HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-01-21 TranscriptionJanuary 21, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1
Council Present: Botchway, Dobyns (5:03 P.M.), Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton
Council Absent: Dickens
Staff Present: Fruin, Dilkes, Karr, Clow, Knoche, Davidson, Fosse, Adhikari, Andrew,
Laverman, Bockenstedt, Moran, Eidahl, Boothroy
Others Present: Bramel (UISG)
Questions re: Agenda
Hayek/ Welcome, everyone, to the January 21St work session (noises on mic) uh ... Terry Dickens
is ill and I don't think he'll be with us at all this evening. Urn ... Rick Dobyns is running
slightly late, uh, but he says to go ahead and get started without him. So ... uh, let's take
up the first bullet point, which is questions concerning agenda items.
ITEM 12. CIVIL PENALTIES - AMENDING TITLE 1, ENTITLED
"ADMINISTRATION," CHAPTER 4, ENTITLED "GENERAL
PENALTY," SECTION 2D TO PROVIDE THAT THE CIVIL PENALTY
FOR FAILING TO COMPLETE AN INFORMATIONAL DISCLOSURE
AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT FORM IS $500.00 FOR FIRST VIOLATION,
$750.00 FOR SECOND VIOLATION, AND $1,000.00 FOR SUBSEQUENT
VIOLATIONS. (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Bramel/ I have ... I guess I have one quick question... concerning, uh ... not to take away too much
from the, uh...
Hayek/ Go ahead!
Bramel/ But, uh, Item 12 concerning the civil penalties and whatnot. Um, I just wanted
to ... bring this up and clarify, um, something real quick. Um, I ... I talked with, uh, Stan
Laverman and uh, Sue today about this, and I was just, uh, I guess I had a quick question,
maybe for you Stan. Um, to clarify real quick, um, we're changing, um ... uh, in the City
Code, uh, 1.4.21), which is those penalties we looked over...
Laverman/ Yes!
Bramel/ ...which range from 250 to 1,000. Um, we're changing those, um, just specifically for,
um, failing to complete information on the disclosure form, right? Not generally, cause
that's...
Laverman/ Not generally, no. Just for information disclosure form, for not properly filling that
out.
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Bramel/ Okay, so we'll have an asterisk or something near that to ... cause it's ... right, correct?
Cause it's ... we'll have that ... will we have that written in, uh, Section 17.5, whatnot, just
a ... because we find ... I find 1.4.2d, that ... that penalty's throughout the entire City Code.
So I just want to make sure that it was just specifically for that.
Dilkes/ The ... the way the ordinance is drafted, it will say that with respect to the... particular
violation, that being failure to complete the disclosure form, that penalty, that special
penalty will apply.
Bramel/ Special penalty. Very good. All right, that's all I need.
Hayek/ You know, while you're up there, Stan, on this issue, can you walk us through
what ... what information the tenant receives in connection with this obligation?
Laverman/ Sure! The tenant is, uh ... receives that form, the information disclosure form, which
spells out occupancy of the property, who can be there, who's supposed to be there, um,
information about disorderly house, who's supposed to be shoveling the walk, who's
supposed to be, um, mowing the grass, um... so, uh, we do educational opportunities. We
have a, um, housing fair at the University tomorrow. We'll be talking to students about
that. Uh, we bring samples of it along, um, we do social media — hey, make sure that
your landlord is giving this to you to fill out at the lease. We have fairly decent
compliance with, uh, the larger, um, companies. Um, it's when you get to the smaller
ones we're having some issue, even though it's been going on for 10 -some years, that,
uh, it's not in their ... in their wheelhouse to ... to be filling this out and filling it out
correctly.
Hayek/ Is it on the landlord to provide it initially?
Laverman/ Yes!
Hayek/ Okay.
Laverman/ Yep! Spelled out in the Housing Code that ... at the execution of a lease, written or
not written, that, uh, this is sup ... this information is supposed to be filled out by the
landlord, held by the landlord, and then if there's any questions, we ask the landlord to,
uh, submit that information.
Hayek/ But, so the liability of the tenant in connection with that disclosure form is merely in
term... has... has to do with the tenant not filling it out or signing it or...
Laverman/ If a situation arose where the landlord has all his paperwork in order and said, look, I
have the copy here. I leased it to three kids. Four or five are there. Then we're going to
look at the tenant. Um ... but up until that point we're looking at the landlord.
Hayek/ Okay.
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Bramel/ It ... it's correct that the, uh, the tenants and landlords, um, have the equal amount of
responsibility and liability (both talking)
Laverman/ That's correct. We run into situations where tenants will ... will, um ... essentially be
bullied into only putting three names onto the information disclosure. At the point we
find an overoccupancy, we give the tenants ample opportunity to give us information
where, hey, we had four of us there. He'd only let us sign. Hey, we're paying with four
checks. Um...
Hayek/ Right. But in terms of the filling out the document, I mean, really the tenant just signs it.
Laverman/ Just signs it.
Hayek/ Because the landlord fills out the information.
Laverman/ Correct! Landlord gives the occupancy, but there's multiple places where the tenant
says these are the people that'll be living here, and yes I have read all of this, and sign it.
Hayek/ Okay. Thanks, Stan. Did you get your questions answered, Alec?
Bramel/ I'm good. Thank you very much, Stan.
ITEM 3f(6) Terrence Neuzil, Board of Supervisors: Congratulations and invitation
for joint meeting
Throgmorton/ I'd like to bring up two points, Matt. Uh, Item M(6), uh, letter from Terry Neuzil,
requesting a joint meeting.
Hayek/ Yep.
Throgmorton/ Uh, I know we discussed this last time, but it seems to me that it would be a good
thing to respond to this letter and then I ... I know there's some concerns about ... the
desirability of having a subcommittee or something like that. That could be raised during
a joint meeting...
Hayek/ Yep.
Throgmorton/ ...uh, and suggested to them.
Hayek/ I talked to Geoff earlier today about that, so we'll respond.
ITEM 11. OUTDOOR SERVICE AREAS — AMENDING TITLE 4, "ALCOHOLIC
BEVERAGES," CHAPTER 3, "OUTDOOR SERVICE AREAS;
SEASONAL, FIVE DAY OR FOURTEEN DAY LICENSES AND
PERMITS," SECTION 4 -3 -1, "OUTDOOR SERVICE AREAS" TO
AMEND RESTRICTED APPLICATION IN THE CC -2 ZONE ALONG
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WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL REGULATORY
CONDITIONS.
Throgmorton/ Good! Excellent! Uh, the other one has to do with Item 11. Uh, the ordinance
about regulating outdoor service areas in CC -2 zones. I ... I don't see a public hearing
being scheduled, or I don't see one scheduled for tonight. Is there a public hearing on
that?
Dilkes/ There's no public hearing requirement. This isn't part of the zoning code. It's part of
our, um ... (both talking) our outdoor service area regulations, so...
Throgmorton/ Okay, um ... I don't know if Karen Howard's still here or anybody from Planning
and Zoning. Oh, Jeff, I'm sorry! Didn't see you there. I knew Karen was here earlier.
Uh, I don't know if this is...
Davidson/ I don't think we were involved in drafting this (several talking)
Fruin/ Jim, this is something that I coordinated from the City Manager's...
Throgmorton/ Oh, okay, um ... the ... the question I have, and maybe it could be addressed later on
tonight is, uh, whether there are any other establishments, existing establishments in CC-
2 zones, that might be affected by the proposed change.
Fruin/ We didn't go and do a ... an inventory, but it's likely that there are a few, um ... however,
the ... the regulations are ... are fairly narrowly tailored. Uh, for instance, you have to be a
restaurant, as classified by that.
Throgmorton/ Right, so that's what I was wondering if there were any other, uh, establishments
that fit the cry... criteria and are located in CC -2 zones (both talking)
Fruin/ ...we didn't go through and ... and do that analysis, and I think if we did we would ... we
would look at, um, current ... we'd have to look at the structures themselves to see what
they support, cause business uses can change over time. Uh, we didn't ... we didn't take
that step this ... this time around though.
Throgmorton/ Okay. Thanks. That's it!
Hayek/ Other agenda items?
ITEM 9. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT FOR ALPLA, INC. -
APPROVING AN AGREEMENT FOR PRIVATE REDEVELOPMENT
BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, IOWA AND ALPLA,
INC.
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Dobyns/ I had a question on #9, that's the tax increment financing discussion about Alpla. Um,
is this, um ... it seems, reading this, Jeff, there's a series of TIF, um, over time, and I was
trying...
Davidson/ ... Alpla, this is the third one.
Dobyns/ The third one, okay! And the first one ended ... then the second one ended, and now
there's a third.
Davidson/ Right. None of them are active except for this one.
Dobyns/ Got it! Thank you.
