HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-12-17 TranscriptionDecember 17, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1
Council Present: Champion, Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton
Staff Present: Markus, Fruin, Andrew, Karr, Dilkes, Adhikari, Long, Fosse, Sandberg,
Purdy, Jennings, Davidson, Bockenstedt
Others Present: Bramel (UISG)
Agenda Items•
Hayek/ I want to welcome everybody to City Hall. Little tight on time, uh, so let's jump right in.
Item 1 is questions regarding agenda items.
ITEM 3f(3) Michelle Johnson; Chad Johnson; Kay and Tony Weiler: Emergency
Access to the Peninsula Neighborhood
Throgmorton/ I ... I have two or three. Think they could be handled quickly but ... with regard to
Item 3f(3). We got a series of emails about emergency secondary access to the
Peninsula. Uh, and I know we've talked about that way back when we were doing the
Taft Speedway thing. Rick, uh, and at...at the time you said something like it's possible
we could put a ... have a temporary easement, put a road... temporary road in up there to
provide temporary access and so on, back up north, right?
Fosse/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ So, uh, I'm just wondering if any ... anything else has been done on that since we
had that discussion, you know, a year ago, whatever.
Fosse/ No, there's not. There's been some redevelopment discussions that encompasses a
portion of that and we're waiting for that to ... to hopefully fall into place. Uh, once it
does then we'll be in a better position to negotiate the remaining connection piece, if we
need to. But we've not had any other progress.
Throgmorton/ Okay.
ITEM 7. UNIVER -CITY SALE, 430 SOUTH LUCAS - AUTHORIZING
CONVEYANCE OF A SINGLE FAMILY HOME LOCATED AT 430
SOUTH LUCAS STREET.
Payne/ I have a question on Item #7, which is the, um ... Univer-City sale at 430 S. Lucas Street.
From reading the ... the memo, um, Steve, it looks like the cost is going to be $170,512.
Long/ Uh huh.
Payne / And it says it has to be an income - eligible homebuyer.
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Long/ Yes.
Payne / What is income - eligible for that dollar amount of a house?
Long/ Uh, off the top of my head, I don't have that ... it's 120% of the median income, uh, so it'd
be ... top of the head (mumbled) about...
Payne/ Well what's the median income? That's (both talking)
Long/ For a household of two, I believe it's around $62,000, so 20% more than that.
Markus/ $72,000, $73,000 (both talking)
Payne/ That's what I was thinking, was about $72...$72,000 was the ... okay. So ... is ... is that
the ... I ... I haven't paid ... I guess I haven't really put that together on the other sales. Is
this n ... normal? I mean, to me $170,000 isn't a ... it's...
Long/ We have a wide range. We try ... we've had houses from $60,000 to $230,000. So we try
to offer a range, and they have ... a homebuyer has to go to a lender first, and get
qualified, and so it depends on their ... income is part of the equation, but you also, it's
your .... how much debt you have, (mumbled) increase your ability to get a loan or...
Payne / Right! I mean, it's just like anybody going to buy a house, there's certain criteria that...
Long / Right!
Payne/ ...that is looked at. Just seems like $170,000 house is a lot for somebody that makes
$72,000.
Long/ That's assuming a two - person, right.
Payne / Right!
Long/ That particular family, I believe, has three, but yeah, right.
Payne/ Oh, okay! Thank you.
Long/ Uh huh.
Hayek/ Other agenda items?
ITEM 8. FLOOD MITIGATION SALES TAX INCREMENT FUND -
AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF IOWA CITY TO USE SALES TAX
INCREMENT REVENUE FROM THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF
REVENUE FLOOD PROJECT FUND.
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Throgmorton/ Yeah, Matt, on Item 8, the sales tax increment revenue. Uh, I ... I don't quite
understand how the program would work, and... and I know that, um, in the, uh, the
supplemental thing that Marian passed out, uh, earlier this afternoon there's some text in
there — I didn't have a chance to read it. I ... I was hoping to be able to have somebody
explain it to us during our work session, and in the formal meeting, but maybe we can
just set that aside and do it in the formal meeting but I ... I think I need to have it
explained.
