HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-09-13 Info PacketL N
CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION PACKET
CITY OF IOWA CITY
www.icgov.org September 13, 2012
IN Council Tentative Meeting Schedule
SEPTEMBER 18 WORK SESSION
IP2 Work Session Agenda
IP3 Copy of memo to City Manager from Dir. of Public Works: Flood Recovery and Mitigation
Update
IN Copy of memo to City Manager from Dir. of Public Works: Sidewalk Cafes in the Street
IP5 Pending Work Session Topics
IP6 Memo from City Clerk: KXIC Radio Show
MISCELLANEOUS
IP7 Copy of memo to City Manager from Administrative Assistant: Blackhawk Mural
IP8 Memo form Recycling Coordinator to Public Works Dir.: Update on plastic bags
IP9 Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee minutes — August 1, 2012
IP10 Civil Service Entrance Examination —Senior Programmer/ Analyst
I1311 Civil Service Entrance Examination —Maintenance Worker III Wastewater Collections
IP12 Civil Service Entrance Examination —Treatment Plant Operator Wastewater
IP13 Copy of email to Iowa City Community School District Board from Edwin Stone: Thanks
DRAFT MINUTES FROM CITY BOARDS & COMMISSIONS
IP14 Historic Preservation: August 9
IP15 Historic Preservation: August 29
IP16 Housing & Community Development: August 16
IP17 Human Rights: August 21
::.rte =.•� City Council Tentative Meeting Schedule 1P1
September 13, 2012
CITY OF IOWA CITY
Date
Time Meeting
Tuesday, September 18, 2012 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting
Tuesday, September 18, 2012 7:OO13M Regular Formal Meeting
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
5:00 PM
Work Session Meeting
7:OO13M
Regular Formal Meeting
5:00 PM
Work Session Meeting
7:OO13M
Special Formal Meeting
5:00 PM
Work Session Meeting
7:OO13M
Special Formal Meeting
5:00 PM
Work Session Meeting
7:OO13M
Special Formal Meeting
Subject to change
Location
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma J. Harvat Hall
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 7:OOPM Regular Formal Meeting Emma 1 Harvat Hall
Tuesday, December 18, 2012 5:00 PM Work Session Meeting Emma 1 Harvat Hall
Tuesday, December 18, 2012 7:OOPM Regular Formal Meeting Emma J Harvat Hall
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aft
CITY OF IOWA CITY
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City. Iowa 52240 -1826
(319) 356 -5000
(319) 3S6 -S009 FAX
www.lcgov.org
City Council Work Session Agenda
September 18, 2012
5:00 PM
Emma J. Harvat Hall - City Hall
410 E. Washington Street
■ Questions from Council re Agenda Items
■ Flood recovery and mitigation project update [IP # 3]
■ Discussion regarding the proposed administrative rules for street cafes [IP # 4]
■ Information Packet Discussion [September 6,13]
■ Council Time
■ Pending Work Session Topics [IP # 5]
■ Meeting Schedule /Upcoming Community Events /Council Invitations [IP # 6]
CITY OF IOWA C I T Y
MEMORANDUM
To: Tom Marcus, City Manager
From: Rick Fosse, Public Works Director ?LF
Date: September 12, 2012
RE: Flood Recovery and Mitigation Update
IP3
Four years have passed since the 2008 flood. As the FY14 budget process approaches we will be
making important decisions regarding our capital program and specifically with regard to key flood
mitigation projects. At the September 18th work session we will present a comprehensive update and
facilitate discussion of our flood recovery and mitigation efforts with the following objectives in mind:
• Review our comprehensive flood mitigation strategy.
• Review our progress implementing this strategy.
• Identify key decisions that will need to be made.
This memo is intended to provide background information and serve as an outline for our discussion.
Iowa City has identified 17 flood mitigation projects totaling approximately $158M. We have secured
$102.8M in state and federal assistance and continue to pursue more. The local option sales tax is
expected to generate $32.81VI over its four year life, bringing our outside funding level to $135.6M.
We will endeavor to design and construct funded projects over the next four years. When compared
to the pre -flood capital program budget, this work will effectively double our capital program.
Outlined below are the following:
• Mitigation strategies that define objectives
• Flood mitigation project summaries, organized by objectives
• Regulatory and Plan changes
• Approximate schedule for remaining work
• Upcoming key decisions
Please note that our flood recovery projects are primarily complete and are outlined in Attachment A.
Flood Mitigation Strategy
Flood mitigation consists of efforts designed to reduce the city's vulnerability to future floods. This
includes not only projects but also regulations and action plans. Iowa City's comprehensive flood
mitigation strategy emerged shortly after the flood and has remained relatively unchanged. This
overall strategy was outlined in a March 19, 2009 memo from Jeff Davidson and Rick Fosse to the
City Council and is quoted below in italics. Updates or refinements to this plan are shown in bold.
"The staff committee that has developed the funding proposals which you will receive on March 23 has tried to
be consistent with the overall flood recovery strategy which you agreed to for the Hazard Mitigation Grant
Program (HMGP). To restate those objectives in priority order:
We will attempt to buy out residential property in the 100 -year floodplain of the Iowa River. This will
involve purchasing some properties (approximately 40) at the present time, with the goal of buying out
the remainder over the next 10 to 15 years. Those who refuse buyout funds will not be granted public
funds for the rehabilitation of their homes, nor are they guaranteed that they may not be negatively
impacted by future flood mitigation strategies. The area of residential buy out offers has been
expanded to include most homes in the 500 -year floodplain.
This strategy is the most effective flood mitigation strategy possible. It reduces risk on the highest flood -
prone properties to zero. A property which is bought out cannot be used for anything except open
space in perpetuity.
2. For the remainder of the flood - impacted residential neighborhoods in the 500 -year floodplain of the
Iowa River, we will implement realistic protection measures that can be implemented at this time. This
includes elevating roads in flood -prone neighborhoods, elevating structures, elevating mechanical
systems within structures, backflow prevention valves, and attempting to provide secondary access to
flood -prone neighborhoods. As noted above, the buyout program has been expanded to include
most homes in the 500 year floodplain, thereby deemphasizing this objective. However the
access component of this objective has been expanded to include access to areas that were
isolated by the flood, specifically the Peninsula Neighborhood.
3. Our number one priority public infrastructure project will be the elevation of Park Road Bridge and
Dubuque Street. This will assist flood -prone neighborhoods upstream by allowing water to be conveyed
downstream more easily and not back up into the neighborhoods. Our second priority public
infrastructure project is relocation of the North Wastewater Treatment Plant. These two projects are the
focus of our local option sales tax efforts, but additional funding sources will be required as well. Iowa
City voters approved a 1 cent local option sales tax to help finance these projects. The priority
of this objective has moved up to the number 2 position.
4. If in the future the required funding for levees and flood walls is made available, we will consider such
strategies in flood -prone neighborhoods. However, we do not believe such funding opportunities are
realistic at the present time and do not believe that flood- impacted residents should be making
decisions based on them occurring. We have done preliminary planning to know that these structures
could cost approximately $34 million. " CDBG funds have become available for three levee projects.
Additional projects have evolved involving critical and non - critical infrastructure. These
projects are categorized as "Other" in the table below.
Flood Mitigation Proiects
Project
Cost
Status
Notes
Objective #1
Buy -Out of
$23.5M
Complete for this
93 homes have been purchased.
Residential Property
funding source
Demo of last homes remains.
Buy -Out of
$652,000
Complete for this
Purchased property in the
Development Property
funding source
100 year floodplain to prevent
additional at risk development
Single Family New
$5,955,737
Ongoing
Constructs 141 new homes
Construction Unit
outside the floodplain to
Production Program
replace homes removed in
buyout program
Aniston Village, LP
$2,900,000
Complete
Constructed 22 new rental homes
Objective #2
Elevation of the
$1.1 M
Preliminary Design
No funding sources have
Normandy /Manor
been secured yet.
Intersection
Peninsula Access
$3M
Preliminary Design
Can be protected by the Taft Levee,
elevation of Foster Road, or
construction of an alternate route.
Objective #3
Gateway Project
$32M
Environmental
$3M EDA secured
(Elevation of Dubuque
Review and
$1.5M THUD secured
Street & replacement of
Preliminary
$6.OM STP secured
the Park Road Bridge)
Design
$19.2M Local Option Sales Tax Rev.
North Wastewater
$54.8M
Construction
$22M EDA secured
Facility Relocation
$5M CDBG secured
$5.49M I -JOBS secured
$13.6M Local Option Sales Tax Rev.
$2.9M Local
Objective #4
Taft Levee
$11.8M
Alternatives Stud
$8M CDBG secured
East Side Levee
$4.OM
Preliminary Design
$3.9M CDBG secured
West Side Levee
$4.4M
Design
$3.95M CDBG secured
Other
Water Source Protection
$1.56M
Construction
FEMA funds have been
95% com lete
secured for this project
Animal Shelter
$3.OM
Schematic Design
Cooperative project with Ul, Coralville,
Relocation
Johnson County & University Heights
Fire Training Center
$1.OM
Concept
No outside funding has been
Relocation
secured for this project
Rocky Shore Lift Station
$6.6M
Design
$6,586,300 CDBG secured.
and Flood Gates
Cooperative project with UI
and Coralville
River Street / Arts
$1 M
Preliminary Design
This will be a joint project
Campus Lift Station
with the UI
Riverfront Crossings
$800,000
Planning
Catalyst projects to encourage
Redevelopment
redevelopment
Total
$158.1 M
$129.6M in outside funding secured
including local option sales tax
Regulatory and Plan Changes
Updates to policies and practices represent various "non- structural" means to better prepare our
community for future floods. They include changes to regulatory, planning, and action plans designed
to guide development and better prepare for effective response to future floods.
Regulatory Changes
• Update of Estimated Flood Flows — After a flood of this magnitude it is important to update
estimated flood flows to factor in the statistical relevance of the recent flood. The Corps of
Engineers has completed a report entitled "Iowa River Regulated Flow Frequency Study" dated
October 2009. In this report they estimate the new flows for various frequency floods based on
information collected during the 2008 flood. Their findings are as follows:
100 yr / 1.0% chance — 30,100 cfs (formerly: 29,000)
200 yr / 0.5% chance — 36,430 cfs
500 yr / 0.2% chance — 45,260 cfs (formerly: 45,000)
1000 yr / 0.1 % chance — 52,210 cfs
• Update Floodplain Map — The Iowa City Floodplain maps need to be updated to incorporate
the new flood flow estimates noted above, reflect the impacts of flood mitigation projects, and
to correct for "map drift" that occurred in FEMA's last revision to Iowa City's maps. The new
maps will also benefit from the highly accurate hydraulic model of the Iowa River recently
completed by the University of Iowa. Of these factors, the impacts from the flood mitigation
projects will have the greatest impact. Because of the expense and difficulty in updating the
floodplain maps, staff recommends waiting until Iowa City's, the University's and Coralville's
major mitigation projects are nearly complete (roughly 2016) before updating the maps.
• Update Floodplain Management Ordinance — After the 2008 Flood the state legislature
considered changes to the state's minimum floodplain development requirements. After
consideration they ultimately decided not to make any changes and continues to regulate to
the 1 % chance flood (100 year). However, cities can adopt standards that are more stringent
than the state. In 2010 Iowa City joined Cedar Falls in adopting the 0.2% chance flood (500
year) as the standard for local floodplain management.
Updates to Plans
• Hazard Mitigation Plan — A Hazard Mitigation Plan has been developed for a wide variety of
potential natural and human caused hazards facing the Iowa City area. FEMA has granted its
approval to the plan. The adoption of this plan is a condition of the Hazard Mitigation Grant
Funds that have been awarded to Iowa City to assist with flood recovery and mitigation
projects. Johnson County is working on a Multi- Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. The
Iowa Department of Homeland Security has requested all Johnson County communities be a
part of the plan. Staff will work with the Johnson County to incorporate the Iowa City Local
plan into the Johnson County Multi- Jurisdictional Plan.
• Emergency Operations Plan — The Fire Department is in the final stages of updating the
City's Emergency Operations Plan that is a multi- hazard plan that addresses flood response.
• Volunteer Coordination Plan — The coordination and management of volunteers required
significant dedication of City staff and resources during the flood. Post flood, we evaluated
other models for providing this service and ultimately landed on a solution using the United
Way. The United Way of Johnson County has developed a program to solicit and coordinate
volunteers for a wide range of activities from responding to natural disasters to assisting with
community events. We believe that this program will be a significant asset to our community
and we have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that will enable us to utilize this
service.
Approximate Schedule for Remaining Work
The following schedule represents the best case sequence of the remaining work, assuming that all
projects progress to the construction phase and funding is available.
• 2012
o Begin expansion of the South Wastewater Plant
o Complete Water Source Protection Projects
• 2013
o Construct West Side Levee
o Construct the Rocky Shore Lift Station
• 2014
o Construct Animal Shelter
o Complete expansion of South Wastewater Plant
o Construct East Side Levee
o Begin construction of the Gateway Project
• 2015
o Demolition of North Wastewater Plant
o Relocate Fire Training Facility
o Complete Gateway Project concurrent with completion of Hancher Auditorium
• 2016
o Construct Taft Speedway Levee
o Upgrade the Riverside Drive /Arts Campus Lift Station
o Update Floodplain Maps
Upcoming Key Decisions
Two key decisions will be necessary in the coming months.
1. Taft Speedway Levee — The Taft Speedway Flood Mitigation Alterative Study prepared by
HDR Engineering will be available soon, This study will identify a variety of feasible options for
the project along with their relative impacts, costs and protection levels. The purpose of this
report is to provide an independent review of the engineering issues to assist the Council with
a policy decision on this project. The Council will need to decide if they want to proceed with
this project and if so, what level of protection and construction techniques should be
considered.
2. Gateway Project design parameters — As the Gateway Project moves into the design phase,
it will be necessary to define the level of protection for the bridge and roadway. The
environmental assessment process that is currently underway is evaluating a project with a
protection level of a 500 -year event plus one foot. This protection level was chosen because it
represents the largest project "footprint" that we are likely to build. Obtaining environmental
clearance for this option will allow the flexibility to design this or anything less.
Attachments:
1. Attachment A, Flood Recovery Summary
2. Composite summary of our flood mitigation projects that has been used to convey a concise
overview to our Federal delegation.
3. Memo entitled Flood Buyout Summary, from Doug Ongie, Community Development Planner
cc: Eleanor Dilkes
Geoff Fruin
Marian Karr
Jeff Davidson
Ron Knoche
Attachment A
Flood Recovery Summary
Flood recovery includes debris removal, cleanup and repair work that is necessary to restore facilities
and operations. In addition to public expenses, we are able to quantify many of the private sector
flood recovery efforts through the issuance of building permits and the administration of various local,
state and federal assistance programs. Both private and public flood recovery efforts are outlined
below.
Private Property Flood Recovery
Flood recovery for private homes and businesses entails much more than simply repairing or
replacing the flood damaged structures. Families continue to need a place to live and businesses still
need a place to operate during recovery. You will find that some of the programs outlined below are
specifically targeted to meet these needs. It is also important to note that for many of the structures
located within the 100 year floodplain, the extent of damage triggered building code requirements for
modifications (such as elevation) to reduce risk to future floods. For the purpose of this memo, these
mitigation efforts are categorized with the flood recovery projects.
Building Permit Summary for Flood Related Work
Number of Permits
Type of Permit
Project Value
218
Building
$15,184,845
207
Electrical
$118,513
115
Plumbing
$114,704
115
Mechanical
$755,013
655 Total
$16,1 73,075 Total
Notes;
1. For comparison, building permits issued for recovery from the 2006 tornado totaled
$15,195,420, of which $10,524,740 was St. Patrick's Church,
2. The building permit summary does not reflect the full extent of loss since many of the
residential properties participated in the buy -out program.
Programs Administered by the City to Assist Private Recovery
Program
Amount
Status
Notes
Business Programs
The Iowa City
$75,000
Complete
Assisted 18
Recovery Program
businesses with up
to $5,000 each
Community Foundation
$97,340
Complete
Chamber assisted
Funds
with distribution
Jumpstart Iowa
$1,248,546
Complete
Assisted 44
Small Business
businesses with up
Assistance Program
to $50,000 each
CDBG Business
$2,000,000
Ongoing
57 businesses
Disaster Recovery
($1,043,381
assisted
Programs
spent to date)
• Business Rental
Ongoing
Assists with up to
Assistance Program
6 months rent.
• Expanded Business
Ongoing
Includes assistance
Rental Assistance
for machinery
Program
and equipment.
• Loan Interest
Ongoing
Assists with interest
Supplement Program
on disaster loans.
• Commercial Rental
Ongoing
Assists with rent
Revenue Gap
revenue loss for
Program
commercial property.
• Residential Landlord
Ongoing
Assists with rent
Business Support
revenue loss for
Program
residential property.
• Flood Insurance
Ongoing
Assists with one
Reimbursement
year of flood
Program
insurance coverage.
• Equipment
Reimbursement
R
Ongoing
g g
Assistance for
Assistance Program
machinery and
equipment.
