HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-02-05 TranscriptionFebruary 5, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1
Council Present:
Staff Present:
Others Present:
Agenda Items:
Champion, Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton
Markus, Fruin, Bentley, Dilkes, Karr, O'Brien, Davidson, Rackis
Bramel (UISG)
Hayek/ Welcome everyone to the City Council work session of February 5, 2013. First bullet
point is questions regarding agenda items.
ITEM 4e(3) NEW URBAN RENEWAL AREA - RESOLUTION DETERMINING THE
NECESSITY AND SETTING DATES OF A CONSULTATION (February
21) AND A PUBLIC HEARING (March 5) ON A PROPOSED CAMP
CARDINAL URBAN RENEWAL PLAN FOR A PROPOSED URBAN
RENEWAL AREA IN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA.
Throgmorton/ Matt, as you and I (mumbled) discussed over the phone, uh, I'd like to pull Item
4e(3) from the Consent Calendar.
Hayek/ For separate consideration?
Throgmorton/ Yes.
Hayek/ Okay. Will you make a motion for that, Jim?
Throgmorton/ Uh, during the meeting? Yes.
Payne/ 4e?
Throgmorton/ 4e(3), it's the one having to do with the Camp Cardinal Road urban renewal area,
uh, a resolution pertaining to necessity and setting dates for consultation and public
hearing.
Dobyns/ I'm sorry, what ... what are you recommending, Jim?
Throgmorton/That it ... that 4e(3) be pulled from the Consent Calendar for separate consideration
(both talking)
Dobyns/ Okay, got it!
ITEM 6d CONDITIONALLY REZONING ROBERTS DAIRY / HY -VEE GROCERY
- ORDINANCE CONDITIONALLY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 7.79
ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE
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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) (PASS AND ADOPT)
[Discussion only at formal meeting]
ITEM 6e 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 6f PRELIMINARY PLAT ROBERTS DAIRY / HY -VEE - RESOLUTION
APPROVING THE PRELIMINARY PLAT OF ROBERTS DAIRY
ADDITION, IOWA CITY, IOWA. (SUB12- 00012)
Hayek/ We can do that! Other agenda items? As I understand it, the three, uh, HyVee items,
we'll be deferring again? (several talking) Okay.
Karr/ To the 19tH
Hayek/ To the 19th. Okay. When we get to that, um ... if someone could make a motion please?
Mims/ That's (mumbled)
Hayek/ Uh, d, e, f, I think. Yes, 6d, 6e, 6f.
Dickens/ (mumbled)
Hayek/ That's right! Other agenda items, if any? Okay! Let's move on to a SEATS/
transportation update.
SEATS Update:
O'Brien/ All right, uh, thank you. Today I just want to kind of go through, uh, give an update,
um, on where we're at with the paratransit discussion, um, got a sli slo ... a slide show
presentation, uh, present a lot of the information, kind of the timeline as to how we got
here, talk about some of the financials. Um, I do ... I am prepared to have a
recommendation at the end and then to look for direction as to how you'd like us to
proceed moving forward. Urn ... there's been a lot of talk about it recently, some
misinformation getting out, uh, so obviously I think this is a good time for us to get some
information out as to ... to, how this process has gone and what we've been doing, uh,
during this time, um, and talk about where we're at with ... with the process and ... and our
thoughts on the services moving forward, so ... um, a couple things to keep in mind as we
go through this, um ... FYI 3, so this ... this year we're in right now, Transit became an
enterprise fund, um, so as we're going through and making decisions on ... on budgets and
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fiscal changes, um, it...it hits the budget a little bit differently so ... so we have to take a
little bit more time as we were going through this. And evaluate how those services have
performed since we are an enterprise fund now. Um, and then the last thing is, this is the
...the second five -year contract in a row we've had, urn ... and (mumbled) the very end of
the second five -year contract, and I think a lot of that plays into how some of the costs,
uh, were skewed moving forward. So I'll talk about that, as well. So, uh, paratransit
services, I think the first piece we want to get out there and where some of the
misinformation was, urn ... we, there's certain things that we're required to do as we
received FTA funding, and ... and as the fact that we receive Federal Transit Assistance
for our fixed route services, we are mandated to provide paratransit services
complementary to that. Um, and the musts are, we must provide service that mirrors the
hours of operation of the fixed route, um, we must provide curb -to -curb service, and we
must charge a fare that no more than doubles that of the fixed route. Those are
requirements. There's... there's no ifs, ands, or buts about that since we receive Federal
Transit Assistance, uh, for the fixed route services. So, I wanted to break down and tell
you what ... what's required and what we currently provide as we ... and that's... that's the
current contract that we're under. So our hours of operation are Monday through Friday,
5:45 A.M., and honestly stop me if there's any questions or you need me to clarify. Uh, I
anticipate this'll be a lot of dialog rather than ... than hopefully me just ... just talking to
you guys, so ... uh, Monday through Friday, 5:45 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. Saturday from 5:45
A.M. to 7:40 P.M. Um, that's what we provide during the week and on Saturday, but we
also provide Sunday service from 8:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Uh, and that is not reg ... that's
not mandated by FTA. That's something we go up and beyond to provide, um, there's no
restrictions on ... on cost or what you can charge for that. Um, so those are all things to
consider as we move through this, as (both talking)
Dickens/ What does it cost to do the Sunday service?
O'Brien/ The Sunday service, the costs per ride during the week, and we'll get into some of that
as we ... we go through this, but just over $16 per ride for during the week. It's getting
close to $30 per ride on Sunday ... is the cost, and ... and we provide eight, about 1,800
rides, uh ... per year for the Sunday service. Somewhere between 1,600 and 1,800
depending on what year it is, so ... uh, we are mandated to provide curb -to -curb service.
Currently we provide door -to -door, uh, meaning that when, um ... when a driver arrives at
a location, uh, they will go to the door to assist someone to get down to the vehicle. Um,
and assist them to the door of the location that they're going to. Uh, curb -to -curb service
is what's required, and door -to -door is what we currently provide, which is above and
beyond. And fares no more ... can no more than double that of the fixed route fares. So in
FYI we increased our fixed route fare to $1.00 and that was the last ... last increase prior
to that was 1997, so we've gone 15 years, uh, without increasing our transit fares. So that
increase to a $1.00 then meant that our paratransit fare would ... would go up to $2.00.
Um, unique to Iowa City, um, as far as I could find. I cou1 ... I couldn't find ... um, a
whole lot of other jurisdictions, if any, that ... that provide a half fare. Um, so for those
that qualify, it's an application process. You can qualify for half fare, um, meaning then
instead of a $2.00 fare, they would pay $1.00 for that ... for that trip, and as you can see,
90% of the rides that we provide qualify for that half fare.
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Dobyns/ (mumbled) sense what the qualifications are?
O'Brien/ Uh (both talking) it's income and ... (both talking)
Dobyns/ ...deviates from other jurisdictions that offer comparable services? (mumbled)
O'Brien/ Yeah, we ... we searched ... I ... I went and searched. Des Moines doesn't provide it.
Ames doesn't provide it. Coralville doesn't provide it. There's... there's nobody that
provides that half fare. That I've been able to find!
Payne/ So when you said ... it costs about $16 per...
O'Brien/ Per trip -- $16.42, yep.
Payne/ ...per trip, and most people are only paying $1?
O'Brien/ That's correct.
Payne/ Okay. So the cost is ... that extra $15 is coming from somewhere.
O'Brien/ Correct.
Payne/ Okay.
O'Brien/ Any questions on the ... on the rest of that? So the options, and this is ... this is another.
Once again to keep in mind we ... there is no option that we cannot provide service. We
...we have to provide it; we like to provide it; Johnson County SEATS has done an
excellent job. They provide great service. Um, they've been great through this whole
process, uh, working with Tom Brays, uh, to get information. He's the SEATS Director,
urn ... very open with information as we've requested it through this process. So ... so
they've been great to work with. This isn't ... this isn't a question of the ... the quality of
the service. Um, this is just as ... as we look through the numbers, but here ... here are
options moving forward. We can ... we can once again contract with Johnson County
SEATS for the service. We can operate this service in- house. We can contract with
another government agency, uh, you're not required to go through the REP process if
you're negotiating with another governmental entity. Uh, or you can request proposals
from the public and private providers. Um ... and you would put an RFP out for that... for
those services if there's going to be private providers. So those are ... those are pretty
much the four options that you have moving forward. Uh, just some statistical
information for Iowa City in FY12, so this is last year. Uh, the revenue hours of service
for Iowa City were ... were just over $27,000 -- $27,600. The cost per revenue hour was
$56.45 per revenue hour. Uh, we provided just over 95,000 rides, and that's... that's just
Iowa City alone. The ... the system provided 124,000. And the cost per ride for Iowa
City was $16.42.