Champion/ Yeah!
Markus/ We're prepared to walk you through that.
ITEM 9. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES — RECOMMENDING
FIBERIGHT, LLC AS THE PREFERRED CONTRACTOR FOR THE
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SERVICES REQUEST FOR
PROPOSALS ISSUED JULY 15, 2013.
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Okay. Good! Uh, I don't want to ... on Item 9. The, uh, Fiberight thing.
Uh, I think we need to defer action on that for... at least till our next meeting, and I have
various reasons, uh, that I could toss out, but uh ... I ... I don't know if any of you are
possibly interested in deferring, but...
Champion/ I'm not. This is only for a...
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I understand.
Champion/ ...a possible contract. It doesn't obligate the Council to anything.
Throgmorton/ Right, so ... I ... I'm just saying I ... I can elaborate but (both talking)
Dobyns/ Well what I would ask for regarding Item 9 is, you know, a sense of timeline, because
I've been approached by, you know, members of the community too in terms of when do
they need to act on this, and what my recommendation is that this going forward does
not, uh, enter (mumbled) City obligation. Um, but I was wondering, is there a sense of if
we would vote for this as a Council tonight, is there any sort of sense, um, when this
would be coming back to Council for the next decision?
Fosse/ Don't have a good answer on that. I would guess that, um, later in the spring or early
summer, we hope we'd be in a position to be back with a contract. It really depends on
how ... how much, uh, how many discussions we have about getting settled on the details
of the arrangement and the technology, and ... and also we would have some ... some
opportunities for ... for public forums where Fiberight can get out and explain the
technology and the process to the public, and depending on the thirst for that information,
that could extend that process.
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Dobyns/ And what I've told people, Jim, is that, um, the devil is in the details, and the details
won't be forthcoming until City staff enters into a negotiation phase.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, my concern is that ... that the devil is in setting things in motion without
(both talking)
Dobyns/ ...I disagree!
Throgmorton/ (both talking) ... without ... without (both talking)
Dobyns/ ...you're just, uh, then you're disagreeing with a concept and not with details.
Throgmorton/ No. To... all right, so let me explain then. What we've gotten in the past, as
typically is the case, have been some really good presentations from Rick about the
technology involved. What we have not done yet is thoroughly explore how affected
stakeholders would be affected by a possible shift to a privately -owned entity for
managing our solid waste disposal. And, you know... we're... we're fallible people up
here, you know. We listen to great presentations and respond as best we can, but in order
to make a wise decision, I think it's absolutely crucial that we hear from other people
who would be affected. The public, who uses the solid waste disposal system; uh,
employees who might lose jobs or have ... see jobs disappear; uh, and uh, others who are
concerned about, uh, making... try... trying to emphasize our ability to, uh, reduce the
generation of waste, rather than simply dispose of waste efficiently. So I ... I, again, on
each of those points I could elaborate more and more, but I think if we set things in
motion right now, then Rick will come back to us, I mean if everything goes well with
negotiations, Rick will come back to us in several months and say, well, we ... we've, we
think we've got a deal and it looks really good, and then we will find it ... we will see,
we'll find it impossible to say no...at that moment in time, if we've gotten to that point.
Dobyns/ But that's not been what this Council's demonstrated, Jim. Uh, look at the Taft
Speedway, I mean, they took a look at that. We brought details for, you know, people
thought it was a done -deal. Council took a full and robust look at it, and we didn't
necessarily rubber -stamp it. Um, so I don't think you can say that based on our past
(both talking)
Throgmorton/ But we're ... we will be instructing the staff to initiate negotiations with a
particular company.
Champion/ Exactly! That's what it's all about!
Throgmorton/ Right, and they'll come back to us with, if everything goes well, they'll come back
with us ... with a negotiated agreement and ask us to ratify it.
Dobyns/ And we might say no!
