of Iowa City
Friends of Historic
Preservation
Home Builders
Association of Iowa City
Iowa City Housing Authority
Iowa City Area Association
of Realtors
Restore /Iowa Valley
Habitat for Humanity
Participating Lenders
First American Bank
Hills Bank and Trust Co.
MidWest One Bank
University of Iowa
Community Credit Union
US Bank
Repurposing Roosevelt - Neighborhood Meeting
Join us on Wednesday, April 13 at 7:00 PM in the Roosevelt Gym for a neighborhood meet-
ing and discussion with Iowa City School District Superintendent, Stephen Murley, regard-
ing repurposing Roosevelt.
In May 2009, the School Board voted to close Roosevelt School and repurpose it. This past
fall, the process of repurposing began. Superintendent Stephen Murley formed a commit-
tee of 10 community members, including a representative from MONA, Mary Knudson, to
come up with criteria and recommendations for repurposing.
In February 2011, the committee presented their recommendations to Superintendent
Murley. Superintendent Murley's next step is to take these recommendations and narrow
them down. He would like to meet with our neighborhood to discuss his choices with us.
After this discussion, the repurposing process moves to the Facilities Committee and then
to the School Board.
Please see http: / /www.iccsd.k12.ia.us /district /reports to see what criteria and recommen-
dations were presented to Mr. Murley.
Benton Street LED Light
Some of you may have noticed our new LED light on the north side of Benton Street at the
bottom of the hill. The City of Iowa City installed this light to alert drivers they are in a
school zone and the speed limit is 20 m.p.h. Thank you City of Iowa City!
UniverCity Neighborhood Partnership Update
The UniverCity Neighborhood Partnership Program continues to energize changes in the
Miller Orchard Neighborhood.
The program, a joint effort of the City of Iowa City and the University of Iowa with funding
from a $1.25 million grant from I -JOBS, seeks to help create a healthy balance of owner -
occupied and rental property near the University of Iowa campus and downtown Iowa City,
making the area a vital, affordable, and attractive place to live.
Beginning last fall, four homes along Douglass Court were purchased and began renova-
tion. Two of the homes have completed the renewal process, were sold, and are now oc-
cupied by their new owners. Two others are scheduled for completion this spring. Several
more homes in the Miller Orchard neighborhood are being purchased and restored, includ-
ing one on Giblin Drive and another on Douglass Court. With assistance from the City of
Iowa City, a vacant lot along Douglass Court has been purchased by Habitat for Humanity
where they will be constructinga home this summer.
To be eligible for the program, participants must be pre - qualified for a mortgage and meet
income guidelines. Permanent University of Iowa employees who qualify may also be eligi-
ble for down payment assistance.
To learn more about the UniverCity Neighborhood Partnership, to view the properties for
sale and to find out if you qualify, visit www.icgov.org/UniverCity, call the Planning and
Community Development department 319.356.5230, or find the program on Facebook
at www.facebook.com /UniverCitylA
- o-ri' un-1tiq Garden
The Miller Orchard Community Garden is beginning its second growingseason at 815 Orchard
St. (across from Planned Parenthood), and we invite anybody who is interested in growingflow-
ers or vegetables to sign up for a plot and get growing!
The garden, a collaborative effort of the Miller Orchard Neighborhood Association and First
Mennonite Church, is a great space to meet your neighbors, learn about gardening, and eat
delicious produce this summer. 10x10' plots are available (you may sign up for more than
one) for $10 /plot. Beginning gardeners are welcome. You don't need any special tools or
equipment. The garden has rain barrels, thanks to the kindness of Nancy at Dental Ceramics.
We are putting up a rabbit fence around the garden perimeter and there are gardeningtools
and gloves in the shed on -site. We will have group gardening hours on Tuesdays from 5 -7 PM
and Saturdays from 1 -3 PM (this may change to early morningwhen the weather heats up) for
people who want to learn from each other or socialize.
SPRING CALENDAR OF EVENTS - all events are free and everyone is welcome!
• April 9 - Saturday, 1- 3 PM Kick -off Party at the garden site. Come meet other gardeners,
enjoy some snacks, drinks, and learn how to make an insanely easy raised garden bed.
Rain date is April 16. This is a good time to sign up for a plot, but you can contact Kathe-
rine Bryden (319.466.9445 or e -mail katherinecparker @gmail.com) anytime between now
and April 23 to get a plot.
• April 14 - Thursday, 5:15 - 6:30 PM Roosevelt Elementary MOCG at Roosevelt Roadrunner
Club Family Night. Spring Planting seed - starting activity for kids and families.
• April 23- Saturday time TBD Garden site First Mennonite Church Youth Group workday
to lay down mulch paths. THIS IS THE LAST DAYTO SIGN UP FOR A GARDEN PLOT.
• April 30- Saturday, 1- 3 PM Seed and Started Plant Swap at the Garden. Bringyour
extra seeds or plant starts and swap for varieties you don't have. In the event of bad
weather, look for the swap at the Benton Hill Park pavilion.
• mid -May, Date TBD, Demonstration -Spud Stacks. Learn how to grow sweet potatoes
inside a stack of tires. Look for a sign advertising the workshop or checkout the blog for
the dates.
Please see our blog at http: / /millerorchardcommunitygarden .blogspot.com to take a look at
what's happening at the Miller Orchard Community Garden throughout the year and to see
photos from our inaugural growing season.
PLOTS: Last day to sign up is Saturday, April 23. 10x10' for $10. Contact Katherine at
319.466.9445 to reserve a plot, or if you have any questions or want more information.
Miller Orchard Garden Vision and Mission Statement
The Miller Orchard Garden seeks to provide a beautiful space where individuals from the neighborhood
and from First Mennonite Church come together to grow a garden and to grow a community. MOCG ac-
complishes this by transforming the lot at 815 Orchard St. into an inviting garden space, collaborating
91
Miller Orchard Neighborhood Association
725 West Benton Street
Iowa City, IA 52246
FIRST STD
U.S.
POSTAGE
PAID
Iowa City, Iowa
Permit No. 155
Inside this issue:
MILLER ORCHARD
• Neighborhood Meeting Wed., April 13, 7 PM
• Neighborhood Clean-Up Sat., April 16, 9 - Noon NEIGHBORHOOD CLEAN -UP
• MOCG Important Dates
• UniverCity Partnership Update LET'S MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
• Roosevelt's Birthday Celebration Sat., May 14, 2 - 5 PM
Did You Know?
Changes to Iowa City Recycling Program— beginning Monday, April 4
Easier sorting! You no longer need to use bags to sort
Create two sort piles
• One for fiber and paper
• One for plastics and metal cans
No glass, please!
Fiber and paper: You can recycle: newspapers, magazines & catalogs,
mixed paper, chipboard, and cardboard
Plastics and (sans: You can recycle: plastic jugs and containers
( #1 -5 and #7), and cans (no need to remove the paper).
CANNOT BE RECYCLED: Liquid carton containers or frozen food boxes, facial tissue,
paper cups, paper plates, photographs, books, napkins. aluminum (foil, pie tins) wire hangers
or misc. metals, plastic bags, wraps, kids' toys, motor oil bottles, Styrofoam, #6 plastic food
grade containers, anything with food still in it or on it.
Please wash recyclable containers to prevent contamination.
Stack similar items together, place them
in your recycling bin, and take them to the
curb for pick up. If using one bin, put
newspapers on one side, magazines on
the other, cardboard underneath, plastics
on top, etc. No need to sort into bags.
For information regarding
disposal of yard waste, or
for more specific details
about recycling, call the
Solid Waste office at
319.356.5180 or visit the «
website at
www.icgov.org/landfill
Your neighborhood newsletter is produced by your neighborhood association. The Office of Neighborhood Services of the City of Iowa City prints and mails the news-
letter but is not responsible for the quality orthe content, although newsletters must meetthe approved Neighborhood Newsletter Guidelines. This newsletter has
been sentto all residents ofthe Miller Orchard area.
M IP12
Julie Voparil
From: Marian Karr
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 2:48 PM
To: Julie Voparil
Subject: FW: News from UI International Programs
Next info packet.
From: UI International Programs [mailto:ip- communications@ ui - international- programs.ccsend.com] On Behalf Of UI
International Programs
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 20112:41 PM
To: Council
Subject: News from UI International Programs
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UI students were in Japan for earthquake
Eight UI students were
studying abroad in
Japan when a massive
earthquake and
tsunami hit the Tohoku
region on March 11.
Living miles from the
areas of devastation, all
eight students were
safe -- and they all plan
to stay in Japan. Read
their stories.
Women in Post - Communist Europe
1
March 2011
Join Our
Mailing List
IPNA • r
.opic: "Starving for Water: The
4lobal Water Crisis"
When: March 25, 5 -7
i.m. Where:**New location -
!780 University Capitol Centre
Free and open to the public
Missed a WorldCanvass?
Listen to past WorldCanvass
International Women's Day
is a day of celebration March
world, especially in Eastern
Europe and Russia. An
upconurig public conference
will look at the lives of
women i ti this part of the
world since the fall of the
Berlin Wall 20 years ago. Read More.
Four UI
medical
students will
leave this
Saturday for
the West
Bank and
Israel to
explore
disparities in
the Israeli and Palestinian healthcare systems. Follow their
month -long journey on the blog midwest2mideast. Also check
out the UI study abroad blob, where students are sharing their
adventures from Thailand, Spain, Italy, Japan and Australia.
Democracy in
Willibrod Slaa, Secretary General
CHADEMA, the leading
opposition political party in
Tauz,ulia, will be the keymote
speaker at an upcoming conferee
about the future of multiparty
democracy in East Africa. Slaa was
the presidential candidate of CHADEMA in the 2010
general election and placed second after the incumbent
president Read more about this conference.
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i CoratmtCeigmt,
� Y Tr�.fcsry°A�rsel��
Marian Karr IN3
From: Representative Dave Jacoby <david.jacoby @leg is. state. ia.us>
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 2:40 PM
To: Council
Subject: Representative Jacoby Statehouse News 3 -23 -11
Statehouse News
Contact Rep.
Jacoby:
Email:
University of Iowa Flood Center
david.jacoby @leg
is.state.ia.us
This week I have been working with the University of Iowa Flood
Phone:
Center. We have been working on new flood plain mapping and
319 -358 -8538
producing more accurate forecasts. This information will be critical in
(Home)
the next couple of months.
515 -281 -3221
(Capitol)
Unemployment Benefits
Address`
2308 N. Ridge Dr
Coralville IA
I am disappointed to report House Republicans have turned back $15 52241
million in benefits for the unemployed that are diligently looking for Connect:
work. It did not cost Iowa businesses a cent, and it would have httl2://iacobyfo
helped 7000 people. It is Iowa taxpayer money that should have come house.or
back to us. www.iowahouse.
2K9
John Lundell Visit
L'
Quick Links
Listen to Debate
House Weekly
Calendar
House Dailv
Debate Schedule
Current House
Bills
State Representative Dave Jacoby met with John Lundell, member of
the Coralville City Council and representative from the University of
Iowa, in the House Chamber March 17, 2011.
Upcoming Issues
In the next few weeks there will be some hotly contested issues
coming to the floor. A few of them include nuclear power, allowing
dove hunting, restrictions on women's reproductive rights, and school
funding. Please let me know your concerns on these issues!
Read More from the Iowa House
To read the rest of the Statehouse News go to:
http:// iowahouse .org /StatehouseNews /3 -25 -11
Unsubscribe me from this list
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E IN
4
City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission
Awards
presented
May I t i
Nominate a Youth
for promoting and /or contributing to human rights locally or abroad.
Nominations due by April 27, 2011.
Nomination forms available at www.ic.gov.org /humanrights
For More Information
Call 356 -5022 or email humanrights @iowa- city.org
Sponsored by City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission
IP15
The City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission
and
the Iowa Civil Rights Commission
present
Vy" I I A A 01
0 0 to,_Tyll I 10 1
in honor of
Fair Housing
Month
Training will include an overview
of Fair Housing Laws (State and
Federal) with an emphasis on Service,
Companion and Comfort Animals
in Multi- Family Housing
April 25`"
Session Time: 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library
The training is free and open to the public.
Seating is limited so pre- registration is required.
To register visit www.icgov.org/humanrights
Registration will remain open through April 18th unless
all spots are reserved prior to that time.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all City of Iowa City sponsored events. If you are a person
with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to participate in this event, please contact the Human
Rights Coordinator at least 72 hours in advance of the event at 356 -5022 or 356 -5493 (TDD).
Call 335 -5331 or email paul- retish @uiowa.edu for more information.
Open to the Public
JOB FAIR
Building Blocks to Employment Job Fair
(Geared to Entry Level Job Seekers)
Tuesday, April 26th 4pm — 6pm
Eastdale Plaza
1700 S. 1 st Avenue
Iowa City
Hosted by: Eastdale Plaza Owners Association
Event Assistance provided by.
Community -Based Corrections Program for the Sixth Judicial District
Sponsored by the Building Blocks To Employment Committee and the
CITY OF IOWA CITY
HUMAN RIGHTS
' u)NAL
C O M M S S I O N will /RKFOR � NiziRTt
FADINEns Gd 01helte Iowa Cit`y:
Area A* *
Heartland Development Group H 7 G
IN
A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains
Screening and Community Discussion
The film looks at the first hand account of
poverty among children in America
Thursday, May 5, 6-8 p.m.
Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Roo A
Light refreshments will be provided.
(while they lest)
FREE AND OPEN TO PUBLIC.
Children
o/' Promise
Child supervision is available.
0 A ■ ■
Mediation. Services
OF EASTERN IOWA
w" QI
CITY Of IOWA CITY
Human Rights Commission
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend. If you are a person with a disability who
requires an accommodation in order to participate in this event, please call 356 -5022 in advance.
IP18
Iowa City Community String Orchestra
L
Dear Friends of the Iowa City Comrn'mity String, Orchestra,
1354 Curtis Bridge Rd. NE
Swisher, IA 52338
March 23, 2011
We'd like to invite you to attend to our upcoming spring concert for our 31st season.
The concert will be presented on Sunday, April 17, at 3:00 p.m. in the Englert Theatre
(221 East Washington Street) in downtown Iowa City.
Conductor Carey Bostian has once again chosen a mix of modern and classical music
for the upcoming concert. The concert will open with Richard Hervig's Overture for
String Orchestra, followed by Iowa composer Jerry Owen's Gypsy- inspired The
Lovers. The orchestra is delighted to welcome back UI violin professor Katie Wolfe to
perform Mozart's Concerto No. 3 in G Major for Violin and Orchestra. And finally, the
orchestra will present Tchaikovsky's rich and lustrous Serenade for Strings.
After the concert, we invite all concertgoers to attend a casual reception with
refreshments in the Douglas & Linda Paul Gallery on the second floor of the Englert
Theatre.
As always, we thank you for your previous and ongoing contributions to the ICCSO.
We look forward to seeing you at the concert!
Sincerely,
Kate Paxton, President
On behalf of the Board of
the Iowa City Community String Orchestra:
N
Laura Waldo- Semken, Vice President
ZZ
"77
Julie Anolik- Cassell, Secretary
�t
ZZY
Janice Horak, Treasurer
ic7
Marian Karr IP19
From: -1r:r'QI:La < unescodesign @seouldesign.or.kr>
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2011 2:57 AM
To: Marian Karr
Cc: Matt Hayek; Council; jeanette @cityofliteratureusa.org; yongshi78 @unesco.or.kr
Subject: Invitation for UNESCO Creative Cities Network Conference
Attachments: 2.General_lnformation.pdf; 1.Invitation for UNESCO Creative Cities Network Conference(lowa
City).pdf
19,
Dear Marian Karr,
This is Alysha Lee working for Secretariat of UNESCO Creative Cities Network Conference
and I am in charge of preparations for the conference.
Seoul Metropolitan Government is honored to invite Mayor of Iowa -City to be a part of
the UNESCO Creative Cities Network Conference which will be held from 16th to 18th of November 2011 in
Seoul.
Please find the attached invitation letter from Mayor of Seoul and General Information.
For the details of the Conference, please refer to the attached general information.
We would be most grateful if you could notify us whether Mayor of Iowa -City could attend the conference by
30th April 2011 through email at unescodesign (a)seouldesign.or.kr.
The Secretariat will be keeping in touch with you about the progress of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network
Conference, and I look forward to your continued interest and cooperation as we prepare to make this event a
success.
Please accept our best regards.
