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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-06-19 TranscriptionPage 1 ITEM 5a VACATING AIR RIGHTS WITHIN THE PUBLIC RIGHT -OF -WAY LOCATED ADJACENT TO THE PROPERTY AT 114 SOUTH DUBUQUE STREET, IOWA CITY, IOWA. (VAC12- 00003) 1. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. Public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Davidson: Good evening, Mr. Mayor and Members of the City Council. I'm Jeff Davidson, the Director of Planning and Community Development for the City. Item 5a on your agenda is a request from Marc B. Moen; uh, the action that is requested is to, uh, is a right -of -way vacation to allow the applicant to acquire the air rights to a portion of the public right -of -way along City Plaza, and Black Hawk Park, and this would allow the top 13 floors of a proposed 14 -story building, to cantilever 4- feet over the public right -of -way, and this is the Park at 201 project that you are very familiar with, located at 114 S. Dubuque Street. Um... as I said... as I mentioned, you're... you're very familiar with this project. Here is a site plan of what is proposed and I would clarify just one thing ... if I can get the mouse working here. Um, this is not drawn exactly right in that this little corner here should be filled in, okay? There's not a notch there. That ... it ... it's continuous 4- feet out on the west side of the building, 4 -feet out, uh, on the north side of the building. So it includes that small corner, uh, I did provide a site plan just so you can orient yourself. Paul Helen Building, Black Hawk, uh, Mini Park, and the pedestrian mall. Urn ... there are a couple of photos here. I think this one shows pretty clearly, uh, the ... the uh ... the cantilever as it would extend out, uh, over the pedestrian mall. And obviously, you know, one of the concerns is light and air and visual obtrusion and that sort of thing, and so this ... this gives you a feeling, albeit from a bit of a bird's eye view, not one that any of us will necessarily have, but uh, of...of, uh, the ... the impact of the cantilever, uh, as you look down Dubuque Street towards the, uh, hotel. I think the ... the next photo here. This shows real well, um, basically here and here, I think those ... yeah, those were the only... but... but gives you a notion of the, um ... basically the ... the amount of cantilever that we're talking about, uh, and the relationship of the first floor. This elevation right here is 16 -feet 8- inches where the cantilever would begin and then extend up to the, uh, remaining floors of the building. Uh, just a couple of other things ... uh, along ... uh, City Plaza then, it's basically 40- feet ... uh ... 40 -feet on this dimension, and 60 -feet along the Black Hawk Mini Park dimension. Um... in terms of reasons, uh, provided by the applicant, the cantilever will provide for a superior overall design of the building, create a much more pedestrian- friendly main floor retail space, uh, it will maximize the amount of class A office space on levels 2, 3, and 4; and it will allow recessed balconies, uh, you'll note the recessed balconies, uh, those would be enabled, uh, by the ... the cantilever. Um ... uh, the ... we also feel that the, uh, the cornice effect here is ... is one that, in terms of how the pedestrian scale relates to the ... to the rest of the building is ... is a positive, um, would have a positive impact as well. Uh, in terms of the actual vacation, uh ... many of you have been through a number of vacations. We have This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 2 set a number of criteria, uh, some of which don't... really, aren't really affected the way ... for example a street or alley vacation would be, but we ... we looked at all of them, as we always do. Impact on pedestrian and vehicular, uh, circulation and access. Obviously there is no, uh, vehicular, uh, circulation on the, uh, sides of the building where the cantilever would occur. Uh, similarly emergency and utility vehicle access — the uh, just outside of the frame of the picture here is where the fire lane occurs and there's no ... there's no interruption of the fire lane by what is proposed. Uh, utilities and easements will remain in their existing locations and not be impacted. Uh, in terms of the access provided to adjacent public property, um, not an issue with this. Uh, desirability of the right -of -way for access or circulation. You know, since it does ... does not begin until, uh, 16- feet, 8 ... really no impact on that as we see it. And then, you know, just any other, uh, relevant factors, uh, and we did not find there to be any. Um ... any questions about any of the vacation criteria that we went through? Um ... you know, one of the things that we ... we feel is, um, significant in terms of considering this request, and staff is recommending, uh, approval; the Planning and Zoning Commission also recommends approval, is that ... that the site is so small, uh, and that ... on a much larger site you might see the setback of the building, uh, to allow the cantilever, but with a site this small, uh, we feel like, um ... that would have a negative impact on the building in terms of the size of the retail space, the size of the office spaces, uh, which is of course a significant addition of, uh, taxable value to each of those floors, and then the ability to recess the balconies. If you... if you were to shrink the size of the site in order to accommodate the cantilever and then recess the balconies, it really results in residential units that are not viable, at least compared to, uh, what is proposed here. So, uh, as I mentioned staff recommends approval. Are there any, uh, questions that I can answer prior to your consideration? Throgmorton: I have one. Uh, how is the cantilevering and the construction likely to affect trees, uh, immediately adjacent to the building? Davidson: Yeah, you can ... you can see that there are trees, uh, adjacent to where the building will occur that ... that will be trimmed back, uh, for the construction, and ... and if you, you know, I was downtown and actually took time to ... to look up and down Washington Street and ... and College Streets and there are a lot of trees that touch buildings, uh, throughout the downtown and that's a positive thing, uh, so there's nothing unique here, Jim, compared to anywhere else, uh, in the ... in the pedestrian mall area, um, and ... and uh, you know, presumably those trees will grow back out and eventually touch the building again. Throgmorton: Okay. Davidson: Any other questions? Thank you! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 3 Hayek: Thanks, Jeff. Would anyone else from the public like to address the Council before I close the public hearing? Okay, I will close the public hearing at this time. (bangs gavel) 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Mims: Move first consideration. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Payne. Discussion? Dilkes: I just wanted to note, I don't think we handed out a revised ordinance, but we did include the amount of the con ... of the consideration that was left blank in the one that's in your packet. It's $31,759. Throgmorton: I ... I'm going to vote no, only to be consistent with an earlier vote with regard to the cantilevering itself. Hayek: As ... as am I and the ... the earlier vote we took was on the, uh, revised plans and this vote is on the vacation of air rights and they go hand -in -hand essentially, um, and although I ... I think this is a great project, my ... as I said before, my ... my problem is with encroaching on the right -of -way in the ... in the pedestrian mall. And I've spoken about those concerns before, but what I want to be clear is that my vote on this, and then the earlier plan revision, um, are in no way reflective of my feelings about the project. I think this is an excellent project for us to undertake and that's why I was supportive of, uh, the underlying TIF agreement. Just to clarify that. Champion: (mumbled) I am going to support it. I think it adds some architectural interest to a building that might look pretty stark otherwise. And I like the idea of the ... your sight being stopped from just going up. Dickens: And we already have some cantilever type things on the Jefferson Building... Champion: Well, yeah, that's lovely! Dickens: Well, but it overhangs and it's kind of nice when you have rain (both talking) places for people to walk. So there is ... there is some precedence there that it...it is downtown and it really does not affect people walking and enjoying downtown. S o l ...I think I would vote for it. Mims: And the other comment that Jeff made that I would just add, in terms of my support of this, as well, is when you look at the small footprint of this building. I mean, if it was a much larger footprint, it might be a little bit different situation, where they could do the setback on the first and second floors and get the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 4 cantilever within their own air space, um, but because the footprint is so small, I think that is also a compelling reason. So I will be supporting this. Hayek: Further discussion? Roll call, please. First consideration passes 5 -2; Hayek and Throgmorton in the negative. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 5 ITEM 5b CONDITIONALLY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 4.29 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED ON WALDEN ROAD, WEST OF MORMON TREK BOULEVARD FROM MEDIUM DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS -8) ZONE TO HIGH DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS -12) ZONE. (REZ09- 00003) 1. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) I will open it at this time, um, but I ... here's how we're going to proceed tonight. We do not have a signed, um, Conditional Zoning Agreement, um, and so what we will do this evening is initially disclose any ex parte communications and then open it up for, uh, public input and some staff input, but when we get to ... when we run out of speakers, essentially, we will, uh, entertain a motion to continue both the public hearing and first consideration until our July 10th meeting. Okay? Jeff! Davidson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Hayek: (both talking) ... start with the ex parte which I just said we would do! Does anybody have any ex parte communications to, uh, disclose? (several responding) Dobyns: Yes, I did speak with Brian Fink, Kevin Denadal, and Jason Masher who are property owners, um, on Coll Court. I can give you those names later, Marian. Dilkes: You just need to briefly describe the substance of your conversations. Dobyns: I went and toured the site and uh, being property owners, uh, they allowed me to their backyard, into the property and I just, uh, discussed some concerns that they had. Hayek: I spoke, uh, to Michelle yesterday briefly who, uh ... uh., identified a question she had about Mid American Energy and ... and the site in question, and said she was going to get some information from the City Manager. I also talked to the City Manager who, uh, indicated he had heard from Michelle with a question about Mid American. So ... that's the extent of my disclosures. Anybody else? Payne: Do I have to say I talked to staff about it? (laughter) Obviously I've talked to staff about it. Hayek: Yeah, you do. Dilkes: Yes, you do. Payne: Okay. I didn't know if it was only public or staff, but yes, I discussed with staff the easement issues. