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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-20 TranscriptionPage 1 ITEM 2. OUTSTANDING STUDENT CITIZENSHIP AWARDS — Lemme Elementary Mims: Would the students from Lemme Elementary come forward please! (applause) Welcome! Uh, you are the Lemme Leopards! Congratulations, um, I am Susan Mims, Mayor Pro Tem and this is the City Council, want to welcome you and your parents and teachers and family members here, and congratulate you on this outstanding award. Uh, I see each of you have a piece of paper, a little letter to read to us, so I'll just hand you the microphone and let you (mumbled) Wright: Hi, my name is Luke. I'm 12 and I'm in 6th grade. I go to Lemme Elementary School. I'm in the Lemme science club, orchestra, and band which is a lot of fun. I think being a good citizen and good citizenship doesn't have to be big things but can just be little things like doing homework or just helping out your neighbors. I'm honored that I have been nominated for this award. It means a lot to me. Thanks! (applause) Bills: I am Isaac Bills. I think being a good citizen means being thoughtful of other people and being fair. I try to be accepting and understanding of everyone. Sometimes people get aggravated with someone else, thinking that the other person is being ru ... rude or uncooperative. When that happens I try to think about what may be happening. For example that may ... that person may have something else on their mind, having a hard time, or is having a bad day. I always want to be fair even when no one is watching or would necessarily know that I am doing the right thing. By trying to be ... behave honestly, fairly, and with consideration of other students and everyone, I am being a good citizen. I'm thankful to be honored for my efforts tonight. (applause) Strang: I'm Rachel Strang and I am a student at Lemme Elementary School. I think being a good citizen is helping those around you to make your community a better place to live. And, um ... I've had the opportunity at Lemme to be part of lunch duty and safety patrol, and I'm also vice president of Kiwanis Kids. I have been a member for four years and one of the things we did this year was have a lemonade stand to raise money for tetanus shots for needy children. Thank you. (applause) Mims: Very well done! I want to congratulate all three of you. You're getting off to a great start in terms of contributing to your school and your community, and developing leadership skills so maybe, uh, as Mayor Hayek always says, maybe someday we'll see you sitting up here in one of these chairs, as well! I have a certificate for each of you. Let me read these: they're all the same. It says Citizenship Award, for his or her outstanding qualities of leadership within el ...Lemme Elementary, as well as the community, and for his or her sense of responsibility and helpfulness to others, we recognize you as an Outstanding Student Citizen. Your community is proud of you. Presented by the Iowa City City Council, March 2012. (applause) Again, congratulation to each of you and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 2 thank you to your parents and teachers and all the support you have in your community. Congratulations! (applause) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 3 ITEM 5. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS. C. AMENDING TITLE 14, ZONING, SUBSECTION 14- 2C -8Q, BONUS PROVISIONS, ADDING A FLOOR AREA BONUS FOR CONSTRUCTING CLASS A OFFICE SPACE ON UPPER FLOORS WITHIN A MULTI -STORY BUILDING IN A CENTRAL BUSINESS (CB -10) ZONE. 1. PUBLIC HEARING Mims: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open. Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Dobyns: Move first consideration. Champion: Second. Mims: Moved by Dobyns, seconded by Champion. Any discussion? Throgmorton: Well, we ... we discussed it during the work session and uh, I addressed a question to Jeff Davidson. He answered it to my satisfaction, so I ... I'm certainly willing to support this. Mims: Well, it gives a bonus opportunity, um, for more residential square footage if people build, uh, to Class A standards for office space, which we are in need of in the downtown area. We're always ... have people looking for that. Okay. Roll call, please. Passes 6 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 4 ITEM 5. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS. d. AMENDING TITLE 14, ZONING, ARTICLE 9A, GENERAL DEFINITIONS, CHANGING THE DEFINITION OF "HOUSEHOLD" AS IT APPLIES IN THE RM -44, PRM, RNS -20, RM -20, AND CO -1 ZONES. 1. PUBLIC HEARING Mims: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open. Dilkes: Madame Mayor, can I just ... make one thing clear for the record. Contrary to what the beginning of the Planning and Zoning, uh, items state, 5.d, uh, is not the type of quasi-judicial, uh, preceding that would require ex -parte, uh, disclosures. Therefore you need not make them. Mims: Okay. Thank you. Howard: Good evening! My name is Karen Howard. I work for the Planning Department for the City and I'd like to take the opportunity, um, a few minutes because zoning code amendments can sometimes be complicated and difficult to understand, and there's been a lot of discussion at both the Planning and Zoning Commission and I'm he ... I'm sure you've heard from your constituents, as well, um, about this particular amendment and other future amendments, uh, that will come before you related to these issues. Um, so I'd like to describe briefly the current and proposed standards, uh, address some of the concerns, questions, and misconceptions that have surrounded this issue, and then relate the proposed amendments to your 2012/13 strategic plan goals. Um, these goals are the ... the goals related to economic and community development, development of the downtown and near downtown areas, and your neigh ... your dev ... your goal for neighborhood stabilization. The proposed change that's in front of you this evening is a change to the residential occupancy standard in the zoning ordinance. Uh, it is a change to a definition of household as it applies in the zones RM -44, PRM, which are the two high- density, multi - family zones; the RNS -20 and RM- 20 zones, which are the medium density, multi - family zones; and the commercial office zone. To reduce the number of unrelated persons allowed within one dwelling unit and ... and change that to a maximum of three. Now it should be noted that in all other zones in the city, the maximum number of unrelated persons allowed per dwelling unit is already three. This amendment will make the definition in the subject zones the same as currently applies in all other areas of the city. It also should be noted, because there's been some confusion about this issue, that all existing rental units will be grandfathered and will not be affected by this change. The grandfather rights also continue even if a rental property is sold to a new owner. This, uh, on the slide here, it shows actually what the definition of household is and how it would change. Um, the definition of household, of course, includes a single person or a family of various types, but This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 5 the, uh, the ... uh, bullet point that's highlighted here is what's changing, um, currently in some of the zones. It allows four unrelated persons and in the ... in the high density, multi - family zones it allows five. So the change would be a change to, um, have that limited to three unrelated persons. Champion: Can I just clarify something? Um, cause some of the calls I've had, well, like two married people cannot live in the same house if they want, but that's not true because they're considered related so you'd only have two unrelated people (both talking) Howard: Right. We have ... as you can see here the definition is fairly complicated. Champion: Right! Howard: It includes group households of all types. It includes families of all types. It includes singles, couples, um... so the thing that we're focusing on tonight though is just the number of unrelated persons (both talking) Champion: Right! Right! Throgmorton: Karen, I have a ... a related, excuse me, a related question, uh, which maybe is addressed somewhere, uh, in the innards of all this, but ... uh, I'm imagining an unmarried couple in which one of the members happens to have two or more children. So you end up with four people. Would ... would that constitute more than three unrelated persons? Howard: No. So you can see the definition here, two or more persons related by blood, marriage, adoption, placement by a governmental or social service agency, plus up to one unrelated person. Dickens: I do have one ... one question on the grandfathering. Would a change ... would it change if that ... realize it goes to the next person if they buy it, but if it's torn down then it would be a whole `nother... Howard: Right, if somebody chooses to tear down the property and build a new ... new building, of course it would have to comply with any ... with any change to the zoning ordinance, urn ... grandfather's rights are lost at that point. Um ... so just in ... to recap then, the RNS -20, RM -20, and CO -1 zones currently allow up to four unrelated persons per unit. And the RM -44 and PRM zones allow, uh, five. It is this allowance for up to five unrelated persons per unit, in combination with the fact that the current zoning standards, uh, for residential occ, uh, density require the same amount of lot area for a five- bedroom apartment as for a one- bedroom apartment. These two things in combination have created an imbalance in the market in the medium and high- density, multi - family zones. And in the CO -1 zone. It is our zoning standards combined with a strong market for student housing in Iowa City that have created an incentive to build large dorm -like This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 6 apartments containing four or five bedrooms to the virtual exclusion of other types and sizes of apartments. The low vacan ... current low vacancy rates and high prices for smaller units, particularly one - bedroom units, indicates that there is a strong unmet demand for these smaller units. Some historical context here, when the residential density and occupancy standards were established some 30 years ago, most of the apartments being built were one and two- bedroom units. However, since the mid -1990s over 70% of the apartments built in downtown in the Central Planning District have been four and five- bedroom apartments, intended for only one demographic — undergraduate college students. The occupancy standard that allows up to five unrelated persons to live together within one unit has resulted in more than doubling the number of persons per dwelling unit over what was originally anticipated when these standards were established in the 70s. And so the question is why has this occurred, um, why did ... why didn't this happen in the 70s or earlier. Because the University, of course, has been here a long time. Um, this graphic shows that undergraduate enrollment has increased 60% since the last dormitory was built in 1968. While the dormitory capacity at the University of Iowa has only increased about 6 %. And this is a graphic that you saw at an earlier meeting several weeks ago