Residential Programs
CDBG Housing Disaster
$1,788,754
Complete
Used for homebuyer
Recovery Fund
($889,245
assistance, repair &
(Federal Jumpstart 1)
expended)
interim mortgage
payments
CDBG Housing Disaster
$1,029,295
Complete
Used for homebuyer
Recovery Fund
($128,805
assistance, repair &
(Federal Jumpstart 2)
expended)
interim mortgage
payments
Jumpstart Housing
$2,507,604
Complete
Used for homebuyer
Assistance Program
($2,427,429
assistance, repair &
(State Jumpstart 1, 2 & 3)
expended)
interim mortgage
payments
Iowa City Public Facilities Flood Recovery
The following projects represent the majority of the flood recovery work necessary to clean, repair
and restore public facilities. This does not include University of Iowa facilities.
Project
Cost
Status
Notes
Debris Removal
$1,489,595
Complete
Iowa Avenue Sewer Siphon
$1,123,401
Complete
Water Main River Crossings
$450,000
Construction
95% complete
Water System Repairs
$135,798
Complete
Animal Shelter Temporary
Facility
Ongoing
This is limited to the
temporary facilities
North Wastewater Plant Repairs
$358,295
Complete
Lift Station & Sewer Repairs
$109,195
Complete
Street Repairs
$66,124
Complete
Parks and Trail Repairs
$639,956
Complete
Shakespeare Theater
$213,204
Complete
Vehicles & Equip. Repairs
$85,589
Complete
Iowa River Power Dam
Repairs
$70,000
Construction
Iowa River Power Dam
Bridge Repairs
$40,000
Construction
Clean Riverbanks —
Peninsula Park to the town
of Hills
977 Volunteers
Complete
146 tons of debris
removed
Fiber Optic and Communications
Repair
$31,984
Complete
Fire Training Facility
$146,324
Complete
Total
$4,959,465
Iowa City Flood Mitigation Projects
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CITY OF IOWA CITY
September 2012
LEGEND
Iowa City Projects
University of Iowa Projects
Coralville Projects
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CITY OF IOWA CITY
City of Iowa City Flood Mitigation Projects
September 2012
PROJECT STATUS
M&COnshudion Phase or Cumpkle
Design Phase
Concept Phase
Identified Funding Needs
Tom Markus
City Manager
319 -356 -5010
tom-markus@ima-city.org
Rick Fosse, Director
Public Works
319 -356 -5141
rick-fosse@ima-city.org
Jeff Davidson, Director
Planning & Community Development
319 -356 -5232
jeff-davidson@ima-city.org
Total
Cost
1
West Side Levee
$4.4M
Local funds
$600K
CDBG Grant Awarded
$3.8M
2
East Side Levee
$4.OM
Local funds
$100K
CDBG Grant Awarded
$3.9M
North Wastewaster Treatment Plant Relocation
$54.8M
Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant awarded
$22M
CDBG grant awarded
$5M
I -JOBS grant awarded
$5.49M
Local Option Sales Tax
Local funds
$13.6M
$2.9M
ding needed for de
$3.OM
4
Animal Shelter Relocation
Local funds
FEMA
Fire Training Center Relocation
4$200K
$1.OM
unding Ne
Local funds
6
Riverside Pump Station
$1.OM
Local funds
$500K
University of Iowa
$500K
7
Iowa City Gateway Project - Dubuque Street Elevation & Park Road Bridge
$32M
Replacement
Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant
$3.OM
STP awarded
$6.OM
THUD FY10 Appropriations - awarded
$1.5M
Local Option Sales Tax
$19.2M
Funding n
$11.8M
8
Idyllwild Levee
Local funds
$3.8M
CDBG grant awarded
$8.OM
Buy -Out Program
$24.2M
Community Disaster Grant
$1.6M
HMGP
$8.OM
CDBG
$14.6M
10
Rocky Shore Pump Station & Flood Gates
$6.6M
CDBG grant awarded
$6.6M
Well Field Flood Protection (2 projects)
$1.56M
FEMA
$956K
FEMA
$608K
TOTAL $143.96M
PROJECT STATUS
M&COnshudion Phase or Cumpkle
Design Phase
Concept Phase
Identified Funding Needs
Tom Markus
City Manager
319 -356 -5010
tom-markus@ima-city.org
Rick Fosse, Director
Public Works
319 -356 -5141
rick-fosse@ima-city.org
Jeff Davidson, Director
Planning & Community Development
319 -356 -5232
jeff-davidson@ima-city.org
A l
CITY OF IOWA CITY
MEMORANDUM
Date:
August 29, 2012
To:
Tom Markus, City Manager
From:
Doug Ongie, Community Development Planner
Re:
Flood Buyout Summary
The property buyouts in the Park View Terrace and Taft Speedway neighborhoods that started
in May 2009, are now wrapping up after the final property acquisition was made in July 2012.
The City of Iowa City received disaster recovery grants to purchase properties that were
damaged by the 2008 flood in order to remove residential properties from the flood plain. The
two main sources of funds used to purchase homes were the Hazard Mitigation Grant (HMGP)
Acquisition Program and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Buyout Program.
The HMGP Acquisition Program application was submitted in January 2009 and the purpose of
the program was to acquire substantially damaged (greater than 60% of home value was
damaged) properties in the 100 -year flood plain. The CDBG acquisition program application
was submitted in August 2009 and was used to buy substantially damaged properties in the
500 -year flood plain or any other property that received flood damage. The HMGP program will
be closed out later this year and the CDBG program will be closed out by February 2013.
After the final acquisition in July 2012, a total of 93 residential properties were acquired in the
Park View Terrace and Taft Speedway neighborhoods with disaster recovery buyout grants. Of
the 93 properties, 52 properties were acquired using CDBG funds, 35 properties were acquired
with HMGP funds, and six properties with Community Disaster Grant (CDG) funds, which was
funded by the State of Iowa. A total of 82 structures have been demolished in the Park View
Terrace and Taft Speedway neighborhoods and the final round of home demolitions is expected
to occur in the fall of 2012. The City expects to spend approximately $27 million in Federal and
State buyout grant funds once the CDBG and HMGP buyout grants are closed out.
Due to the loss of property tax revenue from the buyouts, the Iowa Economic Development
Authority created a Single Family New Construction Program for disaster - impacted cities, which
provides down payment assistance on newly constructed, owner - occupied homes. To date, 93
units have been constructed and sold from the first three rounds of the program. There will be a
total of 141 homes built once all four rounds of the program have been completed. As a result of
the buyouts, Iowa City has lost approximately $19.2 million in assessed taxable value, using the
2008 assessed values of homes purchased through the buyout programs. The Single Family
New Construction Program will make up for the loss of assessed taxable value from the buyout
by creating approximately $22.5 million in new assessed taxable value once all 141 homes have
been sold.
The City is deed - restricting any land purchased with buyout funds as public green space in
perpetuity. This will prevent future development from occurring in the flood plain and allow for
additional green space along the Iowa River. The Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department
has assumed responsibility for maintenance of the buyout properties after demolition and a
comprehensive landscape plan has been developed with the help of the neighborhood. The
plan will create a trail along Normandy Drive and build a natural playground on the property
adjacent to City Park. The park will also feature the historic Ned Ashton House, which was
purchased with CDBG buyout funds, and will be used as a special events facility that the City
will rent out for weddings and meetings.
September 13, 2012
Page 2
With the buyout grants, the City has been able to remove over 60% of the homes from the flood
plain in the Parkview Terrace and Taft Speedway neighborhoods without having to provide local
funds for any of the acquisitions. There are now fewer houses at risk for future flooding, the tax
base was replaced with the help of the Single Family New Construction Program and there is
additional parkland adjacent to City Park. The buyout grants have allowed the City to recover
from the 2008 flood and will help minimize residential damage in the event of another flood.
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CITY OF IOWA CITY
MEMORANDUM
DATE: September 11, 2012
TO: City Council -P—�
FROM: Rick Fosse, Director of Public Works
RE: Sidewalk Cafes in the Street
IN
Following up on the work session on September 4, staff would like to discuss with you the sidewalk
cafe issues listed below at the September 18 work session. There will be no formal agenda item.
Depending on your decisions, staff will prepare a policy for your approval at a formal meeting in
October. To facilitate discussion we have outlined four subject areas and posed seven questions.
1. Competina Applications
This section discusses staff's proposal for addressing competing applications, meaning either when
more than one business wishes to locate in the same parking space /planter or when there are
applications for more than 30% of the parking spaces within a block face. In order to be eligible to
compete for limited space on the street or in a planter, the application must be filed by February 1 and
will be processed as outlined below. Applications received after February 1 will be considered on a first
come, first serve basis and will be denied if there is no available space.
Schedule for the Competitive Process
• February 1. To be eligible for the competitive process, completed application forms are due for
cafes in the street or planter, which will require a preliminary (not drawn by a professional)
schematic diagram.
• February 15. If there are competing applications, staff will conduct a lottery and notify the
applicants by this date whether they have been selected to enter into easement agreements.
The selection process is discussed below under "logistics."
• March 15. The applicant must sign an easement agreement by this date, which is dependent
upon staff approval of its schematic diagram (drawn by a professional) and payment of all fees
(except the parking space fee that will not be known until the platform is installed). If an
applicant does not meet the March 15 deadline, staff will notify the next applicant that it is
eligible for the parking space /planter.
• April 15. The next applicant must sign an easement agreement by this date.
Note: If one of these dates falls on a weekend, the applicable deadline will be the following Monday.
Logistics
There are two options to select among competing applications. Staff can either pull a name out of the
hat (what staff has referred to as a "lottery") or make a decision after evaluating the application and
considering certain criteria. Staff is recommending a lottery system, however if Council desires to
establish more detailed criteria to judge applications, such a system can be developed by staff for your
consideration at a future meeting.
Question No. 1: When deciding amongst competing applications, should it be done by lottery or by
staff evaluating criteria?
2. Consent
Council has approved a policy allowing cafes in planters to go beyond the property line extended if the
adjacent property owner(s) and first floor tenant(s) consent. Staff has previously suggested that the
same policy be adopted for cafes located on the street. However, at the last work session there was
discussion related to limiting such uses to the property line extended, thus eliminating the need for
consent. A property line extended rule could potentially allow for a greater number of businesses to
utilize a street cafe and addresses some concerns that have been raised regarding visibility of
neighboring businesses. However, such a rule may dissuade such uses if the appropriate scale cannot
be achieved to justify the investment.
Question No. 2: May cafes in the street extend beyond the property line extended if the cafe owner
obtains the consent of the adjacent property owner(s) and first floor tenant(s)?
3. Priority
Council has approved a policy that cafes in planters will not be subjected to the competitive process for
the following two cafe seasons. One business (the Saloon) entered into an easement agreement prior
to the adoption of this policy. Staff recommends that 2012 be year 1 of the 3 year period and that it not
be subject to the competitive process in 2013.
Question No. 3: Will the business with a current easement agreement for a cafe in a planter be subject
to the competitive process in February 1, 2013 or is it given priority for the next two cafe seasons?
Staff recommends that the same priority policy apply to cafes in the street.
Question No. 4: Should cafes in the street be given priority over competing applications for the
following two cafe seasons?
Question No. 5: If the answer is no, should there be no priority (i.e., all applicants subject to the
competitive process every year) or should the priority be for a time period other than two additional
years?
If Council adopts a 3 -year, or some other multi -year priority, staff recommends that the planter cafe
owner obtain the consent every year and submit such consent with the annual application. Staff
recommends that this also apply to cafes in the street if they are permitted to extend beyond the
property line. The alternative option would be to require consent for the initial application and not again
until the cafe is subject to another lottery.
Question No. 6: Does the cafe owner need to obtain the consent of adjacent owner(s) and tenant(s)
only prior to the first year or every year?
4. Four -foot Buffer
Regardless of whether the sidewalk cafe area (the area within the fencing) can extend beyond the
property line extended with consent, staff recommends that the 4 -foot buffer may be located beyond the
property line extended without consent. Parking space remnants will be used for moped parking.
Question No. 7: May the 4 -foot buffer may be located beyond the property line extended without
consent?
Copy to:
Thomas M. Markus
Eleanor M. Dilkes
Geoff Fruin
Marian K. Karr
Kim Sandberg
Susan Dulek
IPS
1
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CITY OF IOWA CITY
PENDING CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION TOPICS
September 13, 2012
October 2, 2012
1. Strategic Plan update: Neighborhood Stabilization
Pending Topics to be Scheduled
1. Continue the discussion on the sale or dispersion of public housing units
2. Discussion pertaining to noise concerns voiced by residents of Ecumenical Towers
3. Discuss potential procedures and/or policies related to requests for habitable private
spaces constructed over public right -of -way
4. Discuss the restaurant / drinking establishment separation distance provision of the
City Code
5. Strategic Plan update
6. Review of mobile vending regulations
r CITY OF IOWA CITY
- ��O"M 4 TOW,
MEMORANDUM
Date: September 10, 2012
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Marian K. Karr, City Clerkh�
Re: KXIC Radio Show
KXIC offers a City show at 9:00 AM every Wednesday morning. In the past Council has
volunteered for dates, and staff filled in as necessary. Please take a look at your calendars and
come prepared to help fill in the schedule at your work session on September 18:
September 19 - Dobyns
September 26
October 3
October 10
October 17
October 24
October 31
November 7
Future commitments:
November 21- Rick Dobyns
U: radios howasking.doc
25K
CITY OF IOWA CITY IP7
MEMORANDUM
Date: September 11, 2012
To: Tom Markus, City Manager
From: Adam Bentley, Administrative Assistant to the City Manager
Re: Blackhawk Mural
Introduction:
City staff has been asked to provide the City Council with an overview of the uncovered mural that was
found at the construction site of the former Wells Fargo building.
Background:
As a part of the urban renewal period and a beautification project in the mid 1970's, the uncovered image
of the three bison was part of a larger mural painted of a Blackhawk figure that encompassed the majority
of the west wall of the Paul Helen building. In 1976, the former Wells Fargo building was built and
covered the three bison which preserved the image. It wasn't until the 1980's when the remaining
Blackhawk figure was removed from the Paul Helen building to accommodate renovation to the building.
The park, just west of the Paul Helen building maintains the name ` Blackhawk Mini - Park," due in large
part to the mural that once overlooked the park.
Artists and urban renewal leaders at the time did not expect that the art would be a permanent fixture in
the community. Instead, it was a deemed a temporary solution until more modern structures /renovations
could be built (like the renovation to the Paul Helen building).
Discussion of Solutions:
There has been some communication regarding options the City may have in preserving the mural. While
the sentiment is understandable, the location of the mural most likely prohibits it from being permanently
shown. The mural is on private property; it is on a wall critical to the structural integrity of the building it
is currently on and the new development on the old Wells Fargo site will inevitably cover the mural.
The developer of the new site has taken it upon himself to have the mural professionally photographed
and met with Donna Friedman, artist of the bison mural, to explore possibilities with the future of the
mural. Staff has also documented the mural and has archived it in both the Iowa City Public Library
archives and the Iowa City Historical Society archives. Those archives are accessible to the general
public.
Recommendation:
Given that the mural rests on private property, staff makes no recommendation at this time.
r
� . ®r CITY OF IOWA CITY �P$
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MEMORANDU
Date: September 12, 2012 Pbr
To: Rick Fosse, Public Works Director
From: Jen Jordan, Recycling Coordinator
Re: update on plastic bags
Introduction:
Every couple of years, City Council and staff are approached by community groups or
individuals with the idea of implementing a plastic bag ban to reduce litter in our community.
Staff agrees that plastic bags are an environmental and aesthetic issue but do not feel that a
regulator solution is necessary. In short, with increasing use of totes and numerous recycling
options for plastic bags, staff does not feel a plastic bag ban is necessary.
History /Background:
In late 2008 the City was approached with the idea of implementing a plastic bag ban. Staff
researched options and prepared a memo (attached, December 22, 2008). Council agreed that
an educational campaign to reduce the use of single -use grocery bags would be a better step
than implementing a ban. Staff reported back to Council in a memo (attached, June 24, 2009)
recommending continued education and litter abatement, but no ban.
Since then, the following steps have been taken:
• ECO Iowa City, an 18 -month grant- funded environmental action outreach program with
the Iowa City Public Library, reached 11,000 people in 2009 and 2010. Waste reduction
was one of the key areas of outreach and included giving out 250 totes.
• The ICPL continues to sell the ECO Iowa City totes.
• Rummage in the Ramp 2012 gave out 300 totes to customers (the totes were donated
by the University of Iowa Community Credit Union). Interestingly, many shoppers
refused the totes because they already had more than they used at home.
• The following locations have plastic bag recycling receptacles:
• Hy -Vee o Target
• Fareway o Lowe's
• New Pioneer Co -op o JC Penney
• Wal -Mart o City Carton Recycling
• Plans are underway to add a recycling bin for grocery bags at the East Side Recycling
Center.
• The City has hosted approximately 12 stream clean -ups annually through the
Stormwater Utility fund. Interestingly, most of the plastic bags found in the creeks are
within 50 feet of bridges and contain dog feces.
