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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-08-20 TranscriptionAugust 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1 Council Present: Champion, Dickens (arrived 5:05 P.M.), Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton Staff Present: Markus, Fruin, Moran, Rackis, Bentley, Dilkes, Davidson, Hargadine, Karr, Yapp, Dulek, Long, Fosse, Boothroy, Jennings, Rummel, O'Brien, Bockenstedt Others Present: Bramel (UISG) Questions re: Agenda Items: Hayek/ Okay, why don't we get started with our work session. I want to welcome everyone, uh, to the session. Got a busy, uh, set of agenda items here. Uh, I'll start with the first one, which is questions from Council regarding agenda items. ITEM 2b(2) Historic Preservation Commission — July 11 Throgmorton/ Item 2b ... 2b(2), uh, the minutes of the Historic Preservation Commission's July 11th and July 25th meeting. I wonder if we could ask Marian to make sure that the Gateway portions of those minutes are included in the September 17th Council Packet. Champion/ Well we have `em already, don't we? Throgmorton/ Yeah, but they'll be ... they would be before us on the 17th when we do our work session (several talking) Dobyns/ Some of us still struggle finding stuff! Champion/ Well I can find it, but I can't re -find them! (laughter) Hayek/ That's a good idea! Karr/ I'd just like to note that, um, the Normandy Drive restoration project will be pulled and set at a later time. 2e(2). So the Consent Calendar'll be adopted as amended. And I believe Jeff will be mentioning, but 4n, as in Nancy, the applicant has requested deferral to 9/3. Throgmorton/ Which one is that? Karr/ That is Brook ... the final plat for Brookwood Part Three. Champion/ What was that number? Karr/ 4n, as in Nancy. It's the last P &Z item. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 2 Champion/ Oh, okay! ITEM 4k WALDEN WOOD PART 10 — APPROVING PRELIMINARY PLAT. (SUB12- 00014) Mims/ I had a question on, uh... Southgate, on the zoning. Is that one we can talk about now? No? Dilkes/ Which one are you on? Mims/ Oh, I don't know ... uh ... is it the Walden Wood (several talking) That's 4k. Can we talk about that now? Sorry. Throgmorton/ You say preliminary plat for Walden? Mims/ I don't know. Yes, we can! My question is, I thought we did this once before. Payne/ Or twice or three times. Davidson/ What you did before was the zoning. And this is the plat. Mims/ Okay. Davidson/ If you'd like... Mims/ Yeah, that's okay. I just ... we see some of these a few times and I lost track of where we were at and why we were seeing it again. Davidson/ Yeah, that ... I mean, this is ... (both talking) the ... the platting. I'm sure you call basically know this, but the platting is the action ... the rezoning establishes what can be done with the property. The plat is what actually divides it up into individual building lots, of which there are 18 on this particular plat and if ..hang on just a second because it's... Karr/ You don't have it ... probably turned on. Davidson/ Oh, it's not turned on. Sure. Payne / And it's pretty much like what they had described when they asked for the zoning. Davidson/ It is just the same, yeah and if we wait a second for the mac ... oh, here it is! Right here. Um ... so you can see (several talking) See, here's Mormon Trek Boulevard, um... Walden Road, uh, there are, uh, nine lots which face Mormon Trek with rear access here. Uh, there's then a drive here with six parking places. There was some sensitivity from the neighborhood about the on- street parking on this street, which is likely where the spillover would go to and so, uh, we did ask the developer to provide six parking spaces, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 3 uh, for visitors. Each, urn ... unit, I believe, has two ... uh, garage spaces and then two spaces behind the garage. So they can ... they're actually pretty well parked. Uh, and then as I said, the six, uh, spaces here. This is storm water area. You ... you'll recall from the zoning that probably ideally for this site the drainage would have occurred through here, but there was no easement reserved with this property and so consequently they had to work out the design to bring the drainage around the side like this, and there were some concern from the neighbors but the City engineer has basically certified that it's ... it's a workable plan. The other nine units are then up here. They face Walden Road. They then have the rear, uh, access back here off of the ... the driveway. Hayek/ And to the south, has yet to be developed. Davidson/ Yeah, this is the extent of the development on the property, Matt. Hayek/ But to the south where the... Davidson/ Right here? Hayek/ Yeah. Davidson/ This? That is already developed. Hayek/ No, that, yeah, yeah, yeah, well it's not shown there. It's shown on the, um... Davidson/ You see it on the aerial here, Matt, uh, Walden Court here. Hayek/ Oh, that's right. We dealt with what was on top of that (both talking) Davidson/ This has been in place I would say for 20 years, perhaps. As I said, it was the ... the lack of a... of a drainage easement through here. Hayek/ Right! Davidson/ ...which, um, was you know between the property and the developer. The City had nothing to do with it. Um, that's what's kind of inhibited this, and there's, as you can see, this aerial's good because you can see this is the final piece of this development, and it's always the most complicated piece when you're dealing with the final piece, and that's (both talking) Markus/ Jeff, show on this map where the drainage runs. Davidson/ Uh, the drainage will run ... this is a MidAmerican pipeline easement that you can ... you can follow (noise on mic) you know through this entire neighborhood, but the drainage will occur, uh, from the ... from the units into a swale, which will go through here and then into the storm water system. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 4 Champion/ Well this is the same when we had the neighbors here talking about that water. Davidson/ Yeah, the neighbors, Connie, that we heard from, at least the majority of them, were in these houses here, and you may hear from them tonight, but the City engineer has certified that it is a workable drainage plan, um... Champion/ Okay, thank you! Davidson/ Any other questions, Connie, or excuse me, Susan? Mims/ No, thanks. It's just ... we've had a lot of zoning stuff and... Davidson/ Yeah, so this is basically taking it from the zoning to the platting. Mims/ Platting. Thank you! ITEM 9. PERSONAL PROPERTY IN THE DOWNTOWN - AMENDING TITLE 8, ENTITLED "POLICE REGULATIONS," CHAPTER 5, ENTITLED "MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES," TO LIMIT STORING PERSONAL PROPERTY ON RIGHT OF WAY, TO PROHIBIT SOLICITING BY PARKING METERS AND AT CITY PLAZA ENTRANCES, TO PROHIBIT LYING ON ELEVATED PLANTERS, TO PROHIBIT LYING ON BENCHES DURING CERTAIN HOURS, AND TO RESTRICT USING ELECTRICAL OUTLETS. (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Throgmorton/ Matt, I think we need to talk about Item #9. And I ... but I don't know if others have other topics they want to bring up before that. Champion/ What is 9? Throgmorton/ That's the downtown, ped mall thing. Champion/ (several talking) I have some discussion about it to, but I think we should do it at the open meeting. Throgmorton/ Uh, well... Hayek/ Well, we could probably do both. I mean, and we should ... if there are questions, I wouldn't discourage people from ... from bringing `em up now. Markus/ We're, uh, prepared to do a brief PowerPoint so everybody's on the same page with the regulations and then maybe as we walk through that, questions could be proposed, or posed, based on the specific items. Would that help? And then we would replay that during the regular session too. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 5 Throgmorton/No, I ... I think, uh, what ... what I personally feel a need to do is ... is say that I ... I was surprised to see this appear on the formal agenda when we had not had a work sessions discussion about it. We, as far as I know, we Council people have had no explicit discussion about the topic at all. Champion/ No, we haven't. Throgmorton/ Uh, so ... so the very fact that it's on the agenda when we had not had a work session discussion about it surprises me. It's, uh, you know, Geoff wrote a very fine memo, so I appreciate the, uh, the skill with which he did it, but it consistently states that the City thinks this, the City thinks that, but the Council has not even discussed the topic. So, that ... that unsettles me. And ... and I ... I think we need to discuss it, before, uh, we have a... a formal session, um, agenda item, and before we take a vote on acting. So that ...that's my concern. I'm trying to state it as clearly as I can. Champion/ Well I think we can ... I think a better time to discuss this, since we're going to have our presentation, is at the formal meeting where everybody else can hear it, and if we don't like it we can make changes or we can defer it if we can't make a decision on it. Hayek/ Well, I... Geoff, how long does your presentation take? Fruin/ It's about 10 slides. Uh, so I could get through it in five to 10 minutes probably. Hayek/ Why don't you do that now and let's have a little discussion now before we go up this evening? Fruin/ Okay. Dobyns/ Jim, I'm assuming what you're getting at is, um, City staff should be able to bring things forward; however, if there are things that are going to have particular residents in the community and are a little bit more sensitive than others, it sounds like you wanted them to discern what those things are and perhaps do a little foreshadowing with a... with a work session discussion? Before (both talking) Throgmorton/ Speaking... that's pretty close. Speaking solely from the point of view of one Councilperson, I'd say ... you know, I'm fully aware of the situation down there. I ... but there are many questions I would ask of the staff and... and want to know what the public is thinking, before we go into a vote about it, uh ... about the topic. So it ... it, uh, it catches me off guard as one individual member of the Council. Markus/ (several talking) I would just respond to you. You always preserve your right to defer and delay and (both talking) Throgmorton/ Right, I understand. Right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 6 Markus/ And ... while the report may refer to the City's position, it's clearly a staff recommendation at this point. We recognize the City, uh, Council has not debated this issue, or the specific recommendations. So, we're fully responsible for the content, um, and ... and don't put any of that on the Council at this point. Throgmorton/ Okay. So, Geoff. Fruin/ Okay, well, I ... I'll try to be brief and jump through this and ... and interject, um, when you have questions, and I want ... what I want to do is just kind of walk you through the memo that I wrote. So, attempting to frame the issue, um, certainly over the last, uh, year, especially in the spring and summer months, we have received, um, an increasing amount of complaints about behaviors in the downtown. Um, and so this is a ... an attempt to address some of those concerns. Um, as