HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-06-05 Transcription June 5,2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1
Council Present: Champion, Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton
Staff Present: Markus, Fruin, Davidson, Goers, Dulek, Karr, O'Malley, Hargadine,
Long, Yapp, Boothroy, Havel, Morris, Howard, Bentley
Others Present: Uttermark, UISG
Council Appointments:
Hayek/Welcome, everyone! (mumbled) 7-0! Check the record! I thought I said 7! (laughter
and several talking) 7 zip! Welcome to the work session. Uh, let's,uh...jump into that
at this time, um...you have your agendas before you. The first item is Council
appointments. Uh,that's at agenda#21. I think we have two, uh,to make—one for
Historic, the first is for Historic Preservation.
Mims/Think we have to have a woman.
Hayek/Yep!
Mims/There's Celia Dunnington or Shannon Gassman, um...I don't know either one of`em.
Celia's been here in town a long time; Shannon's relatively new, but they both looked...
good to me. I don't know if anybody knows either one or...(several talking)
Champion/ ...I think...no, I think either one of`em is fine! I don't want to make that decision
cause they're both really good (laughter)
Dobyns/Celia had remodeling experience; Shannon has some educational merits.
Champion/That's right! So that would be useful...on the Commission.
Hayek/Uh-huh.
Throgmorton/So none of us know either applicant,right?
Hayek/No, and they live in the same neck of the woods.
Champion/Uh-huh.
Hayek/Not that that necessarily matters, but...
Mims/I'm going to suggest Shannon Gassman. I think we've got a new, young person who's
interested in getting involved in the community and...
Champion/Good! I'll support it.
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Mims/(mumbled)
Dobyns/Okay.
Hayek/Okay, is there consensus (several talking) Okay. Shannon Gassman it will be. Next
item is the Human Rights Commission. And there is a, uh, gender balance requirement
going the other direction.
Mims/Right.
Throgmorton/And in this case we need a...a male?
Hayek/We need a male. There are five applicants, four of whom are female.
Mims/(several talking) ...Jessie Harper.
Hayek/Anybody know Jessie Harper? (several talking) Yeah. We...we're not required to
appoint(several talking)you know, I mean, we can hold back and see what comes next
and wait for the...uh,the period of time to expire so we can consider everybody.
Champion/Well, I...I've heard of this person. I've not met him; I just know someone who
works with him. I think he'd be good(mumbled) support him.
Hayek/Okay!
Throgmorton/Do...do applicants know that it's often helpful to contact at least one Council
person, you know,to chat about the (both talking)
Champion/They used to always do that, but they've kind of stopped doing that.
Karr/That's part of the application process and they are given the phone numbers and the emails.
Planning and Zoning Items:
Hayek/Okay, is there a consensus on Jessie Harper? (several responding) Okay. Okay, next
item is questions from Council regarding Planning and Zoning items. You will note that
a couple of P&Z items, uh, we won't be discussing at the...at the work session. We'll
take any questions up at the formal.
Payne/There is one item, 7...that is...I just need to recuse myself. I don't have a question other
than I need to (mumbled)
Hayek/Okay. In terms of the P&Z items under Item 6, is there anything...anyone needs to know
about (several talking). No, you're fine! We have to deal with that anyway.
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Mims/Nope! I did not(both talking)
Throgmorton/ ...and we're going to hear, uh, Jeff, you're going to talk about Pearson, right?
Agenda:
Hayek/Yeah,that's on the, uh, work session agenda. Okay. I don't see any interest on the P&Z
items, uh, so let's move to the broad agenda. Anything that's not specifically on
tonight's work session agenda that's on the formal agenda that you want to talk about.
ITEM 4f(8) Tony Barino (x3): Trillionaire Communications
Throgmorton/Urn, well...I'll say a word about Tony Barino. I don't know if you notice but we
got another lengthy rant, um, by email I guess from this fellow named Tony Barino and
do we (mumbled) do anything to make this go away?
Karr/I believe the last time we talked about it the City Attorney said if there's correspondence
received and it's addressed to the City Council...we...what we've done...
Throgmorton/ ...from anybody anywhere in the world?
Karr/Yes. What we do do is we do not make it part of the permanent record. We send you the
cover letter. We'll attach the permanent record. There were hundreds of pages that we
did not distribute that we will put in the archived version but we did the cover sheet.
Dobyns/We're not printing paper anymore (mumbled)
Throgmorton/Okay, I mean, I knew that would be the answer but it's just tiresome. Um...I do
have a...a real quick question that...we don't have enough time for an elaborate answer,
but we got an email from Steve Cooper about Towncrest. At some point I'd certainly
like to hear, uh, some kind of a response from, uh, you know, from Jeff, from the staff.
Davidson/Yeah, we can...we discuss it some in the Economic Development Committee meeting
today and I don't know if Susan or Michelle or Matt want to...you know, talk anything
about what we discussed this morning.
Mims/Well, we talked about it this morning and things are certainly moving forward out there
and it...and I think as his letter indicated, he said it seems like it's been five years. It's
been...I think we talked about maybe two, and you know, one of the things that the City
(noises on mic) looked at is, we basically didn't want to be the first dollar in, I mean, we
wanted buy-in from private property owners and...in terms of doing some of that
improvement and...and development out there, and there's, urn, a project which it sounds
like might be coming to us fairly soon that, um, we will be helping with, but
hopefully...but that will involve significant, urn,private investment, and so think we'll
start to see some changes out there, um,pretty soon, but unfortunately lots of these things
don't go as fast as we would like so...
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Davidson/Yeah, and we're...and we're very interested in working with Mr. Cooper and his
group out there. They're very much an anchor presence in Towncrest and (both talking)
Mims/Definitely!
Davidson/ ...uh, they, you know, they did approach us about a couple of things that were more
maintenance-type projects for their building and really weren't suitable for the type of
incentive projects that,uh, incentive programs that we have available, but certainly the
message to Mr. Cooper has been...and Tracy Hightshoe has been our principle point of
contact,that we very much want to work with them, should they desire upgrading or
building new facility out there. So, we look...we look forward to that relationship.
Markus/And we've tied the public infrastructure to private investment at the same time, so we're
looking for somebody, you know, as a catalyst type project, and then we'll tie in our
public improvements associated with that private investment at the same time. Uh, and
we are working with (mumbled)we've made quite a bit of progress in that regard.
Dobyns/Good, cause this is a well-respected medical practice (several talking)
Davidson/ ...and we know, urn, Rick, that there's other entities out in Towncrest because they're
there, so we want to...we want to keep them there for that reason, as well.
Champion/Well, I'll have to tell you,they've thought about moving. (several talking and
laughing)
ITEM 7. CONVEYANCE OF UTILITY EASEMENTS ON AND OVER PORTIONS
OF 1807 AND 2001 LOWER MUSCATINE ROAD.
Hayek/Um...this is minor, but Item 7 has to do with the utility easements for MidAmerican.
Ur...and I was looking at one of the exhibits, and I think one of the houses in question,
which is at the corner of Sycamore and Lower Muscatine contacted me a couple of years
ago, wanted me to start talking about the redo of...of Lower Muscatine, with concerns
about their elaborate, uh, evergreens and shrubs.
Champion/Right!
Hayek/Do we know, and I probably should have contacted, uh, Rick Fosse about this, but do we
know if...if there's any impact of...by,through this easement agreement on that?
Davidson/And is that the same property, Matt, that...that had the...the plantings along...are we
talking about the same property...
Hayek/Well it looks like it. I...
Davidson/Yeah, my understanding...oh, Jason's here. Okay, I'm going to let him answer.
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Champion/Cause that's a beautiful tree (mumbled)they have there.
Havel/The question was is there any impact to the existing trees and,uh...
Hayek/Yeah, which I think were on the south side of the sidewalk, between the sidewalk and the
house.
