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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-07-31 TranscriptionPage 1 ITEM 2. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED. (recording starts in mid - sentence) Hayek: ... Consent Calendar, and because of a couple of changes we discussed at our work session, what we need is a motion to, uh, adopt the Consent Calendar as presented or amended, including, uh, the deletion of Items 2e(1) and 2d(7). Payne: So moved. Mims: Second. Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Mims. Discussion? Roll call, please. Uh, item passes 7 -0. And now, Jim, if you, uh, would make a motion, uh... (both talking) Karr: To adopt. Hayek: ...adopt Item 2d(7) which is the National... Throgmorton: Well, I make a motion that we adopt 2 ... Item 2d(7). Champion: Second! Hayek: Moved by Throgmorton, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Throgmorton: Yeah, Jeff, uh, I was wondering if you might be able to give us a sense of, uh, who the National Development Council is, why they were hired initially, uh, what's being proposed with this particular resolution and why. Davidson: Yes, the... Hayek: Let me interrupt. Why don't you ... let me just read the actual resolution itself and then you can get into the background. It's 2...2d(7) reads: consider a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute and the City Clerk to attest an agreement between the City and the National Development Council regarding Community and Economic Development advisement. Davidson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm Jeff Davidson, the Director of Planning for the City. Uh, the item that has been taken off the Consent Calendar is a contract that we have with the National Development Council. The National Development Council is a non - profit organization that's basically been in existence for many years to assist, uh, typically private, non - profit, uh, housing projects. Uh, they have, um ... training programs then, which is how we first became acquainted with them. We had two members of our staff, uh, that ... that took training programs in financial analysis, uh ... it related to housing projects. Um, as we have gotten more and more into financial assistance by the City being kind of standard procedure for a lot of our projects, we realized that we were getting into situations This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 2 that really required a level of expertise that, uh, we didn't necessarily have on staff, and it was occurring routinely enough that we, uh, basically took it upon ourselves to initially on an experimental basis, uh, used the services of the National Development Council. We found that they were very, very valuable, and have since formalized that, uh ... that relationship, and this would be, I believe, the second or possibly even third renewal of our contract with them. And the National Development Council, we ... according to our contract, we pay a monthly fee. Uh, they are here for three days a month to help us, and they are available basically throughout the month, and they are very good about... in... in the course of them doing their training courses and whatever basically dropping what they're doing and assisting us. Uh, we have found ourselves in situations with, uh, financial analysis for, you know, basically a request for financial assistance where we need a response very quickly, and we need a level of analysis that requires the highest level of, uh, financial knowledge in order ... in order to ... to make that analysis, and you have seen many projects. All of our TIF projects received scrutiny from the National Development Council, and we have had projects where they have determined that the financial analysis was appropriate, and some they have, in fact, one just ... just recently where they have determined it is not appropriate, and ... even the projects where our financial analysis, or our financial assistance is determined to be appropriate, they ... by the time you see it, it has gone through a lot of analysis where the developer's requested to change certain assumptions, change certain factors, change certain things, so that by the time you get it, it's a very, very tight financial analysis which you can then make a policy decision on whether or not you want to implement a specific, uh, project. So I think the City Manager would concur that although it's, uh, you know, every... every, you know, we don't like spending money more than we have to, but it is money well spent in terms of the amounts of, the millions and millions of dollars, uh, that we are being asked to provide in ... in financial assistance, uh, having this level of analysis is money well spent, we feel. Throgmorton: Thanks, Jeff! That's very helpful. If I might, uh, just sort of elaborate a little bit. Um, so if...if I'm understanding you correctly, um ... the National Development Council has helped us do such things as do a gap analysis or a but -for analysis with regard to proposed TIFs, and if I heard you correctly, recently they have advised against a particular proposal, saying it didn't really meet criteria, right? Davidson: That is correct. Throgmorton: So you feel it provides us with a very, uh, skillful and objective analysis of, um, of points having to do with the gap in financing and whether a TIF is, uh, appropriate for a particular project or not. Davidson: That is correct, Jim, and I also meant to mention and I forgot that they are also assisting us in training up our staff, as well, and ... and we receive deeply discounted rates for doing that. In fact, we ... we receive some of it for no expense as part of our contract with them. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 3 Throgmorton: Great! Thanks. Hayek: Jim, do you have any other questions (both talking) Throgmorton: No, I don't. Markus: I might just add that ... not only do they do the gap analysis, they actually look at the financials of the corporation seeking, uh, the incentive and then making a determination whether that company is ... they're looking into the books of the actual company that may be applying for that incentive, as well, and then making a determination, their credit worthiness and if in fact there is a real gap that does exist there. Hayek: Great! Uh, any further discussion on ... that item? Hearing none, roll call, please. Uh, item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 4 ITEM 3. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA) Hayek: This brings us to Item 3, which is community comment. This is the opportunity at each Council meeting for members of the public to address the City Council on items that are not on the agenda. So if there's something not on the agenda you'd like to bring to our attention, I invite you to step forward. Please, uh, sign in and also verbally give us your name, and also please limit your comments to five minutes or less. Elliott: At my age it's difficult to talk and write at the same time, so I will write! Hayek: No special dispensation, Mr. Elliott! (laughter) Champion: At least he's not talking! (laughter) Elliott: Hey! (laughter) I'm Bob Elliott. Uh, my wife Maggie and I have lived on Dover Street in southeast Iowa City for more than 40 years. Um, we have talked from time to time about why we stayed in Iowa City this long, and those situations arise, and another one arose Sunday morning on the 22nd when, uh, Maggie got up first. She looked out and said, oh, it's rained outside cause there's water, and she said no, it doesn't look like it. So I went out. There was a water main that had broke, so this was about 7, 7:30. Within a short period of time I found out that the call had already been called in. Uh, a gentleman from the City came out. He was looking at things. Short time later a truck pulled up. Within a very short period of time an ... a, um, a backhoe, a huge backhoe was there. They identified where the water main break was and it was right next store. They took care of everything. We left for church. The street was torn up and the driveway and the entrance to the driveway was torn up. By the time we got home from church, about 11:00, everything was fixed, everything was done, everything... everybody was gone. It was just another example of the City workers really doing an outstanding job! Uh, they were helpful to us when I went out and asked them how long the water would be off; they told me. We had a chance to take our showers first, so it was just a great example of the City using our tax money in good form. One little parting shot before I leave. My understanding is that urban chickens are mutually exclusive terms (laughter) and I hope the Council will see it that way! Thank you! (laughter) Hayek: Thanks, Bob, and Tom, I hope you will pass on his comments, uh, to staff. Markus: About the chickens? (laughter) Hayek: No! About the, uh (laughter) I'll leave that up to you! Markus: Okay! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 5 Hayek: And thanks, Bob, for the nice, uh, comments about, uh, the City being responsive to that situation. Would anyone else, uh, from the audience like to address us during community comment? Seeing none I will move on to Item 4, Planning and Zoning Matters. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 6 ITEM 4. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS. ITEM 4c AMENDING THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO CHANGE THE LAND -USE DESIGNATION FROM SINGLE- FAMILY/DUPLEX RESIDENTIAL TO MEDIUM - DENSITY MULTI - FAMILY RESIDENTIAL FOR PROPERTY LOCATED NORTH OF BENTON STREET BETWEEN GEORGE AND STREB STREETS. (CA12- 00002) [Discussion only at formal meeting 1. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: What I'm going to do here is ... this, uh, this item and the next couple of items all relate to the Oaknoll project, um ... I'm going to open the public hearing on 4c, uh ... the actual ex parte disclosure we would make would normally come under 4d, but I'm just going to have everybody on Council disclose any conversations they've had regarding the rezoning at the beginning of this first, uh, public hearing, just to get it out of the way. So I will open the public hearing at this time (bangs gavel) and uh, let's start with ex parte, uh, disclosures, if any. Dobyns: I had discussions with City staff, uh, clarifying some of the various issues. Mims: Does that include... conversations between Council Members? Hayek: Yeah. Mims: Okay. I talked to Rick about it. Rick and I had a conversation about it, and I think Matt and I had a brief conversation about it. Dilkes: You ... you should give just briefly the substance of the conversation. The ... the point here is to enable ... the applicant or people opposed to the rezoning to respond. If you... you need to give them enough information so they know if there was a concern being discussed, etc. Mims: Yeah, the concern, I mean .... what Rick and I had a brief discussion, and he was expressing his concern about, uh, possibly the size and height of the building, um, was basically the extent of our conversation and ... very similar with Matt. Dobyns: Right, and that's what I clarified with City staff, as well as my Council colleagues. Hayek: Um, 1, uh ... um ... talked briefly with Susan earlier today, um, and we both indicated to each other, um, general support for the project. I also ran into Attorney Bob Downer, the attorney for Oaknoll, couple of weeks ago about something else but he mentioned this and suggested that I drive by the area, um, and I said I would and I did. Urn ... and I think that's, oh, Rick and I talked briefly, um, and ... you just indicated that you were going to contact City staff with some concerns you had. Dobyns: Which I did. Hayek: That was the extent of it. We didn't get into any specifics. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 7 Dobyns: Which will come up in discussion. Hayek: Okay. Throgmorton: I ... I must admit that you and I actually had a brief phone conversation today in which you told me that you were going to drive by Oaknoll, and I said I'll probably do that later on. I ... I'm completely mystified why it is we have to, uh, publicly acknowledge that we in fact talked to another Council Member about some public issue, or that we talked to a City staff member about it. It's just absurd! I ... I understand why we have to acknowledge talking with members of the public, property owners, whatever, but City staff? City Council Members? Ahh ... I don't get it! (laughter) Dilkes: Did you want a response (laughter and several talking) Hayek: It relates to rezoning only. Dilkes: There are some city attorneys who will tell you you can't talk at all. Throgmorton: Yeah, and that's ridiculous. Hayek: (several talking) anyway, all right ... any more ex parte communications to disclose on the part of Council? Hearing none, we're in the public hearing and uh, why don't we start with Jeff Davidson from staff. Davidson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Jeff Davidson, Director of Planning for the City. Um, you have three items, even though the ... the first item that the Mayor has introduced is the, uh, Comprehensive Plan amendment. There is also a rezoning action, and a street vacation action, uh, that ... that is part of the issue tonight, uh, regarding the proposed expansion of Oaknoll Retirement Residence. Since Marian's put the lights down, there is a picture of the image, and we'll have a couple more images to, uh, go through. Um, I am going to... as the staff report, uh, that you received did basically include all three issues together, I'm also going to present everything together, so thank you for the ex parte communication disclosure. We can get that out of the way. Um, you ... you'll obviously on your agenda consider them separately in terms of votes, but let's just go through `em all at once cause it ... it, they're clearly all related to each other. Um ... the request is from Christian Retirement Services, better known as Oaknoll. Uh, the request is for as I mentioned three items — amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, a rezoning action from RS -8 to, uh, RM- 20 with a planned development overlay, and we'll ... I'll go through real briefly the significance of that, and vacation of the public right -of -way of Spring Street, and the purpose is for the expansion of Oaknoll Retirement Residence, uh, located north of Benton Street between George and Streb Streets. The size of the parcel for which all of these actions are being considered is 2.7 acres, and the Comprehensive Plan currently, and this is through the Southwest District Plan calls for single - family or duplex residential in this area. So what you will be asked to consider with the Comprehensive Plan, uh, action is... is the vision for this area still single - family, uh, duplex residential or should it be a higher density as suggested by, uh, the applicant. Um ... I ... I also wanted to mention, because there have been a couple of questions, I mean, Oaknoll is clearly a senior housing, uh ... uh, facility. Uh, they are somewhat unique in the, uh, life -care aspect of, uh, how they conduct their business, and the applicant is here and may wish to elaborate on that, and you may have questions, but basically the ... the notion of that is This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 8 that you can transition from independent living to assisted living to skilled care nursing home -type care, within that facility as part of an initially agreed to expense, in that that is somewhat unique in senior housing, and again, the applicant may wish to expand on that, but I think it is worth, um... it is worth bearing out, or is worth bringing out, uh, so you understand what the nature of this facility is. The services that are provided within the walls of Oaknoll include, uh, as I mentioned, 24 -hour emergency nursing care, uh, housekeeping services, transportation, wellness center, swimming pool, movie theater, uh, dining facilities. It's a, uh, very much a ... um, complete community and ... and again, you may have questions for the, uh, applicant about that. Um ... let's just real quickly spin through the images here so we have a good understanding of...of, sort of the character and the nature of what's proposed. Here you see, uh, a rendering, this is a view from the intersection of George Street. What you see in front of you, uh, and Benton Street, you can see the skywalk that is proposed, that would connect the, uh, phase 2 facility, which was completed over here several years ago, uh, with the ... this is the proposed, uh, facility. Uh, here's how it lays out in an aerial view. You see the existing, uh, Oaknoll campus here. Uh, George Street, uh, Benton Court which was vacated. You have a vacation action that you're being, uh, requested to consider of Spring Street, which is right here. Uh, similar action was taken previously for Oaknoll with Benton Court right here. Uh, you can also see the, uh, amount of property. Oaknoll does control all the property, uh, that is, um ... uh, being, uh, used in the expansion project, uh, there is one piece of property which ... which I think is highlighted here. You can see, uh, that they do not own, uh, but is being taken into consideration with the proposed, uh, development project. Uh, here's... here's a layout basically of the large building, and you can see it's configured with a, uh, central courtyard area here which we'll show some images of that in a second, and again, to orient you — Benton Street is here, uh, George Street is here, vacated Spring Street would be here, and Streb Street which ... which would remain a public street, uh, is located at the west side of the property. Uh, you can also see the extent of the property that ... that Oaknoll does ... Oaknoll does own. There would also be two duplex units, uh... constructed by Oaknoll here, so a total of four units. There's 69 units here, and then the four units here, for a total of, uh, 73. Uh ... the site currently... well, I'll get to that in a second, uh, the number of units it currently contains. Um... the ...the project as envisioned would have access here to underground parking. Um, and ... and they are providing a significant amount of parking beyond what is required, a total of 145, uh, spaces. Uh, you'll also note that there are two ... two homes here, which would remain. Uh, they ... they are not going to be taken down at this ... at this time. Oaknoll would ... would rent them as part of their ... their program, but they would remain in the existing, uh, configuration. Um...the, uh, Spring Street, although it's vacated, it will provide the main access to this. It will be reconstructed, uh, and provide the access to the 145 spaces of underground, uh, parking. Uh, the applicant has indicated that they did conduct a, um ... uh, neighborhood meeting, uh, which is not required but they did conduct one and it was rather sparsely attended. Um... in terms of the analysis here. The ...the current, uh, RS -8 zoning allows for, um ... uh, single - family and duplexes, as I mentioned. Oh, and I ... I'm sorry; I did have a few more images to go through here. Uh, there's a, A... um... not exactly an aerial view but a... a view of... of what the proposed building would look like and you can see the two, uh, the two, uh, areas here, separated by the courtyard in the middle and then down here's where the ... that's a roof of one of the new duplexes. Um ... and again, another view showing the skywalk across George Street. Um ... one of the things that we'll be discussing is the scale of the building. Uh, this corner right here is the tallest part of the building. It's a full five stories tall and that's one of the things that (mumbled) has received a lot of discussion with the applicant This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 9 and we'll, uh, go through some of the ... the strategies in terms of dealing with some of the, uh, neighborhood issues with that. Here you see that corner that I was just pointing out. You see the three, uh, access driveways here to the underground parking that we'd... would be provided under the building. Here's Streb Street. Uh, Oaknoll owns these two houses. They do not own these, and then there would be a house removed right here, uh, that would provide what we feel is better emergency vehicle access via, uh, the former Spring Street and Streb Street. Uh, this is the building that they do not currently own and then here are the two new duplexes that, uh, would be constructed. Uh ... let's see. There's the ... this is the courtyard and we'll get into one of the ... one of the exceptions that's being asked for as part of the planned development process is to the number of trees that are required, and one of the reasons that that, uh, was considered a reasonable request is this courtyard area which will provide outdoor planted area that you obviously can't plant trees in and so, uh, an exception is being suggested to that. Uh, any questions about those images before I step through the staff report quickly? Okay. Uh, as I mentioned, the current zoning is RS -8. The proposed zoning is RM -20 with a planned development overlay. Uh, the R ... the key thing about the RM -20 zone, in addition to the density that it allows is that it allows elder housing, and they are ... Oaknoll is requesting, uh, a density bonus, uh, which is allowed in the RM -20 zone for, uh, elder housing. Uh, there's a lot of information out there about elder housing being one of the fastest growing, urn ... um, housing sectors, uh, and certainly reflected in our own community and ... and this project is a ... is a response to that. Um... the planned development is to allow flexibility in the application of our zoning standards and there are several specific things that are being suggested by Oaknoll that you will be asked to approve, and remember that will be in the zoning action that you will take after the Comprehensive Plan. Um ... the ... the height of the building is one exception that's being asked for — 35 feet, uh, is the, uh, limit in the RM -20 zone. They are asking for 52 feet. Also an exception, as I mentioned, to the tree requirement based on providing the, uh, central court like... courtyard area. Um, in terms of the Comprehensive Plan, which is ... is actually the item in front of you at this time, uh, the request is to change the designation from, as I mentioned, the existing single - family duplex to multi - family, uh, residential. So basically that's a question before you, is that vision for this area appropriate. Um ... the Southwest District Plan does address some of the issues with the neighborhood and the amount of multi - family housing, specifically the student housing that's