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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-10-23 TranscriptionOctober 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1 Council Present: Staff Present: Others Present: Agenda Items• Champion, Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton Markus, Bentley, Karr, Dilkes, Davidson, Moran, O'Brien, Purdy, Reichart, Knoche, Dulek, Fosse Uttermark, UISG Hayek/ I want to welcome everyone! Um, we have a number of topics to get through. The first, uh, bullet point relates to any questions from Council concerning agenda items. Throgmorton/ (mumbled) Hayek/ Not the Info Packets. (mumbled) Throgmorton/ I guess I have two very quick questions. Urn ... um ... will the staff be making a presentation about the preliminary plat for Moss Ridge? During the formal meeting? ITEM 5i CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING A PRELIMINARY PLAT OF MOSS RIDGE CAMPUS, IOWA CITY, IOWA (SUB12- 00003). Davidson/ Yes, yes, I mean I guess we can do that during this meeting if you want, but otherwise I'd planned to do it during the formal (both talking) Throgmorton/ ...wanted to make sure. Davidson/ Okay! Throgmorton/ And ... and I guess a question for, uh, for Eleanor? The initiative concerning red light cameras. Could you say something very briefly, uh, about wh ... what we can anticipate will be forthcoming? ITEM 3f(10) Rita Bettis: Initiative Action by Aleksey Gurtovoy and Martha Hampel. [Staff response included] Dilkes/ Well, I don't really control that but what could happen is, um, if the petitioners, um, get the signatures that they're required to get under the Charter and they ... they file those, at least the initial round of signatures, um... in the timelines, um, that I put forth in the email, um, then there'll be a verification process that's done by the ... the City Clerk cause these are ... are registered voters that have to sign. Um, but until that happens nothing really happens. Throgmorton/ But it could well be there'll be, uh... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 2 Dilkes/ Could be! Throgmorton/ ...an initiative on the ballot sometime... Dilkes/ Well, if they get the signatures and they're valid signatures, and ... depending on, um... what you all decide to do, whether to ... you have a chance to adopt it or you have a chance to put it, um, on the ballot. You also are going to ... at that point have to consider the conflicting opinions, um, by me and by the, um, ACLU attorney about whether it's a initiative or a referendum but until they gather the necessary signatures, none of that happens. There's not really, as I tried to explain in the email, there's not really a process in the Charter for ... that requires my opinion on whether it's a valid subject of initiative or referendum, or whether it's initiative and referendum. Typically people get... have... if they wanted my opinion, um, I've given it to `em before they spend the time getting the signatures. Um, but there's nothing that stops them from getting the signatures. Throgmorton/ Okay. Thank you. Dilkes/ Yep! Hayek/ Other questions about the agenda? Okay! We'll move on and the next item is Taft Speedway Levee. Mr. Fosse! Taft Speedway Levee (IP3): Fosse/ Thank you! Well, tonight, uh, we're going to discuss the findings of the, uh, the preliminary study of the Taft Speedway project, and let me begin by just explaining, uh, that (noise on mic) unique step that we're taking in this process. Uh, this is one of three levee projects that we had funded by Community Development Block Grants, and because of concerns that were raised early in the process, specifically with regard to this project, uh, the HUD office required us to, uh, take a step and uh, look at this in more detail before we move forward, uh, with a decision regarding design. So that ... that request was made in February of '11. Uh, we have hired HDR Engineering to assist us with that. That report is complete and that's what we'll be presenting, uh, this evening. So, our ... our objectives for tonight, we have ... we have five objectives. Uh, outline the decisions that need to be made; uh, outline the process for making those decisions, at least the process that we're recommending to you; uh, present the findings of the HDR report; um, give some staff recommendations; uh, share some feedback that we're getting from HUD and... and also to answer your questions; and... and by all means, if you have questions throughout the presentation this evening, uh, go ahead and ask those. Don't feel compelled to save `em all for the end but ... but we are on a tight schedule tonight. Hayek/ Right, and ... and I just want to inter... interrupt you, Rick, to remind the Council and the audience, uh, as we did three weeks ago or so, um, this is an opportunity for staff information to the Council. Obviously we've got the report, and what we also have ... will get tonight is a recommendation. We should ask questions if we have them, but a ... as we did last time, we're not going to engage in a discussion, um, of the merits of...of this This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 3 issue. Um, we're not really set up for that. We don't have the time for it, and also because we're getting a recommendation, it's really best for us not to start discussing the recommendation until the public has a chance to weigh in, as we know it will, um, and so uh, we'll get the information tonight. We can think about it, uh, over the next month and a half, almost month; um, and that's plenty of time for the public to weigh in, and then at the end of November, uh, we will take up, uh, an actual vote, have our discussion. So, with that, go ahead, Rick. Thanks! Fosse/ Thank you! Let's (noise on mic) introduce the people who are here tonight that'll help with the presentation. First we have John Engle with HDR Engineering. He's, uh, the Project Engineer on this. And, uh, Mike Ryan with Howard R. Green is also here tonight. He's the one that headed up the hydraulic study on it. And also want you to meet, uh, Jason Reichart who's our in -house staff engineer on this project. Uh, David Purdy is also here tonight. Uh, he has some information to share with you about our conversations with HUD lately, and ... and you all know Ron Knoche, our City engineer, and Sue Dulek from the City Attorney's office. They're all here, uh, to help with questions that you may have. Uh, the decision process outline was included in your packets. So I think you all have had an opportunity to ... to look through that, so I won't go through it in a lot of detail right now. We'll walk through it in more detail later in the presentation. Uh, the process for the ... the schedule for the process is ... is pretty much what Matt just explained to you all. That tonight is a work session for us to have an opportunity to share information with you; you ask questions; uh, there's no item on tonight's agenda for this, but it ... it's reasonable to assume that you may have comments at community comment regarding this subject tonight. Then you have a couple weeks to cogitate over it, uh, ask additional questions; we can get you additional information. Uh, part of the reason we split this up is you may have questions we can't answer tonight. That gives us some time to follow up with you ... with that information and then at the November 27th Council meeting there'll be an agenda item that has both the opportunity for public comment and then a resolution, uh, defining the decision. So, any questions before I turn it over to John and... Dobyns/ When do we as a Council deliberate? Is that on November 27 at work session? Or is this... Fosse/ At the ... at the formal. Now you can (both talking) on your work session, if you chose (both talking) Dobyns/ ... there's ... I would think we'd want to hear public input and then we'd deliberate? (both talking) Okay. Fosse/ So this is ... this is the suggested schedule for you all and ... and uh, you guys take it and modify it as you see fit. (mumbled) Any other questions before I turn it over to John? John! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 4 Engle/ Thank you. I apologize up front if my voice cracks. I'm getting' over a cold and, uh, when I was talking with Rick last week he was concerned I wouldn't be able to make it, but ... I ... I... Hayek/ Rick sounds kinda raspy himself tonight (laughter) Engle/ Yeah! We're ... we're both ... if both of us lose our voices, I don't know what happens (laughter) uh ... (several talking and laughing) Well tonight... what's that? Champion/ We get to go home early! (laughter) Engle/ Well first of all thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. Um, the things I want to talk about today is ... is kind of highlight the report and the document that you have. Uh, go through the study process that we used. We'll talk about the public involvement that was included in the project. We'll talk about the initial screening, uh, and development of alternatives and then finally the more detailed alternative evaluations for those alternatives that were selected for, uh, for further study, and then a summary of the findings. The process we employed was ... was really a focus on determining the impacts as ... as Rick mentioned with ... with HUD's request, um ... both the positive and negative of flood mitigation alternatives. Our methodology was to collect public input and develop and analyze alternatives, and then summarize those impacts and ... and the results is ... is what you have before you, hopefully more detailed information to allow you to make an informed decision, uh, on ... on the path forward. Our public involvement, uh, to summarize we had ... we had two open microphone meetings. Those were meetings where there was either a brief presentation or information presented by myself or Jason. Uh, and then we allowed the public to come up and ... and ask questions, provide comments. We had a court reporter, all of that was, uh, all those transcripts are included in the document that was provided. Uh, we also had one open house meeting, which was more of an informal with different stations, one -on -one conversations, uh, and there were written comments taken at those meetings, as well. We maintained a study web site. It was, uh, had a direct link to the project ... the project web site had a direct link to the City web site, and we used that as a clearinghouse of information, up -to -date information on meetings; as information became available we pushed it out to the web site. There was also a ... a vehicle for, uh, submission of comments through the web site. Maintained an active project mailing list of over 640 stakeholders, uh, to provide information on upcoming meetings and ... and the progress of the study. Uh, some numbers on the attendance. Our August 25th op ... open house, kind of the ... the kick -off meeting and introducing the scope of what we ... and the process we were utilizing. We had 73 in attendance. The comments received are... are the hard copy comments, which you ... are included in the document. Those are... are... don't include those that we have at the actual meeting. They're included in the transcript. The open house we had was last May 31St. We had 49 attendees and 10 comments, and then we followed that up with a ... an open mic meeting where I presented a lot of the information that you're going to see tonight, um, with 68 in attendance and 27 comments subsequent to that meeting. The different mechanisms, uh, we got `em from emails, letters, petitions, uh, meeting forums, submissions through the web site, uh, they were ... they were all effective as well as the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 5 transcripts themselves. Um, as far as the comments, uh, they ... they've all been included in ... in, as an appendix to the ... to the study report. There were some pros, some cons. I ... I guess the comment I would make is it was a real pleasure to work with the citizens of Iowa City on this project. It certainly, as you're aware, a ... a divisive issue. It can be contentious. Um, they were courteous and respectful to staff, to each other, um, it...it was a real pleasure! Through that process we had 10 alternatives that were identified, uh, they are listed here. Um, we went through a ... uh, a process and they're described in more detail. Um, if you'd like I can walk through each one or... Hayek/ Why don't we keep ... we probably want to get to... Engle/ Okay! Hayek/ I'm just worried about time. Engle/ Okay, that's fine. We can always come back. Uh, the screening criteria we utilized was the available (mumbled) provide flood mitigation for a 100 -year level of protection, a 500 -year level, uh, the 2008 event which was a little bit less than the 500 -year event, um, we looked at the feasibility of it — both from a technical and jurisdictional and a political feasibility of the project. As well as (mumbled) eligibility for HUD funding. And this is a copy of the ... the screening matrix and the details of those 10 alternatives and how the ...the process behind the initial screening. Um, there were five alternatives not carried forward. Uh, the ... the first was the buyouts, the funding for the buyouts were fully committed. We looked at, uh, one of the alternatives was removal of Burlington Dam, um ... the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research had done some preliminary evaluations of that in 2009 and had indicated that it didn't substantially reduce water surface elevations in the project area. Uh, the Iowa River conveyance improvements, uh, that's primarily channel improvements, lining, straightening, uh, the extent of property acquisition, the infrastructure impacts, the bridge raises, uh, multi jurisdictions, uh, it was just too costly and was not moved forward. For the Coralville Reservoir modification, uh, the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research