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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-01-22 TranscriptionPage 1 ITEM 2. STUDENT CITIZENSHIP AWARDS — Hoover Elementary Hayek: Would the students from Hoover Elementary please come forward! Well hello, how are you guys doin'? Good! Well I'm Matt Hayek, the Mayor, and this is the City Council standing here behind you and we're really excited to have you here, and as you may know, uh, what the City Council does throughout the year is bring student leaders from the various elementary schools in Iowa City, uh, down here so that we can meet you and ... and hear a little about you. I gotta tell ya, this is a ... an especially special night for me tonight because my daughter is a kindergartner at Hoover and uh, it's going to be great for me to see, uh, some ...some, uh, older kids from ... from her school this evening. So ... um, I understand that you've brought a little, uh, paper to ... to read and we'd, uh, ask that you do that and then I'm ... I've got an award for ya. We can start with you! Perez: Okay! Hello, my name is Elias Perez. Thank you for having me tonight. At my school, uh, we have a Hoover Star. The five points of the Hoover Star are caring, courage, honesty, respect, and responsibility. The idea of the star is to get kids thinking about behavior. Every day I try to apply these five points in how I treat my teachers, friends, and family. I am the treasurer of the student council and I am involved in music, sports, and theater. I would like to thank Mr. Kosher for selecting me for this award, and also my parents, Kevin and Lisa Perez, for showing me how to be a good citizen and I will continue to be an out... outstanding citizen. Thank you. (applause) O'Malley: Hello, my name is Shawna O'Malley. I'm honored to have been nominated for this City Council Citizen Award. I think I was nominated for this award because I try each and every day to use the Hoover Star points, caring, courage, honesty, respect, responsib ... and responsibility in everything I do. Hayek: Thank you! (applause) Well those were great. I hear about the Hoover Star, uh, at home a few times every week, as well. We're still learning that one. Uh, those are great, and you know what ... what's fantastic is that you guys set an example for the school and your ... you're here because your teachers have selected you and... and I think that's a testament to them, and I know your parents and... and teachers and other people who are in your lives may be here as well, and of course we want to recognize everything they do for you, because they have such an important role in... in your lives, but bringing you down here and having you, uh, read your pieces to us and ... and introduce yourselves to us is important because it shows us, uh, the great things that are going on in our ... in our schools and ... and you're such good examples and we hope you keep up the hard work, and uh, grow up and maybe one day, uh, you'll... you'll serve on a City Council as well, or do something else to ... to help your community. So, congratulations! I've got a ... an award that I want to read that we give out to, uh, to our student leaders. It's called the Citizenship Award and it says: for her or his outstanding qualities of leadership within Hoover Elementary, as well as the community, and for her or his sense of responsibility and helpfulness to others, we recognize you as an This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 2 Outstanding Student Citizen. Your community is proud of you. Presented by the Iowa City City council, January 2013. Shawna, here's yours! Elias, here's yours! And I want to congratulate you. Shake your hands. And uh, keep up the good work! (applause) Take care! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 3 ITEM 3. SPECIAL PRESENTATION. Hayek: Okay. Item 3 is a special presentation ... and it has to do with our esteemed outgoing Finance Director, Mr. Kevin O'Malley. This will come as a complete surprise to him because I believe he was asked to come to this meeting ostensibly for budget purposes, uh, but we have other things in mind (laughter) Uh, I have a proclamation to read, and it reads as follows: (reads proclamation) Kevin, would you come forward, please! (applause) (laughter) Congratulations, Kevin! (laughter) (mumbled) O'Malley: I want to thank you ... I want to thank the City. This is quite an honor to have something like this, and as I've been cleaning out my desk the last couple of days, I've been thinking about my career here and how fortunate I've been, uh, I've had a mentor. When I first came Rosemary Vitose hired me. Excellent individual, taught me a lot about, uh, large city finances. I was fortunate to ... to have Steve Atkins as my boss. He saw something in me that elevated me to the finance director. I want to thank my family for, uh, all the late -night meetings I was gone away from home. I want to thank my colleagues. They're excellent people! That's, uh, one of the reasons you stay at a place is the people you work with, and I always thought public surface... public service, um, as an honorable profession, so that's why I got into it, and it's to help the citizens of city get a fair, uh, a fair deal for everything.... for everything they pay for. So that's kind of been my goal in life, uh, is to ... help people out and working at the City, I was ... I was helped by a lot of people and I hope to, uh, have that as my memory. Thank you very much. Hayek: Thank you, Kevin! (applause) I, uh, before I forget, uh, make mention of, uh, the um, the event, uh this Friday here, down at Harvat Hall where we're located right now, uh, from 1:00 to 4:00 there'll be a reception for... for Kevin O'Malley, and so I en ... encourage the public to show up and ... and wish him well as he heads into retirement, but I ... I know I speak for everybody in saying we owe you and the community owes you a ... a great debt because, um, you've done so well by the City and ... and protected us and ... and uh, helped us thrive and ... both internally, um, and externally, and ... and big shoes to fill, um, and we're going to miss you! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 4 ITEM 5. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA). Hayek: This is the opportunity, uh, for the public to address the City Council on items that are not on the agenda tonight. If there's something not on the agenda tonight, uh, you'd like to bring to our attention, I encourage you to step forward. Ask that you sign in and to limit your comments to five minutes or less. I think there may be some people here ... here this evening to address us regarding the ... the SEATS, uh, paratransit issues. Um, this would be the time to do that. Uh, that's not an item on our agenda this evening. Uh, there will be no action taken on that, uh, but if...but you're welcome to weigh in and give us your perspective. Olmstead: Good evening, Mayor Hayek and City Council Members. My name's Harry Olmstead and I'm a member of the Johnson... Johnson County Paratransit Advisory Board, and a SEATS rider. I come before you request that you begin negotiations immediately with Johnson County Board ... Board of Supervisors. With expansions such as SEATS has experienced in the past several years, comes increasing demands on budgets. Considering what Tom