• The City is organizing its second annual Iowa River clean -up for October.
• Most recycling advertising that has gone out since 2009 has had a section about plastic
bag recycling. This includes multiple ads in local newspapers, the curbside recycling
flyer that went to all 15,000 curbside customers in April 2011 and other assorted smaller
advertising efforts such as Facebook or the City website.
Discussion of Solutions:
Staff has not fully researched plastic bag usage, recycling rates or national bag ban trends since
2008. Based on the number of totes that the City has handed out in the past few years and the
feedback we have received that people are inundated with totes, a good next step would be to
September 12, 2012
Page 2
encourage people to regularly use their totes (i.e., remember to take them into the store).
Partnering with local grocery stores to advertise this concept would be beneficial to all parties as
this would decrease the cost that grocery stores spend on plastic or paper bags and reduce the
waste associated with single -use bags.
The number of locations at which residents can recycle bags has increased in the past few
years. This not only gives residents more options for recycling —the visibility of the containers
also raises the expectation of recycling plastic bags.
Financial Impact:
The financial impact of the City's efforts to educate about plastic bag use and recycling are
mainly staff time and some advertising costs. Advertising costs have primarily been funded by
the Iowa City Landfill and Recycling Center enterprise fund and the Stormwater Utility fund.
Recommendations:
Without another in -depth study similar to what was done in late 2008, staff can offer the
following recommendations:
1. Continue including plastic bag recycling locations in appropriate advertising.
2. Continue creek and Iowa River clean -up program.
3. Ensure that plans to place a plastic bag recycling bin materialize at the East Side
Recycling Center.
4. Organize campaign with local grocers to decrease use of single -use bags and increase
use of totes. This effort can be tied in to educational efforts in progress through the East
Side Recycling Center.
5. If Council is interested in discussing a bag ban, staff will need to do further research
before recommendations regarding the type of ban can be provided.
6. If the City is going to enact any sort of ban regarding waste reduction and recycling,
more effective bans would be either for cardboard or electronics at the Iowa City Landfill.
Cc: Tom Markus
Geoff Fruin
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CITY OF IOWA CITY
Date: June 24, 2009
CITY OF IOWA CITY
MEMORANDUM
To: Rick Fosse, Director of Public Works
From: Jen Jordan, Recycling Coordinator
Re: Plastic grocery bag follow -up
City Council directed staff to report back in June regarding plastic grocery bags to determine if a
ban was necessary. Based on conversations with grocers, recyclers and state -wide non - profit
organizations, as well as the trends surrounding this topic, it is staff's opinion that a ban is not
needed at this time. Instead, continued education, partnerships and litter abatement will
enhance the trends of reduced plastic bag use, increased recycling and more organized litter
pick -up events.
Positive trends
Over the past six months, staff has discussed plastic bag use, recycling and bans with grocers,
recycles and the executive directors of Keep Iowa Beautiful and the Iowa Recycling Association.
The trends that they have seen in the past year are encouraging.
1. Reduced plastic grocery bag use. The sales and use of totes is increasing across the state.
While it is difficult for stores to track exact numbers on plastic grocery bag use, Hy -Vee
estimates that they have seen an estimated five to ten percent decrease in plastic bag use over
the past year. Fareway and Wal -Mart speculate that the number of plastic bags they use has
decreased since they have seen an increase in the number of totes sold and used.
Some local stores have taken the initiative to charge for bags. For instance, Aldi Food Stores
have been charging $0.10 for heavy -duty plastic bags for many years. Customers bring their
own totes, bags or boxes for groceries and the manager of the Iowa City Aldi Food Stores
stated that they see customers reusing the Aldi -brand plastic bags repeatedly until they are
worn past reuse. In addition, the New Pioneer Co -op began charging customers $0.05 per bag
on Earth Day 2009. All proceeds are being donated to the Crisis Center.
2. Increase in plastic bag recycling rates. Informal surveys and observations indicate that all or
almost all local grocery stores offer plastic bag recycling.
According to Mike Smith, Hy -Vee's Director of Real Estate and Sustainability, Hy -Vee saw a
25% increase in plastic bag recycling across the state in FY08. City Carton Recycling offers
plastic bag recycling at their drop -off facility and works with local stores to take the plastic bags
the retailers collect through their plastic bag recycling programs. An increase in plastic bag
recycling locally mirrors a national trend; Waste News recently reported that plastic bag and film
recycling reached an all time high in 2006 and continues to increase.
In April 2009, the four major bag manufacturers in the US announced a goal of using 40%
recycled content by 2015. This will significantly increase the demand for plastic bag recycling
and reduce the consumption of natural gas in bag making.
June 26, 2009
Page 2
Next steps
While the trends discussed above are encouraging, ongoing efforts will be necessary. Public
education will be important, as will working with local grocers to support and inform the public
about their programs.
1. Public education. City and ECICOG staff includes education about reuse, including totes, in
all outreach programs offered to local schools, civic groups and public libraries in the
corridor. On average, the education programs reach about 3,000 students and residents
per year.
Keep Iowa Beautiful (KIB) received a Department of Natural Resources Solid Waste
Alternative Program grant to study the views of the public across the state regarding this
topic. Based on this information, the public does not feel that they are well- informed about
recycling or what programs stores have in place. KIB plans to work with the Iowa Grocers
Association on a campaign to provide a common message to the public about recycling
grocery bags, such as common signage in store parking lots to remind shoppers to take
their totes into the store and education for store employees to encourage shoppers to
purchase totes and remind shoppers to use them.
Locally, staff will work with local retailers and City Carton Recycling to advertise locations of
plastic bag recycling drop -offs. A stronger reuse message will be incorporated into outreach
and advertising, such as newspaper ads and outreach at local events.
2. Litter abatement. While Johnson County is not an affiliate of Keep Iowa Beautiful, we have a
strong volunteer litter collection system.
• The Adopt -a- Highway program covers Highways 218, 1 and 6, as well as Interstate 80
and 380. Most sections in Johnson County have been adopted and are picked up at
least twice annually.
• The Stormwater Utility organizes numerous creek clean -ups annually and has extended
that in 2009 to Iowa River clean -ups.
• The Aerohawks Flying Club has four clean -ups on IWV Road annually in a partnership
with the landfill.
• The landfill plans to initiate an annual fall clean -up of Highway 218 in 2009.
Summary
Staff does not feel that a ban is needed at this time. Expanded education programs and
partnerships with local retailers will encourage more residents to use totes and recycle their
plastic bags. Additional litter clean -up activities will help residents see the problems that bags
pose in the environment and further encourage them to use totes and recycle their plastic bags.
With these initiatives, the use of plastic bags is likely to continue its downward trend. The
purchase and use of totes as well as plastic bag recycling is likely to increase as we have seen
over the past year.
� r
CITY OF IOWA CITY
CITY OF IOWA CITY
MEMORANDUM
Date: December 22, 2008
To: Rick Fosse, Director of Public Works
From: Jen Jordan, Recycling Coordinator
Re: Plastic Grocery Bags
Plastic grocery bags are becoming a significant environmental issue in the United States. The
bags are made from petroleum and are energy intensive to produce and transport. Because
American use about one billion bags per year (about 300 bags per person) and less than one
percent of the bags get recycled, they have become a major litter issue. With exposure to
sunlight, plastic bags photodegrade into smaller, more toxic polymers that pollute our land and
water resources.
Background
Many cities in the US and an increasing number of countries are addressing this issue by either
taxing or banning petroleum -based plastic grocery bags. These actions have been both widely
applauded and hotly contested. Some bans have been overturned due to the fact that other
alternatives are not necessarily better for the environment. Both biodegradable plastic bags and
paper bags have major drawbacks.
Biodegradable plastic bags
• Are energy intensive to produce and ship
• Are more expensive than petroleum -based plastic bags
• Are often not as strong as petroleum -based plastic bags
• Are a blowing litter issue
• Take long periods of time to biodegrade in a landfill due to the lack of oxygen
and sunlight.
Paper bags
• Are more energy intensive to produce
• Are much more energy intensive to ship because of the added bulk
• Are four to five times more expensive than petroleum -based plastic bags
• Are less convenient than petroleum -based plastic bags
• Are recyclable but oftentimes do not get recycled
Goal: Reduce the use of all disposable grocery bags
The best alternative to any type of disposable grocery bag is a durable reusable tote bag. Totes
have become popular in the past year and many local retailers now sell branded totes for their
customers' use. Some retailers (Hy -Vee, New Pioneer) give a five -cent credit per reusable bag
used at checkout but many people are unaware of this service. In addition, many people view
them as a major inconvenience or expense. Others simply forget to take their totes to the store
or choose not to use them.
January 6, 2009
Page 2
Some retailers such as IKEA and Aldi Food charge a small fee (generally $0.05) to help people
consider alternatives and reduce the need to add the cost of bags into prices for products.
Several options exist for reducing the use of disposable plastic bags. With any option,
education and outreach to consumers and retailers will play a major role.
Option 1: Organize disposable grocery bag reduction campaign involving the cities of
Iowa City and Coralville, Johnson County Public Health, local environmental groups and
retailers.
• Write DNR Solid Waste Alternatives Program (SWAP) grant to hire intern to assist with
advertising and education regarding the environmental issues associated with all
disposable grocery bags
• Encourage people to use totes
• Encourage more retailers to advertise and give $0.05 credit per reusable bag used
• Encourage retailers to sell or give away cloth bag with branding
• Advertise locations for recycling plastic bags and encourage more retailers to accept
bags for recycling
• Work with City Carton Recycling to take more types of film plastic
Pros:
Cons:
Gives consumers opportunity to make educated choices
Does not burden retailers
Assists all sizes of retailers
Shows public that campaign partners are concerned about the issue and need
the public's help
May not reduce disposable bags use as much as tax or ban
Option 2: Via City ordinance, ban FREE plastic or paper grocery bags from grocery
stores, pharmacies, and big box retailers.
• Retailers must charge set fee for bags (to be retained by retailer)
• Retailers must show separate line on receipt with cost of bags to shopper
• Can offer any type of bag for sale
• Encourage use of totes
Pros:
Cons:
Gives retailers flexibility about which type of bag to sell
Gives consumers the choice to purchase a bag or bring their own
May not reduce disposable bag use as much as tax or ban
Additional burden on retailers
Options 3: Via City ordinance, implement tax on disposable petroleum -based plastic
grocery bags.
• Require retailers to put fee on grocery bags
• Fee retained by City for environmental programs or to cover cost of program
administration
Pros:
Effective way to reduce plastic grocery bag use
January 6, 2009
Page 3
Cons:
Other disposable alternatives often replace plastic bags
Publicly unpopular
Additional burden on retailers
City staff time required to maintain and enforce
Option 4: Via City ordinance, ban disposable petroleum -based plastic grocery bags at
grocery stores, pharmacies, and big box retailers.
• Retailers must offer biodegradable bags and /or recycled content paper bags
Pros:
Cons:
Effective way to reduce plastic grocery bag use
Other disposable alternatives not better than plastic bags
Publicly unpopular
Additional burden on retailers
City staff time required to maintain and enforce
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends option one because this option puts a positive spin on the issue and
encourages people to do the "right thing" rather than burden retailers and consumers with an
additional tax or ordinance.
A disposable grocery bag reduction campaign partnership among the cities of Iowa City and
Coralville, Johnson County Public Health, local environmental groups and retailers would benefit
all parties involved without antagonizing potential partners or the public.
A "waste reduction intern" funded with a Solid Waste Alternative Program grant would do the
majority of the work involved with the campaign. The backbone of the campaign would involve
outreach to the public to use alternatives to disposable. The second task would be to work with
local retailers to encourage them to sell totes and to give a $0.05 credit per reusable bag used
at checkout and encourage them to accept plastic bags for recycling at their store.
Encouraging people to use totes would benefit the local retailers in two ways. First, it would
reduce their bag costs since fewer bags will be used. Second, it would likely increase sales of
cloth totes through local retailers.
Using a positive approach to address the disposable grocery bag issue may not have as large
as an effect as would a ban or tax. However, the impact can still be significant and it will help
citizens and retailers understand that the City needs their help to make environmental programs
work.
M
MINUTES OF THE JOINT INFORMAL MEETING OF JOHNSON COUNTY
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATING
COMMITTEE:
AUGUST 1, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Report from Representatives of the Disproportionate Minority Contact Committee and the
Coalition for Racial Justice .......................................................................... ..............................1
Report from Alternatives and Treatments Subcommittee .................................. ..............................5
Report from Public Information/Outreach Subcommittee ................................. ..............................5
JailTours ............................................................................................... ..............................5
Report from Facilities Subcommittee ................................................................. ..............................6
Report from Funding/Grants Subcommittee ...................................................... ..............................6
Other.................................................................................................................. ............................... 6
SetNext Meeting Date ....................................................................................... ..............................7
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the
Johnson County Health and Human Services Building at 4:32 p.m. Members present
were: Pat Harney, Terrence Neuzil, Janelle Rettig, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee Members: Present: Department of Corrections
Supervisor Jerri Allen, MECCA Director Ron Berg, Iowa City City Council Member
Connie Champion, County Attorney Janet Lyness, Bar Association Representative James
McCarragher, Judge Douglas Russell, Citizen Representative Professor Emeritus John
Stratton, and Consultation of Religious Communities Representative Dorothy Whiston.
Absent: University of Iowa Student Representative Drew Lakin, Iowa City Public
Library Adult Service Coordinator Kara Logsden, Public Defender's Managing Attorney
Peter Persaud, County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek. Staff present: Clerk of Court Lodema
Berkley, Sheriff's Captain David Wagner, Sheriff's Lieutenant Kevin Bell, Sheriff's
Major Steve Dolezal, Temporary Mobile Crisis Coordinator Jessica Peckover,
Community Projects Specialist LaTasha Massey, Executive Assistant Andy Johnson, and
Auditor's Office Recording Secretary Billy Davies.
REPORT FROM REPRESENTATIVES OF THE DISPROPORTIONATE
MINORITY CONTACT COMMITTEE AND THE COALITION FOR RACIAL
JUSTICE
Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Coordinator LaTasha Massey said
disproportionate minority contact examines the rate of contact with the juvenile justice
system among juveniles of specific minority groups compared to their white counterparts.
Disproportionality occurs when the ratio is over 1:1. In order to measure the proportions,
the DMC Committee uses what is called a relative rate index. This method compares the
rate of activity at each decision point in the juvenile justice system among racial groups.
Massey said Johnson County has the highest rate for arresting African American and
Latino youth in Iowa. She said the arrest decision point is where Johnson County has the
Informal Minutes: August 1, 2012/ page 2
highest rate of disproportion. African American youth are nearly 9 times more likely to
be arrested compared to their white counterpart, and Latino youth are 2.6 times more
likely to be arrested.
Massey said the DMC Committee has been in Johnson County since 2005 and she
started working with the committee in 2008. After the arrest decision point, the numbers
decrease dramatically, thus making the rate of contact more proportionate. She said
Juvenile Court Services has done a good job at keeping juveniles from reentering the
system. Statistically, 70% of first time juvenile offenders and 90% of second time
juvenile offenders do not come back.
Massey said African Americans face more discretionary charges than white youth.
She notes that this is comparable to what they see in the school system where school
officials discipline white youth for visual acts, such as vandalism or smoking, and they
are more likely to discipline African Americans for being too loud or disrespectful.
Massey said the DMC Committee is comprised of representatives from the County
Attorney's Office, Juvenile Court Services, the Iowa City Police Department, and citizens
from the community. Since numbers have decreased beyond the arrest rate, the
Committee is focusing on how to prevent youth from behavior leading to arrest and
connect youth with other community resources.
Iowa City City Council Member Connie Champion asked Massey to elaborate on the
kind of diversion they are developing. Massey said they are still pulling ideas together.
The committee is working closely with the University of Iowa DMC Resource Center.
Massey said the average cost per simple misdemeanor juvenile case is $1,257. This
adds up to approximately $74,000 per year for simple misdemeanors alone. This amount
reflects having 80% of 74 youth that are first time offenders. She said the committee is
working on ways to prevent these types of crimes from happening in the minority
population.
Mid - Eastern Council on Chemical Abuse (MECCA) Director Ron Berg asked for
clarification on a chart that Massey provided to the Criminal Justice Coordinating
Committee (CJCC). Massey said the chart is not updated and the numbers she provided
earlier are more accurate.
Sullivan asked Massey if she has numbers on disproportionality among the adult
population. Massey said she does not have that information.
Johnson County Citizen Amy Correia asked if police officers receive training on how
to build and maintain a positive relationship with minorities as a way to decrease the
amount of discretionary charges. Massey said the DMC Committee will incorporate that
into their diversion plans. She said there needs to be some community connections
between the schools, police, and youth. Massey said the DMC Committee plans to meet
in a week or two to discuss the issue.