had evaluated some operational changes as a result of the 2008 flooding, um, and had indicated that that volume was too substantial, uh, for those operational changes to make a difference, uh, for the 2008 event. Um, physical modifications, certainly Coralville Reservoir is outside of the City's jurisdiction, uh, and so that's... certainly is a limitation right there. The, uh, floodproofing of structures, um, it's unlikely to provide protection above the 100 -year event and you still had the utility and access impacts, uh, that are in the area. The five that were ... that were moved forward, uh, we ... we had the `do nothing' alternative which would include temporary flood - fighting measures. Um, we had an alternative with the Foster Road raise which would primarily focus on access to the Peninsula area, uh, and not necessarily provide flood mitigation to Idyllwild or the, uh, or ... or Parkview Church. And then we looked at the, uh, a levee alternative, alternative 7 which was 100 -year, uh, protection. Um, the space constraints, uh, precluded a 500 -year protection levee. And so that's why you'll see for the 500 -year protection, uh, as we get to the figures is a ... maybe I'll just walk through those now. That probably is ... there's no...no permanent improvements with the `do nothing' alternative. And the Foster Road alternative, the ... the extent from No Name This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 6 Road to the entrance to Parkview Church would be elevated. I think the max road raise was around six feet, or I think it was 8 -feet actually. Uh, the 100 -year levee, uh, would start, uh, by ... partially south of No Name Road and extend south to the intersection with Taft Speedway, all the way over to Dubuque and then tie back into the high ground at Foster Road. The road, um, the levee would be within the road embankment on that alternative. So the road would be placed on top of, uh, the ... the levee embankment. Payne/ With ... with this alternative how far to the south does the ... um... Engle/ The footprint? Payne/ Yeah, the green. The green in the picture, how far to the south does it go? Engle/ Right. The ... the footprint is at the right -of -way line, uh, on the south. It extends a little bit further to the north. There would be some easements and those were all documented for the alternatives — the additional easements. You will see that there are some roadway impacts and the blue lines coming off of, uh, the ... the road along Taft Speedway are those driveway raises that would be incor ... would need to be incorporated to provide access to those residents on the south side of Taft Speedway. Um, and there were easements and costs included for that. For the alternatives — this alternative, there, and I'll talk just generally. There's a lot of utilities in the area that would also be impacted. There's a .... the raw water feed along Foster Road, uh, that would be impacted by the ...the Foster Road raise. Um, there is a water line along No Name Road. There is storm sewer, sanitary sewer, and water lines along Taft Speedway that would need to be reconstructed as ... as part of that, and you'll see that in the detailed cost estimates. There's a portion of those, uh, costs are just related to, uh, those infrastructure impacts and utility impacts. (noises on mic) The other thing I would mention is that there's ...the area to the north of Foster Road, when you build a, uh, a levee or... or a floodwall, which we'll get to, uh, the interior drainage needs to be addressed and so all of those alternatives you'll see a ... a pretty substantial amount in a pump station that would be necessary in the time of high river flows or elevated water, uh, that you would have to positively pump that water over to the river. Dobyns/ Because that pond is connected to the river. Engle/ It ... it is connected and part ... it's got a gravity drain out of it right now and ... and each of the alternatives would put a positive closure gate on that that would be closed in the event, but you would still have a significant amount of, uh, if you had a coincident rain fall, and the water to the north of Foster Road, the run -off coming down. Right now when they have a significant rainfall, occasionally Taft Speedway gets overtopped from those flows. If you elevate that or put a ... a levee or a floodwall as a barrier, that water's trapped. It's a natural collection area and you'd have to positively lift that over. Dobyns/ There's also, uh, several mentions of diversion of water flow that would be coming in from north of Foster Road that appears to go into the Idyllwild, uh, church area that could be diverted to No Name. Is that included in all these options? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 7 Engle/ That ... that was one of our findings to look at in more detail as a potential to downsize the pump station. Uh, either route it to the east, uh, and ... and run it along, between the levee and the Dubuque corridor, or divert it around No Name Road. Um, those costs were not included in here, uh, it ... or ... or detailed plans of that were not included in these alternatives. Alternative 8 was a, uh, a floodwall, which is, uh, a concrete, uh ... uh, structure. It ranges ... this is a 500 -year level of protection and for ... and for reference, the difference ... I probably should reference that. When we're talking about the ... the height and the extent of this, the levee ... the grade raise, if you think about Taft Speedway today, the...the required grade raise is approximately six feet at the intersection of No Name and ... and Taft, and then the highest point is eight and a half feet near the Dubuque, uh, intersection. And that's a ... that's a 100 -year level of protection with some freeboard. The difference between the 100 -year and 500 -year level is about six feet. So when we get to a 500 -year, uh ... uh, alternative, talking about a substantially higher, and ... and as you can see, the ... there's a real tight area where the Taft Speedway, uh, residents on the south side, as well as the pond on the north side, uh ... provide constrictions in the ... what a levee footprint can be. Um, this alternative is a floodwall all the way around, and you can see the height varies from eight feet along No Name Road to nearly 16 feet over by Dubuque Street. Throgmorton/ Could ... could I ask, uh, one quick question. Engle/ Absolutely! Throgmorton/ Just ... just for clarity's sake ... you referred to a 100 -year flood, 500 -year flood and so on. Uh, am I right in understanding what you mean is 1 in 100, not ... not ev ... once every 100 years... Engle/ Correct! Throgmorton/ ...but the probability is 1 in 100. Engle/ Right! There's a I% chance (both talking) every year of the 100 -year event (both talking) Throgmorton/ ... or a .02 %. Engle/ Or a .2% chance (both talking) Throgmorton/ Yeah, so it could happen tomorrow. Engle/Right. Throgmorton/ Or not tomorrow but you know next year, next year, next year — could happen any one of those years. Engle/ The same ... the same probability every year. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 8 Throgmorton/ Right. Engle/ Right. Thank you! Urn ... on this one, a ... a couple things. One you can, uh, see there'd be floodgates required, uh, at the existing access points off of Taft Speedway, uh, to the Parkview Church parking lot. There's three of `em along there. There'd also be one on the access off of, uh, No Name Road into Idyllwild. And those would be open the majority of the time and be closed in the event of high water. The al ... the alternative nine that was in the initial screening we looked at ... at, we really split it up into ... into four alternatives. Uh, and so you'll see a 9a, a 9b, a 9c, and a 9d and they're all involve a combination of... of levees where we have adequate room for a levee section and in the tight area between No Name Road and Parkview Church, uh, you'll see that there's a floodwall, uh., that's in... included, uh, because of that restriction on the footprint of that levee section. So 9a look ... looked at a, uh, a 500 -year level of protection, both 9a and 9b, um, with a levee along No Name Road transitioning to a floodwall along that section of Taft and then back to a levee section, uh, once you get east of... of Parkview Church. Again, it has the same, uh, floodgates. It's got the, uh, the storm water pump station, um, it's got the same height of the 13, uh, and a half in the middle over to a maximum of 16 foot of height above existing grade. Alternative 9b is ... is the same as alternative 9a with ...with the, one of the things we looked at to try and realize some cost savings is when you ... a floodwall section, if you can manage a ... uh, imagine a wall 13 -feet high, a ... a narrow section requires quite a foundation. Um, and so one of the things we looked at is ...is could we accomplish, uh, some ... and realize some cost savings if Taft Speedway was raised to its max ... maximum extent, thereby reducing the height of the wall. So the structural section wouldn't have to be quite so large. Uh, cuttin' to the chase, we found out that the costs of actually raising Taft Speedway out... outweighed, uh, the benefits of that reduction in wall... structure section. But that's the difference between 9a and 9b. Still is a combination of the levee and a floodwall. 9c and ... is ... is the same as 9a. The only difference is it's a 100 -year level of protection, uh, verse a 500 -year level of protection. And 9d also has the, uh ... the ... the evaluation of any benefits of...of raising Taft Speedway to shorten the actual wall height, as far as ... as construction cost savings. Payne/ So in the 2008 event... Engle / Right. Payne/ ... if it would have been... if there would have been something built and it was built to the 100 -year level plus three feet, would we have ... would we have gone over the top? In ... in 2008. Engle/ Yes. Yes you would have. Payne/ Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 9 Engle/ Yep. The, uh, the 100 -year alternative for numbers ... I ... I believe in this vicinity, the 100, uh, 2008 event was 655, if I recall roughly. Um ... the 100 - year's about 651 and the 100 - year alternatives have three foot of freeboard so they're about 654. Payne/ So it was about a ... it would have been about a foot shy. Engle/ (both talking) ... foot over. Yep. Payne/ Okay. Engle/ Uh ... with ... with the conceptual elements of each of the alternatives identified, urn ... in ... and you'll see in the report there... there's, uh, a laundry list of impacts that were evaluated. Um, we looked at some of the environmental, uh, that are kind of prescribed by NEPA. Uh, we looked at the potential of hazardous materials to be encountered, uh, through a desktop review. We looked at socio- economic impacts, um, there was an archeological desktop review. Uh, we looked at wetlands and potential impacts of wetlands. We looked at, uh, threatening and endangered species, uh, and identified any of those that were in the area and what the potential impacts would be. We looked at, uh, potential impacts to land use and finally the overall transportation system and were there potential impacts. In addition to those, kind of specific environmental impacts, we ... we certainly looked at the existing infrastructure. As we said, there's... there's driveways, there's uh ... uh, the utilities as we'll get to that ... that are impacted. We looked at the hydraulic impacts. Uh, and there... and there's a fairly detailed appendix on the ... on the modeling that, uh, as Rick mentioned Mike Ryan and ... and H.R. Green completed and ... and showed that there aren't negative impacts at the site due to any of the alternatives. We looked at both water surface elevations and velocities to make sure that we weren't, you know, increasing velocities as well. Urn ... there's a discussion of aesthetic impacts. Certainly some of those, uh, structure heights and ... and the barrier of views is ... is an issue and those are discussed. We looked at potential impacts to the flood plain. We looked at required property acquisition, primarily through easements. Um ... we identified the value of protected property, uh, we talked about residual risks, even with a ... a, uh ... uh, a flood mitigation alternative in place, what residual risks are still there, and then there's a pretty detailed discussion on each of the utilities that would need to be, um, relocated, reconstructed, modified — as part of the project. The approximate cost, um, this is a breakdown. I'll ... just at the bottom line, um, you know, the alternatives, uh, alternative 2b was about $3 million. Alternative 7 which was a 100 -year levee, uh, was $8.1 million, uh, for comparison alternative 9c and 9d were the other two 100 -year, uh, protection alternatives and they were $11.4 and $11.7, uh, million. Alternative 8 was the most expensive. That was a continuous floodwall the whole way, uh, providing the ... the flood mitigation. Um ... alternative 9a and 9b are the, uh, 500 -year level of protection alternatives. As you can see, and as I referenced, the ...the uh, any potential cost savings and reducing the structural costs of the floodwall were negated by the increased cost of raising Taft Speedway, which is why 9b is ...is more expensive than ... than 9a. Uh, I just took this right out of the report. Um, and the findings, um, I won't hit on all of these, urn ... maybe just kind of the high points. Each screened alternative is technically feasible, um, you know, we ... we identified multiple This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 10 impacts to utilities and infrastructures and have accounted for those. Um, on the environmental impact side, uh, we've identified those and ... and discussed the potential for mitigation or avoidance. Um, in ... in summary I guess there was no, um...no...no major obstacle... obstacles in the