Davidson/ I mean, it'll be active if you approve it (laughter and several talking)
Hayek/ Other agenda items? Okay, we can jump into the Gateway Project design and engineer
parameters. Before we start, I just want to say a couple of things. Um, we last, uh, met
as a Council on this issue in October, I believe, um ... and that was the latest of, uh,
several meetings we ... we've held on it, but at the time we knew that this fonzi approval
process is still in play and that we were waiting on that. Um, and as you know, the ... the
fonzi, uh, was received in, uh, December and staff, uh ... let the Council and the
community stakeholders know, uh, that it had been received, uh, just before the holidays,
I think, and indicated that the design parameters would be taken up on January 21 st, which
of course is to ... today, and that's what's before us this evening. Um, the ... the thing I
just want to comment on is that ... I've received communication, and others may have as
well, um, there... there's been criticism recently, um, of...of staff and ... and
communication coming from City Hall on ... on this issue, and, you know, one of the...
one of the, uh, crit ... uh, criticisms I received was that there has been no active
engagement with residents in recent months and that, uh, some of the communication has
been designed to, uh, claim... claim community involvement, um, and... and... and I just
want to address that briefly because while I think it's, you know, there are clearly tough
issues before us on the merits and ... and reasonable minds can agree or disagree on ... on
those substanti..substantive issues. From my perspective the criticism of staff, at least
that I've heard, is ... is not accurate and ... and is not fair, and I ... and I checked a little
further to see what kind of communications there has been in recent months, and... and
just looking at our ... our primary staff person who has the most contact with ... with the
community on... on the, uh, Gateway Project, her alone, uh, the communication with
residents in the affected area, um, between our last meeting at the early... beginning of
October and January, it was something like a couple of dozen communications back and
forth, um, most of which resulted in, um, or involved a reply from City staff the same day
an inquiry came in, and urn ... and ... and so, I think that's important for us to note, and...
and I want to recognize what staff has done over the last three years, as well as our .... our
consultants who ... who work with us on it, these are hard issues and ... and I think we can
get through them, um, but ... but I want to recognize that, and you know what we're being
asked as a council to do now is design... decide the ... the most basic of the design
parameters — the elevations and the bridge type tonight. Um, the, um, the uh... and... and
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I hope we have a good work session, uh, on ... on that issue tonight. You know, it's ... it's
up for a vote. We don't have to vote on this tonight if we don't want to. I think we want
to make sure we've got the information, uh, that ... that we, uh, need. Um, based on
where we were in early October, my sense is that we're probably more on the same page
regarding these initial items, uh, than ... than people might think. Um, and certainly the...
the balance of the design issues, the ... you know, the ... the footprint of the project and
what ... what different things look like and lanes and that sort of thing, I mean, that's...
that's down the road and I... and I've asked staff to outline what the process for that will
be as well. So, um, I wanted to get that out of the way and then turn it over to staff!
Gateway Project Design and Engineering Parameters 07)
ITEM 7. IOWA CITY GATEWAY PROJECT — ESTABLISHING THE DESIGN
PARAMETERS NECESSARY TO BEGIN DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
DOCUMENTS FOR THE IOWA CITY GATEWAY PROJECT.
Fosse/ Thank you! Thank you, Mayor! Um ... welcome to the third work session on the Gateway
Project. I'm Rick Fosse, the Public Works Director, and with me tonight is Mark
Pierson, uh, with HNTB and a variety of staff that were here at the earlier meetings, as
well. Um, what we want to do tonight, or our objective for the evening is to establish, if
we can tonight, the primary design parameters for the project. That is the level of
protection for Dubuque Street, uh, the level of protection for the bridge, and in turn the...
the amount of backwater reduction, and then the bridge type, and that's what we'll focus
on, and ... and to do that, to ... to accommodate or facilitate that discussion tonight, we
have a variety of things planned for both the work session and the formal meeting, and let
me run through those. Uh, during the work session we're going to review the City
Council process to date. Uh, the recent activities with regard to the NEPA process. Uh,
we'll review the process as we move forward, and that's important because as Matt
noted, there are additional design elements that you all want to approve before this
project is ... is designed, and uh, we want to point out where that will come in the process,
and just as importantly, uh, one of the things that we as staff and the consultant want to
take away from the meeting tonight is understanding what design elements are there that
you want a say in. (clears throat) Excuse me, and ... and as it stands now we understand
that's, uh, design speed, lane widths, uh, turn lanes, and the landscaping plan. So there
are ... if there are additional elements, be sure and chime in during the conversation
tonight and ... and let us know on those. Uh, we'll review the staff recommendations.
Uh, we'll outline the resolution that's on the formal agenda tonight and the options for
that, and then we'll, of course, answer questions as they come up and ... and have some
discussion at the end there. And then at the formal meeting tonight, uh, we'll outline the
staff's recommendation and, uh ... um, there'll be a ... I imagine a fair amount of public
input on the subject tonight, and then you'll have the opportunity to consider the
resolution, and as Matt pointed out, you can act on that tonight or you can defer that, and
uh ... we'll ... we'll talk more about that as we work into it here. So, our history on the, uh,
work sessions. At the September 17th work session, uh, what we did is we reviewed the
project and the environmental assessment process that we'd been through to date, and we
identified those three primary design parameters that needed to be decided before we
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move into the design phase, but we pointed out that we ... we cannot move into that design
phase until we have the finding of no significant impact was ... which is the closure of that
environmental assessment process. We did not have that in hand at that time. And we
answered questions. On October 1St we still did not have that finding of no significant
impact, but we wanted to keep the discussion going, cause we'd been talking quite a bit
about it. Uh, we reviewed the ... the parameters and staff's recommendations, um, and
answered questions, and then at the formal meeting we held a public, uh, hearing for
input on the project, but there was no formal action taken that night. Now subsequent to
that meeting we did get the ... the finding of no significant impact on December 18th, and
at that point, uh, we were all up to our ears in the budget process at ... as well as the
holidays. So, that's why we have scheduled our discussion for this evening on ... on
January 21St. Uh, and so tonight we'll do the things that I ... I just outlined on the last
slide. Uh, at this point let me turn it over to ... to Mark Pierson with HNTB and he'll walk
you through, uh, some of the NEPA process and where we are in public outreach.
Pierson/ Thanks, Rick. (clears throat) Mayor, as you indicated in there ... in your opening
remarks, and as Rick has indicated, uh, from the Federal Highway's perspective, the
NEPA process is complete. Uh, the finding of no significant impact was the last step in
the process, and when that was signed by Federal Highway on the 18th of December, the
uh, the process from their end of things was totally complete. Um, but we want to step
back a little bit and some of this information will be familiar to you, I think. This is
really that ... that signing of the, uh, what they call the `fonzi' uh ... really was the
culmination of three years plus worth of effort on the part of City staff and then later on
(coughing, difficult to hear speaker) my staff working with them. And, the NEPA and
cultural resource investigations that took place, um, during that time were conducted by
folks in Iowa City at the State Archeologist. If you'll recall are located just down the
street on Clinton. Uh, Tall Grass Historians, again, are from Iowa City, uh, are very
familiar with the project area. There was a ... an extension amount of coordination with
the Historic Preservation Commission, uh, locally, the Cultural Resource staff at Iowa
DOT, and the State Historic Preservation, uh, Office in Des Moines. Uh, they...
conducted this process. Uh, for the first year it was just determining what we wanted the
project to be and what some of the basic parameters were. As we were able to do that,
we identified, uh, or turned lose the archeologists and the historians to do their research
and how the project might affect the, uh, surrounding area. Um, that received a finding
of...of conditional no effect from Federal Highway, meaning that they did not see any,
uh ... um, concerns with the project, that ... that would affect the ... the area, uh, because of
concerns expressed by neighbors, and as we went through the public involvement process
during NEPA. Uh, we had the State archeologists do an independent evaluation to see if
anything had changed from the date that they had originally received that conditional no
effect to, um, at that time, uh, last summer, and... approximately in August last year they
concluded that nothing had changed from what that original decision had been based on,
and that ... as far as they were concerned, everything was fine. We did come back and
Melissa and others, uh, met with the Historic Commission in another meeting. Uh, the
Historic Commission, uh, reaffirmed their support for the project, but with, uh, the notes
that they wanted to make sure that there was still ongoing communication during design
and then ... the, uh, NEPA and Cultural Resource process, again, concluded back in
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December on the 18'h when we received that finding of no significant impact. As I
mentioned, this has been going on now for just over three years and there have been a
number of public events. Uh, you noted the amount of communication just in the last
month or so, uh, with City staff. Um ... we had ... I think four different public meetings or
drop -in centers, either at Park Church or down the street at the ... at the Rec Center, uh,
multiple media stories which I'm sure you're all familiar with, um ... the availability of
staff to meet with folks at any time when they had questions, uh, the City project website
has been up and running now for nearly three years. Anything that is discussed in ... in
our public meetings that are in the documents are all on the website and available, and we
make sure that folks are aware of that because we send out an email to folks who have
expressed an interest in the project. We have a mailing list of over 2,000 individuals,
um ... there have been multiple neighborhood and civic meetings, and we anticipate that
all of that will continue through the design process. Uh, that ... that communication, that
back and forth will continue through design, and there will be opportunities for folks to
be heard and their concerns, uh, heard by staff and by you. Uh, as ... as we mentioned, the
NEPA tasks are complete. We ... we've been doing a lot of heavy lifting in fits and starts
because we'll do our work and then it goes to federal agencies for review, and that's why
things kinda maybe go quiet for three months or six months, but this process has been
doing on for just over three years, um, and just completed in December. But moving
forward, uh, it'll be a little bit tough but you probably have it in your packets, this ... the
timeframes, that green box at the very top of the, uh, of the workflow there is the start of
the design process and kind of outlays the steps of what would take place over the next
months or a year, uh, related to that. The green boxes indicate opportunities for us to
come back with you and discuss issues that you're concerned with and ... and continue to
make decisions going forth. So, it would start this evening or when you choose to vote
on it with the basic parameters that we'll talk about, and then moving forward, if...if we
were to start today, um, based on what you decide, we would ... we would go back and
develop the concepts to reflect those... guidance on those three issues, and then loop
back. The yellow circle indicates an opportunity for a ... a ... a public meeting or a public
session. Um, the idea being that we would take your guidance and work on the concepts
to get them to reflect that, and then come back and be able to have discussions about what
it looks like today with ... with the new ... with the new guidelines. And then that would
give folks an opportunity to review things, loop back with you, um, express any concerns
or ... or, um ... questions that they might have that then we could discuss in another work
session. And then from that point, um, based on that, we would work through issues,
whether it's lane widths, the need for a turning lane, um ... what have you, and get those
resolved so that we could develop the concept statement that we would need to turn in to
the Iowa DOT. At that point, we're really moving into ... into the basics of design, and
moving forward, but there will be multiple opportunities to have these work sessions and
discussions for you ... for you to ... ask the questions you need to ask and ... and make
decisions on ... on issues that you're concerned with.