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Mims/ Chris, what's ... how do you define a `revenue hour'?
O'Brien/ Revenue hours are those hours that that, the vehicle ... so let's say the vehicle's on its
way to pick up ... pick up a passenger. That's considered part of that revenue hour. And
then when they ... when they drop their passenger off, that's all con ... now if they're on a
break... or they are deadheading back to the barn, those are not counted as revenue hours.
So it's while they're in the act of performing a ride.
Mims/ Okay.
O'Brien/ Both going to and picking up, and ... and then dropping off the passenger.
Hayek/ Is that a blended cost, uh...
O'Brien/ That's across the systems, correct ... for the cost per revenue hour.
Hayek/ But... inclusive of Sunday. I mean it's (both talking)
O'Brien/ ...that's the overall cost (both talking) yep, that's correct.
Hayek/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Chris, can you make, uh, an electronic version of what you're telling us right now
available to us?
Karr/ It'll be available on the City website as part of this... meeting. PowerPoints are archived.
Throgmorton/ (mumbled) so anybody could, any of us, anybody else, can go online and easily
identify it and download it?
Karr/ I can ... yes!
Throgmorton/ Good! I'd like to see that.
O'Brien/ Uh, so here's graphical information on it, and I want to make sure I ... I clarify. When
you look at the annual rides and the revenue hours, uh, the green pie piece there says
Johnson County and ... and the way the contract's divided, it's ... it's Iowa City, it's
Coralville, and it's Johnson County, but ... but Johnson County as I ... I noted at the
bottom, the rides and the hours actually include rural Pathways TMS, which is medical
transportation, and University Heights, and they have separate contracts with SEATS, so
they're not included, uh, and they're not separated out. So for example, Pathways is the
one I really want to touch on. Uh, they provide roughly ... I think it was around ... just
over 11,000 rides are Pathways of those, uh, of the ... the County portion and a large
percentage of those are Iowa City rides, but because they're contracted out separately,
they don't fall under our contract. So ... um, there was a ... 1,200 rural rides was what was
in that for the Johnson County portion of it. Um ... so I just wanted to make sure that we
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understood that Johnson County wasn't just rural. There were a lot of other things
wrapped up into that ... that piece of, uh, the puzzle. Uh, cost to provide this service, we
...we have (mumbled) for Iowa City, Coralville, and to provide the County service. And
then the cost per ride. Uh, for Iowa City $16.42, Coralville $25.80, and then the County
is $24.
Dobyns/ So ... I'm sorry, Chris, part of the green wedge is ... (both talking)
O'Brien/ ...rural, the rural rides, Pathways (both talking) Uh -huh. They have a separate contract
to where, urn ... my understanding is there's no ... the rider doesn't pay the fare. Pathways
is billed for those later on and they ... they pay for that fare. And then University Heights
has a separate contract, and TMS rides are handled separately as contractual, as well, for
medical service.
Payne/ So Pathways pays the $1 or the $2?
O'Brien/ They pay, yes.
Payne/ Okay.
O'Brien/ Yes, that's correct. Uh, cost per revenue hour, and these are FY 11 numbers because I
reached out to the DOT to get some more state of Iowa numbers, and they weren't able...
they didn't have their 12 numbers completed yet, so I had to go back to 11 to get
comparables for that. Um, so these are the ... kind of the comparable jurisdictions. So
Cedar Rapids is at $70, Des Moines and Waterloo are at $61, Ames at $56, um, Iowa
City's portion of SEATS is $52.43. Um ... Bettendorf then is $48.40. Um, one of the big
differences there is ... is, uh, they don't pay benefits to their drivers, and then Cambus,
obviously with student drivers, is sub... substantially lower. So ... um, there's, obviously
there's some efficiencies we felt with ... with having the three jurisdictions and the
County, uh, Coralville and Iowa City that we think play into ... to why that ... that's lower
than average, uh, for other providers in ... in similar jurisdictions so ... um County
participation to Iowa City services — this has been one of the, those obvious hot button
issues that has come up. Uh, so as you look at, um, and I go back ... back to FY02, so
just ... it's even over a 10 year span, um, and outlying both as a list and graphically what
that looks like as far as the ... the County participation in those services. Um, at the
bottom you'll note that those funds are provided through General Tax Levy, etc., for
expenses above and beyond the contracted amount. So our contract is X. These numbers
here are above and beyond what we pay in contract. So for example, in FY12, our
contract was for $941,000. Then in addition to that there was an additional $461,000 that
went to this service. So just over 1.4.
Throgmorton (several talking)
Payne/ (mumbled) why is that? I mean, if we have a contract, why are we charged a half again
as much as the contract?
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O'Brien/ That money was paid out of the ... County General Tax. Not ... not the City. We didn't
then turn around and pay... so Transit did not pay that. That came out of... and... and
that's the ... (several talking)
Mims/ I think you need to back up! (several talking)
Hayek/ I don't know what your next slide is, but... but... but this is ... this is an important one to...
for us to understand. Are you saying (several talking) the Iowa City city government
paid $941..
O'Brien/ Correct!
Hayek/ ... toward ... toward (both talking) the contract? And on ... and then an additional
$461,000 which came from the County's General Levy?
O'Brien/ That's correct. And ... (several talking)
Markus/ ...came from the County's levy but specifically from the taxes generated out of Iowa
City.
Champion/ Right!
Hayek/ And that's ... okay.
O'Brien/ The next slide will...
Hayek/ Okay! I'm jumping you on here (both talking)
O'Brien/ ...that's okay! I anticipated (both talking) question would come up.
Hayek/ Right! It's hard to understand this.
Markus/ It's hard to track this.
O'Brien/ So here's... here's a breakdown. So $856,000, and this ... so just to clarify. Kevin
O'Malley and Simon Andrew met with staff from the County to get this number and they
met with staff, financial staff, from the County so this ... that's where this came from.
This wasn't ... um ... so the total amount contributed to SEATS through the General Levy
of the County was $856,931 was paid. Of that ... so Iowa City had $461,000 of that.
$137,000, almost $138,000 was Coralville, and the County was $257,000, and once again
I note that that's rural Pathways, TMS, and University Heights, just to make sure. Over
on the right, um, was a table that was provided by our finance staff on the percent of
taxable valuations. So, and... and then it outlines. Those numbers came, they took the
$856,931, plugged it into those formulas, and came up with the numbers that are on the
far right. So $426,000 of the $856,000 was Iowa City's portion, which fell about $35,000
short of what the cost to provide Iowa City's service was.
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Mims/ So the claims that we ... been subsidized in the hundreds of thousands is a little bit
misrepresented?
O'Brien/ The money is, yes. The money is coming from the ... the County's, but a large portion
of that, when it's the General Levy, is obviously Iowa City's contribution to the...
Markus/ It depends on how you describe where the money comes from. The money that you see
up there, the $461,000 is what came from the County to pay for the difference between
our contract and what the service actually cost. But, the $426,000 is the County Levy
that came out of Iowa City. So the different is what, $30...
O'Brien/ $35,000.
Markus/ $35,000.
O'Brien/ Roughly.
Markus/ So that is the subsidy.
Mims/ So that one -tenth of what has been kind of publicly... portrayed.
Markus/ Correct.
Mims/ Thank you.
Markus/ Actually... actually ... less than (both talking)
Mims/ Yes!
Champion/ So when they say they're going to cut $100,000 out of our budget, they mean they're
going to tax our ... citizens $100,000 less? (several talking)
Markus/ That's... that's another story. That's a...
Hayek/ Why don't we let ... you've got more to tell us, don't you? (several talking)
O'Brien/ I've got 18 total slides! So...
Hayek/ I feel like we're jumping your slides! (laughter)
O'Brien/ No, no! That's okay. These ... these, that's why I wanted this ... to make sure this was a
dialog as we went through, because some of these questions, to be honest, I may not be
able to answer for you.
Dobyns/ We have more questions over here, Matt. Eventually! (several talking)
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Hayek/ Oh yeah!
Markus/ There's two key parts to this presentation. One is the property tax and how much of
that goes to this service and where it comes from. And then there's the issue of what's
being proposed, and then our suggestions for operational changes to make sure we can
pay for what they're transferring to us. But at the end of the day, the amount of subsidy
that's being suggested is being... provided by the County, um, they can claim that
$400,000 and some number but you have to follow the money. Where did the money
come from to begin with? It came from the Iowa City taxpayers in large degree; $35,000
was the spread this year. If you go back in years and look, that number varies up and
down, back and forth. But to suggest that it was a $400,000 subsidy is ... definitional I
guess.
Champion/ That's very nice ... way to put it.