environmental review. Uh, that would be a project killer from a standpoint of a ... of an agency. The, uh ... uh, the hydraulic modeling shows the pro ... the proposed alternatives do not negatively impact the hydraulic profile of the Iowa River in the project area. Um ... we identified aesthetic impacts. The ... the geo- technical analysis, that was one of the things we heard at the, uh, at... at the first public meeting was concerns about the suitability of the site from a geo- technical standpoint, um, and so in the winter and the spring of 2012, we took sub - surface investigations and all that's in there, uh, about the underlying material, the depth of the bedrock and ... to make sure that ... that a levee or a floodwall would be feasible, uh, and ... and wouldn't be, uh, wouldn't be technically prohibited. Um... continuing on the findings, alternative 2b has the lowest capital costs and it provides the access to the Peninsula area. Um, but doesn't provide flood mitigation for Idyllwild residents or Parkview Church. Um, the alternative 7, 9c, and 9d all provide flood mitigation for the 100 -year event or the 1 % annual chance event. Um ... alternative 7 has the lowest capital, um, in addition, it incorporates the elements that ... that would have the flexibility so that temporary measures could be employed to provide a hel... a higher level of protection, such as the 2008 event. Some of the issues that ... that prohibit temporary measures being effective now would be addressed under that alternative. It would include the infrastructure to handle the interior drainage issues. It would ... you would have a platform with which to fairly quickly elevate, uh, and sandbag and provide higher protection. Uh, the ... that would possibly, uh, provide mitigation for more extreme flooding events. Um, alternative 8 was the floodway all the way around. It has the highest capital costs. Uh, but it does have the least impacts as far as existing infrastructures and utilities. And alternative 9a, um, has the lowest capital costs for the 500 -year, uh, alternatives, um... but it does have a greater impact on existing infrastructures than, uh, alternative, uh, 8 does, just simply because of the ... using the levee section, um, in those portions that require rebuilding of roads and utility impacts. Throgmorton/ Might there be any significant difference among the alternatives in terms of operating costs? Annual operating costs? Engle/ You know, that ... they're probably the largest single O &M cost is the ... the pump station. And because all the alternatives have that, uh, all the permanent protective measures have that, um, there probably wouldn't be a large ... there would be differences. For example, the, uh, a levee section probably would require some maintenance and mowing and things like that, uh ... road and holes and, you know, vigilant, uh, inspections more than maybe a structural element like a hard concrete wall. So our recommendation was... in looking at a ... a 100 -year level of protection, our recommendation was a ... was to look hard at a levee section, alternative 7. This is kind of a schematic just from a scale standpoint, uh, looking at section taken just west of...of the access road to, uh, to Parkview Church. The levee height I think is approximately 6, 6 '/2 feet above existing grade. Um, and you can see that it would ... that that's that earthen berm with a roadway on top that you would see the extents of the levee and the right -of -way requirements that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 11 would be necessary. That's, uh, this was taken, uh, Robert Ray Drive, this is just south of interstate 235 in Des Moines, on the east side of...of the river there, and it'd be similar to that with a roadway section built on ... on, uh, a levee embankment within a typical roadway section. And that was temporary construction, that pipe there. This is a look at what that alternative 9a would look like with a... a substantially higher floodwall elevation, again six feet higher, uh, that would be placed on the ... on the landward side of ...of Taft Speedway, um ... and there are, you know, it's a concrete member that ... these are examples of floodwalls that I've seen, uh, where there's ... can be some aesthetic treatments. Our cost estimates do not include aesthetic treatments that we prepared in there. Uh, in... in the document that you have, that... it is a... a fairly large barrier. With that I'll turn it back to Rick. Fosse/ Thank you, John! Well let's shift gears and ... and talk a little bit about recommendations, and we're going back to this decision tree now that ... that you all had in your packet over the weekend, and what we'll do is ... is first look at the, uh, the side where we ... if we want to proceed with a project, and if you've had an opportunity to read the, uh, the HDR report, 400 -and -some pages. I don't fault you if you haven't read it all. Uh, you'll see that they've made a couple of recommendations in there. If we want to proceed with a project and we want to provide I00 -year protection plus 3 feet, uh, they recommend alternative 7a, and that's the one with the levee there. If we want to provide a level of protection of 500 -years plus 3 feet, uh, they recommend alternative 9a, which is the levee, floodwall combination. So with that background, uh, let's ... let's drill down a little bit and... and uh, look at staff s recommendations based on the HDR report and... and what we know out there. And uh, first we'll head down the `yes' side of the decision tree here, if we want to proceed with a project. Uh, what staff would recommend is proceeding with project alternative 7, and that ... that provides a I00 -year plus 3 level of protection. Um, that's the one you'll recall that's... that's got the levee that the footprint stays within the right -of -way. There are utilities that go outside the right -of -way, both north and south of the ... of the, uh, levee that would require easements. Um, but I also want to point out that more specifically, uh, within this recommendation of 7a we ... we'd recommend two of the, uh, at least two of the things that HDR suggested that we look further into and that is at the west end tie the levee back along the east side of the developed portion of the church's property. So that the, uh, the levee comes up here, and this is not part of the levee anymore. That does a couple things for us. One is it reduces the cost a little bit, uh, but more importantly, uh, I ... I think that that's important for the gateway into Iowa City there in that for levee sections you can't plant trees on that, and... and what you have adjacent to Dubuque Street coming in is ... is a corridor here where we could not plant trees and also this portion of Taft Speedway, where we could not plant street trees in there. So that ... that creates opportunities for us if, you know, we go with the protection along here. At the other end, uh, is that drainage diversion that ... that Rick brought up, that ... that's been talked about quite a bit and this I think is a valid thing to consider, whether we proceed with a levee project or not. There's value to the Idyllwild area for that, and that is to intersect these 88 acres that come out of the valley there and direct that straight out to the river through the Gilpen property, uh, that we acquired during the ... the buyout process. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 12 Dickens / Rick, what happens to the part of Taft Speedway that goes from where the levee ends at the east side, what ... is that still going to be raised because of Dubuque Street? Fosse/ There? Yes ... and whether we keep it up at that full level or dip down a little bit, those are details that have yet to emerge, but ... uh, it would not need to stay at that ... at full level. Dickens/ All right. Fosse / And it would not need to function as a levee. So the ... the um, as ... as uh, Michelle pointed out, this would not provide protection during a 2008 event. Uh, but what ... what opportunity is created here is that by putting a... a level surface in over the whole thing, where we've got 100 -year plus 3 feet, and ... and I want to point out that ... that 3 feet of freeboard, that's a factor of safety that's standard in the industry. For instance, when you design a beam, it might have a factor of safety of 1.5. So it's sized to carry a one -and -a- half times its load. A levee has freeboard built into it. So its actual capacity might be somewhere in the 300 to 400 year range, but it'd be lapping at the top and there's... there's no factor of safety for floating debris that hits it or an area that's settled or something like that. I wanted to explain that, but going back to the opportunity that this creates is that ... we can stage and go up from here, because built into this system already now are the backflow valves, the pumping system, things that don't exist when we try and fight, uh, floods on a temporary basis. And the County, Johnson County, owns this particular machine. It's called a levee machine and you put .... you put dirt in the top. You use this piece over here to drag it along, and out the back comes this sausage - looking thing, uh, that's either filled with dirt or sand. It ... it's nicknamed the `sausage maker' and that can add an additional 3 feet of uniform height along there. So that gets us up at about the 500 -year level, with no freeboard, but it gets us up in that neighborhood. Dobyns/ But had we had this equipment at the 2008 event, and we slithered it around the various flood -prone areas, would it have worked or do we still... it sounds like we still needed more pumping infrastructure. That we would have, um, in some of the options you've given us. Fosse/ Right. This by itself would not have helped us a lot. For ... for two reasons. One is the pumping that you identified. The other is that this ... this puts out a ... a product of a uniform height and it's hard to modify that height. So unless you're working off a flat surface, as the ground undulates, your level of protection is going to go up and down. Now sandbags, you know, you just pile more on where you need additional height, you put less in where you need less height. But they're very slow to deploy. This can be deployed much more rapidly. So there's the potential that it, you know, if we ... if we're experiencing a flood and we're ... we're in the midst of a flood and it's expected to go much higher, then we could deploy something like this and add an additional roughly 3 feet of protection to that neighborhood. So it would end up being ... sorry, this is kind of a crude, uh, drawing here, but it would end up being on the road there, uh ... just adding to that level. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 13 Hayek/ You know, Rick, uh ... we were able to recoup a number of our response expenses, uh, during and after the flood. The ... the money we spent to try to shore up sandbags and temporary protective measures and ... and that sort of thing. Does... does... does deploying one of these permanent alternative solutions, whether it's a wall or a levee or a combination, um, and... and accepting the federal money for that impact our ability to ...to receive, uh, compensation or reimbursement in the future from state or federal, uh, sources. In other words, if we spent a bunch of money running some sausage makers around or doing whatever, uh, we would do to shore up the defenses, if you will, is that reimbursable? Fosse/ (both talking) Based on ... based on what I know, it would be reimbursable. However, here's the risk, and I was going to talk about this more later but we'll talk about it now. Is ... is any time you're dealing with temporary flood mitigation measures, be it this or sandbagging, uh, the risk you run is ... is false deployments or ... or you don't deploy when you should have. So if you have a false deployment and you don't have a flood that's declared a disaster, there's no money to recoup your costs. There's no disaster to hang that on. Uh, so that's... that's a risk. The other risk is you don't put it out when you should have. The neat thing about a levee — it's there! Day and night! Um ... so moving on, let's ... let's look at the other side of the decision tree. If we do not want to proceed with a project, then we have two decisions that we need to make. Uh, the first is what alternative plan should be used to protect the Peninsula access. And staff's recommendation there is to develop a northerly route, uh, not to elevate Foster Road. And ... and we make that recommendation for a couple reasons. Uh, one of them being that Foster Road is a relatively new pavement. Uh, it' [s young in its life but ... but more important to that, uh, elevating the road really gets at only one of the threats of a single - means of access. That is flooding. Are there other things that can happen? Trees can fall. You can have an accident. A water main break can shut the road down, and ... and that's a unique nature or ... or threat to this piece of road from Foster Road from here into Iowa City, or into Dubuque Street has some of the largest water mains in our city underneath it, and if one of those pops, it will definitely close that street down and ... and we'll have a big mess on our hands. So if...if we put in a northerly route, that probably would go up Laura Drive and come across here and then come ... come down in on Mackinaw Drive, then we have a secondary means of access that goes well out into the Peninsula. So it is more reliable for a number of reasons there. Now there's a couple of ways to go after this. One is to ... to work with development, however that might take some patience and we might be better off, uh, for short term is to get an easement in here, build some sort of temporary road — gravel, gate it off and uh, just keep it there for when we need it, but build it to standards that we can use