Botchway/ I had a quick question.
Pierson/ Sure.
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Botchway/ (mumbled) ...understand that the yellow boxes speak to the time where there's going
to be public input?
Pierson/ Ideally, yeah! Yeah, those are ... so in this case, if we get the guidance this evening, we
would go away. We would change Dubuque Street to whatever elevation might be
decided on. Again, what type of bridge that you would want and what the elevation of
that bridge would be. That gives us a few weeks to get that concept up to par with where
we had the preferred alternative from the NEPA phase, and we'd want to circle back and
have a public, uh, discussion where folks could come in, review those plans, ask any
questions they might have, and then there's that interim period where if they do have
additional concerns or ... if they want to have discussions with Council Members, they can
do that. So that we could come back at a work session soon after that and ... and talk
about whatever questions or issues you might have.
Botchway/ But that by no means precludes the residents or whoever's being affected by this
from having discussions with City staff throughout the entire process (both talking)
Pierson/ ...any time! Yeah! They ... there's multiple ways that they can reach out to staff. So,
yeah, that's just a ... a public forum opportunity. We might be doing it at the Rec Center;
we could do it here. We don't have a location yet, but it would be what we call a `drop -in
center,' come and go at your ... at your leisure. We would have the exhibits available.
They'd be able to talk to City or consultant staff and ... and ask any questions that they
might have. And then... further down in the... in the lower right corner, as we get to the
end of design, there would be a design public hearing.
Fosse/ Thank you, Mark!
Hayek/ Thanks, Mark!
Fosse/ Let me go back and just recap a ... a few key things on ... on this, cause they are very
important. Uh, the yellow dot here is the pre- design meeting, like we do for all of our
capital projects. We will ... we'll go out and meet with folks, prior to the design taking
place so we can learn the important elements there. Uh, this meeting, uh, here in March
is to focus on the roadway design elements, and I want to point out that's shown as
March 17th, but that's spring break. We missed that when we put the chart together. So
the ... the Council meeting falls a week later, so move that out one week. That's where
that'll be occurring. And then further down the road, out at this point, is when we'll talk
about, uh, some of the landscaping and visual elements of the project. (noises in
background) And then as ... as we get out here, we'll follow that ... that same process that
we do for all of our capital projects where we have a public hearing on the plans and
specs, and...and do the letting process, but the letting process will be through the DOT,
because this is a federal -aid project. So ... with that background let's ... let's talk about
the, um ... the preliminary or excuse me, primary design parameters. Uh, the
recommendations tonight are the same as we made, uh, on October 1St, and that is a level
of protection for Dubuque Street of a 2008 event plus one foot, uh, backwater reduction
goals are another way to say the elevation of the ... the Park Road bridge would be low
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steel at a 200 -year event, plus one foot, and structural type of bridge, uh, would be either
a deck girder or a through arch, and each of those have their own advantages. We have a
neutral recommendation on that so you chose the bridge that aligns with the objectives
that are important to you, and we'll ... we'll talk about that in a little bit. What we did
take off the table was the cable stay because of the $8 million up- charge to go there. We
didn't think that anybody was ... was interested in (coughing, difficult to hear speaker)
that leap, but if you are, uh, now's the time to let us know about that. So let's ... let's go
into a little more detail on each of those, and I'm going to use the same visual aids that...
that we used back on October 1St, and ... and this is some of the information that we used
to evaluate the ... to make our recommendation for the level of protection for Dubuque
Street. Uh, on the left column here we have the level of protection, center column is the
estimated number of days over the past 20 years that the road was inundated due to
flooding, or would have been inundated if it'd been elevated at one of these elevations.
We can reconstruct that for the ... for the past 20 years, and we see the ... in the existing
situation it flooded 150 times, 150 days from river flooding. That's not counting locally
heavy rains flooding, which we currently have a problem with, and I'll point out that any
of the solutions on the table, uh, will deal with that locally heavy rain issue. So no matter
what you chose, that can be dealt with. Um, if we go with 100 -year plus one foot, it
would have been flooded seven days or closed seven days, and that includes one day for
inspection and cleanup. Uh, if it was elevated to the 200 -year plus one foot, been closed
five days; and based on our experience in the past 20 years, if it was a foot above the 08
event, it would not be closed; or a foot above the 500 -year event, it would not be closed.
Uh, relative comparisons of height, um, what we've done is we've used our
recommended, uh, elevation as ... as the benchmark and we've gone inches above or
below. So if you ... if you want to go to 500 -year plus one, that would be 19- inches
higher. If you want to go to 200 plus one, it's 11- inches lower ... than what's
recommended, or a 100 -year plus one is roughly 39- inches lower. Um, so the ... the total
difference between what's the ... in the environmental assessment and the 100 -year plus
one is 58 inches or roughly four feet, 10 inches. Uh, moving on to the, uh, protection
level for the bridge. You probably recall this ... this matrix that we showed you back in
October, evaluating 48 different options, and what is highlighted here is the evaluation of
backwater reduction for the different types of bridges at different levels of protection.
And, in the next column is the incremental improvement in backwater reduction, and
what we found as we worked through this exercise is that for all three bridge types, as
you provided additional protection above the 200 -year plus one foot, we got diminishing
returns on our investment. So that ... that seems to suggest that if you put the low steel
elevation or concrete, whatever this bridge ends up being, uh, at the 200 -year plus one,
that's the optimal... optimum elevation for reducing backwater and balancing some of the
other things that are important to us, such as the cost of the project and the elevation of
the Dubuque Street /Park Road intersection, which, uh, is important to the folks in the
Bella Vista area because that really drives the elevation of the road past their residence
there.
Hayek/ So ... just to recap...
Fosse/ Sure!
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Hayek/ ...uh, a bridge elevation above the 200 plus one level... the... the returns are diminishing
in terms of reduction of backwaters upstream.
Fosse/ That is correct. And you can ... you can see that they ... they tail off into fractions of
inches. So that's pretty small return on boosting that ... that bridge up more, uh,
especially when you look at how much it raises that intersection and also impacts the cost
of the project. Uh, we want to ... to step you through some of the visuals here. There's
the existing bridge and existing Hancher, and here you can see the ... the girder bridge
with the new Hancher there, and this is the through -arch example. This is looking
roughly from where Mayflower is at today, and uh, this is a view from roughly the ... the
boathouse, looking at the old bridge. Uh, we've taken some of the vegetation out so you
can see better, and this has got the ... the girder bridge, and you can see the retaining wall
along there, and then the through -arch bridge. Now, one of the things that I want you to
...to notice in this one and we'll flip back and forth here is you can begin to see how this
...this through -arch impacts that elevation of the ... of the intersection. Because of the
slenderness of that deck design. Can you see that move up and down there? So that
gives you some visualization of... of the advantages, uh, at the intersection there.
Throgmorton/ So the surface of the road with a through -arch bridge is ... what, three feet lower
than it would be with a deck arch? It's something like that.
Fosse/ 3.5, yes! Yep! So really it...it comes down to a question, when you're considering which
type of bridge to go with, uh, it comes down to a question of economy and backwater
reduction, versus, uh, lowering the Dubuque/Park intersection and aesthetics, which is a
subjective thing, which again is why we remain neutral on our recommendation, because
beauty's in the eye of the beholder and you all are the beholders here, uh, making the
decisions. So we can see that, uh, for the girder, uh, it...it has the advantage on
backwater reduction, uh, by 1.2 inches over the through -arch, uh, and it also is ... is more
economical to build. This is looking at the ... at the bridge and roadway costs combined,
uh, it's about $3.3 million less expensive to build. Uh, the through -arch, uh, the
advantage really shines in that intersection. As Jim just pointed out, that's 3.5 feet lower
than with the girder option. And most people that we talk to find a through -arch to be a
more attractive bridge. So with that background, let's take a look at the resolution that's
on the formal meeting tonight, and... and we'll drill right down to the bottom and the now
therefore section. And there're the three design elements, uh, listed there. The first one
is the level of protection for Dubuque Street and it's what's listed here is our
recommendation to 2008 elevation, plus one foot. Now you can fill in that blank with
whatever you want in there; however, to remain eligible for our federal money we need to
remain within the limits of the ... at the low end we have 100 -year plus one, and on the
high end we have the 500 -year plus one. So stay in between there, and we remain
eligible for our roughly $10 million of federal money on this project. On the second
design element is the elevation of the low steel on the bridge, and we've put our
recommendation in there — the 200 -year flood elevation plus one foot. Again, you have
those same parameters to work within, but for different reasons now. At the low end
you've got 100 -year plus one, which ... which is a regulatory requirement. You're not
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going to get a permit to rebuild this bridge at any elevation lower than that, and at the
upper end is ... is set by the upper end of the environmental assessment, and our funding
source there. So, again, working with those same bookends. And then the third one is
the structural type of the bridge and that's where you want to fill in, uh, either girder or
through -arch, or cable -stay, if you chose. So with that, we will open it up to questions.
