Loading...
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 r 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 ^r ' III lh t CITY OF IOWA CITY September 2012 LEGEND Iowa City Projects University of Iowa Projects Coralville Projects ► r t w ®92 ot cc 111YI ® ®r01• rt.Y� 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. I r gym; �� 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 Aubt 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$ M �-' All 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 � r � ul It Is% 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 z O rn O� VO ZV Ow Q W � IX<N w° N Z w W cz W a� va O N 2 z _O c� G O U z O LLJ Q U) � �o N a. I- o OD !) =QCL M r r 0\0 r r r r O r M r co w 0 X 0 x x x w. x x X X N x x W x X x W O x W O W O x r. O x x x x x x x I x co 0 0 X X x 0 x x 0 I X N x x o x x o x x x x x co X X X X X X X x N x O O x X 0 X 0 X X x N T x x x i x x x x x x r a x M IV N M M v eF N N tt M N W T !- r r r r T r r r r r \ N \ \ Qi N \ \ as N \ \ Qi N \ \ as N \ \ Qi N \ \ Qi N \ \ Qi N \ \ Qi N \ \ Qi N \ \ as N \ \ as N \ W M M M M M M M M CO) CO) M M H a z z Y W Y N = O m H Y z 3 z Z = z � p a 2F O ° p x O 2 u a a V W Z O a a z p z 0 a n W Y w zU' 7 O 7 O z C m d E O z a z V d H x w zz d a W_ O c m H imp U C d d a` II x w MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION AUGUST 29, 2012 EMMA HARVAT HALL -M� 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. z O Fn U) 2 2m OM VO Z V Ow Q W � > L) %- W Q N W o Nz W W w �- IL �a O H U) C O N E E O U c _o N N r N co d N O U.. 00 Mh =cu =aa o �•�XO m N c c a�v�im x n O j- W Z Y p n Z r r r r 0 r M r O� x x x x x x o X X D 1 x o x 0 x x x 0 x x x I x N ti x x W O X X X W O X W O W O X x X X X x �o X X o X 0 o x X X D D x X 0 X N X x X I X X x X x X M X x x 0 X X X x 0 x 0 N X O O x X 0 X 0 x x X N r 0 X x X i X X x x ui X x a X M N M M v le N N v M N W � W r \ C! N M r \ O� N M r \ 01 N M r \ C7 N M r \ C1 N M r \ C1 N M r \ C1 N M r \ Q1 N M r \ 01 N M r \ C! N M r \ Q� N M r \ C7 N M W z Z Y Z W N H p m N W Y J Z Z Z = N Q C7 p Z Z o p 2 Q a G D = W Z m Q Z p Z Q Q Q J m Y Li W Z o �•�XO m N c c a�v�im x n O j- W Z Y p n Z 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. z O U) U O U H z W 2 CL O J W W z O U Q N U CD ro 0 Z : ,p U N W rn OQ¢. Z 0 U) N 0 F- 2 W 0 a0 00 J V W W W W N r Q N 2Z � Z �H OQ U zz Q 0 z N M .a N N rn W 'C C: (D N� a¢z° UJ Y X O Z X X X X X X 0 X X X X X X X X X X X X X O O O MX X - X X X X X X co X X - X x X X X X x x X X X X X X X - X X X X X e IL N IT M M N M d N w o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 N CQ w rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn rn H J ui J = U J w U W J w 2 J Z F � � w � O � � Z ' U) J Z U Vi a Q J Z Q U y L j Z O (=j = w 0 a 0 g : p w U Z m 2 � U V a a 0 � N .a N N rn W 'C C: (D N� a¢z° UJ Y X O Z Page 1 of 21 Minutes Human Rights Commission August 21, 2012 — 6 P.M. Helling Conference Room PRELIMINARY 09-113-1 Id iiLIP17 mj 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. Page 2 of 21 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. Page 3 of 21 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. Page 4 of 21 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 Page 5 of 21 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. Page 6 of 21 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. Page 7of21 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. Page 8of21 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 Page 9 of 21 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. Page 12 of 21 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 Page 13 of 21 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. Page 14 of 21 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