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 6 Dobyns: As did I. I spoke with City staff, as well. Hayek: Okay, with that... Jeff! Davidson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, uh, here's a picture of the site, just to orient you. Oh, I guess I should say. This is a request from Southgate Development to reactivate their application for a rezoning of Walden Woods, Part 7, Lot 79. This was originally brought to our attention in 2009. Uh, at that time the applicant requested that the rezoning request be deferred, ben ... pending resolution of issues related to storm water drainage, and we will talk about those issues briefly. Uh, here is the location of the site, along the east side of the site you have Mormon Trek Boulevard, uh, Rohret Road is here. Um, Coll Drive, Walden Road, and this is an infill parcel. I think I have an aerial. Yes, you can see that it's a ... uh, built out with the, uh, elderly housing here and then a variety of...uh, townhomes and single - family dwellings, and here's the infill parcel that we're talking about. Uh, it includes a rather significant pipeline easement, uh, controlled by, um, Mid American Energy. And we'll talk about some of the issues related to that. Um... excuse me while I get my staff report back here. Um, as I mentioned to you, this was originally brought to us in 2009 and there were issues related to storm water drainage. Uh, and I'll point those out, and this is a concept plan and we'll talk about this in just a second. And this is the same ... pretty much the same concept plan that we received in 2009. It consists of 18 attached townhome units. Uh, you can see there's five here, four here, and then along here there are, uh, five and uh, four as well, so a total of 18. Uh, and you can see that the concept plan here is off of Walden Road there would be a rear lane that would provide all of the access, a private drive, uh, that would provide all of the access to all 18 units would come off of that private drive. No access otherwise to the public streets of Walden Road, uh, or certainly the arterial of, uh, Mormon Trek Boulevard. And we feel like this is a good townhouse design and one that we have tried to encourage in various places throughout the city. Um, the issue in 2009 with storm water drainage which was basically designed to drain directly south, uh, through the Walden Court property that's down here, and you can see how that's, uh, built out with the ... the townhomes here. And ... and hypothetically the drainage could come through the middle here and then out to the storm sewer system on Mormon Trek Boulevard. Uh, and that was not able to be worked out at the time and that's when the project was put on hold. What has occurred recently is that a new storm water management system has been, uh, developed which the City engineer has, uh, approved in concept, and ... and I want to emphasize to you that everything you're seeing tonight is a concept, based on this plan, and the Conditional Zoning Agreement says that when the plat for the property comes in, and the site plan, that it basically looked like this concept plan, but we do not have the detailed information that we will receive at the platting stage tonight. We are not approving that! What you are approving is the rezoning that enables a project like this to occur. Okay, I wanted to make that clear. Um... so the concept of the drainage now is that right now you see two ... two storm water basins that were part of the original plan. There will now be a single, larger basin over here, and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 7 the storm water will drain around the Walden Court, uh, site, over the, uh, pipeline easement to the storm sewer system, uh, located along, um, Mormon Trek... excuse me, along Rohret Road. Um, and the City engineer has reviewed in concept, uh, and approved that. We have a letter from Mid American Energy indicating that they believe the concept, uh, can be engineered, uh, along with the special considerations that need to take place with their pipeline easement. There are three significant, uh, underground pipelines located in this area. Two are active, one is not active. Uh, and ... and there will have to be special consideration given to obviously the grading, and the filling, over that pipeline, and that will be done in accordance with what Mid American Energy will allow. There were also issues brought up, uh, with some of the neighbors over here on, uh, Coll Court, uh, who appeared at the Planning and Zoning Commission, concerned that some existing, uh, drainage issues that, uh, occur at the ends of their lots here would be exacerbated by the proposal, and the City engineer did go out and meet with the individuals, and they do have sort of swampy situation along the very backs of their lots here. Uh, does believe that the plan that is to be engineered for this development, uh, will not, um ... will not make the problem worse for them. If it is engineered correctly. And also that the opportunity might be here for some of the dirt, uh, from this area to be used to perhaps fill the ends of their lots, defining the drainage corridor through here and making the situation on their lots better. Now that would be something that would be a private matter, between the developer and the ... and those property owners. City would not be involved in that, but it's at least a possibility that ... that can be pursued, uh, by them. So as I mentioned the City engineer has approved the, uh, drainage, uh, plan that's in place now that basically enables the project to go ahead. I did want to just quickly highlight the CZA conditions. Really this is the most significant thing this evening in terms of what you're approving are the conditions that go along with the rezoning. Um, the storm water management system obviously designed so that it does not impact the adjacent properties. Uh, that the gen ... the development will be in general compliance with the submitted concept plan that you see before you. Uh, that access to all of the units will be from the rear lane that you see here, and that's probably going to be an 18- to 20 -foot rear lane. Again, we don't have that detail, but it appears to be, uh, laid out in such a fashion. No direct vehicular access to either Mormon Trek Boulevard, um, well, actually it just stipulates Mormon Trek Boulevard because that's the arterial street that we would certainly want to eliminate access to. And that, uh, and ... and I did want to highlight. If...if all you did was read Karen Howard's memo, when the CZA got to the Planning and Zoning Commission they did make a couple of changes to this last provision, and that was that Karen's memo refers to three visitor parking spaces. Planning and Zoning upped that to six. And that all of the units would have two -car garages, and this was related to parking concerns. They wanted to make sure that there was adequate parking and so they did stipulate two -car garages and the developer has agreed to ... to all those provisions. So those are the conditions of the CZA. Uh, as Eleanor, uh, or Marian or maybe it was the Mayor mentioned we don't have a signed CZA tonight and there are no officers of the corporation that can ... can sign it tonight, but they have indicated, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 8 uh, overall that they will sign it when it is, h, presented to them. So ... uh, any questions about any aspect of the project? Payne: I do have a question. Um ... because these garages are in the rear, how far do they have to be set back from the lane? Davidson: I apologize, Michelle. I do not know that exact dimension. The ... the notion is that there ... there needs to be enough setback that a car can be sitting in the area between the lane and the front of the garage, and not extend onto the lane, but I don't know exactly what that dimension is. Payne: Okay. Cause I know that that was part of what Planning and Zoning was talking about, was being able to have two ... two cars sit behind the garage (both talking) Davidson: ...that's clearly... clearly the intent. So you'd basically have two in the garage, two behind the garage. Payne: Right. Okay. Um... Davidson: Because this lane, I would just point out ... if it's ... if it's an 18- or 20 -foot lane, uh, it would... it would not be allowed to have parking on it by virtue of the fire lane standards. Not, you know, typically the Fire Department likes to fight fires from the main streets anyway, so they would only use the ... the rear lane in a real emergency, but we would want to keep that open. Payne: So when they actually did the site development then they would have dimensions on that setback? Davidson: Right! Yeah, that'll all be through the platting and the site plan approval process. Payne: Thank you. Davidson: Any other questions? Throgmorton: Uh, yeah. I'd like to ask, uh, one or two, I don't know. Uh, like all places, this site has a history and ... and it also has a very complicated topography, as best I can tell. I went out today and looked at it as carefully as I could. Davidson: Picture of it right there! Throgmorton: Yeah, there ya go! Uh, and ... (both talking) I'm partly just curious about, uh, the shape of the parcel. Why is it such a weirdly shaped parcel? How did that result? Davidson: Well, the ... the easiest answer to that, Jim, is that it's the last one. Uh, and it's not uncommon to ... when you're dealing with the final infill parcel to have a weirdly shaped parcel because basically everything that's been designed around it, it was This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 9 designed to fit that, and what you're left with is an oddly shaped parcel. So it is... it has involved some creativity, I will tell you, to come up with this plan for the 18 units, and ... and we think given, and you can note here — this is looking to the east and there was one in particular... you can see how it falls away there. That sideway is directly behind the sidewalk right ... here. Is directly behind the Walden Court, uh ... uh ... townhomes, and you can see how much higher the site is, how it would drain down, uh, to that Walden Court site. So ... it is a ... it is a site that we feel, Jim, they've done a good job with the ... the clustering of the units to, uh, accommodate that topography in... in a way that has the least amount of... of impact. Throgmorton: Yeah, can you help me understand how the storm water management actually would work, given the topography, because you know I ... I have it fixed in my mind what the topography looks like, but not the storm water management part of it. Davidson: The City engineer is right here and will probably be better able to do that than ... than I can. Knoche: So on the plan where they would do their excavation and put their storm water basin in the middle, uh, everything would be graded to drain to this location. Throgmorton: So that's where it's all... it's pretty level up there right now. So (both talking) Knoche: ... excavation there, yep, and then for their outlet, their control structure would be here. There'd be a storm sewer pipe that would outlet here, and then it'd be overland flow from that point. So, we ... our requirement is that we require them to detain with a 100 -year event, at. 15CFS (mumbled) ends up being about a 6- to 8 -inch pipe that would be coming out of there, and then an event that's larger than a 100 year, then it would go overland flow and they would grade (mumbled) emergency spillway basically to direct the water that way and down into the Mid American easement. Mims. So, Ron, in that easement area, I mean, is the design going to be with berms of... to some extent so that it's not flowing into those neighboring properties that are already having problems? Or... Knoche: Right now the ... the preliminary, um, plan that we have shows some berming that occurs kind of here and where it makes the bend. Mims: Uh -huh. Knoche: And then it just kind of shows it coming out into the ... the bottom there. Um, they would ... we would have to, you know, make sure as they work with Mid American to ... as much ... we wouldn't have any berms blocking this drainage coming off the back of Coll Court... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 10 Mims: ...but on the side, yeah. Knoche: ...right, so, because this all drains to this storm sewer down here at the bottom now. Mims: Right. Knoche: Any berm that would happen in this area would prevent this water from coming across the Mid American easement. Mims: Okay. Knoche: So ... I would ... as we look at it, there may be berming here but I'm guessing that will be (mumbled) down here to get ... to keep the water within the... Mims: ...within the easement. Dickens: And is that storm sewer that's currently there big enough to handle that new development... Knoche: Yes. Yes. Yep. Throgmorton: So all the run -off from the ... from the new streets and the rooftops of the buildings would be directed to the retention pond and then deflected on down to the sewer system? Knoche: That's correct. Throgmorton: Yeah. Knoche: We ... we'd have to look at...it may be a little problematic here on this very front piece here, where the road comes straight off, because of the way the topography is. Um, but we would make sure that ... as much of it as we can would go to the storm water management basin. Payne: Could there be a ... the original plan showed a berm ... kind of where that .... where the lot line goes toward the east, right in there. The original plan showed a berm along that lot line, along the ... I'm going to call it the south lot line, up... Knoche: Up here? Payne: Yeah, right in through there. Will there be one there? Knoche: I think what ... I what'll happen here is there'll be a swale that'll be cut through here, and then... and then it would be a berm on this outside here, and that... and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 11 that's just preliminary from, you know, from what I could tell, uh, what was presented to us. Dobyns: I mean that's a significant amount of water that's going to be in the swales. As it's making that turn, um ... from the west to the south, uh, down toward Rohret, um ... sometimes it's hard to predict water, admittedly! And, looking at it the other day, there's so much brush there. It's hard to see where the terrain really is. Um ... I guess I'm concerned where (mumbled) water makes that turn and (mumbled) I mean that's a large volume of water during a large rainstorm. Knoche: And that's one of the discussions that we've had with Mid American Energy in regards to the gas line easement itself. It's fairly well overgrown and ... and one of the requests that I had made to Ed Young, who is one of the gas technicians, was to potentially look at a project to clean that area up. Basically as ... as they're required to do inspections, over top of their gas lines, it would basically be a... an inspection, uh, area for them, but it would also clean up some of the downed timber and ... and really help with the overall drainage in that area. Dobyns: Well my concern is that there's just not much room between that, um, Mid American pipeline, and the um, eastern edge of the prop ... property line right there. I mean, as far as ... but you're confident that that'll control a substantial amount of water volume? Knoche: Yeah. I ... I'm not ... I'm not, you know, I'm not going to guess how much water's going to be coming here ... coming through here, but I think coming off of this lot it'll be ... less than what comes off that lot currently. And with the detention that's going to occur here, you know, our... our storm water management standards, as far as what we have for our release rate, is fairly minimal. It's less than a 5 -year event, uh, undeveloped. So we're ... until you get to the 100 -year event, where it's ... where it would eventually come out of the basin, but that ... in a large event, there's going to be a lot of water everywhere. Hayek: Part of the problem we face is that this is a rezoning request and the plan before us is conceptual, and ... and the ... the City standards as they relate to storm water and ... and engineering don't get a chance ... aren't vetted as they relate to this until we get to the preliminary and final platting stage. So maybe it would help if you could explain, you know, how ... how those standards would be applied to this particular proposal, assuming we rezone, and then we ... leap forward to the platting stage. Knoche: So... Hayek: Does that make sense? Knoche: Sure! I mean, the process that we would go through is ... the engineer for the developer would develop a ... a storm water plan and then also ... do all of their, uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 12 modeling to show what the off, what the runoff would be, off of the site. Uh, they would make sure that the storm water management basin would retain 100 -year flow with the .15CFS (mumbled) that run -out, um, for that 100 -year event. Um, and then from that point it would be a matter of making sure that that flow is then held into that swale, as it ... as it goes down off the Mid American site. Hayek: Okay. And then my follow up question is, the ... the added challenge is the ease... the utility easement and that grants the utilities certain rights within the easement area. How does that mesh with our engineering standards for water runoff, etc.? mean, is there ... is there some risk that ... what Mid American might do to protect its interests within its easement, could bump up against what the City is attempting to do with ... in ... in terms of storm water management. Could there be a conflict? Knoche: There ... there could be a conflict and then that's something that we would have to, you know, there would have to be some guarantees that that was put in place would remain in place. Hayek: Is that part of the platting process that you would resolve those potential conflicts? Knoche: I ... I don't know the answer to that, I ... cause it's ... cause Mid American has (both talking) Mid American has easement rights and that agreement would be between the developer and Mid American, and the City wouldn't be a part of that agreement, per se. Dilkes: It wouldn't be a part of it, but ... but we would have to know that whatever agreement they worked out would allow them to comply with the storm water management requirements. So yes, that would be part of the platting. Hayek: Okay. Throgmorton: I have a question for Jeff. How ... how might the site be, uh, developed if we do not rezone it? Davidson: I believe it's zoned RS -8 right now. Is that right ... yeah. It's zoned RS -8 right now which is a, you know, single - family residential zone. Um, I haven't ... we haven't determined like how many lots could be fit onto that. Obviously many fewer than this. Throgmorton: Would there be ... is it likely there'd be any significant difference in terms of storm water runoff between one versus the other? Davidson: With more units you would generally have more impervious surface, which again, that just becomes an engineering management type problem, you know, it's certainly possible with proper engineering to ... to manage the storm water... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 13 storm water under either scenario. Takes a little bit more creativity and knowledge to do it with ... with the larger number of units. Payne: But either way you'd end up with that lane in the back, cause you ... you're not going to be able to have access... Davidson: Not necessarily, you know, I mean you could ... you could, you know hypothetically you could put one house on Walden Road right here with access directly to Walden Road, or maybe you could get a couple lots. So not necessarily. We wouldn't allow direct access onto Mormon Trek, um... so there's likely be some type of a lane in here if you were to ... to put any homes down at the back of the site like this. Any other questions for me? Hayek: Okay, why don't we ... unless there's any further staff, uh, presentation, open it up to the public. If there are members of the audience who would like to address the Council during public hearing time, please do so. And again, we ask that you sign in and then verbally give us your name. Siders: My name's Glenn Siders. I'm with Southgate Development Services. I'm representing the applicant ... for this rezoning request. We do not have a signed CZA. I apologize for that. By the time we received a copy to review we simply didn't have enough time to have our attorney review it and then catch an officer to sign it. Uh ... we have, uh, been aware of what's coming down the pike. In scope we have no problems with the CZA at all; any revisions would be wordsmithing, but we have no problems with the conditions that are imposed on the CZA. We fully intend to sign that as quickly as we can and get it to the City. Uh, it's been interesting. I've heard these, a lot of these questions numerous times. Drainage seems to be a big issue. I want to point out a couple of things that weren't addressed. There is a storm sewer system right here. It goes to about this point, I'm going to say 20 -feet short of the property line. That is a private storm sewer system. When this property was developed, it was intended for that to be a public storm sewer system and why it was not required to be extended to the property line I have no idea because your standards require that. To extend public utilities to the property line. That's a private system. We were not able to negotiate any kind of agreement with this association to use that private system. Therefore, we had to come up with an alternate plan. We came up with this, over - ground drainage system. That opportunity came about when Mid America vacated the eastern pipeline. They no longer are going to use that underground pipeline. That is a vacated, uh, it's been represented to me that if we would like, they will come and physically move that line from the ground. So there will be two active pipelines. One about here, one about here, and then from about mid -point of this easement is free game for our drainage swale. With the recommendation, the favorable recommendation we got from the Planning and Zoning Commission we felt comfortable to proceed a little bit with some preliminary engineering on how this ... the size and type of this swale, because I know the... adjoining property owners along here have major concerns and they have some issues. We have, uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 14 the preliminary design indicates that you will have approximately a 6 -foot wide... at the bottom, uh, ditch, so to speak. At any one point it'll be about a foot deep, minimum. It will be higher in spots. This ... the swale will be a level plain so you get your proper shed, but the ground may alter. So, in some spots the ditch will be deeper than 2 -feet. Uh ... both banks'll have a 3 -to -1 slope, which is a very gentle slope. And as, uh, Ron indicated, until we fully engineer this, we believe a maximum size of that pipe's going to be 8- inches. It's not a very big pipe for a storm water discharge. I mean, it sounds big ... 8 -inch sounds big but that's not real big when it comes to discharging water. We are very cognizant that at... where you make any bend we may need to berm ... to keep that water contained in that swale. I concur with your City engineer that I think these property owners will see less water runoff with this storm water basin and with this swale than what they currently see from that site because right now there's uncontrolled water that just streams allover everywhere. This design will essentially capture that water like a bathtub and then when you pull the plug it goes out the drain. So it...it controls the flow of the water, the direction of the water, and the amount of water this property receives. Following, uh, once we, uh, got our engineering criteria, I did meet with I think most all but one of the property owners along here. Showed `em our preliminary design. Explained to them that it may be 5 -foot, 9- inches instead of 6 -feet, or it might be 6 -feet, 2 when you come to the actual final design; might be 14 inches; might be 11 inches. Right now it's 6 -foot by a foot deep. I don't think it will vary a great deal ... from that. We are aware that there's some gas services in here. Mid America's made it quite clear that they have standards on the minimal amount of ground cover and maximum amount of ground cover that we need to adhere to on their pipes. Uh, we are aware of that. We will have to ... in this design when we get there, we know the depths of those pipes now. We can work around those depths. We are confident that we can comply with all of Mid America's criteria. Uh, and still be able to design this to something that is acceptable by the City. Uh, some of the questions go about zoning and ... platting and ... it's correct. The way the process works you don't do your engineering on the storm water basin. Uh, but then you can't do any work until you get the zoning to go ahead and proceed. So we're asking for the zoning. We're quite aware of...all your standards, all your rules, and ... and the bottom line is we can't develop ... if we don't ... comply with these rules and regulations, we aren't going to be able to develop this site! So we're aware of the conditions that are posed. We're acceptable to those conditions, and we'd simply like to proceed. I'll try to answer any questions you may have with this. Jim, you had one. Right now you can get no access off Mormon Trek. If you have any subdivision of that property at all, correct me if I'm wrong, you've gotta generate a storm water basin so you ... I think at one time we looked, you could have three really hokie shaped... single - family lots that nobody would buy. We would leave it a weed patch before we'd split that into three single - family lots. Throgmorton: Glenn, is there any chance of, um ... uh, erosion of that slope because it's so steep, pretty much where that retention basin (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 15 Siders: Absolutely! There's always chance of erosion on a slope. Again, that's why the engineer says you've gotta do this, you gotta seed it with that, you gotta put mats on this, you ... one of the first things we have to develop is a grading plan ... to manage that water. And the City has to say ... yes, that's a good