Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-09-04 TranscriptionSeptember 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1 Council Present: Champion, Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton Staff Present: Markus, Dilkes, Laverman, Karr, Fruin, Davidson, Fosse, Moran, Bentley, Hargadine, O'Brien, Dulek, Sandberg Others Present: Uttermark, UISG Planning and Zoning Items: Hayek/ Go ahead and get started with the work session. Welcome, everyone, uh, to the September 4 work session. First item is questions from Council regarding Planning and Zoning items. Does anybody have any questions (noises on mic) or anything other than it looks like 4c or 4e. Throgmorton/ Don't know. Hayek/ Okay. Throgmorton/ Which one — 4c and what? Hayek/ Well, um ... 4c is the ... the two acre rezoning on, uh, Highway 1 and Shirken Drive. Throgmorton/ Uh -huh. Hayek/ If there are any questions about that, that's gotta wait until the formal. Likewise the, um, rezoning of the land on Benton, between George and Streb, that's the... Throgmorton/ (mic feedback) Okay. (noises on mic) Hayek/ But anything else is fair game for questions at this time. I ... I've been asked specifically by staff if I could inquire if there are specific questions on the ... on the, uh, small wind energy conversion item. Champion/ I don't have any. Hayek/ Depending on your questions, if any, there may be things they want to look into before the formal. Mims/ My question was only where the ... all the information came from and that was answered in the memo so ... (laughing) Champion/ Does anybody have a (mumbled) bring a pen. Hayek/ Okay! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 2 Throgmorton/ Well, so, uh, with regard to the wind turbine thing. Hayek/ Sure. Throgmorton/ I just overheard Jeff saying one of the reasons he wanted to do that was because he's conscious that there are other people who are more expert in wind turbine technology, etc., than ... than he is, uh ... and so that just makes me want to know who ...who our staff has been connecting with and, um, you know, what kind of advice were you getting from people who are expert in that kind of thing. Davidson/ Yeah, the main ... the main source of information we used was the Des Moines area metro ordinance, um, it...it includes several municipalities in the Des Moines metro area. That was our main source, uh, of information and a lot of the information we used was from that model. Throgmorton/ Okay! Hayek/ Any other questions for Jeff on that item? Any other P &Z questions? Okay. Uh, the balance of the agenda, any questions regarding those items? Agenda Items• Champion/ Well I just have a question about the Historic Preservation designation of 518 Bowery. I couldn't find it! Karr/ We're just setting a public hearing. Or you couldn't find 518? Champion/ No! Dickens / Where is it? Champion/ That's my question! Davidson/ Yeah, we're just setting the hearing, Connie, so there's no information. Dickens/ (several talking) ...where's the house? Karr/ The property. Davidson/ Oh, where's the property? It's the ... it's the original, um, New Pioneer Co -Op. Champion/ Oh, that's what I thought! Okay. All right. Davidson/ (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 3 Champion/ I got it! Dickens/ (mumbled) Davidson/ Uh, is it between Dodge and... Champion/ Gilbert! Davidson/ Dodge and Gilbert. (several talking) Dickens/ ...between Johnson and... Champion/ Right, right, but I mean it's closer to ... closer to Gilbert than it is to ... okay. That answers my question. Thank you. Hayek/ Okay, balance of the agenda. ITEM 8. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 8, ENTITLED "POLICE REGULATIONS," CHAPTER 5, ENTITLED "MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES," TO PROVIDE THAT "KEEPING A DISORDERLY HOUSE" IS A MUNICIPAL INFRACTION AND TITLE 17, ENTITLED "BUILDING AND HOUSING," CHAPTER 5, ENTITLED "HOUSING CODE," TO ADD ANOTHER BASIS FOR A RENTAL PERMIT SANCTION. (FIRST CONSIDERATION Throgmorton/ Yeah, I think I've a question about the disorderly house stuff. Hayek/ It's Item 8. Throgmorton/ Yeah, excuse me I ... get to my notes so I can see (mumbled) questions were. Uh, let's see ... yeah, I ... I guess I want to, uh, admit that I, uh, have difficulty really tracking the ... the core, uh, the essence of this particular ordinance. And it's because I don't know the police terminology, and I ... I don't know the Housing Inspection terminology well enough. So when I read, uh, the proposed sections 8(5) (person coughing) 8(5)c having to do with simple misdemeanor, uh, and a municipal infraction punishable by a civil penalty, I don't understand the difference. So I ... I need help there, and ... and a second thing really isn't about me needing help. It's that I'm wondering if staff has considered, um, initiating some kind of, um, public information effort. Maybe it's already happened and I don't know about it. So that, uh ... this, uh, the process can be explained clearly and in ordinary language, not legalese, so that, uh, renters understand what will happen if... if they have a disorderly house and a police officer knocks on the door. You know, I ... I, maybe that's already happened, but I think it's really important to be able to do that, rather than rely on the news media or rely on people watching this show. So... Hargadine/ On the first question, on simple, uh, misdemeanor, and Eleanor, jump in here if I'm need correcting, but... the... that's the criminal citation and I think we left off with both This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 4 the fines are about the same, you know, and we've checked into that and that's not correct. It is the same if the maximum fine is asked for on the criminal side. Then they're about the same. But, um, if you were to get the minimum fine from a judge, I believe that's $50. Dilkes/ 65. Hargadine/ 65. Um, on the criminal side. The ... on the ... on the civil infraction side, it...it jumps to $750. Throgmorton/ So let's say that I happen to, uh, be a renter in a house along with several other people and I'm having a party... somebody knocks at the door ... and we don't want to let `em in. So ... I think we ... I need to be clear about what will happen then and also what happens if in fact they open the door and find... see a police officer, and the police officer ...thinks, you know, believes that it ... there's this disorderly house, and maybe something criminal is taking place inside it. Am I ... am I being dense? I ... I'm just trying to understand how this works. Dilkes/ Before... before you get to (several talking) I just want to do one more clarification on the fine. Um, the criminal charge, um, is what we call an unscheduled charge and so it's up to the discretion of the judge as to what they impose, and that can be between, uh, $65 and $625, okay? And that's a charge against an individual. The civil fine, the first time, would be $750, but as the memo from Doug and Sue explains, at least as a matter of course, the initial civil charge is going to be against all the tenants, not one against each tenant. So the $750 would ... be against the wh ... the group. Hargadine/ I believe you back to wh ... what if they knock on the door and don't want to answer it. You know, in a best ... in a perfect world they'd say, `Who is it?' `It's the police, please open the door.' And if they did ... if that were the case, you could, you know, be uh ... uh, you could be issued a warning at that point. Uh, that happens all the time. The factors that go into whether or not you get a warning or whether an arrest is going to be made or the time of day. Did we find the noise or was there a complaint called in? If there is a complaint, somethin's already been kept up, someone's already angry. That typically is going to result in a citation. If we're driving down the middle of the street and we hear it, and it's ... on a Friday or Saturday and it's still well before midnight, odds ...we could issue a ... a warning. There is ... it's totally within the discretion of the officer and there are a lot of factors that go into is there a citation. It's not unlike being pulled over for speed. There's discretion there as well. You can get a warning or you can get a ticket. If they don't, um, open the door, if we knock — police — and they decide ... we're not gonna open it, and we can hear giggling going on inside and `Be quiet, the police are here!' Uh, at that point ... our intention is to leave a notice on the door that, um, we were here; we had a complaint; urn ... the ... we would encourage the occupants to contact the police, uh, hopefully that night. If we can't, if we don't get that call and, urn ... we don't ...we don't resolve the issue with a criminal citation, at that point we're going to turn it over to Stan's office, uh, and Stan's office will be the one that issues the civil citation, not ... not us, not the officer there that night. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 5 Dilkes/ I'd really urge you to look at the memo August 29, 2012, that's in your packet and the bullet points ... the bullet points there. Chief has shortened the one about the HIS, turning it over to HIS but it's more laid out in the memo. Throgmorton/ Well of course I did read the memo, uh, I ... I just find it difficult to understand exactly what happens, uh, that a ... when a police officer knocks on the door and when ...when the, uh, activities within the building constitute a criminal ... um, offense versus something that would be a municipal infraction. Cause the consequences seem to be quite different, as best I can tell. Dilkes/ Right, and ... and there's really a very simple question... answer to that, and that is that you cannot charge a group of people with a criminal offense. You have to identify an individual, and so if the police cannot identify an individual, they cannot make a criminal charge. The problem has been that that identification of an individual has been a pre- requisite to getting the nuisance process started. And we don't want that to be a ... to be an impediment any longer. And so we've got these two other mechanisms, by which we can get the process started. Throgmorton/ Okay. All right, so I ... I still think it'd be really good to have ... very clear, ordinary language, uh ... um, messages sent out to inform, uh, the affected, likely affected public how this will work. Mims/ (several talking) Hayek/ Go ahead! Mims/ I was going to say I think the best way to do that is trying to coordinate with the University through their, I mean, they can do mass emails to their students and stuff, and through the Daily Iowan. A lot of the students read that. Those are... Markus/ We'll take it up among staff (several talking) Champion/ ...Daily Iowan ... was pretty incorrect in their editorial about the policy so it might be good to write a letter from the City... Hayek/ ...and I, I mean, I think that upfront education does occur. It comes from the City. It comes from the University. Champion/ Right. Hayek/ And it's sent not only to incoming students through the University channels, but also to the Neighborhood Associations and, um ... I mean, so that educational component is there now and to the extent we adopt these changes, obviously that would have to be modified to be consistent with that. You're right. I just think that there is ... it's my understanding that there is a fair amount of...frontend education on these issues, um... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 6 Hargadine/ I think the most key part is it occurs between the landlords and the ... and the tenants. That if you're going to rent from me and this ... and my apartment, these are the rules. If the police show up and you get one of these, then... you... you're violating part of our lease. So there is that education on the front end when they sign that lease. Mims/ I have a couple other questions on that one, as well. One of `em I think is a typo in the ordinance. It's on page 1...66. It would be, it said Section 1 Amendments and then #1, goes down through it says, the section says, `Is amended by adding by deleting Section 5 in its entirety.' Dilkes/ That's a typo. Mims/ Okay. Dilkes/ Yes. Mims/ Then, down on #2, second, well I guess the first full paragraph, after #2, just for clarification, it says on two or more separate occasions within a 12 -month period of time there is a founded complaint against a tenant. That is supposed to be the same tenant, right? I mean... Dilkes/ No. No. Mims/ Okay. So ... so you're telling me that if a group of students are in a house and they get a disorderly charge in May and they move out, and another whole group moves in August 1St, and sometime in October they get a charge, then the charge back in May against a totally different group is held against them. Laverman/ No, but if one tenant out of the first group was cited the first time, and in May, and in July ... at the end of July the second tenant in that first group was cited, that would count as two offenses. At the ... at the time of a new lease with new tenants, it starts all over. Mims/ Is that in the ordinance? Laverman/ That's our policy. I don't know if that is in the ordinance. Mims/ I guess I would think if we're going to say twice within 12 months that it should be clear it starts over with a new lease with a new group of people. Dilkes/ That... Mims/ I mean... Dilkes/ ...yeah and we ... we can look back at the ordinance and make sure that's clear, but this is ... this is the same ... this language is used in multiple places in the ordinance. So it's This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 7 just... Sue's noddin' at me back there. It's ... It's really just a ... we took the existing language in the ordinance and we mirrored it for this new violation, um, and because... because the whole purpose of the nuisance regulation is it's about that relationship between the tenants and the landlords, and ... and the ... and their ability to remedy the conditions of that property. So I ... I don't think there's been much confusion about that issue, but we can certainly take a look at the ordinance and make sure. Mims/ Thank you. Markus/ Stan, while you're still up there, explain your meeting with landlords and how you (both talking) Laverman/ Yeah, right the ... Apartment Owners Association meets on a monthly basis, except for December, July and August, and I attend those meetings regularly and share information. Uh, and will be happy to talk about this. They're... they'll be welcomed to hear that. Uh, I did meet, or attempt to meet, with University students last year in Schamba Auditorium. Uh, one student showed up, um, so ... uh, it was maybe raining that night but it was not a... a good turnout at all. Uh, when we go out to targeted neighborhoods, we do leave flyers about are you ready to party, which covers, uh, disorderly house, disorderly conduct, um, the information disclosure form, uh, that all tenants are supposed to be signing at each lease, uh, covers that also, so ... we do get information out there. Mims/ Is there a good turnout of...of landlords and their management people at those monthly meetings? Laverman/ Uh, it's a select group, um... some of the bigger players are not there, um... some of the bigger players are pretty good about getting this information out and knowing what the information is, so, uh, Southgate's there, Keystone, um ... yeah, the mid -range and then some of the smaller mom - and -pops show up. Mims/ Thank you! Dilkes/ Wasn't there also a more recent meeting requested by the Student Government? Laverman/ Yeah, um ... I think that took place Thursday. Fruin/ Yeah, we had, um, representatives from the Manager's office, Police, Legal, and HIS there to meet with the Student Government Association, just to make sure they understood what was going on here. They had a couple of questions after the first reading so ... uh, I didn't personally attend that, but I ... I think it was a productive meeting. Champion/ So we've done an excellent job of getting information out! That's great! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 8 Throgmorton/ (mumbled) landlord meetings typically involve owners of what are colloq... colloquially known as party houses? Laverman/ Yes. Yes, there's... there's landlords that, um, have houses that, you know, have disorderly houses, uh, that have had ... come in for the second, uh, citation in the year so they're familiar with the process, and yes! Throgmorton/ Excellent! Hayek/ We have ... let me ... in connection with the rental permit information is provided to the landlord about the nuisance process, etc. So that information does get to every landlord who's got a permit. Laverman/ Yes. Hayek/ I believe... yeah, so ... okay, any other questions on that item? Thanks, Stan. Any other questions on other agenda items? ITEM 7. PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NORMANDY DRIVE RESTORATION PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING THE CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS. Dobyns/ A request on Item 8, that's um ... sorry, Item 7, this is regarding extension of Normandy Drive to Lower City Park. Um, at the point that that comes forth with discussion, um, I'm just curious. I suppose there'll be some discussion, Geoff, about our... our... you know, how the roads going to be, you know, what trees will be, um, at risk as the road goes through. I don't need that (mumbled) Moran/ Well we'll do an update for you before that, when Matt opens up the public hearing I'll do an update. Dobyns/ Okay. Moran/ And then you can hear from the public and we can go through questions and answers. Dobyns/ Great! Thank you. Throgmorton/ Uh, with regard to the outdoor cafe, uh, ordinance and resolution. Champion/ That's on our... agenda. Hayek/ Well that's, uh ... that's the next bullet point. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 9 Throgmorton/ Oh, I'm sorry. Hayek/ Yeah, let's just see if there's anything else on any other agenda items. It's always confusing cause we pull one or two off (several talking and laughing) Going once... going twice, okay. Sidewalk cafes. Um, do we want to get an update before ... or do we need... Sidewalk Cafes: ITEM 10. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 10, ENTITLED USE OF PUBLIC WAYS AND PROPERTY," CHAPTER 3, ENTITLED, "COMMERCIAL USE OF SIDEWALKS," SECTION 3, ENTITLED "USE FOR SIDEWALK CAFES," TO REGULATE SIDEWALK CAFES PRIMARILY BY POLICY AND ADMINISTRATIVE RULES. (PASS AND ADOPT) ITEM 11. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ADOPTING A POLICY FOR USE OF PUBLIC RIGHT -OF -WAY FOR SIDEWALK CAFES AND RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO. 07-227. Fosse/ Yes! Hayek/ Are you here to give us an update? Fosse/ Yes, yes I am. We're going to do three things tonight. Uh, first thing we're going to give you an update on the refinements to the resolution that you have in front of you tonight, uh, then we'll brief you on the public outreach and feedback that we've got since our last meeting, and then we'll answer any questions that you have to prepare you for your vote tonight. So, to lead off, the ... the refinements, uh, are only on the resolution. The ordinance is exactly the same as the first two readings. Uh, the two changes on the resolution both relate to the planters, and one has to do with the proximity of the planter to the property line extended. We've changed them from 8 -feet to 10 -feet, and then also, uh, has to do with the consent requirement for adjoining property owners, if your use of the planter extends in front of an adjoining property owner, consent is required. So that's a ... that's a change that we put in there. Any questions on those two changes? Okay. Uh, Geoff will give us an update on the outreach and the feedback we've received on that. Fruin/ Yes, so what we did, uh, after the last meeting is we put together, uh, a one or two -page summary of the changes and sent that to the Downtown District, along with the full, uh, policy that's before you for people to review. The District took that information and sent out, uh, an email to their membership, which I understand is roughly 250 people. Uh, they received very few responses to that request for information, so what they did is they took that, they sent it out, and they had a list of five or six questions and ... and uh, representatives of the District are here if you want to, uh, hear it straight from them, but generally speaking the feedback that they received was I think 3 to 4...3 to 4 to 1 in favor This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 10 of the, uh, changes. Uh, however, they only received roughly 5% response rate, so it wasn't a great response rate. Um, in addition to that, you have a couple of items of correspondence in your packet, um, from businesses and I think a mobile vending advocate that, uh ... um, have commented on either changes or ... or recommendations to the policy as it's currently drafted. So, again, the members of the District are here. They can come up and speak to it, but um, the ... the feedback they got was positive, which led them in their full board meeting to vote in favor, uh, of... of this policy before you tonight. Fosse/ With that we'll open it up to any questions you have. I think, Jim, you have one? Throgmorton/ If I could just see what's on my computer it'd be good! I have to keep changing glasses — sorry! (laughter) Uh, well, I'm really thrilled to hear about the outreach. Uh, as you know from prior meetings, for me that's very important, and uh, counts a lot. Uh, I ... I'm wondering whether, uh, staff had a chance to read Anthony Browne and Rodney Anderson and others' submittals, and think about `em, and consider whether they could be in some fashion incorporated into the resolution that we'll be considering tonight. In other words ... well, I'll just leave it at that. So, have they been read and considered? Markus/ I would say yes they have. Uh, the one issue is whether consent, uh, or even moving beyond the property, um, the property that the restaurant is ... is housed in, moving beyond the property lines. Um,. consent is built in. The community I came from had more severe restrictions than that, but ... I think that's a policy decision ultimately as to what this Council feels is appropriate. I think you started off with the very early versions of the, uh, outdoor dining on the mall with properties that moved beyond their property lines, and I think that there seems to be some historic connection to that now to change that. Um ... personally I would say ... I believe that it should be confined within those property lines, typically that's ... I think that there's a ... a strong connection for doing that, uh, with the property, unless there's some unusual extenuating circumstances, and off the bat I can't think of those right now but ... urn ... so I...that was the issue I contemplated quite a bit and I think consent is probably, um, we got into that whole consent discussion and not... and obviously we've extended it into the, uh, planter situation as well so I think that those are appropriate considerations, um, for the planters, just like they are for the street cafes. But ... other than that... Dickens/ Has there been consideration to split the parking, putting it in the parking and the planters? As a separate... separate issue? Fosse/ Address one tonight and not the other? Dickens/ Yes. Fosse/ That's certainly your discretion this evening. Champion/ I'm not willing to split them, but I'm willing to vote on them, if we can vote on them in two stages. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 11 Payne/ I like that idea too, Terry. I ... I ... the ... the cafes and the planters, I have no qualms about how that's written. I do have some qualms about how the ones in the street is written. I just have this idea that we should have more equal opportunity. I do like the property line extended, and I would like ... I guess personally I would like that to be in there, and I think that that would provide more equal opportunity to others. Hayek/ How do you, uh ... I understand the building line extended approach. I think that's the vernacular for the street cafes. How do you do that with a planter? (several talking) planters... Payne/ ...why I wanted to take it apart, so that ... because I don't ... with the planters I don't know that you could, but with the street — yes. Hayek/ Yeah. Cause I guess circling back to Tom's, uh, position on it, um ... the ... what's your feeling on the planters, because those show up in random... Markus/ You know, I have no prior experience with that planter situation, and ... and so I ... I just have trouble, you know, having these things too far away, and I think the distance is an accommodation to the ... the circumstance, again. You know, initially it was 8 -feet because the initial measurement we took was 8 -feet. We went out and ... and clarified, and it was 10 -feet, so we changed the number to accommodate it. Um... so it ... there was nothing scientific about selecting that number, uh, to begin with. It was ... that was the physical determination of that particular site, and so that's how that number was derived. And usually I don't ... I wouldn't go about drafting ordinances, uh, to fit circumstances. I think that there ... there should be some logic as to what those distances are. 10 -feet, 8- feet, that doesn't make a whole lot of difference. I think there's, no know, when you get into that street argument, it makes a lot of sense to keep it with the boundaries. Now that's gonna ... that's going to peeve certain individuals that, you know, want to go beyond that, but I think it does end up allowing more, um ... opportunities for fellow business persons to, uh, take advantage of that situation, especially when we're limiting the amount of those dining opportunities to 30% of the parking, uh, on a particular street. So... Hayek/ And I ... I get the logic of that and ... and I agree that there is some appeal to that with respect to the street cafes. How do you do that though and be consistent with ... with planters? I mean, it's... there's... it's an apples and oranges set of scenarios. Markus/ I'm not necessarily recommending that it should be consistent. Hayek/ Yeah. Markus/ I think the planters is ... is a very different circumstance. Payne/ I mean, alls it would take is removing a few words out of the ... out of it. You just leave `in a planter' there. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 12 Champion/ I'm not willing to ... I'm willing to have permission of any adjacent properties. I think that seems logical. I'm not willing to go beyond that. Um ... I just think getting people to agree to something, like I said before, it's almost impossible. So I'd like to be able to try both of these things and the only way to try it is to make it possible for it to happen. And if you're going to limit the cafe to the area of the building, it's not going to be big enough to be profitable. I mean, these things are not cheap — anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000. 1 mean, that's a lot of money. Well, it's a lot of money to me! It might not be to you, but I... it is to me, and I think to make this possible, and to make it fun and to try something new, you're not going to get everybody to agree. So I just say let's try it! You can always change it! I mean, these things aren't written in stone. Payne/ No, but if somebody does spend $30,000 to build something that's big and then we said no, we're going to narrow it down (both talking) Champion/ ...they're going to have their three years. Then if we see it's a problem, you can change the ordinance. But ... I've heard a lot of enthuse... isn't that true? Markus/ The initial... Dilkes/ The three years is ... with respect to others who want to use the space. The City can, after one year, decide we're not going to do this. Champion/ Oh! Right, we can always say we're not going to do it. Right. Right. Fosse/ One point I want to throw in on the consent is we've spent a lot of time on the planters, talking about consent of neighbors. It also requires the consent of the City, and there may be planters downtown where we don't want to give the consent for a sidewalk cafe cause we view the value of the planter functioning as a planter, an asset for our downtown. And since it's an administrative approval, you may hear about those decisions that are made in the future and I want you to understand that, at this point in the process. Champion/ So every planter will not become a cafe. Fosse/ Not necessarily. Champion/ Right, right! I mean, some of `em... a cafe is going to be a great improvement. Other ones are actually very nice. Fosse/ That's... that's accurate! Throgmorton/ I ... I guess I'd like to say, uh, I'm uncertain about what the consequences of, uh, adoption of the new policy will be, but I'm comfortable with the uncertainty and I think it'd be better to, uh, act now, especially since we've reached out, tried to get advice from, uh, from affected business owners and so on downtown, uh, so I ... I'm not going to sweat This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 13 the details. Uh, I ... I think it could well be; we'll have to revisit this in another year or two and modify it because certain things aren't workin'. If that's the case, let's do it. Champion/ (mumbled) Mims/ I have a question, and again, there was ... there was a lot in here and some of it repeated and I just want to make sure I'm not missing something, but if we approve this, how are the first ones going to be issued? Not by lottery, just on a first -come, first -serve basis? Fosse/ That's the ... that's our plan now, yep. Well, let me take that back! If we get, uh, more requests than there are for space in a given block, and we're talking about parking spaces now, we'll probably bring the ... the applicants in and talk it through to see if there are opportunities for them to work together, uh, for a common solution that's good for them. That'd be the first thing we'd do. Mims / And what kind of a timeframe are you thinking that you'd be giving them to get an application in? Fosse/ Probably, uh, a week or so after the adoption. You know, we've got some that are ready to go right now. Mims / Right. Fosse/ Others that ... that are talking about it but have not gone very far yet. Dobyns/ And if they're later than a week, they lose out on the ability to collaborate. Champion/ No, you can always collaborate! That would be between those two people. Dobyns/ Well, I'm just ... if they are ... if they get word of it, more than a week after adoption (both talking) and there's already... there's already more than, you know, like a streetscape, there's more than 30% that is already taken up by people who have already jumped in the first week. Then those people are just out of luck. For up to three years, definitely one year. Fosse/ Well the words out to everybody now, as... as Geoff pointed out that (both talking) Dobyns/ ...meeting wasn't many. But... Hayek/ Hm? Dobyns/ Uh, what 5 %, Geoff, attended the meeting? Markus/ No (several talking) Fruin/ Responded to an email survey. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 14 Payne / So...so, I mean, is it possible to split them apart so that we vote on the ... ones in the planters separately from the ones in the street? That was your question, right, Terry? Dilkes/ (several responding) Yes! You can just, I mean, when the item comes up, you can, um, put the whole thing on the table, somebody can offer an amendment if they want to remove the planters and they want to remove the streets and we see how that amendment goes and ... take it from there. Hayek/ Well, I think ... I mean, we should ... we should probably get it ... take the temperature of folks right now. Champion/ Well I'm going to support both of `em. Throgmorton/ Me too. Hayek/ And let me ... let me go, harken back to Susan's question about, uh, process here. If... if we adopt this, um, does that mean that everybody gets an opportunity for let's just say seven days to use your figure. Fosse/ Well, let's agree on that tonight. Let's ... let's decide what we want to give them, because we have some sets of plans that are already on our desk, waiting for approval, and others where people have said they're kind of interested in it, but ... but we don't know, so let's ...let's decide that. Hayek/ And if, to use your scenario, if we give this let's say seven days and multiple parties come in on a given street, with applications, and you've got more than 30 %, um, you would then ... bring people together to see if you can work something out, and if we can't work something out, what next. (noises on mic) (several talking) Do we ... do we draw straws, you know... Dickens/ That's your lottery. Dilkes/ I think at that point we'd have to ... we'd have to go to the lottery, I mean... Fruin/ Yeah, we certainly could do that. I think, um, although there are some people talking about it, we certainly haven't had the inquiries like Bo James and Micky's right now. Those are ... those are two developed plans, at a near- ready -to -go stage, assuming things ...things progress here. There may be some others thinking about it and there's some others that certainly haven't expressed an interest, but nobody that's come forward with really design questions or renderings or anything like that, and given the short period left in this, um, season, I ... I personally I'd be surprised if we got other applications, but if after the seven days we ... we had reason to, we could do a lottery. Markus/ Which argues against extending the time much further because they're all trying to get in and take advantage (mumbled) good weather and football season we have left, so ... if This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 15 you're contemplating extending that period, I wouldn't recommend that. We ought to give them the seven days (mumbled) Hayek/ Yeah, and I mean, I know that ... that the Downtown District is ... is, has its sea legs, it's operational, and it...it gets the information out to its member, uh, membership, um, so I'm not worried about people, uh, downtown knowing about this opportunity. Champion/ They know about it! (laughing) Hayek/ Um ... but I think the one question we need to resolve separate and