O'Brien/ So I went back a couple of slides to (mumbled) so we could get, cause this ... I did have
a slide in between so ... urn to show that there was an amount that exceeded the contracted
amount that, of the services we provide, and it has been, it's been on the upswing, and I
...the reasons, some reasons for that ... and we think these are some factors that have led
to those. Obviously not having, cause once again remember that ... that SEATS and the
services they provide, that fare is tied to what we charge for a fixed route. It can no more
than double, no matter what ... what we do, it can no more than double that. So the fact
that we didn't increase our ... our route, or our fixed route, uh, fares from 1997 to 2012
impacted that ... that some. So you can see the fixed route fare was 75 -cents up until
2012. The SEATS fare was $1.50 and then the average cost per rider in that time was
$16.00. So, um, and then on top of that, we offered a half fare, that 90% of our... of the
rides qualified for, meaning that people were getting a $15 or $16 ride for 75 -cents during
that time. Uh, in addition, fuel costs. Uh, diesel costs (sneezing/coughing into mic,
unable to hear speaker)
Payne/ Sorry! (laughter)
O'Brien/ Bless you!
Payne/ Thank you.
O'Brien/ Uh (several talking) increased fuel costs, um ... they've gone up about 45% over the last
three years, the fuel costs for ... for diesel. Um, which has obviously had a significa ... not
just on this, but also on our fixed route budget. We had a ... a substantial increase there,
as well. Uh, increased maintenance costs, uh, the fleet as this contract begins five years
ago was relatively new. The ... the actual useful life of a ... of a paratransit bus is between
five and seven years. So it's ... it's toward the back end of that, so as that's happened,
maintenance costs have go ... have gone up. In addition, in Johnson County and Iowa
City are ... are great places for ... for elderly and disabled. There's a lot of services
provided — transportation options, uh, are great for people. Um, so there's been a higher
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than expected growth in the amount of users we've had. Um, and that's something that
...that's been well documented. So, here's this slide again that we ... we went through.
Um... so the timeline, that's been another one where there's been some... some
information out there that ... um ... wasn't quite in line with ... with some of the stuff that
was going on. Um, we received an initial proposal from the County, um, September 25tH
of 2012. Prior to that, we had been requesting... obviously we're getting into budget
time. We ... we'd been requesting information, um, as to what the basic proposal was.
Um, we got it on ... on September 25th. Um, in that initial proposal there was a 55%
increase in the City's cost, uh, and the County participation at that point was ... was 0 %.
Uh, so 100 %, uh, it was a... a comfort letter that was sent to Iowa City from Johnson
County, uh, where it was a 55% increase, all operational costs being covered by Iowa
City.
Markus/ Okay, so now ... take a moment and explain what that means in terms of the dollars.
O'Brien/ Right! So, what that took us from is we were at a $978,000 contract for this year.
So ... the way they ... we do it is it's ... it's calculated with revenue miles. You back out the
fares. And then that's the operational costs. Um, and this year they also added in rent for
the facility, um, so it...it went up to $1,517,921.43 I.believe. Um ... I might be within a
penny or so. I'm pretty ... I think that's pretty close (laughter and several talking) So
$1,517,921.43. Um... and that was, that's exactly how it was listed in... actually...
actually have it.
Dobyns/ Well, that's the cost of the program.
Hayek/ Okay, so $1.5. We're ... that's good enough for me.
O'Brien/ Yep! Um ... so that was the cost, using the average cost of...the average cost per
revenue hour of $54.55 times the estimated amount of revenue hours they anticipated,
which was 31,000, to come up with the number of 1.7, back out the fares, you're down to
1.5. Um, in addition, it was made known to us that there would be no negotiations until
(both talking)
Markus/ No, no, just hold on a second!
O'Brien/ Sorry!
Markus/ So now ... knowing that the previous contract was 900, they were raising it to a million
five... you... you can start to think about how this all plays out between where the
money's coming from. So now ... now the obligation is, the City of Iowa City is going to
be responsible for the full million five! Well, to me, when I look at those things then, I
say well then, there should be a corresponding reduction in the amount of tax levy for
that purpose, coming out of the County. Right?
Hayek/ General Levy.
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Champion/ Right.
Mims / Right.
Markus/ General Levy. But ... we don't know that that's happened at this point. Right?
O'Brien/ We do not. I do not. Um ... so after we received the letter, we ... it was made known to
us that there would be no negotiations until after the November election.
Mims/ So this was not stated in the letter but ... (both talking)
O'Brien/ It was made known to us. Correct. Um...
Markus/ You recall they had the, um, Justice Center election going on. They were concentrating
a lot of their efforts on that, and I ... we interpreted that to mean that that's what their
focus was going to be on. They didn't have time to get into this issue at that time.
Throgmorton/ (mumbled) I should say, I've heard from one, uh, Member of the Board, uh, that
they were pretty frustrated. This is the way it was conveyed to me. They were pretty
frustrated in that they submitted a proposal in September but never heard from the City
staff ...until mid ... early January. (several talking) What the truth is I don't know, but
this is definitely (several talking)
Markus/ Well we'll tell you what the truth is.
O'Brien/ Sure, and ... a couple things. Obviously when, not knowing anything until I got the
comfort letter, you can imagine the shock when I had to come up with a half a million
dollars out of a budget that I wasn't ... so, and when you're an enterprise fund, you have to
really start looking at what your options are at that point, and working through some
numbers. So, I would bet you that on average, not only myself but Coralville's transit
director, the SEATS director, the three of us met, if not one or two times a week,
sometimes more; on the phone probably three, four times a week; emails exchanged the
entire time; getting information back and forth to each other as we try to ... to work on
information for this contract. So it wasn't...
Markus/ From what period of time?
O'Brien/ From... Sept... well, and I think even Kevin and Simon went probably within a week of
the September 25th letter to get the information from the County as to where the finances
were coming from to fund the SEATS program. So, there were continual talks ... yes, I
was not talking to the Board. But ... that's, you know, I work with the directors as ... as we
try to put this together. So, um, both Coralville and Iowa City submitted their
counterproposals, roughly at the same time, in early January. Um ... at that point we
proposed a 22% increase from 978, that's what our current contract is, to year one
$1,050,000; year two $1.1 million, in addition to, um, some potential increases in ... in
fares to see if that was palatable, as well as some ... some changes to how we handle, um,
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vehicle, the local matches on vehicles, um, and it came up to about a 22% increase in the
contract, and represented a 21% decrease in the County participation. So from 426 ... or
461,000 down to 330,000, um, was how we had budgeted that in there. Um, two days
later we received, um, an email back that, rejecting the counterproposal and stating a final
offer from the County at that point of, uh, 100,000 County participation in year one,
50,000 in year two, zero in year three, and it stated how we chose to make those costs
work was up to us. That was ... and that was on January 10th. So since then, uh, with that
information, we've been going through different models to try to fit that within our FYI
budget that's in front of you currently, of which we've budgeted about 1.2 million, and
that 1.2 million puts us at a flush balanced budget of zero, and that's zero for ... for this
first year, so no ... not much wiggle room there. So that's the timeline. Any questions as
to ... so the current proposal, as it's laid out, and that includes the ... the last letter. Um, all
entities should pay their fair share was ... is ... is, um, the proposal. 1.4179, so 1.418 for
FY14 and the ... the way that, the way that we came up with that...
Hayek/ W ... wait! Who's currently proposal is this?
O'Brien/ This is the County's current proposal to us, that's on the table. Without any changes.
So ... um, to how we operate. So this is with the operating costs of 31,000 revenue hours
at $54.55 plus $27,000 rent, less the $200,000 in estimated revenues, and the $100,000 in
their participation in 14, brings us to 1.418 roughly ... for FY14. And that's just over 200
... $200,000 more than we had budgeted for that. Um... so... for this model, if we don't
do anything, the pros are obviously that ... you can ... that's a pretty fixed amount. You
can ... can, it's easy to budget for, as far as financially what ... what the payments are,
um ... you know, the cons to this model are you're using estimates for revenue hours, cost
per hour, and revenues that, um, obviously fluctuate, so there's a high chance of
somebody overpaying or underpaying, um, and that's kind of where we're ... where we're
at now, um, of ..of some of those type estimates. Uh, the decrease in use of Iowa City
tax funds to support this service and we're down to zero in year three. Then as you can
see, if...if there are no other changes to the service, if we don't do anything else, make no
more changes, uh, we're consistently in the red, uh, for Transit operations, which is now
an enterprise fund.
Markus/ So what does that second bullet mean?
O'Brien/ The decrease in use of Iowa City tax funds?
Markus/ Yeah.
O'Brien/ Um ... the ... the finances as we showed back here ... those funds that were being
contributed out of the General Tax Levy of the County that were Iowa City, paid by Iowa
City taxpayers, are no longer us ... being utilized for transportation, um ... but something
else. We don't ... I don't have an answer for that, obviously. So (several talking)
Mims/ ... spin something.