further east, uh, down Benton Street. And, Oaknoll has tried to address some of those. I think the most significant one is with the provision of the underground parking. Not...you can ... you can imagine the amount of surface parking that would be required to park 145 cars, uh, in a surface lot, and that would have a real... significant impact, uh, on the neighborhood. Obviously the size of the building is significantly larger than what is there currently. Um, what Oaknoll has tried to do in response to that, you will see, one of the things I wanted to point out — this large green area here is because, uh, Oaknoll has granted the right -of -way for the eventual expansion of Benton Street. We don't have that planned right now, but we do know that in the future, in particular the need for turn lanes up here at the intersection with Sunset Street is something that we're going to have to do. We have been, uh, granted that right -of -way and so the setback of the building that you see there reflects, uh, that, uh, right -of -way that they would be dedicating. Uh, you can see the sidewalks provided, uh, on the site. It would have good pedestrian accessibility. Um ... the Comprehensive Plan does support providing group living options for seniors, so that's another aspect of the Comprehensive Plan, uh, that the proposed project does address, adding the 73 units of, uh, senior housing. Um... in terms of compatibility with the adjacent neighborhood, in addition to the, uh, parking ... uh, being provided This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 10 underground, uh ... the ... the courtyard that's being provided breaks up the massing of the building. Uh, you will see that the fagade of the building, you know, even compared to some of Oaknoll's existing buildings is significantly, uh, broken up in a manner that does make it not quite as monolithic as it would be, uh, if that was not present. Um... in... in ...in summary in our view ... you know ... Oaknoll has done pretty much what can be done with a building of this size, and the Planning and Zoning, uh, Commission did concur on a 5 to 1 vote, uh, that they had ... that basically the strategies for trying to be a good neighbor to the degree possible with a building of this size, uh, did merit the change in the Comprehensive Plan, uh, from low- density to medium - density. Uh, I mentioned, uh, Benton Street and the need for additional right -of -way, and we did, uh, get that granted to us. Uh, elder housing is not a significant generator, uh, of traffic and the, uh, MPOJC Transportation Planning Division did take a look at the capacity of Benton Street and felt that this could be, uh, as ... the net traffic increase with this could be accommodated with the existing roadway and that wouldn't be an issue, that the access points had good sight distance. The Streb Street access is at the bottom of the hill, has good... good sight distance in either direction. Uh, the skywalk, uh, as proposed meets our requirements. It will have to go through a permitting procedure, uh, but it is designed, uh, consistent with the other sidewalks. The most recent one has been between the, uh, County HHW building and the County Admin building, um, and this would meet those ... those same requirements. Um... in terms of storm water management and sanitary sewer. There were some issues that, from a design perspective, have had to be ... had to been worked out. Our Public Works Department has looked at those and feels that the design is a good design in terms of accommodating a building of this scale. Uh, there are some fees, basically fees in lieu of open space, 2.7 acres that they will be, at the time of site plan approval been, urn ... uh, be required to provide. Mentioned the vacation of Spring Street. Uh, we went through the normal evaluation and I've been through this with you several times. I won't go into any great detail unless you'd like additional detail, but we basically looked at the factors that we look at whenever we're, um ... uh, considering any vacation and we feel that, uh, everything has been met satisfactorily, uh, by Oaknoll. Uh, in ... in this, uh ... drawing here, the way ... the way this duplex is set up is that one of the units has access from Streb Street, one of the units has access from Spring Street, so there will be an access easement provided for that. There's also a parking place at the rear of this lot and so the person in this unit will again have, uh ... uh, rights to use Spring Street via an access easement for that parking area in the back here. Otherwise, the access is all to, uh, Oaknoll's property. Uh, in summary, as I mentioned, the Planning and Zoning Commission, along with staff, does recommend approval of the Comprehensive Plan amendment. The planned development rezoning. Uh, and the vacation. Um ... I would be happy to go through the zoning approval criteria in more detail if you'd like, but basically it's, you know, the traffic issues, uh, trying to address the neighborhood, uh, compatibility. Um, the three ... I'm ... I'm just going to real briefly, uh, mention the three specific modifications that the planned development rezoning will accommodate — is the height, uh, of the building; the, uh, requirement for the tree standards to be reduced from 97 trees to 74 trees, and that was a concern of the Planning and Zoning Commission. They did talk about the landscaping of the property, and did actually vote for a provision that at the time of site plan approval, the Director of Planning has to approve the, uh, landscaping, uh, that will be provided on the site, and especially that tallest corner, uh, we'll look at how that's accommodated. I think the applicant has developed a very satisfactory, uh, landscaping plan, and you may want to ask them to elaborate on that, uh ... uh, when you continue your hearing. Um... so as I mentioned, the recommendation was for approval ... and I think ... oh, I did want to note here. This slide — I didn't point it This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 11 out at the time. Here shows the landscaping that is proposed, or at least was proposed at the time Planning and Zoning saw this. There are ... there are additional plantings that you see here on these properties, which provide, uh, quite a bit of additional screening, uh, to the ... to the side of the building here. So we did want to note that as well (someone speaking in background). Existing trees. Yes. (someone speaking in background) Um, my understanding ... this was provided to us by the applicant. You may want to ask them to clarify that. My understanding is these reflect the existing trees. Do you have any questions about any of the three items you'll be asked to consider, uh, this evening, before you continue your hearing? Payne: This ... so that's the vacated Spring Street right there? Davidson: Yes. Payne: Okay. Davidson: As I mentioned, it will be reconstructed. Any other questions? Quite a bit of information here. Dobyns: Jeff, I was wondering if you or the developer could provide some justification for the... the height of the building. I mean this is the interface between a purely residential zone in Iowa City and University Heights, um, and ... uh, what is now a long -term, you know, (mumbled) residential complex campus. Davidson: Right. Dobyns: Um ... you know, the rest of Oaknoll has sort of grown in size, but also in height, and I think ... is ... is this the highest that Oaknoll is compared (both talking) Davidson: I believe this is the tallest building they have, yes. Dobyns: This is the tallest building (both talking) Davidson: This would be the tallest building, I believe (both talking) Dobyns: There's shaking of heads here! (someone responding from audience) Davidson: Same as the last project. Dobyns: Yeah. Um ... and ... and Oaknoll is a knoll. I mean, it is the tallest area on, you know, this part of Iowa City. So it sort of...just, to build that extra height is ... is .... appears abrupt. Davidson: Yeah, there ... there was a lot of discussion, Rick, between staff and the applicant, and my understanding is that the Planning and Zoning, uh, Commission, with the applicant, about the scale of the building and certainly the applicant should respond to the need for it to be, uh, the size that is proposed. Um, you can see that there are some stepped -back areas, uh, for example, this height here is stepped back twice so that it... it reflects, you know, if you're standing down here on the street it would be, h, really just reflect a three -story building, although in fact it's five stories with the ... with the stepped -back. You know, with the courtyard introduced, um, that I think became a significant factor in the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 12 remainder of the building being taller, uh, so that they could accommodate all the features that they wanted to see accommodated in the building and again, the applicant can elaborate on exactly what those features are. Dobyns: And I appreciate the courtyard, especially from being (mumbled) visible from, uh, Benton Street, um, I mean in terms of frontage and appearance, um, but I just... it's be nice to hear a commentary justification from the developer and see what the rest of Council thinks. Davidson: Any other questions for me? Hayek: We may need you to come back, Jeff. Davidson: Sure! Thank you. Hayek: So it sounds like there may be a question or two for, uh, the applicant. Seabold: Hi, I'm Mark Seabold. I'm with Shive Hattery, design architect for the project. Um, I would like to respond to that height because it was something that we've been struggling with, um, just in order to make the site a usable site. Um ... let me see here where I am. Um, mostly because right here (mumbled) Davidson: Use the mouse. Seabold: Oh, there you go! Uh, George Street... in between Oaknoll's existing campus and the properties located to the west, and then Benton Street here at the bottom — there's about 22 feet of fall, right in through here. So there's that ... it's that significant hill that goes down there, and that's one of the reasons why the building tends to grow kind of... that's the highest side would be as it falls down. Um, what we were looking at here was, um, was providing a building that is in scaled with the existing building. So these two, four heights are at the same. The skywalk is actually at the fifth floor level and then this has a sixth floor, and I say sixth floor, um, only because the building also cascades to the north, down. So it's a very kind of rollie site and in order to accommodate that, um, we were looking at providing, um, you know, basically a ... a building reflective of the size here, stepping that down a story as we start to go down Benton Street; we have a three story building here in the back, again, kind of responding to the neighborhood to the north, but again, with the slight sloping condition, um, it tends to work its way around. Uh, the other main factor was trying not to have any on -site parking, you know, no hard surface parking. Trying to accommodate that under the building; again with the 22 -foot high, uh, grade change we're able to get two levels of parking in there. So with that 100 to 45 spots that Jeff was mentioning, um, we're accommodating that in here, and again, uh, as Jeff has mentioned, you know, we're stepping this back again to try ... to preserve that kind of three -story fagade here, as well as, um, you know, beginning that here so this is still, it's just at three stories. It's really just in this lower corner as it comes down, where we do have these mature trees and where we're responding with landscaping in the... in the area there, and finally, um, you know, choosing to develop and maintain Spring Street, holding this back from the residences off of Streb, and buffering that area with these duplexes was our other strategy to try and mitigate that and blend, um, into the neighborhood. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 13 Dickens: What is the height of the duplexes that'll be right across ... the vacated Spring. Is that going to help... Seabold: Absolutely! That...that's the goal is to help blend it into the neighborhood, um, they... it's a single -story d ... um, design, you know, to ... to respond to the, uh, elderly housing component and has a little bit, um ... I ... you know, the peak of the roof, it's probably like a (mumbled) slope, again, responding to the architecture of the neighborhood. (mumbled) any additional questions on the height aspects? Again, just balancing, uh, working closely with City staff in order to kind of try and step back the facades and really relate to ... Oaknoll's done a good job of relating to the neighborhood, I think, um, pretty consistently. In our past additions we'd worked with City staff, even on the George Street building I think we had the same types of strategies going into here and just kind of a... a lot of back and forth. (several talking) Dobyns: So the transition from Oaknoll is those...the ... the ... apartments on the north side, that's a six -floor, um, apartment, the ones on the ... the slope, on the north side? Seabold: Uh, over here? Dobyns: Um, of the new building. Seabold: This would be six floor, and then this is actually fifth floor, and this is the main community area, um, of this building, and actually it will be the main community area of the entire campus, which is why, um, we have kind of the, uh, sloped roof condition here. Uh, basically you know in order to provide that community aspects of Oaknoll, um, there was a, uh, we recognize the fact that the existing Oaknoll campus really has a fairly small, uh, community room. We're, uh, providing a larger, kind of column -free setting, um, at this space, and to provide it at the fifth floor here makes it, you know, very easy to access via this. It's on the same level as the skywalk so the community can really flow in between these buildings very, very well. And really just, um ... again, this... this... this stepping back but bumping up here, responding to this, uh ... you know, we thought that that was in scale with ... with really with what Oaknoll had done in the past, as well as kind of the scale of the... of the buildings going, uh, east on Benton. Hayek: Jim, did you have a question? Throgmorton: Yeah, um ... there's a pretty dramatic difference between the proposed building and the existing buildings on the south side of Benton Street, and to the west of the proposed building on Streb, if I remember rightly. Uh, pretty dramatic difference. Uh, I... so dramatic I'd say the proposed building is highly incompatible with those existing buildings. So I wonder how you would respond to that, or anybody else with, uh, with Oaknoll. Seabold: Um ... I can just give a brief response. Yeah, we did have a neighborhood meeting. Uh, we've been very, very public about what ... what Oaknoll's goals were, as we were in the last, um, project, which was really about the same relationship, uh, with Benton Street, um, to the neighbors to the south, and in general, you know, Oaknoll gets very favorable, uh, comments from the neighborhood and really works very well with them. Um... you know, I ... I guess I haven't ... I haven't seen any... any concern, um, any of those concerns from the neighborhood, but I'll let (mumbled) ... I don't know if you've heard of anything This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 14 or ... would you like to hear from someone else now? (laughter) (several talking and noises on mic) Throgmorton: Well, I'm ... oh, I'm sorry! (noises on mic) Did my Connie, uh, Champion imitation! (laughter and several talking) Hayek: Them's fghtin' words! (laughter) Throgmorton: Sorry! Um, yeah, well if no... if no neighbors are here objecting that's a strong signal, um, of...of, uh, silence is the equivalent of support in ... in this particular context. I ... I wonder though if, uh, this is a question, I don't know if you're the best person to an ... have answer it but I wonder if any neighbors spoke at the Planning and Zoning Commission's public hearing, and if so, whether any of those neighbors expressed opposition, and perhaps John Thomas with the Commission could respond to that or uh, you know, somebody else. Roe: Hi, I'm Steve Roe. I'm Administrator and Chief Financial Officer at Oaknoll and I attended the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. Um, there were a couple of neighbors at the... at the meeting. Uh, really the only concern from the neighborhood was the one property that we were not able to acquire and their concern was about garbage pickup. Uh, so there was really no concern from the neighborhood about the ... the size of the building or how it fits into the neighborhood. Hayek: Why don't we ... we're in a public hearing, so if, uh, if there's anyone else in the audience who would like to address us on this item... invite you to step forward, Mr. Downer. Downer: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, uh, Members of the City Council. I'm Bob Downer. I'm the, uh, attorney for, uh, Oaknoll and uh, have, uh, been... privileged to serve in that capacity as well as, uh, as an advisory director, uh, for many years. Um, I wanted to, uh, say a few words to more or less flesh out the ... the picture of Oaknoll, what it is, what it does, uh, what it means to the community, and the persons who live there and the like. Uh, I think Jeff has ... has done an excellent job of describing, uh, this addition and I'm not going to spend a lot of time, uh, repeating, uh, what he said, but I do think having some background on Oaknoll helps, uh, complete the picture. Uh, Oaknoll was established in the, uh, early -1960s as a result of a group of community, uh, citizens banding together because they felt that there was a need for more, uh, housing facilities, uh, that included, uh, the possibility of health care and other needs for, uh, senior citizens in this community. Um, the .... group, uh, established a non - profit corporation, Christian Retirement Services, Inc. Uh, this was established in the early -1960s and in, uh, the fall of 1966, uh, the first portion of Oaknoll opened. Uh, that ... portion included 54 apartments at that time, and a 32 -bed health center. That has expanded over the period of time since then, uh, to 172 independent living, uh, apartments, 33 assisted living apartments, and a total of 48 nursing beds. Uh, the proposed expansion would all be, uh, independent living, uh, apartments, although it is envisioned that the, uh, entire facility would function together and with ... that those persons who resided in the new units at such time as they needed a greater level of support or care that they would go into assisted living or the health center, which would be in the existing part, uh, of the Oaknoll campus. The estimated construction cost of this facility is in excess, uh, of $38 million, uh, without regard to contingencies, professional and permit fees, and the like. The financing for this project is going to be provided by banks. Uh, this was also the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 15 source of financing for the addition that was commended in 2004, and most of the participating banks in this are either local or have a presence, uh, in Johnson County. The architects, general contractor, and most subcontractors for this project will be local, and the economic impact of this project during construction, uh, will be substantial. Uh, in, uh, 1982 the, uh... uh, present Mayor's father and I faced off in the, uh (laughter) main courtroom of the Johnson County courthouse for a week to determine whether this facility, um, would be subject to property taxes or not. Uh, Judge Robinson, uh, took a, urn ... uh, view that, uh, part of it, uh, justified the tax exemption and part of it did not. The portion that is independent living units, uh, has not since that time been property tax exempt, and the proposed units are all in that category, so this new facility, uh, would be on the property tax rolls, uh, in its entirety. In addition to the substantial expansion that has occurred, uh, over the past 40 -plus years, there are other manifestations of the strong demand for this type of facility in our community. There're presently more than 160 individuals or couples on the waiting list for Oaknoll, and it is anticipated that the new units, uh, in this, uh, structure, uh, 73 in total with the duplexes, would be fully subscribed by the time that, uh, construction is completed. Uh, you, uh, have, uh, already heard from uh, Mr. Roe and Mr. Seabold. In addition, uh, here on behalf of Oaknoll and this project are Nick ... Nick Thorn, uh, who's also with Shive Hattery, and the Executive Director, uh, of Oaknoll, Pat Heiden, and uh, if any of us can, uh, answer any questions, uh, with regard to this, we'll be happy to do so. Thank you. Hayek: Thank you. Throgmorton: Could I ask him a question? Hayek: (mumbled) Throgmorton: Bob, uh, thank ... thank you. That was very informative. There's lots of background there I really didn't know. Uh, but... Downer: Well as I oftentimes tell people, I've been associated with this facility for so long I feel like Milton Berle who used to say that nothing was before my time (laughter) uh, and uh, so I...1, uh, went on the board about six months after it opened so, uh, I wasn't quite there at the beginning but uh, nearly so! Throgmorton: (mumbled) there are only like two or three of us in the room who know who Milton Berle was (laughter and several talking) Hayek: See if the minutes pick that up when we see that written form! (laughter) Throgmorton: So my question is not one that Milton would ask but... Downer: Okay! (laughter) Throgmorton: ...but um ... uh, the most recent expansion was in 2004. Downer: That's when it started, yes. Throgmorton: Started, yeah, and it was a significant... significant expansion. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 16 Downer: Yes! Throgmorton: With all the new buildings and so on. Wh ... where's it going to stop? Downer: Uh ... it would, uh, be anticipated that this would be the last, uh ... expansion for this particular facility. There ... there had been plans at...at one point, uh, looking at, uh, perhaps going further, uh ... that, uh, I don't think is consistent with the board's present thinking. Uh, because of the importance of cohesion among the residents and... and things of that nature, uh, I think it's the board's feeling that, uh, you can't get too large. Uh, this would also involve more expansion of... of, uh, the health center, more expansion of assisted living. With a health center you have to get a certificate of need and things of that nature, so there are lots of complications if this would go further, and uh ... um ... I don't feel that there's any appetite for going beyond this, in this particular location. Throgmorton: Uh -huh. Thank you, that's very helpful to hear. Hayek: Other questions for Mr. Downer? Okay, thank you. Downer: Thank you! Hayek: Would anyone else like to address us, uh, during the public hearing? Throgmorton: And ... and we're really focusing on the Comprehensive Plan revision at this moment, right? Hayek: Well we're going to hold public hearings on all three, but ... but I'd get as much out now as you can, and the reason is that when we close this public hearing and ... and set up 4c for a vote, I'm going to need to take the Council's temperature on the entire package, essentially. So I would ... I would encourage you to get your questions out as to all three now. Throgmorton: Okay. What's the plan for the mature trees? Seabold: Um, you mentioned the 2004 addition, uh, during that addition we preserved, you know, as many trees as possible... along Benton Street as well as up along George Street, and unfortunately all those trees have ... have died, you know, as a result of, both age of the trees as well as, you know, just from the significant construction effort. Uh, with ... working with the City, um, and looking at the tree replacement ratios and things like that, it's been determined that, you know, in order to get the ... the parking, the below -grade parking, under - building parking, we're probably going to lose most of the mature trees, and actually gives us a head -start this time as opposed to last time, because now we have replaced the trees from the former addition, uh, and this case we'd just be doing that right at the ... right at the beginning of the project. Unfortunately. I mean, we've got a lot of residents we've been talking about that with... with... with, uh, you know, the people living at Oaknoll currently, because that is ... that is a sore subject, but we feel, you know, at least in this way we can get a head -start on the growth of those trees. Throgmorton: Thank you. I ... I figured that's what you'd say but I... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 17 Seabold: Yeah, it is. Hayek: Any other questions from Council before I close the public hearing? Okay. I'm going to close the public hearing at this time. (bangs gavel) Anyone want to tee up a resolution? 2. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING Mims: move the resolution. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Payne. Uh, discussion? Throgmorton: Well it's a land -use question, isn't it? So let me play out a way of thinking about this. If it's a land -use question, the specific developer is not really relevant. The question is, should that part of the city be developed at this higher density. And... and what's the, Jeff, what's the proposed, uh, des ... Comp Plan designation for this area? Davidson: Change from low- density to medium - density. Throgmorton: Okay. That's the question before us, isn't it? It's not should ... um, should Oaknoll expand. So ... urn ... I, you know, Oak ... Oaknoll's a terrific facility and I've heard all sorts of good responses from all sorts of people over the years about it. So ... my views really are focused on ... on the land -use question. And it strikes me that, uh, there's a long strip of Benton Street, uh, you know, going east there's Seville Apartments and then east of that some other apartments, and across the street some other apartments and so on. A long stretch of, uh, of, uh, pretty ...pretty high density apartments, some of which are really badly designed. This is not a badly designed proposal, um, but it ... I'm dubious about the merits of...of transforming ... of making the Comp Plan amendment, uh, in this particular area. Uh, I ... I'm not convinced that it is a wise shift in the existing Comprehensive Plan. I'm inclined to vote against it, uh, and ... and when I say that, uh, I'm conscious of, uh, let's see, we'll do three votes on this? Or is this a one -time thing? (several responding) Okay, all right, so ... so I'm inclined to vote against it and I'd be really curious to hear how the rest of you respond. Champion: Well I intend to support it but I ... when you drive up Benton Street, that particular side of the street is high density, and a lot of it is on the other side of the street too, and I ... right (mumbled) but also not well maintained. So I think this is kind of a positive addition to this part of Sunset Street that is east of...Benton Street, that is east of...is it east of Sunset? I get my directions... yeah, east of Sunset. After that you really get into single - family, um, low ... or low- density multi- family housing. So I ... I find this actually appropriate, and probably an improvement to the street. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 18 Hayek: (several talking) Sorry to interrupt... would be one of my questions back to you, Jim, I mean, because ... uh, you've identified that this is an area with a fair amount of multi - family, multi - story, uh... Throgmorton: Up ... up to a certain point. (both talking) Hayek: Well, but in the area as well to the north, uh, not just to the south, um ... so it...it would seem to me that there's a mixture of zoning in the area, um ... uh, in terms of density and height, and ... and I guess I would throw that back to you. Does that impact your thinking in any way because to use Connie's example, it's not a purely single - family RS -5 area. There appears to be a mix in the broader neighborhood. Champion: I just wish they were going the other direction (mumbled) buildings. Hayek: So I throw that out there. Throgmorton: Yeah, well... Dickens: I look at the loss of Roosevelt in that area as well as you're seeing less and less being single families, you know, that school wasn't ... one it was in bad condition, and two, there wasn't enough to keep it going. So it looks like it's moving farther out, and it seems like a good ... use of that land in that area if we're going to be losing families that are moving where the schools are, and that would be one area that this would fill in ... in-fill that area. Payne: And one of the, I'm going to say it — I might not be saying it quite right, but general provisions of the Comp Plan is to have multi - family housing along ... well traveled streets. I mean, Benton obviously is a well traveled street. I don't know if it's a collector or what it's called. Dilkes: It's an arterial, isn't it? (several responding) Payne: Arterial? Okay, so, I mean, that is one of the objectives of the Comp Plan... Davidson: Yes, Benton Street's an arterial. George is a local street. Payne: I mean, that would be...it seems appropriate for the street that it's on to have multi - family on that street, even though that's not what's there today. Hayek: Other discussion? At some point here before we actually vote I'm going to... ask for a soft showing of where people are inclined to go with this. Payne: That wasn't soft enough? Hayek: Yeah! (laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 19 Payne: That soft wasn't hard enough or (laughter) Hayek: You've spoken but not everybody else. Mims: I'm going to support it! Champion: I will too. Hayek: And the ... the reason, so that the public knows, is if there's an indication that we will not be supportive of it, we have to actually not vote on these three items tonight, but instead confer with (mumbled) consult with the Planning and Zoning Commission, and that's why we ask these questions. Dobyns: Well I have a significant amount of paperwork on my desk attesting to genuine interest, um, in citizens and people wanting to go to, you know, Oaknoll. So and I think that this... recommendation from and request from Oaknoll is, you know, them sort of attesting and appealing to this ... this concern. I think what Mr. Downer mentioned is that hopefully this is it. This is, you know, they'll consider another campus because these sorts of facilities are wonderful for the community. Um ... and I think that was very important, you know, to hear that as, you know, as ... a very strong possibility of intent. The fact that this is three considerations I think is important. I plan to, urn ... vote for this, um, the fact ... (several talking) on the first one (both talking) Hayek: ...4d and 4e will be (both talking) Dobyns: ...subsequent one is three considerations? On zoning? Dilkes: That's right. Dobyns: Okay. Um, I plan to vote for the Comprehensive Plan. Um, but there's an opportunity and there didn't seem to be a whole lot of people, and the signs are up on Benton. You can see that there are zoning considerations as per City requirements, and so the neighborhood has had ample opportunity to know that obviously something is going on, and the fact that not a whole lot of people showed up at the forum. There are other opportunities for our zoning considerations. Um, I will plan to vote for the, um, this today, and await public comment, subsequently. Hayek: Okay, so based on my very unofficial reading, there appears to be one likely no vote and everybody else appears to be in support of...of the proposal. At least as we sit here (several talking) Okay, is there further discussion, uh, of this? I... I'll be supportive of this, I mean I guess ... um, you ... you're right, Jim. This is a land - use issue, um, I mean, I think it's relevant that ... that this particular institution has such a strong track record, um, and is so highly regarded in the community. It's This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 20 clearly meeting a demand. Fact today about 3:00 there was a piece in the Press - Citizen web site, uh, where the Milken Institute or some... some non - profit institute just named Iowa City the number two place in the country for its ... for our population size for, uh, retirement destinations. Um, and so ... it's something we're ... we're known for and have done a great job of.. of exploiting. Um, and you know it's clear from ... from the ... the various Planning and Zoning minutes and the wealth of information that's in the packet tonight and the presentation that this has been through quite a lot of staff analysis and quite a lot of Planning and Zoning analysis, and that's always important to me because I, uh ... you know, my ...my confidence in a project, you know, grows the more I know that our staff, uh, and then where applicable Planning and Zoning Commission has ... has carefully vetted something, and I think that's ... that has occurred here. Um ... the concerns seem to be size, scale, impact on... on... on the neighborhood, and as I indicated before, it seems to me that this is a general ... the broader neighborhood is marked by quite a lot of variation. Um, some single - family, some ... some duplex, quite a lot of multi - story, multi - family, uh, and I think that's important. Um, and I would say that a lot of the multi - family you see there is not particularly attractive and clearly does not blend well with neighborhoods that are adjacent, uh, to that, um ... to those structures. Uh, in contrast here, this seems to me to be a ...a attractive design and certainly one that is sensitive to how it blends as a ... as a campus with ... with the areas, uh, across the street, and we went over and you can see from that ... from that depiction, you know, the various things that, uh, that the planners and the applicant have done to ... to mitigate the impact of a large structure and to blend it well with ... with the area around it and frankly I think ... I think it's a ... an opportunity to give that area a shot in the arm. Um, and so I don't have those concerns about size and impact, because I think they are, uh, sensitive to the areas around it, um, and so for those reasons I ... I'll be supportive of this. Further discussion? Okay, roll call, please. Uh, Item 4c passes 6 -0; Throgmorton in the negative. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 21 ITEM 4d REZONING 2.7 -ACRES OF LAND LOCATED NORTH OF BENTON STREET BETWEEN GEORGE AND STREB STREETS FROM MEDIUM DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY (RS -8) ZONE TO OVERLAY PLANNED DEVELOPMENT MEDIUM DENSITY MULTI - FAMILY (OPD- RM -20) ZONE. (REZ12- 00010) [Discussion only at formal meeting] 1. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. (bangs gavel) The public hearing is open. Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Mims: (both talking) Champion: Move first consideration. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Throgmorton: Could, uh, could I ... I hope it's not too late to ask some questions of ..of Oaknoll representatives about their particular proposal. Hayek: It's okay. Throgmorton: Yeah. Uh, so I'm not sure who to address my question to. Um, it's kind of hard to tell from the renderings how the building ... the building's design would facilitate interaction between Oakdo ... Oaknoll residents and residents of the surrounding neighborhoods. Or the surrounding buildings and so on. So you know when I think about, um ... um ... really good design, in my ideal world we would not have places that con... concentrated people by age or sex or race or anything else like that, so in principle I don't like the idea of having a big building designed only for older people who are, you know, experiencing ... gradually experiencing physical decline and so on. Uh, but ... that's an ideal world. When I think about the practical world, I think okay, so people need to be able to get out and walk around. And I don't know ... I don't know how Oakdale ... Oaknoll operates with regard to that kind of interaction, uh, within the neighborhood. Can ... can somebody help me out with that? Heiden: I'm Pat Heiden, Director at Oaknoll. Um, thank you for allowing us to be here. Um, there ... there is a lot of living going on at Oaknoll. There's a lot of living with that ... within the walls of Oaknoll, um, and also residents going outside of Oaknoll and... and volunteering many hours within the community, and beyond. Um, we don't have, um, we've always tried to be a very, very good neighbor over This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 22 the years. I've been at Oaknoll for 33 years, um, and ... and it's really been important for us to recognize not only, um, we're a community within Iowa City, but also a community within a ... a neighborhood. That neighborhood is ... is a very different makeup. There's multi - family, there's a lot of rental units, um, with students, um, and ... and Seville Apartment and apartments on the, um, south side of...of Benton Street. So ... so we don't have a lot of, uh, of activity there. In the past we have welcomed the neighborhood to outside parties, uh, that ... that we've been having, um, and... and actually one year we tried to, um, show, um, movies, although we needed to wait until dusk and ... and for some of those, that was just too late to ... to be waiting (laughter) but ... but again, we've tried to ... to acknowledge that and to work with the neighborhood. Um, we do have a ... a lot of intergenerational, um, people coming in ... in to Oaknoll, whether that's, um, children from Lucas, children from Roosevelt in the past, and ... and those relationships will continue. Um, RSVP, uh, will ... the Senior Center will bring, um, activities and children in so that, uh, people can be pen pals throughout the school year and ... and really have interactions like that. So within the confines of the community in which we have, we certainly acknowledge and know how important it is for all generations to interact. Throgmorton: Thanks! Seabold: (unable to hear) ... just the architecture of the building too, because that ... that's connecting with the community is another, um, thing that we've been working on. Um, the, uh ... the George Street addition, um, has a series of screen porches, sun rooms, everything like that that open directly out into the lawn. All these lower level units will have a patio right out onto George Street. They'll essentially have a door that can spill them out and ... and create that kind of exterior neighborhood as well as, you know, the internalized neighborhoods. So we've been trying to blur that line, you know, and just really have access to nature, have access to the neighborhood, and... and uh, and of course access to the, uh, to the different buildings, not necessarily just by that skywalk but also across the, uh, across the grass, so...you know, we're trying to accomp ... accomplish that with the architecture as well. Hayek: Thanks, Mark! Further discussion on Council? Hearing none, roll call, please. Item 4d passes 7 -0 on first consideration. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 23 ITEM 4g CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE 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) [Discussion only at formal meeting] (SECOND CONSIDERATION) Mims: Move second consideration. Champion: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Any ex parte since first consideration? Okay! Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Second consideration passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 24 ITEM 5. PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FY 2013 ASPHALT RESURFACING 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) For the public's, uh, information, this is an annual project regarding asphalt resurfacing and chip sealing of various streets throughout the city. Estimated cost is about $500,000 and will be funded with, uh, a variety of funding sources. Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 25 ITEM 7. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 4, ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, CHAPTER 5, PROHIBITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS, SECTION 3, CONSUMPTION OR POSSESSION IN PUBLIC PLACES AND CITY BUILDINGS, SUBSECTION B TO ALLOW FOR POSSESSION AND CONSUMPTION IN CERTAIN PARK BUILDINGS, PURSUANT TO ADMINISTRATIVE RULE; AND SUBSECTION C TO ALLOW FOR ALCOHOL POSSESSION AND CONSUMPTION IN CITY BUILDINGS PURSUANT TO ADMINISTRATIVE RULE. (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Mims: Move first consideration. Champion: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Roll call, please. (several talking) Oh, gosh! I didn't even see (several talking and laughing) Boy! Do not want to cross this guy! (laughter) Honohan: Well I'm a little confused! (laughter) I came here thinking I was a senior and after listening to Oakdale, I find out I'm an elder! (laughter) I'm here for the Senior Center Commission and the Friends of the Center Foundation to urge the adoption of this ordinance. Uh, we plan on having various kinds of things, but I'll give an example of one that didn't happen four years ago that we would like to have happen now. Four years ago my son and daughter decided that they ought to throw a party for the 50th wedding anniversary of an O'Leary and a Honohan, and he thought ... my son thought the Senior Center assembly room, since I'm active down there'd be a great place. But of course when he found out you couldn't do alcohol. For O'Leary and a Honohan wedding, that would be sacrilegious. (laughter) So we didn't have it, but if we could do those kind of things it'd raise money for the Senior Center. We could have ... the Foundation could have galas at the Senior Center. There's a lot of things that we could do which would not only help defray the cost of the Center, but also ... invite people to see what the Senior Center has to offer this community. Uh, I know we're going to have to have, uh, permits. We're going to have to have rules and regulations. But I think all this can be accomplished, and on behalf of the Commission and the Board of Directors of the Friends, we would like this ordinance adopted. And then we'll invite you all in for a glass of wine! (laughter) Champion: Perfect! What time will that be? (laughter) Throgmorton: Uh, 8, 8:30 (laughter and several talking) Hayek: I'll support this as long as Mr. Honohan does, uh, discontinues his request that I come to salsa dancing lessons at the, uh (laughter) at the Senior Center. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 26 Champion: There are some (both talking) Hayek: I haven't taken him up on that yet! Honohan: It was an Irish dance! Hayek: Oh! Gosh! I stand corrected! Further discussion? Champion: Well I like this rule. I wondered why it hasn't come up before, and I never really thought about it until I went to a couple, uh, receptions and parties at the North Liberty City Hall. They have a huge room, and it's one of the few places in North Liberty you could really get a large crowd in, and there was always alcohol being served there, and I never saw any problems. I mean, who wants a wedding without champagne? Come on! So, I think this is a long time coming and I'm sure it will be well controlled. You might want to take a look at the North Liberty ordinance cause I've never seen any problems there. Hayek: Okay. Further discussion? Roll call, please. Item, uh, first consideration passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 27 ITEM 8. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 10, ENTITLED USE OF PUBLIC WAYS AND PROPERTY," CHAPTER 3, ENTITLED, "COMMERCIAL USE OF SIDEWALKS," SECTION 3, ENTITLED "USE FOR SIDEWALK CAFES," TO REGULATE SIDEWALK CAFES PRIMARILY BY POLICY AND ADMINISTRATIVE RULES. Payne: Move consideration. Champion: Second. Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Champion. Discussion? Throgmorton: I ... I wonder if anybody from the Downtown SSMID is here? To speak on this... I ... I don't know if any... anybody who has a business in the downtown area wants to express a view. (unable to hear person speaking away from mic) Champion: I think we have two separate things actually here and that's what's confusing us. Hayek: Yeah. Champion: One is ... once we get the rules down pat, instead of everything having to come to us for approval like renewal of a .... of a cafe license or whatever, we won't have to deal with that anymore, but the second issue is what are we going ... where are we going to allow cafes, and I think that's the issue that's really in question tonight. Neades: Did I miss the vote? Champion: No! (laughter) Neades: Rebecca Neades, Chamber of Commerce, and although I don't represent the SSMID, I ... I do represent the Chamber of Commerce and we're very supportive of this project and of the change in how the policy would go through, um... staff instead of Council. More of a policy instead of an ordinance, so thank you! Hayek: Thanks, Rebecca. Neades: You're welcome! Hayek: Eleanor, could you or Tom ... remind the Council, because I think there was a little confusion at the work session. What exactly are we voting on, and what exactly would be left for future ... re ... resolution? Dilkes: What you're voting on tonight is an amendment to the sidewalk cafe ordinance that ... that takes most of the detail as to ... what, where and how you can do This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 28 sidewalk cafes out of the ordinance. Um, and leaves that for administrative approval rather... rather than Council approval. So it kind of gets the ordinance down to a bare -bones ordinance. Um ... the next meeting on August 21St, uh staff will be recommending that you collapse the final two readings of this ordinance, and adopting, uh, rules that will govern staff in administering the ordinance, and those rules will include things like ... all the things that were outlined in the memo that you got, um, and that was discussed earlier. Markus: And those would be adopted by resolution, which only takes one ... one vote. Hayek: Okay. So tonight we ... if we vote in the affirmative, we're essentially enabling that process to occur and then staff comes back to us with ... a laundry list, for lack of a better word, that we take up, uh, in August. Dickens: Which we'll have time to ... look over and comment and refine if we want to do it at that time. Hayek: Okay, thank you for that. Uh, by the way, I had indicated at... at, maybe when we set the public hearing, I forget, a meeting or two ago I wasn't sure if I could vote, uh, and the reason is that, um ... the individual who brought this proposal to the City, Jim Mondanaro, is related to a... somebody in my law firm who does work, uh, for him, but I've vetted this carefully with ... with our Legal Department and there is no conflict. I don't feel that there's a conflict and so I ... I (several talking) intend to vote on this. Throgmorton: Uh, Matt, in our work session, Connie ... ex ... expressed her views with considerable enthusiasm about why she thought it was, uh, the basic idea was a really good one and if Connie's willing, I'd love to have her (both talking) Dobyns: Replicate her enthusiasm? (laughter) Throgmorton: ... kind of replicate it, I mean, and I ... you know, tell the people why ... why you think this is really a good thing. Champion: Well, I was reluctant to even think about this for a while but the more I thought about it, as usual, I changed my mind, and now I've become a true enthusiast, and part of the reason is I ... I'd like to see us move forward in new directions and try new things, without being afraid. I think everybody's afraid ... afraid it's going to change things. Well, I frequently love change, even at my age. I find it really invigorating. So I encourage people to move forward. Let's try something different. It can't really hurt anything. I mean, they're not going to tear up the street or tear up the flower gardens or move the bricks or move buildings. So my whole idea is: let's go for it; let's see if it works; let's not be afraid of change. I'm willing to just go for it right now. I know I'll get a lot of criticism but I'm used to it, and then six months later people will say, God that was a great idea. I'll say it, thank you — it was mine! (laughter) But I just want us to move forward This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 29 without being afraid. I'm not being afraid to try something different. I really like this, and parking, I know that's a big concern. The parking division has been fantastic about looking at different parking options downtown. They're looking into even more ways now to improve that situation. So that is not a great fear of mine, and ... and my daughter I thought would be here tonight but she's not. So, I know she absolutely is very enthusiastic about this project too. It will definitely affect her parking. I ... that's (mumbled) Throgmorton: Thanks. Champion: But I ... I don't like the idea of somebody having to approve it besides... besides the City either, because people are afraid of change and I think they'll just automatically say no. But they'll be jealous because they can't do it, or for whatever reason, let's just do it! (laughter) Hayek: You know you just picked up steam as (laughter). You ended on a high note! That's (both talking) exactly what Jim was trying to get you to do (several talking) I ... I, urn ... I'm supportive as well. I ... and I agree with you, you're right. We should ... we should give it a shot, and ... and, because we can always undo it if for some reason in a year or two it's not working. Um, but I think the fact that the Chamber supports this is very important because those issues of parking and... and the rights and interests of... of... of businesses up and down a street where this would occur are ... are important, and we don't have an official, uh, seal of approval from the Downtown District, but ... but the unofficial message we got from at least a subsection of it, the ones who were contacted, was positive, as well, and I ... and that ... that's important to me that the ... that the businesses who would be impacted, uh, downtown, urn ... I'm sure not uniformly but largely seem willing to ... to look at this as expressed by the Chamber and others. So... Champion: Can I bring up one more idea? Hayek: I don't know! Champion: Well, since we're talking about sidewalk cafes, the other thing that I thought of, places like the yogurt places (noise on mic). I mean why ... if they're not serving hot food or alcohol, why couldn't they just have little tables out with a couple chairs? I mean, why do they have to be fenced in? Hayek: You know what? Why don't we, uh, take this up during Council time at the end of the meeting and you can see if we can (laughter and several talking) Champion: Right. Hayek: ...cause us to, uh, place this on a work session item. So, is there further discussion of this particular item? Item 8. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 30 Dilkes: Can I just clarify one thing about, um, where staff is going to go with the ... in developing the resolution to adopt the ... the regulations, and that is essentially you approve the recommendations by staff in the memo that we talked about, um, during the work session. Uh, with respen ... with respect to the consent issue, you did want to seek consent with respect to parking spaces, use of parking spaces, not with respect to planters, but ... there would be consent, um, if you extend it beyond your borders on the sidewalk. That's what I understood the staff direction to be. Hayek: I think that's... that's consistent with the work session. Dilkes: Okay. Hayek: Good ... good clarification there. Further discussion? Roll call, please. Mims: Oh, wait, Jim Mondanaro would like to speak. Hayek: Oh, I didn't ... all right, yeah! Boy, I twice now looked down and not looked up! Mondanaro: How did you miss this? (laughter) Urn ... Jim Mondanaro, I'm the owner of Micky's. Um ... and I have Jan from Prairie Lights here, and it's been a discussion that I've had with her over the last month about the viability of this being a part of the Micky's reopening and ... and restoration. And it's a ... it is change, and change is a tough pill to swallow, but a wonderful result when you finally get it down, because it takes us to a new horizon, and that's what this is about. It is kind of a little bit similar to what we approached when we did the Saloon... about four years ago, in taking a planter and turning it into outdoor dining. It's been hugely successful! Downtown Iowa City during the summer months, spring and fall, has become very viable with outdoor dining, especially when we don't have weather in the 100s! But that (laughter) that being said, when we have beautiful weather there's... there's life, there's... there's a, just a buzz! We're going to do this the right way, and Jan's concern, and I think it is for people on the Council, is that what will the affect in the long haul be. Is it going to be a deterrent to people not getting parking spaces? Well we don't know how to measure that. I mean, I see people park (mumbled) I've been down there over this last month working on that, and some people park there. I don't know where they go. They take off walking. Some people go into Prairie Lights one time, then they'll go up to another place. There's no way to measure that. But what I do believe is that by putting this outdoor seating area there, it's going to be, as I would call it, a hook. It's going to be a beautiful beacon as you drive down Dubuque Street to then enter across Iowa Avenue of bringing another life type ambiance to the downtown. And it's not inexpensive! We'll have a sizeable amount of money in it and with the streetscape the way they done it with the architects with the lights going over it, it's quite attractive. But Jan's concern is, and I'm agreeable to that, and people say, well, why would you do that. Because I'm a team player and if this doesn't work, and she doesn't like it, at the end of the two months, I'm going to take the ... the bite and say fine, we won't do it again. But I really firmly This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 31 believe that she's going to see this as an asset and a hook for her business, as well as for ours. And, I'm willing to come out and publicly tell you that, but there's one thing that I want to approach. You got to get rid of that getting consent from people as your neighbors, because it's just... it's too difficult. I don't want to be held hostage because somebody wants that trump card, and if alls they have to do is say no, it stops the progress from moving forward. I just want you to be able to trust the people that come forward to do this if they... on their merit, to do it the right way and it's... like... as Matt said, if it doesn't work out, you can withdraw it! So ... is that ... say what I want ... what you want me to say about ... at the end of the term if you don't like it, she can some here and say I don't like what Mondanaro did and he's agreed that he won't do it next spring. How's that? Champion: Wow! Hayek: Thanks for your comments, Jim. Okay, is there further discussion by Council? Throgmorton: Well, I'd just like to say, um, what ... what I find most appealing about the idea is that it enhances the walkability of the downtown, and it... and makes it a... is likely to make it a much more inviting place, uh, for people to be, for people to want to go to, experience being outdoors when it's not 105 degrees and so on, and Jan, I gotta tell you, it's really great seeing you in this facility instead of me in your place! Hayek: Further discussion? Okay, let's take a vote, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 32 ITEM 9. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR IMPROVEMENT OF THE S. DUBUQUE STREET STORM SEWER AND WATER MAIN IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT. Dobyns: Move the resolution. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Dobyns, seconded by Payne. Uh, discussion? Uh, engineer had estimated, uh, this project to cost about $355,000. Uh, Public Works recommends awarding contract to Schrader Excavating of Walford, IA, who came in at about, uh, $313,000. Discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 33 ITEM 10. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHWAY 1 TRAIL PROJECT - ORCHARD STREET TO SUNSET STREET. Mims: Move the resolution. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Payne. Discussion? Uh, the engineer had estimate ... our engineers had estimated this project to be, uh, a $1.1 million project. Uh, fortunately Public Works recommends awarding the contract to Schrader Excavating of Walford who came in at $937,000 and some change. 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 July 31, 2012. Page 34 ITEM 11. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE U.S. HIGHWAY 6 AND SYCAMORE STREET INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT. Dobyns: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Moved by Dobyns, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Uh, the engineer had estimated this at about, uh, not quite $1.8 million, and Public Works recommends awarding the contract to Peterson Contractors out of Reinbeck who came in at $1.845 million. 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 July 31, 2012. Page 35 ITEM 12. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE PUBLIC WORKS COMPLEX — WARM STORAGE BUILDING PROJECT. Payne: Move resolution. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Uh, engineers had estimated this at about $178,000. Public Works recommends awarding the contract to Septagon Construction out of Cedar Rapids who came in at about $209,000. Discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 36 ITEM 13. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR RENOVATION OF FIELDS 1,2,3,4 AT THE NAPOLEON PARK SOFTBALL COMPLEX. Champion: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Moved by Champion, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Uh, the engineer had estimated this to be a $189,000 project. Uh, Pub ... Parks and Rec recommends awarding the contract to Iowa Athletic Construction Company out of Webster City who came in at about half of that amount, uh, $99,000. Discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 37 ITEM 14. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ADOPTING AN ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE OF UNPAID MOWING, CLEAN -UP OF PROPERTY, SNOW REMOVAL, SIDEWALK REPAIR, AND STOP BOX REPAIR CHARGES AND DIRECTING THE CLERK TO CERTIFY THE SAME TO THE JOHNSON COUNTY TREASURER FOR COLLECTION IN THE SAME MANNER AS PROPERTY TAXES. Mims: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Is there anyone in the audience who wishes to protest, uh, being on the list? Seeing nobody... including three members of City staff who I hope mowed their lawns (laughter). 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 July 31, 2012. Page 38 ITEM 16. ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES. Hayek: Should I announce the Youth Commission? Karr: No. Why don't we defer this one to the next meeting and we'll have a resolution on, uh... as a result of the discussion at your work session. Hayek: Okay. So why don't we have a motion to defer Item 16 (both talking) Champion: Move to defer. Hayek: ...16a and 17j. Champion: 16a and 17j. That's what I said. Mims: Second. Hayek: Moved by Champion, seconded by Mims to defer, uh, announcement of vacancies on the Youth Advisory Commission to our next meeting. Uh ... discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 39 ITEM 17. COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS. Hayek: Uh, we have several to, um... announce. Uh, Council at its work session agreed to, uh ... place the following individuals on the newly formed seven - person ad hoc Diversity Committee. They are Joe Dan Coulter, Orville Thompson Sr., Kingsley Botchway, Donna Henry, Bakhit Bakhit, Joan Vanden Berg, and Cindy Roberts. Uh, on the, uh, Airport Commission, uh, we've agreed to appoint Christine Ogrun. Hope I pronounced that correctly! On the Housing and Community Development Commission we agreed to reappoint Jared Gatlin. On the Human Rights Commission we agreed to appoint Dan Talon, and on the Police Citizens Review Boar... Board we agreed to reappoint Royceann Porter. Is there a motion? Karr: Mr. Mayor, would you also like to include the Chair and Vice Chair? Hayek: Do ... do we want to do that when they ... when we don't have an answer yet? That's fine. Dobyns: You probably should ask `em. Hayek: That's why (both talking) kept it out but... Dilkes: I think it can be subject to consent (several talking) Hayek: So let's ... let's include in the motion, uh ... uh,. the ... our plan to ask Kingsley Botchway to serve as Chair and Cindy Roberts to serve as Vice -Chair of the ad hoc Diversity Committee. Can I get a motion? Payne: So moved. Throgmorton: Second. Hayek: Moved by Payne, seconded by Throgmorton. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Mims: So moved. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. We have a couple of other, uh, Council appointments that we want to, or vacancies I want to identify. There are still two vacancies on the Airport Zoning Board of Adjustment, and two vacancies on the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 40 Airport Zoning Commission. We encourage people to apply for those spots. I think that takes care... Karr: You have other appointments too. Seven ... g, h, and i? Hayek: That was all part of the same motion. Karr: Okay, alrighty, that's fine. Hayek: And announced those names. So I think that takes care of everything. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 41 ITEM 19. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION. Hayek: Jim, why don't we start down on your end. Throgmorton: Uh, just mention one thing, uh, a couple weeks ago I had a very interesting trip to Madison, Wisconsin, uh, where I, uh, met with former Mayor David Cieslewicz. No, (Sisowitz), sorry mispronounced his name. And, a few people, staff people in the Economic Development department. We also walked through the neighborhood northeast of the State Capitol building and looked at some really interesting, uh, duplex, or not duplex but townhouse, uh, infill development that was really deftly inserted into the neighborhood. Uh, I found that to be a really rewarding trip, and enlightening. Hayek: Great! Connie? Champion: I just wanted to bring up that I think we should look at other options for smaller sidewalk cafes, like that places that don't serve alcohol and don't have a stove, like ice cream places. I mean, why does everything have to be fenced in? Is it a safety issue? Throgmorton: Isn't that for people with disabilities, that there was some moment when, uh, somebody actually walked into tables that were, you remember this, Marian. Somebody walked into tables, some, uh, sightless person and we decided we had to do something about that (mumbled) Champion: Oh (mumbled) Karr: ... certainly take a look at it though and provide you a memo. Champion: No, don't waste your time. It's not going to fly. Save your time! (laughter) I don't always get my way! (laughter) Mims: Nothing! Dickens: Sand in the City's coming up in August between now and our next session, so it's another event that, uh, all of Iowa City and the surrounding areas can enjoy. Hayek: Michelle? Payne: Nothing for me tonight. Dobyns: Nothing! Hayek: I've been asked to, uh, announce two things — first, uh, the Mayors of the Eastern Iowa Corridor have proclaimed August 1 St as Corridor Goes Casual for Kids Day This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 42 and this is directed at City employees. City employees who contribute at least $5.00 to a children's charity of their choice may wear jeans to work on Wednesday, August 1 st. Uh, and send your checks, uh, to the charity of your choice to Human Services, or I'm sorry, Human Resources. The second (several talking). What's that? Payne: Can we have a casual day on Council? Hayek: Yes, I encourage you tomorrow when we have no Council (laughter) meetings whatsoever to go casual! (laughter) The second, uh, concerns Rummage in the Ramp, which is an annual event. Uh, this year's event will be held in the lower level of Chauncey Swan Parking Ramp from Friday July 27th through Saturday August 4th. We encourage people to participate in this great event! And that's all I've got. Oh, Happy Anniversary (mumbled and several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 43 ITEM 20. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF. a) City Manager. Hayek: City Manager? Markus: Well, you mentioned it earlier but the Milkin Institute, which is a non - partisan, economic think -tank has awarded Iowa City the second rank in the, uh, category of...uh ... best cities for successful aging! This is a new index that they put together and for our size community we're ranked number two. We're actually ranked number one for ages over 80. So I guess we have to get older so we can keep that number one ranking (laughter). Um... and they... and we're going to send this report out to everybody, but they talk about the things that we nailed and then the things that we need a little work on. But uh ... obviously that's a ... that's a growing segment of our population and therefore our economy, and it's something that we should probably consider emphasizing in terms of... and then having Oaknoll here tonight was just the perfect tie -in with all of that. Payne: Does that help us with our Blues Zone application? Markus: I would think so because one of the things that we ... maybe or maybe not because one of the things that we really nailed was health care, in terms of the ranking, and so ... they may take, you know, the Blue Zones committee may look at us and say, well, you're already there. One of the things that we need to work on ... is it says Iowa City has a large number of fast -food outlets per capita, and high soda consumption, both threats to public health. So there's something we could work on, at least through the Blue Zones application. Champion: Maybe we can create an ordinance against all those things (laughter) Markus: Well, and you know some places are doing that in terms of the big gulp and all of that. The other thing I wanted to mention is the QR codes, uh, we reported previously that they're posted here. They're now actually posted on your television viewing so that cable and IT have ... have worked together so that these QR codes are posted so you can flash your phone device along the television and you can download everything that the Council is reviewing during their meetings. Payne: Wow! Cool! Markus: Technology, and I'm not sure, we haven't heard of anybody else in the country that's done this yet, so ... um ... we hope it catches on. Throgmorton: Tom, with regard to the report, does ... does the, uh, ranking apply to Iowa City, the municipality, or to the Iowa City area? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012. Page 44 Markus: You know it...it lists Iowa City and (noises on mic) going into it in greater detail it does say Iowa City, uh, it lists the other cities specifically too. It doesn't say the general area so ... you know, I'd have to drill down to find out exactly what they did evaluate but ... urn ... if it's us or if it's our metro ... I think it might even be the metropolitan area. If it is, I think that's still a lot. That's quite a ranking! Uh, I think there's over 350 communities that were evaluated in these categories to make that determination so... Dobyns: It mentioned health care but they didn't mention our legal professionals? Sorry, Mr. Mayor. Hayek: Great place for lawyers to grow old, I guess! (laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of July 31, 2012.