HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-01-07 TranscriptionJanuary 7, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page I
Council Present: Botchway, Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton
Staff Present: Markus, Fruin, Fosse, Dilkes, Karr, Bockenstedt, Davidson, Moran,
Schaul, Clark, Adhikari, Andrews
Questions re: Agenda:
Hayek/ ...get started, um, and maybe we'll put off the, uh, board and commission appointments
until, uh, we get a full Council here. I want to welcome everyone to our work session.
We have our sixth of seven so we're getting a little closer. Want to welcome everyone to
our work session, uh, the first bullet item is questions regarding agenda items, very light
agenda this evening.
ITEM 2f(6) Mike Carberry; Palmer Holden; Caroline Dieterle: Fiberright contract
Throgmorton/ Matt, I think I'd like to ask about ... I think two items. I'm trying to get my ... no,
maybe just one item. Uh, no it is two. All right. So, uh, with regard to Item 2f(6) and
maybe the one after it, I don't know. There's some emails about Fiberight and so my
question for the staff basically has to do with this. During... during our last meeting when
we were discussing Fiberight, many speakers urged us to create a committee of local
stakeholders and experts, which would, uh, work with the staff to kind of sort through the
whole thing. I ... I think I heard other Council Members saying that would be a really
good idea. So I'm just wondering whether y'all have had time to think about that and...
whether you think it's a good idea and whether you're likely to follow through on it or
what.
Markus/ Well, we didn't get direction. Let's be clear about that.
Throgmorton/ Okay.
Markus/ Um, so without that direction...
Throgmorton/ Right.
Markus/ ...we probably wouldn't go down that path ... at this time. Um, I would say to you that I
think that there's an awful lot of research that still needs to be done, urn ... that... you
know, is going to take a fair amount of time before we get ... get there, and I think that...
that can be handled through the staff process at this point, and at some point, if in fact
when we come back with more staff data if the Council still wishes to pursue that, I think
there would be that opportunity later. At this point I think it's a bit premature. That's my
thinking on it.
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Throgmorton/ Well I noticed Rick taking a lot of notes, uh, during that discussion last time. I
don't know what you wrote, of course, but uh ... people raised all sorts of questions and
concerns...
Markus / Right!
Throgmorton/ ... so I... I guess at a minimum I ... I personally would like to make sure that those
questions and concerns are taken into account, uh, when the staff is ... trying to sort
through the details about whether a, um, an arrangement with Fiberight sounds good, and
if so what the details would be.
Markus/ Yeah, I ... I would say that ... um ... besides the notes we took, uh, normally the minutes
are pretty, uh, inclusive of the commentary and so we can, uh, go through all that
and ... and make sure that those get addressed. I think we have a lot of technical questions
beyond those that were even raised, um, that ... that really need to be addressed. We're as
concerned about the continuing operations of our current operation, uh, in light of
potentially going with a, you know, a different approach to how we handle waste. So,
we're kind of looking at how we handle that in tandem, as well, so ... we, you know, if...
if in fact there was a default at some point, you know, we ... we have to be responsible for
making sure that we can retreat to the current system and make sure that that's still
functional. So, that adds a cost burden to what we're looking at and we're considering all
those things in the process.
Botchway/ One of the questions I had regarding them too is ... in considering obviously how we
currently do it and, plus with Fiberight, is there any con... consideration of other
alternatives as well?
Markus/ Um... (both talking)
Botchway/ ...within the staff process, because even if, I mean ... looking at it, whatever they're
doing, um, is there... looking, you know, across maybe states that are close to us.
Markus / Right.
Botchway/ What other cities are doing regarding this matter.
Markus/ I would answer that question this way. This company came about as a result of a
request for a proposals.
Botchway/ Right.
Markus/ So if there were proposals that were made, we would have evaluated those. So I think
our obligation is to focus on the one we did receive and designate as the, um ... the vendor
to ... to have these discussions with. So I think we need to focus on what's in front of us
at this particular time. That doesn't mean that, you know, that we aren't constantly
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getting new information that we can consider as we go along, but our focus at this time is
to deal with the Fiberight issue that's in front of us.
Botchway/ Okay.
Markus/ And, you know, we're constantly evaluating our existing system anyway, so...
Hayek/ And, you know, our staff evaluation at this stage involves not only the City Manager's
office, but ... but Public Works and the other relevant departments, and our sustainability
person, and I ... we've got a lot of qualified eyes looking at it right now, and there are a
number of good questions that were brought up at the ... at, you know, couple of meetings
ago that ... that I know we want answers to and I think staff does as well. Urn ... and so I
...I concur. I don't ... I don't think we're at a point of necessarily needing some sort of ad
hoc committee. We may still want to do that, but I tend to take a pretty conservative
view on the ad hoc approach. I was part of that once. Kingsley, you were recently a part
of it. You know it's a ... it's a big imposition on the volunteer core of Iowa City, and on
staff, and it should ... it involves a lot of time, and it may make sense in certain places and
it has historically, um, but on this particular issue I just ... my sense is that we may not be
there yet. (both talking)
Mims/ Yeah, I ... I'd like to see the additional research that staff does and, you know, what
answers they get to some of those technical questions, and some of the questions that,
you know, were raised by the audience and stuff, um ... I mean, I think ... you know, I
think we frankly have to be aware of the fact that a number of the people that spoke at
that meeting have a vested financial interest in what we do. And so that was driving
some of those comments, and it would be, uh, just ignorant or playing ignorant to ignore
that, and I'm not saying we dismiss those. But, we have to be aware that that is... that
was driving some of those comments, and (both talking)
Dobyns/ It was very helpful, though unilateral.
Mims/ Yeah, I mean, there were some good comments made by those people, but still there
...there were people here who have a vested financial interest, um, in the whole issue,
and so I think to move forward with staff ...doing the research, answering the questions
that were raised by the public, by us, by their own, you know, additional conversations
with Fiberight, um, my sense is that we are all, uh, both staff and Council a long way, and
I said it that night, from being ready to sign any kind of agreement. There's just way,
way too many questions, um, that we need answered, and information that we need to
have, but I think staff moving forward on it at this point makes the most sense.
Markus/ Let me just offer, um, this as well. If anybody has, um, in the public or of the Council
has questions that they would like us to pursue, they can certainly send those to me or to
Rick, uh, and we'll include those in the inventory of...of items that we'll consider, and
the other thing, remember, we are being advised by a professional consultant, uh, with a
background in this industry, so, uh, they're assisting in this review as well.
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Dobyns/ I have gotten inquiries from the public, not so much on the details, but the timeline and
Rick, I referred some of those people to you, but I was just ... for sense for myself, when
do you think that this will come before Council? I'm basically asking when I need to
start doing my homework. (several talking and laughing)
Fosse/ We're hoping to have something back to you, uh, early summer, but ... we have ... as ... as
Tom has outlined, we've got a... a lot of ground to cover between now and then, and
it's... it's a difficult thing to predict. So, best case — early summer.
Dobyns/ Okay. Good!
Markus/ I think he's being exceptionally optimistic!
Mims/ (laughs)
Fosse/ It's my nature! (laughter)
Markus/ It is! (laughs)
Hayek/ Other agenda items?
ITEM 2d(1) CITY PARK POOL ADA RENOVATIONS - AWARDING
CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY
CLERK TO ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE CITY
PARK POOL ADA RENOVATIONS PROJECT.
Mims/ Um, I had a question probably for Mike on this City Park Pool ADA renovations. Um,
there was a significant difference in the bids, and I understand that. My ... I just found it
rather interesting that one of the companies, uh, that submitted ... uh, to, replied to the bid
and in fact we selected is from California. And what kind of...history they have in this
area or what kind of back ... I mean, if things go wrong, they're a long way away to deal
with it (laughs)
Moran/ Yeah, it...it surprised us as well and especially for the dollar significance, but we've
done our due diligence with checking references. The closest they've done to anything in
the Midwest is Albuquerque, New Mexico, and that concerned us with (laughter)
concerns, uh, but they do have a lot of significant Iowa subcontractors that are doing that
work, uh, like Richie Kroeze is doing the landscaping. They've got D &N Fence, and
they've got some people that (several responding) we're familiar with that have done the
work before, that they're going to work with. Also the ... the general that's going to be on
site is from Iowa. Uh, he's a relative of the owners in California. So, they told us
basically times are tough, they're looking for work, and they're coming out. Uh, we've
had Legal do all the review on licensing and all that to make sure that ... that that's all
aboveboard and we've done all the reference checks we can, but yeah, it's all warm -
weather stuff so we told `em when we opened the bids, we said you know, it's 20 below
here right now (laughter) and um, they seemed to think they can get that done, so...
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Mims/ Okay. Well, I assumed staff had done the due diligence, but I just wanted to ask. I was
just surprised to see a California company on there.
Moran/ It's the first time we've had to deal with anybody that far away, as well, so...
Mims/ Yeah. So, okay. Thank you.
Dilkes/ Just for Council's information, uh, the Iowa Code does provide for a reciprocal
preference if the company comes from a state that gives a preference to in -state bidders,
uh, California does but only a 10% preference, and they were about 13% lower.
Moran/ 13%.
Mims/ Okay. Thank you.
Hayek/ Good to know, Eleanor, thanks! Thanks, Mike!
ITEM 2d(4) HISTORIC US 6 ROUTE- DESIGNATING THE ROUTE OF
HISTORIC US 6 AND AUTHORIZING SIGNAGE TO BE INSTALLED WITHIN
THE IOWA CITY CITY LIMITS.
Payne/ I have a question on 2d(4), the Historic U.S. Route, U.S. 6 Route designation. Aren't
those signs already up?
Markus/ Yes they are.
Payne/ Okay (laughs)
Markus/ It's been historic for a long time (laughter)
Payne/ They are new signs but...
Markus/ Yes, they're nice signs!
Payne/ Okay!
Fosse/ The signs that are not up yet are the ones in Iowa City that are on the current State route.
Payne/ Okay.
Fosse/ The DOT will not allow those to go up prior to this action.
Payne/ Okay.
Fosse/ That's what (both talking)
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Payne/ So those are the ones, not the other ones. We're not doing a resolution for something
that's already done.
Fosse/ That's correct!
Payne/ Thank you (laughs)
Fosse/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ So... so I hope everybody here's read "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac? Cause
...cause it ... the, right near the very start of it, he's on Highway 6 traveling through Iowa
City.
Hayek/ Yep!
ITEM 2f(10) Bob Oppliger: Walking Friendly Community Designation
Throgmorton/ Or his character is! Not him. So, Matt, Item 2f(10) which is an email from Bob
Oppliger. He urges us to apply for designation as a walking friendly community. Sounds
like a pretty good idea to me! What do you think, Tom?