Sincerely yours,
Alysha Lee
31 March 2011
Honorable Mayor Matt Hayek,
Iowa City
�NESCi
SEOUL
Untied Nations City of Design
Edutetlonal, Sdentifie end Member of the UNESCO Creetwe
Cultural Orgeruzafion Cities Network sines 2010
D V,,Jo,; of
Des'gr e,,rcat .
<t"xil %'Iftropolitan Guver'r,rrler,t
I have the great pleasure to inform your Excellency that the Seoul Metropolitan 15, ).,mc qo,
Government is hosting the Mayor's Roundtable Meeting of the UNESCO seoU "' "" 39,
Creative Cities in conjunction with the UNESCO Creative Cities Network Key
Annual Meeting between 16 and 18 November 2011 in Seoul.
+s_� 2 636,1 341'lkl
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has consistently attempted to defy the
stereotyped, grey concrete image of Seoul into a more attractive city where people l a
enjoy a high quality of life by promoting various city design projects. As a result 48) z 6361 343
of the sustained efforts, Seoul was designated as the World Design Capital 2010
and finally as UNESCO's Creative City of Design in July 2010.
As a new member of the Network, Seoul wishes to make substantive contributions
Seatii Design Far +ndatior,
to strengthening partnerships among 28 member cities by organizing the
aforementioned events.
Mayors from around the globe will be attending the conferences, and I would be s �o. 3urg qj,
honored by your participation in this significant gathering so that creative and !>e(1111 100 813,
innovative practices in your city can be shared. Kf)r(-,,>
The theme of the conferences, Sustainable Urban Development Based on 6,
Creativity, is designed to serve as an opportunity for mayors and experts from *8' -2 2000,) 11!0,6,
member cities in the fields of creative industry to share their experiences and
insights in creative city development. The meetings also aim to provide 28 F "`
member cities with a platform for in -depth discussions on further cooperation in 182 2 3705 Cl03"
the coming years.
The secretariat of the events will closely keep you informed of any further
development in due course.
I avail of this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for your continued
cooperation as well as to renew the assurances of my highest consideration to the
city of Iowa City.
Sincerely yours,
Oh Se -hoon
Mayor of Seoul
UNESCO Creative Cities Network Conference
General Information
1. Background
The Creative Cities Network, since its launch in 2004, has played a vital role in line
with UNESCO's strategy in fostering creative industries for sustainable development.
The Network provides its member cities with opportunities to explore and mobilize
cultural assets and resources in their urban community. During the two previous
International Conferences of the Network held in Santa Fe (2008) and Shenzhen (2010),
the importance of city governance as an implementing body was emphasized to
encourage the member city's own creative industries in a more feasible fashion.
Recognizing this implication, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network Conference seeks
to offer a platform to exchange ideas and have an in -depth discussion on strengthening
partnerships among the Network. This year, the Mayor's Roundtable Meeting is
specially organized to accelerate the current momentum of the cooperation and
development of the Network among its member cities. The Meeting is designed to
clarify the mayors' common vision and support for the Creative Cities Network in the
form of a final declaration.
Sustainable Development, along with UNESCO's mandate, has been the crux of the
implementation of the Creative Cities Network. As part of its actions, the Network has
attempted to promote creative industries leading to enhancing the living standards of its
citizens. Therefore, this year's theme of the Conference, Sustainable Urban
Development Based on Creativity, aims at balanced development through citizens'
participation in every phase of the Creative City management.
2. Objectives
- To strengthen both intra- and inter - sectoral cooperation among the Creative
Cities Network
- To form effective governance mechanisms involving various stakeholders to
operate the Network
- To enhance citizens' awareness and participation in the management of the
Creative Cities management
1
3. Theme: Sustainable Urban Development Based on Creativity
4. Tentative Itinerary
- Date: 16 -18 November 2011
- Venue: Floating Island
- Hosts: Seoul Metropolitan City / UNESCO / Korean National Commission for
UNESCO
- Organizer: Seoul Design Foundation
- Participants:
• Delegations from the UNESCO Creative Cities Network
• City officials who wish to join the Network
• Academians, experts, and professionals in the fields of creative industry
5. Main Programmes
- Annual Meeting of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network
This annual meeting comprises of one keynote speech, two plenary sessions and
one sub - committee session. Through the sessions, participants will have a better
understanding of the conceptual framework and blueprint of the Creative Cities
Network. In -depth discussions will be also conducted to take a collective action
for development in each sector of the Network.
- Mayor's Roundtable Meeting of the Network
The role of mayors is of key importance to form good governance on the
operation of the Creative Cities. The mayors, as a leading force of the Network,
are to discuss innovative city management policy and vision, and adopt a final
declaration.
- Showcase of the UNESCO Creative Cities
The showcase aims to offer an open space for dialogue and exchange whereby
all of those who are interested in the Creative Cities Network can be informed of
a variety of creative industries in the form of exhibitions, workshops, and
participatory events. The delegations are welcome to contact us to take part in
the showcase.
2
6. Tentative Schedule
Wednesday,
16 November
Thursday,
17 November
• Registration
• Opening Ceremony
- Opening / Congratulatory address
- Photo session
- Press interview
• Annual Meeting of the UNESCO
Creative Cities Network
- Keynote Speech
- Luncheon
- Plenary Session I
• Showcase of the UNESCO Creative
Cities
• Welcoming Dinner
• Mayor's Roundtable Meeting of the
Network
- Adoption of the Seoul Declaration on
the UNESCO Creative Cities
Network
- Luncheon
• Annual Meeting of the UNESCO
Creative Cities Network
• Topic: Urban Development for
Enhancing Living Standards Based
on Promoting Creative Industries
• Venue: Dongdaemun History &
Culture Park
• Agenda
- Developing creative industries
-Role of creative cities in social
integration
- Strengthening partnership
with UNESCO
• Topic: Sustainable Urban
Development through Creative
Industries
- Sub - committee Session
• Dinner
Friday, • Annual Meeting of the UNESCO • Comprehensive discussion on
18 November Creative Cities Network sub - committee session
- Plenary Session II
• Closing Ceremony
• Tour of Seoul Metropolitan City
• Farewell Dinner
3
• Topic: Future direction of the
Network for citizens'well -being
-Press release
7. Working Language: English, French, Korean
8. Sponsorship: Two rooms in the hotel, during the course of the conference, will be
provided for each delegation by the organizers.
9. List of UNESCO Creative Cities (28 cities from 18 countries)
- Literature (4): Edinburgh (UK) / Iowa City (USA) /Melbourne (Australia)/
Dublin (Ireland)
- Film (2): Bradford (UK) / Sydney (Australia)
- Music (4): Bologna (Italy) / Ghent (Belgium) / Glasgow (UK) / Seville
(Spain)
- Crafts and Folk Art (4): Aswan (Egypt) / Kanazawa (Japan) / Santa Fe
(USA) / Icheon (Republic of Korea)
- Design (10): Berlin (Germany) / Buenos Aires (Argentina) / Graz(Austria) /
Kobe (Japan) / Montreal (Canada) / Nagoya (Japan) / Shenzhen (PRC) /
Shanghai (PRC) / Seoul (Republic of Korea) / Saint - Etienne (France)
- Media Arts (1): Lyon (France)
- Gastronomy (3): Popayan (Colombia) / Chengdu (PRC) / Ostersund
(Sweden)
10. Contacts
- Seoul Metropolitan Government : Jung -hun HAN(hankal90 @seoul.go.kr)
- Seoul Design Foundation: Hye -young SUH(unescodesign @seouldesign.or.kr)
4
MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD 0 ... lP2O
MINUTES OF THE JOINT INFORMAL MEETING OF JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATING COMMITTEE:
MARCH 2, 2011
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Report from Alternatives and Treatments Sub - Committee .......................... ............................... 1
Follow Up and Update on Key Issues Regarding a Future Justice Center, Including Location, Financing and
Use of Current Facilities, Discussed at January 5th Meeting of the Committee .............. ...............................
5
Report from Public Information/Outreach SubCommittee ......................... ............................... 14
Report from Funding/Grants SubCommittee ............................................. ............................... 15
Report from Facilities SubCommittee ...................................................... ............................... 15
SetNext Meeting Date .......................................................................... ............................... 15
Chairperson Harney called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County
Health and Human Services Building at 4:33 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil,
Janelle Rettig, and Rod Sullivan; absent: Sally Stutsman.
Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee Members present were: County Attorney Janet Lyness,
County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, Judge Doug Russell, Iowa City City Council Member Connie
Champion, Bar Association Representative James McCarragher, Citizen Representative Professor
Emeritus John Stratton, Citizen Representative Bob Elliott, Department of Corrections Supervisor Jerri
Allen, MECCA Director Ron Berg, and University of Iowa Campus Planner Larry Wilson; absent:
Consultation of Religious Communities Representative Dorothy Whiston, Iowa City Public Library
Adult Service Coordinator Kara Logsden, and Attorney John Robertson. Staff present: Facilities
Manager David Kempf, Executive Assistant Andy Johnson, and Auditor's Office Recording Secretary
Nancy Tomkovicz.
REPORT FROM ALTERNATIVES AND TREATMENTS SUB - COMMITTEE
County Attorney Janet Lyness said she has Mid - Eastern Council on Chemical Abuse (MECCA)
updates from January and February 2011. She said MECCA staff attended initial appearances on 27
days, and there was one weather related closure. Staff conducted and completed 36 assessments, made
14 recommendations for extended outpatient treatment, six recommendations for intensive outpatient
treatment, one recommendation for continuing care, and no recommendations for residential or relapse
prevention. She said MECCA staff met with but needed further assessment for five individuals, and did
15 assessments on weekends, one of which was referred by the public defender and another referred by a
presiding judge. None of the individuals needed an interpreter. MECCA completed 46 assessments in
January 2011, completing all assessments that were requested. Lyness said 46 assessments is a fairly
high number, though she thinks the highest amount was in September 2010 with over 50 assessments.
That program is going very well.
Lyness said, in regards to the cuts to the Mental Health/Disability Services (MH/DS) budget, one of
the programs that came out of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC) originally was the
Jail Alternatives Program, which is one of the non - mandatory services provided by the County. If
funding is not going to be available for something like that, she thinks the CJCC needs to evaluate that.
When the Jail bond issue previously failed, one of the things the community pointed to was the need for
more mental health treatment and assessment services, and the Jail Alternatives Program grew out of
that concern. If the Jail Alternatives Program is not in place, it may be a large barrier to receiving public
http: / /www.johnson- county .com /auditor /min/2011_03_02 inf_j- min.htm 3/28/2011
MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD 0... Page 2 of 12
support for a new justice center, since that is a major component of treatment. She thinks all CJCC
members need to be thinking about how that program is going to be funded if MH/DS is not funding it.
Rettig said she does not know if everyone else knows this, but the County is facing a $2.5 million
shortfall in MH/DS state funding with an inability to infuse local dollars because those have been tapped
out since 1996. The Mental Health Planning Council had several meetings, because if the State funding
does not come through, the County will have a $2.5 million cut and they will end the next fiscal year
with $1.00 in the bank, having used all of the reserves. A percentage of people in Jail Alternatives are
not MH/DS clients and there was a recommendation that some of the funding come from the County
Attorney's Office and the Sheriffs Office. Rettig said she is committed to having a Jail Alternatives
Program; she is just not sure how it should be funded. She is curious what CJCC members think.
Lyness said she does not have any response at this time but would look at the County Attorney's
budget. They do not have money sitting around to fund that right now.
Iowa City City Council Member Connie Champion asked if the Supervisors are certain about the
$2.5 million budget cut. Rettig said in 1996, under Governor Terry Branstad's previous administration,
a cap was placed on what local government could fund into MH/DS. Johnson County's cap was set at
$3.1 million. In return, the Legislature was going to put an extra $6 million per year into MH/DS, to
backfill what local government could no longer do. That occurred in the first three years but has not
happened since then. In addition, the remainder of FYI and the duration of FYI will have 0%
allowable growth. In order to maintain the current level of service in Johnson County they have to use
all their reserves. Not only will Johnson County use all of its reserves, but it will be $2.5 million in the
hole and will not be allowed to use any other tax proceeds for this funding, or to move funds around.
What the Board does know now, and what they have been told to prepare for would be a $2.5 million
deficit in the MH/DS budget, and the County has to find cuts to do that.
Rettig said the Legislature may come through with something else in the next two months, but the
County certainly does not think they will come through with all of the funds. Johnson County is in
better shape than Linn County, because Johnson County actually has reserves. Sullivan said Polk
County is in even worse shape and Rettig agreed. She said this is what is prompting this discussion.
The Jail Alternatives Program is a small part of this problem, because it is only $170,000. Harney said
the Jail Alternatives Program was supplemented last year through stimulus funds, which are not
available this year.
County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said the Jail Alternatives Program was viewed by most of the
Supervisors at the time it was created as a public mandate to bring the mental health diversion program.
He knows it has evolved to being named as the Jail Alternatives Program, but it is not the only jail
alternative that the County funds. He always refers to it as the Mental Health Diversion Program and
this program already has been cut. The original plan was for three people to staff this program, but with
the staff transitions, one position was eliminated. In his opinion, the program has taken its cut by one
third, and he would hate to see it eliminated. He absolutely believes it was one of several mandates by
the voters. If the Jail Alternatives Program is eliminated, he believes the chances decrease that a bond
referendum for a justice center would pass. Johnson County received statewide recognition for the Jail
Alternatives Program and if the County can no longer provide this program to deal with the fact that jails
are the number one mental health care center, it will be a travesty.
Harney said he does not disagree with what Pulkrabek said, but at the same time when the Jail
Alternatives Program was put into place the MH/DS director had sufficient funds to fund the program.
He thinks this is something the County has to reevaluate, because the County cannot put any more funds
back into it. Perhaps they could backfill the program another way and pick up the difference through the
County Attorney's or County Sheriffs Offices.
http: / /www.johnson- county.com/ auditor /min/2011_03_02_inf _ j- min.htm 3/28/2011
MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD 0... Page 3 of 12
Pulkrabek said if the Board decides earmark money for Jail Alternatives Program employees in the
Sheriffs Office budget, he will not say no, because he is a huge supporter of the program. He is pretty
sure if a Jail Alternatives Program employee became an employee of the Sheriffs Office or the County
Attorney's Office, there would be some difficulties in having full access to the MH/DS system and
information. There may be a little bit of a problem there. The Sheriffs Office typically returns money
every year, especially salary money, and it is because there are so many unknowns. The Sheriffs Office
scrimps on overtime, especially at the management level, telling their employees to use flex time as
much as possible. He is not opposed to the Board taking salary money that the Sheriffs Office returns at
the end of the fiscal year and funneling it into the Jail Alternatives Program.
Neuzil said that money would come from the FYI I budget, not the FYI budget, so that would not
necessarily work. Currently, the proposal from the MH/DS Planning Council is to cut by 50% the
funding portion from MH/DS for the Jail Alternatives Program. The County needs to find $85,445 to
cut. Collectively, the Planning Council's recommendations were to identify where this money could be
found in budgets from other County departments. The problem is that the Board is passing the FY2012
County Budget tonight, March 2, 2011. If they need to find $85,445 to reallocate, they will all have to
examine each program to determine what can be cut. If they are able to secure the half of the funding
through the MH/DS program, that at least funds the program for the first half of FY12, July 1 through
December 31, 2011.
Neuzil said some of the other recommendations from the Planning Council include looking at
grants. The County is interested in funding a grant writer, so this could be a top priority for that
individual. Another recommendation is to evaluate other service program, particularly in the area of
substance abuse. He still thinks this is an individual that would remain an MH/DS employee because as
long as at least half of the program is funded through MH/DS since at least 50% of the clients are
identified with mental health issues, that employee would stay within MH/DS. They will have to
discuss whether the County can provide a full Jail Alternatives program, a half program, or something
different. Ultimately the County spends $170,890 on the Jail Alternatives Program, and they get a lot of
mileage out of it, not only for what it does for the good of the community, but because it is a major
accomplishment of the County. Unfortunately, the timing could not be worse.
Citizen Representative Bob Elliott asked if there is a point in time when the Board certifies the
budget. He asked if that will be tonight. Neuzil said pretty much. Elliott asked if the Board can move
dollars around but not raise the total budget. Sullivan confirmed. Rettig said the Sheriffs Office and the
Attorney's Office are good at managing their budgets, and usually return money to the Board. She asked
if there is the capability to do this through amendments later. Sullivan said yes. Rettig said she wants
everyone to reaffirm that the County is sold on this program, and want it funded even if it is not fully
funded by MH/DS dollars. If 50% of the Jail Alternatives Program clients have mental health issues,
and 50% have alcohol and substance abuse issues, it makes sense to fund it through two different
departments. However, she would like direction from the CJCC as to how the Board should pay for it.