you saw in the memo, some of ...the concerns — aggressive behavior, um, aggressive behavior ... uh, fighting, loi, uh, littering, smoking, obstructing, uh, public amenities and public walkways, uh, are just some of the issues, and some of those we can deal with increased enforcement, um, we... such as aggressive behavior and smoking. We can put additional officers in the area and have some success at, uh, achieving compliance. Uh, other... other behaviors that we receive complaints on, uh, including the use of electrical outlets and the storage of personal property. We just don't have anything, uh, in the City code that allows us to ... to address that. Um, so that's really what we're here talking about today. Uh, the approach that we've taken, again, this is an on -going issue, urn ... the, if you recall you authorized the funding of a downtown, uh, beat officer position this year, so that started up in February. We've really tried to take a community policing approach to this issue. Officer Schwindt, uh, has been down there. I think he's done a phenomenal job down there, establishing relationships with businesses and residents and the people that are ... are downtown. We want to continue to emphasize that going forward. Um, we think that's a critical part of this. Uh, we've tried to engage, um, individuals that are demonstrating the behaviors that are generating the concerns. To try to get them to voluntarily, uh, change their ... the behaviors, and ... and also to just kind of better understand what their needs are and what they would, you know, like to see out of the public spaces downtown. After dealing with this issue for several months, we ... as in staff, uh, finally came to the conclusion that, um, the regulatory changes were the most appropriate way to, uh, move forward to address these behaviors and ensure that the, uh, public's use and enjoyment of the open spaces is maximized. So real quick through the issues, um, they're broken down in the memo for you. Use of planters, individuals are currently allowed to sit, lie, or be in the planters. Um, certainly some of the planters were designed for sitting. Um, but others were not designed for that, and ... and in addition, when you have people in the planters, you're certainly, uh, prone to damaging the, uh, the vege ... the vegetation in there, um, that our staff and volunteers work on. So what's in the ordinance before you, it would prohibit people from, uh, being in the planters and prohibit lying down on all planters. It would further restrict seating to only those planters that were designed for such purposes. And it's easy to talk about the ones that weren't designed for such purposes. They're low to the ground. They look like a curb, no more than a foot off the ground. They're skinny so you can't really sit on the ledge, uh, completely. You have to be in the planter a little bit. Uh, the problem with that, of course, is that it damages the vegetation again, and also This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 7 that, um, it restricts the pedestrian movement when you sit on those, planters your legs are outstretched a little bit and it significantly narrows those pedestrian throughways, uh, in those areas. Storage of items ... uh, items in the right -of -way — this has been a ... a, certainly a growing concern this year. Um, the concern being that the storage of items limits the public spaces for other people to ... to use. So the recommendations, again, before you tonight in the ordinance, um, restricts storage of items in the planters, on tree rings, and other public amenities, um, at all times. It further restricts storage of items based on time and size, so allows someone to store items, uh, next to `em for a maximum of two hours and items that are no more than four square feet, um, in size. And then it addresses the shopping cart, uh, concerns that we've been getting. We certainly want to allow shopping carts to be used for their intended purposes, and the way that this ordinance is crafted, we believe achieves that. It does allow for, um, the transporting of goods to your vehicle or to your place of residence. It allows for the use of the residential scale carts that, um ... that you can buy at a, you know, at a retail store and people that have apartments downtown may have to ... to do their grocery shopping. Unattended property, this is items that are stored and left unattended by their owners. Again, this relates to the storage issue. They take up physical space that, uh, then becomes unusable by others. So this, uh, recommendation would allow the Police Department to remove property when their owner, or the person that the owner has appointed to watch the items, um, are not within 20 -feet of the property. Um, if this goes forward, we would need to bring before you a resolution that would outline the reclaim procedure, but (mumbled) essentially would leave notification that, uh, when the person returns where they can find their property and how they could, uh, reclaim that. Uh, we envision them coming to City, uh, Hall at the Police Department. It's open 24/7 and we don't envision there being any type of fee for that to reclaim. Uh, it does exempt people around the playground area. Use of electrical outlets, um, again this is, um, a growing concern and this also speaks to the condition of the electrical system that we have down there. It's not adequate for what we ... we feel are genuine public purposes and so we don't feel that there's a ... a ability to accommodate personal needs at this time without compromising the public needs, or compromising those that have permitted special events down there, or that pay for the service through their mobile vending license fees. So we would, uh, the recommendation would prohibit personal uses, uh, of the electrical network, and uh, the other thing, you know, we would like to do is through the streetscape update process, take a look at what upgrades can be made and if there are some sensible upgrades that can be made that would, uh, allow some selective private use, I think we'd be open to... to looking into that. Lying on benches, um, pretty self - explanatory here. Again that, uh, the act of lying on a bench takes away the public space for others to use. So our recommendation would, uh, restrict during the time period of 5:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. This, uh, early in the morning hours is when our cleaning crews are assembling to ... to, um, make their pass through in the district and we think it's a need for the, you know, the benches to be open, for us to get around the ... and clean the benches and the spaces around them, and then through the day and into the evening hours when there's peak pedestrian, um, traffic volumes. The panhandling area... areas, uh, that we allow, again, there's currently, uh, several restrictions on panhandling, uh, in the ... in the downtown. ATMs, outdoor cafes, building facades are some examples. Um, and they tend to be low, uh, the regulations tend to restrict where people are ... you have a captive audience or that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 8 you're likely to be handling money. What the proposals, uh, the staff is putting forward do will extend restrictions to the sidewalks that have, uh, parking meters, um, on those ...on those, uh, blocks, and then also the, um, three entrances to the ped mall. So if you think of the ped mall and take the ped mall right -of -way extended to the back of curb, uh, on the three streets where you can enter (coughing, unable to hear speaker) areas. Uh, the thought there, um, is that those are extremely high traffic areas, uh, with people coming and going from the ped mall and that's the source of wayfinding, so people are stopping and (coughing, unable to hear speaker) district maps and ... and seeking information on where to go. Okay, real quick on the enforcement strategy. Um, we certainly don't want to be overly punitive of these, uh, with these ordinance changes. Uh, the ordinances all ...the ordinance has language in there that states that a verbal, uh, warning must be given before a citation is issued. I can tell you in just talking with, uh, Officer Schwindt already multiple verbal warnings are given, um, on existing regulations as part of his, uh, community policing approach, and he's going to do whatever he can to get voluntary compliance. Uh, we don't see that changing with any new regulations that are added. And, uh, as the memo, um, references, uh, the Police Department, uh, has created a diversion program which would allow people that are cited to be able to perform community service to work off the fine, and we think that's a... a real good solution that'll, um, that we'll go forward with regardless of...of...of where these changes go, um, in the next few months. So that's... that's the quick version. Dobyns/ So, Geoff, um, these are within the geographic confines of what's known as the ped mall. Um, you know, I'm thinking of like smoking policies. You just sort of, uh (noise on mic) re- engineer the geography, um, of the perceived behavior. So like on Washington, I'm sorry. Fruin/ I'm going to bring up a map as we're talking about it, Rick, so I'm... Dobyns/ I'm looking at Washington Street (mumbled) entrance. So I mean ... with these present considerations, um, the perceived behavior could move simply north of Washington. Fruin/ The ... the ordinances that we're talking (both talking) about, unless explicitly mentioned in there with, such as the panhandling where we're defining specific areas, the ordinances apply uniformly to the three areas that you see. The Northside Market, Central Business District (several talking) and the near southside. That ... that's not to say there's not going to be unintended consequences (both talking) behaviors that move. That's... Dobyns/ So it'd be one block over on Iowa Avenue. Okay. Throgmorton/ So ... so your question can be... Dobyns/ So it could be displaced to Iowa Avenue. Throgmorton/ Well, in ... in general one possible consequence is that whatever the offending behaviors are they'd just be displaced to some other part of the city. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 9 Dobyns/ Right. Throgmorton/ So then the question becomes, wh ... what would be done then? And ... and is it appropriate to take action (coughing, unable to hear speaker) displaces these behaviors to other part ... other parts of the city, and in a sense makes them invisible instead of having them remain visible, as they are now, and ... so that we know that some members of our community are engaging in certain kinds of behavior that makes some of us feel uncomfortable. Markus/ (away from mic, difficult to hear) Dilkes/ I would... Markus/ ...that actually happened the first time we implemented regulations on the ped mall. Karr/ Tom, could you... Tom... thank you! Markus/ ...did move the issue, uh, to these entrance points and I think ... I think your point is well made. Every ordinance you pass probably has some level of unintended consequence and it does in this particular case where you're dealing with geographic issues is going to potentially move to other places. Um, I think there's certain characteristics of the entries here that are ... such that, you know, we thought that the regulation was probably appropriate to place in these particular areas, but we're not shortsighted enough to think that it can't move it to other areas as well. Dilkes/ I..I would just comment too that ... that in looking at the reasonableness of these regulations and kind of the analysis my office goes through, one of the things that ... that is very problematic is the fact that the ped mall area and the downtown area for us is very small, and we are trying to accommodate in just an in ... incredible list of activities in the downtown area, and so ... when you've got that much traffic in an area, things like storage of big bulky personal items are more problematic than they would be in areas of the town where there's less traffic, for instance. Throgmorton/ So this raises another, uh, question I have or a concern I have. I ... I think as a factual matter a lot of the chaos and congestion currently being caused in the downtown area is a result of the staging area, and that's good because the building's going up. I understand there needs to be a staging area. But that's really compacted the amount of space that's available for us for public use there on the Washington Street side of Dubuque ... of...of the ped mall. So then the question becomes basically will this problem kind of dissipate as a significant problem once the construction's finished? Dickens/ No, because of the smoking. That's the only place you can smoke is from those planters to the street. So that's ... the smoking is probably one of the biggest, because... Dobyns/ So Black Hawk, you couldn't smoke in the Black Hawk (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 10 Dickens/ Most of `em have moved up because of the smoking ordinance. They're not on the ped mall. They're all congregated right there. One it's the highest traffic area for panhandling. Two, it's the only place they can smoke past that wall. Throgmorton/ So maybe that's a... (both talking) Dickens/ That's one of the ... one of the main keys is and ... and you see `em all day. They keep moving down, and it isn't just cigarettes. We've watched `em roll everything there and uh... Champion/ Everything! Dickens/ And uh, the whiskey, the ... the passing of drugs, I ... I've called in, uh ... uh, license plate numbers when I've seen transactions and I know they've followed up on those. Being in the location that I see that ... from 7:30 in the morning when I get to work, til I leave at 5:00 or 5:30. So one, we have a lot of windows so I get to see a lot of the action, but that seems to be the trend, but they keep moving farther and farther down the ped mall, smoking and... and the verbal abuse and the sexual harassment to women and men walking the ped mall has gotten to a point where it... something needs to be done. Throgmorton/ So acknowledging that all that is in fact taking place? Dickens/ It's all in one area. Throgmorton/ The ordinances will ... the ordinance, as I understand it, will simply displace it, cause it to go somewhere else. (both talking) Dickens/ But there isn't any place quite as attractive as that. Champion/ Yeah, I'm not sure where it ... they'll go! Um, you know... Dickens / And when free lunches and free breakfast changed down to Gilbert, we've already talked about, you know, I'm working with those people. They're worried about is it all going to be displaced down there. Is it creating a new problem? Throgmorton/ Exactly, and... and... and I think we should have some... display some forethought about that. Champion/ I ... I think ... I think that's an important point. I can tell you that I'm ... I'm in the ped mall a lot, and I have never been uncomfortable like you are now. The panhandlers are very aggressive. They're actually nasty, and they get very rude, and if I was a young woman with small children, I wouldn't go down there! I'm going to say this right out... we're not on TV are we? (laughter) I have caught people having sex (several talking) leaning against Herteen and Stocker. I caught a man the other day leaning against (mumbled) masturbating! I mean, we've got a horrible behavior problem down here, and you know, I totally support homelessness. I campaign ... I'm the Chairman for the new This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 11 Shelter House. Shelter House is not a flop house, and so a lot of these people can't get in there cause if you've been drinking, you can't get into the Shelter. The Shelter is a rehab place and what we really need is a `wet' shelter where people who've been drinking and using drugs can ... can go to, and that's being worked on. But they cannot be downtown doing the behaviors that they were doing. We do not allow our young girls to leave the store alone. That's how bad it is. They're really nasty to them. They're very sexually suggestive and these are young college girls and they're from small towns, and they're terrified! And so, right, the ped ... there are citizens ... the ped mall is for everybody, but there's gotta be certain behaviors that are only acceptable there. Dobyns/ And I'm going to agree. I think there's change in ... there's interval change in the, um, nuanced behavior, differences. I'm seeing people that used to look at people who were like dressed, you know, exotically, grunge — they'd walk past and they'd roll their eyes. Now I'm seeing people who are actually stopping, turning around, and I think that's an incremental change in behavior in the 25 years that I've (both talking) Champion/ I have never complained about the ped mall, ever! (both talking) Dobyns/ ...the area. You know there's ... I think ... I think, uh, you know, downtown Iowa City has a tension, but I think is really very positive that other communities don't have. I don't think we're trying to get rid of this. I think we have a new change, and ... and, Jim, I would say with every decision that I make, um, there's intended consequences and unintended consequences with every decision. Um, but I think the interval deterioration of behavior there suggests that the intended ones have a higher likelihood of happening than the acknowledged unintended ones. Champion/ And I don't know about the numbers. It's not a lot of people. I mean, most of the people hanging out there are just hanging out. But there is this group that are very aggressive, and they're not friendly. And there's fights. I know... Cheap and Chic has called the police I don't even know how many times for fights, drugs, people ba ... bashing into the store. I mean, it's ... I don't know what it is. It's just this lack of...of respect for anybody or anything! And it's really sad. Dickens/ I talked to, uh, Dave Criss from Hills Bank. They're planning their Youth, uh, Achievement Awards at the Englert, uh, he was downtown Friday. I was gone Friday, but he came up to talk to me and he almost turned around and went back to the Englert and cancelled it and moved it to Coralville. He's said he's never ... he hadn't been downtown for a little while and he said, "I've never seen something so bad." The idea was to bring families down here to enjoy it, everyone to enjoy the downtown and the restaurants. He was ready to pull it, and I said, "Dave, give us a chance!" Because it's, you got that ... I had to walk a customer to her car this afternoon. Our door was kicked in Sunday night. It's ... the Behavior has gotten to the point where it's ... it's not conducive for anyone to be downtown. Champion/ Eleanor, can we make ... the ped mall non - smoking all the way to the street? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 12 Dilkes/ Yes. Champion/ I mean, I think that would help. Like no smoking on the benches. Dickens/ It's run by the Parks Department supposedly so if it's considered a park ... they could be done. Champion/ I mean ... I mean, I... Dickens/ I mean it could be part of their... overall, can't you limit times when ... the park can be used? Champion/ I don't know but I mean I've never, ever called the City about anything going on in the ped mall. I've actually broken up fights and sex on the ped mall myself. (several talking) I'm not going to do it anymore! Throgmorton/ I was just going to say, Connie makes an interesting suggestion and maybe we ... we could focus on smoking and maybe that would have ... have beneficial (both talking) Dickens/ ... start... Throgmorton/ ... a... a friend also suggested the possibility of inserting, uh, in order to deal with the sleeping on benches challenge, to, uh, this person suggested inserting, uh, a new (several talking) arm rail in the middle of...of the benches. You know, that makes it pretty hard to ... to stretch out and sleep, and I know, I've slept on those benches before, you know, so I know what it's like right now but ... so that's a possibility as well. Hayek/ You know I want ... I want to answer, uh, your question, Jim, about, um, just moving the problem. Um, I ... you know, certainly that's a possibility, but ... but you know it's my sense that there's something about the pedestrian mall that distinguishes it from the other parts of downtown where the problem might theoretically move, and ... and I think it has to do with the ... the mass of people and the types of...the myriad activities occurring there and the open space and there's something about the pedestrian mall that, you know, accelerates I think, um, the ... the problems we're experiencing. So while I think it's possible that to some degree, um, some of these things might move, I don't think it necessarily follows that they will, uh, or that they will follow ... or ... or that they will move, you know, with the same level of... of, uh, troubling behavior, the same amount of activity to these other places. That's... that's my sense. And I ... I think this is, I mean, you know... it's... I'm going to support this. I ... I think staff has been exceptionally sensitive as it looks at these problems, and works with, uh, stakeholders who are involved, um ... uh, whether it's the Downtown District or ... or the Shelter House staff or ... or the community policing efforts, or the other groups that ... that provide services, um, to craft a solution that makes sense, that's not, um, that ... that doesn't ... that isn't draconian. That doesn't go beyond what... what... what staff thinks makes sense. So what I see is a series of...of thoughtful suggestions, urn ... that I think are worth ... worthy This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 13 of...of attempt, and I'm down there six days a week, um, you know, half a block away but close enough and I walk through there every day and ... and you know, Rick, your comments and ... uh, you know, are ... are what I, uh, would ... would describe as why it has changed and that's why we're talking about it. Payne/ So, Jim, what ... what would you propose instead? I ... I guess, I mean, what ... what do you think could fix the problem instead of having these new regulations? Throgmorton/ You know, what I'd do is go back to the starting point, which is that we could have the initial discussion on the Council and... and then think about it and talk to other people and focus in on ideas that we ... we would have, instead of trying to generate ideas on... almost on the spur of the moment. Champion/ But these ideas just didn't come from the