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Markus/ I, you know, Jim, it doesn't necessarily have to go that way. It... it, and I would say to
you that the different stakeholders that you're referring to, if... if you want to have an
ability to answer questions with some specificity, we need to ... we need to pursue the
discussions with this company. The end result is, this Council finally makes the decision
one way or another. We have no preconceived notions that this is going to happen. But,
at this point it allows us to at least proceed and have the discussions, do the fact - finding.
You know, if this Council decides that they want ... they want public forums in the
interim, they want more public engagement in the interim, that's fine! We have serious
questions about whether this makes sense at this point in time, but you know Marion is
proceeding to a degree with this. Uh, they've brought this, uh ... uh, ethanol plant out of
mothballs and ... and uh ... you know, they're going to proceed with ... with moving along.
It allows us to continue to look at that, and I would ask Rick to comment, um, on the
issue of...uh, our supply chain and whether that's vulnerable, and if that's vulnerable by
not proceeding, then what happens by doing nothing.
Fosse / That ... that is the risk here, that if we do nothing right now, the risk of delay is that if...if
Fiberight moves forward successfully, elsewhere, uh, it will change the landscape of...of
solid waste management and ... uh, being on the sidelines of that is not an advantageous
place for us. As the owner of a large landfill to be ... we want to be a part of that change.
The key for us will be, uh, looking at ways to ... to move forward while protecting our
interests as ... as a municipality and as a landfill, and figure out ways to do that.
Hayek/ You know it's... we've ... I ... I think this has come before the Council probably four
times, um, and we went through an RFP process that was open to businesses, you know,
na ... nationally, um, and we're at a point where we can proceed with ... with due diligence
and the ... the accumulation of the sort of details that, until this point, we have lacked, and
I don't know why we can't do that, and also get answers to some of the questions Jim
poses, um, so that when staff does come back to us with a recommendation one way or
the other, we're in a much better position informationally and ... and can make some
informed decisions, but I ... I would favor us proceeding this evening on this. It's not
committing the City to anything. It's ... us committing ourselves to ... to due diligence and
the collection of information.
Payne/ We may not even know how it's going to affect stakeholders, Jim, without the detail that
they're going to discuss with Fiberight.
Mims/ That's what I was just going to say too. I think we have to move forward just so you start
getting those details, so you start having an idea of what some of those impacts would be,
and if we find they're unacceptable, then we don't have to prove...
Champion/ Well then you have to balance those against the positive (both talking)
Mims/ Oh definitely (several talking)
Champion/ ...lot of positive impact for the Landfill, that's for sure!
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Dobyns/ ...all the cards in front of you!
Payne/ Yep!
Throgmorton/ Yeah, okay, well I ... I disagree, but I understand. So, uh, what I would like to do,
if it's with your permission, is move that we defer ... and then I assume no one will second
it, uh, and then ... then somebody else will ... would move to adopt the thing and we'll...
we would discuss how to proceed.
Champion/ Right.
Dilkes/ It'll actually be the other way around, Jim. Somebody'll put the motion on the floor then
you'll move to defer.
Throgmorton/ Oh, okay. All right.
Hayek/ Okay, other agenda items?
Dobyns/ Just mention, Rick, I mean, a few months beforehand if there can be some sense when,
um, community stakeholders who want to speak, uh, you know, on this matter ... would be
forewarned so they can, you know, bring information to Council or to City staff. A few
months ahead lead time (both talking)
Fosse/ Good heads up is what you're saying.
Dobyns/ All right, and there'll be some at public session too so, you know, I don't know if
you're going to make comments on this, but if you don't I will about the timeline.
Fosse/ Okay. I've prepared just a short presentation to lead that off (both talking)
Dobyns/ ...if you could add that (both talking) your best guess so people hear that, that'd be...
I'd appreciate that.
Fosse/ Okay!
Dobyns/ Thank you!
Council Appointments:
Hayek/ Before I forget, we've got a ... we've got three, uh, commission appointments. Let's take
care of it. It's part of the agenda. Um ... first is Board of Appeals.
