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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-11-04 TranscriptionNovember 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Council Present: Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton Council Absent: Botchway Staff Present: Markus, Fruin, Boothroy, Dilkes, Karr, Reichart, Yapp, Andrew, Davidson, Bowers, Bockenstedt Others Present: McCarthy (UISG) Page 1 Questions from Council re: Agenda Items: ITEM 7. IOWA CITY MARKETPLACE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT - RESOLUTION APPROVING A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH CORE SYCAMORE TOWN CENTER LLC FOR RENOVATION OF IOWA CITY MARKETPLACE. Hayek/ First item is questions regarding agenda items. It's my understanding that Item #7 ... uh, staff wants to defer. Markus/ That's correct! Hayek/ To the 18th ... to November 18th. Okay. That's the, um, Iowa City Marketplace Development Agreement. Throgmorton/ Oh, excellent, I was going to suggest that. I know that Kingsley can't be here. I know he has views about that. He'd like to be able to express `em, uh, I don't know if that's the only reason for deferring, but I think it's a good idea. ITEM 6. RALSTON CREEK IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT, PHASE 1— APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE RALSTON CREEK IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT - PHASE 1, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS. Throgmorton/ Could ... could I ask a question about Item #6? I ... I just noticed in our handout we got a... an email from Susan Eckert ... Eckhardt, uh, basically asking that we defer action on Item #6, Ralston Creek improvements project, phase one. Uh, mainly because ... I mean, I just read it quickly. I think she says the landowners nearby really don't have any idea really what's going on. I might be exaggerating. I'm just trying to get to the point. Uh, Jason Reichart, I don't know if Jason's... yeah, I thought so, uh, responded, a good response, Jason, but I'm just wondering if it would be wise to defer, in response to her ... uh, email. I don't know. Maybe Jason could speak to it. Yeah? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 2 Markus/ I would just note, she says unless these matters are clarified... Throgmorton/ Yeah! Markus/ ...in her letter (several talking) It seems like the response clarified that. Dickens/ (mumbled) ...Muscatine, the center isn't there a lot of flooding (mumbled) Reichart/ Yeah, so essentially this project, um, is flood repair is what it is. There's two FEMA sites that were identified after the flash flooding event in 2013. So, um ... basically all the other FEMA sites that we've done, all the flood repair that we've done, uh, in 2013 and 14, we haven't had any public meetings for. Um, basically because they are just repair projects. So, urn ... yeah, we never really had any ... any outreach. Uh, we will have a, uh, preconstruction meeting, um, as I said in my response, uh, before anything starts though. Hayek/ So ... so this is, I mean maybe ... I think it is, uh ... um ... relevant that there is a response to this... Throgmorton/ Right! Hayek/ ...and, I mean, this is just to let the bids. This is ... this has to come back before us, I assume, once we have a ... a winning bid. Is that right? Markus/ For award, yes. Hayek/ To awar ... yeah, I mean, in other words ... you know, action on this this evening would not... immediately result in work done within the riverbank... Throgmorton/ Right, right! Hayek/ ...and maybe it would be appropriate to go ahead and let this so that people can bid on it... Throgmorton/ Uh huh! Hayek/ ...and if this individual or other homeowners in the area still have concerns about it, that can still be dealt with by us before we actually award a contract. Throgmorton/ Yeah, that's probably completely reasonable. I ... I didn't have a chance to read your response very carefully either, but you ... did you indicate that, uh, staff would be connecting with various people, uh... (both talking) Reichart/ Yeah, and actually, uh, I spar ... I spoke with, uh, Marcia Bollinger today too and she'll be forwarding my response to, um ... essentially the neighborhood and we'll ... like I said, we'll have a preconstruction meeting before then too, so ... but I mean if there's other action you'd like us to take, we can certainly do that (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 3 Dobyns/ ...as far as the timeframe, when would this come back to us and if we awarded the bid, when would... Reichart/ We're looking at awarding at the December 2nd, so (both talking) so if the ... if the plans and specs are approved tonight, we'd put it out for bid and then once we get bids back we'd ... we'd try to get on the December 2nd Council agenda to ... to have it approved. Dobyns/ So that's a month. Mims/ I'm good with that. Throgmorton/ Yeah, I am too. I ... I'd like to ask one sort of follow -up question, just ... for clarification. The ... the text before us, uh, in the ... in the formal meeting agenda refers to `armoring the creek.' I ... I don't have a clue what `armoring the creek' would be, uh, given the natural wildlife and semi - natural characteristics and all that. Wh ... what do you mean by `armoring ?' Reichart/ Essentially, uh, when we refer to armoring, it would be placing rip -rap, which is large stone, um, along the ... the banks of the creek, and then in this case, we'll be backfilling that with, uh, soil, and then overseeding that ... when that's complete, so ... armoring is essentially just adding rip -rap to the creek bank. Throgmorton/ Okay! Thanks! Reichart/ That answer your question? Throgmorton/ Yeah, I mean, I just you know resist the word `armoring,' having been in an armored battalion in the U.S. Army (laughs) you know. Reichart/ Yeah. Okay. All right. Throgmorton/ Okay. Reichart/ All right, thanks! Hayek/ Thank you! Throgmorton/ Thanks (mumbled) ITEM 3d(5) REFUNDING 2009F PARKING REVENUE BONDS - RESOLUTION APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF A FUNDING TRUST AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE $9,110,000 PARKING SYSTEM REVENUE REFUNDING CAPITAL LOAN NOTES, SERIES 2009F. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 4 Mims/ Dennis, I've got a question on 3d(5). If I read all this and understood it correctly, basically the bonds are not callable yet, but what we're doing is signing an agreement with the trustee so we're basically getting out from any... from under any obligation for them, and they take on the obligation going forward, is that correct? Bockenstedt/ We take the money and we place it into a trust fund, and the trustee then makes the bond payments until they're callable, and then they call them in. Mims/ Okay. Bockenstedt/ And we achieve a substantial savings by being able to call those bonds in early. Mims/ Right, right. Okay. I got confused at first when I was reading it and it said that they're not callable till 17 or... Hayek/ I did too! Mims/ ...and I was like ... kept reading like, oh, okay! I think we're kind of gettin' out from underneath it now and a trustee's getting involved. So, okay! (both talking) Bockenstedt/ ...alleviates us of the necessary reporting and (both talking) and that type of thing. Mims/ Right! Okay, great. Thank you. Markus/ Here it is. ITEM 10. COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS. Applicants MUST reside in Iowa City and be 18 years of age unless specific qualifications are stated. Throgmorton/ Item #10 is appointments, isn't it? Appointments to boards and commissions? Hayek/ Yep! And we'll ... I was going to add that at the end ... but we can take that up now if you want. Let's go ahead and do appointments since, uh, Jim raised it. The first one is, uh, Citizens Police Review Board, three applicants for the open spot there. Throgmorton/ Well I ... I'd like to offer this. I ... I noticed that, uh, Donald King applied to fi ... to fill the unexpired portion of the term, and he had served, what, seven years previously; had to resign in March, if I remember rightly. Uh, I would be okay with, uh, reappointing him to fill the unexpired, uh, portion of the term. Dickens/ Cause he'd be up to speed on (both talking) Throgmorton/ Yeah, but I'd be pretty leery about extending that for another term after that, but we'd get to that later, so... Mims/ When does this one expire? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 5 Hayek/ A year! Throgmorton/ Yeah, year from now. Hayek/ Not quite a year. Throgmorton/ It's kinda like he'd be... Karr/ (both talking) ... September of 15. Throgmorton/ ... second term. Dickens/ That's who I looked at too (several talking off -mic) since he had to leave (mumbled) He's already up to speed. We're not gonna have to ... for one year. And then look at somebody else (mumbled) Mims/ Yeah. My only thought was that he'd been on for seven years and, I mean, I guess I would hope that anybody who went on now would want to reapply. Not guaranteed that, of course! Um ... and I don't know either of the other two (both talking) Dickens/ (mumbled) Mims/ ...um... Throgmorton/ yeah, I ... I noticed one of them, Cody Schaffer, has lived in Iowa City for two months. Mims/ Yeah, which ... you know, I almost just basically immediately dismissed him, but then I read his stuff and I was like, you know, he is familiar with the area and, you know, I think had lived in Coralville and actually moved into Iowa City like two months ago and he's got some decent background, so ... then I didn't dismiss him (laughs) after that. Hayek/ Yeah, and I got a good recommendation on, uh, Mr. Perez. Mims/ Okay. Hayek/ So... Throgmorton/ Well, I don't feel strongly about what I suggested. It's sort of ideologically I'd be pre... predisposed not to reappoint... not to appoint Mr. King, but ... but that ... that wasn't really playing in my thinking. Mims/ I guess ... I would say if you got a good recommendation on Mr. Perez, I mean, I ... in terms of diversity within that (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 6 Hayek/ ...that was sent to me and I mean I didn't follow -up on it or anything like that. Mims/ Yeah. I mean... Dobyns/ I'd lean for Perez. Hayek/ You want to do that? Payne/ I'm okay with that. Mims/ Yeah. Throgmorton/ Mr. Perez? Mims/ Yeah. Throgmorton/ All right. Mims/ Okay. Hayek/ Okay, uh... got to navigate my way around here. Human Rights Commission. Payne/ We did get a letter of recommendation for the three people already currently filling out terms. Mims / And they are all, um ... finishing up their first term or a part of a term... Payne / Right! Mims/ ...and typically if people have done a good job, we give them an opportunity for a second term. Throgmorton/ Yeah. Hayek/ Yeah, the letter ... the recommendation does not sway me one way or the other. I ... I ... I don't, uh, I don't give much weight to intra- commission recommendations, but to your point, you know (coughing in background) I think the three are doing a good job and ... and in any event, it's consistent with what we've done in the past. So is there interest in reappointing, uh, Miss Hanrahan (both talking) Dickens/ She's my wife's cousin, so I gotta ... I'll back out of that one (laughter) Throgmorton/ Yeah, I ... I (several talking) Hayek/ That's a disqualifier! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 7 Dickens/ I know, right there! (several talking) Throgmorton/ I support reappointing the three incumbents. Hayek/ Okay! Everybody else okay with that? Payne/ Yep! Hayek/ Okay. And then lastly... Mims / And I would just say, just so it's on the record, not to say that there aren't, I think, some other (both talking) Throgmorton/ Absolutely! Mims/ ...very good applicants. Payne/ I thought there were very good applicants (both talking) Mims/ ...um... Throgmorton/ Very strong. Payne/ And another person has resigned from this commission, so they should watch for that, um, reappointment, because Andrea Cohen resigned, so ... they'll be able to (several talking) reapply. Dobyns/ So like a judge on the ballot, I vote to keep them in. (laughter) Hayek/ Last is Senior Center Commission. We have one applicant. Dickens/ And we need female. Throgmorton/ Looks like she'd be a fine (both talking) Dickens/ ... it seems like. Throgmorton/ Looks good to me! Dickens/ Yep! Hayek/ Cheryll Clamon. Dickens/ ...lived here 38 years, so... Hayek/ Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 8 Mims/ Yeah, I don't know anything about her, but... Throgmorton/ Retired social worker, legal assistant. Payne/ She lives in my neighborhood, but I don't know her. Hayek/ Okay! Those are our ... those are our appointments. Are there any other agenda items? Okay! Let's move along. Next is, uh, downtown streetscape update! Downtown Streetscape Update: Mims/ While Geoff s coming up, I was down at the Sheraton the other night when they had, uh, the open house for this and ... it looks good! Really good ... and lots and lots of positive comments from the people that were there, as well. Throgmorton/ Right, that's what I heard too! Fruin/ Thank you for that plug! (laughter) Dobyns/ Better be good now (both talking) Fruin/ Yeah, geez, pressure's on! Okay, so, uh, just a reminder on kind of where we've been, uh, with this. Um, earlier ... this year, um, I believe February or so, um, you all adopted the Streetscape Master Plan, and the geographic area for that was, uh, roughly Burlington, Iowa, Clinton, uh, Gilbert, and then the Northside Marketplace. From that plan, there were priorities identified in terms of geographic areas to focus. So, um, the top three priorities were a two -block stretch of Washington Street, a one -block stretch of Dubuque, and the pedestrian mall. Those were the three number one priorities identified in the plan. So in addition to working towards, um, larger streetscape projects for those three areas, we implemented anot ... a number of quick -start projects too, and ... and I'll touch on some of those if...if you have questions, if you recall some of those and have questions on the status. I can ... fill you in on that, but for the most part I want to focus on Washington, Dubuque, and the ped mall tonight. Um, I know it's not October still. This is the date from the open house, and this is a ... a presentation that we used, um ... before the open house, uh, we ... we gave this to the business owners and the property owners downtown. So you're seeing the same thing. I'm going to apologize in advance — some of the sliders have very small print. These are the same, urn ... images that we used for the large poster boards down there. So if you ... if you see something, there ... there will be things you can't read. I'll try to point those out, but if you have specific questions, just ... please, jump right in! So this is the geographic area, the one -block stretch of Dubuque, from Iowa south to Washington; the two -block stretch of Washington, from Clinton to Linn; and then the ped mall here. You see the consultant team, led by Genus Landscape Architects, they're out of Des Moines, uh, they led the planning phase, as well, and uh, you see the sub - consultants on there, as well. So we're gonna start with Dubuque Street, and um, I'll talk a little bit about how we arrived to the final product This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 9 before showing the ... the final product. Uh, we did a more detailed inventory of the area, uh, than we did in the Master Plan phase, and uh, really for the streets focused on ... on a couple of issues. One was the health of the trees and the condition of the trees. We brought in an arborist from the University of Minnesota, uh, Gary Johnson, who's a very well respected, uh, tree professional, and in this study area, he evaluated the health of all the trees. What you're seein' is a... a color - coded, uh, map right here. The green trees, uh, the circles here, indicate that the tree is healthy and worthy of preservation. Red would indicate the opposite, that the tree is on a ... a decline and is not worth preservation and should be removed, um, as you look, uh, toward any construction around it, and then yellow's the ... the in- between ones, the ones that could be preserved, but will take some effort and some care in order to, uh, allow them to survive. So, we looked at all the trees. Uh, we also had to do some more extensive study of the vaults in the area, and so the ... the team actually went down in ... into the vaults and got a better idea of the condition on those. Um, those are extremely tricky when you're doing reconstructions of streets, uh, how to ... how to, uh, protect those, how to waterproof those, uh, going forward. It's a critical part of the project, but ... it's one of those things that you don't really know what you're gettin' into until you tear up the street and you can really fully examine the condition of those vaults. So, uh, one thing I'll point out on Dubuque. We