staff. They were working with the Downtown District, I assume. Fruin/ Yeah, it's ... it's hours and hours worth of (laughs) (both talking) Champion/ Yes! It wasn't just staff dreaming these up. I don't like some of them, I have to admit it bothers me but I think as a choice right now, I don't have a choice but to support them. Things might change, like when you say when that construction area's done and open. That may ... that may change and some of these could be rescinded, but right now it is ... it's not ... it's just not good! It's not good for (both talking) Throgmorton/ What's interesting and important for me to hear, Terry and you, Connie, uh... point to the behaviors, specific behaviors that you've seen. Uh, like most of you, I... spend a lot of time down there too (both talking) Champion/ I know you do! Throgmorton/ ... see me walking along Dubuque a lot and the ped mall and whatever, and that's been the case for 27 years and I think it is a bit different right now, but you know I think the congestion, I mean the congestion and ... and dirtiness and chaos associated with the staging area has something to do with it. And the smoking, uh, ordinance part of it has something to do with it. I don't know what ... what all, what is causing some sort of a vortex, uh, other than the two things that I just pointed to. Some... something's going on. It's a little bit different for sure, but I haven't seen the kinds of behaviors you've talked about. I haven't seen anybody engaging in sex, you know, maybe it's because (both talking) Champion/ Well it doesn't happen every day! (laughter) Well maybe it does happen every day, but I don't catch `em every day! Throgmorton/ I mean I've seen a few people kissing before you know but that's a little bit different. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 14 Champion/ Kissing's different! Dobyns/ Yeah, I've seen some things, I'm just not able to be as graphic as Connie (laughter) Dickens/ No, the whiskey bottle was an interesting morning there. They were passing it around. We called and ... and by the time the officer got... they'd... they'd put it away, but the nice thing is the gentleman that was chugging the bottle finally passed out in front of the ... the mall up the street and I went into the mall people and said there's a guy passed out on your front. So they came and they ... he had several warrants for his arrest so he was finally picked up but that ... that's not unusual to see this going on, and ... and you can only call so many times. We call on a regular basis, every time there's a fight we ... we call. We ... it's just a ... it's a non -stop. Something's going on. Champion/ The other ... the other problem I think we should ... we should bring up, not that there's a lot we can do about it except talk to our legislators is, a lot of people who ... I'm not going to call them homeless because they're not... some of them are not homeless, but let's say they're derelicts, so to speak. They have alcohol and drug abuse problems. Another share of them have mental illness, and as the State cuts more and more budgets from the mental health programs, we're going to see an increase in this. And we have mental illness in our family, and sometimes it's not easy to deal with. But somehow if we can get the County social services involved in some of this. Now not ... you can't help everybody. Not everybody wants to be helped! (several talking) But we do have a lot of mel ... mental illness in drifters. There's no question about it. If it's not alcohol or drugs, it's mental illness or a combination of the... of the three. Throgmorton/ So ... you make a point, I mean, again, one that I agree with and I ... I think there's a tendency, and maybe it's my tendency. I don't want to put it off on anybody else, to ... to say that there's a, you know, a cluster of 25 or whatever people that are the problem and they're all identical, and that's just not true, right? So ... so there's considerable variety so ... I ... I guess I worry that ... taking a broad brush approach, may... maybe that's an unfair characterization, uh... as if they were all the same... is a mistake, either in perception or reality. So... Mims/ But what ... I guess what I would say is ... that ... either what's being presented here, and maybe this isn't the way you meant it, Jim, I don't see it as a ... as a broad brush stroke, assuming everybody's the same. It's ... this is not making, to me, is not making any assumptions about anybody who's downtown. It is talking about what do we consider to be a reasonable standard of behavior in public places so that all members of the public, regardless of income or race or religion or whatever, gender, can be comfortable in what is a public place. And so we're talking about behaviors that make it difficult and/or impossible or uncomfortable for people to use what is a public place for everybody. It's making no assumptions about whether people are poor, whether they're homeless, whether they're ... have mental illness or whether they, you know, have a drug or alcohol problem. It's talking about behaviors that ... I think are reasonable, that as members of society that we respect other people and other people's property, and this is public property. And so coming at it from that standpoint, I don't have a problem with the bulk This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 15 of the regulations that we're looking at. I wish we didn't have to do `em at all! I totally agree with Connie's point that there are a plethora of other issues that need to be dealt with that as a city, we can't deal with `em all on our own, and that is this whole issue of homelessness, mental health, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, etc., that, uh, cause some of these people to be out here on the streets where they are. Dobyns/ And I'm going to comment on that, uh, Susan, during public session. Uh, Geoff supplied me with our funding a lot of the agencies that address, that we have given, uh, you know, reasonable amount of funding to (both talking) um, to discuss these myriad issues. Mims/ Good! Thanks. Hayek/ You know ... oh, go ahead! Payne / And ... I was just going to say, both Connie and Susan, you brought up the word respect twice, and while Jim was talking that's the word that came into my mind, and what, to me what these regulations are is ... we're ... we're telling people how to be respectful. That's what these reg ... regulations do. If people were respectful of everybody else, we wouldn't have to make the regulation. But people aren't respectful, so now we have to make a regulation to tell them how to be ... what is ... what is an acceptable, respectful behavior. Dobyns/ And you got to be careful of what's respectful and what's not, of course, and like I said, I think this is now gone beyond. There's been an interval change. Um, it's gone past discomfiture. Payne / Right! Dobyns/ To aggressiveness. (several agreeing) Throgmorton/ Can..can I ask Geoff a ... a question? In your memo, Geoff, you ... you say that the staff and the District have, uh, done some research in, I don't know, comparable cities. Uh, but ... but you don't present any of the results, at least not explicitly, present any of those ... the results of that research. Um ... can you give us some sense of that, and ... you know, have you looked at other college towns? What are they doing? Are they facing similar problems or, you know, is there something really unique about our ped mall? Fruin/No, I don't think there's something really unique. This is a challenge that, uh, a number of districts face, not just college towns but, um, downtowns across the country, and what the research tells ya is that there is no ... uh, silver bullet solution. There's no one thing that ... that creates it or one thing that will, uh, you know, correct it or address it. Um, cities take a ... a variety of dis ... different approaches, to each of, uh, to each of the issues that we've talked about here, and ... and um, you know, maybe ... maybe it wasn't clear enough in the memo but regulations are not the only way to address this, and it's not the only way that we want to address this. Physical design, Jim, as you alluded to with the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 16 benches plays a ... a large role, and not just the design of benches but how you design the public spaces, how you design the planters, the walkways, the lighting, all those things come into it. So we want to continue down, uh, that path as well. Again, how you enforce it, the approach that your police department takes, all those things, um, factor into it, but specifically was there something that we looked at in another community that said that's right for us? I ... I don't think so. May ... maybe from a legal standpoint you ... you're shaking your head no. Um ... but we did spend a considerable amount of time. I know, um, I looked quite a bit, the legal team looked quite a bit, uh, Nancy, uh, made, Nancy Bird with the Downtown District made contacts with her ... her colleagues across, uh, across the country and people that she's worked with, and there's just no...no magic solution. Hayek/ Couple final comments on this. First, this is first consideration this evening. So it will not be completed, even if we vote this evening. There'll be more opportunity for input and... and discussion. Secondly, I don't think it made it in time for the last packet today but we were ... we received an email and it was sent to the individual Council Members so somebody'll try to forward it to you tomorrow, Marian, but if any of you can ... look for the email from Astrid Bennett of, uh, Artisans Gallery which I think was sent to all seven of us individually. Very thought ... if you do, well either between now and the formal or, you know, tomorrow, you know, before the second reading, very thoughtful, um, set of comments from ... from a, a downtown proprietor who's I think very sensitive to the issues. Throgmorton/ Matt, thanks for reminding me, at least, that this is only the first reading, cause what I was thinking is that it would be good to defer action on this, but when ... when hear, you know, when I'm reminded that there's, it's only the first reading, I'm thinking, okay, well people will still have a chance to participate but ... uh, I ... I would encourage you to ... uh, pretty strongly invite members of the public, uh, kind of all over to weigh in on it, let us know what their views on this particular topic are ... so that we have, we can have a better sense of what the public in general thinks, uh, not just the people who are downtown, immediately adjacent to the ped mall day in and day out, cause, you know, I want to have a sense of the broader community. Payne/ I ... I can tell you, Jim, that I had a neighbor talk to me about this, one of my neighbors, that said that he won't take his girls down there anymore. Throgmorton/ Yeah, I understand. Payne / So...