that shows that, um, on campus housing as a percentage of housing units, um, in comparison to other university towns ... and you can see that Iowa City, University of Iowa, has a fairly low percentage of on- campus housing. So what are other college towns doing? We did quite a bit of research on this, and I won't go into any great detail on ...on these points, but there are a number of things... approaches being taken by ... by colleges ... by college towns. They do have limits on the number of unrelated persons per unit. They do have ... a number of communities have graduated residential density standards based on the number of bedrooms, rather than on number of units. They have designated university impact areas where their standards are different. They have higher parking requirements near campus. Large apartments in several communities, um, notably Madison, Wisconsin and Lincoln, Nebraska, large apartments that contain more than three bedrooms are only allowed by conditional use permit. So they're not allowed by right, and they have to be reviewed and approved by a planning board or commission. Other communities also have minimum usable open space requirements, larger setbacks, and larger spacing requirements between buildings than what we currently have in Iowa City. Now there has been a precedent for this particular change to the definition of occupancy. We made similar changes in 2005 when we adopted the new zoning ordinance, and as you can see on the slide here, there were a lot of zones where we ratcheted down the occupancy standard. And then in 2008, we changed the standard in the downtown zones. So all rental units containing four or more bedrooms in these zones are grandfathered, and we have had no problems with that grandfathering approach. Now, we've heard a number of arguments at the Planning and Zoning Commission, um, and at the staff level ... that were made, both in 2000...2005 and 2008, about these ... this particular zoning code change to the definition of household that this could cripple economic development, reduce property values, reduce the tax base, yet new construction of apartments in the downtown area has continued at a remarkable rate ... in recent ... even despite the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 7 recent recession. So despite the change in 2008 to reduce the occupancy stan... occupancy standard in the downtown zones to three, um ... three unrelated persons per unit, there are currently three large multi - family, mixed use buildings under construction, three buildings under design, and several more in the concept stage. Recent projects have achieved between 6...60 and 100 units per acre, in the downtown area. In the Central Business zones. And in comparison to what residential density, so you have some... some comparison, in like North Liberty, Coralville — the multi - family residential densities are more like 12 to 20 units per acre. Mims: Karen, are you talking again units or bedrooms? Howard: Units, but also ... but the apartments in the downtown ar ... area also have more... large, more apart ... more bedrooms. Now the four and five- bedroom dorm -like apartments are generally not very attractive or affordable to any tenants other than undergraduate students, um, and I've heard some ... some people mention, well, what about a large family. They might like a large ... large apartment, but the rents for a five- bedroom apartment near campus is about $2,500 per month. Because they're leased on a per- bedroom basis. So limiting the number of unrelated persons per unit to three will effectively eliminate the construction of what has been referred to as "unsupervised dormitories," which'll help address the negative effects that such high densities have on the community, as well as help ensure that a form of housing with limited market is not overbuilt. This change, along with the proposed changes that you'll hear in the next several weeks to provide a density bonus for smaller apartments will open up new opportunities for graduate students, young professionals, couples, and families to live in the downtown area, and will provide other options for undergraduate students who don't want to live in four and five - bedroom units. Now I want to relate this briefly to your strategic plan goals. What we tried to do in drafting the zoning code amendments is to consider the Council's strategic plan goals, um, and have been listed here again. Economic development, development in the downtown, and neighborhood stabilization. And generally what we have found based on our research in other college communities and looking at our zoning standards as they're currently configured, is that we believe that the healthy neighborhoods equal a... a healthy economy. High- density neighborhoods that are planned and designed to achieve a high - quality living environment will have higher property values, be more stable, and generate more property taxes than high - density neighborhoods that are poorly designed or that cater only to one demographic. Multi - family housing that serves only one population may also reduce the marketability of downtown Iowa City, to new businesses and employers. Establishing standards that provide opportunities for a diversity of residents, including students and professionals, families, and retirees will help support a diversity of downtown businesses, as well. It also should be noted that keeping the current standards may reduce the ability to sustain neighborhood schools and other community institutions in our close -in neighborhoods that rely on a stable population of long -term residents, regardless of whether they're renters or owners. We've also heard that ... this zoning This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 8 amendment will add to development pressure in older neighborhoods or cause urban sprawl. Now that would only be the case if there were no new opportunities being offered. And this is a graphic of downtown Iowa City and the Riverfront Crossings district, which are two goals you have for developing those areas. So there's a lot of new opportunities for high- density housing in these areas, uh, there's a potential conservatively for about 2,000 to 3,000 additional residential units in Riverfront Crossings and downtown. Um, and then we're also exploring this option to, uh, come up with a new definition for a private dormitory standard, which would be a high- density dorm environment, uh, but providing services, amenities, and supervision, more similar to on- campus housing, and then we would allow that in certain areas close to campus. So we're ... we're exploring a lot of, this is just one step in this whole effort to ... to stabilize and ... and provide a diversity of housing options in the downtown area. So in summary, uh, the recommendation from staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission, we recommend approval of the proposed change to the definition of household. This is a first step in addressing recent concerns about the stability and long -term economic health of downtown Iowa City and the surrounding residential neighborhoods. And I'd be happy to answer any questions. Mims: Thank you, Karen. Appreciate it! Questions... from Council? For Karen? Throgmorton: If ... if I understand you correctly, Karen, one of the things you're saying is that the proposals, uh, would, uh, both help us stabilize neighborhoods and provide investment opportunities for business people who want to construct buildings that will meet a housing need in ... in certain parts of the city. Uh, so that we could accomplish both objectives simultaneously. Howard: Right. Yeah, I believe that to be true. Mims: Other questions for Karen? Thank you very much. Appreciate it, Karen. At this point in time the public hearing is still open. Those of you in the audience who would like to make comment to the Council are welcome to. We need you to sign in, come forward, uh, given the number that I think we may have wanting to address us, I'm going to ask you to limit your comments to three minutes and would appreciate if you have something to, uh, say that is not just, uh, a repeat of something that somebody else has said so that we can hear as much different, uh, information and input, um, as possible. So ... open up for the public who would like to address us on this issue. Mentz: Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name's Tom Mentz. I'm a 28 -year resident of Iowa City. I own three five - bedroom houses at the southeast corner of Dodge and Bowery Streets. I don't own multi - hundred unit buildings. I'm a very small time property investor, and I've strived to maintain these houses to the utmost condition. In fact, um, several rental inspectors have given me kudos for having some of the best maintained houses in Iowa City. Uh, I've two ... I have two concerns about the proposal that's on the table. One is, uh, in the event that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 9 we have a tornado or other disaster in Iowa City, I would be unable to rebuild these houses as they are. Uh, the second is a clause that I saw in the proposal, that calls for an amortization of, uh, properties that are zoned for five people, that there would be an attempt to reduce those to three over time. Um, these houses are hundred -year -old houses. I've strived to maintain the character of these houses and maintain that look and feel. Uh, in that block there are probably hundreds, I would guess probably 400 to 500 students. Uh, this has the effect of reducing, um, there's a handful of houses that are in the RM -44 zone, uh, in that area, and it has the effect of potentially reducing that neighborhood by ten people when there's already over several hundred kids in that block. This is never going to be a family neighborhood, like it or not. It's just too close to campus. So as the Council, uh, works through this, I ask you to, uh, be very careful that you do not paint with a broad brush, and uh, greatly affect small time investors like myself who have great pride in the, uh, the houses that we have. Thank you. Mims: Thank you for your comments. Others who would like to address the Council? Clark: Good evening, Sarah Clark, um, 509 Brown Street. Uh, recent news coverage has intimated that the proposed zoning changes are just another scrimmage in an ongoing debate between college students and full -time residents. I want to be perfectly clear: neighborhood advocates are not trying to keep students out of the city's central neighborhoods. Students already live among us in large numbers. A study done last fall by a graduate student in the University's Department of Urban and Regional Planning found that 46% of the dwelling units and my northside neighborhood are classified as short-term rentals, that is tenure lasting 12 to 15 months. This is not . Neighborhood advocates are in favor of zoning regulations and development that provides opportunities for all segments of our population to take advantage of the desirable qualities found in our central neighborhoods. The City's own Comprehensive Plan advocates for neighborhoods, supporting the principle of diversity of housing types and households. We would like to see well - designed student accommodations that actually fit the specific needs and lifestyles of students. A University of Maryland student