Champion said she thinks most of the JCCC members would say it is imperative to continue the Jail
Alternatives Program. There would be much community criticism if the program was cut. Department
of Corrections Supervisor Jerri Allen concurred with that. She said the service the Jail Alternatives
Program staff provides to their clientele is invaluable. It keeps people out of jail, and she thinks if the
program is cut, there will be consequences such as increased incarceration rates, increased number of
violent offenses, and an increase in homelessness. There are a lot of preventative services offered by the
Jail Alternatives Program that have been very helpful to the probation officers and clients the
Department of Corrections works with. Allen said she thinks it is worth the effort to keep this great
program going. There are a large number of people with mental health issues in Johnson County that
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flock to Iowa City for the services provided.
Neuzil said he thinks Allen brings up a good point. He said $2.5 million is going to have a huge
impact, particularly in the area of mental health, and will cause an influx of inmates at the Jail,
especially if they cannot come up with some funding to help with medications. He thinks that with
some creativity, the Board, the Sheriffs Office, and the Attorney's Office can identify some funding.
Off the top of his head he could probably come up with ten different ways to come up with $85,445.
They are assuming that half of the Jail Alternatives Program funding would still be funded by MH/DS,
but that is not even guaranteed at this point. He said Rettig has a good point, this begins with the CJCC
making a recommendation and he would suggest that this Committee would consider doing that. That
could happen at the next CJCC Meeting.
Elliott said he thinks it would be helpful if the Board, Lyness, or someone else would provide an
appropriate recommendation for the Committee to advance. There is some knowledge particular to
Sheriffs Office staff and Attorney's Office staff that the members of this Committee do not know,
including the services available and how much they cost. He would appreciate some of the officials
coming up with a suggested recommendation for the CJCC to discuss and submit.
Sullivan said he thinks Pulkrabek is absolutely right. A justice center will not happen without the
existence of the Jail Alternatives Program. The program was one of the two or three biggest issues in
the 2000 election. The public could not have been clearer that they wanted jail alternatives
programming. The County is currently providing jail alternatives programming and if they stop doing
so, they kiss goodbye the chances of a new justice center facility. He thinks it is that simple. He thinks
the Board would be crazy to do anything other than find a way to fund the Jail Alternatives Program.
He does not know how much of an official recommendation they need to figure out a way to get this
done. Obviously the State has put the County in a difficult position concerning the budget, and the
County will probably have to use their reserves, but he thinks it is necessary that they fund this
program. Harney agreed. One way or another, the Board has to come up with the funding and maintain
this program because it is advantageous to everyone in many ways. He is not so sure that the Board
needs a recommendation from the CJCC.
Rettig said in a way, the Board already got a recommendation. She heard everyone agree and saw
every head nod. Harney said he thinks it is up to the Board to come up with the funding and work with
Lyness and Pulkrabek to do so.
Citizen Representative Professor Emeritus John Stratton said, if the Board wants to formalize this, he
would recommend that the CJCC send a message to the Board that they feel this is appropriate action to
come up with $85,000 to fund the Jail Alternatives Program. Lyness said it is not really on the agenda,
but she could take that as a suggestion for the Jail Alternatives Committee, if that is OK. Sullivan said
he thinks everyone got the message. Pulkrabek said there is nobody speaking against this, so that ought
to be a clear message in itself.
FOLLOW UP AND UPDATE ON KEY ISSUES REGARDING A FUTURE JUSTICE CENTER,
INCLUDING LOCATION, FINANCING AND USE OF CURRENT FACILITIES, DISCUSSED
AT JANUARY 5TH MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE
Executive Assistant Andy Johnson said he provided everyone with a handout including a chart that
is a summary of what was discussed at the January 2011 CJCC Meeting. The Novak Design Group
(Novak) submitted additional information to add to the Space Needs Study. This included adding some
library and recreation space. There is a sheet which provides a summary of what has been added as well
as the proposed square footage. A new pie chart of the justice center program overview appears at the
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end of the first section. There are also revised pie charts at the end of the courts section and the jail
division. There are two new pages at the end of the packet that detail the library and exercise space.
The summary page lists the capital construction costs analysis. The aforementioned changes are
additions to the original Novak Report.
Rettig said if she is reading this right, the new changes increase the project cost by a little less than
$1.4 million. Johnson confirmed. He said the grand total of the capital construction was originally
$47,248,428, and with the revisions it is $48,803,822.
Former UI Campus Planner and CJCC Facilitator Larry Wilson said it is his understanding that these
changes and additions to the Novak Report include all of the spaces that Architect James A. Novak (J.
Novak) has encountered as requested by different committees and groups. This should satisfy
everyone's general space needs. There may be closets or other spaces left out because J. Novak is using
bulk figures, but J. Novak feels confident that he has covered everybody's wishes regarding space.
Wilson said this revision covers everything for the next 20 years. As they go forward in designing this
justice center, the drawing will be refined and the details will be figured out, but at this point it is bulk
space. This gives the CJCC a reasonable, beginning cost estimate for the justice center.
Wilson said that the review items listed on the summary sheet from the January 5, 2011, CJCC Work
Session Meeting should not be anything new. They covered these items at the Work Session, and
according to his notes there was consensus on these items, but they wanted to be sure that everyone was
on the same page and sure as to what they were agreeing to. He thought they would review this list and
asked everyone to either speak up or hold their peace; he hopes that by the end there will be confirmed
agreement or identified issues that need further examination.
Wilson said they will begin with item one, the topic of which is "project." He believes there was
consensus that "there is a need to move forward with planning for a justice center to address space needs
at both the Jail and the Courthouse." He would like to say that this item has a consensus agreement
unless he hears differently. Iowa Bar Association Representative James McCarragher asked if they can
add language that the planning will address "safety, security, and space needs." Wilson said OK. Rettig
agreed. Wilson said that makes it clearer for everybody. He asked if there is any dissent with the
addition of that language. Hearing no dissent, Wilson said there is consensus for this item.
Wilson said they will move on to item two, the topic of which is "location." The CJCC members
have talked about the need for more land, but the fact is that the County does not have it. There has
been a good indication that they can make the justice center work within the land the County owns, plus
additional land on Harrison Street. At the January 2011 meeting, he believes they all agreed to move
forward with that in mind. He said there is agreement on this item.
Wilson said they have already talked a little bit about item three, the topic of which is the "Novak
Study." The Novak Study has been updated and he believes it includes every space that had been
previously left out. He asked if this seems good enough to move forward with now. Neuzil said
regarding location, the work group got together and had an opportunity to meet with almost all of the
elected officials, so they are very close to having that done. In terms of the Novak Study, his concern is
that the timeline may not work as anticipated, so he wonders if they can identify ten year needs, 15 year
needs, and 20 year needs. This way they can prioritize the items that could meet the current needs and
then look at what would be needed in 15 or 20 years. Wilson said that can be a complex issue. He
asked if those questions can be addressed separately after they finish going through this list. Neuzil
agreed. He has some suggestions on how to deal with the prioritization. He will mark this item as
having a consensus of yes regarding overall space needs.
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Wilson said the topic of the next item is " amount of bond referendum." They had previously
discussed that "there is a need to determine the amount the public would support." He thinks they had
consensus that the Outreach Committee would work on how that might be funded. Perhaps there will be
a report from them at this current meeting. He asked if this meets everyone's expectations regarding
conducting a survey of voters to set the amount they might want to bond for. He thinks this is a key
item, because it will tell them the maximum amount the County can spend on the justice center, or it will
tell them that they will have to get money from elsewhere to do what they need to do. It will set a
ceiling, at least for the public.
Rettig said the concept is fine, but she thinks it is worded strangely. It is not that the public "would"
support it, but that they "may" support it. It is kind of a range regarding where the ballpark figure is.
She does not think anyone could guarantee that the public "would" support it. It is really the ultimate
amount that would have a very good chance of the public supporting it. Maybe the word "may ", can
replace the word "would" in that sentence.
Wilson asked if Rettig is referring to the last three lines of the action step where it says "...until they
have information about how much the public may ultimately support." Rettig said yes. She said also
under the discussion section of the handout, she would change the word "would" to "may" and read the
sentence as follows: "There is a need to determine the amount the public may support." Wilson asked if
that word change gets the document to the point where CJCC members can agree. This topic was
marked with a consensus of yes.
Wilson moved on to item number five, the topic of which is "timing of the bond referendum." He
said a time has not been set, but the CJCC said the project will not be on the 2011 ballot. He asked if
there is consensus on that. This topic was marked with a consensus of yes.
Wilson said the next topic is "renovation of the Courthouse." The Committee was supportive of
renovating the Courthouse if the uses could fit in the space in safe and secure ways. He said this is what
McCarragher was talking about earlier. He asked if that sounds reasonable. This topic was marked with
a consensus of yes.
Champion asked if there has been any discussion of tearing the Courthouse down. Wilson said no.
McCarragher said there has been some discussion, but it was indicated that tearing down the Courthouse
would not occur. He does not think this project could go forward if that happens. Wilson said he has
heard that it would have to be a pretty bad financial situation in order to tear down the Courthouse. He
thinks the cost of renovating it would have to be extremely high before anyone would consider tearing it
down. He said J. Novak does not think it will come to that; renovating the Courthouse will still be
beneficial. However, that has not yet been explored thoroughly. This topic was marked with a
consensus of yes.
Wilson said they will move on to item number five, the topic of which is "funding." He said the
CJCC talked about the possibility of joining with the City of Iowa City (Iowa City). There were some
people in favor of this and some people against it. His understanding was that CJCC members agreed
that it would be OK to pursue a joint funding effort if it did not hold up the project. The CJCC would
continue forward with the project, and in parallel they can work with Iowa City. He asked if that seems
fair. This topic was marked with a consensus of yes.
Wilson moved on to the next item, the topic of which is "funding 2." The Committee agreed to go
forward with the assumption that the project would be funded by bonding, but that they need to be open
to other possibilities for additional funding. They would go forward with bonding to keep the project
moving forward, but would also try to find other ways to support it, if possible. This topic was marked
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with a consensus of yes.
Wilson moved on to the next item, the topic of which is "land acquisition." He said the County
Treasurer and County Attorney will proceed with the purchase of the houses on Capitol Street, which he
thinks is occurring. Lyness said yes, she has conferred with Kriz that the County would have money to
purchase the properties. This topic was marked with a consensus of yes.
Wilson moved on to the next item, the topic of which is "land acquisition 2. Acquisition of the
General Services Administration (GSA) property is desirable, but the CJCC decided they did not want to
slow up the project to wait on the property. However, they will continue to pursuing that. This topic
was marked with a consensus of yes.
Wilson moved on to the next item, the topic of which is "reuse of the Jail." He thinks many people
want to reuse the Jail, because it is a politically acceptable thing. Others were concerned that it might
cost too much, some that perhaps the County should sell the Jail to the University of Iowa, and still
others who thought the land should be saved for future use. He thinks some of those issues can be
worked out more effectively during the design stage. Until then, Wilson's understanding is that CJCC
members have agreed they would like to reuse the Jail. This topic was marked with a consensus of yes.
Wilson said the following three items were not covered: the amount of on -site and off -site parking to
be provided, schematic design of how the building will look, and public assurance that all viable jail
alternatives have been considered. It is his• opinion that those three items are things that initially need to
be covered. The first two will be better covered during the schematic design phase when they better
know what the building will look like and what kind of parking is needed. The public assurance of jail
alternatives is going on anyway. He suggested that the CJCC does not need to consider those remaining
three topics right now.
Wilson said he thinks there is consensus on the fundamental items needed to move forward. He
asked committee members to look at the document that was just handed out entitled "Overview of
Novak Report Costs." He said he put together some ideas to discuss of how they look at the space
prioritizations, what might be postponed until the future, and how phasing might work.
Wilson said he would like to have a reality check first. Based on Novak's space analysis, the
building will cost around $43.8 million. He said anyone wishing to follow along can refer to page 96 of
the recent handout, the one with the cost estimate. There is also the parking ramp cost of $5,025,804.
That is listed separately because it is not certain that a ramp will be built; they may use another
alternative. A lot of that might be determined by how much money the County has available and the
total cost of the project.
Wilson said if they do decide to do both parts of the project, the total project cost is estimated to be
around $48.8 million. Typically, design consultant fees run at about 7.5% of the total building cost.
That means $3,115,000 would become due before they ever start construction, or at least most of it
would be due before starting the project. The schematic design cost is 15 %, or $467,000, of the total
design fee. Design development (20% of design cost) is when the schematic preliminary design is
refined, and by the end of design development, they will be pretty much settled on what the building will
look like, what the spaces are, and the size. Then, they start getting into the details. Wilson said once
the design development phase is completed, the actual construction documents will be created. These
are the official documents that the building will be constructed from and these documents will cost 40 %,
or about $1,250,000 of the total design fee. After that, will be a bidding and negotiation stage, which
costs about 5% of the total design fee. Throughout the construction the design firm will need to oversee
what is going on, at a cost of about 20 %, or $623,028, of the total design fee.
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Wilson said the point of this is that this is quite a commitment. Once they begin the schematic
design phase, then they have already committed to coming up with about $500,000 to pay the
consultant. Harney asked for clarification of who would be paid the design fees. Wilson said if they
hired a design firm to go from cradle to grave, it would cost roughly $3 million, which would be broken
down into the phases he just discussed. As with the designer completed schematic design, they would
want some money at that stage, and so on and so forth.
Pulkrabek asked if the contract administration fee includes the cost of a construction manager to
oversee this project since it is so large. Wilson said no, that is extra. He said in this project that might
be a viable alternative. That is an additional service. The architect provides design overview, but is not
there on a daily basis overseeing the costs, making sure everything is ordered on time, and those kinds of
details.
Pulkrabek asked how much that would add to the cost. Wilson said he would guess 5 %. Pulkrabek
asked if that is 5% of the $48 million. Facilities Manager David Kempf said it could cost up to that
much. Wilson said it would probably be 5% of a fee on top of the $3 million. Champion asked, if they
hire a project manager, which she thinks is a must, do they have to also have the architect present.
Wilson said typically they want an architect to carry on throughout the entire process to make sure the
building ends up looking like they want it to. Champion asked if the project manager would do that.
Wilson said no, the project manager manages the flow of the project and not the design of it. Sullivan
added that a project manager coordinates the work schedules of the subcontractors, so they do not have
electricians show up, but not be able to work, because somebody did not do something else first. Wilson
said an architect would work out problems. For example, if duct work is running through the middle of
a conference room the architect would work on relocating it.
Rettig said 5% is $1.86 million; she asked if it would be that high. Wilson said he would not think
so, but he is not sure. They would need to get a fee estimate and he thinks the estimate would be around
$600,000. Kempf said he has talked to a couple of different firms and they were all in the 3% to 6%
range. The fee depends in part on the services and what the County's expectations are, which can
include having multiple people on site daily. Kempf said some firms suggest that construction
management is brought on during the schematic phase, because they know the construction processes
potentially better than architects do. That is where design firms think they can save money for their
clients.
Champion asked if major construction companies have project managers. Wilson said yes, but they
manage projects from a profitability point of view and construction timing. A project management firm
has special skills in managing the overall budget for the customer and not for the developer /firm. By
and large, they are at a higher level of expertise and are working for the County as a client. They are not
looking at what makes the most money for the construction firm, but what makes the most sense for the
client. A project management firm also has a higher level of oversight, in terms of project flow and will
tell the contractor if they are behind schedule and try to get them to pick up the pace.
Champion said she guesses she cannot find any way to save that $500,000. Rettig said it will be
higher than $500,000. Champion said she knows. Wilson said not necessarily. His personal opinion is
the County should at least interview a couple of firms to see if they can be convinced there would be a
savings. Rettig said yes, but from a budgeting standpoint they should build that in, while in reality, they
hope that a project manager will lower the cost of the project. Wilson said, when they get into the
design phase, the design consultant can help the Board resolve these cost issues as part of the overall
cost.
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Wilson asked where they will go from here on the space analysis. He said they have a lot of space
and do not know how they will play that off against how much money they might have, they do not
know how much can be spent on the Jail, whether it will fit, how much they can spend on the
Courthouse or whether it will fit, what will be done about parking, what has to be phased for the future
so they can do what they need to do now, or what it is they need to do now. He thinks all of these
answers will come during a design phase, after they have hired a consultant. This is a complex project
that they really need to get into the details to weigh the pros and cons of these tradeoffs.