Mark, would you like to join me to help field these?
Hayek/ Go ahead, Jim.
Throgmorton/ I ... I, well, I do have a couple questions but ... um ... if...if we build the roadway at
whatever elevation and it floods, can we design that roadway so that it would not be
damaged by being flooded. I assume the answer's yes, but ... I just want to know.
Fosse/ Yes! The answer is yes, and... and I want to change your `if at the beginning...
Throgmorton/ Yeah.
Fosse/ ...to `when.' Because (both talking) no matter what elevation we build to, some day it
will flood again. Question is how frequently.
Throgmorton/ Right. Okay. My other question will seem like it's way out in left field, but uh,
does anybody happen to know how much the University is spending on Hancher? It's ...
Fosse/ (mumbled) I do not know that, and I don't want to shoot from the hip on that one!
Throgmorton/ A lot! Right? I mean, let's just leave it that way so we don't shoot from the hip.
Uh, and I only ask that question because it relates to the bridge we chose and the design
of the bridge that we chose. I...
Dobyns/ You don't want to put brown shoes on a tuxedo, is that what you're telling me, Jim?
Throgmorton/ (both talking) Exactly. Exactly. (laughter) Right. So, I mean, I'm not clever
enough to come up with it. (several talking and laughing)
Fosse/ Our design teams will be working together as far as trying to provide some aesthetic ties
between the two projects. It's rare that you get an opportunity to do two things of this
magnitude in a single corridor.
Throgmorton/ Thanks!
Botchway/ The other question I had is ... regardless of whatever choice is made, I guess one of
the things that came up, um, just from, um, you know, resident complaints was just how
that traffic is then, uh, where the traffic is then sent if, you know, road construction
happens there, and so from my estimation what the person talked about was that it comes
up Gilbert Street, and that you know, there's a blind spot. You can't really see. You're
going to fly through there for whatever reason, um ... is any consideration going to happen
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along those lines to make sure, you know, is there going to be something put in, you
know, lower speeds or something along those lines to make sure that we're not affecting
a totally different neighborhood and forgetting about them when we're making any type
of changes to Dubuque Street?
Fosse/ Is this during construction? That you're talking about?
Botchway/ Yes.
Fosse/ Um...
Botchway/ And during flooding, I guess, I mean...
Fosse/ Yeah.
Botchway/ ...it'd be on both the design stage and you know just when the, you know, during
construction as well.
Fosse/ Uh huh. Well during flooding the ... the Gilbert Street cut - through is ... is not as much of
an option. It tends to have a more significant impact on the Dodge and Governor Street
corridors, as well as First Avenue in Coralville, but there ... there is some of that cut -
through on Gilbert. Um ... we ... we're not at the point in the process yet where we've
started to look at construction phasing and, uh, reroutes, so that's a good thing to be
aware of. That's... that's the kind of concerns that we look for in the pre- design meeting.
Yep.
Mims/ I have a question. Now I can't find the ... uh, spreadsheet I was looking at. There was a
spreadsheet and I was thinking it was in the packet back from September that showed the
changes in elevation of Dubuque Street at different locations, based on which bridge type
we had and the elevation of the bridge, and I'm really sorry ... but the thing that ... caught
my...
Hayek/ I think it's actually in this packet (several talking)
Mims/ ...oh, is it in this packet? Okay. (several talking)
Fosse/ Yes, and ... and then, if I'm thinking of the right one, we did a late handout with some
additional updates in that based on some questions that Michelle had asked yesterday.
Mims/ Thank you. Yeah, this is what I was looking for. My question is...
Payne/ ...no wonder I can't find it!
Mims/ ...if we go, well I guess either one — with the girder or with the partial through -arch
bridge, when I look at this, if we go with the 200 -year plus one elevation, which is the
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recommendation, it ... the elevation differences... there's only one choice — it says all 200
plus one elevation. Is that the same question you had?
Fosse/ Yes.
Payne / Right.
Mims/ Okay, so my question is, how do we ... my recollection is that the last time the Council
talked about this in depth, the general consensus if not unanimous thought was that we
wanted to go with the 100 -year plus one on the road. So, why doesn't that show as an
option under the 200 -year plus one elevation for the bridge?
Fosse/ We ... we fixed that on the new handout that's gone out to you, but the ... the information...
Mims/ Okay.
Fosse/ ...is all there in the present one. It's just harder to interpret, and let me ... let me use this...
Mims/ Okay.
Fosse/ ...to point out. And I want to (several talking in background) that spreadsheet talks about
(coughing, unable to hear speaker) areas. It talks about Park Road, west of the project,
and those elevations are the same regardless of what protection level you chose for
Dubuque Street and what bridge protection level or bridge type you chose. That stays the
same. And that's also true for the Brown Street intersection. Uh, the elevations of Park
Road and Dubuque Street old, and Park Road and Dubuque Street new — those are
impacted only by the bridge type and elevation. The ... the level of protection of Dubuque
Street does not change that. Now when you look at the remainder of Dubuque Street,
those... elevations are impacted only by the elevation ... or level of protection for Dubuque
Street. The bridge type doesn't impact that. So in the very top of that spreadsheet are
those elevations...
Mims/ Okay.
Fosse/ ...and you can ... you can use that to help pick and chose options.
Mims/ Okay. Thank you!
Fosse/ Yep! Spreadsheet could have been clearer, and the new one is.
Mims/ Naw, that's okay, that's okay! You're trying to put a lot of information out there for us
and I appreciate that. It's helpful to have.
Botchway/ Another question I had was ... urn ... uh, duh ... duh ... duh, I don't know which packet
this is. Sorry, guys! (laughter) I mean, I know it's this new packet but I don't know
what the document is, but there was a ... it looks like there's a couple of questions, um,
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questions and comments generated from the October 1St 2000 work session, and it goes
on ... it's on page 3 of that document. It basically says, uh, is Coralville designing their
flood protection projects to protect to a foot above 100 -year flood plain elevation, and it
said that even though... something along the lines of even though Coralville is designing
protection for 100 - plus -one, um, they are however using ... or offering protection to 2008
plus one using removable flood barriers. Can we do the same thing?
Fosse/ Using removable flood barriers in this corridor?
Botchway/ So basically if...so basically if we decide that it's 100 -plus- one...
Fosse/ Uh huh.
Botchway/ ... and then decide that we want to have removable flood barriers in there as well, to
push us up to the 2008, uh, plus one flood level, would that be a possibility?
Fosse/ That is something we explored earlier in the process and we ruled out for a couple of
reasons. Uh, the majority of it being it's a very long and narrow corridor, and if we put in
temporary flood protection measures, and those fail, it's ... there are only two ways out of
the corridor at either end, and ... and we're worried about maintaining a roadway with
25,000 vehicles a day, with those temporary measures in place, with ... with poor exit
strategies, if you will. And then the ... also depending on the type of...of barriers that are
used, whether they're, um ... the ... the wall ones that you put in or the ... the gabions, uh, or
not the gabions, excuse me, the, um, hescos! There we go! Yeah, those can ... take a long
time to get up and put down, and have significant costs with them. Is there anything you
wanted to add to that, Mark?
Pierson/ I was going to say, you would probably also have to have `em on both sides of the
street.
Fosse/ Yes.
Pierson/ Because of drainage from the hills.
Fosse/ Yep.
Pierson/ And also have to pump probably from the east side of Dubuque across and discharge
towards the river.
Fosse/ We would ... we wouldn't need to pump the drainage from the ... east, but we would need
to pump what falls from (several talking) Yeah.
Hayek/ I thought, uh, I ... I understood that Coralville's building most of their stuff to 2008 plus
one, except for this limited area at 100 foot, for which they'll do the temporary...
Fosse/ That's right!
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Hayek/ ...work. Okay. (several talking) Just a limited... okay.
Fosse/ Yep.
Hayek But that's a limited, I mean, to ... to deploy that kind of temporary measure along a long
span of road would be, I think, exorbitant.
Fosse/ Yes. That's correct.
Hayek/ Is that ... yeah. I vaguely remember that from an earlier (laughter) meeting.
Fosse/ Their temporary stuff just crosses First Avenue on either side of Clear Creek. Is that
right, Ron? Okay. Relatively short.
Botchway/ But I guess going back to that, cause Matt brings up a good point — so we could limit
that to...I can't do the pointer but ... (laughter) but we could limit it to where, um, you
know, the bridge is and ... you know, three inches to the right of that green (laughter) that
comes up. If you know what I mean. So ... instead of...instead of the entire, I mean,
you're right. That seems like a lot of money's going to be a part of it. Just do it for, you
know, starting at this right end and coming out all the way til you get to that intersection.
Fosse/ This one?
Botchway/ Yeah.
Fosse/ Yeah.
Botchway/ And that would I feel like in ... I don't know where Mayflower is.
Fosse/ That's right here.
Botchway/ Oh wow, it's a little farther out. Okay. Never mind.
Fosse/ Yeah.
Botchway/ Never mind.