Markus/ Well, there's ... I think, urn ... have to look at that ... that designation. Is that the same as
`walkable' community? There's ... I think there's different organizations (both talking)
Throgmorton/ I don't know!
Markus/ ... um ... and ... there's a walkable community, uh, designation as well. I'll have to take a
look at that and find out. I think it's a nice idea. I mean, it's ... it's a nice way to market
ourselves.
Mims/ Sure!
Markus/ And ... you get some notoriety by the listing, so ... we'll take a look at it.
Mims/ Good, I'm glad you mentioned that one.
Throgmorton/ Good!
Hayek/ Yeah, I ... I see no reason not to look at something like this, but in my experience, and I
get this from staff as well, there are many organizations out there and some are redundant
relative to others and some come with a set of...you must do this, this and this...
Throgmorton/ Yeah, right.
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Hayek/ ...that in the aggregate makes it really not worth doing. Um ... not that this is that, but uh,
I think...
Throgmorton/ I understand.
Hayek/ ...I think they've... they've looked at this in other, on other issues (both talking) yeah,
but I think we ought to look at...
Mims/ Sure!
Hayek/ ...thanks, Jim. Anything else?
Markus/ Dan Burton is the one I'm familiar with, and that's `walkable communities,' so ... they
have a walkable designation as well. They actually come out and do an inventory and a
rating, um, and I ... I'm not sure what the relationship is with this particular individual,
so ... we'll check that out.
Board /Commission Appointments:
Hayek/ Okay! Next item is, uh, commission appointments. I have a lot of applications, but we
do have several for Historic Preservation. I assume for the Longfellow representative,
everybody's okay with ... Gosia Clore. I'm not sure I'm pronouncing her name right.
Throgmorton/ With ... with what?
Mims/ Gosia, she was the only one from the Longfellow Neighborhood.
Throgmorton/ Oh, right, yes. I ... I, does anybody know her? I'd ... I don't personally (several
responding) But she looks quite reasonable and appropriate so...
Mims/ Marian, can you confirm ... on Andy Litton, his ... the, our packet says that he's currently
serving his first three -year term and in his application, he said something about being on
almost six years?
Karr/ I can confirm it before your formal. I don't think I can confirm it in here but...
Mims/ I'm sorry, I should have given you a call.
Throgmorton/ I noticed that too. It ... it would seem (both talking)
Mims/ I didn't know if he filled like an unexpired term, possibly, or...
Karr/ It's possible.
Hayek/ I think he came up more recently than six years. But he ... but he lists six years twice on
his application so...
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Mims/ But that's what I'm wondering, if he filled an unexpired and then we reappointed three
years ago, and so maybe that's where the...
Karr/ But an unexpired... wouldn't be three.
Mims/ Right. Cause he said almost six years, I think. Something like that.
Throgmorton/ I ... I personally would think if he ... if he has been on almost six years, it would be
better to appoint someone else.
Mims/ Well, let's ... yeah. Says, "I've served on this commission for approximately six years and
would like to continue."
Dickens/ (mumbled) he does have some expertise that he actually rehabilitates houses
and ... brings `em back to historic...
Dobyns/ Yeah.
Dickens/ You know, hate to lose that expertise.
Dobyns/ I've heard he's ... he's served in good stead so ... (several talking) That he's, you know,
served well, in terms of people on the Historic Commission. But...
Throgmorton/ No...
Dobyns/ ... six years is getting long.
Throgmorton/ We have said that in principle we would not want to reappoint someone to more
than two terms, and ... and we have made... recently made at least one exception to that, so
exceptions can always be made, but in principle, uh, we said we didn't want to do that.
Dobyns/ Do you have other considerations, Jim? I mean, in terms of...
Throgmorton/ Uh, well, uh ... do...
Dobyns/ (both talking) ... sort of a balance, right? It's sort of.. .
Throgmorton/ ...two people, is that right?
Hayek/ Two spots for this (several responding)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, um...
Hayek/ I've heard good things about Ben (both talking)
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Dobyns/ Yeah!
Hayek/ And I think as a ... as a landscape guy, that exterior /aesthetic and use of space would be a
... a new perspective that would benefit the (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, and I thought Betsy Potter might be good, as well, and I ... Pro ... Prochaska
maybe, but it looked to me like he has a conflict of interest. I don't know if there would
be a legal conflict of interest, but it just looked like it to me. Cause... because he does a
lot of, uh ... preservation work as a contractor.
Dobyns/ Yeah. I ... I looked at that both ways actually (laughs)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, right, could be helpful. I mean, he'd have to recuse himself, I guess, from
certain decisions but ... anyhow I ... I thought Sandell and Potter looked pretty good. I
don't know either one of `em so it's not like I have any real (mumbled)
Dobyns/ What are people thinking (both talking)
Mims/ Well I'm fine with Sandell. I mean, do you want to decide on Litton now or do you (both
talking)
Dobyns/ Well yeah, I think about Litton, that'd be the first decision, I mean...
Mims/ Do you want to see if Marian can find something between meetings for us? I mean, I
don't want to remove somebody if he really has only been on for three years, but if it's
pushing six years and we typically make a change ... then I'd be more (both talking)
Dobyns/ Yeah, I would agree with that. I'd like to put on Litton if..
Mims/ Can you try and find that for us between meetings?
Karr/ Uh huh!
Hayek/ All right.
Mims/ We'll try and get done early then! (laughter)
Dobyns/ If it's not, can we make a contingency decision?
Karr/ I can do it if you can do it. (several talking and laughing)
Hayek/ Why don't we decide... let... let's decide that, uh, if...if he in fact has only done one
term, that we'll...
Mims/ Reappoint...
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Hayek/ ...reappoint, along with Sandell.
Mims/ Okay.
Hayek/ And if he has done two or close to two terms, why don't we go ahead and select a, uh,
backup.
Throgmorton/ That'd be okay with me! (several responding)
Dickens/ ...Potter as a backup.
Throgmorton/ There's no...no gender balance requirement...
Karr/ Male!
Hayek/ Just one, so the other one's open (several responding) Okay, so Potter'll be the backup if
Litton doesn't work out. And we'll decide that at the formal. Okay! Next item is, uh,
annual update ... from ICAD.
Annual Update Presentation From the Iowa City Development Group (ICAD):
Throgmorton/ It's Mark ICAD! (laughter)
Nolte/ Sorry we were running late! Between Kate and I we couldn't figure out how to run the
copier!
Mims/ (laughs)
Nolte/ (laughs)
Mims/ (laughs) That's why you got stuck over there! (several talking and laughing)
Nolte/ Good evening, Mayor and Council. Uh, I'm Mark Nolte with the Iowa City Area
Development Group. Uh, for those of you that don't know, uh, the purpose of the Iowa
City Area Development Group is to support economic growth in the area by, uh,
attracting and growing interstate commerce companies. So those companies that can
chose to be anywhere in the world, but... hopefully chose to stay and ... and locate in this
area. So ... uh, for us that means companies as large as ACT and Pearson, down to two -
person, uh, software companies, start-ups that we're working with. So, uh, about 45
companies in the Iowa City ... Iowa City proper that we consider our clients and work
with on a regular basis, so ... uh, we serve all of Johnson County. We extend into, uh,
parts of Muscatine County. We get all the way over as far as West Liberty. We serve
West Branch, uh, parts of Cedar County down to Kalona, and then we ... we jointly serve
the Amana Colonies with Iowa County, uh, the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance,
uh, and the Amana Society. So kind of a big ameba - shaped territory. Uh, we run on a
five -year, uh ... kind of campaign cycle, and so our last five -year campaign launched July
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1 of 2012. Uh, and so our results thus far for the area, uh, we've helped in the creation of
806 new jobs to the area. These are all new jobs, not retention projects. Sometimes we
get into that, where a company is threatening to leave or downsize and we get involved,
but all of these 806 jobs have been on, uh, new creation. Uh, so you can see ... kind of
how they break down. Uh, the bulk of the companies right now are expanding and new.
Uh, business recruitment is ... is kind of a different animal since the recession of 2008.
Uh, but we maintain, uh, a presence in active recruitment to outside companies. So, 30%
of the way through our five -year goal we'd like to be at least 30% at each of our goals.
You can see we're ... we're right on track, um ... little bit over, little under in some of the
categories, but uh ... for some of the change we've gone through as an organization and
some of the larger economic factors, we feel very good about the progress we've made in
the last year and a half. So, and we've got, uh, we'll be back before you in the next
couple months with some really interesting projects, uh, we hope. I don't like to talk
about things that are in the hopper, but we feel very good about some of the projects that
...that we'll be working on that we'll be bringing to you, uh, for your attention in the next
few months. Uh, there's a lot of demand that's been built up that is starting to percolate
to the surface, so we're... excited about that. Uh, most people know of ICAD and
economic development groups like ours as the `big game hunters.' That was the ... the
role of groups like ours in the past. Go out and find ... find that next big company in
Illinois or somewhere and ... and use tax incentives to bring `em back here. Um, that is
still part of the work that we do, but we know we're not going to recruit our way to
success. That's not the most sustainable economic development policy. We still
continue to market, uh, in sight selection magazines and we go to very targeted trade
shows and conferences around the country. We've curtailed that some from what it used
to be in the past. We used to spend quite a bit of our... our time and energy traveling to
trade shows, and at the end of the day, it just wasn't the most, uh, logical way to ... to rech
...achieve the results we were trying to get, so ... we try to be very strategic about which
industries we target right now. Um, wind energy was a big focus for a number of years.