Throgmorton/ Yes!
Hayek/ Or no wait! (several talking)
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Throgmorton/ Yeah, there's just one (several talking)
Hayek/ Did I misread that?
Champion/ Yeah!
Hayek/ Board of Appeals is not ... nothing as o£..
Champion/ No, it's...
Throgmorton/ Well there's one applicant for one position (several talking)
Hayek/ ...I thought he was applying again. Uh, and then we've got, uh...
Throgmorton/ (mumbled)
Hayek/ ...Public Art, yeah.
Champion/ That can't be done yet though, right? Doesn't that (both talking)
Payne/ ...isn't that female? And he's ... I mean (several talking)
Hayek/ So (mumbled) No, after the 16th, so as of (several talking) we can.
Karr/ The Board of Appeals you've got, um, two vacancies. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ But only one applicant.
Champion/ Only one applicant!
Karr / And only one applicant.
Champion/ Well Bill Nusser is fine for the Art.
Karr/ Well .... okay. Bill Nusser for the Art, but we need to go back to the Board of Appeals.
You're right.
Champion/ Right. I can't remember his last name.
Hayek/ I was right! So we, yeah... (several talking and laughing)
Champion/ You're supposed to be nice to me tonight (laughs)
Hayek/ I know it! I know it!
Karr/ Too late! (laughs)
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Dobyns/ Whatever you say, Miss Champion. (laughter)
Hayek/ John Forman Gay has, uh, has applied (both talking)
Karr/ You've got an electrician one and then a five -year term.
Throgmorton/ And he is an electrician!
Champion/ Yes.
Karr/ That's correct.
Throgmorton/ And that's what he's applying for (both talking)
Karr/ Correct!
Hayek/ Okay, so you comfortable with him? All right. I'm going to put John Forman Gay down
for the elec ... the licensed electrician on Board of Appeals. Then we have Bill Nusser
applying for Public Art. Everybody okay with him? (several talking)
Throgmorton/ He's already there but ... I mean, he already (both talking)
Hayek/ Yeah! (laughs) And then Senior Center.
Mims/ There was just one.
Hayek/ Jack Hobbs. (several talking) Yeah! (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, so he's ... lived in town for like a year, but he has a lot of experience as a
builder, developer, company owner, I don't ... I don't know what else.
Hayek/ He looks ... he looks like a retiree who moved to Iowa City (several talking) poster child
for ... for recruitment!
Mims/ Yep!
Dobyns/ That's fine.
Hayek/ Okay! Those three then. Any other agenda items? Okay! Uh, sidewalk repair program.
Sidewalk Repair Program:
Fosse/ Well this is a continuation of our discussion that we started a couple of weeks ago, but we
ran short of time (laughter)
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Hayek/ We are tonight! (laughter)
Fosse / And here we are again! Uh, we were able to make use of that down time and compile
some information that ... that you all asked for, and uh, put together in this map that was
produced by, uh, MPOJC, and what you see on this map is ... is a compilation. Every blue
dot here represents a property that was marked for sidewalk repair in the last 10 years.
Uh, so some of the dots run together into lines. A single dot, like Susan's house right
here (laughter) represents...
Throgmorton/ How many repairs there? (laughter)
Mims/ Just one! This one!
Fosse/ Had to walk way down the street to get that one but it was worth the trip!
Mims/ Yeah! (laughter) Thanks!
Fosse/ Um, so while you're digesting the relative density of that, I want to point out that this is
...it's over a 10 -year period. So every place in Iowa City was covered once during the
duration of this map. It goes from 03 to 12, and I'll also point out that ... that this
represents the properties in which at least one square was marked. Then the next step is
to look at the density, that is how many squares per property on the average were marked,
and I don't have a separate map on that, but I can tell you that the average throughout the
community was either three or four squares per property, with the exception of this area
down in the southeast corner of Iowa City in which the average was two squares per
property. So with ... with that introduction, and the ... the map in front of you, we'll just,
uh, continue our discussion from a couple weeks ago. I'll turn it back to you all.