have very limited right -of -way on Dubuque and... in terms of... in terms of the sidewalk area, and um, the vaults stretch out 14 -feet from the storefront. So, when you're looking at tree health, um, you're very limited in... in your planting areas and even if you can find planting areas, uh, the roots don't have the natural habitat they need to really grow to be full, healthy, mature trees. So that's why you see on Dubuque and in some locations on Washington, we don't have a very good tree canopy on the street. So, one of the things we'll do, uh, going forward is try to address that and provide a more healthy habitat for the trees. Okay, here's the small text I was talkin' about. Urn ... what you see up here is the existing section, and uh, we've all, um, talked quite a bit about lane widths this year, so I want to go through that exercise with you. Right now on Dubuque you have two 9- foot parking lanes on the exterior, uh, which is pretty typical. What's not typical are the 16 1/2 -feet, um, lane widths that we have on Dubuque. Urn ... I would go beyond saying it's not typical. It's unheard of in an urban area to have 16 1/2 -foot lane widths, and as a result, we ... we can see on a daily basis what happens. You get folks parking down in the middle because it really doesn't affect traffic flow. You've got so much room they can ...they can park there. Payne/ You get a $20 ticket for that though! Fruin/ You can get a $20 ticket, yes. Payne/ No, you do get one! (laughter) Throgmorton/ Have you been collecting them? (laughter) Fruin/ Duly noted, Michelle! (laughter) Payne/ I have received one before! (laughs) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 10 Fruin/ And ... and you ask yourself what do you sacrifice with ... with that large of lane widths. Well, you sacrifice the pedestrian zone, in part, and the tree amenity zone. We only have 14 -foot sidewalks, um, in the core of your downtown and it's a very busy stretch of downtown, and that presents all kinds of challenges. I mentioned the trees, um, but you remember the street cafe discussion that we had. We don't have room for cafes, so now those are spilling out into the streets. It creates a number of. ... of logistical, uh, issues that we have to work through. So the revised plans are ... are down below, and um, we are proposing that we shrink the travel lanes from 16 1/2 -feet to 11 -feet. We'll keep the 9- foot parking lanes, and what that does is ... it essentially gets us 20 -feet of sidewalk on each side. Uh... Throgmorton/ Geoff! Why not 10? Fruin/ Good question, why not 10! Uh, a couple reasons for, uh, it not to go to 10. We had that discussion. One is we have a large number of delivery trucks ... that access Dubuque Street, that have to turn into the alley, uh, there on Dubuque Street. Uh, the second reason would be the ... the large festivals that we accommodate, and how we use the streets for festival use. So, urn ... we ... we could go 10, uh, but we felt 11 was just a little bit more comfortable for the freight aspect and the festival aspect. Throgmorton/ Uh huh. Dickens/ Will this move the restaurants out of the street and back on the sidewalk? Fruin/ Yes, yep! And I'll show ya how that can work! Okay, so, um ... a little bit more, uh, detailed plan here on the left. You can see, um, what this shows ... I know you can't read that, but I can go over it with ya, is just a change from existing to proposed, and ... for instance, the number of trees. Not only will the ... the trees have a more healthy environment, but we can fit, um, about six more... sorry, five more trees, go from nine to 14 on the street, which I think will provide a much nicer urban environment. Um, the parking is still parallel on both sides. That stays consistent. Um, Dubuque, we want to... we felt Dubuque was ... was a pretty unique street, and ... and that it maybe deserved a little bit of a ... a special treatment as you enter in the downtown. So we're proposing some catenary lights, some overhead lights, that ... that aren't proposed on any other streets, um, and they're in two forms. One are ... are overhead lights, um, and these would be, uh, streetlights and uh, the overhead cable lighting is ... is becoming more popular in urban areas. Um, coincidentally I've been traveled... I've traveled out of the state twice in the last, uh, month or so and uh, twice I've seen the ... the overhead cable lighting pop UP. Payne/ Do they make those that are LEDs? Fruin/ They do, yes! Throgmorton/ Does the light shine down instead of... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 11 Fruin/ Yes (both talking) Throgmorton/ ...out and around. Fruin/ Yes. Throgmorton/ Good! Fruin/ Um, and then, uh, on the side, and I've got some better images, we're proposing some tiebacks to the buildings at four different locations to provide a more, uh, again kind of festive pedestrian environment. So you'd see these types of light poles here that are supporting the overhead lights, and then have tiebacks. You'll see those in four locations. One, uh, near the Washington Street intersection and then two, framing both sides of the alley. So one across the street here, one across the street here, and then up towards Iowa. So there's a little bit of rhythm to that on the street. There's a ... a better image and you can see how that might look. Uh, and then the tieback, and I think I have a night image next here. Dickens/ Is there a height that you're looking at for those? Fruin/ Out of reach (laughter) height! (laughter) Throgmorton/ No dunking, huh? Fruin/ Um... Dickens/ Major equipment coming through (several talking) Fruin/ It's probably 13 or 14 feet, I would guess. You can see where it ties back above the awning on the Atlas building. Payne/ And there's going to be a c ... a code that they have to follow. Fruin/ Uh, pardon? Payne/ There'll be a code you have to follow for a minimum height (both talking) which is probably 13 feet for a 120 -volt. Fruin/ Yeah. Uh, so that's, uh, that gives you an image of what we're looking at. We will tie in with the Iowa Street ... the Iowa Avenue street improvements here. So you'll see some different crosswalk, uh ... uh, touches there to match up with Iowa. This was just a daytime shot, mid - block. One of the (both talking) Payne/ I don't see the transformer in that little jet out up there. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 12 Fruin/ It's there! It's screened. We're proposing some screening there. (laughter) We didn't forget about ya! (laughter) Payne/ It's going to be hard to power those lights without ... (laughs) Fruin/ Yeah! (laughs) A couple of quick facts on Dubuque Street — we've doubled the bike parking, uh, Dubuque was pretty limited on bike parking and that's something we heard. So, the number of racks have doubled and they've also spread out. Currently they're all concentrated at Prairie Lights, and you see `em throughout the streetscape now. And then at Prairie Lights, uh, we're actually able to create a little bit of a... a seating area out there. Um, so it'll be a little bit more intimate space, uh, even with the transformer there. Here's the cafe issues and ... and here's what you see now. You've got two street cafes. Uh, No Dough is 155- square feet currently and Mickey's is 270 square feet. Uh, if we enlarge the sidewalks as we propose, No Dough can actually, um, get 195 square feet, so they can actually have a larger cafe than they have now. Mickey's would be reduced, if we keep the 8 -foot clear walkway, which we're proposing to do. Um, they would go from 270 square feet to 195 square feet. Still what I would consider a very generous cafe, and I think we could revisit that street cafe policy going forward. Just a ... an example of some of the furnishings, certainly the overhead lights won't be a ceiling like this, but I think that's meant to just show you the ... the type of light fixture you might see. Um, and (both talking) Dickens/ ...downtown Vegas (both talking) with the lights (both talking) Fruin/ No! (laughter) No, we didn't opt for the Vegas, uh... scenario there. Okay, Washington... any ... any questions on Dubuque? I'll kind of fly through here, make sure we stay on schedule. Uh, Washington Street, much of the same. I won't go into detail here, but you'll notice the ... the tree health. Uh, we do have, uh, some good healthy trees on ... on this block here. Uh, this would be the Englert, to orient you here with Linn Street, and then Dubuque going north, Clinton over