design. Dobyns: Glenn, I was wondering do you think if the, uh, property owners on Coll Court, um ... would agree to it, do you think that moving dirt possibly from the swale dig - out, um ... would be helpful over there in their backyards to, as a further measure to kind of control water runoff? Siders: Uh, I'm not going to answer whether it's helpful. I ... I don't want to be placed in a position where I'm recommending or managing their property. Dobyns: Sure. Siders: We had discussions. We told them that ... if we didn't have the dirt, we'll find dirt. If they want to fill in their rear yards. We will find dirt for them to do that. also mentioned that I'm not going to cut down a bunch of trees and stuff to do that. I'll remove what trees are necessary to design our swale. Uh ... I'm not going to take down their fences or replace them, but if there's a way we can get dirt from our site to their site, we're more than happy to do that free of charge to those neighbors. Champion: Answer me a question about ... those water pits. What're they called again? (laughter) Siders: Storm water basins? Champion: Yeah, right, and we have a lot of `em around town! Siders: Yes you do. Champion: But just basic engineering, like ... they just drain naturally, right? There's not an electric drain on them or electric pump. Siders: Correct. Champion: And so when they overflow, it's kind of...the dam overflowing. It's just uncontrolled water. Siders: That is correct. That's part of the required design. If you get a real excessive rain, a ... is it 100 -year, Ron ... real excessive rain where the bathtub fills up. Champion: Right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 16 Siders: Then you gotta put a little cup like a dike or an overflow, uh, to let that water. That will be designed and directed as part of the design of that swale to incorporate that water. Champion: Thank you. Siders: And that was another issue we had with ... I don't know if you recall the aerial, but that storm sewer here, you'd still have to incorporate that overflow, if...even if we were able to hook up to that storm sewer system, and there are buildings here, and here, and they've had significant water issues already. That overflow would probably be disastrous to put it in that area. Any other questions? Hayek: Thank you, Glenn. Siders: Thank you! Hayek: Would anyone from the audience like to address us ... during the public hearing? Fink: My name is Brian Fink. I live at 44 Coll Court, and uh, which is a property located along the west side here. Um, kind of collectively myself and my two neighbors who are here tonight. We experience a lot of, uh, chronic, insufficient drainage po ... ponding. All of that which was described in the Planning and Zoning, uh, meeting we came and described that; we wrote letters; should have been in your packets if you saw that so I won't go into a... a great amount of detail about, um, what's causing that and whatever... except that this is a very flat area. All the water from the west comes in this way. Um ... and what ... the problem we have is ... is, uh, a high water table in this area, which uh ... is persistent between rains. We get pon ... well, ponding. It's very swampy. Um ... and it exists, in a normal year, uh, we have large areas of our properties which have standing water, um, very difficult to mow. Uh, reduces the enjoyment and use of our properties. It's gotten worse over time. Uh, I'm ... this is our 14th year in our property, um... this area has silted in from runoff. Also from, uh, standing ground water. But uh ... and that basically was the result of I believe it was this, the presence of this pipeline swale here. Um, when this area to the west was developed, obviously they had to leave that alone because of the pipelines. Uh, either by design flaw or the way the grading was carried out, it created this situation where we're, um, you know, swimming in water. Um, and I know it's not Southgate's, uh, prerogative or directive to solve our problems, but ... uh, this is kind of a gray area as it's, you know, part two of the Conditional Zoning Agreement that the plan does not exacerbate our problems, which affects me personally and directly. So ... given... having said that, we're taking ... all this new water which now unfortunately goes down into the Walden Court area. Sorry about that, but uh, we're going to bring this down, um, right through here, uh, to an area which has chronic, insufficient drainage. So ... um, in principle I guess I'm opposed to an open system. Um, the 2009 engineering report specified a pipe system. I'm not sure why the open system has been, uh, approved this time but ... uh, if you take away our problems, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 17 the ... the Swale design looks fine but uh, I have serious concerns that over time that uh ... whatever water it's moving, uh, there's... there'll be some siltation. There'll be some degradation. Urn ... as has occurred, uh, a worsening of our issues over time. So it's ... it's a gray area. I just wanted you to be aware of that, urn ... urn ... I would ... I would suggest that ... the minimum City standards and rules should not apply. I think it should go beyond minimum standards. You know, over, uh, if the swale concept is going to proceed, it should be I think over - engineered. Um... otherwise there's... it ... I believe it's going to make things possibly worse, and there is a ... a huge amount of storm water coming from the west that crosses this area. Uh, the water from our yards and from this development up, uh, up to the west has to actually cross here and go down to, uh, drainage box down here. So that's... that's another issue that the swale cannot interfere with water coming from the west. So, um, familiarize yourself with this issue, um, it's here for a reason, because um, it's a long- standing issue, um, it's... I plan to be there for a long time and uh, I would prefer not to have, uh, sea level in my backyard rise over the years so ... just urn ... educate yourself and ask questions. Get in touch with the engineer, um, before ... this seems like the ball's rolling on this project, but ... um, pause and, you know, find out what the problem really is and if this may make it worse, so ... thank you. Hayek: Thank you for your comments. Would anyone else like to address the Council? Denadal: Hi, my name is Kevin Denadal. I live at 54 Coll Court which is the, directly south of Brian who just spoke. The, uh, middle of those three properties, which are adjacent to the, uh, proposed area. Um, my main question. Brian, you know, talked a lot about the issues. My main question about, uh, the conditional, uh, conditions in the rezoning, and I know there's a process. Obviously this is for rezoning and then the platting occurs later, and I'm not familiar with the exact process. That's why I want to ask these questions. The one that talks about will not exacerbate the storm, uh, water drainage issues on adjacent properties, uh, I ...I'm not clear exactly what the process is for determining first of all what the baseline currently, and then in the future, to measure ... how do we know, or what's the required measurement to determine if it's exacerbated or if it has not been exacerbated. It's not clear to me how that condition will be measured immediately, and then ongoing in the future. So it's kind of that gray area that Brian talked about, but that's one question I had. Uh, and... and the, a related question I have is, if...however it's measured, if it is determined that it is ... has been exacerbated, what the process is then to remedy the situation, given that there's already been a design, um, passed, and then the final question I had about that was the conditions talk about the design, um ... the word `maintenance' is not, as I see it, in the conditions. So I'm not sure if the maintenance is attached to the design or on, from the initial standpoint down the road five, ten, twenty years, um, it's my understanding that the townhouse association is responsible for maintenance, but I'm not sure how that would be enforced or managed down the road, and so the absence of the word `maintenance' causes me some concerns, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 18 road, and so the absence of the word `maintenance' causes me some concerns, even if initially it seems to work fine, what about ... down the road? So those are just some questions I have about the conditions and the rezoning. Thank you. Hayek: Thank you for your comments. Mascher: Hi there! My name's Jason Mascher and I live right down here at the corner property, at the proposed development site. Um, I just want to be clear right up front that I'm not opposed to the, um, rezoning of it. Uh, but I do want to present my, uh, our issues and ... and basically... bring up awareness that our problems have been there for a long time and um, I think at this point we need to be very careful on the steps that we take and ... and make sure that throughout the planning stage and process that we pay a lot of attention to how this is going to affect, uh, this whole area basically. Um, regardless of whether it's passed as RS -8 or not today, or proceeded forward, um, this issue will always still be here. Um, there's a lot of silting in that's happened, um, from years past when this was a dumping ground for dirt, and that was before the days of silt barrier fence, but uh, so there's been a lot of...as ... as he said, this is a very complicated property. Um, so ... I invite you all to come out and look at it. Um ... I would be more than happy to provide ... I know all three of us would be more than happy to provide our emails so that we can be available to you to show you the physical ... uh, physically what the property looks like and the concerns that we have. Uh, I appreciate Rick stopping out and uh, and asking about our concerns and what issues we were having. Um, so I ... I invite that invitation to all of you, but um... uh ... there was some talk with Southgate that there was the potential to ... possibly put a miniature swale into the creek channels that currently exist from the middle of my yard down, uh, Kevin and my's corner, and Kevin and ... and Brian's corner. Um, and I ... I ... a concern is that this is all concept so we really, um, have nothing concrete to look at and feel secure about. I do appreciate Glenn, uh, meeting with us and I did feel more comfortable after that, so I ... I'd like to thank you for that. Um, I just think we need to be, uh, very clear and urn ... and look at all the designs that, uh, you know are proposed, or the design that'll be proposed, and find out how it'll work best for, you know, everybody involved. So, um, thank you. Hayek: Thank you for your comments. Anyone else? Okay, as I said, uh, earlier we can't close the, uh, public hearing because we do not have a signed Conditional Zoning Agreement. So at this time (both talking) 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Mims: I move to extend the public hearing and first consideration to the July l Otn meeting. Throgmorton: Second. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 19 Payne: Can I ask ... Eleanor a question? Hayek: Uh -huh. Payne: I was on Planning and Zoning when this came the first time. Does that count as ex parte communication? Dilkes: I don't think it counts as an ex parte communication. You were recusing yourself, um, when you had dealt with something (both talking) Payne: ...we never voted ... cause it got deferred. So we never actually voted on it in 2009. Dilkes: Yeah, I ... I think you're okay. I think you can act on this. Payne: Okay. Champion: Could I ask a question? How do we enforce maintenance to these water drainage, um ... things? Mims: I would suggest that's a comment to ... in discussion to wait until we actually get into it. Champion: Oh! Mims: Don't you think, or not? Hayek: It ... it seems to me that some questions have been asked and ... and uh, if stack ... if staff could take note of them and be prepared at ... in July to discuss (both talking) Mims: ...cause I have the same questions, Connie. Hayek: Yeah. Okay, so the pending motion to defer the public hearing and first consideration to July 10th on the table. Further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. Thank you for your time! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 20 ITEM 5c CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE REZONING APPROXIMATELY 1.3 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED SOUTH OF HARRISON STREET BETWEEN CLINTON AND DUBUQUE STREETS FROM PUBLIC (P -1) TO INSTITUTIONAL PUBLIC /CENTRAL BUSINESS SERVICE (P -2 /CB- 2). (REZ12- 00007) (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Hayek: Uh, this and ... the applicant, I will note, has requested expedited action. Um ... before we take those up, any ex parte since the last reading? Okay. Mims: Uh, move that the rule requiring that ordinances must be considered and voted on for passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at which it is to be finally passed be suspended, that the second consideration and vote be waived, and that the ordinance be voted on for final passage at this time. Champion: Second. Hayek: Motion to collapse from Mims, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Roll call, please. Mims: Move final consideration. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Motion from Mims, seconded, uh, by Dickens. Discussion? Roll call, please. Uh, second and third readings pass 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 21 ITEM 6. CONVEYANCE OF A SINGLE FAMILY HOME LOCATED AT 702 GIBLIN DRIVE. a. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: Moving out of Planning and Zoning, uh, the next three items have to do with conveyances of single - family homes, uh, pursuant to the UniverCity Neighborhood Partnership Program. (reads Item 6) This is the public hearing. (bangs gavel) The public hearing is open. Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Champion: Move the resolution. Dickens: second. Hayek: Moved by Champion, seconded by Dobyns ... Dickens, uh, discussion? (laughter) Throgmorton: I'd just like to say, uh, I had the pleasure of driving up Giblin Drive today for the first time. I hadn't done that before, and took a look at the house and ... you know, it's terrific (mumbled) Hayek: Further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 22 ITEM 9. IOWA CITY'S FY11 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN AMENDMENT #5, WHICH IS A SUB -PART OF IOWA CITY'S 2011 -2015 CONSOLIDATED PLAN (CITY STEPS), AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT SAID PLAN AND ALL NECESSARY CERTIFICATIONS TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. a. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open. Uh, for the public's, uh, information this, uh, amendment proposes to use $280,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds, uh, for recreational improvements at the Fairmeadows Park, uh, on Miami Drive. I will close the public hearing at this time. (bangs gavel) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 23 ITEM 10 PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHWAY 1 TRAIL PROJECT - ORCHARD STREET TO SUNSET STREET, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS. a. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) The public hearing is open. And this has to do with construction of the, uh, 10 -foot wide trail along the north side of Highway 1 from Sunset Street to Orchard Street. An 8 -foot wide trail along the west side of Orchard Street, uh, also a 4 -foot wide, uh, sidewalk on the east side of Miller Avenue, and on the west side of Hudson Avenue, uh, and the Highway 1 crossings at the Walmart entrance, Miller Street, and Orchard Street. Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 24 ITEM 11. PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE U.S. HIGHWAY 6 AND SYCAMORE STREET INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS. a. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is open. This has to do with a lot of infrastructure improvements in that neck of the woods. I'll leave it at that! (laughter) Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 25 ITEM 12. PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PUBLIC WORKS COMPLEX — WARM STORAGE BUILDING PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS. b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING Dickens: Move the resolution. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Dickens, seconded by, uh, Payne. Discussion? Champion: This has been a long time com ... coming, and a slow process getting everything moved! Hayek: Yep! Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 26 ITEM 13. PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE 2012 MUSCATINE AVENUE WATER MAIN IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS. a. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. The public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) This has to do with water mains along the south side of Muscatine Avenue, from Arthur to Scott Boulevard and a few other amenities. Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 27 ITEM 14. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE J STREET & SYCAMORE VIEW WATER MAIN - SOUTHEAST JUNIOR HIGH SANITARY SEWER PROJECT. Hayek: Items 14 and 15 are revised. (reads Item 14) Mims: Move the resolution. Champion: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Uh, the engineer estimated this would come in at $40... $246,000. Public Works, uh, recommends awarding the contract to Carter and Associates of Coralville, Iowa, who came in at $258,000. Further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 28 ITEM 15. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE ROBERT A. LEE RECREATION CENTER IMPROVEMENTS - EAST ENTRY REMODELING PROJECT. Champion: Move the resolution. Dobyns: Move the ... second. Hayek: Moved by Champion, seconded by Dobyns. Discussion? The engineer estimated this would come in at around $2...$128,000. Uh, Public Works recommends awarding the contract to North Construction LLC out of Muscatine, who came in at $138,000 roughly. Further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 29 ITEM 18. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LAND FOR PRIVATE REDEVELOPMENT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND MARC MOEN FOR 118 EAST COLLEGE STREET, IOWA CITY, IOWA. Mims: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Roll call, please. Throgmorton: Sorry, I was, um, got, um, distracted about which resolution we're considering. Hayek: This is the FilmScene. Throgmorton: The FilmScene, right, okay, so ... that's what I thought but I wasn't hearing the ... so, um, is it too late to have some ... a brief discussion? Hayek: I ... I think that's fine. If you were confused about where we are, why don't we back off the reading and (both talking) return to discussion. Throgmorton: yeah, I ... I just ... I think it's a great idea and I'm totally supportive of it, uh, but as I indicated during the work session, I ... I think there ought to be sort of a termination date for this and that, uh, something like two or three years, instead of having open - ended, uh, opportunity for, uh, FilmScene to continue using the space in ... in the way that involves catering food and drink and whatever. That seems inconsistent with the original purpose of the initial agreement. So, uh, I ... I would just like to offer that as a possibility, and I think I know how it'll go from ...based on the work session. Hayek: Any discussion on... on that? I guess in response I would say, it... it may be somewhat inconsistent with the agreement, but I think it's consistent with the market study we did and the needs we've identified and the ... the possibilities and opportunities (both talking) Throgmorton: ... like the idea a lot, you know, that's not my point. Payne: Jim, I was somewhat concerned when I read this too, that it was ... against what the original agreement was, but I do think that this maybe was a use that wasn't contemplated at the time, and that this is probably a very good use and something that will be good for the ... the area, and this is maybe an accessory use that was specifically denied in the original agreement because it is kind of accessory, but it...it is something that, uh, I think will ... will be beneficial to grant this exception that will just go with this one specific business. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 30 Throgmorton: Yeah, and rigidity isn't necessarily a good thing, is it (laughter) Champion: No, it's not! Hayek: Any further discussion on ... on Item 18? Okay, if we could do the roll call again, please. Throgmorton: Thanks, Matt. Hayek: You bet! Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 31 ITEM 19. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING FUNDING FOR IBLITZ BOXING AND FITNESS, LLC FROM IOWA CITY'S COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT — ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUND AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ACT AS CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER AND SUBMIT ALL NECESSARY DOCUMENTATION TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. Davidson: Mr. Mayor, there was a question at the work session and it has been clarified by Chad Wiltz, who is the applicant, that there will not be people boxing each other (laughter) at this facility. They will be boxing apparatus (mumbled) Chad will be happy to answer any other questions you have if you have any. Hayek: Sounds good! Mims: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Hayek: moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Champion: Sounds like a lot of fun! (laughter) Dobyns: You and me, Connie! Mims: We'll get Connie signed up! (laughter) Dickens: Do you have some anger management? Champion: Yes I do! (laughter) Hayek: Well I ... I think it's an exciting project and I think it's a good, uh, it's a good micro - enterprise project for ... for the City to support. Further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 32 ITEM 20. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING AN AGREEMENT FOR PRIVATE REDEVELOPMENT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA, AND MDK DEVELOPMENT, L.L.C. Champion: Move the resolution. Throgmorton: Second. Hayek: Moved by Champion, seconded by Throgmorton. This has to do with the proposal, uh, previously approved by the Economic Development Committee that I believe Jeff will be telling us about here shortly. Davidson: Yeah, actually I just wanted to answer the question that came up during your work session. Uh, Michelle's question about the ... the two parcels are both zoned CC -2 which is the ... the building, the proposed ... the uses proposed in the proposed building are allowed in this zone. Incidentally the CO -1 zone, the Commercial Office zone, which is what a lot of the rest of the property in this area is, would also accommodate the ... the proposed building. Now there are some nuances, that since you don't have a site plan in front of you again, there are some nuances that will have to be worked out such as the setback of the building. That will have to be worked out at the site ... site plan stage and we'll determine how to do that, so I didn't want ... I didn't want you to think that the building as proposed meets all of the zoning ordinance requirements. Uh, there are some things that'll have to be worked out, but the uses that are proposed are allowed under the existing zoning. Payne: Thank you. Hayek: Further discussion? Throgmorton: This ... this is an opportunity to ask questions about the proposal? Yeah, since we're on television I think it's important to ask a few questions and be able to get a clear response, and I'm sure Jeff would be fully capable of doing that, so that other people would be able to hear this. So I'd... Davidson: The applicant is also here, Jim, if you have questions of the applicant. Throgmorton: Yeah, I ... I'd like to ask maybe four questions, uh ... the first is, and we discussed some of these during the work session, right. The first is, what happens if the State legislature reduces commercial property taxes next year, uh, how would that affect the payback of the TIF, you know, can we be assured that, uh, the ... the loan will actually be paid back in accord with the schedule that's, uh, outlined in the ... the proposal. Dilkes: Uh, the agreement provides that were that to happen, uh, the, uh, minimum assessment would be adjusted to ... to reflect that and capture the taxes, and as a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 33 backup to that, um, there is a... a contractual obligation on the part of the developer or its successors in interest, those that buy the property, to make up that shortfall. Throgmorton: Okay, thanks. Um, second question is, uh, what ... what's the risk that this, uh, this project will simply move, uh, existing doctor's offices, etc., medical use... related uses, from, uh, existing Towncrest buildings into the new building and hence just shift jobs around, rather than creating new jobs, creating new this and that. Davidson: Yeah, it's a good question. We do believe that two entities that will