apart from the ext ... you know, can you go beyond your property line, is this front -end equity, the ... the, a lottery from the get -go, if... if that's required. Fosse/ Uh -huh. Hayek/ Because of the volume of... of applications. Dilkes/ Another option would be, and I'm just putting this on the table, would be to say we're not going to do this this fall. And ... and that we're going ... we're going to start that application process in the spring. (several responding) I know that ... that would be upsetting to some people, but I ... that would be another way to do it, if...if your primary concern is the equity issue. (several talking) Hayek/ Well, mine isn't if we have that kind of approach that we just discussed. Mims/ Yeah, my only concern with that is seven days, I mean, people have been hearing about it, but a lot of people aren't necessarily in a position to put all the time and money investing in, even in the plans, until they're sure this is there and then seven days sure isn't much to get something in a format that they might feel comfortable going to the City, so ... I mean. Dilkes/ I mean, frankly staff has not spent a lot of time talking about this equity issue at the beginning of the process. We have had two proposals — one for a planter, one for the street. We assumed those were going to go forward, if you allowed them to, and then ... and we drafted it thinking of what happens next year. Mims / Right. Okay, and I think that would be fine, except for the issue that you've got people that are, in doing this, are going to be investing a lot of money, so they're doing it with the anticipation that if they don't make some huge mistakes, they're going to have that for three years. I mean, to get their investment back, which means then people who are ...weren't in on the front -end of this idea and already have their kind of plans put together, in a way have a ... the potential to be locked out for three years, and I'm not comfortable with that. Champion/ It doesn't bother me because these ideas came from these particular people, who had the idea, and I also think it takes longer than, I don't know how long it takes to get an This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 16 architect and drawings and get things approved but it's probably quite a while. You can't just say this is what I'm going to do. I don't know. Hayek/ Perhaps, but we're not talking about plans for, you know, an Apollo mission here. Champion/ Well, I don't know! We might be! Hayek/ Uh... some outdoor seating, you know. Champion/ Well, I'm going to support the ordinance as it's written, then I think we (both talking) Throgmorton/ ...grander horizons! (laughter) Dickens/ Well, and then there's the case of there's a loading zones on the other side, and those ...and any place on that side is blocked out because of the loading zone. I ... thought we had talked about possibly the loading zones having some options but that never came to fruition so ... and why is the loading zone on that side? Why isn't it on the other side? And ... it becomes a matter of fairness there too. Fosse/ We ... we ... (both talking) Champion/ Well life is not fair! Dickens/ Oh I know that! Champion/I mean there are (several talking) that have great outdoor seating behind their building. We don't say you can't have it because nobody else has it! You know, or people have built in sidewalk cafes in their building. We don't say you can't do that (both talking) Dickens/ ...discussion about ... it seems like the whole block of Washington, Dubuque, Iowa — that whole block is almost 80% loading zone. Fosse/ Yeah. Dickens / And it sits empty after the morning. I don't know if there's... some way to get parking back in there. Fosse/ Well, the first part of the question is why do we allow the cafes in regular parking and not loading zones, and the answer to that is that there's an alternative to parking — you can go into the ramp and park there, where as the loading zone, you really don't have any other alternatives. Uh, as ... as far as how the loading zones evolved to where they're at, Chris is here tonight to talk about that. I know it's been a ... a long process to get there, and if you'd like those details, he's ready! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 17 Dickens/ Well, I just want to know, is ... since the road has changed, the directional change, has that affected how the ... the loading zones are used? O'Brien/ With reference to the changing Washington Street, we, you know, that hasn't exactly been ... it hasn't been a long enough term for us to decide what ... what's changed there. What we did do is displace even more, uh, commercial loading areas than we had prior, without adding any zones, which was the primary reason why, I believe it was a little over two years ago, we ... we changed Dubuque Street. One to remove all of the vehicles from the center lane. That was, I know, a big sticking point with a lot of people. The second was to, if you're going to remove them from certain areas, you have to have a place for the commercial vehicles to go, and ... and the determination was to, uh, place them there. Now there have been discussions of different alternatives to possibly, uh, open up those spaces into something else, and that's something we're still in ... that are still potentially in the works, but right now due to the scarcity of the ... the amount of loading zones we have in downtown, and especially commercial, as we try to balance the 15- minute loading zone for the person coming downtown to do, you know, really short- term business that ... that do not want to park at a meter, or for those doing commercial business, uh, deliveries of food, beverage, other goods, um ... they're scarce as far as the number of...of spaces that we have. Dickens/ Cause I hear from a lot of the, you know, FedEx, UPS, those guys that are always trying to find a commercial and they're always filled with cars, 15- minute (both talking) Champion/ ...they're not just for commercial. Dickens/ (both talking) ...some that are just (both talking) O'Brien/ Yeah, we have some that are designated specifically and ... and some that are open to either, um, and maintaining that mix we felt is, uh, essential..to having that balance of different opportunities for people downtown. Champion/ Chris, the 15- minute ones, there's one over by ... MidWest One Bank. That's a, is that ... that's a 15- minute free, kind of (both talking) O'Brien/ So is the one across the street. Champion/ That one across the street, and then the one on Dubuque Street. O'Brien/ Correct. Champion/ And is there one also on... O'Brien/ Clinton Street. Champion/ ... Clinton Street? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 18 O'Brien/ That's correct. Champion/ Those are all kind of 15- minute, anybody can park, and the turnover is really rapid. O'Brien/ Correct. Those are chalked, just like alleys is, as far as how often we chalk those and... Dickens/ One other question that's... O'Brien/ Yep! Dickens/ ...kind of related to it. We've lost four other spaces because of the Zipcars. Now is there a reason they're on the street, taking metered parking out, that they couldn't be put in the ramps, right in the front there, or was there... O'Brien/ I think initially what we wanted to do was make sure they were in high profile spaces so they're highly visible to get the program going. Think that will be reevaluated as we get further into the program. Dickens/ Okay. That's ... I've had people ask me. Payne/ Like in a week! (laughter) Markus/ But remember, those Zipcars take a lot of pressure off parking. O'Brien/ Yeah, the... ultimately if it's successful what you hope is that those will replace the need for ... for vehicles on the street and for, urn ... for those needing parking places and, like I said, Zipcar's done a study of one of...one Zipcar for 15 cars on the street and hopefully we get to that point. Payne/ But the Zipcar isn't taking the parking pressure away from where they're parked. They're taking it away from probably the neighborhood, because somebody isn't bringing their car to town cause they can use a Zipcar. I mean, I wouldn't... somebody isn't going to use a Zipcar to drive downtown! O'Brien/ No, but somebody might take transit, who prior to took a ... brought their car downtown. Dickens/ I've just heard people, you know, you hear complaints (both talking) O'Brien/ It's a change. We knew ... we knew that there would be ... that those would come up and we felt for the short -term while we try to launch this program that making sure they're highly visible and out where everyone could see them was, uh, a critical part of us launching that program. Dickens/ Okay. Thanks! O'Brien/ Uh -huh. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 19 Dobyns/ Susan, I had a clarification question with what you said, is ... what you said, would that recommend any change in language in the proposed resolution? Mims / Am I recommending any (both talking) Dobyns/ No, no, I mean in terms of what, uh, what you were saying, in terms of, A ... being concerned about, making sure everybody was on board with it, I mean ... were you recommending any language changes to the ordinance as far as separating the, uh, planters from the on- street cafe? Mims/ Well I think ... I'm in favor of going with building (several talking) lines. Dobyns/ Right. Okay. Mims/ Um ... which obviously is for the parking, and I'm ... I'm concerned with the short timeframe other businesses have to ... to put plans out there for approval, if we start this this fall. Dobyns/ Cause I'm concerned too because there's a difference between talking about it, but when it really becomes law ... then all of a sudden people start to pay attention, um... and you know as soon as we adopt it, that's when the clock starts, and I'm just concerned that people will lose out on the ability, because that 30 %, uh, I mean once you ... let's say everybody jumps in and you're a week late, I mean, you could be out for three years and there are other people who, I mean, just because of where they're establishment is, they didn't really have a ... their property line doesn't give them an opportunity, um, like if they're on a corner. But there's an opportunity to collaborate with somebody else down the street, possibly. Um, you know, with that $20,000 to $30,000, and I'm just, you know, it is kind of complicated. Mims/ Uh -huh. Dobyns/ Um ... and, but I don't want to, you know, just because it's ... you know, I don't want to make it the Apollo mission, but I'd like to adopt it, but I'm a little bit concerned about the time. When I was listening to you I didn't hear any specific recommendations about... other than staff, I mean, you just threw out a week. Fosse/ Eleanor's very accurate when she said that we've not spent a lot of time contemplating this, because we have ... we have two firm proposals on the table. We ... we don't have a sense from anybody else that they want to move yet this fall. So that's really how we've been proceeding. So whatever direction you give us tonight we'll go with ... there. Mims/ I'll tell you what my inclination is. Connie's not going to like me! Champion/ I won't! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 20 Mims/ My inclination (both talking and laughing) like my idea. My inclination is to ... defer this to give us a little more time to work on it, with the idea that we would get it done in the next month or two with the implementation for the spring. Dobyns/ Not the planters, but just the on- street. Mims/ Right! The on- street. I'm fine with the planters, but I ... I do think there's enough issues with the on- street that I am not comfortable jumping into it so that people can have six weeks or eight weeks this fall, and possibly to the long -term detriment of other businesses. Dobyns/ And that's where I am too. Mims/ And ... and where I differ a little bit with Connie on part of this is I agree that certain people came up with the idea, and if you're just talking head -to -head business competition, I would agree with you, but we're talking about giving them access to public right -of -way. And I think that takes it to a different level in terms of fairness, uh, that we have to look at between the businesses. Dobyns/ Yeah. Thank you, that's what I was kind of... Hayek/ So let's... let's... and as an aside, it might strike some as funny that we're spending so much time on an issue like this, but as is always the case, there's a hot - button issue that seems minor and causes a big blow up and that's ... local politics (laughter) so ... here we are talking about cafes ad nauseam, but uh, nevertheless, we have a decision to make and uh, I mean, it strikes me that people are ... seem to be on board with the planters issue, um, and so we ... we, let's take our temperature, uh, as to the other issue, and I'm sensing one, two, three, maybe four people against ... who are not comfortable with proceeding at least with how the on- street is phrased, and potentially at all at this time. Champion/ Who is that? Hayek/ One, two, three, four. Champion/ Oh! Mims/ I mean, I want to do it, it's not that I (both talking) Dobyns/ I'm comfortable with the language. I'm just comfortable with the... Payne/ Yep, I'm totally with you. Dobyns/ The speed of it! Hayek/ Okay. So that's four people inter ... who are interested in deferral of... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 21 Dobyns/ Just deferral, yeah. Hayek/ ...okay, which ... which means we're not doing this til next spring, if at all. Throgmorton/ The parking part. Dobyns/ The parking part. Hayek/ Right. Fosse/ If...I'm sorry ... if we proceed with the planters only tonight, do you want that one week window before we issue our first permit? Or ... go sooner than that if they're ready? Dickens/ I think you (both talking) Hayek/ I think you have ... I think the lottery's important, if it's ... if it's triggered! Fosse/ Uh -huh. Hayek/ Um, otherwise you start off on this, you know ... you haven't given everyone a fair shake. I understand that some people may be sitting back and then when this hits the paper, think, ah -ha, I could do the same thing, and have to scramble to get in within a week but the fact is if you're downtown you've known about this since mid - summer and ... you know. Fosse / Okay. Hayek/ I don't know, do I speak for others? Payne/ Yeah, I think it gives people at least some equal opportunity. Mims/ They're going to have to scramble but... Dobyns/ One week for the planters. Throgmorton/ Sounds like the votes are there for ... pulling the parking. Payne/ So one of us just will need to make a ... a motion to amend to remove the street cafes from the planters (several talking) Karr/ Simply delete the ... the parking space cafes because you want to proceed with the sidewalk cafes and the planters. Payne/ So can we make, just make a motion — one motion then or would it have to be two? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 22 Dilkes/ You can make one motion by saying you move the resolution with the removal of the street cafes and ... a lottery system for the planters if necessary. Throgmorton/ Where does the deferral part get in? Mims/ (several talking) ...put it back on our agenda. Hayek/ Just wouldn't take action on it and put it back on our work session agenda for a future date. Champion/ I don't like this. Mims/ I knew you wouldn't. Champion/ It's okay. It won't keep me awake. (laughter) Dobyns/ It'll happen. Mims/ I agree. I think it'll happen too, Rick, I mean, I want it to happen. I just am not quite comfortable with where we're at with it, the details. Hayek/ Okay. Fosse/ Got what you need? Hayek/ You clear, Rick? Fosse/ Yes, thank you! And by the way, that's IP3 from, yeah, from the 23`d. City Funded Event — Funding Application Process (03 of 8/23/12): Fruin/ I jump right in; give you a quick overview. Uh, we're getting' ready to, uh, initiate the budget process again and um, as we do with this every year, we'll look at the process a little bit and this is an item that we had flagged from ... from last year's process. As you'll recall, you sit through multiple budget work sessions to ... to go through different aspects of the budget. One of those work sessions was dedicated solely to City- sponsored events and board and commission reports. So you'd spend a couple hours on that and ... and when we look at that kind of in a big picture view, we see the Council dedicating a lot of time to a very, very small percentage of the budget and we think that, uh, we can do some retooling here to take some of this to the administrative side, which will allow you more time and energy to focus on the bigger picture items in the budget and some of the bigger dollar, um, items in the budget. So uh, we certainly don't want to cut off any of the public input opportunities. What we're suggesting is that the board and commission reports would then be combined with the staff, uh, budget reports. So if a board and commission wants to approach the Council with their thoughts on a budget, they would so at the same time their counterpart, uh, department. So I think the example I gave was This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 23 Historic Preservation could come and talk during the planning budget, or the parks commission could come talk during the parks budget, which is already a separately scheduled work session. For the City- sponsored events, again, last year this was, uh, roughly $106,000 worth of funding allocation. Uh, we have requests of $168,000. The vast majority of that goes to two places — Summer of the Arts and the fireworks. So what we're suggesting is that staff 11, um, work with Summer of the Arts, um, and kind of vet their proposal and ... and propose to you a specific amount, um, along with all the other budget recommendations that you can review. We'll do the same with fireworks. That accoiunts for, again, the most significant percent of these. For the other events that are seeking funding, we would do one of two things. If it's a larger, uh, I would say cultural type of event, a music festival, um, something along those lines, we would uh, have them fill out an application, as they currently do. Staff would vet those through an internal committee, and we would provide some funding recommend... recommendations, uh, to you. So the ... this would come to you at two times. First the budget proposal would have a bottom line amount, say $15420,000 allocated to these cultural problems, or cultural um ... uh, festivals and events. Uh ... we would then come back at a separate meeting with our recommendations on how to divvy up that ... that line, so it'd be a resolution on how to, uh, divvy up those funds. Same process that they go through now, except the sales pitch would be to staff and not to Council. At that meeting though, those ... those organizations certainly could come before you and ... and uh, you know, argue for or against the funding recommendations. And then there's the ... the third category would be very small sponsorships. We have a number of folks that are just seeking a couple hundred dollars. The bike to week work, the ADA celebration, those types of events that just want a couple hundred dollars and we think ... we wouldn't even have them fill out an application. We would take, uh, requests in our office. You would approve a ... a funding amount for the ... for the year, and we would use dis ... our own discretion on ... on whether to sponsor those types of events and ... that's kind of a three- tiered process to, uh, um... streamlining I supposed the ... the City- sponsored events and again, the ... the big picture though here is to get your time more focused on ... on other parts of the budget. How do you folks feel about that? Dobyns/ I'm very supportive of it. I remember the conversation, I thought it was more tactical, less strategic level that was unusual, um, for us, plus it keeps us from defending things randomly, I mean, I recall one of us actually wanted to defend the fireworks, I mean, my goodness (laughter) We've gotta keep (several talking) I have no idea, Mr. Throgmorton (laughter) we have to keep those sorts of things from happening (laughing) Hayek/ No idea but he's wearing a green tie! (laughter) Mims/ Well I think it makes sense and... and does give us the time to focus on the bigger picture, but as addressed in the memo, and I agree entirely that it's important that we're not cutting off the opportunity for these organizations to, you know, come before Council. Dickens/ Lobby! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 24 Mims/ Yeah, and lobby if they feel that staff hasn't, you know, heard them the way they would like to be heard, so we're not ... certainly not, uh, removing that opportunity. Champion/ I ... I'm also in favor ... I might not be in favor of it if we had a little more money, but the problem is we're not going to have a whole lot more money, and we already have major things that we know we have to fund, or we're willing to fund or we want to fund, however you want to say it. But if it comes a time where there's a lottery, we (mumbled) a lottery ticket (laughing) this money, then I think when we add new things that need more money, then I would probably like to have a say in it. I mean, I think there are some things we've funded that we've ... have really turned out to be great! And they started out small. Um, but so yeah, I'm in favor of it. I'm willing to concede a little bit of my power! (laughter) Hayek/ Well I think this (both talking) I think this addresses a, uh, what I would call a historic flaw in our budget process, which is we go through this, you know, this ... this massive set of numbers, big dollar amounts, important projects, and then the process grinds to a halt over ... over a tiny bucket of...of dollars, that matter greatly to a number of people and ins ...organizations around town, but in the ... but relative to the significance of the budget we pass, and the priorities we establish, uh, are... are insignificant and so I think this helps with that and ... and allows us to focus on the bigger issues. Payne/ Totally agree! Hayek/ So thanks for ... for bringing that forward, staff. Okay! Uh ... info packet, discussion, we have two. First is August 23`d. Throgmorton/ When ... when's the information software being discussed? Isn't that on the work session? Agenda Item (cont.): Hayek/ Well that's ... no, it's an agenda item, so if you want to circle back to that and you have a question, we can certainly answer that. Throgmorton/ Sorry! Markus/ We can address it now. If you'd like. Hayek/ Sure. Kevin's here. Throgmorton/ I don't have any big questions to ask. I just ... made an error in entering information here. Dickens / Is there safeguards with this one? (laughter) Compared to the other? That would be the big question. Is that ... we seem to be hearing about that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 25 ITEM 12. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE AWARD OF A CONTRACT TO TYLER TECHNOLOGIES, INC., FOR FINANCIAL, HUMAN RESOURCES, PAYROLL AND UTILITY CUSTOMER INFORMATION SOFTWARE. O'Malley/ Good evening! If there are (laughter) there are never any safeguards, but we do have in this a, uh, performance bond we're purchasing. So the, it's going to cost us $18,000 but it's so essentially we're paying for that in the price and so that'll guarantee the performance either at the software company ... by the way, this is a publicly traded software company so it's on the, I believe it's on the New York Stock Exchange. So it's got many customers, not just municipal customers, but uh, not just municipal software. They also do police, fire, counties, and state software. Markus / And the vetting was different this time as well. O'Malley/ Yes, the vetting ... well, the whole process started out different. Last time we had a... an RFP that was, uh, created by a consultant, by a former City Manager, from the City Manager, and we had to, uh, pretty much participate with that, and that left a lot of holes in our requirements and it got down to after that City Manager left, that got down to, uh, just a low bid and the low bid was about $450,000 less than the next one so we went through the process... pretty much the same process of demos, uh, requirement showing, and uh, unfortunately shortly after we sign a contract, uh, the company ran out of money so... Dobyns/ Thank you. O'Malley / Any other questions? Hayek/ Um... Markus/ I don't have any friendships with this (mumbled) (laughter) Hayek/ I... go ahead, Eleanor. Dilkes/ I think one significant thing here is that during the negotiations, there was a, um, significant attempt to avoid paying as much money up front as we could. So the money for services are always going to be paid in arrears, we get the services, and that's about 60% of the... O'Malley/ That's correct! Dilkes/ ...of the contract, and um ... the, uh, remaining, the actual software, um, they started out by wanting 75% up front and I think we got that down to about 25% so ... um... O'Malley/ It was a very difficult negotiation because they didn't want to move on that because this becomes public knowledge, and there're other potential customers hear about it but This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 26 we explained the problems we had with the previous installation so they took that into consideration and decided to amend their, uh, payout, or ... or their, uh, their request to our ... to our needs. Hayek/ I've got a couple questions on that. And the first just regards some of the rec ... some of the correspondence we got in. O'Malley/ Sure! Hayek/ ...lately on, you know, isn't there an on- the -shelf option, etc., uh... O'Malley/ Uh, did you receive my response to that? (laughter) Hayek/ I may not have seen that yet so... Dilkes/ It's in front of you. Hayek/ Okay, well... O'Malley/ Essentially there ... there is no off - the... some of this is off - the - shelf, uh, software. We only have about $65,000 of modifications to this software, um ... the basic amount of...the issue that is problematic is that cities are not as homogenous as individuals. Uh, obviously we're political subdivisions of the State. Not all states are the same. Um, some states require cities to ... allow cities to collect their own taxes versus the state requires a county to collect taxes. Uh, some states allow cities to collect their own sales tax; this state does not allow cities to collect. So we're not a homogenous group of people so essentially we have certain off -the -shelf items that we all report debits and credits the same (laughing) and we all report utility... we all do utility billings pretty much the same. We do have different state, uh, utility commissions, but so there are some parts to this, the payroll process is pretty similar, except state income tax schedules are different than some states that have no income tax schedules. So there is no true off- the-shop ... off-the-shelf, but Mu ... or Tyler's product, does come with a base package and we added to that package, and then we have certain constraints or flexibilities that we built into our current package that we added ... that we asked for and that amounts to about $64,000. Payne / So...we're doing $64,000 worth of customization, or is it configuration? O'Malley/ Customization. We have ... and one of `em is a bargaining unit issue which is ... which is more than the HR software that ... the HR software's only $20,000, but this bargaining unit issue is $24,000 modification. You know, those are the kind of things that, you know, you scratch your head and say we're the only one that has that. There's two other, three other cities in the state that use Tyler. Markus/ Can you explain the modification, Kevin? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 27 O'Malley/ Well, it's been around for maybe 15 years, and it's a sick leave modification, and if you, uh, build up enough sick leave, I think it's the AFSCME bargaining unit. You build up enough sick leave, and you don't use it for two or three years, you can convert it into vacation, and you do it over any 12 -month period. Now our current Legacy software can calculate that. That's completely foreign to, uh, this company. They kind of scratched their head and said, well, we can do it, and later on they gave us a price. Payne/ So then when they do upgrades to the system, they go from version 1 to version 2 to version 3, do we have to pay extra every time to go to a new version because of all these customizations (both talking) O'Malley/ They won't spell it out that way, but there will be a charge — included in our maintenance. Our maint ... our maintenance fee is based upon our software costs, and so you'll have a software cost of about $300,000 and then whatever our modifications are, and that'll become, uh, an ongoing item. Hayek/ Um, what was my other question? Oh, my other question was the ... the funding for this, you identified interest income from the FY07 budget. O'Malley/ Yes! Now that's got a history of its own! (laughing) Uh, as you know we issue bonds every year and back in FY07 we issued bonds for half of this project; the other half is going to come out of our user fees from our utilities. Well, because of the flood coming, and other CIP projects being pushed around, we ... and ... different management changes within that time, uh, this ... those, all those funds of $8 or $9 million that I issued that year and I issued at a time when they actually paid interest rates, that ... over that time I've earned about $300 ... or $400,000 and it was an ... interest income is always unallocated. I can use it for any cost overruns on a project, or if a sudden project comes up, uh, and it's an essential corporate purpose project, I can use those funds for that. Otherwise I can use it for debt service reduction, and knowing that this pro ... this project had a problem in the first go -round in 09, I've been banking that interest to the day when we do go back out, such as today, and uh, finance the project. Is that ... clear? Hayek/ Yeah, it's a good source, it's available, you've been intending to do this all along. Champion/ You don't have to bond for it. O'Malley/ Correct! Markus/ Kevin, uh, the writer indicated, of the letter, that we were into the previous contract to the tune of $200,000 but my recollection was somewhat less than that after the payments. O'Malley/ Well, there's all kinds of ways of looking at that. Um, but uh ... from an actual cost dollar, we were ... with our cost and their cost, was about $256,000. Some of those costs that we learned about the system, we learned that the previous RFP written by the consultant was shoddy, if I can say that off - camera (laughter) was not as ... was not up to our, uh, expectation. We gave him all of our requirements and he ended up using a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 28 prepackaged product that he spit out, and then, we had to give it shot -gun approach to 300, um, different, uh, software houses, some even in Europe, and this was just his style and we couldn't change it because it was the City Manager's pick and so uh, that ended up, uh, costing us in ... in the evaluation process. So in the interim time, we had a project manager on board and we told him to go through our utility package because we were losing programmers all this time, and so I get nervous when I don't have support for our $25 million, uh, software ... or needs software revenue. So I asked him to go through and diagram... diagrammatically flow chart the software process. So we built our own requirements, very tough. I think there's about 340 different requirements, more than we had the last time. So we ... we're well defined in our concept of buying this software. Where the first time we had to rely on the RFP that was written by the consultant. Markus/ But the outlay to the, um ... the vendor that was previously selected, minus the payments we received, do you have a net number on that? O'Malley/ I believe it's still around $200,000 net. Yeah, we had 200 ... we actually paid them $256,000 and when we went through the process, he had ... they substantiated that they had some of their services, uh, up to about $50,000 so we settled on $196,000 payback. They made one payment of $10,000. That... after that they were bought by Harris Computer, uh, Software Company in ... in, uh, Canada. We, uh, negotiated... they also hired the owner of that company, and subsequently fired him when once they found out the issues that, uh, that he did not disclose, and uh, Harris, uh, in order to get away from our litigation, paid us $30,000. So we're down to about $166,000 or something like that. Markus/ That's the number I was trying to get at. O'Malley/ That's... that's, yeah, so, um... Dilkes/ But the $196,000 was a settlement, down from the $250,000. O'Malley/ Right. Dilkes/ Originally. Markus/ And then we ... and then we (several talking) O'Malley/ ...we got $40,000. Markus/ And we aren't done pursuing this issue. O'Malley/ No, we still have active, uh ... (both talking) yeah, we still have an active lawsuit, or not a lawsuit, but a ... the beginnings of a lawsuit —judgment, confession and judgment type thing — against this individual, uh, in Colorado. Oh, and by the way, he asked, he had the gall to ask us if he could work it off! And (laughing) I said no! (laughter) It's a ... any other questions? I do have a ... our, just to give you a warning or a prelude, I do This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 29 have our project manager has a PowerPoint presentation to go through, uh, the Tyler, uh, process tonight. Champion/ Great! Hayek/ Great. Thanks, Kevin. O'Malley/ (mumbled) Thank you. Throgmorton/ Thanks again. ITEM 203) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE PROCUREMENT OF A 2013 PIERCE IMPEL PUC FIRE ENGINE Hayek/ Just as Jim forgot an agenda item, so did I. I just had a quick question on the ... on the, uh, fire, uh, department acquisition. It's 2d(3). It's uh ... a budgeted purchase of a new fire engine. Did ... are we like ... there's been conversation about the age of units, at what ... at what point in their life span are we cycling them out. I'm just curious what the details were on this one. O'Malley/ Usually we do 14 years; 7 years front line, 7 years reserve. This unit, I think, is actually 15 ... will be 15 years by the time it's ... it's out, and due to our, or not due to ... in compliance with our, uh, amended purchasing policy, anything over $150,000, we come to the Council. Now in the budget process you will authorize the $684,000 to pay for this unit, but in compliance we need to bring this to you since it's over $150,000. Markus/ But it's on our radar in terms of life expectancy (mumbled) that we are considering, and so that's one of the things that we'll be examining during the budget process. Dickens/ Is that a net price on that, cause they usually get some trade -in on (both talking) O'Malley/ That's... that's the original price, or the list price. The uh ... we did structure a deal with a company this year that if we pay 75 ... they had different structures. 