Wilson said there are at least three ways the CJCC can go forward. One is the CJCC can try and do
it themselves. However, looking at page 96 of the document, they will see that the potential savings
only adds up to $1,714,000, which is not much when they are trying to reduce the overall budget. He
asked if they will leave off the Courthouse to save $6.2 million and do that through a separate funding
source. In order to look at other options they almost need to know what each option will cost and how
that plays against the cost of other options. He thinks it is really hard for the CJCC to do that
prioritization.
Wilson said he suggests the CJCC do one of two things. Send out a Request for Proposal (RFP) and
tell the design firm in the RFP that they only want to go through the schematic design phase until they
know that the bonding issue is settled. If it dies there, then the contract dies there too. To do that, it will
cost roughly $500,000 up front for the design fee. That is a lot of money, so he is suggesting another
possibility.
Wilson said there is a pre- schematic or preliminary design way to do it. He said that is the way J.
Novak said they handled the Hiawatha City Hall. He refined things just enough to get a reasonable
accurate cost, get the spaces refined, came up with a pre- design of what the building would look like,
and prepared a brochure to distribute for bonding. That is what he is calling a pre- schematic design; it is
not to the refined level of a schematic design.
Wilson said there are a couple ways to do that. They could hire a firm, such as Novak, to just do
that. Then, after the bonding issue is settled, put out for an RFP for a design consultant. The problem
with this approach is that the firm who does the original sketches to get the bonding may not be the firm
that designs it and it might change significantly in appearance. That may or may not be a problem.
Wilson said another way might be to go ahead and go out with an RFP but add another phase in
there. Instead of going to schematic design it would go from pre- schematic, schematic, design
development, and so forth. They would get a price for that pre - phase, which he thinks will be in the
$100,000 to $150,000 range rather than the $400,000 range. The difference there is the firm that does
the pre- schematic will be the firm that actually does the design, so there is more continuity for the
public, which Wilson thinks is an advantage.
Wilson said his suggestion would be to complete the survey on what the public may support in terms
of bonding. That will give the CJCC a target amount. Then he would send out an RFP for a consultant
with the pre- schematic design as a first step. It would not go beyond that until the bond issue is
resolved. The contract would die if somehow the project dies. As soon as they get an RFP, and a
consultant hired, and get into the design, then they can address the timing of the bond issue. While this
is happening, the County should continue to pursue the GSA property, look for funding alternatives,
resolve whether Iowa City will participate, and continue to look for alternatives for incarceration.
McCarragher referenced page 96 of the handout and said he has a question about saving the $6.2
million estimated for "Historic Restoration and Renovation of Existing Courthouse" (line 1). Then, two
lines down is "Courthouse Components (excluding existing courthouse space) ". McCarragher asked
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where the $6 million is saved, is it in the "historic restoration." Wilson said he is not clear what part of
the document McCarragher is referencing. McCarragher said he is looking at the Capital Construction
Cost Analysis, page 96 of 98 in the handout of the Johnson County Justice Center from Novak. He tried
to figure out where the $6 million is saved. Wilson said it is the first line; he essentially removed the
first line "Historic Restoration and Renovation of Existing Courthouse. McCarragher said OK. Wilson
said they will either eliminate it or do it through some other funding source, so it is not part of the bond
issue.
McCarragher asked if additional money would be necessary in the third item on page 96, where it
says "Courthouse Components." Rettig said they have the original Courthouse and then there will be a
need for more space. So, renovating the original 25,000 square feet of the Courthouse costs $6.2
million, but the additional space they need, another 22,000 square feet, will cost $4.5 million. She said
Wilson's point is that if the Courthouse renovation is funded another way, $6.2 million can be subtracted
from the overall cost, which they are actually already doing. Rettig said between this fiscal year and
next fiscal year, all the tuck pointing will be completed. The County will have spent $1 million on the
renovation already, so they had not intended to do this based on this recommendation; they had already
started down this path. Rettig said that Kempf would have preferred that they rolled it into the big
project, but the tuck pointing was so far gone that if they did not get moving on it, it was going to be a
lot worse. They are spending that money in a different funding source already. Wilson said that is
absolutely correct.
Neuzil said based on Wilson's preliminary recommendations, that is something the Public
Information/Outreach Subcommittee can at least incorporate within the timeline they created. There is a
draft that is just getting started. Neuzil said he can send the draft to Wilson for his feedback and then
have the document ready for the meeting scheduled in April 2011.
Champion asked when the Board of Supervisors will make a decision on going forward with that
preliminary design or a pre- schematic design because she thinks it is important to get something rolling.
That will be very positive step when people have a picture to look at. Rettig said in about 30 minutes
the Board is holding a public hearing on the County's budget, which includes $100,000 on a justice
center study and another $250,000 on justice center property acquisition. In theory, the Board has
already put the money in place once they vote on the budget.
Wilson said he thinks the County could begin composing the RFP now. He thinks the missing
element is the target cost amount which is important, whether it is $30 million or $50 million, and the
bond issue. They could leave that section blank and insert it later.
Sullivan said they are running short on time now, but they have to talk about the money. He really
thinks at the April CJCC meeting they should talk about nothing but the money. There are two shots in
2012, a June county -wide election and a November General Election. If they want to have it in June
2012, they have to get this information in the next three or four months. If this is not on the April 2011
agenda, then they are going to have to kiss another two year cycle goodbye. They really cannot be
talking about anything else but getting some data on what the public will support, crunching that data,
and then going with it.
Neuzil said one of the things resulting from the meeting with the other elected officials was a
conversation with County Auditor Tom Slockett. He did remind the Board that June 2012 is not an
eligible election for a bond referendum because it is a primary, but that the November General Election
is. He said Slockett also mentioned the potential for a special election. For any date that is eligible for a
special election, the cost would be roughly $80,000. The other option is having it in a General Election
where there are 75,000 people voting.
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Sullivan said he knows the Board is concerned about the money, but they are going to run out of
time. If they do not act in April 2011, he thinks they are doomed and they might as well tell people this
bond referendum will not happen until 2014 at the earliest, which he thinks is a real mistake.
Wilson said it will take two or three months to complete the survey, one or two months to hire a
consultant, four to six months to do the pre- schematic, so they are pushing a year. Neuzil said nailing
down the timeline set is going to be a good reality check. Sullivan said he thinks the April 2011 CJCC
Meeting agenda should include a recommendation to the Board that they can hopefully place on the
Supervisor's Informal Meeting and then Formal Meeting agendas. He thinks the Board should vote on
the RFP by the middle of April 2011.
Rettig said the County would not have the money until July 1, 2011. Sullivan said the County would
not necessarily have to pay them then either. Kempf said it is going to be a process to develop the RFP,
get it out, and have submittals come back. Sullivan said whoever the County hires will have to be told
they will not be paid until July 1, 2011. Kempf said they probably would not be in a position to have a
bill submitted to the County much before July 1, 2011. Neuzil said that is something the Board will
have to iron out in regards to trying to get a survey in or not.
Sullivan said he does not think anything Wilson has talked about is wrong. He just thinks there is a
component that is missing to all of it, which is what the bottom line is. They have to have that number
before they can really get going. Harney said he thinks the CJCC can have this discussion at the
meeting scheduled for April 2011.
Kempf thanked Wilson for the amount of work he has put into this planning process.
REPORT FROM PUBLIC INFORMATION /OUTREACH SUBCOMMITTEE
Neuzil said the Public Information/Outreach Subcommittee is keeping on track with updating this
timeline. He wants people to keep an eye on Senate Study Bill 1062. This is a bill that he knows
McCarragher has also been following closely. It is starting to get some legs, particularly because of the
courthouse situation in Polk County. The idea is to identify courthouses and courthouse improvements
under the General Supplemental Fund of county government as an essential county purpose. This means
that the County will not have a cap on that portion of the County budget. There is the potential, if the
Iowa Legislature would make the Courthouse or Courthouse improvements an essential County purpose,
they could fund it similar to how they are funding the Joint Emergency Communications Center, which
just recently was an essential county purpose.
Pulkrabek reported on the latest information on Jail transportation. He said Johnson County has
negotiated yet another deal with a new county, so effective at the end of the current week, the majority
of Johnson County's prisoners will be going to Muscatine County. They have built a new addition and
hired staff. The Sheriff's Office has negotiated not only the lowest flat fee available, but that fee will
also include Muscatine County providing some transportation for Johnson County and will also include
medical charges. This contract is going to be a significant savings, and though it does not necessarily
help the cause to justify a new building here because he is driving down the costs again, it is the right
thing to do from a taxpayer's perspective, and from the human side of it. The proximity of Muscatine
County will hopefully enable more attorneys meet with their clients, and more family members to visit
with the incarcerated. Pulkrabek said the County will still be housing a few prisoners in Washington
County.
REPORT FROM FUNDING /GRANTS SUBCOMMITTEE
http: / /www.johnson- county. com / auditor /min/2011_03_02_inf _ j- min.htm 3/28/2011
MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD... Page 12 of 12
Rettig said the Funding/Grants Subcommittee does not have anything to add until they get some
numbers.
Rettig said Tiffin Mayor Royce Phillips is present, and while she does not intend to obligate him, she
did say Phillips had volunteered to serve on a committee and may be open to joining the CJCC. She
suggested visiting with him after tonight's meeting and thanked Phillips for his presence.
REPORT FROM FACILITIES SUBCOMMITTEE
Harney said the Facilities Subcommittee has not actually met, but he has had a conversation with
GSA Public Buildings Service Portfolio Management Director Kevin Rothmier who said GSA has not
done much at all. He said Rothemier said GSA's next steps are to conduct a boundary survey, proof the
legal description, and get a third parry appraisal for the property.
SET NEXT MEETING DATE
The next CJCC Meeting is scheduled for April 6, 2011 at 3:00 p.m.
Adjourned at 5:43 p.m.
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on March 28, 2011 at 3:00 p.m.
http : / /www.johnson- county. com / auditor /min/2011_03_02_inf _ j- min.htm 3/28/2011
Tipton Shovel Ready
Certification Ceremony
Date: Monday, April 18, 9,011
+ n
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Cedar County Courthouse Square
RSVP: Call (319 ) 354 -3939 by April 15
Please join the Iowa City Area Development Group as we award the
state's first -ever "Shovel Ready" Certification to the Tipton Economic
Development Corporation.
The ceremony will take place on the Courthouse Square next to the Cedar
County Courthouse in Tipton. The ceremony will include remarks from
Governor Branstad and Austin Consulting, our certification agency.
A brief networking reception will follow at A Place to Land Cafe.
Hosted By:
The Seven County Corridor Alliance
The City of Tipton
The Tipton Economic Development Corporation
Have You Registered?
Page 1 of 2
Regional Economic Development Summit
There's still time to register!
April 7, 2011
The Hotel
at Kirkwood Center
Cedar Rapids
7:30a.m. - 1:00p.m.
Lunch included
There is no cost to
attend, but registration
is appreciated at:
The Regional Economic Development Summit is taking place next
Thursday, April 7th, in Cedar Rapids.
If you have not done so already, please take a moment to register to
attend this free event. Come join more than 100 of your private and
public sector colleagues as they share their thoughts on issues such as
transportation and workforce development and their relationship to
our growth as a region. Input gathered at the summit will be used in
the formation of a regional comprehensive development plan.
Download a copy of the updated agenda
The half -day event will begin with a keynote address by Dr. Robert D.
Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and
Innovation Foundation, a Washington, DC -based technology policy
think tank. Atkinson has an extensive background in technology policy,
has conducted ground- breaking research projects on technology and
innovation, is a valued adviser to state and national policy makers, and
has appeared in various media outlets including
www.ecicog.org /attend CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NPR and NBC Nightly
News.
Dr. Atkinson's full bio and additional information
on the Information Technology and Innovation
Foundation is available at www.itif.org.
For more information, please contact the
East Central Iowa Council of Governments
700 16th Street NE, Suite 301
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
www.ecicoci.org
Phone: 319-365-9941
Fax: 319- 365 -9981
The summit is sponsored by Kirkwood Community College and receives support from the Economic
Development Administration and the Department of Transportation.
http: // campaign .r20.constantcontact.com /render ?llr= pidtmfdab &v =001 cNWX07JYSkRHdi... 4/4/2011
MINUTES
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
March 15, 2011
EMMA J. HARVAT HALL
PRELIMINARY
U3 -;f 1 -7 7
IP21
Members Present: Orville Townsend Sr., David Brown, Dianne Day, Diane Finnerty, Howard Cowen, Connie
Goeb, Harry Olmstead, Martha Lubaroff.
Members Absent: Wangui Gathua.
Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers, Sue Dulek (Assistant City Attorney).
Others Present Who Addressed the Commission: Charlie Eastham, Karla Detweiler.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council action): No.
CALL TO ORDER
Day called the meeting to order at 18:04.
PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None.
CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE February 15, 2011 MEETING:
Olmstead, moved to approve.
Townsend seconded.
The motion passed 8 -0.
SANCTUARY CITY
Day /I think that ah what I would like to do is propose a little sort of a format here and that possibly the
Commissioners could briefly discuss what their feelings are now that you have a rather large packet
that you could read. Then open it up to the public if you would like to make comments, and then
perhaps after that then come back to the Commission as far as what actions we might want to take,
as far as responding to the public comments. What we want to do next. If this is in agreement or are
you all in agreement with this type of format?
Commission: Fine, yes
Day /Do we need a motion on this do you think?
Bowers/ I don't know if you need a motion, but are you going to set up time restrictions or are you just
going to talk?
Day/We could. Are you in agreement with maybe like 15 minutes or so for us and then public
discussion? If we end this time on the agenda somewhere around by 7:00 or before. Does that feel
like we all have a chance to?
Several Talking /Right now I think it's good
Day /I think in general public comments are limited to three minutes when there is a large audience
where we want everyone to speak. I think if any of you want to speak we can start with that, but if we
have time if you have other questions, that might work. Is that alright with everyone?
Several Talking /Yes
Human Rights Commission
March 15, 2011
Page 2 of 11
Day /Keeping within that timeframe. Just as a review what I'd like to do is read what was in the packet
from the City Council, in that the City Council directed the Human Rights Commission to meet with
the Sanctuary City Committee. The Consolidation of the Religious Communities and the public to
provide recommendations to the Council, given the research from the City Attorney. My impression is
that we have several things to do with our recommendations to the City Council. I just made a list of
these from being at the meeting last Monday (Council Work Session 2- 28 -11). It doesn't mean that
those have to be included; this was not in your packet so I'm just framing this so you can certainly
add or subtract. Some of the things I think we might want to discuss is if there is a need for the
ordinance which was brought up. Would an ordinance contribute to more confusion within the
immigrant community? If so how could this be resolved? Assuming that such an ordinance was
passed within the parameters of the Secure Community legislation, would this ordinance help to
make our immigrant community feel more comfortable working with the Police when they are a victim
of a crime or are a witness to a crime? How do the other approximately 70 cities that have already
enacted similar ordinances balance their ordinance with the Secure Community legislation? We
could do absolutely nothing and send the ordinance back. So again that is another option. Another
one might be which areas of the City is citizen status required, and where is it not required. That
would be including different City services, offices, etc., and is there a problem in any of these areas.
If so then where would we go from there? So whether you know those are some ideas on my part,
questions I have, but I would like to open it up to the Commission as far as response or questions
from especially the packet you received.
Olmstead /I would like to start by saying that I would not be in favor of taking and sending this back to
the Council without further work.
Day /Is that something we all in agreement that we need to get more information or to send the
ordinance?
Townsend /I have some concerns as to whether or not we are the appropriate body that should be
dealing with this due to the new law that we got into upon a stand that thinks somewhat different now
than they were when we looked at it before, and you know what boundaries do we function with? I
mean an immigrant that is documented in terms of breaking the law. If I understand it correctly
certain laws have to be fingerprinted and other laws, other laws broken do not. So we have got
something that is mandatory here, so I think things have changed somewhat since we, since it was
dealt with before.