Informal Minutes: August 1, 2012/ page 3
Sullivan asked if the data is broken down by the different policing organizations
within Johnson County. Massey said no, but if the DMC Committee asks individual
policing organizations for raw data, they usually provide it. Consultation of Religious
Communities Representative Dorothy Whiston said the Coalition for Racial Justice
(Coalition) is working on getting those numbers for both juveniles and adults. They have
received some numbers from the Sheriff's Office about residents of the Jail.
Whiston said Johnson County not only has the highest rate of disproportionate
minority contact in the State, but she thinks Johnson County is within the top five in the
United States. She said although she does not think this affects Johnson County's need
for a new justice center and jail, the County will be questioned closely due to its
disproportionality.
Department of Corrections Supervisor Jerri Allen said there is information out there
pertaining to adult corrections. She said she could provide statistics on that. Sullivan
said during the last referendum the public wanted to know what is being doing to make
things better. He said the CJCC needs to be conversed in that.
Harney asked if Massey knows how many youth there are in each racial group and
how that balances with the number of arrests or contacts. Massey said initially, the DMC
Committee looks at how many at -risk youths there are between the ages of ten and 17.
She said in Johnson County there are approximately 10,000 youth considered at -risk.
They break this number out by race and compare each with the corresponding rate of
contact with the criminal justice system. Harney clarified that the numbers are based on
the at -risk population, not the total population. Massey said yes.
Champion said she likes the idea of keeping youth from arrest by devising an
alternative way of teaching them that their behavior is unacceptable. She asked if
Massey took into account the socioeconomic status of youth. Massey said they take
everything into consideration however studies have shown that if a person is in the
minority student classification money does not matter because people see color first.
Rettig asked if there is data available on DMC with law enforcement prior to the
arrest. She said one of the biggest problems in Johnson County is disproportionate
minority contact with law enforcement before arrest. Rettig said one of her friends
happened to be a passenger in a car with an African American driver and that car was
stopped while driving. She further inquired about this and learned that in another case,
an African American driver was stopped four times this summer, but never received a
ticket or did any wrongdoings. Massey said she does not think the police record traffic
stops by race. County Attorney Janet Lyness said the police have tried figuring out what
leads to minority contact. Whiston said the Coalition is working on getting these
statistics, but some agencies do not keep track of them. She said it is important to have
all government agencies do an analysis in order to get a handle on this matter.
Informal Minutes: August 1, 2012/ page 4
Berg asked if Massey could give some specifics as to what Juvenile Court Services
has done to keep adolescents out of the system. Massey said they use discretion as to
what juvenile cases require punishment beyond arrest. Lyness said the juvenile court
system follows the philosophy that if an adolescent is placed in the criminal justice
system they are more likely to become high -risk youth.
Johnson County citizen and member of the Coalition Diane Finnerty said the reason
there is juvenile justice data is due to the Federal mandate to collect it. She said the
Coalition is looking at the disproportionality in the adult criminal justice system. She
said State data is available but they are having a harder time with the local jurisdiction.
Finnerty said when she contacted a jurisdiction and asked if they segregated arrest data
by race, it seemed as if that question has never been asked.
Finnerty said the Coalition is on a local and volunteer basis, which started in June
2010 out of the CRC. They have expanded and have become a community based
initiative who promotes racial justice through action, education and empowerment.
Finnerty said she wants to see the conversation focus on examining the outcomes
experienced in communities of color. The focus needs to be on racial equity and not
individual races. Finnerty said there is an increase in racial diversity in Johnson County
and Iowa City. About one -third of students in the Iowa City School District are students
of color. Finnerty said the Coalition plans on releasing a Racial Equity Status Report,
which will shock people to learn of Johnson County's inequity and how the County is
well above the national average in equity issues. Finnerty said the report will cover many
components of living, such as housing, education, income and employment.
Finnerty said the Board has done a phenomenal job in educating the public about
safety, security and the need for space. She asked the Board to fight for racial equity as
they move forward. Finnerty said a training program on conducting racial equity impact
assessments is scheduled for August 23rd from 12:00 p.m. -2:00 p.m. at the Iowa City
Public Library.
Harney asked if they have done a study about the number of minorities versus white
individuals serving time in jail. Finnerty said they have data in terms of daily holding
averages. The data does not take into consideration the severity of the crime, but it does
show disparity.
Judge Doug Russell said when the statistics are put together he hopes variables that
could affect the outcome, such as the level of the offense, will be included. A person,
black or white, charged with murder will stay in jail while a first -time offender charged
with possession of marijuana will not. Russell said he would like to see the correlation
between race and the level of the offenses because that can be a crucial factor. Russell
said he would like to see statistics on initial appearances and bond reviews, and who is
being incarcerated and who is not.
Informal Minutes: August 1, 2012/ page 5
Rettig said considering Massey's data on juvenile justice, there is definitely a
problem in the County with disproportionate minority contact with police that does not
lead to arrest. Rettig said there are too many stories from good people who the police
have stopped and harassed for no reason. The issue becomes how to pressure or order
law enforcement personnel to do the right thing and how the County can stop what
appears to be disproportionate minority contact. Although the Coalition's work is
appreciated, all the data in the world is not enough to reach a solution. Finnerty said that
the point of the Coalition is to raise awareness.
REPORT FROM ALTERNATIVES AND TREATMENTS SUBCOMMITTEE
Lyness said the Alternatives and Treatments Subcommittee will reduce its four page
report to one page and post it on the County's web site as soon as possible. She said she
would email the Mid - Eastern Council on Chemical Abuse (MECCA) report to members
of the Committee. This program seems to be working very well, and it is really good that
the County has provided substance abuse evaluations in the Jail. There is consistent use
of that service.
REPORT FROM PUBLIC INFORMATION /OUTREACH SUBCOMMITTEE
Jail Tours
Bar Association Representative James McCarragher said the web site is up and all of
the information the Committee has put together is on it. The web site has links that make
it easy for people to access information such as deficiencies in the Courthouse and Jail
and how the justice center can solve them as well as statistics regarding who is in Jail and
for how long. McCarragher said the data on the web site shows residents that diversion
programs have been working.
McCarragher said over 60% of the voters in the mock election at the County Fair
supported the justice center referendum. The Public Information/Outreach Subcommittee
is working very hard to get as much information out to the public as it can and educate
the public about the need for space, safety, and security.
Harney said during the tours at the Jail, the press and public were separated. It would
be very advantageous to have the press with the public for these tours. McCarragher said
he spoke to County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek about that and there is a two - pronged
approach regarding the tours. The press has a better opportunity to capture images and
videos of the Jail when members of the public are not present due to overcrowding.
McCarragher said he understands that the press would like to get the reactions of people
on the tours, and the press is invited to attend tours for members of the public.
Lyness said she and Clerk of District Court Lodema Berkley are planning to offer
tours of the Courthouse. They are planning to schedule tours for Wednesdays at 4:00
p.m. because the Clerk's Office will still be open for a little bit of time and there are
usually fewer proceedings then. Lyness said she would remind people in the press
Informal Minutes: August 1, 2012/ page 6
release that they can come to the Courthouse any time between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Monday through Friday.
Johnson said there has been a lot of interest in the Jail tours. Captain Dave Wagner
said the first tour of the Jail was full as well as the tour scheduled for next Tuesday at
6:00 p.m. Wagner said he has been contacted by the League of Women Voters regarding
facilitating a tour for them and possibly working with Public Access Television to film
the tour. Lyness said the League of Women Voters has scheduled a tour of the
Courthouse for the end of August.
Neuzil told members of the Committee if they are speaking at County- sponsored
events, the County could provide them with questions- and - answers brochures. These are
also available on the County web site. They handed out several at the County Fair.
REPORT FROM FACILITIES SUBCOMMITTEE
Harney said he received an email from U.S. General Services Administration Kansas
City South Field Office Deputy Director Crystal Powers and she said legal is still
reviewing the agreement.
REPORT FROM FUNDING /GRANTS SUBCOMMITTEE
Rettig said Facilities Manager Eldon Slaughter had shown her some numbers about
operating the justice center, and the Committee needs to work through the numbers a
little more carefully. Rettig asked Major Steve Dolezal to speak with Pulkrabek about
getting Rettig information about the three employees the Sheriff's Office will need so
that she can calculate all the numbers. Dolezal said the County already has a nurse
position and security guard positions in the Public Health Division, so the Sheriff's
Office can mirror those positions' pay grade.
Sullivan said it may also be good to see if the County can receive federal funding for
a new position. Dolezal said the Sheriff's Office has a grant that pays a portion of the
salary for three years. The officer has to be a veteran.
Rettig said, as part of the County's contract with engineering and architect firms, they
were going to come up with educational documents brochure and she asked what the
timeline for that is. Neumann - Monson Architects Principal Dwight Dobberstein said he
needs the information that the CJCC wants included in the brochures and there are people
available to make the brochures. McCarragher said the Public Information/Outreach
Subcommittee has not been able to meet due to different vacation schedules, and making
an informational brochure for the public will be the topic of its next meeting scheduled
for later in August.
OTHER
Informal Minutes: August 1, 2012/ page 7
Neuzil said his November Listening Posts will focus on the proposed justice center
and the referendum.
SET NEXT MEETING DATE
Sullivan said the next meeting is scheduled for September 5th. Neuzil said that date
conflicts with the Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County (MPOJC) so a
few of the Board members would not be able to attend, including him. Rettig said she
would be out of town, so someone else will give her report.
Adjourned at 5:43 p.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
Recorded By Billy Davies
� r
CITY OF IOWA CITY
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826
(3 19) 356 -5000
(319) 356 -5009 FAX
www, icgov. org
September 10, 2012
TO: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council
RE: Civil Service Entrance Examination — SENIOR PROGRAMMER/ANALYST
Under the authority of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, I do hereby
certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Senior
Programmer /Analyst.
Edward Sobolewski
IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
6 Lz�,-
William M. Cook
� r
IP11
d�
P& -
CITY OF IOWA CITY
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826
(3 19) 356 -5000
(319) 356 -5009 FAX
www.icgov.org
September 10, 2012
TO: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council
RE: Civil Service Entrance Examination —
MAINTENANCE WORKER III — WASTEWATER COLLECTIONS
Under the authority of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, I do hereby
certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Maintenance Worker
III —Wastewater Collections.
Justin Deitrich
IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
William M. Cook
� r
IP12
CITY OF IOWA CITY
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826
(3 19) 356 -5000
(319) 356 -5009 FAX
www.icgov.org
September 10, 2012
TO: The Honorable Mayor and the City Council
RE: Civil Service Entrance Examination —
TREATMENT PLANT OPERATOR — WASTEWATER
Under the authority of the Civil Service Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, I do hereby
certify the following named person(s) as eligible for the position of Treatment Plant
Operator — Wastewater.
Jeffrey Clayton
Maclaine Putney
IOWA CITY CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
a'� rv�-
William M. Cook
From: Edwin Stone <stone.edwin @g mail. com>
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2012 10:50 AM
To: Board
Cc: Council; Stephen Murley
Subject: Thanks
Hi Jeff,
Thanks very much for the nice editorial in this morning's Press Citizen. I am glad that you have firmly added yourself to
the group of board members who support un- encumbering the current SILO funds to allow them to be used for a
number of projects that are desperately needed throughout the district. You probably noticed that Ms. Fields quickly
responded to your editorial (via an electronic comment) to make her opposition to this course of action crystal clear to
her constituents.
Now that board unanimity is off the table for this issue, I think that it is time for the majority of the board to just accept
this and get down to the hard work of restoring some balance to our district.
I believe that the first course of action is to hold a binding vote on un- encumbering the SILO money.
Whether or not to buy land for a future new high school is not a pressing decision and can be considered as a separate
issue later.
To be able to "use existing high school capacity" to begin reducing overcrowding at West High next August, the
superintendent and the board will need to get busy deciding which enrollment area(s) to move from West High to City
High as well as which grandfathering policies to apply to this boundary change.
Thanks for your service to the community.
Regards,
Ed
MINUTES
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
AUGUST 9, 2012
EMMA HARVAT HALL
PRELIMINARY
IP14
MEMBERS PRESENT: Thomas Baldridge, William Downing, Shannon Gassman, Andrew Litton, Pam
Michaud, Ginalie Swaim, Dana Thomann, Frank Wagner
MEMBERS ABSENT: Kent Ackerson, Esther Baker, David McMahon
STAFF PRESENT: Chery Peterson, Bob Miklo
OTHERS PRESENT: Alan Smart, Dave Edwards, Mark Kennedy, Gloria Escarza, Mary Bennett,
Michelle Wiegand, Jean Walker
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (become effective only after separate Council action)
None.
CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Swaim called the meeting to order at 5:20 p.m.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANYTHING NOT ON THE AGENDA:
None.
CERTIFICATES OF APPROPRIATENESS:
648 S. Lucas Street
Peterson said this property is in the Governor -Lucas St Conservation District. The project consists of the
relocation of the rear door.
Peterson presented the Staff Report, which was included in the Commission packet, and recommended
approval of the project.
There was a question about this house being a UniverCity project, and Peterson confirmed that yes it
was, and now it is a single - family owner - occupied home.
MOTION: Litton moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for an application for 648 S.
Lucas Street as presented in the application, Baldridge seconded the motion. The motion carried
on a vote of 8-0 ( Ackerson, Baker, and McMahon absent).
222 Brown Street.
Peterson said this property is in the Brown Street Historic District. The project consists of improvements
to an existing rear addition, and construction of a new attached garage and small back entry with covered
stoop.
Peterson presented the Staff Report, which was included in the Commission packet, and recommended
approval of the project on conditions that the applicant provide additional information and final design
plans for review and approval by Chair and staff.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
AUGUST 9, 2012
Page 2 of 4
The Commission discussed the project. The owner, Alan Smart, and the contractor, Dave Edwards,
answered questions about the house and site, and the proposed work.
MOTION: Wagner moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for an application for 222
Brown Street, as presented in the application, with the following conditions: Provide product
information for garage doors and new windows, provide product information for siding materials,
including trim and gable shingles, and provide plan and elevation drawings of final design.
Thomann seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 8-0 (Ackerson, Baker, and
McMahon absent).
727 Grant Street.
Peterson said this property is in the Longfellow Historic District. The projects consist of an addition to the
rear of the house, and remodeling of the existing detached garage.
Peterson presented the Staff Report, included in the Commission packet, and noted that the original
proposal also included plans for a new freestanding studio. Peterson said the studio plans have changed
and would be presented at a later date. Peterson recommended approval of the project for the house and
garage, on conditions that the applicant provide additional information and final design plans for review
and approval by Chair and staff.
The Commission discussed the project. The contractor, Mark Kennedy, answered questions about the
proposed work.
MOTION: Michaud moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for an application for 727
Grant Street, as presented in the application, with the following conditions: Provide product
information for new doors and windows, provide product information for new exterior materials,
and provide plan and elevation drawings of final design. Downing seconded the motion. The
motion carried on a vote of 8 -0 (Ackerson, Baker, and McMahon absent).
1120 Burlington Street.
Peterson said this property is in the College Hill Conservation District. The project consists of a new deck
on the back side of the house.
Peterson presented the Staff Report, which was included in the Commission packet, and recommended
approval of the project on condition that the material and details of the deck railings follow the Guidelines
in the Iowa City Historic Preservation Handbook.
The Commission discussed the project. The owner, Gloria Escarza, answered questions about the
proposed work.
MOTION: Wagner moved to approve a certificate of appropriateness for an application for 1120
Burlington Street as presented in the application with the following conditions: detailing of the
new deck to be consistent with guidelines in the Iowa City Historic Preservation Handbook,
specifically, new balustrades with top and bottom rails, with square wood spindles appropriately
sized and spaced, and handrails to match, and all new wood to be painted or stained. Baldridge
seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 8 -0 ( Ackerson, Baker, and McMahon
absent).
REPORT ON CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY CHAIR AND STAFF:
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
AUGUST 9, 2012
Page 3 of 4
Peterson said there were two certificates of no material affect approved by the chair and staff, and they
are documented in the Commission packet. Commission members had no comments or questions.
DISCUSS LANDMARK DESIGNATION FOR 518 BOWERY STREET:
Miklo said the owner, Michelle Wiegand, has requested that her property at 518 Bowery Street be
designated as an Iowa City Historic Landmark. Miklo referred to the Iowa Site Inventory Form included
with the Commission packet, and the National Register Eligibility Review, also in the packet.
Mary Bennett spoke about the history of the building. Bennett said the property is important because it is
associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our local history.
Miklo said that designation as an Iowa City Historic Landmark means the property will require
Commission approval for any significant changes to the exterior of the building. Landmark status will also
make the property eligible for special exceptions that would allow the Board of Adjustment to waive or
modify certain zoning requirements.
MOTION: Gassman moved to approve the designation of 518 Bowery Street as an Iowa City
Historic Landmark, based on National Register Criteria `A'. Thomann seconded the motion. The
motion carried on a vote of 8 -0 (Ackerson, Baker, and McMahon absent).
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT ON POTENTIAL LOCAL HISTORIC DISTRICTS:
Swaim said the subcommittee has been meeting and is making progress, but she did not have a report at
this time.
DISCUSSION OF ANNUAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARDS:
Peterson said the annual awards ceremony will be in November. Peterson asked all of the
Commissioners to think about properties worthy of nomination for this year's awards.