Brase, Director of Johnson County Paratransit and its staff is able to do with their budget and with ridership at an all -time high, the coordinated service within Johnson County is something to be extremely proud of. And is worth keeping, in my opinion. So far this year the cost per trip is only $17.75 and that's a drop of over 70 -cents over last year at this time. Nationally the cost to provide par ... paratransit is on an average seven to ten times hi ... higher than for fixed routes. Johnson County SEATS has one of the lowest costs per trip in the nation. They are doing what they can to keep the costs as low as possible for everyone. The need is there, but where's the money going to be coming from? I have heard that Iowa City is looking at privatization of the paratransit system, which I believe is a mistake, taking (mumbled) current fine staff we have and low costs being experienced. As a resident of Iowa City, I pay taxes which the City and County get, and I want something that I can use for my money. Being disabled and not driving anymore, I become dependent on SEATS for the majority of my transportation needs. I'm not the only one. Many elderly disabled individuals use SEATS to get to work on a daily basis, for medical care, shopping needs, spiritual, and recreational activities. I ask that you consider your budget, your priorities, and your commitment to your constituents. All the SEATS riders are requesting is that you `Save our SEATS.' Hayek: Thank you, Harry. Gravitt: My name is Mary Gravitt. I'm a resident here in Iowa City, and I'm partially disabled, and I feel that we need SEATS. And ... before, especially for the elderly, in the wintertime when there's ice on the ground, and uh ... it's a high proportion of elderly people here in Iowa City. I heard the Governor on the, making his State of the State or the condition of the state, explaining how to turn straw into gold, how they have a million dollars that they're going to return to the taxpayers. And, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 5 how by cutting taxes and ... and so forth he'll save money, but what happens there is that the weight coming down from the top, since the top is squeezing, falls back on the counties, and the counties put it on the cities. But our elderly must be protected. And I want to talk about something else, or is this all for SEATS right now? Hayek: No, you can ... you can talk to something else. Gravitt: Well, I ... I'm very disappointed on our decision about Gilbert Street because... the Gilbert Street, what you're planning to do does not fit there! For one thing there will not be a permanent... well, you need a ... you need somebody to fill the space up. Bowling alleys, and that movie theater won't do. Because the students already have that, and they don't want that. They want to get drunk. That's what students do — they're away from home. And I want to discuss even the proportions (mumbled) you're considering. Now you take the University of Iowa, a certain contractor wanted to build a 14 -story building where the Old Capitol Mall is. The University said no. Nothing will ever overshadow the pentacrest. So, this is why ... the main reason why the University filled up the Old Capitol Mall. Now I got this straight from ... I could say the `horse's mouth' down at the Center. If you want to find out what's going on down there, you go down to the Senior Center, cause their sons and daughters work for the University, and I'm talking about the proportions. Why should you have that tall building, even overshadowing City Hall? This is a nice building. I don't know who designed this building. It's well proportioned. It's low -rise. Even the parking garage is low -rise. So you don't need any 18 or ... or 20 -story buildings there. And I'm going to talk about the ped mall. I see the ped mall will be a gated community, because the Library Board says you no longer can sleep in the Library. So once you close off the back door of the Library, put a guard there. You can put some gates on Linn Street. You put a gate on Washington. You put a gate on Clinton. You don't have to worry about Dubuque. And on the other side of Dubuque, but this side the hotel blocks it. So in essence, the ped mall is going to become a gated community, and ... then too, what ... what I didn't like about the decision on Gilbert Street is that you disobeyed the 14th Amendment. No, you can't have (mumbled) on the north side can get another chance to show his plan, 4 Zero 4 can get another chance, cause I heard you say, `Oh, it's just that, uh, we didn't like his plan,' and how beautiful it is to go up on the ramp to the second floor, and then you know ... and you gotta support the small businesses. New Pi is an institution here. New Pi is a stable person to be down there. The people on the other side don't want a high -rise. There's low -rise buildings... even these new apartments are low -rise, at least as far as I'm concerned, and I want to know how come one contractor gets everything? People want to know that too. People want to say you in Moen's hip pocket! Hey, I'm from Philadelphia. I'm used to (mumbled). It made me feel at home! But you gotta consider (mumbled) how do you look? What do the people want? So something ... so I think that building should be re- evaluated and the New Pi should be re- evaluated, because it's not that it's in competition with the Bread Garden. New Pi was here before the Bread This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 6 Garden and how much does the Bread Garden contribute to the city, contributes to its landlord, but I don't know about the city. Thank you. Hayek: Thank you for your comments. (unable to hear person away from mic) Need a microphone? Thanks. Nancy Ostrognai: (mumbled) understand me? Hayek: Give us your name first, that would help. That's all right! Ostrognai: Nancy Ostrognai and I, uh (unable to understand) according to them, you guys are not negotiating. I ... I don't know what's the truth but they're saying you're not. And uh ... I ... I don't know (unable to understand) get together and talk about this because, uh, you know, SEATS is a very important service and um ... uh ... it effects a lot of people and I would say it's, uh, a primary type of thing. And uh ... you know, um ... I think that it should be one of your top priorities to keep it going. Thank you. Hayek: Thank you. Would anyone else like to address the Council during community comment? You know, Geoff, since this has come up, would you mind just giving us a very brief update on SEATS and let us know what ... what to expect? Fruin: Yeah, sure. Um, first and foremost, we're required to provide paratransit service. Um, that service has to mirror our fixed route service. So, um, we are going to continue that. We just need to figure out in what shape that's going to take so the County has informed us that they wish to phase out their financial contributions to SEATS and um, we need to take that time, this time, uh, to evaluate what our options are and um ... we are very pleased with the SEATS program. We think they run a very good program. They're very efficient. Um, but any time there's a ...a significant change like this, I think we owe it to everybody to look at all of our options, and so we're doing that right now. We're looking at, um, how we can continue to fund