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Hayek/ Can you explain... enterprise funds, cause I'm not (both talking) understands it.
O'Brien/ ...yeah! Parking for example is, that's probably an easier one to ... for people to
understand. Enterprise fund being a self - supporting fund, meaning that they ... they do
not contribute to, nor do they take from, the General ... the General Fund, meaning they're
not supported by General... General Fund. Um, now we do receive some Transit Levy
funds that come out of the, as far as tax ... tax funds, and then the rest of it is through
federal grants, Court Street Transportation Center, fare box revenues, etc., to cover the
cost of Transit.
Hayek/ So an enterprise fund essentially has to pay for itself.
O'Brien/ Correct! It's a business operation and ... and it's self - supporting. You're not ... you're
not taking things out of the General Fund to pay for your services. And that was
something that we did last year, um, and were able to make changes to ... to make that
operation work as an enterprise fund with the way we were set up. Um, and as you can
see, if we don't do anything else, which I have plenty of options of things we can do to
...to make this operationally work, um, we'll lower our reserves by an estimated
$370,000 over a three -year time.
Mims/ But I guess I would go back to the first bullet.
O'Brien/ Sure.
Mims/ Um ... you know, all entities should pay their fair share, and you know when a lot of what
they have been "subsidizing," the County has been "subsidizing" to Iowa City is actually
with Iowa City taxpayers' money, uh, that puts a little... quite... quite a different, uh, look
to it in that it's not just, you know, the perception has been that the County residents
outside of Iowa City have been subsidizing us. That's ... to me that's the way it's been
portrayed in the press and from the Supervisors, and actually when you really look at the
difference of what has been put in there is about $35,000 is what non -Iowa City residents
have paid for this service to Iowa City. Um that looks very, very different and uh ... I
guess my question to the Supervisors obviously who aren't here would be, you know, all
right if we go along with this, what's ... where is our tax ... where are the Iowa City
taxpayers' money going that has been going to help support SEATS?
Dickens/ And what recourse do we have?
Markus/ Well, I ... it comes down to having ... um, the two entities try and reach some
understanding of what fair share means. And, as long as, um, we have different points of
view, um, that...it...it just keeps going this way instead of this way, together. Um...
actually I think Mr. Sullivan has a point. His ... one of this concerns that he raises is the
issue of TIF. If you could get everybody, um, if...if they could just send us all the bill,
take the total cost, divide by the number of rides applied to the individual community,
and just send us a bill. You know, do an estimate at the beginning of the year and a true -
up at the end of the year, and send us a bill. Then we would have to apply our cost
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against our property tax or rates or whatever we use to pay for that. Rod's big concern is
TIF. Well, that'd get you past the TIF issue because the rates on a proportionate basis
would be different in communities that had removed a lot of their value because of TIF.
So that's, you know, that's one scenario to get to, uh, at least what one Supervisor I've
heard quoted as one of his big issues is TIF. So there's... there's ways to get, you know,
get to resolution of these types of issues, but to claim that ... that they're subsidizing us to
the tune of over $400,000 does not give us any credit for the amount of money that goes
to the General Levy of the County from the taxpayers of this city. Or to Coralville, or to
anybody else!
Throgmorton/ So I'd like to insert a couple points, uh, at this moment. One is I think, from my
point of view, a really important principle is to be clear to the users of SEATS that we're
going to make sure the service continues. (several talking) We have to emphasize that
point, cause there's enormous amounts of anxiety about that.
Markus/ I think you're ... I think you're absolutely right about that, and I think that is just
deplorable that they've been thrown into this mix in this way (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I want to make sure that they don't feel trapped in a debate between two
governmental agencies, all right? It's our responsibility to do what we need to do to
resolve the debate, seems to me. The second thing I ... I'd like to just bring up is, I think
you're presenting really compelling information and it's ... most of it's new to me and,
you know, I'm persuaded, but I'm not the person that needs to be persuaded. It's the
members of the Board of Supervisors. So what I wonder, Tom, and I don't know the
answer to this, is whether there have been direct conversations and negotiations between,
uh, presumably you and Members of the Board of Supervisors so that they ... they see this
data, they understand it, and then, you know, they tell us whatever they tell us.
Markus/ No, I have not gotten into that. We needed to develop our facts and figures on this, and
...quite honestly, I think this elevates to a level of Council elected to Board of County,
uh, Supervisor's level.
Throgmorton/ I have no disagreement with that.
Markus/ Quite frankly, I'm not an elected official, okay? I can speak for the City and would, but
this is information that quite frankly the two parties need to get together and resolve.
Throgmorton/ Exactly! Think (both talking)
Markus/ First I heard of this was in a ... in a much more ... I don't want to chose the wrong word.
Um, it was a bit of a striking conversation in terms of where this all started from.
Hayek/ I think where we are, Jim, is we ... we now have this information and we understand it,
and we, um ... comprehend the difference in approaches, and that's what's being
presented to us tonight, and then the next step is to take it back. And have that (both
talking) conversation.
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Throgmorton/ Yeah, and I'm sure Chris has more to tell us here but I think that's exactly right.
Champion/ I do think, well, I don't know, but I have a feeling that this started with kind of the
antagonism over the Animal Shelter.
Markus/ It did! It ... it clearly did, and it was stated on the record in that fact, and that quite
frankly I was playing poker with the wrong people was the quote that was made at that
time, and you know... (laughs) my view of all of this is, what is the equi... equitable
distribution of cost, and who's paying for what. I don't have a problem paying for our
fair share.
Champion/ No!
Markus/ But if money is coming from the City of Iowa City taxpayers, and it's going to the
County Levy, the County ... the City taxpayer doesn't care where it goes to. And if you
want to claim equity, that money should be used toward our equitable payment of bus
service. I don't know how you would interpret it any other way!
Dickens/ I do have one question for Chris. The reduced rates, you said was like $97,000 I think,
somewhere around there, and 90% of it is reduced rate that the City picked up, it was like
89,000 just doing rough figures. Is that in the budget somewhere? I'm just going by the
number of rides.
O'Brien/ Sure.
Dickens/ You said 97...
O'Brien/ Yeah, 97,000 rides.
Dickens/ (mumbled) or we might charge $2 so (mumbled)
O'Brien/ So the...
Dickens/ I'm just trying to figure out where that comes into our...
O'Brien/ The far, so the revenues received are backed out of the contracted amount. So... let's
say hypothetically our ... our contract's 500,000, and we have $100,000 in fares. Okay,
that means that it would have been 600,000 in operations. That $100,000 is backed out.
So we would owe ... so those are backed out. The County retains the fares and we...
Dickens/ (mumbled) paratransit board. I just wanted some clarification.
O'Brien/ Right.
Dickens/ Or on the committee.
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O'Brien/ Sure! So this is model one, this is one of the model choices that we have, which is `as
is.' Um ... here's some options for lowering the operational costs. Um, elimination of the
half fare, and that would be ... once again, these are ballpark figures. Um, would be
roughly around 120,000. Bringing maintenance in- house, so we have the capacity to do
the maintenance on ... the vehicles are Iowa City vehicles. There's ten vehicles that
Johnson County operates that are Iowa City vehicles. So as part of this, they operate our
vehicles, they also maintain them. We have the capacity to maintain our own vehicles.
So to bring that in -house would be roughly about $108,000 off the contracted amount.
The labor we would absorb, because we have the capacity. There'd be some parts
increase to our maintenance budget to cover it, but... it's a net gain to do that. Uh, if we
eliminated Sunday service, which once again if you go back to one of the first couple
slides, is not required by FTA. It's a... it's a service above and beyond and we operate
that from 8:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M., for about 1,800 rides a year. That would be about a
$68,000 -ish, um, difference. Now if...if that wasn't palatable, we could also ... there's a,
it's called a premium fare, where you ... cause we can charge whatever we want for those
too. So for every $2 additional in fares ... so currently the fare's $2. If you raised it to $4,
that would be an additional $10,000.
Hayek/ And you can do that because it's ... because we're not providing that through a fixed
Transit (both talking)
O'Brien/ Correct! And that's called a premium fare. If you increase the fixed route fare 25-
cents, that would equal a 50 -cent increase in the paratransit ability to charge, which
would be a $48,000 ... just over $48,000 -ish, uh, deduction in what we would be paying,
uh, and then there's the curb -to -curb versus door -to -door service. I can't really put a
dollar on that. I think there's some efficiencies there, um ... but I can't put a dollar
amount on what that ... what that does.
Dickens/ That curb -to -curb versus door -to -door is so big. Just, when you talk to all the (both
talking)
O'Brien/ Yep, agreed! I just wanted to present options as to ... to what they are. (several talking)
Um, and once again, obviously the premium fare does not apply if you eliminate Sunday
service. I just wanted to make sure we ... so it's not a 68 plus 10, um, moving forward.