25 down, 50 down, 75 down. They would cut percentages. And so I think we took the 75% down; save us about $15 or $16,000. Dickens/ Thank you. O'Malley/ The actual (several talking) the actual, uh, sale of the unit is done on (mumbled) Information Packets: 08/23/12: This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 30 Hayek/ Thanks, Kevin! Okay, let's uh ... jump to the info packets. Um ... first is August 23rd Anything on that? Dobyns/ I had a question on Information Packet the 23rd, Item 6, regarding the Burlington Street mitigation project and the trip to Charles City. I just took a look at a satellite view. Was that ... I noticed they had a dam with three series of rapids downstream. Was that the project that you looked at in Charles City? Davidson/ Right, it was a similar type project to what we're considering here, where they basically filled in the back of the dam and created a course. It wouldn't be taking the dam out, cause the University has some operational things in there that they need to preserve. So we'd basically be filling in the back of the dam like they did at, uh, Charles City, and it was kind of encouraging, in spite of the fact that their water was at record low levels. There were still people out there kayaking (both talking) Dobyns/ Were they kayaking over the rapids, Jeff, or... Davidson/ Yeah, in what water there was left so... Dobyns/ Cool! Davidson/ Hopefully that was kind of a worst -case situation. Dobyns/ (several talking) more than just the bike race for us. Kayak race down the (both talking) Champion/ Oh a kayak, I was going to say would anyone actually get in an inner -tube (several talking and laughing) Davidson/ Yeah, I believe it is suitable. There's a specific portion of the course that's where you negotiate it in a ... in a kayak, but I think it is also suitable, Connie, for less ... for those of us that would be more likely in an inner -tube. Champion/ I'm not going on the Iowa River in an inner -tube (laughter) I like going in rivers in Missouri with an inner -tube. IP5 Copy of memo to City Manager from Administrative Assistant: DCS /CCIA AmeriCorps Living Allowance Funding Request Throgmorton/ IP5 with regard to the west side levee and Backulis Trailer Park. I know there's been some discussion about possibly scheduling a face -to -face meeting with affected residents. I wonder if there's been any progress with regard to trying to set such a meeting up. Fosse/ Our engineer on that project is ... is looking for a date, probably in the next month, month and a half to get that done. Uh, typically in the evolution of a project we'll have a meeting with property owners during the design phase. It's a pre- design meeting. That This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 31 didn't happen here because at the time this design occurred, we had money for design but not for construction. So we were concerned about creating false expectations of proceeding with the project when we really thought it was quite a long shot that it would, uh, so occasionally we get in these situations where essentially we have a pre - construction meeting, so that's what we're aiming for here. Throgmorton/ Thanks! Fosse/ Uh -huh. Champion/ Can I just backup to the dam again? That could be a major...major safety feature at that point too, wouldn't it? Davidson/ We're hoping it'll be a safety improvement feature, yes. Champion/ Yeah, yeah, that's a big problem. Thank you. Sorry I didn't think about it before. 08/30/12: Hayek/ Okay, the August 30th info packet? Throgmorton/ IP10, the annual ICAD meeting. Marian, I'd like to go. Karr/ Okay, thank you. Mims/ You've got mine, Marian, right? Payne /I'm going for work. I'll be there but not at the City table (laughing) Hayek/ Upgraded the breakfast options for you (mumbled) (laughter) Throgmorton/ Quick word about the IP11, the City of Literature annual report. Uh, the new director, the newly appointed director John Kenyon did a superb job of putting that together... together, and I would encourage all of you to read it. It's a really nice summary of what the City of Literature is doing. Mims/ Very good! Hayek/ He was born within two hours of me! You know that? (several talking) That makes his report more, uh, compelling to me. (laughter) Champion/ Is he older or younger? Hayek/ I can't believe I don't know that, but I think he's younger! (laughter) Anything else on the 30th info packet? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 32 Dobyns/ There was an issue on the 23rd, Item 5, um, from Adam regarding AmeriCorps (mumbled) funding request. I don't know if City staff is looking for some sort of affirmation. Champion/ I couldn't understand what you said. Dobyns/ It's Item 5, um, AmeriCorps living allowance funding request. I don't know if City staff is looking for some affirmation from Council about (both talking) Markus/ No, we're just advising Council on that. We do have a representative from the judicial district here, as well. She was here (laughing) so ... no, we're not looking for affirmation. Hayek/ This is within your policy discretion anyway. Dobyns/ So (both talking) Markus/ ...to make sure you were aware of it. Dobyns/ It was the FYI. Thank you. Hayek/ Okay, Counc ... anything else on the 30th before I move on? Okay. Council time? Council Time: Payne/ I have two things. The first one is ... I've been contacted by QwikTrip twice to have a meeting with them. Has anybody else? And I have no ... I haven't been able to do it, and it's just been via email, so I have no idea ... (several talking) Is it Kum &Go? Okay. Mims/ I have and I've met with `em. Yeah, it's just they're trying to get contact with Councilors and ... you know, get their name out there in terms of places they're looking at (both talking) Dickens/ Jim and I met with `em already. Hayek/ I encourage them to talk to staff because then I'm not sure that had occurred yet, or at least the City Manager's office. Throgmorton/ Yeah, and I sent an email to Tom... kind of characterizing the essence of our meeting. Payne / When they sent an email they don't say what they want to talk about and I've been out of town ... every time they've asked I've had to go out of town, so it's like what is... Dobyns/ Yeah, and my concern is that putting, you know, in terms of sequencing, uh, I'm happy to talk with the public, but you know, I got a sense ... I think I was talking with Geoff about this like what is this, and if it's a possibility of being a Planning and Zoning item, I This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 33 feel kind of funny as a council person talking with them before our colleagues on P &Z have a chance to talk with `em. And so I... it's kind of like, you know, the fact that they talked ... would call us before they talked to City staff, I'm not sure that's appropriate? Hayek/ I ... I think it ... I think it's always, um, an available option to say, hey, I'm totally unfamiliar with why you want to meet with me, you know, have you met with staff cause typically if there's something with the city, it's going to require staff involvement and, you know, send `em... send `em that way if you have some discomfort with it. Markus/ You can always refer them to the Manager's office and we'll make sure that the appropriate staff meet with `em, discuss issues with them, uh, in this particular case I had the strong impression that they were, uh, talking about specific sites and so, um, I think, Rick, your comments are apropos to these matters will probably go through the P &Z issue, or uh, process before... Dobyns/ I'm just looking on how to, I guess, behave as a council person, not that I care otherwise, but uh (laughter) in terms of...it just seems is one of fairness. I mean, if everyone went and gave us a call before it goes to P &Z, I mean, some of us do and some of us don't and so I guess I'm just confused as to what I'm supposed to do. It seems that I don't want to undermine our governance process as written. Um, I mean, there's a lot of good businesses that want to call in and check in, and I think that ... the concern was are, have they heard from City staff; are things being expedited appropriately through City staff, is there an adequate sort of pro- business mentality; and is that what they're concerned about; and I wasn't sure what... obviously I guess some of you have now talked with them. Were they ... I'm not even sure what they were asking, what the ask was! Um... Markus/ I think you can always suggest to them, have you... or ask them, have you spoken with the City Manager or the staff, and uh, and then based on that, you can say your preference would be, uh, that you speak with the staff first and that if you're dissatisfied with the conversation with the staff, please feel free to get back to me. That way you've opened the door, uh, so that procedurally the process is being followed the way it should. I will tell you that, um, on occasion we run into situations, and this is ... this is partly this whole reputation business but in one of the instances here, they're looking at a site and the use is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. So as adopted policy, meaning the Comprehensive Plan, we will always take the position that is the Comprehensive Plan and that it's contrary to the Comprehensive Plan in this particular instance. We may share an opinion that it may be worth pursuing an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, based on things that may have occurred subsequent to the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan but our role is to enforce and support the policies that the Council adopts, and so I think in this instance they got some feedback from some of us that may be, you know, they didn't necessarily care for, and ... so they're... they're going to pursue the options they have to get their point across. Their bottom line is they're doing business, and uh, quite frankly, you know, if it's in the right location, uh, we're advocates. We want business to expand in this community. But ... usually when you're getting' those calls, it's, um ... they're trying to, I think, ingratiate themselves with the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 34 Council and make their points known. So, you can, you know, always ask `em, have you talked to the City Manager. Dobyns/ So in this case they would have said they have, I mean, if any... Markus/ No, they would have said no, we have not (laughter) because it was the land owner that talked to us. It was not... Dobyns/ I see! Okay. Markus / And the land owner was told exactly, uh, that it was inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Payne/ A lot of times though we do change