Throgmorton/ Oh ... uh ... Rick, you and I chatted briefly, uh, right before the meeting, and now
because we ... we're in our Executive Session, I'd kind of forgotten what ... what we were
saying. You ... you rais ... you brought up a couple points that I thought were pretty
valuable. Can you remember what they were? (laughs)
Fosse/ Yeah! Yeah! (laughter) Well you had ... you had brought up the concept at the last
meeting of what if the City were to take this on...
Throgmorton/ Oh, right, right.
Fosse/ ...as a project, and we ... we'd pay for all that and, uh, an average year, our cost would be
in the $150,000 to $170,000 range, uh, and... so that's... that's what our... our costs would
be. Uh, from a selfish perspective, it would be easier for staff because there's not the
consternation of...my sidewalk shouldn't have been marked or yes it should have. Just
go out and do it, and... and it is done! Uh, but the flipside of that is, we're heading into a
period in which the ... the General Fund money is ... is getting tighter and tighter, and is...
is this a place, and this is a decision for you all, where we want to spend that money.
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Throgmorton/ I remember the one other thing you mentioned and it had to do with the curb cuts,
uh ... uh, for people with disabilities.
Fosse/ Yes!
Throgmorton/ Yeah, and about how the ... maybe the two could be combined, at least
conceivably, and...
Fosse/ Well the ... we also have a ... a curb ramp project in the City, and in the capital program I
believe you'll see that that's every other year. And, we don't fund it as robustly as we
did in the ... in the 1990s.
Throgmorton/ It's like 50K a year right now.
Fosse/ 50K every other year I think it is.
Throgmorton/ Every other year.
Fosse/ Yeah. But, you know, the other side of that is, we invested a million dollars in that during
the 1990s. We got a lot of `em done, but there's still... there's still quite a few to do so,
um, that's another area that's... that's tugging for your General Fund money. So it ... we
need to balance that as well. (noises on mic)
Mims/ I say keep it as it is.
Champion/ Yes.
Mims/ I mean, I just ... we're going to have so many challenges with our General Fund that, um,
do ... is there anything in place for people ... we've got some things, um, you know, like
home insulation and heating and those kinds of things. Is there anything here if
somebody is in financial straits that they can apply for assistance financially to do these
repairs?
Fosse/ No there's not. Uh, I think a few years ago we attempted to apply for some CDBG
money, uh, to assist with this. Were we successful at that, Kim? Okay, we were not
successful at that.
Champion/ Longfellow Neighborhood used a PIN grant one year for people, low- income, to
replace ... to repair their sidewalks.
Mims/ Okay!
Champion/ So a neighborhood could ask for money to do that.
Mims/ Okay!
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Throgmorton/ A ... another possible way to think about it, is ... is whether it might be less
expensive in terms of total cost for the City to do it, rather than have individual property
owners pay for it and for City staff to be doing all this back and forth, uh, negotiating,
you know, kind of detailing kind of work, and I don't feel really strongly one way or the
other, but if it ... if the total cost actually is less by perhaps some significant margin,
then ... it would seem wise to move in the direction of having the City do it by itself.
Champion/ Aren't college students the ones doing this?
Fosse/ College students typically do the inspections, and then we ... we subcontract the concrete
work. Now for the ...the cost of getting it done, some people like to do it themselves, the
sweat equity and ... and do that, and some people, of course, that's not within their means.
Uh, for... for whatever reason, I think about 22% of the people who have their sidewalks
marked, uh, opt to have the City do it, either take advantage of our ... the volume of our
work, or they just don't want to hassle with it. We take care of it. Uh, so that's always
an option for a property owner is to let us do it.
Payne/ (mumbled) ...you said it was ... it would be about $150,000 a year?
Fosse/ 150 to 170.
Payne/ So we're talking three FTEs, I mean ... you, the only way to justify it would be to reduce
staff by three people then.
Throgmorton/ Oh!