Dobyns/ I don't understand the difference between curb -to -curb and door -to -door.
O'Brien/ So right ... (both talking) curb -to -curb service means the ... the bus would pull up to the
curb ... the passenger would have to get to the bus, board. Door -to -door means the driver
will then go to the door to assist the person down (both talking) the door -to -door. So, uh,
like our volunteer coordinator, that question's come up, is door - through -door service, so
that's... that's for people who ... who can't utilize SEATS because they need assistance for
medical appointments that somebody may need to wait. They need to wait for them, they
need to assist them beyond just to the door. So that's where that volunteer coordinator
position comes in door - through -door, and then they wait and they they ... they help them
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get home. Um... so model two would be a minimum flat rate, so kind of like a... sort of
like an insurance premium where you pay a really low rate, but then anything that
exceeds that, you would then be responsible for. So let's say you ... and I ... I gave an
example because honestly I...
Markus/ We're shifting away from rates that the user pays to rates (both talking)
O'Brien/ Yes! Those were just ways ... this would be the next model of our contract, and I
apologize. Um, I ... I gave an example here because I felt, obviously I knew what I was
talking about when I was throwing all this stuff in text, and I understand that when people
look at it it probably looks a little ... a little too much to them so ... so what you would do
is you'd set a low flat rate of monthly payments, and then at the end of the year,
and... and Tom mentioned that you true -up at the end of the year for what was really,
what you really did. So, let's say I thought we were going to have $29,000 ... or 29,000
hours of...of service. Uh, that's currently what we're at right now. They're estimating
31,000. Let's say I thought because of all the changes we're going to be at 29. What I
would say is ... is let's pay for 27 so we have a budgeted number that we throw in there.
We spread it out over the 12 months. At the end of 12 months, if we had 28,000, we
would then cut a check for ... for that difference. Now I ... I think some of the pros to that
are, obviously there's a lower chance of...of overpayment because you've reduc ... it
hasn't eliminated it, but it's lowered it, because you're paying a minimum, but if...if your
service dropped below that, you could probably put a clause in there, but I would assume
if you contracted out at 27, they'd want to ... want to maintain that level. That allows for
your changes to take effect, so I anticipate that with changes we're going to make, there
might be some changes in how our revenue hours are set up. It allows `em to take effect.
Uh, both parties have some protection, because we're protected because we're paying
lower than we think it's going to be at, and the County has protection in that if we exceed
it, we're agreeing to pay that difference. And... and pay exactly what we use. And
there'd be no need to utilize any tax funds, because we'd be paying for the operate... the
services that we ... that we're using. The cons of that is once again we're back to
requiring estimates. I'm estimating the cost per hour is going to be $52 and I'm
estimating 29,000. So once again you ... you have multiple functions here that you don't
actually know how they're going to turn out. Um, and it may end up with a (clears
throat) excuse me, a balloon payment at the end to where you have a big payment you
have to make at the end of the year, which... you know, could at the end of the year be an
issue for ... for some. So that's ... that would be the second model that we ... we think
would be a palatable solution. Still gets at the ... the, still gets at the topic of (clears
throat) excuse me, still gets at the ... the point of paying your fair share. Um ... this
spreads it out and allows protection for ... for the parties. So the third option, and I only
have three, I didn't have any others outside of this, would be a pay -as- you -go. Where the
City will receive periodic invoices for services provided. Could be monthly, could be
quarterly, and the example I gave at the end of quarter one, uh, Iowa City utilized 7,000
revenue hours for service. Total cost was $250,000 after revenues were backed out.
That's exactly what we used. So then we would just get an invoice for $250,000 and
pay ... pay as we go. We would just get an invoice, whether it be monthly, quarterly. So
then you're paying for exactly what ... there's no...at the end there's no exchange of...of
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checks. There's no periodic exchange of checks. Um, and honestly, you ... you run it like
I do my Transit budget. I ... I have a pretty good feeling of...I know what we'll spend in a
given year. This would be set up the same way. You might ... you might go over, you
might go under, but no matter what, we're still paying exactly what we use. Uh, the pros
to that, it's consistent with the City's philosophy of.. of paying our fair share. Uh, all
entities are paying ... all entities are paying for what they use if...if this is the mechanism
that people choose to go with. Um, if it's pay as you go. Uh, we won't overpay due to
...to estimates that are inaccurate. Um, no balloon payment at the end, or any need to
true -up. Um, and obviously the con is that it is slightly more difficult to budget for,
because you're not settin' a flat rate. Um, but I think, you know, looking at... at trends,
looking at changes we're making and ... and how those, how those changes might affect it.
I think you can operate it the same as you do any of your other operations, so ... questions
on any of those? (several talking)
Hayek/ ... what ... does that get to the... continued payment by Iowa City taxpayers into the
General Levy as it relates to this service?
O'Brien/ This is the operational... this is the way to make the operational portion of it work.
Payne/ We still don't know (both talking)
O'Brien/ ...within this enterprise fund.
Payne/ You have no control over what the County's going to do with that $461,000. We don't
know what they're going to do with it.
O'Brien/ That's correct.
Mims/ They're going to keep it and use it for something else.
Champion/ Right!
Payne/ Yep!
Markus/ So initially it was an extracted for this purpose, but when the transfer of the
responsibility becomes the full burden on the Iowa City tax to our Iowa City taxpayers, it
does create the question, well, then, what happens to the amount that was previously
extracted for the same purpose that's going to the County. You would hope that it would
go away!
Throgmorton/ Matt, uh, I...
Hayek/ Yes, Jim?
Throgmorton/ ...I wonder if it might be worthwhile for a committee of the Council to, uh, offer
to meet, or for you to, you know, suggest to the County that a committee of the ... of our
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Council meet with a committee of the Board of Supervisors with the assistance of Chris
and whoever else, uh, Tom thinks is appropriate, uh, to talk through some of these issues,
see if we could possibly negotiate something that would be mutually beneficial. If not,
then we have to move in one of the specific directions that ... that Chris has identified.
Markus/ I actually think that's a good suggestion, and... and we want to be clear — we think that
the service that the County provides is a good service. It's well managed. Uh, Chris has
good working relationships with the staff, uh, with the staff ...uh, from the County. Uh,
we obviously know it's a service, uh, that our public believes in, supports, appreciates,
and uses. Um, so that's not ... that's not the issue. Um ... the question of...of paying our
fair share may be the issue. And how we accomplish that is something that I think really
needs to have a discourse between the two elected boards.
Dickens/ I'd like to be on that.
Hayek/ I think you should! Um ... what do we do for the next few weeks and months? I mean,
we're ... budget season...
O'Brien/ Right, and this contract expires in, the end of June.
Champion/ Oh that's a long way away! (laughter)
Dobyns/ Yeah, I'll serve with Terry too, uh, if we're both on the paratransit board anyways, so...
Champion/ Yeah, the two of you should... do it, and if Matt can do it, that would be three. That
would be plenty.
Hayek/ Sure! That's...
Champion/ The question I have, I mean, I ... I don't want to get rid of the door -to -door service. I
mean, I think that's really important to a lot of people, especially in this climate.
O'Brien/ I actually have a spread sheet with the financials if that'll help you if we ... when we get
to the, my last slide actually shows, and you can pick and chose.
Champion/ Oh, there's ... we have more than this?
O'Brien/ Oh yeah, I'm not done yet!
Champion/ Oh! (laughter) Okay. I'll wait till you're done!
O'Brien/ I ... I did prepare a recommendation.
Champion/ Okay!