here. Uh, however, you'll notice this block, very few trees that, uh, are worth preserving. Uh ... the other interesting fact, um, when looking at the study area here, 20...20 or 21 % of all the trees are ash trees. So, imagine one out of every five trees gone in the next five to 10 years, regardless of their health today. Payne/ So are any of the green trees ash trees? Fruin/ Yes, some of the ash trees are green, and we will... our... our hope is to preserve those as long as we can. But, they will eventually have to come out as well. Same analysis with the vaults here and then you'll see the study area, and the big change on Washington that we're proposing is a shift from diagonal parking on one side of the street to parallel on both sides and that's a ... that's a tough thing, uh, for a lot of people to want to accept. Uh, I was surprised at the lack of negative comments we got on that at the meeting. I ... I felt like that was going to be one area where we'd hear the public say, `I like that diagonal parking. It's easier to get in and out.' Um, we want to move to ... to parallel for a couple of reasons. One, we can pick up a couple of feet in sidewalk, uh, by doing that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 13 A diagonal space right now takes about 19 to 20 feet, uh, worth of street to ... to provide. So, um, you can do two 9 -foot parallel lanes and pick up a couple of feet for your sidewalk. Um, but too, it provides a balance for the retailers on the district, and if you talk to the retailers, uh, on ... on the side of the street with no parking, they'll tell you they're at a disadvantage cause there's no parking in front of their store. Um, so we feel like a ... a balance there, uh, is better for the retail environment, and I think it's better for the pedestrian environment to have that, uh, buffer there of parked cars, urn ... as opposed to just the ... the open street there. Payne/ So how many ... how many parking spaces does it reduce overall? Fruin/ We're, uh, it ... it, over this two - block, there's a ... a, there's no change in the number of parking spaces. Um, this block actually picks up four spaces, because you pick up a considerable amount of parallel parking over here. Um, this block you actually lose four spaces cause you're... you're losing the diagonal in front of the Englert and you're not able to pick up as much on the other side. Um, this planter is really there to account for a grade change that takes places in that area. So we can't really cut into that and open up parking on that side. Dickens/ Going back to the trees, is there an advantage in taking the ashes out when you're doing the streetscape? Fruin/ Um... Dickens/ Cost -wise or is it really... Fruin/ Probably, I mean, from... from a cost perspective there probably, um, will be, but we want to ... we don't want to necessarily take out all the trees, and the ash trees are some of the best ones we have. Um, and... and they provide some... some really good canopy down there. We think another, you know, 10 or 15 years we'll get out of `em, so we think it's worth leaving `em in, as opposed to starting fresh with all young trees out there, but... we'll look at that more as we advance the designs. Dobyns/ We don't want to kick out the old ones before they're ready, Terry! (several talking) Throgmorton/ Hey, Geoff, when I ... when I (several talking) I imagine the parallel parking being instituted (several talking in background) being instituted, e ... even though I favor the idea, I ... I also imagine that it might ... cause somewhat greater traffic blockage, uh, you know, as people try to back into the parking space. Uh, did you all talk about that, you... did you and Bret and Angie and whoever? Fruin/ Not to ... not to any great extent. Urn ... you know, we have parallel that ... that works in downtown, whether you're on Dubuque or Linn Street, uh, even, um ... uh, some of the other parts in the Northside Marketplace. So, urn ... didn't have a whole lot of discussion on that, but it certainly, you know, someone that struggles to ... to parallel park can back This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 14 up traffic. Um, especially since we're condensing lane widths. Uh, it won't be as easy to get around `em. Hayek/ To further play devil's advocate on the ... on the parking, why not ... was there consideration given to ... to the diagonal on both sides? So that you would actually increase over... Fruin/ Yeah, um... Hayek/ (both talking) ...whereas now. Fruin/ Okay. So I know you cannot read this, and I can't read this either, but let me get the dimensions, uh, here. So this'd be a cross section at...at Mama's Deli looking west, um, and... and what you have for... for widths here. You have a... a 9 -foot parking zone. You have a... 11, that's proposed, I'm sorry. Uh... Mims/ You know if you went diagonal on both sides, you're going to have really, really narrow sidewalks! Fruin/ Yeah, if you had diagonal on both sides (several talking) you're looking at (several talking) you're looking at 40 -feet, urn ... roughly to accommodate that, and ... and that's going to really ... I don't even know if we could pull it off with the existing vaults there. The vaults may ... prevent you from doing that. Throgmorton/ Yeah, so if we want to dedicate more space to pedestrian traffic and outdoor use, we need to go this way. Dobyns/ We have one hour free at the ramps! Mims/ Well I was going to say, if they can't parallel park they can go in the ramps! Dobyns/ Yep. (both talking) Fruin/ The current, uh, current lane width on Washington, I think we have one lane at 14 and another at about 12 1/2. I thought I had it on here but, um, these are just the ... the proposed, not the existing. Hayek/ Yeah, I ... I say that though but ... but, I mean, pa ... you know, perception is ... of course realty for many people and you know we're dealing with, um... some huge delivery trucks that come at all hours of the day. If I had my druthers we'd... restrict that to early - morning hours like you see in other places, um ... uh, but we ran that up the flagpole a few years ago. I don't think we got very far. So the reality is we do have large vehicles coming through there and ... yes, there's always a balance between the pedestrian and the vehicular, but we do need the vehicular and the more we expand what seems to me to be an already fairly ample pedestrian walkway. You know, the ... the more that impinges on the vehicular. So I ... it's ... it's a tough balance... but... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 15 Fruin/ I ... I'd say with this one, Matt, we're not pickin' up a whole lot of sidewalk width. I think we're gettin' a couple feet, uh, total sidewalk. Um, what you're getting ... that we're doing this more to achieve the balance. So you can get two ... two parallel, uh, parking lanes on the roadway, as opposed to just one diagonal. That's more the motivation. Dubuque the motivation is to add to the sidewalk width, but ... again, I expected more pushback than we got. Hayek/ Yeah, I mean... Fruin/ ...on that, um, and it still may be yet to come. Um, but ... that's a tough transition to make. Dobyns/ So, Geoff, uh ... the parking width of two parallels is that less or more than one diagonal... side? Fruin/ For... it's... it's roughly the same. You can (both talking) Dobyns/ Okay. Fruin/ ...you can do 9 -foot parking like we're suggesting. You could actually even do 8 -foot parking if you really (both talking) Dobyns/ So we're not gaining more... sidewalk. We're just (both talking) Fruin/ You gain a little bit. So it's about ... what we're using is 18 -feet for two parallels, 9 -feet each, and then you gain ... it's about 20 -feet for a diagonal. So you ... you pick up a foot maybe. Dobyns/ Yeah, but mostly it's symmetry of parking. Fruin/ Yeah, that's the motivation. Yeah. Dobyns/ All right. Hayek/ And then what do you do for the deliveries if you are ... and maybe you're going to get to this, the commercial zones on these streets. Fruin/ Yeah, you ... we would still have loading zones. You could still ... carry on as we are today. What's nice about having parallel parking though, as opposed to diagonal, is you can flex those loading zones more over time as ... as businesses change. So, the way it's set up right now, um, you've got your loading zone here, and you have diagonal parking here. Well you ... you could never make that diagonal area loading zone. The way it's set up right