Uh, that market is ... is kind of ebbed and flowed, and ... and right now it's not a great
time. Uh, you'll see the wind energy site, uh, `Supply Chain Campus' we used to call it,
is now being marketed nationally as the `Iowa City Industrial Park.' So this is a major
asset in our recruitment effort. The 170 -acres of industrial park, uh, east of Scott Six,
um, with the rail investment and the considerable infrastructure that's been put into place,
it's highly attractive. Uh, the issue right now is just that ... that manufacturing is not
moving like it once was, uh, within the United States. A lot of manufacturing that was
mobile moved to other countries, but we still know it's a ... it's a needed asset if we are
going to be competitive with other markets around the country, so ... we had a site
location consultant in today. Jeff had a chance to meet with that gentleman. He was very
impressed with the site, and what this community had to offer. I'll come back to that a
little bit more but, one of the things we know is it's hard to market a region like ours, uh,
through publications, through mailings, through videos — that sort of thing. There's
something about this area that you have to see, you have to touch and feel and
experience, so we're partnering with the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance to bring
in more of those ... these site selection consultants. So this is a cottage industry of people
who are hired by companies to help them decide what city to locate in. So we're trying
to increase our familiarity with them and have them get to know our market in a better
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way. So that means bringing them in, hosting them, uh, having them meet with some of
the companies in our market, tour some of the facilities. The Oral -B factory tour always
blows people away, when they see a...1.3 million toothbrushes going out the door every
day, it's pretty ... you know it's ... it's something you don't forget! So that's ... kind of the
shift in... instead of us spending our time outside of the market, we're going to try to
bring more of those folks that ... that help manage those relationships in and get to know
us, and build relationships with them. The biggest issue from all of our existing industry
work and the conversation we continue to have is the attraction of talent is our biggest
issue. With our unemployment being at about 4.3% as a county, uh, it's really hard for
companies to grow right now. We, for a long time, have accepted the brain drain in
Iowa, uh, the rural areas of the state where I grew up, you know, have seen this happen
from the 80s, but cities like ours, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines — we were the beneficiaries
of a lot of that out - migration. Those folks were coming here to work in our ... our
factories, uh, take some of those ... those skilled jobs, but the pipeline has started to
dwindle. There are ... just are not enough rural kids coming off the farm areas to come
into our ma... manufacturing environments; at the same time around the nation we've cut
a lot of vocational education programs through our high schools. So our manufacturers
are really seeing the brunt of this, uh, and then a lot of the IT tech positions. We don't
have ... uh, national curriculum on software education and coding, so a lot of kids are
learning this through You Tube and on the side, but we've got to be more diligent about
offering these kind of educational opportunities to our kids. Those are the two big
pockets where we're ... we're most hurting for talent right now, is on that manufacturing
side and then with a lot of the IT skills, software development, coding. There's so much
potential there, uh, we've got to find ways to stop losing young people from our state and
find ways to better augment how we educate, um, our children, and that's... that's really
what we've been working on the last year. We worked with, um (coughing, difficult to
hear speaker) decision for the ... the Institute for Decision Making, Iowa Workforce
Development, and then our economic development partners around the ... the region to
identify what are the jobs that are most in need, both today and down the road, and then
what are the skill gaps necessary, and how do we develop an educational curriculum that
matches what the employers are going to need today and down the road. We've got an
aging workforce in a lot of these industries, so how do we build an education pipeline,
and then what can we do to fill that pipeline... because more often than not, uh, we go to
conferences, we go to events, and you ask people how many of you want your children to
get involved in manufacturing, and not many hands go up. So some of the things we're
doing through the Advanced Manufacturing Sector Board, which is a regional
collaboration of manufacturers, uh, we're trying to get people to understand that there are
great careers in the manufacturing sector. It's not the dark, monotonous, backbreaking
work that a lot of people envision. Uh, there ... these are very highly skilled positions.
You have to be able to run CNC machines. A lot of times multiple machines. Uh, the
work can be very, uh, creative and different from a day -to -day standpoint, but that's not
the ... the perception that parents have. Uh, the State of Iowa received a $19 million grant,
of which some of that is flowing to our region to help market these careers to young
people so you'll ... you'll start to see more of a marketing emphasis getting down into the
K through 12 system to encourage parents and students to consider careers in that field,
and at the same time we're trying to do the same thing around some of the ... the software
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and technology careers that are... are being formed, and get kids into those pipeline so
that they have the skills they need to compete, because if we don't ... both stem the
outflow of people leaving our state, young people especially, and do a better job of
recruiting people back or recruiting new people to our area, it's going to be more and
more difficult for us to compete on a global level. Uh, one of the ... the products that
we've created over the past few years was a ... a web site called `pick your pace,' which
details what it's like to live in this environment, and then it dovetails into the job sites of
all the existing industry companies we work with. Uh, we've increased our collaboration
with the U of I Alumni Association. One of the things we've ... that we're betting on, I
guess, is that if you have lived in this area at one time, if you've been a student at...at the
University of Iowa or Kirkwood or some of the community colleges or ... Coe, Mount
Mercy, that you've got an affinity to this area. You ... you at least know, you have a
perception of what it's like to live here. That's an easier sell than someone from the coast
who's never been here and just thinks we're fly -over country. So we're trying to do more
with our colleges and universities to recruit back alumni, get them thinking about what
it's like to live and work here. Uh, we're doing a lot in the veterans space. There's a lot
of folks coming out of the military. We've got a major asset in a Veterans
Administration Hospital, plus our educational opportunities, quality of life. So we've got
a compelling story to tell folks coming out of the military about why this is a great place
to work. They've got a lot of transferable skills. Uh, you may have seen recently the
GED is changing now, uh, to help employers better understand what the skill sets of
those returning veterans are. So that's an area of emphasis we've done with our
recruiting. We started some things like `job clubs,' trying to find ... trying to, uh, match
people that are looking for work with the right career opportunities in our market. You'll
see more, uh, more oppor ... more programs like that being sprung up as part of this
regional plan that we're working on with Kirkwood and our regional partners, but we're
...we're just scratching the surface of what ... what it's going to take to start attracting
people. It's just not something that anyone ... any one of us have done, uh, it's never been
the role of the Chamber or ICAD or the CVB to recruit people to come back and live, but
we all know it's press... it's a pressing issue. The employers are begging us to do it, so
uh, we're working with our partners to try to figure out the best possible way, uh, for us
to engage in that. One of the ways that we ... we think will help us tell our stories is
getting involved in some of these organic and authentic initiatives that are taking place in
our community. It's one thing to market to someone. It's another thing to be authentic.
And I think you've seen the ... the metrics that we look to, the Austins, the Boulders of the
world. People know about them. They ... they know about the sense of place and the...
some of the things they've done. The Mission Creek Festival, I think, has an opportunity
to be the next South -by- Southwest. People on the coast, I talk to people in San
Francisco, and they've heard of Mission Creek. I bet if we went outside there'd be, you
know, nine out of ten people that walk by on the street don't know about Mission Creek
Festival, but it's just a fantastic opportunity. They're adding a technology and innovation
component this year. Uh, we're working with Andre and ... and the, uh, collaborators on
that to help make this a national, uh, point of pride for the City of Iowa City. It's an
opportunity to get more people to look and think about our area, uh, to bring capital and
hopefully their talents here. Um, on uh ... January 1St we launched IowaBrag.com which
is a, uh, way to drive eyeballs to the Pick Your Pace website. We used the bowl game as
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a way to generate buzz around that, but... one of the things that we know in our Midwest
sensibility, we don't often brag about the place we live at. We all know how great it is to
live here, so we're trying to give people a license to use their social media to kind of brag
about the resources of Iowa, and people don't know how many Pulitzer -prize winners
have come through here. They don't know about how great it is. So we need ... we need
the citizens of the area to start telling the story for us, as well. So, that was the concept
behind the Iowa Brag campaign, uh, and you'll see more of that being rolled out. The
other way that we know we can affect economic development, and the attraction of
young people, is by having a stronger economic, or a stronger eco- system for
entrepreneurship. Iowa has ... is typically ranked 48th through 50th in states favorable to
entrepreneurship. Uh, we know that our market can be different from that. We've got a
major research university. Um, we've done some things in the past, but we've never
really actively cultivated it ... a ... a real entrepreneurial eco- system like we have started in
the past few years. Uh, we've already started to see signs that this is a ... this is a great
way to get buzz about our ... our region out there too. People are talking about what's
going on with our eco- system here. And so the big ... the big program we've taken on as
ICAD, uh, was the creation of the Iowa City Co -Lab, which is the first kind of non-
traditional incubator co- working space ever launched by an economic development group
in the nation. And this was something that our board and staff worked on for two years,
uh... studied and restudied and thought about and finally launched, officially opened last
February. So ten months in to where we're at, um, these were kind of the goals that we
laid out, uh, with our partnership with the City of Iowa City, uh, and our other corporate
partners, ACT and Pearson and the University of Iowa. So we are ... we're feeling good
about where we're at ten months in. Um, it performs a little bit differently than we
thought it would. We thought it'd be a little more transient, there'd be people coming
and going, but it's really become the home for most of the companies that are using the
space. So there are ten private offices that are entirely rented up. Right now we've got
20 seats at the open benching area. Five of those are available right now. So, uh, we're
actively marketing to fill those last five seats and keep a lot of churn going. Have yet to
have a company grow out of there, yet, but we're ten months into this. We've got a
couple that are getting pretty close to busting out and needing some larger space. But it
has been a great tool for us to host events, uh, like the One Million Cups initiative that is
funded by the Kaufman Foundation, and to do other things. So it's given us a meeting
place to bring people in and uh, the site selection consultants that come in, they're
impressed by what we're doing, that we're rethinking economic development. So ... uh, I
think the ... the biggest story we're trying to tell is we're ... we're trying to think long -term
about what we're doing with economic development, and create a sustainable
environment. It's not just project- based. It's not just recruit this company, pat ourselves
on the back, and show up in another five years and tell you how great things are. It's
how can we be very consistent and deliberate in building an eco- system that sustains
itself? How do we support the existing companies here so that they can grow, uh, and
again, a lot of this gets into workforce, but what we do to attract and retain our young
people is probably the most critical thing from all the ... the research we've done right
now and that's... you'll see more and more initiatives around that. Uh, it's non-
traditional economic development work, and that's why Kate Moreland, uh, joined our
staff yesterday. She's in day two (laughter) Uh, there's a lot of things that ... that, uh, we
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need to be involved in to help build this community. Uh, we want to be better partners of
the Downtown District, to the Chamber, to other entities like Mission Creek, and Kate's
going to be that person on the ground that ... that can help us be a better partner and
collaborator so that I can still do my old job of business development and focus on the
project work. So ... that's kind of the mindset there with ... with creating this position for
Kate. So some of the needs we have right now, I think ... we talked about it at a City
Council meeting I was unfortunately at a couple weeks ago where we had a company
leave and move to Coralville. Uh, the need for office space is pressing. The vibrancy of
downtown is attractive, but we haven't ... we just don't have the office space necessary
right now, uh, so we're very excited about, um ... uh, Moen's Plaza, um, we ... we feel
strongly that those office spaces are probably already spoken for. The Midwest One
Tower, I spoke to them earlier today. It sounds like their office space is at least partially
spoken for. So I think we can safely say if you build it, they will come, that ... that there
are tenants out there that want to be part of the density of downtown, and that's really
what we're trying to get to. We've got three projects right now, uh, local company... two
local companies in one, outside company, that would love to be approximate to
downtown if they could find them space, so ... we're trying to stall them as best we can
until we can get some other space opened up or move some people around, um ... but
really what we're trying to do is create that density. Young people tech ... you know, it...
they're looking to move from a small community to a place like Iowa City but U of I
students, when we survey them, they want to go to that next higher level of density. They
want to go to that Chicago market, Madison, something like that. What we need to do is
cr ... is create and compete on that level of density, and I think shu ... through some of the
housing initiatives, uh, having a walkable city, those sort of things, are appealing to
young people, uh, and ... you know, people who have lived here at one time and want to
bring their talents back, so ... I think that's really our challenge. How do we use, uh,
developments like the Riverfront Crossing and ... and continue downtown development,
and the Towncrest development, to create the kind of density so people can live and
work, uh, approximate. Lower their commute times. Be able to walk to amenities, that
sort of thing. So ... I think we can continue down that path, um, we're really appreciative
of the City's support and the partnership that we have with the City Manager's office,
um, we want to be a good partner, you know. We ... we, I was really encouraged to read
your economic development plan and your thoughts. I think it dovetails perfectly with
our vision and what we're trying to accomplish, so ... um, I think the message ... the
message we're trying to sell out there is this is ... this is an environment that's smart,
healthy, and fun. We've got one of the highest educational attainment rates in the nation.