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O'Brien/ Now that's up, urn ... which has a list of options. Obviously it's only a
recommendation. I'm ... um ... the recommendation I ... I have is (clears throat) a multi-
year agreement with Johnson County. As Tom stated, service that they provide is an
excellent service. They do a great job. Um, I think it's well managed. We've been
through all their numbers up and down. I showed you how it compares to ... to other
areas, as far as the service they provide. Great relationships with, uh, the customers and
the users, with ... of the other agencies, urn ... I like the pay -as- you -go model. I think it
puts it on us to make sure `us' being my department to make sure that things are running
the way they should. Um, I would recommend that we eliminate the half fare. I think
I've been pretty clear as to how I think that percentage of...of the users, what the users
pay for that ride, um, is impacting the service and impacting our budgets looking long-
term, urn ... while I understand ... I think I understand why it was in place. I ... I'm not
fully aware of when it started or ... or how, um, it certainly had an impact, um, I'd
recommend that we bring maintenance in- house. As I mentioned, we have the staff
capacity to be able to do that. There'll be some, once again, a minor tweak. It's ... it's
next to nothing as far as the actual budget, the maintenance budget ... for parts. Um... I
propose either eliminating the Sunday service or charging a premium fare. That's
something that goes above and beyond. The cost per ride ranges in the neighborhood of
$25 to 30 per ride versus the $16 that we ... we currently have. Urn ... and the premium
fare, I ... I would say you start out at a ... doubling it to $4 to ... for (coughing, unable to
hear speaker) change. I did propose curb -to -curb service, because once again that's... we
go above and beyond. Certainly that's... obviously we could scratch that. That's
something that's been known, or been made ... made clear, and then I actually would
recommend an increased fixed route fare. In FY15, not 14. We just raised our rates this
year so ... so nothing next year and then in 15 to ... to counteract the decreasing
contribution, or the con... participation from the ... the County. Um, of...of 25 -cents for
that year, and that would be just to the cash fare. Not to the bus passes. Not to the other
fare media. So it would just be that, the one -time cash fare. Uh, so passes remain the
same, uh, ten -ride bus passes would remain the same. Um, start moving more towards a
paper - digital media, urn ... and have that cash (mumbled) single ride of...of $1.25 would
be ... uh, what I would recommend. Um ... so ... I laid out a three -year, the financials,
operating costs, I added in the rent, and then if you ... you go down the ... the red column
is, if you go premium fare, the column that's... that's black in color is, if you eliminate
Sunday service. Um, I did note at the bottom, well that's noted, and then I also noted that
once again I'll state 1.2 million is what we budgeted ... for that. Um, but keep in mind,
this is an enterprise fund. 1.2 million means we have a zero, our wiggle room is zero.
Um, we have no flexibility, urn ... we do have the capacity ... we do have a bus
replacement reserve, um, capital funds as provided by, with Map21 when to zero for the
state of Iowa. So, uh, a lot more capital is going to fall on the ... the actual agencies
themselves to be able to provide, um, so as you can see, if you eliminate Sunday service,
you're just around 967, um, if you just go to a premium fare, you're, uh, just over $1
million. So $1,025,000... for 14. For 15 it jumps up because the participation of the
county, um, decreases, as it does in FYI 6, so we circumvent that with a ... a fixed route
fare increase, and once again to keep in mind, we went 15 years without an increase, um,
fuel has gone up, wages have gone up, so this was something that we ... in one of our
stated goals for our fixed route is to get to the point where we're trying to get to a third of
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our..of our reve ... or, our expenses being covered by fare box revenues. So this is
actually in line with what we've stated for our fixed route, as well, to pass that on to the
users. So ... and then out in 16 once the ... the participation goes to zero, um, so as you can
see this ... what we're looking at, these changes while maybe not completely necessary in
14, we're looking at as an operation that's an enterprise fund, the sustainability going
forward. And some of these changes may need to happen now to prevent it from ... from
escalating later.
Payne/ How many ... Sunday rides did you say we provided?
O'Brien/ 1,800.
Payne/ 1,800?
O'Brien/ It's roughly 36 ... per.
Payne/ Per Sunday?
O'Brien/ Roughly.
Hayek/ Is ... is, um ... we ... we're coming on ... we're coming to the end of our second five -year
contract.
O'Brien/ Correct.
Hayek/ Do you have a recommendation as to the duration of...the next one? Is it temporary, is it
another five -year, is it (both talking)
O'Brien/ Yeah, well and I think... obviously we'd put a clause in there that states with 12-
month's notice you could, I mean, we've done that with all of them. I think with a
contract like we're proposing here, as you're paying as ... there's no ... there's no reason
not to ... there's nothing to say that a five- year's any different than a three. Either way
you're still ... you're still paying ... your portion of it, so it doesn't ... I think what we
...what happened this time is as the cost went up, we had a kind of a flat rate contract,
and so that ... that's why you saw that ... that upswing in the difference between total cost
and the contract costs. Um ... I think in a situation like this where you're paying as you
go, you know, you'll see what the trends are, what the operational costs are, you know,
I've obviously got a good relationship with the ... the current SEATS director, um, so... I
mean, I think three's safe. I think five would be fine. We don't usually like to go any...
any past five, plus I think there's some... some issues with that anyway.
Hayek/ No, and I'm not suggesting we (both talking)
O'Brien/ I would say two to three is where I'd feel probably, um ... yeah, if they can get a
contract in place, see how it works out, work the kinks out. You can still ... you can still
make changes to it as you go. You know, I think if conversations strike up and we have
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positive talks throughout the contract, you know, you might be able to make some
amendments during it and ... you can nix the contract any ti ... you know, 12- month's
notice, um ... and you'll start to see that ... that second year into the third year, what you
might have to do in years following, so...
Hayek/ Okay.
O'Brien/ You could put an option for a renewal up to five. I mean there's... there's a lot of
different things you can do.
Hayek/ Okay.
O'Brien/ But I ... I would say three is a nice ... nice starting point.
Hayek/ Okay.
Champion/ So you're not proposing that we take over the running of our own SEATS program
(both talking)
O'Brien/ No. Yeah, I've ... I think there's some benefits to having ... um ... having the way it's set
up. They're able to utilize buses a little different than we'd be able to if we ... if we ran
Iowa City service in Iowa City, uh, they're able to take buses from other jurisdictions,
pick up and transport at the same time. There's some efficiencies that are there. Uh, the
labor rates are different, um ... are a little bit less there as far as what ... what our labor
rates would be. So there... there's cost differences that ... that there's benefits to, uh, they
already have the software and the other things in places, like a $300 software (mumbled)
So there's some capital investments that are in place.
Hayek/ All right. Well let's...
O'Brien/ So not at this time, Connie. But...
Hayek/ Let's get to ... let's accomplish what you need us to accomplish soon, cause we've gotta
get through the rest of our work session...
O'Brien/ Yep! So, obviously, do you have any additional questions? And then obviously the
how would you like ... like us to proceed? Um ... you know, I know at the beginning we
had the conversation of the operational versus the ... there's two different... two different
things that have to be weighing on you guys right now, obviously, moving forward, so...
Mims/ I guess one question I would have is ... you know, based on the recommendations you've
given us here ... and the fact that we still need to go back and negotiate with the County in
terms of the whole payment of all this, how soon ... does staff need a decision from the
Council on the recommendations? I mean ... is it, are we premature to make a decision on
that before we go back and have some more discussions with the County?
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Markus/ Yeah, sequentially I'd say you want to have the conversation with the County first.
Mims/ That's what I thought. Okay. So...
Hayek/ Yeah.
Mims/ So it would seem to me we've got what we need tonight.
Hayek/ Yeah.
Mims / And we've got a subcommittee set up to...
Markus / And we'll monitor that from the standpoint of when it comes back on the agenda and
..:and refine this data into a... a specific proposal, as it goes along, and of course staff
will be, you know, uh... serving that committee, as well, to have those conversations. I
think you'll find that, you know, besides the difference probably in the interpretation of
where the money comes from, you'll find the two staffs I think are very (several talking)
the factual data is agreed to by the two staffs. That's not a ... that's not the issue. So...
Mims/ They think logically.
Throgmorton/ Chris, in terms of further questions, I ... what I'd say is, uh, you presented all, a
great deal of very good information that is, uh, really helpful, but for me to ask questions,
you know I'd ... I'd really want to look through...
O'Brien/ Sure!
Throgmorton/ ...through the written material, think about it a little bit, and then maybe ...maybe
come up with some, but I think we have what we need to ... to proceed.
Hayek/ Yep, yep!
Dickens/ And can this presentation be forwarded to ... I know they can look at it on our site, but
can this be forwarded to the County so at least they can look at what we're looking at, or
is that something we want to hold off on?
Markus/ No. At this point it's all out publicly anyway. I think we, um (both talking)
O'Brien/ ...I can forward it to Tom and he can submit ... (both talking)
Markus/ ...to send it up to the Board of Supervisors — take care of it.
Hayek/ Okay!
Mims/ Well, and I would ... I would encourage ... I know, Marian, you kind of mentioned it. I
would encourage staff to make it ... um ... very visible on the City web site, because
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obviously we have gotten a lot of public input. We've got a number of people here in the
audience already tonight. You know, people have ... I think gotten information who, you
know, have kind of panicked people that maybe SEATS is going away, and Jim, you
mentioned this early on, that that's something we have to be very vocal about. It's not
going away! It's mandated. It's ... it's needed. We want it. We're going to have it. Um,
it's a matter of more discussions between the City and County of exactly how the funding
is going to happen, but certainly here, and as we get in the formal meeting, I think it
behooves us to say something again to just, you know, reemphasize and ... and reaffirm
the City's commitment to the program and take some of that, um, consternation and
worry away from people who desperately need this service. It is going to be there.