Havel/Uh,this wouldn't impact any existing trees. Um, it's really just for a utility easement, uh,
for installing underground facilities. So it's pretty minimal, uh, impact.
Champion/Great!
Hayek/Okay. Thank you! Other agenda items? Okay! Let's move on to, uh, discussion of
public access to the west of the Pearson property.
Discuss Public Access to the West of the Pearson Property:
ITEM 6f CONSIDER A RESOLUTION DETERMINING THE NEED FOR STREET
ACCESS ACROSS PROPERTY OWNED BY NCS PEARSON,INC AT
2510 NORTH DODGE STREET TO PROVIDE FOR THE ORDERLY
GROWTH OF THE CITY TO THE WEST.
Howard/Hi, Karen Howard. Um...I've been the principle point of contact, uh, with, uh, with
Mr. Moss and his development team, and so I wanted to just, uh,the memo, um, that was
in your packet, in the materials that were attached,just to give a little, uh, background to
that. Um...so basically we're here to discuss the transportation infrastructure that's
necessary to facilitate that...the growing employment center that, uh, surrounds Interstate
80 interchange with Highway 1, and from, oh! We don't have it on! (mumbled) I'm
looking at it, but you can't see it(laughter and several talking) (mumbled) countdown
here. (laughter) So this is, uh, really a location map that kind of shows the general
development that is occurring out near the interchange. Of course we have, uh,
Northgate Corporate Park to the east of Highway 1, and Pearson, uh, which is one of the
City's major employers to the west of Highway 1, north of the, uh, Interstate 80. Um, we
have received an application from Mr. Moss who owns the property that's west of
Pearson, uh, shown here in the shaded, um,portion of the...of the map here. Urn,he
would like to develop an office park in this location and as you may recall in, uh, 2010
the City Council approved a preliminary plat for this property, um, but one of the primary
reasons that this earlier development was not successful, uh, getting off the ground was,
uh, a lack of adequate road access, um, access to the property was to be provided in this
earlier concept by constructing a portion of Oakdale Boulevard. Here you can see where
that intersection would be, urn,there's been an alignment study done and the future
Oakdale Boulevard connection is intended to go across here and connect over to, uh,
Prairie du Chien Road eventually. Um...that's about a half a mile from the interstate.
So, um, when it was determined that both financially and economically it was impractical
to start, you know,to jumpstart this development west of, uh, Pearson, um, with just the
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Oakdale Boulevard connection. Um, Mr. Moss decided to change course and is partnered
with a,uh, a new development team, R&R Equity Partners who are experienced office
park developers, uh, headquartered out of West Des Moines. Uh, so we're here tonight
really to talk about an alternative access, uh, at least for the first phase of development,
which would involve about the first 43 acres of the Moss property, um...last year the new
development team approached Pearson seeking permission to construct road access
across the Pearson property. Urn, the development team believes that with two new
streets, and this is a concept plan as you can see—two new streets, one that would go
along the south side of Pearson and one with a new intersection of Highway 1, a new
access road would go along the north end of, uh, side of Pearson to provide access for the
first phase of development of the Moss property. This is just a concept plan and...and
urn, it hasn't been preliminary platted yet. They're kind of in a holding pattern with their
preliminary plat because we can't plat it until there's access to the property. Urn, so, uh
...they believe that with these two new streets that the improved traffic circulation would
benefit both Pearson and the new, uh, development, urn...and they have completed a
traffic study of the executive summary which was attached to your packet. U1n..that
traffic study does support that contention. And City staff has reviewed the traffic study
and does concur with its conclusions. Urn, I want to note that John Yapp from, uh, the
MPOJC is here. His staff, his transportation staff, have reviewed it. It's been, the traffic
study's been forwarded to the Iowa DOT as well. So it's been, urn,reviewed by all
parties. And...it should be noted that the City has long anticipated the need for road
access across the Pearson property. Urn, back in 1985 at the time when Pearson was
expanding they signed an agreement with the City that at such time as it becomes
necessary to provide road access to the west, as determined by the City Council, uh,
Pearson would work with the City to achieve that goal. Um, Mr. Moss and his
development team have been in contact with Pearson, uh, about road access and it is our
understanding that after their initial conversations, urn, that uh, Mr. Moss and his team
agreed to do a traffic feasibility study to study these roadways to make sure that it didn't
impact Pearson and their operations, and make sure the traffic flows, urn, to benefit of all
parties. They did complete that traffic feasibility study last December, and presented that
to Pearson. Urn, Mr. Razz, who I believe is here tonight in the audience, he did...he did
look at that study, but didn't believe that it was sufficient enough for...for Pearson to
make a decision, so asked for a full-blown traffic impact study. Urn...that traffic impact
study has been completed now and presented in early May. Um, it basically shows,
urn... at full built-out of the...of the development,that Oakdale Boulevard will be
needed, but in the interim to get that first phase going, urn,that two roadways would be
necessary with intersection improvements along Highway 1 and there's quite a bit of
detail in that traffic im...impact study about the kinds of infrastructure needed, both
along those intersections on Highway 1 and throughout the, uh, the Pearson property,
um...so the reason that we're bringing this to your attention tonight is that Mr. Moss and
his development team are concerned that, uh, further delay will cause them to miss
critical, uh, construction timelines for the development prospects outlined in the memo
that you've received from R&R. They have requested the assistance of the City Council
in urging Pearson to honor their 1985 agreement without further delay, and it is certainly
our hope that we can work with Pearson to find a solution that will be to the benefit of all
parties. To that end,there is...there is a resolution tonight in your formal meeting, urn,to
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invoke that 1985 agreement. Urn, so I would be happy to entertain any questions, and I
believe there's other staff here that can answer questions about the traffic study or...
Champion/If we in...invoke the contract or whatever you want to call it, and then what protects
Pearson's from having that whole development done without Oakdale Boulevard being
completed? Will there be...will that be part of the plotting or part of the...(both talking)
Howard/Yes, it would be...the...the development could be platted in phases, and I think, you
know, certainly the City is interested in not having traffic problems in this corridor. So
we could make sure that that's phased and platted appropriately with adequate access,
um, as the development occurs over time. Full build-out is expected to take until 2040 so
it's a long (both talking) long, and even that...even the first phase is expected to take at
least till 2025...to build out.
Champion/And what affect will this have on any future expansion that Pearson's would want to
do?
Howard/You know that's what we had hoped to have discussions with Pearson about. I mean,
we certainly don't want to, you know,harm operations at Pearson. Uh, we're just hoping
that they would come to the table and...and really sit down and have a discussion where
we can roll up our sleeves and figure...figure out any, urn,problems with the access
roads that are needed to make all the traffic work, um, and still not cause problems for
Pearson.
Champion/I mean, that would be...it would be important to me also, even though I'm very much
in favor of the development of this property, urn, I also don't want to affect another major
business.
Mims/With the concept plan, Karen, I mean, the south road is...pretty much a...adjacent to, I
mean, kind of a ditch that runs along the interstate and the, so I mean it's...out about as
far away from their buildings probably as it can get, in terms of...
Howard/Right. It's getting pretty close (both talking)...right, it's getting pretty close to the
interstate, uh, right-of-way.
Mims/Okay. And then on the north side, is that near their property line or is it just...just getting
it out of the floodway? I mean, it...
Howard/Well, it does come...
Mims/I don't know where their north property line is.
Howard/Think their north property line is...is...
Mims/That rectangle?
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Howard/ ...is here, I believe.
Mims/But that floodway is...
Howard/As you can see the floodway for Rapid Creek and you can kind of see the outline of the
creek itself. So...um...I think the benefit of the north access road and the reason for that
is really there's...there's quite a bit of traffic of course that comes during peak hours to
Pearson and so the benefit of having a second access really will benefit Pearson because
it can help distribute that traffic, um, at those peak times so that the employees can easily
get to the parking lots, which are mostly on the north side of the property.