fire trucks or whatever we need to to get in and out of the Peninsula area so that we can peop ... keep people in and out of the residence out there. Um, then the other question that you have is ... is perhaps a harder question and that is, uh, does the City plan to assist with future flood fighting in this area. Um, and ... and that's a tough one because we ... we've looked long and hard at this and ...and it's tough to find temporary measures that work well. We know what doesn't work. And that's what we deployed in 2008. We were unsuccessful out there and um, you know, part of that is ... is related to the, just the scale of what's out there, the interior drainage issues, urn ... we talked about the ... the risks of...of false deployments, uh, and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 14 ... so ... we ... we also worked with the ... with the Idyllwild Condominium Association and teamed them with MMS Consultants to develop their own flood response plan. Uh, something that they could implement themselves, deploy sandbags or whatever, and ... and what they were finding is just the scale of that operation was beyond their means. So, the point I'm trying to make that un....unless we commit to developing a plan that's different than what we deployed last time, we should not expect a different outcome than what we had last time. And um ... what has not come to us is ... is a good idea on how to do that. So, unless and until, uh, we can come up with a remarkably different plan that ...that's got a ... a good chance at success, I think we need to proceed down both sides of this one, that is work on a plan but at the same time ... the expectation of the neighborhood should be that we probably cannot protect them, and that they need to have a plan. That may be simply to have flood insurance and a plan to get out things for which insurance cannot replace. So we would recommend moving both directions at that time. Throgmorton/ Rick, can you stay there for a second. Fosse/ Sure! Throgmorton/ With regard to flood insurance, um, will you or the staff at some point, uh, provide us with details about flood insurance that's currently available, what it costs, what it covers, uh, and so on so that we can be clear about that. Fosse/ That's a difficult question to answer, and let me explain why. The, uh, what it costs and what it covers I think can vary with what policy you purchase. It's kind of like your car. You can get various levels of coverage and whether you're insuring an old car or a new car, your costs will vary. We can talk with some agents and see if we can get you some examples. Is that... (both talking) Throgmorton/. I believe it would be very helpful to have an agent come in and speak to us about what's available with regard to insurance, what it costs, what it covers, etc., and what the varieties are. Fosse/ Okay. Hayek/ You know I ... what I would propose instead is have staff do that and supply us with a memo well in advance of, um... Champion/ November. Hayek/ November 27th Throgmorton/ That would be helpful. Hayek/ With ... with those (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 15 Dilkes/ We can do that. Hayek/ I mean, I don't want to conduct a ... you know, congressional hearing with ... with witnesses, I mean, I think we just ... it's important information to have. If you're okay with that. Throgmorton/ Well, my ... my point really is simply this. As long as ultimately it comes from insurance people. Hayek/ Right. Well and that... Dilkes/ We've got someone on staff, Julie Talman, who can ... who can provide a lot of details about just the ins and outs of flood insurance. So I think we can put together that memo and if you all still need more information, we can ... we can get that to you. Throgmorton/ You know, because there was so much, uh., there has been so much commentary about whether flood insurance was available prior to 2008. Champion/ Oh, of course! Throgmorton/ I think it's important for us to ... to know that we're getting information from the private sector, ultimately from the private sector about whether flood insurance is available, what it costs, and what it covers. Dilkes/ I think staff can give you the information that we feel would be reliable. Dobyns/ And, Eleanor, I assume the insurance data would be sensitive to the various options? Perhaps one option the flood insurance might be different than going with another option. I assume the memo will (both talking) Dilkes/ We can ... we can give you that. If we can't we'll get it from someone who can. Fosse / And, Jim, did you also ask to cover that, whether or not flood insurance was available prior to 2008? For those structures? Throgmorton/ No, I wasn't trying to make any kind of point about that. I want to know about now. Fosse/ Now! Okay! Gotcha! Thank you. Other questions before I turn it over to David. Payne/ I have a... can I ask a... Hayek/ Go ... go ahead, yeah. That's fine. Payne/ ... a question on maintenance. The report talked a little bit about on -going maintenance. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 16 Fosse/ Yes. Payne/ ... after... if a... if one of these options is chosen. It was like $30,000 a year. Um, I didn't see whether that included the cost of electricity for the pump. Fosse/ Yes! That ... that would. Payne/ I didn't see a line item in there for that. Fosse / Right. The ... we went through the numbers for the Rocky Shore lift station and we were ending up in about the $7,000 a year, just for taking care of the lift station itself, and that's ... that doesn't include going into flood - fighting mode. Uh, but I'm glad you asked that question because ... two things. Uh, you had asked John about the maintenance, and I wanted to point out ... or Jim had asked about the maintenance. Long -term, I think a floodwall, a structural floodwall, will have some significant maintenance. We know that from maintaining our other structures in town. At some point you're going to need to do some maintenance on that concrete. Uh, so I just wanted to point that out. Uh, we also went through some quick numbers about the ... the change in taxable value if we are able, through this project, to restore the Idyllwild area back to its pre -flood taxable situation, the additional tax income will more than cover that operating expense of the levee. Payne / And ... just a couple more questions. Fosse/ Uh -huh. Payne/ Is the pump going to be single -phase or three- phase, do you know that yet? Fosse/ Don't know that yet. Probably three. Payne/ And ... then what kind of backup will it have? I'm assuming that you know if the power goes out, cause there's a flood, you're going to need some kind of a backup to still pump the water. Fosse / Right. We face that at, uh, all of our lift stations in town. Uh, some of them we have on- site generators. Others we deploy temporary generators to them. Payne/ And do the on -site generators have natural gas or diesel or... Fosse/ Uh, most of those are ... are diesel. Uh, the University has one that's natural gas. Payne/ Okay. Thank you. Fosse/ You're welcome. Hayek/ Did... did we ever, um, calculate what the response and recovery expense to the City was in 08, in this area? How much we spent? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 17 Fosse/ I don't have that figure. I don't know that we have it broken out by neighborhood. Hayek/ Maybe we didn't, yeah. Fosse/ We may, if you want me to look for that. Throgmorton/ If...if I could ask a related question, Matt, um ... it's kind of a sensitive... question that I'm going to ask and uh, I want to preface it by saying I recognize that the emotional trauma associated with the flooding that occurred in Idyllwild, so I totally recognize that, but what I'm curious about, cause I haven't seen any real numbers about this, is uh, precisely how ... how much, uh, City, state and federal money has been provided thus far for owners of property in Idyllwild? It ... you know, to help them recover from the flood and... and, you know, all the other things that have been done so far. I... I've seen reference to like three different kinds of, uh, financial support that have been provided, but... Dilkes/ I think we specifically provided that in the memo. Throgmorton/ I saw two different, uh, types of support mentioned there but I also saw some reference in an email that's in the, you know, that 400 -plus page thing that ... that we read. Some reference to, uh ... uh, what's the right word... expression here? What's the term? Forgivable loans. Dilkes/ Yeah, I can tell you that the information in the memo that you got from me on October 18th was reviewed with Planning staff, with Public Works' staff, and should have the best information that we can give you about what those expenses were. Fosse/ Those are recovery- related expenses. They do not include the (both talking) Dilkes/ Right. Fosse/ ... flood - fighting expenses (both talking) Dilkes/ Right, not flood - fighting expenses, but the expenses you're asking about should be in that memo. They are in that memo. Throgmorton/ Okay. Fosse/ Yes, Rick? Dobyns/ Um, the most expensive option is 13 ... or 14.3 million. If...the City were to go with any options short of that, would any of the monies be available for other projects? If we went with a ... option ... well, let's ... with a null hypothesis. Let's say option 1, do nothing. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 18 Fosse/ Okay. If we do nothing, the ... the $8 million CDBG grant that we have may be able to be reassigned to one of our other projects but there's not 100% assurance of that and ... and David can talk about that (both talking) Dobyns/ That's a David question, okay. Fosse/ Yeah. We ... we have $8 million in a grant so far. That's... that's another good reason that we're recommending 7a is it aligns well with ... with the grant that we have and what we can afford without a significant investment of GO bonds. Dobyns/ I had another quest ... there was a statement I think from, um ... the consultant engineer that ... from a hydrological point of view, is that any sort of option that would put a levee or a wall, um, at this place would not affect flooding elsewhere. Um, my bias Rick is that, um, these are wetlands. And my understanding is that wetlands sop up a lot of floodwater, and so if you preclude the availability of a wetland, which is what all these areas conceivably are, does that affect, um, adjacent areas, just downstream areas or none of the above? Fosse/ Let me have Mike Ryan address that. He's here this evening and... Payne/ Can I ... can I ask one more question? I don't know if it's a you question or a somebody else question. Fosse/ Okay! Payne/ Before the next person starts talking. And, the question is, is so let's say we do something, we build something. Is there a guarantee that ... the land on the upside of the wall, the non -river side of the wall, will no longer be in a floodplain? Fosse/ No! No, the, you know, the most reliable solution is the buyouts. And the, you know, the levees are not foolproof. They're not a guarantee that you will not be flooded again. Uh, they are definitely a step above trying to protect on the fly, like we did before, but no, they are not foolproof. Payne/ So when this ... when it gets built, does the government reassess where the 100 -year and the 500 -year flood plain are? Fosse/ Yes. That ... that is addressed in the repot. If you ... if you build to a minimum standard, which is 100 -feet plus 3 inch ... 3 feet of freeboard, uh, there's a potential to get the, uh, the floodplain designation changed. Uh, you're still eligible to buy flood insurance there. Uh, I think it costs less, I think. We'll want to check into that. Am I missing anything, John, on ... on that? Payne/ I ... I noticed you use the word `potential' to get the flood designa... designation changed. It's not a guarantee that the flood designation will be changed. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 19 Fosse / Right. Any time you're dealing with a federal agency, you ... you make your applications and (both talking) Payne/ That ... that's what I was looking for. Fosse/ Yes. Okay. (laughter) Payne/ Okay. Thank you! (laughter) Champion/ I think the other ... the other thing I have to keep in mind when we're discussing this, and I would like all of us to keep in mind, that we keep talking about this money like it isn't ours! Well, it is ours! We're all taxpayers. Hayek/ Let's be careful not to get into discussion. Let's keep (both talking) Champion/ No, I'm just throwing it out (both talking) Hayek/ ...fair point, uh, I just want to make sure that ... we stay on task! Fosse/ Let's have Mike talk to Rick's question. Ryan/ Uh, almost thought I was going to get out of here without having to talk (laughter) Um... Hayek/ (mumbled) Ryan/ ...we've been involved in ... in doing modeling on the Iowa River ever since 2008, um, and uh, for this project we ... we took the model that we used in the 2011 study and looked at all the proposed improvements in ... in Coralville, the U of I, and Iowa City, either startin' to be under construction or proposed for construction. And put those in the model, and ... and for this work in analyzing the Taft Speedway alternatives, we had, uh, two conditions. In one we were looking at what effects each of the alternatives had, uh, on the Iowa River, upstream, uh, immediately adjacent, uh, the condition was, uh, one was, uh, without considering the proposed improvements at Dubuque Street and Park Road. Uh, we know from the ... our previous work and study that enlarging that bridge, uh, will drop the river profile for all flooding events. So that was the ... the one condition we analyzed all of John's alternatives. Condition two was within, went back and said okay, Park Road's going to be improved with a bigger bridge, raised, and ... and looked at all the alternatives in that condition. Um, primarily there's a negligible effect in removing the Taft Speedway area by virtue of putting in a... a floodwall or flood levee. Either one is really, uh, from a modeling standpoint, they ... they serve the same function and ... and you know, a wall of...uh, protecting that area. Um, what that area is kind of in, um, we saw in an earlier, you know, it kind of sweeps out to the north and then comes back in along, uh, Dubuque, and really in a ... in a modeling sense we call that storage area. You know, as the river rises it spreads out there but the river velocity in the channel versus what's out there, that's almost a negligible velocity. I mean, it's ... it's wet, obviously it's as high as the river, but it's what we call kind of an ineffective flow area. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 20 So moving that in ... doesn't really increase the river level that much, and ... and it eliminates that storage but there's just a little bit of velocity increase that accounts for that so you ... you have, uh, a higher velocity along the river and you can eliminate that area of storage, and that's kind of the occurrence we have there. Um, in a ... in a flood plain storage that's not a huge area there, um... again it kind of sweeps out and comes back in. So that's primarily the effect that we saw in the modeling. Dobyns/ Within the concavity of the river, which I'm thinking is of Lower City Park and the Parkview Terrace area, because the water is faster there. Is the hydrology different there, I mean, if there was a levee there, would that affect ... I was trying to listen to what you said but it sounds like just because Idyllwild does on the... Ryan/ Well, yeah they ... they're all unique areas. You have to look at them individually, but um ... uh, we also have a flood waiting consideration that was done as a part of the flood insurance study and that defines, you know, the ... the area needed to convey, you know, the ... the 1% chance occurrence or what we call the base flood or even, uh, other floods, but um, we look at `em individually and... and you know, not all storage areas are ineffective flows. Some, you know, have ... have flow through `em. Dobyns/ Sure. Ryan/ Flow through `em, uh, so it's ... there's not a pat answer I guess (mumbled) Dobyns/ What is your confidence about this? I realize you're using qualitative terms, but from... I mean this is ... this is highly technical evidence. I mean, how confident are you of, uh, the fact that, um, this wouldn't affect, uh, water height in other adjacent areas. Ryan/ Well, the modeling was based off of 2008 scenarios, I mean, it was developed after, uh, the flood, but it was based on looking at, you know, a number of flow events. They were out there measuring, uh, on a daily basis so you know, using the discharge out of Coralville, uh, the measurement here in town, you know, you get a good sense of the actual numbers of flow, and then modeling toward what actually occurred in terms of the height, so probably it's as a ... updated and effective model that is ... on any river system in the state. Dobyns/ I understand you use data points from previous events because that's the best available data (both talking) but I was wondering how, again how... hydrology, my understanding is it an exact science. Um, and I'm just wondering how confident we can be about that statement. Ryan/ Well, I think it's as ... it's the state of the art, um, in that sense. Uh, you know, if you have another flood with similar conditions, then we will see similar results. If you have larger than 2008, you know, you may have some different hydraulic parameters that come into play, but uh, you know we ran through a whole scenario of flow events, you know, from small flows up to ... to a 500 -year, 2008, so we're confident in ... in the results in the back- water effects and what the water surface profiles are showing. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 21 Throgmorton/ To pick up on that point, I ... I tried to study your maps very carefully and uh, they're kind of beyond my capacities really, but I was able to, you know, see the dots and try to figure out what that implied, but what I was not able to do is, uh, assess the relationship between the dots on the ... in the Parkview Terrace area, Normandy Drive and all that, to assess the, uh, implications of the dots for existing structures there, ones that have not been bought out, will not be bought out, um ... and so on. Do you or Rick have any sense of whether any of those buildings over there would be adversely affected by the construction of either the 100 -year levee or the 500 -year floodwall? Cause (both talking) Ryan/ Which buildings... then? Or... Throgmorton/ Yeah, on the west or south side of the river, which ... across the river from Idyllwild. Ryan/ Right. Right. Um ... on that side, I mean, again you're looking at a ... the same type of conditions. It's a .... it's a very little increase that we see. Um, so ... if they were in a flood prone area without the Taft Speedway improvements, they were in a flood prone with `em. Uh, it doesn't change; it doesn't increase their, uh, risk of flooding. Throgmorton/ Okay. I think ... I think it's just important to get this on the record, right, because a number of people are very concerned about, at least as I read all this stuff. People are concerned about ... the effects of a floodwall on ... on them on the other side of the river. Ryan/ Right, uh -huh. Fosse/ Thanks, Mike. Jim, when you look at the findings in there and the hydraulic report, the impact in ... in I think the 500 -year event is one -one hundredth of a foot, which is about an eighth of an inch... Throgmorton/ Yeah. Fosse/ ...increase that you can expect there. So at this point I'd like to turn it over to David and he'll share with you some of the conversations that we've had with HUD lately. Throgmorton/ Uh, Rick, before we do that, uh, I don't know if it's at the end of the consultant report or the hydrology report. I really can't remember. There's so much material, but somewhere in there I read ... uh, a suggestion that (mumbled) a formal environmental impact statement would be required, if we chose to go the route of either a floodwall or a levee. Am I right? Fosse/ I don't think so. No. Throgmorton/ Wh ... what, how did I misread it then? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 22 Fosse/ (unable to hear person away from mic) Come on up, John. (mumbled) ...microphone. Engle/ Yeah, I think the ... the, part of the evaluation of the impacts, and again, we're dealing with a federal agency, but part of the evaluation of the impacts was try... is to identify what those are and to the magnitude, identify the actual impact, the resource that you're impacting, and the extent of the impact as you really... typically what dictates what type of environmental documentation is required. Throgmorton/ Sure. Engle/ When we went through that and identified the ... the environmental impacts, we think it'd probably be an EA and would not require a full -blown EIS because of the resources and the extent of the (both talking) Throgmorton/ Okay, it's good. I misread it. Thanks! Hayek/ Before we bring David up, let me just take care of a housekeeping item. Tom, are you okay talking Blue Zones ... if we ... at the work session following the formal? Markus/ Sure. Hayek/ You're okay with that? What I think we should do, I mean, we're running out of town. What I would suggest we do is go another 10 minutes or so, leave about five minutes for an Info Packet set... section, and then punt on the rest until after the formal. We were going to do that anyway to talk about the review process, etc. But, this is clearly, uh, salient information and why don't we pursue it for another 10 minutes or so and then switch. Fosse/ I think we'll fit within that. Hayek/ Okay. Fosse/ David. Purdy/ Okay, I'm here to talk about ... or share some of the feedback we've been getting from HUD officials recently. Um ... as, uh, as indicated, we talk to HUD officials on a pretty regular basis. Um, keeping them updated on the study and where we're at and the last couple of weeks there seems to be an indication that they may question whether or not the Taft Speedway project would meet the urgent need criteria. Let me explain that briefly. What this means is, all CDBG activities have to meet one of three national objectives. They have to benefit low to moderate - income people; they have to aid in the prevention or elimination of (mumbled) or blight; or they have to meet a.need having a particular urgency, and our case, um, a national disaster. The criteria for the urgent need, national objective is pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community; is of recent origin or recently became urgent; and the recipient is unable to finance the activity on its own; and other sources of funding are not available. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 23 Mims/ Do all three of those criteria have to be met? Purdy/ No. Champion/ No, just one. Purdy/ So, if a project's urgent need criteria is reviewed and no longer applies, depending upon the project it might meet one of the other national ex. ... national objectives, for example the west side levee, um, was based upon urgent need but obviously if the urgent need, uh, was not met we could use, um, low to moderate - income people just because of the people there. However, with the Taft Speedway project, it would not qualify under another objective, and then the funds would have to be returned to the state. If the funds were returned to the state, then the process would involve a formal request letter sent to the state asking to change to a, uh, low to moderate - income eligible project, one of our other projects that we're working on. Um, and the next line is about as close as I could get the state to making an official statement (laughter) Um, which I've asked `em many times! There's a good probability, but not a guarantee, that the funds could be used for other Iowa City low to moderate - income infrastructure projects, which um, after reviewing them this afternoon would involve any of the other projects for which we've applied. Either the east side levee, the west side levee, um, the wastewater treatment plant, or the Rocky Shore lift station. Mims/ So how and when do we know whether this ... meets the criteria? Purdy/ Um ... depends on how, uh, the City Council wants to proceed. Um ... the state would prefer the City Council make a decision, um, if you... if the City Council decides to proceed, then they would issue an opinion on urgent need. The other process is, obviously the City Council could ask the state before then and see if they would, uh, make some type of recommendation. Markus/ David, who gave you instruction that, uh, you needed to report this to the City Council? Purdy/ Uh, the uh, it came from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, which is the state HUD officials and then um, that was, uh, relayed from the National HUD Disaster Office. Markus / And ... and what was the criteria by which we received the initial funding for this project to begin with? Purdy/ Urgent need. Markus/ And ... definitionally has the ... has the criteria changed from the time that they originally awarded... Purdy/ No, it has not. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 24 Hayek/ And ... and that's what's curious to me, I mean, we ... we took up the flood mitigation projects en masse sometime after the floods of 08, almost by definition, I mean... Purdy / Right. Hayek/ ... um ... and I ... can I assume that the urgent need, I guess you just got that answered... question answered, that... definition or criteria I presume was the same then as it is now? Purdy/ Yes, I think ... I haven't talked to the state official, um ... I think he would, um, indicate that, uh ... either one or two of the bullet points here, um, you know, 48 months later, whether it would meet urgent need or not. Markus/ But ... but part of the reason that we're 48 months later is that the public requested that we do initial... additional analysis on this project, uh, to get us to this point, and ... is that being used now to determine that we don't meet urgent need? Purdy/ Um, I haven't got an answer from the state officials on that. I mean, basic bottom line that they've said is ... um, they would question whether it would meet the urgent need. Payne/ But wouldn't that be true if we tried to use it on a ... the only way ... okay, so for another project the only way we could use it then is because we have some ... one of the other criteria to fall back on. It's not urgent need but it's something else. Purdy / Right, and the, uh, the Taft Speedway and, excuse me, the west side levee and the east side levee, we do have the east side levee — we do have engineering done, completed, and on the west side levee we're pretty close to doing a construction RFP. Markus/ And ... and what other projects potentially could the ... the money be transferred to? Purdy/ It could be transferred to either the east side levee, the west side levee, the, uh, Rocky Shore lift station, or the wastewater treatment facility. Markus/ And do all of those ... how bout the ... how bout the gateway project? Purdy/ The gateway project would be more difficult because we did not receive funding in the first place for that. And so if we return the money to the state, then the state has indicated that it might have to open that up to other communities. Markus / And ... and does ... and do all of the other projects, beside the gateway project, meet one of the other criteria, either low /moderate or slum/bright ... slum/blight? Purdy/ Yes, they all meet the low - moderate income category. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 25 Hayek/ Okay, so back to this, uh ... juxtaposition of decision making, um ... we ... we need to decide whether to essentially make... make... make the urgent need analysis, um, or decide on an alternative, if any, I mean, or vice versa. I mean, it's... Purdy/ Right. That is ... that is correct, yep. Hayek/ Does staff recommend that Council go in one direction or another to address this new development? Or at least proceed in a particular order? Purdy/ (laughter) Um ... (several talking) What's that? Dobyns/ We'll get back to you on that? Purdy/ (laughter) Exactly! Uh, staff doesn't have a recommendation, uh, it's kind of dependent upon, uh ... you know, how Council wants to ... whether they want to, uh, get that decision now or in the future. I'm, uh ... you know, I had discussion with the state official this afternoon on this very topic and, you know ... you know... Mims / And it sounds like they don't want to give an opinion until we've made a decision? Purdy/ That's correct! Mims/ Would seem like we need to ... continue our process, make a decision at the end of November, and if our decision is to proceed with the levee, then we need to request that opinion from the state before we actually go any further because if that money's going to be gone, we're going to have to reconsider our decision. Hayek/ Yeah, I ... I would agree, and we ... we've come this far, we've commissioned an exhaustive report, um ... I... frankly I think we owe it to ourselves and to staff and to the community to reach a decision, whatever that will be, in late November, um, and if it includes proceeding and using the CDBG funds, at that point trigger or request the, um, review on this issue that will determine the outcome. Throgmorton/ I agree. I think it would be helpful if Dave or someone else on the staff could provide us with a succinct memo summarizing, detailing, uh, what he's just told us, uh, tonight. Hayek/ (mumbled) Great! Markus/ Can I ask one more... Hayek/ Yeah, Tom. Markus/ ...David, is there any ... is there any chance that the, uh, state or the federal government is going to ... uh, opine on our eligibility based on the criteria between now and November 27th9 On their own without question from us? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 26 Purdy/ No! The formal process is we have to issue a request stating the reasons why we think it is urgent need, and they will opinion ... give an opinion, but no, they... they... as indicated before, they prefer that the City Council make a decision. Hayek/ Got it! Thank you. Fosse/ Well let's wrap this up. I've got three follow up items. Uh, one is information on flood insurance. The other's information on what we spent flood fighting out there during 08, and third is a memo from David summarizing what he just talked about. Am I missing anything? Do you have any other questions for the team that's here tonight? And I'll point out that ... that we should have most of the team back on the 27th, November 27th, for that meeting, as well. Hayek/ Okay! Fosse/ Thank you! Information Packets: Hayek/ Thanks, Rick. Thanks to all of you who've played a role and continue to play a role. Okay, let's tackle the Info Packets briefly, disband so they can set us up, and proceed with the formal. We have three Info Packets. The first is, uh, October 4th Dobyns/ There's nothing in it. Hayek/ Yeah. Still a popular college town, I see! (several talking) Okay, if there's nothing on the ... on the 4t , let's uh ... check out October 11th Throgmorton/ I read, uh, Rick's, uh, memo concerning that the sustainability assessment update with considerable interest. Was very pleased to hear about the progress or to read about the progress that's being made. I look forward to seeing the re ... the report that will be coming out, probably in early January, if I understood... the memo correctly. So ... glad to hear it! Dobyns/ Regarding, uh, IP3 regarding plastic bags ... I guess I would agree with the staff recommendation. Throgmorton/ So how do we proceed then? Dobyns/ Yeah. Hayek/ What ... it's on the work session agenda, is it not? Dobyns/ Okay. All right. (several talking) So that's just a... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 27 Champion/ Future work session. Karr/ Future pending. (several talking) Dobyns/ Okay, so that's just (several talking) Hayek/ We'll get to it! Anything else on, uh, the 11''? Okay! Uh ... October 18th. Throgmorton/ I don't think we got enough, uh, enough information about Taft Speedway (laughter and several talking) Dobyns/ Had you read the entire Information Packet, you would have realized (laughter) Hayek/ Can you ... do Blue Zones in five minutes? Or do you want to take ... take it up afterwards? Markus/ I think we should take it up afterwards. Hayek/ That's fine. Anything else on, uh, that Info Packet? Payne/ I'm glad that we get electronic packets and we don't ... didn't have to bring something in here (laughter) Hayek/ Yeah, it's pretty incredible, isn't it? Champion/ I printed everything I wanted actually to read. Dobyns/ One wonders if City staff took advantage of (laughter) Hayek/ We should commission a study to see if the ... the volume of our Info Packets has increased in this electronic age! (laughter) Put that on a work session! (several talking and laughing) Um ... all right. Do we want to take up anything be ... probably could go another four or five ... no? Okay, I'm getting the `nos.' So, uh, let us ... we will continue the work session after the formal concludes later this evening. Thanks, everyone! (RECESS TO FORMAL MEETING) Blue Zones Project Update: Hayek/ So, uh, we left off with the Blue Zone update. I think now would be a good time for that. Markus/ We have some folks coming up. (several talking off mic) Dyson/ Mr. Mayor, City Council, Chad Dyson, Recreation Superintendent. I'm the, uh, City liaison to the Blue Zones Project, and we're here to give you a little update. This is Rebecca Neades with the Chamber of Commerce. As you're aware, we have, uh, applied once again to be a Blue Zones, uh, City and um ... we are working... little history — the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 28 Blue Zones Project is a statewide initiative, part of the, uh, Governor's Healthy State Initiative. Um, part of the Blue Zones Project comes down to six areas that involve, uh, citizen support, schools, employers, locally -owned restaurants, grocery stores, and then community policy, and that's where, uh, City Council comes in. Um ... three areas that to touch on with the community policy pledge items. Um, they look for, uh, policy guidelines on complete street principles, tobacco policy and healthy eating and active... active living initiatives. Um, in your packet we have that community pledge, uh, for your review. Um, a lot of the things in there we're already working towards as a city. So we have a lot of progress in that area. Um, Rebecca's going to talk a little bit about the most exciting part of the Blue Zones Project and that is that we are one of 12 cities that has been selected for a site visit from the Blue Zones team and that'll be occurring on November 13th. Neades/ Thanks, Chad! We are very excited to have the Blue Zones team come visit us and we feel like we have a really great shot that day to highlight and, uh, all the great things we're already doing in our community. We are ... we had a great, a very strong application that pulled, um, information from what the schools and our restaurants and the City are already doing, our work site, um, or our work sites or, um, companies are already doing. And so the day of the, uh, of November 13th from 8:00 A.M. to 12:30 is when the Blue Zones committee will be here. At 8:00 A.M. we'll have a big kick -off celebration, um, with some kind of fun things you'll see. We're looking at having the Senior, uh ... Senior Center dancers (both talking) I'm ... they have a name but I'm getting ... not telling you what it is. Um, along with the high school band, come and do the Hawkeye fight song. The dancers will dance to it. They're actually performing at the Englert the following week, so this will be their practice, and then we'll go into our program, um, that's from about 9:15 to 10:30, and at 10:30 to ... or 10:15 to 11:15 or so is when we'll do the breakout sessions. That's the most important for you all to ... to know about. You're welcome to any part of the day, but the breakout sessions ... if you're pressed for time, will be when the Blue Zones committee will essentially interview us, uh, and our readiness for designation. They will break out into media, uh, policy, schools, and work sites, and they've asked ... you have a ... a list of who the required and... and recommended participants are, or encouraged participants. Understanding that not all of you are going to be available and some of you may have conflicts. Um, I'd love to touch base with those of you ... I know a couple are planning to attend, but we'd love to prep you in advance and... and let you know, um, what they're going to be asking or what we know they're going to be asking. Um... Chad, what else can I add to that? At 11:30 they'll go into a leadership session, or there abouts, and that is really for the Power 9, so I think that only involves a couple of you and we'll end the day at 12:30 promptly. So ... look forward to any support and any time you can give us that day. Throgmorton/ Rebecca, you said November 13th? Neades/ 13th, it's a Tuesday. Markus/ Rebecca, the ... one of the things I read throughout the, uh, discussion is that there's some requirement for us to add staff... during this. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 29 Neades/ Um, for the Blue Zones committee, not necessarily the City to add staff. It ... every community is different. Um, Mason City, for instance, it was a City initiative. It all went through City Hall. They hired all the staff and ran the, well, the entire program. In the ... in Iowa City, um, it's become a Chamber initiative, and we have partnered with the City and United Way, um, Mercy and University Hospitals and the Schools, and so when ... if we receive the designation, Blue Zones will hire three people and then we'll have two people to ... two positions to fill. Those two positions, we have communicated with employers in the community, including the City. We've communicated with a lot of people about filling those with part-time staff or on a part-time basis to make up two FTEs. Markus/ But you will run those through the Chamber organization, not through the City... Neades/ That's correct. Or through the Blue Zones organization; that's correct. Dobyns/ But that's after the Blue Zone is ... if we do win it, if we do get it beforehand, and I'm just taking a look at the community pledge actions. Um, getting a sense ... looks like we have to get a score of 13 or more. I don't recall the history of this, Rebecca. Did we actually go through this process before and come up with insufficient points... Neades/ We did not and urn ... they don't make that process, they don't actually ask you to take that pledge and work on that until we have the designation. The only (noise on mic) that was allowed to work on this is the work sites. So ACT had different requirements. Um, work sites had different requirements, the local government, and ... you could pursue this as an employer, um, and do a work site designation, but, um ... the big idea ... the idea is that although you're doing many of these things already and you're probably going to be able to check off, they always want you to improve. So ... any planning, any ... proj ects that you're looking at in the future ... can be counted towards this. Dobyns/ So you don't see this as ... extra-heavy lifting on the City's part in terms of resources, personnel to be able to... Neades/ It wasn't for ACT. AC ... and I'm not saying that it's easy, because they want a certain percentage of our community to sign up, or they want ... here they want you to, um, the City designation, they want you to pass a complete streets plan. Well, you've done that. They want ... that will already count. Markus/ Bicycle plan, pedestrian plan. Neades/ Yes, yeah ... yep. So a lot of those you have already done and you get the points that are next to them. So you could actually right now sit down and figure out where you were at and how onerous it would be to get to ... the 37 points. Markus/ It didn't seem like 13 is much of a stretch for, uh, Iowa City to get. Mike Moran and I talked about it today, and ... and we thought that there were a number of things that we'd This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 30 already accomplished. Um, that... but... but you're saying ... the meeting that we have with them is a ... is a discussion and then if they do select us, then we have to produce those things. Rick asked some questions yesterday when I met with Rick, and he was concerned about whether we could achieve these things and what's the return on investment, so to speak, and I went back and looked at Albert Lea's, um, accomplishments and, you know, Albert Lea's a smaller community than obviously than ...than Iowa City is, but um ... I thought a number of the things that they did, I mean, we've been doing for a long time, and that there's a number of things that, um, your ...the Parks Department's currently working on. You know, Terry Trueblood Park would probably be one ... one thing that would qualify for a number of points for us, as well, so ...I think that ... you know, having gone through the discussion after talking to ... to Rick, I kinda think that we can pull this off and then it's just a matter of whether the ... this committee feels that we're worthy, um, I know Cedar Rapids went through this about a year ago? Neades/ Last spring. Markus / And they did not ... they were not picked and then are they picked as a part of it this time around again? Okay. So they're going to be reviewed again. Okay. And do we have, one of the things I know that they are looking for, do we have enough citizens that have signed up so far? Neades/ You know, that's