Dobyns/ Matt, is there a way to just ... we have several variables. Take the temperature of
Council and see if we can start stabilizing some of the variables and start ... uh ... (both
talking)
Hayek/ Yeah, I intend to do so. I just want to make sure people are getting their (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I need to ... I need to ask another question that...
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Dobyns/ Cause the questions I have are based on what you all think in type.
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Okay, so another question for Rick. Is ... has to do with, um, the uh...
estimated cost of damage in the event of flooding, a 100 -plus one year ... or 100 -year plus,
uh, plus one foot, uh, roadway.
Fosse/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ I asked about that last time and I ... the answer was, well, we're looking into it but
we don't ... we don't have any numbers on that yet. So I don't see any numbers in the
memo. So I ... I take that to mean that there is no ... estimate of the financial cost of
damage that would result from any flooding that occurred, um, beyond, you know, that
would flood a 100 -year plus one foot roadway.
Fosse/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ My sense is that the only damage has to do with, I don't know, lost time
associated with vehicles having to take longer routes. But I don't know, so I'm just
trying to find out if there's any information there that we could have that...
Fosse/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ You know ... would come to (both talking)
Fosse/ ...didn't make that list of...of questions and answers (several talking in background) Um,
to a certain extent we ... we had that experience earlier this, well, this last year now, cause
Dubuque was inundated for a number of days and in the end we didn't need to do any
structural repairs, but we did need to clean it up, and I'm trying to recall, and maybe Ron
can help me. Ron, do you remember what our ... our cleanup costs were on Dubuque
Street that we submitted to FEMA (several talking in background) No? I'm sorry (both
talking)
Throgmorton/ All right, but we're not talking about damage to buildings, damage to, uh,
individuals. We're not talking about major financial, personal damage.
Fosse/ That's accurate!
Throgmorton/ Okay.
Fosse/ Yep.
Throgmorton/ Thanks!
Mims/ Which I think brings us back to the point where I think a lot of us were and I'll jump in to
taking the temperature, if you will. Um, and this is where I was before and this is where I
still am, and that is for the roadway, the 100 -year plus one. I think when you look at, um,
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the difference in the cost, the difference in the environmental impact, the amount of fill
that has to be brought in, the, you know, just the whole construction process, to me that's
giving us the best bang for our buck in terms of doing flood mitigation. Um, we've got to
do some sanitary sewer work there anyway, so there's going to be some issues involved
with that. Um ... but to me it's ... if we're going to do anything, that is the best balance
and going higher than that, um, we're just spending a lot more money and doing a lot
more environmental damage and damage to neighboring properties than it's worth. So...
Throgmorton/ Yeah, and ... and I agree, bas ... you know, we've had these ... this conversation
before and all that. But ... though I agree, I ... I see that at some point in the future the
rebuilt road will flood. So ... (several responding) we simply have to be prepared (both
talking)
Payne/ We could build it to 500- plus -one and it could flood! (several responding) So ... this isn't
preventing it from flooding. This is trying to keep it open the most time that we can
during a flood.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, without causing... peripheral damage (several talking) that we don't want to
produce.
Payne/ Right!
Mims/ So...
Botchway/ I had another question. Sorry! (several talking and laughing) Um, so...
Hayek/ You only get two per full meetings so (laughter)
Botchway/ (several talking and laughing) Um, so for the design structure for 100 - plus -one, 200 -
plus -one, or 2008 - plus - one... whatever, does that account for what Cor ... Coralville's
doing, as well?
Fosse/ Yes it does.
Botchway/ Okay.
Fosse/ We have built a hydraulic model that factors in all the University projects, Iowa City
projects, and Coralville projects on a single model.
Botchway/ Wow, well done!
Mims/ Yeah, that's what we have for having Hydraulic Institute here!
Botchway/ Yeah! (several talking)
Mims/ That helps!
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Throgmorton/ You could take it home with you, Kingsley! (laughter) Play with it!
Botchway/ All right!
Hayek/ I mean, I ... I think ... I think we're coalescing around something here but ... but, and ... and
personally for me, the ... the, I'll jump ahead on this, I think the through -arch is something
we ought to look at, and ... and I'll go with staff recommendation on the bridge elevation.
On Dubuque Street itself, I'm inclined to go 100 - plus -one. Um, the 200 - plus -one, you
know, makes some sense but when I look at it in terms of, uh, the empirical data over the
last two decades and the amount of time, um ... uh, Dubuque Street would be covered
under that scenario, I see very little difference, and then we're living with a, uh, you
know, a... a somewhat, you know, what's the number? Eight, uh ... 18, no.
Mims/ Higher!
Hayek/ Yeah! (laughs) This is where my math fails me (laughs) but we're living with the
elevation difference the rest of the time.
Fosse/ Yep, 28 inches.
Hayek/ Right. Thank you. I was saying 18. So it's a ... it's a two ... two and a third foot, uh...
uh, difference the rest of the time.
Dobyns/ For two or three days protection (both talking)
Hayek/ Exactly! I mean, can you... can you talk to us about the difference between 100 and 200?
Fosse/ 28 inches. (laughter)
Hayek/ Thank you! (laughter)
Mims/ 28 inches! (several talking and laughing)
Hayek/ I mean, once you get to that level, it seems like the ... the additional protection, again,
based on empirical data and we don't know what the climate will bring in the years to
come and ... and we should all recognize that (several responding) urn ... based on the
empirical data, I just don't see a lot of advantage to bumping up from 100 to 200.
Fosse/ If we have a repeat of the last 20 years, continuously, and keep replaying that, that's what
we'll experience. Yep.
Payne/ And that ... 28 inches at Kimball Road could cause more environmental damage than it
could be worth.
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Fosse/ That's... that's what you all will weigh. Yep. What the ... what the environmental
assessment... the outcome of the environmental assessment says is that ... fill all the way
up to the 500- plus -one has manageable impacts ... on the environment.
Throgmorton/ But they seem (both talking) pretty significant!
Payne/ ...they don't ... they don't live here; we live here. You know? So I think that makes
it ... it's kind of different in that too (laughs)
Throgmorton/ Right.
Mims/ Manageable, maybe not acceptable though.
Payne/ R ... right, manageable but not acceptable to us, yeah. So I ... I tend to agree with both of
you on ... all of those items.
Throgmorton/ I ... I'm gonna agree with Matt too about the bridge, and that's why I asked the
question about Hancher. Seems to me the quality of the bridge design is really important
for that particular site, given the ... all the money going into Hancher, and ... I, you know,
the design of the bridge that enables it to achieve 200 - plus- one ... backflow protection,
while reducing the roadway height by (both talking) 3.4 feet, or yeah, 3 1/2 feet (both
talking)
Mims/ Yeah.
Throgmorton/ ...those are huge assets, it seems to me!
Payne/ I did look up the cost of Hancher too. In a newspaper report it was $420 million.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, there we go, we don't have to shoot from the hip.
Mims/ $420 million! Glad I didn't guess, cause I would have been way off (laughter)
Dobyns/ Rick, do you have a picture of Dubuque at 100 - plus -one, Park Road at 200 - plus -one
with a, uh, through -arch bridge to look at?
Fosse/ No. No we don't. (laughter) But we can go back and... and you can imagine that!
Uh... a little bit lower (laughter)
Dobyns/ With Dubuque Street being a little bit lower.
Fosse/ Correct. Yeah.
Dobyns/ Yeah, okay! All right.
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Mims/ Well, and since Matt and everybody else jumped ahead, I would agree too on the through -
arch bridge at the elevation that the staff recommended, the 200 -year plus one ... is what
you're saying, right, on the bridge?
Throgmorton/ Yeah, that's what he said.
Hayek/ Yeah. Yeah.
Mims/ So...
Hayek/ I mean, this... this... we have an opportunity to make a statement....
Mims/ Uh huh.
Hayek/ ...and arguably the most important entryway to the community...
Mims/ Yep!
Hayek/ ...uh, in connection with, uh, the Hancher rebuild, which is a massive asset for the
community once it opens. Um, we'll be living with this for ... 50, 75 years, um...
Mims/ Past our lifetimes!
Hayek/ ...and uh, and that's ... this is a postcard view, in a sense, and we ... and we want to make
it right, and for me while the ... while the 200, you know, does afford you a little bit of
extra protection, again based on empirical numbers, you know, it doesn't appear to be
much, and you're living with that visual and aesthetic impact the rest of the time, and uh,
you know, there's a ... an additional cost, but ... but frankly that doesn't sway me one way
or the other. We want to do it right!
Mims/ Uh huh.
Hayek/ Um ... uh, but ... but it's that ... it's that visual impact that ... that I think outweighs the
marginal, uh, gains to be had, and as I understand it, um, both ... with respect to 100 and
200 -year elevations (several talking in background) the only flood incident in which the
road would have been overtopped at those elevations was 2008. Is that right?
Throgmorton/ In the past 20 years, right?
Hayek/ Like if you ... if you look at the floods of 93, last summer, you know.
Fosse/ Yes.
Mims/ From the river, yeah.
Fosse/ That's right.
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Mims/ Well, and to add on to what you're saying, Matt ... I think it also fits in conjunction with
what Jim brought up, in terms of going with the through -arch bridge and how we can get
that same level of protection, but three and a half feet lower on the deck, in terms of what
that does to the elevation of the intersection of Park Road and Dubuque. I think that's
critical, as well (several responding) is to bring that intersection down as much as we can
(several responding) So...
Hayek/ But ... we, the public needs to recognize that at this elevation we will see flooding.