the program as it looks right now. Remember, we're an enterprise fund, so we need to work within the revenue structure that the Transit system brings in, and that's not always an easy thing to do. So we're kind of crunching those numbers and determining what those next steps will ... will be. Um, but we also need to look at, you know, can we provide that service in- house, or are there certain components of that service can we provide in- house, and what's the trade -off on efficiencies and levels of service. Um, is there another provider, another government agency or, uh, a non - profit provider that could step in. That's probably not a likely scenario, but it's something that I think, again, we owe it to, uh, to the community to look at. Uh, we'll expect ... we expect that probably within the next 30 days we'll have, um, a response to offer to Council, or at least some recommendations on... on how to move from here, but we are having negotiations and we're having discussions with the County. Those are taking place at the department director level. Chris O'Brien's leading that for us and talking with, uh, the SEATS director and City of Coralville, as well, and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 7 we're trying to figure out how best to, uh ... uh, to ... provide the service going forward. Hayek: Okay. Thanks! I know Coralville's talking about this tonight, as well, so... Fruin: Yeah. Hayek: ...we can expect to hear back from staff at some point ... in the not so distant future. Fruin: Yeah. Hayek: Anyone else, uh, on community comment before I move on? Okay, let's move on to Item 6, Planning and Zoning Matters. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 8 ITEM 6a CITY INITIATED REZONING NORTHSIDE — MOTION SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR FEBRUARY 5 ON AN ORDINANCE REZONING APPROXIMATELY 0.47 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT 906 N. DODGE STREET FROM MULTI - FAMILY (11311) ZONE TO HIGH DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS -12) ZONE AND APPROXIMATELY 1.15 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT 911 N. GOVERNOR STREET FROM COMMERCIAL OFFICE (CO -1) ZONE TO HIGH DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RS -12) ZONE AND APPROXIMATELY 1.78 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT 902 AND 906 N. DODGE STREET FROM MULTI - FAMILY (11311) ZONE TO MEDIUM DENSITY MULTI - FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (RM -20) ZONE. (REZ12- 000016,18 & 19) Champion: Move to set the public hearing. Dobyns: Second. Hayek: Moved by Champion, uh, seconded by Dobyns. Discussion? Anyone here from the audience? Okay! Barkalow: Just like to make a brief ... my name's Tracy Bark ... (clears throat) Tracy Barkalow. I'm actually one of the property owners or president of the company that owns the property at 902 and 906 N. Dodge. And the vacant land. Um, I'd just like to tell you that I'm opposed to the rezoning. Um, I've, uh, spent several, uh, days here speaking before P &Z and other things about it. Um, and I think it's something that is a taking of my property rights, and uh, I guess I'm just against this. I think you should defer this off and uh, discuss this at a later date. We do have a site plan in front of Planning and, or in the staff process right now that meets with the current zoning. Um, we also have a new site plan that we plan to present tomorrow if you proceed forward with the moratorium. So, um, I think that this property, uh, you need ... you need to get the facts straight before we move forward here. That's all I'd say. Thank you. Hayek: Thank you, Tracy. Anyone else from the audience? Lundell: My name is Shirley Lundell and I live at 804 Dewey Street. And I would just like to, um, hope that you're going to continue the zoning as you're planning, so that we don't have any more multi - family residence there because of all of the reasons that we've given you in the past meetings regarding all of these same properties, and it has to do with the traffic. It has to do with increased noise. It has to do with a cut - through on Dewey Street, and then with the proposed, um, HyVee that's going to be going on, that's just going to increase all of the traffic through there and right now we have the beginnings anyway of a .... a very nice, um, new brick, uh, street, uh, and it has been very nice. Uh, fortunately most of the street was blocked off, uh, this year and hopefully in the spring it will be blocked off This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 9 then too so that we don't have all of that traffic going through, but if these multi- family dwellings come in, uh, we're just going to be inundated again, because this really is a family oriented neighborhood, uh, that we try to promote and create, uh, a stable, friendly neighborhood with everyone caring for one another, and we just hope that you continue just a single family. Thank you. Hayek: Thank you for your comments. Anyone else from the audience? Okay. Any Council discussion? Payne: I do have a question. 902 and 906N. Dodge, right now are R3B. What is the difference between R3B and RM20? (unable to hear person away from mic) Dilkes: Can I suggest that you simply get the public hearing set and then, I mean, you ...you don't have the minutes from the Planning and Zoning Commission, you don't have, um, all the material, so I suggest you just get it set and (both talking) talk about the, um, the details at the time of the public hearing. Payne: Okay. Davidson: We will make sure we get that question answered though. Payne: Okay. Thanks! Hayek: Any further Council discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. Public hearing will be set for February 5th. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 10 ITEM 6c COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOWNTOWN AND RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS PLAN - AMENDING THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO INCLUDE THE DOWNTOWN AND RIVERFRONT CROSSINGS PLAN. [Discussion only at formal meeting] 1. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. The public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Kubby: Good evening. My name is Karen Kubby. I'm here representing the Iowa City Downtown District. And even the Board... even though our Board has not talked about this plan in totality, we've certainly talked about sections of it, warranting my presence here tonight. Uh, we certainly appreciate that the downtown section of this whole area is still the number one priority, and it makes sense to do so as this core section of the ... of town has been the priority for commercial... for being the commercial hub for ... for decades. And there's a quote in the plan that seems really important to me, and it says — to preserve and enhance historic building and character of downtown, while encouraging appropriate in -fill development. That seems like that tenuous balance between keeping things fresh and contemporary, while maintaining the character of why people want to live, work, shop, and play downtown, and in terms of the historic aspect of that, its ... the historic facades and the building scale that is the majority of downtown is what creates that character that people like so much. It's not one -story buildings, but it's not mostly really high