Payne/The solid line and the dashed line, the solid line would be built with the blue? The
dashed line would be built with like lots 7, 8, and 9 or...what's the designation of the
solid versus dashed?
Howard/Well I think that's all to be worked out. I think this was...this was an early concept by,
um, by the development team and, urn, I think probably would be benefit to build both
roads, u1n...right away, although that has yet to be, urn, determined, but urn...
Payne/ So the solid and the dashed really has no...designation right now?
Howard/It has no designation. We would like to be able to work out those details with...with all
parties.
Dobyns/Karen,the roads don't seem to, at least to me,to restrict Pearson, uh, because it can't go
farther south cause it'll abut the interstate right-of-way, and going north, Rapid Creek is
right there. I mean, they'd have to build over Rapid Creek. So it seems that this still
allows them, from what I can see,to purchase additional properties westward, should
they want...
Howard/Right. Really the only place to expand is west, uh, for Pearson or anyone else. Uh,
there's not much room to the south or...or to the north, without getting into that fairly
large flood plain, uh, for Rapid Creek.
Dobyns/All right.
Dickens/Has that been an agricultural...you get to the farmland back there. Do they not have an
easement to get through there?
Howard/Yes, they do have an easement to get to the farmland. I believe that's currently located,
uh, you can kind of see it a little bit right here.
Dickens/(mumbled) so they can...they've been using that for all these years.
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Howard/Right. But I think the idea was to try to separate, you know, general traffic to...to this
property, urn, and provide some, urn, you know, means to separate that traffic from the
Pearson traffic so as to impact them less.
Dickens/Have there been any other problems with the Corps of Engineers, cause I know that
was holding things up in the past.
Howard/Well, I think with this roadway, of course there's, you know, it's getting close to the
floodway, and that will have to be investigated as far as I think there's some storm water
facilities there that would have...need to be moved, urn, so all those things would need to
be...to be worked out.
Hayek/But, Karen,to...to frame the discussion for this evening, I mean, issues of road
placement or flood plain or adjacent agriculture, those sorts of things, I mean, those
would be...worked out at...around the table. What's before us tonight is whether we
invoke the agreement from the 80s.
Howard/That's right. I think there's (both talking) some concern about the timeline of
construction and some potential development prospects and um...that...the...the traffic
study is a fairly extensive traffic study, you know, at considerable expense. So it's...it's
a full-blown traffic study that shows full built-out to 2040. So I think we feel like we've
got all the information we need right now for all parties to determine, um...what's best,
you know, how to...how to make these roads work and uh, we'd just like to get to the
table, sooner than later.
Throgmorton/So on that point, Karen, I...I need a little bit of help, because when I read the
paragraph that you've italicized in the memo, what I read is that the parties agree that
they, you know, once we act, they shall negotiate the specific location of a street access,
across the property. So when I read that, I see how that could be interpreted in multiple
ways. You know, a street can mean...
Howard/Right.
Throgmorton/ ...one street. And I see two!
Howard/Right, and I think(both talking)
Throgmorton/ ...and...and it says they shall negotiate, all right? That means they're going to
negotiate it.
Howard/Right.
Throgmorton/Right? It means we don't determine it. They negotiate it.
Champion/No, we don't.
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Howard/Negotiate with the City. In other words, the agreement was between the City and
Pearson that...at such point as that...it became necessary they would negotiate the
location. So I...you know, back in 1985 I think no one really knew exactly what would
be needed, and that's why we needed to have the traffic studies done,to make sure, and I
think there's a belief that...that one road just won't...won't suffice for the kind of traffic
that will be generated,not only by Pearson itself Currently there's some delay at
those...at the existing, um, intersections right now, due to the amount of employment
they have at Pearson. So I think now that we know the details of...of the development,
and the potential development,um...I think there's some...some reason to believe that
there's (both talking)
Throgmorton/ So what's a good argument for not doing this? You know?
Mims/I don't think there is any.
Throgmorton/That...that's what I'm trying to get. Can anybody here make a good argument for
not doing it otherwise, you know, it's (mumbled)
Mims/No, I mean, I...I think to me the resolution says, you know, we're going to go with the
agreement that's there. We need to negotiate. We would like Pearson to come to the
table as quickly as possible and negotiate in good faith. Uln...you know, I look at the
concept plan, and it is. It's just a concept plan. It needs to be negotiated, but I would see
that as having great benefit to Pearson in terms of having two ways to get their employees
in and out, both to the north and the south on Highway 1. Urn, it gives the Moss
development the access they need in terms of, you know, building out there, adding to the
employment of this community. Um, I think as Matt said at the very beginning, we...we
want to do this in as cordial a manner with Pearson as possible. They're a great
employer. They're a great asset to our community, but we also need to continue to grow
and...and, you know, have additional employment in this area and the concern with this,
you know,the original traffic study was done in December and the second evaluation of
that, or study of that, was done in early May, and here we are getting, you know, right
into the heart of the construction season and with the people that they have, you know,
potentially lined up to come in, I think it would be a real travesty for this community and
for our economic development and...and additional jobs, etc., if they have to lose an
entire,uh, construction season because we can't all sit down and try and work together in
a way that would be conducive to, you know, for everybody. To me it...it could and
should be a really a win-win situation for everybody—for Pearson, for the Moss
development, and for the City.
Hayek/I would add that I think this probably...a public benefit to this, as well, with...with...
with the Comp Plan and...and what it calls for up there, and with just nearly the...the
location of public roadways and trans...traffic control and that sort of thing. Um, I think
that's why we need to,uh, we need to have done the things we did,urn, with the traffic
study, etc., but armed with that data and using, uh, you know, the knowledge we know
and...or have, and...and what we think would be appropriate to best manage traffic and
whatnot, it's time to sit down. So...
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Throgmorton/I...I'm going to support this,but...but one of the things I noticed in the R&R
letter, I guess,the letter from them. Is it, uh,the letter referred to three firms that had
indicated interest and if I read it correctly,two of them are Iowa City firms? And...uh, I
don't want to push this point too much,but uh...I hope we're not...um,recruiting
businesses from one part of the city to move to another part of the city.
Mims/Well,the way I read it was at least one of them...they are needing to expand. If I didn't
...if I read that correctly. And...this is where they want to expand to and we could have
the potential of losing them from Iowa City altogether if that can't be done in a timely
manner. So...it's...it's not just recruiting them from one part of the city to another. I
think it's people...it looked to me like companies who are looking, uh,to expand and we
don't want to lose them from Iowa City, so this is...this is I think very crucial that we try
and all work together in a very timely manner.
Hayek/Yeah, and the big picture is this area...uh, promises development far beyond three
entities. It's...it's a huge area! So...
Throgmorton/And we're...we're going to revisit the...the subdivision design later on, I suppose
(both talking)
Mims/Oh yeah!
Throgmorton/ ...platting process (several talking) kind of stuff,right? (both talking)
Howard/ ...couldn't really move forward without...with the preliminary plat of the new design
until we (both talking)
Champion/(mumbled)
Howard/ ...to the development.
Hayek/Okay, other questions for Karen? Okay! Thank you for that. Uh,then let's move on
to...uh,the next item,which is to discuss composition and charge of the proposed ad hoc
Diversity Committee. Is...(several talking). Thank you! Or Doc 105 on(several
talking)
Mims/(mumbled)
Hayek/Yeah. That's (mumbled) figure out how to do. (both talking)...walk us through your
memo.
Discuss Composition and Charge of the Proposed ad hoc Diversity Committee(IP3):
Markus/Uh, we prepared kind of an outline of issues that we think you need to address as you go
through trying to set up this ad hoc committee. Number of members, committee
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membership,uh, committee chairperson, scope of work, and duration of work, as well as
frequency of meetings. Uh, you can probably take those one at a time and...walk
through those.
Hayek/Yeah, I would suggest we follow the...the order of this list(mumbled)will help with the
...the conversation this evening. So let's start out with number of members.