Some of the best schools in the nation. Best access to health care, walking trails, organic
natural food, farmers markets, and then the quality of life, uh, and as we bring assets like
Hancher and the new School of Music back on line, I'm ... I'm excited! I think it's going
to be a groundswell of new interest in ... in people wanting to live here, so ... we just need
to make sure that ... that we're doing all we can to support that growth and make sure it's
sustainable and ... and uh ... we don't grow too quickly or ... or get into some of those
issues that some communities have had, but ... so ... that's kind of it in a nutshell where
we're at, but we really appreciate the support of the City, uh, for both supporting ICAD
as an organization, but for also ... being our big sponsor and ... and helping take a risk with
the ... the Co -Lab project. So ... happy to entertain any questions.
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Hayek/ Mark, your ... your comment earlier about the ... how the Co -Lab has ... is becoming
something that wasn't entirely anticipated, and ... and you know, your startups are a little
less transient and more stick - around?
Nolte/ I thought we were going to get people just coming and going, like work a day, disappear.
The ones that are coming in, they just want a ... they want the space for the month.
Hayek/ Is ... is that, is that related to the ... the obstacles to finding good, affordable office space?
Nolte/ I think so.
Hayek/ Is there something to that as well?
Nolte/ Yeah. We've got two companies right now that would love to ... to move out, but there's
...there's no, I mean, they're not ... they're not in any hurry, cause we've made it too
comfortable for `em.
Hayek/ Well (laughter)
Nolte/ But...
Hayek/ Maybe that's not a bad thing, but uh...
Nolte/ It ... it, I mean, it is an issue. It's something that we're ... we're constantly reminding the
developers that they need to ... you know, we ... we've got a very, kind of risk - averse
development community here. You know, no one wants to build a spec building, and the
banks don't want to ... even talk about spec buildings, primarily, but ... uh ... you know, we
appreciate the developers who are willing to step up and create some space and ... and try
some things, but...
Throgmorton/ So, on ... on that point, Mark, some people have argued that, uh, new startup
businesses need old space that's less expensive, and what they don't need is new space
that is more expensive.
Nolte/ I think there's a lot of truth to that.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, so ... makes me wonder what, you know, what's possible and ... and, with
regard to older space that people can inhabit.
Nolte/ We're trying to work with Jeff and ... and the team here the planning team — how do we
open up some of the second story space, um, the Downtown District's been a great
partner, uh, I mean, Nancy Bird gets this. (both talking)
Dobyns/ But that's expensive... space.
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Nolte/ Some of it can be. You know, it de ... you know, there's some accessibility issues with
some of these spaces, but ... um ... existing space (both talking)
Markus/ ...but for small investments on the part of the City, we can make some of that space
available and affordable. Um, and we have worked with some of them, and we continue
to, uh, see opportunities in that area. We're working with them daily, so...
Hayek/ Well and that was ... that was my second point (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) this
...we're looking at, I know you're aware of this cause you just mentioned it, but Geoff
Fruin and ... and Steve Long and Nancy Bird and others, and Jeff Davidson, are looking at
this second and third floor older spaces that are completely empty, um, above ground
floor businesses in the immediate downtown area.
Nolte/ Uh huh.
Hayek/ And there are obstacles to that, obvi ... you know, you have a level of dilapidation, but
then you also have new building codes and fire safety issues and there are obstacles, but
...um, we'd like to think there are solutions to it because those are totally untapped
resources (both talking)
Nolte/ ... and they're very cool, I mean, that's what these startups want. They want that, you
know, it's hard to recreate some of that.
Hayek/ Yeah.
Nolte/ You know, in a new building. So you ... yeah, so there is a mix. We've got established
companies that want those larger, 4,000 to 5,000 — square foot spaces and they're... they
can afford to pay the premium and go into new construction. The goal then is if you...
we can get some of that new construction, we open up some of the other spaces too, um,
but second story space ... we've got a couple buildings that we're ... we're trying to get
access to that would be really interesting if we could make work, but ... urn ... (mumbled)
Dickens/ Yeah, what's the best way, I get quite a few inquiries from people that are looking to
come back, going to this direct or pickyourpace.com. Is that the best place to direct `em
or...
Nolte/ It's ... I ... there's a jobs tab on there that lists all ... so all the companies we work with in the
region, all the inter -state commerce companies, there's a hyperlink right to their jobs'
page. That's one of the issues that we've had. We don't have a good, uh, we've never
had a central repository of jobs in the corridor.
Dickens / Right.
Nolte/ Some people use Monster; some use Corridor Careers, you know, there's some very
technical websites for software and IT, like Dice, uh, so what we tried to do with that was
just create at least one place we could drive people to, and it's broken down by industry
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sector. So if they're in healthcare, IT, or manufacturing, they can at least start looking at
their job search, but if you've got someone that's really interested, um, have them give
Delane in our office a call. Uh, that's one of the things she's be ... resumes are just
finding our organization and the Chamber right now. People are just mailing us their
resumes saying I want ... I want to come back and live and work in your area; help me
find a job. We've never been structured to do that. That was never one of our roles. So
we're ... we're in talks now with the Chamber, how do we ... you know, if...if this is a
need, how do we address this need? How do we work together to figure this out?
Botchway/ Well I have two questions, one being, um, you know, is there any ... how much talk
with, I guess how much talk is there with, um, actual property owners as far as looking at
different ways of, you know, getting people in that, you know, obviously from a
downtown perspective cause there seems to be a lot of high rent, um, and I know that for,
you know, my barber and a couple other people have complained about that, and so one
of the things that I thought was brought up, uh, not too long ago by Catherine Champion,
she was talking about a graduated rent scale. So for the first year you pay, you know,
some bargain- basement price but as you, or as your business matured or whatever the
case would be, you would ... we'd rather you pay something than have no business there
at all. And so is there any work as far as collaboration with the property owners, as well,
to kind of find that balance?
Nolte/ I think we've seen some property owners are open to that. I think the, you know, the
challenge we get into, our strength and our weakness is that vacancy rates have been so
low .... that there's very little incentive for a lot of property owners to even negotiate
(several talking)
Throgmorton/ Is that true for office space, as well?
Nolte/ Well, office space is ... it's one of those ... we just haven't had a lot of it. So there's been a
lot of second floor buildings that, you know, the building's paid off. There's very little
interest in the owner to do anything with, and we are having those conversations, and the
Downtown District and others are trying to knock on those doors and find ... a lot of these
owners are out of state, out of the area.
Botchway/ Right, I think that's something Nancy Bird had mentioned as well.
Nolte/ Yeah, um ... so it's ... it's, you know, I think the initial threshold is getting them interested
in letting someone be a tenant, um, and then getting in to assess what, if there's ADA
issues, if there's other code issues like, you know, sprinklers, that sort of thing, what
...what's the electrical situation. I think rent is the most, you know, fifth or sixth down
the list of...of things, uh, but ... you know, if it's a real business that ... that's got their legs
under them and they're generating revenue, then ... then they should be able to pay at least
close to a fair market value, I mean, that ... that should be the expectation.
Botchway/ I guess my other (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) question, uh, I know that we
have a particular downtown focus, and I understand the walkability aspect of it, and I
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understand the younger aspect of it as far as wanting to be kind of close to the hustle and
bustle, but from, uh, you know, not necessarily growing up in this community as well and
being from, you know, larger cities where you do have your downtown aspect, but then
you have other districts, so to speak, throughout the city that, you know, can be different
nodes or economic nodes where you can have a lot of that, uh, collaboration. You can
have a lot of that, uh, activity. What about the, you know, the Iowa City Marketplace.
What about some of the, uh, there's a couple of spaces as far as, you know, different
apartment complexes that have gone up that have been looking for, uh, business space. I
know that you might be talking about a little bit larger business space, but has there been
...has there been talks about kind of expanding out, um, into more of the eastside
community area, because it isn't ... no, it isn't downtown. You know, you're not next to
the football game, you're not next to a lot of the different things, but um, it is an area, and
the commute isn't necessarily that much of a commute and so I don't know what
thoughts you have on that.
Nolte/ I ... I don't think there's any reason why we wouldn't consider any of those nodes to be
viable. Again, it's just ... it's just finding space right now. Of...of any size right... there's
lots of little, you know, kinda retail, kinda office.
Botchway/ Right.
Nolte/ A 1,000 square feet here and there. Uh, what we're trying to do with the Co -Lab is create
a starting point, so that those businesses can get a foothold in the community, to where
they can grow out into those spaces. It's ... where we're challenged is the bigger, the
bigger chunks of space. So it's that ... it's that 4,000, 5,000, 6,000, um, and again, there's
...there's proximity. People like to be close to the amenities, but yeah, the Towncrest
district with the redev ... redevelopment there. So it doesn't have to be a downtown thing
but ... just a lot of the surveys we've done with a lot ... with students and other groups, it's
...it's, they like that proximity, they like that density. So that's ... but that's not to say, I
mean, the Northgate Park, I think there's one ... one site left in the Northgate Park until
they open up some new land, so...
Dickens/ Well, and the Hy -Vee up there in the north end is a potential, once the new one gets
built that...
Nolte/ Yeah.
Dickens/ I don't know if there's any purpose for that right now. It could be converted fairly
easy.
Nolte/ We looked at the Aldi building, you know, the ... the old Aldi building. The problem is,
it's got some flood issues, so it's hard for a developer to want to go in and ... and convert
that into office space, so ... it's ... every property is unique in ... in its advantages and
disadvantages. So it's ... it's really a case -by -case basis but ... urn ... we try to work with
developers and real estate community to be as creative as we possibly can.