Payne/ I mean if you're talking ... it, that doesn't make sense?
Throgmorton/ Well, or ... well, how ... how much is 150 per, in terms of mill rate, property tax
mill rate? What, you know, is that a penny per thousand or...
Markus/ Our Finance Director's sitting right there (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, what ... what is it? I don't know what it is.
Dobyns/ Rick, before you...
Markus/ $30,000 a penny!
Dobyns/ How often on average does the sidewalk demon come back to an citizen? Every seven
years like a locust?
Fosse/ Every 10 years, unless somebody complains in your block.
Dobyns/ Okay, so it's a 10 -year locust, okay, that they get (several talking and laughing)
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Markus/ Jim, I can tell you having been in communities that have it each way, you don't get any
arguments when the City's paying for it about what flags are coming out. In fact, the
argument is, you missed this one, you need to take this (laughter) So, you know, there's
a little slippage that direction too! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I bet.
Hayek/ You know I think a picture being worth a thousand words, that is a telling document
cause it shows, yes, it's concentrated in older areas but it's also concentrated in (several
talking) new areas.
Dobyns/ Yeah, look out far west, far east.
Hayek/ Yeah, and when you look closely, some of the areas that don't have sidewalks repairs,
it... seem to me to be University property, uh, you know, some of that is, and so I think
that ... that explains a little bit of it, as well, but ... but I think there's a fairly broad
distribution of, uh...
Mims/ Yeah.
Hayek/ ... sidewalks (laughs)
Champion/ ...I mean, those neighborhoods get older and things happen.
Throgmorton/ Uh, Rick, I... each dot represents a piece of property that had something done it,
right?
Fosse/ Correct!
Throgmorton/ Within the past 10 years. Uh... it... is there variation over time, like you know, say
there's a dot out in the far west out ... out on Rohret Road or whatever, out in that area.
Uh, maybe one ... one time, uh, something happened on, uh, on a person's property,
whereas in some of the other neighborhoods there's, you know, like two or three times, in
... over a 10 -year period something was done? Is that possible or not?
Fosse/ I ... I think it could be. We, you know, we started looking when we were compiling this
map, looking back at... at the beginning of the program, back into the 90s, and what we
found is that not as many properties were marked back then as there are today, so that's
why we took the last 10 years as the most representative sample. I don't know if that
(both talking)
Mims/ But they're only going around every 10 years so ... anything more frequently than 10 years
would be because of a complaint.
Fosse/ Yes.
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Mims/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Well, and the map clearly is not what I was anticipating, so ... I mean, it's
enlightening, you know, that's why I asked (laughs) (several talking)
Fosse/ GIS is cool! (laughter)
Hayek/ Okay!
Throgmorton/ Well, thanks!
Fosse/ Sure!
Strategic Plan Discussion (301):
ITEM 3a(1) November 25 Work Session — Strategic Planning
Hayek/ Strategic plan discussion. (several talking)
Payne/ In two minutes?
Hayek/ Yeah! (laughs)
Frain/ (several talking) Yeah, Cliff Note version, okay! Um... so in your... in your packet you
had the report from Jeff Schott your facilitator, and what we tried to do is ... is really just
want to focus on the last two pages of that report, and that's what your strategic plan is
now. We didn't intend to go through the accomplishment and the threats and
opportunities that you spent quite a bit of time with, uh, during your strategic planning
session. So, urn ... your six hours is boiled down to this slide right here (laughter) Um...
(laughs) this is, this is what it resulted in. Uh, and of course this is staff taking some
liberties with Jeff and wordsmithing and interpreting, uh, your messaging. So what we
want to make sure, uh, that ... that we've done as accurately reflect what your intentions
were with the ... with the conversations that you had. So, um, as ... as with the last, uh,
strategic plan that we just, uh, issued the final report on, you have, uh, five bullets down
there that's your priority and focus areas. What's really, uh, different this time around is
we heard a couple of overarching themes in your discussion and that was, uh,
inclusiveness and diversity, um, and then also the sustainability, um, piece, and so we
didn't really feel like those two, um, issues were good to pigeonhole into another priority.
