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Home My WebLink About2012-06-21 Info PacketCITY OF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET MISCELLANEOUS IP1 Council Tentative Meeting Schedule June 21, 2012 I132 Invitation from Iowa Association of Regional Councils and East Central Iowa Council of Governments: Regional Roundtable Discussion IP3 Civil Service Entrance Examination — Human Resources Generalist IP4 Civil Service Entrance Examination — Buyer I — Purchasing IP5 Civil Service Entrance Examination — Budget Management Analyst I136 Email from City Manager: Local Music Project IP7 Copy of letter from Timothy Orin: S. Gilbert Street North of McCollister DRAFT MINUTES IP8 Housing & Community Development Commission: May 17 �.:.r City Council Tentative Meeting Schedule IN s ,� June 21, 2012 CITY OF IOWA CITY Subject to change Date Time Meeting Location Wednesday, July 04, 2012 Tuesday, July 10, 2012 Tuesday, July 10, 2012 Tuesday, July 10, 2012 Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Tuesday, August 21, 2012 Tuesday, August 21, 2012 Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Independence Day - City Offices Closed 5:00 PM City Conference Board Meeting 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting 7:OO13M Regular Formal Meeting 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting 7:OO13M Regular Formal Meeting 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting 7:OOPM Regular Formal Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall Emma J. Harvat Hall IP2 (A Iowa Association of I* Regional Councils The Iowa Association of Regional Councils (IARC) and East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) invite you to a regional roundtable discussion. This discussion and planning session will focus on strategies for enhancing partnerships between workforce agencies and transit providers in an effort to increase transportation options to unemployed Iowans. Please join us for this discussion on July 25, 2012 from 10 AM to 12 noon at Johnson County SEATS 4810 Melrose Avenue West Iowa City, Iowa r 1 IP3 CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa S2240-1826 (319) 356 -5000 (319) 356 -5009 FAX www.lcgov.org June 18, 2012 TO: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council RE: Civil Service Entrance Examination — HUMAN RESOURCES GENERALIST Under the authority of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, I do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Human Resources Generalist. Tracy Robinson IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Lyra N. Dickerson, Chair :W%iMfiiZW1.W. IP4 no CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Street Iowa City. Iowa $2240 -1826 (319) 356.5000 (319) 356 -5009 FAX www.icgov.org May 1, 2012 TO: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council RE: Civil Service Entrance Examination — BUYER I -- PURCHASING Under the authority of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, I do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Buyer I - Purchasing. Christine Weinard IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Lyr W. Dickerson, Chair r GPs CITY OF IOWA CITY 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826 (319) 3S6 -5000 (319) 3S6 -5009 FAX www.icgov.org May 22, 2012 TO: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council RE: Civil Service Entrance Examination — Budget Management Analyst Under the authority of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, I do hereby certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Budget Management Analyst. Simon Andrew IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION Lyra . Dickerson, Chair Marian Karr From: Tom Markus Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 12:02 PM To: Marian Karr Subject: FW: Press re: local music project Please share with council in our new format ie virtual info packet ? ?? From: Geoff Fruin Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 10:02 AM To: 'Susan Craig' Cc: Tom Markus Subject: RE: Press re: local music project Thanks for sharing! From: Susan Craig [mailto:susan -craig @icpl.org] Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 8:43 AM To: Geoff Fruin; Adam Bentley Subject: Press re: local music project IP6 Nice blog "article" about our local music project : http: / /www.Iibra rian. net /stax /3869 /ma king -it- happen -iowa- city - public - library - licenses - local -m usic- for - patrons/ fyi Susan Craig Library Director 319-356-5241 VMS& 10 CITy °"" LIBRARY Iowa City is a UNESCO City of Literature librarian.net » Blog Archive » Making it Happen — Iowa City Public Library licenses loca... Page 1 of 5 librarian.net book! faq about talks putting the rarin back in librarian since 1999 Making it Happen — Iowa City Public Library licenses local music for patrons Posted in libraries I Friday, June 8th, 2012 13 Comments » Trackback Tags: copyright, drm, icl, iowa, licensing, music File this one under "why I still read press releases even though 95% of them are junk" Got a nice email from John Hiett of Iowa City Public Library letting me know about their local music project which is launching today. Hiett explains: "We're offering local cardholders free, DRM -less downloads of records