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Hayek/ In a... one of the other challenges downtown, I think, is that the ... the student housing
market is so lucrative. It drives a lot of the development, and you know, we can require
first floor retail or, you know, available for retail space, but frankly ... they don't even
need to fill that in order to make the building profitable if they get rents from the
residential side and lot of these startups, lot of businesses, don't need to be on the
sidewalk, um ... uh, but having that sidewalk, uh, or you know, that first floor, ground
level space just jacks up the rent to start with, um, and ... and you ... it doesn't necessarily
solve the problem, and a lot of businesses just don't want to be below four or five stories
of apartments.
Nolte/ It's a lot of plumbing leaks and issues that concern (several talking and laughing)
Hayek/ Yeah! Yeah!
Nolte/ Yeah, every property has its ... its challenges but...
Hayek/ Well, most...
Markus/ So, Mark, why don't you talk a little bit about Riverfront Crossings and how ICAD, you
know, views that opportunity there, um, compared to maybe some more suburban
locations, and what you're hearing out in the marketplace.
Nolte/ Sure. Uh ... and I ... probably find four or five articles a week that I forward to Geoff and
Tom about, there's a, you know, the urban research park concept, even the Research
Triangle Park right now is trying to figure out how do they ... how do they be more urban?
How do they create more density, because the ... the trend now is going to less of that
suburban campus with the big parking lots and buildings, uh, separated from each other
and more ... more to that live /work, building up. We took a trip to Champaign and looked
at what Illinois is doing, uh, and what is really interesting there is ... how they've gotten
the private sector to buy in and companies like State Farm and DuPont and Dow and
some of those companies are really using it as a way for them to have a presence
approximate to a university campus as a recruiting tool. So they're partnering on these
incubators and some of this research base, um, and I think it really fits what the River
Crossings concept could be is ... is bring some of that research and some of that ... that
capital investment from these companies around the country that are ... that are looking
for talent, that are trying to partner with University of Iowa, bring them closer to campus,
uh ... and that would fit that higher density, live/work ... uh, environment that has been so
successful in other markets, so ... it's really encouraging... it's... it's one of ... it's one of
these things — every week there's an article or two that pops up that just says, this is...
this is what companies want, this is what young people want, this is what universities
should be building, um, and so, you know, we'll continue to try to work with the
University and see how those two visions can ... can meld.
Throgmorton/ I ... I certainly agree that that's right, uh, but the more dense we get, by design, I
mean by intent, the more important high quality design becomes.
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Nolte/ Absolutely!
Throgmorton/ And, especially if we really want to attract and retrain... retain a certain ... set of
workers. So, uh, we really have to be conscious of that, and I know the form -based
code's really oriented toward that. I ... I wanted to follow up on a a ... a related point, uh,
one of your slides has a heading `better tell ... better tell our story, internally and
externally,' and uh, that resonates with me a lot for a particular reason. I ... as a professor,
or retired professor, I've been invited to go to Tacoma, Washington, in mid - February to
speak at an event, uh, involving, oh, I don't know, six other speakers and... for the people
of Tacoma. So they want to know how they can tell their story better, okay? And I've
written a lot about stories and persuasive storytelling at ... as it relates to public planning
and public realm kind of stuff, but I ... I could really benefit from talking with you and
Kate about what you mean by `our story,' cause that ... I think that turns out to be a pretty
crucial thing if you take the word story and the word story... storytelling seriously. So,
maybe we can find a time to...
Nolte/ Absolutely!
Throgmorton/ ...to sort through that some.
Nolte/ I would love to, I mean, we're trying to figure it out, but in... at the end of the day, we
want everyone being part of the marketing mission of the community. I ... I'm in
economic development, but I don't believe in growth for the sake of growth, and I ... I
don't, I'm not advocating density for the sake of density, but I'm proud of this
community. I love living here. I like telling the story. I love bringing people in. Uh, we
were at a, uh, City Circle Acting had an event a couple weeks ago and all these people
had moved here, like one by one they went around the table and told, you know, I'm from
Boston, I'm from this area, and somehow spouses, jobs, something like that, they found
their way to Iowa City and they love it! And they're... they're saying it. So now we're
advocating, we're telling our ... our friends back in those communities. So that's I guess
what we're talking about is how do we get ... but we've got to arm people with the facts,
right? I mean, we all need to be able to recite how many Pulitzer prize winners, how
many (laughs) you know, and ... and that's what we're talking about. How do we get that
shared story out there so everyone has their facts...
Throgmorton/ The thing about storytelling is that storytelling is more than just presenting the
facts.
Nolte/ Sure!
Throgmorton/ So, that ... that's the kind of thing I'd like to sort through with you. I'd really...
Nolte/ Love doing this!
Throgmorton/ I ... I would benefit from (mumbled) I wanted to mention one other thing, um...
both uh ... uh, both Michelle and I are connected with the Regional Workforce Investment
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Board, though in different capacities. So, uh, you know, I've been with Delane up there
for several of the meetings but one of the things that's come up as a topic during their
strategic planning sessions, uh, has been to what ex ... really a question, to what extent can
their work ... um, al... also benefit lower income people and people from... different
demographic, uh, backgrounds than what Iowans are used to. And... and I wonder if
you've put any thought into that as well, in terms of...whether there are ways in which
ICAD can work with the School District, you know, to improve the quality of education
for Latinos and African Americans and lower income people in general and so on, so that
they can ... can fill some of the gaps.
Nolte/ Might be a part of the reason why we hired someone from the School District (laughter)
come work for us! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ It's a set -up, I know (laughs)
Nolte/ There's some ... it was a good segue! Uh, that's absolutely right, and ... and ... we need to
be more of an international community. I think we're all ... we all are very prideful of the
fact that we are an international community, but what more can we do? What other
countries can we reach out to and attract people. Uh, the University, obviously, is trying
to figure that out as well. Uh, they know that ... to be competitive they need to ... to be a
global university. Uh, so how do we support that? How do we ... how do we involve
those people in all aspects of our community? Where... wherever they come from, how
do we make `em feel safe and welcome in our schools? I mean, these are all things that
we're ... that we're talking about. I ... I, you know ... but again, it gets back to this is a
long -term economic development philosophy that we're just ... we're still gravitating
away from that old `let's just go to Illinois and beg their factories to move here.'
Dickens/ I think sometimes we sell ourselves short. I was in Belgium a few years ago and we
were riding a train with a young 12 or 13- year -old coming back home and we said we
were from Iowa, University of Iowa, and he says, "Oh, do you know a Dr. Gantz? I'm
familiar with this cochlear implants." So I think... sometimes it's out there but we just
don't know it, too, so I think we need to build on that. That it is out there, and we are
internationally known, so...
Mims/ I think it's part of, you know, what we talked about, the strategic plan, you know, is really
getting our message out, and whether it's storytelling or marketing or just
communications, whatever venue you decide to take, and I think all of them are good in
their own way, just depending on who's doing it and how and the audience. But ... to get
that message out (both talking)
Dickens/ Well ... and our hospitality, I think, we need to work with them because ... Jim was
saying, going to Tacoma. I've been to Tacoma. When I stayed at the Hyatt there they
told me, don't go right when you leave the hotel. You know, that's not a real positive
way of...
Throgmorton/ But you can go left! (laughter)
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Dickens/ Yeah, you can go left but they recommend don't going right so ... I mean, that's another
area that you need to ... (laughter) to push when people come, that you have a positive
experience.
Dobyns/ Mark, you urn ... you mention Riverfront Crossing and we look at Riverfront Crossings
sort of like our baby, I mean, it's beautiful, wonderful in every way. How could not
everybody love it as much as we love it? Urn ... however, it sounds like you're going out
and selling our baby, urn ... but I'm hearing that you're getting maybe some, uh, and I'm
interested in what you're hearing out there. You mentioned the word walkability. I have
a sense that maybe people are telling you they want something that's, um (mumbled) is
walkable. Is there anything else you're hearing from them, and in sort of a generic way
so you don't have to play your hand, that they're saying about Riverfront Crossing that
maybe we need to consider.
Nolte/ The ... when we've shared it with site selection consultants or companies or ... or just talked
about it with people in the community, all ... all the feedback's been positive. I think
people see that that area of the community, we ... we (coughing, difficult to hear speaker)
our back on the river down there, I mean, uh, many years ago. There's a lot of
opportunity. It's one of the gateways, uh, to downtown.
Dobyns/ So everything we're talking about, our baby is beautiful...
Nolte/ I've yet to hear any (laughter) I ... I wish I had, you know, do this and that. I really don't!
I...
Hayek/ Now the way we're ... we're raising our baby is different, and because (laughter) we're
not, you know (several talking) we're not the developer. We're not ... we're not racking
up credit card debt to buy and develop land and then turn it around. We're working with
the private sector, we're using form -based code, and we're providing incentives, or we
intend to. We've already made it a, you know, urban renewal area, but that's a different
approach.
Nolte/ Yeah, and I think ... I think people recognize that and see that as a positive, uh, you know,
I ... I ... I represent multiple communities but...
Hayek/ Understood but ... it is a (both talking)
Nolte/ It's a difference. Yeah, and I think the private sector's very excited. I ... I think the issue
is, you know, who's going to go first. Once you get that first domino, I think (coughing,
difficult to hear speaker) that will set the tone (both talking)
Mims/ ... excited about Mid... Midwest One.
Nolte/ Yeah!
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Mims/ Hopefully that's part of that first domino.
Dickens/ Yeah (several talking)
Hayek/ ... once that park, once the waste water (several talking)
Mims/ Yeah.
Dickens/ The O'Brien project hopefully.
Hayek/ Yeah, you're starting to see (several talking)
Dickens/ Once we hear something (several talking)
Nolte/ Yeah, I ... I wish I had...
Dobyns/ No, that's okay. I'd like to believe that we have a beautiful baby in every (laughter)
Nolte/ It is! (laughter)
Markus/ Has a little rash but (laughter)
Botchway/ But I'll be interested, you know, I mean, I know Jim said he was going to talk to you,
but I'll be interested in how you sell, because I think that, um, at least from my
perspective, as soon as I got here it was cold and it was cold, and that hasn't necessarily
changed. (laughter) And uh...
Markus/ It's getting' colder!
Botchway/ I think...
Payne/ Weren't you here last summer?
Botchway/ (laughter)
Mims/ I was going to say, he's been here three years. Isn't there (both talking)
Botchway/ I think for... urn ... for... a lot of students, um, coming here from different
neighborhoods, um, and some foreign, some not, there's... there's just a, I mean, once
you're in, once you know people, once you're a part of the community, it's great. But
when ... if you're not, if you're focused on school or you ... you don't see the things that
you would normally see in other larger communities, um, you kind of take yourself away
from it, and so I'd be interested in how you sell, because that ... that to me is ... I mean, I
think this is the most important part, um, in keeping the brain drain (both talking)
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Nolte/ Yeah, I use a lot of my experience. I was one of those students. I came here, and I didn't
know that there was a community, right? I didn't know people lived here. I thought it
was just the professors, right?