Mims/I would agree,urn, I guess I would be inclined to...be closer to the seven than to the five.
I think...I think you get past the seven and you...you find it very difficult to have a
workable size, in terms of the group,but I think if you go to five, urn,trying to get the
broad representation that I think we need to have on that committee, it's going to be very
difficult with only five members. So, I would kind of be inclined to go more towards the
seven.
Dobyns/I agree with the seven but when it comes time and we're wiggling between the seventh
and eighth person, I mean, (mumbled)hold firm at seven or just make us work hard to
keep (both talking)
Mims/ ...I think that's fine.
Dobyns/With that in mind, I'd be willing to have...go up to seven from five.
Throgmorton/I'd support seven as well,but we need to make sure we have some diverse
representation on the...on the committee.
Hayek/Is there consensus for(several talking) seven?
Payne/I think it's going to be...if we only have five it's going to be hard to be so diverse. I
think it's going to be easier to...it's not going to be easy,but I think it's going to help.
Mims/(both talking)help...
Payne/ ...for the diversity to have seven.
Hayek/Okay. Okay, so, uh, next is,uh, committee membership.
Markus/And what we recommended is that you go through the normal process where you accept
applications and go through the applications and then make a determination as to who
will be appointed.
Champion/I think that's a really good way to do it.
Mims/I do too!
Throgmorton/I do too,but I think we need to be pretty active on this and...and there're various
organization as we all know around town who we could contact. We could actively
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contact and ask...invite them to recommend particular people to nominate, or invite them
to nominate particular individuals.
Dobyns/And, Jim, one thing I wanted to recommend. We've used the word `organization' and I
personally want to get away from the word `organization' and say `people,' because you
know if you go off, you know, and we invite one organization,what about the other
organization that gets left out.
Champion/Right!
Dobyns/So I would be really careful, I mean, a person might as part of their skill sets and
experiences might be part of a relevant organization but I still think...I think our
language should focus on a person.
Throgmorton/Yeah, I...I do not mean to suggest that we...we should seek representation(both
talking)not suggesting that. I'm suggesting that we contact organizations, various groups
that have expressed...consistently expressed interest and just invite them to suggest
people who...invite them to connect with people who might want to nominate themselves
or be nominated or apply or...
Dobyns/Then that gets dangerous, because if you call organization A and say give us a person
from your body and we chose in this rarified(both talking)
Throgmorton/ ...didn't say chose somebody from their body. Wasn't trying to say that!
Dobyns/All right! But...but that may be how it would be interpreted, so I'm just a little bit
nervous about that, and if we don't chose that person,then the organization might be
miffed.
Champion/I don't...I...I think you're right, Rick, but I do think that I as an individual can
approach somebody that I think would be good on that.
Mims/I would agree.
Champion/And I intend to .
Dobyns/Well I know people but...
Champion/ So...right,people,nothing to do with an organization.
Dobyns/They may happen to be part of an organization...as part of their,you know, skill sets
and attributes.
Champion/But I think that's a better way to handle it.
Hayek/I...I think, you know,the Council's not going to (both talking)
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Champion/Right!
Hayek/ ...its business to contact organizations.
Champion/No!
Hayek/ ...but any of the seven of us, and frankly anybody who's paying attention to this issue,
can...can contact individuals, uh, in...in the community who would make for good
candidates and encourage them to send in an application.
Dobyns/And...and I think looking at the whole body of this, and I think, Matt,with your
experience in your previous...on the Affordable Housing Committee, is that you know if
we make this very...a limited challenge, a smaller group, a very active group...I think a
lot of people who would, you know, really be excited would do this, and hopefully we
wouldn't have to work very hard because all the people we may want to name would put
their names on the docket.
Payne/It really isn't any different than any other committee, I mean, if we know somebody that
would serve well on(both talking)
Champion/Right, right!
Payne/ ...we would ask them, you know,there's an opening on the Youth Advisory Committee.
You'd be great on it. So...
Mims/Right.
Hayek/Okay.
Dickens/And it's just a six month.
Markus/Yeah,the recommendation is that would be for a six-month term or a six-month period.
Champion/You have to have the time limit, otherwise (mumbled)to meet the time available.
Hayek/Uh, one thing,um, we should decide is whether...there...there's this old policy that
basically says you can't serve on two different City of Iowa City commissions.
Champion/Right!
Hayek/Um,unless we say otherwise, but I mean, it's...it's out there. Um, and so we probably
need to decide you know do we want to look for people who are not presently on a
commission, do we care about that.
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Dobyns/I would recommend that because you know(mumbled) I wouldn't want to say someone
being a part of our organization's important, um...I...I think what our organization,
including our own commissions, shouldn't be relevant. I mean, we should name people.
If they just happen to be a member of our commissions, so be it. (several talking)
Champion/ ...kind of an ad hoc committee (several talking)
Dickens/ ...really don't want `em to have to resign from the committee. It's hard enough to get
`em to come to a(both talking)
Champion/ ...I don't think that same rule holds true since I would call this an ad hoc committee,
and...
Hayek/Well, Legal raised this. They remember...this...this goes back to 1985.
Champion/Right,right!
Hayek/And um...uh, but...they've said that now...they said that just...the resolution appointing
the commission,the...the ad hoc committee would just need to...we just need to by-pass
that and say...(several talking) ...this we're appointing these people.
Champion/Right. It's an ad hoc committee and we're not going to enforce that rule.
Mims/Okay.
Markus/The next issue is the committee chairperson, and we've recommended that the Council
make those determinations. Uh, in an ad hoc setting like this where you're going to have
all new members, I think, uh, the Council may be well served to make the appointments
for both the Chair and (both talking)
Champion/Will make the appointment out of the group that we select.
Markus/Yes, exactly.
Champion/Okay. (several talking)
Mims/That sounds reasonable. (several talking)
Throgmorton/Yeah, and...and the three ad hoc members were, uh,the City Manager, City
Attorney, or(both talking)
Markus/Ex officios.
Throgmorton/Yeah. That's what I meant—ex officious.
Markus/Yeah.
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Throgmorton/Plus one other person I can't remember who...the other...
Markus/City Clerk.
Throgmorton/City Clerk.
Hayek/Or their designees. (several talking)
Markus/Or their designees. An important distinction! (laughter) The next issue is the scope of
committee work, and this gets to be a little bit more, uh, difficult. You did receive a letter
from,uh, Reverend Whiston and I think she made some excellent points in her letter. I
hope everybody's had a chance to read that.
Champion/(mumbled)
Markus/Um, when we first kind of had these discussions, there was a whole laundry list of
different issues that we needed to...that was suggested that this committee might discuss.
Our thought process,uh, the City Clerk and the City Attorney and myself was to kind of
narrow these down to maybe two issues, uh, spend a concentrated amount of time on
those two issues to come back with some, uh,meaningful recommendations over that
period of time. Quite frankly we talked about both Police and Transit,which seems to
come up on a regular basis as the two issues to focus on. So that was our
recommendation.
Dobyns/And I think that's consistent, I mean, the original progenitor of this was Jim recognizing
the issues that happened with a, uh, a flash-point incident that happened in Florida. Um,
and I think rather than take a look at a really big, I can't get my hands around it issue,to
start with a smaller issue, um, some flashpoints that we've recognized as a group in Iowa
City, and I...I think(mumbled) involved as Tom said with, um, our police and the transit,
uh, coming and just sort of focus the charge of the committee on those two areas. And let
them sort of see how issues of diversity, urn, apply to those two areas and make that
(mumbled) and let them go from there. I mean,they're going to have to consider a
wealth of issues, but at least start them off with some two...two very specific items.
Champion/And then would you include in the, uh,transit the...the problems that are...that
people think the problems that have arisen at the transit change downtown, which
is...could be more of a cultural thing than anything.