Throgmorton/ Could happen... possibility. Could happen during construction. (laughter and
several talking) I mean, you're going to have to think about that, right. What to do in the
spring when there's some risk, right?
Fosse/ Uh huh.
Hayek/ And ... and I think the public also needs to recognize (several talking) we're going as low
as we can go and still hold on to the federal funds, I mean (several responding) I mean,
it's ... if, you know, anybody who says we should walk away from $10 million on this,
you know, is ... needs to have their heads checked I think. So ... well.
Dobyns/ I came in late. We're talking about lanes on another day? And uh...
Mims/ Correct!
Dobyns/ Okay. All right.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, when ... when are doing that? (several responding)
Fosse/ That would be in March. Yes. Now I do want to review and make sure that ... that I've
got that list correct. You're interested in design speed, lane widths, uh, turning lanes, and
planting... landscaping, aesthetics.
Dobyns/ Specifically, I talked about like preservation of some trees, um, using wells on the,
um... slope.
Fosse/ On that east side?
Dobyns/ You know, now that we know where the road's going to be and its height at certain
levels, you and I talked about different grades that would come off from it.
Fosse/ Uh huh.
Dobyns/ Um ... we've got three variables, but we've still got a lot of variables to go, but I'm
interested in, you know, preserving trees and ... I don't know how many of those are ash!
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I mean, some of the old growth trees might be ash and, I don't know, they're not going to
live long anyway, um ... but I'd be interested in some of that information.
Mims/ Well and I think what ... the thing I'm interested in too that relates very much to that,
Rick, is the road alignment.
Dobyns/ Uh huh.
Mims/ I think that's really crucial, um, particularly as we come from the Foster intersection
down, um, in terms of the first properties that you're hitting there, in terms of that
alignment.
Dobyns/ Uh huh.
Mims/ You know, can we move it more to the west. Um ... and there's some things in here in
some areas talking about moving it five feet to 40 feet or something to the west in terms
of, uh, saving some of the trees and things ... I can't remember exactly where that ... that
might be in one of the old ones but um, so yeah, I ... I'd like to ... see what that alignment
does in terms of the impact to the properties and as Rick is saying, to the trees and (both
talking)
Throgmorton/ ... flexibility we have (several talking)
Dobyns/ Yeah, I'm talking more toward Kimball and Park Road bridge. You're also mentioning
Foster (both talking)
Mims/ ...Foster to Park Road.
Dobyns/ Yeah, right.
Mims/ The whole way! (several talking and laughing)
Fosse/ Another variable that we'll be looking at, uh, with regard to those properties to the... to
the east is the width of that sidewalk that we're proposing on the east side.
Mims/ Oh! (several responding)
Fosse/ ...the advantages of an 8 -foot versus a 5 -foot versus...
Throgmorton/ Yeah, we definitely talked about that! (several talking)
Mims/ Yeah, and that's one thing ... well, I guess I would add that too because that's one thing
we talked before is not even having a sidewalk up the whole side on the east.
Throgmorton/ That's right.
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Fosse/ Yeah. Now I will mention that when we did the ... the public input on this, that was
probably the single item we heard the most about that people wanted, was a sidewalk on
the east side.
Bramel/ What's going to happen to the west? Do we have an idea of what might happen...
Fosse/ On the west? For the ... the existing sidewalk'll be rebuilt at 8 -feet wide.
Bramel/ Okay. (mumbled) on the west side (mumbled)
Fosse/ Yes. There will continue to be a sidewalk on the ... on the west side.
Payne/ I guess where the question (person speaking away from mic)
Fosse/ (responding to person) Oh, it'd be 10 -feet! I'm sorry! Thank you, Ron. Ten feet on the
west, cause we need to meet the (mumbled) for the trail.
Payne/ Do ... my question, I guess, and maybe this is ... piggybacking on yours, do we need the
sidewalk north of Kimball? Or just south?
Mims/ Well, what my suggestion was when we had talked about this at our last major work
session on it was that ... we have the sidewalk from Park Road to Kimball, and then we
have sidewalk from the Cliff Apartments to the Mayflower, and pedestrian- activated
stoplight at the Mayflower. Then you've got acc ... you've got cross ... you've got
crossing points with traffic lights at Foster, at Mayflower, and at Park Road. And... that
way it helps in terms of that footprint, potentially to narrow that footprint, and so if you
can narrow the footprint and shift it a little bit to the left, then maybe that saves us some
trees, minimizes some of the impact on the neighboring properties, etc. So...
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Thanks for your excellent memory, Susan, cause we definitely talked about
those kinds of things. So a de..demand- activated light at Mayflower is definitely
something that should be looked at.
Mims/ I should say demand, not pedestrian, cause a bicyclist too. So... (unable to hear person
away from mic)
Hayek/ Ron, yeah!
Mims/ Sure!
Knoche/ Um, so ... so this summer or this fall as Mayflower started their work for the foundation
work around (mumbled) invisible flood wall, one thing that we've discovered is there
...there is no sidewalk, technically, from the Cliff Apartments to Mayflower.
Mims/ Uh huh.
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Knoche/ They actually cut through the parking lot between Mayflower (several responding) and
so ... so there is technically no pedestrian connection, as far as sidewalks go...
Mims/ Right.
Knoche/ ...in that corridor, um, and then the ... the other thing that we need to keep in mind is as
we move further north, um, with our, um, pedestrian bridge over I -80 at Dubuque
Street...
Mims/ Uh huh.
Knoche/ ... the ... the sidewalk or trail connection will be on the east side of Dubuque Street, as
we go north, and then at ... with the signalized intersection on the south side of I -80,
there'll be the connection... they'll have to cross to the west side and then follow the rest
of the way up to Butler Bridge. There's not enough room for a sidewalk along that west
side of Dubuque Street because of the retaining walls that are there and the ... and that,
just how close (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ...between Foster and the interchange, yeah.
Knoche / Right. So ... so...
Mims/ Okay.
Hayek/ (several talking) When will ... where will you cross them over then?
Knoche/ They'll cross at, uh ... so they'll... yeah, we don't have a picture of that. Um, so they'll
cross at the... south interchange of Dubuque Street and I -80.
Hayek/ Okay.
Knoche/ So they ... that's signalized and that'll remain signalized. You know, they're puttin'
permanent signals in there...
Mims/ Yeah.
Knoche/ ...so the sidewalk'll go up along the east side, cross over Dubuque Street to the (both
talking) west side, and the pedestrian bridge'll be on the west side of...of...of the
Dubuque Street, and then that ... then that follows all the way up to where the Iowa River
Corridor Trail comes across the Iowa River at Butler Bridge.
Mims/ Okay. Cause I thought at one point we had talked also about ... the possibility of running
the trail up through... maybe to the west, like up through Laura Drive or something and
connecting that way. I guess I didn't realize it had already had kinda been laid out...
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Knoche/ There... there's some difficulties in ... in actually making that work, and ... and also what
we found is the tendency of that piece of the River Corridor Trail probably more
commuter traffic.
Mims/ Uh huh.
Knoche / And so the further off, out of distance travel we create the ... the less likely it'll be used.
So...
Mims/ Okay.
Knoche/ Yeah.
Dobyns/ My sense (both talking)
Hayek/ Go ahead, Rick!
Dobyns/ My sense with our, um, presumptive decision for Dubuque to be 100 - plus -one is that
between Park Road and Kimball it still, the right -hand turning lane toward Hancher,
coming from the north, versus the east side sidewalk, versus preservation of trees on the
slope.
Mims/ They all conflict!
Dobyns/ One has to ... be ... sacrificed, significantly. I mean, even with (both talking) with the
road down at the 100 - plus -one.
Hayek/ Well, but these are...
Mims/ Those are down the road.
Hayek/ ...this is for the next process (several talking)
Knoche/ ... as we get into the design I think we'll be able to see what that impact will be on that
east cliff or, you know, the bluff on that east side.
Hayek/ One, uh, one additional thing I'd throw out for possible consideration during design is
what the retaining system looks like, the ... I mean we have rip -rap there and maybe that's
a DNR or other requirement, I don't know, but what ... what the material is and what it
looks like as you go from the road down to the river bank. If we can... include that in our
... in our deliberations, I think it would be helpful.
Fosse/ Uh huh. Our current concept is to try and mimic a rock outcropping. Uh, a bluff
outcropping. And we're looking at various techniques to do that, but there ... there are
other ways to address it. You can do some sort of artful retaining wall, um, there's all
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sorts of options. So we'll have some good discussion on that. Appreciate your thoughts
in the meantime.
Hayek/ Okay.
Fosse/ As you come (mumbled)
Botchway/ Couple quick questions! What about, um, what about bicycles? What about road
use, as far as ... I didn't ... I saw the bicycle on the sidewalk, but I was just wondering is
there going to be any plans or maybe that's in the design phase as well as far as
incorporating bicycle use into D ... into Dubuque Street.
Fosse/ Yeah, as ... as Ron corrected me on, the trail on the west side will be (mumbled) designed
for bicycles, and as with any other arterial street in ... in Iowa City, bicycles are not
prohibited. You can ride on there, and ... so, it's the share- the -road concept that we have.
Botchway/ But what would be the speed ... what's the speed there, I can't remember off the top of
my head.