Botchway/ Right.
Nolte/ Because I ... my ... my commute from where I lived to classes and then to the bars and
(laughter and several talking) Yeah! (laughs) Um ... I had a great time here, but I didn't
know. I didn't ... I left, moved to ... I did the move to Chicago thing and came back. So
I ... I use a lot of my, you know, personal story, and then you ... you try to back it up with
what you know some of the ... the things that we know, like commute times and ... you...
it's hard to ... to match this environment, right?
Botchway/ Right.
Nolte/ But we've not done a good job of selling to the students. We really haven't. Um, I get to
go in and ... and guest lecture from time to time and I'll ask students how many of you
plan to stay here after college, and very few hands go up, I mean, we ... we are not directly
marketing to those students that this is a place to live. Uh, I think the City is, uh, I saw
the ... the, you know, the letter that every student gets from the Mayor, I think, is fantastic
but ... we need to be, as the rest of the community, we need to be stepping up and doing
similar efforts and just making that ... you know, that was never an op ... given to me as an
option, that you can actually stay and live here and work because there's (coughing,
unable to hear speaker) career opportunities here. We've got to stop doing that.
Bramel/ I'd probably start with Tippie ... Tippie College of Business because if there's one place
you want to probably start, it's going to be with students who are looking to be, uh, who
are entrepreneurs, who are looking to start a business, and (mumbled) think that's a
phenomenal place to start. Um ... but I'll ... I'll echo your comments about, uh, students
leaving and what not and it is true — there's a lot of students who come here for an
education, leave, typically going back to Illinois, Chicago, just like yourself, but I think,
you know, once you, uh, you know, demonstrate what we're doing here, um, with what
ICAD's doing and how we're willing to help students, uh, get a start, because I mean, for
a student like me, I'd like to be a future business owner some year ... some day, but... eh,
you know, where do I start with that, so (both talking)
Nolte/ Having a strong entrepreneur eco- system, I think, is critical to (both talking)
Bramel/ Yeah.
Nolte/ ...to attracting young people, at least getting to have the conversation with them. We...
we've hosted, you know, these startup weekends. We've done a couple of those where
we go on campus, and for 72 hours we host this ... this startup competition, right? You
come in on Friday night with an idea, and by Sunday night you have to pitch to angel
investors, right, and we have 70 students go through that and ... you know, the first class
that went through that, there's about six or seven of those guys that are at the Co -Lab
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now, just because it ... I had a chance to get to know them and ... and, you know, just tell
`em this community cares about your success. That's all we're trying to sell, right?
Bramel/ Co -Lab thing is excellent! Uh, I was going to ask, uh, what's your ... what's your
greatest challenge? As of right now (mumbled) still kind of new but what ... what's your
challenge, if it's not office space (mumbled) we've discussed that.
Nolte/ It's keeping that momentum, I mean, it takes a lot of...you know, we were talking about
creating an authentic sense of place and ... and keeping people involved, you ... you've
gotta cultivate that, right? We need more, uh ... we need the young professional groups to
be more engaged. We need ... there's just a lot of...we need more ... we need other
partners to step up and help in some of these areas, but that takes a lot of manpower and
...and other things but ... I ... I, you know, I'm bullish on where we're going. You look at
all the things University's doing and what the School District's doing, and how that's all
gonna come ... come to play. We're gonna have a pretty crazy few years of construction,
uh, but when you get Hancher back and when you get the College of Music and wherever
they put the Museum of Art, if you can drive down the street and see four recitals going
on in one building and the Pollock through the window of another, I mean ... you can't
find that anywhere else! I mean, this is a community ... we don't lack for anything, right?
That's what I tell when I ... that's what I tell people when I try to sell. We don't lack for
anything. You want to live in Chicago, what do you have in Chicago that we don't have
here? Other than traffic, and higher cost of living and everything.
Dickens/ Da Bears! (laughter)
Nolte/ The Bears, but ... I can ... I can be at Wrigley Field in three and a half hours! I think there's
so many people that live in the suburbs that don't even touch Chicago on a regular basis
(several responding) that I probably spend more time in downtown Chicago than most of
my friends that live in, you know, Wheaton and Glen Ellyn and all that. So...
Hayek/ Good!
Nolte/ Anyway, I appreciate the time.
Throgmorton/ I wanted to bring up one other point that connects with what, uh, what Alec said a
minute ago. Uh, and Matt and Tom and I have had extensive conversations with various
Chinese students at the University, over 2,000 students, right, many that I've talked to
want to stay in Iowa City, and they tend to be, you know, pretty hard workers and pretty
smart people and so on, and so I don't know whether you've had chance... a chance to
connect with the Chinese Student Association, and to try to, you know, get them in the
mix or not, uh, I would encourage you to do so if you (both talking)
Nolte/ We're trying to figure out how to do that. I think we have our next meeting Thursday
afternoon.
Markus/ Yeah. We involved `em, Jim.
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Throgmorton/ Yeah.
Markus/ We brought them in.
Throgmorton/ Right.
Nolte/ You know, I think there's a lot of different angles to take. I ... I still, this is a comment
that someone made at a meeting we had in the City Manager's office about two years
ago, but you know, try to recruit, uh, retirees, you know, high net -worth ex -pats from
China that want to get away from the smog and the corruption and they're looking for a
place to live, and maybe by bringing the elders here the young people will feel more at
home here and want to follow. I think there's a lot of different ways we can ... we can
approach this, so...
Hayek/ Good! Thanks, Mark, and (several talking)
Karr/ Mark, could you download the presentation so I could archive it?
Nolte/ How ... where do you want me to save it?
Karr/ Right on the...
Throgmorton/ Kate, could you send me an email so we can arrange a time to talk? Thank you.
Karr/ Thank you.
Nolte/ Just right on...
Karr/ Uh huh.
Nolte/ This is hard to do with everyone watching! (laughter and several talking)
Karr/ Thank you!
Nolte/ Thank you.
Information Packets:
Hayek/ Okay, so we've got a couple Info Packets here. Uh, the first one is from December 19th
Anything on that one?
Throgmorton/ I ... I note, uh, item ... Item #7 I think it is on that packet, and of course I just
managed to hit the wrong button here so... sorry, uh, but Item #7 I think is, uh, about
some... something. Oh god, where did it go? I'm sorry!
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Mims/ Walkable places?
Throgmorton/ Yeah, walkable places, so um ... I just, there was a ... according to the article that
was, uh, cited in that item, a poll recently conducted by the National Association of
Realtors, which is an ... an important fact, uh, reports that when Americans today are
given a choice, the option of walkable, compact, mixed -use community comes out
consistently ahead of conventional drive -only places, and that's completely consistent
with what Mark was just telling us. And it comes from the National Association of
Realtors.
(male)/ I agree!
Mims/ Oh ... I ... I don't know. I ... I still think it just really, really varies. I mean, where people
are at in their life, whether they've got kids, urn ... you know, we've gotta have both! I
mean, I think ... feel very strongly we have to have both. If...you wouldn't find people
buying in these "suburb developments" um ... or the housing prices being as high if
people didn't want to live in those environments too. So, I mean, I'm not against the
more walkable, more dense. I think there's a... definitely a place for that, but I think... I
think we've gotta have both!
Botchway/ Well and, I agree, Susan. I think that ... what I was asking Mark about was ... from a
...from like a district standpoint. You know, there's going to be people who don't like
downtown.
Mims/ Uh huh.
Botchway/ They ... they have this notion that there's students and I hate the students now and I'm
not going to come downtown. And so how are we going to cater to those people?
Because there's... there's definitely places, I mean, I used the eastside as far as, the
southeast side as far as Sycamore Mall or Iowa City Marketplace, whatever it's going to
be called. Uh, that's a great area.
Mims/ Sure!
Botchway/ You know, that's an area where it has, um, I was about to run off the list of different
restaurants that I love (laughter) but there's different things there that I think people can
enjoy (both talking)
Dickens/ ... and entertainment (laughter)
Botchway/ Yeah! (laughter) There's different things that people can enjoy, but what can we do
to not only move, cause it doesn't ... I mean, I guess my thing is it doesn't have to be
about ... it doesn't have to be a walkable city or a walkable place from just a downtown
aspect. It can be a walkable place from, you know, whatever community that you're in...
Mims/ Right.
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Botchway/ ...and how do we look at that, and so I think that's... that's a different level of...I
think a different perspective that I don't think we currently ... I mean, maybe we've
thought about but I think just needs to be thought about a little bit more, because I think
people, there's certain people that just don't want to move, or don't want to go
downtown. I mean, we're ... we were just talking about some traffic con... congestion on
Burlington and Clinton that is never going to go away! So what are we doing to kind of
spruce up the life of everybody else? You know, you talked about some of the
(mumbled) about some of the Towncrest development. That's a wonderful thing. I
mean, that's a great area for, you know, young families, whatever the case may be, but
what are we doing, um, to get that same level of retail entertainment from the downtown
area out to these other coves so people don't necessarily have to travel downtown. If
they want to spend the rest of their life on the west side, where I am and, you know, Rick
is as well, that's great. I mean, they're still a part of Iowa City and it's important for, like
what you said, that there's... there's a lot of money in a lot of these, uh, the sub -
developments that (mumbled) that really want ... that believe that there's going to be some
economic development that eventually pushes there and we should be looking at it from a
walkable standpoint, not just driving everybody down, uh, driving everybody downtown.
And so ... I don't know.
Throgmorton/ I completely agree!
Hayek/ So someone threw the, uh, article about Cedar Falls in, uh, IP #8.
Mims/ Uh huh.
Hayek/ I thought it was interesting.
Mims/ Yeah.
Markus/ Some of these go back so far I don't remember putting `em in there! (laughter and
several talking) It was last year!
Mims/ (several talking) ... converting homes to apartments. Talking about Cedar Falls
potentially.
Botchway/ Wasn't there one where it was talking about, and I might ... we might be talking about
this other one later on, but building too many, um, apartment complexes or student
housing apartment complexes, to where there's ... then you ... your students are off to the
new, whatever new thing is, but then we forget about an abandoned, whatever other (both
talking)
Mims/ Yeah, they want the better amenities.
Botchway/ Right, right (several talking)
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Hayek/ It was an article.
Payne/ It was an article, and it was long!
Botchway/ Yeah.
Payne/ If I remember it was really long and it was in some other ... it wasn't even in Iowa. It
was...