now. Um, however, say 10, 15 years ago ... or 10, 15 years from now there's a need to ... to shift the loading zone over here to better meet the business needs in this area, and flip this with parallel, you can easily do that. It's just changing out signs. I have a few, uh, few images. We do, um, want to considerably try to increase the tree canopy on This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 16 Washington. Again I think that's, um, something that's lacking right now. Um ... so you see that. Throgmorton/ Geoff, uh, with regard to that image, it reminds me ... I know you got an email from at least one resident concerning bicycling... Fruin/ Yeah. Throgmorton/ ....on... Washington Street. Fruin/ Right. Throgmorton/ Can you give us a sense of what you said to her? Fruin/ Yeah. On ... On Washington and Dubuque, um, we looked at bike lanes and whether that's appropriate for bike lanes, but we felt that, um ... bike lane in each direction would be about 10 -feet of roadway, and we didn't feel like that was worth taking, uh, pedestrian space for that, um, partly because the speeds on Washington and Dubuque are so slow that it's comfortable for a bicyclist to ride in traffic, and keep up with the pace of traffic in that area. Um ... and ... so ... so for those ... those two stretches, we are just suggesting that the bikes integrate with traffic, and most in the bike community that I've talked to understand and support that. I think they've got their eyes on some different corridors in the downtown that's we ... that we're evaluating. Throgmorton/ So ... so on that point, uh, Chicago is experimenting with slowing traffic down enough at one particular site so that anybody can use the space at any moment in time without red lights, stop lights, whatever. So ... and there's a fascinating video from ... that was presented at the Congress for the New Urbanism this past summer, from an English, um, researcher who ... who was showing images of how well that can work, if the vehicular traffic is slow enough. So... so it's all about using your eyes, you know, and weaving through the traffic instead of, um, having to stop and get out of the way and things like that. Fruin/ The ... the designs here will slow traffic, they should slow traffic I should say. You're... you're narrowing lane widths, you're having parking on both sides, greater tree canopy — all those things work together to slow traffic. So ... we feel pretty comfortable on that. Payne/ Have you looked at all at the ... the intersection right here of Dubuque and Washington... when the lights turn green and you're heading south to tu... and you're going to turn either direction obviously, immediately when the light turns green, it's a walk. So ... if there's people waiting to walk, you have to wait. Fruin/ Right. Payne/ So there's no gap for those pedestrians to cross the street. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 17 Fruin/ You're talkin' at this intersection up here (both talking) the Dubuque Washington or Clinton? (several talking) Payne/ No, there! Mims/ That's Clinton! Fruin/ This is Clinton. Mims/ That's Clinton and Washington right there. Dickens/ That corner's terrible trying to get... Throgmorton/ Yeah, you have to wait. Dickens/ ...if you walk across you're always... Payne/ (several talking) I think it's the same at both, but I was talking specifically at the T- intersection (several talking) at Dubuque and Washington, yeah. Fruin/ This is, um... Dickens/ It's not as bad as Clinton. Fruin/ ...one of the things that... Payne/ Yeah, it's bad there too. Fruin/ ... we ... we are shortening this crosswalk distance. We're ... we're bumping these two locations out a little bit more to shorten that, but I ... I haven't looked at that specific timing issue, Michelle. We can... Payne/ It... it, the lights turn ... it turns at the same time. Fruin/ Okay. Payne/ It's green and walk at the same time so you ... if there's cars ... if there's pedestrians, you always have to wait, and it may even be waiting until the next light. Fruin/ Right. Okay. Hayek/ So on ... on that, urn ... choked off, you know, the ... the extended crosswalk, uh, there, the shrunken crosswalk, depending on your perspective, again, are we confident that the Bud Light trucks and the smallish but nevertheless pretty big semi trucks that come through all day long. They're not the full 18- wheelers you see on the... generally... on the interstate, but ... but they're something wheelers and (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 18 Payne/ Those beers trucks (both talking) Hayek/ ... yeah, and can they turn the corner, you know, are we... (several talking) It seems awfully tight to me. Payne/ Can they turn a corner with a vehicle sitting in the other lane? Fruin/ Yes. We're confident they can. Um, what you see here where ... where it chokes down, you're essentially choking off the 9 -foot parking lanes here, and I ... I think I failed to mention the ... we ... we did go with larger traffic lane, uh, width on Washington. So they're not 11 -foot like they are on Dubuque. They're 11 1/2 -feet. Um, that's because we ... we have more delivery trac ... traffic on Washington and we have ... it's a bus corridor, uh, going in both directions. Um, but all these things ... all the ... all the, uh, angles you see on the curbs, they all go through the engineering analysis for fire trucks, delivery trucks, that sort of thing. Payne/ But does it work in reality? Because at Lower Muscatine (laughter) and Sycamore, if there's a car in the turn lane, a semi can't make the corner, and it's huge! Fruin/ Yeah. Payne/ And a semi can't make that corner because of the angle. Fruin/ Yeah. Mims / And the beer trucks just have to wait to make their deliveries (laughter) Hayek/ They won't! Payne/ They won't! (several talking and laughing) Fruin/ We're confident it can work! (several talking) Um, a couple other images here. This is from Linn Street, looking back towards, uh, Clinton here. Um ... what we did, we did something a little bit, uh, a little bit different on ... on the other block of Washington that we were focused on, um, the ... the west block there. You have equal widths on the sidewalks. Um, so it's roughly 30 -foot sidewalks on both sides, very generous sidewalks. Um, as you look to ... to this street section, there's actually 40 -feet of sidewalk on the Englert side and only 20 on the US Bank side. Um, and ... and what that allows us to do is really to look at some, uh ... new type of gathering /performance space in front of the Englert, and we felt this was a really neat opportunity. We ... we spoke with Andre Perry about it, uh, early on in our design process, and we felt like ... um ... we could take that diagonal parking, add to the sidewalk here, and really create, you know, whether it's a pre -event space or, um, post -event space or just, you know, somewhere where you can do some readings or ... or small performances, uh, we could create just a really kind of unique gathering place there. This is showing a concept of movable tables and chairs, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 19 that could be set out at different times throughout the day. Our hope would be that, um, the Englert would ... would manage those for us and put those out, um, you know, when they, uh, when they're having events or when there's performances. Those details are yet to be worked out, but um, I think it could be a real neat gathering space there in front (both talking) Dickens/ ...there was some concerns about the business next door, putting the outdoor seating there (both talking) Fruin/ Right! Dickens/ ...kind of congested a little bit by the Englert, so ... if it's a little wider space, that would alleviate that problem. Fruin/ Yep! Dobyns/ (several talking) Throgmorton/ Good point, Terry. Yeah! Dobyns/ You're getting away from your ... sort of symmetry philosophy, um, is that because the other side where the US Bank, and I guess Beadology are now, if there is in the future any sort of...I ... I assume a restaurateur would be the most likely to want, uh, sidewalk opportunity. You're sort of not giving an incentive in going forward on the north side of the road. Fruin/ Well, you have 20 -feet of sidewalk and um. ... 