by local musicians. We've leased the rights for a two year period at $100 per record. We launch this beast June 8 at music.icpl.org. We have over 30 albums locked down, but the list is growing and we expect to top out at around 50. This includes most of the best known Iowa City bands over the last couple decades." Marian Karr From: Timothy Orion <oneopshu n @yahoo. com> Sent: Friday, June 15, 2012 10:36 AM To: PlanningZoningPublic Cc: Council Subject: S. Gilbert Street North of McCollister (REZ12- 00012) To the Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission, IP7 My name is Timothy Orion and I am the property owner of 823 McCollister Court, Iowa City, IA 52240. I am officially and formally submitting my disapproval and rejection of the proprosed rezoning located at S. Gilbert Street, north of McCollister (REZ12- 00012). I, in no way, support the rezoning proposal /application submitted by Southgate Development Services or any other entity concerning this location. This rezoning will completely ruin my neighborhood/community in numerous ways. Here is a list to name a few: Lowered property value for all neighboring property owners, increased traffic and traffic safety, increased crime, increased noise pollution, destruction of aesthetic value and appeal, increased safety concerns for families and their children in the community, increased safety concerns for families and their children that utilize the nearby Napoleon Park and Trueblood Pond, increased safety concerns for the City of Iowa City property and employees at the Public Works complex across the street, increased safety concerns for the local wildlife. These concerns are long term and can not be fixed if the rezoning happens. The only benefit this will give anyone in and out of Iowa City, is the short term financial gain for Southgate Development Services. They don't live in this neighborhood, I do. They don't have to worry about the short and long term negative effects, I do. They don't have to worry about their property value going down, I do. Nothing, I repeat, nothing positive will result in the rezoning of this area. I again submit my official and formal disapproval and rejection of the proposed rezoning at S. Gilbert Street, north of McCollister (REZ12- 00012). Thank you for your time and please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. Timothy Orion Property Owner of 823 McCollister Court Iowa City, IA 52240 319 -538 -1852 IP8 MINUTES PRELIMINARY HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MAY 17, 2012 — 6:30 PM DALE HELLING CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Michelle Bacon Curry, Andrew Chappell, Cheryll Clamon, Scott Dragoo, Jarrod Gatlin, Holly Hart, Jim Jacobson MEMBERS ABSENT: Charlie Drum, Rachel Zimmermann Smith STAFF PRESENT: Tracy Hightshoe, Steve Rackis OTHERS PRESENT: None RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CITY COUNCIL: The Commission voted 7 -0 to recommend to City Council approval of the proposed amendments to the Iowa City Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Administrative Plan and Admissions and Continued Occupancy (ACOP) Plan. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Chappell at 6:30 p.m. APPROVAL OF THE APRIL 19, 2012 MINUTES: Jacobson moved to approve the minutes. Gatlin seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. STAFF /COMMISSION COMMENT: Hightshoe announced the grand opening of Trumpet Blossom Cafe, a CDBG assisted business. The opening invite had coupons /reduced cost menu items that were available. The business was distributing to the general public as a way to advertise the store. The Council also just approved the CDBG application for Molly's Cupcakes. The original business is based out of Chicago and this will be their first franchise. It is a full- service bakery, specializing in cupcakes. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION May 17, 2012 PAGE 2 of 8 She also announced that staff just completed a staff recommendation for another CDBG application from IBLITZ Boxing and Fitness, LLC. The fitness club, to be located in Sycamore Mall, specializes in boxing and kickboxing techniques. She said the FY13 Annual Action Plan was approved by City Council. She said that, like previous years, there were requests during that public comment period for changes to the HCDC recommended allocation. She said this year the requests came from Habitat for Humanity and the Crisis Center for increased funding; however the Council approved as HCDC recommended. She reminded the Commission that several of the member's terms will be expiring soon and provided the date by which they must reapply if interested. Chappell recounted for the Commission his experience as a representative of HCDC at the City Council meeting of the previous night. He said Council was quite deferential regarding the Commission's recommendations for funding allocations. He said the allocations were approved with very little discussion other than to affirm that they were comfortable with the way the recommendations were reached. Chappell said there was talk at the last meeting of putting some discussion on the agenda about possibly requiring Davis -Bacon for all projects instead of just when required by federal law. He said he wants to