Markus/Yes,that...that would be part of the discussion. We'd bring all of those things into that,
and the other thing I'd point out to you is that...that's, you know,this is ad hoc, this is
this first attempt at an ad hoc. That doesn't mean that if there's still issues that either the
committee members come back and say we want to discuss further, Council sees a need
to keep it going, we can go to ad hoc two and start over on other issues, as well.
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Mims/I think that's a good approach because it starts with I think a reasonable number of people
and a finite charge to that committee that gives them a good chance of some success. I
think one of the worst things we can do is give `em a laundry list eight miles long of
things that, you know, you're supposed to do this in six months and they just can't get
their hands around stuff and they feel like they've wasted their time. The public feels
like we don't care, uh, we feel like nothing productive has come out of it. This way start
with something—a short list—very,very circumscribed, uh, hopefully they come back
with some good recommendations and some success, and then as Tom said I think then
we can look at, okay, do we...do we do this again with some other related issues.
Throgmorton/I...I couldn't agree more with Susan than I...than I do, um, but I probably add one
other thing. This committee,um, would provide an opportunity to devel...to develop a
sense of mutual trust which is really crucial in terms of, uh...um,well, in improving
relations within the city and between City staff in particular parts of the community. So
being able to focus on a couple important but clearly defined challenges,uh, and...and to
work together to try to figure out how to do that, and...and to do it in a way that, uh,
achieves some success would really build that sense of trust. So...
Markus/I think the...the, well, you want to see if there's consensus on that or...
Hayek/On...on what, scope? Or,yeah, I mean, and to...to that I would add, I...I would, I think
this idea of starting with...with just a couple of...of inquiry points, um...makes sense,
and...and I speak from my experience on the Scattered Site Housing Task Force,which
was an important thing to have gone....to...for the City to...to do, but for those involved
was often, uh, an exercise in frustration. I don't think we got enough guidance from the
Council at the time. This was eight...eight or nine years ago. Urn, and consequently we
went off in many different directions, and the process took over a year and a half, and we
ended up with...almost a couple feet of material to...to examine, and it was very difficult
to, um, adequately vet all of the areas we decided to explore, and then reach a consensus
and then come up with a set of recommendations, and I think it was because we lacked
the structure on the front end...and had sort of a mission creep quality to it. So, I want
this to succeed, and I think if we, uh, approach it in this fashion, it'll have a much higher
chance of succeeding.
Payne/I was just going to say that, I mean, saying Police and Transit seemed pretty specific, but
we...it's not really very specific. What about the Police and what about Transit? I mean
(several talking) It still needs to be narrowed down to...to their exact charge when we...
when we get to that point. But, I mean, that's still pretty broad!
Dobyns/Well (mumbled) incidents that bring to mind those two areas. And let them just go
from there.
Markus/We'll flesh...we'll attempt to flesh some of that out in terms of the...the actual crafting
of the resolution when we bring that back to you, and you can add elements,but I think
that the thought process is is that that's fairly expansive. I know it sounds very narrow,
but there's a lot of associated issues with both of those categories that they can, you
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know,the committee can delve into and...and urn, we have the ability to bring staff in
and have discussions with them from their respective departments and inform and...and
educate and then, uh,become informed and educated on their views at the same time and
see if there are some specific recommendations that can come out of that process.
Champion/(several talking) ...call it something else besides Police?
Markus/Yeah. We'll...we'll come back...we'll come back with, uh, some uh...very um...good
language in terms of the resolution itself.
Champion/Right. I mean,that...
Dobyns/I know that's overly leading. I agree. I just...I'm sorry it popped in my head.
Champion/I had a...I was at a friend's daughter's wedding in Chicago, um...a couple weeks ago
and we...we see each other just maybe once every two or three years. (mumbled)not
going to go into the personal relationship (laughter)but I (several talking and laughing)
She's doing great! You know her! Anyway...I have a son who's a policeman and she
said,well, what's your kids doing, and so I'm going down the line, and she says, I hate
cops! I said you hate cops? I said, well, I don't think you hate Andrew! But she had a
kid arrested on some silly charge, it was illegal, so now she hates police. So that's why I
hate to say `police.'
Dobyns/Maybe just enforcement.
Hayek/Well is there general support for the...the approach suggested? (several talking)
Champion/(mumbled) or something happened. I don't know what it was, but I just think that's
who hates the police, is people who got in trouble! (laughter)
Dulek/Matt,just to confirm you want then the resolution to come back with some specific issues
that staff is going to suggest within these, or...or you going to allow the ad hoc
committee to identify those issues within the City's provision of transit and PD services?
Champion/I think we should give `em some ideas!
Mims/I think we need to specify it more.
Dulek/And better now than I think...two weeks from now.
Markus/Including but not limited...
Dulek/Right! If there are some specific things that you want the task force to look at.
Dobyns/ ...flashpoint incidents, uh...
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Hayek/Well, I mean,we...we could craft it to...to be a little more general and say, you know,
and...and maybe pick up on some of the dialog we've had over the last couple of months,
um, and have...have staff suggest a few things. We could talk about that right now,
um...it's up to...it's up to the body!
Markus/Well, one of the things, um, quite frankly in the discussion is the PCRB. To me that
falls under the issue of law enforcement, and um,the issues have been raised about the
PCRB,the naming, you know, of the organization,uh,what they can and can't do. I
think that it's im...important to have, uh, Catherine Pugh come in and walk through the
legal,uh, aspects of PCRB so that um, our members of this ad hoc committee are
informed as to how it works, um, and then let them offer comments. Um, I...I think
that...I think it...it's fairly expansive discussion in terms of what you can get into, either
in law enforcement or in public transit, and um, again, I wouldn't want you to be too
specific about it, uh,because this committee may bring to the table some issues that
we're not really aware of and that's partly what we're trying to do is build that
relationship. So...
Payne/But I...you...you made a suggestion, you know,these things but not limited to these
things, you know, I mean if...if they....if they're investigating something and come up
with a little arm or a little, you know, something that stretches off of that, you know, we
don't want to necessarily curtail them, but we don't want them to come up with a
hundred different things that they want to do either.
Markus/Let's uh...if...if you would, let the staff kind of pursue that between, um...uh, Legal
and the departments and see what we can come up with.
Throgmorton/I think that's a good suggestion.
Champion/Uh-huh.
Hayek/You comfortable with that approach, Sue? (laughter)
Dulek/Well, it's your committee and I think the more that you can tell us what it is that you
want that committee to do, as opposed to staff coming back and saying we think you
should do x,y, and z, I think it's better to do that now rather than later,but whatever you
want we'll do. So...that's what Eleanor will want me to say! (laughter)
Markus/That sounded very Eleanor-esque! (laughter)
Payne/Sometimes it's easier to...to see a straw man in front of you and say no,that isn't what
we wanted! Rather than to have seven people try to come up with(laughter)what we
(several talking)
Mims/ ...that's my concern with...with the time that we have here tonight trying to...trying to
do a laundry list of what we want in there, what we think should be in there. I'm...I'm
willing to give staff the opportunity to kind of run through it the first time, and you know
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what? If it takes us an extra two weeks to get this done because we have to do some
major editing to what staff does, I'm comfortable with that. It might...it might take us a
little longer, but I think...
Hayek/Do it right!
Mims/Yeah, I think do it right, and I think for staff to sit down and start the process is better
than...it's like seven people trying to edit something.
Dobyns/Well just...bat the ball back and forth maybe a few times is no great(both talking)
Mims/Yeah!
Hayek/Yeah, I think that's....I...I agree!
Throgmorton/And if...if we constrain things too much,then we lose the opportunity to learn
from the members of the committee and the process they go through.
Payne/Absolutely!
Throgmorton/ So...
Markus/The,uh, next issue that we had listed was the duration of work. We thought six months
was a reasonable time from the actual start date to the...we didn't put an absolute end
date in there because we wanted to wait, make sure you know that that's,uh...consistent
with the start of...after the passage of the resolution.
