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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-07-15 TranscriptionJuly 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1 Council Present: Botchway (via phone), Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton Staff Present: Markus, Fruin, Dilkes, Karr, Andrew, Fosse Yapp, O'Brien, Howard, Long, Bockenstedt, Panos, Moran, Gannon, Clow, Knoche, Rackis, Ralston, Davidson, Boothroy Others Present: McCarthy (UISG) Agenda Items: ITEM 13a JOHNSON COUNTY EMAIL RE LOCAL SALES TAX (LOST) — CONSIDER THE REQUEST FOR INPUT FROM JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CONCERNING SUNSET OF LOST, BALLOT LANGUAGE, AND LOST PROCEEDS TOWARD PAYMENT OF THE COURTHOUSE ANNEX BOND, WHICH MAY INCLUDE AMENDING RESOLUTION NO. 14 -207. Hayek/ Got a lot to accomplish so let's get right underway. I want to welcome everyone. Uh, the first item is, uh, questions from Council regarding agenda items. And might I suggest that you ... we've got this late addition, uh ... uh, 13a on the LOST issue. Um... Throgmorton/ Where did that come from? I ... I don't know (mumbled) Hayek/ Well, we've had it for several days, but what I'm suggesting is that take that up in connection with our joint meeting... bullet point later on in this... meeting. Throgmorton/ Just so I can understand, what (both talking) Hayek/ What I'm suggesting is that we discuss during the joint meeting bullet, which is the sixth bullet point — the sales tax issues, which would include Item 13a, which was added late last week to our agenda, to allow us ... to take action on that. Throgmorton/ Sorry! I didn't see it. Dobyns/ It's relevant to that, Jim. (both talking) Hayek/ We'll talk about sales tax issues later. For now as to questions regarding agenda items, let's just ... you know, entertain anything else on the agenda. ITEM 2d(9) HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER (HCV) ADMINISTRATIVE PLAN - RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE IOWA CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY'S HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER (HCV) ADMINISTRATIVE PLAN This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 2 ITEM 2d(10) PUBLIC HOUSING ADMISSIONS AND CONTINUED OCCUPANCY POLICY (ACOP) - RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE IOWA CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY'S PUBLIC HOUSING ADMISSIONS AND CONTINUED OCCUPANCY POLICY (ACOP). Throgmorton/ Well, uh, I have requests on Items, uh, 2d(9) (noises on mic; difficult to hear speaker) 2d(10). 1 would like to have them pulled from the Consent Calendar cause I know there's some people who would like to be able to speak to that topic. Dobyns/ That's fine with me! Hayek/ So why don't you make the motion, if you would? Dobyns/ I'll second it. (laughter and several talking) Dilkes/ You don't need a motion. Any person can pull it off the agenda. Hayek/ Well but ... but I'm saying... Karr/ When you adopt the reso ... when you adopt the Consent Calendar, just omitting those two. Hayek/ Right! ITEM 2c(21) Resolution to issue Cigarette Permit to Black and Gold Vapors, LLC, dba Black and Gold Vapors, LLC., 440 Kirkwood Ave [Angela Anderson email]; Danais Investments, LLC., dba Almost Paradise, 355 S. Linn St. Payne/ I had a question on... it's a letter that we received from Angela Anderson. Um... alls I can tell you is that it's page 114. Does that help? Mims/ That's the one about the e... Karr/ That's regarding a cigarette permit that is being acted on, so it's in with permits and licenses. Payne/ Oh, it is in there? (both talking) Karr/ It's on for action! Payne/ Okay. Thank you. Council Appointments: Hayek/ Other agenda item questions? Plenty of Planning and Zoning items that we can't take up anyway, so I'm sure there will be questions when we reach those ... items. Okay! I'm gonna move on. Next item is Council appointments. Um... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 3 Mims/ We didn't email, urn ... get back to where I was. Highly recommending, urn ... (several talking) Yeah. Hayek/ Jacob Odegaard. Yeah. Mims/ I mean, I thought they looked good, and without knowing (several talking) I kind of picked one, another one ... a different one but she... Dickens/ (both talking) ...been a trainer and everything (several talking) Dobyns/ I didn't see the email but just looking at the three of them, I thought he was (both talking) Throgmorton/ Well I assumed it was from Chris Ogren and Chris is on the Airport Commission. I have a lot of respect for Chris. Hayek/ No, it was from someone else. (several talking) Throgmorton/ Well, I got a phone call from Chris. Hayek/ Okay. So that ... in favor of...of him? (several responding) Payne / And ... and he's in my Rotary so... Hayek/ Well, say no more! (laughter) Payne / And Tom's! Dobyns/ Everybody's! (laughter) Hayek/ I'll tell ... I know David Davis. Uh, he's on the CVB board with me and he's an excellent person, um, and I think he'd be well qualified for this as well. Uh ... but I'm ... I'm comfortable with Mr. Odegaard, especially he got the ... the recommendation from the others. Mims/ Uh huh. Throgmorton/ So we also got one application from Jefferson Street, a position on the Historic Preservation District, but he's not a resident. Karr/ That's ... that is ... not a resident of the district. You'll have to readvertise. Dobyns/ Who also applied for the other. Karr/ Correct, but he's a citizen of Iowa City, just not in the district he's going to represent. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 4 Dobyns/ Right, I know, but I'm just saying I think (both talking) Karr/ Uh huh, yes it is! It is the same one, yes. Correct! Throgmorton/There are a few residents in ... in the district, right? Small number but a few. Karr/ A few residents in the district? Throgmorton/ In the Jefferson Street (both talking) Karr/ Yes! Yes, uh huh. Throgmorton/ We've been, what? Six months into this or more? Hayek/ More than that. Throgmorton/ So should we readvertise (several responding) making it open to someone that's not a resident? That's legally possible to do (both talking) Karr/ I'm not quite sure on the Historic Preservation District. Dilkes/ I ... I don't know. We'd have to look at that. I ... I think there are some statutory requirements for who serves on the Historic Preservation Commission and ... Iowa law requirements. So I don't know if that's possible. Hayek/ Could ... could you look at that? Cause if we do have an option of opening it up, beyond the confines of that district. Dilkes/ Sure! Hayek/ We've been trying to fill this for ... a year or two. Dickens/ Since we put it in. Payne/ Yeah. At least a year. I would think — it seems like (mumbled) Hayek/ Okay. Thanks, Eleanor. I think that's it for appointments, since that, uh, that ... one is ineligible. Okay. Next item is 2014 Flood Update! Dobyns/ Come on up, Rick! (laughter) 2014 Flood Update: Fosse/ Yes! Yes! So we ... we have three items to get through tonight. We've got the flood update, uh, Gateway, and then also the discussion of the, uh, Riverfront Crossings Park. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 5 And so that's a lot of the stuff in here. We're going to try and be done with Gateway by 10 after 6:00 (clears throat) Excuse me! Uh, but Jeff and I talked about a safety valve, if we run out of time that the, uh, the Riverfront Crossing project is also on the formal meeting tonight. So we can squeeze it onto there. (clears throat) Sorry! See if I have enough voice to get through this tonight! (coughing) Sorry! So the, uh, it ... this is the 2014 flood or the `here we go again' flood. (laughter) At the time I sent out the memo last week, it was tied neck -in -neck with last year's, uh, flood, the 2013 flood, and over the weekend with the rains that we got on Saturday, it bumped it up so that it is now the ... the third, uh, largest flood of record (clears throat) Um ... what I'm ... hold on just a second here. Dobyns/ He drank some floodwater, I think! (laughter) Payne/ Yeah! (laughs) Needs a drinking fountain! Fosse/ Sorry `bout that! So the, uh, what I'm showing here is the hydrographs from the 2008 flood and the 1993 flood, and what I've superimposed on ... I don't have the hydrographs from last year's flood or this year's flood, but I do have the peaks. So I'm showing those on there, and you can see last year's flood, uh, was at ... was at 19,200 and this year's is up at 19,900 cfs. So ... as I said, the third largest flood of record. The amazing thing for this, thank you, is that in between, uh, last year's flood and this year's flood, uh, you look at the drought monitor and on, uh, New Year's Eve we were in a severe drought here in Iowa. So, you know, what's with that? Can't quite figure out what's going on with the weather, but ... uh, we're ... we're certainly experiencing extreme there. Uh, so I'll take you through the ... the events as they happened this ... this year. Uh, stared out June 16th. We had a thunderstorm come through with high winds that took, uh, part of the roof off our new sludge storage building down at the south wastewater plant. So that was... that was the beginning of the flood, or of the adverse weather for us, and then, uh, on June 30th we got our first heavy, locally heavy rain, and this is a shot down at our south waste water treatment facility, and when we located the plant down there, it was not in a mapped flood plain, but given our experience down there when we did our upgrades this time, we wanted to make sure that we're protected against, uh, potential flooding down there. So we did a... a hydraulic analysis of it all and elevated the electrical system to well above where the floods are so that we can continue to operate down there, in these types of situations. And it worked very well, uh, where we were done, but the one piece that we weren't done yet on is where the, uh, electrical supply comes into the ... into the south plant down there, cause we're waiting from parts ... for parts from the old plant that are going to move down there. So, in the middle of the night we had to deploy 360 feet of HESCO barriers to protect that ... that, uh, power supply and keep the plant operational through the evening, and our staff did a remarkable job of getting those all deployed and ...and protecting that and pumping it out between, uh, about 10:00...10:00 P.M. and 3:00 A.M. for that, and I want to show you the difference, uh, what a difference the additional capacity makes down at that waste water plant. Uh, I remember showing you last year, this is the equalization basin where excess flows go when more water's coming in than we can treat. Uh, similar storms last year to this year, you can see it was going down the overflow last year. This year we have plenty of room to spare. So that additional This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 6 capacity is paying off. Uh, Dubuque Street is under water, and we'll talk more about that later. The most common question I get is, if we ... if we had elevated Dubuque Street to the elevation that is proposed, would it be above the flood waters, and the answer is yes it would, by a significant margin. The new elevation will protect up to about 32,000 cfs. We're experiencing just over 19,000 cfs in this flood, so ... plenty of room to spare there! Uh, we did need to deploy, uh, protection in some of our neighborhoods, and specifically in two areas where we have flood mitigation projects underway. Uh, this is down at the Westside levee, uh, we deployed gabions here last, or not gabions, HESCOs here last year, as we did again this year cause the project is ... is about half done. Uh, we had to work quickly to get those deployed because the river is coming up and it wasn't long after we got `em constructed, the water was against the HESCOs and they're protecting that neighborhood down there. That will be protected by the levee when we're done with that project. Uh, what I wanted to show you is, uh, this is on the dry side, if you will, of the ... of the HESCO barriers and you can see the water that's seeping underneath those through the ... through the soils and that's why when you build a levee, there's... there's a key that goes down into the ground, it's like an upside down levee that's buried, that protects the ... the, uh, water from going underneath it, or protects the soils from the water that wants to go underneath it. And when you get this much water coming underneath your ...your barrier, you begin to worry about soil stability and ... and hence the safety of the people protected by that. So what we did is we set up a number of, uh, survey control points on that HESCO barrier and we go out daily and we use the laser emitted by our survey machine, or survey instrument, and we track the x, y, z coordinates down to 1 / 100th of a foot. So we can detect if... if any... any movement is happening down there and whether or not we need to be concerned about the people that are on the backside of that. So far it's staying put and we feel good about that. Uh, there's debacles with every flood - fighting effort, and ... and this year's was that, uh, some ... some local folks filled an intake full of sandbags, uh, intending to protect their area, but they were mistaken on where they were putting them, that ... that actually put them at more risk and also put, um, McCollister Boulevard at risk. So this is how a couple of our employees spent their 4th of July, with a long stick with a hook on it, fishing 400 wet sand bags out of (several responding) intake. (laughter) ...a bad day! Um, this is the pump house for the Westside levee. So this is, uh, what happens when you get caught mid - project with a flood mitigation project. Also down at, uh, the Rocky Shore Drive project, they were able to get their equipment up on the railroad grade, and this crane actually built a ... a platform for it to go on, uh, to keep it out of the floodwaters. So without those ... those permanent protection measures in place, we needed to bring in, uh, pumps and uh, the... those are ... are problematic. This is ... this is why we like to go with permanent things. Uh, one of the problems in pumps is capacity. You just don't have the same capacity you do with the ... with the permanent installations, and also pumps are prone to mechanical problems, mechanical failures. So you need to have people out constantly keeping an eye on things and ... and fixing stuff as ... as it goes wrong. Uh, that's a shot of Lower City Park and Riverside Theater. Uh, this is a shot of, uh, one of our trail systems going underneath the bridge and ... and our trail system's interrupted at each of those points where it goes underneath the bridge, and I wanted to include that cause that's part of our discussion later tonight with the Gateway project. Um ... in the backwaters, uh, where ...where (laughs) the floodwaters are, the ... you can see a lot of mosquito larvae, so that's This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 7 probably what is ... is ahead for us, and ... in the coming weeks is, uh, more mosquitoes. Um, looking out ... oh, one of the things that ... that really helped us this year with the flood and ... and helped us last year as well is the, uh, the web site that the ... the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and National Weather Service worked together and partnered on to put in place so that the public can see the same dashboard that we're looking at in making our decisions, and they can see what the forecast is for the