Cowen /I don't know, maybe. I don't think so. It was my impression that there's a big confusion I'm
going to be honest. My perception everybody has a different perception, I think of where we were at
one time or where we're going with this. I think that the name sanctuary is the problem. I don't think
it's a sanctuary. I think it is for anybody, that no one, and I don't think that there's any question about
the don't enforce. I don't even know where that came from. We always enforce. There is no such
question as not enforcing. It's similar to me the don't ask don't tell that they had in the military. I think
that this whole process, I would like to continue on with it. I do think that the name has potential
problems in the community, thinking that it's a sanctuary for immigrants to come and do as they may
without being carded or asked what, if they're an immigrant. I think the question is if you're walking
down the street and you see a Hispanic person and they're speaking Spanish, do you have the right
to say let me see your Passport, let me see your Visa, let me see your Green Card for no reason
except you look suspicious to me. I think that's all we're talking about. We're not talking about
anything that's unenforceable anytime. I think a big problem might be for instance if you're driving a
Human Rights Commission
March 15, 2011
Page 3 of 11
car and the driver gets pulled over, and he gets pulled over for running a red light or speeding, a
legitimate pull over. The officer says let me see your Driver's License and he says I don't have a
Driver's License. Ah let me see you know some sort of identification. I don't have that. Well you're
not supposed to be driving a car. Let's go down to the police station and find out who you are.
What's your immigration status? They have the right to do that. We're not questioning whether they
have the right, but can they question everybody in the car as well. Okay the whole group of you come
on down. Let's check all of you out. I think that's what we're looking at here is just the basic human
rights for people without having some suspicion of who they are for no reason.
Townsend /My concern though is that what boundaries should we function within. For example if I'm
driving my car as an African American and I'm stopped and I don't have a Driver's License. When we
go down to the Police Station the focus should be on whether or not I have a Driver's. License and
give me the opportunity to produce it. Now the other people in the car shouldn't be affected about
that because they're not driving.
Cowen /Absolutely.
Townsend /So you know I, 1 just feel that we, this Commission, what we do is already in place.
Day /So are you saying there may not be a need for an ordinance?
Townsend /No I'm not saying that. I'm just saying should we be the body that's dealing with it
Finnerty /I would speak to that I think we are an appropriate body and I do think it needs more work
so I would encourage us to keep working on this and work with the what's called currently the
Sanctuary City Committee to understand the multitude of issues. I think for me it's the narrowly
defined ordinance that we're talking about, is also expands to human rights issues, even beyond the
do we comply or don't we with the Secure Communities, and I, 1 have no interest at this point of
recommending to the City that they not comply with the federal mandate. I haven't heard that from
anyone. I will tell you personally I think it's inappropriate and I think federal immigration policy is dead
wrong on these issues with enforcement only. But that as a Commissioner would not be an
encouragement I would make to the City to not follow a federal mandate. I think the term sanctuary is
appropriate coming out of the faith community. I think the encouragement to the faith community to
do as they wish, providing sanctuary and there's a long tradition of that in this nation. I think that's a
whole separate issue, but what do we as a Commission want for our community around immigration
justice if not the appropriate treatment of immigrant rights. So I would encourage, I'm learning a
whole lot about the Secure Communities. I didn't know much about that. I'm surprised that only eight
counties in Iowa out of the 99 are currently participating, and I've very, I'd love to know why Johnson
County is one of those. Why we were in the first tier of going along. I understand by 2013 it will be
nationwide, but I'm curious why and when and how it happened that we'd be the first in line or second
in line it sounds like of implementers. So I have a lot more to say on it and have been doing a lot of
homework and want to think creatively about looking at the data of part of the concerns about the
Secure Communities are issues of racial profiling for peoples that are perceived to be either
immigrant and or undocumented. I'd love to see what kind of data that looks like and is that going on.
Also then I heard via the testimony or the work session kind of the conversation also of what other
types of documentation are needed for other City services, and to create a welcoming community,
and to really be able to educate on that. I need to educate myself and I would love to be part of
educating the community about that as well.
Human Rights Commission
March 15, 2011
Page 4 of 11
Brown /I just want to add that I think data is needed, more data that's absent from the material that we
received. I need to figure out what the origins are and what the people who brought this to the
attention of the Council. What their idea was because it might have taken on a course of its own. I
think that can spin out of control. You're using a lot of the information based on a Secure
Communities and then the sanctuary city also because that name in itself I think ah I want to address
what Mr. Cohen said was that yeah it is a little misleading, and I want to make sure that its clear
because anything we set in place will set a precedent. So I want to make sure that we have all the
data ahead.
Goeb/ I would agree. I mean I support going further with this and trying to figure out a way that will
make this proposed ordinance something that the City Council can consider seriously. I also think we
need more data on what other services might be affected by this. We've been kind of focusing or I've
been focusing a little bit on law enforcement, and I think other services that are affected, it would be
helpful to have that information. I also would weigh in on the fact that really since the beginning I've
thought that just the term sanctuary is kind of an inflammatory title, and I understand that some cities
have done pretty much the same thing without calling it a sanctuary. I don't know now if we can
retreat from that and make it, make it make sense. But I also I guess my strongest feeling from
reading over the material is that in reading the City Attorney's analysis and opinions and such. I just
think that the Secure Communities issue to me is kind of what I would call a red herring because I just
don't see how Secure Communities, how when that is implemented or going along with that is really
in practice much different than what we're doing with the City and the County is doing now in terms of
sharing information on fingerprints, sharing fingerprint information with, I understand with the Iowa
what is it the ah, the Central Iowa Police Organization whatever they're called. I understand that
that's being done right now, and I really don't understand how Secure Communities puts anymore of
a road bump or a speed bump in this process than we had before. So I think that is again a false
speed bump so to speak.
Day /My understanding of that if you could maybe help me on this is that the main difference would be
with Secure Communities the fingerprints would go to the immigration, where before they didn't. Is
that?
Dulek/That's correct as of March 8th when Johnson County went on -line anyone fingerprinted, those
fingerprints are now automatically matching up with the ICE database and a hit will come back to
Johnson County. Before March 8th that was not the case.
Goeb /I understand that it goes to ICE directly, but certainly fingerprints were, you know I don't think
that that really makes a fundamental difference to what we're doing because we, I don't think any of
us were interested in withholding fingerprints of people that were arrested for crimes in the first place.
I mean that is being sent to some other higher law enforcement agency right now. It's not being
directly to ICE and what I have read in the background material is that certainly ICE was always privy
to that information if they wanted it because it was; it was given to other law enforcement agencies in
the state.
Dulek/That's not correct.
Goeb /The state didn't get the fingerprints before?
Human Rights Commission
March 15, 2011
Page 5 of 11
Dulek/The state did, but the state database did not interact with ICE.
Goeb /Oh right I understand that it wasn't automatic, but it certainly wasn't withheld from them.
Dulek/I understand that your opinion um, I can just tell you what the change was and what that
means.
Goeb /It's just a more direct..
Finnerty /I think the sheriff is quoted as saying it's a simpler transfer process at this point because it's
automated and on -line. They just enter it in and then the biometrics picks it up.
Dulek/Absolutely. There's no question.
Finnerty /Do you have the answer to the question about why Johnson County and the second tier of
the counties in the State of Iowa?
Dulek/I do not.
Olmstead /I think part of the confusion has come in in the fact that we didn't convey properly to the
City Council that we were not interested in harboring fugitives or criminals. I think that's one of the
things that we have to think about in a future ordinance, is that we have to convey very clearly
because Secure Communities doesn't really come into effect in terms of what we're really interested
in because that's for a person that does commit a crime, and we're talking about law abiding citizens.
Day /I think if I could make one comment and then I think we need to open it up some to the three that
are present. In answer to your question a couple of them, to me perception is as important as reality,
and I believe that those of us who are not living within the immigrant community may feel one way,
but perceptions of what is not allowed may be totally different in the immigrant community. So my
take on this if it were to be anything close to what was presented, is that it's more of a definition of
practice, consistent practice for the immigrant community as from the standpoint from law
enforcement. I want to reemphasize at the end of the proposed ordinance, it does state no entity
employer agent of the City of Iowa City shall request information about or otherwise investigate or
assist in the investigation of the national citizenship or federal residency status of any person unless,
such inquiry or investigation is required by the Iowa state statute, federal regulation or court decision.
So that I think this states that we would be automatically following that and this was written before.
So I mean there's no intent to be in conflict with state or federal law enforcement. My take on this is
more towards the immigrant community and the protection of victims, which can be outside of the
immigrant community. I'm not sure and I would like to know for instance if someone witnesses a
crime, a local crime, whether its burglary or if I'm hit by a car and the only person that sees it is an
immigrant of some status. I don't know what that status is. Would they feel safe to come forward to
help me in finding out who hit me? I would want that individual to feel safe to come forward. To me it
is much more of a definition of local, when you get into the law enforcement and the residence of our
community, is that there's equal protection for victims, whether I'm a victim of a crime or someone
witnesses it or if I'm an immigrant of some sort of status and I'm a victim of a break -in. Can I go to
the police?
Human Rights Commission
March 15, 2011
Page 6 of 11
Bowers /: I'm going to interrupt just real quick just for the transcript. When you said just to answer or
to respond to your questions or your comments, who were you referring to?
Day /I'm sorry to Orville. Does that make sense from that?
Townsend /Yeah and you know the way I see it is that what we're focusing on is that there shouldn't
be a problem or need for identification and things like that unless a law has been broken. Now the
example you used and a person goes forward, that person hasn't broken a law, so that wouldn't be
an issue. If under those circumstances that person would be caught or something like that, then
that's what we should put the focus. So I think the focus should be on legality.
Day/We have one more.
Lubaroff /I just would like to add something. This material was fairly new to me because I wasn't in
Iowa City, but I think it needs more study and more discussion, and I do have a concern about an
innocent bystander who may witness a crime and be afraid to report it to the Police because they're
undocumented. So I think the bottom line is that I really support the, support what's behind this, but I
think we need to study it more.
Day /an I open it up to those of you, and if you'd like to speak if you could come to the podium and
state your name and spell it, and then take three to five minutes if you'd like.
Eastham /Good evening my name is Charlie Eastham and I'm a resident of Iowa City. First of all I'd
like to thank the Commission for undertaking this effort, and I hope we all come to a place which we
can be happy with in some fashion or another. I've been a member of what is called a Sanctuary City
Committee for a year or so now, and as many of you I think understand the Sanctuary City
Committee is ah, has been asked by the Consultation of Religious Communities to develop policies or
make recommendations to the City about policies and practices that will improve the, or ease the
status of people in the community who are immigrants. I have about three comments to make and I'll
try to keep it within three minutes. One, the name Sanctuary City, my personal feeling as a member
of the Committee is that I don't care what the ordinance or policy is called. You can call it ordinance
one, two, three or ordinance x, y, z. I don't care. I'm not sure the full Committee has that viewpoint,
but I certainly do. In regard to federal legislation I think that the ah, I agree with the comments made
by many of you that the trying to figure out how a policy could work with a Secure Community is
federal regulations not really what we're asking for. Actually most people in the community never get
arrested for anything, whether or not they're immigrants or not immigrants. We have never proposed,
we've never even talked about wanting to have opposing federal regulations, which requires a
submission of fingerprints for people who have been arrested for certain offenses to federal
immigration authorities. So I personally am not, I don't think that's an issue. I have been trying to
figure over the last several weeks, trying to talk with folks in the community that are actually in fairly
frequent contact with people in Iowa City and Johnson County, who are immigrants and who may or
may not be authorized immigrants, and asked them what they think the people within those groups
might be interested in the City doing to increase their ability to function as community members. One
of the people I talked to asked put a question to me that goes kind of like this. Would the proposed
ordinance increase the comfort level of a person who is an immigrant coming to a City Council
meeting and addressing the City Council, and in the course and at that meeting the Police Chief was
sitting in the room. Whether or not that person during the course of the remarks to the Council said
anything about their immigration status whether they were authorized or unauthorized. That example
Human Rights Commission
March 15, 2011
Page 7 of 11
to me has a couple of features that I think are important. One, it shows what I think I've heard quite a
bit in the community is that a lot of the people in the community who are immigrants are very cautious
about participating in public civic life because they're uncertain about what will happen to them from
local officials as opposed to federal officials. I think one of the things we're trying to get at is to try to
make those folks in the community, give them assurance that local officials, law enforcement or city
officials in some other role. Those local officials are not interested in investigating their residency
status. That's a little hard to do, I understand that, but I think that's really what I think the Sanctuary
City Committee is getting at. I think that example shows that um one, a Council Member who is at the
meeting, or I'm sorry. A Council Member is at the meeting does not, would not be obligated by City
policy to say anything about the person's immigration status or residency status, and the Police Chief
who is sitting right there wouldn't be obligated to say anything to that person later on about their
residency status. I think then the person could come and talk to the City Council and ask them I want
another street light in my area, which is kind of what everybody should be able to do.
Day /I think we have a question for you.
Olmstead /Yes, I wanted to find out, I appreciate your comments. Do you feel that your Committee
would be open to a different title rather than Sanctuary City, something like Safe Cities?
Eastham/We've had discussions about that and I'm not speaking for the Committee Mr. Olmstead,
but I think personally, I would be and I think there are other Committee Members that would also be
open to some other title.
Olmstead /Also would your Committee be willing to meet with the Commissioners?
Eastham /Oh for sure.
Detweiler /Good evening I'm Karla S - - - - -- I'm the pastor at First Mennonite Church. For simplicity
you can use Detweiler. I also want to thank you very much for taking time to address this very
important issue here. I also have been a part of the Sanctuary City Committee since its inception,
which is over a year and a half ago _ out of the Consultation of Religious Communities, and just to
give a little more background. The Consultation of Religious Communities began to explore in
earnest what we could do on behalf of immigrants in our community following the Postville raid, and
that was really the impetus for us seeking how we could make a statement in our community, and
take the lead in our community to provide safety for immigrants in our community who were
terrorized. Not only the people of Postville were living in fear following that horrendous investigation.
It was inhumane, but immigrants in our community felt the shockwaves that rippled out from that, and
there are immigrants in our community now who moved here from Postville, who continue to live in
fear of what if the helicopters fly over here. What if the Federal Government would come to do an
investigation in Iowa City. So our intent was to cast a broad welcome in our community and to make
a statement that Iowa City is a place that welcomes people of all nationalities, which is something I
think Iowa City is proudly um, we call ourselves a diverse community and we're proud of that. We
want to make it a place that immigrants feel welcome and safe. I am privileged to interact with
immigrants regularly. There is an immigrant congregation that shares our church building, and I know
that the pastors of that Congregation are upstanding citizens with a work permit and yet feel like
they're always under having to live under, ducking their heads undercover. Um super careful so that
they will not run in with law enforcement because they feel vulnerable. So a big part of what we were
wanting to do is to educate our community, including the immigrants that live there, that the City is not
Human Rights Commission
March 15, 2011
Page 8 of 11
out to get them. Yes crimes will be, you know there will be consequences for crime, but in for
immigrants who are contributing members of society we want them to feel safe and know that the
safety of one member of the community is linked to the safety of their neighbors, and safety for one
means safety and contributes to the wellbeing of all. I also wanted to say that the Secure
Communities law is new for us and we're learning what kind of implications, how that interacts with
this sanctuary idea, but I also feel like that development of late makes its an opportune time for Iowa
City to take a step and to say you know here are our values, not that we want to contradict, we're not
going to contradict federal law. But that given these parameters we want to do the most we can to
say we are a community that is humane, that believes in welcome and justice for all of our residents.
Thank you.
Day /Does anyone have a question? Okay. Is there further discussion within?
Townsend /Yeah. I you know saying if you really want to do me justice you need to walk a
mile in my shoes, and I agree. We should have a committee and if we're going to commit to it and
work on it, but we really and I think this was mentioned earlier, we really need to have people that are
directly involved on that committee giving input because only they know the issues, negative issues,
that they're being impacted by. If we're going to effectively put something in place we need to know
exactly what we should be focusing on in trying to change or trying to secure.
Finnerty/Who are you suggesting services or?
Townsend/Well you know we've got individuals from the community that's working with them, and
they can be a part of the community, or you know it would be ideal if we had individuals that are
impacted being on the committee because just in communicating and dialogue things just happen,
and we can put a ruling on it, but it may not really get to the issue that needs to be dealt with.
Another thing is you mentioned Postville and you know we can put things in place in Johnson County,
but was Postville a federal initiative? So that's something else we have to be aware of because we
don't want to give guarantees that create hope that we can't support.