Peterson said the categories for last year's awards included Residential Paint and Exterior Finishes,
Residential Rehabilitation, Residential Additions and New Construction, and Residential Stewardship.
The same categories for commercial and public properties will also be considered.
CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FOR JULY 12,2012:
MOTION: Baldridge moved to approve the minutes of the Historic Preservation Commission's
July 12, 2012 meeting, as written. Downing seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of
8 -0 (Ackerson, Baker, and McMahon absent).
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Chery Peterson
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MINUTES
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
AUGUST 29, 2012
EMMA HARVAT HALL
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PRELIMINARY
MEMBERS PRESENT: Kent Ackerson, Esther Baker, Thomas Baldridge, William Downing, Shannon
Gassman, Andrew Litton, Pam Michaud, Ginalie Swaim, Frank Wagner
MEMBERS ABSENT: David McMahon, Dana Thomann
STAFF PRESENT: Melissa Clow, Bob Miklo
OTHERS PRESENT:
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (become effective only after separate Council action)
None.
CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Swaim called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANYTHING NOT ON THE AGENDA:
DISCUSSION OF THE IOWA CITY GATEWAY PROJECT (THE ELEVATION OF DUBUQUE STREET
AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW PARK ROAD BRIDGE) RELATIONSHIP TO ADJACENT
HISTORIC PROPERTIES:
Miklo introduced Clow, the Special Projects Administrator who has been working on this project for the
past two years. He said Clow would give an overview of the project and some details about the historic
properties adjacent to this that might be affected, although no actual historic building will be touched as
part of the project. He said the goal was to get a comment from the Commission regarding the impact of
this project that would then be forwarded to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).
Clow said this project involves the elevation of Dubuque Street and the construction of a new Park Road
Bridge. She showed that the project study area includes Dubuque Street from the 1 -80 interchange at the
north all the way to Church Street at the south and Park Road from Dubuque Street west to Holt Avenue.
Clow said the study area goes over to Holt, because this construction would include a third lane
improvement to Park Road west of the bridge that would go all the way to Riverside Drive.
Clow stated that this project was brought on by the 2008 flood. She said the project has been in the
planning stage now since November 2010. Clow said this process is called a NEPA study which was
supposed to be completed right about now to begin final design after Labor Day. Clow said that NEPA
stands for the National Environmental Policy Act and is required for projects seeking federal funds or
permits. There are currently 3 federal grants that will help fund this project. Currently, the NEPA review
is being held up by SHPO given the historic properties and districts that are adjacent to the project
corridor.
Clow said that Phase II will be the design. She said staff is hoping that design will take 18 to 20 months,
and the project will be on track to begin construction in the spring of 2014 with a completion date in the
fall of 2015.
Clow stated that this will take two construction seasons. She said it could be done in one, but it will take
two because the City will maintain two lanes of traffic during construction. Clow said there will be a few
times that intersections and different areas will have to be shut down completely to match the raised
elevation and shift traffic over.
Clow said this whole process started after hiring a design consultant (HNTB Corporation, Kansas City,
MO) in November of 2010. She said that in February 2011, the first public meeting was held, and this
Historic Preservation Commission
August 29, 2012
Page 2 of 8
process was introduced. Clow said staff looked at a lot of different options for this project, including
improving different roads and not Dubuque Street. She said a number of initial alternatives were
introduced, evaluated internally and stakeholder meetings were held with City staff, University staff, utility
companies, public safety officials, the public and more.
Clow said staff took all of that input and evaluated the many alternatives. She said that from there, they
came up with three reasonable alternatives. Clow said that a public open house was held to share the
three alternatives and receive public comment. She said the three alternatives were again evaluated and
a preferred alternative was developed.
Clow said the alternative has not been made public yet, because it needed to go through the NEPA
process and be reviewed and approved by the Federal Highway Administration before the final public
meeting. She said that after the final public meeting, staff will take any recommendations, make any
required changes, and submit the final Environmental Assessment (EA) document, which will be reviewed
by the 3 agencies administering funds, the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT, the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA). Clow said she
anticipates a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), allowing the project to move to final design from
there.
Clow said the NEPA process has taken this entire time and was on track prior to SHPO review. She said
this Commission will probably have a lot of questions about exactly what impact the project has to each of
the adjacent properties. Clow said SHPO has requested more information, because it wants answers,
but staff cannot move to final design until approval is received.
Clow said the first part of the EA document is known as the Purpose & Need — why do this project. She
said the reason for doing the project is to provide a reliable, multi -modal transportation corridor to reduce
the impact of flooding on local transportation systems and the Iowa River Corridor. Clow said staff wants
to maximize the reliability of both Dubuque Street and Park Road Bridge.
Clow said one of the biggest concerns is to minimize the backwater created by Park Road Bridge. She
said there was up to 14 inches of backwater created by the bridge in 2008. Clow said that impacted
properties and businesses were located upstream all the way to the Iowa Power River Dam. She said
this is the only flood mitigation project being done through the Iowa River Corridor that will reduce the
surface water elevation.
Clow said staff also wanted to address existing roadway deficiencies on Dubuque Street and Park Road.
She stated that the Park Road Bridge is not safe for pedestrians since it is not up to current code with
barriers. The entire bridge deck is in need of replacement as well. Clow said the pavement on Dubuque
Street was from the early to mid- 1980s. She said that the winter before last, the City was constantly
patching it. Clow stated that even if this project doesn't go forward, the City is looking at a lot of
construction activity throughout the corridor.
Clow showed a slide of the NEPA Tasks to complete this phase of the project. She said that one can see
on the left -hand side what has been completed. Clow said that the flood model of the Iowa River and that
staff is using is one of the most complete in the State. She said it is being held by the Iowa Flood Center
(IFC) at the University of Iowa. Clow said staff used LIDAR, or laser surveys to get the actual cross
section of the river bed. This ensures that staff is using what is actually out there, not an estimate. Clow
said the consultant for Dubuque Street, the consultant for Taft Speedway, HR Green, and the initial
consultant for the University have looked at this model. Clow said there have been a lot of hands on it,
and everyone has come to the same conclusion.
Clow said staff needs to keep talking with the stakeholders and property owners. She said there needs to
be resource agency coordination with the DNR, SHPO, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Iowa DOT
and everyone else involved. After FHWA approval, Clow said the document will be released for public
review. There will be the public hearing and then final approval will need to be received before the final
design can begin.
Historic Preservation Commission
August 29, 2012
Page 3 of 8
Clow referred to the staffs preferred alternative shown on the screen. She said that right now the plan is
to elevate the roadway one foot above the 500 -year floodplain, which would put it approximately two and
one -half feet above the 2008 flood elevation. Clow said that, based on costs and a final design, the
impact to the properties, this has the ability to change. Clow said staff has previously discussed using the
2008 flood elevation plus one foot or even the 100 -year flood elevation plus one foot on Dubuque Street.
She said that would not maximize the reliability of the roadway and getting people from the interstate to
downtown Iowa City. The Park Road Bridge was designed to pass the 100 -year flood event under it, so it
will be raised such that the bottom steel structure of the bridge will be at the 500 -year flood elevation plus
one foot in order to reduce the backwater that occurred in 2008.
Clow stated that more bike /pedestrian trail connections will be provided. She said staff wants to maintain
the parkway feel. Clow said that one of the most important aspects of this project in that this corridor is
different than any other coming into town. She said that one comes into town amid parks and historic
properties, and staff wants to maintain that feel and does not want it to become an urban feel.
Clow said the new bridge will provide five lanes of traffic to accommodate event traffic. She said there will
be two lanes headed west and three eastbound lanes with two that will be left -hand turn lanes north and a
dedicated right turn lane to go south.
Clow showed a map of the impact areas for the preferred alternative. She said there will be 0.9 acres of
wetlands that will be impacted. Clow said those will be mitigated either south of Parkview Church or
offsite in designated areas. She said there will be 5.2 acres of grading and paths to public parks and
open space, 1.4 acres to historic sites or districts, with no buildings or resources being taken, most of
which will be temporary grading and construction easements.
Clow said 15.2 acres will be impacted in the 100 -year flood plain and 17.9 in the 500 -year flood plain.
She said that there will be minimal right -of -way acquired; approximately 0.8 acres and staff will work to
restrict the amount of area that will be taken during final design.
Clow referred to the exhibits that were included in the packet. She said that 1818 North Dubuque Street
is the stone house with a stone garage that sits directly on Dubuque Street. Clow said the garage is the
main focus point. She said staff initially tried to maintain the Foster intersection as it is and with little
impact from construction. Clow said that at the same time, staff determined that design will end up
getting into the intersection in order to pull the road away from this property. She pointed out that the
garage on Dubuque Street is used for storage and there is another garage that the owner actually uses
for parking.
Clow referred to the light gray on the map and said staff wants to pull the roadway as far as reasonably
possible away from the garage to still provide an eight -foot, multi -use pedestrian path. She said what
they want to do is connect Foster to Brown on the east side of Dubuque Street, with the sidewalk, and
that doesn't exist now.
Clow said the plan at the stone garage is to build a retaining wall immediately behind the sidewalk. She
said that driveway access would be provided a little bit to the south to match into the grade that the
roadway will be. Clow said there is a pretty significant grade on that driveway right now. Downing asked
if the garage will be well below the roadway. Clow showed a view of that. She showed where the drive
will pull in and have access and maintain driveway access and enough area to turn around.
Clow stated that the orange shading on the diagram refers to temporary grading. She said grading
impacts do result in a potential area of tree removal. Clow said the trees have been looked at, and
throughout the corridor, the trees are largely volunteer trees. She said there are a few that are nice oaks
or sycamores, but mostly they are volunteer trees that have grown up.
Clow said they are going to maintain the turnaround at Taft Speedway but will move it a little bit to the
north to provide some more separation from Ridge Road. She said they will take a little bit of property
down below from 1818 North Dubuque (Joe Coulter) to make that happen.
Historic Preservation Commission
August 29, 2012
Page 4 of 8
Swaim asked if the sidewalks are elevated on the east side. Clow confirmed that sidewalks will be typical
— from the roadway curb and gutter, the median will slope up at a 2% cross slope to the walk. She said
the west path will be elevated as well.
Clow showed a graphic of the cross section for Commission members with questions about specific
properties. She stated that red line depicts the existing grade and blue showed the new roadway, the
sidewalk, the barrier rail, or a decorative rail of some sort, and the retaining wall. Clow showed the
existing face of the garage.
Clow said one can see the existing edge of Dubuque Street and is pretty close to the garage. She said
they have moved the roadway west enough to get the sidewalk and retaining wall in and maintain a
turnaround area. Clow showed what the area looks like right now and what it will look like when it's
elevated. Clow said that the drive pretty much comes right out to Dubuque Street now. She said she is
hoping this will give some space to be able to see traffic and improve visibility.
Clow said the next property is the Englert House at 1501 Ridge. She said that Dubuque Street will end
up at an elevation similar to that of the house. Clow said the grading impact is .015 acres. She said
there will be a little bit more of a temporary impact for grading. She said construction will be done on the
property to reconstruct the driveway and bring it up to grade.
Clow showed where Ridge Road currently comes down. She said they want to give cars an opportunity
to come out and stop and have visibility. Clow showed where Ridge Road would turn into the driveway.
She said staff will talk to the owners about the grade they would like to have the drive elevated to. Clow
said they will discuss if they want the drive to come down and match existing, or if they want to have it
graded and raised so that if there is another flood event, they will have access to their property.
Clow said there is no impact to the house with this plan. She said the owners will actually have the
benefit of Ridge Road being moved away from the house. Clow showed a cross section, with the red
representing the existing grade. She showed where the proposed roadway is represented moved up to
the elevated grade. Clow said the proposed east side of Dubuque Street in this location would have a
grass median, sidewalk, and would drop down a bit to the driveway and match existing grade. Clow said
the edge of pavement lines are drawn a little bit closer to the center line of Ridge Road, depicting that that
drive will be a little bit narrower.
Clow stated that 1032 North Dubuque is a fraternity house. She said they have already cleared the east
slope of trees and growth last fall. Clow said there would be a small grading impact. She said this would
not impact the structure at all. Clow said Dubuque Street would be shifted away from the property. She
said there will be sidewalk activity that is not there right now, and the driveway would be raised to match
proposed grade.
Clow showed the cross section, demonstrating that Dubuque Street would be moved away a little bit.
She showed the sidewalks and how it would match existing grade using a 4:1 slope (something easily
mowed). Clow said that the 4:1 slope, as it is shown, could go up or down to match existing grade. She
said it will depend on drainage, grading and where storm sewers and low points are located.
Clow referred to the Brown Street District. She said that at the north end of Bella Vista, Dubuque Street
will be raised approximately ten feet. She said the figure is approximate because Park Road Bridge is
going to be raised to the 500 -year flood elevation plus one, and that is to the bottom steel structure of the
bridge. Clow said the roadway (bridge deck) will be located at a higher elevation, depending on the deck
thickness, which is typically between 7 & 10'. Clow said therefore Park Road Bridge is going to be raised
higher than Dubuque Street. She said this portion of Dubuque Street near Bella Vista is going to be
above the 500 -year flood elevation plus one foot in order to meet the pavement elevation of Park Road
Bridge.
Clow said, regarding the grading impact to Bella Vista, staff combined all the properties and summarized
.36 acres of impact between Kimball and Park Roads. She said it will likely impact the trees in this area.
Historic Preservation Commission
August 29, 2012
Page 5 of 8
Clow said the plan shifts Dubuque Street away from the properties as much as possible. She said that it
is a tight section of the corridor, so staff will have to do what it can when this gets into final design,
specifically with retaining walls to determine the elevation of the bike path along the river & separation
from the roadway.
Clow said the Dubuque Street and Park Road intersection has been shifted south. She said that right
now it lines up directly with 5 Bella Vista Place. Swaim said the orange shading depicts the temporary
impacts but is where the grading will change permanently. Clow agreed that through there the grade will
change. Swaim asked if, when it is all finished, it will be flat and then to a stone wall and then existing.
Clow responded that right now, there is just a gentle slope down to existing shown in the cross section.
She said that, depending on where the storm sewer is and how grading is developed, it might be more flat
than that. Clow said it is possible during final design, if it comes to having to mitigate impact and not
impact these properties as much, a retaining wall could be added to maintain existing grade. She said
that would impact cost for construction of the retaining wall. Clow added that the biggest worry then is
maintenance in that area. She said that areas that are low and behind walls tend to go un- maintained
and collect trash. Clow said that is initially why staff is proposing grading up to existing and trying to keep
it clean.
Clow said staff is working with Project Green for the entire corridor to landscape it. She said staff is also
working with the property owners.
Baldridge asked how many lanes Dubuque Street would have after construction. Clow replied that it
would remain the same — four lanes with two in each direction. She showed where there would be an
extra turn lane at the intersection, a right hand turn lane from Dubuque Street to the west onto Park Road.
Ackerson asked if moving Dubuque Street west would be pushing the bank of the Iowa River west. Clow
showed where the retaining wall that is being proposed is located. She showed where there would
possibly be retaining barrier wall, and then the sidewalk located closer to the roadway.
Swaim asked how big the retaining wall would be. Clow said it will be 15 feet. She said staff has
discussed moving the retaining wall closer to the roadway and doing a type of river walk with the trail
along there and having the Iowa River Trail bike path go closer to the river bank. Clow said that when it
floods, the trail would flood, but we would have the sidewalk on the east side of the roadway to provide
pedestrian access. She said staff is working on that cross section.
Swaim asked how high the retaining wall would be from the level of Dubuque Street. Clow said it would
be three and one -half to four feet. She said one reason for having it close to the river and not putting the
trail down is that it would be far enough away from the roadway that code wouldn't require a traffic barrier.
Clow said it could be more of an open fence. She said staff would like to maintain the views of the river.
Michaud asked if the river itself will be dredged out. Clow responded that they cannot dredge it. She said
the section of the river is actually starved for silt, because all the silt drops off in the reservoir. Clow said
as the river flows into the reservoir and is slowed by the dam, it settles out.
Swaim said Clow talked of this being more of a buffer than a levee. She asked if the retaining wall would
keep the water in the River. Clow replied that with the retaining wall's location, the river would rise
against the wall. She said it would be designed to hold the roadway on one side and withstand the River
against it, but not to hold back water.
Clow said the City is not constructing a levee and pump station, so if the water did come up, and there
was a little ditch on the east side, there could be standing water there that would match the level of the
river. She said they would be raising Kimball and all the other intersections so that access is maintained.
Downing asked about how high Dubuque Street would go up at Mayflower. Clow replied that it is going
up approximately three and one -half feet above the first floor of Mayflower.
Historic Preservation Commission
August 29, 2012
Page 6 of 8
Clow showed what the property looks like now and what it would be raised to on a graphic. She said if
one looks at the overhead lines on the east side of the road, one can see that elevation change occur.
Clow pointed out the Park Road intersection and how it has been shifted south in the graphic. She
showed the approximate location, if one goes straight up the hill, to 5 Bella Vista and then all the way
down would be the Kimball Road intersection. She showed the driveway up to the fraternity house.