Botchway/ Yeah, it was somewhere else (both talking)
Payne/ ...yeah, but they were going to market this place with cabanas and ... a pool and cabanas
and it was like really? (several talking and laughing)
Markus/ And by the way, we've been approached by those developers here, as well, and we've
looked at some of those projects in some far distant locations within our jurisdictions that
just don't seem to make a whole lot of sense for this community at all. Our approach has
been to try and get private development, uh, dorms closer into the University to take
some of the pressure off some of the older neighborhoods and open up some of that
housing stock for what I call the `new pioneers' to come back into the downtown
neighborhood areas, the core neighborhoods. So ... you ... you'll see a lot of those articles,
and I think that there is a market for some of those things, but we'd like to see them
created in a more dense way, rather than ... you know, this suburban sprawl that you see
with a lot of `em. So...
Bramel/ Thing is, if it's going to be dense, you might ... we have to kind of keep the cost down
because I mean... there'll be students out there who'll pay for pools and Pina Coladas and
all that stuff, all that jazz (laughter) but, yeah, the reason, um, you know, me ... my
colleagues and friends and what are way down, you know (laughs) outskirts... outskirts! l
wouldn't even say that, um ... but far, you know, half mile, mile or so from campus is
because it's inexpensive, and students who get out of the dorms don't want to go back to
dorms. They want to go to their own, you know, apartment or something where they
have space. So if we're going to do that, I think we, I mean, you build up whatever we
need to do, but you know, keep it affordable and keep it appealing, as it were. I mean,
that's hard to do, I guess, but ... just thought I'd throw that in there.
Markus/ There's a I%, I think, vacancy in this community right now, which is pushing the price
point for a lot of these units.
Bramel/ That's right.
Markus/ Whether desirable or not.
Bramel/ That's correct! (laughs)
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Hayek/ But with respect to this article on converting single - family homes into multi -unit
apartment buildings, I ... I'm not even sure ... is that happening much anymore? I feel like
we went through, you know, a decades -long process where that occurred, um...
Markus/ I think that depends on the character of the community that you're in, and I think you're
right. That ... that happened, that ... I think we've evolved a bit past that already.
Hayek/ Yeah, we suffered those years and we're still feeling the effects of it. I don't know if it's
(both talking)
Payne/ We're tearing `em down, and building apartments instead (laughter and several talking)
Mims/ ...that one I think.
Hayek/ Yeah. (several talking) Jeff Davidson has some thoughts.
Davidson/ I was just going to say that with some of your zoning ordinance changes that you've
implemented, you've eliminated the incentive for doing that.
Hayek/ Yeah.
Dobyns/ Uh huh.
Hayek/ Uh, former P &Z member who will not be mentioned, whose name will not be mentioned,
once told me we ought to, uh ... how does this work, to ... to ... take the single - family
homes that ... that have turned into rooming houses back to single - family homes.
Basically, uh, you know, give like a 10 -year sunset for that kind of use, uh, and ... and uh,
let the property owners get, you know, recoup their ... their investment, but at some point,
basically force those homes back to single- family status. Be a radical move but ... urn...
(mumbled) Anyway! Okay ... uh, anything else on that IP? Okay the other one is, uh,
January 2 °d
Dobyns/ IP #7, Jeff. Um, this is something I think Susan you talked about. This is, uh, the
streets in southeast part of town where one street was an elbow. Another was a cul -de-
sac, and we were wondering why one was a cul -de -sac. I can't remember (both talking)
Mims/ Yeah, I think Michelle had asked.
Dobyns/ Michelle had that, sorry! Um, and ... and so, Jeff, for future implications, um, I think we
were looking at that and I've got the, um, street, uh, design in my head, um, one was sort
of an elbow turn, and ... there we go, viola!
Davidson/ Yeah, this one ... once I understood what Michelle was talking about at the meeting
(both talking)
Dobyns/ Yeah (both talking)
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Davidson/ Talking about this street right here, and why we didn't have the same design over
here, and uh, what I tried to, uh, explain in the memorandum you received here is that,
you know, what we were basically trying to address is ... this situation with the backyards
that face the arterial street, and a preponderance here, I mean, you can see actually on
both sides of the street here, and that the alternative that, you know, this is basically the
alternative and...
Dobyns/ So that's the cul -de -sac.
Davidson/ Yeah, this is ... this is the existing cul -de -sac. I can't remember... yeah, you can see it
right here. Right here ... is what (both talking)
Dobyns/ Okay, cause... could... couldn't the ... the end of the cul -de -sac there be a house that
you're looking at the back of the house?
Davidson/ Well there can't the way it's ... it's designed.
Dobyns/ It's designed so it's so close. Okay. (both talking)
Davidson/ It's designed so that there's basically a sidewalk access ... you can't see it because of
the snow in the photograph, but there's a sidewalk access right here that basically
connects, uh, the street here to the sidewalk system on the arterial. Uh, you just can't
quite see it there but ... results in a much more open, uh, design of the subdivision.
Dobyns/ Well ... and I ... I appreciate that, like when you go west on like Benton, um, and you're
coming up to Ernest Horn, there's parts of Benton where the streets front ... it's very
friendly, it's very nice. Um ... and then all of a sudden there's portions where you're just
seeing back fences. Um ... and walls. (several talking)
Davidson/ But I do want to emphasize to Council, and ... because it's, you know, due to (noises
on mic) what you all have adopted as... as a subdivision regulation is that very, very
restricted number of cul -de -sacs that you're going to see in this community, compared to
for example Arlington Drive in Windsor Ridge where it's basically a ... as you go up and
down that street, the developer did not want streets that connected between Arlington and
Barrington, and staff advocated for those and the Council at that time determined that it
would just be a collection of arterials. If you look at Abor Avenue on the west side,
again, a ... along where the ... where there's a single - loaded street against Willow Park,
just a collection of cul -de -sac streets, all the way along that. You would never see
anything like that. We would require better, uh, continuity of the street system in order to
make it easier to provide public services, to make walkability better in the neighborhood.
There's all kinds of reasons for doing it, but there are instances, and this happened to be
one, where we felt that it was appropriate.
Payne/ You ... you could also avoid that look with the fences by covenants that ... don't allow
fences.
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Davidson/ Well, sure. Basically changing the ... changing the subdivision regulations...
Payne / Right!
Davidson/ ...but uh, you know, when people have backyards along arterial streets, you know, I
live up around City High and along First Avenue. Well, the Mayor's neighborhood! Uh,
there are, uh, plenty of...well, every house in ... in your neighborhood has a ... has a
backyard fence along First Avenue.
Dobyns/ Yeah. (several talking)
Davidson/ So it was to cut down on the preponderance of that. This was a specific way we tried
to do that.
Dobyns/ Okay. All right. Thank you!
Council Time:
Hayek/ Thanks, Jeff! Other items from this Info Packet? Okay! Council time? Jim, your
comment about, uh, the international students while ICAD was here ... prompts me to, um,
ask, we ... we had a conversation, um, and I don't think there's any clear direction, but
...but about signage and wayfinding downtown for international students and looking at,
um, different, you know, multiple languages and things like that. There ... is that going
anywhere or should... should I see if I can get more Councilors interested in looking at
that?
Markus/ Well, we ... we're going to continue to have the conversations with, uh, representatives
of the...
Hayek/ Okay.
Markus/ ...uh, Chinese community and the international community as to what different things
we should be doing and so ... that conversation'll continue.
Hayek/ Okay. Anything else?
Bramel/ Matt, I'll just branch (mumbled) off that, not that idea of the wayfinding came from that,
uh, that cultural, uh, diversity dinner that we had, Building a Better Community, and I'll
just say that I've been working with, um, the International Student Legal Services and the
international students to, uh, kind of start a little program to, uh, educate, uh, the ... the
(mumbled) foreign students I should say, uh, to our laws and whatnot cause that's such a
... such a big deal. So ... that's one of the things that we really need to focus on. That plus
wayfinding, so ... yeah.
Hayek/ You gotta speak up there (both talking)
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Bramel/ I know! I'm so quiet.
Hayek/ You're a mumbler! (laugher)
Bramel/ I am a mumbler, yes.
Hayek/ (several talking) ...just for your information, one of the things that came from that, uh,
multi - cultural dinner was this concept of...of having some sort of, uh, form, standardized
lease that could be translated into different languages.
Bramel/ Ali, yes!
Hayek/ I know the City's not directly involved. That's a relationship between the landlord and
the tenant, but to the extent the University and Student Legal Services could get on board,
you know, providing a lang ... providing a lease that you could read in your language of
origin, um, resonated with the group.
Dickens/ It won't happen, cause it makes sense! (laughter)
Bramel/ That's another huge barrier, that, yeah. That, our laws, and... and then wayfinding. It's
just, you know, it's ... we take it for granted. (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton/ Matt, I ... I should follow up on that point, because sometime in, I don't know, late
November or very early December, uh, Harry Olmstead of the Human Rights
Commission, uh, convened a meeting involving the Provost and various people in the
University and representatives of the Chinese Student Association, um ... me and a couple
other people from the Commission to kind of sort through a bunch of these things. So I
think the ... the Human Rights Commission's committee, uh, the one they created, I don't
know — a couple months ago on the, related to this topic, uh, is going to be coming to the
Commission with ideas, and then the Commission will probably pass them along to us.
Meanwhile the Provost's office heard ... heard quite a few interesting things, so ... so
they're... they're working on stuff there within the University, as well.
Meeting Schedule:
Hayek/ Good! Okay. Meeting schedule. We have a problem on February 4t ". (several talking)
Uh, Kingsley, I think, is working an election and Susan and I are going on the D.C. trip.
And ... uh, the ink isn't even dry on our decision, uh, to go with a first and third of the
month approach to Council meetings but ... we need to talk about this one (several
talking)
Throgmorton/ What's your suggestion?
Hayek/ Well, maybe we can hold a meeting with four Councilors, but ... uh, it's either that or
reschedule the meeting.
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Throgmorton/ On ... on February 4t" you said.
Payne/ To what day would you suggest rescheduling it?
Hayek/ I don't know!
Payne/ The prior week?
Dickens/ (mumbled) ...calendar (mumbled)
Botchway/ Well, wait, didn't we talk at the strategic planning session? (mumbled)
Markus/ Yes we did!
Botchway/ Is this something that we reschedule?
Markus/ I think when you have this number of people that are going to be gone and likely to be
involved in activities that may preclude them from calling in, this might be one of those
times that you either cancel or reschedule.
Hayek/ I mean I... (several talking)
Mims/ ...when you got three gone.
Hayek/ Yeah!