the Comp Plan because of somebody wanting to put something in a certain spot. Markus/ Sure. Payne / So...even if it was contrary to the ... I ... I'm just asking a hypothetical question here. Markus/ Sure. Payne/ If something was contrary to the Comprehensive Plan, and it required a change to the plan, and... staff was against it, would we still allow the applicant to take it to Planning and Zoning, and Council, if ..with a ... with a recommendation... Markus/ ...request? Payne/ Yes. Markus/ I don't think we can preclude somebody requesting anything from our governmental body, uh, but we would give them our advice and we would give them our views on it, and that's exactly what we did in this particular case, urn ... I think there was a gap in the communication. Let me say it as nicely as I can, that... Hayek/ You know what, let's ... let's ,uh, we're kind of going beyond the scope of...of what Council time is for and I think if there are (several talking) handle inquiries, Planning and Zoning items, whatever, we either get direct answers to questions outside of the Council meeting or ... or set it for a work session, so... Dobyns/ But I think this has been helpful in terms of what actually ... had a reply. So (both talking) Markus/ ... feel free to ask if they've talked to the staff. Dobyns/ Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 35 Hayek/ You had another item. Payne/ I ... the other item that I had was I talked to Tom about this earlier, and I see it again in the Human Rights Commission meeting minutes. It seems like they think they expect, well, they expect something from us from something they have sent to us in the past, in their meeting minutes, and I don't know that we have something from them to give back to them. It's like they think they asked us a question that we're supposed to be advising them on and we haven't. Remember when we talked about this a couple weeks ago? Markus / And .... and see my recollection of that issue is we had, um, discussion with the commission and I think the Council, and Marian, you're probably best to speak to the history of this, but my recollection is that this Council referred those issues back to them and asked them to study the issues and come back with recommendations to the Council. And I think that... Champion/ That was with the City thing, the ... you know what I mean. Hayek/ Sanctuary City? Champion/ Yes! (several talking) Payne / And in their minutes they don't actually say what they're referring to. Alls they say is we sent that to Council and they haven't responded to us yet. Dilkes/ It ... it's hard for, I mean, I ... I don't know what subject you're talking about. So... Payne / And it doesn't say... Markus/ It's hard to discern from that... Payne/ It is hard to discern from their meeting minutes even what they're talking about. Dilkes/ I mean, we ... we may have, I mean, there have been things that you have received from the Human Rights Commission since that, since you sent it back to them but without knowing what the subject matter is, it's hard (several talking) Hayek/ ... have staff look into it and (both talking) Markus/ (mumbled) Hayek/ ...whose side of the net the ball currently rests. Payne/ That would be ... cause every time they send out their minutes, it's in there, and it's like what do they want? (laughing) So that'd be great. Thank you, Tom! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 36 Hayek/ Any other Council time items? Uttermark/ Um, I have a few things I'd just like to talk about quickly, if that's okay. Hayek/ Yeah! Uttermark/ Um, first thing I'd like to discuss is over the summer, um, University of Iowa Student Government has been working on, uh, legislation and support of the interstate rail project between Chicago and Council Bluffs, Iowa, and I'm happy to report that we have our resolution fully in writing and with our Senate convening on the 11th of this month, um, we should have a resolution passed. So on paper at least Student Government and the University of Iowa students will be supporting you, um, and I'd like to thank Geoff specifically for really being a big help in us getting that ready. Um, the other thing, and I apologize for my tardiness in this and not being able to bring this up earlier but I had a question in Item 8. (several talking) Yeah, there's been, uh, quite a bit of meetings and just debate on this issue overall from our end, and uh, the one question Student Government as a whole really has on this is, um, with this change from criminal law to a municipal infraction, um, there's a concern over the $750 fine, even though we ... we've been told that it's only being applied to each apartment. There's a concern that this could still be applied per resident. Champion/ It can't be. Uttermark/ It can't be, in any case? Hayek/ Eleanor can (several talking) of that. Dilkes/ No, it could be. You could issue a municipal infraction to an individual rather than one to a group of individuals. I think, um, HIS has indicated that that's not their, um, intention. But... in the general course of things, um, one can imagine a situation, for instance, you know, you're not getting cooperation, the problem at the house continues, um ... there are more parties, unable to make a criminal citation, uh, etc., that you ... that they might chose to issue a ... an infraction against per individual, but that is not, um, as the memo reflects is not the way they intend to start off anyway. Uttermark/ Um, you know, and uh, you know from our end, we understand that's what the Housing Board is looking to do, is not to be applying this individually; however, uh, the ... the ideas and thoughts of Student Government and other associated bodies at the University is that this is simply too stiff and prejudicial a fine on a college student, you know, this is a learning experience for us. This is usually the first time we're out on our own. We understand that we're not going to be perfect, but we do feel that, you know, anything over $100 is obviously going to get our attention and is going to be some form of financial burden on us, and we personally feel that a $750 fine is just too extreme for us, individually. We can understand it on the apartment by apartment level. We can't really understand it on the personal level. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 37 Hayek/ I think I would just to clarify what you said at the beginning of your ... your comments. This isn't a change from criminal to a civil infraction. It's an expansion beyond simply a criminal response to essentially encompass three options. One would be criminal; one would be the civil infraction; and a third would just be fin ... a founded complaint and the triggering of the nuisance process, which might not lead to either a criminal or a civil, uh, application. So, just so that that's... that's there. Dobyns/ So what's your ask, specifically (both talking) Uttermark/ I mean, it's complicated. Everyone's all over the place on this, but we're just concerned with this founded complaint, that if a founded complaint is issued, and there is, you know, a... a police presence, at you know... in an apartment, let's say, you know, they go to this apartment; they leave this apartment building without having talked to the residents because they haven't opened the door; is it still possible for the $750 fine to be issued on the individual basis off that alone. Dilkes/ Is it possible? Uttermark/ Yes. Dilkes/ Yes. Is it likely? No. Uttermark/ Okay, I mean, from our standpoint, we're just against it being an option personally, but we understand where you're coming from, as well. Dobyns/ It's only $750; that's how it's written. It's not, um, maybe if it was against a group, $750 would be diluted 20 ways, but I guess the concern here is that if there is one person who was particularly harassable and whose behavior was compelling to the police as a single individual, I guess in that scenario, and what we're suggesting is rare, that 750 would be a whopping fine for that one person. (several talking) Payne/ But it couldn't be diluted 20 ways. Only by the people's names that are on the lease. Champion/ Right. But that's... Dobyns/ Yeah, that's too many people. Okay. (laughter) Champion/ Yeah, I thought that if they didn't answer the door (several talking) you can't issue an individual citation, cause that goes to an individual. Oh, never mind. I thought I understood it. Might have to go through it all again! Throgmorton/ This is precisely why it's important to have clarification in ordinary language, so that everybody understands how the process is going to work. Dilkes/ I'm happy to provide whatever clarification I can, but I have to have the question, and all I can do is answer it to the best of my... ability. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 38 Uttermark/ ...we understand, you know, it's sort of been all over the place with us too because, you know... Dickens/Is the $750 mandated by the City, or is that a State... Dilkes/ You could set that ... you could set the municipal infraction fine at a lower amount. Hayek/ Okay. Other Council time items? Thanks for those... for... for expressing the UISG concerns, Matt. Throgmorton/ I'd like to mention one item very quickly. Um, on ... on August 24tH, um, Professor Victor Regnier from the University of Southern California made a presentation sponsored by the Center on Aging about housing opportunities for older people who live near universities. I know Tom talked to Victor Regnier, Jeff was there, uh, Bob Miklo was there, Karen Howard was there, other people, uh, and it was a terrific presentation, and I think there's a lot that really needs to be attended to in there, and I think Tom would agree about that. We don't need to talk about it a lot, but it was a really moving ... and effective presentation. Hayek/ Thanks, Jim. Okay, next item is pending work session topics, which is, uh, IP2. Anything to add or subtract from that? Throgmorton/ I'd like to say one thing about the flood recovery thing, very briefly. I understand it's next on the list so we'll talk about that, what, two weeks from now — is that the idea? Yeah, I think it's terrific, uh, with regard to the Taft, uh, Speedway, potential Taft Speedway levee and floodwall, I'm going to be sending Tom a few suggestions, and there's no need to go into `em right now, but uh, you should expect those in another couple days and I'd ask the staff at least consider them as you're putting that together. Markus/ Okay. UpcominE Council Invitations/Events/Etc.: Hayek/ (several talking) ...correction, actually this is at IP4. It says IP2 but it's at IP4 if you're having trouble finding it. Any other work session discussion? Okay. Uh, upcoming, uh, events, meeting schedule, etc. The meeting schedule is at IPI ... on the August 30tH Any issues with that? Any upcoming events or Council invitations? Payne/ The Northside ... um ... trying to find it in my email (several talking) it's on Sunday, yeah. Throgmorton/ It's September 9th, 2:00 to 5:00 P.M. Payne/ 2:00 to 5:00 on Sunday. Hayek/ That park's gorgeous! (several responding) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012. September 4, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 39 Throgmorton/ Bravo to Mark and the Parks Dept folks and John Thomas. Hayek/ Okay, I think that's it. We'll end the work session and start up at 7:00 for the formal. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of September 4, 2012.