an excellent question, because um, that's a ... that's part of the application is community involvement. Markus / And if you don't have it, you're not going to get it. Neades/ Well they ... I asked them about that last time and they said you need to hit the 20% threshold, but you don't need to hit it before we give you the designation. As a matter of fact we expect you'll be working on it, and not any ... none of the communities have hit that. I will tell you that we have ... we pursued the application this round as just Iowa City. Um, that Blue Zones wanted a ... one policy board to have to ... to work with, and they thought working across jurisdictions was too difficult. The Chamber has continued to push this out through Coralville, North Liberty, and get community support. If you add our three communities together, we're at about 16 %. So, we plan on making that point the day of, and that's not to say we don't need to increase our numbers. Urn ... but I feel very good about our community support. Markus/ So somehow we have to do another PR push to get that 20...20% number out there before they get here. Neades/ And just this past week, the, um ... School, the Iowa City Community School District sent out a ... a ... calling all Blue Zones supporters to sign up, um, to their teachers and then this week they sent it out to all the parents that they had emails. University is going to send one out next week to their full list. Um, I understand that you all have sent some This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 31 out through your employees. So ... um, this ... and it's been pushed through the Chamber so... Dickens/ Have you done anything with the private schools too, to get them... Neades/ We've communicated with them, and ... um, Lee Ivan is involved in one ... as one of our co- chairs. Um ... I just haven't had a report back, but there are a lot of businesses that are doing, and companies, that are doing this that I... Markus / And, Rebecca, you should turn around. The young fellow that's on your right -hand side (several talking and laughing) Uttermark, um, Matt is with the Student Senate with the University and they're interested in this program and I think that would be a real big plus to have the students involved in this program as well, and their support. So ... let's ... let's roll them into this process as well. Neades/ Together (mumbled) Champion/ Put `em to work! (laughter) Dobyns/ Rebecca, could I ... I mean, just a ... specific question, I mean ... my chosen profession I'm ... I mean I'm all over this park and rec of course for wellness. Um ... but from a Chamber of Commerce, what's in it for the business community of Iowa City? Not just the global `we all want to be more healthy,' but you know ... what's in it for business? Neades/ Um, bottom line: healthcare costs. We can't sustain where we're at. We have double - digit increases every year and businesses are making tough decisions on whether they hire someone new or continue to carry insurance or whether they carry the family plan anymore, and if I looked ... the slide I typically show when I go out to service groups is the CDC slide of obesity rates in the U.S. since 1985, and it colors a map. So first, you know, every, um, every state that's 20% obese gets a color and then it goes to 25, and then it goes to 30, and then it goes to 35 and ... the map just changes... it's... it's unsustainable. Dobyns/ But that's (mumbled) call it intermediate outcome. What really (mumbled) did you talk with any colleagues in Albert Lea's business community — did they get more businesses coming in? Did they retain more businesses? I mean ... bottom line, what did their business community realize from this? Neades/ They re ... realized, um, less, or less absenteeism, and they realized lower healthcare costs. And they saw that in four years. Dobyns/ And did that improve their bottom line? But they didn't add any additional businesses because of that (mumbled) because it's healthier or... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 32 Neades/ It's not one of the things that they tout and ... in reality I don't think we have a tough time adding businesses. The greater challenge is keeping them. If you can keep a business for the first four years, they're usually pretty good. Dobyns/ But is there any sense that Albert Lea's had improved retention of businesses that they might not have otherwise retained? Neades/ Good question! I don't know. I can ... I'll inquire but ... I can't answer that. Dobyns/ That'd be nice, yeah. Hayek/ Okay. Payne/ I ... I just have a question. When you're talking about the community involvement, are you... what... are you talking about the vitality coach on line, I mean, what are you talking about as the community involvement? Neades/ (away from mic) Um, we have two (unable to hear) and your fabulous City staff did this for it ... did these. Um, on this card ... is the Power 9, and on the backside of it, it has a web site: bluezonesproject.com (unable to hear, away from mic) Um ... the numbers on the Blue Zones site are people who have signed up and taken one pledge action. You have to complete one pledge action. And that wasn't communicated the first round, and so, um, we're ... we're busy trying to make sure people do that now. Payne/ And this is where you go online, you take the little quiz, and it tells you what you can do to improve your health? Neades/ That's right! You have ... the first step is signing up and putting in your email address. So that's step one, and the second is taking a pledge action. So I'm going to ... get a dog or plant a garden or get 10 -inch plates in my house (several talking) Payne/ Eat more vegetables. Neades/ Eat more vegetables (several talking) (mumbled) Champion/ I think they would tell me I'd have to start over! (laughter) Bentley/ I ... I'd also point out that City staff internally is also working on this, um, we've designed our wellness committee to pursue the Blue Zones Project, uh, in their outline, so essentially what Rebecca's talking about, 10 -inch plates, you know, putting those in our staff break room, those sorts of things as well. So ... we're using it as a model for our own internal empl... employee wellness. Dobyns/ (mumbled) ...behind the City Council dais? Bentley/ Yes, indeed! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 33 Payne/ Or healthy snacks! (laughter) Neades/ And I need to (several talking) The City has been a fabulous partner. Your Parks and Rec Department, in particular Chad, has been phenomenal to work with and your Communications Department has really picked up the slack and designed some fabulous pieces, so thank you! Hayek/ Okay! Rebecca, Chad — thank you! Champion/ Thank you very much! Hayek/ Okay. Uh... Champion/ Are you going to leave those for us? (several talking away from mics) Council Time: Hayek/ I guess your cigars might have to go by the wayside! (laughter) Mims/ Thanks (several talking) Hayek/ Thank you, both of you! All right, uh, Council time? Throgmorton/ Same as it ever was. Mims/ Yeah, we already covered that! Hayek/ Yeah! Payne/ So do we have two people that can attend the ... meeting, the Blue Zones meeting? Dobyns/ I'm going! Payne/ Yeah, I'm going also. Dickens/ Two healthy people! Hayek/ Yeah, I'm scheduled to be in a trial that starts that day, so I'm pretty dicey right now. I don't know if it's going to go or (both talking) Mims/ ...I'll make it ... if Matt can't, yeah. I'll be there. Payne/ So there'll probably be at least (several talking) Mims/ I'll plan on being there, yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 34 Hayek/ Thank you. Okay. Uh, Council time, anything? Champion/ We've already been there. Hayek/ Okay! Just ... making sure. I don't want to get caught up here. Pending work session topics? IP5. Pending Work Session Tonics: Dickens/ I did just talk to Tom during the break about, uh, moving forward with the, uh, restaurant/bar situation outside of the downtown area. I ... I went to the new Short's on the east side and talked to the manager there and they are very interested in something happening because they close their kitchen at 10:00. They have to close their business at 12:00 and ... it, you know, it could be a deciding factor of how long they can stay there, will they stay there, or do they need to find another place. So I'd like to have us look into that a little sooner than later. It's ... it seems to be affecting the economic in the outlying areas. Markus/ We'll try and get it in. Dickens/ Yeah, Tom said they would start looking into it tomorrow. Mims/ Good! Hayek/ Okay. I ... I've been asked by one or two or three, uh, music venues for us to reconsider the ... the music venue restrictions, if you will. Urn ... I have, I really haven't gotten into it with them, and I'm not even sure what their arguments are yet other than several of `em kind of targeted me. Um, but I'm not asking to add this to a work session agenda or anything like that. I'm just advising that ... that they're coming our way. I should have probably mentioned that during Council time. Champion/ They want it to be later, is that... Hayek/ I think they want ... I think they want to be able to show ... keep, keep younger, uh, music fans in their venues later. Dickens/ Past 12? Hayek/ It's all the stuff we dealt with ad nauseum a year or two ago. In any event ... if I hear more I'll let you know. Anything else on this item? Okay, meeting schedule? Meeting Schedule: Karr/ You have, um ... two, um, opportunities, IN and IP7 in your packet. One of `em deals with the traditional budget sessions and your January /February meeting schedule. The other This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 35 one deals with additional meeting requests that, um, we'd like you to consider, prior to January 1. So I don't know where you want to start, but we'd like to take a look at both of those this evening. These were target dates I picked out for the purposes of discussion, not wedded to them but thought we'd start some place. Hayek/ Why don't we start ... go chronologically, so start with IP7 and wrap up (both talking) Karr/ Wrap up with 6? Hayek/ (both talking) numbers you got. Karr/ Okay. Hayek/ Well but 6 deals with 13, doesn't it? Karr/ Okay. Hayek/ I don't... Karr/ Yes. Hayek/ ...just throwin' it out! Karr/ Sure! Payne/ IP7 you had the December 10th and 11th9 Karr/ December 10th and 11th were possible dates for area legislators meetings. Payne/ And I will be on vacation and it happens to be the one time I am out of town. Karr/ Okay. I..there are other ... we typically as I noted in the memo offer three dates. It can be different dates, it can be different times of day, because we're working with a lot of different schedules. Those just happen to be off -week meetings. Payne/ Yeah. Karr/ Um... Payne/ That's why I went out of town that week! (laughter) Karr/ There ya are! Perfect! So do we want to leave January 3rd as a potential, that Thursday? Or would you prefer to come up with all new dates? Dickens/ December's very tough ... and we're open... 12 hours a day and... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 36 Dobyns/ What ... what time of the day would that be on Thursday... Karr/ We ... we offer... different... it's entirely up to you. These were just possible dates. We can offer 8:00 A.M.; we can offer noon; we can offer 5:00 P.M. (several talking) What we typically do is offer them three different dates and times. And then they pick and get back to us. (several talking) If none of these work, we can come up with different dates. Champion/ Oh I think they're... yeah, they're ... I like mornings. Did we... Hayek/ January 3rd, is that what we're looking at? Karr/ January 3rd, Thursday, is a possibility. Dobyns/ I ... I can't make Thursday January (mumbled) Karr/ Okay. So is there any other dates (both talking) Dobyns/ ...morning too, I agree. I ... you know... Dickens/ Yeah, if it's early. Dobyns/ 6:30? (laughter and several talking) Throgmorton/ Almost any date is fine with me. So it's up to (several talking) Mims/ ...me too. My schedule's (both talking) Champion/ ...really flexible but I do prefer morn... Hayek/ So is it that particular day or could you do Friday the 4t'9 Dobyns/ Um... Hayek/ Or the following week, I guess. Mims/ Those darn patients! They (both talking) Karr/ Again, if we're going to go the following week, you're to your January - February schedule, so we better ... if we're going to do that, we better nail down the other one first. Is there any dates in December, if it's early in the morning — there's some dates in December. We'd like to get to the legislators before (several talking) the session starts. Dobyns/ ...everybody? (laughter) Champion/ What? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 37 Payne/ 6:00 A.M. is too early. Dobyns/ Is 7:30 too early? Champion/ 7:30's great! Mims/ 7:30's doable. Dobyns/ 7:30 to 8:30? Throgmorton/ Doable. Dobyns/ Okay, then I can do any day. That Thursday, January 3rd is fine. Karr/ 7:30 A.M. on January 3rd is a possibility. Dobyns/ Yeah, I just ... yeah (mumbled) Karr/ Okay, that's a possibility. Is there anything... Dickens/ (mumbled) as long as it's before 9:00. Champion/ Yeah, mornings are ... really flexible (both talking) Karr/ But I don't know that's going to be flexible to the legislators, so I'm trying to find another date and time that we could offer. There isn't one. (laughter) Champion/ Well there could be ... I ... I think there are other dates in the morning. Mims/ But are ... Terry, are you saying December could work for you, if it's morning? Dickens/ If it's morning. Or... Karr / Right. Okay. But I ... I'm just saying it may not work for legislators so I'm looking for another time of day. Mims/ Different time of day! Karr/ Of day. Champion/ How about 7:45? Karr/ Okay. (laughter) I'll ...I'll try 7:30... Hayek/ On when? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 38 Karr/ It cannot be the week of the 10th through the ... the l Otn or 1 Ith so... Hayek/ Week of the 17th Karr/ 17th...that's Christmas week. But we could try it at 7:30 in the morning. 17th or 18th. Hayek/ I mean you want to ... you'd rather ... you need to get this done. Champion/ 5:00 um... Dickens/ You could do it in the evening; I can do a supper or... if I get one (mumbled) Karr/ Um... (several talking) Okay, why don't I... okay... I'll... why don't I take a look at some schedules and I can contact you individually on that. Take ... when you have your schedules in front of you. Champion/ You know, I'm totally flexible. I'll let you know if I'm going to leave town so... Karr/ Okay. Champion/ ...you can call me, whatever. I can always get away for that amount of time. Karr/ Yeah. It usually isn't an hour usually. Champion/ And if I'm gone out of town, it's usually, you know ... (several talking) Payne/ The only time I'm gone is the 10th° 11 ffi, and 12th. Karr/ Okay. All righty. What about the Gilbert Street development proposals? The possible dates there we're looking at three to three and a half hours. I looked at off -week Mondays, um, November 26th, December 3rd. It is a solo one -item only. Champion/ Uh -huh. Throgmorton/ Either one's fine with me. Champion/ December 3rd and November (both talking) Karr/ ...November 26tH Champion/ What day of the week is that? Karr/ Monday! (several talking) Payne / What time? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 39 Karr/ Um, it would be like a traditional... it can be any time, but traditional time 4:00 or 5:00, 5:30. It's three, three and a half hours, so it just depends on when you'd like to start. Mims/ Either one works for me. Champion/ If I know about it, it'll work for me too but ... there were a lot of proposals. Are you going to bring all those to us or you (several talking) Karr/ They're going to narrow it down and we're looking for right now a three and ... to three and half hour block. Dobyns/ I would prefer the November one. It's not a biggie. Karr/ The November 26th? Dobyns/ 26`x' would be... Karr / Why don't we tentatively go with 5...5:00 P.M. on the 26th. Payne/ I think I have to be in Moline that night ... for work. Karr/ Okay. So... Dobyns/ Okay, I can switch (mumbled). I can go on the 3`a. Is the 3`a okay? Payne/ The 3`a works. Karr/ The 3`a works (several talking) Champion/ Don't we already have something on the 3`a? November 3ra? Karr/ December 3`a (several talking) That's really getting about as late as we'd like to get, cause we'd like to go ahead and ... and be able to award at the December 18th meeting. Throgmorton/ (several talking) ...of that week. Hayek/ So December 3`a. What time were you suggesting? Karr/ I ... uh, any time. We can do 5:00 P.M. Champion/ What if-what, I'm sorry. Karr/ It's a Monday, December 3`a Champion/ Oh, okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 40 Karr/ Monday December P. want to stay at 5:00? Do you want to start earlier? Do you want to start ... or do you Throgmorton/ Earlier. (several talking) 4:00? Karr/ I'm sorry? Dobyns/ I'd prefer the afternoon. Karr/ Earlier? Dobyns/ I go on call at 5:00. I'd prefer the afternoon, but ... cause I have the afternoon open. Champion/ Well you do have an easy job! How bout 1:00 (several talking) Dickens/ Do a 1:00 to ... when we finish. Champion/ Yeah. i:00. Karr/ 1:00 on December 3rd? Mims/ Staff looks happy! (laughter) Hayek/ You know what, we have ... we have a full set of meetings the next day. It might be nice to have the evening more free. Champion/ Yes! I'm not going to be gone two nights in a row for those ... long, agonizing big decision deals. Karr/ Okay. Dobyns/ Good to know! Karr/ Okay. (several talking) Okay, 1:00 on December 3rd Dobyns/ I'm sorry, 1:00? Karr/ 1:00 on December 3rd, Monday. Payne/ What is it that we're doing? I'm trying to... Karr/ Doing the Gilbert and uh, College development proposals. Payne/ I don't even know if I can be involved in that. Can I? I mean, I had to recuse myself from reading the stuff. i ms represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 41 Dilkes/ Well, no, if you ... you did recuse yourself from the economic development. So it wouldn't make any sense for you to participate at the council level. Payne/ So then do it whenever you want! (both talking) Karr/ So November 26th is back on the table then. Payne/ Sorry! Throgmorton/ Why would you have to recuse yourself? Markus/ (several talking) ...MidAmerican has a site... Dobyns/ I could do 1:00 on November 26th. Uh, actually... yeah, 1:30 or thereafter. Champion/ And November 26 is a, I'm sorry, I don't have my calendar. (several talking) Karr/ Monday... after Thanksgiving. (several talking) Mims/ Well let's do that one. Don't you think get started sooner on `em? Champion/ Yeah, that'd be fine. Karr/ November 26th at 1:00? Mims/ Let's go to the 26t`. Dobyns/ Uh, 1:30? Please? Karr/ 1:30. Dickens/ November 26tH Hayek/ Okay. (several talking) Payne/ Please! (laughter) Karr/ Okay. Now we're going to do the proposed meeting and budget schedule. Payne/ That's January, right? Karr/ That's January. It's IP6 in your packet ... of 10/18. These were some suggested dates. I had some absences from some of you. I worked those into the equation. I also looked at what we had done in previous years, and the fact that it's always better to give you the maximum number of meetings needed, and then if we don't need them, we will adjust accordingly and cancel. Much better than to try and schedule them. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 42 Dobyns/ Everything works for me except the 5th, uh, that Saturday, the all -day budget, is just... is tough on me. I ... I'm on hospital call and those are tough to trade. I mean I can do it, but can people ... I assume Saturdays are the days to do these things, all -day affairs. Throgmorton/ All day? Yeah. Karr/ Um, are you... are you free Friday? Dobyns/ Um... Karr/ Or is that a package, Friday- Saturday? Dobyns/ ...that's a Tuesday ... the Tuesday to the Monday, that entire week. Um ... but I could... Karr/ We would like to start with ... with the departments. That's your beginning point, so ... um ...unless we move, you know, unless we start the 7th and go 8:00 to 5:00 and move everything and find another day. Dobyns/ Does it have to be on a Saturday? Karr/ No. Champion/ The 7th is what day of the week? Karr/ The 7th is a Monday and we had that for CIP, 1:00 to 7:00. We're looking for that ... that opening block of time of eight hours for departments. Champion/ Fine. Mims/ And we need six hours for the CIP. Karr/ Right! So if we start moving it then we need ... that's exactly correct. We just need to find another spot for it. Payne/ Well I would rather the long day, the very longest day, be on a Saturday. Mims/ So how much do you have to pay somebody, Rick, to switch days with you? Champion/ (mumbled) That'd be tough! Dobyns/ No, I can ... I'm head of inpatient so I guess I can do it. (laughter) Karr/ Is that a `yes'? Dobyns/ I can hurt people (several talking and laughing) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 43 Mims/ Should we go with the 5th then? Dobyns/ Yeah (several talking) Karr/ Okay, so then the schedule as presented we'll go with and we'll work it in? And if here's any... Dickens/ The only other date is January 28th. I'll be in Phoenix at our (mumbled) Karr/ Now that's the last budget session. So that is one of those that depending on where we are we may not ... we may not need it (several talking) That is your final, uh -huh. Markus/ Hey, Marian, six hours for CIP? Karr/ Yes, that's what we did last time. Do you want less? (several talking) Markus/ I think we could do (mumbled) Karr/ If Rick's doing it ... six! (laughter and several talking) Markus/ I don't think we're going to need six. Throgmorton/. I thought we finished earlier last year. Karr/ Huh -uh. Throgmorton/ Or earlier this year. Karr/ No. Markus/ I think we ... I think we can do (mumbled) but you can block it. Karr/ Well, I was going to say we still can block it, January 7`h, and we can always cut it back or we can add to it, um, we didn't need 8:00 to 5:00 for the Saturday for departments either. We were done about 10 to 4, but if I... if you say 4 and then it's going, we have people leaving. So I would rather we block it and adjust it... Markus/ The advantage of grouping this stuff altogether is to keep it all in context (mumbled) appendages. Karr / And, when you check your calendars, as you find that you're going to be out of town, send me an email or give me a phone call so I can block that out, so that if we have changes we just know that ... what days we have to work with. Okay? Hayek/ Okay, how about the rest of this? (mumbled) i ms represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 44 Mims/ That's fine. Hayek/ (several talking) Okay. Marian, do you have what you need ... as much as we can possibly give it? Karr/ Yeah. Got it. Upcoming Council Events/Invitations: Hayek/ Okay. Um, upcoming events, Council invitations. There's a, uh, the annual veteran's day dinner is November 111h. Um, and the Johnson County Military Affairs Association has for the last several years done it at the Riverside Casino. So the Johnson County, uh, Military Affairs Association dinner is in Washington County. Um, but they do do a heck of a job. Um, I will be going to that as I ... I always have. Urn ... but invite anyone along who wishes to attend. Mims/ ...at the Human Rights Breakfast. (several talking) Marian, do you do ... do RSVPs for us for that? Karr/ Yes. Mims/ Can you add my name to the list? Karr/ Uh -huh, and also the C ... CVB luncheon on November 91h too. Mims/ Oh, yeah! (mumbled) Karr/ If anybody... so Susan (mumbled) (several talking) Hayek/ Yeah, the CVB thing is, uh, at 11:30, I think, 11:30 to 1:00 on the 91h Karr/ So just let me know and I'll ... I've got ... let me know which ... which ones and I'll get them. Evaluation of Council Appointees: Hayek/ I'll be at CVB, as well. Okay! Anything else on that? Okay, lastly is a discussion of, uh, City Council appointee evaluation process. It's that time of year ... um, I asked that this be placed on our work session simply so we can just talk about the process. Um, what I would, uh, I've talked to ... to, uh, Marian and Eleanor and Tom, and what I would propose we do, um, is, uh, set a time, um, to meet with, uh, Marian and ... and then Eleanor or vice versa on ... on one day. Um, and then set a separate time to talk with Tom on another day, just because the scope of his, uh, duties, uh, are ... are that much bigger. Um, and, uh, I think it would make sense to do it that way, break `em up more bite -sized fashion anyway and we're not trying to lump everything into a single, um, meeting. Um, I'm talking to Marian about trying to, uh, build in, um, some executive session time for This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. Y City Cit Cit Council Work Session Page 45 October 23, 2012 us as a Council to talk about the appointees in advance of those meetings. It's a little bit in flux right now and in part because Marian's trying to find time to accomplish all of this but I wanted to run past... Karr / And it's going very well! (laughter) Hayek/ Oh yeah! Yes you can see! But I just ... I wanted to run this past you and just get everyone's blessing for this rough approach. Champion/ Remember, why couldn't we do it after a Council meeting? Not that one we're going to have the public discussion on Idyllwild but... Hayek/ Well and ... and we could, and we talked about that. Karr/ Yeah we talked ... we talked about adding adjournment to the end of it, and then if time permits, you would take care of it cause we're all here anyway. And then we would just do it to the remaining meetings and you would just decide at that point how you wanted to handle it. You wouldn't do it at November 27th, but you've got November 13th, December 4th, December 181h Mims/ that sounds good. Champion/ I think that really worked out well. Nobody had to come in, make a special trip... Karr/ The goal would.-the goal would be to be done so we could act on it by December 18th. So use the November 13 and the December (both talking) Hayek/ The 13th's going to be really tough as I said cause of my ... that week for me is so bad. I'm wide open ... after that. (several talking) Champion/ (mumbled) Karr/ Yeah, and see that's ... to have two separate ones is going to be... Hayek/ Well and we ... if ... if people are fine with whatever we craft, as long as it's sensible to the schedule, we'll ... we'll go with that and just do it. Champion/ And let's do it like after a... a... Karr/ Tag it on to something else. Champion/ Tag it on to something. Karr/ We can take a look at the special meetings we've got, even the legislative session, if we can come up with some dates, that one won't be a long one, that we could tag on. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012. October 23, 2012 Iowa City Ciiy Council Work Session Page 46 Champion/ Well even if we had the first City council meeting we had the discussion amongst ourselves... about whatever you wanted us to talk about. And then we could do all three of `em. They don't take long. I mean ... it isn't like we're going to get rid of `em, are we? (laughter) Hayek/ Just you, Connie! (laughter) Recall vote! Champion/ I mean ... it doesn't really take that long. (several talking) Hayek/ Okay, I'll work with Marian. We'll get it figured out. Payne/ Just don't tag it on to November 26th, cause I won't be here. Champion/ Right, no... Bentley/ I can think of one you can get rid of. Hayek/ We ... we'll figure it out! (several talking) Marian, you and I will work on it (laughter) (several talking and laughing) Okay! Uh, with that I think we've completed our ... duties for the evening. And that's it! All right, thanks for your time, everyone! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 23, 2012.