Finnerty /I wanted thank both of you for being here. A couple of things you said were powerful for me
in reframing. One is the question you posed about would somebody who is an immigrant with or
without authorization come to a City Council meeting and participate in the fabric of the life of this
community. What I appreciate about that is it takes it out of the criminalization of human beings
because I think that the debate has gotten very narrowly tailored to this when someone commits a
crime, that's this percentage of the population. Right? I don't hear anyone saying if there's a criminal
act there should be no consequences, but there's this broader more beautiful community, so the
question about the City Council I appreciated that, and it is the vision of a community I'd want to live
in where we could all be participants. Also I think your point about its an opportune time, that this is,
and I believe the federal policy will only get more and more egregious unless people do step up with
values. So for Iowa City to restate our values as a City to do whatever we can to promote our values,
not opposing federal mandate, but making it a statement. It is an opportune time and I appreciate the
statement of that. The other thing that I believe that really is a Human Rights Commission issue is,
I'm not sure how many of you have been reading the blogs, but the, I can't remember after who. It
might have been a letter to the editor or someone, the vigilante justice that was coming up and the
here's the ICE number. You report somebody and I'm going to do it if they don't take action, and I
want us not to lose sight of there is so much hateful rhetoric in our nation, in our state and in our
community right now around immigration issues and it spills not just on immigration, it spills out to
Human Rights Commission
March 15, 2011
Page 9 of 11
everyone who is perceived to potentially be an immigrant and particularly if I think affecting the Latino
and the Asian communities. I do believe it is important for us to take a stand to challenge the type of
vigilante justice that could come up and is already coming up in an absence of leadership. So I would
again recommend that we do it in a study committee. I would want to give us a timeline so that we
could come back. I don't know if it is to the next Commission meeting with a recommendation, but I
wouldn't want it to drag on very long. There's great research out there. There are great suggestions.
I think working with people who are working with immigrant communities and the immigrants who feel
comfortable doing it I think is a great way to go.
Day /Any other?
Olmstead /I'd like to make a motion that we establish a sub - committee to work with the Sanctuary
Committee to iron out whatever needs to be
Day /Okay. Is there a second to this?
Brown /I second that motion.
Day /Further discussion? It's my understanding that we can have three or possibly four on a sub-
committee, and if you want are there any volunteers who would like? Harry, Diane. I've been
working on it for a while so.
Bowers /Can you state the names?
Day /Okay we have Harry (Olmstead) and myself (Day), Orville (Townsend) and Diane (Finnerty). As
to timeline, which again I think is a very good recommendation. I might suggest that we try to have,
at least some sort of report by next meeting, maybe addressing some of the questions of the City
Council addressed, trying to digest what we've spoken about here and possibly visiting with you as
far as any questions we have as far as legality, but again I think it might be framing the a possible
proposal that deals not specifically with the law enforcement side of it. The idea or the conclusion I'm
getting is that this is, by exploring the immigrant community is working with their input as far as what
this would guarantee, if that made any sense whatsoever. All in favor please say aye.
Day /Thank you.
Finnerty /I have one related just while you're here if I may. Do you know is this community discussing
287(g) and deputizing of law enforcement?
Dulek/Not that I know of and I think that actually nationally that has become less popular as you see
just the, the Secure Communities come into play, but I've never known either our Police Department
or the Johnson County Sherriff to take that in. Diane (Finnerty) can explain it too, but it's a more
formal memorandum of agreement between ICE and local law enforcement to actually train at the
local level in order to enforce the federal immigration. There are certainly some communities across
the nation have taken up and entered agreements with ICE on that, but not that I know of.
Olmstead /I spoke with our Police Chief on that and he is informed me that there are no Police
Officers trained under it, and he's not in favor of having it.
Human Rights Commission
March 15, 2011
Page 10 of 11
Day/We'll have our first meeting right after this one. Thank you all.
FAIR HOUSING PROCLAMATION
Day will accept the proclamation on behalf of the Commission at the City Council meeting on April 5th.
DELVING INTO DIVERSITY
Bowers reported that the program has been rescheduled for May 51h from 6 -8 pm. Small group discussions
will follow the film.
DIVERSITY DAY
Townsend, Brown, Goeb and Finnerty will host the table. Bowers will get the materials to Brown the Friday prior
to the program.
LISTENING PROJECT
Bowers reported that she spoke with Herb Walters of the Listening Project. Walters mentioned there is a
financial obligation for the training as well as the need for substantial volunteers from the community.
Commissioners would need to become trained in the project. Walters surmised that the process would take a
complete year. In addition, the training is very resource intensive. Finnerty mentioned using community
resources to do a similar project that would cut down on the cost and the training time. This item will be placed
on the May agenda.
SPEAKER'S BUREAU
The advertising for this program will begin in the next few weeks. Day felt it was best to get it out to the
community.
YOUTH AWARDS
The Mayor has agreed to deliver brief remarks at the program. Bowers will begin advertising the week of March
21 st. At the next meeting Commissioners will be assigned various roles for the program.
FAIR HOUSING TRAINING
In recognition of fair housing month a training will be held on April 25th that is open to all community members.
BUILDING BLOCKS TO EMPLOYMENT
The annual Job Fair will be held on April 26th. Employer registration is underway. The Job Fair targets persons
who are unemployed or underemployed and provides assistance with cover letters and resumes.
SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATES
Olmstead (Brown, Lubaroff) reported that the documentary film Bullying would be shown on May 12 the
program will include a facilitator, a representative from the School District and Iowa City Police Officer Jorey
Bailey. The program will also have students from West and City High speaking on their experiences with
bullying.
REPORTS OF COMMISSIONERS
Finnerty mentioned that March 27 — April 1 is Cesar Chavez Week sponsored by the Latino — Native American
Cultural Center at the University of Iowa. There are a variety of events scheduled including a film screening of
The Fight in the Fields and a spoken word event.
ADJOURNMENT
Lubaroff moved to adjourn.
Olmstead seconded.
The motion passed 8 -0 at 19:26
Human Rights Commission
March 15, 2011
Page 11 of 11
Human Rights Commission
ATTENDANCE RECORD
2011
(Meeting Date)
NAME
TER
M
EXP.
1/18
2/15
3/15
4/12
5/17
6/21
7/19
8/16
9/20
10/18
11/15
12/20
Dianne Day
1/1/12
X
X
X
Wangui
Gathua
1/1/12
O/E
O/E
O/E
Martha
Lubaroff
1/1/12
O/E
O/E
X
Howard
Cowen
1/1/13
X
X
X
Constance
Goeb
1/1/13
X
X
X
Harry
Olmstead
(8 -1 -2010)
1/1/13
O/E
X
X
Orville
Townsend,
Sr.
1/1/14
X
X
X
Diane
Finnerty
1/1/14
X
X
X
David B.
Brown
1/1/14
X
X
X
KEY:
X = Present
O = Absent
O/E = Absent /Excused
NM = No meeting /No Quorum
R = Resigned
- =Not a Member
Airport Commission I =Pi
March 10, 2011
Page 1
MINUTES DRAFT
IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION
MARCH 10, 2011 — 6:00 P.M.
AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING
Members Present: Jose Assouline, Steve Crane, Minnetta Gardinier, Howard Horan (left
mtg. early), Rick Mascari
Staff Present: Sue Dulek, Michael Tharp
Others Present: Matt Wolford, Jeff Edberg, Toby Myers, David Hughes
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council
action):
CALL TO ORDER:
Chairperson Horan called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M
ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
Horan noted that the first order of business is to elect new officers. Mascari nominated
Gardinier for the Chairperson position; seconded by Crane. Motion carried 5 -0. Horan
nominated Crane for the Secretary position; seconded by Mascari. Motion carried 5 -0.
APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES:
Chairperson Gardinier then took over the meeting. Minutes from the February 17 and February
21, 2011, meetings were reviewed. Mascari moved to approve both the February 17 and
the February 21, 2011, minutes as submitted; seconded by Crane. Motion carried 5 -0.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION:
None.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION /ACTION:
a. Farm Management — Tharp noted that the farm manager is working on a lease
agreement for the hay portion of the farm operations. He added that it will be a type of
barter agreement and further explained what this will entail, especially in the first year or
so. Tharp responded to Members' questions, further pointing out the areas on the map
that are in question. He added that they hope to have a lease for the Commission to
review by next month's meeting.
b. Aviation Commerce Park — Jeff Edberg — Edberg noted that they have made some
progress. There is a party interested in Lot 16. He added that it is a dog -cat oriented
business that would employ three employees to begin with. Edberg has also offered lots
to several other parties, but doesn't have any definite offers yet. He noted that in
general the commercial market appears to be doing better. Edberg then brought up the
Airport Commission
March 10, 2011
Page 2
question from last month concerning leasing. He noted that after checking into it, the
listing agreement does not contain a leasing price. He shared information from the
previous agreement, and noted that he would recommend an increase of 8 to 8'h cents
as a guide. He could then work up a schedule for the Commission's approval. Members
noted their agreement to have Edberg do this. Edberg then responded to Members'
questions regarding lease terms and other such details.
c. FAA/IDOT Projects — AECOM — David Hughes
i. Runway 7/25 & 12/30 — Hughes noted that they are still completing FAA
grant closeout paperwork. They have the final paperwork from the City
and can now move forward from there. He gave Members a brief
rundown on the history of this.
ii. Obstruction Mitigation — Hughes noted that they are making the final
revisions to the ALP, and then it goes back in for airspace review. He
further updated the Members on what the FAA is saying thus far
concerning this.
iii. 7 -25 Parallel Taxiway — Hughes noted that he met earlier today with
Public Works, Gardinier, and Mascari on this project. The FAA has given
a May 15 date for bid deadline, with construction beginning in July. He
added that this project will not impact either runway. The taxiway system
on the north end, however, will be impacted to some degree. There will
also be some disruption to Riverside Drive, according to Hughes, when
they install new storm sewers. Mascari brought up that at today's
meeting, it was noted that there would need to be a two -week shutdown
of the runway, while they attach the taxiway. It was suggested that they
put a time limit on this part of the project, to help ensure that the project is
completed in a timely manner.
d. 2011 Air Race Classic — Gardinier noted that the start documents are now posted on
the web site. There were 33 teams registered as of yesterday, according to Gardinier.
With the increased advertising and promotion, Gardinier stated that they hope to reach
50 teams. She then shared some of the details that are starting to come together for this
year's race. The discussion turned to having a hangar party at the Airport during this
event, and what the City rules are regarding alcohol on City -owned property, as well as
whether or not an exception could be granted for such an event. Tharp noted that
registration for the race ends April 15th. There will be a variety of activities for youth, as
well as tours for visiting pilots at Rockwell Collins, according to Gardinier.
e. Corporate Hangar "L" — Tharp stated that they are still working on the design to be
presented. He added that they will meet with the interested parties to make sure they
are still on board for leasing hangar space. Mascari asked if they could see a floor plan
once they get to that point, and Tharp stated that this would be part of the bid process
information that the Commission would need to approve. Four lease agreements, or
about 50% of the hangar space, would be enough to secure the debt payment,
according to Tharp.
f. Airport "Operations ": Strategic Plan Implementation; Budget; Management —
Mascari asked Tharp to explain the memo they received in their packets. Tharp noted
that after the weekly staff meeting, he was pulled aside by the City Manager and asked
his take on the meeting with the Council. He shared that the City Manager stated that
Airport Commission
March 10, 2011
Page 3
the City wants to see a viable Airport, and that they like the way the operations are being
handled now. Another point that was made was in regards to the payment plan that was
discussed at the recent joint meeting. Basically paying off the debt on the three hangars
would be done before going to a 50/50 split as previously discussed. Gardinier stated
that she believes they need to write up a formal memo to the Council which will lay out
the Airport's plan to pay down this debt. Mascari stated that he would still like to see
them use an accelerated payback program, rather than the 50/50 split. The discussion
continued, with Mascari stating his reasons on why they should accelerate this. Others
offered their view, disagreeing with Mascari's recommendation. A lengthy discussion
ensued, with Mascari making the first motion. Mascari moved that the proceeds of
the next three sales go toward paying off the debts on Buildings K and I; that the
rent received from K and I, along with payments made previously on K and I, go
toward the debt on Building F; and that all remaining sale proceeds be used at the
Commission's discretion; seconded by Horan. Motion failed 2 -3; Crane,
Assouline, and Gardinier in the negative.
The discussion then turned to what the Commission would like to put into writing. Tharp
noted how they could handle this, with others giving their opinion. Gardinier moved to
put in writing, with assistance from Crane and Tharp, the position presented at the
recent joint meeting of the Commission and Council, with the addition of how the
proceeds will be used, and that this be the basis for a discussion with the City
Manager; Assouline seconded the motion. Motion passed 3 -1; Mascari in the
negative and Horan absent.
Tharp noted that they have three months left in the budget year and things look good.
Gardinier asked where they are with Tharp's annual review. He responded that Horan is
working on this.
g. US Army Reserve Lease —
i. Public Hearing - Dulek spoke to Members regarding this lease, noting
the terms on page 4 of the lease. Members briefly discussed these
concerns, before closing the hearing.
ii. Consider Resolution #A11 -07 Approving Lease with United States Army
Reserve — Gardinier asked for clarification on the lease amount. Tharp
stated it is $4,200 per year, or $350 per month. Previously the monthly
rental was at $286. Tharp recommended that the Commission accept
this lease amount. Mascari moved to recommend Resolution #A11-
07; seconded by Crane. Motion carried 4 -0; Horan absent.
h. Firearms Policy — Members briefly discussed this policy. Crane moved to Approve
Resolution #A11 -08 for the Firearms Policy at the Airport; seconded by Mascari.
Motion carried 4 -0, Horan absent.
i. FBO / Iowa Flight Training / Whirlybird Reports — Matt Wolford and Toby Myers with
Jet Air noted that they've been out picking up trash lately, getting ready for the mowing
season. Also noted was that business has been continuing to pick up. Gardinier asked
if things are still moving forward on replacing countertops and that type of thing. Tharp
responded that he is still getting quotes on these items.
j. Subcommittees' Reports — Gardinier stated that she would like to set up some sort of
schedule to report on subcommittee happenings.
Airport Commission
March 10, 2011
Page 4
k. Commission Members' Reports — Gardinier desired to extend her appreciation to
Horan for serving as Chair the past year.
I. Staff Report — Tharp noted that the Iowa Aviation Conference was April 20 and 21 and
that the schedule conflicted with the next regular commission meeting. Members then
discussed the date and consensus was to move the meeting to April 14tH
SET NEXT REGULAR MEETING:
The next regular meeting will be Thursday, April 14, 2011, at 6:00 P.M. at the Airport Terminal
building.
ADJOURN:
Meeting was adjourned at 8:04PM
Airport Commission
March 10, 2011
Page 5
Airport Commission
ATTENDANCE RECORD
2011
Key:
X = Present
O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = Not a Member at this time
TERM
N
N
w
0
V
NAME
EXP.
3
3
03/01/13
X
X
X
X
Rick
Mascari
03/01/14
X
X
X
X
Howard
Horan
Minnetta
03/01/15
X
X
X
X
Gardinier
Jose
03/02/12
X
X
X
X
Assouline
Steve
03/02/14
O/E
X
X
X
Crane
Key:
X = Present
O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = Not a Member at this time
r72i3
MINUTES PRELIMINARY
BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
MARCH 9, 2011 — 5:15 PM
CITY HALL, EMMA HARVAT HALL
MEMBERS PRESENT: Barbara Eckstein, Brock Grenis, Will Jennings, Caroline
Sheerin, Adam Plagge
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: Bob Miklo, Sara Greenwood Hektoen
OTHERS PRESENT: Jeff Clark
RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL:
None.
CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting was called to order at 5:15 PM.
ROLL CALL: Eckstein, Grenis, Jennings, Sheerin and Plagge were present.
A brief opening statement was read by the Chair outlining the role and purpose of the Board and
the procedures that would be followed in the meeting.
CONSIDERATION OF THE FEBRUARY 9, 2011 MEETING MINUTES:
Jennings offered two typographical corrections.
Eckstein moved to approve the minutes as amended.
Jennings seconded.
A vote was taken and the motion carried 5 -0.
SPECIAL EXCEPTION:
EXC10- 00013: Discussion of an application submitted by Center City LLC for a special
exception to allow above - ground structured parking and offsite parking for a proposed
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 2 of 14
mixed -use building to be located in the Central Business (CB -10) zone at 328 East
Washington Street.
Miklo explained that the proposal is for a five -story building at 328 Washington Street. Miklo
shared an aerial photograph to illustrate the location of the building. He explained that there is
currently an office building on the property. An alley at the rear of the building provides access
to the property and intersects with Gilbert and Linn Streets. The Chauncey Swan parking facility
is located approximately 400 feet from the subject property.