buildings, rather that's hotel Vetro or whether that's the Jefferson Building in terms of the contemporary building versus a historic building. Um ... the fagade improvement program that's mentioned in the plan seems really critical to the associate ... to the Downtown District in terms of really helping motivate property owners to take care of that fagade, even while they may be rehabbing, uh, the interior of the building ... to keep that character. Second floor rehabs is really important too. It seems like the most economical and sensible way to increase capacity downtown, whether that's for residential or commercial uses, where there are second and third story spaces now that are basically dead zones. They're not very creative. They're used for storage. They're not used at all. They're kind of empty spaces, and that's the easiest and most efficient way to maintain those historic buildings while increasing their economic use. There may actually be some conflicts in part of the plan. There's that yield chart that's in there that kind of has a map of 14 properties in the downtown piece of this plan ...that outline potential redevelopment, and know this is just visioning — it's not these are going to be redeveloped. But in some of those areas, there are historic buildings there. Now I'm not sure if...they may not be designated historic, but they may be contributors to a historic district if that should be a ... a direction that the Council wants to go. So I think really that word "appropriate" in -fill development is not really defined in the plan, and I think that's the next step to really work together to define "appropriate." Um, in that yield chart it has, of the 14 properties, one is vision to maybe be 12 stories, uh, four at eight to nine This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 11 stories, but the majority of them 10 or at that five or fewer stories that really help ...have some undulation downtown, which I think is important, but really keep that scale that has a lot to do with character... in the downtown area. Um, the ped mall refreshment that's mentioned in that plan I think is always needed. There's always going to have to be new energy put in keeping it — the ... the use contemporary and the look contemporary. There's also mention of a, uh, well, not really mentioned but there's attention to waterways as a feature of our community in this area versus kind of a nuisance, and I think this is a really important framework for us. It's a good shift for public policy to really pay attention, and it's been difficult because it's mostly Univer ... University or private land that abuts those waterways. Um, there is some concern that I've been hearing from downtown business owners, as well as south of Burlington, that how do you balance this redevelopment while making sure that people who have helped create the character and vitality in these areas from being out - priced from being able to afford to be there, and I think of smaller businesses. I think especially of like businesses around the train station area, south of Burlington Street, and if redevelopment there happens as is in the plan, I'm not sure that alterations can be maintained there with a higher rent, and how do we do this in a thoughtful way that doesn't kick out those businesses that create the character that we want to maintain? I think that's going to be a big challenge. And this is true for rental properties as well as for ... for residential rentals as well as for commercial rentals. Um, and lastly, I just want to say that this plan really seems less like a Master Plan and more like a big overview visioning document. Um, and I say that because there's no real outline of how do we determine which historic properties are worthy of preservation versus redevelopment. There needs to be more clearly defined definition of `appropriate in- fill.' Um, and outlining next planning steps and resources to make these things happen. And so, uh, the Downtown District is very much looking forward to working with the Council in continuing partnership to work on the next steps for planning and implementation ...for these ideas downtown and south of Burlington. Thanks! Hayek: Thank you, Karen. Kubby: I... so I guess that means I hope you vote for it! (laughter) But (mumbled) Hayek: Anyone else before I close the public hearing? Okay. Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) 2. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Dobyns: Move the resolution. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Dobyns, seconded by Payne. Discussion? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 12 Throgmorton: Matt, there's some things I'd like to bring up. Hayek: Sure! Throgmorton: That, uh, I brought up during the work session. So most of this will be stuff that I've already gone through for you folks, but ... uh ... there ... there's a lot that I like about this plan, almost everything about it basically. I ... I think it provides a really good vision for the area ... from downtown south. So I'm pleased to see it come before us. I support it. Um, but I do have some concerns and I want to express them. Mainly, I worry that our vote with regard to the redevelopment of College and Gilbert Street undermines this plan before we even adopt it. That's the punch line. First, the plan anticipates that the downtown will gradually expand southward, not eastward. And it anticipates that the tallest buildings would not exceed 15 stories. Now I know Jeff said something about this during our work session so ... there's no firm commitment to a 20- story, uh, Chauncey building. I understand that. Moreover, if I read the plan's yield analysis correctly, which you refer to, Karen, The Chauncey which was not anticipated in the analysis that was part of this, uh, Riverfront Crossings plan would supply a very large fraction of the new office /commercial space anticipated in the plan for the downtown and the south downtown districts. I could give you the percentages but, uh, I won't ... I won't belabor the point. Just the ... the qualitative statements probably good enough. Now I recognize, and I was kind of taught this by Jeff and Geoff, uh, during our work session, that there's a difference between a yield analysis and a market analysis. So ... in the short-run what I'm saying, I think, is true that this ... The Chauncey undermines the Riverfront Crossings' plan before it's even adopted, but in the longer run, we'll see how markets go. I mean, it's ...it's really un ... I can't predict how markets will respond. A third point, which I did not bring up during our work session, is that the $13.5 million requested for the College - Gilbert Street project would constitute almost 18% of our current, uh, General Obligation bond debt. That's a large fraction for one building! Too large, I think. And ... and it would constitute slightly more than 9% of our total debt. So, you know, that this worries me. Um, the consequence, I think, is that it ...putting so much money into that one project would leave less money to spend on other projects in the River Crossings area and in other parts of the City that we care about, which we all care about. The implication is that by subsidizing The Chauncey now we will be making it much less likely that the area south of Burlington will develop in the short-run, especially