Clow referred to 816 Dubuque Street. She said this would impact the parking lot, so the parking lot will
be elevated, and the drive will be lined up with the Park Road intersection. Clow said the temporary
impact along here is .04 acres, and again the structure will not be impacted. Clow said staff is proposing
a possible retaining wall along here to eliminate grading impacts close to the structure, because the
existing sidewalk will be widened.
Clow showed the cross section of the area. She showed where they are already up a little bit, so
Dubuque Street won't be raised as much, perhaps five feet in that area. Clow said the grade right now is
steeper than four to one in front of the structure; so that is where they will be working with property
owners and will likely introduce retaining walls to help the current steep slope.
Clow said the last one of the houses is 804 Dubuque. She said there would be minor construction
impact, but the structure itself would not be impacted. Clow stated that, as seen on the aerial, staff will be
shifting the Dubuque Street edge of the pavement away from the property and adding the sidewalk.
Clow showed a cross section of what will be done there. She said the property is right on the edge of the
Dubuque Street improvement where the street will not be raised much at all, so the biggest impact will be
adding the sidewalk.
Ackerson asked what the width is of the sidewalks on the east and west sides of Dubuque Street would
be. Clow responded that on the east side, the sidewalks are currently four or five feet; they are pretty
narrow. She said they are not continuous at all. Clow said the plan calls for an eight -foot sidewalk, and
on the west side there would be a ten -foot bike trail.
Michaud asked about the lamps that would be put in and if there would be a more historic look. Clow
answered that that is something that can be discussed during final design. She said that right now, the
plan includes just standard street lamps out there.
Clow said the last property to be impacted is just south the Park Road Bridge. She said the structure will
not be impacted. Clow said that a limited amount of area will be needed for right -of -way acquisition. She
said that is because a left -hand turn lane is needed from Dubuque Street onto Park Road left bound.
Clow said that since Park Road Bridge is moving south, that whole lane and that storage has to move
south.
Clow said the grading impact would be to the parking lot and access drive. She said a large area is
shown on the plan, and is due to a very steep existing drive. Clow said the City would like to propose to
the owner that the parking lot be re- graded to potentially grade the driveway to make it longer and flatten
it out to make it more accessible. She said the parking lot would have the same number of parking stalls
that it has now, and the situation would be improved.
Baldridge asked if the new parking lot would be above /higher than the existing parking lot. Clow said it
would not. She said if it is it would be the north portion of it. Clow said accessibility has to be maintained
to the structure as is there now. She showed a diagram and how the parking lot would still be pretty
much where it is now.
Swaim asked about the Kimball Street turnoff where there is a little green space. She said it is right at the
intersection if one is going north on Dubuque and turns off. Swaim asked if that area will be impacted.
Clow said staff would like to clean it up and has also talked about cleaning up a bluff covered in growth
just south of Mayflower and doing something similar to what was done along Riverside.
Historic Preservation Commission
August 29, 2012
Page 7of8
Gassman asked if there was any discussion in the early planning stages about the difference between
grading and actually building up the bridge structure through the area. Clow said that was discussed, and
that it was brought up right away by the consultant. She said if an elevated road on the bridge would be
done, the long -term maintenance would be very expensive. Clow said staff is also concerned about
homeless people living under there and maintaining that area under the roadway.
Swaim said that right now there is a median between the two sets of lanes. Clow said that would be
maintained. She said for one thing, Cambus needs the width to turn around on its route.
Clow said there is discussion about leaving the roadway section as it is now but kind of curving also to
drain into there and then landscaping it. She said it lends itself to that park feeling and not an urbanized
roadway.
Ackerson asked about the funding for the project. Clow said the City has a three million dollar grant from
the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to pay for design and engineering. She said there are
also several Federal Highway Administration / DOT grants. Clow said the project is still about nine to ten
million dollars short. She said the estimated cost is $32 million. She said staff is still working with the
DOT on funding. Clow said that a lot of the grants they have been available in the past two years require
spending the money within one year of receiving it. She said as the project gets closer, more
opportunities should present themselves.
Ackerson asked if the plans will include accommodating the traffic to the Hancher parking lot for Hancher
events. Clow confirmed this and said that with the expanded lanes on Park Road Bridge, they have
talked about increasing the number of inbound lanes and switching it to increase the number of outbound
lanes during events. She said staff is working with the Hancher relocation team so that they are on board
with the improvement and so that staff is getting them what they need.
Swaim said she is pleased that there will be a continuous sidewalk on the east side and the efforts to
keep the area looking park -like. Clow said staff has met with all the property owners along that area and
continues to have conversations with them. She said property owners have some concerns that there will
be an increased noise level. Clow said the noise level that exists on Dubuque Street already exceeds the
level that is set by the federal standards. She said staff did do a noise analysis that will be included in the
document and discussed with the property owners.
Michaud asked if the loops on the west side of the bridge represented the bike trails off the bridge. Clow
confirmed this. She said the trail will go under the bridge on the west side, although there is not enough
room on the east side. Clow said staff wants to design this so that in the future, there will be a possibility
of cantilevering a trail out over the river or doing something creative. She said there are plans with the
University to continue the trail on the east side of the river, behind the fraternity houses. Michaud said
this has addressed a lot of the issues, and there have obviously been a lot of meetings about this.
Ackerson said, as a long -term Iowa City resident who has seen Dubuque Street be closed far too often,
this project looks like it will mitigate the impacts on the neighborhoods.
MOTION: Ackerson moved that the Historic Preservation Commission send a letter to the State
Historic Preservation Office finding that the proposed Gateway Project is a needed community
improvement. The Commission further found that efforts have been made to avoid and mitigate
impacts on historic properties. The Commission found that no historic structures would be
directly affected and that the amount of grading on historic properties is acceptable. The
Commission is in favor of approval of the project as presented.
Downing seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 8 -0 (McMahon, Thomann, and
Wauner absent).
Clow said there will certainly be more opportunities to comment on the project.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at 6 :05 p.m.
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IP16
MINUTES PRELIMINARY
HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
AUGUST 16, 2012 — 6:30 PM
DALE HELLING CONFERENCE ROOM, CITY HALL
MEMBERS PRESENT: Michelle Bacon Curry, Andrew Chappell, Cheryll Clamon, Jarrod
Gatlin, Holly Hart, Jim Jacobson
MEMBERS ABSENT: Scott Dragoo, Charlie Drum, Rachel Zimmermann Smith
STAFF PRESENT: Tracy Hightshoe, Jeff Vanatter
OTHERS PRESENT: None
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CITY COUNCIL:
The Commission voted 7 -0 to recommend to City Council approval of the
proposed amendments to the Iowa City Housing Authority's Housing Choice
Voucher (HCV) Administrative Plan and Admissions and Continued Occupancy
(ACOP) Plan.
CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting was called to order by Chappell at 6:30 p.m.
APPROVAL OF THE MAY 17, 2012 MINUTES:
Jacobson moved to approve the minutes.
Gatlin seconded.
A vote was taken and the motion carried -0.
PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA:
None.
STAFF /COMMISSION COMMENT:
• City is encouraging paperless packets. Committee agreed to view packets online, but
staff will continue to mail larger reports and applications to commission members.
• City Council completed its Strategic Plan, which identifies economic and community
development goals and objectives such as neighborhood stabilization.
HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
August 16, 2012
PAGE 2 of 5
o Staff encourages commission members to review the Strategic Plan (in next
packet) and will discuss at a later date common goals, strategies, etc. Will
discuss when the commission reviews the annual goals in CITY STEPS.
• Consolidate Annual Performance and Evaluation Report comes out in mid September.
Will need to review our progress in meeting CITY STEPS goals.
New Business
Discuss Requiring Davis Bacon Requirements for all CDBG /HOME Assisted Projects
• Policy to ensure contractors pay decent wages to workers
■ Q: Does this include health insurance?
■ A: Jacobson: No, but if the contractor does not pay benefits, they must
pay cash fringe benefits to workers if they are union members.
■ Q: Is this for CDGB and HOME projects only?
■ A: Jacobson: Yes. This is a gap filling measure.
• Housing Rehab memo stated they estimated contractors spend between 40 %-
50% of their budgets on labor costs.
■ Vanatter: So, depending on the company, total project cost might go up
from 18 % -38% on average, depending on company if prevailing wages
required.
• Hightshoe: Projects currently exempt from Davis Bacon are usually CDBG and
HOME projects for housing rehabilitation. Davis Bacon not required for
residential construction if not more than 8 homes for CDBG or 11 homes for
HOME.
■ These workers might not be union workers.
• This proposal targets workers with the lowest wages
• Q. Do we pay higher wages at the expense of building /assisting fewer projects?
• Jacobson: The proposal should be narrowly applied to withstand council
review /approval.
• Comment: This proposal is premature and a divergence from HCDC's scope.
■ Small businesses might be priced out of the market.
■ Some of these workers might not merit a higher pay rate based on type of
work performed.
■ Hesitation about advocating for this proposal as City Council has not
directed HCDC to research this issue. If the Council asks the
Commission to look into this then the Commission should take up the
charge.
• Response:
■ Jacobson: Contractors should improve efficiency to meet wage goals and
could accept less profit to ensure adequate wages. Encourages a wage
floor, not necessarily the prevailing wage requirements per Davis Bacon
but possibly $16- 18$ /hr. State grant programs /incentives look for wages
at 130% of the county's median wage
• Comment: Will the City adopt a policy to only hire Johnson County workers or
that the City should pay all their employees above a certain minimum threshold?
• Comment: This might be creating problems rather than solving a problem.
There was a consensus by the commission not to proceed with
researching /advocating this issue to City Council. Chappell encouraged
interested individuals to advocate directly to City Council. If Council directs
HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
August 16, 2012
PAGE 3 of 5
HCDC to review or research minimum wage thresholds for CDBG /HOME
assisted construction work, the committee would do so at that time.
CDBG/ HOME Allocation Process Committee Update
o Survey outcomes
■ 30 questionnaires were sent out, 7 were returned.
■ Focused on overall application.
■ Few received, over summer so could have been a busy time
■ Vanatter: The survey was awkward to respond to from the perspective of
a homeowner applicant. The application and evaluation criteria focus on
renters.
• Entities that have received a tax exemption from the city attorney,
which is an interesting way to put it because they receive
exemptions from the city assessor, acknowledges some benefit to
someone paying property taxes to the city, which is why we still
give credit to payments in lieu of taxes.
• Site Visits
• Chappell: Though some say they are critical, he finds them
very unhelpful. He relies more on an application because
everyone is able to provide the same information. Thinks
commission should decide whether visits are wanted or not
and not make them optional. Decide on a way to deal with
entities that don't have anything to show.
• Comment. Think visits should not be mandatory. Some
people process information differently. Drum benefits from
the visits but does not want them to be mandatory because
not everyone needs to go to get all the information needed.
• Another problem with mandatory visits is that many of the
commissioners have visited many times already and don't
need to go back again.
• Chappell: Said that he respects the applicants enough to
do visits again but wants to know what the expectation is
from having a visit.
• Comment: You can see better from a visit how much
impact the problem is going to have, such as where a hole
in the ground is located, condition of a building, etc.
• Current process is good- always trying to make things
more streamlined but nothing from the survey leads us to
change the process.
• Didn't hear a lot of anger from the respondents
• Said that the survey validates everything they are doing
• Process question
o Encourage the use of Survey Monkey for future surveys.
■ Can get anonymity with survey monkey by locking
out IP address
Monitoring Reports
Emma Goldman Clinic
• Funding: $25,000 was allocated, but only $14,000 was
spent/reimbursed as the software was not purchased as early as
they had liked. The project was more expensive than expected,
HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
August 16, 2012
PAGE 4 of 5
vendor quotes took too long, and they could not make a decision
in time and only incurred $14,000 in expenses by June 30. CDBG
requires that funds be incurred to receive the funds.
• VNA
• A lot has been purchased. About $230,000 was spent out of
$300,000 allocated for lot costs. A capital campaign to build the
project is being launched. An office building is being built to
reduce their overhead costs. A 6 -month building permit was just
obtained.
• IC Parks and Rec
• Money moved from parks acquisition to Splash Pad at
Fairmeadows Park. The RFP is going out in September. Bids will
be accepted at the end of September /early October and
construction will begin in October. They added a parking lot, which
will not cut into the soccer field.
• ED Fund
• Molly's Cupcake franchise opened.
• There was $77,000 left in ED fund and another $67,000 was
added. This should assist another 4 -5 businesses. NDC does not
provide a financial review unless there is no lender is involved.
They can technically still apply for CDBG funds without a private
lender involved but, if not, NDC does need to review their
projections.
• Housing Rehab Memo
• Best year they have had in a while because the allocation of funds
from the HCDC went very quick due to the number of applications
submitted.
ADJOURNMENT:
Clamon moved to adjourn.
Jacobson seconded.
A vote was taken and the motion carried 7 -0.
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Page 1 of 21
Minutes
Human Rights Commission
August 21, 2012 — 6 P.M.
Helling Conference Room
PRELIMINARY
09-113-1 Id
iiLIP17
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Members Present: Harry Olmstead, Orville Townsend Sr., Connie Goeb, Diane Finnerty,
Howard Cowen, Dan Tallon, Shams Ghoneim, Jessie Harper.
Members Excused: Kim Hanrahan.
Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Human Rights Commission meeting of
August 21, 2012.
Recommendations to Council: None.
Call to Order:
Chair Olmstead called the meeting to order at 18:00.
Consideration of the Minutes of the July 17, 2012 Meeting:
Townsend moved to approve minutes, seconded by Goeb.
Motion passed. 7 -0. (Cowen not present)
New Business:
a. Annual Report
SB: That is in the packet right after the minutes. The annual report is something that has to be
submitted to the City Council each year. The year runs from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012.
If anybody notices anything you can email me those things, but if there's any content that
actually. I didn't know as a Commission if you wanted certain things added for plans for this
year or anything to do with the content of the report.
HO: I think under _ you should number those so they can see how many we've actually done.
DF: Some of them are things you've participated in, and others are things we've actually sponsored.
CG: When it says participant in a lot of these, are they Commission members participation or were
some of them yours Stefanie?
SB: Some of them are staff and some of them are Commission.
DF: It might be interesting for the future to group them all together because there is so much great
stuff. It might be useful for us in orientation because as a new Commissioner sometimes it's
challenging. You know what did we sponsor in the past, the activities, etc.
SB: Sure that makes sense. I think that's an easy correction.
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SG: Regarding the complaints that actually is kind of nice to know because I was asked about
how many last year, and I did not have an answer. Would we include how many were justly or
just cause I guess?
SB: That is in there. I hesitate to use the word just cause because, because there is mediation, there is
right to sue. There are a few options that a complaint may take that particular complaint may
have had merit, and may have been what we call a probable cause. So just depending on the path
it takes, it may not be reflected in the number of probable causes that you see in the report.
SG: So number result is that, can one?
SB: Well the pages aren't labeled because these all go in a packet for City Council, but it would be on
the fourth page.
SG: Okay great thank you.
CG: This may be kind of a random question, but under Overview of the Complaint Process there's a
line here that says public assistance source of income. Does that mean, it means only public
assistance as a source, it isn't like public assistance or source of income? It's public assistance
source of income.
SB: Correct.
CG: That's only for housing.
SB: Correct.
CG: So if someone, have you ever had a situation where somebody maybe thought they were
discriminated against because they were receiving public assistance in the job, you know for
employment purposes? Has anybody ever brought that up?
SB: I mean the way the complaint form is people check why they feel they've been discriminated
against. If somebody checks an area that's not covered then we would notify them that that's not
covered under that particular area.
CG: So would it be covered under, could that be covered?
SB: I mean it could be covered but currently it's not.
CG: It's never been brought up.
SB: So it's not, so it would be considered not jurisdictional at this time.
SG: It may be here and maybe I missed it, but do we write say a five year statistical analysis or just
the year before?
SB: Every annual report just kind of looks at the year before.
SG: Is that something you think would be helpful or no?
SB: It might be useful.
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SG: Just because we're changing so much, the Iowa City Community and its citizenship. Its many
different groups coming in and out, it just would be good to know if there is any trends, and
where are the majority of complaints. Have they changed? Are they staying constant, that kind
of thing.
SB: .What might be able to be done is instead of actually pulling the numbers, going back and pulling
like the top two from the past five years.
CG: Or just do a narrative of what the trends are or something. Then I also had a question on the
summary part where it says it took an average of 220 days to resolve complaints in 2012 and 113
days to resolve a complaint in fiscal year 2011. Do you have thoughts as to why, that lack of staff
or?
SB: Sure, more complaints and less staff.
CG: I added them up and there were fewer, but it wasn't as drastic as I thought it was. Lack of staff
too?
SB: Lack of staff, more complaints and then also you know if somebody has worked at an employer
for 28 years, that complaint is going to take longer for us to look at than somebody who maybe
worked at a place for two weeks, or someone who is a failure to hire. So it matters on the
particulars of the particular complaint, but less staff definitely.