Champion/Well I would think we wouldn't start this until fall,wouldn't you think, I mean...
Markus/That was kind of our thought(several talking) Yeah,that it'd get to the end of August,
September. So...
Hayek/Well, it's...it's not so much the starting point as the duration that we should decide
tonight, so...(several talking)
Dobyns/My...my concern is that, I guess I have faith in the three ex officio members that if like
two months into it it looks like extrapolating it out,they're going to have...I don't want
them coming back to us in the fifth month and going,hey! We need an extension. But I
guess I would call upon the three ex officio members to...track them and see how they're
doing. Um...and...cause I wouldn't want it to go over six months. And as long as you
think that(mumbled) it's up to us to name the group,but...I assume that if they're
starting to slow down and get too expansive and they're having problems is that we will
recognize it on month two or three, rather than month five or six. (several talking)
Markus/Marian...Marian, you, um, your interpretation and Sue, your interpretation is that this'll
follow an open meetings process which requires minutes. So you'll be seeing progress as
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we move forward in the form of minutes on these and so you'll be informed as to what
kind of activities they're discussing and...and how they're progressing in that regard as
well.
Dobyns/But you'll be there in the trenches...at the time (both talking) real time.
Markus/Yep! Yes we will.
Mims/Well I think it's important as people are considering applying for this committee that they
...they have some idea, not only of the scope, which is what staff 11 bring back to us that
we can react to and decide on, but also some idea of the timeframe. Um, I think that can
make a huge difference for people in terms of their willingness to...to put their name in
the hat for something like this. So, I think, you know, saying six months, and then I think
as we get down to number six,the frequency of the meetings, I think that's really
important so people have an idea of what they're really committing to.
Hayek/Okay!
Markus/All right,the next item was the frequency of meetings. That's something that we really
think that...should be left to the committee to kind of decide how they want to have their
schedules set up in terms of work load and I think there's going to be some gaps between
the time that we start the process, we refine the issues that we're going to study, uh, we
probably end up bringing in different staffers and different staffers are compiling
information for them to evaluate so that they can get into these issues. So...the pace of
these meetings, you know, will probably get a little more frenetic as it gets later in the
process rather than at the beginning (both talking)
Dobyns/I think the limited duration will drive that.
Markus/Yes!
Hayek/My experience was...when I did Scattered Site,that...that staff worked with the chair,
who then worked with the members to figure out a schedule if you, you know, seven
different people are going to have different schedules, and so...but that had...worked
itself out. And will.
Mims/I mean I think it's reasonable that you know as the application materials and stuff are put
together...you know,just the idea that, yeah, we're talking six months and you know the
committee'11 decide on the frequency, but you know that realistically I think people need
to look at,you know, anywhere from once to twice a month, I mean, I think if they only
have six meetings,they're not going to get much done. (several talking) Um, but they
may not necessarily need to meet twice a month every single month, and...you know,
maybe it'll get closer to the end and they're doing it weekly, I mean...
Dobyns/ ...they're going to find out they're falling behind.
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Mims/ So...that's my concern,that it's...once a month isn't going to do it so...
Dobyns/(mumbled)
Mims/But yeah, leave it to them to decide.
Hayek/Okay! Thanks for that, uh, guidance, Torn. Let's move on.
Throgmorton/If I could raise one other point that's not on Tom's memo. I think we should also
explicitly direct the committee to seek the advice of relevant commissions, interested
public groups, and...and if necessary the general public (both talking)
Champion/(mumbled) automatically do that!
Throgmorton/Well...
Champion/I don't want to direct them to do that.
Throgmorton/Not necessarily,they wouldn't necessarily do that. I mean...but, you know,
here...here's why I suggest it, Connie. Uh,because the Human Rights Commission has
already been doing some work. They have an immigration subcommittee which...and
they've proposed a resolution that...that's in our packet somewhere,uh, and the
committee might want to take that into account. It seems to me they probably would, but
you know, given the focus, I...I'm not absolutely certain. And uh, likewise,there are,uh,
at least a couple other groups around town that have been focusing attention on this. We
got the...the memo from, or the email from Dorothy Whiston, for example, on the point,
and it's not telling `em...I'm not suggesting tell them that we should tell the commission
to do what these groups want. I don't mean that,but to just...connect with `em.
Hayek/Well I would...at a minimum, I would...I think, again, I'm speaking from past
experience,but...but staff would...would bring to the attention of the committee
members what's out there,what the Council is seeing. Urn...
Payne/And what resources they have available.
Hayek/Yeah.
Mims/Yeah.
Hayek/And that would occur on the front end. Not necessarily a syllabus but...
Dobyns/(mumbled) as long as you don't name specific organizations...to get away from, I mean
like(mumbled)when you said before is that we don't want to...we want to give them the
liberty to consider all sorts of ideas, but I just wouldn't want to name, uh, organizations.
You know, relevant organizations I think is sufficiently non-specific.
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Throgmorton/Yeah.
Dobyns/I would make the case where it's almost condescending to tell them that, but um...I
wouldn't want it more specific than that.
Hayek/Let's see what staff comes back with at...at our next meeting. Okay! We've got about
20 minutes here. Let's, uh, do a quick review of the strategic plan status report as it
relates to neighborhood stabilization. Mr. Fruin!
Review of the Strategic Plan Status Report (Neighborhood Stabilization) (IP4):
Fruin/Let me jump right in! Okay, um,hopefully everybody got a chance to kind of skim
through the status report. This is really...this is the second status report we've provided,
but really the first one that...that shows progress to date. So hopefully you find this, uh,
document useful. I know it's certainly useful from a staff point to keep us focused and on
point with what your goals are for the coming year. Urn, with that being said, it...it is the
first time we've put something like this together, so if...if there's some things in here it's
missing or you know even from a formatting standpoint, some things we can do to make
it,uh, more readable and more helpful to you,please let us know and we can make those
changes as we, um, move along. Our plan, uh, in the month of June was to try to get
through this whole document. Know you've got a busy work session,uh, tonight,urn,
and we're likely to have another busy one at your next meeting, so um,this could carry
over, if we don't make it through. Tonight we thought we'd spend a few minutes just
walking you through the neighborhood stabilization, uh, priority, which, uh, has
probably, urn...garnered the most attention,um, in these early months. So, urn,the way
that this lays out, and I'm looking at page 15 on the document, um, again, for each goal
what we try to do is list our action plan. So here are the items that staff 11 be
investigating, uh, throughout the year. The questions we will be asking. The research
we'll be conducting. And...and ultimately, some of these may come back to you in the
form of ordinances or recommendations on policies and what not. Urn, and some may
never, you know, make it to the surface. We may decide that,uh, for whatever reason,
you know,that...that policy or that action would not be appropriate here. Urn, so if you
have any questions on where we stand with some of these items, feel free to...to jump in
and ask that. What I'd like to do is skip to...to page 18 which talks about some of our
progress to date, these first few months, and, uh, we've broken this, urn, goal or priority
out into...into six different categories and I'll just take a couple minutes and touch upon
the, uh,the action items that we've accomplished in...in these categories. Certainly
under land use regulations,urn, it's been pretty public, the three zoning changes that, uh,
that Council, um, ultimately approved, urn, over the last...course of the last several
months. Uh,that certainly sets the stage for a...really a changing dynamic when it comes
to off-campus housing. Um, but we need to look at this further. We...we've...we've
restricted some...some development,uh, when it comes to the...to the off-campus
housing or the multi-family housing and we recognize now that we need to identify those
areas where we want to focus that type of housing or that, uh, you know, development for
that market segment. So what we're doing is we're having these discussions, uh,
internally right now on changes to land use regulations, uh, looking at the geography...of
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the, uh, of the city and trying to see where, uh,perhaps higher densities are even more
appropriate. So,uh,those areas will tend to be ones that are, um, you know, fairly
isolated from...from other neighborhoods...so that some of these nuisance effects and
spillovers,uh, don't become a problem,but what I guess you should expect to see in the
coming months are some...are some additional,um, action items that will allow for
greater densities in various parts of town, and uh, we hope to, uh, as we move forward
with that, reach out and get some, uh, input from both the development community, the
University, and...and some other stakeholders that...that can help shape those
regulations.