of student housing found that overwhelmingly students want housing that provides quiet study areas, added security, and common areas for socializing. I doubt that Iowa students would answer that survey any differently. Based on my review of apartment floor plans found on various local development/apartment management company web sites, the four and five - bedroom units in Iowa City fall woefully short as well designed student accommodation. The buildings don't incorporate either common spaces for socializing or separate quiet study areas. Bedrooms are typically in the 9 by 11 range. The living room is made smaller because it also serves as the primary path of travel between the kitchen and bedrooms. Some people refer to these four to five — bedroom apartments as being nothing more than unsupervised dormitories. In my opinion they are worse than unsupervised dormitories because the dorms at least have on -site management and provide areas for socializing and quiet study. The primarily undergraduate, young adults who live in these off - campus accommodations should be treated better than This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 10 sardines. Is it beyond our reach to expect housing development that provides opportunities for all of us? Are we forever tied to a housing type that exacerbates the problems we see in our central neighborhoods when there are better options? I encourage you to vote in favor of the proposed change to the number of unrelated persons allowed to reside within a dwelling unit, which would only make the definition the same as currently applied to other zones in the city. Thanks very much! Mims: Thank you for your comments. Plahutnik: Hello! Wally Plahutnik, 430 N. Gilbert Street. And this is ... pretty quick comment. Just to remind you, uh ... Planning and Zoning Commission has as their guide the Comprehensive Plan and so does the City Council. So, in any of these questions, it's a relatively simple matter to look up the appropriate language from the Comprehensive Plan and see how this matter applies to it. Um ... maximizing profit for developers ... uh, individual concerns of neighbors, those are all things that need to be balanced but if a Comprehensive Plan says this is an area slated for massive development, generally speaking the ... the concerns of the neighbors have to kind of be ... moved to the side a bit and the City follows the Comprehensive Plan, trusting that it was developed with long -term goals in sight. On the other hand, if it says that areas need to be preserved, uh, very cautious development needs to be done, this is something where you look at the Comprehensive Plan and say, in this instance I guess we have to shade a little bit on, with caution as to regards of the plans of the developers. So ... very simple. Uh, not guiding you one way or the other, but simply take very, very careful look at the Comprehensive Plan and see where this directs you. Thank you. Mims: Thank you for your comments. Welu - Reynolds: Hello, my name is Chris Welu- Reynolds, and um, about a month ago I came to a City Council meeting and a developer was here providing information to the City Council about a proposed development on the east side of Iowa City. It included a mix of different sized units. There was plenty of parking for those who live there and for visitors. The flow of traffic was considered. And attention was paid in regards to the style of the building and whether it would fit in the neighborhood. I was envious and for once speechless, because of the thoughtful planning that went into such a development, especially when it came to the impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. This same thought and consideration needs to be taken with the zones being considered tonight. Limiting the number of unrelated people that can reside within a dwelling unit to three or less is one way to avoid the further deterioration of our Central District neighborhoods. An article in the Gazette appeared yesterday that stated that there's a shortage of rental units available that has caused rents to rise and students to move out into surrounding neighborhoods. I agree! There is a shortage of rental units available for anyone who's single, for a couple, or someone trying to raise a family. Allowing four to five - bedroom apartments does nothing to solve this problem. A This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 11 single student or a professional is not going to rent a four or five- bedroom apartment. A couple couldn't afford it. A... a family certainly is not, who can afford a four to five- bedroom apartment, is going to rent a house rather than a four to five- bedroom apartment and who do you think is going to be your neighbor in that building? That leaves four to five unrelated college students. Along with the survey it stated that in the paper that there was a shortage of rental uni ... excuse me, along with the survey stated in the paper that said there was a shortage of rental units, I wonder ... that survey was done, and I wonder if a survey was ever done on the detrimental effects this type of housing has on our Central District neighborhoods. What effect does the car traffic have, the foot traffic, the noise level, the vandalism, the effect on long -term residents? I never saw anything mentioned about that. I don't suppose that survey was ever done. This comes down to a developer's ability to make a profit ... in the proposed zoning categories, or the preservation of the Central District neighborhoods. It can't be both. Everyone from hone... homeowners to developers to renters should ask themselves, is this something I wouldn't mind living next to? That is the question those of us living in the specified zones are asking ourselves. There can be a healthy balance of rental and owner- occupied housing in the neighborhoods. Limiting the number of unrelated people in certain zones of the city is not something new. It's been done in several other cities, as we've heard tonight, similar to Iowa City. You've been accused of being increasingly non - business. I think it's a shame that such tactics are being used against you. You're not! There's a legitimate concern here, and it needs to be addressed. It's time Iowa City set the standard, not follow it. Please support the proposed zoning changes that would limit the number of unrelated people that may reside in one unit to a maximum of three. Iowa City needs it. Thank you! Mims: (applause) Thank you for your comments. Anyone else who would like to address the Council? Baum: Jennifer Baum, 814 Dewey. (mumbled) The number of unrelated people occupying a single apartment has an impact on the surrounding neighborhood. These apartment buildings are built with the intention of housing short-term occupants. They're marketed toward that particular type of student. Many have `for rent' signs permanently affixed to the exterior of the buildings. The building owners seem too intent not to have the ... seem too intent not to have the same people in the same apartments for more than a year. These apartments are built to act as non - university related dorms. Student storage, rather than residences. Living in a dorm situation is different than living in a neighborhood. Not because of the age of the people, but because the temporary nature of the lifestyle. Rarely does a tenant stay more than two years, and those years are marked by a large turnover of residents in the building each semester. This turnover has increased as the number of people in each apartment acrea... increases. It fosters a mindset that encourages disassociation with neighbors, and that makes it impossible to include these residents in the feeling of community that is vital to making a neighborhood. The hallmark of neighborhood is stability. It's not just a set of This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 12 houses near each other. It's a way the people in those houses interact, and include each other in their lives. Whether they own or rent. Whether they're young or old. It's because there's stability. The whole neighborhood is stronger because of it. In a neighborhood you recognize who lives across the street. You say hello. You ask about their day. It makes a neighborhood out of a set of buildings. The business community has said that they wish to "build and use the land in a respectful manner which will enhance the property itself, and the neighborhood it is in." In an effort to let the business community understand what the neighborhoods think will enhance them, we're here to be as helpful as possible. We are the neighborhoods! And living there we believe we have a clear idea of what would enhance our lives. We're not calling for no building at all. But a consideration of what type of building will most contribute to the health and happiness of our neighborhoods. And by extension, to our town. We are here to cooperate with the development community to treat each resident, owner and renter, with respect. The needs of the city change over time, and the changes to zoning needs in the city should be an anticipated business cost of building apartments. It should be taken into consideration when developers buy land. And those with intentions to develop should understand and consider before purchasing property. They can see from the current set of buildings in the neighborhood what sort of place they're buying into. And they should consider what will improve and enhance the atmosphere of that particular neighborhood. By keeping the number of unrelated people to the standard that it is in most other places, a neighborhood has a chance to get to know and to include those renters in the neighborhood, not just store them for two years. And that will enhance the neighbors... neighborhoods, the town, and each individual living in each neighborhood. Thank you. Mims: Thank you for your comments. Anyone else who would like to address the Council on this issue before we close the public hearing? Myers: Hi, I'm Julie Myers, and I'm sorry I don't have prepared notes. I wasn't planning on speaking. Uh, I wasn't sure when I came down here how I felt about the ... the proposed change to the zoning ordinance. Um, but I ... I loved your presentation, Karen Howard, and I wanted to ask you, are there approximately two acres in a city block? Mims: We're not (several talking and laughing)... Myers: I think there are, so I'll just go forward. Somebody can figure that out. But um... I just kind of calculated my frontage on my house on Ronald Street and just went around the block and did math, and I thought it seemed like a block was about two acres. So, why I came down here is I do have a concern about density and uh, my husband and I, uh ... uh, were students for decades it seems like and so we have a lot of sympathy for students and we have, as students, we always loved living in a neighborhood like we still live in, which is ... I'm in the northside I guess and uh, we've lived here about ten years and first we lived in that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 13 neighborhood as renters on Van Buren and then, um, bought our house about ten years ago and uh ... have lived there since. And uh ... I was doing some math and it seemed like this R -44 district, that's 44 units, and if there's two acres per block, then that's 88 units and if that's five