I think at the corner of Clinton and Burlington Streets. So, this worries me and I don't need to belabor the point. Just one other thing I ... I hoped to mention during the work session but didn't really have time to do it. The plan pro ... promotes sustainable design practices and specifically encourages low impact development, but it doesn't really explain what that means. I ... I think we should, um, I think we should clarify this by stating our intention, at some point down... downstream, not tonight, state ... by stating our intention to require all new office /commercial buildings, including condos or apartment buildings to achieve high degrees of energy efficiency. That This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 13 would be an explicit commitment to, uh, low impact development. So, those are the points I wanted to bring up and thanks for giving me some time, Matt. Hayek: Absolutely! Throgmorton: In the end I'll sup ... I'm definitely going to support and vote for the ... the plan. Champion: I didn't know if you were trying to promote your approval of this new plan, or you were trying to keep talking about how you didn't like The Chauncey. I'm not sure what you were talking about. Throgmorton: I think they're intertwined, Connie, that's the reason I was doing it. Hayek: Well, I, uh ... we ... we got a good staff presentation at the last meeting. Um ... for those who were able to see that, and Karen, thanks for hitting some of the highlights of...of this document. It ... this is 100- and -some page, uh, document that was crafted over a period of several years, following the floods of 08, which presented us with certain opportunities south of... downtown and south of Burlington Street, um ... to ... to, uh, better protect that area from future floods, uh, redevelop economically, and do a lot ... lot of other things, uh, and ... and I think the product is ... represents a useful guide, um, as our downtown and south of downtown areas evolve and, um, I ... it is a guide. It's a ... uh, this will play out over probably several decades. Um, and ... and I think along the way we'll have many partners, uh, the Downtown District being one of them, as we, um, move to implement some of the ideas in here and ... and progress toward the changes we'd like to see. Um, but uh, I look... frankly I think if... even if we hit some of the anticipated changes, um, identified in this guide, uh, we're going to have a far more dynamic, uh, downtown than we already have and I'm ... I'm excited to see a lot of that come to fruition after all of us are off the Council (laughs). This is a long -term commitment, uh, for us so... Throgmorton: Yeah, hopefully your, you know, your kids and my daughter and so on will ...will see the benefits of it. Hayek: Yeah. Any other Council discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 14 ITEM 6g CONDITIONALLY REZONING ROBERTS DAIRY / HY -VEE GROCERY - ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 7.79 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE INTERSECTION OF NORTH DODGE STREET AND PRAIRIE DU CHIEN ROAD FROM MEDIUM DENSITY SINGLE FAMILY (RS -8), NEIGHBORHOOD PUBLIC (P -1) AND HIGHWAY COMMERCIAL (CH -1) TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL (OPD- CC -2). (REZ12- 00026) [Discussion only at formal meeting] PASS AND ADOPT) ITEM 6h VACATING THE RIGHT -OF -WAY ROBERTS DAIRY / HY -VEE GROCERY - ORDINANCE VACATING THE RIGHT -OF -WAY FOR A PORTION OF ST. CLEMENT STREET (VAC12- 00005). (PASS AND ADOPT) [Discussion only at formal meeting] ITEM 6i PRELIMINARY PLAT ROBERTS DAIRY / HY -VEE - RESOLUTION APPROVING THE PRELIMINARY PLAT OF ROBERTS DAIRY ADDITION, IOWA CITY, IOWA. (SUB12- 00012) Dobyns: I move that we defer Items 6g, h, and i to a later date and accept correspondence. Hayek: Would that later date be, uh, considered (both talking) Dobyns: February 5th Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved, uh, by ... Dobyns, seconded by Payne. Discussion? This has to do with the HyVee, uh, items, which are 6g, 6h, 6i, and the applicant has requested that we defer these until February 5th. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 15 ITEM 7. AMENDING DOWNTOWN URBAN RENEWAL PLAN TO ALLOW DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT FOR FIELDHOUSE BAR REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT - RESOLUTION TO AMEND CITY - UNIVERSITY URBAN RENEWAL PLAN TO ADD A PROPOSED URBAN RENEWAL PROJECT REHABILITATING A VACANT BUILDING FOR OFFICE AND COMMERCIAL USE TO BE UNDERTAKEN WITHIN THE AREA. a. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. The public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Champion: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Moved by Champion, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Throgmorton: Matt, during the work session I expressed some worry that we might be finding ourselves subsidizing too much class A office space and Jeff, uh, Davidson persuaded me that that's probably not the case yet. Uh, but I ... I did, do still have concerns that we need to have some way of assessing when we've a... achieved a proper amount of, uh, public support for, uh, class A office support, and... in other words, when we should just get out of the game and leave it to the market. Uh, so I ... I think that's something that, uh, our staff ought to be thinking about and... being prepared to come back to us with some clear advice about — at some point in the future, it doesn't have to be done right now! So, I ... I just wanted to put that out there. Hayek: Yep, no ... that's a very good point. Mims: Yeah, I ... I would agree, Jim. I guess I would just add to that that I think with a lot of our ... uh, TIF agreements, where we have given incentives as a city, there has also been a requirement on the developer's part in terms of like minimum assessment, um, and things like that where, to me, if those developers don't see the demand for that space, they're probably not going to be willing to sign those agreements because... they've got to come up with that money out of their own pocket if they don't reach those goals, and so I ... while I agree that we need to have staff look at some more things, I ... I think there are some things built in there that we might be overlooking too, that the developers have to be attune to because they have some commitments on the back -end if they don't meet, uh, the assessment goals (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 16 Throgmorton: Yeah, got the point. I ... I just hate to see us in a position where we're continually... Mims: No, I agree! Throgmorton: ... expected to subsidize development of particular kinds of projects. Hayek: Right. Throgmorton: Right. That's... that's not a good situation to get into I think. Mims: Then again it becomes a regional issue, unfortunately, too. Throgmorton: We should talk regionally too. Mims: Right! Hayek: No, that's a good point, Jim, and it's obviously something we need to watch as we ... as we proceed. I mean, other ... to ... to do otherwise would be to make foolish investments, quite frankly. So ... but, uh, this item is not an actual, is not approval of an actual project. It sets us up in order to be able to consider it and I think that's important to take note, uh, this evening. Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 17 ITEM 8. LANDFILL FY09 CELL RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT — PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LANDFILL FY09 CELL RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS. a. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. Public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) Gravitt: I have a question about that landfill fire. Hayek: Mary, would you give us our ... your name again (both talking) Gravitt: No, my name's Mary Gravitt. Live here in Iowa City. Hayek: Thank you. Gravitt: I have a question about the landfill fire. I never did quite understand it. How did that person ... how did that person get into the landfill and dump that smoky or whatever they call it, smoking ... just set the fire off. Wasn't there anybody at the gate, the guard, to see what was coming in? And this is what I don't understand, if you have to pay to dump, you must pay somebody at the gate! And it should have been somebody there watching! See what you dump! Like I always say, I'm from Philadelphia and I noticed how they did their, uh, you had to go through a gate. You just couldn't go off any side and dump things in the landfill or the waste fill or whatever you call it. I still don't understand how that was allowed to happen. Hayek: Thank you. Anyone else ... during this public hearing? Public hearing is closed. (bangs gavel) b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Dobyns: Move the resolution. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Dobyns, seconded by Payne. Discussion? Throgmorton: I ... I'd like to hear Rick respond to that question. Champion: I asked that question at the work session! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 18 Throgmorton: I know! (laughs) It's a good question. Fosse: Well, we still don't know the exact cause of the fire out there. What we suspect is the most likely cause is a hot item that was within a load that was delivered to the landfill. It did come in across the gate, uh, go ... go across the scale and down to the working face, uh, but was ... was not noticed. Throgmorton: Can... Mims: Things can be smoldering underneath and you don't see it or notice it, I mean... Dobyns: Rick, you oughta ... ought to mention also after its placed, there are also some methods to discover, uh, using water that also in this case, because of the wind, didn't work. Fosse: Right! They ... one of the things that ... that our operators do on a daily basis is watch for hot loads and ... and potential for fire, cause that can be a problem, uh, as we experienced last summer or, uh, when the landfill cell is ... is nearly full and ... and just the garbage catches on fire, and it doesn't include part of the liner. So our ... our guys watch as the loads come in, uh, they look for smoke, they look for smoldering things, and then at the end of the day when the daily cover is put on, that's another time when they ... they check again, and there were no indicators on that day that we had a hot load in there. So it may have been concealed underneath and uh, smoldering without having any indications on the surface, and then didn't catch fire didn't later. Hayek: Thanks, Rick. Jim? Throgmorton: I might be wrong, but I think there are some news media people here who might be interested in knowing what we're being asked to approve. Hayek: Yeah, and I was about to get into that. You ... do you, why don't you just give us, you know, the 60- second version of what we're taking up this evening. Fosse: Sure! Sure! The clean -up is complete and we're in a position now to bid the reconstruction of the landfill, and what we're doing is... our... our plans include a ...a couple options for materials in that reconstruction, and specifically what we're talking about is the drainage layer in the liner system, which was the ...the major component in the fire that we experienced last ... last summer. Uh, one of the options does include reusing the tired derived aggregate. Um, and with that includes safety options that were developed by our consultant, working in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to manage the risks in a much better way than were possible before. Uh, other options include using aggregates, either a... a sand that (coughing, unable to hear speaker) limestone in it, or a, uh, a conventional aggregate that, again, it's not limestone. It'd probably This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 19 need to come from outside the state, uh, be it a quartzite or dolomite, and each ... each of those properties, or excuse me, each of the materials that I described have distinct advantages and disadvantages for use as ... as part of the liner system. Once we have the bids back, we'll be able to weigh all of the advantages and disadvantages, and make a recommendation on how to move forward. Hayek: And at that point, we as a Council will take up those recommendations and make a decision, and, uh, move forward with rec ... reconstruction of the cell that was damaged. Fosse: Yes! Hayek: Thanks! Fosse: You're welcome! Hayek: Further Council discussion? Roll call, please. Throgmorton: (both talking) Matt, I... Hayek: I'm sorry, Jim, go ahead! Throgmorton: ... yeah, I ... very, very briefly, I'd just like to say accidents happen. Good people learn from accidents. I have enormous trust in Rick and his Public Works' staff so, am I going to pre judge whether they're doing the right thing or not by recommending this? No! Because I have complete confidence in Rick and his staff. So ... I'll support this. Hayek: Thank you, Jim. Anything else? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 20 ITEM 9. UNIVERCITY SALE — 828 EAST MARKET - AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE OF A SINGLE FAMILY HOME LOCATED AT 828 EAST MARKET STREET. a. PUBLIC HEARING Hayek: This is a public hearing. The public hearing is open. (bangs gavel) This is, uh, yet another conveyance through the UniverCity neighborhood partnership program. Throgmorton: This ... the first of four for this fiscal year, right, isn't it? Hayek: Uh, you may be right. Any public input? I will close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Mims: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? This is a great little house! (several talking) Throgmorton: I just drove by yesterday! Dickens: I live right across the street from it .... so I looked at it for several years (laughs) Hayek: Do we know if the ... I think there's a little bump -out with some older siding that looks like it ... hasn't been done ... do you know if that's going to be done? Cause I think the rest of the house is... Fruin: Yeah, there's two different... the green versus the white. I'm not sure if the white's scheduled to be replaced or not. Davidson: Yeah, I'm not certain either, I mean, my ... my impression is the house is ... is completed. That bump -out is just part of the living space of the house. Hayek: Yeah. And it...it looks great! Champion: It looks great! Hayek: Further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 21 W ITEM 11. ENTERTAINMENT VENUE AMENDMENTS - ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 4, ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, CHAPTER 5, PROHIBITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS, SECTION 8, PERSONS UNDER THE LEGAL AGE IN LICENSED