Mims/Geoff, I would just throw out something that we haven't talked about at all at Council, but
I would just throw it out for staffs consideration as you're going through some of these
things. In terms of neighborhood stabilization, one of the criticisms that we have heard is
not just in terms of density and parking and things like that, but also the size of some of
these structures as,um, in certain situations people have bought, you know, a couple of
adjacent lots and have torn down a couple of houses and have put up kind of a mega-
structure. I would be interested, and I don't know if the rest of the Council is or not, and
I don't...obviously don't want to ask staff to do something if the rest of Council isn't
interested, but looking at,uh, regulations that would have to do with the footprint and/or
overall mass of a building in some of these near-neighborhood areas that are
predominantly single-family homes. Um, whether they're rental properties or owner-
occupied or not,when you drive down the street, and it is predominantly single-family
homes, okay, or even in some of the older, larger homes that were built, you know, back
in the 30s or 40s or whatever, um...what is our vision of those areas, and should we and
could we realistically put restrictions on the footprint of any building that could go up in
those neighborhoods? Um...
Champion/Yeah,you certainly...well,you certainly can if there is a historic preservation
overlay of any kind. So, I think that's a valid concern and a good one.
Mims/Yeah, and...and whether it has the historic overlay or not, I don't know if the rest of
Council or a majority is interested in having staff look at something like that or not.
Throgmorton/You...you mean in situations where multiple pieces of adjacent property are...are
aggregated (both talking)
Mims/Right.
Throgmorton/ ...and then suddenly you can build a much larger building(both talking)
Mims/Right, in terms of putting restrictions of saying I don't care how many lots you put
together,within this area, because it's predominantly single-family homes, we would not
allow a structure with a footprint bigger than such and such. I mean, so you don't drive
down the street and you've got three single-family homes and now you've got this mega-
structure. Density wise it might fit,but just physical size wise, it doesn't match the
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neighborhood. I don't know if people are interested in looking at something like that or
not.
Hayek/Well, I am. I...I thought we...we'd had this at least initial discussion, cause this...your
idea has...has come up before and...and I thought that was kind of part of a list of what
you were looking at and I was...as you were saying this kind of scrolling and looking
at...is land assembly the term you...
Fruin/Yeah, land assembly and subdivision policies is what we've kind of coined that. We've
had some initial discussions,urn, on that. We're certainly not prepared right now to
come (both talking)
Mims/No, I understand!
Fruin/I know exactly where you're coming from.
Mims/I mean, I had talked before about the idea of people putting lots together and building a
big structure, and I know we had had a little bit of discussion and I know...I think
Eleanor had said yeah, but people still could get around that by going through the process
of making it one lot.
Hayek/Right.
Mims/And so then it was just kind of bouncing around in my head and saying,well,what about
if we could put a footprint, a maximum footprint for certain neighborhoods that are
primarily older single-family homes that we're trying to stabilize. Is that, I mean,before
Geoff goes off and spends time on that, is that something that other Council Members
(both talking)
Champion/I'm definitely interested! Definitely! (several talking) I think it's a major concern
and...and a lot of, urn, people are buying up single-family homes to do that very thing
you're talking about.
Hayek/More general question—I think I know the answer to this, but I mean,there are so many
items on this list, and it's...it's...and....and they touch upon different departments, and
so you're going to have different tasks that come back to you at different points during
the...the coming months. We're not going to be taking up like, uh, a slew of
neighborhood stabilization measures all in...at one time. We'll take these up as they are
ready for Council consideration, is that it?
Fruin/Right, and some of`em, you....they need to work together. So you might see a couple
that are packaged together, um,but no, you know, you saw the first three, and I don't
think...at least I don't right now anticipate that you'll see anything of that magnitude
presented at the same time...doing forward.
Hayek/Okay.
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Fruin/Uh,moving on to, uh, public infrastructure and open space. This is one where we don't
expect to see a whole lot of action,uh,this particular year. I think more important for
staff is we begin to prepare the capital budget or the recommendations for the capital
budget next year,urn, we are going to, you know,be looking at what your priorities are
and we expect that our recommendations to you, urn, come this fall are going to reflect
what your priorities are. So we're going to be looking at those neighborhood investments
and uh,what makes sense going forward. We,uh, we...we will look for opportunities as
they come up throughout the year. Uh...one is, uh, coming before you here in the month
of June. You actually set the public hearing at your last meeting, and that was to redirect
some CDBG funds for a spray park, uh, a spray pad at, uh, Fairmeadows Park, urn, on
Miami Drive. So as...as funding opportunities—capital funding opportunities—come up
throughout the year,we'll look at those and obviously in this case we're recommending
one that we think would benefit that neighborhood quite a bit. The private building
stock,uh, certainly we've had a lot of discussions about UniverCity, so I'm not going to
go into that program. It continues to move forward. We continue to get,uh, great
feedback from the neighborhoods, uh, in terms of the impact that that is having, and
that's, uh,you know, that's working in conjunction with our traditional GRIP program,
which is our,um, general rehabilitation improvement program. One, uh, one new
element that's, uh, listed here on page 19, uh,the third paragraph there under `private
building stock,' is part of the CDBG action plan, uh,that you have approved. We've got
a new, uh, rehabilitation,uh,program that's going on, and this one's a little different in
that there's some funds available for some exterior maintenance, which we...which we
felt was an important element to introduce. Urn, so you know we'll see how that goes,
urn, our...our planning staff are working to put that together and uh, you know, ready to
get started on that as soon as those funds become...become available at the,uh, start of
the fiscal year. The, uh, open stakeholder communication—this is...this is certainly an
important piece of this,uh, going forward. We need to...we need to,you know,make
sure that we've established connections with the various stakeholder groups, whether it's
developers,the University, neighbors, urn, as we look at land-use policies; as we look at
nuisance mitigation policies and practices. Urn, I think we just want to make sure that
we're getting the input that we need to have in order to...to put those recommendations
before you. So, as...certainly as you hear, um, from...from different stakeholders, please
feel free to share that with us and we'll...we'll reach out to them and make sure that
they're,uh, included in some of those discussions. Uh,jumping to nuisance mitigation, I
don't believe we've had anything come before you, um, so far in the first few months.
Uh,however, um, I can tell you that the, uh, building staff has, um...been looking at this
very carefully and hopefully...as you scan through the...the progress to date you'll notice
some considerable action on their part and...and one...I guess I'd characterize it as being
a little bit more proactive than we have in the past, uh, particularly with overoccupancy
issues and that tends to be where we get the most, um, complaints or the most,uh,
nuisance generated from or those instances where there's...there's more people living in
the...in the dwelling units than...than are permitted. So, you know, for example, uh, a
couple....one of the things that we...we've done is, urn, you know, we'll periodically
scan advertisements, uh, for apartments, rental opportunities, and if we...we see a unit
that's being, you know, advertised as for five, six, or seven people and it's only licensed
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Agar
June 5,2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 27
for three or four, we can proactively, you know, make that call to the...to the person
that's leasing that space or sub-leasing that space, and hopefully correct it before it's even
started. And I think that's a positive step forward. Uh,the University's also been great
to work with,urn,they've allowed us to use some of their information from their student
directory so that we can, uh, make sure that, you know,there's not seven people listed at
an address that's only permitted for three. So that's an example of some of the more
proactive measures that we're taking, uh, going forward. Uh,the...the, you know, I
talked about the stakeholder communication,urn...Doug and his staff have met with
some neighborhood groups on a couple of occasions and tried to understand what their
big concerns were or major concerns were, and...and urn...based on those conversations,
we're looking at some,uh, some changes to policies or practices that may address them,
and I talked a little bit about the trash and debris ordinance in here, and uh, some of the
measures we can take. We're going to be a little bit more proactive with our trash,
debris, litter kind of sweeps that we...that we will occasionally do and just make sure that
the neighborhoods are being, you know, urn,kept up from that aspect and we'll also look
at ordinance changes if we think they're appropriate and those'11 come back to you.