20 -feet of sidewalk is ... is very generous. That's what we were ... are proposing to ... to be on Dubuque. So it would match Dubuque. Dobyns/ What do they ... propose going forward, what's going to be in front, uh, on ... on Dubuque Street? Fruin/ Proposed would be a 20 -foot sidewalk on Dubuque (both talking) so it would match Dubuque (both talking) Currently on Dubuque, you're only at about 14 -feet. So anything less than 15 gets really tough for cafes. Payne/ Is it... so on that north side in this block, is it 20 -feet now? Fruin/ Uh ... I'm not sure I have that, Michelle. It's ... it's pretty close to that, yes. Um, we're essentially taking that diagonal parking and adding that, the majority of that on to the Englert side. So it's ... it's pretty close. Um, I think that curb may change a little but not much. Dobyns/ It was also 20 -feet in front of that jewelry store and that lawyer's office on the, uh, west end of Washington (laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 20 Fruin/ I think I know who you're talking about, yeah (several talking and laughing) Dobyns/ So it's all 20 -feet everywhere. Fruin/ No, no, I'm sorry, no there's more on that, on the other block. It'll be 30 and 30 on the other block. Dobyns/ All right. Fruin/ Forty and... (laughter) Hayek/ Must be nice having people (several talking and laughing) Dr.! (laughter) Dobyns/ Well, we're here for the people of Iowa. That's where I work! (laughter) Fruin/ All right, we'll jump to ... uh, jump to the ped ... oh, I should mention on ... on Washington Street. Um ... this, we'll talk to you about the phasing of these projects during our CIP discussions. Um, we ... you all know the issues we have with the water main, um, under ... under Washington Street. Um, this is an incredibly disruptive project. Um, and ... and we're essentially talking about removal of everything, from storefront to storefront. A very difficult project for, uh, the business community, uh, to ... to handle. Um, you think of the impacts it has just to every day, uh, events, but also events like Arts Fest and Jazz Fest and those types of things. It takes a ... an incredible amount of coordination with the businesses. So, um, we're gonna propose that to you in 2016, and we'll talk to you about that in CIP, but um... Payne/ 2016? Fruin/ ...2016, so that gives us another year to finish designs and to, uh ... um, work with the businesses on a ... access management plan. Hayek/ Has anyone given a estimate of how much time like to do a given block you would need? Is it one construction season? Is it... Fruin/ Oh yeah! It'd be one construction season. I ... I'm just gonna kind of guess here, Matt, but three months, four months, somewhere in that ballpark. Hayek/ Yep. Fruin/ But that ... again, that's closing the street down to automobile access for that length of time. You know, we'll maintain pedestrian access but... Payne/ And obviously during the summer it goes quicker than during the winter. And in the summer is when all our festivals are. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 21 Fruin/ Yeah. (laughter) I think our hope would be that we would get in early in the spring and finish up in the summer, so that when fall comes around it's all put back together, but... Okay, so the pedestrian mall here, um, same ... same type of tree analysis you're seeing here. Uh, a couple of, uh, areas I'd point out. Real significant problem all the red and yellow in this area. And then up at, uh, Blackhawk Mini -Park, of course... there's not... nothing planted in Blackhawk Mini -Park right now, um, except on the edge here, and what you see on the, uh ... surrounding western edge here are all poor health, trees that are in poor health. So some real challenges in that stretch and ... and down here as well. The other thing I would point out here, um, the tree circles do indicate canopy size, and you'll see that just the tiny trees that we have down here, and if you've been down there you know there's... there's no shade relief from those trees. Throgmorton/ That's right. Fruin/ Um, we will likely look, even though there's a few greens on here, at replacing those with some more substantial trees. I think they were undersized when they were put in. Um, unlike the Washington plan that I mentioned, um, that's a... a storefront to storefront removal, the ... the ped mall's more of a, uh, selective editing approach. Uh, so much of what you see here, um, remains in place. We are trying to accomplish a couple of different things. One would be to open up the view shed from Dubuque a little bit more, uh, to what will be a permanent stage canopy that I'll show you some images of, uh, so there's some removal of a couple of the center trees here and some adjusting of some planter walls to open that up a little bit. Um, the two areas that receive the most attention, uh, or are proposed to would be Blackhawk Mini -Park here, and the stage area here. Urn ... let me just walk through a couple of spots. This is the Clinton Street entrance. If you're walking across from the Old Capitol Mall, again, not a whole lot, um, changing here. Uh ... we are opening that ... that up a little bit. Uh, and we are proposing some entry lighting, uh, and this is a daytime image here, but what you see is a catenary light system, uh ... uh, suspended in the air here, um, and that's proposed on a ... on the east entrance, as well. Um, these would also be at a height that are out of reach, so to speak, um, at probably 12 -feet, 13 -feet or so. (unable to hear person away from mic) Sixteen feet! (laughs) Got some jumpers! Um, we would, uh, look to screen the, uh, transformer down there with, um, what ... what we're terming a story wall, but essentially a, some sort of stone material that could be uplit at night with some etchings in it that would tell some sort of story. Not sure what that would be yet! And then creating a... a, kind of a more intimate seating area here around the new wayfinding kiosks that I'll show you here in a minute. This would be in front of Film Scene roughly. There's an existing, um, pergola -type structure there now. We would replace that with a structure that's more consistent with the stage structure that we're proposing. Um, we would not outfit it with a projector and screen, but it would be built such to that ... if Film Scene wanted to come out and do something like this, they could. Um, they are ... they have shown several movies already on the ped mall with great success. They even built a little tiny cinema in, uh ... uh, had some viewings there that were popular. So we're ... we're looking at how we can keep that space the same, but yet reimagine it and... and hopefully enhance it a little bit. The weather dance fountain area, uh, is ... is a pretty significant change here just in terms of the seating structure. Um ... there's, uh, some significant planter wall This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 22 realignment and uh, we wanted to make this area more accessible for people with mobility challenges. So there's a, um, a full, uh, ramp system that ... that is pretty well integrated into the area. We tried to take away as many of the steps as we could, which is very difficult because you have a significant grade change right here. Um, but more of a traditional amphitheater -type seating arrangement, um, which should afford for better and ...and more viewing opportunities with the ... the Summer Concert Series. This is an image of the proposed, uh, stage. Um, in this image here if you can see this little, uh, white rectangle sticking out here. That's actually the existing stage. So you can see that we're proposing to shift it back further onto Sheraton property. It is on Sheraton property right now, um, at least partially, and it would almost all be on Sheraton property. So we have to work through, uh, that with the Sheraton. They've been incredibly supportive of this process. So I ... I'm confident we can get that done. Uh, this was designed by Neumann Monson. I think they did a ... a really nice job on the ... on the design here. It gives some more definition to the stage area, and uh ... um ... can really make it feel more of a, uh ... uh, a permanent, professional type of setting there, but yet not be overbearing for, um, the individuals that use it on a regular basis. It would be, uh, lit, um, at night or we'd have the ability to light it. Um, and you'd have the full LED color spectrum to choose from, but here's a couple of examples of, uh, on a non - performance night, how it could be lit or I guess on a performance night, as well. It could be color changing. Uh, we wouldn't really think to do anything drastic with it, but say for, uh, breast cancer awareness