We rather felt that those were more overarching values that you were trying to express.
That should filter down to each of these other five priorities. That may or may not, uh...
uh, accurately capture, um, what your discussions were, but that's... that's what we
walked away with and ... and both staff and Jeff felt that, uh ... um, again, that ... that
captured your ... your sentiment there, so, urn ... what we would like to do is ... is get your
blessing on this language or get your edits, your changes, and then bring forward a
resolution to you, um, in January, preferably at your January meeting if we can get
agreement on this tonight. The other thing I'm prepared to go over tonight if you want to
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do this, you have time, um ... you identified some new initiatives. Uh, they're certainly
ongoing commitments that carry over from our past strategic plan, but the ... in ... in three
areas, uh, healthy neighborhoods, strategic eco ... economic development activities, and
enhanced communication. These are new initiatives. New, uh, projects or, uh, activities
that you have, um ... or that you suggested should be done. So we want you to look at
these. They're in your report, and they'll become part of the action plan, uh, whether you
want to spend time on `em tonight or not's up to you. These are your next steps. Again,
a uh ... a resolution on the 7th, and then we would plan to put the action plan together and
uh, give our first quarterly update to you in ... in March or April of 2014. Or go back to...
I'll go back to what I think's the important slide here and let you guys, uh ... have that
discussion.
Mims/ Yeah, I was kind of surprised when I first looked at it in terms of the way it was done, but
the more I thought about it, I think I like the way that you've done it, in terms of looking
at, um, you know, the inclusive and sustainable as filtering down through all of those, and
then when I got to the new initiatives and basically what had been laid out in those new
initiatives was a lot of the detail that we had talked about in terms of some of those, um, I
think is important but I ... I think communication of this is really important because, um,
for example with the diversity issue, we talked a lot about that and how important it is to
the community and that we really wanted to move forward with a lot of those things,
and ... and my concern would be some people would look at just this and look at the five
bullet points and feel like we hadn't really done what we said we were going to do, but I
think, um ... you know, in using the word inclusive and then looking at these new, um...
tasks, you know, ac ... part of the action plan, uh, it's just a matter of doing a good job of
really communicating to people that this is ... this is how we're doing it, but those are
important issues and we're going to be addressing those.
Hayek/ I'm ... go ahead, Jim.
Throgmorton/ Well I ... I was just going to say I completely agree with what Susan said and uh,
I'd really like to praise Tom and uh, I think he probably had some help (laughs) in ... in
wordsmithing the ... the material, uh, and I think you did a superb job of...of pulling that
stuff together. It's like herding cats, isn't it? Trying to figure out exactly what we
collectively said and intended? But I ... I think you captured it!
Mims/ Uh huh.
Markus/ I thought the messages came through pretty loud and clear from the Council, in terms of
where they wanted us to head. So, um, yeah, and we had ... we had a lot of involvement
in the wordsmithing part of this but, uh, I ... I think it hits the key points that you tried to
achieve, and ... and putting the inclusive, sustainable, uh, commentary as an overarching
theme throughout the entire operation, I think, really gets to, you know, the heart of what
the Council was pushing, in a much larger scale way.
Mims/ Uh huh.
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December 17, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 15
Hayek/ And I think the... recharacterized, uh, strategic objective... bullet points are, uh, I mean,
they're just more descriptive. And ... and I've never liked `neighborhood stabilization'
because that sounds like you're playing defense and a lot of our efforts are ... are actually,
you know, positive (several talking) and ... and productive, and so healthy
neighborhoods...
Mims/ Yeah, I like that too.
Hayek/ So ... I could go on and on but ... I, it was a good reworking of the themes and the
messaging.