CG: So is that a concern? I mean should it be a reason to ask for more staff if it takes 222 days or is
that acceptable or?
SB: I think that's a great average actually, yes comparative wise.
CG: It differed so much from 2011.
SB: And with the city budget I know at this time there's not going to be additional staff so. If you
actually look at the code I think it does mention it in here that once we get a complaint we have
20 days to serve it. The respondent has 30 days to respond once they get it. So you're already
looking at a month and half before we get information. So that's another thing to think about
when you're looking at those numbers.
CG: Because I said it was just the difference between the two years that I picked up.
SB: Sure it does make a difference when I have more help.
HO: Does this require a motion for approval?
Ghoneim moved to approve report, seconded by. Motion passed 7 -0. (Cowen not present)
b. University of Iowa Center for Human Rights Update
HO: I don't have the update because we haven't met yet.
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SB: I spoke with Amy Wiseman, and she said that the Center for Human Rights is slated to close in
June of 2013. The staff is being reduced throughout the time period through June of 2013. Amy
will be in her post I believe through June, but some people's employment will end in December,
and some I believe sooner. My understanding is that they are trying to rearrange people in
different positions. My understanding is that the operational part of the Center for Human Rights
will be gone in June of 2013. The certificate that they started or implemented maybe two years
ago will be through the education department. They'll administer that, and she said that basically
that this will proceed as planned in lieu of some type of support that they would receive, generous
donations so to speak. She did say that she or somebody else on staff there if the Commission
had more questions would be able to attend a Commission meeting to discuss things in further
detail. The program that the Commission just co- sponsored the One Community, One Book, that
will be the last time that that's held assuming things don't change this fall.
SG: I think it might be a good idea to have her come over and maybe we can ask her questions about
what this means, I mean what does the reduction mean to the University population, as well as
general.
DF: So this is the first I've heard of this official kind of notice. I wonder if people here on the
Commission are interested in sending a letter to University administration expressing our
disappointment. The importance of what that center has been in town and on campus and we
regret that this is occurring. I don't know if anyone else is interested.
SG: I am.
HO: Do you want it in the form of a motion?
CG: Do we want to do it as a group or do we want to do it individually given last month's discussion
about sometimes individual letters are more powerful than one letter.
SG: Oh you mean each one of us on their own? Would we identify ourselves as a Commissioner?
Unless there is a disagreement around the table. It also would have a different impact if the entire
Commission sends and have all our names underneath, but that's up to all of you. I think one of
the reasons that I brought this up the last time was that again from the background information,
many other centers are also on that cut table. So I'm kind of concerned because if the Center for
Human Rights, which has been really high profile and very valuable center is obviously gonna be
sort of diluted. What is the future of other center and how to get that information is a question
mark.
CG: It's said strictly to be a fiscal situation just that it's too expensive to maintain. It's a fiscal cut
that's why they're doing it?
SB: I would reserve that question for her. But definitely I mean finance is obviously most of it, but
whether there's anything else that I don't know.
CG: No you said support and I was assuming you meant financial support.
SB: Correct.
HC: Possibly another approach to consider you know when you get into budget cuts a lot of times
that's something people don't have any control over. We really don't have information that we
know the true predicament. Would it be maybe another approach is that we can send a letter just
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indicating that, expressing how important we feel that is, and just indicating that we understand
that budget cuts are sometimes necessary, and we are hoping that you could share with us what
plans you have to address this particular area.
SG: Stefanie already was told my understanding now by Amy that they will be sort of through the
education department.
SB: No, just the administration of the certificate.
SG: Okay. I don't know if even we should say about budget cuts, I think we leave it open ended.
We're really concerned because of the importance of that center, and we would like to know if
the University has any plans for any , some sort of either via grant. In other words can the
University shoulder a center that has obviously performed exemplary over the years. I mean it's
a priority, but what are the priorities we don't know. Can one set some sort of understanding if
an important center is obviously cannot come up according to expectation of the University
administration. What does that mean? Can the University help in maybe writing grants or
whatever because I've talked to Amy separately, unofficially if you like. There is a concern from
within the center, individuals that have been with it for a long time, that there could be other ways
of dealing with any budgetary concerns. I just feel that we need to maybe step one is to ask Amy
to come and ask her questions. I don't know if that would put her on the spot or not, that's
something we can ask if it would be comfortable for her to come. Secondly is to really write the
letter of concern not even this point, we'll just say we're concerned by cause this is an important
center.
HC: We vote and write the letter of concern and extend an invitation for her to come and share with us
what future plans they have to address this area.
SG: Yes, what do you all think?
CG: Do you know who Amy or this center reports to?
SG: The provost office.
CG: Okay directly to the provost office?
SG: Yes.
DF: I would and I should probably to some degree recuse myself because I work for the provost
office, but in a different area. We have multiple arms. I will say that just for conditions of
transparency. I think the letter that this Commission for me that I would be supportive of is to
really acknowledge the role that center has played in our community as well as on campus, and
regret for this decision. I think it does get tough when you get behind the scenes or ask for
accountability about why the decision got made. That's a fuller conversation and we're
community conditioned, but I think just honoring the center's work and that it's noticed and that
kind of stuff of what I'd be supportive of. How the University deals with its budgetary issues, I
think we can say we notice and we're concerned and how else will this mantle be taken up as a
community Commission is what I would propose.
SG: I look at it as we're partners. Harry used to also sit on the board. So you have a feeling on what is
going on and what they do.
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HO: Well it comes as a surprise to me.
SG: So it's important then to say that we've been partners with the Center for Human Rights and the
University, and we've always appreciated and valued that relationship. So we are really
concerned about where does that gap or void, how can that void be filled in the future.
DF: I think we just put it down in a letter and see what response we get. So it would go to whom the
Provost?
SG: The Office of the Provost and copy to the director. I guess Amy is the next in command, yeah the
person on top yeah.
HO: Do we have a motion for this letter?
Ghoneim moved to send a letter to the University of Iowa Provost Office /Administration, Townsend
seconded. Motion passed. 8 -0.
DF: I will assist in drafting.
SG: I will too.
SB: You can send it to me and I can send it to everyone, and if everybody just replies to me then I can
take all of the information and send it to the two of you. Once it's completed then we can put it
on the letterhead.
HO: Before we move along I was remised in introducing Dan as the new Commissioner. Dan can you
tell us a little bit about yourself?
DT: I am a student here at the University of Iowa. I should have graduated last year, but I took a year
and a half off to go to Afghanistan. I was deployed with the local National Guard unit. I am now
just completing my degree.
c. Iowa Women's Music Festival
SB: That information is in the packet, 4c. Just the information that I highlighted that September Is` is
a Saturday and it's being held from 12 to 6 pm in upper city park. Vendors will provide their
own tables, displays and staff. Looks like the space for non - profit organizations is $15.
HO: Diane and I attended it last year and it was a well- attended event. We were able to give out quite
a bit of literature at the event.
CG: Is the question whether we are going to do it again?
SB: Correct.
CG: And then we need to staff the table?
SB: Correct and provide the table and the chairs it looks like.
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DF: Last year Harry had a lightweight foldout table and chairs. I brought a ten by ten tent awning so
we were out of the sun. People are just walking by and it's mostly women. The strong outreach
to particularly the lesbian community, hundreds would you say.
HO: I'd say at least 250 -300.
DF: Its men and women that attend, kids are running around the park taking part in activities. They
had a blow up house for kids to jump in and have a good time. There were different vendors,
particularly just a good weather day.
HO: Well we're going to need some volunteers to staff it.
CG: I could probably do a couple hours that day, but I'm not sure which so.
SB: That's Labor Day weekend just so you know.
SG: I can try from four to five, but that's about it.
HO: Anybody else want to volunteer that day?
DF: I will probably be there at least for part of it. So I suppose I should say yes I volunteer to be
there. Our first question is to even support it right?
SB: Yes.
CG: Do you guys feel like had, I mean you did have good communication with the crowd or? You
said about 250 people total were there?
HO: Yes during the day, it's an all -day deal.
DF: I mean when I think about how we do outreach on education materials, I think it's a great place.
It's a regional festival so people are coming in from all over. The large showing of Iowa City,
Coralville, North Liberty and the area.
HO: We needed new Commissioners at that time too, and we handed out a lot of little postcards that
gave information on how to become a Commissioner. Do I have a motion for us to support it
with a $15 non- profit booth?
CG: Whether we staff it or not I think we can probably afford $15. Maybe we just staff it for a few
hours too and not for the whole day. This is the only availability and maybe that's it.
SG: I think almost 80% I'll be there from four to five.
CG: I'll move to support the $15 donation and we will try to at least partially staff it.
Goeb moved to participate in the Festival, Ghoneim seconded. Motion passed. 8 -0.
CG: You handed out postcards talking about how to apply for a Commissioner. We need three more
in January again so can we get something like that.
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SB: I'll probably send out an email. That's not a problem just making sure that we're actually going
to do a setup. I'll let them know because space wise it would just be one vendor if you opted not
to, but just to let them know it's still kind of up in the air, but that the donation is coming. I will
firm things up on Monday.
Old Business:
a. Youth Adult Ally Letter
CG: Could I ask what category of people is this going to?
SB: I think initially the Commission wanted it targeted to school counselors, guidance counselors. I
think at the last meeting it was brought in to include those who work with youth in the
community.
CG: So pretty broad.
SB: Pretty broad.
CG: I just had a thought on that in terms of trying to get people to commit to doing something and in
the last paragraph or whatever. It says we simply ask that you assist us in spreading the word
about this award to the youth of the community, and circulate. I was wondering if we wanted to
do, I've tried a few things and haven't been too successful in rewording that, but whether we
wanted to make that stronger.
SB: A better transition that kind of sells it, I agree.
CG: Yes that says you know please actively seek out people that maybe the youth leaders or the
influential youth that you know and spread the word or something like that.
SB: Sure that sounds great.
DF: I think the emphasis is this opportunity for the youth to nominate someone, and you've got the
sentence but that could even start at the next paragraph is this is an opportunity for youth to have
voice, effective adult leadership or something. You know please assist us. I think that's what is
important about this is not who we think is good with youth, it's who the youth think is good.
SB: I can make those revisions to put it back in the...
HO: Do we need a motion for approval?
SB: No, I'll do the corrections and suggestions, and put it in the September packet.
HO: Any other discussion on that?
JH: So this is going to go out in a September packet to us, but then when would it be sent out to this
group of people or are we going to start it early so people get an idea? Are
you thinking by email or by paper mail or by, I don't know which way is the most effective, but
you know maybe two times during the year, maybe early in the fall and then again after the first
of the year. Sometimes email is just deleted. It might be better in paper format and sent out by
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mail and then maybe they can hand it to some leaders within the school or within their
organization and post it somewhere.
SB: I think that's great and September is early enough that it can still get sent out this. I go by
semesters but can still get sent out.
CG: I was wondering if both the written and the email because if we ask them to distribute
information it's always easier to forward an email, and if they get it from somebody they know.
You know like if it's from your guidance counselor or from a teacher or something, maybe a
student would notice it so. I was just wondering if you could send it out both ways or maybe start
with a letter, and then as you said maybe later do a second one by email or something. I know
it's a lot easier to pass it along.
HO: Any other discussion? We'll move along to Human Rights breakfast 5b. We need to talk about a
speaker and tickets.
b. Keynote Speaker Breakfast
SB: I have some additional handouts too because of information. I should say suggestions for
speakers didn't come in until after the packet had been sent.
CG: I'm assuming these first few though are suggestions for speakers?
SB: Those were folks suggested at the June meeting. At the July meeting the Commission had voted
to ask Zach Wahls and he was unavailable. I think he said he books like eight months out or
something. So everyone should have a bio, should be two different handouts.. One should have
the executive director of diversity Chad Simmons, and the other one should be a stapled packet
that begins with caregiver to the community. In addition to the, I'll use the word bios that are
contained in your packet there is also Christine Sheets and that's what this first article is on in the
stapled packet. Then Dr. Burns Weston is in this packet and then unfortunately I couldn't find a
lot of information on Sandy Pickup, but she is the past executive director of the Free Medical
Clinic, and she also won an award I want to say like two or three years ago maybe, recently but
not last year.
SG: It's interesting because Burns Weston is also was sort of Director, the University Iowa Center for
Human Rights.
SB: So the names as I have them would be Christine Sheets, Chad Simmons, Sandy Pickup, Burns
Weston, Douglas Jones, Amy Wiseman, or Pastor Juarez.
DF: When I think about a speaker I think about what work this Commission has been doing and how
can we add that voice to the . These are all amazing human beings. I think my
support would lean towards Father Rudy. immigration issues and being able to
give voice to a lot of that. I can't say amazing people. I don't know Douglas Jones at all.
CG: I was thinking along the same line as Diane in terms of the consistency of our message or what
fits in best with what we're trying to accomplish. So that was, I'd love to hear any of these
people speak.
Page 10 of 21
SG: It's timely too since immigration seems to be front and center anymore in this wonderful election
year as well.
CG: Is it going to be before or after the election, did we pick a date?
SB: Currently it's tentatively scheduled for October 18d, but depending on how this process goes with
the speaker you know and availability.
JH: Should we pick someone as a first choice and second choice?
SG: Even third choice for that matter because you never know people are so busy.
DF: Have we ever had the sitting executive director of Diversity Focus Speak?
SB: When considering a keynote for the breakfast some of the things to think about is whether or not
that person is a good public speaker and they can they engage the audience. Also whether they're
connected to human rights, and their ability to attract members of the public to buy tickets to
attend the breakfast.
DF: I think that last item _ I do think you've just got some frequent flyers though that come to that
breakfast no matter what. I'd be interested in what percentage come for speak. I'm sure there are
some and I'm sure we could make some that would even increase that number, and I think folks
are just like okay it's a breakfast and I'll buy the ticket.
DF: I think Christine Sheets would pick up some ticket sales.
SB: One very important thing I forgot to mention is that they're limited to ten minutes, but that allows
us to keep the breakfast right at an hour because once you go over that hour people start fleeing.
DF: So may I officially propose Father Rudy Juarez as a first choice. We need discussion and vote on
that _ I think it's a really smart move.
Finnerty moved to ask Father Rudy to speak at Breakfast, Goeb seconded. Motion passed. 8 -0.
HO: Okay so Father Rudy is our first choice.
SG: I propose for second choice either Chad Simmons or Burns Weston.
HO: Which one?
SG: It depends on who thinks what because I can have second and third. So I had second choice
Burns and then third is Chad.
CG: What is his niche?
SG: Human Rights.
CG: Well that might be interesting to hear his perspective on the closing down. I'll make a motion
that Dr. Weston be the second on the list.
Page 11 of 21
Goeb moved to ask Burns Weston as speaker should Father Rudy be unavailable, Ghoneim seconded.
Motion passed. 7 -0. (Finnerty abstaining).
SG: How about a third choice?
HO: Do we want to go with a third choice okay?
SG: Chad Simmons.
HO: I have _ with Chad only because that most of the work of seems to be over in Cedar
Rapids and not here in Iowa City. I'm not saying he's not a good speaker but.
DF: If that's the reason to not go for him they're really working on corridor, so remember he came to
our Commission meeting. They are trying to do a connection in corridor work. They're really
making it work and several of the local University of Iowa, ACT, who else, are member of the
University Focus Board.
HC: He's an excellent speaker.
SG: I nominate Chad Simmons to be our third choice, which could very well be first if depending on
the other two.
Ghoneim moved to ask Chad Simmons to be speaker should Burns Weston be unavailable, Goeb
seconded. Motion passed. 8 -0.
SB: I will probably have tickets available at the next meeting for you to sell.
DF: Where is it being held?
SB: At the Sheraton if it's on the 18"'.
HO: And Commissioners will get a ticket?
SB: Correct. The city does give a complimentary ticket.
HC: So the date for the breakfast is?
SB: The 18'h but that's after I've confirmed it works for the speaker.
CG: What day of the week is that?
SB: It's a Thursday. Next year I believe will be the 30°i anniversary of the breakfast so that's just
something to keep in mind.
HO: Okay the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee.
c. Ad Hoc Diversity Committee
SB: That was just the Commission had been interested in this Ad Hoc Committee past handouts had
appeared in other packets. I think your June and July and then I also included a new one dated
August 10'' that names the new counsel appointments, of which Mr. Townsend is one.
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SG: Who else is there?
SB: Looks like It's in the, did it not copy in color.
HO: Orville can you give us any update on what the Ad Hoc Committee is doing?
HC: The first meetings is the 290' of this month.
DF: Is it true that city council members are on it or it's really advisement to the council?
SB: My understanding is its advisory.
DF: And the goals were housing, policing...
SB: I can tell you exactly here. The city's transit system including, but not limited to the downtown
interchange, city law enforcement including, but not limited to the police citizen's review board
as it relates to minority populations with the view toward promoting justice and harmonious
interaction between the city government and minority segments of the community.
SG: Is that included in our packets?
SB: Correct, it's on the memorandum right before the appointments, and then it says that it looks like
shall submit a written report to the city council by March 10, 2013 that responds to each of the
charges listed above, and that contains recommendations if any with respect to each of the
charges.