people in a unit, you come up with about 440 people on that block. That's a pretty high density, um ... and not appropriate for very many areas, since it's people and cars. So then if you change it down to three, which makes it like all the other neighborhoods in Iowa City, so we can all spread out and rent everywhere, um, that's 264 people per block. That's still fairly high. I don't see why you couldn't build an apartment building that fell within that. Um, the R -20, which is four people ... uh ... per unit. That would be, uh, 160, uh, people on a block and uh, if you reduce it down to three, it's 120 people. And I'll just say that I think on my block, uh, I don't know all my neighbors, but I'd say that we probably have about 30 people on our block. That's probably pretty light density, um, I like it. Um, but I wouldn't want, you know, to be surrounded by a huge density. If I had a density of 120 people, okay, but 440 people, and I know I'm just ... I'm just R -12, so I guess that's never going to happen, but I also, you know, bike all over the place and I love my neighborhood because of the businesses. I go downtown and eat all the time, too much, and anyway, I, you know, walk by all kinds of residences and uh, I ... I love my neighborhood. I ... I like the smaller apartments. I like the houses that, where students rent, which is exactly the kind of place I gravitated to when I was a student. I wanted to live in a house with roommates. So, those are my comments and uh, I'm in favor of that, uh, zoning change. Mims: Thank you for your comments. Walker: I'm Jean Walker and I live at 335 Lucon Drive. And I've lived there for almost 40 years, and I've lived through the beginning bad time when, um, the neighborhoods were just... riotous, the noise was terrible, and then the City Council and the City came up with the nuisance ordinance and it calmed things down. And it made a real difference. Um, I think that if we go back to having these, um, buildings with all these people in them, it ... we're going to regress. I ... I think the City has done a good job in trying to calm things down, and also with so many people there will be increase in cars and parking, uh, throughout the city, and I guess I resent as a neighbor someone coming in and building a... a building with all these people in the units, and making a profit and then they go away and we the neighbors are living in the neighborhood and we have to deal with whatever they have left us with. We're the people who live in these neighborhoods. I think there's, uh, more important things on the table than just making a profit. It's the livability and quality of life in the neighborhoods, and one thing ... people have said that there aren't enough places for students to live. Well, the University is going to build a new dormitory that will take care of about 500 of them on the west side. So ... I think the University maybe can be a little more helpful in, uh, finding places for the students to live. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 14 Mims: Thank you for your comments. Anyone else? (laughter in audience; several commenting) Siders: (mumbled) Good evening, my name's Glenn Siders. I'm here this evening representing the Greater Iowa City Area Homebuilder's Association. I do have a couple of comments on the proposal that's in front of you this evening. First comment relates to the, uh, proposed date that this ordinance takes effect. I believe the proposal says February 21. I would like to encourage the Council to consider a different date, uh, possibly make it the date that it actually gets passed and takes a... affect instead of going back retroactive to a month ago. My second comment would be ... that this ordinance parallels very closely another ordinance that you're going to be seeing in the next few weeks, probably setting a public hearing on it at your next meeting, concerning limiting the number of bedrooms. This in fact, if... if you pass this, it in fact makes that ordinance a moot point, because nobody's going to build a five- bedroom apartment and only allow three roomers in it. So I would encourage the Council to defer any action on this until they actually have an opportunity to listen to the discussion and debate of the other ordinance that's coming before you, so you can weigh and balance both of those ... at the same time. Thank you. Mims: Thank you for your comments. (laughter and talking in audience) Carlson: My name is Nancy (mumbled) ...my name is Nancy Carlson. I live at 1002 E. Jefferson. We are here tonight to discuss the neighborhoods in the Central District. These are neighborhoods that have provided homes for the citizens of Iowa City for as long as there has been an Iowa City. As you get older you begin to think about your legacy. What are you going to leave the next generation? I'm not a rich person. I can't leave a Moen tower, but what I can leave, along with my neighbors, is a neighborhood that the next generation can enjoy as I have and the generations before me have. That can be my legacy to Iowa City. I think of Mrs. Hart who purchased the home at 610 Jefferson, rehabbed it, removed the asbestos ... and removed the asbestos siding. I think of Marybeth Slonnager, who worked to get the Wetherby house in the 900 block of Market moved to 611 N. Governor. These people will probably become forgotten footnotes in our history of Iowa City. They did not do these things as a monument to themselves, but as a small contribution to the fabric of a community. Because of their love for that community and its history. And then I think of the destruction of the houses in the 400 block of Jefferson from the offices of St. Mary to Gilbert Street, so that another apartment building can be built. We in the Central District are the face of Iowa City, that visitors to this area see. We have been proud to serve that purpose because we are proud to be a warm and welcoming area where people of all incomes can settle and live together. We have been the essence of vibrant, creative, resilient neighborhoods. That has been the legacy that those before us have handed down to us, and we want to hand down to the next generation. There is a difference between city and community. Community connotes vision and forward thinking. We know that without that we get lost in details and temporary This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 15 problems and solutions. The trees and lose sight of the forest. Iowa City is proud to be a city of vision, but actions speak louder than words. What we do demonstrates our commitment. I believe the residents have demonstrated their commitment. What is yours? Mims: Thank you for your comments. (applause) Bowers: Good evening. Sally Bowers. I live at 931 N. Summit Street and something just occurred to me while I was standing there listening and watching everyone that, uh, I don't see any representatives, perhaps I'm wrong, of uh, individuals who really want to live in a four and five - bedroom apartment. And ... that's everything. Thank you. (laughter and applause) Mims: Thank you for your comments. Michaud: I'm Pam Michaud. (mumbled) Um, the City has lots of initiatives. It has had many workshops, sustainability and things like that. We have people who are in our midst and healthcare professionals who want to promote a `blue zone.' We have long -time Iowa Citians who want to have ... have had 30 years of historic preservation, salvaging and recycling, and that's a sustainable green community. We also have, um, very large developers, um, particularly downtown in the very center, city center, who are going for a `gray zone,' with 14 -story buildings that cast shadows on public spaces. Um, there are lots of houses I've looked in in the last six months because of an apartment building being built behind me. I thought, well, I can either feel powerless and victimized, or look for an exit strategy. I love my historic district and I started it 21 years ago. When I bought the house 22 years ago I couldn't imagine that three houses would be destroyed with their green space, for a four -story building. In the process of looking for other houses, I realized how many apartment buildings are sprinkled throughout the north side. Um, there are some that I'm still interested in, and I think ... gee, I could use some support with that. Maybe I should apply for a TIF. (laughter) But no, I don't think I have the kind of leverage that other people do. Um... now my house backed up to a four -story building may have lost 20% of its property value. Not only that, but the marketability is decreased because nobody is going to buy it that is from a small town, or a suburb. It's going to be somebody from a big city that is comfortable living behind ... next to an apartment building, with 90 undergraduates. Um, that's a big variable, uh, those are 90 variables. I love undergraduates. I meet them every day when I walk my dog. And, but these are not the rowdies at 2:00 in the morning. They're... they're nice kids who remember dogs. Um, so anyway, I am totally in favor of the ... the three- person household, which allows for a lot of unconventional families and uh, combinations because some of them are going to be related. So I think that's not an impediment either. Thank you. Mims: Thank you for your comments. Anyone else who would like to address the Council during the public hearing? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 16 McLaughlin: (mumbled) My name's Mike McLaughlin. Uh, the word density may cause anxiety to some property owners while other property owners consider density critical to their investment. I hope to exhibit that density is critical in the solution to resolving neighborhood stabilization and compatible multi - family development. The University of Iowa, which is uniquely mixed throughout downtown Iowa City, compared to other university campuses, has not constructed student housing for over 40 years. As a result, the Iowa City community has been responsible for housing the ever - growing University student body. The University has plans to construct a far -west side dorm in the next few years. I've heard discussions of another west -side dorm, uh, possibly in the quadrangle area; however, have not read this in any pub... publication as of yet. While our dorm - style housing may look to be a solution to strain downtown neighborhoods, this may take years if not decades to accomplish. We can only estimate what University enrollment might be at that time, particularly with the perpetual medical campus expansion, the new public health building, and approximately $400 million in fine arts construction. While dorm -style housing may be an opportunity for private investors, the reaction locally is of hesitation. The University has balked at building dormitories; therefore, does that raise concern for private investors. In addition, the use of such a structure is not interchangeable to other types of housing. Critical to the success of such housing would be location. Areas of consideration might be south of Burlington Street, uh, or north of downtown along the east side of Clinton Street. However, the University owns property in all of these areas, so does that lead us to conclude that the most likely builder would be the University? With limited ability to influence the timetable of dorm -style construction, there