Fosse/ Current speed limits are 35 miles an hour into ... about Kimball Road. Somewhere
between Kimball and ... Park Road is where it drops to 25, and it's 25 on into Iowa City
from there.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, so that's part of what will have to be at least rethought. You know, about
where that shift from 35 to 25 takes place. (several responding)
Bramel/ If you're thinking, uh, bicycle lanes on the road, like their own (both talking)
Botchway/ Yeah, I was actually thinking bicycle lanes on the road (both talking)
Bramel/ ...three, four feet of (both talking)
Fosse/ Now if we do that, that adds another 10 -feet of width to the (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton/ ...gotta remember is that 10 -foot wide, uh, bikeway /sidewalk on the west side of
Dubuque Street. And, you know, people use bikes on that all the time.
Botchway/ But is that clear, I mean, is that cleared off on a regular basis? (several responding) I
don't know, I haven't ... it is? Okay, I mean...
Fosse/ (both talking) ...our Parks and Rec folks do that.
Botchway/ Okay, all right!
Bramel/ I think it's important to have bike lanes. I ... I would agree with you there, but I think it
would be, uh, for the majority of people who utilize that, if they're not using it for just
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recreation, it'd be students getting back and forth from ... from Mayflower, and uh, you
know, while I ... while I like bike lanes in the road, I think it'd be even safer for them to
stay on the sidewalks, I mean, that just makes sense in my opinion. (several responding)
Botchway/ That's a long walk, uh, it's a long walk (both talking) Yeah.
Hayek/ So are we ... (several talking)
Throgmorton/ ...one other thing (several talking) if I mentioned it in October or not, but ... but it
had to do with traffic volumes, and I know the ... the es ... the original design was based on
certain presumptions about what traffic volumes will be at some target period in the
future. Jeff, I don't know what it was, or Mark, but uh, I don't know, 20, 25, or whatever
the ... whatever the future year is. Uh ... but what I ... what I wonder is whether ... it would
be worthwhile, at least considering, whether there are ways ... traffic management. Well,
that's not the word I want, but ways to reduce projected traffic volumes by finding better
ways for people to get from north down into Iowa City, down in ... to the University, etc.
So that the ... so that we don't have, what is it, 1.3 persons per ... no, 1.2 persons per car
and all those cars on the road. Yeah, maximum.
Fosse/ Okay. Certainly a theme that ... that we've given HNTB for the design of this project is
multi- modal, and that's cars, bikes, buses, pedestrians, the whole works. So we want
to ... and ... and from a multi -modal perspective, this is probably already our ... our most
multi -modal corridor in Iowa City. And we want to build it to reflect that.
Throgmorton/ So I was think especially ... I don't know if it's viable, but I think about bus service
from North Liberty down ... that route, into the hospital and the core of downtown.
Hayek/ Okay, got a lot on your list there, Rick. Uh ... (several talking) So, let's just be clear, are
we all on the same page — 100 -year plus one for Dubuque, 200 -year plus one for the
bridge, and a through -arch bridge approach. (several responding)
Botchway/ One second, one second! So ... with a, sorry (several talking) but with a through -arch
and the deck girder for Idyllwild, for the backwater reduction at Idyllwild, it's not a
terrible... it's not a terrible difference I guess. I mean, I'm not well versed in...
Hayek/ Yeah, yeah, that's a good question. (both talking)
Fosse/ ...1.2 inches is the difference in ... in the backwater reduction performance.
Botchway/ So that's not some type of terrible increase or decrease or whatever.
Fosse/ Depends on how close you are to getting flooded (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton/ Yeah!
Payne/ How, I mean, 1.2 ... whatever that is, how ... that's spread out how far?
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Fosse/ Well that ... it varies on the slope of the ground at that point. If the ground is steep, it
doesn't change the footprint much. If it's flat, it can go out quite a ways.
Payne/ So it's that ... the whole width?
Fosse/ It's that measured at the Idyllwild area. You know, as you go downstream, that difference
is a little larger. As you go upstream, that difference gets smaller.
Dobyns/ But is it better than the current bridge, in terms of...
Fosse/ Much better! Yeah.
Dobyns/ That's the key! (laughs) (several talking)
Fosse/ ...existing bridge is measured to about, produce about 14 inches of backwater .... in ... in
08.
Hayek/ No, but it's a relevant question, cause we declined to build the levee, you know, and...
and so that is always going to be an issue out there.
Fosse/ Yep. So that's what this column represents here as inches of improvement over the
existing condition.
Payne/ That's inches of improvement?
Fosse/ Uh huh.
Mims/ So it's that much lower. The backwater.
Payne/ Oh I ... I guess if it was 14 inches before, I guess I thought that the improvement was
going to be ... 8 inches, but the improvement's 6.1.
Fosse/ Uh, 4.9 if we go ... oh, come on in, Melissa. (mumbled)
Clow/ Yeah, it was 14 inches at the bridge. When you're at Idyllwild, for a direct comparison, it
was about 9 to 10 inches. So it already had reduced that much upstream from the bridge.
So at that cross - section of Idyllwild, you'll reduce that from 9 to 10 inches.
Botchway/ But this ... so if we choose the through -arch, it'd be only 3.4?
Fosse/ If we choose through -arch, the reduction'll be 4 point...
Botchway/ Go ahead, sorry!
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Fosse/ ....point 9 inches, so that would be approximately half of the backwater experienced at
(both talking)
Botchway/ But isn't that with the 200 -year plus one plan? For the road? Or does that matter?
I'm confused.
Knoche/ No, it's ... it's for the bridge.
Botchway/ Okay.
Knoche/ The bridge affects the water elevations. Dubuque Street, you could raise or lower it, it
wouldn't... it doesn't really matter from the flooding perspective.
Botchway/ Okay.
Fosse/ Anything else?
Throgmorton/ Sounds like we're good to go!
Dobyns/ I think Terry wanted 500- plus -one, but he's not here to defend himself, so ... (laughter)
Fosse/ Well thank you!
Hayek/ Thanks ... to all of you.
Throgmorton/ ...thank you, Rick. Thanks, Mark!
Information Packets:
January
Hayek/ Um ... couple of Info Packets. One from January 91h. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Matt, IP #4, the annual report from JECC.
Payne/ On which one, the 91h or the...
Throgmorton/ The 9th. Hope I had the right date, but...
Mims/ Yep!
Throgmorton/ ...been known to make mistakes a lot! So anyhow, the annual report states that,
um ... the services, uh, their 9 -1 -1 services are provided to all citizens of Johnson County,
and it'd be nice to let `em know that they're not just servicing the citizens of Johnson
County, but they're serving anybody who happens in Johnson County and experiences
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some kind of emergency. Right? Whether that person's a citizen or ... a visitor from
France or whatever.
Mims/ I will mention it at the meeting. We have one Friday! And I think ... I think also just to
mention, I think there is a sensitivity now to the use of the word `citizens.' That we did
not used to have (several responding) ...in terms of legal versus illegal, when in the past
a citizen was (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ... anybody, right?
Mims/ ...a citizen was just a person. And so I think there is a different... different level of
sensitivity. But I will mention it. I mean, the report's done, but I'll just mention it for
future reference.
Throgmorton/ Well like we have, what is it, 2,300 Chinese students. None of whom are citizens
of the United States. Right? But your point's completely correct (both talking)
Mims/ ...yeah. So...
January 16th:
Hayek/ Okay. Uh, the, uh ... Info Packet from the 16 th q .
Dobyns/ Rick, congratulations on your recognition.
Hayek/ Yeah!
Mims/ Yes!
Dobyns/ Very nice!
Throgmorton/ Oh, yeah, bravo!
Hayek/ Recognize your leaders!
Mims/ I would just mention the, uh, IP 11 on that one, the invitation to the Growing the Local
Food Movement in Johnson County, community forum. If anybody can go. I know I'm
going to try to go. Looks very interesting. (several responding)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, for sure. (mumbled) get confused about all these packets. (noises on mic)
Hayek/ I appreciated the rail piece.
Mims/ Yeah.
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Hayek/ ... urn ... have an effect, but I appreciate it! (laughter) Really when you look at ... that the
hub coming from Chicago for passenger rail is going to pretty much every state in the
Midwest...
Mims/ Except us!
Hayek/ ... except us.
Throgmorton/ Makes me want to weep!
Hayek/ Okay. Council time?
Council Time:
Throgmorton/ Uh... Saturday it was fun to be at Gospel Explosion with Matt. Uh, that was a real
kick, and uh, I know ... I'll bet you agree on this — it was really fun to have, to meet, uh,
Pastor Boyer and ... and have her introduce us there at the meeting and ... it was just a
great experience. (several talking) Oh, we went to a Gospel Explosion ministry on
Muscatine. Saturday, as part of a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration that they had. And
(laughs) boy, Pastor Boyer can sing!
Hayek/ Oh yeah! I took along the proclamation from MLK Day and read that. (several
responding) It was good. Was a very good event! (several talking)
Botchway/ So I kind of wanted to talk about, um ... basically changing ... this is kind of a question
for Eleanor, as well, changing the structure of how we handle, um, disorderly conduct,
um, fighting, quarreling, and moving those to civil fines instead of, um, having people,
you know, I guess in law school one of the biggest things was ... and I guess not the
biggest thing, but if you got in a fight, you'd possibly have to put that on your, you know,
bar application, whatever the case may be, um, and it looks like it works in Wisconsin
where they actually changed that to civil fines instead of having it go through possible
trials or that type of thing, and I ... I guess I'm bringing it up now to get everybody's... if
we could look into it or something along those lines, because I think it would change, um,
and again, the civil penal... penalties could be ... I don't, can't remember the ... I can share
this information with you as well, but I mean, they could be very ... I mean, they could
hurt you in your... in your pocketbook, um, from a deterrent perspective, um, but I think
it would move away from I guess a lot of the complaints that I'm hearing, uh, you know,
that ... that you make one mistake, um, in this city and then you have to kind of live with
that mistake for a substantial time, um, and so I guess ... I don't know Council's thought
on that. I guess I'm springing it, sorry! And I wasn't going to bring it up but then I
forgot that I sent it to my email and I kind of did want to bring it up!