talk to the legal department about it and see how it fits into the Commission's purview and whether there are other things they should talk about requiring as far as wages and benefits are concerned. Jacobson asked Rackis to clarify discussion from last night's Council meeting about selling public housing. Rackis said the issue dates back to about six months ago when Connie Champion asked what had happened to the Housing Authority's Home Ownership Program. He said the Housing Authority gave the Council a report and an update and explained that due to the funding mechanisms of HUD, the Housing Authority decided that they would retain no less than 80 public housing units. He said that Champion then asked if they could sell units in a particular neighborhood and replace them elsewhere, which led to the discussion of whether or not they could sell all of them. Rackis said the Housing Authority talked to HUD and then issued a memo to Council about what could and could not be done. He said at that point the Mayor said he wanted to sell 10 -12 public housing units and use those proceeds to fund the UniverCity Program. He said that although this wasn't stated at the meeting, in the memo the Housing Authority said that they could support the UniverCity Program without selling any public housing units. He explained how that was possible. He said that City Council wants the Housing Authority to show them the numbers, and no action was taken at the meeting last night. Rackis said that one of the goals of CITY STEPS is permanent, affordable housing and that's what public housing is. He said it doesn't cost the City anything, and with those units the City has control, which means neighborhood stabilization. Jacobson asked if the Mayor gave any rationale at the meeting for why he wanted to sell off 12- 20 units of public housing. Rackis said the only rationale he gave was to put money into the UniverCity Program so the City didn't have to use General Funds. Bacon Curry asked about the status of the Housing Fellowship's application for funding to build units along Muscatine. Hightshoe said the Housing Fellowship was not approved for City financial assistance for these units. The City selected a different proposal for the IEDA multi- HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION May 17, 2012 PAGE 3 of 8 family rental housing program submitted by Skogman Realty for seven townhomes along First Ave. in northeast Iowa City. IEDA has not awarded funding so the City's application is pending. PUBLIC MEETING: Review of the FY13 CDBG /HOME and Aid to Agency Allocation Process Hightshoe explained that each year the Commission reviews the just finished allocation process. Some years they make comments; other years they form a subcommittee to do a more comprehensive review. Chappell asked members what they'd like to discuss or investigate further. He said he would like to have some feedback from the applicants about the process through confidential conversations with the Commission. He asked for discussion about how the Commission might look into the best way to solicit the feedback. Clamon said she liked the idea of a subcommittee, but that she had not been through this process before. Hart asked why the feedback would be confidential. Chappell said he would want them to have the opportunity to talk without considering how they present themselves and what they say may have an effect on how much funding they get the next year. Hightshoe said they could use an online survey, but because IT charges back, it could get quite expensive. She said they could send out a survey to last year's applicants and include a postage paid envelope so the source would not be known. She said the Commission could develop a survey tool and the questions they want to ask. Chappell suggested that they include applicants from the last three fiscal years. Bacon Curry asked if it would helpful to declare a focus when they ask for applications, for instance, rental housing applications that are diverse in location. Hightshoe said in the City's year -end report to HUD she has to summarize what the accomplishments were compared to the stated goals in the Five Year Plan. She said they start to solicit applications in December, so that would be a good time to notify applicants if they are short in certain areas and have not met an identified need. HUD requires the City to explain why the stated goals have not been met. Chappell said he is interested in seeing what the numbers are regarding the Action Plan and what they have actually done. He said he personally didn't start out the year with any pre- conceived ideas about what to fund, but there did seem to be a trend toward rental housing. He said he thought perhaps the applications revealed to the Commission what the focus should be. Bacon Curry said that was her question, whether the applicants reveal the focus to the Commission or the Commission tells the applicants what they would like to focus on. Gatlin said he would like to stay away from pushing people to tailor their applications. He said he thinks the Commission should fund what they think is appropriate and he wouldn't want to give any guidance to anyone. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION May 17, 2012 PAGE 4 of 8 Chappell said that adjustments to CITY STEPS would tell people what applications they should be looking to produce. Hightshoe explained that HUD is asking for more detailed justifications and recommends spending more time when reviewing the Five Year Plan as to what the community needs are within that time period. Bacon Curry said the timing issues are becoming increasingly important so it would be helpful if people could have a reminder from an already established plan that says what the Commission is looking for. Hightshoe said when they did the Five Year Plan they anticipated more money; however the funds have been cut by about 30 %. The City won't be able to complete as many projects with reduced funds and will have to adjust our goals when reviewing CITY STEPS this fall. Chappell asked for members interested in serving on subcommittees for the above referenced project as well as the survey. Clamon, Dragoo and Gatlin volunteered to serve on a subcommittee looking into a survey and evaluations of the funding process, with Dragoo serving as Chair. Hightshoe said it would be beneficial to make the formal recommendation to the full commission in September. Hart and Jacobson volunteered to review CITY STEPS goals vs. accomplishments. Hightshoe explained that the Community Development division began administering Aid to Agencies as of July 1st so there might be some staff recommendations regarding changes in the Aid to Agencies process or notifying agencies that it might not be the same allocation process in subsequent years. Chappell said he got the impression that City Council wanted a closer review of the Aid to Agency allocations. He said he never felt that he had sufficient information to draw distinctions about the funding that Council seemed to want. Review of the Iowa City Housing Authority Administrative Plan and Admissions & Continued Occupancy Plan Rackis said that HUD requires the Housing Authority to have the Housing Choice Voucher Program, which requires that you have an administrative plan that states how you are going to operate the program. He said in some of the selection and termination criteria, HUD has things that you must do and things that you may do. As there is room for discretion, it must be identified in the plan. He said what they want to do is to add burglary in the 2 "d degree or higher as a criminal activity for which they can deny an application. He said their focus right now is primarily violent criminal activity, drug - related activity, and anything that leads to fraud and forgery. Rackis said that disorderly house was carrying a three year period of ineligibility, which may be excessive, so they want to change that to a one -year period of ineligibility. He said if the activity constitutes violent criminal behavior, there will be a three -year period of ineligibility, but if the activity does not constitute violent criminal activity, the period of ineligibility will be one year. Rackis said that prior to 2010 the only way the Housing Authority could deny an application was if someone owed another housing authority money. He said in the proposed changes they are HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION May 17, 2012 PAGE 5 of 8 covering every type of federally assisted housing that's mentioned in the 1937 act as amended and everything that's in the definitions in 24.CFR 5.100. He explained that they are including all projects in CITY STEPS and city financing so that if a person owes money based on any type of federal, state or city loan or obligation, then the Housing Authority can deny them assistance. Chappell asked if there was a reason they didn't have the same hold true if they owed a private landlord money. Rackis cited an instance of a landlord in town who would charge whichever family that was in residence the complete replacement charge when it was time for the carpet replacement cycle. He said those people don't necessarily go through the small claims process and end up owing a large amount of money. He explained that federally assisted housing has oversight. He explained that some of the impetus for this change was that the Housing Authority has a residency preference and Pheasant Ridge doesn't. He said that Pheasant Ridge will not rescind a lease. He said that they also felt it was coming out of the same pot of money and they didn't feel they should be assisting someone while they owe another agency that same money. Bacon Curry asked about someone like The Housing Fellowship who receives federal funds but is a private landlord as well. Rackis said they would be included as federal funds assisted that unit under an affordable housing program. Bacon Curry asked about home ownership and if this proposal applies to foreclosures. She said she wants to know if the language is clear enough that the UniverCity Program would be excluded. Rackis said it applies more to the rental side. He said the Housing Authority has time before its public hearing to have further discussion about private landlords. Hightshoe, in response to Chappell's query, said that the UniverCity Program would be considered an affordable housing program as there are state and /or city funds involved. Rackis explained to the Commission how the hearing process works if the