be, uh, hopefully going into the new building are existing Towncrest entities, ones that we feel are important to try and retain in Towncrest for the viability of Towncrest. They are both entities that have considered other locations, uh, some in Iowa City, some perhaps not in Iowa City, again, we do feel that it's, uh, although we'd be happy to ... for them to go to another location in Iowa City, that it's a priority to keep them in Towncrest. We also feel, uh, that the, um,.vacating of the spaces that they're in currently, that those may be, uh, spaces, buildings that are in need of additional, uh, development, perhaps complete redevelopment, and that this will hasten that process by, uh, leaving spaces vacant that are currently leased. Throgmorton: Okay, thanks. A third question has to do with the gap analysis, and I didn't have time to ask this during the work session so ... you know ... you'll have to think on your feet and all that. Um ... it's not clear to me as I read, uh, the ... the gap analysis that was done by, what ... NDC, is that (both talking) Davidson: Yeah, the National Development Counsel, we ... we have under contract to do our financial analysis, right. Throgmorton: Yeah, it's ... it's not clear to me, and hence probably not clear to most readers that they kind of pick up the, uh, packet and read through it, how that document... demonstrates that there is a gap that justifies the ... the City providing public support to make the project happen. Can you help me and others understand that? Davidson: Yeah, and I'll ... and I'll try to do that in, you know, not being an expert financial analysis myself and ... and as in laymen of terms as I can come up with here, Jim. Um, we retain NDC for their expertise in looking at, uh, development proformas and basically they ... it's very critical for them, they look at the assumptions that are made, uh, because you can make these financial analyses say anything, uh, by putting in inputs that get you to the bottom line that ... that you want to be at. So we make sure that the inputs that are put into the financial analy .... uh, analysis are reasonable, are appropriate, and NDC can actually drill down to our specific area here in terms of financial deals that are put together. They have a great deal of, uh, knowledge in these subjects, so they make sure that those inputs are appropriate. Ultimately what we end up with is, we expect the developers to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 34 make money doing this. Um, that's how they prosper and that's how we prosper in terms of the growth in ... in jobs and tax base. Um, but we want to make sure they don't prosper too much! And so when it gets down to that, you know, that bottom line of what the developer is going to achieve financially on the, uh, project, that's a critical part of what NDC does for us. They gauge whether or not the developers, uh, what ... what's produced for the developer at the end of the day financially on the project, that it is appropriate, and uh, again (both talking) Throgmorton: And by appropriate you mean not excessive (both talking) reasonable rate of return. Davidson: Exactly, that there's a percentage that they're achieving on the project, and ... and again, I apologize, Jim, I can't get into the details of that, but certainly at the Economic Development Committee level it is scrutinized, any aspect of the ... of that that comes up for question. The three individuals on Council that are on that committee, uh, have the ability to ... to find out whatever answers they need. So the bottom line is that it's determined to be a pro... appropriate rate of return for the developer... and we adjust the amount of funding that the City puts into the project, depending on whether that needs to go one way or another so that the developer has enough return that it's worthwhile for them to do the project, and the project is achieved, but not excessively so with the City's investment. Throgmorton: Great! Thank you, that's helpful! So, uh, Matt, you know, based on our discussion during the work session, uh, I ... I believe that it's appropriate for these and other questions that the public might have, it's appropriate for them to have an opportunity to ask... ask questions, uh, and hence that it's appropriate for there to be a public hearing related to this and any other significant TIF, uh ... uh, being proposed by the City of Iowa City. So with that in mind, and ... and it's consistent with the recently enacted, uh, legislation at the State level, so with that in mind I would like to move that we defer this, uh, to our July 10th meeting, uh, and ... and uh, hold a public hearing prior to voting on July 10th Hayek: Okay. So there's a motion on the floor from Throgmorton to defer Item 20 and hold a, uh, a public hearing on July 10th on the same. Dilkes: Just so you understand, you ... you can't ... doing that will not ... the law that passes on July lst ... holding a public hearing on that will not satisfy the law. Hayek: Yeah. I ... I understand that. Throgmorton: Will not satisfy the law, but it would satisfy what I take to be a ... an appropriate, urn ... uh, response to public concern (both talking) Dilkes: Yeah, I'm not ... I'm just ... I just want to make sure people understand that. Hayek: ...and see whether there's anything to discuss. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 35 Payne: I guess I just don't agree with you, Jim, because this is the public hearing, and (several talking) Hayek: ...it hasn't been seconded, so (several talking) if there's not a second, uh, it's a moot point and we move forward with this item. It would not appear that there is a second to that motion, so... Mims: Move the resolution. Champion: Second. Karr: The resolution's been moved. Champion, Throgmorton — this was discussion. Champion: Oh! (laughter) Hayek: Yeah, so ... so we've got discussion before we vote on ... on, uh, Item 20. Throgmorton: Well I'll be voting no for ... for the reasons just pretty much articulated. Hayek: I ... I'll be voting yes for this. I think this is a ... an excellent opportunity to jumpstart the kind of development we've talked about for years in the Towncrest area. Um, this has been through, um, extensive staff vetting and uh, additional vetting from the outside consultants that the City retains to help us, uh, analyze projects like this. Um, this is something that has been discussed and negotiated and ... and considered for quite some time. I think it's gone through quite a process, and as was indicated earlier, uh, we held a, uh, a public Economic Development Committee, uh, meeting just the other day, and three of the seven of us were ... were there for that, um, and it was covered by the media. Um, and we had a very good discussion, I think, about the merits of the project, um, and we're taking those up again tonight and discussed those earlier in our work session, and um, I'm supportive of this. I ... I think it's a great move forward in Towncrest. Champion: And I don't want to push this out any further. I want to get this going as soon as possible. Uh, I do agree with you, Jim, that sometimes moving somebody from one space to another is not a good thing, but the person who owns a lot of those buildings in Towncrest has simply not maintained them, and they're almost uninhabitable. So to keep people there, if this project would start moving that forward, that's a good thing. So I'm definitely going to support it. Payne: And sometimes you have to hip -hop from one place to another to, you know, redevelop the next lot as Jeff stated in his ... I think this is a good way to do that. Dickens: Big part of our strategic plan too is to ... revitalize this area, and this is a great start. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 36 Mims: I'll be supporting it as well. As part of the Economic Development Committee I've had an opportunity to, you know, probably see and hear more, you know, than some of the other Councilors have, but we went through, as Matt said, in great detail on that, and ... again, you know, that is a publicly... it's a public meeting, agenda goes out ahead of time, so anybody from the public who, you know, wanted to listen to that meeting was, you know, certainly welcome to come as they are to all the Economic Development Committee meetings. Agenda has been out for this meeting since last Thursday. So, and I realize the law will change July 1St, but I don't think we should hold somebody who's already started the process, I don't believe that we should hold them up, um, in anticipation of a new law that's starting, um, July 1, and so I will ... I think people have had the opportunity to have that ... to hear about it and have the input, and so I'll be supporting it. Hayek: Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 6 -1, Throgmorton in the negative. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 37 ITEM 21. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING DISTRIBUTION OF THE "PROGRAM FOR IMPROVING NEIGHBORHOODS" ( "PIN ") GRANT FUNDS. Mims: Move the resolution. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Payne. Discussion? This has to do with the, uh, $15,000 allocation, um, from the City Council for purposes of neighborhood improvements, and looks like we've got somebody here to talk about that! Cindy! Roberts: Yes! Mayor Hayek, City Council Members, I'm Cindy Roberts and I volunteer for the Grand Wood Neighborhood Association. It's ... I just love coming to City Council to talk about PIN grant funds. I love PIN grant time! It's just such a ... it's such a neat time as we're planning forward. On behalf of the neighborhood council I was asked just to introduce our PIN grants, as far as just a general introduction. We have several neighborhood, uh, association representatives here who have pulled together really some interesting different combinations of PIN grant funds this year. As all of you know, this is improving our neighborhood, um, ideas that we pull together. We've had one meeting already where we reviewed our grant requests, made some adjustments, uh, basically to, uh, try and make it work for everyone. We so appreciate ... I cannot emphasize this enough! We so appreciate the funding that the Council continues to supply, the $15,000 that ... um, we actually have grants to cover all of that. This is the 17th year for the PIN grant funds. And, um, the ... several years several of us have been here in front of the Council requesting this funding. The, um, of the representatives that are here, several of the, uh, several of the PIN grant funds are from the neighborhood that I represent, but we also have several other neighborhoods represented. We will present each one of our grant requests very briefly. If you have any questions, certainly, um, if you want to ask that before we sit down or later on, that's entirely up to you. Uh, we will keep our comments very brief to allow for questions that you may have, and I will start out with the ... the first two for the Grant Wood Neighborhood Association. Each year in the Grant Wood Neighborhood Association we try and provide a variety of workshops. The workshops sometimes are small in scale as far as the number of participants. Sometimes they are larger in scale. And what we try and do in the Grant Wood neighborhood is really to try and not necessarily meet everyone's needs but we do try and meet a variety of needs, whether it's individuals with young families, whether it's, um, individuals who have interests in gardening. For example this past season, uh, the past year, we had a couple Hy -Vee cooking classes where Hy -Vee gave us a ... a really good deal on the registration fee. We had a compost bin sale, working with Jen Jordan. And a compost workshop. Uh, two events that we do have repeated, and we expect to repeat some of these each year because they have been so popular, particularly with, uh, families. The pet care fair and the family fun and safety day. So those are examples of some things This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 38 that we've done in the past. The, urn ... the Grant Wood neighborhood, for those of you who may not be familiar with the neighborhood, we're a census tract 18 area with approximately 56% of our residents living low to moderate income, and some of those individuals living within poverty levels. So partly what we're trying to do is also plan workshops that bring individuals together that sometimes maybe ordinarily wouldn't be coming together, to try and ... and basically we have a very diverse neighborhood and we like to have that diversity come together, and our Grant Wood neighborhood school is