month you could have pink and... or the holidays, you could do a holiday color scheme, that tor ... that type of thing. And we're looking at injecting some color into the existing fountain. Uh, that might look something like this. Again, full color spectrum, uh, for, um ... uh, the evenings in which that is on, and then we are experimenting with some tree lighting. It's difficult. We have strong maintenance concerns, whether those can hold up to ... to the crowds we have down there but would like to do that if we could. This is a ... an evening image of the west entry here and you see the overhead lighting system. Um, nothing major, uh, here in terms of changes. I think it, uh, introduce some larger trees but ... but that's about it. Um, we do have a concept for an eco lab. So this is the space between the Library and the playground. Um, currently there's a chessboard there that ... that really just does not get used to the extent that, uh, we feel that space should be used. So this would be an outdoor learning area, so to speak. Uh, we want to keep the children's garden concept, that's been very popular, um, so we would change that into three separate planting areas, urn ... there, but then also, uh, provide for some sort of outdoor education and uh, probably a focus on water conservation, renewable energy, recycling, have some sort of bend to that nature, but there's some durable, uh, outdoor exhibits that we could look at there. I'm not going to walk through the north side, um, we do have some images for what Blackhawk Park may look like in ... and there's really not a whole lot of changes to ... to this area here. Um ... the reason I'm not going into detail about Blackhawk Mini -Park is because we have a... a public artist that we're trying to select right now, and, uh, the plan calls for a signature public art piece right up in this corner here. Uh, frankly that's... that's a place ... a ... a mark on the plan, that piece could go anywhere, uh, within the plan, and it's ... it's really hard to design a space when the anchor to that space is undefined. So, there ... there are some conceptual images of Blackhawk Mini -Mark, but I tell folks not to put too much stock into those, because once an artist is selected and they go through their creative process, um, my guess is it's going This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 23 to be completely redone anyway. But you'll see a couple of the goals, um, that I want to point out here. One is we'd like to introduce some shade, um, maybe not to the extent that you see here, uh, but some shade to make that more comfortable for, uh, the folks that are there. Um, two is we heard from the community — they want that to be a place, uh, that attracts families and young children. So we're looking at some sort of play element in here. That's currently shown here. Um, that would not be a fabricated play equipment structure like we already have, but some sort of other type of, uh, play element that engages young families. Um, and two it needs to reca ... or I'm sorry, three it needs to recall the, um ... uh, the history and kind of the spirit of the park as a community gathering place. So we have to make sure it's comfortable and it's flexible enough to, um, continue to serve in the function that it's served for the last 30 or 40 years. Uh, we think there's an opportunity to ... to tell the story of urban renewal and Blackhawk Mini - Park in this, um, area. Um, one of the areas we're looking to do that, there's a transformer right here, in the corner by Park at 201, and there'd be another story wall there where we can maybe tell the story of urban renewal in Iowa City at that location. Dickens/ (mumbled) ped mall still going to remain brick? Fruin/ Yes! Dickens/ What is it going to be new brick or is it going to be (both talking) Fruin/ New brick in some locations, yeah. Yeah. What we'd do in the areas (both talking) we're removing, um, we would look to strengthen the base that those bricks are sitting on, and there'd be new bricks in a lot of the areas. Uh, it's going to be driven largely by the utility improvements that are needed there. McCarthy/ Would the new bricks there help to... solve some of the problems with icing or just snow pack in the winter? Especially in that north/south area where there's not much sunlight at any given time of the day? Fruin/ Yeah, I don't know ... urn ... that new bricks are going to help with that. I think that's more of just an operational change, uh, that would need to take place, to get on that quicker. Um ... it's ... it's a blessing to have so many people go through the ... the ped mall on a daily basis, but part of the challenge is, as soon as that snow falls and people start stepping on it, it's hard as heck to get it ... get it off. So you almost have to get it out ... get it out, you know, right when it falls. Dickens/ You're doing utilities, why don't you put, uh, wiring underneath and (laughter) Fruin/ Yeah! We explored that early in the ... in the planning phase (several talking and laughing) and it quickly became cost prohibitive. Throgmorton/ So, with regard to Blackhawk Mini -Park, uh, the ... the first of three visiting artists will be coming here on Friday. Uh, there's going to be an open house at 4:00 P.M. in Room A of the Public Library, and the artist is Vito Aconchi. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 24 Fruin/ That's correct. Throgmorton/ Uh, and the... hopefully there will be two others. We've got one lined up and then there's one other that hopefully will be coming. Fruin/ that's right. Hayek/ It's about 6:25. 1 just want to make sure (both talking) Fruin/ ...this is it. This is just the ... the last image. Sorry I've gone long here, urn ... this, uh, we would change from the existing kiosks that we have, um, to a ... a taller, more slender, um, lighted element. So, um, it's only about a foot, not even a foot and a half wide, um, and that will allow for some greater view sheds in the ... in the area. Uh, we don't have to accommodate payphones and newspaper racks anymore, so we can shrink those down considerably. Um, it'd be a lighted, uh, district map, um, that they could, uh, that the Downtown District would manage, and then, uh, we're looking at kind of the beacon, so to speak would be a ... a yellowish Iowa City, uh, lighted element. This would be a medal screen, grate, um, that would express either a welcome in multiple language or ... or City of Literature in multiple languages. The locations would more or less mirror the locations of the existing wayfinding elements. We think those are in the appropriate spots, so ... (several talking) Information Packet Discussion (October 23, 30): Hayek/ All right! Thanks, Geoffl (several talking) Very comprehensive. This is good! Okay! Uh, we have two Info Packets. First is from, uh, October 23rd. We do need to KXIC, which is IP3. If I could jump on December IOtn, it's the only one that works for me. Throgmorton/ I could do November 19 or December 3rd, and then I'm pretty much due right about that time. Mims/ What else do you still need, Marian? Karr/ I don't know yet (laughter) Payne/ I can do No ... the 26tH Karr/ So, uh, November 19tH Dickens/ I'll do the 19th Karr/ You'll do the 19th. November 19th. Jim was December l Otb Throgmorton/ No, December 3rd This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 25 Mims/ Matt was December 10th, right? Karr/ Matt was the... Throgmorton/ Yeah, I can do the 3rd Karr/ The 19th is Jim. Throgmorton/ Huh? Karr/ Dickens! Throgmorton/ Oh yes! Dickens/ Dickens, 19th! November! Throgmorton/ Jim the 3rd, Matt the 10th, Michelle... Payne/ The 26th Mims/ I'll take the 17th... December. Hayek/ That should do it! Anything else... Throgmorton/ I'm sorry, I just realized I ... I arranged to be at Northwest Junior High on the 3rd and that was done after I wrote my notes to myself. Mims/ I can do that one, Jim. Can you take the 17th? Throgmorton/ Uh ... of December? Mims/ Yeah. Throgmorton/ Uh ... yes. Yes. Mims/ I'll take the 3rd; Jim takes the 17th. (both talking) Hayek/ Anything else on the October 23... Throgmorton /Is that the second ... Info Packet or... Hayek/ No, sorry, you know what, the KXIC was on the October 30th packet, which is how I threw Marian off. Sorry about that! So on the October 23rd packet is there anything? Throgmorton/ Um, IP7, the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities presentation. Uh, I don't know if you need to know, I'd like to attend