river. They can dial in different river elevations and look at inundation limits. Has significantly cut the number of phone calls that we get. People are able to make decisions for themselves and act on those decisions (several talking in background) uh, independent from the City, and that ... that's a good thing! Um, looking out, uh, forward, this is today's forecast for the river. So tomorrow they're projecting to drop it by 3,000 cfs down to 15,000 and hold that until Saturday, and then drop it to 12,000 cfs, and at that point we should be able to get in and begin to clean up the southbound lanes of Dubuque Street and do a damage assessment, and if it's in good shape, which it has been in past, uh, floods, we'll be able to put in place the, uh, traffic control for two -way traffic in those southbound lanes. And that will remain that way until the, uh, University is done demobilizing their ... their, uh, HESCOs in front of the Mayflower. So that'll continue to stair -step down, as long as we continue to have good weather. Uh, you look at the five - day, uh, cumulative, quantitative precipitation forecast and it has not looked this dry in a long time. We've got nothing projected at Iowa right here. Uh, to the contrary we'd had these bullseyes on us for the last month, and that's what contributed to the flows. So, as I wrap up and open it up to questions, I want to make sure and acknowledge all the work that our ... our staff has been doing to make this, the ... the third largest flood of record, seem like a routine response. They've just done a ... a remarkable job out there and I'm very proud of the work that they do. Um, any questions on this? Payne/ I have a question on those, um, temporary pumps. Fosse/ Uh huh. Payne/ I thought of this when I was driving by the ones, um, on Rocky Shore Drive. I'm assuming they're diesel? Fosse/ Yes they are. Payne/ So we have to have some truck go there frequently and fill up a diesel tank so they keep running, is that how it works? Fosse/ Yes! It's not that frequent though. They're... they're pretty efficient pumps. But, uh, what we found is we pretty much have to keep somebody at those sites all the time, just because of mechanical problems. So it's ... we do have folks, but I'm sorry, where we going with that? Payne/ That was the only question. My thought was, how do we keep these running 24/7? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 8 Fosse / Right! It's ... it's having people out there, and ... and the pumps that'll go in the permanent installations are electric. So that... Payne/ Oh, great! Excellent! Fosse/ Yeah! (laughter) Hayek/ We thought you'd be happy about that! (laughter) Mims/ Well, you answered my first question right off the bat, with the 32,000 cfs for the ... for the new elevation of Dubuque Street, and then I just wanted to say thank you for, um, for everything staff has done and the prompt response when I contacted you about the light at, uh, Foster and Dubuque and changing that to flashing red. Um... Fosse/ Oh, you're welcome! Mims/ People who live out in the Peninsula were getting a little frustrated having to sit there at a red light with the road closed, so ... that was a very quick response and they appreciated it. Fosse/ Good! Hayek/ I ... I'll mention this tonight for the viewers, to give staff some kudos, but ... but I think I'm the only one who was on this Council in 08, and ... I mean the ... the level of engagement by the Council and ... and panic down at City Hall in 2008 was ... it was incredible contrast to the discipline with which we, you know, responded, and it was staff. I mean, you didn't need us and... and... and it was just night and day difference! Um, and I know ... I know it was worse, but ... but, uh ... you know, what a ... what a difference six years make. Fosse/ Experience pays off! (laughter and several talking) We're really breaking in our new Streets Superintendent in a ... in a big way this summer! Hayek/ Yeah! Fosse/ (laughter) Right in the deep end! Throgmorton/ So, uh, before you, uh, run off. Fosse/ Uh huh! Throgmorton/ Uh, I need to say that I have temporarily at least lost faith in the Corps' ability to manage the Res! Based on the last two floods. Based on the weather conditions that existed before, during, and after the floods. And when I say that, I'm definitely not blaming any particular individuals at the Corps. What I am doing is questioning the Corps' operational plan, which we all know is at least 20 years old or there... roughly 20 years old, and out of date. Uh, I believe it needs to be changed, but, A... given the way I This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 9 began that, by saying I'm, uh, I've lost faith in the Corps' ability to manage the ... the Res, what I would, uh, like to see and suggest that we invite the Corps to do, is brief us and the public on its management of the last two floods, you know, what conditions they faced, how they were constrained, uh, what they felt they could do, and couldn't do, uh, and therefore what the consequences were, from their point of view. Fosse/ Uh huh. Throgmorton/ So ... and when I ... make this point, I'm not speaking only for myself, cause I've heard it from a lot of people. All right, so, there you have it! Fosse/ Yeah, we can extend that invitation, and ... and it's a good question and if.. if you have just a minute we'll ... we'll look at three slides. I thought I'd do some quick Monday morning quarterbacking of the Corps' performance this year, and ... and show you what I've observed so far. And ... and what ... what we look at is what was going into the reservoir, uh, at the peak of this flood, and what we saw at the Marengo gauge was 32,600, which is roughly equivalent to ... well, actually is bigger than the ... the 93 flood that ... that we experienced. Um, now what came out of the reservoir was 18,400. So what the reservoir did for us is it knocked 44% of that flood peak off. And the Corps not very good at...at tootin' their own horn about that sort of thing. So I wanted ... wanted to make that point, and then, uh, went further and looked at...at reservoir levels, leading into this. And what I've observed that they've done is they've done a very good job of staying at the normal, uh, conservation pool. And especially given that June was... especially north of us, was one of the wettest Junes on record, that there could have been a tendency to drift up during this period, and then at the beginning of the flood event, take off from there. Uh, but what you see is they did a good job of holding at the conservation pool level until the onset of this flood. So ... first ... first blush review of the data that's out there online, I feel pretty good about their performance this year. Payne/ One ... (clears throat) one thing also during the heavy rains we had on the weekend, when all the creeks were backing up and getting full, didn't they back off on what they were letting out to let those creeks drain down? Fosse/ Yes they did, and what you can see, this is the hydrograph of what's coming out of the reservoir, and this dip represents, um, that weekend, this last weekend, and that's all based on procedures that were put in place after the 93 flood and telemetry that went out there because what we found is the flows can... contributions from Clear Creek and Rapid Creek, in conjunction with what comes out of the reservoir, can really hammer us down here. So what they do is, they throttle back at the reservoir as the creeks are coming up and they offset each other, so the flow through Iowa City stays relatively constant. That's... that's the biggest change that came out of the 93 event. Dobyns/ So, Rick, if you super- imposed inflow and outflow on the same graph, when would you have the biggest differential, in terms of...when, in other words the pool would be filling up? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 10 Fosse/ (both talking) Dobyns/ ...I'm looking ... I'm taking a look at obviously just the week before, prior for the holiday. Fosse/ Uh huh. Dobyns/ Um, it was significant outflow above 20... cfs. (both talking) ... go to the other one, and you know, that's up to 20,000. Go back one. Fosse/ It ... I will point out that it takes about a day and a half (both talking) Dobyns/ Sure! Yeah, I know there' a latency, yeah. Fosse/ ...so you extend that out, and that lines up about with July 4th. So they ... they were ramping up in... in anticipation of that peak that was coming down from Marengo. Dobyns/ So from July ... June 27th on, there was a (mumbled) more inflow than outflow, even, um, accommodating the latent fact of river flow. Fosse/ Yes. Dobyns/ And they kept the pool the same? Can you go back in your pool ... I'm just... Fosse/ Pool, there we go! Uh, this is not ... the gradations make it hard to draw the individual days but (both talking) Dobyns/ Okay! Fosse/ ...July 1 they're... they're already up at this point ... on their discharge. Dobyns/ All right. I was trying to figure out, uh ... okay, so they held it as long as they could but... Fosse/ And if you go back here and look at this (both talking) Dobyns/ All right, I see it. Okay. Fosse/ ...notch, it's a big version of this notch, and this was done because (both talking) Dobyns/ So they ... I see that from June 17th, and taking a look at this, Jim, I'm trying to think what their management. From June 17 to June 24, they anticipated, I guess, or just guessed lucky, that they saw the flow on the Iowa River basin, from Marshalltown on up. Fosse/ Uh huh! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1 I Dobyns/ And they, um ... then started letting water out of the pool, way below flood, from June 17 to June 25, in anticipation of the river flow coming down. So they could maintain the pool, um ... as low as they could in anticipation of the big flood. Fosse/ Yes, and then this notch that you see here was to let the peak on the Cedar pass. Because it was reaching the tops of the levees down by Columbus Junction and... Dobyns/ Yeah (both talking) because I guess the ... and I know it's easy to go and, you know, the Corps is asleep. It's easy to blame the Corps. Throgmorton/ Well that's because there's a dam upstream and it's the only river in Iowa that has a dam upstream. Dobyns/ Yeah, but, uh, honestly (mumbled) I have the same intuitive feelings as well, but I'm taking a look at this and someone's awake! At least at the end of June! Throgmorton/ Oh for sure, yeah (both talking) Dobyns/ There's someone in there raising and lowering the, uh, the (mumbled) Mims/ Well, and the fact that they're looking at a much bigger geographical area than just Iowa City. Dobyns/ Yeah. Mims/ I mean, they're looking at a lot more than just us in terms of making their decisions. So... Dobyns/ Yeah. Yeah, they're looking past Marshalltown, so ... okay. Mims/ And down to the Mississippi too. Throgmorton/ Given the fact that, I believe it's a fact, that there's a wide - spread belief among many people in Iowa City's public ... that, uh, the Corps intentionally left the pool high in order to please boaters. I think on that ground ... on those grounds alone, it would be wise to invite them to speak — them being the Corps — to speak publicly to us and the public about how the Corps manages the Res. And then a related aspect, uh, of my question really had to do with last year's flood. Uh, maybe I don't remember correctly, but my recollection is that we were in the middle ... it turns out we were in the middle of the 18- month drought that you referred to, but we got one day of like seven inches of rain, and then, you know, that seems ... it just seems implausible that we would end up experiencing a flood in the middle of a drought. So how in the world did that happen? Surely the Corps folks could come in, tell us, tell the public how they manage the Res under both conditions. Fosse/ Uh huh. I can extend that invitation if you all... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 12 Throgmorton/ Well, it's up to everybody else, but uh, you know... Payne/ I think it's a good idea because it's probably lack of understanding, rather than poor management, and just understanding their processes and procedures would probably be beneficial for a lot of people. Mims/ Yeah, I would agree if they're willing to do it. Botchway/ Same here. Throgmorton/ A ... a related... that's great! Thank you! A related aspect of that is, if the Corps... if the local Corps officials... also believe that their operational plan needs to be updated, which I ... I think they also believe. Then, uh, they would have an opportunity to ... re... indicate to us how the operational plan led them, forced them to make certain kinds of decisions, which in retrospect may not have been such great decisions. I don't know! I mean, I'm not a ... a dam manager. (laughter) (mumbled) Hayek/ Dam Professor! (laughter) Fosse/ I think I heard four. Should I... Hayek/ I ... I think ... I think that's okay. I mean, you ... you know, if for nothing else than to... than to clear the air... Mims/ Right! Hayek/ ...um, but I do want to be mindful of our re ... uh, relationship with the Corps, which... Fosse/ Uh huh. Hayek/ ... as far as I can tell is a good one and... and, you know, we communicate with them about the impact on our tributaries and flooding to neighborhoods that are well, you know, that are ... blocks if not miles away from the Iowa River, uh, where they ramp it down to give us protection during flash floods and stuff like that, and so we ... we need to maintain a relationship with them. I don't want to impact that. Payne/ To me it's more like education and to dispel urban myths. Hayek/ Right. (laughter) And I think there's ... to Susan's point, I mean, the ... there are a lot of interlocking pieces here, uh, and they have to be worried about, you know, flooding in places like Columbus Junction and ... and elsewhere, uh, and in any event, Jim, I would suspect that change, were it to come, would... could only come through a federal medium. I mean, this is ... they ... they report to Congress. Dobyns/ (mumbled) ...excite me! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 13 Hayek/ Yeah! (laughter) So ... okay, let's (several talking) keep moving here. Hey, Kingsley, are you still with us? Botchway/ Still with ya! Listening. Hayek/ Okay, great! Discuss Aesthetic Components of Gateway Proiect: Fosse/ Well let's move on to the ... the Gateway project now. And this is our, uh, I believe our sixth work session on the Gateway project, and what our objectives are tonight is to review the activities that have happened since our April work session, uh, discuss some design issues, and discuss parameters for the aesthetics and the landscaping treatments. And ... and a couple of points along the way that we would like to get direction from you tonight, if it's possible, and that is, uh, seeking some direction on the alignment, uh, and the sidewalk in that north area on the east side. If you recall, we reviewed 71 design parameters last time. We made decisions on 70 of `em. This is one that we ... that we did not, and what we've done is worked on the alignment to create more room up there, to, uh, to ... well, I'll let them show you. To ... to make more space for that. And then also to look at our trail options along the retaining wall, and how that fits into our future and, uh, where we want to go with that direction. So at that point, or at this point, I'll turn it over to HNTB. You've met them all before, so I'll save the introduction times and I'll turn it over to Mark! Pearson/ Good evening (both talking) Dobyns/ Welcome back! (several talking) Pearson/ Thank you! It's good to be back! Dickens/ We missed you! (laughter) Pearson/ I appreciate that. I don't have any cool hydrographs tonight. I do have some cool before and afters maybe! That we can talk about here in a minute. And as Rick mentioned, we did want to talk with you about some design updates that we've made, uh, and he mentioned, this is really going to be first focused on the area kind of north of Mayflower in the vicinity of the Cliff Apartments, looking at some alignment issues ... that we were looking at to possibly accommodate sidewalks along the eastside of Dubuque Street, and pull impacts and those sidewalks out of residential properties and keep it within existing right -of -way. Uh, and then later we're going to talk a little bit about the retaining wall along Dubuque Street towards the southern end by Park Road, and some trail options there that we would like some guidance on this evening, and then in addition we're going to talk just at a conceptual level about some of the aesthetics and ... and ... and start thinking about what the look of the project is going to be, just give you an update on what we're thinking in that regard. And we'll try and do that all in the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 14 next 35 to 40 minutes so you can get to the rest of your agenda this evening and not lengthen the actual Council meeting. Uh, I just mentioned, we're going to look at the vicinity of ..of, from Mayflower to Taft Speedway first. Uh, some of the goals that we were considering in the realignment (noises on mic) I already mentioned the ... the, take a look at the sidewalks along the eastern side of Dubuque Street to see if we can get it within existing right -of -way. Uh, there's some improved intersection geometry that we can point out so that you get things lining up perpendicular and you improve sight lines for drivers, uh, minimize residential impacts, um ... looking at... at design curves to help. We talked about that transition from 35 miles an hour to 25 miles an hour. We can talk about where that point is and how the curves can help, uh, give drivers kind of that visual cue to be slowing down, as well, uh, and work through some of those things. So, first we're going to go from Foster and travel down towards Mayflower, just to orient ourselves. So at the top of the ... the graphic here would actually be looking kind of east, southeasterly. So, this is at Dubuque and Foster. This is the alignment that we had showed you previously. Uh, there's a little driveway you can see ... that little dotted line ... dash line where the NEPA boundaries, and that little driveway stub is 1818 N. Dubuque Street. So you can see where the sidewalk was in... in the vicinity of that property. The white lines are the parcel lines. So this was ... before we looked at realignment, this would be how we pull the roadway away from the property. You can see that the sidewalks... it's a little tough to pick up, but that gray of the sidewalk is actually on top of the, uh, current northbound lanes, away from the property. (unable to hear person speaking in background) I will! It gets kind of dangerous with me pointing this (laughter) around! I know. (laughter) So, the realigned sidewalk falls along here. It's even better if you kind of pick up that green parkway, between the sidewalk and the street. Whereas before it was coming down like this and ... and clipping the property. So we pulled it away from ... from that property a good 10 to 30 feet. The other net benefit of that is we're able to eliminate retaining wall through that stretch, which we know was a concern, and uh, provide a gentler slope. There would be some... some regarding through that stretch, but we've gotten rid of the retaining walls, and would be able to accommodate sidewalks within existing City right -of -way. Moving, uh, to the south, not much change here, um, at Dubuque and Taft Speedway, other than as I mentioned, uh, we were able to line the intersection up a little bit better, make it more perpendicular to improve sight lines through there, as well as keeping, uh, the spacing in there so vehicles that were wanting to turn onto northbound Dubuque Street would have an oasis here, and likewise if you were northbound Dubuque wanting to turn onto Taft Speedway, you'd ... you'd still have that oasis there. Even though we pulled it away from the, um ... from the east, from where we were before. Um, there may be some additional impacts into the park space, but nothing too great, and as you can see, it's all within area that we had cleared previously because we would be doing drainage work in that area, related to the project, anyway. Payne/ And that's the Cambus turnaround too, right? Pearson/ Um ... no! We'll get to that in just a second (both talking) Payne/ Okay! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 15 Pearson/ So, and there... there's current, there's where you can see, especially in the bottom left of the graphic where it's pulling away from ... from the properties... along east side of Dubuque Street. Here's where the Cambus turnaround is. So this is before, um, you can kind of see the existing Ridge Road intersection is basically right here and there's the driveway to the, um, to the boathouse and Terrell Mill Park. Um, one of the things we wanted to accomplish in this area was also help out the residents at this ... at this property, uh, get their driveway realigned. We also wanted to give a little bit of extra spacing here, so Ridge would line up better with Dubuque Street, and again, allow the drivers to get turned and orient themselves so that they have better sight lines, uh, with oncoming traffic on Dubuque Street, and again, provide that oasis here for the Cambuses to turn around, as well for other, uh, drivers to be able to, uh, make turns into and out of the park. Hayek/ Mark, I know this is not before us this evening, but I keep looking at the green and I'm wondering is there a point during this process where we discuss vegetation and plantings and... Pearson/ Yes! In fact... hopefully in about 10 minutes we'll start to talk about that! Hayek/ Ah! I was (mumbled) (several talking) Throgmorton/ Mark, is this the current recommendation? Pearson/ This is where we were at the last time we talked (both talking) Throgmorton/ ...yeah. Pearson/ This is what it would look like with the realignment. So, uh, a couple things. It basically keeps the intersection on its existing location. It helps us keep the driveway in its general vicinity. That helps us, uh, protect as many trees as we can through here. Uh, there ... I don't think it shows up on here, but there is that sculpture that's ... right over in this area. Um, hopefully we can keep it in its existing location. We might have to move it a little bit but I know the ... the staff want to keep it in the park, but it would make it much easier to try and keep it in its existing location with this realignment than it would be, uh, with what I showed you a moment ago. Uh, also ... we are able to do this without encroaching into the Cliff Apartments' property, which we had not done previously. We're trying to minimize impacts where we've had them before, without incurring new impacts elsewhere, cause that just creates problems. Um, but ... so we were able to get that realigned. We're able to keep the grades here from encroaching on ... on adjacent properties. We got, uh, the driveway aligned, excuse me, and then talking with the property owners, uh, are able to maybe also give them just a little bit of frontage that they don't have currently. Their ... their house is almost right on top of Ridge Road, uh, even an five feet, they're very appreciative if they can pull Ridge just a little bit further away. It also keeps, uh, head... headlights coming out of the park from sweeping across their, uh, their living room in the evening, whereas where we had it before, you can see it's This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 16 almost straight... straight at their house, and then sweeping across. So they were very appreciative, uh, with ... with this realignment option, uh, that benefit to them, and then like ... as I mentioned, the uh, park entrance is pretty much where it is currently. Here's what we were showing previously at Mayflower. Um ... there is a little bit of a skew here. And, some storage for ... for the buses, pizza deliveries, whomever... visitors, urn ... what we did with the realignment... was extend ... it so it's more parallel with Mayflower. We also created, uh, kind of a demarcated area for ... for uh, taxis or delivery vehicles here, with a little bump -out that gives the drivers on northbound Dubuque a visual cue that there's something going on. We got the crosswalks lined up so that they're perpendicular with the traveled way. Here and here. Uh, and extended it a little bit more so that the buses have approximately three bus, uh ... storage room for three buses in this ... in this stretch. Uh, going back to 1818 N. Dubuque Street, I'd mentioned as one of the things that we had done was pull away the, uh, impacts of the sidewalks and the retaining walls away from the property. We'd also been talking with ... with the land owner, uh, about some different driveway options, um, and have been talking through those with ... with him, and you can see there's several options, one of which goes straight up to where his upper pad is and where you can see the vehicle there, where he parks vehicles. One that ties in where the existing pad is today, a couple different options there. So we've been working with the property owners through that stretch of Dubuque Street, talking to them currently about driveways and how that realignment would function. And he seemed ... I hadn't seen him here yet this evening, but, uh, staff had reported that he was pretty pleased with a) getting the sidewalks off the property, potentially, as well as giving him some ... some options here for ... for driveway connections, so ... just wanted to point that out. So ... in summation real quick, there's a variety of things that realigning that stretch of Dubuque Street accomplish. Uh, mostly oriented towards minimizing the impacts for the residents along there, getting things lined up better at Mayflower for buses and delivery vehicles, as well as providing, uh, I think a better pedestrian crossing through that stretch, uh, just getting it lined up so it's more, again, perpendicular with the traveled way so that, you know, the pedestrians are more aware of the vehicles. The vehicles can see them, especially with that bump -out. Uh, we're pulling, um, things away from the residents. Getting those intersections lined up. Uh, I mentioned the sweeping curves help with that transition. I can go back and show you the vicinity we were talking about, but I think we're all familiar with that stretch, kind of in the vicinity of Taft Speedway where we make that transition to 25 miles an hour. The ... that sweeping curve though does give folks a chance to slow down and kind of that visual cue to ... to, hey, you're entering into a transition area and you need to be aware of... of you're coming into the city, away from a rural environment. So... Throgmorton/ Mark, on ... on the speed limit point. Pearson/ Uh huh. Throgmorton/ Urn ... when I think about it as a driver, myself as a driver, I think ... I don't really respond well to a shift in the speed that is signaled midway between intersections, or between, you know, between a red light and some other red light. Uh, rather I need some other visual cues. I need something that really indicates to me that ... I gotta change my This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 17 speed. Otherwise I'll ignore the sign. Especially if the roadway permits me to keep driving at 35 or 38 miles an hour. Because of its design. So, why not put it at Taft Speedway, immediately after you leave Taft Speedway going south, why not have a 25 mile an hour sign right there? Pearson/ We can certainly con ... yeah, that...if that's how Council wants it to be signed. I'll let Rick address it more, if he wants, but... Hayek/ I'm not sure I share that, um ... but ... but (both talking) Throgmorton/ (mumbled) Hayek/ Yeah, I mean, I ... open for discussion. I'm not saying I want to squelch the discussion. I'm just not sure I share your perspective on it (several talking) Throgmorton/ That's fair enough (both talking) Payne/ On the visual cue, on ... I mean, I agree that visual cues are good, and curves in roads are maybe good things, narrowing of lanes (both talking) Pearson/ Just that, yeah, we've narrowed lanes, just... introducing that sweeping curve does make you slow down to enter the curve and then there's, you know, it's got a reverse curve in it. Um, the previous version also had compound curves, which we don't need to get into, but it's a curve, a curve, a curve. This is more sweeping and gradual. Urn ... but it is ... a longer more sweeping curve. So that does have the benefit (both talking) Dobyns/ Are we going to get into this now or later? Hayek/ I don't know, I mean, I don't know if we have time for something of that level. We've got a lot of ground to cover (both talking) Dobyns/ Yeah! Pearson/ My main concern this evening is letting you know about that realignment and having any questions regarding that, and ... and getting your guidance that you're either okay with what we're suggesting through here or you would want to see something back to where we had discussed previously. Throgmorton/ (mumbled) ... great. (several talking) Hayek/ Two thumbs up for what you've presented so far! (several talking) Pearson/ Okay, great! Dickens/ Accomplishes pretty much everything we've talked about. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 18 Pearson/ Good! Um ... real quick, the east sidewalk is that red line that we had talked about previously. Uh, it ends at roughly the northern of the two driveways for Cliff Apartments. I just wanted to call that out. Um, if you're okay with si ... sidewalk on the east side, given what I had presented a moment ago, we can move on. Otherwise I did want to point out that, um, if you didn't have it in there currently, urn ... it would cost additional money to add it back in at some later date if you wanted to do that, and we estimated approximately $150,000 if you wanted to go back in the future, uh, at some later point and construct that stretch of sidewalk in the future. Throgmorton/ Would this be a six -foot wide sidewalk? Pearson/ Yes. It would be a continuation of what we had talked about from Cliff to the south. Payne/ And it would be within the existing right -of -way. Pearson/ Existing right -of -way. Payne/ No purchase of anything new? Pearson/ Not related to sidewalk, no. And everything else is ... and again, it's pulled further away from existing... existing properties. Payne/ Property. Throgmorton/ Well, I didn't like the idea before. I ... I like it better given the relocation. Payne/ Yep! Throgmorton/ But it still puzzles me why we would want and need 16 -feet width of...of bike and pedestrian trail, total, on ... on the two sides of Dubuque. Pearson/ Can I use that as a segue? Throgmorton/ Sure! Pearson/ So one of the other things we wanted your guidance on this evening, and we can come back and look at sidewalks again in a second if you want to go back to that previous slide, but regarding that, one of the other things we wanted some guidance on was the alignment of the ... of the 10 -foot trail on ... on the west side of Dubuque Street, and we had been proposing for it to run in the purple parallel ... to the new travel lanes. But in blue you can see where around Taft it pulls away and starts to follow more of the meander that's out there currently. So maybe if I could get your guidance on how you would like that to be with the trail, we can come back and answer some more questions about the sidewalk. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 19 Dobyns/ Mark, what are the purposes of having the blue, uh, footprint? I mean, doesn't really meander. Pearson/ It doesn't meander a lot, but (both talking) Dobyns/ But it's down off the road. Is it aesthetics? Pearson/ There's some distance away from the road. We were asked to look at it. Dobyns/ So it's aesthetics. Is that ... you're not so close to the hurley burley of the road. Pearson/ Yeah, you're... you're more than 8 or 10 feet away from the ... from the southbound lanes of Dubuque Street. Uh, I will point out that ... because it is going back into the park and it starts to get outside of what we had looked at previously, um, it would not be protected to the same level that it would be if we kept it running parallel with ... with the southbound lanes. So for instance, if...if, as Rick mentioned, the, uh, elevated roadway, had it been built today, would still be open. Portions of the trail would have to be closed because it falls down below the 100- plus -1. Dobyns/ But the segue is if we elect to have a sidewalk continuously on the east side, during a flood event, that will always be open, allowing egress up to the Peninsula, up to the bike trail and we can let the west side flood. Pearson/ Correct. Dobyns/ If we feel the aesthetics of having it off the road are worth that. Pearson/ Uh huh. Correct. So that said, would you like to go back and ... look at... Throgmorton/ Well I'd say also ... I think from a, um, a recreational bicyclist's point of view, a meandering trail is way more interesting than one that's pretty straight and pretty level. You like to kind of... Pearson/ Uh huh. Throgmorton/ ...around a little bit, you know. So for me that's... that's an argument, part of an argument, for doing meandering part. Pearson/ But to get back... so, I mean, if you did have east... sidewalk along the east, or along the northbound lanes all the way on up to Foster, that would give you some redundancy and some protection that ... you'd be able to keep it. Dobyns/ And... and I guess looking at it broadly, before I was opposed to having the sidewalk on the east side. Now that we've allowed a lot more room, so it's not on the bluff. Plus in the interim, you know, I ... being more aware that the Peninsula is a burgeoning area. You know eventually ... uh, it's called B'Jaysville Lane now, but eventually it will become This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 20 Foster, and um ... you know, that's graded, ready to go. Uh, Foster, um, is going to continue to Prairie du Chien, allowing egress of the Peninsula to the new HyVee on Dubuque, um, on Dodge — sorry! And ... um, I think that's going to become a major road. So now I'm starting to think that we need a sidewalk continuously on the east side, all the way up to the ... the road that will in the future become Foster. Um... Mims/ My only concern ... and it's a big one, we haven't gotten there yet, is as we go further south, near Park Road, because that is very narrow, and so I guess I'm not comfortable giving my definitive opinion on this until we see that part of it too, because (both talking) Payne/ But we already decided there's going to be a sidewalk down there. Dobyns/ But it's narrower, is that what you're saying, it's (both talking) narrowing? Pearson/ Just so you know, we haven't changed anything regarding the widths from what you gave guidance on last time we were here. Mims/ So we're doing 6- foot ... okay. Dobyns/ All the way (both talking) Hayek/ This ... this question concerns sidewalks from basically the Cliff up to ... up to (both talking) Foster (several talking) Mims/ ... still got the gap between Cliff and Mayflower, no sidewalk between (noises on mic, unable to hear speaker) No, okay, so (several talking) all the way... Dobyns/ ...Church to the Fos ... to Foster, 6 -foot all the way. Payne/ We're deciding on that last section though. Dobyns/ ... deciding on the last section. Pearson/ Otherwise we would stop it at Cliff. Payne/ Yep! Dobyns/ Cause I would ... yeah. I would go, I mean, if we're ... if we would have it 6 -foot continuously from Church all the way to Foster ... I would like the meandering, um, trail, off the road for aesthetics, uh, knowing that it would flood periodically, knowing that we actually had, um, a safety valve sidewalk on the east side cont ... that's continuous. Throgmorton/ I agree with the `if (both talking) Dobyns/ Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 21 Throgmorton/ ...put it. For me ... with regard to the east side, going from, uh, Cliff Apartments up to Foster, the key thing is to not intrude, uh, inappropriately, excessively, unacceptably on ... key features of properties along the way. For me that's crucial. Uh, if... if we avoid that, I ... I can live with the 6 -foot thing and I know there are a lot of people who would prefer to see that. Payne/ It's a ... I mean, he's ... it's within the existing right -of -way. Dickens/ Yeah, so it won't affect that. Pearson/ And the other thing, I mean, we were able to pull the roadway away from those properties and eliminate things like retaining walls, as well. Dickens/ Better! Dobyns/ Yeah, because going north on the west side, they eventually have to cross at Foster to the east side anyway, if you recall, if they're going to continue northward on the county trail. So they've got a... Mims/ So unless they're headed out to the Peninsula, why are they even going to bother to go up the west side? Dobyns/ Um ... aesthetics? Payne/ Cause there's a flood! (laughs) Mims/ I mean, my point exactly! If... Dobyns/ ...why they're going to bother to go up the west side? Mims/ Right! I mean, my ... my point is (both talking) Dobyns/ So why have it at all? Mims/ No. I'm just concerned that we're ... we're making the east side so attractive... that you're drawing a lot more traffic on the east side (both talking) Dobyns/ Yep. Mims/ ...because if you make ... if you make that go all the way through. My point is, unless... and I don't see this as meandering enough to necessarily attract somebody to the west side versus the east side. So why would somebody from Park Road to Foster bother to bike on the left hand ... on the west side, unless they're headed out onto the Peninsula. Payne/ The only thing that I could think of is because it's prettier. I mean, they have a prettier view, and they don't have to deal with people in front of the Mayflower. They don't This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 22 have to (both talking) I mean, there are some things to deter them from (both talking) that being their normal route, I would think. Mims / Right. Payne/ I think there are some things (both talking) Mims / And Rick has some ideas for me, too, so... Fosse/ I just wanted to comment that on the ... on the trail, the trail on the west side is part of the Iowa River Corridor Trail that's continuous... Mims/ Right! Fosse/ ...from North Liberty down to the Terry Trueblood Rec Center. So it's ... it's part of our transportation system for bikes and ... and recreation. Mims/ Yeah, but... Dickens/ And most of the University buildings and everything are on the west side, and a lot of people don't cross the street, so they're going to stay on the west side all the way out to where they're going, until they have to change over, so I don't think we're ... (several talking) Payne/ And it's going to be skinnier, it's going to be harder to ... I mean, 6 -foot (both talking) Mims / Right, if you've got a lot of pedestrian traffic it's going to be harder to ride a bike or whatever. Dobyns/ And ... and we're about to talk about some interesting innovations that would keep you, compelling reasons to keep a, uh, biker on the west side. Urn ... cause I wouldn't want to cross and then have to sit there and, uh, engineer my way past pedestrians on Mayflower. I'd stay on the west side. Mims/ Sure. Dobyns/ Um, and so I think that's reasonable... that we're about to get to, compelling reasons to stay on the west side, but I had the same issues last time, Susan. (several talking) ... kinda switched (several talking) Dickens/ The one time I did ride my bike, many years ago (laughter) Payne / When you were eight? (laughs) Dickens/ It's been a long time, but no ... I think ... most people do stay to the west side when they're coming from downtown. If you look at the number. There isn't the sidewalks This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 23 now and adding them south of Church I don't think is going to change that ... that pattern that much. Hayek/ I'm supportive of connectivity to Foster. Especially under these new... considerations (several talking) Payne/ ...wasn't before but I am now. Mims/ Yeah, with pulling it away from ... 1818, that helps (both talking) Dickens/ ...within the right -of -way. Throgmorton/ I'm just very hopeful we don't receive, uh, basically angry emails from any... somebody who might be affected by this particular decision, saying, uh, I was never consulted. I didn't know that this was actually going to happen. It's ... it's going to be intrusive on my property, you know. I'm very hopeful we don't get any emails like that. Payne/ I think the emails that we have didn't know that there was going to be a new alignment also. I mean, they were ... they were, knowing the old alignment, not the new alignment. So... Dickens/ (mumbled) Throgmorton/ Yeah, I'm just ... posing a hypothetical... Payne/ Right! Right. Throgmorton/ I'm not saying anybody is upset (laughs) I'm not suggesting that at all (several talking) Dickens/ ...think they would be happier! Throgmorton/ ...people were happier, right! Markus/ Do you have anybody in mind? (laughter) Dobyns/ Mark, will you lay awake at night? Okay! Mims/ Well it sounds like there has been (several talking) Hayek/ Just keep moving here, guys. We got a lot to talk about! (several talking) Pearson/ Okay. So ... so first of all, are we okay with sidewalks on the east with the realignment? What about the west trail? Purpled or blue? Payne/ Cyan. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 24 Pearson/ Fine! Cyan or purple? (laughs) (several talking and laughing) Or violet? (laughs) Am I hearing (several talking) Keep ... keep it kinda following its ... its current footprint? Dickens/ The (both talking) Hayek/ I'm not convinced you get much of a meandering effect and (both talking) Pearson/ It ... it, what it does is it (both talking) Hayek/ Personally I'd rather have a little more flood protection but... Pearson/ ...it's rebuilding what's there today. Hayek/ It's not a meandering hill for me to die on so ... (laughter) Payne/ Yeah, I... Dobyns/ Away from the road, that's really the only... Hayek/ I get it! I get it. So that's fine. That's fine. Mims/ The blue. Pearson/ Blue... cyan! Perfect! Mims / Whatever! Payne/ (laughs) Pearson/ Thank you! (several talking) Uh, quick thing, last time we were here you had asked about some of the, uh, potential impacts south of Park Road on Dubuque Street, and so I just wanted to call up this slide. I ... I apologize, I don't remember if the house on the left of the graphic is 804 N. Dubuque or if it's 816 N. Dubuque, but it is a cross - section of what you would see in that... in that stretch. Um, regarding the retaining wall, the retaining wall through that length is anywhere from 2- to 5- feet ... in height. Uh, that allows us to keep the sidewalk basically in its existing footprint... through that ... through that block -long stretch. Throgmorton/ How wide is the current sidewalk? Hayek/ There isn't one! Pearson/ There is ... in front of one of the fraternities (several talking) Throgmorton/ There is and then there isn't. Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 25 Dickens/ It's a short section. (several talking) To nowhere! (several talking) Hayek/ But down from Brown there's not. Throgmorton/ Right. Pearson/ Right, but there is ... in front of...816? One of the houses has a sidewalk in front of it that's roughly 4 -feet. Throgmorton/ If...if we had a narrower sidewalk, from ... I don't know, from approximately there up to, uh, Church Street... Pearson/ Uh huh. Throgmorton/ I don't know, 5 -feet instead of 6, would that make, uh, any valuable significant difference in terms of...the need ... the need for grading or, uh, the height of the retention wall or anything like that? Pearson/ It might change the re ... height of the retaining wall a little bit, only because you're going further into the ... to the slope, but I can't tell you exactly what that height would be. Um, the reason you need the retaining wall is to actually make the sidewalk fit. I think as you go north towards ... or I mean I'm sorry, as you go south, up the hill towards Church, that wall ... would decrease in size. Hayek/ Now let's be clear, we're talking about going to Brown Street and then in the same breath going to Church Street, on the (both talking) Pearson/ Well I meant as you're going uphill, towards Church Street. Hayek/ Okay. Pearson/ In that stretch, you know, the grade comes down. The retaining wall would... start at basically zero and get wider, and then as you get towards Park, come back down. But, again, this is ... this is nothing new. Uh, this is what we've been suggesting from the very beginning with the NEPA process, so ... I just included the graphic cause I know there had been a couple questions at the last meeting. If there aren't any more questions regarding that at the moment, I'd like to transition into the discussion of kind of the aesthetics, the look and feel. Uh, we met about a month ago with our technical advisory committee, uh, that included representatives from the University, from the City staff, as well as Project Green, uh, and made a very similar presentation to them. Did get some of their feedback, um, during the course of that discussion. Uh, Matt Spencer and Chris Hansel, Chris will be talking about the aesthetics. Matt will be talking a little bit about some of the trail options, uh, with the retaining wall, and we need to get your guidance on that, if possible, this evening, as well. What you'd like to see through that stretch, but at this point, if This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 26 there's no more discussion to be had for north of the retaining wall, I'd like to turn things over to Chris so we can go through the aesthetics a little bit. Okay! Hayek/ Okay. Pearson/ Thanks! Hansel/ Hello, everyone! I'm ... I'm Chris Hansel. I haven't had a chance to present in front of you all before. Um, I'm a landscape architect with HNTB, and so we will talk about some landscaping, but I'll also bring up Matt too. Uh, Matt's one of our civil engineers and will have some interest in what we're doing with our trail concepts, um, just north of Park Road, the bridge, and... and further south, as well. I did want to point out, uh, first just sort of a summary recap. Uh, it's been a few years actually since we started this process of talking about, uh, you know, what is the overall look and feel of this corridor? What do we want to do? What sort ... sorts of programmatic elements do we want to introduce, besides the ... the