a hub for that activity. Um, ques ... oh, and Michelle, you had raised in the work session. I had actually, um, I should have put down the honorarium for five speakers, as opposed to four. Thank you for pointing that out. Questions on our workshops? Payne: I don't have a question, but I have a comment for you. Roberts: Yes. Payne: Um, Mid American Energy, um, has a sign program through their community liaison person, and I noticed in one of your grants here you have $175 for signs. Roberts: Uh -huh. Payne: That ... you might be able to use that program through Mid American and then that $175 could go towards something else. Roberts: Is there a specific person that we can contact on that? Payne: I can ... I can get in contact with you and give that ... give you that person's name so that... Roberts: I'll just ... I'll send you my email, and that would be great! Payne: That'll (mumbled) Roberts: Yeah, that would be great! Um ... questions on the workshops? And I'll continue with my next one. The, um ... let's see ... and then ... the enclosure that was part of your packet, you can see the other activities that were from the past year, which some of those will be repeated. The next one is our Grant Wood Elementary PTO family dinners. This is our third season requesting funding for this. The main goal here is to help participation of families with children, and to help them participate in the PTO program. One of the things that the Grant Wood Neighborhood Associa ... or excuse me, the Grant Wood Elementary School began to notice, um, well, over the years is participation in the Parent Teacher Organization started to dwindle quite a bit. Sometimes it's just the logistics of having young ... you're raising young children, you're working, and the logistics of volunteering at that point is sometimes very difficult. Sometimes it's just the logistics of...you have young kids who need childcare and you're pulling together This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 39 a family meal, so we had offered to ... the Grant Wood Elementary... Grant Wood Elementary has a special place in my heart because both my daughters went there and it's a wonderful school. Still is a wonderful school! So we put in a grant request to basically provide funding to the Grant Wood PTO for them to hire childcare and put together a very simple supper, once a month, and this usually averages, I think it averages like 10 to 12, well... approximately 10 meetings during the academic year, where then parents can come to the PTO meeting. Childcare is taken care of. There's a very simple meal taken care of, and it helps the participation in the PTO. We've received feedback from the school, particularly in the last couple years that this has really helped the, uh, level of parent involvement, and of course that helps the ... the elementary school tremendously. So, uh, we're requesting funds... basically at the same level that we have previously and urn ... those funds, they purchase... sometimes they're able to purchase food in a very economical way from various vendors, and it's brought to ... it's brought to the school by the PTO, um, officers. Questions on that? Um ... that's it for me for now. Thank you. Hayek: Thank you, Cindy. Throgmorton: Thanks, Cindy. Trimble: Hello, I am Alicia Trimble. I am also a member of Grant Wood Neighborhood Association and I am the community garden coordinator for the neighborhood. Um, I'm presenting three grants. Um, the first one will be on the, uh, community garden. Um, over the last two years with your help we've been expanding the community garden. Uh, last year we did a big expansion. Um, and this year we're also besides partnering, um, with, uh, Jen Jordan and Fast Track and a bunch of other people, we're also becoming part of the farm -to- school program, uh, working with 4H and Master Gardeners to provide examples of healthy food. Um, this year since we're working with all those organizations, we really are in need of equipment. Uh, the equipment we use now is mostly mine or a couple other volunteers in the neighborhood, and we're really at the point where we want to start gardening clubs. Farm -to- school is going to use this for their fall planting, and so we're requesting some funds to buy a shed or another type of storage, as well as tools that can be used by the neighborhood and by children working in the garden. Um, are there any questions on that? And the next two I'll present together, just simply because they go together. Um, is the Grant Wood roller skates and uh, staff for the roller skates at Grant Wood gym. Every Friday night we have a very, very successful program in our neighborhood where, um, students can skate for free at Grant Wood Elementary. There usually are 100 -plus children there and um, we are very short on skates. Um, most ... most, well, most needed are sizes 4, 5, and 6. Um, so we're requesting five pairs of each of those size and then to continue this getting (mumbled) program we also have to have Parks' staff there. So we're requesting the money for that, as well. Any questions on those? All right, thank you! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 40 Hayek: Thank you! Would anyone else (laughter in audience) would anyone else like to present on this, uh, item? Roberts: Henri Harper and I are collaborating on this next request. I really have very little to say other than this is an idea that Phen Funk from the Pepperwood neighborhood and Henri Harper had discussed for a couple of years. The Grant Wood Neighborhood Association wanted to support this financially, primarily the ... the big goal with this, and Henri can articulate this much better than I, is we want to create a particular program that will help foster some real positive connection with, um, certain teenagers in the neighborhood and area residents, through this type of work, um, work effort. Henri, you're up! Harper: Uh, yes, well like Cindy said I've been talking the last couple years with issues we've been having in the neighborhoods and the community, and I feel strongly about the fact that it's easy for kids to respect their neighborhoods and community and know who live in those houses. Instead of people blowing and talking to kids in a negative way and the kids being negative for their own community, I've been trying to think of ways where I can bring that ... bridge that gap in the community. So by talking to some of the kids and thinking about how that can happen in a very simplistic way, I just believe that if kids knew who live in the houses, they live in their neighborhood, they more or less respect that if they know those people and the people in the neighborhood know the kids. They're more (mumbled) to respect that so the way to bridge that I felt (mumbled) we just do curb numbering. For instance we can knock on the neighbors' door and say do you want your curb, uh, number or your mailbox number. You can actually order a certain logo for your mailbox. So I felt strongly about the kids know these individuals, and the individuals know the kids. They can have a sense of community and neighborhood. And we've come a long way in ... on that side of the town and I feel by helping these kids understand their neighbors. Like I say, I come from a place where you know who you're talking to and in essence you respect that, and I'm trying to create respect for their own neighborhoods, and we've worked hard in creating this environment in our community, and with the people that live in this community, that they now have to reach out to the kids to understand their respect goes a long way. So this is a small way of saying, hey, you know, if you know who lives in the corner house, and the person in the corner house tell you to keep the noise down, you (mumbled) not be disrespectful if you know that's Mrs. Charles who's talking to me. That way (mumbled) respect that's that white lady talking to me and why she's talking to me. Well if you know that person, (mumbled) listen to them. If you're in the middle of the street and somebody's blowing at you and you turn around and that's Mrs. Wineguard on the corner telling me to get out the street, it's about getting out the street. It's not about this white lady telling me to get out the street. So I'm trying to create this environment to kids, understanding that they ... it's their neighborhood and the people in the neighborhood need to be respected, and the people in the neighborhood need to respect them. So this is just a small way of doing that, and I just figured we'd do that. In the long run I'm hoping that these kids understand This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 41 that they have a sense of community and a sense of neighborhood. So I've talked to Cindy about it and she said she would talk to the Council about it, and I think this is a good opportunity... a win -win for everyone that ... to be able to give these kids a sense of community and neighborhood. Hayek: Great! Thank you! Thanks, Henri, and thanks, Cindy. Roberts: Thank you. And I ... I always like the opportunity to express my appreciation to Marcia who just, um ... does so much, not only for our neighborhood but every neighborhood that works with her, and I... she never gets enough thanks! Thanks, Marcia! Walker: Hi, I'm Jean Walker. I'm the Melrose, uh, Neighborhood representative and I'd also like to thank Marcia for all the work she's done. She works really hard and helps us a lot. Um, the PIN grant that the Melrose Neighborhood has applied for is to do with plantings at the entrance to the Brookland Park, which is our neighborhood park. In 2007 the neighborhood, um, was renovated by the City using a master plan concept that the neighborhood raised funds for. Um, the park itself will be 100 years old in 12 years. The renovation was beautiful, and this grant would add icing to the cake, and would show the pride the neighborhood has in this park. Um, groups of daffodil, crocus, and (mumbled) bulbs, (mumbled) plants, and coral -bells will be placed at the entrance. And it will beautify the entrance and highlight the entrance stone which has Brookland Park carved on it. And will make it more welcoming for the enjoyment of neighbors and the general public. For those who are going to the park, those who are just walking through it, those that drive by it or who are riding their bikes past it. Um, the project has been approved by Mike Moran, the Director of the City's Parks and Rec department, and Steve Ford who is Landscape Architect and (mumbled). He generously donated his time, uh, to advise us on the planting of the bulbs as did Melanie Switzer of Iowa City Landscaping for the planting of the coral - bells. So the neighbors will supply the tools and the labor, and so ... um, we hope that we can have a PIN grant to supply the bulbs and other plants, and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank the City's Parks and Recreation department, and especially Terry Robinson for the wonderful work with all the City parks. They do an amazing job! Thank you. Any questions? Thanks! Hayek: Thanks, Jean. Clark: Good evening, Sarah Clark, Northside Neighborhood Association. And um, our association believes that it's important to, uh, celebrate our public spaces, whether they be new or have undergone renovation, and the um, renovated North Market Square Park has really given us a gem! It's a true gem. I don't know if you've been by in the past month. I know this project has been, well ... I think it actually started before I moved to town in 2009 so (laughter) it's been a long time coming but... whatever, um, through, urn ... neighbors working with the Rec Parks staff and uh, City consultant, we've come up with a really, really great project and um, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 42 so we are going to celebrate that on September 9th. You'll receive a formal invitation later, but consider this your informal invite right now on, uh, Sunday, September 9th, 2:00 to 5:00 P.M. We're going to have a party and our PIN grant is requesting money to hire a band, because you can't have a party without a band! (laughter) So, um, and just in terms of, um, when you do take an opportunity to go by, please notice the pavilion is now up. Park benches were, um, or picnic tables, I'm sorry, picnic tables were, uh, delivered yesterday and today, and um, the money you awarded us last year, a little over $4,000, has been spent, and a little over a month ago about a dozen neighbors took that money and did a beautiful perennial planting and um, because of the shortage of rain falling from the sky there's been at least one neighbor who has been going down about every two or