The proposal is to build a five -story structure with approximately 2,000 square feet of ground -
floor commercial uses. The top four floors would contain 16 three - bedroom apartments. The
zoning code requires 32 parking spaces for the apartments, two spaces for each three - bedroom
unit. The applicant has proposed placing 13 of those required parking spaces on the property at
grade or above - ground at the rear of the property. Miklo shared an illustration of the proposed
building footprint. The parking spaces would be at the back of the building with access from the
alley.
The preferred location for parking in the CB -10 district is underground. The intention of that
standard is to promote and maximize commercial uses in the downtown area. The zoning code
only allows above - ground parking by special exception. The intent is to control the location,
design and amount of parking so that it does not detract from the downtown policies of
encouraging ground -floor commercial uses and of creating an attractive pedestrian
environment. Miklo said that this is the first aspect of the special exception that the Board will be
considering.
The second aspect under consideration is a proposal to provide 19 of the required 32 parking
spaces in the Chauncey Swan ramp, rather than on the property itself. In 2008, the City Council
amended the zoning code to require that new residential structures provide parking spaces to
serve residential uses. Prior to that time, the code did not require parking for either commercial
or residential uses in the CB -10 zone. The requirement grew out of a concern that there seemed
to be an increased demand for parking for residential uses in the downtown that were
competing with retail and commercial parking needs. Recognizing that it would be difficult for
some smaller properties to provide on -site parking, the code included a special exception to
allow parking to be provided off -site. One possibility for off -site parking is parking in City -owned
facilities if there is capacity to do so. The applicant is requesting that 19 of their spaces be
provided in the Chauncey Swan facility, which is approximately one block east of the subject
property.
The specific standards in the zoning code require that the proposed structured parking not
detract from or prevent ground -floor storefront uses. Parking can be provided on the ground -
floor so long as a substantial portion of the ground floor remains available for commercial uses.
The ground -level parking is also not allowed to be located in the first 50 -feet of the building
depth. Staff feels that the first aspect of this standard is clearly met. Approximately 2,000 square
feet will still be devoted to commercial space, which staff feels is adequate. The requirement
that the parking be accessed from the rear is also clearly met.
The third specific standard is that any exterior walls of any parking structure that are visible from
a private or public street must appear to be a component of the facade of the building, and must
use materials that are similar to and complement the building. Miklo said that based on the
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 3 of 14
information staff has received, they do not believe any of the parking structure will be visible
from the street. The existing buildings on either side of the property will likely mask the parking
structure. Staff is concerned, however, that the north access to Ecumenical Towers, which
provides direct access to the elevator and is accessible for persons with disabilities, is at the
north side of the property, and is adjacent to the proposed parking structure. Staff recommends
that design review be required given the high visibility of that wall to Ecumenical Towers.
According to the specific standards, each entrance to the parking structure must be constructed
such that those entering and leaving the parking area are clearly visible to pedestrians. Staff
feels that this standards is generally met in that there are no pedestrian pathways or sidewalks
on the alley that would pose problems for pedestrians. The proposed structure will be set back
ten feet from the alley so it will allow vehicles entering and exiting the structure appropriate
visibility. Miklo noted that care will have to be taken to locate the dumpsters so that they do not
block visibility. He said that this should be reviewed with the final site plan.
Miklo next reviewed the specific standards pertaining to the off -site parking. There is a
requirement that the plan contain a map showing the location of the parking in relation to the
proposed structure. The map must demonstrate that there is a safe walking route to and from
the facilities. Staff feels this standard is met as there is a controlled intersection between the
proposed building and the Chauncey Swan parking ramp, which are approximately 400 feet
apart.
Another requirement states that when an applicant requests parking in a City -owned facility the
Director of Planning and Community Development in consultation with the Director of
Transportation Services and the City Manager to substantiate that the capacity of the facility will
not be exceeded. The special exception can only be approved if there is capacity in the facility.
Staff feels that this requirement has been met. The Director of Transportation Services has
determined that there are 19 spaces available. Overall there are 475 spaces in Chauncey
Swan. Permits have been issued for 384 spaces. An additional sixteen permits have been
issued for residential use by a previous special exception that is similar to this request. There
are 75 spaces that are uncommitted and remain available to the general public. Based on this
the parking facility can accommodate this request for 19 spaces. However, staff cautions that
as parking demand changes over time, this may not always be the case.
The Board is to consider the desirability of the location for the proposed parking spaces,
whether or not it is accessible and safe, as well as any potential detriment to adjacent or nearby
properties. Staff feels that this standard has been met, as the parking facility provides for safe
egress and ingress.
An agreement or written covenant is required to ensure that the parking spaces are available in
perpetuity, so that future residents of the building continue to have access to the parking. As a
condition of approval, staff recommends the applicant submit the required written agreement as
a part of the building permit application. This agreement should state that the parking will only
be offered to residents of 328 Washington Street, and shall be offered at a rate not to exceed
the market rate as determined by the Director of Transportation Services at the time of leasing.
Staff recommends that the agreement require the property owner to provide the Director with
the name, license plate number and address of all permit holders. Miklo said that these
conditions are necessary to ensure that permits are available to residents of the building and
are not offered on the market to the general public or sold at a higher rate than what the City
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 4 of 14
charges for them. Because the future demand for parking is likely to increase, the agreement
should include a provision giving the Director of Transportation Services the ability to move the
spaces to another parking facility if that is determined to be necessary.
The general standards that apply to most special exceptions were briefly outlined by Miklo. The
proposed exception will not be detrimental to or endanger the public health, safety, comfort or
general welfare. The location of the parking is a reasonable distance from the proposed
building, there are safe pedestrian crossings, and there is safe egress and ingress to the
parking structure. The above -grade parking at the rear of the property is not necessarily
supported by this criterion, because the entrance to the residential portion of the building is not
visible from the public street and may not be safe and accessible. Staff is recommending that
the Board impose the following conditions in order to make sure the general standards are
addressed:
• the building design should be subject to design review in order to ensure that the
residential portion of the building has a prominent entrance from the public street;
• the building must have an entrance that is safe and accessible to residents
whose parking is located off -site;
• and there must be final review of the site plan by the Building Official and
Planning staff to ensure that the location and design of the dumpster enclosure
does not impede visibility for vehicles entering and exiting the parking structure.
The next general standard requires that the specific proposed exception will not impede the use
and enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity and will not substantially diminish or
impair property values in the neighborhood. Staff believes that granting the special exception to
allow off - street parking in a municipal facility will allow the applicant to construct a substantially
larger and more intensely used building than otherwise would be possible given the number of
parking spaces that the applicant can provide on their own property. The larger building will
have a greater impact on the streetscape and the adjacent building. Therefore staff
recommends that approval of the application for off - street and above - ground parking be subject
to design review. The design review process will help ensure that the building is compatible with
the downtown streetscape and that there will be consideration of the appropriate design of
entrances for the residential uses and for the fagade on the portion of the building that is highly
visible from Ecumenical Towers.
The establishment of the specific proposed exception will not impede the orderly development
and improvement of the surrounding properties for uses permitted in the zone. This standard
has been met for the off -site parking based on the following: the Director of Transportation
Services has determined that there is capacity for the requested 19 spaces; however, as future
parking needs in the central business district change, those 19 spaces may not always be easily
accommodated. Staff recommends that the special exception be approved subject to a
provision allowing the Director of Transportation Services to allocate those parking spaces to
other facilities downtown should the need arise. Staff also recommends a condition that the final
building plan be submitted to design review to ensure compatibility with surrounding property.
Staff believes that the requirements for the above - ground parking spaces are satisfied because:
the structured parking allows for the first 50 feet of the building to be used for storefront uses; it
will not be highly visible from public streets or sidewalks; and the project will be subject to
design review.
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 5 of 14
Another standard requires that adequate utilities, access roads, drainage, and necessary
facilities have been or will be provided, and staff feels that has clearly been met.
The general standards require that adequate measures have been taken to address
egress /ingress to avoid traffic congestion on public streets. The City's current parking facility
was designed to meet those standards. That criterion is also met for the aboveground parking at
the rear of this property, so long as dumpster placement is reviewed to ensure that visibility is
maintained.
The next standard requires that except for the regulations applicable to the special exception
being considered, the proposed exception meets all other applicable zoning codes. Miklo noted
that the matter would be reviewed by the Building Official in greater detail at the time of site plan
review. He noted that design review is also being requested by staff.
The proposed use must be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan as amended. The
Comprehensive Plan does raise concerns about residential parking in the downtown area
competing with commercial parking needs. Miklo explained that this concern was one of the
reasons the zoning code was amended, but that these concerns are addresses by the parking
plan the applicant has proposed. Miklo noted that staff is requesting design review in order to
ensure compatibility with the character of downtown to comply with Comprehensive Plan
policies pertaining to the appearance of downtown.
Miklo stated that staff is recommending approval of EXC10- 00013, an application submitted by
Jeff Clark to allow 13 off - street, above - ground parking spaces at 328 E. Washington Street, and
19 off -site parking spaces in a municipal parking facility, subject to the following conditions:
• The applicant must submit the required agreement for off - street parking prior to
securing a building permit, and the agreement shall include the following conditions:
• The permits shall only be available to residents of 328 Washington Street at a
cost not to exceed the market rate determined by the Director of Transportation
Services at the time of the leasing;
• The property manager must provide the Director of Transportation Services the
name, license plate number and address of all permit holders;
• The permits will only be granted to residents with the primary address of 328
Washington Street;
• The Director of Transportation Services may relocate the permits to another
downtown parking facility on an annual basis as necessary to accommodate
demand for municipal parking facilities;
• The final building plan will be subject to design review to ensure that the building is
compatible with the scale and character of downtown. Any portions of the structured
parking visible from adjacent residential buildings should appear to be a component of
the building. The building should feature a prominent entrance that is safe and
accessible to pedestrian residents. Conflicts with surrounding uses should be
minimized, and the design of the dumpster enclosure will not impede visibility to the
alley for vehicles visiting the parking ramp.
• The building plan must be consistent with the plan submitted as part of this application.
This plan indicates that there will be no more than three - bedrooms per unit.
Miklo noted that the Board had received some correspondence in their packet regarding this
property.
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 6 of 14
Sheerin invited the Board to ask questions of staff.
Grenis asked why the parking spaces being allotted are in the Chauncey Swan ramp rather than
the parking ramp just to the north of the subject property. Miklo said he believed the
Transportation Director felt that Chauncey Swan had more parking available.
Plagge asked if it was standard operating procedure for the parking director to collect names,
license plate numbers and addresses for people leasing parking spaces. Miklo said that the
reason that those particulars are included in the conditions is to ensure that the spaces are not
leased out to non - residents on the open market. Miklo said that these parking spaces will be
taken away from the pool of parking spaces available to the general public and so the City
would not want to see someone reselling them, possibly at a mark -up.
Sheerin asked how much the City can take into account EXC10 -0001, where 16 spaces were
previously granted in the Chauncey Swan Ramp. Greenwood Hektoen said the Board could and
that those spaces would have been taken into account by the Director of Transportation
Services when he analyzed space availability.
Jennings said that his recollection is that the uses were slightly different concerning those two
parking space allocations. Jennings said that the last time this came up, there was a question
as to what happens when the residents of the apartment building do not have cars. If the owner
has paid for the permits, does the owner then have the ability to make those permits available to
other people? Jennings noted that under the previous exception that was granted, the owner
was allowed to sell those extra permits. Greenwood Hektoen said that staff believes that
including these specific provisions will better address those concerns. Jennings said that had
been a concern of his, and he is happy to see that it has been addressed. He noted that the
provisions in this exception allow the Director of Transportation to relocate these parking spaces
to a different facility if it becomes necessary to do so in the future. He asked why spaces were
not being shuffled at this time to allow the residents spaces in the ramp closer to the subject
property, rather than in Chauncey Swan. Greenwood Hektoen said that she thought that those
kinds of decisions should probably be left to the discretion of the Director of Transportation
Services. She said that part of his job is to review and analyze data on parking space
availability. Greenwood Hektoen said that market needs change, and each year parking permits
are reallocated to different parking facilities.
Miklo said that while the Clock Tower ramp being discussed appears to be physically closer
than Chauncey Swan, the pedestrian entrance may not actually be any closer or more
convenient to the entrance to the subject property because the pedestrian entrance to that ramp
is on the far side of the block. Jennings said that if there is on -site parking in the rear of the
building then there will be building access in the back. Miklo said that access is not intended for
pedestrians, and the City would not want to encourage pedestrian traffic in the alley, though it is
allowed. Jennings said that he has questions about the safety of pedestrian traffic along Linn
and Gilbert as well as in the alley.
Eckstein asked if the alley allows traffic going both ways, and she was told that it does. Eckstein
said that Ecumenical Towers appears to have a handicap accessible drop -off site in the alley.
Miklo said that this rear entrance for Ecumenical Towers does get heavily used because it has a
wheelchair ramp and is very near the building's elevator. Eckstein asked if it is only a drop -off
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 7 of 14
site or if there is parking as well. Miklo replied that there is no parking for Ecumenical Towers in
the alley. She asked if the alley is wide enough for two cars to pass going in opposite directions.
Miklo said that it is 20 -feet wide, which is wide enough.
Eckstein asked if the east face of the proposed building can be seen. Miklo said that the east
face is almost entirely masked by the building that houses Gabe's, directly to the east. Eckstein
noted that Gabe's is a two -story building and the proposed building is five - stories. Miklo said
that he believed the upper floors would be of similar design. Plagge said that the Davis Hotel is
also located to the east. Eckstein said that she understood that.
Jennings said that he had a general procedural question. Jennings said that there seem to be a
lot of conditions based on design and plan review and he said it seemed like putting the cart
before the horse to approve an exception for a design that had not yet been approved. Sheerin
said that is a very big question mark indeed. Plagge said that the Board is only approving the
parking, not the building design. Jennings said that all manner of things that have to do with the
parking also have to do with the building design issues that still have to be negotiated.
Greenwood Hektoen said that the Board has the discretion to defer a decision until after those
matters are settled. Miklo explained that a recommendation for design review, and there is a
staff committee that functions to make those decisions. Miklo added that the Board certainly
could defer it if they preferred to see the design themselves. Staff felt that a way to expedite the
application was to turn it over for design review. Grenis asked if design review was common for
buildings in the CB -10 and Miklo replied that it is actually not. He said that design review is
required in the Central Planning District, but for some reason is not required downtown unless it
is in one of the urban renewal parcels. Staff is suggesting that it be a part of this application
primarily because this building is considerably larger than would otherwise be permitted if the
Board approves the special exception for parking off -site. Staffs primary concerns with the
design review aspect are the front facade of the building, the portion that will be visible from the
street, ensuring that the pedestrian access to the building is an attractive, inviting and highly
visible entrance, and that the design of the building itself is compatible with the urban patterns
seen downtown.
Eckstein asked if it was the case that if the off -site parking is approved, the building is able to be
larger than would otherwise be permitted so the mass of the building is within the consideration
of the Board. Greenwood Hektoen said that was correct. Eckstein asked what the square
footage of the building that currently exists is relative to the proposed building. Miklo said that
the building that is there now is approximately two - stories, and the new building will be a five
story building. He said that the current building has as smaller footprint and has a parking lot
behind. Greenwood Hektoen said that the applicant can probably address that question.
Sheerin said that she thought the Comprehensive Plan is usually more helpful; in this case, it
seems somewhat ambiguous. She said that it seems to merely state that there is a tension
between housing and parking that needs to be resolved. Miklo said that he believes the City
Council has made an attempt to address the issue by requiring parking for residential uses in
the downtown. Sheerin said that the over - arching policy with the question of higher density
residential housing development in the downtown versus commercial parking demand does not
seem to have been resolved. Miklo said that Sheerin was correct that the Comprehensive Plan
has not been developed any further on that question. He said if that was a concern for the
Board they might want to make a recommendation to the Planning and Zoning Commission and
City Council to look at the issue in more detail. He said that the code that the City is operating
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 8 of 14
under now was an attempt to address that concern
Eckstein said that she agrees that there is a fair amount of ambiguity in several places in this
application. She said that there is a question as to whether the Board has a responsibility to
promote pedestrian use or satisfy the demand for parking. Another ambiguity is that the staff
report states that any parking agreement made will be in place in perpetuity; yet, at the same
time the Board is told there will be an annual review of the matter. Eckstein asked for
clarification on that issue. Greenwood Hektoen explained that so long as this special exception
remained in place, the applicant would have the right to 19 parking permits in perpetuity; they
would not have the right to 19 spaces at the Chauncey Swan parking ramp.