Mims/ That's ... (several talking)
Hayek/ Typically we have maybe, you know, one ... maybe two people, but usually it's just one.
Mims/ Usually it's just one. Yeah.
Hayek/ And ... and that's where we've decided to just ... go forward with the meeting as
scheduled.
Mims/ Yeah.
Dobyns/ But these three people, I don't know (laughter)
Hayek/ You know what, I would love for the (several talking and laughing) ... eliminate one
from our (several talking)
Payne/ ... if the Mayor and the Pro Tem are both gone?
Karr/ We'd elect a temporary (both talking)
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Hayek/ You'd arm wrestle! That's (laughter and several talking)
Markus/ Alexander Haig! (laughter and several talking)
Payne/ So we could ... we could elect Marian to do it like we did last time?
Karr/ No! It should be an elected official! (laughter) You can either reschedule it to another, to
a special meeting time, which ... could be a ... a Tuesday. It could be any time. So far
you've not set any public hearings. We have, uh, appointments, but nothing that can't be
deferred or rescheduled. Um ... you are right now scheduled for the 18th as your "next
regular one." So if you were looking at Tuesdays, you'd look at the 11th or the 25th, or
you would go to one meeting in February, or you would pick another time.
Throgmorton/ Are ... are there any important decisions that have to be made, basically that night,
just because of the timing and ... of the sequence of certain things?
Karr/ Well we know that we do have to ... to schedule a City Conference Board meeting because
it's their budget time of year too, so we need to do it in ample time that they ... that's a
two - meeting process. One to set the public hearing and give notification, publication,
and two to adopt it. So that's the only time sensitive thing that I'm aware of.
Throgmorton/ Well, on that thing if need be, four people could have a special meeting (several
talking)
Markus/ I don't think you need it at this point.
Throgmorton/ ...a special formal meeting just to do that one thing?
Markus/ You... you could do that.
Karr/ Yes, yes you can.
Markus/ At ... at this point, urn ... you know, the Gateway project I think is the big project coming
up for the second meeting in January.
Karr/ Twenty- first.
Markus/ So, you know, the potential is that you'd kick that project to a subsequent meeting, but
that can be moved to the, you know, the second date in, um...
Mims/ February?
Markus/ ...second date in February, which'd be fine.
Hayek/ Wait, if...we're taking it up on the second ... on the second meeting of January.
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Markus/ January.
Karr/ Twenty- first.
Markus/ Yes.
Payne/ If we needed to move it we could move it to the second (both talking)
Markus/ If you needed to continue the discussion or...
Mims/ Okay.
Markus/ ...wanted to, then ... then you could just move that to that (both talking)
Karr/ To whatever the date is.
Markus/ That's... that's kind of the biggest issue (coughing, unable to hear speaker)
Dickens / And sometimes that gives a little more time. Like you always say, sometimes we push
things (both talking)
Mims/ I mean, from staff perspective, do you see a problem with cancelling?
Markus/ No. At this point I do not.
Karr / And we can always come back if something does come up that is time - sensitive, then we
would come back to you with a ... with a request for a special meeting, and we do it, but
we (both talking)
Markus / Which is what I'm going to do a little later in this session, hopefully!
Karr/ Which is a good segue!
Hayek/ So let's ... all right! So let's cancel the...
Karr/ Do you want to take a look at cancelling the 4th and ... and one meeting, and that being
February 18th, or do you want to move the 18th to the 11th for any reason? I don't care.
Mims/ If we're going first and third week...
Karr/ Just keep it the 18th (several responding) Okay, so we'll cancel the 4th (several responding)
... and I'll ... I' ll reschedule the City Conference Board.
Pending Work Session Topics:
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Hayek/ (several talking) Okay. Uh, pending work session topics?
Throgmorton/ Well... yesterday was (several talking)
Hayek/ Go ahead, Jim!
Throgmorton/ Well I was just going to say, yesterday we made some kind of decision about... or
there were enough Council people who wanted to have a work session on ... what was the
topic, was it the ... LOST? Spending or...
Markus/ Yes. Yeah.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, so...
Markus/ Well, I think what ... I thought what the conclusion was is that we would bring back a
resolution at the same time we bring back the budget resolutions, establishing the
committee, and then moving in that direction.
Mims/ Yeah.
Dickens/ So that'll be in March.
Markus/ Right.
Throgmorton/ Okay!
Markus/ And in fact, just to carry on a little bit about that, I had a conversation with John Yapp
because you, through the MPO, have been talking about regional housing issues and I
talked to them ... to John about how would we roll in this concept of LOST and affordable
housing. He was kind of intrigued by the idea and he's going to study that as well.
(several responding)
Hayek/ Whether it's a meeting or a work session topic, why don't we segue to your ... item.
Markus/ Okay. Um, I had the opportunity to go over to the 1105 Building today and, um...
Sarah Langenberg and Rebecca Reedus, raise your hands. They're in the audience today,
and you have a handout letter. Uh, does everybody have one? Why don't you...
distribute those to anybody (several responding) that doesn't have one. Essentially what
I'd like to do is make a ... uh, a $100,000 challenge grant to the 1105 project, beyond what
we've already contributed, that would be in five $20,000 per year payments, uh, not
unlike what the City of Coralville did. Um, they'd have three months to meet the
challenge grant portion of this to remain, uh, to raise the remaining $200,000. Our
contribution would be reduced proportionately by any amount less than the $200,000 that
they raised in that period. So, I am putting some pressure, uh, on them to get this done. I
think this is a ... it's an outstanding project. It's consolidating social services, which I
think need to happen. Um ... it's putting them in proximity to other social services, where
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I think you'll have some cross - pollination, cross - benefit occurring. They have about
$300,000, uh, still to raise to finish their capital campaign, and so I understand from legal
counsel that I can't engage you in a conversation about this, but I wanted you to know
that this is something that I would like to recommend to the City Council, uh, for
consideration as a part of our upcoming budgets, and so to accomplish this in a time
period, uh, that would allow us to get them going on raising the rest of the money so that
they can ensure that I, uh, on behalf of the City, contribute the full amount. Um, I'd like
to get them started as soon as possible. So, if there's an inclination and an understanding
that you think that this is somewhat acceptable, um, what I'd like to do is maybe have
one of those early morning meetings where we consider a resolution, uh, establishing
basically this criteria to move forward with this kind of an idea. I think we have one
other item that we missed, uh, for this agenda. What was the issue?
Karr/ Fire apparatus.
Markus/ A piece of fire apparatus that somehow slipped through our process and didn't get
placed on the agenda. So there'd be two items on a special formal agenda, uh, if we
could hold that maybe later this week, uh ... or even first part of next week to move this
forward. Now, I know this is short notice, uh, we just had the chance to get together and
meet today. Urn ... I'm sure that they had hoped that they would have been a lot further
along in their capital campaign. Uh, it's my belief that ... if we can get them to complete
their capital campaign, they can get to the point where they operate much more
efficiently, uh, without that burden hanging over them. Uh, again, I think this is moving
things in the right direction. Johnson County contributed, uh, the building, uh, which was
a sizable, um, investment on their part to make this happen, and I think you're going to
have to see more of these social services, uh, collaborate and combine the way their
doing, uh, for them to survive. So ... Jim, before you ask the question, this is both
sustainable and inclusive (laughter)
Hayek/ You know if we're... looking at meetings, we just abandoned the 14th which I presume
everybody had set aside. That's... that's a week from now. That's not as...
Markus/ That's not bad!
Karr/ Do you want to do it the 14th at 8:00 A.M. or do you want to ... the 14th was a 5:00 meeting.
Hayek/ Yeah, I understand. (several talking)
Payne/ I'll be in Des Moines that day.
Hayek/ Oh, yeah. Okay. Well...
Payne/ So I couldn't do an early morning meeting. I could only (both talking)
Mims/ Were you wanting to get this started sooner than next week? (several talking)
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Markus/ I think next week would be okay.
Throgmorton/ (several talking) ... yeah, which month are you talking about (laughs)
Mims/ January!
Throgmorton/ Yeah! Okay.
Hayek/ So the budget meeting for 5:00 on the 14th, which everybody had on their calendar is
(several talking)
Throgmorton/ ... suggesting having a special meeting (both talking)
Hayek/ Just throwing it out there, yeah, 5:00.
Markus/ My intention would be to give 90 days from the date of approval. To get the remaining
amounts.
Throgmorton/ Well...
Karr/ Michelle isn't available? Did you say?
Payne/ I would be if we did it at 5:00 or 5:30.
Karr/ I see.
Payne/ I just ... not at, not in the morning.
Karr/ 5:00 on Tuesday? (several talking)
Hayek/ I have a ... I mean I can do other times as well (several talking)
Dobyns/ Morning doesn't work for me but ... afternoon does.
Mims/ Okay.
Dobyns/ Morning doesn't work for me.
Throgmorton/ So afternoon?
Mims/ 5:00 on the 14th?
Dickens/ Unless I'm still on jurdy ... jury duty, unless some (both talking)
Karr/ 5:00 the 14th, I'll put it on the Thursday packet. (several talking)
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Throgmorton/ Tom, will you give us any more information about how this funding mechanism
would work or is it all in this memo, which I really haven't been able to kind of process.
Markus/ I'll roll it into the resolution. So it'll ... it'll spell out the criteria. (several talking)
Hayek/ Okay!
Markus/ We all apologize for the lateness in this. This is something that just kind of evolved
over the last week, so...
Mims/ Not a problem!
Markus/ Normally I wouldn't roll it at you like this but...
Throgmorton/ Keep up the good work! (several talking)
Dickens/ 5:15 or 5:30 or what are we doing? 5:00?
Mims/ 5:00 to 5:05.
Payne/ Well, if the traffic's bad ... I'll miss it! (laughter)
Dickens/ I'll be here.
Throgmorton/ I'll walk!
Hayek/ I can be here. (several talking and laughing)
Payne/145 ... an hour and 45 minutes! (several talking)
Hayek/ Okay, uh ... upcoming events (several talking and laughing) Upcoming events, Council
invitations. Anything? (several talking)
Upcoming Events:
Throgmorton/ Martin Luther King Day's coming up on January 201h and I think Kingsley's been
invited to speak at the Law School.
Botchway/ I have been, but not on... not on the 20th. They weren't going to get any law students
to come to that. It's on the, um, it's on the 30th. (laughter)
Hayek/ Did you have to submit your transcript, uh, for that (several talking and laughing)
Botchway/ My first year actually has been banned from ever showing up on any type of public
record, so...
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Markus/ Oh, we can find it! (laughter and several talking)
Botchway/ But uh, yeah, it's on the 30th
Hayek/ Okay! Uh, let's disband. We'll come back at 7:00.
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