three days and watering those plants. So they're just gorgeous! So ... think it's a wonderful, wonderful addition to that side of town. So ... and thank you so much for considering this. Throgmorton: It is great, but I'm disappointed you're not going to be the lead singer! (laughter) Clark: You would not be! (laughter) Hayek: We probably couldn't afford ya! (laughter) Clark: I don't know. Maybe if we did the little karaoke I could do an Ethel Merman for you but I don't think (laughter) Throgmorton: Is that a promise? (laughter) Clark: No! Are there any questions? Thank you. Oh, and for danger of making this sound like a love fest, I also want to, um, jump on the, uh, Marcia Bollinger, uh, band wagon. Thanks! (laughter) Stevenson: Good evening. My name is Wendy Stevenson and I'm from the Goosetown Neighborhood Association. Um, I'm here ... to present the, uh, party in the park, uh, PIN grant. Uh, I'm representing five other neighborhoods. The money is for five neighborhoods to put on an event in their local park. Um ... the neighborhood, uh, the Neighborhood Associations are College Green, Melrose, Miller Orchard, (mumbled) Cae, and Goosetown. And it's pretty simple. It's just a chance for us to celebrate our parks in neighborhoods. Um, our project, or the thing that we would like to do with the money is our park is in the process of being renovated and so we'd like to use the funds ... use the funds to ... um, have music and refreshments to ... reintroduce the park after the renovation. So, and uh, this is also an opportunity for neighborhoods that aren't part of the City party in the park to participate and so this gives them funds to put on an event in their park and the College Green Park is ... is going to have ... do (mumbled) and can (mumbled) a really unique project, or party, that they would like to put on (mumbled). This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 43 Michaud: I'm Pam Michaud, representing College Green, and um, this is first year I've, um, come up with an idea. Um, so many people use College Green, whether they're sororities, weddings, homecoming parade or a gay pride parade, and everything in between, but for the people that live there, uh, everyone surrounding that park immediately has been there from 10 to 30 years, including renters, are very long- term. So, I thought it would be interesting to open our porches and give different perspectives to the po ... park, so that we would have four porches open up to, um, neighbors, have light refreshments, and an acoustic musician on each porch. So that, um, we would have gifted, classical people at, uh, the Dixon House, Miria and Carrey Bostian would perform and I don't know what kind of program they'll have but I'm sure it'll be good, even if it's popular! And then um, they will be helping us to match up with musicians on the other three porches, um, which might include ukulele players on, um, the Fired Up porch (laughter) so there'll be a range of, uh, skill levels and formality. Um, but I think it'll be a relax summer porch afternoon, um, kind of replicating early- 1900s, uh, style of visiting casually with your neighbors. And um ... and then we certainly will welcome new developers as, um, our new neighbors. Um, because they're going to be there for a long time! So ... (laughter) that's part of it. So thanks very much. Any questions about that? Throgmorton: That's great! Michaud: Thank you. Hayek: Thank you, Pam! Thomson: Good evening. I'm Will Thomson, I'm from the Longfellow Neighborhood, but I'm privileged to represent all the neighborhoods, uh, in presenting the idea of funding the little free libraries project for Iowa City community. Uh, as you have in your packets the little free libraries are (mumbled) weatherproof boxes of unique and novel designs that are designed to contain books, uh, you take a book, you leave a book. Uh, we have neighborhood stewards and volunteers lined up to, uh, conduct this project, and we're asking for funding for a total of nine libraries at the present time, although I think that with the number of volunteers and the recyclable materials that might be available, we might be able to go a little bit farther in that, uh, project. But uh, this is a very relevant project for us in the neighborhoods. Um, I, as president of the Longfellow Neighborhood Association brought this project up in January at our annual meeting, and we had a very enthusiastic response from our neighbor and uh, volunteers have stepped forward to steward the boxes and so on, and other neighborhoods have followed suit. Um, there are little free libraries in, uh, 40 states and uh, 20 different countries outside of the United States, uh, it's a very exciting project that promotes literacy, and as you know, Iowa City being a City of Literature, uh, the City of Literature and the Little Free Libraries Association in Madison, Wisconsin, have gotten together to help promote this project. And we feel that your funding the project would help This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 44 us go a long way towards establishing several of these little volunteer libraries around the city, uh, that will greatly enhance our... our, uh, promotion of literature in ... in ... in the Iowa City region. Um ... in conclusion, uh, since I was asked to, um, wind things up for the PIN grants, um, for which we are extremely grateful, and it's interesting to note that a few ... just a few years ago, uh, the Longfellow Neighborhood was able to install, uh, historic signs and uh, public art sculpture in the park in our, uh, neighborhood, and it helped us to, uh, be named, uh, one of the "50 best neighborhoods in North America" by a Little House, uh, by This Old House magazine. Um ... and ... the grants have helped us to do projects like this, um, in ... improving the neighborhoods is very important to those of us who live in them, uh, PIN grants I think are very cost effective way to do this. Uh, both for the City and for the neighborhoods as the leverage that ... that these funds provide help us to go a lot farther in terms of volunteer labor and hours, equipment, and knowledge. Uh, and we hope that you all will continue to support the PIN grant program in the future. Um ... and I really appreciate your taking the time to hear us out here tonight. And I thank you. Hayek: Thank you! Thomson: Any questions about the Little Free Libraries project by any chance? Dickens: Looks neat! Thompson: Thank you. Hayek: Thank you for the presentations. Council discussion? Mims: Just a lot of great projects. I think a lot of good things happening with a lot of volunteer time and not very much money, so I think it's great to see! Champion: (mumbled) always been one of my favorites. It's $15,000. That is really not a lot of money, and a lot of great things get done with it. Thank you, all of you! Payne: I think it's interesting how each ... how the neighborhoods come up with different ways to ... make their neighborhood cohesive, and each one is a little bit different. I just think its ... I think it's great that the neighborhoods can get together and do that. Hayek: Well and we have certainly leveraged a lot of volunteer work, um, in addition to neighborhood improvement. So ... it's great. Thank you for your presentations. Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 45 ITEM 22. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION FIXING DATE FOR A MEETING ON THE PROPOSITION OF THE ISSUANCE OF NOT TO EXCEED $2,800,000 TAXABLE GENERAL OBLIGATION URBAN RENEWAL BONDS, SERIES 2012, OF THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, STATE OF IOWA, AND PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION OF NOTICE THEREOF. Mims: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Throgmorton: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Throgmorton: Uh, I'd like to raise a particular point. As we all know, a petition is circulating, uh, that would, uh, ask us, if I remember the wording correctly, ask us to schedule a referendum, uh, on the TIF. I mean I think that's the essence of the ... of the, uh, petition. So my question is basically this, um, and this may ... we discussed this partly in our work session, but um, assuming we receive a valid petition containing a sufficient number of signatures, my question is — what would be the process by which we consider whether to schedule a referendum, and I know we talked about that earlier. Eleanor, maybe you could address that or not... Hayek: Uh, yeah, I mean, maybe Legal could address it, I mean, and what would our options be at that point? Throgmorton: Right. Dilkes: Um, this item and the ... and the following item are setting public hearings, uh, for the issuance first of, uh, GO bonds and second for the issuance of revenue bonds to ... to fund the, um, the construction grant that the Council has agreed to give the Central Park project downtown. Um, both of them are on, uh, because ... so that you have the option to proceed with the General Obligation bonds, if you don't get a petition; or if you do get a petition, to proceed with the revenue bonds. Hayek: Okay. I mean, is that the ... well, to answer his question, would July 10th be the ... be the time when we discuss what our options are? Dilkes: Right. Hayek: And have you laid out all of our ... is that all of our options, the GO if we don't get the petition... Champion: Yes. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 46 Hayek: The, um ... the revenue bonds, which would be Item 23, which we would preserve tonight by setting the public hearing. Anything else? Dilkes: Urn ... not proceeding with either, and if you get the petition, setting it for election. Hayek: Okay. Abandonment or... Dilkes: Right. Throgmorton: Yeah, that's what I was trying to get at, whether that would be discussed. That would be the moment, that evening, to discuss it. Dilkes: Yes! Hayek: Okay. Thanks for that clarification. Any further discussion by Council on Item 22? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 47 ITEM 25. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE BUDGETED POSITIONS AT THE IOWA CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY. Payne: Move the resolution. Dobyns: Second. Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Dobyns. Discussion? This has to do, uh, with adding a position, uh, for development and fundraising purposes, and as I understand it, would be paid for out of, uh, from the ... from the Foundation, not with... Mims: Not with City money. Hayek: ...Iowa City money. Further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 48 ITEM 26. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING AN AD HOC DIVERSITY COMMITTEE TO STUDY CITY OPERATIONS AS THEY RELATE TO MINORITY POPULATIONS. Dobyns: Move the resolution. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Di ... Dobyns, seconded by Payne. Discussion? Throgmorton: I ... I'd like to bring up one point. Urn ... given the sensitivity of the topics being addressed, uh, I think it's really important that the ... that the process be conducted in a way that, um, enables, um, the members of the committee and anybody who speaks to the committee to speak freely and honestly without any kind of fear. And I ... I don't, I won't elaborate on that, but one of the reasons we're creating the committee is that there's a certain degree of fear. So, it's important to construct the process so that ... um ... there isn't any. Hayek: I ... I assume these are op ... open meetings just like the rest of our commissions. Markus: Yes. Throgmorton: Well, you know... Hayek: I mean... Throgmorton: I'd like to talk with you afterwards about this a little bit, if you don't mind. Markus: Sure. Hayek: Any further discussion on Item 26? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012. Page 49 ITEM 30. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION. Hayek: We'll start down with you, Jim. Throgmorton: It's been a long night. Mims: No, nothing. Dickens: Happy 30th Anniversary, Rick! Throgmorton: Yeah! Dobyns: Thank you! (laughter) Hayek: Enjoy the last couple hours of it! (laughter) City Manager? (several talking) Oh! I thought you were ... yeah! Dobyns: She has nothing to say! Hayek: Please present! (laughter) Payne: The only thing I had was just a reminder that, um, when Johnson County test ... tests the emergency siren in July, the normal day would be July 4t . It's a holiday, so they're going to do it on July 5th at 10:00. Hayek: Got it! Thanks for delaying Rick's anniversary now about 10 seconds! (laughter) No, that's important public information. (several talking and laughing) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of June 19, 2012.