Throgmorton/ I'd like to mention one other thing. It's going to sound kind of idealistic so I
understand that. Uh, but I ... I'd like to ask the staff, and us probably, to ... to think a little
more deeply about whether our actions are producing the desired results. You know what
I mean, the difference between inputs and outcomes. So if...if we could be thinking
about that somehow, it'd be pretty terrific. Like, um, a strong urban core. Well, what's
...what's that really mean! (laughs)
Mims/ Well, trying to establish metrics as we move forward.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, yeah, and we've got some of `em with the sustainability stuff that... that we,
uh, that Brenda did for us. Good step in the right direction. Yeah!
Information Packets:
Hayek/ Okay, thanks, Geoff. Let's try to ... we've got about five more minutes here. We may be
able to get through the rest of this. Uh, info packets. There are two, one from the fifth.
Anything there?
Karr/ Corridor Business Journal Economic Forecast Luncheon, is there anyone interested?
Mims/ Yes! Susan. That's IP4.
Hayek/ Okay. Next is the, uh, info packet from the 12tH
Throgmorton/ On IP13, the minutes of the November 21St meeting of the Housing and
Community Development Commission, uh, (noises on mic) there's reference to a... a
study that Jerry Anthony at the Pub ... Public Policy Center put together. I'm just
wondering if we have any sense of when that report's likely to come to us?
Long/ Soon! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ I know Jerry pretty well so I kind of get that (several talking)
Long/ Um ... we hope in the next week or so. It was ... it's a little bit over the deadline right now,
so we were in constant communication with him, but ... that's about all I know.
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December 17, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 16
Throgmorton/ Okay. Thank you!
Hayek/ Okay, anything else? Okay, Council time.
Karr/ Um, KXIC radio show, January.
Payne/ I can do January 22 °d, I think.
Dickens/ I'll do the 15th.
Throgmorton/ Well good! I don't have to do either! (laughs)
Dickens / What's that?
Throgmorton/ Oh good, I don't have to do either one.
Payne/ Until I call you and say, Jim, I have a meeting (laughs)
Throgmorton/ Right!
Hayek/ Okay.
Council Time:
Dobyns/ During public comment I'm going to comment, I did a tour with, uh, Geoff and Tom at
the new Grossix Building that's to open on Clinton, so I'll chat about that when we get to
public comment during the (both talking)
Mims/ Yeah, I went to the open house. It was great. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Can I briefly mention two things?
Hayek/ Yeah!
Throgmorton/ I ... I wanted to ... express my disappointment about not being able to go to the
party at Tom's house. I ... I know I sent you an email about it, but I was out at Oakdale
Community Prison where Barbara was singing as part of the Oakdale Community Choir,
so ... so couldn't do it, but I hope it went great, and the other thing I wanted to mention is
that, um, last Tuesday I was in this very room with a bunch of second graders from, what
was it, Heritage? (several talking) Heritage, uh, Christian School from North Liberty,
and I had them occupy positions up here, so I appointed Conner, a fellow named Conner
as the Mayor, and the other people sat in the seats up here, and somebody sat in your seat,
Tom, and (laughter) Attorney's and the City Clerk's and so on, and then we had an
election, and a whole bunch of stuff like that. So it was really great fun! I think they had
a... a, um, a terrific time doing it and ... learned a lot, of course! (laughs)
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December 17, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 17
Dobyns/ So if I have bubble gum on my seat I know from wench it came? (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I didn't do it! (laughter)
Markus/ Wasn't Conner, he was over there! (laughter)
Hayek/ Any requests for expedited action? Did ... could they handle that?
Throgmorton/ No, no, they didn't do that.
Karr/ No, but at the end of the exercise I walked into the room and Jim said it was over and they
wanted to run for reelection! (laughter)
Hayek/ All right. Anything else. Meeting schedule?
Meeting Schedule:
Mims/ Lot of `em.
Pending Work Session Topics:
Hayek/ Pending work session topics? Upcoming events, Council invites? (noises on mic)
Throgmorton/ I got invited to go to Kentucky right after Christmas, so I'm going to be gone for
about four days right after Christmas.
Hayek/ Okay, let's take a break; we'll come back for the formal!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of December 17, 2013.