Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-11-30 Council minutesJoint Meeting Johnson County Board of Supervisors, City of Iowa City, City of Coralville, City of North Liberty City of Tiffin, Iowa City Community School Board, Clear Creek Amana Community School Board Wednesday, November 30, 2011 Iowa City Community School District Educational Services Center, 1725 North Dodge Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52245 4:30 p.m. MINUTES for ICCSD Board of Directors Members present: Swesey, Cook, McGuiness, Dorau, Other Government Entities: Chapman, Kuehl, Sullivan, Neuzil, Faucett, Lindell, Champion, Harney, Wilburn, Redding, Bailey, Salm Also present: Feldmann Call to order by Host Swesey at 4:30 p.m. 1. Introductions 2. Justice Center Update (additional /updated space for Courthouse and Jail) a. (Harney- Johnson County): looking at Post Office parking lot for a potential site; hired Neumann Monson to do a schematic design, who are also designing the U of Iowa School of Music building in the same area; want to respect the character of the area and current courthouse while providing updated and sufficient space b. (Neuzil- Johnson County): bond is likely in area of $39 million; 2012 November ballot election likely; as entities think about their projects, it would be helpful to hold off on large bond projects so that voters can focus on this project; want to encourage each entity to have a representative on one of the study sub- committees for the project; April is target date for schematic design completion; this could be a staged project, with $39 million as an initial building with potential to expand; county has purchased homes in the area c. Question (Bailey): involve the charrette going on right now for the River Landing Project in Iowa City? Answer: Yes, have talked with them; the county has discussed how they would prefer the city work on the issue of parking and pedestrian flow on streets like Harrison d. ( Dorau) School board will be going to voters for PPEL (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy) in 2013; will be doing information campaign to make voters aware prior to this vote so this timing will coincide with the bond for this project e. (Bailey) Will this design address safety concerns raised about the courthouse? (Neuzil) Yes, for example will have the capability to separate offenders /alleged offenders from others in the facility f. (Bailey) Is there an objective to place footings that allow the building to expand vertically? (Neuzil) Yes, but also could be opportunities to expand out 3. Physical Plant Update of School Buildings /deficiencies (Champion of City of Iowa City); problems in our core neighborhoods - -when school board talks about closing Roosevelt, this impacts the neighborhood; now concerned about other core areas of Iowa City that have older school buildings; school board has created inequities in school physical plant and has impacted development in Longfellow, Mann, Lemme, etc. neighborhoods as they are not state of the art; Champion indicated that the city council has a strategic plan item to discuss with school district to assist in development of old neighborhood schools; want the school district to reach out to city (Dorau) Would there be city assistance to help the upgrade schools? (Champion) No, the city doesn't have money to do so, but want the district to find ways to fund this such as using federal funds, as was offered recently (Bailey) School district didn't agree to designate Mann as a historic building or to use FEMA funds for Longfellow (Dorau): FEMA money didn't provide money to fix up schools, but would have provided money to study renovations; entire board didn't discuss this subject as it didn't come to the board; we've already done a study of all of our facilities and the associated costs for upgrades; have asked superintendent to review physical plant priorities, and will hear update from him in January; we know that the east side of Iowa City is an issue for us as we have a need for more student seats on the east side, so we are not in a position to close additional schools; a decision to close Roosevelt was made three years ago (Bailey) we invested in the Roosevelt neighborhood and need to have the school district work more closely with us (Tuyet) district is very appreciative of city partnerships such as the HVAC at Wood; the bottom line comes down to funding as it is costly to upgrade older buildings (Wilburn) city looking for more strategic planning jointly; it isn't the district's job to develop neighborhoods, but we could work together more closely where our interests align (Dorau) staff members from city and district could meet regularly to discuss planning (Redding) need to place schools where can bike or walk to school; the city plans development in downtown but if the school district closes a school like Mann and families have to drive their kids to school, this is bad for the environment and for the flow of traffic; schools are built on the edge where infrastructure for biking and walking isn't available (Kuehl) MPO board will be approving a 20 year road plan; (Dorau) has this been forwarded to the district ?; (Kuehl) district should contact John Yapp and get this from him (Swesey) we do want to and do work with other governmental entities where we have common interests (Chapman) as a former school board member in the Clear Creek Amana School District, I'd like to offer that the communication needs to go both ways between local government entities and the school district 4. ICCSD Educational Services Center Update (Swesey -Iowa City Schools); we have been working very hard to get the new facility refurbished and ready to occupy; we have an open house coming up tomorrow 4 — 6 p.m., with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 4 p.m.; (Dorau) this was a revenue neutral project for the school district 5. Borlaug elementary Update (Staff Member Feldmann -Iowa City Schools) -will open Borlaug with approximately 300 students; on schedule; have a wonderful partnership with the city of Coralville 6. Kirkwood Regional Facility Update (Swesey /Dorau /McGuiness -Iowa City Schools); partnership facility for high school students with Kirkwood Community College, the University of Iowa, and Johnson County School Districts; planning is underway for what kinds of educational programs will be there and what are the number of students it will serve; (McGinness) it will broaden the opportunities for our students; ( Dorua) a major route that students will use for the facility will be Highway 965; city of Coralville and North Liberty offered they are working on updates to this road 7. Next meeting will be held at the city of Iowa City on March 21 at 4:00 p.m., social gathering at 4:00 p.m.; (Redding) the city should also invite University Heights and the city of Tiffin 8. Adjourn by Swesey at 5:17 p.m.