OR PERMITTED ESTABLISHMENTS, SUBSECTION B, TO MODIFY THE TIPS TRAINING TO ACCOMMODATE THE NEW STATE I -PACT PROGRAM; AND TITLE 4, ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, CHAPTER 5, PROHIBITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS, SECTION 8, PERSONS UNDER THE LEGAL AGE IN LICENSED OR PERMITTED ESTABLISHMENTS, SUBSECTION C TO ALLOW THOSE NINETEEN YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER TO REMAIN IN ENTERTAINMENT VENUES UNTIL CLOSING. (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Mims: Move first consideration. Dickens: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Mims: I just think this is another, you know, effort on the City and staff's part to, you know, look at our 21- ordinance and make accommodations where reasonable to, you know, allow those under the age of 21 to, you know, partake of the entertainment venues, but still be reasonable in looking at the alcohol issues. So, given that these venues have had a... a good track record in terms of, um, their dealings with alcohol and the law, then I'm very supportive of this. Dickens: We have tighter restrictions for these entertainment venues so I ... they ... they've proven that they can control drinking, and I think we should give `em a shot. Mims: I agree! Champion: I've had several of the, um, restaurants that have the restaurant exemption who are getting close to losing it because of their ... PAULAs. I said, why don't you go talk to the venue people. They seem to stay out of trouble. So it can be done! (laughs) And I'm proud that they have really done what they said they're going to do, and it makes me feel really good. Good for them! Hayek: What I like about this is that ... this, the genesis of this was not Council. It was, you know, it was within the business, uh, community. Uh, and they interacted with staff, um, and ... staff looked at it, and the ... the requested changes were, uh, viewed as ... as reasonable, um, and we have a track record with ... with the kinds of, uh, venues we're talking about, and uh, this resulted in a recommendation to us, and... and uh, been part of the, this area of... of, uh, city legislation for a while, I think it's ... I think this is a good thing for us to do. I'm certainly willing to do it, and um, our... our music scene is vibrant and anything we can do to support it, uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 22 that doesn't have adverse impacts, um, is something we should consider. So, I'm excited about it! Dobyns: I agree! If you don't re ... uh, reward good behavior, you're actually rewarding bad behavior. So I agree with Terry. I think we need to give this a shot. (laughter) Throgmorton: It ... it reminds me of...of last fall when Michelle and Rick and I were seeking election and we often heard from people who were, who asked about, uh, what we thought about the 21- ordinance, the 19- ordinance, whatever, you know, and so I ...my answer usually was I'd be, uh, open to considering tweaks to it, that would improve it, and this is an example of it, and ... and various people have told me over the...over the past year that there were worries about the entertainment venues and about, uh, effects on the music scene, so, uh, I'm happy to support this. Hayek: Any further discussion? Roll call, please. First consideration passes, uh, 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 23 ITEM 12. RESOLUTION ENDORSING THE ICCSD REVENUE PURPOSE STATEMENT — RESOLUTION ENDORSING THE IOWA CITY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT REVENUE PURPOSE STATEMENT AND SUPPORTING A POLICY TO ADDRESS SOCIOECONOMIC AND ENROLLMENT IMBALANCE IN THE DISTRICT. Mims: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Throgmorton: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Uh, I just had a couple of comments I wanted to make. Um, so this, uh, this item, uh, endorses the RPS, the revenue purpose statement, um, and it also supports a policy for ... for socio- economic balance, uh, throughout the district, which are both issues, um, presently receiving a lot of attention. Um, you know, as to the diversity policy, uh, in ... in my view, uh, it's important that, and I think this is shared by ... by those up here, that the disparities we've been talking about, um, be addressed. Um, this resolution is set up so that, you know, the Council's not weighing in on ... on specific targets contained in the policy. Um, this now under consideration, that's ...that's for the ... the district, um, to ... to figure out, and by the same token, uh, the implementation side, um, is for the district to figure out, um, and so that's not before us, uh, this evening. Um, the one thing I, uh, I do want to say is I ... I've heard concern about the ... the proposed policy being, uh, an ... an attempt to shift, uh, students, um, presently in high school from one school to another, and I think it's important for us to ... to be clear about that. First of all I ... I've not heard that from Board Members. Um ... uh, and I ... and I don't think that's the intent. I don't believe I would be ... and I ... and I wouldn't be, uh, supportive of that. Uh... um ... to move kids in the middle of, um, the appropriate chunk of their K through 12 experience, for example, high school. Um, so I just wanted to get that out there, but I also wanted to talk, uh, briefly about the revenue purpose statement, which is, um ... assuming this Council endorses, uh, when we take a vote in a second, um, something that I'm glad that the City, um, is ... is supportive of, uh, and I think is important for the public to understand what ... what this revenue purpose statement accomplishes. It ... it's ... it's authorization from the community, um, for the School District to borrow against future sales taxes. Sales taxes that we ... would ... would get, uh, anyway over the coming years, um, and in fact could lose some of, uh, if action isn't taken, um, by the time the State captures, uh, sales tax, which I think is projected to occur a few years out, um, but we have facility needs across the district that has, uh, been clearly documented, um, and those facility needs exist, uh, frankly in ... in all of the communities that comprise the district and what's ... what I find appealing about the revenue purpose statement is that the district has put forth a one -page, um, work in progress document, if you will, a facilities, um ... uh, summary that, uh, for This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 24 example for the first several years shows new elementaries in Iowa City and North Liberty, additions to, uh, the elementary... to Penn up in North Liberty and to North Central Junior High, uh... a sizeable allocation of dollars, uh, geared toward the rehabilitation of existing facilities that are, uh, in need of...of some TLC throughout the district, uh, and ... and things like that, and I ... I think if...if the community supports this on February 5th, and we authorize that borrowing, it will enable the district to ... to undertake some very important work to address the facilities and balances, um, that ... that we currently face, and I think it will help us as a city, um, and the other cities, that ... that comprise the district, strengthen our neighborhoods, and that's what the tie -in is ... is to Iowa City. Neighborhood stabilization is