Lastly I'll just mention,uh,you've got a memo in your packet tonight, uh, summarizing
the `good ideas campaign.' That was really an integral part of the, uh, Comprehensive
Plan rewrite,uh,that is...that is coming together. Certainly the Comprehensive Plan, as
you all know, urn, plays a major role in...in neighborhoods and...and how the city
develops. So as we work on that,uh,throughout the summer and into the fall,um, we're
all...we're going to keep in mind, uh,the priorities that you've set forward in...in this
plan and...and I think when that comes back to...to you after it's been through Planning
Commission,hopefully you'll notice the steps that we've taken to...you know, ensure
that these neighborhoods are developing in the manner in which you, uh, feel is
appropriate.
Hayek/Okay. Thanks, Geoff. Uh, I would say this is a really great document to have at our
disposal and to revisit periodically to gauge our,uh, progress.
Mims/(mumbled)
Throgmorton/Can I say one very...very quick thing? Uh, about the power of,uh, high quality
parks to help stabilize older neighborhoods. North Market Square Park is a huge success
right now. I mean, I go by there every day, you know, and I see kids, young guys out
there playing basketball and families playing with their kids and people out there
throwing the Frisbee around and other people sittin' on benches and...it...it is really
helping, and I know the gazebo's going up at,well, almost literally as we speak. So
it's...it's great to see!
Discussion of Joint Agenda Items (IP5):
Hayek/Good! That's great! Okay, let's uh...get through the rest of this in quick fashion here.
Next is discussion of joint agenda items. As you know the next joint meeting will be, uh,
hosted by the County at the,uh, Courthouse and Jail, and, urn, it will include a tour of
those facilities.
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Mims/And didn't we (both talking)
Karr/Mr. Mayor, you have a handout tonight which, uh,we just got yesterday that basically says
to accommodate the busy schedules,they're going to offer jail tours at both 3:00 and
5:30, and those wishing to take the tour at 3:00 then'll take the tour of the Courthouse at
4:00, and they would appreciate people selecting the time so they can accommodate the
groups. Urn, in addition to that,they're going to let us know next week if there is an
agenda or whether it'll simply be tours, and that agenda decision is based on the agenda
item that each entity presents. So this'd be our last opportunity to...to do that.
Champion/I would like to make a pitch for everyone to go on the tour of the jail especially, and
the courthouse, instead of having an agenda item. I wish everybody would do that from
all the local entities that would ordinarily attend this meeting because I...I think you'll be
in for a big surprise.
Hayek/Yeah, I agree. I think, I mean, if...if the only agenda item I would propose we talk about
is the issue that they're giving us a tour regarding because that's coming up on the public
quickly.
Throgmorton/On...on that point I've only seen one architectural rendering, one drawing of the
building, and it's only from one particular point of view. We don't...don't know what it
looks like,would look like from Madison Street or from,uh, Court Street.
Champion/I'm sure they'll have a model there (both talking)
Karr/They're going to have...they're going to have all of that there for discussion(several
talking)
Champion/ ...it's not an architectural...it's just blocks that they kind of put(mumbled)
Hayek/Okay! Everybody okay with this approach to the joint meeting?
Karr/No agenda items?
Payne/ So do we let you know or do we let them know?
Karr/You can let me know, or it doesn't make any difference,whichever's easiest for you.
Throgmorton/Well at some point we need to be talking about the...a new elementary school on
the east side. So I don't know when to do that, maybe this meeting is not the time to do it
but...
Champion/Well, it's a time to mention it. There is a group working on that particular thing.
Hayek/Well let's...let's focus just on the jail thing (both talking)
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Champion/Right...
Karr/ So no agenda items?
Hayek/I think for...for this, yeah, I think that's right, and if they're going to be providing the
information that Jim's...
Karr/It might be better than if each of you just communicated and that's...you have Andy's
email. You could cc me if you'd like,but that way then as your schedules change you
can get right to Andy.
Champion/Okay.
Hayek/Okay.
Karr/And I'll communicate with them—no agenda items.
Information Packets:
Hayek/Thanks! Okay, uh, info packets. Uh...first is May 17th. Note your, uh, KXIC slot.
Champion/Oh!
Payne/I think I'm tomorrow.
Throgmorton/I'm tomorrow!
Payne/Oh, good!
Champion/Does anybody know when I am? (laughter and several talking)
Mims/Jim is tomorrow; Michelle's next week,the 13th
Champion/And what am I?
Mims/I'm...you are the 25th of July.
Champion/Perfect! I remember it was late! (laughter)
Payne/I actually have it on the 6th. I'll move it to the 13th. That's actually better for my
schedule. So...
Hayek/You're the 13th!
Throgmorton/Okay.
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Hayek/You're tomorrow,Jim.
Throgmorton/Okay.
Dickens/If anybody can't go, luckily I missed the meeting when you picked all of(several
laughing) I'm available the next two months, so...(several talking)
Hayek/Anything else,uh, on the May 17 packet? Okay. May 24th packet. (several talking)
Champion/ ...I can't do that! I have to start over every time I need to look at something.
Mims/I'll show you(mumbled)
Payne/Matt good at using the...really?
Hayek/Yeah, I know! (several talking)
Champion/I'm getting there. I mean, I couldn't do anything a week ago!
Hayek/I'll show you my $18 cell phone when I'm done with this! (laughter) Rest of you think
I'm that savvy! Okay! Uh, and then,uh, the 31St. Info packet from the 31St. Okay. That
brings us to Council time!
Council Time:
Throgmorton/In the last two weeks I've attended lots of committee meetings on behalf of this
Council, so thanks! Michelle and I learned a lot about(laughter)the regional workforce
investment system, oh my gosh! That was a blur of new information. For me!
Payne/We did find out about the committee too; the Council appoints Jim and the Governor
appointed me, so that's the difference between how we get appointed.
Hayek/Well look at you! (laughter)
Champion/Are you a Republican? (laughter)
Dickens/I just have a question for Marian. (mumbled) ...transit do they send you the minutes,
or should I get those to you?
Karr/(unable to hear)
Dickens/Okay.
Karr/ So if you'd like them in the packet, you'll have to drop them off.
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Dickens/All right.
Karr/Or send `em!
Pending Work Session Issues:
Hayek/Any other Council time? Okay. Pending work session issues. IP6. Got a lot on the `to
be scheduled' list.
Mims/Yes!
Throgmorton/Yeah, it expanded pretty fast!
Hayek/Not to mention I think we should come back to the strategic planning items.
Mims/Yes!
Meeting Schedule/Upcoming Events/Council Invitations:
Hayek/Every few months or...okay. (several talking) Meeting schedule or uh...and upcoming
events and Council invites. Anything on that? Our meeting schedule is somewhere.
How about that for specificity?
Dickens/It's on the second (several talking)
Hayek/IP 1 —got it! (laughter) Okay!
Payne/We've only went through August, so far we haven't done anything past then,right?
Mims/Right.
Karr/Right, not...we'll come back probably...I can come back any time,but usually I don't go
more than two months ahead because people's schedule change. So I had it right now
tentatively scheduled for discussion July 10th
Payne/Sounds perfect!
Hayek/ Great. Okay, anything else for the good of the order?
Mims/Move to adjourn.
Payne/Second.
Hayek/Let's adjourn and we'll come back at 7:00. Good job, everybody!
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