that. On December 17th. And ... and on This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 26 IP #9, the Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement. Matt, thanks for signing that. I guess it's signed and ... and on route. Hayek/ Sealed, delivered! Throgmorton/ Also the, uh, in a related thing, the ... a working group of sustainability coordinators will be meeting here, uh, meeting Iowa City, beginning Thursday morning and I guess Brenda's leading that, coordinating that effort. Hayek/ There's a, um ... at IP3 on the first Info Packet. The... reference to the, interaction with the Regents on... on... on pilot issues. I simply want to thank the City Manager's office for monitoring of and diligence regarding this issue. I mean, there are so many things that we ... that grab Council's attention or we get pressured on by the public, but there are also, and you have to deal with those things, but there are so many things that are immensely impactful to us, but which do not receive a lot of attention, and this is the kind of thing where, um ... s ... staff, uh, plays a ... very important role for us. Bringing it to our attention. Monitoring it. Interacting with counterparts at other institutions. Uh, it's of critical importance to us, so ... and it's ... and this particular issue is not over, I mean, um, it's still something we have to keep an eye on, but I just ... I highlight it because we can't take our eye off the ball on issues like this. Enough of that soap box! Uh, anything else on I guess either of the Info Packets? Throgmorton/ Well, IP11, uh, the Joints Cities meeting, uh, and the discussion about affordable housing and, you know, we were all, apparently all agreed we would go back to our councils and discuss that topic and ... so I guess I want to ask one question of Tom or others on the staff. Uh, part of the discussion involved having... cities put together, uh, some sort of short reports about what each of them is currently doing or intending to do with regard to affordable housing. Is that the way y'all understood that? Markus/ That's already been (both talking) Throgmorton/ ...I was wondering if that was in the works and all that. Markus/ ...in the process. Throgmorton/ Yeah. Markus/ And in our case, I think we'll show a comparison to what has been provided in the other jurisdictions at the same time. At least that we're aware o£ So you can see the comparison. Throgmorton/ Good! Markus / Right, Doug, John? (unable to hear response, away from mic) (laughter) Hayek/ I think that would be very helpful! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 27 Markus/ Good answer! Hayek/ I think that component would be very helpful. (unable to hear response, away from mic) (laughter) Throgmorton/ You know, I ... I thought the report, uh, that Tracy Ockenbach and ... and staff put together was very helpful and very revealing and informative and all that, but one thing ... my ... my sense was, one thing it didn't ... did not do was really address the spatial variation within the urbanized area, which really was the driving impetus behind us asking for further work, for an update of some kind. What I mean spatial variation I mean school redistricting, school... variation in school, elementary school districts with regard to FL ... FRI, rates. That's why we got the diversity policy. That's why we got into this particular topic, in the first place! But the report itself doesn't really address that. Markus/ Yeah, I ... I would add to that conversation and just say that some of the suggestions that were made in the letter from the School District are decades long in making changes. So I don't necessarily see a corresponding, you know, near -term solution between the diversity issues at the school and some of the suggestions that they made in that letter. And, I think there's also some confusion in the region as to the issue of what is affordable housing. Throgmorton/ Apparently! Markus/ ...around that table I heard conversations about, well, we're developing new projects and they have multiple family units. Well, units don't necessarily make it affordable. There's a lot of things that go into it, so ... I think there's definitional problems, as well. Throgmorton/ We have 900 square foot units in our downtown that are not exactly affordable. Markus/ Exactly! Hayek/ Okay! Let's move on to Council time! Council Time: Dickens/ Just a quick, uh, congratulations to your uncle for receiving the Hayek Award! Meeting Schedule: Hayek/ It's a ... I hope that group... continues on in some fashion. It's interesting to see the generational divide as the largely World War II era of vets pass on and ... and their, uh, younger brothers and sisters aren't apparently picking up the mantel, but... okay. Meeting schedule. Don't forget (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 28 Mims/ ...back here Thursday. Hayek/ Thursday, right! 5:00. (laughter) Payne/ And I found out today on the 17th I may have to go to Springfield to a meeting. I will probably ... the 17th is when we're going to talk about ... the same thing that we're talking about Thursday. Mims/ Oh, actually have the presentations. Dickens/ Is that the Monday night (several talking) Payne/ So... Hayek/ All right. Payne/ I will know on Thursday... whether I'm going or not. Not that it makes a difference cause they're already set. Hayek/ But will that be ... uh filmed? Or recorded? Karr/ Hadn't planned on it. We can. We hadn't planned on it. Hayek/ I mean, that's where a lot of information that you will need, that we will all need, will be delivered. Karr/ Want us to ... want to check? We can check! Mims/ Be a good idea! Payne/ It would be something I could get a disc of? Karr/ Uh huh. Payne/ Okay! Hayek/ Thanks, Marian! Payne/ Cause I'm assuming we're not ... the plan is to not vote that night? On anything... Hayek/ It's a work session so it (both talking) Payne/ Oh, okay, it's a work session! Okay. Pending Work Session Topics (IP #4 Info Packet of 10/30): This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 29 Hayek/ Okay, pending topics? List is long! Mims/ Yeah, it'd gotten shorter and now it's grown again! Upcoming Community Events / Council Invitations: Hayek/ Okay! Uh, upcoming events. Payne/ I just wanted to ... I'll mention this at the formal meeting too, but the Library has the Remembered... Remembering Our Fall ... Fallen, geez I can't even read! The traveling photo exhibit honoring Iowans who have died from wounds suffered from war zones since... suffered in war zones since September 11th, 2001. It's from the November 1St through the 8th at the Library. Hayek/ Nice. Throgmorton/ So, uh, the Ad Hoc Committee on Senior Services is having its public forum, what, Wednesday at 3:30? Dobyns/ A week from tomorrow. Throgmorton/ Week from tomorrow. Do ... do you plan to mention that, um, during the, uh, you know, that last part of the formal meeting? Dobyns/ At the, uh, yes. Throgmorton/ Yeah. Hayek/ Anything else? Throgmorton/ I, you know ... I ... I wanted to mention that Dan Burden with the Blue Zones' project was here, uh, what, last week. See if I can find my notes about that. Um ... uh, and a lot of staff members were present. Geoff was there and a whole bunch of others, and ... and one of the things that Dan, uh, emphasized was how redesigning streets to have narrower lanes, bike lanes on both sides, and so on like we see on down ... the downtown presentation, is associated with greatly increased land values. He hammered that point over... through, into us, over and over again without being obnoxious about it. Uh, so... I think we really need to be paying close attention to that. He also, I think, made reference to form -based codes and about how various cities are devising ways to incrementally extend form -based codes into various neighborhoods, throughout the city. Cincinnati, for one, had just got an award for ... for doing its form -based code work. Flagstaff, Arizona's another. So I would hope that our staff is really beginning to look... carefully at the possibility of doing that, not imposing it over the whole city all at once, but finding ways to incrementally ... um, bring it into play. Thanks! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014. November 4, 2014 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 30 Hayek/ You bet! Anything else? Okay! We'll end the work session and we'll come back for the formal. Thank you! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 4, 2014.