Markus/ I think the other thing too is that the same conversations going on, um, in Coralville
and ... Chris has reached out to them. They've had those conversations as well, and uh,
maybe what, uh, as a suggestion, uh, maybe I can have Chris contact their director and
suggest that this committee actually include, uh, representatives of the Council in
Coralville, as well. So that we reach... because it isn't inter - governmental. It's a
cooperative type of arrangement and I think, you know, the solutions would be best
served if they're similar between the major players in this whole conversation.
O'Brien/ Well it actually makes it easier for the riders too if you have similar contracts and...
and therefore those types of...
Hayek/ Well, and they face the same issues, I mean, they're an urbanized area. They pay into the
General Levy, and that's what this comes down to is ... is use of that, or credit for it if we
go in a different direction. So ... okay, well thank you for, uh, (several talking) thorough,
uh, presentation. Let's get this information out. I'll proceed with, uh, Rick and Terry
and staff, um ... and ... and report back to the Council.
O'Brien/ Okay. Thank you. Let me know if you have any additional questions you'd like me to
put together for you.
Hayek/ Thanks!
O'Brien/ Thank you. (several responding)
Information Packets:
Hayek/ Okay. Let's get through the rest of the, uh, work session agenda here. And then take a
...take a break and let `em set up. I guess they are set up (laughter) Um ... Info Packet
discussion. We have two, uh, Info Packets. One from the 24 of January and one from
the 31St
Throgmorton/ Uh, Matt, I'd like to say something about the January 21St packet. 24th packet, I
mean.
Hayek/ Yes, Sir!
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Throgmorton/ Uh, I guess what I'd ... would refer to as, uh, the memo from Geoff Fruin. I dn't
know what it's IP number is, uh, January 24h memo about the Human Rights
Commission recommendations.
Champion/ Oh right!
Throgmorton/ And when I looked at that, I thought... and Marian can help with that, but it seems
to me we need a more formal way of receiving and responding to recommendations from
commissions. Uh, and ... and uh, commissions and boards, and ... it uh ... let's see, I'm
trying to ... trying to look at my notes here. Um ... and I ... and I ... I think, despite Geoff s
good memo, I ... I think we ought to dedicate some work session time toward the two
recommendations that were offered by the Human Rights Commission. So ... partly out
of respect for the Commissioners, cause it's a request from the Commission to the
Council, for the Council to do something.
Payne/ I brought this up last time too. And ... was told that there's a process to do that. And,
they need to follow the process (several talking)
Markus/ From the staff's standpoint, it ... let me just vocalize what I understand to be the issue,
and that is that some ideas came forth, uh, through the body of the minutes, and the idea
is that we would ask that the, any board or commissions, um, summarize their
recommendations into a specific suggestion and ... and communicate that directly through,
is that ... the gist?
Payne/ But they did. I mean, at the top of their minutes they say `recommendations for Council,'
and they listed two recommendations for Council. I mean, it wasn't just in their body of
their minutes, I mean, it was specific at the top — recommendations for Council.
Champion/ Well I would think they'd come in a more formal way than just in their minutes.
Dobyns/ Well I think that's what Jim's talking about. We need to formalize the way.
Champion/ Right! Right!
Hayek/ We just need a protocol. That's all we need. It's not...
Champion/ I mean, I could come up with an idea that would be in the minutes and (both talking)
Dobyns/ Only Michelle reads the minutes in every sense. I mean...
Champion/ But I could say well, I ... I think (several talking)
Hayek/ ...once a year what have the minutes said for all our commissions over the preceding 12
months (several talking)
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Markus/ So maybe the way, and Geoff and I just communicated here, maybe the way to do that
is to have the staff liaison to that commission summarize this into a ... a memo format that
comes forward in that fashion.
Throgmorton/ From any board, any commission, where we (both talking)
Hayek/ ... exactly, and we've... we've got a... you've worked with staff to ... create a template for
memos with the multiple sections, which are helpful cause we're used to that. Maybe a
similar thing could be done with respect to our various commissions (several talking)
Dilkes/ ...let talk about it and come back to you with a recommendation. (several talking)
Payne/ Planning and Zoning brings stuff to us all the time, you know, I mean, they have a
recommendation. We get it at the next City Council meeting. It should work similar to
that, I would think!
Hayek/ Okay.
Markus/ We'll discuss it at staff and have a recommendation.
Hayek/ Other Info Packet items from, uh, January 24th? Thanks for your, uh, forwards. Mr.
Dickens. Uh, 31 St
Payne/ I... I have a question on something on the 31St, but you probably want to know what page
it is, don't you? It's on page 20, and it's in the value comparisons with the rollbacks
applied, that city assessor's annual report. And if I look at 2012 and the adjusted value of
commercial versus 2011 adjusted value, is that ... $60 million that the value went down?
From 1,182,56...516,370?
Markus/ If it did, it's the condo ... isn't it the condo conversion or the coop?
Dilkes/ This, I mean, I ... I think probably you're going to have to direct those questions to the
city assessor, probably would have made sense to do that, cause it was part of the City
Conference Board material. (several talking) When ... when he was here.
Hayek/ You could be right.
Markus/ You'll recall though during the budget discussion, we talked specifically about the shift
of...of values from commercial to residential, and that was linked to the ... the coops and
that ... that change from commercial to residential in those areas but we can verify that for
you.
Payne/ Okay. Thank you.
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Hayek/ Um, there's a memo to us from, uh, from Stephanie Bowers regarding age and public
accommodations and my sense is that we need ... we gotta ask staff to just look into that
and ... and get back to us with their thoughts. Is there a consensus on that?
Dilkes/ Will do!
Hayek/ Thanks! Any other items on, uh, the 31St?
Council Time:
Dobyns/ I, uh, briefly go back, um, sorry, Matt, to the agenda. I did have a discussion, um, with
Geoff, sort of a replication of a previous request when we get to any Planning and
Zoning, um, item that, um, needs information from a Planning and Zoning Commission
discussion, I asked for a specific reference to the specific P &Z meeting to inform us, to
help us vote on that, and just wanting to take a look at the agenda. This is (mumbled)
specific one, but in general be helpful for me to be able to say, okay, this is the January
30 ... 24th Planning and Zoning meeting discuss this, please refer to what (both talking)
Payne/ If you read those meeting minutes, you'd know!
Dobyns/ I know, and since ... you know, I don't get a chance to talk with Michelle about all these
things beforehand. (laughter) (mumbled) discuss before anybody (mumbled) just to
make that easier to cross - reference.
Hayek/ Like a link to the minutes or ... just a, like a...
Dobyns/ No, just a linke, like, uh, go to...
Karr/ The link to the minutes? The links won't work on i -Pads.
Dobyns/ Well, not a link, just a...
Hayek/ Not a hyperlink — a reference.
Dobyns/ ...Rick go read the Planning and Zoning minutes of...
Karr/ But I mean like ... okay (both talking)
Dobyns/ ...when this was discussed.
Karr/ Okay, could you tell me on, for instance, on Item 6a, comment ... at its January 17th
meeting?
Dobyns/ Okay. All right. Oops!
Karr/ So I mean, do you want it more than that? (several talking)
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Fruin/ Rick, I think when we talked you were ... you weren't necessarily talking about the ) &Z
meeting, but you were talking about the staff report on... on, if it's a second or third
reading, if you could just reference... you wanted us to reference when the staff report
was presented, when was that first presented.
Karr/ Okay, is that ... that is something that you brought up during my evaluation that I'm
working on, the cover sheet.
Dobyns/ All right! (several talking)
Karr/ yeah, I'm working on that!
Dobyns/ All right, good!
Hayek/ Okay.
Dobyns/ I'm losing my mind!
Hayek/ Council time!
Council Time:
Throgmorton/ I ... I have a suggestion that... actually I probably should have brought up a few
minutes ago but, um, I ... I was wondering whether all boards and commissions have been
informed in writing of the Council's strategic planning priorities. I ... I wonder that
because I've been asked by various people about particular commissions and how they're
proceeding and whether... what's guiding their deliberations, and ... and it just came to
mind that they should at least be informed of our strategic planning priorities. I don't
know if they have been.
Markus/ I think some have but I, again, that's an issue that we can bring up among staff and have
that ... if you, again, going back to the budget as a reference, you'll note that many of the,
um, items that we are proceeding with are linked directly back to (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Right. And that's why ... actually what made me think of it.
Markus/ ...so I know some have had that communication, but we'll just reinforce that.
Hayek/ That shows where they fit into the ... Council priorities too. You know, what ... what role
they play.
Throgmorton/ Uh -huh, right.
Bramel/ Can I just make a quick comment?
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Hayek/ Yeah!