Miklo advised that the Board may want to have public discussion before getting into these kinds
of broader discussions and ask questions specifically about the staff report at this time.
Grenis asked if the design review would be applicable to the entire building or just the parking
area. Miklo said that staff would recommend that it pertain to the entire building. Staff's primary
design concerns are: the main fagade because the building will be much larger than would
otherwise be allowed if the special exception for off -site parking is not approved, the western
fagade, and the high visibility of the building from Ecumenical Towers. Staff was less concerned
about the east side of the building because it will be partially masked by the adjacent buildings.
Sheerin invited the applicant to speak.
Jeff Clark, the applicant, said he could see there were some concerns with this project and he
hoped to address them one by one. Clark said that he had been through this process with
another project last year. He said there are always a lot of questions as to what to design on a
project. He said that it is not really possible to go forward with a good design until you know
what portions of code need to be met and what amount of parking will need to be put on -site.
Clark said that he understood the concern the Board has about not knowing what is going in
there exactly; however, it is difficult to present a complete design without knowing whether or
not the parking will be on -site. He said he has worked extensively with Planning staff on this
project, and will continue to do so.
Clark said that there is short-term parking in the rear of Ecumenical Towers available to
residents by sign -up for a few hours at a time.
Clark said that building code dictates that the building will have rear access, and where it will be.
Clark stated that he is happy to do whatever staff recommends in terms of leasing parking
spaces. However, he did note that if he was granted the ability to lease unused spaces to
tenants of other buildings then that would free up on- street parking elsewhere downtown.
Clark said that in 2008 when this ordinance was being changed, he was present at City Council
discussions. At that time, he actually had a building that was supposed to go on this site that
was intended to be a high rise with 50 four - bedroom apartments. After the ordinance change,
the plan was changed to 16 four - bedroom apartments. Once the parking requirements were
changed, the four - bedroom units became impossible. The project has now been down -sized to
16 three - bedroom apartments. Clark said that when they purchased the property in 2008, they
had intended a much more intensive use and at this point they are just trying to make it work.
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 9 of 14
He said the building will ultimately be very attractive.
Clark said he has worked with the design review process on several projects, and Planning staff
does an excellent job. The east side facade is planned to be virtually the same as the west
side.
Eckstein asked if the largest sets of windows on each story were balconies on the east, west
and south sides, and Clark said they were.
Plagge asked if it was reasonable to assume that Clark would be able to sell all of the 13 on -site
parking spots to residents and Clark said that it was. Clark said that parking demand varies from
year to year.
Sheerin opened the issue to public discussion. No one wished to speak.
Greenwood Hektoen clarified that because the parking was being allocated as permits rather
than stalls, parking at the Chauncey Swan ramp would be available on a first come first serve
basis. Grenis asked if the agreement was finalized for the Chauncey Swan ramp. Greenwood
Hektoen said that was correct for the first year, and would be reviewed annually by the Director
of Transportation Services after that.
Eckstein moved to approve EXC10- 00013, an application submitted by Jeff Clark for a
special exception to allow 13 on -site above - ground structured parking spaces and 19 off -
site parking spaces in a municipal parking facility to satisfy the minimum parking
requirements for a mixed use building to be constructed in the Central Business (CB -10)
zone at 328 East Washington Street, subject to the following conditions:
• The applicant must submit the required agreement for off -site parking prior to
securing a building permit. The agreement shall include the following conditions:
• The permits shall only be available to residents of 328 East Washington at
a cost not to exceed the market rate determined by the Director of
Transportation Services at the time of leasing.
• The property manager must provide the Director of Transportation the
name, license plate number, and address of all permit holders. Permits will
only be granted to residents with the primary address of 328 East
Washington.
• The Director of Transportation Services may relocate the permits to
another downtown municipal parking facility on an annual basis as
necessary to accommodate demand for municipal parking facilities.
• The final building plan is subject to Design Review to ensure the building is
compatible with scale and character of downtown; any portions of the structured
parking visible from the adjacent residential building should appear to be a
component of the building; the building should feature a prominent entrance that
is safe and accessible to pedestrian residents, conflict with surrounding uses are
minimized, and the dumpster location and enclosure design will not impede
visibility into the alley for vehicles exiting the parking garage.
• The building plan is consistent with the plan submitted as part of this application,
indicating no more than three - bedrooms per unit.
Grenis seconded.
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 10 of 14
Eckstein said that one thing that sticks in her mind is the general criterion that asks if the special
exception impinges on the rights of surrounding property owners and residents. Eckstein noted
that this is a building with balconies on three sides. Given the location of the building and the
size of the apartments, it is reasonable to assume that the residents will likely be students.
Eckstein said that in her mind, a question is raised as to whether open balconies catering to a
student population facing a building that houses elderly residents is compatible. Sheerin asked if
Eckstein was relating this to the parking issue because there would be that many more people
in the building. Eckstein said that was correct. Greenwood Hektoen cautioned against
considering the occupants of a building, as zoning decisions need to be made based on the use
of a building. Miklo said that it is not appropriate to assume the residents will be students;
however, it is appropriate to consider the balconies and address those if they pose a concern.
Eckstein said that it is the balconies that are the concern. Greenwood Hektoen said that the
balconies would also have to be considered in relation to the parking issues before the Board.
Eckstein asked how many apartments would be enabled by allowing only the 13 on -site parking
spaces. Miklo said that if the off - street parking is disallowed, then there would be ten fewer
three - bedroom units allowable on the site. Greenwood Hektoen noted that the applicant could
opt to put in units with fewer bedrooms.
Sheerin noted that she would have to leave in five minutes. She said that her concern with this
application is that she is uncomfortable with the fact that the Comprehensive Plan is so wishy-
washy in terms of how the Board should be looking at this issue. She said that she really feels
that it is ambiguous and does not give the Board proper guidance. Miklo suggested that the
Board make the decision on this case based on what is available to them and then make a
recommendation to the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council to revisit this type of
application so that there would be greater clarity for future cases. Sheerin said that one of the
requirements is that the proposed use is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, but the
Comprehensive Plan not clear in this respect. Miklo said that staff has highlighted two pertinent
areas of the Comprehensive Plan which speak to mixed use development downtown. Sheerin
said that she still did not feel the Board was getting any guidance from the Comprehensive Plan
in terms of the downtown parking issues. Miklo said that he felt the Board needs to act on the
information available and then ask for further clarification from Planning and Zoning and the City
Council. Greenwood Hektoen said that this is part of the judgment call that the Board is being
asked to make. Sheerin said it is difficult because the problem is not the application, but the
Plan.
Jennings said that his concern is that the staff report specifically addresses problems that could
arise and is indirectly asking the Board to approve their remediation through design review
under the auspices of having the Board approve parking. He noted that the staff report points
out potential conflicts with adjacent buildings, such as noise from activity or air condition units
located on balconies. Jennings said that he trusts the applicant is acting in good faith, but is
uncomfortable approving parking spaces based on a design review that hasn't taken place,
particularly when the staff report points out problems that could arise in the design review
process.
Miklo explained that the Board has two alternatives. One is to delegate the design aspects to
the design review committee, outlining any specific concerns and directing the committee to
address those; another is to defer the application and ask the applicant to come back with a
building that addresses their concerns.
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 11 of 14
Jennings said that there is currently an affirmative motion on the table so he is not sure how to
proceed in any other way.
Jennings said that it seems to him there are two areas of guidance, one has to do with design
review and the other has to do with the Comprehensive Plan. He said that while they are
related, the Comprehensive Plan issue seems to him to be a future issue, a protracted process
of getting guidance for future rulings. He said he does not think it would be fair to burden the
applicant with that, but it does need to be addressed. He said his more acute concerns were
with design review. Greenwood Hektoen said that she thinks the Board needs to decide whether
it is willing to delegate that expertise to staff, or whether they wish to have control over that. In
regard to the Comprehensive Plan issue, Greenwood Hektoen noted, the plan itself may be
broad and it is up to the Board to determine whether this application does or does not meet it,
taking into account that the City Council did enact an ordinance requiring parking be provided
for residential uses downtown and allowing this kind of parking arrangement and special
exception.
Plagge noted that the applicant is not bumping up against any height restrictions at this point so
there is actually nothing keeping him from adding more on -site parking and adding another story
to the building. Miklo said that the issue is probably one of feasibility. It would not be possible to
fit in a ramp and additional levels of parking on this small of a lot.
Sheerin said that she accepts what Greenwood Hektoen and staff have said, but that she is
uncomfortable with the idea that the Board is a body that could be perceived as a rubber stamp.
Greenwood Hektoen said that the Board does not have to vote in favor of the application simply
because staff has recommended it. She said that she thinks the Board does have the
information it needs to vote one way or the other.
Eckstein said the Board had a similar struggle in a different case in which they were to approve
a preliminary design which they were told was not necessarily what the end - product would be
like. She said there are plenty of details in this case that she does not feel the need to micro -
manage, but she feels it would be irresponsible to vote for a special exception in relation to the
parking that would enable a building to be of this size with this many balconies facing a structure
housing elderly residents. Eckstein said that for her it is not the mass of the building or the
parking arrangement, it is that if she votes for those special exceptions she is enabling a
violation of one of the general standards the Board always uses to evaluate an application: the
specific proposed exception will not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in
the immediate vicinity and will not substantially diminish or impair property values in the
neighborhood. Eckstein said that it is as simple as this: if she can make a motion that says she
wants no balconies, then she can vote for the parking; if she can't make a motion like that, then
she cannot vote for the parking.
Sheerin said that it sounds as though the Board has at least three separate problems: Sheerin
has a problem with whether this complies with the Comprehensive Plan; Eckstein has a problem
with the balconies; Jennings has a problem with the design. Jennings said he concurred with
Eckstein. Eckstein said that it was a specific articulation of the same problem. Jennings said
that it is a problem of being asked not to consider the occupants while simultaneously being
asked to consider problems that would result from a specific kind of occupants. Greenwood
Hektoen said the Board is certainly allowed to consider how the building will be used, just not
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 12 of 14
who will be using it. Jennings said he understood that. Eckstein said that the balconies may
create problems regardless of who the occupants.
Greenwood Hektoen said that the record is probably sufficient to allow the Board to take a straw
poll without going into findings of fact if it wished to do so. Miklo noted that there is a motion on
the floor and that if the Board wished to add an amendment stipulating conditions for approval
that might be another way of moving the application forward. Plagge noted that he too would
have to leave in five minutes. Greenwood Hektoen said that if the motion is going to fail then the
record is clear without having to go through the criteria. There was some discussion as to
whether the Board wished to take a straw poll or vote on the motion. Miklo asked if it would be
useful to simply amend the motion to reflect the Board's concerns. Greenwood Hektoen said it
did not seem as though the Board was in a place where they were ready to amend. Sheerin
asked if the application could be deferred, as the Board was about to lose its quorum. Grenis
said that if it was to be deferred then the Board should be specific about what it wanted the
applicant to bring back. Greenwood Hektoen advised that if Eckstein wished to she could
amend her motion to make it a motion to defer. Greenwood Hektoen said that it seemed to be a
controversial application and it would probably be good to have the full Board vote on it, though
that was certainly the Board's decision. Eckstein said that she always resists deferring because
she recognizes that applicants have reasons for putting these things together and schedules to
keep; however, she said that it seemed as though voting on the issue as it stands also might not
do the applicant any good. In that spirit, Eckstein said, she would amend her motion.
Greenwood Hektoen said that she should do whatever she was comfortable with.
Plagge noted that while the application may be controversial within the Board, there has not
been any member of the public to speak against it. So this does not seem to be a concern for
the community. Ekstein said that may or may not be the case. Sheerin noted that it is the
Board's role to consider what is in the interest of the community.
Eckstein moved to defer the application until there was some clarity on issues of design
and guidance on how to read the Comprehensive Plan in this case.
Jennings seconded.
Greenwood Hektoen advised that the Board is not likely to see guidance in the form of an
amendment to the Comprehensive Plan prior to consideration of this application, as that would
be a drawn -out process. She asked what the Board would feel comfortable with in terms of
guidance. Sheerin said that perhaps the best thing would be to ask for clarification for future
applications. She said she did think the design review questions are one which the Board could
get more information on whereas it probably was not fair to hold the application up for the
Comprehensive Plan issues. Eckstein said that the design review is also related to the general
criteria concerning the general well -being of the surrounding properties. Greenwood Hektoen
asked if images relating the proposed buildings to existing buildings would be helpful. Jennings
said that would be helpful, as well as a specific plan for how design review would deal with the
concerns laid out in the staff report. Jennings said he is very uncomfortable doing a sideways
vote on parking for something of this size and mass and potential impact.
Grenis asked if it was an option to have the design review occur before the application is
approved, or at least a more detailed site plan. Miklo said that staff could look into having the
applicant do a more detailed plan of the building. The applicant could be asked to produce some
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 13 of 14
drawings showing the building's scale in relation to the rest of the block. Miklo noted that a
cursory review of the plan had also shown some concerns on the part of staff regarding the
balconies in relation to Ecumenical Towers, and would likely have been addressed specifically
during the design review process. Jennings said that he thinks the concerns laid out in the staff
report have potential for significant impact on the area and would like to see them addressed in
the design review. He said that he does not want to unduly burden the applicant or hold up their
application, but he does not think that voting for parking is a way to address those concerns.
Jennings said that it is not that he does not trust the City staff but the building is going to have a
significant impact and he would like to see what he is approving.
Miklo said that assuming the motion to defer is approved, staff will work with the applicant over
the next few weeks to clarify the main entrance, the visual impact of the building, the placement
of windows and balconies, the dumpster location, and a diagram showing this building in
relationship to other buildings on the block. Jennings said that what he is seeing are red flags
raised in the staff report and he wants to see those addressed prior to voting on the parking.
Plagge asked if Jennings had anything specific he would like to propose as part of an
amendment to approve the application. Jennings said that there was nothing beyond the areas
outlined in the staff report, though those were substantial areas. He said that his concerns were
not specific to this application, though he does feel that alley is heavily used by pedestrians and
a considerable increase in traffic at all hours would have a considerable effect. He said there
are potential public safety issues he has concerns about aside from the parking issues.
Miklo reiterated that the motion is to defer.
A vote was taken and the motion to defer carried 3 -1 ( Plagge voting no; Sheerin absent at
time of vote).
Miklo summarized what he believed the Board would like to see from the applicant at its next
meeting:
1) A diagram showing this building in relationship to the other buildings on the block to get
a sense of scale;
2) The concerns about the main pedestrian entrance to the residential portion of the
buildings being addressed;
3) The visual impact of the building which would include such things as window placement,
balcony placement, scale of windows being; and
4) The dumpster location.
Miklo asked the Board to please let staff know of any other concerns they wish to have
addressed prior to the next meeting.
Eckstein said that there is the issue of potential noise, as some designs are likely to illicit more
noise than others.
Grenis asked if staff would envision still recommending a full design review of all of these issues
were addressed. Miklo said that he would suggest the design review committee works with the
applicant to flesh out the design addressing these concerns and then come back before the
Board. Once that design is approved, it may or may not be necessary to do a further design
review if the Board is satisfied.
Board of Adjustment
March 9, 2011
Page 14 of 14
Gernis asked if the question regarding review of the Comprehensive Plan and parking issues
should be voted on at this meeting. Miklo said it could be something out on the agenda for the
April meeting. Greenwood Hektoen said it might also be helpful to provide the Board with a copy
of the actual ordinance enacted by the City Council. She said there are usually a list if "whereas"
statements that would give the legislative intent behind enacting the parking requirements.
BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT INFORMATION:
Greenwood Hektoen noted that as there are two new Board members there should probably be
a training sometime soon. She said she would coordinate that with Sarah Walz.
Grenis asked if making a recommendation for guidance on the Comprehensive Plan was
something that should be done yet that evening.
ADJOURNMENT:
Jennings moved to adjourn.
Grenis seconded.
The meeting was adjourned on a 40 vote (Sheerin absent at time of vote).
BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
ATTENDANCE RECORD
2011
NAME
TERM
EXPIRES
2/9
319
4/13
5/11
6/8
7/13
8/10
9114
10/12
1119
12/14
Barbara Eckstein
01/2014
X
X
Brock Grenis
01/2016
X
X
Will Jennings
01/2015
X
X
Adam Plagge
01/2012
--
X
Caroline Sheerin
01/2013
X
X
KEY: X = Present
O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = No meeting /No Quorum
- -- = Not a Member