(laughs) Dickens/ I'm averaging between 10 and 20 people a day stopping me on the street. It took me 20 minutes to walk to the bank, which is a block away today, but... since this came out last week, I would say minimum of 10 to 20 a day, and every one of `em supports what we're doing. The ... the most of `em say they don't come downtown anymore. If they do they very selective, if they ... they come and go. They don't stay downtown anymore. So that's... that's what I'm basing mine on is not just my personal because my personal This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 17 would be go for it right away but ... I wanted to listen to as many people as I can and... I can't go anywhere in town without `em, because they know I'm downtown, and they're ...it's like I'm a bullet, and you've seen some of the editorials (laughs) jewelers, politicians and sorority girls. I guess I'm all but ... two out of three! Um... Champion/ Are you sure? Throgmorton/ You're not a sorority girl! (laughter) Dickens/ I had three daughters, but uh, it's ... it's something that, uh, it's ... talk about input, that's probably the most input I've had, other than getting a lot of ribbing about the chickens. This has been very important to people and it ... they want their downtown back. Champion/ Well when you think about it, we've got a big playground down there. We've got our Library down there. The Englert (noises on mic, unable to hear speaker) ...a lot of family things going on down there, and I wouldn't want to walk small children past it. Dickens/ Well, I had my grandkids down there Saturday. We went to the movie on the pentacrest and we were on the toys and just walking through. The kids all of a sudden they, you know, they ran out a little ahead, they came back cause they just didn't feel comfortable. That's just their sense. We didn't say anything to `em. They just came back so ... it's ... it's something that we need to look at. Dobyns/ And, Terry, I think you've been remarkably restrained in commenting, because I know you're concerned about being perceived as having a commercial conflict of interest with this. Urn ... but I appreciate, um, you know, your restraint. Urn ... not quite as restrained as Connie, um (laughter) but... Champion/ I'm going to be restrained the rest of the year! (laughter) Dickens/ Is that public record? (laughter) Champion/ I'm glad this isn't televised! ITEM 2f(2) Iowa City Summer of Solutions: Addressing energy efficiency in Iowa City rental housing: A recommendation from Our Power. Hayek/ ...in the minutes! (laughter) All right. Um ... any other agenda items? I had one. The ... the Summer of Solutions information that was provided to us on the, uh, this advocacy group. Is ... is that something that staff intends to look at? Fruin/ We followed up and we've ... we've actually met with them. Not me personally but our staff has. Hayek/ So at some point we'll hear from staff on that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 18 Fruin/ Yeah. Yeah. Hayek/ Okay, great! Throgmorton/ Yeah, if I could follow up briefly on that. It would seem to me to be appropriate to have a work session discussion about what we could do to enhance energy efficiency in the building stock of our city, uh, and there're a whole variety of things that could be done, and Summer of Solutions does a pretty savvy analysis of that, uh, split incentives' problem so ... (several talking) Champion/ ...yeah, it was good. I thought it was good too. Council Appointments: Hayek/ Okay. Move on to Council appointments. We only have, uh, one to make this evening, the PCRB, and I, um ... I reached out the Immigrant Voices, uh, leadership a few weeks ago when I saw that there was an opening and I... and I suggested that they look for suitable candidates, um, for this, uh, commission. Uh ... we needed ... to fill a vacancy and I saw an opportunity to, uh, bridge some gaps, and I'm pleased to see that they've come forward with ... with two, uh, I think qualified applicants. Um, the message I'm getting is ... is that, uh, stronger of the two may be, um, Mazahir Salih, the ... the female applicant, um, who looks very strong on paper, uh, in addition to her application, I'm told she is, uh, getting straight As at Kirkwood and is very smart. Um (laughs) Champion/ I liked both of `em! So I can support your suggestion. Throgmorton/ Yeah (several talking) Hayek/ I think we'd be all right with either one but ... I see an opportunity here. Mims/ That's fine! (several talking) Dobyns/ Yeah, thanks for the reach -out, Matt! Mims/ Yeah. Payne/ Definitely! Throgmorton/ So ... uh, you ... you're suggesting Mazahir, uh... Hayek/ Salih, yes. Throgmorton/ Salih, yeah. Hayek/ If that's... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 19 Throgmorton/ Well it makes sense to me. I don't know either one of them personally so I can't speak that way. Discussion on Local & Regional Affordable Housing Policies: Hayek/ I think that's it for... appointments. Uh, next items is discussion on local and regional affordable housing policies. And, uh, I don't know if staff wants to jump in on this. My understanding is this has been, this was placed on our work session agenda, um, but uh... staff hasn't prepared anything. What this flows from is some comments that were made at recent joint ... recent joint meeting by Jim and others, um, that ... are the latest iteration of dissatisfaction with the lack of a regional collaboration on issues of workplace and affordable housing. Um, what we might do. So staff hasn't prepared anything, but we... I think we should talk about it right now a little bit and ... and as I recall at the joint meeting we all ... we ... there was sort of rough agreement to take it up through a committee of the MPO but that ... the communities would be talking within their respective councils. Did we ... was that ... (several responding) Champion/ I think we've already done that! And nothing came out of it — a couple years ago! Hayek/ No, I know but at this recent joint meeting (several talking) I'm trying to ... summarize what, uh... Throgmorton/ Yeah, it came up in a joint meeting, came up in the, um, MPO meeting, as well. Uh, and my recollection is that ... oh, the North Liberty people sounded pretty positive about trying to do something and we sort of sounded fairly positive about doing something, but Tom Gill, I think it was Tom Gill from Coralville, uh... (several talking) we have a sort of a comprehensive planning process underway; we don't want to do... we don't want to touch it. I mean that's what I recall hearing anyhow. Dickens/ Yeah, because they ... they would get less funding if we did it as a regional. Throgmorton/ Well, that was back then. I don't know if it's true now. Dickens/ Well that was brought up there. Mims/ Yeah, but there's different things you can look at in terms of local and regional... regional housing policies. I mean, one of it is ... is that money in terms of we're an entitlement city because we're over 50,000 and so we get our own pot of money. But there's other things that ... that my sense is that Coralville isn't willing to even touch, and that's, you know, trying to look at, you know, comprehensive zoning or ... or things in terms of, that would do affordable housing and-and my sense from some of their comments is they're just not willing to touch any of it. So, you know, as we've talked before about affordable housing, we ... I think we've always said this really needs to be regional. I mean, if we're going to try and do anything say related to zoning or any kind of incentives or carrot/stick approach with our developers, you know, whatever it might be, um, it needs to be regional. It can't ... if we do anything, particularly anything that is any kind of a dis- This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 20 incentive, we know what's going to happen. They're just all going to go to Coralville and North Liberty and out into the county, and we can't do that. So it's gotta be ... it's gotta be a regional agreement and my sense is that ... at least at this point, unless there's a major change in their council, Coralville isn't willing to even talk about it! Dobyns/ And we ... we mentioned at the meeting too is that this is going to be big problems for School Board and their diversity policy (both talking) Mims/ Huge, yeah! Dobyns/ ...is that if you don't have scattered affordable housing, then they're going to have to gerrymander elementary school districts to be able to meet diversity policy guidelines, that are regional, um, and so that was brought up as well. Throgmorton/ Yeah, so one of the things that I've mentioned in those other meetings is the difference between "affordable housing" and "low to moderate income housing." Champion/ We need to define the two. Throgmorton/ Yeah, right, so when ... when one talks about affordable housing, one usually translates that into Section 8 housing, in other words publicly assisted housing for particular clientele, but if you talk about low to moderate income housing, then you're talking about people who just have low to moderate incomes and you know they gotta figure out where they're gonna live so the ... they find housing that they can afford to live in, whether it's publicly supported or not. Uh, so ... something like inclusionary zoning can deal with the low to moderate income housing part of it differently, separately, from anything having to do with, uh, publicly assisted or Section 8 or "affordable housing." Champion/ Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up, Jim, cause that's always been a problem of mine is that everybody thinks affordable housing is ... affordable housing plus low income housing, or assisted housing, and to me there's a differentiation. There is low- income housing and affordable housing is kind of for the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker, I ... that's my personal definition of it. And ... and that's, um, and that is what most people think about affordable housing. Uh, but low- income housing is to me another whole classification and that's for the federal money and that kind of stuff goes toward. Hayek/ And you know so much of the low wage job growth in this area has occurred in communities that are ... that up to now have been generally reluctant to take on these issues, and that's the crux of the problem. Um... so I...the problem's not going away, you know, to the extent this area grows, the problem will grow, and ... and until there's a ...a regional solution, we'll continue to have these frustrations. Um ... uh, and I ... we have been down this road. Champion/ Yes! Hayek/ (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 21 Champion/ You've been down it even more than us! Hayek/ Yeah, but ... but I ... but I don't think that means we don't go down the road again. Champion/ Oh, no! Right. Hayek/ I think we keep trying and... and you know, North Liberty has indicated some... some, uh, interest in this and ... and I'm not sure Coralville's unanimous on..on its (several talking) and there may be, as we talked about at the joint meeting, there may be ... I sink ...I think some things are ... are probably deal- breakers from the get -go, you know, inclusionary zoning for example. You're not going to get every room around the table on that, but there may be other areas where some... piecemeal collaboration can occur that at least establishes a method of collaborating, um ... that are worthy of attempt. Throgmorton/ So I... so I have two questions to follow up on that, Matt. One is, and I have no idea what the answer to this is, is ... would it be productive for us to ... sort of aggressively pursue a regional solution, knowing that Coralville won't play? In other words ... just assume they're out from the get -go and then if eventually they want to hop in, they can, but... so that's the first question. The second is, in... in some other metropolitan areas, the MPO has taken the lead in producing what ... what the people call scenario planning, which is to devise scenarios, at least three scenarios of...of future development patterns in a region, and then trying to figure out ... trying to assess, get the public to focus attention on which would be better for the region. So the question, could we consider, uh, pushing to have the MPO do some scenario planning at a regional scale? Dickens/ Cause there seemed to be some interest even from Solon, Tiffin, Hills. Champion/ Right! Dickens/ (several talking) Yeah, Lone Tree. Dobyns/ ..at least give minority opinion on Coralville city council an opportunity to voice that opinion. Markus/ So if... if funding decisions were made with federal funding, um, beyond, you know, being an entitlement community, and I don't know if this is possible through the MPO but you know we rank different projects. So if ..if the regional, um ... MPO were to establish those kinds of criteria, maybe that would be the criteria that you use to ... how we award different grants. Throgmorton/ Yes, something along those lines (noises on mic) Hayek/ Is ... is, um ... is, does the entitlement community... classification ... can it only apply to a municipality? Can it apply to a broader inner - governmental region? I mean, could it be the County, the entire County with all the... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 22 Markus/ I think Steve might be able to ... add something (both talking) Long/ ...we're not considered an urban county. So I think the ... there's minimum population thresholds. I believe it's like 250,000. Hayek/ Not there yet! Long/ So we're not there. Hayek/ Is there some other, you know ... bulk buying, uh, approach that can be ... that can be taken, you know, we give up the community, or the ... the entitlement classification because we can go at funds including, you know, to include all the local municipalities. Is there something we're not doing that we could do? Long/ Hm, we talked about, a couple years ago, about the home ... home consortium idea. Hayek/ Yeah. Long/ Where we'd spread the entire ... I don't remember from that discussion is whether the communities have to be contiguous, or if it's the entire county that can be a consortium. (mumbled) seemed to remember they have to be contiguous communities. Which would require Coralville to be bought in, but I can look into that. Hayek/ Yeah. Dobyns/ As far as timing, I mean, this would be an interesting thing to put before MPOJC before the campaigns. I mean, just sort of...you know, and get that out in the public. I mean... Hayek/ Is MPO the right vehicle for this? Markus/ You know it's my view that, uh, MPOs across the country are used in that fashion, you know, and ... and MPOs vary by the different depths that they go into different issues, um ... from Metro Council in the Twin Cities to somewhat less than that. Um ... John is, um, John's here in the audience. I don't know, let's engage John for a while! (laughter) But you, John, you know, to ... back to what I had asked about earlier in terms o£..you know, how we rank things and how we evaluate. It ... it seems to me that if you're going to distribute funds, whether they're transportation dollars or otherwise, uh, to make... we'd have to establish some sort of nexus, I would guess, to ... to make it meaningful, but to just award people, uh, funding based on absolute transportation needs and not consider the bigger picture, seems to, uh, benefit those that would chose to exclude themselves, uh, from the responsibility for the dispersal of all types of housing. Any comment? Long/ That was a long sentence! (laughter) (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 23 Yapp/ We do have scoring and ranking criteria for our transportation projects, and we do have some criteria that ... that are not strictly related to traffic volume and collisions and things like that. Uh, for example, proximity to schools, proximity to multi - family, uh, buildings, connectivity to commercial areas. All that is included in the scoring for our, uh, transportation funds. Um ... whether the MPO can be a ... a player in ... in housing discussions, we can certainly help facilitate discussions. Uh, we do not have access to housing funds. Uh, but to help facilitate discussions and conversations between the community... communities, uh, we are happy to do so. It does require buy -in from the other communities, for those discussions to be productive. Markus/ But... so that was a fairly long answer, John (laughter) Um... (laughter) getting... getting back to a specific short question, do you think you could plug in whether it be low, moderate income housing or affordable housing or whatever definition we have. Long/ But we certainly could! Markus/ Could you plug that into the criteria for how we distribute transportation dollars? Long/ We certainly could. Markus/ I think you start to have an impact on (both talking) Champion/ That's a good idea (noises on mic) Markus/ ...when you tie them to funding, people eventually get the message (several responding) Throgmorton/ Yeah, and for something like that to happen, we would have to push for some kind of change, knowing that some other members of the MPO board would not want to do it. Markus/ Yes, I ... I understand that, but when you ... when you had ... just had your discussion, you had one outlier and everybody else seemed to have some understanding of the value of doing something (mumbled) And I would guess majority rules on determining criteria. Long/ That's correct. Dobyns/ Do you think this ... I mean, we talked about this in MPOJC about two or three months ago, Tom, and I agree, it could be a vehicle for these discussions, but that vehicle had no wheels. Two or three months ago, it really didn't go anywhere. Markus/ Well, because I think you let, um ... the minority position decide the issue. Throgmorton/ Yeah, one person said Coralville (both talking) Markus/ We're not doing it, and so you ... you know, you resulted in Iowa nice and walked away from it. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 24 Mims/ So now we walk away and we strategize and we go back! Hayek/ I think it's good to have a forum. I ... I don't know that there's interest in creating yet another layer of joint meeting, you know ... no one wants to go to yet another joint meeting between eight local governments, um, if... if it can be helped. And so to the extent MPO could at least be the forum for discussion of this, even if ultimately the solutions lie outside the MPO, I think it's a good place to start. Payne / And what about Tom's agreement that you're trying to get with the three cities? I mean, obviously you wouldn't want to put this in before you had some agreement in place because it might nix it (laughs) but ... but (both talking) Markus/ No, I ... I would say to you that, uh... Hayek/ (mumbled) (laughter) Markus/ ...despite all of our efforts, um, you know, we have not been successful, and I can tell you that we have been promised repeatedly that `we'll get it to you next week.' Um, I can probably suggest that that's been said at least a half a dozen times, okay? So ... (several talking) we drafted an agreement. We've reviewed it. We've revised it. We resubmitted it. We asked `em for whatever their concerns were. We haven't ber ...heard back. My assumption at this point is, it's not going to happen unless it's so watered down as to be meaningless. Champion/ Right! Dobyns/ But there has been a change. Last February the School Board led with being aggressive with the Diversity Policy, uh, pending a School Board elections, if that diversity policy is maintained and not scuttled. Um, I think something has changed in the environment, um ... to perhaps give this a little bit better light and better chance, not much, but ... I mean, where can we put that in the MPOJ ... I mean, I'm sorry, Matt, I didn't ... are you thinking ... I don't want an extra meeting either, but do you think this is or is not something that could be put on an MPOJC agenda? Hayek/ I think it is. Dobyns/ (several talking) Oh, okay! And, John, when could we, um... Champion/ (mumbled) we do have other communities that can vote on this, I mean (mumbled) (both talking) Dobyns/ Yeah, you have a sense of the agenda going forward? Yapp/ Yeah, our next MPO Board meeting is September 11th. And uh... Dobyns/ The day after the School Board election. (several responding) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 25 Hayek/ Yeah. Throgmorton/ Would ... would it be good, John, for uh ... for Iowa City to present a proposal to the MPO Board, to the urbanized board? Yapp/ I think that would be useful. Yes. Hayek/ I'd be pretty reluctant to do something at the next MPO meeting if it's September 11, um, that's not very far off and I ... I feel like we need to give staff a chance to ... adjust this, come up with some ideas, circle back to us ... get this Council united (several talking) Yapp/ Uh, it's not scheduled yet, the next meeting after that, but ... uh, early November. Markus/ So we can bring something back to Council, have Council consider it, adopt a resolution of support, and then... and then present. Throgmorton/ Yeah. Yapp/ And I ... and I think at the, uh, I did anticipate having this on the MPO Board agenda just as a discussion item. Um... Throgmorton/ So ... so at that point we ... Matt could say for us (several talking) uh, and then we will be coming to you with a proposal (several talking) Champion/ He doesn't go to those meetings! Throgmorton/ Oh! Dobyns/ That's okay. Throgmorton/ Well, then, somebody else. His designee like Susan or (several talking) Dobyns/ Yeah, let's volunteer Susan! (laughter) Dickens/ All in favor (laughter) Yapp/ Well and I think, uh, since that joint governments meeting several weeks ago, we can also hear if others have had, uh, similar conversations with their councils. Markus / And we're rescheduled to have our joint meeting again in October, Marian, um, and here at City Hall. Karr/ We'll be having it at the Library, but we'll be hosting, yes. Markus/ Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 26 Hayek/ You know, and maybe the joint meeting structures all right as well but it ... but that's more of a ruder -less ship, I mean, there's no ... there really isn't staff associated with it and just kinda this free - for -all. Champion/ (mumbled) there's no wheels under it. Dobyns/ Uh huh. Throgmorton/ Yeah, the MPO has got structure and a majority vote kind of thing. Hayek/ So ... okay. Dobyns/ But that's what we got. Hayek/ All right. So we'll ... we'll be taking this up at a work session here, at some point soon. Thank you. Uh, next item is discussion of PCRB member term limits, which was one of the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee recommendations. Discussion of PCRB Member Term Limits (Ad Hoc Diversity Committee Recommendation If P31: Karr/ You have a memo in your packages, uh, with a little background on it. This came from the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee. You talked about it briefly when the presentation was made of staff recommendations of the entire report, and then asked for it to be scheduled for a work session, uh, because the staff recommendation, it was more of a political Council decision than any staff recommendation. Throgmorton/ Yeah. Mims/ Those are four -year terms, right? Throgmorton/ Right. Karr/ Those are, yes. Our other boards and commissions vary. (several talking) Champion/ But we generally follow a two -term rule anyway. Mims/ Yeah, I don't ... I mean I don't have a problem. We tend to do that, typically, anyways, especially if we have other people who want in on something. Um ... I guess the question, you know, I think if we were to consider a ... going along with this I think we need to address what if somebody fills out a partial term. Champion/ Different! Mims/ You know, then... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 27 Champion/ We handle that differently! Mims / Right, but that's what I'm saying, I think that needs to be addressed while we're doing this. If they fill out a partial term, can they still then do two full terms afterwards? Champion/ That's kind of what we've done traditionally, I mean, it's not written down anywhere. Mims/ What if we have an opening and nobody applies? And we have somebody good who wants to stay on? I mean, I think those are things... Hayek/ You're... yeah... Mims/ ...to consider, I mean. Hayek/ And I'd also say, I think there's a bit of what's good for the goose is good for the gander here, I mean, if...if, I'm not necessarily opposed to some sort of term limit for commissions, but I think ... I'm reluctant to not do it uniformly. You know, so if we're gonna ... limit terms on one of our dozen commissions, why aren't we doing the same for others? Champion/ Well, that's a ... that's a good decision, but what if it was the Airport Zoning commission and somebody wanted 10 terms. Since we haven't had anybody apply for 10 years. (laughter) Hayek/ But I mean (several talking) Dickens/ You do two terms and have to take a year off and then you can apply again. (several talking) Two consecutive terms and then... Throgmorton/ A ... a key difference is that this is a very controversial board, uh, and ... and I think that's the reason that ... that the Ad Hoc Commission made its recommendation, but what I don't know, so maybe Marian knows is ... whether, uh, any of the current members had been on for longer than two terms, or whether there were any members before that that were on for a long time? In other words, is there really a problem that factually is related to who's served and for how long. Karr/ I know we've had some serve unexpired terms and then ... be appointed for full terms thereafter. I'd have to look, Jim, to see ... I think early on we possibly might have had people stay longer because of the staggered terms and just the newness of the board and things of that nature. I don't recall right now whether ... I'd have to look, whether we're ... cause that would be more than eight years. Two four -year terms would be more than eight years. Throgmorton/ And the boards only, what, 16 years old or something like that? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 28 Karr/ Yeah. So ... if it occurred, I think it might have occurred early on, or pre ... again, going to those staggered terms. I don't recall in present times, but I'd have to look. Payne / And I don't recall reading the Ad Hoc Diversity meeting minutes, why they made this recommendation, why they thought it was a good idea to have term limits. I ... I don't remember them specifically saying that ... what they thought the perceived problem was. Does anybody else? Mims/ I don't recall. Dilkes/ I don't ... I don't remember there being a whole lot of discussion about it. I think it ... yeah, I just don't have a (both talking) Karr/ ...more like what Jim suggested, that the appearance is ... that the same person will get it, and it would open it up, if it was a totally open spot rather than someone reapplying, but there wasn't, Eleanor's absolutely correct, there wasn't a great deal of discussion on it. I think it was more of an interest to try and get a more diverse pop ... board members. Mims/ Related more to appearance than substance, it sounds like. Potentially, I mean... Payne / And I think that typically do a good job of that if, you know, if somebody's been on there two times in a row, looking at, you know, if there are other people that apply (both talking) Mims/ Yeah. Payne/ Yeah. Champion/ Well I ... I support it because I think they just, that Committee, Task Force or whatever you want to call it needs our support, and I don't have any problems doing it in an isolated incident. Throgmorton/ Maybe we could accept their recommendation but uh, identify particular exceptions, like Susan alluded to some possibilities but, uh, and ... and have some sort of standard, some kind of reasoning process behind... making the exceptions. Mims/ I think Matt makes a (both talking) Karr/ For this board or all boards? Mims/ I was just going to say, I think Matt makes a good point of (both talking) Throgmorton/ Well, I ... I was thinking about for this but... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 29 Mims/ you know, why ... why would we necessarily do it for one and not all of `em, and if you put the right exceptions, can it go ahead and work for all, I mean... Champion/ We kind of...it's what we do anyway. Hayek/ We have this informal... this informal practice (several talking) which is probably a pretty good one because I mean ultimately the appointment of a member of a comm ... of a member to a commission, it's apolitical decision, you know, who we decide to ... to put on or not, and we always have the option to ... to not, uh, reappoint. We have this soft policy that says if someone has done two terms, they wants to do a third and there's a newcomer, we want to give the newcomer a chance to serve. Um, and you know, and then you may have somebody who's simply fantastic about whom there's never any controversy and that person does a lot to support whatever commission he or she's a part of, you know, then do you have to create an exception for that, you know, and then you've got commissions, you know, the Airport related commissions. Those are, you know, you're not going to get anybody other than pilots or people who want to be pilots to apply and we're desperate for those people. I just ... I'm not sure we have a need. We're about to appoint somebody this evening who I think has great potential. I've not met her, so it's all on authority but ... but if we're going to do it, I'd say we should be consistent I guess that'd be my... Dobyns/ Marian, how do we deal with applicants when times ... when vacancies come up in the PCRB, um, do we usually have sufficient applicants for vacancies? Champion/ I think so! Karr/ Um ... I believe the last few times we had a lot of people re -up, so you ... you did reappoint some of the same committee people. Um, we've not had ... we've not had to readvertise for it. Dobyns/ Okay. Karr/ Um... Champion/ I think we've generally had people. Karr/ It's always an ebb and flow. It depends on the time of year, um ... activity, um, what else is available. There's always people looking, but something else, you know, they prefer applying for something else. Dobyns/ Okay. Payne/ Well, a lot of times it takes more than one term to get comfortable and understand what's going on with the commission, I mean, Planning and Zoning is... Champion/ Oh! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 30 Payne/ ...you know, even after the second time, you're still wondering (makes noise) (laughter) Champion/ I think they should have apprenticeships! Payne/ So I think you know to say across the board two times ... is... Hayek/ Well I wouldn't do that either. I'm, but I'm saying, personally, and I'll go with whatever everybody wants to do but ... but, uh, personally I would say if you're going to do it, it should be across the board. Payne/ That seems... reasonable, but I also agree with Connie that, you know, it...it is a way to support their recommendations. Throgmorton/ The ... the terms vary for other commissions from between three... Karr/ Two, three and four, and we have ... and six. Throgmorton/ Planning and Zoning's six, is that right? Karr/ Planning and Zoning's four. Throgmorton/ Four, which one's six? One of the Airport things or... Karr/ Uh, Airport or Library. Library, five. Five. Two, three, four, five! Dobyns/ So much for standardization! Hayek/ Gotta have your head examined for 15 years of service! (laughter and several talking) Connie! Throgmorton/ (mumbled) doesn't sound like... Karr/ We have a policy also that if...if it's an unexpired term of six months or less, we advertise it as an unexpired plus a full, so you wouldn't get less than a six month term. Um... Dobyns/ I don't feel a whole lot of movement at this table. (laughs) Mims/ I think we're all ... I think we're all ambivalent from the standpoint it's basically what we already do, but in codifying it, it ties us in with less flexibility than we might like, and then there's the issue of do you do it for one board or commission and not all of `em? I mean, with ... and yet the idea of, and I think particularly with all the politics surrounding what has gone on with the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee and everything else, the idea being supportive of ..of a recommendation. So I think we're, my guess is we're all sitting here kind of saying, you know, we don't really need to do this. We're already This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 31 doing it in practice, but we want to show our support for what they've done, but in some ways it's going to tie our hands a little bit and not have... Payne/ Perfectly said! Throgmorton/ So... Payne/ So what's the solution (laughs) Throgmorton/ Yeah, that makes sense to me too, Susan, but maybe, uh, we could ask Marian to provide us with facts about ... whose been on the PCRB, how long they were on, how many people ... who was reappointed for, you know... Karr/ Sure, I can do that. Throgmorton/ ...two or more terms, in other ... and then ... and then convey those facts to them, previous members of the Ad Hoc Committee. Cause I think the facts are going to show that there's not been a problem. But... Dobyns/ Why did this come up, uh ... Eleanor, Marian, Tom? Karr/ It came up in the ... in making their final recommendations. There was not a dialog much beforehand, but in formulating those final recommendations it did come up. Mims/ I think ... I think Jim's point is a good one. Let's get the facts on whose been on and whose been appointed, and we might easily be able to go back to them and say, you know, this has never even been an issue and we're uncomfortable codifying something that's kind of a regular practice, but might tie our hands in ways that we don't necessarily want to tie the Council (several talking) Dilkes/ So let me just clarify, we're going to bring those stats back to you. Mims / Right. Dilkes/ Got ya! Dobyns/ Yeah, and figure (several talking) Throgmorton/ Acknowledge sympathy with the purpose behind the recommendation. (several talking) Mims/ Maybe not even an issue! Throgmorton/ yeah, right. Mims/ I think that's a good idea. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 32 Karr/ I'll pull it together. Mims/ Thank you. Throgmorton/ Uh, directly related point, has to do with the name of the Commission? Karr/ It'll be an ordinance change (both talking) September 3rd. Different thing. (several talking) Information Packets: Hayek/ Okay, Info Packets. We have two, one from 8/8. Champion/ Oh, I had something. Hayek/ Nice to see we're a Top 10 college town, in addition to the (both talking) Champion/ ...party school! Hayek/ ...number one ranking! (several talking) Payne/ You know, if you read that whole article, it actually was a good article. It wasn't just about party. You're referring to that party article? It wasn't just (both talking) Hayek/ ...just the ... the ranking. Payne/ Oh, okay. Champion/ Yeah, not the article, the ranking. Hayek/ Oh, it was a good article. Payne/ It was a very good article. Hayek/ Yeah, yeah! Payne/ It was a very good article. (several commenting) It was very positive. Mims/ I have a question on ... uh, the 8th packet, packet from August 8th, IP6. This has to do with the Utility Security Deposit. Champion/ Oh, yes, I wondered (mumbled) wanted to bring (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 33 Mims/ ...and I appreciate the response. I guess Dennis left. Um, I ... I guess my question is, is this ... is this something that we have looked at or should look at? If the only service, City service that somebody is using is trash, no water, no sewer... $120 (both talking) Champion/ Police and fire, of course, they would use. Mims/ ...well, yeah, but we don't ... they don't put a deposit down for those, but I'm just saying, if this is a standard $120 deposit for City utilities and to cover unpaid bills and stuff, I ... I understand that. I'm sure it can be onerous for some people. But if the only thing they have is the trash and recycling ... it seems excessive and I know it ... means another layer of how to ... figuring out how much you're charging somebody. Champion/ Is it $120? I didn't understand. It said $120 a year. (several talking) Dobyns/ You're suggesting just the amount, Susan, not... Mims/ Just the amount, yeah. Like I say, if somebody's got water and sewer and trash, I ... I can see where the City has come up with $120 in case of non - payment or something of the bill. If the only service in terms of no water, no sewer is just the trash and/or recycling, it seems high. Markus /Why don't we take a ... why don't we take a look at it as a staff and we'll come back with a recommendation. Champion/ Yeah, I ... that's the one I wanted to bring up too, Susan (both talking) Markus/ ...it should be very... Mims/ I hate to even suggest something that makes more work and ... and efficiencies in the system but this does seem a little bit onerous. Markus/ Well I would guess that the vast majority of people would be eligible for free services, if not two or more services, you know, depending on the location. Mims/ Yeah. Markus/ You get some fringe locations where they may not have water or sewer and... Mims/ That's kind of what this one sounded like, a very unusual case (both talking) Markus/ But there is a legal basis for why we do it as well, and that is, you know, the different between owner- occupied where you can lien the property versus... Mims/ ...property... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 34 Markus/ ...um, a landlord, and then everybody, uh, as a tenant comes in and makes an account with the City. I did when I first moved here and lived in rental housing, and so you're required to make that deposit, then that gets applied to the ... the last bill that you pay, but I understand your point about whether that's the right amount, um ... maybe the issue is well that we'll have to look at the actual total deposit... Mims/ Sure. Markus/ ...to see if that's kept pace, as well. Mims / Right. Markus/ So let us look at that and we'll come back. Mims/ Okay, all right. Thank you. Dobyns/ So, Rick, I had a ... a question on, um, IP7 of August 8th, the Stevens Drive, South Gilbert Street flooding. Um, my sense is that during a ... a long -term flood event, is that ... I, it makes sense why you have to close the pumps so there's not retrograde flow. But then that also, if you have a heavy rain that night, it basically... you've lost all ability for drainage? I mean, is that sort of what's happening here? Fosse/ Well, their observation that sometimes the storm sewer works better than others is ... is correct in that the, uh, you know, the energy that drives the storm sewers had difference in elevations between the intake and the outlet. So when you're down in the flood plain and ... and the river level goes up and down, the performance of your storm sewer varies with that. And ... and in this particular location, sometimes the river level gets above the intakes and we ... we close that valve and then we're completely reliant on the pumps (both talking) Dobyns/ ...context is that we're not doing the east side levee. So this area I think stays vulnerable. Fosse/ Yes, it does! Dobyns/ ...perpetuity. Fosse/ It does. Dobyns/ Yeah. Fosse/ Yep, and so the, it's reliant on the pumps and ... and certainly our vulnerabilities are that the, um, a storm that comes along that exceeds our... our pumping capabilities of those temporary pumps or the pumps fail. And that's what happened that night of the 24th, I think it was June 24th, that ... that they reference in the letter. Um, since then we've amended our ... our policy for ... keeping people on staff overnight and out checking those This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 35 pumps, rather than just making sure they're going and then rely on somebody to phone in if there's a problem (both talking) Dobyns/ Okay. All right. Fosse/ So, we've ... we've put it ... added a layer of reliability in place. Dobyns/ So that's the altered practice in the interim. Fosse / Right. (both talking) Right. Dobyns/ Okay, all right. (both talking) Fosse/ But the underlying problem, the ... the only real fix to make that go away completely is the project that was beyond our means that ... that went away, that east side levee. Dobyns/ Okay, so you've mitigated as much as you can. Fosse/ Yes! Dobyns/ Thank you. Fosse/ Uh huh. Hayek/ Anything else on IP8 (mumbled) August 8th9 (mumbled) Okay, how about the 15th? Uh, Jim, you're on for tomorrow morning. Throgmorton/ I am! I'm ready to go! So I ... I guess I want to mention three things, but I'd be happy ... happy to de ... to defer to anybody else but first on the IP6, UniverCity program. Karr/ Can ... could we go back to the KXIC schedule because I need the rest ... IN (several talking) Can I go ... can I get the appointments for the rest of the month? Hayek/ I can do the next one. The 281h Karr/ August 28th Hayek/ Yep. Karr/ September 4th9 Mims/ Hang on (mumbled) calendar... Champion/ I mean, I can do any of `em, but if somebody else wants to do `em, that's fine, cause I'm pretty flexible. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 36 Mims/ I can do the 4th. Karr/ Fourth ... is Susan. Dickens/ I'll do the 11 th. Karr / And the 11th is Terry. Okay. I'm sorry. Go right ahead! Throgmorton/ well I was just trying to praise, uh, staff for the UniverCity program, 17 new houses and so on, and I guess we have, what, two or three on the agenda tonight. Markus/ Yes! Throgmorton/ ... for sale, yeah, so... (mumbled) thrilling to see. Markus / Which is way beyond what we originally thought would happen, but because of financial changes, we were able to add some units. Throgmorton/ Yeah! (both talking) Markus/ Compliments to the staff that does that, led by, uh, Steve Long in... in Jeff s department. Throgmorton/ Right. Uh, IP #8, uh, the email about Rummage in the Ramp. Champion/ Uh huh! Throgmorton/ Congratulations to Jen Jordan and the what, 240 volunteers, who helped her on that! Good stuff! Champion/ I was amazed the amount of money they bring in selling that stuff as cheap as they do. Throgmorton/ And, IP11, Marian and the cemetery (applause) Hayek/ Yeah! (applause and laughing) Champion/ Is my name in there yet? (laughter) Throgmorton/ I use the map. You know, I looked for some people I know. Dickens/ They have a spot reserved already! (laughter) (several talking) Hayek/ Lot of research opportunities with this. Dobyns/ Yeah, it's a virtual plot. Just for you! (laughter and several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 37 Karr/ We're getting a lot of, uh, very favorable, um, publicity, but also a lot of, uh, just general emails that they really are having a great time with it, if that makes sense, but they (laughs) really are. (several responding) Council Time: Hayek/ Council time! Throgmorton/ Uh, I want to mention Party in the Park. I went to the one at North Market Square last Thursday. It was great, uh, so where's Mark? Mark's gone. Mike I mean, Mike Moran. Uh, the Party in the Park's working great! Mims /It's very good. I've been to a couple. Meeting Schedule: Hayek/ Good. Plenty of meetings? Mims/ Nope! Pending Work Session Topics: Hayek/ Pending topics? Got a lot of those. Throgmorton/ Uh, I think maybe I had one. Let me ... let me see. Urn ... no. No, I've already mentioned the ... the energy efficiency thing and... Upcoming Events: Hayek/ Yeah. Okay. Upcoming events? Don't forget this Saturday's uh ... (several responding) at Trueblood. Dobyns/ And we're supposed to be there at 10:30 for... Hayek/ Are you kayaking over, para- sailing in, or (laughter) paddleboating? (laughter) What's your approach? Dobyns/ I haven't decided! (several talking) I'm swimming. I like algae! Hayek/ Yeah! Dobyns/ So we're supposed to be there at the early, uh... Hayek/ I think it starts at 11:00. Dobyns/ Okay. For us? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013. August 20, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 38 Hayek/ (several talking) Dobyns /' But this is for benefact ... for people who have donated, there's something earlier. Hayek/ Oh yeah there is that. Dobyns/ Are we supposed to attend that as a Council? Karr/ I can ... I can send you something tomorrow. I'll firm that up and send it to you tomorrow. Dobyns/ Okay, cause I was going to by later and do the tours, cause I think that's cool, but I just wondered if... Karr/ I'll firm it up! Dobyns/ Okay. All right. Throgmorton/ Matt, I wanted to mention one thing, uh, Geoff, Nancy Bird, Liz Christianson and I are going to be going to West Union as part of the Downtown District, uh, streetscape design project. We're going to go up there (noises on mic) 27th, is that right? Uh, to see what they've been doing. Apparently they had quite a project. (noises on mic) They've completed it, right, so we'll... provide a full report. Champion/ Where is West Union? Throgmorton/ Where is West Union (laughter) (several responding) Hayek/ ...doing a good job on ... on streetscape is Solon. You oughta tool around there a little area, just, uh, west of Highway 1. It looks good! (several talking) So, okay. Uh, with that we'll take a longer than usual break, which is nice, and we'll see you back at 7:00. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of August 20, 2013.