is a need to provide additional solutions to neighborhood stabilization. There exists a sizable area bordered by the west side of Dodge Street, south along the railroad, the east side of Gilbert Street, and north along the Burlington Street corridor that was designed years ago to house a large population of tenants. There is 100% rental. The area would ... would be negatively affected by this proposed amendment as well as the other two proposals yet to be considered. If development were encouraged this area would help draw tenants away from Governor Street and Summit Street. Understanding that the pressure to legislate is strong, I would recommend not reducing the non - related occupancy below four tenants allowing more building height, lot coverage, and not changing the square footage requirement per unit, so that the incentive exists for redevelopment. Contemporary, attractive buildings will upgrade the area, draw tenants to the area, and buffer the neighborhoods... that are ... that are under current strain. By low ... by allowing four - bedroom units, this will attract tenants away from single - family homes that were converted to four... four- bedroom rental houses. Through this process, it is necessary to look at other favorable areas that provide similar characteristics to draw large populations of tenants to and help buffer the neighborhoods. Like... likewise, pocket areas of high- density zones need to be re- evaluated and zon ... zoned accordingly to avoid strain on nearby res ... permanent residents. Given the low interest rates, high demand, low sup ... low supply and high rents of the cur ... current local market, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 17 there is incentive for parents of University students to purchase investment homes in downtown neighborhoods. The less density permitted in the designed rental zones limits the supply and makes the trend of student rental houses more likely. Absent a plan with more than one option, I believe it is premature to initiative legislation, particularly since the legislation proposed may have a negative effect on already strained neighborhoods. Thank you. Mims: Thank you for your comments. Anyone else who would like to address the Council? Okay. Clausen: I'm Darlene Clausen, um, from 508 E. Bloomington Street. My residence in a CO -1. It has been since we purchased it in 1984. Uh, however, since 1984, three houses have gone down in the two blocks that I live along. Partly for parking lots and for clinics and other things because the area is kind of crowded. Urn ... I feel like I am a buffer. I am right on the edge of the rest of the residential area of the northside. If that little strip is allowed to become any more dense, it would take away the whole quality of the neighborhood that I bought it for. I bought it because I work for the University. I can easily walk to work. I like the feel of the neighborhood. It's very walkable. If it becomes more dense as more buildings go down, it'd lose all that. So I encourage you to vote for this ordinance, and set the limit at three people, three unrelated people in a unit. Mims: Thank you for your comments. Knight: (mumbled) Hi, my name's Roger Knight. Urn ... couple things I think you guys should think of is no ... downtown, how many times do you see 20, 30 students in one spot, and then you want ... have more of these tenant -only buildings come up? For students? Well, where's it end? Okay, so we're thinking about making it only three tenants per apartment. So, what are we going to do next? Have 50- story buildings of just apartments? We need to do something more than just three tenants per apartment. We need to do a lot more. For example, I know this may not be quite in this, uh, area, but ... there's talks about, um, I think it's Moen. Might have his name wrong. Bought the building that has, uh, Wells Fargo in it right now. And he wants to make another 14 -story building. Okay. But think about this. The ped mall is full. Full! And it's not businesses. It's bars, and we need to get back to where it once was. You know, clothing stores. How nice would it be to go downtown and buy a hat! Can't do that right now! We need to do more to ... get back to old Iowa City. Not try to compete with New York City. This is Iowa. You know, we have cornfields here. Like it! We need to do what we can from here on out. Because if we don't, we're going to be going into an area of New York. Where you can get mugged for just looking at somebody wrong. Or rape. How lovely would that be to see a rape going on on the sidewalks? I don't know about you, but I don't ... think that would be something beautiful to see. No, the cop ... how many police are on a shift right now? I don't... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 18 Mims: Sir, can I ask you to ... when we do a public hearing like this to keep your comments to the agenda item which is the zoning ordinance and the occupancy. Knight: Well I was getting to is I think we need to ... this is a good start! To lower the number of people per apartment building, and stop with the five- bedrooms, six bedrooms, seven bedrooms downtown. And that's where I was going with that, so ... sorry about that. (both talking) Mims: That's all right! Knight: Thank you and have a good night. Mims: All right, thank you for your comments! Okay, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing, uh, I think we've been going at this for a while and it looks like it's slowed down. (bangs gavel) Close the public hearing. Uh, open it up for Council discussion. 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Champion: Well I want to thank all of you for coming tonight. It's very important that you be here. I'm not against people making a profit, by the way. Somebody said they make a profit. Well, nobody's going to build something they're not going to make a profit. I'm not against profit. I'm not against student housing. I mean, I have eight kids. They have eight students that were living in many different places in the country, um, but I am about neighborhoods, and I think it's imperative that we provide housing for whether it's students or young professionals or families or whatever it is, that we provide rental property that is pleasurable to live in. I'm not against mixed neighborhoods. I grew up in a mixed neighborhood. That's why I live where I do in Iowa City, cause I like mixed neighborhoods. But it's very important that we can convince people that this is one of those rare decisions that we make as a Council, and I mean rare. I've been on this Council forever. I think I've made probably four decisions that are really going to influence Iowa City for the better in 50 years, and this is one of them. This is a very important decision for this Council to make. So I appreciate all of you coming. Don't let up on the pressure! Please come back. Thank you! Mims: Before we continue, I apologize. We kind of had this discussion earlier and Eleanor just reminded me. Um, yeah, we were going to actually defer this because one of the things that happens with an ordinance like this is staff needs the opportunity to tabulate, um ... help me out, protest petitions, is that how it... Dilkes: Tabulate the protest petitions, right. Mims: Tabulate the protest petitions, because that impacts whether we need a super majority to in fact pass the ordinance. So ... I would entertain what we had discussed was having our Council discussion then at the next meeting, and I kind This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 19 of forgot that, so I apol... (several talking). No, I apologize. I asked for comment. So I would entertain a motion, um... Karr: Before we do that can I have a motion to accept correspondence? Throgmorton: So moved. Dickens: Second. Mims: Moved by Throgmorton, seconded by Dickens. All those in favor say aye. Opposed? Throgmorton: Susan... Mims: 6 -0. Okay. Throgmorton: ... but you did close the public hearing, correct? Mims: Yes. I did close the public hearing. So ... the ... close the public hearing ends the time at which the protest petitions can be accepted, is my understanding, okay? So at this time I would accept a motion to defer, uh, consideration of this to our meeting on April P Payne: Motion to defer to April 3`d Dickens: Second. Champion: Second. Mims: Moved by Payne, seconded by Dickens. Do we need a roll call on this, Eleanor? Throgmorton: Well ... some discussion? Mims: Discussion? Throgmorton: Uh, would this be an appropriate moment to ask some questions, not ... not to express our views, but ask questions? Mims: I would probably encourage that we just wait and do that all at once on the 3`a Dilkes: I think that's appropriate. It's not really germane to the motion to defer. Mims: Okay. All those in ... is it roll call or voice? Dobyns: Sorry, I had a question in terms of...a restriction in terms of, like a moratorium or anything like that. Is that ... uh, active at this point with what we're doing? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 20 Dilkes: The moratorium period is 60 days. If you defer the first consideration and you, um, then do two subsequent considerations at different meetings, you will be beyond the 60 -day moratorium. Um, I ... have had discussions about that with staff. They do not, with Planning staff, they do not see that as a problem, but you certainly could ask that question. Markus: Isn't the moratorium in place? Dilkes: Moratorium is in place, but only for 60 days from the point that we set the public hearing (both talking) and that extends to I believe about mid -April. Um, so your third reading, if you do, um, at subsequent... two more subsequent meetings, will take you beyond that date. So the ... the moratorium will expire. Payne: So what is the effect of that expiration? Dilkes: Bob, do you want to address that? We've had that conversation. Miklo: There, uh, may be a window between the time the moratorium expires and the ordinance, if it's adopted, is actually adopted, uh, that may be a couple of weeks. It's highly unlikely that a project could get a building permit in that time. Dobyns: Okay. All right. Mims: Any other questions about deferring this? Okay. Roll call or voice? Dilkes: Just voice. Mims: All those in favor of deferring say aye. Opposed? Passes 6 -0. Thank you. (mumbled) Throgmorton: Could we take a break? Mims: Pardon? Throgmorton: Could we take a short break? Mims: Okay. We'll take about a seven - minute break. (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 21 ITEM 5. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS. f. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE REZONING 1.25 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT 108 MCLEAN STREET FROM NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION RESIDENTIAL (RNS -20) ZONE TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY / NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION RESIDENTIAL (OPD/RNS -20) ZONE (REZ12- 00002). (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Dobyns: Move second consideration. Champion: No, I move... Karr: Yes! Mims: The applicant... Dobyns: Okay, holding! Mims: (laughter) Holding! Champion: I move that the rule requiring that ordinances must be considered and voted on for passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at which it is to be finally passed by suspended, that the second consideration and vote be waived, and that the ordinance be voted on for final passage at this time. Throgmorton: Second. Dobyns: Second. Mims: Moved to condense by Champion, seconded by Throgmorton. Roll call. Champion: I move that the ordinance be finally adopted at this time. Dickens: Second. Mims: Moved by Champion, seconded by Dickens. We need to ... ex parte, any, uh, ex parte conversations since our last consideration? (several responding) None? Okay. Roll call, please. Passes 6 -0. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Dickens: So moved. Payne: Second. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 22 Mims: Moved by Dickens, uh, seconded by Payne. All those in favor say aye. Opposed? Passes 6 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 23 ITEM 6. APPROVING PROCEEDING WITH THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF NOT TO EXCEED $5,376,250 AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF MIDWESTERN DISASTER AREA REVENUE BONDS (IOWA CANCER CURE PROJECT) SERIES 2012, OF THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA, AND RELATED MATTERS. a. PUBLIC HEARING Mims: Again, this is not an indebtedness of the City. It's a State and federal program that allows, uh, businesses to borrow via the City. Uh, public hearing (bangs gavel) is open. Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Champion: Move the resolution. Dobyns: Second. Mims: Moved by Champion, seconded by Dobyns. Throgmorton: I'd like to say one word about this, um, I don't really understand why this form of financing is available for this kind of project, even though I understand it's completely legal and I understand it has to do with disaster assistance and that kind of thing, but it seems to me a pretty weird, uh, application of disaster funding. Nonetheless, I'll support it. (laughter) Champion: If you had cancer you'd consider it a disaster! (laughter) Throgmorton: Yeah, right, but it's... different. Mims: Okay. Roll call, please. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 24 ITEM 7. AMENDING TITLE 3, ENTITLED "FINANCES, TAXATION & FEES," CHAPTER 4, "SCHEDULE OF FEES, RATES, CHARGES, BONDS, FINES, AND PENALTIES," SECTION 6, " STORMWATER UTILITY FEE" AND AMENDING TITLE 16 ENTITLED "PUBLIC WORKS," CHAPTER 3, "CITY UTILITIES," ARTICLE G, "STORM WATER COLLECTION, DISCHARGE AND RUNOFF," SECTION 10(F)(3) TO CHANGE THE RATE OF THE STORMWATER UTILITY FEE. a. PUBLIC HEARING Mims: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is closed. b. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Payne: Move resolution. Throgmorton: Move first consideration. Payne: Yes, thank you for the correction! Throgmorton: I'll second that correction. Mims: Okay. Moved by Payne, seconded by Throgmorton. This is, uh, just a continuation of the adjustments in the stormwater management fees that we started about a year ago. Any further discussion by Council? Roll call, please. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 25 ITEM 9. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 3, FINANCES TAXATION AND FEES, CHAPTER 4, SCHEDULE OF FEES, RATES, CHARGES, BONDS, FINES AND PENALTIES, SECTION 7, PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO AMEND FEES. (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Champion: Move second consideration. Payne: Second. Mims: Moved by Champion, seconded by Payne. Roll call, please. Throgmorton: Could ... could, yeah, um, I just wanted to note, uh, for anybody who's watching TV and all that that uh, that for all these passes that provide discounted, uh, travel, uh, and they're well worth taking advantage of and I would encourage people with disabilities or students or elderly persons, uh, young people and so on to take advantage of the passes. Mims: Thank you. Roll call, please. Passes 6 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 26 ITEM 12. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION CHANGING THE NAME OF THE RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS URBAN RENEWAL PLAN AND URBAN RENEWAL AREA TO THE RIVERSIDE DRIVE URBAN RENEWAL PLAN AND URBAN RENEWAL AREA. Mims: Uh, just for clarification for people watching, uh, when we started with this, uh, we had an area that we were going to use, and has basically been separated, and so to make it clear to people, the area on the west side of the river, um, is essentially being renamed to the Riverside Drive urban renewal area. Payne: Move resolution. Dobyns: Second. Mims: Moved by Payne, seconded by Dobyns. Any comments? Roll call, please. Passes 6 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 27 ITEM 13. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING THAT GENERAL PROPERTY TAXES LEVIED AND COLLECTED EACH YEAR ON ALL PROPERTY LOCATED WITHIN THE RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS URBAN RENEWAL AREA N/K/A RIVERSIDE DRIVE URBAN RENEWAL AREA, IN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, COUNTY OF JOHNSON, STATE OF IOWA, BY AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STATE OF IOWA, CITY OF IOWA CITY, COUNTY OF JOHNSON, IOWA CITY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT AND OTHER TAXING DISTRICTS, BE PAID TO A SPECIAL FUND FOR PAYMENT OF PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST ON LOANS, REBATES, GRANTS, MONIES ADVANCED TO AND INDEBTEDNESS, INCLUDING BONDS ISSUED OR TO BE ISSUED, INCURRED BY SAID CITY IN CONNECTION WITH THE RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS URBAN RENEWAL PLAN N/K/A RIVERSIDE DRIVE URBAN RENEWAL PLAN. (PASS AND ADOPT) Payne: Move adoption. Dickens: Second. Mims: Moved by Payne, second by Dickens. Throgmorton: I ... I just wanted to repeat that I'm going to vote no on this, but because I think it, uh, the creation of a ... of a urban renewal district for this kind of purpose ought to have a sunset provision on it, in it. It ought to expire within about 20 years. If ... if our action succeeds, there won't be a need to do it, so it really should not be created for an indefinite period of time. But ... I won't elaborate. Talked about it last time. Mims: Yeah, and I would just further comment that ... that I support it from the standpoint that what we have always done in Iowa City is done our actual TIF agreements that are project -by- project, which do have end dates associated with those. So while the area itself doesn't, the actual projects themselves have so I ... I'm very easily able to support this. Roll call, please. Passes 5 -1, Throgmorton in the negative. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 28 ITEM 15. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE DEDICATION OF OUTLOT B TO THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AS PLATTED IN MACKINAW VILLAGE, PART TWO, IOWA CITY, IOWA. Dickens: Move the consideration. Throgmorton: Second. Mims: Moved by Dickens, seconded by Throgmorton. Discussion? Throgmorton: Susan, do I understand correctly that this, uh, that Mackinaw Village, the owners of it are, uh, offering to dedicate 25, approximately 25 acres, along the river? Uh, to the City for public purpose, is right? That's... that's quite a generous offer, it seems to me, but I don't know if we currently have plans for how to use that and ... at some point in the future I'd certainly like to hear about that. Mims: Uh -huh, yep. Markus: The, uh, intent is for recreational purposes, including a trail. Um, there's also discussion about the potential for some utility development, uh, public utility development on the property, i.e., a well. So, this is a very generous offer on the part of the, uh, developer, and I think maybe you want to indicate an acknowledgement of thanking them for the dedication, or the donation, as well. Throgmorton: I agree! Mims: Right. Great, this is a very generous donation and uh, hopefully we'll have some very good public use for it as time goes on. Roll call, please. Karr: I'm sorry, do we have a motion to put it on the floor? Could we have a (several talking) Mims: Okay, I thought there had been too. I'm sorry. Payne: I thought we did too! (several talking) Dickens: I did! Karr: Moved by Dickens, second (several talking and laughing) by Dickens... Mims: Yeah, I think it was moved by Dickens... we'll call it second by Champion. Close enough! Champion: I don't care! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 29 Mims: I thought we did (laughter). I thought we did! I'm sorry! (several talking and laughing) Okay, roll call, please. (several talking and laughing) Okay! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 30 ITEM 16. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY LOCALLY KNOWN AS 2538 NEVADA AVENUE, WHICH IS A PUBLIC NUISANCE, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ABATING THE NUISANCE. Champion: Move the resolution. Dobyns: Second. Mims: Moved by Champion, seconded by Dobyns. Discussion? Uh... Eleanor, would you like to address this since we had a letter this afternoon. Dilkes: Right, you have a letter in your packet from ... um, or that you got late this afternoon from the Skinner Law Office representing the property owner. Um, essentially requesting a ... a deferral in the resolution to give them three to six months to sell, um, the property, before our process would start. I can give you kind of my... Mims: Yeah, would you... (several talking) Dilkes: Um, what the resolution does is it starts the process, um, that we have to go through, um, under State law in order to, uh, condemn a property. Um, there's a required period of time where we must negotiate in good faith in order to acquire it voluntarily. Um, and we have to obtain an appraisal. Um, have to offer fair market value as determined by the appraisal, etc. So we start with that process and then secondly what the resolution does is it authorizes ... if we are unable to, um, accomplish the acquisition voluntarily, it allows us to initiate the condemnation process, which ... if...if everything takes as long as it ... as it has to take, um, is a six -month period ... can be shorter but ... but six month, actually six month is ... months is about the fastest we can do it. Dickens: So if we (both talking) if we start this ... and they end up cleaning up the property, then do we stop the action or... Champion: Well they can sell it! Dilkes: Well, if you pass the resolution, Court ... the staff will proceed along those lines. Um, getting an appraisal, making an offer to acquire it. If we can't do that, then we, um, will start the condemnation process. What our practice is is to notify you when we start the condemnation process. Um ... because you've already authorized it. If you chose to defer this resolution, um, and grant the request by Mr. Skinner, then we wouldn't ... we would not do that, um, we could ... I mean, we could engage in ... uh ... informal conversations about acquisition, or even perhaps formal, but it wouldn't necessarily... it wouldn't necessarily be what we have to do for the condemnation process. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 31 Champion: Well, I'm going to continue to support our original decision, because it doesn't prevent them from negotiating with the City for market value. And it ... but if we vote down our decision, it could prolong this whole thing again... for another six months or a year. Mims: Well, and that's the position I come from too, Connie, is the letter from the attorney indicated their intent to try to sell the property. And, under this procedure as Eleanor has just explained it, for us to do that we have to get an appraisal and offer fair market value. So if in fact the owner does want to sell the property, um, you know, the City could possibly be their best buyer. Throgmorton: I'd like to take off on that, uh, would ... if we pass the resolution tonight, uh, and if the owner wanted to try to sell it to someone else, would the owner still be able to pursue that possibility, until the moment comes when our condemnation procedure... takes effect? Dilkes: Yes! Throgmorton: So we're not inhibiting the owner's ability to sell, whoever the owners... whoever the owner is, I ... I don't know whether to say his or her, so the owner's property, we're not inhibiting the owners... Dilkes: No, and I think ... I think what would happen then, if a ... if a sale was made to, um, to a buyer that staff was assured would remedy the nuisance, then there would be no need to acquire it. Um ... to ... to eliminate the nuisance. And ... and I assume we would come back to you and let you know that. Dickens: But by accepting it we set a six -month basically. Dilkes: I think you do delay the process by, um, deferring the resolution. Mims: Any further comments? Okay. Roll call, please. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 32 ITEM 17a. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER AND MAYOR TO ACQUIRE AND REHABILITATE HOMES FOR THE UNIVERCITY NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Throgmorton: So moved. Payne: Second. Mims: Moved by Throgmorton, seconded by Payne. All those in favor say aye. Opposed? Passes 6 -0. Okay. (reads Item 17) Dobyns: So moved. Payne: Second. Mims: Moved by Dobyns, seconded by Payne. This is a great continuation, albeit at a smaller scale of the, uh, UniverCity program in terms of re ... uh, purchasing rental housing and rehabilitating those, um, and getting those back on the market for, uh, income - eligible people. Roll call, please. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 33 ITEM 17b. APPEAL OF DENIAL OF APPLICATION FOR PERMIT TO OPERATE A MOBILE VENDING UNIT ON CITY PLAZA OR IOWA AVENUE. a) CONDUCT HEARING Mims: Adam, I believe you're going to... Bentley: Yes. (both talking) Adam Bentley with the City Manager's office. Um, just to give you a little background, uh, from mobile vending. Mobile vending... mobile vendors are cart-based food service, uh, businesses in downtown Iowa City. You may know Marco's or George's. Um, the City Manager's office administers and enforces those many ... those mobile vending permits, uh, that occur on the pedestrian mall. Uh, every year we, well, uh ... the City Manager's office processes these applications and uh, we score them, um ... we give them a numerical score, and we ... we get together every year with a committee of...of staff members who are stakeholders for ... for downtown. So we have Park and Rec, Inspections, and the City Manager's office. This year... and they're weighted, their scores are weighted based on, um, their experience with the City, the number of citations that they have ... for that year, and uh ... the uh, maintenance and ... and appea ... the appearance of the cart. This ... this process is governed by a set of administrative rules set by the City Manager's office, which is established through ordinance. Uh, for vending season 2012, there were eight applications submitted. All gra... graders were given copies of the applications and were asked to score each application. The City Manager's office then tabulates the totals and averages them to generate a score that is used to determine which carts will be granted a permit. The maximum score achievable is 40 and I've provided a list of the, uh, carts that, uh, were submitted and then graded. So, uh, we only have six permits available, so the top six, uh, vendors that you see there on that list were, uh, awarded the ... awarded the permit. From January 31St the City Manager's office has 60 days to notify the applicants of the final decision. The City sent approval and denial letters... letters on March 13th. Um, although the initial letter did not include an explanation of the scoring tool, or the reasons for denial, staff has subsequently provided that information, uh, to Mr. Brown who's appealing the City Manager's decision. Uh, attached to this memo are email exchanges between staff from the City Manager's office and Mr. Brown, and uh, the March 13th denial letter. Urn ... applicants have the right to appeal the decision of the City Manager's office to you. Uh, I can address any questions, uh, to the best of my abilities to the appeal, um, at least, uh, for certain, uh, since I've been hired (laughter) um but... but staff, um, I... I may defer to Eleanor for some history and any kind of legal questions that may ... may arise, so ... and I'm not sure if the applicant gets to appeal, gets to speak, or not so... Mims: Okay. Throgmorton: I would think so. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 34 Mims: Um, I have a question, and that is just a little bit of the history is ... we've kind of changed, and maybe, Eleanor, maybe you're the best one to address this. I was looking through some of this, in terms of...the way we have changed the number of permits over the years, but I mean ... we have done that all, you know, in a formal manner in which ... what we have on the books now is allowing for six vendors. Dilkes: That's correct. Mims: Okay. So the fact that at other times it's been seven or eight has no relevance to where we are today? Dilkes: Correct. Mims: Okay, thank you. Payne: So ... this applicant is a new applicant? Bentley: Correct, yep! Payne: So ... part of the ... scoring process is previous experience. Bentley: Uh -huh. Payne: So how, I mean ... if that's a ... tenth of the score basically... Bentley: Uh -huh. Payne: ...then, I mean, how ... how do they get anything for previous experience if they have none? I mean, obviously they're going to have a low score if they get a zero out of ten points. Bentley: But ... there's two things, there's two ... we have administrative guidelines that are set by the City Council, and uh, by ordinance through the City Manager, um, and those administrative regulations include two things. It includes past prior experience, um, and it includes uh ... or, it includes maintenance and appearance of the cart. And beyond that we have the ability to expand that, but those two things have to be involved. The other part is ... is in the administrative regulations. Applicants are given permits based on seniority. And so, um, to ... and that's not it though, but they're also based on citations and... and um, and cart maintenance and appearance of cart. So... seniority plays a role in it. Past experience is required by our administrative regulations. So it is a larger ... it is weighted ... it certainly is weighted heavier than ... than, um, the other portions that are scored. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 35 Markus: And, Adam, would you say that's... that's in recognition of the fact that individuals make a significant investment in the facility that they provide in the ped mall, and therefore there was some recognition of that as ... the prior experience, um, knowing that they made that investment and it would be difficult for someone to make an investment only to have that permit changed, or uh, removed a subsequent year. Bentley: That's accurate, and then, um ... not only ... not only that point but the, um... gosh, I'm thinking... trying to think about it right now, um ... the ... the cart owners downtown, um, that we currently have down there pay their rent on time, um, they don't have citations, they don't ... they clean up their messes, they've had good operating experiences with the City, and so not only is it the fact that they've invested, they've already invested capital into those carts, but it's also that they're... they're good tenants. And, they pay the bills that we have for them. They pay their electric bills and um ... so that's... that's part of it, as well. Mims: So essentially, to me we're looking at a situation where we have people who have done this, who have invested in their carts, and their performance has been... anywhere from good to exceptional, if you will, and ... we don't want to, with what's been put in place administratively., we basically don't want to kick them out after them having made the investment and follow through by doing a good job with their business model, and so, yes ... I would agree with what you're saying, Michelle. It does then make it very difficult for a new vendor to come in, provided that our previous vendors have done a good job. Payne: And it's ... it's also discouraging ... competition. I mean, we're saying we're going to have six, and I mean, obviously that's already set up, but we're saying we're going to have six and basically if you're not one of the six, you're never going to be one of the six. Mims: Until one of these goes out of business. Payne: Right (both talking) Dilkes: Let ... let me just say for purposes of this appeal, what you might ... how you might write the administrative regulations or the code are ... are pretty irrelevant. If you want to schedule that for a work session discussion you can do that, but right now the administrative rules say seniority... it's based on seniority, assuming I think ...I think Susan put it very well, assuming you have done a good job and can meet the other criteria. Payne: I guess I was just trying to understand how (both talking) Dilkes: No, I understand, I just... Payne: Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 36 Dilkes: I think we need to... Mims: Any other questions then or comments particular then to this situation? (several talking) Okay, thank you, Adam. Mr. Brown? Brown: Yes I am! (away from mic) Mims: Welcome to come forward and address the Council. Brown: (away from mic) Okay. First question I'd like to address is the ... the issue of previous experience. Adam Bentley provided me with this spreadsheet. I don't know if you had it, but it has the, uh, scores that were given by four people, and for me, for previous experience, one person gave me ten points, the other three gave me zero. Okay? Now, there was one other new applicant, AJ's, who also got one person gave him ten and three other people gave him zero. Now, if I was even to get ten from the other three people who gave me, uh, zero, well then my score would have been 29 and I would have been higher than, um ... uh, Corn Rock. I would have beat him out had I been given that credit. That wasn't given to me. So why would one person give me ten points for previous experience, but the other three give me zero? Mims: I would ... I mean I don't ... I haven't read the administrative guidelines, but I would assume from what I understand that those tens probably should not have been given if they haven't had a cart on the ped mall. Is that ... the way you would look at it, I mean... Dilkes: Adam, do you have any sense of why that ten, I mean, it could have ... it could have been a mistake. I ... I don't know. Bentley: Yeah, well and... and the scoring tool could have gone anywhere from zero to ten, so they could have chosen up to ten even if they had no previous experience. So, um, in this particular case, um, one committee member gave them ten, and the other two ... other three gave them zero. Markus: And the question is, was there any conversation about that subsequent to the scoring to indicate why that person rated in that fashion? Bentley: We ... we gave out the scoring cards to staff, and then we ... we um, we tabulated those scores and then averaged them out... essentially. Markus: There was no conversation (both talking) as to why they scored that way. Bentley: No, no. Markus: That's the answer. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 37 Mims: Okay, thank you. Brown: So, from what he just said that doesn't appear to be a mistake. I think one person had the sense enough to give me ten points since I was a new cart, and the other three didn't. Throgmorton: I ... I'd just like to say as a... as a person being asked to, uh, review an appeal, that I don't feel like I've had a chance to read the material and think about it any, as sufficiently to be confident in making a decision about an appeal, cause we received this... Dilkes: Well, there's a reason for that, and that ... and that is because the ordinance says that if a timely appeal is filed it must be heard at the next regular meeting of the City Council, assuming that we can give the required notice. The, uh, the appeal came in I believe yesterday, mid -day or so, um, which allowed us to give the 24- hours notice so the code required us to have it tonight. Um, you know, you could defer it, but I would not do that unless you have the ascent of the appellant. Brown: (away from mic) ... I would also like to say that Hillary's Bar -b -Que has three locations in Illinois and Wisconsin, two in North Chicago, or one in North Chicago and one in Waukegan, Illinois, and one in Kenosha, Wisconsin. They've been operating these, uh, bar -b -que businesses for over 30 years, since 1980. They want a franchise to Iowa City, and I'm going to be the franchisee. Um, they've ran carts up in, uh, Lake, Cook, Kenosha counties for 30 years. They go to places like, uh, Six Flags Great America, um, the county fair, Lake County Fair, fairgrounds, places like that with mobile vending carts. They've done it for 30 years. I submitted with the application the prior three years of, uh, temporary use permits is what they call `em there. Uh, three years worth of, uh, temporary use permits with the application, uh, and so that's the history behind the cart we want to bring, and we won't have a charcoal grill. It'll be a fast Eddie's 700, uh, which uses wood pellets to smoke bar -b -que. It's a real simple process. It's a green process, uh, no charcoal, lighter fluid, anything like that. That's what our cart is. We can beat out all six of the people you got down there, and we just want an opportunity to do so. Thank you. Throgmorton: Did I hear you correctly, uh, to say that you would not object to a motion to defer? Brown: I would. (away from mic) Mims: He would object. Throgmorton: But that means we have to vote tonight. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 38 Mims: Right. (several talking) Okay, further comments? You know, I wish we had unlimited space, I mean for good qualified applicants, um, I love good bar -b -que food, love good bar -b -que food, um, but unfortunately we have a limited number of spots. We have an administrative process to go through to make those decisions. It certainly appears to me that the administration has followed that process, um, and for that reason I, uh, I have to support the administration's decision to deny the permit. b) CONSIDER A MOTION (TO AFFIRM, REVERSE, OR MODIFY THE CITY MANAGER'S DECISION) Dobyns: I move to deny the appeal. Champion: Second. Mims: Any further discussion? Champion: Yeah, it's too bad but we don't ... we don't have unlimited space. Throgmorton: Again I feel like, uh, I'm acting in ignorance here. What are the spatial boundaries to which this applies ... is this just the ped mall? Champion: Yes. Throgmorton: Could... could such a vendor operate in other parts of the city? Brown: That was the other thing, so part of the reason I listed the history of the permitting process for the vending carts is because basically what they've done is they've removed the locations from Iowa Avenue. Prior to this last amendment last year, people were able to go to Iowa Avenue, start there and then move to the City Plaza. You can't do that anymore. So that's why I listed all the history for this, uh, amendment, uh, because that's what it effectively does — it eliminates the Iowa Avenue locations, and if you look at the applica ... the appeal, you will see that one of the compromises I made was to move to Iowa Avenue. Dilkes: The problem is that would require an ordinance change. Mims: Yeah, and that's why I asked the question of our attorney at the very beginning in terms of the history that was here and where we are right now, and so we have to act on this appeal tonight based on what's in place right now. Um, to go back and look at the Iowa Avenue location would require more time, more work, and... and looking at that change, so right now we do have a motion on the floor to, uh, deny the appeal. Any further discussion? All those... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 39 Dilkes: Can I just clarify one thing? The current situation is that there can be six total, no more than six, up to two maybe on Iowa Avenue, but we've got the six total on the ped mall. Mims: Right. Okay. Brown: And there are no locations, uh, being used on Iowa Avenue currently, right? Dilkes: Correct. Mims: Correct. Brown: And Iowa Avenue is the least congested part of the ped mall, correct? Which is why no one wants to be on Iowa Avenue... Mims: Yeah, Iowa Avenue's not part of the ped mall and... and basically what I'm trying to ... make clear is that under what ... under the rules that we have in place right now, okay, what we have is a maximum of six. Forget location for a minute, we have a maximum of six. Brown: Correct. Mims: And so, you know, the administrative rules have been followed, in my opinion, in terms of going through the grading and so based on that process... Brown: Even though I got three zeros and one ten? Mims: Well... Brown: Which would beat ... which would mean I would have beat the lowest, uh, scoring person, even the way the rules are set now? Mims: Well, but what I'm saying is we can't go back now and start questioning what individual scorers did. We have to... Brown: I thought that's what the appeals process was for! Mims: I wouldn't say that that's our appeals process to go back and ... if we're going to do that we'd have to look (both talking) Brown: There's always Johnson County District Court, so... Dilkes: That's right. Brown: There ya go! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 40 Mims: That, right, that is an option. Champion: (mumbled) stop discussing this. Dobyns: I acknowledge what you're saying. I think we need to vote. Mims: Okay, all right. Roll call. Karr: Motion. Mims: Motion! All those in favor say aye. Opposed? Okay, 5 -1. Karr: 5 -1? Mims: Throgmorton in the negative. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 41 ITEM 18. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES. g. Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO- formerly JCCOG) Community Climate Action Taskforce (formerly Cool Cities Taskforce) — One At- Large/Public vacancy to fill a one -year term, effective upon appointment, ending March 2013. (Term expires for Thomas Carsner). Mims: One at -large public vacancy to fill a one -year term, um, for the Climate Action ... Community Climate Action Taskforce, formerly the Cool Cities Taskforce. Applications must be received by 5:00 Wednesday April l ltn This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 42 ITEM 18. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES. h. Police Citizens Review Board Karr: And then we have one addition, as well. That was on your addition sheet. A new one. Police Citizens Review Board. (several talking) One vacancy to fill an unexpired term. Mims: Oh, yes, thank you, okay, on here. Uh, application, uh, Police Citizens Review Board. An application must be received by 5:00 P.M. Wednesday April 25th Throgmorton: I ... I'd like to suggest that, uh, it...it would be worthwhile to informally, uh, discuss with the person who resigned why he resigned. Mims: I don't know that we ever do that with any of our boards and commissions. Throgmorton: Well, I'm reading between the lines. And ... and I think it's worth having a conversation. Mims: I don't ... I guess I'll defer to legal. I don't see that necessarily as a function of the Council, do you? Dilkes: I... Throgmorton: I... I didn't mean to suggest that it's necessarily a function of the Council, but we ... we could, um, instruct the staff to have that kind of conversation. Dilkes: Well, I ... I do see a problem with that in that that is because the PCRB is set up as an independent board, independent from staff, and so I don't think that would be a conversation that staff would... should have. Markus: The appointing authority is the City Council. Dilkes: Right. I... if... if Members of the Council wanted to have that conversation individually or if the Council chose to have that conversation as a group, I think you could do that. Dobyns: I think like the City staff, if there's a complaint that, uh, is relevant to City staff, they will call, they will actually, um, send a letter to the, uh, concerned individual and we'll see that letter, but that's cause it's relevant to City staff, um, the only thing I can think of is if any of the seven of us so choose, we could have a conversation and ... you know, communicate that to the rest of the Council, um, I guess we're always free to do that. Is that ... I mean... Dilkes: Yes. Dobyns: If we so choose. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 43 Dilkes: Sure. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012. Page 44 ITEM 21. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION. Mims: Start with you, Rick. Dobyns: Yes, I would like to congratulate, uh, Susan on stepping into the breach (laughter) uh, doing a fine job as Mayor Pro Tem. Um, not that I would want, uh, the Mayor, whatever his name is (laughter) to ... continue in his illness ... so ... (several talking and laughing) ...but Susan, well done! Thank you. Mims: Thank you! Thank you! (laughter) Michelle? Payne: Nothing from me tonight. Mims: Mr. Dickens? Connie? Champion: Nothing. See you tomorrow! Mims: All right. Jim? Throgmorton: As some of you know I've been holding listening posts in various parts of the city, like uh, basically once every three weeks or thereabouts, uh, at various restaurants and coffee shops. So I'm going to do one this coming Friday morning in Fairgrounds on South Dubuque, uh, and ... 8:30 to 10:00 A.M. on Friday morning. And I'm looking forward to it! Mims: Just out of curiosity, are you getting many people to show up? Cause I know I did those for a while on ... on school board and ... nobody would come, so I just... Throgmorton: Had six people come one time. Champion: That's a lot! (several talking) Mims: Good! Yeah, that's a very good turnout. Good! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of March 20, 2012.