one of our utmost strategic, uh, concerns, and so I encourage the community to ... to learn more about the revenue purpose statement. Again, it's a vote scheduled for February 5. There's a ... there's a web site out there called "I districtic.com" that you can find more information about and uh, this ... this is important, and I hope the community gets behind it. Mims: Well, and I would just add that ... I think one of the things that people don't understand is that this is, one, it's not a new tax. Um, two, if it's not supported, then in fact we lose eventually, we lose local control, um, about how this money is spent. It will be dictated by State regulation, and if we're going to be paying the tax anyways, um, I would certainly much rather that we have that local control as to prioritizing how that money gets spent in our district, um, rather than ... using some set State mandate that may not fit what the needs are in our particular district. So, you know, for all the ... the concerns that people have out there, um, it is much better to have the local control and be able to, uh, express our views to our, you know, our district board, etc., and use our influence there, um, than to have it mandated by the State. So, you know, I would certainly, uh, you know, voice the same ... same support that Matt has that would encourage the community, all the communities, uh, within the Iowa City Community School District to get out on February 5th and vote "yes" for the RPS. Champion: (mumbled) support the resolution and I'm certainly going to vote "yes" for the, um, district revenue purpose, I mean, whatever that thing is called we're voting for. But I also hope that there is some fairness on how the School Board uses this money. It's not clearly spelled out. I'd like to see it much more clearly spelled out before the election, and that's not going to happen. But I'm going to support it anyway and I'm going to have to trust that they're going to be fair with this money, which I've not seen in the past. (several talking) Throgmorton: Yeah, I strongly support the ... the RPS. I strongly support the diversity policy, uh, and hence I strongly support this resolution. And I want to thank you, Matt, for bringing it to us. Uh, I'm glad that we can play a role in it. I ... I do think as we talked about during the work session that, uh, it would be good if we as a Council could think of, uh, think about ways in which we could, uh, better improve the economic balance, socio- economic balance among Iowa City's neighborhoods, as well as among neighborhoods throughout the School District. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 25 If there's some collaborative mediated kind of process we can engage in with Coralville and North Liberty to ... to achieve that kind of, um, balance ... better balance among neighborhoods, urn ... it's a complicated thing, but I ... I would hope we'd be able to do that and ... but I'm going to support the resolution for sure. Hayek: Any further discussion? Roll call, please. Item passes 7 -0. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Mims: So moved. Payne: Second. Hayek: Moved by Mims, seconded by Payne. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Motion carries 7 -0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 26 ITEM 16. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION. Hayek: We'll start down with the good doctor! Dobyns: My old hockey legs had some difficulty downtown the other day on that artificial ice on Iowa, um, I noticed it was a little bit tougher going uphill than it was going downhill, but I think that's because I've lost some, uh, jump in my step (laughter) but I thought it was a great idea. I thought it was a lot of fun. Um, especially in the middle of winter! Uh, it was great. Payne: I just want to say ... that on January 24th, this Thursday, at 1:00 P.M. at the Senior Center, Adam Bentley will be putting on a presentation regarding changing Iowa City to work for us, an insider look at how Iowa City culture is changing and what that means for you, so anybody that's interested should go to the Senior Center on Thursday! Hayek: Who's Adam Bentley? (laughter) Payne: He would be, uh, our City ... what's his job title? (several talking) Fruin: I guess his official title would be Administrative Assistant to the City Manager. Payne: City Manager. Throgmorton: Where is Adam? Hayek: (several talking) He's preparing for his presentation obviously! (laughter) Fruin: I was going to mention, yeah, Adam's at the League of Cities legislative day, uh, reception day representing the City. Dickens: Just like to wish my wife a Happy 36th Anniversary tonight! (several responding) Throgmorton: And... and you! Dickens: Ehh! (laughter) Payne: You know, when Dobyns had his anniversary we had to hurry up and get out of here! (laughter) Dickens: After 36 years you don't hurry! (laughter) Hayek: She tells ya to take your time gettin' home! (laughter) Mims: Nothing tonight! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 27 Champion: I ... I just want to point out to the people who've been calling me about SEATS, is we've gone through this before with the County and we will not get rid of SEATS. Um, but I'd like to remind the County when they're going to take $100,000 away from us over a three -year period, that we are citizens of the County, and so are SEATS riders, and that always irritates me that ... I don't know what I'm getting for all the money I send to the County, besides a jail which I don't have right now. I also want to thank people who've written about the Moen... our choice of the Moen building. Um, I know there's been negative things about, uh, about us not choosing the, hiring the Co -op building, but this was not a vote against the Pioneer Co -op. This was a vote for what was going to go there instead, and I also want to thank the people who have stopped me on the street, or when I've gone into their business or even a grocery store, and even the screening place, who thought we made a really good decision, and sometimes you don't always hear from the, uh, the majority, silent majority. And I ... I'm happy for both comments (mumbled) (noises on mic) Throgmorton: Only one thing! Yesterday I had the great pleasure of attending a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at Bethel AME. It was a great event, and I really want to thank Orlando ... the Rev. Orlando Ray Dial for sponsoring it, and Billy Townsend for organizing it. It was really fun! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013. Page 28 ITEM 17. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF. a) City Manager. Hayek: Mr. Fruin? Fruin: Just one quick item, um, happy to report to you that the Eastside Recycle Center has received LEED platinum status which is a ... incredible achievement. Uh, only five other platinum buildings in the state of Iowa, one of which is here, uh, ACT's operations center, so we're the second, uh, locally, uh, being one of five in the state, and nationwide only 950 buildings have achieved that status, so ... um, very, uh, very prestigious award that we were honored to get, and uh, lot of thanks goes to the ... the partners in the design and construction of that, as well. Hayek: That's good news! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council formal meeting of January 22, 2013.