road alignment and some of those, uh, necessary physical infrastructure improvements, and so things such as identifying where we can add bump - outs on the bridge for overlooks and viewing areas. Um, what is the overall character that we want to do in terms of what the landscape type is going to be. Um, we heard a lot of, uh, comments related to let's maintain that natural character, um, throughout the corridor, and emphasize some of the natural features that we do have existing in the corridor, and ... and really use this as an opportunity to showcase those, uh, as ... as the actual gateway to the community. But first before we get into a lot of, uh, those, we've got a lot of images to show you. First thing we wanted to talk about are the trail connections. I know you all are ... are familiar with what we were starting to look at investigation -wise, uh, in terms of sidewalks up and down Dubuque, and the relationship at... at Park Road, and so I will have Matt come up, actually, and... and talk through some of these more technical, uh, cross - sections that we've developed for your consideration today. Spencer/ As Chris said, I'm Matt Spencer. If you have any questions during the course of the discussion, please fire away! I'm happy to answer them in any way I can. Up here we're showing three different alternatives for the trails (clears throat) excuse me, I think I caught Rick's cough here. (clears throat) So, we have alternative A here on the left -hand side, and that is what you've seen in the past. So, we have our orangish -color trail going from the north down to the south over the bridge. Everything here is on top of the wall, so nothing's down close to the river. You can see there in the red line in the plan view, that is actually the location of that retaining wall. So where that will, uh, fall in relationship to the river. Option B, we have a similar thing where you have the orange trail going all the way along on the north side, or excuse me, on the west side, and then you also have, um, it's kind of hard to see, but the lighter yellow color, which'll be a trail that would drop down, just south of the culvert, or right around where Kimball is, and that ... that trail then would follow, um, once it would ... once it drops down, it would follow along the ... the bank of the river, go underneath the abutment of the bridge, and then continue south. Option C would ... is kind of a combination between the two almost, where we have the, uh, option A from Kimball Road down to Park, and then once we are This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 27 south of Park, we're gonna then develop the opportunity to drop that trail down below. So both options B and C, the idea there is that we would provide connectivity to the Hancher pedestrian bridge, and uh, although there's no connection there today, there, uh, and... and there's actually not a plan there in the future, it would provide an opportunity to put that in place, uh, should the need... should the desire arise. I know we'd have to cross over a few different property owners, and I know at least one of those property owners is opposed to that connection. On the left -hand side you can see some typicals that we have, uh, drawn up, or cross - sections (mumbled) and you can see we kind of emboldened one of the ... the lines there, that kind of greenish - yellow line there, and that is showing exactly what that typical section would look like for options A and C on the top typical, and option B there on the bottom. So, as you can see, the wall looks ... you ...you have two walls in option B, because we have to have a way to drop that second trail down to the bank, and you can see we're got our heights and our widths there, uh, drawn up. So we are continuing that 8 -foot green space, as well as the 10 -foot trail. The lower trail needs to be a little bit thinner, just to make sure that we're maintaining the proper distance from the riverbank to the face of that wall. So if we continue south, you can see we've jumped down just one cross - section there and once again, we used to have a similar cross - section for both A and C, because those are going to be the same north of Park Road. South of there, excuse me (clears throat) option B, uh, the ... the lower typical section there, uh, you can see the wall needs to be a little bit higher, because we can't slope the ro ... uh, the grade up to that wall. It has to be flat for a ... a person to be able to ride their bike or walk along there, and once again, we're continuing a 6 -foot trail there at the bottom, with a 10 -foot, excuse me, 6 -foot walk at the bottom of that 10 -foot trail, and the 8 -foot, uh, green space at the top. Once again, we're scooting now south of the Park Road bridge, and you can see that, uh, green line, once again, shows the cross - section where we're drawing ... once again option A, uh, and then is ... is kind of what you've seen in the past. Option B, you can see we've kind of separated that, uh, 10 -foot trail is now scooting further away from, excuse me, the ... the lower trail is now scooting further away from the upper trail, and we provide an opportunity there since we do have more horizontal distance to widen out that trail. Option C, you can see it looks like we have a 20 -foot wide trail and really what that is right there is an opportunity where we are starting to widen out that trail before we drop and create that ... that second trail falling down below. Option C would be an at -grade crossing at the Park Road bridge. And then finally here you can see the ... the last cross - section there, you can see option A we've kind of tapered that wall down to virtually nothing, and uh, it'll continue there heading south. Option B we've developed even more space between the ... the trail at the bottom and the trail at the top, and then option C we are, um, kind of in the midst there of dropping that ... that I0 -foot trail down below to provide that connectivity and then that ...that 10 -foot, um, and 8 -foot area would be just the exact same as option A. Mims/ On option C, in the memo it says that ... that it was not part of the preferred alternative and would require ... that we might incur delays in permitting and design. Would that ... for the whole road? For the whole project it would cause delays? Spencer/ And I'm going to turn it ... Mark's a little bit more, uh, versed on the ... the permitting. I'm a simple civil engineer, so ... (laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 28 Pearson/ What ... what it would do, um, actually with both B and C, where we're having things potentially either below the wall, or where we're breaking away things south of Park Road, where we hadn't looked at things before, it's going to get the Corps' attention, possibly, so we would be able to continue to design the project. The problem would be potentially with the ... the length of time it would take to get the permits. They might want... Mims/ Would that affect the ... the actual work on Dubuque Street or just that section right there... Pearson/ We'd be able to continue to design the entire project. What we would probably end up doing is they would want more information, more coordination than what we might have to do otherwise, because we're introducing a new wrinkle there. Payne/ So it could delay that start of the project because it could delay when we receive the permit. Pearson/ Potentially. So... Mims/ Then they're out, as far as I'm concerned. Pearson/ (laughs) Normally for our permits, we would need roughly what we call 30% plans. We're 30% done with design. If we introduce some things, especially along the base of the wall, um, two walls... especially like with option B, that's going to get their attention. They're going to want to have more information. So we may not be able to get a decision from them until we're more like at 60% plans, so that they can see more detail. So what that does is it pushes the timeframe for getting those permits further out, and any time you deal with a federal agency it could be two weeks or it could be months. Dickens/ When you said the homeowner, or property owners along the lower area there south of Park Road weren't real receptive to having the trail go through, so why are we looking at it if we don't think we can go through there? Pearson/ It's ... it's a potential connection and it's part of the trail system. I mean, there is a natural link from Park to the Hancher bridge, so... Dickens/ But if the people don't want it to go through there, they're not going to (laughs) (several talking) Pearson/ There is one property owner that has expressed a ... um... Dickens/ Strong? Pearson/ ...said he didn't like it, so I mean (laughter) He didn't stomp or anything but he ... he just said he did not like it, and I think he's talked with staff about it in the past, so... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 29 Dobyns/ Rick mentioned that there was a designated bikeway from, uh, Terry Trueblood all the way up north. Where would that... is that going along the river? Does that include options B and C or would that go along Dubuque Street? Rick, you just mentioned that. Hayek/ It's on the west side. (several talking) Dobyns/ Well I'm looking on the west side. Fosse/ Yeah, it...it comes up the west side of the river, which is ... is off this drawing here (both talking) and then it crosses the bridge and then takes off north (both talking) Dobyns/ All right, so that's not relevant. Thank you. Fosse/ And you'll have the option of going under the bridge, or crossing at grade, at the west end. And ... and while I'm here, if you'd like, I can just run through staffs recommendation on this. Um, the ... the options, uh, B and C are all predicated on the possibility of that trail continuing along that east bank of the river some day. It's always been talked about, but it's not in anybody's current plan, the City's or the University's. It's a logical place for a ... a trail, and we need to talk about this now. It's not like these ...these things can't be added later, but they're very hard to add later. Um ... but based on the unknowns and... and what staff has evaluated, we would recommend a combination of A and C, just a little bit of C. So we'd ... we'd continue to have the trail at the top, along here, have the at -grade crossing here, and continue up, and then at this location, we would build just a little bit of C, the amount where we have to vary the retaining wall so that in the future we have ... we have that divergence built, and we can go down and tie into that trail, and in the meantime that serves as an observation area. And if that trail never happens, then we have that observation area for good. Mims/ Does that require additional permitting? Fosse/ No, not up that high. Mims/ Okay. Throgmorton/ And the cost would be minimal. Fosse/ Correct. Mims/ That sounds good to me (several talking) Payne/ ...sounds good to me! Dobyns/ ...for future possibilities. Payne/ Like it! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 30 Mims/ Yeah, I like that too. Fosse/ Okay! Very good! Thank you. Throgmorton/ But don't, uh, I guess I want to ask Mark a ... a question. I think these are creative suggestions but to be honest they catch me by surprise. I didn't know that there was any thought being given to doing something with regard to this south of Park Road trail stuff. What I am conscious of is that there have been proposals that came from Jen Wagner and I think it's been ... they've been reinforced by lots of other people, to do a pedestrian promenade of some kind near the bridge, and north of the bridge, and yet I don't see anything in the discussion about that at all, so... (several talking in background) Fosse/ We did talk about that and ... and what our conclusion was, at least at a staff level, is that it... at the north end of this corridor we have Terrell Mill Park. At the south end we have the University campus, and both are great spaces, and to ... to interject additional great space in between the two is very expensive, and since we have `em at both ends, we don't see the need. It's not like the corridor is void of great space. Does that make sense? The ... the logic behind... Throgmorton/ Well, going north from Park there's... attractive space to look at, but where's the great space for people actually to sit, to ... to converse, to ... to, uh ... um, do things with one another other than, uh, skateboards and ... and that (both talking) Payne/ It's a park! I mean, it seems like there's lots of space to enjoy the river in the park! (laughs) Dobyns/ Are you talking about bump -outs? Throgmorton/Well I guess I'm thinking at...at a more urban scale, so pardon me. I'm just imagining more of, uh... Payne/ Yeah, and I, I mean, I ... her ... her drawing that she did was beautiful, but ... I ... I mean, I understand what Rick's saying. It's ... we have space to do that now, and to introduce something like that. They talked about they'd have to put piers down to make that space, cause there just isn't space to do what she was talking about ... in her drawing. You know, at our last meeting that we talked about it, we talked ... they talked about having to put piers and all this stuff. It just seemed... Fosse/ And we will be talking about bump -outs on the bridge in just a minute. So there are places to congregate and ... and socialize there. So... Hayek/ So let's do this before we move on. We're already at 6:15. We're not done with this discussion. I think we need to throw some ballast over the ... side here. Fosse/ Too fast? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 31 Hayek/ Uh, well, or no ... I think we need to decide what we're not going to talk about during our work session, cause ... I see where this is headed. (several talking) I mean, I ... looks like there's at least another 15 minutes of... Throgmorton/ We'll have to come back... Hayek/ We'll have to come back. So ... so why don't we ... I mean, we can keep going a little longer, and then maybe take up the Info Packet and then plan on a post - formal, uh, work session. Fosse/ Okay. He's got about five minutes. Chris has. (several talking) Mims/ See if we can get these guys done (mumbled) Hayek/ Yeah, you ... you guys made the trip here so we want to (several talking) Mims/ Get you guys done! Hansel/ So, it sounds like we ... you support staff's recommendation. I think that's great, um, and we can talk about some of these additional opportunities, as well. Um ... we can go beyond that now. Urn ... so ... what we want to talk about with respect to aesthetics and landscape design intent, we want to tell you, uh, you know, what we've heard so far from our technical advisory committee from City staff, uh, working with folks from Parks and Rec and City Forester and Project Green and others, re ... regarding landscape and overall aesthetics, look and feel, um ... if you hear anything that I'm saying or ... that, uh, requires some additional support from your end, uh, any other comments, please let us know but um ... generally if you think of the corridor, um, actually the project is four separate corridors. The Foster segment looking... essentially we focused on that, uh, north of the Cliff Apartments to Foster. Um, what we term as the Mayflower segment, that area right in front of Mayflower and Terrell Mill Park, and then the river segment, heading south, uh, on ... on that part of the project, and then we have what I would ... would term as the campus or even the ... the City Park segment, um, on Park Road. Those are sort of four different quadrants that we want to talk about, um, in terms of what the overall design look and feel would ... could be, and really what we've heard to date in terms of design intent is, on the Foster segment, this is an opportunity, as Mark mentioned, this is a transition, uh, into the community. So what ... what can we do from a landscape standpoint to, um, provide, uh, tree massings, um, provide that transition of ... of speed and that entrance into the community, um, extending some of the features that you have, such as the wooded hillside, uh, on the east end of Dubuque Street, and where can we preserve some of those exis ... existing trees that are significant in value and that we want to maintain through that corridor, again, to emphasize this overall natural parkway feel that we have, uh, and that we've heard to date as ... an overall design intent idea. Um, as we move a little bit further south, thinking about that room as I would call it, um, at Mayflower. What is the relationship between Mayflower, the Cliff apartments, and Terrell Mill Park, uh, with the boathouse? Uh, you ... you have a sense of arrival when This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 32 you pass through that entry today. We know that there's a pedestrian crossings that occur through there. Um, bus turns, and that sort of thing, and so there's a lot of activity that needs to be recognized in terms of, uh, a visitor traversing through that corridor, and so how do we do that from a landscape standpoint, and where we settle to date is let's use the opportunity of .. of clustering landscape where we can deflect views that may be undesirable, whether it's a surface parking lot, um, back of house, uh, utility areas, that sort of thing, and really emphasize where folks are crossing the intersection. Use those passive way - finding and attention - getting measures. How can we use landscape to help reinforce that, um, how can we, uh, further emphasize that relationship of Mayflower to Ter... Terrell Mill Park. We've talked about the meandering idea. I think landscape can help emphasize that ... that, uh, that journey, I guess, through the park. Um, and then one of the things that we've ... we've heard from City staff is that we really need to think about maintenance up and down the corridor. Um, and so really going forward we'll be looking at plant pallets that focus on low- maintenance, um, you know, things that have a lot of color, texture, that can really create an amenity to the corridor, but aren't going to be a burden to ... to your budgets and ... and the Parks and Recreation folks who need to maintain this on a daily basis. Um, you'll see as we go into the river segment there's some arrows that sort of focus out on where the prominent views, I mean, there's some spectacular views through there, and there will be continuing moving forward of Hancher and ... and other amenities along the corridor, and so we really want to extenuate that visibility along the corridor, um, but on the east side of the corridor we know there... there's also a lot of opportunities to sort of reestablish that hillside, um, really emphasize that with some of the, uh, tree plantings, to restore that back down to ... with the sidewalk and ... and the roadway. We also know that there's actually some pretty nice amenities of exposing potentially the cliff face and really getting a, you know, profiling some of those natural amenities, um, through that corridor that, um, you know, we've talked at some point that there may be opportunities for these pocket park type little areas where maybe you have some additional seating areas that are away from the roadway that allow you opportunities to ... to enjoy the ... the surrounding, uh, views and that sort of thing. And then, uh, heading obviously across the bridge, um, we'll focus on that here in a second, but ... onto Park Road, really what we want to do is get out of the way of what's already there. City Park has a... a pretty well established landscape. Uh, the campus has their own landscape and they will, uh, supplement that with, uh, the ... the upcoming Hancher, um, landscape plan and that sort of thing, and so what we want to do is ... is tread lightly on that and really emphasize what's already there and ... and help to supplement that with ...with our design intent. And here's just a series of images. Uh, you're very familiar with the corridor, so I'll flip through these very quickly, but ... a lot of existing light standards, what do we do going forward? What we've heard is let's stay with something very simple. Let's stay with something that can use ... utilize LED technology, something that, uh, will essentially go away in terms of an overall visual impact to the corridor. Um, and ... and this is just a particular fixture that we've looked at that provides a variety of...of heights for pedestrian poles, for street lighting, and the like, um, has the opportunity to put banners up, for instance, if that's a ... a direction we want to head, but let's keep the lighting understated in the corridor. Um, we've got a lot of photos of existing landscape through the corridor. Obviously the tree masses are very prominent. Uh, there's also a lot of visual, uh, what, you know, some would term visual clutter — This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 33 light poles, utility lines, and that sort of thing that we can clean up through this project. Um, the median is a very prominent opportunity in the corridor. Right now, um, obviously you're familiar with ... with what that looks like and what ... what can we do moving forward. The design intent that we've established moving forward is that this median will serve as a storm water, um, amenity to where it can handle, uh, storm water drainage of the roadway. Um ... there are some areas ... north of the corridor now where there are some more intensive planting, uh, and storm water treatment management areas. Uh, going back to the low- maintenance aspect of this, what we've heard from ... from park staff is it's going to be very difficult to maintain this throughout the corridor. So let's pick and chose if we want to really profile a sustainable storm water management amenity, let's do that, but let's be strategic about it and let's try to make it as low maintenance as possible, um, and so, uh, that is sort of the intent and the opportunities that we'll look for, um, moving forward. We've identified, you know, uh, how can we use additional plantings in pocket areas along the corridor, utilizing the median to again dress up the corridor and ... and give it a ... an enhanced beauty, um, but not be over - intensive and over - maintenance heavy, um, so these ... these are just some images that we've used in the past to kind of describe, um, you know, what do you like, where should we go with, uh, the look and feel of the corridor. Bridge aesthetics, they're, um, is... over -looks there today and moving forward what we'd like to do is ... is identify those opportunities for overlooks. You see in the diagram in the lower right -hand corner, um, out over the span of the bridge there will be piers in the water. That's a significant opportunity for us to ... to provide overlooks on either side of the bridge. Um, similar to what you see in some of these other images, um, and ... and I think those are the opportunities that we really want to focus on. Um, we also had the opportunity at the intersection of Park and Dubuque on the north and south sides, um, we alluded to that option C on the trail, uh, that's an additional overlook. I think those are the things where we think that we have the best opportunity to provide, um, views out into the corridor and really emphasize, um, the ... the views there. Throgmorton/ Could ... could I (mumbled) elaborate on that very briefly. Um ... I think this is interesting and exciting, I'm glad to see it. When I think about going north on foot or on a bicycle, on one of the two trails, I think it would ... we have a real opportunity to create some meaningful places where people will want to stop, either on foot or on their bikes, and enjoy being in the particular place, you know, providing some benches or something, but you know, creating a place rather than just having a bench sitting there on the side of the bike trail. You know, and I think you know exactly what I mean. Hansel/ Right, yes. Yes, uh ... yes, and I think we do have some of those opportunities. There are some areas of the corridor that are more conducive to providing that opportunity than others, but ... yes, and I think we'll continue this dialogue as we move forward with the design. Good comment. Uh, in terms of overall bridge lighting, this is not the bridge that you will be getting (laughter and several talking) uh, but ... but in terms of just trying to describe the overall look and feel, the largest image here is really what we've heard is that let's keep something that's understated, um, that illuminates architectural features of the bridge, um, but is not, uh, it does not show the light source, something that's subtle, that fits within the corridor, that doesn't compete too much with Hancher, um, and just This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 34 a ... as an aside, we will be meeting with the Hancher design team tomorrow to discuss opportunities to coordinate where they're going with their design and how we can maybe borrow some of that vocabulary, uh, for how we treat not only the Park Road bridge, but also any other features of the corridor. Um, just wanted to give you that heads -up, as well. Railings is another opportunity where that could ... maybe there's something we can borrow from Hancher, but then there's also the opportunity of, you know, there is a significant opportunity along this corridor to set a vocabulary for how you handle, uh, railings up and down the corridor, um, consistent with the Iowa River Trail and, you know, this is an opportunity to do something more than a chain link fence, for example, and ... and we'll be looking at those opportunities. Uh, retaining wall. Uh, we know that we've got a significant wall that's going to be going in on the project. Um, there's a wall that's existing north of Foster today on the left side, and then obviously at the cluf...the cliff face, um, or bluff face, um, that is existing, and that's really the direction that we've heard is let's try to mimic that, or match that as much as we can, and uh, very briefly, these are just some options that we've already started to look at, different techniques of how you can build a wall, um, one would be, uh, essentially almost like a stone veneer over a wall system, similar to this being what's called an MSE wall, mechanically stabilized earth, um, and then you would add a veneer over it. So this image here is actually a wall that essentially is almost like a slurry coat that goes over the top of it. If you think of stucco almost (mumbled) terms. And you can come back in and dress that up however you want to make it more naturalistic. There are other, um, more, uh, traditional methods that would be, uh, using panels. You're probably familiar with seeing those on the side of a highway or a ... some other type of project where you can use a ... a custom, or standard, panel that provides different patterns that mimic natural stone. Um, you do have the opportunity to see joints wherever those panels fit together, but we can diminish that by using different panel sizes and ... and things like that. Um, it's a little bit more of an economical way of looking at it, um, there's also the opportunity if you wanted to feature, uh, some art work or some other types of features along that wall, um, that can certainly be a consideration, as well. We'll be ... we'll be going through the design on this as we progress in moving forward, but now that we've gotten some direction on the alignment, um, we can certainly ... go straight forward on that end. And then finally, um, pedestrian amenities, uh, we show some images here. What we've heard from Parks and Rec is that the standard that's quickly becoming the standard, uh, throughout the city is something that we're going to strive to go forward with. There are lots of other opportunities and we'll be working hand -in -hand with them to make sure that we find something that balances the aesthetics of the corridor, um, with the maintenance and durability that you all strive to ... to achieve. And then the last thing I have is signage. Um, there's a lot of signage in the corridor. Some of it is ... is great in terms of directional signage, and that sort of thing, but ... um, you know, where can we find some consistencies there to create a consis ... consistent experience for folks moving up and down the corridor. There are examples of new park standard for signage, and that's something that we can certainly look at as a ... as an inspiration to ... to help beautify the overall signage, um, throughout the corridor. And we'll be working with the campus, obviously, and ... and their signage, as well, to make sure that this is all unified. So... I know I went a little over. I apologize. Um, but this is where we're at and if you have any additional comments... just let us know. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 35 Throgmorton/ With regard to the retaining wall and any rip -rap associated with it, uh, I've heard various people, uh, express concern about the views that one would have from the west side of the river, looking toward, uh, toward the Dubuque Street and the retaining walls, etc. Uh, so ... I can't fully judge from what you've presented how ... the roadway would look from the west, given the direction that you're moving. So I ... I just want to convey, I think, uh, my concern that it ... we be very careful and landscape that in a way that is appealing, not just to somebody driving a car, but to somebody who's on the other side of the river in City Park, etc., viewing, uh, the property to the east. Hansel/ That's an ongoing dialogue and we'll ... we'll continue that, obviously, moving forward. Um, one of the things you all have seen some of the renderings we've done in the past to kind of visualize what the project's going to be, I would envision that we would do something similar to begin to illustrate what the ... the condition is based off of some of these cross - sections that you've seen today and ... and what are the opportunities to soften that wall, if, you know, if they're possible throughout the corridor. I think that's going to be an ongoing dialogue that we'll have but ... but yeah, you're not the first person that we've heard that from (both talking) Hayek/ Yeah, and I would concur with that, and you ... you do address that to some extent in the report we received but um, that ... that will be significant, and that's one reason why we opted for the elevation that we chose because of that visual impact from the west and from the ... from the City Park side. So ... that will be important. Okay! Uh... Hansel/ Appreciate it! (several talking) Hayek/ Are you... Rick and Mark and everybody, are you... Fosse/ Yes, we got the decisions that we needed tonight... Hayek/ Okay! Fosse/ ...and we're going to move forward and continue on design and ... and uh, we've laid out a lot of ideas for you all to be thinking about as we move forward, and ... and we'll be back with other decisions. Hayek/ When do you anticipate coming back to us? Fosse/ Um ... we haven't talked about the next date yet. I would guess fall... probably would be the soonest at that. Right now we really want to focus on roadway design. We've tied down the geometric features now with ... with what we talked about today so that we can get going in earnest on that, and that's... that's a critical path item in the design right now. Hayek/ Okay. Okay! Fosse/ Around October (both talking) Thanks! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 36 Mims/ Okay! Hayek/ All right. Thank you for coming! Fosse/ Thank you! Hayek/ Uh, all right, we've got 10 minutes and we have to break up by 20 of to allow staff to reconfigure the room. Um, you know, maybe we should just take up the Info Packets. I don't know that we can get into the, uh ... restoration project, Rick. Take that up after? Markus/ Do that during the regular (several talking) Information Packets: Hayek/ Or during the ... yeah, that's fine too. Okay, well, then let's talk about the joint meeting... well, let's see where we get on the Info Packets. We've got four of them! First one is June 19tH Mims/ Nothing for me. Payne/ Me either! Throgmorton/ I had a question, but I don't really want to ask it right now. If you don't mind. Hayek/ We won't push you! (laughter) June ... June 26th (laughing) Botchway/ I have a question. Where are we at with the, uh, Tate Arms, uh, Building? Has anything changed since the (several talking) Hayek/ IP4. Botchway/ Yeah. Hayek/ John Yapp is coming to the podium, Kingsley. Yapp/ Uh, John Yapp, Development Services. I do not know the specific status, but I do know the property owner, uh, has expressed interest in the, uh, historic landmark designation, uh, for that property. Botchway/ Okay. Hayek/ Thanks, John. Any other things on, uh, the June 26th packet? Mims/ I just want to thank the, uh, City Manager for IP5 and IP6. Um, the `Affordable Housing That's Very Costly' was very ... a very informative article, um, and then the limitations of This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 37 the inclusionary zoning. I think those are topics that we keep coming back and circling around about, and I think to hear how other, uh, locations are dealing with some of these issues that we face, uh, is very helpful. Hayek/ July 3rd packet. Throgmorton/ With regard to IP3, the impediments to fair housing choice. Uh, I want to draw attention to the report, which contains lots of important information and conclusions, recommendations. Uh, and ... I'm conscious that the staff did not accept all of the recommendations that came from the pub ... Public Policy Center's report, but it accepted most of them, uh, all but one, I think, but I ... but there's one particular feature of it that I want to draw attention to, uh, surely the findings about the increasing number and spatial concentration of African Americans in our city has meaningful implications for the recent St. Ambrose, uh, traffic stop report, cause we heard then that there have been no significant changes in the population, and therefore that had consequences for how the analysis proceeded. So I ... I would just strongly encourage the staff to make sure that, uh, that the Policy Center's, uh, report is shared with, uh, I've forgotten his name now, but the Professor who ... who prepared the St. Ambrose study. Payne/ The only thing is is his study was based on drivers, not necessarily population. So... Throgmorton/ He used a population in his report, though I don't remember exactly how. Mims/ Yeah... in terms of comparing percentages that you would expect to have stopped. Payne/ I thought he did it based on drivers and that's why they did all those dri ... those counts. They were making ... but they made an assumption that number of drivers was ... equal to the census number of the (several talking) percent population. (several talking) Yep, for his baseline. Throgmorton/ Well... well... I'm sure he could exercise good judgment about how to use the report. The report, I think, is meaningful and potentially of value to them in conducting future (both talking) Markus/ We'll make sure ... we'll make sure he sees it. Payne/ I had a question on ... um ... the next. It must be IP4. Um, it's actually on page, um, 146. Hayek/ Blue Zones? Payne/ Yes! Um, on Item 2c on ... it's on page 146, it says, `Implement a road diet on 6th and 7th Avenues.' And then in the description it says that these are two major east and west thoroughfares. (laughter) And I don't think that 6th and 7th Avenue go east and west, and ...7th Avenue might be a major thoroughfare but is 6th? It's like short! I ... I've... Mims/ No! (laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 38 Payne/ And it's not going east and west! (laughing) So I was confused at what they were trying to ... I was talking about road diets (several talking) Fruin/ We were confused as well and (both talking) and we're following up with the Blue Zones' folks and ... yeah! Payne/ Okay! Um ... and then also the next item is #3 is talking about the ... I don't even know how to say it — woonerf or a living street. Were they talking about doing this on Washington and Dubuque? It ... that just didn't make too much sense to me! Throgmorton/ Now ... what did they mean? Remind me. Payne/ It's taking ... like removing curbs, um, painting basketball courts on the street. To me it doesn't make sense to do that on Washington and Dubuque. Mims/ No, I was thinking we'd have a few people killed by cars. Payne/ (laughing) Yeah, even at 25 miles an hour! (laughs) So I ... I just, I wasn't following along with what ... they were trying to do there. Okay. Mims/ Conceptually, good but (mumbled) issues with street names maybe and stuff. Payne/ Yeah... Throgmorton/ I don't know about the viability of doing anything on Washington and Jefferson in the way you just described, but there's actually a ... a growing body of research and experience with regard to mixing diverse modes on the street, if the traffic speed is (both talking) Payne/ Low enough. Throgmorton/ ...and you get it low enough through design. Payne/ Yep. So I ... I get that part of it. I just didn't get this part of it. Um ... and then this one might be for Marian, and maybe somebody already caught it because this ... this one was a ... oh, what is it. It's on IP6, which is the draft of the Ad Hoc Senior Services Committee, and I should have just emailed this to you, Marian, and I didn't. I found a typo (laughs) Karr/ Okay. Payne/ It's on page ... 2 of the Committee meeting minutes and it's in the very last paragraph. It uses the word capitol, but it means ... it says c- a- p- i- t -o -1, and I think it means a -1. It doesn't mean a building. It means a ... capital. Sorry! I should have just emailed it to you but I forgot. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 39 Hayek/ Payne is in the house! (laughter) Dickens/ House of Payne! (laughter) Hayek/ Okay. Anything else? Botchway/ I had a couple questions, as well. Hayek/ Anything else, Kingsley? Botchway/ Yeah, um, so IP4 and IP5. For IP4, where are we at? I mean, we got this from the Blue Zones. Is staff working on, you know, implementing this? Bringing this back to Council? I mean, if somebody already said it I just didn't hear it. Fruin/ Um, this is, uh, Geoff Fruin, Kingsley. Uh, we're working on, uh, all the commitments that we made. We brought to Council at your previous meeting. Um, we're moving forward with all of those. Most of those you won't see, uh, come forward to you until later this fall, uh, or ... or perhaps even next spring. Some of those don't even require your, um, approval. So we'll move forward on that. In terms of the walkability study itself, uh, Dan Buetner is going to come back and revisit some of these issues, and also, uh, do a little bit more in -depth analysis. Certainly we think that there's some good items that they brought up in that report. There's some other items, uh, as ... as Michelle noted that we have other questions about, not sure really what they're getting at or, uh, perhaps have some questions about the locations they're suggesting. So, yes we are moving forward. It's roughly a year, year and a half process and uh, you'll just see it trickle in, uh, probably a little bit here and there through all your meetings for the next year, year and a half. Botchway/ Okay. Um, so on IP4 as well, but page 148. I just had a phenomenal experience, um, in Omaha using their bicycle program and so I mean I know that staff's looking into it and obviously is going to have continual discussions regarding it, but I ... I just want to throw, you know, my, uh, two -cents on it being a great, uh, thing that Iowa City can possibly look towards in the future because , you know, I had a phenomenal time. I'm not an avid biker, but I just had a great time, you know, riding a bike, um, downtown and it just being available for me to ... to use. Again, not downtown Iowa City, but it was downtown Omaha, and it was just ... an amazing experience. And then IP5 ... uh ... the only comment I have is, it just seems like with Mediacom, uh ... uh, is there a reason why ...it just seems like there's been a lot of charge recently, um, there's been a continual increase in charges and I just didn't know if we had a reason why. I mean, obviously that could just be in the regular conduct of business, but you know with a lot of the complaints that we've been, or excuse me, that I've been hearing from public about, you know, Mediacom and, you know, how it's ... uh, it's been somewhat of a ... problematic, uh, business. I just didn't know if there was ... what's going on and if we know any information regarding that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 40 Mims/ Well we don't have any control, do we? Dilkes/ Not of that ... we have a ... my recollection is we have a ... very minimal control over the basic rate, that it falls within a maximum permitted rate or something to that effect, but very little. Botchway/ Okay. Never mind. I just wanted to highlight it then. Hayek/ Okay (both talking) Botchway/ ...that was the extent of my questions. Hayek/ Okay. Let's finish up with the July 10th, uh, Info Packet. Throgmorton/ Uh, yes, um ... with regard to IP8, update on downtown streetscape planning. Uh, I want to, uh, support what Geoff s July 8 memo says about reducing lane widths, expanding sidewalks and adding trees on Dubuque and Washington Streets. That sounds like a really smart thing to do! When do you want to do KXIC interviews? Hayek/ Hold on a second, I want to (both talking) I was going to raise IP8 as well, I mean, those ... the ... the changes that are alluded to in that or the suggestions that we will receive are ...are fairly significant and I ... we just need to have a lot of input, uh, from the downtown stakeholders with respect to those. I can see some, you know, very differing opinions on ...on what's around the corner (several talking) So, anything else on, uh, before KXIC, anything else? You know what, let's not do KXIC. We can take it up afterwards (several talking) Um, so let's, uh ... uh ... well, we'll suspend the work session (laughs) Uh, we'll take a break; we'll start the formal at 7:00; and then we'll adjourn back to the work session at the end of the formal. Thank you for being here! (BREAK TO FORMAL MEETING) Agenda Items for Joint Meeting: Hayek/ Okay. Throgmorton/ It's time for dinner! Hayek/ Yeah! (laughs) Uh, all right, we ... uh, I'm just going to keep going here. Mims/ Okay. Hayek/ (mumbled) Okay. Uh ... the next bullet point I think is agenda items for the joint meeting on July 28th. That's IP5 in the July 10th Info Packet. Um ... I've talked to staff and I've talked to Susan about having ... uh, Susan present at the joint meeting on the local option sales tax, which seems to be ... the most salient issue before, uh, local governments for purposes of a joint meeting, and if everybody's comfortable with that ... I would ... I would This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 41 invite her to do that. Does anyone want to add anything else to our joint meeting agenda? We need to get that to ... who's the host community? Karr/ Tiffin. Hayek/ Tiffin. Dobyns/ Susan, is that going to be a discussion of LOST in addition to the... recommendation from the Supervisors? In addition or... Mims/ Well I think probably what I'll do is I'll work with staff. I presented to the Chamber of Commerce Local Government Affairs Committee last Thursday, and I used, um, a couple of PowerPoints that Dennis and his staff had done. One was on property tax reform at the State level, and then the other one was the one that he presented to us that was the recommendation ... recommendations that came out of the committee, the staff and committee with me on it. Um, so probably what we'll do is work on tightening up that a little bit so it's a little bit shorter presentation, um, I think just to make that as quick as possible to give people some background and where the City's at, and then I would assume then it would probably evolve into some discussion of where people are at from, uh, what they're thinking, what they're ... how they're thinking about using the money, and um, people's thoughts about the Supervisor's request of...of, uh, dedicating 10% for the Courthouse work. Dobyns/ When is that meeting? I ... I'm thinking (both talking) Mims/ The 28th Dobyns/ ...because I'm aware that in mid - August and ... Kingsley, wherever you are, you may know this really well, but in terms of getting the ballot language finalized, I guess, Kingsley, do you know or anyone else (mumbled) me to be in ... in mid, uh, August (both talking) Karr/ August 27th is the deadline. Dobyns/ So we have August 27th to get... Karr/ Everyone has August (both talking) Dobyns/ And this multi jurisdictional meeting is when this month? Karr/ 28th of July (both talking) Dickens/28 1h of July. Dobyns/ So we have... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 42 Markus/ So you have that opportunity to sit down with all of the other jurisdictions, have that conversation. If there's going to be some changes, then you could contemplate those, bring `em back on the 19th, if you want to change your resolution (both talking) 19th of August, which is your (both talking) Council meeting. Dobyns/ Okay, okay! Markus/ And so that you could bring it back at that meeting, and then if you wanted to change up your formula or some other provisions, you could (both talking) consider it at that point... Dobyns/ Okay. Markus/ ...rather than making any changes at this point. Mims / And I (both talking) Markus/ Because right now they have our ballot language or our ... our resolution. So we're... we're already good in that regard. Mims/ Given that this is ... be the last time we have the opportunity to talk about it before we go into that joint meeting, I would ... throw out for consideration that we, um, that we go along with the Supervisor's request, um, to put 10% towards the County courthouse, take that out of the streets. So we would go 50% property tax relief, 30% streets, 10% County courthouse, 10% affordal ... affordable housing, under the condition that ... the other contiguous cities or at least the ... and we need to think about how we would want to word it, um, that the other contiguous cities and the... and the County pass it. I mean, it's not really going to affect (both talking) Hayek/ You mean include, uh, an identical (both talking) Mims/ Yeah, I'm sorry, include (both talking) include ... (both talking) yes. Markus/ The 10 %... Mims/ Yeah, that they include the 10% (both talking) Markus/ ... dedication for the Justice Center and... Mims/ Right! Dobyns/ I assume the County would since they asked (laughing) so... Mims/ You would hope so! Payne/ Why would you take it off of the streets and not off of the, urn ... property taxes? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 43 Hayek/Well, you could. Mims/ I'm open. Dickens/ I think that's ... was that the County's... Mims/ They (both talking) Hayek/ No, they just wanted 10 %. I don't think they... Dickens/ Okay, they don't care where (both talking) Dobyns/ Each jurisdiction can decide, I mean, I assume, Susan that ... was it 10 %, was that what the County wanted? Hayek/ That was the request (both talking) Mims/ County wanted 10. Dobyns/ Okay, so their request was that we'll do ... what if the other jurisdictions came by and they said 5 or 8, I mean, can you comment on... Mims/ Well, I guess ... I guess from my perspective in a way it doesn't really matter what University Heights or Tiffin do. One because their population base is so small and their property tax valuation is so small. So in terms of what they're going to get ... what they generate and what they're going to get. I'm seeing Tom frown at me. Markus/ Well, no, I was just going to say that any of the ... the communities in the metro area, um, are bound by the majority vote in that area, and it seems like maybe what you would do is ... is suggest that all the communities in the metro group would ... would concur in that fashion, that the number of...there's a number of communities, smaller communities that are outside the metro area that you might not make it conditioned upon. What is it, Shueyville and Swisher and Lone Tree and ... and Hills (several talking) but the unincorporated area, and then any of the jurisdictions in the metro area would seem like... Mims/ I agree we want them. I ... I entirely agree we want them. My question is if everybody except University Heights agrees to do it, do we want to lose the whole thing. Throgmorton/ No! Mims/ Simply because University Heights refuses to do it. Throgmorton/ No. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 44 Dobyns/ No, I agree. Markus/ I ... what I would suggest you consider is that you maybe go in with the idea of conditioning that. You still reserve judgment at the end of the day on ... on what you decide anyway. Mims/ Right. Dilkes/ Yeah, I think ... I ... I don't see us submitting conditional ballot language. I mean, I see us (several talking) I see us getting, knowing by the 19th whether... which cities are going to do that and then... Markus/ (both talking) And then deciding. Dilkes/ ...ballot language accordingly (several talking) Hayek/ What I would suggest though is that, I mean, we've been asked by the County to respond to a request, and we could do that through a letter from ... City Hall, you know, just here's the sense of the Council. It's not formal action, but here's our work session consensus as to where we are on ... on this issue, and ... and um, I agree we would not want to pass conditional language. We ... we wouldn't pass any language until we knew what ... what we're going to do, if anything, other than (both talking) Dobyns/ And when do all these City Councils meet? I'm trying to figure out ... you know, I assume they'll all meet by the time we have met, somewhere between this joint session and our August 19th meeting, but I'm not sure if they all meet by that time. Markus/ (both talking) ...we might not make a decision by that time. Hayek/ I ... I think ... I think... (both talking) Dobyns/ (mumbled) Hayek/ I think Coralville will take this up in work session later this month, but I don't think they will vote until August 12th Dobyns/ But that's in time. Hayek/ That ... that's in time. It's pretty close, but it's in time. Um, I can't speak to the others, uh... Dickens/ They've all been talking about it though. Hayek/ Yeah, and I ... I had lunch with John Lundell and Gerry Kuhl just the other day, so their... their cities are talking about this. But I think it'd be nice for us to signal something to the County, in terms of a response. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 45 Mims/ I think that's a good idea. Dobyns/ Yeah. Hayek/ And it gets it out there before ... well in advance of the 28th Throgmorton/ I ... I agree and I would support the idea. It won't surprise you to know I'd like to see the 10% come out of property tax relief instead out of the road stuff, out of the right - of -way stuff, but I support the idea of 10% going to the County for the courthouse. Mims/ I don't feel real strongly which place it comes out of. I mean, I defer I guess a little bit to maybe a staff in terms of ... if they have a strong opinion one way or the other. Um, but... Dobyns/ I prefer taking it out of property tax relief, but I'm willing ... we can wait anyway. Hayek/ Do you think there's, um ... those two different formula have ... a different appeal electorally? (both talking) Is someone more likely to support 40/40/10/10 or... Dobyns/ Yeah. Hayek/ Or 50/30/10/10. Dobyns/ That's... that's... I'm using my political guy, yeah. (laughter) Hayek/ And you're saying ... 40 /40/10/10 (several talking) Dickens/ I don't have one, so I... Hayek/ I don't know. I'm just... Payne/ I ... I think for those people that think that a tax, that this is a regressive tax anyway, would be more pleased with taking it out of the property tax. Throgmorton/ I'm ... I'm sure they would! I don't know ... I don't know what they think about the courthouse part of it. Have to think about that a little bit, but ... but definitely the property tax stuff. Mims/ That's fine then. I don't feel strongly. Well at least ... I think, Matt, if you ... if you work with staff to get something drafted that we're, you know, that we're amenable to doing it, assuming that ... the County does it and at least the ... and the other, um, contiguous cities do it, that that's where we're leaning. I mean, I... Hayek/ Okay, now that doesn't address your concern that University Heights is the spoiler. Mims/ But it doesn't lock us into it at this point. It says that's the direction we're leaning, if... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 46 Dobyns/ Kingsley, do you have a... Dickens/ He went to bed a while ago (laughter) Dobyns/ Kingsley? Botchway/ (laughter) No, no, I ... I' totally agree with what Susan was saying and, you know, obviously with Matt adding in, you know, sending some type of communication to the County, you know, apprising them of...our kind of general decision about these matters. I don't know ... I'm not sure whether or not we have to specifically say anything about, um, whether it comes out of property tax or streets. We could just say that, you know (both talking) Mims/ Yeah, we don't right now. Botchway/ ...willing to do the 10% going into the meeting, and that just be it. Um, I'll be very interested to see what the other jurisdictions do, but I agree, it should be contingent, um, I just, uh ... I'm just a little wary, um, on how the other, uh, jurisdictions are going to take, you know, um ... what the County proposed, but I'll be interested in discussing it. Mims/ Well if we need to we can always wait and set a special meeting on the 26th of August. After everybody else has acted (laughing) Hayek/ (mumbled) So why don't we send the communication. Yeah, whether we take the 10% out of property tax or roads, we can ... discuss, although I sense where ... where we're headed on that, um, indicating that we'd be open to, uh, contributing, and you know, maybe it's not the whole 10, maybe it's 5, but we were asked to do 10. Um ... uh, if the other... if the contiguous cities and the unincorporated Johnson County portion do the same. Markus/ Commits the same. Hayek/ Commits the same. Botchway/ Matt, I do want to add something else, or unless we're not ... if we are done with this conversation I wanted to ... I do want to add something to the agenda. Hayek/ Uh ... okay, just ... just a second, Kingsley. I don't know, are we done with that or... Payne/ I have something also on that note. For the ... that's part of a joint meeting. Can we go back... Hayek/ Yeah, we're ... (both talking) No, we're ... we're still on joint meeting and ... a little, uh, a little of 13a here. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 47 Payne/ (laughing) Yeah! I'm going to be out of town on the 28th. Could you attend the meeting for me, Marian? Is that one that we needed... Karr/ No, but I'll be there. Yes. Payne/ I don't need a replacement at that meeting. I can't keep straight (both talking) Karr/ No. Right, right, no, but I... Payne/ So I won't be at that meeting, cause I'll be out of town (laughing) Karr/ Okay. Dickens/ Again? Payne/ I'll be out of town all of these weeks on here too. Hayek/ Are staff comfortable with this direction? Markus/ Yes. Yeah. Hayek/ Okay. Kingsley, you are as well? Botchway/ On the 28th? Hayek/ No, no, you're comfortable with this direction, the ...the communication back to the County that we (both talking) Botchway/ Oh, yes, yes, yes! Hayek/ Okay! So let's ... why don't we consider (laughs) 13a checked off cause I wanted to talk about that, and that really wrapped into the joint meeting thing. Um ... Kingsley, uh, if you wanted to add something to the agenda, is that ... under Council time that you want to add to a work session agenda? Botchway/ No, I meant for the joint meeting. Hayek/ Oh! Okay. What is it? Botchway/ Uh, I wanted to add affordable housing. Throgmorton/ Wanted to do what? Hayek/ He wanted to (both talking) Mims/ ... affordable housing. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 48 Hayek/ Okay. Botchway/ Just because ... and I know it kind of plays into a lost discussion, but you know similar to what the County's doing, I mean, we're putting 10% to affordable housing. I want to have the discussion that each jurisdiction would do the same, and neces ... and not necessarily each jurisdiction as we're talking about with the County's proposal, but at least there... there's jurisdictions in the metro area. Mims/ Good luck! Hayek/ What if we ... what if we wrapped that under just a sales tax... presentation? I mean ... so that ... that topic could be discussed? Karr/ Yes, it just ... just recall that if you're not specific... others won't be prepared to respond to it. Markus/ Yeah, I... Karr/ That's the only... Hayek/ Yeah. Markus/ Think Marian has a good point and ... and if Kingsley's willing to, you know, tag his name to it, and at least open the discussion on it... Mims/ I think it's a good idea! Karr/ We certainly could use that (both talking) and then two bullets under it. Hayek/ Two bullets under for presentation and... Karr/ Or something of that nature, sure. Hayek/ Yeah. Markus/ Yeah. Karr/ We could tie it together that way. Hayek/ Actually, why don't you put three bullets under it — presentation, County request on the courthouse, and affordable housing. Karr/ Okay. Hayek/ Kingsley, you may get to run point on that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 49 Botchway/ That's fine! Hayek/ Okay, anything else for the joint meeting? Okay, Council time. Mims/ We're done. Meeting Schedule Payne/ Did we do KXIC? Karr/ No. Throgmorton/ We ... we didn't do pending work sessions, did we? Hayek/ No, that's coming up (several talking) Dickens/ I'll do August 20tH Karr/ I'm sorry? Dickens/ August 201H Botchway/ Are we doing KXIC? (several responding) Hayek/ Where ... what packet is it in? Payne/ Ten, IP6 on 10. (several talking) Throgmorton/ I could do the 27tH, Marian. Payne/ The 27th isn't on there, is it? Karr/ It's not on there. Throgmorton/ It's not? Botchway/ I can only do the 13th Dickens/ Well you're on it! Karr/ 13th? Botchway/ Yes. Karr/ Botchway. Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 50 Hayek/ I can do the 23rd potentially. Mims/ Did somebody already take the 30tH. Hayek/ Somebody take ... (several talking) Mims/ I'll take July 30t11 Karr/ July 23rd, I'm sorry, was who? Thank you. And then... Throgmorton/ Well I'm ... I'm due. Is there anything left? Dickens/ Well you can do August 27th if you want to schedule that far out. Karr/ And who ... who took July 30th. Mims/ I did. Karr/ Thank you. August 13''. Throgmorton/ Yeah, I guess I could do August 27tH. Sorry. (mumbled) Karr/ Ummm.... Mims/ It's a week out. I only went to the 20th, but I can include the 27th Throgmorton/ All right, let's ... I can do the 20th! August 20tH Karr/ Okay. Hayek/ Got what you need? Karr/ Yes. Hayek/ Okay. Council time? Meeting schedule? Pending work session topics? Pending Work Session Topics: Throgmorton/ I wanted to bring up one possibility. Uh, in our last meeting, I think it was the last one anyhow, well... it was the one before it. I wanted to vote against, um, annexing and rezoning a... a residential development, uh, because I ... I suggested I ... I thought, uh, any new annexation like that should be required to have a certain percentage of affordable housing units in it, and I was persuaded by our deft City Attorney that it's not wise to try to do it on a case -by -case basis, but instead to consider revising the zoning code. So, my suggestion is simply this. Uh, that we ... uh, ask the Planning and Zoning Commission to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 51 look into that, uh, possibility of changing the code to require any new residential development and annexation above some minimum size ... uh, to have some minimum, uh, percentage of affordable housing units in it. If we don't do it, new stuff on the periphery will ... not have any affordable units in it. So that's my suggestion anyhow for a ... uh, a possible topic. We ... so we ... I'm suggesting we could discuss it in a work session, and if...if there's agreement, we could then move it to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Mims/ Yeah, I have not been excited about inclusionary zoning on our own. I just... Hayek/ Jim, I'll think about it. I ... I'm, it's so... Throgmorton/ It's too late, I know it is. So it ... (both talking) Hayek/ We'll talk (several talking) Throgmorton/ If...if there's just some way we can get it on our agenda so we're not so tired and we can actually talk about it, that'd be great! Hayek/ Well, unless there are three it won't, so maybe bring it up at the next when we've got a fresher set of, uh... Mims/ Brains! Payne/ Well the next one we won't, because we're going to be in the same boat at the next meeting. And it'll probably be ... so, we're ... it... Hayek/ Yeah. Payne/ (laughs) Hayek/ I wish you were more cheerful, Michelle! (laughter) Mims/ More optimistic! (laughter) Botchway/ So we... so we don't have three? (several talking) Mims/ Not at the moment we don't. Throgmorton/ We have ... we have one! (laughs) B otchway/ I'm two! I'm two! Mims/ Got two and a half! (laughs) Throgmorton/ Who's the half? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014. July 15, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 52 Mims/ Matt! (laughs) Hayek/ I ... I don't want to commit now. I... but I'll ... Jim, why don't you and I talk. I can't even wrap my head around it. Dobyns/ Yeah, I'll talk. I'm just... Upcoming Community Events / Council Invitations: Hayek/ Okay, so it's ... it's not added, but ... but it may be at a future time. Um ... other work session topics? Okay. Uh, upcoming events. You mentioned the Animal Control groundbreaking — that was nice. Anything else? Okay. I think we're done! Six minutes to 11! Dobyns/ Congratulations, Kingsley, you didn't go to midnight! Botchway/ Yeah! Hayek/ Good night, Kingsley. Botchway/ (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of July 15, 2014.