Bramel/ Um, last time we had Council I neglected to, um, voice my support for the, um,
entertainment exception, uh, amendment to the ordinance, and that's, uh, Item 8
currently. Uh, I just wanted to say that, um, UISG does support this, this amendment and
uh, just to wrap up quickly, it's ... I think it's a good step forward for downtown. I ... I
think it's really excellent. I'm really glad to see this going through. I, uh, noticed all of
you were in ... pretty good, uh ... cooperation in getting this through, so I'm really... really
glad to see that, um, and I probably just finish with saying, um ... uh, you know, alcohol
age is restricted but you know, um ... music shows and the arts and that kind of thing
are ... are not, so I think this is a good way forward for ... for downtown, so, thank you for
doing that.
Hayek/ I noted the DI editorial board, uh, concurred with your...
Bramel/ Yes!
Hayek/ ...position too. Any other Council time? Okay. Pending work session topics, IP5?
Pending Work Session Topics:
Payne/ Are you skipping IP4? Isn't there an IP4?
Mims/ Isn't that next?
Dickens/ That's (several talking)
Payne/ Oh, other (several talking) I'm sorry! I got out of order (several talking and laughing)
Dickens/ Has staff moved forward any more on the outlying bars and restaurants,,,
Champion/ Oh, right!
Dickens/ ...area? You know, we talked about the restrictions for outside the University zone.
Dilkes/ I'm assuming Planning's working on that. Do you know what the status of that is?
(several talking)
Markus/ Yes, I think that is the case. Planning does have it in their (several talking)
Dickens/ Sorry!
Dilkes/ Yeah.
Markus/ ... it's not right at the top of the list.
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Dickens/ I know! There's a lot of other fun stuff going on. (several talking) I just want to make
sure (both talking)
Markus/ I know it's in the cycle.
Dickens/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Matt, I was wondering about the, uh ... um ... the discussion of the ... the
homelessness, homeless population in Iowa City. It's one of the work session items and
uh, I'm uh, caused to think of it, um, by the, uh, Library Board of Trustees' recent
decision with regard to sleeping in the Library, and it seems to me that's a ... a component
of what we could be talking about during the, uh, during the work session. So I wonder
where it's, you know, whether we can move that topic up on the work session agenda, or
if not, when we'll actually get to it.
Markus/ Coincidentally, um ... upon my return, the uh, I was interviewed on, uh, KCRG for, uh,
the homeless issues in downtown and so, uh, I was also informed it's sweeps week so I'm
a little leery of how the... production might actually play itself out, but um ... I did
mention in that, uh, interview that it is scheduled as a work session item in frons ... in
front of the Council. And so the reporter indicated that that was fortuitous that he was
doing that story at this point. So I think that story might generate some more interest in
that particular issue, and we'll try and get it into the work session future agendas. So...
Throgmorton/ I think it would be good.
Champion/ There's certainly a lot of people you can call on to help with that work session. I
mean Chrissy from the Homeless Shelter, uh, some of the police who deal with people
who are sleeping under the bridges and...
Markus/ Yeah, our plan was to invite Chrissy to that meeting.
Champion/ Yeah, she's really (mumbled) on all that stuff! She knows it all !
Dobyns/ Matt, I'm taking a look at (mumbled) number 2, continue the discussion on the sale or
dispersion of public housing units. Um ... I ... I guess that discussion is continuing because
very nice, um, information provided in our packet today, um, especially relevant to the,
uh, School District's, um, diversity issues. So I'm not exactly sure that means to
continue the discussion because I guess we are continuing the discussion, but if there is a
time during a work session where we'll actually talk about that, um, I'd like to sort of
expand the discussion, uh, to a lot of the things the City is doing, um, to spread out all
sorts of housing, not just public housing, but um, I've had some discussions with City
staff about some really, um, relevant things that the City staff is doing to sort of diversify
the types of demographics and units, um, you know, throughout the sociodemographic
spectrum. And, to sort of expand then, make that discussion number two a little bit more
robust, um...
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Hayek/ Yeah, a lot of things intersect (both talking) with this issue.
Dobyns/ ...and those questions will come up, and I ... I'm not exactly sure when (mumbled) on
the docket, and what you envision for that discussion.
Markus/ Well, um, I think ... the Mayor actually brought this to our attention in terms of some of
the commentary we were hearing in the public, um, about the diversity policy that the
School was generated, and that generated some commentary about ... you know, how did
this problem evolve, where did it come from, and so ... uh, Adam Bentley and uh, Steve
Rackis, uh, collaborated and gave you that information that's in your Information Packet
tonight, which we suspected might generate some, you know, interest but considering the
hour, it's probably... it's going to have to be kicked to another meeting. And there's
other, you know, there's other related, uh, story lines that kind of go with that. The
whole regional issue, um, does that get, uh, get, revisited. The discussion on inclusionary
zoning, um ... you know, we ... we are having these kinds of discussions amongst staff on a
regular basis about that issue, uh, we really think the key, um, is a regional approach to
all of these issues, um ... and it's my recollection when we got into the discussion of the
inclusionary zoning issue that while there was interest here, it... it created a... imbalance
if it wasn't conducted on a regional basis because then you had ... uh, developers
approaching, you know, Iowa City and if that requirement was here but it wasn't in
Coralville or North Liberty, it created t his kind of disparate competition, uh, which likely
would result in, you know, more pressure there and less pressure in ... in development
here. So there's all of those issues that take place, and I think at some point we have to
create a regional initiative to get that sort of, um ... solution in place so that we don't, um,
pit each other against each other in an uncomfortable way. We just did that recently, you
know, on a fairly simple matter — the building code! If you'll recall, the issue was
whether we were going to require, uh, sprinkling all residential, uh, housing units. And
the three jurisdictions, I think, pretty much got together and said no they weren't going to
impose that, because of that very competition thing, and that ... that's the same kind of
issue that comes about in this inclusionary zoning discussion. So ... I think from our
perspective, you know, we can generate all sorts of information. I think there was a lot of
debate that occurred during this election that caused us to ... put out so, uh, some
information that we think represents a factual understanding of what's really going on
(mumbled)
Hayek/ So we need to have that discussion. It ... it needs to expand to accommodate the ... ever-
morphing conversation, um ... and that remains to be conducted.
Markus/ Yes! (several talking) We'll get to it!
Meeting Schedule:
Hayek/ Okay, uh ... let's wrap up here. Meeting schedule.
Throgmorton/ July 9th will not work for me, Marian.
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Karr/ Okay.
Payne / Any of those dates work for me.
Karr/ Is there any interest of Council to go down to ... um...
Hayek/ Yes! (laughter)
Karr/ Okay! July 23`d it is! (laughter)
Dickens/ I'll be ... I'll be flying back that day, but I should be here in time.
Karr/ So one meeting in July at this time? July 23`d. The August schedule work?
Dickens /August 6th I will be gone.
Karr/ I'm sorry?
Dickens /August 6th I'd be gone.
Karr/ You'd be gone?
Mims/ We'll miss ya!
Dickens/ Yep!
Payne/ You can dial in!
Dickens/ I can dial in and...
Hayek/ You've been dialing in for a while (laughter)
Dobyns/ What's the second meeting in August?
Payne/20 th
Karr/ August 201h is being proposed.
Dobyns/ There may be a possibility I might be gone, but I don't know yet. So...
Karr/ The August ... why don't we just ... let's go with July 23`d and not ... post an August schedule
because there's ... not one Tuesday in August at this time I've got a commitment from all
of you. So, perhaps it might be a little farther out and we'll wait a couple months, and as
your August schedules get going. Okay? (several talking)
Hayek/ Okay.
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Karr/ We'll just ... end with July 23`d
Hayek/ Thanks!
Payne/ Thank you.
Hayek/ Upcoming community events, Council invites.
Upcoming Community Events / Council Invites:
Karr/ Matt, could we go back one second.
Hayek/ Oh, sorry!
Karr/ Uh, KXIC, um, wonder if I could, if anyone could do the 13tH or the 20th. There's a little
glitch in the schedule. My fault.
Hayek/ Of this month?
Karr/ Yes. 13th and 20th. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ I could do the 20tH
Karr/ 201h, Jim — thank you.
Mims/ I could probably do the 13tH
Karr/ Okay, and I'll confirm that (both talking) I'll confirm that in a memo in this week's packet
and then also we'll look at the next one. Okay? Thank you.
Hayek/ Got it. Upcoming events, Council invites? (several talking) Got an interesting, uh,
mailer from a documentary outfit from the Quad Cities doing a piece on the Ioway
Indian, uh, tribe and ... and their heritage in Iowa, and I'll circulate that. Just arrived at
my house, uh, yesterday so ... I think there's a film that'll be shown somewhere in town at
some point soon. How `bout that for specificity? (several responding and laughing)
Yeah! See ya there! Okay, uh, let's disband and come back at 7:00 P.M.!
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