SG: Also do you have anything specific you're going to take to that first meeting?
OT: Well you know one thing that I, I guess my greatest concern about law enforcement is that its
police . Like that it's a safeguard, like if something happens within the community and
things are just going crazy. If you've got this committee it can step in and kinda buffer and get
some things going. But the way it's set up now that's not a possibility because there is no trust in
the community for the police force or basically for their committee. So I think we really need to
revisit that and you know revamp it in a way that we're gonna regain community trust.
CG: When you say committee you mean the police citizen review board?
HC: Yes.
d. Immigration Subcommittee
HO: Kim is not here tonight and I haven't heard if they have met or not.
SB: I can follow up with her when she's available. Something I'm hearing I had discussed before
since there are nine Commissioners, whether it would be possible to have an alternate to help
Kim out so that Kim is not the only that is kind of charged with the responsibility of being a part
of the Immigration Subcommittee. Even if you alternate like you know she went to the
September meeting and somebody else went to the October. Just kind of shared responsibilities
so that all of that is not falling on one person because she is new to the Commission, she's
definitely been very helpful and just really jumped into it with little to no guidance really. So she
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may feel overwhelmed, my thoughts, not anything that's been communicated to me, but it may be
nice to have somebody that can call her or send her an email and say I can attend the meetings or
I can do this.
SG: How often and who does she usually met with?
SB: That's not information, it used to be the Sanctuary City Committee, but I don't think they call
themselves that anymore.
HO: ?
SG: I think it's the committee under the CRC.
DF: No it's separate.
SG: But it started with the CRC and then it's kind of grown is that right Diane?
DF: It was what came so when we made our immigration recommendations to the city council back in
I don't remember anymore. We have nine points and there were certain ones that they supported
and other ones they did not, and the subcommittee _ . One of the points was the
recommendation to start this immigration advisory committee, and so it was started up and there
is some crossover so there are some people who are on both Sanctuary City and this, but there is
some city opposed structure on this right, in terms of representation, length of service. It was co-
chaired I believe by Gloria V_, who is and she involved with past Sanctuary City
SG: So Gloria is the chair is that it?
DF: I think it's a co- chair. Doesn't Kim and she co- chair?
SB: I'll need to follow -up on.
SG: Please let us know.
DF: If you talk to Kim, but I think part of our support was that it would be immigrant lead at least in
members of the majority of the committee and things like that.
SB: It's at least one Commissioner , but I don't think it's limited
DF: I think what's been challenging about it and why I'm not as eager to be a part of it is there is
multiple projects that have sprung up in town that are kind of similar. Like the Immigrant Voices
Project I think has done some very exciting things that is more outside the system, and I have a
lot of support for, a lot of hope that's important for the work that they're doing. Those contacts
differently than kind of like another committee.
SG: Maybe it would be helpful if we're gonna, to us, Kim to sort of give us a little bit of information
about who does she meet with, how often do they meet and where and when to make sure that
whoever of the Commissioners that are able to help, especially the lovely idea of alternating. We
know how we can work throughout schedule because I'm sure everybody has some little holes in
their schedules and others do not. So just to make sure that we definitely can help.
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SB: I can get that information and when she sends it to me as far as when the next meeting is I'll just
send it out to the whole Commission group and those of you can attend.
HO: Any other discussion?
e. World Human Rights Day Proclamation
HO: This is December the 10th.
CG: Can somebody tell me what the source of each one of these? Like this first one just says
proclamation, where did that come from.
SB: The first one was sent out via email also. The first one is not the original one. The first one is the
one with Shams edits. There is one before that one in the packet.
SG: So this is my edit?
SB: Correct. So the first one, well because they're all the same topic so that's why the
SG: This is then the original right, and this is the edited one that I worked on.
CG: So the first one is the original and the second one with the edits in the right hand corner.
SG: No the first one is the edited one, that's what I worked on. I tried to make it one page, but it kind
of got.
CG: And the second one is from where?
SB: It's close to the original. It has had some edits from Commission meetings, but it would be close
to the original that Harry submitted.
SG: So I just shortened it because there is some redundancy of information so I don't know, but I
hope I kept the spirit of it.
DF: I would say for me and I think I've shared in the past is I'm fully supportive of a kind of
statement being by the City Council that Human Rights are important in town. I saw the United
Nations Association has done that in the past, but they're not planning to this year, so that was
good information to know. Also I think part of the hope was that this could serve for that
immigration report where we really wanted them to do something that says we are not going to
undo the _ documentation and the _ out of our municipal business and we don't need to. So
kind of a statement for we are going to support _ _ of the immigration custom enforcement,
and I still wish they could do that. I know Sanctuary City has brought a proclamation. As it kind
of currently reads I am leary of kind of proclamations that say something, but don't really compel
us to do anything. I'm a little concerned about some of the things that are in here, that the city
council is just going to say no way.
SG: Like what Diane? It's written like in number two for example and even one, all people are equal.
No one shall be subjected to
DF: So like number one and I've just kind of, the number one I would say what we should have in
there is the Iowa City Human Rights policy itself, which is different than these categories. You
Page 15 of 21
know so things like that that we're supplanting the policy that we already have on the books with
different categories. If I was on the city council I'd probably say are you asking us to go further
or restrictive or.
SG: So what is the Human Rights policy on the books?
SB: To the protected characteristics they would be listed in the annual report. Some of them like
political opinion is not protected, race, color, sex, language, religion. I can just go through here,
but political or other opinion wouldn't be covered.
DF: Then I think under number seven the kind of concept of an alien and then not having due process
of law, but undocumented immigrants do have different access to due process than... I think that
there are some things in here that for me are pretty challenging to get behind.
SB: I think the last sentence. I wasn't sure if that was trying to dispel stereotypes or create them. It
says recognition of diversity of the community is of fair amount of importance in preventing the
isolation and alienations of persons......
SG: Okay so we can stop there. We can cut down that _. So would you like to work with it and cut
it more or what would you like to do?
DF: In the past our _ one that we put before that's what I like.
HO: Well we know that's not going to happen so.
SG: Isn't that the one that we were just working on?
DF: No.
SG: Where is that one?
SB: It would be in the past minutes.
SG: How about if we just everybody put their two cents worth in it and send it to Stefanie again for
another try do you think? Do we have time before December?
SB: Yes we have time.
HO: Why don't we just read it over and any suggestions just pass on to Stefanie and we'll bring it
back next month.
CG: I'm still confused as to where this is coming from and what we're trying to do here? It is a
proclamation that is because the United Nations isn't doing one we're doing one?
SB: Well the United Nations, weren't planning on doing one, but once I asked they seemed interested
in even doing one together. I don't think they did one last year.
CG: So you're not talking about the New York United Nations.
Everyone talking...
Page 16 of 21
SB: But this proclamation did not come from the United Nations.
HO: It originally came out of Birmingham, Alabama.
SG: I think it's important for us as a Human Rights Commission to forward whatever you think is
missing in the old one.
CG: So we're talking about the old one being this one from 1948 or?
SB: No the one, I'll label these in the packet for next month.
JH: So the mayor reads this?
SB: It's discretionary, you could submit it and it may not.
JH: Did we have something submitted last year?
SB: Not for Human Rights Day, that I recall.
DG: And Human Rights Day is December 1`9
SB: Correct.
SG: I think it's time don't you think so?
SB: Excuse me its December 10th. December 1" is World's Aid Day.
DF: So I have no problem putting a proclamation out and framing it. I would want to it tagged to the
issues here locally that have to do with the abridgement of human rights, as well as the
historically work done to make. I mean there's an excellent Human Rights Policy in this
community that this office is charged to enforce. I'd want to make sure they feel like us instead
of something from outside.
SG: I agree and it sounds good to me. So that Human Rights Policy that we have currently, could we
please have a copy of it?
SB: I don't think you want the whole ordinance, but the protected characteristics are in the annual
report. If somebody wants me to cut and paste I can certainly send it out via email if that makes it
easier if you would like me to do that.
SG: That would be nice for me, I'm sorry.
SB: Okay sure. Just one other thing that I noticed, some of the words that they use and I think you
might have gotten most of them, but I know they use words like foreigner and alien. I would be, I
guess I wouldn't recommend sending a proclamation that uses terms like that. If you look at the
proclamation afterwards with the comments in the red with the SB1 and SB2. I tried to go
through in that one and get out some of those words that I thought were extremely offensive.
Then the access to the municipal court of the City of Iowa City, I mean that's we'd kind of be
misplaced here because it would be through the county. I mean Iowa City doesn't have their own
court so to speak so, just little things like that that I tried to mark out.
Page 17 of 21
E Police Citizen's Review Board
SB: Diane I think I had placed that on there because at the June meeting I think you had indicated that
you maybe you had comments, and then we missed the July and so I put it back on this month for
that.
DF: What I remember that night I don't have issues to bring, like proposals to bring forth. I think
what had happened at that meeting is we started veering too far into a conversation right and it
wasn't for public, like the laws are.
SB: Right.
DF: And so because we were in a pretty rich discussion at that point I asked to put it on the agenda.
The question I think is so some of the things that have come up for new members about the Police
Citizen Review Board is there had been some concerns several months ago about its kind of
fairness and accessibility. The design of it if a citizen brings a complaint, it's about an individual
officer's behavior, and then is achieve and investigate some complaints. There had been
press at that point that said that really the review board's role is to support kind of the chief's
finding versus being kind of an independent kind of an investigatory thing. There had been some
concerns and one of the members of the board who had had some concerns with law enforcement
I _ inappropriate media comments about that fact, so there were a variety of things. Is
the structure the right structure for the city, I mean several concerns. The Commission sent a
memo to the city council urging that they have, and I can't remember. Orville you might
remember what the wording is, but looking at kinda the strengths and the challenges of the
current design of the Police Citizen Review Board, and asking them to really relook at it and
move forward. So it must have been in June we started kinda talking about, but it wasn't an
agenda item. So the only thing I would bring here I guess is, but I think it's a little moot point
right now. I would bring just an inquiry about what is the council's action on that, but I believe
what the answer will be is they delegated to this new advisory committee.
OT: I think basically the way it was presented to them with the concerns, and what they put down here
they are responding to it because you know we requested that they at least express our concerns,
and requested that they you know read this and take a look at it. So in a way this is what they are
doing.
DF: I think we're in a waiting pattern from my perspective. We put our voice out as the Commission,
made out recommendations and then . So that is I guess my point on the agenda.
OT: One of the things over the years that has really concerned me is I've been on a lot of committees
and I'm aware of committees that are doing fantastic things, but we've got individuals in the
community that are kind of carrying the torch. My concern is that we don't have a lot of input
from the communities that are being impacted by the concerns that we have. I think we need to
do a better job of getting individuals in the community that are being impacted and involved in
terms of giving up this information. I got a call to be in a conference call coming up, and you
know when I got through the conversation it's sort of like it was because I was black, but they
didn't take time to see whether or not I had any expertise or knowledge or whether or not I was
person to do it. I think we really need to put the focus on the people, the right people, the
people that are involved and that are being impacted and their information is what needs to go in
these reports that we're putting together.
Page 18 of 21
SB: I was just gonna note some of you may not know, but Kingsley Botchway who was appointed to
Ad Hoc Committee along with Mr. Townsend. He is also on the PCRB so I know at least two of
the people who were appointed are on city boards or commissions.
DF: Kingsley is the chair of this Ad Hoc Committee?
SB: Correct yes, but he's on the PCRB.
DF: Oh he's the new addition to it?
SB: Correct. There was a vacancy and he filled that vacancy in May or June, not real sure, but hasn't
been on long.
SG: Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?
SB: That's how the council wrote the resolution to allow for membership of people who are currently
serving.
CG: How did you guys determine who the chairperson was or whatever?
SB: The council decided that.
OT: I would say that that's not starting off on the right foot because I think objectivity is what we
really need. So how could someone who is on the board that there is some concern about
chairing this process. I won't be judgmental you know, but I'll just say that I would be concerned
about that.
SG: Actually it's not even a matter of judgment. It's a matter that an individual who is serving on a
board that's being reviewed okay, may not feel comfortable enough to actually be candid.
CG: Maybe he's on the board because he wants to have an investigation too.
SG: Yes but maybe he or she is unable to share really objective criticism if they have any. I don't
know it just seems a bit funny.
OT: I think it's important that we be fair and that we approach it with attitude and open mind,
and if somewhere along the way is felt that maybe the individual is not the right person for it the
committee can always ask him to resign. I wouldn't see a move like that as being a _. I would
see it as basically you know do we as a committee really want to get positive untainted results.
At any point that we feel that that's not the case we should speak up because if we don't we'll go
to all this trouble and do it and then the community will step in and question it. I think we need
to be open and honest about what's going on.
DF: It sounds like one of the things that you will bring to the committee, which will be wonderful, is
getting the committee out into the community to hear the community voices. We talked about all
those voices right and all that is how to really get the community's voice into the concerns
will be a great strength you'll be able to bring to that committee.
SG: Who knows maybe it will be a good idea to have somebody from the current board, whether new
or not to hear what they have to say.
Page 19 of 21
SB: Just to add Cindy Roberts was selected as the vice chair.
SG: Who is Cindy Roberts?
SB: It's just in the memorandum, it just gives the chair and the vice chair in addition to
SG: It doesn't say anything about who they are or?
SB: No the applications would be available, but I didn't put them in this packet.
6. Updates/Reports:
a. Reports of Commissioners
SG: I just have something, which you may or not be interested in. The issue of immigration is really
important for a variety of reasons, not just for our own community. This last week I was asked
the state department every so often sponsors international visitors through the international visitor
program at the university. I was asked to be part of, actually there were just the two of us, to
meet with foreign visitors and there were like eight or nine members of actually mostly of the
media, but others are actually work in issues addressing immigration and refugees from Sri
Lanka. It was very interesting because the topic was how do new immigrants and refugees adapt
to a small town in Iowa or in the US because they all come either, some of them came from
Canada, but they are all you know transplanted if you like. There was one from Canada and the
rest came from Sri Lanka. So it was a very interesting information actually. We had the director
of Habitat for Humanity was the other speaker and they had many questions about what is the
challenges that immigrants face, whether documented or undocumented refugees. Then they also
had invited Immigrant Voices to come and so I thought that was something maybe you'd like to
know. the issue of immigration is not just local, it's also brings others from other parts to the
world to see how new people or existing new or middle immigrants so to speak coming from
other _ whether there, I hate the terminology but it is people of color. They wanted to know
how we are perceived
DF: I want to remind people that we're posting a webinar on Thursday and I think it's noon to 1:30
on how to conduct racial equity impact assessments. I think I've shared the poster with a group
in the past, but it's coming up this Thursday at the public library in meeting room A on the 23rd.
We will have slides afterwards and there might even be a video capture I don't know, but it's just
an ongoing the applied research center has these webinars that you can download and so we're
using that to do a community education.
HO: The ADA Celebration was well attended. I have to tell you I had nothing to do with the picture
going in the paper, nor that I was chairman of the Human Rights Commission.
Tallon:
No report
Townsend:
No report
Olmstead:
No report
Cowen:
No report
Harper:
No report
Goeb:
No report
b. Report of Staff
Page 20 of 21
SB: I have the status of complaints as of last week. There are 16 complaints and they are at the very
last page of the packet. Just to go back to an agenda item Diane, I know you had worked with the
consultation of religious communities when it comes to diversity and race. I know there was
some programming held in June that you facilitated or were heavily involved in. I didn't know
the exact title of that to add it to the annual report, and I meant to say something when we were
discussing it. If you want that included, just let me know.
DF: Oh that community forum?
SB: Correct. I mean as long as I have it by next Wednesday that's fine. If I don't hear from you it's
not a big deal.
HO: The next regular meeting is September 18`h at 6:00.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn at 19:27.
Page 21 of 21
Human Rights Commission
ATTENDANCE RECORD
2012
(Meeting Date)
KEY:
X = Present O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = No meeting /No Quorum
R = Resigned - = Not a Member
TERM
10/1
11/2
12/1
NAME
EXP.
1/17
2/21
3/20
4117
5/15
6/19
7/17
8/21
9/18
6
0
8
Dr. Howard
1/1/13
X
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
O/E
X
Cowen
Constance
1/1/13
X
O/E
X
X
O/E
O/E
X
X
Goeb
Harry
1/1/13
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Olmstead
(8 -1 -2010)
David B.
1/1/14
X
O/E
O/E
O/E
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
Brown
Diane
1/1/14
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
Finnerty
Orville
1/1/14
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Townsend,
Sr.
Henri Harper
1/1/15
O/E
X
O/E
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
R
Kim
1/1/15
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
Hanrahan
Shams
1/1/15
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Ghoneim
Jessie
1/1/15
-
-
-
-
-
O/E
X
X
Harper
(Appointed
6-5-12)
Dan Tallon
1/1/14
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
X
(Appointed
7- 31 -12)
KEY:
X = Present O = Absent
O/E = Absent/Excused
NM = No meeting /No Quorum
R = Resigned - = Not a Member