Throgmorton/ So you want to have a work dis ... work session discussion about (both talking)
Botchway/ Yeah! I want to have some ... some type of discussion about it, because I think that it
would ... it doesn't only necessarily just apply to students. Um, I think it also applies to,
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um, you know, community members who continually become involved with the police
and it could just be a first -time basis, but are looking for ... again, another way of looking
at that type of, um, situation, instead of strictly going to the legal system or having to go
into the judicial system.
Bramel/ I agree wholeheartedly! One of the things I was going to be looking at this semester
was looking at if there's any way we can change, um, you know, disorderly behavior,
fighting, that kind of stuff, or even public intoxs and PAULAs. Right now they're only
criminal, um, and we really don't have any, uh, for a municipality, we don't have any,
um, place in our code for a civil citation or (mumbled) infraction or whatever, what have
you, uh, and that's something that could keep a lot of money back right here in Iowa City.
Botchway/ Right.
Bramel/ And it would save people, you know, from that... from that criminal record, per se.
Botchway/ Right.
Bramel/ Uh, and whatnot, so that's something to look into!
Dobyns/ I'm confused about keeping the money here in Iowa City. You were talking about
(both talking)
Bramel/ When you ... I believe, um, when you have, um, break a State law or whatnot, a lot of
that money, surcharges and whatnot, will go to, uh, the local courts and whatnot, but
some of that money goes to the state.
Dobyns/ For criminal?
Bramel/ Right. I'm (mumbled) yeah, but for civil infractions, if I'm not mistaken...
Dilkes/ We have a disorderly conduct, um ... city charge though. So...
Bramel/ Do we have one for ... for, uh, PAULA or public intox?
Dilkes/ Yes.
Bramel/ We do. So we can...
Dilkes/ In fact most of our charges are City charges.
Bramel/ (mumbled)
Dilkes/ Yeah. I think if you ... I mean, I get the idea, if you guys want to schedule it ... if you're
interested in scheduling it for a work session, then staff can bring you our thoughts on it.
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Throgmorton/ I'd say let's do it!
Mims/ Sure.
Bramel/ (mumbled) ...do it, yeah. (several talking)
Dobyns/ I'm not sure what I'm agreeing to. I've got a sense, but I'm not sure. I mean, we're
basically looking at perhaps for a first infraction... or changing it from criminal to civil?
Botchway/ At least given the ... or giving more of an option, possibly.
Bramel/ Yeah.
Botchway/ (several talking) ...look at what Wisconsin's doing, but ... it looks like there's more of
an option there and...
Dilkes/ We aren't going to be able to eliminate the criminal charge because there's a State
criminal charge, but I mean, I ... I think this is going to be more an issue of practice than it
is of... of... of what we write in the code. Um...
Botchway/ ...but we don't have, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. Go ahead.
Dilkes/ So ... but we can look at those issues.
Botchway/ But we don't have civil fines across the board, when it comes to fighting, when it
comes to other things along those nature we, I mean ... (several talking)
Dilkes/ They're charged as criminal. That's right. So ... no, that's a State and City code
provision.
Bramel/ ... and City, okay.
Botchway/ So, yeah, I mean, this isn't ... so just be clear, I'm not advocating for more (both
talking)
Dobyns/ ...looking at it, no I get (both talking)
Botchway/ ...I just want to look at it because apparently Wisconsin's doing some interesting
things with it and ... might be interesting (several talking)
Dilkes/ As I understand the question, the question is, um, are there certain criminal City offenses
that we charge, such as disorderly conduct, that we could charge as a municipal
infraction, essentially a civil fine.
Botchway/ Correct!
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Dilkes/ Um ... that's how I see the (both talking)
Dobyns/ ...applications to like grad schools, medical schools, this wouldn't be (mumbled)
necessarily if it was a civil, is that...
Hayek/ Well it's not civil! It's a municipal infraction.
Bramel/ ... infraction.
Dobyns/ It's a municipal infraction.
Hayek/ ...treating it the same?
Dilkes/ You ... you're just going to have to let me look at it. There's... there's also a provision in
the code that I can't remember exactly about, that may limit cities in taking criminal
offenses and making them civil, but...
Hayek/ Yeah, there's going to be (both talking)
Dilkes/ ...if you schedule a work session I'll be prepared to address it (both talking)
Botchway/ ...that's why I wanted, yeah (both talking)
Hayek/ Let's look at it. I think the best thing would be to have a staff memo in advan ... or in
connection with the work session (several talking) come in a little more educated on it.
(several responding)
Karr/ Matt, um, IP3 was the City Conference Board schedule. It was in the, um, January 10"
Because of our meeting, uh, February 4t ", we need to schedule a Conference Board, uh, to
set a public hearing on the budget, and it was suggested that a special Conference Board
meeting be held February 6t", either at 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon. Typically those are
the ones that we have at our, uh, work sessions, first thing, and I was wondering if there
was any agreement from this group that I could respond back to the Assessor (both
talking)
Throgmorton/ I can do either 4:00 or 5:00 on the 6t"
Payne/ 5:00 would be better!
Mims/ I can do either!
Hayek/ Either.
Dobyns/ I couldn't be there. I'd be late, but I'm not necessary for a quorum. Quorum.
Karr/ Should we go with 5:00 on the 6t" then and respond back?
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Hayek/ Sure.
Botchway/ February?
Karr/ No, we ... February, yes. February 6 th
Hayek/ At 5:00.
Karr/ At 5:00 here.
Hayek Thanks, Marian.
Karr/ Okay. And then also in your electronic handout, um, late ones that went out today, we
have our joint, um ... municipality, county, school district, um, quarterly meeting coming
up. Coralville will be hosting it. If there are any joint agenda items you'd like put on
that agenda, we need to know, um, today ... no later than tomorrow. (several responding)
Hayek/ Right. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Just to update `em on what we're doing.
Hayek/ What's that?
Throgmorton/ Just update them on what we're doing.
Hayek/ We don't have to put anything on ... on their agendas. If we want information on
something, it's essentially a request for them to present on...
Karr/ To be prepared to have a presentation, if there's anything you'd like on the agenda. You
certainly ... the update is always on the agenda, but if there's anything you wanted to talk
about. Or have someone prepare information...
Throgmorton/ Well we're going to be dealing with affordable housing in the MPO meeting, so
we don't really need to go ... go to a ... there, right?
Hayek/ That's my thinking as well, Jim. Well, if somebody thinks of something...
Karr/ If you think of anything, please let me know by tomorrow. It'll be in your Thursday
packet, the agenda, as it's next week. And then finally, just a reminder that the Chamber
Banquet is Thursday evening at the Coralville Marriott. There is a City of Iowa City
table reserved. So, um, it is in the front, so you will have to ... if you do arrive a little later
(laughter) you do have to walk to the front and it is marked `City of Iowa City table.
(laughter and several talking)
Throgmorton/ Some of us have looked for a table before and ... not been able to find one.
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Karr/ It is there, and... (several talking and laughing) I think what often happens is, especially,
um, as it...it is in the front, and as ... if someone is late, the seat gets occupied. So it's
important for those of us attending early that when someone's ... if it's a non -City member
who sits there to kind of say we are all full for City people so you save it. I think that
happens occasionally (several responding) And if there's any change in your plans,
please let me know so that we can, uh, take care of that... spot. Thanks.
Payne/ So just ... I have on my calendar the 27th, we have a joint city /county meeting.
Karr/ That's correct, that's the agenda we just spoke about.
Payne/ Yep. The 291h we have an MPOJC meeting.
Karr/ That's correct.
Payne/ Okay. And then the 4th, our meeting was cancelled, and we just made a meeting for the
6th
Karr/ 6th, that's correct!
Payne/ All right (laughs)
Dobyns/ We have a lot of meetings with the other jurisdictions.
Payne/ Yes! (several talking)
Meeting Schedule:
Hayek/ Okay! Meeting schedule. Just talked a lot about that (laughter) Um, is there anything
else, and KXIC, who...
Payne/ I have it tomorrow.
Pending Work Session Topics:
Hayek/ Okay! Anything else on that? Pending work session topics?
Payne/ We've added one.
Upcoming Events /Council Invitations:
Hayek/ Just added one. Okay. Upcoming events. Just talked about those (laughs)
Throgmorton/ I think some of us are going out to City High.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of January 21, 2014.
January 21, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 38
Dobyns/ That's right, yeah.
Throgmorton/ I don't know what the date is. I don't have it in front of me, but we're going to go
out and speak in Carrie... Watson's, uh...
Dobyns/ Uh huh!
Throgmorton/ ...local government class.
Dobyns/ Going back to school!
Throgmorton/ Yeah!
Mims/ Good!
Botchway/ I got stuck with Rick so ... (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Huh?
Botchway/ I got stuck with Rick so...
Throgmorton/ Aw! (laughter)
Hayek/ Okay! Think that concludes our work session. Thanks, everyone, and we'll, uh, come
back at 7:00 for the formal.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of January 21, 2014.