Housing Authority denies an application. Rackis said they want to change the language regarding preferences to restrict it to federally declared disasters in the State of Iowa. He gave one example of why staff has to spend excessive time on cases where someone claims they are displaced by government action or by a disaster and the facts don't back them up. He said this change will make it easier to verify information. Rackis said he is not pleased with the quality of referrals they are getting for the Family Unification Program because they don't meet the intent of the program. He gave several examples of such cases. He said he's had several meetings with DHS in the past years and they still are getting inappropriate referrals. He said for these reasons they want to remove this program from the Plan. Bacon Curry expressed her frustration that the goal is always family unification whether the caseworker thinks the family will ever be reunified and every case where the children are removed is classified eligible. Rackis agreed and said there are cases where they have been assisting a family with a three - bedroom voucher for two or three years and the children have not been released yet. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION May 17, 2012 PAGE 6 of 8 Chappell asked for a motion. Dragoo moved to recommend to City County approval of the proposed amendments to the Iowa City Housing Authority's Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Administrative Plan and Admissions and Continued Occupancy (ACOP) Plan. Bacon Curry seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. Rackis asked if anyone had questions about the Housing Authority's Annual Report. Dragoo asked about the numbers and timeframes of the terminations listed in the report. Rackis explained that those figures are for the last year only. He explained the differences between the numbers of those in good- standing and those terminated for cause. Chappell, the Commission and staff discussed the summer meeting schedule. The Commission agreed to meet before the Community Development Celebration on June 20. Staff will notify the Commission if there are agenda items that necessitate a July meeting. It was agreed not to have a meeting in August. Monitoring Reports • The Housing Fellowship — Chappell said the operating grant was used to support the salary of the finance manager. • Big Brothers, Big Sisters — Chappell said this organization uses the funds to support Iowa's efforts of matching youth with adult mentors in long -term friendships with positive outcomes. In the past year, offerings of group learning activities have increased and community service projects for children and their mentors. The funding from Iowa City is directly responsible for matching over 60 youth in the mentoring program. • Habitat for Humanity Chappell said that $210,000 of the allocation was spent on the purchase of a property in December, 2011. Bids are out for digging and the water and sewer, approximately $7,000, and two overhead doors, approximately $3,000. The remainder will be on adding restrooms and a new entrance. The facility is to be rented in August for teaching, with Kirkwood using it five days per week for area high schools and Habitat using it on weekends and in the evenings to teach youth. The rest of the allocation will go toward purchasing five lots for $28,500 each in the Saddlebrook 2 addition in the next 30 -45 days. An additional lot was purchased at 316 Fourth Avenue for $25,000 in December 2011, and the house and outbuildings are being torn down. • United Action for Youth — Dragoo said they spent most of the year looking for properties. They found an eligible property on 1221 —1231 Bloomington St., and the purchase offer has been accepted subject to a number of contingencies. They expect the property to close in early September. • The Crisis Center — Dragoo made a site visit there. The work on the floors in the Food Bank and the roof for the whole center has been completed. They are trying to hire a small, local contractor to do the work on the parking lot. That work was delayed because of the purchase of the property next door. • Mayor's Youth Empowerment — Dragoo got a tour of that facility. He said it's really nice; however it's not completed yet. • Old Brick — Dragoo said that they will have the work done next week. They will spend around $15,300 on it. HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION May 17, 2012 PAGE 7 of 8 • ARC — Dragoo had a tour of that facility. The bathroom and kitchen are done nicely. They are almost done with the sprinkler system. ADJOURNMENT: Clamon moved to adjourn. Jacobson seconded. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0. z O U) O U H z W 2 IL O J W W z D O U Z Q -00 0 N O z ^pp !n W 0 Z O U) U) O v z W a O J W W D Z O V z Q Z_ O O U W W N v `- Z C Q N D Z W 1- N W c c � N N a< Z° II II II W YXOZ x x x x o x x X o x X X X X X O O O cm x x w X X X X X x M O Go X X w X X X X X X M to N x X LU x X X x i X X X X X X X = X d W � O N O It O M O M O N O M O � O N O N N N N N N N N N w rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn H J J J W = W 2 v V W Z J W Q J w V z Q N O O W = V O Q H z J o Z O N V F- N Q W m U 0 D D (D 2 N N W c c � N N a< Z° II II II W YXOZ